Understanding Autoimmunity & Restoring Health Holistically
Our immune system is designed to protect us, recognizing and eliminating viruses, bacteria, and other threats. But what happens when that protection system turns inward?
That’s the essence of autoimmunity: when the immune system becomes confused and begins attacking the body’s own healthy cells, tissues, or organs. There are now more than a hundred known autoimmune conditions, including Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, and lupus, and their effects can reach almost any system in the body.
At Common Ground Wellness, we often see clients who are navigating the exhaustion, inflammation, and frustration that autoimmune conditions can bring. Our approach is grounded in listening to the body, uncovering root causes, and restoring balance.
What Causes Autoimmunity?
The exact cause of autoimmunity isn’t always clear. It usually develops through a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental triggers, things like infection, toxins, chronic stress, or gut imbalance.
While conventional treatments often focus on suppressing the immune response, a holistic approach aims to support regulation, helping the immune system regain its natural equilibrium. The goal isn’t to fight the body, but to help it remember how to heal.
A Holistic Approach to Healing Autoimmunity
At Common Ground Wellness, we see healing as a multidimensional process. Here are some of the natural, evidence-informed ways we support clients living with autoimmune challenges.
1. Nourish the Gut and the Immune System
Because nearly 70% of the immune system resides in the gut, digestive health is foundational to autoimmune balance.
Our Dietary Counseling sessions emphasize a “food-as-medicine” approach. Unlike a lot of Western-style dieting advice, we begin by focusing first on what to add (nutrient-rich whole foods, anti-inflammatory fats, healing broths, fiber-rich plants) before looking at what to reduce or avoid. In addition, we offer a food-based cleanse course, focused on healthy eating habits.
By improving digestion, reducing inflammation, and supporting the microbiome, we help calm immune overactivity at its root.
2. Restore Flow and Reduce Inflammation
Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of autoimmunity, and Acupuncture offers time-tested ways to bring the body back into alignment. This ancient practice works by balancing energy pathways and promoting circulation, helping the nervous and immune systems find a state of ease.
For many clients, acupuncture sessions bring relief from pain, fatigue, and stress while also creating space for the body to recalibrate on a deeper level.
We also integrate Moxibustion (Moxa), a gentle warming technique that can enhance immune resilience and support white blood cell activity.
3. Rebalance with Herbal Medicine
Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine offers formulas tailored to each individual’s constitution and condition. Practitioners use diagnostic techniques like pulse and tongue examination, and gather a comprehensive view of the patient’s health to determine the nature of the imbalance in the body. Rather than treating a diagnosis alone, herbal therapy works to harmonize the body’s internal systems, addressing inflammation, organ support, and energy regulation from the inside out.
Each formula is designed specifically for you, based on what your body is asking for, not just the symptoms you’re experiencing. Most of the time herbs are used in combinations, called herbal formulas, where multiple herbs work synergistically to treat the root of the disease and alleviate symptoms.
4. Support the Body’s Natural Detox Pathways
Common Ground offers several types of massage therapy. Our massage therapists, Paige Waggoner Clark and Ken Kleiber, are highly skilled professionals with many years of experience working with the body. They offer unique techniques that are therapeutic and soothing, such as the Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy® (ATMAT), Thai Massage and Hot Stone Massage. These offerings help restore balance to the internal organs, improve circulation, and support lymphatic flow, all essential components of immune regulation and detoxification.
Highly relaxing, massage therapies also calm the nervous system, which can significantly reduce autoimmune flare-ups linked to chronic stress.
5. Create a Personalized Path Forward
Because autoimmunity affects each person differently, Holistic & Functional Medicine Health Coaching provides a bridge between insight and action. Through testing, personalized plans, and accountability, our health coaches help uncover hidden triggers, from hormonal imbalances to environmental exposures, and guide you in making sustainable changes.
You’ll learn how to build daily habits that support immune resilience and align with your body’s natural healing rhythms.
Healing Is a Journey, and You Don’t Have to Walk It Alone
Autoimmune conditions can leave you feeling isolated or at odds with your own body. But there is hope, and there is a path forward.
At Common Ground Wellness, we don’t treat symptoms in isolation. We work with you to understand why your body is responding the way it is and help you support it with care, patience, and proven holistic practices.
Whether you begin with an Acupuncture session, a Health Coaching consultation, or a Massage Therapy treatment, we’ll meet you where you are and help you move toward where you want to be: grounded, balanced, and well.
