Love Your Brain: An Interview with Adi Amar

Love Your Brain: An Interview with Adi Amar

Loving our brains and bodies, no matter current status, is fundamental to our whole health. Yet, we forget.

Through decades of outdoor adventure sports, I’ve been lucky to experience countless inspirational people within our crazy community of go-getters. I’ve also learned through personal and professional experience that many of us may or may not realize our brain function has been compromised - sometimes due to a traumatic brain injury. 

As holistic health guides and yoga teachers, everything we teach promotes bettering our brains so that we can excel beyond our yoga mats, surfing immense oceans and climbing magnificent mountains.

It was super to connect with Jackson Hole local, Adi Amar of Teton Yoga Shala, on her work with LoveYourBrain, creating awareness and offering support to those with TBI’s.

Originally posted on YogaToday.com.

We snagged a moment with Adi Amar to peek into her recent affiliation with LoveYourBrain. If you’re familiar with YogaToday, you recognize Adi Amar, one of the original yoga teachers who offers endless insight into the yoga practice, streamed online to you, anytime anywhere.

LoveYourBrain‘s mission is essentially improving the quality of life of people affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI). Kevin Pierce, professional snowboarder and co-founder of Love Your Brain, sustained a traumatic brain injury while training for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Kevin was at the top of his game when the tragedy struck, and he then entered a lengthy road to recovery. This time period brought to light an opportunity to support others while transforming the experience of traumatic brain injuries and the road to recovery altogether. With his brother, Adam, he created a source of inspiration, education and awareness in the movement Love Your Brain. Through yoga, meditation and mindfulness programs, Love Your Brain is improving lives, creating community and optimizing health for everyone they reach.

“We believe that yoga, mindfulness, and community are essential to transforming the wellbeing of people impacted by traumatic brain injury (including concussion).”

– LoveYourBrain

Luckily, we now have LoveYourBrain’s affiliated studios throughout the country providing tools to optimize brain health and foster connections with yourself and with others who have experienced TBI’s. Adi’s Teton Yoga Shala is now one of these studios, launching LYB’s programs this April.

What we also discovered in our conversation with Adi is that trauma to the brain is more common than most people probably realize. It turns out that you don’t have to be hurling yourself off of cliffs to hurt your head.

EVERY 11 SECONDS SOMEONE SUSTAINS A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

CAUSES of TBI’s:

• Falls – 40.5%

• Other/unknown – 19.0%

• Blunt trauma – 15.5%

• Motor vehicle accidents – 14.3%

• Assaults – 10.7%

• Main causes of mild TBI 

  • Sports

  • Blast (common military injury)

It’s important to recognize that even a slight concussion is considered a TBI and that all TBI’s manifest in different ways. They can be tough to recognize. We encourage everyone to please learn more about TBI’s HERE.

Love Your Brain Interview with Adi Amar

YogaToday: How did you initially came to love the practice of yoga?

Adi Amar: As a teenager I was first attracted to yoga after my mother’s car accident. I needed tools and techniques to deal with the mental and emotional ramifications of such a traumatic event. It became necessary to find an outlet to process heavy emotions and feelings that were coming up that I simply did not have the tool kit to manage at such a young age.

Though this process, I found that the reason I was so vulnerable to this particular happening was because of previous intense trauma lying dormant until stimulated by this current event. My mother’s accident, and then yoga, became an opportunity to learn how to neutralize my nervous system. The “fight or flight” response was in full play and I was in need of a method that would rectify my physical, mental and emotional state for where I was at that time in my life. Yoga become the way forward.

YogaToday: What attracted you to Love Your Brain?

Adi Amar: I met Ramsey Pierce when she visited Jackson Hole seeking yoga studios to align with Love Your Brain. My studio was a fit as our mission is to meet every person who walks through the door exactly where they are. We focus on using props and modifications as well as have history of working with other disabilities and limitations. We strive to accommodate “every body”.

I was further inspired to work with them as my son sustained a head injury at only 5 years old. This alerted me to the consequences of this type of trauma and the alarming fact that many people may not even realize they have experienced it.

YogaToday: You recently dropped into the LoveYourBrain TBI-specific yoga teacher training with some of your teachers. Tell us about that.

Adi Amar: Yes. The timing and synchronicity of my son’s head injury and later meeting Ramsey simply directed me to Seattle with a few other teachers for their training to prepare Teton Yoga Shala to further accommodate people with TBI’s.

Their program highlights four areas of focus:

                   • Gentle yoga

                   • Meditation

                   • Breathwork

                   • Facilitated conversation

I found this to be so well balanced and integrated into one program which very much aligns with what I strive for at Teton Yoga Shala.

LYB has created an incredible community of people who understand one another. TBI’s often leave people feeling isolated due to both cognitive and physical effects that can lead to emotional experiences such as irritability, sadness, anxiety, denial, depression, and lack of self-efficacy. These injuries can leave people lonely and feeling “stuck”.  Much like in life, being seen and heard are basic human needs. The program and community include facilitated conversations that address these needs.

LoveYourBrain’s evidence-based program is showing that people suffering from brain injury have the ability to rewire their brains creating new neural pathways toward healing. Doing this work within community is a key ingredient.

Essentially, I chose to affiliate because their intent is to meet people where they are. This is what Teton Yoga Shala strives for – to accommodate each individual, each body, in a specific manner that addresses their current physical, mental and emotional state.

YogaToday: How do you feel YogaToday and LoveYourBrain are intimately connected to one another and the practice of yoga?

Adi Amar: Living in a community full of brave athletes, there is a good chance that many people are unknowingly walking around with a brain injury that has been unattended. This is so unfortunate because it can be confusing and unsettling.

YogaToday and Love Your Brain both offer the yoga practice which holds many tools and techniques to gently rewire our neural pathways to benefit those with TBI’s and/or any limitation – physical, mental or emotional – as that is exactly what yoga and related practices do.

All too often, athletes alongside many of us in modern society, do not want to slow down. They don’t want to miss out on a day of skiing. What’s scary about that is that it’s recurring impact to the brain that is most detrimental to long term brain health. If we don’t take the time to slow down, we simply aren’t able to repair, heal and return to a balanced state.

With TBI’s and all other limitations, we know that deep down, people want to find balance, live a more peaceful existence and ultimately feel great. A lot of times, they just don’t know how. With yoga, we learn to neutralize our nervous systems so that we are acting from a place of healthy response versus reactivity. YogaToday offers a plethora of gentle yoga, meditation and breathing practices, so it’s an excellent place to start.

With a TBI, whether from falling on the ski hill or from a car accident, you have the added community of LoveYourBrain locally and nationally to support you in cultivating the strength, flexibility, adaptability and resilience to rise to this challenge and progress.

