Meet Deborah Wood-Schade of Dragonwood Wisdom and Wellness in South Orange County

Today we’d like to introduce you to Deborah Wood-Schade.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Deborah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As a child, I always wanted to dance just like Fred Astaire, not Ginger Rogers, but Fred. He seemed so suave and smooth to me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to dance at school due to a bone growth disorder called Osgood-Schlatter disease. Still, I sang and danced in my living room listening to my Mom’s LP’s of Showboat and South Pacific. I would sing along and “dance like Fred” as I watched his movies.

In Junior College, I enrolled as a Marine Biology Major – it was the era of Jacques Cousteau after all! I was required to take a PE class, so I signed up for Modern Dance. I was invited to join the Dance performing group after the first class and “fell back in love” with movement. I changed my Major and transferred to Arizona State University where I earned my BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography in 1980, and received the Outstanding Graduate of Fine Arts award. After graduating I moved to San Francisco to study with the Margaret Jenkins Dance Co., but injured my neck. This eventually led me to a Chiropractor who did patch me up, but my neck could not take the rigors of a professional dancer’s life. The Dream was shattered, I couldn’t even watch a Dance performance without crying for about 20 years.

My Chiropractor offered me a job and trained me to be a Chiropractic assistant doing Ultrasound and massage work on her patients. As I worked on my first patient, I had the proverbial lightbulb go off in my head and thought this is perfect for me, I can help other Dancers keep dancing like my Chiropractor tried to do for me. So, it was off to Chiropractic school in Whittier, CA and then I began my practice in South Orange County.

My business flourished and in addition to a full schedule, I was selected to the medical staff for both the Ironman and USAT triathlon associations. I traveled with the teams all over the world including Hawaii, Netherlands, Toronto, and Australia.

We later started our family, first a son and then a daughter, 17 months apart. It was like having goofy twins – I couldn’t keep straight who had eaten and who needed a diaper change. All in all, they were great fun and I managed to work part time while they were young.

The old dance injury plus a car accident in 2000 forced me to have neck surgery. I rehabilitated it with Pilates. Realizing the benefits for my patients, I became a certified Pilates teacher and have been teaching for close to 15 years now.

After 24 years of Chiropractic, I was introduced to a new technique that is more gentile on the body called Bowen Therapy. It is a soft tissue manipulation to align and adjust the body. I was so impressed by the technique and the variety of cases it could treat, that I studied the work for a year at the International School of Bowen Studies and haven’t looked back.

As if my tool belt wasn’t full enough, I was drawn to become a Shaman in the Peruvian tradition. This added a whole new area of healing opportunities for my patients.

I guess you could say, I love to learn, especially anything that could help my family and my patients who end up being like family to me. And having multiple tools and modalities at my disposal allows me to tailor the technique or course of therapy for each patient and make sure they get the best possible treatment and outcome.

Recently, I launched two new business ventures. Dragon Wisdom and Wellness focuses on the medical, holistic and healing aspects of my business. This reflects the bringing together of all my talents and expertise to focus on each individual patient. The other venture: Destination Wellness Retreats is a perfect blend of my love to travel with a need to help more people. It’s a win-win and I plan to launch my first retreat in June of this year.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely a number of bumps along the way!

First changing Majors from Marine Biology to Dance Performance and Choreography,

Changing careers from a would be professional dancer to a Chiropractor.

Changing careers within a career by switching from a very medically based Chiropractic practice to an Energy Medicine practice utilizing Bowen Therapy and Shamanic healing.

Having to perform a physical job while recovering from neck surgery, knee surgery and two wrist surgeries.

Taking care of my daughter through 11 knee surgeries and my husband through 2 disc herniations and a separated shoulder.

I am always “on the clock”!

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Dragonwood Wisdom and Wellness – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I am known as Dr. Deb with the “magic hands” who has all the answers. While I don’t think anyone can be so omnipotent, I do take my time with people during their treatments to get to the real root of their problem. I often find that problems arise from a blend of the body, mind and spirit. I have found that most often the “heart” of the matter is hiding in the subconscious mind, creating barriers that inhibit the healing process. While not every case is that way, I find that using intuition and empathy to guide my treatments provides my patients with more profound healing.

My constant drive for knowledge has resulted in quite a unique skill set and I can honestly say that, to my knowledge, there isn’t another person out there like me. For many years I focused on chiropractic medicine and exercise rehabilitation through Pilates, but l I came to realize that some people need a less traditional approach to healing. I was introduced to Bowen therapy and found so much success with it that I continued onto other healing practices, such as, Vibroacoustic sound table therapy, Crystal healing, Chakra healing, Myofascial release, Nutrition/supplement support, and Shamanic healing of the body’s energy. Every new skill I master is added to my healing arsenal that allows me to combat as many problems as I can, from different standpoints. Most recently, I have begun forming Destination Wellness Retreats and an informal educational series called “Conversations with Dr. Deb” to share my accumulated knowledge with others.

All delivered with a sense of humor and compassion – the one stop body shop!!

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I am very excited to be adding in the Destination Wellness Retreats where Mystical meets Medical. I blend the ancient wisdom with science and medicine. The old ways are coming back as people are tired of having a prescription thrown at them for every little thing. Certainly prescriptions can be valuable, but they are over utilized in this country. Eventually the Destination Wellness Retreats will be international as well.

The addition of the Conversations with Dr. Deb series and the Wellness Retreats give me an opportunity to get out of the treatment room and help a greater number of people. It’s all about Service, my heart is so full of love for mankind and this planet, I feel I have to do more, reach more people, improve the quality of life for more people.

I am in the process of preparing to be a public speaker as well.

Pricing:

• 60 minute Bowen Therapy $100
• 30 minute Vibroacoustic Therapy $75
• Bowen Therapy plus Vibroacoustic $125
• 60 minute Shamanic healing session $100
• 55 min. Deep tissue work $80
• 25 minute Chiropractic Treatment $50

Contact Info:

• Address: 11 Mareblu, Ste. 220E
  Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
• Website: www.dragonwoodwisdomandwellness.com
• Phone: (949) 295-9562
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: Dragonwood Wellness
• Facebook: Dragonwood Wisdom and Wellness, Dr. Deborah Wood-Schade, My Core and More
• Yelp: Dr. Deborah Wood-Schade

Image Credit:
WOLF MOUNTAIN SANCTUARY

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