Get Real Masterclass Replay weekend and free gifts

I had the privilege of being interviewed yesterday for the Get Real Masterclass by my friend and colleague Laura Newby.  This started on Monday and my interview will be the last one aired on cancer and chronic disease prevention. If you'd like to listen in to this free summit series and catchup with any of the experts below sign up @ www.getrealmasterclass.com 

Welcome to the Replay Weekend! 

Week 1 has been amazing, and the feedback thus far has been very positive. Thank you so much for joining this powerful online interview series. We are thrilled to share our expert interviews with you and hope that you are learning as much as we are! 

I know it can be a challenge to set aside time each day or perhaps you joined us a day or two after Get Real! started, so we wanted to let you catch up today and tomorrow. Please use the links below to access the audio interviews and FREE gifts from our special experts!

>>>Day 1: Are You The Next Wildatarian? with Teri Cochrane<<<

>>>Day 2: Essential Oils 101 with Liz Fulcher<<<

>>>Day 3: Get Your Gut Right with Kirsty Wirth<<<

>>>Day 4: Lean Into Your Intuition & Creativity with Jen Blumenthal<<<

>>>Day 5: Finding Happiness & Love Through Acceptance with Faith Canter<<<

We hope your Replay Weekend is full of insights, relaxation and FUN! Feel free to hit reply with any comments or questions - we love hearing from you! 

Warmly,

Laura

P.S. Have you joined the discussion on our Facebook page?

P.P.S. What were your Aha moments when listening to these amazing interviews? Which interview resonated the most deeply for you? Hit reply and let me know! I read every response. :)

Carpe Diem!

Lisa

Bringing Light into the Darkness

I said in my dedication in my book, "My hope is that some of these words will shine light into the darkness."

What I am beginning to understand is the value of the darkness. 

The cultural norm is to want us all "to be happy" Don't get me wrong. I love the light. I crave the light. However, it is in the darkness where healing happens. It is the pain that breaks us open. It is in acknowledging our wounds, licking the wound, loving the wounded, that allows healing to occur.

Using the analogies of my previous post, Moving from Tragedy to Transformation, reminds me that you cannot rush the process.

A diamond is formed from a lump of coal under extreme pressure. 

A caterpillar literally burns itself up to become a butterfly.

The discomfort of labor brings forth an amazing joyful miracle.

A diamond will not form without time and pressure. The caterpillar must go through the process. It takes a full nine months of gestation and then often hours for the birth of a baby. We cannot rush this without consequence.

We must love, honor and cherish all that life gives us. It is because of the darkness that we can appreciate the light.

So often, because of our own discomfort, we want to rush the process. Especially if you consider yourself a healer. We want to "fix" the problem. We want to make the pain go away. Our entire healthcare system is set up for the "quick fix." For every human condition, we have a new ICD 10 code, a diagnosis and a label. Doctors can then correlate that list of symptoms with a pharmaceutical drug to "fix" the condition. You see this when you turn on the television or the New York Times or any magazine that gets revenue from the largest lobby on Capitol Hill. We are brainwashed to think that we have to seek outside "expert" opinions to heal ourselves. It's true, we feel better just making the call to the Doctor. This is because we have conditioned ourselves to do so. I also wrote about this and the power of the placebo and nocebo in my book. We are constantly seeking the truth outside of ourselves.

The difference in a Thriver and a Survivor is that Thrivers learn to trust their intuition. Thrivers discover how to heal from within.

I'm not dissing the experts. I believe that it does indeed take a village and that we were not meant to be on this earth alone. I believe in seeking support to enrich all areas of our lives.

What I am saying is that sometimes, instead of putting on a bandaid and taking drugs to mask symptoms, we need to pick up the wounded child and embrace her....unconditionally, without judgment.

We need to love and embrace the darkness.

I cannot tell you how many people have asked me about my recently widowed daughter. "How is she doing?" and "How can she afford to take this 100 day journey?" I sense they are implying that this is impractical and irresponsible. Shouldn't she be worried about how she is going to pay her bills now? (Yes, without a doubt she is worrying about this)

This is my response. Sometimes we need to slow down to heal. Sometimes we need to look beyond the physical, beyond the bank account, take a leap of faith and learn to trust our own intuition. We need to embrace all of our emotions and feelings. Time to allow ourselves to feel the pain and the anger. Time for self reflection; to recognize the denial, the doubt and the fear. Time to love and accept all the emotions, so we can release them. As I said last week in my Carpe Diem Dance class,

"Emotions are merely energy in motion. Witnessing them, as we witness our thoughts in meditation, is a way of clearing the mind, the body and the soul."

