MiriamYoung

Medical Herbalist

Member: National Herbalists Association of Australia

email Miriam Young : miriam@detox4life.com.au

Miriam Young was born in England and immigrated to Australia in 1985. After a year of traveling, and at the age of twenty-two she came back to Australia to start her training in Natural Medicine after being dis-heartened by a very superficial film industry in London. Miriam came to Herbal Medicine through Aromatherapy and through her own search for self-cure. After practicing Aromatherapy for a couple of years Miriam recalls thinking to her self one day, “if essential oils can achieve this externally, imagine what the whole plant can achieve internally!”

Miriam trained at the Australian College of Natural Medicine in Brisbane and over the last ten years has been passionately prescribing her detoxification programs in Australia and the UK. Miriam has formal qualifications in Herbal Medicine, Nutrition, Dynamic Energy Healing, Counseling, Colon Hydrotherapy, Chi Gong, Natural Fertility Management, including Pre-Conception Care and Aromatherapy. Miriam is an accredited member of the oldest medical association in the country, the National Herbalists Association of Australia.

After she had qualified and returned for a time to the UK, Miriam found a whole system of herbal medicine that is almost entirely lost to Australian Herbalists and Naturopaths. This is a system of treatment and preventative medicine, using whole foods, herbal medicines and natural routines to detox, stimulate, rejuvenate and restore every organ and system in the human body. Miriam then went onto research, experiment on her self and develop the very best of detoxification practices from all over the world. Detox and Flourish For Life is the name of her book, currently being written, her health retreats are called Detox For Life and Flourish For Life is the name of her practice. Miriam hopes to bring this incredibly powerful detox healing system back to the Australian people. Miriam also hopes that Herbalists and Naturopaths from Australia and different parts of the world will find this book useful in their practices.

Miriam has a natural ability to look very deeply into a person, to the root emotional cause of their physical complaints. As a Medical Herbalist, Miriam uses plant medicines from all over the world in order to activate the bodies own healing mechanisms in order to heal itself. Herbal medicine can be used both allopathically (treating the symptoms) and homeopathically (treating the cause). Miriam uses both healing systems in her practice, often simultaneously, gaining significant outcomes within her patients.

Miriam has written for a number of journals including Natural Life Review, the Courier Weekly, Queensland's largest weekly free magazine and has appeared on Saturday Extra, a popular current affairs programme. Miriam also puts out a free monthly newsletter, packed with informative health and lifestyle information. Miriam enjoys disco dancing with her four-year-old daughter and traveling the globe whenever she gets the opportunity

Miriam Young also practices in the following...

Natural Fertility Management
Nutrition
The Oral Contraceptive Pill
The Natural Way
Toxic Careers
Herbal Medicine
Counselling
Iridology

Natural Fertility Management

Optimum Fertility

“In Australia at present one couple in six is infertile, one woman in five will miscarry, almost one woman in every five undergoes Caesarean section and some degree of postnatal depression affects more than one woman in every three.” F Naish

Pre-conception care is just as important for men as it is for women.

Even though it is the female’s uterus that is home to the growing fetus, it is 50% the health of the sperm, and 50% health of the egg that adds up to a 100% healthy baby.

There are a number of ways an aspiring Mother and Father can work on themselves through detoxification, emotional healing, nutrition and strengthening of the internal organs. When this is done consciously, we have the ability to take responsibility, giving the incoming soul not only the gift of life, but also a healthy body. This can only be reflected in a healthy consciousness and the natural unfolding of the child’s emotional world and personality. By working on and healing ourselves now, we are also healing the soul that has chosen us, before he or she ever arrives. What greater gift can there be?

The importance of pre-conception care can never be under-estimated. Clients often ask me how long I spent preparing before becoming pregnant. Four years in total, although I had been using natural medicine many years prior to this. I spent two years detoxifying my body. (With breaks in between.) And then two years without detoxifying, but working on myself in other ways, healing myself emotionally eating a healthy diet and building myself with tonic herbs and a gentle, but powerful Chinese exercise called Qi Gong.

It has been proven that if during the months that lead up to conception, if both parents follow a nutritious diet, healthy lifestyle and live relatively free from pollutants, they will not only improve their fertility, but will also significantly reduce their chances of having a miscarriage as well as the woman dramatically reducing her chance of experiencing post natal depression. Infertility may often be a problem of toxicity; a fertilised egg will not take hold and develop in an environment weakened by toxic waste.

