A Medicinal Mind Robert Abbott: Doctor, Poet, Human Being

 
In Episode 60 of A Medicinal Mind: Wisdom and Wellbeing, I share an intimate conversation with my friend and colleague: Yvette Brisco. I was first introduced to Yvette as part of her enduring work interviewing experts across the field of autoimmune disease and specifically MS in order to bring greater awareness and education to the hundreds of thousands of individuals affected by autoimmune disease. 
 
As you will hear in the podcast, Yvette is as authentic and unique as they come. She begins by sharing her own story and struggles with her health and how that led her into her current career as a health coach and health educator. But just to make things interesting, Yvette’s passions are not just confined to the health and wellness space. Spilling her passions over into the world of UFC, Yvette has found a community in which she can share her love for wellness, caring and resilient strength.
 
Even if you are not someone who has been diagnosed with MS of suffer from another autoimmune disease, I believe you will find great meaning and enjoyment listening to Yvette’s story. I have been fortunate and honored to share some of my work as part of her greater efforts and education and it is my pleasure to share a little but of her life and love with you.
 
You can access more information on out podcast page
http://www.amedicinalmind.com/podcast-wisdom-and-well-being
 
You can see all of our content including blogs, poetry, meditations, at A Medicinal Mind
 
You can also follow A Medicinal Mind on Facebook and Instagram
 
If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe with Apple Podcasts and leave us a review. Your feedback and reviews allow our message and this space of nourishment to grow.
 
Disclaimer: The content at A Medicinal Mind and the content of our podcast are educational and informational in nature. They are not intended to be medical advice, spiritual counsel or a substitute for working with a health professional or a trained spiritual counselor. We cannot guarantee the outcome of any of the recommendations provided on our page or by the guests on our podcast and any statements written or made about any potential outcomes are expressions of opinion only. 

In episode 59 of A Medicinal Mind: Wisdom and Wellbeing, I have an explorative conversation with my functional medicine colleague and dear friend Dr. Joe Mather.
 
Having connected with Joe, as a result of our mutual friend and colleague, Michael Ruscio, our friendship has quickly blossomed, bringing together two functional medicine practitioners seeking value based care and a critical eye to this new root cause resolution approach. 
 
After sharing his story of supporting his mother with a functional medicine approach, Joe outlines the clinical importance of addressing foundational concerns with all of his functional medicine patients, regardless of the overt presenting symptoms.
 
Outlining skin rashes, IBS and joint pain as the most common presenting conditions he’s seeing clinically, Joe provides some insights into his clinical approach as to how he is determining the root level of  dysfunction in these myriad of conditions.
 
Digging deeper into how he’s addressing gut health dysfunction specifically, as well as the overall stages of his clinical approach, Joe gives us a clear and concise framework by which compromised gut health can be addressed without unnecessary testing, supplements and medications. Emphasizing the importance of addressing the terrain over the overt condition, Joe reports how he is preventing recurrence of conditions by treating the terrain over simply symptoms alone.
 
We then get into a thoughtful critique of functional medicine, collectively sharing insights regarding the strengths of functional medicine as well as some of the more controversial, misguided approaches such as food sensitivity testing, isolated genetic testing and expensive testing in general.
 
Moving further into the role of medications, Joe shares how he is moderating medication use, not completely eschewing medications in lieu of supplements and herbs. Giving examples such as genetic predispositions for lp(a) as well excessive supplementation, Joe shares how he is careful to utilize all available tools to address chronic health conditions.
 
We close the conversation with a thought experiment: exploring where functional medicine can go next so that we can address some of the controversial areas lacking rigorous evidence, all with the intention of increasing education as well as improving the gold standard of root cause resolution care.
 
I am so grateful to be able to share the work of another colleague who is practicing value based and rigorous functional medicine care.
 
Please check out the links in the show notes to see more of Joe’s work and how you can become a patient of Dr. Mather’s!
 
