Spirituality

45: Adopting a Healing and Recovery Mindset

Edition 45: Adopting a Healing and Recovery Mindset
 

This week I discuss 8 Key Principles on overcoming and working through addictions with food and other substances.


With gratitude,

❤️ Stephanie 🧠✨🤸‍♂️🌱

The Freedom to Live 5 things Friday 


Every Friday, 5 things of value from the integrative health sciences.
The best of the best functional medicine, educational resources, research, quotes, books, tips, advice etc. all from the key pillars of the integrative health system.

1. What do these 6 substances have in common?

When I polled my audience this week, many answered:

Inflammation
Lower Immune function
Causes/Contributes to intestinal impermeability/leaky gut
Makes us feel sick and tired
Speeds up the aging process

All True.  But I was looking for a specific answer.  They are all:

Highly Addictive

When dealing with any type of mental illness, depression, anxiety, ADHD, Addiction, there are 2 main causes:

Psychological and Biochemical factors and recovery typically requires a very multidisciplinary and holistic approach. 

I used to always separate drug and alcohol addiction with food based addictions as being totally different beasts.  But I feel like there isn't a difference, there's variation and levels to addiction, but it's still an addiction.

I outline here today 8 principles of an overall recovery and healing mindset to conquer any type of addiction:
 

  1. Admit and Acknowledge your addictions.  Do you have control and power over the certain external substances such as: drugs, alcohol, caffeine, sugar, gluten, dairy?  Do you have full control and willpower to say NO? Have you tried abstaining? 75 days, 30 days, 3 days, 1 day?

  2. Know your WHY.  What are the deep reasons WHY you want better? Better health, a better body, a better life, greater purpose?  WHY change.

  3. Start with ONE DAY. Don’t think of forever. Just focus on winning the day! 

  4. Feel to Heal.  To go without is to go within. 

  5. Put in the work. Daily.

  6. Acknowledge a force of healing and recovery greater than yourself.

  7. Continue to seek guidance, support, and help along the way.

  8. Heal yourself, Heal Others, Change the World

2. Six Nutritional factors that may be responsible for addiction, dependence, anxiety, depression, and mental illnesses overall.

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Melvin Werbach, M.D., author of Nutritional Influences on Mental Illness , wrote that these six nutritional factors play a big role on anxiety, elevated levels of lactic acid, and mental illness overall:

1. Alcohol 

2. Caffeine 

3. Sugar 

4. Deficiency of the B vitamins niacin, pyridoxine, and thiamine 

5. Deficiency of calcium or magnesium 

6. Food allergens

Source: Werbach M. Nutritional influences on mental illness: a sourcebook of clinical research. Tarzana, Calif.: Third Line Press, 1991. 

3. Adopt the ONE DAY mindset

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Check out this episode here. 
 

We can do anything for ONE DAY.

If you can do it for ONE DAY you can do it forever.

But don’t think about it forever.

THINK about ONE DAY AT A TIME.

Put in to practice something for ONE DAY and keep going.

Within a short period of time you have multiple days, multiple weeks, multiple months.

What you get is the accumulation of consistent action.

Low calorie diets, restrictive eating, and extreme diets where you are eliminating one of the 3 key macro nutrients long-term perpetuate a falling off the wagon, binging, spiralling behaviours, and just feeling deprived and miserable.  Many do not thrive on diets.

Within the context of healing and recovery, eliminating and abstaining from certain addictive substances for a period of time takes on the goal of getting to the root cause of addictions to things like alcohol, drugs, sugar, caffeine, baked goods, or other behaviours.


After a set period of time you need to assess your ability to sustain a healthy relationship with these substances and if the desire is there to yes reintroduce these substances and/or behaviours or to possibly continue abstinence. 

One Day at a Time.

Classic 12 Steps of the 12 Step Addiction Recovery Programs

4.  To Go Without is to Go Within (Feel to Heal)

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As I woke up on day number 42 of my latest 9th attempt of the 75 hard program realizing that I forgot to read my pages,  WOW! Really Really!?

Feeling like the worlds biggest looser and a fraud.  I just sat with it.  I processed it for an entire week.  Don’t be too quick to jump back on the horse.  

Sit with it. Process it. Ask WHY. Meditate.  Go IN.

I had lost way before day 40.  I had been sneaking bits of forbidden foods the whole time.  Principle #1 admit and acknowledge your addictions. So today I’m day 7 being CLEAN (the six substances) No Alcohol, Drugs, Caffeine, Added Sugar, Gluten, or Dairy.  None of it.  

I feel great.  I feel clear and I have no interference. 

But it's still not easy.
 

  1. Identify your triggers: stress, emotions, mental state.

  2. Feel to heal. Sit with the discomfort. Sit with the hunger and the cravings.

  3. Learn and adapt to go without.  Eliminating these substances contributes to healing your inner biochemistry.  

  4. Build and Strengthen your mental muscles: willpower, saying NO, abstaining. 

5. The G word.

I can’t think of one single recovery and healing story where there wasn’t the presence of the G Word.  GOD.  A higher force outside of yourself.  A higher level of consciousness, prayer, inner knowing, inner wisdom, inner knowledge. 
 

Sometimes we have to eliminate something to get to the life god intended us to live.  A life of meaning and happiness.  


I hope you enjoyed this week's newsletter/blog and don't forget to check out our brand new podcast version of the Freedom 5 weekly.

 

If you would like support over the next month, 3 months, 6 months, contact us today to get started on a personalized plan to rebalance your health. 
 

