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Sarah Smith Warren

Reclaiming Soul in Medicine

I was desperate. I was sick. I felt like I was going crazy. Something was happening in my body that no one could explain and no one seemed to care about. I was constantly sick with stomach aches, bloating, exhaustion, weight gain. I had just undergone thousands THOUSANDS of dollars worth of medical tests and imagine and procedures to find out, "nothing is wrong," and that I should, "eat more cooked vegetables." Are you F$*KING kidding me?! Sadly, this is not a unique story among women. Feeling unheard, gaslit and crazy because no one will believe us when we express how we are feeling. I decided to try something different and explored Natropathic medicine. Dr. Alli was my first introduction to this path and for the first time in years, someone believed me. Dr. Alli was like a detective, wanting to know every detail of my life - not just my health history - but my stories. Because it is our stories - our experiences, our traumas, celebrations, our love, our fears, our life - that hold some of the most potent answers to our healing. Dr. Alli started me on a path of being believed which led me to trusting, creating a process and finding healing in my body. Thank you Dr. Alli for reclaiming soul in medicine and welcome to The Soul Place.



Sarah Smith Warren is the founder of Soul Space Work, a coaching and consulting space working to support and empower all humans to live and work soul centered lives. Connect with Sarah at ssw@soulspacework.com




 

Reclaiming Soul in Medicine

by Dr. Alli Svobodny, ND


I was tired.  So tired, like the fire in my soul was barely smoldering.  But why?  I had a beautiful, thriving family.  I had an established Naturopathic practice.  I had good friends, health and a comfortable home.  Why did I feel like my energy was being slowly sucked out of me?  


Two years of radical self-honesty and deep listening led me to unexpected answers. 


My fatigue wasn’t a nutritional deficiency.  It wasn’t a chemical or hormonal imbalance.  For me, it wasn’t even that I was working too much or in the wrong career.  It was a paradigm problem.


I was finally seeing the intricate tendrils of our social and medical systems. I was finally seeing that the current systems, built over hundreds of years, oppress not only women but that which is beautifully, vitally feminine in us all.  The denial of the feminine isn’t just in politics, corporate America and conventional medicine.  It was evident right there in my holistic medical practice, and even more startling, entwined in my own consciousness. 


This outdated paradigm shows up in all of our lives.  It’s in chronically packed schedules and the “time is money” mindset.  It drives home the message that productivity is more important than presence and that intuition is unreliable.  It preaches that tenderness, sensitivity and emotionality are liabilities.  And it gravely points us, over and over, to places outside of ourselves for answers. 


The patriarchal paradigm in the wellness industry, medicine and all of American life had taken its toll on my vitality.  I needed to free myself from the complex cultural system that persistently conditions us to shut down the soft, supple, wildly feminine aspects of ourselves. 



It is a worldview that disregards sensitivity, sensuality and the natural cycles of our bodies and lives.  It swallows up compassion, creativity and vulnerability and severs us from our greatest treasure, our inner wisdom. 

  

A core principle of Naturopathic medicine is “the Vis Medicatrix Naturae,” Latin for “the healing power of nature.”  Its true meaning is that we all have an innate healing force (“the Vis”) that is naturally oriented toward healing. It’s our compass.  To heal, we remove the obstacles to this powerful force, creating space for healing to occur. The obstacles can be physical, like food or toxins, relational, mental, emotional or energetic.  The challenge in healing is identifying the obstacles, because they are often where we don’t want to look, places so vulnerable that they are tightly guarded by our unconscious mind.  These are the places the Vis can unveil for us.


I think of the Vis as that mysterious force; maybe it’s our soul, maybe it’s Spirit, or maybe it’s simply a unique essence, that animates and informs each of us in ways we’ll never fully understand.  Whatever the words or framework you use, it’s the magic and miracle in life and in healing.  It’s part of our inner wisdom.  And I had lost connection with the Vis in myself and in my patients.


I was desperate for a change.  But I was scared.  The stability of falling in-line with the social and professional status quo felt much safer, but my body was clearly communicating via fatigue that something needed to change. 


