3 Things To Help Deep Sleep

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Lack of sleep is one of the most typical issues I get asked about. We live in a stress-filled world, where we are constantly exposed to nervous system overstimulation through our electronic devices and smart phones, wifi and EMF.  Add to that, it is well-known that addictions and eating disorders cause major damage to the sleep related neurohormones, serotonin and melatonin. Luckily once you have weaned off drugs, you can reset your sleep cycle. Read on to get my favorite 3 remedies to help the body get back into deep sleep mode in 3 months or less....

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Why weightloss and appetite suppressant drugs make you fatter.

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Because you can't stick to a 1500 calorie model-starvation diet, doesn't make you a food addict or a weak will-powered individual - it makes you human. 

Being hungry is normal - you eat and it goes away. Being hungry and not being a size 2, is not a reason to ask your doctor for speed, because you "have difficulty focusing...".  The stimulant class of medication includes widely used drugs such as Tenuate, Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine.  Stimulants work by increasing dopamine and often also endorphins in the brain. So what's the downside?

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The biochemical breakdown of food addiction

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More of us than ever struggle with eating - whether it be obsessing over the latest diet trend and turning it into a substitute religion, or it be craving food beyond or hunger. Not all of us are prone to food addiction. It depends whether we have the underlying biochemical vulnerability for this AND it gets activated. The 2 key chemicals involved in binge eating are serotonin and endorphin. 

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How To Detox Your Mind

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An untamed mind runs like wild horses. As scenic and romantic as that might sound, I can assure you that is not so, when it comes to our internal mind chatter. Quite the contrary. So we know that our mind controls our emotions, and that our emotions affect our physical state of wellbeing and organ health. The logical question then is: what controls the mind? Breathing. Breathing is the king of the mind. Breathing instantly takes us from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic nervous system response. Our reptilian brain is in charge of our response to life when we are in the sympathetic nervous system. Our reptilian mind is like a snake. It's sneaky and wants to attack and react. That's why many of us get lost in running after things like power, sex, binge behaviors and money.... always more, more more. 

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Are you Relaxed or Relapsed? +FREE Chemical Calorie Guide

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In recovery we reach a point, where we want to relax a bit more. We get tired of structure and the rigidness of treatment, accountability and showing up everyday without numbing out via our preferred drug of choice. Many books talk about intuitive eating and "just listening to your body". And while I agree with this concept at large, the crucial issue here is, that timing matters for this concept to work in reality. It is far to easy to go from relaxed to relapsed - especially when it concerns disordered eating behaviors. Simply because every day we make choices surrounding foods, whereas with drugs and alcohol it is cold-turkey for a recovering addict. There are especially 3 things that can make it difficult to "listen to your body"...

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Transcending our limiting beliefs.

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I was at The Longevity Conference in Anaheim, California last week with a bunch of health nuts like Dr. Mercola, Ron Teeguarden, Dave Asprey and David Avocado Wolfe - as charismatic as they are, not much health nut news there.  However, what really stood out was this guy whom I happened to stumble upon. He is absolutely brilliant in the field of transformation and transcending limiting belief systems. Check out below video where Kute Blackson talks about the importance of dyeing once before we die. This is crucial for anyone who is in recovery - we must let go of all the mental blocks that have held us chained to our past limiting beliefs. 

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Addiction in Hollywood is a reflection of world wide soul hunger.

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Each one of us has a battle, that we fight in this lifetime. That is why it makes no sense to compare us to each other. The battles are different, yet our perception is what makes for the pain experience. And that is what matters: our perception. We all hurt the same and go through the same pain, yet the triggers and the way we deal with it differs greatly. What may trigger pain in one person, may seem like a piece of cake to another. And for some, the piece of cake is the trigger. The bottomline here is not the cake, although I do love cake. The point is, that it doesn't matter what the trigger is. The only thing that matters is our filter. In other words, our resilience and ability to deal with what is our unique weakness. Our willingness to be excruciatingly honest with where we are right now, in order to determine the next step to progress at a soul level.

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Guess What Drug 2 Handfuls of Cashews Mimick?

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Prozac. That's right, 2 handfuls of cashews are the therapeutic equivalent of a prescription dose of Prozac. Consider that antidepressant work by by affecting serotonin. However, with time antidepressants have been found to actually DRAIN brain serotonin and deplete much needed B vitamins - why suicidal rates actually increase on antidepressant ironically. 2 handfuls of cashews provides two thousand milligrams of tryptophan. Tryptophan is the precursor of serotonin, which will work as well as prescription antidepressants and without later side effects of draining existing serotonin levels! 

