Author: Anat Shlagman Traditional Naturopath

Anat Shlagman is a Traditional Naturopath and founder of Traditionally Empowered Healing LLC (Trad Em). With a practice established in 2012, Anat developed a unique session to relax the autonomic nervous system, creating the right environment for the body to heal itself. Her work dives deep into the root causes of physical, emotional, and mental conditions. Her unique session, Trad Em®, is combined of Castor oil packs on abdomen and chest, Reflexology, Lymphatic massage on areas covered with castor oil and embedded in Trance Mediumship Healing Energy and is designed to bring the autonomic nervous system to its parasympathetic state (peace response). Following her belief that, when body reaches this very deep state of relaxation it can start healing itself, this session shows great benefits to those who suffer from digestive issues, depression, anxiety, any type of feet pain/issues, joints issues, autoimmune issues and any other condition that cannot be resolved by the medical establishment. When realizing that castor oil packs have an amazing impact when applied on the abdomen and complimented with herbal infused oils, Anat has developed a longer session (Special Condition Session), successfully targeting more conditions, as frozen shoulder, arthritis, depression, autoimmune, digestive, soft tissue injuries, pain, sciatic issues, nerve injuries and more. While each case is individual and each person responds to the session differently, improvements have shown with many patients after the first session. Anat’s sessions delve deep into the root cause of any condition – may it be physical, emotional or mental. A profound change is being manifested through the session and is clearly felt by the person on the table. This change generates the beginning of whole healing. In 2023, Anat started implementing in her sessions Trance Mediumship Healing, as she is continuously learning from Chris Ratter, Psychic Surgeon. This type of Energy Healing created a very unique combination of Energy guided touch which tremendously enhanced her sessions. Born in Romania, Anat’s family has moved to Israel when she was 5. In 1990 Anat graduated high school and joined the Israeli mandatory military service for 2 year. She has achieved her BA in Health Services Management in 1997 and her MBA in Business Management in 2002, both from Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva Israel. Moving to Michigan in 2004, Anat quit her 6-year job as a project manager in Ramat-Gan municipality, overseeing the computers’ hardware and software in the municipality public schools, becoming a full-time mom and wife. In 2005, Anat has become a Reiki master and a holistic practitioner, employing energy healing among her family and friends. In 2014 she graduated as a Traditional Naturopath from the Naturopathic School of the Healing Arts in Ann Arbor, completing a 3-year Diploma Program. Adopting the Traditional Naturopathy approach, Anat and her family went through many lifestyle changes seeking a healthier way of living. This included eating real foods rather than processed, utilizing ways to relax mind and body, introducing herbs as food and medicine and much more. These changes brought Anat’s family to a whole new level of health, including weight loss, increased energy levels and clarity of the mind. Experiencing these amazing shifts, Anat became passionate in helping families and individuals go through changes, which sometimes regarded impossible, to support higher levels of health. In 2014, Anat conducted a 6-month research, with a group of 7 women, showing that improving digestive issues will improve many other conditions in the body, as skin conditions, depression, aches and more. These women have gone through a major transformation. While stabilizing their eating habits, these women’s digestion system has improved, and many other changes occurred – Inflammation decreased, weight lost, relaxation occurred, cravings lessened, aches disappeared, and many more. In 2016, Anat took Lindera – Herbalist Jim Mcdonald’s Herbal intensive – enriching her understanding of herbs, and their assistance with healing our body. In 2017, Anat accomplished 800 hours of massage and advanced medical massage training at Flint School of Therapeutic massage, achieving her license to touch. Since then, Anat kept developing her sessions, and in 2023 she started learning with Chris Ratter, Psychic Surgeon , deepening her understanding of Spirit Energy healing. As a mother of three, Anat realized that in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle it is more productive being Relaxed rather than being Perfect. Therefore, she designed her sessions, her workshops and her herbal remedies to fit each person’s individual situation, working to Encourage minor (almost invisible) changes in one’s life, which have been showing an amazing long-lasting healing effect with many.

