Richard Hoofs trained as a general practitioner before going on to study a range of holistic healing traditions. His background includes acupuncture, anthroposophy, ayurveda, spiritual therapy, and Egyptian healing. He also spent many years traveling in India and Egypt. In India, he worked for a period as a doctor on a rural health project in Maharashtra, an experience that deeply moved him through both the profound wisdom of Eastern esotericism and the practical value of Western medicine. His work as a coach, acupuncturist, and author is shaped by this connection between East and West, bringing together the best of both worlds.
Alongside his work at Mon Desir, Richard also works part-time as a general practitioner. The word holistic comes from the ancient Greek word holos, meaning “whole.” In a holistic view, you see yourself as an integrated whole: body, person, and soul, all connected as one. We are also inseparably linked to the world around us. Caring for nature, animals, and the people near you is also a way of caring for yourself. Our environment reflects who we are. A holistic approach embraces both/and thinking: conventional and complementary, diversity and unity, person and soul. In his consultations and coaching, Richard follows this practical yet spiritual approach, showing that conventional and complementary medicine do not have to conflict; in fact, they can complement one another.
Many Eastern healing systems, including acupuncture, ayurveda, yoga, and Traditional Chinese Medicine, view illness as a sign that a person is out of balance. Disease and medical conditions are understood as the body’s signal to restore the connection between person and soul. A complaint or crisis can be seen as an invitation to return to balance. Physical symptoms and illness become a call for growth and inner awareness. Illness is a call from the soul, inviting you to look inward and reconnect with yourself. In this way, you can gain real insight into your symptoms and influence them from within.
Western medicine often looks at a physical complaint or illness and then seeks a solution through medication or surgery, regardless of the individual. But illness is deeply personal; it is never random. It is connected to how you relate to yourself, and you can influence it. A one-sided material view is limited. That does not mean Western medicine should be rejected entirely. It is simply a way of looking that is too narrow to embrace the whole picture. In a consultation or coaching session, Richard invites you to explore yourself through another language as well: the energetic language. This relates to how you treat yourself, how you live in your energy, and the flow of energy through your chakras and aura. Our connection to the soul is expressed through the aura and chakras, which are in turn linked to the physical body. In this view, medical complaints and illness are a call from the soul, speaking through the body in order to restore connection. A symptom can therefore become an opening to a new way of living, and a path toward awareness and inner growth.