About Marie

Unknowingly, Marie Herrell, DOMP (Diplomate Osteopathic Manual Practitioner) and formerly a RMT (Registered Massage Therapist), struggled with chronic hidden allergies for most of her life (see story below). In 1996, she met a health practitioner who practiced Health Kinesiology (HK™), now known as Natural Bioenergetics (NB™). It changed her life and consequently, she changed her career.

Marie has been a certified HK/NB practitioner since 1998 and also holds a license in Osteopathy. She draws upon her HK/NB background and osteopathic training offering a unique approach in the treatment and management of allergies, sensitivities and intolerances, and the multitude of symptoms that they cause, as well as body pain and misalignment issues.

Marie uses gentle hands-on therapies to restore the body, mind, and spirit, assisting people to take back their health, establish healthy patterns, and gain control over their stress.

Marie presents lectures and workshops on healing allergies naturally. Marie has been featured on national TV (Global)-Body and Health; Asthma and Allergy Special.

My Story

My childhood was peppered with a litany of common ailments: eczema, nasal polyps, and sinus congestion for which I received conventional medical treatments such as cortisone cream and nasal surgeries. Otherwise, my health was excellent, except for persistent nasal congestion.

In my late twenties, I underwent a two-month period of extreme stress, after which I started experiencing debilitating headaches and intense facial pain, which compounded my sinus congestion. And so my three-year journey for answers began.

Initially, I consulted my family doctor who prescribed painkillers, but to no avail. Subsequently, I consulted an allergist, an optician, a TMJ specialist, as well as trying alternative therapies, namely acupuncture and homeopathy. No allergies were detected by the tests. The other treatments I received met with little success.

Because of this, I consulted an ear, nose, and throat specialist. I underwent a time-consuming, invasive procedure called spheno-palatine ganglion block treatment. The treatment consists of dipping long wires covered with cotton swaps into Novocain, and inserting them through the nostrils, into the base of the skull. The wires were removed one hour later. This treatment gave me relief, even if only for a few days. The doctor also inquired if I had food allergies. I told him no. I had been tested twice previously, by the conventional “scratch” method, and was told that I had no allergies. As well, I was told that my symptoms could not possibly be allergy related.

By now, things were really out of hand - I was clenching my teeth, I was depressed and I often had swollen eyes and red blotches on my face. If I heard one more time that everything was stress-related, I was going to…….!

By this time, I had been suffering for over two years, feeling totally confused and demoralized, and so I followed my gut feeling about possible food allergies. I undertook the trial and error method of food elimination. If I ate tomatoes, the inside of my mouth would instantly blister. I found that if I totally avoided dairy products, my headaches disappeared. I had finally made the connection between my suffering and what I put in my mouth!

I discovered the hard way that conventional allergy testing only allows for an accuracy rate of about thirty percent, because food sensitivities do not show up consistently.

I started to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Still desperate for greater relief I sought out a medical doctor who specialized in allergies and an alternative approach. This is where my life started to turn around.

We worked on strengthening my immune system rather then treating the symptoms. I was still suffering physically and mentally even with the awareness of the allergies. Within 6 months I had felt better than I had in years. The doctor used more sophisticated and accurate allergy sensitivity testing which validated what my gut was saying all along.

Even though I felt stronger and healthier in many areas of my life, I still had allergies!

The doctor suggested E.P.D. (Enzyme Potentiated Desensitization) shots since many of his patients did well with this type of treatment. I tried it numerous times –but for me it wasn’t the answer.

During the next four years I avoided all known food sensitivities. However, in spite of my hyper-vigilance, I still reacted constantly to unknown allergens. In 1995, I was introduced to a woman who practiced Health Kinesiology (HK), now called Natural Bioenergetics (NB). When I asked what it was, I was told that NB, among other things, corrects allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities to food, pollens, dust, moulds, pets, and chemicals. She explained that when she “corrected” the food to which I was allergic, I would be able to eat them without any adverse reaction. NB uses muscle monitoring. The muscular system is directly connected to the body’s subtle energy system. If you are exposed to the energy field of a substance to which you are allergic, it disturbs your energy flow. The result will be a weakened indicator muscle. I still didn’t get it, but because I knew exactly which substances were the culprits, the whole process only required two visits. On the first visit, she corrected 80 foods, and the following visit, dealt with mould allergies. It changed my life.

It seemed like such a simple treatment. I couldn’t imagine that it would have such profound results. There were no needles or drugs; it was a gentle, non-invasive energy treatment that allowed me to eat anything without fear or discomfort. A “correction” is done by a trained practitioner. They release any energy blockages that are responsible for allergies or intolerances. This is accomplished by tapping or stimulating specific acupuncture points along the meridians (energy pathways) or other energy reflexes in the body.

Dr. George Goodheart, Jr. discovered the connection between muscle testing and the energy system in 1964. He found that manual muscle testing to evaluate a client could be used to ascertain information about a variety of physical ailments. In NB, one muscle is chosen to represent the body’s entire energy system. This is referred to as the indicator muscle. With feather-light touch, information is obtained through muscle testing. Specifically for allergy testing, the allergen is placed on a particular acupuncture point on the body and a special energy reflex point is touched. If the client’s indicator muscle weakens, the weakening is interpreted as an allergy. NB can also detect intolerances and sensitivities.

Muscle testing can be an extremely accurate tool for evaluating allergies/intolerance. NB is an art, science, and skill for both the evaluation and treatment of multiple ailments. Following my NB treatments, I no longer suffered from allergies. I had been debilitated from them for over six years. Once again I can eat dairy, chocolate, wheat, and tomatoes without the headaches, skin problems, or my gums peeling. As well, I no longer suffer any adverse reactions to dust, moulds or pollens. My childhood sinus congestion of over 30 years finally resolved itself! Having found this new freedom to enjoy all foods once again, in addition to no longer suffering from migraines, my life was vibrantly renewed. I previously had no clue that my food cravings, skin rashes, depression, and shoulder tension were symptomatic of food allergies. They also were eliminated. In retrospect, my childhood health issues were typical allergy symptoms just tragically not recognized as such.

NB opened up a world of healing I’d never known about, and consequently, I decided to study it. As a client and practitioner, I know first-hand how life changing it can be. Although NB is a broad field, I decided to specialize in allergies. Most people recognize allergies by their traditional symptoms: tearing, itching eyes, running nose, and sneezing. However, allergies can manifest in a plethora of symptoms such as food cravings, migraines, asthma, bloating, skin problems, muscle tension, fatigue, sinus pain and congestion, and candida. They can also manifest psychologically: depression, anxiety, ADHD, and “brain fog”. In reality, symptoms can be unlimited because allergies can manifest in so many different ways.

Like me, many of my clients have suffered terribly because they have been misdiagnosed, and have not been informed that there are safe, effective, non-invasive alternatives such as NB to provide relief.

40 percent of the population now has recognized allergies. It frightens me to think how many people are suffering from unrecognized allergies. If you suspect you may be one of them, could this be the answer you’ve been searching for?