The Physician Heal Thyself Podcast was created because healthcare practitioners do NOT listen to their patients. They are dismissive of things they just “don’t know how to approach”. Instead of saying, “I don’t know, let me look into it, let’s refer you out.” They just dismiss the patient, oftentimes saying it’s “all in their head” or they are “fine”. When truly there is a deeper underlying issue not showing up in the blood work. Imagine if we thought of it as our job as doctors to investigate and research for the person to help them heal!
In this Physician Heal Thyself podcast episode, Dr. Ana Lara, a Naturopathic Doctor, introduces herself and explains the inspiration behind starting this podcast. She shares her personal journey of overcoming illness and finding healing through a holistic approach. Dr. Lara discusses the principles of naturopathic medicine and the different approaches they take to address a person’s health. She emphasizes the importance of integrating spirituality into healing and highlights the role of faith in the healing process. Dr. Lara also addresses the issue of doctors dismissing patients’ concerns and emphasizes the importance of listening and validating patients’ experiences. The next episode will focus on the foundations of health and wellness.
Welcome to Physician Heal Thyself, the podcast empowering you to take a whole person approach to your wellbeing, spirit, soul, and body. Join me your host, Dr. Lara, naturopathic, doctor, entrepreneur, and a servant of Jesus Christ. We are not just a body. We are spirit and soul. It’s time to integrate medicine and spirituality into our healing. Let’s get started.
Hey everyone. Welcome to the first episode of the Physician Heal Thyself podcast. This podcast has been in the making for several years, and I want to start off by first introducing myself. I’m Dr. Lara. I’m a naturopathic doctor, founder and owner of Raices Naturopathic Medical Center here in Phoenix, Arizona. This podcast came as an inspiration because of my patients. I’m used to sitting front in front of people, talking to them about their health and their wellness. And so sitting in front of a camera, let’s just say this is not my forte. I prefer to interact with people one-on-one. However, in my interactions with so many beautiful people that I’ve served over the years, many of them oftentimes ask me one question, and that question is, why is this information not being talked about? Why don’t we learn about it? Earlier on in life, so many times my patients would suggest you should do a podcast. And here it is: Physician Heal Thyself, the Podcast.
You should be on TikTok, you should be on social media. And I’m a bit of an introvert. I love talking to people, but I’m not so much of the social media type of person. However, I was really led this year to take that step and move forward in creating this podcast because I do really see the need that people need information and they need solid information that’s from a credible source. So I love to serve people and help them identify the root causes of disease. So a little bit about myself on why I became a naturopathic doctor, because I get that asked all the time, so I just want to talk about it upfront. I knew I would reach the highest levels of education when I was a young girl, but I never thought or saw myself becoming a doctor, not a physician at least.
And so what led me to this was my own history with illness. By the time I was 27 years old, I found myself at a doctor’s office and would my interaction with the doctor. She was a lovely doctor, she was kind, but she immediately started writing prescriptions to me and handing them to me. And when I asked her, how long do I need to take these for, she said, for the rest of your life. And I don’t know about you, but when someone tells me I need to take these medications at age 27 for the rest of my life, my whole body and soul rejected that idea. And I said, absolutely not. I refuse to live like this. But what did happen was I left that office with one question in mind, and that question was, how did I get myself here? What did I do that led me to disease?
And being in this situation now and that folks was the beginning of exploring my journey of healing, it took me down many, many rabbit holes and many areas of healing, natural and conventional, what worked, what didn’t work. And over many several years, I found little hope really and no real solutions. It wasn’t until I had my first daughter and I decided to stay home with her. And it was in that slow down that time that it took to slow down from the busy life I had as a working professional, always being a student, always being involved in every organization, every community event opportunity that I could contribute. I was doing it all. As many people are in this world now. So I slowed down and I stayed home with my baby. And this gave me the opportunity to really reflect on all the areas of my life.
