Showing posts from June, 2019

Judge orders stem cell company to stop selling treatment

The court order bars clinic from performing a procedure that blinded four patients.

Souls Wrapped in Skin- Reintroducing New Foods, Dealing with IBS, & Listening to My Body!

Hello, beautiful friends!

Thank you for all of the love on the new site layout — I am so overjoyed about it. I cannot even handle how much I feel it represents my heart and soul now, and the direction that my brand is moving. If ya couldn’t tell from the branding, I feel the brand (and myself!) moving in a very spiritual, ethereal, calming / zen vibes, soul-level-depth kind of direction. Quite a far cry from the vegan food blog I started in 2013! (But always love that too.)

Speaking of vegan food blogs… my journey with food has been such a, well, JOURNEY over the years. Being plant-based again has drastically helped to improve my health issues over the last few years as I have been dealing with Lyme, co-infections, mold, parasites, hormone issues, and more. In fact, I even came up with the term intuitively plant-based (I am sure I did not invent it lol- but have been calling myself that for a while now) and have been following that for the last couple of years.

Although I shied away from fully using the term vegan most of the time — I have been vegan for the last few years. Especially after staying at True North water fasting center, and learning all about the benefits of the SOS-free vegan lifestyle. And trust me, I am still largely SOS-free and my body majorly thanks me for it because of my ongoing health and inflammation issues.

But when you really boil it down to the core of what I believe in… I am all about being intuitive! Even being plant-based, I have been intuitive about it the whole time. My ultimate belief is that we are souls wrapped in skin – point blank. We came here to live our lives, to feel our best, to have a lot of fun and to live out our soul’s ever-evolving eternal journeys and karmic unfoldings. For that reason & many others… I don’t believe that the way we eat defines who we are in the very least.

Being plant-based again for the last few years, I have gotten a lot of “shade” from people, if you will. “But what about the label-free life?!” people would ask me, again and again.

And how many times do I have to say it? NO JUDGMENT TOWARD THE WAY ANYONE EATS, EVER.

Whether that be plant-based and vegan, raw vegan, paleo, carnivore, Keto, intermittent fasting, whatever whatever. I don’t believe in judging people who label their diets/lifestyles and I don’t believe in judging people who don’t. Just quite simply DO YOU, however that looks for you at any given season of life.

So my reason for writing this post is that I shared on Instagram yesterday that I recently started eating eggs again after being fully plant-based for the last two-ish years. My reasons for eating eggs again were very simply – my body was craving them wildly after really not caring about them or missing them previously, and I give my body what it wants.

Also, I have been dealing with an insane IBS flare up in my stomach, causing extreme bloating, pain, indigestion, insomnia due to the pain, and so much more. Because of that, I have had to cut out things I love and was previously eating in abundance like cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts), kale, lentils / legumes, hummus, and some starches/some rice products to name a few. (Although I am still on the fence with grains – I just can’t eat them every day.)

So with a huge staple of my diet being thrown out the window, it made a lot of sense for me personally to reintroduce eggs. I want to make this abundantly clear- this post is not in defense of me eating eggs again, or in defense of anything I will or will not eat moving forward. There is nothing to defend from! I just like to be honest about what’s working for me always since I know many of you suffer from similar tummy issues and health concerns.

My best friend Jillian even had a dream a few months ago that I needed to get more protein into my diet, and that I was super protein deficient! And I do believe she was right.

Also, a lot of the time I eat egg whites because they are easier for me to digest. And eggs are super easier for me to digest in baked goods — like these delish muffins I made and posted on Instagram yesterday!

The amazing thing is… after sharing that on IG yesterday I got an overwhelming amount of support!!! Not even one negative comment or message as far as I have seen (I hope I haven’t spoken too soon LOL)- which is SO MUCH THE OPPOSITE of the response I received after my initial transitioning from veganism post that broke the internet in 2014. Please dear God never take me back to that time when the vegan community was threatening to murder me (LITERALLY) and I received hundreds of thousands of hate comments and death threats alike on IG/Facebook/YouTube/all over the place.

