Dr. Sue Health SoulFULLY : Issue 08 PREVIEW

ISSUE NO.08

MOVE! Rest.

Feel Your Resistance and Do It Anyway

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...

The hardest part of working out IS working out!!!

Guess that’s why it’s called ‘work’ing out. If you’re pushing your limits, it’s painful. It is emotionally and physically painFULL. When resistance screams, “STOP,” what will keep you going? In this issue learn how to push through resistance and in the process become physically and emotionally stronger.

Move! Rest.

We need both for health.

Health is balance.

Feel your resistance & do it anyway.

Here we go…

Sue McCreadie, MD drsuemccreadie.com @drsuemccreadie

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I S S U E NO . 08

PUSH YOUR LIMITS & MOVE! Anchor Yourself in Your Desires

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10 FEEL YOUR RESISTANCE AND DO IT ANYWAY Action is the Key

22 MOVE TO CLEANSE Type B Fun

31 CLEANSE YOUR TOXIC THOUGHTS Release What No Longer Serves You

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16 EXERCISE ESSENTIALS Trust the Process

24 THE DYNAMIC DUO Detoxification & Drainage

36 STIR YOUR SOUL Do You Want Reasons or Results?

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CLEANSING TIPS

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38 TAKE ACTION Let Your Desires Lead Your Way

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I S S U E NO . 08

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REST TO ABSORB Open the Door and Let Nutrition In

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Q&A An interview with Joy Jacobs, PhD

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GUT REPAIR

HEALTH SOULFULLY

Calm Yourself Down

Practice Practice Practice

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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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PUSH YOUR LIMITS & MOVE!

I

always find myself goal setting. Without goals I wander.

Wandering is a good thing. So is sitting on a park bench and watching the passers go by. After I wander, or sit for too long, I always find myself seeking a new goal. Eye-opening statistics, such as the average 30 to 60 year old gains a pound of fat and loses a half-pound of muscle per year, have a way of kicking my butt into action! After reading this stat, I committed to a 4-month challenge to follow a nutritional cleansing system and exercise six times a week mixing cardio with resistance training.

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fortitude and energy to live the life I desire, to live my soulFULL purpose. The routine of cleansing (releasing junk) is where I’ve failed time and time again. I’d do Within this same 4-month chal- a 21-day cleanse and have the lenge I also set a goal to shave best of intentions to cleanse four two minutes off my mile running times a year, but I’d struggle to pace so I could run do it again until anwith my husband, other year passed.

YES I WANT LESS aka trainer Dave And though I’ve FAT AND MORE (he’s not a personexercised outside al fitness trainer, MUSCLE, BUT I ALSO of sports since he’s an engineer high school, I had WANT THE MENTAL who takes his exeronly committed to cise quite seriousa cardio/resistance FORTITUDE AND ly). Ask any runner, six times a week ENERGY TO LIVE and most would program one other THE LIFE I DESIRE, time. I knew comagree, that improving your pace mitting to these TO LIVE MY SOULis HARD work. But two powerhouses FULL PURPOSE. I was determined. (nutritional cleansWarrior spirit. ing with cardio/ resistance training) wasn’t going I anchored myself in my desire to to be a cakewalk, but I wanted feel light, lean, STRONG, and en- results. ergized! These words have both physical and emotional layers.

Yes I want less fat and more muscle, but I also want the mental

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LIGHT LEAN STRONG ENERGIZED w w w. d rs u e mcc re ad i e . com

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FEEL YOUR RESISTANCE

AND DO IT

ANYWAY

T

he hardest part of working out IS working out!!!

Guess that’s why it’s called ‘work’ing out. If you’re pushing your limits, it’s painful. It is emotionally and

physically painFULL. When resistance screamed, “STOP,” I kept going, and I leaned into my desire to be light, lean, STRONG, and energized! It was my commitment to those four words that pushed me through the resistance and in the process made me stronger.

I committed to sharing my 4-month journey with others.

Usually I stay in the closet about my personal transformation

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challenges and resisted sharing with others. Sharing can be scary. It requires you to be vulnerable, open, exposed. So I’d hide, but eventually my friends would find me, pry open the door, peek inside and ask, “What are you doing now?!?” So this time I decided to let everyone in from the beginning.

Not only for the love and support they’d provide, but to help me stay accountable to my goal over 17 weeks, 120 days, 102 workouts and 18 cleanses. But who’s counting?

I had been measuring my results consistently throughout the first 49 days of my 4-month journey. By day 49 I had managed to drop 1 minute and 31 seconds off my pace. Every mile I ran 91 seconds faster! When I finished that fastest run, only the 14th run of my 4 month challenge, I was already less than 30 seconds from my final goal!!

I cried.

I can’t quite capture the emotion I felt, but the birthday card Dave gave me 8 months earlier did perfectly: “Remember when you were little? And cake was like ‘WOW’ and presents were like ‘NO WAY!’ and parties were like, ‘THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!’ And by the end of it all, you were so birthdayed out that you went to bed with YOUR FAVORITE GIFT STILL HUGGED TO YOUR HEART because NO ONE COULD PRY IT AWAY from your frosting-sticky hands?” I opened the card and it said: “Today isn’t like that. Happy Birthday.” Ha. So true,

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BEST

DAY

EVER

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my birthday that year was far

My heart was EXPANDING, spiri-

from WOW and NO WAY!, but

tually opening. I started to notice

the day I finished my run with less

my fastest runs were after I had

than 30 seconds from my goal

just “dumped junk.” Not bath-

pace was LIKE THE BEST DAY

room junk, emotional junk that

EVER! I hugged that run so close

weighed my happiness down. If

to my heart that no one could

I had stepped out of my comfort

pry it away from me. It was mine.

zone and shared with another

All mine. I did it! The best part of

the nutritional cleansing system

running faster was that Dave and

I was doing, I ran faster. If I bared

I were that much closer to run-

my soul with FULL transparency

ning together for exercise.

on a piece I was writing, I ran faster. If I reprioritized my to-do

After I finished that 14th run

list to bring my burden bucket

trainer Dave texted, “You are

closer to zero, I ran faster. The

rocking it!!! Keep chipping away.

