Posts Tagged ‘Life Coach’

I’m not ashamed to admit it– I love being theatrical and acting.  I’m a repressed actor.  So every time an opportunity comes up for me to explore that kind of fun creativity, I jump on the chance.

I’m constantly re-defining myself.  I get bored way too easily.  At work, if I only have to be seeing those with Low Back Pain, Neck Pain, and Headaches all day– I’d shoot myself out of boredom.

Lately the thing that’s been inspiring me the most is teaching about changing lifestyle, particularly in terms of stress and overcoming “stories of suffering”.  I’ve been helping more and more people change their thoughts and perceptions about their own current life and showing them the magnificence that’s already there, if they can only learn to ask themselves the right questions.

The toughest, most stressful part of my job is having patients come to see me with physical ailments, and from the look on their faces they are in a state of crisis about the challenges going on in their lives, and when we start talking about it– they tell me that their GP is sending them to a Psychiatrist, and they are already on 2-4 different psychotropic medications, along with a slew of others that are given for stress-related stuff… and they are looking for “what’s wrong with them” and trying to come up with a “diagnosis”.  Most people have NO CLUE they already have everything within them to be healthy and emotionally balanced.  If they only took the time to empower themselves and take responsibility, and to ONLY USE MEDICINE FOR EMERGENCY CASES, and not rely on their doctor to rescue them.  This may sound cocky, but I know that there is a better way.  My goal is to reach those people who are willing to take their health in their own hands and to learn the tools to help THEMSELVES get there– mentally, emotionally, and physically.

So we’ve come back with a fresh look and a new fun video to show the world that what we do is unique and different.

I want to thank Tobin at http://www.photobinphotography.com for his great work and guidance, Eric Lee Harper for his musical talents, and all the dancers and volunteers involved in making this.  I had a blast with the process.

So here it is.  Feel free to share, retweet, and enjoy!

My brother is an a-hole.  More on this later.

My weight fluctuates now from 163 pounds to 167.  Pretty huge how much different we weigh in the morning or the afternoon/evening.  I didn’t realize this, because its never been an obsession of mine.  But man, does your weight ever fluctuate!  Has this been your experience?  I’ve lost about 7-9 pounds and almost 2% body fat judging from this “who knows if this is accurate?” digital scale.

To me, it’s not about how much you weigh… Superficial as it sounds, it’s all about how you look.  Think about it… who cares if you weigh little, like if I was 160 pounds, but with no muscle and it was all flabby.  It’s all about body composition to me, so I never payed attention to my weight.  I would weigh myself a few times a year.

Lunch made by Maria: Romaine Lettuce wrap with turkey breast, hummus, cucumbers, carrots, red pepper, onion and cilantro. FREAKIN DELISH.

The typical breakfast I could eat at White spot. The waiter was so confused at the substitues-- Tomatoes and fruit cup. This whole meal came out to $18.50. Can you freakin believe it? Oh and I had to take them back to request REAL eggs. Newsflash. Most scrambled eggs are processed, ASK FOR THE REAL STUFF!

But oh, the lovehandles.  Confession time:  I always looked at my increasing belly every day, but this competition makes me look at them carefully now as I have been obsessively looking at my hairy-but- nicely trimmed shirtless body every single chance I get. The lovehandles are fading away.  Funny, aside from that, I’d be pretty happy with the rest of it (maybe bigger legs).  It’s just those damn lovehandles.  Just ask any guy who’s working to improve himself physically.  Chances are, he obsesses about them.

You gals think you have it so rough, and there’s immense pressure on just YOU to look a certain way.  Well, I have news for you.  We obsess about it too.  Just look at every guy who hits the gym regularly.  He’s obsessed.  Why?  Because it’s hard to look lean and fit.  You can’t really fake it.  With only a few exceptions, in order to be healthy, lean, fit… there’s a lot of work involved.  If you invested that much time and money and sacrifice eating addictive foods… you’re damn straight you want to see results.

And when we KNOW we can look better, and we don’t look as good as our potential… we get frustrated, depressed, and it effects our self-esteem as well.  Most guys just hide behind it better than you ladies do.

