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Susan McManus is a Registered Nurse and Natural Health Practitioner with almost 40 years of healthcare
and nutritional experience. She has extensive training in herbology, nutrition, homeopathy and exercise
therapy, and uses alternative diagnostic tools such as hair analysis and iridology to work with her
patients. She has personally committed herself to a healthy lifestyle and is a devoted wife and loving mother.
Ms. McManus’ nurturing started at a very young age when she began to learn the old ways
of healing while living with her European Grandparents who were familiar with more natural ways of
healing; a family that had a history of natural healing.
Choosing to be a nurse in the healthcare profession, early in her career Ms. McManus worked in the mental
healthcare field in a community outreach program implementing patient medical plans and monitoring
medications in traditional Western medicine. Here she came to realize and was appalled at how adversely
medications can react in very negative ways. She then worked in Internal Medicine, Neurology and OB/GYN,
and was witness to many doctors over-prescribing too many prescription drugs. This caused Ms. McManus
to pause and reflect on her chosen profession.
While reflecting upon her own profession, Ms. McManus was also a fitness instructor for the YMCA. Based
on rehabilitation for an old back injury she had sustained in an auto accident, and her personal interest
in learning and maintaining her own health, she became a proficient fitness instructor and educator
teaching such courses as “Healthy Back”, “You and Me Baby”, “Older Active Adults”, and Walk Reebok
along with cardiovascular step classes. She also started to emphasize her own personal fitness, and
really got into healthy living habits, vitamins and exercise.
She started to look for alternative means to help people, and turned back to her family roots and early
childhood training, and decided to learn more about nutrition, supplements and alternative healthcare
practice. Ms. McManus chose to take classes at the American Institute of Natural Healing and became
a board certified Naturopathic Doctor. As she became more versed in the ways of homeopathy and
alternative medical treatments from a professional perspective, the more it became obvious that for
the most part our health is in our own hands. In fact, it is becoming more apparent that there are
many Ancient remedies as well as natural remedies available that although not explainable by modern
research (FDA and "scientific" investigations) that really do work.
Associated with her YMCA teaching, Ms. McManus began giving lectures to teachers at the Elementary School
level who were interested in learning to live a healthy life-style. Most were interested in weight
loss, and many times when eating patterns changed, not only did the teacher lose weight, but health
issues lessened or completely disappeared.
With this success as a self-taught nutritionist, Ms. McManus started working at a well known health spa
and vacation resort that specializes in a holistic approach by western trained medical doctors. Here
the MDs treated the whole person, not just the symptoms. Finally this protocol of treatment seemed to
fit better with what Ms. McManus had been learning over the years and came full circle to what she had
learned as a child. At the Health Spa Ms. McManus worked as a Nurse Educator taking client histories and
putting together a program specifically to meet their individual needs - physically,
emotionally and spiritually.
While working at the Health Spa Ms. McManus was also living and working in a rural Appalachian overnight camp with
campers from elementary school age to corporate moguls learning team work and camaraderie while in the wild. She was now
able to put together a complete health program while working to implement a healthy diet for the campers and
teaching them about nutrition, healthy life styles and eating to stay healthy.
With the advent of an
ever increasing over-weight population, Ms. McManus continues to help the general
public through her private practice. Through nutritional counseling, exercise programs and if desired,
spiritual counseling, Ms. McManus can help you feel better, achieve your healthy weight, and maintain optimal
health. In this light one can maintain a healthy living through a balance in Mind, Body and
Spirit, the Optimum Health way.
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