April 24, 2022 • 66 mins
Hear how Anna Marie Frank, reprogrammed her own brain to overcome years of depression, and became a Doctor of Naturopathy so that she could help others do the same.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Arwen Bardsley (00:00):
Okay, so Hi, everybody, I am really happy
(00:04):
today to have another wonderfulguest for you. I have Anne Marie
Frank joining me today. And sheis a naturopath, or a doctor of
naturopathy, as they wonderfullyare able to be called in the
USA, where she is from, and acoach and an author. And I'm
(00:29):
really interested to hear Anna'sstory as I am about all my
guests. But in particular, Annahas an interest in the brain and
mental health. And we all knowthat that is, unfortunately, a
big and growing issue at themoment, especially coming out of
(00:49):
the pandemic. So she was a guestthat I was really keen to have
on because I'm sure that we'llall get some beautiful
information from the interview.
So welcome, Anna, I'd love justto start with, I always love
people to just tell us a bitabout their origin story, you
know, why you are where you arenow and doing what you're doing?
(01:13):
How it all started for you. Andyou know, what, what drove you
to to be offering to the worldwhat you are now that would be
wonderful.
Anna Marie Frank (01:28):
Yeah, well, my journey, I mean, started a quite
a few years ago. But ultimately,I struggled with mental health.
And I didn't realize essentiallywhat it what it really was.
Since I was little, I never feltlike I was good enough. And I
didn't know if that was becauseI was bullied or if I was born
(01:50):
with that. But then in the highschool, I probably wouldn't be
labeled depressed. But back whenI was in school, it wasn't
depression, anxiety, all thatthat was thrown around and used
so loosely as it is today, or,you know, the awareness around
it. And you'd look at my lifeand be like, well, of course,
she's happy. I mean, what she'sgot it all together, right?
(02:11):
Because you just never trulyknow what someone's going
through. And I went touniversity and got through that.
And then in my early career, Ifound myself very, very
depressed. I didn't, I didn'trealize what I know now. But you
know, could it have been, youknow, all the sports I played?
(02:31):
And you know, getting my headhit over and over again? Could
it be just something I was bornwith? Could it be because of the
emotional aspects that I've beenthrough? Nevertheless, right, we
all have our brain type. And wego through so many things in our
life. But I found myself verydepressed. And I thought, Oh,
(02:51):
I'm supposed to go to a doctor,right? Because that's what you
do, especially in the US, you goand you ask for a pill and a
pill is going to solve allthings, right. So I went to this
doctor, and I literally spent 10minutes with him, after filling
out all the paperwork. And heput me on three mind altering
medications. And they didn'twork for me. And so there was a
(03:14):
period of time where I keptgoing back to the doctor being
like this, this medication isnot working. And then I was so
focused on the medications. Andluckily, there was this little
light inside of me that was likewake up, you need to choose your
own happiness, you need to healyourself. And only you can do
that. And so this is obviouslysimplifying it. But that sent me
forth on the journey to heal myown brain. And I went into all
(03:39):
the holistic modalities andvisited different practitioners
and just really was open todifferent ways of healing. And I
can proudly say that my brain iswell functioning. I understand
how my brain functions, so I canhave different tendencies, but I
know how to navigate that. Yeah,and I'm just I'm happy and I'm
(04:01):
so glad that I found ways toheal myself because medication
made me suicidal and it didn'twork for me and medication works
for some people, but itshouldn't be, you know, the
first and the end all and itshouldn't be the only thing.
Arwen Bardsley (04:17):
Absolutely. And so did you Did the doctor at the
time recommend any kind oftherapy as well as the
medication?
Anna Marie Frank (04:27):
No
Arwen Bardsley (04:27):
It's amazing, isn't it? It's just crazy.
Anna Marie Frank (04:29):
yeah, I look back at it. And I mean, that was
I was in my early 20s. And soit's just really fascinating.
But I know I had to go throughthat to get to where I'm at now
where I help people and I workyou know, with a lot of people
on mindset and how their brain'sfunctioning and and everything
but it is it is troublesomebecause knowing what I know now
(04:53):
and having the training that Ihave in terms of how you know
with the brain, your brain isnot even fully developed till
maybe you're 25. Right. And sohere I was 22 years old being
put on three medications, and Idon't even have a fully
functioning brain. And so it'sjust, it is troublesome when I
(05:13):
think back at it, and then eventoday, you know, I see clients
all the time - and I have kids,you know - 5,6,7 years old, and
they're on 20 milligrams ofAdderall and different
medications. And, you know, eventhough I don't prescribe or
diagnose, I do find it helpfulto provide parents and
(05:34):
individuals with Holistic Healthmodalities and things that they
can do to support their brainfunction. And then it's up to
them to work with theirpharmacist and their doctor,
with their medications.
Arwen Bardsley (05:46):
Yeah, so yeah, I mean, we're certainly not saying
that medication is wrong in allcircumstances. And certainly, in
my experience, it can be greatfor somebody to have medication
for a short period of time tokind of get them to the point
where they can then do all thisother work and work with other
(06:09):
modalities to help them youknow, heal in a whole way again.
So when you were when thishappened, had you done your
naturopathy qualifications?
Anna Marie Frank (06:27):
No, all of that all of that came later.
Interesting is I was exercising,I was eating pretty well,
compared to the average person,but yet I still wasn't happy. So
what I learned throughout thedecade of my 20s was you can
exercise all day long and eat asmany salads as you want. But if
(06:48):
you don't get your brain, right,you know, it's really you can
live a challenging life. And sointo my 30s, I was blessed to
have a daughter and thatsomething really shifted inside
of me when I had her. A fewthings about me is I would get
magazines in the mail, you know,that has these women with the
(07:09):
perfect body and airbrushed andI literally was like, I thought
that was normal, right? And tobe happy, I compared myself to,
to these images. And if my lifedidn't look like that, then
there's something wrong, right?
Like subconsciously, you know,this is this is going on. And I
realized, like, I do not want mydaughter and I already had a
(07:31):
son. And it was something withhaving her like I did not want
her to grow up and, you know,look at her body and be ashamed
or think she's less than and soI started to very mindfully
start to change the things thatwere coming to my house. So I
stopped all the magazines, Istopped watching like
E-entertainment and just liketrash TV, right? Like, I started
(07:53):
to really shift those things.
And what I started to realize isthat my true happiness and
healing really started to comewhen I started to pay attention
to all the downloads that I wasallowing into my, my being
essentially right, so everythingwe listened to is downloading
information to ourselves.
Everything we see is downloadinginformation to ourselves,
(08:15):
everything we eat, everyinteraction we have with people,
right. And so I think we forgetthat not only, you know, the
structural and the biologicalaspect of our bodies, but we
also forget the energetics,right, and how there's all these
things that are impacting usenergetically. And so once I
started to really pay attentionto all of the layers in my life,
(08:39):
and not being perfect in everyarea, but just giving more
attention, you know, to thefinancial wellness, the
emotional well being thenutritional the exercise, you
know, not overdoing it, I reallystarted to find myself aligning
with being okay with who I was.
(09:00):
And I think that that'sultimately, you know, what is
really important is that we areall unique and beautiful in our
own unique way. And it'saligning with our true authentic
self, and aligning with ourblueprint of why we're here on
Earth and what we're supposed todo here. And all that noise
around us over the years canreally blind us from why we're
(09:24):
here and what we need to bedoing. And so I love the fact
that I'm waking up and I feellike I continue to wake up more
and more and help other peopleto you know, what really does
matter and who we truly are andhow we are existing and helping
each other here in thislifetime.
Arwen Bardsley (09:44):
Yeah, beautiful.
And so what were the othermodalities that you worked with
when you were going through thatjourney and why did you end up
choosing to train as anaturopath?
Anna Marie Frank (10:00):
Yeah, so I used I used biofeedback, I would
fly back to Michigan, I live inCalifornia and I would fly to
Michigan and I would do somework with this lady there. I
would do some body work, havepeople do massages, Reiki things
like that. I just really startedto pay attention of how I was
(10:22):
thinking and starting to rewiremy thoughts. I thought, you
know, if you can program acomputer, you can obviously
reprogram your brain. And sothat's where like, I just
started to think of myselfliterally as a computer, and
what am I downloading, right? AmI downloading viruses, or am I
downloading great software. Andso it was literally just like,
every day, just being mindful ofthe conversations I would have
(10:47):
with people, I started toeliminate people in my life,
that didn't support where Iwanted to go and how I wanted to
be, you know, being mindful ofthose conversations that you're
having on a daily basis. I mean,I was the type of person that I
would spill coffee on myself onthe way to the office, and then
(11:07):
I would be like, Oh, my gosh, Ispilt coffee on myself. And then
someone cut me off. And I wouldlike complain, and just like,
spew out all the things thatwent wrong for me in the
morning. Like, I would tellpeople this as if it like
mattered. And, you know, Istarted shifting to like, be
like, Oh, Thank you universe forthis car that I'm driving to
(11:27):
work like, This is so amazing.
I'm literally in this machinewith four wheels, that's
bringing me to a location and Ijust have to push the gas pedal
and turn the wheel, right. Like,I started to really practice
gratitude for all the littlethings and look for what was
there for me in terms of thingsthat were positive versus always
focusing on what wasn't therefor me and all the negative
(11:47):
things.
Arwen Bardsley (11:50):
And so And where did the particular interest in
Naturopathy come from?
Anna Marie Frank (11:57):
So I actually I started working on more of the
brain health and the Dr. Amenclinics, and here in the US, I
know he has clinics all around,I believe all around the world.
And I found it very interestingthat there was actually a
medical professional that wasnot all about prescribing
(12:19):
medications first, and he's apsychiatrist. And he was all
about, you know, looking at youknow, what, brain nutriceuticals
what are some thought patterns,we can change and let's actually
scan the brain and look at wherethe blood's flowing in the brain
and figure out and have someonesee how their brain's
functioning, right, so that wasthe start of my journey. And
(12:47):
then I just started diving moreinto herbs and vitamins and how
these agents actually impact theyour brain and biology. And I
had no idea that you need tohave the amino acid tryptophan
plus vitamin B six to even beginto think about making serotonin
in the body. And then serotoninis mostly made in the gut. And
(13:10):
so there's all these things thatI started to learn. I just
wanted to soak them all up. Andso over about a four year
period, I started to takeclasses and I just I couldn't
get enough. And I started off.
Actually, even before Dr. Amen,I started off with an
Integrative Nutritioncertification, my degree's in
(13:31):
exercise science, I have amaster's degree. And so I've
always done something along thelines of wellness. But it was
how can I enhance the tools inmy toolkit to support other
people, because one of thebiggest things I have learned in
my journey is not everyone isthe same. Everybody has a
different brain type. And whatworks for one person may not
(13:54):
work for the next. And so it'sjust really important to meet
people where they are, and helpthem with some tools and
modalities that will work forthem in their lifestyle that
will make a big difference forthem.
Arwen Bardsley (14:08):
And yeah, so you've mentioned brain type a
couple of times, so I need todive into that. Please, if you
can. Tell us more about that. Idon't think it's an expression
I've heard before and I'd loveto understand that.
Anna Marie Frank (14:24):
Yeah, so for example, I would be labeled as
having ADHD when I was littlelike if we were to go back in
time. Okay. So I had a hard timepaying attention to things I
didn't even read well untilprobably I was in high school.
