What gets you up in the morning?
Our eight year old son Nikko who is a very early riser! He runs into our bedroom at 6h30am at the latest. If Nikko wasn’t waking me up it would be breakfast. We love breakfast, and like to wake up and cook and eat together – it’s the most important meal of our day for family time and we’ll allow at least 30 minutes. We leave the table happy and full of physical and mental energy for the day.
If you had to describe what you do in a sentence…
I am an integrated holistic osteopath who constantly tries to be as broad as possible in the way I approach my diagnosis and as specific as possible with my treatments.
What makes you an expert in your field?
My Love for it. The intellectual and physical stimulation of the quest to reach a working diagnosis and the reward that comes when I have treated someone successfully. Even though I am known for being an expert in women’s health I really want to stress that I am a holistic integrated osteopath who sees patients from two weeks’ old to 104 years old. Male, female, toddlers or anyone suffering from functional disorders.
When and how did you receive your calling?
My mum and grandmother tell me I always wanted to be in the medical field. I went to medical school, but when I was 20, I found myself drawn to a more holistic approach – no doubt because I was treated by holistic practitioners and osteopaths throughout my childhood.
“I feel that if you keep seeking introspectively and find what and who you are, you will be on the best path to a healthy living.”
What is the most misunderstood thing about your profession?
Most people like to put other people in boxes to identify them. So the recurring questions are… “What is the difference between an osteopath and a physio or chiro?” or “Osteo”path…. is that for the back?” or “That’s cracking backs, right?” or It’s bones, right?” They are not bad questions but they are so restrictive to what an osteopath is. I think it is partly due to our name. Andrew Taylor Still who invented it at the end of the 1800’s didn’t know Latin (he was an engineer not a linguist) and so chose the word “osteopathy” thinking it best described a treatment using the skeleton or bones, but really “osteopathy” means pathology of the bone, which doesn’t best explain what we do.
If there was one thing you could pass on to everyone, what would it be?
The best advise is a Delphic maxim inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi – Gnothi Seauton – or Know Thyself. I feel that if you keep seeking introspectively and find what and who you are, you will be on the best path to a healthy living.
What one thing should we stop doing now?
I know it is very now after the success of documentaries like “What the Health” and “Cowspiracy” but I think that it is fundamental to our health and to the health of our planet to stop eating meat, or at least farmed meat. Not only it is better for preventing cardio-vascular disease but it reduces inflammation in the body.
What one thing should we start doing now?
Eat more vegetables! We need to make a true commitment to small organic farms and towards our health. Spend 30-60 minutes a week to educate yourself. It is worth it. Education doesn’t stop when school finishes, it is merely the beginning. We are the luckiest human beings in terms of accessibility to resources but somehow we behave thoughtlessly as a society? It is an issue I would like to understand and tackle if possible. I believe it is individual education followed by action that can help us all.
What is your “ikigai”?
Seek introspectively and start the journey towards Love and happiness. Enjoy the beauty, and good feelings, that come with having healthy relationships with others and with nature, and thus enhance an optimally functioning body.
To learn more about Boniface, visit: vchealthpractice.com