112: Exploring Traditional Arabic and Islamic Medicine with Dr Bibi Ayesha Lockhat

Dr Bibi Ayesha Lockhat is a Traditional Arabic and Islamic Medicine (TAIM) Specialist practicing in the Middle East at Zulal Wellness Resort at China Som – Qatar, the only place in the  in the world to be reviving this traditional holistic healing system.

She holds two degrees from The University of The Western Cape (UWC), a Bachelor of Complementary Health Sciences and a Bachelor of Complementary Medicine with a Major in Unani Tibb Medicine.

TAIM dates back to 1025, the Greek philosophers, Muslim physician Ibn Sina and his famous The Canon of Medicine. The crucial difference is the focus on balance over the Western tendency to suppress symptoms. 

She tells us what TAIM is all about, how it works with prophetic foods mentioned in Quranic scripture, why it’s crucial in diagnosis and subsequent therapy, and we all might want to learn about how it works based on four humors and six lifestyle factors to fuel physis – our body’s own innate ability to heal itself. 

She talks about how TAIM relates to, incorporates and differs from other practices, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, Auyrveda and Western medicine. And then there is her TAIM-based approach to midlife imbalances of the body and acceleration of inflammatory process – for men in andropause and women in perimenopause – using lifestyle interventions, which is dramatically different that what we hear in North America. (She might have used the phrase “tunnel vision”.)

She believes TAIM as crucially important in both diagnosis and subsequent therapy and is well-versed and knowledgeable on several ‘hands-on’ therapies, such as massage, acupressure, aromatherapy, and therapeutic cupping. She enjoys offering and treating patients/guests with an extensive range of natural herbal medicines registered for specific ailments.

01:37 Understanding Traditional Arabic and Islamic Medicine (TAIM)

03:11 Comparing Western, Eastern, and TAIM Approaches

05:17 Diagnostic Methods in TAIM

05:57 Identifying Humors and Constitutions

11:02 Addressing Common Health Concerns and midlife hormonal imbalances

15:28 The Role of Nutrition in TAIM

36:15 Sleep and Lifestyle Factors

41:30 The Importance of Sunlight and Environmental Exposure

44:31 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Resources: 

The Traditional Healer’s Guide by Hakim Chishti 

Ibn Sina’s The Canon of Medicine 

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Transcript

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 0:00

traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine is actually in ancient holistic healing system dating back to the year 1025. And it really focuses deeply upon what we call Islamic medicine or prophetic medicine, using the religion of Islam behind it.

Ann Marie: 0:19

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Dr Bibi Lockhat: 1:56

Sure. So traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine is actually in ancient holistic healing system dating back to the year 1025. And it really focuses deeply upon what we call Islamic medicine or prophetic medicine, using the religion of Islam behind it. And also it looks at the different theories brought about by different philosophers. So, Traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine, what we call here at Zulal Wellness Resort Qatar by Chiva Som, is, we shorten it down to TAIM. So, Traditional Arabic and Islamic Medicine, TAIM. That's the short acronym that we use. So, like I mentioned, TAIM dates back to the year 1025, and we're really looking at the Greek philosophers, as well as a big famous Arab philosopher called Ibn Sina. So Ibn Sina, also known in the West as Avicenna, was the Arab philosopher who actually put together this ancient holistic healing system. And he used the theories of Hippocrates and Galen. So they were Greek philosophers, very well known in the Western medicine world. And he took their work and placed it into what we know today as the canon of medicine. So you might be wondering, how is this different to Eastern and Western medicine? So Western medicine really focuses on what we call tunnel vision. It's really looking at symptom based, uh, approaches to a person's health and well being. So we're not really looking at root causes. Specifically within Western medicine versus Eastern medicine and traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine. What we're really looking at is the root cause of a certain, what we know to be imbalance or state of disease or dis ease within the body. So in Eastern medicine, they really focus on what we call, um, for example, traditional Chinese medicine. They're looking at Qi, also known as the energy, which circulates through the different meridians. And in Ayurveda, for example, we're looking at the type of doshas, or imbalances a person has within their doshas, being vata, pitta, and kapha. And when we look back at TEM, there's this really important thing called the humoral theory. So this humoral theory is believed that each one of us has a very dominant humor within the body. And when we sit down with guests after consultation, we finding out what is your unique constitution and then afterwards assisting you in bringing back the balance within your body if there's any imbalance found within. And, um, the difference is also when we look at Western medicine in terms of diagnostic procedures, they're really focusing on scientific based treatments. uh, evidence based practices like laboratory tests and so forth. When we look at Eastern medicine, they're really focusing on what is the imbalance, like I mentioned, and according to traditional diagnostic methods, like a Chinese medicine, we use tongue diagnosis, pulse diagnosis in Ayurveda or maybe Indian based, uh, holistic healing systems. We're looking at what we call iridology, so A practitioner can look in the eye of an individual and within certain regions within the eye, it really tells you about what sort of system is imbalanced in the body. In traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine, we have an array of diagnostic methods. So we have traditional diagnostic methods such as pulse diagnosis, Tongue diagnosis. We also do a little bit of a stool and urine analysis. So we're asking guests questions regarding their stool and bowel movements. We're also observing, so observational techniques, as well as intensive history taking or lifestyle based. approaches to diagnostic methods. So that's really how traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine is similar to the Eastern medicine and how it differs in terms of the Western medicine approach.