I started to begin a lifestyle of praying and meditating. I would pray and meditate in the morning and pray and meditate at night. And I was desperate for solutions. I had fatigue. My brain wasn’t on. I had a lot of brain fog, cognitive dysfunctions, and I just didn’t feel well most of the time to the world. I looked normal, I looked healthy, but I was dying inside. And here’s the thing that I never really talked to anyone. I never really told a doctor or a family member or even my spouse about the deep depression that I was in. I just toughed it out, guys like many of you are. We just tough it out and keep pushing. And so that’s what I did. And in one of those days at night that I was ending my meditation, I had a revelation from God. And that revelation seems simple to me now, but at the time, it seemed impossible.
And that message I got was to eat the food that grows on soil, our vegetables, our fruits to eat, whole plant-based foods. I know that many people are doing that now, but in 2011, that to me seemed wild. I laugh about it now, but it just seemed wild to just see plants and not eat anything else. So no processed foods, nothing that came in a bag, a can, not even frozen stuff, all natural foods. So that night I thought, this is ludicrous. How can I do that? I can’t get myself to do that. And I asked God again, give me a clear sign that this is what you want me to do. And the next day I went to my chiropractor’s office and on the wall she had a board, a whiteboard, and she had a message that said, by the way, this was during Thanksgiving week.
And on the board it said, brave is a person who decides to change their diet on Thanksgiving week. And I always identify with being brave and courageous. So I said, that’s me. That’s my message. I’m going to do it. And that same day, I went home, got rid of all the junk in my house, brought the food I needed to eat, and for the next two weeks I was miserable. But after those two weeks, I felt amazing and I just continued that lifestyle of eating healthy foods. I started exercising and my life within a matter of months transformed, lost tons of weight, felt great energy, mood, depression was gone. I was back to being this cheerful person when I was in my younger years. That led me to think how many people out there are struggling the same as I am, struggling or worse? And they’re not getting the help.
They’re not getting the solutions that they need to feel better. How often are their doctors being dismissive of their symptoms and not providing them the solutions and the guidance that they need? And as I thought about how many people in the world are suffering in silence like I was, it boggled my mind. And that’s where the inspiration of becoming a doctor and paying it forward and helping other people, because I knew from firsthand experience what that felt like. I knew what it felt to be ill in a state of disease, and now I knew what it felt like to be healthy. So I went on the journey of going on to medical school, and I did go intentionally to naturopathic medical school for this reason. So I want to talk about what is naturopathic medicine? It is not functional medicine. It is not just botanical medicine.
Naturopathic medicine has a long history and it’s evolved a lot. I want to talk about what is naturopathic medicine and the different approaches that we take when it comes to a person’s health. So one of the things is that I get asked a lot like, are you a real doctor? Well, of course I’m a real doctor, but people don’t know that. So naturopathic doctors the first couple years to get anatomy, biochemistry, pharmacology, microbiology, pathology, pharmacology. Guys, yes, we got to learn our pharmaceutical drugs because if we’re going to prescribe a botanical herb, we need to know what the are. Is it safe? And what can we do when we integrate these two? So we learn to diagnose and we learn to treat the same way that a medical doctor does. In addition to that, early on we start to learn in a clinical setting and also in a classroom setting.
We start to integrate and learn things about botanical medicine, traditional oriental medicines. While acupuncture and cupping, we learn clinical nutrition, which is very different than what a registered dietician works off of. We look at a person’s medical condition and based on their individual medical makeup, we decide what foods are best for them to eat. So it’s really catered to that individual. We also do physical medicine, homeopathic medicine, environmental medicine, mind body medicine, which most medical doctors, they don’t learn. They don’t learn this unless they seek it themselves. So we learn how to work with the mind and body. And then we learn minor surgery, which is something that not many people know that naturopathic doctors, we can do surgery. And I have done surgery, especially during covid. A lot of people didn’t want to go to urgent care or emergency room, and there I was doing minor surgery on my patients.
So we are taught how to integrate all the conventional and all the natural means. And the unique thing about working with a naturopathic doctor is that we take a full history and assessment of a person’s mental health, physical health, trauma in their life because all of these things contribute to illness. And we need to know where are the areas that they need the help the most. So there are six principles of naturopathic medicine that I just adore that are so unique to us. The first one is first do no harm, very common sense. The second is the healing power of nature. And I want to even extend that further to the healing power of God in our lives. Identify and treat the root cause is very important because if you don’t know what you’re treating, then you’re never going to get better. We need to know what is the root cause.
