Balancing Body and Mind Through Ayurvedic Practices w/ Alex Taylor

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Johnna (00:00):
What is up everyone?
Welcome back to another episodeof the Babbles Nonsense Podcast
.
I want to point out a mistake Imade in last week's episode,
where I mentioned that I wasgoing to be interviewing Light
On Yoga fitness instructor,which I am.
I just meant to elaborate morethat I'm interviewing Alex
Taylor, who is the founder ofDosha Wellness in Huntsville,

(00:21):
alabama.
But she is also an instructorat Light on Yoga Fitness Studio
and we did the interview there,so that's why I jumbled my words
last week.
But help me welcome Alex Taylor, who is the founder of Dosha
Wellness here in Huntsville.
She holds a Master's of Sciencein Integrative Healthcare and
specializes in Ayurvedic healing, where she is helping her

(00:41):
clients find balance throughpersonalized wellness plans
rooted in ancient practices.
I learned so much in thisinterview and I cannot wait for
you all to hear it, so here wego.

(01:15):
All right, welcome back toanother episode.
You guys are the babblesnonsense podcast.
I'm sitting here with alextaylor, the owner and ceo of
dosha wellness, and I'm going tobutcher this, but it's she.
She's an integrative healthpractitioner, but she does
Ayurvedic practices.
Yes, did I say that correctly?

Alex (01:27):
You did great.

Johnna (01:28):
Everyone knows I can't speak.

Alex (01:30):
That's my thing.
That's a new term for everyone,including myself, only three
years ago, so you're doing great, all right.

Johnna (01:37):
So welcome to the Babbles Nonsense Podcast.
I'm super excited to have youhere.
If you know me, or if anybodylistens to this, y'all know I'm
super excited about anythinghealth and wellness, especially
when it comes to like medicinefrom other countries and stuff
like that, and just because,being a practitioner in the
United States, like Westernmedicine, I don't personally
think it's the end all be all ofmedicine.

(01:58):
I think there's a lot of otherthings that we could incorporate
to make it better.
So I'm super excited to haveyou here to learn about this.
Likewise, I'm so pumped.
Thank you, yeah, absolutely so.
Obviously we have to know whoyou are.
So kind of tell me a little bitabout yourself, your background
and how you got interested injust integrative wellness
altogether, right on.

Alex (02:15):
So my name is Alex.
I am a Huntsville native, sothis is my hometown, and I was
raised with a very holistichealth perspective, um per the
culture here of the of the deepSouth.
So it was really thanks to mymother that I discovered

(02:36):
holistic lifestyle medicine,things like that.
We were always raised with thatin mind.
Um, basically, through thetransition of me educationally,
I dove deeper and deeper throughthe progress of my education
and ultimately ended up findingmore about holistic healthcare
and eventually got my bachelor'sdegree in integrative

(02:59):
healthcare from Denver and thendecided to extend that into my
master's degree, which Iobtained a year ago, in
integrative healthcare with aspecialty in Ayurveda.
So it was really cool.
I got to learn the basics andthe dichotomy, if you will, of

(03:20):
integrative medicine, right?
So, like you said, kind of theWestern perspectives of
healthcare and then integratingthat together with alternative
approaches, what we calltraditional medicine, right?

Johnna (03:32):
Right.
So what would be the difference, like in learning integrative
health, like in wellness, versuslike going to school to be a
doctor?
Like where where's thedifference there?
Like do you have to do all thepre, like biology, chemistry,
all of that, and then specialize?

Alex (03:46):
to do all the pre, like biology, chemistry, all of that
and then specialize yes, so itall kind of went together.
So, again, my bachelor's degreewas in integrative healthcare.
So that's really where I gotall the foundations that I
needed right Biology A and P,anatomy and physiology, learning
about the body in the modernWestern view.
And then we expanded right andit all kind of happened at the
same time.
We expanded on differentmodalities that can collaborate.

(04:10):
You know the basics right.
When we're talking about, say,as a good example, like
chemotherapy treatment, right,okay, we need the chemotherapy
to um deal with the cancer, butsimultaneously, what are some
alternative approaches that wecan take to manage the symptoms?

Johnna (04:25):
Right, that's where diet lifestyle, so like if someone's
going to chemo.
We know side effects are likenausea, fatigue, so then your
practices could help with theside effects of the chemotherapy
, but obviously still use theWestern medicine for the
chemotherapy.
Yeah, okay, I like that, yeah.

Alex (04:40):
Yeah, and I really and I know that I've heard you
appreciate this too I reallyfeel like this is the transition
of healthcare in society, forsure, how?
can we find that healthydichotomy for both sides working
together?
And I always try to umemphasize this too.
Um, I do have the Ayurvedic,which we'll expand on in a

(05:03):
little bit, but I have theAyurvedic perspective on ways of
living.
But it's very important that Imake sure people are aware that
there's an integrative approachto care.
It is, like you said, not oneall ends with one Western or
holistic perspectives of health.
They work together.
I would never ask somebody tostop their medications of health

(05:25):
.
They work together.
Um, I would never ask somebodyto stop their medications.
I would never ask someone tonot see um their physician, um
or get a surgery or you know.
But my goal is how can wecombine the two and find a
really healthy balance, and Ireally feel like that is the
future of medicine.

Johnna (05:40):
Well, to me like being in the Western medicine side.
I feel like and you correct meif I'm wrong Western medicine is
there to treat sick patients.
We're not there to prevent yougetting sick.
But what your approach is isactually to prevent you getting
sick.
Yeah, so like if we kind ofcombine the two see you for
prevention, then see Westernwhen you're sick.
Honestly, if Western medicinewould just be integrative or

(06:02):
what I would call functional Idon't know if that's the same,
yes.
Then, yeah, I feel like it wouldbe so much better of a medicine
because, yes, everyone thinks,oh, the United States has the
best health care and I don't.
I don't know that to be true,to be honest with you, because
I've worked in it and I feellike it.
Maybe it's just not just thehealth care system.
Well, yeah, the system itself,not the healthcare, not the

(06:24):
doctors, not the people tryingto provide the stuff behind the
scenes right, administration,insurance, everything that
doesn't allow it to be covered,which I've noticed that in
healthcare, a lot of people aredropping their insurance and
saying, why, why am I going topay for this when it doesn't
help any?
Or not that it doesn't help,but they don't cover anything
anyways, because functional orintegrative wellness

(06:45):
practitioners don't takeinsurance anyways.

Alex (06:53):
Exactly so, and it's a frustrating circumstance that
we're in right now, but there ishope and I do think that the
system, as you said, which iskind of what's in control of all
of this, it's changing, it isgetting better.
There is more expansion and moreawareness right in general,
because that's where it startstoo, it's just letting people
know that these alternativeapproaches are there and, to
your point, yes, there areunfortunately most of them not
covered by health insuranceright now.

(07:14):
Right, but it's expanding.
Things like chiropractic care,massage therapy, acupuncture
those types of approaches arebecoming more and more available
in the healthcare system.
So it's happening, um and we're, we're getting there, so um,
but what I think makes Ayurveda,my specialty so unique is we

(07:36):
are focused on prevention, notnecessarily treatment based care
, but preventing it from thestart.
Now, that doesn't mean that ifsomeone comes in with
preexisting health conditions,that you can't treat it.
that's not it at all.
It's just saying okay, how canwe augment the lifestyle?
And what most people end uprealizing with Ayurveda
specifically is most of therecommendations are free.

(07:59):
Yeah, all I'm asking you to dois shift some things in your
lifestyle.
There's really not a lot to bepurchased.

Johnna (08:07):
There are.
You're not one of these people.
That's like go out and buy 50supplements.
And yes, you do see that withsome functional people because
it's a money thing and so whichI'm not saying supplements
aren't needed because there are,but like, not, like we're.
You can kind of tell whenyou're being I don't want to use
the word quote unquote scammed,but you can kind of tell when
someone's like oh well, you needthese 50 supplements and this

(08:28):
and this and this, and you'relike I just spent $600 and I
don't feel any different and Ithink the to your point there.

Alex (08:35):
What we're talking about is reaching for something else
to bring balance to the body,whatever the condition is
instead of saying what's theroot cause of the problem, and I
love that you said that, yeah,because I can.

Johnna (08:47):
For example, I have Hashimoto's and thyroid issues
and I'm pretty sure we haven'tgotten to the root cause of
what's going on.
I've had this since I was, Ithink, 22.
So, gosh, 15 years now, okay,and it's been a whirlwind, like
I have all kinds of weirdmedical things that it.
And it's hard because, like Itry my best, I eat clean, I work
out, I've hired a nutritionist,I've done all the things right.

(09:07):
I'm very fortunate because mydoctor now he is very like, he's
very smart in western medicine.
He's actually going back toschool to be to get his
functional degree, so he's verygood at listening.
But like working with someonelike you, I think, like just
trying to figure out why,because that's always bothered
me why did this happen?
What is actually going on,which I don't know.

(09:29):
If you've ever heard of themedical medium, have you ever
heard of him?

Alex (09:32):
Oh, no, I don't think so.
It's kind of way out there,okay.

Johnna (09:36):
So he talks to God.
He's been talking to God sincehe was a young child and
apparently these spirit voicestell him how to cure certain
diseases and his whole thing forHashimoto's and the thyroid is
it's all stemming from the EBVvirus, yeah.
And so he's like you've got toget that out of your body or
it's never going to go away.
And so I was just like that'sinteresting, like, but of course
my mind because I have thatmedical background.

(09:58):
I'm just like but is this true?

Alex (10:02):
And it's hard because, especially for you and you are
so open to other approaches.
But at the end of the day,there's a lot of pre, there's a
lot of conditioned right, umawareness around what is
diagnosable, what are the testsright, where is the definite
right?

Johnna (10:19):
you know um, even for thyroid disruption, it happens
all the time well, a lot ofpeople are misdiagnosed, exactly
Like I was misdiagnosed for along time because my labs
weren't quite bad enough.

Alex (10:30):
And that's what we hear so often.
And you know, just sidebarquick, I work in a OBGYN office.
That's my other kind offull-time work there, and what
you hear all the time, right, isokay, I'm having these symptoms
that are indicative of, say,something is an example
different than the thyroid, butPCOS, right, yeah, okay, but my

(10:50):
test is not positive for it,right, but I'm just on the fine
line between abnormal versusnormal results, and so you can
imagine.

