Using Chinese Medicine to Restore Energy Flow with Dr. Gala Gorman on The Healers Café with Manon Bolliger

some toxicity. And so I had to make some pretty massive adjustments, including you know, first stop on the way home was to store that I could pick up a juice man juicer and um, and so it took, I went about six weeks applying everything I was supposed to do, and went back to see him and I felt, you know, just 180 degrees better. And had lost 13 pounds and really hadn’t tried and hadn’t felt hungry, it just, you know, really made a massive difference. And that just shows how quickly your body can heal itself when you remove the toxicity that it is struggling with daily and that just continues to compound. So that was the real turning point. And then it took me a lot of years to formalize my entry into that world as a professional, but I ended up pursuing naturopathy and wanted to be able to be licensed as a health care practitioner. And just because of some of the rules, the best way to do that was to become an acupuncturist. And so I got a master’s degree in oriental medicine and the kind of cool thing with that whole philosophy is that what I found in all of my studies over the years, and I mean, like decades of studies, is that it all came back to this energy system that was discovered by the Chinese medicine doctors 1000s of years ago. And it’s referred to in different ways, depending on who is speaking about it, but that’s what it is. And so, I wanted to learn more, really do a deep dive on that energy system and, and then figure out how to really bring it into the 21st century and use it to our advantage to promote healing and optimize well-being. And that’s what I do.

 

Manon Bolliger  07:18

So, when you’re saying energy system, just to be clear to some of the listeners, obviously, you’re also meaning the meridian system, right, which is the Chinese system, the movement.

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  07:31

Yeah, but there’s actually there’s the meridians but then there’s all this interconnected network, in the body. The meridian system is really just think of it as train tracks, right? The little tracks that the points in the body follow along. But then there’s all these branches that branch out that run every system every component of the body.

 

Manon Bolliger  08:05

Are you talking about like through the fascia?

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  08:09

The fascia primarily would be sort of the energy conductor, when we put friction on the fascia with any sort of movement. Think of it the way I like to describe it as it’s like, when we apply the brakes in a hybrid vehicle, and it recharges the battery. That’s what friction does in the human body. The human body is like a rechargeable battery. And these little points along the meridians are essentially little boosters that help to boost the signal through the body.

 

Manon Bolliger  08:49

So, in your understanding, what is the difference between Chi, what is known as chi and what we call energy, you know, how much energy do you have? Is there fundamentally a difference to the understanding in your mind?

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  09:15

Not in my mind, really there isn’t. In Chinese medicine, there are kind of different forms of energy and energy is created by different components, different functions, if you will, but it sort of all adds up to chi, which is essentially your body’s energy.

 

Manon Bolliger  09:42

So, like kidney chi, you know, can be nurturing and nourishing or needs nourishing nourishment. Like I find this kind of way of looking at energy quite fascinating because you know, when we say, well, what’s your energy at a 10? It’s the biggest question I have. What do you mean, my physical energy or my mental energy. And it’s like, I always found that, you know, in Chinese medicine, it’s like the fact that, that different energies can supply energy to other organs or are needed to it’s like, okay, we’re really a complex energy system. And that I find sort of exciting to share with people.

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  10:32

And that’s the thing that is something that I talked to people about as well, that, you know, everything is interrelated. So anytime we disrupt a system with medication or even a supplement, we are attempting to essentially interrupt or interfere with an internal signaling that we perceive has kind of gone haywire, right. And so, we simply don’t understand the human body well enough to do that long term. I do use supplementation, but I do it on a short-term basis, because we sometimes need to sort of boost a certain system, short term, remind the body of what it already knows how to do. And then we back off, and trust that the body is going to be able to take the ball and run with it again. We don’t want to create lazy internal systems that are dependent on outside things other than, you know, the raw building blocks that we need to give it like food and water and air and that sort of thing.

 

Manon Bolliger  11:50

Yeah, I very much agree with that as a philosophy too. And I think, you know, when you look at the more recent graduates of naturopathic schools are much more allopathic in their model of practicing. And, you know, so it’s easy, though, you take enzymes, because your body needs to break it down, well, why isn’t your body breaking it down in the first place? Like, let’s ask all the questions, let’s go a little bit deeper, and see how we can help the source, not fix the interim problems that are sort of like the symptom, you know. Because I find that I’ve, I’ve been in practice for 30 years, and it’s a big change, when I see, you know, who’s coming out now, and the belief systems are actually quite different than what I think, was available then and is much more connected to Chinese medicine and to, you know, ancient systems of looking at the body holistically.

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  12:58

Yeah, I think some of the bigger schools are really trying to work their way into the medical system to be recognized for insurance and that sort of thing. In order to be able to do that, you have to toe the line, so to speak. Right. And, I have no appetite for that. So, I realize that there’s a place for that, you know, there are certain people are…some people are very comfortable with that approach in that world. And that needs to be available for them. And then there are, it’s important for people to know there are alternatives.

