How to Understand Body, Mind, and Soul Must Be Connected for Health Conditions with Dr Lynn Anderson on The Healers Café with Manon Bolliger

natural environment. But then if we fast forward a little bit, I was a single mother with two children. And I decided to go back to the university and finish my undergraduate degree. And so, I did that. And I had no money. I mean, I was broke, I was on welfare, I was taking loans, grants, anything I could to get myself through school, because I felt that was really important. And through that whole process, at the end, I really had a total collapse of my physical, mental, and soulful self. It was pure exhaustion from everything. And, you know, I had two kids to support, I had to get up, I didn’t have time to lay around in bed and feel bad for myself. So, I had taken when I was in college, I had taken a fitness and health class, which was really an eye opener to me, and it was a lot about fitness and nutrition and stuff like that. So, I kind of gravitated to that. And then using my background growing up, I began to realize that, you know, everything we need is right there in nature, we just look for it. It’s all right there. And to me, that was a better road to take than antidepressants, or, you know, whatever the prescriptions were. And so that’s what got me on to the path of where I’ve ended up.

 

Manon Bolliger 04:04

Hmm interesting. Yeah. Yeah, it’s funny how, I mean, I think now, looking at what’s happening in general, I think there’s really a comeback to this, you know, people are asking how do we take care of ourselves, you know, how do you how do you do basic stuff that was natural and known, had lots of names. I can’t remember all the ones I’ve heard, but, you know, it always has the names and name as if somehow it didn’t work, you know, and now, you know, people are looking for it because, at least here in Canada, our system is broken. You know, it’s, we call it health care, but it’s really PharmaCare. And on top of that, it’s you know, a lot of people left a lot of doctors and nurses left because of the mandates, and then a lot of people who continued because of the stress, the lack of resources. And then because of the mandates, by the time they’re the third or fourth, they’re either not there or really, you know, have immune compromised and are getting sick. And so, we’re in a major crisis. So yeah, it’s an interesting thing that you came from there, then you became a naturopathic doctor, right?

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 05:34

Yes. And, but then I was also, I’m a part of the American Council on Exercise, which is a fitness organization and it’s an international organization, and I’ve been certified for over 32 years with them. I’m one of their old people from the very beginning of that. And that was really incorporating the exercise part to it. From there, I went on to become a certified yoga therapist, so that I combine all of those things together in my teaching. But I mentioned to you, you know, you’re talking about this, you know, when I first started in naturopathy, I was…I wanted to create a, some kind of an herbal mixture for stress. And so, I started to look for an herbalist to teach me to train underneath a certified herbalist. And it’s very hard to find. And I found this one woman, and she only agreed to work with me if it was just under the radar. And it was just because at that time, if you were making herbal tinctures and things, she would be considered it a bit of a quack. And so, she wanted to be really under the radar. And I can remember being under the radar, and at that time being told, this is what I think is so great. Is there was this herb called stevia. Now we could not mention that that was put in anything because that was not approved. Now you can buy it in the grocery store.

 

Manon Bolliger 07:07

Yeah, wow

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 07:08

You know, a case in point is that, you know, so many things, it just you know, it just depends upon where you are and how those things open up.

 

Manon Bolliger 07:17

Mm hmm. Yeah, that’s I didn’t know that story. Yeah. That’s interesting. So then where do you live now, or what’s happened since?

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 07:29

Well, I moved to Los Angeles, and I spent over 25 years living in Los Angeles. And then, just before the pandemic, my husband and I bought a house in Sarasota, Florida, we decided we were going to move to Florida and leave Los Angeles, I have to admit that my daughter moved here and brought my grandchildren. So that was a big draw to get me to Florida. So, we left, we actually moved three months, three, four months into the pandemic, we moved completely across country, here to Sarasota, Florida. Very happy to be here.

 

Manon Bolliger 08:06

So, but that’s a lot leaving your whole, you know, practice. And, you know, and from Canada, I mean, we hear about California, a certain way, we hear that there’s all these restrictions, and you know, it’s much, much harder, and it’s I think it’s different for naturopaths than it is in Canada, I think there’s more freedom, but, but they’re still just, you know, to be with people that are more in fear is a…is a very different experience. I have friends, you know, in Florida, and it’s like, they don’t, it’s as if it doesn’t exist this whole thing, you know?