I’m watching a show on TV right now talk about Obesity.  It’s called “Super Size vs. Super Skinny” where a fat girl and a skinny girl get put in a home for 1 week together and have to eat the diets of the other girl—one obese, one almost anorexic.  This is forcing both of them to look closely at their eating issues.  There was a feature on a woman who was so obese, she was now immobile and getting help to breathe from an oxygen mask.  She was miserable.  I will share her words of wisdom for you procrastinators at the end.  I hope it inspires you the way it inspired me.

Wow.  I never realized how prevalent are the emotional issues surrounding eating.  I’m going to explore this more.  I’m so interested.  I’m going to report you what I find… because either you are an emotional eater, or you stop eating during emotional times.  Take your pick…. And I am willing to bet that although you might know which type you are—you probably 1) have no idea why you became this way, or 2) have no idea what you can do to resolve the specific triggers for your over-eating or starving yourself.  I want to help those people become conscious.

I’m not saying I’m going to become an eating disorder shrink.  I’m saying I want to coach people in the process of overcoming their food issues—either starvation or binge eating.  I’m willing to bet that there are some principle causes.  This challenge, which has forced me to face my food addictions and their connections to my stress, has been one of the most educational personal development seminars I have ever gone through (other than being married).    Please stay tuned for upcoming insights on food and your emotions and share your story if you want to.

The Bakhlava-Stress connection.

On Sunday, I went to a family dinner.  My parents were visiting from Seattle, and quite honestly, despite the love we all have with each other—when we love each other too much the way we do, we tend to have many spirited debates.  As I approached my grandparents home, I felt the cravings start to surge.

I had a chicken salad.  My mom follows my blog and knew not to serve me any rice or “tah-deeg”.  That’s the delicious, golden brown, crusty flatbread at the bottom of the pan of rice.  The way my grandmother makes it, my wife and I usually fight for it, sometimes to the point of physical violence. To not swallow the tah-deeg was the toughest pill to swallow— but I made it.  My why is big enough, remember?

Afterwards, she did the worst possible threat to me overcoming my sugar cravings:  She broke out her world famous Bakhlava.  Oh dear lord.  Look at these pieces of heaven.  Enough said.  Ingredients include (other than sugar):  Phyllo, butter, sugar, almonds, butter, sugar, butter, sugar, and cardamon, and more butter and sugar.  When you combine stress with fat and sugar, you have the secret ingredients of obesity.

Do YOU think you could resist these bad boys?

I made it through.  My brother and I went to a movie later on.  Late show.  After dinner.  My brother’s food cravings were insane at the theater.  (He’s an addict like me… I guess it must be genetic).  He realized that if he was to go on a no-processed food diet, no sugar, no grain… there’s nothing to eat at a Theater except water.  He proceeded to order a Whopper Jr. (he said the fact that he got a junior whopper should make it ok).   During the movie, the smell of the burger was making my mouth water.  I was going crazy, feeling the hunger pains surge… I said no.  My brother offers me a bite.  I said no.  He then proceeds to waft the burger right under my nose.  That’s right. My brother is an a- hole.

But I guess that’s what a loving brother does.  Tests my will.  And I thank him, because I passed.  It IS possible if you want to.  You just have to have a reason why.

For those who love McDonalds, here’s an eye-opening video about the Bionic Burger.  I imagine that Burger King is the same.

And by the way…. The quote from the obese lady?

“You can save yourself, if you really think about it.  Never believe that evil little voice in your head that says ‘you can start eating well tomorrow’.  Never listen to it.  That voice is trying to kill you.”

This text message I received from Paul today after I posted my first blog early this morning:

“Oh ya, thanks for making me puke in my mouth when I saw that semi-nude pic on your blog.  I’m still nauseated now just thinking about it.  Jeezus it burns my eyes!”

Here is a picture of Paul in 6 months if he didn't BEG me to do this challenge with him.

The gloves are officially off.  Paul, the worst part of my day was looking at your pics on your blog and realizing that I’m only around 6-7% less body fat than THAT.  If that’s not an inspiration to change, I don’t really know what is.