Johnna (10:59):
I'm so glad you said that the patient is going to
have these symptoms.
Well, I started having all youknow with my thyroid stuff, and
then I started having weightgain and all this stuff despite
like, hiring a nutritionist,hiring a fitness trainer, all
these things, and then mytestosterone, all my hormones,
were zero.
I was basically perimenopausalat 30.
And my doctor was like that'swhy I like my doctor, because he

(11:23):
was like I can't tell youwhat's wrong with you.
He was like but it's somethingat the cellular level and we
don't have quantum computers yet.
Yeah, he's like no lab test isever going to tell you what's
wrong.
And he literally said I thinkyou have pcos.
He was like and your labs justaren't showing it.
Yeah, yeah, and it'sfrustrating for the patient.

Alex (11:36):
It's so frustrating because we put a lot of trust
into the health care system andthe ways that the doctor is
telling us to live, the waysthat the doctor is saying this
is what is diagnosable and thentherefore treatable, and there's
nothing wrong with that to anextent.

(11:56):
But my goal with the shift inhealthcare right now is to bring
the balance of care punintended back to you Right and
creating an environment inhealthcare where the patients
are confident in understandingthese subtle cues, the ways that
the body provides communicationwhich is beyond intelligent.

(12:22):
Our bodies are incredible in theways that they can communicate
with us, and so the sciencebehind kind of the principles of
something like Ayurveda andother you know more older
traditional healthcare systemsis going back to that.
How can I respond to what mybody is telling me?
And then that pulls you awayfrom putting so much of of of

(12:47):
what your doctor has to stay up,stay up on a pedestal Right.
And again, I, I, I choose mywords cautiously here because I
really don't want anyone, myselfincluded, to pull themselves
away from from allopathic care.
But at the same time, it's it'sas we can see, our chronic
disease rates of all differentvariables are rising in

(13:10):
immensely, and especially inwomen's health care too, right,
and so I think it's it's in duetime that we shift back and I
get what you're saying.

Johnna (13:18):
It's not that you're telling someone not to go to the
doctor, but this is something Isee a lot, even when it comes
to me, or like interviewing apatient.
It's no longer collaborative,it's more of a you know, you're,
you're putting all your marblesin one basket and saying this
doctor should have these answers.
And I'm here to say like I'veeven had discussions with very
close friends of mine andthey're like well, I don't
understand why a doctor doesn'tknow what's wrong.

(13:40):
And I'm like well, think aboutit.
Like there are so many diseaseprocesses that they have to
learn, there's so many diseaseprocesses that are not
discovered yet.
And if you're not textbook, youdon't fit the pattern.
So you come in and I'll just usean example, because I worked in
the ER.
If you come in, like with rightupper quadrant pain in your
abdomen, the first thought isgallbladder.
Right, you're thinkinggallbladder.

(14:01):
So then you ask all thesesymptoms?
Well, then I just have to throwthe labs at you that I know
could diagnose that, and then,if those don't show anything,
then we move to the next step ofdiagnostic imaging.
So it is all based on symptomsand if your symptoms don't fit
something that is alreadydiagnosable, then no, because
when I got diagnosed my thyroid,it was crazy, like they even

(14:22):
sent me to Vanderbilt andeverything, because they were
like I've never seen thyroidlabs like this in my life.
Wow, because if you knowanything about the thyroid out
there your tsh or your thyroidstimulating hormone and your
free t3 and your free t4,they're invert.
They're supposed to be inverted.
Mine were not my t3 was zero,wow my tsh was normal and they
were like your tsh should belike sky high, right, but it

(14:43):
wasn but.
I had every symptom ofhypothyroidism and everybody was
like you're fine, your labs arefine.
And I was like what about myhair falling out?
Well, what about me sleeping 16hours a day.
So tired yeah.

Alex (14:53):
All the things and and I think that that's the point we
have to get away from thediagnostics and come back to the
patient is struggling period,right, I think, um, fibromyalgia
is a really good example.
You know, we're reallyexpanding in health care on
giving that a lot more of aplatform.

Johnna (15:11):
Um, you know, because it is such a untangible condition
in a lot of ways when it comesto diagnostics well, because
it's basically a diagnosis basedon exclusion.
Yeah you, you ruled, everythingelse could be and you cannot
figure out what it is.

Alex (15:26):
So you just say well, I guess it's fibromyalgia, right,
this person's in pain, they'restruggling, they have all of
these symptoms down the list,but we don't have an answer.
So we're just going to kind ofthrow this at that.
Yeah, so, yeah, so I'm reallyexcited, I think, that these
conversations happening so muchlately, and there there is a

(15:47):
transition happening that Ithink will be a really, really
cool, cool change into care and,like I said before, I really
think it's full circle right.
Coming back to the self, comingback to taking responsibility
without fear, without judgment,um, you know, and kind of, I
think, if we can shift into whatmakes ayurveda so special is
just that you know, um, intowhat makes Ayurveda so special

(16:08):
is just that, you know, creatingan environment of your
healthcare that is unique to you.
And that's what makes Ayurvedaso cool.
It emphasizes that each personis different.
Their body and their mindconstitution is unique for them.
When people are being treatedfor certain conditions in the
west, um, with modern healthcare, we kind of say, okay, you

(16:31):
have let's use an example hyperacidity of the gut.
You're dealing with GERD issues, right?
Okay, you're supposed to giveacid, right, period not, we not
reduce it period.
We we treat everybody from thesame way, but the problem is
everybody gets your experienceof GERD may be very different
than mine, right, and so, ratherthan throwing a medication on

(16:53):
it or a quick fix, right,symptom relief rather than well
care, it's sick care, right.
It's saying okay, what makes mybody and mind constitution
unique and why am I dealing withthis differently than this
person?
And again, the non-judgmentfactor I really appreciate,
because in another example, okay, why do I struggle to, um,

(17:16):
absorb dairy products, but mypartner can eat them without a
single problem?
It comes down to why is yourbody unique?
Genetics, genetics, and and andright.
The ancients this medicine isover 5,000 years old.
The ancients didn't know that,right, we didn't have this type
of technology.
So they went back, you know.

(17:36):
They went back into usingnature and understanding why
somebody is different thansomeone else.
And that's exactly how someone,when they come in to see me, is
being treated.
Somebody is different thansomeone else, and that's exactly
how someone, when they come into see me, is being treated.
It's completely unique, it'scompletely customized and
curated to what your body needsand it's and it pulls us away to
from the idea of fad dieting,which is really relevant in the

(17:57):
world right now.
Um, and that tells me that'sone size fits all Right Right,
and that's not the case.
Um you know, intermittentfasting may work beautifully.

Johnna (18:09):
Everything you're saying , I'm just like, oh my God, I
just love you so much Like you.
It's like you crawled into mybrain and was like oh my God,
you're someone who gets itLikewise.

Alex (18:16):
Well, well, and it's, it's fun to have these conversations
.
There's so many.
When I have these conversationsin this consult room that we're
in right now, there's so manylight bulbs, and not just light
bulbs of like oh ha, ha, itcomes from.
Thank goodness I can pull thisself judgment away and say, okay
, my best friend Sandy, you know, just example does great with

(18:37):
intermittent fasting.
And there's a Ayurvedic, it'scalled a Shloka, but it's a,
it's a term, it's a phrase thatfrom the ancients that use, that
it says what works well and canbe medicine for one can be
poison to another.
And that's why I think thatthis type of care, this type of
medicine, is so unique, becauseI'm pulling people away from
this idea that that just becauseit worked great for somebody

(19:00):
doesn't mean it's going to workwell for you.
We have to get away from thefads and we have to come back to
what do I need, what serves mebest?

Johnna (19:08):
And I love that you say that, because I used to do a lot
of nutrition coaching and Istill do it occasionally for my
friend Adrian.
But I used to be like that I'dbe like, okay, if you're going
to work with me, we're going tocut out dairy gluten, all the
things, right.
But then I realized, like we'regoing to cut out dairy gluten,
all the things.
But then I realized, okay, noteverybody has an intolerance Now
I would say majority, dependingon where they're getting their

(19:31):
sources.
I don't think it's the actualplace.
I don't think it's the actualgluten.
I don't think it's the actualdairy, I think it's.
Is it full of pesticides?

Alex (19:40):
What brand are we getting?
Uh-oh girlfriend.

Johnna (19:47):
Don't pull me down the glyphosate conversation.
I think it is that like.
I truly think, because when Iwent to Iceland with my friends
and them which they have, I'veheard this all a lot that if you
go into a European country andyou have a gluten intolerance
and you have gluten in aEuropean country, it doesn't
affect you how many people go toEurope and stay in a week in
Tuscany and they lose weight.

Alex (20:04):
They can drink all the wine, they can eat all the pasta
, um, and have zero bloat, zeroheadaches, zero problems, um,
but then come back here and andit's it's, it's nobody's fault.
We have to, you know, have theresources that we have, um, but
it's just bringing thatawareness of.
Yes, it's unfortunate thatthere are some things out of our

(20:27):
control, such as the heavypesticides and herbicides that
are being used in most of ouragricultural system.
But how do we smart shoporganic to get away from those
things?
What are some things we canprioritize?
Organic that are free of theseproblems, and what things can we
, you know, because the economyis hard, you know.
And organic that are free ofthese problems, and what things
can we, you know, because theeconomy is hard, you know.

(20:48):
And, and I think a lot of people, when they come to
practitioners like myself, arescared.
They're like, oh no, she'sgoing to tell me I have to eat
like this, I have to buy likethis and it's expensive, um, so
I'm here to kind of like relievethat stress and say we can find
what works for you.
But yes, it's, it's, it's umyou know you said this before

(21:09):
kind of it's the system.
That's the problem, not theperson, not the food.
You know it's, it's bigger thanthat.

Johnna (21:18):
I'm kind of into conspiracy theories a little bit
, and so my my conspiracy theoryis it's set up that way on
purpose, because if it wasn't,then would our fda, would our
big pharma, what our you know,would they be making the
billions and millions circleback to cancer.
Right, I'm gonna get canceledprobably for saying this, but
I'm just like that's just myopinion to be discussed.

Alex (21:38):
It is your opinion, but I, I, I agree, so I'll, I'll take
the heat off of you I'll take,but, and you know, so it, it and
I, I.
I use caution having thoseconversations sometimes to the
masses, because I don't want tocreate a fear-based culture.

