How to Boost Your Vital Reserve?

Your body is inherently designed to function at its peak potential. Our goal is to eliminate any barriers hindering this by mitigating all forms of stress. In doing so, you unlock the natural healing and rejuvenating capabilities of your body, allowing you to flourish.

There exists a constant communication network between the brain and the body, facilitated by:

• Blood, which transports hormones, nutrients, and trace elements.

• The somatic and autonomic nervous systems, providing intelligence to every cell in the body.

• Chi energy, which flows continuously throughout the body.

This communication serves the purpose of enabling the body to function at 100%. In an ideal scenario, the body would maintain homeostasis — a balanced state among all body systems, ensuring optimal function and symptom-free health.

However, we do not live in a perfect environment, more or less we all face mental stress, exposure to toxins, pollution, and unhealthy lifestyle habits. We face a myriad of stressors daily. The root cause of all diseases lies in the genetic potential exposed to these internal and external stressors. Chronic exposure to any stressor can lead to malfunction and disease.

Symptoms act as warning signals, indicating that our energy reserves are dwindling. While they can't identify which system is overtaxed, they signal that the body's energy is at risk. As a holistic health practitioner, my approach is not treating symptoms, but replenishing the body's vital energy reserves through health optimization pillars, including:

• Cellular detoxification (not limited to green juicing);

• Proper nutrition for achieving metabolic flexibility;

• Supplementation and Regenerative Peptide Therapies;

• Sleep, Rest and Exercise protocols;

• Mental and emotional stress management techniques;

• Pranic Healing, and other ancient practices;

• Biohacking technologies, … and more.

While some recommendations are universally applicable, many protocols are tailored to my clients’ unique metabolic profile, medical history, and current functional lab results. Performing selected labs for clients allows eliminating guesswork, tracking results and adjusting the protocol.

Relying solely on one or two pillars is insufficient to transition the body from a state of dysfunction to optimal function. Focusing solely on nutrition, for instance, while neglecting cellular detoxification or exercise, will yield suboptimal results. Moreover, If you're grappling with health challenges without finding solutions at the physical level, it may be necessary to delve deeper than the physical realm for answers.

Therefore, I advocate for a comprehensive system that addresses each tissue and organ simultaneously on a physical level and reset across spiritual, emotional, and mental dimensions. This holistic approach is more effective than merely targeting specific symptoms or focusing solely on the physical body. I firmly believe that once all interference is eliminated and the body's vital energy reserves are restored, it will prioritize and allocate energy to address any imbalances or dysfunctions - come back to a state of ease - high immunity and vitality.

If you have an individualized holistic wellness program designed for you and practice consistently, it empowers you to heal yourself.

Holistic Health Approach

Holistic health is a comprehensive approach to wellness that considers the whole person. Human existence consists of spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical energy. A holistic approach to health and wellness must consider the integration of these aspects and their interrelationships. In a Holistic System, I Prioritize Spirit First.

If we envision a holistic model as a target, with energy radiating from the center outward, the bull's-eye at the center symbolizes the essence or spirit of human life - the energy of love, compassion, and connection. I consider existential stress - lack of purpose and disconnection - to be the strongest stress. Each of us can have our own purpose; you should listen to your heart. Your purpose can change over time — at some point, it might be taking care of your child, and at another, making positive changes in healthcare on a global level or saving the planet from an ecological crisis. However, the ultimate purpose for all of us is to raise our vibrations, as it influences not only our health and wealth but also the lives of others and the entire planet.

The second ring from the center represents the energetic or vibrational quality of our emotions and feelings, reflecting the level of emotional completeness in our lives that impacts our overall well-being. Emotional trauma causes imbalances in our energy body, which in turn lead to physical disease. That is why I incorporate Pranic Healing in my holistic approach. It taps into pranic or "ki" (chi) energy—the universal life force—to cleanse and energize our etheric body (internal aura) and chakras.

