Published: 2009-04-03 12:09:09
Author: Susan Harrison Wolffis, The Muskegon Chronicle, January 18, 2009
The healing starts with his own story.
In 2000, Dr. Greg Ling -- a traditionally trained chiropractor practicing in Norton Shores -- was issued a death sentence by the medical world. He was diagnosed with terminal melanoma and told there was "no hope" of recovery and "no need" for treatment.
"Basically, I was told to go home and prepare," he said. "Go home, and prepare to die."
But Ling knew a few things about the healing power of alternative medicine and one's own heart. He immersed himself in the benefits of yoga, massage, Bowenwork and other "energy therapies" that he already had begun to incorporate into his own practice.
"I knew there were other means of healing," he said.
Now 45, Ling is cancer-free. His experience, navigating the space where traditional and alternative medical worlds converge, prompted him to leave his one-man office earlier this year at the corner of McCracken Street and Norton Avenue to open a new practice at 953 Seminole called Healing Harmony.
The two-story center, filled with the gentle sound of a waterfall flowing and the peaceful sight of artwork and oversized houseplants, is big enough for yoga class rooms, massage rooms and space for acupressure therapy and Bowenwork. He has three certified massage therapists, two of whom are also yoga instructors, on staff -- all working for "the greater good," he said.
"The center allows us so many more possibilities," said Carey Burns, one of the massage therapists and yoga instructors.
Although he continues to use the chiropractic medicine he learned while getting his degree at Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, Ling said it is now a "small portion of what I do."
He has trained in Bowenwork which he describes as "a gentle hands-on healing system that promotes the overall balance of the body's physical and energetic systems." He also has studied extensively with Native American healers.
"The mind, body and spirit need to be harmonious," Ling said. "The body is like a finely tuned instrument. The 'frequency' has to be congruent throughout."