Nourish Your Health at every age: Recent Episodes
Jan Swift
On this episode of Discover Lafayette, we welcome Sarah Mary Toce Donlon, a speaker and consultant whose work bridges faith, wellness, leadership, human dignity, and the deeper questions that shape how we live.
Sarah Mary is a Lafayette native from a third-generation Lebanese family, rooted in the Mahtook family. She describes growing up surrounded by cousins, food, and family, swimming at her grandmother’s pool, and a deep sense of belonging. “I always just wanted to leave the world better than I found it,” she shares. “My family was so great and always supported my dreams and my big goals. I would say that they always dreamed bigger for me than I did for myself.”
Sarah Mary first studied Disaster Science and Management at LSU, a path she jokingly calls “basically a superhero degree.” Theology had always interested her, but she saw disaster response as a way to live out her faith in practical service: “I could do the work of Christianity in helping people in their most vulnerable times, caring for the hurt, the sick, and those in need.” As a young intern at the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness during the BP oil spill, she witnessed the gravity of public service in real time. “The FBI is on the phone and the helicopters are coming in. It was something to see. I could be a part of a crew that had a hand in helping people recover.”
Her path later turned toward advocacy, communications, and the dignity of women and children. Through spiritual direction, she began asking deeper questions about faith and theology. Her spiritual director eventually asked whether she had considered pursuing a degree in the subject. Sarah Mary remembered that as a child, she had written about that very dream in a journal. “I applied, I interviewed, I got in, I got a full scholarship,” she recalls of pursuing studies at Boston College. “It was unbelievable how it lined up. So I knew the path was made clear and I knew I was supposed to be there.”
At Boston College, Sarah Mary earned her Master of Divinity, a three-year program with a pastoral component. But she is quick to say that theological study did not give her neat answers. “I always say that I was seeking answers, but I didn’t get answers because I find in, at least the Christian tradition, when you get answers, you get more questions. The more you know, the more you know that you don’t know.” What she received instead was a deeper understanding: “My whole worldview was reshaped. As a person, the way I engage with people and with life and with thoughts was made so much deeper and more impactful.”
Part of her faith formation took her to Rwanda, where she completed her practicum teaching English and religion. Rwanda was then implementing English as a primary language, and Sarah Mary often used French to teach English to her students. She describes living on a school compound where “cows were roaming the grounds,” beginning mornings with dances with the children, and sharing meals with teachers. “It was such a spectacular experience,” she says. “It’s a beautiful country, more beautiful than people realize.”
A central theme of Sarah Mary’s work is that faith does not require a rejection of reason. She says, “The awakened brain is wired for spirituality. Faith elevates reason, and science can prove it.” In our conversation, she explains that this idea has shaped a retreat she calls Sacred Sight, influenced in part by Dr. Lisa Miller’s work in The Awakened Brain. Sarah Mary describes the human mind as needing both sides of the “picnic table”: logic, science, and facts on one side, and spirituality, philosophy, intuition, and the arts on the other. “In our world, we tend to think the only true way to know anything is through logic and science and facts, period,” she says. “So what Dr. Miller argues is that you’re only using half of your brain when you think that way.”
Sarah Mary’s Catholic faith informs how she understands the relationship between reason and transcendence. “Faith never contradicts reason. It just elevates it,” she explains. “Reason has a ceiling. You can reason things all the way as high as reason will let you. But then it has a ceiling. And that’s where faith comes in to elevate that ceiling.” This spiritual lens allows her to speak about suffering, meaning, and human purpose without reducing life to easy explanations. “Our suffering isn’t meaningless,” she says. “It has a larger meaning in the wider world.”
That belief also shapes her view of the human person. “As Catholics, we say we’re built in the image of God,” Sarah Mary says. “We have God’s fingerprints on our soul.” But she does not present faith as anti-intellectual or dismissive of science. Instead, she calls people to “expand the logic” and “dive into the faith.” For Sarah Mary, faith is not an escape from reality; it is a deeper engagement with it. “God’s footprints are all over the created order,” she says. “If you go into nature and you look with sacred sight, using that fully awakened brain, you can see reflections of God.”
Sarah Mary is especially compelling when she speaks about human dignity. Her theological education, she says, broke her out of “very black and white rigid notions of truth and not truth, right and wrong, and clear and not clear.” She learned to become more comfortable in “the gray,” where opposing truths can coexist in tension. She uses the example of Jesus being fully human and fully divine: “You have to hold two opposing ideas in tension, and they actually create the whole truth.” That same understanding applies to daily human relationships, leadership, communication, and conflict.
For Sarah Mary, dignity becomes practical when we ask who we have quietly decided is “other.” Reflecting on a psalm that says God prepares a banquet before one’s enemies, she observes: “What God doesn’t say is that your enemies are not invited to that banquet.” She challenges listeners to consider not only who they identify as enemies, but who they value less than themselves. “Where can we challenge ourselves to grow an understanding of that person and inevitably grow in empathy and understand that they are dignified, just like you and I, no matter their circumstance, no matter what they look like?”
That insight leads to one of the most grounded moments in the interview: how we see people experiencing homelessness. “Nobody grows up saying, I can’t wait to have to beg for food,” Sarah Mary says. “That wasn’t their dream.” She offers a simple but powerful phrase: “curiosity before judgment.” Rather than assuming we know someone’s story, she asks us to become curious first. “What if we just got curious about people’s lives before we made some all-knowing judgment when we don’t even know who they are?”
Through Sarah Mary, LLC, she now offers retreats, speaking engagements, leadership formation, corporate workshops, and spiritual conversations. Her work has included a teachers’ retreat at Cathedral Carmel, a diaconate retreat for the current deacons at the Diocese of Lafayette, a five-part Easter mission at St. Pius X Church, and corporate retreats focused on leadership and morale. She does not believe in offering canned answers. “I never like to treat symptoms,” she says. “I like to treat root causes and help people think more deeply so that they can understand. Because when we understand, then we own knowledge and knowledge can transform us.”
In corporate spaces, Sarah Mary often focuses on human flourishing, empathy, and communication. When morale is low or an organization is struggling through change, she helps people step back and see the larger picture. “Sometimes people just need to be heard and told that they’re understood,” she says. Her approach is rooted in servant leadership and the belief that people thrive when their dignity is recognized.
Sarah Mary also brings wellness into her work, not as a trendy add-on, but as part of the whole human person. Having worked as a trainer and in the health industry, she sees physical wellness as another form of healing. She has taught clients about movement, nutrition, and “adding more color in their life,” especially through fruits, vegetables, and micronutrition. In her view, faith and wellness are not separate: “God made it,” she says of the natural world. “It’s his pharmacy.”
