September 28, 2023 • 38 mins
"Health is a journey; its not a destination". This is a central tenant and principle of holistic health. But what does this idea of holistic health add to our understanding of what it means to show up authentically and resiliently as who God's made us to be. Join Harmonize host Ruth Jefferson and Special Guest Sarah Gallander of the Wellness Matrix as they dive into these questions and more.
Could there be a powerful connection between faith and health? In this stimulating conversation, we uncover the profound influence of Scripture on our health journey. We dive headfirst into challenging themes such as spiritual warfare and community, drawing from the wisdom of passages such as those in Isaiah, Ecclesiastes, and 1 Peter. We also take a look at the reality that health can be a difficult subject in certain communities of color due to the lasting effects of historical medical experimentation.
Sarah's story is made even more powerful not just because of her advocacy but also because of her own experience with walking down the challenging path of Lyme Disease while navigating the world of Big Pharma. Today, she shares her personal journey with us, providing insights into the shortcomings of conventional medicine, and the role of nutrition and holistic health in helping to bolster its practice and in helping you to take ownership of your story. Together, we explore how faith can be a pillar of strength in our struggles and how God's promise of renewal carries us through the darkest valleys.
Lastly, we delve into the pressing issue of mistrust in medicine and the dire need for patient-centered care. Join us for this enlightening conversation that interweaves health, faith, and authenticity.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ruth Jefferson (00:00):
Welcome to the Harmonize Podcast.
We're going to try something abit different with today's
meditational thought.
Since we're talking abouthealth today, let's connect that
with today's Scripture thought.
To do that, we're going to dosome breathing.
So I'm going to introduce thepattern for that and then I'm
going to start the reading.
Just a note.
This will be an abbreviatedversion, so feel free to stop
and rewind as much as you needto.
The count for this will be four, four, four.
(00:22):
Basically, what this means isthat you'll breathe in for four,
hold for four and then breatheout for four.
This may seem a little weird atfirst and your thoughts may
race a little, but with practiceit may get easier.
So remember that.
Breathe in four, hold four,breathe out four.
And, this is an example of whatthat breathing could look like.
Breathe in.
(00:43):
He gives strength to the weary.
Hold for four.
And then breathe out.
And increases the power of theweak.
Now that we know what thatlooks like, let's begin.
Today's reading is found inIsaiah 40.
Isaiah 40 is a chapter writtento give hope to God's people.
(01:40):
And, it specifically referencesthe Messianic hope, the hope of
the Savior, the hope of thatSavior to a people who have been
under subjugation both in termsof the physical and the
spiritual.
We can look back at verse one asevidence of this, and as I
think about this, two thingsstand out.
One, there will be times ofstruggle, of stumbling, of
falling.
God doesn't promise thesethings won't happen, but He does
(02:01):
promise He will renew usthrough them.
One of the ways He does this isin the context of community,
which reminds me of Ecclesiastes4:12.
Though one may be overpowered,two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is notquickly broken.
The devil still walks aroundlike a roaring lion, seeking
(02:22):
whom he may devour.
First Peter 5 (02:23):
8.
The spiritual warfare that hasexisted even before our time
here on this earth, but notbefore God who has existed since
before time itself, still wageson.
The evils of racism andinjustice are the clothes they
sometimes wear.
And as time goes on and itseems like we're fighting the
same battles that have alwaysbeen fought and having the same
conversations we've always had,and all of this starts to wear
(02:46):
on us.
We have God's promise that hewill renew us.
As Matthew 5:6 puts it (02:48):
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness, for theywill be filled.
The second thing that standsout to me is that this chapter
is written to the Children ofIsrael, the very people of God.
God's people needed to receivecomfort.
Sound familiar?
This thirst for righteousnessis blessed by God.
(03:11):
The comfort of God in themiddle of both physical and
spiritual struggle is Hiscalling card.
What steps can we take to dolikewise?
To walk as children of ourFather, ambassadors of His
kingdom?
(03:44):
Hey, Voice of the Middle GroundFam! We're back, and I'm here
today with my friend SarahGallander.
Holistic Health.
The fact of the matter is thatthis topic is super important as
we talk about diversity,community and authenticity.
The fact is, if we're nothealthy, we can't show up as our
authentic selves.
You can't live your lifeaccording to the call and design
God has for you, and that'ssomething that's really
important as we look at Voice ofthe Middle Ground, our mission,
(04:05):
values and really thatRevelation 7 perspective.
Now I wanna go ahead and saysome more things about Sarah,
because I also want everyone tounderstand more about her and
really her credibility for thisconversation.
Sarah and I first met when wewere both living in the Phoenix
Metroplex area and we were goingto church together.
That's when we first started toget to know each other, and she
also started to get to knowsome of my health challenges,
(04:27):
which, for those of you who knowme, health is something that I
really struggle with.
Most people probably wouldn'tadmit that, but with a topic
like this, transparency is superimportant.
One of the things that reallystood out to me about Sarah is
that she really has thisholistic perspective to health
that is so refreshing and sodifferent from at least what
I've experienced as the norm.
(04:47):
And speaking of things I'veexperienced as the norm, there's
another reality we need toconfront.
Health is one of those topicsthat can be controversial in
some spaces within communitiesof color, as it relates to
interaction with the traditionalmedical system.
Remembering, of course, thatcommunities of color are not a
monolith.
And as we look at this, it'salso important for us to realize
that there are very realcircumstances that have led to
(05:09):
this environment in such placesas it does exist.
Think back to the 60s 70s, theProctor Foundation for Research
and Ophthalmology asexperimentation on native
boarding school students withTrachoma, The Tuskegee
experiments and giving syphilisto black men, and even James
Marion Sims and hisexperimentation on enslaved
women, who he falsely purportedto not experience pain to the
(05:30):
same extent as others.
One of the things that I heardfrom Sarah this mistrust of the
traditional medical pathway issomething that's increased
across the board.
And we'll get to that in asecond.
But first let's rewind.
It's really important for us tofurther approach this topic of
the effects of theexperimentation we mentioned
just a second ago Stillstretches into today, and that
(05:50):
fact is something that Ipersonally can attest to, and I
promise that I'll get to Sarahin a second.
But I really do wanna make thisconnection point.
I said earlier that I reallywanted to be transparent,
especially as we're getting intoa topic like this, and so
here's a bit more of thattransparency.
With that commitment totransparency, let me just say
this for the next couple ofminutes this may be something
(06:14):
that if you're listening to withyour kids, you might not wanna
have them in the room just forthe next couple of minutes,
because this part is not veryfamily friendly.
Several years ago I was incollege.
At this point I went to theemergency area of the hospital.
I have a history of anemia andthat has really led me to need,
historically, quite a few bloodtransfusions.
(06:34):
Thank you, by the way, to thosewho give blood, because it
really does make a difference.
It was late and I was feelingreally anemic-y.
If you struggle with anemia likeI do, you know what I mean that
tiredness, fatigue, coldness,difficulty focusing and numbness
in the hands and feet, and forme it really also gets into the
area of blacking out, gettingdizzy, passing out, that kind of
thing, the kind of thing youreally don't wanna talk about
(06:58):
because you know I can freakpeople out.
But anyway I go in.
They decide they wanna do anexamination and I don't really
know if I was dealing withdoctors or nurses at that point.
But for whatever reason, theydecided they wanted to do a
gynecological exam.
So I get up on the table.
The next thing I know they'retrying to insert an instrument.
It's really painful and I'mletting them know.
It gets even more painful tothe point where I'm crying.
(07:20):
Next thing, I know all three ofthe ladies who were taking part
in the exam are making fun ofme, assuming, based on no
information at all, that I wassexually active and that if I
can handle being sexually active, I should be able to handle
their testing.
For a bit more clarity, thishappened back in Texas, where I
lived before I started my treknorthward.
I won't go any further into this, but really what I want to
(07:44):
bring out is the fact that theresearch methods of the past and
the brutality of the same thoseeffects can really be seen even
today in the way that certainpractitioners practice
traditional or, as I thinkprobably better describes it,
hospital medicine.
Parents, if you want, you caninvite your kids back into the
room to listen with you.
You're safe now.
And, with that, let's welcomeour Special Guest today, Sarah
(08:06):
Gallander, Founder of theWellness Matrix.
You can find out more aboutSarah when you visit her website
at thewellnessmatrix.
com.
Go ahead and click over tothewellnessmatrix.
com.
Learn more about Sarah.
Engage with her services thereand learn how you can take a
stronger role in advocating foryourself, taking a more holistic
approach to your health andowning your story.