My friends who have known me through my own personal tragedies, have witnessed when I've been "closed for renovation."  When I couldn't uphold my nickname, "The energizer bunny." When I've had to question everything and focus on self health. When I've discovered acceptance and surrender, inside the cocoon of darkness. When we hit rock bottom, we have no choice if we want to transform. This is the gift and the beauty of rock bottom.

Most recently, to heal my own adrenal fatigue (or now more accurately called HPA axis dysfunction), I've had to practice my own unconditional self love.

If your health journey has led to a dead end, if you would like guidance on ways to heal from within, or if you would like a safe space to explore all of yourself, consider the gift and investment of health coaching.

Wishing you unconditional self love,

Lisa

ABOUT LISA JACKSON, RN, CHC, RYT-500, FDN

Lisa is an author, inspirational speaker and a coach with a mission to inspire others to feel and look their best at any age.

She is the former Executive Director of the Integrative Wellness Program for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.

Lisa's book, Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think and Thrive outlines her seven-step process towards optimal health that is fun and transformational.

Lisa is part of the New Self Health Movement and the Wellness Inspired Network. When she is not coaching, speaking or writing, you can find her practicing yoga and joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance.

Fundamentals: Sometimes we just plain forget the Simple Solutions!

Optimal Health is not complicated. Maximize, Minimize and Prioritize. Do these three things consistently and your body can naturally heal and repair from even the scariest diagnoses.

I've put in over 10,000 hours of study in applied functional medicine and functional diagnostic nutrition. I've coached hundreds healing from everything from infertility to autoimmune disease and cancers. I'm fascinated by complex health histories and marvel at the bodies natural ability to heal, once we've uncovered hidden stressors and get to the root cause of of the dis-ease.

I say this not to brag (although client testimonials are what keep me going). I say this because sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in all the data and to forget the fundamentals. To forget the simple solutions.

Let me give you an example. I've seen multiple clients with intense anxiety and autoimmune disease (where the body is literally attacking your own tissue), heal both (symptoms in remission), by eliminating gluten and other food sensitivities. I am not talking about celiac. Many will test negative on IgE test but that does not mean that they can tolerate gluten.  In fact, if you have a cancer or an autoimmune disease then the first thing you have to do is remove inflammatory foods, and heal the gastrointestinal tract. It is intestinal permeability (leaky gut) that has allowed large protein molecules to enter the gut associated lymphatic tissue (GALT) to create the antibodies that attack the tissue.  If you cannot remove the inflammatory foods, then you cannot heal the gut.

This is fundamental to functional medicine. Unfortunately, this is still not common knowledge in conventional medicine. Once you have one autoimmune disease you are prone to others. The only way to reverse the flood of antibodies attacking the body, is to turn off the spigot.

I've asked myself, why do we suddenly have this epidemic and increasing numbers of autoimmune disease? When I graduated from nursing school in 1981 there were a handful, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, MS, Crohn's. Now there are over a hundred! We didn't know then that epilepsy, macular degeneration, and type 1 diabetes (called juvenile diabetes way back then) are also autoimmune. I didn't know this as a nurse. Most of your doctors don't know this. I didn't know this until I studied functional medicine. Years ago, I was diagnosed with my first autoimmune disease, vitiligo. I was told there was nothing I could do about it. I was told to just wear sunscreen over my unsightly hands, elbows, knees and spots on my mouth and eyelids. I also wore a lot of makeup back then.

How has this happened in my lifetime? First, we are bombarded with chemicals and toxins in our food, water, personal care, cleaning products and lawn service products. Second, our wheat used to be 4% gluten. Today it has been hybridized so that it is ~50% gluten which makes for wonderful gummy, gooey breads. Good for the tastebuds, not so good for your gut.

Unfortunately, both of these factors play havoc on the gut. Chemicals, toxins, OTC drugs and gluten cause inflammation and wear and tear on the thin lining between the gastrointestinal tract and the immune system. The immune system is your friendly police force designed to protect you. When there are foreign invaders like undigested food, the police start firing and your body feels the collateral damage.

Gluten also causes the excretion of zonulin which actually opens up the tight junctures in the gut allowing undigested protein to enter the gut associated lymphatic tissue (GALT).  These tight junctures are designed to only allow macronutrients like amino acids to pass thru the gut and send bigger molecules downstream for further breakdown and digestion.

If your your defense system has to spend all of its resources fighting undigested food particles, what is left over to fight viruses, toxins, chemicals and pesticides (which also pass through)?

