CREDENTIALS  

• Doctor of Naturopathy degree (USA)
• Bachelor Degree in Business (Australia)
  
• Advanced Diploma in Western Herbal Medicine (Australia)
• Clinical Herbalist Certification (USA)
• Diploma in Holistic Aromatherapy (UK)
• Diploma in Anatomy /Physiology / Holistic massage (UK)
• Diploma in aesthetic and cosmetology(Singapore) 
• Certificate in Indian Head Massage (UK)
• Certificate in pathology (UK)
• Certificate in Kneipp’s Hydrotherapy (Germany) 
• Advanced course in essential oils (Purdue University) 

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP

• Australian Traditional Medicine Society
  
• National Association Herbalists Association of Australia 
  
• Complementary medicine practitioner associations council (Australia)
  

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Established the first traditional naturopathy clinic in Singapore (since 1999)
• More than a decade practical experiences in natural medicine
• The first local qualified practitioner in Western Herbal Medicine and Planetary Herbalism
• First to introduce St Hildegard Medicine and the spelt diet to Singapore and pioneered the application of St Hildegard Medicine (Germany) in local naturopathy practice.
• First and only Asian aromatherapist who has obtained advanced training in essential oils from Purdue University, USA.
• First local practitioner trained in Kneipp’s water therapy in Germany
• Treated hundreds of patients successfully with naturopathy
• Educator to numerous clients and students around the region
• Regularly featured on television, health magazines and radio programs
• Well- sought speaker and trainer for the spa and health supplement industries.
• Conference speaker such as in SingHealth Nurses Conference 2007, International Hildegard Medicine Congress in Germany and the Complementary medicine & Alternative Medicine forum by Republic Polytechnic.
• Founded the first Asian online Journal of Naturopathic Phytomedicine (www.leaf2life.com) 

My Healing Work Journey – From Engineering to Naturopathy 

Hi, my name is Sebastian Liew. I am a practicing Naturopath and Medical Herbalist, having a practice of my own since 1999 and over a decade of practical experiences in natural therapies. Many of you have asked me why I left a financially rewarding career in the corporate world and went into the ‘unknown’ world of natural medicine. Well, this is my short story :  

- A young boy interest in wellness

My interest in natural medicine started when I was just a teen. My elderly parents (I was born when my mother was 45 years old) taught me through their examples the power of nature healing and simple living. My mother was off medications when she treated her high blood pressure with herbs such as Celery and Hawthorn. I was very close to my dad and we often go to ‘yum cha’ (Chinese tea drinking) in Chinatown area and was often exposed to many elderly people. My dad taught me his own principles of anti-aging – sense of humor, see the funny side of life, lots of walking, green tea and tonic herbs. Once he asked me to guess the age of an old but strong man we met at the wet market. This man was 92years old and was still enjoying his cigar. My question was – ‘what are the secrets to his long and healthy life, despite his smoking habit?’  Since then, I took a deep interest in anti-aging lifestyle and medicine. Despite my relatively successful career in engineering and marketing, there was a deep sense of unfulfilled desires. I started to take up courses in holistic therapies such as massage, aromatherapy, nutrition and constantly seeking and praying God’s plan for my life. 

- Encounter with the power of natural healing
 
Though I started practicing holistic therapies, it was not until my visit to an organic farm that I fall in love with nature medicine. During the short stay in the farm, I felt a deep sense of connection with nature – the healing properties of the herbs, organic farming, little creatures, the fresh air and greens; enable me to experience the love of my Creator and the power of nature to heal us. It was truly a spiritual experience for me. It made me realized how wonderful is our Creator – manifesting His Love in the healing properties of herbs/ natural foods and the perfect designs of every single natural substance.  How often humankind neglected the things that nature has given us and instead adopts an unnatural lifestyle of synthetic drugs, chemicals, disconnection with nature and not living according to nature’s laws. The more we are disconnected from nature, the sicker we become.  

My interest in natural medicine intensified, when my mother was diagnosed with late stage lung cancer (This happened two years after her spine surgery). We gave her nutritional supplements and herbs to strengthen her system. She responded with amazing results. She did not suffer any pain and agony or symptoms related her condition. Beside, she had a strong Catholic Christian faith to support her. She died peacefully on Easter Sunday and we are still talking about her ‘miracle’ till this day. This experience strengthens my belief in the faith and natural medicine. In addition, my personal experiences with the use of herbs, foods and regular cleansing to treat my own illnesses help to reinforce my faith in nature medicine. For example, for more than a decade, I have not used any antibiotics to treat my flu. 

- Passion to create a life

Despite my poor family background, money was never the only motivating factor in my pursuit of career success. I wish to CREATE A LIFE that make me whole rather than simply survive, eat and die later. I believe that all of us are called to a mission. After much prayer and silent ‘retreats, I finally realized that helping people to save their life, cure their ailments and bring them to optimal holistic health is my calling for this life. And I found this in NATUROPATHY.

I believe we can only be healthy if we PROACTIVLY strive to learn a healthy life, not only on the physical level, but emotionally and spiritually. I believe in my Creator’s medicine, that is nature. Too many of us are brainwashed that we can only rely on synthetic drugs to treat and cure our illnesses. We neglect the importance of lifestyle medicine and nutrition and our body’s ability to heal itself. As a result, we suffer all kinds of side effects from suppressive drugs and we wonder why we are sick and tired.

With due respect to the medical community who have saved many lives, our health is really dependant mostly on our selves. Our body is not designed to last forever but our body is designed to live a vibrant life, if we pay attention to giving it the right conditions. You will then realize why you don’t have to suffer the diseases of modern civilization – high blood pressure, cholesterol problem, diabetes, arthritis and so on.   

My calling is to help each one of you not only to heal your common health ailments with nature medicine, but more importantly to learn how to prevent them in the first place. Preventive medicine is a spiritual exercise. It is WELLNESS SPIRITUALITY, or as I called it – TRUE HEALTH.

Wellness spirituality enables us to look into our life responses in all levels of our being – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

Too often our life responses are one sided. Rather than seeing the spiritual as involving the whole life, we separate the body and the soul. This platonic relationship treats the soul as representing a higher level of life than the body. How often you encountered ‘religious’ people who disregard the environment, indulge in rich foods and drinks (gluttony) and adopt quick fix to all bodily pains and sufferings? Their lifestyle does not reflect the true meaning of their faith.  On the other hand, many of us indulge in food and pleasure without attention paid to our emotional and spiritual life. Either way is not life enriching and balance. No wonder we still feel sick and tired. A middle path is therefore necessary.

When our responses are life enriching and in accordance with nature’s laws, we attain happiness, health and peace in our life.
When we fall in ‘love’ with our body, we fall in love with nature. When we fall in love with nature, we discover and touch the source of all healings – Our Creator.

Therefore, trust your body to heal and make use of nature and her medicine to heal you when you are sick and support you when you are healthy. You will enjoy full life and peace for yourself, others and society at large. Above all, teach others to be healthy. You are fulfilling the commandment of love.