Hey, Sarah.
Welcome!
Sarah Gallander (08:26):
Thank you, Ruth .
It's so good to see you.
I have missed you, my friend.
Ruth Jefferson (08:30):
Yeah, it's awesome to have you on.
Sarah Gallander (08:34):
Thank you.
I love this mission that you'veembarked upon.
I've loved this, I've supportedthis from day one, and I'm so
glad it's still going.
Ruth Jefferson (08:44):
Yeah, you really have.
Thank you for that.
So I kind of mentioned earlierone of the things that really
stands out to me about you, evenin relation to my own journey,
is your holistic approach tohealth.
Can you tell us a bit moreabout that holistic perspective
and what really helped you toreach more of that holistic
standpoint?
Sarah Gallander (09:05):
Yeah, you know it's I love.
I love how God comes fullcircle.
He sometimes reveals to us allthe things at once and sometimes
he never does, and thensometimes it's.
It takes, you know, 25 yearsFor me.
I was in college and I wasactually a pre-med student and
planning to go the conventionalroute.
I knew I wanted to help healpeople.
(09:27):
I knew I wanted to be, you know, in some type of healing
modality and I had shadowed aprogram up in North Texas
actually, and I realized thatthey only had, you know, two,
three weeks of nu- well, noteven that like a unit on
nutrition, and I was a nutritionmajor at the time and pre-med.
(09:47):
So I was baffled.
I'm like, wait, the thing thatfuels every cell is the things
that we eat and the things thatwe ingest.
Yet we're not studying that.
It made no sense to me backthen, and that was in the late
1990s, which sounds like a longtime ago.
And that's kind of when Irealized, wow, okay, this is a
(10:09):
big problem.
How do we not, you know, lookat this as part of our health
story?
And then, you know, I was in, Ithink, for me, I was in my
biochemistry class and at thatpoint.
I grew up in the church and Igrew up knowing who Jesus was.
I went to you know stories.
I loved Sunday school.
I taught Sunday school was anactive youth group member
(10:30):
throughout my high school yearsand I went through that.
You know, when you're kind ofembarking on your own.
Is my faith my own?
Is it just because my parentstold me to do this?
And it was at that moment I wassitting in biochemistry, which
is the fusion of biology andchemistry and lots of like,
really nitty gritty, fun science, like down to the cellular
(10:51):
level, and I had this revelation, like I really felt like God
was speaking to my heart at thatpoint and saying how can this
not be divine?
How can this, how can peoplenot believe in me when they see
this?
And it was page 376 of my andit was CoQ10 is what we were
studying, which means nothing toanybody else, but to me it was
(11:12):
like this aha moment.
And to couple that with youknow I was trying to figure out
do I go to med school, do I not?
I took the MCAT, did not sogreat, or I thought not so great
, because at the time I was, youknow, had a lot of
perfectionism issues and thatended up like God closed that
door.
He said, nope, you're not goingdown that road so fast forward
(11:34):
to where I am now.
I had to endure a illness thatwas Lyme Disease.
That kind of came about and werealized what it was after, you
You know 15 different doctors inthe conventional medical system
.
I worked for Big Pharma.
I worked for a pharmaceuticalcompany one of the big ones as a
(11:54):
drug rep.
So I saw that side of medicineand then I experienced the
patient side where I was beingand dismissed to ld and.
I was crazy that no, there's noLyme Disease in Texas and I'm
like what the ticks see theborder and they turn around.
Like I don't, I don't get it.
But I did grow up in Minnesotaso I had, you know, exposure to
(12:17):
ticks but that-- it was justthis really awful feeling of
nobody hearing your story,nobody listening to you, nobody
taking all the pieces andputting it together.
And my husband at that time hewas like fervently praying,
researching.
I had no like brain, my brainfog.
It was awful.
(12:37):
It was a really--I had threesmall children and so that
really there was purpose in thatpain because I had to go
through this.
What I knew in conventionalmedicine that I had been trained
in because I'm trained as adietician.
I had been working in thatfield and I was blown away at it
wasn't working, and so thenI've always done pro bono
(12:58):
nutritional counseling.
I think anytime you meet me, wehave a conversation.
Anytime anyone we have aconversation about your health,
it just naturally goes there.
I think God gave me that giftand I do believe very firmly
that he did call me to what I'mdoing today.
So pandemic hits and my kidsare now in a different space.
(13:22):
I was very sick for many yearsand it was really difficult, but
I knew that it served some kindof purpose.
I kind of felt like Paul inprison, sometimes finding the
joy.
Where's the joy?
There's joy here somewhere.
And in 2020, my husband, John,who's amazing and he's my best
(13:45):
friend and my biggest supporter.
He was like Sarah, you have agift.
You need to be helping educatepeople on how they can really be
stewards of their body likereally understand how their body
works better, and it's okay.
If you start a practice andmonetize that, it's okay to do
that.
Giving me permission and Ireally have a.
(14:06):
My mom purpose was shifting andI love educating and teaching
people how to be better stewardsof their bodies, the temples
that we've been given, and usingit as an act of worship.
It is something that is divineand I love how every single
person, we have all the sameparts and pieces, but we're all
different and that is just abeautiful testament to the deity
(14:29):
of who God is.
And that's my practice startedand the fun thing is, as I was
in this small little town inTexas when I graduated from
Stephen F Austin StateUniversity in 1999.
And I had written out like mymission statement to my med
school applications and mydietetic intern applications,
(14:49):
and I really you know that, likeI said, god closed that door,
went on this really winding path, and when we actually moved
back to Nacogdoches in 2021, notbecause we were seeking it out,
but again I feel like God wascalling us here for a bigger
purpose.
And I found this box whenyou're unpacking.
You know you find boxes whenyou're unpacking and it was my
(15:11):
old applications and I'm readingthis statement and it's exactly
like, almost word for word,what my mission and values are
now in my own practice.
And that was like God sayingsee, I got you, this is where I
need you to be, and this and itwas in the same small town.
It was just kind of that wholefull circle moment as I'm
(15:31):
sitting out on my porch with thequiet, looking, you know, in my
trees, going what are we doinghere?
And he was like I called youhere.
So holistic health, I believe,has been a journey for me, but
it's such a mission and of mine,to help people own their story,
and what I mean by that is wegot to understand how God made
us, how he created us withintention and purpose, and then
(15:54):
how we live that out is an actof worship towards our response
to him.
And you can't do that in silos,you have to look at it as the
whole picture.
We can't just look at oh, youhave a high cholesterol, okay,
well, why?
It always goes back to okay,but why?
And I've always been the butwhy, girl.
So holistic health, I feel, hasthree components and I feel
(16:17):
like nutrition in of itself isthree components.
It's your spiritual nutrition,your physical nutrition and your
emotional nutrition, and allthree of those feed off of one
another and that's kind of wheremy holistic health I always had
it in me, I think, because Godplanted it in me, because that
was, you know, that was what hisdesire was, that I latch onto,
(16:39):
and it just, you know, 25 yearslater I figured it out.
Ruth Jefferson (16:43):
Awesome.
So it sounds like the holisticperspective that you have comes
from, really like a holisticexperience with your own life.
Sarah Gallander (16:50):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And I think you know, once we,you know, kind of gain some
spiritual maturity too, we canreally step back and look and
see how God's plan for all ofthat really feeds into that view
.
And again, you know, I lovethat science is so precise,
right, like we can do studies,and we can, we can get
(17:10):
everything really precise.
But if it were and I think ofthis, you know, going back to my
bio-chem class if everythingwas so replicable and precise
and you know, every single thinghappened and it has to happen
every single time, every day,and the trillions of cells, all
of these things have to happensimultaneously.
And if you don't, if there's amutation, if there's a shift, if
(17:31):
there's a cell death, you endup with disease or you end up
with death.
And for all of that to happen inevery person but we all have
unique qualities.
That's the part that says thatthere is, you know, because
otherwise we'd all be robots andwe'd all look the same and we'd
, all you know, be the same.
But that individual soul pieceis what sets us apart, and I
think that's where just thebeauty of God's sovereignty is
(17:54):
visible in His creation of Hispeople.
Ruth Jefferson (17:56):
That's awesome.
So kind of rewinding for asecond.
I mentioned a couple of likeinstances earlier.
Had you heard of any of thosebefore?
Sarah Gallander (18:04):
You know I had to look up a couple of them.
I did know about the TuskegeeExperiment, which is, again, I
hate how things get used in the"for science.
Well, that's just.
That's a terrible reason why.
But the James, mary and Simsthe gynecological one was new to
(18:25):
me.
