Many of you know that I live with a chronic condition called Lupus. It’s an autoimmune condition that can be potentially life threatening.
Because I’ve been a health advocate since a young age, I was so confused when I was diagnosed with Lupus.
I had thought I was doing everything I believed to be healthy.
I was studying at Loma Linda University in California, which is considered one of the “blue zones”.
Blue zones are areas where people live at least a decade longer than the rest of the population.
I studied Nutrition and then Physical Therapy. Also, I was involved in health and longevity research with the school of public health.
I thought I was en route to be a health and wellness expert, with a bright career ahead with advanced degrees.
At Loma Linda, students were encouraged to observe sabbath, exercise, eat a vegetarian diet, and avoid stimulants like caffeine and alcohol.
How can anyone be sick here?
My Life Completely Changed
With my Doctoral degree in full swing, coupled with my type “A” tendency, I suppose I was more stressed than I was aware of.
I had always been disciplined, regimented, and planned everything ahead of time.
I exercised every morning, ate the foods I believed were healthy back then (full vegan), and attended church regularly.
So when I began to have symptoms that made me look sick, I was devastated.
I started losing patches of hair and developed rashes on my face and all over my body that I could not hide.
All the effort to be the epitome of health and wellness seemed ineffective and I felt so deflated.
I was not only disappointed, but I grew angry and frustrated because I felt the odds were stacked against me.
It didn’t matter what I did. I believed I was dealt bad genes and it just wasn’t fair.
My friends and family loved drinking, eating, and enjoyed themselves in ways I would not allow myself.
So I felt like a laughing stock for living by my agenda and not allowing myself to be carefree.
Learning the Importance of Balance
So Lupus became my curse initially but over time I grew curious. Curious as to why I got sick.
I felt it clearly wasn’t my genes, as I have a twin sister who is in perfect health despite her less than optimal dietary choices or aversion to exercise.
In retrospect, even though I exercised regularly, I remember always feeling sore and tired.
I shrugged it off at the time because common belief was no pain, no gain.
I believed my exercise regimen was healthy and my vegan diet was also healthy.
Knowing what I know today however, I realize the way I exercised wasn’t the best for my body and my so called vegan diet was far from healthy.
I was a runner, a cardio junkie, and even though I was eating a vegan diet, it was loaded with high glycemic fruits which were causing inflammation in my body.
More importantly, I now understand the importance of BALANCE.
Health is not just about exercise. It’s about healthy movement that allows for body-mind connection and awareness.
It’s also not just about diet. It’s about having a healthy relationship with food and understanding how food affects your body and mind.
And finally, it’s not just about stress management. It’s about tuning inward to silence your mind and practice being present everyday.
Imbalance Creates Disease
When this balance is thrown off, we get sick. The imbalance may present as digestive symptoms, anxiety, depression, cancer, autoimmune conditions, PCOS, etc.
We need to understand how our bodies work, but more importantly, we need to master our minds and bodies to tune inward.
Too often, we look for external inputs to tell us how to eat, exercise, or meditate.
From early on, we are taught to follow directions but we are never taught to listen to our body, to look inward, and tap into our potential for so much more.
When we begin to listen to our bodies and connect with then, we are then able to feed them what they need for the season, slow down and be present, and move with proper alignment and posture to promote a healthy environment physically, emotionally, biochemically, and spiritually.
This is what we call the Alkaline Method.
With the Alkaline Method we believe:
- Food is Medicine to promote gut health
- Movement is Medicine to promote physical health
- Mindfulness is Medicine to promote brain health.
The perfect food for your body is what your body craves and needs, not what others tell you is healthy.
The perfect movement or exercise is what your body needs to enhance metabolism and lubricate your joints.
It is not how others contort their bodies in yoga class or what your bootcamp instructor thinks you should do.
The perfect mindfulness is choosing to focus on your breath, being in the moment, having complete control over your body and mind through breath to cause a slowing of your heart rate and blood pressure.
This involves connecting to your body, knowing that you have full control over your mind and physiology.
Living the Alkaline Method
At Alkaline Wellness, we look to empower you to be your own physician.
With the Alkaline Method, we aim for you to learn to listen to your body, and eat, move, and think in ways that promote a healthy, balanced, alkaline body.
The Alkaline Method is a way of life. It involves the following:
- Moving to create strength, flexibility, alignment, stability, and proper posture to maintain healthy joints, bones, and muscles.
- Eating to nourish your cells, creating an alkaline state, and ultimately heal your body so that you can enjoy health and vitality for life.
- Cultivating mindfulness to be more present and find joy, compassion, and love in all aspects of your life.
We believe the more people we touch, the better this world will be.
There is no one size fits all approach. We are not about this or that diet, exercise, etc.
Being complacent with our lives and our health is not an option. We love challenging the status quo by rejecting all dogmas in any one discipline.
Our aim in to follow the natural order, look at the bigger picture, and help you create balance in your whole being by guiding you to become the healthiest version of yourself so you can make your distinct mark in the world.
Most importantly, we want to help you live a joyful and happy life full of love and compassion.
Thank you for your patronage and helping us spread the word.
Join the Alkaline Method Movement
We’ve got great plans to expand our services. We’ll soon be introducing new packages and programs, including
- Prenatal, pregnancy, and postpartum yoga
- Massage therapy
- Pilates and other movement
Stay tuned for more information on these packages and programs.
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Talk to you soon.