The Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-09-24, Page 17• Entertainmet • Features
'Religion • Family • More
SECTION
Quest for eal _Centre
POSTSCRIPT
provides holistic health care, Yag��s`�ryptic
advice will
Medical technology will work with natural healing for patients
awareness of how closely we're linked to
the soil. Our attitude to our food supply is
important. If we understand that, we'll
make what we put into our mouths a priori-
ty," he says.
He says that nutrition is one area that's
been neglected in medical teaching.
The soil and crop management practices
used at Quest for Health will be
documented and used as educational.
material which will be published in the
centre's quarterly newsletter.
"It's important to prove something, to
show people it' can be done," he says.
Quest for Health's clinic will be a facility
for both in -patients and out-patients. The
in -patients will be mostly those suffering
from diseases like cancer and multiple
sclerosis which modern medicine has not
had the answers for.
"We'll be the only holistic in-patient
facility that I know about in North
America which is pretty exciting," he
says.
A large group of therapists from all sorts
of fields will be on staff including medical
doctors with hospital privileges, nurses,
chiropractors, naturopaths and
homeopaths, colon therapists, massage
therapists, physiotherapists, psycho
therapists and iridologists.
Other therapies include reiki, polarity,
cell biology, emotional, spiritual and
physical counselling, muscle testing, her-
bology, music, color and magnetic therapy
and acupuncture.
BY SUSAN HUNDERTMARK
Five years ago, Armand Roth, of
Shakespeare, was the victim of a terrible
farm accident when his belt caught on the
machinery of a manure spreader and he
was pulled through the machine.
The spreader ripped off his winter
clothes and he suffered multiple fractures
including two broken arms, broken facial
bones and third degree burns on much of
his body.
During a series of operations, doctors
put him back together again. Still, the doc-
tors Warned him he'd never be able to use
his arms or work again.
When medical avenues took him as far
as they could, Roth turned to alternative
healing methods. He paid close attention to
nutrition eating only food he knew would
help strengthen his body. He used an
ionizer to purify the air in his hospital
room. He constantly worked his muscles to
strengthen thein using both hospital
physiotherapy and his own exercises.
And, most importantly, he used his faith
in the healing power of the universe by im-
agining his bones healed as one and
himself as healthy and strong again.
Though the doctors had fixed the frac-
tures in his arms, there was still an inch of
bone missing in his left arm at his wrist.
By the time the burns healed on his ab-
domen and the doctors were prepared to
take a piece of bone from his hip to replace
the missing inch, they were amazed to find
that his body had grown the inch of bone
and the operation was unnecessary.
They were also amazed that after his
ordeal through the manure spreader and
during his six month stay in the hospital
with third degree burns, Roth didn't have
one infection. He attributes the lack of in-
fections to the three day water fast he was
following prior to the accident.
Today, he's the president of the board of
directors for Quest for Health at RR2
Bayfield, a holistic health care centre
:where medical technology will work in
cooperation with natural healing methods
towards the overall well-being of the
patient.
Accident is lesson
— He regards his accident as a lesson
which taught him how to heal others.
"I know what we're planning to do can
work because it worked for me after my
accident. I was the facilitator who put the
idea into words but 11 other people I knew
believed in the concept,"; he says.
"We're working towards the wholeness
of the individual using the same technique
= that modern medicine uses in places like
i~ the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota where 'all of
the complementing healing therapies work
together for the health of the patient!"
The 11 other people who live throughout
Southwestern Ontario formed the board of
directors of Quest for Health a year ago.
They purchased the clinic and property of
the late Theresa C. Pfrimmer in April of
this year, formed a non-profit corporation
and organized committees to prepare for
the centre's opening this Sunday, Sept. 28.
Of the 115 acres on the Pfrimmer proper-
ty, they plan to work 90 acres to produce
non-toxic, wholesome food to be used in the
clinic and to be wsgld.
want to get the land alive again.
"We
For 18 years, it was used to grow corn and
there are some definite deficiencies since"
incesticides take their toll," says Roth who
• is a bio -chemist and an organic farmer.
"We hope to create a new awareness of
how important food is and the land is. The
life of the soil gives life to insects which
give life to plants which feed man. We are
the end result of the chain of life and unless
we see that, we'll continue to be
° unhealthy," he says.
At Quest for Health, no chemicals or
sprays will be used on the crops both to
revitalize the soil and to keep chemical
clouds away from the clinic.
