Holistic Wellness and Healing

by Julie Peterson

A new form of healthcare is emerging at Rooted in the Wild and it doesn’t involve putting band-aids on symptoms. Melissa DeBoer, RN and soon to be Naturopathic Doctor (ND), is on a quest to share a system of healing that involves traditional medicine along with the body’s innate power to heal. She offers her knowledge of Western medicine along with healing through herbs, homeopathic remedies, flower essences, breathwork and ayurvedic modalities.

“I’m fascinated with the wholeness of the body—the physical, spiritual and mental aspects—and determining the root cause of an ailment. It all starts with a consultation and we delve in where we need to go from there,” says DeBoer.

DeBoer does a 90-minute consultation with all new patients to determine what each individual needs. Using muscle-response testing, also called applied kinesiology, she will assess the body. “I also use holistic dialogue, which is asking the right questions in the right order to get to the root cause of what’s going on in the body. These questions delve into the person’s deeper awareness of an issue,” she says.

If the problem in the body turns out to be physical, then perhaps lab tests are ordered and the body can be healed with herbs and homeopathy. If the problem stems from an emotional issue, there could be an attachment in the body that needs to be released. “If it’s a spiritual issue, maybe we work more on the energetic body, like the breathing,” says DeBoer.

Patients that commonly arrive for DeBoer’s care may present with low energy, fatigue, low libido or mysterious pain in the body. The commonality is that it’s often something that can’t quite be figured out. “They have a sense that something is wrong with them, but nobody has been able to determine what it is,” says DeBoer. While leaving the traditional medical paradigm can feel strange, DeBoer’s patients quickly realize that it’s beneficial to shift to whole-body being and to look at all the realms of themselves rather than taking a medication to mask symptoms.

“I see a lot of people who have interesting physical representations such as acne or skin conditions and then we discover further on that it’s actually a liver condition or something quite serious,” says DeBoer, pointing out that it definitely works to uncover the deeper parts of a person to learn where, when and why a condition appeared in order to treat it appropriately.
Naturopathic Consultations may lead to a combination of Eastern and Western medicine with any combination of wellness and healing through Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, nutrition, lab work or herbal and homeopathic remedies. Reiki and light healing touch may be utilized on an individual basis.

DeBoer also offers Sacred Intimacy Consultations for individuals or couples who are ready to revolutionize their sexuality through holistic dialogue, acupressure, somatic practices, breathwork, herbs and flower essences. She also provides Breathwork Therapy utilizing breathing exercises to heal on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level by naturally producing a transcendental state. During these one-on-one sessions, the patient is guided to transform habitual patterns, stored trauma and held beliefs into a state of balance within the body for authentic healing.

DeBoer describes herself as “openly curious” and “a continual seeker of optimizing wellbeing” and likes to point out that patients are invited to ‘come as you are’ because it doesn’t matter if someone is vegan or keto, fit or not fit, drinking kombucha or Coke, there is healing to be had for everyone.

Get to know DeBoer and learn more about her lifelong quest to share vibrant health with everyone at one of her upcoming workshops. On Wednesday, July 13, from 6 to 8 p.m., DeBoer collaborates with a local mushroom forager for the Foraging and Brews Herb and Mushroom Walk. Participants will forage for medicinal plants and fungi along the White Pine Trail to learn about proper identification, medicinal uses and how to incorporate these wild foods into everyday life. On Thursday, July 28, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., DeBoer collaborates with a sound healer for Intro to Breathwork and Sound Healing. The workshop will be a vibrational transformative practice that combines breath with various sound frequencies to allow for healing and balance through vibrational medicine.

Rooted In The Wild is located inside Luminosity,4843 Cascade Rd, Suite 3, Grand Rapids. For more information on services or workshops go online at RootedInTheWild.org or email RootedInTheWild@outlook.com

Julie Peterson writes about health and environmental issues. Contact her at JuliePeterson2222@gmail.com.