Episode 31: Healing Beyond Symptoms | Lynsi Lewis | Doctor of Chinese Medicine & Wellness Expert
Lynsi Lewis, Doctor of Chinese Medicine, acupuncturist, herbalist, and yoga teacher, has built her San Diego practice around one mission: treating the whole person, not just the symptoms. Raised in small-town Alabama, she once believed healing only came through traditional Western medicine. Discovering holistic medicine transformed her life, and now she’s helping others transform theirs. We cover the gaps in America’s healthcare system, why women’s reproductive health needs more attention, the science-backed benefits of acupuncture, and the courage it takes to be fully authentic. Lynsi also shares practical tips for everyday wellness and how prevention can change your health journey. If you’ve ever wondered how to feel better, live healthier, and stay true to yourself, this conversation will leave you with insights and tools you can use today.
“We’re told from a really early age that health and beauty is about the way we look and is about how much you weigh. It’s just stepping away from that, especially as women, that our health doesn’t equal our weight.”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters:
00:00 Meet Lynsi Lewis and her journey from Alabama to holistic medicine
05:12 The turning point that led her to Chinese Medicine
12:30 The difference between treating symptoms and healing the root cause
18:42 Women’s reproductive health myths and truths
25:50 The science and benefits of acupuncture
33:15 How to create daily wellness rituals that stick
40:02 Building a wellness business in San Diego
48:27 What authenticity looks like in life and work
55:11 Quick, practical self-care tips from a Doctor of Chinese Medicine
I think we're told from a really early age that health and beauty is about the way that we look and it's about the weight on the, how much you weigh or, and it's just like stepping away from that, especially as women and understanding that our health does not equal our weight.
That's Lynsi Lewis and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Hey guys, I'm your host, Kara Duffy, and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast where I invite my favorite humans, the awesome, the up to something, and the extraordinary to come and share their story. I hope that you'll be left, entertained, inspired, and moved. To take action towards living your most powerful life.
Lynsi Lewis is a doctor of Chinese medicine, an acupuncturist, an herbalist, and a yoga teacher who practices out of San Diego, California. Growing up in small town Alabama, she assumed the only way to help heal people was through traditional medicine. When she discovered holistic and to us Westerner's alternative medicine, it was a complete game changer.
On this episode, we talk about healthcare in America, the not discussed enough women's reproductive health, the continuing to be discovered by science benefits of acupuncture, plus how to be your fully expressed self. All that and so much more coming up. But first, do you know the number one thing that you can do to keep this podcast going and to help us get more kudos out in the world and to have more people know about us?
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Thank you for being on The Powerful Ladies Podcast. Welcome. Thank you. Happy to be here. Let's start by telling everyone, listening who you are and what you're up to. Yeah, my name it's Lynsi Lewis and I currently reside in San Diego, California. And yeah, I'm currently, I just finished up my doctoral program and I am a licensed acupuncturist or bullis and yoga teacher.
And yeah, that's basically where I'm at in the world.
Very cool. So I was
starting a new business then. Yeah.
And. Where did your journey begin? Where are you from? Where did you grow up? I was born and raised in
Alabama, a really small city called Enterprise, and in the southeast portion of Alabama. So we lived on a farm and had that upbringing, and it was amazing.
I hadn't had much of experience outside of being in a small town, so as soon as I was old enough, I moved to Atlanta and was there for a few years doing medical school thinking that was my path. That's, whenever you're born and raised in Alabama, you don't have a lot of exposure to alternative healthcare.
And the different fields that. Those things can embody. So when I knew that I wanted to be some type of healer or caregiver, the only construct that I had was traditional medical school. So I did that for a few years and realized that it just wasn't for me. It felt like I wasn't having the opportunities to actually.
Go into preventative medicine and have that one-on-one patient care like I wanted, there's a lot of pressure in traditional medical school to go in and out, see as many patients as you can. And for me, I just didn't feel like I had that freedom and I didn't want to be that type of practitioner.
Yeah. I took a term off and then came over to San Diego with my ex to just take a break and see what it was about and completely fell in love with the people and the land and the ocean here and yeah, and found an amazing alternative medical school here that I transferred into, and yeah, had to drop out of med school and have a lot of money that didn't get me a degree, so it was a really hard transition from.
That med school to here. But I have zero regrets, so I'm so happy doing what I'm doing now.
How did you discover the alternative options in healing and in medicine?
Yeah, so it's really funny actually, the school that I was in Atlanta it was called Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
So it stood for, we called it p om. So every time we would type in that to our Google, when we were doing our courses, this other school popped up and it's the school that I transferred into actually. So they're both called p Om. The one that I just graduated from is Pacific College Oriental Medicine. So whenever I was here visiting, I actually just told my partner at the time that I wanted to step in and see what it was all about, and I went and had my first acupuncture treatment and met the most incredible people there.
And it just was a very I'm at home type of feeling and but yeah, before that I had just looked into different alternative at. Basically put it into Google. Yeah. I was like what other alternatives are there? Like, how else can I be a healthcare provider but not do it in this, the way that I have been and yeah, my partner was, he was from Belgium and he had more experience in alternative medicine, so he helped direct me into exploring these avenues.
And I was diving into yoga a lot at that time too. So yeah, I stumbled upon it all when I was focusing on my own, like spiritual evolution and self-care and it just plopped in my lap. So yeah.
For people who don't know what is under the umbrella of alternative medicine and treatments, yeah.
It can really embody different things. What I specifically do, as I said, I do acupuncture and herbology. So prescribing natural herbs as medicine instead of pharmaceuticals. Which as most people know, have a lot of side effects or, dependency issues that come along with that. So that's Chinese medicine is what I practice.
You can also do homeopathy and or be like a naturopathic doctor. And in those cases, with being a naturopathic physician, you're able to prescribe, prescribe medicines, but being more mindful about what you're prescribing. And also you can do injections like B12 injections and basically the focus with alternative medicine is on prevention of disease versus just treating the symptoms as they arrive.
Because in allopathic medicine, they're great, which is traditional medicine, they're great. Diagnoses and prescribing drugs and fixing symptoms. But oftentimes you still have an underlying cause that's not being recognized. That's not being treated. So you'll have a patient continuously coming in for things that could have been treated if you would've, started off at the beginning and focused on prevention.
And it's harder, you have to have patients that are obviously, committed to their health because it often involves diet and lifestyle changes, but you feel so much better as a person from doing those. Yeah. And you save money on medical bills in the future.
I think that it's much more common in Europe, as you pointed out, and also in California, like maybe coastal states to go to a more natural approach to medicine and wellness coming from like Alabama. What have been the biggest differences you've seen in how the general population views medicine and health? And has that changed from when you first left Alabama to when you've gone back recently?
Yeah, it's definitely changed.
Like I said, there just, there didn't have, we still don't have any alternative. Practitioners out there especially in a small city where I'm from. If you go to the bigger cities, you may find it, but it's really sad because we're not even allowed to practice or I could not legally practice my medicine in the state of Alabama.
Legally, like the state has ruled legislation that does not allow me to practice what I do. That's crazy. And hopefully that's changing. It's, year by year more states jump on board, but there are a few, Alabama being one of them where I can't legally practice, so that's really sad, but. If they were there, I feel like people are definitely open to it.
Even from when I've started the program, it, I've had peop so many people from my hometown begging me to move back and have someone there that offers this medicine. So I think it's more about them just not being educated on what's out there. And not having people around. I think they're open to it a hundred percent.