Moving outward, the third ring signifies the mental energy of our thoughts and belief systems—our truths about ourselves, our health, and the world around us. Where our intention goes, our energy flows. The mind is the primary instrument our soul uses, akin to a computer; we can choose and switch thoughts like programs, and we can shut down the computer to be in stillness.

The outermost ring embodies the energy of the physical body and all factors shaping our physical environment: the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we consume, the light we embrace, physical activity or inactivity, and other environmental influences, including toxins, chemicals, artificial noise, and electromagnetic fields (EMFs).

As you can see, in this model, the spirit takes center stage—I prioritize the spirit first. We are not our bodies, not our emotions, not our minds. A healthy spirit thrives on love. The energy of love has the highest vibrations. Two energy states of different vibrational qualities, such as the energy of love and the energy of fear, cannot occupy the same space simultaneously.

Metaphysically speaking, it is not possible for a person to be out of balance in one area of life without imbalance also existing in other areas of life. For instance, it's not possible for someone to be suffering from an illness or chronic degenerative disease without other areas of their life - spiritual, mental, and emotional - also being affected; and vice versa.

I practice Arhatic Yoga, which is the next level after Advanced and Psychotherapy Pranic Healing. Arhatic Yoga is a comprehensive system of spiritual practices developed by Master Choa Kok Sui, the founder of Modern Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga. It is an advanced form of yoga that aims to accelerate the spiritual development of the practitioner. The word "Arhatic" is derived from "Arhat," which means "a highly evolved being." It helps me evolve, be more disciplined, and find balance in all aspects—physical, emotional, and mental.

If you are interested in starting your journey to become Arhat, you can complete the Basic Pranic Healing workshop at our Ultimate Wellness Retreat at Faena Hotel. This is an experiential workshop designed to help you discover your innate ability to heal and opens up opportunities for the next level education at Advanced, Psychotherapy, Crystals, and then Arhatic Yoga.

Stress - The Root Cause of All Disease

With a few exceptions, Healthspan & Lifespan are only 20% programmed by genetics, while 80% depends on inputs such as spirit, emotions, environment, lifestyle, and social factors. Genetic characteristics might not affect you at all unless they are triggered by certain stressors. The root cause of all disease is genetic potential exposed to internal and external stressors.

When you experience any kind of stress, various hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, are released in the body. These hormones can be helpful in the short run when you need extra energy to deal with a stressful situation. However, when we are chronically stressed, these hormones can adversely affect the body, leading to increased blood pressure, blood sugar levels, weight gain, and an elevated risk of heart disease and diabetes. Additionally, stress can alter the brain by affecting neurotransmitter levels, such as serotonin and dopamine. It also plays critical role in skin aging.

Chronic stress is any influence, internal or external, that causes or leads to malfunction, contributing to Metabolic Chaos—misbalances within hormonal, immune, detoxification, digestion, energy production, nervous system, oxidative stress, and more.

Metabolic Chaos means dysfunction in any area:

• Hypothalamus, Pituitary

• Neurotransmitters, Immune, Autonomic Nervous System, Hormones, Limbic

• Chemicals, pathology, hormones, sensitivity issues 

• Thyroid

• Nutritional, pathology, auto-immune 

• Liver

• Binding - over or under binding

• Conversion - poor conversion, over conversion 

• Clearance - poor clearance

• Gut dysfunction, dysbiosis

• Cellular

• Sensitivity, resistance, (transduction and transcription)

• Adrenal

• Stress and hormones

Results of & contributors to Metabolic Chaos include:

• Adrenal-related dysfunction

• Circadian rhythm disruptions

• Poor nutrient breakdown and absorption

• Pro-oxidant/antioxidant imbalances

• Dysbiosis and gut malfunction

• Systemic inflammation

• Immunodeficiency

• Detoxification problems

The main kinds of External and Internal Stressors:

Existential Angst Stressors: Lack of purpose or meaning in life, hopelessness, disconnection, despair.

