I saw @Naturalmedicine posted another challenge and decided to go ahead and dive in! I've written several posts on here but I haven't been to this page in a little while....so...here we go!
The five questions I chose were actually the first five questions (lol) because honestly they are seamlessly strung together and create a good flow. They are as follows:
1)How did your journey in this path/with this practice began?
2)How have you adapted this practice to your life?
3)What do you think has been your most important learning during your process?
4)Share some thoughts on how this path/practice could be beneficial for the community
5)What would be your main recommendations for someone starting on this path/practice?
My practice
Just a brief introduction to myself. I am a strength and conditioning specialist as well as a nutritionist out of Denver, Colorado, US. Along side of that I deeply enjoy reading and studying about all sorts of topics including health, psychology, physiology as well as esoteric topics of all sorts and geopolitical events. I like to know how this world works but more importantly how the body works! I work with clients on their physical, mental and spiritual goals. I believe the latter two of those are far more important and lead to a better understanding of the former.
1) How did my journey on this path and practice begin?
My journey has been a game of plinko among many different paths, each intersecting to create an overall view of the human and spiritual bodies. I first became aware of the erroneous nature of many mainstream health / medical practices when I suffered severe back pain while playing baseball growing up. I would bounce from doctor to doctor and they could not (or would not) help me. They would tell me to ice and rest and it would continue to persist. One day my parents got me into a chiropractor who fixed the issue permanently in ten minutes without an adjustment. All he did was show me some simple stretches! I did what he told me to and the back pain went away, never to return even though I am now 35. At that point I realized that there were so many different ways to fix human problems and I made it a point to get to the heart of how the body works. That led me to a four year degree in exercise science and sports nutrition. I learned a lot there, but that was only foreplay for what I would learn over the next ten years...on my own doing independent research.
See, I am a voracious reader. I always have been since a young age. I was reading Stephen King novels when I was twelve. I would say my reading level was and is way beyond what the average is. Not because of some inherent gift (although maybe that has a little to do with it) but because of PRACTICE! I read everything in sight.
So I would spend hours at the library just racing through anything that had to do with the human body: reflexology, energy healing systems, weight training, yoga; but especially nutrition. Nutrition has always been my specialty. And I learned that basically with good nutrition, on the inside and outside of the body, as well as in the mind, nothing is incurable. The human body is an amazing vessel that can withstand monumental abuse and heal naturally, without drugs and other toxic treatments.
So I decided to do this as my full time job; teaching people how to become healthy through proper nutrition, fitness and lifestyle!
How have I adopted this practice to my life?
Naturally if one is to teach others they first must master themselves. Now, I am no master or guru...nor have I mastered myself. Anyone claiming this is a fool.
But I use proper nutrition, supplements and herbs and physical practices of all sorts, as well as meditations to empower and re-create myself daily. I view this life as one continuous class. We keep learning through the whole thing...the point is personal development and improvement, but more importantly to take what we learn here and help others do the same. Just working on yourself without thinking of the rest of the world and its miseries is selfish. The whole must be included with the singularity of one's self.
Every day I practice physical fitness whether it is working out with weights, walking on trails in the beautiful Rocky Mountains or playing some sort of sport. This is coupled with a somewhat tedious at times practice of good nutrition. Am I perfect there? No! I even eat fast food here and there. Sometimes alcohol. But I make sure to get my body what it needs as well.
What has been my most important learning experience during this process?
100% it is to always be open minded, resist boundaries, question everything including your deepest held beliefs and question all authority.
So much of what we are "taught" (programmed to think) come from people that we've never even heard of (Edward Bernays). We get programmed very early on. We think we are thinking our own thoughts but mostly we are just regurgitating what other people told us to think. We become mental robots.
Breaking this trend is taking the red pill and creating our own reality. Breaking mental chains empowers us. Just like when I was younger and doctors told me I'd just have to deal with back pain for life, and then the chiropractor fixed me in minutes...my how things can change in a hurry!
Learning that we have nearly limitless possibility and potential is definitely the most important thing that I have learned.
How this could benefit the community
Living in America I know what its like to live amongst the most unhealthy group of people in all of history. So many people are struggling with their weight, have all sorts of bodily injuries and pains that they just can't seem to get rid of no matter how many "experts" they see. People need better solutions; natural ones that don't involve breaking the bank with surgeries, drugs and toxic treatments that don't really heal anything.
I feel there's a niche here in the Natural Medicine community for me because of my expertise not only in nutrition and supplementation but also how the body functions on may levels. There are some that specialize in one or the other, but rarely are there those (in my opinion) that can take many different facets of life and connect them together into a universal and interconnected system of mind, body, spirit and environment.
Its not enough just to workout if you're mentally stunted or spiritually empty. Its also not healthy to be intellectually brilliant but neglect the vessel of body...and spiritually is great but without the health and mental ability to share the information then your potential is limited.
My recommendation for anyone on this path?
Be ready for resistance. This path is the less trodden one. The rude awakening is that many will reject what you're trying to do when you get out of the thought bubbles of society and venture into the unknown. But this isn't to upset you or cause despair, its just a subtle warning so that when it happens your not taken off guard!
The hardest path is the path of spirituality and empowerment. Many would like to be victims and will fight your attempts even if you mean well for them. It really hardens you up; gives you spiritual and mental armor. Stay on the path and keep going with what your heart and intuition tell you. But also be aware of the biggest enemy which is yourself, your ego and your negative self talk. Vanquish those and you can't be stopped.
