5 Steps to Shifting from Stress to Peace with Dr Larisa Gaitour and Sachin Patel

Hello my friends, and welcome to Perfect Practice. Today I am having a discussion with somebody who's become a dear friend over these past few years, Dr. Larissa Gator. Larissa is a functional medicine practitioner who actually worked with clients remotely in New Jersey, in New York and also in Florida. She has a wonderful story that she's going to be sharing with us today and telling us about her practice, but also telling us about her journey to becoming a functional medicine practitioner. It's really inspiring. You know, we had a quick conversation before starting this recording and I'm really excited for what she's going to be sharing today because it's going to empower you both as a practitioner or as a potential client who decides to work with her. You're going to get to see the unique journey that she's been on to bring to you the best of what her knowledge, her wisdom and her education and her belief system has to offer. Larissa, thanks for joining me today.

I'm so grateful to share some time with you, Sachin, and with everybody else. Thank you so much for having me.

Yeah, it's my pleasure. So, you know, we've known each other for a couple of years now and I've really admired your courage and the journey that you've been on. And I know that you want the best for your clients and, you know, that's inspiring to me because we need more practitioners like you. We need more people stepping up into who they really are, being able to fully express that. And you know, the last two years have kind of showed us a different side of healthcare. Right? And maybe healthcare has kind of reared its ugly head, but thankfully you had a vision long before all these things happened to become a functional medicine practitioner and help people find, you know, that inner peace that they need for, for full fledged healing to occur. So why don't we start with a little bit more about your journey into functional medicine. What got you, you know, what got you interested in functional medicine and what inspires you to keep pushing forward to bring this to the world?

Well, I am conventionally trained physician and at some point you start struggling with your own symptoms, like digestive symptoms, pains and aches all over the body, low energy and conventional medicine doesn't have an answer for you so you can optimize your health. I didn't have time to pay attention to all these symptoms at some point until one symptom brought me to my knees. And I still remember sitting in ophthalmology office and the ophthalmologist examined my eye and I hear My heart pound. And he stopped. And he said, well, you have a cataract in your eye. I was shocked. I did not expect to hear that. And I remember tears rolling my face. And the only question I ask, how could that happen? How could a person at the age of 40 develop a cataract? Said, well, we don't know. So the full workup was done, and I received an answer. We don't know. The good news is all your tests are normal. So that's kind of started me on the way looking for other options, because inside of me, I felt that there was imbalance. I didn't feel myself. I started looking what other alternatives are available. One day I'm listening to the health podcast and I hear functional medicine is being discussed as a different approach to health. Instead of just managing symptoms, it looks deeper. It looks for the root cause. I took a leap and I got certified and trained in functional medicine. And for some time I continued conventional medicine and functional medicine until the point that you feel the resistance inside builds so much that you start questioning, is it the right path for you just to follow the conventional medicine? The reason I know so much about that feeling and the way to describe it, it's internal resistance and stress. I remember one day driving from work, I was so exhausted, feeling tired. I haven't slept for a couple of weeks. I received a call asking me to go see patients in another facility. And I said, of course, I'll do like I always did. And that night as I was driving, feeling exhausted, suddenly I hear a car horn sound. I looked left and I see the car barreling towards my driver's seat door. I see the driver trying to maneuver away as I pushed on my brakes and I hear my heart pound. I realized that I almost got killed in a car accident. Miraculously, we just ended up avoiding it. I needed no more signs from the universe. I went home and after seeing all patients and I knew that I had to make a decision. Following a career in conventional medicine was becoming painful. And tension and sadness grew inside of me that could not be ignored anymore. And I showed up at work the following day. I was asked for the proof that I underwent one medical procedure. I believe that as a human, you have your personal body autonomy. I chose not to go through that procedure. And the answer I got, you cannot see patients anymore in conventional medicine. That was the point that I said, this is the end of my conventional career and I'm ready to fully embrace functional medicine practice and switch to functional medicine and truly help people. The way I feel guided to help them. One fundamental concept I believe that people have the right to choose the right procedure for them, what to put in their body, on their body, because that guidance has to come from within. My story, how I ended up fully 100% in functional medicine now.

Wow. Well, congratulations. I know that's not an easy decision, but, you know, we have to listen to our bodies, we have to listen to the intuition that comes from within. And I truly agree that our autonomy is something super important that we want to have full control over. So just so I can, you know, make sure I'm hearing this correctly, you literally almost died the night before, right? Because you were serving your patients, you know, showing up for them in a way, in a powerful way that you know how. And the next day, because you didn't have this medical intervention that was being forced upon you, you were no longer able to serve those same patients, perhaps, or maybe even different set of patients anymore.

Right?

Wow. So, yeah, two very, very powerful signs that, hey, maybe there's something bigger and better that's available to you and that could be very gut wrenching and almost feels like the rug is being pulled from underneath you. So how did you handle that emotionally? What was going through your mind. Mind at the time?

So when I came home, first of all, I heard the voice inside of me, you'll be okay. And your name came to my mind. And I felt so much gratitude that I joined the mentorship and I had the foundation for functional medicine already for my practice. Because as we know, we go through clinical training and we focus so much on clinical perspective. But when you start looking for the next step, just really implementing, there is another side of it that nobody's really teaching you. Right. And it's a completely different skill set. That's a business marketing. And I would definitely not be in the place that I am today without your help, without the mentorship that I can say, definitely, that's been such a great, huge help and support for me. I feel so much gratitude. So thank you so much. Sachin, I just want to say thank you because definitely this was a huge piece for me and having that sense of security and knowing that I'll be okay. And there is a foundation already placed, that decision was placed from a place of not fear, but love and hope for something different.