Mental/Emotional: Fear, worry, excitement, anxiety, relationship issues, covert negativity, negative perceptions, bad attitude.

• Poor relationships can lead to mental and emotional stress. It is important to build and maintain healthy relationships with family, friends, and your community, seeking and providing support within social networks to foster a sense of belonging and connection.

Physical/Biomechanical: Trauma, micro-trauma, accidents, fractures, muscle injuries, nerve compression, repetitive or positional injury, intense and prolonged exercise, poor posture, sleep deprivation, wrong dieting, chronic illness.

Chemical/Biochemical/Functional Stressors: Inflammatory foods, additives; pesticides, herbicides, GMOs; alcohol, caffeine, blood sugar issues, prescription medication, antibiotics, recreational drugs, chemicals, metals, radiation, EMFs, OTC meds, exogenous hormones (BC); parasites, bacteria, fungi, viruses; sleep deprivation, lack of exercise; allergies, overactive immune system.

Hidden Stressors

Internal Stress: This can occur in the body without realization. These stressors are hidden and often overlooked, requiring several levels of investigation. That's why I recommend undergoing functional assessments not only at the beginning when I start working with clients but also retesting after some time.

One example of hidden stressors, which can be identified only with functional lab tests, is Food sensitivities—the most prevalent cause of inflammatory reactions, intestinal permeability, and leaky gut, yet often overlooked in conventional medicine. As an FDN-P, I recommend the MRT blood test, which is the only sensitivity blood test in the world that quantifies the degree of the inflammatory response in sensitivity pathways. This test not only identifies foods with the highest degree of reaction but also pinpoints the foods that have the lowest degree of reaction in sensitivity pathways. Immunologically speaking, the least reactive MRT foods are your best foods (provided you account for any food allergies and celiac disease). The least reactive MRT-tested foods have the highest probability of being well-tolerated and can form the basis for a multi-phased eating plan.

Another example of hidden stressors that can only be identified with lab tests is microbiome imbalances—opportunistic bacterial overgrowth, parasites, fungi, and yeast. I suggest my clients take the Gastrointestinal Map stool test by DSL. This test offers a comprehensive view of gut health, detecting specific organisms (both good and bad) that may reside in the gut, including unwanted bugs and pathogens. The test relies exclusively on quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) technology to detect parasites, bacteria, fungi, yeast, and more by targeting the specific DNA of the organisms. qPCR offers a much more accurate way to detect and quantify clinically relevant organisms than standard PCR.

Identifying hidden biochemical stressors helps us not only to treat but also to prevent disease if we know what to measure. For instance, Insulin resistance lies at the heart of diabetes and numerous metabolic dysfunctions and chronic diseases. Many clinicians rely solely on HbA1c for type 2 diabetes screening due to its convenience. However, by the time HbA1c levels rise significantly, individuals likely already have developed significant insulin resistance and pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction. Research suggests that insulin resistance occurs before the development of type 2 diabetes. Various blood tests measure fasting and non-fasting insulin levels; as an FDN-P, I recommend the Salivary Advanced Stress and Hormone Profile by FLUIDS iQ. This test combines two flagship hormone and metabolic tests.

Eustress and Distress

Not all stress is bad. There is a difference between eustress and distress:

Eustress is the positive kind of stress that drives progress, growth, and development. For instance, sunlight acts as eustress on a flower, prompting it to draw nutrients from the ground to grow and bloom. Eustress is the force of nature that enables a butterfly to break out of its chrysalis, expand its new wings, and take flight to find a mate.

Here are examples of good stress/recovery cycles between two fundamentally important states of life—one of stress and one of recovery:

• Awareness/Sleeping

• Learning/Reflecting

• Socializing/Solitude

• Moving/Resting

• Fasting/Eating

These five cycles work together to prevent cortical, hippocampal, and glial atrophy (thinning and wasting away of your brain’s gray and white matter, a common issue in unhealthy aging), and more generally, to keep both your brain and body healthy and vital for a long time.