Yeah. It's not like they're like, oh that's crazy. They just haven't, and America as a whole has yet to really understand the science of what alternative medicine can offer. But luckily there's a lot of research coming out each month, especially in the past few years, that are proving the efficacy of what we do in the scientific community.
So we can expect there to be more insurance coverage coming up and more of a federal. Recognition of what we do, which is exciting. But yeah, for Alabama, in regards to the health question, it's, I was having a conversation with my nurse friend too, and she's from the area around Atlanta, and she's dealing with a similar thing, realizing that it's harder for people or people on the west coast specifically they're more mindful of what they put in your bodies and the lifestyle that comes along with that.
And when you go to smaller places, especially the southeast, in general more of an unhealthy diet and not a big focus on health and the way that I see it. If there is, it's more about like calorie restrictions or Yeah. Carbohydrates versus the full body picture.
What about the full body picture? Do you wish more people knew? Yeah, I just think as American culture and around the whole world, especially as women, since this podcast is about powerful women, ladies I think we're told from a really early age that health and beauty is about the way that we look, and it's about the weight on the, how much you weigh or when you think of that nature.
And it's just like stepping away from that, especially as women and understanding that our health does not equal, our weight does not equal, are calorie and carbohydrate intake. And yeah, for me it's about having a, I'm all about intuitive dieting, so really honoring what your body's wanting instead of restricting certain things.
I feel like when you do that, you end up overcompensating later and. I think it's just all about being tapped in with what your body is wanting and honoring that. And most of the time that's movement and most of the time that's being outdoors and it's the natural antidepressant being out in nature, especially in southern California with our amazing weather.
But yeah, for me, the whole body picture is just, be mindful of what you're putting in your body and seeing food as medicine because it is. And also moving your body and just with dance, with whatever it is right. For you. Not necessarily going to the gym, but just honoring movement and how that can bring you joy.
And I'm a huge component of you don't need to go to the gym if you're not a gym person. Go dance. You can go on a hike, you can go, there's different ways to honor your desire for movement.
What are your favorite ways to be in motion? Definitely
dancing.
Yeah.
Big dancer. I really I think you guys have it in as well, but the ecstatic dance community is something that I'm really passionate about.
It's basically, a group of people that come together and they're all over the world. It's an incredible community, but you come together and you have hours of dancing and anything's allowed, like you just, it's everyone that's there is expressing themselves so freely and it inspires you to do the same things that you would never do.
You can look like a crazy person and no one's gonna sit there and judge you or you won't get any weird stares. It's just a very openness and freedom and acceptance. And you're not allowed to talk on the dance floor. So once you enter the dance floor. You're not allowed to communicate through words.
You can do sounds, but it's no talking. So it's all about being your body and expressing whatever comes up. And it's a great workout and like studying and huffing because I'm like, doing crazy African dance and going, doing jazz stuff and con contemporary, like all the things within the same few hours.
So yeah, that's my favorite.
It sounds like a six year old's dream activity. Yep. Yeah. And I for you, your inner child. Yeah. And I don't think we honor that enough in the, in regards to, we focus so much on, wellness and our work and our relationships, but we often forget to incorporate, play into our routines.
And it changes everything when you are like, I just had a blast. That was so much fun.
Yeah, a hundred percent, especially in these events are like completely sober and it's not, you don't have to go in and drink or do drugs to feel that sense of like ecstasy and and play and just honoring that little child who wants to come out and just, express themselves.
Yeah. But yeah, totally
super cool when, I've done acupuncture and you go into it and it's hard to find, an acupuncturist that you vibe with and to really know, like, why do I go to an acupuncturist? What are the benefits? So for people who are unfamiliar with it and what they can get from it how would you explain it to someone?
Yeah, firstly, going off exactly what you said, like it's hard to find the right person. And you find that with a lot of alternative practitioners, chiropractors, naturopath there's not as much of a standardized way of treatment. Which is beautiful because that means that different practitioners have the freedom to treat in their own authentic way with the same medicine.
But I make sure to tell ev everyone, even if they're not coming to me, to make sure that, you try a few different people. If a lot of people go to one person and they can be really aggressive needle alert and it could be like, not a great experience and they don't have warm energy, and then they automatically are like, oh, that's not for me.
And same thing with chiropractors, and you just need to find that right person that you vibe well with. And yeah, it can be a beautiful. Patient practitioner relationship from that point. But in regards to what acupuncture and herbal medicine offers and what I do specifically yeah. A lot of people don't understand it's a four year postgraduate degree.
Some people are like, oh, it's like a vocational school and you train for a year or two. And a lot of the scientific community and America as a whole, I don't think they fully understand or know how much training that we go to. I go through, not only on the Chinese medical side, but also biomedicine.
It's a pretty dense biomedical curriculum that's involved because they're wanting our culture to shift more into integrative medicine, to where we're going to be able to collaborate with more medical doctors. Which I think is the future. Yep. Yeah it's it dense curriculum.
It's definitely different from medical school, but it's harder in a lot of ways as well. 'cause there's a big emphasis on self-work and self-growth and self-awareness as well. We do a lot of Qigong meditation courses and there's a big focus on what we say, healer heal thyself. It's a quote and it's all about to be able to kill other people first.
You have to be an embodiment of that. So there's a lot of focus on that. And once you're out of the program, once acupuncture, it was a. News to me as well about all the things that it can treat and that I've seen it treat in my practice and in my internships. But yeah, it's not just a lot of people just think it's chronic pain or acute pain or good for injuries that nature, and it is scientifically shown to benefit those things.
But what I love treating even more are the more chronic conditions that come up specifically around mental health. And depression, anxiety, insomnia. The pain works as well. We see cases from a lot of arthritis ca cases to things with disc herniations in the back, especially as American culture, how our posture is just always looking at our phone.
Or always in that downward. And so it's a lot of it's postal alignment as well. And you can do that through needles and through nutritional lifestyle counseling that we do. And yeah, it's a different way to look at the body, but basically we can attempt to treat all the things. Yeah. And in its different way because the way that the Chinese medical.
Community looks at things, is everything is connected in your body. And we break things down into five elements and it's all about, like I said before, treating the cause. And normally a lot of a patient's symptoms can be from one root cause. So instead of just putting a bandaid or giving herb for the symptom, doing that while also constantly treating the root cause.
Yep. I had a really great naturopath who also did acupuncture and Chinese medicine when I was living in Germany. And it was the first experience I had of a person who spent time with me who wanted to know everything, who asked a lot of questions, who, like I was, instead of having five minutes maybe with the doctor, it was easily a 20 minute time just with her before we would start figuring out what was the best treatment method.
And it was so refreshing to be listened to. And for her to remember what my life was about and remember what my concerns were and my commitments. And she like, I honestly have felt great going to her. Like I initially went for stress and I kept getting sick and. She did the the pressure point balls.
I don't remember what their technical name is on my ears. Okay. And after we did, oh
yeah. The auricular seeds.
Yes. Yes, the seeds. Thank you. And we did a acupuncture session. She left the seeds in and I didn't know anything about it, so I thought she actually left like little needles in my ear.
And it was, we had some translation issues, as you can imagine. But she's just leave them there until the tape falls off. Just don't mess with them. And I felt the next day I felt the best I have and calmest I have probably ever felt in my entire life. Like for a whole week, whatever happened, rolled off my back, everything was awesome.
