Episode 25 | How to Holistically Prepare for Winter
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Podcast Transcript
Episode 25: How to Holistically Prepare for Winter
[00:00:00] Amy: Welcome to the Holistic Health Show, where the worlds of science and spirituality converge to illuminate a path towards total well being.
[00:00:08] Join us as we embark on a journey to bridge the gap between Western medicine and complementary therapies.
[00:00:15] Offering you a roadmap to embrace a proactive, holistic approach to your health.
[00:00:21] It's time to empower yourself with choices that nurture your body, mind, and soul. Welcome to a world of infinite possibilities for your optimal health.
[00:00:33] Hello, welcome back to the Holistic Health Show. We have another great episode for you today, and I'm excited to introduce Jasprit joining us all the way from the UK. Now she is the whole body pharmacist. So she's going to tell us a little bit more about what that means, but she's a holistic and clinical prescribing pharmacist.
[00:00:56] Welcome to the show. I can't wait to get started with you [00:01:00] Jasprit.
[00:01:00] Jaspreet: Thank you. Thank you, Amy. I'm really grateful to be here and thank you for giving me time. So the whole body pharmacist basically stems from myself being in clinical normal community pharmacy Qualified here in the UK, and I have been for 15 years.
[00:01:18] I then started to prescribe after undertaking an extension course. I started prescribing amongst the community and writing prescriptions and doing diagnosis. And I've been doing that for the last 10 years. Basically, over the last 15 years, I realized that a lot of conventional medication doesn't actually...
[00:01:39] Make people better. So, that's when I started questioning what I've been doing for all of these years. And started to really look into some alternative therapies. But not completely separately, you know. I find that a lot of holistic therapies are holistic only. Whereas I have the added benefit of doing the clinical as [00:02:00] well.
[00:02:00] Being able to see red flags of really major illnesses. And so I still have the scientific side there with the alternative holistic side as well.
[00:02:09] Amy: I spoke to someone yesterday and I, I am going to backtrack, I have a couple of questions to ask you on what you just said, but I spoke to another guest on the show yesterday and she said she's equal parts science and spirituality.
[00:02:22] And I thought, gosh, that's me because I, I really see all the benefits in, you know, Western medicine. I just don't think that the model. It's necessarily everything that we need right now and I, I think there's really, you know, it's the, it's the aim of the show, right? To bridge that gap. There's, you need both, I think.
[00:02:39] So, I think, yeah, this is going to be an interesting, an interesting episode today, but I wanted to backtrack. You said, so you're a pharmacist, and you're, so you're, you know, when I think of a pharmacist I think of someone who stands behind the counter and dispenses my medicine, and who has a really great understanding of how that medicine works and [00:03:00] why I'm, you know, probably being prescribed it.
[00:03:03] But I also think, you know, my doctor prescribes that to me even though he's not All in the know about, necessarily, about all the medications, he kind of looks at my, or she, looks at my symptoms, and then prescribes me with something, and I go pick it up from the pharmacist. And I do know that, , I believe it's some European countries, the pharmacist actually...
[00:03:24] does the prescribing, for the person. So, and is that what you're doing as well?
[00:03:28] Jaspreet: Yes, exactly. Yeah. So basically, yes, doctors here will also diagnose and prescribe. And over the last decade, maybe a little bit longer pharmacists within the UK have been able to undertake a prescribing course an extension of their previous qualification, so that they can also write prescriptions.
[00:03:46] So yeah, I'm able to prescribe Pretty much all the same medication that a doctor can hear minus three, you know, kind of really high schedule medications that are hands off As a [00:04:00] prescribing pharmacist here, we have to be able to show that we're competent in the field that we're prescribing in That's kind of the prerequisite.
[00:04:07] So yeah, I really like the way that your previous guest had mentioned the science, you know, and the holistic and I completely agree with you, you know, modern science and modern medicine has its place for sure. I feel that it's, it's definitely, you know, so important in emergencies. But. The problem that we have is that we use it for everyday care not just the emergency.
[00:04:34] And that's where I think the system is a little bit broken. Number one, that puts pretty much all of the accountability of your health on your doctor or on your prescriber. You're effectively going to that person and saying, You know, maybe I need to change my diet or exercise or lose some weight, but I don't think I can do that right now.
[00:04:57] So can you prescribe for me instead? [00:05:00] You know, and you know, that's not really the way that this medicine medicine should be used. That way doesn't really give you the results either. We just mask the problem. It's still there. The root is still there. We're just not pulling it out.
[00:05:17] Amy: And I say this in, you know, or I've said this in quite a few previous episodes as well.
