The onward Approach

It’s All in your head

I’m sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair with bright LEDs shining down on my face, yet I’m filled with anticipation. I went to every single doctor’s appointment believing I would get answers that very day. Every ‘no’ brings you closer to your next ‘yes,’ is what I learned in sales. Especially if I were seeing doctors of this caliber. Johns Hopkins, after all, is the best, right?

I’m a year and a half into trying to find out what’s wrong with me. In reality, we’d been doing that my whole life, but in recent years, things had escalated to a severe level. Multiple weird surgeries, debilitating symptoms, and so far, Dana Farber and Johns Hopkins had only told me I was “a head scratcher.”

Today was different. I just had a whole new panel of blood work done (surely they’ll find something in the 17 tubes they took), as well as multiple full-body scans. I studied the doctor's face as she flipped through the results. I would’ve been relieved to see concern, or even a grimace. At this point, I didn’t care if it was bad; I just wanted answers. Instead, she sighed, lowered the clipboard, and said, “Sometimes, when we’re depressed, we think we’re sick when we’re really not.” In other words, “it’s all in your head.” Unreal. I couldn’t believe I was hearing it from a successful doctor at one of the best hospitals in the world. You can’t figure out what’s wrong with me, so you chalk it up to mental health.

This was a massive turning point. I decided I couldn’t leave it up to doctors to help me, especially if they were going to dismiss me, belittle me, or call me crazy. Fine, I’ll do it myself, I thought.

Modern medicine fell a few rungs for me. Unless it was an emergency or a situation specifically tailored to modern medical expertise, I was going to focus on finding answers on my own while seeking help from alternative and holistic practitioners.

This wasn’t the origin of my health education, but it was the point at which I went from being intentional about finding answers to being obsessed.

My personal experiences, education, and observations of others with health issues woke me up to how many health issues today are rooted in the way we live. Experiences like these shaped how I now approach health.

The main problem

One of the biggest causes of modern health problems is that we have veered so far off course from the innate design God has given us [1].

Of course, we live in a fallen and broken world [2], so to a certain extent, there will always be sickness, pain, and death, as long as this world exists. However, when it comes to chronic pain, chronic illness, and many other rampant so-called ‘diseases’ that we see in today's society, I believe we can find healing in most cases if we were to give ourselves the correct input.

If we were to return to how the body was designed to live, it would return to a state of harmony. Your body is smart—it wants to heal and feel good. However, your body and brain were programmed to do two things: survive and adapt. It never does anything without a reason. The modern medical narrative may tell you that “your body is attacking itself.” But they stop there. They don’t explain that pain or dysfunction is a protective or compensatory response to something deeper going on.

I am not promoting a primal lifestyle where we remove ourselves from society and live in the woods like hermits, but I am also stating that we cannot continue to live the way that we are. Despite medical and technological advances, what we’re doing simply isn’t working. The CDC reports that over the last twenty years, the prevalence of chronic conditions has significantly increased, and those numbers are expected to continue to rise. As of 2023, 76.4% of adults in the US reported having at least one chronic condition [3].

I believe there are ways to live how we were innately designed to live, while still living in a modern world. Not everything new is bad, and not everything new should be avoided, but we should always ask ourselves the following question: how is this thing—food, a lifestyle habit, etc.—affecting my entire system or self? And I’m not talking about in the moment, either; you need to think long-term. Just because smoking cigarettes won’t give you cancer right now doesn’t mean they won’t later.

My personal philosophy on how we can return to health and harmony in the modern world is divided into four categories: lifestyle, nutrition, movement, and mental health.

But before I jump into why those pillars reorient us, I want to briefly touch on why the modern medical way isn’t working.

New doesn’t mean better

Never in history have we had the medicines, access to care, technological devices, and knowledge of the human body as we currently do. Yet at the same time, never before have we had the level of sickness, dysfunction, and pain that we do now. Yes, the average lifespan has gone up tremendously over the last 100 years. But longevity has gone up, while ‘healthgevity’ has plummeted.

Let me reiterate—what we’re doing isn’t working. And before I come off as a modern medicine hater, let me say that modern medicine has done incredible things for many people, including me—I’ve had six surgeries that all needed modern intervention. There is absolutely a time and place for modern medicine, but that place is not in general health, wellness, or chronic conditions.

The modern model has a narrow point of view, where they look for specific markers on tests, instead of asking why the individual is in the state they’re in. This system isolates and treats individual parts of the body rather than viewing the body as an entire system of interconnected parts. They slap Band-Aids on problems and hope for the best, but never find true healing. They’re too quick to prescribe a pill and put you under the knife, rather than working to find root causes and solutions. The current model doesn’t empower people by giving them tools to get well and thrive; it keeps them reliant on the system, or, in many cases, dismisses them, calling them crazy.

