Happiness Within

We are late, and we are sorry! So, you thought your brain was the undisputed CEO of your life? That’s cute. In reality, your gut is essentially a shadowy, underground "second brain" (the enteric nervous system) that’s currently running a 24/7 smear campaign against your productivity.  While you’re trying to focus on a spreadsheet, your microbiome in your digestive system is busy producing about 95% of your body’s serotonin. That’s right, and what's that? The chemicals responsible for your happiness are being manufactured in the same place that currently feels like a war zone because you decided "extra spicy" was a personality trait at lunch.  If your gut flora is unhappy, you’re unhappy, and no amount of "positive affirmations" can override a trillion bacteria screaming in a language made of bloating and regret. Let’s talk about the biological audacity of the Gut-Brain Axis. It’s a literal high-speed fiber-optic cable (the vagus nerve) that allows your...

This image truly shows the metals we are discussing, created by Google Gemini! Thank you, GG! The left is good to eat, but please refrain from eating what is on the right. Ever feel like you’re running on low battery? It might be that you’re literally missing the "hardware" that keeps your system glitch-free. While we usually think of "metals" as things we build skyscrapers or cars out of, your body is basically a high-tech organic machine that needs a steady supply of certain metals to function. Don't believe us? Read on, brothers and sisters. Here are the MVP (Most Valuable Plate) metals you need to keep in your internal rock band, and you might notice, we include plenty of plant-based choices: 1. Iron  If you aren’t getting enough iron, your cells are basically waiting for a package that’s never coming. Iron is the basic need of your hemoglobin, which carries oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body. Without it: You’re tired, pale, and have the energy...

(A cuddle with your pet  listening to your favorite song, and playing with a toy will help a lot, silly as it may sound.) We often speak of mental and emotional health as if they are the same. Research tells us how different they are but also how they are very much related. Maybe the combo is like a computer. With Mental Health as the Hardware: It's how we handle information and make decisions. But our mental health does experience depression and anxiety.  And Emotional as the Software: It's how we figure out how we feel and respond to stress and relaxation.  We can have a challenging mental health condition but still ne emotionally healthy. We can have "perfect" mental health but struggle with our emotional regulation. We can take care both...as important as our physical health.  How do we take care of both?  The "Doorway Reset":  When we walk through a physical doorway, we should take one deep, intentional breath, a relaxed one.. It’s a "...

  We’ve all seen the health influencers glowing under ring lights, talking about pie-in-the-sky things like "optimization." We’ve also seen the brave stories of those battling clear, diagnosed illnesses. But there is a massive, silent population living in the Gray Zone of Health. They might be called the Walking Wounded. We're not talking about The Walking Dead . That's a popular TV show. The Walking Wounded? We've all been there, but no one talks about it. These are the people who feel "off" every single day for long periods of time, and they don't know why. Even with a weekend of sleep, still tired, down, and out. Maybe it’s a persistent brain fog that makes simple sentences feel like marathons, or a vague, wandering joint pain or pinched nerve. The writers of this blog know a lot about the latter. Anyways, you go to the doctor. You get the blood work. You wait for the call. And then comes the sentence that should be a relief, but feels like a door...