[00:05:22] And anyone who knows me will hear me kind of, I guess, not really rant on about it, but I repeat it a lot because I was a paramedic in Canada. Oh, really? And that's kind of why, yeah. And that's so, you know, I've always been interested in, in the holistic side of things. You know, I grew up in that kind of, you know, I grew up as that, with that as my life, but I was always really interested in medicine as well.
[00:05:44] So I became a paramedic and then I just, I would be in the ambulance and so you'd see, you have your regulars, you know, and your regular patients is what I mean. They're, they keep coming back because they don't make any changes other than adding medicines to their bag. And [00:06:00] when, when patients come in the ambulance, they're always, you know, or when you go into a house as a, as a paramedic to, to see a patient, you always gather up their medications.
[00:06:10] And sometimes people are coming out, oh, sometimes people are coming out with bags, literally bags. And it's because they, so they're taking, just as an example, something for high blood pressure. And then they're taking something else because the high blood pressure gives them, the medication gives them other symptoms.
[00:06:29] So it's like a domino effect, but they're not changing their lifestyle and it sounds like this is kind of what you're getting at is there's a lot more we can do to actually remedy the issue and make you a healthier human instead of slapping on this band aid in the form of a tablet or an
[00:06:47] Jaspreet: injection.
[00:06:48] Exactly. And the thing is, you know, when we say it that way, of course, we have to, we have to take some actions, right? There's some things that we can definitely do to look after [00:07:00] ourselves. But I also understand that sometimes there's cases of people, often there's cases of people who just are not in the right mental space to be able to take on that accountability or responsibility for themselves.
[00:07:13] They may look well enough. but there's something inside which is causing them to kind of self sabotage, you know? we're really complex, we're multi multi layered, you know, and we need an approach of care which takes the community. And I think that's something that we miss now, you know, in the, in the UK for sure.
[00:07:33] Every day patients say to me, I don't know who my doctor is. You know, I don't have a regular doctor. I see a different one every time. We're still blessed to have a free healthcare system here. You know, I'm, I'd much rather that we have that than it go completely. So so I'm grateful for what we have, but...
[00:07:54] When everybody expects a level of healthcare up here and [00:08:00] kind of wants us as the practitioners to take care of them all without any responsibility for themselves, it's hard. You're going to get a broken system, right? Yeah. So yeah, we, when we're multifaceted and. It, it's going to take a lot of unraveling.
[00:08:15] We've got to go right the way back to figure out how we can soon start to move forward because we're not getting the results that we want. Medication is not going to fix our problems,
[00:08:26] Amy: unfortunately. No, that's right. And so how are you adding this holistic perspective on, because, you know, you've said the science, but also you're exploring or you have explored alternative therapies.
[00:08:39] So how are you able to take that into your, your daily work as a pharmacist?
[00:08:43] Jaspreet: Yeah, so I've been working in a really lovely pharmacy for the last seven years. And I was very, very lucky to have the opportunity to incorporate every service that I wish to. You know, I kind of had the autonomy and freedom to go in and say, okay, this is what I would like to do.
[00:08:57] And this is the clinic that I would like to run. I've been [00:09:00] raised in a traditional Indian family. And really that's where a lot of my holistic side comes from. Because the remedies that my mum used on me when I was a child, they worked. You know, which is different from what I see now. So, and that's the reason why I have faith in alternative therapies.
[00:09:19] So, Ayurvedic traditional Chinese medicine somatic therapy. I kind of feel like all of these things put together, and more, you know, acupuncture, et cetera, et cetera. There's so many different modalities. I feel like they work because we take into account the... physical body the energy body. And then we use the emotions to connect the two, you know?
[00:09:44] And so when you take into account those three different areas, only then can we really get to the root cause and start to deal with the issue. For example, today I spoke to somebody and their symptoms are just. So vague, [00:10:00] but they just don't feel right and they've had so many tests and there's there's no result from the test Which shows that there's a problem, you know, but as I was speaking to that person It was quite clear that there seems to be some kind of emotional issue, which is causing the symptoms and because The tests are not showing anything.
[00:10:20] She'll be stuck. She'll be stuck for a long time. So that's where I think it's important to be able to incorporate different modalities. And I'm a qualified somatic therapist. And I'm a trauma informed practitioner. So taking to account the fact that people suffer with trauma from young, from a young age, and that will shape, you know, what.
[00:10:41] What physical symptoms they could potentially get. It's really helpful to be able to put these things together and not, not just think, okay, you have high blood pressure because your diet is bad. No, not necessarily. I know a lot of people who have got a really bad diet, but they don't all have high blood pressure, you [00:11:00] know?
