GeoClan.com: Speaking with Mariama Jeihani, a Jack-of-All-trades, but mainly she is a Holistic health counselor and she is representing the Natural Health Center in West Philadelphia. Which is one of the first of its kind.

Mariama Jeihani: (interjecting) Well there are several stores out there and they are very reputable and have their own specialties. I guess we pride ourselves on our products and services. Now we a proud to announce, that in the upcoming months we will be incorporating all those names we have, Natural Healing Center, which is our retail center, Peace of Heaven and other entities into the Institute to Perfect Health which will be a learning, healing and wellness center, so I’m pretty proud of being involved during this movement and progress. I’m proud of being involved for the healing of my own life. That is why I got heavily involved in the whole thing, as do most people throughout the health field.

GC: Could you give us a timeline on the Natural Healing Center, how long it has been around and how it started?

MJ: The N.H.C. got started more through of the ailments of my grandmother, Miriam House, who is our chief herbalist and iridologist. She had multiple issues more so optical, physical, reproductive issues and I guess she got tired of being the guinea pig so she there had to be another way. So she sought out different practitioners, holistic healers and she began to take care of her health. Seeing her own success made her want to help others and her life’s journey was revealed, that was the path she was supposed to take.

So then came the NHC and she began seeing clients more so through iridology, which is the study of the iris, which the color of the eye and the scolaris which is white of the eye. With those two you can do a complete analyses of a person’s health. And through more teaching and learning she expanded her services doing equilibrium testing, footprint analysis, Reiki healing therapy, colonics, body electronics, message, reflexology and I can go on and on and on!

GC: So these are just a few of the services you do with the Peace of Heaven?

MJ: Oh yeah and even more now like aura therapy, color therapy, Chakra therapy and nutritional therapy which is my main ball of wax. You know the maintaining of health! A lot of people we deal with are critically ill, like M.S., Cerebral Palsy, Cancer, AIDS, you name it we have seen it all. We try to bring people from a critical state to a stabilizing state, but a lot times people require more maintenance in their lives say for example learning how to cook, how to think, what to do.

I, in particular want to offer that cause that was and is something I struggled with in path of healing and I’ve experimented with a lot of things. Me personally I would have rather had someone there coach me on what to do so I want to provide those services to others that I know have those desires as well. I want to work with people and their problems; I’m here to help.

GC: How long has the storefront been open?

MJ: We are stepping into our eighteenth year so it has been a lot of fun!

GC: And where are you guys located?

MJ: Off of 52 & Chestnut Street in West Philadelphia, in terms of landmarks we are on the same side as the Philadelphia Gas Works building and the White Rock Baptist church.

GC: You have grown up in this environment, but you didn’t just acquire the passion from jump. Explain how you got that energy for this work.

MJ: No it didn’t come early I very much had to develop a love for what I’m doing. You can give a child something and if they don’t understand it they are going to be very resistant to it.

For example you find a lot of parents out there trying to change their and their children’s eating habits and the kids are like “Ill that’s nasty. Well that was pretty much how I was raised. My grandmother one day said we aren’t going to McDonald’s no more, we are going to have salads, we are going to the co-op and buy organic foods, and I’m like “mom this is nasty”.

I went through it that stage at about seven or eight and I moved back with my mother at the age of ten and she had a completely different view about health. She was like “as long as my kids are fed that is all I care about” So we had a lot of boxed foods like macaroni and cheese, TV dinners and stuff like that and as a result of coming from one standpoint to another, it was very extreme and I acquired a lot of health issues.

So by the time I was fifteen I had an overactive thyroid, I was over 200 lbs. and I had fibroid tumors, which is a lot for a fifteen year old so I actually had to come out of it to understand more. So when I came back in I was more dedicated and had more respect for it and I haven’t left since. You know what you have to do you have to evolve, that is what growing up is about. Live that way, feel that way, and be that way!

GC: It’s a way of life it’s not about fix one part but leaving the rest of you alone, it’s about change the lifestyle and changing the whys.

MJ: Most definitely, just because I tell people all the time its cool that you eat well but it’s about mind, body, and heart. I tell people it is good to use the supplements and things like that but if your not doing things to correct the person inside, like the way you think and feel you will always comeback to that same spot. And the common trend of man is when I feel good I can do whatever I want which isn’t exactly the case, Basically this is trying to teach you where you are supposed to be and everyone is different. So you have to find that plateau your on and work with it.

GC: What are some regular things people don’t know about their bodies and what is something you would suggest to the people?

MJ: I see a lot of Kidney and Liver damage and that takes place more so cause the salt levels and sugar levels that are in our system. The salt more so is in our blood stream and that is like the waste that causes the high blood pressure and high cholesterol. And the kidneys more so filter out the sugar so that’s dealing with the diabetes issue.

A lot of people don’t realize that number one back in the day salts and sugars were in the healer’s medicine cabinet on the top shelf meaning it was poison. Most commonly used stuff was on the bottom, and things were on top so no one could reach them. What happened was the “businessman” due to commercialism they pulled those off the top shelves and on to our tables. So this is what keeps people sick and in doctor offices.

People don’t realize that it is the food that you eat that cause the problems in your health and life. People don’t realize that even if you are on a “well balanced diet” that you can still be harming you body.

For example, people who stop eating meat then eat a majority of carbohydrates, which today is more a wheat-based thing. But historically our ancestors have consumed so much wheat over the past few years while neglecting the other more beneficial grains that now everyone has wheat allergens but no one recognizes that. A Lot of people are walking around with a newer disease called Siliacs’ disease, which is like a gluten allergy where the body is very sluggish and you stay sick and mostly it’s because of that high sugar in you system, throwing the balance off. Sugar and salt both have a place but in lower concentrations. Most people only recognize two senses: whether or not an item is salty or sugary, disregarding whether a item bland, or sour so when you give them something that doesn’t have one of those accepted senses they think it has no purpose.

So when I look at you tongue and tell you something about you and you say well my doctor says I’m fine, they are on another kick I’m telling you how your body is chemically reacting to the food your eating. These processed foods and especially lunchmeats and boxed food have the highest concentrations of salt in our bodies and we eat them on a daily basis.

GC: It can eat at your stomach!

MJ: yeah that’s why so many people have lower and upper GI issues, heartburn, acid reflux, and in particular irritable bowl syndrome where all the agitation from the salts and sugars turn into acid which eats away at your system and linings of your muscles.

GC: Thanks for the chat and you people can check Mariama's articles on the Community section!

For more information contact Mariama at jeihani@hotmail.com