Michael Phillips, Bachelor of Science in Natural Health graduate, was once down on his luck. After struggling with chronic illness, he lost his job, was disabled for 3 1/2 years, lost all his savings, and ended up destitute and living off the kindness of his family. But these negative circumstances caused him to take positive, rather than negative, action. He began an intense and disciplined study of natural health and found CCNH. Phillips says that CCNH “gave me hope and a goal to strive for as well as knowledge for improving my health.”
Struggling with Restless Legs Syndrome for 10 years prompted Phillips to seek treatment from a conventional healthcare provider, but his health problems just worsened as a result. A psychiatrist gave him Zyprexa, Neurontin, and Zoloft, but he gained 50 pounds in 6 months and he would “fall asleep in the middle of conversations,” he says. But something within him made him seek a way to heal himself rather than continue to rely on the quick fixes that conventional medicine attempts. “The RLS was healed when I was initiated into yoga by a guru, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, and started practicing pranayama and meditation.”
Phillips believes that looking inward is the best way to heal ourselves. “At our core, we are spiritual beings, so it makes sense to look to our inner essence for the knowledge we need to heal ourselves.” As part of his own introspection, he has read the writings of Dr. David R. Hawkins, whose latest book is Healing and Recovery. Phillips says, “His work is like a laser beam that cuts through all our negative belief systems, our narcissistic tendencies, and our unconscious programming, all of which are the sources of chronic illness.”
Materialism rather than seeking the “light of Truth within” is the natural tendency of humans, he says. He has written a story that he plans to pursue for a book idea when he has the time. The story theorizes that there is a radiant source of all creation and from this source plant cells developed and human cells developed, but there are differences in the ways that plants and humans respond to this source. Below is an excerpt from this story, called “The Secret Life of Plants”:
The plants have the right attitude — having total faith in the radiant source, not being concerned about the body, feeling pain but not suffering, being happy wherever they are planted, always reaching out for the light — but they are aiming at the wrong direction. Humans now have the capacity to perceive the correct source but generally have the wrong attitude — frequently living only for the next acquisition, obsessed with the body, suffering despite lack of pain, questioning everything, often dwelling on the negative.
He says that “I’ve always been a naturalist, interested in the natural world, seeing life and the spiritual aspects of everything around me.” But he didn’t delve into the principles of natural health until his struggles with chronic illness. As a result of diligently applying those principles, he regained his health and made his way back to part-time work and ultimately, full-time work as an advisor on the natural health products sold online at betterwayhealth.com. This online retailer specializes in products for chronic illnesses such as cancer.
His work for betterwayhealth.com is in keeping with his beliefs regarding using natural health to restore inner balance. “Chronically ill people often need the most support because frequently their illnesses are nebulous, disabling, and largely unsolvable by conventional medical facilities and practitioners. I strongly believe that natural medicine is ideally suited for helping others to regain their own inner balance and heal themselves of chronic illness.”
When he is not advising people on natural health products, he works on his art. He specializes in portraits, animals, and landscapes. His dream career involves sharing his natural health knowledge for free, when he can, and he hopes that his art can help him do that. “I would love to have my art become successful enough that I can practice naturopathy for free at least part of the time. As someone who was once ‘down on his luck’, not being able to afford treatment for almost 3 years, I have long dreamed that one day I would be able to be the helping hand that I didn’t have when I was ill.”
Materialism, one of the sources of humans’ imbalance, is not a motivating factor for Phillips. This is apparent in his dreams and hopes for his future and what he plans to use his natural health knowledge for.
This article was based on an interview with the graduate.
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