Known as the “Rock n’ Roll Doctor” to some of the most famous
bands in the world, Dr. Gabrielle Francis shares her unique holistic
prescription to achieving health and balance—even when you don’t live like a
saint!
But first Dr. Gabrielle Francis shares:
The Rude Awakening
I remember sitting in Naturopathic school with other students
and hearing them talk about how their future practices would be. They would say
things such as: If my patients eat at Mc Donald’s I won’t work with them. I can
only work with people who are open to raw food and vegetarianism. Coffee is the
root of all things evil and my patients will not drink it. It led me to wonder
how these people were going to pay off their student loan bills. Who would be
their patients? It hadn’t crossed my mind that my first practice would be
touring with Rock Bands and I would have this dilemma too.
When I graduated from 17 years of medical school, I was so
burned out from working full time and going to school that I was not even sure
I wanted to be a doctor anymore. This seemed like a good time to take a few
months sabbatical and do the travelling I had always wanted to do. I was having
an identity crisis and felt a break from medicine would cure it.
So I sold my possessions, closed my chiropractic practice,
and drove my books and clothes back to Cleveland to keep in storage for who
knows how long. I headed to Europe with a backpack and no hotel reservation.
For the next 8 months, I backpacked through Europe seeing sights, making
pilgrimages along the way, sipping coffee in cafes, and taking in the culture.
I missed medicine and realized that I truly did want to be a doctor.
Several months into it, one of the bands I had worked with
previously, got wind I was in Europe. How would I like to get paid to travel?
They wanted someone to go on tour and do some natural medicine for them. What a
day it was to take a taxi from the youth hostel in Paris where I was sharing a
room with 6 people to the very swanky Paris hotel where I would meet the group.
The taxi driver questioned my appearance and destination. I arrived at the
fancy hotel looking like one of the Beverly Hill Billy’s wiping the dust off
myself. The band gave me money to buy some hipper clothes. They could not bear
to see the hiking boots and backpack. The next few months it was 5 star hotels,
tour buses, planes and lots of great parties.
I had my massage tables sent to Europe along with a natural
medicine pharmacy of herbs and vitamins and acupuncture needles. I was so
excited to be able to incorporate all of the modalities for healing together
for the first time since I graduated. This would be my first practice. I was in
for a Rude Awakening!
My visions of the ultimate natural medicine practice were
quickly dissolved. After Paris, the band headed to Amsterdam. Need I say more?
I quickly realized that this band was just as committed to revelry and
debauchery as they were to their health. The preventive medicine I knew turned
into harm reduction for hangovers and Sexually Transmitted Disease. What to do?
This is not the kind of natural medicine practice I had wanted. Eventually I
relaxed into it. I put my judgments aside and learned to use my medicines any
chance I could. As a doctor, I needed to learn this. I learned to meet people
where they are and make small changes where I could. I learned it is possible
to be healthy and have a lot of fun too!
“You can’t
always get what you want…
But you get
what you need.”
-The
Rolling Stones
As a Holistic Doctor to the music industry’s
elite, Dr. Francis has
helped rock stars repair, recover, and refuel from the demanding
schedules and occasional overindulgences that come along with the rock star
lifestyle. Being overscheduled, sleep-deprived, overeating, drinking and
managing physical and mental stressors aren’t lifestyle habits unique to the
music industry; they are the same challenges faced by all of us, every day.
In The Rockstar Remedy, Dr.
Francis shares her unique strategies designed to be incorporated into your
hectic lifestyle. Her programs are customized to meet you where you are at,
whether an experienced health enthusiast or a beginner. Completing the 21 day
detox will give you a renewed sense of energy and enthusiasm for life, while
looking and feeling your personal best. She explains how health is not a
destination, but exists on a spectrum, and the simple act of making better
choices every day—even if they’re not the best choices—helps
us achieve balance in both mind and body. With tips for improving energy
levels, easy food guidelines and a simple no-starvation detox, Dr. Francis
offers a simple, effective plan for staying healthy and happy amid the chaos of
our daily lives. Her popular “Harm Reduction Techniques” and “90/10 Rule” make
it easy to celebrate life with occasional indulgences while maintaining good
health. This is not a temporary fix; this program brings long-lasting,
life-changing results.
Now you can reach for the stars too!
*****
Dr. Gabrielle
Francis has been practicing natural medicine for more than thirty years,
She is a
Naturopathic Doctor, Chiropractor, Acupuncturist, and Licensed Massage
therapist. Dr. Francis currently practices in New York City as The Herban Alchemist. She also
operatesBackstage Alternative, which is her natural medicine road show
that provides chiropractic, massage, acupuncture, nutrition and herbal remedies
to performing artists on tour.
Dr. Francis
received her formal medical training at National College of Chiropractic and at
Bastyr University. She has extensive training in Alternative Cancer Therapies,
Environmental Medicine, Functional Medicine, Mind-Body medicine, and
Bio-Identical Hormone therapies. Following her formal medical education, Dr.
Francis travelled extensively to various parts of the world studying medicine
with indigenous healers in countries such as China, India, Thailand, Bali,
Brazil, Morocco, Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador, Belize, Mexico, Egypt, and Mali.
Stacy Baker
Masand is a health,
fitness and lifestyle editor whose work has appeared in magazines such as In
Style, Marie Claire, Self, Shape, Fitness, DuJour and Women’s
Health. She’s co-author of New York Times bestseller Your
Best Body Now. Stacy is currently developing projects for both small
and big screen.
*****
3 comments:
Sounds awesome indeed. Already changed my life to make health come first at my sea. All the crap is out the door haha
I can only imagine the things she encountered touring with that band! She was along for damage control, I'm sure.
Damage control, for sure.
Post a Comment