Ep. 9: Elena Bensonoff – Healing the Body with Quantum Medicine

0:00 – excerpt from the episode
1:28 – intro (listen to discover a little more about your host. Martin will tell you a new lesser-known fact about Dr. Maya)

02:03
Dr. Maya Novak:
We are more than just a bunch of cells. When we break down this visual and tangible armor, if you will, we get to energy. So it's no wonder that focusing only on the physical aspect of healing injuries and other physical trauma is very often not enough. Today’s guest is Elena Bensonoff who is the founder of Wholistic Inc. and a pioneer in the field of functional, regenerative, and Quantum medicine. She has been sharing her gift of healing for over 20 years. She is the author of Wholistic Wisdom: Awakening Your Inner Healer, a #1 Amazon Best Seller in Holistic Medicine. She is extensively trained in the holistic healing arts and helps people all over the world find vibrant wholeness with natural techniques. Elena, thank you so much for joining me.

02:56
Elena Bensonoff:
Hello, Maya. Thank you so much for having me here with you today.

02:59
Dr. Maya Novak:
Oh, I'm so excited. You know Elena, I already know quite a bit about you and your work, and how you help people. But for those who are not familiar with your work, could you share a bit about your story? How did you become involved in functional regenerative and quantum medicine?

03:22
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes, very happy to do that. My whole life I wanted to be in medicine and I remember as a child going by pharmacies and looking into these old world pharmacies and seeing the pharmacist mixing all kinds of things I thought were potions magical potions. I thought, that's what I'm going to do. And I grew up in a family of medical providers. Dentists, pediatricians, OBGYNs, surgeons… so I decided to go the clean route and I went to pharmacy school thinking this is going to be my way of mixing the magical potions. And after graduating pharmacist school I quickly realized working in a retail setting is absolutely not the path I wanted to take. I was working as a pharmacist since 1990 and I stopped it in 2007. A friend of mine asked me to join her at a4m conference, which was the American Academy of Anti-aging Regenerative Functional Medicine so I did and. It was life-changing for me. The first conference I attended, she said, "Well, you don't have to sign up for a whole program. You can just do this one module and see if you like it." I absolutely loved it. At that time I was probably one of the few pharmacists - maybe 2 pharmacists - that attended in that room of 300 physicians and it was a cardiologist that had us get up do chi gong.
I remember feeling this energy flow through my hands, which we all have, but I had no awareness of it because I was programmed in a very linear way of working and viewing the world and the body and the medicine itself. So that ignited a passion in me to go further and explore what else is out there and that conference lasted for years for me because I didn't stop. I became a very avid learner. I think most of us who are passionate about what we do, we tend to dive into as many different things as we possibly can to learn how to help other people including ourselves. So I went in and I began to study Ayurveda, Hypnotherapy, Functional Medicine… It took me quite a few years to complete that program. It was 2 years and worked in a compounding pharmacy. So I switched from retail setting into compounding settings and that was another kind of global world change of how I viewed health and wellness, because I began to pay attention to ingredients, because I started actually mixing medications, creams, capsules, lozenges, using raw materials. And I saw the amount of toxic ingredients that went in. So then I also went on to become a creator of a 100 % natural skin care line. I became a natural perfumer, so it was like the learning never ended and I couldn't wait to share all of it with the world. So as I dove into the compounding world, at the same time I opened my own private practice and I began to slowly transition out of traditional pharmacy setting into energy medicine and I began to practice energy work. At that time I was ordering a lot of blood tests, stool tests, saliva tests and practicing energy work. And there were some discrepancies that I was seeing. For example, people were not feeling well, but it wouldn't necessarily show up in their stool analysis, or in their saliva test or blood test. So I wanted to know what it was that was so drastically different and through doing hands-on energy work on people I began to really explore and understand the intricate nature of what makes up who we are and what makes up the nature of our reality. Because once you tune in into your human body by touching a person's feet (this is how I would start my energy work, at the person's feet), you can instantly tune in and see what's happening in that person's body by their pulse. By the type of pulse, the strength of the pulse on the feet, if there is a discrepancy and one side is stronger and one is weaker, or one side is hotter and one is colder you can instantly see if the person is operating in a more male-dominant, or female-dominant way. If they're disconnected from their chakra system - for example from the root chakra which I realized most people that were coming in, and actually most of human beings, are not grounded. They're disconnected from their root. And if you were to look into energy bodies, most bodies started above the hips. So no wonder a lot of people were having structural issues. All kinds of hip issues, knee injuries, ankle injuries… So by working on a person's body it gave me the ability to see beyond what was showing up in the lab where the people were telling me what their symptoms were. So it was really a connection of dots, and I recognized the extent of the body, mind and soul connection, and there was never way for me to go back. Because once you begin to understand how the system works you can't just go back and say, "Okay, well, let's just order blood work and see," right? So there is absolutely time and place for allopathic medicine and I will never discredit that, because we do need it if anyone goes to an emergency room. If you have a heart attack or you break your bone, you absolutely do need instant attention. But what allopathic medicine is lacking is the understanding that all the systems are intertwined and interconnected, and what we need to do moving forward as medical providers is looking at prevention medicine and creating very specific precision protocols for every human being of what they can do based on their own unique system that exists, which is body, mind and soul. So this is how it evolved for me. Later on I had a lot of success working with many, many people, and many of my patients were saying to me, "Lena, can you teach me what you do?" So of course, two years ago I made a decision to open a Holistic Quantum Healer school, and this is where medical providers or anyone who just wants to learn how to help themselves their family members come and learn all the different tools. Diagnostic tools, energy medicine tools, how to help themselves and also how to uplevel their own private practice to see what is happening in a person's system at the very root.