If one has never tried yoga, even better.

YogaToday offers numerous classes for the beginner such as Begin with the Basics and Yoga Basics – Turn Your Attention Inward. Tune in to practice gentle yoga, meditation and breathwork which are all appropriate practices for those suffering from TBI’s.

We know that the practice of yoga benefits proprioception, the understanding of where our body is in space. Simultaneously, it cultivates an awareness of internal and external stimuli and how we respond. LYB’s program focuses further on interoception referring to the process of stimuli coming from inside of the body such as heartbeat, thirst, hunger, breathing, or other textural sensations, which can be altered with TBI’s.

Yoga reinforces the mind-body connection which is essential to enhancing both proprioception and interoception. This reinforcement supports anyone in better understanding and managing how we react, or better respond, to both external and internal stimuli.

Beautifully, LYB additionally creates a safe place to honor the space and time that it takes to heal from brain injuries. We should cultivate more of this in the world toward any trauma, large or small, which is what yoga supports.

YogaToday: What are your hopes for the future in terms of TBI’s and yoga?

Adi Amar: With both yoga and traumatic brain injury my hope is to create more awareness so that we can heal through these ancient and revered practices to overcome any limitation.

When life challenges us, it changes us. We must step up and show up even if that means coming to class and lying in savasana the entire time.

We take steps toward creating these new neural pathways through these practices that provide ways to build resilience to anything life hands us. Resilience is how we rise to meet our challenges. It’s not IF we will face challenges, it’s WHEN.

Gathering tools, techniques and creating community – this is how we move forward with purpose and thrive. To me, this is the purpose of yoga.

The effects the LYB communities and their evidence-based programs have on the individual, their families, friends, peers, and careers is exponential. With support through the following, the benefits are ten-fold:

         • Self-regulation and self-control

         • Support for depression, anxiety, any feelings of isolation or falling victim to one’s circumstances

         • Support in taking responsibility to grow and evolve beyond injury

• Integration back into community

It’s beyond gratifying to see that their evidence is showing the practices of yoga, meditation, breathwork and cultivating community are truly beneficial. My hope is to see all of these practices and communities grow. Everything is connected. With this awareness, we can all support one another in moving beyond any type of limitation in life.

Let's Reframe Mental Health

Why reframe mental health?

1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience mental illness each year. 

1 in 25 adults in the U.S. experience serious mental illness each year. 

These 1 in 5 adults are…

you, me, and everyone we know.

Small and large life experiences speak to us exponentially if we allow ourselves to receive. Recognizing another’s state of mental health in a moment, or in general, is a skill we must hone to improve relationships of all kinds. The awareness that another’s experience is not the same as our own, plus improving our ability to walk in another’s shoes are required. The hope is to reframe our own individual experiences which will ultimately support reframing ‘mental health’ as holistic health - our whole health - collectively.

As we move out of this global Covid-19 experience, my bet is that the statistics will rise. Our entire country has been experiencing, at the very least, continual underlying anxiety that could easily manifest into some interesting expressions through our minds and bodies over time. Now more than ever, it is imperative to break this stigma and reframe “mental health” to instead reference our holistic health which includes all realms of life.

Without stigma, more people could release any shame around seeking support. 

The shame (watch this link to the end!) around our state of mental health can be more detrimental to our mental health than the experiences that brought on the shame! 

Much of our struggle comes down to shame. This is the root cause. This is how Eastern and Western philosophies differ in improving our health and wellbeing. In the West, the tendency is to slap a bandaid on the problem, usually in the form of a pill, rather than seek out the root cause.

Shame is the root cause. This includes shame around the inability to afford mental health support given for most, this type of service is not included within our health insurance policies. Yet time and time again, clients who use health insurance for not much else physically are unable to gain coverage for mental help.

And let’s be honest, due to the stigma around seeking help, spending that kind of cash to go deep into the support that is far from fun, but necessary, is not a natural tendency in a society that now runs on instant gratification in every moment in every realm of life. 

Why go deep into ourselves when we can just “swipe right”?

Life is challenging. 

Yet as a species, we have evolved. We are all much more aware than previous generations of imprinting we picked up along the way that may not be serving our progression. It’s okay. We should be able to consciously discuss our experiences with our loved ones sans the shame train!

But keeping up appearances individually and within family systems still takes precedant, especially in the age of Instagram. The desire to make life better should not be one cloaked in shame. 

Enjoying life is our birthright.

From a newfound grounded, neutral, integrated place, we can then better recognize in one another that our more reactive or out-of-balance states are stemming from imprinting and not to be taken personally. We can then sit in the “hot seat”, speak our truths, and hear out another’s with conscious awareness that both parties are seeking interdependent progression.

Crafting the ability to hold space and even just assume that the other party also wants life to be better takes a lot - time, energy, space, dedication, money (more often than not), willingness to cultivate an overall less reactive state of being in oneself, and heartfelt desire. Phew.

We pick up imprints along the way and then create our individual strategies for no other reason than because we are human. This means you, me and everyone we know. Our families, caregivers, teachers, friends, and really any experience, large or small, that left an impact on us in any way, are all part of the concoction that makes up the human cocktail.

The parts lesser known are those that sit deep within our subconscious. Imprinting also includes modeled behavior - how all of our caregivers carried their own energy due to their own experiences with their caregivers, as well as how they all interacted with one another in our presence.

Whether it’s anxiety, depression, unresolved trauma, sleep issues, intrusive thoughts, eating anxieties, compulsiveness, control tendencies, or even “high-performance” - these can all be expressions of coping strategies we need to feel safe, secure, loved, or even to survive in varying degrees dependent on our individual situations.

This is why mental illness is deemed the “invisible illness”. It is not tactile and can even appear in disguise as what society deems to be a positive trait. It’s also usually not spoken of, keeping it taboo much like money or sex, rather than being an important part of our holistic health conversation. It is imperative that “mental illness” be brought into the light in order for all of us to live fully expressed lives.

As much as folks may dislike the “woo woo”, I will say it again and again… 

Everything is connecteD.

the ripple effect is real.

Hurt people, hurt people.

The trauma might be small, but sometimes the imprint is large and can affect every step of a person’s life including everyone they touch.

“Acting out”, whether from a teenager or 50-year old, is really just a sign of our lesser-loved or lesser-acknowledged qualities (our shadow) sitting in the subconscious keeping us from what we truly desire. Working with the subconscious, we are better able to integrate our shadows and improve life. This work, shadow work, is not for the faint at heart. But I can assure you that shadow work - works.

