Dr. Sue Health SoulFULLY : Issue 07 PREVIEW

ISSUE NO.07

OPEN YOUR HEART choose love, drop the fear B R I N G I N G

S P I R I T

B A C K

T O

M E D I C I N E

» 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...

Opening your heart to CONNECT with Spirit is a divine process.

Every step is there for a reason. There are no mistakes in life, only gifts scattered along the way. Your job is to keep showing up. Keep quieting your mind. Keep opening your heart. Keep listening, TRUSTING and following your heart smarts with directed action.

H E A D + H E A R T = H E A LT H H E A LT H I S B A L A N C E What you think AND how you SEE, HEAR, FEEL and KNOW drive the actions you take, and therefore the results you achieve.

In this issue, learn how to place your intention on connecting to the Divine within yourself and within others. By doing so you’ll discover how to pay Divine attention to see, hear, feel and know Spirit’s presence in your everyday life.

Time to Open Your Heart.

Time to Connect with Spirit Here we go…

Sue McCreadie, MD drsuemccreadie.com @drsuemccreadie

P.S. We all use different words to refer to Spirit. Don’t let my words trip you up! I use Spirit, Divine and heart most often. God less often. Find a word that works for you. Maybe it’s Soul, Love, Grace, or something else. You could even make up your own word. Go for it! Words don’t matter. Your intention to connect to your soul and a force greater than you is what matters.

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PERSECUTION FEARS Stepping Outside the Comfort Zone.

THE PROBLEM WITH BEING MORE FEARFULL THAN SOULFULL Finding the Courage to Leap.

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ANSWERING THE DIVINE PHONE When Grace Opens Your Heart.

14 22 TAKE ACTION How to Release Your Fears.

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CRUMBLING THE FEAR WALL Choose LOVE. Drop Fear. Repeat.

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4 WAYS TO CONNECT WITH SPIRIT See, Hear, Feel & Know Spirit’s Presence.

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STIR YOUR SOUL Getting Crystal Clear about Your Fears.

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SPIRIT FILTERS CONNECTIONS

Foster a More Loving Connection with Yourself & Others.

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Q&A

FEELING YOUR WAY THROUGH LIFE

HEALTH SOULFULLY

An interview with Ailsa White, MBBS, PhD.

Place Your Intention and Pay Divine Attention.

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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 Sue McCreadie, MD

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have always been profoundly grateful for all the knowledge my mentors and medical textbooks have provided me. After med school I followed the academy guidelines and tried to do everything “right.” But I felt imbalanced and disconnected practicing medicine the way I was taught. Prescribing medication to manage dis-ease felt like putting a bandage on a patient’s boo-boo to make it go away.

Everyone knows that bandages don’t make boos boos go away, they cover them up. Out of sight, out of mind. Bandages work well for simple cuts, when the body can heal and rebalance itself easily, but for chronic dis-ease, once you remove the bandages or medications the boo-boos or symptoms return. When you remove the topical steroid cream, the eczema returns.

If you take a break from the stimulant medication, the inattention or hyperactivity comes back.

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I don’t want to cover up problems. I want to uncover the driving force behind the eczema, inattention or hyperactivity. This realization led me to leave the conventional medicine model and start practicing medicine the way my heart desired – from the inside out. Holistically. I shifted my practice to assist patients in uncovering and overcoming the driving forces behind their dis-ease by addressing their diet and lifestyle choices.

Twelve years later, the divine calling to teach spirituality within medicine reignited my persecution fear BIG TIME. My heart cheered, “YES,” and my head screamed, “Are you crazy?

NO WAY!” I resisted Spirit’s call.

Anyone in their right mind would resist. I kept thinking, I’m a medical doctor, not a doctor of divinity. I’m not qualified. I’d already stepped outside my tribe when I decided to practice medicine holistically. I feared teaching spiritual health would somehow kill my “M” and “D.” I’d be persecuted for sure. Not by family, friends or parents in my practice, but by my tribe – doctors! Regardless of this fear the call persisted. The divine phone would not stop ringing!

I RESISTED SPIRIT’S CALL.

In the beginning, practicing outside the conventional medical model was outside my comfort zone. Fear of persecution kicked in immediately. But I couldn’t stop. This is how I best serve these children. What skeptics called “woo-woo nonsense” fueled my heart and helped children heal. Thankfully, with time, and beneficial patient outcomes, my fear of persecution eased.

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Spirituality and medicine are my passions. Everyone is a spiritual being living a human experience.

When we share our spiritual

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experience with others, we teach it. We are all spiritual teachers!

