Instructions

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for all those kind and inspiring words, Kayla! I love you and your strong spirit so much and am constantly inspired to move forward with my dream because I see you doing it on the daily making real healing art and medicine happen not just for "patients" but for all us healer patients, as well. I hope you know what a force you are and never stop doing you! Once I figure out how to copy my original intro post to the real thread (lol, face palm), I am going to update it to reflect some hard-core transforming I have done over the last week, and I haven't even been actively participating in this group! You were the catalyst to finally help me come into alignment with my dream and purpose! I absolutely LOVE the ideas about retreat medicine you wrote about in your comment up there ^. I am happy to report that I'm 100% in on making my own business/dream happen and am going to be unapologetically my WHOLE self in all I do from here on out. There will be no state hospital or signing up for some job, because I have too much to offer people and feel called to help heal a sick and over-medicated society!

Also, see you in about A WEEK!!! :-D

Love both of these intros above that I just saw!

Kimberly and Kathryn-

Please re-post these as your own unique thread under the Introductions tab so that we can add comments and you can grow your story over the next few weeks.

SO GORGEOUS though, both of you!

Dr. Little - You have TOO MUCH to offer, honestly, and that will be one thing to help you move toward your dream: declutter! You are screaming for it in your post! We can do a little Ayurvedic detox protocol (in fact there is one adapted specifically for us by a former student of Dr. Vasant Lad. https://www.mooncyclemedicine.org/forum/ayurvedic-life-immersion/ayurvedic-life-immersion-instructions Your intention is right on, so if you keep walking bravely forward the path will come to light. I am SO excited for you! Welcome!

Dr. Cranford - My story into medicine is SO similar in that I was TOO YOUNG and then TUNNEL VISION, holy cow! I remember sitting in undergraduate classes with you, and noticing that you *handled* an intensity similar to my own, which is why I was attracted to you. I'm glad we've been friends for so long. You have always been there for me as an example of STANDING UP FOR YOURSELF and DOING THE RIGHT THING. For me the time to walk away for awhile came a bit later, so you literally set the example. YOU CAN STILL BE AN ARTIST. That is YOU! Healing ART. Bring it forward sister. Nothing else will do. Can you reach out to that teacher now? and BABE!!!!! You have been offering your gift since you were a CHILD!!!!!

$450/hour to talk with you virtually and a place for people to make donations to your dream NOW! Did you hear about Dr. Kendra seeing her patient in the middle of the lake?! Lets all get retreat centers and we can co-teach. I'm pretty much ready here. WHERE do you want to be? YOU can be more lucrative than the state hospital. GUARANTEE it! I have clients BEGGING for someone like you. There are therapists in Juneau that charge $600. To talk. No drugs.

Just saying.

LOVE YOU BEAUTIFUL HEALING DOCTORS! Thank you for stepping up and being horizontal mentors to me and others in this group. Let the self-healing and the next step begin!

kimcranford7@gmail.com

1) What inspired you to become a healer?

I officially decided to become a doctor my junior or senior year in high school when the “career counseling” brigade began parading how important finding a path in life was to us unsuspecting 16 and 17 year olds. I now realize that the certainty with which I chose medicine was unnecessary and ultimately unhealthy, but from that day forward I pursued getting into med school with tunnel-vision focus and unwavering determination. For that, I am very proud, as it speaks to my ability to make anything happen that I doggedly pursue. In high school I decided upon “doctor” as my career path because I enjoyed biology, was a very good student, and figured that since I wanted to help people it was a great idea. All the unrealistic encouragement I got from all the adults in my life, none of them doctors who knew what it was actually like, only further consolidated the decision. I’ll never forget the disappointment on my art teacher’s face that she unsuccessfully tried to hide when she knew I would be majoring in some form of biology in college and not art. To this day, I wish I would have listened to her sense that pursuing an artistic path would be a great fit for me.

The good news is that though I now know I don’t want to be a doctor when I grow up (better late than never now that I am one! ;), I do know that I am deep to my core a healer, whether or not I want to be. Since I was little I was an old-soul introvert, and my parents’ adult friends and acquaintances would often approach me and have adult conversations with me, baring their souls to me. It always struck my parents as odd that they would come around a corner and there would be me, a little girl, intently listening to one of their friends blathering on and on. I’ve always been a natural listener and love to hear people’s stories and discover what stirs their souls. This trait lives on in me but is currently subdued and somewhat in hiding, slightly traumatized by the pressures of remaining within the framework of a typical psychiatric visit that has to fit into 30-60 minute appointments including documentation, blah blah blah you all know this theme. My goal is to heal these wounds and see who I am after the stale and suffocating cobwebs of medical training have been brushed away. I miss my natural upbeat curiosity about humans, not “patients” (because really aren’t we all patients?), and the world around me. I want more time for this person to explore and contribute in a more meaningful way. I want to meet people where they are at in a way that is necessary for them to bare themselves to me so that I can help them find the powers they innately possess to heal themselves. If that is on a mountaintop or in their favorite coffee shop or on walks around the lake they love, then that is where I want to hold space with them, not in the confines of a traditional doc-in-a-box office space. Though if this traditional setting is what someone else requires, then that’s fine too.

