Dr. William G. Crook, author of The Yeast Connection books, has honored Total Fitness in his latest medical handbook, Tired—So Tired and the Yeast Connection (Jackson, TN: Professional Books, 2001).
“During the early 1980s, I kept records of 100 consecutive adult patients with yeast-related problems,” Dr. Cook writes.
“Their three main complaints: fatigue, headache and depression. In her book, Healing Depression: A Holistic Guide, Catherine Carrigan told of her 18-year struggle to overcome depression and bipolar disorder. She said, ‘I took the best pills, followed the advice of countless well-meaning psychiatrists…Despite the money, time and effort devoted to my mental health, I never knew what it meant to be mentally balanced.”
“Then in 1994 she received a comprehensive treatment program for chronic fatigue syndrome which included dietary changes, antiyeast medications and other therapies. During a recent conversation, Carrigan told me she has been off psychiatric medications for more than five years with no relapse.
“Her story about how she overcame years of serious depression should give hope to countless people.”
Dr. Crook goes on to advice his readers to consult the Total Fitness web site, www.totalfitness.net, about workshops for physicians and lay people.
Just recently, I used Dr. Crook’s recommendations with two clients who have fibromyalgia. Both have seen improvements, and one told me that after just two months of a combination of Brain Gym, yoga therapy, body-type dieting and an individualized vitamin supplement regime, she has been able to get off all pain medication and off antidepressants.
Dr. Crook is a licensed medical doctor who has won respect both within the traditional medical community and among alternative health practitioners.
His pioneering work with yeast was among the first books I began to read when I started the research on my book, and he subsequently wrote an endorsement that has been included in both the first and second editions.
If you would like to learn more about how a combination of nutrition and mind-body exercise can improve your total health, look back at our newsletters, which are posted at www.totalfitness.net.
Dr. Crook’s book should be read not only by those who want to have more energy, but by all those who want to improve their fitness level. There is a difference between health and fitness, but if you are lagging in energy, and suffering with your health, there will be a limit to how fit you can become.
Hats off to Dr. Crook for continuing to educate us about our true potential!
Client Success: She Can Smile Again
C.B., a beautiful woman in her 50s, was recommended to me by her minister. For seven years, she had struggled with such severe pain in her TMJ that she had lost teeth, was unable to swallow or chew her food.
Thanks to the specialized kinesiology I have been studying with Sue Maes of London, Ontario, Canada, C.B. began to see immediate improvement.
One night, after working with me, she was able to chew her food again. Both her husband and son were astounded.
Because she had planned to have surgery to correct the problem, I advised C.B. about psychoneuroimmunology, the science of using your mind to build up your immune system. Despite the stress of the surgery, she sailed through the procedure and felt calm and at peace before and afterwards.
It was wonderful to see her after she returned, but the muscles and the bones had been cut in her face. Her jaw was crooked, and she was unable to smile.
Once again, I turned to specialized kinesiology, and used acupressure for the bones and muscles in her face. Result: This beautiful woman is now smiling again!
Client Success: She Walks A Little Lighter
G.C., now 64, was one of my biggest challenges when she came to me. She was so stiff that she walked around saying, “Rigor mortis has set in early!”
After recommending that she change her language, we began to work on her flexibility. She had chronic pain in her back and in her left hip and leg.
In the beginning, we would put her on my massage table for hands-on-stretching, acupressure and Touch for Health for as much as 45 minutes every work out.
Her challenges were further compounded by a diagnosis of diabetes, but once we discovered her body-type diet, she was able to lose 22 pounds.
Gradually, she began to see improvements. She now walks faster, lighter, and can do a typical workout with up to three sets of light weights. Over the wintertime, when a snowstorm struck, it was this 64-year-old tower of strength who pushed her car out of the driveway—not her husband. Pain free and thinner, she is a testimony of the power of persistence.
Restorative Yoga for Fibromyalgia
One of the big myths about fitness is that harder is always better. Nowhere can this be better illustrated than in the case of working with clients with fibromyalgia.
Brain research shows that on a consistent basis, most fibromyalgia clients are stuck in a high beta brain wave state. That means that although intellectually they may know they need to relax, physiologically their muscles, nervous system and brain are stuck in overdrive. This leads to constant pain, which would only be worsened if they worked out with heavy weights and contracted their muscles even further.
Recently, T.K. was able to restore the feeling in her feet after workouts that consisted of restorative yoga. This method of yoga is designed to do the opposite of what we think of when we think about working out. The muscles relax, the nervous system relaxes, the mind opens up. In this way, with fibromyalgia clients, they can find a new balance and ultimately prepare themselves for traditional workouts and more vigorous yoga.