(14:44):
Like I struggled with readingand I it wasn't necessarily
reading it was thecomprehension. Right. So I could
read a bunch of words and I knewthat words but it was
comprehending and retaining. Iwould probably also be labeled
dyslexic, right. I flippedthings all the time. Mmm. And
one thing with working with Amenclinics that I found super
(15:05):
fascinating is that there aredifferent types of ADHD or ADD,
and there are different types ofdepression. So you know, this
blanket approach to say, Oh,you're depressed take Prozac, or
to say, Oh, you have anxiety,here's some Xanax, or, you know,
you have this. So here'sWellbutrin I mean, it's to me, I
(15:27):
find it really interesting,because what I've learned is,
you know, there's temporal lobeADD, and this is where people
can, you know, if they sayyou've played football, or
you've played sports, and I'vehad a lot of head injuries to
the temporal lobes, that canreally impact your temper and
your mood. Right? So I see, youknow, men who used to play
(15:48):
sports and back in the day, youknow, you always give us like,
oh, yeah, I had my bell rung abunch of times, well, getting
your bell rung seeing Stars,that's an injury, like your
brain is literally theconsistency of soft butter, or
tofu. And it's encapsulated inthis bony structure, right. And
so these little, quote, unquote,injuries, compounded over time,
(16:11):
can really impact behavior incertain ways. There's also
people that have like anxiousADD, they're very anxious, and
they have a hard time payingattention. And then there's also
people that have issues withdepression. And they have
anxiousness on top of that, orthey have low, you know, really
low mood depression. So there'sdifferent it's like figuring out
(16:34):
how your brain is functioningand what's going on with you.
And then going from there. Youknow, one form of ADD is a sign
of it is where people get reallyannoyed, or it really bothers
them certain touches or fabricon their body, or certain
noises. So it's like, okay,well, let's take a step back and
(16:56):
figure out, you know, kind ofpinpoint more, because if you
think about it, we have no wayof measuring brain chemistry.
Right? There's no, we don't knowhow to measure it. So brain
health is really a subjectivefeedback, and the doctor asks
you a bunch of questions. Andbased on those questions, we're
(17:17):
giving out medication. Whereas Ilove that the Amen Clinics, you
can get a SPECT imaging scan tosee where the blood is flowing.
And can we influence that bloodflow? Insurance in the States,
of course, does not pay forthat, even though it's
interesting, because specimaging has been around since I
don't know 70s, at least, right?
So we don't even have properways to I don't think, thorough
(17:38):
ways, if you will, to diagnosepeople, but even then, I feel
like, why, why are we diagnosingkids with ADHD, because they
can't sit in the in a schoolroom and sit in a chair for
eight hours a day. And theydon't learn a certain way that
(17:58):
we want them to learn with 40other kids in the class, because
it's just easier. You know, onthe teacher and on the school,
like, I mean, so there's sothere's so many things, and I
think there's so much beauty inhow everybody's brain is
different. But figuring out likeyour brain type, like, Okay, if
you do have tendencies to haveADHD, or depression or anxiety,
like, what does that what doesthat really mean? And what does
(18:22):
that really look like? And arethere others that bleed into
that?
Arwen Bardsley (18:27):
So are there is like a set number of brain
types? Or is it you know, it'skind of infinite, because it
just depends on all thedifferent things people are
Anna Marie Frank (18:37):
Yeah, so I have this fun little chart that
experiencing.
I love. So just we'll go withADHD, there's seven different
types. And I have like thislittle guidance sheet that's
really helpful. So when I'mworking with clients, like for
example, classic ADD is whereyou're inattentive, you're
distracted, you can bedisorganized, kind of impulsive,
(19:00):
maybe a little bit ofhyperactivity, but this is where
you have low blood flow to theprefrontal cortex and lower
dopamine levels on average. Sosupplementation wise, you could
be supportive with green tea,Rhodiola, l-tyrosine, which is
an amino acid omega three fattyacids. Then there's over focused
(19:22):
ADD, right, where people get soit's like tunnel vision. And
this is also low frontal lobefunctioning, increased anterior
cingulate gyrus going on in thebrain and low serotonin and so
there's some different remediesthat can help with that. And
then even on this, there'sdifferent medications that might
(19:43):
work well. I found itinteresting that some different
some brain types, you know, Dr.
Amen will provideanticonvulsants to support the
brain just because of how thebrain is firing and wiring. So
So it is interesting thatthere's these different things
and I love that You know,they've found a way to kind of
simplify it as well, but alsogive people not just oh, you
(20:08):
have ADD or you have ADHD,right? So, so yeah. And then you
know, different diets, you know,someone that has depression, and
they really just that low mooddepressive disorder, doing HIIT
training, high intensityinterval training can be very
therapeutic for them. But thenif you have someone who
(20:29):
struggles with anxiety, doingHIIT training, high intensity
interval training for them isprobably not the best idea. And
for them, it's probably betterto do Pilates or yoga or
something that is, you know,more even keeled. And then the
same with kids with, you know,ADHD, there's different
(20:50):
exercises that can be supportivefor them, as well. So it's just
it's figuring out what theperson needs, because we are all
individual. And so it's my job.
When I work with people, I'mlike, Okay, how can we support
you and what modalities couldwork best for you?
Arwen Bardsley (21:11):
Oh, that's amazing. Yeah. I mean, I would
say I do. I don't struggle withanxiety. Exactly. But I know
that I'm more of an anxious typeperson. And, and certainly,
there have been struggles. Butyeah, a few years ago, I kind of
Yeah, I really did tune into mybody and just go, I don't think
(21:35):
I shouldn't be doing all thiskind of HIIT training and high
intensity cardio stuff anymore.
I think I do need to do more ofthe lower intensity stuff. I
mean, I think it's from what Iknow, now, I think it's good for
everybody to do, you know, toreally get their heart rate up,
you know, at least once afortnight because that's, you
(21:57):
know, basically what our bodieswere designed to do to run and
escape from the the wild tigersor whatever. But, yeah, that's
so interesting that that's, youknow, kind of, I was actually
going with my brain type.
Anna Marie Frank (22:14):
Yeah, and our body is always giving us
information, right? But it'slike, we continuously look
outside ourselves for answers.
And so it is interesting when weget quiet enough and listen,
like when I was going throughwhat I was going through, when I
got quiet enough to listen towhat not in my head, listen, but
when in my body, like my bodyknew, like, these medications
(22:37):
aren't for you. Like I knew thatthere wasn't there had there was
another way, right. And sothat's so important. Our bodies
are constantly giving usinformation all the time. You
know, like, for example, onething when I meet with clients,
whether it's virtually or inperson, I look at their tongue,
and I have them stick theirtongue out, you know, and if
they're sticking their tongueout and trying to relax it, but
(22:58):
it is going crazy, and it isdoing this, you know, that's a
sign that there's some adrenalissues going on there, right.
And if there's scalloping, onthe side of the tongue, you
know, that can be a sign ofneeding some detoxification with
the liver, or if they're stilltheir tongue is swollen that
they're not getting enoughwater. So the body is constantly
sharing information with us.
(23:23):
It's just a matter of (1) are wetuning in (2) a lot of people
aren't trained anymore? To lookat the body and to understand,
you know, that the body givingus information, or what that
even means, right? Like what,like when you're losing your
eyebrow hair on the side of youreyebrows and your hair's
(23:44):
thinning and this like okay,well, there can be some thyroid
things going on here. Right? Soit's like, listen to your body.
Arwen Bardsley (23:52):
Yeah, there was some there's a lot in the media
here at the moment abouttelehealth, which is obviously,
come in so much more with COVID.
But then, yeah, I was I heard adoctor the other day talking and
saying, Yeah, but if you don'tactually see your clients, and a
lot of the time, you know, it'sjust on the telephone, literally
(24:15):
not even videos. So they're noteven seeing the client, the
patient in front of them. And somany things can be missed when
you're not actually looking atsomebody that you're trying to
help.
Anna Marie Frank (24:28):
Yeah, it's so true. I have clients send me
photographs up close before if Ihave a virtual, but the thing I
do miss out when I don't seethem in person is I do muscle
response testing. I also doenergy testing. So I test their
energy field like it's a reallycool thing in energy medicine
that I've been learning and it'shelped so much. One interesting
(24:52):
thing. I would say probably over90% of the people that I see
that tell me that they aredepressed or have some type of
depression, they have what'scalled homeo lateral. And
there's a little test that I dowith them. And essentially, all
I do is I put an X above myhead, and they have to look up
above the X. And then I put twovertical lines above my head.
(25:15):
And I do a muscle response teston their arm. And if the X,
they're weak with the X, that'stelling me that their energies
aren't really crossing. Andthose people tend to be more
depressed. And it's so crazy.
Once I started doing this withclients, I really have them
twice a day for two minutes,they just go through this
routine, this routine I givethem, it's like super easy, they
(25:37):
can sit in a chair and do it.
But once they start doing it,you know, every day, they're
like, This is so crazy, becauseI do feel better. Like it's
nuts, right? So we forget that.
We can take the supplements andwe can do the exercises, we can
do all that stuff. But at thesame time, there's also if we go
inside every single cell till wecan't go any more, the only
(25:58):
thing that's left is energy,right? So we have to impact the
energy within the cells, as wellas the physical matter. And I
think we miss that quite a bitas well, when we work with
people.
Arwen Bardsley (26:11):
Oh, so true.
Yeah, well, that's, you know,really a key of the work that I
do as well, it is energy work.
And so with the energy fieldtesting, you're doing it is
muscle testing. So it's likekinesiology style testing, is
that what you're talking about?
Anna Marie Frank (26:29):
Yeah, so I do two types of testing, muscle
testing and energy testing, theylook pretty similar, but it's
just a little bit different. Sowith energy testing, some of it,
I don't even have to touch thebody, I actually move energy
around the body, and then I testwhereas the muscle testing, you
know, if I'm doing the thyroid,I can touch the thyroid, I
physically touch it, and thenI'll do the muscle testing. So,
(26:54):
so yeah, so it's just a littlebit different, but ultimately,
to the average person is goingto look like it's the same
thing, you know, and I will saythis, I would do want to point
out with COVID, and everythingthat you know, people have been
going through, you know, likeyou were talking about feeling a
little bit anxious, we can findourselves there. And one of the
(27:15):
things is when we are in periodsof stress, right, that go on for
a period of time, when we havethat fight or flight response
with that sympathetic nervoussystem taking place. What
happens is that limbic system inour brain, there's this thing
called the amygdala, it's likeconstantly firing. And what
(27:36):
happens when that's going on isthat literally cuts us off from
our prefrontal cortex, which isour essentially executive
thinking, right? It's, it's tosee the big picture. And it is
our, our prefrontal cortex isvery, very important for us to
(27:57):
function and make good decisionsand all that. So for a lot of
people out there because ofCOVID, and everything that we've
been through over the lastcouple of years. (1) you need to
give yourself a break, but (2)if you do feel that you
continue, like you think you'remaking the best decisions, but
then you're like, oh my gosh,that was not the best decision
and you're making decisions outof anxiousness. That's when you
(28:18):
want to make sure you take astep back, do some breath work,
you know, just breathe, calmdown, give yourself time to make
a decision. And you know, and ifyou need to work with a coach or
a professional, like, definitelydo that.
Arwen Bardsley (28:34):
Yeah, absolutely. So I wanted to hear
from you about thenutraceuticals that you've
devised, as well. So obviously,and you've already said this,
we're highly advocating thatpeople do a whole range of
things to help themselves andyou know, as you just mentioned
(28:58):
before, a lot of people canthink you know, yeah, I'm just
going to start taking thesesupplements and then everything
is going to be better, butthere's probably a number of
other things they need to do aswell. But I'd love to hear about
your nutraceuticals that you'vedevised for mental health and
you know how how they work andwhat's in them and where we can
(29:21):
get them.
Anna Marie Frank (29:23):
Yeah, yeah, so in October 2020 I brought to the
market three formulas that thesebrain nutraceuticals one's
called calm, you one's calledHappy you and one called Bright
you because my company is calledHappy Whole You so ultimately, I
(29:45):
when I would meet with people, Iwould make recommendations based
on their brain type to go to thegrocery store or go to the
health food store and pick upyou know, half a dozen different
supplements, right vitamins andminerals or herbs or things like
that. That To mention at my ownhome, I would have two dozen
different bottles of productssitting there. And I'm like, Oh
(30:06):
my gosh, like, if only this wasin like one capsule, my life
would be so much easier, youknow? And so I'm like, You know
what I'm gonna try if I couldget some of the, like the
majority of these activeingredients and put them all in
one, if it would still beeffective, like (1) could I do
that, (2) How would I do that?
