What "Immune Support" Actually Means (It's Not What You Think)

What if everything you thought you knew about "boosting" your immune system was only part of the story?

In this episode of Rooted & Rising Wellness, Kaitlyn and Jenny sit down with Rachel Greene-Koelbl, RN, to explore what it actually means to support your immune system from a root cause perspective. 

Rachel shares the surprising connection between gut health and immunity, why we really get sick more often in winter, why SLEEP is such an essential starting point for supporting your immune system, and what's actually happening when chronic stress and blood sugar imbalances quietly wear down your defenses.

Whether you're wondering what to do in the first 24 hours of feeling "off," or curious about how services like IV therapy and infrared sauna can support your body's natural resilience—this conversation offers practical wisdom without the overwhelm .

Because true immune health isn't solely seasonal or about dramatic interventions. It's about showing up for yourself, one small choice at a time year round.

We also cover:

• Meet Rachel Greene-Koelbl, RN – Her background and her heart-warming story around her journey to Into the Woods Wellness
• Myth-busting – "I never get sick, so my immune system must be great" and a look at vitamin C megadoses
• Holistic services that support immunity – IV nutrient therapy, salt booth, infrared sauna, and personalized wellness programs/nutrition.

For more wellness pathway support:

🌲 Visit www.intothewoodsjourney.com
📞 Call 920-904-8128
📍 1424 Lynn Ave, Fond du Lac, WI
✉️ info@intothewoodsjourney.com

Follow us on social media @intothewoodswellnessfdl for daily inspiration, wellness tips, and community stories.

Transcript

Kaitlyn (KK) 0:00

In this episode, we're talking all things immunity with Rachel Green Cable, our RN on staff. Spoiler alert, it's not just about boosting anything. We explore what it actually means to support your immune system from a root-cause perspective, including the gut connection, why we get sick more in winter, and what to do when you feel something coming on. Welcome to Rooted in Rising, a podcast by Into the Woods Wellness. I'm Kaitlin Kenealy, coming to you from our nature-inspired sanctuary in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Grab your tea, get comfortable, and let's dive into real talk that empowers your healing journey.

Kaitlyn (KK) 0:45

We're back. Hi, Jenny.

Jenny 0:49

Hello, ladies.

Kaitlyn (KK) 0:51

We have another newbie today.

Rachel 0:53

Yes. It's exciting to sit here with two ladies. My turn to be in the hot seat. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Jenny 1:01

Love it. Well, Rachel, it is wonderful to have you on. I'm excited to hear what you have to share with us. This episode, we're talking about immune health and your role here is in our nursing department, which is is fundamental to what we do. We haven't had any of our RNs, so you're the first. I'm the first.

Rachel 1:22

I'm the first to introduce what we have to offer from the nursing standpoint here. And there's some good stuff going on. So I love it.

Kaitlyn (KK) 1:30

She'll be back. She'll be back.

Jenny 1:32

Well then we have to get the new, you know, first time on the podcast out of the way, right? Work through the kinks of just getting comfortable, like hearing your own voice. And yeah, we'll bring you back. You guys are all just a wealth of knowledge. How could we not? Exactly.

Kaitlyn (KK) 1:49

I'm excited just because I, from my perspective, I didn't realize how much our nursing department does, right? And it is super cool to see. But I would also say I've never seen so much blood on IVs. Like that was not in the job description. You know, there's some things as I'm coming up on my year mark here that I will say from the clinical perspective, like, I didn't expect that. So every time I see it, I'm like,

Jenny 2:21

I mean, the blood is where it's supposed to be, right?

Kaitlyn (KK) 2:24

Oh, yeah, not like squirting all over the colour. No, no, but I mean, like, just yeah. I was just like every time because I can't even watch blood on TV and close my eyes.

Rachel 2:35

I have to say, you're one of the more sensitive individuals I've ever met. There's just very simple things I'm doing, and you're in another room and you're like, oh my gosh.

Jenny 2:45

Everybody's on a different level, right? Like there's some people that can't even watch. I've done IVs here before. I've mentioned that. I'll watch the needle go in, and I know some people are just, you know, freak out. And again, nothing wrong with that, right? I've completely gone from not looking to like watching it go. And everybody, sorry if you're on the other side listening to this and you're I'm on the way other side.

Rachel 3:11

You'd like to offer someone else's arm to get your ideas for sure.

Kaitlyn (KK) 3:16

And I have one vein that works. So out of all my years of life, they've tried everything else everywhere, but that's the one. Um and like, yeah, look away. So, anyway, not to scare anybody, but from my role, I didn't realize it, but I know how important it is, and it's so cool to see the outcomes. And we are just really excited to have you here as I close my eyes every day.

Rachel 3:43

Well, I do think that's one of the really great things here. We know we talk about this whole person approach. And so as we bring people in and we're doing the lifestyle changes, but we come alongside and we're a resource as you're doing all those things that they tap into us with lots of questions about places that people might be struggling, or things that are working well, or hey, how can we support them in this area or that area? So we get we get pulled in. So yeah, there is a lot that we do here outside of just poking people and giving IDs or giving an ejection and scaring their feel every day.

Jenny 4:17

That we'll get into, but yeah, there's there's a lot of good stuff that we get pulled into and get to do here. So yeah, we'll definitely dive in. Before we go too much further into your role here and a little bit about your story, Rachel. I do have a this or that winter edition just to help us warm up and have a little fun. Ready for it? Ready. All right. Okay, so obviously we've just had a stretch of cold in Wisconsin, but there's been snow and cold pretty much everywhere throughout the U.S., still maybe not everywhere. If you're listening from outside of the region here, which we encourage, of course. So cozy night in, or do you brave the cold for a walk?

Kaitlyn (KK) 5:01

Cozy night in. I'm already cannot wait to put my pajamas on. Yeah, cozy night in for sure.

Rachel 5:08

Yep. We're on the same page. I highly encourage the walk. Yeah, when it's warm, I am I'm a cozy nighter in.

Jenny 5:16

What are you talking about? You know, I would say typically cozy night in, but I have dogs. So sometimes, you know, multiple times a night, I've had to suit up and brave the elements.

Rachel 5:30

Brave the negative 40. Yeah.

Kaitlyn (KK) 5:32

Hard past. Yeah. Black cat named Loki, you know, he he stays inside. Right. Yeah.

Jenny 5:38

But there's nights when it's when there isn't wind and it's just a nice, peaceful, quiet evening. It's gorgeous out. So braving the cold does have its worthy moments. Sure. As long as you're dressed appropriately.

Kaitlyn (KK) 5:55

And I'll be on my couch.

Jenny 5:58

All right, hot cocoa or herbal tea?

Kaitlyn (KK) 6:00

Oh, tea for sure.

Rachel 6:02

Tea with some honey.

Jenny 6:04

Yes. I'll do a mix of both, but usually tea is my first one. The hot cocoa is kind of a treat. Extra blankets, or do you crank up the heat?