I hadn't heard of the enslavedwomen, and you know all of those
have that common denominator of, you know, taking advantage of
a population that should never.
Whenever a population is takenadvantage of in the name of
science, we have to question why, and we have to.
Well, what is it really forscience, or was it a different?
Was there a different motivator?
And that's where, you know, Ihate seeing any of God's people
(18:49):
taken advantage of, because weall serve a purpose in His
kingdom, and this is when humansin collides with being of the
world rather than being in it.
Ruth Jefferson (18:58):
Kind of following up on that.
When we spoke before, one ofthe things that you brought up
was the way that that mistrustis growing between patients and
medical providers.
Can you tell us a bit moreabout what you believe is
leading to that?
Sarah Gallander (19:11):
Yeah, you know, when I was thinking about this
question, I have a biaspersonally because of what I
experienced and what you know,even being trained in, you know,
conventional medicine and Ibelieve that there is a purpose
for it.
I don't believe that there is.
I think God gives gifts topeople to be.
You know, have we notdiscovered certain things?
(19:32):
You know, if there's a, if Ihave a broken arm or if my arm
is severed and I need to havelike surgery, I want a surgeon,
like I want conventionalmedicine.
You know there's places, but Ifeel like it's almost like
tipped, the scale has tipped wayin the other direction and I
really feel like the mistrust isbecause we're not heard.
(19:52):
We're being.
It's almost like it's a gamethat's being played at this
point and you go into yourdoctor asking questions and you
don't even and it's not.
It's not because they don'twant to answer, it's because
they're held under this you knowinsurance game that they can
only see you for 15 minutes.
They only can do certain thingsaccording to a diagnostic code.
(20:14):
And it's really kind of changedhow providers and conventional
medicine are allowed to evenpractice.
They're not even really allowedto ask you more than a couple
of deep questions that come fromyou know, an intake, and then
there's no teaching, it's justhere.
Okay, you have X problem.
It's like an X for Y.
So here's your problem.
(20:35):
Medicine has becometransactional, is what I feel,
rather than the ownership ofeducation of okay.
Well, does this make sense?
What makes sense for me?
What am I feeling?
What am I experiencing?
What are the symptoms?
I always tell my patients andclients like your body has a
conversation with you and if youdon't listen to it, you're
going to just like communicationsolves 90% of the most problems
(20:57):
.
If you don't listen to thecommunication that your body is
telling you, you're going tomiss a lot of pieces that may be
revealing something deeperthat's going on.
So I think the mistrust iscoming from not because it's
intentional on the physicians orthe nurse practitioners or the
PAs.
It's their kind of collateraldamage from a system of how
(21:21):
they're trained.
I think most people get intomedicine because they want to
help people.
They genuinely have an innatedesire to help people be better,
and then the way that they gettrained is what kind of destroys
that.
In my opinion and again, thisis Sarah's opinion on this and
from what I've experienced and Ihave a lot of physician friends
(21:43):
.
I've worked in a lot inhealthcare for 15, 16 years and
the mistrust is because I thinkwe've made like I said, medicine
has become transactional.
You go in, you get aprescription and there's no
further education.
There's no.
Or my favorite is, oh, you'reoverweight, or oh you have fatty
liver, or oh, you have type 2diabetes.
(22:04):
Well, just eat better andexercise more.
And how do I do that?
How do I do that according tomy body, like they're not to
their defense, they're nottrained to do that, which is
great job security for me, but Ithink we've just become a
product of greed honestly.
In a system that is broken,medical care has become a big
(22:26):
business rather than advocatefor healing, and that's why I
always encourage people to like,if I'm working with someone and
they are going to aconventional physician which I
partner with a lot of physiciansand we've got a great working
relationship and so I'll helpthem, hey, maybe ask a few of
these questions.
Here's how you can understandhow your body works and how you
(22:48):
can then make the best decisionsfor your environmental factors.
Your how does your blood work?
What is your blood work tellingyou?
That's one of my favoritethings to do is help people
understand their blood work, notfrom a diagnostic perspective,
not from you have this disease,but how you actually what your
body is telling you through youractual blood work.
(23:08):
So I think the mistrust isbecoming because people aren't
being heard and they're beingshoved and run through like like
almost like a factory andnobody's willing to sit and
listen, or they may be willingbut they're not being allowed.
Maybe that may be a betterphrase and the mistrust that's
just leading to.
You know, there's all kinds ofmisinformation out there too.
There's a lot of chaos and alot of noise.
And then and some people justdon't know how to decipher all
(23:30):
of that so what it means forthem, because it's not a one
size fits all, it's not just eatmore and exercise or eat less
and exercise more, like that'sterrible advice.
And that comes into thatholistic piece.
Like how do we take theoverview of your spiritual
nutrition, your, and think aboutthat.
In conventional medicine you'renot really allowed to talk
about spiritual nutrition.
(23:51):
Really.
I mean, that to me is-- Ialways talk to people about hey,
let's talk about what spiritualbattle you're facing, because
that usually is what feeds thesoil, and your soil is like your
emotional nutrition, and thenyour roots of your trees are
your physical nutrition.
So when we have an emotionaland spiritual storm that are
colliding, you're going tomanifest physically, you're
(24:13):
going to have symptoms that comeabout, and it's you know.
It's really important to look atall three.
You know, where am I not, whereis the spiritual battle coming
from?
Even in people who don't, youknow, who aren't believers?
I mean, we're both, you know,Biblically- based believers.
So I, you know, I love beingable to be a witness to that too
, of helping people.
You know, from a spiritualstandpoint, to really, hey, what
(24:35):
does God say about this?
Let's go to, let's go to HisWord.
Where, where, where can we,where can we see?
I mean, there's tons ofexamples of, you know, the mind-
body connection.
Ruth Jefferson (24:43):
Yeah.
Al right, I want to pause for asecond here for those of you
who are listening.
Do you have any questions oranything about anything that's
said in this episode?
You can go ahead and text us at612-470-5419, or you can
message us on Facebook.
The link to Voice of the MiddleGround Facebook Page is also in
the description.
(25:03):
So kind of moving forward.
Moving forward with thisoverall central concept of
holistic health.
What is the role of holistichealth and helping people to be
able to show up as theirauthentic selves?
Or, on the other side of things, how does not taking this
approach prevent or block thatauthentic expression?
Sarah Gallander (25:22):
Yeah, I love that.
I love this question becauseI'm huge on authenticity and I
think it goes back to thatspiritual connection component.
Who are you in Christ?
What is your identity?
What idols are you worshipingoutside of the one true God?
I think it goes back to thevery first commandment of the
Ten Commandments, and evenfurther than that.
(25:43):
One of the first commandmentsthat Jesus gave us was love your
neighbor as yourself.
He didn't say in spite ofyourself, go out of obligation,
go love other people and ignoreyourself.
He doesn't, and that's not aselfish component.
It is sit in God's goodness andlove for you.
Be overwhelmed and over-consumed with the love that he
(26:04):
has for you that you're sofilled up and know who you are
in Him.
That's what spills out andpeople see Him through you.
You know, I think of one of ourfavorite songs, Ruth, that we
would sing when we wereworshiping together at CrossWalk
was Goodness of God.
It's one of my favorites, youknow we picked that one a lot,
but it's like His goodness isrunning after, it's running
after me, you know, and it'slike just sit, sit in His
(26:27):
goodness.
Be filled up so you can loveyour neighbor and you don't love
them as yourself, as a selfishlove, as a, as a worldly self-
care, you know, not, not thatkind of love, but the love that
is filled up with knowing whoyou are in Jesus, who you are in
Christ, that identity, I think.
I think this role of holistichealth is is really helping
people understand how their bodywas made, the way that God
(26:50):
designed it, and that it wasdesigned to function well and
designed to heal, and it wasdesigned to.
And when we, when we don't dothat, on the flip side of that,
you know, if we don't take thisapproach and we just go after
the high cholesterol or the, inyour case, you know, like a low
ferritin and a low iron, if wejust focus on that, we miss all
(27:10):
of the parts that are reallycontributing to that problem.
So we can silo things, sure,but it's like putting, it's like
putting a bandaid on a gapingwound.
If we don't understand how thewound happened in the first
place, which is usually multi-factorial, it's usually, you
know, more than one reason.
And when you look at a rootsystem.
(27:31):
It's a big buzzword right nowas root cause.
When you look at a root system,it's never just one thing A
root system that sits in soil isthere's a, there's a big,
massive system under there.
So, by being able to reallyaddress all of the pieces that
are contributing to your symptomcycle you can't just silo that,
you can't.
