Sick and Seeking – Details, episodes & analysis

CLICK HERE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE. I love to hear from my listeners --Leslie

In this enlightening episode of the Sick and Seeking podcast, I have a candid conversation with Ali Moresco about her unexpected journey with chronic illness, particularly focusing on tick-borne diseases. Ali shares her personal experiences navigating the healthcare system and underscores the vital role of advocacy and support in her journey. 

We address common misconceptions about tick-borne illnesses, the importance of accurate testing, and how service animals can enhance the management of chronic conditions.

Join us for this heartfelt exploration of community, resilience, and the transformative power of turning personal trials into advocacy work.

Conversation Highlights:

• The Reality of Chronic Illness: Ali opens up about how a tick bite drastically altered her life, bringing to light the seriousness of tick-borne diseases and the challenges they present.
• Importance of Advocacy: We emphasize the critical role advocacy plays in navigating healthcare and encourage listeners to seek help when needed.
• Misunderstanding Tick-Borne Diseases: Ali clarifies that many tick-borne diseases present with flu-like symptoms, and less than 30% of Lyme disease cases exhibit the characteristic bullseye rash.
• The Role of Service Animals: We highlight how her service dog, Scout, has been instrumental in managing her condition, providing both physical and emotional support.
• Addressing Long COVID: We also touch on POTS as a long-term complication of COVID-19 and discuss the broader implications of the pandemic on chronic health issues.
• The Journey of Grieving: Ali reflects on the emotional journey of grieving one’s former self while adapting to the realities of chronic illness and the importance of community support.

Quotes:

"Ticks carry hundreds of diseases."

"POTS is essentially long COVID."

"We need more knowledge sharing."

Connect with Ali:

Website | Instagram  

🌟 Connect with Leslie and Sick and Seeking Community: 🌟
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

Join an Embodied Movement Class or Wild Women's Circle!
🔥 CLICK HERE for details 🔥

🌟 FREE Support Group: Chronic Conditions - Coffee & Connection🌟
--> For people who are managing a long term health issue
-->We meet on ZOOM once a month at 12pm PT

Like The Show? Show Your Support With a Donation!

Sick and Seeking Disclaimer

CLICK HERE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE. I love to hear from my listeners --Leslie

In this episode of the Sick and Seeking Podcast, I interview Erica Hornthal, a dance and movement therapist, about the powerful connection between movement and emotional expression. We explore how dance movement therapy goes beyond traditional dance, highlighting its significance in mental health and self-awareness.

Erica shares her insights on the mind-body connection, emphasizing the need for a rich movement vocabulary and the importance of giving oneself permission to move freely. Our conversation reveals movement’s therapeutic potential in processing emotions, fostering deeper self-connection, and promoting healing. We also discuss the intricate relationship between trauma and the body, advocating for a holistic approach to self-acceptance amid chronic pain.

Join us as we unpack the transformative power of movement therapy and its role in emotional healing and self-discovery.

Conversation Highlights:

• The concept that “dance movement therapy finds us, not the other way around.”
• How dance serves as a rhythmic expression of emotion, reflecting our mindset.
• The significance of embracing our individuality in movement.
• The process of emotional release through movement and creating safe spaces for expression.
• The connection between trauma and the physical body, advocating holistic approaches to healing.
• How chronic pain management can improve through body trust and awareness.

Quotes:

“Dance is just another form of expression.”

“Tears are a natural part of the healing process and should not be shamed.” 

“Trauma and somatics have to go hand in hand.”

“Your pain doesn't have to be your identity.”

Connect with Erica:

Website | Instagram

🌟 Connect with Leslie and Sick and Seeking Community: 🌟
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

Join an Embodied Movement Class or Wild Women's Circle!
🔥 CLICK HERE for details 🔥

🌟 FREE Support Group: Chronic Conditions - Coffee & Connection🌟
--> For people who are managing a long term health issue
-->We meet on ZOOM once a month at 12pm PT

Like The Show? Show Your Support With a Donation!

