The Wellness Doctors

Today we took a deep dive (hence slightly longer) discussion with Eric Kussin, the founder of #SameHere Global Mental Health Movement. Eric talked about how he went from being a seemingly regular guy to being pumped with 50 different combinations of psychotropic medications and lying on his bed wasted. After two and a half years he saw an integrative psychiatrist and thus started his own journey to mental health recovery.

- How do we stop the stigma of mental health by storytelling to normalise mental health

- What're the pros and cons of "celebrity sharing"

- We're all a little "crazy"

- Adverse childhood events, trauma and life (and why Eric doesn't like the phrase "It's OK to be Not OK")

- STARR exercises, Sudarshan Kriya breathing and the Art of Living, "mental" hygiene, and "prescribing" other modalities of healing for mental health 

Christine was an aeronautical engineer, then went into finance after an MBA from Harvard, and eventusally found her way to hypnotherapy - super interesting career path! She applies the same rigorous standards of science and risk management to her application of hypnotherapy, and we covered some fascinating areas of hypnosis!

- medical hypnotherapy for surgeries in France; use in pre-surgical anxiety and post-surgical pain

- hypnotherapy as a state of "focussed awareness", it's not sleep, not losing control and it's not placebo

- using fMRI vs EEG to look at the brain's response to hypnotherapy

- what is the subconscious mind? Time distortion and flow state

- use of hypnotherapy for enhancing sports or peak performance

- why is hypnotherapy not more mainstream!?

- what is a typical hypnotherapy session like with Christine?

- who is it safe for, and who shouldn't use it unless recommended by physician

Paul is an addiction counsellor and is the co-founder of Recovery Unplugged, a recovery centre which he started in 2013 and now has several locations in the US. He also started the Face the Music Foundation - a non-profit organization that helps individuals with limited means access addiction treatment, and increase support for substance abuse prevention and aftercare through music-based programs. To top it off, he is the author of : Music is Our Medicine: The Story of Recovery Unplugged.

We talked about the relationship of music and drug use, how humans are unique in using music to create and connect; the rhythm, the vibrations and the lyrics all play a part in the role of helping people overcome their addiction. 

Paul shared some of his personal experiences of using music to help him overcome withdrawal. He also admitted to being star-struck - don't blame him with big names like Steven Tyler, Keith Urban, and Richie Supa!

How a song can anchor memory; how the lyrics give you words to process the difficult emotions; how music is a catalyst to engage everyone on the same path; and how Paul uses music to break the ice with a new client, or bring two people from the opposite sides to "bob in unison" to a song!

The NOVA Southeastern university in Florida is studying Paul's method to look at the science behind it and how to create an evidence-based program for recovery. Recovery Unplugged has some impressive statistics of success behind it, so something must be working!

Paul shares a tip on how to use music in your everyday life to help yourself or someone in need - gift a song! 

Today's podcast, Laurena was interviewed by Philip Watkins N.D. from The INL Podcast.

Laurena spoke about how she went from conventional cosmetic practice to embracing a more holistic approach to skincare.

Laurena's first tool in her toolbox - a very comprehensive questionnaire!

In this episode, Dr. Vanessa was interviewed by Andrew Cox from Joint Dynamics, for the Joint Dynamics Intelligent Movement podcast. Andrew has kindly agreed to let us share the content on our podcast as well, thank you!

We talked about the acronym N.U.T.S. for stress, the Goldilocks rule about stress and performance, how we manage our "stress bucket", how to use neuroplasticity to change the way we perceive stress, and how calm vs stressful eating can turn our genes on and off - a great example of epigenetic changes, and what general dietary guidelines would be beneficial to mental health.

We get to interview the rock star Dr. Dicken Weatherby, CEO and founder of Optimal DX, a training program and software for analysing blood markers with functional and optimal ranges in mind. 

1) Dr. DW's background and how he came to look at functional lab ranges as his life's work, and he explains the problems with regular lab ranges (which even differ between labs) and how functional lab ranges gives us an insight into your past, present and future health

2) Where the evidence for functional lab ranges come from, and there is really no "normal" range - it all depends on which population you are looking at! Even athletes can have "sub-optimal" liver function!

3) Using a systems approach to identify areas of health issues to further drill deeper, e.g. if a patient complains of fatigue, the most relevant systems would be in adrenal health and blood sugar regulation

4) What should I do if my markers are not "optimal" but I'm not "sick enough yet" to get medicine for treatment? Well, Dr. DW wants to ask you, what does medicine mean to you? Is it a pill, or something else?

