Faye Alexandrakis of The Gokhale Method Joins The Mayacamas Ranch Reset Retreat to Offer a Free Healthy Back Workshop!

Before I became a patient of Chris Kresser's and about three years into my chronic back pain - after trying many, many things to heal my back short of surgery - a good friend who is an acupuncturist told me about Esther Gohale and the Gokhale Method for helping to relieve back pain.  She let me know that free workshops are offered throughout the country and that one was coming up in Berkeley. I wasn't able to attend so my friend was sweet enough to buy me Esther's book "8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back". 

I love that Esther has devoted her life to helping people with chronic back pain and admire the fact that although she offers paid extensive workshops and private consultations, she is so passionate about sharing her ideas that she also offers the free workshops and the book. She's reaching out to as many people as she can to get her message of healing out. This is what The Healing Farm and The Healing Farm | Retreats aims to do. To bring practical and affordable wellness solutions to the attention of many!

So I was thrilled when the Bay Area's local Gokhale Method Practitioner, Faye Alexandrakis agreed to give a free evening workshop at the Mayacamas Ranch Paleo Reset Retreat! I have her set to be our evening "entertainment" on Monday night (see the full week's schedule here). If you have chronic back issues, the combination of listening to Chris Kresser speak, launching your paleo reset AND attending the Gokhale Method Healthy Back Workshop will be a pretty great bang for your buck at this retreat. Between all of the above, I went from being in chronic back pain 80-100% of the time to 0-15% of the time. Seriously, it's a life-changer!

THF - Cultivating Practical Wellness! 

Butcher Box! Grass-Finished Meats Right to Your Door!

Butcher Box Home Page

In the e-mail letter from Chris Kresser this morning I was thrilled to read about this new service called Butcher Box. The goal of Butcher Box is to make 100% grass-fed meats accessible and affordable to everyone nationwide. Despite living in the San Francisco Bay area with amazing resources right at my local farmer's markets, I wanted to place an order since the mission of Butcher Block fits right in with the mission of The Healing Farm which focusses on practical and affordable ways to improve your health. Using the link Chris provided in his e-mail, I was able to order a two-month supply of beef, chicken and pork for $129.00 with free delivery. This is enough (according to the site) for 15-20 meals! I hope there's enough room in my freezer!

My sister and brother-in-law recently gave me a Stemple Creek steak for my birthday and I just shared it with my husband the other night and we commented on the increase in flavor of grass-fed/finished meats. I also buy regularly from Prather Ranch since they are the local grass-fed meat supplier at my local Temescal Farmer's Market. I will continue to try to support my local ranchers, but hope Butcher Block catches on in places in which it's harder to find these incredibly good (and good for you!) meats!

I also wanted to share another link to Chris Kresser's site regarding the de-bunking of all the bad press about red meat. I continue to eat red meat, but watch how often and try to stick to grass fed and finished most of the time. I do believe red meat is good for you in moderation and as I've had deficiency in the past of iron and B12 it's a great way to boost these important vitamins and minerals. B12 in particular has played a HUGE role in my recovery from chronic pain and other conditions.

One of the things that has stuck with me the most from reading Michael Pollen's In Defense of Food is that yes, grass fed and finished meats are much more expensive, but keep in mind what should be a normal portion size of meat which is about the size of your palm (4-6 oz). We do tend to over-serve ourselves so if we keep what should be a normal portion size in mind, not only will we stay slimmer, but the grass-fed meat becomes more affordable per portion size. 

I always say, if I had to choose a last meal I would choose either a juicy steak or a hamburger (these days without the bun!). I'm happy to read that in moderation, and by eating mostly grass-fed, my red meat intake will be ok for my health in the long run. Despite heart disease in my family, I've always had low cholesterol and low blood pressure. Yes, there's plenty of fat on my body, but that would be from all of the after dinner snacking habits that I need to work on changing once and for all! I will not blame it on my once or twice-a-week red meat intake!

Now go order that lovely box of meats and take advantage of those prices!

The Healing Farm - Cultivating Practical Wellness!