Today, a colleague just posted another new study from the NY Times that dormant viruses can cause multiple diseases . A second colleague posted a story in the Atlantic how autoimmune disease is the root cause of psychiatric disorders in young children. These are treated with heavy duty pharmaceutical interventions which can be life-saving. What is missing from these stories are the fundamentals. Well meaning providers and newscasters are not educated on the fundamentals. Review the first slide to see the effects on the brain, the adrenals and systemic inflammation.

So what do we do to prevent, and heal and repair our out-of-control autoimmunity? We enlist the 5 R's of functional medicine. Simple Solutions that are the fundamental foundation to health:

1. REMOVE the inflammatory foods, 
2. REPLETE nutritional insufficiencies, (whole foods/micronutrient testing)
3. REPAIR the gut lining with supplemental herbal solutions, aloe vera, bone broth soup
4. RE-INOCULATE the gut, 
5. REST and digest (or mate and ovulate if that is your goal) and alleviate external and internal hidden stressors. 

This is why food is the foundation. Stress reduction, addressing toxicity, and a healthy gut are essential fundamentals to health.

The truth is this. I don't care how many supplements and/or medications you are taking. If you cannot sleep, and you are still eating food that is inflammatory, then you are resigned to a lifetime of drugs to alleviate symptoms.  Good for big pharma and the processed food industry, not good for you!

If you want to heal, then commit to simple, small incremental changes over a minimum of 3-6 month period. Otherwise you will continue to waste money on other therapies. You cannot ignore simple solutions, and the fundamentals. Not if you want to heal from within.

This is where a health coach with applied functional medicine and functional diagnostic nutrition training becomes an invaluable member of the healthcare team. Health coaching and nutrition can uncover key missing pieces to your unique puzzle.

Let me know if you are ready to remove the physical blocks and uncover hidden stressors that are keeping you from obtaining optimal health. I have left the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and am now opening up my practice to taking on a few more committed clients. I welcome the opportunity to be a witness to your optimal health. Please schedule a short discovery call with me to see if we are a good fit for each other.

Carpe Diem,

Lisa

About Lisa Jackson, RN, CHC, RYT-500, FDN
Lisa is an author, inspirational speaker and a coach with a mission to inspire others to feel and look their best at any age.

She is the former Executive Director of the Integrative Wellness Program for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.

Lisa's book, Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think and Thrive outlines her seven-step process towards optimal health that is fun and transformational.

Lisa is part of the New Self Health Movement and the Wellness Inspired Network. When she is not coaching, speaking or writing, you can find her practicing yoga and joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance.

Good Friday Musings

I had a blogpost all ready to go out today but decided to sit down and write this one instead. I woke up at 5:30am with my mind spinning with anxiety over my to do list. It seems like my passion and my ambition far exceeds what I can accomplish in a day. This is anxiety provoking.

It's a holiday weekend, instead of letting my thoughts control me, I'm reminded that it is time to relax and celebrate. I get to wake up with my grandson today and spoil him for the entire weekend, this is worth celebrating! Babies and children are a reminder of what is really important in life. Children are a reminder of the benefits of play.

I also get to finish my vegetable garden. Like every spring, my garden consists of whatever plants are at MOMs organic market when I happen to be there shopping.

I love playing in the soil. Just like in the kitchen, I am a slob. A classic pig pen. I can't help but drag in dirt on my feet, hands and clothes as I run back and forth for the things I've forgotten from the garage, through the kitchen, to the backyard garden.  But it is so fun to walk outside a month or two later and have swiss chard, kale, collards, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, tomatoes, onions and fresh herbs to pick and roast or throw in a blender. I spent less than $100 and it will feed my family all summer long. I feel so proud and abundant every time I run out with my scissors to partake of more.

Gardens (and babies) are an expression of the abundance and promise of rebirth and renewal given to us by God, the Universe, Mother Earth.

This garden helps me feel grounded. It connects me to the earth and the wonder and miracle of life. It's perfectly imperfect. I don't have any training in gardening, I'm so haphazard in my approach. it's really a friggin miracle that anything grows at all!

MOMs (Moms Organic Market where I shop), was out of organic topsoil, so instead of waiting, I just tilled up the old soil and threw on top very ripe compost from this month's juicing, eggshells and coffee grounds, mixed with some leaves, and called that my new topsoil. (Yes, I'm still learning to cultivate patience.) I do try and rotate plants because I've found if I plant my tomatoes in the same place every year, they yield less tomatoes. This is because the plant is taking what it needs from the soil and without crop rotation (or composting) we aren't adding essential nutrients back in. This is how big agriculture is creating nutrient insufficiencies in the SAD, (standard American diet). What I do know for sure, is that our soil needs diversity as does our human body.

This week symbolizes rebirth and renewal. So needed, after a dreary, long, cold winter. I'm taking time to notice the beauty around me this Spring.

