Episode 15 Healing through Bioenergetic Health Practices with Nick Loffree

The Holistic Counseling Podcast

Have you heard of qigong? What are some important lessons that you can learn from Chinese medicine? Are there benefits to adding embodied healing into talk therapy?

MEET NICK LOFFREE

Nick Loffree teaches Bioenergetic health practices - Using Qigong, biohacking, functional training, and dietary therapy to bring people to their highest potential. Nick started on this path while healing from paranoid psychosis and chronic skin and gut disease that began in adolescence.

He now helps thousands of people around the world to achieve optimal health through his videos, coaching, workshops, and programs. Find Nick on Youtube or head to his website Nickloffree.com for more.

Visit his website. Connect on Instagram, Facebook and subscribe to his YouTube channel.

Access Nick's online courses here.

IN THIS PODCAST:

• Lessons from Chinese medicine
• Nick’s experience with Qigong healing mental health
• Benefits of qigong in counseling
• Advice to listeners starting their holistic journey

LESSONS FROM CHINESE MEDICINE

The underlying philosophy of Chinese medicine is that the notion of chi, life energy, is supporting the body’s structures. There’s a balance between structure and energy so when you have good structure, say in Qigong [pronounced chi-gong], you have good posture or in diet, giving your body the right building blocks, then those structures support the flow of energy and when that energy is flowing, it supports the structures of the body in maintaining themselves. (Nick Loffree)

Alongside the philosophy of good posture and a healthy diet to provide good energy flow and building blocks for the body, there are other lessons we can learn from Chinese medicine:

• The idea that stress is a “natural” part of being in a high-energy process is not found in Chinese medicine.
• In Chinese medicine, stress gives you a temporary boost of energy that ultimately depletes your energy over time, causing you to crash or become fatigued far quicker.
• If you have low stress, you are able to better manage your energy consumption over time: you can think more clearly, your emotions are stable and everything you do becomes more efficient.

NICK'S EXPERIENCE WITH QIGONG HEALING MENTAL HEALTH

It’s amazing how much control we have. I could basically choose whether I want to be depressed, anxious, or even full-blown paranoid psychotic, or go to the total other end and feel totally blissful, loads of energy, relaxed, happy, and you can really choose that based on just lifestyle stuff, based on just how you move, how you breathe, how you organize your life, what you are eating. You can go from one end of the spectrum to completely the other just based on your actions. (Nick Loffree)

Using the philosophy and principles from Chinese medicine, yoga, and other lifestyle changes, Nick was able to completely turn around where he was years ago and create a life that gave him energy and health.

Once we come to understand how our bodies work, and how we can serve them correctly and adequately, we can biohack our way into heath and wholeness because by taking care of our mind, health, diet, and body we are able to build the foundational blocks we need to create a life that brings us joy and possibility.

BENEFITS OF QIGONG IN COUNSELING

Talk-based therapy is good and helpful to patients who need to mentally and verbally process their experiences, however, when therapists can incorporate body-based wellness and healing into counseling, it opens up more holistic and wholesome healing possibilities for the patient.

Providing physical cues and physical healing practices to help patients “reset” on their own provides them with agency, and empowers them, by bringing their actions into their own healing.

ADVICE TO LISTENERS STARTING THEIR HOLISTIC JOURNEY

Start small. Pick one or two things that you would like to add to your life and start slow and small.

It can get confusing, especially finding the nutritional balance in your diet that suits your body best. If you need any nutritional advice, Nick recommends cutting out poly-unsaturated fatty acids such as canola and sunflower oil.

Use coconut oil, olive oil, and butter as alternatives – not all animal fats are good for you.

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Resources Mentioned And Useful Links:

• Live Consultation with Jadi Fergen
• Practice of the Practice Podcast Network