SUMMARY: As the owner of TBM, I want to share the story of how I went from being a disabled pre-teen to following a health and wellness, healing path. This is also an excerpt from my upcoming book: Listening to the Body and Remembering the Future: Seizing the Power of Conscious and Unconscious Appraisal to Catapult our Health, Careers, and Relationships. Stay tuned for availability right here on the website.
“I wish to devote what remains of my existence ‘to the sole practice’ of a method which I recognize as being eminently beneficial, of being able to preserve my fellow-man so that he no longer need be exposed to the incalculable hazards of drugs and their applications.”
Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815)
An Early Disadvantage: Disabled
By age twelve, I was effectively disabled. I had a permanent seat in the resource training class. It was a really nice way of saying I was slower than my classmates and had to be separate to not impede the normal progress of my peers. As humiliating as it is for the kids that really need it, I was one of those kids, but that isn’t all I had working against me. Add to my ever-growing list of problems:
- obesity
- new allergies emerging regularly
- varicose veins
- hemorrhoids
- poor coordination (both hand-eye and gross motor skills) leading to repeated injuries, including head…yes, let the jokes begin!
- debilitating fatigue
- developing bunions that the podiatrist was recommending surgery to treat
- experiencing anger
- depression
- suicidal ideation
- addicted to sugar
- illiterate
- being perpetually disciplined at home, school, and church.
All of this by the age of twelve.
Sugar Addict
When I say addicted to sugar, I want to be clear: I ate it by the spoonful out of the sugar jar. If the sugar ran out, I would get a large spoon, fill it with the sweetest peanut butter and dip it in whatever jam was available. There really wasn’t a way life could get much worse. As a social pariah, I got used to being made fun of and picked last for any teams on the playground. There was nothing left to threaten me with, what could they do? Take away my man boobs?
One day, the Vice Principal of South Ogden Junior High School, Mr. Van den Bosch, called me to his office. This meeting was to inform me that he was beginning the process of getting me expelled from the school district, not just our specific school building. Ultimately, this was bad news because there was no transportation to attend another school. In addition to that snafu, my fear also went to how much more trouble I would get in at home if this expulsion was completed.
John Yudkin’s Sweet and Dangerous: The Book that Changed My Life
Simultaneously, my science teacher, Mr. Erickson, gave our class an assignment to choose ANY book from the science section of the library to read. The main requirement was our selection be non-fiction, the final choice was up to us. Being a sugar addict, I was thrilled to learn there was a book dedicated to my favorite form of self-abuse. Sweet and Dangerous by John Yudkin was the first non-fiction book I had ever read. But I read it cover to cover, hanging on every new revelation.
By the end of the assignment, I chose to completely give up refined sugar, which I continued steadfastly in abstaining from for a period of twenty-five years. What’s more, the results were immediate. So, I experienced an improvement in mood right away, gained an ability to concentrate, my energy level surged which led to more physical activity and weight began dropping off. I began transitioning from being in the resource training class to graduating with honor scholarships. All of this, just by beginning the journey by cutting out sugar.
Beginning in 1976, when given the option, every paper I wrote in middle school and high school, was on health and healing. My pursuit of health and healing has never ended. I’ve been a voracious consumer of health, medicine, and physiology materials for 48 years. Let me reiterate, for the better part of half a century, I have dedicated my life to increasing my health-related knowledge and experience. This life-long endeavor has been with the aim of maximizing potential and healing in humans, myself and others.
More About Me as a Practitioner
In my practice, I specialized in disabled patients:
- dysautonomic syndromes
- sensitivities or environmental illnesses
- Lupus
- Fibromyalgia
- chronic fatigue syndrome
- post-lyme
- and many more.
Countless people have overcome their disabilities in my care. Watching them step into healthy productive lives once again, free of pharmaceuticals, has always been a source of pride, akin to a parent watching their child take the first step. Watching so many transformations encouraged me to begin teaching other practitioners. Since 2004, I’ve promoted healing and wellness around the world as I have conducted seminars in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Ireland, England, France, Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand.
The foundation of my healing practice has always been:
- Initially, education. You don’t know, and can’t act upon, what you don’t know. Having information gives people a better chance of utilizing it to their advantage.
- Secondly, lifestyle changes. The rest of the (forthcoming) book will talk about lifestyle changes that work as they are implemented.
- Finally, practitioner intervention. In the sick care model, you visit the doctor when you have an issue that’s worsening and can’t be ignored. In my medical model, treatment starts with onset of symptoms.
Since 1984, I have lived completely drug-free. I have not indulged in recreational drugs or over-the-counter or prescription pharmaceuticals. So, I know it’s possible.
What Life Looks Like Now:
Now endurance running is a hobby of mine, including barefoot at times, which wouldn’t have been possible for my younger self. I’m the father of six children, one of which survived childhood cancer (we talk about that in the book). So far, I have four wonderful grandchildren. Every day, I feel a true sense of gratitude for the privilege it is to draw in a breath and celebrate life.
Beginning with John Yudkin’s book, I started a path toward total body transformation. At twelve, I couldn’t have foreseen the way my life would encompass the journey that I’ve been on, particularly owning a global trainer of subtle-influence medicine called Total Body Modification. For me, it is Total LIFE Transformation. The path to wholeness that I began so many years ago, for myself, has turned into a passion I want to share with you, with the world, so others can leave disabled living behind. And not just leave disabled living behind, but walk a path to living a fulfilling and pain-free existence that leaves a legacy.