Ann Marie: 5:57

What are you looking for when you're observing someone and trying to determine what, why their humor? Is it the humor?

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 6:04

Yes, humor.

Ann Marie: 6:05

When you're, when you're asking questions and what are you trying to, what might you notice from someone who comes in, uh, Okay, so, off the bat, like take a patient, patient A or something.

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 6:17

So it's really interesting with the years of experience when it comes to traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine, you can tell a person's humor or constitution just by their appearance.

Ann Marie: 6:28

Wow.

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 6:28

The shape of a person's face, the color of their eyes, the shape of their eyes, whether they have a widow's peak or, um, the color or the texture of their hair, um, the color of their skin, the texture of the skin, um, We also can tell from your body shape, um, and then it goes a bit more deeper into what we call the subjective or, um, questions that are asked to a guest. So we asking you about what we call the six lifestyle factors within traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine, being your food and drink, your physical movement and rest, we call it also known as your fitness activities. We're looking at sleep. We're looking at your emotional and mental wellbeing. the type of elimination processes your body naturally has, and also lastly, your environmental exposure. Besides this lifestyle factors, we're also asking you about your personality traits. So are you someone that gets angry really quickly? Or do you have a very stable imagination? Are you more creative? We ask you deeply about your hobbies and your engagements in your daily lifestyle. And this all together really tells us about the dominant humor. And also if there is any imbalance found within the body, how we can bring about the balance back inside.

Ann Marie: 7:51

And when you Hippocrates and who was the other fellow Galen Galen Hippocrates talked about the gut a lot and we're hearing about the gut a lot. Is there is that and what did they both focus to Galen focus on something as well.

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 8:06

Okay, so when we go back to the Greek philosophers Hippocrates was the main philosopher behind what we call the humoral theory. And this is that. These humors are produced in the body from the digestion of certain food items. So it really is that the food that you eat is your medicine. And that's really what Hippocrates focused deeply upon. Where Galen comes into the picture is that he added on to what we call this humoral theory. He brought about something called temperaments. So like the word temperature, it dates back to that word. So temperaments is what we commonly known to be the types of qualities associated with each humor. So temperaments is known as heat, dryness, moisture, and coldness. So when we're looking at the types of imbalances in the body, it's really looking at which types of temperaments are out of balance and how we can balance them internally in the body.

Ann Marie: 9:10

Okay, so you have your humor and your temperaments, and they're not necessarily wrong. It's just that you can get out of balance with the way you're supposed to be. And that's really interesting. It's, I've spoken to another person from a DNA company, and he said they're sort of like buckets of people. When, when they did 7, 000 DNA tests, he said, you know, you can really put people into buckets. And he said, I can look at you and just tell by your shoulders that you're muscular and you're strong and you're, and you're probably able to look at me and tell a few things too, right?

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 9:39

Yes.

Ann Marie: 9:41

That's weird. Okay. What are three things you can tell just by looking at me? I'm curious.

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 9:47

So you have a very red complexion. So that is your undertone. You've got red complexion. Um, you also have a little bit of a wide nose. And your jaw is very structured. Okay. So commonly seen in what we call bilious individuals. So that is heat and dryness within the body.

