Cathy Meehan: Are you doing the wrong number of reps and actually sabotaging your health? Should you go heavy weight and low reps or should you go light weight and high reps? I mean, really, what is the answer? Well, on today’s episode of the Meehan Mission podcast, we’re going to talk with Eric Barber from Barberic Training. He’s going to help break down the strategy behind the reps. So really, how do they impact strength and muscle and endurance? So if you’re ready to find out the right approach for you, let’s welcome Eric to the show and let’s get started. Cathy Meehan: Well, hello everyone. Welcome to another edition of the Meehan Mission podcast. And it is our favorite online trainer, Eric Barber with Barberic Training. Eric, so great to see you today. How you been doing? Eric Barber: Mm-hmm. I’m good, I’m good. How are you, Cathy? Cathy Meehan: I’m doing great. Actually, I do have to admit my hamstrings are a little bit sore, but I wanted to get you on today because there is a lot of confusion and discussion on reps. And I know me personally, I have the question. I mean, am I supposed to do heavy weights and low reps? Am I supposed to do, you know, light weights and high reps? Eric Barber: Yeah. Cathy Meehan: Am I trying to bulk up? Am I trying to lose weight? There are so many questions and I know you are the guy to answer them all. So let’s just start off with that. What does a person need to know about reps? Especially if you know I’m working out and I want to see certain results. Where do I start? What’s the strategy? Eric Barber: Yeah. I love this topic. I know I say that every time, but I do. I geek out on this stuff. What we’re talking about is not just reps. We’re talking about sets and reps, okay? Different training modalities. To break it down, you know, there’s a lot of noise out there now. A lot of know-it-alls, a lot of people saying, you gotta do this, you gotta do that. I’ve been doing this for 30, 40 years now. Cathy Meehan: Okay. Okay. Mm-hmm. Eric Barber: What I like to do is always go back to the basics. There are people that paved the way for us a long, long time ago and did all of this work. And we learned from them and we’ve been adding to it, adding to it, and then we just get more scientific about it. But then sometimes it just gets to a point where it’s just so much. Cathy Meehan: Okay. Eric Barber: data and so much science and everybody’s a know-it-all and it’s getting hard to know the difference between what’s real and what’s not anymore. So I like to take people back to the basics, okay? And so the basics are if you keep your repetitions between one to five reps, you are training for extreme strength or you are training for power. So when you look at people like Cathy Meehan: I agree. Thanks. Eric Barber: Olympic weightlifters, what you see in the Olympics, versus power lifters, right? Huge difference between the actual look of each of those kinds of athletes as well as what they’re trying to do. Okay, but they’re still using the same rep range. So, in that, like just starting there alone, like how in the world do you even break into this? So a power lifter… Cathy Meehan: Thank you. Eric Barber: Is basically, they’re training on three events, right? The deadlift, the back squat and the bench press and those are known as the slow lifts. Okay, so power lifters are going for extreme strength in that one rep range a one rep max, right? That’s what they train for in three events and to me, it’s awesome, but I can’t train like that all the time for year after year after year. That would drive me crazy Cathy Meehan: Okay. Eric Barber: Right? I’m more of a multi athlete adventure style. You know, everything I train for is to be able to do cool things out there. Right? So, the power lifters, they really, they really are trying to prove how strong they are on those three lifts, but they call it the slow lifts because the barbell moves very, very slow. Okay. Now an Olympic weight lifter, what you see in the, in the Olympics way more Cathy Meehan: Yeah. Eric Barber: Complex. It doesn’t mean that it’s harder it’s just more complex of a movement because now you’re adding speed Okay, but their three movements are the snatch and the clean and the jerk the snatch is one movement where you take a barbell from the ground to overhead in one fast explosive movement right, and the clean and jerk is where you break it up into two movements you clean it up to your chest You take a deep breath and then you punch it overhead for a jerk. Okay, so the back squat, deadlift, and the bench press are the three slow lifts of powerlifting and the snatch, the clean, and the jerk are the Olympic lifts, the power of the explosive Olympic weightlifting. So those guys train for one rep as well, but two totally different athletes. When you look at a bodybuilder, I mean, I’m sorry, a powerlifter, They, they’re usually big and husky and they’re going for that maximum weight. When you look at an Olympic weightlifter, they’re all lean and muscular and ripped. And it’s like, what? Well, when you add that speed in there, you have to train a totally different way. So when they train, they usually train in the one to five rep ranges. Okay. So that’s, that’s the first, that’s the, that’s where we start. Right? Those guys are extreme athletes in strength and extreme power. Cathy Meehan:
Macy Hamilton, NTP on Simple Nutrition Habits for Healthier Families
Cathy Meehan: Let’s be honest, many of us know that we need to start eating healthier. But with all the information out there, we just don’t know where to start. On today’s episode of the Meehan Mission podcast, our special guest is Macy Hamilton. She’s a nutritional therapy practitioner, and her job is to help individuals and families and guide them through the world of nutrition. Now there’s a lot of information out there and she’s gonna help us break it down into what’s important, how we can take little steps in transforming the way we prepare meals, and what do we do with those picky eaters? Well, Macy’s got some great ideas and great information. So let’s welcome Macy to the show. Cathy Meehan: Well, hello everyone and welcome to today’s episode of the Meehan Mission podcast. And I have a special guest, Miss Macy Hamilton. Macy, thank you for joining us today. Macy Hamilton: So happy to be here. Cathy Meehan: Well, first of all, we know how important nutrition is for health of ourselves, health of our family. And because you are a nutritional therapy practitioner, I thought who better to come introduce to our community so that you can help give us tips, hints, you know, what do we need to do to help raise healthy families and healthy kids? Macy Hamilton: Yeah, perfect. Well, I’m so happy to be here, first of all. I just want to really simplify it for everyone because I know that parents, I’m a parent myself, I have two