Dr. Sue Health SoulFULLY : Issue 06 PREVIEW

ISSUE NO.06

JUST BREATHE

FIND YOUR FLOW+ZEN

» Dr. Sue Health SoulFULLY is designed to help you: BALANCE YOUR BODY, QUIET YOUR MIND. OPEN YOUR HEART & CONNECT WITH SPIRIT. Tools to nourish your Health SoulFULLY.

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HERE WE GO...

In a stressful situation the words just breathe may sound way too simple. But the easiest, fastest way to return to a state of calmness in an uncomfortable situation is by taking complete breaths. It’s a tool that can help you find your flow and tap into your zen at any moment. And it’s FREE! Whether you take mindful, complete breaths during yoga, meditation, or throughout the day, these breaths help balance your body, quiet your mind, and open your heart so you can connect with Spirit.

Taking a breath is the first thing you did when you entered into this world, and it will be the last thing you do before you leave it.

Breath is sacred.

Take a big breath in and then exhale.

Time to find your flow and zen.

Here we go…

Susan McCreadie, MD

drsuemccreadie.com @drsuemccreadie

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BREATHE STRESS AWAY

BREATH IS LIFE Just Breathe.

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A Complete Breath May Be All It Takes.

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YOGA

MEDITATION

Finding Flow.

Finding Zen.

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STIR YOUR SOUL

TAKE ACTION

Becoming Unstuck.

Practicing Complete Breaths Daily.

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26 Q&A An interview with Measha Dancy, MD.

34 BREATH IS SACRED Merging Head and Heart.

36 DR. SUE'S FAVORITES FOR BODY, MIND, SPIRIT

EDITOR: Kim Soroka GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Livvy Zimmerman DR. SUE PHOTOGRAPHY: Melissa Hutchinson DR. SUE HAIR/MAKEUP: Gary Leming Subscribe at www.drsuemccreadie.com Questions contact us at www.drsuemccreadie.com/contact-us Copyright © 2016 Susan McCreadie, MD

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: e f i L s i h t Brea

e h t a e r B t s �u

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"AND BREATHE,” SAID MY Again, breathe…

MIDWIFE, “now PUUUSHHH!” I was birthing my first baby and Interestingly enough, the first trying my best to follow my thing I was instructed to do after midwife’s directions: breathe every “relax” was breathe. It was and push. Confused as to ex- that breath that allowed me to actly how to push, I asked her draw in whatever it was I needto please show me...and bless ed to gather together to make her heart she did! I watched as that next PUUUSHHHH. Someshe squatted and focused all times I gathered my thoughts, “I her energy into PUUUSHHH, can do this,” “I want this beauti"like you’re having a bowel ful baby in my life.” Sometimes movement." When my body I gathered strength and would screamed, “Holy SH*T this think to myself, “I’m strong,” hurts!!!,” my husband, “I’m brave,” “I’m dowith his hand on my ing it.” That comshoulder, said, plete breath – full That complete “Relax.” He was inhalation and breath – full inhalation following infull exhalation and full exhalation – structions. Relax – was key to was key to the success was the word my the success of of pushing my beautiful hypnobirthing PUUUSHHHHdaughter into instructor used to ing my beautiful this world. train my body to daughter into this release during labor world. Once she enso the pain and tension it tered this world, she expandproduced would pass through ed her lungs for the first time and me. With every relax my body took her first breath. BREATH IS would release to birth the baby: SACRED. BREATH IS LIFE. breathe, PUUUSHHH, relax.

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“LIFE IS IN THE

BREATH;

THEREFORE HE WHO ONLY HALF BREATHES, HALF LIVES.” –YOGIC PROVERB

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BREATHE

STRESS AWAY: A COMPLETE BREATH MAY BE ALL IT TAKES Breath. It’s so simple, so natural.

You’re breathing all the time. Breath is the only constant you have amidst all the change in your life. You have to breathe, even when your body screams pain. With your first breath, you are born. With your last breath, you part from this world. Between birth and death, your breath is constant, unceasing, ENDLESS.