Kaitlyn (KK) 6:12

I do both. I prefer to be into like seven blankets and the heat just blaring on me.

Rachel 6:18

I'm both as well. A nice thick blanket and then a minimum of 70. It's gotta be a minimum of 70. Yeah. And I live with a man who would appreciate it being 62. I know that's the challenge, right?

Jenny 6:31

Exactly. Yeah. My husband will go to bed and his boxers, no socks and a t-shirt, and I'm in like sweatpants and a sweatshirt, hood up with like three blankets on top of me, right?

Speaker 6:43

He has a fan that's blowing up.

Jenny 6:45

Right. Completely different planets for sure. All right. Morning sunlight, or do you sleep in when it's dark?

Speaker 6:53

Morning sunlight.

Jenny 6:55

Yeah, take the morning sunlight. Yeah. Yeah. I really struggle. I feel like if it's dark out, I want to be in bed, especially when it's cold. I'm like totally hibernate mode, which is.

Kaitlyn (KK) 7:05

What is it like? Is it 40 or 50 more days until spring? And then or it starts when the 7 p.m. thing. Doesn't that start pretty soon?

Jenny 7:14

Exactly when, yeah.

Kaitlyn (KK) 7:14

All right, listeners, you let us know. I'm I would like to start a countdown.

Jenny 7:19

Yeah, we're there. I mean, I think I saw like eight, eight more weekends before, is it before spring or before something? I guess I should pay attention to that. Yeah, it is coming. It is coming. Yes. All right. So building off of that last one, hibernate mode, or do you stay social through the winter?

Kaitlyn (KK) 7:34

Hibernate for sure. I think I isolate.

Speaker 7:37

I wish I could hibernate, but when you have kids and activities, you're on the go. It's hard. It's just yeah.

Jenny 7:44

Yeah.

Speaker 7:44

Not too much hibernating going on here.

Jenny 7:46

Yeah. I'm definitely a hibernator. I feel like I isolate too, just you know, embrace the time to be cozy. So speaking of that, do you embrace winter for cozy time and inner reflection, or are you doing the countdown to spring?

Kaitlyn (KK) 8:03

Oh, I'm kind of doing both because I'm like over this. But like spring is my favorite. Sure. So I do look forward to spring.

Speaker 8:12

Yeah, I feel like if for a Wisconsinite, I just I'm I always am a little grumpy about winter, and I'm always looking for when the warmer weather is gonna be there. And I just feel like the cold and the lack of sun and all those things, it's like just can we be done? Can we be moving on? Right.

Kaitlyn (KK) 8:32

Yeah, and this is the seasonal clinical depression time too. So people are feeling it in that way. Quite a bit.

Jenny 8:39

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like I go back and forth. This is probably the first winter when I've been able to slow down and be more like, okay, it's cold as hell outside. Yeah. But it's really beautiful out there too, right? So I've been trying to be more present and finding those little moments of joy and embracing the winter as a time for a bit more of that hibernation and looking inward. But I can't lie either. I definitely have my moments of oh, when is it gonna be spring? Because I love all of the seasons, but I would say there's something special about spring when everything's coming back to life. Yeah. So I would agree with you. Alrighty. Well, it is time for us to jump into a little bit of Rachel's wellness story. Okay. All right. So you joined Into the Woods last year in 2025. Tell us a little bit about your background in the nursing realm and then what brought you to Into the Woods.

Speaker 9:43

Yeah, so I graduated nursing school, became a registered nurse with a bachelor's degree in 2007, and promptly went off as a new grad and started working as a cardiac ICU nurse, which in nursing school there was something about cardiology that I just was really drawn to. And I really liked ICU. I liked sort of the intensity, uh the one-on-one that you have a lot with patients. And I used to say the more drips and the more machines, I just really liked that element of nursing. So I did that for 10 years and three children later decided that I needed to step back from something so intense, and I was doing nights as well. Oh, yeah. Which was just rough. And so transitioned into three years of just med surge nursing, primarily orthopedics. I was in the Madison area at a brand new hospital that they had built with that was kind of their main focus was orthopaedic and bariatric surgery center. And then we had our our youngest son had some medical issues and just commuting was rough. Yeah. So made the switch to actually stay at home for a year, just as a stay-at-home mom for a year. And then when it was time to enter back into the working world, decided to just stay local and actually started uh doing some medical imaging nursing. Okay. So working in that department and have been there doing that for about six years, which has been really wonderful. And then during all of this, I would say that I grew up, I didn't grow up in a super crunchy home, but I feel like my parents, I mean, we didn't do doctors much. Sure. I can remember like a handful of times I maybe took Tylenol or antibiotic. My parents were very much like, we drink water, we eat healthy. I grew up we didn't really have TV. We were just outside. And so I feel fundamentally there's some of the elements of a more functional, healthy way of living that I grew up with. But as I got older, I really became interested in it and I really started to see the benefit. And so just kind of through my own research and living, and as things were happening in our own lives, found myself gravitating more to like, okay, this is going on. How can I treat this? How would I be doing this in this realm as opposed to this conventional? And then at the end of 2022, my dad was diagnosed with stage four cancer, which I think took me from I was doing a lot of healthy alternative type of things. And that was a deep dive into all the things. Yeah. As my dad kind of said, I don't really want to do conventional. And I was like, oh, okay. And my dad is just, he's just such a good man. We all kind of thought just who based on who he was that he probably wouldn't do anything, but he'd just be like, okay, this is what it is. So we found physicians in the area, and really when you enter into that kind of diagnosis and you're treating it from a functional standpoint, you are learning about every system in the body, yeah, and how it can be broken, how it was broken that led to it allowing cancer to thrive in your body.

Speaker 3 13:10

Yeah.

Speaker 13:11

And then what can we do to start to make your body inhospitable to that cancer? And so that was a deep dive. And I loved it. And it was an up and down journey. I bet. And at each turn, you're learning something new and grappling with, you know, the human body and you know, the struggle it it, you know, being healthy and living a this a functional medicine way of life, living this healthy way of life, it's a choice. Yeah. And it's not an easy one because in this world, right? No. And as a human being too, there's just so much that we find comfort in that we do that's not so healthy. There's a lot of chemical reactions that take place by design, some of the foods that we're eating, some of the things we're being exposed to, you know. So it's almost like you've got major addiction to overcome.

Jenny 13:59

Absolutely.