Well, thank you. I received that gratitude and I appreciate the work that you've been putting into this very moment, right where you now have been developing the tools in order for you to have the ability to hit the ground running. I find that a Lot of times maybe you can agree to this or you can certainly add some commentary, but a lot of times when we're in living one life, but then dreaming of another life, the universe has a kind of a mysterious way of guiding us in the ultimately in the right direction.

Right. Yeah.

Right. And so, you know, you had this kind of epiphany when you almost had that car accident, which I'm glad neither one of you were injured in that. That's quite remarkable. Literally the wake up call that you needed. Right. And, and then the other wake up call is, you know, hey, the universe is in its own mysterious way telling you that, hey, we don't need you here, we need you somewhere else.

Absolutely.

And now you can.

The message.

Yeah. And now you can show up fully and completely without having this, you know, one leg in one system and another leg in the other system. Now you can run with both legs in the direction of the practice that you want to build and you've been wanting to build for all these years. So I'm super excited. I know, I know. I'm sure there were, you know, moments, ups and downs. Right. It can be an emotional roller coaster when we go through something like this, but you're so much stronger because of the muscles that you've built over these last couple years in preparation for this moment. Right, right, right. Sometimes things don't happen the way we envision them to, but again, the universe has a divine plan for us and you're now receiving the message loud and clear. So congratulations is what I want to say.

Thank you. Yes.

So you've developed a signature process which I'd love to dive into, and you've been working on that, and it's really helping people shift from a place of stress to peace. So in the story that you shared a little bit earlier about yourself feeling tired and exhausted, it's probably much easier to look back and understand why you felt that way. And you're probably your own best case study. Right. So maybe you can start by telling us, looking back, you know, to, to your younger self, the, you know, the version of yourself that developed the cataracts, what would you say was going on in your life at that time? Or what would you. What advice would you give the younger version of you that perhaps you wouldn't give to your clients right now?

Sometimes we go through life and we desire for something to happen, for life to bring that person that event. And the life, not necessarily is going to bring you what you want, but it's definitely going to bring you what you need. So instead of resisting it, just being grateful and accepting it, because at the moment you don't feel like this is the best for you because you might not see the full picture, but the universe and life is always working for your highest good.

Yeah. And that's, you know, I think you and I are very aligned in that belief system, but I was. That was a skill that I had to develop or a belief that I had to develop. And perhaps you did as well. Were there any books that you read or trainings that you took or experiences that you had that kind of shaped that belief? Because I know for me it wasn't. It certainly wasn't part of my upbringing. Right. And, you know, I had to go through some trials and tribulations and, and really start developing that belief muscle and building it. So was there anything specific for you? Because I know a lot of practitioners who are listening to this or even, you know, patients who might be listening to this. You know, they have to have that belief system that the universe has a plan for them and the pain that they're going through is all part of that master plan. So what would you say? What would you advise someone who's still having a hard time believing that.

Different level of consciousness? Right. So we are born in a system and we kind of conditioned to look outside and just to follow the system, just follow the rules. We know what's best for you. Right. And if you don't follow the rules, you are not a good boy, not a good girl. And we as humans, we want to be accepted. We want to have that feeling of being liked. And I guess that's happening to a lot of us till the point that we see it doesn't work. And a lot of us go into this victim mentality. We start blaming outside world for everything that's happening. Right. Until something happens in your life and you start taking responsibility. And then we shift into that zone of self improvement. What I say. So I feel for me, it was more younger age when I actually realized, okay, this just doesn't work. So you start looking for other ways, other communities. And I remember I joined Tony Robbins community, I joined Big Potential, that's Harv Ecker programs. And that's been great. It's so empowering. And you're working on yourself and making things happen till the point that something else is happening in your life. And usually that's either divorce or some kind of crisis. But people have to be ready to that phase. And when they shift into different phase, they realize that everything that's Happening is happening for a reason. So for me personally, when I fully embrace that concept, one of my mentors who really kind of helped me embody that is Panach Desai. So I literally resonated with his message, and as I listened to him more and more, I realized that everything that's happening there is no accident. Everything is happening for a reason. And the life is actually working on your behalf. And the universe is working on your behalf.

Yeah, it's kind of like the surrender experiment. Right? We have to surrender to that belief, you know, and stop and, you know, focus more on, you know, being a human being instead of a human doing.

Yes, yes.

And, you know, it's. It's kind of. It's kind of this interesting illusion that we have. I mean, we. We are, you know, powerful manifesters of our reality, but we feel like we have to control the things that are happening around us to manifest our reality, when really we. We really have to focus on controlling what's going on inside of us and our emotions. And, you know, in a. In a medical model that's so driven by things we can see and things we can touch, which serves as a basis of a diagnosis or the basis of a prognosis for somebody, you know, that's. That's. That could be a difficult concept for a lot of practitioners to grasp. Right. Because if they can't see it on a piece of paper or on a scan, then it doesn't exist. When.

That's why. Yes.

