A Healthy Curiosity

Incorporating a therapeutic diet and lifestyle is a central tenet of a lot of different approaches to health. It's always fascinating to see where these paradigms collide and reinforce one another, so hearing about the amazing results Dr. Terry Wahls has seen is truly inspirational.

If you've been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis or really any autoimmune disease, Dr. Wahls' research is a great window into how focusing on the way we nourish ourselves can improve our cellular health, give us more energy, and reduce pain.

On Today's Episode of A Healthy Curiosity:

• What opportunities we can take advantage of during the disruption from COVID-19
• How her understanding of disease and health transformed through her own journey
• Why we have such a hard time changing and her advice to break through it
• The positive effects her protocol can have even as a preventative measure
• Some background on what her protocol is and why she set it up that way

Dr. Terry Wahls is an Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner and a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa where she conducts clinical trials. In 2018 she was awarded the Institute for Functional Medicine's Linus Pauling Award for her contributions in research, clinical care, and patient advocacy. She is also a patient with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, which confined her to a tilt-recline wheelchair for four years. Dr. Wahls restored her health using a diet and lifestyle program she designed specifically for her brain and now pedals her bike to work each day. She is the author of The Wahls Protocol: A Radical New Way to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions Using Paleo Principles, Learn more about her MS clinical trials by reaching out to her team and pick up copies of her research papers or a one-page handout for the Wahls™ Diet.

Links:

Episode 127: Reversing Autoimmune Disease with Dr. Terry Wahls

Dr. Loren Cordain

Institute for Functional Medicine

Connect With Dr. Wahls:

Website

Books

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

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Basics of Chinese Medicine

As we're grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, conditions are changing super fast so it's crucial we find ways to stay strong, resilient, and connected with one another. With the safety of our communities at stake, the responsibility to flatten the curve and be there for each other without physically being there for each other is on all of us.

If you're feeling stressed or scared, you are certainly not alone. You're invited into this episode to explore ways of staying grounded and healthy.

On Today's Solo Episode of A Healthy Curiosity:

• Why social distancing is such an important practice right now
• How exponential growth plays into the pandemic
• The benefits to keeping your own nervous system balanced
• What changes we could see in society following this period of uncertainty
• A quick guided meditation

Links:

Holistic Resilience in a Time of Uncertainty

Social Distance Game

The Sober Math Everyone Must Understand about the Pandemic by Jason Scott Warner

Special Offer:

Sign up for the Get Unstuck Coaching Package for over 50% off!

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Fertility problems are often a lonely and stressful experience, but Denise Wiesner joins this conversation to share why that doesn't have to be the case.

Denise is a fellow acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine expert that focuses on helping people find balance in their bodies. From menstrual disorders to menopause, Denise helps women to relieve the anxiety around their bodies and regain the sensuality in relationships.

On Today's Episode of A Healthy Curiosity:

• What took her down the road of wanting to write her book
• The mindset shifts Denise invites women into when working with them on fertility
• Why acupuncture can offer an important, holistic benefit to people struggling with conception
• Where she starts with people who are stressed about fertility

Denise Wiesner, LAc, FABORM, is the author of Conceiving with Love: A Whole-Body Approach to Creating Intimacy, Reigniting Passion, and Increasing Fertility. The founder of the Natural Healing and Acupuncture Clinic in West Los Angeles, Wiesner is an internationally recognized traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, specializing in the Whole Systems Chinese medicine approach to women's health, sexuality, and fertility.

Links:

Natural Healing & Acupuncture Clinic

Connect With Denise:

Website

Book

Instagram

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Basics of Chinese Medicine

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Ensuring that our bones stay strong throughout our health span means not waiting until retirement to think about it. Bone health expert Margie Bissinger shares how we can take care of our bones pro-actively, beyond just exercise.

In a really interesting congruency with Chinese Medicine, Margie's research and experience illustrates just how interwoven our bone health is with all kinds of other parts of our lives, even as far as our happiness. Taking care of our bones early on in our life can help us to align with being powerful and feel like the victor rather than the victim as we work with other aspects of our health.

Just as a heads up, some of the links that follow are affiliate links for Margie's programs.

On Today's Episode of A Healthy Curiosity:

• Why increasingly sedentary lifestyles are driving an epidemic of osteoporosis
• How digestive problems can affect bone density
• The silver lining Margie identifies in an osteoporosis diagnosis
• What effects stress can have on your bones
• The drastic results she's seen from teaching patients about happiness

Margie Bissinger is a physical therapist and integrative health coach. She has worked with clients in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis for over 20 years. She is the author of Osteoporosis: An Exercise Guide. Margie is the creator of Move Today, a statewide exercise program in NJ and Happy Bones, Happy Life™ online program for people to prevent and treat osteoporosis and osteopenia. Margie helps people achieve optimal bone health through whole foods, exercise, mind-body relaxation techniques, and happiness training. Margie is a member of the NJ Interagency Council on Osteoporosis. Margie is also a certified happiness trainer.

