ABOUT ME

Welcome,

My name is Ailsa (Ale-za). I have a BS in Nutrition and am in my second year of naturopathic medical school at Bastyr University.

I am passionate about helping people heal and get in tune with their bodies & nature by focusing on the importance of physical, mental, and spiritual nutrition. I want to help people see that their health is so much more than what’s on their plate. It is what we feed our physical bodies, our minds, and our spirits.

My health journey started with a series of gut issues that got worse and worse. I was 16 years old and in so much pain and discomfort after every meal. I bounced around many specialists an allergist, a gastroenterologist, and an endocrinologist desperately trying to find out what was causing my symptoms.

To my surprise, all of my lab tests came back fine and I was told I must be fine and there was nothing they could do. I was not fine, and thankfully, I knew this was not all in my head despite being told that very statement. Literally, after every meal my stomach would start turning, I’d be bloated, in pain, have a massive ‘food baby,’ my cheeks would flare and turn red, my menstrual cycle was irregular, I had brain fog, and became anxious and sad.

I’ve always been interested in science and problem-solving, so I took matters into my own hands and tried to self-educate. I fell into the holistic health world - holistic in the sense of understanding that everything is connected, and we don’t always need to throw drugs at things, we need to somehow get the body back to what it knows how to do best which is self-heal. I started connecting the dots.

Then one day a family member of mine suggested I go see a naturopathic doctor who had helped her with some of her health issues. I had no idea what a naturopathic doctor was, how they practiced, or what their philosophy was, but for some reason, I didn’t question it at all. I booked my first appointment and when I had it, I fell deeply in love with the practice. Something clicked for me that day, I was reminded that health care can be about health, about finding the root cause and working to heal the body versus suppressing symptoms. Shortly after this appointment, I tried to find out where I could learn more about this practice and found myself applying to Bastyr University.

At this point, I had some undergrad years I needed to finish before starting med school, so I first applied to finish my last two undergrad years studying nutrition. Nutrition was my first love and the first place I turned to when I started my healing journey. I was privileged to be in a place where I could control much of what I was eating and really implement food as medicine (which is not the case for everyone in this country).

I started my nutrition program thinking I was going to learn the big secret: what was the healthiest way to eat? Surely there must be one way that we would teach people to eat, there are good, healthy foods, and there are bad, unhealthy foods. Man, was my whole belief system blown to smithereens, and thank the universe for that. In undergrad I learned food is so much more than healthy or unhealthy and there certainly is no one right way to eat for everyone, it depends on the person and all of the factors that make them who they are. Food can support and strengthen our physical bodies, but it also can nourish us spiritually, connect us with ancestors or people who have passed, comfort us when we need it, remind us of our humanity, connect us with our communities, and enrich our daily experience, food is medicine, holistic medicine.

Nothing ever helped me heal until I addressed all forms of nutrition: physical (what I ate), mental (what I consumed mentally), and spiritual (what I fed my energy). I hope to help others connect these pieces to heal all levels of their human to live full, juicy, heart-filling, love-spreading, unlimited lives.

There are many ways to work with food, with nature, with your mind, spirit, community, and with yourself, to bring your body, mind, and soul into balance. It takes time and deep reverence and it is so rewarding. That is what I love to help bring awareness to :)

I look forward to helping you on your journey toward a more in-flow version of yourself. And I can't wait to work with you. Until then, be well my friend.