The interview closes with practical wisdom about stillness, balance, and self-awareness. Sarah Mary says balance is often misunderstood. “I don’t think it’s giving everything equal amounts of yourself,” she explains. “Balance is knowing what your values are and making sure those are aligned with your daily priorities.” She encourages people to identify their values and then examine whether their actual days reflect those values. “We can go through a day and do 500 things and be incredibly efficient and accomplished, and then go to bed feeling like we did nothing because nothing that we did aligned with who we were and who we’re called to be.”
Sarah Mary offers a beautiful reminder about contemplation and prayer. Reflecting on silence, she references Pseudo-Dionysius and describes “a silence where you don’t quiet yourself, but the mystery and the awe of God silences you.” In that space, words fall short. “It forces you to stop saying anything and just receive.” She also reminds us that faith requires space and invitation: “God’s not going to force Himself into your life. He’s waiting for your invitation.”
This conversation with Sarah Mary Toce Donlon is ultimately about depth: deeper faith, deeper listening, deeper leadership, deeper dignity, and deeper awareness of the human being. She invites us to move beyond quick fixes, rigid categories, and surface-level solutions, and instead to ask better questions, hold mystery with humility, and see ourselves and others as created in love.
For more information, visit https://www.sarahmary.org/
Overview: In this episode of Discover Lafayette, we welcome Stacy Romero, Executive Director of Louisiana Economic Alliance for Development (“LEAD”), the leading organization for economic development professionals in Louisiana.
Stacy is dedicated to equipping professionals with the knowledge, connections, and resources needed to drive meaningful community impact through high-impact education, strategic advocacy, and collaborative networking.
Background and Experience: Stacy holds a degree from UL Lafayette and has completed multiple leadership programs, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Institute for Organization Management, the Business Leaders Fellowship Program, and the Council for a Better Louisiana’s Leadership Louisiana program. In 2024, she was honored with the Junior Achievement of Acadiana Richard E. Beaudoin Friend of Business Award.
Journey into Economic Development:
- Stacy began her career as an elementary school teacher and later worked at the Department of Education, mentoring new teachers.
- She transitioned into running education programs at United Way of Acadiana before serving as Executive Director of the Broussard Chamber of Commerce.
- Her diverse experience in education and business leadership helped her recognize the workforce development gaps in Louisiana.
Key Topics Discussed:
- Workforce Development Challenges:
- Stacy’s personal experience as a mother witnessing her son’s initial plans to leave Louisiana highlighted the need for workforce retention efforts.
- The importance of preparing students and professionals for career opportunities within the state.
- The Role of LEAD:
- LEAD was formerly LIDEA and underwent a major restructuring to better serve economic development professionals.
- LEAD provides networking opportunities, professional development, and advocacy for economic development professionals.
- Supporting Economic Development Professionals:
- LEAD’s focus on emerging professionals and bridging the knowledge gap as seasoned professionals retire.
- Collaborating with universities to create a pipeline for students into economic development careers.
- Economic Development and Small Businesses:
- Economic development includes attracting new businesses and supporting small, long-established local businesses.
- Quality of life, supported by small businesses, is a key factor in attracting major corporations to Louisiana.
- Available Resources for Businesses:
- Many business owners are unaware of available support, such as LEDA’s traffic count data to help businesses choose locations.
- Economic development professionals play a crucial role in connecting businesses with resources.
- Upcoming LEAD Events & Initiatives:
- Spring Legislative Event (May 5-6, 2024): Opportunity for economic development professionals to engage with legislators in Baton Rouge.
- Professional Development Courses: A four-day Basic Economic Developers Training Course is held annually, with additional specialized courses such as Real Estate Development & Reuse.
- Annual Conference (October 2024): Featuring guest speakers, panels, and professional development opportunities.
- Membership in LEAD:
- Affordable membership tiers, including a $25 student membership and higher levels up to $350.
- Open to professionals working in economic development at least 50% of their time, including those in municipal roles, power companies, and regional organizations.
- Public Engagement & Outreach:
- LEAD is enhancing its social media presence on Facebook and LinkedIn to engage members and share resources.
- Stacy actively travels across the state to build relationships and raise awareness about LEAD’s mission.
Get Involved with LEAD:
- Visit LouisianaLEAD.org for more information.
- Follow LEAD on Facebook and LinkedIn to stay updated on events and resources.
Conclusion: Stacy Romero’s passion for workforce development and economic strategy shines through in her work with LEAD. By fostering collaboration and equipping economic development professionals with essential tools and knowledge, she is playing a vital role in strengthening Louisiana’s economy.
Tune in to hear Stacy’s insights on how economic development efforts impact businesses and communities across the state!
Pat Mire, who founded Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival in 2006, joins Discover Lafayette, along with his wife, Rebecca Hudsmith, to discuss his career as a filmmaker celebrated for his authentic portrayals of Cajun culture. Since his early days as a filmmaker, Pat has been able to make a living solely by directing and producing films which resonate with audiences of all backgrounds and of various cultures.
Cinema on the Bayou Festival was created in 2006 by chance, after the devastating damage wreaked by Hurricane Katrina upon New Orleans. “The National Film Board of Canada called me saying there was a US premiere of the documentary “Maroon,” by famed Quebecois filmmaker Andre Gladu that was supposed to be playing at the New Orleans Film Festival. I was living in uptown New Orleans and we all had to leave. There was nobody living in New Orleans at that time in 2006.. And so I came here to Lafayette. There was no New Orleans. It was an opportunity. I decided we were going to pay for his hotel, fly him here, and pay a stipend. I said, I’m starting a film festival. That’s how it started. I’ve worked with all the scholars here, including Barry Ancelet and Carl Brasseaux, to preserve our local culture.”
Since 2006, Cinema on the Bayou has presented hundreds of internationally acclaimed documentary, narrative fiction, animated and experimental films, with filmmakers in attendance from across the United States and around the world. The Festival is now unique among film festivals in the U.S. in that it also regularly screens a large number of French-language independent films and presents filmmakers from throughout the Francophone world.
Pointe Noire, a film the couple co-wrote and produced together, will premier on January 22, 2025, at the St. Landry Cinema in Opelousas as a feature film of the Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival. Local talent, Andrew Morgan Smith, a veteran composer from Youngsville, was the composer for the movie’s score.
Cinema On the Bayou runs from Jan. 22 – 29, 2025. For Pointe Noire’s premiere on Jan. 22, doors will open at 6 p.m. at St. Landry Cinema, 1234 Heather Dr., Opelousas, with a Red Carpet wine reception. The film will screen at 7 p.m. Following the film screening and Q&A, the after-screening reception for all attendees will be held at Cite des Arts, 109 Vine St., Lafayette. There will be a cash bar along with complimentary boudin and king cake. Tickets for the opening night film screening and reception are $20 per person and cna be purchased in advance at www.cinemaonthebayou.com. All-Access passes for the festival can be purchased at: https://cinemaonthebayou2025.eventive.org/passes/buy
Pointe Noire, shot throughout the Acadiana area, stars Canadian film stars Roy Dupuis and Myriam Cyr, and features Michael Bienvenu and Zachary Richard. It tells the story of filmmaker and crawfisherman Louis Leger (Roy Dupuis) and criminal defense attorney Dolores Arceneaux (Myriam Cyr), who join forces in the Cajun prairie community of Pointe Noire in an effort to save the life of Joel Richard (Michael Bienvenu), a falsely accused man on Louisiana’s Death Row. What follows is a search to find out what really happened 30 years ago when two people were killed on the night of the traditional courir de Mardi Gras. Along the way, Louis and Dolores uncover a hauntingly beautiful, isolated community suffering from secrecy and deceit, yet ultimately striving to achieve its own form of folk justice.