Speaker 13:59

As you're struggling through a stressful diagnosis, and your world is kind of turned upside down. So it made me really appreciate all that functional medicine brings and just choosing this healthier path and this actually healing yourself as wonderful as it is. There's a lot of support you need because there's a lot of mental and emotional that go along with making these changes and then living this lifestyle. Right. Absolutely. So that's what led me to really start to make these changes and helping my dad in this journey. And then ultimately for my dad, he it was a stage four, it was pretty aggressive. We did really solid functional medicine for two years, and he for him, it was just that quality of life, right? Yep. Like I don't want to be sick, I don't want to be laying around a depleted man. So he was a pickleball fanatic, pickleball four or five times a week, golfing, living a great life. But ultimately, I just think all the things he had to give up, he eventually just made the decision like I'm gonna, I'm gonna stop. Sure. And he did, we just went conventional, and there are some really great things about that as well. But six months after making that decision to stop and just do that, he passed away, which was really tough. But at the same time, definitely his choice. Yeah, not like, oh, this is an accident or it failed. He was just, he was just kind of ready. Yeah. And so journeying all of that was what led me here, I would say. Yeah. Roundabout story is kind of how it led me here because my dad came here for quite a while and he did infusions. Okay. And they bent over backwards to accommodate him and to bring new things here that they had never done before and educate their staff. And he loved it here. I would say all the things that he had to do, a lot of it was like, Come on, dad, you can do it. But this is the thing that he looked forward to. Yeah. And he really loved the staff and what they were doing here and just the environment. Yeah. And so when I found out that they were looking for a nurse, it was like, oh gosh. Do I take the leap? Do I should I? And I sat down with Katie and interviewed, and it was like, yeah, it's kind of a part-time thing, but absolutely where I was meant to be. And I actually truly feel that my dad was behind it saying, Okay, Rachel, you worked so hard for me. Yeah. I want you to come into this realm and I want you to give that gift of everything you've learned and what you how you fought for me. I'll get emotional. I'm getting emotional. It's like I got goosebumps and tears in my eyes. You know, little fond de lac, Wisconsin. Yeah. Do what you can do. Yeah. People be an advocate like you were for me because you've got a passion for it. So it's a lot. I'm juggling a lot in life with kids and two jobs and things, but this is definitely the gift of my dad's disease. Yeah. Has led to me being able to extend that gift here. So I think it's a privilege to be here.

Jenny 17:00

Well, what a beautiful story. Thank you so much for sharing. It it is clear that your heart is in this. And it's isn't it fascinating just how our worlds unfold and our pathways just it is.

Speaker 17:15

I would say, yeah, there's a hand that guides us through it. And if we're we're listening and paying attention, absolutely. He'll take us where he needs us to be.

Jenny 17:25

Absolutely. Yeah. Well, and I love your vulnerable sharing and your passion and having to help other people. So we're gonna dive more into that. But I think there's also a really interesting balance in the mix of conventional with more of this functional. And we've said from day one, there isn't one right path. But I think there's some people that are maybe a bit skeptical, and then there's some that are completely against conventional. And it's up to each person to say, this is what works for me, this is what feels aligned. And so, given your background, you're just a really great bridge for helping people understand this is a lifestyle choice and you do have options.

Speaker 18:06

Yeah, absolutely. We talk about that holistic approach. So to say one way is right and one way is wrong is ludicrous. Yeah. Because they really can coincide with each other very beautifully. And I think actually when you're walking the path of both of them to some extent, that's where you find a really great balance and the things that you need.

Jenny 18:27

So yeah, and I think some people hear holistic and they think crunchy, right? To your comments earlier. But really, holistic is looking at the whole body, looking at all of the systems, which ones are in flow and and properly doing what they're naturally meant to do, and which ones might be blocked. And to your point about what was happening with your father's diagnosis, there's just certain things that we eat and certain environmental things that interrupt or impact those systems in different ways. Absolutely.

Speaker 19:05

We're all broken in kind of a unique way. And so from both sides, conventional and functional, you can kind of come and as you really start to do a deep dive, and okay, how am I uniquely kind of broken? Then you can really hone in on the tools and the things you need to start to rebuild that foundation that's broken and actually be healthy, yeah, whole, well, not just symptom, but really from foundation up.

Jenny 19:33

Yeah, that's a really interesting perspective. So because we're going to be talking about our immune system, which fits in really well with what we've been discussing already, we want to come at it at this root cause level, which is everything that Into the Woods is about, even though they're, you know, you can come in at any point and we'll help weave that in along the way. I know there's a lot of people out there, especially this winter season, where it's like, okay, it's time to boost our immune systems, right? Is that the right language? Is that the right mentality to have boosting our immune system?

Speaker 20:14

So I like the word supporting. Okay, I just mentioned the fact that we're kind of each uniquely broken now. So coming in and understanding, instead of like, I'm gonna hit it hard and I'm gonna just make my immune system better, it's taking a look at all the systems in the body because all of them interact with each other and all of them play a certain role in triggering the immune system and then helping the immune system to actually function well throughout the body. So I say supporting your immune system, which ultimately comes down to supporting very different systems in the body in specific ways, sure. So that your immune system is functioning properly, highly, yeah, that it's effective. So boosting that could be a good word sometimes. Sure. Sometimes we need to give it a little boost. Sure. Something's coming coming at us hard and heavy, and so we're gonna boost a little bit, but ultimately to be continuously living a lifestyle that is supporting our immune system so that it functions the way it's supposed to, is I think a good approach.

Jenny 21:17

Yeah. So it's nuanced. I can appreciate that. Absolutely.

Kaitlyn (KK) 21:21

Yeah, well, and I just wonder if this season, right? People think about it more because they're again sicker, right?

Speaker 21:28

With yes. So typically we all enter into the the cold and flu season, it kind of kicks off in October, and we hunker down in these colder weather during the winter, and there's a lot of stuff that goes around ultimately. I feel like between October and probably April, there's just lots of sickness that's that's happening. So, yes, the immune system and boosting the immune system is a is a buzzword. Sure. Yeah, this time of year, especially as we're gonna be able to do it.

Kaitlyn (KK) 21:53

Because I don't think we hear about it too much in summertime.

Speaker 21:56

Well, I guess your vitamin D. Well, yep, that vitamin D. D, that's a huge one we can touch on. And that sunlight is very, very helpful for sure with that vitamin D. Although I would make the argument that even the sunlight, just kind of in the day and age we live in, that some supplementation with that vitamin D is required or is good. Yeah. But right. Yes. And so we know when we're talking about the immune system, we're not just talking about physical health, but our mental and emotional health plays a huge role in regulating our immune system as well. Absolutely. And in the summer, there is. There's just something about outside. Okay. Yep. Being outside and that whole grounding piece of and the sun exposure. And I just feel like there's just a summer just brings on kids are off of school. It just brings more of a the balance of the relaxation and the fun.

Jenny 22:49

And the social. I mean, we're we're meant to be in connection with each other.

Speaker 22:54

And I think a lot of people's summer is the time where you do certain vacations and you take kind of take time off from life. So summer packs on a lot of really great immune-supporting things from kind of the the mental and emotional standpoint, which is huge.

Jenny 23:09

That makes sense. Absolutely. So we're talking a lot about all of the systems that support a strong operating as it's meant to immune system. Can you speak a bit about gut health and immune function?