Links:

Dr. Jonathan Wright

Fight or flight May Be In Our Bones

Happy Bones, Happy Life - Ep 16 with Brodie Welch

Special Offer:

Free guide! 5 ThingsYour Doctor Didn't Tell You About Osteoporosis

Connect With Margie:

Website

Podcast

Book

Facebook

Happy Bones, Happy Life™

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Basics of Chinese Medicine

Contrary to the prevailing way of thinking, aging does not have to be about deterioration. Debra Atkinson joins this conversation to help us embrace the importance of our mindset and shift it to help us feel as young as we think.

Debra is all about helping women be happy, healthy, independent, and vital so this episode will definitely resonate if you're a woman over 40 that's focused on staying active and in shape in the second half of your life.

On Today's Episode of A Healthy Curiosity:

• The crucial difference between "normal" effects of aging from "common" effects
• What some of the areas are where the science and knowledge has advanced or changed in the past several years
• Why strength training is so important for everyone
• How some of our exercise habits can actually contribute to hormone imbalances
• What it means to find hormone balancing activities

Debra Atkinson is an American life coach and fitness expert, transformational speaker, author and web television host. She is the owner of Voice for Fitness, Flipping 50, and Flipping 50 TV. Debra Atkinson has over three decades experience as a successful fitness entrepreneur, university lecturer in kinesiology, and international fitness presenter. Her mission is to raise the quality of service in the fitness industry and raise your expectations for aging so you can reach your greatest potential at every stage of life. She presents to leading fitness industry associations including IDEA, NSCA, Can-Fit-Pro, ICAA and Athletic Business and contributes to many of their periodicals. She is a frequent contributor for Huffington Post, ShareCare, Prime Women, LivingBetter50, and Easy Health Options and others. She's been consulted for articles in USA Today and Prevention Magazine regarding women's health through the exercise-hormone connection. She is the creator of the web-based Flipping 50 TV show, the Flipping 50 podcast and leads dynamic workshops and coaches private clients live and online teaching women how to love the body they live in and build confidence for every aspect of life with a flipping fit foundation. "No matter what the question is, the answer is exercise."

Links:

Dr. Nandi's show with Brodie and Debra

Flipping 50 Podcast interview with Brodie Welch

Flipping 50 Podcast interview with Dr. Ellen Langer

Mind-set Matters: Exercise and the Placebo Effect by Dr. Alia Crum and Dr. Ellen Langer

Special Offer:

Go to Flipping50.com/5DayFlip for 5 free, easy to do exercise videos!

Connect with Debra:

Website

Books

Flipping 50 TV

Flipping 50 Podcast

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Basics of Chinese Medicine

It's always interesting to dive deeper into the places where modern research starts to overlap with the teachings of Chinese Medicine and Dr. Andrew Miles joins this conversation to do just that. With potent information on the functions of the micobiome and molecular mimicry, Dr. Miles shares his insights into the body as a teeming, ever-changing sea of energy.

Drawing from the perspective he gained from living and studying Chinese Medicine in China after having already studied it for several years in Canada, Dr. Miles enlightens us with ways to improve the communication within our bodies.

On Today's Episode of A Healthy Curiosity:

• Getting specific with how we talk about Qi and gasotransmitters
• The importance of learning to observe, without controlling, the breath
• How our understanding of excess dampness and its effects has evolved recently
• What herbs he's seen commonly used in other cultures that could benefit us
• Why foot soaks have become a focus in his practice

Dr. Andrew Miles, DOM grew up with a Taiwanese stepfather immersed in Chinese culture, martial arts, and medicine. He studied Traditional Chinese Medicine in Canada at the Canadian College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and later studied advanced diagnostics and integrated medicine at the Chengdu University of TCM in Sichuan, China. He lived in China for years learning more about Chinese medicine in laboratories and learning from China's top specialists. He is the host of the Botanical Biohacking podcast and works with an expert panel to source sustainably wildcrafted herbs for dampness. He has consulted for pharmaceutical companies, practiced medicine and taught martial arts in China, and has been recognized by the Taiwanese and Chinese governments for promotion and preservation of traditional Chinese culture.

Links:

Wim Hof Breathing Method

Connect With Dr. Miles:

Website

Podcast

Books

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Basics of Chinese Medicine

Our bodies are smart. We can get bogged down in focusing on different cues for how we think our body should be moving or feeling, but Alicia Fajardo encourages us to ease back on those expectations and trust in the wisdom of our bodies.

If you're interested in learning more about how your body works as an interconnected whole, this conversation on how we think about the substance and space of who we are will really resonate. By paying attention to how different parts of our body relate to each other in space, we can start to unpack and adjust the effects of things like pain and stress on our bodies.

