From years of living by society’s expectations, high functioning stress/perfectionism, and hormone imbalance to creating my own definition of success and natural wellness…

Growing up, I always had a fascination with science and how our bodies functioned. I enjoyed watching any medical related shows on Discovery channel, and by the time I was in high school, i was hooked on Grey’s Anatomy. I seriously thought Christina Yang was my role model.

I’m not going to lie, but I did very well in school, so much so that I was salutatorian of my high school class, had taken every medical profession prepareness course and excited to be pre-med at the University of Tennessee with the goal of attending Vanderbilt University for medical school. Back then, I truly believed that going to the best medical school would mean I would become the best general surgeon. I am a competitve person by nature, so the infamous medical school residendcy competition did not frighten me at all.

Interestingly enough, I did not major in any science while in undergrad. I actually created my own major and focused on race fand ethnicity with an emphasis in the Hispanic population in the United States. Little did I know that those interests were small clues shifting me in another direction. By the time I graduated college, I had taken the MCAT two times and was ready to start a master's degree at Vanderbilt University in medicine, health, and society. I figured that getting a graduate degree would make my resume more appealing to medical schools (especially Vanderbilt) and would give me more time to study and retake the MCAT once again. I was not prepared for the tumultous shift I would go through during that year of my graduate program.

It was during my time at Vanderbilt that opened my eyes to alternative forms of healing, cultural perspectives, and Western medicine. All my beliefs about our healthcare system were questioned the more peer-reviewed articles I read about accupuncture, yoga, and other alternative methods. Not only that, but my test results from the third MCAT I had taken did not even amount to the 50th percentitle, so I thought, “what type of medical school woudl even accept me with those scores?” Thinking my medical school dreams were shattered, I came up with what seemed to be the next best solution, get a PhD so that I could still have that ‘doctor’ title next to my name! I was so focused on getting those degrees to have the big “career” success that I never once thought that my low MCAT scores, lack of motivation to study, high stress and anxiety were all signs that I was not in alignment with my purpose.

Yet, I applied to a doctorate program in public health, with the desire to share these learning with more people and help them. Little did I know that public health is not public at all. In fact I learned just how much is kept from the public! From learning how studies are actually conducted and super biased to professors telling me I should not do a thesis on natural forms to alleviate stress because it is '“pseudoscience” led me to being anxious and angry all the time. My biggest fear was thinking I would disappoint my immigrant mom if I told her I no longer wanted to be a ‘doctor’. The fear was mostly about expressing my own true purpose, finding my voice, and following my passion to focus on natural healing. Once I voclized I no longer wanted to be in the doctorate program, a weight lifeted off my body!

Since then, I have been on a personal journey to study nutrition, energetics, and mindset to intentionally heal both my mind and body, finding along the way what fuels my soul: positively transforming mind & body so you can take charge of your life!

Our bodies speak what our minds silence. So, what are you silencing?