So awesome. This is all about muscle. Your heart muscle is getting stronger because you’re

key was ACTION. I had to take

action. I wasn’t just noticing

the thoughts and things that were bringing me down, but

doing high-intensity cardio and

taking action to release them.

your legs and arms are getting

The result? I felt lighter, lean-

stronger from the weights and

er, STRONGER and more

explosive exercises. Keep grind-

energized! My heart grew

ing. The results are yours for the

stronger and I ran fast-

taking. And you're earning them.

er. Action brings re-

Very proud.”

sults, and results feel good.

My heart muscle was growing stronger, but not just physically.

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THE KEY WAS

ACTION.

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EXERCISE ESSENTIALS BALANCE CONSISTENCY SUPPLEMENT MEASURE I S S U E NO . 08

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BALANCE YOUR WORKOUTS

Health is balance and the balance within your workouts inI S S U E NO . 08 volves cardiorespiratory training (cardio) and resistance (weight) training. You need both for health. Although both burn calories, cardio strengthens your heart and lungs while resistance training strengthens your muscles and indirectly strengthens your bones too (bye bye osteoporosis!). When your muscles become stronger you actually burn more calories at rest. Who doesn’t want to burn fat while sitting or sleeping?

Walk, run, swim, bike, DANCE, box, but also lift weights and use your bodyweight as resistance (yoga, pilates, Pure Barre). Be adventurous! Run sprints, lift heavier weights, mix in yoga or long endurance bike rides. Variety is the key to ensuring your body continues to reap the benefits of your hard work. Change the type of cardio and resistance exercises you do day to day and change the intensity at which you do them. Just make sure you do both.

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BE CONSISTENT

ing to be able to get lighter, leaner, STRONGER and more energized in a week. ReMy desire during the 4-month search shows there is value in challenge was to be light, lean, setting short term goals – results STRONG, and energized. Those that can be achieved quickly four words consistently pushed – en route to long term goals. me through any resistance I felt. These short term goals continuEven when I’d journal, “OMG. ally change as you move towards I have to run today. Why do I your long term goals. My short I S S U E NO . 08 dread it so?” I’d still run. Running term goals included working out and cleansing were my great- 6 times a week and getting to est challenges over those 120 the gym 3 times a week for resisdays. They pushed me, pulled tance training. These short term me, broke me down. But I did goals were attainable if I stuck to them anyway. I’d plow through my routine and was consistent, my resistance, week after week, which I was. I did it! After those just by showing up. Ask yourself, two weeks my short term goals “WHY will I commit to exercising for the next two weeks included regularly? What feeling am I af- increasing the number of caloter?” These feelings anchor you ries I burned during cardio trainto consistently show up for ev- ing and increasing the weight ery workout, and push you to fly or number of reps until muscle through any resistance you feel, failure during resistance training. I continued to see small but over and over again. mighty successes along the way Remember, you are not going to to my long term goals. I am now achieve every result in a week. lighter, leaner, STRONGER and Change takes time. I wasn’t go- more energized!

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I S S U E NO . 08

SUPPLEMENT YOUR SHORTCOMINGS Share your journey with a community that believes in your success.

It’s tribal. The love they pour into you FUELS your soul to keep going.

During that 4-month challenge I received this text from my totally fit rockin’ bod runner friend, “Dude, you are kicking butt with your workouts!!!” Yes, I’ll receive that. Thank you!

Need a coach? Hire one or find an accountability partner for free. Use a nutritional cleansing system to fill your body with the fuel it needs and release the junk it doesn’t. A coach and nutritional program provide you with a plan. Follow it. Be consistent. Trust the process.

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ture to track my ovulation cycle I cringed. I didn’t want to stick a thermometer up my birth canal every morning to measure my temperature for ideal conception timing. “Would you?” I said to her. She smiled wisely and told me the best advice she ever received was one word: compartmentalize. “When you don’t want to do something, but you know you need to do it, comI S S U E NO . 08 partmentalize it," she explained.

"Do it and let it go. Don’t ruin your whole day ruminating over it.” Genius. Measure your results. Heart rate monitors make Set a goal and measure your re- measuring workouts easy. I track sults. It’s solid information you how long I stay in my fat burning can lean on when you feel you’re zone, how many total calories I not making progress towards burn, and my average and peak your long-term goal. I used to heart rates during the workout. I resist measuring. It seemed nar- also do 4-months challenges and cissistic, hyper-focused and just take my body measurements beanother thing I’d have to do, fore and after each one.. Usually until I met a medical doctor acu- progress is happening, it’s just puncturist who helped bring my not happening as fast as you’d oldest daughter into this world. like. Measuring your results When she asked me to mea- helps you see that progress, big sure my basal body tempera- or small.

MEASURE YOUR RESULTS

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I S S U E NO . 08

When you don’t want to do something, but you know you need to do it, compartmentalize it.

Do it and let it go.

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MOVE TO I S S U E NO . 08

TYPE B FUN. Ever heard of it? Neither had I until my Outward

Bound instructor defined it. We were somewhere in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range ascending towards our 14,000 foot peak. Sunny clear skies graced us, but created suncups – open bowl-shaped depressions in the snow tightly packed together in a honeycomb pattern. Fields of suncups forced us to walk on the narrow ridges that separated each one. I never knew whether the ridge would or would not collapse under the weight of my feet. This tired my psyche and my ankles!

Behind schedule, we had to navigate a field of suncups in the dark.

Double trouble. Where my instructor was in her zone, flowing gracefully through these suncups, I had no rhythm on the dance floor. I just couldn’t find a beat, a groove. At times I was laughing hysterically, at other times crying. The experience was pulling, stretching, and EXHAUSTING. When we arrived at camp, she enlightened me: Type A fun is fun while you’re doing it and Type B fun is fun after it’s all over.

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Ahhh. It’s over and I’m all smiles! Got it. I’ll never forget Type B fun.

Cleansing (self-induced detoxification) is Type B fun. You’re all smiles after it’s over.

Your body is designed to clean itself by neutralizing toxins (detoxification) and eliminating toxins (drainage). A toxin is any substance that places stress on your body’s biochemical pathways. Exogenous toxins are substances you take in from outside your body and endogenous toxins are waste products created inside your body from cellular metabolism. You’re constantly bombarded with toxins in the form of environmental chemicals, from the air you breathe and the food you eat, to the lotions and potions you rub all over your body and home.

You may forget though that cells are living…they breathe, digest, and dump themselves! So even if you ate perfectly, drank artesian spring water blessed by a Zen monk, and lived in a chemical-free bubble, you'd still have to dump your endogenous toxins.

