By Lindsay Garric Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Jun 07, 2011 at 3:33 PM

I read labels for parabens and sulfates. I warn people to be extra careful during full moons. I buy organic fruits and veggies. I avoid flu shots and inoculations. I use non-toxic household cleaners. I drink lots of green tea.

If I'm going to be spreading it onto the largest organ of my body – my skin – I make sure it has the least harmful ingredients possible. I eat mostly whole foods, in as close to their natural state as possible. I drink very green smoothies fortified with natural supplements, super foods, essential fatty acids, fiber and hemp seed protein.

I believe in probiotics, versus antibiotics. I believe breath and meditation can be an integral part of healing disease, stress, depression and the general human condition. I try to stay in the "present moment." I consume an array of vitamins, natural remedies and cure alls.

Stifle your snickers – I am all about "vibes" and "energy." And yes, I read my horoscope every day and do find uncanny connections on a regular basis.

I also believe in moderation, enjoying life, indulging in a bevy of gratuitous activities and living it up. I also know that sometimes the "natural," more conscientious choice isn't always the best or most effective one. Sometimes efficacy does win. I pick and choose my battles to live a pretty balanced life.

So, when I decided to treat my vertigo with a Western medical approach – a lot of people were shocked that the West Coast, hippy dippy yogi was trying what was usually her last resort as a first response.

Truth is, the vertigo had me so shaken, I was convinced this was something that required Western medicine – like a fractured arm. No herb is going to set a broken bone, ya know?

Well, six weeks, an MRI and a couple of thousand dollars (paid out of pocket because my insurance deductible is so high) later, no progress and no prognosis other than the positional vertigo might last forever, I decided I didn't want to feel like I'd ridden every ride at Six Flags each time I turned my head, hugged someone or got in and out of bed.

So, I turned to my power healing team. Two men with so much experience and healing mojo between them, I knew I would get some sort of insight and a new approach towards my literally spinning world.

I first visited my longtime Ashtanga yoga teacher, PJ Heffernan at Heffernan Wellness (PJ's Yoga Shala) in Waukesha.

PJ is the only authorized Ashtanga teacher in Wisconsin. Ashtanga is the original "power" yoga, stemming from a tradition so old and rich, that to veritably teach it, you must be "authorized or certified" by a family in India preserving the integrity of this yogic system.

PJ's instinct was the vertigo onset in my neck and that something was out of alignment in my cervical vertebrae.

Now, I may be kind of "out there" and I have gone to chiropractors in the past, but neck manipulations were always out of the question for me. Too scary. The thought of having someone cradle my cranium for a few snap, crackle and pops turned my stomach.

But, I trusted PJ and I was desperate.

We set up a private yoga session. PJ got right to work adjusting my head and neck gently, confidently and quickly. He then did some super deep soft tissue work and popped some out of whack ribs back into place.

Then, we tried some yoga with a spiraling result. And not the inner/outer Anusara kind for you yogaholics who know yoga-speak. More like, I'd been on the death drop rollercoaster after a few too many beers.

I started getting sore on the way home.

I picked up the phone right then and called Robert J Fox DOM, L.AC, RN, NP of Shalem Healing in Riverwest.

My trusted natural alternative, Robert, has in the past, healed recurring bronchitis, depression/anxiety and dermatitis for me with dietary cleanses and herbs. Robert is an RN, a degreed engineer, veteran Tai Chi practitioner, Doctor of Oriental Medicine and Acupuncture Physician. Luckily, I was able to get in the very next day.

I woke up that morning feeling a bit "different," from the previous day's yoga/adjustments, but when I tried to practice yoga, the vertigo kicked in.

Discouraged and desperate, I arrived at Shalem Healing ready for Robert's insight.

The most distinct quality of seeing an "alternative, holistic" medical practitioner versus a Western medical doctor is what happened next.

Robert listened.

And then he took his time going over possible causes and looked to treat those – instead of the symptoms.

We decided on acupuncture that day and some vitamin/amino acid supplements.

This was my first acupuncture session with Robert – and it was extremely powerful. After the needles were in, I felt a surge of warmth on my face that persisted the entire time the needles were in.

My hands, which were resting on my abdomen felt magnetized together and stuck to my body.

Robert removed the needles and had me get up from the table. I did so without a lick of a spin. No dizziness whatsoever.

I went to bed and lied down that evening without any event. I woke up and flipped from side to side to test if what I was experiencing was real.

It was. It is. The vertigo is gone.

I proceeded to do an entire Ashtanga Primary Series Class that morning at PJ's Yoga Shala without an ounce of off balance whirling.

Skeptical?

So am I – even though I experienced this personally and first hand. It cannot really be explained other than I feel completely better.

I am drawn to the road less traveled, thinking outside the box and alternative healing modalities. It works for me.

I may be a hippy-dippy, organic loving, stand on my head woo-hoo, but holistic methods jive with my chemistry.

How about you? Are you ready to get your yoga and acupuncture on to feel better? 

Lindsay Garric Special to OnMilwaukee.com

Lindsay Garric is a Milwaukee native who calls her favorite city home base for as long as her lifestyle will allow her. A hybrid of a makeup artist, esthetician, personal trainer and entrepreneur all rolled into a tattooed, dolled-up package, she has fantasies of being a big, bad rock star who lives in a house with a porch and a white picket fence, complete with small farm animals in a version of Milwaukee that has a tropical climate.

A mishmash of contradictions, colliding polar opposites and a dash of camp, her passion is for all pretty things and the products that go with it. From makeup to workouts, food to fashion, Lindsay has a polished finger on the pulse of beauty, fashion, fitness and nutrition trends and is super duper excited to share that and other randomness from her crazy, sexy, gypsy life with the readers of OnMilwaukee.com.