Ann Marie: 10:11

Ah, heat. And so what does that mean? Heat and dryness within the body. That means that you're going to be more and dry person kind of thing or

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 10:19

your natural constitution of your body would be made up of that. But that's just an example. We go very deep into it. So TAME is not only about the holistic healing systems or the ancient theories, it is incorporating the Western approach as well, here at Zulal specifically. So at Zulal Wellness Resort we really focus deeply on the integrated or holistic approach. So we're combining the ancient wisdom of TAIM and we're using modern therapies. Which are science based and evidence backed to give you that overall holistic approach that you need to balance your body.

Ann Marie: 11:01

Okay, that's amazing. So, what are some of the problems you see people coming with? And then what, how, what are some sort of therapies that you prescribe for them?

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 11:10

So common health concerns that we find amongst a lot of our guests in house, um, number one at the current moment is, is burnout. So we find a lot of stress and burnout amongst a lot of the guests that are visiting us. That would be the main one right now. We also have a lot of guests who are facing obesity and lifestyle associated diseases. So that would be obesity with a diabetes or hypertension, um, a little bit of those complications we're seeing as well. We also find guests, uh, a lot of the time mainly wanting to focus on rehabilitation in terms of maybe they just, um, underwent some knee surgery or some sort of condition whereby they need a bit of rehabilitation. And often we find that a lot of guests who do visit us, they also experiencing musculoskeletal issues. So pains in various areas and 100 percent of the time, it is mainly office based individuals. So we find that the first areas to be affected are the shoulders and the neck, because we may be at our desk and we're focusing on typing, writing and so forth. So we find these. Uh, really predominant amongst a lot of our guests and our approach to their health and well being is that firstly is education and awareness. That is the most important tools that we give our guests here is really that we enlighten you on your current condition and how we, we can assist you in getting to that balanced state, not only from a team perspective, but overall the holistic approach. So what we do here at Zulal Wellness Resort by China Som Is we really focus on number one, like I said, education and awareness, and number two is also creating, um, that environment whereby guests are not only focusing on the physical wellbeing or what is commonly seen amongst individuals who are visiting us is that they just come here and it's just physical for them. No, here it's really about mind, body and spirit. So we teach our guests that everything is interlinked. Everything is connected. And each guest will undergo A treatment in one of the six modalities. So that is from fitness. We also have our physiotherapy, our nutrition, our holistic therapies, our spa therapies, and our aesthetic department. So when guests come to us, it's not only that we're focusing on the physical well being, or receiving some massages, but it's giving the tool, the necessary tools needed from all of those six pillars of wellness. To ensure that the guest has what we call this sustainable wellness journey. And when we talk about sustainable wellness, it's not just about a quick fix or coming in and experiencing the treatments and then leaving and going back to square one, it's really that we are. Maintaining those lifestyle changes for the long run so that it, it instills that what we call sustainable wellness journey is that it's maintained. It's not just in an art and you forget all of the things that you did. It's that we give you the necessary tools or lifestyle recommendations to go home and actually implement them slowly because we can't go from crawling to jumping.

14:36

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Ann Marie: 15:28

If you could, uh, sort of encapsulate the approach to nutrition in TAME, how, how that works, like what the sort of philosophy is for us?

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 15:38

Okay, so nutrition is one of the most, um, important lifestyle factors within TAME. And like I mentioned, Hippocrates thought about this humoral theory and he brought about it and it is stated that the food we eat really affects the type of humors produced within the body. So I'll give you an example. The humoral theory, we have the four humors. Number one, the Billy's humor, two, the sanguine's humor, three, the phlegmatic humor, and four, is the melancholic humor. So you might have heard these terms somewhere in some English scripture or maybe on a personality analysis or something. So it's really that when we're looking at which humor is very dominant. We also know that food items, the type of physical activity, and all of the other six lifestyle factors I previously mentioned each have their own temperament as well. So a certain food item will have a certain type of temperament linked to it. So if, for example, if I go back to the humoral theory, a bilious individual is known to have heat and dryness. dominant within their body. If a bilious individual overdoes it with a lot of proteins like chicken, for example, so chicken is also hot and dry, and they have excessive amounts of chicken, it will actually cause an imbalance within the body. linking back to excessive either heat or dryness. And how we balance in terms of nutrition and tame is that when there's an imbalance within the body, we treat with the opposite. So a bilious individual going through some heat and dryness, or maybe heat is too much within the body linked with the dryness, we then balance with cooling and moisturizing foods. So, What we would advise a guest to do is, if you want to have your chicken, have it in moderation, or try to avoid it throughout the week. So maybe have it once in a week versus every single day. And how you can also balance a dish is incorporating more cold and moisturizing foods, such as cucumber or rice. with your protein. So that really helps balance internally. And then we also work very closely with our chefs here at Salab to not only look at the balance, but also how we can incorporate when it comes to the Islamic or Arabic medicine part is the prophetic foods. So those foods that were actually mentioned in Quranic scripture. So that is like pomegranate, dates, olive oil, saffron, figs, and how we really can incorporate these with their certain temperaments in the different, uh, conditions and bring about that balance internally.

