The Wonder Within

Synopsis: The Wonder Within: A Heart-Led Playbook for the Stressed, Anxious and Burnt-Out.  

By: Dr Michelle Woolhouse (Medical Doctor) 

We live in the fastest paced world in human history. We revere busyness — doing more with less, and doing it faster. We have normalised stress, and it is now being experienced at chronic levels, fuelling an epidemic of anxiety and burnout.  

The Western medical system is not designed as a health care system, but rather as an acute disease management system. Stress, anxiety and burnout are managed with the quick offer of a prescription or a referral to a psychologist. There were 40.7 million prescriptions filled for mental health-related medications in Australia in 2019-20. The delivery of medicine is fragmented, and often fails to consider the complete picture of a person’s health and wellbeing. If we only have access to a 10-minute doctor’s appointment, how are we supposed to scratch beyond the surface? 

I have been a GP for more than 20 years, primarily in primary care. Over time my approach has become much more holistic. I now understand that the human body has its own unique and innate way of healing and creating inner harmony. This book weaves together modern scientific research and knowledge, evidence-based alternative medicine, the wisdom of the ancients, and my personal experiences with stress, anxiety and burnout, to help the reader harness the power of the whole for healing.  

 Part One is an exploration of the holistic concepts of health: what health means, and how we are biologically built for vitality and connection. It investigates the major players in our mindset and examines our own natures to bring a sense of wholeness to our vision of what it means to be alive. 

Part Two goes deeper into the body, exploring its different parts and how they interconnect. The nervous system, the brain, the heart, the gut and the body –we break it all down into the important little details, and then build it back up again.  

In Part Three, a guided journey begins. A series of exercises, including bespoke mindfulness activities and meditations, help the reader navigate the map of their own becoming; practicing, building and holding onto different experiences along the way.  

Illness and discomfort come into our lives as a powerful opportunity for change. They offers the chance to look within; to review your patterning, lifestyles, goals, hopes, values and ego; and to truly listen to what your body is trying to tell you. When you understand how your internal process of healing is mapped out in your body and gain greater access to your deeper self, you can use your illness and distress as a catalyst for personal growth and evolution. 

This book provides simple and powerful tools to help the reader become an empowered player in their own health and wellbeing.