Archive for the ‘Personal Development’ Category

I sit here in the Emergency room waiting for a doctor for my wife.  It appears that she’s having a severe bout of appendicitis or an ovarian cyst rupture.  Persistent, worsening pain in her right, lower quadrant, pain that comes in waves.  Touching her abdomen sends her through the roof.  She’s cursing at me like a sailor.

How ironic is this?  Me, one who is extremely critical of the medical system is knee deep in it—and turning to it for help.

Medicine’s genius is in FIRST Aid.  Emergency care to prevent impending doom is where the magic of the profession is.

People come from all walks of life in to see me, and a lot of them are in acute care… sometimes even emergency situations… A great majority of them, we as chiropractors help them along, make them feel better, teach them to live in better ways, and sometimes miraculously after an adjustment, or a series of adjustments, they feel like a new person.

But in this case, I feel powerless. My wife, now resting, was screaming, writhing in pain, so I have no choice but to turn to the First Aid experts to do what their major strength is—help prevent impending doom.  And I humbly step aside for them to work their magic.  This is likely going to be a surgical case.  Ironic that I make my living provide the means for my patients to avoid drugs surgery at all costs.

As I sit here in the Emergency unit, I’m surrounded by people who are at their worst.  As my wife is now high on morphine, she’s fast asleep, and I’m constantly interrupted by beeps and coughs and sounds of vomiting and moaning patients.  The staff here appear to be miserable.  I don’t blame them.  The long hours, the suffering they are surrounded with.  Our environment does have a great deal to do with our pain.

From my research, I know statistically that 75-90% of all problems that people are in here for are lifestyle related.  These are conditions related to how we eat, how we move, and how we think.  The major killers?  Diabetes, Heart Disease, Cancer, and Adverse Reactions to Medications.

I can’t help but think of how that means that about 8 out of every 10 people who are in here could have prevented their need for being here. What’s worse is that the majority of people who are around me are already on copious amounts of medication—I overhear them listing all the medications they are on.

Our doctor’s offices are jam packed every day because people aren’t taught the why’s and how’s of what keeps them healthy and what makes them sick.   That’s because the system isn’t equipped for that.  While there are many places to go to get a diagnosis and a treatment, there aren’t too many places that will teach you why you got there in the first place and what role YOU have to play in getting yourself out.  That is too time consuming, and it’s not very profitable for the drug industry.

Doing research, attending health conferences, changing my own lifestyle habits… I was made aware that the only way our healthcare system can survive is to have LESS SICK PEOPLE.

This, fortunately, is not in the hands of the sickness care “health care” system.  It is entirely in your hands.  It is in the choices that we make every single day in how we eat, move, and think that will determine if you will be dependent on the system (drugs and surgery) or you will leave the system to what it is really there for:  First Aid.

My focus has now changed from “treating symptoms” to “teaching and helping the individual create health.” Using the logic of turning on light to remove darkness instead of focusing on the dark, I teach classes now in my office about lifestyle—how to eat, how to move, and how to even think– because people still live under the illusion that their genes control their health.  Even though it’s now been proven in science that your genes are not your destiny (as was the “Central Dogma” of Medicine).  It’s now undisputable in the literature.   Your environment, (how you eat, move, and think), not your genes, determine how your body expresses health or disease.

Let me give you an example:  When you are under any stressor, from family, to work, to even dietary stressors like too much processed foods; your body goes through a “fight or flight” response, liberating a great deal of energy triggered by the lower brain into an emergency protective mode.  Like a tiger chasing a gazelle, the only thing on the mind is survival for both lion and gazelle for that temporary time—just until the chase is over, and the gazelle returns to safety.

The gazelle, 20 minutes later, returns to grazing, and the tiger returns and rests shortly after, but we humans are so intelligent that we have the ability to re-live that lion attack

over and over again, day after day, month after month, year after year, decade after decade.

Now, we don’t have to worry too often about being chased down by a tiger here these days—unless you’re on a safari… But we are programmed to react exactly the same for our own version of tiger attacks—Family stress, work stress, lack of feeling of control of our environment, insecurity, divorce, financial pressures, low self esteem, resentment, anger, victimhood.

We re-live these emotions and repetitively wire our nervous systems with this damaging biochemistry, year after year, and our health falls apart—and we run to the doctor for an answer.  We line up in hospitals and in doctor’s offices.  And we end up spending more and more money, year after year. We’re reaching a breaking point, and simply can not sustain what we’ve created.   We call them chronic “medical conditions”, it’s but I can show you beyond the shadow of a doubt that 75-90% are simply the body making a

normal response to our lifestyle and thoughts.   And the system is designed in such a way that the only solution is in the form of a test, a pill or a knife, which has been proven to do a little to deal with the symptoms, and NOTHING to deal with the cause.

So what’s the solution to our long hospital waits (it’s now been 6 hours already and we haven’t seen a doctor—let’s hope her Appendix doesn’t rupture in the meantime–if it’s appendicitis)?  Simple:  LESS SICK PEOPLE.  And that, my friends, is not in the hands of a doctor.  It’s in your hands.  Everyone knows they should drink less alcohol, stop smoking, exercise more, eat more veggies, control our stress, etc.  But the problem with our system is that it doesn’t teach us the why or the how.

When you realize that you simply can’t express your health potential without exercise, and you are taught how to slowly incorporate it in your sedentary life, change becomes easy.

When you realize the processed foods we are eating are toxic, and how our cells respond to the deficiency of proper nutrients in our fast-food diets, and then we are shown how to overcome our food cravings, change becomes easy and the pounds start to fall off.

When you realize that just as your thoughts have the capacity to make you sick, your thoughts also have the capacity to help make you well—once you’re shown how to get out of survival mode and into creating the life you want, change becomes easy.

Sitting and talking endlessly about our problems re-creates the emotions, biochemistry, and physical illness patterns.  When we are taught how to overcome our fears, guilts, anxieties, and depressive patterns of thinking with some simple tools, we can heal the mind (and then the body) from all sorts of dis-eases.   Instead of blaming our current misery on what happened weeks to decades ago, we can learn to be grateful for what we have NOW.  And our biochemistry begins to change.

Far less costly on the system and far more effective than anything the system could offer, If these lifestyle changes could be bottled and sold in pill form, it would be the next blockbuster drug.   These changes have been shown to cure diabetes, reverse heart disease, and heal cancer.

But they’re not available in pill form.  They’re choices that require empowering yourself rather than being a victim to your environment or heredity.  A difficult choice for most of us, but without taking action personally on this STARTING TODAY, our collective physical, mental, and financial health has ZERO chance of survival.  It’s that serious.

It’s the reason why I’m dedicating my life to teaching how to create wellness and avoid the use of drugs or surgery, rather than treat disease.   The biggest challenge my patients face is not how to change–  It’s making the time to do it.  The hopeless cases are all the ones who “never seem to have the time”.  Even though they have all the resources I may offer at their disposal, from wellness chiropractic spinal care, to exercises, to attending classes on posture and stress:  “I’m just too busy.”  And then eventually their body seems to force them to make the time.  And I watch them deteriorate year after year.  So it fuels my passion to teach.  “Doctor” in Latin doesn’t mean “pill pusher.” It means “Teacher”.

Side note:  It’s now 2 in the morning, and the doctor has just come in and narrowed it down to 3 possibilities:  Kidney stone, or Appendicitis, or Ovarian Cyst Rupture.  Since CT scans have high levels of radiation, we’ve elected to do an Ultrasound in the morning.  Took us 8 hours to get to this conclusion—and now we have to wait another 7 hours for another test to determine the next course of action.  I’m staying with her in the hospital and I write this amidst the moans and screams of other suffering people.  My heart goes out to them because I know many of their problems are preventable if they only took the time to learn how. Here’s a list of how most of them could have avoided being here in the first place:

1)   If you want to be more alive than dead, eat foods that are more alive than dead.  Find resources to teach you strategies how to overcome your food addictions.

2)   When you wake up in the morning, don’t get out of bed without first thinking about all the things that you are grateful for, and what you would love to create in your day.  If you don’t take time to do this, your day will be filled with things you will be ungrateful for.  Guaranteed.  Re-program healthy brain/body biochemistry by THINKING WELL—Think better than how you feel.  Learn strategies to deal with the inevitable adversities of relationships and of life.  Everything begins with a thought.

3)   Keep your spine moving with exercise.  50% of all body movement nerve pathways are in the spinal joints and if it doesn’t move sufficiently, or it gets stuck, you could be in a great deal of trouble.  See your chiropractor regularly to keep it moving properly.

4)   Balance your movement and rest.  If you don’t get enough movement and exercise in your day, or you don’t get enough sleep—your cells become resistant to insulin—which has been shown to be the underlying root cause of all chronic degenerative illness—diabetes, cancer, heart disease, aging, osteoporosis, even mental disorders like Alzheimer’s and depression.

The hospital is a horrible place to be, but thank God it’s there in emergency cases like the one Maria finds herself in right now.  Doctors and nurses can be heroes.  But when we turn to doctors and nurses to treat diseases caused by poor lifestyle choices—we are playing with fire, and it’s a game we can’t win.  I’ve dedicated my life to teaching strategies on how to dramatically reduce our need to ever play.

P.S.  Turned out to be a ruptured ovarian cyst, and Maria is home recovering beautifully.  We elected for no surgery, and it turned out to be the right decision.  Many thanks to the doctors and nurses and Paramedics at Burnaby Hospital, and to our friends and family for their support.

