“Um, no I didn’t know anything about a Flu Shot Soup. Where is it? What’s in it?” This sounded like a potential Healthy Discovery and of course I was intrigued.

A Google search and 20 minute drive later I arrived at Taste of Thailand right across the street from Swedish Medical Center. I snapped a picture of the banner hanging above the front door.

I got some take-out soup for my guy and I’ve gone back several times this winter to enjoy more of this DELICIOUS soup that’s good for the immune system.

Noy Farrell, owner of The Taste of Thailand opened her restaurant in 1994. She grew up in Thailand and when she moved to the U.S. she began teaching traditional Thai cooking classes. Her restaurant was a natural extension of her cooking and The Flu Shot Soup has been a popular tradition on her menu every October through March.

The soup is comprised of a rich broth, packed with chicken dumplings (not gluten free) and vegetables often taken from Noy’s garden just hours before. Noy makes five gallons of soup every day to serve her customers.

The Denver Westword wrote an article about Noy’s Flu Shot Soup in 2009 and said,

“There are people in town who swear by this stuff, who attribute it to near-mystical powers. Doctors and nurses from Swedish Medical Center fire it down fast, often settling into the dining room still dressed in their scrubs.”

The fresh ingredients: garlic, ginger, chili peppers, celery, carrots, leafy greens, cilantro and herbs boost and strengthen your immune system during the cold winter months.

As many of you know, when I find Healthy Discoveries I love sharing my find(s) with others, so I called Noy and asked her to come to The City of Lakewood, where I work as the Employee Wellness Coordinator, and sample her soup to the employees.

She graciously agreed and she was thrilled that I asked.

Noy and her husband Rick served their Flu Shot Soup to approximately 90 employees today. It was a huge success. The employees loved the spicy, homemade, vegetable rich soup.

Noy gave a quick talk about how fresh, real food is central to the Thai culture. She passed around fresh lemongrass that she grows in her garden and it smelled heavenly! She gave us tips for using fresh herbs and vegetables in our own cooking.

As Noy (foreground) and Rick (background) packed up and were leaving Noy said, “This was really fun, do you think other Cities, companies would bring us in to talk about real food and share our soup?”

“It really just depends on the company, director, wellness culture.” I said. “But I will do what I can to spread the word. The more we can bring fresh, local, real food into businesses the better.”

If you are a wellness director or HR manager in Denver I highly recommend contacting Noy. She is a delightful person and her fresh Flu Shot Soup is phenomenal. If you live in Denver or plan to visit in the wintertime you must check out Taste of Thailand, it’s one of my new favorite Healthy Discoveries!

Taste of Thailand

504 E. Hampden Ave.

Englewood, CO 80113

303-762-9112

I first met Hala last year in Austin when I took the Off The Mat Into The World (OTM) five day leadership intensive. That training was one of the best workshops I ever attended in large part because of the incredibly skilled women who co-teach the course –  Suzanne Sterling, Hala Khouri (middle) and Seane Corn pictured below.

I really enjoyed Hala’s contribution to the the OTM training program regarding the mind, body approach to trauma. Hala is a Somatic Therapist and yoga teacher. Somatic Therapy explores how and why we hold traumatic emotions in the body and how we can better cope and regulate stress.

Trauma is any event which is overwhelming to a person physically or emotionally. A person is traumatized by an event if they are unable to bring the body and mind back into balance after the event is over. Unresolved trauma causes disturbances and dysregulation that may manifest as anxiety, behavioral problems, substance abuse, self-isolation, anger and behavioral problems. Ironically these behaviors are all attempts to resolve the trauma.

Two Types of Trauma

• Shock Trauma – An event that happened too fast, too soon and leaves us feeling helpless, hopeless i.e. abuse, violence, natural disasters.
• Developmental Trauma - Mis-attunement between child and primary caretaker such as lack of mirroring or neglect.

Trigger is when we respond to the present as if it is the past (post traumatic stress). Hysteria is often Historical – an emotional response that doesn’t match the present.

Experiencing a traumatic event does not necessarily mean that one becomes traumatized -Humans are incredibly resilient and our bodies are designed for self healing.

“However, when emotional energy is not discharged, it remains stuck in the body. This excess of energy causes the body to be over activated. Essentially the body is running more energy than it can contain, and just like a circuit in a house will shut off when too much energy surges through it, our bodies do the same. A person with a very over activated nervous system can look shut down and disassociated  even bored or apathetic, but underneath that is energy (memories, emotions, impulses) that are too much to handle. At the other end of the spectrum, someone might be like a balloon about to burst, they are anxious, hypervigilant, jumpy and defended.” ~ Hala Khouri

 

Learning how to release and discharge this excess energy in a healthy permanent way is the key to having a healthy nervous system. Yoga can teach someone to get in touch with the areas in their body where there is stored up tension and energy, and then release it!