Castor oil, Commitment to self, Healing Environment, Nervous systen, Nourishment, Parasympathetic

Waiting for Surgery and Wondering What Else You Can Do Besides Worrying?

March 13, 2026March 13, 2026 Anat Shlagman Traditional Naturopath

A surgery, or any invasive procedure, large or small, places stress on the body. Often, in the days leading up to a scheduled operation, you may be left waiting while your thoughts fill up with worries and “what-ifs,” yet with little you actively do. This mental tension can intensity the overall stress of the experience, which in turn will lock your nervous system into a survival mode.

Assuming that your nervous system was not too relaxed before you scheduled your surgery and now locked in a survival mode, you may perceive any situation that you are facing as a threat or a personal attack, which cannot be beneficial to the upcoming procedure. What if, instead, you choose to settle your nervous system into a deep relaxed state, which will allow your energy to be directed towards healing and preparation rather than towards worries and desperation?

You might be wondering how you can relax your nervous system now, in a time that everything is uncertain in your own body, not to mention in the whole world? Or possibly wondering if it would be even possible to do it?

I am very much certain that you can do it, but before we begin, I want to ask you to take a moment to make a conscious decision that your mission is to work together with your own body to prepare it for this surgery (or any other upcoming event in your life, including living). If you have a partner in your life or someone close who plans to be with you through this upcoming procedure, you may consider inviting them to do this with you, as their nervous system might need some relaxation as well.

There are countless of ways to relax your nervous system. I will share here few ideas that could be productive as you prepare for a surgery. You are welcome to explore them and add your own to this list. With that said, keep in mind that choosing just one idea and following through with it will be far more beneficial than staring at the entire list and telling yourself there’s too much to handle and you can’t possibly get it done…

Nourishment
Nourishment means supplying your cells with the materials they need in order to function in their most efficient way. When you do so, your body learns to trust that there is no need to stress about food supply and thus your nervous system relaxes. Many real foods can nourish your cells, however, if this is not your practice, you may get discouraged to make changes through out such a sensitive time.

But what if you add only one thing to your meals, without changing a thing? What if you begin one of your meals (or 2 or all of your meals) with a cup of chicken soup / bone broth?

There are so many reasons to eat this soup daily, regardless to any circumstances. Beginning with its fats which nourish your nervous system and calming down your fight-or-flight response. Continuing with its gelatin which calms digestive disorders; and its collagen which protects your joints, ligaments, & skin; and its minerals; and its nourishing properties for basically everything you could ever imagine!!

You are welcome to use my recipe or make your own.

Make it a point to do all you can to nourish your body.

Castor Oil Packs
Castor oil, a very thick oil derived from the castor bean (Ricinus communis) seed, has been praised for many benefits. Among them: Decreasing inflammation, Increasing circulation of blood and lymph thus enhancing the immune system, Improving elimination of toxic substances, Promoting tissue healing, Decreasing pain, Lubricating ligaments, Improving digestion, Easing many conditions including uterine fibroid, non-malignant ovarian cysts, endometriosis, headaches, migraines, constipation, intestinal disorders, gallbladder/liver conditions, and probably many more.

All of these are awesome and extremely important for preparation to a surgery. But the most beneficial quality of the castor pack is relaxing your nervous system when applied on your belly. As messy as you may find it, your nervous system will very much thank you!!

You are welcome to use my instructions or do the packs any way that works for you.

Make it a point to create a daily anchor for your nervous system to relax, regardless to any events occurring that day.

Rest
According to Harvard university, sleep enhances memory, immune system, focus, improves mood and provides vitality for us to be productive. But when you prepare for a surgery, your mind might be filled with worries and concerns which may prevent you from getting a good night sleep. Here are few suggestions to help you calm down your racing mind:

* Drinking a cup of Lemon balm tea (Melissa officinalis) can be wonderful before bed. Prepare another cup next to your bed in case you wake up in the middle of the night and cannot fall back to sleep.

* Taking one deep, long breath can change your mind-set for that moment. Be mindful to expand your belly as you inhale and let it soften as you exhale. Taking just a few breaths like this can be truly life changing.