Now, I feel like society has come a long way with ACCEPTANCE and knowing that all of our bodies are different. Plus, it’s just really truly not a big deal how another person eats- all we should be concerned about is how we personally feel, right? Also I feel it speaks to the loving environment of the TBB community & how it’s grown, and that makes me really happy. <3

Listening to My Body //

So! After sharing that on the good ol’ IG yesterday I have been getting a lot of questions asking how exactly I listen to my body. Sometimes we try to listen to our bodies but it can be hard because if we are not used to it, our internal cues can be all off and our bods just tell us they want chocolate cake all day or something else delish like that- lol but true.

The main thing I do is I speak to my intuition, which is also my soul, or my highest self. I am so excited to share about this because the course I created that is launching on July 8 is all about speaking to our souls + waking back up to our soul’s greatest desires and needs! Communing with our souls is available to all of us. The main element required is TRUST.

When you begin to talk to your soul or any other non-physical energy, it will feel different at first. It’s not like talking to another human IRL that’s for sure. You can begin by automatic writing (writing in your journal, talking to your soul and getting out of your own way in order to let your higher self answer your questions) or speaking out loud to your soul. I find that I am most tapped in after I meditate, or after a hot sweaty workout class, or right before I fall asleep / right when I wake up.

If you’re not into journaling or speaking out loud, you can also let this all happen in your mind. I believe we are all capable of being in tune with ourselves, and part of being fully in tune with ourselves is being able to ask ourselves questions and trust the response.

When I did this, my body responded LOUD & CLEAR that YES it wanted to eat eggs. Also, my guides and my highest self told me many times, “It’s not about the food. It’s not about what you eat… at all.” So trust me when I say that our highest selves know what we need, and my highest self repeatedly tells me to stop being so focused on what I eat / what I don’t eat.

Secondly, beyond talking to my soul/my body, I have a great Nutrition Response Practitioner — shoutout to Vanessa Fitzgerald! Vanessa muscle tests my body for the foods that work for my system, and the supplements and medications as well — and she does me for the supps & meds! I am having her on my podcast soon, she is incredible. Through working with Vanessa I was able to fully pinpoint that the foods I believed were no longer working for me… were indeed no longer working for me (cruciferous veggies, etc.).

So I would highly recommend finding a trusted practitioner to help you through this process as you get started!

Loving life & plants at the farmer’s market this weekend!

Healing from the major IBS Flare //

The truth is, when stomach issues crop up there could certainly be a lot going on. I have had candida & SIBO in the past, but something in my gut tells me that is not the case right now.

What I do know is that I definitely have parasites at the moment, and I will get re-tested for those soon with a stool test through my LLMD (you can also find a good functional medicine doctor to do a stool test with and have them read the results). My parasites are causing major gut issues up in here and I am ready to keep getting them KILLED.

Also, stress doesn’t help anything. I have had so much fun planning and recording and creating and getting ready to launch this course, but I have also run myself into the ground creating it while maintaining the podcast, blog, social media, social life, planning my wedding, healing from Lyme, and more. Our bodies can only handle so much — and my lesson time and again is to MOVE SLOW, & LIVE SLOW.

A few things that have really helped my IBS flare are-

eliminating the foods that were not working for me
reintroducing new foods
taking lots of probiotics & digestive enzymes (I take Silver Fern — use the code BLONDE for a discount!)
taking the Boiron products Lycopodium clavatum & Carbo Vegetabilis for making sure the insane amount of gas in my system is getting passed and is not just stuck in my body (shoutout to my soul sis Jenna Zoe for this tip!)
warm water with lemon every morning
celery juice every morning
avoiding nightshades and foods like onion, garlic, and tomatoes
eating 3 meals a day separate from each other and avoiding snacking when possible
lowering my stress & sleeping/resting more
good exercise and yoga (yoga really helps the digestive system with all the twists and digestive release poses)
self-massage on my stomach with peppermint oil & CBD salve (I use Cured Nutrition CBD salve- use code BLONDE for 10% off!)
lots & lots of water
Lil Sipper‘s digestive support protein made by Nuzest USA (plus all of Bethany’s tips and recipes on her blog honestly — she is the real deal)
Traditional Medicinal’s Belly Comfort tea on repeat! It’s peppermint & so soothing. I was drinking it like 4x a day during the worst of my flare.
Eating simple foods & really paying attention to food combining.
I will be doing the Viome gut microbiome test soon to see which foods are best for my personal microbiome & I am so excited! More on that soon.
Lots of supplementation to make sure my bod is getting what it needs. Check out yesterday’s post for my favorite vitamin- RITUAL (code TBB for 10% off).
Coffee enemas & colonics. You can head here to read my post all about coffee enemas!
Castor oil packs on my tummy.
Being easy on myself, lots of meditation and BREATHING into my belly!