5) COVID-19 has made people more aware of co-morbidities such as obesity, cardiovascular and respiratory issues, and the immune system, and has brought nutrients into the limelight, such as vitamin D, zinc and IV vitamin C. The point is to assess you NOW to optimise your biological functioning, so we can maximise your chance of dealing with it as well as possible when you do get it

Laurena and Vanessa finally reunited in this podcast! We warmly welcome Simon Matthews, a psychologist by training and also the CEO of WellCoaches Australia, a health coach certification program that is accredited by the NBHWC.

1) What is a health coach? Simon describes health coaching as the "engine room of lifestyle medicine". Content isn't sufficient to convince people to change their behaviour, but by being convinced that their personal values come to life when they engage in certain behaviours.

2) Skills of health coaching that are evidence-based, such as skilful conversation, motivational interviewing, appreciative enquiry

3) People make changes only when it has a personal meaning to them; also, a habit serves a purpose, so even if it appears to be "bad", we need to find another way to help them resolve the underlying reason for this habit and adopt more beneficial, healthier and sustainable options.

4) What are the pathways to becoming a health coach? Having some guidelines gives consumers confidence what they are getting, and also standardises the quality of health coaches that come from different backgrounds.

5) How to bring coaching into a clinical practice in a patient-centred approach, which is also a practitioner-rewarding approach!

6) What are the current challenges of bringing health coaching into our current healthcare system? We need to see a reform of how things are done now, to a model that encourages people to engage in healthier lifestyle choices.

7) Laurena's experience of running shared medical appointments on stress management in her clinic.

8) What people are suitable to become health coaches? Those with allied health background are in a great position if they want to be NBHWC certified later on, but those who are interested in health coaching (engineers, actors!) are also able to take these courses.

9) The million-dollar question - how do we make this financially viable for all parties involved? The user, the provider, the insurance etc.  All big journeys start with small steps!

How Caroline and Laurena met

1) What is Emotion Freedom Technique, what is tapping, and how Caroline came to use it first for herself, then family and friends, then her clients

2) Caroline runs a female-specific EFT workshop, and Laurena shares her experience of joining the workshop

3) Topics covered: trauma, sexuality, self-exploration, body image and self-awareness of our bodies, women communicating their needs

4) Caroline is going to run an online workshop to create a space for women to heal

5) Ageing vs anti-ageing hormones - how to stay youthful without injections, blades, lotions and potions!

6) Self-love and dating in this modern age

Remember, it's never too late to have a happy life! ~Caroline

Laurena and I interview a colleague Dr. Alen who's trained in both Western medicine and Chinese medicine. Truly East meets West!

1) What is Qi? It's a frequency/vibrational energy and how it is reflected in meridian points

2) In addition to yin and yang, Dr. Alen uses the Five Elements model he learnt from Nora Franglen from the UK: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water

3) The five elements relate to the four seasons, and how they support or counteract each other to create balance. When things are out of balance, this can manifest as symptoms from burnout to mania

4) Laurena's ruling element is Earth: nurturing in nature, lots of sympathy, needs to feel grounded/rooted, and has lovely voice!

5) How drinking warm instead of cold water can help with the digestive system or the "spleen"; why ruminations and over thinking depleted her spleen qi; and why deep tissue massage can unleash anger!

6) Vanessa's ruling element is (maybe?) Wood: needs to be on the move, likes to take action, can get angry when out of balance as fire will burn wood, and feels calm and nourished when there is water element (open water swimming!); prone to tendon and ligament injuries; and how to focus on supporting the liver which is the wood organ

7) Dr. Alen shares some of his experience when treating his patients using the Five Elements, from bladder cancer to grief, and how to identify someone who has Water as their ruling element just by listening to the way they speak with their voice

Vanessa interviews Ian Mcleod - co-owner of Nirvana Strength in Canggu, Bali.

1) How Covid-19 is changing the way we exercise and train - even personal trainers are struggling with finding the motivation!

2) What makes our lives easier is also making us less strong physically, and the types of injuries we are seeing these days.

3) The philosophy of training behind Nirvana Strength - pre-hab, post-hab and structural balance

4) Training smarter - it's quality not quantity!

5) What can I get out of a Nirvana Strength Retreat?

