Choose Clarity on Columbus Day

This morning I woke up to my husband's snoring at 3:45 am. I used to have a lot of insomnia. Now, not so much. When I do wake up before "I should", I don't panic. Instead, I practice looking at life with more curiosity and less fear. I ask myself, "What is my body telling me? What is it that I'm needing and wanting?"

I worked 7 days this week and although I love what I do, I realized that I was needing time for me. This morning, I went outside, I danced in the moonlight, looked up, and saw a shooting star. A reminder that it was time to explore my own vast inner world. Time to exercise, to meditate and to write. It felt deeply nourishing.

Today is Columbus Day; a day to celebrate freedom. More than one of my clients have said, "I feel like a prisoner to my disease."  There are more than 68,000 diagnosis codes in the ICD-10 International Classifications of Diseases that our modern medicine relies on for insurance reimbursement. That is a lot of labels of what's wrong with us. That's a lot of negative news. It's enough to make you anxious. Add in the radio and television ads like, "Do you have Gastric Esophageal Reflux Disease?" Translated to, are you eating fake food that is irritating your stomach? Or do you have so much stress that your body thinks it should be running away instead of digesting food?  You can see how easy it is to get trapped in the "What's wrong with me?" mindset.

What if all these labels and signs and symptoms were merely a loving message from within signaling a need for change?  A nudge to point to a new direction? Imagine what your life might look like if you used your inner compass for direction instead of fearful labels. Focus on where you want to go. Use the dis-ease as a buoy so you don't shipwreck your body. Use your dreams and desires as a lighthouse to sail towards.

When you are locked into labels, it is hard to see clearly. I find it fascinating that autoimmune disease is growing at an epidemic rate. This by definition, is failure to recognize self. It's a cry and reminder to pay attention to self. If you believe that the world is flat, then it's easy to fear going too far and falling off the end of the earth. Please do not become victim to self limiting beliefs and labels.  Don't become so locked into your disease that you are covered in fog and cannot see the lighthouse.

If you know and believe that your body is self healing and self repairing then you are empowered to move in new directions. You are free to play and experiment with different choices. This can be the gift of the dis-ease, if you are open to new possibilities. 

We hear a lot about "finding balance." Balance is not a static end point. It's more like a dance with a rhythm. Some days you may need a vinyasa practice or aerobic exercise, to run, punch a bag, or to dance. Other times your body may need deep rest and a meditative practice.  We can get so locked in our "shoulds" that we lose touch with ourselves. See if you can find fluidity in your physical practice. See if you can practice self compassion on days when your body is needing deep rest. Don't worry, you won't sleep forever and you won't fall into the deep abyss, if you follow your heart.

Where do you practice freedom? Are you free to fully express yourself in your deepest relationships? Can you honor your unique thoughts, needs and desires enough to speak your truth? Being true to self takes courage in a world focused on conformity.

Free yourself from food myths and marketing. Food can be medicine or the same food can be another man's poison. We are all unique. Honor your unique body's needs and rhythms. Our genes have been adapting for as long as our existence, based on your stressors. What stress do you need to remove in order to fully digest and assimilate nutrition?

Diversity in the diet is the #1 practice you can do for longevity. Try a new food or recipe this week. Focus on feeling good without the need for addictive food or substances. Self medication is only sustainable for so long. Freedom may come by doing something radically different. Spend time fasting to give your gastrointestinal tract time to heal and repair. Or join us on October 25th to learn about and commit to an Intermittent Fasting KickStart. This is a great pre-holiday kickstart that is sustainable with supplemental juices, nut mylks, MCT shots, and soups to be delivered on November 1st, just after Halloween.

Take time today to enjoy nature, return to self and dare to explore the vast inner world of your unique body, mind and spirit. Focus on where you want to go and explore new ways to get there.  Ask yourself what limiting belief is holding you back from obtaining your goals. No amount of medication or supplementation can compare to the power of practicing self love, compassion and self care. Go where no man has gone before. Dare to explore the vast world of infinite possibility within you.