Modalities such as yoga and meditation can help begin this process. They support us in many ways, but in regard to the subconscious, they encourage the building of new neural pathways in our brains. Gradually, we release old patterns by creating new ones. Hypnosis, breathwork (pranayama and modern extensions of pranayama), and many more “out of the box” modalities and therapies can help break through the toughest barriers.

What makes me some so-called expert?

I know because I have used all modalities previously mentioned, including coaches, therapists and mentors, plus a handful of waaaaaay out of the box avenues for a couple of decades. (I also self-taught and practiced as much as possible because this shit gets expensive.) Then, and only then, did I move through several certifications to continually learn, hone my skills, and share with others. This doesn’t mean I have everything figured out. It definitely doesn’t mean I’m anywhere near perfect. But thankfully, the need to be perfect (sitting in the recesses of my own mind) in order receive love has been (mostly) kicked to the curb.

Essentially, this only means I have self-supported myself through some incredibly challenging times as a 100% self-made female since my formative years in America. I didn’t grow up in a family system that experienced much of their own necessary emotional/physcial/financial support. Therefore, this was not modeled for me in order to successfully model it for anyone else. I had to own my stuff and get to work. (Don’t get me wrong, I have lovely parents and my basic needs were exceeded.)

When it comes to walking this path of reframing and repatterning our own holistic health, it’s much like finding the right yoga teacher, with all of his/her nuances, that work specifically for us. This, too, will change with time! Same goes for this deeper work. Over time, we try different tools, technologies and techniques to reach and transmute what is not only buried deep in the subconscious, but also deep within our physical bodies. Another topic - the body does not lie.

It is imperative we try different therapies and healing modalities to continually integrate what we find. Here’s hoping the healthcare system will someday catch up to suit our current state of affairs, our ever-increasing rate of evolution, and public health.

It is possible to reframe mental health.

Like everything, it is not black and white. But I’m opening the conversation to reframe “mental health” to “holistic health”. I speak from my own experiences within my family and intimate relationships, and happy to share.

Tell me your story and I will tell you mine.

After what we’ve been through so far in 2020, the entire world needs support. The time to normalize the ever-shifting states of our mental health, and those who work tirelessly to support this work, is now. 

This is call for all of us to continue to step into our worth, own our stories, tell our stories, and share what we’ve learned with the world.

How Yoga and Meditation Can Help Cope with COVID-19

Originally published on TrustedNutrition.com

Are anxiety and stress creeping in?

Considering COVID-19, no one is escaping the underlying anxiety that is part of today’s “new normal”. Yoga and meditation are now more available than ever to help us cope.

Globally united by the coronavirus, we are being asked to sit still.

We’re being asked to be more present with ourselves and our loved ones. Both of these realities can be immensely challenging. Most of us are accustomed to non-stop action, consciously or unconsciously avoiding what is within us and sitting right beside us. Here lies our opportunity to embrace the present moment. Yoga and meditation offer the tools and techniques we need.

Yoga and meditation offer an abundance of opportunity to cultivate these skill sets to better cope with modern life. The physical yoga practice prepares our bodies to sit still in meditation. The ability to sit with oneself, and observe our thoughts, feelings and reactions is priceless. We learn to create a space between what crosses our mind and how we react. In time, we cultivate healthy neutralized responses rather than knee-jerk reactions.

What to Know Today:

1.     Creating a learning environment at home is an epic and equally challenging place to start. Now more than ever, yoga classes are readily available online for everyone. Classes for kids, prenatal offerings, mental health focused classes, and even “chair yoga” for office workers, the physically challenged and elderly, are all easily sourced. Remember, it may take time and patience to find what works for each of us.

2.     Keep in mind that yoga and meditation are both practices. Throw perfection out of the window. This is not a place for competition. There is no need to be hard on ourselves. We are human and simply must start where we are. Know that what comes up during these practices is 100% okay and may be exactly what we need to address. If anything at all becomes “too much”, back off during this strenuous time we are all now experiencing.

Within these practices, it’s normal to feel intense waves of anger or helplessness. This current pandemic is a prime example where such emotions may arise. These modalities are not about suppressing or ignoring rightful emotions and feelings. 

With healthy boundaries in place, we have every right to feel and express what is ok and not ok for us individually. Yoga and meditation are paths to creating awareness around whether our thoughts, feelings and emotions are valid. We then learn to work with our minds and allow these waves to roll by so that we can better respond during times of increased stress and anxiety.

Try this free meditation today to relax and destress.

The Mind-Body Connection

Now backed by science, our minds and bodies are proving to be inextricably linked. At times, what we are experiencing emotionally can manifest in our physical bodies. Today’s stress and anxiety can lend to our immune systems potentially functioning less than optimally. Given a healthy immune system is now more important than ever, yoga and meditation are top tactics we can employ to boost our immunity now and year-round.

The Anxiety and Depression Association of America has addressed managing anxiety and isolation during the quarantine. For anyone with a history of trauma, be sure to seek out “trauma-informed” yoga classes for extra support. 

Many people dedicated to holistic health have also offered pro-bono services during this time.

Why? Because we all deserve the opportunity to live stress-free.

After all, stress is the #1 source of doctor visits today. Certainly, circumstances arise when we should be supported. However, we must also take responsibility in supporting ourselves. 

The coronavirus pandemic has presented a time to dig deep and discover our holistic health individually. Yoga and meditation support our cultivation of self-awareness. This leads to increased conscious awareness of how we all affect one another.

If you enjoyed the free meditation, find more Mind-Body Training HERE with code “JONI30” for additional support during this time. 

Let’s come together and better support ourselves so that we can better support one another in training for this “new normal” as well as life moving forward.

Support Your Immune System NOW + Year-Round with Holistic Preventative Measures and Solutions

Shelves sold out of hand sanitizer? Check.

Vitamins and powered mixes in plastic packets sold out? Check.

Toilet paper? We are all questioning WTH on that one. Um, check.

MOTHER EARTH TO THE RESCUE!

Poor girl needs a Good Long Break - yet she still endlessly supports us.

Ancient Nutrition + Holistic Support

Boost your immune system year round.

Given hand sanitizer flew off of the shelves (even though soap and water is the recommended first step for cleansing hands), we look back to ancient remedies, always at our fingertips, to boost our immune systems and whole health. 

1. Nutrition.

Fall back into this old post on SuperFoods to start your nutritional self-care.

2. Hydration.

Consume mostly water. Avoid plastic bottled water.

3. Herbs + Spices.

Quick list of common powerhouses. Cook with them. Take this current time-out at home to learn other uses, too. Some can also be found in high quality oils. Oregano oil is a great go-to immune booster.

