High Vibration Living with Chef Whitney Aronoff
Chef Whitney Aronoff is a Health Supportive Chef, entrepreneur, and podcast host based in Laguna Beach, California. She is the Founder of Team Starseed Kitchen, a personal chef and custom meal-prep company offering nourishing, chef-prepared meals, and the Founder of Starseed Kitchen, an organic spice-blend company rooted in whole-food healing and flavor.
Deeply involved in the farm-to-table and regenerative agriculture community, Whitney believes that food is the foundation of good health, but that true nourishment goes beyond what’s on the plate. Her work bridges food, consciousness, and lifestyle, honoring the physical body while also supporting emotional and spiritual well-being.
As the host of the High Vibration Living Podcast, Whitney explores what it truly means to be nourished in modern life. Through thoughtful conversations with experts in food, wellness, healing, spirituality, and personal growth, the podcast is designed to support listeners in nourishing their physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies—and in creating a life that feels aligned, vibrant, and fulfilling.
High Vibration Living with Chef Whitney Aronoff
Improve Your Health By Moving Your Lymph Lymphatic Expert Lisa Levitt Gainsley
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Lisa Levitt Gainsley is a celebrity coveted Lymphatic Drainage Specialist, Author, Educator, and Speaker.
She’s worked with people with every condition under the sun including cancer, lyme, lupus, digestion disorders, acne, bloating, menstrual issues, migraines, anxiety, lymphedema, long Covid symptoms, and those looking to get glowing skin, relax fine lines and puffiness. Lisa has been in private practice for over 25 years.
Lisa has pioneered Lymphatic Self-massage and is the best selling author of The Book of Lymph; a first of it's kind guide to lymphatic self-care. Her work has appeared in Forbes, ELLE, GOOP, Vanity Fair, The Hollywood Reporter, Healthline and more.
Lisa teaches workshops on how to use this toxin-flushing technique to have it all; look better, feel better instantly and recover quickly from injuries, surgeries and colds and viruses. Lisa holds a double certification in Lymphedema Therapy and is a member of the Lymphatic Education & Research Network (LE&RN) and National Lymphedema Network (NLN).
In This Episode, Whitney Explores:
- The emotional, physical, and spiritual benefits of lymphatic therapy and why lymphatic health matters
- Whitney’s personal journey with lymphatic massage, detoxification, and healing
- The root causes of stagnation in the body and why some people handle toxins differently
- Why personalized approaches to lymphatic health and detox are essential
- How healing and self-care can be gentle, supportive, and integrated into everyday wellness practices
Follow Lisa on Instagram: thelymphaticmessage.com
Lisa's Digital MasterClass: https://the-lymphatic-message.mykajabi.com/
Lisa’s Online mini courses offerings include Gut Health, Brain Health, Breast Care, Lymph Basics, Pregnancy & more and can be found on her website www.thelymphaticmessage.com
Lisa’s book; The Book of Lymph https://www.amazon.com/dp/0063049139?tag=authorsoc-20
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Welcome to the High Vibration Living Podcast. I'm your host, Chef Whitney Aronoff, Health Supportive Chef, founder of Starsea Kitchen, and creator of nourishing food rooted in real ingredients, intuition, and intention. This podcast is a space where food, wellness, spirituality, and everyday living meet. We explore how what you eat, how you live, and what you believe all shape your energy, health, and overall sense of well-being. You have a physical body, a mental body, an emotional body, and a spiritual body. And all need to be recognized and nourished so you can feel balanced and truly thrive. Only you know what your body truly needs. Let this be your reminder that you already have the wisdom to tune in to your food, your self-care, and your spiritual practices and choose what supports you best. Through personal insights and conversations with experts across food, wellness, and spirituality, we'll explore how to nourish the physical, emotional, spiritual, and energetic layers of who you are so you can feel your best and live with clarity, vitality, and purpose. Let's get started. Hi friends, welcome back to the podcast. Today it's such a treat for me to share this episode with you because I got to interview somebody whose work I deeply admire. I'm diving into one of the most overlooked systems in the body today, the lymphatic system and how it influences everything from your energy and digestion to your skin and your mental clarity. I am joined by lymphatic expert Lisa Leavitt-Gainsley, and we're getting into how to actually create flow through movement, daily rituals, and even the food you're eating. We're talking about all the tools that support the lymphatic system, how to approach getting a lymphatic massage and how often you should be enjoying one, to restructuring what and how you're experiencing life, the exercises you're doing, the food you're eating, do you really love your choices, or are you just doing it because you think it's supposed to be healthy for you? And how is that actually affecting your lymphatic system? And we're just learning from Lisa as well, who has an extremely impressive background in the health, wellness, and spiritual space. So she has been working on and with the lymphatic system for 33 years, but she's also spent a lifetime of studying from holistic healers around the world. So if you're looking for an expert to learn from, Lisa is it. And she offers and teaches and supports healing and using the lymphatic system as a tool for healing in a variety of ways that are approachable for you. Whether it's going to get a hands-on massage, doing hands-on massage at home, learning the different machines and tools that you can add into your life that can support the lymphatic system. She has such a great approach in meeting you where you are and making sure your body gets the support it needs. She's a great tool and resource if this is the next step in your health and wellness evolution. Without further ado, here's my conversation with Lisa. Enjoy. Hi, Lisa. Welcome to the High Vibration Living Podcast. Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy to be here with you today. I am too. You, like I was sharing, a wealth of wisdom beyond lymphatic therapy. I think what makes you a great teacher is the life lessons that you have gained. And you've really spent a lifetime studying the physical, emotional, spiritual, mental bodies, all the layers of us, from our mind to our toes, uh, which helps people I think better understand why the lymph, the flow within their body is so important. Thank you. Yes.