Like, how do I source out goodproduct and make sure that it's
(30:32):
authentic and tested and all thethings? And then okay, what am I
going to put in these. And so Iwent through that whole process.
And the first one I started withis bright you because selfishly,
I was taking green tea extractashwagandha, I was taking
(30:52):
resveratrol, magnesiuml-threonate, which is a super
important magnesium that crossesthe blood brain barrier. It's
only magnesium that does that.
And, you know, I wanted ingingko. So those were like all
my anti inflammatory anti agingsupplements I was taking, that's
(31:14):
five ingredients. And so I wasable to put those all in my
bright you. And so I have totake three of those pills every
day. But I was like literallytaking one or two in the five
bottles, because you actuallyhave to have when you get the
(31:34):
herbs and you get the vitaminsand minerals and all of that and
you formulate it for it toactually be encapsulated.
There's like for it to mix, youhave to add something to it,
right. So a lot of times you areone you're buying a product that
has other things in it. But thenalso you are spending more money
(31:58):
for you know, less product so sosolve that problem so bright you
was like my number one. And thenI formulated Happy You, which is
essentially a lot of precursorsto help make serotonin. So we
have the vitamin B six B 12 inthere, magnesium l-threonate,
(32:18):
and a holy basil, lemon balm,extract, 5-HTP, and tryptophan
all in there, which is reallygreat just to help your body be
able to start to make your ownserotonin. So you have all those
precursors, and then calm youwhich is a very, very popular
one. That is ultimately to takethat level or that layer of yuck
(32:44):
off of you. So you can think alittle bit clearer and just feel
like you again. And that is acombination of there's some B
vitamins in there. There's GABAin there, there is lemon balm in
there as well magnesiuml-threonate. What else do I have
in there, I think I have someamino acids in there, I'm doing
(33:05):
this off the top of my head. Butultimately, the three products
that I combined different aminoacids that impact
neurotransmitters, differentvitamins that are essential, and
different herbs that have a lotof really great different
properties in them. And so thoseare the three formulas that I
(33:27):
share with people now. But youknow, some people I recommend
still that they go and picksomething else up at the grocery
store if if it's you know,because everything is not like I
said everyone needs differentthings. But for the most part
this really does give a greatapproach to supporting people in
their brain health in theirbrain type.
Arwen Bardsley (33:47):
And are they available? Like if someone in
Australia wanted to buy them?
Are we able to do that? Do youknow?
Anna Marie Frank (33:55):
Yeah, so you just email us at
info@happywholeyou.com or youcan go to happywholeyou.com.
I've had a few people that wereable to process orders but like
I just mailed them out to Canadaand so you know we figure out a
way
Arwen Bardsley (34:10):
Yeah, yeah, okay. Okay, well that's great
that you've you know gone to thethe time and effort of getting
something that puts a whole lotof useful things together in one
capsule it's Yeah, cuz I'm like,I takes so many supplements and
they're all in individualcapsules. Now, you mentioned
(34:35):
COVID as well as I did and Iknow having looked into your,
your personal experiences thatyou did have had the virus
yourself. I actually haven't Myson has so I've seen somebody
who seemed to have pretty mildCOVID And we isolated together
(34:57):
and I magically managed to notcome down with it, but I'd love
to hear about your experience,but especially you know what
your recommendations are as anaturopath for people who do
fall ill, but more importantly,what your recommendations are
for the rest of us to continueto not fall ill.
Anna Marie Frank (35:18):
Yeah. I mean, honestly, it's so important to
work on your foundations ofhealth, right, like, so if you
do, like I got COVID I, I mean,I felt like I had a really bad
flu for a few days. And I thinkmore psychologically, that
actually had a greater impact.
Because in my mind, when I wasgoing through COVID, knowing
(35:38):
what I know, I, it's like, Iknew I was going to be okay. But
then in the back of my head, Iwas like, watch, you be the
natural health person thatsomething bad happens, right?
Because you have all thisnegativity with, you know, the
internet and the news and all ofthat. So. So there's this huge
(36:00):
psychological aspect. And Ibelieve that in the US, the CDC
here, this was a while ago. So Iremember that this the number
one, you had death rates withCOVID was comorbidities. The
second leading cause of deathwith COVID was mental health.
Which is pretty incredible. Sowhat my family did is, we were
(36:21):
taking the bright you all thetime, we were increasing our
zinc. We were making surevitamin D levels were up. We
were eating healthy. We'reeating like my kids every
morning. Like they don't evenquestion it. They're nine and
12. They get I give them ashake. And they get a couple
(36:42):
handfuls of greens in there.
Every all the mushrooms you canthink of Lion's Mane, Reishi all
of it. And so we put a scoop ofthat in there, and they get
their their protein and I blendit up. And they have that every
day. And then they have, youknow, a little multivitamin with
(37:04):
their D in it. And so justmaking sure that you're eating,
you know, your body is smart,your body knows what to do,
although this is a man madevirus, I believe, okay, I don't
know, like, what everyone elsebelieves. So I think that there
is some challenges when a virusisn't evolving organically, if
(37:26):
you will. So I do think thisvirus can kick your butt. I
mean, I lost my sister in law.
She had just had a baby. And Ihave my opinions on all of this.
She was only like 32. I knowthat she's struggled with low
vitamin D levels for a longtime. But she literally got home
from having her baby.
(37:47):
Unfortunately, at the hospital,they were pushing her to get the
COVID vax. And she didn't wantto do that. But then they talked
her into getting the flu shot.
So she did that and got home andjust was not feeling well. But
she kept attributing it to theflu shot after you know, 40 some
hours of labor. And she finallywent back to the hospital. And
(38:10):
the only reason she went intothe hospital to have the baby
was because she had side pain.
And she was having a hard timebreathing. And they said that
she had preeclampsia. So theyinduced her she had the baby.
Anyways, she went back to thehospital. And they admitted her
(38:32):
because they said, Oh, you haveCOVID Well, she's in the
hospital. Nobody pays attentionto the fact that this woman is
postpartum. She just had a baby.
You know, we all know whathappens down there. When you
have a baby, she had aninfection within a couple of
days going on as she is dealingwith COVID and all these other
(38:53):
things. So So needless to say,she ended up passing away from a
blood clot. But, you know,obviously the it's COVID as
well. But the whole experiencewith that was just another
reminder. That one, it's neverjust one thing, right? People
are so hyper focused on this onevirus that we are missing so
(39:14):
many other things, there's somuch more missing. And we're not
looking at the entire person,we're not looking at the bigger
picture with with the peoplethat we're working with. And
then this is where it's superimportant that we have a strong
foundation of health and we takecare of ourselves and you know,
(39:36):
we you know, drinking a lot ofalcohol smoking, not getting
enough sleep, not moving yourbody having horrible
relationships. You know, all ofthese things contribute to poor
health. So we can sit here andwe can blame, you know, whatever
it is heart disease, diabetes,um Whatever it may be, but at
(39:58):
the end of the day, it comesdown to our choices, right? And
how we choose to exist in thisworld, how we choose to take
care of our bodies, how wechoose to take care of others
how we choose to think.
And so, you know, it's a veryhard thing, what our family has
(40:21):
gone through. But at the end ofthe day, it's like I, I mean,
there's like, no words, right?
But I just, I think that we'remissing a lot with focusing on
just one thing, and that withCOVID, without COVID, whenever
we're hyper focused on just one,like, just weight loss, right,
or just one thing, and we missso much, and it really can eat
(40:45):
away at us. So taking care ofyour whole body, all your
foundations of health, yourenergy field, your mental
health, your physical health,it's all so important.
Arwen Bardsley (40:59):
Yep, totally agree. I'm so sorry for your
loss. That's just so sad. Yeah,yeah, that's exactly my, my
whole practice is the same.
Trying to get people to look ateverything. So I so my podcast
is called 5 Star Wellbeing, butit's also the system that I use
(41:19):
in my practice. So the fiveaspects of food, movement,
sleep, your surroundings, andthen the fifth one I just call
'Being', which is, you know,pretty much everything else, a
big dollop of mental health inthere, and, you know, spiritual
practices. And yeah, justeverything else that makes you
(41:42):
who you are, and brings you yourjoy and happiness in life. Yeah.
You're You're so right and andthe whole Yeah, I mean, well not
the whole problem. But a massivepart of the problem with
allopathic medicine is thatfocus on the one thing and all
these little specialties that,you know, will not look at the
(42:02):
whole body that they'retreating? It's just the focus on
the one aspect that they candeal with? It's just, it doesn't
help does it.
Anna Marie Frank (42:13):
I think everybody should have a Western
doctor and homeopathic doctor,like, it shouldn't be one or the
other. I think that, yeah, it'sjust it's, it's, it's important.
I mean, Western medicine hassome great perks. I mean,
obviously, it's, there's so manybenefits, but then there's also
(42:36):
the downfall and the history, ifyou look at Holistic Health, and
how it's been essentiallydismantled out of our
universities, and you know,what's taken place in the United
States, you know, over the lastreally 100 years. It's very
interesting, because sometimespeople are like, Oh, what, what
(42:58):
is the doctor of naturopathy,and I always, like, I'm a Doctor
of, I tell them traditional,meaning I don't break the skin.
And like 150 years ago, therewere only people like really
like me, you know, that wewould, we would support our
clients or back in the day, wewould call them our patients,
right? We would go to theirhomes, and we would support
(43:19):
them, and we would find ways tohelp them heal. And so, you
know, I did have one client whoworks in the medical field. And
it's, I always love havingpeople come to me that work in
the medical field, because it'sjust, I learn so much from them.
And I feel like they learn fromme as well. And it's a beautiful
(43:40):
thing. But I'll always have Ialways get that one person every
now and again. Where, you know,I'll tell them, you know, 150
years ago, right there were onlylike, you know, doctors or
people like myself, and it neverfelt that they'll always be one
that says Yeah, but what was thelife expectancy then? Right. And
(44:02):
I but I'm like, Yeah, I know.
But I'm not saying that Westernmedicine is bad. It's just we
literally went from this to thefurther extreme. Right. And so I
think that that's anytime we goto an extreme, you know, it's,
it's not necessarily a goodthing. But yeah, I just, I just
find it really fascinating thatit's like, we have to be on one
(44:26):
side or the other. And I don'tthink that we should have to be
that I think we should all worktogether to help people live
their most vibrant life.
Arwen Bardsley (44:36):
Yep. Yeah, that's right. That's really the
only way it can work. So youmentioned mushrooms then as
well. So tell me more aboutthat.
Anna Marie Frank (44:47):
Yeah, so I've been diving more into mushrooms.
A little bit of psychedelicsmicro dosing. I've looked at
that, but ultimately, just likethe lion's mane, Reishi It's
really interesting because I hadno idea that like fungi was like
the oldest, literally livingthing on the earth. Like, I
(45:10):
didn't register that, and thehealing properties and the fact
that underneath our feet, youcan have trees, you know, miles
away talking to other trees dueto the fungi underneath the
earth that are helping withthese communications. And I, you
know, it's like our neurons inour brain. And so it's really
interesting, I can send you alink. There's a company, it's
(45:34):
called Real mushrooms. And thisgentleman that I interviewed for
the for my podcast. Jeff, he isamazing. In the 70s, he actually
went over to China to help theChinese become organic, and
because we used to get a lot ofour mushrooms from over there.
And so he's been like, at theforefront where before mushrooms
(45:57):
were cool. He was like, youknow, wearing mushrooms, hats
and doing all sorts of thingswith mushrooms. But anyways, he
has a business up in Washington.
They actually, I didn't knowthis until I interviewed him for
the podcast, that somecompanies, what they do is they
grow the mushrooms on cornstalks. So you're not getting
like really the quality of themushroom and they grow their
(46:19):
mushrooms, you know, ingreenhouses and outside, so it
does make a big difference. So Ican send you a link, and it will
support his company if you usethat link.