Carpe Diem,

Lisa

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

Lisa is an author, functional nutrition, and functional medicine trained, health coach, yoga teacher, and retired Registered Nurse with the mission to inspire, educate and empower individuals and corporations to achieve optimal health.

Lisa's book, Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think & Thrive is a self-health book offering her Seven Steps to Optimal Health.

When she is not coaching, or speaking, you can find Lisa joyfully sharing yoga and Carpe Diem Dance or playing with her two grandchildren. She is the mother of four adult children and believes, "Optimal health should not be a secret."

"Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure" Thomas Edison

Think of the advances we've enjoyed since Thomas Edison and the lightbulb. Let's bring his wisdom home. I just got off the phone with a client who is concerned about fertility. Newly married, she wants to prepare herself for pregnancy. She’s learning that a healthy baby needs healthy parents. She has rediscovered that optimal nutrition and supplementation is critical for a full four months prior to conception. Just one example of the power of prevention.

Our current healthcare model is focused on the absence of disease. We manage signs and symptoms with pharmaceutical interventions. This is not curative. This is palliative and unsustainable, for individuals as well as our country.  80% of our 3 TRILLION, healthcare-dollars is spent treating chronic disease.¹ Disease that could be prevented, and better addressed with diet and lifestyle modifications.[1]

Nutrition is critical in every stage and aspect of life - from preconception to prevention of cancer. This is indisputable.  Read cancer is a preventable disease in the National Institutes of Health archives.

If I could wave a magic wand, prevention would be a top priority in mainstream modern medicine. I currently offer my clients a Personalized Prevention Plan for wellness care. At a minimum, this functional, preventative, plan could be a complementary offering to the current corporate executive physical offered to employees. 

For individuals and companies who want to manage escalating healthcare costs and offer a true wellness benefit, please read on.

What does a Personalized Prevention Plan encompass? Functional medical testing and health coaching. Tests include: a micronutrient test, a food sensitivity test, comprehensive stool test, complete thyroid test (not merely TSH and T4), dried urine hormone tests, and complete cardio metabolic test.  These are all preventative functional medicine tests not commonly offered in conventional medicine.

Most Americans see their doctor once a year for their annual physical, or to manage symptoms. Fatigue, gastrointestinal issues, insomnia, anxiety and depression are the most common complaints seen in doctor's offices across the country. Current testing does not address the root cause of dis-ease. It often overlooks what is going on inside the body – those hidden internal stressors. To get inside the body we need to first see what is brewing in your gut (gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus). Hippocrates said that "All Disease Begins in the Gut" - and he was right; dysfunctions in the gastrointestinal system interfere with absorption of vitamins and minerals and allow unwanted pathogens into the rest of the body. 

For instance, if you have an imbalance in the gut such as bacterial overgrowth or even parasites, you may not be able to make your b vitamins, necessary for energy production and detoxification, or serotonin, your feel-good neurotransmitter, or dopamine, the neurotransmitter necessary for focus and impulse control, or melatonin, required to sleep. If you have inflammation in the gut,  you may experience signs and symptoms ranging from gas and boating to eczema, trouble focusing, anxiety, depression and/or insomnia. Do you see how everything is inter-connected?

Instead, current common conventional medicine forces you to see a different specialist for each symptom - a gastroenterologist for gas, bloating and GERD, a psychiatrist for depression, anxiety and ADHD, a dermatologist for eczema and a neurologist for insomnia. The result - a handful of prescription medications for each symptom without identifying and addressing the root cause.

Multiple specialists are unlikely to figure the unique puzzle that is YOU - not when they are looking at the individual pieces, and not at the whole. Isn’t it better to understand the root cause? Isn’t that superior to having a diagnosis and a self-limiting label?

If you are currently taking supplements, it is a good idea to do a micronutrient test to determine if the supplements are helping or hindering your progress. Nutrition is not just what you eat. Nutrition is what is absorbed. You may be eating a healthy diet but if your body is not digesting or absorbing those nutrients correctly then they are interfering with your nutrition.