6) Why Ian decided to do a health coaching course, and how to find a reputable course if you're interested as well

7) The Nirvana Strength Online Intensive - a 3-day online live stream summit where you can learn to optimist every aspect of your health

Laurena has pink "coral" hair!

1) Ananta is a launching a brand-new health coaching programme that is based on health types and chronobiology

2) What is chronobiology? It's the importance of entraining (synching) all the organs and cells in your body to a circadian rhythm that works for your body type

3) There are broadly speaking 6 health types that are based on varying degrees of where you lie on the ectomorph, endomorph or mesomorph range

4) These body types are embryological development that are influenced by genetics and the environment = Epigenetics

5) By using an evidence-based coaching programme based on your health type, you get a personalised plan that works for you to improve your physical, mental and emotional health

Today we talk with Linda, a Holistic Love and Sexuality Coach, and her journey navigating working in the finance world, her own marriage, to find her own sexuality, and how she helps others do the same.

1) Men and women both have masculine and feminine power - the Yin and Yang, but in a relationship, we truly see how feminine energy brings power to a couple, our society and the world

2) Femininity is a different kind of power, it's about intuition, creativity, flow and spontaneity

3) Vulnerability in a relationship is also a strength, setting boundaries to feel safe

4) Doing the inner work to look at our triggers and the four phases of awareness. Working on this will bring an inner calm, which is then reflected to the external world and affects people and situations around us.

5) Vibrations and Vibes! Is it woo woo?! How we are all energetic beings and we can feel others positive or negative energy around us.

6) Women in sexless marriage, and what this means to their self-worth. Not "being enough", not feeling attractive - don't just work on the outside, also work on the inside feminine energy, which can be a lot of fun!

7) Sisterhood - a safe place to empower each other and connect to our sexuality

8) Self-love is about wholeness and loving every part of yourself completely

9) Finding the right language to talk about sexuality and debunking the myths and taboos about sex and what the "norm" is

10) Learning about the female body and what pleases you, then learning how to communicate your needs to your partner.

11) "Women are like water, men are like fire" How do we get into our feminine power? Slow down and be aware. Yoga, sexual practices, breathing and not being serious or perfectionist help with sexual embodiment. Do things for fun, that includes exploring sex for fun to keep long term relationships interesting.

12) How couples work is different to couples counselling. Couples work is more somatic, i.e. eye gazing, which generates oxytocin - the bonding hormone, or belly-to-belly breathing, as examples of connection practices

13) Being present with someone is more healing than "fixing" them Expressing not repressing your emotions, but in a controlled and directed way.

14) Start your own sisterhood! In this time of social distancing, you can have online meetings and celebrate life together!

We invited Graham Barkus from The Human Factor to talk to us about corporate wellness and why it’s more important than ever to start thinking about the health and longevity of a company outside of the $ sign

1) What are the 6 important ingredients to create a healthy and positive work space

2) What are the 3 R's in corporate wellness (and it's not Reading, wRiting, aRithmetics)

3) What can we do to help companies take up on this concept and turn it into a reality

Philip from The INL Podcast interviews Laurena and Vanessa. 

We talked about how we discovered integrative medicine, the good, the bad and the ugly of allopathic medicine and integrative medicine (we’re not taking sides!), and what we think will help to bridge that gap and move healthcare forward. 

What have Laurena and Vanessa been up to? Swimming and running for fun! 

1) How Laurena started to learn how to "breathe" and that it helped her feel calmer, sleep better, and relax her muscles more. 

2) Breathing is much more than delivering oxygen to the lungs! Reasons why people breathe through their mouths; the importance of nitric oxide, the nasal passage, the vagal tone, and effects on the rest of the body. 

3) Breathing and panic attacks; longer exhalation helps to improve parasympathetic tone. 

4) Laurena talks about her personal experience with sudarshan kriya and ujjayi pranayama. 

5) The effects of mouth breathing on children's facial structure and their mental health. 

6) How to assess "functional breathing" with Dr. Rosalba Courtney; breath hold technique to teach children how to nose breath (Konstantin Buteyko method - breath holding time) 

7) The health problems with mouth breathing in adults, and increased risk of chronic diseases. 

8) How to learn abdominal "belly" breathing; using Heart Math Institute's Inner Balance for coherence training and improving heart rate variability; useful apps such as Breathing and Insight Timer for 4-6/7-8 breathing or box/square breathing (which helped Vanessa' patient reduce his ADHD meds!). 

