In today’s episode I'm excited to introduce you to Marisa Chadbourne. She is a myofascial release therapist and she's been my myofascial release therapist for many years. Marisa owns Touch of Health Myofascial Wellness Center in Sayville, NY. She created Touch of Health as a supportive and therapeutic environment to assist her clients through their healing process.
Marisa is also a Certified NLP practitioner since 2019 and a locally and nationally published author regarding Fascia, the Mind-Body, and Subtle Energy.
Today we talk about how myofascial release therapy can help people with muscle and joint pain, inflammation, stiffness, physical pain in general, and even recovery from trauma.
The Myofascial Tissue
The myofascial tissue is a network of tissue that spreads throughout your entire body. It connects your muscles, joints, and bones. It also provides support to your organs, helping to keep them in place. If you could see it, your fascia would look like a single sheet of tissue paper.
The fascial system is omnipresent throughout the human body as one continuous web-like structure connecting all parts and systems together so, it's the only system in the body that actually comes in contact with every other system right down to the cellular level.
The myofascial tissue has three major components: 1. elastin fibers, which give our bodily movement it's elasticity and stretch, 2. collagen fibers that give our physical structural support and 3. a ground substance which is a gel-like substance that mainly helps with intracellular communication. So, this matrix of collagen, elastin and ground substance is what holds our bodies upright.
What is Myofascial Release Therapy
Myofascial release therapy is a connective tissue therapy designed to bring the body back into its natural alignment by releasing facial restrictions, and in turn, this increases our range of motion. It also takes pressure off of pain sensitive structures within the body. All different types of injuries can be treated. It can even help people who have autoimmune disorders, neurological dysfunction, etc.
During myofascial release therapy, the therapist applies light pressure by hand to find myofascial areas that feel stiff instead of elastic and movable. These stiff areas, or trigger points, are thought to limit muscle and joint movements, which can play a part in widespread muscle pain.
The main difference between massage and myofascial release therapy is that in myofascial therapy we are focusing on the fascia or connective tissue, while in massage the main focus is on the muscles. With myofascial therapy, the goal is to release fascial restrictions in order to bring the body back into healthy alignment. This is done by using gentle sustained pressure of 5 minutes or more to make a very specific change within the connective tissue.
A massage is more of a soft tissue mobilization technique. Another difference is in the intention to bring the whole body back into alignment by opening up the entire fascial system. For example, even if someone has neck pain, in myofascial release therapy we evaluate the whole-body posture instead of just focusing on one part of the body.
What is a Myofascial Restriction?
When we say there's a fascial restriction what we're mainly saying is that the ground substance part of the fascial system starts to become solidified. When that happens the elastin fibers, collagen and muscle fibers get stuck in the solidification and they're unable to slide across each other to do their job correctly. This will in turn stiffen movement and put pressure on pain sensitive structures.
The main four causes for this solidification or facial restriction are surgery, repetitive movement, inflammatory responses and also trauma, whether it be physical or emotional trauma. This solidification can happen in response to our thoughts, environment or something that’s happening to us on an emotional level. This is because of the mind-body connection and how they respond to each other.
What we're looking for in myofascial release is what was the cause of the restriction. So we allow for there to be many different types of healing: structural healing, somatic healing, and emotional healing. Some people have an emotional release and some people don’t. It really depends on the type of healing that they're looking for but it completely impacts the body much farther than people are aware of.
When we open up a fascial restriction it's like opening up the dam of energy flow. Opening up the dam for more intercellular communication to flow smoothly. When we talk about emotion, a lot of times we refer to it as energy in motion, and when trauma happens in our lives, that energy can get stuck, leading to solidification of the ground substance. And so, as we shift the gel-like substance back to its normal state, the energy is released and that's what people are feeling.
Sometimes during a myofascial release therapy the person might go into a meditative state or a deep relaxation state as this kind of therapy also stimulates the parasympathetic system and the vagus nerve. And that’s when we have the opportunity to be able to go a little bit deeper in feeling and releasing trauma because we're not in the place of thought, but it has to happen naturally.
Myofascial Release Therapy for Pain vs Maintenance
This kind of therapy is good not only for when someone does get in pain (to help release it) but also for maintenance and preventing pain. What’s important here is having body awareness and empowerment of how we can support ourselves during a treatment. It’s important that people tune into their body to see how they feel over the next few days after their first session.
Once people find that rhythm of what they need for maintenance they can make that decision on their own and so this decision is made from an innate place instead of being told what to do. If someone wants to make a lot of change quickly, they can do a myofascial intensive series, where the person comes in three to five times over one to two weeks and we get a lot done over that time. Then it's more likely for that change to stay with the person.
We also teach people how to do self myofascial release at home so that release and opening that was made can be maintained at home by the patient by continuing to feel into their body and where they're restricted. This is the special relationship between the client and the practitioner doing work together and teaching the patient how to do it on his/her own.
During this process you can also learn so much about your body, the signals it gives you and what it needs to heal. There are so many different symptoms that people come in with for this therapy, not just pain, but sleeping disorders, anxiety, fatigue, autoimmunity, neurological dysfunction, and they all benefit from this work.
We look at symptoms as the signals the body is giving you. The most important part of the facilitation is guiding the client to get in touch with what these messages are on a subconscious level. This is another part that isn't just purely structural. We're looking at the body as a whole, mind, body and spirit, and how they are always working together.
Combining Myofascial Therapy with Other Treatments
When we identify that inflammation is causing the fascial restriction, we then ask why the inflammation is there in the first place. We need to take a look at your diet for example, so the client might be advised to take the healing to the next level by talking to a Functional Practitioner or a Naturopathic Dr. to help them. Then they get the benefit of both by working synergistically. As the inflammation is coming down and the body's healing, then there's less likelihood of repeated issues coming up.
We don't want to just keep continuing releasing the same fascial restrictions over and over again. If what is causing the issue is a repetitive movement for example, then the client is oriented to find out how they can change that movement, and how they can change the inflammatory response. They need to make an ergonomic change. Or someone has a compensatory pattern from some type of physical movement they've been doing their whole life, then they can also do physical therapy along with myofascial release. This is because if you just continue to work on the restriction, without addressing the cause, you may not be solving
the problem. So it is a priority to think about what other approaches will complement myofascial release therapy for each individual so that you can feel better for good.
At the same time, myofascial therapy helps other approaches to work better because the fascia connects with all the other systems in the body. By opening fascial communication, it is going to support healing on every other level.
If you want to reach out to Marisa and learn more about how she can help you, please make sure to check out her website or her Instagram @touchofhealthny.
To understand my approach to helping people recover from stress and trauma with my Stress Recovery Protocol, you may want to start by reading my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health. In the book, I also share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take this Stress Type Quiz online. You can also sign up for my Stress Warrior Program here.
If you’re interested in a safe and effective body, mind and spirit detoxification that will actually make you feel better and that you can do without affecting your daily routine, you can check out my New 14-Day Detox Program here. In the Detox Program I teach you to connect with yourself, and use mind-body tools, such as biofeedback, to process emotions.
For the most comprehensive support to recover from stress and trauma, even with the most difficult health issues (physical or mental), it is best to meet with me one-on-one, which is available to you no matter where you are in the world (via phone or zoom). You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here.
We're here to help you!
