Even though we offer our members a lot of support already we’re always on the look out for new benefits.

So these days apart from yoga, meditation, coaching, hypnotherapy, art therapy and accountability groups we can offer our members a functional medicine coach.

A Functional Medicine Coach can help us with the transition between drinking a building a healthy lifestyle. We all know vaguely what we need to do to be healthy but a Health Coach will personalise that plan for you and then ensure that you put it into action!

So Tribe Sober’s new Functional Health Coach is called Laura Gujadhur

We began by clarifying the difference between functional medicine and conventional medicine.
Laura explained that conventional medicine is disease management and treatment of symptoms whereas Functional medicine looks at the root cause of disease
An example would be going to a conventional doctor with a rash – that doctor would be unlikely to ask you about your diet, your stress levels and whether you’ve had allergy tests -he would probably give you a cream to calm down the rash but he wouldn’t have got to the root cause of whats going on
So functional medicine looks at the root cause of disease and illness and starts from there
Conventional medicine is something we resort to when we are already sick
Whereas functional medicine encourages you to work on your health so that you don’t develop chronic diseases…
You become the architect of your own health
Laura’s interest in health and wellness began about 5 years ago when she quit drinking
A member of her family was diagnosed with depression and immediately put on anti-depressants which didn’t sit well with Laura
About that time she had stumbled across a book called The Ultra Mind Solution by Dr Mark Hyman
In this book he explains that when he heals someone’s gut and sorts out the imflammation the cognitive function improves and depression and anxiety go away
As an ex nurse married to a doctor this came as a revelation to Laura – they never learned anything like this in medical school
Laura decided to approach functional medicine in the same way that she had approached sobriety – she would read everything she could get her hands on
After all Annie Grace’s book “The Naked Mind” had been such an eye opener for her and made her realise that Big Alcohol are inundating us with false messaging
Her research into Functional Medicine made her realise that conventional medicine was simply driven by Big Pharma and that she had been naïve not to question it during her medical training and career.
Laura’s decision to quit drinking for a month came after a party when she woke up with a hangover and thought…enough
She white knuckled her way through the month and used the time that she saved (by not drinking) to read everything she could.
Her belief systems around drinking had already been overturned by The Naked Mind and she realized that she couldn’t go back to drinking
Laura threw the book at her sobriety and like so many others who have succeeded she treated it like a job.
She told her husband she wouldn't be entertaining or going anywhere for three months as she wanted to concentrate on her reading.
We all learn differently so it can be helpful to reflect on our personal learning style as we approach the difficult task of giving up alcohol and learning to navigate society without it.
There are 4 distinct learning styles identified by Honey & Mumford in 1986.

Activist
Theorist
Pragmatist
Reflector

So we all learn how to navigate our alcohol free journey in our own way and shouldn’t be comparing our progress with others… just keep trying and it will come together.

Back to Laura. What I found interesting was the fact that once she’d done all her research and reading she was absolutely ready to make a firm decision and her mantra was:-

"Never Question the Decision"

I think that’s such a helpful strategy which will stand her in good stead if she has a craving or is under pressure from others to drinking…

She approached her sobriety with the same gusto and enthusiasm that she used to approach her drinking- focusing on what she was gaining rather than losing by leading an alcohol free lifestyle.

However Laura did go into full blown sugar addiction when she quit drinking and wishes that she’d had a functional health coach teach her how to transition which would have resulted in her feeling a lot better sooner.

These days Laura is qualified as Functional Health Coach.

She talked about the 4 pillars of health

Diet/Exercise/Stress Reduction and Sleep and emphasized that a Health Coach could ease the transition into the alcohol free lifestyle and help to avoid a cross addiction.

As she said we all know broadly what we should be doing to stay healthy but the value of a health coach is that she will ensure that you implement and stick to the right eating plan and exercise regime.

We agreed that coaching is super valuable to keep people on track - especially for women. Laura feels that many women tend to focus on what they haven’t done rather than focusing on their achievements

She said that anyone who has joined Tribe Sober should be proud of themselves, just admitting that they may be a problem is a huge first step.

Laura offers a free 20 minute call to Tribe Sober members as well as discounted sessions.

You can reach out to her on what’s app +230 58675482 or via email on lauragujadhur@hotmail.co.uk

More Info

Subscription membership – you can join up HERE.

To access our website, click HERE.
If you would like a free copy of our “Annual Tracker” or our e-book 66 Days to Sobriety, please email janet@tribesober.com.
If you would like to come to our Saturday afternoon Zoom Cafe as a guest and meet our community, just email janet@tribesober.com.

Episode Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program. If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then sign up today
Read more about our program and subscribe HERE

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