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“The primary objective of the Complete Breath is to utilize the lungs in their entirety and extract the most life-force possible...

Remember, life is in the breath.”

nervous systems. These systems automatically control our breathing, heart rate and digestion – no thinking needed, it just happens.

Ideally the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are balanced, but most of us spend –RICHARD HITTLEMAN our day in sympathetic overdrive. We self-induce psychological stressors throughout our We need air, water, food, and entire day. We stress about such sun to survive. Air (like water, things as: getting kids to school earth and fire) is one of the four on time; traffic jams on our way I S S U E NO . 06 elements of life. We can go days to work; money worries; making without water, food, and sun, but dinner; and so on and so on. we can only go minutes without air. Our primary source of life is Spending so much time in symair, yet we rarely use the pow- pathetic overdrive puts us into er of our breath to balance our a state where we are ready to bodies or quiet our minds. We fight or take flight. In this state “half breathe” from habit. We our breath is shallow, our heart shallow breathe: partially fill our is racing and our digestion is lungs with life. When we instead slow. Stress also affects our cartake a full “complete” breath, we diovascular and gastrointestinal tap into the most powerful and systems; hello heart attacks and cost-effective way to revitalize ulcers! Stress impairs our horour bodies and clear our minds. monal system leading to insomnia, infertility, thyroid disease, The COMPLETE BREATH bal- and obesity. But stress doesn’t ances the two arms of our auto- stop there, it impairs our immune nomic nervous system, the sym- systems (infections, autoimmune pathetic and parasympathetic disease) and nervous systems

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(anxiety, depression). Dis-ease follows chronic stress.

PERFORMING COMPLETE BREATHS THROUGHOUT THE DAY (ANYTIME, ANYWHERE) HELPS US REBALANCE OUR SYMPATHETIC FIGHT OR FLIGHT WITH SOME MUCH NEEDED PARASYMPATHETIC REST AND DIGEST. When we can spend more time in our rest and digest state our bodies are more calm and at ease.

You can take complete breaths sitting on the floor, sitting in a chair, or standing. Here’s how: INHALE slowly, allowing the abdomen to expand as it fills with air.

EXHALE fully, returning your abdomen to its original position.

I S S U E NO . 06 Now PAUSE until the impulse to inhale occurs.

REPEAT the entire sequence 10 times.

Find your rhythm. Inhalation flows into exhalation. Exhalation flows into pause. Pause until the impulse to inhale occurs. Repeat. Try to extend your exhale to be twice as long as your inhale. Inhale is active, exhale is passive. Relax. Out of habit deep breathing tends to involve drawing the abdomen IN and expanding the chest. Instead, be sure to push the abdomen OUT as you inhale.

Remember, when you spend more time in the rest and digest state your body is more calm, at ease and your mind quiets. When your mind quiets you can hear Spirit. This ability to connect with Spirit, your heart, will allow you to move forward (in the moment, throughout your day, throughout your life) SoulFULLY. And that feels good.

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YOGA:

finding flow

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Through breath, yoga unites body with Spirit. Yoga means “union”. Maybe that’s why yoga came into my life during med school. My mind was stressed. I was out of balance. I was feeding my head WAY more than my heart. My body was not united with my Spirit.

I don’t remember my first yoga class, but I do remember the first time I cried during yoga. The crying was not from physical pain in a posture. I was just following the instructor’s directions and I moved into a pose and paused.

Out of nowhere, totally unrelat-

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ed to any thought or feeling, I cried. Emotions stuck DEEP inside of me began to FLOW and I was able to RELEASE them. I was totally unaware I housed such emotional pain, such dis-ease, in my body.