Stress is beneficial until your resilience is overcome, and your vital reserve is at least meeting the challenge, if not dominating any contributors to Metabolic Chaos. The concept that a little bit of stress is good for you, and a lot is not, is explained using the terms Homeostasis and Hormesis.

Homeostasis refers to the body's ability to maintain internal stability and a constant, steady state, despite external changes. It is the body's natural regulatory process that maintains internal conditions, such as temperature, pH, and nutrient levels, within a narrow range to ensure optimal functioning. For example, when you exercise and your body temperature rises, sweating occurs to cool you down and maintain a constant internal temperature.

Hormesis is a biological phenomenon where exposure to low doses of a stressor or toxin can result in beneficial effects, while higher doses are harmful. In other words, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, within limits. The concept suggests that mild stressors can stimulate the body's adaptive mechanisms, leading to improved health and resilience. For example, exercise is a classic example of hormesis. While moderate physical activity is beneficial for health, excessive exercise without adequate recovery can be harmful.

Distress is the opposite of eustress and can be extremely destructive, whether mental, physical, or chemical. It is characterized by any influence that causes malfunction, leading to a loss of homeostasis, dysfunction, and metabolic chaos. This state of weakened health, if left unchecked and chronic, can result in various downstream symptoms and is implicated in all diseases.

Stress Response in ANS

The stress response typically begins in the Limbic system, which is responsible for emotional life, behavior, motivation, long-term memory, and olfaction. When acute stress occurs, the body sends signals through hormones, neurotransmitters, and the autonomic nervous system (ANS), activating various components of the Limbic system, including the Amygdala, Hippocampus, Thalamus, Hypothalamus, and Pituitary.

The Hypothalamus (a small area in the center of the brain) and Pituitary gland (also known as the hypophysis, a small, pea-sized gland located at the base of your brain below the hypothalamus) communicate with the Adrenal glands (also known as suprarenal glands, are small, triangular-shaped glands located on top of both kidneys) through the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis.

The Hypothalamus releases Corticotropin-releasing Hormone (CRH) to the Pituitary gland, which then releases Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH). This stimulates the Adrenal Medulla to release Epinephrine (Adrenaline) via the sympathetic branch of the ANS.

The Adrenal Cortex, another part of the Adrenal gland, produces Mineralocorticoids such as Aldosterone. Most importantly, it produces Cortisol, widely known as a stress hormone. Cortisol enhances adrenaline, prolonging the fight-flight response. It raises blood sugar, aids in fat, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism, increases glucose utilization by the CNS, suppresses gastric emptying, slows digestion, and suppresses sex drive.

Another part of the Adrenal cortex produces the counter-regulating anabolic hormone DHEA(s), responsible for sex hormones, reproduction, and other functions when the ANS is in the Parasympathetic mode. The Parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) is also affected by stress, as is the Enteric nervous system (ENS).

Ideally, the HPA negative feedback loop should kick in, signaling to the Hypothalamus and Pituitary gland that sufficient adrenaline and cortisol have been produced and it's time to shut down the stress response. The body should recognize that the danger or stress has passed. The balance between Cortisol:DHEA, Catabolic:Anabolic, and Stress hormones:Sex hormones is crucial.

However, if stress continues to influence the body, leading to a chronic stress response, the body enters a chronically adaptive state with reduced sensitivity to cortisol, dysfunction of the negative feedback loop, and suppressed DHEA production. This state is catabolic and can be detrimental to overall health.

Wellness Meter - Why Start Now?

Having no symptoms does not necessarily mean you are healthy. Often, when someone experiences symptoms like fatigue, low energy, insomnia, weight gain, or a decreased sex drive, they merely manage these symptoms until they feel better.