            Oregano (antiviral)

            Thyme (antiviral)

            Clove (respiratory health)

            Garlic

            Cumin

            Tumeric

            Ginger

            Mint

            Cayenne Pepper

I snagged this quick list from Dr. Axe who also offers the following: Use Antiviral Herbs to Boost Immune System and Fight Infection. Worth checking out.

4. Hygiene + Other Therapies

            • One of my #1 go-to prevention techniques has been the Neti Pot used for Sinus Irrigation. I’ve used this technique since 1998 for seasonal allergies which vastly reduced sinus infections and irritating symptoms.

            • Oil pulling. This ancient technique pulls toxins out of not only your mouth, but your entire body according to Ayurvedic science. Coconut oil is most commonly used. Love this product is by Gurunanda although the plastic bottle deters my purchasing. (Hint, hint, Gurunanda.) My dentist is continually impressed – just sayin’.

            • Handwashing with essential oils. Lots of options here. I personally use a mix of antiviral herbs mixed with jojoba oil and whole leaf aloe. After washing with soap and water, I apply to my hands and around my nose and mouth during this outbreak of COVID-19 and new era of social distancing.

            • Sunshine. Gift from the universe. Good old sunshine is our #1 source of Vitamin D which will boost your mood alongside your immunity and much more.

            • Earthing/Grounding. Take your shoes off. Put your feet on the ground for 30 minutes. Read what the experts offer on the many benefits HERE.

5. Yoga, meditation and breathing practices.

Can’t say enough about these, but drop into this 3-minute practice to boost your immunity today with YogaToday. Use code ‘JONI30’ for an annual subscription at a ridiculous deal. Practice anytime, anywhere with internationally recognized teachers with decades of experience.

6. Mindset.

We all have a certain amount of control over our health. Know this. Trust this.

Cultivating deep trust in ourselves and our amazing biocomputers - known as the human body - is essential. Unsure of where to start? Talk to me.

7. Forgiveness.

Say what? It’s true. Harboring grudges is not to our benefit. While forgiveness can be extremely challenging, it does support the immune system. In times like this, conscious communication and relating is king.

If you are unable to verbally discuss and forgive, it is possible to do so energetically. One method I employ is the following:

            Find a comfortable seat.

            Close your eyes, take a deep breath in, and release it through the mouth.

            Notice the chatter in the mind about this situation needing forgiveness.

            Take all of that chatter in the mind and drop it down into the heart.

            Notice any shift that occurs.

When you feel an energetic shift or pulse at the heart, relish in that deeply for a moment.

            If it feels appropriate, send that heart medicine to the person or situation you would like to forgive.

            Make this a practice.

Love to all under these circumstances. Immense good will show itself on the other side.

May the force be with us.

How to Bounce Back from Trauma, Loss and Grief

There is no exact recipe or life hack for this one, folks.

Loss and grief are no joke. Not even gonna to try to sugarcoat it. Here’s how to bounce back.. But know that it will also be different for everyone. Trust the process. Trust that you will bounce back.

1.     Grieve deeply. 

This may seem obvious. But anyone who has been through several intense losses in a very short amount of time, can tell you that this is no joke. The people around you may not get it. If they don’t, give yourself this gift. 

Give yourself the gift of time. 

There is a good chance the bulk of the process will take longer than you hope. There is a good chance the intensity of many different emotions may bubble up from time to time down the line. 

No one can tell you the right way to do it. No one can pressure you because they have not a clue unless they’ve been through the exact same situation. No one can tell you how much time it will take. 

Let go of everything if you have to. But take the time. Just take it.

2.     Find neutral support. Seek out a few professionals from various backgrounds using different modalities.

 Ask me about this.

3.     Create a daily schedule.

Take the morning to use the modalities that you’ve found that best work for you and stick to them every single day. This will pave the way for the day. These morning practices may not “work” every day. But stick with them.

Depending on your unique situation this will look different for everyone, but might include a combination of the following:

• Sleeping. Quality sleep aids repair on too many levels to name. Reach out for my go-to quick list on how to sleep WELL.

• Journaling. Important to put pen to paper. This connects to our right brain which is where our creative and intentional centers lie. Commit to journaling for 30 days. Ask me what to write about.

• Movement. Move your body. This stimulates feel-good neurochemicals in the brain lifting us out of any depression, anxiety, fear and trepidation on moving forward. Run. Walk. Bike. Cardio classes. Burn it all off.

• Breathwork. This offers a similar effect. Although though I’ve used breathwork extensively and regularly, I found it highly effective in the intense processing of compounded trauma. I can guide you through some basics you can try on your own in a safe manner at home.

• Create a To Do List:  Work. Life. Details. 

A lot of basic details can get lost for a lot of people without even going through intense loss! Create a list. I can help you with how I’ve run mine for the past six years. Scratching even the smallest items off of a list can help us feel like we are accomplishing something (anything!) once we are feeling up to it. Gradually, as we begin to tackle a little bit more each day, we see progress. With progression, we always feel better.

4. Go easy on yourself. 

This is a tough one. Good chance the people around you may not be patient, so you must claim this most essential component for yourself. After all, we just want to be back to normal, too. 

When we are in this place, we may not want to see anyone, talk to anyone, or be around anyone. Why would we when most people completely avoid loss and grief?

Be gentle with yourself. This can be the hardest thing in the world. I personally hired neutral support in several different people. Plus employed copious amounts of free content online.

By all means, refer to this article to  “Know that it is not you.” 

Not sure where to start? Let’s design your path to bouncing back.

The sun will set each day.

The nights can be long.

Listen to podcasts, listen to professionals speak on the endless channels offering free content online, teach yourself something new, make art, read, stare out of the window, take long hot Epson salt baths, make nourishing foods, hydrate well, exercise a lot plus any other self-care that works for you. Maybe even watch a movie in the middle of the day. 

This is a time when we should be able to depend on those around us within several realms if need be. In a quick Google search one can find out how to support people coping with trauma, loss and grief HERE. 

Find a way to take time out. Support yourself more than ever before. The sun will rise again offering another day that may be challenging. Know that it also offers the promise of being just a little bit brighter. Drown out any judgement and critique from others and take care of you. The End.

“Everyone grieves in their own time.”

 Find this phrase entirely accurate yet completely confusing? It is. And it does not help. Action is required to handle what is emotionally unfinished due to death, estrangement or both.

P.S. Ultimately, being seen and heard is key. Tell me your story. Here is MINE.

Who Really Knows How to Handle Loss and Grief?