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I S S U E NO . 08

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D E T O X I F I C AT I O N DRAINAGE I S S U E NO . 08

T

he liver is the body’s main detoxification organ. It is responsible for neutralizing both exogenous and endogenous toxins, and converting fat-soluble toxins to water-soluble toxins so they can be released through the urine. To keep your body clean, toxins “drain” or exit through your kidneys (urine), digestive tracts (stool), lungs (breath), skin (sweat) and nervous system (emotions). Think of detoxifica-

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tion as a calm mom taking her over-zealous toddler by the hand before she touches and possibly breaks another fragile item in the store. The easiest analogy for drainage is your kitchen sink.

You have to drain the dirty water from your kitchen sink if you want the next set of dishes to be clean. Yet for our bodies, most of us are in short supply of “calm moms” and are wasting time washing dishes in dirty water and expecting them to get clean.

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UNFORTUNATELY, OUR MODERN LIFESTYLE EXPOSES US TO AN INCREASINGLY COMPLEX (AND DETERIORATING) ENVIRONMENT, SO THAT OUR [BODY’S BUILTI S S U E NO . 08

IN] DETOXIFICATION SYSTEMS MUST WORK OVERTIME JUST TO PROCESS THE TOXINS WE ENCOUNTER IN EVERYDAY LIFE. MANY OF US HAVE EXCEEDED OUR CAPACITY FOR CLEANSING. —MARK HYMAN, MD

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These overworked, stressed out self-cleaning systems are raising their white flags shouting “cease fire,” “let’s negotiate,” or maybe even, “we surrender!” Just one problem: without them, we’re dead! So we “negotiate” and do our best to reduce our toxic load. We Eat Green and Live Green! We eat food that grows as nature intended and stop filling ourselves with processed grains and sugars, refined oils, hydrogenated fats, and factory farmed meat and seafood. We also reduce our toxic load by choosing lotions and potions that are safer for our bodies and Mother Earth. All good.

But we can do more!

I S S U E NO . 08

Beyond reducing our toxic load, we can give our self-cleaning systems a much needed reboot through routine cleansing. Effective cleansing programs that heal (re-balance) our body require patience and effort.

They’re not quick short fixes. They’re hard work (Type B fun)! It’s not my idea of a good time and I think most would agree, it’s hard to gear up to do a cleanse. Cleanses can last one day or 21 days. We can cleanse once a week or once a year. They can range from consuming just liquids, to replacing everything you consume that is processed with food that grow as nature intended.

The routine of cleansing is where I’ve failed time and time again. Now I cleanse once weekly and after 25 cleanses (6 months) I no longer resist cleanse days. In fact, I often look forward to them. The release feels good! Type B fun!

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CLEANSING

TIPS

ROUTINE MATTERS. Most people don’t routinely cleanse because it’s hard! Yet U E NOa. 08one ROUTINE is key! It’sI S Snot and done type of thing because you’re under constant “fire” from the food you eat, the air you breathe and the lotions and potions you use. It’s important to cleanse regularly. With the greatest of intentions I’ve attempted 21-day cleanses quarterly and failed. Three months between each cleanse was too long for me. I’d find my comfy cozy zone and it was too hard for me to gear up to do another cleanse.

Weekly cleanses work best for me. Cleansing every seven days consistently dumps my junk and elevates my health and happiness. Find a routine that works best for you and stick with it!

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NUTRITION MATTERS. To process toxins effectively (neutralize and remove them), vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients are required. I use a nutritional cleansing system to support my cleanses. If you cleanse without adequately supporting your self-cleansing systems you’re going to feel it and it won’t feel good! Headaches, low-energy, irritability, skin outbreaks, bloating and constipation are just a handful of the symptoms you may experience when you’re not adequately supported during your cleanse. Fuel your cleanses with the right nutrition!

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HYDRATION MATTERS. Drinking at least half your bodyweight in ounces of water helps your kidneys cleanse toxins. I drink a gallon of water on cleansing days which roughly equates to an ounce of water per pound. Drink water!

MOVEMENT MATTERS. Movement improves the release of toxins. Physical activity pumps your lymphatic system, the system that carries your body’s cellular waste to the blood so it can be filtered by the liver and kidneys and released through stool and urine (skin brushing and rebounding – bouncing up and down on a mini trampoline – also help move the lymphatic fluid).

As you move, you breathe and sweat which help toxins release through your lungs and skin. Be sure to move!

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MINDSET MATTERS. I S S U E state NO . 08 your intention beClearly fore you start cleansing. Anchor yourself in your desire. Why are you cleansing? Get past the pounds and inches to something deeper. My desires are light, lean, STRONG, and energized.

These words have both physical and emotional layers. Yes I want less fat and more muscle, but I also want the mental fortitude and energy to live the life I desire, to live my soulFULL purpose. Pounds and inches aren’t enough for me to keep doing the hard work of cleansing. I cleanse to clear my mind and revitalize my soul. Cleansing is a spiritual process.

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“If we look at fasting throughout history, we see that people have always fasted for the purpose of overall well-being and having insight into something I S S U E NO . 08

deeper. There are no historical references to fasting so as to look better in a bikini.”

—MARC DAVID

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FOUNDER OF THE INSTITUTE FOR THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EATING IN BOULDER, COLORADO

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CLEANSE YOUR TOXIC THOUGHTS

E

ffective cleansing pro- titude) to one that serves your I S S U E NO . 08 grams are about increas- health and happiness. It requires ing your physical and taking an inventory of where emotional vitality. You release your thoughts and actions are what no longer serves you. As out of alignment with your valyou routinely cleanse and dump ues and desires. Where are you your physical waste products, hemorrhaging your time, eneryour body is lighter (hello clean gy, money, and/or power instead cells!) and your mood elevates. of putting them to better use?

Lightness feels good!

Make a list of that which no longer serves your soul. I call it my You can increase your emotion- “Soul Sucking List”. al vitality (hello joy!) by adding emotional cleansing to your I didn’t realize it at the time, but physical detox regimen. Our my Outward Bound Sierra Nevathoughts can be toxic, very tox- da Mountain Range three-week ic. Emotional cleansing releases adventure was an emotional dethoughts that no longer serve tox. I had just finished my firstyou and resets your mindset (at- year of medical school (intellect

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overwhelm) and called it quits with my boyfriend (heart broken).

I was out of balance. I needed to fill my heart UP with joy. I needed to PLAY! Move. Breathe fresh air.

