The Body Is Your Spiritual School

In this week’s episode of Your Best Life, Karl interviews Dr. Shiroko Sokitch, a practicing MD who tackles mystery cases using the unique blend of Eastern and Western medicine. She teaches her patients to listen to their bodies, creating a feedback loop that’s not limited to just lab tests and clinical data. After being trained in general surgery and working as an ER physician, she studied acupuncture at Oriental Medical Arts, expanding her modalities of care. As an integrative practitioner for 23 years, Dr. Sokitch also hosted the TV show, Perspectives on Healing, and has written a Sonoma County news column for 15 years. Currently she’s writing her second book, titled 7 Keys to Accelerated Healing, which is due out in the next year. Having founded the Heart-to-Heart Medical Center in Santa Rosa, California, Dr. Sokitch is an expert at using all kinds of modalities to bring your body to balance and wholeness, addressing a wide array of common issues like chronic illness, pain, hormone regulation, digestive distress, and even brain chemistry.

Key Lessons Learned:

• [2:14] Why did Dr. Sokitch change her name after getting into Aikido?
• [4:26] What was remarkable about being an ER doctor?
• [6:05] “So I started imagining how to fix her heart and I imagined a machine that would get her heart beating.”
• [11:00] Dr. Sokitch fell in love with Eastern medicine and acupuncture after reading The Web That Has No Weaver. What was it about the book that fired a light bulb for her?
• [14:53] Is there an innate conflict between Eastern and Western medicine or do they work synergistically? How does Dr. Sokitch use both to heal/treat her patients?
• [17:36] The answers that are available within conventional medicine are very limited and the science is always changing.
• [20:14] Are supplements essential for good health? Dr. Sokitch weighs in.
• [21:47] What is The Triangle of Wellness? How has using this unique approach helped one of Dr. Sokitch’s patients to stop suffering from Celiac and start healing from respiratory illness?
• [25:28] “Assuming your body is smart is a good way to go - so if your body is smart and it’s doing something, why is it doing that?”
• [27:05] What is it about acupuncture that then allows the body to become ready to heal?
• [28:11] What kind of patients does Dr. Sokitch typically see in her practice?
• [30:19] A study used acupuncture among prisoners to treat the most violent and aggressive of inmates.
• [31:49] How important is it for the patients to believe in acupuncture?
• [35:11] What is Hashimoto's disease? How is it related to thyroid disease?
• [38:23] What are the 7 keys to accelerated healing, which is the topic of Dr. Sokitch’s upcoming book?
• [40:49] How do you determine if you’re out of balance?

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this podcast and would like us to produce more, please click here to subscribe and leave a review in iTunes!

Links to Resources Mentioned

Heart to Heart Medical Center
The Web That Has No Weaver, by Ted Kaptchuk (book)
7 Keys to Accelerated Healing