Hidden Barriers to Happiness Blog
Have you always wondered about the invisible forces that affect your health, wealth, relationships and happiness?
For over 25 years, first as a neuroscientist, then epidemiologist, and now as a Holistic Brain Health Practitioner, I’ve been passionate about identifying underlying causes of mental and cognitive health challenges. This blog reveals my discoveries from my academic training, my passion for functional medicine, psychology, sociology, energy medicine and what I’ve learned from identifying secrets held by the subconscious.
If you want more health, wealth, better relationships and more happiness, find out what could be getting in the way! When you sign up to get my Top 10 Tips for a Happy & Healthy Brain, you’ll also get 2-4 newsletters per month featuring my blog, “Hidden Barriers to Happiness”.
What are you waiting for? Knowledge is power!
3 Reasons Why We Need to Limit Our Sugar Intake
You’ve definitely heard it before – too much sugar isn’t good for you. Yet for some reason cutting down and monitoring your sugar intake can require a lot of self-discipline. While most of us know that too much sugar isn’t good for us, the reasons why are nebulous at best to most. That is we I invited certified nutritionist, Kelli Wike, to tell us more about why we need to limit our sugar intake.
Kelli Wike has a degree inNutritional Science from Bastyr University, and has been working with clients for 20 years with her company Transformation Mission.
Dr Tina: Welcome Kelli Wike, and thank you for joining me!
Kelli: I’m delighted to be here!
Types Of Sugars That Have Negative Effects On The Body
Dr. Tina: Sugar is often many people’s weak spots – including my own. I’m sure you’ve all had that sugary craving where you reach for a chocolate bar to get that quick energy boost but as you are all probably aware, there are several types of sugars. They all interact with the body in different ways. Some are better for you than others. So Kelli, could you tell us more about the types of sugars?
A Simple Answer to Memory Loss
My elderly client came to me deeply concerned about her short term memory loss. She would find that in casual conversations, she would forget important things that she was told just 2 minutes ago. While planning simple trips (like going to the doctor), she would find that she had to keep making her plans over and over because she had forgotten what she originally had planned to do. She was also struggling with spelling words that had never given her trouble before, like “guilt”. She would frequently have these “can’t think” moments. She was worried that these could be signs of dementia.
Luckily, we discovered (more…)
5 Mindset Shifts For Healthy Relationships
Many of us struggle with having healthy relationships. No matter how hard I work on my relationships, at some point, I’ll run into conflicts. I can’t always save the relationship because it takes two for it to work, but I always learn from my experiences and strive to do better. Because I have struggled with my relationships for so many years, I’ve learned a lot. So I thought I’d share some of my favorite mindset shifts for healthy relationships that have helped me over the years.
From Unsanitary to Motivation to Clean!
I had a client that came to me for a variety of issues. After listing a number of things she wanted to work on, we asked her subconscious where to start. I got that we needed to work on something that she had not listed. I discovered that we needed to increase her motivation to clean, and then she let me know why that came up.
She had a pet that wasn’t toilet trained and she did not clean up after her. She had not cleaned her place since her husband left her a year ago! There was mold, feces and urine everywhere and she didn’t seem to care even if she stepped in it! Her habits were disturbing and unsanitary enough that her family even tried to get her institutionalized!
How did she get the motivation to clean?
Should you exercise to prevent or reverse dementia?
Should we exercise to prevent dementia?
The answer to the latest meta analysis is showing that the data is inconclusive!
Does that mean we shouldn’t bother to exercise? No! There are a lot benefits to exercise.
What are the benefits of exercise to the brain?
Recovery from a Head Injury
My client is an accomplished author and public speaker. One day, as she was walking along, she fell and hit her head on the concrete. As a result, she felt a lot more fatigue and would need to nap regularly. Her most troubling symptom was with her typing. After the fall, she was constantly making spelling errors and adding extra spaces to just about every word. She was getting frustrated about all the errors she was making.
Would she be able to have a recovery from a head injury?
The doctors told her it would take 3 months to recover from her’s. But she didn’t have the option of taking 3 months off of work. Her income depended on her ability to be healthy.
What happened when we released barriers for a faster recovery?
Is the Opposite of Addiction Connection? Exploring the Root Causes of Addictions
The author of Chasing the Scream, Johann Hari states: “The opposite of addiction isn’t sobriety – it’s connection”.
But can the causes of addictions be reduced down to just one simple reason?
In his TED talk, titled “Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong”, Hari argues that there is an underlying cause to addiction that isn’t being sufficiently addressed with addicts. He states that the current war on drugs does little to address what he says is the key underlying cause of addiction in the first place: The lack of connection and profound loneliness that perpetuates their behavior.
What is the evidence he uses to support this argument?
Healthy Choices Made Easy
Terry came to me concerned about her weight. She had lost 40Ibs through weight watchers, but she was constantly worried about gaining it back, and she wanted to lose 30Ibs more. She would get intense and regular cravings for salty foods and sweets, and was always thinking about food. Then when she would eat, she found herself eating far more than she should have, whether it was at restaurants with friends, or at home alone. At the worst of her eating habits, she could gain weight very fast. Just before we addressed this issue she had gained 11Ibs in 2 weeks! (more…)
How to Have a Conscious Relationship
When I fell in love with my boyfriend, I could only see the good in him. He was funny, warm, generous, and kind, and I allowed that first impression to be sealed into my brain. I made assumptions based on what I initially saw about his capacity to love and be loving. I formed expectations from him based on my imagined reality that he would never do anything to hurt me. I made assumptions that he would treat me in the ways that I expected and hoped to be treated.
All these assumptions that I made ended up hurting me tremendously when I discovered he wasn’t all I had wanted him to be.
When we first meet people, we have a tendency to (more…)
Finally Getting Support
I have a client that wanted to break up with a guy that she was dating. All I knew was that she didn’t feel like he was good for her. We released subconscious barriers to make that easy for her, and we ended up mostly releasing despair around not getting support she needed.
The following week when I checked on her, she was smiling. (more…)
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