10:05
Dr. Maya Novak:
So would you say that every person can learn this kind of things, or is this something that is only for specific enlightened people? The reason why I'm asking is because I am positive there there are listeners who very much understand energy and energy medicine, and there are also listeners like you, who grew up with the conventional medical approach. As you said, so many people around you were in this field, and they really don't fully understand, or don't even know if they would be capable of something like that. That's the reason why I'm asking this question.

10:54
Elena Bensonoff:
I think it's a great question. I will say that every human being is capable and has the ability. And I say this because I've actually just had somebody who attended my class and he is a construction worker. It's just mind blowing, right? And the reason I say we can all understand is because we are compassionate and empathic beings. So if you can tune in, it's sort of like knowing the difference between what hot and cold feels like. It will be the same thing and it's all about training yourself to feel and to know how interpret what you're feeling, and then the process of trusting it. I've broken it down into such simple steps. You literally sit down and wait until you feel the pulse. If you don't feel the pulse, there is a way you guide a person until that pulse is activated and then you can tune in and say, "Oh, the right foot is weaker and the pulse on the left is stronger." What does that mean? It means the left is stronger. Let's say they're operating more on the feminine and the masculine is weak. So there's charts and hundreds of steps, and you're absolutely learning every step, so it's sort of like learning another language or learning to fly a plane. My son gave that example because he's an instructor teaching people to fly planes. So just by taking a lesson it's not going to make you, let's say, a Mozart in your field. Or just by having a piano doesn't make you a Mozart if it's just sitting in your house, but by practicing you can become really good at what you do. It's as simple as that. And it's for those people that I would say have a calling to help other people. To really want to understand their own system and those of us that want to help other people as well. So yes, it can be learned by anyone if this is something that you feel passionate about.

12:53
Dr. Maya Novak:
Yeah, this is great description and what you just said in the last few seconds is exactly the reason why we have hands-on work in this podcast. So we can really start doing something, not just listening and then 5 minutes later forgetting about what we heard. This is actually what we need. We need to start practicing what we are learning in everyday life. The other thing that popped into my mind while you were talking is how you said we just have to learn how to tune in and how to listen and how to connect with that energy and with ourselves. I so agree with you and I think that in this we have to make conscious steps because we are bombarded with so many things every single day from the outside. We are getting so much information that it's hard to listen to the energy, or to tune into the energy. Would you say that's true, or do you have any tricks how people can actually start tuning into energy without having to push aside some of the things from the outside world?

14:07
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes, well I would say the outside world is a distraction and it's there always. So it's important to recognize that in order to really hear what the body has to say you need to learn to give yourself space to disconnect from everything else. Even if it means for you maybe starting with five to ten minutes a day of just sitting with yourself and allowing yourself to tune in into your own body. Actually, we can maybe even do this practice now.

14:42
Dr. Maya Novak:
Absolutely please.

14:43
Elena Bensonoff:
Would you like to do that just to see what the body says? By the way, if you're driving make sure you stop your car. You don't want to be driving and tuning into your body, so park your car. If you're at home, you can just sit or you can lay down. And it's as simple as first of all taking a few simple breaths, by inhaling and exhaling and again, inhale and exhale. And as you inhale also just recognize that we store a lot of tension, a lot of stress in our facial muscles, in our jaw and in our neck. So just release this tension. Let go, inhale, and let everything be loose in your body because this tension that we have ends up as anxiety and stress in the body. So exhale now. One of the most important things to recognize is since we operate so much on the mental plane and in this anxious state, it's important to connect to this planet Earth, because the planet has very healing vibrational frequencies for us. And when we're in a state of coherence, which is when our mind and our heart are in a state of coherence, we go into absolute coherence with the planet Earth. So inhale and visualize roots coming down from your tailbone and your feet into the very center of the Earth Exhale and feel the connection deep into the Earth and bring this beautiful red energy, red orange energy in the form of fire if you want to imagine it, up through your feet, all the way into your hips, and just breathe through it. And now visualize a beautiful white-golden light connecting you from the Heaven above, and running this beautiful white-golden light through your entire body. Perhaps you'll feel tingling above your head. Let that go flow like honey, flowing gently through your body and outside of your body, and visualize it flowing through your hands, through your fingertips, illuminating every organ all the way out through your feet. So you've just made a connection between Heaven and Earth, which is what you are. You are a torus field connecting both. Now check in with yourself, tune in and see how your body feels. Perhaps you feel tension somewhere.
Don't judge it, just sit with it and allow for the emotion to reveal itself to you. Oftentimes stagnations in the body show up as emotions. They'll show up as colors. So just sit with it and see. And if nothing shows up, maybe it's mentally a color. You'll just know what that color is, just sit with it for a moment. Oftentimes people feel anxiety or pressure in their chest or in their abdomen. So just breathe into that space. And one of the easiest exercises that I love to do is to visualize a beautiful bubble. A beautiful clear spheric bubble coming from the outside, and bring it towards the area that requires attention, where you feel this discomfort - perhaps a color or an emotion. Put it inside this beautiful white bubble, take a deep breath in, inhale, exhale, and let this bubble kind of go out into the field. As you inhale and exhale it goes further and further away. Again, inhale and exhale, and inhale and exhale until you no longer see it.
And now tune into that place gain. It's a space where you had felt the discomfort - perhaps blocked emotion or emotion that required your attention or the color. And see if you notice a change a shift in the energy.
Breathe. It is very important that you're breathing through this. Beautiful. Now open your eyes and notice if you are feeling different. It's a short little exercise.