[00:11:00] Yeah, absolutely. It can be caused by something. You know, a whole history of complex trauma, which just doesn't allow for the blood pressure to go back to normal. so With that in mind. Yeah, I've been practicing this for the last seven years in a lovely central london branch and I found that actually one of the biggest things which was Transformative for my patients was just giving them time Absolutely.
[00:11:29] Just listening to
[00:11:30] Amy: them. It's incredible just to have a listening ear, you know, where and I'm, again, I, I, you know, I truly am appreciative of the Western system. So when I say things like I'm about to say, I'm not having a go, but doctors are only given 15 minute time slots to figure out what's wrong, to solve a puzzle, right?
[00:11:56] To, and you just. How? You can't have, like you said, you [00:12:00] can't build a relationship, you don't know your doctor, you're not seeing the same doctor in a lot of cases, and so they can't, they can't build this puzzle, you know, of your life, of your body, of, you know, your history, and it's just. It's just not possible.
[00:12:16] And to have someone listen to you, to feel heard and validated, makes a huge difference to even how you approach your own health, I think, because when you walk out of a doctor's office and you think, I didn't care, I wasn't able to say everything that I was thinking or feeling, you walk out feeling more broken.
[00:12:41] You're stressed because you've taken the time to go, you know, you've probably had to take a couple of hours of off work for this 15 minute appointment and you got really nowhere.
[00:12:53] Jaspreet: It treat, you know, symptoms are treated like they're superficial. They're just on the top layer. Yeah. [00:13:00] And really there's a lot that's gone on underneath. anD you're right, a listening ear, sometimes that's enough to take half of the burden off. To feel that you're important and that you're not just making these things up, yes,
[00:13:14] Amy: it's really important.
[00:13:15] Especially in the case, yeah, especially in the case of like this client that you had seen today or this patient. Who everything's coming back normal all the tests are normal, but she knows there's something wrong And so now she's going home or you know, should she have been seeing a you know, a traditional Western GP Would have been going home going.
[00:13:35] Well, there's nothing wrong with me I must be making this up and then feeling terrible inside. Yeah, you know have someone like yourself Yes, yeah, to have someone like yourself say, okay, well, here's X, Y, Z that you can, you know, you can explore and I hear what you're saying and I just want to kind of bring us back to what you had said about growing up in a traditional Indian family and your mother having [00:14:00] cared for you in a, you know, many different ways with remedies and they were, they were working.
[00:14:03] How lucky Were we to have grown up in a family where we did have, you know, my mother, my grandmother in particular was really holistic about our health and we were approached in a different way than, you know, we still went to the doctor all the time or. You know, you know all that, but we had all these extras, and I just wish that was the norm.
[00:14:27] Yeah. Yeah,
[00:14:28] Jaspreet: and you know how different things would be. I mean sometimes when I speak of some, you know, really basic things for me, because I've grown up with it, a simple massage technique, you know, something like that. If I speak to a patient about that, and they've never had any experience in any alternative therapies, you know, they kind of look at me like, sometimes they can be like, It is, is this hocus pocus?
[00:14:51] Can
[00:14:51] Amy: this really work? You know, absolutely. Yeah. And once they've
[00:14:55] Jaspreet: tried it, yeah, once they've tried it, they're like, okay, okay, I feel it. [00:15:00] But I think for some of the alternative therapies as well, it works a lot with energy. You have to have some, Openness to it, you know? Yeah. If you're completely closed up and resistant, you're not always going to get the results that you want, but that also works with medication with Western medication.
[00:15:16] That's the reason why we find that placebos will work sometimes better than the actual drug. You
[00:15:21] Amy: know, it's remarkable, isn't it? The power of the mind, you know, and the way we think and the way we talk to ourselves, it's, it's just, it's incredible. Yeah. There's so much power there. It's so misunderstood.
[00:15:32] And I mean, there's a lot of things that we still don't understand why or how this is working and we can't get to the science behind it. But you're right. You just have to have an open mind and you know, a lot of these alternative therapies and you know, kind of disclaimer here that you have to look into what you're doing and make sure you're seeking a reputable practitioner in whatever the field is you're, or the modality is you're seeking.
[00:15:55] But. If you do that kind of, you're doing that with your doctors, you know, you're [00:16:00] doing that, I would hope, with anyone that you're kind of putting your, your life or your health in their hands. But trying these alternative therapies can be so incredibly beneficial. And it's just, give it a shot. You know, if you, if you find a reputable practitioner and you know what you're getting into, you're not going to make the situation worse.
[00:16:21] Yeah, you're going to, you're exploring to find what's going to work for you as a person. Yeah. Yeah. I love what you're doing. I love it. Thank
[00:16:31] Jaspreet: you. Thank you. I'm really, I love it too. You know I feel really very blessed to be in a position to provide this service. And it's something that I've really tailored over the last few years, which is quite niche.
