Save-The-Date! February 27th, 2016: Marnie Reasor, CCH, RSHom (NA) of Resplendent Healing is Teaming up with THF for a Women's Health Retreat!

I'm so excited to team up with Marnie Reasor of Resplendent Healing for a women's health retreat which will focus on a homeopathic approach to menopause and peri-menopause. As I've moved from night sweats in my early 40s to irregular cycles and two-week bouts of PMS in peri-menopause, I've often wanted to talk to Marnie about how I can head-off these bothersome symptoms at the pass. I for one will be so happy to learn from Marnie and am pretty sure I'll have some questions handy for her Q&A.

I've known Marnie for many years and although she has temporarily moved her practice to Nashville, Marnie still maintains relationships with many clients in the bay area. This is a great opportunity to hear Marnie speak in person about her Homeopathy practice and her approach to helping thousands of women work through their menopause symptoms naturally. Marnie has spent many years specializing in this topic and will also be available after her talk for a Q&A. 

The setting will be the lovely and funky Headlands Center for the Arts. What a great way to see this historic building in the gorgeous Marin Headlands! The day will also include a cooking demo, a hike to Rodeo Beach (weather permitting), a light breakfast, a full lunch, afternoon tea and snack break and an all-level 1.5 hour yoga session to end the day.

Stay tuned for further announcements regarding this terrific retreat. For under $200.00 this retreat is a terrific deal and we will all walk away with not only a lovely and peaceful day to remember, but many years of wisdom regarding how to care for our bodies during this challenging time in life.

Hope to see you there!

The Healing Farm - Cultivating Practical Wellness

How Chris Kresser Changed My Life.

That's a big statement. I know. But I can passionately say it with conviction. It's why I'm so thrilled that today Chris announced in his newsletter that The Healing Farm will be producing a week-long "Paleo Reset" retreat April 17-24, 2016.

Why do I want to produce a week-long retreat featuring Chris' work? Because I want to shout from the mountaintops that you do not have to live with chronic conditions or you can significantly reduce the debilitating pain or discomfort they may cause in your life.

When I was going through the first week of my paleo reset I longed to be with like-minded people with whom I could talk things through. I wished I could consult with Chris as questions popped up. I wished I could have someone show me how to make bone or chicken broth. I wished I could have someone make it easier for me by preparing the foods that would help me change my life. So after I worked through my own reset and cured my own chronic health issues I was inspired to share my journey and change my own life with a career change. I now had the energy having lifted all of the chronic conditions that were weighing me down.

I was fortunate enough to meet Chris through a mutual friend. Through our friend (who is also my massage therapist (Angela!) Chris and his wife hired me to photograph their maternity session. Having done body work on me for years, Angela was intimately knowledgeable about all of my chronic conditions and asked if I knew what kind of work Chris was doing. When I found out about Chris' work, I immediately contacted him about my health issues. I was lucky enough to get in with him and began working with him. He was the first to tell me that living with all of my discomfort was not normal and that I could probably overcome at least some of these issues. Having ruled out an auto-immune disease (although this could still be a contributing factor) and getting rid of a parasite in my system, Chris encouraged me to try his "paleo reset" elimination diet. This was even before he had written his book which when first on the shelves was called "Your Personal Paleo Code"

What I loved about Chris' approach and the first title of his book is that he's really pretty hands-off. Even though I didn't have much money to spend, I was desperate to keep meeting with him because I was so encouraged to know that I could probably live pain-free. Chris really encouraged me to listen to my own body throughout the process and to find what worked for me. Basically after a few months, when I wanted to schedule a follow up he asked me if I was still feeling better. I said yes and he said, well then you know what works for you. Keep at it. 