 

Manon Bolliger  13:48

Yes, yes.

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  13:49

And so that’s, that’s something that is starting to be regulated now, in some places in the United States that doctors have to alternative complementary medicine, doctors have to tell patients, that this is essentially an alternative, and you could go the more traditional standard route, and then the other doctors have to let the patients know that there are alternatives and there is, you know, complementary medicine that you may want to try in lieu of what I offer.

 

Manon Bolliger  14:28

So really, a two-way system.

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  14:31

Right and it should be.

 

Manon Bolliger  14:32

Of course it should be.

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  14:33

You know, it should be informed, and they should make a decision about their own health care and, and the long term implications of whatever approach they choose to take.

 

Manon Bolliger  14:49

Yeah, that I absolutely agree with that. It tended to be a one-way system, I think, but um, no, I’m glad to hear that’s changing in the States. I can’t say it’s really changing here. But, you know, the slowly but surely, we’ll get there. So, your focus is mainly on woman, why is that? I mean, what is it that you find that women uniquely set aside or put behind.

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  15:20

So over 90% of disease can be traced back to stress. And I personally think that number is low, because I don’t think they’re really factoring in all the ways stress actually shows up. But if we just assume it’s 90%, 9 in 10, people who have some sort of disease, it started with stress, and probably continues to not improve because of stress. And I believe we find that women in particular, have a more difficult time dealing with managing stress. I think, just in my own personal experience, and the studies kind of echoed this, that men just from a way their brains and hormones are wired, tend to compartmentalize better. And women try to keep all the balls in the air, which creates an enormous amount of stress. So if you have a lot of just sort of normal stress, and then you layer on top of that with any other stress, or let’s just say a genetic predisposition to something, or an abundance of some sort of toxicity in your environment, an emotional upset, that is extreme, you have some sort of toxic stew that gets created that leads to disease more often for women than it does for men. And, so the other thing I will say is that women tend to not be studied as often as men.

 

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Dr. Gala Gorman  18:46

Because women are hard to study, we’re not a homogenous group, like men are. Women’s hormones fluctuate and even when…if a woman’s at a certain age, and, you know, all those things are equal, we’re at a different point in our cycle at any given point in the month. So, to try to find a homogenous group of women that you can study to contrast and compare things that you introduce is nearly impossible. So, women tend to be stuck with a little more trial and error. And I will I think just need a little more help.

 

Manon Bolliger  19:33

But also, maybe more individual help. Individualized to help right I think because it a few that if you do as you say not sure empathy or you know, acupuncture or Chinese medicine, it’s not really a big deal. You can just you address the whole person anyway. So, it’s taken into consideration whereas in traditional medicine, more based on these studies that don’t take all elements, it’s much harder to count on them for a woman. Right? So, I think it’s a yes, eye opening that well, we actually need more individualized care. So that’s a good thing. Yeah. So, what has been your favorite part of your practice? Like what is it that you love the most? Because I’m assuming you’ve been doing it for a little while now.

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  20:36

Yeah, so it’s especially gratifying to me, when women come to me, and their doctor says there’s nothing wrong with them. And there’s…they’re obviously not well, right. And they’re so frustrated and can’t figure out what is going on and are getting no help. I would much rather have them come to me with no crazy disease diagnosis, and the MD saying, you know, you’re just fine. You know, it’s all on your head, or whatever story they’ve been told. Because at that point, then I don’t have to walk on eggshells to help them unravel the mystery, right. And so, I use my diagnostic tools, I use biofield scanning and other tools, including, you know, things I learned that are in alignment with Oriental medicine, and figure out where the energetic imbalance is. And then we have to work to restore the energetic balance, remove the toxicity that’s causing the problem. And I evaluate 12 categories of toxicity. So, every person has a unique combination of toxins that their body over the years has stored. And those toxins need to be mobilized and then moved out. So, as we do that, all kinds of symptoms naturally fall away. And that’s fun to see that, you know, the same process, as you mentioned, a few minutes ago, we treat the whole person, right. I really, honestly don’t care what symptom you present with, I’m going to use the same process, right? I’m going to figure out where the energetic imbalances are, we’re going to work to rebalance that imbalance, and we’re going to eliminate the toxicity that’s built up. And when that happens, your body frees up energy and resources to heal whatever has been going on. And really, symptoms are just a sign that your body can no longer handle, whatever it is, that has been challenging it. So, we’ve been conditioned from a very early age to look at a symptom that maybe is new and think that symptom is, you know, the first sign of something. But that’s not the case, by the time a symptom shows up that’s been going on for a while. And so even think about something like somebody who has an allergy to strawberries. And so, we think well, I accidentally ate strawberry that was mixed into something that I didn’t realize there was strawberry in it, and I have this really crazy allergic reaction, right anaphylactic shock, potentially. What you don’t realize is that there was already this low-lying level of immune system on overdrive. That is just constantly sitting there. And this something about the enzyme in the strawberry is literally like the, the fuse on the dynamite that makes the dynamite blow, right. The dynamite is already there. And it’s already like sitting there sort of looming, but it needs that like final spark to really go over the edge. But what we want to do is we want to deal with that underlying issue, so that you can get to the point where, you know, maybe you don’t really want to test eating a strawberry. But a lot of things like food sensitivities just become way less extreme, potentially, even to the point of not bothering you anymore. Once we get your body sort of soothed and calmed down, and you’re not just on edge ready for something to push you over.