little boys, they’re three and four, and I know that it can be just so overwhelming. We don’t know where to start. We’re not trying to feed our kids poorly. We want what’s best for them. Like I said, it’s just so overwhelming. We’re being told from so many sides, something’s bad, good, vice versa. It’s so hard. So I’m here to really just simplify it and give parents the tools that can help them nourish their families, take it into their own hands and create healthier lifestyles for themselves and for their kids. Cathy Meehan: That’s a great place because the other thing I want to bring about is, you know, what got you into wanting to learn about nutrition? And did it have anything to do with how you were raised? Macy Hamilton: That’s a great question. So it did have a lot to do with how I was raised. I grew up with four other siblings. I’m one of five. My dad was a medical doctor and he, you know, we grew up in a very conventional household. It was really the standard American diet. It was, you know, Kraft Mac and Cheese with like cut up very overly processed sausage, stuff like that. Fruity Pebbles were like a staple in our breakfast, hot pockets. Just think standard American diet. That’s how I was raised. My dad was addicted to Mountain Dew for like years of his life until finally he made the change one day that he was an eye surgeon. And then he saw that, okay, instead of treating the latest stages of disease, let’s get to preventative medicine. And so… his journey really took our whole family through this journey of, you know, a more holistic way of living. And if that story sounds familiar to you, I, my dad is Dr. Jim Meehan and this is my mom. So, it was really, you know, just an amazing journey, witnessing it from a child to now where I am today. have that experience, can relate to so many people. It’s like, yeah, I grew up on the standard American diet and I’m fine for the most part. For the most part. You know, it’s kind of like no better, do better. And so I’m just so thankful to be here and the legacy that my dad built and the mission that my mom continues and me as well. And so I’m happy to be here. Cathy Meehan: That is great. Well, you know, that really makes, well, number one, you forgot Toaster Strudels. my, Toaster Strudels. was a staple in. my children’s diet. Sorry about that, everybody. Know better, do better, right? But really, I just want to point out that trickle effect of dad realizing, or Jim, Dr. Meehan, realizing that we need to start focusing on nutrition and getting out the bad and bringing in the good, substituting where we can. And we really just kind of took gradual steps in doing that. But look what that decision carried out into the rest of the family. And now you make a career out of it and you’re making sure that your children are, you know, eating healthier and your husband’s eating healthier. And so what’s so important and again, why I wanted you to bring on to the show is that you can help educate parents on ways to incorporate healthier nutrition. So where do we start? That’s the big question. Macy Hamilton: That’s the thing. And it starts with us as parents realizing that what more is caught than what is taught. And that’s really how I saw my parents transition. And at first I was like, uh, what is this? Like, no, I want to keep buying this stuff. But it’s also like they, they stopped buying these things like the Toaster Strudels, the Fruity Pebbles, the Kraft Mac and Cheese. And so we didn’t have access to that. And so it’s really taking it into your own hands as a parent, starting with yourself. And that, like my mom said, trickles down to your kids. And so it’s really about being intentional with how you are nourishing your family, starting with small steps like that. Cathy Meehan: That’s good. So is there any sort of like a beginning step? What’s the main framework that a mom or dad or somebody wants to start with if they’re going to create
Mary Holland on Informed Consent, Children’s Health, and the Legal Fight Over Vaccine Policy
Cathy Meehan: Empowering people to take ownership of their wellness is our mission. We want to explore the intersection of faith, science, truth, and health right here on the Meehan Mission podcast. My special guest today is Mary Holland. She is the President and General Counsel of Children’s Health Defense. Mary has decades of experience in constitutional and international law. Cathy Meehan: It was her own son’s vaccine injury that gave this brilliant mama bear the attitude needed to legally challenge the medical industry. She has spoken before Congress, state legislators, and audiences all over the world about informed consent and medical policy. She is also the co-author and editor of several phenomenal resource books. Cathy Meehan: The HPV Vaccine on Trial, Vaccine Epidemic, and Turtles All the Way Down. I am honored to welcome Mary to the show. Cathy Meehan: Hello everyone and welcome to the Meehan Mission podcast. And today my special guest is Mary Holland. And Mary, I am so thankful that you took the time to allow me to introduce you to my community if they didn’t already know who you were. And I also just wanted to let you know that you were one of Jim’s heroes. He… Cathy Meehan: constantly talked about you and how brave you were and that how you would stand up for our children and just give everything. And I can’t tell you how many times we were sending people the HPV Vaccine on Trial, and we’ll get into your books in a little bit, but I just appreciate you so much. And so thank you for taking the time. Mary Holland: Well, thank you. you know, we miss Jim very much. Cathy Meehan: Yeah, he’s a hard person to replace. He will never be replaced, that’s for sure. But we are going to make sure that his voice is heard and that we carry on that mission, which is why we created the Meehan Mission podcast so that we can continue to bring on guests like you who are experts in their field. Because really, when it comes to awareness and education, Mary Holland: Not replace. No. Cathy Meehan: The more that we know and the more that we can push out to our community, that’s how we win this battle. And you’ve been in this fight for a really long time. I’m so excited to see all of this, the legal part, which is really kind of, with you and with Aaron Siri, just kind of leading the pack, that that’s really making the difference. That’s making the difference. But so I have a question for you. Mary Holland: Yeah. Mary Holland: Yep. Yep. Yep. Cathy Meehan: So what in your lifetime or was it in your childhood? Was it in middle school, college? What made Mary realize that she was built differently than everybody else and she had this fight in her? Mary Holland: Well, I suppose I’ve always been willing to stand up for things that I believe in. like most people, if I can go along with the crowd, I