Dana Churchill N.M.D.

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.

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.”

When I was 16 years old I spent one year living in Helsinki Finland. I was a sophomore in high school. I also went to Israel for four weeks; including Eilat, the Old City in Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv.

I then traveled through Europe for a summer in a Volkswagen bus and spent one month in France being educated by gastronomically inclined parents. My Mom is a gourmet chef ("Alice Waters of the East Coast" as one magazine put it) and my Dad is sociologist professor and wine connoisseur. Mom had a takeout shop, restaurant, and a B & B in Princeton for 20 years.  The restaurant was given two stars by the New York Times on two separate occasions. There were hundreds of other glowing reviews in many publications. I was the Maitre D’ there for five years.

Truly, anything is possible if you have enough faith, hope, and perseverance.

Before I worked for my Mom I went to Culinary School. During my two summers in between semesters I did two internships: one in Verbier, Switzerland and the other at a restaurant in Valence, France. The 2nd internship was paid for by the Paris American Society in NY, it was the highest award that my school gave out. After each summer of working I ventured down to the French Riviera to get as tan as I could. I traveled up and down the coast and stayed in St. Maxime and Presque Ile de Gien. After my second summer working and touring in Europe I spoke fluent French.

Just after graduating from NYCTC I worked for Parker Meridian Hotel in Manhattan.

Afterwards I opened the Jockey Club in the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Central Park South as a Captain.

Next I went back to New Jersey and did a management trainee program with Prime Management. I worked the front of the house and the back of the house intensely for one year. Then as a front desk manger and dining room manager and finally Food and Beverage Manager in less than two years, in very busy hotel properties.

As you can see I was on the very fast tract for a complete burn out.

I went back to school at this time at Florida International University for Hotel and Restaurant Management.

Then I officially burned out, at age 30 I did not know what to do, I had already been and done so many things, but I was far from healthyw.

Once I had reached the bottom, I began my spiritual journey.

My first job along this new path was perfect for me; the shipping and receiving manager of a natural pharmacy in an integrative medical clinic called The Princeton Bio Center, initially started by Carl Pfeiffer, M.D. Ph.D.  He worked with Linus Pauling among others using his brand of Orthomolecular Medicine to help thousands of people who would have spent their entire lives in a mental institution if he had not intervened. I once saw a book Dr. Pffeifer wrote that had a set of pictures in it organized chronologically of a girl with Down’s syndrome. He started treating her when she was two years old; when she was twenty-five she looked almost completely normal.  In conjunction with his treatments the patients went to Earth House; a totally organic, pesticide free, environmentally safe inn and kitchen. I learned a lot from him and the other M.D. Ph.D.’s there.

I also worked with Sid Baker M.D. a renowned pediatrician and autism specialist, Bonnie Camo MD (amazing homeopath and herbalist), Roberta Foss-Morgan D.O. specializing in anti-aging and longevity medicine in New Jersey, and Jim Neubrander MD, an incredible autism specialist in New Jersey.

Also, a bit off the medical path, I was a model for Jones of New York for two years.

At this time I went back to school at Rutgers University and got a BS in Clinical Nutritional Biochemistry. (In high school the only science class I took was Biology – I had a bit of catching up to do)!

My last year at Rutgers I was a research assistant at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick NJ. I worked on a SIDS study with a Neonatologist and a Respiratory physiologist.

After this I went to the National College of Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM) in Portland OR for five years. I did one extra year to have more time at the 15 satellite clinics for student’s shifts, it was a type residency. I specialized in Classical Homeopathy as well as many other Naturopathic treatment modalities. 

For the five years at NCNM I worked closely with the Chair of the Homeopathy Dept., world renowned homeopath Will Taylor M.D. a brilliant man of which this earth desperately needs more of. Will taught me many things but the most important is that there are no diseases that we cannot treat, and "cure is the only way", as Hahnemann (the founder or homeopathy) put it.

While I was at school I preceptor-ed with one of my mentors from the Princeton Bio Center, Dr. Roberta Morgan D.O. She has a very unique clinic in New Jersey called the Anti-aging and longevity Center. She is using mesotherapy, IV cocktails, and bio-identical hormones to literally turn back the clock.  She gave me the courage to become a doctor and to surmount all obstacles in the way.

There is much more that I can say about my journey, but I'll save that for our face to face conversations. Just know one thing; as someone who was almost dead 16 years ago and had no friends because of his lifestyle (even my family was tired of dealing with me) and one who has had many “diagnoses” such as ADD, Dyslexia, Hypertension, Hyperlipidemia, pre-diabetes, severe allergic constitution,  depression/anxiety… Truly, anything is possible if you have enough faith, hope and perseverance.

All of the above events have helped shape and mold the way I practice medicine. I have been drawn to homeopathy the most of all the modalities I have learned. It is true healing as close to nature as one can be. It gets to the root of the disharmony and eliminates it.

Because of the mountains that I have been confronted with and have knocked down during the course of my life I really want every one of my patients to be the very best they can be! I will not settle for mediocrity. I will push you to keep striving forward to understand all the pieces of your proverbial health puzzle, and if necessary hold your hand and guide you forward step by step. It is not easy healing the traumas of life but it is possible and incredibly rewarding to accomplish the task.

Heartfelt Medicine 1

Dana Churchill N.M.D.

11704 Wilshire Blvd Ste. 202

Los Angeles, CA 90025

Office: 310 230-5228

Fax: 310 526-7501

And

Heartfelt Medicine 2

1120 Via Miraleste

Palm Springs, CA 92262

310 230-5228

drchurchill@heartfeltmedicine.com

www.heartfeltmedicine.com