All kidding aside, we both commented on how liberating it is to just make your privates public on those pics and come face to face and share your own imperfections.  I’ve had lots of messages from you guys saying that you’re going to make some changes within your own lives too.  Hey, that gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside, because it’s my mission to help others heal on different levels and become more self-aware, and self-actualized.  If I’m on this journey, and I can see a little further than a few, it’s because I’ve stood on the shoulders of giants, and want to help point the way.  This journey requires that I get a few “giants” on my team.

If you want to achieve anything great, it’s wise that you understand that you won’t get there nearly as fast if you did it alone.

My first “giant” I’ve hired is Shane Heins of Gymnos Evolution.  His mission is to help transform lives with a specific, unique form of exercises called “TACFIT” and “Circular Strength Training”.  My morning started at 5:30am when I woke up.  Uuuugh.  It was dark out, it was cold, but as I drove from my apartment towards downtown Vancouver, I noticed how peaceful and serene it was.  We met under the Cambie Street Bridge at 6:15 and began the most unique workout I’ve ever had.

I’ve done so many different workouts, with weights, without weights, yoga, pilates, P90X, etc… but I’ve never been pushed to move in these unorthodox ways before.  It was like learning a new dance.  I’ll report more about it as I learn what the heck he’s doing with me, but all I know is that this evening, every joint in my body is sore in the sense that it’s been pushed beyond it’s usual limit– in a good way.  But the exercise isn’t going to be my greatest challenge—I’m not a stranger to regular exercise at all.  There’s something way deeper here.

A Journey to Clear my own “Crap” surrounding my Carb Addiction

This Challenge has also made me become a more present, alert self-observer.  I listen to the cravings of my body from a 3^rd person-perspective, which is the only thing that has been helping me overcome them.  After our workout, I took my photographer buddy Tobin Smith out for breakfast.  I sat there, eating my fruit, bacon and eggs (no toast), watching Tobin down a stack of the most delicious looking pancakes I’ve ever seen.  Slathered with butter, drenched with syrup, he offered me a bite, and it took every single last bit of power out of me not to take one.

My lunch today: Spinach, romaine lettuce, shredded carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, raw beets, red pepper, cucumber, pumpkin seeds, olive oil, balsamic vinegar. To wash it all down? A spinach/banana/blueberry smoothie.

An interesting thing happens when you step out of your cravings and become and observer to them.  You realize that you are not your cravings.  They don’t have any power over you than the power you give them.  Most of us are so uncomfortable being uncomfortable, we go for the first thing we can reach for to fill the emptiness.  For some, it’s gambling.  For others, it’s a relationship.  For most, it’s coffee, alcohol, and carbohydrates.  Why?  Because these addictions are the quickest way to get the reward centers in our brain firing to cover up the emptiness and suffering.  Once we temporarily get our “fix”… it’s only a matter of time before we’re suffering again, and we spend our entire day/ life following this mostly unconscious pattern.  Does this sound familiar?

I made the decision to become conscious and aware of my suffering.  Then I realized that I’m not the one with the cravings.  Only when we are unconscious of them do our addictions run us to the point we can’t stop them.  When we have food addictions, our ego can become so unaware that it defends it’s right to be addicted.

“I deserve to eat this, I just worked out like crazy this morning, I’ll work out harder tomorrow, I’ll start tomorrow, I’ve already cheated today—I’ll just keep going” is what the ego says to justify succumbing to the craving.  I caught myself several times falling into that trap.  This challenge has been extremely enlightening for me.  When I awaken to the presence of the moment and become aware of my self and my body, I realize that I can overcome my cravings not by trying to make them go away, but by simply becoming aware of them.  I can feel them right now as I type, but again… that’s not me.  Who I actually am is the observer of the cravings, therefore I can be more powerful than them.  Interesting how you can use your greatest flaws as an access point for the magnificent present.  Some of you will know exactly what I’m talking about… others won’t have a freakin’ clue.