SPEAKER_02I I really do think that I've done a lot of therapy, different types of therapy, talk therapy, body therapy. And I really do find that you you really need to integrate talk therapy with the physical somatic um therapy to move through whatever we don't even realize we're holding in our body. And and and yes, the spiritual philosophical elements as well, that is beyond our understanding sometimes.
SPEAKER_00Yes. And what I wanted to share with you was when I first discovered lymphatic therapy, it was about 10, 12 years ago. And I had thought I'd done everything at the time: talk therapy, change my diet, cooking from scratch, seasonal Whole Foods, going to the sauna, working out, uh, having energy sessions, like doing all the things. And I was still having massive issues with inflammation in my body. And it was a colon hydrotherapist that I went to who was also a nurse who said to me, You need to go and get a lymphatic massage. You need to drain that stuff out of you. And when I started going to lymphatic massage, I decided to go all in. I knew there was stuff that I couldn't see that needed to get out. So I went once a week to turn on my lymph system and get it moving to get it pumping. And I couldn't lay on the table without feeling like I was gonna throw up. That's how much stuff was in me, whether it was emotional, whether it was chemical, who knows? But getting lymphatic massage was the worst hour, hour and a half. No, it made me so sick. And now, now I just pass out. Now I love it. But it took me a solid like over a year to be able to get lymphatic massage and enjoy it because that's how much gunk had accumulated and that needed to get out. That having the massage was stirring up so much that I was kind of getting a little sick. Have you ever heard that from clients before?
SPEAKER_02And you know, it's interesting because I often do have clients that come to me that have similar stories as you, that they have tried everything and they have a good diet and they exercise and they get good sleep, or you know, maybe they're constipated, maybe they aren't, but they've tried everything and nothing, and there's something missing. And that's often when they find me, which I always love because I, you know, I always I have been saying for decades that, you know, lymphatic health, I want it to, and it's getting there, I want it to become as common as cardiovascular health. You know, it wasn't until, you know, the 60s and 70s that they they started to say, oh, heart attacks, cardiovascular health. That's how you can really focus on helping your cardiovascular system. And it's the same thing with lymphatic health. There's so much that has been unknown about it really for centuries that we're just now starting to understand. And there's so much more we don't understand about how it interacts with the neurodegenerative diseases in the brain and that gut brain health access. But what we do know as practitioners, when people are lying on the on our table, is people are having health breakthroughs that they haven't had with other types of you know modalities, be it chiropractor, acupuncture, body work, which I'm a fan of everything. I'm just saying lymph work is one of the tools to add into your health toolbox in addition to healthy eating saunas, etc. So often what I will say to somebody is when they first come in and you know, when they're leaving, is this can you can have a couple different reactions. You can feel light and great and energized. You could feel like a truck hit you and you have to take a nap. Or some people do feel nauseous. Typically, when people come to me, they don't get that sick because the first time I see them, I titrate like how much I'm working, depending on what I'm feeling. Because I really don't want somebody to feel that sick right away. I want and it and often I work with cancer patients who are sometimes in the midst of chemo. So I definitely don't want them to feel worse. I want them to feel like you are draining at a pace that your body can support. And as we continue on a regimen, it accelerates that detoxification process, which can be challenging for people emotionally and physically.
SPEAKER_00That's a really good point because when you're working with the lymph system, it's not just the physical body, there's so much emotion in it that we can't see and we don't understand, we may not ever understand. Um, but that seems to be what's really interesting about the lymph system. And what I found too was I was spending so much time focused on the food, focused on cleansing, focused on colonics, focused on healing my body, but it was hard, like the hard way. And lymph is so gentle. I love it. And it's so gentle, it makes you think, you know, am I doing this work? This is so easy and soft on me. And it's such a reminder that um healing and taking care of ourselves can be soft and gentle. It doesn't have to be like a physical hard workout.
SPEAKER_02That's why I love it, and that's why I'm drawn to it, is I am not a type A better, faster, harder, more. You know, I mean, I'm driven, but I'm not driven to the point of overdoing my body or overdoing things. Like I that's what I love about it. It's let's relax, let's take it easy, and and that's what the turtle wins the race, right? And it can support you at all stages of your life, from you know, when you're very, very young going through things to you're on the way out the door and you're in hospice, right? Like, and when you're in your 20s and 30s and you've got so much energy to maybe now you're in menopause and your body is different, and that is a whole nother way to support your body. And I just love that lymph work can meet people where they are.
