…I embraced the American dream. College. Worked hard. Married. Built a new house. Started a family. Built a bigger house and debt. Felt guilty for working long hours. Felt guilty when I needed to be with family. Divorced. Started my own business. Worked longer and irregular hours. Worried about being a good mother. Burnt out. Questioned the meaning of life…

Night after night, I’d come home from work and/or my children’s events and “medicate” with TV, junk food, alcohol or insane workouts. Every morning, I’d rely on big doses of caffeine to get going. Every afternoon, I popped OTC meds for headaches or pains in my body. Every day I felt worse and worse. My body hurt. My head hurt. I had no energy. I was irritated. But the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with me.

I was told I was one of the lucky ones. I’m sure I was. But every day it felt harder to live, let alone thrive. I knew I needed a different Way.

“If you don’t change direction, you may end up where you’re heading.”

Lao Tzu

Fortunately, I was working with researchers who were trying to find a better way. A way that allowed people to live long and healthy and happy lives. True, most of them lived on islands in what I would consider exotic places. But then one of the researchers began reverse engineering those same longevity, health and happy results in Midwestern America. Maybe I needed to learn more.

I read every research report. I attended lectures. I saturated my mind in their knowledge. But I wasn’t feeling any better. Then one day, one of the researchers said “The only way you’ll figure out what works is to try it.” So I went to one of these “magic places” and lived there for a few weeks, just as the happy, healthy centenarians did. No wifi. Really poor cell service. It meant I had to experience life in my body.

But back home in land-locked capitalist society, I quickly returned to feeling like shit.

Thus began my adventures in Uncharted Wellth.

Since then, I’ve been trying ten thousand things. Some things work for me, and other things don’t. And it doesn’t always match the research. So how do I know if it works? My body knows what’s right for me.

I talked to my doctor — and many other health care professionals — about what I was learning and experiencing. My friends and family and others began to ask, looking for ways to feel well. At first, I resisted knowing what worked for me, might not work for others. Or it might work for them in different ways.

Finally, I created a new mantra—“Everyone has their own Way” and decided to find a Way to share MY experiences with different health practices, health tech and/or tools with as much objective information as possible in hopes it might help others live with vitality and wellth. Therefore, the format for this blog will follow a formula:

• Describe the experience, technology, tool, etc.
• List the types of things it may help
• Share information about the research or reasons to believe
• Document my experience
• Provide tips or things I wish I knew first

IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE MEDICAL ADVICE. Medical treatment should be a decision you and your doctor make together after informed conversation. I am not a doctor, nor have I ever played one on TV. I am not a trained medical professional. And I don’t know anything about your personal health. So if you discover something interesting in this blog, PLEASE talk with your doctor or a trained medical professional to ensure it’s safe for you.

In return, I ask that you be curious about your own experiences as you listen to your body. There’s so much more wisdom in your body than you know. After all, you will be the only inhabitant of your body — the ONE physical and unique gift you have from birth to death, and the means by which you experience your unique life.

I hope YOU become the expert on your body. And I hope you live well.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: These notes are not meant to make me money; rather they are intended to provide help to those looking for a different Way. I do not receive any financial compensation or incentive to write what’s in this blog, and so indeed it is purely my own opinion.