After spending four years fighting my RP like I’m in the fight of my life, I’ve started undergoing a major shift.

Thanks to Behnaz Esfehani, N.D., PhD, an intuitive and holistic healer who holds graduate degrees in education, psychology, and naturopathy, I’m realizing that I need to love my eyes – not fight against them, and that I need to stop viewing what I do for my vision as a chore or punishment.

Above all, she’s helped me to understand that I’ve been focusing way too much energy on my eyesight and that many of the things I’ve done to try to “fix” my eyesight have been driven by fear.

There is now a lot of scientific research around the mind/body connection and the power of the thoughts, emotions and energy we all carry inside us as it relates to our health.

Here’s what Behnaz has to say about it:

On the Energy Power of Diagnosis: When I was in graduate school working on my psychology degree, we studied this diagnostic manual—a very thick book that’s all about all the different types of diseases. The more I read and focused on it, the more I started experiencing symptoms and believing something was really wrong with me. There is energy that comes with a diagnosis. If I say, “Don’t think about a lemon,” we start thinking about it. The more we focus on the diagnosis and the things we don’t want, the more we energize them. A lot of people know the enormous power around thoughts and energy, but it comes down to putting it into practice

On Disease Fighting vs. Health Seeking: Disease fighting comes from the same energy as disease. It is this duality that there is something I need to fight. It’s that outside orientation–the metaphor of our bodies as machines. We are much more complex. And as I mentioned above, the more we focus on diagnosis or disease and things we don’t want, the more we are gong to energize them. Health seeking is very different. From the perspective of naturopathy our bodies are intelligent and engage in self-healing. It’s a matter of looking at habits – nutritional, emotional, relationships, and going deeper with that. Medical doctors deal with emergencies and mechanical aspects of our body very well. But when it comes to healing overall – there’s so much more to it. People come to me and say ‘What can I take for this or that?’ I can suggest supplements or some sort of remedy, but that’s only a partial story. I’m interested in working with the totality of you. It’s not just about fixing your knee – because ultimately your knee is attached to your heart, your mind and how you feel about your life.

On Diet: We have such a vastness of information available to us that it’s easy to be overwhelmed. From what I understand, it comes down to taking an inside out approach and listening to what our body is telling us. We need to get quiet with it, experiment and experience firsthand what works for us. It’s all the little inklings we get—such as how we feel when we eat certain foods. A lot of times people think they are using intuition, but they are still processing through filters acquired outside. They think, ‘I should be feeling this way’ or their decision is based on fear or obligation. We’ve got to get quiet upon quiet upon quiet. What is going on right this moment within?
Personally I advocate for a plant-based diet. The research around it resonates with me. But I don’t dis people who think differently. It’s about listening to my body and my values, and figuring out what works for me. I used to get cravings for dairy, but I know I do better without it. I also know my body does better with less sugar. I think it all depends on intentions. What are you trying to do? If I’m trying to do cleansing, I go one route, for day-to-day I go another. I tend to shy away from telling people you should dothis or that. It’s about helping individuals to connect with inner resources and knowingness: healing inside out.

For more information about Behnaz and her intuitive and holistic healing practice, visit her web site.