Meet Melanie Murphy Richter | Wholistic Dietitian and Energetic Practitioner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melanie Murphy Richter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melanie, what do you want people to remember about you?
The ultimate goal of my work as a Wholistic Dietitian and Energetic Practitioner is to empower people to remember themselves. By this, I not only mean remembering yourself and prioritizing your needs and your gifts, but also the re-remembering of what we already know deep down as humans and beings of this planet. Remembering to trust our bodies and their innate ability to heal. Remembering how to feed and nourish ourselves and how to use food as medicine. Remembering that we are worthy of the deepest forms of love and care and goodness regardless of our history or background or current states of life. Remembering that we are powerful beings able to love ourselves and to actualize our dreams. Remembering that we are all connected and that what we do to/for others and the planet, we are also doing to/for ourselves. Remembering that it is our upmost priority to share our unique gifts with the world and to be loyal to these gifts always. When we harmonize ourselves with these rememberings, we embody love. And by embodying love, by sharing and receiving love, we all win.

What should our readers know about your business?
My private practice, Wholistic Ritual, focuses on helping my patient’s find their own unique equilibrium by using food and nutrition as the primary healing tools. By learning how to balance our physical bodies first, we can better balance our emotions, our mind states, and our connection to spirit and our gifts, too. Nutrition, though, is only one critical component on the vast road to health and healing. Understanding the winding, curving road to balance and healing, I also utilize secondary healing modalities including mindfulness, emotional energy clearing, movement, supplementation and homeopathic remedies, as well as the pursuit of self-acceptance, self-love and joy. I am passionate about educating my community on how they can be their own best health advocates and healers. This means that I am also passionate about providing quality nutrition education to all people and advocating for the de-commoditization of food. The access to healthy food should be a human right for all, and this is a driving force behind all the work that I do.

In most Western societies the human lifespan is increasing, but the human healthspan is not. Healthspan, by definition, is the part of a person’s life during which we are in good health. So many of us are living longer (in actual years), but feeling worse at younger and younger ages. This is a direct result of our food supply and the disconnect between food and the consumer. As a result, we are also increasingly more disconnected from our emotions, our spirit, and our soul’s purpose, too.

Not feeling well is not normal, and it should not be accepted as a “natural” part of aging. Feeling healthy, energetic, vibrant, productive, abundant, and connected are very real and attainable qualities that can and should be achieved throughout our lifespan. So much of the physical aches and pains and frustrations that we experience can be linked back to the food we are eating (or not eating). If you experience brain fog or forgetfulness, fatigue or lack of motivation, bloating and gas, diarrhea or constipation, acne or eczema, body pain or lack of mobility, insomnia or trouble sleeping, food cravings or food aversions, lack of self-efficacy or self-love (to name only a few)… These are all common health and happiness complaints that have deep roots in your food and diet. And I help people remember how to take care of themselves at these fundamental levels. How to be their own health advocates, their own best friend and empower them to use food as their most powerful tool in feeling great and well every day.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is a very tough question!

I suppose I’d start at the beach, since I’m a Westside gal. We would grab our rollerblades and take a spin down on the boardwalk going towards Malibu. We’d ride up to Topanga State Beach and swim there. Then we’d walk over to Rosenthal Winery for a quick glass of Rose and listen to some live music on the patio. After we headed home to freshen up, we’d head over to Plant Food and Wine for some amazing vegan food in Venice, and enjoy some walking and sight seeing after.

If we were going to take an Eastside day, I’m a huge fan of Los Feliz, Echo Park and Silverlake. We’d start over at Little Dom’s for breakfast – they have the most stellar ricotta pancakes. Then we’d stroll down sunset in Silverlake to find some great old record stores and fun vintage clothes. We’d definitely take a pit stop for a Psychic Reading and some crystals at House of Intuition before jumping on a Swan boat at Echo Park lake. We’d probably head back out to Silverlake for happy hour oysters and wine at L & E Oysters Bar, and maybe go to Silverlake Wines for an after dinner toast.

Some of my other favorite things include hiking: Temescal Canyon and Backbone Trail are two of my favorite. I love the Hollywood Bowl, obviously, so hopefully they come in the summer or Fall to join us there. There is also Barnsdall Art Park and Covell Wine.

There’s also Highland Park in Pasadena, which is a beautiful spot to stop and stay for the day.

This list could go on and on and on!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My path and successes in life are an accumulation of every person I’ve known and every experience I’ve had in my life so far. Each person that I’ve known and every path that I’ve taken has led me here. For that, I am grateful for each and every one.

Most especially, though, to my family who have always supported my curiosities and appetite for expansion and wisdom. And to the amazing practitioners and teachers who have so generously shared their own wisdom and gifts with me along my own journey to re-remembering my body and my worth and my power. By helping me to heal my body, you’ve helped me awaken to my gifts so that I can share them with the world.

Website: www.melaniemurphyrd.com

Instagram: @healthnmellness

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaniegmurphy/

Twitter: @healthnmellness

Facebook: Melanie Murphy Richter RD

Image Credits
Karl Richter Bridget Farhat