Hello, hello welcome I am Malerie a physician of classical chinese medicine and today i’m going to be giving you an introduction on how to be your own health advocate this is one of my favorite topics to join in on patients with to teach them about and really to see their eyes light up when they make a decision that they know is best for them through really using the three actions and steps that i’m going to inform you on in this video today one of the reasons why i encourage my patients to be their own health advocate is because no one knows your health and your state of being better than you and in that when you can educate yourself and learn more about a recent diagnosis or something that you’re curious about maybe even a prescription drug that’s recommended to you to take the better you can make an educated decision on if this is the best route for you or the best thing for you to be doing relative to your health the three actions are going to be to do your research ask questions and to be objective so like i had mentioned earlier when you get a diagnosis let’s just use that as our example because it’s so very common in western medicine and you don’t know anything about it and maybe you know somebody who has gone through it so jump online start reading and consuming all the information that you can to really understand that diagnosis maybe talk to those friends watch some youtube videos heck even go to the library and check out a book that was written on that particular topic the second action is going to be to start asking questions so once you have gathered all that information start questioning why what is it going to be like to go through with this or to have this what are some medications that i might be on how long am i going to need to be on those medications is there any withdrawal do i need to taper off of them can i go off of these medications right away when it’s relative to a diagno diagnosis you can ask your doctor if there are other people that you can talk to that have been through this process if there is a group that you can reference and again i would suggest not only doing research on your own but getting a second and sometimes even third opinion and that does include from western medicine and from eastern medicine as well i often times have patients come in they’re very upset about about a diagnosis i explain to them what it means in chinese medicine which always provides some relief because chinese medicine is about our natural elements and how things occur naturally which makes it very relatable and then from there i’ll tell them hey why don’t you just go get a second opinion and see if this person agrees with that first doctor and then from there not only are you asking questions but you’re continuing to do the research the third action is going to be to be objective so we often see ourselves as the subject and when we see ourselves as a subject it’s very difficult to attach or detach from any thoughts and emotions worries and concerns that are going to come up when we receive a particular diagnosis or are going through something that involves a major change in our health perhaps and when we allow ourselves to be objective about it we step outside of the thoughts and feelings that are consuming us and it allows us to go hmm okay if this weren’t happening to me what would i suggest to a friend what advice would i give myself and where do i want to go from here okay a quick review of those three action steps it’s going to be to do your research ask questions ask questions of yourself and all the people around you that are involved in the process including friends and family and then the third is going to be to be objective about your situation and what you’re going through it’s going to help you to gain clarity it’s going to allow you to make the best informed decision for yourself and most importantly it’s going to allow you to tap into your intuition which is the coolest part of being human is that we know what’s best for us and we get there by following these three action steps if you liked this video give me a thumbs up below hit the subscribe button but most importantly leave me a comment and let me know if you want me to expand on this topic or talk about another one thank you for being here and i look forward to seeing you in the next one