will, Cathy. If things seem to be OK to me, I’m not going to really step out of line. Cathy Meehan: Mm-hmm. Mary Holland: One of, you know, I’ve always been willing where I really disagreed with people to step out and say, no, I really disagree. you know, on this issue, there’s just, when I do really strongly disagree, I feel it so deeply that even though I have lost people very close to me, I’ve lost jobs, all that kind of stuff, it doesn’t really matter. You know, I just. Mary Holland: If I have a deep conviction that I’m doing what the universe is telling me to do, I just have to accept that there’s things that go along with that. I can be really sad about losing friendships and there are many I’m really sad about, but it doesn’t make me change my mind. Cathy Meehan: That’s good. Well, you know, it’s that determination. Do you like wake up every morning and with a mission and you go out the door and do it? Is that your personality type? I would, you know, you get so much done. What? Mary Holland: Not compared to how much there is to do, You know, I do the little bit I can. It’s like, know, Bobby Kennedy would say, you know, I just can do it with my own little piece, my own, I’m only in charge of my own little piece of real estate. I like getting things done, Cathy. I like getting things done. I am pretty mission driven. So, you know, I am at CHD and Children’s Health Defense and we are Cathy Meehan: I know it’s like a never-ending list. Mary Holland: doing a lot, as you point out. And so I do feel very mission driven to support the team and help get things done and be aware of what’s going on and support what our mission is, which is to end the epidemic of chronic childhood disease in the United States, but globally and to educate people, to put in place, to find sort of… Mary Holland: redress for those who’ve been injured and to put in place safeguards so it doesn’t happen again. you know, I do feel I have been in this for about 25 years, Cathy. And in that time, I do feel like there’s been tremendous progress as much as we’re not there yet. And we’re not. We are now really getting into the courts in a way that was pretty unimaginable 20 years ago. The fight is on. You know, I sometimes quote for people, it’s attributed to Gandhi at Mary Holland: probably wasn’t Gandhi, but they say, first they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win. And so we are very much in the fight stage now. They can’t ignore us anymore. They don’t
Meg Sutton on Building a Robust Immune System + Natural Wellness at Home
Cathy Meehan: Welcome to the Meehan Mission, where we explore the intersection of faith, science, truth, and health, and we empower families to take ownership in their wellness. Today in studio, we are joined by our very own natural health consultant, Meg Sutton. So Meg is going to talk to us about building a resilient immune system because, face it, many of us will encounter an illness. Cathy Meehan: But what do we do to make sure that that duration of illness is short and we bounce back after we’ve been sick? And we’re also so excited because we are introducing the Meehan, MD wellness program. And guess what? The Adult Natural Health Guide is now available. So this is designed to help families decide when do we need to call the doctor, or when can something be taken care of at home? Cathy Meehan: We’re going to give you the tools and the resources to help you make those decisions. So for now, let’s get started and let’s talk to Meg. Cathy Meehan: Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of the Meehan Mission Podcast. Today’s guest, the one and only Meg Sutton, our natural health consultant. And for those of you who have already met with Meg, you know what a brilliant mind she has. Because if you want to talk natural, holistic supplements, she is the go-to, and we are so thankful that she is part of our Meehan MD team. So, Meg. Cathy Meehan: Today I would love to talk to our community about building a robust immune system because everybody’s getting sick all the time, but what do we do to prevent that? And then the other part of this podcast is we are actually introducing the Meehan MD Wellness Program. You guys, it’s the Adult Natural Health Guide that we’ve all been waiting for. And finally, it is ready and available. But let’s start in the beginning, and that’s the immune system and when we get sick. So what do we got? Meg Sutton: So I wanted to back that up a little bit because when people get sick, they automatically think that their bodies are failing us. Cathy Meehan: But it’s the total opposite. Meg Sutton: Our bodies are made beautifully. We were designed beautifully to handle toxins, to detox properly. And I think of it more of a sign as our body working as it’s supposed to be. Cathy Meehan: So when we get sick. Meg Sutton: We want to support our bodies. The problem is, if you’re constantly sick, that can be where there’s a true issue going on, and we need to look at it. As kind of a rule of thumb, once or twice a year sickness, I think of a great detox. And so we want to support our body. If it’s more than that, then we need to look at kind of a deeper thing. But to support our immune system, it’s all about what we eat, reduce toxins. And we know that we live in a toxic world. The products we use on our Cathy Meehan: skin, the foods we eat, the water we Meg Sutton: drink. Let me go down that whole topic. Cathy Meehan: All of those Meg Sutton: things have toxins in it. And it’s our bodies are constantly trying to detox that out. Sometimes we’re unfortunate, and it’s stored for us to be able to detox at a later time. But we’re supposed to support our system, make sure we’re getting the appropriate nutrients, making sure we’re hydrated properly, and we reduce those toxins. So, how do you support your immune system typically? Cathy Meehan: Well, number one, you talked about nutrition. And you would think that somebody’s trying to, like, kill us when you have to talk about all of these environmental things. We’ve got the preservatives in our food, the seed oils, the dyes, even like the BPA on receipts that’s disrupting our endocrine system. And I always like to tell people, you can’t live in a bubble, but if we can reduce toxins, then we can also do things to support our immune system, which I think number one, it’s nutrition. You really got organic, whole foods, read labels. I mean, that is the most basic. Or don’t get anything that has a label. Let’s step it back. Meg Sutton: So I always tell people, if God did not make it like that, then rethink eating it. I know that’s kind of hard in this world, but let’s go back to the beginning. What did God create, and go with those foods. Cathy Meehan: Yeah. But if you Meg Sutton: do need to read labels, look for things like those dyes. And now they’re hiding certain words like monosodium