You can't just and that's why Ithink conventional medicine has
(27:53):
, you know, gotten stuck is thatwe just look at the silo, we
just look at the one thing,we're just focusing on the
symptom rather than the system.
And the system includes a bigspiritual component.
Where's your identity?
Are you chasing after adiagnosis?
If you're chasing a diagnosis,you're, you're, kind of
worshiping a false idol.
You know.
You're worshiping an idol ofwhat's trying to define you.
(28:16):
I, you know, am I?
I am Lyme Disease.
I am, you know, Anemic.
I am, you know.
Think about the words that wetell ourselves when we've been
given a diagnosis oh my gosh, Ihave Parkinson's, I have MS.
I am rather than no.
You are a baptized and redeemedchild of God who has been
afflicted with these things, andour strength lies in Christ and
(28:38):
it'll help us deal with theseexternal components that we have
.
So I feel like we, if we don'trecognize the holistic
components, we'll get caught ina spiritual trap and we'll also
get caught in a physical trapthat won't go away if we don't
identify our identity in Christand be filled up with God's love
, so that that's what can spillout.
Ruth Jefferson (28:57):
So just to kind of rephrase what you were saying
and correct me if I'm wrong,but basically it seems like when
it comes to like the diagnosis,like, for example, Parkinson's
or any of those things, theimportant thing is the way that,
the way that we approach them.
Sarah Gallander (29:15):
Yeah, absolutely it, because illness
is going to happen.
We live in a fallen world.
In fact, if we, if everyillness was healed here on Earth
, we would never long for Heaven, we would never have that
longing to cling and cleave tohim.
And it's how we respond to theafflictions that we've been
given.
And we have a perfect exampleof that, you know, throughout
the whole New Testament.
(29:36):
You know, Paul's entireexistence was constant struggle
and suffer, and yet he found hispurpose and calling, because he
was rooted in the identity of.
Okay, Lord, show me how totackle this and show me how to
show me where You are in this.
And we get caught up in thediagnosis of, you know, the and
I'm not saying I'm not trying tominimize that certain diagnoses
(29:57):
are, you know they're, they're,they're heavy, they weigh on
you.
But your approach from aspiritual and an emotional
standpoint can help understandthe physical piece of it and can
help it's not going to totallyrelieve it.
Probably, and you know at,spiritual healing is God's
ultimate goal for us, because wewill be physically healed when
we get to heaven.
But in this earth we, He toldus, going to be afflicted.
(30:19):
So it's kind of like well, wealready know that.
So how do we respond in thatcrisis or in that trial, in that
, you know, tumultuous, terribledisease that we've been hit
with, and sometimes we'rerelieved of that and sometimes
we're not, and we wait until wewin the race and get to heaven.
But how we respond to that hereon Earth is like God saying I
(30:39):
just keep trusting me.
You know, keep being obedient,keep trusting me, keep clinging
to me and I will give you that.
You know that hope and hope andjoy don't always necessarily
mean happy and whole.
It it's a, it's a state ofbeing, and that requires our
approach and response.
Ruth Jefferson (30:56):
So something that you alluded to earlier when
we were talking about the topicof trust and the medical system
was like the problem of likethe pressures with insurance and
some of the training there.
Do you think there's anythingelse that kind of lends itself
to a lack of trust within themedical system or that there are
other major contributingfactors?
Sarah Gallander (31:13):
I think without without getting into a
political discussion there'sthere's lots of things that do
contribute to that, and I thinka lot of it has to do with your
personal experience too.
You know, it's kind of likethere's, you know, there's
there's lots of, you know, baddoctors, but that doesn't paint
(31:35):
the brush for all of them.
There's a lot of people workingwithin the medical system that
are really trying, like I, Iknow a lot of them and they
really want to do, they want tohelp heal, and so then they
partner with people like me andare like, okay, if you could
just teach them.
And like, okay, yeah, let me bean extension of you outside of
our, outside of your office,like let me be the one that sits
(31:58):
with them every week for anhour, because you're not allowed
to do that.
And I really, you know, I thinkwe talk about healthcare reform
and I promise I won't go deepin that, but I think it comes to
insurance reform and how, howare we structuring this?
How are we providing access?
That's a big thing.
Like, I feel like we shouldspend most of our money on
education of how to preventrather than be reactive, because
(32:21):
reactive medicine is expensivemedicine proactive and
prevention kind of, is a littlebit less expensive than when we
have to spend all the money onthe medicines and all the money
on the hospitals and all themoney, you know and again I'm
not saying that it doesn't servea purpose and a place.
I think and this is where I loveI'm like I think there's a
middle ground that we can cometo.
You know, there's massiveextremes and I don't feel like
(32:44):
we should completely abandon.
You know, like I'm going tostand in the middle of the you
know the grass and and and andchant something and ask God to
heal me, like that's the.
For other extreme, you know,versus the extreme of
conventional medicine.
There's an extreme of holisticmedicine too, where it's that
you know I'm going to abandonall conventional pieces.
(33:05):
I'm like, huh, where can wecoexist of taking the best
pieces of each one?
And I think that's where Jesusis, just like your whole point.
Jesus is in the middle, He's,He doesn't live on extremes.
I mean, in the middle is inalignment to God and he is the
extreme.
I'm like He is it.
And I think with medicine we'vewe've just made too many
extremes on both sides of thecoin on, you know, natural
(33:27):
medicine versus conventionalmedicine, and I think the
holistic approach is somewherein the middle.
So it yeah, there.
There's a lot of things thatcontribute to that and it's
going to take.
I don't know that it'ssomething that's ever going to
be solved, because we live in asimple world, I just I think.
I believe that more thananything, because it becomes
people's idols.
It's a really great tactic bythe enemy to divide and destroy,
(33:50):
and until we can all, untilJesus comes again, I don't think
we're going to see something.
So that's why, teaching andeducating people of their own
personal temple, how does youknow what works for me, what?
How can I, how can I own andknow my story?
I'm really big about that, andwhat I mean by that is how do
(34:10):
you understand how your historyplayed into, how your parents
history, generational history,plays into effect, how that
plays into your emotionalcomponent, how it plays into
your physical piece, owning whatyou know about you, not what
someone tells you of.
Oh well, again, you have highcholesterol, so you need to be
on XY drug.
Well, what are the contributors, the factors to that?
(34:33):
And I, and again, I think if wecould shift more of the
monetary focus being towardseducation and understanding of
prevention.
I think have a great middleground.
Ruth Jefferson (34:45):
That makes a lot of sense.
So you saying said your journeykind of started in the late 90s
with something else that cameout in the 90s was the Matrix
movies, Sarah Gallander (34:57):
that's funny, I get this question a
lot.
Sarah Gallander (35:03):
That wasn't the genesis of the reason.
Ruth Jefferson (35:06):
Yeah, Matrix movies are not what we're
talking about.
Sarah Gallander (35:09):
Oh no.
Ruth Jefferson (35:10):
So how did you come across, like, how did you
identify and come up with likewhat the name of your business,
the Wellness, Wellness Matrix,would be?
Sarah Gallander (35:20):
Yeah, it's so funny that you asked, because
there really was a lot ofintention behind this and I'm
like I won- people are going tothink I'm talking about like Red
Pill and Blue Pill, like that'snot what I'm talking about.
It honestly it's.
It's kind of like a math nerdorigination.
If you think of a Matrix.
So there's two components.
There's the cellular matrix,which is very complex and
(35:43):
intricate, and and then you havea math matrix where you shift
one little number and it changesthe entire outcome of that.
Same thing with the cellularmatrix.
You shift one little thing inthe cellular matrix, you can
manipulate the entire cellularprocess.
What I love about this iseveryone has their own makeup.
(36:06):
A matrix is a makeup ofmulti-factorial components.
It's a lot of pieces of makeup.
A matrix.
It's not just one column in onerow.
It's all the things, and all ofthose things we have.
One of my favorite sayings isbecause people like to talk
about their genes and how theirgenes dictate their health, like
(36:27):
, oh, my dad had heart disease,I'm going to die of a heart
attack.
Or my mom had a thyroid problem, I'm going to have a thyroid
problem.
When really genes load the gunfor lack of a better term and
environment pulls the trigger.
In your matrix you have amakeup, already predetermined
makeup, but you also have allthese external factors that can
(36:47):
really shift the outcome of whatyou experience from a symptom,
an emotional and a spiritualeffect.
The matrix itself has to dowith knowing what your matrix is
comprised of is different forevery person.
I'm big on little, tiny shifts.
I hate restrictions.