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 08:51

Well, you know, California is kind of, it’s very liberal, and it’s very anything goes and that’s kind of the beauty of California and the other part of California is it’s a melting pot, and it’s so much diversity. And it’s just such a, that’s the beauty of it. And I had such beautiful people that I by the way, I’m still connected with because I do a zoom class, and their all connected with me on Zoom. But when California also has a, you know, it’s a very, um, especially in the Los Angeles area, it’s a very pretentious area. And it’s a very conspicuous consumption and a lot of money. And you have the haves and the have nots. And they’re, you know, and it’s real. There’s not an awful lot in between. And it became just a tremendously expensive place to live to begin with. And now as I understand from my friends, they’re Los Angeles happens to be…Los Angeles and San Francisco happened to be the biggest homeless places in the country. Crime is out of control there, housing is out of control. It’s a very difficult place for people to live. And that’s why everyone is leaving for places like Florida, or Texas or places where even young people where they can afford to have a home.

 

Manon Bolliger 10:13

Right, right. Yeah. Yeah, yes. A little bit. I’ve been following the economy of those places, too. It’s, it seems like everything’s being bought up. And then you’re sort of stuck with rent. And then, you know, and it’s changed from the small mom and pop shops, that may have had a few renters, who now can’t afford their mortgages. Right. And then they’re being bought by bigger corporations. And then there’s no ceiling to the rent, you know, that first, it looks good. And then it goes up. Right? So, it seems very, very hard to really make a living and to know that you can own a house, you know, eventually, right?

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 11:00

Yeah, you have to really be on the upper strata of you know, Hollywood, in the Hollywood thing. And then you have these mega mega mega mansions, and you know, and then you have people living on the street, you know, it’s very, very difficult. And I think when you reach a point, for a lot of people, especially retirement, it is not senior friendly. So, people leave, you know, they go there, they’re hoping to make their money. But you know, and there was a lot of opportunity always was a lot of opportunity in Los Angeles. And I’ll always be very grateful that I lived there. But it’s so much calmer here in Sarasota, Florida.

 

Manon Bolliger 11:43

Yeah, so then. So, you’re at this moment, you’re not running an actual practice, but you’re doing your teaching, that is your main.

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 11:53

Yes, what I’m doing is I have online zoom classes that I teach, and I’m also connected with Sarasota Memorial Hospital is one of the top hospitals in the country, by the way. And I do I teach classes there. And I’m also on the lecture, the lecture circuit there. So, I lecture on health and fitness for them as well. So that’s been a really good connection there. Yeah.

 

Manon Bolliger 12:19

Yeah. Because that’s good. Again, you know, in vital information to a lot of people.

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 12:24

And they’re a wonderful hospital, because they have created a, it’s called Health Fit. And it’s a, it’s a gym, and you can go there for physical therapy, but you can also go there as a gym, and they have regular gym classes, swimming classes, all kinds of different classes. And it’s very much geared towards I would say, people 55 and older. So, it’s a wonderful place for especially seniors to go and get a lot of really senior classes. And so, the hospital, their belief is, you know, we promote nutrition, and we promote exercise. And I, you know, I can’t think of anything better to promote than those two things.

 

Manon Bolliger 13:04

No, that’s perfect. Yeah, that’s better than I thought. Yeah, so and then you do yoga? So, do you do yoga, then on Zoom in that case?

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 13:20

I do I have two classes that I do, I do one on Wednesday, and one on Saturday. Now, as a certified yoga therapist, I do yoga therapy here and there, occasionally, I will work with someone and that’s kind of what was Sarasota Memorial Hospital. You know, I come in, and I do some therapeutic lectures and a little bit of work. You know, I do some chair yoga and therapeutic yoga there. So that’s kind of what I do, I will work…I will work with individuals, it’s a little hard to do the therapy part over zoom, because, you know, it’s much better to be with the person so you can really help them adjust. Because usually people who are seeking out yoga therapy have, it could be a back issue, or, you know, they’re recovering from cancer or something like that. And so, it’s really good to have that personal connection.