[00:16:43] There's nobody else that I can find in the United Kingdom, kingdom who provides the same service. Is there a pharmacist that I know who can do this? So I understand it's one of a kind, but That's why sometimes for patients, it can be a little bit scary. You know, they're used to going in and picking up their paracetamol.
[00:16:59] So, [00:17:00]
[00:17:00] Amy: yeah. And, but it's a great start too. And, you know, hopefully others will see this episode and think, okay, well, she's doing it. Why can't I give it a try? And I think, you know, I'm, I live, I'm in Australia and Australia is You know, it's kind of, it's not really open, you know, the medical world is not really open to kind of these, these new things, even though most of them are ancient, but exactly.
[00:17:24] Yeah. Yeah. But it just to give somebody the encouragement to just try it, you know, and even if you're not able to. You know, have this wonderful space in a pharmacy where you have the autonomy to, to begin building this, you know, at home with your family, with your friends, with people that you're talking to.
[00:17:44] Yeah, exactly. I would love to see it everywhere, you
[00:17:47] Jaspreet: know? Yeah, it would be, it would be lovely. And the thing is, you know, my consultation service is online and there's just so much that you can find online now. If you want to, you can get one little seed and you can really [00:18:00] So luckily it's all out there.
[00:18:03] It's available. These ancient traditions previously were kept in small circles and it was word of mouth. You know, we're in a really good position where we can learn so quickly. I mean, look at us. We're on different sides of the world and we're sat here talking about. The same thing, holistic health, you know?
[00:18:20] So, yeah.
[00:18:22] Amy: I have good hope for it. Yeah. So, Jaspery, you're coming into winter you know, a lot of the world is coming into winter now. Yeah. And I wanted to maybe pick your brain a little bit about how... Those of us who are, or, you know, those of you who are going into winter and us for later next year, how we can better kind of prepare for the winter space.
[00:18:47] You know, build our body's immunity up when we're coming into that cold and damp, short days, the dreary. You know,
[00:18:56] Jaspreet: yeah, I know. Yeah, I get that feeling. We're [00:19:00] in it at the moment. So yeah, I completely understand the first thing is to boost your immunity to keep your Immune system health is high doses of vitamin d I would recommend that everybody takes it.
[00:19:12] In the uk in particular I mean I can speak for here in the winter. We don't get enough sun people stay inside because the weather isn't great So you're not getting the very basic And we have an increased number of viruses around in the winter. Historically we always have, so it's cold and flu season.
[00:19:30] So around one or two months before we should start to take vitamin D. And the dose that I tend to like is 4, 000 units a day. It's a good high dose. If you have excess of it, let's say you've got enough vitamin D in your system, and you just need topping up a little bit more, whatever is extra will just be urinated out.
[00:19:50] It's not going to be a problem to your system. In addition to that, I would also recommend magnesium, because it helps the vitamin D to be absorbed. It also helps [00:20:00] with relaxing your muscles. Getting you out of that kind of high tense or high stress body situation. And it helps for you to get a rested sleep because rest is really important as well.
[00:20:14] We tend to find in the winter phase here, people get exceptionally busy with Christmas parties, going out, you know, socializing, working full time, still catering to their children and then trying to fight, fight cold and flu. So the bodies. main way of trying to recover is always to have good rest. And that's where the magnesium is quite important.
[00:20:38] Vitamin C 1000 milligrams a day, vitally important helps keep your immune system strong, mops up loads of antioxidants that are just floating around. But to bear in mind of all of these, it's important that you have and that you have supplements that are clean. You know, limited fillers and you know, all of the nasty additives that they put [00:21:00] in.
[00:21:01] By the time you finish digesting all of those, you lose half of, half of the strength of the, the actual supplement.
[00:21:07] Amy: And sometimes you hear that they're, they've got sugar and things added into them. Is that, that's not necessary, right? You're not using the sugar to do anything other than fill the can. Yeah,
[00:21:20] Jaspreet: and then, I mean, you see these vitamins that are for children or sometimes even adults, you know, they put sugar with them because they want them to taste better.
[00:21:28] You've got to really think about it. Be careful with your choices because if in every instance as communities, we're saying reduce your sugar intake We definitely wouldn't recommend it with your, with your vitamins. It's not a good idea Absolutely. We just destroy the gut microbiome with all of these ultra processed things And that's the next item that I would say is really important for keeping your immunity during these winter months.
[00:21:58] A good probiotic [00:22:00] You know, if buying a probiotic is not an option that you want to take and you don't know which one to get, you can make your own kefir yogurt, which is like a fermented dairy product. And it's really, really simple. You can Google it. I do it every day. And I've just found that it's kept me so well.