Every. Single. One of Us. Including me. I had a choice: I could either follow my heart-smarts and pursue teaching spiritual health, or be a faithful servant to my rational mind and not go there.

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I could follow my heart and speak my truth or allow fear to overwhelm me and remain silent.

For two years I tried to silence my spiritual truths, but the divine phone kept on ringing. When I opened my heart and listened I heard:

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THE PROBLEM WITH BEING MORE FEARFULL THAN SOULFULL

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emember my teeter-totter analogy for health and dis-ease: when you are happy and healthy, you’re able to balance yourself over the pivot of the teeter-totter. Despite the stressors that plop down on either end of your teeter-totter you are able to adapt and remain balanced. You’re bright. BRAVE. You’re beautifully balanced. Yet life inevitably plops sh*t on your teeter-totter that throws you off balance – life stresses your system.

For the two years I silenced my spiritual truths, fear was the big THUD on the end of my teeter-totter. Fear was the stressor throwing me off balance, keeping me stuck in dis-ease. I was more fearFULL than soulFULL. I worried more about what other’s thought than how I felt.

Intellect over intuition. External validation over internal awareness. I didn’t know how to overcome (rise above) my paralyzing fear, but a friend told me about Gabby Bernstein, New York Times Bestselling Author and spiritual teacher. Intrigued, I bought her book May Cause Miracles: A 40-Day Guidebook of Subtle Shifts for Radical Change and

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Unlimited Happiness. As I read and journaled I realized I’d built a brick wall of fear to protect me from my heart’s desire. This wall gave me a false sense of protection, yet kept me overwhelmed by fear and stuck in dis-ease. If I wanted to teach spiritual health I’d have to remove that wall of fear brick by brick and come face-to-face with Spirit.

Within months of releasing the book May Cause Miracles, Gabby launched her first Spirit Junkie Masterclass. I asked my angels for a Divine sign that made it loud and clear I was to attend this class. I was sitting at my office desk reading emails and opened Gabby’s promoting the Masterclass. Her words spoke directly to my heart, then BAM! The book, The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change, fell off the shelf behind me. I enrolled in the class moments later.

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Two nights before I left, my daughter was tucked into bed with covers up to her neck and whispered, “Mom...something in my heart hurts...please don’t laugh.” She proceeded to share she was scared I was going to jail. JAIL?!? FEARS ARE PERVASIVE. Was she subconsciously perceiving my persecution fear?

The next night while I was tucking her into bed, she reiterated the same concern: jail for mama.

“Awe. Sweetness…” I replied, and went on to reassure her that Mommy hasn’t done anything wrong. Right?!?! All I want to do is teach LOVE. But love can be scary, BRIGHT and blinding, especially when living in darkness behind a wall of fear. When you’re leading life with your head, opening your heart to see what it has to say can be scary.

THE EGO LOVES TO DENY THE LIGHT.

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“If you stay in denial, avoiding what you must do, waiting until you don't feel afraid, you'll never fulfill this mission you're on. The fear is inevitable as long as you’re seeking security and comfort. But when you open yourself to the mystery and make peace with uncertainty, you'll find within you the courage you need in order to leap.”

– LISSA RANKIN, MD

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Answering THE

DIVINE PHONE

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uring the final meditation of the Masterclass Gabby asked us to envision our audience, “Who are you speaking to?” My audience appeared. I could see them clearly for the first time and they weren’t throwing daggers at me! They were heart-centered physicians and practitioners who wanted to hear the message I was delivering. Tears streamed down my face. As soon as I saw my audience, a moment of grace broke open my heart. “Yes! I’ll do it. I’ll share my spiritual truths – full transparency, angels and all, even with doctors.” Right there, in the midst of a silent group meditation, I answered the divine call to teach spirituality within medicine.

IT’S TIME TO BRING SPIRIT BACK TO MEDICINE. It’s time to balance intellect with intuition.

Health is Balance.

Head + Heart = Health.

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MBLIN U G R THE I S S U E NO . 07

FEAR WALL 16

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hen you answer your spiritual

calling

it’s

sure to ruffle a few

feathers. Especially your own.

I returned from the Masterclass and realized I was the big-

up my meditation practice; and

gest pain in my a**. I couldn’t

started a running conversational

point the finger at anyone else

prayer with the Divine. I didn’t do

standing in my way. I was the

this all at once though! Opening

one who screamed, “Don’t do

the heart takes time.

this! You’re crazy. You’re not Choosing LOVE over fear benot I S S U E NO . 07 smart enough. Who do you think came my full-time J.O.B! To keep you are?” It was time to get to myself accountable, I worked work and remove, brick by brick, bi-weekly with my coach. She good

enough.