Pat’s documentaries have been broadcast nationally on PBS, the Discovery Channel, and many more platforms, and have earned prestigious awards including the American Anthropological Film Festival’s Award of Excellence.
“A film is told three ways. There are three films in one film. It’s what you write, what you shoot and what you edit… post production That’s, to me, the lace and embellishment. The negligee you put on the film at the end is so important.”
His first film, Dirty Rice, premiered at the 1997 New Orleans Film Festival, and was an official selection of the 1998 London Film Festival where it received critical acclaim. The film debuted at the United Artists Theatre on Kaliste Saloom Road and set a record in Lafayette for the longest running movie, held for over five consecutive months.
Pat’s story is intriguing, as he didn’t study film, but he always was drawn to the magic of filmmaking. “It started when I was a child, when I was in the Liberty Theater in Eunice with my older brother Louis. We were watching a black and white picture and all of a sudden I felt like my seat was unbolted, like I was just pulled into the crowd. I turned to my brother and said, ‘Lou, how did they do that? He said what? I said, how did they do that? He said what? I said, you know, how did they do that? He said, shut up and watch the show. It was a tracking shot. All of a sudden, without being able to explain it, I felt like I was manipulated. There was something going on behind the story, and it was the camera. It was a dolly shot, a tracking shot that was going on. I’ve always wanted to recreate that feel.”
On Pat’s first film, Dirty Rice: “It was an unpretentious little film I made for $10,400 from a grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. The Discovery Channel ran it 22 times, and I was paid $5,000 every time it ran. Back then, I lived off of it for a couple of years. I said, I’m not going to be crawfishing anymore. I’m making movies. and so that’s how it started.”
“Dance for a Chicken” was played so many times on PBS and it was back in the day when PBS was buying films at $1,000 a minute, and it was a 58 minute film. It was an hour film. 56 because you had to run it and you had four minutes of commercial at the end. Back then, I’m from Eunice and I could live on that. I knew I would make it. I was rocking and rolling. I really was.”
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/danceforachickenAttorney Rebecca Hudsmith met Pat in 2006 back at the first Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival, and they have been together ever since. Melissa Bonin, the renowned artist who Rebecca showcased in her Bisteneau Shreveport art gallery, introduced them. Without saying more, when you meet them you can feel the love and support they offer each other.
In 1993, Hudsmith became the first federal public defender for the Middle and Western Districts in Louisiana. She moved to Lafayette to head up this brand-new office in the state, and she holds this position to this day.Pointe Noire was originally premiered at the 38th edition of FICFA (“The Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie”) in late 2024. Pat said, “The film is bilingual, maybe 20% French. It has English subtitles. You take a chance doing a bilingual movie, but it’s more and more accepted. The screenplay appeals to an intellectual audience.”
Roy Dupuis, one of Canada’s biggest film stars, is featured in Pointe Noire.Pointe Noire was financed by Rebecca’s brother, Scotty. Rebecca said, “Scotty has done really well for himself. One day we went on his private jet to my nephew and niece’s wedding. I said, Scotty, let me tell you about the screenplay Pat and I have written, and we talked about it on the plane. He said, ‘This may be the happiest I’ve ever seen you, talking about this story. What do you need?’ I said, I just happen to have a budget right here. And then before you knew it, we were in production.”
The film was created anamorphically, a technique that intentionally distorts an image to create a wider field of view or a three-dimensional effect. Pat says, ” I wanted that look, that gritty look like True Detectives has. I wanted that 70s and 80s film look.”
Interestingly, the Canadian actors had to work on a Cajun dialect as they prepared for filming. “Roy Dupuis is from from Quebec. To sound like a Cajun was really important. Linguistically, it’s harder for Canadian actors to speak in “English Cajun.”
Pat knew the actors he wanted for Pointe Noire and wrote the script for them. Miriam Cyr (who was a 32-year old actress in Dirty Rice in 1997) and Roy Dupuis, the biggest film star in Canada, along with Zachary Richard, had worked with Pat before. As had Michael Bienvenu, Catherine Smith, Carolyn McGee, and several other actors.
In closing, may we point out how rich our region is with local talent. Please support Cinema on the Bayou and this year’s entries. Even more importantly, please lift up our local talent and pay to experience their works. They toil year round, and only survive by our contributions to their efforts. Thank you!
Dr Jason Cormier, a Lafayette neurosurgeon, joins us for his second interview, this time to focus on traumatic brain injuries, in athletes of all ages who are engaged in high-impact sports.
Dr. Cormier actively assists the NCAA and the NFL in working to prevent brain injuries. We reached out to him after Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills collapsed suddenly during a Monday Night football game after rising from a hit. And sadly, just two weeks after Hamlin’s injury, Russell Gage was injured late in the 4th quarter in the Tampa Bay/Dallas Cowboys game after a rough hit to the head rendered him unable to get up. After being transported off the field on a cart, Gage was diagnosed with a concussion and possible neck injuries. With high-profile NFL injuries making the news, some wonder if football will always be a part of our lives.
While NFL Football seems to be one of the roughest and toughest of all sports, Dr. Cormier provides insight into the dangers of all sports’ activities. Basketball players routinely suffer from concussive head injuries. Death rates in the NFL are 6 per million; in equestrian activities, the death rate is 20 per million, and in girls’ soccer, the death rate is 15 per million.
In the U. S., 1.6 to 3.8 million concussive injuries occur each and every year, and these are only the ones that are reported so the figure may be much higher. 300,000 of these injuries are from football and Dr. Cormier reports that 62,000 of these take place in high school-age players. All in all, there is a 19% likelihood that you will sustain a concussion or head injury if you participate in any high contact sports. And if you have had a concussion, it is likely that you also sustained some type of neck injury.
Gladiator sports have been appealing to spectators going back to the Roman Empire time period. It is unlikely that we will see a diminished interest in today’s exciting, but dangerous sporting activity. So, Dr. Cormier recommends that parents get as much information as they can for their children as to how to protect them with current technology and best practices. And above, emphasize a reliable and time-tested way to survive in the world: an education!