(37:07):
I think rules are rigid andframeworks are flexible, and
shifting tiny making likeparking your car at the far end
of the parking lot and walkingthat little shift.
Do it enough times, you'regoing to have a positive outcome
.
You're going to shift something.
So it really has to do with thefact that a matrix is very
complex, just like our bodiesare very complex and every
(37:31):
single one is unique.
So Ruth is different than Sarah, it's different than John and
Kira and all the people that wecan see.
But you have a lot of powerthrough intention and through
intuition.
Ruth Jefferson (37:48):
Hey, did you know there's more to this
episode?
Head on over to buymeacoffee.
com/ harmonize.
Discover exclusive content,like continuations of episodes
just like this one.
We'll see you there.
Welcome to the Harmonize Podcast.
We're going to try something abit different with today's
meditational thought.
Since we're talking abouthealth today, let's connect that
with today's Scripture thought.
To do that, we're going to dosome breathing.
So I'm going to introduce thepattern for that and then I'm
going to start the reading.
Just a note.
This will be an abbreviatedversion, so feel free to stop
and rewind as much as you needto.
The count for this will be four, four, four.
(00:22):
Basically, what this means isthat you'll breathe in for four,
hold for four and then breatheout for four.
This may seem a little weird atfirst and your thoughts may
race a little, but with practiceit may get easier.
So remember that.
Breathe in four, hold four,breathe out four.
And, this is an example of whatthat breathing could look like.
Breathe in.
(00:43):
He gives strength to the weary.
Hold for four.
And then breathe out.
And increases the power of theweak.
Now that we know what thatlooks like, let's begin.
Today's reading is found inIsaiah 40.
Isaiah 40 is a chapter writtento give hope to God's people.
(01:40):
And, it specifically referencesthe Messianic hope, the hope of
the Savior, the hope of thatSavior to a people who have been
under subjugation both in termsof the physical and the
spiritual.
We can look back at verse one asevidence of this, and as I
think about this, two thingsstand out.
One, there will be times ofstruggle, of stumbling, of
falling.
God doesn't promise thesethings won't happen, but He does
(02:01):
promise He will renew usthrough them.
One of the ways He does this isin the context of community,
which reminds me of Ecclesiastes4:12.
Though one may be overpowered,two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is notquickly broken.
The devil still walks aroundlike a roaring lion, seeking
(02:22):
whom he may devour.
First Peter 5 (02:23):
8.
The spiritual warfare that hasexisted even before our time
here on this earth, but notbefore God who has existed since
before time itself, still wageson.
The evils of racism andinjustice are the clothes they
sometimes wear.
And as time goes on and itseems like we're fighting the
same battles that have alwaysbeen fought and having the same
conversations we've always had,and all of this starts to wear
(02:46):
on us.
We have God's promise that hewill renew us.
As Matthew 5:6 puts it (02:48):
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness, for theywill be filled.
The second thing that standsout to me is that this chapter
is written to the Children ofIsrael, the very people of God.
God's people needed to receivecomfort.
Sound familiar?
This thirst for righteousnessis blessed by God.
(03:11):
The comfort of God in themiddle of both physical and
spiritual struggle is Hiscalling card.
What steps can we take to dolikewise?
To walk as children of ourFather, ambassadors of His
kingdom?
(03:44):
Hey, Voice of the Middle GroundFam! We're back, and I'm here
today with my friend SarahGallander.
Holistic Health.
The fact of the matter is thatthis topic is super important as
we talk about diversity,community and authenticity.
The fact is, if we're nothealthy, we can't show up as our
authentic selves.
You can't live your lifeaccording to the call and design
God has for you, and that'ssomething that's really
important as we look at Voice ofthe Middle Ground, our mission,
(04:05):
values and really thatRevelation 7 perspective.
Now I wanna go ahead and saysome more things about Sarah,
because I also want everyone tounderstand more about her and
really her credibility for thisconversation.
Sarah and I first met when wewere both living in the Phoenix
Metroplex area and we were goingto church together.
That's when we first started toget to know each other, and she
also started to get to knowsome of my health challenges,
(04:27):
which, for those of you who knowme, health is something that I
really struggle with.
Most people probably wouldn'tadmit that, but with a topic
like this, transparency is superimportant.
One of the things that reallystood out to me about Sarah is
that she really has thisholistic perspective to health
that is so refreshing and sodifferent from at least what
I've experienced as the norm.
(04:47):
And speaking of things I'veexperienced as the norm, there's
another reality we need toconfront.
Health is one of those topicsthat can be controversial in
some spaces within communitiesof color, as it relates to
interaction with the traditionalmedical system.
Remembering, of course, thatcommunities of color are not a
monolith.
And as we look at this, it'salso important for us to realize
that there are very realcircumstances that have led to
(05:09):
this environment in such placesas it does exist.
Think back to the 60s 70s, theProctor Foundation for Research
and Ophthalmology asexperimentation on native
boarding school students withTrachoma, The Tuskegee
experiments and giving syphilisto black men, and even James
Marion Sims and hisexperimentation on enslaved
women, who he falsely purportedto not experience pain to the
(05:30):
same extent as others.
One of the things that I heardfrom Sarah this mistrust of the
traditional medical pathway issomething that's increased
across the board.
And we'll get to that in asecond.
But first let's rewind.
It's really important for us tofurther approach this topic of
the effects of theexperimentation we mentioned
just a second ago Stillstretches into today, and that
(05:50):
fact is something that Ipersonally can attest to, and I
promise that I'll get to Sarahin a second.
But I really do wanna make thisconnection point.
I said earlier that I reallywanted to be transparent,
especially as we're getting intoa topic like this, and so
here's a bit more of thattransparency.
With that commitment totransparency, let me just say
this for the next couple ofminutes this may be something
(06:14):
that if you're listening to withyour kids, you might not wanna
have them in the room just forthe next couple of minutes,
because this part is not veryfamily friendly.
Several years ago I was incollege.
At this point I went to theemergency area of the hospital.
I have a history of anemia andthat has really led me to need,
historically, quite a few bloodtransfusions.
(06:34):
Thank you, by the way, to thosewho give blood, because it
really does make a difference.
It was late and I was feelingreally anemic-y.
If you struggle with anemia likeI do, you know what I mean that
tiredness, fatigue, coldness,difficulty focusing and numbness
in the hands and feet, and forme it really also gets into the
area of blacking out, gettingdizzy, passing out, that kind of
thing, the kind of thing youreally don't wanna talk about
(06:58):
because you know I can freakpeople out.
But anyway I go in.
They decide they wanna do anexamination and I don't really
know if I was dealing withdoctors or nurses at that point.
But for whatever reason, theydecided they wanted to do a
gynecological exam.
So I get up on the table.
The next thing I know they'retrying to insert an instrument.
It's really painful and I'mletting them know.
It gets even more painful tothe point where I'm crying.
(07:20):
Next thing, I know all three ofthe ladies who were taking part
in the exam are making fun ofme, assuming, based on no
information at all, that I wassexually active and that if I
can handle being sexually active, I should be able to handle
their testing.
For a bit more clarity, thishappened back in Texas, where I
lived before I started my treknorthward.
I won't go any further into this, but really what I want to
(07:44):
bring out is the fact that theresearch methods of the past and
the brutality of the same thoseeffects can really be seen even
today in the way that certainpractitioners practice
traditional or, as I thinkprobably better describes it,
hospital medicine.
Parents, if you want, you caninvite your kids back into the
room to listen with you.
You're safe now.
And, with that, let's welcomeour Special Guest today, Sarah
(08:06):
Gallander, Founder of theWellness Matrix.
You can find out more aboutSarah when you visit her website
at thewellnessmatrix.
com.
Go ahead and click over tothewellnessmatrix.
com.
Learn more about Sarah.
Engage with her services thereand learn how you can take a
stronger role in advocating foryourself, taking a more holistic
approach to your health andowning your story.
Hey, Sarah.
Welcome!
Sarah Gallander (08:26):
Thank you, Ruth .
It's so good to see you.
I have missed you, my friend.
Ruth Jefferson (08:30):
Yeah, it's awesome to have you on.
Sarah Gallander (08:34):
Thank you.
I love this mission that you'veembarked upon.
I've loved this, I've supportedthis from day one, and I'm so
glad it's still going.
Ruth Jefferson (08:44):
Yeah, you really have.
Thank you for that.
So I kind of mentioned earlierone of the things that really
stands out to me about you, evenin relation to my own journey,
is your holistic approach tohealth.
Can you tell us a bit moreabout that holistic perspective
and what really helped you toreach more of that holistic
standpoint?