In the first three months the fetal mass increases over 2 500 000 times. This is an extraordinary rate of growth that has unique nutritional requirements. In the first trimester, some women experience a poor appetite. Some women feel sick all the time and others may vomit. (Liver detoxification prior to pregnancy can help to avoid all this.) The newly growing fetus takes what it knows is already there from the mother, not only from what she eats, but also from a deeper cellular level. The baby is building on the Mother, both energetically, as well as extracting what their needs from the Mother’s mineral reservoir. A client was concerned because she and her husband had conceived after drinking alcohol during one weekend. As she was not normally a drinker, I assured her not to worry. She had been working on her health many months prior to this and had looked after herself most of her adult life.

If it is a soul’s aspiration to come in, it will do so. Of course it is not ideal to drink a strong cup of coffee as implantation is occurring. Ultimately however, it is the Mother’s soul and the incarnating child that has set up the agreement and the odd indulgence will not affect this spiritual bond. It is the subconscious intent that is often the most powerful.

Nutrition

One of the most important considerations I ask of my fertility clients is in regards to the amount of antibiotics and hormones that exists in slaughtered animals. Eating inorganic meat, including and especially chicken can seriously upset your hormone balance and add to toxicity levels.

Ask yourself is it really necessary to take all those synthetically produced vitamins? Is it possible to purchase at least some organically grown food that contains ‘real’ vitamins and has a ‘life force’ that feeds us energetically.

There are two plant-based supplements that I recommend for preconception care, pregnancy and breastfeeding – Colloidal Minerals and Spirulina. Spirulina is one of the most nutrient dense foods available on the planet. This green food is a ‘super food’, high in nutrients – all of the B’s including B12 and folic acid, calcium, iron, Vitamin A and E, amino acids (protein), essential fatty acids, and is also high in chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a liver cleanser as well as a liver tonic.

Colloidal Minerals contain over 70 different microscopic minerals and trace elements from plants. Pregnant and breastfeeding women who crave coffee, sweets, chocolate, common salt etc most commonly have mineral deficiencies. Colloidal Minerals help prevent cravings for these foods (making a change in diet a whole lot easier) and balance out your mineral status – calcium, zinc, iron and magnesium are not the only important minerals! We need a balance of all the essential minerals and trace elements to feed our children as well as ourselves.

The Oral Contraceptive Pill

If you have been on the oral contraceptive pill for more than three or four years, start thinking about alternative ways to contraception. There are numerous side affects from taking the pill that I have seen in my practice, and you may read about, (try the internet), including depression, gallbladder disease, liver damage, fibroids, migraines, high blood pressure, abnormal pap smears and so the list goes on. An adolescent who has been menstruating for less than two years should not go on the pill! The pill affects our ability to absorb nutrients from our food adequately. If a woman conceives too soon after coming off the pill, the risk of miscarriage and birth defects is far greater.

The Natural Way

Statistics show us that The ‘Billings’ method or the ‘Natural Fertility’ way of contra-ception is, when used correctly, between 97 and 99 percent effective. The combination pill is only slightly higher than this. Natural methods of contraception have been updated; they are no longer dinosaurs of the past.

“Although fertility is a full-time concern for most women, there are only a few days each month when it is actually possible to conceive. Therefore, orthodox methods that protect against conception 100 percent of the time represent overkill, which is, by definition, unnecessary.” F Naish

With Natural Fertility, the same methods can be used to achieve conscious conception, as well as to avoid it. What seemingly appear to be low levels of fertility may often be resolved, by pinpointing the most fertile time in your cycle. No other birth control method can offer you this; in fact most birth control methods have the capabilities to further low levels of fertility and may even cause it.

Toxic Careers

Your job and/or hobbies and where you live as well as the food and water you consume are all worth addressing in terms of toxic accumulation. Hairdressers may experience day-to-day exposure to hair products, bleaches and dyes, gardeners to insecticides and fertilisers. Detoxification or cleansing addresses the three major organs of elimination in the body, the kidneys, liver and bowel. By cleansing these major organs, the whole body is able to sigh with relief as whole ranges of chronic symptoms are frequently lifted. The process of cleansing involves a detox that lasts for an absolute minimum of two weeks and includes the taking of herbal medicine and the eating of specific foods.