Speaker 23:25

Well they actually say that our gut is our second brain. Yes. Right. And that our gut actually now we're recognizing with the very broad spectrum of different types of bacterias that are with that microbiome and the trillions of different bacterial growth that we need within our gut, that that actually triggers a lot of our mental health. It triggers our immune system. So our gut in some way plays a bigger role in regulating a lot of those things, even than our brain does. Sure. So when we talk about immunity in our gut, we talk about the microbiome, right? Okay. So we have all this different bacteria, good bacteria and some bad bacteria. That helps to trigger our immune system, that helps to regulate the immune system, support the immune system. So obviously, there's different elements that are going to play into supporting that. One of the things when we start this whole conversation, I kind of like to break it down into tiers because it's like, well, let's just jump into diet. And I take a standpoint that one of the first things you need to be addressing when you're starting to talk about your immune health, you can be exercising, you can be eating all the right food, you can be doing all the supplementation. But sleep is kind of the number one thing we need to start with. Okay. So sleep is really where our body does its repair, regenerate to toe. It's where our body does cleaning house. And so I always tell people when we start talking about health and immunity, let's start by talking about our sleep. Now, how are we supporting our sleep? And it starts in the morning. I have a lot of people who are like, well, okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna start working on my sleep, and I'll say, okay, we're gonna start talking about sleep by talking about when you first wake up in the morning. Yeah. Okay. Because the decisions that you're making when you first roll out of bed are actually affecting how that night's sleep is gonna take place. Okay. So I say, when you get up in the morning, sun exposure.

Jenny 25:30

Sure.

Speaker 25:30

And we're like, we're waking up and it's dark or it's cloudy. It's like open up your windows and we'll actually crack the window. I've had some kids too, and we're all kind of in the kitchen and we're by the counter, and that's where we're making breakfast and doing coffee and all that kind of fun stuff. So we crack the window. Even when it's like negative, whatever. Negative 40. Okay. Set a time or 15 minutes, and we're shutting the window. Because just that fresh air and getting that fresh air circulating, just I love that sun exposure. Okay, so there's a part of our brain that when that light hits the brain, it sends a signal and there's a healthy cortisol release saying, Hey, it's time to wake up. My body knows this is when we get the cortisol release. This is what gets everything up and going and gets me set for the day, right? Yeah. And by setting that and by stimulating the brain in that way area, you're actually starting to set your circadian clock. Sure. That should be in a healthy cycle so that by the time it's bedtime, your body is ready to start making melatonin and getting healthy sleep. So focusing on sleep is where I start. Yeah. If you are not getting good sleep, if you're not getting that seven to nine hours, things start to break down. Sure. And the immune cells, your body's ability to clean house, to make the type of immune cells that it needs to, to have them circulating and functioning the way that they need to, everything starts to decline. The less sleep you get, or the more poor your sleep is. So I say, let's just start with sleep. Okay. Start in the morning with that sun exposure, some good movement. And then throughout the day, as we're getting closer to the evening, we start dimming lights. Sure. You know, everybody, there's blue light blockers, which are great now, but the screen exposure, your screens, and I'm sure people have heard this, but that screen, the life coming from your screen, it continues to stimulate that part of your brain that says, Hey, it's morning. I'm gonna keep stay awake. I'm gonna keep secreting the this cortisol to keep you awake. And so you never have that wind down with the melatonin that you need to really get into a good sleep.

Jenny 27:31

Yeah.

Speaker 27:32

So starting to make a conscious effort as you're going into the evening that the screens are gonna get put away, that lights are gonna start to be dimmed, that you have a bedtime routine that your body can get used to saying, ah, I'm slowing down now. Okay, I'm gonna start to produce the melatonin because that's what your brain to start sleep.

Kaitlyn (KK) 27:51

Well, and it mirrors pretty well with what I do clinically. Let's start with the basics, even though you're coming in for complex trauma, right? Which we will get to that. But if we break it down to the basics, what is your water intake? What does your sleep look like? What does your food, your nutrition health look like? So we always have those conversations, or I do when I work with people, but I've always been trained and also tell people that we wake up in theta and that's like our programmed time of the day. So I take my sleep very seriously. I take my morning routines like my job. I call it getting my head in the game. I feel like we've talked about it before. We've mentioned it, yeah. It's huge for me. So I do a lot of visualizations, meditation, that type of stuff. But a lot of the things you're saying are what I do clinically as well. So it's nice to know that we're on the same page. Yeah. With everything that we're doing. But yeah, get back to the basics. And if we start with the basics, then we can work our way up into those other complexities.

Jenny 28:49

Yeah.

Kaitlyn (KK) 28:50

Yeah.

Speaker 28:50

And sleep affects everything. So we're talking about gut health. Yeah. Good sleep is huge for good gut health. And then the second thing that I like to talk about too is, and this this one is hard. The stress piece. Okay. So there's good stress and there's chronic stress. And I think we live in an environment and in a world right now where chronic stress is just kind of the norm. Yeah. The go, go, go, and the the constant input of information and the lack of rest and quiet. And I say a good bout of boredom every day is really good for you. Yes, it is. So for us too, stress is a huge one. And I used to tell people, I don't want to hear about stress. Just hearing about the stress makes me stress. So how can I know about the stress? And so just knowing, and this kind of ties in with that morning routine too, that when you're starting that day with just some gentle movement, one of my favorite things that I love to tell people who are coming in and we're working on these things. I am a huge fan of these little rebounders, right? Sure. Just getting this little trampoline, it's a five to ten minute, you're not, you're not breaking a huge sweat, you're not doing a big cardiac workout. That gentle movement that really supports your immune system. It supports the brain health, it supports mental and emotional health. NASA's done all kinds of studies on these rebounders for helping build and maintain muscle.

Jenny 30:13

Sure.

Speaker 30:14

For bone density, for your lymphatic system. So we're we're cleansing, we're detoxing, and all of that is just helping to support that gut, right? Yeah. Yeah. And so the stress piece of things too, and then learning you're the expert on this piece, but learning to take things in stride. And for me, it's prayer. So, you know, I will wake up every morning, it's a blessing. My husband's out on the couch and he's got his books out. He's doing his readings, he's doing his prayer. He's actually been more of an inspiration. He just really takes that time very seriously. For me, I can wax and wane and see where it's like I needed to sleep in a little, or okay, I've got a lot going on. Jump out of bed, hit the ground running. And he's always there. And it's like, that's right. Okay, Rachel. Take some time, sit down. Let's let's just be quiet for a moment. Let's spend some time in prayer before we be hit the ground running. So that movement and that prayer really are great ways to help with that stress.

Kaitlyn (KK) 31:13

Totally. Yep. And people can decide what that looks like for them, right? Digesting and slow. I call it my zen time in the morning. Like I said, getting my head in the game. I don't mess around or roll back and forth in bed. I get up, right? And so even if my eyes aren't open, I'm moving my feet to the ground. And then I will slowly start to wake up. But I think that that's important too, because the more we lay there and roll around, that's what we're programming our brain to do.

Jenny 31:40

Well, it's so easy to talk yourself into oh, just five more minutes. Snooze, snooze, snooze. Don't hit the screen. I used to be horrible with the snooze button and much better now. Actually, I'm I'm at the point in my life and grateful for it. I don't have to, depending on what's going on. Yeah. I don't have to wake up to an alarm. And so it's just been really nice. Usually my dogs are waking me up to say, time for breakfast, right?