Using Yoga As A Resource

Yoga is the perfect setting to introduce resourcing and the shifting of traumatic patterns. Yoga invites people to feel their bodies. For the traumatized person, this may not be a pleasant notion. They may not feel safe in their bodies, and may have spent a great deal of their life figuring out how to get out of their bodies, not in! Yoga taught with the idea of resourcing can shift this overwhelm, and safely guide someone back into the body in a positive healing way.

1. Orienting - When we are oriented to time and space, our body-mind is present and calms down more easily. Most of the time, our anxiety is not about something that is immediate in our surroundings. Simply looking around and noticing your surroundings with all your senses (vision, hearing, smell, touch and feeling) can cause a decrease in unnecessary arousal.
2. Grounding – This is possibly the most significant resource in a yoga class. Anxiety and disassociation both move energy up the body and away from the legs. When we are not grounded we cannot feel safe, secure or relaxed. Literally inviting someone to feel their feet on the floor or to feel their legs, can be a resource that changes tension patterns forever.
3. Centering – Being centered means knowing where your center of existence and personal power is. Being un-centered can mean not having a strong sense of self, having your center in other people or situations, or not feeling like you have any control in your life. Physically centering oneself by getting in touch with the muscles in the abdomen, or even simply imaging a central locus of self and control, is a powerful resource in the navigation of trauma.
4. Breathing – Breathing is the primary connection to our vitality or life force. Awareness of breath brings the mind into the body and helps us have access to the intelligence of the body. It slows us down and helps us become more present. Being present brings our attention into the here and now, which is an important condition for self-regulation. Breath is an incredible tool and it has the capacity to take you out of a fight or flight state.

Because of my own history with relationship traumas I have danced around this subject on my blog for quite sometime. In 2008 I first wrote about Somatic Therapy. In 2010 I studied The Art of Listening with Rachel Remen which was intricately connected to unresolved trauma.  And then this past summer I broached the trauma subject again here and here.

I cannot deny trauma in my professional work either. Clients who binge, restrict, or compulsively obsess about food and diets or act out through other addictive behaviors and cravings can ultimately heal when they explore their (unresolved) traumas. Sexual abuse is obviously a huge trauma and there is strong evidence connecting childhood sexual abuse to adult obesity .

I have studied the physical components of nutrition, nourishment and health for over a decade; but menu plans and food recommendations are only one piece to this multifaceted, complex puzzle. The emotional and energetic (mind/body) side of health and healing are equally important, powerful, and fascinating.

I am particularly interested in, and see my work moving more toward assisting and resourcing mind, body tools and techniques for the first responders who deal with trauma in their work; i.e. police officiers, victim advocates, emergency room physicians and nurses. These people absorb an exorbitant amount of trauma that often make them cynical, depressed, angry, depleted, exhausted and sick (physically and emotionally) because they don’t know how to replenish and care for themselves in healthy, nourishing ways after serving others.

I believe they initially chose their line of work because they are born healers and courageous warriors – they are the archetypical “wounded healers”. To be honest, I embody the wounded healer archetype. This is why I do the work I do and jump on airplanes in the middle of a Colorado blizzard when everyone else is home watching the Oscars so I can learn about the mechanisms of trauma and explore the depths of authentic healing.

Diving head first into healing trauma is not easy; yet I’m always surprised how open and “hungry” people are for this information in my corporate, private wellness, consulting practice.

If you are interested in experiencing some of Hala Khouri’s stress reduction and yoga techniques, here is a three minute video about her work.

You can purchase Hala’s DVD on Amazon.com.

 

As the Employee Wellness Coordinator for the City of Lakewood I was extended an invitation to Cory’s keynote.

In 2004 Cory left a prestigious law firm in downtown Denver and began teaching tennis at The City of Lakewood Recreation Centers – He despised working as an attorney. Six months later the University of Denver called and asked him to return to his alma mater where he received his degrees in Economics, Finance and Religious Studies.

Today Cory teaches classes in Business Ethics, Business Law, Employment Law and Constitutional Law in a department ranked by the Wall Street Journal in the top ten worldwide for producing students with high ethical standards. Corey also speaks to thousands of individuals each year about “authentic success” and living an ethical life and is the author of the book, Real Rabbits: Chasing An Authentic Life.

Cory spoke about: Genuine contentment, strong personal relationships and a solid character. During his talk he showed this video.

I think it’s worth the 2 minutes and 45 seconds to stop your Internet surfing, email checking, Facebook updates, Tweets, Instagram posts and blog reading to watch this. As Cory said; “If this doesn’t make you cry or give you goose bumps I don’t know what will?”

For More Information:

Cory’s Website

Cory Speaks- Five-minute overview of Cory’s most popular message – Chasing an Authentic Life.

I love to read. I often check out more books from the library than I can ever finish.