I really hope this all helps!!! I almost didn’t want to write a post about eating eggs again (and being open to incorporating more newness into my diet if it is going to help me) because I really don’t feel that what we eat defines us in any way. But because I have shared so openly along the way, I figured I would continue to do so now!

I feel that I will be predominantly plant-based for life, incorporating what I need here and there and dipping back into the fully plant-based lifestyle afterward. That is what works for ME. I want you to find what works for you! Never compare yourself and never let anyone make you feel down or less-than because of what you eat or do not eat.

If you are suffering from IBS or feeling tied to any particular diet, you are not alone. You can always speak to your soul, commune with your intuition, find a great practitioner to help you, and focus on all of the self-healing I mentioned above!

So much love to you all! What tips did I miss? Would love to hear. XO

Oklahoma leaders reach deal on settlement money to curb drug crisis

Tens of millions of dollars will go toward helping the state abate an opioid epidemic that has killed thousands there.

Have trouble sleeping? ‘Blue light’ from devices may be to blame. There are some possible remedies.

Answers include glasses or apps that block this part of light spectrum, more sun during the day and cut down your screen time at night.

Trump to sign executive order to compel disclosure of health care prices

The order will direct HHS to write rules requiring hospitals and insurance to disclose for the first time the rates they negotiate.

TBB Health Update Part II

Hi beautifuls! What do you think of the new blog layout?! I can’t even handle how excited I am to have an aesthetic that matches not only my vision – but how much I have changed & evolved as a spirit in a human body over the last few years.

I mentioned on Instagram the other day that last week marks my six year blog anniversary! I began blogging On June 18th, 2013 at the airport in Maui when my family left to fly back to California and I mysteriously did not have a ticket home.

I had to wait 6 hours until the next flight to LA, and in those hours I made an Instagram account called @theblondevegan where I started posting photo after photo of vegan food, hash tagging the photos, and following other wellness & vegan accounts that I found. At the time – there were barely any!

Fast forward to now – a brand, a business, a book, a podcast, a (now vintage- lol) clothing line, countless partnerships & trips & events & opportunities, an incredible FB community, a massive healing journey, a spiritual awakening / a thriving affinity for Human Design, plant medicine, reiki, mediumship, aliens (hehe!!!) and so much more – WOW, how things have evolved. I cannot imagine my life without this platform, without you guys, and without being able to express myself on the daily on all of these incredible outlets!

Now that I have changed so much, it was time for my brand to evolve alongside of me. This new layout makes me so happy and symbolizes so much of what is important to me. The colors are zen and calming, and the little astrological signs + symbols feel like they’re straight out of the contents of my brain. I will never stop being grateful for this journey and all that has transpired along the way.

TBB Health Update Part II //

Today… we are talking TBB Health Update Part II! Thank you so much for checking out Part I if you’ve taken a look, and if not check it out to get all of the updates on how I am feeling lately & what has been working for me.

As promised, Part II gets more into the supplements, vitamins, and rituals I have instilled into my life that are really working for me. So it’s no coincidence that this post was brought to you by RITUAL, the daily essential vitamin for women that I am currently so obsessed with you’ve been me sharing on Insta, IG Stories, the podcast, you name it.

First thing’s first – I want you to know, I never, ever share about companies that I don’t 100% believe in and use on a daily basis. Beyond that, I usually use something for at least a month to 3 months before I share it with you guys. But Ritual was different in that I wanted to document my full journey of taking Ritual vitamins for 90 days so I can bring you guys along for the whole process! And I have to say, documenting along the way is super fun in its own way… because we can do it together!

Secondly, I want you to know that you can use the code TBB on Ritual.com to get 10% off of your order. The vitamins are so MINTY & FRESH & PEPPERMINTYYYY both tasting & smelling because of the peppermint essential oil tab they put in there — call me silly for caring so much but that is one of my number one favorite things about them. We love a carefully curated detail in TBB tribe, do we not?