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Fear is an incredible thing.  Sounds crazy, I know… but think about it.  Your fears can be the driving force in your life.  Fear of failure drives many to succeed and go the extra mile.  Fear of poverty makes us become better savers of money.  Fear of going to a “hell” or a “hellish” afterlife can cause us to become very kind and generous to people.

In my case fear of chronic illness, getting obese and unattractive, and fear of early aging all serve to drive my mission and purpose:  To research and find ways of getting healthier, stronger, happier, more balanced, more fit, and more youthful.

In my own quest of running away from my fears, I serve others and make a living by teaching, treating, adjusting, coaching, and speaking to others about how to avoid the things I fear.

THANK GOD FOR MY FEARS.

But fear has it’s downside–I’m sure you’re well aware.

Fear, in it’s extreme cases, can cause such a level of anxiety that instead of pushing you forward, it holds you back.

It holds you back from being the best you can be with all the talents you’ve been given.

There is something you know you really want to be doing—would LOVE to be doing with your life RIGHT NOW.  I know because there isn’t a person who I have met or coached that doesn’t have an inner voice that propels them to do something very cool with their lives, whether they’re aware of it or not.

Not only that, but add on the daily fears— fears that are so constant, and so part of who you are that you walk through your life in a constant state of panic, as though your life is in continuous danger.

The problem with this high level of anxiety is that if left unchecked and unresolved, it could build up to the point that you have a panic “attack” where you suddenly feel like you’re at the end of your rope.

If you’ve ever felt this way, you’re not alone.  Everyone feels varying degrees of fear, anxiety, and depressive states.  It’s all part of the human experience.

The question is, what are you going to do about it?

If you’re like most people in North America, you could end up in a medical doctor’s office, who has training in recognizing signs, symptoms and labeling states of disorders and different states of adaptive physiology.  But be aware…. the only treatments they are trained to offer in medical school are MEDICAL ones.

My biggest challenge in my chiropractic practice is seeing patients in chronic pain, who also happen to be on anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medication.

Though they come to me to “relieve their pain”, I find myself wanting to delve into their underlying emotional root causes in addition to their symptoms because I’m seeing more and more how the two are intimately linked together.

Luckily there is help for those seeking to start their inward–bound journey to awakening their own inner healer.

We have a “Law of Attraction for the Advanced Manifestor” seminar that will make you go inward like you’ve never gone before.  Please do not attend if you expect a “here’s the secret to happiness” seminar.  There’s no such thing.

But if you are one of those seeking an awareness and a path to overcome whatever fear that stands in your way to fulfilling your relationships, your career, you mind and body health, and your finances–that’s basically our target audience.

I was lucky enough to discover at a young age that our coping mechanisms for our fears, anxieties and stresses aren’t skills that ever get taught in school.  In school, I learned how to type, but I didn’t learn how to handle relationship conflicts with friends and family, and most importantly, myself.

My mission is to teach these skills to children and adults around the world in one-on-one and one-on-many form to empower people to realize that their thoughts, perceptions, lifestyle choices, actions, and foods that they eat play a more significant role in shaping their health than anything else in the world.

In the meantime, I’ll just keep using my fears to my (and your) advantage.

So what can YOU do about it?

Aside from going inward and learning more about yourself in courses and seminars, it would be wise for everyone to take the time and ponder on some empowering questions:

1—What is my greatest fear?

2—What are the benefits of me living with this fear? (They wouldn’t be there unless there were some benefit you’re getting out of it)

3—What is this fear costing me in my relationships, career, in my physical, emotional, and financial health?

The problem is, we seldom take the time to ask ourselves these important questions.  And our mind/body health can deteriorate because of it.

Click here to see date and location of “Law of Attraction for the Advanced Manifestor” class (scroll to bottom)

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“Hey boss!”

The word itself is enough to make me cringe.  Although people have a natural fear and public display of respect for whoever is the boss, you can’t help but resent anyone who holds the title.  As my career has developed into manifesting the ownership of one of Greater Vancouver’s largest Multi-disciplinary Alternative Wellness Clinics, I look back on the past 2 years of being “the boss” and I realize something:

No matter what books you read, or seminars you attend, you can never be REALLY ready for the challenges you face in that position.  Here’s what I have learned.

1)   Everyone is going to try to “get away” with whatever they can.  You can’t blame them, because we all are the same.  All you can do is to be clear on your boundaries and make your expectations clear.

2) Speak up when those boundaries have been crossed, or suffer the consequences later.

3) Become aware of your weaknesses, and delegate those tasks to others who are good at them.

4)  If you don’t prioritize your day with productive activities, then non-productive, energy draining tasks will take over your day.  Guaranteed.

5)  Become extremely comfortable not being liked.  No matter what you do… I repeat… NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO… people will like you and dislike you.  So embrace it and do what you love to do.  Side note:  Most people can’t handle not being liked, and thats why being the boss is not for the faint of heart.

6)  If you pay peanuts, you end up with monkeys.

7)  Humans require inspiration to take massive action.  People have blown themselves up and crashed airplanes into buildings because they they had something they believed in.  Become inspired, share your vision, and you’ll be surprised at how others will catch that inspiration and jump on board with your vision.

8-  Life is a struggle to stay in the present moment.  Every day, you will be bombarded with 30-50 opportunities to take you into past remembered guilts, or future imagined fears.  Learn the art of recognizing they are just illusions and all that matters is what is in front of you NOW.  Once you have mastered this art, write a book about it and make millions.  And please send me royalties for giving you the idea.

9)  The most successful people in the world are those that have understood how to combine their spiritual nature with their material nature, and kept both in harmonic balance.  Fall out of equilibrium, that is– try to give something for nothing or try to get something for nothing, and the universe will let you know by giving you a few gifts to make you aware of the disequilibrium.  Those gifts are: Stress, resentment, frustration, anxiety, and depression, fear, and guilt.  What better way to remind you to balance your give and take with the world than to make you extremely uncomfortable?

10)  Everyone is replaceable in your company except YOU.  Appreciate your co-workers, but never infatuate with them or make them feel that you are worthless without them.  Give anyone that power and they will eat you alive.  Put the needs of the company FIRST.  Nobody has a job without the company being healthy FIRST.  I used to think the opposite.  The school of hard knocks taught me otherwise.

11)  Being the boss is not as easy as you think it is.  My respect for successful entrepeneurs has skyrocketed because I KNOW how difficult it is.  The higher up you climb up that ladder, the more people can see your butt.  And it’s so easy to take shots at the one who’s at the top.

I know these are specific to “bosses” but when you look carefully at each of these and they can relate to us being the “boss” of our own lives.  These principles are universal, and they all address how important it is to respect and honor ourselves when we relate to others.  Failed businesses, failed relationships, and deteriorating health all result from people who don’t love themselves enough to put themselves on equal ground with others and speak up when they have needed to.

Any other pearls of wisdom, feel free to comment.

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Are you going through a difficult time?  A transition?  Change in relationship status, death of a loved one?  Maybe you’re just lost, or just plain angry and frustrated.  You’re not alone.  We are the most depressed society in the world.  The use of anti-depressant medication is on the rise, especially in North America.  We have the majority of wealth, and among the highest quality of life on the entire planet, yet we’re the most depressed and the most medicated.  Why?

Please tell me if I’m way off base here:  My observation of people over the past 10 years of being in practice, is that our problems exist because we’re looking in the wrong direction and asking ourselves the wrong questions.   Allow me to explain.

Any time you turn on a reflective consciousness, that is, you turn and observe yourself in the moment, you have awakened to a spiritual awareness. It happens every time you look in a mirror.  Observe yourself reading these words.  Who is it that is looking at you?  Answer:  You have reached a present state of “soul awareness”.  You were in the “now” looking from the perspective of your higher self.   The cool part is, that no matter what your faith or religion is, or even if you don’t believe in God, we all have this one thing in common:  Our ability connect, disconnect, and re-connect with our higher self—the part of you that transcends any labels one may put on it.  Titles like “Buddhist” “Christian” or “Atheist” don’t change the awareness.

I have spoken to many people while coaching or in my seminars, or in my office and they share with me their frustrations about their lives, their health, and their relationships.  I go through similar frustrations as well in my own personal life.  But I’ve noticed something…. Each and every single time we are frustrated it’s because we have stopped looking from the right perspective.  We are disconnected because we aren’t being reflective.  We are immersed in our own values and beliefs, and projecting them onto a universe that really couldn’t care less what our beliefs and priorities are.  Or conversely, we’re injecting other peoples’ beliefs onto ours and beating ourselves up for not living up to them.  When we do either (projecting our values or injecting other’s values), we are giving our power away to outside voices and opinions.  We are being run by fear and guilt and only looking from the self(ego) perspective.  We’re tuned out to who we really are and lose control over our thoughts, emotions, and our lives.

From an enlightened, awakened, aware, soul conscious view, there exists no problem, and nothing is taken personally, because you see yourself as connected to a larger consciousness.   When you are in that moment, getting rejected by your peers for not thinking like them doesn’t matter.  Your family’s or friends’ disappointment of you is deafened by a stronger inner knowing of what you want to be, do, and have.  You recognize your own genius and you’re not seeking approval.

Einstein said, “You can’t solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.”  How true.  The moment you turn your awareness to the level of your soul or spirit through reflective consciousness, the problem changes, because your perspective, or perception changed.  It is only through “becoming the observer to the problem” that we can begin the process of finding a true solution.

