We all have a picture-perfect notion of our potential (whether we admit it or not).  We know what our ideal health looks like and you are all clear on what you wish you were doing.  Then why aren’t you doing it?

When we’re kids we have the utmost confidence in our bodies and in what our we’re potentially capable of. 

I’m sure I wasn’t the only 5 year who thought she could fly or breath underwater or become invisible.  As kids, we could run around all day, without running out of energy…having so much fun we’d forget to eat and go pee.  Unless we were down and out…we were on the move!

And then we grew up.  We became busy and stressed and tired…at least that’s we talk about.

We have a genetic requirement to walk at least 20 minutes per day, to drink water, to eat real food and to manage our stress.  The further we move away from these requirements, the closer we move toward disease. ...

When I was young, I had this undeniable, stronger than life sense of excitement for what life had to offer. 

I had an inherent trust in the idea of potential.  Possibilities gave rise to the promise of undiscovered beauty around every corner and under every rock.  The world was an inspiring place and life was made to be loved.

Some call this the innocence of childhood, the “la la land” version of the ideal…but certainly not realistic.  Most of us, however, can identify with this nostalgia to some degree.  At some point or another, we’ve all had a glimpse of inspiration, a knowing that life is meant to be expressed fully and that we are all meant to live our individual definition of success. 

After 18 years of sharing in the life of my community (as a chiropractor), I see that we all want the same thing.  We want to be happy, we want our kids to love life, we want to be inspired. 

If we agree that we all share this in...

This morning, I was having a conversation with a dear friend and colleague who was sharing this all too common scenario with me…She was in bed, procrastinating on getting up, thinking (for about an hour) about all the things she should have been doing as she laid there feeling guilty that she wasn’t “doing” these things.

In my chiropractic practice, we encounter this frequently.  People tell us that they “know” what they should be doing in order to for example…lose weight, cut out sugar, walk and/or exercise more regularly, spend more time cooking etc…Many of us spend an enormous amount of time “thinking” about what we should be “doing”. 

Most of us spend an enormous amount of time thinking about the same thing over and over again.  If fact, the experts say that 98% of our thoughts are exactly the same thoughts we had the day before and that 80% of these are “negative” in...

One of the top three reasons that people don’t seek out the health changes they want, need or could benefit from comes down to vulnerability.

We’ve all grown up with a set of premises surrounding our health and its outcomes.  Premises that sound like the following: 

“Life is short”

“Life’s a bitch and then you die”

“No news is good news”

“Don’t fix it if it’s not broken”

“Ignorance is bliss”

“Why reinvent the wheel?”

These premises become deeply ingrained by the time we’re 7 years old and they make up our set of false “truths”

The crutch that universally holds us back is FEAR.

We’d like to start something new like…a new exercise program but we don’t because we’re afraid to fail OR more precisely,  we’re afraid of what people will think of us if we fail.

Many of us have quietly bold and audacious daydreams of the things...

Busy seems to be something by which we pride ourselves on. 

The busier we are, the more productive we feel.  Busyness is a cultural badge of courage.

A famous Buddhist once said, if you don’t have an hour to meditate, then you need to meditate for 2 hours. 

I was watching my dog this morning, looking out the kitchen patio door at a rabbit eating birdseed in the backyard.  I opened the door for my dog to leap out but she didn’t.  I watched her slow down to almost a complete stop for quite some time (despite the temptation) before darting after the rabbit. 

With distractions around every corner, it’s possible to never have the opportunity to slow down. Sitting and not moving our bodies while we’re on Facebook or Pinterest or Netflix is not the same as "being still”. 

Have you ever been so sick with a cold or with the flu that not only are you not moving physically but your brain won’t even let you watch tv, or read...

We all have a list of “things” that we say we want to start but for whatever reason, we’ve placed on hold.

Exercise ranks up at the top of the “I want to or need to start”.  Much like water, good food and sleep, exercise is one of our genetic requirements.  Without exercise, our overall function decreases and the longer we go without it, we begin to “lose” the health potential we were all born with.

If we can agree that without movement, we move toward sickness, then why can’t we find the motivation to START moving?

In my conversation with people inside and outside my practice, what I know is that when we’re not inspired, we don’t mobilize.  We’re inspiration driven and inspiration ultimately is all that speaks to us.

In my late thirties, I began running.  Prior to this, I avoided running like the plague. My husband runs, my friends run, and my boys need a role model.   I decided that I...

Malcolm Gladwell talks about how it takes 10,000 hours to master anything, even for those born with masterful gifts. 

From toddlerhood, we’re taught that there’s no free lunch, that the law of exchange states that you can’t get something for nothing.  We’re told over and over that we get out of life what we put into it and that the glory is found in the work and the grit and the laser-sharp focus.  That money doesn’t grow on trees, that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is and that we should never feel entitled to anything.

Hard work, diligence, perseverance and slow and steady are seemingly ingrained premises. 

Why is it then, we’re inundated with contradictions and unrealistic solutions being served on proverbial sliver platters everywhere we look.

QUICK FIXES.  Miracle cures.  Pills, Lotions, Potions.   6 pack ab machines we can use while we’re watching TV, red wine is so good for...

They say that the majority of the thoughts we have day in and day out are the exact replica of the thoughts we had the day before and the day before that.  Original thoughts are actually very rare because by the time we’re 7 years old, we’ve established the auto-repeat of the “tape” which sets the tone for how we think for the rest of our lives…unless we flip the switch.

This morning, I ran to work.  I left the house at the same time, wore the same clothes, listened to the same playlist and took the same route I always take.  I thought about the week ahead and I became a bit grumpy.

I have my first (and possibly my last) triathlon on Sunday. 

I don’t know what to expect. 

I’m nervous about the bike ride.

It feels unpredictable and unknown.  Instead of being able to rely on the comfort of my every day, day in and day out thoughts, I am having to formulate thoughts in expectation of the unknown. 

This has...

We have the “how-to” for everything to do with our health at the tap of a phone or the click of a mouse.  We have social media, apps, websites, podcasts, coaches and research papers, all intentioned to educate and inform us.

Access to more information is not what we’re missing because at this point in time we all have unlimited resources everywhere look.  Why is it then that we seem more confused than ever with what it means to be truly healthy?

Putting butter and fat bombs in our coffee helps some of us lose weight.  Taking shots of apple cider vinegar and cayenne pepper stimulates our digestion. Rubbing our faces with Jojoba oil invigorates our skin.  Turmeric helps with our pains and swelling and intermittent fasting helps us detox. 

The accumulation (and then some) of the above hot topics are added to our list of other should of, would of, could of…BUT do they tell us anything about how healthy we are?

Our North American health...

Pick a fad, any fad!  Intermittent fasting, bulletproof coffee, Ketosis supplementing, high interval training, CBD oils, carnivore diet, B12 shots, magnets, PH specific water…you name it.

With social media, podcasts, push notifications, webinars, and unlimited data, the world is our oyster.  The “catch” with access to unlimited information at the click of a button is that it can feel like drinking from a firehose.  Being an “all in” type of person, I particularly sympathize with those of you who feel like the more information you have access to, the less you know and the more you have to do.

I have conversations every day with parents, entrepreneurs, athletes, hard workers, and lovers of the healthy lifestyle who are frequently caught up in the hottest dangling proverbial golden carrot of health.

We live in a paradigm of pills, potions and lotions, where quick fixes, just like instant access, are expected. 

I get it.  I enjoy...