Midwifery is very relationship-based. It prioritizes mutual decision making so much so that the American College of Nurse-Midwives has made this a priority among all their professional documents. We, as midwives, prioritize counseling, education, and informed consent. We seek to empower our clients and become their best #advocate. Fear-based medicine is something of conventional medicine practitioners, obstetrics, but not midwifery, and certainly not integrative and functiona

Since ancient times, yoga has been continuously adapted to suit the needs of individuals from different times, cultures, and traditions. The young have come to explore and develop their potential. The sick and aged have come for healing and a fresh perspective. Spiritual seekers have come to find freedom from the burdens of the material world or to find peace at the feet of their God. All who come to #yoga are welcome. In the hands of the wise teacher, yoga meets the individu

Functional medicine claims digging into the roots as the heart of the specialty, and I would argue this is true too of #wellness, in that we have to dig into what is most authentic to who we are and truly identify our roots. Many of us, I would argue, are bleeding at the roots however, in that we have embraced a world that is not authentic to us, a reality or narrative that is not serving or even honoring to who we are and in doing so, not only do we create our own traumas an

Yep, I've been there. I think I assumed doing so was evidence I was healed from prior #traumas. I received poor midwifery care, nearly seventeen years ago now, and my son died. I thought creating a midwifery practice and ultimately raising the standard of care, offering families a safe place to birth would help right some of the injustice we suffered. I earned my doctorate with a focus on improving neonatal outcomes in the home and birth center settings, and went to law schoo

Hiking has always been a love of mine, but one I didn't necessary prioritize until this past year. Now that we're sitting in the middle of one of the worst winter storms we've had in years, I am still eager to get outside, but aware that I need to go in well-prepared. I am just not ready to shelf my #wellness #goals until warmer weather arrives, and a few of my hiking buddies have shared that winter is their favorite season for hiking. I am intrigued enough to want to discove

Eden Family Practice has a specific focus on #wellness, and this doesn't just mean lifestyle suggestions, but rather, a true commitment to digging in to toxic behaviors, environmental health, movement, feelings, patterns, trauma and all the fun and really complex ways our health can be impacted beyond genetics and nutrition. Yoga and #hiking are regular activities I offer my clients, along with our monthly book club, our private forums, courses for members, and our Wednesday

I've been aggressively addressing this issue for more than a decade now, testing and supplementing almost every client within my midwifery practice. It's an issue I am a bit passionate about and one that I believe well demonstrates the flawed mindset of our country's #sickcare system. Consider that if we really had a healthcare system, the profession would prioritize research towards what level of vitamin D is optimal and strive for those standards in our recommendations, rat

The fourth of the yogic yamas is #brahmacharaya, which is spiritual and often referred to or translated to mean "celibacy" or "chastity," but I believe this to be an oversimplification of this practice. Although there seems to be several translations for this specific sanskrit term, which speaks to its complexity, the essence to me is in simplifying and protecting your energy to guard your spiritual journey. I feel this is an important discussion in #wellness because the mind

My mother use to say, "she's just a little healthy" whenever she was discussing a child who was a bit larger than the norm. Today, more and more littles are just a little extra "healthy" according to her terms. In reality, twenty percent of children are #overweight or #obese and the trend is increasing. The consequences of childhood obesity is significant and the remedy is complex, including interventions in the school, within the community, and at home. A child who is overwe

One of the more passionate areas of #wellness I find my self drawn with this new practice, Eden, is the desire to help people reach their optimal weight. I never struggled with my weight, in spite of birthing six children, until my stress escalated beyond my coping skills. For a functional medicine practitioner, it took me way longer to recognize my own health issues than quite frankly it should have but that's part of not prioritizing yourself. That's part of #stress. That's