Showing posts from March, 2020

24 AMAZING At-Home Workouts

The ULTIMATE round up of at-home workouts! A mixture of bodyweight workouts and ones that require minimal equipment. At home workouts can be an absolute LIFE SAVER! Daily movement is a MUST for me in terms of my sanity and stress management…and I know many of you out there feel the same way. If I […]

A Note on Fear about Corona + The Story of Picking Out My Wedding Dress!

Hey guys! There is a lot of heaviness and fear about Corona floating around right now that I don’t want to discount. I first of all want to send so much love and healing to anyone who has been affected by the virus — whether it be directly, with quarantine, disappointing change of plans, or otherwise.

I posted on Twitter last night that while it’s ok to be freaking out (and valid!), it’s also ok to be calm. I choose to stay calm because my nervous system depends on it. My body and my mind go through so much on a daily basis with Lyme, more than I could even begin to describe here, and falling asleep panicking about a virus that would compromise my respiratory system in full if I caught it is TOO MUCH for my mind to handle at this time.

I know people have very strong opinions about how to handle the virus and where to go from here, and I will be the first to say no one is wrong. I think people should choose to handle it and deal with it in whichever way makes the most sense for them and the people close to them. Interestingly enough, my best friend sent me a photo last night taken from a psychic’s book written in 2008 that predicted this pandemic would come in 2020! The psychic also said the virus would leave as quickly as it came… which is the feeling I have had about it as well.

So again, I don’t ever want to discount how anyone is feeling or how this is affecting anyone’s life. I know I have a lot of people who read my blog who suffer from anxiety and/or chronic illness, and for us it’s extremely important to not let our mental health take a backseat during this time. There is a lot going on in the cosmos right now with this week’s full moon (a very intense super moon!), daylight savings which my body still can’t seem to shake, the global fear spreading like wildfire (which those of us who are HSP’s are soaking in, big time), just to name a few. Be kind to yourselves and do what you need to do during this time to feel good, it’s the best we can do.

The final words I will say on the subject for now are that my friend Jenna Zoe brought up a really good point today — that when something like this happens to the world it’s important to take note that it happens for all of us for different reasons. People are all affected in different ways. For some of us, this is a call for solitude. A call to draw inward, spend time alone, reflect, perhaps start a project we’ve been putting off — I know that’s what I am doing!

Someone sent me a quote last night that said, “be wary of spiritual teachers who are not addressing this pandemic” and my thoughts on that are — yes, it’s important to address a global issue and be a calming voice to those who need it. But it’s also important not to tell anyone how to be who they are or to teach how they teach.

For example, I went to yoga the other night and the teacher made jokes about Corona for, no exaggeration, the first TWENTY MINUTES of class. And then throughout the rest of the class as well. It was exhausting and disappointing because I went to yoga that night to escape the chaos — not to dwell on it. But would I waste my energy getting frustrated with that teacher because of his dwelling on it? No, because I recognize he is doing what he feels right and what he feels needs to be said about the subject. So instead I embrace him for who he is, and love him wholly as a teacher and wouldn’t want to change his unique perspective.

When you live from a place of love, and see love in all things, in all people, in all circumstances, it’s hard (impossible) to be mad at anyone or any situation.

So now that I’ve shared my thoughts on Corona, and I really hope they bring you some peace in whichever way you can receive today, I wanted to share the fun story of picking out my wedding dress last year, since I realized I never got to share because my dress was a surprise for almost a whole year after I got it!

I hope that amidst the chaos everyone is feeling today, this brief little story can put a smile on your face, the way watching reality TV or reading a good fiction book has been doing for me this week. Picking out a wedding dress is such a fantasy for a bride to be, something even I (someone who did not envision anything about my wedding ahead of time) was thrilled to do. So I hope this brings you some joy and brings you to fantasy land today!

