I could not be more excited to share my journey to becoming a Traditional Naturopath with you. Specifically, I will detail out why I chose this field and what exactly the ‘Traditional Naturopath’ does as I view it as life changing.
Ever since I was a young child, I had an affinity for health, the human body and nutrition. I was born and raised during my formative childhood years in Bulgaria. I still have fond memories of spending my Summers in the village in the Balkan region of Bulgaria with my grandparents, surrounded by pristine land to say the least.
My grandmother practiced ‘holistic’ health and I still remembered her torn and tattered books with recipes & nutrition information. She grew herbs in the village and had a garden. My Grandmother instilled in me early on that ‘sodas’ were bad & other basic health information that was just enough for me to absorb. As basic as this was, this is where it all began.
I come from a well educated family of physicians, structural engineers, architects and lawyers. I think deep down that I always had a desire and drive to do something big with my life and something that made my parents proud.
Originally, I thought I wanted to become an orthopedic surgeon so I was a major in micro-biology with a chemistry minor. It became clear early on that while this was an ‘affluent’ career choice, it was not my passion or purpose. I quickly became confused as to what exactly I was to do and I had to go back to the drawing board.
It wasn’t long after this that my wife, Ashley encouraged me to start our own business after I successfully helped her to lose 80 pounds. I put her on a nutritional plan, trained her and educated her on the lifestyle. The largest emphasis of course, was on fixing her nutrition and deeply ingrained food addictions. She urged me that this was my calling and to start a career revolved around my passion.
At this point, I had already been in the fitness industry as a Certified Personal Trainer & Nutritionist since 1998 however, I did this to support myself through college and never thought about this becoming my Career. Even though I was very successful at it and thrived, to me, I didn’t feel it was ‘prominent’ enough. I however, listened to Ashley’s recommendation (thankfully) and we started our business in 2005.
About 7 years into running our very successful business, I decided that it was time for me to embark on a more in depth holistic path and to pursue becoming a traditional naturopath. I chose this route not because of the years of working with our clientele but because of my very own firsthand experience with the power of nutrition.
It was during our time of running our business that I embarked on my own personal journey of how impactful nutrition could really be. I was diagnosed in 1999 with severe panic/anxiety attacks & generalized anxiety disorder. In 2005 I was then diagnosed with additional bipolar disorder, depression and ADHD. I was a mess to say the least. I was dependent on 5 psychiatric medications and was really at a loss.
By the time I was 30 years old, not only was I fully reliant on these medications just to function, I had been through 5 different psychiatrists over a 10 year period & was told that I would have to be dependent for a lifetime on these meds. I was also told that as better medications came along, I could be switched and titrated to them accordingly. It was made blatantly clear to me however, that there was no cure for my ‘condition’. This wasn’t an answer I was willing to accept.
We sold our business in Tampa in 2012 and relocated to ATL for me to focus on schooling to become a naturopath and re-building/branding here and I completed my degree in 2017.
Today, after many years of highs and lows and searching, I am a traditional naturopath. I am also pleased to say that I was able to get off all of my medications and to be free from the oppression and devastation of anxiety, depression and the conditions I was told I would have for a lifetime. In addition, I have been blessed to help SO many of my clients achieve optimal health and well being through naturopathy and proper Holistic Nutrition.
Many people are unfamiliar with what traditional naturopathy is or is not. I would like to take this opportunity to really dive in to what naturopathy is and how it can help to positively impact your life. A traditional naturopath/natural medicine focuses on the prevention of diseases and optimizing health. An N.D. teaches clients how applying natural lifestyle approaches which can act to facilitate the body’s own natural healing and health building potential.
The traditional naturopath/natural medicine practitioner does not medically undertake to “diagnose” or “treat diseases,” nor by traditional definition DOES NOT use surgery, drugs, or other harsh, or invasive methodology as part of service. The main goal of a naturopath is to address the root cause of the problems that people are suffering from. Any ailment has one of two causes: toxicity or deficiency. An N.D. will work to help address these issues by removing the source of the toxicity while at the same time addressing the deficiency that may be present. This could be due to environmental issues, lifestyle habits, nutrition, upbringing or some type of infection.
Personally, I had to get to the root cause of my issues with the anxiety and depression through intense nutrition and lifestyle intervention. The hardest realization to come to terms with was that I was suffering immensely because of things I was unknowingly doing.
Today, it is clear to me that my journey through panic, anxiety, depression and ADHD were all a part of my testimony to becoming a more effective traditional naturopath. One who knows and who has been there.
I will leave you with this, you owe it to yourself to live the best and healthiest life possible. There is an optimal life available to all of us. You never know what is possible when you apply the laws of Nature and correct living to your life. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Alexander Poptodorov is a health and wellness expert who has a passion for helping others to achieve their very best through optimal living. He is a micro-biology major who has 16+ years helping others achieve healthy lifestyles through nutrition. In 2005, Alexander opened his own wellness facility, A+A Wellness in Atlanta, Ga. Read all of his MOTHER EARTH NEWS posts here.
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