[00:22:19] And I have like more energy because Everything seems to be just working really well together, you know,
[00:22:28] Amy: and I guess something like that and you know, Hopefully this doesn't put you off a little bit, but there's something about taking a probiotic that you know, you go to the bathroom Yeah, yeah, and I find you know, when I'm talking to clients here as well or even just you know out and around When you go to the bathroom, you know when you're doing number two regularly, you do have more energy you don't have that funny feeling in your tummy and Yeah, just You're active, everything's flowing the way it should, you
[00:22:56] Jaspreet: know?
[00:22:56] Exactly, you know, a really good sign of [00:23:00] emotional blockages, energy blockages, you know, physical symptoms, is to be constipated. Yeah. Yeah, and your body will tell you that first, that it doesn't feel comfortable, something's not right, by changing your digestive habits. So, when you have a change in your digestive habit, look around, like, be intrigued.
[00:23:23] Why has this happened? What is it that's changed? You know? Am I more tense? Am I more stressed? Has somebody upset me? Have I suppressed an emotion and I've not been clear with how I really feel? You know, or... Have I just eaten something that doesn't suit me, you know, but your digestive your digestive motions are a really big sign into your health.
[00:23:46] And it's the first indicator of your health as well. So yeah, probiotics are great for that. Absolutely brilliant.
[00:23:53] Amy: Yeah. Because you do, you get asked, I mean, I've been asked that lots of times as doctors, you know, I may not have been asked some other important questions, but [00:24:00] it's always like, are you still going to the toilet?
[00:24:02] You know, are you peeing frequently? How often are you you know, going to the toilet, right? And you're right. It is. It meant our health manifests in so many ways. And I like to always say to people, you know, if you can start journaling or if you're not going to write, if you can have five minutes a day where you're just sitting with yourself, not on your phone and reflecting on your day, thinking, how did I feel today?
[00:24:27] What did I do today? What didn't I like today? And just reflecting and looking inward. And then examining your external environment, it just helps you notice things so much more and so much, you know, more proactively than, oh, I haven't actually spent time on my own or thought about my own health and wellness and life.
[00:24:48] And now all these things are popping up.
[00:24:50] Jaspreet: Yeah, yeah, you're, you're completely right. You know our lives are very busy now. You know, we're always on the go and having [00:25:00] a Even a minute of reflection for some people is you know, it's unheard of so this is something that is so important To sit with yourself and ask yourself.
[00:25:11] How how am I? Yeah, how am I really? And let your body tell you, and your feelings tell you, and your emotions tell you. And then, you know, navigate from there. If you've only got a minute, you park it to the side, you deal with it another day. Right? But the fact that you've even given yourself the time. It shows that you value yourself and you can only look after your health.
[00:25:38] Yeah, you can only take care of your health if you value yourself, right? Because otherwise you put yourself at the back of the line.
[00:25:46] Amy: Absolutely. And I just want to go over this little list again. So you said vitamin D, magnesium, and I really like, I take magnesium a lot and I take daily. And I find it helps every now and [00:26:00] again, maybe once a year, I get restless legs at night when I'm asleep.
[00:26:04] I find if I'm taking because I went through this period where I wasn't taking it, you know, I kind of fell off the wagon and I, I started having restless legs and then I said, that's the magnesium that I'm not taking. And I started taking it again and, and you're right, you do sleep better when you're taking regular magnesium.
[00:26:20] Yeah. I find my workouts, I'm not as achy and my muscles just feel really good. And so we, and vitamin C and probiotics and what
[00:26:30] Jaspreet: about zinc? Yeah. Zinc is also very good. Yeah. Thank you for reminding me. Zinc is a great one to have as well. There's no particular strengths that, you know, we express for zinc or I do.
[00:26:41] I think if you've got, well, the only thing I would say is. Not part of a multivitamin. It should be zinc on its own. All of these, ideally, they want to be individual supplements, because people will often say, I'm taking a multivit, is that enough? Well, no, not really. They're in tiny, tiny quantities, you know, each ingredient.
[00:26:59] And [00:27:00] by the time you've digested it, if it's a tablet form, you've lost half of it. So we're not really getting what we need. It's just important to remember all of these points that they should be, you know, individual. the tablets or capsules, liquid either, you know, whichever form you would prefer. But yeah, I think it's very good to take as well, for sure.
[00:27:19] Amy: I know as a liquid, some of it tastes I used to have to take iron supplements before I was properly diagnosed with celiac disease. And I was on it for a long time, years. Yeah. You know, and they never. Looked into why they just said, you know, take it. So anyway, we got past all that, but I remember it tasting horrible Unless my iron was really really low and then it was the most delicious thing to me Really?