* Listening to a short, guided meditation – easily can be found on YouTube or any meditation app, can help your mind shift. One that I do daily, and shared here before, is Sitting in the power, led by Chris Ratter, Psychic Surgeon:

Make it a point to do everything in your power so you can sleep and restore.

Spend Time Outdoors
Take the time to be outside. If you are able to walk – find a nice trail to walk daily. If walking is hard – sit on your porch or find a nice bench in your area to spend 30 minutes sitting there. Dress for the weather and just breath. This will help you reset your nervous system and will have a great effect on your sleep as well.

Make it a point to enjoy your time outdoors.

Take on fewer commitments
Even when you believe that something you are committing to do will take only a few minutes and will not be a burden on you, consider not to make this engagement. Use the time to do only things that serve you. This might not be an easy task for you to do. If so, fill up your calendar with commitments to your own health and healing journey (hopefully including some of the above suggestions), leaving no room for any other distractions. It will make it much easier to say NO when your calendar is full.

Make a point to preserve your energy to yourself only and not spread it out carelessly.

Pray
Whether from your heart or from your prayer book, a prayer will give you the confidence that you are never alone, and that you are always protected. Make it a point to trust that everything you experience is happening for your highest good and will turn out better than you can ever imagine.

Your body deserves your full attention and attendance, regardless to any scheduled procedures or surgeries. Make it a point that, when you prepare for something that is beyond your usual routine, you will give your body the best possible opportunity to provide you with the best possible outcome. Keeping in mind that doing just one thing will always be more than doing nothing or just sitting and worrying! Your body will thank you! And you will feel it!! May everything turn out better than you ever expected!

If you ever need my help, don’t hesitate to reach out—we can work together to fine-tune the best path forward for your unique situation.

Energy Healing, energy work, healing, Self Heal, Spirit Healing, Trance Mediumship, Workshops

Trance Development and Healing Sessions with Chris Ratter in Michigan

March 8, 2026March 8, 2026 Anat Shlagman Traditional Naturopath

We are excited to announce that Chris Ratter, Psychic Surgeon & Trance Healer from Edinburgh, Scotland will be back in Michigan for a Trance Development & Healing 2-day Workshop and Private Healing Sessions in April 11-15, 2026. Chris’s visits in 2024 and 2025 have been a phenomenal success with wonderful feedback about improved health, relieved digestive issues, exceptionally well healing of broken bones, relieved emotional issues, fertility and more.

We are very excited to plan for
April 11-15, 2026!!

Chris is a gifted healer and trance medium, traveling the world sharing his gift. His workshops are open to all those who are interested in learning mediumship and healing – all levels. His private sessions are open to everyone who struggles with a health issue and seeking healing.

Workshop will take place at
Hampton Inn Commerce/Novi – just off M5, near the Commerce Costco.
The Private sessions will take place at Traditionally Empowered Healing office in Franklin, MI.

All details and RSVP in the link below:

Trance Development and Healing Sessions with Chris Ratter in Michigan

Looking forward to seeing you all!!!!

Anat

Blog, Commitment to self, healing, Healing Environment, Nervous systen, Reset, Self Heal, Self Love

What If You Were a Healer?

December 17, 2025 Anat Shlagman Traditional Naturopath

Thinking about the word “healer”, we might find ourselves living in a misconception, backed up by the Oxford dictionary definition, that a healer is “a person who seeks to cure diseases or heal injuries by means other than conventional medical treatment”. This definition implies that the body is an object that requires a healer to engaged in the mission of actively healing it. Is that so? Does your body have no abilities other than waiting for someone to heal it?

What if your body already knows how to heal itself but lacks the proper environment to do it? What if a healer was the one who creates the environment for your body to heal, while trusting your body’s wisdom to do the work, without actively engaging in healing it? What if you could create that environment for your body? What if you were a healer?

When you accept yourself as a healer, you have one mission only – to nurture the environment for your body to heal itself. You do not need to actively heal your body. All you need to do is to create the environment so your body can reach the wisdom which is embedded in its genes to heal itself.

What would that environment be? Each body is different, thus each one of us will have individual needs. In order to understand your unique needs, best would be to open a line of communication between you and your body.

