Sparking Wholeness

Renee Kindler is a Family Nurse Practitioner helping busy women to boost their energy, sleep better, and think more clearly by balancing their nutrients and hormones so they can show up in their life everyday exactly how they want! She is the founder of Aonani Functional Medicine. She earned her MSN from Gonzaga University and is passionate about sharing the tremendous impact of identifying what is disrupting your sleep, making you tired, and stealing your focus.

Key Topics:

- What cortisol is and why you need it

- When cortisol starts working against you

- Symptoms of low cortisol and how to test

- The cortisol-blood sugar connection

- The difference between cortisol and cortisone

- Why sleep is so important for managing cortisol

- Reasons you’re waking up in the middle of the night

- The best way to prep for good sleep

- How melatonin plays a role in cortisol balance

Get Renee’s free tips for better sleep handout at https://www.reneekindler.com/sleep

Thanks to our sponsors:

Factor: Head to Factormeals.com/spark50 and use code spark50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next month.

Seed: Go to seed.com/spark and use code 25spark to get 25% off your first month of Seed’s DS-01 Synbiotic.

Grace Secker is founder & CEO of Elevate Therapy & Wellness, a private practice for therapy and coaching, and the creator of the Mind-Body Healing Method, is a holistic licensed psychotherapist, certified yoga therapist and nervous system coach for people who struggle with chronic pain, fatigue and disordered eating.

She has more than ten years of experience in working with clients in a holistic approach helping clients go from bed ridden with pain, fatigue and food sensitivities to being able to exercise without pain, eat anything they want and have the energy in their life to thrive knowing they don’t have to fear chronic conditions.

After healing her own eating disorder, chronic pain and fatigue using the mind-body connection, Grace now specializes in helping people understand the connection between their minds and bodies so they can get back the life they love and get out of mental and physical patterns that keep them stuck.

Key Topics:

- Grace’s story of overcoming pain, fatigue, and mental health issues

- Why we need to understand the mind-body connection in order to heal

- The hidden root causes of chronic pain and fatigue

- What the nervous system is and what it does

- How to strengthen the nervous system response to manage stress response

- Somatic practices and why they’re trending

- When to choose a bottom-up or top-down approach to healing

- How to learn to stop dissociating

Learn more about Grace and work with her at https://www.elevatetherapywellness.com.

Follow Grace on Instagram at @heal.with.grace

Grab Erin’s stress-busting nutrition guide here: https://mailchi.mp/5bf7e5c21f62/stress-busting-nutrition-guide

Richard Kerry is a Licensed Professional Counselor who works with couples and individuals. In this episode, Richard and Erin discuss Richard’s work as a marriage therapist and the most common issues he sees with marriages in conflict (codependency and faulty core beliefs from trauma). They share stories from their own marriage and ways they try to work on their individual issues in order to decrease codependency and connect consistently with each other.

Key Topics:

- The biggest challenges in marriage today

- When to know if you need individual counseling or counseling as a couple

- Creating healthy emotional and physical intimacy

- Connecting with your partner in a vulnerable way

- The importance of differentiation in a marriage

- Conflict styles that stall a marriage

Sponsor: Use the code sparking to get 40% off the yearly pass at Beducated here: https://beducate.me/september

Dr. Erin Ellis began her career working with her business degree in restaurant management and though she enjoyed this line of work, she knew she was meant for more. In 2010, she was diagnosed with a rare form of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma at age 31. Receiving this diagnosis and kicking its butt gave her the drive, the motivation and the determination to get out of her own way and become that doctor that she always wanted to be. Having had a cancer diagnosis at such a young age, her mission and passion now is to empower those to take control of their health. This diagnosis proved to her that life is too short to feel sub-optimal and given the right tools, your body has the innate ability to heal itself naturally.

Key Topics:

- How a cancer diagnosis took Dr. Ellis on a journey to heal the root

- Female hormone imbalances: normal or not?