"We could solve a lottof ills if we got off
the chemical bandwagon. The overproduc-
. tion of poor quality food is leading to
massive soil erosion, poorness of farmers
and the poor health of the public. We tend
to be overfed but undernourished because
our food is deficient in enzymes and micro-
nutrients," he says.
Empty calories
Natural healing practitioner Ruth Ann Ironside, of London.uses..touch ther!�py11n a patient
at the Quest -for-Health centre at RR2 Bayfield. Touch therapy is a Sealing force which
releases and stimulates energy flows in the body while relaxing, reducing tension, clearing
the mind and heightening awareness. (photo by Susan Hundertmark)
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Hiring therapists
"We're . in the process now of . hiring
qualified therapists. We're hoping to offer
a group approach where each therapist
will do his or her own assessment and.then
sit down together, decide how the whole
person is functioning physically, emo-
tionally and spiritually and then collective-
ly 'put togethera program for him."
"It will be exciting for the patient and a
very exciting and unique learning • ex-
perince for the therapist who can take the
information back to his own practice so
that the knowledge can benefit far more
people than come to Quest for Health."
"I have every reason to believe we can
find answers for people here faster," he
says.
Roth says that egos often get in the way
of the health of a patient, especially if the
patient is consulting more than one doctor
or therapist. At Quest for Health, all heal-
ing ' therapies will be regarded
complementary.
Therapists will be selected by the priori-
ty they place on the patient over their bias
towards their technical skills.
"We're looking for healers here, not just
technical skills and if therapists are here
for the good of the patient, they're pro-
bably healers. A loving and caring staff
will create the healing," he says.
"We wish to recognize the value of and
promote a'concept of respect for the great
mass of accumulated wisdom that exist in
mankind in matters of health care. Just
because I may not understand something,
gives me no right to pass judgement
because in. so doing, I am really revealing
the, state .of my own mind."
Both the: out-patients and the in -patients
at Quest for)Iealth will be encouraged to
take responsibility
for their own health.
Though the therapies help the patient,
it's often the patient's own self-concept
which most helps in the healing process.
Roth says he challenges anyone to prove
him wrong when he says the more food is
processed, the more money it will cost and
the less nutritious it is. Instead of making
food more nutritious, processing is only
done for the benefit of the retail industry
transforming fuel for a healthy body into
empty calories.
"We should be using a lot more whole
grains and raw and fresh food. But right
now, we're eating fdrfd which helps us
build frames without siebstance. Diseases
of old age are now diseases of childhood.
Grandparents often have stronger con-
stitutions than their grandchildren," he
says.
Roth says he's scared by both the
widespread use of microwave ovens which
he says destroy the natural enzyme
Molecular structure of food and by the"
government allowing food to be irradiated
to preserve it ,even though there's proof
that irradiating food destroys its nutrient
value.
"I see a lot of people who've lost
Phyllis and Dr. Richard,Street, of Blyth, board members of the Quest for health centre at
RR2 Bayfield, stand outside the clinic which was once the Theresa Pfrimmer clinic. The
centre will continue Pfrinmmer's healing by various complementar7 therapies. (photo
by Susan Hundertmark)
guide me
on my journey
I didn't plan to use my column to write
about my recent audience with an East
Indian yogi. Even now, two weeks later,
my thoughts are scattered, half -formed
and based more on gut reaction than
anything remotely resembling logic. But,
it's the only thing I've been able to thing
about since it happened.
It was a fascinating and uncanny ex-
perience to hear a man I'd never met
before tell me about myself after placing
his hand on my forehead and then
meditating for a few minutes. It was also
exhilarating.
It seems there's nothing more flatter-
ing and gratifying than to have a com-
plete stranger centre a half hour's con-
versation around you, your
characteristics, your life's work, your
spiritual beliefs and your projected ac-
complishments. So, forgive me if I spent
the entire time in rapt attention to his
every word about me. -
I must confess though to being more
than a little embarrassed to admit that,
as a reporter, I failed to ask even a single
question about the greater scheme of
things.
I failed to ask the yogi, a psychic and
spiritual advisor to the royal family of In-
dia, the answers to such pressing issues
as whether the world will achieve a
lasting peace in our lifetimes, whether
we will ever come close to solving the
problem of world hunger or whether
humans will ever stop using 'our dif-
ferences of color, race, creed, sex and
religion to spread hatred and suffering.