19:44
Dr. Maya Novak:
This is a great presentation. First of all, thank you so much, and second this is a great presentation of how to connect with the body, but also how to work with the energy and the grounding and connectedness. This was amazing. And also, for those who are not really familiar with energy workz this can be the first step to actually start tuning into the body.

20:10
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes, there's so many different little ways that we can tune in, and it's really about just giving yourself the space to connect, and all it takes is five to ten minutes. If you're feeling anxious - you know oftentimes I've had people who are in corporate world and they'll say, "I have no time, no space." Look - go to the bathroom and do this in the bathroom and note how different you feel. Most of the time, 5 to 10 minutes is all it takes, but it is very important that we give ourselves the permission to do that.

20:41
Dr. Maya Novak:
Yes, and those people who are injured and are at home, if you have the opportunity during the day that's absolutely great. But even if there is no time during the day, we all have time before we fall asleep. We always have time to do that kind of work. And it's actually a great way to fall asleep because your body is going to be regenerating during the night with that energy. So what would you say is the most beneficial thing for the body when it's injured and healing? How can we support the body in the most beneficial way?

21:23
Elena Bensonoff:
Well, it depends on the injury. So are we talking about broken Bones or are we talking about other kind of injuries?

21:31
Dr. Maya Novak:
There are so many different injuries. So yes, we have chronic pain. We have broken bones. We have potentially any diseases or cancer. This is physical trauma as well. So the range is huge.

21:46
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes, it is. So we'll start with two things that are key. Number one, it's important that you really nourish your body from a physical level. What does that mean? That means you go through and create an evaluation of everything that you consume on a daily basis, including snacks that you eat. Breakfast, lunch, dinners that you consume, what kind of medications you are on… It's also important to evaluate and talk to your doctor to look at the side effects and see if it's contributing to actually making your body worse, or if it is really supporting you temporarily. Most medications are not made to be taken long-term. It's important that your gut health is ok. As we age our good bacteria decreases over time. In fact, we have between 30… Do you know how much bacteria we have in our GI?

22:44
Dr. Maya Novak:
Trillions.

22:45
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes, between 30 and 300 trillion bacteria, a hundred and twenty six different species. As we age that declines. Mostly it's the bad bacteria that will take over because the good flora will die off, so it's important that we support that as much as possible in order for the body to heal itself. Why is gut health important? Because it's in an immunomodulator. All the bacteria are part of immunomodulation, so they're responsible for your immune system which is part of recovery. It's part of your brain health, so it's also responsible for your cognitive functions and serotonin production. The bacteria in our gut helps metabolize hormones and produce vitamins like B vitamins, B12, all different kinds. So gut health is key. You don't want to do things that will jeopardize that. If you're taking an antibiotic or if you have an injury you absolutely need to replenish it with the good bacteria. So that's part 1.
Part 2, the other thing you can do is the little exercise that we just did. So whatever area of your body has had an injury, it will be really helpful for you to focus on that area and visualize an ideal blueprint of what, let's say, a healthy brain, a healthy knee, a healthy, whatever the injury is, looks like. And maybe for some of you it might initially be really challenging to visualize it in your mind. So what I would recommend is looking on the computer, maybe even ordering a little pamphlet of whatever that injury is, whatever that organ is, and practicing just looking at it.
And when you look at it from a physical perspective, you can actually visualize that inside of you using your mind's eye to connect and see yourself in that absolutely healthy state. I love using white-golden light because I think that's part of the healing itself. So you can visualize your ideal blueprint and make it merge with whatever is happening in your physical body to allow for your system to heal itself.

24:53
Dr. Maya Novak:
I could not agree more! Before we started recording we discussed briefly the gut connection and energy, and we could talk until the end of the day just about energy healing, but if gut and the microbiome are not okay, then energy Medicine is not going to do as much.. Can we go a bit deeper into this?

25:20
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes, of course. This is what I shared before we started recording. There is a major disconnect between the two worlds right now. And it is shifting but it's going to take time. It's a world of allopathic medicine and the world of energy medicine. The way I see the future, practitioners and healthcare providers in the healing arts will be fluent in both. You cannot neglect the physical body. Your physical body is your vehicle. Let me give you an example. Imagine that you have a car. I'm sure most people who have a car will go to a car mechanic and run diagnostic testing, and will fix their car and the change oil at least once a year. So imagine your physical body - you go to the doctor and they say, "You know, you have to take these probiotics. And these vitamins support your adrenals." And you'll say, "Well, can you just tell me one thing to take? Let's say from a natural perspective, or one thing I should cut down in my diet. I don't want to really change anything." So it's the same thing. Actually, people tend to treat their cars better than their physical bodies. You can't go to a mechanic and say, "Well, can you just change a filter in my AC, but let's not change the oil." I can't drive my car that way. The car is going to die and it's going to break down on the road. So in a way I would like for you to start thinking about your physical body the same way, whether you go to a traditional doctor or if you go to a holistic practitioner.
If they give you recommendations that are specifically tested for you, don't make it about, "Oh, I don't feel like changing this in my diet," or "I don't want to take this. I don't want to take that" If it's a recommendation that has been tested specifically for you, it's important that you treat your physical body with respect. Because I'm sure most likely you treat your car with respect.

