Healing Resides At The Roots of Nature & Touch, and Is Drawn Up By The Eternal Flames of Our Traditions
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.
The first time hearing this song happened exactly at the moment I needed it.
I am sharing this song here as I am sure that we all have those days, where our perception does not reflect the reality. This perception can be expressed by feeling hurt from words (spoken or unspoken) or actions (performed or not performed) that may never mean to hurt us, and still, in our minds, they get a completely different meaning.
Mushlemet – one powerful word in Hebrew that is a combination of so many words in English: perfect/ splendid/ wonderful/ excellent/ complete/ total.
And even though the Hebrew word refers to women, I know we all can relate to the message sent in this song:
You are perfect (mushlemet), just as you are.
It’s just the world, you see,
That may sometimes be a little messed up …..
It’s in Hebrew, but beautiful and worth listening – just click on the song’s name. The words are translated here:
As a Traditional Naturopath, I specialize in relaxation, since I believe that when body is deeply relaxed, it can start healing itself. My main tool (along with castor oil packs, of course..) is reflexology. For me, exploring a person’s feet is like reading the book of their life. There is so much information hidden in feet, which contain these reflexes, that are connected to internal organs, and actually express their story: physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally.
Before delving deeper in reflexology, I would like to take a short detour, talking about our body, since I meet so many people living in fear, that a horrible disease will fall on them. And it keeps amazing me how most of them truly believe that it will be a sudden thing. Really? Are there no signs?
Picture by Amit Shlagman
Truth is that signs do not start at the moment we drop on the floor. Signs start many many years before that: With our first acid reflux. With our first head ache. With our first pain or discomfort any where in the body. Because our body doesn’t speak English (or any other language learned at home or taught at school). Our body speaks to what we Feel. If I feel pain, I must have done something that my body doesn’t like. But what do we do when we feel pain? We take a pill.
So, not only we insult our body with chemicals, we insult our body by not listening. Basically, sending our body a message like: “Hey, you better be quiet there, since I have million and one other things to do, that are much more important than listening to you whining!”
Picture by Amit Shlagman
And we forget that our body is our buddy. Our room-mate. We reside together in the same building. For life. No exchange. No return (yes, even in America!).
The first thing we need to have as room-mates is respect. Respect starts with Listening. When our body talks – we need to listen.
Picture by Amit Shlagman
In my eyes, one of the best ways to listen is reflexology, because it is making the connection between what I do and how I feel. Foot reflexology is described as the study of the areas in the feet, corresponding to all parts of the body, and when being touched they manipulate the corresponding part. Either through our nervous system, meridians, energy pathways, combination of all, or possibly other means.
I believe that reflexology works in two ways, which, at first, may look opposing to each other, but when we understand them better, we can see how they compliment each other perfectly:
First and for most, reflexology deeply relaxes the whole body. With that, it stimulates every cell, every tissue and every organ that are being touched. Nature has a very sophisticated way to teach us how deep relaxation and stimulation work beautifully hand in hand.
When body is deeply relaxed, it can tap into wisdom that resides in our genes. Knowledge that exists in our body and has been descended from generation to generation for thousands of years. Body has the knowledge to deal and heal itself, but we cannot tap into this knowledge when we are busy surviving. We cannot reach this information while our nervous system is in a fight-or-flight mode. We have to bring our nervous system to a very deep state of relaxation in order to utilize this wisdom.
And then we stimulate. This wisdom resides in every cell, every tissue, every organ and is being stimulated with reflexology. This is how our body can start healing itself.
While a reflexology session can be amazingly relaxing, we cannot underestimate the power of self reflexology. As I have witnessed time after time in my workshops, when asking the participants at the beginning of the workshop to work for 2 minutes on one foot, and then place both feet next to each other and compare. It never failed to reveal the liveliness of the foot which was touched versos the dullness of the untouched foot. Only 2 minutes of care can make a remarkable difference. Will all the healing mentioned above happen in one session of self reflexology? Probably not. It is a practice. Like yoga, like meditation, the best is to make it a routine, even for few minutes a day. Then body learns to trust our intentions and opens up to deeper relaxation.
Healing our bodies starts inwards. The more we connect with our body – the more we understand its messages and the more we can be proactive in helping it to create the perfect environment for healing. It is a process. And may be a long one. But truly the most rewarding for each one of us.
“When a flower doesn’t bloom you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”
Alexander Den Heijer
Picture by Amit Shlagman
Further resources:
The complete guide to foot reflexology – Kevin & Barbara Kunz
The family guide to reflexology – Ann Gillanders
The parent’s guide to reflexology – Kevin & Barbara Kunz
“Healing Resides At The Roots of Nature & Touch, and Is Drawn Up By The Eternal Flames of Our Traditions”
~Traditionally Empowered Healing~
As living beings, nourishment is a fundamental need. However, as living beings in our era, we may all be deficient of it. Either deficient of nourishing foods or deficient of nourishing touch.