How does a physical posture release emotion? In her book Molecules Of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine, Candace Pert, PhD, shares her research on how emotions are encoded and stored in the body and how deep breath with movement (like that practiced in yoga) releases stored emotion

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through neuropeptides. Neuropeptides bind to receptor sites throughout the body. As Dr. Pert explains:

“A FEELING SPARKED IN OUR MIND OR BODY WILL TRANSLATE AS A PEPTIDE BEING RELEASED SOMEI S S U E NO . 06

WHERE. [ORGANS, TISSUES, SKIN, MUSCLE AND ENDOCRINE GLANDS] THEY ALL HAVE PEPTIDE RECEPTORS ON THEM AND CAN ACCESS AND STORE EMOTIONAL INFORMATION.

THIS MEANS THE EMOTIONAL MEMORY IS STORED IN MANY PLACES IN THE BODY, NOT JUST OR EVEN PRIMARILY, IN THE BRAIN.”

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Deep massage, stretching, and breath release stored neuropeptides. That’s why you may find yourself crying on the massage table or in a yoga class. Whatever happened in that pose, however it happened, I wanted more! The FLOW of emotion through me and the RELEASE that occurred felt SPIRIT-FILLED. I immediately bought Bryan Kest’s Power Yoga Series and started my sporadic yoga practice. TWENTY I S S U E NO . 06 YEARS LATER, I STILL USE THE SAME YOGA DVD (originally VHS), perform the same postures, follow yogis wearing white thong leotards from the 1990’s, and listen to the same Bryan Kest mantras that have become life lessons.

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When I practice yoga now I don’t always feel the flow of emotions through me – I don’t always burst out crying! What does happen though is that I pay attention to my breath, I relax, and I feel the flow of energy through me. Regardless of whether it’s energy or emotion, that FLOW FEELS GOOD.

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MEDITATION:

finding zen

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Like yoga, I sought out meditation during med school. I was visiting I S S U E NO . 06 a friend in LA, but she had to work, leaving me to explore new things on my own. I picked up a book on meditation, read a few paragraphs and gave it a try. I must have looked pretty funny lying flat on my back (savasana pose) in her guest bedroom saying a mantra out loud.

Thankfully, no one else was home! Nothing profound happened in my less than three-minute effort. It was a one and done for me.

I never thought about meditating again until my daughter’s health took a serious detour fifteen years later. Her physical and emotional symptoms equaled a BIG ball of STRESS for me. Thud! I was on fulltilt sympathetic overload. I found myself revving up with a cup of coffee every morning, sugar rushing mid-afternoon, and winding down most evenings with a glass of wine.

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Despite a lot of effort and professional help, her symptoms continued. She struggled. I struggled. I tried my best to stay POSITIVE and feel joy, but negativity and fear would RAGE outta me again and again. Turns out caffeine, sugar and alcohol were not solving any problems for me. Shocker. Something had to change because I couldn’t stand how I felt. I was tired of feeling S S U E NO . 06 yucky and blah. It was clear Iwe were in for a marathon to help our daughter rebalance to health and happiness and I needed to get myself in gear to lead her in an effective, powerful, LOVING way. I knew I wouldn’t be able to control the rollercoaster ride parenting demands, but I could control my reaction to the up’s and down’s along the way.

I could control how I reacted to that BIG ball of STRESS her disease presented to me.

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I began taking control by becoming reunited with my yoga practice after a 15-year hiatus. I also began a 21-day meditation challenge offered online by Oprah and Deepak Chopra, MD. Challenges work for me (warrior spirit). First thing every morning, even before getting out of bed, I’d open the app, put on my headphones, tune in for 15 minutes and breathe. Each day had a different focus that fit within the 21-day theme. Deepak opened with a mindset teaching and a centering thought, followed by a sanskrit mantra that I SILENTLY repeated to myself for about ten minutes.

Every time I meditated, I was never able to stay with my breath and my mind wandered all over the place. I felt I had failed yet somehow this meditation thing still worked! Even though I didn’t complete the meditations exactly as I was supposed to, I FOUND SOME ZEN.

