Wellness Wisdom: Recent Episodes
Sharon Whitefawn
Sharon Whitefawn is a holistic health professional who has developed a complete wellness approach based on her life experiences, challenges, and healing journey. In this podcast, she shares positive golden nuggets of wellness wisdom that will inspire optimal health, fitness, and wellness - mind, body, and spirit.
A contemplative practice doesn’t have to be difficult. Here’s several 5 minute meditations for you to try out for fun! You can practice these almost anywhere... even while waiting in line for your latte! In fact, 3 minutes is all it takes to reduce stress & cortisol levels, shift into a better mood, rewire your brain for peacefulness and positivity. Go ahead…Make your day!!
My friend Regina Hill has a history lesson in diet culture that might intrigue you. It demonstrates how women have been programmed by a patriarchy that wants domination over women. In my latest podcast, she and I discuss the importance of understanding where our body image originates and the importance of balancing feminine and masculine qualities, within ourselves and within our culture.
Hear how you can be liberated from the unconscious programming that seeps into your subconscious via ads and influencers. Self-directed positive neuroplasticity is your mind’s superpower to self-program in accordance with your personal goals and desires. No more being hijacked by others. Begin utilizing your own superpower TODAY!
Meryl Picard is an inspiration to me and so many people. Hear her share about her journey of taking responsibility and control of her health, mind & body. She’s breaking traditions in her family and is a living example for reversing the disease that plagues many in our country, especially on reservations. Obesity and Type 2 diabetes are reversible - and it’s not that hard! In Meryl’s words, “Pick your hard.” Would you rather deal with the difficulty of a disease, or deal with the difficulty of taking a walk outdoors, enjoying vibrant foods and having lots of energy to do things you love? As she puts it, most mothers say, “I would die for my children!’ But she doesn’t want to die for her children; she wants to live for them!
Farm fresh food is one foundation of good health. Good farming creates an even greater foundation … and GREAT farming is what Lauren and Andrew Glikin do at Raw Roots farm in Mariposa CA.
Lauren joins me to explain how they practice a farming system that supports biodiversity. They farm without tilling and invite many species of critters to naturally enrich the soil which enhances the quality of their crops. The value they place on agroecology is why they grow superb produce! Communities in the foothills of the Sierra are healthier because of their hard work and year round dedication.
For myriad reasons, many people in the world don’t have access to farm fresh foods: geographically, seasonally, financially, culturally, or even a basic lack of culinary desire. I understand. I have been in each of those categories at one time or another. Not to worry, there’s other ways to improve your overall health.
I am so passionate about teaching the value of water because without it, we die! Literally! Proper hydration is key for the health of every system and organ in the body. It’s crucial for our immune system, nervous system, lymphatic system, digestive system, joints, bones and tissues, mental health, to name a few! It’s even a valuable component of our spiritual wellbeing.
I'm excited to share a valuable discussion around food with my friend and Clinical Nutritionist, Rose Fluharty.
We delve into topics having to do with food, emotions, grief, trauma and healing, as it relates to food. Our relationship with food is a holistic integrative process of exploration, experimentation and healing on the deepest level. I hope you enjoy this episode.
You can find Rose at https://www.rosefluhartynutrition.com/
Illnesses and imbalances, be it physical, mental, emotional and/or spiritual, can be healed using a multi-modality and multidimensional approach. Today we discuss the value and importance of looking at healing as an inside job.
Dr. Connie Jeon is a wellness professional who helps in redefining the practice of medicine by bridging the gap between sick-care and health-care. Dr. Jeon & I will be exploring healing autoimmune diseases from the inside out. Dr. Jeon has lived with the autoimmune condition, Lupus. She will explain how to create an inner healthcare system for long term success. She combines psychology, nutrition, physical therapy, functional medicine, meditation and yoga to help guide people who are searching for integrated, holistic, functional medicine.
I think it’s time to revisit the Age of Enlightenment. I believe we’ve had enough pain by now and we might just be at the right place in time for some wisdom of the 1600’s to come back around. I’m pretty sure we learned enough about humanity over the past 500 years to make some lasting positive societal improvements once and for all. Let’s call it Modern Day Enlightenment, where we factor in the past 500 years of gathered intelligence. Taking a quick gander at the historic timeline over the past 500 years can really highlight what has worked, what hasn’t worked and how we can finally navigate the terrain of sustaining unity as a humanity.
I haven’t recorded a podcast episode in like a month or so. If you listened to my LAST episode, then you know what I had been going through in the recent past. Since recording ‘Sorry, not Sorry,’ I haven’t been inspired to say very much. In fact, I haven’t said much at all since then; publicly or privately. I haven’t returned phone calls or messages from caring individuals, I hadn’t posted very much on social media, although I had reached out a little bit to some of my more spiritual friends.