And in some cases, it’s easy to identify and in another situations it takes a while to find out where the root cause is of disease. The fourth principle is doctor as teacher, which is one of my favorites because I love to teach my patients to educate them. So they’re empowered to make informed decisions when it comes to their health and wellness and then treat the whole person. No organ works in isolation. And this is part of the problem of the medical system is that you go to the cardiologist, the gastroenterologist, endocrinologist, and they’re all looking at you in an isolated, but you need a doctor on your side that’s going to look at all of these things and look at all aspects of you, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. And then the sixth one is prevention, which it’s the best form of medicine, is to prevent.
Just because you’re healthy doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the necessary actions that you need to prevent illness. Hey, I work with people with cancer and I always with the rest of my patients, I work on the prevention side because I don’t want them to have cancer. I don’t want to have come see me because they’ve developed a cancer. So what are things that we can do to prevent illness, especially in our younger population? So that’s what naturopathic medicine is, and those are the approaches that we take. So I want to talk about a target audience. I can be very controversial at times. I am kind about it. However, this show might not be for everyone, and that’s okay. I ask that you be respectful in your interactions. If you have questions, comments, great. I do not respond to hate. I don’t have the time and energy for that.
I’d rather use my time and energy for the people that need me the most, my family and my patients. So this target audience is for people who are interested in learning more about this spiritual sense. And when I talk about that spiritual aspect, I’m talking about Jesus Christ as a greatest healer. So there’s many teachings on this, and I want to disclose, I am not a pastor. I’m not a theologian. I’m none of that. But I am someone who studies the word of God. And through the years of my practice, I continue to see the healing benefits, the healing miracles, the transformation that people make when they are making this walk with Christ. So the reason the naming of this podcast physician Heal Thyself was something that it is a biblical verse in the Bible, but in naturopathic medicine, they talked to us about this.
They would say that aside from the six principles of naturopathic medicine, that physician heal thyself should be the seventh. Because as a doctor, I should be applying these principles to my life. And if you’re working with a doctor that doesn’t walk the walk, they’re not doing what they’re telling you to do. It’s being hypocritical. So when I tell my patients to eat a certain way or to exercise or take these herbs or do these things, it’s because I’m doing them myself, and I see the benefit. So physician heal thyself. It’s a parable and it’s a parable in the Book of Luke 4 23. What’s really amazing about Luke, the author of this chapter, is that Luke was a physician and he’s the only physician in the Bible. And I did a little bit of history digging into Luke. He was a very, very humble man, a great man, great servant of God, but he was very humble.
He did not want a lot of people to get attention. I kind of relate to that because I am really hesitating to do these podcasts. I’d rather sit face to face with people, but we’re living in different times where I do feel now the need that a larger audience needs to hear these teachings, these words, this knowledge needs to be attained somehow. So in the Book of Luke, in chapter 4 23, Jesus is out in Capernaum where he is giving, sorry, he’s from Nazareth. I think he goes to Nazareth to give a sermon on the Sabbath day. And everyone hears him and he tells his disciples after he speaks, because now they’re questioning him. Who is this man? Isn’t this the son of the carpenter? They’re trying to diminish who he is in his own hometown. And there’s a lot to say to this. Sometimes you’re not a prophet in your own land, and that affects a lot of people.
When I see their healing, there’s trauma in family, you feel like you’re not being heard, you’re not being seen, you’re not being acknowledged. Well, Jesus wasn’t either, and he was a great healer, a great teacher. He was God in the human flesh. So in verse 23, he says to his disciples, and he said to them, doubtless, you will quote me to this proverb, physician, heal yourself. What we have heard you did at Capernaum do here in your hometown as well. So the people in Nazareth, what they wanted, they wanted Jesus to perform these miracles there. Why wasn’t he performing these miracles in his hometown? And so God doesn’t have to do anything. He’s not a performer. The reason he performed miracles in other towns is because people have faith in him. And so sometimes people want these miracles, these healings to happen, but they don’t have faith and they don’t have hope in anything.
