Windows to the Soul

People have told me I have nice eyes but this is the first time someone looking into them says my lungs are weak. Sitting across from me in a suite at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong is a woman whom I only met moments earlier in the hotel spa. She’s holding a magnifying glass in one hand and a flashlight in the other, putting them down occasionally to make notations on her clipboard. Did I ever smoke? Yes. Still? No. Asthma? No. Bronchitis? Yes. “The right lung looks significantly weaker. The left lung looks naturally weak, which can happen, just born with weakness.” Over the next hour, I will be told that I have weak connective tissues (check), am a giving person (I like to think so), can strengthen my lungs with some reishi mushrooms (I’m off to the dry market), and that my occasional dizzy spells, frequent headaches, and sporadic numbness/tingling in my hands are most likely caused by junk ingredients hiding under pseudonyms like “natural flavours” and various numerical jargon including E635, E627, and E631 among the nutritional label on the processed foods I eat (guilty, especially when it comes to those instant noodle benders). The assessment is impressive and scary at times, making me wonder what other hidden truths are lurking in my irises. The consultation was set up by my wife (full disclosure: she is the communications director at the hotel) after her visit to the same room a day earlier provided staggeringly accurate insights into her own healthy hurdles. In the name of reporting, and to satisfy my own curiosity, I signed up, which is why I now find myself sitting across from certified iridologist, detox expert, and nutritional health coach Jennifer Thompson. Thompson is trusted and rather popular in her fields, specialties she began over 4,000 clients and 20 years ago or “before coffee enemas were a thing” as she says. Perhaps the reason for Thompson’s success is her use of moderation in her assessments (she refuses to diagnose and treat since she is not a doctor, rather assessing and advising). Not once was I told to drastically change my life or take prescription medicine, instead being nudged here and there to stop the smaller unhealthy eating habits, which as a non-smoking, non-drinking vegan still exist to the surprise of my close friends. Thompson also relieves the pressure of improving your body for many people who seek her guidance. It’s not uncommon, Thompson says, for a client to begin a session by asking which detox they should start only to hear that the solution to their issues is less daunting. “I think people are really grateful that I’m not telling them to take loads of supplements. I’m not telling them to do a water fast. I’m not taking them to the extreme.” But what is a Sydney-born, Philadelphia-raised iridologist, who cut her teeth on the detox circuit in Thailand before relocating to Tel Aviv doing in Hong Kong? It was a unique opportunity she says, to return to a city she previously fell in love with as well as align with a top local hotel brand to reach clients who may have otherwise never walked through her door. Just one day earlier Thompson says, she treated perhaps one of the richest men in Australia who just happened to be visiting our city. However, Thompson is quick to point out that the affluence of her clientele is not part of her financial plans since a single consultation is all that many people need. “It’s not that great of a business model, but I have happy clients because they see results.” I’ll have to get back to her on that in a few weeks. For now I have homework to do. As she does with all her clients, Thompson sent me a recording of our session and pages of personalized advice that require the full attention of my eyes. Learn more about Thompson on her website HealthyBliss.net.  

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