- How the birth control pill is not supposed to fix an imbalance

- Why you should start listening to your hormone communication system

- How to deal with uncomfortable symptoms naturally

- The role adrenals play in sex hormones

- The best time to test hormones and what kinds of tests to use

- The impact of GLP-1 receptor agonists on hormones long-term.

Social Media Links:

* Dr. Erin Ellis website: https://drerinellis.com/

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.erinellis/

* Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/drerinellisnmd/

* Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drerinellisnmd

* Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.erinellis?lang=en

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drerinellis/

* Period Tip Tuesday SignUp:  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/129653/79456790668903797/share

* Fix My Period FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/470429440943215

Freebies:

* Menstrual Cycle Nutrition Guide: https://detox.drerinellis.com/

* 7 Hormones Affecting Weight Loss Goals: https://weightloss.drerinellis.com/

Melissa Dean (she/her) is a midwife and the founder of Casa Natal Birth and Wellness Center, located in Los Gatos, California. As a functional and integrative medicine practitioner, Melissa combines her expertise in women's health with her midwife practice. She provides care with an emphasis on holistic health modalities to bring wellness to women in every stage of their health: including childbirth, transition to motherhood and beyond.

Key Topics:

- Postpartum depletion: what it is and how it affects us

- How Melissa got into the midwife business

- Labwork to get to prepare for a healthy pregnancy

- What to prioritize in the postpartum period

- The most important meal of the day for new moms

- Handling depression and anxiety while depleted

- Checking for gestational diabetes (without the nasty drink)

- Supporting yourself after birth trauma

Grab Melissa's guide to 5 Nutrition Tips and Overcoming Postpartum Depletion at https://casa-natal.com/postpartum-depletion/ and follow her on Instagram @casanatalbirthcenter

Tamara Rosier, Ph.D., is the founder of the ADHD Center of West Michigan, where she and her staff work with individuals with ADHD (and their families) to learn strategies and develop new skills to live effectively with ADHD. Dr. Rosier is also the president of the ADHD Coaches Organization. She is the author of Your Brain’s Not Broken. She is a popular conference and keynote speaker is a frequent guest on podcasts and has published numerous articles about living with ADHD. Her new book, You, Me and Our ADHD Family is available for pre-order now.

Key Topics:

- How a neurodivergent brain works differently than a neurotypical brain

- Working memory issues are not character flaws

- The difference in an interest-based nervous system and importance-based nervous system

- All the “monkeys” in the brain that make up ADHD parts

- How to find your window of tolerance when you have ADHD

- How to support your big emotions and those of your loved ones

- The difficulties with rejection sensitivity, masking, and people-pleasing for those with ADHD

Preorder Dr. Rosier’s book here for 40% off:

https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/579833

Sponsor: Go to seed.com/spark and use code SPARK25 to get 25% off Seed’s DS-01 synbiotic.

Brad Yates is known internationally for his creative and often humorous use of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). Brad is the author of the best-selling children's book "The Wizard's Wish," the co-author of the best-seller "Freedom at Your Fingertips," and a featured expert in the film “The Tapping Solution.” He has also been a presenter at a number of events, including Jack Canfield's Breakthrough to Success, has done teleseminars with “The Secret” stars Bob Doyle and Dr. Joe Vitale, and has been heard internationally on a number of internet radio talk shows.  Brad also has over 1000 videos on YouTube, that have been viewed over 48 million times.

Key Topics:

- How Brad went from professional acting to tapping

- Emotional freedom techniques and how they help release stress

- How stress impacts the body

- The science behind tapping

- What issues tapping is good for and how it rewires beliefs

- The basics of EFT and a live demonstration

Get Brad’s 5 Day Program at tapwithBrad.com and follow him on social media and YouTube at TapWithBrad.

Sponsor: head to FactorMeals.com/spark50 and use code spark50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next month. Use the code spark50 at checkout.