Walk, one foot in front of the other. I needed to commune with complete strangers.

I opted for no food. Adventure!

Two feet in I started my 72-hour physical and emotional cleanse.

It was a LONG time to think about food, let my mind wander, and try to write something profound in my journal. Rest and reflection. Taking an emotional inventory of my toxic thoughts, Coincidently the adventure in- thoughts that no longer served cluded a 3-day solo, time alone my health and happiness, was “for rest and repretty easy. I was I S S U E NO . 08 flection.”

Very so clearly living THAT wise.

Balance! out of my integShelter, water, and RELATIONSHIP rity, I had been periodic instructor hemorrhaging my SUCKED THE check-ins (without time and eneryou seeing) were gy to a man who LIFE OUT provided.

Solid didn’t love ME. I food was optional. value love. I deOF ME. sire to love and to DEAD BRANCH. be loved. That relationship sucked the life out of me.

Dead branch. It was time to fill myself back up again.

Time to let go of

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a man and a relationship that no longer served me. Let it fall to the ground, decompose and transform back into life giving soil.

tears, whaling actually, sitting between two men whose very presence provided the healing space I required. Profound love.

Cleansing (self-induced detoxification) is Type B fun. You’re all smiles after it’s over.

I S S U E NO . 08

I didn’t let the poison from that relationship fully go until TWELVE YEARS after Outward Bound. I finally birthed out that hurt during a healing exercise at Peak Potential’s Enlightened Warrior Camp.

During the exercise I wrote this letter to man “X”: “I now understand that what you did and that it had NOTHING to do with me and everything to do with you.

You were projecting your story and programming onto me. I unknowingly let in your poison.

I now choose to let that poison GO. I choose to fully RELEASE myself from this hurt.” Lots of

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Time to be BOLD! Look at your “Soul Sucking List” and start trimming each item OFF of it. Maybe you tackle one at a time or the whole list in one fell swoop. Feel the fear, your resistance, and do it anyway. It’s liberation. FREEDOM! You’re trimming away all your life sucking dead branches. Act with clear intention and purpose. Every time you trim a branch OFF you give back vital energy to your roots so they can grow stronger

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“THE BODY IS YOUR TEMPLE. KEEP IT PURE AND CLEAN FOR THE SOUL TO RESIDE IN.” —B.K.S. IYENGAR, YOGA: THE PATH TO HOLISTIC HEALTH

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FEEL THE and bear life-givWhat would you RESISTANCE ing fruit. Dead do just because branches don't YOU want to do TO CLEANSE bear fruit. They’re it? What would DEAD. They don’t you do just beAND DO IT give you vitalicause it fills YOU ty, they drain life up? Makes your ANYWAY. from you, so trim heart SMILE, your them off. Let go of soul HAPPY! What thoughts and acwould you do if tions that no longer serve you. you had “forever” – all of time Let them fall to the ground, de- in your pocket? If someone I S S U E NO . 08 compose and transform into life said, “STOP,” you’d holler back, giving soil. Recycling at it’s best!

“WAIT, I just need another minute!” What would you be doing As you declutter your mind, let in that exact moment? Got it? your emotions FLY! Stuck emo- That’s play for you. That’s your tions are toxic. Emotions are heart food, your SOUL food. Eat meant to come and go. Emotion it often. Do it! is energy in motion. Emote. Up. Down. In. Out. Happy. Sad. An- Feel the resistance to cleanse gry. Mad. Feel it ALL. Let your and do it anyway. Start where emotions MOVE out of you! Let your heart leads you. Maybe it’s it be fun. PLAY! Humans are born an emotional cleanse, maybe it’s creatives. Play is necessary – not a physical cleanse. Maybe you optional – for your health and jump two feet in and do both at happiness. Play pushes you to ex- the same time! Find your rhythm pand your heart, your joy, WIDE and repeat. EMOTE. After the open to receive deeper insights cleanse comes new life. Rebirth. into your life’s journey and purpose. Joy and Balance. Health is Balance.

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STIR YOUR SOUL I S S U E NO . 08

STEP 1

We each have our laundry list of reasons why we don’t do things that we know we should make a priority in our lives.

The most common excuse for not exercising is, “I don’t have the time.” A post I saw on Instagram puts an interesting spin on using time as an excuse: “Instead of saying, ‘I don’t have the time,’ try saying, ‘It’s not a priority,’ and see how that feels.” Wowza. It stings a bit doesn’t it?

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WHAT THING IN YOUR LIFE SHOULD BE GETTING A FRONT SEAT ON YOUR PRIORITY LIST but keeps getting kicked back to the end of the line because you believe you don’t have the time? Is it healthy eating? Exercise? More sleep? Resting? Playing more like a kid or with your kids?

WRITE DOWN THE FIRST THREE THINGS THAT COME TO MIND. These are the top three things you should prioritize but aren’t for whatever x, y, or z reason. Do you want reasons or results? If you want results, tackle your reasons head on by asking yourself: Is (fill in your reason) worth sacrificing my health and happiness? Is (fill in your reason) worth me choosing dis-ease over I S S U Eworth NO . 08 not my health? Is (fill in your reason) achieving BALANCE in my life?

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TAKE ACTION STEP 2 LET GO OF THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS I S S U E NO . 08 THAT NO LONGER SERVE YOU Say a prayer to release thoughts and actions that no longer serve you. .

Write them on a piece of paper and ceremonially burn them. Feel the fear, your resistance, and do it anyway. Paper, fire, air. Transformation and release. Say to yourself:

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“I ate the poison and gave away my power. I hereby declare it back.”

INHALE and release. EXHALE, let it all out.

“I now free myself from that which I can’t control back to myself which I can control.

Please help guide me in ALL ways to accept the things I cannot change.

Please fill me up with light and LOVE, unconditional love. May I feel this freedom & become empowered once again. Amen.”

ACT WITH CLEAR INTENTION AND PURPOSE Take a long hard look at the items on your “Soul Sucking List” and start removing them from your to-do list. Trim these dead branches and give back vital energy to your roots so they can grow stronger and bear life-giving fruit. Stop allowing your thoughts and actions to suck the life out of you.

Dead is dead. Trim them away. Let go. Let dead fall to the ground, decompose and transform into life giving soil. Recycle. Rebirth.

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ASK FOR GUIDANCE ON THE NEXT BEST STEP What’s the next best step for you to create SPACE for new growth, new life? The first thing that comes to mind is your answer.