 

Manon Bolliger 14:10

Yeah. I mean, it’s heard I run out of the college called bow in college. And, you know, we’ve been trying to do this on Zoom. So, in some ways, it’s fantastic because you can see what’s happening very clearly. But you know, touch is touch and, you know, it’s very hard like when you and I’m in yoga is not it’s not like a therapist relationship, but, but you still can see, when you touch a body, really what’s going on, right? You can see even more with your hands. Maybe that’s a total bias, but I feel like you can connect better and subtly move people in ways that they would not understand if you told them you know.

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 14:56

You can, however, touching has become I’m a real issue in all fields, and we have to be extremely careful. You know, you must always ask someone, and then be very careful, because lawsuits, all kinds of things have happened. And especially in the field of yoga and yoga therapy. You know, there’s been a lot of sexual harassment things and stuff like that come up. So when we get, I just had to get recertified, you have to get recertified every three years, and we have to take ethics courses and things like that every three years to remind us that you have to, you know, you’re dealing with an individual and you it’s how you approach that individual. And I personally try to do is I try not to do hands on, I try to visualize and talk the person through however you do sometimes they’ll tell you, they’ll say, can I? And they’ll say yes, and then you can.

 

Manon Bolliger 15:50

Right, interesting, yeah, I wouldn’t have, you know, thought of the legal component. Because I guess in Canada were until the pandemic, we were, you know, we were less sound litigious, you know, you would never think, Oh, I’m gonna get in legal problems, because it just wasn’t the, I guess, the cultural way of dealing with things. But yeah, so that’s quite something. So, yoga teachers getting in trouble.

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 16:19

Yeah. Well, there was a there was a big lawsuit, Bikram…Bikram yoga, Oh, yeah. And that’s kind of how it all kind of snowballed from there. And then, you know, it became a big thing, especially for the certified yoga therapists, because we’re held to a higher standard than just a yoga teacher where, you know, we have to be go through all kinds of classes and things in order to get that certification. So, when you’re a certified yoga therapist, like I said, you’re dealing with a lot of times with people with that have cancer, have heart disease have different problems. So, when you’re working with them, you know, and someone is coming in with physical problems, there’s always the mental that comes with that. So, you know, they’re very, very fragile at that point. So, you have to be really careful what you do

 

Commercial Break 17:09

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Manon Bolliger 17:53

What was the…what happened with Bikram I heard about it, but I didn’t, I don’t actually,

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 18:00

There was actually a lawsuit and he actually had to leave the country. And he went and set up practice somewhere else. But he had quite a lawsuit against him for really, really very abusive behavior. And it was very, you know, for people who really practice yoga and you know, we really, you know, are dedicated to it. It was really, you know, a terrible thing to have happen. So, most of us have distanced ourselves and have nothing to do with Bikram at all.

 

Manon Bolliger 18:30

Hmm. Wow. That’s, that’s, it’s interesting. I mean, again, you know, you think in therapy and things that are good, it’s interesting how, you know, yeah.

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 18:43

It all, it all comes. It all comes down to one thing, it all comes down to money. And he was very much connected in the whole Hollywood thing. And he made a lot of money driving Rolls Royce’s. I mean, you know, it’s, it’s like, I teach my students, it’s really good to be wealthy, it’s good to live in a wealthy society, because you have better education, you have better medicine, you have better you have so much more in a wealthy society than you do a poor society. But it’s what you do with the money. How you distribute it out, and, you know, we you know, human nature is there is this thing called greed. It’s part of human nature, you know?

 

Manon Bolliger 19:26

Yeah, I mean, what, so, so that’s interesting. So, that’s why they’re all shutting down, because like, everything seems to be closed. I mean, lots of things have closed, at least here in Canada. But yeah, those centers I can understand a little bit more what’s behind that. So, what’s in store for you as far as seeing the future now seeing what people need from that holistic perspective that you have?

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 19:54

Well, I have written a number of books and I worked with a publisher this last year. We put them into two series, and one is called the Soul Walking Series. And the other is called The Naturopathic Health Series. And they’re now going to be combined and put into two online courses, which I’ll be launching in the new year. And these are courses where people can actually come and, you know, study under me for a certain amount of time, as a Karma Master, I will teach them karma, which is a very practical guide to help you through life, and then to go into the proactive aging, and using a lot of my naturopathic background for that. And that mainly the focus there is most people don’t have access to a naturopath, or even if they do, as you know, naturopaths aren’t covered under insurance. So, it’s costly to see a naturopath, you know, for them. And so, this way people can come, and they can have that access without the tremendous cost. So that’s the, that’s where I’m going with my next life.