You can access more information and notes for this episode on our podcast page 
https://www.amedicinalmind.com/podcast-wisdom-and-well-being/episode-059-joe-mather-md-from-family-medicine-to-functional-medicine-a-paradigm-shift-in-chronic-disease-care
 
You can see all of our content including blogs, poetry, meditations, and our weekly newsletter at our webpage: A Medicinal Mind
 
You can also follow A Medicinal Mind on Facebook and Instagram
 
If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe with Apple Podcasts and leave us a review. Your feedback and reviews allow our message and this space of nourishment to grow.
 
Disclaimer: The content at A Medicinal Mind and the content of our podcast are educational and informational in nature. They are not intended to be medical advice, spiritual counsel or a substitute for working with a health professional or a trained spiritual counselor. We cannot guarantee the outcome of any of the recommendations provided on our page or by the guests on our podcast and any statements written or made about any potential outcomes are expressions of opinion only. 

In Episode 058 of A Medicinal Mind: Wisdom and Wellbeing, I have a wonderful conversation with my new friend, classically trained chef and certified yoga teacher Jennifer Iserloh.
 
Jennifer is a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and is the best-selling author of 50 Shades of Kale and Healthy Cheats as well as her most recent book: The Superfood Alchemy Cookbook.
 
In this conversation, we begin with an exploration of Jennifer’s childhood, the role of chronic disease and family food addiction to influence her career into the culinary arts. From here Jennifer shares how some of her own health issues and emotional attachment to food lead her into nutrition, functional medicine and publishing books about nourishing and delicious food.
 
She then pushes us into a discussion of creativity, artistry and the role of her yoga practice to deeply influence her professional and personal pursuits.
 
Digging into her role as a health coach as well as a coach for functional medicine practitioners like myself, we see how she blends practical tips and empathetic understanding to support her clients. She provides some very inspiring advice and guidance for innovative clinicians to bring greater awareness to their practice and overall healing pursuits.
 
Expanding into the art of holding the therapeutic space, we engage in a thought provoking conversation about the many ways in which we can promote engaged listening, storytelling and a narrative of wholism to provide the greatest chances for us all to heal and remained nourished.
 
We then lead the conversation to a discussion of alchemy, starting first with Jennifer’s definition of alchemy, and how she has taken a deep dive into alchemical principles and the medicinal properties of certain foods to make a comprehensive book blending in therapies for the mind, body, and spirit using much more than just food. She even provides an interesting perspective that functional and bioindividual medicine is one form of modern alchemy.
 
This conversation is so positively intense and I’m so happy to be able to share Jennifer’s work as well as her tremendous passion to help grow this greater movement of root cause resolution and bio-individual medicine.
 
Be sure to check out the links below to get Jennifer’s latest book as well as links to get her free online program accompanying the book!
 
Superfood Alchemy Cookbook: https://www.amazon.com/Superfood-Alchemy-Cookbook-Ingredients-Nourishing/dp/0738284742
 
Check out more of Jennifer's Work: 
 
http://jenniferiserloh.com/
https://skinnychef.com/about-jennifer-iserloh
 

You can access more information and notes for this episode on our podcast page
http://www.amedicinalmind.com/podcast-wisdom-and-well-being
 
You can see all of our content including blogs, poetry, meditations, and our weekly newsletter at our webpage: A Medicinal Mind
 
You can also follow A Medicinal Mind on Facebook and Instagram
 
If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe with Apple Podcasts and leave us a review. Your feedback and reviews allow our message and this space of nourishment to grow.
 
Disclaimer: The content at A Medicinal Mind and the content of our podcast are educational and informational in nature. They are not intended to be medical advice, spiritual counsel or a substitute for working with a health professional or a trained spiritual counselor. We cannot guarantee the outcome of any of the recommendations provided on our page or by the guests on our podcast and any statements written or made about any potential outcomes are expressions of opinion only.

In Episode 057 of A Medicinal Mind: Wisdom and Wellbeing, I have a deeply nourishing conversation with one of the most authentic healers I know, nutritionist and women’s health expert Laura Schoenfeld.
 
Laura has fascinating background, bringing a rigorous formal education in public health and dietetics into the world of integrative and ancestral wellness. Working alongside Chris Kresser to help mobilize the ancestral health movement through dogma and initial growing pains, Laura has been finding her own way beyond Paleo, incorporating her Christian faith and desire to help women find freedom and wellness outside of just food.
 
In this conversation, we begin by hearing about Laura’s early childhood and her spiritual roots as well as her beginnings in the health space, expanding her interest in psychology from her undergraduate education into her pursuit of an education in public health and nutrition.
 
From there, Laura leads us deeper into the flowering of her faith, the origin of intentional and deep friendships that allowed her to accelerate her spiritual and personal growth.
 
Laura opens up about the process of bringing her faith and Christ into her work, sharing how she works professionally with individuals seeking to grow spiritually, all the while remaining authentic to her values every step of the way. Acknowledging her own spiritual challenges, Laura describes how she has found a personal and professional clarity coming from a foundation of faith. Expanding upon a personal Biblical verse, Laura shares how she has been able to value her own needs as well as others’, and keep integrity to her clinical and personal approach.
 
And with that, let’s dig into the show!
 
You can access more information and notes for this episode on our podcast page:
https://www.amedicinalmind.com/podcast-wisdom-and-well-being/episode-057-laura-schoenfeld-mph-rd-finding-your-way-one-womans-deep-desire-to-pursue-wellness-helping-women-find-freedom-faith-health-and-joy
 
You can see all of our content including blogs, poetry, meditations, and our weekly newsletter at our webpage: A Medicinal Mind
 
You can also follow A Medicinal Mind on Facebook and Instagram
 
If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe with Apple Podcasts and leave us a review. Your feedback and reviews allow our message and this space of nourishment to grow.
 
Disclaimer: The content at A Medicinal Mind and the content of our podcast are educational and informational in nature. They are not intended to be medical advice, spiritual counsel or a substitute for working with a health professional or a trained spiritual counselor. We cannot guarantee the outcome of any of the recommendations provided on our page or by the guests on our podcast and any statements written or made about any potential outcomes are expressions of opinion only.

In episode 057 of A Medicinal Mind: Wisdom and Wellbeing I have a deeply authentic and powerful conversation with one of the leaders of the ancestral health movement, the creative mind behind Primal Play: Darryl Edwards.
 
Darryl has been featured on numerous podcasts, sharing his beautiful spirit and desire to change your relationship with exercise, interjecting movement and play into every aspect of our lives. Today, however, seeking to delve more into Darryl’s life story, we explore aspects of Darryl’s journey, starting in early childhood through his initial career pursuits culminating in a radical shift towards cultivating wellness in everything he pursues.
 
Hearing first about Darryl’s childhood and his original desire to enter medicine as a doctor, we then get a glimpse of the reframing and birthing of a new inner desire to explore computing and a relationship with technological intelligence.
 
Moving from here, Darryl continues exploring his early life and adulthood, sharing his original pursuits into investment banking and the financial arena followed by his awakening to begin modeling his life using an ancestral and evolutionary perspective.
 
Describing his “child like” and playful approach away from the jungle gym, Darryl outlines how his perspective has changed within the health and wellness field from one of dispensing of concrete knowledge, to one of playful curiosity, asking questions and holding space for others to cultivate their own questions and encourage openness rather than concrete certainty.
 
Moving into a discussion of human behavior, Darryl offers some insightful wisdom taken from the observation of humans as we collectively pursue convenience, yet accumulate chronic health issues.
 
Sharing ways to positively avoid convenience, Darryl provides his approach to addressing chronic health concerns by encouraging a playful mind, body and spirit, positively avoiding convenience and including play where you didn’t think it was possible.
 
