Taking Control of Your Health: A Holistic Approach with Jennifer Shepherd

Welcome to the Real Life Momz podcast. It is time to take a break from all our to-dos and carve out this time to focus on ourselves. I'm Lisa Foster, your host, and today I'm here with my good friend, fellow mom. A very talented physical therapist and functional medicine practitioner, Jennifer Shepherd, and today, we are taking control of our health.

So, hi Jen. Welcome back to the Real Life Momz podcast. Lisa? Yes, hello. I'm so happy to be here and I'm so excited to talk to you and just fill you in on here's everything, everything that's happening right in my life since we last spoke. I think, was it season one or season two? It was in the very beginning.

As I talked about starting your own business and single momming and, and how, how do you do all of it? And just, I'm so proud of you and everything that you are doing and just, showcasing moms and helping other moms and because it's hard to do it all in.

Having a great community is amazing. I feel very fortunate, first of all to be your friend, but also that you are gonna just share your knowledge, your experience, [00:01:00] personal and professional with us today. So. Healthcare is a dicey topic, right? I feel like it could be so, mm-hmm.

Overwhelming. There's so much information and really we don't know what are the right things, what are the wrong things? But you have such an amazing approach. You look at the whole picture. You don't just follow little symptoms around. You look at the whole picture. You look at getting to the root cause.

So I would love for you to start with just telling us about. How you help people really achieve their optimal health. And , a lot of it is learning about my own health as well and going through my own health journeys. And my mom passed away of Alzheimer's, so a lot of that has inspired me to, I wanna know more about how to take care of myself and at the same time.

As patients are coming in the door and you know they're not getting better or they're coming in with all of these other things and they see doctor, after doctor, after doctor, you [00:02:00] know, they see physical therapists, they see chiropractors, they see this doctor, they see the GI doctor, and they still come out really still feeling like garbage with no, well, we don't really know what's wrong with you.

Or they get a diagnosis slapped on them. And so they come to me and they have. All these diagnosis, I've got hypothyroidism, I have this, I have diabetes, I have failed back surgery. So they come to me and they're overwhelmed. And they're frustrated and here's this huge laundry list of things that are wrong with them and they still feel like crap.

And the medical bills, that came with it. So I'm classically trained as a physical therapist. And Lisa as you know, , I've evolved into functional, manual therapy evolved into visceral. So the beautiful thing about that evolution is our bodies were designed as whole units.

We were not designed as parts and pieces, and medicine is all about parts and pieces. So much of it, it's about symptoms and parts and [00:03:00] pieces, and that's how people are being treated. So for some people, just treating a part is okay. And so if that works for them, fantastic, that is great. But for a lot of people it doesn't.

And so that is where. My practice has evolved and I started to pursue functional medicine. So functional medicine really is, it's problem solving, and that's something that makes me sad about medicine as well. Or you know, healthcare today is, where's the problem solving? You know, here's a lab, here's a drug.

Let's run a scan. Let, let's see if we find something, oh, I found something. Let's, well, let's fix that. But maybe what you found wasn't really the problem. So chasing symptoms and where's the problem solving A lot of, you know, healthcare practitioners spend a lot of money on their education. I'm like, you guys are really smart.

Let's problem solve. So functional medicine is beautiful because we look at the whole person, we look at the whole. Of somebody and, and this has [00:04:00] evolved as I work with my patients and as we work with our hands and stories tend to unfold. So everything that happens to you. Leaves a mark in the body and the body's brilliant.

So you know, whether you get hit by a car, you know that car accident, those forces come in and affect the tissues. And sometimes those forces come in and even affect some of the organs. Or say you had a virus, like sometimes that inflammation still lies in your system or a bad case of food poisoning. So all of that stuff affects your tissues, your cells, your joints, your organs, but your body's pretty smart.