The essence of true wisdom is the ability of seeing both sides of an event.  It gets easier with practice.  I’m starting to get good at it, although I falter quite often.  I’m now teaching others to do the same.  The results are amazing when you be come aware that from a “higher-self” perspective, you get both pleasures and pains simultaneously.  This awareness helps us understand rather than react to the events of life.  With poise, we create our lives rather than being victims under the control of our environment.  When you have a spiritual perspective, you are not seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, but embracing both in the pursuit of your mission.  I’ve seen people who are labeled “chemical imbalance” (as if there was a way to test this imbalance!) come to such a profound realization that it was their perception creating their condition, they were moved to tears of gratitude and were set free from their emotional states.

Traditionally, the questions we ask ourselves when we are going through challenges have been these ones (let me know if it sounds familiar to you):

“Why does this happen to me all the time?”

“Why do I always get the short end of the stick?”

“Why can’t I just be happy?”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Why am I such a loser?”

“Why doesn’t he/she just change?”

“Why can’t I be normal like everyone else?”

Great questions to ask, if you want your answer to be a disempowering one—and keep you in victim mentality, putting your life in the hands of others to create, shape, and mold.  The answers you or someone else might come up with (and I’ve heard so many):

“It’s because I was abused”

“It’s because your/my husband is a jerk”

“It’s because I/you have a chemical imbalance”

“It’s because my parents did a horrible job”.

All these come with great stories….and limiting belief systems.  Whether it’s true or not, if you believe it, then it becomes your reality.  Your mind is capable of making it so.

If you’re going through a challenge in your life right now, or are still living in the past from events you can’t seem to get over… Here’s a more empowering way to begin.  Start by asking yourself these questions:

What is the most important thing in my life right now?  What is my purpose?

How does my current life challenge (or past event) serve me in the pursuit of my values and purpose?

These questions force you to change your focus into a spiritual one, and take your conscious awareness to the next level—the only level that can solve your problem.

I have the misfortune of seeing too many people who have unresolved inner and outer conflicts going which have a tendency to manifest as mental and physical health problems.  They’ve been labeled “chemical imbalanced” or “hormone imbalanced”… as if their physiology has made a mistake, or they have some genetic flaw.  They’re prescribed pills to make the problem go away.  The symptoms may resolve, but the underlying conflict remains buried.  Luckily, with a little digging, with questions such as these, there is hope.  And it all comes back to a shift in perception and beliefs.  Without it, the problem remains.

And the purpose of the problem?  Look carefully, and you’ll see that it is the universe’s way to get you to love yourself more so you can turn your attention off yourself and serve others… no matter what your story is.  You instantly free yourself from the “Prison of Self” by doing this.  Ironically, in order to forget yourself, you have to become yourself.  And when you become yourself, your inner drive comes out, and people can feel it pouring from every cell of your body.  And the cells of your body start to work in harmony again. 

We just have to learn to ask the right questions.  Questions that bring us to gratitude for our problems.  Not easy to do, but I guarantee, it’s the answer to all of your problems.  Then we can be grateful for what we have.  No matter what you’re going through.  

For those who STILL have troubles finding gratitude in their current life situation, who still want to run their great story as to why they shouldn’t be grateful, I’ve added a video clip that will cure you.  

                                              

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So you know you need to make some changes.  Gotta lose the gut for the summer, gotta quit smoking, gotta exercise.  Gotta start saving money. 

I’m going to share with you 101 tips to help you make a shift in your life to make the changes you already know you “should” be doing but haven’t gotten around to… in every area of life, not just physical.  Even some tips that will help you in financial and social situations.  I will be expanding on these tips on future blogs.  

Since true health requires a balance of all areas of life, I will give you tips on every area of your life.  I will share pearls of wisdom I have learned from my teachers and my research.  These are tools that I have applied and have been proven to be reproducible– that means that if they work for me, they will work for you.  I am in no wise an expert in all matters.  I’m a student of Health and Wellness.

 You may not agree with everything I say.  I don’t expect you to.  If I challenge one of your beliefs, by all means, stand up for yourself and make a comment.   By the way– all these tips are just as much for me as they are for you.

Eating Well:

1.  Drink more clean water.  Your mother was right.  Instead of FIRST focussing on cutting down the sodas, try to just drink more water.  Drink water all day and watch your energy levels rise. You like the sodas a bit too much? No problem…  I’ll show you an easy way (#5) to get over your soda addiction.

2.  Add raw fruit and vegetable content to your meals gradually.  And make sure you eat it before the cooked stuff.

  I used to eat 10% raw, now I eat 33-50% raw, depending on the meal.  I’ve lost weight and haven’t hungered or deprived myself at all.  It was so easy I’m going to write an article about it.  Stay tuned.

3.  Give in to your munchies.  Don’t deprive yourself.  You’re not an idiot, you know junk food is bad for you….Just make sure you start out with fruit or veggies.  Have plenty of frozen grapes prepared.  Have baby carrots and dip, with broccoli and cauliflower ready for your munchie cravings.  Cut up apples and throw some lemon juice on them, sprinkle some cinnamon.  Have an orange.  Eat those foods FIRST.  You’ll be amazed after a while you will be craving those healthier foods.  You actually survive if you don’t eat junk.  Amazing discovery for me.  You’ll crave less wheats, carbs, and glutens.

4.  When making your meal choice, stop and think.  Ask yourself “how am I going to feel 2 hours after I’m finished?”  Nobody eats a grilled chicken salad and says “oh man, what the hell did I do to myself?”

5.  Stop Drinking your Calories.  Increasing water is one way…. Wanna know how I got over my soft-drink addiction?  Just watch this video and you’ll see how.  

6.  Get a juicer or blender.  Yes.  It’s a pain in the butt to clean.  I’m telling you it will save your life.  In the morning, throw in carrots, apples, beets, strawberries, oranges, you name it.  You drink a tall glass of all that…, you can feel your cells saying “ahhh… finally some nutrition.  We don’t have to work as hard, you jerk.”  Your blood sugar levels go up gradually, and you won’t feel a crash.  Your food cravings will be GONE.  You can last until lunch with that. Try it for a week.

7.  Treat yourself as though you are a child, animal, or automobile that you love.  You would put in only the best food and fuel and care, time, energy, resources, and money.  Why don’t you do the same for yourself?

8.  Take a high powered multi-vitamin supplement.  That’s one thing you don’t go cheap on.  Even if you eat organic, chances are, the food you are eating has been in transit for a long time and they lose their nutrients.  Those in tropical climates have an advantage, but you gotta get your anti-oxidants.  Email me if you want suggestions for the products I use.  

9.  Remember the good fats!  Essential Fatty Acids are not ingested in sufficient amounts in our diet.  We REQUIRE it in sufficient amounts to avoid skin, hair, and nerve-related ailments (among a zillion others).  There’s great research out there that EFA’s in the form of  fish oils have a great results in “treating” depression.  The truth is, it’s not a treatment for that!  If you have a deficiency, you could easily become depressed.

10.  Drink alkalizing agents like alkaline water, and pure fruit and vegetable juices.  When at a restaurant, ask for a lemon and squeeze the juice into the water.  The citric acid acts ironically as an alkalizer after it passes into the stomach.  Our acidic PH in the blood is responsible for a series of health problems.  Balancing it out is important.

Getting Moving:

11.  Consider daily exercise as a nutritional requirement.  For the sedentary, start by adding a 1/2 hour walk a day.  Nothing is as cheap and effective, and boosts your serotonin levels so easily and naturally.

12.  Get a trainer if necessary to help motivate you.  First, motivate yourself by seeing how getting healthy will help you attain your family, hobby, and career, and financial goals.  Otherwise, you won’t ever do it.

13.  Start your program with postural exercises.  Your mom was right about that one too, although she probably needs help with it as well.  Bad posture and poor general health are linked together in the research.  Have 2-3 simple postural exercises you can do in 5 minutes every day as a break from work.  Your energy will skyrocket.  (Check for future update blog on posture coming up at a later date.)

14.  Play a sport that requires cardiovascular endurance, fun, and a moderate to high level of skill.  Not only is it good for the heart, but good for the brain as well.  When you are in the pursuit of mastering a skill, you are feeding your brain and nerve system and protecting against advanced deterioration.  Golf (without a cart), hockey, basketball, and climbing are great examples.  Use it or lose it.

15.  Meditate.  Meditation, to me can be defined as any shift in awareness that brings the mind a state of re-connection with the body in the present moment.  You can do that even sitting on a bus.  It has been shown to lower stress hormone levels with no side effects.  There’s always a meditation class going on somewhere if you need, or CD’s and DVD’s you can get for that.

16.  DO YOGA (or pilates).  I haven’t come across another practice that challenges the mind and body in such a manner.  I’m fascinated with it and now want to learn how to teach yoga. You look at a person who has been in the regular practice of yoga or pilates for several years… Even before Lululemon existed… They all have one thing in common.  They look and feel better than most of us do.  They’re in better shape.  They’re more integrated as human beings.  They’re even sexier.   

17.  Have sex at least once a day (minimum), preferably with someone you love (Parental Guidance Version recommends it only if you’re married ) Even though I’m joking only a little bit, I recognize this schedule is tough to keep up with daily stresses, work, kids, resentments… I’m recommending that you make it a priority.  It’s extremely good for your mind and body, and if done appropriately, a darn good workout.  Can’t wait to blog about it.