I recently added some food related (remembering the basics of growing, cooking and eating real food, inspiring true stories connected to foodies and food) books to my Want-To-Read-List. Perhaps you’re looking for a good book to escape into during the holiday frenzy or you have a book lover in your life who might enjoy a food related book as a gift.

Here are some of my book selections for this holiday season:

1. Life On The Line: A Chef’s Story Of Chasing Greatness, Facing Death And Refining The Way We Eat -  By 2007 chef Grant Achatz had been named one of the best new chefs in America by Food & Wine, he had received the James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the Year Award, and he and Nick Kokonas had opened the conceptually radical restaurant Alinea, which was named Best Restaurant in America by Gourmet magazine. Then, positioned firmly in the world’s culinary spotlight, Achatz was diagnosed with stage IV squamous cell carcinoma-tongue cancer.

The prognosis grim, Grant undertook an alternative treatment of aggressive chemotherapy and radiation that ravaged his body and left him without a sense of taste. Tapping into his profound discipline and passion, he trained his chefs to mimic his palate and learned how to cook with his other senses. As Kokonas was able to attest, the food was never better. Five months later, Grant was declared cancer-free and went on to achieve some of the highest honors in the culinary world. Life, on the Line is not only a chef’s memoir, it is also a book about survival, about nurturing creativity, and about profound friendship.

2. French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved To France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking And Discovered 10 Simple Rules For Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters- Moving her young family to her husband’s hometown in northern France, Karen Le Billon is prepared for some cultural adjustment but is surprised by the food education she and her family (at first unwillingly) receive. In contrast to her daughters, French children feed themselves neatly and happily—eating everything from beets to broccoli, salad to spinach, mussels to muesli. The family’s food habits soon come under scrutiny, as Karen is lectured for slipping her fussing toddler a snack—”a recipe for obesity!”—and forbidden from packing her older daughter a lunch in lieu of the elaborate school meal.

The family soon begins to see the wisdom in the “food rules” that help the French foster healthy eating habits and good manners—from the rigid “no snacking” rule to commonsense food routines that we used to share but have somehow forgotten. Soon, the family cures picky eating and learns to love trying new foods. But the real challenge comes when they move back to North America—where their commitment to “eating French” is put to the test. The result is a family food revolution with surprising but happy results—which suggest we need to dramatically rethink the way we feed children, at home and at school.

3. The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying And Start Making - In her debut cookbook, Alana Chernila inspires you to step inside your kitchen, take a look around, and change the way you relate to food. The Homemade Pantry was born of a tight budget, Alana’s love for sharing recipes with her farmers’ market customers, and a desire to enjoy a happy cooking and eating life with her young family. On a mission to kick their packaged-food habit, she learned that with a little determination, anything she could buy at the store could be made in her kitchen, and her homemade versions were more satisfying, easier to make than she expected, and tastier.

4. The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People and Communities- The son of a sharecropper, Will Allen had no intention of ever becoming a farmer himself. But after years in professional basketball and as an executive for Kentucky Fried Chicken and Procter & Gamble, Allen cashed in his retirement fund for a two-acre plot a half mile away from Milwaukee’s largest public housing project. The area was a food desert with only convenience stores and fast-food restaurants to serve the needs of local residents.

In the face of financial challenges and daunting odds, Allen built the country’s preeminent urban farm—a food and educational center that now produces enough vegetables and fish year-round to feed thousands of people. Employing young people from the neighboring housing project and community, Growing Power has sought to prove that local food systems can help troubled youths, dismantle racism, create jobs, bring urban and rural communities closer together, and improve public health. Today, Allen’s organization helps develop community food systems across the country.

5. Folks This Just Ain’t Normal: A Farmer’s Advice For Happier Hens, Healthier People And A Better World- From farmer Joel Salatin’s point of view, life in the 21^st century just ain’t normal. He discusses how far removed we are from the simple, sustainable joy that comes from living close to the land and the people we love. Salatin has many thoughts on what normal is and shares practical and philosophical ideas for changing our lives in small ways that have big impact.

Salatin, hailed by the New York Times as “Virginia’s most multifaceted agrarian since Thomas Jefferson [and] the high priest of the pasture” and profiled in the Academy Award nominated documentary Food, Inc. and the bestselling book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, understands what food should be: Wholesome, seasonal, raised naturally, procured locally, prepared lovingly, and eaten with a profound reverence for the circle of life. And his message doesn’t stop there. From child-rearing, to creating quality family time, to respecting the environment, Salatin writes with a wicked sense of humor and true storyteller’s knack for the revealing anecdote.