Si. I need to keep going. So your body figures out a way to right your eyes to the horizon. It's always pivoting, which is amazing. So you get over that injury or that car accident and you go about your way, well then down the road, maybe something else happens. So as I talk with patients, 'cause I work with patients with, you know, yes, back pain, neck pain, but also.

Patients are finding me, you know, I just, I don't feel good or I'm struggling with hair loss, or I've got hormone issues and, you know, I stay [00:05:00] within my scope as a physical therapist and I work with the body and mechanics and structure. So how do, what do we need to do to optimize the structure, but also as we pull in functional medicine, looking at what are, what are all the parts and pieces?

So as I meet a patient, what's everything that's happened to you throughout a lifetime? A doctor's looking at. Say, for example, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, right? And doctors are looking at G. Okay? Mm-hmm. Let's go back and see. Um, I have just amazing cases where people come in and we've taken things back to, you know, gosh, the cord was wrapped around your neck when you were a baby, or you had meningitis when you were five, and then you fell down the stairs and then, maybe you had a traumatic experience or a bad breakup.

So all of those things, your body says, I gotta pivot. I gotta pivot, I gotta pivot. Until it gets to the point where it says, I really can't pivot anymore. Mm-hmm. And then we start getting into disease. So my job is to unpack your story and look and see, what systems are involved. You know, [00:06:00] how's, how's the GI system?

How's the hormone system? And I do this through my hands. And then I also teach my patients like, you got, here's what we need you to take care of ourselves. As we look at, you know, here's all these processes that happen, um, our digestion and the nutrients that we need to make our hormones and the enzymes for our liver.

The body is so brilliant. It's so amazing, but we also have to take care of it. So it's twofold. My job is, how can I help? Your body work better. And then I also wanna teach you specifically for you, here's what you need to do to help your body work as optimally as possible. Yeah. And so, so true, right?

Because a lot of times we just have an issue and if like, listen, if it really is just your ankle. And you get treated just for your ankle. It will work if that's all there is. But if you had a hip injury back in the day or a fall that you didn't resolve, and that's actually what's causing your ankle [00:07:00] issue, right?

Most likely not gonna resolve. 'cause the core piece wasn't. Treated. So I love that. I love that you do that. But yet it seems a lot and complex, right? So are there some, if we wanna be living a healthy life, and really truly be on that optimal level of our health, are there some components that we can be looking at and following even on our own?

They're absolutely, and, and these are again, as I've worked with these complex patients, you know, what are some of the common trouble areas that I find in them? And inflammation. Inflammation is a big, big, big piece. I'm sure everyone's talking about inflammation and, and back to everything out there like everybody has will do cold plunges or do, so.

I don't want this to be about like, do this, this, and this, because. It really is unique to you and there are foundational pieces that everybody needs. And so here's people doing, I'm doing cold punches, I'm doing saunas, [00:08:00] but you've missed some really basic, important things, so that's really nice and good, but to really take care of yourself, let's get to some foundational pieces.

So back to the concept of inflammation. The food that we eat can make us or break us. And I have fought this one personally for a long time. I am a sensitive flower. I have a sensitive gut. I have my own history of trauma and injuries and whatnot. And, I got to the point where, um, I had an appendectomy and I was working with my, my doctor.

She's like, Jen, it's really time for you to do elimination diet. I'm like, but I'm already gluten-free. I'm already dairy-free. So I finally did the elimination diet. I said. And also I'm concerned about Alzheimer's in my life as well since I lost my mom. So what was really important about that experience and what it is, it takes 21 days to lower the inflammation in your body.

And that's where, you know, people will do well, I went gluten-free, or I did this, or I, you know, I, I [00:09:00] gave up something, or I'm trying to eat healthier. Well, so what happens is, let me rewind a little bit. 'cause. We're gonna talk about understanding your hidden food sensitivities because we think we're eating well, and maybe we are eating well, but maybe there's certain things that our body says, I don't really like that.