Getting into a necessary, but perhaps controversial topic, Darryl and I begin to explore how the greater ancestral health movement currently needs to change in order to become more inclusive and address the current barriers in education, language and accessibility.


Sharing a personal example from his own life, seeking to help his mother address type ii diabetes, Darryl explains how he had to change and adapt his own educational approach to practically help his mother make the changes necessary to positively improve her health.
 
Darryl ends the conversation sharing some of his amazing resources educating us all on the practical ways we can cultivate play into our lives. From his website including blog and videos, to a recently released book, and Animal Moves play card deck, Darryl has created some of the most enriching resources for anyone seeking to avoid convenience and cultivate joy.
 
And with that, let’s dig into the show!
 
Check out Primal Play: https://www.primalplay.com/

Primal Deck: https://www.primalplay.com/fitness-deck
Check out all of our old podcasts using this link: https://www.amedicinalmind.com/podcast-wisdom-and-well-being
 
Disclaimer: The content at A Medicinal Mind and the content of our podcast are educational and informational in nature. They are not intended to be medical advice, spiritual counsel or a substitute for working with a health professional or a trained spiritual counselor. We cannot guarantee the outcome of any of the recommendations provided on our page or by the guests on our podcast and any statements written or made about any potential outcomes are expressions of opinion only.

In Episode 055 of A Medicinal Mind: Wisdom and Wellbeing, I have one of my most beautifully intense and inspiring conversations with one of the top sports performance and rehabilitation specialists in the field, my close friend Scott Dolly.
 
Starting with an exploration of Scott’s early life, we get a clear picture of the deep spirituality and intuition that was being cultivated long before his pursuit of sports performance and rehabilitation.
 
We then move to a discussion of Scott’s methodical approach, illustrating, rather poetically, the inclusivity of his therapeutic techniques, outlining how he combines his empathic nature, pattern recognition, and a deep understanding of biomechanics and physiology to help individuals achieve optimal performance or rehab from challenging injuries.
 
Seeking to dispel the negativity attached to consistent judgement and labeling, Scott opens our eyes to see that as healers, we should not define ourselves simply by our formal training, and we should consistently seek further education as part of a greater exploration of ways to support healing.
 
Getting more specific, Scott begins an exploration of his manual techniques, defining and describing biomechanics, myofascial disturbance and the use of instrumented assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM).
 
Providing concrete clinical examples, Scott illustrates how his manual therapies must be combined with optimal nutrition and lifestyle habits in order to facilitate healing or improved performance.
 
Expressing his humility, Scott shares his evolution as a healer, outlining the changes in his nutritional and manual approaches, echoing the importance of continual and iterative improvements.
 
Expanding into some of the biggest challenges facing the health of our broad society, Scott offers his opinions on what he sees as the biggest barriers and drivers to dysfunction.
 
Getting practical, Scott leads us through what he calls “honoring the simplicity of movement” asking us to simply start moving our bodies through the breadth of angles and loads for which it was designed.
 
We close the conversation with a poignant exploration of the purpose of training and the desire to become more aware and mindful of our athletic pursuits.
 
There is so much in this discussion and I am really grateful to have crossed paths with Scott during my time in Winchester, and so grateful to continue my friendship with this dynamic healer.
 
And with that, let’s dig into the show!
 
 
Explore Scott’s Clinic: http://www.evolutionhpr.com/
 
Check out all of our previous conversations on our website: https://www.amedicinalmind.com/podcast-wisdom-and-well-being


Disclaimer: The content at A Medicinal Mind and the content of our podcast are educational and informational in nature. They are not intended to be medical advice, spiritual counsel or a substitute for working with a health professional or a trained spiritual counselor. We cannot guarantee the outcome of any of the recommendations provided on our page or by the guests on our podcast and any statements written or made about any potential outcomes are expressions of opinion only.