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Raw vs. Cooked Food

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In response to last week's article on the energetics of food, I want to answer a question I get all the time from clients, "should I be eating raw, isn't that superior in nutrient contents to cooked foods?'. The answer is it depends - on your body's current state of health. You need to determine the vessel in which the fuel goes into, before mindlessly thinking that one-size-fits-all fuel will automatically be the best.  Energetically, raw foods are very airy, energizing and "elevating". They are NOT nurturing, grounding or calming. This means, if you are sluggish, heavy and toxic as many of us are, who have been living off to much chemical laden take-away stuff, then going raw can be a God's sent to restore energy and vibrancy. However, through an addiction lens, raw foods is not ideal for making out the majority of your meals in nutrition in recovery. The very essence of anyone struggling with an addiction or disordered eating is that the air element is out of whack. In Western science terms, the air element refers to our central nervous system. This means, you want to eat to feel more grounded, calm and connected - not eat to feel even more airy and disconnected, which is what living off a raw diet will do, if your air element is out of balance.

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An ancient time-tested remedy for brain + central nervous system.

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After stress, drugs or alcohol your brain and central nervous system suffers greatly. Many in recovery feel like their nerves are raw. When you talk to them, you can almost feel how exposed they are. They have no filter. They have no tolerance for anymore stressors. They are naked. This is not a great feeling - pretty stressful in itself actually. This explains why many go back to drugs, foods, alcohol to try to numb out again. A key remedy to help restore strength, stamina and satisfaction, including being a memory and intelligence enhancer, is black sesame paste.

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Do You Have Leaky Gut?

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I talk a lot about brain chemistry when dealing with health issues. The thing is, a major part of our neurotransmitters are found in our gut. So if something is up with our digestion, our mental health + emotional stability will be affected to some degree. What does this have to do with nutrition in recovery? Well, I've never met an addict who didn't have leaky gut. Drugs - whether street or prescription matters not - is the no. 1 major culprit involved in the epidemic of digestive disorders we are seeing today. What other factors trigger leaky gut? 

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The 3 Aspects of Nourishment

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Addiction is one of the greatest health issues facing Western society today. When I say addiction, I do not mean necessarily hardcore drug or alcohol addiction. The term addiction encompasses almost all self-destructive patterns or behaviors. We are experiencing a lack of control in some area of our life. Some kind of behavior that provides instant relief or distraction to escape the fact, that we are not feeding all 3 aspects of what defines us as a human being - that is why we are not thriving in this skin we are in. What are the 3 aspects of being a human?

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Sleep timing for optimal recovery.

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You might know that 8 - 9 hrs sleep is recommended for general health. However, what you might not know is that WHEN you sleep is absolutely vital during recovery. We know that physical recovery and healing takes place from 10 PM - 2 AM. What is the science behind this time you might ask? Well, approximately 3 hrs after dark the output of ACTH of the pituitary decrease, allowing the cortisol to come down. Elevated cortisol is an inhibitor of Human Growth Hormone (early adrenal stage insufficiency where cortisol is chronically elevated). This puts your body naturally in the perfect biochemical state for cellular repair mode. Only if you are sleeping, though.

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Beyond Yoga: Bridging The Body-Mind-Soul Gap.

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Feeling, sensing, embracing are all essential skills for living creatures to survive in this world. Dancers, actors, musicians, race car drivers, surfers and athletes usually have incredible kinesthetic awareness. This body awareness is something that most of us had as kids. Everyone who goes down a path of self-destruction disconnects from this awareness - and feels, well, disconnected, lost and without any sense of inner guidance; thus spiraling out of control.

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Why our BRAINS get ADDICTED

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The pull of addiction is beyond human control. Neuroscientist Nora Volkow is a pioneer in addiction medicine and director of National Institute of Drug Abuse at NIH. In this talk which was taped at TEDMED 2014, she applies the lens of addiction to eating disorders and obesity; describing the brain chemical issues at play. TEDMED features the brightest minds in health + medicine at their yearly conference.

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HOW do you change habits?

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So there is a lot of advice out there telling you WHY you need to change beliefs, habits and lifestyle to achieve the life you truly desire to live. And that's great and all. Many of us are aware that we need to change. Many of us are painfully aware of the self-destructive things we do, that we wish would just vanish. Every Monday we start a new. Every year we set the same resolutions. And days turn into weeks that turn into months, years. The story of our life. If we think back on all those years - decades even, that we have tried and tried and yet we are exactly where we started; it can seem quite depressing. The question most of us are left stuck with is HOW. As in HOW do I change - I understand I need to, but HOW do I do it? There are 5 qualities that facilitate change. Without them you will stay stuck in Neverland. So what are the 5 qualities that will facilitate the change you want? Let's dive in.

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