So, if the nuclear holocaust happens
tomorrow, you'll have me to blame since
I didn't ask the yogi and therefore
couldn't give myself the scoop of the cen-
tury and give my readers fair warning.
To be practical, I suppose that the
answers ' to,, such complex questions
would take a bit longer than a half hour to
impart. I'd probably have to spend my
whole life meditating on a mountain in
India .with the yOgi before I'd even come
close to such wisdom.
Still, I didn't even think to ask the usual
'predictions so 'frequently demanded of
psychics such as who will be the 'next
president of the United States, how many
children will Prince Andrew and
Princess Sarah have, will Miami Vice
last another season on television or
which football team will be this year's
winner of the Superbowl.
Such questions, though trivial and self-
serving, would at least give us some way
to measure the validity and accuracy of
the yogi's statements.
But, I'll bet that yogis do not trouble
the universe with sueh trivia. They only
offer some guidance, advice and insight
into ourselves so that we might come
closer to learning the lessons 'life sends
us. Whether we believe them or not is up
to us and probably one of many lessons.
As I've explained, questions, the bread
and butter of my craft of journalism,
flew out'of my mind when the yogi began
to describe me. The experience was un-
canny and inspiring.
He told me that I am a sensitive
woman who easily feels thg pain of
reformer,
others. I am a sociala passive
resister and a warrior who uses the pen
and my tongue instead of a sword to
make changes. I am also a compromiser
who loves to bring two conflicting view-
points
to common ground. (Anyone who
regularly reads this column will
recognize the validity of these
statements.)
I was somewhat overwhelmed when he
told me I'd be married to my job and that
the job of a social reformer is a big one
full of loneliness and heartache that will
keep me feeling empathy for others. I
was told, though, to regard these "nicks"
at my heart as a •gift since they will
enable me to feel for people and to help
make positive change.
I was advised to travel to third world
countries, . communist countries and
countries where people are suffering to
view their pain firsthand. (Are you
reading this, Mia?)
And, I was warned that the world
would come to a crisis when I, as a com-
municator and social reformer, would
play a part in helping to promote positive
changes. (Heady stuff, that! )
In the final analysis, my life, according
to the yogi, will be happy and successful.
I was intrigued when he told me he
could watch the happenings of my life
like most of us watch a movie. But, other
than a few cryptic highlights, he could
not let me in on the plot and especially
the ending. Doing that would spoil
everything, he said.
It seems the road to self-discovery is a
long and intricate one with few road
signs or maps to guide us. I'm still not
aware of most of the lessons I'm suppos-
ed to .learn during this. lifetime.
But, visiting with a yogi has helped to
open up my mind to a thousand new
possibilities and a million more
questions.,
It's made me wonder whether the solu-
tion to world problems lies in the process
of our individual yet collective journeys.
As, we work on solving our own pro-
blems, maybe we're helping to solve
those problems of everyone else,
Self-love heals
"We need self-love. Over 90 per cent of
people have inferiority complexes by the
time they're five years old and if you don't
love yourself, you won't love • your
neighbor," says Roth.
He says he's seen people come to the
centre full of fear, worries and disappoint-
ments who begin to heal themselves once
they come to peace with the basic concept
of loving themselves.
"Therapy helps but the change in think-
ing is often the key. The therapists en-
courage the partnership approach. We can
guide, help' and love the patients," he says.
"We will continue to seek the higher
good for ourselves and others by modelling
and encouraging a transition for the
doctor–patient concept to becoming part-
ners in our healing and developmental
processes."
Optimal wellness willbe a goal of
therapists at Quest for Health for patients.
"A lot of people may not be sick but they
may not be well either. We want to ask peo-
ple how well they want to be. Because, if
they don't deal with the small things, they
could push the problem back further into
the body and it could become a much big-
ger problem,"he says.
Part of the program for patients and the
public is an education program which will
include seminars and workshops on a
range of topics.
Seminars have been held on botanic
medicine and the nature of disease and
therapeutic touch. Topics of 'future
seminars include the use of herbs for
health, homeopathy and colonic irrigation,
therapeutic touch, hope for life for, patients
with life-threatening diseases, vascular
cleansing and chemicals and your health.
The public can also participate in cleans-
ing weekends at the centre which use dif-
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