• Environmental
• Psychological
• Physiological
• Diet/Nutrition

All of these factors affect our ability to experience God's peace in our lives.

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https://treeleaf.link/7Jad

Why talk about poop on a podcast about Christian wellness?

• if you aren't pooping regularly and with ease, you are not well, your body is not working according to original design
• In holistic medicine, digestion is widely considered to be at the core of your health.
• you are not just what you eat but what you digest (nutrient absorption)
• proper elimination is one of your body's natural systems of detox
• allergies and auto-immune issues arise from digestive dysfunction

What is "healthy" poop?

• frequency - minimum of once a day. some people say up to 3 times a day, food in-waste out schedule
• transit time - ideal is between 12-24. body needs time to absorb nutrients
• polka dot poo test - 2 tbs hulled sesame seeds, see how long they take to re-appear
• Bristol stool chart 3-4
• you actually have to look at your poop
• firm and sausage shaped is ideal, anything else can indicate something isn't working right
• a word about floaters
• commonly thought this meant undigested fats in stool
• other benign causes such as excess gas

Dysfunction

• Constipation - not often enough
• common contributing factors
• not drinking enough water
• shallow breathing (diaphragm massages transverse colon)
• chronic stress reduces gut motility
• lack of movement
• lack of fiber (2 kiwi, ground flax seed, chia seeds)
• bacteria imbalance - don't just throw a probiotic at it! SIBO needs careful treatment
• Diarrhea - too often
• common contributing factors
• food allergies and sensitivities
• stress
• too much magnesium
• toxins (pathogens or otherwise)
• bacteria imbalance (again SIBO)
• gallbladder issues
• excessive strenuous exercise
• Gas
• common contributing factors
• eating too fast, taking in extra air
• food allergies and sensitivities
• bacteria - stomach not digesting food properly, fermenting in gut, bacteria growing and being really active
• carbonated beverages

What do do about your poo

• learn to breathe from your belly
• eat in a relaxed state (parasympathetic, allows body to digest)
• slow down and chew your food
• stay hydrated
• cooked veggies vs raw for digestion
• digestive bitters for constipation and gas
• magnesium oxide for constipation
• eliminate processed food
• food sensitivity testing
• reduce stress
• castor oil packs
• enemas!
• work with me! I can help pin-point the dysfunction and walk with you to get things working right

RULE ugh, not good at this. Love the idea and the planning of it though!

Where did this come from?

From Sacred Ordinary Days website "The first example of a Christian rule of life came from the Desert Fathers, a monastic community of mystics living in Egypt around the third century AD. The most well-known rule is the rule of St. Benedict, written fifteen hundred years ago, which was created to help his community of monks translate their faith into the habits and rhythms of their shared daily life. His famous rule has inspired many communities and individuals to develop their own rules with a similar intention."

What is this?

• "rule" - think intentional pattern for your life
• one author likened it to a trellis that provides the framework for your growth towards God
• like resolutions? a little, but it is more about how you will attend to your desire to experience God in life. involves spiritual practices
• RHB says "how do I want to live so I can be who I want to be?"
• from RHB: take into account your personality, your spiritual type, your season of life, the sin patterns you are contending with, the place you know God is trying to stretch you

How To Make One

• let yourself acknowledge where you are at in life and what you want your spiritual life to look like
• talk to God about these things
• make note of promptings from God, what does He want to work on with you?
• identify your pathway, how you are wired to connect with God
• think about what spiritual practices are meaningful for you or practices that you want to try
• take a big picture view of your life: daily, weekly, monthly. What do things look like? where do you need to create space for your spiritual growth? what needs to go? what needs to be added? What is working, what isn't working?
• begin to plan your rule/rhythm with God. What spiritual disciples and practices will I engage in? 
• daily
• weekly
• monthly
• quarterly
• yearly

Example

• my life - mostly home-bound, self employed, in school, trying to build business. Want my life with God to be instinctually first - in time and priority,
• prayer!
• God wants to work on keeping me present with him, not looking ahead in expectation or dread, responding to his invitation. Also need to attend to my body better through movement and a more loving diet
• pathways - naturalist & contemplative
• practices - lectio divina, meditation, spiritual direction, holy yoga, outdoor silence and solitude.
• life - work daily, no weekly demands (church?), monthly serving at church. I have lots of space! Not always so, in past I have had to name what I would discontinue so that I could have time and space for new practices. Realized I need regular time with close friends and something fun on the horizon. Want to add some creative activity

My Rule Of Life

•  daily - time with God and scripture first thing with my cup of coffee, movement (yoga, ballet or walks), time playing piano
• weekly - church in person or online, practice actual sabbath, connect with 1 friend, date/adventure time with Corby, examen on Sunday night
• monthly - half day of silence & solitude, nature outing
• quarterly - night away with Corby, possibly visiting churches in the diocese
• yearly - create rule of life, would like to do retreat at an abbey

• Thanksgiving Holy Yoga flow
• Advent Holy Yoga series

Please spread the word!

Spiritual Burnout

This week Jessie interviews Fr. Ryan Brotherton from Holy Trinity Edmonds, in Edmonds, WA. 

Ryan has been a produce manager, business owner, real estate mogul, youth pastor, and church planter. Oh, and a husband and a father of three. He knows a thing or two about burnout, how to recover from it, and how to prevent it.

Currently Ryan is the Rector (lead priest) at Holy Trinity Edmonds, and Canon for Church Planting of the Anglican Diocese of Cascadia. 

There is something in here for everyone who has ever dealt with feeling burned out spiritually. 

Links

• Holy Trinity Edmonds website
• Mission Cascadia website for church planting

characterized by comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.

MEDICINE

characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease.

living out Christianity holistically is the idea that the parts which make us who we are are united or integrated

that we aren't ignoring or neglecting a part, but placing it all before God and saying I want to live "well" for you and with you

1. spirit - the part of us that engages with God
2. body - our physical self, the vessel for our spirit
3. soul - our humanity, where spirit and body intersect, where we experience body, thoughts and emotions

Love the lord your god with…

What does it look like to live disintegrated?

• this is familiar to us! the common state of humanity
• our primary engagement is with the circumstances of life
• may attend to one or the other as dysfunction arises 
• we live reactively instead of intentionally

What does it look like to live integrated or holistically?

• prep work (actually constant but start here!)
• slow down
• assess your life and state without judgement
• acknowledge desire
• listen for God's heart
• spirit 
• learn how you are wired to connect to God, "personal" relationship
• practice listening and responding
• look for how God wants to minister his love to you
• body
• stop living in denial
• start small 
• eat real food
• drink water
• move your body with intention
• soul
• maybe the hardest area, the heart of our pain and traumas
• STRESS, neurological patterns of mental illness (Curt Thompson MD book.....)
• be attentive to your feelings and how you are experiencing life
• watch for disconnection, allow the lord to work out connection
• examine, examine, examine
• grace, grace, grace

Sarah Song: Awakening - I've known for quite awhile that I am not whole, realization that you are being called into a faith that may not be pretty but is real

How is Spiritual Direction different from

• discipleship - you are not accountable to me, I am not telling you how to grow.
• mentorship - I am not your example, Jesus is
• counseling - while there is a lot of exploring of feelings and processing, I do not offer advice or counsel. 

How did I get into Spiritual Direction?

• there has to be more than reading bible, praying (just the speaking part, I hadn't learned to listen yet) and serving
• Holy Yoga introduced me to lectio divina which is a process of meditating on scripture and listening for the Holy Spirit
• part of a group working through Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton, which offers opportunity to try out lots of different spiritual practices and reflect together
• I'm a listener, people come to me with their stories and I'm naturally curious so I ask questions
• back-ground in discipleship, so I am wired to want to help people grow
• conversation with some special people, and one of them pointed out that I am Spiritual Director - what the heck is that?

What is Spiritual Direction?

• very, very old practice, going back to the early days of the church
• continued through many Christian traditions, most commonly seen in the catholic church
• not "direction", nobody tells you what to do or think. think "companion"
• soul care, working with people who want to grow in their relationship with Jesus and need help to find their way
• it's for people who want to lean in to the fullness of life with God. Time in spiritual direction creates space for you to become aware of his presence, attend to his voice and respond to his invitation

What does it look like?

• intro call to answer questions, see if we are a good fit
• begin with sharing of our God stories, establish a relationship and take time to honor God's movement in our lives
• monthly sessions of one hour
• begin by settling into God's presence 
• spiritual exercise (lectio divina, examen, scripture immersion, etc) to grow in our listening to God
• time for you to process as I listen, make observations and ask questions that will help you respond to God
• goal is to process and grow in living an honest and deeper life with God

Who can benefit from Spiritual Direction?

• literally everyone, at any point of their walk with God
• I have a spiritual director!

Recap how I got started with Yoga

• address chronic back pain at the recommendation of my chiro
• Tri-Zone Movement Therapy - early 2014
• Holy Yoga Instructor - March 2014
• Yoga Therapist - June 2015
• not certified but also taught Foundation Training (posterior chain strengthening)

The Yoga Can of Worms

• Christians and Yoga - I am not here to convince you that it is ok
• A few facts (read Holy Yoga by Brooke Boon)
• I am not worshipping Hindu gods. Yoga came before the Hindu religion by about 1000 years, it did not originate with the Hindu religion. They adopted it as a spiritual practice.
• The human body belongs to God, not any one religion. Other religions have incorporated the body in the worship of their deity. In Holy Yoga, we are directing our bodies in the worship of Jesus.
• I am not inviting demons into my body by positioning my parts into a shape with a yoga name (asana). My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and I am literally entering into that place of worship. (little story of lady leaving my class when we started in child's pose for prayer)
• Traditional Yoga teaches one to empty your mind, Holy Yoga teaches to empty your mind of everything but Jesus so you are free to connect with Him.
• Do you disagree? I'm ok with that. Holy Yoga has been both permissible and beneficial for me. Maybe God has not released this freedom to you.