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MY MINDSET SHIFTED AND

MY PERSPECTIVE CHANGED I S S U E NO . 06

Whatever little bit of focus I maintained, and deep breathing I completed during the 15 minute meditations, allowed me to benefit: my mindset shifted and my perspective changed. Rather than resist, or

even try to solve my daughter’s dis-ease, I was able to begin to accept it with all it’s “ugly” glory. My empathy for her grew BIGGER than that ball of stress.

In essence, all I did was consistently take time to breathe for fifteen minutes a day. That’s it! Taking those complete breaths allowed me to spend time in a restful state and then digest the thoughts that were stressing me out. A short reflection after each meditation illuminated ideas on how I could lead my daughter through her health issues in a more effective, powerful, loving way. I FOUND MY ZEN AND IT FELT GOOD!

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STIR YOUR SOUL: I S S U E NO . 06

BECOMING UNSTUCK STEP 1

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ny idea what might be stuck inside of you? What are you unable to release because you are not giving it the opportunity to flow? Could it be stored trauma or maybe negative emotions related to a relationship?

Whatever it is, could you be making a greater effort to help what is stuck to flow and be released from your body? Could you perform more complete breaths to allow your sympathetic nervous

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system to relax, your mind to quiet, and your mindset to shift?

Should you be making more of an effort to be adding challenges or activities to your life that respect this sacred complete breath?

Do you take the time to see the little benefits you are getting even though you can’t hold the yoga pose for very long, or your focus on the breath for the entire meditation?

REMEMBER, PRACTICE OVER PERFECTION. THERE’S NO PERFECT PLACE TO GO. TRUST IN YOUR MESSY PROGRESS AS YOU STIR YOUR SOUL AND BECOME UNSTUCK.

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TAKE ACTION: PRACTICING COMPLETE BREATH DAILY STEP 2 I S S U E NO . 06

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tart a yoga practice. Begin a meditation challenge. If neither of those float your boat, try another activity that requires breath work such as Tai Chi or Qi Gong. Don’t get trapped into thinking you need to take a formal class. Been there. Done that. Just find a highly rated video on YouTube for your breath work activity of choice and give it a try. You don’t need fancy equipment, a gym membership, or even a class (though community rocks!) You just need yourself and a small window of time. If 15 minutes sounds overwhelming,

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start with five minutes a day.

Make deep fluid breath the focus. Then, take the breath work you practice in your activity and continue it throughout your day.

Anytime you feel any stress or tension take even just a minute and breathe. Practice ten complete FULL breaths. Get out of your dis-ease, your discomfort.

Feel your tension release and your flow return.

As a part of your breathwork practice, take a look at the following Bryan Kest quotes. Maybe

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they don’t all speak to you now, but at different points in your practice, and life, you will find some that jump out at you. Use them as guidelines, DIVINE

INSIGHT, as you move through your breathwork practice and throughout your day. Revisit them on a regular basis and soak up each quotes’ wonderful wisdom.

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“DO WHAT YOU CAN DO AND LEAVE THE REST BEHIND.” Be fully present in your life. Stop beating yourself up for all your inadequacies. Drop that crap where it belongs, behind you. Move on.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect pose. Every pose in yoga is meant to conform to who we are.

We’re not meant to conform to the pose.”

Perfection is an illusion. Stop trying to conform to what others want you to be. Drop your expectations. Be who you are.

Who you are is already Divinely perfect.

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“WE’RE NOT TRYING TO GET ANYWHERE, WE’RE JUST TRYING TO BE WHERE WE ARE AS FULLY AS POSSIBLE. SO DON’T WORRY ABOUT JAMMING OR PUSHING YOURSELF HARD TO GET SOMEWHERE, WHERE YOU’RE AT IS PERFECT.” Be fully present where you are.

Your presence is perfection.

Your presence heals.

“Figure out where you are right now and hang out with it. Every moment we’re different. Our job in life is to find out where we’re at, and honor that.”

“We’re all going to fall in life.

We fall with awareness and acceptance.”

I choose to accept what is.

When I fall or fail, I accept, I relax, I remain calm.

Honor where you are in life with full surrender. Presence without resistance.

