Life in Business: Hawai‘i Whole Person Healing Arts Collective

When Christopher Lawinski entered medical school in 2001, he says, his clear intention was to practice holistic medicine and “be surrounded by talented colleagues offering an integrated array of healing modalities. That is exactly what I have created here at the Hawai‘i Whole Person Healing Arts Collective!”
Dr. Lawinski says many of his patients come to him because they want a physician with a natural, integrative and holistic approach, but also one who is grounded in the knowledge of Western medical science and who has the backbone of the MD degree, which is what he offers.
“I have devoted my life to learning the healing arts, first through the lens of allopathic medicine, and then finally as a natural and holistic medicine practitioner.” Since opening his practice in Hilo, he says, “Now my relationship to the world has changed, I am no longer just a doctor, I am now a businessperson.”
In addition to his medical practice, within the same building is located a team of energetic and vibrational healers, and another team of licensed massage therapists. In the evening, the daytime reception area converts to space for the Wellness Class Program, which includes such activities as tai chi, chi gong, Iyengar yoga and Capoeira Angola.
Dr. Lawinski completed his undergraduate work at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, graduating  Phi Beta Kappa with a BA degree in biology. He trained for three years as a biomedical clinical researcher at Rockefeller University in Manhattan, New York City, and then attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia from 2001 to 2006.
“My mother’s family is from St. Croix and Barbados in the Caribbean,” he says. “I grew up in the suburbs of New York City, longing for the island life of my cousins, uncles and aunties in the Caribbean.”  He got that chance in Hawai‘i, where he completed his residency training in family medicine at Wahiawa on O‘ahu. He moved to the east side of Hawai‘i Island in 2009.
“There are a few naturopathic centers like mine on the island, but none that I know of headed by an allopathic M.D. (Medical Doctor),” he says.
Location: 110 Haili St., Hilo (one block up from
Palace Theatre)
Phone: 808.936.1156
Email: drchris@hawaiiwholepersonhealing.com
Website: hawaiiwholepersonhealing.com