Or That creates inflammation. And that happens to a lot of people because over time we get a leaky gut. So stress will cause a leaky gut. Antibiotics will cause a leaky gut eating the standard American diet, right? Processed foods, sugar, bad oils, all of that. So what happens is we start getting a leaky gut, um, that barrier becomes permeable, and then foods that we eat all the time sometimes can pass through that barrier and go into the bloodstream, and then the body sees that like, ooh, this is something bad.

So it is super important to hit the reset button. [00:10:00] And, and like I said, I fought this and I'll share a couple of cases on why I so firmly believe in this. But when you take time to really lower your inflammation, and we don't eliminate everything, like we take it down to lean proteins, healthy fats, lots of veggies, and, and it's not just taking things away, but it's also, what else do we bring into, nourish your cells?

Because all the, your hormones, your gi, your brain, everything needs. Specific nutrients that we need to make sure we're getting the colors of the rainbow. So we're bringing out inflammation, we're bringing up the nutrients to support our system, but then after 21 days, so most people start feeling pretty good.

And it's been amazing what people have said, um, when I've nudged them. And, you know, people push back. 'cause you know who, who doesn't wanna give up their bowl of pasta? Who doesn't wanna give up? You know, their wine for a month. But you know, when you're really struggling with something. Hey, you know, I've done all the mechanical work, like you've done everything.

Here's this big piece that's sitting here on the table. [00:11:00] Let's tackle it. So the people who have embarked on that, oh my gosh, Jen, I have more energy. Oh my gosh, my re, my restless legs are better. Mm-hmm. My back pain is better and this is after I've treated it and I've stabilized and I've worked on it for like a year as they lowered their inflammation.

So much else got better. So then the cool thing is you can bring food back, but then you find out very quickly, like if you bring corn back in. Ooh, my GI got really bad. Hey, that tells you my body doesn't like that. And what happens is you don't really realize that you have these because there's already inflammation in your system.

So we lower the inflammation, we. Systematically test things back and then, you know, and then your body is so much happier, it's like, thank you for leaving this out. And maybe you can bring it in down the road, or maybe it, it's a once in a while, food, but if you were eating eggs and you're already inflamed, your body didn't realize it, and then you take it out, you know, your body says, thank you so much for not being that inflammation.

So [00:12:00] food can make us or break us. Reading our labels, I tell everyone, read the labels. You know, how many ingredients are in your labels is sugar in the first three? So, um, so I've created a course to help teach my patients. We do, we dive into labels, we go through the elimination diet, and it's not just, you know, the elimination diet, but.

Here's, here's how you can eat. Well, I'm a single mom of two kids with a private practice. Like if I can do it, so can you. Right? Like, here's what you do when you go to Chick-fil-A. Like, here's how you can do it. Here's how you can eat really well and really clean for you and still have fun. And still eat really, really yummy food.

Like I really, I don't miss pasta anymore. I don't miss those things because I feel like garbage when I eat them. Mm-hmm. Like I instantly put on five pounds. I instantly, my skin breaks out. So you get to the point you're like. It's not worth it to that. So that's the most important thing is like that awareness of how do you feel when you eat this?

Or how do you feel when you do this? So I'm a big, big proponent of teaching you awareness [00:13:00] and back to, as you go into taking control of your health, like it might work for somebody, but how does it feel when you do that? You know, is not for everybody. Paleo is not for everybody. You know what's, what specifically works for you, but we kind of have to help you figure out.

What are you gonna notice to know that feels better or doesn't feel better? Does that make sense? Yes. But I have to say, what do you eat at Chick-fil-A that you can eat? Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. You eat the Kale Crunch salad and the grilled nuggets. Really? Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Why not, right? Yep. Okay.

Yep, yep. You go to Jimmy John's and you get the un witch. There you go. Yeah, see, you can can do it. You can do it. That's so great. I love that. You can do it. Now, there's a lot of stuff out there though.

