Redefining Disease, Reimagining Health, Letting Go of Control
March 06, 2021
What Are You Holding Onto?
What do you need to let go of?
What stressors in your life are weighing you down, holding you back?
I’m serious, stop and think for a moment.
While you sit and read this edition, take out a pen and paper, or heck even a retro graphite pencil like we used in school ✏️
What is stressing me out today?
What am I stressing about this week?
What are my two biggest worries in life right now?
What can you let go of?
Maybe it’s time for you to release yourself from the pressures and burdens you’ve placed on your shoulders - thinking you had to do it all, that you even could do it all.
We take on so much, but we never seem to let go.
Don’t you think it’s time to rebalance the scales?
Breathe.
Breathe in
Breathe out
Breathe deeply
Breathe restfully
Breathe beautifully
💙 ⭐️
For you are beautiful.
You are beautiful today.
You will be beautiful tomorrow.
You have always been beautiful
and You will always be beautiful
Let go of any shame, any guilt, any frustrations you’ve felt within or about yourself.
Acknowledge what is - and what is NOT - within your control. It’s likely that 60-80% of what you worry and stress the most about is outside of your control. The sun will come up tomorrow morning and the moon will rise tomorrow night. There are only so many (few) things we can actually change in our lives, and many of us can greatly benefit from realigning our lives, our lifestyles to better suit what we can and truly desire to care for and impact in this world. Don’t you agree?
Take Cancer for instance
Many people with cancer immediately rise to stardom, becoming the talk of the town, becoming victim to everyone’s opinion on what course of action to take, what latest treatment to avoid, what holistic health diet fad to follow, etc etc. Everyone you know quickly becomes a PhD in Cancer variable therapy and wants to tell you about it.
Friends, family, even strangers desiring to help but missing the mark in a huge way. I’m not pointing fingers at anyone here, but I will recognize that I’m just as guilty myself. Sometimes we mean well, but our actions and ambitions miss the people we truly seek to serve and help.
And doctors, well most (not all obviously) cancer treatment doctors are not equipped with the time and attention they would like to have to truly treat each patient with a holistic health focus like perhaps they wish. Their hands are tied between insurance litigation, hospital / clinic codes and security measures and the oh so important role of “reimbursement.” 💵
Many pharmaceutical companies market in a disgusting fashion - pushing hope upon vulnerable people with little results to show for it (and many ‘natural’ medicines promote this ); then thousands of dollars later, the physicians and companies are trained to describe any unexpected or “uncommon” misfortunate results as something unique to the specific patient, suggesting “their body isn’t responding to the chemo/treatment as expected”
AS IF THE PERSON HAS THE AUTONOMY TO SAY “HEY BODY!!! WAKE UP TO THIS CHEMO TREATMENT OKAY!? DOC SAYS YOU’RE NOT DOING SO WELL!”
That’s just malarkey if you ask me.
From the initial assessments and beginning conversations, there should be open and transparent freeing dialogue that releases pressure instead of buries it on more and more as most care plans go. Shaming someone into treatment is no treatment at all. Guilt-trips are a fast-track route for having awful relationships and probable poor outcomes for the patient and all parties involved.
We know how powerful the mind and spirit are when it comes to healing the body. We know how impactful the simple placebo effect can be to help someone feel better or cause someone to feel worse (like when people think they’ve been given poison and it’s just a sugar pill and they say they experienced wretched symptoms).
The body, the mind, and yes - the spirit, all work in unison, in constant communication with one another. The holy trinity of human biology if you will.
The innate ability to heal lies deep inside someone’s soul, where also lives their joy, hope, and positive outlook on tomorrow… and just those few factors alone we know can help someone initiate happy hormones, open detoxification pathways, spark improved immune system support, and more. 💪
Yes, your mind and spirit play a huge role in your health if you didn’t already know. Have your spirits ever dwindled when your body felt physically terrible? How about if your spirits have ever been lifted when you suddenly felt better or felt a sense of relief?