You’re

the wall of fear I’d built to protect

guided my fear brick removal

me from living my heart’s desire.

process. Some bricks were easy

It was time to strengthen my love

to remove. Others I resisted

muscles through action. It was

moving. They felt BIG. Heavy.

time to bring in some reinforce-

When I met up with resistance

ments to help me bust through

I learned to CELEBRATE with a

this fear wall: I hired a coach;

happy dance, a bottle of kom-

found a spiritual director; amped

bucha, and a bag of kale chips or dark chocolate macaroons (depending on my mood). Resistance became a friend growing me stronger. Through hard workouts and heavy lifts, my cells reshaped themselves. I had

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“OUR DEEPEST FEAR IS NOT THAT WE ARE INADEQUATE. OUR DEEPEST FEAR IS THAT WE ARE POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE." –MARIANNE WILLIAMSON

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a choice to perceive the process as painFULL or soulFULL. I chose soulFULL over and over again. I wanted to change and change

part of me that is limitless, be-

was happening. Bring it! By flex-

yond fear, all loving, and always

ing my love muscles through

forgiving. A quiet mind allowed

actions (completing the exercis-

me to receive self-empowering

es my coach assigned, periodic

thoughts and release self-limit-

meetings with my spiritual direc-

ing thoughts. I became less par-

tor, daily meditation and prayer),

alyzed in fear. Fear sometimes

I was becoming more soulFULL

snuck in and dragged me down,

and less fearFULL. Balance was but I began to jump back UP I S S U E NO . 07 returning. faster – back to liberation, freedom, and LOVE. Practice, pracWhen my E.G.O. mounted and

tice, practice.

edged God out, fear would seize the opportunity and sneak

The more bricks I removed the

in. Fear-filled mind distractions

more I could feel love’s strength.

would pull me away from my

I could flex my love muscles and

heart connection with mySelf, my

scare off fear. Love is greater

Spirit, the God within me. I made

than fear. Spirit is stronger than

it a DAILY priority to Breathe,

E.G.O. I was re-evolving. Even-

Write, Pray, and Play my way to

tually, after removing enough

a QUIET mind. A quiet mind en-

bricks, I could connect with Spirit

couraged my heart to open and

as if I was standing face to face

reCONNECT with Spirit – that

with her. Her message to ILLUMINATE filled me up. Shining my light in this world is the way I serve myself and others.

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STIR YOUR SOUL I S S U E NO . 07

STEP 1

GET CRYSTAL CLEAR ABOUT YOUR FEARS. WHAT DO YOU FEAR? WRITE EVERY LAST FEAR DOWN.

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F

h t e s s i ure sign th r a at y o u a r e e

r

“

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e

o n yo u r g n i ly

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own s

trength.”

– G a b by

Bernstein

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TAKE ACTION STEP 2 I S S U E NO . 07

Feel where you hold fear in your body. If you can, put your hand on it.

What does your fear look like? Imagine it as you intentionally ask what it needs to FULLY release from you. Stay present in this process. It’s not about YOU. Take your ego out of it. Listen and FEEL what Spirit has to say about this fear.

HOW HAS THIS FEAR SERVED YOU IN YOUR PAST? See the gift this fear brought you.

HOW IS THIS FEAR PARALYZING YOU NOW? Complete this sentence: Releasing this fear allows me to _____________.

Does releasing this fear allow you to serve, to love, to be happy, to be FREE? Something else?

LISTEN TO WHAT SPIRIT HAS TO SAY ABOUT THIS FEAR. Write down Spirit’s message and use it as your guiding light. This is your daily reminder. This is why you’re willing to now release this fear, forever.

GIVE A PERMISSION SLIP FOR DIVINE INTERVENTION. “Please release this fear from me. And so it is. Amen” WHEN FEAR CREEPS BACK IN, REPEAT THE PROCESS. Practice, practice, practice.

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IF THE FEAR PERSISTS, TRANSFORM IT WITH THIS VISUALIZATION:

Imagine you’re walking through a dark tunnel. You see a peephole of light at the other end of the tunnel and you slowly walk towards it. You can’t see your fear but you can feel it surround you. Maybe it shouts out self-limiting thoughts, “You’re a sham. You’re an embarrassment. You’re not a REAL (fill-in-the-blank).” Hear the words and keep walking towards the light in front of you. See it growing bigger with every step forward. If you fall, stand back I S S U E NO . 07 UP. Take one step, then another step. As you approach the light, feel yourself being pulled into it until you’re entirely enveloped in light and love.