Arwen Bardsley (46:29):
And so what do you what are the benefits of
mushrooms for people who, youknow, may have, most people have
probably heard of them, becausethey're they're everywhere now.
But they might not be aware ofwhat they can you know what the
benefits are for them?
Anna Marie Frank (46:45):
Yeah, so we take to support our immune
system for neurogenesis in thebrain, as well as our digestive
system. So Chunga is really goodfor digestive system. Reishi is
really good for theneurotransmitters or Reishi is
really good for immune systemand neurotransmitters. And
lion's mane is really good forneurotransmitters in the brain
(47:07):
as well. And so my son actuallyis growing mushrooms at our
house. Right now we have twoways he's growing them. One, we
drilled holes in a log, so hehas little spores that he put in
that and then he has this otherdevice that he's growing them.
So one, it'll take like sixmonths. The other one, it's
(47:28):
going to be like nine to 12months. And so this is a science
experiment in our house, andhe's 12. But there's actually a
really good I think it's onNetflix, there's a really good
it's called I think it's calledFantastic fungi. It's a
documentary. I recommend peoplego listen to that. But my son
watched it. And then he took itupon himself to find a TED talk.
(47:50):
And he was blown away. He'slike, Mom, why don't people know
like, like, these mushrooms,like, there's people with
cancer, and it helps them? Like,why don't people know this?
Like, and you know, here he is.
He's 12 years old. And he'sprocessing that, like, why
aren't more people talking aboutthis? This is a really exciting
big thing, you know? And so, soyeah, so it's just education,
(48:12):
right, and just sharinginformation, sharing resources.
And the more we can do that, youknow, we ultimately with our
dollar we will bring to theforefront and what we really
want, by the way we spend ourmoney.
Arwen Bardsley (48:28):
Yeah, so true.
Great. So that's a good littleintroduction to mushrooms, I
must watch that documentarymyself. So speaking of different
treatment options, I did alsonotice that you have some weird
and wonderful sounding things atyour practice, like the theta
(48:51):
pod and the bio charger. I wantto hear a bit about them. And,
you know, do you have a favoriteone?
Anna Marie Frank (49:03):
Oh, gosh, I know everyone always asked me
that. So yeah, so it'sinteresting because not only can
I work with people, you know,and do the vitamins and the
nutrition and all that. But thenI also have my Happy Whole You
Wellness Center. We have onehere in Bakersfield, California,
and one in Raleigh, NorthCarolina. And this is
(49:23):
essentially a human upgradecenter. So we have high, we
combine high tech pieces ofequipment with old school
Chinese medicine modalities,holistic health modalities, so
you get the best of both worlds.
But yes, so I always tell peoplewhen I describe these things,
it's like I'm talking to foreignlanguage, right like we have a
bio charger which is a frequencygenerator machine. And it
(49:46):
essentially gives off infraredbut then also these different
frequencies that your body willabsorb. Or that will get within
your energy field if your bodywants it or doesn't. But it's a
really cool machine. I love it.
We have a full body Red Lightbed to help with mitochondria
function plus just you know,10-15 minutes of red light can
(50:09):
help boost serotonin as well.
Plus, it's really great for theskin, anti aging and all that we
don't really promote that. Butyou know, that's just an added
benefit. I feel like allholistic health stuff is anti
aging, right? Like the more youshine from within, the more you
shine outside. And then we havea theta pod, which is
essentially this pod you lay in,And so what's the benefit of the
(50:30):
turning? With the theta pod?
it actually turns while you'rein it. And it's a guided Well,
it's a it forces you in ameditative state. And so we have
ces units that go on your earsare FDA approved for anxiety,
depression, insomnia, we canprogram the pod for whatever
PTSD, memory enhancementhormones, and essentially, it's
(50:51):
putting you in this state whereyou're most open to suggestion.
And then there's music. And thenthere's suggestion music with
some binaural beats that takeplace, when you literally feel
like you're floating and you canhave an out of body experience
while you're in there. If youdon't want to go that intense,
we do have what's called a thetachair. So it's a chair that
(51:14):
pretty much assimilateseverything except for the
vestibular with the turning whenyou're in the pod, then we have
microvascular beamer pad to helpincrease basal motion in the
body eliminate metabolic waste,a medical grade sauna, has the
full spectrum of infrared lightin it. And we combine that with
a lymphatic really shake board.
And then also with some redlight, we have a detox pod. And
(51:37):
I add these headsets forclients, like when they're in
the detox pod or the red lightbed that are guided meditation
head sets. Pretty cool there.
And so yeah, so it's really aplace where you can come and
there's a lot of, you know,technology that is very
supportive with the body. Andyeah, and then we combine that
(51:59):
with other things.
Like, what what does that do?
So think of it as like lightingup your brain, like, it's the
fourth of July, right? You havemovement, you have actually,
there's a light therapy, youreyes are closed, but it's
triggering the optic nerve, youhave the binaural beats, so you
(52:21):
have the right and lefthemisphere of the brain, then
you have this the sound goingon. So it's like, you know, we
all have these neural networksthat get cemented in our brains,
and they get stronger andstronger as we get older, right?
Like, we start to really developour analytical mind, when we're
7,8, 9 years old, right, westart to realize, you know, I
(52:44):
like that person, but not thatperson, or, you know, we start
to make these things up in ourhead, or this is how things
should be, they should not belike this. Whereas before, we
were like, thinking of zebras,and leprechauns, and rainbows
and all sorts of stuff in ourbrains when we were little. And
we were just imagining all thethings and our imagination made
us feel like it was real. So westopped doing that. And so we
(53:07):
create these neural networks inour brain. And we stop, we just
intensify them. So when you goin the pod, I always envision it
as creating new neural networks,right? It's like reminding that
there's these other neurons thatcan connect and play with other
neurons. And you don't alwayshave to play with the same
neurons, right? So it's likeopening your brain up to more
(53:30):
suggestion, and people come outof there and have, I mean, they
have different experiences. Evenafter they leave, you know, and
they'll, they'll feel differentemotions coming up, I'm sure
with like, the energy work thatyou do. You know, it's, it's not
always just about that momentwith the practitioner. But it's
how your body is responding. Andthings that continue to shift.
(53:54):
Everything's always in motion,even after you leave. And that
is even more therapeutic thanmaybe just the session that
while you're there, and I thinkwe sometimes forget about that.
Arwen Bardsley (54:05):
yeah, so true.
But also, that is why it's soSo,
important for people to get thewhole health concept and you
know, not leave and go and drinkhalf a bottle of wine and eat
McDonald's like, you know,you've got to support these
(54:25):
things to keep working for you.
Yeah, great. So We're nearly outof time, but I did also just
want to hear about your book,"Stop bullying yourself".
Anna Marie Frank (54:36):
Oh, yeah. So I wrote stop bullying yourself. I
think a couple of years after Ihad my daughter, because as I
was going through my mindsetshift and essentially
reprogramming my brain. I wantedto have essentially a something
(54:58):
documented if I anything were tohappen to me, for my children,
you know, if they ever struggledwith that negative voice inside
their head, you know, these aresome things that mom did to help
her. And even in that book, Idon't even have all the holistic
stuff that I've done, I have towrite a whole nother book. But I
(55:19):
essentially started just writingout a Google document. And then
I sent it to my sister, and shesaid, Oh, my gosh, she's a
counselor. And she's like, Youneed to share this with people.
I'm like, I was like, Who wantsto read a Google document? And
she's like, No, like, you needto make this into a book. And so
yeah, so I wrote the book. Igive it away all the time I sell
(55:40):
it on my website, I just feellike it's a good, good tool. And
it's a good reminder. And it'sjust I just give suggestions for
personal growth in there.
Because it does a lot of thingscome down comes down to how
we're thinking, and how ourbrain is functioning. And so you
know, this is I wrote that bookbefore I even was exposed to the
Amen clinics, I think my bookwas, it was published. And then
(56:02):
I remember shortly after that, Ihad someone who got my book, and
they're like, oh, have you readthis book by this guy named Dr.
Amen? And I was like, No. And Ipicked up his book, and I was
like, Oh, my gosh, like, hecalls them the ANTs inside of
your head. Automatic NegativeThoughts. And you know, I call
it the inner bully. And so itwas really cool. I'm like, I
(56:26):
need to learn from this, thisdoctor, you know, and so. So
yeah, so it's, it's just a tool,right? It's another tool for
your toolkit. And I have it onAudible too. So I will read it
right to you, you can get it onAudible. But yeah, it's it's I'm
proud that I, you know, as a, asa kid who didn't read well,
(56:46):
until high school, and as a kidthat, you know, essentially, my
second grade teacher told me, Iwould never amount to anything,
if I didn't learn to read, andto be a published author to
have, you know, the accoladesthat I have. And to be in a
position in my life where I'mproud of the woman I am and what
I've accomplished, and I don'tI, you know, I'd like it's
nothing to be ashamed of. And,you know, it's really
(57:10):
interesting to be in that space,where I'm at right now. So I'm
very proud of the work that I'vebeen able to do. So far. And
hopefully, I'll have many moreyears to continue to do this
work and support other people.
Arwen Bardsley (57:21):
No, you absolutely should be proud. Did
you send a copy of the book toyour second grade teacher?
Anna Marie Frank (57:27):
You know what's funny is I don't even I
don't even know who I don't evenremember her name?
Arwen Bardsley (57:34):
Yeah. Wow. Well, that's probably a good thing.
Anna Marie Frank (57:38):
And I think that I cos you remember, like a
lot of your teachers names,right. But there's, there's a
period of my time where I reallydon't remember a lot of my
teachers names. But that's alsoanother thing is when you're
under constant stress, yourmemory really becomes impacted.
And I've thought about goingback and looking, but I just I
(57:58):
just always try to keep movingforward.
Arwen Bardsley (58:00):
Yeah, absolutely. No, I'm only joking.
That wouldn't be good. Yeah.
Yeah. All right. Great. So doyou have any particular you
know, specials on or, you know,programs or services that you
did want to tell people aboutbefore we finish up?
Anna Marie Frank (58:19):
Yeah, I mean, if anyone's interested in
working with me, you can goahead and email
info@Happywholeyou.com. Or youcan find us on Instagram. And I
do remote work with people. I dosessions that way. And a new
therapy I've brought to thetable is plant stem cells. I
(58:39):
just finished my masterherbologists certification took
me about 10 months. And alongthat way, that journey, I
learned about plant stem cells,and I'm like, Oh my gosh, what
is this? This is insane. I justrecorded a podcast about them.
super inexpensive, effective.
And another modality guys, and Ijust couldn't believe this isn't
(59:00):
like being screamed from therooftops of how incredible these
plant stem cells are, and howeasy they are to take and the
affordability of them. Soanyways. So yeah, so you can
just, you know, I work remotelywith people. So if you're
interested in doing somethingfor remote work, just message us
and then you know, I can giveyou a little special something
(59:25):
if you mentioned this podcast.
Arwen Bardsley (59:29):
Oh, thank you.
And yeah, speaking of which, soyour is your podcast? What's the
name of your actual podcast? Isthat Happy Whole You as well?
Anna Marie Frank (59:39):
Yes. Happy Whole You podcast.
Arwen Bardsley (59:41):
Yeah, yeah, plant stem cells. I have not
heard of that. So I'm going tohave to go and listen to your
podcast now. Yeah, that's great.
Anna Marie Frank (59:49):
I know, and I can't wait to have you on my
podcast. So you can share allyour goodies
Arwen Bardsley (59:54):
Oh that would be wonderful. Yeah. Thank you so
much. And thank you for yourtime and Yeah, look, there's
just I'm sure we could keepgoing for another hour right?
Yeah, I just I just don't dothat on my on my show, but maybe
we'll do a part two as well. Wecan always do that. So yeah,
(01:00:14):
thank you really heaps for yourtime today, Anna Marie. It's
been wonderful and I reallyappreciate you coming on and
sharing your knowledge witheverybody.