Yeah. When in reality, somebody could be feeling terrible, and it's not something that they can, you know, the doctor can see or touch or visualize. So, you know, it's. It's quite an interesting paradigm shift. Right. To be in a model that is so material by its diagnostic criteria, but then, you know, working on yourself and, you know, even helping your clients go inwards. So how receptive are people to that? Is that something that people have a hard time grasping at first?

Not everybody can really grasp it from my experience, because, first of all, it's a little bit on the fringe for Western medicine because health and disease can be expressed in physical body, mental rate, emotional. So that's very well accepted and somewhat understood. But when it comes to divinity, the true essence of who we are, that's something that Western medicine does not understand. That's why it's a little bit on the fringe for them. That's why they don't talk about that. But that's the fundamental concept of who we are, and that's the doorway that connects us to the infinite powerful universe. And if we connect it to that part of us which is peace by definition, we can access all the infinity. But when we got disconnected from that part, that's when we get really stressed, fearful. We internalize all the life experience and that's going to bring us negative emotions and change how the heart is working, how the brain is working. And that shifts the body in chronic stress.

Yeah, let's talk about that.

The fundamental concept. But a lot of people, they kind of understand it, but it takes time to land and to really embody it.

Yeah, you got to do the work, right. It's like most things and it's one of those mental muscles that we have to build. It's a belief muscle that we have to build. It's a trust muscle that we have to build. Because you know, it does take a lot of trust, right, to be able to surrender ourselves to, you know, thinking that way and acting and behaving that way. So let's talk about, you know, shifting from stress to peace. I think people's stress is at an all time high. People are, you know, on the edge more than ever before that I can remember in human history. And you know, I think the last two years have really brought out the best in some people and the worst in other people. And I know those people who've been able to find that inner peace have been less impacted. And those who haven't been able to cultivate peace have just been off the rails. So first of all, let's create an operating definition. So what does stress mean to you and what does peace mean to you?

So there are many different definitions of stress. And one of the simplest one that I found is stress is simply mismatch between perceived demands and perceived ability to cope. And there is a word perceived because it's not the event that's happening, but how we respond to that event. So that's based on individual's belief system experience, the framework of the love that that individual received during childhood and the framework of how his or her role models responded to stress. So for example, if your say father was really angry every time he was experiencing stress, most likely you as a child also going to experience anger when you get stressed because that's exactly the model that you received the early ages because of our nervous system, how it's designed, we just modeling everything as we children. So but then the nervous system has this concept of neuroplasticity. It can change. So that's really important to become really aware of about that and to consciously shift into Peace. And peace is just the natural state of the true essence of who we are. It's like the bottom of the oceans and all emotions, they just come and go. This is just an experience. But everything returns to peace.

As you're saying that, I'm visualizing like, you know, just a body of water that's completely still and. And you can see all the reflections of the trees and the mountains and the sky and the sun or the moon in it. And stress is the opposite of that, right where the water is all choppy and wavy and it's hard to make any sense of what you're seeing in the reflection. It all just looks like a blur. So tell us about, you know, the impact of stress on our nervous system and how we can perhaps quantify that or how we can know if. If we're shifting it in the right direction. Because as most practitioners probably know, and maybe even some clients know, that it's in the state of peace that we actually heal. So not only do we find the essence of who we are, and when we find the essence of who we are, we start to realize that we have this amazing capacity for healing to take place. But how is there a way to measure that? Is there? Do we feel into it? How do you. How do you help people find that peace?

So first of all, I think we have to become aware how the body is designed. The body was never designed to be in stress all the time. Stress can be acute, it can be chronic. Unfortunately, most people in the state of chronic stress most of the time when the body is in stress, over time it's going to start falling apart. Blood pressure goes up, blood sugar goes up, insulin resistance goes up. People start gaining weight, especially around the midsection. So they start losing that beautiful, sexy body that's once they had it, then detox system is not working at the optimal level. Digestion is not working because we're not really sending blood to those organs. Then brain function is also memories going out of the wind. People start complaining they have difficulty concentration, focusing, because when the body is in stress response, it's not the time to do high calculus exam. So it's time to really run away from that lion or just to fight whatever you stressed about. Reproductive organs also are not going to function at the optimal level. Immune system, white blood cells are not going to really save you from any virus. Because if the body can be killed really within the minutes by chasing client, the body was never designed to be in chronic stress for a long period of time. So healing fundamentally is not possible. When people come and say that I want to optimize my health, I want to have really great brain function, immune system, they desire it emotionally. But if the body is still in stress response, physiologically it's not possible. That's something that we cannot really negotiate. That's how the body is built. That's physiology. Our goal is just to accept it and should consciously make different choice and shift the body into peace. That's more parasympathetic state. That's the state where the body can heal, regenerate, revive. When the blood pressure can stabilize, blood sugar can stabilize. When the brain function is in completely different level, when the creativity comes because the blood flow is going to different parts of the brain, the immune system can fight off infections and viruses. Digestion works much better. We detoxify much better reproductive organs. Everything actually that's we desire is in a state of peace. In the state of peace, disease does not exist.

Yeah. And our body has the ability, if we are presented with a virus or a bacteria or, you know, an infection, they don't like that state because our body is so much more powerful than the virus or bacteria taking hold because we have the capacity to restore function. So, you know, a lot of people go to the doctor and they're told, oh, you're stressed out, right? And while that's 100% correct, they really don't get the tools on how to shift. And I know there's many tools that you offer your clients. So maybe you could talk about what are some of those tools that you share with your clients to, you know, to get them to shift from that fight or flight state to that rest, rejuvenate, revive and restore state.