Connect with Dr. Doni:
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YouTube HTTPS://YOUTUBE.COM/USER/DONIWILSONND
Weekly Wellness Wisdom Newsletter: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/WWW
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Books and Resources:
Order My New Book: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Stress-Reset-Health/dp/1953295576
Stress Warrior Book (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESSWARRIOR
Stress Warrior Stress Resiliency Facebook Group (FREE)
HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/STRESSWARRIOR
7-day Stress Reset (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESS-RESET
HPV & Cervical Dysplasia Guide (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/HPV-AND-CERVICAL-DYSPLASIA-GUIDE/
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Personalized Solutions:
If you’d like to meet with Dr. Doni one-on-one for your health, request a Health Breakthrough Session: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/BREAKTHROUGH
To get an idea of more comprehensive options, read about Dr. Doni’s Signature Consultation Programs: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/SERVICES
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are product links and affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission at no cost to you. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.
Today’s episode is about emotional healing. This is something that comes up with my patients from around the world and also with the people that participate in the programs that I offer.
Whether it’s healing something like HPV and abnormal pap smear results, or helping with anxiety and depression, emotional healing comes into play.
So, I feel like it's an important thing to for us to talk about as it's an essential part of the stress recovery process. I also cover emotional healing in my most recent book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.
What is Emotional Healing?
We hear a lot about the mind-body connection, but what does it mean to process emotions?
Well, stress can come from a psycho-emotional level (our minds) like a traumatic experience, or it can come from a physical level (our bodies) like infections, toxins and injuries. And it’s the combination of those stresses and even spiritual or energetic stresses that compound into the total load of stress that we're exposed to. This is our environmental exposure to stress. And we know from research that it's this exposure that turns on our gene expression and makes us susceptible to all kinds of health issues.
We are so used to going to different practitioners for different parts of our bodies (including different practitioners for the mind and body) when in reality we are one whole being and all of our systems are interconnected. Our digestion is in communication with our immune system, our hormones with our nervous system, etc. They're all talking to each other and that means that they can either have a negative influence or a positive influence on each other.
Our physical bodies (digestion, glands, muscles, bones, etc.) are always in communication with our nervous system and our minds. So, our feelings and our emotional state are also in communication with our physical bodies. An example of this is not feeling hungry when you are feeling anxious or depressed.
So, it is very important for our health (mental and physical) to allow ourselves to feel and to process emotions. Emotions come naturally to us as humans. Our bodies and nervous system inherently knows how to feel emotions and to cry, laugh, and yawn. The problem here is that from a young age most of us are taught not to express our feelings or emotions. Society, schools, religion, or our own households teach us that we must suppress all of this.
Meanwhile research shows that when we don’t allow ourselves to feel and process all our emotions there is a high risk of developing health issues, again, mental and/or physical conditions. There are several good books on this topic, including by Carolyn Myss and The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk.
Unfortunately, I don't think people have enough support to learn how to process emotions and to recover from stress and trauma. As much as we might be bringing awareness to stress and trauma, we're not so much being guided what to do about it. And so then the stress and trauma just start feeling heavier and heavier.
I want to help you to have the right tools to transform the effects of stress and trauma, to recover from it, and it begins with learning to feel your feelings instead of suppressing them.
What also helps us heal on an emotional level is for us to start making decisions for ourselves, and to get in touch with our intuition and messages from your body. So, I would much rather give you information for you to then connect with yourself and see what feels right to you. Then along the way you're also learning to listen to yourself, you're learning to feel your emotions, you're learning to try things with curiosity, and learn through the experience.
How Do We Heal Emotionally?
First, we have to establish that healing is possible, and that recovery from stress and trauma is possible. Then we can start to look at how best to approach this healing.
A lot of times you hear me talking about how to heal on a physical level, such as how to get cortisol, the stress hormone, back to optimal levels. The amazing thing I find with my patients is that when cortisol, as well as adrenaline and neurotransmitters, are optimal, they find it so much easier process emotions and heal on a psycho-emotional level.
This is important because a lot of people find themselves spending hours and hours, and thousands of dollars, in talk therapy and end up feeling like they're only getting so far with it. In that case, we have to be sure we are also addressing the physical part of you, such as cortisol, adrenaline, neurotransmitters, nutrient deficiencies, thyroid imbalances, digestive issues, etc.
For those of you who are doing the work to balance your hormones, microbiome, and nutrients, but you haven’t paid attention to the mental, emotional, and even energetic aspect of your healing, then I encourage you to make that a priority. For some people it is very helpful to work with a therapist. And then you might decide to try different forms of therapy, from CBT or cognitive behavioral therapy to EMDR, which has been shown to be very helpful for stress recovery and PTSD.
There are also natural treatments like homeopathy, which is an ancient system of medicine that's very helpful for processing emotionally and connecting the mind with the body to heal.
Also, psychedelic medicine, which has been shown more and more to be effective at helping us heal on an emotional level. Psychedelic treatments include the use of psilocybin, ketamine, as well as MDMA and Ayahuasca, which is a plant medicine from Central and South America that has been shown to be extremely effective at healing PTSD and addictions. If you’re interested in psychedelic therapy you can learn more by watching Episode 151 of How Humans Heal where I share my experience of attending a shamanic journey in the Peruvian Amazon.
Other tools that help with emotional healing are meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, journaling, and rebalancing of the chakras. The important thing is that you experiment and find what works for you specifically.
Something that you can do for yourself starting now is to become more aware of your emotions, and to allow yourself to feel your emotions. Be curious about your emotions, because I think so often, we don’t allow ourselves to fully feel because we may think we don’t have time for this, or we fear what could happen if we let it all out. It's almost like our emotions are monsters and we run away from them. Well, if we don’t allow ourselves to feel these emotions, we will never be able to process them, and we will continue to carry the weight of them through our lives in our bodies.
I learned this lesson the hard way – by developing severe migraines and a chronic inflammatory joint condition. It was through my own process of healing emotionally that I have been able to recover from these physical health issues.
What Happens to Our Bodies When We Heal Emotionally?
I think that as humans we're probably only allowing ourselves to feel less than 5% of our emotional capacity. I know that for myself, and I know that from observing patients and others in my life. We really restrict ourselves from feeling and we have no idea that we can experience such emotional breadth. Just like when you go to the gym and workout your muscles, you can learn to expand your ability to feel, and feel comfortable and confident doing it.
There are many books out there that talk about emotions. For example, Atlas Of The Heart by Brene Brown where she talks about 86 different emotions that we can feel. Or 90 Seconds to a Life You Love by Joan I. Rosenberg where she talks about how most emotions can be felt in 90 seconds.
When we expand our ability to feel emotions and to feel comfortable feeling emotions, we are being more present. By practicing allowing ourselves to just be present with our feelings, we will be able to connect with ourselves more.
A colleague of mine, Dr. Debi Silber created The Betrayal Institute where she helps people heal from betrayal every day. You can find more about it in Episode 59 of How Humans Heal. So know that these resources exist and that it's possible to heal. There are tools available to help you heal emotionally from what you’ve been through, including somatic therapy and myofascial therapy (which will be discussed in the next episode).
I think emotional healing is as necessary as good sleep, exercise, drinking water and eating healthy foods. Just imagine what it would be like if could feel so grateful for something, or love
and joy at full capacity. We know that the emotions of love and gratitude really shift us on an energetic level. Research shows that these emotions create a change on a cellular level and therefore we can then see a positive impact on our health.
We Have More Power Than We Think
In quantum physics, which is this concept in science and math where there are more possibilities than we realize, things are not just black or white, and things are not decided until the very last second of them happening. For example, there are experiments where even atoms don’t show their decided location until they are observed by the observer. We tend to oversimplify and want to control and anticipate everything, when in reality, there are so many variables, we will make ourselves more stressed by focusing on control.