Johnna (21:54):
No, no, no.

Alex (21:54):
Just an awareness-based culture that we have to, and
this is, yeah, a full circle.

Johnna (21:59):
It comes back to you, but I think, like you said, more
people are becoming aware of it, so it is easier to discuss,
because back probably even fiveyears ago, if we were having
this conversation, somebodywould turn this off within the
first five minutes and be like,oh, that's a bunch of woo woo
bullshit, you know.

Alex (22:14):
But now we have politicians and certain people
that are really standing infront of Congress, standing in
front of different people,having the conversation of hey,
we've been doing thissuccessfully, quote unquote, for
a long time, but now we'reseeing the effects, we're seeing
the problem.

Johnna (22:38):
And we have to fix it okay.
So, all in all, for that to say, that was a long introduction,
guys, but still, um, all that tosay, like, so, when you you've
explained and again I'm probablygonna butcher this a bunch of
times ayurvedic, um, whatactually is the definition of it
?
Like, like, if you like, I knowyou've explained what it is and
what you do, but like, whatwould you say?
Like, if someone came and saidwhat is that?

Alex (22:55):
yeah, yeah.
So let's get, let's take a dive.
So ayurveda is the proper wayto pronounce it.
So I think, if the word I likeyou are so good, but that is a
sanskrit term, that is anancient term, um, from ancient
India.
It's over 5,000 years old.
This perspective, theseprinciples of medicine, comes

(23:16):
from that culture, um, and thattranslates to the science of
life or the knowledge of life,and what that means is, again,
we talked about how the ancientsdidn't have diagnostics, they
didn't have understandings incertain technologies to
understand why the body works incertain ways.
So they really found a lot ofunderstanding and ways to

(23:38):
conceptualize the physiology andthe anatomy through the five
elements.
So Ayurveda is all aboutworking with nature,
understanding that we, ourbodies, our physiologies, the
way our minds work, our naturein and of itself right, we are
organic beings and we live in anorganic environment, and so

(24:01):
it's all about working inaccordance with nature,
understanding that those fiveelements which will break those
down to be ether or space, air,fire, water and earth, those are
the five elements that areunderstood from the principles
of Ayurveda, and everything inthe environment is comprised of

(24:22):
those different elements.
We can use an example of thesky.
The sky is made of those etherspace elements.
There's a lot of movement, alot of empty space.
Contrary, the more gross ideawould be earth itself, the soil.
It's made of the watery, theearthy elements.

(24:45):
It's a lot denser, it has a lotof structure, kind of in
between the ground and inbetween the sky would be kind of
more the fire.
That's where there's a lot oftransformation happens, that's
where our bodies exist.
And so then, pulling us back tothe person, each person is also
comprised of those fiveelements, but that's where what

(25:09):
makes us unique comes in fiveelements.
But that's where what makes usunique comes in you.
Your body has a differentcomposition of those five
elements than I do, then mymother does, then my dog does,
then my partner does Um, andthat's what makes the care so
fun and unique is we get tolearn which combination of those

(25:30):
elements do I have, and thenthat helps us again move away
from judgment of why does mybody react or interact with
nature, or foods that I eat, orthe way I speak to other people
different than Jonna, right, soit gives you an understanding of

(25:50):
how your body works.
Okay, I have a lot more fire inmy physiology.

Johnna (25:55):
I embody a lot of that like so look at, do you just
look at someone and you can, so,like you can, sit here and look
at me and tell me what kind ofenergy I have, yeah, yeah and it
goes beyond observance, okay,and into we.

Alex (26:06):
There's a whole questionnaire that I go through.
There's a whole technology, ifyou will around, kind of uh,
I'll use the word diagnosingright or giving someone the idea
of which we call it a dosha,which dosha their body and their
mind resonate with most that'sreally cool.
Yeah, it is super cool and it'sso fun to have these

(26:27):
consultations with patients,where they come in totally
unaware of what Ayurveda even is, and then we kind of break it
down, have this conversation andthen I say, okay, you're
embodying more of those fireelements.
So what are some conditionsthat may be plaguing you?
A lot of times this is whatI'll hear.
I have hyper acidity of the gut, I have GERD, I have

(26:50):
inflammatory conditions in mybody, I have pain here, there,
all the things.
I have blood disorders, I haveheart problems.
So we look at the fire elementAgain.
In the ancients they didn'thave the term inflammation yet
right.
So that was how they used thatterm.

Johnna (27:09):
They understood inflammation to be paralleled to
fire and is this similar tolike in chinese medicine where,
like, if you I've heard, like inchinese medicine, like you
either, like with, I think,women?
I'm gonna butcher this, nevermind, just ignore that but,
basically like if it was coldand like hot and cold therapy.
Like you, you do the opposite.

(27:30):
Like if your body's like fullof cold then you want to do hot
therapy, versus if you're fullyhot then you want to do cold
therapy.

Alex (27:35):
You nailed it on the head.
It's embracing balance.
That's the goal of this type ofmedicine, is finding balance.
So to your point, if someonehas too much heat in the body,
my suggestions to them would beto cool yourself down.
Favor more cooling foods.
Again, we'll continue kind ofon the hyperacidity gird example
, because I think a lot ofpeople which makes sense,

(27:55):
because spicy food yeah, causes,gird it's favor and avoid
you're gonna favor more coolingfoods and you're gonna avoid
things that will increase thebasic common knowledge.

Johnna (28:05):
Now that you're the way you're explaining it, you're
just like over here going duhright and, like I said, that
light bulb moment that I havethat conversation.

Alex (28:12):
It's so exciting patients get so giddy because they're
like, oh my gosh, that breaks itdown to be so simple, it makes
so much sense.
I'm really struggling withthese inflammatory conditions.
How can I cool myself down?
Right, and instead of say,let's take a tylenol or an
ibuprofen that will make yourgird worse, right, that just
manages the symptoms.
Let's get a Tylenol or anibuprofen that will make your

(28:32):
GERD worse Right, that justmanages the symptoms.
Let's get to the root cause.
The root is you've got too muchfire in the body, girl, how can
we pull?

Johnna (28:39):
you down.
You know what's even funnyabout that and I didn't even
think about that.
Ibuprofens are typically brown.
They're red.
Yeah, fire yeah.

Alex (28:52):
It's hot, it, yeah, that's a fun way to like conceptualize
it, well, you know, but itmakes it super cool.
And and again, um, you know,kind of understanding your body
type, living in accordance withnature.
Um, that is, that is the wholegoal.
Um is just to educate patients,clients, on why does my body
function the way that it does?
We can use genes.
Why do, why do my genes do this,and how can I live in

(29:13):
accordance to find balance,instead of say, oh, I can't
digest dairy, uh, I haveallergies, so much worse than my
partner does every year.
You know, okay, you, you havethese different elements that
make you more prone to that.
What tendencies do you have andhow can you preventatively care
for yourself to avoid springallergy season?

(29:37):
How can you prepare yourself toavoid more increased
inflammatory conditions duringsummertime, when you have too
much heat in the body?
How can you prepare yourselffor the winter months to come,
when cold and flu season comeabout?
What are some ways that we canlive in accordance with the
seasons, with nature, and livein balance, but again, full

(30:01):
circle.
That's why I want to urgepeople to pull away from the fad
diets, because that says it'sone size fits all and that is
not the case?

Johnna (30:10):
Well, you know I've talked about that on my podcast
several times.
If it was the case, then why isit a multi-billion dollar
industry?
Why is it that it doesn't workor long lasting for a lot of
people and you just keep comingback, keep coming back and
you're trying a different one?
I tried keto this you know thismonth.
It didn't work.
I tried intermittent fastingnext month.
That didn't work.
And so I've always preachedthat like if it worked, they

(30:31):
wouldn't be a rich multi billiondollar company, because if it
worked, you would be done.

Alex (30:37):
And to your point before, when we look at the ideas of the
Western culture.
You know big pharma wants tomake their money.
So if we really found the curefor cancer, if we really covered
medicines like Ayurveda or TCMtraditional Chinese medicine
that you alluded to before, wewould pull people away from sick

(30:59):
culture and into well-balancedculture.
That doesn't mean you're justgoing to forever live in harmony
and be without allergies, bewithout stomach problems.
It just means that it's notgoing to plague you and you can
use your own tools and come backto yourself for the resources
that you need, instead ofputting your health in the hands

(31:23):
of of of a large industry thatbenefits so much more on you
staying sick.

Johnna (31:30):
No, I, I, I agree with that.
Like I'm even in the system andsometimes, like I think, and I
think that's why it was just soout of balance with my energy I
struggled a lot when I was inthe ER because it I loved it and
I loved what I did, but I thinkit didn't fulfill me in the
fact that I do believe there'smore out there.
Not to say that again, not tosay that Western medicine is not

(31:51):
needing, not to say that wedidn't help a lot of people.
Yeah, it's just with everythingthat's happened to me and the
system failed me, yeah, and Ican't imagine being someone that
doesn't have the knowledge thatI have, because I kept pushing
and I kept asking for differenttests and I kept asking for
certain things and a lot ofpeople, like a lot of my friends
who come to cause I, I'm reallygreat with a thyroid just

(32:13):
because of how much I had to dofor myself and advocate for
myself.
There are so many patients outthere that they'll just accept
what it is and they'll be like,okay, I still feel bad, but okay
.

Alex (32:24):
And I love that you said that so much.
It's advocating for yourselfand putting the responsibility
back in your hand.

Johnna (32:36):
Well, like I said earlier, it's went away from
collaborative practice, and whatI mean by that is too many
doctors and providers getoffended.
If someone's chat, gbt orGoogling their symptoms, now I
only would get offended and notreally offended.
It's more when you come in andsay this is what I'm going to do
.
If the patient's telling meyou're going to order this and
you're like, no, let'scollaborate, let's talk about it
, let's say why you do needsomething or why you don't need
something, cause you may bringsomething to my attention that I

(32:57):
didn't even think of.