So first of all, when I have a client who's definitely in a stress response, first step is awareness. Just to make that awareness, the body is in a stress response. And our goal to shift into peace response. I develop five steps. I call it five R approach. So first R is shifting and resetting the nervous system. And I'm talking specifically about the autonomic nervous system. So for people who don't know, we have this part of the nervous system that, like a puppet master at the back, runs everything and controls every single function in the body. And we are not really aware about that system because we're not really thinking about how, how the heart is beating, how we are breathing, unless you're doing breath work and meditating, but definitely when you're sleeping, you're not thinking about how this system is working. Every stage that people are not really Happy about their health and they go see a doctor. Is actually controlled by the autonomic nervous system. That nervous system has two arms. Sympathetic and parasympathetic. Sympathetic. That's stress response, fight or flight. This is survival state. Parasympathetic. This is rest and digest. This is rejuvenation. That's a state where the body can heal. First step is awareness. When people become aware, then it opens up the doorway for them to make a different conscious choice. Okay, I am in a stress response and I make a choice to shift into peace state. There are many, many different tools. Meditation is beautiful breath work. I love personally heart math. These are amazing tools that people can implement on a daily basis and retrain their nervous system to go into that peace state on demand. Vagus nerve exercises, biofeedback. There are many, many different tools that people can implement on a daily basis. The concept of neuroplasticity. Again, the nervous system can change by implementing those tools on a daily basis consistently. Consistency and repetition. What's going to make a difference in the long run. And we can retrain the nervous system to be in peace most of the time. So that's number one R then Number two R is restoring cellular energy. Like every cell performs its own function. Every organ perform function. Every single function in the body requires energy. Me talking now requires energy. The energy is produced in the mitochondria. It's like a powerhouse. And I like to compare. It's like an engine in a car. What does it make the difference? If you have Ferrari, beautiful car in front of your house and the engine doesn't work. So that Ferrari is not going to deliver you the experience that you desire. So the same analogy is what if liver cells don't have enough mitochondria? Like liver cell has usually about 2000 mitochondria and some people have 600 mitochondria. So the cell is not producing enough energy for basic life support, basic functions. The liver is not able to detoxify. Obviously in that state the resilience to stress is going to drop. Because everything requires energy. When the brain is not working at the optimal level. And we know that the brain is actually window into how the mitochondria is working. As people start complaining of brain fog, difficulty concentration, we know that this like brain drain, pains and aches in the body. These are all mitochondrial problems. And if it's not addressed neurodegenerative diseases down the road. So we have to restore function of the mitochondria for the body to be able to produce more than enough energy so the individual can actually face daily challenges and have that stress defense shield.

So for somebody who's listening to this, I know, energy, obviously feeling tired, feeling exhausted, feeling burnt out. Are there any symptoms that they can look out for? There might be red flags that their mitochondria is starting to head in that direction because so many people are propped up by caffeine and stimulants and things like that. So they're, while they're tired, they have found alternative solutions. But what are some red flags that maybe somebody who's listening to this might say, hey, I have those, maybe it's my mitochondria. Are there any early signs of mitochondrial dysfunction that you can share?

Yeah, definitely. So the level of energy is going to drop. So the energy itself, production is impaired. People start complaining of energy, but it's really generalized brain fatigue. Generalized fatigue, difficulty concentration, difficulty focusing, brain fog, add, adhd, all these symptoms, and also difficulty with basic function in the body. So people start focus, like losing good digestion. So detoxification is not working. So they start noticing, okay, I'm not really performing at the optimal level, Even though it doesn't seem like something significant is happening, but they start noticing, okay, I'm reading a book and usually I'm like, chapter two, I cannot read anymore. So they're driving and they cannot really drive for a long time. They're working on a computer, they cannot really work for a whole day. They start noticing these headaches, also, this tension in the body. So these are early signs that the mitochondria is already struggling.

Yeah, and I'm glad you said that, because some people will use a book to put themselves to sleep. And it's because reading actually requires a lot of brain power. Believe it or not, as easy as it might seem for us to read, learn how to read or know how to read, the act of reading is a very energy intensive process. And even driving long distances, as passive as that might seem, there's a lot of energy being, you know, consumed by the nervous system and the body in order to allow that function to occur. Another one, I know that the highest concentration of mitochondria is in the ovaries. So even people who are struggling with kind of reproductive health, that could be a sign of mitochondrial dysfunction as well, correct?

Yes, absolutely. That's why we have so many challenges with reproduction. First of all, the body is in stress and then the whole cascade, it's affecting mitochondria and it's affecting hormone production. Toxicity builds up. It's just endless Circle that's spiraling down and unfortunately takes people in a place that they find themselves. But there is a way out. Just with the right guidance. Yeah.

So what are some things that affect our mitochondria in a negative way? And so now we have a sense of what the symptoms might be and how they might present. What are some practical things that people can do to improve their mitochondrial health or at least protect their mitochondrial function?

