Are you ready?

Welcome to the Integrative Approaches to Mastering Wellness blog. My goal is to create a home where healers can rest, heal, and recharge. While there is so much reward in helping others, we sometimes give of ourselves a little too much and become depleted.  

My interest in medicine started when I was 5. I saw a physician deliver a baby (in a TV sitcom, not real life!) and I thought that was just the coolest thing. I could play with babies as soon as they came out! How lucky for both the baby and myself! 

As I got older, I recognized what a service and gift it would be to have a hand in raising the next generation of adults. Truly, these children would inherit the Earth and create a ‘new world’ of sorts. How incredible would it be to empower these young people? To help them craft a life of their own and integrate into society in a way that is expansive and growth-oriented? To inspire them to stretch beyond their perceived boundaries?

I went into Pediatrics to do just that. I’m so proud to have the privilege to play even a small part in these kids’ lives.  I’ve now been doing this as an attending for over 10 years.

But… there is a place for empowerment in the world of adults, too. There’s an ongoing need for it as we move through various stages of our adult life.

People seem to think that because we are physicians and we are supposed to know how to heal others that we must be good at taking care of ourselves, as well. To an extent, that’s true. But in large part, the culture of medicine has been that of service and perfection. Self-deprivation in the name of treating our patients was and continues to be a quality that is looked upon favorably. It serves the bottom-line, but this doesn’t serve us, and it certainly doesn’t serve our families.

It's time to breathe life and growth back into the physicians who so dedicatedly care for the world. It’s time to make changes in our lives to allow for such growth. Are you ready?