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“TRUST IN THE WISDOM OF THE POSES. YOUR JOB IS TO HANG OUT WITH THE POSE AND LET IT HAPPEN.” Let go, let it flow and release happens.

It doesn’t matter what it looks like, it matters what it feels like.

If you’re feeling something you’re doing it perfectly. This isn’t about aesthetics it’s about sensation.”

Presence and surrender can look ugly but feel AMAZING. Go for the feeling (internal awareness) and let the rest (external validation) go.

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“To be healthy you don’t have to be loose or strong, you have to be alive.”

When I live my heart’s desire, I’m alive and my so called inadequacies die.

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“It’s not what you do in this class, it’s how you do what you do.

Whatever you’re doing, you’re doing calmly, serenely, with deep rich flowing respiration.”

Most tension comes from our reactiveness, so keep the breath nonreactive, calm and fluid. Stay out of your ego and make fluid breathing the priority.”

When I react, I stress.

When I accept, I relax.

It’s not about what I do in life, but that I do it with a full heart and complete presence.

“Yoga’s not about being loose or I S S U E NO . 06 strong. YOGA’S ABOUT RELEASING THE TENSION, RELEASING THE

STUFF WE’RE HOLDING ONTO. You don’t have to be loose or strong

to do that. You need to approach

sensation. You need to hang out with it calmly and it starts to dissolve.

We’re all trying to develop our own

level of flexibility and strength. And

the only gauge for that is ourselves.”

I know myself better than anyone else. When I’m connected to Source, to Spirit, to mySelf, I know when to push the stretch and when to rest. Health is balance. There’s a time to stretch and a time to rest.

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“We can be uncomfortable, but we don’t have to be so reactive to it. So feel a little bit, challenge yourself while you practice being calm. Why don’t you take advantage of the opportunity you have to work hard here? Take advantage of the opportunity you have to get strong. If you don’t challenge yourself it’s not going to happen.

But if you need to, drop to your knees and take a break. WE’RE CHALLENGING OURSELVES, BUT WE’RE ALSO RESPECTING WHERE WE’RE AT.” Flow. I let my body and mind do what it needs to do, when it needs to do it.

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AN INTERVIEW WITH

MEASHA DANCY, MD Measha Dancy, MD, graduated cum laude from Spelman College, earned her Doctor of Medicine degree at UNC School of Medicine at Chapel Hill, and then completed her residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She practiced Internal Medicine as a hospitalist and then as a primary care physician in Atlanta for over a decade before resigning to pursue her calling in alternative and ancient methods of healing to help others live their healthiest and most authentic lives. Measha is an avid reader, enjoys traveling and physical fitness (she’s a fitness champion!), and is the proud mama of her daughter Ryli - her main source for all inspiration, aka Rylinspiration!

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I CANNOT WAIT TO HEAR YOUR STORY. WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO GO TO MED SCHOOL? DID YOU FEEL YOU WERE CALLED TO BE A DOCTOR? When I was little I always said I wanted to be a doctor. I loved science in school and can’t remember wanting to do anything else. I wanted to deliver babies and take care of whole families and know what their home life was like, but you know, that’s not realistic, or wasn’t realistic for me at that time.

AFTER YOU FINISHED RESIDENCY, YOU WENT INTO PRACTICE?

Yes. I loved the continuity with my patients when I did outpatient work, but I didn’t feel I was using my healing gift in the way I was supposed to. I’ll give you an example. Multiple people would come in with conditions such as high blood pressure, and would talk about stressors such as their kids, their jobs, their marriage or whatever, and I was prescribing them medicine. I could tell you why someone’s blood pressure was high based on what’s going on in their life and all I could do was write them a prescription.

When I could actually sit there, talk with patients and feel things about

I basically worked as a hospitalist for 10 years and then decided to go back to primary care. I quickly realized that primary care medicine wasn’t for me either.

WAS THERE SOMETHING SPECIFIC THAT MADE YOU MOVE OUT OF THE PRIMARY CARE?