And so if you go in into wanting to heal and you don’t have faith that you can heal, you will not heal. So the mindset and the spiritual aspect is very, very important. So this is a physician heal thyself. It’s not just a doctor that heals themselves. No, not at all. What I want people to know is that each and one of you, that you have your own inner physician, there’s a little inner physician in you, that you can also find healing within yourself, whether that healing is spiritual, whether that healing is physical or mental or emotional. There are ways to heal. You just got to find what works for you. So this podcast, mission and Vision, the mission is to empower people, guys, through educating the world of what it takes to be healthy and well in their life, while integrating all aspects of life spiritually, physically, and mentally and emotionally.
I have seen countless number of patients that come in, they’re eating right, they’re exercising right? They’re doing all the right things, but they still have symptoms of illness. Their blood work is great, imaging is great, but they still don’t feel well. And these individuals, I always ask them, what are you feeding your spirit? What is the soul being fed? What are you doing for these parts of who you are? Because it’s not something that’s outside of you, it’s within you. So what are you doing to nurture this aspect of who you are? And oftentimes, they’re quiet and some will cry because they know that they’re neglecting this part of who they are. And so then those people, I tell them, there’s not an herb. There’s not a medication. There’s not a therapy that can nurture and heal the spirit, so who can heal the spirit?
But the one who created the spirit and that spirit is it’s God only. God knows your complete makeup. He created you, and when he put you in your mother’s womb, he knew who you were. So it would make sense that you would go to the creator to find healing. Just like this laptop here, apple made this laptop. So if I have a problem with this laptop, I’m going to go to Apple. I’m going to take it to an Apple store. I’m not going to take it to hp. I’m not going to take it to another company. I’m going to take it to the one who made it because they’re going to know the ins and outs and what to do to fix it. Same way with us, someone created us. I always tell people, if you don’t believe in God, God doesn’t need you to believe in him in order for him to exist.
So you can choose to believe in God or not believe in God. But I’ll tell you, working with chronic disease conditions, the people who heal the best are those who have faith and hope in a higher power, and that higher power is God. So the vision of this podcast is to reach a large audience, to provide tools and guidance for people who can take control of their health and wellness. Creating a platform to have honest, open, transparent conversations so that people are not manipulated or misinformed. Your doctor gives you suggestions, and it is up to you to take that information and do it or not. So the best thing, especially during these times is for you to inform yourself and make informed decisions and not make decisions out of fear.
I’m excited to continue on with these. Every episode we’re going to be integrating new topics that do encompass conversations on physical health, on mental health, on emotional health, and then the spirituality as well. We’ll talk about some cases, I’ll bring in guests that we can have a conversation. I want it to be conversational. If there’s topics you want to learn more about, share, put comments and let me know what those topics are that you would want me to talk more about. As part of this podcast, I am going to be integrating a segment that is going to be called The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, about our current medical system. So every episode we’ll have one thing that’s good, bad, or ugly about the medical system. And today I want to talk about is something that I hear a lot from my patients, and it just, it’s like nails on a chalkboard for me.
And this is patients who are being dismissed by their doctors. So their doctors are just dismissive. They’re not listening to their patient. The patient is saying, I feel this way, and they’re like, oh, it’s just in your head. Oh, you’re fine. This is really hurtful. So if you’re in the medical field, if you’re watching this, you’re a nurse or a doctor, or you’re in the medical field and you’re interacting with humans, know that this dismissive behavior, it’s really hurtful to your patients, and it makes it very difficult for them to heal when they come into a space that they don’t feel safe and they don’t feel heard. You wonder why a lot of people have high blood pressure when they go into their medical doctor’s office and they’re being checked out. It’s because there’s stress of being in this environment that they don’t want to be part of.
So how about acknowledging listening to the patient that’s in front of you and truly listening to their needs? If you don’t know the answer, then refer them to someone who does know the answer, because the reality is no doctor knows it all. You don’t. I’m constantly learning new things, so I do not like patients when they’re not heard in my office. They are heard and they’re acknowledged, and they’re validated in my space. Hey, I hope you found this information so far helpful. Thank you for joining me today. Make sure to tune in into our next episode, because in the next episode we’re going to talk about the foundations of health and wellness, and I’m excited to share more information with you. Stay blessed, guys.