You know what they say, "love what you do and the rest will follow"? It's true. That's how I feel about The Lyme Juice bar at White Gate Farm in East Lyme, CT. I meet the most amaaaazing people and we get to be Health Nerds and talk about things like B12 deficiencies, Lyme, Babesia, Auto-Immune, Whey-No-Way, Nutritional Yeast, Meditation, Turmeric with or without black pepper [there are two camps], mutant genes, MTFHR [nicknamed "MutherF*#@+r for good reason] and that's just the short list.

I learn so much from the juicers I meet each week. When they belly up to the bar, I'm surrounded by a tribe a people who are open to the dialogue of wellness. They are super-knowledgeable and prepared to do The Work - whatever it is that is required - to get to the source of chronic pain, inflammation, malaise and dis-ease.

This weekend I met John, a gentleman who has an amazing relationship with his doctor, a doctor who is engaged in the dialogue of Self-Care and has guided John to an understanding of healthy lifestyle choices that are right for him. Turns out, John's doc is none other than David Schwindt, a college friend of mine from Johns Hopkins who runs an integrative medicine practice in Mystic, CT and is Chair of the inpatient Integrative Medicine Consult Service at The Westerly Hospital.

Just goes to show that it truly is a small and beautiful world and we're all in it together.

I also met a mother daughter team, the sweetest dynamic duo I've ever met! Together, Maureen and Briana have journeyed for yearrrrs along the long and often bumpy road to wellness. As a child Briana suffered constant pain from a "Mystery Illness." Her parents played a huge role in helping Briana uncover the source of her illness. Briana's father vetted and tested alternative treatments [such as cupping ;) = Brave Dad] and her mother, Maureen, was researching every step of the way, working through it with her. Together they journeyed as a family through the process of moving from illness to wellness. They went through a long list of trial and elimination, test after test, protocol after protocol, until Briana found a way to live her life fully, and without pain.

Briana views her experience as something that opened her up to so many positive things rather than shutting her down and keeping her from living a vibrant life. Today, Briana is the face of happiness and strength - as you can see from the photo below - but it took tremendous focus and courage and commitment to stay the course in order to arrive at a place where she can thrive. Briana now writes and shares her story on her dynamic blog BlondieBitesBlog.com. Check her out! She's a good girl, fer sure.

P.S. - Just after writing the above, I took a break to see my chiropractor Dr Frank Musante and my doctor Dr Kendra Becker Musante at their family wellness practice in Waterford, CT...and guess who was coming out as I was going in?! Yup, you guessed it...Briana! It is indeed a small and beautiful world. and I am so glad we are all in it together ;)