An Amazing Experience – Even as the Only Man

I have come back very refreshed and with a new understanding of myself. I lost weight, but never felt hungry, my mind and body are refreshed and I have a new attitude and understanding about myself. The food was so remarkable I have decided to modify my diet and have already changed my food shopping habits. It will be worth spending more time on preparing and planning meals just to keep the healthy, calm, de-stressed new self.

I like the combination of working with the other attendees and the free time to get to know them and have some relaxed but deep discussions with them. All the treatments were great, even though the idea of them did worry me at first. All the staff are fantastic and caring – loved Sandi. I was very worried about colonics, but Sandi made me feel sooooooo relaxed I actually enjoyed the experience.

Alcohol & poly-substance drug addiction, mood disorder, eating disorder, hormone imbalance

Making the decision to seek help from Hawaii Naturopathic Retreat saved my life.

In the time leading up to the physical/emotional/spiritual despair necessary to motivate a profound change, I had difficulty perceiving my unhealthy habits as detrimental because I was able to keep my life somewhat intact… I was educated, had a career, community respect, house, close friendships & despite my distance, my family still embraced me. It was hard to see that my over-stimulating lifestyle was suffocating my soul until my addictive, compulsive behavior became what traditional therapy would describe as drug addiction, alcohol addiction, bipolar ii mood disorder and an eating disorder resembling of food addiction.

Brain tumor, chemotherapy detoxification, Gerson Therapy

I came to the retreat to detoxify my body since I have had a nine month course of chemotherapy after having a Glioblastoma Multiforme removed from my right temporal lobe on November 19, 2007. My body felt toxic, and I also wanted to find a nutrition and lifestyle program that would help my body’s own immune system become strong enough to create vibrant health and prevent any recurrence of cancer.

I found during the retreat that I was very afraid, and a session with Doctor Baylac helped me to really deeply accept my fears without attaching to them, and she helped me to not over-focus on the illness. Instead she reminded me in many ways of my own power to create health and joy, and supported me in doing that.

Brain tumor, chemotherapy detoxification, Gerson Therapy

I came to the retreat to detoxify my body since I have had a nine month course of chemotherapy after having a Glioblastoma Multiforme removed from my right temporal lobe on November 19, 2007. My body felt toxic, and I also wanted to find a nutrition and lifestyle program that would help my body’s own immune system become strong enough to create vibrant health and prevent any recurrence of cancer.

I found during the retreat that I was very afraid, and a session with Doctor Baylac helped me to really deeply accept my fears without attaching to them, and she helped me to not over-focus on the illness. Instead she reminded me in many ways of my own power to create health and joy, and supported me in doing that. I told her at the end of my stay that I felt that I had arrived full of fear and pain, and I was leaving full of joy, vibrant health, and love. I still feel the shift in perception that she helped me reach, and am pleased that I journaled while there. If I need a reminder, I re-read some of the journal entries and that puts me back in touch with the change.

Anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medication use for twenty years

Benzodiazepines, lorazepam, diazepam, klonopin, valium

I have been on all sorts of anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medications since my first panic attack when I was seventeen. I have probably been on ten different anti-depressants and five different anti-anxiety medications since then. At one point I was taking maybe 3mg or 4mg of Klonopin. To put this into perspective, I believe that each milligram of Klonopin equals 10mg of Valium/Diazepam.

About six months ago I started to wean myself off of Klonopin using the Ashton Method. I used the Ashton chart as a conversion and I was also active on the message boards online. I also read The Benzo Book: Getting Safely off Tranquilizers by Jack Hobson-Dupont. I found it to be very scary. The book describes how these medications destroy the nervous system and the body in general. I could have stayed on these drugs for the rest of my life and not really had a life. I felt that these pills had me on a leash and it was hurting my social life. My thinking was very cloudy and I was emotionally catatonic, except for the bouts of panic I would feel before self-medicating. So, yes, I was having a hard time seeing people, and when I did, it was not fun.

Eating disorder – Ten day water fast, raw foods

I came to the Mind Your Body retreat center [Hawaii Naturopathic Retreat Center] knowing very little about the place, or about Dr. Baylac. My plan was to do an extended water fast, and in the process address an eating disorder I’d developed over the last couple of years. I’d done several fasts on my own in the past. Each time, a wave of challenging emotional issues came up, but I never traced them to their roots, so each time I stopped fasting I always slid back to my starting point.

This time, I thought, I’ll get someone to help me through the process. I talked to Maya briefly before making my decision, then hopped on a plane for Hawaii. I cannot imagine having been in better hands. Her expertise in the area of fasting is vast. More importantly, her understanding of the human psyche, the human heart, and the spiritual condition of human beings far surpasses anyone I have come across in the medical or psychoanalytic fields. She is a rare and special being.

Fasting & Detoxification

My forty-nine day detoxification & rejuvenation (thirty-one days on pure water; eighteen on restricted coconut water and pure water).

I am writing this so that anyone considering a long fast (or indeed a short one) might have some idea of the wonders and difficulties ahead. If you read nothing else, remember this: do it; you won’t regret it!

I had previously undertaken a couple of short fasts on my own. They had shown me how affective fasting can be in regaining perfect health. But intuitively I knew that I wanted to do a long fast, all the way until my hunger returned, as described in all the classic literature on fasting. I selected Maya’s heavenly place in Hawaii by sheer caprice – I liked her brilliant smile in her photograph on her website. I was so certain that I booked a ninety day stay in advance – the most the US visa people would allow me on short notice.

Weight loss, emotional healing & water therapy (Watsu)

Dear Dr. Baylac,

Thank you so much for your whole-soul approach in helping me physically and emotionally!! What a beautiful expression of love for life and truth you are! Thank you for honesty and your patience with me, I know my path forward now to reclaim my health will be slow, but you’ve given me good guidelines to follow. When you told me my first day here, that you represented my commitment to myself, I felt relief. At last! A doctor whose interest and determination lies not in just making money, but in really taking a patient’s health seriously enough to ponder in depth over the course of action to take, to bring about a healthy body & mind.

Water therapy! …wonderful experience. I felt like a little orbiting sphere at the mercy of nature, but trusting that good would happen! I will work on maintaining the unresisting spirit I felt in my spiritual path and stop focusing on the problems.
Anyway – thanks for everything!