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CREATE YOUR CALM DOWN LIST List ways you rest to restore yourSelf. Here’s my list: • journal • meditation • yoga • pray and play (feed my heart soul food) • alone time: I restore by spending plenty of time by myself, which is best accomplished between 5 and 7 am in the morning while everyone else is sleeping.

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• deep breathing: Stress can creep up on me when I am driving my car, in a store, at a middle school band concert, or in church. I restore calm through my breath with the So Hum Mantra Meditation. With every inhale I silently repeat the word “So,” and with every exhale I silently repeat the word “Hum.” When my mind drifts to another thought, sound or sensation, I return to my breath – inhale “So” and exhale “Hum.” My breathing slows, my mind eases and my anxiety, fear, anger, or shame release. When stress returns, sometimes moments later, I go back to my breath again – inhale “So,” exhale “Hum.” Rinse and repeat.

LET YOUR DESIRES LEAD YOUR WAY Now that your mind is clear and you have tools in place to calm down and think clearly you can effectively write your priority list. To everything there is a season. Depending on what else is going on in your life your priority list changes. Let your priority list be fluid, dynamic, but always be brutally honest with yourself when writing that list. For every item on your list, ask what feeling you desire from accomplishing that item. I would never exercise unless I focused beyond the resistance to my desire to feel lighter, leaner, STRONGER, and more energized. I just wouldn’t do the work. How do you want to feel? Let your desire(s) help you prioritize.

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AN INTERVIEW WITH

JOY JACOBS, PhD Joy Jacobs, PhD is a clinical psychologist, life coach, certified teacher of kundalini yoga, and a teacher and student of A Course in Miracles. Featured by the Today Show, Elle Magazine, and Time Magazine for her expertise in these areas, Dr. Joy melds the best of Western psychotherapy with simple and powerful spiritual tools that provide a path for complete healing for her clients. She provides individual, family and group therapy for adults, adolescents, and children with eating disorders and weight management concerns. Currently an assistant clinical professor at the UCSD School of Medicine, Dr. Joy completed her doctoral training in clinical psychology at UCSD, graduated summa cum laude from Duke University for her undergraduate studies, and received her juris doctorate from Harvard Law School. Prior to pursuing a career in psychology, she worked on the editorial staff of Vogue magazine. www.drjoyjacobs.com

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I’M SO EXCITED TO TALK TO YOU BECAUSE YOU HAVE SUCH AN INTERESTING SKILL SET. HOW WERE YOU CALLED TO PSYCHOLOGY? HOW DID YOU KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE A PSYCHOLOGIST? It was an evolution. You’ll laugh but when I was growing up Oprah was my babysitter. My mom was in law school and my older brothers were very busy. I would

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come home every day and watch Oprah after school. I was mesmerized by all the personal development and self-help episodes. That was my first hint.

When graduating from college I knew I wanted to either go to law school or become a psychologist.

I am from a family of lawyers and it seemed to be a natural path for me and my family that I become a lawyer. When I got to law school it immediately became very clear that it was not what I wanted to do. I didn’t feel like I was going to be able to help people the way I wanted to help them. But I felt like I needed to stay and complete it. I was very miserable the entire time I was there. I had struggled with eating and eating disorders throughout my early childhood and teens, and those problems really flared up while I was in law school because I was just so miserable. I had a really big wakeup call after I graduated from law school and went to a big New York City law firm – my eating disorder got completely out of control. I decided I needed to take my life back and I wrote a resignation letter to the law firm. I walked out that door and walked into my recovery because I knew that was the only way I was going to make it.

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YOU WENT TO AN INPATIENT TREATMENT PROGRAM?

lifelong patterns is very difficult, but I knew that’s what I needed to do and I just did it. Within weeks and months I was so much better.

No. I wanted and needed to, but there were not as many recovery centers in the late 90s. There were no openings for months in the places that were recommended to me. I instead put together a treatment team by myself with a dietician, a therapist, and a medical doctor and really resurrected myself and got my life back on track.

WOW, GOOD FOR YOU. CHANGING SUCH INGRAINED PATTERNS IS REALLY TOUGH. IS THAT WHAT LED YOU TO PSYCHOLOGY?

HOW LONG WAS THAT PROCESS FOR YOU TO COME BACK TO A BALANCED WAY OF EATING OR IS IT STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS? I had met with many dieticians in the past and never really felt like they got me or I wasn’t willing to follow their advice. This time I was in such a place of desperation that I was finally willing to just surrender and let someone else tell me what to do and actually follow their advice. When you hit rock bottom you know that you have no choice and that’s where I was. When I found the right people I started getting better right away. Changing

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This didn’t immediately cause me to jump into psychology.

I spent about three or four years working in publishing and media. I refer to those jobs as my recovery jobs.

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YOU WERE THE FASHION EDITOR FOR VOGUE MAGAZINE FOR A WHILE. HOW DID YOU GO FROM LAW TO THAT?

I have always loved fashion and had been an English major and a great writer. After entering my recovery, and seeing how powerful it could be, I knew that I had to make this my life’s purpose: helping others do the same. I also knew I needed more time. I needed recovery time; I needed to prove to myself that I could hold down a job and not just hide in school forever. One step led to another: first I worked in book publishing; then made connections with people at Vogue where eventually there was an opening and they hired me. It was serendipitous. I was in the flow and great things happened. It wasn’t premeditated or preplanned, I just allowed myself to be open to possibility and one thing led to another. I loved it at Vogue but after a while I

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still really felt I wanted to do the psychology thing. At 26, a licensed attorney, a graduate of Harvard Law School, a Vogue employee, going back to school was really humbling.

But I really wanted it!

CAN YOU SHARE A BIT ABOUT KNOWING YOU WANTED TO BE A PSYCHOLOGIST FOCUSING ON EATING DISORDERS AND HOW YOUR PRACTICE HAS EVOLVED WITH RESPECT TO HOW YOU HELP PEOPLE HEAL? It has really changed dramatically. I was trained in academic research based medical psychology and practiced that way for many years. All the rules and boundaries around practicing that way always felt so limited. This lead me to begin researching other ways of healing: I discovered Gabby Bernstein’s work and it really resonated with me; I started learning more and learning meditation; I became a

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certified kundalini yoga instructor. I just kept digging deeper and deeper and finding all of these “alternative tools” that bring profound healing.