I hired myself as a health coach this summer, so I’m sharing the five things I did to reset my health this summer, in hopes that it will be helpful for you to try something new!

Here are five changes I made mid-June.

1. I started running again, in a way that is supportive to my body.

2. I added in a daily devotional.

3. I stopped eating two-three hours before bed, most days per week to give my digestive system a break by bedtime.

4. I started taking a prebiotic drink again.

5. I started tracking my sugar grams to be more mindful of excess sugar consumption and how it made me feel.

In this episode, I also cover:

- How I increased connection and intimacy with my husband after healing from trauma.

- The functional lab tests I offer to help support your body’s needs

- Ways to support your child’s mental health through nutrition as you get ready to go back to school

Grab my upgraded lunch ideas here:

https://mailchi.mp/cb1896af2a48/upgraded-kids-lunch-ideas

Sponsor: Beducated. Use the code sparking at https://beducate.me/podcast50 to get 50% off a full year of sex and intimacy education.

Tracy Harrison is the Founder and Lead Educator of The School of Applied Functional Medicine. She is deeply passionate about transforming healthcare with the powerful combination of functional medicine and savvy clinical partnership. A scientist who left the high-tech corporate world in 2007, Tracy built a wildly successful, multi-modality practice utilizing functional medicine principles, and in 2011, she founded The School of Applied Functional Medicine™.

SAFM is well-respected for its scientific rigor as an accredited continuing education program rooted in both the science and practical application of functional medicine. The school’s tribe of diverse healthcare practitioners represents 20+ different clinical modalities from 70+ countries around the world.

Tracy is a beloved educator and prized mentor in the field. A scientist and systems engineer at heart, Tracy holds three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and further graduate education from Bridgeport University and The Institute for Functional Medicine. She also holds a certification in health coaching from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.

In this episode, Erin and Tracy dive into the world of histamine overload and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, identifying root causes behind the increase in these disease states today.

Key Topics:

- What brought Tracy to the world of functional medicine and education

- What is histamine overload and how does it show up?

- How histamine is connected to inflammation

- Histamine overload symptoms that might surprise you

- How Mast Cell Activation Syndrome starts in the gut

- The enzyme that degrades histamine and how enhanced intestinal permeability factors in to histamine overload

- The surprising hormone connection to histamine

- Nutritional considerations and supplements

Get clinical insights from SAFM on social media at @appliedfunctionalmed. For health professionals looking to expand your career, register as a student at schoolafm.com.

Sponsor: Get 25% off your first month with Seed’s DS-01 Daily Synbiotic. Use code 25SPARK at seed.com/spark.

Dr. Ede is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist specializing in nutrition science and brain metabolism. Her twenty-five years of clinical experience include twelve years as a college psychiatrist and nutrition consultant at Smith College and Harvard University Health Services, where she was the first to offer students nutrition-based approaches as an alternative to psychiatric medications. She speaks internationally about dietary approaches to psychiatric disorders. She co-authored the first inpatient study of the ketogenic diet for treatment-resistant mental illnesses, developed the first medically accredited course in ketogenic diets for mental health practitioners, and was honored to be named a recipient of the Baszucki Brain Research Fund’s first annual Metabolic Mind Award. Her new book Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind was published in January 2024.

Key Topics:

- Remission from psychiatric illness is possible

- Patterns of eating that aren’t brain-supportive

- How nutrition studies get twisted to make us fear brain-supportive foods

- Food that makes neurotransmitters function better

- The “unholy trinity” that throws off neurotransmitter balance

- How sugar literally creates stress in the body

- The myth of the perfect brain superfood

Learn more about Dr. Ede’s work and her book at https://www.diagnosisdiet.com/

Grab Erin’s FREE Food is Mood Guide here:

https://mailchi.mp/055b20577ebc/food-is-mood-guide

Sponsor: Factor Meals! Head to factormeals.com/spark50 and use the code spark50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off the next month.