by Dr Rachel Hall B.Ch.D (Uni Leeds UK), LDSRCS(Eng), MACNEM, Dental Surgeon, Brisbane, Australia

I have worked as a holistic dentist for the last 12 years, and recently I have been pondering what it truly means to be a holistic dentist/practitioner. Is it purely a philosophy that influences how one works or views patients and their conditions or is it something more? Is it having a bag full of different ‘holistic healing modalities’ to use on clients? I have tried numerous ‘alternative’ modalities: homeopathy, NLP, EFT (emotional field therapy), kinesiology, bio-resonance therapy etc but I found that none of them offered my patients or me what I was looking for. In 2004 I went to my first heart chakra workshop, and it was here that I met Serge Benhayon and was introduced to the teachings of Universal Medicine. What Serge presented made so much sense; more sense than anything I had ever learnt or heard from other practitioners, science or medicine. As such, not once did I doubt what was being presented by Serge and Universal Medicine and I could feel how amazing the esoteric healing modalities were in my body. Through the esoteric teachings I now have a new appreciation for what it truly means to be a holistic dentist. I now realise it’s not about the bag of tricks or ‘alternative’ healing modalities I have acquired, it’s not about regurgitated information and knowledge that I’ve stored in my mind but instead I have discovered that it is about how I live every day, in every way.

Anyone can learn and regurgitate information and then claim to be holistic but I would now say that is not enough.  We all know the phrase “practice what we preach”, yet how many of us know doctors who smoke, naturopaths who drink alcohol, practitioners who choose unhealthy lifestyle habits and lack true vitality and health or are burnt out from working too many hours, seeing more clients than they can handle and are desperately trying to “save” others at their own expense. To me this doesn’t feel like a holistic approach at all as I too used to be that way – working long hours and not truly caring for myself or my body and then trying to educate my patients on how to care for themselves. Surely if we don’t “practise what we preach”, then all the information we pass on or share with our clients is hollow and lacks any basis or foundation and is in fact little more than empty words backed up by the fact that you have a qualification or title when it should be backed up by the quality of how you live and all that you are.

One of the major tenets of holistic dentistry is to use materials that will not harm or be toxic to the body and thus we do not use mercury based fillings nor fluoride and are very focused on and committed to nutrition, prevention, oral hygiene and gum care.  This is a great starting point for health care but what if being holistic goes deeper than this and has to be more encompassing?  What if the way we are living and the way that we are could be as, if not more, harming to our patients as the materials and chemicals we avoid using?

If the way we live has the potential to harm another then it makes sense to me that to be truly holistic would mean choosing to live in a way that supports the practitioner to be clear both physically and energetically so as not to harm or be toxic to our clients. But what would this way of living be, what would it look like and what would it require?

If we come from an understanding that everything is energy, then everything we do, say and think is energy (as discovered by Einstein and presented by Serge Benhayon). Then if this is so, not only are we a physical being made up of flesh and bone but we are also made of energy and, if that is indeed the case, then what if that energy could and does affect others?

If everything is energy, then the energy that is in me is in everything that I do and say, and in every needle I give, in every filling I place, in every gesture I make, in every interaction that I have and so on. If this is a possibility then would it not be wise to ensure that the energy within me is also harmless so that when I work holistically with a client or patient my energy is not harming them?

Could this be what being holistic is truly about? If we give consideration to energy then a true holistic practitioner would choose to live in an energetically responsible way to ensure first and foremost that the quality of the energy they are is totally clear, harmless and non-imposing so as not to affect or alter the energy of another so that the way they are comes with energetic integrity.

The Ancient Greeks and many other philosophies and cultures taught that equally with-in us all is an energy that is our natural essence which resides in our inner-heart, it is our natural way of being, our inner-most or esoteric, that which comes from love. These tenets are also at the core of what Serge Benhayon presents. Left to simply be we can connect to this essence and be who we are in full and express from that fullness or energy. Our natural essence would express love, joy and harmony and never impose upon or harm another as it knows and sees all as equal to itself.

But we live in a world that does not want or ask us to be who we are. Instead our world bombards us with ideals, beliefs and education that tell us that we are what we do and the roles that we play. It tells us and teaches us who to be rather than letting us know who we are from what is naturally there to impulse us forth. We then live life from the outside in rather than from the inside out, so that we then act in a way that allows us to take in what suits us to best give us the recognition, acceptance and identification that we then believe to be love which isn’t love at all but us pandering to and pleasing others by behaving in way that gets us the attention we so desperately seek to make up for losing our true connection to self.

What if we were able to live in a way that assisted us to re-connect to our essence or inner-most and know who we truly are? If we were able to live in such a way then would what we naturally express energetically be an all-encompassing livingness that could allow us to truly claim that we are being holistic?