18.  Take dance lessons.  Shameless plug.  I know I’m biased, but nothing is healthier and safer (unless you were that poor girl in Milan, Italy who’s head I crashed into another girl’s head during the final hit of the song- sorry about that one, hun).  Our hunter/gatherer ancestors made dance a part of their rituals.  There’s a reason for that:  It’s social, it’s primal, it’s healthy, it’s expressive, and it releases “feel good” chemicals into our reward centers of the brain naturally.  This reduces stress and anxiety levels.  Salsa classes have been described as “the cure for depression”.  Dance classes are not a treatment for depression!  But–if you don’t get enough movement in your life, you will become depressed.  Guaranteed.

19.  Take the stairs.  If you’re out of energy by the time you get to the top, take it as a sign that you are in desperate need of prioritizing your health.  

20.  Stretch daily.  Going from “downward dog” to “cobra” (yoga poses), and finishing off with the “chair” pose every day would make a huge difference to prevent back problems.  If you don’t know what they look like, get an instructor to help you.

The nerves that branch out from your spine allow the brain to control every single cell and organ of your body. Stay connected.

 

 

 

 

 

21.  See a Chiropractor Regularly.  Ya, ya, of course I would say that.  Think about it, though:  Our bodies are exposed to stresses daily. Postural stress, work stress, chronic sitting, lifting, bending, standing, repetitive motions, as well as deficiencies in movement.  You spine soaks up tension from all these daily events the way a sponge soaks up water.   An adjustment “rings out” the tension so you can take on more, and keep on abusing yourself.  Since you don’t live in a plastic bubble all day, it makes sense to have these movement deficiencies corrected.  Hippocrates, the father of medicine said “Look well to the spine for the cause of disease” .  You won’t hesitate in maintaining your teeth, car, hair, nails. You wear out your spine, and life is miserable.  I see way too much of that, and it saddens me because it’s so preventable.

Healthy Social Interactions:

22.  Beware of becoming “too nice”.  It’s transparent–people know that everyone has two sides, and either they will see through it and avoid, or put unbelievable expectations on you to stay happy all the time.   My patients wrongly assume that I’m “positive” all the time.  Those same people get extremely dissapointed in me when they see I can have a bad day too.  Be truthful and balanced with the expectations on yourself, and with others.  Easier said than done, I know.  Just work on it.

23.  Become aware of your values, rules, and beliefs.  Realize that as you are only expected to live your beliefs and values, others want to be appreciated for living their lives as they see fit.  Resist this truth and suffer the consequences.  People will go to where they are appreciated the most. And so will you.

While you're looking at someone's grass, someone else is looking at yours.

 

 

 

 

 

24.  Whenever you assume someone else has a better deal than you…look again.  Emmerson said “Envy is ignorance and immitation is suicide”.  Appreciate what you got– someone, somewhere is looking at you and wishing they had it as good as you.

25.  Don’t expect to have close interpersonal relationships with others if you haven’t come to terms with the relationship with yourself.  Appreciate the duality that is you: A little angel, as well as a little devil.  Your fears and guilts about yourself will come across to your friends.  Those who are the most miserable socially are the ones who pretend to be someone they are not.  Love your shadow.  You don’t have to get rid of half of yourself to appreciate yourself.

26.  Release the expectation that a true friend must support you all the time.  You’ll lose less friends this way.  Allow people to have their opinions, even though they might disagree with yours.  

27.  Go with your gut.  Make your own decision rather than basing it on a friend’s opinion.  By tomorrow, and almost every day afterwards, you will have to make a decision that might be frowned upon by some of your friends.  They will respect you more if you go with your own gut, even though they may disagree.

28.  Share your fears about your friends with them.  You’ll be surprised at how they will open up to you.  It’s a magical exercise that will connect you in ways you wouldn’t expect.

29.  Look at the other side.  Next time you are being gossiped or talked about, look at who is building you up at the same time.  Both criticism and praise come in pairs and are designed to keep you balanced and growing.  You’ll always have both– so before you get too up or down about it, look at the other side.  This keeps you from getting too emotional.  I learned this the hard way.  The bigger my career gets, the larger the numbers of people who talk crap.  It’s inevitable.  Embrace it, or stay small.  Imagine what Brittney and Madonna go through. 

30.  Connect with a group of individuals you resonate with.  Going through the joys and pains of live, social interaction is necessary for growth.

31.  Make your expectations clear.  By constantly sacrificing yourself for the benefit of others, and not letting people know what you expect for yourself, you slowly grow resentments towards people.  When you inevitably blow up at them, you feel guilty and repeat the process, until in your late 60’s you realize to keep things balanced from the get go.  Don’t wait till later in life to create win/win relationships.  Do it starting now.  Find a better cause for which to be a martyr.

 

Creating a healthy relationship with money

32.  Observe where you spend your money.  Where your money ends up is a clear indication of your highest priorities in life.  That’s where you express your own unique form of wealth.  If your money goes to clothing and dining out at fancy restaurants or vacations, don’t beat yourself up if you are cash poor.  Be realistic and grateful for the wealth you have chosen.

33.  Pay yourself FIRST.  Why would the universe invest in you if you aren’t willing to invest in yourself?  The wealthy pay themselves first. Create a deposit only money market liquid account and build up a cash cushion to take away the mental stress of fear, which will be a money repellant.  Imagine the freedom of working without fear of losing income, because you’ve built enough of a cushion.  

34.  Discover the hidden fears and guilts you have about acquiring wealth.  I’ve consulted with countless individuals who resent the fact that they are broke.  Behind their resentment for being a slave to money is a resentment to those who are financial masters.  Do you truly believe that “it is easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than a rich man to go to heaven?”

35.  Realize that money won’t buy you happiness.  But also realize that poverty won’t either.  Money isn’t designed to make you happy.  It’s designed to make you comfortable, and give you options with your time.  Appreciate it for what it is truly there for and stop repelling it.  Stop putting “happy”expectations on having more money.  You’ll be just as miserable when you get it, but you’ll have more options.  Fulfillment comes when you are getting paid handsomely to do what you love– you’ll always have both happy and sad within that fulfillment.

36.  Be aware of your monthly expenses.  Ask yourself, “how much does it take to live one month comfortably for me?”  If your income isn’t more than that number, take a closer look and make the changes.  The “starbucks factor” will surprise you. Track where your money is going.

37.  Appreciate your debt.  Realize it’s there for a reason.  If you don’t appreciate what purpose it has served in your life, you will forever be running away from it.  It will haunt you and ruin your relationships.  Appreciate it, create a strategy to pay it back, and focus on building wealth.

38.  Don’t use credit cards unless you can pay them off monthly.  Buying things we don’t have the means to pay for is a huge part of the reason why we are in a recession in the first place.  The american dream turned out to be an illusion and is now the american nightmare, simply because people placed a higher value on things they don’ t need.  Stop carrying credit cards that have a balance.  Stop using them unless you have the cash to back it up.

39.  Accellerate your savings.  You’re going to think I’m crazy for this one.  Pay yourself first, doesn’t matter how much.  Start with as little as $50-$100 per month into a money market fund (liquidity).  Increase this amount by 10% every 3 months.  Build up to a 6 month cash cushion for all your expenses.  This removes the emotional strain of living paycheck to paycheck.  As you pay yourself more, you’ll notice money coming to you from unexpected sources.  Trust me on this one!  You have nothing to lose!

40.  Appreciate the money itself.  You have to be able to link saving money to that which is most important to you.  Ask yourself “how will building wealth and saving money help serve my work?  My family?  My social life?  My spiritual growth?”  If you can’t come up with enough “why’s”, then there is no motive for you to save and you will never have more money at the end of your month, than month at the end of your money.  Money acts the same as humans do–it will go to where it is appreciated the most.

Healthy Spiritual Growth

41.  Realize that spirituality takes on many forms.  Appreciate your own form of it and let others do the same with their own form.  Forcing someone into your belief system is as egotistical and productive as someone else forcing their beliefs on to you.  Unless they ask you about your beliefs, chances are they’re not interested.

42.  Your spirituality and science must agree.  Matter without spirit is motionless, spirit without matter is expressionless.  You are your most powerful when your spiritual calling and material existence is working together in a state of balance.

43.  Heaven is in the NOW.  Assuming that everything is terrible, that we live a horrible existence and that happiness is just around the corner if we can all change and think the same way….is the definition of pure hell to me.  I could be wrong, but if you can find a way to become grateful to what is NOW, then you are already there with a simple shift in perception.

44.  Start a gratitude journal.  Every night, before you go to bed, start thinking about exactly what you are grateful for.  Even though you can focus on the things you are ungrateful for (you do enough of that, don’t worry), think of 20 things that you can be grateful for in the past and present.  Don’t get out of bed in the morning without doing the exact same thing.  

45.  Start becoming aware of your prayers.  What do you REALLY want?  You will notice a simple “thank you” to God is enough.  In fact, you can be in a “prayerful” state all day if you are walking around in gratitude all day, and that will basically be the answer to any prayer– when you can be grateful for what is.

46.  Practice the art of surrendering to the moment.  Part of our frustrations and depressions come from resistance to what is going on in our lives right now.

47.  Trust yourself.  Realize that if you are a tiny slice of the Infinite, then you have all the tools necessary to get through your challenge.  Repeat the mantra “I trust myself completely,” or if you are Religious, you can repeat “I trust God’s wisdom and presence within me,” surrender to the moment and move forward, and observe the amazing things that will unfold.  Do it right now.

