Beyond The Basics Health Academy Podcast

Michelle McQuaid is a playful change activator, best­selling author, and workplace wellbeing teacher! With more than a decade of senior leadership experience in large organizations around the world, she’s passionate about translating cutting ­edge research from positive psychology and neuroscience into practical strategies for health, happiness, and business success. An honorary fellow at Melbourne University’s Graduate School of Education, she blogs for Psychology Today, Huffington Post and Lives Happy and her work has been featured in Forbes, the Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, Boss Magazine, The Age and more.

IN THIS PODCAST, WE TALK ABOUT:

• She talks about as adults we have lost our ability to play and that we need to reconnect with our creativity, curiosity, and ability to play.
• It is important not to be as attached to the outcomes so that we can not be so connected to the results but the journey.
• The studies that show that we have better performance when we focus on our wellbeing at work.
• How we can improve our positive feelings at work. 
• How we can increase productivity by building on our strengths one at a time.

6 things that we need in order to increase wellbeing in the workplace

1. Positive Engagement.  The right amount of heartfelt emotions
2. Engaged. Feeling engaged in what we are doing and to utilize our strengths
3. Relationships with other people have the biggest impact on our wellbeing
4. Meaning. That what we are doing has some meaning and purpose
5. Accomplishment and that we can achieve what matters to us most
6. Health. That we have the basics of health in our job.

LINKS TO RESOURCES TALKED ABOUT IN THIS PODCAST

• www.michellemcquaid.com
• Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast
• Here is the link to the survey regarding PERMAH: http://permahsurvey.com
• Find out your character strengths at viasurvey.org

Research shows there is a definite connection between traumatic brain injuries and gut inflammation.  It all comes down to the gut-brain axis.

It is shown that as soon as 2 hours after a brain injury, there is an increase in gut inflammatory markers.  Therefore, it is vital to make sure to add in gut support to heal the digestive system.  These supplements include: 

• L-glutamine
• Zinc
• Licorice
• Aloe

 Click here to read the research article referenced in this article:

Traumatic Brain Injury and Intestinal Dysfunction: Uncovering the Neuro-Enteric Axis

This latest research is so fascinating.  It proves the power of the brain-gut axis and the need always to repair a gut in any individual that has had a brain injury.

In his book Achieve: Find Out Who You Are, What You Really Want, and How to Make it Happen, Dr. Chris Friesen, Ph.D. talks about what it takes to be successful in your life.

• Accepting yourself for who you are. Discovering what your strengths are and working with what you are given.  He works with you to figure out and get the most out of your personality, values, strengths, weaknesses, and passions.
• Living your life and setting goals congruent with your personality, values, strengths, passions, mission, and purpose. This means not making decisions based on immediate urges, moods, or circumstances.
• Realizing that you have much more control over the trajectory of your life than you or others realize.
• Accepting that you will repeatedly go through tough times.  Tough times are par for the course for those who do big things.  You know that's how the world works, and so there is no point fighting or complaining about it.  Without difficult times and failures, there is no learning.

This is a great podcast about how to achieve your goals whether they are personal, professional, or health related.

Find out more about the book by clicking here.

There are many positive research-based benefits of L-theanine.  This include:

• Sleep- Improving Sleep Quality
• Balancing Brain Chemistry and Balancing Neurotransmitters
  • Specifically dopamine and GABA.
  • This leads to a calming effect on the body without a sedative side effect
• Mood Stabilization
• Weight and Hormone Balance
• Stress Relief
• Cognitive Improvement and Increased Attention
  • Overall, it can have the benefits of caffeine without the side effects. Improve test performance and concentration without the agitation and caffeine spike of caffeine.  And because tea has less caffeine than coffee, you can get more of the benefits of caffeine without the side effects. 

L-theanine is found naturally in green and black tea.  But supplementing levels have shown many benefits in research.  Listen in to the podcast as we talk about these benefits. 