What I also love most about Ritual is that they are non-GMO, vegan, sustainably sourced, gluten-free, allergen-free, and they have no colorants or synthetic fillers. The capsules are also designed for no-nausea when you take them, which is a massive plus for me because with Lyme and co-infections just about everything makes me radically nauseous. So they are TBB approved in every way but even beyond that, their product really blows me away.

Someone asked me on IG the other day after some stories I posted about Ritual, “What makes them different from all of the other vitamins on the market?” Other than the above, it was invented for women by women, so it is specifically formulated for women’s daily supplemental needs. It contains nine essential foundational-to-health nutrients in their healthiest & most absorptive form. These nutrients fill in the gaps of a healthy diet to build a healthy foundation for the future, supporting the brain with Omega-3’s, blood and heart health with Iron, and bones with Vitamin K.

It helps with… healthy skin, immune support, mood, heart health, hormone support, energy, brain health (!!!), and more. You know, the most essential things women need!

ALSO !!! And perhaps most importantly for me, since I have shared that I have the MTFHR genetic mutation that makes it difficult for me to properly utilize folic acid… Ritual uses a methylated folate so that it can be absorbed by those of us with the gene variation! Even if you don’t know that you have it, the gene variation can affect up to 40% of women.

I am about 60 days into my journey with Ritual now and it feels incredible to have committed to taking something so good for me on the daily. I get it, we are all on the go and we are looking for easy ways to stay committed & on top of our health – and this has been easy for me to stay on top of with a hectic routine. Also with a hectic supplement / vitamin routine… and Ritual is just about the only one I enjoy taking because I know it’s going to be minty and fresh.

I genuinely love so many things about the brand, including that they just opened their new showroom on Melrose in LA! I wasn’t able to make it to their launch party because of my energy levels right now, but I saw so many photos from it and I love how many mutual friends we have & how cute all of their branding is.

Definitely check them out, use the code TBB for 10% off, and start to think about your daily rituals. What do you do every day that you feel good about? What would you like to incorporate more of into your every day life?

The new course I am creating is full of journaling prompts, so let the above questions inspire you to journal it out today or whenever feels good to you. Also, what are your favorite rituals? Start to ask yourself how much of what you do in your day inspires you and sets you up for success & for feeling your ultimate best.

As far as how I am feeling — my IBS flare up is still going strong, and it’s been one of my worst ever flares to date. I think it may have happened because I was getting a little cocky with my healing and incorporating some foods I don’t usually eat… like a rather oily (but delicious) vegan brunch at Soho House & lots and lots of vegan cookies last weekend. I am being easy on myself this week, rescheduling what I need to, and getting tons of rest. Movement helps as well, but rest helps even more. Always remember to be kind to yourself if you are in a flare. <3

And as far as energy, my energy is low low low right now. Again, being as kind to myself as possible and letting myself feel everything — the low lows make the high highs that much more enjoyable.

Healing Update Part III is coming soon where I will share some of my Lyme medications, supplements, and treatments that have been the most effective for me. Ritual is not a treatment for Lyme at all, but rather a fun everyday ritual for me to get my essential vitamins in & know that I am supporting my health beyond my healthy diet. It’s important to fill in the gaps wherever we can so we don’t fall deficient in any area!

Okay what do you think?! Will you try Ritual?! What do you think of my new site layout?! EEEK! So exciting!! Happy weekend you guys… MUAH !!

A new photo contest for those with dementia, Alzheimer’s offers revealing images

Still Living allows people with the illness to tell their stories, show their perspective.

As seniors go into twilight years, some of them privately mull ‘rational suicide’

Known for valuing self-determination, some in the aging generation explore the idea of ending their lives rather than experience a slow and often unpleasant decline.

Lice? Don’t lose your head over them. Just focus on your child’s scalp.

As summer camps begin, here are some helpful facts about the hardy but generally harmless critters.

The Big Number: 54.4 million adult Americans suffer arthritis

The ailment worsens with age, but about 300,000 American kids also have juvenile arthritis.

Examining why false confessions occur in the U.S. criminal justice system

The journal Science features a psychologist who is changing the way law enforcement thinks about their interrogation methods.

‘I was just clawing at myself.’ A retired nurse who couldn’t stop scratching feared she was facing an organ transplant.