6. Who In This Room: The Realities of Cancer, Fish and Demolition- Based on autobiographic experiences, Who in This Room is a gripping collection of creative nonfiction that pushes the boundaries of story and memoir. Kate’s adventurous life is interrupted by a diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer, giving her a ten percent chance of living five years. But her story isn’t just about cancer. It is a true tale of survival that is both lived and dreamt. It’s about joy found in lemon trees or fly-fishing. It’s about the survival instinct that helps us re-emerge and engage with the world.

7. Season To Taste: How I Lost My Sense Of Smell And Found My Way - At twenty-two, just out of college, Molly Birnbaum spent her nights reading cookbooks and her days working at a Boston bistro, preparing to start training at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America. She knew exactly where she wanted the life ahead to lead: She wanted to be a chef. But shortly before she was due to matriculate, she was hit by a car while out for a run in Boston. The accident fractured her skull, broke her pelvis, tore her knee to shreds—and destroyed her sense of smell. The flesh and bones would heal…but her sense of smell?

Not being able to smell meant not being able to cook. She dropped her cooking school plans, quit her restaurant job, and sank into a depression. This is the story of what came next: how she picked herself up and set off on a grand, entertaining quest in the hopes of learning to smell again. A moving personal story packed with surprising facts about our senses, Season to Taste is filled with unforgettable descriptions of the smells Birnbaum rediscovers—from cinnamon, cedarwood, and fresh bagels to rosemary chicken, lavender, and apple pie—as she falls in love, learns to smell from scratch, and starts, once again, to cook.

8. Growing A Farmer: How I learned To Live Off The Land- A bona-fide city dweller, Kurt Timmermeister never intended to run his own dairy farm. When he purchased four acres of land on Vashon Island, he was looking for an affordable home a ferry ride away from the restaurants he ran in Seattle. But as he continued to serve his customers frozen chicken breasts and packaged pork, he became aware of the connection between what he ate and where it came from: a hive of bees provided honey; a young cow could give fresh milk; an apple orchard allowed him to make vinegar. Told in Timmermeister’s plainspoken voice, Growing a Farmer details with honesty the initial stumbles and subsequent realities he had to face in his quest to establish a profitable farm for himself. Personal yet practical, Growing a Farmer includes the specifics of making cheese, raising cows, and slaughtering pigs, and it will recast entirely the way we think about our relationship to the food we consume.

9. Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit- Supermarket produce sections bulging with a year-round supply of perfectly round, bright red-orange tomatoes have become all but a national birthright. But in Tomatoland, which is based on his James Beard Award-winning article, “The Price of Tomatoes,” investigative food journalist Barry Estabrook reveals the huge human and environmental cost of the $5 billion fresh tomato industry. Fields are sprayed with more than one hundred different herbicides and pesticides. Tomatoes are picked hard and green and artificially gassed until their skins acquire a marketable hue.

Estabrook traces the supermarket tomato from its birthplace in the deserts of Peru to the impoverished town of Immokalee, Florida, a.k.a. the tomato capital of the United States. He visits the laboratories of seedsmen trying to develop varieties that can withstand the rigors of agribusiness and still taste like a garden tomato, and then moves on to commercial growers who operate on tens of thousands of acres, and eventually to a hillside field in Pennsylvania, where he meets an obsessed farmer who produces delectable tomatoes for the nation’s top restaurants. Tomatoland reads like a suspenseful whodunit as well as an expose of today’s agribusiness systems and the price we pay as a society when we take taste and thought out of our food purchases.

10. 97 Orchard: An Edible History Of Five Immigrant Families In One New York Tenement - Author Jane Ziegelman explores the culinary life that was the heart and soul of New York’s Lower East Side around the turn of the twentieth century—a city within a city, where Germans, Irish, Italians, and Eastern European Jews attempted to forge a new life. Through the experiences of five families, all of them residents of 97 Orchard Street, Ziegelman takes readers on a vivid and unforgettable tour, from impossibly cramped tenement apartments, down dimly lit stairwells, beyond the front stoops where housewives congregated, and out into the hubbub of the dirty, teeming streets. Ziegelman shows how immigrant cooks brought their ingenuity to the daily task of feeding their families, preserving traditions from home but always ready to improvise. 97 Orchard lays bare the roots of our collective culinary heritage.

11. Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How A Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices Into Fearless Home Cooks- This book is essentially “What Not to Wear” meets Michael Pollan.  Inspired by a supermarket encounter with a woman loading up on processed foods, Le Cordon Blue graduate Kathleen Flinn decided to use her recent culinary training to help a group of nine culinary novitiates find their inner cook.  These students invited Kathleen into their kitchens where she took inventory of each person’s refrigerator, cabinets and eating habits.  After kitchen “makeovers” and a series of basic lessons where they learned to wield knives, trust their taste and improve their food choices, the women found a common missing ingredient–confidence.  In this new book, Flinn follows these women’s journeys and includes practical, healthy tips to boost readers’ culinary confidence, strategies to get the most from their grocery dollar and simple recipes to get readers cooking.