Of course, I don’t claim to have a fool-proof “live forever and never feel pain” system, but I do believe that if we are intentional about these four pillars, we will give ourselves the best fighting chance at living long, healthy, lives, where we feed and fuel our health through our day-to-day actions, instead of constantly fighting to get it back.

Let’s dive in.

1) Lifestyle

The modern lifestyle has brought us so far off center from how the human body was meant to operate. The rise of social media has reduced in-person communication, the convenience of technology and the evolution of the workplace have left us largely sedentary, and the increase in anxiety and stress has left us overwhelmed. We’re constantly plugged in to what’s going on everywhere in the world except what’s directly around us. Our nervous systems weren’t designed to take in such massive amounts of information so quickly, not to mention much of it being negative. Never before in history have we been able to see a hundred different tragedies from a hundred different places, all in one day. Over time, the brain is left with only two responses: become jaded or take it all on, leading to a sense of internal collapse both emotionally and physically.

When our emotional state suffers, it can manifest physically. After all, The Body Keeps Score [4]. I strongly believe that our current mental and emotional states are an under-recognized factor in the current health predicament.

We have also never been more disconnected from the sun and the earth. Sunlight helps with Vitamin D production, immune function, circadian rhythm, and hormone and neurotransmitter production, to name only a few. Until the 1950s, the sun was the most prescribed and most effective form of treatment for a variety of illnesses [5]—you feel better after being in the sun because it’s healing. But now we stay indoors with artificial light and are told to avoid the sun.

The earth gives off an electromagnetic frequency of 7.83 HZ, called the Schumann Resonance, better known as the earth’s heartbeat. This frequency helps bolster your immune system, lower inflammation, reduce stress, regenerate your cells, and improve your mood. Until about one hundred years ago, we were connected to this frequency at all times. Our homes, shoes, and clothes were made of conductive materials such as wood, leather, stone, and natural fibers. Now, the soles of our shoes are rubber, our houses and clothes are plastic or manufactured materials, and we don’t receive the natural healing benefits of the earth unless we’re barefoot outside. People like to come at the hippies for grounding/earthing, but they know their stuff. This separation from the sun and earth has completely removed daily doses of subtle healing and protection.

Not only have we shut ourselves off to beneficial rays and frequencies, but we’re taking too much of an onslaught from negative ones, such as EMFs.

EMFs are electromagnetic frequencies emitted by electrical devices. In today’s world, you’re surrounded by them—cell phones, laptops, TVs, Wi-Fi, all of it.

I’m not anti-tech—I’m writing this on a laptop with my phone next to me—but we live our lives constantly plugged in. If we’re not behind a screen, we’re in front of one, often for most of the day. Whether you feel it or not, being immersed in these signals for 12–16 hours a day affects your system.

Getting healthy amounts of sunlight, spending time in nature, and unplugging from tech—both literally and figuratively—are crucial parts of returning your body to a state of natural balance. To heal and stay healthy, we need a sense of homeostasis to our internal rhythms.

2) Nutrition

An important element of our lifestyle is our nutrition. Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are [6]. Food directly impacts your mind and body—it’s not just about calories or curbing hunger. Food is fuel, and your body needs the right nutrients to thrive: fats for your brain and hormones, protein for muscles and cells, minerals for bones and nerves.

Can you get away with eating junk food your whole life? Sure—some people can—but eventually something breaks. Anyone who’s used machinery knows that using the wrong fuel has consequences.

Historically, humans ate fresh, seasonal foods from local sources. Meat came from grass-fed animals, while vegetables and fruits came from healthy soil. Today, most food is overly processed, sprayed with chemicals, and made with ingredients we can’t even pronounce. We eat poorly, snack constantly, and wonder why we’re overweight, tired, or unwell.

So how should we eat? Focus on whole foods. I aim for 95% of my calories from single-ingredient foods—egg, asparagus, orange. And the other 5%? Whatever I want. A good rule of thumb for most people is an 80/20 split: 80% real, nutrient-dense food, 20% flexibility.

I’m not always pro-fasting, but I’m not anti-fasting either. However, you do need to give your digestive system a break. Constant snacking or 16-hour eating windows stresses your body and keeps blood sugar high. Focus on high-quality meals within a 12-hour-or-less window.

Finally, listen to your body. If a food consistently causes a negative reaction, steer clear. Intuition matters.

3) Movement

Having the proper fuel is crucial, but it doesn’t end there. Humans were designed as locomotive creatures. Movement charges our batteries and keeps us well.