SPEAKER_00So true, and it's safe for all ages. That's a really great point. I actually have quite a list of questions that I have for you because you I really deem you as one of the experts when it comes to the lymph system. And I want to go maybe a little deeper, ask you some questions that maybe you know, other podcast hosts have not asked you. Um, so feel free at any time to just add in information that you think our our listener may be curious about. You can go as deep as you'd like to go. Um, but I I'm curious about what you think the root of stagnation is. So, right, because what drew me to lymphatic therapy was also the physical, physically seeing stagnation for me on my body. And that was particularly my armpits. I could see that I was holding inflammation. So clearly there was stagnation there. Um, I'd love to know what you have seen as like the root cause of stagnation in people's body when it comes to the lymph.
SPEAKER_02That's a great question. You know, I have a quick question for you. Do you have the do you know if you have the MTHFR gene? You don't know. You don't know. Okay, yeah, I don't. And the reason why I'm asking you this is what I find is everybody is different. Right? Everybody's an individual and they're coming in with a different um medical history, really. Physically and spiritual history. And so often, even on Instagram, when we're looking at different people doing lymph stuff now, which you know wasn't when I first started, you know, however many, I don't know, might be 30 something years ago now when I first started. Um, so it's not a one size fits all. We really have to look at the individual. What I wonder about with you is the MTHFR gene is a gene that um assists the body's natural detoxification process. And about, you know, 50% of people have the MTHFR gene, which makes it more difficult for the body to um uh detoxify. So I wonder about that with you because of some of the things you've just sort of been telling me you've tried all these other things and you're you know you're still experiencing stagnation in very specific places. Um so for you, I would say, okay, you know, I would go back to like maybe your childhood, or maybe some if you were an athlete, I would I would sort of do a deeper dive with you about some of your childhood. You know, I get people who say that, you know, they're from the East Coast and they had a tick bite, or I have some people they've been living in the cold and the damp, or some people were very sickly. Um, so stagnation, the root of stagnation, I find, manifests very differently. Um there are certain themes for sure with people. Um some people who are very arthritic in their limbs have a very different situation than some women who are stagnant in the breast tissue and the arms. I might ask somebody about their birth control history. I might ask somebody about um, you know, their the way their menstruation, etc. So different people manifest and hold stagnation in the body very differently, if especially also around the gut. So many people I'll ask them, oh, how's your digestion? They're like, it's great. And I say, Do you are you constipated? And they're like, no, I go to the bathroom all the time. I take and they start listing all the things that they are taking in order to go to the bathroom. And they have a childhood history of constipation. I'm like, okay, so you have a history of constipation. You might not be having that now. Same thing with sleep. So many people needed a sleep aid, right? So I this is a longer-winded story about what is the root, but I would say the root really is different for everybody because when you think about yourself, you you've you've done you started doing all the things I would want someone to do, which is cleaning up their diet and exercising. Um and then we would talk about maybe some of the emotional stuff going on, right? Where are you in your life? Where's you know, how is self-love? How is physical love? You know, do you want partnership? Do you not want partnership? How's your partnership with yourself, with your family? What is your work stress? Where are the toxic holes that seep into your body that can root stagnation in vulnerable areas, whether that's in somebody's knees or their head or their stomach or their armpits? Does that answer that question in a non-answering kind of way?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, you really have to kind of take a look at your life and see where you may have billed that toxic clutter. And it could be physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental. I've always thought it was because of the massive amounts of sunscreen that was lathered on me, processed chemical lotions, and then swimming in chlorine pools. And that it just got to a buildup on my body where it couldn't handle it anymore. And there was just so much I couldn't get it out fast enough.
SPEAKER_02And and the fascinating thing is why is it that your body can't handle it, but other bodies can?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. So why, you know, essentially I could look at my brother or my parents or cousins, and they probably had the same amount lathered on them, and they aren't holding it there.
SPEAKER_02I mean, I always definitely tell people let's get rid of, you know, the beauty products that go on our skin that are overwhelming the lymph system and including deodorant. Like I don't wear deodorant. I I I don't either because I try to tell, you know, it's right in the axillary, you know, nose. Like you don't need it. Um, so yeah, so I look at that like where why is it that for you you're more sensitive? But one of the things I love is the answer is okay, let's do more lymph work. Great, that's fun.
SPEAKER_00So I would love to know your thoughts on the vibration plate trend. I notice that I can get on a vape vibration plate for 10 minutes and I didn't even see inflammation in my face. And when I get off, I notice a huge difference just, you know, from my forehead to my chin. What have you seen in recommending vibration plates to clients or how that supported just their overall journey with improving their?