Anna Marie Frank (01:00:27):
Yeah, thanks for letting me share
Arwen Bardsley (01:00:29):
anytime
Okay, so Hi, everybody, I am really happy
(00:04):
today to have another wonderfulguest for you. I have Anne Marie
Frank joining me today. And sheis a naturopath, or a doctor of
naturopathy, as they wonderfullyare able to be called in the
USA, where she is from, and acoach and an author. And I'm
(00:29):
really interested to hear Anna'sstory as I am about all my
guests. But in particular, Annahas an interest in the brain and
mental health. And we all knowthat that is, unfortunately, a
big and growing issue at themoment, especially coming out of
(00:49):
the pandemic. So she was a guestthat I was really keen to have
on because I'm sure that we'llall get some beautiful
information from the interview.
So welcome, Anna, I'd love justto start with, I always love
people to just tell us a bitabout their origin story, you
know, why you are where you arenow and doing what you're doing?
(01:13):
How it all started for you. Andyou know, what, what drove you
to to be offering to the worldwhat you are now that would be
wonderful.
Anna Marie Frank (01:28):
Yeah, well, my journey, I mean, started a quite
a few years ago. But ultimately,I struggled with mental health.
And I didn't realize essentiallywhat it what it really was.
Since I was little, I never feltlike I was good enough. And I
didn't know if that was becauseI was bullied or if I was born
(01:50):
with that. But then in the highschool, I probably wouldn't be
labeled depressed. But back whenI was in school, it wasn't
depression, anxiety, all thatthat was thrown around and used
so loosely as it is today, or,you know, the awareness around
it. And you'd look at my lifeand be like, well, of course,
she's happy. I mean, what she'sgot it all together, right?
(02:11):
Because you just never trulyknow what someone's going
through. And I went touniversity and got through that.
And then in my early career, Ifound myself very, very
depressed. I didn't, I didn'trealize what I know now. But you
know, could it have been, youknow, all the sports I played?
(02:31):
And you know, getting my headhit over and over again? Could
it be just something I was bornwith? Could it be because of the
emotional aspects that I've beenthrough? Nevertheless, right, we
all have our brain type. And wego through so many things in our
life. But I found myself verydepressed. And I thought, Oh,
(02:51):
I'm supposed to go to a doctor,right? Because that's what you
do, especially in the US, you goand you ask for a pill and a
pill is going to solve allthings, right. So I went to this
doctor, and I literally spent 10minutes with him, after filling
out all the paperwork. And heput me on three mind altering
medications. And they didn'twork for me. And so there was a
(03:14):
period of time where I keptgoing back to the doctor being
like this, this medication isnot working. And then I was so
focused on the medications. Andluckily, there was this little
light inside of me that was likewake up, you need to choose your
own happiness, you need to healyourself. And only you can do
that. And so this is obviouslysimplifying it. But that sent me
forth on the journey to heal myown brain. And I went into all
(03:39):
the holistic modalities andvisited different practitioners
and just really was open todifferent ways of healing. And I
can proudly say that my brain iswell functioning. I understand
how my brain functions, so I canhave different tendencies, but I
know how to navigate that. Yeah,and I'm just I'm happy and I'm
(04:01):
so glad that I found ways toheal myself because medication
made me suicidal and it didn'twork for me and medication works
for some people, but itshouldn't be, you know, the
first and the end all and itshouldn't be the only thing.
Arwen Bardsley (04:17):
Absolutely. And so did you Did the doctor at the
time recommend any kind oftherapy as well as the
medication?
Anna Marie Frank (04:27):
No
Arwen Bardsley (04:27):
It's amazing, isn't it? It's just crazy.
Anna Marie Frank (04:29):
yeah, I look back at it. And I mean, that was
I was in my early 20s. And soit's just really fascinating.
But I know I had to go throughthat to get to where I'm at now
where I help people and I workyou know, with a lot of people
on mindset and how their brain'sfunctioning and and everything
but it is it is troublesomebecause knowing what I know now
(04:53):
and having the training that Ihave in terms of how you know
with the brain, your brain isnot even fully developed till
maybe you're 25. Right. And sohere I was 22 years old being
put on three medications, and Idon't even have a fully
functioning brain. And so it'sjust, it is troublesome when I
(05:13):
think back at it, and then eventoday, you know, I see clients
all the time - and I have kids,you know - 5,6,7 years old, and
they're on 20 milligrams ofAdderall and different
medications. And, you know, eventhough I don't prescribe or
diagnose, I do find it helpfulto provide parents and
(05:34):
individuals with Holistic Healthmodalities and things that they
can do to support their brainfunction. And then it's up to
them to work with theirpharmacist and their doctor,
with their medications.
Arwen Bardsley (05:46):
Yeah, so yeah, I mean, we're certainly not saying
that medication is wrong in allcircumstances. And certainly, in
my experience, it can be greatfor somebody to have medication
for a short period of time tokind of get them to the point
where they can then do all thisother work and work with other
(06:09):
modalities to help them youknow, heal in a whole way again.
So when you were when thishappened, had you done your
naturopathy qualifications?
Anna Marie Frank (06:27):
No, all of that all of that came later.
Interesting is I was exercising,I was eating pretty well,
compared to the average person,but yet I still wasn't happy. So
what I learned throughout thedecade of my 20s was you can
exercise all day long and eat asmany salads as you want. But if
(06:48):
you don't get your brain, right,you know, it's really you can
live a challenging life. And sointo my 30s, I was blessed to
have a daughter and thatsomething really shifted inside
of me when I had her. A fewthings about me is I would get
magazines in the mail, you know,that has these women with the
(07:09):
perfect body and airbrushed andI literally was like, I thought
that was normal, right? And tobe happy, I compared myself to,
to these images. And if my lifedidn't look like that, then
there's something wrong, right?
Like subconsciously, you know,this is this is going on. And I
realized, like, I do not want mydaughter and I already had a
(07:31):
son. And it was something withhaving her like I did not want
her to grow up and, you know,look at her body and be ashamed
or think she's less than and soI started to very mindfully
start to change the things thatwere coming to my house. So I
stopped all the magazines, Istopped watching like
E-entertainment and just liketrash TV, right? Like, I started
(07:53):
to really shift those things.
And what I started to realize isthat my true happiness and
healing really started to comewhen I started to pay attention
to all the downloads that I wasallowing into my, my being
essentially right, so everythingwe listened to is downloading
information to ourselves.
Everything we see is downloadinginformation to ourselves,
(08:15):
everything we eat, everyinteraction we have with people,
right. And so I think we forgetthat not only, you know, the
structural and the biologicalaspect of our bodies, but we
also forget the energetics,right, and how there's all these
things that are impacting usenergetically. And so once I
started to really pay attentionto all of the layers in my life,
(08:39):
and not being perfect in everyarea, but just giving more
attention, you know, to thefinancial wellness, the
emotional well being thenutritional the exercise, you
know, not overdoing it, I reallystarted to find myself aligning
with being okay with who I was.
(09:00):
And I think that that'sultimately, you know, what is
really important is that we areall unique and beautiful in our
own unique way. And it'saligning with our true authentic
self, and aligning with ourblueprint of why we're here on
Earth and what we're supposed todo here. And all that noise
around us over the years canreally blind us from why we're
(09:24):
here and what we need to bedoing. And so I love the fact
that I'm waking up and I feellike I continue to wake up more
and more and help other peopleto you know, what really does
matter and who we truly are andhow we are existing and helping
each other here in thislifetime.
Arwen Bardsley (09:44):
Yeah, beautiful.
And so what were the othermodalities that you worked with
when you were going through thatjourney and why did you end up
choosing to train as anaturopath?
Anna Marie Frank (10:00):
Yeah, so I used I used biofeedback, I would
fly back to Michigan, I live inCalifornia and I would fly to
Michigan and I would do somework with this lady there. I
would do some body work, havepeople do massages, Reiki things
like that. I just really startedto pay attention of how I was
(10:22):
thinking and starting to rewiremy thoughts. I thought, you
know, if you can program acomputer, you can obviously
reprogram your brain. And sothat's where like, I just
started to think of myselfliterally as a computer, and
what am I downloading, right? AmI downloading viruses, or am I
downloading great software. Andso it was literally just like,
every day, just being mindful ofthe conversations I would have
(10:47):
with people, I started toeliminate people in my life,
that didn't support where Iwanted to go and how I wanted to
be, you know, being mindful ofthose conversations that you're
having on a daily basis. I mean,I was the type of person that I
would spill coffee on myself onthe way to the office, and then
(11:07):
I would be like, Oh, my gosh, Ispilt coffee on myself. And then
someone cut me off. And I wouldlike complain, and just like,
spew out all the things thatwent wrong for me in the
morning. Like, I would tellpeople this as if it like
mattered. And, you know, Istarted shifting to like, be
like, Oh, Thank you universe forthis car that I'm driving to
(11:27):
work like, This is so amazing.
I'm literally in this machinewith four wheels, that's
bringing me to a location and Ijust have to push the gas pedal
and turn the wheel, right. Like,I started to really practice
gratitude for all the littlethings and look for what was
there for me in terms of thingsthat were positive versus always
focusing on what wasn't therefor me and all the negative
(11:47):
things.
Arwen Bardsley (11:50):
And so And where did the particular interest in
Naturopathy come from?
Anna Marie Frank (11:57):
So I actually I started working on more of the
brain health and the Dr. Amenclinics, and here in the US, I
know he has clinics all around,I believe all around the world.
And I found it very interestingthat there was actually a
medical professional that wasnot all about prescribing
(12:19):
medications first, and he's apsychiatrist. And he was all
about, you know, looking at youknow, what, brain nutriceuticals
what are some thought patterns,we can change and let's actually
scan the brain and look at wherethe blood's flowing in the brain
and figure out and have someonesee how their brain's
functioning, right, so that wasthe start of my journey. And
(12:47):
then I just started diving moreinto herbs and vitamins and how
these agents actually impact theyour brain and biology. And I
had no idea that you need tohave the amino acid tryptophan
plus vitamin B six to even beginto think about making serotonin
in the body. And then serotoninis mostly made in the gut. And
(13:10):
so there's all these things thatI started to learn. I just
wanted to soak them all up. Andso over about a four year
period, I started to takeclasses and I just I couldn't
get enough. And I started off.
Actually, even before Dr. Amen,I started off with an
Integrative Nutritioncertification, my degree's in
(13:31):
exercise science, I have amaster's degree. And so I've
always done something along thelines of wellness. But it was
how can I enhance the tools inmy toolkit to support other
people, because one of thebiggest things I have learned in
my journey is not everyone isthe same. Everybody has a
different brain type. And whatworks for one person may not
(13:54):
work for the next. And so it'sjust really important to meet
people where they are, and helpthem with some tools and
modalities that will work forthem in their lifestyle that
will make a big difference forthem.
Arwen Bardsley (14:08):
And yeah, so you've mentioned brain type a
couple of times, so I need todive into that. Please, if you
can. Tell us more about that. Idon't think it's an expression
I've heard before and I'd loveto understand that.
Anna Marie Frank (14:24):
Yeah, so for example, I would be labeled as
having ADHD when I was littlelike if we were to go back in
time. Okay. So I had a hard timepaying attention to things I
didn't even read well untilprobably I was in high school.
