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In this episode, Dr Laurena and Beth Wright (Functional Medicine Health Coach) discuss their online group program starting in September for women who are perimenopausal or in the menopause transition. We covered:
1. How we both connected and how
we are collaborating together on the Thrive Through Menopause Program
2. The goal is to change the perception of menopause to one in which is a positive experience where you can thrive
3. Provide a supportive and non-judgemental community for women to discuss their challenges
4. Provide updated information and resources that are specific for women in the areas of nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress management and symptoms
5. Health coaching helps provide the support and accountability in creating new habits
You can take a look at the program details, FAQs, send enquiries and sign up for this program here: https://www.bfit-thewrightway.com/menopause-program
You can follow Beth on her social @bfit_thewrightway
Dr Laurena's social @doc_laurena also shares information on functional and nutritional approaches to hormone health -
We had a lovely time with Charles who interviewed us for his show on the Three Things, so we each came up with one thing and between the three of us made up the numbers! We talked about what is the one thing we learned so far from our time on this earth, James Bond movies, how to lose weight (and it has nothing to do with diet or exercise!), our best home-cooked dishes, telling a tiger mum the truth, swhat we would be doing if we were not doctors, and what to look forward to in 2022.
You can find Charles on his Twitter and podcast Three Things
https://twitter.com/ca_lankester
https://podcasts.apple.com/ro/podcast/what-are-your-three-things/id1571247074
https://open.spotify.com/show/14B2kPExZM5ypWCyAjVAnE
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In this episode Vanessa was interviewed by Charles on the podcast “What are your Three Things” - what are the three things you would say to your 21 year old self? We explored mental health issues particularly how COVID has impacted us, farty chairs, how to be kind to oneself, open-mindedness, her passion of 2021, and what she cannot live without.
This episode was originally aired on Three Things and was kindly allowed to be reproduced here. Check out Three Things on your favourite podcast platform! -
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
You can find Eric at SameHereGlobal and the podcast We're All a little Crazy
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Laurena interviews a long-time friend Siobhan (pronounced Shiv-on). She is a mother, lover, writer and a soulful executive coach. She works with women who desire to do meaningful work and who desire to live, love and lead in ways that are sustainable, soul-aligned and liberating. You can connect with her 1:1 or through her workshops at www.siobhanbarnes.com.
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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
Mayo clinic on hypnosis
Singer who sang through surgery under hypnosis
You can find Christine at Rewed Edge or her hypnosis app UpNow
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Today's guest is Dr. Nicolette Ray, a UK-trained family medicine doctor who is now teaching at the medical faculty, The University of Hong Kong.
Nicolette shared her own journey of healing from Grave's disease, from nutrition, stress management, lifestyle changes, and of course- Reiki!
What is Reiki? How does it "work"? Is it some kind of woo-woo energy thing?
How Nicolette used Reiki on herself, on her father's heart surgery recovery, and how energy can be "sent" across the globe to help others heal from a distance
Vanessa shares her experience of Reiki with Nicolette after her cervical spinal disc replacement surgery
Laurena shares her experience in cardiology with using heart rate variability to help manage stress
All three doctors discuss medical humanities, how to be a "healer" and not just a "doctor", and having compassion and empathy for those we help, and what a privilege it is to be able to do so.
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Today we have a reality TV star with us! Dino is a meditation teacher, hypnotherapist, Reiki master, author of A Miner Who Wins Inner Peace, founder of The Modern Yogi Co, and the “spiritual guru” in Married At First Sight Australia Season 6!
Dino just did his quarantine in Perth so we asked him what he did to prepare for it, and hacks for staying physically, mentally and emotionally well.
We were also curious to hear about his experience in MAFS and how he dealt with the drama.
We explored different kinds of breath work and the science behind it.
We discussed Past Life Regression and what it is useful for, and what conditions and people are suitable for it (warning - this is not medical advice, speak to your healthcare professional first).
He spoke about meditation and how it literally saved his life, and we all shared our personal meditative practices that works for us.
You can find Dino on Instagram as Dino_Hira or on his website https://www.themodernyogi.co/
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Alvina's journey of self care, how she uses visualisation to be kind to onself, her matcha tea ceremony, morning routines.
Compassion for self and others - The Skill of Being: acceptance, observing without judging, not taking self too seriously, and we don't have to be perfect!
Personalised nutrition and health, Alvina's bioindividual nutrition course and Laurena's PH360 course
How coaching can help clients achieve their goals, information doesn't necessary mean behavioural changes will come about!
Setting boundaries as part of self care
You can find Alvina at https://www.alvinafoo.com or IG: https://instagram.com/msalvinafoo?igshid=xcqb2zwwb22l
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Laurena and Vanessa interviews Amy, a clinical nutritionist and nutritional researcher, and the managing director of Vallotte Nutrigenomics Limited in Hong Kong. She also has a law degree and is a mother of 3!
Amy talks about her own health journey with her thyroid condition, which set her path to becoming a nutritionist to use food as her medicine and reverse her own autoimmune condition.
We talked about the blood test markers for hypothyroidism and what autoimmunity means
The 5R framework - Remove, Replace, Re-innoculate, Repair, Rebalance
How gut health, thyroid health and food are related in autoimmunity
Common foods to remove during the first 3 weeks of elimination diet, and how to personalise it for different people
How to improve Immune tolerance to food, toxins and other allergens
Why Amy finds stool testing useful in making a nutritional plan for her clients
What functional foods and nutrients Amy finds helpful for gut and thyroid health
Lifestyle changes that support recovery in thyroid conditions
Peptides that may be promising adjuncts in the management of thyroid conditions
You can find Amy here and you can see her a client through her virtual practice
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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!