[00:27:45] That's interesting. Interesting, wasn't it? Yeah. It was, it was so strange because it was, it was horrible and I still took it because it made all the difference. But if my iron would drop really, really low, it would taste like liquid gold. I remember it. I remember like [00:28:00] from day to day, it would just be a big switch.
[00:28:03] Jaspreet: But you see, right? Your body tells you what you need. Yeah, there's such intelligence in our own bodies. It can heal so well, you know, it and it can take over, it can take over everything, you know, there can be illness and we can figure it out, you know, we're designed for that, but your body tells you that it needs iron and it makes you like it when you really need it.
[00:28:28] Yeah. You know, and it's so important to remember these points because we focus a lot with our thoughts and our brain and our mind, right? It's all up here, you know, and really, the rest is telling you so much. And that's a big part of the way that I work, you know, the somatic experiencing. The first part of the consultation is we go into the body, we take some breaths, you know, we settle ourselves down.
[00:28:56] We try to get to a baseline of some kind of [00:29:00] regulation with our nervous system, even if it's just for a moment. And then we scan from head to toe. Where do you feel the tensions? Where do you feel a pain? Where's your attention directed to? And it's actually quite amazing what comes up.
[00:29:17] Amy: And again, like we mentioned, yeah, like we mentioned, it's about paying, it's about paying attention to what your body is literally telling you, you know, but if you're not, if you're so busy that you're not, you don't even recognize yourself, I mean, how are you going to see these warning signs or these little hints that your body is giving you, right?
[00:29:37] Yeah,
[00:29:37] Jaspreet: if you're chronically stressed, you're always producing and secreting cortisol and all these other stress hormones which keep your muscles like this, you know, tense. If you feel a little pinch, when you're like this, you won't even notice, right? So what happens is [00:30:00] you keep working through it and working through it and that pinch gets bigger and bigger and bigger and the only time we stop is when it stops.
[00:30:08] Yeah, right. You know, people say all the time that they've got they've woken up one morning and their back has just gone and they have no idea why. Very often we can put it back to something maybe six months ago, even a year ago, but they ignored it then and carried on ignoring these little, little pinches until the body just said, Okay, you haven't listened to me.
[00:30:33] I've whispered to you so many times and you've ignored me. So here's my
[00:30:37] Amy: screen. You know? Yeah. So this actually happened to me a few years ago. It was COVID and I was still working full time. My job amped up. My, my other job amped up when I was when we were going through COVID. So, and it was stressful.
[00:30:54] I was away from my family. Everyone was in lockdown. You know, I was driving around on the roads to get to work. Cause [00:31:00] I was allowed. But nobody else was, so that was weird and eerie. So it was all, you know, this mind mess. But I was also studying full time. And I was studying via my previous university in Canada.
[00:31:16] So everything, all my classes were at night. So that was a lot. And that was going to be okay, provided I wasn't working full time in the day, because I could sleep in. But that changed. And so I was tired, I was stressed, there was all sorts of stuff going on, and I went out the back. We have this lovely area where I study outside, and we have this big outdoor umbrella.
[00:31:39] I roll it up, and I'm getting ready to put it out, and it breaks, it smacks me in the face just across the eye. And it's this, you know, it's I don't know if it's plastic or metal, but it's this rod, and it doesn't stab me, it just smacks me, and it's really light, but it hit me really hard, I guess, you know, because it was, you know, the, the, whatever physics was, I was actually studying chemistry and physics at [00:32:00] the time, so I should have more information on that if I don't, and I thought, God, that really, really hurt, like, you know, it, it didn't knock me out, but it made me stop and just pause for a few minutes, and so I, Okay, just shake it off, you have to study, and the next, or that night, I started with this horrible, horrible headache, the next day I could hardly see, I had a moderate to severe concussion.
[00:32:25] Wow. You know, so I ended up going to the hospital because the headache was that bad and that's what they said to me, and so for almost two months. I spent a few weeks on the couch, couldn't open my eyes, there was no TV, I couldn't look at my phone, I couldn't read, I couldn't do any of my exams. Just think, it was the strangest thing, it was just thinking.
[00:32:44] You know when you hurt, you know, when you're working out your muscles or you feel your muscles, you know, when they're growing or they're working really hard, you can feel everybody, your muscle, you don't, you don't really feel your brain. Yeah, I could feel my brain every time I would think, you know, I guess it was that [00:33:00] damage that was done and how it was repairing.
