Dr Arien van der Merwe on a Boo Bird, superconscious mind, and being a free spirit
An author, speaker and medical doctor specialising in holistic counselling, natural medicine, stress solutions, youthful living and workplace wellness writes about PlayDance, setting healthy boundaries, and a bird flying into the light.
Above: Arien and her daughter and business partner, Anri
1 You prefer the term youthful living to longevity. Why is this and how does this become clear in your work?
It's not actually the term longevity that I've got a thing about, it's anti-ageing, because then you focus on what you don't want. If it's anti, it's against ageing, and the brain focuses on that one word - the key word is ageing. We want the opposite. Youthful living is what we're actually after. We're just emphasizing what we really want and not what we're fighting against. Longevity also works, but I prefer youthful living.
2 Would you describe yourself as a free spirit?
Yes, definitely! I'm typically Aquarian, which is my star or zodiac sign. It's a bit like being the vanguard of many ways of thinking, and mine is applied to health. I'm really thinking out of the box and exploring. It's not always the easiest route to take because, as a wounded healer, you often feel as if this shedding into a new you is a very, very painful process - like a snake shedding its skin, which must also be quite painful.
In any case, in the end, that is what we do. And once you start on that journey of healing and growth and transformation, you can't just stop the bus, get off and go back to the old way of being. It's simply impossible.
So, yes, I would definitely describe myself as a free-thinking spirit. Not only a free spirit, but also in the way I open my mind and my heart to explore further horizons.
Also listen to Dr Arien’s journey with a debilitating eye condition, stroke and acute depression - including how neuroplasticity, a stay in a mental health clinic and other interventions have helped her cope.
3 Your daughter Anri has been your partner for many years. Tell us about your personal and work relationship.
We've been in business together for 10 years and I've given over the managing part to Anri, the next generation. It's going well. She lives in the Netherlands at the moment, where her husband has a very good job.
Because we're working together, it's quite a challenge to set boundaries between ‘business’ and ‘personal’. We are both passionate about our purpose, which is health education, so we divert very quickly into work-related stuff. That's a great challenge for me because one has to maintain work/life balance. I find it very difficult because I enjoy my work so much that it doesn't really feel like work.
4 How did your book, ‘Little Bluebird of Love’, come about? For whom is it meant?
Little Blue Bird of Love - in Afrikaans Die Blou Voëltjie van Liefde - by Dr Arien (Naledi) is available from her at drarien01@gmail.com and at Naledi Books.
This came about quite a number of years ago when I heard people skindering about others - ‘this one comes from the wrong side of the track’ - and thought that so snobbish. I thought it time for us to tolerate each other, respect each other and form the circle of love. In fact, we're all one. That's where the idea came from and then I started thinking about how to tell and illustrate this for children.
It was quite a while in planning and writing because of my eye challenge. I wrote it in English and in Afrikaans, and because I'm bilingual it was not a direct translation. I did it in the way you would speak the language. I then illustrated it. I do play fun painting as a hobby but because of my eye challenge, I couldn't do the fine art and botanical painting I’d always enjoyed. However, when I saw the watercolour paints I knew I could illustrate.
The book even has a Bird Boo, or voëlverskrikker in Afrikaans. I made up a word, because voëlverskrikker doesn’t translate so well into scarecrow. The Bird Boo is actually the wise man, woman of the story that teaches the Vlei Folk a lot of life lessons. So it's about teaching children from a young age that, just like in a vlei where there are many different animals, insects and fish with different eating and lifestyle habits, these animals can still all come together and tolerate one another: to each his own.
The book is meant for children from four to seven and for the inner child of all adults reading it to them while the children themselves are learning to read. It’s got activities for the whole family, to get them into nature and take note of the life cycle, like the metamorphosis of a butterfly. They can collect and look at leaves and become observant and mindful of what is going on. It's a nice gift for a parent or grandparent to give to a child as a meaningful self-exploration experience from a young age.
5 I’ve seen some of your paintings and find them delightful. What do you like to paint?
I love painting and I love doing washes with soft pastel colours, and that I can still do. But, like I said in the previous comment, I find it a bit challenging to do fine arts or the really pernickety kind of drawings or paintings that I like to do, but I still participate in exhibits and so on. I adjust my eyes to be able to do that. Of course, illustrations work very well with pens, watercolour pens or acrylic pens, so that is what I can do to maintain the art part that I absolutely love. I like combining creative writing with illustration because it triggers people's senses on different levels.