The Q-Collar is a device Dr. Cormier recommends for any athlete in high-impact situations. It is the only FDA-cleared sports equipment that helps protect athletes’ brains during head impacts. The technology is based upon the physiology of the woodpecker and the battle ram, two animals who live by striking their heads. (The woodpecker strikes its head 25,000 times per day or 85 million times in its lifetime, resulting in no brain injury; battle rams create a force of 780 pounds each time they hit each other, which is like being hit with a baseball bat at 80 miles per hour!) The Q Collar by Q30 provides 1.5 pounds of light pressure over the jugular veins at the neck which increases blood amount in the brain to prevent the slosh effect or movement of the brain upon impact. Dr. Cormier calls it an “airbag inside the skull” and says it decreases concussions up to 90% of the time. The collar costs about $200.00.
Dr. Cormier is an engaging guest and full of information on the latest protective technologies to protect our most precious commodity: our brain. We thank Jason Cormier for his contributions to the medical community here in Lafayette and across the U. S.!
Pamela Ryan, licensed Massage Therapist since 1997, joined Jan Swift of Nourish Your Health to discuss the health benefits of Iyengar Yoga.
A Lafayette native, she returned to Louisiana after living many years in Dallas, and since 2017, has been a Yoga Instructor at the Jill Listi Dance Studio and also currently offers massage services at Pascale Spa, both in Lafayette.
Ryan is a certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher and undertook Yoga Training at Sivananda Ashram, Kerala, India. She served from 2000 to 2008 as an in-house Massage Therapist at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy and traveled with the team for the US Gymnastics National Championships, the Pacific Alliance Meet, and World Championships. Ryan also worked as a Massage Therapist and Yoga Instructor for Bradie James, Defensive Captain for the Dallas Cowboys.
While there are over 200,000 yoga instructors in the U. S., there are only about 2,000 teaching Iyengar which takes a five-year commitment to become certified.
Iyengar yoga focuses on body mechanics, body awareness, and spatial orientation. Ryan stresses that most pain and physical restrictions people experience emanate from repetitive postural distortions resulting from our daily habits. This yoga practice specifically addresses proper alignment while teaching people to be mindful as they go about their day….sitting at a desk for hours at a time, gardening, or carrying children all take a toll and result in repetitive strain if not done in correct alignment.
Ryan suffered from childhood with kidney disease. She discovered the health benefits of yoga at the age of 28 when her mother found a book about yoga; at that time, Ryan had little muscle tone and was not strong. She developed a love of yoga from the beginning and enjoyed the naturopathic, personal way it confers good health. Through the practice of yoga, she has found the strength to maintain an active massage therapy practice. While most massage therapists are only physically able to work for seven years before having to retire from the practice, she is going strong at 24 years into her practice. “The purpose of yoga is not to turn everyone into a pretzel and work into an impossible posture. The idea is to balance one’s strength and flexibility and get their musculoskeletal system back to neutral….so those nagging pains will be less prevalent.” Pamela Ryan Ryan shared that “Yoga did for me what I wanted to do for everyone else. It gave me the freedom to recover emotionally. I was 28, with zero muscle tone or strength. I gained confidence and balance in my life. I became grounded. I’m a survivor.”
The physical practice of yoga allows you to become more thoughtful, more proactive, and gives the practitioner peace of mind. The benefit of the Iyengar yoga practice is that it is wellness-based and teaches how to be more aware of your own body, its limitations, and how to become aware of all of your surroundings and how they affect your body. “My goal is to get people off the massage table and take care of themselves. My tag line is ‘Empower your self.'”
Pamela Ryan practicing Iyengar Yoga Iyengar involves learning proper techniques in deep breathing, muscle contraction and inversion practices which all help the lymphatic system cleanse itself. In particular, inversion (hand stand) has many benefits for the lymphatic system as all fluids and wastes in the body have to make it back up to the area right below the collarbone; the inverted position rejuvenates the body allows it the opportunity to cleanse itself and ward off disease.
The power of the breath to calm the body has been proven to be effective and Iyengar yoga also trains the practitioner to be more aware of this simple tool. “The breath and the mind are inextricably linked, according to Ryan.
Ryan’s volunteer work includes being a founding member of Yoga Bridge in Dallas, which works with breast cancer patients. She has also volunteered in teaching yoga to the young men at the non-profit AMIkids...
Holistic nurse, Kimberly Thibeaux, owner and founder of Kurma Holistics, A Nursing Approach, joins Jan Swift of Nourish Your Health to discuss the phenomenon of ACEs, which stands for adverse childhood experiences. ACEs are more common than society recognizes or acknowledges and strikingly, may have a powerful correlation to an individual’s health a half-century later.
ACEs comes from the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study), groundbreaking research that looked at how 10 types of childhood trauma affect long-term health. The traumas studied include physical, emotional and sexual abuse; physical and emotional neglect; living with a family member who’s addicted to alcohol or other substances, or who’s depressed or has other mental illnesses; experiencing parental divorce or separation; having a family member who’s incarcerated, and witnessing a mother being abused.
There is a powerful relation between emotional experiences we have as children and our adult emotional health, physical health, and major causes of mortality in the US. The higher a person’s ACE score, the more likely they are to suffer from heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and suicide.
When working with a client, Kimberly gets them to share their personal story and listens deeply to determine if they experienced any Adverse Childhood Experiences and at what age they were impacted by the event. Depending on when something happens in the timeline of life can indicate how the experience is perceived and what lasting effects may occur. As shown in the chart below, individuals develop coping mechanisms at certain points in their life, and the younger the child, the more an adverse experience will impact their sense of stability and worth. Kimberly Thibeaux discusses the importance of each stage of development in life, as set forth in this graph by Erik Erikson. Issues such as neglect, abuse, or adverse family issues hinder social development in a child and can negatively impact a person’s health for their entire life. While Kimberly is a nurse by training, her holistic practice is geared to be complementary to mainstream medical practitioners. She believes that her work with clients enables them to show up in an enhanced state of readiness to work with their other healthcare providers such as physical therapists, chiropractors, etc., to experience a return to optimal health. She brings compassion to the treatment of her clients, and shared that she has experienced her own struggles with emotional eating as a way to deal with stress; in overcoming her own pattern of unhealthy eating, she developed a “food harmony” program which helps clients change their relationship with food, give up stress-triggered overeating, and develop sustainable healthy habits.
Adverse events that happen to an individual stay within the biological framework of a person, but they can be tempered if they are acknowledged and dealt with through appropriate coping skills. As Kimberly listens to her client’s story, she “roots down” to learn what drives them and what makes them tick so that she can help guide their healing process.
Most of us are not self-aware and may not know that childhood events negatively impact our health; Kimberly’s coaching method helps her clients identify their pain points and deal with the discomfort they experience. Behaviors such as panic attacks or over-eating can be easily triggered when a client feels discomfort; tools such as relaxation techniques and breathing exercises can be used to prevent the patient’s spiral into painful behaviors they seek to avoid. When the client is ready, guided imagery is a very useful tool to help revisit the events surrounding past traumas, but in a way that is as least intrusive and harmful as possible.