Nourishing foods are rich in materials that feed our cells and help them function efficiently. But what is nourishing touch? How would it benefit our body?
Picture by Amit Shlagman
Exactly like foods, touch comes in many varieties and not every touch is nourishing. Nourishing touch is most naturally associated with parental (=unconditional loving) touch, as we tend to refer to our parents as nourishing entities. If you want to create such a touch, simply imagine the person you are touching to be your kid, and touch them exactly as you would like your child to be touched.
This kind of touch is not only physical. It is mostly emotional and mental, as we allow our cells to open. Everything we kept closed inside, suddenly has the permission to come to light: Every feeling that we buried, every thought that we concealed, and even memories that we dismissed without processing. Once these memories / thoughts / feelings start to flood us, we have the choice to hide them again or to accept them into our lives.
Any issue we are dealing with requires lots of energy from us. But hiding that issue (mainly from ourselves) requires much more energy, which eventually can deplete our vitality. The wiser (aka older) we grow, the more energy our body requires for daily functions and we have less energy to spare for other purposes.
As we grow wiser, we may feel more exhausted and sense that our body is not servicing us as before. Physical check would be a great venue to take to see what is happening, but along with that, it is imperative to take a deeper look and watch for hidden burdens. Since we are so accustomed to keep moving through our routines, it is not very obvious to us that we may disregard our feelings. When we learn to use our energy in the most efficient way for our body, healing can rise.
Picture by Amit Shlagman
This is a process. A whole new world of inner discoveries. Nourishing touch should be regarded as a practice, like yoga or meditation, in order for our body to start trusting and letting go. The more we nourish, the healthier we get. The closer we are to real things – real food, real touch, real outdoor activities, real relationships, real emotional expression, real/honest reactions – the faster we can approach real healing.
Nourishing our Emotional, Mental and Spiritual aspects is essential. Simply because Physical nourishment is not enough. And Touch will probably cover them all…
In summer 2014 we traveled to Israel to visit our family. It was one of the roughest experiences we have ever encountered, as it was war time. Known as Operation Protective Edge (and/or Operation Strong Cliff and/or Mivtza Tzuk Eitan), The 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict was not a welcoming party for us.
We arrived at 2 am from the airport to my parents house, in Beer Sheva, a city which was under a constant heavy rocket fire. The kids regarded it as a game: every few minutes, when siren went off, they ran along with their cousins to the sheltered room, waiting for the “boom” sound and afterwards exiting the shelter to continue to play their games. This is how the night went on and then the day, as the siren goes off very frequent.
But when the next night has arrived, we needed to go to sleep, and then we realized that it will not be so simple. Kids started to show anxiety signs, fearing they will not be able to wake up if siren goes off. Also, hearing “boom” sounds all around was not helping either. Energy work, calming words, cuddling and any other way we tried to calm them down had no influence. It seemed as we will never sleep again.
Picture by Amit Shlagman
Luckily, I remembered bringing with me special gifts to give to our family and friends to help them relax. I infused vinegar with st. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) and put it in small spray jars to keep in the pocket and spray straight into mouth as needed.
In my despair, I took one spray bottle and spritzed into my kids mouths. Lo and behold!! In less than 30 seconds the kids were sound a sleep. I could not believe my eyes! They completely dropped dead and slept through the night (and woke up when siren went off…).
That summer, no one got any special gifts from me… we have used all these spray bottles constantly through the whole month of the war, and I personally kept using them for more than a year after that.
Picture by Amit Shlagman
Two years later, I have noticed a change in my vision, and could not use my glasses any more. At the vision test, the eye doctor told me that there was a dramatic shift and I do not need glasses any more. From -1.5 (for the past 20 years) it shifted to 0 (!). These news were so incredible and I regarded them as a result of my lifestyle: eating real foods, often castor oil packs, daily Epsom salts baths, regular massages, regular chiropractic care, yoga, meditation, drinking herbal teas and using home-made herbal products on my skin, and probably many more..
So, I decided to try working on my hearing issues, as I suffered from some tinnitus/ringing in the ear since my army service. To my deepest amazement, I realized that for the past year or even more, I did not have any ringing in my ears. Whoa. This made me think about other changes that I made in my life in the past year or two in conjunction with my healthier life style.
Talking with Jim McDonald, a local wonderful herbalist in White Lake MI, he said that st. John’s Wort is known for its abilities to heal nerve damage, many times unnoticeable until long time after healing took place.
At that moment, I fell in love with st. John’s Wort!