Healthy Family Relationships

48.  Realize that the purpose of your relationships are not to only be supportive and make you happy.  It’s purpose is to force you to see the universe from a perspective other than your own.  This will bring you both happiness and sadness, elation and depression.  Suffering comes from the expectation that it’s supposed to only be one-sided.  Think about that.

49.  Realize that the purpose of your family is not to only be supportive and make you happy.  Their purpose is to force you to see the universe from the perspective of greater numbers of people.  This will bring you both happiness and sadness, elation and depression.  Suffering comes from the expectation that it’s supposed to be one-sided. Think about that. 

50.  Notice how your family members display your opposite traits.  Often, they seem to be interested in opposite things that you are interested in.  One’s a social butterfly and another is a recluse. We might label them as dysfunctional, but there’s an order to the chaos.  Appreciate them for their uniqueness rather than try to fix them.  

51.  Approve of yourself FIRST.  You’ll notice your family members will follow suit.  The best gift you can give them is someone who loves themselves.  Ironically when you love yourself, you are less fearful and can be present with others.  They feel more appreciated when you are present with them rather than worrying about what’s missing in you.

52.  Create a win/win.  By sacrificing your own needs and desires, you inevitably grow a resentment towards your loved ones.  Let them know your desires and find creative ways to keep a balance of give and take.  True fulfillment in a relationship can only be attained when both parties win.

53.  Stop “fixing” people.  Whether you like it or not, people want to be loved for who they are, not changed.  If you don’t love them for who they are, they will go elsewhere. This is the greatest challenge in my life:  Trying to balance “fixing” people’s ailments, knowing we have to change their toxic and deficient lifestyles and thoughts, while trying not to fix them and appreciate them for who they are.  I go through cycles of extreme frustration to gratitude every day with this.  This is my journey of growth.  I’ve already blogged about these challenges.  I’m learning this one as I go.

54.  Become aware of your boundaries and appreciate them.  The main reason why conflict happens in our relationships is because we unknowingly step over the boundaries of our loved ones, or vice versa.  If we just communicate our priorities and boundaries, it makes a difference in the communication.  It makes the other person communicate their own boundaries, which gives both parties an opportunity to bridge the gap and try to create a win/win.  Try this next time.  It works like magic.

55.  Become comfortable being disliked.  This may sound counter-intuitive, but it’s actually quite liberating.  You stop trying so hard, which makes others feel way more comfortable around you.  This applies with family too.  I think George Costanza did this in a Seinfeld episode, and it worked well for him.  If that’s not reason enough for you to try it, I don’t know what is. (Notice I didn’t say try to be a jerk… I said be comfortable with yourself even if you’re not liked.)

Maintaining Mental Wellness

56.  Read about your interests.  Spend time in the pursuit of them.  Become a master in your area of interest.  If you only read 30 minutes a day, every day,  on a single subject, within 7 years you have read enough to be a master  and expert in the field.  If you have read 1 hour a day, you have mastered it after three and a half years.  

57.  Give your brain plenty of exercise. In addition to expanding your mind and self confidence, reading and constantly pursuing the expansion of knowledge keeps your brain stimulated.  Your brain energy and mental sharpness are like muscles.  Use them or lose them.  My grandfather is 90 years old, and despite his body slowing down, his mind stays sharp because it gets constant stimulation with books, newspaper articles and crossword puzzles.

58.  Play memory games.  They’re available everywhere.  Google it and play these games to stay sharp.

59.  Start teaching what you learn.  When you teach, the questions your student asks that you have difficulty with will inspire you to learn more.  A teacher is a constant student.  The greater your expertise in an area, the greater your sphere of influence.  The more I learn, the bigger my audience magically becomes.

Career Health and Fulfillment

60.  Do what you love and love what you do.  Everyone knows what they love to do. If you don’t know what you want to do, just ask yourself what you love to do and start doing it.  Read about it, spend time in the pursuit of things you love to do, and realize it’s not worth doing if someone doesn’t criticize or challenge you for doing it….Just do it regardless.

61.  Read about what you love and become a master.  While in the process of doing your unfulfilling job, read about your interest.  When you are ready, you can learn how to teach it to other people who are interested in the topic you are in the process of mastering.  You’ve just passed the torch and enhanced someone’s life.

62.  Decide on the size of the field you want to play in.  If you have a vision as big as your region, you can be a leader in your city.  If you have a national playground, you will be a leader in your state.  Fo a national influence, you require an international playing field.  To become an international leader, you have to have astronomical playing ground.  Realize that you are limited only by your own vision.  Your career and influence will grow to the degree that you grow.  Invest in yourself.

63.  Repeat empowering affirmations:  ”I trust myself completely” and “I am a genius at what I do”.  Make these your running programs rather than unproductive ones.

64.  Remember that you are going to die someday.  Steve Jobs of Apple made an amazing commencement address in 2005 to the graduates at Stanford University (it’s on youtube!), and he suggested this unusual reminder as the students began on their career journey.  Assume Career Fulfillment is your natural state.  If you’re not there, it simply means that you’re not tuned into what your purpose here is.  You’re going to die someday anyway, and at that moment, most of the people that were around to judge you won’t be there… In the end, the one question you want to answer “yes” to is “did I do everything I could with what I was given?”  What the hell are you going to do about it starting TODAY?  When is NOW going to be the right time?

65.  Hire a coach.  Another shameless plug.  But seriously, think about it.  How on earth can you achieve anything without someone to share your goals with and give you feedback either way, if you are on or off track?  If you are doing your job right, you are present when you are engaged in your work.  It’s impossible to stay focussed the entire time.  Tiger Woods has at least one coach at a time, sometimes 3 coaches… one for his swing, one for his mental game, and one for his physical training.  There’s no better investment for your physical/mental/financial health.  None.  Period.  Find someone who you trust, that will give you both support and challenge.

66.  Take you interest and learn how to create and deliver value to people.  You are contributing the most to the world when you are aware of who you are and what you love to do, and you find ways of serving others based on your area of interest.  If you like to weave baskets, you can be sure there are others who are into the same thing.  If you keep asking yourself “how can I create value for those people?” An answer will hit you hard one day.  When you then figure out how to deliver that value to others, then you are on the road to living your best life.

67.  Pay yourself first.  I know I just repeated myself, but it’s so important in developing your business that I can’t stress it enough.  In my first day of practice, I had a $100,000 student debt.  In my first month of practice coming right out of school, I made a whopping $1,500 for the entire month– hardly enough to pay all my bills.  You know where my first payment went to?  Myself.  I payed it into my “wealth account” I created with an advisor.  I put $150 (or 10% of each check from then on)  into it.  I continue to pay myself FIRST every month, regardless of income.  Let’s just say that today, my business has grown enough that I now have given myself a considerable raise.  And money is coming in from several sources that bring value to other people’s lives.  And I’m contributing more to others than I ever have as a result.  All because I selfishly pay myself first.

68.  Commit to personal growth.  When my father was an employee of a company, he used to think I was crazy for studying so much personal development and spending my hard earned money taking classes and seminars.  I intuitively knew that I was the wisest investment I could ever make.  Now that my father is self-employed, he’s recognizing the importance of personal growth in the growth of his business.  I chuckled when I found out he’s now starting to take business development courses.  As his self-awareness grows, so will his business.

69.  Set Aside Personal Development Classes as an Education expense in your budget.  Think about it. If you spend $1000 in print advertising, you are lucky if you get $1500 in return.  After I spent the same amount in one weekend seminar, the very first time, my return of investment equated to a jump in income that equated to 5 times that same amount, only within the first month!.  I discovered that you can’t put a price tag on personal growth.   It’s always so ironic for me to see that the people who need it the most often say they can’t afford it, but the people who have invested in themselves always recognize the value, have seen results, and won’t hesitate to keep learning and getting greater returns on their investment.  Remember this:  Those that whine the most about their lives don’t really want to change their story.  I personally have a tough time sitting back and staying quiet when I hear someone whine about their life. (Workin on it)  You see?  Personal growth never ends.

70.  Love what you do.  If you are doing an unfulfilling job, you can easily love it in ten minutes by asking yourself the right question: “How does my current job serve my highest values, priorities and beliefs?”  Find 40-50 ways that your current work serves your greater purpose.

71.  Write your own personal mission statement. Since I wrote down (back in 2006) what I wanted to be, do, and have in all areas of life, I have sat in awe several times as strange, “coincidental” synchronicities have occurred to help me fulfill it.  I can’t wait to see what’s in store over the next 12 months.  As my career develops, I increase my sphere of influence, network of friends, and touch more lives.  Each step of the way, there is a greater challenge, greater level of criticism of people who negate you, and greater level of fear, stress, responsibility, and anxiety to overcome.  That’s why having a successful career isn’t for everyone.  But it all begins by knowing your mission.  Put yours down on paper, read it every day, and watch amazing things happen over the next six months.

General Healthy lifestyle

72.  Get plenty of sleep.  Among the obvious brain function problems that can result from a lack of sleep, if you aren’t getting enough, your cells can become resistant to insulin, and you are opening the doors to a myriad of health problems that can result. 

73.  Get sunshine.  Lack of sunlight prevents proper vitamin D absorption.  This is a critical vitamin for our immune system to function properly.  Flu season just so happens to be when the stress levels are high (after Christmas) and sunlight hours are at a yearly low.  Moderate use of tanning beds or bright lights are a good 2nd best.