Alex (32:58):
Exactly, you know, and likewise it goes vice versa.
It's both ways, yeah, and andand.
To stress again the importanceof to your point we have
vaccines for a reason we haveeradicated immense diseases that
have wiped out populations.
We have surgeries, for a reasonIf someone gets into a horrible
accident, thank goodness wehave the technology and the

(33:19):
resources that we have.
Um, thank goodness that we havethe knowledge that allopathic
modern medicine has.
It's, it's super important andamazing.
Um, but when we're talkingabout chronic conditions, when
we're talking about preventativecare, that's where we need to
reset the tone and come back.
To come back to alternativeslike Ayurveda.

(33:42):
Um, there's a reason that thisknowledge existed thousands of
years ago and people survived it.

Johnna (33:47):
Well, now agreed, and I and I appreciate you saying that
because I remember there's thisone case that I'll never forget
this lady came into the ER andI don't know if I've told the
story on the podcast yet or notI probably have, cause I repeat
stories but um, she was like,yeah, something's wrong with my
breast or whatever, and I waslike, okay, well, we got to look
at it.
So I look at it and no skin,just a tumor sitting on her Like

(34:09):
she just had her breast cancerthere and I was like, oh, okay,
like it.
I was in shock.
I'd never seen anything like it.
I was like, let me go get thedoctor.
I'll be right back.
So got the doctor in there andthe doctor's like, did you know?
Like you have breast cancer,like we didn't, it was so bad.
You did.
I mean, obviously you could seethe tumor and she was like I
knew, I just decided not to dochemo, I decided to do all these

(34:32):
holistic practices like creamsand rubs and all this other
stuff.
So like I'm not saying thatthat can't help, I'm just saying
like there is a time and aplace, yeah, for what?
Just like you said there is.
There's surgery for a reason,there's chemo for a reason.
So we're not telling you to stopall your medications and all
your stuff to just go do this.
It's a combination.

Alex (34:52):
It is a combination.
And again, going back to theroot cause, you know what, what
could be the predispositiongenetically, if we want to look
at it that way, um, and what arethe ways that we can augment
our lifestyle?
You know, if someone comes inand they have a huge familial
history of breast cancer or, um,any, any condition, really it's
saying, okay, your genes are atrisk, so what lifestyle can I

(35:15):
guide you into preventing thatfrom coming up?
And it shouldn't be hard, itshouldn't be scary, it should be
exciting, it should benourishing to know that we have
these avenues towards living ina state of balance and kind of
shifting a little bit.
That's what the body wants todo.
The body is amazing.
These avenues towards living ina state of balance and and kind
of shifting a little bit.
You know that's what the bodywants to do the body is amazing.

(35:36):
It is so intelligent it desiresto live in a state of
homeostasis, and so what I wantto push and convey with this
type of medicine is that that'ssupporting that.
This type of medicine issupporting what the body
innately is designed to do.
The body is not designed tolive in a chronic state of

(35:57):
disease that many people areplagued with, um, because they
they maybe are just not awarethat there are alternatives.
The body's designed to livewell, and so our lifestyle
should be designed to parallelthat and to support the natural
rhythms of the body.
I see this a lot or I do notsee, but we talk about this a

(36:20):
lot, especially in women'shealthcare.
There is a lot of problems thatwomen deal with, unfortunately,
and it's just kind of a shrugyour shoulders, you know.
Just, hormone imbalance sucks,man, just kind of sucks to be a
woman, you know.
You hear stuff like that allthe time.

Johnna (36:37):
It's funny because, going back to my example of the
low hormones, when I was 30, Iwas I was seeing a really great
OBGYN in town but he was a maleand when he found out that I was
on hormone replacement, likeprogesterone and testosterone,
was like why are you doing that?
You don't need you don't needhormones and I was like well,
because I'm experiencing everymenopausal symptom at age 30 so
and that's not normal, right,that's not quote unquote, normal

(36:59):
.
Yeah, I was like so yeah, I'mgonna continue taking that.
I was like I'm gonna do obthanks.

Alex (37:05):
Well, and it's like the next question would be too
outside of hrt is were there anyrecommendations on your diet?
on your stress management, yourlifestyle.
I know you're obviously wellyou know apt to those things
already.
That's the culture that youlive in, which is amazing, but
that's the that's when you talkabout the collaborative piece.
That's the piece that's missing, that I really am excited to

(37:28):
continue seeing the shift inhealthcare, to watch physicians
say, okay, I'm trained in thisdirection and I have empathy
towards physicians that thatthey're trained to say, and they
spent many years and a lot ofmoney on this training to say
this is the condition, this ishow we treat it, but we really
need to shift the care into.

(37:48):
This is your problem.
This is what's going on.
But also, outside of themedicine I'm prescribing, here's
someone you can go see thatwill tell you what lifestyle
changes you can make too.
Obviously, the obesity epidemicis also a big chronic problem.
That's on the uprise and um itit's just can be so easy, you

(38:10):
know, to just fall into.
Here's a statin for my bloodpressure.
Here's, here's this, that orthe third.
And when is anybody?
Or even the?
I say cautiously, but you knowthe Ozempic, you know transition
people are going through.
Where is the guidance onlifestyle?
Where's the guidance on why isthis food better for me than

(38:34):
than another.
But but that's also generalized.
Yeah, ayurveda comes in to saythis isn't just a general heart.
Healthy, low fat, you know.
Low carb, whatever diet, hereare the specific foods that your
body, your individual body type, needs and will thrive with.

(38:56):
You know.
Telling somebody that anavocado is super healthy, we all
know that.
Super amazing.

Johnna (39:05):
Healthy fats Great source of protein, but it can
also be inflammatory for people.
But some people's body do notrespond well, and that can be
really frustrating it took methe longest time to figure out
eggs was causing a lot of mydigestive issues because I ate
them every morning, I love them.
I was like they're healthy foryou.
No one has reactions to eggs,yeah.
And I was like oh yeah, peoplehave a lot of reactions.

(39:25):
Yeah, yeah, as soon as I quiteating them like all, like a lot
, like 75 of my digestive issueswent away.

Alex (39:31):
A big thing for digestion is um like salad.
It's a great example right inthe ayurvedic culture.
In the ayurvedic principle, thewhole goal is um to proceed in
a diet routine that isnourishing.
This is for everybody.
Um foods should.
This is according to theAyurvedic principles.
Food should be served warm andfreshly cooked.

(39:54):
Now really now, if you breakthis down and think about why
that is going back to salads, um, your stomach organ is warm.
It's full of a bunch of HCL,right, that's what breaks down
and metabolizes our food.
The first step of that if thatenvironment is frozen up really

(40:14):
quickly, we add super raw coldtemperatures to it, it's going
to decrease the heat.
It's going to decrease thestomach acid and prevent the
organ from its ability to dowhat it's designed to do.

Johnna (40:32):
Which I've always been told don't drink cold water.
Yes, Drink room temperaturewater.

Alex (40:35):
Yes, that's a huge principle that I share with
everybody is off the bat.
What's one thing you couldchange?
Please take the ice out of yourdrinks.
You're literally just freezingthe system that's designed to be
warm, lubricating, nourishing,to do the work, to churn up the
nutrients.
And the second you, you know,throw a ice cube onto it.

(40:56):
It dilutes those acids, itprevents the body from doing
what it's designed to do.
So again, back to like saladsas a health, you know, quote,
unquote health food choice.
Great, of course.
Yeah, you know.
Raw lettuce, raw carrots, rawtomatoes, things like that.
You know they are healthy,nourishing foods, but when we

(41:17):
eat them in this form, it doesinhibit our body's ability to
digest them.
So even though a salad quoteunquote the individual
components of it may be healthyfoods, people have a hard time
digesting raw lettuce right, sowould you recommend someone not
like so, for example, like cookyour vegetables versus eating

(41:39):
raw cold vegetables?
Exactly Just as simple as that.
Just give your body a littlebit of that boost, right?
Like working with nature,working with the body wants and
needs.
Give it that little extra toolthat it needs to be able to
digest better.
Okay, um, you know, cook yourfoods.
Make sure that that they're notserved raw super cold.
You know, try to try to.

(41:59):
You know, the ancients didn'thave freezers, right, right
makes sense, unless they hadsnow unless they had snow.
But they're.
But right, their physiology,genetically, was designed to
work in harmony with that, youknow.
So, um, you know, but yeah, thethe ancients didn't have
freezers to put sonic, amazingice cubes in every drink that

(42:23):
they drank.
They weren't eating ice cream,you know.
They weren't freezing theirmilk.
Um, they were eating things anddrinking things at room
temperature, or they werecooking them prior and it just,
you know, you said it before.
You're like, oh duh.

Johnna (42:38):
It's like I don't know why I'm gonna sound real dumb
when I say this.
When you said freezing theirmilk, I was like oh wait, yeah.
In my head I was like ice creamis frozen milk.
Why did I ever think about that?
You've known that like I thinkit's just common sense that you
don't sit down and break it downand go, yeah, what is ice cream
?

Alex (42:54):
And again, moving from a place of non judgment.
We are conditioned to enjoythese things.
Little kids love going andeating frozen milk through the
source of ice cream.
It's a fun thing, right?
But hey, if you're somebodythat really struggles with
respiratory problems, you have alot of mucus issues, you have a
lot of sinus congestion.

(43:15):
Making sense of your body right, Working with nature Okay, this
is something I have a tendencytowards.
It probably would be in my besteffort to reduce cold milk, to
reduce eating ice cream, toreduce drinking my beverages
with ice in them, To reducedairy overall.

(43:36):
It just makes sense.
You know what like attracts,like Opposites create balance.

Johnna (43:43):
And I know the answer to this, but I just want to hear
your response to it.
So, like, what do you do ifsomeone is so resistant?
I would assume they wouldn't bein your chair anyway.
What do you do if someone is soresistant?
I would assume they wouldn't bein your chair anyway.
But let's just go out on a limband say someone is so resistant
that maybe their husband ortheir wife forced them to come
see you and you tell them allthis.
And they're so resistant.
Like, how do you handle thatdifficult patient?

(44:04):
Because I've been there, likeeven in Western medicine, like,
for example, the biggest one ofall time is antibiotics, right?

Alex (44:15):
No one finishes their antibiotics.

Johnna (44:16):
They save them and they leave them for whenever their
next element comes later whenthey're, and the antibiotic
doesn't even treat the organismthat you're taking it for, not
to mention, we prescribe it fora certain amount of time to kill
the organism and that you'resupposed to take it till it's
over, so like if you cannot getsomeone to hear you or listen to
you.
How how do you handle that?