SO!!! Picking out my wedding dress…

Last January I was sick — REALLY sick — with Lyme and mold and was deep in the midst of healing, and most days I was too tired to get out of bed let alone go to a store to try on wedding dresses, let alone go to multiple stores with a big group of my closest friends and family to try on wedding dresses. But alas, I did it and I loved it, which goes to show that when doing something for a fun purpose (like our wedding!) with people you love, sometimes that’s the greatest healer of all.

The first place we went was LoHo Bridal on Melrose. It was just me, my mom, and my dad. The following day my two best friends from childhood were flying in from SF, and we had appointments at some of the bigger stores. So the next day it was me and my four maids of honor + my parents! I fully planned on not finding anything I loved on that first day, but you never know what you’re going to find…

What I had in mind for my wedding dress was… flowy, bohemian, lacy, detailed, with lots going on. Basically those bohemian bridal dresses you see on all of the Aussie blogs where the bride is wearing a flower crown and getting married on a long, colorful, gorgeous Moroccan Rug surrounded by Victorian candles and guests sitting on plush pillows at sunset. THAT is what I envisioned.

So of course my dad, being him, pulls the most simple yet elegant looking dress off the rack to add into my room. Immediately I look at him and say, “That is NOT what I am looking for.”

But he, my mom, and the girl helping us all say, “Just try it, you never know! Then you can rule out what you don’t like!”

So right away I try on some of the big, bohemian, flowy dresses that I had imagined myself in. We came to LoHo because it has a big selection of those boho brands that felt so me. When I slipped them on and walked out to show them, I felt… drowned in the dresses. They were pretty, but they also reminded me of what I would wear in my everyday life. Exhibit A: my entire closet when it comes to dresses.

They were big and had a lot going on, so overall what you could see and notice was the DRESS but not the GIRL inside of the dress. You couldn’t see my shape really, and there were so many clamps on the dress (standard for trying on wedding dresses) I looked like I was part of a circus! We all agreed the dresses drowned me a bit.

Then, the third dress I tried on was the one my dad put in the room. I was mostly slipping it on to get it out of the way. But when I put it on, something clicked. Holy shit, I thought. This is my wedding dress. I am getting married in this.

My mom snapped this photo the first time I put it on. Look at my dad in the background.. his excitement (and the pointing- LOL so him) is palpable… I feel it through the photo!

I walked out to show the three of them and their jaws dropped. My dad teared up. It fit like a GLOVE. It was so beyond obvious that it had to be mine. My mom and I looked at each other with a knowing like… this is the one. It was so obvious in fact, that I had my dad stand up and pretend walk me down the aisle because we needed a visual of the wedding day!

But of course it was only the third dress I tried on, so I continued trying on the others with an open mind (or trying to have an open mind), while my dad continued to say, “Nope, we’ve found the one.”

The dress was a Spanish brand I hadn’t yet heard of, called Pronovias. Based out of Barcelona, his designs are all simple, understated, elegant, and basically one of a kind.

We put it on hold and still went to the appointments the next day with my friends, and every time I came out in a dress my dad was like, “NOPE, we have the one.” Byron knows what he likes!

I found some others that I liked, and I even had a brand send me about 12 dresses to try on for free (SO KIND!!!!) that they were going to gift to me, but even with those nothing held a candle to the one I had tried on at LoHo.

So after we tried on dresses at the big department store appointment, we called LoHo to see if we could bring my friends back to show them the one. They squeezed us in and we went over there. Once I tried the dress on for my maids of honor (my four best friends for life), it was even more obvious this had to be the one. Some of them cried, all of them said I acted differently in the dress. I acted like a BRIDE. I acted more confident in this dress. It was so clear.

I felt like ME in the dress more than anything!!!! My favorite part about it was the buttons down the back, and the way it fit like a glove, and the way it hugged my curves and showed the shape of my body and made me the centerpiece rather than the dress. I loved the little cape in the back and the way it went low in the front while still being super elegant and classy. I loved how timeless it was, how it could be worn in any era, how it literally felt like it was made for my body.