SPEAKER_02My friend Rachel, she started Plate Fit, which is a vibration plate exercise studio here in Los Angeles, and she also has a whole online studio. And there are so many people who for whom vibration plates are fantastic for them. Um, but just like not everybody's an individual, for some people, it is too intense for their nervous system. Um, you know, it's listen, it's sort of like not everyone's a runner, you know, not everyone is gonna go to like a really intense workout. Um so there have been people where similar to how you said it was, you know, when you first did lymph work, it was it was too intense for you at first, so too much detoxification. So one of the things I love about the lymphatic system is, and one of the reasons why lymph work is more gentle is because physio physiologically, the lymph system moves slowly. It moves those, the lymph vessels and capillaries, they pump lymph fluid about six to twelve times per minute. It is a slow undulating rhythm. When we're doing lymph massage, we want to stay in that rhythm so those vessels don't spasm and stay open or closed, which can just sort of inhibit lymph flow. Um and you know, it's not gonna hurt you for going to, you know, there's there are some people, certainly the um the South American Brazilian lymph work, they combine it with that deep tissue sculpting. Whereas um Dr. Voder lymph work, which is what I've studied, is is just has a more medical um spin where they're really working with that that real scientific physiology of going slowly with the lymph system. So if you do work a little bit too deeper, you can cause a temporary halt of um the automotoricity of the lymph system, but that isn't necessarily for everyone. So for you, it's it works and it is a quicker acceleration of more than lymph for you and your cardiovascular system and everything's pumping. But for some people who have lymph overwhelm, it can be too much for their nervous system. So I don't always say it's for everybody, but I do say it can be for a lot of people. I don't, I rarely am gonna say everything is for everyone, including the whole ice bath. That, you know, listen, similarly with ice bath, listen, I work with people who have had cancer who are at risk of getting or have lymphedema, which is what can happen after they've removed lymph nodes, and that fluid that doesn't escape because it's trying to get to the an area where there is really a damaged lymph system because they've removed lymph nodes, they can't apply cold, cold, cold or hot, hot, hot bit because it can, like I said, it can sort of make the matters worse because of the movement of lymph isn't it's too much. It it can really spasm those vessels. You know, everyone is jumping on the ice bath bandwagon. It's not for everyone.
SPEAKER_00A quick pause to share something I truly use and love. I'm Chef Whitney Arena. And as a personal chef, I began sharing my Starseed Kitchen organic spice blends with private clients when I couldn't find high-quality seasonings that met my standards for their meal prep. My clients are people who care deeply about what goes into their food and how it makes them feel, just like you. Every Starseed Kitchen blend is made with the highest quality organic spices with no added sugar, no MSG, no anti-caking agents, and no fillers. Just clean, real ingredients that support your body and elevate your cooking. Two of my most loved blends are 11 Magic Girls Spices, a go-to everyday seasoning that works on just about everything, and Starseep Kitchen Adobo, a light, bright, anti-inflammatory blend designed for modern, health supportive cooking. Every jar is prepared with intention, charged with kundalini mantras, quartz pizza crystals, and blessed by a shaman. Because spices and the food you prepare with them are not just nourishment, they're a transfer of energy. You can find Starcy Kitchen Spices at all Erawan locations or online at starseekitchen.com. Use code Starseed for 10% off your online order. Now let's get back to the conversation. I actually only like using the um the ice baths for my legs or for my hands and arms when I've overworked myself as a chef, but putting my whole body in is not for me. So spot treatment is great because it does what it's designed to do. But the whole physical body going in is not right for me. It's overwhelming to my nervous system at this point. I'm just at a place in my life where I just need like calm and peace.
SPEAKER_02And what I really want people to get is understanding who they are, understanding what their body needs, how that can change as we age. And listening to that instead of listening to someone you see on TikTok saying everybody should be doing X, Y, Z.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. We're just not made up that way. And we're all at different stages in our lives. So it's always changing. Yeah. It's wild. As soon as you find your routine, your body says, Nope, I'm so glad you're enjoying that schedule, but we need to change it. And you're just like, I can't even believe this game. This is so frustrating. Truly, like life is a testament to learning how to be flexible. How does you you talked on this a little bit? How is our lymph system affecting our gut health? How are they connected? How are you seeing that come up with clients?
