Novel Recommendation:

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I wanted to spend today recommending a very helpful book for any of those self-healers out there. I read this book about 5 years ago and recently a lot of what I learned from it has come back into my psyche. In a time where many are on the path of becoming healers in whatever sort of practise they choose, it can be hard to integrate that into how they show up for their clients in their practise. You can have all the wisdom inside, but once your expected to express and communicate that with a client, it is very common to clam up and either forget it all, or be scattered with what healing modalities you want to offer them. 

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"Hot Milk" by Deborah Levy, is written about a complex relationship between a young growing of age woman, Sofia, and her sick but also hypocondriac mother Rose. After many doctors fail to give Rose the treatment she desperatly seeks, the mother and daughter head to Spain to see a renouned doctor who specializes in her illness named Dr. Gomez. This man ends up being the doctor that Rose essentially needs buts doesn't exactly want. Instead of curing her, he quizzes her, he gets her to do tasks that she finds obsurd and a waste of time, and frankly sends her into a series of frusteration. Sofia, whose self and identity seems to be swallowed up by her "dying" mother goes on a vast journey and adventure through the young culture of Spain while her mother is distracted working with Dr. Gomez. She gets to explore her desires, sexuality, and trauma around her upbringing, while also trying to reform a relationship with her father. Without bringing this book to a spoil, Dr. Gomez helps the mother Rose connect to her phycosomatic symptoms, something all the other doctors either refuse to do or don't have the time to pursue. This book highlights how the nervous system is so heavily tied into our psyche and can ultimately create disease within the body if left untreated. 

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In one of my classes through school, there is a lovely Greek person who periodically shares how medicine is treated so differently in Greece, or even Europe for that matter. She shared how when someone goes to see a doctor about psoriasis, the doctor will send them to a phycologist; indicating how the skin and nervous system are one of the same. I've heard European friends tell me that a doctors prescription could be for them to go swim in the salty mediterranean waters. These recommendations are so simple, yet more often than not--effective. You see it's easy to get caught up thinking you need to be prescribing tons of supplements, herbs, or classes to those who come to you with an ailment. Sometimes those are really needed, but a lot of the time the issue runs so much deeper than that. Sending someone away with a list of things they need to change in their life can completely overwhelm someone, especially when they are in a fragile state. Sometimes, it's better to just give them one small task at a time with the end goal of helping them reconnect with themselves in the process. This is why I love to combine astrology with my herbal practise, as understanding the make-up of someones astrology chart can really help guide me to see what the underlining condition could be stemming from. Sometimes somebody needs to go swim everyday to help them release emotions and connect them to their emotional body. Sometimes someone would benefit from grounding their bare feet into the soil every morning to help "bring them back down to earth". Sometimes all we need is a simple shift to get our bodies back on track. 

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I encourage anyone who wants to go into a healing profession to read this book. The story is beautiful and it really brings everything back to basics. We live in a time where non-fiction is getting shoved in our face left right and centre, and it can be nice to just lose yourself in another creative fantasy world of a good fiction novel. 

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This book is also very ocean influenced and I don't find it a coincidence that it comes back into my mind right before this super full moon in Pisces. Go to the water and connect to yourself this full moon.

Take care,

Syd