I was at the end of my rope when it came to getting relief from physical trauma. Back in 1991, I had a car accident where I tried to miss a guy that pulled out in front of me. I hit a light pole head on and cracked a vertebra and had a closed head injury. I spent the next several years trying to get well. Nobody could get to the source of my headaches. They just wanted to medicate me and get onto the next patient. After I discovered the medical community did all it could do and I still had headaches, neck and back pain, poor memory and could not concentrate, I met a Rolfer at Landmark Education who told me about Jin Shin Jyutsu, an oriental healing art similar to acupuncture but without the needles. I walked out feeling like I turned the corner was on the road to complete healing.

Years prior to the accident, I was interested in nutrition and bodywork. I became a massage therapist in 1981. Then I moved from Tulsa to Dallas and started working with Dr. Jon Walker, a neurologist. We were seeing patients with myofascial pain syndromes and fybromyalgia. I did massage, gave water exercise classes, and ran the program directed by Dr. Walker. I got further training in advanced deep tissue techniques from Rolfers and Physical Therapists. I was still learning what it meant to take responsibility for my own health and healing, I discovered Physio Synthesis. This was the work of Amy Cochren, a mentor of Ida Rolf. I learned how to teach this whole body posture correction exercise through the Oasis Physical Conditioning Center in Dallas. 

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the sickness care system is headed in the wrong direction. After becoming a massage therapist, I got a degree in nutrition from UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Allied Health School. and started working with people with diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, kidney failure and other chronic diseases using clinical nutrition. But, the clinical environment was a difficult existence and I vowed to do what I could to help people avoid that "sentence." I did help many people, especially those who wanted it. But, since prevention was the key factor missing in the sickness care system, my nutrition counseling soon became Wellness Coaching. I found that I would be discussing someone’s diet on top of their stress, busy schedules, and fatigue. Those factors made it easy for them to give up, especially when going it alone.  I started addressing the stress, and started getting results. Some got off medications and some even got a life! One women who complained about being alone while her husband always out being social took a position at a philanthropy organization and was now out most nights of the week at her events loving life. And there was the TI employee who was on two blood pressure medications, not sleeping well at all, and obese was able to get off one medication, lost weight and was sleeping better than he ever had. Just recently, since taking over Amy James' Rolfing practice, I saw a UNT professor who told me that the kind of work I'm doing is the only thing that helps his fibromyalgia.

UPDATE: We are exposed to many pollutants, stress, physical challenges. Does it make sense our liver and kidneys were meant to deal with man's over 75,000 chemicals, many of which are sprayed on food, poured into the air, and exposed to our water? These organs are not keeping up with the environmental insults they have to deal with. I have been finding people have pain due to acidic conditions in the body from chemicals, stress, and poor diet. We aren't getting the minerals and enzymes need to deal with the inflammation like we did when the soil was healthy. Now, pesticides disrupt the micro organisms so they don't process the minerals for the plant to take them up. When I started getting these nutrients, my body had what it needed to reduce the pain of inflammation.  I am now able to do 8 hours of bodywork and not get headaches and fatigue the next day. This is a miracle.  I ran out of the meal shakes I use one week and at the end of the 6 clients, I was so exhausted I just sat in the Jupiter House starring out the window. Nutrition was the missing piece for me and I suspect it could be valuable for you, especially if you have extra weight to shed. This is because the body manufactures fat to coat the toxins. This is a big reason weight loss programs fail: They don't address the issue of impurities in the body that keep the body in survival so the weight comes back on. 

I get to have many victories helping others and that has me know I have the best job in the world. Thank you for visiting my site!