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them, rather than simply practice the Westernized medicine that we have learned, that was when medicine felt rewarding.

OH, THAT’S SO COOL. I LOVE THAT! Primary care just wasn’t a good fit, and I knew it was time for me to move on to something else, but I didn’t know what that something was. I just resigned. I didn’t have another job lined up so I just took time off – about a year and a half.

WAS IT UNCOMFORTABLE TAKING THAT TIME OFF? It was very uncomfortable not only financially, but my ego was super uncomfortable! But I had basically fallen out of love with medicine. That is really what happened.

breakdown,” but I really wasn’t. I think I was having a breakthrough.

YES, IT SURE SOUNDS LIKE YOU WERE HAVING A BREAKTHROUGH. WHO HELPED YOU THROUGH THAT? Nobody.

NOBODY? WOW. And I guess people were probably looking at me thinking, “She’s probably having a nervous

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Nobody. Everybody was looking at me like, “You’re doing what?

And why? And what are you doing?

And why would you do it?” Nobody understood my decision. Nobody.

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around midnight, I got up out of bed, and went online. I looked up John of God and thought to myself, “Am I supposed to go to him? Am I sick?” I was really confused.

SO WHAT WAS IT THAT HELPED YOU THROUGH? Prayer helped. I had all of these mystical things that happened and I did a lot of traveling. I actually was called to go to John of God – have you ever heard of John of God?

The next day I was listening to the Dr. Oz Show in my car and energy medicine was being discussed.

When I heard this it made me stop.

I thought, “Energy medicine? I’ve never… That’s interesting. What is that?” I pulled the car beside the garage, I looked outside, and at the same time as energy medicine was being discussed on the radio, there were all these birds outside.

So many birds were flying around outside the car. Have you ever had one of those moments?

YES, A VERY MYSTICAL MOMENT.

OH YES! WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH JOHN OF GOD?

Yes. All of these beautiful birds, so many birds, were flying around. I just busted out crying, but at the same time was thinking, “Why am I crying?” And then I thought, “Okay, maybe I’m supposed to do energy medicine.”

For months the words John of God kept running through my mind.

One night when it happened

The next day I made the call to inquire about John of God. I told the man who answered the phone that

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I kept hearing the words John of God in my head over and over and was wondering if I was supposed to come there. He said, “A lot of physicians are called down here because either their spirit has been here before or they’re meant to come here to bring out their gifts.

They’re gifts that you have.” I started crying again and I bought the ticket that day! I went down there for two weeks and it was very interesting and amazing experience.

WAS THERE ONE EXPERIENCE THAT SORT OF BUBBLES TO THE SURFACE? Yes. I went into a room with a healing crystal bed. This room had a picture of a deceased doctor, Dr.

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Augusto, on the door. I thought that his spirit was probably present in the room. I lay down on the bed and looked up and saw crystals hanging above the bed for each of the particular chakras. I felt the spirit of the doctor, whose photo was on the door, enter the room and I heard his voice. He told me all this stuff like, “I’m glad that you’re here,” and “I called you here,” and “We used to be married.” I know this is going to sound so cuckoo-crazy. I can’t believe I’m telling you this.

IT’S AWESOME THOUGH. I GET IT. IT’S LIKE A PAST LIFE THING? Yes. He told me, “I called you back here. You wanted to be a doctor back in the day. You were my wife and we had three children.” He then told me the name of the kids and I start crying. He said, “You are meant to be here,” and, “I’m going to be with you wherever you go and support you in what you’re going to do.” But I was still confused about what I was to do! He told me it was going to be some sort of wellness center. And that felt like something I could do.