12. Fed Up With Lunch: the School Lunch Project: How One Anonymous Teacher Revealed The Truth About School Lunches – And How We Can Change Them!- When school teacher Mrs. Q forgot her lunch one day, she had no idea she was about to embark on an odyssey to uncover the truth about public school lunches. Shocked by what her students were served, she resolved to eat school lunch for an entire year, chronicling her experience anonymously on a blog that received thousands of hits daily, and was lauded by such food activists as Mark Bittman, Jamie Oliver, and Marion Nestle. Here, Mrs. Q reveals her identity for the first time in an eye-opening account of school lunches in America. Along the way, she provides invaluable resources for parents and health advocates who wish to help reform school lunch, making this a must-read for anyone concerned about children’s health issues.

As I research these classes I’m always looking for the most recent and useful resources. When I surf around the Internet and gather various resources (Healthy Discoveries) I love the wit and articulation of my online, like minded nutrition peeps. Below are some of my favorite quotes that I recently came across.

Processed Food Wisdom – Stumptuous.com

• If you’re gonna insist on buying food in bags, boxes, or plastic packages, at least read the label.
• Anything with more than 2-3 ingredients is probably not real food.
• Anything with long chemical names is probably not real food.
• Anything promoted by a mascot is probably not real food.
• Anything with its own commercial is probably not real food.
• Anything that contains something ending in “ose” (such as glucose, fructose, sucrose, or cellulose) is probably not real food.

Fat Loss Wisdom - JillFit 

“The reality of getting lean is that you have to start saying no. Say no to dessert, bread baskets, booze, etc. You can’t have your cake & lose fat too.”

Tough Love For People Who Whine, Make Excuses, & Quit The 30 Day Paleo Challenge Because It Is Too Hard! Whole 9

Don’t you dare tell us this (30 day healthy eating challenge) is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE not to complete the program. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of doughnuts, there is no “slip”. You make a choice to eat something unhealthy. It is always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident. Commit to the program 100% for the full 30 days. Don’t give yourself an excuse to fail before you’ve even started.

Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss- Metabolic Effect

Want weight loss? Then you don’t need to pay attention to the types of food you eat. Just eat less. Want fat loss? Then quality matters more. What’s the difference? Weight loss is indiscriminate, you are losing some fat but you are losing muscle too. So, basically if you want to be skinny and flabby go for weight loss (not sure why you would want this but some do) and if you want smaller and tighter go for fat loss.

How To Build A Healthy Meal <—-Click here. It’s a great PDF that you can print out and refer to when you want to select and eat healthy, *real* food.

I almost missed this interview.

I was so excited that Jimmy Moore asked me back on his Low Carb Conversations Podcast that I couldn’t fall asleep the night before.

Yes, I know. I preach sleep. I love sleep. Sleep is awesome.

But.

Before I speak at a new venue for a new audience I’m not the best sleeper.

When I finally fell asleep last Friday night/Saturday morning I was fully prepared to wake at 7 a.m.

BLOODY HELL! The next time I looked at the clock it was 8:03 a.m. The podcast was scheduled for 8:00 a.m.

I was three minutes late!

I flew out of bed like a crazy ninja fighter. I karate chopped the sheets wrapped around my legs and stumbled, crawled, thrashed my way through my bedroom door into my living room and made a flying leap onto my couch like a baseball player sliding into home plate.

Ok. I’m slightly exaggerating the journey from my bed to my couch but not really.

Come on MacBook. WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UUUUUP! I said, with a couple expletives mixed in as I pounded the keys on my laptop. I need Skype to load NOW.

At 8:04 I connected with Jimmy Moore, Keri Rogers and Mindy Noxon Iannotti. They were just signing on themselves and didn’t notice I was late. I didn’t tell them I woke up one minute earlier. Ugh. I was living that universal nightmare – oversleeping a final exam or very important meeting. OMG. I am never late!

When I present workshops, I arrive at least 30-45 minutes ahead of time.

We began recording the podcast. Adrenaline was surging through my veins. If I sound a little shaky, that’s why. I was trying to calm down, yet wake up. Thank goodness this wasn’t a video call.

Now, if that doesn’t pique your interest and curiously to click the button below and listen to me silently freaking out in my mind while I’m speaking, in my pajamas, on my couch, with no time to go to the bathroom, on a Saturday morning, I don’t know what will?

Thank you, Jimmy Moore I was beyond excited to be a return guest on your Podcast. I loved the topics and it’s always an honor to chat with you. I just wish I woke 30 minutes and not 30 seconds beforehand.

And to all my readers, clients: I hope this is the first and last time you will ever see (hear) me arrive late to a presentation.

Enjoy!

Guest Post by Ann Topalian from St. George, Utah.