(14:44):
Like I struggled with readingand I it wasn't necessarily
reading it was thecomprehension. Right. So I could
read a bunch of words and I knewthat words but it was
comprehending and retaining. Iwould probably also be labeled
dyslexic, right. I flippedthings all the time. Mmm. And
one thing with working with Amenclinics that I found super
(15:05):
fascinating is that there aredifferent types of ADHD or ADD,
and there are different types ofdepression. So you know, this
blanket approach to say, Oh,you're depressed take Prozac, or
to say, Oh, you have anxiety,here's some Xanax, or, you know,
you have this. So here'sWellbutrin I mean, it's to me, I
(15:27):
find it really interesting,because what I've learned is,
you know, there's temporal lobeADD, and this is where people
can, you know, if they sayyou've played football, or
you've played sports, and I'vehad a lot of head injuries to
the temporal lobes, that canreally impact your temper and
your mood. Right? So I see, youknow, men who used to play
(15:48):
sports and back in the day, youknow, you always give us like,
oh, yeah, I had my bell rung abunch of times, well, getting
your bell rung seeing Stars,that's an injury, like your
brain is literally theconsistency of soft butter, or
tofu. And it's encapsulated inthis bony structure, right. And
so these little, quote, unquote,injuries, compounded over time,
(16:11):
can really impact behavior incertain ways. There's also
people that have like anxiousADD, they're very anxious, and
they have a hard time payingattention. And then there's also
people that have issues withdepression. And they have
anxiousness on top of that, orthey have low, you know, really
low mood depression. So there'sdifferent it's like figuring out
(16:34):
how your brain is functioningand what's going on with you.
And then going from there. Youknow, one form of ADD is a sign
of it is where people get reallyannoyed, or it really bothers
them certain touches or fabricon their body, or certain
noises. So it's like, okay,well, let's take a step back and
(16:56):
figure out, you know, kind ofpinpoint more, because if you
think about it, we have no wayof measuring brain chemistry.
Right? There's no, we don't knowhow to measure it. So brain
health is really a subjectivefeedback, and the doctor asks
you a bunch of questions. Andbased on those questions, we're
(17:17):
giving out medication. Whereas Ilove that the Amen Clinics, you
can get a SPECT imaging scan tosee where the blood is flowing.
And can we influence that bloodflow? Insurance in the States,
of course, does not pay forthat, even though it's
interesting, because specimaging has been around since I
don't know 70s, at least, right?
So we don't even have properways to I don't think, thorough
(17:38):
ways, if you will, to diagnosepeople, but even then, I feel
like, why, why are we diagnosingkids with ADHD, because they
can't sit in the in a schoolroom and sit in a chair for
eight hours a day. And theydon't learn a certain way that
(17:58):
we want them to learn with 40other kids in the class, because
it's just easier. You know, onthe teacher and on the school,
like, I mean, so there's sothere's so many things, and I
think there's so much beauty inhow everybody's brain is
different. But figuring out likeyour brain type, like, Okay, if
you do have tendencies to haveADHD, or depression or anxiety,
like, what does that what doesthat really mean? And what does
(18:22):
that really look like? And arethere others that bleed into
that?
Arwen Bardsley (18:27):
So are there is like a set number of brain
types? Or is it you know, it'skind of infinite, because it
just depends on all thedifferent things people are
Anna Marie Frank (18:37):
Yeah, so I have this fun little chart that
experiencing.
I love. So just we'll go withADHD, there's seven different
types. And I have like thislittle guidance sheet that's
really helpful. So when I'mworking with clients, like for
example, classic ADD is whereyou're inattentive, you're
distracted, you can bedisorganized, kind of impulsive,
(19:00):
maybe a little bit ofhyperactivity, but this is where
you have low blood flow to theprefrontal cortex and lower
dopamine levels on average. Sosupplementation wise, you could
be supportive with green tea,Rhodiola, l-tyrosine, which is
an amino acid omega three fattyacids. Then there's over focused
(19:22):
ADD, right, where people get soit's like tunnel vision. And
this is also low frontal lobefunctioning, increased anterior
cingulate gyrus going on in thebrain and low serotonin and so
there's some different remediesthat can help with that. And
then even on this, there'sdifferent medications that might
(19:43):
work well. I found itinteresting that some different
some brain types, you know, Dr.
Amen will provideanticonvulsants to support the
brain just because of how thebrain is firing and wiring. So
So it is interesting thatthere's these different things
and I love that You know,they've found a way to kind of
simplify it as well, but alsogive people not just oh, you
(20:08):
have ADD or you have ADHD,right? So, so yeah. And then you
know, different diets, you know,someone that has depression, and
they really just that low mooddepressive disorder, doing HIIT
training, high intensityinterval training can be very
therapeutic for them. But thenif you have someone who
(20:29):
struggles with anxiety, doingHIIT training, high intensity
interval training for them isprobably not the best idea. And
for them, it's probably betterto do Pilates or yoga or
something that is, you know,more even keeled. And then the
same with kids with, you know,ADHD, there's different
(20:50):
exercises that can be supportivefor them, as well. So it's just
it's figuring out what theperson needs, because we are all
individual. And so it's my job.
When I work with people, I'mlike, Okay, how can we support
you and what modalities couldwork best for you?
Arwen Bardsley (21:11):
Oh, that's amazing. Yeah. I mean, I would
say I do. I don't struggle withanxiety. Exactly. But I know
that I'm more of an anxious typeperson. And, and certainly,
there have been struggles. Butyeah, a few years ago, I kind of
Yeah, I really did tune into mybody and just go, I don't think
(21:35):
I shouldn't be doing all thiskind of HIIT training and high
intensity cardio stuff anymore.
I think I do need to do more ofthe lower intensity stuff. I
mean, I think it's from what Iknow, now, I think it's good for
everybody to do, you know, toreally get their heart rate up,
you know, at least once afortnight because that's, you
(21:57):
know, basically what our bodieswere designed to do to run and
escape from the the wild tigersor whatever. But, yeah, that's
so interesting that that's, youknow, kind of, I was actually
going with my brain type.
Anna Marie Frank (22:14):
Yeah, and our body is always giving us
information, right? But it'slike, we continuously look
outside ourselves for answers.
And so it is interesting when weget quiet enough and listen,
like when I was going throughwhat I was going through, when I
got quiet enough to listen towhat not in my head, listen, but
when in my body, like my bodyknew, like, these medications
(22:37):
aren't for you. Like I knew thatthere wasn't there had there was
another way, right. And sothat's so important. Our bodies
are constantly giving usinformation all the time. You
know, like, for example, onething when I meet with clients,
whether it's virtually or inperson, I look at their tongue,
and I have them stick theirtongue out, you know, and if
they're sticking their tongueout and trying to relax it, but
(22:58):
it is going crazy, and it isdoing this, you know, that's a
sign that there's some adrenalissues going on there, right.
And if there's scalloping, onthe side of the tongue, you
know, that can be a sign ofneeding some detoxification with
the liver, or if they're stilltheir tongue is swollen that
they're not getting enoughwater. So the body is constantly
sharing information with us.
(23:23):
It's just a matter of (1) are wetuning in (2) a lot of people
aren't trained anymore? To lookat the body and to understand,
you know, that the body givingus information, or what that
even means, right? Like what,like when you're losing your
eyebrow hair on the side of youreyebrows and your hair's
(23:44):
thinning and this like okay,well, there can be some thyroid
things going on here. Right? Soit's like, listen to your body.
Arwen Bardsley (23:52):
Yeah, there was some there's a lot in the media
here at the moment abouttelehealth, which is obviously,
come in so much more with COVID.
But then, yeah, I was I heard adoctor the other day talking and
saying, Yeah, but if you don'tactually see your clients, and a
lot of the time, you know, it'sjust on the telephone, literally
(24:15):
not even videos. So they're noteven seeing the client, the
patient in front of them. And somany things can be missed when
you're not actually looking atsomebody that you're trying to
help.
Anna Marie Frank (24:28):
Yeah, it's so true. I have clients send me
photographs up close before if Ihave a virtual, but the thing I
do miss out when I don't seethem in person is I do muscle
response testing. I also doenergy testing. So I test their
energy field like it's a reallycool thing in energy medicine
that I've been learning and it'shelped so much. One interesting
(24:52):
thing. I would say probably over90% of the people that I see
that tell me that they aredepressed or have some type of
depression, they have what'scalled homeo lateral. And
there's a little test that I dowith them. And essentially, all
I do is I put an X above myhead, and they have to look up
above the X. And then I put twovertical lines above my head.
(25:15):
And I do a muscle response teston their arm. And if the X,
they're weak with the X, that'stelling me that their energies
aren't really crossing. Andthose people tend to be more
depressed. And it's so crazy.
Once I started doing this withclients, I really have them
twice a day for two minutes,they just go through this
routine, this routine I givethem, it's like super easy, they
(25:37):
can sit in a chair and do it.
But once they start doing it,you know, every day, they're
like, This is so crazy, becauseI do feel better. Like it's
nuts, right? So we forget that.
We can take the supplements andwe can do the exercises, we can
do all that stuff. But at thesame time, there's also if we go
inside every single cell till wecan't go any more, the only
(25:58):
thing that's left is energy,right? So we have to impact the
energy within the cells, as wellas the physical matter. And I
think we miss that quite a bitas well, when we work with
people.
Arwen Bardsley (26:11):
Oh, so true.
Yeah, well, that's, you know,really a key of the work that I
do as well, it is energy work.
And so with the energy fieldtesting, you're doing it is
muscle testing. So it's likekinesiology style testing, is
that what you're talking about?
Anna Marie Frank (26:29):
Yeah, so I do two types of testing, muscle
testing and energy testing, theylook pretty similar, but it's
just a little bit different. Sowith energy testing, some of it,
I don't even have to touch thebody, I actually move energy
around the body, and then I testwhereas the muscle testing, you
know, if I'm doing the thyroid,I can touch the thyroid, I
physically touch it, and thenI'll do the muscle testing. So,
(26:54):
so yeah, so it's just a littlebit different, but ultimately,
to the average person is goingto look like it's the same
thing, you know, and I will saythis, I would do want to point
out with COVID, and everythingthat you know, people have been
going through, you know, likeyou were talking about feeling a
little bit anxious, we can findourselves there. And one of the
(27:15):
things is when we are in periodsof stress, right, that go on for
a period of time, when we havethat fight or flight response
with that sympathetic nervoussystem taking place. What
happens is that limbic system inour brain, there's this thing
called the amygdala, it's likeconstantly firing. And what
(27:36):
happens when that's going on isthat literally cuts us off from
our prefrontal cortex, which isour essentially executive
thinking, right? It's, it's tosee the big picture. And it is
our, our prefrontal cortex isvery, very important for us to
(27:57):
function and make good decisionsand all that. So for a lot of
people out there because ofCOVID, and everything that we've
been through over the lastcouple of years. (1) you need to
give yourself a break, but (2)if you do feel that you
continue, like you think you'remaking the best decisions, but
then you're like, oh my gosh,that was not the best decision
and you're making decisions outof anxiousness. That's when you
(28:18):
want to make sure you take astep back, do some breath work,
you know, just breathe, calmdown, give yourself time to make
a decision. And you know, and ifyou need to work with a coach or
a professional, like, definitelydo that.
Arwen Bardsley (28:34):
Yeah, absolutely. So I wanted to hear
from you about thenutraceuticals that you've
devised, as well. So obviously,and you've already said this,
we're highly advocating thatpeople do a whole range of
things to help themselves andyou know, as you just mentioned
(28:58):
before, a lot of people canthink you know, yeah, I'm just
going to start taking thesesupplements and then everything
is going to be better, butthere's probably a number of
other things they need to do aswell. But I'd love to hear about
your nutraceuticals that you'vedevised for mental health and
you know how how they work andwhat's in them and where we can
(29:21):
get them.
Anna Marie Frank (29:23):
Yeah, yeah, so in October 2020 I brought to the
market three formulas that thesebrain nutraceuticals one's
called calm, you one's calledHappy you and one called Bright
you because my company is calledHappy Whole You so ultimately, I
(29:45):
when I would meet with people, Iwould make recommendations based
on their brain type to go to thegrocery store or go to the
health food store and pick upyou know, half a dozen different
supplements, right vitamins andminerals or herbs or things like
that. That To mention at my ownhome, I would have two dozen
different bottles of productssitting there. And I'm like, Oh
(30:06):
my gosh, like, if only this wasin like one capsule, my life
would be so much easier, youknow? And so I'm like, You know
what I'm gonna try if I couldget some of the, like the
majority of these activeingredients and put them all in
one, if it would still beeffective, like (1) could I do
that, (2) How would I do that?