My oldest daughter is grieving the loss of her husband. She is now spending time with my son and his girlfriend in California, of which I am so grateful. For some, the holidays are the hardest, they can highlight the unfelt joy in a grieving heart.

Dana is traveling and spending time exploring the question, "How do we heal a broken heart?" "How as a Survivor, do we overcome fear and anxiety?"

We cultivate love and faith. Love is the antithesis of fear. Faith is the tool, the bridge that allows us to surrender to the process. Family can be vital for both.

Just as plants and animals hibernate through the winter; grieving is also a necessary process. Allowing ourselves time to acknowledge, feel, and express the heartache, gives this energy the opportunity to dissipate. Emotions are energy in motion. We can either stuff them down (causing dis-ease), or like the powerful tool of meditation, acknowledge the thoughts and then let them go.

Deep sleep and hibernation are also essential in order to heal and repair. We need sleep that to break down old tissue so that the body can regenerate new tissue. Cancer cells are cells, due to DNA damage have lost this ability to die called apoptosis. Death and renewal are a part of life. We actually get a new body every 7 years, as cells die off and new ones are born. How we nourish our bodies today, determines the health of our new cells tommorow. You live into your future self.

When we nourish our soil (and soul), with essential nutrients and loving thoughts and actions, we flourish.  Compassion and self love are essential tools to feeling grounded. Family rituals give us a sense of community and caring through difficult times. Three times a day we can practice a ritual of nourishing ourselves (or abusing ourselves) Our body will give us guidance, if we choose to listen.

Faith is an essential ingredient missing from many lives today. I didn't have a strong religious upbringing, however planting a garden is an exercise in faith. Planting a seed and giving it time to incubate, establishing a daily ritual of food and water, will yield a garden that far surpasses expectations.

How will you cultivate self love and compassion this Spring? How will you nourish yourself?  Email me today for my favorite Easter recipes that have become part of my new family ritual, as well as my Kick-Start to Wellness Program. This is not about dieting or deprivation. This is about bringing in healthier, self loving choices.

If you are ready for your own renewal, please kick-start me into offering this online program by signing up to join me HERE.  Carpe Diem.

Happy Holiday and Spring Break,

Lisa

About Lisa Jackson, RN, CHC, RYT-500, FDN
Lisa is an author, inspirational speaker and a coach with a mission to inspire others to feel and look their best at any age.

She is the former Executive Director of the Integrative Wellness Program for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.

Lisa's book, Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think and Thrive outlines her seven-step process towards optimal health that is fun and transformational.

Lisa is part of the New Self Health Movement and the Wellness Inspired Network. When she is not coaching, speaking or writing, you can find her practicing yoga and joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance.

Magical Moments

Monday morning I received a text "Please call me." then another,  "It's important to me please, it was about yoga."

What was so urgent? She wanted me to explain why she felt sooooo good after coming to my class on Sunday. What did I do that made her feel like she was floating and then sleep so well Sunday night! She said it was magical. What was the spell?

For starters I had to tell her what she did, not me. She gave herself this gift of 90 minutes to get out of her head and into her body. We started by relaxing on her mat and just feeling and noticing the body, then the mental mind, then the breath.

We practiced first breathwork to stimulate the parasympathetic (rest and repair) nervous system, then we did some energizing breaths to prepare for the practice.

We did simple movements to music in order to open up stuck energy systems in the body. We opened up the spine in all directions. We played. We smiled. We laughed. We danced and we even sang without fear of feeling judged. We didn't worry about how we looked, we concentrated on how we wanted to feel. Some of the songs were aerobic, some worked on developing balance and concentration, some were meditative, some touched our hearts.

We finished our practice in savasana, lying on our mats for a guided meditation so we could really assimilate all of the good work and energy we gave ourselves. We had one final breath exercise and then shared some healthy juice. We wove in some positive psychology with ancient yogic wisdom.

Yoga is a philosophy and a framework for optimal health.  Music touches part of the brain, the soul and our emotions. Coming together in a community is also comforting and healing.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share my practice with you! Next class will be Sunday April 9th @ 4pm  Please RSVP HERE

With Love & Gratitude,

Lisa

About Lisa Jackson, RN, CHC, RYT-500, FDN

Lisa is an author, inspirational speaker and a coach with a mission to inspire others to feel and look their best at any age.

She is the former Executive Director of the Integrative Wellness Program for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.

Lisa's book, Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think and Thrive outlines her seven-step process towards optimal health that is fun and transformational.

Lisa is part of the New Self Health Movement and the Wellness Inspired Network. When she is not coaching, speaking or writing, you can find her practicing yoga and joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance.