My Nourishing Story

My Nourishing Words:

One must be compassionate to one’s self before external compassion.

Dalai Lama

What is self-compassion? It is a kind response to ourselves when we feel inadequate or fail. It is how we would treat someone we love when they are feeling sad or pained about something in their life. It requires three key components- self-kindness,a sense of common humanity and mindful awareness. Kindness enables us to open our hearts to our own suffering and then comfort ourselves. Common humanity allows us to open our hearts to others suffering.Mindfulness allows us to experience the present moment and experience that moment with greater ease. When experienced all together we our able to manage laborious and difficult times which are inevitable in our daily lives.

My Nourishing Story:

My life long interest in nutrition and wellness has evolved over the years as my family has shifted and changed. I struggled as a teen with body and self-image and worked through the bumps that came my way to heal and arrive at a place of self-acceptance. The years of diet changes, supplements, healing work and then of course varying degrees of denial have all contributed to a transformation. I have made countless errors along the way and still struggle at different points in my life, so the transformation continues. 

Then as a mother, I struggled with my children’s teen years when two of my three children endured life threatening accidents. The medical teams who came together for both of my children applied their expertise and saved their lives. Once they moved beyond the initial trauma there was the question of the unknown process surrounding healing. It was both frightening and unclear about the length of time it would take to recover and how the process would unfold. Their healing process from their injuries was long, arduous and bumpy. I turned to various modalities and nutrition resources to heal their chronic inflammation and pain. This brought me to the realization that I wanted to incorporate my conventional studies of nutrition with a holistic perspective that highlighted the whole person. Through these avenues, I have studied over a 100 dietary theories and worked closely with acupuncturists, osteopaths and doctors to gain a better understanding of the bio-individuality of our bodies and how nutrition plays a key role in disease and the prevention of disease.

A few things have become clearer to me as I have evolved. That there is wisdom that comes with these bumps, struggles and set-backs. Self-acceptance is powerful but so challenging. We all have a voice inside our head that may tell us we are not good enough, we have not done enough or we should be better at x or y. We think that there is always a way to improve our lives and this can spill over into our journey in our health and wellness transformation. How do we accept those parts of us that are unwanted?  We learn to accept those parts just as a mother would be kind and gentle to their child- with great compassion and empathy.  

Through my journey and my obstacles that I have faced I have found alternative therapies, nutrition, yoga and meditation to help me keep my sanity when a new bump comes my way. I believe we all have a choice in the path we want to follow in our wellness journey. The most challenging step is to take the first step with you and your family together.

Affiliations:

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM): since 2013

American Dietetics Association (ADA): since 2012

Credentials:

Master’s of Clinical Nutrition, MSCN (2023)
The Institute for Integrative Nutrition(IIN), New York City (2013)
IBS: FODMAPS, Fat, Fiber, And Flora (2019)
Professional Training and Certification Program
Lifestyle Medicine: Tools for Promoting Healthy Change- Harvard Medical School (June, 2012)
Evolution of Medicine Summit (2014)