You just have to come up with a reason for yourself.  $500 is enough for me.  Do YOU have a “why” that’s big enough to make you healthy?  If you don’t, the day will come when you will be FORCED to have a why… and you can pray it won’t be too late.  As always, looking forward to your comments, retweets, share’s and recommends.  Let’s start a health revolution.  As I learn more about myself each day, I realize what someone has to go through to break the habit of being themselves. It’s quite challenging, and it’s quite liberating.

When was the last time you thought “wouldn’t it be great if I made more, if I just got my degree, if I just got that job, if I could only find a relationship,” and then you got it… only to realize that it wasn’t as glamorous as you thought it was going to be?

This is the entire story:  Even when you get THERE, there will be other factors, consequences, frustrations, challenges, drawbacks you might not have thought about.  That’s why the expression exists.  Because, as Anaxagoras said in 500BC “Nature never experiences one-sided events.”   Nothing is one-sided.  When my intentions came to pass and I experienced the “other” side, I used to think “oh, it’s not what I thought it was– I’m still not happy,”  and then I graduated to something else to desire and my never-ending pursuit of happiness continued.

When we put our dreams into perspective, we would be wise to foresee the downsides of making our dreams a reality.  You may think this is “negative thinking”, but deep down inside, you know there is truth to it.  Think of what your dreams would cost you—what area of your life needs to suffer to make your dreams a reality—and go for it anyway, if it’s TRULY a high priority for you.

Nobody ever accomplished anything magnificent without it costing something.  Remember, if it doesn’t cost you, it’s not valuable.

So you want to be wealthy?  Make it a priority and decide where you would pay the price to be wealthy.  Is your financial health worth the pain of saving?  For most people it’s not—that’s why they live paycheck to paycheck.  The cost of building wealth and saving money is much too high for a great number of people.

So you want to be healthy and vibrant?  Is your health worth the pain of exercising, eating right, making healthier choices (should I eat the watermelon, or the chocolate-chip banana bread my wife just baked for me?)  Is it worth the money for organic foods, the gym pass, the Chiropractic care, The colonics, the massages?  For most people, it’s not worth it—that’s why so few are healthy and chronic illness is on the rise.  The cost of living a healthy lifestyle is much too high for a great number of people.

So you want to be enthusiastic, hopeful, and fulfilled in your life?  Is your mental and emotional fulfillment worth the time and expense it takes to learn life-skills to deal with adversity and stress, to attend seminars that ask some difficult questions that might challenge your beliefs about who you are?  For most people, it’s not worth it—they just can’t seem to make the time to learn and study these tools– that’s why there are so many depressed and anxious people on medications, who aren’t aware of their purpose, who are deteriorating emotionally, who are victims to their environment rather than co-creators of their world.  The cost of emotional magnificence is much too high for a great number of people.

So you want a dream relationship?  Is having a fulfilling relationship worth the effort it takes to nurture, to spend time with your loved one, to plan “date nights”, to learn the priorities and “love language” of your partner, to study and learn communication and consultation skills?  Is it worth the pain of being truthful and authentic with yourself, with your shadow and sharing it with your partner so they understand the real you?  For most, it’s not worth it—that’s why there are so many unfulfilling relationships.  The cost of relationship magnificence is much too high for a great number of people.

If you want it bad enough, you will think about it and see and feel yourself as though you were in the present-time ownership of your dream. There are only a certain number of hours in a day, but you will manifest what’s a high priority for you—whether it’s health, money, or relationship/career fulfillment…. But be careful what you wish for, because you will get it, and it will still present it’s challenges.

Watch this video.  I just came across it from Esther Hicks, who believes that the prophet Abraham speaks through her.  I still think she’s a bit nutty, but again, her explanation here has wisdom, humor, and depth.  And her answer to the question the guy asks about why he’s not rich yet is so bang on.  I would add something to “Abraham’s” answer:

-Acknowledge that the reason why you haven’t made a lot of money yet is because it’s not a priority—you are not prepared to pay the price of becoming wealthy. (Believe me when I say there is a price to pay for it—this is not a limiting belief).

- Change your beliefs and values—and your life changes.

Would you agree or disagree?