There are times in life when it’s important to speak out or to vent, and other times when ya just gotta be quiet; be still; be introspective and meditative...there are times when it’s better to remove yourself from the chaos of the outside world and to acknowledge the chaos of your inside world.
I have been consistently progressing very well since I began this conscious journey of personal growth decades ago. In the past I’d have said that progress was a steady, consistent journey toward perfection. But as life continually demonstrates, there’s BOTH forward AND Backward momentum.
If you are somebody who’s been living with the frustration, anxiety and torment of trying to be normal...whatever normal is...Please Stop! Stop for the sake of your health! Normalcy might just be an illusion, a perception, or even a big lie!
Create a Magical Day of Self-Healing
I woke up this morning with an intense need for stillness. Therefore, I laid in bed until 10:30. For a half an hour or so I was scrolling through emails and social media. Then putting my phone down, I closed my eyes and recalled the dream I was having right before I woke up. I was alongside a gentle flowing stream with lush surroundings and giant boulders to rest upon. It was peaceful. There was water cascading down, which created waterfalls and swimming holes. It’s actually similar to a place I go to called paradise pools, but in my dream, it was bigger and better AND it was on the land where I live. I owned it but I was completely unaware, until I saw other people there. People who I didn’t even know, but everyone was chill. Although it was actually on my land, I hadn’t discovered it until others showed up to swim there and hang out. I saw a mama and baby panda bear swimming there. I saw some type of large iguana reptile creature that creeped me out a little. There was a giant snake and I couldn't tell if it was poisonous or not. It was both magical and a little scary at the same time. After I reopened my eyes I had a very strong sense that today I needed stillness.
Stay Mentally Healthy and Psychologically Sound.
Follow these 9 tips to keep optimistic during times of great stress, anxiety, sadness and fear.
Routinely Non-Routine Routines
Some of us may have found ourselves, lately, in a new routine. Having different daily routines or Non-routine-New-routines … which aren’t really routines at all, but you’re doing them kind of routinely these days. It’s like that other thing was my normal routine, and now I’m in a non-routine that’s probably just a temporary routine, but it could possibly become a lasting routine … I routinely ponder things like this!
I know that lots of people need, want, prefer routines. Schedules are important and when we get off our schedules, it can be very disconcerting, if not downright anxiety producing!
How are your new ‘out-of-routine’ routines working out? How are they affecting you? Are you noticing how they are making things better, worse, or maybe no difference at all? Maybe you’re someone who doesn't need a schedule or who doesn’t even like routines at all. But either way, it’s probable that you are doing things differently these days. It’s likely your life changed recently, either a little or drastically.
It’s a Brain Changer
What does it mean to have optimism? No need to look it up, I already did. The adjective “optimistic” describes a mental attitude with a tendency to have a favorable view on situations in life. An optimistic person is more likely to expect a positive outcome.
What is a pessimistic person? I looked that up too! Pessimism means thinking the worst. Pessimism is a mental attitude having a tendency to expect the worst in everything.
Both of these definitions have something in common. Optimism and pessimism are opposites, and yet, thay have a very interesting commonality. Both are defined using these same words: Mental Attitude, Thoughts & Expectations. It does NOT say that to be optimistic requires the world or your life to be perfect. It does NOT say that pessimism requires the world or your life to be disastrous. Each of these definitions states that BOTH stem from how we think, our attitudes and our expectations!
The Art and Practice
In the previous episode, Part 1 - “How to Cultivate Balance & Harmony”, I explained the why & how for cultivating happiness in all areas of your life. If you haven’t listened to Part 1, go back and do that, before this one. It will make this one more meaningful because then you’ll get the context.
In this episode - Part 2 - you’re going to experience a check-in and self-nurturing meditation. It’s the first two practical steps for decreasing stress, improving your health on every level, having balance and ultimately, learning to be happy. Step one is about connecting with and assessing each of the four dimensions. Then we’ll go into creating the vision and making it your goal. It’s powerful!
Cultivate it in Your Life
I conceptualize all humans as Multi dimensional beings. I’ve been in the physical fitness industry since the early 90’s. That’s when I realized how important it is to have a healthy and physically fit body. But that wasn’t enough for me. Even though I owned a gym … two gyms in fact, I still felt devoid of something.
I worked on my inner-self, reading all the self-help books I could read at that time. It helped me a lot, to heal my past and forgive people in my life … to learn how to forgive myself, as well. But STILL it wasn’t enough; something else was STILL missing. SO THEN I began exploring my faith and learning about the deeper meaning of spirituality.
