Health is the New Rock ’n’ Roll

 

The Herban Alchemist Adventure Show

 

By

 

Dr. Gabrielle Francis

 

 

“The Hippies Have Won” is the title of a New York Times Article by Christine Muhkle.  In her article published April 4, 2017, she discusses the current health food trends and quotes that the Counter Culture is always ahead of the mainstream.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/dining/health-food-hippies-restaurants-vegetarian.html

 

A walk down the infamous Bowery or through the once Punk Rock infested East Village is sure proof that Health and Healing are The New Rock’n’Roll.    CBGB’s and other rock venues have been replaced with gyms, yoga studios, Pilates studios and the Whole Foods Market.   You can immerse yourself into a sound gong ritual at the Woom Center or take a float in a Himalayan salt bath to release the stress and toxins of the day.  Girls dressed in LuLu Lemon wander past the homeless people at the Bowery Mission with yoga mats in one arm and green juices in the other.  

 

 

 

The new hip hangout is a place called The Alchemist’s Kitchen, where you can drink Kombucha infused herbal elixirs while waiting for your session in the Infrared Sauna or before you see the latest trending lecture on Herbs and Herbal Psychedelics.  Juice bars and Matcha Tea shops outnumber cafes and bars.  Spiritual hipsters are spending their Saturday evenings doing Ayahuasca in Brooklyn apartments with Shamans imported from Peru.  The Assemblage, is a new co-working space that hosts entrepreneurs with an interest in consciousness and spirituality (with a focus on psychedelics!)   Johnny Podell, a New York Rock Promoter and Manager best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, and Blondie, has dropped the Rockstars and is now promoting and managing spiritual healers and psychics.  Celebrity Doctors, Chefs and Yoga Teachers are the new Rockstars of the media and television. 

   

 

 

I watch this trend with fascination as this is the world that I have been immersed in for over 40 years.   I was considered a black sheep, outsider, and Woo Woo of sorts…. But the counter culture and alternatives have swung full force into the mainstream.  Much like Rock ’n’ Roll, the healing alternative are mainstream, and the Hipsters and Hippies are healthy.

 

 

 

But there is a catch!

 

While the superfoods, beauty elixirs and healing modalities from around the globe are thriving and enhancing our modern health indulgences….in their countries of origin they are vanishing.

 

 

The Shamans and healers are being shunned and ostracized by their own families due to religious influences.   The rainforests and natural landscapes where the herbs, superfoods and remedies are harvested are being exploited by oil companies and big industry.  The beauty elixirs of exotic cultures are being ravaged by European and American cosmetic companies, leaving the local communities in poverty.  World Music artists struggle to make a living while DJs mix their beats and make millions from Raves in Europe.      

 

The message of this TV series in imperative!  The ancient origins of our modern health indulgences must be spotlighted and displayed on the world stage.  Otherwise, the miraculous cures, anti-aging elixirs, and healing remedies will be lost in a tsunami of globalization.  The purpose of this show is to entertain, inspire, and educate the modern health consumer. We will bring to life the stories behind the current health crazes, beauty trends, and spiritual fads. I will demonstrate the science behind the “snake oil”.   Ancient Wisdom must be preserved in order for us to continue to reap the healing benefits.  The show inspires to give an authentic voice and preserve the communities that have cultivated them for centuries while the viewer has a vicarious voyage….

 

Join me on the Adventure…….

 

Dr. Gabrielle Francis