Last week I talked about how optimal health is not complicated and from a functional medicine standpoint there’s three steps to optimal health Maximize, Minimize and Prioritize.

Prioritizing self-care is absolutely my most challenging step and to do so I need to commit to planning time for me.  Last week after my talk in The Art of Healing Tent at Love Your Body Day my new friend Marcia Childress spoke about the benefits of Retreat.  We absolutely need to schedule time for ourselves for retreat, and three to four days is a perfect amount of time to feel grounded and rejuvenated.  Just like I advocate a quarterly cleanse, I also advocate a planned quarterly retreat.  Come join us in September and I promise you will leave with simple solutions you can implement at home, plus some newfound friends and savvy secrets.

Some of you have expressed an interest in our Self-Health Retreat September 25-28th in California at Asilomar in Monterey, California.  Commit and Book Now as we have a JUNE EARLY BIRD RATE available for all 4-days of classes and events $317 instead of $997. There is also a one day Saturday pass available as well.  Please hurry because the rooms book up fast at Asilomar and I want to be sure my VIPs (Very Important People) are there!  I have partnered with 15 other authors and health coaches to offer a long weekend of knowledge transfer for you.Tara Gesling’s story of going from 5 years in a wheelchair to the healthy woman she is today is amazing and inspirational!

Here’s what you will enjoy:

·       Yoga and yoga dance classes offered on the beach and inside

·       Personalized small health coaching groups to help you walk through obstacles and health challenges

·       I’ll present my Seven Steps to Inspired Wellness in an informative, experiential session where you will leave inspired and empowered to take back your health and understand the process to meet personal goals. We will walk through how to go from “Overwhelmed” to “Empowered”!

·       You can choose workshops from over a dozen authors and health coaches. The conference outline is on our website

·       We will enjoy amazing gourmet food, seafood, California wines and bon fires to music under the stars.

·       Saturday night we will witness the lunar eclipse while listening to live music under the stars on the beach.

·       We’ll enjoy luxury accommodations, with chimneys in the rooms, wooden floors, trees and the beach to help you relax fully and recharge.

Read more and register with our early bird rate HERE.  You can also bring your spouse or a friend who wants to enjoy the refuge by the sea while you partake at the conference for a reduced rate of $1.  There are nearby golf courses, shopping and the quaint towns of Monterey and Carmel by the Sea.

You definitely deserve this and I would LOVE to spend this time with you!

Optimal Health is Not Complicated; Maximize, Minimize & Prioritize

Do you, like me, have a hard time prioritizing self?

I start many presentations with this slide "Optimal Health is Not Complicated; Maximize, Minimize and Prioritize.”

...and yet doing this consistently is a challenge. Here lies the value of a health coach. I have my own coaches. I have a business coach and paid mentors that I work with. I still have to practice consistently prioritizing myself. Some of us are givers. We love to give, We thrive on giving, but we can give so much we wind up running out of gas.

We don't wait until our car runs out of gas before we fill it up. We don't put cheap gas in a Ferrari if we want it to perform with optimal performance. Why do we do this to ourselves? Do you ever fill yourself with cheap food or wait until you’re starving before taking a break? Do you plan and prepare a nutritious meal to fuel you for the day? Do you prioritize joyful activities and rest and relaxation every day?  It’s so easy to jump out of bed and get on the computer or get to the “to do list”.

So how do I prioritize me? I strive to practice treating my body and my soul as if it were my precious baby. 

Isn't it interesting how when you're pregnant, you don't drink? Most pregnant women sustain from alcohol, stop drinking coffee, and start taking vitamins. They start eating better foods and when they need to rest, they rest! This creates a healthy child, this creates a healthy body. As Mothers, we intuitively know this. So why do we stop these practices after the baby is born? What can you do today to nourish and nurture your body as if it were your baby? Can you love and nurture your body as you would your unborn and newborn child? Will you Begin today to consistently prioritize self? 

