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Pg 22 - At Home with Elizabeth Bryant
She recently set up shop in a one-of-a-kind town known for its healing waters. Here, therapist Elizabeth Bryant shares her passion for wellness.
Who: Elizabeth Bryant, Ph.D. in Energetic Psychology, N.D. candidate, licensed massage therapist, and Diplomat of Holistic Iridology; her work encompasses the concept of Whole Healing Medicine
Where: Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Why: Bryant recently opened the Wellness Center, based out of her adobe home, which is situated on hot springs in this wonderfully unique town known for its healing waters. She designed the recently renovated space (that features flooring crafted from 100-year-old beams) with a dedicated spa treatment room in which she practices Ashiatsu, as well as other massage modalities and energy work.
Organic Spa: Why did you become a wellness practitioner?
Elizabeth Bryant: Elizabeth Bryant: Not unlike many "wounded healers" I grew up in a rather dysfunctional environment, which led me to marry early into yet more tragic circumstances. When that life came to an abrupt end, I had to contemplate my next course. Internally I knew I needed to heal, so I chose the healing arts. I wanted to study balance from the standpoint of Chinese Medicine, so I went to Berkeley, California, and studied the wonderful art form of healing Shiatsu. From there, I went to Aspen, Colorado, where my clientele grew to include senators, producers, and CEO's of large corporations. My work became very much in demand. That was 16 years ago. Always endeavoring to work with the person as a whole, my studies took me around the country. Once I flew to Bay City Texas to spend a week with an 80-year-old midwife who had delivered 976 babies after the age of 60! People like that are my heroes. I feel it is my obligation to learn the old knowledge that I too will pass down one day. After years of education, I began a practice in clinical psychology. What I saw taught me so much about our ability as humans to heal our own life issues. There were many patients in varying degrees of emotional pain, lethargy, and what appeared to be an overall hormonal imbalance. Having struggled with my own health (chronic fatigue) I decided to engage an M.D. We created a profile for the symptoms we saw in the patients and a protocol to balance their biochemistry. Within a short period, patients who had spent years in counseling, hypnosis, and struggle, were smiling, goal-oriented, and solving their own issues rather well. This led me to the biochemistry work I now do in my practice. It is phenomenal and cutting edge.
OS: How do you find balance, and what advice can you share with our readers?
EB: Balance! The key to spontaneous healing! Did you know that the autonomic nervous system has two branches, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic? To be healthy and balanced we need an equal amount of both, challenge and relaxation. Most of us in this society live in a dominate sympathetic mode. That means the adrenals are operating in overload until many of us find ourselves exhausted. What to do? One very simple solution (because getting well is all about simple) is to purchase an inexpensive bag of Epsom salts and sit in warm water for 20 minutes. This does many things, first it creates a negative ionic charge, much like when you are at the ocean, this charge pulls anxiety right out of the body. The salts act as a detoxifier, and here is the exciting part-when we get in water that is 93.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, the autonomic nervous system has no choice but to go into a parasympathetic state within 10 minutes! And of course there is living truth, being in nature, and loving what we do, as well as eating well.
OS: Where do you think the future of wellness is heading?
EB: It's better for me to answer where I would like to see it go. In short, I hope that Natural Medicine will become more unified and Whole System focused-but that's a topic for another time. Where do I plan to be? Well, I will be that old lady you come to, and whatever is ailing you-that is where we will start.
OS: I hear you make a mean smoothie. Would you share a recipe with us?
EB: I use the Vitamix-it's a blender on steroids. With that tool, one is powerful in the kitchen! Here is what I have for breakfast, and what you will have if you come to the Wellness Center. Place all of the ingredients in the Vitamix [or other substantial blender] and blend.