Specialists were mystified until a surgeon uncovered the surprising link between her unrelenting itching and a decade-old event.

Doctors say summer is kidney stone season. Here’s why.

The ailment is associated with hotter weather because of dehydration and other issues.

I was bitten by a feral dog while overseas. My search for rabies shots was a terrifying ordeal.

I was in India but travelers should be forewarned: The disease is not uncommon in many countries, and visitors like me have died when not vaccinated.

A new ‘female Viagra’ approved by FDA despite skepticism

The new drug is intended to treat hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or HSDD.

Voters have big health-care worries, but not the ones Democrats are talking about

Americans tell pollsters they feel squeezed by deductibles and prescription drug costs, but the candidates are mostly focused on expanding access to insurance.

A New VIBE for a New ME + 10 Things You May Not Know

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THE NEW VIBE ON THE SIIIIITE!! Shoutout to my incredible designer Anelise Salvo for whipping this together so beautifully in all of the ways. I feel like this new look represents the insides of my soul – and is the exact refresh my spirit has been dreaming up for this space of creation.

I’ve gotta be honest, even though I loved my old site layout and it was perfect for the TBB brand 2-3 years ago, it didn’t inspire me as deeply to hop on and share my soul in the same way that this new layout does. I have been writing long-form captions on Instagram for a while now and also sharing my soul on the podcast annnnd have been hard at work creating the brand new COURSE for you guys (launching July 8!!) called Waking Back Up To Your Own Soul that is going to be… epic.

I say this because I created it out of my own deep desire to have a method to help me wake back up to my own soul & stay awake and aligned on a daily basis… so I created it out of a true need & desire to go deeper in my own spiritual journey. It holds all of the tips & tricks that I have learned over the last few years seeking to commune with my own soul, beginning to channel, surrendering to the universe, manifesting my desires, and so much more.

10 Things You May Not Know About Me //

1. Lime green has been my favorite color since I was in 1st grade. I remember our teacher (shoutout to Ms. Kren at SCDS!) going around the room having us all share what our favorite color was. Every single girl was saying pink, and every single boy was saying blue. I made up my mind right then and there I was not going to be like every other girl in the room – so I thought of the color that made me the happiest and felt like it matched my spunky little personality – and the color was lime green!

Green was a staple in much of the original TBB branding, but now I love that we’ve moved into these calming pink & purple tones. Lime green will forever be my favorite because it reminds me of that little Jordan who was determined to not fall into the crowd… which has been a major theme throughout my life ever since!

2. I have never been fully healthy, which is probably why I have always been so extremely interested in wellness. I was born with terrible colic and threw up after everything I ate for the first 3 months of my life. From the very beginning, food and my stomach have been at battle. I went gluten-free and vegetarian at a very young age to try to relieve some of my symptoms, and it helped. But it didn’t solve everything. I have seen every type of doctor under the sun for my whole entire life (literally) to try to get answers. While some of the answers are still a bit of a mystery to me, I feel so grateful that this has been my path. It lead me to the wellness world, which lead me to this platform, which lead me to the spiritual world, and now it is my entire business & life! I wouldn’t trade this journey for the world.

Also, when I was finally diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease last year I did get answers for a lot of what I have dealt with for many years! That has been a HUGE blessing. Thank goodness for my incredible doctor, Dr. Erica Lehman and my incredible friend Celeste for leading me to her!

3. I went to Loyola Marymount University for college where I studied English, Creative Writing, and Journalism. I entered college as a Theater major! But quickly switched over to English once I realized I wasn’t learning much as a Theater major and that writing had been my true passion all along. Then I went to The New School in NYC to get my MFA in Creative Writing right after college, but I left after one year to pursue this blog. Everything works out the way it’s meant to.

College Jordan! With my best friend Jordan.

4. I am a Libra sun, Cancer moon, and Aquarius rising! That means I am double air, which accounts for my airiness. My Cancer moon brings a water element into my life that has a lot to do with how emotional, nurturing, loyal, and deeply sensitive I am. My North Node is in Aquarius, meaning my soul came here to do Aquarian things in this lifetime — be out of the box, independent, talk about things that people might consider weird and out there, and be ahead of the curve with certain woo-woo things. Sound like me?! Yes!! I am obsessed with astrology.