Alex (44:31):
how much are you suffering ?
Yeah, why?
Why?
At what point did it become somuch that you've either chosen
to come here on your own accord,or a family member who deeply
cares for you and realizes thatenough is enough is saying come
and explore an alternative?
So at some point you have tosay there's a reason you've come

(44:55):
this far, girlfriend or whoeveris sitting there You're.
You're struggling, right.
So if you don't want tostruggle anymore, here's an
option to to find another avenueof of care that may finally
give you the answers that youneed.

Johnna (45:10):
You're so much nicer than me because I literally am
like well, what was working foryou?
It wasn't working, was it?
It's hard, Keep doing what youwant to do.
It's hard.

Alex (45:19):
The progression just to give a fun story, the
progression of my educationalcareer started first.
I went to UAB for a period oftime in Birmingham, alabama, and
, um, I was discoveringdietetics there, nutrition,
wellness.
That was kind of the firstinitial direction that I was
taking my educational career.
And I was in a class where wewere having practicals where,

(45:41):
right, we had to like have mockmock seat seated um
consultations with people.
And the professor eventuallycame up to me and was like I
think you may need to like takea step back or discover a way
that you can find ways to helppeople, because I was at that

(46:02):
point where I, I, I would get sofrustrated because someone
would say, well, I'm dealingwith metabolic syndrome, meaning
obesity, right Things like that.
Um, but I won't stop eating BigMacs.

Johnna (46:14):
This is a generality right Right, Right Right.

Alex (46:16):
And it's like it's so hard to be like.
Well, your answer is right infront of you, you know.
So that was 10 years prior togetting where I am now, and I
think that it takes a lot ofpatience, a lot of understanding
and I know that you deal withthis yourself all the time, too,
with patients.
It's it takes that, just thatempathy of what we've been

(46:37):
discussing.
There's a culture, there'sconditioning that's been created
.
It's not so easy for someone tolook at these aha moments or
these dumb moments and say, oh,it should be that simple.
It takes time.

Johnna (46:49):
And I've been there before too.
But I also think that I guessthe difference like where I said
, like when I was doing this, itdidn't align with who I am yeah
, so I lost patients a lotquicker.
I got agitated because I wantedto be saying, actually, if you
could just change your diet likewhen people would come in with
such severe acid reflux GERDthat they thought they were
having a heart attack I wouldliterally be like have you ever
thought about taking some HCL tohelp break down your food?

(47:13):
And they're like I can't dothat.
But I obviously couldn't tellthem that in a year, because
that's just not the standard ofcare, because that's something I
used to have acid reflux.
And then I started working witha functional practitioner and
she actually was like I want youto start taking HCL with every
meal.
And I was like are you crazy?
Like I'm going to start havingacid reflux at the wazoo?

Alex (47:29):
And she's like no, you're not, it's going to help you
break those foods down.

Johnna (47:32):
Help me break the food down so that I didn't create
more stomach acid.

Alex (47:35):
And then the lifestyle difference, that is, the, you
know supplemental help.
That, yes, makes perfect sense,right, but then I would come in
and say so what are you eatingspecifically, though, that
you're having a hard timebreaking down?
Are you eating a lot oftomatoes in your diet?

(47:56):
Are you eating a lot of like,acidic natured foods?
Are you drinking a lot ofcoffee?
You?
know it's like what's the nextstep?
Right, and if you and if you'renot participating in those
things, then yes, that's wherethe allopathic care comes in,
you know I'm trust me.

Johnna (48:07):
I should sign up with you because I'm like a mystery,
it's it.
It intrigues most providersthat I go to because they're
just like.
This is weird because I startedhaving metabolic syndrome even
though I was eating paleo clean,like doing an anti-inflammatory
diet, which is the hardest dietin the world to do um or
autoimmune protocol or whateverand then I was still gaining

(48:29):
weight.
I was still my thyroid wasoptimal, all my labs were
optimal.
We were like what is going on?
And that's when the doctor waslike I think you've got PCOS or
something, because then myhormones dropped and we were
like.
I was like I can't stand thisanymore.
I was like I'm literally doingeverything, I'm hiring all the
right people, I'm doing all theright things.
I've went to a functionaldoctor.

(48:55):
I've done the supplements.

Alex (48:55):
I've done everything I've cut everything out of my diet.
Most people, you have thatfoundational knowledge too.

Johnna (48:58):
It was very frustrating, and that is frustrating.
Yes, so, and he was just likethat's when he was just like I
don't think we're going todiagnose you in my lifetime and
I was like, oh, thanks, okay.

Alex (49:04):
But then how many people in the medical world are told
that like, shrug your shoulders.

Johnna (49:09):
Sorry is what it is, you know breast implants out
because I was like convinced Ihad breast implant illness.
I was like, maybe it's thebreast implants that you know
foreign, foreign substance.
Somebody took them out.

Alex (49:19):
Yeah, didn't and and, and I just kind of want to like
digress right back to like theprinciples of ayurveda here, and
I'm not saying that this isyour circumstance.
But there's another piece tothat puzzle, you know the body
and mind perspective that theyare one and that they work
inversely together.
Um, if there's things going onin the brain, it can manifest in

(49:39):
the body.
Vice versa, if there's thingsgoing on in the body, this can
manifest in the brain as well.
We're using the brain as likethe gut brain barrier.
The gut brain barrier right, itis, and we've just, in modern
medicine, learned about it andto learn about the gut brain
access and access rather, andthe ancients knew about this a

(50:00):
long time ago.
Right, let's.
Let's use an example of okay, Ihave severe anxiety, I'm so
nervous about this interview,I'm so nervous about this new
job.
I'm starting blah, blah, blah.
Typically, we see that manifestright in digestive problems.
We're going to get either oneor the other.
We might have increaseddiarrhea because we have that
nervous thought.

(50:20):
You know, we run straight tothe bathroom because we're
nervous right To get up on stageor, contrary, we might have,
like, so much constipation forthe next five days because we're
so worried.
We're holding up all thistension, holding up all these
emotions.
Much constipation for the nextfive days because we're so
worried.
We're holding up all thistension, holding up all these
emotions.
That in there is a good exampleof why does that person have

(50:40):
diarrhea when their brain andnervous system is disrupted?
Why does this person haveconstipation when their brain
and nervous system is disrupted?
This is what we can understandthat makes us unique and then
therefore treat appropriately so.
But back to the.
You know the gut brainconnection there.
It's crazy that that theseancients understood that I just
wonder how they figured it out.

Johnna (51:00):
Like I've always, do you ever like random thoughts pop
in your head?
You're like how did someonewalk past a coffee bean and say
this would make a good drink?

Alex (51:07):
you know what I'm saying.
We're on the opposite spectrum,imagining the, the
hunter-gatherer that walks up tothe berry bush and is like well
, jim, let's try this one out,right?
Tom died yesterday from eatinga berry off of a bush.
But hey, we'll give it a go I'mso thankful that they put all of
this time and energy and effortinto discovering these things.
But there's a big piece to thatpuzzle.

(51:28):
It wasn't just like cause andeffect, r and D research and
discovery.
This berry worked great for usand this berry sent Tom to death
because it was poisonous.
There was an innate quality tothe ancients.
There is that innate.
Like just intuition andcollaborating with nature and

(51:50):
and and seeing it as our friend,you know, seeing, seeing the
balance of and harmonizing withthe rhythms of nature.
It came easier to them becausethere weren't other distractions
that were telling them thatthat was hokey, Right, Right, or
that that was bizarre, right Toknow that.
Um, that my mind is is reallynervous.

(52:10):
I'm having a lot of anxiety,I'm nervous, blah, blah, blah.
Maybe I should sit with nature,close my eyes, take some deep
breaths, right?

Johnna (52:17):
Not let me go zone out and watch Netflix to ignore my
thoughts and trust Right, like Ihave to.

Alex (52:23):
I have to humanize myself.
Like no one's perfect, I'm ahuman too.
I have my times where I'll doomscroll or I go to Netflix we,
you know we have those times.
Or, you know, maybe I'll havesome wine.
You know, we'll have thosetimes.
But it's about just returningback to what you know is
innately well for you.
And I do believe that the more,as humans, we choose balancing

(52:48):
techniques and routines in ourday to day, the principles that
say Ayurveda gives us, theeasier it becomes to make those
decisions, um, to know what'sright and wrong for our bodies,
because our body's designed totell us these things.
It's.
It's about coming back to, likeI said at the beginning of our
conversation, the subtle cues,using the powerful communication

(53:09):
tools that the body gives us tosay this is working well for me
and this isn't.
I'm watching a lot of Netflix,I'm doom scrolling every day.
I'm on the go, I'm eating whileI'm driving.
Go, go, go, go, go.
I can't be stopped.
And because I'm so exhausted,I'm not sleeping.
Because all those things, I'mdrinking five cups of coffee,
but then I can't sleep again.
When we just slow down and giveourselves, give our body and

(53:33):
mind an opportunity.
Just give ourselves a chance totake it back and say, all right
, that's not working for me.
It's spiraling me deeper downthe rabbit hole of anxiety,
nervousness, and it's coming outin digestive problems.
It's coming out in autoimmunedisorders, diseases.

(53:53):
It's coming out in anxiety andrestlessness, lack of sleep.
Just taking a step back.

Johnna (54:02):
Sometimes it can be that simple no, no, no, no.
I love that you say thatbecause, like, that was the
hardest thing for me to evenconvey, like to clients of mine
when, like, when we're doingnutrition and stuff, and it was
something hard for me Like.
So, like, for example, you havea woman.
She's trying to lose weight.
We're trying to increase thecalories because we've been
taught and brainwashed ourentire life Eat less, move more.

(54:24):
That's, that's the way to weighcalories in calories out when
it's actually not.
We actually are probably undereating, pretty much starving
ourselves.
And to tell someone, okay, I'mgoing to need you not to go to
the gym for the next four weeks,and you see the, the scare,

(54:46):
like how scared and fear,because you're just like they're
like I can't do that, I'malready gaining all this weight.
But when you have thatconversation and you say like,
okay, well, you can keep doingwhat you're doing and see if it
continues to work for you or wecan try something different, and
all the clients that I'veworked with when we've stopped
the gym, like all you're allowedto do is walk, we're going to

(55:06):
increase your calories slowly.
We're not just going to giveyou like a bunch of calories and
the weight just starts comingoff and them to go.
How is this possible?
It's everything opposite ofwhat I've ever been taught.