This visualization is a way to lean into your fear, instead of running from it. You face your fear by walking forward towards the light, despite feeling the resistance trying to pull you backwards. As you get closer to the light you feel it’s force now pulling you forward, leaving your fear behind, in the dust. FACING YOUR FEAR WITH LOVE DISSOLVES ITS POWER OVER YOU. Honor your willingness to stand in and feel the darkness so you can recognize, feel and move towards the light. NO DARKNESS CAN EXIST WHERE LIGHT IS PRESENT. You are LOVE and love is greater than fear.

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“TO BE A SPIRITUAL BEING MEANS THAT YOU ALLOW YOURSELF THE OPTION OF BEING MULTI-SENSORY." –WAYNE DYER

I S S U E NO . 07

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4 WAYS TO CONNECT WITH

Spirit I S S U E NO . 07

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s you place your intention on opening your heart to love, you’re able to pay better attention to how Spirit is supporting you. You become a Divine Detective open to receiving clues that let you know you’re on the right path for you. As I opened my heart to the possibility of teaching spiritual health, I asked angels for a loud and clear sign that I was to go to Gabby’s Spirit Junkie Masterclass. I placed my intention on following my heart’s desire and then paid

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Divine attention. As I read Gabby’s email about the class I could feel my desire to go, then BAM! The book The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change fell off the shelf behind me. This was my Divine clue. The timing (reading Gabby’s message) along with the loud noise (book falling off shelf) and even the title of the book, all inspired me to enroll. I didn’t know how I’d pay for the class, airfare or housing. I didn’t know how the class would com-

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“IF PRAYER IS YOU TALKING pletely change my professional life’s trajectory. I didn’t know anything. It wasn’t a thinking process, it was a feeling process. I wasn’t using intellect, I was relying on intuition.

ition is a birthright most of us shut out because we tend INTUITION IS to spend our lives GOD TALKING in pursuit of more knowledge. Think TO YOU.” back to when you –DR. WAYNE DYER were a newborn.

You relied on your senses because you couldn’t yet rely on your intellect. With every INTUITION IS USING YOUR passing year your intellect grew I S S U E NO . 07 you began to think your way HEART-SMARTS TO PLUG and INTO AND CONNECT WITH through life more than feel your SPIRIT SO YOU CAN KNOW way through it. With every passWITHOUT CONSCIOUS REA- ing year your intellect continued SONING. You become multisen- to grow BIGGER and in the prosory and lean into a conversa- cess squished your intuition out tion with the invisible dimension of the picture. “Shhh,” you’d say that lies within you and within to your heart-smarts, “Not now.” other Spiritual beings. With a You honored what you thought quiet mind you step away from and stopped honoring how you self-limiting thoughts and open felt. You need to honor BOTH inyour heart to intuitively receive tellect and intuition. self-empowering, Spirit-filled messages.

HEAD + HEART = HEALTH. HEALTH IS BALANCE. Each of us can tap into Spirit’s divine wisdom because divinity re- Connecting to Spirit is a multisides within each one of us. Intu- sensory process of learning how

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to SEE, HEAR, FEEL, and these Divine messages without KNOW divine messages. These consciously knowing why you four sensations are often referred know. Usually one clair comes to as the four clairs: clairvoyance, easier for you than another, but clairaudience, clairsentience, and with practice you can strengthclaircognizance. Don’t let these en all your divine communicawords scare you. You can tap into tion channels and connecting Spirit’s wisdom because divinity with Spirit becomes routine, like resides within all of us. With a brushing your teeth. quiet mind, you step away from self-limiting thoughts and open FEELing Spirit comes easiest for your heart to intuitively receive me. When I walk into a room full I S S U E NO Self-empowering, Spirit-filled of. 07 people, I can feel if there’s messages. Through visions, discomfort or unease. When I resounds, feelings, and thoughts, member a vacation or a movie, you lean into a multi-sensory rarely can I recount details, but I conversation with the invisible can always recount how I felt. dimension that lies within you and within other Spiritual beings. Journaling three pages every You might see these messages, morning increased my ability to hear these messages, feel these HEAR Spirit. Pen in hand, empty messages or just somehow know lined pages, I would silently ask

SEE SEE SEE SEE

HEAR HEAR HEAR HEAR

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FEEL FEEL FEEL FEEL

KNOW KNOW KNOW KNOW

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a question, then write the answer

KNOWing Spirit comes easiest I heard. I call this practice jour- to me in the office when I’m fully naling with Spirit, and now this present, listening to the parent Divine silent conversation con- or patient. I’ll receive a lighttinues off the page throughout ning-fast insight to do a certain test or try a certain supplement. my day.