Ann Marie: 18:31

Would you say that the people with the different humors, sometimes they might not like the foods that would agitate them? Like, yes. Right. So if I don't really like, if I am indeed this, This humor. I don't really like spicy. I can't handle it. It may be because I'm already hot. I don't really love him that much. Like, I don't really actually love when I think about it. Right. But I do love cucumber. So maybe there's an internal drive. Is that, is that, is that part, is that a part of this?

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 19:03

Absolutely. So, Anne, one thing that is very important and linking back to Hippocrates who came about this and Ibn Sina put it all together in the books known as the Canon of Medicine or what we call the Medical Encyclopedia, is that each and every one of us has something called physis. So physis is P H Y S I S. Physis is our body's own innate ability to heal itself. So that is sort of like what we call our traditional holistic healing system, um, or immune system with inside, is that when we have this imbalance that is seen in the, that is felt in the body, I would say actually not seen, it is that our body would react intuitively to bring about balance. Thanks. And how this happens is through what we call the healing crisis. So you'll find that when we experience fever, nausea or vomiting, a bit of diarrhea and all of this, that's actually our body's natural processes of elimination to get rid of toxins or impurities or imbalances within the body. So that is what we actually focusing upon. And it's mentioned in all of the Uh, scriptures in the canon of medicine and also Hippocrates and his theories is this physis. So the body's own innate ability to heal itself and how we can balance physis is purely through lifestyle factors. So the six that I mentioned before, okay, very important.

Ann Marie: 20:38

I'm hearing like, this is something that no one understands in Western medicine about a temperature, for example, that a temperature is actually your body's own healing mechanism. And no one wants a temperature and they start taking, you know, ibuprofen and Tylenol to, and that sort of interfere. Can you explain that process? Because that seems to be something that Western medicine has left out of the equation. It's like, get rid of the temperature. The temperature is bad.

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 21:05

So, um, Please forgive me with this, I'm not a medical expert in terms of the Western approach, but like I said previously, it's really much that when we have symptom based conditions like fevers or diarrheas or vomiting, the Western approach is really to suppress those symptoms. Reactions that the body has in order to not let it lead to an extent where it's harmful to the body. So yes, we understand that. And that is something that's necessary, um, to really, uh, manage in a sense is that if it becomes excessive, then it's going to be bad for health. Um, but at the same time is when we look at it from a team perspective is that yes, Western approaches are necessary, but also how we can balance and react quick enough In order to prevent those healing crises from happening is purely lifestyle based. And once you know your dominant humor or your temperament that is very dominant inside, it really becomes what we call preventative approach to your health and wellness, is that with our lifestyle recommendation plan, which we give to each and every guest in house, it is sort of like your Bible to your lifestyle. Your health and wellness journey. If you follow each and every lifestyle factor, according to your dominance inside, you can prevent yourself from getting any type of imbalance. So this is always what fascinates a lot of my guests is that also the different stages of life, you'll find that different imbalances come about, and it's purely based on the type of humor that is dominant within that stage of life. So I'll give you an example. Um, we look at childhood, or from birth up until pre puberty. That is known as the phlegmatic stage of life. And if we had to break down phlegmatic, it is coming from the word phlegm. So if you think about a child, children are very soft, they're still forming, and their body is now still Forming all of the bones and the muscles are growing and all of these processes are slowly starting to build up within the body. So that is the very soft or what we call the cold and moist stage of life. So a child with a naturally dominant or dominant humor in the phlegmatic humor will maybe suffer with some imbalances in that stage of life, such as respiratory conditions or anything relating to mucus. And how we balance that is purely with the opposite. So if there are imbalances, what do we need to increase? If there's a lot of cold and moisture, heat and dryness. Okay. Yeah. So. It then moves on to what we call the stage of puberty. So puberty is known as the sanguinous stage of life. This is now where the cold is slowly disappearing, moisture is still present, but heat is introduced. So you'll find that individuals who are sanguinous They will go through this imbalance if they deviate from their lifestyle factors. And commonly seen these conditions are those amongst, if we talk about females specifically, um, PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome, the absence of periods, so amenorrhea, and reproductive based conditions. Why? Because during puberty, that heat that is introduced with the moisture is what we're linking back to the hormones. So hormones are now needed for production, for the growth within the body. And um, when we see these imbalances, it's really that either the heat is not present or the moisture is overpowering or vice versa. That heat is too much, and the moisture is really less. So you'll find that phlegmatic children, sanguinis, puberty, or teenagers, we then move on to adults, or the adulthood stage of life, so post puberty and now moving, um, into, uh, adult or mid forties and so forth, is the bilious stage of life. So that's now where moisture is completely gone, but dryness is still present. Now being introduced with heat. So that is the heat and dryness stage of life. And this stage of life is known for its, um, maturation. So we find that our bones are now ossified at the age of 30. When we say ossified, they o solidified. Our sternum is actually solid now, it's not still cartilaginous or anything. So this stage of life is where we find a lot of inflammatory processes. being accelerated. So you'll find, um, hypertension, heart disease. So bilious individuals will be imbalanced in this stage of life. And lastly, we move on to the melancholic stage of life, known as the geriatric stage or Maybe elderly state of life. And you'll find that those who have a very dominant melancholic, um, humor, will suffer with what we call a lot of, um, calcification. So their bones will be affected, humors will maybe develop in those individuals, and so forth. So, it's so important that once you know your dominant humor, It really is a pathway in the different stages of life as well, and how you can balance according to the six lifestyle factors to avoid that stage of life specifically for your humor to be affected.