 

Manon Bolliger 21:05

And I can see that that’s going to become more and more needed. And also, more people are, are heading that way, you know, just because more people are waking up that we need to look after ourselves, you know? And I think the way, I mean, it’s, it’s a complicated economic situation, you know, and I am no expert on that level. But it is challenging to, you know, if you have an education that cost you 150,000 to, you know, donate, you know, like, or make a, you know, your time with people $30 an hour, you can’t, like, it just doesn’t work, right. So, you have to charge, you know, and then you can look at, you know, lawyers charge…everyone who is in a profession that has paid even less than you charge. But somehow, because we’re in health, it seems like oh, that’s not a model that feels right, you know, and yet you have then the hospitals or, you know, it sounds like the one you’re connected to is a bit different. But you have this PharmaCare that is where most doctors that are in that they have the diagnosis all that I’m not claiming that they don’t have knowledge, of course, but solutions are very limited.

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 22:42

Well, you know, it’s like when I teach and work with people, you know, pharmaceuticals are poison. There’s no doubt about it, it’s poison you put in your body, you know, and you know it will not heal, it will not correct the body, the only thing that works in the body that heals the body and gives the body health is good nutrition. And that’s science, I’m not, that’s not something I’m making up, you know. You need vitamins and minerals to operate the fuel of the body and make the body operate. There is not one thing and a drug that feeds the body. However, there are times when let’s say that you have a UTI, and you need to have antibiotics. My problem with traditional medicine is the doctor will write the prescription and there’s the prescription. But what if we took…had a second prescription that said, Alright, you’re going to stabilize with these antibiotics. And then you’re going to go and get your gut back your gut microbiota back in line and you’re going to work with someone a nutritionist or a naturopath or someone that’s going to help you correct that problem. That’s the missing link in healthcare.

 

Manon Bolliger 23:59

I agree. I think it’s, it’s the fact that there is still in charge of chronic health really is the problem, right? Like, acute stuff. I mean, not that like there’s many things that work like homeopathic medicine works beautifully for acute…all kinds of acute traumas, and acute conditions, you know, whether it’s pneumonia, whatever, it doesn’t matter, but, but it’s the chronic piece where it seems like you can’t start and stop with drugs. It just, it doesn’t make any sense. And that’s why we have the problems we do. You know, we’re, we’re continually running into the same situation.

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 24:41

Well, Big Pharma and medicine are hand in glove, and there’s a lot of money and there’s a lot of regulation and there’s a lot of control there. It’s likes it’s simple, like, you know, here in the United States and I think you in Canada have, for example, cannabis, now cannabis, in almost every state in the country is legal medicinally. So, you can go, and you can get a prescription and you can go to the pharmacy, and you can choose to use cannabis instead of other things. Cannabis is an herb. And cannabis has been used since the beginning of time, part of Mother Nature gave us this wonderful plant that has so many different things that it can do. Now, if Big Pharma could pull that in and make it into a pill and get it so that, you know, they were in control and selling, it would be legal everywhere. Right? Of course, because they could and that’s where we were running into this problem, because I believe that if someone wants to use herbal medicine, such as cannabis, if they want to use that instead of a drug, they should have that right. And that right, you know, here’s something to think about with that if you go to the workplace, and you’re tested positive for cannabis, you can be fired, all kinds of things can happen. But if you go in and you test positive for being on painkillers, ,antibiotics, any of that kind of stuff. It’s no problem, you know? So, you know, we have we got things mixed up here.

 

Manon Bolliger 26:23

Yeah no, we do we do. And it was interesting, in BC, because the moment cannabis became legalized, our offices were flooded with people who wanted prescriptions. And so, our board actually said that we could not prescribe it. And, and at first, I thought, Hmm, that’s a very strange thing, you know, but, and it is a strange thing, but not for the same resources, as I was trying to say. But the thing is, people will turn to cannabis with the same mindset as they turn to painkillers. Right, and so even a natural thing, because many of the drugs are 80%, natural, but they’re patented and twisted, plus, plus, right. But without the understanding that you can’t just chase things like pain, with even natural painkillers, you never get to the root cause. And you never, really, so I think all of those things would be much better off if they were supervised by, you know, naturopathic doctors or people who have the capacity to understand the whole healing process, you know?