I was like, how do you bottle this? Because I would take it every day. But it was just, you just felt. Good and knew that everything was gonna work out. I'm like, how is this happening because of seeds that are on my ear LOEs. What is going on?
Yeah. Yeah. The entire ear is represented, like you can just do what we call auricular treatments and it's needles that are just put in the ear and they do that often for detoxing, for people who are coming off of opiates or coming off of different drug addictions.
They have addiction clinics where they strictly do a protocol for the ear that, yeah, like you said, it, it works. And the seeds are also great for people who. Aren't a fan of needles. Because like you said, it's little seed, it's a herbal seed and it has a piece of tape and you put it on specific points in your ear and it can help anything from sleep to anxiety to just the overall detox or reset and yeah.
I'm glad you got to experience that.
Yes. And and I'm always curious like how does the acupuncture like work? How is it that just our ears have so many opportunities to transform things that are going on in our body and minds?
Yeah. It's hard to, I get asked that question a lot. And there's probably at least seven solid scientific.
Reasoning behind that. Yeah. And, but when it comes to the ear, that's mostly for the body. When it comes to the ear, it's, there's not much research done except for that it works not Yeah. How it works. And that's the issue with a lot of, people that want proof and they want to understand the mechanism before being like, okay, I can get behind it.
But there's, in incred there's countless PubMed articles talking about strictly ear acupuncture for different things and seeing how the results are there and the proof is there. But in regards to what's happening in inside the body it's not as, as clear. And that's the issue with why things aren't being as.
Accepted in our culture. But yeah. With the body points it can be countless different things Yeah. That they've discussed. Yeah. And I'd be willing to follow up with you on the Sure. Specific places later on, but I have a whole entire. The workshop that I've led talking about the science and the articles behind that.
But I don't have that directly in front of me.
No, that's okay. But for everyone listening, essentially you've prob people have probably seen the maps of like your feet, right? Where like different parts of your feet relate to different parts of your body. And I've seen the similar mapping for your ear, but in essentially because of the, whether it's, you can correct me as I'm saying this, but whether it's nerve endings or energy flow, there's different points that connect back to other parts of your body 'cause of how it's all connected in a, as a universe that allows you Yeah. To treat one area that you wouldn't expect to solve another.
And acupuncture in general would be about like opening those channels or moving energy to a channel based on where you're putting a needle. Yeah. Okay. Ear. Yeah, a hundred percent correct. Okay. And with the ear, it's, you look at it like an inverted fetus. So the body, let's say like your heel and your toe in the top of your ear and your head and your face at the bottom of your ear.
So interesting. That's the way everything is like a inversion. And yeah, you can put a point in your ear to fix a, pain in your toe. It's the same thing for toe pain. If you have toe pain, you could do a point on your elbow or you know on your finger to treat that. So it's really interesting, like someone comes in for back pain.
And I'm putting needles in the back, but I'm also putting needles in the lower part of their. Legs and it's all going to open up that same channel. Because what we see in Chinese medicine is pathology comes from a blockage or a deficiency in a channel. So you can unblock it by needling certain points, and you can also strengthen it by needling it other points as well.
So that's the goal. What is the craziest solution that you've seen come out of acupuncture, either from what you've learned or what you've seen yourself? Ccra. Craziest feeling like the most dramatic. Yeah.
Cupping I worked at a, I worked at a HIV clinic during my internship. And we had a, there's, we also do cupping therapy in Chinese medicine. Which most people are more familiar with. You have these bruised shape circles on your back. Yep. And that's really great for releasing fasol, the muscle, bringing blood flow, and also bringing out toxins in the skin.
And with HIV patients, they, this certain patient I had was having chronic low back pain. And she's had that for years and years. And she wanted cupping done. And normally it was, I put it on, had the markings and, she would come back, she would feel better for a week, but then she'd want, cupping done again.
And so one time I. I did that on her and did it, left it a little bit longer and it was a really intense reaction. There were some blistering and we did all the precautions that you have to do with HIV patients and we're really mindful of, keeping her immunity safe. And also making sure that fluids weren't exchanged.
But after that, she had no pain for months. Like she kept coming in. She's that did the trick. I never felt so good. And it was just crazy because she had been, she didn't get, she didn't like to be needles, so we could only do cupping therapy. But to see that one thing happen, have a severe reaction, and then have her be completely pain free, it was pretty awesome that in fertility cases.
Really, I specialize in women's health and it's, yeah, it's amazing to see things being done. Like especially in when someone is also going through the IVF process. But even when they're not, having someone who has not been able to have children for four or five years, come in and do a regimen for, six months with us and then be able to get pregnant, for me, that just gives me so much joy.
Yeah. Seeing, being able to be a part of that and having them. Yeah. Be able to make a babe, so makes me happy.
I'm always caught off guard by how poorly we talk about women's health in general and how poorly we prepare women through through school about what women's health really is.
I was stunned at having gone to college and grad school and considering myself like a educated person that when it came to my own body it was embarrassing, like how little I knew about what was happening. And a friend of mine when she was trying to get pregnant showed me this book that was all about the reality of women's health and what we go through and our transformations at different points in our time.
And I knew of it in general, but there's so much stuff that we, I feel like the general population isn't aware of. That was common sense. In history to everybody. What is your opinion about that and like where do you see opportunities for furthering like women's health and awareness to the population?
Yeah, you're right it's sad. I feel like historically we used to be way more connected to our wounds and our cycles, and now I, not saying it's patriarchy, I just there's been a lot of shaming done around women's sexuality and sensuality and our cycles and it used to not be that way. And it makes me sad, but I feel like there is a movement that women are becoming more educated and are starting to, connect with their cycles again.
And yeah, for me, I think that it all changed to me. There's also things around the world called red tents. I don't know if you're familiar with that. No. What is that? It's a gathering. I am sure they have one in LA too. They have a few here in San Diego, but it's a gathering of women that come together.
It's like a women's circle, but it's all based around where they are in their cycle. And it's basically like a woman's circle where you're talking about your emotions and you're just, you're seeing one another and you're honoring where each other's at and yeah. But it was all based around the premise that whenever people used to have be on their cycle, they had to go into a red tent for them to bleed, and they weren't able to be outside of that until they were done.
And it's like reclaiming that as, seeing that as our right. And that's, getting connected to that. And yeah, it's a really, it's a really cool thing. People listening should look into red Tin in their area if it's something you're called to, but either way, yeah. I think that it also.
As, even as teenagers we're taught that pain is normal in our cycle. And it's not. And that was something that transformed my life doing Chinese medicine as well, because I was always told that, oh, if you have a really painful cycle here, you can get on birth control to help regulate it.
Or you can take all this to not have cramping now. I was like, okay, everyone goes through this, so it's fine. I'll just put some, take some pamper, our might all, and it'll be okay. Yeah. And then once I started really getting in touch with my cycle and learning ways, holistic ways to prevent that from happening and different herbs it takes and different imbalances in my body that were actually causing the cramping it, dissipated.
And there are times where I'm not as great on my regimen and then sometimes they still come up. But as a whole, I went from being excruciating pain to having a pain-free cycle. And being able to regulate my cycle in a natural way. And I think a lot of people are just like, okay, I don't have a normal cycle, or also I don't wanna get pregnant, so let me get on birth control.
And there's countless studies coming up about how birth control can mess with our hormones as well. And yeah, I've been on it so I don't judge people who do. It's just being mindful that there could be consequences to having those types of things put in your body every day and not allowing your body to self-regulate.