Sarah Gallander (09:05):
Yeah, you know it's I love.
I love how God comes fullcircle.
He sometimes reveals to us allthe things at once and sometimes
he never does, and thensometimes it's.
It takes, you know, 25 yearsFor me.
I was in college and I wasactually a pre-med student and
planning to go the conventionalroute.
I knew I wanted to help healpeople.
(09:27):
I knew I wanted to be, you know, in some type of healing
modality and I had shadowed aprogram up in North Texas
actually, and I realized thatthey only had, you know, two,
three weeks of nu- well, noteven that like a unit on
nutrition, and I was a nutritionmajor at the time and pre-med.
(09:47):
So I was baffled.
I'm like, wait, the thing thatfuels every cell is the things
that we eat and the things thatwe ingest.
Yet we're not studying that.
It made no sense to me backthen, and that was in the late
1990s, which sounds like a longtime ago.
And that's kind of when Irealized, wow, okay, this is a
(10:09):
big problem.
How do we not, you know, lookat this as part of our health
story?
And then, you know, I was in, Ithink, for me, I was in my
biochemistry class and at thatpoint.
I grew up in the church and Igrew up knowing who Jesus was.
I went to you know stories.
I loved Sunday school.
I taught Sunday school was anactive youth group member
(10:30):
throughout my high school yearsand I went through that.
You know, when you're kind ofembarking on your own.
Is my faith my own?
Is it just because my parentstold me to do this?
And it was at that moment I wassitting in biochemistry, which
is the fusion of biology andchemistry and lots of like,
really nitty gritty, fun science, like down to the cellular
(10:51):
level, and I had this revelation, like I really felt like God
was speaking to my heart at thatpoint and saying how can this
not be divine?
How can this, how can peoplenot believe in me when they see
this?
And it was page 376 of my andit was CoQ10 is what we were
studying, which means nothing toanybody else, but to me it was
(11:12):
like this aha moment.
And to couple that with youknow I was trying to figure out
do I go to med school, do I not?
I took the MCAT, did not sogreat, or I thought not so great
, because at the time I was, youknow, had a lot of
perfectionism issues and thatended up like God closed that
door.
He said, nope, you're not goingdown that road so fast forward
(11:34):
to where I am now.
I had to endure a illness thatwas Lyme Disease.
That kind of came about and werealized what it was after, you
You know 15 different doctors inthe conventional medical system
.
I worked for Big Pharma.
I worked for a pharmaceuticalcompany one of the big ones as a
(11:54):
drug rep.
So I saw that side of medicineand then I experienced the
patient side where I was beingand dismissed to ld and.
I was crazy that no, there's noLyme Disease in Texas and I'm
like what the ticks see theborder and they turn around.
Like I don't, I don't get it.
But I did grow up in Minnesotaso I had, you know, exposure to
(12:17):
ticks but that-- it was justthis really awful feeling of
nobody hearing your story,nobody listening to you, nobody
taking all the pieces andputting it together.
And my husband at that time hewas like fervently praying,
researching.
I had no like brain, my brainfog.
It was awful.
(12:37):
It was a really--I had threesmall children and so that
really there was purpose in thatpain because I had to go
through this.
What I knew in conventionalmedicine that I had been trained
in because I'm trained as adietician.
I had been working in thatfield and I was blown away at it
wasn't working, and so thenI've always done pro bono
(12:58):
nutritional counseling.
I think anytime you meet me, wehave a conversation.
Anytime anyone we have aconversation about your health,
it just naturally goes there.
I think God gave me that giftand I do believe very firmly
that he did call me to what I'mdoing today.
So pandemic hits and my kidsare now in a different space.
(13:22):
I was very sick for many yearsand it was really difficult, but
I knew that it served some kindof purpose.
I kind of felt like Paul inprison, sometimes finding the
joy.
Where's the joy?
There's joy here somewhere.
And in 2020, my husband, John,who's amazing and he's my best
(13:45):
friend and my biggest supporter.
He was like Sarah, you have agift.
You need to be helping educatepeople on how they can really be
stewards of their body likereally understand how their body
works better, and it's okay.
If you start a practice andmonetize that, it's okay to do
that.
Giving me permission and Ireally have a.
(14:06):
My mom purpose was shifting andI love educating and teaching
people how to be better stewardsof their bodies, the temples
that we've been given, and usingit as an act of worship.
It is something that is divineand I love how every single
person, we have all the sameparts and pieces, but we're all
different and that is just abeautiful testament to the deity
(14:29):
of who God is.
And that's my practice startedand the fun thing is, as I was
in this small little town inTexas when I graduated from
Stephen F Austin StateUniversity in 1999.
And I had written out like mymission statement to my med
school applications and mydietetic intern applications,
(14:49):
and I really you know that, likeI said, god closed that door,
went on this really winding path, and when we actually moved
back to Nacogdoches in 2021, notbecause we were seeking it out,
but again I feel like God wascalling us here for a bigger
purpose.
And I found this box whenyou're unpacking.
You know you find boxes whenyou're unpacking and it was my
(15:11):
old applications and I'm readingthis statement and it's exactly
like, almost word for word,what my mission and values are
now in my own practice.
And that was like God sayingsee, I got you, this is where I
need you to be, and this and itwas in the same small town.
It was just kind of that wholefull circle moment as I'm
(15:31):
sitting out on my porch with thequiet, looking, you know, in my
trees, going what are we doinghere?
And he was like I called youhere.
So holistic health, I believe,has been a journey for me, but
it's such a mission and of mine,to help people own their story,
and what I mean by that is wegot to understand how God made
us, how he created us withintention and purpose, and then
(15:54):
how we live that out is an actof worship towards our response
to him.
And you can't do that in silos,you have to look at it as the
whole picture.
We can't just look at oh, youhave a high cholesterol, okay,
well, why?
It always goes back to okay,but why?
And I've always been the butwhy, girl.
So holistic health, I feel, hasthree components and I feel
(16:17):
like nutrition in of itself isthree components.
It's your spiritual nutrition,your physical nutrition and your
emotional nutrition, and allthree of those feed off of one
another and that's kind of wheremy holistic health I always had
it in me, I think, because Godplanted it in me, because that
was, you know, that was what hisdesire was, that I latch onto,
(16:39):
and it just, you know, 25 yearslater I figured it out.
Ruth Jefferson (16:43):
Awesome.
So it sounds like the holisticperspective that you have comes
from, really like a holisticexperience with your own life.
Sarah Gallander (16:50):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And I think you know, once we,you know, kind of gain some
spiritual maturity too, we canreally step back and look and
see how God's plan for all ofthat really feeds into that view
.
And again, you know, I lovethat science is so precise,
right, like we can do studies,and we can, we can get
(17:10):
everything really precise.
But if it were and I think ofthis, you know, going back to my
bio-chem class if everythingwas so replicable and precise
and you know, every single thinghappened and it has to happen
every single time, every day,and the trillions of cells, all
of these things have to happensimultaneously.
And if you don't, if there's amutation, if there's a shift, if
(17:31):
there's a cell death, you endup with disease or you end up
with death.
And for all of that to happen inevery person but we all have
unique qualities.
That's the part that says thatthere is, you know, because
otherwise we'd all be robots andwe'd all look the same and we'd
, all you know, be the same.
But that individual soul pieceis what sets us apart, and I
think that's where just thebeauty of God's sovereignty is
(17:54):
visible in His creation of Hispeople.
Ruth Jefferson (17:56):
That's awesome.
So kind of rewinding for asecond.
I mentioned a couple of likeinstances earlier.
Had you heard of any of thosebefore?
Sarah Gallander (18:04):
You know I had to look up a couple of them.
I did know about the TuskegeeExperiment, which is, again, I
hate how things get used in the"for science.
Well, that's just.
That's a terrible reason why.
But the James, mary and Simsthe gynecological one was new to
(18:25):
me.
I hadn't heard of the enslavedwomen, and you know all of those
have that common denominator of, you know, taking advantage of
a population that should never.
Whenever a population is takenadvantage of in the name of
science, we have to question why, and we have to.
Well, what is it really forscience, or was it a different?
Was there a different motivator?
And that's where, you know, Ihate seeing any of God's people
(18:49):
taken advantage of, because weall serve a purpose in His
kingdom, and this is when humansin collides with being of the
world rather than being in it.
Ruth Jefferson (18:58):
Kind of following up on that.
When we spoke before, one ofthe things that you brought up
was the way that that mistrustis growing between patients and
medical providers.
Can you tell us a bit moreabout what you believe is
leading to that?