 

Manon Bolliger  25:25

And what have you found the most common ways that doesn’t mean for everybody, but that work as detox protocols.

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  25:38

I don’t recommend any specific thing across the board, other than fasting. So digestive rest is really important. And there’s the, what I call like the Big Four, that if you’re really having a lot of issues, what I find is that if people will eliminate dairy, and gluten, and sugar, and alcohol, that those four things and yeast as well, a lot of times if you eliminate those four the yeast comes down dramatically as well. But sometimes, even if you’ve eliminated gluten, sometimes gluten free pastries will have a lot more yeast in them, they used to sort of offset the effects of the gluten not being there. And then people tend to have yeast issues as a result. So really, I guess you would say those five things, dairy, gluten, yeast, sugar and alcohol. And so, if you’re just trying to DIY it, eliminate those things, and use time restricted eating. Meaning you want to, depending on your age, and what the other factors you’ve got going on in your world, two meals a day. I like 10am and 4pm in a six-hour eating window, but that is flexible, depending on what works for you. And then you want to make sure that you’re getting 20 to 30 grams of protein in each one of those meals. And so, if you are getting enough protein, and you’re giving your body time for digestive rest, and you’re eliminating a lot of these common things that are factors that many people have issues within their digestive system, that goes a long way that’ll get you probably halfway there. And that may be enough, that may be enough for a lot of people to really whatever issues they’ve got going on. And then for a lot of people, they’re going to need more targeted support. And we’ve got to figure out what’s going on that essentially, the toxicity that your body has stored. And that’s where you were getting to with this question, but I want…a detox protocol, if we’re going to try to really mobilize long term stored toxicity, and move that out, I want to make sure we’re using the right thing for the right problem.

 

Manon Bolliger  28:45

Right and that the organs work, can detox right. Because that’s another thing to do. If you don’t have your liver working with both phases, you can’t use the same thing as same as the gas you you’ve got to really look at it very individually. Now what is your, I can’t believe our times almost up, I feel like we’re just beginning. But with the new toxicity that a lot of people have been exposed to in the last few years here. Have you found I mean, a lot of things can be similar, you know, you look at your immune system, you clean up your diet, but have you found other things that are quite helpful to help people detox.

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  29:38

It’s the same process.

 

Manon Bolliger  29:40

Same process.

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  29:41

People…there is an abundance of people now with issues that were kind of managing before and everything they’ve been through in the last several years has pushed them over the edge and they’re having chronic long-term issues that they didn’t have before. But the process is the same.

 

Manon Bolliger  30:06

Yeah. So, you see hope in being able to help alleviate all this human suffering that was seemingly a bit unnecessary. But they were all part of or witnessing?

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  30:23

Yeah, you know…you have to I think, choose your battles, you know. Like, people often don’t change their opinion about something until they are confronted with it under their own roof. And so, um, so you just have to wait, plant seeds, and wait until people are ready. But yes, the solutions are there, but they are not what traditional medicine would offer. Traditional medicine is not going to fix this problem.

 

Manon Bolliger  31:24

No, no, well, that’s what it seems that way because even the doctors who are sharing openly, some of the detox solutions are really not using…they’re using natural things, you know, things that really help the body. And so it’s interesting, I think it’s a big comeback for the potential for people to, you know, wake up and trust their own bodies too. You know, I think you had it in your book, but you know, to be your primary care person, you have to start with looking at what you can do, you know, first and I think it’s very encouraging to know that there are there are solutions, and they’re natural. All right. Well, that’s our time together. I’m gonna leave the last word to you it any last message you want to share?

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  32:24

Well, you just mentioned that I encourage readers of my book to become their own PCP, that’s primary care person. And I remind everybody that when your mom kind of washed her hands of it, and said, like, I’ve done my hard year, it’s on you now to make sure you get dressed and do your laundry and feed yourself and figure out how to make the world go around your own world go around. You’ve got to make yourself number one priority. And, that doesn’t happen for a lot of women, a lot of women, you know, taking care of themselves is way down the priority list. And I want you to really, take a hard look at that and move yourself up at least a few rungs on the ladder.

 

Manon Bolliger  33:16

Okay, I agree. Thank you so much for spending this time with me and hopefully people will get this message. I think it’s an important one.

 

Dr. Gala Gorman  33:27

Thanks again for having me.

 

Ending

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