Turning 60 Today

My twin sister and I turn 60 today.  A perfect blend of youth, maturity and wisdom per our T-Shirts! It seems like yesterday that we were celebrating our 50th and I was asking myself, "What do I want to be when I grow up?"

One thing I know for sure is that I want to inspire, educate and empower wellness. My friend and colleague Susan Brady and myself will be launching an online membership program next month so stay tuned for more information and a special invitation.  All spring and summer Susan has been interviewing 40 professionals for a Healthy Aging Summit that will be airing in October so stay tuned for that too. We have more fantastic things planned for the New Year and next spring too.

Time flies and some of us have more time than others. One of the things on my bucket list is to be able to help those in need of financial support who are unable to pay for what is really important for healing. Things like healthy organic food, coaching, nutritional support and integrative therapies that are not covered by insurance. To support friends like Babette Lamarre who has the courage and self compassion to prioritize her own healing to become another radical remission story. She is still on her healing journey and still in need of support. She's surpassed her initial minimum prognosis of 3 months and more importantly is feeling very well. She is an artist, just one of her many talents and has designed a self portrait with her inspirational story to sell as a way to raise money for her vaccine therapy. For my birthday present, I'd like to suggest a donation to Babette or purchase her artwork to support her journey.  Here is her story:

 Into the Light 

Hello my friend. I would like to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about this self-portrait. My name is Babette Lamarre, and I was diagnosed in October of 2018 with Stage Four Ovarian Cancer. I was given a three-month to three-year prognosis (considered generous). 

At the time of my diagnosis, I had been struggling financially and emotionally for a long time, both due to early life experiences and to hardships in my forties and fifties. Even though I had done a lot of “work” on myself and become stronger over the years, dark and entrenched thoughts still endured. At times things felt so difficult and without purpose that I wondered why go on. 

With my diagnosis, however, this all began to change. Cancer was a “get out of jail free” card for me, odd as that sounds. It gave me the opportunity to break free from stressful circumstances and emotionally toxic dynamics with people close to me, and with great good fortune, to move to a beautiful place across the country and begin healing my body, heart and soul. 

Now I think about life differently. I have developed the most in a spiritual way. Raised in an agnostic/ atheist setting, I never thought much about the big questions like why am I here? What is a soul? Is there a god? What is God? Is there life after death? Etc. Now I fully see that there is a higher power and I meditate/pray daily to stay connected. My heart is filled with happiness, love and joy, and this new light spills over. My relationships are better, and even my view of difficult events in my past has changed – I can see now that they were essential to my growth - and prepared me for what was ahead. I have come to understand that there is nothing random about life – that it unfolds exactly as it should for a higher purpose - which is often a mystery for years. My desire and ability to love and give to others are greater. I look forward to new passions and adventures. Things come more easily now. I am becoming who I really am and was always meant to be: laughing, loving, forgiving, blessing, enjoying the light, and giving myself completely to this wild ride we call life. 

This is all reflected in my self-portrait. The bottom left has dark squares in a gold matrix showing that there was order and beauty in me and my early life - but also darkness. As the viewer moves right and upwards (counterclockwise), there is disintegration into chaos, representing problems in my adult life. Starting at my chin (the year or two before and leading up to my diagnosis), the darkness begins to lighten up, and then color begins to appear, mostly in the form of flowers. The top third of the portrait is all about light, color, growth, and connection to the divine. A vine grows downward from the source of all life, and brings color to a dark past, essentially healing it. The good that was always there is clear now. 

It is ten months since my diagnosis and I’ve had a PET scan that shows my tumor activity has been cut in half. Many points of metastasis have disappeared. Only four of twelve visitors still need to be escorted out! I feel very well physically. I am blessed! 

Thank you for taking the time to read about me and for contributing to the funding of my continuing cancer treatment by purchasing a copy on canvas of my self-portrait (the original is a photo collage with textured paper and paint). You are helping me with expensive cancer vaccines and other therapies not covered by health insurance for my complete healing. 

Blessings to you and your loved ones. May we all continue towards the light! 

Babette – August 30, 2019 

blamarre2k@gmail.com 

If interested please contact babette directly blamarre2k@gmail.com

What is on your bucket list?

Carpe Diem,

Lisa

About Lisa Jackson, RN, CHC, RYT-500, FDN-P, 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."

Happy Labor Day

When you love what you do it can be hard to take a break. Some may say I’m obsessed with my work. I used to take pride in my workaholism, like a badge of honor or proof of my importance or that my business was doing so well. I just spent 10 days in Switzerland and France for our youngest daughter’s wedding and worked so hard before and afterwards to make time and space to completely unplug for this time.

What really hit home for me on return is how crazy this is. I witnessed what many do when on vacation, I got violently sick. First my husband, then myself. In this case, we caught a bug. Thank God I had taken my little apothecary with me of extra vitamins, electrolytes, magnesium threonate and probiotics. My husband missed his daughter’s rehearsal dinner but was able to rebound enough for the wedding.