The day we picked the dress! Feeling so loved and supported with my humans.

I also loved that I had never seen anyone wear anything like it. Although it was simple and classic, I was used to seeing the same types of wedding dresses over and over (all gorgeous) — and I liked that this one felt different. It felt bridal in the sense that I would never wear a dress like this in my daily life, the way I would wear the boho ones. Special was an understatement.

We got the dress that day and I successfully kept the secret from Jonathan for THE WHOLE YEAR!!!! If you know me, then you know that this is next to impossible. I CANNOT keep my mouth shut when I am excited about something. He didn’t want to know a thing — not the color, the shape, whether it had sleeves or touched the ground… NOTHING. If anyone even breathed the words “wedding dress” in his direction, he flipped and left the room.

So during our first look when he got that first glimpse of me in the dress, you guys… it was everything. There are no words. He cried and laughed and “convulse sobbed” (the term we came up with that day ) and couldn’t speak. He walked around me in a circle SPEECHLESS.

First look, baby!

When I asked him what he thought I would have chosen, he said, “Something lacy!! Something bohemian! Something flowy and big and… not this!” And, that felt like the best thing to hear in the world. He was as surprised as I was, and he loved it as much as I did. It was perfect. It was everything.

Our first look was one of my favorite parts of the wedding day, for sure. Also when I slipped my dress on for my bridesmaids and walked out in it for the first time, that was another favorite part of the day. Everyone was shocked that it was so simple, yet not shocked because the dress just made sense — and with my hair and my overall vibe the bohemian-ness still completely came to life, but with an elegant twist.

When I came out to show my bridesmaids! With my maid of honor Jill.

Jonathan and I recorded a podcast episode together about the wedding that I will be sharing in about two weeks, so stay tuned for that, and then I still need to get my Part III Wedding Recap up! PLUS we got our wedding video back this week so I will be sharing that soon too. For now I just wanted to share the fun dress experience with you, and I hope it lifted your spirits today — and if you’re a future bride, gave you some inspiration!

More first look magic!

With my groom.

Walking out to show my bridesmaids… ahhh! That moment!

Not to mention, can we talk about how special it is that my DAD picked out my wedding dress?!?! He is the best forever. And this moment with him, our dance, was everything and more.

Wedding photos by Tynan Daniels & Tony Modugno of Via Imagery. Highly recommend!! They are everything!!!

Remember… do you today, this weekend, next week — have boundaries with the fear floating around. Take all the precautions you need, but also don’t be afraid to live. We’ve got this and things will start looking up soon. I love you all! Would love to hear your thoughts on ALL of this!!!

Life, Lyme, & Eczema Updates

Hello my loves! How is everyone doing today?

I wanted to pop in for a quick UPDATE post on all the things — life, Lyme, eczema. These are questions I get asked pretty frequently and I haven’t spoken about some of this in a while.

Eczema Update //

Let’s start with eczema, because I know there are so many chronic sufferers out there. When I first started dealing with debilitating, full body hives and eczema (which you can read more about here), I could not for the life of me figure out what was going on. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with Lyme, mold, EBV, co-infections, parasites, and more that I finally had answers for this chronic and extremely uncomfortable inflammatory skin condition.

But long before I even got diagnosed with any of those things I discovered the term “chronic urticaria” — a.k.a chronic hives / eczema — and I was SO RELIEVED to know that there was a name for what I was experiencing and that I wasn’t the only one out there experiencing it. It’s a scary position to be in. The pain was ferocious and I literally did not sleep for 9 months straight because the itching was SO. DAMN. BAD.