Sick and Seeking Disclaimer

CLICK HERE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE. I love to hear from my listeners --Leslie

Welcome to Season 3 of the Sick and Seeking Podcast!

Thank you for being listener and joining me on this journey of sickness and healing. Please share and forward this episode to anyone you know who may be interested in donating a kidney and giving me the gift of life.

I would love to speak to you about kidney donation and naming me as the recipient. Email me: Leslie @ sickandseeking.com

To start the evaluation process go here:

https://www.uclakidneydonor.org/

For more information on kidney donation:

https://www.uclahealth.org/medical-services/transplants/kidney-transplant/living-donor-transplant/how-become-kidney-donor

🌟 Connect with Leslie and Sick and Seeking Community: 🌟
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

Join an Embodied Movement Class or Wild Women's Circle!
🔥 CLICK HERE for details 🔥

🌟 FREE Support Group: Chronic Conditions - Coffee & Connection🌟
--> For people who are managing a long term health issue
-->We meet on ZOOM once a month at 12pm PT

Like The Show? Show Your Support With a Donation!

Sick and Seeking Disclaimer

CLICK HERE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE. I love to hear from my listeners --Leslie

❣️ My name is Leslie Field, and I’m a Somatic Practitioner of Embodied Movement and I help people reconnect to their innate body wisdom through therapeutic movement practices.❣️ I am also the creator and host of the Sick and Seeking Podcast - Hi!

I created a gentle body meditation and guided somatic movement practice to give you better insight into the work I do outside of podcasting.

Some of the practices and words shared in this meditation come from my mentor, teacher, friend, Erin Pace, of the Responsive Body Practice.

Why am I Somatic Practitioner of Embodied Movement? Well...

We live in a culture that is depressed, anxious, and unwell. Most people are living from the neck upwards and are cutoff from their body sensation and emotional experience. There's a destructive shoving down of feelings leading to illness and a loss of knowing who we are and what we want. So how do we come back to ourselves and find wholeness? Somatic Embodied Movement.

Embodied movement is about coming back to the body and becoming alive to the signals, messages and sensations as a compassionate and curious witness. This type of movement practice helps us map our sense of self both internally and externally. Feeling ourself grows our sense of self.

Being open to the full array of sensory and emotional perception -- from awe, wonder, and pleasure, to pain, sadness and grief -- allows us to savor the full human experience in body, mind, and spirit.  So that we can come back to feeling our strength, aliveness, vitality and ultimately: wholeness.  

I offer small, intimate classes in Pasadena, CA as well as work one-on-one on zoom. If you are curious and want to know more, let's chat! Email: Leslie@LeslieAField.com

"I felt balanced and a zen-like calm after class."

"Leslie has a gift for creating a safe, comfortable environment in to help heal the  nervous system through movement. I noticed an immediate difference in my general well-being and even my digestion following her class."

"I was able to ground myself and attune to my body's needs, accessing emotions that can be difficult to open up to."

"I moved through unresolved grief that I didn’t realize needed attending to."

🌟 Connect with Leslie and Sick and Seeking Community: 🌟
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

Join an Embodied Movement Class or Wild Women's Circle!
🔥 CLICK HERE for details 🔥

🌟 FREE Support Group: Chronic Conditions - Coffee & Connection🌟
--> For people who are managing a long term health issue
-->We meet on ZOOM once a month at 12pm PT

Like The Show? Show Your Support With a Donation!

Sick and Seeking Disclaimer

CLICK HERE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE. I love to hear from my listeners --Leslie

Well, here we are! The final episode of Sick and Seeking Season 2!

After you listen to this episode, I invite you to go BACK and listen to any episodes from season 1 or 2 that you may have missed. They are still wonderful episodes, even if they are from a year or two ago. 