Ann Marie: 26:50

Okay, that's so interesting. So you have your humor, but then each stage of life is also a humor. So if you're that humor and that stage of life, things may be more pronounced for you and you have to take more care. Now we're hearing a lot these days about hormones, women's hormones, but also men's hormones, perimenopause, menopause, andropause. How does TAM approach that? transition. For women it's the end of fertility, for men it's sort of a longer, slower slope.

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 27:20

So, and the most important thing is to incorporate western approach here. So we need the scientific based, um, diagnostic methods as well, linking to the tame approach. So commonly seen, like I mentioned, in these adulthood stage or maybe elderly stage of life is that now it's the bilious and the melancholic stage. So what is lacking in these two stages of life is the moisture. Which moisture is needed, or hormones are commonly known to have the moisture temperament, very dominantly linked to it. So, each and every one of us have the estrogen, the progesterone, the testosterone, and so forth. But if we're lacking that moisture content that is needed for the production in these hormones, then we'll experience imbalanced states like this. So, menopause is known as a heating and drying condition. or imbalance, and that's because there is the lack of moisture. On the other hand, we have low testosterone levels, which is known to be very cold and moist condition, or imbalance. So, low testosterone, there's a lack of heat and dryness. That's the difference in male and female. And how we balance is purely with the opposite. So in men who are experiencing low levels of testosterone, we really need to look firstly at the cause. It can be lifestyle based. It can be thyroid issues. It can be certain medications like corticosteroids. So we're really looking at all facets of an individual's well being. So when we sit with male guests, we'll ask them about a number of things. Are they taking any medication? Did they have any surgeries? Do they have any pre existing conditions that were diagnosed by a medical professional? And how we get to the root of this is looking at the type of imbalance. So if we send them for some laboratory tests, so at Solal, we actually have these personalized approaches as well. Um, we have a medical director in house as well as medical doctor. So we work closely with the team to give that integrated approach. So it's not that here we practice the two systems separately. It's integrated. So it's, there's a need. When we say complementary and alternative medicine, it really is that they complement each other and there are alternative therapies or practices available. So how we can balance in terms of low testosterone is looking deeply into diet, number one, as our sources of the different, um, Testosterone based foods. So a lot of phyto based, um, foods. So like when we say phyto is plant based foods, how that consists. Also looking at the type of proteins guests are taking in, incorporating more nuts into your diet, such as pistachios, almonds, different herbs and spices like ginger, clove, and saffron can also help with testosterone levels. And also the different alternative therapies like cupping therapy, also commonly known as hegema. So, hijama is the Arabic word relating back to sucking, so al hajjim, it's derived from that word, and that traditional healing system or therapy actually assists in eliminating what we call the moisture content that's very dominant within low testosterone. So this is how we take on that approach to every single condition is we're looking at the root causes and how we can balance in terms of the lifestyle as well as incorporating these traditional therapies and herbal supplements as well.