I once had a health practitioner tell me I shouldn’t be exercising or telling others to do so because, throughout history, humans never went to the gym or ran. My counter to this beyond-absurd statement was that humans didn’t need to work out because their livelihoods were exercise. Men farmed, built, soldiered, blacksmithed, hunted; women did labor-heavy tasks, often with a baby at their hip. Their entire day was a workout from sunup to sundown.

Today, most of us have sedentary jobs. We sit at a desk 9–5, then sit on the couch until we lie down in bed. We’ve never moved less as a species.

Humans need to move, and move often. Movement changes your biology, hormones, and neurotransmitters. It enhances bone density, regulates blood sugar, and benefits the heart, circulation, and detoxification pathways. Two and a half hours of moderate exercise per week lowers all-cause mortality by up to 31% [7]. If you want to feel better and live longer, you need to move. This one’s not up for debate.

Not only do we need to move, but it’s important that we move well. Prolonged time in chairs, lack of 3-dimensional movement, and cushy shoes have killed our posture, mobility, alignment, and mechanics. Over 24% of adults in America deal with chronic pain. I can’t have a conversation without someone mentioning a nagging shoulder, knee, hip, or back.

The body is a system. There are many causes of joint, muscle, and nerve pain, but one of the biggest is simply that we do not move well anymore.

The human body was meant to move a specific way. When optimal and operating according to their God-given design, hearts, livers, and lungs all function the same way. Why would movement be any different, regardless of the size or shape of our bodies?

Studies of young kids, decade-plus super-athletes, senior Olympians, and indigenous tribes show they all share the same movement patterns. When chronically hurt humans return to proper movement and alignment, pain fades, injury rates drop, and the musculoskeletal system lives in long-term, pain-free harmony.

If you’re injury-prone or dealing with chronic pain, you need to focus on moving correctly. I spent years trying to figure out why I experienced severe pain despite being a high-level athlete. Practitioners told me it was just age or wear and tear. I never bought that. I couldn’t imagine a 30-year-old Native American 200 years ago telling the tribe he had to hang back from the hunt because his Achilles was flaring up again. Humans were designed to move well for decades.

Once I understood this, I was able to use biomechanical and neuromechanical strategies to heal my chronic pain and help others do the same. Don’t settle for the belief that you can’t move freely again, and don’t go under the knife unless absolutely necessary. We were designed to move for our entire lives—our overly modern lifestyle has simply gotten in the way.

4) Mindset

Lifestyle, nutrition, and movement are among the most critical pillars of a healthy life, but health isn’t determined solely by physical factors.

“Your attitude changes your physiology moment to moment,” says Michael Gelb. What you think, believe, and how you act directly impact your body and mind. Your thoughts shape the hormones and neurotransmitters you produce—feel-good ones like dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins, or stress ones like cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine.

Repeated thoughts and beliefs create neural pathways in your brain, like walking over the same spot in the snow again and again. Eventually, the path becomes default. Negative thought patterns continuously reinforce hormones and body chemistry that encourage dysfunction and disease.

I am not a mental health professional, but it’s clear to me that your thoughts and emotions play a huge role in your physical well-being. If you need professional help, get it—there’s no shame in that. This plays a bigger role in physical health and wellness than most people realize.

What I do

I help people who’ve faced serious illness, injury, or chronic pain reclaim their bodies and confidence—through education, guidance, and proven strategies that help them move freely and live fully again.

I had multiple doctors tell me I’d never run, exercise, work full-time, eat normally, or live a normal lifestyle ever again, and they told me that I needed to accept that. I refused, fought tooth and nail, and made it to where I am today. I help people who are in the position I was in get to where I am today by helping them dial in those foundational pillars of wellness we talked about in this post.

I cannot fix or heal anyone, but I can guide them and empower them via tools and education. It is up to the individual to trust my guidance and do the work themselves. If you are not committed to working to make changes in your life, then this is not for you.

In the realm of health and chronic conditions, there are no cookie-cutter models, but there are general concepts and laws that apply to all humans across lifestyle, nutrition, and movement. I guide people toward healing by helping them return to a natural lifestyle—moving backward to move Onward, so to speak.

If you’re tired of being dismissed, stuck, or told to ‘just live with it’—and you’re ready to take ownership of your health—I’m here to guide you. Fill out this contact form, and let’s start moving you back toward how your body was designed to function.

References

[1] Genesis 1:26, Genesis 2:7, Psalm 139:13-14
[2] Genesis 3
[3] https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2025/24_0539.htm
[4] Dr Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps Score
[5] Auguste Rollier, Heliotherapy
[6] Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste
[7] https://www.ama-assn.org/public-health/prevention-wellness/massive-study-uncovers-how-much-exercise-needed-live-longer
[8] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db518.htm