Tracy Brennan Yoder began her journey as a health care practitioner in 1996 after a car accident left her with lLower back pain and Sciatica. Eager to learn about how to heal her own body, she attended Southeastern School of Neuromuscular and Massage Therapy in Charlotte, NC, to become a massage therapist. After graduating in late 1996, she became Nationally Certified with the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork in June, 1997.

As a massage therapist, Tracy has been honored to attend workshops and seminars with the likes of Dr. Candace Pert (author of Molecules of Emotion and also featured in the movie, What The Bleep Do We Know?), Ilana Rubenfeld (founder of The Rubenfeld Synergy Method of Mind Body work), and Dwight C. Byers (nephew of Eunice Ingham, founder of The Ingham Method of Reflexology). Tracy has also attended seminars in Energy work and Aromatherapy, and is a distributor of Young Living Essential Oils.

In 2005 Tracy furthered her education by attending The Internal Environment Institute in Apple Vally, CA, and became a Certified Colon Hydrotherapist with the International Association of Colon Hydrotherapy at the Foundation Level. Early in 2006 Tracy finished her Advanced Classes at I.E.I. and is currently Level 3 Certified and in Advanced Standing with I-ACT.

Also early in 2006, Tracy furthered her studies in Energy work and became a Reiki Master at The Holistic Learning Center in Evergreen, CO.

What You Put In...

In the years that I have been doing colon hydrotherapy, I have come to realize that keeping a clean colon is only part of what your body needs in order to maintain a healthy internal environment. I have been shown recently in my own personal life that it's not just about what you take out, but also what you put into your body that makes a huge difference.

The body loves to eat, as well it should. In order to acquire the energy it needs to perform on a regular basis, the body not only needs food, but needs the correct food. This is where most of us miss the boat…we think that fast food, processed food, sodas and iced tea instead of pure, distilled water give us what our body needs for fuel. Truth is, the body will cope as long as it can, but eventually it has to throw in the towel. This is when disease appears in our lives.

You have to imagine your body as the Supreme Jerry-Rigger. It will take rolls of duct tape, Elmer's glue, bailing wire and a little gum and do the best it can. However, nothing will ever beat what quality products can do, and these quality products can only be found in quality whole foods, organic meats and easily assimilated supplements. Nothing else will get you the desired effects of true health. What you put in equals what you get out, both in energy as well as how well your bowels move in a colon hydrotherapy session.

Water is key. Many people think that they're drinking enough throughout their day, and can't understand why they feel clogged up. Iced tea, sodas and coffee are not viable solutions; instead, anything with caffeine is a diuretic, and will dehydrate you very quickly. The best solution is plenty of pure, distilled water.

All in all, to keep your bowels healthy, you need to drink enough pure water (half your body weight in ounces daily), eat whole foods (fruits, vegetables, lean organic meats or soy for protein), exercise and breathe. I love working with qualified, experienced naturopaths and physicians who understand how critical proper food choices are. The act of eating, assimilating and releasing is the wonderful dance your body does daily to keep itself in optimum condition. And there's nothing better than loving being in the skin of a healthy, happy body!

Health is a Guided Journey

The journey towards health is not an easy one. It is usually full of a series of rebirths, beginning with your body but continuing to your very emotions and ego. All you knew to be correct and okay falls away and leaves a hole big enough to fit Colorado. But it's in this seemingly empty space that health flourishes and sprouts anew.

I understand this journey well. Just weeks before my 38th birthday, I found myself in the hospital suffering from severe anemia and pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in my lungs). I couldn't believe it! Why me? I was young and kept my colon clean. Why was I falling apart?

Yep, I was pretty whiney. But I also knew deep inside that my poor diet was to blame. Keeping the colon clean is very important, but poor diet choices were crippling my small intestine where absorption takes place. And absorption is a key issue.

It turns out that the main staples of my diet…wheat, dairy, tea and chocolate…are all iron blockers. This means that for my anemia issues, I may have been taking iron, but it wasn't able to be absorbed. Many times when we eat foods that our bodies can't process, we may not have any obvious signs (other than some bad gas) that this is an inappropriate food choice for us. However, over time, when nutrition cannot get through to the body, the body begins to collapse slowly. We may eat more, yet we continue to be nutritionally starved.

Long story short, it would appear that I have grain and dairy allergies. Once I cut them out of my diet (which was emotionally hard, due to the fact that I love bread, cheese and pasta), my energy returned, my chronic cough disappeared and my red blood cell count skyrocketed. Also, my bowel movements are finally "normal", two to three solid, shaped, effortless movements daily. My body is detoxing itself, normally and naturally.

To get back on the road to health, you need to put your team together. I recommend a family practice physician that you can talk to, a good certified nutritionist or naturopath, and a colon hydrotherapist. You may wish to add more members to your team, but these three can help your body with diagnostics, diet changes and detoxification. They are your guides on your journey, and it is well worth the trip.

Phantom Abdominal Pains

Shelly came in to see me a little over a year ago. On her intake form, I noticed that even though she was only in her late 30's, she had already experienced a full hysterectomy. Out of curiosity, I asked her why.

She pointed to an area low in the left of her abdominal cavity, and explained that for a long time she had felt pain in that area. After many medical tests her doctors had found nothing, but the pain persisted. Trying to be proactive, Shelly just decided to get a full hysterectomy. She thought that this would help her "be done with it".

Problem was, she continued to have the pain.

Since Shelly came to see me, I have encountered several women who reported the same "phantom pain". Each of these women made different choices, but in each case, nothing seemed to be wrong medically and yet they still felt the discomfort.

The colon, or large intestine, is made up of roughly five and a half feet of muscled "tubing", and each section of that tubing has a specific name to describe it's placement in the abdominal cavity. The section in the lower left pelvic girdle is called the Sigmoid Colon. This area resembles a "hammock" where fecal matter and gas can get stuck. When this happens, the muscle lining of the colon can become irritated and stretched out, causing discomfort.

I explained all this to Shelly, and we decided that it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on the pain to see if colon hydrotherapy would make a difference. After her first session, Shelly reported that the pain disappeared for a few days before returning. After her third session, she reported that she felt great, and decided that whenever the discomfort struck she would just take that as a sign she "needed to clean the junk out". Colon hydrotherapy has also worked for the other women mentioned above, as well, and they are grateful to now be living more comfortable lives.

If you do experience any chronic discomfort in your lower abdominal cavity, check with you doctor first to make sure that there isn't a serious health concern to address. However, if no serious condition has been found, you may wish to contact an I-ACT Certified Colon Hydrotherapist to discuss your concerns with and to see if colon hydrotherapy is the right choice for you.

Tracy Yoder is an I-ACT Certified Colon Hydrotherapist who has her private practice,
The Body's Way, in Evergreen, CO. She can be reached for questions at 720-323-1902.