Blooming Where You’re Planted: Integrative Healing, Mind-Body Medicine & The Power of Self-Love with Dr. Michelle Thompson

Show NotesIn this episode of Roots of Healing, Dr. Siri Chand Khalsa speaks with Dr. Michelle Thompson, an osteopathic family physician, integrative and lifestyle medicine leader, and founder of Wholehearted Medicine. Together, they explore what happens when we stop seeing ourselves as the healer and begin to recognize that every patient is their own best healer.Dr. Thompson shares her unconventional journey from stepping away from medical school to become the director of a massage therapy school, where she immersed herself in reflexology, aromatherapy, neuromuscular therapy, sound healing, and art therapy then returning to osteopathic training with a completely different lens on what true healing could be.From being labeled “the integrative one” in a 100,000 employee health system to designing lifestyle medicine residency curricula and launching mind-body group visits, Dr. Thompson has quietly been reshaping what care can look and feel like for both patients and clinicians. She also opens up about grief, losing her grandmother, Ayurvedic support during a silent retreat, and how unprocessed stress can live in the body as chronic illness, burnout, and mysterious symptoms.Whether you’re a clinician on the edge of burnout, a patient seeking trauma-informed, whole-person care, or a healer who needs permission to put yourself back into the center of your own life, this conversation is an invitation to return to self-love, nervous system healing, and the simple, radical act of listening to your own body.If you're inspired by our exploration on Routes of Healing, a physician-led podcast that brings forward the unique voices and lived experiences of lifestyle and integrative doctors, subscribe to get new episodes shared with you weekly.🔑 Key Topics & Takeaways“You are your own best healer” – shifting power back to the patientLeaving medical school, leading a massage therapy school, and returning with a new integrative lensLearning reflexology, aromatherapy, neuromuscular therapy, sound therapy, and art therapy as foundations of future practiceTurning a “traditional” family medicine practice into an integrative, lifestyle-focused clinicWhy Dr. Thompson stopped saying “alternative and complementary” and insists on integrative and evidence-basedBuilding lifestyle medicine into residency curricula across multiple programs at UPMCThe six pillars of lifestyle medicine as a starting point for every patient visitAsking: “What’s going really well, and what are you struggling with?” as a doorway to root-cause discoveryGrief, losing her grandmother, and how Ayurveda helped her see stress, digestion, and sympathetic overdrive differently“You cannot live being chased by a tiger your entire life” – the cost of chronic sympathetic activationMind-body skills, James Gordon, and the Center for Mind-Body Medicine influence on her clinical workGroup medical visits as a powerful vehicle for healing, connection, and reclaiming time in conventional systemsHow massage, sound therapy, yoga, and breathwork became essential, not optional, in her own self-carePhysician well-being, trauma in training, and why self-care must sit at the center of healthcareTeaching medical students and residents to honor their bodies, stories, and inner wisdomViewing self-care as an act of service: when we care for ourselves, we care better for others⏱ Chapters00:00 — “I tell every patient, you are your own best healer.”00:21 — Welcome to Roots of Healing01:32 — Introducing Dr. Michelle Thompson and her role at UPMC and beyond03:17 — Leaving medical school, leading a massage therapy school, and discovering integrative modalities05:34 — Returning to osteopathic medicine with reflexology, aromatherapy, and neuromuscular therapy in hand06:29 — Being “the integrative one” in a massive health system and the evolution of terminology08:47 — Blooming where you’re planted: navigating sterility in conventional training with a healer’s heart09:30 — Asking “But why?” – moving beyond pills to root-cause inquiry11:30 — Lifestyle medicine as a bridge: the six pillars everyone can agree on13:36 — Grief, losing her grandmother, and realizing she hadn’t truly allowed herself to grieve15:24 — Ayurveda, sympathetic eating, and learning to slow down enough to digest16:23 — “You cannot live being chased by a tiger your entire life” – stress, PNS, and healing17:15 — Physician well-being, trauma in training, and rewriting the culture of medicine19:40 — The yoga mat as non-negotiable: daily practices, body oiling, and Ayurvedic self-love20:40 — Learning to love the body you inhabit instead of fighting it23:12 — Self-care, privilege, and reframing massage as necessary medicine rather than luxury25:30 — Bessel van der Kolk, body memory, and why somatic practices matter28:55 — Mind-body skills training, Center for Mind-Body Medicine, and mentoring others in group visits33:10 — Group medical visits: design, billing, and why the group itself becomes medicine36:40 — Trauma-informed care and recognizing trauma patients don’t always know they’re traumatized39:17 — “As long as we have our breath, we have the ability to make a change”43:00 — Modeling self-care for her son, patients, and trainees49:00 — Future of medicine: AI, human connection, and why we still need spaces to be deeply seen1:02:00 — How to work with Dr. Thompson & where to find her onlineAbout Today’s GuestLearn more & connect with Dr. Thompson:Website: https://www.wholeheartedmedicine.orgInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mtyogidoc/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mtyogidoc/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRcm8ziVeLa5yp6IAypigmQ/videosLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-michelle-thompson-do-aobfp-aboim-dipablm-faclm-058688a/Publication:Lifestyle Medicine and Vasomotor Symptoms: An Analytic Review (2024)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/15598276241232359New York Times Features:Doctors Facing Burnout Turn to Self-Carehttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/well/mind/doctors-facing-burnout-turn-to-self-care.htmlAI and Healthcare Documentationhttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/26/technology/ai-health-care-documentation.html🌐 Connect with Your HostDr. Siri Chand Khalsa, MD MSLifestyle & Integrative Medicine Physician • Culinary Medicine • AyurvedaWebsite: drsirichand.comInstagram: @doctorsirichandCulinary Medicine Blog: drsirichand.com/blogCommunity: https://vishuddha.comVishuddha: A Media Agency for Conscious Clinicians & Wellness SeekersVishuddha is a media and creative agency dedicated to amplifying the voices of integrative and lifestyle medicine clinicians who are transforming how we understand health and healing.We provide media representation, book...