words by Kirsten Macdonald

When I first met Faye Kendall, I knew she was someone I would like to interview one day.

With a keen sense of understanding people and a high intelligence hidden beneath a humble smile, Faye is somewhat of an enigma around Geelong. Her passion for preventative health feels like a thunderstorm brewing – encapsulated in a crystal clear jar of strategy that is before her time. It will rain on a barren land, screaming for health restoration.

Her recent growth of business Whole Body Health and Wellness has people talking and for good reason, but we wanted to know the why behind the woman. She is a Doctor of Osteopathy, humanist, traveller and entrepreneur, Faye is incredibly candid in this interview as we dig deep to find out the connection between body, mind and health.

Why do you like helping people? 

Helping people is a natural part of being human, and I think that we all help each other in lots of different ways without realising it. Smiling at a stranger, taking the time to listen to someone who needs to talk, cooking someone a meal or offering to lend a hand to someone in need are all ways in which most of us help each other every day.

It’s when we all help each other that healthy communities are formed. When I’m able to help someone (whether that’s at work or not), that person then has a greater capacity to help someone else in return, and then it just becomes a continuum. 

In our clinic I have people who come in with a specific problem that they can’t fix on their own, so they ask for help, so there is a set structure around the way in which I am helping someone.

A.T. Still says- 

Science which consists of such exact, exhaustive, and verifiable knowledge of the structure and function of the human mechanism, anatomical, physiological and psychological, including the chemistry and physics of its known elements, as has made discoverable specific organic laws and remedial resources, within the body itself, by which nature under the scientific treatment peculiar to osteopathic practice, apart from all ordinary methods of extraneous, artificial, or medicinal stimulation, and in harmonious accord with its own mechanical principles, molecular activities, and metabolic processes, may recover from displacements, disorganization, derangements, and consequent disease, and regained its normal equilibrium of form and function in health and strength.

 

Do you agree?

F.K: I wholeheartedly agree with Dr Still. We are just as much a part of nature as any other living organism. Therefore our natural state of being is health. Disease and injury are temporary states of imbalance within our bodies that occurs when we (or the environment we live in) is out of sync. Science has proven over and over again that with the right environment, our bodies have an innate capacity to heal.

As practitioners, we have a choice between treating the disease or treating the health in our patients. By working with and acknowledging the health that is present in all of us we get to help the body correct the imbalances that led to the unhealthy parts forming in the first place while also working to maintain equilibrium and homeostasis within the body. This is what true preventative health is.

When did you decide to become an Osteopath, and why choose this? 

I was in my first year of doing P.E. teaching at Uni when I found out about Osteopathy. I was really interested in the details of anatomy and physiology covered in the course. I hadn’t heard of Osteopathy before, when I researched the philosophy behind the practice of Osteopathy, it really resonated. Particularly that our bodies can self-heal and that osteopaths look at the patient as a whole person.

How does Osteopathy shine a light on deeper issues for people? 

Osteopaths are always looking for the true cause of the problem, which often isn’t overly transparent when you are dealing with organisms as complex as humans!

If a firefighter were called to a house fire because the neighbours reported large amounts of smoke coming from the house- and then proceeded to address the smoke while ignoring the fire, then we would all ask why the firefighter was just treating the smoke and not the fire. Yet when it comes to health care, our medical system seems to be well set up for identifying and treating symptoms but is lacking the tools to look for and treat the cause of the symptoms.

Osteopathic training has its educational roots in traditional western medicine, yet its philosophy is based on natural medicine. We are trained to look for and treat the cause of the problem to help alleviate the symptoms that our patients are presenting. Sometimes this is straightforward, and other times there are multiple factors at play. Two people may present with the exact same symptoms. But this doesn’t mean the cause of those symptoms is exactly the same. This, in turn, may result in a different treatment for each person as opposed to a one size fits all approach.

You have created a health clinic, with specialists from Osteopaths to Psychologists, Naturopathy, Chinese Medicine, in fact over 9 different offerings. From a business perspective, bringing the very best practitioners from different modalities under an umbrella is clever. I have seen you have the addition of digital overlays and flow through aftercare as well as a luxe approach- this is unique and if I can say, quite revolutionary. Especially in a time where we hear and read reports of an over strained health care system. Why did you take this approach?

It was time to do something different. To truly be proactive rather than reactive and give a quality to health that was new and fresh is the drive behind this.  There are lots of different modalities in the health care setting that can help people get better. We can collaborate and brainstorm together to create the best outcomes for our patients.

Why is referral within a space of multi-discipline approach so important to you? Not everyone is doing it, so why are you doing it?

From a patient’s perspective, we also want to make it as easy as possible for them. We also regularly refer to practitioners outside of our clinic. If we believe care will come from a practitioner outside of our practice, we refer our patient there.

Do you meditate? 

For me, life offers lots of opportunities to meditate in different ways, so I don’t have a set daily practice but rather take the opportunity to meditate whenever it arises.

When I work as a cranial osteopath, I’m engaged in the present moment, and I need my mind to be aware of what is happening so that it can observe the treatment process without getting in the way. I’ll often go out into nature where I can swim in the ocean or walk through the forest. These are the things that centre and ground me.

How does WBHW reflect you? 

WBHW started as a solo practitioner clinic, so the foundations of what our clinic has become somewhat intertwined with how I live my life.

There’s a limit to how much one person can achieve on their own. When there is a community of people all supporting one another and working together, then the environment in which we live becomes stronger and healthier. (Just like a body.)

Who is the most interesting person you know and why?

I have a lot of interesting people in my life, but if I have to pick one, it would be my friend John. Apart from being genuinely interested in EVERYTHING- he’s passionate about the things he loves, is always learning and willing to try something new and doesn’t try to hide his quirks.

What do you wish everyone knew about their body?

Everything in the human body comes from a single cell. When you look at a particular bone, muscle, joint or organ in isolation without considering the effect that tissue has on the body as a whole, you are only getting one piece of the puzzle.

Your influencer is…

Right now it’s Brene Brown. She inspires me to be brave even when it’s uncomfortable, even when it’s hard and even when I want to take the easy road. It’s the little choices every day that make the difference.

Favourite author and why…

Eckhart Tolle. Sometimes you read a book that completely changes the way you look at life. For me, that was’ A New Earth’.

If life could be summed up in a quote. What would it be?

Dr Seuss – “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”