glutamate. They’re changing that to Cathy Meehan: hydrolyzed Meg Sutton: yeast extract and stuff like that. So you kind of have to play this game of what are we really looking at? So if there’s more than five ingredients, you might want to put it away. Or if you don’t know the ingredients or can’t say the ingredients, maybe skip it. Cathy Meehan: Maybe skip over it. Or make it yourself. I definitely start nutrition-wise. And then the other part of that equation is a lot of our foods, even the healthy organic foods, they’re lacking the nutrients and minerals and vitamins and everything. So I know for me, my staple is vitamin D. That’s my staple, is vitamin D, to support my immune system. And I know that you kind of feel that vitamin D is very Meg Sutton: important. Very, very important. It’s important in regulation, but you also need the co-factors with it. For instance, magnesium is fantastic with it. It activates the vitamin D. Then you have vitamin Cathy Meehan: K, which helps Meg Sutton: direct the calcium and the vitamin D of where to go. So you kind of have to, I don’t necessarily
Eric Barber on How to Choose the Right Gym and Stick With It
Cathy Meehan: Welcome to another edition of the Meehan Mission podcast, where we like to talk about faith, truth, health, and science. And most of all, we want to empower you on your wellness journey. Today’s episode, we welcome Eric Barber, the founder of Barberic Training. And we’re going to talk with Eric about the options of where do we want to work out? Because remember, Nowadays, we’ve got options. You’ve got commercial gyms, home gyms, these fitness studios. So what is really going to be the best to help you attain your fitness goals and keep you committed and keep you on track? So let’s get started and let’s welcome Eric. Cathy Meehan: So here’s the big question. We started the workout or we’re going to start the workout, but where do I work out? So let’s talk to Eric Barber, the founder of Barberic Training and my personal trainer. Thank you very much, Eric, for transforming my life. And I would love for you to help educate our audience. You know, maybe they’re thinking about working out, but what are some things I have to consider about? where do they work out? Because there’s a lot of options out there. Eric Barber: Yes, there is. Great question. Loaded question as usual. Most people, whether they need to start working out for medical issues, for health issues, or whether they just want to train for appearance, know, changing their appearance, whatever, right? You got the broad spectrum. But they’ve decided to do something about it. Step one, right? Make that mental shift. I’m going to do this. So at that point, Cathy Meehan: As usual. Cathy Meehan: Thank Eric Barber: You’re looking at pretty much getting a membership at a commercial gym or you can get into something like what I would call a micro gym, which would be like your Orangetheory or your CrossFit or F45 or maybe yoga classes or Pilates classes, like a smaller studio or just a micro gym. And then after that, you’ve got training at home, you know, and that could be a garage gym. That could be an extra room that you’ve built out. I train people, I work out people that train at all three of those. Primarily though commercial gyms and home gyms or garage gyms. The micro gyms usually have coaches there but sometimes people come to me for extra help with changing their actual appearance of their body. Cathy Meehan: Yeah. Cathy Meehan: Yeah, I know that I had that option because I do have like a home gym, but yeah, it’s kind of dirty and run down and not that inviting. And then I had the option of the commercial gym, which is what I ultimately chose, which was best for my fit. But I’d love for you to walk us through like pros and cons of each one of those. Eric Barber: Yep. Yeah, I remember that. Ha Eric Barber: Yeah, so let’s start with the commercial gyms. gosh, man, I’ve trained everywhere. I’ve trained at Gold’s Gym, Powerhouse Gym, Bally’s, Holiday Health and Fitness, Lifetime, VASA, Crunch Fitness, Planet Fitness. I’ve trained everywhere over my past 35, 40 years. And I would say that for the price point, you can’t you kind of can’t go wrong with a commercial gym. They’ve got tons of equipment. Really it comes down to when you’re talking about commercial gyms, like I recently trained at a gym nearby and it was locally owned. It was owner’s gym and it was the size of a community gym, of a commercial gym. It was huge and this one dude owned it. And you know, Cathy Meehan: Okay. Eric Barber: the machines were breaking down all the time and wasn’t that clean, you know, the cleanliness wasn’t up to par. And so it was for his gym, it was too expensive. You know what I mean? He was charging too much. The bathrooms were always nasty, that kind of thing. when I vote now, when I look for a commercial gym, I look for one of the main chain brands, you know, like the or the VASA or the Lifetime something like that. I like how clean they are. I like all the little amenities. So sometimes when I do a brutal leg workout or brutal back workout, I want to lay in one of those hydro massage beds, you know? Or I don’t like tanning. I get a really good tan, but only if I build up to it. If I have a summer of just being pure white, Cathy Meehan: Yeah. Cathy Meehan: Yeah, those are sweet. Those are sweet. Eric Barber: and then I try to get out into the sun, usually burn, but if I maintain a safe tan throughout the winter, just tanning, their little tanning bed once a week, then when I get out in the sun, I don’t burn. So I do look for that in a commercial gym, that kind of thing. look for, I look at the equipment. I look to see if there’s a lot of pieces of equipment that are broken down. They’ve got those out of order signs on them. If I see two or three of those, during my walk around the gym for the first time, know, my introduction, you know, they’ll walk you through, they’ll give you a tour. If I see three or four machines with out of order, you know, that’s a red flag for me. I look for clean bathrooms. I have to have a clean bathroom. Saunas are nice, pools are nice, steam rooms. I don’t think they’re the most sanitary. I don’t see how they can be. You know what I mean? Cathy Meehan: Yeah, that would be. Cathy Meehan: I kind of agree on that one. Eric Barber: Yeah, I’ll go into a dry sauna, but I don’t go into the steam rooms. creep me out. Cathy Meehan: You
Ashley Pena, LPC-C on Helping Kids Navigate Anxiety, Attachment, and Emotional Health