Ann Marie: 30:58

How about in women? How about in women who are going through perimenopause, which can start very early and last for a long time. What's the, you know, when you talked about men and low testosterone, how about women?

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 31:09

So opposites in females. And when we're going through menopause, perimenopause and so forth, that is actually known as the absence of cold and moisture. So when there's a lot of heat and dryness and this moisture content is completely gone, that is the stage of menopause. And if you actually think about it, when we say heat and dryness and the bilious humor, it is linking back to the element of fire. So think about an individual who's going through menopause. She'll experience hot flashes, mood swings, um, maybe some night sweats and all of these things. And if you really think about how it. it can relate to fire, it really is that it physically feels like that. So it's sort of, a lot of other things such as vaginal dryness and also dry skin textures, patches of pigmentation, all of these hormonal changes within menopause. I'm linking back to what we call the bilious humor imbalance. So, like I said, low testosterone is actually the moisture one, and the female menopause is the bilious humor that's overtaking this. So how we balance that is the exact same. We treat with the opposite. So we'll incorporate more, um, cooling and moisturizing effects within the body based on the six lifestyle factors. Hijama once again, or cupping therapy, very good to eliminate this heat out of the body, and also help with the circulation. Um, and getting the blood to circulate our lymphatic system with drainage, assisting that and enhancing it, and also the diet. So very important is balancing the estrogen, progesterone, and all of those other hormones, very, um, necessary within the hormonal cycle of a woman. And then also our, um, herbs that we have from our in house apothecary so our apothecary is our traditional pharmacy we have in house. Thank you. And, um, we're actually using different herbs, such as, um, what we call shatavari or asparagus racemosus. Um, and this actually mixed with ashwagandha, known as withenia somnifera, and lots of other moisturizing herbs to increase that moisture within the body. So, not only just symptom based, treating hot flashes and all of this, but really getting to that root cause or imbalance state.

Ann Marie: 33:33

Your view is that even in a transition that is designed to happen, it's an imbalance during you're in an you're in an inherent imbalance during that transition. So you just need to support that imbalance. Wow.

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 33:48

Yes. So it's really, like I said, once you know your temperament, once you know the stage of life that you're moving into, and once you have our lifestyle recommendation plan, which we give to you, the tools necessary, it can be that you prevent those imbalances from reaching a state that is chaos for your body.

Ann Marie: 34:08

What would you say are the top problems you see in diet from people that come to you? There's a ton of information and there's a lot of people who give blanket nutrition advice, but it's sounding to me like it's quite individualized or at least into these four categories. Humors. How can you generalize for us in a bit of a helpful way?

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 34:26

So something very important to consider in each and every guest is that not everyone is the same. Firstly, we'll have our unique or dominant humor. It's sort of like our genetic makeup. Not every one of us has the exact same genetic makeup. So it's very important that we look at this individualized approach. And also we take into consideration the cultural approaches, um, or cultural background of an individual. If you, someone that let's say, for example, um, you attend cultural gatherings every single week, and there's lots of sweets and cakes and things, and you're constantly indulging in that, um, we ask you a lot. Of detailed information when we sit with you during a TAME consultation is that talk me through a day in your life with regards to breakfast, lunch, dinner, any types of snacks you have, how much water are you intaking? Um, do you enjoy salty foods, spicy foods, sweet foods, sour? What is your taste buds? Like what is something that gravitates to you immediately? Are you someone that enjoys more warm foods or? Cold temperature wise. We're also asking you about any allergies and tolerances, aversions. So we really all give you that Holistic approach that is needed and we're also looking at medications that you're possibly taking any supplements Any sort of deficiencies found within the body We offer food intolerance testing as well with nutritionists And also, once we know your dominant humor, we can give you recommendations on certain foods you should avoid in your diet, or limit, or use in moderation, and more that you should incorporate and include in your daily meals. So that's really what we do.

Ann Marie: 36:15

A big problem I come across in these interviews is sleep. People have really bad sleep habits. What do you see? And how do you try to help people?