On Today's Episode of A Healthy Curiosity:

• The evolution of her holistic biomechanics from an injury
• Background on the 19 different senses she's identified in humans
• How she defines holistic biomechanics and how she uses it to help clients
• What effect updating brain maps can have
• Why we should give our unconscious brain more credit

Alicia Fajardo has been teaching in the movement field for 31 years and has a BS exercise science and sports study. In addition to being certified in a lot of different movement forms, she developed The Fajardo Method of Holistic Biomechanics to teach movement education and motor re-patterning in conjunction with nervous system awareness. Today, she teaches out of the Transformations Studio in Portland, Oregon.

Links:

Katie Silcox - The Shakti School

The Ghee Spot - Ep. 48 Interview With Alicia Fajardo

Molecules of Emotion by Candace B. Pert

Connect With Alicia:

Website

Email

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For both men and women, it's tough to slow down. The effects of not slowing down can end up seeping into our lives in aspects like stress and trouble sleeping which can put us in a fog. When we're in that fog and it seems like the windshield is covered with bugs, it's difficult to find balance and what Stacey Donelson calls our true north.

Stacey acts as a helper and a historian through her Good Life Acupuncture and Wellness Center and Good Life Botanicals practices to help lift that fog and clear the windshield. She shares some really valuable, actionable advice as well as some details on our endocannabinoid system and how it relates to acupuncture.

On Today's Episode of A Healthy Curiosity:

• Some of the patterns that are often expressed in people with stress and sleep trouble
• The overlap she's seen in approaches to sleep between Western and Chinese Medicine
• What phlegm is in Chinese Medicine and how it can be mistaken for Yin deficiency
• Why our need to rebuild our sense of community is so strong these days
• How she got started incorporating CBD into her herb formulas

Stacey Donelson is a licensed Acupuncturist and Clinical herbalist who has been nationally board certified since 2011. She received her Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine from Southwest Acupuncture College of Boulder in 2011 and is currently a doctoral candidate of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego, CA.

She is the creator and founder of Good Life Botanicals which creates unique topicals using wild crafted/organic Chinese herbs with whole plant hemp extract. She and her husband live in Longmont, Colorado with their two children where they own and run their own Chinese medicine clinic, Good Life Acupuncture & Wellness Center, as well as Good Life Botanicals. She has a passion for gardening, horseback riding, reading and spending time with her family traveling the world

Links:

Botanical Biohacking

Connect With Stacey:

Good Life Botanicals

Good Life Acupuncture & Wellness Center

Facebook

Email

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Basics of Chinese Medicine

Privilege has a lot of layers. Each of us, particularly in dominant groups, often benefit from several different layers, which makes the work of unpacking our privilege incredibly important as a step towards helping to bring other voices to the table through allyship.

Erica Courdae shares her wisdom on imperfect allyship as a way to get moving with this emotional work, because perfectionism tends to lead to inaction and that doesn't help anyone. In order to be healthy, we need to be connected to healthy communities and by working to help everyone be seen and heard, we can improve our communities for everyone in them.

On Today's Episode of A Healthy Curiosity:

• What imperfect allyship is and why it's important
• How improving your allyship is no different than any other skill
• Why microaggressions, that are sometimes less overt, are no less hurtful and damaging
• Tips for bringing your whole self to holiday gatherings and maintaining your wellbeing

Erica Courdae is an entrepreneur, coach, and consultant. She is dedicated to expanding how multicultural professionals, managers, lawyers, coaches, and creative small business owners interact with the world. Through powerful conversations meant to create dialogue and connection, Erica seamlessly challenges them to perceive their reality through a different lens. Topics including diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion make for the awareness that she uses to create mind shifts for impact. In life and in business. Erica believes talking about important and necessary topics in a safe space creates change and helps people feel comfortable, open, honest, and forward-focused.

Links:

She Podcasts LIVE

Ruth King

Connect With Erica:

Website

Podcast

Instagram

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In the spirit of a new year and taking a step back to replenish ourselves, this episode is a special rebroadcast of a conversation from Andrea Claassen's podcast with a focus on stress and better stress management. A big thanks to Andrea for allowing us to rebroadcast this one.

If you're looking to adjust some of your habits or make an effort to slow down in the new year, there are some very useful insights into doing just that.

On Today's Episode of A Healthy Curiosity:

• The strengths of Chinese Medicine as an engaged, holistic process of healing
• Why self-care is a feminist issue
• How society's yang addiction is counter-productive
• The importance of investigating the reasons behind habits
• How Chinese Medicine can serve as a path for people to evolve

Links:

Peaceful Power Podcast #195: Brodie Welch on Slowing Down In a Busy World

Connect With Andrea:

Website

Podcast

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

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Learn more about the Level Up program

Basics of Chinese Medicine