AND, I’m going to ask a favor - can you rate and review the Sick and Seeking Podcast whenever you listen to your podcasts? It helps the podcast to be more easily discovered by people who it may support and serve on their healing journey. 

We’re doing something a bit different this week. If you’ve listened to this podcast, you know that I share about myself here and there, but I’ve never done an entire episode all about me. Well. Today is the day!

Please share and forward this episode to anyone you know who may be interested in donating a kidney and giving me the gift of life.

I would love to speak to you about kidney donation and naming me as the recipient. Email me: Leslie @ sickandseeking.com

For more information on kidney donation, check out these links:

https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/becoming-a-living-donor
https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/patients/about-donation/

If you're interested in being evaluated to be a kidney donor:

https://www.uclahealth.org/medical-services/transplants/kidney-transplant/living-donor-transplant/how-become-kidney-donor

To start the evaluation process go here:

https://www.uclakidneydonor.org/

🌟 Connect with Leslie and Sick and Seeking Community: 🌟
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

Join an Embodied Movement Class or Wild Women's Circle!
🔥 CLICK HERE for details 🔥

🌟 FREE Support Group: Chronic Conditions - Coffee & Connection🌟
--> For people who are managing a long term health issue
-->We meet on ZOOM once a month at 12pm PT

Like The Show? Show Your Support With a Donation!

Sick and Seeking Disclaimer

CLICK HERE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE. I love to hear from my listeners --Leslie

Welcome to Episode 10, Season 2 of the Sick and Seeking Podcast!

In this episode, I chat with Rebecca Tolin, a Mind-Body Coach and creator of the Be Your Own Medicine Program. Rebecca shares her experience navigating a medical system focused only on physical symptoms, neglecting the underlying emotional trauma.

Rebecca states:

“Through no fault of my own, I found myself in a system that only focused on physical symptoms. I needed to process emotional trauma to address my symptoms at the root.” - Rebecca Tolin

Conversation Highlights:

• Rebecca’s traumatic experience as a journalist and its impact on her health.
• Her 13-year battle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and reliance on allopathic medicine.
• Discovering mind-body healing through Dr. John Sarno’s work, leading to her remission.
• The importance of self-compassion and unconditional love in health management.
• How Mind-Body Coaching helps people find safety within themselves.
• Understanding emotions as cues regarding safety from the brain and nervous system.
• Learning to be present with body sensations through mindful awareness.
• Uncoupling emotions from thoughts during challenging times.
• Honoring internal voices to prevent physical manifestations of unprocessed feelings.
• Connecting with the deeper wisdom of the body, mind, heart, and soul.

Quotes:
“Everything we’re discussing applies whether or not you have a physical illness. It’s about finding acceptance and unconditional love for how we present ourselves.” - Rebecca Tolin

“When I gave loving attention to my body’s sensations, underlying emotions surfaced, often bringing relief. This practice became my medicine.” - Rebecca Tolin

Connect with Rebecca:
Website | Facebook | YouTube 

Read About Rebecca’s Story HERE

🌟 Connect with Leslie and Sick and Seeking Community: 🌟
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

Join an Embodied Movement Class or Wild Women's Circle!
🔥 CLICK HERE for details 🔥

🌟 FREE Support Group: Chronic Conditions - Coffee & Connection🌟
--> For people who are managing a long term health issue
-->We meet on ZOOM once a month at 12pm PT

Like The Show? Show Your Support With a Donation!

Sick and Seeking Disclaimer

CLICK HERE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE. I love to hear from my listeners --Leslie

Welcome to Episode 9, Season 2 of the Sick and Seeking Podcast!

In this episode, I have an insightful conversation with Dr. Gina Calderone, a Doctor of Physical Therapy at C Force Studio. We faced some technical challenges during recording, which may affect the audio quality, but rest assured, the content is invaluable and shouldn’t be missed!

As Gina beautifully articulates:

“People can go to acupuncture, energetic healing, or yoga, but when our invisible wounds hide from us, we don't know how to find them. The body does a great job of helping us survive, but when we need to heal, pain often becomes the indicator.”

