My journey into health and wellness began in my mother’s kitchen over thirty years ago. With four girls and two boys to care for, my mother lived by the creed that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Our school days began with a hefty dose of fiber-filled Quaker Oatmeal, a tall glass of milk mixed with Ovaltine followed by a Flintstone vitamin and a tablespoon of castor oil to ward off the common cold. Sore throats were cured with fresh lemons and a dollop of honey and never was our home without a can of Lysol to kill lingering germs and viruses in the air.
Our kitchen shelves could rival those of any health food store. Vitamin C with Rosehips, Zinc and B-Complex were staples as were my mother’s jars of Lecithin and bags of Brewer’s Yeast to keep the cholesterol low. Yogurt, pistachios, almonds, cashews and a host of fresh fruits and vegetables were regulars on the grocery list. My mother’s beauty regimen included rosewater for gentle facial cleansing, Witch Hazel to tone, and Epsom salts to soak and soften her feet. Fresh green avocados, honey, and raw wheat germ served for her weekly deep cleansing facial. Cucumber slices and herbal tea bags relieved the puffiness from her eyes. Not to be missed was the daily massage with a sweet, all-natural rose scented lotion that gave my mother the most beautiful set of legs in town.
My vision of living naturally expanded on my grandparent’s five acre farm every summer, deep in the heart of Georgia, in a small town that didn’t even have its own bus station. Pine trees and old oak trees were so high above my head they seemed to touch the edge of heaven. Pecan and peach trees, strawberry and watermelon patches, rows of corn, green peas, collards and tomatoes kept them busy all summer long. Fresh brown eggs awaited us in the hen house as did the jars of peach and strawberry preserves that my grandmother canned and stored in the shed for our nightly desserts.
My grandfather was a natural storyteller and delightfully simple man who rarely had the need to go to a doctor. He and my grandmother lived off of the land, fished from nearby streams and creeks with hand-carved bamboo rods. They taught us how to live sustainably long before global warming was a thought in anyone’s mind. I learned the many ways in which the kitchen cabinet could be one’s own apothecary and how incredibly simple good health could really be.
Given my childhood, it is not surprising that I would become a nurse and that the focus of my practice would become health promotion and disease prevention. But six months out of nursing school I knew that something was terribly wrong with the way we cared for people. For all its magnificence, it seemed the health care system was designed backwards: inordinate amounts of money on hospital systems that can only control diseases after they’ve set in, with very little attention, if any, to preventing those diseases in the first place. Over the span of twenty years I worked in intensive care units, emergency rooms and trauma units. Each passing day revealed to me how life changing an illness can be for an entire family. It bothered me that there was so little time to teach patients how to care for their disease; no time to spend with families who desperately needed help finding resources to care for their loved ones. So often patients were discharged home only to come right back in a few days later, through the Emergency Room, with the same problem (or worse), simply because they didn’t understand key information or didn’t have the resources they needed. As I ventured out of the hospital setting into community and public health, I became thoroughly convinced that a better way was necessary—and absolutely possible.
Seva Health was born from over twenty years of clinical experience and the fundamental belief that good health begins at home. Home is the bedrock of our most basic decisions about food and nutrition, rest, exercise and self-care. Whether an illness is a simple one like the flu or more complicated like diabetes, home is where we are most apt to retain the knowledge we need in order to feel better. With ample support, I’ve witnessed the difference that a nurse practitioner can make when caring for an individual in their own natural environment.
Our mission at Seva is simple: to bring exceptional, primary healthcare back to the place that makes the most sense, especially to those who need it most. At Seva, we are a team of professionals who understand that healthier people build healthier communities. Healthier communities lead to stronger societies. And stronger societies lead to a world that is better to live in. We make the good old fashioned house call not just because it’s simpler, but because we know it’s better.
I invite you to experience the Seva difference. The difference of experience. The difference of compassion. And the difference of exceptional health care that makes sense to you.
Give us a call or drop us a line today.
Yours in Good Health,
Angel Shannon
Executive Director, Founder