Kaitlyn (KK) 32:05

And that's where I do my gratitude, you know. So yours is prayer, which is beautiful. Mine is gratitude. And I try to do that throughout the day too. So when I originally started, I'd start with the gratitude garden on my phone. Sure. And I would wake up in the morning and I would do the three things that I'm grateful for. And now I just automatically do it, right? And it's very basic. I'm grateful to be alive. I'm grateful there's a roof over my head. I'm grateful I got to eat something I enjoyed last night. It can be really anything. But I tried the gratitude piece all throughout the day too. So if I go to a gas pump or I can pay for something, I'm grateful that I can do this. Like it's just this internal piece. Yeah. I feel very connected to that. And I don't even have to set an alarm anymore because I have this automatic rhythm now. Sure. It's around 5, 5:30. I wake up every single day. And then it's like, okay, feet on the ground and then move through my day. Yeah.

Speaker 32:52

And so yeah. Yeah. Everything that you just mentioned, you are supporting your immune system and all those things. And we think so much about what vitamins am I taking? You know, yeah. And it's like these things are huge. Right. Instrumental. Supporting. So we talk about boost, boost, support. These things throughout the day, they are supporting our immune system. They're regulating the system. Those are just very, very powerful things that people don't always make the connection where it's like cold and flu season. I gotta fight this, you know, going around. And it's like really important things to be doing too.

Jenny 33:26

Absolutely. Well, and I love the reminder because I know even during the winter, if I get into a busy season, the first thing that I am like, oh, we're just we're gonna crank through and make it work. The first thing to go is sleep and movement and that inner reflection time because it's like, okay, I got things to do, places to be, people to see, right? And that reframe to say, no, that inner reflection time, that solid sleep, that gentle movement, whatever it is for you in the morning, is supporting your immune system and all of your systems. It's just a really good reminder because I know for a while there it felt like I was checking lists, and it's like, eh, why am I even doing this? To support my immunity.

Speaker 34:15

Yeah. Overall health in general. Yeah.

Jenny 34:19

Longevity. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, I think we could have a whole episode just on sleep. Yes.

Speaker 34:25

So I the sleep, the stress, and then obviously we start talking nutrition, right? And we're talking about that gut health too and our immunity and supporting our immune system. So a lot of people, just the way we're eating and things, we talk about our metabolic health.

Speaker 3 34:41

Yep.

Speaker 34:42

And those blood sugar spikes and sort of the dangers of sugar, but really trying to focus on maintaining a pretty stable blood sugar throughout the day. So the more your blood sugars are spiking and dropping and spiking and dropping, the more inflammation that the body starts to experience. And the more inflammation that we have, obviously, that starts to dampen our immune system as well. And its ability to seek out and find things that it should be killing or mounting a defense against, the ability for your body to be producing some of what it needs to be producing, all those things start to decline the more we live in a chronically inflamed state. And so diet plays a big role in that. Obviously, just taking in really crappy appal sugar, of course, is going to do that. But throughout the day, I really encourage people good fiber and good protein when you're getting those in throughout the day at pretty good intervals. That really helps to keep that blood sugar maintained. And if you're going to have a treat here and there, which I would say in moderation, especially this time of year, we see a lot more illness uh come into this part of the year because starting at Halloween and then we have Thanksgiving and then we have Christmas and then we have New Year's. And it's just this steady diet of like, well, I'm just not gonna do the way I normally do. But there's this party and that party. And so we're getting less sleep. We're eating a lot of sugar and a lot of things that convert to sugar very quickly in the bloodstream. Um, and so that that dampens our immune system and makes our body, it's hard for our body to mount a defense when you're living that way. Yeah. So healthy fats, healthy proteins, fibers together, treats every now and then. But I say I would always, if you're gonna eat something sweet, get a little bit of protein in there before you're gonna take it. That's another thing that I tell people about that people are like, wow, you know, we wake up and we're all like so excited about our morning cup of coffee. And I'll always say, hold up, hold off on that first cup until you've had some protein. Get some protein into your system before that first cup, because that coffee comes in and it's a stimulant. Sure. And if it's coming in on an empty stomach, it actually starts to signal the adrenal glands to start to pump out that cortisol. So you think you're sitting and just enjoying your nice cup of coffee in the morning on an empty stomach, and you're actually your body's having a stress response. So I always say, start out. I like to encourage people within 30 to 60 minutes of waking, get in a good protein with a little fiber and some good fat, and then sit down and enjoy that cup of coffee, and your body's gonna appreciate it so much more. Yeah.

Jenny 37:14

What would be a quick option for protein?

Speaker 37:18

For us, we do a lot of hard-boiled eggs at our home. Sure. I'll do egg bakes that my kids enjoy. But you can do cottage cheese as well. We like to, for us, you have some chopped veggies at home. So the kids are kind of grabbing some type of veggie or fruit along with a protein. I have two kids that just eggs aren't their thing. They just they don't enjoy them. So we do protein shakes. Those are my kids that sure, especially my my teenage daughter, she can get up and she'll make a pretty mean protein smoothie for herself that they can enjoy. So there's a lot of great options, I think, for quick and easy and like grab on the go protein in the morning. I do like to prep some egg type situations. And we do like turkey sausage, like sugar-free turkey sausage and other things like that that are pretty easy to grab and go for the kids. Yeah. Our mornings are inevitably it's it's fast and furious. Right.

Jenny 38:13

Well, I think that's what makes the prep so important because otherwise you fall into old habits or convenience, and that's not supporting our systems like it really needs.

Speaker 38:21

Definitely when you are living this lifestyle, prep preparation. You just this isn't this isn't a lifestyle that you can very easily just wing it every day. Yeah. There's gotta be the more you prep and the more you plan and get into a routine of doing that, which is I that is not an easy routine to always get into. Right. That will make all the difference and being able to sustain a healthy lifestyle for sure.

Jenny 38:46

That's perfect. That's perfect. There's been a couple questions that have popped up, so I'm just gonna throw them in here. You along the way were talking about triggering our immune system. When you say trigger immune system, what do you mean by that?

Speaker 39:00

So when we uh are exposed to certain things, we've got several different types of immune cells, but there are certain types of immune cells that, as your body is exposed to certain things, it sends some immune cells right there. And you you want your body to have that healthy immune response so that as you're getting exposed to things, it is able to respond and send what it needs in the right amounts to be able to recognize, send out the signals it needs to send to other immune cells to come in to do the attacking, the killing, and then to create a memory. So if you're ever exposed again, your body can mount an even a faster response. And all of that, that whole cycle, there's a lot that goes into that. But when that immune system is functioning well and you're exposed to certain things, and your body can pick up and mount a defense quickly and in a healthy way, and then bring the immune system back down where it needs to be because the threat is over. Sure, that's that's the best. When your immune system is not working well, you can get exposed to things and your body just struggles. It it can't mount the defense, it can't send what it needs.