Mitochondria needs three main things. It needs a lot, but first of all, it needs oxygen, it needs CoQ10 and it needs magnesium. I would say these are three top things. A lot of people, they're not really focusing on how they're breathing, especially when they're exercising. And it's really counterintuitive, especially when the person starts feeling fatigued, low energy, and they tend to spend more time sitting on a couch not being active. What happens? They really starving their mitochondria because they're not really giving that oxygen to the mitochondria. So the mitochondria can grow magnesium. We know that most people are deficient in magnesium and CoQ10. From my personal experience, I know that so many people take lipid lowering drugs and one of the side effects is actually lowering CoQ10. And unbeknownst to them, they start feeling low energy. And I find that people take this medication, it's not that there is no place for these medications, but a lot of people not aware that Coq10 is going down, it's going to affect energy production, it's going to affect mitochondria itself. So that's a good practice for people just at least to know if you're taking lipid lowering medication, you have to also become aware that CoQ10 is a good supplement for you. Then toxicity is a huge one. Right? So toxicity is a big one that's affecting mitochondria. And unfortunately, when the oxidative stress is high in the body, mitochondria is going to retrieve itself. Meaning that it's very energetically expensive process to keep mitochondria. So the mitochondria is, that's how people end up in that hypo metabolic state when people don't even have enough mitochondria to produce energy. And that we can test, we can see on functional medicine, lab testing. And that's what I see more and more, that people don't even have enough mitochondria to produce energy.

Okay, thank you. We've got the first two R's resetting the nervous system. Second R is restoring Mitochondrial function. What's next? What's number three?

Number three is restoring digestive health. Digestion, gut health, is so important. It's the core of the piece. It creates up to 90% of the hormone called serotonin. And serotonin is our happy hormone. And we know that serotonin is the precursor for melatonin. And melatonin calms down our nervous system. That allows us to have that huge stress defense shield. When we have this healthy digestive tract, when we have that digestion working at the optimal level, optimal levels of the serotonin, optimal levels of melatonin, we can access that power inside of us at a much greater speed. Interesting fact that all cells have serotonin receptors. Women have more serotonin receptors on red blood cells than men. I think, like seven times more. But in any case, we are emotional beings floating throughout our blood, the whole body. And everything starts in the digestive tract. And if the digestive tract is not functioning, there is inflammation, there is dysbiosis happening. There are some pathogens, parasites. So there is this specific pathway that the body starts activating, starts producing chemicals called cytokines. These are inflammatory chemicals. The raw ingredients that the body uses to produce these cytokines are the same raw ingredients the body uses to produce hormones like serotonin and other neurotransmitters. What does it mean on a practical level? That means inflammation is going up. There is inflammation in the digestive tract, serotonin is going to go down. And people wonder why they don't feel good. Because the levels also of hormones, neurotransmitters, are dropping. And there is this gut brain connection that what's happening in the digestive tract, neurotransmitter communication that's going to affect our brain, that's going to definitely, in the long run, can set up the stage for neurodegenerative diseases. And everything starts in the digestive tract. That's why. That's one of the core foundational pieces that we need to address. And interesting fact that a lot of people don't have symptoms in the digestive tract, but they come and they complain. I feel anxious, I feel depressed, I have joint pain, skin issues. And for like, it's sometimes it's difficult for people to even grasp the idea. Why do I need to do that workout? Just to understand what's happening with my GI tract? It's all okay. I don't have any symptoms. Yes, but there are other symptoms. And the root cause could be in the digestive tract.

Yeah, you gave me Some really powerful visuals that I'd love to share with you, and you can tell me if they're good analogies. So I think of, you know, the raw materials to build serotonin and to build inflammatory cytokine. So it's kind of like, I think of a bucket of water. So you can use that bucket of water to put out a fire, or you could use that bucket of water to mop the floors or to water your garden, you know, to water the plants in your house. And one is going to be putting out, you know, something that we definitely need to pay attention to. If your house is on fire. Yeah. Use that bucket of water to put out the fire. But if your house isn't on fire, if you're in a state of peace, then you can use that same bucket of water to water the house plants. Right. Or clean the house or do the dishes or whatever. And then as you're speaking about this, it's really. The other analogy I'm getting is that when you want your leaves to be green on your plants, you don't water the leaves. Right. You water the soil.

Right.

So sometimes where the symptoms are like, you know, if. If we're not feeling good and our joints are achy and our skin isn't as vibrant as it could be, we don't necessarily just think of putting things on, you know, treating the symptoms, you know, would be like watering the leaves versus watering the soil, which is where the nutrients are going to come from and where the water is going to be uptaken in the roots. So our digestive system is kind of like that. Right. It's like the soil of our body, and we need to make sure that it's properly balanced so that it can do the job that it needs to do. So, yeah, I thought those were visuals were coming up for me as you were speaking. So thank you for kind of sparking my creativity as well.

That's really an amazing visual. That's a really good one. I'm going to use it.

Absolutely, absolutely. So number three is restore gut health. And I think for a lot of people as practitioners, this was probably a hard concept for us to grasp. Right. And even as a functional medicine practitioner, you tell this to your conventional practitioners and they probably look at you like you have two heads. Right. Or even a gastroenterologist. I used to say this, you know, I've been saying this for a long time, that gastroenterologists have probably the most important job in healthcare. They just don't know it.

That's right.