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 36:25

Yes, so this is the biggest issue we commonly face here as well in our guests, not only those who experience burnout, but every single guest will mention something about either the absence of sleep or insomnia or excessive sleeping and, uh, deep naps during the day and they feel like they can't, um, you know, process, um, Uh, the energy levels throughout the day because of this. So here atZulalwe really, like I said, focus on all factors of an individual's lifestyle. Sleep is also one of the most, uh, it's part of the six essential lifestyle factors within TAME. So when we sit with guests during a TAME consultation, and even before that, when a guest arrives to Zillow Wellness Resort by Shibason, they sit with a health and wellness advisor. So this advisor Goes through what we call the health and wellness consultation, which addresses a lot of goals, I guess, would like to achieve and also looks deeply into their lifestyle and one of those. Spears or areas that we looking at is sleep. So we asking a guest about the amount of hours they get. What time do they go to bed? What time do they wake up? Um, do they feel like they are well energized after the steep or do they feel very fatigued? And how we approach this is really that it's important to know the type of sleep hygiene an individual has. So when I say sleep hygiene, it's the practices or habits that we install prior to going to bed at night. So these really look at the certain rituals that we have in place. So you find a lot of females have a lot of skincare routine based things before going to bed, but here at Zillow we really focus on sleep. So we offer our guests a bath ritual. Um, prepared by our butlers. So while a guest is very busy experiencing some treatments or enjoying their meal in the outlet, um, and based on the time they'd like to get back to their room, we prepare a lovely bath with certain salts. So like Epsom salt or Himalayan salt with some essential oils, some candles really to give that mood of relaxation. Now we then also offer something called the good night ritual. So here at Salar, um, Twice in a week, our guests can experience this goodnight ritual. So what it is, it's a deep meditation class using sound healing or sound therapy, and it really relaxes the body in terms of mind, body, and spirit. So it's not only about just, um, calming down the body, but it's really that majority of the time sleep disturbances come from, um, what we call overthinking or overactive minds. So these practices are very important as well as engaging in regular fitness activities to really help our body have that good blood circulation and also to relax the mind. So we recommend guests to have some fitness or do some fitness. activities at least several hours before going to bed at night. And then also nutrition. Another most important thing is, um, looking at certain trigger foods, which can keep us awake at night. And also if we having caffeine, for example, um, to not have your caffeine too close to the time of dinner, maybe just in the morning with breakfast and also how we can limit those items as well that actually stimulate or, um, keep us awake at night. And then also limiting your screen use, screen time. So here at Zillow on this resort, we practice something called digital detox. So guests are not allowed to use their phones out in public areas. They can only use it within their room, but we also make sure that they are well educated to disconnect and reconnect with themselves. So that's something that's really important. The sleep hygiene of a guest. Um, we also have our lavender essential oil available in the room to help the guest. So they are the essential oils also that can help instill calmness. And also after your meal, uh, In our outlet, as well as our tea house, we have our sleep blends. So these sleep blends, or herbal teas, consist of chamomile and lavender. And after time consultation, if we do find any guests experiencing a bit of these imbalances in terms of sleep also and wanting to assist balancing the body, we put together a blend also mixed with chamomile and lavender, and we add some what we call ashwagandha. So this is withenia somnifera, and it's known to be a nerve tonic herb. So it really helps instill calmness in terms of the nervous system. Because the nervous system in TAME is known to have moisture naturally, and when we're lacking moisture, and insomnia is a state of cold and dryness, or that imbalance, we need to add more moisture within the body. to help install because sleep is also a moisturizing activity.

Ann Marie: 41:30

We hear a lot about vitamin D deficiencies, but also sunlight, contributes to a lot of mechanisms in the body. So what, how does TAME look at that?

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 41:39

So how TAME looks at sunlight is that one of the most essential factors also is our environmental exposure or our air and breathing. So each and every dominant temperament or humor actually has a certain time that they should go outside in nature or be outdoors, um, receive sunlight in certain seasons as well. To maintain that balance within the body. So like we know in the Western world that sunlight is essential for the production of vitamin D. It actually begins in the skin and then moves to the kidneys, the liver, and all of these other systems within the body. The same goes for TEM. So our air and breathing and in terms of our environmental exposure is very essential for certain types of temperaments. For example, a bilious individual should have exposure to outdoors during the early morning or in the evening. They should not be outdoors during midday or the height of the sunlight because it's known to negatively affect their body. Why? Because each time of the day has a humor that is dominant as well.

Ann Marie: 42:49

This is so funny that you say this because one day I was up early and went for a walk and I went for a walk at sunset and I had the best sleep of the day. Like all time, like I wanted to get it for myself for how I slept.