Jenny 40:11

Yeah.

Speaker 40:11

And so you just end up being more sick. Or you have uh an immune system that is dysregulated.

Jenny 40:18

Yeah.

Speaker 40:19

And so everything is coming in, and things aren't being regulated. The orchestra is not being conducted well, yeah. And then there's this over-response, and you have this long-haul symptoms from a immune system that is just like I can't regulate myself. Yeah, I'm not functioning well. You can be on both ends of the spectrum where your body just cannot mount a good defense. Sure. And you can be in a system over that is just not regulated well, and there's just an over-response constantly coming into well again, speaking to just how much everything is connected, the tie to chronic stress and autoimmune issues, right?

Jenny 40:56

Which is an overreactive immune system. So there's yeah, wow, there's so much we could dive into, but for the sake of time, we will not this episode. So stay tuned for future episodes with Rachel. Well, I wanted to spend just a little bit of time talking about, and we've kind of woven them in a bit, about some myths, bust some myths about our immune system. So one is, oh, I never get sick, so my immune system must be great. Is that is that true?

Speaker 41:25

Some people that could be true. It could be that you know what, you've got a really well-functioning immune system and you don't get sick all that often.

Speaker 3 41:32

Sure.

Speaker 41:33

For other people, that isn't necessarily true. It just because you're not getting sick or symptomatically sick a lot does not mean that your immune function is is is working well. It could mean that there is some suppression that it's not mounting a good defense. Because sometimes when you initially get those symptoms in your body, your body has been exposed to something. And some of what you're feeling is sort of the battle that's going on. It's like, uh-huh, we see you were attacking, and I'm kind of feeling the tired.

Jenny 42:03

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Speaker 42:04

And then you you get over it, right? It doesn't linger. You're able to move beyond it. So in some cases, yes, that could be, yep, you've got you're doing things well and you've got a healthy immune system, and in other cases, not so much.

Jenny 42:19

Yeah, that makes sense. What about vitamin C mega doses if when you're really sick or like just piling up on the supplements? I know that I mean, I used to be the person that would be like, all right, give me this packet of essentially sugar and probably vitamin C, mix it with water and gulp it down. That's gonna keep me well.

Kaitlyn (KK) 42:40

Listen, I worked with someone when I was an academic advisor. One of those emergencies. Well, I wasn't gonna say the brand, but um, well, I'm just saying, I'm literally saying if she was here, she would say to you, she did that every day and she swore she never got sick from it. That was her, that was her thing.

Jenny 42:59

Yeah.

Speaker 42:59

So megadoses of vitamin C. So vitamin C is very powerful, it has the ability to come in and bolster immune cells, and it really does help your immune system. Mega doses on a daily, yeah. No, some people I do think it's appropriate for you to be taking vitamin C every day. I have, we call it our vitamin C and zinc shock therapy at our house. And so when you are starting where you can kind of feel like something's coming on, we will start out every three hours for 24 hours. You take a dose of C and a dose of zinc.

Speaker 3 43:38

Yep.

Speaker 43:38

Because that really it does, it comes in and it supports the immune system in a lot of different ways. Yep. To bolster it, to mount a defense to come in strong and hard, and to wipe it out before it takes over and you get really sick. And that's been very effective for us.

Jenny 43:54

Sure. Yeah, I've heard good things about that in different ways too.

Speaker 43:56

Yes, so I am a fan of vitamin C. Do I think that? Everybody should be taking megadoses of vitamin C every day.

Jenny 44:03

No, I don't. That's not the way to get to the root cause of supporting your immune system.

Speaker 44:09

That's not. I do I think there's a time and place for different supplements at different times. There are certain supplements that I would say I think this is a good thing to be taking daily. Magnesium, vitamin D. Our kids actually do take a little bit. I take a little bit of zinc every day. There are certain things that are just so essential and just across the board, people are deficient in them that I think this really is something we need to be supplementing with outside of just trying to get enough in our food.

Jenny 44:37

And obviously talk to a person that knows and can maybe help your unique situation, right? Yeah.

Kaitlyn (KK) 44:44

Anytime this is what growing up too. So anytime I start to feel like something in my throat, taking a big spoonful of honey, I don't know. That's what I and then I don't know why this still happens. But when I was sick, my mom would always give me seven up in saltines. And so every time I get sick now, sure, that's what I think of in my head. No joke. Not that I go and do it.

Speaker 45:08

So funny because, like I said, we grew up in a bit of a cruncher home and we did not have saltine called seven up. Seriously. If you got the stomach flu, seven up. Yeah. It was like the stomach flu. We get some seven up. It was like our treat.

Kaitlyn (KK) 45:26

Right? Yeah. So when I do get sick, I I don't know, probably because my brain, right, has remembered that like that was the treatment. It's kind of a comfort too. Like the one. It really is. Yeah. Even think about it for sure. Laying on the couch, probably watching Jerry Springer.

Jenny 45:41

Mine was watching Price is right.

Kaitlyn (KK) 45:43

Yeah.

Speaker 45:45

Price is right.

Kaitlyn (KK) 45:46

Uh-huh. I know. Yep. Well, that's why I always say that when people come in, I'm like, you're the next contestant. But it gets to do therapy today.

Jenny 45:56

I love that. Well, there's so much, again, nuance with the vitamin C, and I know high dose vitamin C is an IV has its place. And we won't dive super in depth on that right now. Maybe we can when we get into IV stuff a little bit here. Are there any other myths that you would want to bust when it comes to supporting our immune system?

Speaker 46:17

I don't know about myths. Just as much as driving home the concept of your immune system isn't something that you just tend to when you're starting to feel sick.

Jenny 46:28

Yeah.

Speaker 46:29

But that if you start to think about this is a way that your body patrols and cleans house, detects things that are are not right and destroys and eliminates them from the body. It's a really important thing to kind of have in the background daily, thinking how am I supporting my immune system on a daily basis? Yeah. As opposed to, oh, I'm not feeling well. So now I'm gonna start to do this, this, this, and this. So being more proactive and reactive.

Kaitlyn (KK) 46:59

Absolutely.

Jenny 47:00

That's a great way to put it. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Awesome. Well, that was so much information. Thank you for sharing. I want to flow a bit into some of these.

Kaitlyn (KK) 47:13

I know, right? Even been a major. She's like, this, I just got all this knowledge in me and I'm just letting it flow out.

Speaker 47:21

Yeah. Well, I am glad I would fake it till you make it, right?

Jenny 47:25

Would not be able to tell one bit. No. So let's flow into a bit of the services and offerings and and what you do here as a registered nurse when it comes to whole person holistic offerings. The first is IV nutrient therapy. So we've talked about it here and there, but do you want to just high level and how that can support intend?