Sharing this story is far from comfortable, but there is a requirement in my line of work called “Walk the Talk”. Loss and grief are no joke. If this reaches and supports just one person, no matter what side of the equation they are on, then I’ll consider it worth it. 

In my case, synchronicity showed itself as a few friends reached out during my compounded traumatic experiences of loss and grief asking how they could best support their significant other through loss of immediate family members.

I thought, “Wow. This is really up for me.” Not only was I still moving through it, but now I was also being challenged to somehow channel support and advice for those close to myself and my significant other. Just wow. Probably didn’t slay that task at the time.

See this quick list to better understand what your significant other might be experiencing and need.

Most people will turn away from loss and grief toward what is far more inviting – which is pretty much anything and everything else, right? But the funny thing is, we will all experience loss and grief at some point. It will come in varying degrees, but it will come. If we turn away from someone experiencing one of the Top 10 stress-inducing happenings in life, who will we turn to when it’s our turn?  

Learning through multiple compounded experiences, I can say that just one of these 10 stressors is difficult. And that when a few of these are layered and consolidated into a short intense time period, people around us may disappear. Our life trajectory may be forever altered. Sounds dramatic? Yep. It is.

Know that it is not you. Forgiveness is the way forward. 

Where I grew up, sharing personal stories might be classified as “airing dirty laundry”. No wonder everyone is on pills, weed, booze, porn, TV, Instagram, politics, numbing, numbing and more numbing. Coming out of the Industrial Age, and now beginning to move out of the uber “connected” Information Age, many people still refuse to face responsibility. Perhaps stating the obvious for some but being in any type of relationship includes responsibility. As humans, guess what, we are in relationship every dang day. As we move into the next multisensory age, it’s beyond time we hold ourselves accountable.

Unfortunately, many of us grew up in families where talking about anything confronting was avoided completely. This, of course, becomes learned behavior handed down unconsciously from those before us. This lack of communication skills and/or willingness to talk about less than comfortable topics only drives disconnection. As we move into this upcoming multisensory era, boy are we going to be in for some surprises.

The good news is, this can be avoided. Like anything, it takes time and commitment. Not the kind one can schedule on a calendar or time with a stopwatch. Committing to take time to learn, understand, process, give and receive support, and be with what is. It’s a multi-layered process. It can move slowly. It can move quickly. Ask me how.

As a qualitative researcher and storyteller, Brene Brown famously delivered her talk on vulnerability at TedX almost a decade ago. Her research shows that this sharing of truth and vulnerability is what drives connection. 

I also hear her loud and clear when she says, “Not everyone deserves to hear your story.” Living in our truth becomes walking a fine line. Boundaries are essential. We feel this bigtime when we are asked in the wellness world to “walk the talk”. Eeeek.

Doing this “right” is essentially impossible. As they say, yoga teachers are people, too. We are teaching as we learn, and we are learning as we teach. 

Equally, there is no “right” way in a certain amount of “right” time to move through loss and grief. We are human after all. Yet those close to us may attempt to tell us that we are playing victim, not taking responsibility for ourselves, talking too much about feelings (yeah I know, it sucks!) or pressure us immensely to move through the process far too quickly so that things can “get back to normal”. 

But take a good hard look at that person’s upbringings, backgrounds, life path and current realities. Not to mention – have they experienced true loss? This is not about comparison, but to simply notice whether they are coming from - an authentic place in offering opinions (or judgements) – or not. 

We don’t know how people will react to loss and grief until we are sitting in the eye of the hurricane with them. We experience the trauma. Then everything becomes very calm, silent, yielding. However, we sense that the storm is far from over.

In the eye of the storm, it feels like nothing. Everything is numb.  
The people closest to us may not see us. 
They may not hear us.
Over and over. 
Know that it is not you. 
They may want us to snap out of it, get on with it, be “fun” again.

They may judge us, pressure us, and cajole us toward what they perceive we should be doing and how we should be doing it.

They may have ideas about how we should be acting, how quickly we should be making life happen despite this major event (or three), and of course the best way to do, well, everything! 

Why? Because they somehow magically see oh so clearly how we should be moving forward. Frustrating at the time, but with time we gain clarity.

Know that it is not you.

The truth is that they are uncomfortable. This is partly projection. It could perhaps be partly due to lack of empathy depending on the people involved. It could also be a complete unwillingness to be with what is. Some people are also truly empathic or highly sensitive and even indirect trauma can be too much. 

But this is also life! 

As the person going through the loss, this is where we are supposed to find forgiveness. In all transparency, my natural reaction - again - was “F*CK!”.

With time, the best I have been able to come up with is that I, too, have not been in their shoes. They may hold a fear of death. They may have never taken a few moments to consider how this huge event is affecting the person directly related to the loss rather than themselves. There is a good chance they are coming up against themselves in ohhhh so many ways.

Shadows will be revealed. We can run, but we can never hide from our shadows.

The significant other, family, friends, and even co-workers, may have a few lessons of their own to face in this process as well. Shadows arise and we can run, but we can never hide. This is a process. This is a learning process.

This is life. 

Moving forward, we try to remember that everyone will eventually experience loss and grief. Everyone will have to face this shadow. The loss may not be as epic or consolidated into such a short period of time, but no one is immune. 

As much as it sounds completely crazy and unfair, this is an opportunity to love and forgive.

We take the opportunity to look at another and assume that they, too, are doing the best they can. We can only hope the same will be extended. Sure, this sounds outrageously mature and let’s be honest, most people will immediately think, “Screw that.” But here’s the deal… 

The prior examples of why people either run or stay/avoid are all possible. There are also other possibilities at play that take us further into the psychological realm than this article will allow. But briefly…

One example, becoming very prevalent today in many trauma-related situations, is that those who identify as “empathic” come up against intense events that lead them to avoid. In this, they may eventually learn they are not empathetic, but actually lean toward codependent. (Don’t miss this link with Mark Groves of Create the Love.) But we can be both. Nothing is black and white. Another conversation.

This huge loss just happens to be a very inconvenient truth that illuminates the empathic/codependent’s very own survival mechanisms learned and developed within their family of origin which is to ultimately take care of oneself masked in taking care of others. Being giving is awesome. Most of the time, this person has no idea that their actions are stemming out of their own survival mode. They are not conscious that their giving and always being the nice guy is ultimately self-serving. Essentially, this person is unable to function through conflict. Most of the time this is rooted in trauma. When we have unprocessed trauma, we will simply cannot cope. Unfortunately, they have sometimes even convinced themselves that they are fine. And they will try to convince the person that is actually experiencing trauma/loss/grief at the time that they are fine in manners that are highly covert. This is damaging, but an extension of the inability to hold space for another. No one is at fault. It just is what it is.