And also being able to be in touch with, your basal body temperature and checking that throughout your cycle and knowing when you're ovulating to a t normally. And even then, just. Knowing where you're at in your cycle can bring you a lot more awareness to like where you're at in your body as well.
And I feel like that a lot of women have see it as this, oh, I'm dreading this thing that comes every month and oh, it's gonna be this and shameful. And I've have an entire new outlook on. My cycle. And I'm also a huge component of menstrual cups or at least organic tampons. Because it's really sad that people that aren't using that are possibly putting carcinogens into their vagina.
Yeah. And people don't know that people are just out there buying normal tampons every month and not knowing they could potentially be putting chemicals into their body.
Yeah. I'm really happy that you said about the Menstrual Cup because I found out about the Menstrual Cup years ago from one of my very close girlfriends.
And the Menstrual Cup has transformed my life. It has made such a huge difference. I do not buy tampons or pads anymore. I solely rely on the menstrual cup and it's comfortable. It's so easy. And. I think everyone who hasn't used it should use it and starting now. Yeah. It's such hundred percent agree.
Yeah. It's and there's so many different variations of the menstrual cups. You can buy the ones the Diva Cup at like Walmart and Target for, it's a, it's pricey. That's probably why it's not going well. But there are other companies that I have found on Instagram who just specialize in different shapes and variations of the cup in a reasonable price range.
But no, it's huge. I feel so much better using it. And even my cramps have gone down.
Yeah. And it's cheaper. You have one and you can reuse it. Oh, yeah. And you don't have to keep buying tampons. You can just keep your cup and just sanitize it. You can boil it in water. Or you can, wash it with a chemical-free soap and you use the same thing every single time and it doesn't decrease mucosal lining.
So you're not having that dryness. And you're able to see your blood. And then for me, that's a really beautiful thing. You don't see it soaked up. Like the consistency and then it can also tell you things about where your body's at. And yeah I recommend it to everyone. Sometimes people complain about the leaks happening, but if you learn how to insert it the right way, then you don't have to worry about that.
Yeah. But I'm with you. It revolutionize my entire world. I'm like telling everyone about it. Come on.
Yeah. And it's not a lot of people who have been negative about it, they're like, oh, I can't do that 'cause I can't see blood, or I can't do this. And honestly, I thought I would be really creeped out at it too, but to see the cup and to see what my body has done has like I love my body more.
It's the weirdest, it's the weirdest reaction. But to know that, like I know my days to a tee now and what to expect. Yep. Yeah.
I think like anything in your life we're learning so much, especially recently it's such a forefront of how you can't rely on other things and other people to tell you what you need to eat or what you need to do for exercise or how you should be, like, how you should be in touch with your body or even like your finances for crying out loud, like you doing your own research and study about yourself and what's really so for you is so important because everybody is so different and like what works for other people may or may not work for you.
It may not make sense for who you are and what you're up to. There's even, people who say that you can only. You only get pregnant these times and this time, but you never know when you're actually ovulating unless you do this, do the work yourself. Yeah. Our sister, when she got pregnant with her second son, I think both of them, she's everyone told me you couldn't get pregnant right after your period.
She's I did every time. She's I was not expecting it. But it was just based on what her cycle was like. So it's if anyone isn't doing their own personal research in regards to their cycle and even like how foods interact with them please start doing your own research. Keep a journal, write it down, because the more informed you are about how you work, it'll allow you to find simple ways to live your best life that don't involve having to download, a thousand dollars course or other things that you know, where people are spending money to look for answers.
Yeah, a hundred percent. There's so many, and I'm sure a lot of people already have a lot of people have the period tracker, which is like a step one. This is when my cycle's supposed to be, and this is when I'm potentially ovulating. But like you said, in general, the luteal phase and follicle phases of our cycle, they're pretty standardized, but some people aren't.
So knowing that tracking your, body temperature each morning can tell you when you're ovulating specifically. And living your life accordingly. So yeah, I'm all about that. Learn about your own body.
How do you incorporate food and what you consume into your wellness, and then also your advice for the women that you treat.
Yeah I personally don't eat meat, so I am a vegetarian and that's very uncommon in the Chinese medical field because. Chinese doctors like their meat. And see it as being really healthy. And that's because in Chinese culture in China, their meat is a lot different than our meat. Just like a lot of, like European breads are different than our breads.
Yep. And they have a very low meat diet to begin with. So it's not like here where you're going to steak dinners and it's like a tiny little thing of green beans or potatoes. You don't see that there. But there is a kinda a pressure for people doing Chinese medicine to make sure that female is getting a lot of decent meats, red meats and white meats.
And during their cycle, I personally don't recommend that because I live animals, but to each their own, of course. But yeah, in regards to things that they eat in regards to fertility, we see a lot of things like dairy intake being associated with it, and things that can cause what, so things like cold raw foods like ice cream and dairy and things like that can have a negative impact on your.
Reproductive health, basically. And we also break down the, our cycle into four different stages. We have chi, blood, yin and yang. And during those cycles you can have different foods and do different things that help you in that quarter. And yeah, I'd be willing, it's more, it's easier to see when it's on a picture Sure.
To understand it. Yep. But yeah it's, there's different foods at different levels of your cycle that are good for you, but in general, it's about staying away from dairy mostly.
And we can include a visual if you send me one, we can add one to your podcast show notes. Perfect.
So everybody can see exactly what that looks like. And one of the things that worries me about food in regards to women in particular. Or when we look at the sources of where we're getting different foods and meat in particular, all of the hormones that can be added to traditional American meat processing.
And then to think that you're taking hormones on top of that and creating your own on top of that, it makes me nervous knowing, if you're not being really selective about the meat you're eating, how it's impacting you, particularly as a female.
Yeah, I a hundred percent, like with all foods, really, I'm a big advocate on know your source of what you're buying.
And that's with vegetables too. But especially when it comes to meat, especially if people listening are in California, then I'm a hundred percent certain that there is some kind of market drivable distance that has organic grass fed meat. That you can know the butcher, you can know where it comes from, what's going into your meat.
And it's playing rush roulette here in America when it comes to food, because if you're not, aware, it could just, yeah. You're pumping hormones into your body and it's so much being done in the recent years that there's not a lot of studies yet about how it's negatively impacting women and men also.
And knowing. Where those things are coming from is really important. And if we're going to eat meat, then yeah. Whenever I go back to Alabama, I do eat meat with my family because we live we had a farmhouse. Yeah. And they would go and they would hunt and whatever they brought back, I would eat.
And 'cause for me it's just about how things are being raised. Yeah. And and slaughter houses that are around America. So yeah, knowing the source of what you're getting, like a, because of what's being put into the meat and also how the animals are being treated. For me it's like the energy of it.
Like I do, I want to eat a pig that was just like. Living its entire life in this like really unsanitary thing on top of all these other creatures and yeah. I would rather it come from a place that, they have more space and they're not being like abused the entire time, yeah. And not being pumped full of things that might not be great for your body
and not being fed things that they wouldn't normally eat. That's always blows my mind of like, why do we think we're gonna get quality meat when you're feeding the animal stuff that they would never eat? On their own free will.
I, yeah. We lived for a while in Central Coast, California and there would be these ranches with cows that had ocean front views on these hills and vistas. And I remember they had there's a commercial out of like happy cows come from California and Happy Cheese Yeah. Comes from happy cows. And there are many farms in the US that care about their animals and take care of them and do things the right way.