Speaker 47:47

I think, you know, there are different ways that you can take things into the body to support the body in whatever way you need support at any given time, right? And so for a lot of people, when you're dealing with certain illnesses or you're trying to regain health, you're coming, a lot of people are coming to us because things are not working well. And they're like, I I need a fresh start. I need to start from the foundation and I need to get healthy again. And so a lot of times you're dealing with guts that are in the process of being healed. Um, IV nutrition therapy is a way that we we bypass the gut. So whatever I'm giving you, you are getting it 100% and it's absorbable, and your body can take and utilize 100% of what I'm giving you. That is where IV nutrition can be very powerful for a lot of people because a lot of us are dealing with some gut health issues that hopefully we're working on. And so as you're taking things in orally, just supplement-wise, um, your body might not be absorbing and you may not be utilizing a lot of it. Or you can't swallow it like me. I have a daughter. She started a line of supplements that are all liquid. Yeah, just drink this. I literally can't. Yes, no, she's the same. She sits at the sink and it's like, okay, is it gonna go down or not? Yeah.

Kaitlyn (KK) 49:04

And it's like, I've been trying for like 30 plus years. So, you know, don't force it at this point.

Jenny 49:10

There's alternative options.

Speaker 49:11

I know what we can do for you, Caitlin, because you don't you can't handle the IV enough. And now you're telling us you can't swap. Well, you have to drink well, I can't.

Jenny 49:18

You have to drink your supplements, then you can't look at the IV.

Kaitlyn (KK) 49:21

I can't look at the IV. That piece, I would be staring away. But yeah, that would be my only option compared to the other ones. But the liquid form I can do too. That's why they call me baby KK here.

Speaker 49:36

Liquid for you. Yeah. Yeah. So for the IV nutrition therapy, when people come in, we sit down and we talk about what's going on. What are your symptoms? Yep. What are you feeling you need supported in? And the great thing here too is that, you know, we don't have a bunch of pre-mixed. So as you're talking to me, my brain and what I know about the supplement. Obviously, I have a little more in-depth knowledge about what I have on my shelf and what I have that can target exactly what you're talking to. And then I will make a custom bag. Yeah. Kind of based on what it is that you need. I like it when we call it cocktails.

Jenny 50:08

Yes. Well, I think that's such a bigger cocktail. Yeah. That's a huge distinguishing piece because I know I mean IV therapy is everywhere around us, right? But a huge thing that makes into the woods different is that our ends are administering and you have that custom consult at the start where your knowledge of the systems of the body and the various things the person might be experiencing and what you're seeing as possible ways to help strengthen support. Yeah.

Speaker 50:38

It's like, okay, I could tell this is kind of tied to this. Yeah. This is something that is going to support this to help this. It's a full cycle type of thing that you're looking at. And a lot of times there are things that we're adding into the bag too that really help to take whatever I'm giving you, and I'm really helping to drive it into the cell too. Custom IV bags are really great for a lot of people when they're coming in, and we are needing somewhat of a boost. Or I'm in this phase where things are a little bit acute and I need the support. I need to bypass the gut. And I just I need this directly. I need this 100%.

Speaker 3 51:11

Yep.

Speaker 51:11

That IV therapy is very good. And we have a lot of different things that we can mix up and make. And then obviously different quantities based on what I'm hearing too. So we have a really fabulous nurse practitioner that works with us as well and that we consult with as well, who's overseen those things. So yeah, I'm I'm a big fan of utilizing that IV therapy that way. Perfect.

Jenny 51:35

What about salt booth and respiratory support for our immune system? Can you speak to that?

Speaker 51:40

So salt booth and our respiratory support, but also our skin in general, too, it does a whole lot. So as you're sitting in there, it's a short session where this very fine, fine powdered salt that you're breathing in. We know that our respiratory system, our lungs and our nose, as those are first lines of defense for our immune system because a lot of things are trapped and exposed. And these things get pretty gunked up with mucus and other things. So you kind of think about it as little brushes that are coming in and they're scrubbing and they're cleaning and just making these first lines of defense healthier.

Speaker 3 52:14

Yep.

Speaker 52:14

Anytime we talk about mucosal lining, it's our whole GI tract, it's our sinuses, our lungs, all these things. Anytime that we're doing things that heal and support and make your mucosal lining stronger and healthier, right there, you've just played a huge role in supporting and bolstering your immune system.

Speaker 3 52:36

Yeah.

Jenny 52:36

Well, I really appreciate hearing that because A, I've never heard anybody talk about my mucosal lining, right? B, I I guess I always I had the perception of salt booth is really supporting when you need help with clearing congestion and getting things moving.

Speaker 52:56

And by nature, you're sitting in there too, and we tell you we want you to be breathing deep. We're bringing in, we're we want to be aerating, we want to be getting that oxygen to the base of our lungs. And so absolutely, as you're as you're doing the deep breathing, you are breaking up things. Right. And that's why we have that box of Kleenex in there too. Yep. Because it's like, you're gonna blow on stuff out, and you might cough some things, and that's awesome. That's what we want to do. And that's what that salt coming in is doing. It's cleansing that whole respiratory and cleaning things out so that it can just function optimally.

Jenny 53:28

Right, right. Yeah. There's benefits, obviously, when your body is fighting something, but also when you're not. Similar message throughout all of this tending to your body and your immune system when you're feeling under the weather is important and really considering year-round. Yeah.

Kaitlyn (KK) 53:48

Well, just like and clinically, I when we're teaching people coping skills, do it when things are good. Yeah. Right? Because by the time you get there and it's bad, you feel like it's not gonna work. So same thing. Uh again, like you alluded to in the beginning, most people are we've been trained for the conventional route, which doesn't mean that it's bad, right? But I feel what we do as the whole person is more preventative, it is holistic, it is proactive. Yes, it's all of those things. And so that's why we are looking at all of it and it can help year round so that you don't have to get to that point. Just like with therapy, typically people come to me once it's gotten really, really bad. Yeah. Whereas if we just had a therapist for everybody throughout their lives, I'm not saying we still wouldn't have critical cases, but it would be few and far in between because we would have caught it way earlier and had those interventions. And so that's where I just feel like it's the same thing.

Speaker 54:43

Yeah, we we offer a lot of very supportive. If you're in an acute state, come. If you're in a state where you're like, I'm maintaining, I want to be proactive, I'm main building and sustaining health, come. We've got you covered in both both arenas.

Jenny 55:00

Yep, yeah, that's great. We've talked about infrared sauna in the last episode with Kathy in the detox realm. But is there anything you would add when it comes to immune support?

Speaker 55:14

Absolutely. So they go hand in hand. So when we're detoxing, we're also supporting the immune system, correct? But the other thing too is that raising your body temperature, okay, uh when you think about when you get sick, we get that fever. And I will actually tell people ride the fever, stay with the fever unless it gets, if it's getting too high, sure, then we'll start to bring it down. But fever is actually our body's immune response because a lot of the bacteria and viruses that we're exposed to, they can't thrive. That's one of our body's ways of beating them down. Sure. Get the edge, take over, and clean house.

Speaker 3 55:52

Yep.