SPEAKER_02So essentially, your lymph vessels, the the lymph vasculature runs like rivers all throughout your body, similar to the way the cardiovascular system runs all the blood capillaries and the blood vessels. You have a lymph vasculature similar. So it goes all throughout the body. And where it kind of, you know, snakes through the gut is really fascinating. I have this image. Are we, are we, is, are we sort of like Yeah, this will be on YouTube as well. Yeah. So I love showing this image. I don't know why this particular picture doesn't have all the lymph vessels on on both sides, but you have lymph vessels on both sides. I think they just wanted you to see what's going on. So you have a lot of lymph nodes, lymph vessels that line the gut. The lymph vessels in the small intestine are called lacteals. They're the first line of defense against foodborne illness. And what they are also doing is they're absorbing excess fat, fatty acids, that take excess hormones and fat from the gut. They move it up into the cisternachile, which is this sac right there where that where, and that's when your lymph system, which is kind of known to be a milky white in color, that takes, it gets that milky white in color at the cisternachile where it absorbs that fat or becomes milky white. And then it takes fluid from the lower half of your body up the largest lymph vessel, the thoracic duct, where it goes back into your bloodstream at the heart. So there's a lot going on in the gut. It is taking excess fat, it's taking hormones, it's taking so much, um, and it's providing a big part of your immune system. So most people, at least when I first started studying 30 years ago, 30 to years ago, no one was really massaging the abdomen. But my teacher was, and and now you see it a lot on on Instagram and TikTok, people are massaging the gut to get, you know, thinner or faster red carpet ready, which it can do. So I'm not saying it doesn't. It's one of like, you know, it's one of our um, it's one of the things people are attracted to about this work, including myself. Um, but what is what is going on there as well is not only are we reducing inflammation, reducing bloating, physiologically, we are also encouraging the motility, the peristalsis of your internal organs in the abdomen. I always love to say, like people love getting their arms and their legs massaged, I do too. You can live without a limb, but most of your vital organs are in that, or in your abdomen or in your gut, right? So they, similar to muscles that get tight, we hold a lot of physical tension, emotional tension in the abdomen. And so those vital organs, they can get stressed and not absorbed, secrete, do their job properly. So when we're massaging the abdomen, it's so layered. No one's really touching you in your abdomen except your mother or your lover, right? First, getting people used to having that area, which is very vulnerable, touched because people we always judge our own guts, and then getting into the physiology of this is really important for your gut health to allow those organs to have space to do their work. Like I have so many people come to me that are like six caps or toned in their stomach, and I'm like, okay, but this is it's great to have muscle tone, but I also want softness so that you have can encourage that digestive fire. You can encourage that, you know, your vagus system, which is responsible for your nervous system, also has residency in the gut. How can we really benefit your sleep, benefit digestion, benefits your skin health by working in the gut as well as emotionally? So that's a lot of the joy for me of working in the gut. It's like my favorite thing being in the gut.
SPEAKER_00Should we be preparing our bodies before we go for a lymphatic massage?
SPEAKER_02Great question. Um, I mean, ideally, yes. So I always love to sort of say, you want to prepare before and after, right? Like you said you felt terrible after, right? So I'm not really looking for somebody to come right from me and then go to a dinner party where you're drinking a lot of alcohol.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Ideally, you're not going back to your corporate job right after a lymph massage, right? Like go somewhere and chill out, you know. That's what I love for somebody to do. And yes, before you come to me, like hopefully you're not eating fried chicken or having a cheeseburger, you know? So, but if you have, we can still work with that. So, you know, I take people anytime they want to come.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. I definitely suggest not eating an hour to two hours before your lymphatic massage. Like it's too much. What is your recommendation for people who are gonna do lymphatic massage? How often they should they be doing it to get a particular result.
SPEAKER_02So whenever somebody comes to me, if it's their first time, you know, we we I I sort of feel what's good, they're telling me what's going on. Maybe they're coming in because they want to work on something, or maybe they're coming in just because they've heard it'll be good for them and they don't know what how what their lymph system health is at the moment. So I'm assessing that the whole time I'm working, and then I give them an ideal schedule, and okay, financially, or you know, you might not have the time to come as often as you want, but if you're working on a specific goal, in the beginning I'd love to see someone once a week or once every two weeks for a period of time that we sort of assess and we see how they do. And then I'll say, and then we queel back to like once a month. And then sometimes the system's so good, it's like, okay, I I can see you once every two months. Do I have clients I see once a week? Yes. Do I have clients I see once every other week? Yes. Once every three weeks. Often it depends on what they can do and what they're working on. So I'm always wanting somebody on a maintenance plan. Um, and the least amount of time I want them coming is once a quarter.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, because you have to keep the channels open and move.
SPEAKER_02You want to encourage that flow, right? Like your lymph system depends on muscle movement to move it, but you are a perfect example of someone who was exercising, you were eating healthy, you were doing all those things that we would say these are the things you could do to support your limb system when you're not with me, and still you experience stagnation. So you could do all those things and still your body needs the work more than you know, other people could potentially.
SPEAKER_00Do you still take one-on-one clients?
SPEAKER_02I mean, I shouldn't say this on your podcast, but I'm gonna say it. I do if they are referred from from somebody from a client, you know. I'm not taking new people that I don't know.
SPEAKER_00I understand. You've earned being at that level, absolutely. Well, because there comes a time with every physical hands-on practice. For me, you know, I'm a personal chef. For you, it's lymphatic massage. Like anybody that works with their hands, there comes a time where you have to limit the amount of people that you can physically work with.
SPEAKER_02Yes, and there's a limit to how many, you know, I also have my online work that I do where I teach online. So um I teach people how to do lymphatic silk massage because when I first started this work, there were not a lot of practitioners working the way that I work. Um, and there still aren't, quite frankly. There, you know, everybody sort of studied through somebody else, and um, I haven't necessarily found the lymphatic practitioner that I want to work with. Um, so I work on myself. That's why I started doing lymphatic self-massage techniques, and so I wrote a book about it and I teach those courses online. So I I spend a lot of time in that, and in the fall, I'm gonna start teaching in person. So there's so the the way I sort of work with clients in person versus online, you know, you save a lot of time for the different pockets, and I'm a mom and I'm a wife, and and I want to save time for my family and my friends and as well.