Can we live in a way that allows us to re-connect to that natural essence with-in and how would we go about it when the world is set up for us to not know who we are?

In-truth it is actually quite simple. It is as simple as making a choice, a choice that says I know I am already love, that I come from the divine (God) and then applying some tools to re-confirm and bring you back to that. I agree initially it seems far-fetched and unconventional. For me these tools and awarenesses came from the presentations, teachings and books of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine that were resonating with a knowing with-in that was already mine but which until then I had yet to give a voice to.

I began to apply these tools and teachings to my daily livingness, in my way, and I got to feel who I am again and live from what my body feels and not that which my mind has been fed. It has not been something that has happened overnight but more a gentle unfoldment of me and a discarding of that which gets in the way of me being me. At first it was challenging as it brought up so much of what I had buried, denied and tried to numb myself from feeling and being aware of. It has required a willingness to be honest, to be aware, and to seek true healing, not relief or comfort, and a commitment to me living me to the best of my ability. Through a loving dedication to self and an unwavering commitment to be a student of me I feel I have found a way of livingness that supports me to be who I truly am. Now I am not perfect, and thankfully no perfection is sought, and there are times when I have “wobbled” and had my ups and downs but it is about the ability to acknowledge when I am with me and when I have lost myself and then be able to utilise the tools to bring myself back to me and my livingness.

The first step in re-connecting to self is the gentle breath meditation (as taught by Serge Benhayon), which allows you to feel where you are at, and have a marker that you can live from and feel when you are no longer being gentle. Gentleness then becomes a way of being and the more gentle you are the more self-love you begin to experience. Self-love and gentleness bring us back to the love that we naturally are. It is about making choices to be who you are and to deeply honour and nurture your body. For me this means choosing not to consume foods that make me stimulated, numb or dull or change my biochemistry, physiology or my energetic quality. Over time I have been able to feel that certain foods no longer support me to be me; these foods include gluten, dairy, sugar, caffeine, alcohol and starchy carbohydrates (which used to be my staple diet).

Self-love means caring for my body, not pushing beyond what feels comfortable or gentle in the way that I do things. In this way I have found what feels right for me and what doesn’t, and to honour that feeling rather than ignore it. I actually listen to what my body wants and needs and not what I think it does from what I have been told or taught from others. By listening to my body I have come to realise that it has a natural rhythm and that I need to go to sleep early so that my body can recharge, regenerate and heal so as to awaken feeling refreshed with true vitality to go about my day.

I also have check points during the day to allow me to be aware of my body and how I feel, like stopping to sit quietly for a few minutes, whilst I’m eating or having a cup of tea or just taking a few gentle breaths before I move on to my next task during the day. I also choose to be present in all that I do which means that my mind is with me in what my body is doing; my mind is concentrating on the task at hand paying attention to even the smallest detail. Presence allows me to be connected with myself and stops me becoming drained by living two or more situations at the same time, one in my body (the now) and one in my mind (the past or the future). I can feel if I am not with me and regather myself to arrest or be aware of any ill energy that was running in my body.

These simple tools or techniques, as presented by Serge Benhayon, along with being willing to deal with my issues and reactions and look at my ideals and beliefs and live more from my own inner impulses have assisted me to reconnect with and live the real me.

I have been working as a practitioner for 20 years and have come to understand the importance of living with true vitality in my life as a way to not only enjoy my life to its fullest but also because it is only in the reflection of the way one lives that the same love and care can be inspired in another. After much time spent studying both dentistry and the other ‘alternative’ modalities, which never felt quite right, I found the level of care and integrity and the truly whole-isitic approach I was looking for in the work of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. And thus from living in such a simple way, a way that can be truly considered whole-istic I feel that I can claim to be both an esoteric and holistic person, not merely a holistic dentist.

Have I, and my life changed since my first experience of the esoteric teachings?

 Yes, for the better. I have the person back that I knew I was when I was a child. My relationships are more honest and real, not full of emotional ups and downs and neediness, my health is amazing and my life is simple.

Has the way I practise dentistry changed in that time?

Not really. The mechanics and treatments are essentially the same the only thing that has changed is me. I have become more gentle and caring, less stressed, rushed or anxious, there is purpose to what I do and from that I am more playful and there is joy in how I work and in my life. I no longer need coffee and sugar to get through my day or alcohol and certain foods to numb myself or take the edge off life. I am more vital, connected and engaged in the people I work with, both staff and patients who I treat with the utmost respect and tenderness and by way of this they get to see and feel that I walk my walk and live my talk.

I am ever thankful to Serge Benhayon, Universal Medicine and most of all myself for allowing me to see and feel that there is indeed more to life and more to me.