Alex (55:17):
I'm going to go for a strong guess here that when the
nervous system is totallyhaywire and we're nervous and
we're trying to control this,this, this, is that we've got to
keep going to the gym.
We've got to keep going.
Cortisol.

Johnna (55:28):
Yeah, it's usually.
we're just trying to get thecortisol down and cortisol is
just going to keep that fatgrowing in the belly and to get
someone to understand, like, yes, the gym feels good and, yes,
it can be a stress.
This was very hard for me tounderstand until my coach like
drove it into my head.
Yes, the gym is a great stressreliever and it can be all those

(55:49):
things, but it also, at thesame time, is a cortisol
inducing, because your body,even though we have come a long
way, doesn't know that you'renot being chased by a bear, that
you're not being murdered in inthe street.
Like stress is stress, whetherit's good stress or bad stress.
Your body cannot differentiate.

Alex (56:05):
Correct, correct.
There's um a um fantasticauthor that I really appreciate
and I learned a lot about thenervous system.
His name is Robert Sapolsky.
I don't know if you've heard ofhim before.
He has a really great bookcalled why zebras don't get
ulcers.
Oh, I'll have to read that you,you would love it.
It talks a lot about cortisoland how the body works and, to

(56:25):
your point of, we're not, youknow, hunters, gatherers anymore
, um, and our uh culture, if youwill, of humanity, we have kind
of that social system, um, andso we're living in chronic
states of stress because we'retrying to always be the one on
the top.
You know, you can think aboutmonkeys and kind of their social

(56:45):
hierarchy system, things likethat.
But what he was stressing inthis book about why zebras don't
get ulcers, you can considerthem an example of just the
natural world.
They're chilling, they'reeating, they're drinking at the
water hole together.
A lion comes, cortisol pumpstells them, run really fast, and

(57:10):
then the threat is now gone,the lion is away, they return
back to homeostasis.
So, contrary our modern humansociety, like you said, we're
not being chased by the bear orthe lion anymore, but we're
being chased by the hierarchy ofour social system all day,
every day, and all of ourconcerns, and so that natural

(57:32):
cortisol uptake that's designedto keep us safe is now our worst
enemy, because we're justliving in chronic states of
stress.

Johnna (57:40):
Cause it was like what you were talking about earlier.
It's just that repeat and rentcycle where you know you're in
traffic, you're agitated causeyou're late for work, you get a
call from your school and yourkids are throwing up and you
need to take them somewhere, butyou're you really don't have
the PTO to take off work.
Then you go to the gym to tryto get some stress relief.
Then you go home and you stayup till midnight watching TV
with blue lights in your eyesall day.

(58:01):
Then you're not sleeping.
So it's just that rinse andrepeat cycle all day, every day.

Alex (58:06):
And I want to stress that too.
You know, sometimes you knowI'll have people come in and
we'll have the conversationabout the you know lifestyle
choices, the tweaks that theycan make.
And you know, sometimes, a lotof times, people come because
they're already so overwhelmedwith the laundry list you just
mentioned got to do kids, got to, got to get to work, got to
blah, blah, blah, got to get myworkout and all the things, and

(58:27):
sometimes it's like, oh man,she's asking me to like, do more
, and in a way I could be, butI'm also asking you at what
point are you going to put thefoot down though?
Because you said this earlier,it's not working for you anymore
, babe.

Johnna (58:44):
Yeah Well, it goes back to like, like kind of in my
world, where people and I stillsee this online all the time and
I used to be one of thesepeople and thank God that our
brains and opinions can changebut like being like, well, if
you just tried hard enough youcould lose weight.
If you just got up at 4am,that's not the same for
everybody, correct?
Can I get up at 4am because Idon't have children?

(59:06):
Absolutely I can, because I goto bed at six o'clock.

Alex (59:09):
There has to be empathy and healthcare that it's not so
easy.
And Ayurveda again makes yourroutine which is my whole point
in care.
I give you recommendations onyour lifestyle and your waking
through, sleeping routine.
What are we doing each day?
And it's augmented again foryou.
So, if you do have four kids,if you are a CEO, if your

(59:34):
in-laws live with you becausethey need care, and the laundry
list goes on of all of your,your, um, your responsibilities
it's exhaustive and it's endless.
But I'm here to tweak just afew things to make your nervous
system regulate so that you canget through those things,
because you can't just tellsomeone well, get rid of your

(59:55):
kids, get rid of your in-laws,get rid of all of your
responsibilities at your job.
It's not that easy, you know,but how can I help you?
Augment your lifestyle to where?
What are some breathingtechniques you can use through
the busy times of the day?
Here's a recommendation Stop toeat.
Don't eat on your drive to work.

(01:00:16):
If that means yes, maybe I needto wake up a few minutes
earlier in the morning to makethat possible.
I will, but it's returning thatbalance of care and that
responsibility back to you tosay it hasn't been working
before, it's too much.
I'm in a state of overwhelm Now.
I have to say these are hardboundaries for me.

Johnna (01:00:33):
Yes, I am a working mother.

Alex (01:00:34):
I'm doing the most.
I'm maybe a single mom doingthe most, but you have to have
the boundary and I love when Iget to sit in sessions with
consultations and I can help you, be an advocate for yourself,
to say I care for you.
I know that you're sitting in astate of overwhelm and how it's
now manifesting in theseconditions that are plaguing you

(01:00:56):
.
How can I be your advocate toremind you to be your own
advocate?

Johnna (01:01:01):
yeah, enough is enough.
I have to have my boundaries doyou have a client that you can
think of that maybe made animpact on you kind of like?
I know, like not to tell liketoo much because it hit me and
stuff like that, but like it'skind of a two-part question, so
like a client that you canrecall and kind of walk us
through the consult process andstuff, so that the listeners can

(01:01:21):
kind of understand what you dobut also hear an amazing story
that you have.

Alex (01:01:25):
Yeah, that's a really good thought.
A really good example would besomeone that how do I say this?
I had a client that is a femaleand she has been dealing with
autoimmune disorders, which isvery common in the female
population because we have somuch stress and overwhelm.
It's very common, so it canmanifest in these ways.

(01:01:46):
And you know, I'm hearing the.
I have to do this.
I have to take this person toschool, I have to, you know,
maintain this part of my job.
I have to travel for my in-lawto take care of them.
I have to do this, this, thatand the third.
And I'm dealing with theseautoimmune disruptions.

(01:02:08):
Um, but by the time, it's timefor me to eat.
all I, all I can even stand toto do, is have some coffee and
have some candy or sugar, yeahRight, which where you're like,
wait, whoa, you're having theseproblems but you're not giving
your body any tools to deal withthem, but you're not giving
your body any tools to deal withthem.
And it was as simple.
Not as simple she's stillworking on this but it can be as
simple as just saying it's alot.

(01:02:35):
Why don't we sit in thisconsultation and do a breathing
exercise together so that youcan practically use this tool
when that moment in the car orwhen that moment at home gets
too stressful, here's somebreathing that you can do.
Right then, it takes no, noeffort beyond you, just sitting
still for a moment and returningback to yourself.
And the next time I saw her, ofcourse there was, you know, a
lot of other recommendations Igave her, but that was the

(01:02:57):
biggest one that stood out toher- so you're kind of like a
two for one, you're kind of likea number one, a wellness
instructor, and you're atherapist.
I think a lot of us feel thatway because, um, it comes down
to just having that conversation, especially for women.
You know, I have to advocate.
There is sometimes no one wantsto listen and it can be that

(01:03:19):
simple.
So, um, just sitting down andjust making that space and
making that safe space to knowthat it's okay to be overwhelmed
and it's okay to have theseproblems, You're not at fault,
your body's not fighting againstyou, right?
In terms of autoimmunedisorders, disruptions, it's.
Why is my body doing this to me?
Right, it's.
It's.
It's flipping the narrative andsaying actually, my body has an

(01:03:41):
innate ability and a desire tolive in a state of homeostasis,
live in a state of balance, andthere's things out of my control
that are fighting against me.
Where can I return back control?
What are spaces in my lifestylethat I do have control over?
So, what a consultation wouldlook like?
If somebody comes in, we meet,um, of course, I give a general

(01:04:04):
synopsis of what Ayurveda isright, those five elements, how
we work in accordance withnature, how we harmonize, and
I'll say okay, here's somequestions to ask.
You know, um, what are someways that you tolerate
temperature?
Do you tolerate cold?
Do you tolerate heat?
Um, are you someone that justcannot stand wind and cold and

(01:04:25):
you just can't even go outside?
Um, are you someone that duringthe summers you're just like
I'm, just always hot?
I can't stand it.
There's certain questions likethat that I'll ask about.
How do you respond to theenvironment?
How do you respond to nature?
How do you digest foods?
Not just do you eat it, andnothing happens Like what does
that feel like to you?
Do you have acidity and acidreflux?

(01:04:47):
Do you have bloat when you eatfoods?
Do you experience nothing atall?
How does your elimination go?
What's the quality of youreliminations?
We're talking about poop.
Right, it's okay.
It's a safe space.
It's important.
What goes in is just asimportant as the quality of what
comes out to it.
It's a huge diagnostic tool itcan tell you a lot, a lot.

(01:05:08):
So those are the types ofquestions that I ask.
I want to know every piece tothe puzzle of your mind and your
body.
How do you respond to stress?
Do you respond with anxiety,nervousness?
Do you respond with anger,frustration?
Do you stay in the corner?
Do you isolate and you have nomotivation?
These are questions that I wantto know that help me have an

(01:05:30):
idea of, not just beyond, whatdoes your body look like to me
right now, but what?
How does your body literallyfunction?
And then, with those answers inmind, I will say okay, you
don't respond super well thisway, this way, this way.
So now we can tweak yourroutine a little bit.
If you don't respond well to theheat in the environment, here's

(01:05:53):
ways that you can.
What hours of the day shouldyou avoid going outside?
Here's some drinks that you candrink or foods that you can eat
that will keep your body coolso that, when you do go outside,
the heat won't harm you as much.
The list goes on.
It's everything right.
So, and back to the stressfactor.
Full circle there.
Okay, when I'm super stressed,I have anxiety, nervousness, my

(01:06:17):
mind is a wreck.
Here's some breathing exercisesbefore, during and after the
stressful event.
That can really help yournervous system regulate.
And again, everything I justsaid are free.
It's free recommendations.
I'm not asking you to spendmoney.
I do have herbs available,because sometimes it does take a
little bit of supplementation,and that's what they're there

(01:06:39):
for.
Again, nature working with us.
The herbs are created fromplants.
Right, nature has been theresince the beginning of time for
humans to help us, isn't aspirinfrom the willow bark?
Yes, it is.
I was like yeah.