27:16
Dr. Maya Novak:
A lot of people treat their cars and their homes with more respect than their bodies, right? And their animals too. Yes, I was chuckling while you were talking because I get so many messages with questions like "Can you tell me just one thing that you did that helped you during your recovery?" You know about my broken ankle in 2012, and you know it wasn't just one thing. It was a holistic approach to healing. There was a physical part, but also a mental part, an emotional part, a spiritual part. So everything is connected and it's not like a magic pill. Like, "Oh yeah, here is one pill. and this is the only thing that you need and that's it."

28:01
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes, and this is the part, I think, where there's a big disconnect that many energy healers do not understand. People will come and say, "Oh, fix me," and this is the biggest misconception - when you as a client, as a patient are seeking for help, it's important that you recognize you're not giving your power away to that doctor, to that practitioner, to that pill, to that diet… that you're not the victim. Whatever the practitioner is going to teach you is really about understanding how all of the dots connect - body, mind and soul. As you said, it is really all about holistic approach. So it's never just one thing that fixes somebody, and those of us that are still in the mindset of "I just want that one magic pill. Give it to me. I know it's going to fix everything!" There is no such thing. Again, you're giving your power away to that one magic pill that doesn't even exist.

28:56
Dr. Maya Novak:
Ah, that's true. You know, I love that we live in a time when things are shifting. Like you said, slowly but surely. Because we cannot go on with how things were in the past with conventional medicine. There needs to be a change and I don't know when it's going to happen. Not just medicine but the whole system. The schools are going to have to change in that regard. So how do you see that? What would need to happen in medical schools? What would be the first few subjects that they would need to start covering for this to start?

29:42
Elena Bensonoff:
Nutrition would be number one, and it wouldn't be just a couple of classes. Do I think that schools are doing that? Not right now, it's not happening yet, but many that graduate are seeking for alternatives. Those that are open are of course seeking for different functional integrative approaches and what we're seeing is an influx of clients and patients that are becoming more and more educated because we have vast amount of information. People are googling all kinds of things now, so they are coming in much more educated and they're pushing their providers to start looking outside of their traditional training. So there are those providers that are making the changes because perhaps they weren't feeling well in their personal life either. Their loved ones are not well and this is what's forcing and creating the driving force behind the change. Because they're seeing that the traditional medical system is actually failing them, right? So that that is number one. It actually happened to me because in my twenties I had severe asthma and I was a young mom. My lungs were functioning at 20 at about 26%, maybe a little less. I couldn't take an inhale or exhale. I remember having to find a pulmonologist. I went in and he said, "Oh, you're going to be on 6 medications for the rest of your life."
And it was like a death sentence to me. I couldn't believe it. I was like, "There's no way," and he wanted me to come in every week and do the breathing to see how high my lungs are functioning. So I made a goal for myself to really change my diet. This is not something that I learned in school, but it is something that I began to investigate on my own and this is the big movement that's happening globally right now. We have a lot of information, but also I would say misinformation online, and it is important when you look things up to really have validated data behind it, and find the right kind of practitioners that are going to support your journey. So not just anybody - you have to really have enough testimonials and talk to perhaps some of the patients and clients that have gone through that process. Whatever that process might be for people whether it's severe injuries, asthma, all kinds of chronic conditions… Again, every condition is different and every patient's recovery is different depending on how much they take or they participate in the outcome of how they want to feel.

32:28
Dr. Maya Novak:
Yes, and it is our responsibility when we are injured or when we have any kind of disease. It is our responsibility to say, "Okay, how can I fix this?" Not like I'm the only person who can fix it, but how can I find the right people, and what kind of research do I need to do so that I can get better. Because if we are just waiting for someone else to tell us something - yes, I might be going to my doctor every three weeks, or every six weeks, but this might not be enough, especially considering what we just discussed. That, unfortunately, we are not yet at the point where the conventional medical approach would know, or that providers would have enough knowledge from allopathic, and energy, to quantum medicine. So we really have to take that responsibility.

33:22
Elena Bensonoff:
Yeah, you know it reminds me actually, when I had I'm trying to think - my second or third child. I can't remember if it was after my second or third son but I have four kids, and I had severe back issues. Like severe, horrible, horrible hip and back pain, especially during my pregnancies. And I remember going to this chiropractor, and he said, "Oh no, you shouldn't have any more kids, and you need to come and see me 3 times a week," and I actually believed that because I thought that was an alternative approach. Little did I know it was actually horrific that I was going in that many times a week until I found there's something that's called upper cervical adjustment. Do you know what that is? There's a clinic in St Petersburg Florida, it's called The Pierce Clinic and they were the pioneers in 1970 s that created a system where they adjust the atlas, but they don't touch and crack your neck. It's actually a mathematical calculation of the angle using the vibrational frequency sound wave to adjust your atlas, and that was life changing for me. I probably go now maybe once a year just to check, to make sure it's staying in, where years ago I was going 3 times a week and I was having horrific pain in my back. So again, there's different types of energy providers. It's important that you understand if somebody tells you have to go see them 3 to 4 times a week, and you're constantly there… this is also not okay.