What we can do is take these lessons from physics and use them in our understanding of ourselves. By practicing being comfortable and navigating in the unknown. How do we get more comfortable with the unknown?
First, by processing and letting go of what happened in the past, we free ourselves to be in the present moment. Learn more about this from Eckhardt Tolle.
Then, by understanding that many possibilities exist and that it’s in the last moment that one will become a reality, we realize that the best way to shift our perspective or situation, is to simply choose a different way of looking at it. We can decide which reality we want for ourselves and in that way, we can create our future as we want it to be.
We can choose how we want to relate to ourselves and allow ourselves to feel. We can choose to be in silence and instead of attaching to a feeling or a thought as the only reality, we can be the observer and observe all the possibilities. And, with curiosity and acceptance, be able to see the reality as it is now and what it is that you would like to create in your life. We can get into a state of love and gratitude, intentionally, and from that state, we can create a different reality for ourselves.
The more you can envision what you want to create in your health and in your body, the more you spend time believing it and envisioning it, you can create that for yourself. This is how a lot of people experience healing, sometimes spontaneous healing or distance healing, because they're able to get into this state of creating a new reality for themselves and their existence using these concepts.
If you are wanting to learn more about this, check out Bruce Lipton and Dr. Joe Dispenza.
I mention it here because I think it helps in terms of emotional healing. I think it helps with getting out of that feeling of being stuck in terms of trauma and feeling that our future is already determined by our past. It’s not, as long as we step in and start choosing differently.
When we are able to connect with ourselves and feel our emotions to an extent where we can process them so that they're not in the way, we will feel so much better, relieved and less stressed, and our overall health will improve as a result.
The Highly Sensitive Person
Ph.D. Elaine N. Aron wrote a book in the 90’s called The Highly Sensitive Person which talks about how some people have a more sensitive nervous system so they can pick up on emotions, as well as physical sensations, more easily than others. I also think that many people have been suppressing their ability to feel their emotions and this means they can train themselves to develop this capacity to feel more.
It's about allowing ourselves to fully find out what our capacity is. What is your capacity to listen to yourself and your own signals from within, and to feel? What is your body really telling you that you maybe haven't been listening to?
It's that ability to sense your body and your response to your environment that can really help you heal. And so, I encourage you to practice this openness to feel and perceive. You can create some quiet moments in your schedule, for example by spending time in nature and journaling. You can start practicing by making a space for it in your life but at the same time not trying to force it or pressure yourself. You just have to allow yourself to completely lose yourself in the moment.
It's only by practicing feeling our emotions, and the subsequent self-discovery process, that you will find yourself open to the infinite possibilities for your existence and realize that your future does not have to be determined by your past experiences.
If you’re interested in a safe and effective body, mind and spirit detoxification that will actually make you feel better and that you can do without affecting your daily routine, you can check out my New 14-Day Detox Program here. In the Detox Program I teach you to connect with yourself, and use mind-body tools, such as biofeedback, to process emotions.
If you’re ready to start healing emotionally by rebalancing your cortisol and neurotransmitters, you can start by ordering this home test kit. You can also sign up for my Stress Warrior Program here. Also, if you want to learn more about how to recover from stress so that you can get back to feeling your best, you may want to read my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.
In the book, I also share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take this Stress Type Quiz online.
If you want to go through your specific case me and improve your health (mental and physical) you can set up a one-on-one appointment here.
We’re here to help you!
Connect with Dr. Doni:
Facebook HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/DRDONIWILSON
Instagram HTTPS://INSTAGRAM.COM/DRDONIWILSON
YouTube HTTPS://YOUTUBE.COM/USER/DONIWILSONND
Weekly Wellness Wisdom Newsletter: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/WWW
-
Books and Resources:
Order My New Book: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Stress-Reset-Health/dp/1953295576
Stress Warrior Book (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESSWARRIOR
Stress Warrior Stress Resiliency Facebook Group (FREE)
HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/STRESSWARRIOR
7-day Stress Reset (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESS-RESET
HPV & Cervical Dysplasia Guide (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/HPV-AND-CERVICAL-DYSPLASIA-GUIDE/
-
Personalized Solutions:
If you’d like to meet with Dr. Doni one-on-one for your health, request a Health Breakthrough Session: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/BREAKTHROUGH
To get an idea of more comprehensive options, read about Dr. Doni’s Signature Consultation Programs: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/SERVICES
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are product links and affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission at no cost to you. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.
Today’s episode is about emotional healing. This is something that comes up with my patients from around the world and also with the people that participate in the programs that I offer.
Whether it’s healing something like HPV and abnormal pap smear results, or helping with anxiety and depression, emotional healing comes into play.
So, I feel like it's an important thing to for us to talk about as it's an essential part of the stress recovery process. I also cover emotional healing in my most recent book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.
What is Emotional Healing?
We hear a lot about the mind-body connection, but what does it mean to process emotions?
Well, stress can come from a psycho-emotional level (our minds) like a traumatic experience, or it can come from a physical level (our bodies) like infections, toxins and injuries. And it’s the combination of those stresses and even spiritual or energetic stresses that compound into the total load of stress that we're exposed to. This is our environmental exposure to stress. And we know from research that it's this exposure that turns on our gene expression and makes us susceptible to all kinds of health issues.
We are so used to going to different practitioners for different parts of our bodies (including different practitioners for the mind and body) when in reality we are one whole being and all of our systems are interconnected. Our digestion is in communication with our immune system, our hormones with our nervous system, etc. They're all talking to each other and that means that they can either have a negative influence or a positive influence on each other.
Our physical bodies (digestion, glands, muscles, bones, etc.) are always in communication with our nervous system and our minds. So, our feelings and our emotional state are also in communication with our physical bodies. An example of this is not feeling hungry when you are feeling anxious or depressed.
So, it is very important for our health (mental and physical) to allow ourselves to feel and to process emotions. Emotions come naturally to us as humans. Our bodies and nervous system inherently knows how to feel emotions and to cry, laugh, and yawn. The problem here is that from a young age most of us are taught not to express our feelings or emotions. Society, schools, religion, or our own households teach us that we must suppress all of this.
Meanwhile research shows that when we don’t allow ourselves to feel and process all our emotions there is a high risk of developing health issues, again, mental and/or physical conditions. There are several good books on this topic, including by Carolyn Myss and The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk.
Unfortunately, I don't think people have enough support to learn how to process emotions and to recover from stress and trauma. As much as we might be bringing awareness to stress and trauma, we're not so much being guided what to do about it. And so then the stress and trauma just start feeling heavier and heavier.
I want to help you to have the right tools to transform the effects of stress and trauma, to recover from it, and it begins with learning to feel your feelings instead of suppressing them.
What also helps us heal on an emotional level is for us to start making decisions for ourselves, and to get in touch with our intuition and messages from your body. So, I would much rather give you information for you to then connect with yourself and see what feels right to you. Then along the way you're also learning to listen to yourself, you're learning to feel your emotions, you're learning to try things with curiosity, and learn through the experience.
How Do We Heal Emotionally?
First, we have to establish that healing is possible, and that recovery from stress and trauma is possible. Then we can start to look at how best to approach this healing.
A lot of times you hear me talking about how to heal on a physical level, such as how to get cortisol, the stress hormone, back to optimal levels. The amazing thing I find with my patients is that when cortisol, as well as adrenaline and neurotransmitters, are optimal, they find it so much easier process emotions and heal on a psycho-emotional level.