Unfortunately, that's not most of where we're getting any of our sources from, whether it's at a restaurant or in a traditional grocery store. So I'm really happy that more people are getting aware of poly farms and people who actually care about the animals. I'm really glad that California passed the humanitarian standards or the new standards for animals being raised in California, like no cages.
And I forget what's fully in the law that just got passed, but I was really glad that went through. And I'm glad now that when even if you go and buy eggs, you can buy like happy eggs and they talk to you about the, like where the chickens come from. 'cause it always blows my mind when you see or organic vegetarian fed chickens.
Because chickens are carnivores, like they eat grubs and insects and they can even take out like small animals. So yeah, if we're feeding them vegetarian food, that means you're just giving them most likely like shit corn-based meal and they never get to be their like animalistic selves. It'd be like, Joe Rogan makes a great joke about hashtag vegan cat and how these poor, I haven't never heard that.
Yeah. These like poor cats that are being forced, a vegan diet from their vegan owners are, not living very long and just look sad. 'cause they never get to eat what they want. So he has a whole bit and like his news special about it. It's quite funny. Yeah, vegetarian people
can be, I can say this, I've not I've never been one of those I don't know, I.
I am Vega vegetarian. I was vegan for a while, but there's some people that just force it down your throat and I understand. 'cause I'm so passionate about like why they're doing what they're doing. But I agree with you, like with my dog as well, like I do feed her vegetarian dog food, but I also feed her meat like and that's part of what she is designed to do. And it's I don't want to project my own things onto an animal who has no say in the matter,
and I think often eating a vegan or vegetarian diet is going to allow you to one, be more aware of what's in the food and to make sure that it's whole food.
Like having a vegetarian dog food means that you probably can read everything that's on the label versus other dog foods. And I think that there, we get so caught up, whether it is keto or vegan or vegetarian or like all these different options that people have nowadays. I just want people eating more vegetables.
Like I don't I don't care where else you wanna fall on the spectrum of food, but to think that 80% of what we consume should be vegetables and things from the earth that we can see and buy directly as they are at the store. And that's not common. It, it blows my mind. Yeah. How common sense has gone out the window and it's no longer common.
Yeah. It's done. And I
think like even with the keto diets and the paleo and stuff of that nature, I think that a lot of people think that means health and it's just, it can get you to be more mindful about what's going into your body. But when it comes to like nutritional counseling, like you said, it's like just eat more vegetables and do these small things.
And when you're very strict on a certain type of diet style, it's probably not gonna be something you're going to. That's gonna be sustainable in your life. Yeah. So for us it's about what's compliant, like how are they gonna be compliant on this as a lifestyle. It's not about a diet. It's a lifestyle choice.
Choosing that what you put in your body is meant to feed you and heal you and not cause your arteries, and not make you sluggish, yeah. It's, you're choosing every single meal that you have and I like, it's, I like sweets and I like, I indulge, but still, like with meals, you sit down and you can look and be like, this is gonna nourish me.
This is giving me like, all of these. Even with vegetables, there's so much protein and vegetables that people just don't have that awareness. There's so much protein, but knowing where it's come from and cooking it and having a relationship with the food and I don't know, it can be a beautiful, it's a beautiful art for me cooking and, finding different ways to, and it's so colorful as well.
Yeah. Like vegetables are so colorful.
And I love the ability also to honor how. Many people had to get the food to you. Even if you are, whether you're getting your produce from a co-op, you're getting it from a traditional store. There are so many people involved and like hard work and intention and caring about what they were doing in order for meat eat and being present to that really changes how you look at food as well.
Like it's hard to like binge and not even consider the food you're putting in your body when you think about like, how did I, how did this get here? How many people were involved? And just be grateful that somebody was willing to spend their day doing that instead of something else.
Yeah.
That's funny you say that. I'm not religious anymore, but I was raised very religious. And you'd pray before meals, every meal. And my ritual now has become, putting my hands like over the food and like what you just said, like thinking where it came from, like thinking the people who created it, thinking the soil that grew it, like thinking about the light that had to be, given to this plant to be able to grow and just being really connected to that.
And grateful for the food that you're putting in your body. Yeah. It changes the relationship with your food and Yeah. It's, it makes it even more enjoyable. It does. Jesse had a friend whose mother died of cancer and at the end, like she couldn't eat and she had to be fed through a tube. And the hardest, all she wanted was to eat.
It was heartbreaking. And so her son started doing this thing where every time he had a meal, he would give it away to her, like spiritually give it to her. And so Jesse and I have adopted that where. We're looking at who are we giving this food away to? And it becomes this hybrid of giving it away and giving thanks all at once for yeah I get to eat today.
Everyone doesn't get that. And we forget that everybody doesn't get to have all of these meals, and we get so caught up in making eating convenient and fast and jamming it into our day. When I think if people just wanted to do an easy stress relief activity, my advice would be to take time and in preparing and enjoying the meals that you get in a day, like you're not going to get all the benefits that you would get of sitting down with a meal.
And, maybe having conversation with somebody and going through the cooking process as you would if you're, eating as fast as you can granola bar and then rushing to something else.
Yeah. And I think with America too, it's all about, it's been a matter of convenience with most people.
I tend to have a different type of lifestyle. But I would say the majority of Americans have a nine to five. They're in the corporate world, they come home and they still have more work to do. And it's a very work heavy type of like priority in our lives. Yeah. And with that becomes, oh, is it convenient?
How long is it gonna take? And it's so easy to, for diet, just to be swept under there and be like, okay, fast food, or this canned soup, or this, bar. And not saying you can't have those things, but at least one meal a day where you're really putting that intention in. For some people even that's a jump.
You have to start somewhere. So I think some people can get really shocked or put off whenever you're like, okay, have two meals where you're cooking and you're doing this. And for people that don't cook and for people who have, never had that relationship with food. It can seem oh no, I, that's just not gonna happen.
I have way too busy and yeah, there are options. There are also places that can deliver your food to your house. I think it's called freshly something, I don't know. But they deliver these goods to your house and tell you how to make it. And it's all whole food based. And there's a few different ones and they tell you how to cook it and it can be healthy foods.
And you can also start to form that relationship with the food, with an instruction guide. So it takes a little bit off your back too. And you don't have to go shopping for the groceries.
Yeah. We were doing purple carrot for a while, which is a, yeah. A vegan bla like food delivery program and.
Sorry, retake that line.
You said? Vegan laced.
Oh, purple carrot. A vegan based food program, and actually it's supported by Tom Brady because he's adopted the mindset of 80 20, 80% vegan, gluten-free, and then 20% whatever happens. Because I think it's unrealistic to, to your point of going a hundred percent into anything in modern day world because especially if you're someone who travels and has a lot of things that you're up to, there's going to be moments when you don't have any choices. Like we were talking previously in the last podcast about. Traveling to abroad for work, and when you show up in Asia and you're meeting with team members there, you often don't get, even get a choice on what food shows up in front of you.
They, it just gets presented and you're like, okay, I can try something new and I can, try and adhere as best I can to my lifestyle. And like it's not a big deal. Like it's better to be with these people right now and to have this experience than to stress out about the fact that I might not know what is in this thing I'm about to eat.
Yeah. Yeah, I agree. It's really hard for, myself included, I even when I was super strict about it, I was like, I wasn't at my happiest. And I think it's just about, yeah, I think the 80 20 rule is a great rule, especially for people who are, not about that strict kind of compliance to what they want.