When I saw dermatologists they told me it was eczema and prescribed a steroid cream — one that I wasn’t comfortable using longterm because I know the dangers of the longterm effects. Functional medicine doctors said it was candida. Therapists said it was anxiety. It wasn’t until I finally met my incredible Lyme doctor that I was able to get to the root of the actual issue. Getting to the root is ALWAYS KEY, so if you’re in this boat, keep that in mind. And with beginning to treat Lyme, I slowly but surely started to heal.

Now I can say that after two and a half years of trying EVERYTHING under the sun, giving it time, treating Lyme, finding the plant-based & SOS-free diet (and celery juice!), and finding the ONE PRODUCT that finally alleviated some of the pain for me, I am in a much better place. I still get flares here and there, because Lyme life is a THINNNGG, but the flares are fewer and further between and don’t get as bad because I have my toolbox of go-to’s to use for when it does.

So insert the product I am a huge fan of for eczema: Gladskin Eczema Cream. It focuses on a healthy balance of bacteria in the skin (yes, the microbiome, which of course we have everywhere in our bodies including our precious skin) and restores the balance so that the skin can heal. It is steroid free which is extremely important to me, as well as clinically tested, cleanly formulated, and highly moisturizing and soothing.

It has no fragrances, no steroids, no alcohol, no parabens, no preservatives, and no sulfates. AKA… it is TBB approved and a total dream for us eczema sufferers. To make it further TBB approved, they do NOT test on animals & it is also hypoallergenic.

I started using Gladskin about 3 months ago because the main areas I still get big patches of eczema are under my arms (right back where it all began… see the pics in this post), on my forearms, and along my stomach. My eczema is also impacted by the weather, travel, and flares up when my immune system is down. All in all, I need to keep my go-to’s on hand or the flares can get debilitating.

What I particularly love about the product is that it goes on really easy and smooth, it doesn’t feel super thick or greasy like other eczema creams tend to, and in my experience has worked really quickly (basically overnight… but I do continue to apply for about a week or so). I use it whenever I get a flare, and have been really amazed with the results it has given me — especially in my problem areas like under my arms. See the before & after below for what I’m talkin’ about!

& check them out here!

Like I said, my other go-to’s are diet (SOS-free & vegan), living an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, and treating Lyme/EBV & co-infections with herbs, stem cells, sauna, and more.

The Lyme healing journey has been a real one. Which brings me to my next point… LYME UPDATE. I am going to do a much bigger post on this soon but for now wanted to at least share with you guys how I have been feeling lately.

Lyme Update //

If for the last two years I was basically feeling like a 2 out of 10 (with 10 being the healthiest / most energized), now most days I feel more like a 6.5. I am so eager to be feeling like a TEN, but I know that the improvements I have seen so far are something I am still very grateful for. Sometimes my body gets run down and I start feeling more like a 2 or 3 again and I get so ridiculously grateful for that 6.5 energy I now feel.

Some days, I will say, are even better than that. My current most debilitating Lyme symptoms are severe jaw pain, pretty intense fatigue, stomach issues, bloating, gut problems overall, and insomnia. I know I am going through another detox period right now for many reasons (acne flare, exhaustion flare, all around flare-flare), and will share more about that soon. I am also going through a major flare so have cancelled/postponed a lot of my work schedule for the time being and will be doing another DEEP HEALING later this month — which I will also write a whole post on ASAP.

As far as Lyme treatment, at the moment I am keeping things simple and focusing on just a few key treatments- stem cells, Lyme killing herbs, colonics, infrared sauna, occasional fasting. and an anti-inflammatory diet. I mean REALLY simple compared to all of the things I have been doing in the past. I will get deeper into stems soon because I know people are curious about what that entails, but for the record I have been doing them pretty much monthly for the last year and they have made a HUGE impact on my healing.

The fact that I am able to work again, use my brain again, and start being out and about in the world more often is a great sign. For a while this was totally not an option for me, and something really shocking that I found the other night when shamelessly going through my old Snapchat videos from 2016 (to find the ones of when J and I first got together!) was that in September 2016 I wrote: “I think I have chronic fatigue, what can I do?! Help!” That was nearly four years ago. And it makes me so sad that my body has been going through this for so long.

