Protocol
Down-regulating a frightened nervous system
For the body stuck in alarm. Breath, cold, rhythm and rest — a sequence for returning to safety.
nervous-systemritualsIntermediate8 weeks
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Forty-five years of practice, distilled into protocol
The same instinct that built Healthy Medicine, but closer to the ground: what to do, this week, for this body.
5 protocols shown
Protocol
A gentle seasonal detoxification
Not a cleanse-industry crash, but a measured easing of the load the body carries — supporting the organs that already do the work.
detoxenergy-flowBeginner3 weeks
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Protocol
The menopause transition
A staged approach to menopause — foundational herbs first, then practitioner-guided support, then bioidentical hormones where they are needed.
menopausehormoneswomens-healthIntermediateOngoing
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Protocol
Restoring the architecture of sleep
Sleep is not a switch but a structure. A protocol for rebuilding it, from light in the morning to darkness at night.
sleep-moodnervous-systemBeginner4 weeks
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Settling the inflamed gut
A staged approach to calming gut inflammation — removing the irritants, restoring the lining, and reseeding the terrain.
gutinflammationBeginner6 weeks
Free accessRead the protocolWhat a protocol is
A protocol is not just a list of remedies, even though it may look like one. Each remedy carries its own song — its energy and information as much as its chemistry — and the art is to combine them so they bring coherence back to the body.
Where these come from
Over the course of 45 years I have developed protocols for the management of ill-health that have served me well. I have been writing monthly newsletters for almost 25 years which has helped me research and understand what is happening in the field around the world. In addition I was the founder and editor of the Journal of Natural Medicine, writing hundreds of articles on many subjects related to health and healing.
These protocols are really useful as basic formulations to start any management procedure. Of course this would include basic guidelines for healthy eating, exercise and stress management.
The general guidance is here for anyone. The fuller protocols — doses, timing, the cautions that matter — live inside the membership, where I can stand behind them properly.
The tools themselves
Understanding the tools
A drug is usually a single molecule designed to block or force one pathway, and it does so whether the body agrees or not. A herb is a whole living medicine — hundreds of compounds in natural balance, nudging a living system rather than overriding it. Both have their place; they belong to different ways of thinking about the body.
Vitamins are organic compounds made by living things, needed in small amounts for the body’s chemistry to run. Minerals are elements drawn from the earth — magnesium, zinc, selenium — which the body cannot make and must take in. Together they are the co-factors of almost every process the protocols work with.
An extract concentrates the active parts of a plant, usually with water or alcohol, so a small dose carries the strength of a much larger quantity of the raw herb. A standardised extract goes one step further and guarantees a consistent level of the key compounds from batch to batch.
A prescription is written for one person after a consultation, and belongs to that person alone. A protocol is a starting framework — the pattern of nutrients, herbs and lifestyle changes that has served well for a particular kind of problem over many years. It still needs adapting to the individual, which is why every full protocol here opens with its cautions.
From forty-five years of clinical practice, almost twenty-five years of monthly newsletters, and the research years as founder and editor of the Journal of Natural Medicine. Each protocol is a distillation of what has been seen to work — and each is still refined as the understanding deepens.