[00:33:02] It was a horrible experience. And that smack. You know how you say, you know, slap you in the face to wake you up. I literally got a smack in the face, and I say from the universe, because I was ignoring signs of A, being really stressed out, and I had been losing a lot of weight, and I couldn't figure out why, but I was ignoring all these signs.
[00:33:26] And so I got the concussion, and then a couple of months later, I was diagnosed with Graves disease. I was like, you were ignoring so much, you know, and so I learned a lot from that experience and I will never forget my, you know, my habits of looking after myself and doing all the things that I would have, you know, I used to do again.
[00:33:47] But this is what I'm getting at is sometimes you, you do, you need a major, you wait until you get this major wake up call or this major trauma or this major illness before [00:34:00] paying attention, you know, and if I had have taken time, you know, if I hadn't been working all day and studying all night and trying to sleep when I could, I probably would have thought.
[00:34:09] A little bit more about why I was losing weight and not blamed it on stress or, you know, any of the signs before the umbrella broke and smacked me in the face. Right? Yeah.
[00:34:21] Jaspreet: And, you know, you're really lucky to have a wake up call. Unfortunately, you know, it was a painful one, but the majority of them are, we only tend to make changes and shifts when something big happens.
[00:34:33] Right? But the thing as well is that you, it was really nice that you mentioned, you know, the universe is giving you a sign. I think that's something that's really important as well. You know, we to maintain the spirituality in understanding ourselves, our physical Being as well as our energy. It's really important because so much is dictated about [00:35:00] energies all around us, you know, and, and I'm a big believer believer of, you know, the universe and one energy and, you know, how impactful it is, but I mean, on a smaller scale, you know, the energy of people around you.
[00:35:15] That makes such a difference to your health, you know, it's so important to surround yourself with people who are going to be able to provide you with great energy. And I'm not talking about this really positive, you know, spiritual bypassing where it's like, you know, I, I, I don't think about things that are negative, you know, it's not that.
[00:35:37] Because that's not realistic and that's suppression of emotions, which leads to more problems later. But it's more being with like minded people who are good to one another because that in itself can be enough to lift you. A lot of elderly patients start to suffer with severe dementia and there's huge studies that show that it's linked to loneliness.[00:36:00]
[00:36:00] Yeah. Yeah. And that's why after COVID and lockdown, we had, we still are suffering with a big surge of rates of dementia because a lot of elderly patients were, they had to be on their own. There was no other option. We've come out of COVID, you know, we're coming out of COVID and they're still afraid to be around people.
[00:36:22] And that has a deep, deep impact on our welfare. So, you know, who you surround yourself with as well as the modalities that you use to heal yourself are really, really important. If I go away and I do, you know, five yoga practices a week and I'm taking all of my vitamins and I eat really well, but the person I spend the most time with is extremely depressing and puts me down at every moment, there's only so high I can get lifted, you know?
[00:36:54] Amy: I completely agree. When you start to pay attention to these things, you know, [00:37:00] sometimes you can walk into a room and I'll start here with the analogy of you can cut tension with a knife. That's the energy in the room. That's, that's the energy people are giving off. You know, you can, sometimes when you're with your close friends, you can tell when, you know, your couple friends have had an argument that day because they're not necessarily being mean or unkind to each other.
[00:37:21] They're probably just annoyed. But as their friend, you can tell that their energy is a bit off, even though they might not be outwardly doing anything. Or when you walk into, you know, a public space and you feel a bit uneasy, that's the energy of somebody else in that room or something that has just occurred in that room that's manifested there.
[00:37:44] And it's giving you the signs, Hey, there's something that's not quite right. And if you're uneasy, just leave, walk away.
[00:37:52] Jaspreet: Yeah, and pretty much every step of everything we've spoken about to do it today. It's really about awareness [00:38:00] You know awareness of your body awareness of your emotions Awareness of other people's energy awareness of your own.
[00:38:08] Yeah, and the more aware you become I'd say really by slowing down, that's the easiest way to become aware and I'm not talking about a really deep practice, literally just slowing down and paying attention rather than having so many things going on, including your phone and the TV and cooking and cleaning and doing your work, you know, how aware could you be?
[00:38:37] of the small intricate details of your own body and your own mind, if it's completely flooded with stimulation all the time. That ability to walk in the room and sense that something's not right, or feel the energy and be like, Wow, you know, I want to be here. The ability to do that is all [00:39:00] about awareness.
[00:39:01] And, you know, yogic practices. That's what you're striving for. And these are, you know, thousand, thousand year old practices saying that your health will be better if you become more aware. And watching people over the last 15 years, I can say I believe it for sure. And practicing myself, yeah, definitely.