34:51
Dr. Maya Novak:
I agree, and thank you so much for opening up this topic, because that's my approach to any kind of healing. You know when I work with a private client, I usually have three months, we have a package, and in those three months we usually do so much work that the client doesn't need me anymore. So for me, I don't want to have a client for a year, or two years, or 10 years, because then I'm not doing my job. So I don't agree with those providers who are just hooking clients on and not telling them, "Okay, so the end is here, and then we're going to reevaluate it again." That's also my opinion.

35:41
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes, I think it's fine to go for a check in once in a while, but having to chronically go in nonstop… for me, I went through that cycle myself thinking that I was doing something really good.

35:56
Dr. Maya Novak:
May I ask you, since you mentioned this horrible back pain that you had, and this journey, what was the hardest thing for you at that time? Not so much physically, but emotionally and mentally, because that is also something that we do not talk enough about. How physical challenges and injuries are affecting our souls, our mind, our emotional state and our spiritual state. Can you share a bit about this if you remember?

36:31
Elena Bensonoff:
Yeah, of course. Looking back I could share that when I was in it, I didn't know what I then realized over the years. And that's actually that most people who are in unfulfilling, unhappy relationships will have back issues. So getting out of it was also one of the reasons my back issue disappeared, and I didn't realize it until I started seeing the same pattern in my clients and my patients. So it's really, I would say, an invitation or a red flag of something in your life that is not working that needs to be addressed. But when it's suppressed, it goes somewhere in our physical system. So when you suppress emotions - anger, resentment, whatever that might be. It is stored somewhere in our tissues and our cells. I didn't see it with clarity. I didn't know what it was. I knew I was unhappy, but I didn't know that's what was impacting my back pain until I got out.

37:36
Dr. Maya Novak:
The body always talks to us. It's always communicating with us.

37:39
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes.

37:39
Dr. Maya Novak:
But the way we were brought up is that when something is physically wrong with you, you go to a health provider and they will tell you what to do and very often, this is either medication or surgery. So it's again just the physical thing, not looking into other areas of life like what you just described. Thank you for sharing your story.
Now, talking about Energy Medicine and Quantum Medicine, is there a difference or is this the same?

38:13
Elena Bensonoff:
I think there is a difference. The way that I define energy medicine, it could be a subgroup. Energy medicine is a subgroup of quantum medicine. The way I see quantum medicine is really also being able to read a person's biofield. The biofield is the record of all of the information that exists, whether it's past, present, or future potential outcomes. So this is something that I started working on and designing as part of my system. I would say that in 2018 it became much more clear.
So it's the same way you can do applied kinesiology - if you're using applied kinesiology, there's different methods. There's a specific method that I use using different meridian systems and acupuncture points to test a person's organ systems. So you're testing things in the bio field. And then there's this whole other field which is also related to using scalar waves to test a person using their photograph. This is another aspect that I incorporated in my practice going back to 2017, and from that perspective you can actually read pretty much everything about the person. Right now we can look at over 140000 things related to whether it's your DNA, your organs, your meridian systems, your cells, your microbiome - whatever it might be. So moving forward, I don't know when, but I know that this is where medicine is shifting. It is going to be a combination of understanding how to read the bio field which, if you think about it, is a record keeper of space-time continuum, which is very much related to our gravitational universe outside of the space-time continuum. There's other things, other forces that are involved. And I remember that Stephen Hawking, the very famous physicist who passed away, he also proved a theory that actually when a black hole forms it doesn't die. Before the space-time continuum collapses, it gets recorded in what is called the event horizon. So he showed that all the information always exists. You cannot erase it. So quantum medicine is understanding how to read the human biofield. Every aspect of the person. Their emotions, their events, their situations. It's a lot bigger than Akashic Records . People have asked me about that. I said it's beyond that understanding of how to test a physical system and combining all of the systems together. So you can say that energy medicine would be a sub group of the quantum medicine. But it's not the same.

41:07
Dr. Maya Novak:
So how do you find a provider that has a good knowledge about all of these things? Because what I'm seeing especially with online coaching, so many people started to become online coaches, and you have amazing coaches and then you also have nuts. And it's a jungle, right? So what are some of the things that we need to be aware of when we are looking for this kind of provider that is not just our regular GP or surgeon?