It's now about five years later and I'm happily living (almost 100%) without the following conditions (most of which I had been living with since my mid-twenties (I'm now 49):

Add "chronic" to all of these conditions:

• fatigue
• sinus headaches (so severe most people would consider them migraines)
• indigestion (sometimes so bad I thought I was having a heart attack)
• low libido
• restless leg syndrome
• weight fluctuation
• and finally the straw that broke the camel's back (no pun intended) chronic back pain that started about eight years ago

What was so incredible to me was that by simply changing my diet (I'm mostly gluten and dairy free) and strengthening my core, I could literally change my life. Living with chronic conditions is debilitating. I was living my life, running a business, in a successful marriage, but struggled every day to pull myself up by the bootstraps to live my life. If you had asked me seven years ago after the chronic back pain set in that I would be 49 years old, almost pain free and would have enough energy to work on switching my career I would have laughed. Sometimes I wished I could just curl up in a spot of sun like a cat and spend the rest of my life like that. That's a pretty sad state to be in. In the past year since working toward starting The Healing Farm, there have been some times when I've been so elated I would say I was having "mountaintop moments". I didn't think I could feel that way in my life any longer and I hadn't felt that way since my early 20s since the first symptoms started creeping into my life. I laugh these days and say that instead of having the seven year itch in my marriage (we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary last June) my husband and I are in our seven year renaissance. That feels REALLY good to say. Now when I'm tired, it's because I'm literally running two businesses, am experiencing a typical mid-life family crisis and well, I'm almost 50!

So, do I want to get people together for a first week of their paleo reset? Do I want to give 40 lucky individuals a chance to unplug in a gorgeous location and listen to Chris Kresser speak and answer their questions? Do I want to make the first week of meal prep easy (non-existent) for the attendees, do I want people to be able to meet one-on-one with one of Chris' nutritionists. YES. And I want to continue to shout from the mountaintops that you can change your life and it can be a simple few changes that can get you there. 

So join us for this incredible week. The hills should be green and lush from El Nino and we can all experience the beginnings of change together.  Sign up for Chris' newsletter or "like" his Facebook page to find out a special coupon code to get a 10% discount and sign up by December 1st on The Healing Farm site to get into a drawing for one free pass for the week (based on double occupancy)!

The Healing Farm - Cultivating Practical Wellness

Esther Gokhale and her "8 Steps to a Pain Free Back"

Last week I had to get my “Eight Steps to a Pain Free Back” out. How sad. After all of my work keeping gluten out of my diet and my chronic back pain at bay, I went overboard this Christmas and ate lots of gluten-full things. Oh the Christmas cookies and the Yorkshire pudding with the prime rib and why not eat pizza while I’m at it, oh and that Acme Bakery epi baguette at the San Francisco Ferry Building with a glass of prosecco! Screeeeech. Everything came to a halt. All of my between Christmas and New Year’s organization projects to help me be in a better state of mind so I can start my transition to building The Healing Farm concept?  Out the window. It started with that water feeling in my ears. Then the next day it turned into a raging sinus headache. Then later that evening a full blown cold. Just when the cold was starting to get better, in walked that Yorkshire pudding on NYE and lots of bubbly and two days later I found myself flat on my back for a week nursing the worst back pain I’ve experienced since I originally hurt my back seven years ago.

Out came Esther’s book. I LOVE this book. I was never able to afford to go to one of her workshops so my dear friend and licensed acupuncturist, Sara Rankin of Alma Acupuncture gave me Esther’s book “Eight Steps to a Pain Free back”:

What I love about this book is it’s simplicity. What was most important to me in glancing at it while on bed-rest this past week was how to position myself sleeping at night. Oh how it helped my back. Slight traction all night long! For a habitual stomach/side sleeper, sleeping on my back is almost impossible to maintain long-term, but what has stuck with me for all these years since originally reading her book is how to sit! Sitting in the position she recommends and staying relatively gluten-free through the teachings ofChris Kresser has reduced my chronic back pain (until this recent episode) probably by eighty percent! If you struggle with chronic back pain I urge you to visit Esther’s site and if you can’t afford one of her classes, at least get a copy of her book or look into one of her free workshops! It will change your chronically painful life!