You know, and not to, not to, not to kind of fire shots across at them. But it's like they're, you know, of course they do very important things, right? They're cutting out cancers and they're doing, you know, important surgeries and identifying, you know, significant problems. But they're not looking at the functional aspects of the gut. They're kind of looking at the gut from a disease perspective. And the gut is such a powerful tool for our healing to take place. And of course, you know, I know you're probably going to say this, but I'll say it now, is that the gut is very closely connected to our brain, right? There's a gut brain connection that is now getting so much more attention. Whereas us functional medicine practitioners have been talking about this for years. So thank you for sharing that. And then let's go into number four, which is the fourth point here of shifting from stress to peace.

So r number four is remove toxins and support detoxification. We have to make sure that the body is clean as possible and can run as smoothly as possible, removing all the debris, removing all the unbroken parts of proteins, all the toxins, because in that state is also much easier to access that innate power of us. But when the body is in stress, the toxicity builds up because the body cannot really metabolize and detoxify at the optimal level when the body is in stress. And the more toxicity accumulated in the body, so the toxic burden goes up, the less resilient the body becomes to stress. We have definitely become aware about the toxicity. And unfortunately, in this world, toxicity is everywhere. So the food that we drink, the water that, the food that we eat, the water that we drink that, all the cleaning products that with chemicals we can't even pronounce. Sometimes I'm looking, I can't really say it. Even the clothes that we wearing, it's everywhere. So unfortunately, we cannot control everything, but we definitely can control what we're putting in our body and on our body. And we can can do the best we can just to make and create healthy environment when we spend a lot of time. And we know that most of the toxins are fat soluble, and that's a problem because those toxins are going to go to the brain and fat cells and the body cannot really eliminate those toxins. So the toxin has to be transformed into water soluble. So it can be eliminated either through the digestive tract or kidneys. That's a process also that takes place in liver and it requires specific nutrients. Unfortunately, even the person, an individual who eats organic Food from the farm. Most of the Americans, they don't have enough nutrients to support phase one and phase two. And that's why, the reason, I think, Environmental Working Group, they posted that every American has on average from 100 to 600 chemicals in their body at any given time. We have to support the body in detoxification process, become aware about the toxicity in our environment, what we're doing and putting in our body, on our body, and to support the body just so that energy is spent on more productivity, being more creative instead of just managing all these toxicity in the body.

Yeah, it's almost a shame that so many toxic chemicals are legal to put in our food, to put in our, you know, clothing, to put in our detergents and cleaning products in our homes. You know, the other day I went to Home Depot to pick up a, you know, something to unclog our drains. And there, there was. I walked in, there was a product that was there. I just grabbed it because it was like the first thing. I'm like, okay, this thing must be. This product must be really good. And then I brought it home and I started reading the instructions. I should have done this in the store. Started reading the instructions. I'm like, oh, my God. Like, this is, like, so toxic. And the warning sign, like the warning label was like, consumed, like, the entire label, basically. That's how toxic this thing was. So I went back and I returned it and got something that was like, you know, environmentally friendly and biodegradable. Biodegradable. And it worked just fine. Right. So there are, you know, more natural solutions that are, you know, not just better for us, but better for our environment. And we are a microcosm of our environment. And I'm glad that there's more attention that's being paid to this. There is one thing that I wanted to mention, and I know you're. You're probably doing stuff like this in your practice is each of us are going to react differently to toxicity levels. Right. So if you and I were exposed to the same levels of toxins, hypothetically, then based on our individual genetics, we're going to have a different response. Now, if this was a few hundred years ago where these toxins didn't exist, it would probably be a non. But now, as the toxic burden starts to build up, we're going to obviously have different genetic pathways to clear these toxins out. Can you speak to that a little bit? And if that's something you test for in your office.

So I definitely can say that everybody has different size of buckets. So people understand. So I say genetically you have a different size of bucket where you're putting all the toxicity going through life. And your size of your buckets might be completely different from even like your family member. So that means that going through life, you're putting all the toxicity in that bucket. And once it's going to reach its top, it's going to start overflowing. That's how people start complaining. Okay, I was feeling fine and then something happened, some stressful event, and after that I never felt the same. Everything's kind of going downhill from that point. But that's because genetically you have different susceptibility and ability to process different toxins, different methylation pathways, so different capacity to remove those toxins like heavy metals compared to different people. That's why we have neurodegenerative diseases. Some people develop at such young age, like Parkinson's, we see 40s because the body is not able just to get rid of say pesticides. That is clear link between pesticides and developing Parkinson's disease. That's why it's really important. At some point, if you're not really improving and if you're seeing that we're doing everything just to go for the genetic testing and to see if we're missing something from the genetic point, I do not start right away with the genetics. But if people not improving, that would be the next step.

Yeah, certainly removing the toxicity, regardless of what your genetic predispositions are, I think is the safe and smartest place to start. But this might help explain, as you mentioned, why somebody who could be eating the same diet, exposed to the same chemicals, they might be feeling terrible while their spouse might be feeling totally fine. So when they come home and say, listen, I think it's all the chemicals in our house, we need to get rid of them or we need to start eating organic, their spouse might be like, well, I feel totally fine. Right. And so the buy in can be a challenge for patients. So it's great to have that tool available so that we can potentially bio individualize or help people understand a little bit better as to why they feel a certain way and why their spouse or children may not, or perhaps even what their children or spouse may potentially be predisposed to without knowing it. Right. The sooner we find out this information, the better, so we can make more informed decisions. Do you have a case study that you want to share that kind of helps, maybe tie some of that together or an example regarding toxins that can help us understand how this Process plays out in your practice.