This is important because a lot of people find themselves spending hours and hours, and thousands of dollars, in talk therapy and end up feeling like they're only getting so far with it. In that case, we have to be sure we are also addressing the physical part of you, such as cortisol, adrenaline, neurotransmitters, nutrient deficiencies, thyroid imbalances, digestive issues, etc.
For those of you who are doing the work to balance your hormones, microbiome, and nutrients, but you haven’t paid attention to the mental, emotional, and even energetic aspect of your healing, then I encourage you to make that a priority. For some people it is very helpful to work with a therapist. And then you might decide to try different forms of therapy, from CBT or cognitive behavioral therapy to EMDR, which has been shown to be very helpful for stress recovery and PTSD.
There are also natural treatments like homeopathy, which is an ancient system of medicine that's very helpful for processing emotionally and connecting the mind with the body to heal.
Also, psychedelic medicine, which has been shown more and more to be effective at helping us heal on an emotional level. Psychedelic treatments include the use of psilocybin, ketamine, as well as MDMA and Ayahuasca, which is a plant medicine from Central and South America that has been shown to be extremely effective at healing PTSD and addictions. If you’re interested in psychedelic therapy you can learn more by watching Episode 151 of How Humans Heal where I share my experience of attending a shamanic journey in the Peruvian Amazon.
Other tools that help with emotional healing are meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, journaling, and rebalancing of the chakras. The important thing is that you experiment and find what works for you specifically.
Something that you can do for yourself starting now is to become more aware of your emotions, and to allow yourself to feel your emotions. Be curious about your emotions, because I think so often, we don’t allow ourselves to fully feel because we may think we don’t have time for this, or we fear what could happen if we let it all out. It's almost like our emotions are monsters and we run away from them. Well, if we don’t allow ourselves to feel these emotions, we will never be able to process them, and we will continue to carry the weight of them through our lives in our bodies.
I learned this lesson the hard way – by developing severe migraines and a chronic inflammatory joint condition. It was through my own process of healing emotionally that I have been able to recover from these physical health issues.
What Happens to Our Bodies When We Heal Emotionally?
I think that as humans we're probably only allowing ourselves to feel less than 5% of our emotional capacity. I know that for myself, and I know that from observing patients and others in my life. We really restrict ourselves from feeling and we have no idea that we can experience such emotional breadth. Just like when you go to the gym and workout your muscles, you can learn to expand your ability to feel, and feel comfortable and confident doing it.
There are many books out there that talk about emotions. For example, Atlas Of The Heart by Brene Brown where she talks about 86 different emotions that we can feel. Or 90 Seconds to a Life You Love by Joan I. Rosenberg where she talks about how most emotions can be felt in 90 seconds.
When we expand our ability to feel emotions and to feel comfortable feeling emotions, we are being more present. By practicing allowing ourselves to just be present with our feelings, we will be able to connect with ourselves more.
A colleague of mine, Dr. Debi Silber created The Betrayal Institute where she helps people heal from betrayal every day. You can find more about it in Episode 59 of How Humans Heal. So know that these resources exist and that it's possible to heal. There are tools available to help you heal emotionally from what you’ve been through, including somatic therapy and myofascial therapy (which will be discussed in the next episode).
I think emotional healing is as necessary as good sleep, exercise, drinking water and eating healthy foods. Just imagine what it would be like if could feel so grateful for something, or love
and joy at full capacity. We know that the emotions of love and gratitude really shift us on an energetic level. Research shows that these emotions create a change on a cellular level and therefore we can then see a positive impact on our health.
We Have More Power Than We Think
In quantum physics, which is this concept in science and math where there are more possibilities than we realize, things are not just black or white, and things are not decided until the very last second of them happening. For example, there are experiments where even atoms don’t show their decided location until they are observed by the observer. We tend to oversimplify and want to control and anticipate everything, when in reality, there are so many variables, we will make ourselves more stressed by focusing on control.
What we can do is take these lessons from physics and use them in our understanding of ourselves. By practicing being comfortable and navigating in the unknown. How do we get more comfortable with the unknown?
First, by processing and letting go of what happened in the past, we free ourselves to be in the present moment. Learn more about this from Eckhardt Tolle.
Then, by understanding that many possibilities exist and that it’s in the last moment that one will become a reality, we realize that the best way to shift our perspective or situation, is to simply choose a different way of looking at it. We can decide which reality we want for ourselves and in that way, we can create our future as we want it to be.
We can choose how we want to relate to ourselves and allow ourselves to feel. We can choose to be in silence and instead of attaching to a feeling or a thought as the only reality, we can be the observer and observe all the possibilities. And, with curiosity and acceptance, be able to see the reality as it is now and what it is that you would like to create in your life. We can get into a state of love and gratitude, intentionally, and from that state, we can create a different reality for ourselves.
The more you can envision what you want to create in your health and in your body, the more you spend time believing it and envisioning it, you can create that for yourself. This is how a lot of people experience healing, sometimes spontaneous healing or distance healing, because they're able to get into this state of creating a new reality for themselves and their existence using these concepts.
If you are wanting to learn more about this, check out Bruce Lipton and Dr. Joe Dispenza.
I mention it here because I think it helps in terms of emotional healing. I think it helps with getting out of that feeling of being stuck in terms of trauma and feeling that our future is already determined by our past. It’s not, as long as we step in and start choosing differently.
When we are able to connect with ourselves and feel our emotions to an extent where we can process them so that they're not in the way, we will feel so much better, relieved and less stressed, and our overall health will improve as a result.
The Highly Sensitive Person
Ph.D. Elaine N. Aron wrote a book in the 90’s called The Highly Sensitive Person which talks about how some people have a more sensitive nervous system so they can pick up on emotions, as well as physical sensations, more easily than others. I also think that many people have been suppressing their ability to feel their emotions and this means they can train themselves to develop this capacity to feel more.
It's about allowing ourselves to fully find out what our capacity is. What is your capacity to listen to yourself and your own signals from within, and to feel? What is your body really telling you that you maybe haven't been listening to?
It's that ability to sense your body and your response to your environment that can really help you heal. And so, I encourage you to practice this openness to feel and perceive. You can create some quiet moments in your schedule, for example by spending time in nature and journaling. You can start practicing by making a space for it in your life but at the same time not trying to force it or pressure yourself. You just have to allow yourself to completely lose yourself in the moment.
It's only by practicing feeling our emotions, and the subsequent self-discovery process, that you will find yourself open to the infinite possibilities for your existence and realize that your future does not have to be determined by your past experiences.
If you’re interested in a safe and effective body, mind and spirit detoxification that will actually make you feel better and that you can do without affecting your daily routine, you can check out my New 14-Day Detox Program here. In the Detox Program I teach you to connect with yourself, and use mind-body tools, such as biofeedback, to process emotions.
If you’re ready to start healing emotionally by rebalancing your cortisol and neurotransmitters, you can start by ordering this home test kit. You can also sign up for my Stress Warrior Program here. Also, if you want to learn more about how to recover from stress so that you can get back to feeling your best, you may want to read my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.
In the book, I also share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take this Stress Type Quiz online.
If you want to go through your specific case me and improve your health (mental and physical) you can set up a one-on-one appointment here.
We’re here to help you!
