Dr. Sheila Dyer, ND

09/05/2023

Happy Birthday to me! Sunflowers are a little bit of a birthday tradition for me. My mother gave me the sunflower painting behind me when I turned 20. A little bit older now but these flowers still make me happy. Sending out lots of love today.

06/14/2023

Helping my dad turn 75. Loving my parents ability to break norms. This is what healthy aging looks like. Keep your world big and filled with possibilities.

02/27/2023

My new Instagram account is drsheila_nd

09/26/2022

I met this beautiful plant this summer. Its name is Fringed Polygala. One of the best parts is that the common name is Gay Wings :)

03/24/2022

https://youtu.be/z3eBHmhmnhw

You can read the full article here: https://sheiladyernd.com/naturopathic-solutions-for-insulin-resistance/- - -Let’s talk about insulin resistance.If you’re...

07/23/2021

Many of us practice or have been told to practice deep conscious breathing. It might look a little like this.

Take a few deep breaths. Pay attention to the beginning, middle and end of each breath. Where do you feel it most? Upper lip, nose, chest, abdomen? Notice when you are distracted by thoughts and bring your attention back to the breath. How do you feel after deep breathing?

The above approach is perfect just the way it is.

Conscious breathing can also be used for transformation. You can use your breathing to help transform feelings, sensations or mindset.

The metaphor is as follows, the plate is conscious breathing and it is being used to hold an orange. The orange represents what you are able to transform.

An example from my own life is using conscious breathing to help me transform anxiety. I start with breathing in and out aware of my breath. I might say

"Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.
Breathing out, I know I am breathing out"

Now comes the transformation.

" Breathing in, I am aware of anxiety.
Breathing out, I am soothing anxiety"

This is the practice of using your breath as a vehicle of transformation. There are endless ways to practice. Let the simplicity carry you forward.

07/02/2021

What pride means to me. I made this video to help out a friend. Why not share it here too.

02/25/2021

The Buddhist parable of 2 arrows is about pain and the additional suffering we add to pain. The first arrow is the initial misfortune or pain. The second arrow is suffering which is optional. In other words the second arrow is how we react.

This parable has been playing out in my own life for two weeks, I have had an upper back spasm which has been quite painful. The physical pain in the back was my first arrow. At the beginning, I had all sort of second arrows. I was telling myself things like "This is taking forever to heal" "I am going to be tired all the time because me sleep is so painful" "I must be unhealthy if my back goes into spasm" "This is so annoying"

After some time, I reached for my buddhist trainings and started to only focus on the present moment reality. When I was in pain, I recognized pain. I didn't allow myself to add a story. I stoped my narrative at the feeling of pain.

I found this refusal to add more to the experience very freeing. I started the realize that the pain was only present during sleep and in the morning. That is such a small part of my overall experience. If I had allowed my self to ruminate on my back spasm, I could have filled my day with worry and complaints. In the end, I was also able to access gratitude for practicing not firing the second arrow.

In practice, I see my patients suffer from the stories they have attached to their symptoms. I wonder if you can relate?

02/19/2021

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is super trendy. I know this because my patients are all coming into my office and proudly telling me this is part of their morning routines. Most of these patients don't really know why they are doing it, but someone said it was a good thing to do.

Let's poke some holes and tell you what I see in practice. The research on ACV is lacking. Most studies are done on animals and therefore cannot be extrapolated to humans. The small human studies out there do show a small reduction of post meal blood sugar levels and weight loss. When I say weight loss, I mean 2lbs in 3-5 months.

The blood sugar reduction might be of interest, but I am aware that I have much more effective natural treatments in my arsenal.

How I prescribe ACV. I use it as a digestive aid. Sometimes a little ACV is enough to resolve bloating after eating. Why? Not too sure. It might be stomach acid stimulation or is might be mild digestive enzymes from the "mother". I like that it works for a lot of my patients and they usually have it at home already.

How? I like to say take 1tsp 15 min before you eat. Straight if you can manage it. Diluting it in water makes it less effective.

Important caveat. ACV can cause burning if you have a lot of stomach acid. If that is the case, Stop.

In a lot of digestive cases, ACV is not enough to solve the problem. ACV is a nice digestive aid to add to any cleanse, but not a silver bullet.

01/28/2021

This is a term taken from one of my favourite podcasts called On Being. The author being interviewed was Katherine May. She talked eloquently about wintering being the act of seeking rest and retreat. She talked about the power of stopping, especially in hard times. As a society we have a tendency to plow ahead, or keep busy. WIntering is about making space to feel the feels. This could be to scary for some and that is okay. Is there something you can do or add to build comfort or safety? I personally light a candle each night to help me enjoy the darkness. The gentleness of the light permeates and lets me be gentle with myself.

01/15/2021

Going on a cleanse can be so much more than a diet. I am grateful to the student intern that help me through my first cleanse. They took the time to walk me through what a truly holistic cleanse experience looks like.

When you are on a cleanse there is an opportunity to address multiple layers with the same broad concepts. Most people only think of diet and exercise, but what about emotional wellbeing, spiritual practice, social interaction, personal growth, rest/relaxation, house/environment, career. The options are endless.

My advice is to make room for rest and reflection. I personally make sure that my mediation practice and sleep routine is on point. I also make room for journaling as a form of emotional cleansing. Lastly, spending time in nature .

Don't pick too many things. It is a form of self sabotage to cleanse your whole life at once!