Cathy Meehan: Too often we hear these words: anxiety, depression, trauma, attachment disorder. Okay, people, what is going on in our world? Every day we are hearing more and more people struggling with emotional health. So on today’s episode, we are going to introduce Ashley Pena, LPC-C. She has her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling and works with Ellie Mental Health, which has clinics throughout the United States. Ashley happens to work here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but I wanted to invite her on the podcast so she could share her experience, offer some guidance, and let everyone know that if you, your child, or someone you know is struggling with emotional health, therapy can be the answer. Cathy Meehan: Hey everyone, it’s Cathy with the Meehan Mission podcast, and today I am delighted to share the screen with Ashley Pena, LPC-C. She is a counselor with Ellie Mental Health, and I was just so excited. She came by the office the other day, and there is so much information out there on children nowadays and the anxiety and just all of the problems that, you know, in my generation, I don’t think we had as many mental issues, if you want to call it that, or just anxiety. And our poor children nowadays, they need people like Ashley. So what I wanted to do was introduce Ashley to our listeners so she can help kind of give us the other side of the picture and, you know, give us some insight. If we’re having children that are experiencing some issues, or if we have friends with children, we need to share this podcast. I’m just inviting Ashley to please spill your brain out for us. And I probably want to start with what got you interested in working with children in the first place when it came to the mental health field? Ashley Pena, LPC-C: Yeah, it’s not your typical story, honestly. I happened to be at my husband’s barbecue for his company, and I had the opportunity to notice a particular parent interacting with his child who had a diagnosis, or has a diagnosis, of autism. And just the way that he interacted was so caring and empathetic. And I’ve seen other families not be able to be so caring or empathetic and be more stressed with it. So it really helped me to see that I really would like to support those that maybe need some more help and more resources so that they are able to interact in the same fashion, regardless of their situations. It doesn’t just have to be with autism. And so I ultimately found myself drawn to children specifically to allow them different avenues to communicate what’s going on and describe how they’re feeling. And working with families allows me to support the entire system—the parents, their grandparents, even siblings, anyone that comes in contact with the kids. Because everyone plays a huge role in the environment, emotionally and physically. Over time, I’ve learned that when I get to support the child and the family, the healing becomes more sustainable. That blend allows me to work with prevention, intervention, and connection, which continuously keeps me passionate about the work. Cathy Meehan: That’s so great. Well, when you are dealing with the children and you talk about bringing the families in and everything, I mean, we hear all these things about the breakdown of the nuclear family. And I think that probably adds to miscommunication between parents. And so many of these little things that we don’t think about really affect the children more than we anticipate. And I say that in like, you know, children always want—I always thought they want stability. They want to know what’s happening. So children in their younger years, what do you find as far as age-related anxiety problems? And are they getting younger and younger? And what do you attribute to that? Ashley Pena, LPC-C: You know, it’s an interesting question because if you look at 20 years ago, there’s a lot of technology that we have today that we didn’t have before. Some can argue that that would contribute to that anxiety, but I also think just our environment in general has shifted so much that the generations we have grown up in have changed in the way that they want to approach parenting and involvement with their families as well. And I feel like there’s a lot of connection that has been lost. Cathy Meehan: Yeah, I agree. I mean, I’ve seen it over the years too. The family dynamics have changed, the introduction of social media, which, you know—so is that as big of a problem as I hear? Because my children are now in their twenties and thirties, and I know it kind of had an impact on them younger. But what is the influence of social media on kids nowadays? Ashley Pena, LPC-C: It’s interesting because if we’re looking at currently today, I’ve noticed a lot of the kiddos that I have worked with are saying they don’t even want to connect to social media because it’s just so much doom and gloom and so much negativity that they’re finding that they don’t even want to connect to social media the way kids five or ten years ago did. It really just depends on how much interaction these kids have with social media, access to the news outlets, and what type of information they’re being fed and inundated with, and how their parents approach it as well and communicate it to them. Cathy Meehan: Yeah. Well, I mean, I know now I have grandkids, and they are getting cell phones and all that. And just for my personal information, it’s scary, right? The information that these kids can come across when it comes to social media, and also with the algorithms that are going on—you click on one bad site, and then that’s all you’re going to get are
Erin Paige on Homeopathy, PANS/PANDAS, and Why Parents Are Reconsidering First-Line Care
Cathy Meehan: Many years ago, the practice of homeopathy was popular among practitioners when it came to healing ailments of their patients. But what happened? What gave homeopathy such a bad rap? Where did it go? And is it actually having a comeback? Well, I tend to think that it is having a comeback. So today’s episode of the Meehan Mission podcast, I want to introduce everyone to Erin Paige, who’s a homeopathy practitioner. She’ll help answer your questions, give you some great guidance. So let’s get started and let’s welcome Erin. Cathy Meehan: Hello everyone and welcome to the Meehan Mission podcast. And I am thrilled to introduce our audience to Erin Paige. And Erin, you are with Heartwing Healing. And what I love is to bring movers and shakers and just people that are, I don’t know if you wanna call it disrupting the healthcare system with natural and alternative solutions. But you study homeopathic medicine and I think, you know, there’s a lot of questions behind that. And my idea was let’s bring Erin on, someone who is, you know, deep into homeopathy and just really help share your knowledge with our audience. So first of all, welcome to the show. Erin Paige: Thank you. Cathy Meehan: You bet. And we go back a little bit because we both kind met up in the world of child medical freedom is what it would have been. And so we go back quite a ways and you are someone that I really look up to when it comes to finding answers and