Most of us have trauma, known as Big and Small T’s.

However, it has also been discovered that even a small trauma can affect one person as deeply as a big trauma affects another. Often due to past unresolved trauma of our own as individuals or handed down through our ancestry. Either way, we can avoid it, but the next experience often sits waiting in the shadows right around the next corner to offer the opportunity to learn, understand and transmute what we attempted to escape from prior.

It really all comes down to cultivating resiliency. We can do this by dropping into modalities such as yoga, meditation, and breathwork. There is no “fixing”. We are not broken. There is only sticking with what is, working through it, and enjoying the beautiful life we have right at our fingertips.

Another common person we run into during our experience of loss and grief is the “stay positive” person. Again, this a coping mechanism of their own.

Telling someone to stay positive is soooo not the way to support someone through loss or any other traumatic event. 

They might also tell you, “You are strong. You will get through this.” Ignoring what someone is going through and turning away completely or turning the conversation to something positive and positively unrelated? Nope. When we are educated, we see right through this. Again, know that it is not you.

Check out this excellent four-minute video: “How do you help a grieving friend?” 

I stood in a conversation with two family members only weeks after losing my younger sister where everyone agreed, “Well, at least you weren’t that close to her.” 

I just stood there. Frozen. No response could escape me. We were not the closest of siblings due to some basics such as: five years difference in age, never attended the same schools, her 20+ year illness and being completely different people with totally different fundamental beliefs. But this doesn’t make one love another any less. My brother and I were also completely blocked out of a lot of attempts to connect with her by codependent family members needing to be in control as the martyrs, saviors and heroes throughout her illness. This also included projections and blame for not being present. A no-win situation that leaves a person blinded with confusion. All of these archetypes at play can make for very complicated family systems. But again, this is life. Most of us have complicated family systems.

Circling back and zooming out on the entire situation, we foster forgiveness. 

The others were just trying to make the loss easier on themselves. The person closest to me even mentioned later on that he had finally gotten over his fear of death. While I was glad to hear this, I was simultaneously astonished and at a loss for words. I tried to remember, “It’s not about me.”

As Ram Dass says, “You wake up as you wake up.” 

In those moments, I had to channel full Namaste-mode in order to let it go and move on. Still numb, still feeling like I was trying to run through quicksand, still trying to meet and exceed unrealistic expectations under what other family members deemed as “formidable conditions”. In all transparency, the numbness likely helped immensely in being non-reactive.

Know that it is not you. 

The fine line we are attempting to walk is wondering when it should be about oneself, and when it should not be when experiencing loss and grief. Finding our way back to love and forgiveness is a tall task. 

My only advice at this point is to speak with professionals. Find a few coming from different backgrounds working in different modalities. Do not give up until you find the right mix. Do not put up with any pressure from anyone regarding how long it should take to move through the grieving process and get life back on track. Heads up. It may take a lot longer than you, and of course, they, hope.

Do:  Grieve deeply.

The responsibility of others, at minimum, is to gain an understanding about loss and grief. Google is right at our fingertips to find out anything one might need to know in a split second. Painfully obvious, but perhaps not at the time. Again, we try to remember that everyone is doing their best.

“Everyone grieves in their own time.”

This phrase is entirely accurate but also does not help. Action is required to handle what is emotionally unfinished due to death, estrangement or both.

The loss of an elder will always be significantly different than the loss of a lover or of a younger person. Even after experiencing losing several other people, this compounded loss was intense, different, and a lengthy recovery. One will never know or be able to relate unless it becomes part of their path, too. We can only hope those around us will eventually come around to understand that we, the people experiencing the loss, were doing the best we could, too. 

If you’ve experienced loss and are seeking support, I’ve got you. If your significant other is experiencing loss and grief, give them a break – for a good long while. Acknowledgment, probably more than once, is the key ingredient. Know that it will take time. Perhaps more time than is convenient, fun or easy. It is what it is.

Seek and Stay to Score Perfect Waves

Seekers - We Are Running Out of Time

Ever stop to notice that the endless seeking for something shiny, better, or new has only left you more lost than ever? Here's what’s likely happening.

We first world humans have a natural inclination to want more, be more, be better, and be perfect. When we encounter each new awakening of sorts, we might suddenly feel the need to run away and go on the now classic “journey”, seeking a way to "fix" ourselves. Welp. That will only get ya so far. The life of a seeker never ends. After a certain point, true magic transpires when we stay and face the waves breaking right in front of us. 

There is nothing wrong with us. We all have “stuff”.  

While important to seek resolutions to greater issues and ailments, we are not broken. What we are dealing with is simply the human condition. We all have this pesky “stuff”. And once we find one answer, there will always be another journey to arrive at the next answer. We all have pluses and minuses. We all mess up. No one is perfect. And time is a-wastin’.

Our generation has been fortunate to go on this journey of self-exploration. Even in the first world, most of our parents didn’t have this luxury. Expectations were to go to school, get married, and have kids in a time when the internet did not exist. Without easy access to information, life was simple as well as more challenging. Most people simply did not have the opportunity to indulge in self-discovery. 

Now we are now beginning to move past the information age. Today, many people are just beginning to “wake up”. We have evolved as a species. We have learned an awful lot about ourselves, our relationships, and how to grow and thrive in the world. We’ve learned how to make life better. 

But we are running out of time.

Without going into the insanity of what’s happening in the world today, if one has learned some things along the way, repaired and resolved the past as best as possible, there is good chance it’s time to step into action. Like, for real. This means, at bare minimum, an effort must be made to have actual conversations that need to be had, own what’s ours, and offer heartfelt apologies. There is no other way to repair and resolve. If we’ve at minimum attempted this whole shin-diggity-dang. Then awesome.

Side Note: This kind of stuff does not become resolved over text or email messages. There is not much neutralization of our nervous systems over messaging. Human connection, people. Face-to-face. Phone call, or hey face-time, if at a distance. Or we can choose to repeat the drama in the next similar situation rather than resolve it now. The choice is always ours. 

Time is Running Out

For those who have hit about 75% of finding peace within their individual issues, it’s time. It’s time to take responsibility. It’s time to stop running away. It’s time to share. It’s time to support. We need you now. Because time is running out.

With all that’s happening in the world, it’s been predicted that we have less than 30 years to turn this entire ship around. Our planet, politics, humanity – it’s all connected.  

There is simply no time left for endless journeys to fix ourselves, sitting in meditation for 30 years, or going on countless psychedelic trips to resolve our “stuff”. All of this continual work is important. But it’s time for action. 

What and how can you share now?

 There are so many ways! Large and small. They can be silent. They can be loud and proud.