And I think that everyone should be able to have a bowl of ice cream sometime and have a pizza if they want. It's just, it's all about not shaming yourself and guilting yourself for those moments, and also not like overindulging of those things.
Yeah. And I think the balance, again, just like your own personal health, like I hated whenever I was told I had to keep a food journal, because I'm like, what?
I have to eat it and cook it. Now I have to write it down this is dumb. But even if you did it for a week. And it doesn't, I'm not worried about people measuring things and every, just write down what you actually put in your mouth and what you drink. Yeah. There is always something that surprises me where I'm like, I thought I was doing better than I am.
Dammit. Yeah. But again, it's just highlighting awareness to what we usually don't pay attention to.
Yeah. We do that a lot with patients. We tell 'em about the food journals and the same thing you really don't realize. And water intake too. I'm a huge component of drinking as much water you can as a day, like up to a gallon a day.
That's like ideal. But water intake is a huge issue for people with migraines and people with, chronic things that they don't realize it's just their body being not dehydrated, but on that verge not having enough water. Yep. And yeah, with food as well, there's even an app I have, it's my FitnessPal, I think it's called.
You basically, if you're out, and especially when I used to, I still would go to fast foods, more healthy, fast foods, but I was in that phase of my life. So if you're at a store, you can just, that has, a menu, you can type in what you ate. It can be a food journal, like on your phone. So you're not having to bring around an actual pad and paper.
And not only does it tell you or save that information for you, but also breaks all those down to macro micronutrients for you so you can see what you're getting out of those foods. And so that's like another level of, just being mindful and having that awareness of, oh, I'm not getting enough protein, or oh, I went over in that I have too much sodium. Yeah.
Yeah. Great point. One of the things that I find really interesting also, as if you're being someone who's trying to drink enough water, that there's actually ways that you can not be absorbing the water, even if you're drinking a lot.
What is your perspective on that and any tips for people who are concerned that they're like, listen, I'm drinking a gallon of water a day, and I still feel like it's just going right outta my body. I'm not actually absorbing it. Yeah, I mean I think it's like in Chinese medicine we view fluid metabolism a little bit differently, but for us it's important to incorporate movement and actually have sweat throughout the day.
And that can be, I'm not saying you need to go like run, but even just have 20 minutes where you're having some type of sweat. And that can be a fun way. If you have a partner and you wanna do it that way, that's great. Yeah. Or you can go dance and do anything. But just having some type of movement of that fluid that, where it's not just going straight in and then straight out in your urine.
Yeah. And also for people who, for that don't have, or that do have an issue with water intake. Definitely just have a bottle, have, get a reusable bottle that you keep filled and keep it around with you throughout your day. And there's no need for plastic bottles that you buy to store. I get if it's more convenient for you, if that's what you have to do, that's what you have to do.
But if you wanna save plastic, help the environment and also have more of a convenient, permanent bottle in your car or at your work, have it by you. Always have it filled and constantly just drink it throughout your day and when it's empty, fill it up again and you'll see how easy it is to stay hydrated when you keep that around all the time.
Yes. And I always recommend if it's an option to go for something that is metal or glass over plastic. Yes.
A hundred percent. Yeah. I have both.
Yeah. Especially if you're gonna incorporate any essential oils into it so that you're not taking the toxins out of the bottle and then you're drinking it.
That's, that blew my mind when I learned that fact. I was like, oh God. There's so many people who are not just getting what they think they are when they are drinking out of a plastic bottle, even if there's no essential oils in it. But whether it gets hot and cold and the plastic is breaking down, so
Yeah.
Yeah. Get a glass one or get a, mine's like an aluminum one, and it's so light and it's easy to carry and it has like a nice little suction cup that's fun to drink outta. And so I enjoy drinking it and I enjoy having it around with me.
Yeah. So when you're not focused on helping people with their wellness, what are you doing for fun?
Like what are, what's the 360 version of you? What's the, what version? 360, like the all encompassing version of you. Oh, got you. Yeah, I heard three Pixie. Oh. Oh, that's also fun. Oh,
okay. Yeah. Yeah, I, like I said, I love to dance. You and I are in a similar kind of community when burning Mann and Festival life.
Yeah. And I really enjoy celebrating life and dancing and appreciating house music. And all the things that embodies in the community that it brings into my life. So I'm always looking forward different. Events to dance and celebrate at and meet new people.
That's such a big thing at the at the festivals too.
Oh yeah. I mean it's like the people that I've gotten to know and that have become like family to me is just, yeah, it's an entire community based on just loving and accepting people where they're at and whatever that means for them, and not taking life too seriously and loving more and being more mindful of what we're creating and how to support each other.
And yeah, it's something that's added so much value to my life. But yeah. Other than that, I'm doing a lot of yoga and yeah. I like Southern California yoga community is amazing and there's always something for everyone. And yeah, I'm a nerd, so I like to read and watch sci-fi and do all that stuff.
I love reading, but I
stay really busy. Yeah.
When that's the best. When you look at the women's movement today, and there's so many components to it what is your take? What are you excited about? What do you think is how it could evolve into the future to be even more impactful?
Yeah. I think all of the women here have been really excited about what's happened over the past, few years with the Me Too movement and just people coming forward and not living in fear and shame and really being outspoken and not taking, not allowing suppression to control them any longer.
And that's made me really excited just for people to reclaim what's rightfully ours and the whole talk around consent and what that means for people and what we've tolerated for so long that should not be tolerable. And I think it's empowering more women to come forward and to say that's not okay, and to demand themselves to be respected like we should.
And it's sad that we even have to do that, but I'm grateful that it's happening so that we can shed light on the issues in our society and even happening worse in other cultures. Yeah. And yeah, I think that it's like, for me personally, I feel that it's I don't know. My hope is that we can start to approach it.
I think that we've been very outspoken and. Strong voiced with what we're coming together as a whole sex and saying our gender and saying to male and to society figures at the same time, I want us to be gentle enough to where men can meet us where we're at. Instead of feeling like they have to be put on the defense.
I know. I personally have a lot of amazing divine masculine friends who. I just wanna see more of a balance, yes. I don't want there to be pointing fingers. I don't want it to be like overcompensating. Okay. There are amazing men out there, and I don't think it's about men versus women.
I think that it's about coming together and embodying those two energies perfectly within our own self, yep. And men supporting women to speak their truth. And I think this is a teaching opportunity, and I think a lot of men are stepping forward and saying, okay, yes, tell me. And it's an opportunity for us to tell them instead of just being like, oh, you did this and you guys have the whole done this and that.
I view feminism like as equals. Yeah. Like it actually is. But I think a lot of people yeah, they can get on their pedestal about, females being more this and that. And I just think that the beauty of Feminate energy is that gentle spirit as well as our strength. And so giving them in the opportunity to.
Evolve and change so we can truly meet together.
I totally agree. And then I'm so lucky that I have so many amazing men in my life who are awesome and I've been really excited to see them being proud and excited and like, how can I support powerful ladies as well? 'cause I've told a lot of people on the podcast I've struggled about what the name was for a long time because I wanted it to be inclusive.
And I was finally like, fuck it, I'm just gonna have anyone on the show. It doesn't matter. And it like that was a breakthrough for me to just keep going with it. But I think also that the, I want the impact of the Me Too movement to let people know that it's not just women who have been like keeping a secret about things that have happened to them.