I can’t always consciously reaI used to fear SEEing Spirit. I son why that test or supplement thought I’d see dead people like would benefit that child in that the boy in the supernatural hor- moment, but I know I’m not doing harm. Practicing medicine in ror-thriller film The Sixth Sense. a way that blends intuition with Instead I see Divine messages I S S U E NO . 07 intellect feels good, connected on billboards, storefronts and and balanced. bumper stickers. Once, while driving a new friend to a city about an hour away, we connected easily through our passion for happier, healthier kids. As I listened to her share her personal story I was struck with how at ease both of us were in each other’s presence. Just as this feeling passed through me, I glanced at the car’s license plate in front of me. I don’t remember the numbers, but the letters on the license plate read “BFF.” Pretty telling. A decade later we remain soul sista’s.

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Remember, intuition starts with intention. Simply place your desire to connect with the Divine within yourself, and within others, and silently state this desire daily. This intention is a prayer – a permission slip for Divine intervention. Watch how this intention drives the Divine Detective within you to see, hear, feel and know Spirit’s presence in your everyday life. You begin to connect with love everywhere, which can make even the worst day of your life much more enjoyable.

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I S S U E NO . 07

intuition

STARTS WITH

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intention

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Spirit

FILTERS CONNECTIONS

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ust like healthy foods fuel tions with yourself and others. your body, and self-em- Your Spirit craves loving conpowering thoughts nurnections with other Spiritual I S S U E NO . 07 ture your mind, heart-to-heart beings because heart-to-heart connections nourish your Spir- connection is where healing reit. Your digestive system filters sides. food, your mind filters thoughts, and your Spirit (your heart) filters It’s impossible to eat perfectly connections. and never have a thought that limits your potential. In the same You’re never free from your con- light, you’ll disconnect from love nection to fear, but with practice from time to time and strengthen you can make the connection your connection with fear. This weak. Thin connections are easy disconnection comes naturalto break, making it easier for you ly and feels self-protective. But to release fear over and over over time, fear becomes a stressagain. In the same fashion, Spirit or, like it did for me when I chose never leaves you and with prac- to silence my spiritual truths for tice you can make the connec- two years. When you disconnect tion stronger. The stronger your for too long you become paraconnection to Spirit, the eas- lyzed in fear. You become imbalier it is to make loving connec- anced and in dis-ease. Spiritual

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I S S U E NO . 07

BODY

MIND

SPIRIT

Filters food

Filters thoughts

Filters connections

Eat healthy food Quiet your mind to Rest to absorb nutrients absorb self-empowering Move to release junk thoughts and release

self-limiting thoughts

disconnect is a form of dis-ease.

When you disconnect from your Spirit, you disconnect from the Divine within others as well. You suffer when you no longer align and connect with what is in your heart, your Spiritual truth. Mind distractions pull you away from heart connections; you struggle

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Foster a more loving connection with yourself and with others to release the fear which no longer serves you

to see, hear, feel and know Spirit’s presence within your everyday life.

This struggle stresses your body and mind. Not until you open your heart again to love (which requires vulnerability) can you receive the connection that heals. You become whole through connections with others.

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AN INTERVIEW WITH

AILSA WHITE, MBBS, PhD Mum of two, and cancer doctor with a passion for fitness.

Having spent the last ten years experiencing the highs and lows as a doctor in the NHS, Ailsa took time away from the wards to research cancer and have two children. Working as a doctor and treating patients with cancer on a daily basis has given her valued insight into the brevity and fragility of life. Her personal struggle with a chronic disease has given her perspective from the patient’s end of the stethoscope. All of this led her to develop an interest in nutrition and fitness and the huge impact these have on disease and illness. Using her own condition as an experiment, she found that transforming her lifestyle led to her medical condition improving. She is now on a mission to combine her two passions, a love of fitness and knowledge of cancer, to help others. www.fittermummy.com

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DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN OR WHY YOU DECIDED TO BECOME A DOCTOR?

At the age of 15 or 16 there was a pivotal point when I decided it was definitely what I was going to do. That’s when my dad gave me Grey’s Anatomy for Christmas (definitely some parental pressure there).

HOW DID YOU CHOOSE TO BECOME AN ONCOLOGIST? WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO WORKING WITH PEOPLE WITH CANCER? I was just drawn to it. I love that I see my patients every three weeks for their chemotherapy, or every three months for a complete scan. I get to really build relationships with them. I also quite like the science of it all. Oncology is on the cutting-edge of science with more

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new developments happening all the time. It’s an interesting marriage of relationships and science.