Pain or discomfort are the most common communications you would receive from your body, signaling you to pay attention to your actions, since something you do is not making your body comfortable. When you tend to the pain by checking what went wrong, your body will know that you are available to listen.

What could go wrong that might bring pain to your body?
Everything you can possibly imagine, in every aspect that you can possibly perceive – physically, emotionally or mentally.

Here are some examples to explore, feel free to venture into any other idea that will pop into your mind:

Starting with the Physical possibilities – can your body thrive with what you supply, or just survive?
1. Nourishment & hydration – what’s on your plate and in your cup?
2. Resting – How deep is your sleep?
3. Movement & touch – Are you tending your body with physical activity and physical touch?

Continue with the Emotional possibilities- can your body thrive with the way you feel, or just survive?
1. Love – Are you in a loving and caring environment – at home, at work, in life?
2. Anxiety/fear/stress – Are your demons controlling you?
3. Social – Do you feel surrounded by like-minded friends or feel lonely with no one to engage in a deep meaningful conversation?

Following with the Mental possibilities – can your body thrive with your perceptions or just survive?
1. Values – Can you protect your values or need to compromise them when conflicted?
2. Space – Are you giving yourself priority space on your to-do list?
3. Believes – Are the believes you hold created by society’s expectations or authentically generated according to your values?

Taking the time to ask yourself if your body thrives or survives is the first step as a healer to understand which environment your body needs in order to heal. Answering honestly without judgment will allow your body to open up and reveal it needs.

But what if you, probably like 99% of the people in the world, find that you have too many issues to address in order to be able to create your healing environment? This might be a bit discouraging, prompting you to face two opposing options:

Making the decision to ignore it all and continue your life as before without any changes.
Making the decision to start a slow process of change. This can be done by writing down a list of your issues, then choosing one issue from your list to address.

The freedom to make choices carries the heavy toll of owning the consequences of your actions: whatever you choose – you are the one who has to live with it. Yet, when your decision is made after you take the time to listen to your body, you might find it more motivating to choose to start a slow process of change, rather than ignoring it all.

Once you made the decision to start a slow process of change, you become a healer. Always remember that your exclusive role as a healer is to create the right environment for your own body to heal itself. You do not need to heal your body, nor your family/neighbors/friends’ bodies! Only focusing on the environment that your own body needs.

Will that be fast? Probably not. Will that be easy? Definitely not. This is a journey. Each one of us is a healer! Each one of us can create the environment for our own body to heal. And by doing so, each one of us can set the example for our families, neighbors and friends to follow our lead, tending to their own personal environments for their bodies to heal.

If you are not sure how to begin your journey, I invite you to come in for a session to reconnect with your own body, understand the environment that your body needs and realign your healing plans.

This holiday season, I am holding the prayers for each one of us to open ourselves to listen to our own body and spread light into the world from our own healing environments.

Wishing you all heart-filling holidays and a healing new year ahead!

Blog, Castor oil, Commitment to self, healing, Nervous systen, Nourishment, Parasympathetic, Reset, Self Heal, Self Love, Workshops

Can We Let All Storms Pass Alongside Us and Not Through Us?

October 3, 2025October 3, 2025 Anat Shlagman Traditional Naturopath

These days, it looks as if our world is filled with storms: Political storms, medical storms, human rights storms, and any other agenda the mind can invent and turn into a storm…

Mysteriously enough, these storms seem to have the tendency to become a whirlpool that uproots and swirls us until we are slowly striped from our own personalities. It feels that in our panic of the storm, we act as if the only way to survive it is to let the storm peel away everything we have, and many times, after it passes, we might regret and re-think our actions.

Could there be a different way to survive a storm? A way in which we trust that our own personalities are worth standing rooted while letting the storm pass alongside us instead of swirling everything within while it passes through us?

Of course there is a way! But this way is not granted! An effort needs to be made to keep us strong facing a storm. I will explain how this can be done, but beforehand, let’s understand why we want to do so.

