by Kristin Zanotti, Naturopath
For many of us the pace of life has slowed considerably offering beautiful opportunity to move with the season of Autumn, a time of transition, a time to honour our need for rest and regeneration. However, it is not all garden beds, stock making and the bliss of creativity. The shadow side of social isolation brings many challenges that can have significant impacts on mental health – financial, lack of hugs (and all that oxytocin a real hug can release), fear of illness, dealing with bored children and not having access to the everyday joys – cuppa catch ups, gym, dance class, pottery class etc.
The financial repercussions of COVID-19 are really only just beginning and will reverberate through society for months to come, bringing up fear and vulnerability for many, in a very real way. Our base chakra holds patterns of fear, scarcity, sense of not enough and are being triggered big time for many at present. This can also trigger deeper unresolved base chakra such as being unsupported in any way, or fear of not having base needs met. Manifestations may include feeling anxious and ungrounded, distracted, shallow breathing and reaching for comfort – food, alcohol or loosing self in social media. Digging a little deeper, there is an opportunity to reach for empowerment- through mindfulness, mediation and seeking support to work with any feelings arising.
Having a health team can be invaluable in truly moving into a state of holistic wellness – mentally and physically.
As naturopaths, we can offer a full holistic assessment with herbal and nutritional support considering all factors that can impact mental health. Offering relief from symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia and pain, to gut health, immune function, hormone health and a full diet/lifestyle assessment. Working in with our integrative doctors we can get a good assessment through blood testing, hair mineral analysis and functional testing (deeper assessment of hormones/neurotransmitters/gut health/body metabolism) to give you support. We also offer pathology testing at The Health Lodge now, saving trips to the pathology labs.
Your local GP or one of our wonderful doctors – Dr Igor Trabizian and Dr Oscar Serrallach can also help you with a mental health care plan to allow subsidised sessions to work with our psychologists. These consultations are run over Telemedicine and offer generous Medicare rebates. At The Health Lodge we offer a wonderful opportunity to holistically manage mental health in a dynamic way as our naturopaths, doctors and psychologists all work together.
Psychologists are offering appointments with Telehealth, many offering subsidised sessions or if needed bulk billed sessions. Whilst a little adjustment is needed to have your consult online it actually works wonderfully well, almost as if you are in a room together. Our psychologists at The Health Lodge include Simon Dubois, Cara Wong and Diedre Middlehurst – our wonderful admin team can guide you to the therapist most suitable for you – catering for all ages and using a variety of assessment tools and techniques.
There is a powerful shift going on worldwide and we are indeed moving into a brave new world. Although isolated at present, in some regards globally we have never been more connected as we experience this pandemic together. Stay virtually connected to all the people and things that give you joy and use this opportunity to deep dive, take stock and realign to live your authentic purpose. Peace and Blessings, Kristin – Integrative Naturopath.