Join us as we explore the interplay of physical and emotional healing for a better quality of life.

Conversation Highlights:

• Gina’s 20+ year journey as a physical therapist and her reputation as "The Body Detective."
• The connection between physical pain and emotional trauma, including how headaches may relate to intellectual overload.
• The importance of tuning into our inner voice and recognizing bodily signals.
• Insights from Carolyn Myss on energy medicine and archetypes that shaped Gina’s perspective on illness.
• Understanding how life experiences can affect our physical energy.
• Unraveling the patterns and core issues that underlie pain and conditions in the body.
• Exploring how the mind processes thoughts while the body conveys feelings.
• An introduction to polyvagal theory and its relevance to trauma.
• Gina's plans to teach physio-energetic anatomy, connecting life experiences to physical symptoms.

Quotes:

“And our bodies usually give us clues. The symptoms are the map, providing all the information we need to know. We just have to learn how to tune in.” - Gina Calderone

“The longer a wound sits in the body, the more it decays and causes more problems.” - Gina Calderone

Connect with Gina:
Website | Instagram 

🌟 Connect with Leslie and Sick and Seeking Community: 🌟
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

Join an Embodied Movement Class or Wild Women's Circle!
🔥 CLICK HERE for details 🔥

🌟 FREE Support Group: Chronic Conditions - Coffee & Connection🌟
--> For people who are managing a long term health issue
-->We meet on ZOOM once a month at 12pm PT

Like The Show? Show Your Support With a Donation!

Sick and Seeking Disclaimer

CLICK HERE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE. I love to hear from my listeners --Leslie

Welcome to Episode 8, Season 2 of the Sick and Seeking Podcast!

In this episode, I sit down with somatic practitioner Emma Gordon from Body As Compass. Emma shares profound insights about healing, trauma, and the wisdom that emerges through deep emotional work. 

Join us as we explore the journey of healing and the transformative power of somatic practices.

Conversation Highlights:

• Personal Healing Journey: Emma discusses her own experiences in healing from trauma.
• Body Wisdom: We explore how the body operates from a place of wisdom for survival.
• Self-Compassion: A starting point for befriending the body.
• Mind-Body Connection: The importance of aligning the mind and body instead of having them work against each other.
• Healing from Safety: Finding external safety before connecting to the body.
• Nervous System Awareness: Understanding the nervous system's role and how dysregulation occurs.
• Neuroaffective Touch: This therapeutic approach can help release trauma patterns stored in the body.
• Importance of Touch: Human connection is essential for overall well-being.
• Joy and Resilience: Stepping into joy and pleasure as a means to heal the body.

Quote:

“You can't think your way through trauma, and there's a lot of shame surrounding being traumatized. This creates negative feedback loops, but we can’t consciously choose to regulate our nervous system.” - Emma Gordon

Connect with Emma:
Website | Instagram 

🌟 Connect with Leslie and Sick and Seeking Community: 🌟
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

Join an Embodied Movement Class or Wild Women's Circle!
🔥 CLICK HERE for details 🔥

🌟 FREE Support Group: Chronic Conditions - Coffee & Connection🌟
--> For people who are managing a long term health issue
-->We meet on ZOOM once a month at 12pm PT

Like The Show? Show Your Support With a Donation!

Sick and Seeking Disclaimer

CLICK HERE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE. I love to hear from my listeners --Leslie

Welcome to Episode 7, Season 2 of the Sick and Seeking Podcast!

In this episode, I sit down with Kristina Evans, a Functional Nutritionist Counselor at Annyssa Wellness. Recently, I've been working with Kristina to improve my diet, and I can honestly say that the changes have made a significant impact on my gut health and overall well-being.

Kristina's compassionate approach truly stands out. She meets you where you are, offering support without judgment, which has been invaluable on my journey with food. I’m excited to share this enlightening conversation with you.