All in all, I am on the up and up. Oh also, NATURE HAS BEEN THE MOST HEALING THING FOR ME. This week in particular has not been easy, but time outside has been my saving grace.

Life Updates //

And then for the life update, because it’s always fun to give a good life update… LIFE IS GOOD. Other than the fact that I am still healing and trying to take things super easy, I am really loving life lately and the lifestyle I have built for myself. I have slowed down and learned from this Lyme journey in so many ways — I know what’s important, what matters, who has stuck by my side, who to give my energy to, what lights me up the most, and who I am in my heart.

I am spending so much more downtime with my husband, our families, our friends, Huddy. Going to the farmer’s market every Sunday, cooking at home (SOS-free life, baby!). staying on top of my detox regimen, doing a lot more hot yoga and walks outside again, spending time in nature. Podcasting again has been such a treat after four months off. After scaling way back and truly STOPPING work entirely last year, it has been the biggest blessing to be able to dive back in this year.

The creative inspiration has also been flowing for the first time in so long, which is the greatest feeling because the brain fog from Lyme was truly debilitating before it started to lift a few months ago. There are a lot of fun projects in the works, which I will get into very soon. But for now I hope this post armed you with some good eczema knowledge + updates on what may help of you’re suffering too!

Thank you to my husband for being the most amazing and sweetest human there is. <3

Lots more updates to come, but for now we will put a put in it. How is everyone else doing?! Make sure to check out Gladskin if you suffer from eczema or itchy skin issues — they are the BEST and have made a huge impact in my eczema healing. Also thank you to Gladskin for sponsoring this post so that I can share the magic with you all!

My Top 5 Tips for Spiritual Awakening 🔮

Helllo my loves! Happy Monday & new week! I have been loving the response to my last post on my psychic awakening journey, and with the relaunch of WAKING BACK UP TO YOUR OWN SOUL (!!!) in my brand new TBB Digital Store I decided to do a post centered on my top 5 tips for spiritual awakening.

Keep in mind, we go wayyyy deeper into all of this in Waking Back Up to Your Soul, the 9 week audio course. We go deep, deep into ancestral healing, healing trauma, mending our relationship with our bodies, channeling angels/guides/ancestors/Pleiadians, working with the law of attraction, and so much more!

So for now to keep it SIMPLE & also introduce you to some of these topics, let’s get into my top 5 tips.

TBB’s Top 5 Tips for Spiritual Awakening //

1. Start automatic writing.

Okay, so automatic writing was a huge one for me when it comes to beginning to channel. I learned about it from the fabulous MaryAnn DiMarco, who has now been on TBB Podcast 3 times (with our fourth episode together coming out this week)! Automatic writing, also called spirit writing, is where you pose a question to an angel/ancestor/spirit guide on a piece of paper, and then as you continue to write they will start to produce the words through you. The words arise from a subconscious place, which can be anyone from your higher self to one of your angels who has passed on.

I know this can sound hard to do at first and may even seem impossible — trust me, when I first heard about it I felt that way. Which brings us to the next tip, which is a very important one… TRUST.

2. Have TRUST & faith in what you are hearing and experiencing.

This one is huge. I believe we are all deeply intuitive beings, and that we have simply become accustomed to tuning out the info and messages we receive because we haven’t been taught to believe that there is another realm. I never in my life would have believed that so much of the information that comes into my head is not from my brain alone — it’s from the cosmos, the universe, my higher self speaking to me from a higher dimension, as well as angels who have passed on.

When you begin automatic writing, or doing something that helps strengthen your connection like meditation/yoga/etc, trusting the messages that come through will be a huge piece of the puzzle. I love to have a mentor around (someone who is very psychically or intuitively open) to help me confirm what I am hearing, seeing, and feeling. I have a few spiritual mentors who have been invaluable to me on this path. But beyond what they confirm, trusting myself is HUGE and this will be huge for you too.

