Professionalism meets spirit with Gurdeep’s entrepreneurial mantra: Wellness of Life. The full-time osteopath started her own business while practising at Stanmore Health Clinic, wanting to hold people through to their epochal health. “My mission is to bring wellness to as many people as possible,” she told us; not just locally but globally.” The physician offers very structural osteopathy which helps patients from different walks of life with many types and varying degrees of pain: “You feel physically worked on when you leave; I’ll work with manipulation a lot, really stretching you out.” Patients include little babies, sports-lovers, pregnant women and the elderly.
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However, Gurdeep uniquely seeks to incorporate mindfulness which she believes is just as important as robust physical health: “I want to build on current experience, developing my creative approach; I’ll look to eliminate the general accumulation of toxic waste through correcting and mobilising the joints as well as through deep-tissue massage. I have always been interested in the relationship between body & mind, looking at how the mind affects different parts of the body. Wellness as a concept is deep and there is a wide base to cover.” Indeed, the young doctor is in the process of expanding her business, recruiting experts from the selected salubrious fields to help patients achieve holistic vibrance. In order to be truly healthy, there is a range of areas that need nourishment. Gurdeep explained them:
“Exercise, diet, sleep and emotional well-being are equally important. If every facet is worked on, you can reach a wonderful personal height. Conversely, if any one of these is neglected, it could lead to severe health issues. Mental health has needed increasing attention through the time of the pandemic. I’ve certainly noticed people needing to talk more as they’ve not been able to share with others properly for a long time. Sometimes simply discussing problems can heal. Like everyone else, and, of course, the medical world, I’ve found myself wanting to give a variety of solutions to fix, but letting someone vent is important in of itself. It’s good to listen. Interestingly, mechanical or hands-on treatment can alleviate or prevent pain but sometimes fails. For me, osteopathy is often a step in helping people let go of the burdens of life. This means being able to address people’s individual stories as well as employing the technical know-how to pragmatically soothe.”
In short, creating a soulful connection is what fundamentally boosts. “The highlight of the job is being able to help patients realise their own power; helping them get back to the everyday and give them hope again that it is possible to carry on by oneself, gives me so much happiness.” Here, Gurdeep also shared the origin of osteopathy as an alternative inherently gentler medicine: “Osteopathy is hundreds of years old. It was invented by a medicine–doctor who saw that patients were dying and nothing was working in traditional medicine, including surgery. He suggested that such invasive methods might not be needed and that the pain might be caringly managed. Chiropractors were born of osteopathy as the two are closely related. There are 8 main principles in Osteopathy including looking at blood flow and the structures of the body: you must know each and every bit of ligament and bone that makes up the body. Also, you cannot treat the patient unless you know exactly what you’re doing and have a duty to explain to them too. People seem to enjoy hearing and want dialogue.”
Not only then does Gurdeep epitomise the remedial autonomy of her profession, but also enhances it for the modern-day. Going beyond the basic domain of physiology, she finally emphasises the ultimate system: the relationship one has with themselves. “Everyone’s unique and that’s wonderful – I want to be able to harness the calm grounding energy of foundational osteopathy and take people to the next level; to create moments of wellness, whatever that means for them today.” She aptly concluded with comment on recovering from the physical coma that has universally been lockdown: “It’s about instilling confidence. When emerging from the pandemic, remember to do things simply for you – take time out for yourself to just breathe. Go for walks out in the open in the fresh air. Absorb the Vitamin D from the sun, which chemically changes you. Do what makes you smile – dancing, painting, cooking. Tap into that higher place because it transforms.”