In the case of my fertility client she had food sensitivities including a 4+ severe IgG antibody response to peas. Although on a clean diet, her morning protein shake was made from pea protein. She was drinking this 4 days a week - no wonder she wasn’t feeling as well as her husband with the positive dietary changes they both made. Bingo! The simple action of switching to a hemp protein powder improved her overall health and boosted her energy.

Often, it’s the little things we do everyday that can make a big difference.

Do you have chronic colds, infections, viruses that you can’t seem to shake? Perhaps your immune system is so busy dealing with food sensitivities (that it sees as a foreign body) that it can’t do its job of fighting viruses, bacteria or cleaning up rogue cancer cells?  What you don’t know can and may just kill you.

In a perfect world we wouldn’t need supplements, but most of us do not live in a world without stress, crap food, and toxins.  (I have a whitepaper I wrote on how to maximize nutrition.  If you’d like a copy, just send me an email and I’ll send it to you.)

You may be aware of your external stressors,

but are you aware of the hidden stressors that could be a root cause of your zapped energy?

Do you want to be your best? Do you want more energy? Let’s look at hidden sources like sensitivities to foods you are eating every day. Or consider a comprehensive stool test to look at the microbes in the gut that could be zapping your energy. If you’re a lover of sushi as I am, perhaps there’s a parasite in your gut that is eating up your nutrition.  How would you know without a comprehensive stool test?

If you have toenail fungus or frequent urinary tract infections or vaginitis, you may have an opportunistic overgrowth of candida, a yeast fungus in the gut that thrives with sugar, alcohol, bacterial overgrowth, parasites, and /or heavy metals. This is identifiable with testing.

What’s in your gut? How do you know what probiotic to take? Or is your probiotic doing any good? It’s good to test for it. Do you have adequate stomach acid and/or pancreatic enzymes to thoroughly digest your food? A comprehensive stool test can give you clues to answer these questions.

I’ve personally witnessed this after working with hundreds of patients and clients. Heal the gut and the symptoms go away.

We all have stress and stressors. But how is your vital reserve? Are your adrenals stressed or do they need rest and/or nourishment? Is your cortisol and DHEA at optimal levels?

How are you metabolizing your hormones? Are they going down the right detox pathways so you can prevent estrogen related breast, ovarian or prostate cancers? I am so passionate about this! Let’s catch this and prevent cancers before you get a diagnosis. Worried about a relapse? Let’s test your detoxification pathways to ensure you are adequately clearing estrogens and support you with aromatase inhibiting food.

Cancer, heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune disease, fatigue, depression, anxiety, insomnia…80% of our healthcare dollars are spent on chronic disease that can be better treated through diet and lifestyle modifications.

Let’s look at you from a functional viewpoint so you can make small, obtainable changes to create sustainable optimal health and well-being.

Let’s create a culture of wellness and breed leaders with more true strength and energy so we can get back our competitive advantage in our corporations. According to the World Health Organization the United States spend more on healthcare and is at the bottom of the list for longevity and healthy outcomes.  We currently spend more and receive less. This affects productivity in the workplace and affects quality of life and well-being. This will bankrupt our country.

"When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless, and intelligence cannot be applied."  Heophilus, Greek physician 335-280 BC

How do we reverse this? It’s called prevention. No two of us are alike so why do we tolerate a “one size fits all” healthcare model?  Work with a functional medicine trained coach to create a personalized preventative plan for your unique body.

Carpe Diem,

Lisa

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

Lisa is an author, functional nutrition and functional medicine trained health coach, yoga teacher, and retired Registered Nurse with the mission to "Inspire, Educate and Empower" individuals and corporations to achieve optimal health.

Lisa's book, Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think & Thrive is a self-health book offering her Seven Steps to Optimal Health.

When she is not coaching, or speaking, you can find Lisa joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance or playing with her two grandchildren. She is the mother of four adult children and believes, "Optimal health should not be a secret."

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[1] Are you Confused About what to Eat? Here’s Why Mark Hyman, MD https://drhyman.com/blog/2018/01/24/confused-eat-heres/