Emotionally, I was standing on the edge of a cliff.  It is a cliff you may have stood on before. On this cliff you’re faced with a choice: to follow the well-trodden path because it feels secure, knowing it’s not working for you, or to trust yourself and leap.


I decided to leap.  For me, this leap was a reclamation.  A paradigm shift.  A coming home, body and soul.  This was the birthing of Deep Roots Medicine, messy and perfect.  It was a brave leap into my authentic medicine offering.  It felt vulnerable to birth an entirely new way of working and practicing.  There was no external road map to follow for starting a business or practicing medicine with soul wisdom at the center.  I had to reach deep within for that compass.


I chose to wholeheartedly embrace the internal guidance systems of me and my patients.  I chose to put the vital force, the Vis, at the center of my life and my Naturopathic practice. I chose to link arms with this powerful, dynamic intelligence and let it guide me and my patients to our highest heights. I chose to lean into emotional honesty, meaningful connection, and ease in my office.  I chose true collaboration, power-with.


This soul-centered style of practice means I use both my clinical knowledge and my intuition in visits. 


It means literally asking the “Vis,” the body and soul of the individual, for guidance. It means taking time in the office for my patients to somatically track the wisdom in their bodies and taking time outside of the office for myself to do the same.  It means guiding my patients towards their emotions and the deeper knowing within them.  It means more conversations about rest, our connection to nature’s rhythms, and body-soul wisdom, all aspects of the feminine that were ignored and mistrusted through much of history.  In these more receptive, feminine states of being, we get to see our symptoms and discomforts not as something to “fix” but as intelligent messages pointing us to our truth.  When we align with the intelligence of the Vis, we feel clarity and peace, even in the discomfort.


Deep Roots Medicine is built on a new paradigm in medicine, one that celebrates our wholeness and vitality.  It includes the masculine, the feminine, and all that is beyond.  It is a paradigm that values clinical analysis, functional medicine, ancient wisdom and most importantly, inner wisdom.  It deeply honors our interconnectedness and the simple power of awareness.  Deep Roots Medicine is a plea for us each to embrace our inner authority, because the world needs people who are deeply attuned in this way.  I strive to provide trusted support for you to transform the paradigms within that disconnect you from your authentic self.  My soul medicine offering is a call to leap, so we can all know what it is to thrive.  


You are wonderfully equipped with what you need to transform your health and your life in profound and beautiful ways.  My fatigue ultimately guided me to creating a soul-aligned business that nourishes and inspires me every day.  I’ve seen my patients get their own  incredible results by honoring their symptoms, challenges and discomforts as messages from their Vis and letting this inner wisdom be the guide.  If we allow these whispers (or screams, as they sometimes are) to guide us toward our truth, healthy bodies are just the tip of the iceberg of what is possible.  


Now, my office is a fierce and loving transformation-zone. 


I walk beside my patients as they learn to listen to all of their whispers and screams and courageously face their hardest truths.  I hold space for tending to the emotional pain that is held in their bodies and causing physical symptoms.  Symptoms such as anxiety, pain, digestive discomfort, fatigue and menstrual challenges become the crucible for self-knowledge, deeper relationships and the creation of a life that truly surprises and delights.  I have the privilege of witnessing true liberation; the extraordinary freedom in body, mind and soul that comes when you take off your masks and face yourself fully.   


Deep Roots Medicine is a place to rediscover self-trust. 


Our work together is an intricate, collaborative dance between doctor, patient, and Vis.  It provides a map back to your health and wholeness, with the compass of your soul pointing the way.


If this kind of transformative healing journey calls to you, book a session with me.  I’d be honored to accompany you on your path to reclamation and healing.


Connect or Schedule with Dr. Alli!


Dr. Alli Svobodny, Natropathic Doctor

Deep Roots Medicine

Fargo, North Dakota





 

Interested in being a Guest Contributor on The Soul Place?

The Soul Place is an online journal that celebrates the positive and passionate work by brilliant and brave individuals. If you would like to be a guest contributor on The Soul Place, or if you know someone who should be a guest, please contact Sarah at ssw@soulspacework.com


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