A few ways to strengthen that trust are… to know and believe in your core that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Of course there is more out there, beyond us, and just maybe there are spirits trying to get in touch with us to help us grow, evolve, and bring our dreams to light. Also, PRACTICE. The more we practice the easier it gets, and the easier trusting itself will get.

3. Take more alone time and down time to tune into what you are beginning to hear.

This is huge! I often find myself “numbing out,” a.k.a stacking my social calendar and plans to no end so that I will just be going, going, going, doing, doing, doing and not have to actually sit and do the work of opening up. If we do not give the universe the message that we are open for business or that we are taking the time to listen — the messages will be very hard to hear or they won’t come through at all. This is why you’ll often hear skeptics saying this stuff just can’t be real, because they have never given themselves the space (or the belief) to experience it so for them — it’s very much not real.

A few things that I work into my schedule to make sure I am having that down time I need are walks outside (nature always helps the most), energy work (reiki, body work, massage, tarot, working with mediums), yoga/exercise, meditation, journaling, and alone time without my phone throughout my day. It’s easy to numb out and either make sure we are NEVER alone (even if that just means mindlessly scrolling Instagram) or numb out in other ways, like through food, alcohol, obsessing over our image, or any other addiction/obsession. I truly believe all of these things are distractions to the truth of what is real — and being alone, taking that TIME, is so important.

4. Find an outlet for you that helps you strengthen those intuitive messages.

The first outlet for me to help me strengthen my intuition was kundalini yoga. It was the first experience I ever had of having a vision of my near future that actually came to fruition. Then I started receiving more and more visions, images and downloads in kundalini. Those experiences helped strengthen my trust muscle, and also made channeling in my daily life more doable and eventually more powerful.

Other outlets that have helped me a lot are reiki, being outside in nature, meditation (there are 9 meditations in Waking Back Up To Your Own Soul that I hope you will love!), surrounding myself with high vibe people, yoga, micro dosing, plant medicine, and spending time around other psychic, intuitive humans.

5. Know that words turn into THINGS, and keep the power of the Law of Attraction in mind.

Watch what you say, because what we speak holds so much more power than we know (similar to what we think!!). If you find yourself saying, “I am not intuitive, I could never channel,” then you’re sending the universe the clear message that you don’t believe you could ever channel. So you probably won’t start channeling. Speak positive mantras and words aloud to help strengthen your connection to the universe and beyond, and see what starts to unfold. Try saying, “I am powerful beyond my wildest dreams, and I am open to channeling anything that wants to come through.” Also, picture yourself surrounded in white light to ensure that only positivity is coming through when you show the universe that you are OPEN for messages!

The Law of Attraction is huge — what we vibrate and put out into the world, we receive back from the universe tenfold. When you radiate positivity, kindness, belief, and HIGH vibrations — you will receive them back. When you radiate the opposite, that is what you will receive.

Also… eat high vibe, plant based foods from the earth! They will CHAAAANGE your life and open you up so, so, so magically and deeply.

I am SUPERRRR thrilled that Waking Back Up To Your Soul is now LIVE again for the first time since September! Sharing this soul deep work with you is what I came to this earth to do, I am beyond sure of that. We go so, so deep into all of this spiritual awakening goodness in the course, and while it’s created in a 9 week format you can TAKE YOUR TIME and do it at your own pace! We have course members who began last summer who are still working their way through, and coming back to it time and time again. AND the meditations live completely on their own in the course and can be done at any time (only 15 mins each).

Consider it a psychic bootcamp for your soul.

So, so thrilled to share this with you! You guys are the absolute best. Would love your thoughts, ideas, and experiences below! Also LMK if you have any questions about the COURSE or the new TBB Digital Store! So excited about it all. XO

Leo Medical Trends