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DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ANSWERED THE CALL DOWN THERE OR DID YOU FEEL LIKE, “HMM, THAT FELT AWESOME, BUT I DON’T KNOW IF I’M GOING TO DO THAT?” When you come back from there you’re discombobulated. I didn’t immediately feel like, “Oh yes! Let me go and start a center now.” I started my online energy healing business and I still spend some time doing that. I have a few clients, but I didn’t pursue that work in the way that somebody who is really determined and wanting to do it would because it didn’t feel all the way right for me. I now realize that I am meant to straddle spiritual, mystical healing and physical, medical, Western healing – I’m meant to be a bridge between the two. I haven’t figured out fully how I’m going to do that, but I’m not meant to do just one or the other. I also struggle with feeling like I need credentials to be a spiritual healer.

BEEN THERE. I SO RELATE. I also need to find my tribe and that has been tough. I have had

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multiple coaches but have never really felt a true connection. One thing I have learned from this process is that you’ve got to just kind of go with the flow. And during all of this, I have also had a lot of personal life changes, such as my divorce and learning to co-parent my daughter with my ex. These have been major transitions.

IT SOUNDS GREAT THAT YOU ARE TAKING TIME TO ADJUST TO THOSE TRANSITIONS. DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE FOR WHAT YOUR DREAM IN LIFE IS OR ARE YOU STILL NOT QUITE SURE? It’s becoming clearer. This year I decided to take a nutrition health coach course with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. I really feel that primary care doctors should be health coaches. Really what primary care doctors do now is secondary care. What primary care should be is health coaching.

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THAT’S REALLY BEAUTIFULLY SAID. I will be a certified health coach before the end of this year and will begin working. I did get a yoga certification in Kemetic yoga last year. Kemet is the ancient name for Egypt. Kemetic yoga originators actually went to Egypt and looked at the paintings on the walls and saw that there were a lot of postures on these ancient buildings. They discovered that yoga was used as a way to become more spiritual. It was a way to connect mind, body, and spirit. I’m probably going to start teaching that soon.

I am also planning to study at Quantum University. They offer degrees in Alternative, Holistic, Natural, and Integrative Medicine. I’ll use all this knowledge to come up with a healing center where people are taught how to heal. I don’t know if I want to have a center that is in one location or if it’ll be more mobile where I’m doing things online. It’s a work in progress and I’m feeling more comfortable with that.

THAT’S AWESOME. NICE PLAN. I’M HEARING THROUGH YOUR STORY THAT TO BE SPIRITUALLY HEALTHY IS AN INVESTMENT. YOU ARE INVESTING, NOT JUST YOUR ENERGY, BUT YOUR DOLLAR BILLS. Oh yes. You do have to put out money to learn and to grow. I am at a point now though where I need to look inside myself. I’ve had all those teachings and experiences and I need to figure out the healing phase for myself.

DO YOU FEEL YOU HEALED ON THE OUTSIDE? I SAW YOU HAD A WHOLE BODY TRANSFORMATION? WHEN DID THAT START? DID THAT START AFTER YOU QUIT MEDICINE? No, that started as my marriage was ending. I weighed 175 lbs

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and realized that I needed to take care of myself. I needed to focus on me, so I started working out. A friend of mine started competing and I thought, “Oh, I want to look like that. I don’t want to do that, but I want to look like that.” So I started working out with her trainer and eventually I began to think, “You know what? I look kind of good. I like this. Okay. Maybe I can get on stage and rock it with these 20 year old women.” In 2012, I did just that.

I competed three times and I did pretty well. The first two times I came in second and first place, and then at a national show I came in 15th.

By doing all of that I healed my outside, but I hadn’t taken the time to heal myself on the inside. So that’s really what I’m allowing for now – time to heal my head and heart.

What I’ve realized, especially in this spiritual realm of healing, if you’re a wounded healer – and most of us are wounded healers – and you don’t take time to heal yourself, it’s like you have this open wound that is bleeding all over everybody. You can’t help people in the proper way because your sh*t is all in the way.

So I am taking the time to become a healed healer. And that feels good.

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HEALED HEALER. I LOVE THAT. AW… DR. DANCY, BEAUTIFUL SOUL. I’M SO EXCITED FOR YOU. Thank you Sue.