Like, how do I source out goodproduct and make sure that it's
(30:32):
authentic and tested and all thethings? And then okay, what am I
going to put in these. And so Iwent through that whole process.
And the first one I started withis bright you because selfishly,
I was taking green tea extractashwagandha, I was taking
(30:52):
resveratrol, magnesiuml-threonate, which is a super
important magnesium that crossesthe blood brain barrier. It's
only magnesium that does that.
And, you know, I wanted ingingko. So those were like all
my anti inflammatory anti agingsupplements I was taking, that's
(31:14):
five ingredients. And so I wasable to put those all in my
bright you. And so I have totake three of those pills every
day. But I was like literallytaking one or two in the five
bottles, because you actuallyhave to have when you get the
(31:34):
herbs and you get the vitaminsand minerals and all of that and
you formulate it for it toactually be encapsulated.
There's like for it to mix, youhave to add something to it,
right. So a lot of times you areone you're buying a product that
has other things in it. But thenalso you are spending more money
(31:58):
for you know, less product so sosolve that problem so bright you
was like my number one. And thenI formulated Happy You, which is
essentially a lot of precursorsto help make serotonin. So we
have the vitamin B six B 12 inthere, magnesium l-threonate,
(32:18):
and a holy basil, lemon balm,extract, 5-HTP, and tryptophan
all in there, which is reallygreat just to help your body be
able to start to make your ownserotonin. So you have all those
precursors, and then calm youwhich is a very, very popular
one. That is ultimately to takethat level or that layer of yuck
(32:44):
off of you. So you can think alittle bit clearer and just feel
like you again. And that is acombination of there's some B
vitamins in there. There's GABAin there, there is lemon balm in
there as well magnesiuml-threonate. What else do I have
in there, I think I have someamino acids in there, I'm doing
(33:05):
this off the top of my head. Butultimately, the three products
that I combined different aminoacids that impact
neurotransmitters, differentvitamins that are essential, and
different herbs that have a lotof really great different
properties in them. And so thoseare the three formulas that I
(33:27):
share with people now. But youknow, some people I recommend
still that they go and picksomething else up at the grocery
store if if it's you know,because everything is not like I
said everyone needs differentthings. But for the most part
this really does give a greatapproach to supporting people in
their brain health in theirbrain type.
Arwen Bardsley (33:47):
And are they available? Like if someone in
Australia wanted to buy them?
Are we able to do that? Do youknow?
Anna Marie Frank (33:55):
Yeah, so you just email us at
info@happywholeyou.com or youcan go to happywholeyou.com.
I've had a few people that wereable to process orders but like
I just mailed them out to Canadaand so you know we figure out a
way
Arwen Bardsley (34:10):
Yeah, yeah, okay. Okay, well that's great
that you've you know gone to thethe time and effort of getting
something that puts a whole lotof useful things together in one
capsule it's Yeah, cuz I'm like,I takes so many supplements and
they're all in individualcapsules. Now, you mentioned
(34:35):
COVID as well as I did and Iknow having looked into your,
your personal experiences thatyou did have had the virus
yourself. I actually haven't Myson has so I've seen somebody
who seemed to have pretty mildCOVID And we isolated together
(34:57):
and I magically managed to notcome down with it, but I'd love
to hear about your experience,but especially you know what
your recommendations are as anaturopath for people who do
fall ill, but more importantly,what your recommendations are
for the rest of us to continueto not fall ill.
Anna Marie Frank (35:18):
Yeah. I mean, honestly, it's so important to
work on your foundations ofhealth, right, like, so if you
do, like I got COVID I, I mean,I felt like I had a really bad
flu for a few days. And I thinkmore psychologically, that
actually had a greater impact.
Because in my mind, when I wasgoing through COVID, knowing
(35:38):
what I know, I, it's like, Iknew I was going to be okay. But
then in the back of my head, Iwas like, watch, you be the
natural health person thatsomething bad happens, right?
Because you have all thisnegativity with, you know, the
internet and the news and all ofthat. So. So there's this huge
(36:00):
psychological aspect. And Ibelieve that in the US, the CDC
here, this was a while ago. So Iremember that this the number
one, you had death rates withCOVID was comorbidities. The
second leading cause of deathwith COVID was mental health.
Which is pretty incredible. Sowhat my family did is, we were
(36:21):
taking the bright you all thetime, we were increasing our
zinc. We were making surevitamin D levels were up. We
were eating healthy. We'reeating like my kids every
morning. Like they don't evenquestion it. They're nine and
12. They get I give them ashake. And they get a couple
(36:42):
handfuls of greens in there.
Every all the mushrooms you canthink of Lion's Mane, Reishi all
of it. And so we put a scoop ofthat in there, and they get
their their protein and I blendit up. And they have that every
day. And then they have, youknow, a little multivitamin with
(37:04):
their D in it. And so justmaking sure that you're eating,
you know, your body is smart,your body knows what to do,
although this is a man madevirus, I believe, okay, I don't
know, like, what everyone elsebelieves. So I think that there
is some challenges when a virusisn't evolving organically, if
(37:26):
you will. So I do think thisvirus can kick your butt. I
mean, I lost my sister in law.
She had just had a baby. And Ihave my opinions on all of this.
She was only like 32. I knowthat she's struggled with low
vitamin D levels for a longtime. But she literally got home
from having her baby.
(37:47):
Unfortunately, at the hospital,they were pushing her to get the
COVID vax. And she didn't wantto do that. But then they talked
her into getting the flu shot.
So she did that and got home andjust was not feeling well. But
she kept attributing it to theflu shot after you know, 40 some
hours of labor. And she finallywent back to the hospital. And
(38:10):
the only reason she went intothe hospital to have the baby
was because she had side pain.
And she was having a hard timebreathing. And they said that
she had preeclampsia. So theyinduced her she had the baby.
Anyways, she went back to thehospital. And they admitted her
(38:32):
because they said, Oh, you haveCOVID Well, she's in the
hospital. Nobody pays attentionto the fact that this woman is
postpartum. She just had a baby.
You know, we all know whathappens down there. When you
have a baby, she had aninfection within a couple of
days going on as she is dealingwith COVID and all these other
(38:53):
things. So So needless to say,she ended up passing away from a
blood clot. But, you know,obviously the it's COVID as
well. But the whole experiencewith that was just another
reminder. That one, it's neverjust one thing, right? People
are so hyper focused on this onevirus that we are missing so
(39:14):
many other things, there's somuch more missing. And we're not
looking at the entire person,we're not looking at the bigger
picture with with the peoplethat we're working with. And
then this is where it's superimportant that we have a strong
foundation of health and we takecare of ourselves and you know,
(39:36):
we you know, drinking a lot ofalcohol smoking, not getting
enough sleep, not moving yourbody having horrible
relationships. You know, all ofthese things contribute to poor
health. So we can sit here andwe can blame, you know, whatever
it is heart disease, diabetes,um Whatever it may be, but at
(39:58):
the end of the day, it comesdown to our choices, right? And
how we choose to exist in thisworld, how we choose to take
care of our bodies, how wechoose to take care of others
how we choose to think.
And so, you know, it's a veryhard thing, what our family has
(40:21):
gone through. But at the end ofthe day, it's like I, I mean,
there's like, no words, right?
But I just, I think that we'remissing a lot with focusing on
just one thing, and that withCOVID, without COVID, whenever
we're hyper focused on just one,like, just weight loss, right,
or just one thing, and we missso much, and it really can eat
(40:45):
away at us. So taking care ofyour whole body, all your
foundations of health, yourenergy field, your mental
health, your physical health,it's all so important.
Arwen Bardsley (40:59):
Yep, totally agree. I'm so sorry for your
loss. That's just so sad. Yeah,yeah, that's exactly my, my
whole practice is the same.
Trying to get people to look ateverything. So I so my podcast
is called 5 Star Wellbeing, butit's also the system that I use
(41:19):
in my practice. So the fiveaspects of food, movement,
sleep, your surroundings, andthen the fifth one I just call
'Being', which is, you know,pretty much everything else, a
big dollop of mental health inthere, and, you know, spiritual
practices. And yeah, justeverything else that makes you
(41:42):
who you are, and brings you yourjoy and happiness in life. Yeah.
You're You're so right and andthe whole Yeah, I mean, well not
the whole problem. But a massivepart of the problem with
allopathic medicine is thatfocus on the one thing and all
these little specialties that,you know, will not look at the
(42:02):
whole body that they'retreating? It's just the focus on
the one aspect that they candeal with? It's just, it doesn't
help does it.
Anna Marie Frank (42:13):
I think everybody should have a Western
doctor and homeopathic doctor,like, it shouldn't be one or the
other. I think that, yeah, it'sjust it's, it's, it's important.
I mean, Western medicine hassome great perks. I mean,
obviously, it's, there's so manybenefits, but then there's also
(42:36):
the downfall and the history, ifyou look at Holistic Health, and
how it's been essentiallydismantled out of our
universities, and you know,what's taken place in the United
States, you know, over the lastreally 100 years. It's very
interesting, because sometimespeople are like, Oh, what, what
(42:58):
is the doctor of naturopathy,and I always, like, I'm a Doctor
of, I tell them traditional,meaning I don't break the skin.
And like 150 years ago, therewere only people like really
like me, you know, that wewould, we would support our
clients or back in the day, wewould call them our patients,
right? We would go to theirhomes, and we would support
(43:19):
them, and we would find ways tohelp them heal. And so, you
know, I did have one client whoworks in the medical field. And
it's, I always love havingpeople come to me that work in
the medical field, because it'sjust, I learn so much from them.
And I feel like they learn fromme as well. And it's a beautiful
(43:40):
thing. But I'll always have Ialways get that one person every
now and again. Where, you know,I'll tell them, you know, 150
years ago, right there were onlylike, you know, doctors or
people like myself, and it neverfelt that they'll always be one
that says Yeah, but what was thelife expectancy then? Right. And
(44:02):
I but I'm like, Yeah, I know.
But I'm not saying that Westernmedicine is bad. It's just we
literally went from this to thefurther extreme. Right. And so I
think that that's anytime we goto an extreme, you know, it's,
it's not necessarily a goodthing. But yeah, I just, I just
find it really fascinating thatit's like, we have to be on one
(44:26):
side or the other. And I don'tthink that we should have to be
that I think we should all worktogether to help people live
their most vibrant life.
Arwen Bardsley (44:36):
Yep. Yeah, that's right. That's really the
only way it can work. So youmentioned mushrooms then as
well. So tell me more aboutthat.
Anna Marie Frank (44:47):
Yeah, so I've been diving more into mushrooms.
A little bit of psychedelicsmicro dosing. I've looked at
that, but ultimately, just likethe lion's mane, Reishi It's
really interesting because I hadno idea that like fungi was like
the oldest, literally livingthing on the earth. Like, I
(45:10):
didn't register that, and thehealing properties and the fact
that underneath our feet, youcan have trees, you know, miles
away talking to other trees dueto the fungi underneath the
earth that are helping withthese communications. And I, you
know, it's like our neurons inour brain. And so it's really
interesting, I can send you alink. There's a company, it's
(45:34):
called Real mushrooms. And thisgentleman that I interviewed for
the for my podcast. Jeff, he isamazing. In the 70s, he actually
went over to China to help theChinese become organic, and
because we used to get a lot ofour mushrooms from over there.
And so he's been like, at theforefront where before mushrooms
(45:57):
were cool. He was like, youknow, wearing mushrooms, hats
and doing all sorts of thingswith mushrooms. But anyways, he
has a business up in Washington.
They actually, I didn't knowthis until I interviewed him for
the podcast, that somecompanies, what they do is they
grow the mushrooms on cornstalks. So you're not getting
like really the quality of themushroom and they grow their
(46:19):
mushrooms, you know, ingreenhouses and outside, so it
does make a big difference. So Ican send you a link, and it will
support his company if you usethat link.
Arwen Bardsley (46:29):
And so what do you what are the benefits of
mushrooms for people who, youknow, may have, most people have
probably heard of them, becausethey're they're everywhere now.