            • Shift your career

            • Uphold industry pay standards + hold a pro-bono client

            • Start a true non-profit

            • Visual artists – let’s please tell more stories that matter!

            • Commune – with your loved ones, teams, and tribes

            • Smile at someone today

Even if we did eventually find a state-of-self somewhere near enlightenment, it is guaranteed someone somewhere will ruffle our feathers. When we are faced with situations that trigger us, instead of sitting with what is happening and dropping into heartfelt conversations so that we can repair, resolve, learn and evolve, we itch to run for the hills. And that is ok. This whole human thing is quite the experience. Words and events can be shocking to our systems. This happens when we have not resolved our “stuff”. But it’s ok! Do the work, acknowledge that itch, learn how to sit with what is happening, stay to receive the lesson, integrate it to move past it, repair the situation, resolve and evolve.

We have that prickly experience. We notice. We notice our impulses. We notice our choice of actions. We “woman up”. We “man up”. We learn. We progress. Within progression is where happiness and freedom await.

Initially, yes, we must turn within and begin to pay attention and cultivate an understanding around what is going on and how to handle being uncomfortable in our own skin. It can be terribly difficult to look at our truths. But this is the starting point.

With this newfound revelation, we might feel the urge to blow up our lives. And there is something to be said for that. Running away, quitting a career, divorce - change will happen all right. 

 But as they say, be careful what you wish for…

Taking these actions in a reactive state versus a resolved state usually only creates a ripple effect of more drama. Coming from a more neutral, grounded place, action might look like speaking with a therapist or coach. It might look like adding a daily meditation - and sticking with it. A handful of therapy appointments, a book and a course will not be a lifelong “fix”. There are a zillion opportunities online alone for continual efforts to observe, learn, understand, change, and transmute without destroying the good we already have been so lucky to find. Often, another human being who is already standing right next to us.

Of course, most of the time, even without an epic event. we simply become complacent. Other times, large and small traumas occur, yet we avoid. Fun must be put on pause which is way too inconvenient. So, we quit for what we think will be much more fun, fast and easy. The person next to us who we adore… oops… we forget our good fortune.

It’s not black and white. These scenarios are all overlap. The point is that we must seek. But we also must stay in order to evolve. Otherwise… we get to repeat. 

This path goes on forever. There is no such thing as a perfect life, a perfect wife, nor perfect wave. OK, well maybe a perfect wave. 

But how did we get to catch that perfect wave?!

We stayed out in the water! We didn’t get smacked and run back to the safe haven of the shore. We paddled our hearts out. We were smacked by close outs over and over. We almost drowned. We gulped so much saltwater that we puked. We paddled out again and again until our arms were limp. Then finally, ahhhh, we paddled, popped up, and found the flow. We all know, there is no other feeling like it.  

This is the luxury. We get to choose!

We choose to learn. Or we drop out, numb out (social media, the next muse, Netflix, cocktails, porn, sex, weed, Trump-ing), ghost the person or situation, point the finger, blame, project, and avoid. 

Now it’s easy to stay and avoid simultaneously which will also only lead to difficulties. But really sitting with what is happening, with healthy boundaries, plus tools and techniques to create a learning environment is where we flourish. Ask me.

Seeking is important. Seeking shows we are curious and motivated. At times, this is key. But once we hit about 75% - you guys - we have no time left for this level of self-involvement. There is no such thing as fixing. Perfection does not exist. There is too much work to be done. We all have endless talent to come together, collaborate and find greater ways to share what we have learned and make this planet a better place.

With all due respect, we all need to get over ourselves, drop the drama, and make real shift happen. Commit to those around you. Vow to seek and simultaneously stay with it. Love your people. Ride those waves. Tomorrow could be too late. 

Edited from original post in 2017 on jonimadere.com.

Love What Comes Up

When something arises that we don’t want or don’t like, our tendency is to resist.

When I was growing up, like most of us, I didn’t know any better.

Did you?

What I’ve learned is to notice my reactions to what comes up. 

Now this isn’t always easy.

I have admittedly not yet learned the art of paying attention - every single time.

But pay attention. Notice if you are triggered. Ask yourself why. 

Creating awareness around reactions to anything that comes up improves life immensely. 

It’s an opportunity.

To learn from reactions.

Understand them. 

Own what is ours.

Take radical responsibility for our part.

Then make an effort to shift. 

Shift to that place of learning and gaining from an experience rather than resisting and running away.

We tend to cling to the way we want things to be, to control people and our experiences with them.

Instead, dropping into and sticking with an experience - as it is - allowing the rush of feelings and emotions to pass like waves - we find that usually something better awaits us on the other side.

Relax.

Love what comes up, whatever it is.

Action is the Answer

Still dreaming about what you want to do?

Still wallowing around in why it hasn’t magically transpired out of thin air?

Action is the Answer.

There are times when it all seems impossible.

I know. I’ve been there.

Stuck Stuck Stuck.

But this is YOUR one big life and no one can take it away from you - except you.

Sure, we all encounter obstacles along the way.

But let’s reframe it.

If you are living in a first world country and you own a laptop and/or and iPhone, you are light years ahead of most of the people on the planet. That’s a quick reframe

I am the first person to give you immense understanding and positively hold space for you. If you are self-made, self-sufficient, have been through copious amounts of loss, grief and life challenges, trust me, I relate. But anyway we look at it, eventually we must start where we are.

My first suggestion is to allow yourself, even if no one else will, to be where you are. Be with whatever is happening. Second, listen to no one around you. No one. Only you are having your current experience. No one can take that away from you. Go easy on yourself. Third… you know what’s coming,… start. Start small. Start now.

Finally. Find neutral support. An even-keel sounding board will take you from where you are to where YOU choose to be.

If this resonates, reach out today. That is an action!

Gratitude

Having a hard time hearing about gratitude? 

I hear you. Gratitude gets thrown around ad nauseum these days. Right alongside those fluffy inspirational quotes.

Much of my generation grew up hearing we should be grateful for the food on our plates,as there were starving children in Africa.

It’s true. We should.

But as little kids we were likely confused thinking, “Where is Africa?” 

As a young adult, we are so consumed with figuring out who we are in the world, finding our place in our careers, while navigating relationships, moves, marriages, and kids. Then comes another decade of divorce, another move, health issues, another marriage, and a career change. Life moves too fast.

Gratitude can feel elusive.

Throw in some additional curve balls plus a healthy dose of trauma, new and/or unrealized old, that arises seemingly out of the blue. Life itself can make gratitude and inspirational quotes feel oh so far away, unrelatable, and essentially out of reach for so many people.