Connect with Dr. Doni:
Facebook HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/DRDONIWILSON
Instagram HTTPS://INSTAGRAM.COM/DRDONIWILSON
YouTube HTTPS://YOUTUBE.COM/USER/DONIWILSONND
Weekly Wellness Wisdom Newsletter: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/WWW
-
Books and Resources:
Order My New Book: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Stress-Reset-Health/dp/1953295576
Stress Warrior Book (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESSWARRIOR
Stress Warrior Stress Resiliency Facebook Group (FREE)
HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/STRESSWARRIOR
7-day Stress Reset (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESS-RESET
HPV & Cervical Dysplasia Guide (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/HPV-AND-CERVICAL-DYSPLASIA-GUIDE/
-
Personalized Solutions:
If you’d like to meet with Dr. Doni one-on-one for your health, request a Health Breakthrough Session: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/BREAKTHROUGH
To get an idea of more comprehensive options, read about Dr. Doni’s Signature Consultation Programs: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/SERVICES
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are product links and affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission at no cost to you. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.
In today’s episode I interview Sandy Weiner. She is founder of Last First Date and The Women of Value. She's an internationally known TED X Speaker and Dating and Relationship Coach, as well as Women's Empowerment Coach. She's author of three books and is a podcast host.
Dating and relationships is such an important topic because, as humans, relationships with other humans can be a source of joy and love, or it can be a source of toxicity. Whether you are currently in a relationship, dating, or not, this interview will be helpful because we discuss how it comes down to knowing and feeling comfortable with ourselves in order to have more fulfilling experiences with others.
Sandy shares that it was after experiencing a difficult childhood, being brought up by two parents who had a terrible marriage, and divorcing her husband after 23 years of marriage, that she had an opportunity to reassess her life. She decided to reclaim the parts of herself that had been lost along the way, and one of those was her interest in helping others.
She trained as a life coach which gave her so much self-awareness. She found herself helping friends who were dating, and in the process, started studying the deeper parts of dating, communication skills and boundary setting. This changed her life for the better and now it’s doing the same thing for her clients every day.
When You’re in the Wrong Relationship
Sandy finds that a lot of people realize later in life - in their 40s, 50s and even older – that they are not in the relationship that works for them anymore. It's often when their kids are grown, if they have kids, and they’re starting to think about if they really want to spend the rest of their life with this person. Perhaps they realize they don't really enjoy being their partner anymore or it doesn’t feel safe anymore.
Sandy doesn’t think divorce is the right thing for everyone. She says, you must assess for yourself and think if you really want to stay in a relationship. She sees people staying in terrible relationships and that breaks her heart. Couples may be having the same complaint every single time they talk, and yet they stay in the relationship. Of course, there could be a lot of reasons for this, such as fear of going out on your own, or financial concerns.
You must believe in what you're doing and know why you're leaving. In the end, it’s almost always for the better. You have to weigh out how you want to live the rest of your life.
Avoiding The Same Patterns in a New Relationship
We often make the same choices over and over, and don't even realize it. Or we go to the opposite extreme. It's not just about finding the opposite. And we can’t make choices based on
attraction. It’s about analyzing if you’re going into a relationship just because it feels familiar and think about it based on your attachment style.
Knowing how you attach to your partners, how you tend to bring your past into the present, how to self-regulate, how to talk about the things that matter, how to bring up hard stuff, and how to ask questions when you have questions instead of keeping them inside, as well as knowing what you want in life… are all so important. These are things to work on before even going on dates, so that you can come as a whole person to the dating process.
We also need to look at the patterns of core relationships in our life, and what they have in common. We also need to consider our limiting beliefs, and where we’re struggling. When we really go deep into who we are, then it is easier to find someone that will be a good match for us.
Attraction is Not The Most Important Thing in a Relationship
You have to have some attraction obviously, but if you're so attracted that you lose yourself in that person's presence, it’s not a good sign. This is something to look at - we need to analyze where does this come from? Is there abandonment involved? Does this person remind you of someone, and now you’re trying to get that missed attention? If you do this, you then can rewire your brain for healthy attraction.
There’s a difference between attraction based on deprivation and attraction based on inspiration. Most of us are stuck in the attraction of deprivation. This is what we don't have, and so we want it. When we are attracted to somebody in an attraction of inspiration, we're inspired by that person, but we also bring value. That's called interdependence.
With interdependence, we have a life; we have wholeness and fullness, but we also have the capacity to allow another person into our life to add value to each other and to complement each other.
Narcissism in Relationships
Sandy finds that the term “narcissism” is thrown around a lot, so she tends to focus instead on behaviors. If you were in a relationship with somebody who was self-centered, not empathic, they always had to be right, and you felt that your needs didn't matter, that is something you need to look at and consider why you chose that relationship.
She helps clients to trace back in order to understand their choices - who did that person remind them of and in doing so, they start to rewire their brain for attraction in a healthier way. She doesn't believe in hard and fast rules. She believes in principles, and self-care, and knowing how you function best so that you can advocate for that in relationships.
To be able to succeed in a relationship you have to be able to communicate your needs in three main areas: worldview, lifestyle and sexual. If you don’t communicate your needs, you can’t expect them to be met. Lifestyle has to with whether you like hot or cold weather, and whether you are vegetarian, or not, and can you be with somebody who is a meat eater. What time do you go to bed, and are you an introvert or extrovert. It's really important to understand that lifestyle piece.
The next area is worldview, which is how you see the world. How do we view religion, politics, God, miracles, faith, community - all the things that are the bigger picture because that's really the core of you see the world.
And then the last category is sex, including what kind of sex you like and how often. You have to be able to communicate all these things. When you get comfortable advocating for yourself, as well talking and sharing your stories in a way that make the other person want to share their stories in a way that's healthy, that's a big win.
A Healthy Way to Be Motivated About Choosing a Relationship
Sandy shares that a lot of people have a hard time picturing what it is like to imagine a healthy relationship. We can create a vision of what you want, not just what you don't want, or what you think is out there regarding relationships. Also, it is not healthy to be too rigid or specific about it because you could end up overlooking some amazing people who don't have all those things that you think you need and then love shows up in a surprise package when you're open to it.
It's when we get out of our heads and into our hearts that we make room for real love. But we have to understand what would work best for us. We have to have certain parameters of who that person has to be in order for us to feel that way. That's where we start to really attract not just the right partner but the right friends and the right work - it's all connected.
And most people really don't have an idea and so they get distracted, discouraged, and they just shut down to dating, but what would it feel like to be in a partnership, what would it feel like to have somebody to travel with, to come home to at the end of the day and take a walk and share a meal. It's those small things that matter.
Communication Is Key in a Successful Relationship
We also need to look at our needs and feelings without judgment. We normally bring in history to our arguments or needs that were not met when we were growing up. When you start to see that needs and feelings are connected it's helpful. Then you don't have to say it all out loud. You could even just process it for yourself without feeling upset because of something your partner did or did not do.
Maybe you had a need for communication; maybe you had a need for respect. And then you get curious about the other person; maybe it wasn't disrespectful on their part to them but now you can have a conversation about what was going on for you, so your partner knows about it.
This takes practice and openness on both parts. We have to be able to honor the other person and see their needs being as important as ours. Sometimes we're taught is we say something then the other person might get mad and then we feel like we can never say anything, and then we never do say anything, and it just becomes a tense situation.
It is also very important that we give ourselves time after a breakup before dating again, to process what happened, and to analyze what we learned, what worked, what didn’t, and what would we like our next relationship to feel like; what type of communication would we like to have.
Give yourself the time to feel it in your body - to feel all the feelings. A lot of people miss companionship and the feeling of intimacy so much that they will either go back to the person or they'll find somebody to replace them too quickly and end up repeating the same thing over and over.
We have to take our time to really picture what it would feel like to be in a healthy relationship. What would that look and feel like to you because the more you have it as a felt sense, the more you're going to recognize it when it comes.
