The Case:  Avery is 37 and was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism ten years ago.  Despite taking medication, she still suffered from weight issues, fatigue, constipation and dry, brittle hair.  Additional testing revealed she had Hashimoto’s.  She made the lifestyle changes suggested, little changed.  Avery’s experience is not totally uncommon. The traditional medical system helped treat her symptoms but it wasn’t until she turned to functional medicine that she was able to get to the real root of the problem. Or, so she thought. When I met with her, I knew there was still a piece of the puzzle that was missing and it would required her to be open minded about the cause of her health issues.  The Investigation When we feel ill or our body is not functioning the way we want it to, we think about all of the physical things that could be wrong with it. For many people, solving their health mystery doesn’t need to go any further than this. But, for Avery we had to go beyond the physical and dig a little into the health of her energy. This is the truly holistic approach.  Dr. Kyrin Dunston learned this through her own personal journey. She was a busy and successful OB GYN who struggled every day with her own physical health. She was overweight, lethargic, and dealing with the chronic pain of Fibromyalgia. She tried all of the traditional ways to regain her health but all of her tests came back normal, leaving her stumped by her persistent ill-health.  She was as surprised as anyone that her solution did not lie in traditional medicine (which she loved, practiced, and was devoted to) but rather in functional medicine and energy work. Now, she shares her new approach to women’s health through online programs and her podcast, Her Brilliant Health Radio.  Physical is a Manifestation of the Energetic Our physical body is a manifestation of our energetic body and this is true for everyone. This might seem unscientific but research has proven it. For example, our electromagnetic field can be red outside of us (using HeartMath technology) proving that it goes beyond the one job we originally assumed it did. These energies are accessible for health, healing and communication. This is new in the Western world but other cultures have believed this (and build their health care around it) for centuries. Acupuncture is a good example of this.  Consider the Underlying Energy In any physical healing from disease, we have to consider the underlying energetic component. For instance, in Hashimoto’s or issues with the thyroid, it’s important to look at the energy center in the throat, or Throat Chakra. This is where energy is affected by and affects our communication and ability to speak our truth. Energy disturbances here could come from a long-held inability to speak up or share our true authentic self. Until that energy is addressed, the physical body will struggle.  Little ‘t’ Trauma We talked in episode 007 about how our belief systems can impede our efforts for optimal health. In this episode, Dr. Kyrin explains that beliefs and long-held traumas interfere with the health of your energetic self. Traumas come in many forms. The ones we often think about are easy to quantify - a major accident, experience violence, witnessing something horrific - but there are other traumas that can also have an impact. Referred to as small t traumas, these could include incidences in your childhood that even you wouldn’t consider traumatic but that have left a scar on your energy or psyche. Even if they don’t register as traumatic experiences, they can still shape our biology.  Energetic Comes First Before a physical illness, we experience an energetic interference. Every physical illness has an energetic counterpart. To get to the root of potential energetic origins of illness, Dr. Dunston suggests looking into the history of the issue and making a personal inquiry with journaling. For many people, this is too hard to navigate on their own and they may want to se