In fact, in the era of positive thinking, telling people to, “Just find gratitude.” does not usually support them in the least. It can drop people into noticing more of what they do not have versus what they do.

In searching for solutions, I found ways to drop into gratitude that worked for me. We are all individual so I’ve found with my clients that this process can look different for everyone.

One way I found is to surround myself with inspirational people including those who also paved their own way. These self-sufficient people understand how much longer it takes to get to where others are born into, greatly supported in reaching their dreams. It is difficult not to compare ourselves to those around us. Comparison – the thief of joy! Surrounding myself with friends and peers whose grit, determination and courage rewarded them with their success feels necessary for sanity. 

Another way is to go outside. Breathe deep. Soak up the sun. Gaze at the stars. This reverence for deep nature can put things in perspective. We realize how tiny we are which somehow melts drama and highlights appreciation.

Finally, drop into trust. Trust that life is working for us. Deep trust in that everything is going to work out just fine. Know that there is no controlling timing. This “knowing” allows us to relax. Relaxing allows for much more flow and trust, eventually finding our way to gratitude.

Thank yourself for the little things, the big things, and, yes, the food on our plates. It costs nothing… Gratitude.

Listen to Your Body

If you have ever experienced mysterious body aches and pains, your body may be trying to tell you something. Are you listening?

Original Post: Fall 2017

I’ve encountered a few instances where my body was trying to talk to me. But I didn't listen. I kept going. I kept going because I wanted to and because I needed to in order to make life happen. Upbringing. Circumstances. Conditioning. Bills. We all have ‘em, yes?

The left side of my body, controlled by the right brain, first surprisingly screeched at me in 2011. An initially severe scenario, it has ebbed and flowed over time. With immense care, I am still working through the final stages of transmuting it today. Awareness, understanding, and practicing the rituals that allow shift to occur are a part of everyday life. 

My Rolfing Structural Integration practitioner was first to alert me that my experience was rooted in the psoas. From this place near the center of the body, the pain moved throughout my entire left. Beginning where the psoas is attached near the lower ribs, down into the lower belly, hip flexor, low back, and extending down into my left foot. It also flared up into my left back, shoulder, and neck. Extensive to the point of waking up every morning curled up in fetal position with no desire to move.

I would pry myself open, hot tub/hot shower to better unfurl, and drag myself to yoga. Even though the yoga practice was uncomfortable, it opened my body up further to better get through the workday.

To this mysterious issue, I lost some prime time. No doctor nor practitioner could pinpoint what was going on.

With a hint from a friend at my yoga studio, I narrowed a lot down to adrenal fatigue. Later my M.D. / Functional Medicine Doctor determined I was correct.

To reconcile, I scaled my entire life back. I left the wine business I had begrudgingly gone back to after the Recession of 2008 in favor of more supportive and positive environments. Not the best time for a career change, but part of the root of this issue was being forced back into work that no longer inspired me. I also had to step far outside of the realm of Western medicine to skyrocket the healing process. Another story.

In this particular instance, my face broke out in an incessant rash. I had been soaking up sunshine trail running in Marin County, California during a big year for poison oak growth. I had never before contracted poison ivy or poison oak despite growing up around it. But it was in abundance that year according to the locals. So when I felt the tingle on my chest and two nurse friends labeled it poison oak, I grabbed all of the recommended remedies. 

When I realized it had subsided but wasn't fully leaving me, a doctor friend said it could be any number of ailments that often go undiagnosed.

It began on my chest spreading up my neck, face, and forehead, up to my hairline. Blistery. Itchy. Hot.

It went on for weeks, then months. According to doctors, it was no longer poison oak after a few weeks in the system, even if that was what had originally inspired it.

I traveled north to Oregon where the temperature shot up to over 100 degrees adding to the irritation. I took to icing it constantly seeking relief.

By month five, I had seen three different doctors who all put me on different medications without a true diagnosis. None of their guesses at remedies healed the issue. One of the medications was an intense steroid that, just like the doc warned, made me feel crazy.

The dermatologist I consulted once back home said, 

“Well, we think this is related to rosacea, and in this mountain town we see this a lot, most often in women your age.”

But he didn’t seem too concerned about why it is so common. Nor why he saw it primarily in women my age.

Turns out, this common skin agitation is directly related to stress. Thankfully, by the time I saw him, I had already been on the self-healing path for weeks.

My conclusion finally came when I became honest with myself about the fact that my nervous system was triggered like crazy from past events. Trauma. Old trauma reactivated by a situation that I knew, logically, could not be reoccurring, but my body was trying to tell me otherwise. The good old “fight or flight” response reactivated because our bodies naturally want to protect us from harm.

On the surface, I was having the best time of my life. But underneath it all, I was severely stressed, worried, and unsure. Once back home, I took to my yoga mat. I took to meditation. I cleaned up my diet to be sure nothing there was the cause. I took to copious amounts of self-care. 

I put a microscope on what was going on. I rested. 

I spent time laying horizontal and breathing deeply into the base of my belly every day resetting the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing my system to realign.

This was very similar to the processes I employed to rectify my fatigued adrenal glands.

Simple. No pranayama. No fancy breathing practice (derived from pranayama) touted by who’s who. Don’t get me wrong, I back many of these breathing techniques 100%. And initially used the 4-7-8 breath offered by Dr. Andrew Weil to begin this healing process. But eventually, I employed deep breathing all the way to the base of the belly expanding in all directions, slow and sure, for as long as I could make time for, every morning and every night.

Simple. Simple. Simple.

This placing attention on the issue, placing more attention on the breath, clean nutrition, hydration, and self-care, is what it took to resolve the rash.

This, unlike the expensive medications, did not cost a dime.

During stressful times since, I’ve felt a definitive twitch under the skin. And listened.

Every time, using the same simple technique, the tingle has disappeared instead of rearing its ugly head.

When we have not fully resolved past trauma and past stressors, the body holds on to them.

I promise, whatever is going on, no matter how much kale you eat and no matter how much you exercise, any issue we have rooted in the emotional realm might just eventually manifest in the body. It may also manifest in our relationships, our current habits that we cannot kick, our work, and our financial realms. Everything is connected. 

The amount of unidentified "dis-ease" out there is rising exponentially. But it is exactly that. Dis-Ease. And so much of it is derived from stress.

My prescription is to clean up the basics, breathe, relax, reset, find gratitude in the smallest of life's pleasures.

Ultimately, this is a call to move from leading with the head to leading with the heart.

Listen to your body, friends.

The body does not lie.

If this hits home, message me today.

Interested in similar stories?

The documentary, HEAL is a great place to start.

We all have beautiful lives awaiting us. Truly our birthright.