There's like supplements and things like that. What do you think about the pill form where people are like, oh, I need to take this supplement and this supplement and all that stuff. Is that a good thing or, or should we be just be getting our stuff from food [00:14:00] itself? Right. So it depends. And yes, Anne like all answers.

So it's, I mean, people, can I just take a pill? I'm like, no, you really can't substitute a pill for healthy eating. And it's twofold, right? Like staying away from the stuff that's not good for you, but really boosting your nutrients. So there is something to be said. You know, our food isn't as healthy as it was because of, you know, farming practices and whatnot, but it's still like, get your vitamins and minerals from your food.

From your colors. We need the fiber of the fruits and vegetables and the lean proteins and the healthy fats. But genetically, I've gotten into genetics a little bit more as well, both personally and in the clinic too. Um, I use three x four genetics and it's really fascinating because it goes through particular genes, that.

Predispose somebody maybe to be more inflammatory or it predisposes somebody for high cholesterol there's some genes where people tend to be a little bit low in vitamin D. So like genetically [00:15:00] you struggle to synthesize vitamin D, so therefore, knowing that you probably should boost your vitamin D.

A lot of us are vitamin D deficient, so there are supplements that we absolutely do need to bring into our body. Um, it's really hard to get a lot of healthy fats so often, you know, omega threes. We need to bring those on board in a good multivitamin because we, it is hard to eat well. All the time and stay balanced and get all of those micronutrients and minerals that our cells need to do their job well.

Mm-hmm. At the same time, sometimes it becomes overkill. I've got some patients who come in, they're like, I'm on 30 different supplements. I'm like, that's. So back to what's specific for you, you know, how do you trial? Like what makes you feel better or what do you look at in your labs?

Like how do you know that this supplement really is beneficial for you? Or are you just wasting your money or, so it, it's, it's something to be looked at closely because again, on social media, like now it's creatine, and now it's this, you know, what's, what's the supplement of the month? And it's really not that [00:16:00] simple to just, oh, I'm just going to take the supplement.

Right. We gotta take it back to foundations. What are you putting in your body? Mm-hmm. You know, what are you exposing your body to? Because supplement all you want, but if you're still putting in, you know, if you're still inflammatory because of the foods you're eating, wasting your money. I mean, I guess maybe you're supporting yourself.

Some, you know, I think about my boys because they don't like, I, I'm gonna supplement you guys a little bit more because they're not going to eat as well as I am. So here please take your vitamins because at least I got you covered there. But, it is so unique and so personal for each certain person.

That's why I feel like it is so important to work with somebody, um, to guide you through that. Yeah. And to teach you that awareness of what you need. Yeah. I think that is the key. It is. It's not like a one and done. Like you really need to see what's good for you because it's not the same. And unfortunately the way we advertise things, even on podcasts, right?

Like we give steps,, do these things and this will help you. Right. But it's not [00:17:00] for everyone. So really having that one-on-one attention, like someone like you, or even I guess, doctors that are more open-minded to other things, getting those tests done, see what you really need, I think is really important.

Just because your partner's doing it or your friend's doing it doesn't mean you should be too. Exactly. Now, okay. You see a lot of people, you see a lot of people in crisis. What do you think is the one consistent thing? Well, here, it's like different for everyone right here, but what, but what's the one consistent thing that people are like missing from their healthcare routine?

If three, can I give you three? You can gimme three, but not everyone's the same. So yeah, here we go. My top three. So the first one, it truly is inflammation. It really, really is inflammation and most of the inflammation comes from the food that we're eating. So it really isn't, I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but it, I can't tell you how important it is to really, really, really develop some really good habits as far as [00:18:00] what you're putting in your mouth.

Um, toxins. Are there and present, we're aware of them, but I feel, and yes, we're surrounded by them all the time. Um, but I feel food is much more important. I have a patient who, you know, she can tell you all the different chemicals and is avoiding all these toxins, but she's not ready to commit to food.

