Spiritual Soldier
KERRYN PHELPS, AUSTRALIA Apersonal journey made her seek alternative solutions
She had put well-being on the backburner until her body rebelled. A frantic, round-the-clock work schedule, constant travel and late nights as the chief of Australian Medical Association had culminated in a health crisis in 2003. Dr Phelps was rushed to hospital with blood clots filling her lungs. The “brush with death” was a wake-up call. As she overhauled her health and changed her life for the better, she took a hard look at her clinical perspectives and three decades of practice. That led her to other philosophies of healthcare, integrated medicine, combining the best of mainstream medical practices with the most reliable and proven of nature-based complementary medicine. “As a doctor and a patient, I wanted choice and I wanted the best and safest options.”
The author of Ultimate Wellness released in 2013, Dr Phelps talks of achieving one’s greatest potential for feeling well in three steps: Audit, reboot and sustain. “Just as a company assesses its balance of profit and loss, work out where you are going off track,” she says. “Then decide what you are going to change and why. The final step is to sustain those positive changes.” There’s no one single clue to it: It might involve changing your sleeping patterns, quitting smoking, changing your diet, starting an exercise regimen, taking up a hobby, mending or ending relationships, or any combination of actions that enhances your well-being. “Most of us get so busy that we forget to nurture our spiritual side. Finding peace is important,” she adds.