I also do some coaching now in addition to traditional therapy. I like to help people not only heal from an illness but to really live in joy and radiance – to live a life that feels totally fulfilling. With coaching there’s more room for a lot of these spiritual tools. My practice is a marriage of the best things from coaching and the best things from therapy. In addition to working with eating disorder clients I also work with a range of people.

WEREN’T YOU ALSO A STUDENT AND A TEACHER OF A COURSE IN MIRACLES? Yes, you’re right. I read Marianne Williamson’s book, A Return to Love, when I was in my 20s but it didn’t really resonate with me then.

I picked it up again four years ago, in the midst of a health journey, to address my endocrine and immune systems, and it gave me answers that western medicine was not. A course in miracles helped me along that portion of my health journey.

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THE MARRIAGE OF ALL OF THIS SOUNDS WONDERFUL, AND MAKES A LOT OF SENSE. IN MY HOLISTIC PRACTICE WE DO FOCUS ON HOW WE EAT AND WHAT WE EAT. I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR A LITTLE ABOUT ORTHOREXIA. THIS IS A NEW CONCEPT FOR ME AND MANY READERS MAY NOT MUCH ABOUT IT.

KNOW

Orthorexia was something that was initially more of a slang, pop psychology term. Now it’s become part of the diagnostic manual.

Ortho means right. It’s a concern with eating “right.” It is healthy eating taken to the extreme and it becomes dysfunctional, an obsession.

Addressing it requires a lot of the same techniques and tools that any other eating disorder would require in terms of normalizing eating, legalizing foods and just introducing more balance overall.

WOW, FASCINATING. THIS POINTS TO SUCH A FINE LINE BETWEEN BALANCE AND IMBALANCE WHERE HEALTHY EATING IS CONCERNED. YOU MUST SEE THAT WITH YOUR PATIENTS.

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Absolutely. It’s a very nuanced, subjective diagnosis. Often times it’s self-diagnosed because when someone realizes that their healthy eating has made it impossible for them to go out and eat lunch or dinner with friends, or just function on a vacation because they can’t get their foods, it becomes pretty obvious. Sometimes there is weight loss associated with it depending on what the rules are that the eater has set for him/herself. It’s very individual.

WOW, THAT IS COMPLEX. WHEN YOU ARE INVOLVED IN THE HEALTHY EATING WORLD YOU WANT YOURSELF AND EVERYONE AROUND YOU TO BE EATING AS CLEAN AS POSSIBLE. AND WITH CERTAIN PERSONALITY TYPES, LIKE MINE, IT CAN BE TRICKY. I WANTED MY FAMILY TO BE EATING AS HEALTHILY AS POSSIBLE. IT WAS MY HUSBAND WHO HELPED ME KEEP THINGS ON TRACK. I REMEMBER THERE WAS THIS ONE MOMENT WHEN HE SAID, “YOU KNOW SUE, OUR KIDS ARE GOING TO BE OKAY,” AND I HAD

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TEARS RUNNING DOWN MY FACE. HE CONTINUED BY SAYING, “THEY KNOW WHAT’S HEALTHY AND WHAT’S NOT AND THAT’S WHAT MATTERS MOST. YOU’VE GIVEN THEM THE EDUCATION, SO YOU CAN RELEASE THAT CONTROL.” I WORK WITH SO MANY PARENTS FOR WHOM PART OF THE HEALING PROCESS IS CHANGING THEIR CHILDREN'S DIETS. IT IS REAL WORK FOR THESE PARENTS TO NOT BECOME HYPER FOCUSED ON CONTROLLING THEIR CHILDREN’S DIETS. IT CAN BECOME EMOTIONALLY STRESSFUL FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY, EVERYONE BECOMES MISERABLE AND IT’S COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.

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Absolutely. When it comes to kids, as a mom of twins who are now 10 years old, it’s always been very important to me that they can go anywhere and enjoy themselves and also be healthy. But I have worked with parents who have been very, very strict with their kids around eating, even at birthday parties and at special occasions, and it becomes an issue just loaded with tension and conflict and creates a real difficulty in the relationship. I have tried to teach my kids healthy eating habits so that they actually enjoy healthy foods and I have never deprived them. I would get sent photos of my boys at birthday parties and mom’s would say my boys were the only ones eating from the vegetable plate. I was not with my boys telling them to eat those vegetables, those are foods they were drawn to because that’s what I’ve been feeding them all along. I have also modeled it myself and that’s what they’ve been around. We don’t eat fast food and they’re not around processed foods. I have to say they love cake and ice cream probably more than other kids and I don’t know if that’s a little bit of the dark side of not having those foods in our house.

It’s very interesting to be in this field and also to be a mom, you really

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have to walk the talk. You can advise something to families but if you are not implementing it at home then it’s completely meaningless advice and hypocritical. I’m very committed to practicing what I preach.

HOW WOULD YOU APPROACH YOUR CHILD’S DIET IF YOU NEEDED TO ELIMINATE CERTAIN FOODS FOR HEALTH RELATED REASONS? IT’S TRICKY ISN’T IT? It is tricky. I think one of the main tasks is to just really frame it in a health context and not to relate it to weight at all. Most eating disorders are not just about the food but often have a weight and anxiety component. It is also important to try to make food and eating fun, even if it’s not fun in classic terms.

It’s not fun to have a nut allergy and have to be on the lookout for anything that has nuts in it, but I think there’s a way to find the fun in it.

The market provides so many options now that you can get a substitute for almost anything these days.

If they’re going to a sleepover or a birthday party talk to the other parents ahead of time and have a game plan so that your child feels taken care of and has fun.

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THOSE ARE LOVELY WORDS, FEELS TAKEN CARE OF, AND MAKING IT FUN IS A GREAT IDEA. YOU CREATED AN ONLINE PROGRAM CALLED ONE MORE BITE: HEALING YOUR CHILD FROM AN EATING DISORDER. I AM HOPING YOU CAN SPEAK A BIT ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT IS A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO ADDRESSING EATING DISORDERS IN KIDS. IS THIS THE PROGRAM THAT YOU HELPED DEVELOP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE? Yes and it’s based on a protocol that was actually developed in London at Maudsley Hospital called Family Based Treatment for Eating

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Disorders. For decades the traditional approach for treating eating disorders was to exclude the parents from their child’s treatment plan because the parents were viewed as part of the problem. In my practice I was coming across family after family whose children had been in and out of treatment for many years without recovery.