If you are local, join us today and bring your loved ones to Love Your Body Day at Reston Town Center. Bring your yoga mat and try different classes with different instructors from 10-3pm or visit some of the vendors that are in my Wellness Inspired Network, Beloved Yoga Studio, Neck Back & Beyond, Life Wellness Centre and Dr. Wes Rocki. In addition to having a booth with goodies and book signing, I will be giving a short talk on Seven Steps to Optimal Health at the Art of Healing Tent next to the pavilion @ 3pm.(I've touched on two steps in this post, Begin & Nourish.)  http://www.loveyourbodyyogafestival.com/ 

Here's to your health and nourishing choices; Carpe Diem!

With Love & Gratitude,

Lisa

Sunday Fun Day!

As a coach, my job is to hold sacred space for others. Today, I am reminded of the importance of holding space for ourselves.  My last blog post I spoke of the importance of vacations and how proud I was to have committed to goals of fitting in mini retreat and vacations for myself and my family.

This weekend I spent at Wanderlust and it has given me time for reflection, fun, beauty and connection.  I am reminded of the importance of community and support for all of us as we walk through life together.  No matter our diagnoses or labels, our challenges are the same...and so are the solutions.

My favorite solution, of course, is Step One as outlined in my book, Savvy Secrets, which is to Begin. Commit to self. Give yourself the same investment in time and money that you give to others.


Do you doubt the value of mini-retreats and vacations?  Then try this simple exercise.

Take a 12 oz can or better yet, your cell phone and hold it at arms length.  First notice how light it is.  Notice how the longer you hold it, the longer you work your muscles, the heavier it feels.Eventually, you will have to lower the arm and take a break. Rest, then pick up the phone again. Notice that its not so heavy, its easy to hold the load. You perform better when you schedule in time to rest and repair.

Do you want to move through life with ease and joy?  Make sure you schedule in mini-retreats.

This month only, we are offering you a deal that you cannot refuse, a chance to come to our New Self Health Movement Retreat and soak up the wisdom from 15 authors and coaches who have walked the walk. Come enjoy walks and yoga on the beach. Witness the lunar eclipse on the beach during our nighttime fire ceremony. (Only in September when I will be there, truly a once in a lifetime opportunity).  Enjoy local organic food and find savvy secrets and friendships to last a lifetime.

Reserve your spot now in June to get a phenomenal discount. Use the coupon code ID680 when you register here:

Who will join me for this memorable self retreat? Grab a buddy to make it even better. How can you schedule in mini breaks or retreats in your own life?  Begin a practice to give yourself 15 minutes to do something that you love. Do something that is yummy and nourishing. Walk in nature, meditate, dance and/or spend time with people that you love.

Carpe Diem.

With Love & Gratitude,

Lisa

What Makes a Life Well Lived? An invitation...

Thinking of my daughter, Dana and my brother-in-law, Dan who just passed, and the question, "What makes a life well lived?"

Last week my Dana took some amazing pictures and wrote about her recent trip to the Catskills and NYC. Those who knew Dan, knew how he loved his vacations to the beach. So for Memorial Day weekend I want to reflect on both and the power of vacation. Click here to read more

Ignorance is NOT Bliss!

Ignorance is not bliss, it’s often very painful and could lead to premature death.  Let me give you my own experience, both in health and finance.

You see, I like many type A Washingtonians, am a recovering “stress-a holic”.   Lately, I’ve relapsed…BIG TIME.  Went all the way baby…complete with a couple of trips to the Emergency Room, first time ever for me.  read more

Have you had your Vitamin D checked lately? More research on cancer prevention and possible treatment

This research (below) came across my desk today at the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, about the importance of Vitamin D for pancreatic cancer. Vitamin D formed from sunlight is a hormone with 200 biochemical actions and is useful for prevention and possible treatment of breast, prostate, thyroid, colon, melanoma, pancreatic, and lung cancers.

Over 95% of breast cancer patients are deficient; normalizing 25-OH D can help prevent cancer.  Adequate levels of Vitamin D also reduce the risk of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, fragility syndrome, heart disease, autoimmune disease and even acute infections such as colds and the flu.