Mm-hmm. Like, here's, here's only one part of the puzzle and we're only gonna get so far because we still have this big inflammatory piece sitting here on the table. The other piece. Stress. Stress and the autonomic nervous system. It's hard being human. It is hard being human and everything that we go through, I mean, just as I said in the beginning, right, like there's injuries and traumas and illnesses and COVID and stresses and kids, and all of that weighs on our system too, and that also becomes a huge source of inflammation.

Kind of [00:19:00] down like the biochemical chain. So stress. Revs up that sympathetic nervous system. You start to spill cortisol from your adrenals. So you're always pumping cortisol that starts to affect the thyroid and the hormones and your sleep. So that is a piece that I do like to start teaching my patients right away.

So we start looking, you know, let's maybe look at your heart rate variability or what can we do for breathing? Or maybe sometimes we do bring in a supplement to. To help settle down those adrenals, especially during like, Hey, you've got, it's a really stressful time. What do you need to do to support your system?

But we do, we live in such a fast-paced world and we push ourselves so hard and I, that was actually what pushed me to get into the ordering. So I. I, I do like data. Um, I needed something to keep me accountable because actually, Lisa, you and I had that conversation. I remember calling you like, Lisa, I push hard and then I crash and burn.

Do you remember that? I'm like, I [00:20:00] push so hard and I crash and burn because I love to do everything and I'm doing so many things, but then I would crash and burn. So I really needed something, um, to hold me accountable 'cause I was crashing pretty hard. My hormones were struggling, my mental health was struggling, and I was eating pretty well, but here was this other piece of the puzzle that was really falling down.

I wasn't taking care, I wasn't resting, I wasn't nurturing myself in those other areas and taking care of my nervous system. So the ordering was great because it, well, talk to me like, Hey, you're, you've had a couple rough nights of sleep. You might want to spend some more time, or, your heart rate staying kind of high.

Hey, sister. Slow it down a little bit. So it's really helped me be accountable. Like, it, it's not gospel like, oh my gosh, it's said I slept bad. I feel terrible, but just it, it helps me stay on track. Or if, if I'm trending down the wrong way. Mm-hmm. Hey, you're pushing a little too hard. Make sure you rest a little bit more today.

All right, I'll take a nap today. Or, you know, I'm not gonna work out today [00:21:00] because. I'm feeling kind of tired and then Aura said You're tired. So I really needed that confirmation because giving myself grace is sometimes hard, but Aura will say, if Aura says I'm tired. Okay. I will let myself rest. Yes. Or a nose, although I have people that are addicted to the ring and like they get almost anxiety when they, we that's wait, when they look at it, we have to be careful.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And they haven't had enough careful sleep. And then they're like, oh my God, I haven't had enough sleep. And they start to freak out and I say, can you put that a ring aside and not look at the numbers for a few nights just to like zone out a little bit here so it can, we need a balance. It can be dangerous for sure.

So it seems like there like are pillars almost like the food one is a big one for optimal health. Okay. Like making sure this food pillar, like keeping that inflammation down. Are there other like little like pillars if you will, like little sections that people can really be mindful of and [00:22:00] think about it when they're thinking of their overall health?

There are, and, and you know, this kind, this. Topic is so complex, right? And as we talk about, we're talking about integrative health, so I'm talking about a whole person. So that's where it's tough because there's, there are so many facets to our health and as I've worked with these patients, um, I. You know, autoimmune, um, even lots of hip surgeries and joint surgeries and just this whole lifetime, like the more we can keep you outta surgery, the he, your brain is gonna be, what do you want, I guess how, how, how well do you feel?

How good do you feel? How do you want to feel? And then as you look forward, like what do you want your life to look like when you're 50, 60, 70? Because I'll tell you. Mm-hmm. The more stuff you accumulate and if you don't take care of your body, it's not pretty down at the other end, and it's a lot harder.