Johnna (01:06:50):
And like basically, and again, guys, this is you talk to
your doctor before you changeanything over, because we're not
telling you we anything over,because we're not telling you,
we're just talking, yes, um, Ithink, berberine they did a
study with berberine andmetformin and berberine out.
Um, basically did the same inthe studies as metformin for
diabetics.

Alex (01:07:08):
There's so many anti-inflammatory herbs um.
Ginger, turmeric, are greatexamples in your diet that you
can increase every day and itcan literally pull you away from
a lot of certain prescriptionmedications because it actually
works better yeah, it's crazy.

Johnna (01:07:26):
My friend who's from saint lucia like if he even felt
a cold coming on, he would belike where's my ginger tea?

Alex (01:07:33):
I'm not gonna name names on here, but she'll listen and
she'll know why.
But it's okay.
I have one sneeze at thebeginning of spring in Jones
Valley and I have to go get aZ-Pak right away.
No local hunting, give it asecond.
Yeah, there's so many differentways we can use nature right Use

(01:07:53):
the local honey, because thosebees pollinated the plants that
are creating the allergies inyour environment.
It's great.
Bees pollinated the plants thatare creating the allergies in
your environment.
It's great, but not even justthat.
Give it a second.
And I and we can't blameourselves because we live in a
fast paced culture where wedon't have time to be sick.

Johnna (01:08:08):
We have to get back to work.

Alex (01:08:10):
We don't have PTO.
But it's also like, yes, thesenatural quote unquote we're
using here at these naturalalternatives to care, when we
use something like cold or fluas an example, take longer, but
that's, and that could be just acouple more days, but that's
because we're letting the bodydo the work on its own.
So again, like you said, pleasesee your doctor.

Johnna (01:08:33):
I'm not stressing on that though, psa, though, psa on
that that that that doesirritate me when people do that.
Because do that?
Because when I worked in the ERwe'd have a lot of people who
would sneeze one time and belike I need something.
Right now, literature tells youusually a cold is going to be
its worst at day three to five.
When you get prescribed anantibiotic on day one sorry, I'm

(01:08:55):
sorry you're supposed to startfeeling better by day five when
you get prescribed an antibiotic.
Let's say you go to the doctoron day two and you're three days
into an antibiotic.
You are already going to feelbetter anyways.
And an antibiotic isn't for avirus and that's why we have a
lot of antibiotic resistantorganisms, because we're being
prescribed too many antibiotics.
But doctors are afraid not toprescribe antibiotics because
then the patient gets mad andthey don't come back to their

(01:09:17):
practice.

Alex (01:09:17):
And then that's my PSA on that.
I love it.
We're speaking the language,it's great.
And antibiotics have alsohelped us, when they're
prescribed appropriately for theright thing, being bacterium.

Johnna (01:09:28):
And again, we're not telling you what to do because
we're not assessing you.
So if you feel, like you needto go to the doctor.
Please go to the doctor?

Alex (01:09:33):
Absolutely, we're.
This is an integrativehealthcare conversation.
But but going back to even that, you know, resist maybe if, if
it's not a dire necessity tohave penicillin as an example,
resist the, the urge to takecertain antibiotics, because
then the next phase is gutmicrobiome disruption and then

(01:09:56):
that can lead into the nextproblem, and the next problem,
and the next problem.
So what are ways that we canlive in accordance with nature
and supplement your immunesystem?
Root cause to to, to deal withwhatever's coming up cold flu,
whatever it is the body's justsaying.
Hey, my immune system isdisrupted so quick.

(01:10:18):
You know.
If we then take an antibiotic,yes, it might help the cold, but
then it just disrupted theimmune system because the
microbiome holds what we nowknow as being 90% of the immune
system.

Johnna (01:10:29):
People don't realize like antibiotics killed both
good and bad bacteria becausethey can't target, just like
chemotherapy targets all cells,not just not just cancer cells.
So that's something.
But you know what?
Also, that goes into educatingyour patient.
I think if more providers didjust educate and sit down and
have a conversation, say, hey, Ican prescribe you this, but let
me tell you, you know what, thereasons not to, or the reasons

(01:10:52):
why to, and let the patient kindof collaborate on that decision
, because maybe the patient then, if they had a better
understanding, would say, ok,well, never mind.

Alex (01:11:00):
then yeah, you know, and again it's like going back to
the empathy of the medicalculture.
I mean, we've been conditionedto say whatever my doctor says
goes Right, not.

(01:11:21):
How can I learn more about mybody and how it responds to my
environment and what can I dopreventatively or when it's time
to treat?
What can I reach for in mypantry, in my refrigerator, on
my supplement counter?
What can I reach for, insteadof saying I got to go to the
doctor right away?

Johnna (01:11:32):
Well, I do have a few more personal questions are kind
of kind of for your wellnesstoo, but what advice would you
give someone looking to pursue?
Sorry, wrong, you alreadyanswered that.
Um, your favorite dailyAyurvedic practice, ayurvedic
practice, and what Ayurvedicroutine or remedy do you swear
by personally?

Alex (01:11:51):
Okay, so my favorite practice and I'll expand on why
this is for everybody um isregulating your waking and
sleeping routine.

Johnna (01:12:04):
I cannot do that to save my life.
I'm going to come see you.

Alex (01:12:06):
Hey girl, I'm telling you, some days are easier than
others for myself to terriblesleeper, since I was five years
old.
Here's, here's the baseline ofwhy that's so important and I
and this, hopefully, willresonate with a lot of people Um
, we are beings that regulatebased off of our circadian
rhythm.
For those that don't know, thatmeans you're waking and

(01:12:28):
sleeping routine and we have asubstance um in our body that's
released and inhibited when wesleep and we wake.
This is called melatonin.
When we go to sleep, melatoninrises, allowing us to have
restful sleep.
This is when cell repairhappens.
When we wake, melatonindecreases, so that we're not so

(01:12:50):
sleepy and groggy and we can goabout our day.
When we regulate just thatsystem alone meaning we have the
same time of day we wake up inthe same time of day that we go
to sleep as much as asphysically possible.
I know that some RNs, thirdshift at the hospital, are
rolling their eyes right now,and I get it, um, but optimally,

(01:13:14):
if we can create a regulatedtimeframe for those two waking
and sleeping times, yourcircadian rhythm will also
regulate itself, and that yourcircadian rhythm happens to be
what sets the tone for othersystems in the body, our thyroid
system that controls ourhormone regulation.

(01:13:36):
It's probably why my hormonesare zero.
Well, and I get that.

Johnna (01:13:40):
I get that question a lot.

Alex (01:13:41):
How can women right it's may, so it's women's health
month.
How can I regulate my hormonesas a woman?
That's my first thing.
Girl, just get your circadianrhythm in order, because it
gives rise to all the othersystems our hormone regulation,
our thyroid, the way that ourbodies digest foods, the way
that our brain works, umlubrication of our joints.

(01:14:02):
You wouldn't believe the waysthat the circadian rhythm then
um transcends to the otherrhythms of the body that are so
important.
So that's huge and you knowquickly.
We have to mention that that'sreally hard in our modern
culture because we're doomscrolling at nine 30 at night.
The blue light is confusing ourcircadian rhythm.

(01:14:23):
Um, you were spiking yourcortisol.
Spiking your cortisol, so youryour melatonin.
The piece to your circadianrhythm that controls your desire
to fall asleep is controlled bythe sun.
So when the sun rises, yourmelatonin turns off and that
tells your body it's time towake up, it's time to get going,

(01:14:43):
be productive, turns on yourdigestive system, turns
everything on, and when the sunsets, melatonin begins to
release, telling us to fallasleep.
So the best medicine right thatyou can do to help regulate that
is not only set your alarm forthe same time in the morning,
but start reducing what we'veheard already.

(01:15:04):
Start reducing your screen time.
You know, an hour or two beforeit's time to go to bed, because
that blue light from your TV,your iPad as small children or
your cell phone, whatever it isis really disrupting that
melatonin release in the brain.
So that's probably the best waythat you can do that and then
set your alarm for the same time.
I know it's hard on theweekends, we want to sleep in,

(01:15:25):
but if you can try to wake atthe same time for those of us
that feel super sluggish in themorning upon waking things like
that.
If you give yourself one weekof regulating that, you will
feel tremendous changes in thebody and in the mind.

Johnna (01:15:38):
So my problem is is I wake up before my alarm and I
just wake up like at 3am and itreally makes me angry naturally.

Alex (01:15:43):
Well, we can take a deep dive into why that is.
If you'd like to sit for aconsultation cause there's a lot
of reasons, literally.

Johnna (01:15:50):
It makes me so angry.

Alex (01:15:52):
Yeah, the, the that fire element that we discussed.
It's really starting to startto Kindle, if you will, between
like 11 and 3 AM.
So for a lot of people we havethat typical why do I always
wake up at like two, 30 or 3 AMand I look at my clock and it's
the same time every night, everytime.
That's why there's there's alittle bit of that, and then for
you, you're feeling that anger,so maybe you have that fire

(01:16:14):
element, a little bit like meand your body, so you tend
towards that.
So there's ways that we canregulate and calm that down,
okay.

Johnna (01:16:21):
So that's definitely coming to see you.

Alex (01:16:23):
That's a big piece.
Please do.
It'd be so much fun, we couldexpand and I could learn so much
from you too.
Um, so, and then nature's bestmedicine, if you will, can be
hot water.
Okay, we go back to digestionwater.