Needless to say, all our patients need supplementation until levels are between 60-80 ng/ml. Everyone who lives in our region (between Oct and May) need supplementation as the sun is not strong enough to get the vitamin D that we need. I really like Thorne's liquid w K2 (which is essential to move calcium into bones). Magnesium is also essential and both are the most common mineral deficiencies.

Have you had your vitamin D checked lately? My Mother’s Day plan is to get lots of sun this weekend using coconut oil for a healthy tan!

Happy Mothers Day to you amazing women!

With Love & Gratitude,

Lisa

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine recently found that pancreatic cancer rates are highest in countries with the least amount of sunlight. These findings were published by Garland et al in The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

“If you’re living at a high latitude or in a place with a lot of heavy cloud cover, you can’t make vitamin D most of the year, which results in a higher-than-normal risk of getting pancreatic cancer,” said Cedric F. Garland, DrPH, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health and Member of UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.

“People who live in sunny countries near the equator have only one-sixth of the age-adjusted incidence rate of pancreatic cancer as those who live far from it. The importance of sunlight deficiency strongly suggests—but does not prove—that vitamin D deficiency may contribute to risk of pancreatic cancer.”

Study Details

The UC San Diego team, led by Dr. Garland and Edward D. Gorham, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, had previously shown that sufficient levels of a metabolite of vitamin D, known as 25-hydroxyvitamin D, was associated with substantially lower risk of breast and colorectal cancer. Their newer research is the first to implicate vitamin D deficiency with pancreatic cancer.

Researchers studied data from 107 countries, taking into account international differences and possible confounders, such as alcohol consumption, obesity, and smoking. “While these other factors also contribute to risk, the strong inverse association with cloud-cover adjusted sunlight persisted even after they were accounted for,” said Dr. Garland. 

UC San Diego researchers had previously identified an association of high latitude with a higher risk of pancreatic cancer. Dr. Garland said the new study advances that finding, by showing that an estimate of solar ultraviolet B that has been adjusted for heavy cloud cover produces an even stronger prediction of risk of pancreatic cancer.

Vitamin D is often added as a fortifying nutrient to milk, cereals, and juices, and can be found naturally in food like fatty fish, beef liver, cheese, and egg yolks. But experts say most people also require additional vitamin D—specifically, ultraviolet B radiation—produced by the body by exposing skin directly to sunlight. Cloudy skies, shade, and dark-colored skin also reduce vitamin D production.

Pancreatic cancer is the 12th most common cancer in the world, according to World Cancer Research Fund International, with 338,000 new cases diagnosed annually. Incidence rates are highest in North America and Europe, and lowest in Africa and Asia.

This study was supported in part by the UC San Diego Department of Family Medicine and Public Health.

Raphael Cuomo, MPH, CPH, is the corresponding author for The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology article.

The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of ASCO®.

Are you ready to take a journey?

TAKE A JOURNEY TOWARD YOUR OWN SELF-CARE, SELF-RELIANCE AND SELF-HEALTH.

Some of you know that his past week my brother in law left this earth and widowed my twin sister to raise my two nephews on her own. The last two weeks were particularly stressful for me and reminded me of the importance of self-care for all of us, especially if you are a caregiver.

 

On a positive note, I want to share with you the most exciting event that I will be participating in next fall and just learned that the first 25 registering as a single can get ½ off!

I am part of the New Self Health Movement of Authors and Health Coaches  that have come together to offer an amazing retreat on the California Coastline in Monterey, California.  Join us for a:    

4-Day/3-Night Experience for your
Self-Health and Well-Being

Asilomar is a beautiful retreat site where Dr Wayne Dyer filmed the movie “The Shift” and Deepak Chopra holds his meditation retreats.  I will be leading an evening outdoor celebration during the lunar eclipse on the beach as well yoga and a session on Seven Steps to Inspired Wellness. 

I am very proud to be participating with amazing authors, successful business leaders and professional speakers, an ayurvedic specialist, and several who have healed themselves from many chronic illnesses including heart disease, chronic pain, autoimmune disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, arthritis, allergies and more.

Please join us in discovering how YOU can take charge and reconnect with your own health and well-being.

Click here for more information