educating people. So if you don’t mind, start with a little bit of background on how you chose to go down the route of homeopathy. Erin Paige: Yeah, well, thanks so much for having me, Cathy. So my journey really began maybe about 15 years ago. My son was diagnosed with a very severe autoimmune neuroimmune disorder called PANS or pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that diagnosis, it looks maybe a little bit like autism, with a little bit more emphasis on some of the psychiatric kinds of symptoms. But that occurred. I simultaneously was diagnosed with Lyme disease. So I had always been in the realm of natural medicine. My son’s father is a chiropractor. And I went to actually took my son to a pediatrician. who you’ve had on the show, Dr. Bob Sears, and asked him for some information because I didn’t know what was going on with my son. And at the time, and now we’re talking 15 years ago, he was not as familiar with the diagnosis and recommended that my son’s father and I do some research. Well, I went into mama bear mode and was up at all hours of the night trying to figure out what I could do to help my child. And the one consistent intervention, although we’ve tried many, many, many things over the years, was homeopathy. I always tell the story that at the time my son was living inside a cardboard box in my living room. He had not left the house for well over a year and had not left the cardboard box in about three months. I gave him his first dose of homeopathy and he asked if he could leave the house that day twice. So it really was very eye-opening to me. I was not really that familiar with homeopathy. But I knew that it was going to be something that I would need to pursue for the health of my child. And we’ve been utilizing it ever since. Cathy Meehan: Wow, what a heartbreaking story for a mom. I just, amen, you went into mama bear mode just to find any solution that you could. So will you explain to us what exactly is homeopathy when we hear that term? Erin Paige: Yeah. So homeopathy, in its foundational principle is essentially like cures like, we’re looking for the simillimum. So Samuel Hahnemann, developed homeopathy in the early to mid 1800s. And he was medical doctor and he postured that, he was utilizing, trying to find a cure for malaria actually. And so he was utilizing a, cinchona bark, which is a, you know, from, from the plant, from the tree. And he found something very interesting when he was trying to figure out the curative mechanism of action. He took some of the cinchona bark and it actually mimicked in him as a healthy person, the symptoms of malaria. So he began postulating that if then he could induce symptoms, perhaps he could treat symptoms with the cinchona bark in malaria patients. But he wanted to find out how little of a dose he could give because obviously he didn’t want to have his patients experience more symptoms from taking the cinchona bark. He just kept titrating lower and lower and lower on the dosage until essentially what he came up with was versions of really a more energetic kind of a dose of these kinds of materials that would then still elicit a positive response. So it’s introducing the minimum dose within a patient and then in order to create a positive immune response. And the patients were getting better taking cinchona bark for malaria, for example. But in the 1900s, homeopathy, well, just so you’re aware and your audience is aware, about 10 to 20 % of all doctors within the United States, even in the early 1900s, were homeopaths. And I know you’ve talked about this before, but because of the creation of entities like the AMA and their takeovers of the medical colleges, they essentially pushed out homeopaths by way of introducing various licensure agreements and things like that, which homeopathy just didn’t have the financial backing in order to continue at that. So it essentially wiped out homeopathy within the United States despite the fact that, you know, like I said, 10 to 20 %
Eric Barber on Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Training for Adults and Kids
Cathy Meehan: Maybe you’re just getting started training, or maybe you’ve been training and working out for quite some time. Well, it turns out there’s definitely different levels of training. So today’s episode on the Meehan Mission podcast, we’re going to talk with Eric Barber with Barberic Training, and he’s going to help walk us through the different levels, because we want to make sure that we’re avoiding injuries. Cathy Meehan: We’re staying motivated, and we’re doing what our body’s meant to do. So let’s welcome to the show where he talks about the levels of training for adults, and also his take on levels of training for kids. So sit back, take some notes, share with your friends and let’s get started. Cathy Meehan: Welcome to another episode of the Meehan Mission podcast. And as you see, I have Eric Barber, our favorite online trainer. Hey, Eric. Eric Barber: All right. How are you? Cathy Meehan: Great. So I brought Eric on today because I know a lot of us may be jumping back into training, but there’s also some of you that you might already be advanced or you might be intermediate. And I just wanted Eric to help explain the differences in those levels, because I know some people that are going back to the beginning, maybe they haven’t worked out in a while. Cathy Meehan: Maybe you’re actually going to be a beginner, even though at one point in time, maybe ten years ago, you were advanced. So, Eric, if you can help walk us through those differences and how, you know, we can navigate our workout plans using those levels. Eric Barber: I love it. This is right up my alley. Great question. To me, in my brain, everything breaks down to, beginner, intermediate, advanced, and then elite. Okay. I don’t really pay attention with anything. Elite. I’m not training somebody to be a better swimmer or to be, a better basketball player. You know, that extra 10% that professionals need. Eric Barber: That’s not what 99% of personal trainers and all of us out there doing. We’re more geared towards helping people get fitter, stronger, faster, that kind of thing. So elite training needs to go to the specialists. So that leaves us with beginner, intermediate and advanced. And I think at 56 years old, I think that anybody who has taken a long break from working out should be humble and put themselves right back at a beginner level, even if it’s only for a month. Eric Barber: Because if if a person builds consistency when the workouts are easy, right? And at a beginner level, they’re going to want to keep going to the gym and you want to leave the gym wanting just a little bit more, especially in the beginning. That’s the that’s one of my secrets. Every time I’ll take a break from working out, let’s say it’s, let’s say life happens. Eric Barber: And, you know, it’s been two months since I worked out on a regular basis. And I know that if I try to go in and do what I normally do, I’m going to get busted up right? So I need to be humble. And I don’t necessarily take myself down to a beginner’s level, but I definitely go from advanced down to intermediate. Eric Barber: So the intermediate person who has spent time in the gym years in the gym, but they’ve had months or even years off, they need to go back to a beginner’s level. Just be humble. Even if it’s just for one month. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about on this one. So, if you if you do that and you make consistency, the, the, the main point rather than the intensity or anything like that, you’re going to find yourself getting into the gym on the second month and the third month and the fourth, and then it becomes habit and then you’re back into your, your, your shape again or better. Eric Barber: Yeah, I know, I. Cathy Meehan: Know for me, because I had to go back to beginner because it had been years since I had worked out. And really what you taught me was that consistency. Number one, I needed to kind of like reevaluate my daily lifestyle and how I was going to fit in, you know, going to the gym and doing all those things that it was that consistency and, you know, changing my schedule a little bit. Cathy Meehan: And you’re right, I, I worked out just enough that I wasn’t so sore that I didn’t. Eric Barber: Right. Cathy Meehan: Despise going to the gym. Eric Barber: That’s right. Cathy Meehan: That I actually wanted to go to the gym. It made a huge, huge difference. I see probably a lot of people fail in that area if they, you know, they wake up and they can’t move, then they have no motivation. They don’t want to go to the gym. Eric Barber: I see that more often than not, I see people go in there, hit it hard for a week or 2 or 3, and then they’re just like, holy moly, you know? And I just can’t. You know what I mean? That’s that’s not the right way to go about it. As we get into our 40s, 50s, 60s, when you’re young, who cares? Eric Barber: You’re bulletproof. You can, you know. Cathy Meehan: Bounce right. Eric Barber: Back. Yeah. You can beat yourself up and bounce right back. But yeah, as we get older, we get more responsibilities. We’ve got, you know, previous injuries that. You know what I mean? Whatever medical conditions, it’s you have to be smarter now as you have to train smarter than, than ever before as you get older. So yeah. Cathy Meehan: And I would think in addition to a workout plan, you know, you also have
Meg Sutton: How to Choose High-Quality Supplements + Top Natural Health Picks for Whole-Body Health
Cathy Meehan: How many times do we go to the store to buy a supplement and we have no idea what we’re looking for or what is the best quality? Where is it resourced? The industry for supplements is massive. And on today’s episode of the Meehan Mission podcast, I’m going to introduce everyone to Meg Sutton. Now, many of you know Meg because she is our natural health consultant here at MeehanMD. And I just have to tell you, her brain is so full of knowledge and her ability to educate patients is just phenomenal. I love having Meg here as our special resource. So many of the things that Meg does is she does curate and go through all of the products that are on the Mindset Wellness Shop. She also leads the team when it comes to alternative therapies. She is also very involved, like I said, with the education of patients and writing our health guides. But most importantly, she is the go-to for patient education. So please like the video, subscribe to our channel, share with people so that we can continue the mission of education. And most of all, let’s meet Meg. Cathy Meehan: Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Meehan Mission podcast where we explore faith, science, health and truth. And we like to empower families with knowledge. So today I’m joined by someone who many of you already know, Meg Sutton. And Meg is our natural health consultant. She is a key member of our team at MeehanMD. She oversees the Mindset Wellness Shop. She guides patients through supplement questions and natural remedies. She helps lead our alternative therapy support for cancer patients. She’s also the author of the Mindset Kids Natural Health Guide. And I think you’re also working on an adult one, the MeehanMD Natural Health Guide for Adults. So we’ve got a lot to go through. Meg spends so much time educating patients and working with them. just to help kind of cut through the confusion. So Meg, welcome to the show today. Meg Sutton: Thank you, it’s great to be here. Cathy Meehan: You bet. Well, let’s get started kind of from the beginning. What really spawned this like passion that you have for natural health? Because you are the go-to for natural health. Meg Sutton: So it’s, I’ve been very lucky. I grew up in kind of the natural health realm, thanks to my mother. It wasn’t until a family member got sick that I decided to cut through all the noise and get certified in naturopathy. So I went, I think it was in 2016, I think it was, and learned about how our bodies are designed, how God made us, how to support them naturally and help those around me. So yeah, a little bit about that. Cathy Meehan: Well, that’s great because we love the wealth of knowledge that you have. So my question is, how did you end up at MeehanMD? Meg Sutton: Hahaha! actually used to work in the corporate world. It wasn’t until I wanted to join a political action group here in Oklahoma, Oklahomans for Parental Rights and Vaccine group. What’s the… Okay, HPR, and I probably got that wrong. So sorry. It’s changed a couple times. That’s why. Cathy Meehan: We’ll flash it up on the screen. Meg Sutton: Yeah. disclosure, I am not… I’ve never been vaccinated and so I’ve always had a passion to educate people on vaccines. And so I joined the group and I met your lovely husband at a legislator’s lunch. Didn’t know who he was. I went there to educate the legislator on vaccines and parental health. And when I was about to ask a question at this luncheon, he pops his hand up and asks pretty much the exact same question that I was gonna ask. And I turned to my friend who was with me at that time and I’m like, who is this? I need to know who this guy is. So that’s when we started our friendship and I met you, your lovely wife, Ms. Kathy. And we had a blast going to the Capitol and educating legislators and anyone else that would listen. We might’ve ruffled a few feathers. But that is fine. And it wasn’t until fast forward, we’d been working together that you and him found out that I had a background in natural health. You really wanted to get that off the ground. And I was looking to get out of the corporate world. I did marketing, I did