Sandy finds that a lot of people are waiting to be saved and rescued. Instead, she encourages people to enjoy their life while dating and find somebody who adds value. Don't settle for less.
If you want to reach out to Sandy and learn more about how she can help you, please make sure to check out her website and her Last First Date Radio Podcast. You can also check out her Dating and Relationship Support Group on Facebook.
To understand my approach to helping people recover from stress and trauma with my Stress Recovery Protocol, you may want to start by reading my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health. I talk about relationships and their impact on our mental and physical health in the book too!
For the most comprehensive support to recover from stress and trauma, even with the most difficult health issues (physical or mental), it is best to meet with me one-on-one, which is available to you no matter where you are in the world (via phone or zoom). You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here.
We're here to help you!
Connect with Dr. Doni:
Facebook HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/DRDONIWILSON
Instagram HTTPS://INSTAGRAM.COM/DRDONIWILSON
YouTube HTTPS://YOUTUBE.COM/USER/DONIWILSONND
Weekly Wellness Wisdom Newsletter: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/WWW
-
Books and Resources:
Order My New Book: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Stress-Reset-Health/dp/1953295576
Stress Warrior Book (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESSWARRIOR
Stress Warrior Stress Resiliency Facebook Group (FREE)
HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/STRESSWARRIOR
7-day Stress Reset (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESS-RESET
HPV & Cervical Dysplasia Guide (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/HPV-AND-CERVICAL-DYSPLASIA-GUIDE/
-
Personalized Solutions:
If you’d like to meet with Dr. Doni one-on-one for your health, request a Health Breakthrough Session: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/BREAKTHROUGH
To get an idea of more comprehensive options, read about Dr. Doni’s Signature Consultation Programs: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/SERVICES
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are product links and affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission at no cost to you. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.
Today's podcast is going to be about HPV and why it is that women are having such a hard time clearing this virus and getting it to negative. This just so happens to be something that I've been paying attention to and helping women with for over 23 years.
I've accumulated a lot of experience in this topic through research and observing my patients and I really feel this information needs to be out there in the world because so many women around the world are struggling to protect themselves from the HPV virus.
So, today I want to focus on why this virus is turning up positive for so many women, and what women can do to help protect themselves and prevent this virus from causing abnormal cells and cancer.
The HPV Virus
The HPV virus is a sexually transmitted virus that has over 150 different strains and some of those (at least 13 that we know of) are associated with cancer of the cervix, vagina, as well as anal and oral cancer. The HPV virus can also cause penile, anal, or oral cancer in men, so men are becoming more aware and interested in protecting themselves.
Today I'm going to focus on women because women are more often being tested for HPV. In fact, that's part of the reason why more women are finding out that they are positive for HPV - simply because doctors are testing for it more now than ever before. In the past, we only tested for it when there were abnormal cells on the cervix. Now most doctors, around the world, are testing for HPV when women go in for a pap smear, whether abnormal cells are present or not.
It is very important to get pap smears regularly - I want to be clear about that. Thanks to pap smears, and biopsies, we're able to identify when cells on the cervix are being affected by the HPV virus, even before it gets to the point of cancer. That's good news because that means, if we can catch it early, we can be proactive and prevent it from progressing and causing more damage.
According to standard gynecological guidelines, if HPV is positive, but there are not abnormal cells, or mildly abnormal cells, your doctor is likely to say: “let's wait and recheck to see if the cells become more abnormal.” That is because a study from over 10 years ago showed that 90% of women are able to clear the virus within 2 years without abnormal cells or cancer developing.
If abnormal cells develop, or if they become more abnormal (closer to cancer cells), then the doctor will likely say “let's do a biopsy (colposcopy)” to double check the severity. If the cells are indeed more advanced (CIN2 or 3 is common nomenclature), the doctor will recommend removing the abnormal cells using a LEEP (or what is referred to as LLETZ in some countries) or conization procedure (a surgical procedure to remove part of the cervix).
Treatment Against the HPV Virus
Unfortunately, in today’s conventional medicine, there isn’t a way to kill the virus. Even when the abnormal cells are removed, the HPV virus can continually cause more abnormal cells. Oftentimes women find themselves in a repetitive process of diagnostic and treatment procedures, in some cases for years or decades of their lives.
Now, I can tell you, based on research and my 23 years of clinical experience helping patients with HPV, there are effective ways to prevent the virus from causing abnormal cells using natural substances (nutrients, herbs, mushrooms) to strengthen and reset the immune system and our body’s ability to fend off the virus.
Dietary changes (such as to decrease sugar intake and increase antioxidants), as well as certain nutrients and supplements at clinical doses, and herbs and mushrooms, have been shown to help prevent HPV from causing abnormal cells and from advancing to cancer. In this episode I’m not going into detail about those approaches, although you can find references and resources below if you’d like to learn more.
Much of the research on natural products and approaches is aimed at using specific substances that are either directly antiviral and/or are known to improve immune function, decrease oxidative stress and inflammation, and provide nutrients important for healthy cellular function. This makes sense and studies have shown this approach to be effective.
The human body, after all, has the ability to clear the HPV virus on its own as shown in the study that 90% of women will clear this virus within two years of it testing positive.
Because I work with women who have persistent HPV – they have had it longer than two years – many of whom have already been trying natural approaches, such as diet changes and mushroom extracts (AHCC), in addition to avoiding commonly known factors that increase risk, such as smoking and birth control pills, I had to start asking… what else needs to be addressed?
Why is it that 10% of women are not clearing the virus? (Keep in mind that percentage may be higher now.) If we can learn from the 10% who are not clearing the virus, then we can help them to get into that 90% percent that are clearing the virus. This is question I’ve had in mind while developing my strategy and protocol to help women over the past couple of decades. I have been able to identify the most common reasons why women are not clearing it and how to help them successfully.
Reasons Why Your Body is Not Clearing The Virus
Stress
The most common reason why women are not clearing the virus, even after making diet changes and taking the right supplements, is their exposure to stress. It has been demonstrated that when women are under more stress (psychological, emotional, and/or physical stress, including infections, like COVID) they are more likely to have HPV be persistently positive. In fact, when our bodies are under constant stress, our immune system is affected and isn’t able to work as it should, and we are more likely to get sick from any kind of virus or bacteria we are exposed to. In research this is referred to as “immune dysfunction.”
In this modern world we are all constantly exposed to stress, from being a student, our careers, families and relationships. Everything that is going on in our lives will likely cause us stress, let alone the additional stress of the pandemic and/or abusive relationships and trauma.
So to me it is not enough to just say: “decrease your stress.” That thought is stressful in itself. Plus finding out HPV is positive is stressful.
To me, we have to think beyond that. We have to figure out not just how to reduce our stress exposures, but how to recover from stress WHILE STILL STRESSED.
That’s why I put my mind to figuring out how to help people recover from our exposures and reset our immune system, nervous system and neurotransmitters, hormones and digestion, so our bodies can get back to performing as best as they can. This is where my Stress Recovery Protocol can really help. Throughout my years of practice, I have researched, lectured, and written books on how to effectively recover and become resilient to stress, while still living our daily lives.
And this is not a one size fits all kind of thing. We need to understand how stress is affecting you specifically and how your body responds to stress. This includes your cortisol and adrenaline levels, adrenal gland function, as well as your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. These are all affected differently in each person.