(01:16:44):
Okay, we go back to digestion,right.
Um, we don't want to slowdigestion by giving cool
temperature foods or drinks inthe gut.
Anything and the body is is runby the channels.
Right, we have differentchannels, esoterically speaking
that, that keep the body movingand going, not just our
circulatory system with ourblood, but in our nervous system
, with our nerves.
But you can see the body kindof as this moving creature that

(01:17:04):
has all of these rhythms andchannels going through it.
So keeping them open is themost important thing we can do
so that the body can thenfunction appropriately.
So when we drink warm fluids,ie hot or room temp or even just
warm water, this can be a huge,huge benefit, especially when

(01:17:25):
we have blockages in thosechannels.
We'll see that, right, indigestive problems, constipation
, even diarrhea, things likethat.
We can see it in congestion inthe face, we can see it in heart
congestion, right, blockagesthrough cholesterol, um,
cholesterol, things like that.
So if we can keep the channelsclear and open and again right.

(01:17:46):
This is a free recommendation.
We can all heat up hot waterand make them for ourselves and
just sip that throughout the day.
If you're having any of theseblockages, sensations or
symptoms in the body, that canbe.
One of nature's best medicinesis just heat the body back up
and allow it to flow freely.
Um, when I give thatrecommendation to everybody,

(01:18:06):
people will be like wait what?

Johnna (01:18:08):
And is it okay to do like a hot tea, like a
non-caffeinated tea?
Yeah, yeah, I definitely giveit a little flavor.

Alex (01:18:13):
Yeah, to give it some flavor.
Um, if you can, you know, makeit just plain, you might really
enjoy those benefits.
But we've heard this for a longtime.
First thing upon waking, havewarm lemon water.

Johnna (01:18:24):
Detoxify the body.

Alex (01:18:25):
So we're already used to that.
That's already something thatwe've heard.
So if you can add some lemon init, that can be really
stimulating and nice.
If you have too much acid inthe body, you may want to reduce
the lemon and just go for plainwarm to hot water.
You may want to reduce thelemon and just go for plain warm
to hot water.
Um, but yes, if, if it's morepalatable for you to to add a
tea to make that possible, stillget great benefits.

Johnna (01:18:53):
All right.

Alex (01:18:53):
And which dosha do you identify with most and why, and
has that changed over time?
If you probably haven't alreadyrealized, I think you and I are
pretty aligned with this, so Iresonate most with the Pitta
Dosha.
We talked about the fiveelements earlier and there's
three different dosha types.
That's how we break down whichof those five elements we
resonate with most.
Which ones are most in our body.
The Pitta Dosha is the middleone.
It's made of that fiery elementand I've always resonated with

(01:19:17):
that and yes, it can change overtime.
Everybody has different doshasthat govern the physiology at
different stages of life, soeverybody gets those changes,
but we all have one thatdominates our physiology through
most of the life path and minewould be the fiery one.

Johnna (01:19:37):
That's my bad for not asking you.
I thought the doshas and theelements were the same thing.

Alex (01:19:42):
That's my bad for not asking that earlier so there's
three doshas yeah, there's threedoshas, so there's five
elements.
Okay to to nature ether, orknown as space, air, fire, water
and earth.
Everybody has all of those inthe body, but wait, what makes
us unique is our individualcombination of those elements,
which is the dos dosha.
That's the dosha.

Johnna (01:20:01):
So what are the three doshas?

Alex (01:20:02):
Vata is the first one.
It's made of the space and theair elements.
So you can imagine if someone'sa Vata dominant dosha person,
they're going to be your superfast paced person.
They can't stop moving, theywon't stop talking, they go, go,
go, go go.
They're super enthusiasticabout life.
They can't really sit still andyou can see this in their like

(01:20:23):
hand and body motions.
They're always on the move.
You know, um, and.
But that just means that theyhave more of that air element.
So they're literally like air,just moving all the time.
So, physiologically speaking,they might be your person.
That's thinner, they might havemore prominent bony structures
and, um, the, the next doshawould be Pitta.
So that's what myself and whatI'm going to gauge, if you're

(01:20:45):
comfortable with it you might betoo.
It's kind of that middle dosha.
It embodies a lot more of thatfire element to it.
So because they have more fire,they're going to be that person
that's more like intellectuallyfocused.
They want to always learnsomething new.
They're very sharp and that cannot just like intellectually
focused.
They want to always learnsomething new.
They're very sharp and that cannot just be intellectually
sharp.
They might come off as sharpwhich I've heard this, I've

(01:21:08):
heard this given back to me Um,but when it comes to their body
like they might, because theyhave that fire member, they
might be more prone to thoseinflammatory conditions.
They might have more fireliterally in the body.
Um, so physiologically speaking, they look more like medium
size.
They have like more mediumstructure, but they tend to have

(01:21:29):
more muscle tone because theyhave that increased blood.
They've got all that strengththere.
They might somebody that whenyou talk about their, their
tendons, their bones, it'smedium, but they might be the
person that you can really seetheir veins prominently like.
They're like the muscle personin the group right.
They like to exercise, theylike to work out and do weight,

(01:21:49):
weight lifting, things like thatokay last dosha is called kapha
and this dosha is more of againthat like more gross elements.
Gross meaning heavy, right.
So your earth, your waterelements, so they're going to
embody a little bit of a slowerpace.
They like to move slow, theytalk a little slower.

(01:22:11):
There's somebody that could bea really great friend, because
they'll just sit and listen andthey don't really need to talk a
lot.
They don't have sharp responsestowards you, they're just kind
of like, you know, hanging out,they're your chill friend.
Now, their body type might be alittle bit more structurally
sound because they are moreearthy.

(01:22:32):
They might be your tallerfriend, that's a little bigger
boned.
They might have larger hips,larger thighs, their gate, they
might like, literally like, movea lot slower than others,
different than that first vataperson, right, that's like oh,
it's something they just can'tcan't tell me your kafa person's
gonna be super chill nowbecause they have more of that
deep, heavier earth element tothem.

(01:22:55):
They might have tendenciestowards slowing down problems.
They might be more depressivein nature.
Their digestion might be superslow, really dull, Um.
So those are just some examples.
It's a lot to break down andit's new terms that people
haven't heard before, but thoseare just examples of the three.
But um, I definitely resonatewith the Pitta one right in the

(01:23:17):
center.
Anybody that knows me knowslike I am like sharp, I'm on it,
Like I've got to have controlover everything, Like um that's
definitely me.

Johnna (01:23:27):
Now.
I will say I used to beprobably more of the like speak
faster, like before I startedworking with practitioners and
stuff actually.

Alex (01:23:42):
And everybody has all of them.
Remember, we all have all thoseelements within us.
It's just that some of us haveone that's dominating more than
the other, and sometimes it'snot that easy too.
Someone may come in and, andyou know, you might assume that,
oh, it's vata, pitta or kapha,and we're going to treat them
with that in mind.
Somebody might have an evensplit right down the middle of
two, or even all three, andthat's where it gets fun and

(01:24:07):
exciting, because it's not justsimple, and so that can happen a
lot.
And so if you're listening tothis and you're like whoa, I
feel like I'm not even surewhere I land to take a test.
This is available on my websitedosha wellnessnet.
D O S H a wellnessnet.
There's a property assessmentin there and that's your mind,

(01:24:28):
body type, that's that, thatesoteric term property, and it's
super fun to take.
It's so fun because it breaksdown all of those questions I
asked before, like how do youtolerate certain temperatures,
how?

Johnna (01:24:39):
do you?

Alex (01:24:39):
respond to stress?
How does your digestive systemwork?
What does your physical bodylook like?
Blah, blah, blah.
And it's really cool because itgives you an opportunity to
understand more about how yourbody works and interacts with
nature.
And um, keep in mind, if youtake those tests, a lot of us
are going to have a, a, an evensplit between a lot of things,

(01:25:00):
but you'll find pretty quicklythat a lot of us have that
dominating one and you're likeoh, that makes sense.
And I like to interject this inas well, whenever I do
workshops and we take this testas a group and we all discuss it
.
It's so fun because not only dowe move from a place of less
judgment towards ourselves andwe become less critical of why

(01:25:23):
we have tendencies towardscertain things that others may
not, or maybe why we're known asthat sharp friend that just can
be kind of too much to somepeople like myself same, moving
from a place of less judgmentfor the self, and knowing this
is my nature.
Yeah, how can I live inaccordance with it and use it?
Use it for its strengths.

(01:25:45):
Not it's, it's what we mightlook as weaknesses, but how can
we understand others?
Yeah, how can we understand ourpartner, our mother, our father
, our child, um, our boss, even,yeah, our co-workers?
So it becomes this, this kindof avenue of communication, not
only with yourself but societyaround you.

(01:26:06):
So when someone says somethingsharp to you or they seem super
unmotivated and heavy and dulland they don't care about the
things that you care about, um,or maybe they're like super
anxious and you just like can'tunderstand why, it almost
becomes this like guiding toolto be like oh, I get why Jonna
talks like that or thinks likethat, or why her body does this

(01:26:30):
or that.
It's really cool because itgives this like empathy and
compassion for not only yourselfbut everyone and everything
around you, and I think it's areally cool way to to learn more
about, for sure, for sure.

Johnna (01:26:44):
No, I appreciate you doing this and explaining
everything.
You're so easy to talk to.
So tell everybody again wherethey can find you, maybe book a
consult, and this willdefinitely be in the show notes.
So, guys, just click in theshow notes, but also say it for
everyone where they can followyou on socials and all the
things.

Alex (01:27:00):
Yes, so I am a business within a business.
So I'm an instructor here atlight on yoga fitness and this
is my wellness suite inside ofit, um, where I have my
Ayurvedic wellness businesscalled dosha wellness.
So if you would like to book orhave questions or want to
research more, you can go to mywebsite directly,
wwwdoshawellnessnet.

(01:27:21):
You can also go to light onyoga fitness's website, um, and
you can book directly throughthat um site.
Learn more about your doshatype, take the quiz on there,
learn more about the principlesof Ayurveda there's a blog on
there that has some fun tips andtricks about the different
doshas, things like that Um andthen always be on the lookout

(01:27:42):
because I do offer workshopsthroughout the community where
we can sit and learn more aboutsome of these principles and
dive deeper into Ayurveda.
So you can do consults, andthen all throughout the month of
May the consultations are 20%off.
So if you do decide to bookonline, you can use the code
yoga week and um it'll give you20% to give it your first try.

Johnna (01:28:06):
All right.
Well, thank you so much.
And we're going to have to do apart two cause I have so many
more questions.

Alex (01:28:10):
Likewise, we have a lot to talk about.
I really enjoyed this.
Thank you so much.

Johnna (01:28:14):
Absolutely All right, guys, Until next time.
Bye you.

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