2) Describe your dream clinic/practice/workspace/job:

My passion regarding human health is steeped in diet and lifestyle. There is so much knowledge about how diet and lifestyle impacts mental health (and all health) that is not being utilized in typical medical care. My dream is to hold monthly retreats to educate people who want to take control of their lives and health, reclaiming their intuitive healing powers as human beings. These retreats would include hands-on learning how to cook a plant-powered diet, yoga, meditation, and lots of education on topics such as the mind/gut connection and how most chronic conditions including many (if not all) mental illnesses can be cured or at least drastically improved with an anti-inflammatory diet. For any retreat participants who want to have further individualized sessions with me after the retreats, I would like to see them via tele-health.

3) Describe your dream life:

My home base would be at one of the centers where I hold retreats. This would be a sustainable community designed and driven by people of the earth with a smorgasbord of skill-sets: farming, engineering, construction, education, and obviously many others, given we all possess so much untapped potential that isn’t explored due to being pressured to do one job or chose one career. Our current society is sick, and I am a community-builder who will bring us back to our self-reliant roots with the help of the tribe around me. The property would be filled with cats, dogs, pigs, chickens, and goats, and lots of beautiful plant life. We would not eat our furry friends, except for the eggs produced by the chickens and maybe some milk from the goats for special celebrations. I would spend my time split evenly between my practice (a combination of primarily education via retreats and some via individualized sessions with patients) and enjoying my surroundings. I would wake up to the sound of water at a nearby river or the ocean and never again an alarm. I would start the day with a gentle yoga practice or meditation and work in the garden or in feeding animals. The first half of the day would be spent working on whatever projects needed work or play in the community (maybe leading a yoga class or two) and the second half of the day in my personal work projects that would feel like play compared to my current practice of psychiatry.

4) What book are you most excited about and why?

Your Money or Your Life: I’ve been wanting to read this book for quite some time, ever since Kayla mentioned it a while back. I have been hesitant to jump head first into pursing my dreams due to heavy student loan debt and med school contractual obligations, initially planning to work for a lucrative state hospital to quickly pay down the debt. The more I allow myself to dream and tap into my purpose, the more I begin to recognize that, as the title of the book says, I can’t sacrifice my life for financial needs. My hopes are that in reading this book and engaging with you beautiful people, I can create both a life that I not only desire but that is also so purposeful that the money will manifest itself for me. I’d like to shift my cognitive set from feeling so burdened by the debt (to the point of feeling like a victim of my own choices) to feeling empowered to ninja it away using my skill set for the greater good.

5) What are you hoping to take away from this course?

The courage and inspiration to set forth full steam ahead on a journey towards making my dreams a reality. Bonus: Maybe another friend or two! :)

Kathryn Little

2523 college ave, fort worth tx

8173724878

katelittlemd@gmail.com

1) Im a problem solver and an introvert, although i love people. Medicine has given me a medium through which to relate to other people in a meaningful way. Being a physician gives me an avenue to create opportunities for problem solving and relationships. Growing up in a humanitarian aid setting also played a huge role as well-

2) Dream job/clinic/schedule

- wake up early to meditate, excercise, plan- unhurriedly get kids out the door school, breakfast with husband, head to the office 2 days /week for 2or 3 client appointments that are unrushed. ive had time to do some reading and thinking about them beforehand so im prepared.meet a friend for lunch- or with my kids at school.

another 2-3 sessions in the afternoon, in person or over skype.

on other days Im at home, doing normal home /family stuff.

my office is quiet, uncluttered, with lots of natural light. comfortable chairs, no clutter. there is free espresso at the common area down the hall.

every 4-6 weeks I will leave town for a 3-10 day stretch to work locums ER or hospitalist. this offers a change of pace, helps me keep my skills up, and gives me time to catch up on reading and other business stuff that needs to get done. also, it pays all the bills so i can let my own practice grow at a natural rate,

3) im excited about the ayurvedic medicine book. im desperate for more tools to be able to help people with. traditional medicine plays such an important role in many situations, but really, *most* people could overcome a majority of their ailments without medication, it just more time and discussion compared to clicking the ”refill” button!

I spent grades 3-12 in india, so many of it ”feels” familiar to me, although i dont know the specifics. so excited to learn more about this and apply it to my own life as well as the people im working with.

4) Im hoping to jump start a mind ”shift” in terms of what kind of physician im going to be. sometimes i feel like if i stop practicing the way i do now- racing around, stressed, hurried, pressured- that i wont know what to fill that newfound ”space” with. Do i have anything to offer? i think i do, but its hard to visualize because its such a foreign concept. im hoping to develop a clearer vision for how it can be. Also, i need to refocus on healing myself- sometimes i dont recognise myself.... surviving on diet pepsi and redbull. yuck😖