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 27:46

Well, you know, as a naturopath, you know, our philosophy is that your body, mind and soul, and you need to have balance in all three of those you can’t have, you can’t go after the body, forget about the mind and the soul. You know, it’s bringing them all together. Because when you have perfect balance in your physical, mental and soulful self, you can’t help but have perfect health. That’s what it’s all about. So, you’re absolutely right, we go chasing after you know, getting rid of the pain of the body. But we don’t come back in and say, Well, where is all of this coming from? And how can we bring all three in and balance all three out? Yeah.

 

Manon Bolliger 28:24

Because I do think pain is a big part of, you know, the management of chronic disease. And therefore, it gets it does get complicated. So, we’re actually almost at the end of our time.

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 28:36

That was fun. We can talk forever.

 

Manon Bolliger 28:40

What else can we bring up here? Anything else you want to share? Like just as closing or any other?

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 28:49

Just, you know, I think what I just said, I mean, you know, your listeners, I mean, that’s really the thing to focus on is that, you know, seek out people who have the education, who have the background who can help you work all three of those areas, because that’s what’s really important. You know, Mother Nature gave us everything we need. Everything is in mother nature. And it all comes back, and it begins with basic nutrition, and exercise, and sleep. Those are the three pillars of health. Pay attention to those three things and pay attention to bring your body, your mind and your soul into balance. And that’s really the key to health.

 

Manon Bolliger 29:27

Yeah. I would you agree, it’s sorely missing in the last couple of years.

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 29:34

Absolutely. Yes, it is. Yes. During the pandemic, it was like, you know, it’s funny because I when teaching I have several people that I’ve talked to, and they’ve got the…they call it the COVID 15. You know, the 15 pounds that they put on. And what’s what happened, we went into this pan…and people were just like, well, I’ll eat whatever I want and I’ll drink as much as I want and, you know, and now the reality of that is coming in, and it’s like, oh, wow, I really didn’t take care of my health during the time when I should have been taking care of my health because your immune system is number one.

 

Manon Bolliger 30:12

Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And, you know, as I think I was telling you earlier, in Canada here, I’m not allowed to talk about the immune system, and you know, how it can…how we count on it and how it’s always worked. Because we had to listen to the predominant narrative by so called unappointed health experts. So we were listening to that, and, and so much got lost in that time, you know, I was thinking secretly in my heart that this is the time, you know, after being in practice, 30 years that the Naturopathic Board, the Association that all of us would join hands go forward and say, this is a dream, right? But hey, we can totally look after ourselves. We don’t know what it is. But we have a body, we have experience, there’s been other, you know, issues in the past. I just thought this is where we could shine because it didn’t look like they knew what they were doing. Now, hindsight, like, I get it, that they knew what they were doing. And you know, working with this much fear and then coming up with again, a godly, wonderful thing. You know, biotherapy, right. You know, which most people wouldn’t have wanted to try. And a lot of people, at least in Canada, still don’t know that we’re the third phase of the…of the trials, they still don’t know that they are a guinea pig.

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 31:50

And no, they don’t people do not understand what this was all about. And the thing that I continued to teach to my students, fortunately, I had a zoom and I all my students would come in, I would say to them, no matter what, pay attention to the basics. Eat a healthy diet, exercise every day, get some sleep, take care of your body naturally, because nobody knows what’s going to happen. And you’re going to be in a better position if you get COVID or anything if you’re coming from a health place. Right. Yeah, you’re gonna, you’re gonna you’re gonna go through it a lot easier than the person who was really, so to speak, trashed their body, and they’re compromised, and now they’ve got to fight this off. It’s better. Keep that immune system strong.

 

Manon Bolliger 32:43

Yeah. Okay, we’re gonna end on that note, and thanks very much, Lynn.

 

Dr Lynn Anderson 32:48

Thank you very much. It’s a pleasure speaking with you.

 

ENDING: 41:33

Thank you for joining us at the Healers Café with Manon Bolliger. Continue your healing journey by visiting TheHealersCafe.com and her website and discover how to listen to your body and reboot optimal health or DrManonBolliger.com/tips.