Yes. Let me share a story about my patient. Harold came to me complaining of severe pain in the body. The pain was so horrendous that he was not able to drive. It would take him three hours to get from the second floor to the first floor in his house. He said he wasn't able to put money in his wallet because of the severe pains in his head. Tense, so a lot of brain fog, difficulty concentration, digestive issues, mood swings. He was just diagnosed with autoimmune disease. So he missed a lot of work and became really concerned of getting disabled and losing his job. After implementing root cause approach, the pain decreased significantly. He's able to drive, use his hands and went back to work. He lost 20 pounds. Digestion is much better. Concentration, focus is much better. His lab test results RA test results trended down to almost normal range. That astounded his rheumatologist. He called me several months and said thank you. I feel so much more rejuvenated than ever before. And I'm getting compliments from my clients, from my co workers that I look younger than ever before. So that's one of the stories and I can share my brother's story. I'll never forget a day when I received two calls. One from my sister in law and another from my brother. My sister in law called first. I need help with your brother. He can't sleep, can't function, he doesn't talk to anybody. He gains £30. He doesn't pay attention to anybody. He doesn't even pay attention to his six year old daughter. This is not the same man I married and I don't know how long I can handle it. So as I listen to my sister in law, I am getting concerned about my brother and his family. So my brother, whom I love dearly, calls me several hours later. I don't feel like myself anymore and none of my doctors have any answers. Well, what do you know mean? Like you don't feel like yourself? Can sleep, I can't focus. I gained 30 pounds. My blood pressure is out of control even though I take three blood pressure medications. And on top of that I made a couple of bad business decisions and I lost significant amount of money. I saw a psychiatrist said, vital, you're depressed, take these medications. How long do I have to take these medications? You have to take these antidepressants till the rest of your life. As I'm listening to my brother, I'm like there has to be a different approach. I offered him functional medicine, root of Course approach. In three months his blood pressure drops. He requires one medication to control it. He sleeps through the night. His brain function is much better. He can focus and concentrate. He loses 40 pounds and he spends quality time playing with his six year old daughter after long working day every day. And I received pictures of him skiing, skating, riding a bicycle every week. He never started antidepressants because he never even needed them. His lipids dropped that he didn't need Lipitor anymore. He called me several months later and said thank you, I got my energy and drive back. And his wife called me and said thank you, I got my husband back and you saved our marriage. So that's how root cause approach transformed my brother's life, in his health and helping my patients.

It's always great when you can help family members. Those are the best kind of testimonials if you will of your work. Now before I forget, there's one more R so let's dive into that one.

R number five is release, resistance and reconnect with your true health. So that requires a little bit of explanation and I'm going to give concept of vibrational anatomy. So there are different aspects of us, there is aspect of identity, that's who you believe you need to be in order to survive in this world. Physical, body, mental layer, emotions. And then underneath all this that is divinity, love, soul. Different people call it different names, higher self, essential self. I think in Ayurveda they call it prana, that life force energy. In Chinese medicine they call it chi. But there is this true essence of at that's the doorway that connects us to that infinite power in the universe. So that part is always in peace. So when we become disconnected from that part, that's when we experience stress. When we connect to that part and really anchor ourselves and identify and embody that part of us, then we anchor in peace. So the question is how do we connect to that part on a practical level? Because some people kind of have difficulty grasping that idea. And to answer that question we have to answer a different question. I think it's how we got disconnected from that part. And we got disconnected from the moment we are born. Because if you look at children, they're open hearted, they're authentic, they don't have these concepts of, you know, you are different person and I see when I see you, I'm not seeing myself in you. So they meet each other with open heart. But as we go through life, the children, we receive different framework of love from our parents, right? Depending on what framework of love they receive from their parents. And then there is school, follow the rules, be a good boy and then peer group. So they want you to conform. And the absence of that conformity, they're going to start bullying you. And then some of us got married, not going to talk about that. So. But the whole process is we are becoming, going through life some other version than authentically we came to this world. So because that child, when he expresses that authentic anger and he hears the message, this is not the way a good boy, a good girl is acting, he makes a conclusion that me being myself and expressing whatever emotions that I'm feeling is not safe. So I'm going to lose life and I won't be able to survive in this world. So we're resisting that emotion. We're resisting part of the life events that's happening. We're resisting what's happening at the level of the physical body. So that resistance, what creates that imprint and going through life, everything is being recorded like in a black box. It's like that box on the plane that's recording everything. That's our unconscious, subconscious. I'm going to give an example with emotions. If say someone, an individual experiences an anger and that's a low frequency emotion because it doesn't feel good. So we're going to start resisting it, trying to distract and not feel that emotion in the moment when it's happening. So what's happening by resisting it? That's all energy, consciousness, dense consciousness. We are not allowing that energy to move. So that imprint is being recorded in the body, in subconscious. But if I dive into that energy of anger, the intensity is so high that that energy is going to start moving and it's going to start moving and leave my body eventually. Because all emotions and energy is just energy in motion, they come and go. But if I'm resisting, that's going to get stuck and recorded in the body. So that happens at every level. So to reconnect to that inner part of us is just stop resisting and really experiencing in the moment what we're feeling, really experiencing and accepting what's happening in our life. Really experiencing and feeling what's happening at the level of the body and what's happening at the level of our lives. Because that allowing state of allowing that opens up the doorway for those low frequencies energy to actually start moving and living our body.