The body responds to long term stress by secreting cortisol. Cortisol is a powerful hormone that has an anti-inflammatory affect and suppresses the immune system. I used to have so many patients at the cancer clinic tell me that they never got sick, until the cancer diagnosis. How might this happen? When you are telling your body that you have to constantly run for your life, everything else gets put on hold. This includes the immune system’s daily clean-up of viruses, bacteria and apoptosis, the death of cancer cells. Your self-loving, self-healing body is hard wired to prioritize survival over rest and digest, rest and repair, or mate and ovulate. When you finally do slow down to relax, then cortisol drops and the immune system can go on hyperdrive to quickly try to clean up before the next perceived crisis. This may result in flu like symptoms, headache, fatigue or upper respiratory infections.

Being uber busy also interferes with something equally important as our physical health. It often interferes with our time and communication with loved ones. Instead of quality time, we are reduced to text messages and voicemails. This can open up a Pandora’s box of opportunity for misunderstanding. This can lead to a generational impact. I’ve witnessed this as an older mother of four adult children and grandmother of two.

Labor Day is a good day to reflect. What are you accomplishing from the fruit of your labor? Are you on the right track? Are you caring for your own physical, emotional and mental well-being so that you can be the best for others? Optimal health is not complicated; however, this does not mean that it is always easy. Of the three steps that I teach in my coaching practice 1. Maximize, 2. Minimize and 3. Prioritize, prioritizing self is the most challenging for many.

Today after writing and yoga, I am taking time to go hangout with my twin sister and my Mother. What will you do to nourish all of you and your relationships today? Most of all will you seize the day? 

Carpe Diem,

Lisa

About Lisa Jackson, RN, CHC, RYT-500, FDN-P, 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."

What's my Secret? Yoga

A week ago Friday, was International Yoga Day. I was too busy living my yoga to write about it then. Last Sunday I was a sub teacher for a yin yoga class at 5pm at Beloved Yoga Studio in Reston, Va and thought I would share a few thoughts.

Yoga is a philosophy. It's a roadmap for healthy living that includes rules for living, exercises to enable a closer relationship with self, and prepare you for meditation. I often share with my clients how the body follows the mind and the mind follows the breath. Due to early conditioning, most of us don't know how to fully breathe to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, (PNS). Through deep belly breathing, we can teach our bodies that it is safe to rest and repair, rest and digest, and mate and ovulate. This is the yin within the yin and the yang.

There is a yoga for everyone. You are never too sick or never too old to learn, or to begin. Even if you've been practicing on and off for decades as I have, it's important to always have a beginners mind. I believe this is true in business and in life too. In keeping a beginners mind, you cultivate discernment. You can practice moving from fear to curiosity. Notice when you feel challenged, breathe into the pose and relax. Notice any automatic negative thoughts or self limiting beliefs arising. Practice compassion and self love for your current limitations. Notice where you are holding tension. Visualize and breathe healing oxygen into the space.  With practice your body will begin to change. Your mind, your body and your spirit will open up.  One of my students in my Wednesday morning Carpe Diem Dance class (movement to music with yoga and breathwork) told me this week that before coming to the class she hadn't raised her hands over her head for decades! She risked stretching her comfort zone and is pleased with her results.

Speaking of stretching...It's easy to overstretch muscles and to pull a tendon or a ligament when moving mindlessly or too fast. The more you try to force a stretch, the tighter your ligaments and tendons work to protect you. This is an innate, self loving response. Remember the body is self loving, self healing, and self repairing. The way to stretch and nourish tendons and ligaments is through deep relaxation. Yin is a way to move into a pose just to the point of resistance and then to practice relaxing and letting go. This may seem counter intuitive. For those of us who are action oriented, this can be a challenge. Practice quieting your mind when it starts to breed old negative thoughts that no longer serve you.

This practice is not about what you look like or how far you can go into the pose. It's about connecting to how you feel. In this respect, it is a more advanced practice. It's a practice in discernment over effort and ease. It's a practice in self care. How challenging you make it is up to you. You choose whether you want to practice yin or relaxation, within every pose. Discover how each moment allows you the opportunity for choice and discernment.

This is how we cultivate the ability to find calm in the midst of chaos. 

You can easily see the value of taking these lessons off the mat and into your consciousness.
Modern living stress our nervous system. It's easy to stay stuck in the sympathetic nervous system. Yoga can teach you to use your breath, your body, and your mind to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system necessary for optimal health.

Currently, I am teaching a beginners yoga 7:30am Wednesday mornings at Rise Wellbeing Center in Reston. If that is too early for you, then join us at 10am for a yoga dance class @ Rise.

There are many styles of yoga now being offered. Explore this rich diversity and find a class that speaks to you. Better yet, see if you can add some diversity in your exercise routine for balance.  Better balance equates to overall peace.

Carpe Diem,

Lisa

About Lisa Jackson, RN, CHC, RYT-500, FDN-P, 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."