74.  See a Naturopathic Doctor that you trust.  You might as well try natural remedies first, in addition to the traditional medical care you are receiving.  Modern medicine’s strength is in emergency management.  It is my opinion that modern medicine should be avoided if you can first find answers with alternatives to drugs. Drug care is not the first answer to most complaints.  Research and find the root cause!

75.  Get regular Colon Hydrotherapy treatments (Colonics).  It clears out the toxins and helps you absorb your food by removing particles that might have been clogging your tubes for years.

76.  Learn to appreciate the art of breathing.  Taking deep, diaphragmatic breaths every single day and becoming present with the breath is an amazing way to appreciate your body.  You can’t live long without it.  Imagine following each breath of air that flows into your lungs and alveoli, oxygenates your red blood cells to be transported into the heart to be pumped throughout the body, while at the same time those red blood cells in your alveoli have transported waste (Carbon Dioxide) and dumped it back to be exhaled.  All this happens automatically, while you are asleep or waking.  If all that doesn’t appear to be a magnificent miracle to you, I don’t know what is.  When you take the time to go through that whole automatic daily ordered system that is you, it gives you a bigger appreciation about what the purpose of life is, and how our stresses, frustrations, resentments are all so meaningless.  When you are undergoing stress, the best way to instantaneously lower your stress response hormones (that are slowly killing you) is to stop and become aware of your breathing.  Appreciate what your body is doing, even if your heart rate and breathing increase.  Your body is working for you, for your survival.  Appreciating this fact is the first step to becoming healthy in both mind and body.

 

I’ve become obsessed with researching tools to empower all areas of my life– Health being the top priority.  What good are friends, family, money, job, hobbies, vacations, if you don’t have your health?  The choices we make every day either make us stronger or weaker.  I’ve given you some tips that I know will help you become stronger in mind, body, and beyond.  

Realize that you never get there.  It’s all about the journey.  I’m working at it every day, and sharing what I learn.  The best belief shift I can give you towards your overall  health is the belief that your body is actually working for you.  Your symptoms and illnesses, and challenges in life are put in front of you as mirrors for how you are living.  If you don’t like what you see in that mirror, it’s time for you to take a look at how you eat, move, and you think (Fear, guilt, anger, and resentment are all toxins to the body– and I will share the research on that one with you some day) .  If you don’t change all 3 of those things and get them all firing on all cylinders, don’t expect to live a healthy and fulfilling life.  

You are more than your body.  This body you are living in is a vehicle for you to fulfill your purpose, and you are going to die someday.  Most of us walking around are completely asleep to this fact.  Discover who you are, find out what you love to do, make your health a top priority so you can go out and do it.  Take care of your vehicle… You can’t trade it in for a newer model.

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Have you ever been in such physical pain that you were suffering?  Perhaps you still are.  The same goes with your emotional pain as well.  

 

Wanna know what the difference between pain and suffering is?  It’s just as simple as a shift in perception.  Allow me to explain.

A patient of mine came in to see me 2 hours after she was involved in a car accident whereby she was rear ended by another car.  She was clearly in pain and suffering because of it.  She was extremely anxious about it.  Her pain was so intense that she felt that something was wrong with her.  She had a bottle of pills in her hand that she just got and she wanted my opinion on taking the anti-inflammatories her doctor gave her previously.  She wanted my opinion.

I explained to her that her body was simply responding to a stressor.  There was an alarm (shock of the accident causing the tissues in the neck to be stretched), then as a result, there was an adaptation whereby the injured tissues start to pool blood to the area so that healing factors can start to work their magic.  As a result, there is swelling, heat, and because nerves are involved, there is pain.

So then where does the suffering come in?  The answer lies in your perception.  

Pain is a part of life.  Throughout your life, you and I have, and will in the future, experience both pleasure and pain.  Suffering doesn’t come from the pain.  It comes with the EXPECTATION that you are only to be having pleasure, and no pain.

Think about that.  I mean REALLY think about it.  

When I explained to her that she is responding in a normal and healthy way,and that her pain is absolutely normal given what she just went through… immediately I could feel her shift.  I asked her how she felt.  She said she felt much better.

Her suffering was upgraded to just plain and simple pain.  How Interesting. 

I adjusted her spine right after I adjusted her perception first.  That made her a heck of a lot easier to work with over the next few weeks, because instead of resisting to what what happening to her, she embraced it and appreciated it.  

You can do the same in your life too.  Release the expectation that you are supposed to be happy all the time.  Surrender to the fact that your parents, children, or significant other isn’t always going to be nice and supportive to them, and neither are you.  Get over it.

I’ve suffered enough to now be able to recognize the thinking and expectations that created my suffering.  I would like to share it with you.  Since I love “how-to” guides, here’s a “How-to suffer throughout your entire life” guide.  Keep it as your bible.  I guarantee that it will work (or your money back):

•   Refuse to look at the world from any other perspective other than your own. 
•   Guard your beliefs, rules and principles, expectations and your side of the story with your life, and make sure everyone else is aware of them. 
•  Constantly seek out the support of groups, friends, other family members, organizations, doctors, and counselors that keep you stuck in your perspective and NEVER challenge it. 
•  If someone disagrees or challenges your belief, hold onto your story even tighter, with more determination.  They must be wrong.
•  Refuse to elevate your consciousness to a higher level, especially to the view that looks at the world as one small part of a bigger picture. 
• Don’t even entertain the notion of surrendering to the moment and become grateful for what is.  God must have surely made a mistake.  Pray constantly that He may correct it.

Every time I feel like I am suffering, I realize I’ve been thinking along these terms.  As Eckhart Tolle describes, The “end of suffering” is only a thought away.  Even though we all die sooner or later anyway, it is our thoughts and beliefs that will determine the quality and length of our life.

To end your suffering, you gotta switch your level of thinking to a higher level.  By doing this, you’ll get over your pain quicker, too.  You’ll shift your perceptions and your suffering will follow.  The road to recovery and fulfillment is much shorter this way.  I guarantee it.

This cute little kid is getting one of his first lessons about suffering, as taught by his evil little brother charlie.  

 

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Have you ever been so pissed off that you wanted to become angry and violent?  I admit, I’m human and feel the same way sometimes.  Lately I’ve been turning my feelings towards my patients, of all people!  Here we are in society, thinking that the Doctor is a gentle, loving, caring human being that has no real “negative” emotions whatsoever. 

 

News flash:  Nothing can be further from the truth.  We’re just as judgmental.  We like a lot of the people we work with… we even love some of them.   We also hate the people we work with too.  I live in a family of doctors of all varieties, from dentists to cardiologists, to neuro-radiologists, to General Practitioners, and then there’s the black sheep—me.  Every time we get together we swap stories (of course leaving names out) of interesting cases. 

Most of the time we sit back in awe of the thought process and belief systems of our patients.  Lately, as I research to find tools and lifestyle changes to make people well, rather than just cover up their symptoms, my frustration and anger has been steadily on the rise. 

I feel that I have been lying to people.  Not exactly LYING, per se, but not telling them the full story about why they’re even there in the first place.  Every time I have an opportunity to tell the truth about someone’s health even when it’s as plain and simple as the light of day, the fear of a reprimand due to a board regulation, or the “morals and ethics” of my colleagues stops me.

I’m working on resolving that one.  This blog entry is also about me facing that fear, as it is about you getting healthier.

Please watch this video.  It is actually NOT A JOKE, but a true story.  Special thanks to my colleague, Dr. Stephanie Galanis for introducing this to me.

I’m willing to bet money that some of you I bet actually marked down the name and location of this place because it’s somewhere you would like to visit.  I’m not going to lie.  I do too.  But it’s not to go for a meal.  It’s to shake the hand of the creator of the concept.  He’s a genius.  He understands human nature, the same way drug companies and cigarette companies do.  People will go for the short term gain of the “high” created by using products and won’t worry about the long-term cost to their health. 

When we take a pill, we KNOW it’s not dealing with the cause—it just makes us more comfortable in our illusion that everything will be fine as long as I don’t feel any pain RIGHT NOW.

When we smoke a cigarette, we KNOW it’s going to kill us, but satisfying our nicotine pang is more important NOW.

When we watch that video, we look at the condition of the people who dine at restaurants like that but we need our sugar and fat fix NOW.

We’re all the same, and that’s why he created this burger joint.  And news cameras and “angry” bloggers like me will only make them more successful.  I’m of the opinion that if you can create, communicate, and deliver a perceived value, then you deserve success.  From one entrepeneur to another, that’s genius.  I want to take the owner out for lunch (at an establishment that serves real food) and shake his hand and learn from him, because I believe I have something of value as well that will save people’s lives—simply my understanding of what the body requires for health, in movement, in food choices, and in our thoughts.  Even though we are at opposing ends of the game, we can still respect how each other plays.

Want to know how to get heart disease, diabetes and cancer?  Go to places like that 2-3 times a week for 30 years.  Drink soda pop instead of water.  The only vegetables you ingest should be in the form of French fries, and the only fruits you get should come in flavors for ice cream (ex.mango, strawberry, and raspberry flavors).  We instinctively know this to be true, ya ya ya, but… there’s another factor that we don’t really consider– a factor that has just as much to play as the way you eat and move.  More on this later.  

I saw a patient last week who came in for me to “fix” his upper back pain.  He was diabetic, and on “metformin”, a wonder drug that helps stabilize blood sugar levels.  GREAT SUCCESS!