You know, one of my mentors, Joe Polish, said our issues are in our tissues. And you know, so what you're describing to me is powerful because a lot of times we suppress these Feelings and emotions, and we kind of stuff them down, you know, back inside. And sometimes we stuff our mouth full of food, or we might turn to addictive behaviors, or we might procrastinate with things that we need to be doing. And we, you know, kind of turn our cheek to what we need to come face to face with. And there's so many things that we can use as tools to distract us from the work that we need to do. So how do you help your clients, you know, really come face to face with that now that, now that we have this understanding how, what are, what are some tools or mechanisms that you help them and support them with to come face to face.

So this is not a shortcut. People have to understand also. This is again, consistency and repetition. And we do weekly calls, meditation also, and implement, to addition to heart math training, some breath work and really, really embodying that, that who you are is the divinity. You are not your body, you are not your emotions, you are not your mind, you are not your identity. You have brief human experience, but you are a soul. That's the essence of who you are. So the more you aligned with your soul and coming from that place of soul, the more in peace you are and the more you're going to connect with that infinite power and that magic that everybody's looking for. And that's personal empowerment. And then you become your own healer, your own guidance. You're not looking for answers from the outside world that somebody is going to tell you what to do, what to watch, who to love and who to hate and what to eat. You're becoming your own guidance. Because everything from outside world is designed to distract people from inside, right? But we have to go inside and really empower people into their own wisdom. Because if anybody's asking me a question regarding even like vaccinations, the only thing I can do is guide you into your own guidance and intuition. Because the answer for me is right for me, but it might not be the right answer for you. Your answer is inside of you. I can give you all the tools, but the guidance is inside of you. And that's personal empowerment. When people become their own healers, healers, their own doctors, and they make their decisions, the last step is actually connecting to themselves and making decision from that place, from love, not fear. Because when we are in fear, we cannot see the truth, but that when we're connecting with the soul, we are in peace. That's love.

I love that. It reminds me of one of the eight limbs of yoga Pratyahara. Which is detachment and withdrawal of the senses. So our five, or some would argue six senses are, you know, almost serve as a form of distraction. Right. We can go and watch TV or we could eat food or, you know, we can listen to music. And that can distract us from the quietness and solitude that we need in order to really get to the essence of who we are. So that's awesome. I love this. Now I would imagine that it takes a certain level of awareness, right? Willingness to, you know, to follow the guidelines and recommendations that you're offering. And there's probably a certain, you know, ideal client that you like to work with. So tell us who that is. Who's like, who's your ideal customer avatar who does really well with a program.

Like yours, that's a stressed out professional who's trying to achieve and become more. And at some point they realize, okay, I am ready for a different transformation. I am open to really upgrade my lifestyle and I'm really dedicated to put focus on myself so I can be in service to other people eventually. So people who really at the stage when they see that investment in themselves is the best investment that they can do because that's going to bring different reality because everything starts what's happening inside because the reality is a reflection what's happening inside of us. Right?

Right.

When people upgrade their lifestyle, when they work and really understand their body, they connect with their body. And I would say loving, not the version that you want, but loving the version that you are. So that's the person who at the stages, I would say early stages, cardiovascular disease, metabolic diseases, autoimmune conditions, digestive health, when everything can be reversed so they can live and enjoy all days of their lives without having to take medications and can really function and can really be active till the last breath.

I love that. Dr. Larissa, how can people get a hold of you? What's the best way for them to connect with you and reach out to you? If they feel so inclined to, they.

Can go to my website, it's truehealthpc.com and they can schedule 20 minutes health strategy call. That's a complimentary call. And we can determine what their health goals, what are the obstacles to achieving those goals are and we can make a plan that's working and constructed around their goals and their vision of their future.

Amazing. And on social media, is there a place where people can follow you?

Yes, I have a business profile on Facebook. That's Dr. Larissa Gaytor and Instagram page, also Dr. Lisa Gator.

Awesome. So we'll be sure to put that in the show notes. And thank you for such an enlightening conversation. I really enjoyed listening to what you had to share and the 5R approach to getting people healthy. I loved that you talked about going inwards because that's something that I've been trying to do more of over these past few years, is really go inwards and get quiet and detach from the senses. So thank you for sharing some of the science behind that and some stories that kind of helped us highlight how this process works and how it's helped people that you really love and care about. Is there any message that you have for people who are listening that you'd like to share before we jump off?

Yes. Love and accept who you are as of now in the whole totality. Everything that's happening at the body level, emotions, mind, everything that's happening in your life.

Amazing. I love that. And it reminds me of, you know, this message that I got many years ago when I was in Ceremony and it said love yourself to life.

Yes.

And you really have to love who you are now, you know, to really find out who you can become. Because we don't love ourselves now. We'll treat ourselves like we don't love ourselves. But when we can treat, truly accept who we are and, you know, the challenges and the ups and downs that we've been through and, and find our find a way to love ourselves, then and only then will we nurture ourselves to find that next level of our existence and contribution. So beautiful. Thank you so, so much. And I'm looking forward to continuing to see your growth and success and contribution to the world.

Thank you so much.