Tradespersons, such as plumbers can be particularly susceptible to heavy metal poisoning including lead, copper, aluminum and mercury etc. Eating three or more tins of tuna per week is also putting you at risk of mercury poisoning, as is having amalgam fillings. Not every one with mercury fillings however has absorbed mercury into their tissues. A Hair Analysis test will quickly diagnose whether or not you have mercury in your system. This test simply requires a small amount of your body hair to make a pain free diagnosis.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), it is the Kidney energy that nourishes the reproductive organs. If your kidneys are weak from toxic overload and stress, then they will not be nourishing your uterus or ovaries, your sperm or semen! In TCM the emotion that drains the kidneys is fear. If you have great fear around not getting pregnant, then that very fear could be draining your kidneys of that essential nourishing energy. Undertaking a kidney detox program is an essential part of pre-conception care.

It takes roughly four months for spermatogenesis to complete its course and roughly four months for an egg to reach maturation. A healthy woman makes a healthy egg. A healthy man makes healthy sperm. A healthy egg and a healthy sperm make a healthy baby. Preconception care is equally important for men as it is for women. And it has been scientifically proven that the sperm accounts for 50% of this responsibility. All detoxification programmes should be well and truly completed for
both male and female prior to this four-month period, before a ‘baby-making’ attempt is made. Adequate nutritional status should also already be achieved prior to these four months so that the egg and sperm develop in an environment that is prepared and healthy.

Herbal Medicine Herbal medicine is not only used in detoxification but can be implemented to balance hormones, assist ovulation, normalise menstruation, reduce PMS, promote fertile mucus, destroy candida, increase sperm count, increase libido, tone the mucous membranes, build the uterus, strengthen the immune system, alleviate constipation, heal digestion, reduce anxiety as well as depression to name but a few.

The Ayurvedic (Indian) Herbalists favourite herb for fertility is Shatavari, meaning “she who possesses one hundred husbands.” No prize for guessing what it is used for! It has a rejuvenate action on the female reproductive organs. It nourishes the ovum and increases fertility. Shatavari is a powerful aphrodisiac and is said to aid in love and devotion.

One of the favourite herbs in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) used in strengthening the female reproductive system is Dong Quai. It is especially good for women who have painful periods, or a longer than average cycle. It is also rich with many minerals including iron and is therefore fantastic for treating anemia. For the last two thousand years, Dong Quai has been used by the Chinese for treating problems of the female reproductive system and has particularly good results in the treatment of PMS.

Ginseng is reputed to increase sperm production, increase vaginal moisture and increase libido in post- menopausal women. For low sperm count, Damania, Liquorice, Garlic and Ginger are recommended. Damania’s botanical name is actually Turnera aphrodisiaca, famous for it’s aphrodisiac promoting qualities!

Many women if having failed to conceive will seek medical advice and may then undergo various tests, including ultrasound and more invasive techniques such as laparoscopes. Sadly, it is only then that the problems are revealed. Endometriosis, Fibroids and Polycystic Ovarian Disease are only some of the problems of infertility that may arise. Herbal Medicine may be used to treat all of these gynecological complaints.

If you would like to have a first or subsequent baby sometime in the next few months or even years, start preparing consciously now. It is never too early.

Herbal Medicine

"I have not come across a health condition to date, that has not responded beneficially from 7 days of organic fruit and vegetable juice fasting, herbal medicines, sunshine and cold water."
Miriam Young

An estimated 80% of the world’s population uses herbal medicines to maintain health. Herbs are in fact the traditional medicine of all cultures and their use is based on observation and experience passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. There is an enormous body of scientific research to validate the efficacy of herbs. Herbs are the forerunner of modern drug medicine and many chemical drugs are based on compounds found in plants. Like orthodox medication, herbs can be used to treat symptoms, but more importantly, herbal medicines are able to address under-lying causes of disease.

Counselling

Counselling can assist awareness of emotional issues, learnt reactions and ingrained patterns - all of which have a direct effect on our health. Through counselling and spiritual development techniques we can remove old programming which is no longer relevant to us and develop positive new programs which nurture our growth.

Iridology

Iridology or Iris Analysis is the art and science of revealing the pathological, structural, functional and emotional disturbances in the human body. This is achieved by the viewing of our miniature recording screen - the iris.