What is Holy Yoga

• 100% and 100% Jesus
• Yoga, means "unity" or " to join".
• physical postures, breathing and meditation
• postures - The body is our vehicle for navigating life. Yoga helps to stretch & strengthen muscles, increase range of motion, place beneficial pressure on organs to stimulate function.
• breathing - God designed truth that breath is of him, brings life. Stimulates vagus nerve, calms nervous system, transports much needed oxygen.
• unity with God through physically agreeing with how he created us.
• meditation - what really sets Holy Yoga apart from traditional yoga, taking opportunity to release the world and enter into conversation with God. Scripture, speaking prayer, listening prayer, contemplating his movement in your life.
• What type of yoga is Holy Yoga
• hatha - stretching postures with breath and mindfulness
• specifically bakhti yoga, devotional yoga. we seek to use the practice to deepen our devotion to Jesus

Why Yoga is a Part of Holistic Christianity

• my personal position
• acknowledging the body was created to move. Movement is a part of healthy humaning. there are other ways of moving
• yoga specifically because there is opportunity for spiritual engagement
• mindful breathing encourages a healthy nervous system which benefits body and mental health

Why you Actually CAN do Yoga. Yes you.

Personalized Yoga Therapy services

• background with food as therapy
• Jer as a toddler, behaviors that we thought were ADD but now know were ASD (unable to focus, constant tantrums, also massive rashes and food reactions)
• research, research, research! Feingold diet and EFAs
• always cooked from scratch, but research led to more whole food eating in general (as opposed to SAD)
• Jer ASD diagnosis and the GFCF diet (actually ended up testing with allergies to both)
• first naturopath we went to expanded understanding of therapeutic eating (Dr. Jacqui)
• always just drawn toward nutrition, learning on my own about the most supportive and intentional ways of eating for health
• development of my own health conditions, NDs recommended different dietary approaches for healing (Paleo, AIP for auto-immune, Bi-Phasic diet for SIBO)
• interest exploded and my ND told me about the NTA program
• What the heck is an FNTP
• functional nutritional therapy practitioner (as opposed to NTP/NTC)
• Functional - I am trained in a hands-on method to assess your body's functioning and possible nutritional deficiencies (lingual-neural testing)
• palpating reflex points
• through client feedback, identifying organs and systems with dysfunction, testing supplements against those reflex points for their beneficial effects
• Nutritional - I'm all about nutrition, whole food, what is most beneficial way of eating to support my clients' health
• Therapy - It is not a one and done practice. I work with people over time to make long-term changes that specifically address their health concerns.
• Practitioner - trained and certified specifically in nutrition, I "practice" my craft
• My specialties
• holistic living - integrating Christian spiritual health and body health
• specifically work with people who are suffering the effects of chronic stress and burn-out 
• auto-immune
• chronic illnesses
• SIBO
• What it looks like to work with me as a NT client
• discovery call - 10 minute chat to see if I your concerns are within my scope of practice and we are a good fit
• initial 3 session therapy package
• 1 - intake interview where we talk about your health history, major concerns and what your life looks like. Walk away with initial recommendations to put into place ASAP
• 2 - nutritional assessment. 1 week after 1st session, you will have completed and returned a 3 day food and symptom journal prior to this session. I analyze this and we review my findings together. Walk away with initial nutritional and dietary recommendations.
• 3 - functional assessment. 2 weeks after 2nd session, you will have completed an online NAQ which provides a ton of functional information for me
• in person - review of what your body is telling me (from NAQ), hand's on assessment of dysfunction and personalized supplement recommendations
• online - review of what your body is telling me, personalized supplement recommendations
• Next steps - HIGHLY recommend monthly therapy sessions to track progress and make adjustments as your body is healing
• Additional services
• pantry clean-out
• guided grocery shopping
• group presentations
• Sara Song: Painting Pictures of Egypt, all about looking back and longing for things that did not serve us well when we are being called to move forward

Please leave a review of our podcast on your preferred platform or on our website. Thanks for listening!

The highlights.

• native to PNW, grew up in the country on a creek, wandering hills and forests
• my parents are former hippies who found Jesus and so I grew up in church
• healthy food and active, outdoor life were part of our family culture
• rejected all faith as a teen (strong willed ha ha) and God allowed to wander as a prodigal
• went to UW as a pre-med major, switched to nursing because of work load and partying
• prodigal returns, moved back home and re-met Corby
• bible college, married, kids
• ministry, homeschooling, who do I want to be when I grow up?
• crash and burn story, has to be something more to being a christian than this!
• Holy Yoga certification, introduction to spiritual practices, Yoga Therapy Certification
• sick, sicker, sickest: hypothyroid, food allergies, hashimoto's, anemia, celiac, heavy metal toxicity, intestinal parasites, SIBO, possible lupus and CIRS
• FNTP certification in the middle of all of that
• life overhaul!!! had to learn to slow down, re-evaluate how to be human, what rhythm of life does God want me to live
• SD training, learning new ways to relate to and respond to God
• putting it all together - holistic Christianity
• Sara Song: Less Like Scars