“As human beings, we can’t expect ourselves to be resilient if we don’t nourish our health. It’s important to hydrate our soul to be able to experience life differen...
Cosmos Vickery has embraced his love of yoga since he was a teen. Through the years he’s grown in his understanding that the beauty of life is all about being present in the moment, knowing that we are all loved. In this episode of Nourish Your Health at Every Age, he shares his deep understanding of the “yoga of living” with host Jan Swift.
A Lafayette native, Cosmos Vickery was raised by what he calls “two hippies who were in the Peace Corps.” His dad and grandfather were named “James,” and he was named James Cosmos Vickery with the pronunciation of his first name being “Jame-us.” In early high school, he switched to using his middle name, Cosmos, which his mother told him means to “walk the universe in harmony.” An apt name, given the path his life has taken since then.
After graduation, he became somewhat of a nomad, traveling first to North Carolina to work on a Christmas tree farm, then to New Orleans to attend U.N.O. Yet, he couldn’t shake a nagging feeling that there was more to life. After meeting Ryan Hornback who introduced him to a vigorous form of yoga called Ashtanga Vinyasa, he gave away all of his possessions and pursued the practice of yoga six days a week, two hours per day. He was searching for truth and following the strict lifestyle of Ashtanga Vinyasa.
A stint living in North Carolina where he apprenticed in three different eco-villages gave him an opportunity to focus on his yoga, while he lived simply with no money, trading his time and skills for food and a place to lay his head at night. This led to a meeting with a Sanyassin (a person who is liberated from material desires, innerly detached from worldly affairs, free of egoism, and genuinely caring for the well-being of others) who awakened Cosmos to the Osho philosophy and encouraged him not to take life so seriously. As Cosmos recounts, the sannyasin told him, “Don’t let life upset you, upset life! Live and experience life. Accept life in its totality.”
So Cosmos was inspired to really live his life. He left the eco-village and traveled to South Mexico and Guatelema to meet other Osho-Sanyassins. He then returned to Louisiana to marry a young woman he had met while in an eco-village who was also a Lafayette native.
Cosmos believes that all physical practices such as yoga, exercise or even psychotherapy can be useful if they lead you to a true, natural meditation where the mind is allowed to relax and open up. Just as plants need to be hydrated with water to stay alive and to flourish, humans also need to “hydrate and loosen their soil” from hard-held beliefs that have crystallized and hardened about who they are or how they and others should act. The manner in which we are raised has a profound on these hard held beliefs and can keep a person from truly experiencing life and being able to relax. Various programs such as the 12 steps, exercise, or even religion can lead one to a loosening of this soil within the mind.
Yoga means to “yoke together” or “union,” and is a physical as well as a mindful, spiritual practice. A very small number of people are open to experiencing the enlightenment that yoga can bring to the mind and spirit. For most of us, being mindful of our body’s aches and pains and accepting that it is best to work within our limitations, without pushing beyond these limits, can be challenging. Cosmos shared that very few people, especially in health clubs, show up for yoga with a desire to just relax; they typically show up knowing that they want to sweat or get stronger physically. But, they’re not willing to open up the possibilities of what a yogic disposition may bring into their life.
Every yoga position you put yourself into as you learn how to handle the posture, even when it’s uncomfortable, can be a tool to help you learn how to lean in and handle life’s experiences. The postures help you open up and “love the problems,” and this realization can be carried over into life’s everyday challenges. As Cosmos puts it,
Nanette Simon Cook is a Physical Education teacher at Cathedral-Carmel School in Lafayette LA and has taught at all levels from elementary school to university, in both public and private schools. Known as “Coach Cookie” to her students, she is also a fitness, nutrition, and wellness instructor at the Lourdes Fitness Center and a two-term Lafayette City Council member. Nanette visited with Jan Swift, Host of Nourish Your Health podcast, to discuss how she has stayed in touch with her students during the COVID-19 pandemic and how we can all stay active and healthy no matter what the circumstances.
With a Master of Science Degree in Health and Physical Education, Nanette has dedicated her life to helping people of all ages achieve wellness. Kind-hearted and full of encouragement, she is a beloved teacher who strives to instill the love of movement in her students so they can be their own “fitness trainer” as they move along in life. During the pandemic shutdown, she, along with the other teachers at Cathedral Carmel, have regularly posted instructional pieces online so that students may stay on track as they learn from home.
“It’s been my mission to make everyone aware of how important movement is. We can get too comfortable sitting on the couch watching tv or playing on the computer. As a PE teacher, it’s my job to make sure my students are out and about, moving around.”
Being home-bound during the pandemic doesn’t mean that you don’t have the opportunity to make healthy choices. As Nanette says, “There are a million and one apps out there that can help you with exercise, start a new eating program, or try new things.” She and her husband, David, have just embarked on a month of prescriptions found in the “The Big Book of 30-Day Challenges” which encourages you to do things such as journaling your food intake, laugh every day, and try yoga. Nanette shared that even though we can’t currently do things in the manner we’ve always been used to, it’s time to be creative and learn new things (or even take up activities that you haven’t done in years, such as her fifteen years of tap dancing during her youth which she has recently picked up again).
It's Fitness Friday CCS students! Watch the video to learn the course, then run through it and send me a picture. Stay healthy, stay active and have fun with this. Still missing you all
Posted by Nanette S Cook on Friday, April 3, 2020
Nanette Cook in her “Fitness Friday Challenge” posted on Facebook to inspire others to get out and move! There are an endless array of online apps that can encourage you to eat healthy and stay active. Nanette recommends include Think Light, and Go Noodle.
GoNoodle is an outstanding free online app that gets your kids moving and learning new things. It provides endless opportunities to have fun while working out, watch inspirational videos, or “Think Like a Scientist.” https://family.gonoodle.com/
While 10,000 steps per day is the ideal to shoot for, Nanette averages 15,000 steps per day when school is in session. A full-time PE teacher, she also teaches a 5:30 a.m. fitness class at Lourdes Fitness Center Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Nanette enjoys the camaraderie of group classes and is proud of her long-time fitness class attendees at Lourdes. Anyone can join Lourdes and there is no contract to sign; for $45 per month, you can enjoy pilates, yoga, aerobics, swimming, and much more. Visit https://lourdesrmc.com/services/lourdes-fitness-center/ for more information.
She encourages people to aim for 30 minutes of moderate exercise daily, with three to four times of more intense exercise sessions weekly. She measures the effectiveness of an intense exercise session by reaching 60 to 80% of her maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate is about 220 minus your age. For more information on how to calculate your heart rate, visit https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/target-heart-rates.)
