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Coach Mikki and Friends
The Most Courageous Thing You Can Do.. Is Be Yourself! - Coach Mikki
C'mon in and make yourself comfortable! Grab a cup of coffee and listen in as our Circle of Friends Guests share their stories! We hope to inspire you, make you laugh and maybe teach you something new.
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Coach Mikki and Friends
Transforming Trauma and Health with Dr. Tara Rasta - S5E2
Unlock the secrets to a healthier, more fulfilling life as we welcome the insightful Dr. Tara Rasta, a renowned chiropractor and functional wellness expert, to our podcast. Dr. Rasta shares her inspiring journey from battling illness during her UCLA days to transforming her career path from conventional medicine to holistic healing. She candidly discusses the profound impact of genetics and life experiences on our health and her mission to empower individuals to break free from survival patterns, address root causes, and embrace a holistic approach to wellness.
Experience a fascinating narrative of transformation where a car accident redirected a dental school path toward chiropractic care. Dr. Rasta explains the concept of innate intelligence and how it inspires her work, emphasizing the body's natural capacity to heal and maintain balance. You'll hear how initial skepticism gave way to a deeper understanding of holistic healing, thanks to the influence of Dr. Candice Pert's work in network spinal analysis. This episode highlights alternative medicine's potential to foster physical healing, emotional growth, and professional fulfillment.
Join us as we unravel the intricate connections between trauma, brain health, and gut health. Dr. Rasta explains how EMDR and somatic therapy can help reframe memories, create new neural connections, and release stored tension. We explore the critical role of neurotransmitters and hormones in stress regulation and the significance of addressing cortisol imbalances for overall health. Dr. Rasta's approach encourages sustainable wellness improvements and a more profound connection to one's body by focusing on education and personalized treatments. Don't miss out on this empowering journey of healing and growth.
We look forward to seeing you succeed! - www.KeepOnSharing.com - Code - KOS
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Hey, I'm Coach Mickey and I'm so glad that you've joined us, and if this is your first time joining us, come on in and make yourself comfortable, and for those of you that join us on a regular basis, we are so glad that you do, and we look forward to hearing from you, and I want to thank you personally for always connecting with our guests, and you guys have been amazing. I'd like to give a big shout out to London and also into Germany and Australia. Thank you, you guys. You always send me some amazing comments. I love the fact that you interact with a lot of our guests and that you take away something from each and every one of not only my podcast, but also here on the YouTube channel, so I look forward to hearing more from you and again, thank you for always reaching out to my guests, too, and supporting them, and today is really going to be fun.
Speaker 1:This is a subject that I just thrive on, because I'm always about health and how we can do things for ourselves on a more holistic way, and when I had the opportunity to meet this doctor, she just was amazing in the information that she has and what she does, and I had never heard anything like this. So I was very excited to have her as my guest today on Coach Mickey and Friends. So today we have with us Dr Tara Rasta. She is a chiropractor in Anaheim, california, but she does work virtually for those of you listening throughout the globe. She specializes in functional wellness and network spinal analysis. Dr Tara Rasta's mission is to help people break away from repetitive patterns that cause dis-ease and keep the individual away from living their life's purpose. She uses network spinal functional medicine as one of her tools to address the underlying causes of disease rather than just focusing on the symptoms. So welcome with me today, dr Resta. How are you?
Speaker 2:I'm doing really good, Mickey. Thanks for having me here.
Speaker 1:Well, it is an interesting subject in what you do because and I've heard in the past and this is something you may want to share with everybody and explain to them a little bit that dis-ease is such an important thing and we're going to get into you know how you've gotten into this and what you've done. But I think, to clarify the dis-ease portion, since we mentioned that in the beginning, might be something we want to share with everyone, so they understand that. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2:I think that a lot of times, disease is caused by our genetics, but also by the things that happen to us, our experiences, and then, as a result of, you know, growing up and getting into survival mechanism. A lot of times we have this survival patterns that then become what I would call it becomes our shadows, it becomes things that you know causes us to causes our physiology not to work well and then later it causes disease and symptoms. So, you know, I really want to help people understand what those patterns are and release the stored trauma from their body and then give them tools to find out what are the root causes of their problems and then be able to change their lifestyle to create a life that they want.
Speaker 1:Can you share your story of how you became a chiropractor, in this journey that you got into with the functional wellness and the network spinal analysis, because this is pretty deep rooted yeah to be honest, when I was at UCLA.
Speaker 2:That's where I went to school and I was doing psychobiology and neuroscience and I really wanted to become a medical doctor. But during the time that I went to UCLA, I also became very sick. I constantly had headaches, I constantly had urinary tract infections. I, honestly, was in the health center more than I was in class. I was very grateful that I was still able to able to thrive, but it felt like something was missing, because I was in the best school in the world. I was in the, I had access to the best medical field and yet, you know, I was on antibiotics, I was on Prozac, I was on all these different medications for headaches and they couldn't really figure out what's going on with me. So that was when I decided, you know, I don't, I don't want to go into the medical field. I don't feel like it's helpful. But I decided that maybe I'll go to the dental field and that would be a little bit more like I can do things differently and I don't have to deal with a lot of people that are sick, because anytime that I went to the hospital, it just it just felt like everyone is so sick and no one is getting better. And then it was one you know I got accepted to USC for dental school and then I was driving back and I remember just feeling like I don't want to go to dental school. Why did I choose to go to dental school? And I'm just talking to God and I'm like really crying and I'm asking God like give me some clarification, because this is a time like a school started basically in a few weeks and I just had this deep feeling like it wasn't for me. So I got into a car accident. Somebody rear-ended me and that led me into a chiropractor's office and I honestly didn't think chiropractors were ever real doctors, because I was so medical and scientific-centered and I just didn't think if somebody cracked your bones, that could resolve a lot of your issues. So I honestly went to the chiropractor because my insurance told me that I need to do that in order to get money to fix my car or whatever. But it was one of the best things that happened to me and this is how I knew that God was connecting with me and it was showing me the way, because my headaches went away.
Speaker 2:I got off Prozac. Her office wasn't just about cracking my neck, she really coached me on what I need to do, what supplements I need to take, how I need to take care of myself to feel better. You know, a lot of times I feel like doctors tell you like eat better, exercise this and that, but they don't give you specific you know reasons of how you need to do things, what you need to eat, how you need to eat, and she really helped me and that was a big deal. I was on Prozac for depression and I had headaches to the point where I was taking multiple excedrins every day. I had urinary tract infections. I was always in doctor's offices and all of a sudden all my problems went away. I didn't have headaches anymore.
Speaker 2:I got off Prozac and I was just feeling so amazing and this is how I knew that I was going to go to chiropractic school. So I applied to a chiropractic school. This is like in December, school starts in January and I told my family that I'm not going to go to dental school and everybody was really surprised. But I went to chiropractic school and it truly changed my life. During the time that I was in chiropractic school, I learned how to eat, what it means to be eating nutritiously, what it means to exercise, what it means to really take care of your body and, most importantly, what it means to listen to your body. Because our body has something called innate intelligence that, honestly, up to the point of chiropractic school, I didn't hear about it, I didn't know what it is. Do you know what innate intelligence is, mickey?
Speaker 1:No, I don't as Mickey.
Speaker 2:No, I don't. I mean, please share. So the innate intelligence is your body's ability to heal your tissue. So when the sperm and the egg it comes together and you have a conception and there is a fetus, it is the innate intelligence that takes you from one cellular organism to a trillion cell organism, to a human. And it is that innate intelligence that knows what to do, what you need. In you know what every cell needs. And then how does the cell communicates with the rest of the cell? How does the neuron communicates with the rest of the neurons? Where does it need to send those inflammatory or anti-inflammatory molecules for it to work? So it was really about there is a way for us to connect it as innate intelligence. There is a way for us for me to connect to my body and then ask my body what I need and really tune into that part of myself to know what I need. And I think that was really life-changing. So that's how I got into chiropractic school.
Speaker 2:But then, after I was done with chiropractic school and I was working again, there was a sense of dissatisfaction because I just felt like I was doing traditional chiropractic, where I was adjusting people and I just wasn't seeing the results that I wanted to see. I truly, like, wanted not only get rid of people's pain, but I wanted to create a transformation in people's lives. I wanted to come and tell me that I changed their lives, or I was able to help them change their lives, and it just wasn't happening. So I remember I was driving back again and I have a lot of conversations with gods in the car, which is not a good idea. But again I was asking. I was like please give me some suggestion, bring me some insights, because I don't feel like this is for me. I'm not feeling satisfied after spending all this time and money for chiropractic school.
Speaker 2:So I talked to my roommate when I got home. She saw that I was really down and she told me why don't you look at network spinal analysis? And just the thought of network spinal was something that just didn't feel right for me, because I took a seminar when I was in school and what I saw was that when people were touched in specific areas, their body starts to undulate and move. And I even got the treatment and I had the biggest cry on the table in front of all the students and I felt very uncomfortable and I just thought that it was because I was stressed out because we had a biochemistry test coming up and that was my last experience with it. It made me feel really uncomfortable and it looked like that people were having like just like an exorcism practice on the table. So it just felt like really non-medical and like my brain just couldn't understand what it is. So she suggested that to me and then I was like, oh yeah, probably that's not going to be something I'm going to do.
Speaker 2:And I went into my room and I was reading a book that it's called Everything you Need to Know to Feel Good. This is by Dr Candice Pert. She's an immunoneurologist and she in her book I got into this chapter literally right away that in her book she described what network spinal is in a scientific and in a neuroscientific terms, in terms that I understood and I literally felt like that was another message from the universe that this was going to be part of my path. So I found a doctor that was close by His name is Dr Michael Whalen, and he asked me to go to his office and he actually hired me on that day when he met me and he said I really feel like it takes a special person to do this type of work, because when you're working with people in this way, they're releasing a lot of their traumas, they're releasing a lot of their emotions. So people are crying and making sounds and you know, and all kinds of stuff is coming out and you have to be able to hold space for them as they're processing their emotions. And I felt very comfortable in that room. He had like six people on a table and everybody was making sounds and, you know, different people were crying, different people were stretching, they were moving their bodies and I felt like I could be there and I could be supportive of that and I could hold space for that.
Speaker 2:And that was how I got into network spinal analysis.
Speaker 2:I started taking the courses.
Speaker 2:It's a post-doctorate program and this work is created by Dr Donny Epstein, who's still alive and who's still teaching to chiropractors, and I think it was one of the best things that has happened to me, because I also started to get that treatment on my body and it really helped me with all the traumas that I had as a child and things that I didn't process and I didn't even know that they were still there.
Speaker 2:And by being able to process that I think it really helped me become more creative, tap into powers inside of myself that I didn't think it was even possible, and become even a healthier version of myself. So along with that, I started to take functional medicine classes at Functional Medicine University, at another place called Apex Energetics, and I just you know, and I just really thought you know, by combining understanding the nervous system, learning how to regulate the nervous system, learning how to release the stored traumas from the body with functional medicine, understanding chemistry, understanding the microbiome, understanding how they all work together, I could create something amazing. So it's been about eight years later. Here I am and I think I truly have created something that when people come and they're done with the program, they tell me that the program has transformed their life, which is something that I feel like it's my purpose on this planet for now.
Speaker 1:That's an interesting correlation that could to go with trauma that's embedded in your neuro system, along with, like you said, with the neuroscience and how it actually connects. And I don't think that's something that we're really aware of, because we deal with these things when we were kids or all these things through our lives, and then all of a sudden we're trying to live this healthy path but we can't figure out why. There's one thing, there's always one element that you just can't seem to get past. Is that the correlation where you're finding with a lot of these, these things that we can't get by on a physical level because of the deep emotional trauma that's within our nervous system? Yeah, I hear you correctly.
Speaker 2:Exactly so. I think, as what happens to us, you know, in childhood and in, you know, teenage years, we develop a lot of different mechanisms for survival and then those mechanisms they become like deep rooted habits and deep roots things, stuff in our subconscious mind choose partners to marry to. That will kind of activate those traumas, because there is a part of us that innately wants to heal and we almost attract situations and attract jobs that again it. It allows us to resurface those traumas, to face those traumas, because the body always wants to heal. But what happens is that when we're not aware of it, of why it is that we're doing certain things, then we get stuck in this really toxic cycle, either in relationships or either in our behavior. One of the reasons was that because she was just conditioned that her parents just left her in front of TV with a bunch of food, and that's how, you know, they allowed her to spend her time and so that they could get their jobs done, but then food became her comfort. So really releasing that kind of stress out of her body, understanding those patterns by increasing her self-awareness, is the first step to really helping her. That you know. You need to change your eating patterns. You need to change what brings you comfort. Let's find something else that brings you comfort. Or kids that grew up in a lot of trauma and a lot of chaos, they tend to. As an adult, they tend to want to attract situations that creates a lot of you know, a lot of chaos. They're looking for that extra adrenaline. They become addicted to it. So then again, like understanding where that comes from, releasing that, but also understanding those patterns, it can really help them.
Speaker 2:Now I'm not a psychotherapist.
Speaker 2:I work with a psychotherapist that can really talk with people and help them recognize them, but I help them release it from their body, their muscles, because our postures is truly a window to our neurology.
Speaker 2:So the way you hold your body, the the tension patterns that you have in your body, the way you contract your muscles, those are all things that we learn as we grew up as a result of the life that we had, experiences that we had. So with the work that I do with the Network Spinal, we help them release those traumas and really feel safe in their body. And I think once we start to feel really safe in our body, the decisions that we make about our life changes and we become a lot more self-conscious about what choices are we making, what are we eating, what are we doing, who are we attracting into our life? How are we living our life? And I think that's the first step before even changing diets or even before doing any exercise routine. That's really important in order for people to be able to sustain things that we teach them when it comes to diet or exercise or lifestyle changes.
Speaker 1:And that that makes a lot of sense, because everything we do, you said, has some kind of connection with that, and I do know that. About the binge eating and emotional eating, you know, and there's always something tied to that that I can always be traced back, you know, further down the line or something that happened, or there's that connection, that emotional connection. But it also leads me to the next question that I wanted to ask you, because a lot of this is our brain health and because we make these choices that are based on the trauma that you're telling us that's within our body, and how much of that correlation is not only our brain health but also, I know it's affecting every other thing in our body. I mean, does that connection even go into the gut health? Where's that correlation?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So anytime that we have any kind of trauma, it obviously affects the brain. So what we know today is that depression, for example, is an issue within the right side of the frontal cortex, versus anxiety is the left side of the frontal cortex. So one of the things that I do when I'm dealing with people who are, you know, dealing with addictions or depression or anxiety or overwhelm, is really understanding look what side of the brain is not working as well as the other side. How can I create more balance? And there is assessment tests that we do to kind of pinpoint what are the areas of the brain that may have that it's underactive or what areas are overactive. How can we balance it out?
Speaker 2:So I always say an inflamed brain is what causes an inflamed gut. So you know, a lot of times you want to address the gut health. But we can't address the gut health without addressing the brain health, because we have something called the hypothalamic pituitary pathway or the access, the connection between the brain and the gut, which is done through the vagus nerve. So really addressing the brain health, is the brain getting enough circulation? What are the areas of the brain that is inactive, that needs to be active more. What are the areas of the brain that is overactive, that it needs to calm down, and then addressing that and addressing people's sugar metabolism. People use sugar in different ways. A lot of people are insulin resistant, which results in a type 2 diabetes, and a lot of people are what we call reactive hypoglycemic, meaning that they don't have enough sugar in their system. These are the people that wake up and they have no appetite, they don't eat for big periods of time and then, when they don't eat, they get really hangry. So addressing those sugar metabolism is really important for the brain and then addressing if they're getting enough circulation into their brain, that's really important. So those things become foundation for brain health.
Speaker 2:And then, as we get the brain healthier, we work with the gut to address the gut, which I think has a huge impact on our hormones. And then the next part would be, you know, addressing the hormones, which is also connected with the brain, because brain controls how much hormone is getting released in different parts of the body, in the body. So you know, I think that there is the emotional aspect and there is the stress that we hold and, you know, really activating people's innate intelligence, getting them connected to that innate intelligence. Well, the innate intelligence already activated, right? It's just about connecting the person that there is this innate intelligence and there is a way for you to connect to it, and there is a way for you to be aware of your body. And then the next step would be understanding their brain and what are the areas of their brain that needs more health. And then, once you address the brain, then we go into the gut and we go into the hormones and then looking at this as a big picture and understanding that everything is connected together.
Speaker 1:So, if I heard you correctly, there sounds like that when we do have these traumas or we have these things that happen in our lives, is there an element of our brain that we actually kind of shut down and then the other side takes over. I mean, did I hear that correctly? And then what you do is you find where that connection is, to be able to get that perfect balance back so you can actually get over that trauma. So, in essence, does our brain kind of have these neurons that stop working? I mean, can you?
Speaker 2:elaborate a little bit more on that. Just to clarify that it would be more like there is neural connections or networks of neurons, that they become strengthened over time based on the behaviors and experiences that we have, and it's really hard to like all of a sudden come in and like disconnect those networks. So what we want to do is create these new networks that takes over, because the brain is very plastic. So we have this neuroplasticity. That's a new subject of a lot of neuroscientists and really focusing on. The brain is plastic. How do we get new neural connections to come that are healthier? So what I'm trying to say is that there is neural connections that we develop as we get older that are creating behaviors that are not good for us.
Speaker 2:So one of the main things that's happening in our society is addiction, whether it's addiction to cannabis or addiction to alcohol or addiction to porn or addiction to social media. It's happening right. So those neural connections are becoming very strong. So when those people are coming into the office, we have to think how do we create another set of neural connections that get stronger enough to kind of overcome this maladaptive neural connections? And then we have people that are, you know, more right dominance with their brain or left dominance with their brain, but what I'm specifically talking about is the frontal cortex. When it comes to depression, the right side is more activated compared to the left side. So then we want to help people with exercises that activate the left side of the frontal cortex and the left side of the brain and people who are more anxious and more overwhelmed. They have the, you know, left side is more dominant and then we want to help the right side to come, become activated.
Speaker 2:But you know, that's just a very small portion. When it comes to anxiety or depression. The other part is depression is an inflammatory problem. So really addressing that inflammation but also always going back and seeing what are the behaviors that are causing that depression, what are the behaviors that are causing that depression? What are the behaviors that are causing that inflammation? What are those neural patterns that developed in early childhood? That now needs to be addressed, either through therapy or, you know, and through body somatic release. That happens with network spinal. That allows the person to release those traumas that they're holding from their musculoskeletal system, from their nervous system traumas that they're holding from their musculoskeletal system, from their nervous system.
Speaker 1:The exciting thing about this is that you have this opportunity to retrain your brain so you're not stuck in this, in this pattern and in having all these things that you've been dealing with your whole life and then finding out that if you, from what you said, disconnecting this one to and reconnecting these to be able to bring this more empowering neurological path that can help you to heal, I mean that's really exciting because I think a lot of people they don't understand I mean myself included.
Speaker 1:There's things and there's times and events that I know that I've done over and over again and I'm like I can't figure out what is going on in here and here. That's allowing me to do that and that makes a lot of sense that that neurological path has been so ingrained and so tight that we have to make that disconnect and then to restructure and move. And this is exciting stuff that you do. I got to ask you so when you first discovered this and again you had your own experience. It must be so rewarding to see somebody else come in and all of a sudden make these substantial changes in their life that maybe they've been struggling with for a very long time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say that my job is very rewarding because I get to see that Most people that come to me they've already been to a lot of other doctors, I've already done a lot of different things and, like, I'm probably the 10th or 12th or 20th doctor that they're seeing so to you know, and a lot of times they're so hopeless, you know, they really don't think that they can be helped and they think, you know, there's just something deeply wrong with them and it's you know, and it's them and it's not anything else. But you know, once they start care and they see little changes, and I always tell people like you need to see 10 to 15% improvement even after your first initial visit with me, and if you see that improvement, I'm your person. It means what I you know did works and they do see it. But then you know, eventually it becomes 40%, 50%, 60%, and then you know they have the tools.
Speaker 2:My, I'm really big at educating. Like I'm going to give you all the tools and I'm going to teach you how to retain these tools and then go use it. Then you have it for the rest of your life. Teach it to some other people and I think that's the most, that's the beauty of this work that this is not something, that this is something that can be taught. And then you, we just help with reinforcement of what we're teaching, and then they have it for life. And then we just help with reinforcement of what we're teaching, and then they have it for life.
Speaker 1:It has to be productive.
Speaker 1:I mean, whether you're trying to do something within your family or your career, even for your own self-growth, you know, to have that ability to find or get an answer, like you said, because so many times you've gone through this whole gamut of all these other things and the problem hasn't been solved.
Speaker 1:You've gone through this whole gamut of all these other things and the problem hasn't been solved. And then you get down to the molecular structure of this and the neurological paths, and then to be able to work with that and have those tools. I think once we have tools to know how to grow, that's when all the great things happen. You know that's. You know information is power, right, you know. And then being able to do that there is so many facets to this. What would you say are some of the most common things that you deal with, where you find all these connections, like when people come to see you, or is everybody pretty much in it? I'm sure they're all an individual basis, because each person has their own individual thing that they're dealing with, but what would you say is one of the most common things that you see with everyone?
Speaker 2:I would say the most common thing is that majority of people have something called dysglycemia, meaning that their body doesn't know how to use sugar, even people that, like you know, on their blood work it looks like they're good, like they don't have diabetes. But then there are people that have hypoglycemia, meaning that their sugar level drops throughout the day often and they feel really tired and they get really irritable. So I think that's a common thing that we're not addressing, and this is because people are really stressed. A lot of people are not eating in the morning when they first wake up, and then they're not having nutritious food, they're not having enough protein. You know, a lot of people are doing the vegan diets, which is great if you want to be vegan, but a lot of times they're doing a lot of processed food, because you know they're getting cheeses that are processed and breads that are processed and, like you know, fake chicken and meat that are processed and they're like really terrible for them and they're developing this, this glycemic patterns, this, this issues with their sugar metabolism that's impacting their brain and then, as a result, when the brain goes down, everything else goes down.
Speaker 2:The other thing that I see is circulation problem. A lot of people don't have good circulation, either because they're not exercising enough or because they're just. You know, they're people that have heart issues or they're people that have a lot of inflammation in their arteries. One of the markers that I like to see on the blood work that's usually not ordered it's called homocysteine. So looking at that marker and seeing how elastic are their arteries, are they flexible enough? And then when that flexibility is less, the circulation is not great. So again, or asking people if they have high blood pressure or low blood pressure, a lot of times when people have low blood pressure, their doctor says that you're great, you're never going to have a problem. But those are the people that usually don't have good circulation to their brain. So then circulation becomes a really important thing.
Speaker 2:The other thing is learning how to balance your nervous system. Most people that I see in the office are stuck in the fight or flight response, and when your body is in a fight or flight response, your body is not able to repair your tissues. Majority of the blood is going into the musculoskeletal system in case you need to run away or you need to fight the tiger that is not there. So really addressing that and helping them understand that part of their physiology and helping them move into that state of balance and into that state of rest and digest. And I think that's the part that's really hard for people and that's the part that's really overlooked. When we go to doctors they usually tell you like it's stress, it's stress related. You have to release your stress. But a lot of times we're not giving them strategies of how do they release their stress because everybody is different. So, really digging into their neurology and seeing what kind of exercises do I have to give this person to kind of balance out their brain and, you know, allowing them to experience network spinal as part of a treatment that helps them release the stress from their body and connect with their body.
Speaker 2:And then one of the most important things is increasing awareness. We're not aware of your body. We're like people that are in our heads and we have no connection to our body. And you know, helping them connecting with their body and understanding what does the body need, what does rest look like? A lot of people feel really guilty when they rest and a lot of people think that rest is going out to a restaurant and having a couple of beers and that's still, you're overstimulating your nervous system, plus you're adding toxicity to your brain. So really teaching them what does real rest look like? What does safety feel like in the body? A lot of people don't know what it means to feel safe, what it means to feel deeply relaxed in their body. So really teaching them the differences between that.
Speaker 2:I think that's really important and those things are really overlooked. The other thing is most people tell me, you know, I usually ask them like when was the last time you had blood work done? And they tell me I did my blood work and my doctor said everything is fine. And I look at their blood work and it's not fine. First of all, a lot of times you're missing a lot of markers that are really important. Second of all, even though things are within range, they're on the higher range or a lower range and it's still causing the person symptoms.
Speaker 2:So one of the most common one is people with thyroid issues.
Speaker 2:People with thyroid issues are often, you know, are taking medication, but when you look at a full thyroid panel, their thyroid is not working well and a lot of times they don't know why they have a thyroid problem. So I think one of the things that's overlooked is that you know, people with thyroid problems don't have a deficiency of synthroid, they don't have a deficiency of low thyroxine. There is something in the physiology that's happening, that's causing the thyroid not working well. And understanding where is it that disconnect? Is it happening in the brain? Is it happening in the thyroid gland? Is it happening in the liver and the gut that do the conversion of the inactive thyroid hormone to the active one? Is it happening at the cell? Because the thyroid is there but it's not able to bind to the cell because the cell is really inflamed. So I think understanding physiology is really important and that's being overlooked, because now it's like if something is low, I'll give you this medication. If something is high, I'll give you this medication. And understanding why is someone sick is completely overlooked.
Speaker 1:I think one of the most difficult things to understand, especially going to and I've dealt with this with my family is you know, there's an underlying problem. It's almost like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg. It's like, no, it's not fixing the problem. There's something still underlying. I'm sure there's elements where there's medication that's needed at specific times to, and I'm sure there's elements where you have there's medication that's needed at specific times. However, I think understanding the underlying reason is a much more functional way to be able to heal the person than it is just to throw some medication at it and go. You know you'll be fine, and that's that's. That's very frustrating.
Speaker 1:I do want to ask you about something, because I know this has been brought up a couple times, not only on my podcast, but people have asked me these questions is cortisol? Oh, you hear a lot about cortisol and you brought up about fight and flight, and we know that cortisol can do some heavy duty stuff within your body. How does cortisol actually affect the body when it is due to stress, based on these neurological connections in your brain and your thyroid and your gut? Does this all have a correlation?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So we used to think that cortisol was just an adrenal gland problem and you know the term that was used is that this person has adrenal fatigue. But now what we know is that it's actually a brain problem. It's because the brain is not able to communicate to tell the gland to produce enough or not to produce enough. So, understanding if the person has, it's somebody that is producing a lot of cortisol and then the time in which the cortisol is circulating in the body is very short. So they wake up, they have energy and then, boom, their energy drops in the afternoon. Or are they somebody that they have very?
Speaker 2:You know, their cortisol is very sluggish. It doesn't come in until they drink some coffee. There is a lot of people that they say they can't function until they have that first cup of coffee. They say that they look forward to waking up and taking that coffee because they don't have energy. These are people that they don't have a good cortisol response.
Speaker 2:So it's not really about if there's too much cortisol that's causing the inflammation. It's about the balance of cortisol. This is why, when we do a cortisol testing, we want to see a nice curve where the cortisol is increasing, it's coming in. It's slowly decreasing and that response goes usually with melatonin, where the melatonin is low in the morning and then eventually it goes high and by nighttime they're getting sleepy. So I would say that the imbalance of the cortisol has a lot of impact on our body because we use it for a lot of different things and also too much of it can cause the body a lot of damage. It's inflammatory and too little of it makes the person very sluggish and fatigued. So understanding their pattern, I think, is one of the most important things. Very sluggish and fatigued, so understanding their pattern, I think, is one of the most important thing.
Speaker 2:Like what I see, is that a lot of practitioner, when they see somebody has, they assume that they're having adrenal fatigue. Is that they're giving them things, that it's basically stimulating their cortisol and what's happening? That they get a good amount of cortisol and then it drops. What do we have to think about? Is what's happening in the brain that they're not? You know that that cortisol access and the production is not happening properly. So I think when it comes to cortisol, the balance becomes really important and understanding.
Speaker 2:How do we need to address this? Do we need to increase the lifetime of the cortisol so it can last longer in someone's body, or is it somebody that's not producing enough? Or is it this person that is producing too much and we need to reduce it? And all of those things can have an impact that it could show up as fight or flight response. So a lot of people think that fight or flight is only when you have a lot of cortisol and it's actually just an imbalance that could cause it. So yes, cortisol causes a stress and it is associated with fight or flight response, but then how long does it last in the body? It also makes a difference. And when does it go up? Because sometimes you have too little at night and all of a sudden you have panic attacks in the night.
Speaker 2:Is it only cortisol? No, it's not only cortisol. It could also be other neurotransmitters, such as GABA that's impacting it. For example, a lot of female in perimenopause. They don't have good sleep, and the reason that they don't have good sleep is because in order for the neurotransmitter GABA for it to work, you have to need progesterone, and if you don't have enough progesterone which a lot of women in perimenopause or menopause that don't have it then it's not working and then again they're thinking that it's a cortisol problem. So they're taking a lot of supplements that is increasing their cortisol, but they're completely missing the picture.
Speaker 2:So I think it's really important to understand where is it coming from? You could still be very stressed out, but we check your cortisol and it's very little. You don't have, your system is not producing much. So I just want to be clear about that, because usually we think as if you're stressed and if you're anxious, that means that it's a cortisol problem, and sometimes it's not a cortisol problem. It's a neurotransmitter problem. Sometimes people with gluten sensitivity have something called GAD antibody, that basically, that antibody is not allowing for the GABA to be produced, so they don't have the neurotransmitter that calms their brain down. So it's not a cortisol problem, it's another problem. This is why I think finding the root cause is really important, and I see a lot of people. They go to Dr Google and they go to ChatGPT or they're going to YouTube and they're getting all this information and they're taking all the supplements and the supplement company. They do great marketing. It sounds really good, but it may may not be something that you needed. Actually could do the opposite for you.
Speaker 1:And, before we go any further, I would like everyone to know please reach out to Dr Rasta. You can find her link below. If you're watching the YouTube channel and if you are listening to the podcast, as you know, you can click on her name and that'll take you right to her, her website, and not only is she take people in person, but she also will work with you virtually. I would like people to know, because your information is so valuable and and I think that this would help a lot of people, because there's so many factors to this and there's so many unknowns, and I, I personally know people that have been from from place to place to place or they're doing what, like you said, where they go on Google or they take all these supplements and they're like, okay, I feel a little bit better, but something's still not right and it still sounds like it's all coming back to these underlying traumas.
Speaker 1:So I guess my next question would be so is our body when we experience these traumas? Does our and I don't want to put words, I'm just asking because I don't know Does our neurological, does our neurons, does our nervous system remember that trauma that causes us to have these things happen? You know, again, I may be off the track here, but that's what I'm asking.
Speaker 2:Yeah, our nervous system remembers everything and even though our brain is really smart and a lot of times the brain has the capability of deleting your memories so that you can block it out, it shows up in the patterns on the things that you do. So I believe that your nervous system remembers a lot of the things, but also your nervous system. It's amazing at changing things. So once we start to tell our brain and reframe some of the memories and some of the things that has happened to us, then our brain starts to create those new neural connections and it can overcome those past neural connections that they were causing us more stress and anxiety. So I absolutely believe that and this is why I think you know therapy and doing EMDR therapy. They're so important in helping people create these new neurological connections and creating a new virion in the system. But what is also I think it's missed is what we hold in our body. I don't know if you've noticed, but like there's things that you can tell by some people's posture. Like you can just look at somebody and you can tell if they're anxious or if they're depressed or what's going on with them. And this is because our neurology does remember what has happened to us and, based on who we are and how we process our experiences, our body changes and we contract our muscles differently. One of the things that I do in the office is that I scan people's muscles by using something called surface electromyography. It's basically checking to see where they're holding tension and it's really interesting for them to see how much tension they're holding, where are they holding it and how much energy their body is using just to contract in that area, even though it's not necessary and it's just an energy that's being completely wasted just because the body is feeling that I need to really contract, I need to really protect my heart. So people that have the rounded shoulder, that they have more of the head forward posture. It's not just a postural issue, but it's also about emotions and stuff that they're holding in their body and then being able to process that in the body.
Speaker 2:Whether you're doing it with a therapist or you're doing it somatically, it can be really helpful for you and a lot of times I think somatic therapy is really helpful because you don't have to remember all the traumas. It's just that the body knows how to process it without you having to think about it. People a lot of times cry on the table and they're processing things, but they have no idea why. And I tell them it's okay, you don't need to know why your body is releasing and that's good enough. The body is smart enough to know how it needs to release, and you don't have to remember every single trauma that happened to you. So this is another reason that I like this technique because you can still process things without having to think about it and talk about it.
Speaker 1:So what can someone expect when they come into your office I mean someone who's just starting or contacts you. What would be the protocol? What would they be doing that would help them get through this whole process?
Speaker 2:So the first thing is that everybody gets a free consultation with me over the phone. We talk about what are their goals, why they're coming in, what can be done, what are some of the things that they've already done that I want to see those results in. If they've done a recent blood work or stool test or some kind of different testing that they've done, I want to see that and what else needs to be done. So my initial visit is broken down into two visits and each visit is two hours. So we spend about four hours in the office really understanding all the different patterns, all the different things we need to work on. On the first visit I get a comprehensive. We do a comprehensive history taking and understanding what's going on with them, evaluating their brain, their posture, doing different tests to see what's going on with them. But also we do a scan called heart rate variability to kind of understand if their body's in a state of fight or flight or rest and digest, and how far is it in the state of fight or flight, and then we can also see how adaptable they are to stress. So that's really important because that's the first step in order to help somebody heal is kind of changing that pattern from the fight or flight to a state of balance. Then we do another scan. It's called a neurothermal scan. It's basically we're looking to see how their nerves are communicating with their organs and which organ may be under a little bit more stress. And then we do another scan it's called surface electromyography to look at their muscles, and these are just the muscles that help you be seated, so they're keeping you upright to see how much energy are you using when you're simply seated. Where are you holding your tension patterns? Then after that they received their first body work treatment with me and I say body work because I kind of shifted based on what they need on the first visit. If they are somebody that they're holding a lot of tension in their jaws, they have a lot of tension in their head, they have a lot of headaches, I may do something called craniosacral therapy and then network spinal is always followed by one of the things that I may do. So I may work on their neck or their jaw or their head, or we might do some tapping about some of their belief systems, about how we can change some of these belief systems about the body and the healing of the body, and then that's followed by something called vibroacoustic therapy. The vibroacoustic therapy is a technology that basically helps their brain to tap into the alpha wave, the theta waves, the waves of the brain that are more important for healing.
Speaker 2:And then the visit is followed by a second visit. On the second visit we discuss what needs to be done as far as testing diagnostic testing such as blood tests, stool tests, food sensitivity testing, dna testing, heavy metal testing. That kind of really depends on our first visit, seeing like where they're at what has been done. What I really like to do because I really love saving people money because a lot of these tests are out of pocket is I usually coach them about what they need to say to their primary doctor to get some of those markers done through their primary doctors so that we can at least get some blood work reading with them, some of the basic things checked with them, and then on the second visit we kind of decide what tests they need to do. They receive another body work from me, along with the network spinal, and then it's followed by something called high tone therapy.
Speaker 2:High tone therapy is a technology that addresses the mitochondria inside every cell as well as helping the cell become more sensitive to different hormones in the body. So all of our cells, they have receptors. In order for those hormones to work, the hormone has to bind to the receptor to go into the cell. For example, glucose is one of them. The cell has to respond to insulin in order for it to open the gate and for the glucose to go in. So the technology basically helps with those receptors, getting them more sensitive to the hormones so that they can take in the peptides and the different molecules that needs to go inside the cell, as well as helping the mitochondria which is responsible for ATP production, which is your energy production, and that's followed by an infrared sauna and that's basically to help your detoxification pathway. So we do all these different things to kind of see like what is going to have the best response in the body, which one did they like the best, which one do they think they? You know it makes a difference and then by that time we're also like making a decision about what are the services that they need and which program do they need and how long do they need. And then, usually by a third visit, if you have their blood test or a stool test, then I can give them a personalized protocol based on their stool test or blood test or brain test, and we're kind of deciding like, okay, these are the nutrition you're taking, these are the supplements you're taking, how many visits you have to come in, what are the services you need to get here. And that's where we go. And usually you know, I always tell people that when they sign up for the program I will give their money back if the issue doesn't resolve. That's how confident I feel that if people stay compliant, they come in and they do the treatment that I'm setting up for them. They take the supplements, they do their exercises, they get on the technologies.
Speaker 2:I know that what hasn't been resolved can be resolved, because I truly believe that the body can heal themselves.
Speaker 2:Now some people have, like you know, genetic issues, neurological issues. That is really progressed already. I even have helped people with Parkinson and MS. But if it's really progressed, then I can reverse it. But I can definitely guarantee that I can make them, you know, make them get a little bit, improve a little bit and then stay in that improvement. But you know there are some things that you know I can't, I can't, I can't, you know, undo what's been done, but the majority of people I can guarantee that I can, that I can get them to a better place and we can resolve their symptoms, and after a while, because it takes a little bit of time for the gut and for the blood test to shift, and we can even shift those on the blood test, because we always do a blood test, a stool test, in the beginning and then we do one at the end when we're finished with the program, and we can just show them their improvements within those chemistry in their body.
Speaker 1:I'm going to give you the last two minutes to be able to kind of wrap all this up, because this has been incredible information and I know other people are going to want to reach out to you, so please, if there's anything else you'd like to add, um.
Speaker 2:What I want to add is that your body has the capability of healing. It's just that you have to believe. You have to believe that you can heal. That's the first step. The next, the next step is understanding that there is discomfort in life.
Speaker 2:Life is not always comfortable and I think a lot of times when we're uncomfortable, we want to reach out for the food or for our social media, or for the cannabis or for the alcohol.
Speaker 2:And I just want to invite you to be uncomfortable and just experience what it means to be uncomfortable and then just know that if you want to truly, if you want true health, if you want true vitality, it's possible. But you have to change your patterns and you have to understand your patterns that you can run away from yourself. But it is extremely rewarding when you reach that point, when you know you are the cause of your own healing. I'm the one I will educate you and I will facilitate the process, but you're always your own healer and I just you know I think a lot of practitioners they take that power away from you that you feel like your health, you know, is in the hands of another doctor or another practitioner. Your health is in the hands of yourself, and I think that as you connect deeper to your intuition, to your body's innate intelligence, you can make those decisions for yourself. And by just having the right tools, there is no way that you cannot heal.
Speaker 1:And that is good advice, because I think a lot of times we're responsible for our own health and having that empowerment and the knowledge is going to be invaluable. I want to thank you so much for being with us. We are definitely going to have you back. I want it. We've got so much more information we didn't get an opportunity to cover. But until then, please reach out to Dr Rasta. You can find that information down below and if you're listening to the podcast, please click on her name to be able to reach out to her. And again, she does it virtually and I want to thank you. I mean, we have so much more to cover, so I'm looking forward to having you back. Thank you for being with us. Thank you so much, mickey. All right, you guys please reach out and I will look forward to seeing you. Until then, remember the most courageous thing you can do is be yourself, and I look forward to seeing you on the next episode of Coach Mickey and Friends. Until then, see ya.