Another thing I enjoy is something I discovered while I was in the Helderberg Clinic to recover from my depression. There's like a real craft and art workshop, so you go in and find different stations with things to do, from beading to painting to lots of other things. I enjoyed the mosaic, to paste it and make things like pot holders. I also developed a nice mosaic that was very meaningful to me, of the chains opening and the bird releasing and flying into the light. The symbolic meaning of it was very appropriate and I still look at it as a reminder.
6 Which other activities bring you joy?
Other activities that bring me joy is, for instance, the online Theta Healing course I’m doing with the well-known singer, author, healer and teacher Nianell. I really enjoy working on a deep soul level to release old patterns and beliefs. It brings me joy to work on this so that I can bring the seeds of hope and healing to patients and clients too.
What I also love is PlayDance, which I started developing after my stroke. I'm a NIA technique dance teacher, but I couldn't do the movements after my stroke, especially the lifting up and the more strenuous movements. So I developed these chair exercises with crossover movements to encourage brain plasticity for left and right brain integration, which I also teach people. Some of these people are in wheelchairs, in chairs or bedridden, but they can move something - like their tongue - and combine it with harmonic and rhythmic music.
These are really healing activities for the brain. I teach what I've learned about brain plasticity, walking the talk and not just talking the talk.
Image: Unsplash
7 How has Carl Jung influenced what you do?
I've studied most of his stuff and it's been quite a while, a number of years. I just really liked his work with the unconscious or the subconscious mind and his archetypes and symbolism. What I've added or explored since: he spoke about conscious and subconscious and the exploration of digging deeper, but there he stopped. A bit later I started looking at the superconscious mind. That was about 25 years ago and then there was very little about that. Now you see it all over, which also shows how human consciousness is changing because many, many people now talk about the superconscious mind.
8 Which spiritual teachings are close to your heart?
One is the Theta Healing workshop I’ve mentioned. We’re doing it 4 weekends in a row and then it’s the advanced Theta Healing, then digging deeper and then DNA activation - all with Nianell.
Image: Pexels
I also study A Course In Miracles every single day, and have done so for the past 20 years. It’s a daily commitment. Often, when people start going on a spiritual journey, they read about it and say they’ll do it, but they don't. So it's getting into what I call the three P’s - whether you do brain blasters, exercises or spiritual learning - namely Practice, Patience and Perseverance. You've got to do it.
And then I add G and F, which is Good-natured Flexibility. And that is that you don't scold yourself if you don't get it right, you just try and try again. That's also what the Little Blue Bird is telling people. The Little Blue Bird is a Malachite kingfisher. When he or she - I've been careful not to be gender specific so that anyone can relate to the book - watches the older, more mature birds, how they dive and catch the fish and fly up from the water, he or she says ‘I’ll never get it right!” Then the Bird Boo or the wise soul says: ‘Just try and try again, you'll get it right, it's innate.’ We've got that spiritual seed in us, it is innate, so it's a natural journey for human beings to evolve the superconscious mind.
About Dr Arien
Dr Arien van der Merwe is a medical doctor, author and speaker based in Somerset West. She has practiced for 45 years and specialises in holistic counselling, natural medicine, youthful living, stress solutions and workplace wellness. Arien believes a holistic approach, including modern medicine and natural healing, helps address the root cause of illness and doesn’t simply treat symptoms.
Arien has authored 18 books on health & wellness. She works in person and does video consultations. She offers online courses and workshops, and can be contacted for speaking engagements – see her special interests and services for topics.
Special interests:
Cell regeneration, Skin renewal, Insomnia, Brain fog, Menopause relief, Fatigue and Faster wound healing.
Services:
Personalised wellness plans, Hypertension & insulin resistance, Brain health and neuroplasticity, Health products & supplements, High blood glucose & cholesterol, Weight management & stress solutions, Workplace wellness & burnout recovery and X39 Phototherapy stem cell activation.
Her Ariani Health products are available on her website, the ‘Ariani Health Solutions - Dr Arien & Anri’ Facebook page and from Faithful to Nature: https://www.faithful-to-nature.co.za/catalogsearch/result/?q=ariani+health
Website: https://arianihealth.com/
Email: drarien01@gmail.com
Whatsapp: 083 731 2049
Facebook: Dr Arien and also Ariani Health Solutions - Dr Arien & Anri
Thumbnail image: Unsplash
Other images supplied by Dr Arien van der Merwe, unless indicated otherwise.