I am also a REFLECTOR in Human Design, and to learn all about that you can listen to this episode with the fabulous Jenna Zoe!

5. Looking back, I was destined to be a blogger before I even knew what blogs were. In middle school I was obsessed with decorating my AIM buddy profile & away messages (my screen name was @youradmysox… whyyyy), researching how to make the fonts pretty and using code to make them fade, rainbow, and all sorts of obscure pastel colors. I had a Xanga and many other early-form blogs in middle school where I wrote about my day to day life, and wrote EvErY sEnTeNcE LiKe ThIs!! I tHoUgHt iT wAs So CoOoOL!! Omg lol, seriously I was so into it.

Then, when MySpace came out I was ALL ABOUT IT! I changed out my profile picture pretty much daily (back when you could only have ONE PHOTO, then they updated it to 10, then you could eventually have entire albums) and changed my MySpace name to emo song lyrics with my friends so one of us would be, “God is a DJ,” the next would be “Life is a Dance Floor,” the next would be “Love is the Rhythm,” and the next would be, “You Are the Music.” LOL… I was Life is a Dance Floor!! And my friends would call me that at school! Shoutout to Pink circa 2003.

So, as you can see…. I was truly destined to be a blogger. I was OBSESSED. I spent so, sooooo many hours on the computer. If my family & I went out of town I would leave my carefully curated away message (colors & all) on for WEEKS while we were gone, and when we came home my desktop computer would be basically crashed & moving at a .03943981% speed trying to handle the hundreds of messages that came in while I was gone.

Lol. WOW. Okay I could go on about this forever. Who else was like this?!?!

High School Jordan!! HOW MYSPACE IS THIS PHOTO?!?! This is soooo @youradmysox you guys, I die!

6. I didn’t have any animals growing up because my parents are not animal people, even though I begged and begged and begged. Huddy is my first ever animal & he is my entire life. He is turning 4 years old in just a few weeks. He has enhanced my life in every way. I love him fiercely. Animal love is the best kind of love…. so pure & healing.

7. If I were to live anywhere other than LA, my first choice would be Kauai! Healing, slow paced, beautiful beaches, fresh fruits and veggies, farm life, local yoga and the cutest local coffee shops, NICEST people, and the best spiritual energy on that island. Sign me up. One day!

8. Yoga has saved me over and over and over again throughout my life. Starting when I was 14. I have fallen off the wagon many times, especially more recently being bedridden with Lyme. But now that I am able to do it again — a part of myself has reawakened. In my opinion, there is NOTHING as healing or magical as a hot, sweaty, vinyasa yoga class. (ANNND I wrote this at 2:01 — my number — meant to be!).

9. I have lived in Sacramento, Los Angeles, New York City (West Village) & Florence, Italy. I love to travel and I really see myself part-time in Kauai some day, but after all these years I really feel like LA is home. I love our neighborhood, our community, our families being close by, all of it. It feels good to feel so rooted now. <3

10. I write at lightening speed. You can ask my best friend & college roommate Jill — I would wake her up in the middle of the night (insomnia probs) typing RIDICULOUSLY FAST on my laptop and it would alarm her so much because the sound was so violent. I am doing it right now too — lol! I love typing because then my fingers can move almost as fast as my speedy mind, but I also love writing on pen & paper because sometimes the inspiration flows even deeper in that way. I just love to write. Have you noticed? Hehe

Okay!!! What surprised you most?! Tell me a thing or two about you below! And what do you think of the new site design & layout?!?! Poke around and check it all out!

Court allows new Trump administration abortion ‘gag rule’ to go into effect

Planned Parenthood, which stands to lose tens of millions, and state attorneys general from California, Oregon and Washington say they’ll continue to fight the new policy.

In Oklahoma, opioid case windfall starts winners squabbling

The state has recouped $355 million in settlements from two drug companies, and billions more could be on the way. Everyone wants a piece of the pie.

Healing Update Part I

Hellloooo, beautiful shining souls! How is everyone doing? I’ve been deep in healing mode, emerging from my last plant medicine ceremony with so much inspiration and energy to begin (and nearly finish) working on a course that has been channeling through me for over a year now. I have also run myself into the ground & am now resting and trying to regain energy again – so there’s that, too.