Kimberly Thibeaux of Kurma Holistics, A Nursing Approach, met with Jan Swift, Host of Nourish Your Health at Every Age podcast, to discuss holistic nursing and how she helps people achieve optimal wellness through holistic coaching, acupressure, guided imagery, therapeutic yoga, mindfulness, relaxation, and meditation.
Thibeaux graduated from UL-Lafayette in nursing in December 2012. She is a Board Certified Holistic Registered Nurse, a Certified Acupressure Practitioner, and a Registered Yoga Teacher.
Holistic Nursing treats the patient as a whole as opposed to merely treating the symptoms of their present condition. A holistic nurse is a board-certified RN who takes a mind-body-spirit-emotion approach to the practice of traditional nursing. Holistic nurses employ alternative forms of medicine alongside traditional Western medicine in their practice, including dietary advice, acupuncture, therapeutic massage, and meditation therapy.
Thibeaux believes that people don’t need to be “fixed,” they need to embrace who they are and work on nurturing self-care. She embraces the core concepts of Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring including the practice of loving-kindness and equanimity (inner balance) with self and others and being authentically present and listening to the patient to enable understanding of who they are and where they may need to make changes in lifestyle.
“Every life is magical,” according to Thibeaux and “we are all whole and perfect as we are.” After listening to each client’s story, she presents an individualized “healing pot gumbo” of practices such as yoga, meditation, mindfulness work, and perhaps a regimen to encourage a whole food diet and better sleep practices. She uses words such as “peace-scription” to define how she helps people engage in “growth work” that will return their body to optimal health and wellness.
“I have the tools and understanding to help you to create the life you imagine and get a renewed sense of self. I can help you change the way you experience life. Focusing on your empowerment and vitality, you will gain the tools to venture through life’s obstacles with grace. Another phenomenal effect of increasing your empowerment and vitality is becoming a more resilient being.“
One important point is that Thibeaux doesn’t do physical assessments in the traditional sense of the word; her work is more on the spiritual level of the client and not on the lab work that diagnoses their physical condition and hormone levels.
In the initial appointment with Kimberly, the client is asked tell their “story”—this helps formulate their individualized care plan. Through deep listening to a client’s story, Kimberly says she “can really hear traumas/stories/events they may be carrying from the past that may not be serving their body therapeutically.”
Touching quickly on the traumas/stories/events that people carry in everyday life from their past surfaces very differently in the present time than one may think. If there is something that happened to an individual when they were 10 years old that hurt them mentally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually, it may show up today as anger, frustration, anxiety, or some other physical disease process.
“Kurma” means turtle in Sanskrit, and Thibeaux selected that name for her company based upon fond memories of her great-aunt who used to call her “tortu” or turtle in English. In the Native American culture, “Kurma” means opportunity. Thibeaux believes that we all have the opportunity to take better care of ourselves and live life to the fullest.
Thibeaux looks upon Florence Nightengale as one of her great inspirations, and loves this classic quote from Nightengale which sums up her practice: “Nature alone cures…what nursing has to do…is to put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him.”
In closing, we’ll grab a quote from Thibeaux’s website which sums up her goal in working with people to help them heal themselves:
Nourish Your Health welcomes Dr. Larry Simon, Medical Director for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, to discuss the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. An active Rotarian, an animal rescuer, and a native of Lafayette, LA, Dr. Simon is an alum of LSU, Baylor College of Medicine, and Rady Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Otolaryngology Fellowship in San Diego, CA. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology at LSU. And by the way, ” otolaryngology’ is a fancy word for “ENT”….an ear, nose and throat doctor!
Dr. Simon stressed the need for all of us to be cautious and diligent in taking care of ourselves and listening to what the experts advise us to do. There is no reason to panic and go out to purchase a half year’s supply of toilet paper and hand sanitizer. We do need to be cognizant that as a community we must work together to contain the spread of the virus and respect the advisories that government officials provide to us.
One of the most basic things we can all do to contain the spread and keep ourselves healthy is to wash our hands frequently with any type of soap, following the “20-second rule.” COVID-19 is an RNA virus that has RNA (ribonucleic acid) as its genetic material. The virus is wrapped in lipid layers (a ball of fat) that protects the virus and allows it to be absorbed in the body once ingested. Scientists know that soap is more effective than hand sanitizer in cleansing the skin and more importantly, soap works to dissolve the lipid (fat) layer of the virus if you leave it on your skin for 20 seconds. So Dr. Simon counsels, wet your hands, lather up, and leave the soap on for 20 seconds before your rinse with water to effectively kill the virus.
This interview was taped on March 12, 2020, and in just 24 hours, things have evolved quickly. Public universities and schools have announced they will close and convert to online learning, President Trump declared the pandemic to be a national emergency, and events and festivals are being postponed, all in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.
While these emergency measures are important, commonsense precautions will also go a long way in the effort to keep people healthy as scientists work around the clock to better understand the virus; no one knows yet how long the virus stays active once it’s on a surface, or if humidity or temperature matters, or if people will stay permanently immune to the COVID-19 virus once they’ve been exposed to it. So it’s best for you to just avoid situations which put you at risk of contracting the virus.
Dr. Simon is adamant that you stay at least five to six feet away from anyone who is sneezing or coughing; in fact, “just get the heck away” from anyone who is sick. The virus is an airborne virus causing respiratory distress and is spread through droplets such as mucus or saliva; in other words, people sneeze or cough the virus out into the air. This is why elderly people in their 60’s and up or people with a compromised immune system are advised to stay away from crowds as it can be impossible to avoid being exposed. No one knows yet if the virus lives on surfaces for a few hours or a few days. It’s not worth it to play fast and loose with your health, as the majority of the people who have died were elderly. Children and young people worldwide have for the most part only contracted mild cases of COVID-19, however, it is not known how many are asymptomatic and spreading the virus unwittingly.
Blue Cross will cover all costs of Covid-19 testing, with no co-pay required. Just as importantly, Blue Cross wants people to be ready in the event they are quarantined and the insurer has waived penalties for early refills of chronic disease medications. So if you have 20 pills left of an important prescription, you can go ahead and get a 90-day refill early with no financial penalty incurred.
Dr. Simon urges anyone concerned with symptoms of fever at 100 degrees or higher and a dry cough to first download Blue...
Marie Collins, Executive Director of The Family Tree, is our guest. Marie is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist, and Addictions Counselor. Her ten years of work with former Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mike Neustrom taught her how to treat all people with respect and to listen to their stories to more effectively help them learn to break negative cycles. She is enthusiastic about her life work, and shares humorous anecdotes about her life experiences in this episode of Nourish Your Health.
Marie is passionate about working with people from all walks of life to assist them in their personal growth journey. At the Family Tree, she says their biggest impact is with children and in many cases, the children’s experiences with The Family Tree courses are the first time they’ve ever finished a project, been awarded a certificate, or had someone trustworthy listen to their deeply troubling thoughts and concerns. The goal is to keep children from following the wrong path leading to incarceration or other bad choices which will cause disastrous results.