41:45
Elena Bensonoff:
Great question. I would say you have to interview every person you're considering to be part of your healthcare team, just like they would have to apply for a job. And I say interview, and there's very specific questions you need to ask. The number one red flag is if you see somebody saying they're selling this detox program. This is one of my biggest pet peeves, because I've had so many clients say to me, "I started this detox protocol." And I'm like, "What are you detoxing?" So that's number one. If you're being recommended detox - what are you detoxing? Do you have viruses? if so, which ones? Do you have heavy metals? If so, which heavy metal? Is your liver congested? Do you have parasites, and if so, which ones? Do you have fungus? Which fungus do you have? do you have Candida? Most people have no answer for you, and most of these online providers or coaches just generically give information before you sign up for anything. You need to know that your provider will be able to test you and tell you exactly what is happening in your system. Do you have aluminum toxicity? Do you have mercury? Do you have candida? Do you have fungus? Do you have a certain type of parasite and which one? Is your liver congested? Is your lymphatic system congested? Maybe yes, maybe no. If you're being detoxed, does your provider know that they have to support all of your organ systems? Because if you put somebody in a detox protocol, guess what's going to happen. You're going to reabsorb it right back and you're going to become even more toxic.
Lots of red flags should come up when you're interviewing your provider if people are guaranteeing things to you. "Oh yes, if you do this with me I guarantee you'll have perfect results." That's a red flag. No one can guarantee that for you, you know. I had this one client. She actually became my student and it wasn't until she came back to me for the third time, into my holistic quantum healer training class, that we discovered that her gut microbiome was a disaster. Out of the entire box of that we have she probably had only 2 of the good bacteria. And I said, "What is this?" And it turns out she's constantly on these detox protocols. I'm like, "What are you doing? You don't have enough good bacteria." She said, "I know, I'm doing colonics and enemas every month." I'm like, "Aha, red flag!" So if somebody's going to put you on something, first of all, you should not be on any colonics and enemas on a monthly basis. But let's get into why people feel better on that, because there is a reason. If you have no good bacteria in your GI, anytime a bad bug shows up, your body cannot eliminate it because you have no ability to do that. The only way you'll feel better, most likely, is by doing an enema or colonics, and this is why people get relief. So instead, what you should be working on is rebuilding the gut flora. But what happens when you do colonics and you're rebuilding your gut flora, you're eliminating not just the bad stuff, but also the good stuff. So you see, there's a lot of questions as a client, as a patient, that you need to ask and become educated to know the type of questions to ask your providers. And don't be afraid to interview them as for a job, because you are hiring them to work for you. Not the other way around.

45:23
Dr. Maya Novak:
Absolutely! You know, I always welcome not just the potential client who is speaking with me, but also their partners or spouses if they want to come in and ask some questions. Because it's usually a decision of a whole family. And the client also needs a support from their family, so it's not like a hush hush thing they're doing on their own.
The other thing you said - and I love that you said it - was don't be afraid to ask questions. Because if a person doesn't want to answer those questions, that's a red flag right? So it's like "Here is a program, just sign up and everything is going to be picture perfect."

46:14
Elena Bensonoff:
And I love that you actually said it is all about the family, because in my case, you know when I work with clients, if they have to change their diet it's very difficult to change the diet if a spouse is not changing it as well. So it is about incorporating it into the entire household. Let's say a client has a parasite or they have bad bacteria, or they have candida or fungus… most likely their partner has to be on the same regiment, and also be treated for the same things. So yes, the entire family has to be involved and supported.

46:51
Dr. Maya Novak:
So let me ask you this because of what you just said: Why the partner? If I'm taking care of my body why would I need to do the same regiment as my partner? Is there a possibility of transmitting something?

47:07
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes, sorry, I didn't clarify that. So yes, if you have parasites, bacteria, candida or fungus, it will be transmitted through bodily fluids. So therefore that needs to be addressed for both partners.

47:20
Dr. Maya Novak:
The whole family needs to cooperate, and the partner or spouse need to be on board, especially when we have injuries, when a person is incapable of moving around. Any type of surgery, broken leg bones, or hips, or spine, or something like that, where you actually need someone to take care of you or help you. Because you cannot stand in your kitchen and cook and take care of yourself. So that's why it's absolutely necessary to have the support system in your home, or if the family is not completely on board, friends who can help you.

48:08
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes.

48:09
Dr. Maya Novak:
We covered a lot a lot of things now. The last thing that you mentioned is foods and gut health. What are some of the things? The reason why I'm asking this question is when we have an accident, or when a pain starts from nowhere, even though we know that there is no such thing as ‘out of nowhere’, but when we have chronic pain, we often have cravings or we try to self-medicate with different kind of comfort foods. Let's call it that way now. The best thing is to have a clean diet. But the emotional mental state doesn't support that. Can we talk about this? First of all, what are some of the things that we need to cut out, and what do we need to introduce? And the other thing, how do we take care of those cravings and comfort food?

49:06
Elena Bensonoff:
So cravings come from different places. Number one will be major gut dysbiosis. So if you have major cravings, guess what's craving or who's craving things - the bacteria, the candida and fungus are craving this. So you're not really craving. You're not in charge, so you need to make sure you silence that. By silencing that I mean eliminating sugar, dairy, alcohol from your diet, because that is what fuels and makes those bad bugs expand. So those are the most important things to eliminate. Of course, artificial sweeteners as well. The reason people feel better on sugar is it gives you a high, and then you crash. But what is usually happening during injuries because of the amount of stress is there is a massive amount of something that's called adrenal fatigue. You have this cortisol crash and during that time what fuels you, or what makes you feel better in moments of this high cortisol is having sugary things Or dairy things, or simple carbohydrates like your pastas and things like that that will make you feel like you have energy and then you'll crash. The energy drinks will be a big no-no as well. So that's how you should be supporting the gut.
And to substitute things. I would say first of all, take a really great probiotic to make sure that you are restoring the good bacteria. If you've had an injury and you have to be on antibiotics, then you really need to be on probiotics. And I would say double and quadruple the amount of probiotics you take. And then also take fermented prebiotic foods - that would be your kimchi, sauerkraut, sour pickles, those are great. You can incorporate that with your breakfast, lunch, dinner - I actually incorporates it at least twice a day to help support the digestion. And when you are supporting your digestion, what you're doing is you're decreasing the inflammation, so you're giving your body an opportunity to heal.