I met Ann five years ago when we both participated in a yoga teacher training program. Over the years we’ve stayed in touch via email and FaceBook and she was one of my first blog subscribers in 2007. Ann has been incredibly supportive of me and frequently emails to let me know how much she enjoys this blog and encourages me to ‘keep writing!’ When she posted updates on her FaceBook page last week about the Ancestral Health Symposium I wanted more than anything to be there. A.) So many of my nutrition and Paleo colleagues were attending- Ann being one of them and B.) The speakers, information were phenomenal. Unfortunately this conference didn’t fit into my schedule this year. So I asked Ann if she would write a guest post for Healthy Discoveries and share her experience with us all. Below is her summary of this amazing conference. Please hit her up in the comments below with any questions or thoughts, she would be happy to chat with you!

Attending the 2^nd annual Ancestral Health Symposium (AHS 2012) was, for me, a validation of the path I have been on for the last 3 years. My journey began with reading Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes M.S., this book changed the way I perceived nutrition. I remember emailing Jolene and asking her if she had read the aforementioned book and if it was worth my time. She stated that she has been hearing great things about it and to let her know what I thought. I had no idea that this informative book compiling the last 80 years of nutritional data would be the beginning of my new relationship with food. I will never have to worry about feeling sluggish from food anymore or have to worry if there is a bathroom close due to wheat tearing my digestive system apart…I feel free!

Mr. Taubes was one of the many amazing presenters at the Symposium who wrote books that have changed my life. His session exposed that it is not an abundance of calories that is increasing the obesity epidemic at an alarming rate, rather the quality of calories that we ingest. The carbohydrate content of our diet is signaling an insulin response to store fat, it is not the fat we eat…let me restate that…it is NOT the FAT!

I could listen to organic farmer Joel Salatin, author of Folks This Ain’t Normal, talk for days. He is such a dynamic speaker and asks his audience to connect back to the “umbilical” of their food source. Americans tend to feel disconnected from their food and have no respect for the process it takes to nourish our bodies. I am inspired to begin a salsa garden in my own backyard. I am going to have to rely heavily on my husband’s green thumb as we live in the desert of Southern Utah. I am planting onions this fall, the first step in my creating my ‘edible landscape’.

The Paleo Diet is just as varied as the myriad of presenters at AHS2012. Going to this symposium I felt almost like an imposter, having a Diet Coke addiction come and go in my life. Dr. Robert Lustig likened the soda addiction to Heroine, Diet Coke being Methadone:) What I realized is how many interpretations of the lifestyle there are.

Safe Starches, championed by Dr. Paul Jaminet author of Perfect Health Diet, elicited the biggest debate at the Symposium; these starches consist of white rice, potatoes and taro (no processed foods). I am thinking that if you are an endurance athlete that the “safe starches” make sense. I just know that for me personally, I feel cloudy and tired after eating them, and I will personally continue on without them.

There was also a whole lot of drinking going on and not just the NorCal Margarita that Robb Wolf endorses. There were also those who drink non-pasteurized milk and also eat dairy. If you are not lactose intolerant than this food group may be okay for you. What they all have in common is that you should eat a diet consisting of whole foods, no processed foods (sugars, grains, chemically altered food). I also attended a discussion about grass fed meat being more of a spiritual issue than a nutritional one. I personally feel that supporting cows in their “cowness”, as Joel would say, is better than the commercial mechanical slaughter factory. The spiritual evidence is overwhelming, the nutritional not so much.

The right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little, not too much, is the safest way to health.

                                                                               ~ Hippocrates 400BC

Cardiologist, James O’Keefe also made a big impact on the conference for those who still indulge in chronic cardio endurance exercise. He believed that it is actually safer to sit at home on your couch than run multiple marathons over your lifetime. Do one if you want to tick it off your bucket list and then resume a healthier regiment of cardio for longevity, no more than 5 days a week 30-45 min at a time. “Extreme endurance exercise has been associated with accelerated aging in the heart and coronary arteries”.

The tidbit of information that I will take with me into the following generation is that the maternal grandmother has the greatest influence on the well-being and health of her grandchild, enhancing child nutrition and lowering the risk of mortality. My oldest just having been married this summer, I am inspired to take on my role as grandma when the time comes, and do it with the intention of bringing wisdom to my kin regarding best practices for health and longevity thanks to David Herring, Law and Behavioral Researcher.

The Ancestral Health Symposium brought together like minded individuals with a passion for scientific discovery on how to best meet our evolutionary needs to continue living longer than the generation before. With this generation expected to have a shorter lifespan than the generation before due to diet and a sedentary lifestyle, it is imperative that we explore proven lifestyles toward lengthening our lives.

Thank you so much, Ann! I’m always inspired by the beauty, youth and kindness that you radiate inside and out.

This is the second time Ann has made a guest appearance on the Healthy Discoveries blog. I interviewed her in 2009 about the NIA Technique, click here to read that interview.