Just an FYI—if you want to discover your values and learn how to take control of your emotions and your life—or you are already in the know but want to kick it up a notch or 3, check out my upcoming Stress and Life Skills events and join us if you are in the Greater Vancouver or Maple Ridge Area.  I get a kick out of teaching people how to get what they want and deal with the consequences of actually getting it.

Looking forward to your comments…

I just finished a busy weekend at the Maple Ridge Home show.  We had a booth set up, and I met hundreds of people with a list of physical and mental symptoms like you wouldn’t believe, and all of them are under the care of a medical physician.   “My doctor knows about all of this, and we’ve been trying to deal with it for a very long time.”    Some would even tell me “he told me to stay away from Chiropractors.”

“And what is he/she doing for you?”

The response is always invariably “he’s sending me for an x-ray”, or “the x-rays came up negative, so we’re looking into an MRI”.  Each one left the office with a prescription for painkillers or something else.  In fact, if I was to show you how many people walking around are taking some sort of pill for one or more of their conditions, you’d be alarmed.  It’s official:  We are an overdosed, overmedicated society, and the saddest part is that we think it’s making us healthier.

I completely understand… growing up, every single time I would have an ache, pain, or a sniffle, my mother would take me to the Doctor.  Funny how most of us grow up with the perception that the Doctor will have “the cure”.   If the doctor can’t figure it out, then there’s nothing anyone can do.  This is the feeling I was getting from hundreds of (overmedicated) people this weekend.

It was an interesting observation for me that it seems that people equate going to the doctor with becoming healthy. Another interesting observation I made when it comes to most people who go to the doctor, I wanted to share with you because it could mean the difference between you taking control of your own health vs. you leaving it in the hands of someone else.  Let me explain.

It’s all about the diagnosis, baby!

To medicate or not to medicate? That is the question.

When seeing a patient, the Medical Doctor is concerned FIRST with coming up with a diagnosis.  Doctors spend years learning about patterns of symptoms that they can group together and come up with a label for your condition called a “diagnosis”.  From there, they are taught in medical school which course of action to take.  In the field of MEDICINE, what is usually the first line of defense?  MEDICINE.  Their focus is entirely on the disease and how to fight disease.

The main tools that are taught in medical school are Medicine and Surgery.  That’s why all the people who I saw who are still suffering despite our “free” medical system here in Canada have started out with Pharmaceuticals.  And it’s making us sicker and sicker as a society.  It’s all in the focus:  Focus on fighting disease, and you create more disease, the same way that focusing on fighting terrorism brings about more terror.  Deaths from adverse drug reactions are among the leading causes of death in the world.

How we view the body is important

The reason why I’m so dead against starting with Pharmaceuticals first is because of the fundamental way that I view the body.  And I’m on a mission to teach this to the world:   Instead of being a weak and stupid, I see the body as a wise, intelligent group of cells that are energetically bound together and created to function at a high level, provided we give it the essentials in movement, in nutrients, water, in a balanced mental focus, and a clear nerve system.  If we started with that, Drug companies would go bankrupt.

The problem with most people walking around with a diagnosis is that instead of using it as feedback for how we’ve been eating, moving, thinking, or how out of balance we are so we can make the changes, people wear their diagnosis as a badge or label and they remove all personal responsibility.  They make statements like:

“I can’t work because of the Fibromyalgia”

“I took 3 weeks off because of the Anxiety Disorder I have”

“I can’t exercise because of the Diabetes”

“My doctor says I have Arthritis”

“I was diagnosed with Osteoporosis”.

Each and every time I hear someone say something like that, I can’t help but cringe.  While the symptoms may be real– people are completely in the dark about how they got there in the first place.  They think it’s a disease they caught because of bad luck or bad genes.  Chances are, it’s not.  That’s why I created “What your doctor won’t tell you about your symptoms” class to shed light on why your body speaks out to you in those ways and what you can do about it.

In the mean time, all I can do is to help show people a different way.  It first comes with a different way of looking at yourself and the amazing way your body responds and reacts to the crap you are throwing at it.