SPEAKER_00If the listener wants to approach doing the hands-on personal lymphatic massage, how much time should they be setting aside every day to do it? Does it need 15 minutes? Do they need more than that?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so listen, the way to do lymphatic self-massage is you want to stay light and you want to stay superficial. That's how you're gonna feel great afterwards instead of feeling like you don't want ideally you don't want to detox too fast. And the way to not detoxify too fast is to lighten your touch and slow down. So when you're first learning it, a lot of people just they go too hard and too fast because they want to do it right. But to do it right, you gotta slow down. So in the beginning, it might take you 15 to 20 minutes to learn it, and then five minutes. I'll sit in my car and I'll massage my armpits for three minutes, five minutes. In the morning, sometimes I have time to do my face massage slower, but a lot of times I'll just get out my vibration wand and I'll just do it real quick. Yeah. Oh, that's what I forgot to say about vibration. I'm really in love with the vibration wand at the moment. It's really helping me depuff in the morning. I'll do my self-massage with my hands to start, and then I'll just get in there with my wand, and that's where I love vibration at the moment.
SPEAKER_00I love that. Yeah, because that's you do hit a certain age where suddenly your face starts to swell up in the morning and you don't know why. I want to take a moment to share how Team Starseed Kitchen can support you beyond the podcast. I'm chef Whitney Aronoff, founder of Team Starseed Kitchen, my personal chef and custom meal prep service. This is for people who want to eat well, feel better, and be supportive of nourishing food without the stress of planning, shopping, or cooking. Through Team Starseed Kitchen, I work with a trusted team of health-supportive chefs who prepare fully customized meals based on your needs, preferences, and lifestyle. Whether you're focused on clean eating, hormone balance, digestion, energy, or simply having high-quality food ready for your week, we meet you where you are. All meals are made with real, full ingredients, no seed oils, no refined sugar, and no shortcuts. Just thoughtfully prepared food designed to support your body and make your life easier. This service is deeply personal. It's about having food in your fridge that you can trust. Food that supports your health, saves you time, and helps you feel grounded and cared for. If you're ready for consistent nourishing meals made just for you, you can learn more about our service and apply to work with us on starseatkitchen.com or follow the link in the show notes. We have chefs ready and available across the country, and we so look forward to nourishing you. Now let's return to the episode. All right, Lisa, let me ask you some rapid-fire questions while we wrap up here. What is your favorite superfood? Probably fish.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I love that protein, amino acids.
SPEAKER_00I would probably say fish. What's one of the most underrated food people should be eating for their health?
SPEAKER_02I mean, protein again. Um, but ooh, that'd probably be a toss up between greens and like beets, because like the beets and the purple staining flowers are great for the lymph and the blood, but greens are also great, the roughage for your gut. So, you know, I'd probably it'd be sort of like a trio, those three.
SPEAKER_00And then what's one food everyone should avoid?
SPEAKER_02I am not a fan of chicken, honestly. I'm not a fan of chicken. I avoid chicken. Um, I shouldn't say everyone, because I know a lot of people love it and they think it's healthy, but um, I think it's really hard to source good chicken and corn, I think is also not great. Those are my two really try to avoid those too.
SPEAKER_00I know people I understand. It's okay. I know where that's coming from, trust me. Yeah, I know where that research is coming from, so I totally understand.
SPEAKER_02Listen, uh I'm also I'm also a fan of the eat right for your blood type diet.
SPEAKER_01Me too. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Listen, some people can eat chicken, but you know, it's an avoid for me. And I just there's like, I just don't, yeah, I avoid chicken. I mean, obviously pork, I'm not, I mean, unless it's bacon. I'm not a big fan of pork, but um, yeah, those are kind of, I mean, those are my avoids.
SPEAKER_00It's okay. We have very similar food philosophies. I'm a B positive blood type, so I'm not supposed to have chicken either. And pork is super hard in on the digestive system. Um, it's you know, and you what's the point of eating food if if your body can't digest it?
SPEAKER_02So you know the other thing that when you said what uh people should be doing more of, I would say cucumber lemon water. Great for the skin.
SPEAKER_00Ooh, very lovely. Um, and I mean spring and summer is a perfect time of year for that too. Um, what's one supplement that everyone should consider adding into their lives?
SPEAKER_02Well, again, I'm not an everyone kind of answerer. Um and and honestly, I'm not a big supplement person. Like I really am not. Um, I am not on any supplement regularly. Good for you. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I mean, maybe I ought to be, but I get my lab work and I'm not like, okay, you know, it's not like, you know, I have got my vitamin D is fine. Um, so I go through phases. So right now I'm actually doing a lot more electrolytes with a little bit of collagen powder from a company called Ancient Brave that I really like. Um, I'm not taking a um, what is the thing you do for you? Um I don't take a prebot probiotic off often. I really don't. I'm not, it's not something I do all the time. I take vitamin C when I need to. I don't take it all the time. I don't need vitamin D, so I'm not taking that. Um, so again, it's not an everything for everyone. I think I I actually work with a lot of people with gut issues who take way too many supplements. And they are taking like they have like a pill bowl. And I'm like, no wonder why your gut is upset. And then everybody tells them once they're off of it, they're fine. So I'm just not a supplement all the time for everyone person.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. What is one health habit you've added into your life this year that's really working for you?