51:09
Dr. Maya Novak:
In regards to probiotics - do you have any tips? The reason why I'm asking is because a lot of probiotics that are just sitting on shelves are dead, so they are not actually helping us. Any advice in that regard?

51:25
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes, there is one company that I've discovered and that I love. Recently I changed my entire school classes. Everybody has to take it now. It's called ProtrenTrio, it's protren.com, ProtrenTrio is the probiotic. They have several. It's a lady who started this company over fifty years ago. She was the first, a pioneer who brought probiotics into United States. I know they have offices all around the world. So people who live in Germany in the UK, you guys can look it up too on that website. It is live bacteria so you need a certain dosage for that. But yes, that's one of the great probiotics that I have people start on. The other thing to remember with probiotics is that many of them, or many pills supplement companies, since it's not regulated, especially in the United States, they have silicone dioxide. Silicon dioxide is an additive. It actually destroys Bifidobacterium, so you want to stay away from products that contain a lot of excipients. That will destroy the very thing they're doing. So that would be my advice for probiotics.

52:39
Dr. Maya Novak:
So in regards to this silicon dioxide. Is this only in probiotics or is it bad in anything?

52:50
Elena Bensonoff:
Everywhere. Everywhere. Vitamin D, all the multivitamins, it's in most products.

52:55
Dr. Maya Novak:
So something that we are taking because we think that it's going to help us actually puts us into the cycle of killing off good bacteria in our gut microbiome, and it's just a horrible cycle.

53:09
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes, so you definitely need to read the ingredients. Just know that silicon dioxide is one of the worst things that you can take for your gut health. It's unfortunate that they're adding it. One of the companies I used to recommend, I No longer recommend it because it's in there.

53:25
Dr. Maya Novak:
Is there any other additive that you can think of that might be a good thing to look for?

53:31
Elena Bensonoff:
Many. If the company is not GMP certified. So GMP certification means Good Manufacturing Practice . It means that they hire a third party lab to make sure what's inside the bottle and what's on the label is the same thing. Now, just because something has GMP certification doesn't mean that it's safe from ingredients like silicon dioxide, which is unfortunate, but these are my latest findings and I'm having to talk about it quite often in my classes. But this is more recent. I'm seeing that somehow products are shifting and more and more is added in there. Who knows why. Some of the pharmaceutical companies are buying supplement companies now. So I wouldn't be surprised if that's the reason they're putting it in there, to just make people think that they're taking something good and then adding some bad things in there as well. So yeah, you really have to become a very educated consumer and ask a lot of questions and google all the ingredients. Any kind of artificial sweeteners, artificial additives, you definitely want to stay away from.

54:38
Dr. Maya Novak:
Absolutely. And one of the things that is also happening worldwide, for example, is that there are some additives that are still okay in the USA but they are banned in Europe. So we really have to be aware of these things as well. Because, again, it affects our microbiome and gut health, and then everything that we talked about and beyond.

55:03
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes, there's other ingredients that I didn't even mention that are in skin care which are absolutely disastrous. But now we're talking more about the supplement industry. There is of course stuff like microcrystal cellulose and things you'll see in a lot of protein powders. I see a lot of people use them. It's a disaster for you. Just stay away from protein powders. Not a good idea. You want to eat whole foods and that's really the key to healthy digestion, health and recovery and injuries. Or just longevity. If you look at the population of blue zones. You've seen some of those Mediterranean communities. They don't drink protein shakes. They eat very clean. They cook their own meals. They walk a lot. So it's a different mindset and they are actually showing us, to a majority of the human population in an industrialized age how to really live their life. How to live your life and be healthy. It's not just about living your life just to live it, but you want to make sure that you have a fulfilling, happy, joyous life on a daily basis. And staying healthy. Most of them don't even have heart disease well into their 90s.

56:17
Dr. Maya Novak:
Yes, and they don't have the latest fad diet hacks and don’t follow that. Do you have any advice in that regard? So all these diet hacks, and how to hack your immune system, and gut health, and sleep patterns and longevity. What are your thoughts on hacks?

56:42
Elena Bensonoff:
So my thought on hacks is to heck with the hack. I would say everything has to be customized and individualized. I don't believe in any diets. I actually believe in eating food and eating food that is the right food for you. We can talk about some people who can be sensitive or allergic to certain foods. That's why we cannot say, "This is THE diet this is THE detox protocol." Again, it all goes back to what is contributing to this imbalance in your digestion to make you that sensitive. So step number one is addressing your GI and seeing what is lacking. Or perhaps there's too much of candida. Maybe there's parasites. So testing all of those things, balancing your gut and then creating a diet plan that is related to you, that is customized and personalized to you. So as far as diets go, I am not into any diets or into any hacks.