Speaker 55:53

And so anytime that we're raising our body temperature like that, we're bolstering the immune system. The red light therapy also has that ability to come in and penetrate cells and get to the mitochondria of the cell and and rejuvenate cell and heal. And then the detox piece too, with the sweating it out and the lymphatic. So our lymphatic system is primal. That's not the word I'm looking for, but what is the word I'm looking for? It is integral. Integral, let's put it. It is very, very important part of our immune system. Yeah. Okay. Because it is cleaning things and it's also sending messages and it presents things to carries things and presents things to the immune system. And so saunas help to keep our lymphatic system flowing and unclogged and clean. And so when you have this integral system that you need for good immune response, the sauna is amazing for our lymphatic system as well.

Jenny 56:57

That's perfect. We've already talked about nutrition and gut health, which ties really wonderfully into the into the woods approach around lifestyle wellness and the personalized wellness program. And so I don't think we need to go too much further in depth there, but there's a lot that you do with labs, right? Can you speak a bit to labs?

Speaker 57:19

In the beginning, I talked about how we're kind of each uniquely broken, right? When we take a look at labs, and and we have a very just our our basic wellness panel, we have some very, very extensive panels, but just our basic wellness panel, we're looking at a ton of systems in your body. Sure. And we're also taking a look at blood markers that are telling us where's your chronic inflammation at? Where's your vitamin D? I I could spend 20, 30 minutes just talking about vitamin D and what it all does in our body. It's essential.

Speaker 3 57:49

Sure.

Speaker 57:49

We see a lot of people rolling in in the teens and the 20s.

Jenny 57:55

Just deficient right off the bat.

Speaker 57:56

We want your vitamin D to be 80 to 100. Sure. Okay. So we are taking a look at the whole picture, and from there, that gives us really great information about how we're uniquely broken. And then what are we going to start to do to support the this area that you're broken in? Yep. Because the great thing is there's nothing that we're looking at where we're like, oh gosh, that stinks, huh? I wonder what you're gonna do about that. It's like we see and we are able to help you to start to heal in that area so that this thing starts functioning better. We're able to help to start to support you so that we're bringing levels of this up or we're bringing levels of that down. You come in, you get your lab work done, and then you sit and you'll do a lab review with us. And we'll go over. I I love spending time and saying, hey, this is what's looking great.

Jenny 58:40

Sure.

Speaker 58:41

Whatever you're doing, this is good. Keep doing it. Here are the areas that are of concern. And here's what you can start. And it's not necessarily like you need to do this here and this here. Sometimes it's like, I want you to go home and you're gonna start to do this daily and that daily, and helping them to figure out like in your daily routine, how are things how can you start to implement certain things that are gonna change what we're seeing here?

Jenny 59:02

Yeah.

Speaker 59:03

And then also there is supplementation sometimes. And like I said, you know, I'm not a big believer in every day you need to take 85 pills, but it is like, okay, right now, in this in this particular moment in time, I'm seeing this deficiency or I'm seeing this area of concern. This is something that you're gonna take for the time being. We will recheck down the road, but we're gonna support you in this area. So the supplementation piece, and then also just in general, the program, right? Because this is a program here that's foundational. We're building health from the foundation up, and so we're able to see foundationally kind of where you're broken and then come in and start to support with the different modalities here.

Jenny 59:39

Yeah, the whole person, absolutely.

Kaitlyn (KK) 59:40

And we haven't had our nurse practitioner on yet, but we will, and so they also do a hormone panel, and there's other panels too that can happen for people.

Speaker 59:49

Yep, the general wellness that the hormones actually come into play in that panel as well. So we're taking a look at all that, yeah.

Jenny 59:57

Yeah, yeah. So much wonderful information. I feel like there were so many practical takeaways, everyday things that you shared throughout this whole episode. Is there anything else when you're speaking to immune health that you would want to underscore?

Speaker 1:00:17

Yeah, I would say work on sleep. Yeah, work on nutrition so that the sugar is down and you're uh stabilizing blood sugars. Work on that movement piece, work on the mental and emotional type of things because quite honestly, and I will just really quickly throw this out there. As we were doing work, it's like, okay, we got cancer, we're gonna attack cancer. What medications? How are we gonna, you know? And one of the number one things that they had to start to tackle was mental and emotionally, what is it that you're holding on to? Absolutely. What are things that have happened, or what are things you're dealing with right now that you're because that is going to prevent you from moving forward. Yeah. And so to understand within the immune system, those those things are really important. Yeah. Hydrating every day. And then, like I said, I don't believe in a ton of supplements every day, but a vitamin D year round. You maybe take a little less in the summer, definitely gonna bolster it in the winter. And magnesium and zinc are things that I'm a big fan of, especially this time of year. Yeah.

Kaitlyn (KK) 1:01:25

Well, and I think this episode is just reiterating everything we've been saying exactly, which is beautiful how it came together like that without being prompted to. Right. But this is why we are looking at the whole person. This is why we have created our wheel of wellness. This is why we don't dictate entry point of whatever pathway feels good for you. We're just here to give people a scope and look at it from a different perspective. And if it works, awesome for you. But it's if you want to look somewhere else, that's okay too. It was pretty organic how it all came together, which is really what we are honing in on is with our pillars and our culture. And this is legitimate. It's not woo-woo. And I do feel we are seeing a shift in that. And I again continue to say, I feel like here and what we're doing in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, we're definitely ahead of the game. Yeah. And if people are curious, they should reach out to us.

Jenny 1:02:18

Yeah, there is so much power in this knowledge and understanding how our body is naturally created to do what it does, right? And so I just love how everything that you shared enhances that knowledge and insight. And we've said it before, we'll say it again. This stuff doesn't have to be a secret, it doesn't have to be gate kept. That's exactly why we're doing this podcast to support people in making their choices, to support longevity, lifestyle, feeling better.

Speaker 1:02:48

Yeah. I just I think the more you truly understand this is my body, and this is the way it's meant to work and meant to function. And and even if you're coming into that situation broken and unhealthy, as you journey through getting well, you really do learn the knowledge of this is how I live healthy, this is how I support healthy. And it changes everything, it changes how you go from that model of constantly reacting, and there's a lot of not feeling good in reacting because you don't really understand what I'm doing or what I'm in taking and how it's actually affecting me. Yeah. So there's just this reactivity and this not feeling great. But when you actually are not well and you approach it from this standpoint of this is how my body works. This is why I need this. Yeah. When I need this, this is why I wouldn't be taking that. And then you start to heal from kind of the bottom up. Yep. It's just a game changer. It is for the longevity for the next chapters that are that are going to be written. So the long haul. Yeah, it's awesome. Important. Good. Yeah.

Jenny 1:03:58

Thank you so much for being with us today. You are welcome. Thanks for having me. All right. Until next time, everyone. Be well, be still, become. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us. We'd also love to connect with you. Reach out at info at into the woodsjourney.com or visit our website at www.into the woodsjourney.com to explore your path to wellness. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for listening.