Sarah Gallander (19:11):
Yeah, you know, when I was thinking about this
question, I have a biaspersonally because of what I
experienced and what you know,even being trained in, you know,
conventional medicine and Ibelieve that there is a purpose
for it.
I don't believe that there is.
I think God gives gifts topeople to be.
You know, have we notdiscovered certain things?
(19:32):
You know, if there's a, if Ihave a broken arm or if my arm
is severed and I need to havelike surgery, I want a surgeon,
like I want conventionalmedicine.
You know there's places, but Ifeel like it's almost like
tipped, the scale has tipped wayin the other direction and I
really feel like the mistrust isbecause we're not heard.
(19:52):
We're being.
It's almost like it's a gamethat's being played at this
point and you go into yourdoctor asking questions and you
don't even and it's not.
It's not because they don'twant to answer, it's because
they're held under this you knowinsurance game that they can
only see you for 15 minutes.
They only can do certain thingsaccording to a diagnostic code.
(20:14):
And it's really kind of changedhow providers and conventional
medicine are allowed to evenpractice.
They're not even really allowedto ask you more than a couple
of deep questions that come fromyou know, an intake, and then
there's no teaching, it's justhere.
Okay, you have X problem.
It's like an X for Y.
So here's your problem.
(20:35):
Medicine has becometransactional, is what I feel,
rather than the ownership ofeducation of okay.
Well, does this make sense?
What makes sense for me?
What am I feeling?
What am I experiencing?
What are the symptoms?
I always tell my patients andclients like your body has a
conversation with you and if youdon't listen to it, you're
going to just like communicationsolves 90% of the most problems
(20:57):
.
If you don't listen to thecommunication that your body is
telling you, you're going tomiss a lot of pieces that may be
revealing something deeperthat's going on.
So I think the mistrust iscoming from not because it's
intentional on the physicians orthe nurse practitioners or the
PAs.
It's their kind of collateraldamage from a system of how
(21:21):
they're trained.
I think most people get intomedicine because they want to
help people.
They genuinely have an innatedesire to help people be better,
and then the way that they gettrained is what kind of destroys
that.
In my opinion and again, thisis Sarah's opinion on this and
from what I've experienced and Ihave a lot of physician friends
(21:43):
.
I've worked in a lot inhealthcare for 15, 16 years and
the mistrust is because I thinkwe've made like I said, medicine
has become transactional.
You go in, you get aprescription and there's no
further education.
There's no.
Or my favorite is, oh, you'reoverweight, or oh you have fatty
liver, or oh, you have type 2diabetes.
(22:04):
Well, just eat better andexercise more.
And how do I do that?
How do I do that according tomy body, like they're not to
their defense, they're nottrained to do that, which is
great job security for me, but Ithink we've just become a
product of greed honestly.
In a system that is broken,medical care has become a big
(22:26):
business rather than advocatefor healing, and that's why I
always encourage people to like,if I'm working with someone and
they are going to aconventional physician which I
partner with a lot of physiciansand we've got a great working
relationship and so I'll helpthem, hey, maybe ask a few of
these questions.
Here's how you can understandhow your body works and how you
(22:48):
can then make the best decisionsfor your environmental factors.
Your how does your blood work?
What is your blood work tellingyou?
That's one of my favoritethings to do is help people
understand their blood work, notfrom a diagnostic perspective,
not from you have this disease,but how you actually what your
body is telling you through youractual blood work.
(23:08):
So I think the mistrust isbecoming because people aren't
being heard and they're beingshoved and run through like like
almost like a factory andnobody's willing to sit and
listen, or they may be willingbut they're not being allowed.
Maybe that may be a betterphrase and the mistrust that's
just leading to.
You know, there's all kinds ofmisinformation out there too.
There's a lot of chaos and alot of noise.
And then and some people justdon't know how to decipher all
(23:30):
of that so what it means forthem, because it's not a one
size fits all, it's not just eatmore and exercise or eat less
and exercise more, like that'sterrible advice.
And that comes into thatholistic piece.
Like how do we take theoverview of your spiritual
nutrition, your, and think aboutthat.
In conventional medicine you'renot really allowed to talk
about spiritual nutrition.
(23:51):
Really.
I mean, that to me is-- Ialways talk to people about hey,
let's talk about what spiritualbattle you're facing, because
that usually is what feeds thesoil, and your soil is like your
emotional nutrition, and thenyour roots of your trees are
your physical nutrition.
So when we have an emotionaland spiritual storm that are
colliding, you're going tomanifest physically, you're
(24:13):
going to have symptoms that comeabout, and it's you know.
It's really important to look atall three.
You know, where am I not, whereis the spiritual battle coming
from?
Even in people who don't, youknow, who aren't believers?
I mean, we're both, you know,Biblically- based believers.
So I, you know, I love beingable to be a witness to that too
, of helping people.
You know, from a spiritualstandpoint, to really, hey, what
(24:35):
does God say about this?
Let's go to, let's go to HisWord.
Where, where, where can we,where can we see?
I mean, there's tons ofexamples of, you know, the mind-
body connection.
Ruth Jefferson (24:43):
Yeah.
Al right, I want to pause for asecond here for those of you
who are listening.
Do you have any questions oranything about anything that's
said in this episode?
You can go ahead and text us at612-470-5419, or you can
message us on Facebook.
The link to Voice of the MiddleGround Facebook Page is also in
the description.
(25:03):
So kind of moving forward.
Moving forward with thisoverall central concept of
holistic health.
What is the role of holistichealth and helping people to be
able to show up as theirauthentic selves?
Or, on the other side of things, how does not taking this
approach prevent or block thatauthentic expression?
Sarah Gallander (25:22):
Yeah, I love that.
I love this question becauseI'm huge on authenticity and I
think it goes back to thatspiritual connection component.
Who are you in Christ?
What is your identity?
What idols are you worshipingoutside of the one true God?
I think it goes back to thevery first commandment of the
Ten Commandments, and evenfurther than that.
(25:43):
One of the first commandmentsthat Jesus gave us was love your
neighbor as yourself.
He didn't say in spite ofyourself, go out of obligation,
go love other people and ignoreyourself.
He doesn't, and that's not aselfish component.
It is sit in God's goodness andlove for you.
Be overwhelmed and over-consumed with the love that he
(26:04):
has for you that you're sofilled up and know who you are
in Him.
That's what spills out andpeople see Him through you.
You know, I think of one of ourfavorite songs, Ruth, that we
would sing when we wereworshiping together at CrossWalk
was Goodness of God.
It's one of my favorites, youknow we picked that one a lot,
but it's like His goodness isrunning after, it's running
after me, you know, and it'slike just sit, sit in His
(26:27):
goodness.
Be filled up so you can loveyour neighbor and you don't love
them as yourself, as a selfishlove, as a, as a worldly self-
care, you know, not, not thatkind of love, but the love that
is filled up with knowing whoyou are in Jesus, who you are in
Christ, that identity, I think.
I think this role of holistichealth is is really helping
people understand how their bodywas made, the way that God
(26:50):
designed it, and that it wasdesigned to function well and
designed to heal, and it wasdesigned to.
And when we, when we don't dothat, on the flip side of that,
you know, if we don't take thisapproach and we just go after
the high cholesterol or the, inyour case, you know, like a low
ferritin and a low iron, if wejust focus on that, we miss all
(27:10):
of the parts that are reallycontributing to that problem.
So we can silo things, sure,but it's like putting, it's like
putting a bandaid on a gapingwound.
If we don't understand how thewound happened in the first
place, which is usually multi-factorial, it's usually, you
know, more than one reason.
And when you look at a rootsystem.
(27:31):
It's a big buzzword right nowas root cause.
When you look at a root system,it's never just one thing A
root system that sits in soil isthere's a, there's a big,
massive system under there.
So, by being able to reallyaddress all of the pieces that
are contributing to your symptomcycle you can't just silo that,
you can't.
You can't just and that's why Ithink conventional medicine has
(27:53):
, you know, gotten stuck is thatwe just look at the silo, we
just look at the one thing,we're just focusing on the
symptom rather than the system.
And the system includes a bigspiritual component.
Where's your identity?
Are you chasing after adiagnosis?
If you're chasing a diagnosis,you're, you're, kind of
worshiping a false idol.
You know.
You're worshiping an idol ofwhat's trying to define you.
(28:16):
I, you know, am I?
I am Lyme Disease.
I am, you know, Anemic.
I am, you know.
Think about the words that wetell ourselves when we've been
given a diagnosis oh my gosh, Ihave Parkinson's, I have MS.