9) Mouth taping, nose strips, and assessment for breathing difficulties and obstructive sleep apnoea. 

Laurena and Vanessa in hot and cold places! 

1) Common supplements that we see our patients taking - fish oil, multivitamins, B complex, melatonin, & calcium; pros and cons of taking these, and things to be aware of, such as high doses or not using them in conjunction with lifestyle changes  

2) Common medications and nutrient depletion - antibiotics, steroids, oral contraceptive pills, statins, proton pump inhibitors, antidepressants, mood stabilisers and paracetamol 

Laurena went to a temple to make offerings, Vanessa and Melanie are skiing in Japan. Melanie is a midwife and entrepreneur of No Pong - all natural anti-odourant 

1) Mel's philosophy of midwifery, and what male midwives are called (It's not mid-husband!) 

2) The role of a midwife in pregnancy, and Mel's common sense approach to helping women throughout pregnancy 

3) Working with women on different dietary patterns, cravings and nutrient repletion after pregnancy 

4) Prenatal care in Tanzania and how being active makes a difference to labour; Asian cultures with postnatal care and lactation; Iron supplementation in East Timor and increased risk of spina bifida - folate supplementation should start 3 months BEFORE pregnancy 

5) Preparing for pregnancy - nutrition, rest, stress management (stress increases cortisol, reduces oxytocin and progesterone), and ENJOY 

6) Common misconceptions about sleeping on your back, coffee and alcohol - use common sense! 

7) Unrealistic expectations and negative emotions around pregnancy - just trust your body 

8) The partner's role in a pregnancy, and how the lifestyle of the man affects the health of the pregnancy 

Happy New Year/Chinese New Year! A year's gone by quickly!  

1) The Game Changers on Netflix and the Joe Rogan podcasts with Chris Kresser, and then with Chris and James Wilks in a verbal MMA  

2) Vegan diet in our context is a whole-foods, 100% plant-based diet, not alcohol, corn chips and refined sugar  

3) The Standard American/Australian/Asian Diet, or the Standard Modern Diet  

4) Plants are full of antioxidants, polyphenols and other goodies of Nature  

5) Minerals in plants and how they can be better absorbed  

6) Vitamin B3 or niacin in corn and the story of the vampires! (and Vanessa got the disease name wrong the first time)  

7) Herbs, spices and hormesis - Vitamin B12, omega-3, iron, carnitine and choline; blood tests for checking B12 and iron levels  

8) Personalised diet - the right diet/food pattern for you in a certain period of time in your life, for a certain health status - it's constantly changing!  

Laurena is in Bali trying to talk over the thunderstorm! Vanessa just bagged a peak at Mount Koscuiszko, and also went kayaking where she burnt her legs - so is this a problem for skin cancer?! 

1) Skin cancer - UVA, UVB, balancing how to get enough vitamin D vs protecting from harmful effects of the sun; what sunscreen to use, lifestyle changes to reducing risk of skin cancer   

2) Acne - causes of acne such as bacteria, sebum accumulation, inflammation and nutritional deficiency; proper skin care routine and use of probiotics; how long term antibiotics and roaccutane may have adverse effects   

3) Eczema - food intolerance such as dairy, soy, wheat, some nuts and seeds   

4) Rosacea - different causes such as alcohol, SIBO, H. pylori infection; investigations to rule out underlying causes; conventional treatment with antibiotics, topical treatment and nutrient repletion of vitamin A, zinc, omega-3 and omega-6 (gamma linoleic acid)   

5) General tips for healthy skin: a plate of colourful vegetables; a nutrient-dense diet with vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and protein; oral collagen up-regulates pathways in the body to make more collagen in your skin, bones and cartilage; adding vitamin C increases absorption of collagen; use good quality sunscreen and hydrate well   

6) "Freckles" in Asian skin are not always freckles, but naevus of Hori (or Hori's naevus) and can be genetic. Seek medical advice for accurate diagnosis and treatment 

1) How Laurena and Alvina met. Alvina's a mother, pharmacist, and bodybuilder!

2) Alvina is an integrative pharmacist, a national fitness model winner, a published author, a businesswoman and a mother of two!

3) What led Alvina to the Integrative path was her son and helping him with his eczema

4) Dairy and eczema

5) Gluten for kids?

6) Pain management with magnesium

7) Integrative consultation for polypharmacy and how a patient of Alvina's improved in four weeks with just one simple change

8) Oral contraceptive pills