There is empirical research that shows that parental involvement can be one of the most beneficial things in healing a child with an eating disorder. If we can avoid hospitalization of the child, and all the stresses that come with that, then we should. One More Bite is a digital program that trains parents on how to do the re-feeding at home and how to normalize their child’s eating.

THAT’S AMAZING JOY. THAT’S SO AMAZING. I’M SO GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE WORK YOU DO IN THIS WORLD, TRULY. Thank you Sue. I look forward to working together to improve the lives of families on all levels.

I LOOK FORWARD TO THAT TOO. THANK YOU JOY.

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RE ST TO ABSORB

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ou are what you eat, ABSORB, and release.

Eating REAL food – food that grows as nature intended – is only part of the picture.

For your body to access nutrition, your gut must digest and absorb it. Your gut is the key that opens the door and lets nutrition IN. Once inside, nutrients flow into your cells, the smallest functional unit in your body. Cells make up every organ in your body (heart, brain, lungs, liver, kidney, gut) and require oxygen, water, nutrition and cleansing to survive. Getting nutrition into your cells is vital for your health and happiness.

REST. DIGEST. ABSORB. Sounds simple enough, yet it’s been my lifetime struggle. My earliest memory of digestive pain was around 8 years of age.

Summertime. After a morning swim team practice stomach cramps came in piercing waves. I couldn’t ride my bike home, so I walked my bike UP the hill to our house on the cul-desac and collapsed on our family room couch.

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My mom, an emergency room nurse, decided I needed to go to the emergency room (the very one she worked at). A battery of tests followed that determined my pain was from intussusception, one part of my intestine was telescoping or sliding into an adjacent part of my intestine. This is a big problem because it blocks solids and liquids from moving through the digestive tract.

Ouch! A simple (but painFULL) x-ray procedure pushed my intestines back into place.

Relief. Intussusception never recurred, but digestive distress has followed me throughout life. I’ll spare you the bowel details and instead summarize: it’s been a pain in my a**.

I knew my gut was messed up in highschool and so did my friends. Maybe trying to iron out my gas bubbles before a night out on spring break was their first clue! Med school upped the stress ante and my digestive tract paid the price. After continuous requests, I went to my doctor, was labeled with IBS, and sent home with meds to take when symptoms were bad. I’m not the most compliant patient. I craved what i lacked which was a rest from the stress.

Digestion and rest go together like bread and butter.

You need to rest to digest your food and absorb nu-

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trition into your cells. Rest restores balance between your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

These automatically control your breathing, heart rate and digestion without you having to think about it. Ideally the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are balanced, but in med school I was stuck in sympathetic overdrive – too busy living my rat-race life. Who has time for rest?

Life continued to stress my gut, but it wasn’t until my digestive tract went on complete strike after delivering our youngest that I decided to do something about it. After I resurfaced from two years of breastfeeding, diaper changes, and sleepless nights, I was ready to take action. I changed my diet and took gut healing supplements. Nothing happened overnight. Faith kept

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me moving forward. I could feel through the intestines to feed I was on the right path, even your cells, the building blocks of though my digestive symptoms your physical body. didn’t ease until three years later after implementing weekly Your gut does more than just dicleanse days. That 5-year jour- gest. Within the digestive tract ney to rebalancing LIVES your gut flomy digestive sysra, the “forgotten DIGESTION tem has brought organ”. These mia profound undercroorganisms outAND REST GO standing of just number the numhow important diber of cells in your TOGETHER gestion is for one’s ENTIRE body by health. about ten to one.

LIKE BREAD They’re busy little The digestive sysbugs! Healthy gut AND BUTTER. tem runs from flora train your immouth to anus mune system (boot and along the way includes the camp), defend against harmful esophagus, stomach, intestines, bugs (digestive army), digest liver, gallbladder and pancreas. strange invaders (pesticides, All these organs work together dyes, additives), help make vitato digest the food you eat into mins (biotin, folate), and absorb smaller parts: protein into ami- minerals (magnesium, calcium, no acids; fat into fatty acids and iron). These bugs mean business! carbs into monosaccharides. They’re microscopic and mighty.

Once digested, the macronutrients (protein, fat, carbs) and mi- An imbalanced gut flora (digescronutrients (vitamins, minerals, tive dysbiosis) is a digestive diphytonutrients) are absorbed saster. Food is left undigested.

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“A WELL-FUNCTIONING GUT WITH HEALTHY GUT FLORA HOLDS THE ROOTS OF OUR HEALTH. AND LIKE A TREE WITH SICK ROOTS IS NOT GOING TO THRIVE, THE REST OF THE BODY CANNOT THRIVE WITHOUT A WELL-FUNCTIONING DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. THE BACTERIAL POPULATION OF THE GUT – THE GUT FLORA – IS THE SOIL AROUND THESE ROOTS, GIVING THEM THEIR HABITAT, PROTECTION, SUPPORT AND NOURISHMENT.” —NATASHA CAMPBELLMCBRIDE, MD AUTHOR OF GUT AND PSYCHOLOGY SYNDROME

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Vitamins are not made. Minerals are not absorbed. Invaders can take over. Things that should flush down the toilet, sneak into your body instead. Not good.

As Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD describes in her book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome, the healthy gut flora provide a protective layer over the lining of your digestive system, like grass over dirt. If the grass is torn up, the soil beneath it erodes. Without a healthy protective gut flora lining, your gut wall weakens and becomes leaky. That’s why dysbiosis is often referred to as “leaky gut”.

When you think leaky, think holes.

Not huge holes like a ruptured appendix and stat surgery. Microscopic holes, like in a screen door. When you look at a screen door you don’t even see all the little holes, but air finds them on a warm summer day bringing a fresh breeze through your house.

Now imagine a wire scrub brush being used to scrub that screen door. If the scrubbing is forceful

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enough, and goes on for long enough, the holes in that screen become bigger. Now mosquitos can sneak through that screen door, turning your fresh breeze into an incessant high-pitched buzzing in your ear and mosquito bites. Annoying!

Your gut should be a screen door with microscopic holes small enough to absorb nutrients into the body AND keep invaders O.U.T. When your gut is scrubbed with too much sugar, gluten, antibiotics, steroids and other gut disruptors, your protective gut flora gets disrupted.

Without a healthy gut flora lining your gut wall weakens causing your gut to become “leaky.” This leads to partially digested food and microscopic invaders (microorganisms, pesticides, dyes, additives) gaining access into your body. Ouch! Plus, an overly scrubbed gut lining becomes inflamed, which impairs its ability to digest food and absorb nutrients, causing nutritional deficiencies. Boo!