To get your health back when it's already gone too far. Yeah. So back to pillars. So I do, I look at cellular health and that is, you know, the nutrients, the inflammation, so that's [00:23:00] cellular health. And then I look at structural health. So especially coming from a pt, um, you know, how we sit all day long? You know, all of my women, we all, everybody, well, men and women we're a little bit different where we get tight, but most men, women we're tight here.

So it's so important for many reasons, because if you've got areas that are tight and you're gonna go work out, I've one sweet patient. She's like, my doctor told me I got injured because I was working out too much. And I would say it wasn't because you were working out too much. I love that you were working out, but you were working out on structures that were too tight.

Then that caused a comp, it caused too much strain in other places. So the other reason why structure is important is because also we think about blood flow back to you, right? If things are really tight and our head is in a forward position, how well is that blood flow coming up to the brain? So, and you know, there's.

Do this exercise, do this stretch. And again, that's parts and pieces. Mm-hmm. So as I've looked, here's [00:24:00] here's how we mobilize our bodies. I love the foam roll. I've got a foam roll program that is also with a stability. So we work on mobility and stability at the same time to optimize our fascial alignment because you can mobilize, but if you don't retrain your body how to be in a more neutral position.

You'll go back quickly. So it's really a combination of mobilizing and stabilizing. And so that's the structural health aspect. So anybody with like back pain, knee pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, like again, here's some foundational pieces that really help your body work as a whole unit. Mm-hmm. And then stress is the other pillar, that nervous system.

Because if that nervous system is off, your gut's gonna be off, hormones are gonna be off, pain's gonna get going, so you gotta watch that nervous system. So kind of diving into. You know, what, what is your morning routine? You know, how do you set your day? How do you bring in calm? Um, and this one, personally I struggle 'cause I, I run so high all the time.

But, , how do you get into your body? , I really [00:25:00] teach about learning, kind of this bidirectional communication, this grounding into your body. Because most of us live up here. Mm-hmm. And we, and we forget that there's a body. So bringing our, our body coming into our body. Starting to calm in our body.

And then the fourth one really is detoxification. And that one is a little tricky topic because everyone's like, I'm gonna do a detox. Like, well, your liver's detoxing all the time. All the time, and genetically a lot of us are missing the enzymes that help our liver detox well. So that's another place where, hey, boost those cruciferous vegetables.

Here's, here's vegetables that can really support that process that you know has the, the particular vitamins and minerals that you need. And or sometimes we do need to supplement that liver or Hey, let's watch that alcohol. Mm-hmm. Let's watch some of those other things. And even in our environment, our air quality, our water quality, so right, our cellular health, our nervous system health, our structural health.

I feel those are [00:26:00] the big, big three, uh, pieces. Yeah. And that's what I've explored in my own body. That's what I see my patients. I'm like, if you can really hunker down on these three pieces and make these part of your life, and, and as you do these, as we talked earlier, the concept of awareness, like. You feel better?

Mm-hmm. And what happens is as you start feeling better, you kind of come off the bandwagon like, oh, I didn't make it. You know, I kinda slacked off on eating, or I haven't done my morning routine in a while, and then nervous system starts riding or my skin starts to break out. Oh yeah, you better get back on the bandwagon.

So, as you becomes part of your life and part of your routine, um, I really wouldn't think any other way. Like I just, this is how I eat. This is what makes me feel good. These are the choices I make, and I can choose these other things, but I don't feel good when I do them. Like this is, this is my magic sauce.

My secret sauce. Like this is what I do to feel good. And I'm gonna be 50 this summer, and I, yay. And I feel better than I Right. I'm, I feel better than I have felt probably in the [00:27:00] past 15, 20 years. Well, and that's huge. That's huge. Yeah. And it doesn't sound actually that hard when you just break it down to like, okay. Food, you know, structure stress, like that's okay, we can look at those things in, in a way that we feel comfortable in the now, right? Like, we might not be able to, right, do the whole detox or you know, full on structural stuff, but we can start doing little things to maybe change these just few little pillars.