Like it's people across the board. Yes. And there's so much opportunity to let people know that there is a community, that they're not alone, that. Like they're perfect just the way they are. And if you need to talk about something or wanna share something, you can. And I'm just more excited that there are people who are, it's not about being a victim, it's about being a survivor and doing it anyway.
And I look forward to moving to a point where we have less of these horrific stories coming out and more stories about the amazing things that are coming out of it and just, if the fu I'd rather the future be equal than the future. Be female.
Exactly. With you. And it's exciting too to see like even in politics, how so many women have come into office even in this past election.
And people coming forward now and it's just, yeah, it just makes me happy to see. Society acknowledging that there is wisdom and power in female form as well. Regardless of what you believe or what you stand for, it's very evident that America and many other cultures have been dominated by men for the entire of their history. And just, honoring that women can be that too. And so it's exciting to see the Me Too movement as well as all these leaders coming forward and taking office.
Yeah. Who have been women or people in general who have been really inspiring for you in your journey?
Yeah. My grandmother, I think she, she passed a few years ago. She, cancer. Cancer. But she was the embodiment of what a powerful woman is. She was just, we're in Alabama, like woman, very outspoken and she was very involved in the church as an elder there, but she's just you have to, you just have to meet her.
She just embodies that strength. And outspokenness such a fierce way that it was beautiful to have that. Around me. Both of my grandmothers actually are very much that way. Like outspoken and opinionated and just gonna tell you like it is. Yeah. Yeah. It's beautiful to see a non-passive kind of role model.
As I was growing up. And my mother as well. A lot of strong, independent women that. I was raised around, fortunately and in regards to like public figures, honestly, this is gonna be like a funny answer or a very cliche answer, but like El DeGeneres is like one of my favorite people of all time.
For sure. She deserves that so much. And I'm like, I'm bisexual. And I dated women in high school and in college and coming out in Alabama. I went through a lot of that same thing. She went through, she came out when it was not accepted by society and she came out in the public eye Yep.
And went through all of that and still fierce enough to be like, this is me, this is who I am. And I love myself enough to be honest with everyone around me and my own self to be loved where I'm at and seeing her. Growth and how she gives back to people and her generous heart. And her joyous spirit and how she can make me laugh and I just watch her show and I just, yeah, it just brings me back into my own humility and all is right in the world for that moment and it's a very hard opening space and I just love what she stands for.
I love how she gives back to the world and to animals and yeah, I just have a lot of respect for her impact on people's lives and my own.
Very cool. When you think about your daily routine and like what you're doing to live your best life, are there things that you do every day that are like, this is my plan to set myself up for success?
Or what does it look like for you to be like working at your optimal? Yeah, I think.
There are times at this current moment, I'm in a lot of transition. Yeah. So my normal ritual has been like I just moved into a new space. I just started a new job. So my rituals have been a bit off recently, but my normal go-to day routine is, I'm really mindful about.
Not pressing the snooze button. And one of my mentors is every time that you are pressing the SNOO button on your alarm clock, you're not honoring an agreement you made with yourself. Yeah. The day before. And so I still do it at times, and I even did it this morning, so I'm not always great with that.
But it is being mindful of what is the first energy that I'm putting into my day? Is it like, yes, let's do this, or no, like later. And so not hitting the snooze button, waking up, making my bed, it's like the first choice for you just tidy up your room. Yep. And you feel good about it and you're not like, putting it off till later and you get to come home to a beautiful bed.
So I'm all about making your bed as soon as you get up hydrating, meditate, do a little yoga flow sequence and tap in with my own intentions for the day. What do I wanna accomplish? And that can be different things depending on what I have planned for the day, like work versus play.
But for me it's a lot about how I start my day and it changes everything. If you can get out to have a dog. So I love being able to go outside and walk her and yeah, it just, if you can start your day in that way, I feel like the rest of your day is always set. And if you can exercise in the morning too, you feel even better because you just started your day like saying yes to health, even if it's just like a, a 10 minute something, just getting your body moving.
Yeah. No I really do think that there's so much power in how you start your day and I love your comment about. Like what commitments to yourself are you breaking? Because I don't think we give ourselves enough credit for how much they actually weigh on us, even though we're like, it's okay, it can happen later.
But just like when somebody keeps breaking their word with you and it starts to add up, the same thing happens, I think with yourself, whether it's, I'm going to work out today, I'm going to wake up at, 6:00 AM or whatever those things are. Being mindful of the, and honoring what we told ourselves, I think is just as important as what we've told other people.
Yeah, a hundred percent. It makes me think of one of my favorite books of all time. Super easy read for anyone who hasn't read it, but it's called The Four Agreements. I'm not sure if you read it, but it's a really easy read and it's really simple truth. But one of the four agreements that he says is to be impeccable with your word, so that's with yourself as well.
So making commitments that you're gonna follow through with, and that's with yourself and with other people.
I totally agree. Perfect. When you look at what you're up to for 2019, what are you excited about and what are you taking on for yourself?
Yeah, it's been a big year already. I just started my new business working at a clinic and I'm really excited about that.
I work with an amazing team. I have a chiropractor and naturopathic position, a lot of massage therapists, the yoga studio, and a beautiful view on the bay. So I'm really stoked that I've invested the past couple months creating that space and starting to see clientele. And for me this year is all about committing to that business and committing to, this building healthcare and seeing what that is for me.
Starting to make my own products and herbal products. Not just ones that you can dect into a tea, but things like ALS for your body and, CBD infused pain relief, als. I have Chinese herbs that are painkillers. So diving into that and creating my own product line. And yeah, hopefully getting to play a bit more now that I'm done with school.
Yeah. And make music. I make music as well. I sing in song. And so I'm trying to finally finish my album, which I've worked on it for, I don't know, 10 years, but I've never actually had the time to sit down and record. So that's been my like, big checkoff list for this year is to get that done finally.
So I can finally have part of my art out there for just even myself to enjoy. But it's a big deal's, a big, beautiful catharsis for me. Yeah. How did you get into music? Yeah, I don't really I was always into music. I was singing at church at really young age, and in middle school and high school I was involved with show choir, which is like a dancing, singing group.
And I loved it. I loved it. And then my parents bought me a guitar, I think when I was 16, 17. And I'd already had piano lessons. And from that point on, I just fell in love with playing guitars and writing music. It just I'm already a little bit of a poetic person when it comes to things that I journal.
So it was pretty effortless for me to just pick up guitar and then have a song come out and it's like how I processed what I was going through and how I, put on pen and paper what was going on in my head and heart. And so it's an amazing process for me that I immediately fell in love with.
When you look back at your life and you look at what you've overcome, what are some victories that you are proud about that you got more of your own personal strength from? Yeah. I think that
moving across country was a big one. Yeah. I was from a little town and choosing to drop out of med school and move on the completely other side of the country.
From everyone I knew it, everyone was like, you're crazy. Like, how do you just do that? And for me, it wasn't really a choice. I just felt like this was a heck yeah. Like how people say it's like a fuck yeah. No, it was like a fuck yeah. For me. So I, yeah, I just dropped everything and moved and people say it ticked brain for me it was just like.
That's all I could do. I was a hundred percent in alignment with what I knew I needed to grow and the people to be around. But it did change. It was a big win for me choosing to do that because I got to recreate myself fully and find this incredible community and find what I do now. And other than that, I think my karma in this life has always been like, how can I be most authentic and continuously being put in places where I might not, and my lifestyle might not be fully accepted.