I’m riffing on this this week, because I think it’s always important for us to remember and reflect upon the things that are- and the things that are not within our control of influence. We often focus so much of our God-given time, energy, and existence on things that give us no joy, life, hope or energy in return.
Yet, it is within our power to shift our focus, to shift our energy every single day to the things that give us life and fill us with joy.
Every person and every patient deserves to be heard, deserves to be cared for with an individual course of treatment that fits their decisions and lifestyle. Everyone’s health journey is inextricably unique to them and you cannot deny them their lived experiences and feelings.
What may work well for one person, may not work well for another. Sugar can save a crashing low blood glucose in someone who has Type 1 Diabetes, but then sugar might be the exact thing to avoid for someone with Type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol or high anxiety.
As much as we might think, and like to believe that we know the answers - we don’t. And we often don’t take the time and attention to help someone heal from the inside out, such as identifying any innate stressors locked inside someone’s cells, tissues, organs, gut and even deep within the fascia in muscles.
Even traditional Chinese medicine, energy and chakra healers, and other ancient medicine practices have long suggested core organ systems impacted most by our human emotions: bitterness-liver, fear-kidneys, grief-heart and lungs, worry-gut.
The work of trauma healing is an incredible world of medicine if you ask me, and the concepts of transgenerational trauma and danger-response memory of cells… well that’s just a whole new world for most of us. Let’s talk about that some time in the future perhaps! :)
For now, I simply want to leave you with a little dusting of hope and remembrance this week for what you can- and cannot control, what you can let go, and what you actually might desperately need to let go in order for you to live your best life possible.
What I’m Listening To 🎧 and Inspired By 💡
Driven: Understanding and Harnessing the Genetic Gifts Shared by Entrepreneurs, Navy SEALs, Pro Athletes (& Maybe You). The little known secrets of ADHD, PTSD, Survival skills of the ultra elite that we often shun and pathologize in modern medicine. Ben Greenfield Fitness
Research has shown that certain genes can manifest resilient and highly focused people who can also be impulsive and easily distracted. While these traits enabled our ancient ancestors to survive, if you have these traits today, it can create havoc in your life and cause diagnoses such as ADHD, ADD, or OCD.
Read Dr. Douglas Brackmann’s book: “Driven” here - him and his team work with ultra athletes, those going through recovery, and more to help them take hold of their mind, body, and perspective to empower their freedom and decision making. He even does rifle shooting meditation, yea it is crazy legit.
The Dr. Axe Show - Jordan Rubin: Ancient Superfoods, Herbs & Mushrooms
Jordan Rubin, joins the show today to share his expertise in ancient principles that allowed him to overcome multiple autoimmune conditions. Jordan and Dr. Axe discuss the top ten ancient foods, herbs and mushrooms that have tremendous benefits. Tune into learn how and why you should incorporate these superfoods into your diet for optimal health. Read Dr. Axe’s latest book: “Ancient Remedies” here.
The Doctor’s Farmacy: House Call - Heavy Metals And Health: The Untold Story
We live in an environment steeped in chemicals that our bodies were not designed to process. When it comes to toxins one plus one does not equal two. There is a compounded effect. It can also be related to autoimmune issues, diabetes, hypertension, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, autism, and many other conditions.
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee: Feel Better Live More - BitSize Episode - Neuroscientist Reveals How Walking Improves Our Brain and Mental Health: Shane O’Mara
As Shane says, ‘you only get old when you stop walking, you don’t stop walking because you’re old’. Shane believes walking can be our superpower. In this clip he explains how the many benefits of walking go beyond the physical – it’s important for our mood, our happiness and our wellbeing. Shane reveals the results of studies that showed that walking improved memory and attention and reversed functional ageing of the brain, and that if we walk before doing a task, we perform it more creatively. The benefits of walking are retained throughout life and it’s never too late to start.
Stay Warm, Stay Well, and Have Fun!