SPEAKER_02I would say two things. One, I've been doing Pilates this year more consistently than I ever have. I I'm a I'm a yoga teacher. I've been doing yoga since I'm 16. I love yoga, and I was always like anti-Pilates, and I started doing it this year, and I feel so strong, so that feels good. And we have a hot tub now, so I am hot tubbing a lot, and that has just been a those two things have been a game changer for me.
SPEAKER_00What's one food trend you think is wrong or people shouldn't avoid? Probably avocado.
SPEAKER_02Probably avocado. Um listen, I love avocado. Avocados are amazing. Um, but I but I will tell you, I've had some people who they've told me they've said you have they've again gut issues, etc. And they're like, what is wrong? How do I get to the bottom of this? And I'm like, tell me what you're eating. And they're eating either too many nuts or too many avocados, and they're getting bloated right after. So I don't think I think avocado in like everything in moderation.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and for those that are bee blood types, again, it's another thing on the list that don't technically work with our bodies, chicken and avocado. Right. Same with I'm A B and corn. Yeah. You're literally naming all the things that don't work for bee blood type diets. It's really funny. But like ancestrally, you know, bee blood types are from Europe and northern Europe, where there is technically there's not supposed to be corn. They weren't eating chicken, they were eating wild game, um, and there were no avocado trees. So it all makes perfect sense. Why would I eat food that isn't from the land I'm from?
SPEAKER_02Right? I love how knowledgeable you are. I don't meet a lot of people that are as knowledgeable about the eat right for your blood type diet. So it's a diet that I have been sort of following since I'm in my early 20s and now I'm in my mid-50s. So, you know, 30 years of going back and forth, and my husband really he got into it and it helped. Once he did the E Riot Fear Blood type diet, he wasn't waking up congested anymore. He didn't need a nap when he got home from work. So he really notices a big difference. And again, it's not something you have to stick to all the time, and it's so interesting as a personal chef. I'm so curious for you. Like, you can't really force that upon other people. But I had a client um years ago, he's a billionaire, um, famous guy, and he was taking blood pressure medicine, and then he started doing the Eat Right for Your Blood type diet. His doctor told him to do it, and he got off um blood pressure medicine. So, you know, I listen, it's I'm not saying don't ever have an avocado, I'm just saying, you know, or don't ever have certain things, but just watch how you feel. How do you feel? Not everything is like a super food if it doesn't work for how your body breaks it down.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. And, you know, it's trial and error. Like you have to try it to know if it actually works for you. And so when I do have uh personal chef clients that are complaining about their health, their weight, their digestion, I always ask them what their blood type is. Awesome. And then that allows me to see well, have they been focusing on foods that actually traditionally don't work for them? And I I'm so knowledgeable about it because the interesting thing is when I started having gut issues in my 20s, the first thing I did was look at ancestry, was look at, okay, what's my bloodline? And am I eating my people's foods? Like maybe that's the issue. And so that's what I first approached. And then, you know, I'm from California, but I moved to the East Coast for probably six and a half years. And when I lived on the East Coast, I refused to eat avocado because it's not from there.
SPEAKER_02Interesting.
SPEAKER_00So why was I gonna first of all go and buy a $5 avocado that's shipped from California and Mexico? That like that makes no sense. It's not in season here. It's not from here. Um so when I chose to live on the East Coast, I just naturally dropped eating things that weren't from the East Coast. Like it didn't make sense. And my health thrived when I lived on the East Coast. Wow. Uh, I thought the produce was amazing, but I just I kind of fell into what I do now naturally. I just ate the food from where I was living.
SPEAKER_02And that, and that I think is the food trend that to promote is right, like what is that locally sourced, what is in the season, you know. Like I think that is a beautiful way to approach how we eat.
SPEAKER_00It's so easy. The only one that is hard is removing chicken and finding a protein to supplement with because it's hard to find good quality turkey. Um, and turkey is so seasonal, you can really only get it um around Thanksgiving in the fall and winter.
SPEAKER_02You can get it all the time.
SPEAKER_00Well, yes, but it's it's only harvested at one time of year.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00And and yes, you can go to the grocery store and buy it all the time. But if you wanted to buy it from farms to get a better quality, they're only selling it seasonally.
SPEAKER_02Got it, got it, got it, got it, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then you go down the train of learning when different proteins are in season, and then you're like Well, I mean, there's only and then you talk about like, you know, you were asking me, I can't remember what the first question you asked me, and I my answer was fish, that you know, I Then you have your all these other issues about you know all the mercury and the fish. So listen, I always also try to tell people like let's let's do the best we can and try not to stress about the stress. Totally.
SPEAKER_00I I say the same thing. You can't you just gotta pick and choose your battles and trust your gut. And um, and the other line I always use for myself, it's not for forever, it's just for right now. Um, and so like that I find always helps me if I'm having to edit or change things in my diet or my lifestyle or my practices. We can do anything for a short period of time, um, and then decide if we want to make it a habit or a part of our lifestyle or or let it go. I love that. All right, one last rapid fire question for you coffee or tea?