Conversation Highlights:

• Working with a Functional Nutritionist: Kristina discusses her role in helping clients break down barriers to healthy eating and body healing.
• Understanding Inflammation: We explore how the gut often plays a central role in inflammation and its connection to various health conditions.
• Digestion Breakdown: Kristina explains how each part of the digestive system contributes to overall health and the issues that arise when things aren't functioning well.
• Building a Healthy Microbiome: Tips on consuming a diverse diet rich in soluble fiber to support gut health.
• Gut-Brain Connection: The importance of reconnecting the mind with the body for optimal health.
• Long-Term Healing Journey: Healing often requires time and support, and Kristina emphasizes this need throughout the process.
• The 80/20 Rule: Guidance on approaching food in a balanced way without feeling overwhelmed.

Quote:

“We don't talk about it. Why would I be excited about it? Because I have seen healing occur. If you can get the gut working correctly, then you will heal. You will be able to dare I say, go into remission from a lot of conditions. You will calm them down. The distance between flares will extend and the severity of flares will decrease. That's the beauty of working in the gut.” - Kristina Evans 

Connect with Kristina:
Website | Instagram | Facebook

🌟 Connect with Leslie and Sick and Seeking Community: 🌟
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

Join an Embodied Movement Class or Wild Women's Circle!
🔥 CLICK HERE for details 🔥

🌟 FREE Support Group: Chronic Conditions - Coffee & Connection🌟
--> For people who are managing a long term health issue
-->We meet on ZOOM once a month at 12pm PT

Like The Show? Show Your Support With a Donation!

Sick and Seeking Disclaimer

CLICK HERE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE. I love to hear from my listeners --Leslie

Welcome to Episode 6, Season 2 of the Sick and Seeking Podcast!

In this episode, I speak with Dr. LJ Johnson, a Holistic Endometriosis and Hormone Expert dedicated to empowering women to improve their quality of life despite their health challenges. This insightful conversation will change everything you thought you knew about endometriosis.

Join us as we explore these vital insights on navigating endometriosis and improving your overall well-being.

Conversation Highlights:

• Personal Journey: Dr. LJ shares her 16-year struggle to obtain a proper endometriosis diagnosis amidst limited options from conventional medicine.
• Shift to Holistic Health: Her realization that conventional approaches weren’t enough led her to retrain in functional medicine and holistic health.
• Understanding Endometriosis: We discuss how endometriosis involves uterine-like tissue outside the uterus, along with its stages and symptoms, which can vary widely among individuals.
• Diagnosis Challenges: Endometriosis can be difficult to diagnose, often requiring processes of exclusion; Dr. LJ emphasizes the role of an excision surgeon for confirmation.
• Surgery Insights: She compares ablation versus excision surgery in treating endometriosis.
• Finding Trusted Care: Dr. LJ advises on the importance of seeking doctors and surgeons who genuinely understand your needs.
• Lifestyle Adjustments: Practical tips on identifying trigger foods that cause inflammation and how to implement lifestyle changes for relief.
• Root Cause Focus: How functional medicine can uncover the underlying issues affecting your body.

Quote:
"I really and honestly turned my pain into my passion. It took me 16 years to be properly diagnosed with endometriosis, yes, 16. That was 16 years of blaming myself, my doctors, and feeling dismissed while literally pleading for help." - Dr. LJ Johnson

Connect with Dr. LJ:
Website | Instagram | Facebook

🌟 Connect with Leslie and Sick and Seeking Community: 🌟
Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

Join an Embodied Movement Class or Wild Women's Circle!
🔥 CLICK HERE for details 🔥

🌟 FREE Support Group: Chronic Conditions - Coffee & Connection🌟
--> For people who are managing a long term health issue
-->We meet on ZOOM once a month at 12pm PT

Like The Show? Show Your Support With a Donation!

Sick and Seeking Disclaimer