Remembering the legacy of Hersh Polin Goldberg, RIP, an American-Israeli 23 yrs old, who was kidnapped on October 7th, 2023, and was murdered along with 5 other young Israeli hostages while held captive for 11 months in the tunnels of Gaza. In his page-turner must-read book, “Hostage”, Eli Sharabi tells his own story and reflects how Hersh inspired every hostage he met with his famous sentence: “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how.’” Eli Sharabi, who was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri, held onto his own ‘why’ – returning to his British-Israeli wife and 2 teenage daughters – for 491 days, then was released from captivity only to discover that they were murdered on Oct 7th, 2023. May they all Rest in Peace.

Back to our storms, looking for our own, much less intense ‘whys’ to let storms pass alongside us without allowing them to pass through us. I will note here my thoughts, examining what is building our character and personality. Feel free to add as many of your thoughts as you need.

WHY?

Our character is made of critical thinking skills, which help us decern what benefits us and what does not. We operate these skills by asking questions. Keeping in mind that every question is relevant, when we are swept off into a stormy swirl, we might feel that our questions are dismissed without a satisfactory answer. Then, we might feel lost or even irrelevant.
Our uniqueness is part of our personality. Every decision we make, about our health, our money, our life, should be made in accordance with our unique needs, regardless to the popular (maybe even engineered) opinions about it. When we are swept off into a stormy swirl, while our unique necessities are mostly lessened, we might experience an unhealthy internal conflict between our physical, emotional and mental states, which can lead us to depression and/or physical illness.
Our own values are the foundational building blocks of our character and personalities. When we are swept off into a stormy swirl, we might feel that our values are compromised, maybe even to the level we feel as our whole self is being diminished. And this as well could lead to a physical or mental illness.

All of these sounds very gloomy, and many times we choose to disregard and continue our lives as if none of them exist. If you choose to do so and you are happy and healthy, then all is great. However, if you are not truly happy and not truly healthy, I would like to invite you to read further unfolding my opinion on how to make a brave decision to stop being swept into a stormy swirl.

How?

First and foremost, we need to tend our nervous system, and it is our window to the world. We act and react to everything that is happening around us through the state of our nervous system. The more our nervous system is on a survival mode, the more automatic and repetitive will be our response. When we succeed to relax our nervous system and take it out of its survival state, we can make time to create new plans of actions, which are more beneficial and upon repeating they can become automatic as well.

As I explain in my article, The Art of Healing Yourself, we have to create the environment for our body to meet its survival needs, in order to relax our nervous system: “What are these survival needs? Think about babies – what do they need? To sleep, to eat, to be touched, to be soothed, to be clean, to move and to learn how to coexist with others in the world. We may have grown out of our baby stage, but our needs have not changed. However, now, we are engaged with so many responsibilities which have become a priority over our basic needs.
Here begins our part as self-healers, by tending to our basic needs and helping our body meet them. How can we do that? Simply by going back to basics – returning to all the actions that we usually skip through our busy life. These actions are also known as the pillars of Traditional Naturopathy: Nourishment, Bodywork, Rest/sleep, Energy work, Herbal medicine, Hydrotherapy, Education, and Movement.”

Could a castor oil pack make a difference here? I have no doubt about it!!!!!

Is it worth all the trouble just to be able to allow the storm pass alongside you? I cannot make this decision for you. I can only advise to look back at your “why” list and decide from there. My journey, learning with great effort how to stand tall alongside storms, helped me understand, that even though my values and beliefs are different than anyone else’s, they are never less valid. And this is what I preach and teach ever since.

If you need my assistance to learn how to shine your wonderful personality and never allow any storm to diminish it, contact me. I am happy help!

And if you are around on November 9th, 2025, you are invited to a special hands-on event, led by Ariana Buksdorf and me, at the Hampton Inn Commerce Novi. All details in the following link: The Art of Caring for Self.

Always remember that a change is never easy, and it will happen only when you feel that you are ready for it. As we open the new Jewish year, may it be filled with blessed changes to lift us up to our best possible lives, and may we always find the strength to allow every storm to pass alongside us without swiping us up into its swirl!!!!!