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GUT REPAIR

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outine cleansing can be a giant leap in restoring gut function. Think dirty house. You clean and clean, but you still find more to clean. The cleaning seems endless! In your digestive system, microscopic invaders and toxins are great at hiding. They sneak under a sleeve in your digestive tract, called the biofilm. Hiding under this blanket, they’re safe, but cleansing disrupts their happy place. It’s flushes microscopic invaders and toxins down the toilet, releasing that which no longer serves you. You are what you eat, absorb and release. See Eat REAL Food Fit for You to learn the top 3 foods stressing your health and happiness (including your gut) and what supplements are essential to support a balanced body (and gut).

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Science is still unraveling how the digestive system communicates with the rest of the body to influence health and dis-ease, and stress appears to be a major link. Stress hormones “converse” with microorganisms in our gut. Healthy microorganisms may even reduce the production of these stress hormones. Individuals with a digestive imbalance may never have a digestive symptom, just stress symptoms.

Money worries, sick kids, traffic on work commutes and other psychological stressors, affect your cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems – hello heart attacks and ulcers! Stress compromises your hormone balance, which can translate into insomnia, infertility, thyroid disease, and obesity. But stress doesn’t stop there, it imbalances the immune system (chronic infections, autoimmune disease) and

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H nervous system (anxiety, depression). Short bursts of stress help you if you’re being chased by a hungry lion. But when you self-induce “life or death” stress day in and day out, stress turns into dis-ease. Stress is both helpful and harmful; the key is balance.

Health is balance.

I craved balance, so I finally set “chill out” as a priority and hopped off my spinning gerbil wheel to rest and sleep. I began tracking the number of hours I slept each night, with a goal of seven to eight. I learned I feel best with seven, tired on less than six, and sleepy with more than eight hours of sleep per night.

Like we do with children, I made bedtime a routine. No baths or bedtime stories, but lights out before 10 pm (with social celebratory exceptions of course). I stopped watching tv and doing computer work an hour before bedtime.

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H I mix stress relievers into my daily routine: morning journaling, meditation, a short walk with fresh air. Just before climbing into bed I take a yoga “chill pill” with the standing forward-bend stretch called “uttanasana.”

Thirty seconds to a minute in this pose calms my brain and breathing. After I climb into bed I do the the So Hum Mantra Meditation. So Hum are sanskrit words that can be translated as, "I am."

With my head on my pillow, eyes closed, I observe my breath – in and out. Then with every inhale I silently repeat the word “So,” and with every exhale I silently repeat the word “Hum.” When my mind drifts to another thought, sound or sensation, I return to my breath – inhale “So” and exhale “Hum.” My breathing slows down, my inhale and exhale stretch, my mind eases, and I drift off to sleep. Inhale. Exhale.

Rest. Digest.

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H

H

SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HU SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HU SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HU SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HU SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HU SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HU SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HU SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HU SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HUM SO HU

UTTANASANA

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health

soulFULLY

Health is balance. Move! Rest. Health requires both. Health SoulFULLY happens when you BALANCE your body, QUIET your mind, OPEN your heart and CONNECT with Spirit. Systematically approaching how you think (mindset), what you feel (emotions), and the actions you take (lifestyle), allows you dig DEEP beneath the surface of your visible symptoms and address the underlying problems

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causing your dis-ease (your stressors). You get a clearer picture of exactly what sh*t plopped on your teeter-totter and how it’s throwing you off balance. If you want to play your cards in order to win long-term health you need to not only tailor your diet and lifestyle, but utilize tools to QUIET your mind. With a quiet mind you open your heart to connect to Spirit, so you can feel your way through your life’s journey and more easily access self-empowering thoughts that keep you on a healthy (balanced) track.

Keep loving yourself up!

Practice, practice, practice.

Consistency pays off.

I believe in your journey.

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DR. SUE'S

FAVORITES

FOR BODY, MIND, SPIRIT

EATING EVOLVED CHOCOLATE Chocolate goodness perfected! Eating Evolved’s mission is simple: be the go-to chocolate for health conscious consumers. Check out their fair-trade, certified organic chocolate products free of gluten, dairy, soy and refined sugar. They go beyond chocolate bars with their coconut butter cups and chocolate spreads. They have even taken hot chocolate to the next level adding collagen packed with protein nutrients for your hair, skin, and nails. Nice! www.eatingevolved.com

REAL SALT ORGANIC SEASONING This makes your homemade (or store-bought) bone broth POP. Simple ingredients, full flavor: Real salt, organic onion, organic coriander, organic mustard, organic black pepper, organic paprika, organic celery seed, organic turmeric, and organic parsley. www.redmond.life

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THE 21-DAY SUGAR DETOX PROGRAM DIANE SANFILIPPO, BS, NC

The 21-Day Sugar Detox is a comprehensive, yet simple and effective real-foods based program to help break the chains sugar and carbs have on you – and help you find food freedom. This program is packed with support the way you want it: a quick start guide, program modification guides (for athletes, pregnant or breastfeeding moms, those on AIP, and pescetarians), plus Daily Detox Emails, audio support recordings, and an expertly moderated forum. I referred a friend to this program who followed it and karate chopped his cholesterol in half within 21 days (in addition to shedding pounds of fat and leaving his achy joints as a part of the past). www.21daysugardetox.com

#TRUTHBOMB APP Fire up Danielle LaPorte’s #Truthbomb App. It comes with a library of over 300 #Truthbombs, one for every weekday. A fun way to bring a little light into your day. Then spread the love and post that t’bomb on Insta, FB, or text it to a friend.

Divine play at its best! www.daniellelaporte.com

POLAR FT4 HEART RATE MONITOR This is the no bells or whistles, nicely priced heart rate monitor I use. An easy way to train smarter. It tracks your heart rate so you can stay in your target heart rate zone and it tallies your total calories burned. Simple data that keeps you moving towards your long-term fitness goals. www.polar.com

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“POUNDS AND INCHES AREN’T ENOUGH FOR ME TO KEEP DOING THE HARD

WORK OF CLEANSING.

I CLEANSE TO CLEAR MY MIND AND REVITALIZE MY

SOUL. CLEANSING IS A

SPIRITUAL PROCESS.” —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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Never miss an issue.

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CLICK HERE to subscribe.

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