The Family Tree partners with other community agencies to maximize services being available on an affordable or free basis. Marie has worked to fill gaps in coverage to persons served by Medicaid to ensure that mental health counseling is available to all segments of our population; the certification process took over two years to achieve and there has been such an outpouring of new clients that staff has been increased to meet the demand for services.
“We listen to our clients, give them a safe space. Each life is such a gift and I’m honored to have the opportunity to help them learn about themselves so that they can make the best choices for their lives and those they love.”
People end up in counseling when it hurts too much to stay the same and the pain has become too difficult to bear. It takes a lot of courage to say you need help, to walk through the door to counseling and to trust the process. Transitions experienced in life, such as loss of a job, a loved one, or an accident can negatively impact our mental health. What we hold inside gets bigger and bigger, and being able to share our sorrow with others divides the load and makes the resolution of our problems easier to discover.
Counseling helps people put their lives back together. Marie states, “There is no magic wand. The answers to your life are inside of you. The counselor is not some magician….We help you put the puzzle pieces together.”
The great thing about counseling is that you have 100% acceptance from your counselor in a confidential setting. While we all tend to think we are alone in feeling as we do, counseling provides validation that others have felt and experienced the same things. The cultural phenomenon of “Me too” in recent years has been very comforting as people have learned they can share their difficult truth and have another human being validate their worth. Human beings connect as we share our stories and are we empowered by the acceptance of others.
The Family Tree teaches “active listening” classes to assist people in learning this important life skill. Marie shared that with the use of smartphones and communication by emojis, we are losing the ability to authentically communicate with one another. We all inherently have a fear of putting ourselves “out there” and technology enables us to avoid direct contact. Yet, active listening is the key to relationship building, whether it is at home, work or with friends.
Counseling can also help us get back to our authentic selves by getting past the stories we make up in our heads which are based upon past experiences. We may experience problems communicating with others because we don’t use words the same way they do and because of differences in communication styles. Seek first to understand, then to be understood, Marie shared, in a manner similar to the Steven Covey Habits of Highly Successful People.
Tyler Lafleur of HPHI is a passionate health and wellness coach who wants you to understand that the choices you make every day affect your body, mind, and spirit. In this episode of Nourish Your Health at every age, Tyler discusses with Jan Swift how inflammatory foods and drinks, inadequate rest, and chronic stress can damage the intestinal lining, leading to a host of autoimmune diseases, brain fog, and gastrointestinal symptoms. The good news is, you can turn it around by paying attention to the signals your body is sending you.
The intestinal wall is designed to absorb nutrients from food while protecting the body from germs and toxins being released during the digestive process. “Leaky Gut Syndrome” is damage caused to the intestinal wall that results in bacterial toxins and proteins passing into the bloodstream. Chronic stress and excessive intake of alcohol, coffee, and foods that don’t agree with you cause inflammation of the single-layer intestinal lining and as it becomes irritated, the wall becomes permeable and toxins slip through cracks in the intestinal wall. This triggers an antibody attack as the body attempts to repair the damage. A host of autoimmune and neurological illnesses may result, including Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Psoriasis, Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, ADHD, and many others.
The typical client that Tyler works with comes in with inflammation, bloating, aches and pains, always gets sick, and suffers from gastrointestinal issues. When he asks for information on their lifestyle, they will typically report that they do not have the energy to exercise or eat well. Many people believe they are eating “healthy,” even when their diet includes protein bars and processed snacks. Many people also take antacids to fight heartburn, which causes downstream issues such as not being to properly digest their food due to a lack of acid in the body caused by the antacids.
Tyler’s clients must agree to journal everything ingested or he will not be able to help them in their journey to better health. This simple act of documenting an honest account of their lifestyle and the way they feel when they eat certain foods is empowering. It is the first step to figuring out what that individual may need to eliminate from their diet to get back on track for a healthy gut. He will also order blood work and other tests to determine the baseline level of health the client is experiencing.
While there is no one diet that will work for everyone, there a few simple guidelines that Tyler recommends for us all. An ideal day’s meal plan would remove all dairy and gluten.
“I haven’t come across one diet that works for everyone. Yet, an ideal day would remove dairy and gluten from your food choices.
First, select “whole” foods, i. e., anything you can grow, harvest or kill that is in a natural state. This eliminates all foods that have sugar, starches and processed ingredients such as honey buns, donuts, goldfish, and the “C” foods…chips, cookies and cupcakes. And Tyler says, “No, whole grain cereals aren’t good choices because starches are still there. Same thing for protein bars….the body doesn’t know what that is and it is full of processed ingredients.”
Next, eliminate dairy products. There are so many dairy products, however, that one person may be intolerant of milk, but able to easily digest parmesan cheese or yogurt. As a general rule, removing dairy will almost always cause congestion issues to go away. In particular for older adults who have stopped producing the lactase enzyme, milk is very difficult to digest and will cause sinus issues or diarrhea.
Intolerance to foods is not the same thing as allergies that are genetically caused. If your habits and lifestyle exacerbate the tearing in your intestinal wall, you may not be allergic to a food, just unable to digest it properly and thus experience inflammation. Tyler explains that eliminating groups of foods that tri...
When Bradley Cruice worked as Director of Health and Wellness with the Lafayette Parish Public School System from 2012 to 2015, he was shocked to learn that one-half of middle school students in the parish tested as overweight or obese. Bradley’s insight became the genesis of what is now known as “Healthy Acadiana,” a movement he chairs and is made possible by the financial support of Women’s Foundation which has supported its mission to “build a healthier Acadiana by providing improved social, economic, and physical environmental factors that contribute to a healthier mind, body, and spirit for Acadiana residents.“
Bradley compares Healthy Acadiana to a “Health Improvement Chamber of Commerce,” bringing together like minds, programs, and missions to improve the health of our community. Supportive members include such diverse organizations such as Acadian Ambulance, Stuller, Inc., the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, and Women’s Foundation.
Healthy Acadiana has three focuses: (1) Physical Activity- which gets people moving; (2) Healthy Eating – increasing access to healthy food options; and (3) Systems, Policies, and Environment – creating an environment which makes physical activity and healthy eating a reality.
Healthy Acadiana’s partners gathered more than 1500 pounds of healthy foods for donation to local food pantries this November. With a focus on whole food choices containing low salt and sugar, such as brown rice and beans, recipients will be given choices that nourish their body in lieu of receiving stale pop tarts and ramen noodles from the back of donor’s pantries. #Donate Healthy
Lafayette Parish ranks fourth in health rankings in Louisiana, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which sets the benchmark relied upon by Healthy Acadiana. RWJF’s mission is to improve health and health care in America, especially for those most in need, and its work to encourage a better quality of life for all citizens takes a proactive approach to keeping all of us healthy in the first place so as to avoid negative health outcomes. This mission is especially critical for the health of Louisiana residents, as the state consistently ranks at the bottom of health rankings. As Bradley put it, “Lafayette Parish is the winner in the loser’s bracket; we rank fourth in the state which is the one of the worst in the country.” The rankings look at the quality of life as well as the length of life: how long will you live as well as how well will you live while you’re here? If you’re hanging on to life, but stuck inside with no quality of life, what kind of life is that?