The course is called Waking Back Up To Your Own Soul & will be launching so soon! If we stay on track with all of the backend and details, it *should* launch on July 8th. EEK! You will find so much info about it here, on social media, on my podcast, and more. Stay tuned for all of the details to come. I have never been so excited about something.

But for now, I will stick to the topic of today’s post. This post is about the recent part of my healing journey. Healing from Lyme is such a JOURNEY – there is no destination other than trying to feel as good, energized, healthy, and at ease as you possibly can. I have had wildly good days lately and I have also had terrible ones. I find myself petrified to say, “I am healing,” or “I am feeling really good now!” because I know it’s such an ebb and flow. I do believe it’s possible to fully heal, but I also believe in my heart that will take so much time.

Getting Diagnosed //

On June 5th of last year I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease and tons of co-infections like Babesia & Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, mold poisoning, parasites, MCAS, MTFHR, you name it. The diagnosis pretty much flipped my world upside down. It gave me so much validation for symptoms I have been suffering from for so, so long (at least 10 years if not my entire life) and it also catapulted me into a world of extremely frequent treatments, medications, supplements, doctor’s appointments, herxing (when you feel worse before you feel better due to toxin die off), and a community of fellow Lyme sufferers & invisible illness warriors who are very often misunderstood.

I created the High Vibe Chronic Lyme & Chronic Illness Tribe on Facebook to connect with other likeminded people as soon as I realized much of the chronic illness community is very against alternative treatments, spirituality, celery juice, you name it. I was shocked when I was massively bullied in online communities for mentioning the Medical Medium, and I was even more shocked to learn that much of Western medicine disputes that chronic Lyme disease EVEN EXISTS. No treatments are covered by insurance, many effective treatments are extremely hard to find and extremely expensive, and to find a doctor who truly understands you and supports you is very few & far between.

Luckily my Lyme doctor is a godsend (Dr. Erica Lehman of ProHealth Group in Beverly Hills – the same doc who diagnosed me!) and I truly believe (and know) she is an angel here on earth saving lives. I have a feeling we’ve had many past lives together and it was only a matter of time before we connected in this life so she could finally diagnose me & set me on the path to healing.

With my love at the Global Lyme Alliance Gala on my birthday last year! So incredible being around leaders & trailblazers in the Lyme community. <3

The Treatments //

So it’s been over a year of being treated with sooo many different treatments like IV ozone, the hyperbaric chamber, rectal ozone, nasal ozone (for mold in my nasal cavity which often goes up to the brain – ahh!), ketamine IV’s to rewire my brain, Myers Cocktail vitamin drips to boost the immune system, iron IV’s in the beginning, Rocephin (a Lyme antibiotic), B12 shots, anti-virals, anti-fungals, anti-malarials, LDN, massive fibroid surgery, about 239917 herbal supplements & TCM tinctures, colonics, acupuncture, cupping, coffee enemas, water fasting (my own decision – not prescribed by anyone), eating an SOS-free diet (also my own decision), lymphatic drainage massages, so much rest, NAD IV’s, infrared sauna, charcoal & *intense* mold binders that have given me BRAIN HERXES and panic attacks, stem cells, and I am sure I am forgetting a million and one things.

So that brings us to now. I have been doing stem cells now (umbilical cord stems that get injected straight into my bloodstream) for four mouths. After my third round of stems (last month), I finally started to feel noticeably better with noticeably fewer symptoms for pretty much the first time in as long as I can remember. The only other thing that has vastly boosted me in my healing is doing plant medicine – specifically ayahuasca. I feel that I released LIFETIMES of trauma and a lifetime of emotional & physical pain the first time I did ayahuasca, even if I had to experience a near-exorcism while healing. I sat with the medicine again just a few weeks ago, and it was similarly healing on extremely deep levels. Plant medicine is a VERY individual choice & I know it’s not for everyone, as the medicine has a psychedelic component that you must be comfortable & on board with in order to experience the healing.

I suppose what I am saying here is… healing is so different for everyone. Getting my toxic load down for the last year with everything I mentioned above & MORE is what lead me to be able to be at a point where stem cells could be so healing, and also where ayahuasca could be so healing. When I arrived at my first ayahuasca ceremony my body was in so much crippling pain I could barely sit up to meditate with the group when we arrived, and by the end I felt mostly pain-free. The pain has come back in many ways but I notice now my pain isn’t as severe as it once was.