10 Minutes to Shift Your Consciousness
Get comfortable and settle in for a journey of serenity & gratitude. Notice the various levels of comfort throughout your body. Scan your forehead and scalp - your face, ears and jaw - neck/throat and shoulders - observe the level of comfort in your arms, chest, back and belly. Notice how your lower back, hips and legs are feeling. Scan your body all the way down to your toes.
Did you know that a lack of gratitude causes the production of stress hormones?
YES! Being UNgrateful can actually wreak havoc on the entire nervous system, it adversely affects your immune system and can potentially lead to illnesses, both physical and mental illnesses. On the other hand, feeling grateful has the opposite effect. When we think thoughts of thankfulness, our brains create ‘Healing’ chemicals such as Dopamine. Dopamine triggers the satisfaction and pleasure parts of the brain. Gratitude causes the production of Serotonin, another brain chemical, which regulates social behavior, memory, mood, sleep, energy... and feeling grateful also produces Oxytocin, which gets manufactured in the brain, and it promotes healthy libido and meaningful relationships.
In this episode, Sharon shares a simple hack for overcoming insomnia and getting a better night’s rest.
A 28 Day Challenge
We live in exciting times where spirituality is more openly discussed and embraced than years past. But even as people become more open, spirituality still has some ambiguity and a variety of definitions. The more people I question, the more answers I receive about what spirituality is and what it is not. We can readily admit that people have physical bodies, thoughts and heart felt emotions. Yet, when it comes to spirituality, people often get confused or defensive about the topic. Some can quickly say what spirituality means to them while others respond by saying, “I’ll have to get back to you about that” (& they have yet to get back to me on that). Some ascribe religion to spirituality and they immediately think of God, while other people are put off by my inquiry, as if it’s a trick question. Then there are those who don't believe in the concept of spirituality at all. I am not judging anyone for their personal beliefs or lack thereof. I am merely inquisitive about the subject. For me it’s been a lifelong journey of connecting with and learning from the unseen world. My spirituality continually evolves with each new challenge, conflict and success I experience.
Even a Graveyard can be a Classroom.
My spiritual journey was began when I was 13 years old. It was a hot August morning when my mother entered my bedroom sobbing. She told me that my sister, who was only 16 years old, had just been tragically killed in a car accident. By this age I had already dealt with an abusive father, domestic violence, a certain degree of abandonment and neglect, and other abuses born from poverty. When I was, maybe seven years old, my father left my mother with six children, never to be heard from again. Although I had been dealing with those things, I hadn’t yet developed any coping skills for dealing with a tragedy like this. In the wake of this shocking news, I struggled, as you could imagine, with no immediate point of reference for dealing with death, let alone the death of my sister.
It’s Not Just For the Body Anymore
Functional Fitness has made its way into mainstream gyms and it’s taken seriously in fitness centers across the country. According to www.WebMD.com, Functional Fitness focuses on “building a body capable of doing real-life activities in real-life positions, not just lifting a certain amount of weight in an idealized posture created by a gym machine.”
I’m excited that the functional fitness concept is finally reaching members in local gyms across the country. This theory is something I have been practicing and teaching for the past decade, if not longer. My definition for functional fitness, however, is more expansive than that of WedMD and varies slightly from the typical gym philosophy, yet the core principles are the same. As a fitness trainer, mental health professional and interfaith minister, I have learned the powerful benefits of incorporating the functional fitness principles into all I do. I’m not only building a capable body, but a capable brain, psyche and spirit as well.
… or Do U Eat What U Are?
The holidays, or as I like to call them, the Holy-days, are upon us. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, Winter Solstice, Kwanza, birthdays, or nothing at all, there is one thing most of us have in common during times of celebration; we tend to eat more than usual. The vast majority of Americans are likely to overindulge in both food and drink this time of year. At the gym, we hear “just work it off” while at parties we hear “go ahead and eat it. It’s yummy!” Either way, there is an excess of food consumption going on and conflicting messages about eating, especially during seasonal events.
Additionally, friends, family, coworkers, Food networks, Pinterest and even Forbes magazine offer a multitude of revolutionary new recipe ideas. Recipes for cocktails, appetizers, main dishes, cookies, soups; you name it, someone has a recipe for it. I would like to tell you about a magical ingredient to add to all of your seasonal (and every day) food and drink recipes. A special added bonus ingredient that, when included, you can tell your gym: No, I will not work this off! And when you are encouraged to eat more, you can say, “yes, I will have more of that dish”...as long as it contains the magical ingredient.
The most important relationship you will EVER develop is the relationship you have with yourself.