My journey to health started shortly after another relationship ended, and at the time I was having regular panic attacks.
I had been in many relationships and they all seemed like a broken record. I was also having physical symptoms that no medical doctor could cure or explain. Basically I was hollow inside and subconsciously I was trying to fill the void with someone else's energy; not a great foundation for a solid romantic relationship. At the end of each relationship I would be very depressed and afterwards I was forced to face myself and be alone with myself, a very scary proposition at the time.
In each instance I would be humbled to start looking at the issues that were stopping me from being the person I knew I could be and wanted to be: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. At this time of life my physical health was still taking a toll on my quality of life as well. I had very high blood pressure for no apparent reason, severe allergies and food sensitivities, panic attacks daily (where I could pass out), heart palpitations and arrhythmias as well as rapid beating of the heart.
I could not sleep through the night, was very angry, irritable, and tired all the time. At this point on my journey I hated my life because I knew that I could be so much more, but was scared and frustrated that I might not be able to find my way back to healthy vibrant living.

It's like growing lotus flowers. You cannot grow lotus flowers on marble. You have to grow them on the mud. Without mud you cannot have lotus flowers. Without suffering, you have no way to learn how to be understanding and compassionate.
Source: Thich Nhat Hanh - Buddhist Monk
This segment of my life went on until I had a kind of epiphany when I turned 30. At 30 (don’t ask me why 30) I started looking within to find out why I had been so hedonistic and selfish up until then and discover what really what made me tick. I had always wanted to find a way to stop taking 3 types of blood pressure medicine and try to be in optimum shape physically, but now I wanted to look at the whole parcel; mind, body, and spirit.
I started by joining a number of self help groups and reading spiritual books that others either gave me or suggested that I read. This was both an amazing time in my life and sometimes terrifying to face the “me” that I truly thought about myself. I had been in a delusion about myself for 29 years, I never felt like I was good enough or that I really fit in anywhere. I had zero self – esteem and went in and out of depression quite often. I was about to embark on the most incredible journey I never imagined possible.
Once I was fully committed to taking care of myself I started to read several types of literature that spoke of healing. I was determined to get off my blood pressure medicine and stop the panic attacks.
I then proceeded to take a multitude of herbs, nutraceuticals, homeopathic medicines, and changed my diet drastically to eat only wholesome live foods, and started exercising as much as I could. I did this for about 9 years and managed a natural pharmacy for 4 of these years.
I tried almost everything that seemed good. I got to know each of the companies and the owners and where the ingredients came from and how they were processed and formed. Especially what excipients and binders in the supplements were or were not on the label. I learned to cook very healthfully and tasty too. I started to get into a variety of Asian foods and super foods.
Up to this point I had been able to manage my life but I felt empty inside and was not really centered or grounded. I was still on three types of blood pressure medicine, many different herbs and a large assortment of neutriceuticals. My allopathic physician at the time wanted to add a hyperglycemic and lipid lowering drug to my already overly burdened regimen that was not working very well and costing me almost $500.00 a month... all this for the semblance of health.
I kept searching for something... anything that could help me be come back to my true self again, or at least feel as if I belonged somewhere and had peace in my life because I was so restless and felt like I had no purpose.

One day my landlord at the time, a Chinese man, gave me a book and a video and told me that this Qigong practice called Falun Gong had changed his life. I tried it and found that when I practiced the five sets of slow moving exercises I really became peaceful inside and was not restless anymore. Within three months of practicing I noticed that my heart did not pound anymore, nor did I have heart palpitations, lethargy, or an instatiable appetite.
I checked my blood pressure and pulse and for the first time in almost 15 years it was normal! All of my allergies and food sensitivities gradually went away as well. I completely stopped taking the pharmaceuticals. I even started to eat foods that before had made me sick without any problem. I felt better than ever.
I have practiced this incredible style of Qigong ever since and never looked back. I now teach Falun Gong at the Santa Monica beach on Sundays every week: Go to Info and then to Events on this website for directions and times.
I have since studied at length the human body’s energetic system; the system of meridians that connects all organs and cells in the human body. I came to understand through trial and error that mine had been blocked for most of my life. When I practiced Falun Gong and made a conscious effort to be less selfish, have compassion for others and get out of my self based perspective on a regular basis... this is when it seemed like the 5 sets of exercises worked best and I felt the best. From this experience I learned that illness is not just physical but a combination of physical, mental and emotional.
We can and do create a lot of unnecessary stress in our lives from negative thoughts, emotions, words and deeds. These all play a roll in our health and well being. They block our energetic system of medians in our bodies and we become stuck in a stasis that manifests physically. If we stay like this long enough then we become toxic, and blood and oxygen do not move through our bodies efficiently. This stagnation leads to disease. Toxins from our external environment also play a huge role in the disease process. So I've learned that it is extremely important to let go of stress, and let go of the factors that inhibit progress.
I will leave you with this message of hope: Each one of us has the inherent capability to heal the self.
Sometimes this is very hard to do or may seem impossible. It can be done! Each of us must enlighten along the path of life his or her own way, and at a unique rate.
The method that I found to heal may not be the one that someone else will find helpful. Therefore we must always strive to keep an open mind and be tolerant of others. I find that I must listen to my patients very carefully to find out which way is going to be the best path that leads each of them to health. There are a lot of options to choose from and I must tailor the regimen especially for each one individually.
So keep your chin up! It will get better, and remember one thing, when you are going through a serious life test, “This too shall pass.”

Author's Bio: 

Dr. Dana Churchill attended Rutgers University in New Jersey where he obtained a BA in Nutritional Biochemistry. Before that Dr. Churchill went to culinary school in New York City and worked in the international gourmet hospitality industry. Dr. Churchill uses these past experiences to create innovative tasty health conscious menus for his patients, as well as having the biochemical food knowledge to make up pathology specific diets.

While at Rutgers University Dr. Churchill worked as a research assistant to a neonatologist and a respiratory physiologist at the UMDNJ, looking at specific SIDS mechanisms. After Rutgers Dr. Churchill decided to go an organic route and enrolled in the National College of Naturopathic Medicine, the oldest college of Naturopathy in North America.

There he worked closely with world renowned homeopath, Will Taylor MD for five years in addition to the rest of his naturopathic education. While at NCNM he did an internship with Roberta Morgan DO, studying anti aging and longevity medicine. Research has always been a primary aspect of Dr. Churchill’s work and study within the healthcare industry. While at NCNM he wrote a research grant proposal. The research proposed studying the stress response (changes over time of both cortisol and DHEA) of Falun Dafa (a Chinese meditation practice) practitioners vs. non-practitioners. To this date the grant proposal has not been funded. Dr. Churchill is also very active at all levels of government in trying to stop the persecution, organ harvesting for profit from live unwilling people, and subsequent genocide of Falun Dafa practitioners by the Chinese Communist Party.

Dr. Churchill is a member of both the California Doctor’s Association and the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. He likes to educate people by speaking publicly about natural healing and especially homeopathy and works with the CNDA to help the general public gain more awareness about the health choices that are available to them.