Find out more about Paul at Recovery Unplugged and Face the Music, his book, his YouTube channel, and various mainstream media.
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Now it's Vanessa's turn to be interviewed by Philip Watkins, ND and Director of Education at The INL Podcast. Philip has a background working in a mental health clinic back in Melbourne, and we delved into different topics from what is an integrative approach to understanding anxiety, how to make sense of research findings and apply that in a clinical setting, what are the laboratory testing that can be useful, how do we educate physicians and patients on the evolving treatments of mental health illnesses, how to be culturally sensitive towards patients' needs, and what Vanessa will put on her billboard.
Grateful for Philip and The INL Podcast to allow us to post the episode here. Check out the INL Podcast as well on your favourite platform! -
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!
Stokes and Pillsbury coined the term gut-skin axis in 2011
How food impacts our gut diversity and the health of our intestinal barrier, which then impacts on neuroinflammation and the relevance of Substance P in skin health
Observational studies on acne & sugar; eczema & dairy; psoriasis & gluten; rosacea & spicy food, but there's also a lot of individuality in response, hence it's important to review all your symptoms comprehensively
Why sleep, minimising sugary foods and drinks (including artificial sweeteners), drinking water and regular bowel movement are important for skin health.
Then the geeky part - different kinds of microorganisms that can affect skin health; clinical signs and symptoms related to skin conditions; immune-modulating therapies and various peptides for skin conditions.
And finally, Dr. Laurena's best tips for great skin (hint: they're free!)
Grateful for Philip and The INL Podcast to allow us to post the episode here. Check out the INL Podcast as well on your favourite platform!
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Vanessa was "Starr"-struck to have Freddy Starr M.D. on the podcast to talk about brain training with neurofeedback. Dr. Starr began his career in Brain Computer Interface Technology and was trained as a psychiatrist, until he made the jump to be a "neuropractor" and was board certified in QEEG and Neurofeedback in 2007. He has been recognized as one of the "Pioneers of Neurofeedback in the past fifty years" by a group of his peers in a book entitled: Neurofeedback: The First Fifty Years. His company Myneurva has recently received a patent for using AI to analyse brain maps to improve our understanding in this field.
If you're new to this topic, this will be a great 101 podcast to get you started with the basics. (Apologies for the patchy audio, Dr. Starr's in Costa Rica where they are having biblical rainstorms)
What's a brainwave?
What types of brainwaves are there?
How do we measure it (EEG) and what's the difference with QEEG?
What does the brain map tell us when someone presents with symptoms such as anxiety or flashbacks?
What's the difference between classical vs operant conditioning, and which type is neurofeedback based on
Are there any side effects from neurofeedback? Can it make symptoms worse?
To find out more please go to myneurva.com or see Dr. Starr's bio on LinkedIn -
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.
You can find out more on Joint Dynamics on their website
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Today we get to interview Dr. Jeremy Alford, a clinical psychologist based in Bali. Laurena and I met Jeremy at a health networking event in Bali, and we were impressed by Jeremy's wealth of knowledge and broad experience. So to reflect this, we have tried to cover several topics that are dear and near to us all - COVID-19, eating disorders, trauma, and healing
1) Tell us more about Choices Retreat, how it all started, how it’s different to other retreats (wellness, medical, rehab etc.)
2) How the world situation is affecting our mental health and lives
3) What can we do to help restore some balance - creating new habits, having a sense of direction and control, and keeping a hopeful, positive mindset for introspection and self-improvement
4) Jeremy's experience with eating disorders, why he founded MEEDA, how social media has affected people with eating disorders and how to adapt to technology to send the right message
5) Jeremy's experience of Ananta Well-being's consultation
You can learn more about Dr Jeremy at his website, his Choices Retreat in Bali, do some guided meditations with him, or find out more about the Middle East Eating Disorders Association MEEDA -
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
You can find Dr. Weatherby at OptimalDX.com, Optimal - The Podcast, and his books Blood Chemistry and CBC Analysis: Clinical Laboratory Testing from a Functional Perspective and Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective
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Laurena talks to Emily about financial health (yes, this is also part of well-being!). Different cultures have different approaches to financial planning, and Emily shared what brought her to Hong Kong and why she felt aligned with her values of integrity, with purpose and meaning, when helping others work on their financial goals.
1) Having someone with your best interest at heart and compliments your needs. It may be daunting at first and uncomfortable to share sensitive details with a stranger, so find someone you trust.
2) Building a sustainable relationship, and advice on legacy planning
3) The Five Step Action Plan: start early and build good habits; review your insurance coverage; plan for the unexpected; speak to family about goals and aspirations; make plans to pass on the wealth
4) So how much do I need to retire?! Your journey from A to B
5) How to teach and encourage children to learn good financial habits and understanding the value of costs and budgeting
6) Financial health also includes care and responsibility towards our home and our environment, which affects our health and emotional well-being
7) How Emily uses a lifeline to help clients visualise and make financial planning more tangible.
You can find more about Emily at St. James' Place https://www.sjp.asia/ and her email is [email protected]
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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!
To find out more about Simon, please visit his website WellCoaches Australia , and to learn more about health coaching certification, please visit NBHWC
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Today we interviewed Laurena’s health coach Stefanie! This is what she has to say about health coaching:
1. What is a health coach
2. What skills do you need to be an effective health coach
3. How are you different to a customer service or clinical assistant
4. What are some challenges that you face as a health coach
5. Share some of your experiences of different clients and working with different practitioners.
To find out more about how to become a certified health coach, please visit https://nbhwc.org/
We hope you'll join in this movement towards optimal well-being!
- Vis mere