Naturopath Chris Kresser and "Your Personal Paleo Code"

As I continued my healing path, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to holistic health practitioner, Chris Kresser author of “Your Personal Paleo Code” which is now out in paperback and renamed “The Paleo Cure”. You can go to Chris’ website at www.chriskresser.com to learn so much more about Chris’ incredible naturopathic teachings. Join his forum, listen to his podcasts, get on his e-mail blast because this man is full of healing information! What I loved about Chris’ approach is how realistic he is about lifestyle changes. He knows it’s hard to make major changes for your long-term health goals so is realistic in his approach. I would more than encourage you to read his book “The Paleo Cure” :

I was fortunate enough to be able to consult with Chris personally about all of my chronic conditions listed in my Fast Forward Three Years post and he encouraged me to try a “paleo reset” – a concept described in detail in his book. My heart sank a little when he first suggested this because I thought of paleo as such a trend. I was more than thrilled when he explained his concept about your “personal” paleo code and his “paleo reset” concept. Basically it’s a month-long elimination diet in which you embrace the paleo eating habits (but not quite as strict) for a month, see how you feel and then start adding different food categories back in (e.g. – dairy, gluten, etc) and then see if any of your old chronic conditions start popping up. This was a concept I could wrap my head around! At the time he hadn’t written his book yet, so gave me some detailed instructions and set me free.

Lo and behold, I discovered I had a very slight gluten allergy – certainly not to the degree of Celiac disease, but enough that I realized what was causing all of my manageable but uncomfortable chronic conditions. I added some things back in but in much more moderation (low lactose dairy, some whole gluten-free grains, a bit of caffeine, red wine, etc) but discovered that every time I ate gluten my old chronic conditions would start popping up. It has taken me a long time (three years!) and I still break down and eat gluten once in a while, but when I do my ears get the feeling of being under water. If I really go overboard, I inevitably get a full-blown cold. Even more than the cold, I get indigestion, I get bloated, I get sinus headaches, my chronic back pain gets worse. It’s really amazing and it’s all about INFLAMMATION. That danged chronic problem! If your body is constantly fighting against an invader (an allergy like gluten or dairy), your immune system is going to be constantly working against it and will weaken, allowing inflammation in and – aack – will allow all those pesky other things to start rearing their ugly heads!

I encourage you to read Chris’ book and visit his site and hope that someday The Healing Farm – Retreat Series will feature Chris and his realistic approach! I plan on posting more about my own healing journey and the small things I do to keep the inflammation in my body to a minimum, but Chris Kresser and his healing practices have done more for me in my life than anything else – bar none. After 25 years of chronic conditions, I know how I can keep them at bay. That’s a big deal.

The Healing Farm Concept

The Healing Farm – Retreats will be a series of tasteful and affordable holistic wellness retreats held at various retreat centers around the country. Eventually I aspire to open The Healing Farm as a permanent retreat center with possible franchise opportunities long-term. To gain recognition of The Healing Farm name, experience in the field and interest in my talents I will offer one-off retreats in existing retreat centers of varying affordability. Each retreat will have a goal of cultivating attainable and enduring simple solutions for our participant’s long-term health and wellness goals.

Follow along my blog and read about my first Healing Farm aspirations in the beginnings category. Let’s learn together holistic health practices that will help us heal in our everyday lives and keep track of the latest retreat offerings!

Sara of Alma Acupuncture and Patti of The Goodness blog

So excited to feature two lovely friends at my first ever in a series of The Healing Farm – Retreats! This will be a mini-retreat introducing my upcoming new brand launch of The Healing Farm. The Healing Farm – Retreats will be a series of tasteful and affordable holistic healing retreats bringing together educators and practitioners that will help plant the seeds to cultivate realistic and long-term holistic practices for your long-term health goals. Visit their websites for more information on these lovely practitioners and join me in experiencing their practices firsthand! See my invitation to this very special retreat.

“The Goodness” blog

A shot I took of Patti at the incredible Rancho La Puerta:

and Sara of Alma Acupuncture:

Announcing the First Healing Farm Retreat Featuring Talks and Application of Holistic Healing for Everyday Life!

Fast Forward Three Years!

Hi all! Wow! It’s been three years since my little healing sabbatical. It was back to work and not a word of writing since. Shame on me! That does not mean I haven’t been working on my healing, but it does mean I would like to start sharing again as I have so much to update and so many ideas percolating!

As of three years ago, here were my problems:

• Overweight: Female, 5’6” and 167 pounds
• Chronic back pain: It’s now been six years since my initial episode
• Chronic indigestion: About twenty years
• Chronic sinus headaches: About fifteen years
• Chronic fatigue (moderate)
• Joint pain: On and off for ten or so years

Sheesh. Overall I was fine and functioning and still looked pretty good despite my weight (I was thinking I hid it well), but I wanted to feel better. My biggest problem was my chronic back pain, which is what prompted my healing sabbatical and this blog.