I am rather than no.
You are a baptized and redeemedchild of God who has been
afflicted with these things, andour strength lies in Christ and
(28:38):
it'll help us deal with theseexternal components that we have
.
So I feel like we, if we don'trecognize the holistic
components, we'll get caught ina spiritual trap and we'll also
get caught in a physical trapthat won't go away if we don't
identify our identity in Christand be filled up with God's love
, so that that's what can spillout.
Ruth Jefferson (28:57):
So just to kind of rephrase what you were saying
and correct me if I'm wrong,but basically it seems like when
it comes to like the diagnosis,like, for example, Parkinson's
or any of those things, theimportant thing is the way that,
the way that we approach them.
Sarah Gallander (29:15):
Yeah, absolutely it, because illness
is going to happen.
We live in a fallen world.
In fact, if we, if everyillness was healed here on Earth
, we would never long for Heaven, we would never have that
longing to cling and cleave tohim.
And it's how we respond to theafflictions that we've been
given.
And we have a perfect exampleof that, you know, throughout
the whole New Testament.
(29:36):
You know, Paul's entireexistence was constant struggle
and suffer, and yet he found hispurpose and calling, because he
was rooted in the identity of.
Okay, Lord, show me how totackle this and show me how to
show me where You are in this.
And we get caught up in thediagnosis of, you know, the and
I'm not saying I'm not trying tominimize that certain diagnoses
(29:57):
are, you know they're, they're,they're heavy, they weigh on
you.
But your approach from aspiritual and an emotional
standpoint can help understandthe physical piece of it and can
help it's not going to totallyrelieve it.
Probably, and you know at,spiritual healing is God's
ultimate goal for us, because wewill be physically healed when
we get to heaven.
But in this earth we, He toldus, going to be afflicted.
(30:19):
So it's kind of like well, wealready know that.
So how do we respond in thatcrisis or in that trial, in that
, you know, tumultuous, terribledisease that we've been hit
with, and sometimes we'rerelieved of that and sometimes
we're not, and we wait until wewin the race and get to heaven.
But how we respond to that hereon Earth is like God saying I
(30:39):
just keep trusting me.
You know, keep being obedient,keep trusting me, keep clinging
to me and I will give you that.
You know that hope and hope andjoy don't always necessarily
mean happy and whole.
It it's a, it's a state ofbeing, and that requires our
approach and response.
Ruth Jefferson (30:56):
So something that you alluded to earlier when
we were talking about the topicof trust and the medical system
was like the problem of likethe pressures with insurance and
some of the training there.
Do you think there's anythingelse that kind of lends itself
to a lack of trust within themedical system or that there are
other major contributingfactors?
Sarah Gallander (31:13):
I think without without getting into a
political discussion there'sthere's lots of things that do
contribute to that, and I thinka lot of it has to do with your
personal experience too.
You know, it's kind of likethere's, you know, there's
there's lots of, you know, baddoctors, but that doesn't paint
(31:35):
the brush for all of them.
There's a lot of people workingwithin the medical system that
are really trying, like I, Iknow a lot of them and they
really want to do, they want tohelp heal, and so then they
partner with people like me andare like, okay, if you could
just teach them.
And like, okay, yeah, let me bean extension of you outside of
our, outside of your office,like let me be the one that sits
(31:58):
with them every week for anhour, because you're not allowed
to do that.
And I really, you know, I thinkwe talk about healthcare reform
and I promise I won't go deepin that, but I think it comes to
insurance reform and how, howare we structuring this?
How are we providing access?
That's a big thing.
Like, I feel like we shouldspend most of our money on
education of how to preventrather than be reactive, because
(32:21):
reactive medicine is expensivemedicine proactive and
prevention kind of, is a littlebit less expensive than when we
have to spend all the money onthe medicines and all the money
on the hospitals and all themoney, you know and again I'm
not saying that it doesn't servea purpose and a place.
I think and this is where I loveI'm like I think there's a
middle ground that we can cometo.
You know, there's massiveextremes and I don't feel like
(32:44):
we should completely abandon.
You know, like I'm going tostand in the middle of the you
know the grass and and and andchant something and ask God to
heal me, like that's the.
For other extreme, you know,versus the extreme of
conventional medicine.
There's an extreme of holisticmedicine too, where it's that
you know I'm going to abandonall conventional pieces.
(33:05):
I'm like, huh, where can wecoexist of taking the best
pieces of each one?
And I think that's where Jesusis, just like your whole point.
Jesus is in the middle, He's,He doesn't live on extremes.
I mean, in the middle is inalignment to God and he is the
extreme.
I'm like He is it.
And I think with medicine we'vewe've just made too many
extremes on both sides of thecoin on, you know, natural
(33:27):
medicine versus conventionalmedicine, and I think the
holistic approach is somewherein the middle.
So it yeah, there.
There's a lot of things thatcontribute to that and it's
going to take.
I don't know that it'ssomething that's ever going to
be solved, because we live in asimple world, I just I think.
I believe that more thananything, because it becomes
people's idols.
It's a really great tactic bythe enemy to divide and destroy,
(33:50):
and until we can all, untilJesus comes again, I don't think
we're going to see something.
So that's why, teaching andeducating people of their own
personal temple, how does youknow what works for me, what?
How can I, how can I own andknow my story?
I'm really big about that, andwhat I mean by that is how do
(34:10):
you understand how your historyplayed into, how your parents
history, generational history,plays into effect, how that
plays into your emotionalcomponent, how it plays into
your physical piece, owning whatyou know about you, not what
someone tells you of.
Oh well, again, you have highcholesterol, so you need to be
on XY drug.
Well, what are the contributors, the factors to that?
(34:33):
And I, and again, I think if wecould shift more of the
monetary focus being towardseducation and understanding of
prevention.
I think have a great middleground.
Ruth Jefferson (34:45):
That makes a lot of sense.
So you saying said your journeykind of started in the late 90s
with something else that cameout in the 90s was the Matrix
movies, Sarah Gallander (34:57):
that's funny, I get this question a
lot.
Sarah Gallander (35:03):
That wasn't the genesis of the reason.
Ruth Jefferson (35:06):
Yeah, Matrix movies are not what we're
talking about.
Sarah Gallander (35:09):
Oh no.
Ruth Jefferson (35:10):
So how did you come across, like, how did you
identify and come up with likewhat the name of your business,
the Wellness, Wellness Matrix,would be?
Sarah Gallander (35:20):
Yeah, it's so funny that you asked, because
there really was a lot ofintention behind this and I'm
like I won- people are going tothink I'm talking about like Red
Pill and Blue Pill, like that'snot what I'm talking about.
It honestly it's.
It's kind of like a math nerdorigination.
If you think of a Matrix.
So there's two components.
There's the cellular matrix,which is very complex and
(35:43):
intricate, and and then you havea math matrix where you shift
one little number and it changesthe entire outcome of that.
Same thing with the cellularmatrix.
You shift one little thing inthe cellular matrix, you can
manipulate the entire cellularprocess.
What I love about this iseveryone has their own makeup.
(36:06):
A matrix is a makeup ofmulti-factorial components.
It's a lot of pieces of makeup.
A matrix.
It's not just one column in onerow.
It's all the things, and all ofthose things we have.
One of my favorite sayings isbecause people like to talk
about their genes and how theirgenes dictate their health, like
(36:27):
, oh, my dad had heart disease,I'm going to die of a heart
attack.
Or my mom had a thyroid problem, I'm going to have a thyroid
problem.
When really genes load the gunfor lack of a better term and
environment pulls the trigger.
In your matrix you have amakeup, already predetermined
makeup, but you also have allthese external factors that can
(36:47):
really shift the outcome of whatyou experience from a symptom,
an emotional and a spiritualeffect.
The matrix itself has to dowith knowing what your matrix is
comprised of is different forevery person.
I'm big on little, tiny shifts.
I hate restrictions.
(37:07):
I think rules are rigid andframeworks are flexible, and
shifting tiny making likeparking your car at the far end
of the parking lot and walkingthat little shift.
Do it enough times, you'regoing to have a positive outcome
.
You're going to shift something.
So it really has to do with thefact that a matrix is very
complex, just like our bodiesare very complex and every
(37:31):
single one is unique.
So Ruth is different than Sarah, it's different than John and
Kira and all the people that wecan see.
But you have a lot of powerthrough intention and through
intuition.
Ruth Jefferson (37:48):
Hey, did you know there's more to this
episode?
Head on over to buymeacoffee.
com/ harmonize.
Discover exclusive content,like continuations of episodes
just like this one.
We'll see you there.
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