IT SOUNDS LIKE THE INTELLECT AND THE HEART OF MEDICINE COMBINED IN ONE. I think it’s the best specialty.

It gets a bad rap. I always get asked, “Don’t you find it depressing?”

WHAT IS YOUR ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION? There are times when I cry with my patients and it’s really sad.

The flipside to that is that you’re helping people through the darkest times in their lives and it’s incredibly rewarding. They need you the most and you can be so very helpful.

THAT IS A POINT IN THEIR LIVES WHEN THEY’RE MOST CONNECTED SPIRITUALLY. IN

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THEIR DARKEST MOMENTS IS WHEN THEY HAVE TO FIGURE OUT SOMETHING OUTSIDE OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD THAT’S ACTUALLY GOING TO HELP THEM GET THROUGH. One hundred percent. That realization is why I have recently become interested in functional medicine and the allied areas. I just see this massive hole of need. These patients get their chemotherapy/ radiotherapy/surgery, but gosh that’s only a percentage of what they need to treat their cancer. They have to look to the internet, or to various other places, to try and fulfill those non-physical needs because it is increasingly difficult to do so within conventional medicine. This is a real shame.

the gut and since addressing my gut health I’ve noticed a massive improvement in my Achalasia symptoms. I still had to have an operation because it’s a mechanical problem, but I have managed to control the heartburn, and all the other symptoms that went with it, by improving my own nutrition and optimizing my gut health. While I was making gut changes I also took up exercise and was thrilled with those benefits too. It was when I was looking for nutrition books to address my gut health that I came across Dr. Mark Hyman’s work on functional medicine. I went to see one of his lectures and that was incredibly eye-opening for me.

HOW DID YOU FIND YOUR WAY INTO FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE? It was a journey resulting from my own ill health. I have something called Achalasia which prevents me from swallowing properly and I do not have any peristalsis in my esophagus. I began reading information focused on the health of

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Mark Hyman, MD

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BESIDES DR. HYMAN ARE THERE OTHER THOUGHT LEADERS YOU FOLLOW? Yes. I met Dr. Chatterjee who appears on British television shows to publicize functional medicine in the U.K. I also follow Dr. Rupy Aujla, known as The Doctor’s Kitchen on Instagram. He’s helped me with a lot of the functional medicine stuff locally, here in London.

YOU STARTED AN INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT WHEN YOU BEGAN TRANSFORMING YOUR HEALTH THROUGH FITNESS AND HEALTHY EATING. DID YOU DO THIS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY? My son was four months old and I found myself in a normal postpartum rut. I was having massive sugar cravings, eating everything and then having energy crashes. I felt like something had to change so I started this private, secret Instagram account. I never showed my face, never had my name on it and I continued to only use it for accountability. I took baby steps, making little changes to my eating and ex-

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ercise every week so that I just kept doing more and more. I met so many like minded people during this time and they became such a massive support network for me that now I show my face and name.

It has been a transformation on many levels.

IT STARTED WITH INSTAGRAM, BUT ARE THERE OTHER THINGS YOU NOW USE TO REMAIN CONSISTENT WHEN IT COMES TO NUTRITION AND EXERCISE? Food for me is medicine – I feel so much better because of the foods I now eat. My relationship with food is different and so I think my motivation has changed. In the beginning my motivation was to

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get into my pre-pregnancy jeans.

My goals keep changing over time as I find new challenges but I am now focused on living a long and healthy life. I kind of think of Instagram as a bit of an international weight loss group. There’s always someone out there – if you have an issue, if you’re worried about something – to provide accountability or a response to questions. I think that is a massive support which is what people need once they have a new baby or when they’re going through something as life-changing as cancer.

YES, CHANGING YOUR MINDSET ABOUT WHY YOU’RE EATING, WHAT YOU’RE EATING, AND FINDING A COMMUNITY TO DO IT WITH, IS A BIG PART OF HELPING YOU STAY CONSISTENT. My community led me to meal prep for work. There aren’t any good food options at work, but I would keep sitting down and eating in the cafeteria with my colleagues because I was too embarrassed to bring a packed lunch. I eventually discovered that even though my colleagues didn’t meal

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prep, I knew tons of people through my online community who did.

Once I started bringing a balanced and healthy packed lunch I started to feel so much better throughout the workday. My community provides great tips about great food to make and good exercises to do.

WHEN DO YOU DO YOUR MEAL PREP AND DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL MEAL PLANNING? I do my meal prep once a week on a Monday afternoon when the kids are napping. I prepare my lunch for my three days at work and often make a stew for the evenings that I arrive home late after clinic. I tend to make a healthy smoothie

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for breakfast because I can prep it the night before, put it in my blender in the morning and drink it on my commute. I pack a salad for lunch along with two protein based snacks. I always have supper with my husband when I get home.