But they might not be aware ofwhat they can you know what the
benefits are for them?
Anna Marie Frank (46:45):
Yeah, so we take to support our immune
system for neurogenesis in thebrain, as well as our digestive
system. So Chunga is really goodfor digestive system. Reishi is
really good for theneurotransmitters or Reishi is
really good for immune systemand neurotransmitters. And
lion's mane is really good forneurotransmitters in the brain
(47:07):
as well. And so my son actuallyis growing mushrooms at our
house. Right now we have twoways he's growing them. One, we
drilled holes in a log, so hehas little spores that he put in
that and then he has this otherdevice that he's growing them.
So one, it'll take like sixmonths. The other one, it's
(47:28):
going to be like nine to 12months. And so this is a science
experiment in our house, andhe's 12. But there's actually a
really good I think it's onNetflix, there's a really good
it's called I think it's calledFantastic fungi. It's a
documentary. I recommend peoplego listen to that. But my son
watched it. And then he took itupon himself to find a TED talk.
(47:50):
And he was blown away. He'slike, Mom, why don't people know
like, like, these mushrooms,like, there's people with
cancer, and it helps them? Like,why don't people know this?
Like, and you know, here he is.
He's 12 years old. And he'sprocessing that, like, why
aren't more people talking aboutthis? This is a really exciting
big thing, you know? And so, soyeah, so it's just education,
(48:12):
right, and just sharinginformation, sharing resources.
And the more we can do that, youknow, we ultimately with our
dollar we will bring to theforefront and what we really
want, by the way we spend ourmoney.
Arwen Bardsley (48:28):
Yeah, so true.
Great. So that's a good littleintroduction to mushrooms, I
must watch that documentarymyself. So speaking of different
treatment options, I did alsonotice that you have some weird
and wonderful sounding things atyour practice, like the theta
(48:51):
pod and the bio charger. I wantto hear a bit about them. And,
you know, do you have a favoriteone?
Anna Marie Frank (49:03):
Oh, gosh, I know everyone always asked me
that. So yeah, so it'sinteresting because not only can
I work with people, you know,and do the vitamins and the
nutrition and all that. But thenI also have my Happy Whole You
Wellness Center. We have onehere in Bakersfield, California,
and one in Raleigh, NorthCarolina. And this is
(49:23):
essentially a human upgradecenter. So we have high, we
combine high tech pieces ofequipment with old school
Chinese medicine modalities,holistic health modalities, so
you get the best of both worlds.
But yes, so I always tell peoplewhen I describe these things,
it's like I'm talking to foreignlanguage, right like we have a
bio charger which is a frequencygenerator machine. And it
(49:46):
essentially gives off infraredbut then also these different
frequencies that your body willabsorb. Or that will get within
your energy field if your bodywants it or doesn't. But it's a
really cool machine. I love it.
We have a full body Red Lightbed to help with mitochondria
function plus just you know,10-15 minutes of red light can
(50:09):
help boost serotonin as well.
Plus, it's really great for theskin, anti aging and all that we
don't really promote that. Butyou know, that's just an added
benefit. I feel like allholistic health stuff is anti
aging, right? Like the more youshine from within, the more you
shine outside. And then we havea theta pod, which is
essentially this pod you lay in,And so what's the benefit of the
(50:30):
turning? With the theta pod?
it actually turns while you'rein it. And it's a guided Well,
it's a it forces you in ameditative state. And so we have
ces units that go on your earsare FDA approved for anxiety,
depression, insomnia, we canprogram the pod for whatever
PTSD, memory enhancementhormones, and essentially, it's
(50:51):
putting you in this state whereyou're most open to suggestion.
And then there's music. And thenthere's suggestion music with
some binaural beats that takeplace, when you literally feel
like you're floating and you canhave an out of body experience
while you're in there. If youdon't want to go that intense,
we do have what's called a thetachair. So it's a chair that
(51:14):
pretty much assimilateseverything except for the
vestibular with the turning whenyou're in the pod, then we have
microvascular beamer pad to helpincrease basal motion in the
body eliminate metabolic waste,a medical grade sauna, has the
full spectrum of infrared lightin it. And we combine that with
a lymphatic really shake board.
And then also with some redlight, we have a detox pod. And
(51:37):
I add these headsets forclients, like when they're in
the detox pod or the red lightbed that are guided meditation
head sets. Pretty cool there.
And so yeah, so it's really aplace where you can come and
there's a lot of, you know,technology that is very
supportive with the body. Andyeah, and then we combine that
(51:59):
with other things.
Like, what what does that do?
So think of it as like lightingup your brain, like, it's the
fourth of July, right? You havemovement, you have actually,
there's a light therapy, youreyes are closed, but it's
triggering the optic nerve, youhave the binaural beats, so you
(52:21):
have the right and lefthemisphere of the brain, then
you have this the sound goingon. So it's like, you know, we
all have these neural networksthat get cemented in our brains,
and they get stronger andstronger as we get older, right?
Like, we start to really developour analytical mind, when we're
7,8, 9 years old, right, westart to realize, you know, I
(52:44):
like that person, but not thatperson, or, you know, we start
to make these things up in ourhead, or this is how things
should be, they should not belike this. Whereas before, we
were like, thinking of zebras,and leprechauns, and rainbows
and all sorts of stuff in ourbrains when we were little. And
we were just imagining all thethings and our imagination made
us feel like it was real. So westopped doing that. And so we
(53:07):
create these neural networks inour brain. And we stop, we just
intensify them. So when you goin the pod, I always envision it
as creating new neural networks,right? It's like reminding that
there's these other neurons thatcan connect and play with other
neurons. And you don't alwayshave to play with the same
neurons, right? So it's likeopening your brain up to more
(53:30):
suggestion, and people come outof there and have, I mean, they
have different experiences. Evenafter they leave, you know, and
they'll, they'll feel differentemotions coming up, I'm sure
with like, the energy work thatyou do. You know, it's, it's not
always just about that momentwith the practitioner. But it's
how your body is responding. Andthings that continue to shift.
(53:54):
Everything's always in motion,even after you leave. And that
is even more therapeutic thanmaybe just the session that
while you're there, and I thinkwe sometimes forget about that.
Arwen Bardsley (54:05):
yeah, so true.
But also, that is why it's soSo,
important for people to get thewhole health concept and you
know, not leave and go and drinkhalf a bottle of wine and eat
McDonald's like, you know,you've got to support these
(54:25):
things to keep working for you.
Yeah, great. So We're nearly outof time, but I did also just
want to hear about your book,"Stop bullying yourself".
Anna Marie Frank (54:36):
Oh, yeah. So I wrote stop bullying yourself. I
think a couple of years after Ihad my daughter, because as I
was going through my mindsetshift and essentially
reprogramming my brain. I wantedto have essentially a something
(54:58):
documented if I anything were tohappen to me, for my children,
you know, if they ever struggledwith that negative voice inside
their head, you know, these aresome things that mom did to help
her. And even in that book, Idon't even have all the holistic
stuff that I've done, I have towrite a whole nother book. But I
(55:19):
essentially started just writingout a Google document. And then
I sent it to my sister, and shesaid, Oh, my gosh, she's a
counselor. And she's like, Youneed to share this with people.
I'm like, I was like, Who wantsto read a Google document? And
she's like, No, like, you needto make this into a book. And so
yeah, so I wrote the book. Igive it away all the time I sell
(55:40):
it on my website, I just feellike it's a good, good tool. And
it's a good reminder. And it'sjust I just give suggestions for
personal growth in there.
Because it does a lot of thingscome down comes down to how
we're thinking, and how ourbrain is functioning. And so you
know, this is I wrote that bookbefore I even was exposed to the
Amen clinics, I think my bookwas, it was published. And then
(56:02):
I remember shortly after that, Ihad someone who got my book, and
they're like, oh, have you readthis book by this guy named Dr.
Amen? And I was like, No. And Ipicked up his book, and I was
like, Oh, my gosh, like, hecalls them the ANTs inside of
your head. Automatic NegativeThoughts. And you know, I call
it the inner bully. And so itwas really cool. I'm like, I
(56:26):
need to learn from this, thisdoctor, you know, and so. So
yeah, so it's, it's just a tool,right? It's another tool for
your toolkit. And I have it onAudible too. So I will read it
right to you, you can get it onAudible. But yeah, it's it's I'm
proud that I, you know, as a, asa kid who didn't read well,
(56:46):
until high school, and as a kidthat, you know, essentially, my
second grade teacher told me, Iwould never amount to anything,
if I didn't learn to read, andto be a published author to
have, you know, the accoladesthat I have. And to be in a
position in my life where I'mproud of the woman I am and what
I've accomplished, and I don'tI, you know, I'd like it's
nothing to be ashamed of. And,you know, it's really
(57:10):
interesting to be in that space,where I'm at right now. So I'm
very proud of the work that I'vebeen able to do. So far. And
hopefully, I'll have many moreyears to continue to do this
work and support other people.
Arwen Bardsley (57:21):
No, you absolutely should be proud. Did
you send a copy of the book toyour second grade teacher?
Anna Marie Frank (57:27):
You know what's funny is I don't even I
don't even know who I don't evenremember her name?
Arwen Bardsley (57:34):
Yeah. Wow. Well, that's probably a good thing.
Anna Marie Frank (57:38):
And I think that I cos you remember, like a
lot of your teachers names,right. But there's, there's a
period of my time where I reallydon't remember a lot of my
teachers names. But that's alsoanother thing is when you're
under constant stress, yourmemory really becomes impacted.
And I've thought about goingback and looking, but I just I
(57:58):
just always try to keep movingforward.
Arwen Bardsley (58:00):
Yeah, absolutely. No, I'm only joking.
That wouldn't be good. Yeah.
Yeah. All right. Great. So doyou have any particular you
know, specials on or, you know,programs or services that you
did want to tell people aboutbefore we finish up?
Anna Marie Frank (58:19):
Yeah, I mean, if anyone's interested in
working with me, you can goahead and email
info@Happywholeyou.com. Or youcan find us on Instagram. And I
do remote work with people. I dosessions that way. And a new
therapy I've brought to thetable is plant stem cells. I
(58:39):
just finished my masterherbologists certification took
me about 10 months. And alongthat way, that journey, I
learned about plant stem cells,and I'm like, Oh my gosh, what
is this? This is insane. I justrecorded a podcast about them.
super inexpensive, effective.
And another modality guys, and Ijust couldn't believe this isn't
(59:00):
like being screamed from therooftops of how incredible these
plant stem cells are, and howeasy they are to take and the
affordability of them. Soanyways. So yeah, so you can
just, you know, I work remotelywith people. So if you're
interested in doing somethingfor remote work, just message us
and then you know, I can giveyou a little special something
(59:25):
if you mentioned this podcast.
Arwen Bardsley (59:29):
Oh, thank you.
And yeah, speaking of which, soyour is your podcast? What's the
name of your actual podcast? Isthat Happy Whole You as well?
Anna Marie Frank (59:39):
Yes. Happy Whole You podcast.
Arwen Bardsley (59:41):
Yeah, yeah, plant stem cells. I have not
heard of that. So I'm going tohave to go and listen to your
podcast now. Yeah, that's great.
Anna Marie Frank (59:49):
I know, and I can't wait to have you on my
podcast. So you can share allyour goodies
Arwen Bardsley (59:54):
Oh that would be wonderful. Yeah. Thank you so
much. And thank you for yourtime and Yeah, look, there's
just I'm sure we could keepgoing for another hour right?
Yeah, I just I just don't dothat on my on my show, but maybe
we'll do a part two as well. Wecan always do that. So yeah,
(01:00:14):
thank you really heaps for yourtime today, Anna Marie. It's
been wonderful and I reallyappreciate you coming on and
sharing your knowledge witheverybody.
Anna Marie Frank (01:00:27):
Yeah, thanks for letting me share
Arwen Bardsley (01:00:29):
anytime
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