It's not that. It's not that much. It doesn't seem as overwhelming as much as there's how much stuff is coming at us about, about health. It feels like there's so much coming at us all the time of like, oh, I have to do this, I have to do that. Oh, if I need to do this. But if I just think about, okay, how am I eating?

How's my body? Am I like open? Am I slouched? Am I like treating it right? You know? And am I like taking some breaths to calm my nervous system? That's not. It doesn't seem as overwhelming as it could, right? Yes. So, okay. Today is all about [00:28:00] taking control. We've learned a lot. What do we need to do to take control?

What are some like things that you do wanna share with the listeners to say like, Hey, let's start doing some of the things that we can do to start taking control today? You look in the mirror, right? Just look in the mirror.

And look at your sweet, beautiful self and just how are you feeling? You know, what do you feel good about? Do you feel good in your skin suit? What do you not feel good about? And, and just really taking a good look in the mirror and really knowing that you are worth doing any of it, in all of it because.

You are so important and we put so many other things first. So I think really that's where you start like, I am worth making the time to do this. I am worth not eating my child's leftovers. I have moms do that all the time. I'm like, please stop eating your kids' leftovers. Well, I don't wanna go to waste and I'm too busy.

I'm like. Just make yourself something to eat or buy some [00:29:00] healthy snacks, like buy some food for you. Mm-hmm. Nourish yourself, you know, and I, that concept of, I would, yes, that concept of nourishing, like, so what can, what can you do to nourish yourself today? Maybe my nourishment is I'm going to eat an extra green today, or I'm gonna count how many vegetables I had today.

Some days we nail it, some days we don't. But hey, today, what am I gonna do to nourish myself? I send my patients with this out the door. Hey, what are you gonna do that brings you joy today? What are you gonna do that nourish yourself? Today. So I think as you put it in that perspective, it's not so much I've gotta do this, this, this, this, my song and my this, my, this.

Because it becomes a full-time job and it's overwhelming. And then there's your nervous system. I'm overwhelmed all for Naugh. So what can you do to nourish yourself? Maybe it's sitting down, having a cup of tea, coming into breath, maybe doing a meditation or you know, maybe it's, I'm going [00:30:00] to drink. Some more water today I'm going to move my body, or my body feels tight, I'm going to learn some foam roll work.

I'm gonna do some core work. So, you know, as you look at your week, okay, how, what did I do to take care of my structure? What did I do to take care of my cells? What did I do to take care of my nervous system? And maybe that's kind of how, a place where you can start and kind of getting curious, you know, what, what are your current habits?

So a lot of us think like, oh, I think I'm really healthy. I think I'm doing it well. Well. How are you feeling? If you're feeling great, then great, but if not, maybe we need to make some tweaks here and there or mm-hmm. Bump something up or, or rearrange some things in what you're doing. Yeah. And I think a lot of us know we're not doing it well, so then it's,

it's easy to put something in there. So can you tell us some resources that maybe you have or that you can share so that people that do wanna start. Doing this with a little bit more help than just [00:31:00] themselves doing these little things, can start looking into. Absolutely. So, seeing these needs in my patients that I, I don't always have time to cover when they're in the clinic.

I have created an online learning center in which I cover so many of these topics. So, um, they're broken down into three different courses and I'll bring more courses as as they come on. Um, some of them are big ones. It's a big, you know, one of them is a big commitment, like, Hey, six weeks, come join me and we're gonna walk through the power of food.

And that's what we do. We go into the elimination. Diet, I tell you, who's everything you can eat? Here's everything. We're not going to eat. We meet once a week on Zoom. So we check in, , how are you doing? What questions do you have? Here's what to look out for. So, 'cause so often people are embarking on, , changing things, but I don't know, am I doing it right or I have questions, or I'm not quite sure.