Book your complementary consultation today.

Contact us today to get started!

11: The Functional Medicine Difference

Welcome to Episode #11!

Here's the Bad News.  Yesterday, Jan. 16 is officially the day where people fall off and lose commitment with their New Years goals.

The good news.  We don't believe in New Years Resolutions anyway.  In the 12 Week Year approach every day and every week is a chance to review, reset, and track progress.

The Freedom to Live 5 things Friday 


Every Friday, 5 things of value from the integrative health sciences.
The best of the best functional medicine, educational resources, research, quotes, books, tips, advice etc. all from the key pillars of the integrative health system.

1. The Difference Between Conventional and Functional Medicine

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2. IHP Self Health Assessment

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This is one of the tools I use right here to help people track the process and the progress of the integrative health journey.

In the beginning, it always starts with a solid Nutrition, Exercise, Rest & Recovery plan while we run functional medicine lab data in the background to get straight to the point of underlying root imbalances.⁣

But the process doesn't stop there. Our mindset, emotional state, and our spiritual connectedness all play a key piece in bringing our health to a state of balance. ⁣

How do you score out of 100 on each of these pie graph segments? Where are the flat spots in the wheel?⁣

You may have seen the Life wheel; check that out as well. The thing is, if you balance your Health, it provides the building blocks of physical, emotional, and mental strength and resilience to carry over to the other areas of life that need balancing.

Health is the cornerstone.  Health is our life force.

The other segments of the life wheel either suffer or thrive based on the status of our health (relationships, wealth, career, all the big ones). 

I hope this visual exercise helps you prioritize your strengths and weaknesses and where you want to bring a little more focus over the next 12 week year.  

Check in daily, weekly, monthly to track progress.⁣

3. Virtual Exercise: the Accountability of Community

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The power of Accountability and Community; Both Combined!!

This right here is one of the main reasons WHY people fall off the New Years Resolution.  Personally, I find it almost impossible to stick with a consistent exercise program unless I'm part of an accountability group as a leader, or as a participant. 

This Core challenge is only 12-15 minutes/day.  You can follow # strongtothecore20 and join our virtual fit IG community anytime.  

 

4. 5 Steps to Gut Health

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5. Spirituality: 8 Steps to Integrative Attraction! 

One of those days....

My Kid just barfed all over the bus on the way to school and again just now in the back seat. Arranged child care and then not needing to because the meeting was a no show.⁣

Presented with a choice here.⁣

To get upset because I have to cancel appointments and am now "off track" and that everything is ironic and conspired "against" me OR roll with it as simply a redirection of my day. ⁣

Learning to release control and remaining in a constant state of calm EVEN during the surface level shit storms of life. Because they really are surface level. None of it is really a big deal.⁣

I now just see these as grooming opportunities. Preparation. ⁣

Instead.⁣

I'm going to KEEP SHOWING UP. ⁣

I'm going to KEEP BEING GRATEFUL.⁣

I'm going to KEEP BELIEVING.⁣

I'm grateful for the sun. Grateful for the flexibility I have and just grateful to be able to be there for my little humans when they need me to be. Grateful that I have backup systems in place and people in my life that are helping and supporting.⁣

These are mantras that we can use to help maintain a calm and positive energy even is a state of stress and chaos.  This is a Practice that takes Practice. 

Also, I love these 8 steps to to being more energetically attractive.  Notice how it's also about some of the physical tangible environment too. 

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1: Key Pillars to Integrative Health

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My goal is to bring to your inbox, every Friday, 5 things of value from the Integrative Health space.  I want this email to be something you look forward to reading every Friday.  A round up! The best of the best Integrative health educational resources, research, quotes, books, tips, advice etc. all from the key pillars of the integrative health system.

1. Nutrition: The most loved and shared repost this week from the gram.  Agree! There's nothing like a good visual message.

2. Spirituality and Mindset: 


Lesson 19: "Every Desire is created by some past desire.  The chain of desire never ends. It is life itself.  Don't consider any desire useless or wrong -someday each one will be fulfilled.  Desires are seeds waiting for their season to sprout.  From a single seed of desire, whole forests grow.  Cherish every wish in your heart, however trivial it may seem.  One day these trivial wishes will lead you to God." - Deepak Chopra

Twenty Spiritual Lessons for Creating the Life you Want by Deepak Chopra

3. Functional Medicine: Biology before Psychology.  

Rethinking the traditional "Mental Illness", counselling, and the therapy paradigm.  An interesting perspective here with Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Daniel Amen on the Doctor's Farmacy.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=2Ob5uJ9P6Ww&feature=emb_title

Also available on Apple Podcast here.

4. Natural Health Education: 

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Free Detox Course by Dr. Stephen Cabral. 

Get the Course Free Here!

Want more learning with Dr. Cabral?  


The IHP Integrative Health Practitioner Course is open for the last time this 2019 year for enrolment.

Happy to share and answer any questions from the student perspective having graduated from the Level 1 and Level 2 certifications.
 

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IHP - Dr. Stephen Cabral

IHP Practitioner Course Info

5. Exercise Motivation: Schedule a Meeting with your Mat in your Agenda everyday. 

Do you spend more time thinking about getting out of a workout than actually doing one? 

I know I do🙋‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤫

🎄 Maybe it’s the time of year with the hustle of the holidays upon us. 

but committing to yourself.
Just 10 minutes on the mat.
Once you just start.
Almost always ends up being more than 10 minutes. 
100% of the time.
Progress is a daily Practice.
Challenge yourself to move your body everyday!

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