Ann Topalian

Is currently the Director of Fitness at the Entrada Sports and Fitness Center in St. George, Utah and has been a certified fitness professional for over 14 years. Certifications include: ACSM CPT, ACE certified Fitness Instructor, AEA, Nia Blue Belt, 200+ Hour Certified Yoga Instructor, Power Pilates and Physical Mind Institute Mat Certified, Power Pilates certified Apparatus instructor, and Johnny G certified Spinning instructor. Ann is an Evolutionary Fitness enthusiast and a Paleo Diet advocate. Ann especially enjoys all forms of exercise done in bare feet, whether it is yoga, dance, or Kettlebells; and loves hiking all over Southern Utah.

I’ve been busy organizing an employee health festival for the City of Lakewood. This is the calm before the storm as I prepare for my 4am wake up calls next week. We’re right on track to reach my goal of screening 40% of the employees for blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, etc. I’ve been rallying the troops the past two weeks and speaking at department meetings (police, courts, finance, planning, golf courses, urban parks, streets, maintenance, city manger, city clerk, etc – 16 different areas in all) encouraging individuals to sign up and participate. I also drafted talking points for the local TV station to profile this event, so stay tuned for that video.

Last Friday I presented a Lunch-n-Learn for one of my new corporate clients. I received this email from the HR Director today.

Jolene,

Thank you for coming to our location for our first Lunch-n-learn!  I have had an overwhelmingly positive response after the last session and want to thank you!!  I am very excited for the next sessions.

After that class I drove to Dr. Gerber’s medical office and talked about Brain Chemistry, Sugar Cravings, Binge Eating and Food Addiction. Here is that class in full [VIDEO].

Do you have a group or organization interested in on-site classes, workshops? Contact me:  jolene@healthydiscoveries.com to catch the corporate wellness wave. Exciting times, great info, and no time like the present for you and your company to get involved.

My native state of Colorado has experienced an exorbitant amount of trauma this summer. First, the Fort Collins and Colorado Springs wild fires. Then the shooting of a Denver police officer at City Park’s Jazz Festival (my friends and I happened to be there that night). And now the horrific mass murder of numerous people in an Aurora movie theater.

Here are a couple “off the top of my head” Healthy Discoveries in response to the awful day we’re having in Colorado today.

I bought the book, Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga a couple months ago. The authors discuss how they use yoga to help trauma survivors.

Hala Khouri, a psychotherapist who specializes in trauma, is one of the teachers from the Off The Mat Into The World yoga training program. I had the privilege of participating in this training earlier this year. I think Hala is fabulous and I highly recommend her Yoga For Stress Reduction DVD

Peter A. Levine PhD is the go-to resource for trauma, chronic stress, PTSD, Somatic Therapy (releasing emotions from the body). If you haven’t heard of Peter or his work, I highly recommend you check out some of his books. He is a pioneer in the field of trauma psychology.

As I’ve written about before, I’m a fan of Bach Flowers. Especially “Star of Bethlehem” or “Rescue Remedy” in times of emotional shock, grief, fear and distress.

I recently stumbled across the Goodbye Worries CD and I love it! Truly one of the best guided meditation, hypnosis CDs I’ve ever tried.

Journal therapy and art therapy can be beneficial in healing emotional trauma as well. There are many books on these topics but here are a couple of my favorites:

With Pen In Hand: The Healing Power of Writing - Henriette Anne Klauser PhD

Writing To Heal: A Guided Journal For Recovering From Trauma & Emotional Upheaval – James Pennebaker PhD

The Art of Emotional Healing- Lucia Capacchione

Music is another way to calm the mind and body. Listen to classical, ambient, uplifting sounds such as:

The Sun Shines On Everyone

Other Useful Therapies To Consider:

EMDR (Rapid Eye Desensitization and Reprocessing)

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) EFT For PTSD

Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Healing Touch, Reiki, Massage, Reflexology

For me, going outside, getting direct sunlight and walking is grounding and calming; especially if my bare feet can come into direct contact with grass, dirt or sand.

Try to remember to stay hydrated with fresh, clean water. Eat whole food and get deep, restful sleep. Surround yourself with supportive, healthy friends and family.

Read inspirational words from people who have survived trauma and came out stronger and more courageous. One of my mentors, Rachel Remen M.D. writes great stories about terminally ill patients, such as My Grandfather’s Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge and Belonging. There are often powerful insights in the things we can’t explain, understand or cure.

And finally, if you’re feeling like you want to do something in the face of all this tragedy but don’t know what to do – Give! Be of service.

Read Cami Walker’s story about her 29 Gifts: How A Month Of Giving Can Change Your Life  and how random acts of kindness helped heal and strengthen her.