That’s how it works for me, but I think it takes time to find your own rhythm and a routine that works for you.

FOR YOUR WORK, YOU HAVE COMBINED THINGS CLOSE TO YOUR HEART - ONCOLOGY, HEALTH AND FITNESS. I THINK IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL MERGER. HOW DO YOU SEE THESE THINGS FITTING TOGETHER AS YOU MOVE FORWARD IN YOUR CAREER? There are huge gains to be made by a cancer patient who changes up her nutrition and exercise. There is research showing that patients with lower muscle mass have more toxicity to chemotherapy in both breast and renal cancer populations. Breast cancer patients who performed exercise once diagnosed were found to have lower disease relapse rates than ones who did not exercise.

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Even within conventional oncology there is a big movement now to support people living with cancer because more and more people are surviving. The minute you’re touched by cancer your life is not the same. Because of this I generally find cancer survivors are much more receptive to making lifestyle changes. They’re willing to give other things a go; it’s a wakeup call.

Until the last few years no one has really focused on survivorship and improving patient health to minimize the risk of recurrence. To me it’s a completely natural fit.

THAT’S SO TRUE. I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT THAT WAY BUT IT IS TRUE. THEY’RE AT A CROSSROADS AND NEEDING GUIDANCE. YOU CAN GIVE THEM THAT! AWESOME. YOU’RE ALSO A MOMMA GUIDING TWO LITTLE ONES. WHAT HAS BEING A MOM TAUGHT YOU? Oh, so much. My little girl is 3½ years old and my little boy is 1½ years old. They are my daily motivation to get healthy and fit. I want to be here in my 80’s so I can see my grandchildren. They have taught me to slow down and to enjoy my

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life as it is at the moment. I think, as with a lot of doctors, I got sucked into a little bit of a hamster wheel: I do the next residency program; jump through the next hoop; publish the next paper. Taking time out and having my children was a massive wakeup call. They’ve given me the courage to take a foot off the treadmill and slow down my conventional career and embrace other parts of my life. This has been lifesaving for me because I think I was very close to burnout when I left work to have children.

THAT IS SO EASY TO DO IN MEDICINE, TO GET SUCKED IN. It is. The competitive nature of medicine, and the emotionally

demanding nature of oncology, make it tough not to become drained by it all.

WITH SUCH EMOTIONALLY DEMANDING WORK HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH STRESS? A quiet mind is my next big challenge, my next goal. I have been practicing yoga for almost a year but I really, even now, struggle.

I don’t always enjoy the yoga because I can’t quiet my mind. Often, when I am trying to get into a pose, all I’m thinking about is what’s on my to-do list and what email I need to answer. At least I am taking the time to do yoga, but I need to add some other tools to my day to quiet my mind and de-stress even more.

THAT CAN BE OUR NEXT INTERVIEW! WE CAN MEET AGAIN AND DISCUSS YOUR SUCCESS WITH QUIETING YOUR MIND. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO TALK WITH ME AILSA. IT WAS SUCH A PLEASURE. You are very welcome Sue.

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“IT IS OUR

lig ht, NOT OUR DARKNESS THAT

MOST FRIGHTENS US. AND AS WE LET OUR OWN

lig ht SHINE, WE UNCONSCIOUSLY GIVE OTHER PEOPLE PERMISSION TO DO THE SAME.” –MARIANNE WILLIAMSON

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FEELING YOUR WAY THROUGH LIFE

A

s I follow Spirit’s direction to pursue a spiritual career within medicine, the happier and more abundant my life becomes. I feel FREE! Fear can still paralyze me, but love always wins.

Moments of pure frustration, anger, sadness, and grief can still overwhelm me, but LOVE IS ALWAYS THERE patiently waiting for me to open my heart again. And the moment I do, joy resurfaces.

Opening your heart to CONNECT with Spirit is a divine process. Every step is there for a reason. There are no mistakes in life, only gifts scattered along the way. Your job is to keep showing up. Keep quieting your mind.

Keep opening your heart. Keep listening,

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“FR EEDOM I S A S I G N T H AT YOU A R E R ELYI N G ON GOD.” –GABBY BERNSTEIN

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TRUSTING, and following your heart smarts with directed action.

Head + Heart = Health. What you think AND how you SEE, HEAR, FEEL and KNOW drive the actions you take, and therefore the results you achieve. Placing your intention on connecting to the Divine within yourself, and within others, helps you to pay Divine attention to see, hear, feel and know Spirit’s presence within your everyday life.