Picture by Amit Shlagman
This beautiful plant, with almost magical touch, has so much to offer! Among its many benefits, these are the main ones I use st. John’s wort for, sometimes externally as an oil or a salve, and other times internally as a tincture or a tea:
*****For internal use, if you take any medication, ALWAYS check with your doctor for interactions, especially for depression or muscle relaxant meds*******
Pain is one of the most popular issues that I am using it in my practice. Either internally or externally. Sciatica, joint pain, facial nerve pain, bruises, sprains and more. You can add some meadow sweet, kava kava or solomon seal to the salve and it would be awesome. According to Jim McDonald, adding Mullein root can enhance st. John’s action when dealing with spinal issues. I love to add cayenne and turmeric to my pain salve, just to help carry the st. John’s wort deeper into the body.
Nerve damage or Nerve injury – st. John’s wort has the ability to restore nerve damage. Diabetic neuropathy can be relived, injuries to nerves can be restored, burns and traumas to the skin can benefit from applying it and so many more conditions.
Anxiety – my own experience had brought me to offer the tincture to those who suffer from anxiety. Just carry a small spray bottle with the tincture, either alcohol based or apple cider vinegar based, to spritz when needed.
It has been a life saver for many.
Liver and digestive – st John’s Wort can help the liver detoxify. As a bitter and aromatic it affects the digestive system and aids it to function better. For these purposes I love to use it as tea.
Antimicrobial properties – Awesome for infections of wounds, bites, staph bacteria…
Stagnant depression – As an aromatic plant, it can help in situations where we feel stuck. Add some lemon balm and make a tea that will help you ease out of the perception of reaching a “dead-end”.
St. John’s Wort is a remarkable herb. Even though the oil will probably stain your cloths, I am sure you will keep rubbing it on your injured area until you are healed.
Prepare yourself to fall in love with this amazing herb…
Sleeping is a very important pillar of naturopathy. Sleep enhances our memory, focus, immune system and so much beyond. According to Harvard University: “When we miss sleep in order to keep up with our 24/7 world, we pay a price with our ability to learn, our health and safety, and our quality of life”
Over thinking, over worrying, and living with anxieties may prevent us from either falling asleep or getting a good night sleep to feel rested in the morning.
When we have sleeping issues – our nervous system needs some nourishing attention. We have to be mindful that when nervous system compromises, all other systems compromise as well (digestive, immune, hormonal, reproductive…).
There are many ways to calm the nervous system, but I will share here only one:
Using Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) either as a tincture or as tea, is a very effective gentle way to calm the nervous system. I love the tea version as a great ending to a hectic day – sitting and enjoying a hot cup of tea. Yes, sitting is a huge part of enhancing relaxation… and with it’s great taste, even kids enjoy drinking Lemon balm tea.
Lemon balm tea can be made with fresh or dried herb – simply pour boiling water onto the leaves (usually 1 tsp herbs for 1 cup of water, but you can always increase or decrease the amount of this herb).
As a member of the mint family, lemon balm is awesome with relaxing the digestive system as well as the nervous system. It has antispasmodic qualities soothing both systems. In my experience, drinking it before going to sleep will relax you so much that the only thing you will be able to do afterwards is fall into your bed. I would not recommend serving it to your guests… I did it once, and had my guest falling asleep for 20 minutes on my couch..
The nice thing about lemon balm (and herbs in general) is that it is not causing you to be tired, but it shows you how tired you are, and actually forces you to take an action about it. Trusting that taking breaks from our life missions will actually help us complete these tasks much faster and more efficiently.
Combining this tea with an application of a castor oil pack, when going to sleep, will bring the nervous system to a very deep state of relaxation, which will allow the whole body to recover through the night. ***There is no way I will miss an opportunity to bring up castor oil – The most amazing natural remedy ever!! I have been using it for the past 7 years profoundly, and all my sessions include a castor oil application, of course… Cannot emphasize enough how wonderful these packs are!! email me if you need instructions.***
It may take your nervous system few days to adjust and trust your nourishing efforts, and therefore, you may want to set a routine of daily drinking the tea and applying the castor pack for at least a week or two. Watch for minor changes. Don’t look for the extreme. Look for these little, subtle shifts, that may actually save your life in the long run. For example, watch your reactions to the events around you . watch your mood. watch your thoughts before you go to sleep. Has anything change? are you less reactive? are you happier? are you feeling lighter? are you more focused in your actions? are you thinking more clearly? Small steps, but what a difference they make!
Beyond relaxation, lemon balm has also antiviral qualities, and it is amazing with cold sores. Lemon balm can both lessen the severity and speed the healing of an acute attack and, when taken regularly, can prevent future outbreaks (from Rosalee de la Foret’s Website). I love to use it in my lip balm, as a preventive and as a lip healer.
As a mint, it would be also great for fevers and coughs as well.
Lemon balm is such a marvelous plant. It is regarded as a safe herb for kids and adults. There are some warning about its use with those who have hypothyroid issues, so, if you do have hypothyroid worries, you may want to consult your physician. Also, if you are taking any medication, you may want to consult your physician for any interactions as well.
With its great tasting, even if you have no issues with your sleep, you may still wish to try a lemon balm tea.
Sleep tight!!
Traditionally Empowered Healing LLC 