The simple-yet-effective way to start your journey towards health (notice the focus is on HEALTH not the disease)

The way that you remove disease is the same way it’s been done for centuries… it’s the same way you remove darkness from a room.  I’ve dedicated my life to taking my patients and clients through a journey of healing with 3 simple steps:

1) Clear the Nervous System of interference.  Depending on how imbalanced you are, this could take days, months, or even years.  While we do that it’s important to add in step number 2…

2) Feed the body with essential raw materials, nutrients, water, and REAL food, while curbing your food cravings and addictions slowly to help detoxify your cells which make the building blocks of who you are, and if the client is up for the most difficult, yet most critical component of the healing journey….

3)  Taking charge of your emotional health.  Our resentments, fears, guilts, or incomplete emotions from the past and our inability to deal with adversities of the present prevent us from truly being healthy in the mind and body.  As Hanz and Franz of Saturday Night Live fame used to say… “HEAR ME NOW AND BELIEVE ME LATER”.  At the root cause of almost every single chronic illness is an emotional charge that hasn’t been properly dealt with.  This is not up for debate any more.  Period.  You hear me?

It’s my mission to tell people the truth about why they are sick and in pain in the first place, and what they need to do to become healthy.  Something that isn’t available in a pill form:  Health from within.  I’m sure that if we start with this approach FIRST, we’d be able to save many more lives, reduce our debt and dependence on the medical system.

After meeting hundreds of people this weekend who are walking around with a dark cloud of pain, resentment, fear, and who simply aren’t living to their potential, I can see I have a lot of work to do.  I’ve decided:  I’m bringing healthy back.

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.

Do so many things that fall onto your lap each day seem like hurdles, or am I the only person who sometimes feels that it’s an upstream battle?

Upstream or Downstream?

When you are the owner of one of Greater Vancouver’s Largest Alternative Healing Centres, there are many opportunities thrown your way to divert you from your high-priority activities.

My favorite, high priority things to do:  To adjust and consult my patients, to teach educational classes, workshops, and courses, to research natural thought and lifestyle strategies on getting and staying well in the mind and body, to exercise and to spend time with my wife, my dog Lucy, family and friends.

For the most part, I try to do ONLY those things.  I run a busy chiropractic practice seeing patients, I sign around 20 paychecks, I have coaching clients, I teach classes every month in posture, Exercise, Nutrition, Stress, Law of Attraction, and teach a course 3 times a year on Personal Transformation.   I research, write,  dance (not as much anymore ), and on top of all those responsibilities, I’m renovating my office.  These are all things I love to do–but each day, I have more lower priority stuff I gotta take care of to make sure all that stuff above gets done.  Luckily, my amazing staff takes care of most of it, but there are always decisions to be made and fires to be put out.  I could easily get stressed every moment of every day– somedays I even do– you can’t help it sometimes, with computer crashes, phone lines down, equipment issues, etc…

Luckily, I have learned some amazing tools that enable me to step back from my life and take account of my thoughts each day for the type of day I’m having.  With these tools, I can make mid-course corrections and end my day the way I am inspired to live…

But I can see how not having this awareness can cause some serious trouble.  You can turn a temporary sad situation worse, and allow it to escalate into weeks, months, sometimes years of hopelessness and self-neglect.  Anger, frustration, anxiety, and depression could result from not coming to terms with the accumulation of these stresses and upstream battles.

When these repressions compound and overlap one another, it’s easy to see how we can get illnesses of the mind leading to the body, and vice versa.  Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, to name a few, can be reversed if the desire is there.  You can only do so by first turning downstream.  It can be the result of the study of healthy thinking, healthy eating, healthy balance of movement and rest.  And it helps to have a clear neurological connection between your brain and the 100 trillion cells of your body.  Without that, successful, happy living is impossible.  And you’re at the mercy of a pill to make you calm, content, and peaceful.

Here’s a little something to try today.  Watch this video and just try to keep in mind the simple analogy.  It’s by Esther Hicks.  You may have a problem with how she refers to herself as “We” in the third person, or how she believes that the Prophet Abraham speaks through her.  I agree with you—it’s a pretty weird and tough one to put aside.  Just give it a chance… This chick is right on the money with this analogy.  This stuff actually works.

Enjoy.