Blog, Castor oil, Commitment to self, healing, Nervous systen, Parasympathetic, Self Heal, Self Love

Is Your Liver the Best Place to Apply a Castor Oil Pack?

July 23, 2025July 23, 2025 Anat Shlagman Traditional Naturopath

Many of you ask me where exactly the castor oil pack should be applied. The confusion comes from online suggestions to apply it on your liver (meaning on your right side, just below your ribcage).

Convincing as these suggestions may be, you are not always sure if you should listen to the net or choose a different area of your body for the castor application to maximize the benefits…

Before sharing my opinion, I would like to take a moment to review what all the fuss about castor oil is. Castor oil, a very thick oil derived from the castor (Ricinus communis) seed, has been praised for decades for its numerous benefits. Among them:

Easing various conditions as uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, headaches, migraines, constipation, intestinal disorders, gallbladder/liver conditions…
Improving digestion and elimination of toxic substances
Increasing circulation of blood and lymph and Decreasing inflammation
Enhancing fertility along with liver and immune function
Lubricating ligaments and Decreasing pain
Promoting tissue healing

Even though it’s long and includes many benefits, this list might be leaving out the most beneficial act of the castor oil: Whole-Body Activation by relaxing your nervous system.

The term castor oil pack is a fancy label to application of the oil on the skin, covering with a cotton towel or a flannel cloth and topping with a hot water bottle or a heating pad.

And yes! You can apply your pack on your liver, on your chest, on any sore joint and basically anywhere on your body including your belly button, with one caveat – the understanding that this will provide local lubrication of the treated tissue and nothing beyond! This lubrication will stimulate the applied tissue and encourage it to become engaged in its own healing, which is truly wonderful, and I do it all the time.

BUT…

What if castor oil packs can do more than local engagement? What if they can benefit you more than the described above?

What if Castor oil packs can provide a Whole-Body Activation by relaxing your nervous system, allowing your whole body to heal itself?

What is a Whole-Body Activation by relaxing your nervous system? This is a mechanism where your whole body becomes involved in its own healing, starting from shifting your autonomic nervous system into its parasympathetic deep relaxed state, and following through with a systemic transformation in every cell of your body.

How can you get this benefit?

Simple!!!

This activation will take place when you apply the castor oil pack on your entire belly – in the area from the edge of your ribcage to the pubic hair.

When applying the castor oil pack on the belly, the oil lubricates and stimulates all the tissues, organs and systems in this region. Along with that, the heat draws the blood vessels up closer to the skin as they vasodilate, and oil is being absorbed into the blood circulation as well, thus distributed through the whole body.

Lubricating and stimulating organs as the small intestine, bladder, colon, liver, uterus, which are part of systems that are inhibited when your body is under stress (when your autonomic nervous system functions at its sympathetic / fight-or-flight state), signals the nervous system to shift to the deep relaxed state – parasympathetic state.

Surprisingly enough, internal processes are very similar to the external world. You can think of the autonomic nervous system as expressing itself in one of two possible responses: War or Peace.

War response relates to the sympathetic state of your autonomic nervous system or the fight-or-flight state. When in war, your body is concerned with only one thing – survival. Every action it takes is meant to keep you standing on your own two feet. Nothing else, regardless to how much your body needs to compromise to accommodate it!! Your body may not even know that something is wrong, simply because it doesn’t have the energetic budget to check what is happening.

Peace response relates to the parasympathetic state of your autonomic nervous system or the rest-and-digest state. When in peace, the energetic budget opens, providing the means to detect and correct what needs your attention.

Bringing your nervous system to the parasympathetic state provides a Whole-Body Activation, which will create the environment for your body to start healing itself, no matter what conditions you are suffering from.

In my personal opinion, a Whole-Body Activation is the most important benefit of the castor oil packs. I have witnessed and experienced so many miraculous healings just from applying the castor packs on the entire belly.

Now sit back and imagine how wonderful it would be to combine it all – apply a castor pack on your belly for a Whole-Body Activation and add as many other castor packs as you wish on any area that needs your attention, for local engagement of the tissue to heal.