Merely managing symptoms does not contribute to building a healthy foundation, maintaining a strong immune system, or balancing other bodily systems. Over time, symptoms can reappear and even worsen.

Consequently, individuals might feel the need to consume more coffee, take more pills, or seek a diagnosis based on their symptoms and treat them. This approach still does not address the root cause or help improve vital reserves and overall function.

Your health is your responsibility. You have a choice:

• Assess your health using functional labs.

• Set health goals.

• Follow a personalized holistic wellness protocol daily to boost your Vital Reserve and maintain balance.

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Alternatively, you can opt for the disease care model, which merely manages symptoms and does not address the underlying issue. Remember, symptoms are not the problem; they are the result of the problem.

Imagine a wellness meter: on one side are symptoms, in the middle is a state with no symptoms, and on the other side is a high level of vitality, energy, and immunity. While other coaches might focus solely on symptoms and neglect holistic approaches, I aim to understand why symptoms are present to identify healing opportunities.

By applying wellness principles that remove interference, you can boost your Vital Reserve – the body's innate intelligence that knows how to heal itself.

Stress Management workshop at Faena Hotel

💫 If you want to engage in powerful practices tailored to help you manage stress effectively and facilitate a holistic journey of self-care and balance, join us for a transformative one-day workshop "Stress Management".

💃 Escape the hustle and bustle, allowing yourself to unwind, recharge, and rediscover inner harmony amidst the luxurious ambiance of the FAENA Hotel, Miami Beach.

✨ This is a practical workshop where you can explore highly effective strategies for managing stress. Additionally, attendees will have exclusive access to Faena's state-of-the-art wellness facilities, including the sauna, steam room, and hammam.

🌹 We have limited spots available. Our aim is to provide not only quality content but also personal attention to each beautiful soul who joins the group. Hurry up to reserve your spot at the next workshop!

Good Vibes & Kind Words from my Clients

✨ I’m so honored to have the Ultimate Wellness community. Every time I receive a text from a client thanking me and expressing how working with me as a holistic health coach, attending our events at @tierrasantafaena and being part of the community has transformed their life, I’m reminded of my true purpose.

🙌  I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Jemma Junor @jemsyj for your beautiful energy and the positive feedback you’ve shared:

“💃 The Ultimate Wellness Retreat is the perfect reset. It’s not only relaxing but also educational and truly inspiring. I feel more connected to my mind, body, and spirit than ever before, and I now have many tools to improve my health and continue to grow in all aspects.  My mother and I enjoyed our weekend together at the luxurious Faena Hotel in Miami Beach, and I cannot recommend this retreat enough, regardless of your age or prior knowledge of wellness. It will be truly amazing for anyone. Julia Smila @julia.smila and Augustina Caminos @agustina.freespirit are knowledgeable and passionate facilitators who are a pleasure to learn from.

💫 As an important part of the Ultimate Wellness retreat, we had the enriching experience of completing the Basic PranicHealing workshop and becoming certified Pranic Healers. This empowered me with ancient techniques to balance my energy body and promote self-healing.

🌹 I am a personal client of Julia’s, and her Health & Wellness Coaching Program completely transformed my life. Julia guided me through a comprehensive functional assessment using carefully selected labs and skillfully interpreted the results. I now have a deeper understanding of the imbalances within my hormone, digestion, immune, detoxification, and nervous systems. She suggested a tailored holistic health protocol for me, encompassing detoxification, dietary adjustments, supplementation, exercise recommendations, stress management techniques, regenerative peptide therapies, and some innovative biohacking devices. Since implementing this protocol, I’ve felt more balanced, energized, and vibrant.

💫  The Ultimate Wellness approach is genuinely holistic, addressing not only my physical well-being but also nurturing my spiritual, emotional, and mental health.”

Sending Optimal Health & Ultimate Wellness,

Julia Smila, Holistic Health Practitioner & Pranic Healer