One night, 12 years ago, I said to Barb, “What do you want to do with the rest of your life?”  She said, “I want to build a Healing Center.  It will be a place where people can come to receive all kinds of alternative medical treatments”.  The next day we started looking at buildings for our healing center.  We were attracted to an old building in downtown Lakeview.  It was known as the Butler Building. Built in 1896, it had been many different kinds of stores. Most recently, it had been used to recondition sports equipment, but it had been empty for a number of years. The big glass storefront windows have been broken out and had been replaced by smaller windows.  In the back room, there was a paint booth, old washing machines, and a large centrifuge. The front had a large room covered with sprayed on Styrofoam. It was quite a mess with a badly leaking roof.

We bought the building from the bank and began renovations. Gutting the inside down to the studs, replacing the roof, putting up new drywall, rewiring, changing the heating system, restoring the metal ceiling, and putting in a new hardwood floor took us about two years, doing most of the work ourselves.

So 10 years ago this month, we opened the Healing Center.  Starting with a retail store which supplied herbs, supplements and vitamins as well as unique gifts, and educational classes, Barb continued to offer massage therapy, reflexology, Rieki, foot detox, and natural health consultations.  It took about six months to arrange contracts with major insurance companies like Medicare and Blue Cross so that I could offer medical consultations as a physician assistant under the supervision of Dr. Willis Gaffney.

Shortly after we opened, I became very ill with influenza. I could not take flu shots because of a bad reaction and so I was very ill, but still working. A patient suggested that I should take a homeopathic medicine called Oscillococcinum. I have never heard of it, but thought it was worth a try. To my amazement, in 12 hours I was completely better. I knew then that I needed to learn more about homeopathy. So we invited Dr. Jackie Featherly, a naturopathic doctor from Edmore, to come to the Healing Center to teach a class on homeopathy. Once a month for a year she taught us and 20 others about homeopathy.  This treatment resonated so well with me, that I went on to get additional training and now homeopathy is a very important tool that we offer at the Healing Center.

Our slogan, “Healing Body, Mind and Spirit”, was a bit controversial in the beginning.  But we felt that Holistic Health meant caring for all aspects of our lives.  Later, Barb came up with the slogan, “Put Your Health in Your Own Hands”.  That became the name of this newspaper column and later the name of my book, which is compilation of many of the original newspaper articles.

We continued to add services, most recently, acupuncture with Chrissy Lake. We carry herbs, supplements, Young Living essential oils, Nature’s Sunshine Products, homeopathic remedies, Bach Flower remedies, ear candles, healthy organic foods and snacks, eco-friendly cleanings supplies, organic soaps, hypnosis for smoking and weight loss, and much more. Barb has expanded the gift section of the store offering greeting cards, books, CDs, stones, candles, incense, Himalayan salt lamps, jewelry, and more.

On August 1, from 10 am to 3 pm, we will be having a special 10 year anniversary celebration. We will have storewide sales and specials. Next week, I will give you a bit more detail on that. Barb and I will be there all day to answer any health questions you may have. We hope you will join us.

Thank you to all our patients and customers who have helped us make our dream of offering a special healing place to this community, come true. We are blessed to have been able to help so many people put their health in their own hands.

For more information see: www.thehealingcenteroflakeview.com