He was obese, didn’t exercise, obviously didn’t look like he got any raw whole foods in his diet, and his job was particularly stressful.  Now he wants me to fix a back problem that was caused by a lack of proper movement, exercise, and a lack of proper function in his spine (his last adjustment was 7 years ago and he gets the pain on and off).

When I asked him about his diabetes, he had the nerve to tell me that his “disease” he caught was genetic.  I was sympathetic to him up to that point. 

Hidden belief system:  It runs in my family, there’s nothing I can do about it.  My choices don’t matter.

I’m here to tell you that you’ve been lied to.  I’m going to go out on a limb here, and risk ridicule and criticism and tell you that your GENES ARE UNDER YOUR CONTROL.  The genes to produce diabetes might exist, as they exist within all of us if we keep going to eat in places like the Heart Attack Grill… but our LIFESTYLE is what switches those genes on or off to produce the results.  If you don’t believe me, just watch the show “Super Size Me” where a guy goes and eats nothing but McDonalds for 30 days and does all the blood work before and after to prove that a healthy individual can develop pathology just by what he puts into his body and by stopping moving.  His mood, depression and anxiety levels were also affected by his lifestyle.  Try proving to HIM that his mind and body are separate.  His lifestyle switched on his “illness physiology” genes.  He was healthy prior to that experiment!  Guess what… after it was done, he switched his lifestyle back, and his genes expressed health again.  Your body’s natural state is that of health.  It’s CRAVING healthy lifestyle habits to switch the healthy genes back on.  It craves it so much that it keeps producing illness so we can go back to the right way of living like our hunter/gather ancestors did.

If you don’t believe me and think I’m nuts for saying our genes are under our control, watch THIS video by Dr. Bruce Lipton, Phd. He’s a highly respected researcher from Stanford School of Medicine who has scientifically proven that our genes are entirely under our own control, simply by switching our perceptions.  I don’t want you to take it from me.  Take it from someone who is way smarter than me and you combined.  I encourage you to take the time to watch it.  He explains it in a way for the lay person to understand.  The implications of what he is saying will revolutionize how we look at our health, and the information he is sharing is the irrefutable proof that hasn’t yet made it into medical textbooks, but will be there within the next few years.  He is the catalyst for me to take my career to the next level and spread the truth about why we get sick in the first place:  OUR PERCEPTIONS AND BELIEFS. (3 part series– watch it when you have time and it will blow you away)

Almost my entire family on my father’s side is on cholesterol medication.  It’s “runs in my family”.  Can I tell you what else runs in my family?  Completely stopping exercise during adult life.  Eating an abundance of sweets and rice. (even though Persian food does have a lot of healthy components to it when you lower the amount of rice).

The most important one of all:  The “Rahmany trait” that all the cousins get together and laugh and joke about at family get-togethers:  Fear.  An insane amount of fear.  Fear of “what will other people think about me”.  Fear of what will the rest of the family think.  Fear of not getting enough appreciation or recognition from the family.  The “what ifs” that rule our lives.  Any middle eastern or asian family who has the same value system will be able to relate to mine.  Apparently my family is not alone.  The more we hold onto our fears that take up time and space in our minds, the sicker we get.  I have the research to back that one up too.  A lot of doctors would say I am a high risk to get a stroke simply because my grandfather died of one, and my family has high cholesterol.  I disagree with that one whole heartedly.  I think the greatest risk factor for my “inevitable” heart disease is because I adopted the “what if’s” from them.

I guess I have been acting on that trait by not telling people the truth of all this before when I first discovered it 5 years ago—how our beliefs are the root cause of all chronic illness.  I’ve been holding onto it that long, and in my own way, I’m slowly developing heart disease myself.  After all, what is fear but an illusion and misperception?  If you don’t accept me for what I say, and think that I’m a quack for saying this, is my life in any real danger?  The question is WHAT’S THE THING THAT’S CAUSING ME TO REALLY CARE?

 

That’s what I mean when I say I’m working on it.  The truth of this is more important to me than your opinion after I say it. When I say that when we are treating these disorders with medications rather than getting to the real cause, we are committing medical malpractice, I can say that with certainty now, thanks to solid MEDICAL research.  I’m saying we should be looking deeper than that.

“But Dr. Nima, if I get cancer, are you saying its because of my negative thinking?” This is the question I often get in my stress and health seminars.  I like this question, because it means I’ve struck a nerve and got people thinking.

It’s a bit more complicated than that, but in a nutshell, the rules and beliefs that you hold onto with all your might are the source of your greatest stresses when this neutral universe we live in goes by its own laws and breaks your rules.  What happens to you then?

Imagine I hold a belief that everyone should be prioritize the things I think are important (like prioritizing your health and eating right, exercising, getting your adjustments and dealing with your resentment buttons as they come up).  When met with people who do the opposite of all these things (as I do every single day), depending on how hard I hold onto these beliefs, I will emotionally react.  Amplify this by 20-30 years of holding onto this belief and I could easily run into heart disease.  I’m not talking about “new age” stuff here.  This is science.  Argue with me all you want.  I have been feeling resentful every single day in my practice lately because I’m met with people with belief systems incongruent with health.  My own beliefs that they should be living the same beliefs as me have been stressing the hell out of me.  My patients are not the cause!  I am!  (Aha moment there for me) 

As soon as I recognized that the stress created by my expectations of other people are slowly killing me (my wife even recognized it), that’s when I started doing more teaching and writing.  I hold seminars about this truth every month, and I even started a “Life skills for a stressful world” course that helps people overcome the fears and belief systems that are making them sick, keeping them from attracting wealth, and destroying their relationships.  The course is saving my life, too.

 

So this blog is just as much for me, as it is for you.  If I don’t make the entire world aware of the truth about health, then I probably will end up like my patients with chronic problems.  Those with chronic degenerative diseases are the ones who hold onto their beliefs and fears the strongest, and it runs their life so much that it affects their choices in how they eat, move, and think.   You try to help someone who comes to you for help, but refuses to change the belief system that caused it.  Imagine what that’s like.  It’s maddening.  That’s why I’m here writing.   You can consider this blog a big part of my “Cancer Prevention Strategy”.

Please understand:

What I’m saying is that if you get cancer, other than taking a good look at your diet and increasing the raw fruits and vegetable content, supplements, increasing your exercise,

 and putting all sorts of chemicals in your body, I would take a good look at what guilts, fears, and resentments you are holding on to, because they have contributed just as much, if not MORE to your dis-order than anything else.

 

And if we look at the major killers of civilized countries– heart disease, diabetes and cancer as unwanted, evil horrible things that we need to eliminate, we’re not getting the message that the body is giving us—and the disease will NEVER leave our bodies, no matter how many pills you throw at it… If you cut it out of your body, it grows back.  Scrape the plaque off the walls of the arteries– it grows back.  The lesson it’s giving us is to take a good look at how we eat, move, and think and make the changes to living a life that we KNOW a healthy organism needs.  What better way to tell you that you’re off track with your life than by making you extremely uncomfortable?

Or if we really want to be crazy—how about start living that lifestyle NOW rather than wait for a message from the body?  Like brushing the teeth BEFORE the cavity sets in?  Exercising BEFORE you start getting heart attacks?  Get your adjustments BEFORE the degeneration sets in?  Crazy concept, I know.  Controversial as hell.

The most revolutionary idea in today, one that I’m putting out there, that will no doubt get me in trouble, after my “Jerry McGuire Memo Moment” is that your health is entirely under your control, with how you eat and move, and those two aspects are controlled by how you think and what you believe.  I’m up against a system that wants to convince you that it’s all in your genetics and all about evil germs that are running rampant in our world.  I share my research with you because I know in my heart that if I don’t get over my fear of sharing the research with you, my heart will not be able to handle it.

Bring it on. 

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When people inquire about my Maple Ridge Salsa Classes and they are trying to find out details, I chuckle when I hear them confess their fears.  I’ve heard every excuse in the book:

“I have two left feet”

“I’m too white to dance”

“I don’t have a partner”

“My wife/husband doesn’t want to come”

“I’ve never taken any dance classes before”

“I’m too fat”

“I’m too old”

“I’m uncoordinated”.

 

All these statements are purely B-S. 

These are simply excuses.  The only way we can get anywhere in life is by walking right into our fears.  I had those same fears 4 years ago when I started my salsa classes.  The voices in my head started to whisper “But you’re just a chiropractor!  You have no formal dance training!  Your colleagues will laugh at you!  People are going to say you’re just trying to drum up business!  The elite dance instructors in town will say ‘who the heck are you to be teaching???”

I heard them all inside my head and I even heard it on the outside, and I did it anyway.  That was 4 years ago.

While running a busy Maple Ridge Chiropractic practice and a wellness centre, I took the step up and started to share my passion for this mesmerizing, infectious music and dance with my patients and the rest of the community, and boy, has the response been rewarding.

Each and every time, when people become aware of the classes that have come up, I’m met with the same challenges and resistance.  I hear those excuses every time.  I also see people who are going through stressful times, transitional times, people who want to spice things up in their relationships, they want to get fit, meet new people, and grow and expand their consciousness by simply stepping (or should I say dancing) out of their comfort zones.  I see their stresses vanish their confidence in themselves skyrocket.

The best part is when those same people transform before my very eyes from shy, introverted, self-conscious, nervous people, to people who gradually release all their tensions, forget their troubles, move their bodies, appreciate some new music, and  overlook their own “inadequacies”.  