Two things Bradley encourages everyone to do to maintain good health is to (1) incorporate physical activity into your daily life, such as taking the stairs, walk during your work meetings instead of going out to eat, and doing your own chores such as cutting the grass and washing your car to make healthier food choices; and (2) make healthier food choices which limit carbohydrates and added sugar and salt.
“If we know better, we can give better. Don’t give expired foods, but make choices about what you choose to donate consciously so that you can give nutrient-dense foods.” Bradley Cruice
There is an easy mnemonic to help you remember healthy choices to make every day: “5210,” which breaks down to five fresh fruits and vegetables a day (and can include frozen foods which don’t include added sugar or salt); two hours or less of screen time; one hour of physical activity; and zero sugary drinks.
Given Louisiana’s renowned joie de vivre and zest for eating and drinking, Bradley stressed the goal is not to change the culture, but to temper our choices with healthier options. His aim is to educate people that you can enjoy jambalaya with brown rice and leaner sausage, and outdoor festivals and parades don’t need to center around a drinking culture. 20% of Louisiana’s adult population drinks excessively as compared to the average of 10% of...
Through his company, HPHI, Tyler LaFleur offers health coaching and Executive performance coaching. The purpose of his coaching is to transform individuals and organizations by facilitating the learning of the discipline and self-mastery required to reach their goals and achieve outstanding levels of health and performance.
Even with his advanced educational background (Degree in Nursing at UL – Lafayette, Certified as an Exercise Physiologist through the American College of Sports Medicine, Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner, and Masters in Leadership Arts and Science from The Thayer Institute), Tyler asserts that most of his knowledge is self-taught as he has worked with people in the health and wellness coaching industry over the past 12 years. He will be a recurring guest on our podcast, Nourish Your Health at every age. “Early in my career I worked in surgery, on all the different floors, and saw a lot of sick people. I knew I would rather be on the proactive side instead of the reactive side.” After an early stint as a surgical nurse, Tyler took a position with a biometric monitoring company that kept track of the vital signs of offshore workers. As he went out to visit with the workers on safety checks, they began asking questions about diet and health choices they should make. During a twelve-week pilot program, one of the guys lost about fifty pounds and another couple stopped smoking. As the pilot program entered its next phase, the workers realized that while Tyler was helping them make healthy changes that kept them able to work safely on the job, they could also make meaningful adjustments in their lives to produce lasting wellness. This is when Tyler discovered functional medicine as his life calling.
“Functional medicine is essentially a root cause analysis of the human body. So instead of you coming to my office and describing your symptoms, your aches, your high cholesterol, and having me treat those symptoms. I get to the root of what might be causing these symptoms. Most people will tell you, ‘well, I have a family history of this disease.’ You have to place those excuses aside and figure out what’s behind your family history. If we can pinpoint some of the choices you’re making that are resulting in high cholesterol, high blood pressure, whatever it may be, would you be willing to change that? That’s essentially what I do.”
So now, twelve years later, Tyler Lafleur says that instead of having a purpose, he is had by his purpose in helping others achieve optimal health by self-mastery and discovering the lifestyle choices that will honor their own particular body’s needs. He loves his work and also learned that he can impart knowledge to his clients, but not wisdom. Tyler considers himself a health partner with each person he works with, but ultimately, they have to decide if they’re willing to step up and take care of themselves.
Tyler Lafleur working with a client at HPHI. He considers himself a partner with each individual he helps and meets them where they are in their life and health situations. At HPHI, Tyler’s typical client is either someone who has gone to the doctor and received a diagnosis they don’t like or someone who has been doing a certain exercise program or diet and they have plateaued, not losing any more weight and their energy is crashing. He typically works with someone for 30 days and then they meet to assess progress. His goal is to have the client incorporate the lifestyle changes into their daily habits and take ownership of the steps necessary to move forward on their own.
Interestingly, not everyone Tyler works with is a couch potato and overweight due to lack of activity. Some clients are ultra-competitive athletes who cross-train, eat an uber calorie-restricted diet, and pride themselves on getting by with little sleep. This type of client can be the toughest to coach as they are wed to a certain lifestyle and aren’t willing to give up their regimen,
Our guest on this inaugural episode of Nourish Your Health at every age is Dr. Kelly Cobb, a board-certified internal medicine physician and owner of Nouriche Med Spa in Lafayette LA.
Board eligible in geriatrics, Dr. Cobb is certified in age management medicine and has extensive experience in treating women’s health issues. Her career in medicine has been driven by her interest in the complexities that influence the mind, body, and health. You might consider Dr. Cobb a “detective” in her quest to guide her patients to achieve their optimal health.
A graduate of the LSU School of Medicine, Dr. Cobb holds degrees from the University of Texas in psychology, humanities, and communications.
Growing up with a dad who was an orthopedic surgeon, a grandmother who had Alzheimer’s disease, and another grandmother who was an Army nurse and focused on eating healthily, Dr. Cobb had her own health issues during her residency and became intrigued by the possibilities of helping people by taking a holistic approach to medical care. She instinctively knew that you have to meet each patient where they are, and “listen and learn about the patient so you can get out of them what’s wrong.” Dr. Cobb’s patients are her partners…she works to unearth the symptoms and then teach people how everyday choices affect their health, especially nutrition, and how they can use food as medicine.
“Community is so important to the contribution and origin of the illness but also for the solution. How we can turn around health for people with the right multi-disciplinary approach….it’s not just the doctor that’s important but all people in the patient’s environment.” “All of medicine is about listening and learning about the patient so you can determine what’s wrong. My patients are my partners…you have to be a detective to unearth their symptoms.”
It’s important to teach people how everyday choices affect their health, especially nutrition. Gut health and restoration, the impact of sugar, Follow the “80 – 20” rule when you can. Dr. Kelly Cobb
When asked to define Functional Medicine, Dr. Cobb stated that it is “root cause medicine.” Conventional allopathic medicine studies disease that physicians can reverse in emergency situations involving end-organ diseases such as heart failure or diabetes. Functional medicine is a “before” treatment that prevents end-organ situations where the body fails….where the physician looks at the patient and determines psychological issues, diet, hormones, what imbalances are going on in a person’s energy system? Root causes are the psycho-social influences that greatly affect the health of the patient.”
Dr. Cobb will appear on future podcasts to discuss topics such as hormonal balance, fighting fatigue, and how the brain is involved in the body’s health.
For more information on Dr. Kelly Cobb, please visit https://www.nourichemedspa.com/internal-medicine.
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