57:41
Dr. Maya Novak:
And it's really about personalization. There is no cookie cutter approach. I mean, we can have some general ideas about what is good for human beings in every aspect, whether this is diet, or emotional health, or mental health. But it's really about personalization and having people in your corner who are taking you as an individual, not as a number.

58:10
Elena Bensonoff:
It's very kind of masculine. The hacks are very masculine driven, but what we need to understand is we are both energies, masculine and feminine. And intuition and listening to our bodies is a very feminine part, a feminine essence of who we are. And the very core of this hack industry is very masculine energy driven. It's logic driven which is the absolute opposite of energy medicine and who we are as human beings. Yes, you can read and research and this is where your masculine energy comes in, but when it comes to what you need on an individual basis, you do need the feminine essence which is all about healing. Healing is feminine. It's not about being masculine, and rigid, and cookie cutter.

59:02
Dr. Maya Novak:
This is great insight, because the conventional medical approach to treating physical trauma injuries is very masculine. And as you said, healing is very feminine. So it's very important that we do have this holistic approach, because otherwise we are just doing everything in the masculine energy. And I'm finding that especially for women, this is not the best way. I mean, it's also for men, of course. But for women, being all the time in this masculine energy, working, working, and then healing with the conventional medical approach - it's really important what you just said. So thank you for this insight.

59:49
Elena Bensonoff:
You are welcome.

59:51
Dr. Maya Novak:
So we talked about a lot of things. But now I would like to ask you what would be your number one advice that you would give someone who is injured? Maybe something that you already said, or maybe something completely new. What is your number one advice?

01:00:07
Elena Bensonoff:
Oh gosh, there's several advices. Number one would be to slow down and give yourself the 5 to 10 minute exercise that we did earlier. Number two, get outside and get some sunshine. Sunshine is key to recovery as well. And actually, the interesting thing is, do you know where melatonin is made? Most people think we make melatonin. Probably five percent or less is made in our brain. Our mitochondria makes melatonin, but it's made by being exposed to sunlight. So it's also important for recovery to have a good night's sleep and then to go outside. So first thing in the morning, make sure you take your glasses off and you just look at the sun. First thing during sunrise. And for sunset, do the same thing. And expose your body, if you can, of course, as much as possible to the sun. For those people who live in the northern climates, I still recommend going outside whenever there's sun and expose yourself to that. That's key.

01:01:12
Dr. Maya Novak:
Now this I can imagine can be a challenging insight for some of the listeners. And the reason, I think, is because we've been taught for so long that sun is dangerous. That we have to cover ourselves. That we have to use sunscreen, and if you are exposed too to the sun, you're going to get cancer.

01:01:43
Elena Bensonoff:
So we're talking about 30 minutes of sun, no sunscreen. Actually, most people who are using sunscreen are very low on vitamin D. So I would recommend checking the vitamin D level. It should be at least 65. Between 65 to 85. 65 is immunoprotecting. It protects you from all kinds of cancers and from covid. But you should aim for 80 to 85. And of course, good gut bacteria as well. So 30 minutes a day. I would say there's no harm to it. First morning sun, and before the sun sets. No harm. You do not need to put anything to protect your skin.

01:02:20
Dr. Maya Novak:
And yes, you don't have to be outside at noon like, "Here I am, sun, please do everything that you can."

01:02:29
Elena Bensonoff:
If you do for 20 to 30 minutes, there's no harm, even at twelve o'clock

01:02:33
Dr. Maya Novak:
Elena, I have one last question that is out of the box and it's fun. If you were stuck on a desert island with an injury, and you could bring only one thing with you that would help you heal amazingly, what would that be? What would you bring and why?

01:02:52
Elena Bensonoff:
Um, a thing or person?

1:02:54
Dr. Maya Novak
Whatever you decide…

1:02:56
Elena Bensonoff
On a desert island I would probably bring my other half with me, just because we have a lot of fun together and laughter, and we create together. So that's probably what I would do. If he wasn't an option I would probably bring some book with me. Which book I don't know. But I would say my other half would be the one I would bring to the desert island.

01:03:16
Dr. Maya Novak:
That's beautiful, and he can take care of you and bring you food and everything. So it's absolutely a win-win situation. Elena, those people who would love to know more about you or learn about your work or maybe contact you, where can they find this information.

01:03:35
Elena Bensonoff:
Yes on wholistic.com, yes.

01:03:40
Dr. Maya Novak:
Short and sweet. Elena, thank you so much for this amazing conversation. Thank you for being a guest on my podcast and for you sharing your wisdom and all the amazing insights.

01:03:52
Elena Bensonoff:
Oh thank you so much, Maya, for having me. It was a lot of fun.

01:03:57
Dr. Maya Novak:
Thank you for tuning into today’s episode with Elena Bensonoff! If you’re enjoying the episodes, make sure you leave a review and subscribe if you haven’t already. The Mindful Injury Recovery Talks are available on Spotify, Apple, iHeartRadio, Podcast Addict, and many other major streaming platforms.
Also, visit my website to access show notes, links, transcript, and video of today’s conversation. Go to mayanovak.com/podcast. On my website, you can also explore options of working with me – either as my private client or let me guide you through my self-paced programs. Visit mayanovak.com.