revenue services, dispute resolution, all of that stuff. And that’s when you guys offered me this job and it has been an absolute dream. And I feel like I’m with family and I absolutely love it. I love taking care of people. Cathy Meehan: yeah. Well, and also I do have to add that you have that mission, attitude and just belief in your body, which, know, I do, I pride MeehanMD and all of the team members that are here because our goal is to be that resource and that help and that education. And so that is really what I think it makes us so much different than a lot of the other clinics that are out there is that we really want to empower the patient with education. And I know you do so much of that. But let’s talk about one of the main things that we use your brain for. And that is when a lot of people don’t want to have prescriptions or they just want to like supplement their body. And your knowledge is so deep when it comes to different types of supplementation. And if we can just kind of start because the industry is massive. Meg Sutton: It is massive. And the marketing behind it is even bigger. Cathy Meehan: Right, right. So how do patients actually know, where do we start? Quality? Do we
Reflexes Part 3: The Hidden Blueprint of Brain Development | Dr. Laura Hanson + Cathy Meehan
Cathy Meehan: Hello and welcome back to the Meehan Mission podcast. We are in a special three part series on reflexes with Dr. Laura Hanson. So if you go back to part one, we discussed withdrawal reflexes. Part two was primitive reflexes. And on today’s part three episode, we’re going to discuss postural reflexes. Which you might consider this part of our anti-gravity system because that’s what keeps us upright and balanced and coordinated. We are going to talk about how posture actually connects to our neurological health. We have to remember movement isn’t just physical, it’s part of brain development. So sit back, take some notes, share the podcast and let’s learn more. with Dr. Laura Hanson. Cathy Meehan: Hey everyone, and guess what? It is our final part three of our three-part series, talking about reflexes with Dr. Laura Hanson. And today we’re gonna talk about postural reflexes. And I am so glad you are back again today. So Dr. Laura Hanson, please take over. Dr. Laura Hanson: Okay, here we go. We’re gonna now tie our bow around our reflexes. We started off with withdrawal reflexes. This is our earliest defense system. We have to know how to protect ourselves, how to get away from something. This actually builds that same kind of pattern up in the brain that says, I need to put the brakes on connections and things that are not really necessary for me to focus on right now. How do I get that runaway brain to stop? You have to know how to put the brakes on. Then we made a beautiful transition into the world of primitive reflexes. You have transitions throughout your entire life going from being a newborn to a toddler, to riding a bike, to going to college, to getting married, there’s just transitions all through our life. The reflexes, the primitive reflexes are part of that transitional process. But the day that you are born, that is when postural reflexes begin. Cathy Meehan: Okay. Dr. Laura Hanson: So think of that little baby coming out of the birth canal. I love the story of birth and how that baby travels like a Tootsie Roll through the birth canal. And it literally gets all balled up. And then it’s going to open up and be birthed by extension. That is what happened to every one of us if we got to go through the birth canal. Cathy Meehan: Mmm. Cathy Meehan: Okay. Dr. Laura Hanson: So the first thing you do is you begin interacting with gravity. And what is that thing that everybody notices about the newborn? Look, they’re picking up their head. I love that part because we’re already doing it, but we have to bring the rest of the body with us. So at the end of our second episode, Dr. Laura Hanson: We finished with the little baby holding them up and that the stepping reflex is automatically there. But you pull your hands away and the baby would come down because we are not wired in gravity yet. And it takes us a year to get there. And we practice, everything we do, we practice. Dr. Laura Hanson: So we move along, we get into locomotion, we crawl along, then around 10 months you get into cruising. And that’s when you pull yourself up on something and you walk along the furniture, but then you bounce. You’re practicing those joints in gravity. And so there’s a little motion pattern in every single joint as you’re getting ready to start walking. You can compress, you can pull apart, you can rotate, and you can translate. And so when those babies are just sitting there bouncing, that’s exactly what they’re doing. They’re saying, I’m getting ready, because I’m going to take a step, and I’m going to be ready to do that. Now, what does the baby look like? When the baby stands up, because their head is so big, Cathy Meehan: Okay. Cathy Meehan: Yeah. Dr. Laura Hanson: In comparison to their bodies, their legs are bowed out initially, and that’s okay. And the arms go up, this is called high guard. And they’re literally like little teeter totters out there, practicing their balance in order to know that they will be able to walk one day. And they’ll start to practice that pattern. And then down the road, the hands will come down. we’ll start to have reciprocal arm swing around four years old, and our legs will actually turn in a little bit. And this is for the Q angle of the hip because the bones cannot or the muscles cannot keep up with the growth of the bone. So your hip joints literally accommodate this growth in gravity. Okay? Now, by around Cathy Meehan: Mm-hmm. Cathy Meehan: Okay. Cathy Meehan: Mm-hmm. Dr. Laura Hanson: seven and a half, eight and a half, legs should be straight. We do not want excessive bowing and we do not want excessive turning in. It’s not just about the legs. So all of your body is responding to this process. So there are eight anti-gravity muscles. Two of them, if they are weak, they will literally drive the other six to shorten up. And I don’t want you to think shortened is contracted. It’s not that. A contracted muscle is like me flexing my bicep, okay? A shortened muscle, you actually lose sarcomeres. And sarcomeres are that individual muscle motor unit. Cathy Meehan: Okay. Dr. Laura Hanson: Just like when a woman is pregnant, she gets more sarcomeres so that her belly can grow, okay? And all of these have neurological feedback that is going on in that body. But if I lose sarcomeres, then the back of my legs for the hamstring, they’re too short. And literally, I can’t straighten my leg. I have seen kids… Cathy Meehan: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Dr. Laura Hanson: five, six, seven, eight, could not straighten their legs to save