Which exercise will work best for me—yoga, running, tennis or something else?


Why do I feel stressed so much of the time, and what can I do about it?


What supplements are best for me, and which high-quality products can I trust?


Complementary natural healing modalities can address all Wellness Dream Team


Take Your Health to the Next Level by Kathleen Barnes


C


onventional doctors too often dispense vague, boilerplate health advice, urging their patients to eat a healthy diet, exercise and take helpful


supplements. Some are lucky enough to also be directed to detoxify their body and manage stress. That’s typically the best most people can expect in terms of practical advice. It is rare to receive specific, individualized answers to such burning questions as:


What is the best diet for this specific problem or my body type?


Build Your Own


of these queries and more. Finding the right mix of treatment and preventive measures requires some creativity and self- knowledge. The experts Natural Awakenings consulted maintain that it is both desirable and possible to assemble an affordable and effective personal healthcare team that focuses on optimum wellness.


Integrative Approach “We need to understand the value of an integrative approach because no single modality treats everything,” says Dr. Jingduan Yang, the Philadelphia-based founder and medical director of the Tao Integrative Medicine. By way of example, he maintains credentials as a physician, a board-certified psychiatrist and an internationally recognized expert on classic forms of Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture. Integrative practitioners see the human body on three


levels, Yang explains: structural; biochemical; and bioenergetic, a form of psychotherapy. Ideally, he says, conventional and integrative medicine, plus complementary practitioners, work together to provide the total care an individual patient needs. “Any problem on one level affects all levels, so we assess patients on all three with whatever tools we have,” he says. While conventional medicine may be able to treat


structural problems well and biochemical problems to a certain extent, it falls short on the energetic level. That’s when it’s time to expand the team, counsels Yang. “‘Know yourself’ is the watchword. Get to know what to use and when to use it. It’s the practitioner’s job to educate patients in this way.” Dr. Andrew Weil, renowned as the father of the


integrative medicine movement in the U.S., has remarked, “If I’m in a car accident, don’t take me to an herbalist. If I have bacterial pneumonia, give me antibiotics. But when it comes to maximizing the body’s natural healing potential, a mix of conventional and alternative procedures seems like the only answer.” Dr. Shekhar Annambhotla, founding director and president of the Association of Ayurvedic Professionals of North


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