At the end of the course, they are different people.  They’re better people for it, because they thought they couldn’t, but they realize they CAN.  And this confidence transforms into other areas of life– their relationships and careers and I watch them start to take more pride in how they look and feel.  Amazing changes, from an observer’s standpoint.

Men learn to “take the lead” and be more certain in their choices, and women learn to “let go and trust.”  

I’ve discovered that these are not just salsa classes I am teaching.  I’m teaching my students and myself about trust and empowerment in their own lives.  

So you think you can’t dance?  

“Whether you think you can or you can’t, your right.”

-  Henry Ford

Howerver, here’s something to ponder:

“People who dance lead more fulfilling lives than people who don’t.”

           - Dr. Nima

Only someone who has danced would understand what I mean by that one.

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Sounds pretty familiar, doesn’t it?  I finally understand this phrase.  Like many, I have heard this hundreds of times throughout my life.  Ya, ya, it’s important to read and learn.  But think about how this impacts your life:

When you know better, you do better.  If we only knew, we would do better.  The only way to change our behaviours are to change our beliefs. 

If you want to be healthier, all you have to do is understand more about what it takes to be healthy.  If you know, and you don’t follow through what you KNOW will make you healthier, then it’s clear you have unconscious motives to be unhealthy.  When one truly wants to be healthy, one does whatever it takes, pays whatever price, and travels whatever distance to get there if they believe that it will help them get to a healthier state.  One wouldn’t stop researching and trying new things. 

If your doctor says “take these meds and live with it”, you wouldn’t just sit back and call yourself a victim or a sufferer.  Has this ever happened to you, when your doctor has said “just live with it?”

To someone who values their health, the thought of getting healthier consumes them.  I can tell who those people are after 30 seconds of meeting them.  It’s an attitude.  Health is an attitude in how you eat, move and think.

The same way you get to your vacations, finish school, or reach any of your goals you have (ie, saving for a down payment on a home or braces for your kids) is by understanding that you will have to endure both pleasure and pain to get to that goal.  If your goal is to get a bicycle, you hold that thought with all your heart and emotion, you have a purpose, you endure the pain of sacrificing other things, prioritizing your time and money, and voila, you get it.  If it’s truly a meaningful goal to you, you would embrace both support and challenge, pleasure and pain in the pursuit of the bicycle.  If you can’t endure the pain and challenge of the pursuit for it, you simply didn’t want it bad enough. 

Here is my personal profile of a healthy person based on my experience in working with people on their road to recovery.  Someone’s recovery time will be dictated by how close this person comes to these qualities:

·      Exercises regularly

·      Eats healthy

·      Takes supplements regularly

·      Takes responsibility for their own emotions rather than labeling themselves with “sufferer of, or victim to”

·      Takes responsibility for their own health

·      Thinks that health is attainable if they work enough at it

·      Aren’t quick to take medications

·      Doesn’t smoke

·      Don’t need to consume alcohol on a daily basis

·      Love themselves enough to value themselves as well as others

·      Honour their own values and priorities

·      Has a clear purpose in their lives they need to get well and stay well for

·      Has a desire to learn about how their body works and how to be healthy

·      Open to alternatives other than drugs or surgery (medicine’s tools)

·      Regards the doctor as a partner in their health rather than one who has power over it.

 

These are simply “Dr. Nima’s characteristics of a healthy person’s lifestyle traits”. 

I know, I’m not saying anything new or anything that you haven’t heard before.  It’s another incovenient truth:  Those traits on the list are simply ways in how you eat, move, and think, and those traits are requirements to be healthy. Stop doing them in that certain way, and you are on the road to illness.  It means that being healthy is truly a conscious choice that you can decide right now.

What is most important in your life?  (Children, work, golf, music, business success?)

How will being healthy support your highest priority?  What would happen to your most important thing if you lost your health?  Take the time to think about it.  If you can come up with the “why’s”, then the “how’s” take care of themselves.

I’ve seen entrepreneurs have speedy recoveries because each day they miss work, they lose big money, while worker’s compensation cases, and people who get paid for their time off, seem to have a slower recovery time, and far more difficulty with getting better.  The reason?  There is no urgency, or unconscious motivation to get better faster. 

 

Decide that you will be healthy.  Give yourself 50-100 reasons why it benefits different areas of your life.  Then do your research and ask around.  Google it.  Try it from a multi-disciplinary approach.  Find out more about WHY you aren’t well.  The answer is always within you, and you’re important enough to find out.  Who is more worth it than you?

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Why on earth is it so tough for me to talk to people about what I do?

Fear of social rejection. Fear of being perceived as a “salesman”.

Sales people have a bad rap with our capitalist society. But the funny thing is, nothing can ever get done without someone making a sale.

Nobody ever got ANYWHERE successful without being an expert salesperson. I recently went to a James Arthur Ray Seminar that was touted as “free”. I went knowing full well that it was by no means “free”. Nothing is for free. NOTHING. There’s always someone who must gain from having a meeting like that. Otherwise it wouldn’t happen.

I knew he was going to try to sell me something on the back end.

Books, CD’s, a bigger seminar, DVD’s…. I’m not stupid, you know.

I was going there really to watch how he closes. I wanted to see how he was going to unconsciously sucker all these people into spending over 300 bucks to come to his seminar. Then it came:

“How many of you would take action and come to my seminar if I could GUARANTEE that you got whatever you just wrote down on that piece of paper by doing this ONE THING, would you do it? Take out that piece of paper underneath your chair. Put in your credit card number and buy now. Only available to the first 55…. Go ahead….Hurry up…. Who’s done? Good! You! Who else… Good, thank you!”

Then he interrupted himself: “Stop! Stop writing. Tell me what emotions are you feeling?”

One lady yelled “fear.”

He then went into a long discussion about how fears of “I can’t afford” stop us from reaching our goals and living our dreams.

He then asked if he made anybody feel manipulated. Several people put their hands up and he responded “those are all the salespeople in the room”. The room roared with laughter. He then went into a discussion about how what we are repressing deep down inside is exactly what we keep seeing all around us to remind us who we are and to embrace it.
(He probably stole that from Demartini as well, like everything else he’s been saying, the jerk!)

Then he finished with the most beautiful close I have ever seen. He talked about letting go of our fears and coming to his seminar for 4 thousand bucks. “Don’t for a second think you can’t afford that! You can! You have to never allow a fear of not having enough enter your mind.”

By this time, my jaw was dropped to the floor over how boldly he could talk about money without any fear. Yikes! (Weird that my reiki associate and coaching client admired the same trait in me—just had an aha moment there).

He then transitioned his close by reducing, reducing, throwing in a free this, that, include your spouse, let’s do it in Canadian dollars… Until I found myself giving him my credit card payment of $1297 for a bunch of DVD’s and books, and also to register to go to his San Diego Seminar in 3 months, and I was bringing my wife with me.

Holy crap.

I just got sold.

From that point on, I started thinking about talking to people more about what I do. Every time I go somewhere, I meet someone that I know who’s life can improve with either drinking the Monavie Juice, coming to me for Chiropractic care, joining me for salsa lessons, or attending one of my seminars. That’s because I know even stronger what I have always known—that there isn’t a person alive who’s quality of life would not improve by having me share with them something I have learned along my journey to empower myself and to physically, spiritually emotionally and financially self-actualize.

A week ago, I saw on facebook one of my friends’ status say (name has been changed) “Mary Jo wants to know what she can do to heal her back.”

At first, I had reservations about “selling” her about coming in. I sent her a message telling her that she should be seeing a chiropractor.

I went in to work the next day and she was in the schedule. I met her through the salsa community and she told me that she needed to get fixed so she could participate in the highly anticipated workshop with some of the international salsa stars over the weekend.

She got up from her first adjustment and could move her hips. I even got her to do some moves in the office to show me her stuff! She was pretty damn good. I could relate to her salsa addiction, so I had to get her back on track.

The following week, when I showed her the x-rays we took, it was clear this problem was building for a long time. So luckily, we could get her on a care plan to restore motion to her long-time stuck spine.

Her life is going to improve now because I have more courage to share with people what I do.  

 

Do you have to carry around tylenol or aspirin, or have a medicine chest full of pills you turn to on a regular basis (or even on occasion?)

Do you feel stiff, tired, and unmotivated when you get up in the morning, and throughout the day?

Are you constantly stressed and getting sick all the time?

Do you frequently have feelings of fear and anxiety, especially when you wake up in the morning?

Are you feeling resentful about your spouse and feel disconnected and have lost that “spark”?

Do you want to attract your perfect partner?

Have you been diagnosed with:  Fibromyalgia, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Indigestion, Irritable Bowel, Frequent migraine or tension-type headaches, Sciatica, Low Back Pain, Plantar Fasciitis (heel spurs or foot pain), Neck Pain, or any type of numbness/tingling in the hands or buttock/legs/feet?

Are you looking for a way to overcome your unhealthy food cravings?

Do you hate your current job and want to discover what you would love to do with your life?

Do you want to transform your mindset to be able to make more money?

Have you ever watched Salsa on T.V and wanted to learn how to do it and meet some new friends along the way?

 

Basically, I’ve described every single living person out there.  I’m convinced that in some form, there isn’t anyone who wouldn’t benefit from being under my care, or participating in my classes or coaching sessions.  

Please feel free to browse the many services we provide and send me an email and let me know what areas you would like us to work on.  Your life is waiting.

The answers can all be yours for 3 easy payments of $29.99, if you act now. 

(how’s that for a close?  I know… I’ll work on it.)

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