An integrated approach to medicine

Holistic healing has a new home in Bloomington.\nThe Associates of Integrative Health, 409 E. Fourth St., is a newly established home educational and therapeutic health services. Opened in October, one of the owners, Jo Vorwald-Moss, has already acquired a group of educators certified in areas ranging from polarity therapy to prenatal yoga. Classes are open to the public and special fees are extended to students and low-income families.\nVorwald-Moss first came to Bloomington in 1978 for an education degree from IU, but eventually moved to Indianapolis and began working for the Organic Landscape Company. She started attending the College of Body Work Modalities and eventually taught classes herself. Vorwald-Moss also began taking courses in massage therapy and started giving massages to friends and family as gifts.\nBloomington still held her interest however, and in 1998 Vorwald-Moss moved back to support a satellite company for the College of Body Work Modalities. Then in June, she decided to start her own company in Bloomington. \n"I really wanted to work with the local talents and not only bring the different areas of health together but to create a support structure as well," she said.\nThe clinic offers certification and therapeutic classes. People looking to become massage therapists or who want to become more self-aware can sign up for sessions. Alternatively, anyone looking for new outlets for self-wellness can find Polarity Therapy and the Science of Breathing beneficial. More common activities like Yoga and Tai Chi are also offered.\nThere are also services for expecting mothers at AIH. Pregnant women can become involved in exercises such as prenatal yoga or prenatal massages. Support groups are available where they can come together, share experiences and begin a social circle for newborns. If more assistance is needed, AIH can refer a couple to the Bloomington Area Birth Services. \nBecky Makris-Babcock is an expecting mother who utilizes AIH's prenatal services. Makris-Babcock used the techniques all through with her first child and again for her current pregnancy.\n"The therapy helps immensely in preparing the body for birth and helps decrease the need for heavy medication. I recommend all the classes, even to people not expecting a child."\nIn these educational services, Vorwald-Moss emphasized that the key to personal well-being is to address the body as a whole. She said some people lose sight of this because of school systems teaching the body is separated into independent sections, promoting the idea that the body is not unified. AIH wants to break this attitude toward holistic medicine and help people address both the mind and the body and how they affect each other, Vorwald-Moss said.\nVorwald-Moss said she has come across some people who see holistic medicine as being a rejection of western medicine rather than simply another option. She pointed out that both views are supported at the Associates of Integrative Health. She said she understands a client may wish to work concurrently with a physician, and all efforts are made to have both modern and western medicine work together.\n "I have doctors in my family and I respect their work," Vorwald-Moss said.\nIf the client wants to focus on just modern medicine, counseling on herbs and essential oils is available that can help with minor issues such as congestion and stress. In situations that are more serious, AIH will offer counseling but will give referrals if they feel they are not qualified for the area in question, Vorwald-Moss said.\nThere are a few health providers that have reservations about herbal methods, not because they see holistic medicine as discreditable but for the fact that many of the methods are not FDA-approved, Vorwald-Moss. \nJamie Loughead, a local pharmacist, said he worries about drug interactions with herbs. Many of the treatments have not been as thoroughly tested as prescription or over-the-counter drugs.\nWhen asked about the skepticism about integrative medicine, Moss reflected back on her certification classes. \n"There are two tracks of educators. Ones that wanted an air of mysticism and ones that wanted to prove they had a place in the medical field," Vorwald-Moss said.\nVorwald-Moss said the mystics tend to devalue modern medicine by implying a magical solution. She said the therapy is about the laws of nature, such as a person's natural magnetic field. Before ruling such treatments out, she said a skeptic should explore the effects of integrative medicine and if they already have, to give it another try with a different professional.\n"As in any profession, there is someone you can work with and others that you cannot. The best thing to do is to find someone that fits you," Vorwald-Moss said.\nWhen asked about cynical attitudes towards her use of AIH, Babcock pointed out that it works or otherwise she would not be doing it. In her opinion, psychological attitudes are very important in the effectiveness of the treatments. If a client goes in with an open mind, the therapy will more likely work for the individual, Vorwald-Moss said.\nEven if a person is skeptical of holistic means, there are always tips to increase one's health. \n"Stop, listen, and take care of yourself. You can't help others if you're not looking out for yourself"