And then I don't wanna say they fail, but they never really get. Through it because they give up or they get frustrated or they didn't know what to do or it was [00:32:00] too much. So, so important to have that help and that accountability to help you walk through it. 'cause it's not easy to do some of these things.

But once you've learned, like I was saying, teach. Teach a man to fish. Teach a woman to fish, right? I wanna teach you how to fish. I wanna give you the skills and the awareness for you to know how to take care of yourself. But it takes time to learn this. So I'm going to teach you the skills, teach you, here's what you look for.

Here's what you eat at Chick-fil-A. When you're busy. So, 'cause I've done it, I've done it, I've done it, I've done it. And it doesn't have to be super hard to do. The other course in the class is, uh, the Power of Core, which is our structural health. So it's also, it's about a six week course and I take you through because teaching you one time.

Maybe you learn it a little bit or you forget, but it's really practice. It's about practicing. So I take you through bit by bit, and we add on week by week. So we start with foam roll, and then we add on learning about our feet. Then we add on bridging. So we add on systematically. Here is. [00:33:00] Five things that you do.

So at the end of it, it's like you, here's your 15 minute workout of five things. Mm-hmm. But it takes time to learn it and practice it. But once you have it, here's your tools, here's your strategy to keep your body healthy for a long time. Yeah. And then, and then the stress course where I teach you all about your autonomic nervous system, stress, sleep, we tackle all those pieces and that's a short one.

We go into some meditations and I just teach you how to come into your body and how to calm. So all of that is, um, on my website and some of them are. Offered at certain times of the year with live support. Some of them you can jump into any time. But chockfull of information, just of everything I've learned from my patients and with my patients and through all my functional medicine training and all of this is work I do myself.

So I'm always conscientious. Like I will never ask somebody to do it unless I've done it myself. 'cause I wanna know what it feels like. So these are the things that I, that I have done that I feel make such a big difference in my body. And then as my patients are doing them, wow, I'm starting to feel great in my body.[00:34:00]

So great and such great resources. Now, if someone's sitting here listening and goes, how do I even know if I have inflammation? Like, how do I know that that's me? What would you say? Mm, that's a great question. Do you struggle with pain? Do you have pain in multiple areas? Right there, there's a piece, and you know, as a physical therapist, I'm like, I can't ignore this.

How long have I been treating patients? Mm-hmm. And not addressing inflammation. So pain. Skin breakouts, difficulty sleeping, resistant weight gain. Spinning here. So all of those can be symptoms of underlying inflammation. So it's that inflammation that, you know, drives these other processes, but at the heart of it often is inflammation of so many things.

Even, even mind, right? Like our, our moods can be driven by inflammation. So that's where, as we dive into how can we help your gut be healthier? So great. Okay, so your wealth of knowledge. Where can [00:35:00] people find you and look at your information? Yes, you can find me. My clinic is up in Cleveland, Ohio.

It's the Shepherd Center for Integrative Health, and that is also my website where you can find the link to the Foundations for functional Health. And that is my online learning school that I send my patients to as well. Like when you're in the clinic, I work hands on. But then. I want you to master these at home, so that's why I want you to do them at home.

I want you to integrate them at home. So that is where we do most of our learning is online, so you can do it anytime you want. You know, you can catch up on modules, you can listen in the car, you can read as you like, and you can learn and master those skills. I love that you have an online piece that you're supporting your patients, but other people as well that maybe can't get to you, , in your clinic.

'cause they don't live there. Right. So, yes. I'm so glad. Well, thank you so much for coming on. This was so amazing. You taught us so much. You do so much. And I'm just so honored to be your friend and colleague, [00:36:00] so thanks for coming on. Yes, thank you, Lisa.

Thank you for listening to this episode. If you wanna learn more about Jen and all those courses that she offers, just click on the link in the show notes, and until next week, keep carving out time for yourself and keep putting yourself on top of your to-do list.