Considerations:

Use in caution with individuals taking meds to lower blood pressure or that have episodes of low blood pressure because it is known to decrease blood pressure

Want to know more about our product, AX2: Adrenal Relax that is based on the positive effects of l-theanine. Click Here:

• https://shop.beyondthebasicshealthacademy.com/collections/adrenal-line/products/ax2-adrenal-relax

Today we welcome Peggy Sealfon on the show to talk to us today about stress and how we can effectively manage stress in our lives. She is a personal development coach, author, motivational speaker and expert on stress and anxiety.  She is the author of the best-selling book Escape from Anxiety- Supercharge Your Life with Powerful Strategies from A to Z.  In this book, she writes about a compilation effective ways to decrease stress in your life.   

Peggy goes over an overview of the effect that stress has on our body and then what we can do to help manage it so that we can be productive in our lives.  She then shares wonderful techniques and tips to help manage stress.

How to find out more about Peggy:

• www.peggysealfon.com

• 3MinutestoDestress.com

   

Today we sit down and talk to Lea Ann Mallet to speak about the power of our actions.

Here is a little more about her and her journey in her words:

"I am a lifelong activist, midlife mom and someone who has discovered a creative and life-transforming renaissance at the age of 50! I am living proof that delving into self-knowledge and development can truly change our lives and the way we experience and live them.

My extraordinary life has arced from being a direct action wilderness activist (sitting 80 feet up in a tree for 3 days to protest clearcut logging in ancient forests in British Columbia and leading there months protests in northern Ontario to protect wild places) to successfully leading two charities as Executive Director and then to motherhood in my 40s and now entrepreneurship! It has been a wild, beautiful ride.

I left my successful non-profit leadership career three years ago to spend more time with my children (Noah, now 8 and Ruby, 6) and to create a new career as a personal leadership coach and speaker. I have melded my high-octane energy as an activist with my coaching. I am a huge action catalyst for my clients, who range the spectrum from entrepreneurs to activists, all seeking to create their biggest impact while leading healthy and happy lives. I have also bloomed creatively in the past year as a photographer and writer and have a blog called "Becoming Undomesticated" that tells stories of love, life, and beauty in suburbia. (https://leaannmallett.exposure.co)
For me, deeply exploring myself through coaching and creative pursuits over the last three years was life changing. I had lost myself in motherhood and my career transition and had to find my way in a very new landscape. I am now healthier and happier than I have ever been, and that comes from a deep sense of knowing who I am and what I want. I am also a much better mom because I have deep self-compassion for the challenges of motherhood. My children are my frontline teachers in what I most need to learn - patience, addressing the anger that carried so much of my activism, taking care of myself and slowing down to appreciate the present. Entering motherhood at 42 was a huge shock to me! I thought I could handle anything, and I had a lot to learn."

She talks about her work as activist to realize the effect that her actions can have on her life and her community.

Check her out on her website at www.leaannmallett.com

“All disease starts in the gut” -Hippocrates

What is leaky gut?

Leaky gut is the state of the gut where there is Inflammation and microtrauma that leads to a change in permeability in the gut.  This leads to more of an inflammatory response and immune response

Most people have some level of leaky gut and don’t even know it

Signs and symptoms of leaky gut

• Digestive issues: Gas, bloating, cramping, constipation, diarrhea
• Food sensitivity or intolerance
• Don’t absorb vitamins: low energy, fatigue, trouble sleeping
• Autoimmune disease
• Mood/Behavior Issues
• Skin Disorders: acne, 
• Hormonal concerns
• Allergies/Asthma

 What we can do to help support our gut:

• Need to take sugar out of the diet and other inflammatory foods especially gluten and dairy
• Food sensitivities
• Fermented foods and probiotics
• Need to avoid tap water due to fluoride and chloride

It is important to follow the 4R program:

1. Replace
   1. Good digestive enzymes
   2. Betaine HCl
2. Remove
   1. Food sensitivies
   2. Heavy metals
   3. Infections or Candida
3. Reinoculate
   1. Put in good bacteria
      1. Need lactobacillus and bifidobacterium
      2. Also a good idea to add in saccharomyces boulardii

• Food items- Fermented foods
  1. Such as sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, kombucha, fermented raw yogurt

1. Repair
   1. Repair the integrity
      1. L-glutamine or bone broth
      2. Licorice, zinc, aloe

Dr. Meaghan welcomes Rachel Archelaus to the show.  Rachel is an internationally known spiritual teacher, artist, and business mentor. She founded the Intuitive Art Academy, where she teaches people her method of Intuitive Art. This modality allows you to have a two-way conversation with your higher self. Graduates all over the world are using this to enhance their existing practices and to teach Intuitive Art to new cultures.

Intuitive Art: Learning the Language of Your Higher Self is Rachel’s upcoming book. She has also authored several coloring and activity books designed to connect people with their intuition. 

Rachel is a nature enthusiast and loves hiking and solo camping. Her photography can be seen in her blog posts and weekly videos. All of her material is designed to remind you that you have all the answers and that everything is already perfect.

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RACHEL ARCHELAUS, VISIT HER WEBSITE AT:

• http://rachelarchelaus.com/

Beyond the Basics Health Academy is excited to welcome Dr. Mary Wingo, phD on the show to talk about stress and the effects that it has on a person and society.  She brings a deep understanding of human physiology and the human stress response.  Mary has spent the last 20 years studying and really trying to understand stress and how it has an effect on our communities, our health, and our biology.  The study of stress and adaptation is probably the most complicated and fascinating field in science. After more than a hundred years of study. most scientists are still mystified by the mechanisms of human adaptation.  She really breaks it down in a fascinating manner.

She also talks about her book that addresses all these issues The Impact of the Human Stress Response: The biological origins and solutions to human stress.

The Impact of the Human Stress Response is a humanitarian work intended to educate the public world wide about the true causes and costs of preventable human stress. 

 WE DISCUSS IN THIS PODCAST MANY OF THE CONCEPTS THAT MARY WINGO TALKS ABOUT IN HER BOOK:

• The definition of stress
• The root causes of stress and learn how to manage it effectively
• Why the stress response is essential for helping one adapt to one's environment
• The fascinating biology of human stress
• The 5 major causes of stress in modernized society
• How to protect your health – learn how to avoid over-loading one body’s stress response

One thing that seems to escape many analysts and political leaders is the staggering costs of stress in modern society within the psychological, social, political, and economic sectors. In Mary's analysis, preventable human stress leads to (many, many) millions of unnecessary death every year. Furthermore, the economic costs of chemical, physical, and psychological human stress world-wide are well into the multiple trillions of dollars of losses every year. 

These losses are due to five major causes of modernized stress:

• Loss of working memory
• Loss of social capital
• Loss of social equality
• Depletion of the human biome
• Chemical stress, both voluntary and involuntary sources

FURTHER RESOURCES

• marywingo.com
• A really great read on the devastating economics of stress

• The Impact of the Human Stress Response

Today we welcome Mike Veny to the show to talk about the stigma around mental health.  In this podcast, he touches on how we should change our thinking of mental illness to realize that it is an asset and not a liability.  He touches on his personal experience with mental health and how it has shaped his life.  His mission is to try to get people to connect so that there is no longer the stigma and feelings of isolation that are common with mental health concerns.

What we talk about in this podcast

• What is the stigma surrounding mental health?
• How can mental health be an asset?
• Some of the reasons why there is a stigma around mental health
• How mental health makes him a better drummer and communicator.

Links to things talked about in this podcast

• Mike Veny TedTallk: Mental Health is an Asset
• Link to the book First Rate Madness
• TransformingStigma.com

Thanks so much, Mike, for coming on the podcast and talking about this important topic.