Today’s practitioner spotlight features Daniel Walsh. Daniel’s story starts out much like that of most FDN Practitioners. He decided to change careers after he had overcome some extreme health challenges. At 35, Daniel, a certified EMT, suffered a heart attack (V-Tac, or raising heart beat) from taking a concentrated ephedra supplement (weight loss/fat burner). This led to three days in a cardiac unit and a long path of pharmaceutical management to keep tachycardia/A-fib under control. After 9 years Daniel developed anxiety, a 45-lb weight gain, GERD, chronic knee inflammation, and high cholesterol. He was taking multiple medications like they were candy.
I knew I had to shift this. My condition was getting worse and I thought I might die suddenly.
Daniel started walking 2 miles every day and cleaned up his diet. It took him 3 years to ween off all his med’s. The beta blocker was the hardest to kick but he got approval from his cardiologist after he discovered Hawthorne berries and leaves for heart rhythm. After 6 months and Hawthorne supplementation, he was finally able to kick the beta blockers. After finding FDN, he was able to identify and resolve his chronic knee inflammation—after 3 surgeries and reoccurring inflammation—via food sensitivities! He also had to overcome a switch from a vegetarian diet to an autoimmune paleo diet. This taught him valuable lessons about bio-individuality and transformed his thinking on diet and food.
All I had hoped for was to live again in a somewhat healthy state. I never imagined that I could actually be optimally healthy again. My 48th year I ran a 5:50 mile and my 49th year I bench pressed 285 lbs. I am 55 now and running and working out and loving my life.
Daniel’s passion is helping people with chronic issues–autoimmune to Lyme. Besides being a FDN-P, he is a certified western clinical herbalist, IIN health coach and EMT. He has been very successful with a lot of people over a relatively short period of time by using FDN’s foundational components and some very specific components as a clinical herbalist.
Daniels’s words of advice for FDN Practitioners is to:
“Treat the person not the lab! Stay foundational. If your protocol isn’t working, dig deeper and/or shift it.”
The most common client challenges that Daniel has encountered is the dietary component. He has learned to make it very clear to his clients about the benefits of dietary changes. He personally uses a white board to graphically illustrate his points so the client gets it.
Daniel’s business tips include:
- Learn to gain a high expectation that your clients will have positive results with your protocols. Know it and they will feel it and it will happen.
- Communicate clearly that this is a not a straight path. We need to constantly adjust and therefore…
- Stay in touch weekly by E- mail. This lets your clients know you are there for them. They feel held by you and they will therefore do their best.
Daniel Walsh’s website is due to launch in October: http://www.optimalherbal.com
Questions/Topics covered on the call
- What is your own health story?
- What shifted in your mind that said “I’ve got to make a change”.
- What was a defining moment in your journey?
- Do you have a specialty with your herbal training?
- What made you change from a vegetarian diet to eating meat regularly?
- Do you like working with challenging cases?
- Do you have an certain age group that you work with?
- Do you work a combination of FDN and herbalism together?
- Do you make your own herbal blends?
- Are tinctures better than herbs in capsules?
- What are some of the client management and business tips you have for us?