The Upsides //

The ultimate upside of this entire journey is that I deeply believe that we get sick so that we can become extraordinarily healthy, and so that we can wake up spiritually. I know this in my bones to be true. On plant medicine journeys I have spoken to my soul, my angels, my spirit guides, my ancestors, my body, and to Lyme disease itself – and I have been shown that it is part of my purpose here in this lifetime to get sick & wake back up to my SOUL, and in that process wake others back up to their souls. I believe we are eternal souls having a human experience here in these bodies – and everything that happens here is predetermined.

I believe that things do not happen TO us, they happen FOR us. I have spent the last several months speaking to my body and my soul, and learning what Lyme disease has come into my life to teach me and wake me up to. The truth is when we are extra sensitive and intuitive beings, we are so much more affected by our environment. Living in pollution, around EMFs, riddled with stress and technology and pesticides and chemicals and toxins in the air and in our food – it’s really hard to NOT get sick. And on top of it those of us who have genetic mutations like MTFHR which make it harder to detox from toxins – I feel it then becomes impossible to not get sick.

I wouldn’t trade being sensitive & intuitive for anything. I also wouldn’t trade this journey for anything. I have never felt so alive or in tune with my body and my soul, even on my hardest and most miserable days. I have never felt so GRATEFUL for LIFE. For nature, for love, for energy when it comes, for the ability to move my body, for yoga, for brain function when I am in the flow, for my family and my doctor and the ability to get treated for Lyme, for my spiritual journey, and so much more.

Jonathan proposed to me in the darkest days of my illness, right after I was diagnosed. That is love. He laid next to me in my hospital bed after my fibroid surgery. He reminds me to meditate when I am down on myself, and reminds me to be kinder to my body every single day. He is so patient with me when I am unable to lift a finger (literally), and his forehead kisses alone can heal me on my most painful and miserable days. He has gotten on board with plant medicine, shamanic bodywork, communing with nature, eating super healthy and mostly plant-based and oil-free, and so much more so that I feel less alone in this process.

My parents have been insanely supportive and are my biggest advocates. They’ve moved into our building part time to help me in every way. My gratitude runs SO DEEP! I love them so much.

I have also discovered so many alternative healing modalities- meditations, journal speak, Joe Dispenza’s work & his books, Louise Hay’s books, as well as the teachings of Carolyn Myss, Deepak Chopra, John Amaral, Peter Crone, and so many others on healing the body, healing the subconscious and healing the mind.

I have been working on the way I talk to myself and the way my subconscious functions. Deep rooted beliefs like “I am sensitive, I am sick, I am fragile,” etc. have been ingrained in me since I was young. I am working on telling myself “I am strong, I am powerful, I am unstoppable,” and truthfully most days — it helps. Other days I want to curl into a ball and sob and pass out from migraines, exhaustion, insomnia, joint pain that makes my joints + muscles feel on fire, IBS, brain fog, and more.

This week alone I have had the worst bout of IBS I have had in SO LONG. I have also learned there is a lot going on in the cosmos with a spike in the resonant frequency of the Earth’s atmosphere this week, the Full Moon, solar winds, solstice energies, and 3 planets in retrograde until July/August. For those of us who are intuitive & have sensitive bodies, we feel all of that so, so much.

There is so much more I want to share — from nature being one of my greatest healers, to learning to reframe my mindset and my approach to healing, to my upcoming course (!!!), to supplements / vitamins I am taking that are really helping, to the best CBD pain salve EVERRR (use the code BLONDE for a discount), so I will definitely be working on Parts II, III, and more over the next few weeks. One of them is going to be a list of the supplements and treatments that have helped me most IN DETAIL so excited to share that.

Stay tuned for all of it — love and appreciate you all so much. Cannot wait for all of the magic to come. Thank you for being here, and also it was my SIX YEAR BLOGGING ANNIVERSARY the other day and I just feel so damn grateful for this life, this blog, this platform, this community, and each and every one of you reading.

Introduce yourself below so I can get to know you, where you’re from, who you are!!! All of it!! Love love love.

Talk soon. <3

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