We’re all in this together, I’m taking my above advice as much as I’m sharing it with you. It’s been a tough summer. Hang on. Take care of you, and find a moment or two of stillness today.

Breathtaking isn’t it?

As I headed back toward my car a large doe stepped out of the trees and into a stream of water with her fawn. I’ve seen a lot of deer living on the Colorado plains and mountains but this particular deer was stunning. She was big, both physically and energetically. She had a strong, calm presence about her.

I watched her. I was mesmerized.

Her adorable little fawn, splashed in the water and followed close behind but then stopped half way. It was unsure, questioning its next step.

The doe turned, looked back at her fawn, at me and the three other hikers who were watching. It was as if the doe spoke to all of us with her loving eyes. She was not hurried, and she wasn’t afraid. She said, “You’re going to be okay, put one foot in front of the other, you’ve got this, there is nothing to fear.”

The fawn then started to walk again and met its mother at the other side of the stream. They slowly disappeared into the forest together.

Native Americans and Shamans believe wild animals “cross our path” to provide messages (signs) as a metaphor for the current happenings in our lives. I looked up deer in the Animal Speak book. The  interpretation below captures the deer I saw last night; especially when I think of all the Coloradans who have been affected by wildfires this summer and the personal trauma people seem to be experiencing more and more regarding finances, illness, death, broken relationships, unemployment, general hardships.

I can’t get this deer out of my mind. She was different. She exuded and modeled a gentle strength in both her body and mind. I think the explanation below was her message to me and perhaps it’s a message that speaks to you as well?

Deer, Power Animal, Symbol of Gentleness, Unconditional Love and Kindness

By Ina Woolcott

Deer’s medicine includes gentleness in word, thought and touch. The ability to listen, grace and appreciation for the beauty of balance. Understanding of what’s necessary for survival, power of gratitude and giving, ability to sacrifice for the higher good.

Maybe the most effective way to summarize the lessons of these beliefs, is to say that only when we move through life in the spirit of love for all beings can we melt the barriers that separate us from others.

By observing the ways in which deer behave, it is possible to see what amazing qualities – or powers – they possess. From the deer we can learn that the gift of gentleness and caring can help us overcome and put aside many testing situations. Only love, both for ourselves and for others, helps us understand the true meaning of wholeness. 

If a deer crosses your path, this may show you that you are a very compassionate, gentle and loving person. If you don’t have these qualities, then consider if you have a problem that needs addressing. Are you facing a challenge in your life, whether with a fellow human being or a delicate situation? If you are feeling negative emotions such as anger, try letting go. Think about whether a gentler and more loving approach can sort the issue out. It may be necessary to speak the truth, this is best done with kindness and from the heart.

Deer teaches us how powerful it is to be of gentle demeanour, to exert keen observation and sensitivity. Deer’s are in tune with nature and all it comprises. They are sacred carriers of peace and show those with this power animal how to open their hearts and love unconditionally. 

Fawns are born a colour that protects them, camouflaging them from a predator’s sight. In the first few days of their life they hardly move, until their energy field is strong and grounded. They then stand up and begin to follow their mother around. A magical sight to behold is fawns coming out of forests, following their tenderly protective mothers. Even when grazing, the mothers are constantly watchful, fully aware and alert of what is going on all around them. They travel through forest and field with deliberateness and clarity, mindful of the fragile creature they nurture and protect. There is a powerful lesson to be learned here by us. Though we are born with an inborn ability to be unconditionally loving, often we are born to parents whose life experiences have taught them to become hard, and to lose that ability to experience and give unconditional love. Watching the deer and her babies is a reminder to honor and respect the child-like innocence within your self and go about your life with gentleness and an open heart. You should also stand strong on your path, in your beliefs, and not allow yourself to get distracted by outside influences. 

Deer has entered your life to help you walk the path of love with full consciousness and awareness, to know that love sometimes requires caring and protection, not only in how we love others, but also in how we love ourselves. 

A deer’s senses are very acute and they see extremely well in low light, giving them the ability to understand the deeper symbolic meanings of things. They can hear a twig snap a very long way off. People with this power animal are often described as being swift and alert. They are intuitive, often seeming to possess well developed, even extrasensory perceptions. Sometimes their thoughts seem to race ahead, and they appear not to be listening, to be somewhere else. Anyone with power animal has latent clairvoyant and clairaudient abilities. They can see between the shadows, detect subtle movements and hear that which is not being uttered. Ask the deer to help you develop these true gifts. 

Deer teaches us to be gentle, to touch the hearts and minds of wounded beings who are in our lives. Don’t push people to change, rather gently nudge them in right direction, with the love that comes from deer. Love and accept people as they are. The balance of true power lays in love and compassion. 

When a Deer totem enters your world, a new innocence and freshness is about to be awakened. New adventures are just around the corner and there will be an opportunity to express the gentle love that will open new doors for you.