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 43:03

Yeah. And the same goes, for example, if, um, we had the four different types of people doing a fitness activity during the midday or hot sun, you'll find that some can finish the race in no ease. Some will start and then there'll be able to finish with a bit of struggle. Some will struggle when they begin or some won't even attempt to do it. And it's also because The timing of the day and the humor and the type of fitness activity is very important also. So that's how we see, is that everyone is different and some are similar in a way, but this is the unique approach to TAME, is that it's looking at individualized approach to health and wellness. So if you wanted to learn more about, about this area, you could read the Quran and you could read the Canon of Medicine by Evan Sina, which is five. Volumes. Volumes, yes.

Ann Marie: 43:59

Is there another thing you could read that might be a little bit more user friendly that would help you?

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 44:04

Yes, um, if I'm not mistaken it's called the Traditional Healer's Guide. It's by the author Hakim Chishti. so Hakeem actually send you a link to it as well, but this is more the simplified version of Ibn Sina's work as well as Hippocrates, and it speaks about something called Unani Medicine as well. So Unani Medicine. Is Greek Arabic medicine, which is actually one of the foundations of tame as well. Well, this is absolutely fascinating, Dr. Beebe and for people who can't go to Zalal, which we all would love to, but it's, I think it's given them a lot of. I mean, it's given me some tips too, right? Like you can, you can listen to sound healing before you go to bed. You can get ashwagandha. You can do a lot of these things. You can even find out your humor and temperament. Yes. Thank you so much for giving us a window into what you do there. I really, really appreciate it. It's only a pleasure. And like I said, we all about creating awareness and educating you because us as practitioners and therapists, we not the all knowing, you know, your body better than anyone else. And we just here to assist you on that journey and give you the necessary tools to go ahead and go on that balanced lifestyle. That is very, very, very important. Thank you so much. And also another tip, um, for those who would like to also reach out, um, onto social media platforms is visit Salal's Instagram regularly. We just did a video on prophetic foods yesterday. So you can have a look at that and also see it's a lot of what we call spreading wellness knowledge. So we're really out there to spread the knowledge and create awareness. So that you can see what necessary tools it is to have in your daily lifestyle and also implement them in a certain way.

Ann Marie: 45:53

That's great. And I'll put all those in the notes. I wonder if anyone's ever laid like. laid Tam and, and Eastern traditional Chinese medicine, like laid them on top of each other to sort of compare someone.

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 46:08

Yes. So if you actually look at the scientific evidence journals, TAME was influenced by these different traditional healing systems. So there is a influence from Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, Yunnan medicine, Persian medicine. So they all have this influence into what we now know today as TAME, traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine. Because if you look back at the ancient times, the Middle East was known as the trade hub. And individuals would come from China, India, all over, and they would trade their spices. But along with the spices came the knowledge. And like I said, food is your medicine. So back in ancient times, they were also using these spices or herbs to treat ailments and conditions. And when we look at the Quran also, or prophetic medicine, so prophetic medicine is following the practices of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. And the certain foods or therapies that he used so actually mentioned in the Quran is all of the food items I mentioned before, as well as hijama or cupping therapy.

Ann Marie: 47:13

Okay, so it really does take sort of the best. Yes, took the best of all the ancient ones and put it in together. So yeah, and really want the one you should be going with.

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 47:24

Yeah, and we actually we the only place in the Middle East, and in the world to be reviving this traditional holistic healing system.

Ann Marie: 47:32

This is very exciting. Well, I hope I speak to you again. This is a fascinating area. Thank you so much.

Dr Bibi Lockhat: 47:38

Absolutely. Only a pleasure.

47:41

Hot Flash Inc. was created and is hosted by Anne Marie McQueen, produced and edited by Sonia Mack. The information contained in this podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not intended for the purpose of diagnosing, treating, curing, or preventing any disease. Before using any products referenced on the podcast, consult with your healthcare provider, read all labels, and heed all directions and cautions that accompany the products. Information podcast should not be used in place of a consultation or advice from a healthcare provider. If you suspect you have a medical problem, i. e. menopause or anything else, or any healthcare questions, please promptly see your healthcare provider. This podcast, including Anne Marie McQueen and any producers or editors, disclaim any responsibility from any possible adverse effects from the use of any information contained herein. Opinions of guests on this podcast are their own and the podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests. This podcast does not make any representations or warranties about a guest's qualifications or credibility. This podcast may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products or services. Individuals on this podcast may have direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to herein. This podcast is owned by Hot Flash Inc Media.