Yeah. For me it was like shaving the side of my head and getting Pearson and getting tattoos and coming out to my parents in a culture where it's just not seen often and it's not accepted, it's not fully understood. And so constantly like choosing to do those things because it was authentically me, even though I knew that I may be judged and by the people that I love the most.
And they ended up not, my family's amazing. They have their judgments, but it's based in love because they're religious, which is fine, but I never felt like fully judged by them. It's funny how much fear we have about being a certain way, and then once we do it and don't really give 'em a choice like, this is me.
Yeah. Then they can really rise to that with time. And I don't think we give enough people credit and I think that we should give ourselves credit enough to just be authentically ourself and people that are gonna come into our life to love us, they will be there.
Yeah. And I think giving people the opportunity to rise versus just cutting them off or not giving them the opportunity to evolve and change.
'cause if we don't give them the space to, then nobody's going to, whether they're people we love or people we don't know.
Yeah. And that's what I saw with my family too. I just I thought oh, you're south. You're gonna think this, you're gonna do that. And I just noticed like the more I just with myself, the more they loved me in that, and we both became better people for that. And I think that, yeah, we often just don't give people the opportunity to rise and to choose love, and to choose acceptance. And they often do. I think it's all like fear-based mentality for us being like, oh no, I just wanna be accepted and understood.
But we can't live our life that way and be happy at least. No. And when you love somebody, nothing brings you more joy than to see them, like in their, like all their light shining out, like nothing's withheld. And when you see them in that moment of happiness and living full out, you're like, okay, yes, now I can be happy because someone I love is in that space.
So it's a beautiful thing to be able to see. Yeah,
it is. Great.
So we ask everybody on the show where they are on the powerful Lady scale, zero being average, everyday human, and 10 being super powerful lady. Where do you feel today and where do you feel on average?
I think we're, I think we're all, we all should feel 10. Even if you are like not feeling that on a daily basis, I feel like we're all tense. And the more you say that about yourself, the more you embody that, yeah. So every day I'm like, that is who I am. I'm like, I'm all about affirmations.
I also say a lot of affirmations to myself, but it's telling yourself that you want to be instead of, or what you are, instead of what you want to be. So it's oh, I wanna be loved. No, I am loved. Oh, I wanna be beautiful. No, I'm beautiful. Making those things about yourself. Heck yeah.
Like the most powerful. Super power lady.
Awesome. And then what would you like people to know who are either looking for a path of going into the same practice that you are if they're at that point where they're not sure if they should come out to their family, if they're debating moving across country, like what is your advice for people who are on similar paths as yourself?
Yeah. In regards to what I do as a career or what anyone does as a career, honestly, for me, I would, I could have stayed in medical school and been miserable because that's what I thought success was, because that's what I thought my path had to be. And I think a lot of people feel that way, that it's all about making money and it's all, and it's, that's a beautiful perk of having a job.
But so few Americans have. Been able to live their passion. And you can, no matter what society tells you, no matter what your family tells you, you can find something that you love and that feeds your spirit and that you can also be rewarded for in money. And so my advice would be for to find that thing for you.
And it's really hard for a lot of people and it takes time and that's okay. It took me time and it took me a lot of wasted, or not wasted money, but lost money in certain ways through other programs for me to find this past. But. So whatever that looks like for you, you can find that. And it may take time.
But don't stop searching and don't settle for something where you feel like you are a slave to a system. Or you can't be expressed fully in your work. Even if that means having like something on the side that you have a hobby that you're doing that's bringing you joy and still having a normal job, then that's beautiful.
But don't let you know society and work drain your body and drain your spirit. And in regards to people wanting to move or to come out and do things that really scare them, my. Choice or my thing that I always put my questions through since four or five years ago has been, okay, is this saying yes to love?
Or is this saying yes to fear? And breaking it up like fully in those two choices. And there are some things that can be gray and but most of the time it's pretty clear am I not doing this because I'm scared or am doing this because it's what's best for me and it's going to, help me in a certain way.
And most of the time when you can ask yourself that question, it becomes clear. And I'm just a big advocate on not allowing fear to control your choices and to control your life. And when we're able to step away from fear, we're allowing the universe to put things that we couldn't even imagine into our lives.
And if I would've talked to myself. While I was going through that process and seeing where I am now, it's just crazy to me. 'cause I had a certain dream and I had a certain vision and what's come into fruition is so much better than I could even imagine. And I hope everyone gets there and I continue to want to have my dreams and visions change, as I grow to continuously find different ways to live my best life.
And I think everyone, can be there. And it just makes you fall in love with life so much more and to have that outlook.
I love that. Yep. I totally agree. You never know what's on the other side of jumping through the fear and just going after what brings you joy. And we think we know what looks like an amazing life.
And then it's so cool to see other things we never planned for, expected to show up that bring us equal joy than what was what we had planned. Yeah, totally. I am so happy that you are Yes. To being on the podcast that you are able to share about your journey and what you're up to, and that there are options for people out there who especially in regards to honoring our bodies and our wellness.
So thank you so much for all of that. Yeah, thank you for having me on. It's,
it's such a beautiful opportunity and an honor to come on and have my story shared and even be able to reflect on my own journey getting here. So I appreciate that opportunity, so thank you.
You're welcome.
As someone who believes in whole body healthcare and preventative healthcare, I'm so relieved that there are more and more doctors and health practitioners like Lynsi available around the world, and especially here in the us. The sooner we can stop treating only the symptoms but the cause and create lasting changes.
The better for all of us and often cheaper for all of us. I myself am guilty of swinging from focus and intentional with my health and wellness to whatever it takes to make it through this day or week. Hello Del Taco. No sleep and dehydration. I'm also glad that Lynsi was able to share her knowledge about women's health and the smallest ways that we can all take better care of ourselves.
I'm also grateful that Lynsi is just as a human all the time, and in this podcast, just really authentic about who she is and what she's up to, and making sure that how she's living her life and taking care of her patients is really aligned to integrity. To connect with Lynsi to book your own appointment, to visit her at her wellness center, you can follow her on Instagram at Dr.
Lynsi and Lynsi is spelled L-Y-N-S-I. You can follow her office on Instagram at Wellness Lounge Mission Bay visit. www.wellnessloungemissionbay.com and follow her on Facebook at Lynsi Lewis. If you'd like to support the work that we're doing here at Powerful Ladies, there's a couple of ways you can do that.
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Leave a review on any of these platforms. Share the show with all the powerful ladies and gentlemen in your life. Join our Patreon account. Check out the website, the powerful ladies.com. To hear more inspiring stories.
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Go to the powerful ladies.com. I'd like to thank our producer, composer, and audio engineer Jordan Duffy. She's one of the first female audio engineers in the podcasting world, if not the first, and she also happens to be the best. We're very lucky to have her. She's a powerful lady in her own right, in addition to taking over the podcasting world.
She's a singer songwriter working on her next album, and she's one of my sisters. So it's amazing to be creating this with her, and I'm so thankful that she finds time in her crazy busy schedule to make this happen. It's a testament to her belief in what we're creating through Powerful Ladies, and I'm honored that she shares my vision.
Thank you all so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. I can't wait for you to hear it. Until then, I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
Hey guys. I'm so excited that you are here today to listen to another episode of The Powerful Ladies podcast. It's because of you guys that we are able to exist and survive and make this great content and have these great conversations. One way that you can really help us out is to go to the powerful ladies.com and sign up for our newsletter.
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Instagram: @medical_student_yogi
Facebook: /marjankoosh
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