Vaginal Biome
The next reason why your body is not able to clear the virus on its own is a disruption in the microbiome. When we think of the microbiome, we generally think of the gut, however it is important to know that we have bacteria and other microbes living in and with us in all areas of our bodies, including the vaginal area. And they do more than just hang out! They help our immune system protect us from microbes (including viruses like HPV) that can cause trouble. They produce substances, for example, the predominant bacteria in the vagina, Lactobacillus, make lactic acid, which protects us from infections.
We want this healthy balance of microbes that help protect us because if they are disrupted, we become susceptible. Research now shows that when the cervicovaginal microenvironment (CVM) is disrupted, women are more susceptible to HPV and abnormal cells.
So we need to think about what are the things that disrupt our biome? This way we can avoid what we can, and we can also work to restore a healthy vaginal biome.
Back to stress! Stress will disrupt this vaginal biome. Also, different kinds of chemicals and toxins (like pesticides in our food and chemicals in spermicides), as well as medications (like antibiotics) will get disrupt the vaginal biome and subsequently affect our immune system’s ability to fend off HPV. Stress also disrupts the digestion – decreasing the ability to digest food, increasing intestinal permeability (leaky gut) and inflammation, and disrupting the gut bacteria. And studies show that the gut biome affects the vaginal biome.
Now, just because your biome gets disrupted doesn't mean it's going to stay that way. There are ways to bring that biome back to balance and I can show you how.
Gut Health
Another thing that I see affects the body’s ability to get rid of this virus is leaky gut. Leaky gut is when the intestinal lining cells are not as healthy as they should be and so our digestive system is not capable of absorbing the necessary nutrients from the foods we eat. Moreover, the foods we are eating end up “leaking” through the intestinal wall (without being digested) and our immune system (70% of the immune system surrounds the intestines) reacts in an effort to protect us, which causes inflammation that can spread to all different parts of our bodies.
We then start developing food sensitivities which delayed inflammatory responses, sometimes even to healthy foods, and our immune system starts trying to protect us from them. The cause of leaky gut is almost always the lack of stress recovery and an imbalanced gut biome, which can be caused by certain foods like gluten, as well as toxins and medications.
Nutrient Deficiencies
When our bodies are nutrient depleted, including if we don’t eat enough protein, it is harder for our immune system to get rid of the virus and for our body to make new healthy cells. Nutrient deficiencies are caused by leaky gut, as well as restricted diets (including plant-based diets), medications, such as birth control pills (which are synthetic hormones), and stress without enough recovery.
Hormone Imbalances
Hormones imbalances are also a reason why our bodies struggle to fight off the HPV virus. When estrogen is either too high, and not being detoxified well, or too low (post-menopausal, for example), both are associated with increased risk of HPV. Other hormone imbalances can also play a role, such as low thyroid function, elevated insulin and blood sugar levels, as well as cortisol that is too high or too low.
Toxin exposure
Another reason why women are not clearing this virus as quickly is toxin exposure. I'm finding this more and more in people who have been exposed to mold toxins. If there are mold toxins in your body - if you think you've been exposed to mold in the building where you live or work - then we need to address this because mold toxins can suppress your immune function and make you susceptible to all different kinds of infections, imbalance the microbiome, cause leaky gut, and make you susceptible to HPV.
There are many other toxins we're exposed to in our food, water, in our homes, our personal care products, cookware, and furniture, so it's really important to go through a process of identifying what toxins have you been exposed to and help your body get those toxins out. That’s why I developed a Detox Program, to help you detoxify without making you feel worse.
Methylation Issues
Lastly, one other reason why it's hard for women to clear HPV is because of what's called deficient methylation. Methylation centers around how well our bodies can use B vitamins in the biochemical processes that these vitamins are involved in. Methylation is also used for many purposes in the human body including detoxification, making healthy cells and neurotransmitters, as well as breaking down neurotransmitters and protecting our DNA.
So, if your body is not able to effectively use B vitamins to protect you and make healthy cells, then you become more susceptible to HPV causing abnormal cells. Methylation is negatively affected by several of the other things on this list, including stress, inflammation, toxins, and nutrient deficiencies. You can learn more about efficient methylation and the MTHFR gene variation here.
How To Get Rid of HPV
So, ultimately, it's by addressing the reasons we are not clearing the virus, that we are actually able to get rid of the virus. That’s what I see time and time again in my practice and program.
Imagine that! When we give our bodies what they need in order to protect you from HPV, you can clear this virus just like the 90% of people mentioned in the research. And, at the same time, you’ll be able to move on with your life, have better energy, mood, focus, sleep and less likely to have any other health issues.
It’s not enough to go after the virus with vitamins, herbs and mushroom extracts. We need to dig in to the reasons you're susceptible in the first place - the root causes of why the virus is still in your body.
The women who work with me to address those causes end up not only reversing abnormal cells, but getting HPV to negative and keeping it negative. I've worked with patients over 15 years ago who have been able to keep HPV negative all this time because we got to the underlying cause of the virus being persistent in their bodies.
I hope all this really helps you get a better understanding of why HPV might be hanging around longer than it should be and also to feel empowered, optimistic and hopeful that there are ways you can protect yourself and help your body fend off this virus for good.
If you are really committed to erasing this virus from your life forever, you can sign up for my Say Goodbye to HPV 12-Week Program here.
If you’re constantly feeling gut discomfort or digestive issues like bloating, gas, constipation or diarrhea you may want to sing up for my Heal Leaky Gut Program where I teach you how to heal leaky gut with my proven protocol. Keep in mind that 50% of people with leaky gut, have zero symptoms, so the only way to know for sure is to do the food sensitivity panel I recommend.
If you’re interested in a safe and effective detoxification that will actually make you feel better and that you can do without affecting your daily routine, you can sign up for my New 14-Day Detox Program here. It includes The Total Detox Support Kit with a Total Detox Protein Powder (your choice of plant-based or collagen based), Antioxidant Support Capsules, and Complete Amino Detox Capsules.
If you’re ready to fully heal your adrenal glands and rebalance your neurotransmitters, you can sign up for my Stress Warrior Program here. Also, if you want to learn more about how to recover from stress so that you can get back to feeling your best, you may want to read my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.
In the book, I also share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected you specifically by knowing your Stress Type. You can also take this Stress Type Quiz online.
If you’d like me to help you one-on-one by phone or video, from anywhere in the world, to review your symptoms, and what your body is trying to tell you, and to have my guidance to implement my protocol, you can schedule a comprehensive or priority consultation with me.
I think of myself as a health detective, reviewing complex cases to identify what has been missed, and then helping you create a strategic plan for healing. You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here.
We’re here to help you!
Connect with Dr. Doni:
Facebook HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/DRDONIWILSON
Instagram HTTPS://INSTAGRAM.COM/DRDONIWILSON
YouTube HTTPS://YOUTUBE.COM/USER/DONIWILSONND
Weekly Wellness Wisdom Newsletter: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/WWW
-
Books and Resources:
Order My New Book: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Your-Stress-Reset-Health/dp/1953295576
Stress Warrior Book (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESSWARRIOR
Stress Warrior Stress Resiliency Facebook Group (FREE)
HTTPS://FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/STRESSWARRIOR
7-day Stress Reset (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/STRESS-RESET
HPV & Cervical Dysplasia Guide (FREE)
HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/HPV-AND-CERVICAL-DYSPLASIA-GUIDE/
-
Personalized Solutions:
If you’d like to meet with Dr. Doni one-on-one for your health, request a Health Breakthrough Session: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/BREAKTHROUGH
To get an idea of more comprehensive options, read about Dr. Doni’s Signature Consultation Programs: HTTPS://DOCTORDONI.COM/SERVICES
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are product links and affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission at no cost to you. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.