SPEAKER_02Both coffee in the morning, tea in the evening. An herbal tea? You know what? I'm gonna, I know I'm gonna sound so crazy, but um no, I really drink caffeine tea right before I go to bed. Everybody thinks I was so crazy. But I just you're so lucky. I know I have one of those constitutions where I could drink, you know, caffeinated tea right before I go to bed and have a good night's sleep. I can drink coffee after dinner and it won't keep me up. Like I just I just have that constitution. Like I can have two cups of coffee in the morning and I, you know, I'm not jittery. Like that's just I'm like coffee, you know. Like I'm around a constitution is I'm very earthy. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00My dad can order a shot of espresso after dinner and just have two sips, and he gets to use it as a digestive aid. And I'm so envious because I cannot. That's me, that's me.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, coffee always in the morning. I'm like, I love coffee so much, and you know, I'm a big green tea fan in the middle of the day, but I will have a cup of caffeine before I mean I like herbal tea, but mint really is the only one I really love. Um, but yeah, I'm a big caffeine girl.
SPEAKER_00I love that. Well, last question then. If someone listening wants to improve their health through food or lymphatic work, what is maybe one change you can suggest that they make?
SPEAKER_02Great question. So I think I would have them sort of look holistically at their lifestyle. Like it's more than just one thing. I might have them look at, they might feel like they are eating healthy. Um, I might ask them, are they doing a movement they enjoy? Um you know, like it doesn't have to be a a movement that you hate. I want it to be a movement that brings you joy. I want to know, I would say, look at your um again back to the like what is the stress in your relationships? Is it in your family? Is it in your workplace? Like, is there a place you can cut out some of the toxic um things in your orbit? Um, and then I would say, and and start a lymph practice. Learn. I teach online, I have downloadable mini courses you can learn. I have a book that I wrote. Just start to like listen to your body what it needs. I mean, so many people are not used to touching their own breasts or their armpits, they're not used to touching their belly or touching their face. Like, just start touching yourself and learning how to do the lymphatic, doing it the lymphatic way and just see how much more open you feel.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Well, Lisa, thank you so much for for taking the time to chat with me today. Where can people keep you know connecting with you and learning from you?
SPEAKER_02Yes, thanks for having me. I like want to make you my new like bestie. So we're gonna have to meet up in real life. We're not that far from each other. Please. Yes. Um, I am on Instagram at the lymphatic message, my website, thelymphaticmessage.com. I have, like I said, a digital library of courses people can take. And I will be doing a live training in the fall that's not just for massage practitioners or aestheticians. It's really for anyone who wants to learn how to work with another body, because this work can really be beneficial if you have children, for your friends, for your lovers, or even for a parent who might be experiencing health issues. Lymphatic work is really light and supportive for people who are going through all kinds of things.
SPEAKER_00It is such a great tool for just one person in the family to have. That's perfectly said. Um, I know in my family, oh, we share a lot of our tools. So my dad will stop by, my brother will stop by, we'll, you know, share. Um, we have the compression bags. So if somebody needs someone, they'll use the compression bags. I have the foot detox machine, someone will stop by for that. We have the vibration plate, we have cupping. Like we share our tools, and you know, everyone stops by when they need support. So when different family members can pick up these different holistic skills, everybody wins. And we stop outsourcing our health to, you know, an hour and a half drive away. Yes. Um, it becomes more community, more supported. And I really just hope these we all start to pick up more of these skills because they're they're life skills for ourselves, but for our loved ones and maybe even our loved ones that we haven't met yet. Yes. Um it's just so important. And, you know, hopefully we move into a time where these start to become the skills that we learn when we're in high school and college. Um, because I would have loved to have learned them earlier in life.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Yeah. In fact, it's funny, my kids at their school, when when I went to back to school night to learn about what they were teaching, and they're like, oh, we're teaching about the cardiovascular system or the this system or the digestive system. I'm like, what about the lymph? And they're like, well, you don't know anything. Do you want to come in and teach it? And I'm like, yeah. So I've done that at my kids' schools, like elementary to like the high school, like AP biology class. I'm like, you guys should know this.
SPEAKER_00They are so lucky that they're getting you coming to teach that. Like, what a score. They have no idea.
SPEAKER_02Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed our chat today.
SPEAKER_00Such a pleasure. So nice to have connected. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the High Vibration Living Podcast. If you enjoyed today's conversation, I'd love for you to leave a five-star rating and a written review wherever you're listening. It truly helps this podcast reach more people who are looking for this kind of support. And if something resonated with you, please pay it forward and share this episode with a friend or loved one who could benefit from it. To learn more about Starseed Kitchen in my organic spice blends, you can visit starseedkitchen.com. You can also follow along with me on social media at Whitney Aronoff, where I share recipes, behind the scenes, chef life, and everyday inspiration. You can also follow Starseed Kitchen and Team Starseed Kitchen on Instagram as well. Thanks again for being here, wishing you nourishment, balance, and a vibrant life experience. I'll see you in the next episode. Cheers.