[00:39:26] I can pick up an illness with myself, you know, within the first couple of hours of it coming on. And I can react to it and respond to it, whereas before I would get to the point where I'm knocked off my feet and then I'm like, Oh, now I've got to do something about it. But really my body just wants to rest for 10 days, so I'm going to have to, I have to lay in bed for 10 days.
[00:39:48] Right? Yeah.
[00:39:51] Amy: It's a big, it's a big shift when you take, you know, you start to take on this mindset and approach. And I think what people need to realize is it just [00:40:00] starts small. Start by taking. You know, even before bed, turn off your phone, turn off the TV, and, you know, ask your partner or get the kids settled away to just give you, again, five minutes, just a couple, again, start with one minute, like you had said, of just some self reflection.
[00:40:17] Yeah. Start small. And then you'll, as you start to do that, you'll want to do more. You'll naturally add on more time or discover something about yourself that you might like to try. Maybe, you know, a new hobby that's something that's really grounding you or giving you more rest or better health. It's all about just taking those small steps.
[00:40:39] Jaspreet: Yeah, I mean, I've been on this path of taking care of myself, like really trying to take care of myself and it goes in waves, right? Like you said, okay, so, you know, you're taking your, your, your vitamins and then you run out and maybe you forgot to take them for a while. It's only when you get the symptoms again, you start again, right?
[00:40:58] So, you know, I've [00:41:00] been on that wave many, many times and I'm still on that. There's some months where I'm really, you know, I'm on, on it and I'm doing really well and there's others where I drop off. But I've been on this path for about 10 years, you know, and it's ever continuing. And you've got to be patient.
[00:41:15] But I look at myself now compared to, you know, even two years ago. And I can see that there's, there's a difference and there's a positive difference and it's, it's really, it's such a nice feeling when you reflect and think, okay, yeah, well this is doing me some good. It's just that we have to be patient and see it as a journey, a lifelong lifestyle, you know, not just a
[00:41:37] Amy: quick bundle.
[00:41:39] Yeah, exactly. You know, when you fall off, it's like I, you know, it's not linear, you know, you see those memes or those. Those little characters where you want the journey to look like this, but it really looks like this, you know, and it really is like that and it's okay to fall back and it's okay to, you know, for there to be hiccups and you just, you have to, it's again, it's about your mindset and how you're [00:42:00] approaching these situations when they happen and really trying not to be frustrated with yourself for not, you know, Being perfect or, you know, not always being your best and it, you know, you're, you're literally only human and there's nothing more accepted or expected of you than just trying to better yourself a little bit for yourself, not for someone else.
[00:42:23] Jaspreet: Exactly. I think that's the difference, right? It's got to be for yourself. One of my yoga teachers used to say, you know, if you can manage to do that backbend, you know, and get it exactly as you want, what happens after that? You want to get to the end, but what happens? And I was like, yeah, it's a fair point.
[00:42:44] I don't need to rush that. No. Right?
[00:42:47] Amy: Enjoy getting there. Yeah, exactly.
[00:42:49] Jaspreet: See, it is part, that's part of the whole process. That's the fun part, because once you've got to the end, okay, well it's done now, you know? Yeah.
[00:42:58] Amy: I love it. [00:43:00] Jesperi, thank you so much for sharing all of your insights today. It's, I really appreciate it.
[00:43:05] And I'd love for you to share how people who are listening can get in touch with you if they were keen.
[00:43:10] Jaspreet: Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you for having me. It's been really wonderful speaking with you.
[00:43:15] So all of my consultations and availability is shown online on wholebodypharmacist. com There's also a whatsapp phone number on there So you can send me a message if you ever have a question that you would like to discuss prior to a consultation So I'm part of the virtual digital world now I'm pretty much available All the time.
[00:43:39] Amy: Well, thank you so much for offering that space for people. It's so important for, you know, anyone just to know that there's someone again who can listen or, you know, who can take that and, and to do it so easily through WhatsApp is, is excellent. So thank you for offering that space to people.
[00:43:56] Jaspreet: Thank you.
[00:43:56] Thank you so much.
[00:43:58] Amy: And for everyone listening, I'll [00:44:00] share all of Jasperine's links and resources in the show notes of today's episode. And thank you all for listening.
[00:44:07] If this resonated with you, I would love it if you would like and subscribe to the show and share this with just one person who you think could benefit from what we talked about today.
[00:44:19] And again, please feel free to get in touch. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks so much.
[00:44:24] Thanks for joining me on the Holistic Health Show. If you enjoyed the episode, subscribe now and get ready to embark on an incredible journey toward holistic wellness. Until next time, be well and stay holistic.
Get in touch with Jaspreet: https://www.wholebodypharmacist.com/
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