In today’s episode, I interview Christine Burke. She is a Forensic Genetic Genealogist, law enforcement expert, trainer and private investigator. She specializes in helping people who have discovered information about their biological family through genetic testing.
After experiencing "DNA Drama" resulting in the almost complete loss of her identity as she knew it, Christine created an innovative process using Genetic Genealogy to help others quickly and easily find biological family.
Since genetic testing has become more available, people are getting access to information that they didn't know about themselves or their families, or perhaps they want information about their families that they haven't been able to get anywhere else.
It was particularly interesting for me to talk with Christine from my perspective as a Naturopathic Doctor who specializes in MTHFR and helping patients understand how their genetic variations are affecting their health, and what they can do to circumvent those effects.
Over the past decade, I've been helping people to understand the influence of their genetics in terms of polymorphisms, such as MTHFR, that affect metabolism and health. I then guide patients to do testing, including an ancestry.com panel that I then run through software to identify the most pertinent gene variations, as well as tests to show whether those gene variations are being expressed. I developed my MTHFR protocol to optimize methylation based on my own case and working with thousands of patients.
In the process of identifying gene variations, people do often report being surprised at what else they discovered in their ancestry, finding out something about their family members or making connections with family members who they didn't know.
Genetics vs Genealogy
What's interesting about genetics is that for so long we've relied on the genealogy to know our history but that is just the record. When you bring in the genetics it provides people with information that they may had not known before.
In the interview, Christine shares that she herself is an example. She recently found out (by doing a 23andMe test) that her father, whom she never knew because he died when she was young, was not her biological father and that she has half siblings who she had never met.
This could be quite shocking to receive this type of information. It is common not to know what to do with the information or how to process it. For Christine it was shocking to find out that there are people who are biologically related to her. It shook her sense of identity. That is when she realized that she wanted to bring much needed awareness and support for people in a similar situation.
It can become even more complicated when parents or families perpetuate the lie. That’s why having support and realizing that there is a healing process is so important. People have the right to know. Everybody deserves answers, not only from a medical perspective, but to try to understand what happened and to deal with the grief that this new information could cause.
Dealing With the Shock of Finding Out About Your Genetics
A lot of people feel hesitant to share the truth with their own families for many reasons. They might feel they will be judged or criticized for sharing what really happened. And yet, when the person involved finds out the truth, it can be quite shocking for them.
People could feel that information that they had a right to have, was “pushed under the rug.” This is what inspires Christine to support people in this process.
The healing needs to come from people being honest. For example, in the case of Christine’s mother, who passed away recently - her father was not her biological father either and she would always say “I don't know why my dad doesn't love me.” This is the kind of trauma that can be generated when people are not honest with their family members.
Christine believes that parents have a responsibility to their child, to put their child’s emotional and physical health first. When people continue a false narrative, it only ends up damaging their child’s health.
If you are observing intergenerational trauma in your family and you have information about the truth of what happened, then you have the power to stop the intergenerational trauma from continuing by sharing information. In doing so, you can change the future of your family. When the truth is not told, it is just a form of abuse that gets handed down and handed down, and that's what we need to stop.
When people find out about their relatives through a genetic test, it can be a really hard place to be because, first, they need to cope with the shock of having this new information; then they could try reaching out to the people who they would normally reach out to, but they may not be there for them anymore; and then the new people they just found out about may not want to be present to listen to their identity crisis. This is why it’s critical for these people to find the right person to talk to about all this. Otherwise, one trauma leads to another.
Christine clarifies that she is not a counselor. Her background is as a detective. But after going through this herself, she wanted to offer tools for other people to be able to find out information they need in order to move forward. She is able to help people find biological relatives, and she has created training programs to show people how to look for this information themselves.
While finding new information about your family of origin can be shocking, Christine finds that it is also the first step in the healing process.
Genetics and Health
When I review genetic reports with patients (Dr. Doni speaking), it is common to first feel a sense of fear – what am I going to find out about myself that I didn’t know before and am I going to be able to do something about it. Then, once we review all the information, people often report feeling validated, realizing that the information in their genetic report makes sense in terms of their real day-to-day experience in their body.
It can actually be quite empowering to understand the blueprint behind your biological and metabolic processes, and responses to stress.
And then, to realize that we have the power to turn off genetic expression through diet and lifestyle – it’s mind blowing! Our health and future is not 100% determined by our genetics.
Our genes simply show potential tendencies. What has more power in determining our health destiny is what we do each day to recover from stress and trauma, and how we take care of our bodies, in terms of diet, sleep, nutrients, exercise, and activities that our bodies reset.
That is how I realized that our Stress Type – how we each respond to stress – is determined both by our genes and our past stress exposure.
For example, some people tend to have higher adrenaline levels when exposed to stress. This is related to gene variations of COMT and MAO, but it is determined by levels of inflammation, toxicity, and nutrients in their body. I can see all this when reviewing test results, and then guide patients to correct the elevated adrenaline levels so they can feel well and not be constantly in a state of high adrenaline.
Others tend to become depleted in adrenaline, which means they are more likely to feel tired when under stress. In that case, I can suggest the precursor nutrients to take to correct the deficiency and help the person keep up when under stress.
Overall, understanding your genetic variations, and how best to find out whether those variations are affecting your health, and then having guidance to support your body to navigate around those metabolic traffic jams, can make a significant difference in your health.
There is a lot of confusion out there on this topic. Many practitioners will prescribe based on a genetic variation, without finding out first whether you even need that prescription. So I often find myself warning people to work with someone like me who has extensive training and experience guiding people, so that you can feel better and not worse.
Where to Start with a Genetic Test
There are many genetic tests available now. Some tests are specifically designed for health purposes and can give you a sense of your genetic predisposition to health issues. There are other tests that give you information about your biological relatives.
23andMe and Ancestry.com are accessible to the public and can provide both health and ancestral information. There are some more specialized tests for identity, such as GED Match or FT DNA, which are the only databases that law enforcement is allowed to utilize to help identify unknown deceased and to catch criminals.
The important thing is to have someone who can help you evaluate and understand these reports correctly.
A genetic test result is like the blueprint of the person, which is amazing!
Everything needed to make the unique you is right in there and it's just fascinating what you can do with this information. We can take action in our lives to influence how this genetic information will affect us. Our longevity can be influenced by our lifestyle and by both our stress exposure, and our recovery from it.
Receiving genetic information and having support to allow ourselves to go through the healing process of having that information, makes it possible to integrate the information into our lives and our understanding of ourselves. All of this actually helps to decrease the probability of developing health issues in the future.
As traumatic as it could be to find out a truth that you didn’t know before, it can also be liberating. Once you have information, then you can become proactive and make choices based on that information.
If you want to reach out to Christine and learn more about how she can help you, please make sure to check out her website or reach out to her by email or on Instagram @dnageneticgenealogist.
If you want to learn more about how I help patients with genetic variations, such as MTHFR and others, be sure to watch my free MTHFR Masterclass. https://doctordoni.com/mthfr-masterclass
To understand my approach to helping people recover from stress and trauma with my Stress Recovery Protocol, you may want to start by reading my book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health. I talk about genetic variations and how to address them in the book too!
In my book, I also share the quiz I developed to help you identify how stress has affected your cortisol and adrenaline levels. You can also take the Stress Type Quiz online.
For the most comprehensive support to recover from stress and trauma, even with the most difficult health issues (physical or mental), it is best to meet with me one-on-one, which is available to you no matter where you are in the world (via phone or zoom). You can set up a one-on-one appointment with me here.
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