Building a Culture of Possibility

This is a piece spoken by The Healing Garden founding member Dr. Kerri Vacher at our February 2024 Strategic Vision Launch Party on our goal of expanding possibility.

Hello, I am Dr. Kerri Vacher, Naturopathic doctor and family nurse practitioner.  Our 4th strategic vision goal, A Culture of Possibility, is one of my favorites.  Over 20 yrs ago, I rode in a 350 mile bike ride, occurring over 4 days, to raise money for HIV research.  We got t-shirts for participating and the logo on the t-shirt was “I’m possible”.  Which, by the way, is spelled the same as Impossible when you take away the apostrophe and the space after M.  Super clever. 

At the time, we didn’t have great treatments for HIV and the hope was to raise money to help treat the many who were suffering and give them hope that treatment was possible.  In the current medical model, we diagnose and treat based on a symptom profile and health exam.  We give medication, lifestyle advice, referrals to specialists.

But many patients continue to come year after year with the same problems.

We treat and manage chronic disease but we don’t eradicate it.  We treat- high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, etc but we don’t resolve the problems.  I am always so inspired when I see a person with a new diagnosis, like diabetes or high cholesterol, and they say “Give me a year, I’ll make a change”.  And they do!

A culture of possibility is this- it is encouraging self-actualization and authority.  It is giving people tools.  It is sharing stories of healing with one another.  

As has been said earlier, in the conventional model, there is not enough time for true healing and the connection needed to make the required life changes. I have seen people make tremendous life changes when faced with health struggles and people can and do heal- spontaneously against all odds at times.  We give a prognosis based on statistics and probabilities but people are not statistics or probabilities. True healing is possible.

The Healing Garden currently has its biggest impact on stress based illnesses, AND I haven’t found an illness yet that stress doesn’t impact.  Our healing circles have been a major impetus for change. 

We have witnessed grieving mothers go back to school and start life over again. 

We have seen depressed and anxious people learn tools to recover from trauma and reset their nervous system. 

We know that heart focused breathing and nervous system regulation can make it possible for people to make the big and small life changes needed to turn around their lifestyle based illnesses. 

Around the country, group medicine is popping up and we would love to see more of this in our community.  Groups of people seen together for chronic health conditions have better outcomes than people who are seen for individual patient visits. 

Each person brings their wealth of information and real life stories of things that work.  It creates a non-hierarchical environment where you are sharing ideas rather than being dictated to about “what you should do”. Together, in these groups, we inspire others to imagine and feel into what is possible by sharing stories of first hand healing.  

I wanted to be a doctor from the time I was 4 years old.  I got off track when my mother died when I was 18.  I had mountains of physical complaints- digestive problems, sleep issues, dizziness.  These were all manifestations of grief and I went to doctor after doctor. 

My 18 year old self was so sick and grieving and I couldn’t imagine helping anyone else heal if I couldn’t heal myself. I had so many physical complaints that I gave up on my lifelong dream. I switched gears in life for many years and almost didn’t become a doctor. 

Instead, I studied ecology. Went to grad school. Worked in labs and land trusts. It took longer than it should have for someone to finally say to me that they thought I needed counseling to help with my grief. It took even more years for me to find my way back to wholeness. 

I am grateful for Naturopathic medicine.  It was through studying this type of medicine and being in that community of healers that I got my second chance and so much healing.  Life hasn’t been easy for me.  I have unfortunately experienced more than my share of traumatic events and maybe you have too. 

Bad things happen to good people.

But in a community like the Healing Garden you can come as you are, be held in love and experience your wholeness.  We are a community of people who will hold your hand and walk you through the hard times.  We will remind you that health and wellness are our nature and birthright and help you to tap into the infinite wisdom of nature.

We are creating a culture of heart-centered connection.  We are all whole and strive to remind each other of our wholeness and human potential that is our essence. 

We believe in and create a culture of possibility.