I took a six-week sabbatical three years ago. During that time,  I wrote about my progress and health, I didn’t work (I’m a photographer and didn’t want to do any heavy lifting), I practiced yoga or walked every day, rested, saw a chiropractor and acupuncturist and watched what I ate. Almost nothing changed.

Fast forward three years and I have done the following:

• Weight: Lost 25 pounds
• Back Pain: Went from chronic back pain an average of 80% of the time to 0-20%
• Sinus headaches: One recent bout, but about 100% clear for two years
• Indigestion: One bout almost a year ago, but almost 100% clear for two years
• Chronic fatigue (a little less)
• Joint Pain: Less, but still there

Please follow the next few weeks of writing to find out what I’ve done during my SLOOOOOOOW  and continuing route to recovery! In the meantime, here is a before and after (scary to post the “before”)!

Before

After

S.O.L.

Sigh. Well, after flying down to San Diego and spending four hours under the incredible care and attention of Dr. Helen Hu and her associate, I’ve had discouraging news. I really have never felt in such experienced and confident hands and truly believe that Dr. Hu and Mr. Chen can help and have helped a lot of people including my referrer, but they had bad news for me. I knew from one of my first x-rays when I first was in pain that I have a deformity at the base of my spine (on the opposite side of my pain) and that this deformity is the possible catalyst of my pain. Over 44 years of living, I have compensated for this deformity and it finally caught up to me in the form of the bulging disc, degeneration and extreme muscle spasms. Basically, it’s too far gone and they don’t think I will ever be pain free. Not encouraging news.

Not surprising either. It has always astounded me that with every practitioner I have seen, they seem ultra-confident that with one to a few sessions, they should be able to help me work through my pain source and they always seem REALLY surprised when they don’t. It has definitely led me to believe that there’s no hope except major surgery (like putting in pins or something). I guess that’s true, so my new goal is to manage the pain and I will continue to work through that process on this sabbatical.

Dr. Hu was kind enough to give me a recommended action list including a detox diet to help me lose weight and strengthen my kidneys (she says that part of my chronic fatigue that I’ve experienced for years is because of “weak kidneys”). As already discovered, she said I should not hike, stand for long periods of time and to avoid excessive walking. She recommends yoga and swimming. Looks like I might have to cut my super-long hair. It’s always been a pain-in-the-ass for swimming. Gotta do what I gotta do!

More on acupuncture and this wonderful ancient Chinese practice called Tui Na when I get an interview with a practitioner!

Going Into the Poor House

I’m flying to San Diego today. Ugh. As if ten visits with the chiropractor, the yoga passes and taking time off from work weren’t enough spending, I’m flying to San Diego today to see an acupuncturist and massage therapist. Have I lost my mind? Maybe, maybe not.

It all started with a networking cup of coffee. Somehow we got on the subject of back pain and as we exchanged stories and ideas about healing, she mentioned an acupuncturist in San Diego that had done wonders for her on her initial visit and she recommended that if I was ever planning a trip to San Diego, I should see this practitioner. I was just starting my sabbatical and a couple of days later, my friend Laurel asked if I wanted to go to San Diego. Virgin Air was having a fare sale and she had to meet with a client down there. Serendipity! We booked the flights and got a great hotel rate through Priceline and I e-mailed my business contact to get the information for the miracle-worker.

I have an appointment tomorrow. THREE HOURS. Initial consultation, acupuncture treatment, then I go to another doctor in the same office for a deep tissue massage and then “cupping”. Have you ever heard of “cupping”? It’s supposed to draw out toxins through suction cups that are placed on your body. The unfortunate thing is that when you’re done, you look like a teenager whose make-out partner went a little overboard on the hickeys. I had it done once by my good friend Sara who is an acupuncturist here and because it was for allergies, she did it around my upper back and neck area. I wore turtlenecks (in the summer) for a week! Let’s hope the “cupping” will be applied to my LOWER back. Should look good at the hotel pool on Thursday.

So should I be spending all this money? I suppose in the grand scheme of health care and healing it still isn’t that much, but I’ll be pretty bummed if I don’t see any results. A tall order for trying to work through pain that’s been there for three years.