THANK YOU MEASHA FOR SHARING YOUR STORY. You are very welcome.

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B R E AT H I S S A C R E D :

Merging Head and Heart

Breath is life. Breath has the power to balance the body’s autonomic nervous system for health and prevent physical and emotional dis-ease. Breath helps you find your zen so you can quiet your stressed mind and tap into your heart. Breath allows you to Connect with Spirit - that creative life force that animates your body and mind.

Breath renews us.

INHALE. EXHALE. RELEASE. A rebirth.

Find your flow.

Breathing allows you to: B A L A N C E Y O U R B O D Y. QUIET YOUR MIND. OPEN YOUR HEART & C O N N E C T W I T H S P I R I T. Take time for complete breaths throughout your day.

See it as an opportunity for your productive mind to connect with your creative Spirit. Aligning your body/mind with Spirit is key to living your soulFULL purpose.

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DR. SUE'S

FAVORITES

FOR BODY, MIND, SPIRIT

CHANTING OM: MUSIC FOR DEEP MEDITATION

SIMPLE MILLS BAKING MIXES Truth be told, I can’t stand baking. My daughters love it. The idea sounds beautiful, the execution terrible. Simple Mills to the rescue!

Their mixes are made with simple ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, cassava, flax, arrowroot, cocoa, coconut sugar. The directions are simple - my girls can do it on their own. Best of all they taste AMAZING, and do not contain any gluten, dairy, soy, gums or GMO’s.

Our favorites: pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate muffins which easily transform into birth-

Music is the fastest way to escape my surroundings and create a sacred surrounding for myself. The elemental sound of OM (considered the most sacred mantra) calms my mind and helps me focus. I listen to this recording when I’m stressed out or need to focus - which could mean I’m at home with the kids, on an airplane, or trying to write. http:// amzn.to/2bQ2cXo

day cupcakes! http://www.simple-

mills.com

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MOLECULES OF EMOTION: T H E S C I E N C E B E H I N D M I N D - B O D Y M E D I C I N E BY CANDACE PERT, PhD

As a 27 year old graduate student at The Johns Hopkins Medical School, Candace Pert discovered the opioid receptor. Just sayin’, she’s smart! This book is part memoir, part neuropeptide teaching.

The book takes the reader along Pert’s professional journey as a female scientist in a man’s world, her personal journey through the death of her father, divorce, and ultimately finding faith. As she shares her story, she explains how neuropeptides and their receptors are the biochemicals of emotions, carrying information that connects body and psyche. Pretty sweet! http://candacepert.com

BRYAN KEST'S POWER YOGA DVD Don’t laugh. I bought the VHS version of this DVD in the late 90’s.

Three big wonking tapes, now compressed beautifully for you into one DVD (which I bought a decade ago). I do one of the three routines at least once a week, sometimes more, and they never bore me. Plus white thong leotards make me smile. I used to wear one, back in the day. Watch out, you may catch yourself saying a Bryan Kest mantra unexpectedly midday, as I did to a mother in my practice in reference to parenting. These routines provide great opportunities to practice complete breathing and allow you to find your flow. http://amzn.to/2bCt6EO

THE GIFTS OF IMPERFECTION: LET GO OF WHO YOU THINK YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE AND EMBRACE WHO YOU ARE BY BRENE BROWN, PhD

In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, and expert on shame, authenticity, and belonging, shares ten guideposts on the power of Wholehearted living. She presents a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness. I took the eCourse as well which includes weekly videos, an engaging community, art journaling, and reflections on how to apply the ten guideposts lessons to your life. It was superb! I highly recommend it. http://brenebrown.com

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“WHEN I REACT, I STRESS. WHEN I ACCEPT, I RELAX.” —SUE McCREADIE, MD

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BALANCE YO U R B O D Y ,

QUIET

YO U R M I N D.

OPEN

YO U R H E A R T &

CO N N E C T W I T H S P I R I T. Health is balance.

Live it SoulFULLY.

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—DEEPAK CHOPRA, MD

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