FAITH IS BELIEVING WITHOUT SEEING. Following your heart is

a blind investment in Spirit and allowing Spirit to guide your way. There’s no proof. No clear roadmap. No guarantees your investment will return your desired result. When I invested in the Spirit Junkie Masterclass, I had no guarantee it would give me clarity on how to teach spiritual health. All I had was a desire to go and a Divine sign to enroll.

When you follow your intuition with action, you plant seeds of

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faith. You may not physically see the results you desire immediately, but your faith seeds continue to grow as you take action in the direction of your soul’s desire. In time those seeds grow into mature plants that break through the surface and become visible.

That’s when you finally see what you always believed.

Spiritual health requires internal awareness over external validation. You have to rely on your senses, rather than on other people’s opinions, to know you’re heading in the right direction.

Your opinions are always biased; you wear your own tinted glasses.

When you tap into your intuition, your heart-smarts, and connect with the Divine daily, you’ll feel your way through life rather than just thinking your way through all of it. You’ll be inspired to keep going or know when it’s time to change direction. Little by little, one turn here, another turn there. One door shuts, another opens and draws you towards it.

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Feeling your way through life requires you to surrender fully to love. It requires you to TRUST that the Universe has your back even when it appears you’re mucking around in sh*tsville or deep inside some dark tunnel.

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Heart-centered action is how you move forward. One step, then another. Always moving towards the light, towards your heart’s desire. LOVE DIRECTED ACTION BRINGS DIVINE RESULTS.

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health

soulFULLY

Health is balance and balance takes growth. Health requires consistently practicing self-loving habits to BALANCE your body and QUIET your mind. It also requires the willingness to become multi-sensory: to SEE, HEAR, FEEL and KNOW Spirit within you.

Health SoulFULLY happens when you OPEN your heart and

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CONNECT with Spirit. Using these four clairs and connecting to Spirit allows you to sense the Divine love that is present in your daily life. With practice, this loving connection to the Divine allows you to overcome the stressors causing your dis-ease, including fear. Living Health SoulFULLY heals you and others in your life. When you change the way you view yourself, your view of others also changes. As a result, in time, what you see is more LOVE: you give more love and receive more love in return. Love is the greatest gift of all.

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DR. SUE'S

FAVORITES

FOR BODY, MIND, SPIRIT

TOLERANT LENTIL PASTA Kids love pasta! This ONE ingredient pasta is a great way to boost plant-based protein in your family’s diet with gluten-free, organic, NON-GMO red and green lentils.

A small serving of a few ounces packs 21 to 22 grams of protein versus 3.5 grams of protein in the same size serving of wheat pasta. Plus, the texture is great - unlike many mushy gluten-free grain pastas. Bravo! http://tolerantfoods.com

RX BARS These bars packs a real tasty protein punch with so few ingredients: egg whites, dates, nuts and natural flavors that come from the essential oils of ingredients like cocoa, peppermint and coconut. Coconut Chocolate is my favorite with 12 grams of protein, but since that comes with 13 grams of sugar from dates, these bars are a treat, not a staple in my diet. www.rxbar.com

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HEADSPACE Headspace is a gym membership for the mind. It’s meditation made simple because you can use it when you want, where you want. With just ten minutes a day, you’re guided through a meditation from an app on your phone or other electronic device. A great tool to quiet your mind so you can hear Spirit daily. www.headspace.com

YOGA DOWNLOAD Take yoga anywhere for $10 per month. Choose from a wide variety of yoga styles, then practice your way – anytime, anywhere. It’s like your own personal yoga studio in the palm of your hand. You can stream from any device, and download your favorites to keep forever. Pretty sweet! Or should I say sweat? www.yogadownload.com

A RETURN TO LOVE:

REFLECTIONS ON THE PRINCIPLES OF "A COURSE IN MIRACLES"

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” If this quote from author Marianne Williamson speaks to you, read this book!

Through humorous personal narrative, Marianne shows you how to choose love and drop fear in any area of your life: health, wealth, and/or relationships. With over a million copies sold since 1992, this book has made a significant impact on many lives. It is a timeless gem. www.marianne.com

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“EVERYONE IS A SPIRITUAL BEING LIVING A HUMAN EXPERIENCE AND WHEN WE SHARE OUR SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE WITH OTHERS, WE TEACH IT! WE ARE ALL SPIRITUAL TEACHERS. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE OF US.” —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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CLICK HERE to subscribe.

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“As we are liberated FROM OUR OWN FEAR, OUR PRESENCE AUTOMATICALLY

liberates others.”

–MARIANNE WILLIAMSON

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