Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Root.
Hi Jason, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In my first semester as a Freshman attending Minnesota State University, Mankato in 1999, my college advisor at the time asked me a question; “What are you looking to get out of you career once you are done with school?” I mentioned to her that I both wanted to do something fun and interesting but I also wanted to make a lot of money as well. She replied that if money was a strong consideration that I may want to consider the Health Care or Technology industries as these two fields were generating the highest paying. I had always good with technology, and had even began writing computer code at the age of 10. The internet was also just getting its wings and about to take off back in 1999, so I thought that would be a perfect fit at the time. 3 short years later, I received my Bachelors degree in Computer Information Systems, and began my what would be 20 year long career as a software developer.
During these 20 years, I faced several major health challenges while suffering from autoimmune related conditions that I had been diagnosed with. In 2003 I had to have my entire large intestine removed after several severe flareups related to Ulcerative Colitis. 7 years later in 2008, I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a severe and extremely painful arthritic condition that attacks the joints and spine. During this time, I was put on numerous medication to reduce the pain, inflammation and to help suppress my overactive immune system. My doctors at the time told me I would be on these medications for my entire life, however my intuition told me that this didn’t have to necessarily be my fate. That perhaps, the doctors were missing something how to best treat my condition(s).
After some research, I decided to start treating my autoimmune conditions in a more holistic way beginning around 2016. I had changed my diet (cut back on sugar and processed foods), I started moving my body more, began stretching, doing yoga, meditation and I purchased a sauna and began to make these things part of my daily routine. I also began grounding (walking barefoot on the earth), waking up with the sunrise and watching the sunset as often as possible. Finally, I began being very intentional about the type of water I was consuming. I knew from 5th grade Biology that 60-70% of my body was made of of H20 and I also knew that there are a wide variety of contaminants in today’s standard tap (and even bottled) water. As it turns out, water also helps our body build electrical charge inside the cell (bioelectricty) which sets the foundation for how our cells/tissues/organs/body functions. As I studied further, it became clear that everything we do (or don’t do) each day, has a profound impact on how this electrical charge. Our food, water, how much time we spend outside in nature, and even our thoughts and emotions can potentially influence this charge in a positive or negative way.
Fast forward to when the COVID pandemic hit in 2020. I began to reflect upon that question my advisor had asked me 20 years prior and wondered if it was too late to find a time machine to crawl inside and answer “Health Care” to her question instead of being so quick to jump into the world of technology. I realized that although I was good with technology, I really didn’t have any particular of passion for it and really didn’t feel like I was finding any real purpose in life.
I decided to take a leap of faith, and returned to school in 2020, enrolling in the Integrative Health and Wellness Coaching Graduate program at the University of Minnesota. Ultimately, I came into a deep state of clarity that my health conditions and what the doctors had told me. I realized that my issues were not “just genetics” like many of them had told me over the years, and that our mind and body were not two separate things. That perhaps, there was a intricate interconnection and interdependence between the two. I also realized that it wasn’t really a career change I was looking for, but a different approach to life A lived experience that was not only fulfilling, but honoring of myself, my children, family community and the world around me. I graduated last year in the Spring of 2024 and have decided to dedicate my life moving forward to helping others work through physical/mental/emotional health challenges and improve their overall state of wellness.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has certainly not been a smooth road at all! After making so many life changes in 2016, I was feeling pretty fantastic all that year through 2018. Then after treating myself to a Jimmy Johns sandwich after a long weekend in late 2018, my entire body seemed to shut down the day after and it felt like I took 10 steps back on the health ladder. I was having all sorts of gut related issues, and my joints also flared up to a point where I couldn’t walk and was effectively bedridden for most of 2019! I ended up needing to go back to the doctor to get a refill on the prescriptions that I had thought I had weened myself off of. It was a massive disappointment and I felt like I was a failure. However I don’t think my issues were strictly related physically to that sandwich. I think the sandwich was just a messenger to let me know that I probably need to find a different source of fulfillment that was more in alignment with the life I was wanting to now live. Jimmy Johns has always been one of my guilty pleasures, and I would eat there several times a week during my college days. It was quick, easy and absolutely delicious (#10 Hunter Club Roast Beef Sandwich with extra pickles and peppers was my jam). I was able to ween off my meds again toward the end of 2019, but this with a renewed sense that I no longer wanted to a find a way to “treat myself”, but I wanted my life moving forward to become a treat in and of itself.
In 2021, I also had another little setback while in Graduate school after undergoing a newer holistic therapy called PEMF (pulsed electromagnetic field therapy). The purpose of this therapy is to stimulate the body’s natural ability to heal itself. I had used this therapy for well over a year at the time, and was finding some incredible benefits with my levels of energy, mental clarity and I experienced a reduction in the overall muscle and joint pain flare-ups that I would occasionally experience . I would usually do short, 30 minute sessions in various localized areas of my body (usually back, knee or liver/kidney area) of this therapy with my functional medicine provider. However I decided to do an hour long session during a promotional event they were having, where you can do a “full-body session” on a PEMF bed. I decided to give it a go, and felt amazing immediately afterwards. Unfortunately, the next day, I woke up in pain that night with my right eye red, watery and swollen. For the next couple weeks I had trouble seeing out of that eye and it was a pretty difficult experience. I believe this was yet another message for me that I had not yet fully received; if it’s not broke, don’t fix it – or perhaps – when doing a therapy to help activate the body’s own healing mechanisms, it’s probably best to take it low and slow!
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At Root Health Coaching, my goal is as a coach and consultant is always to help meet you where you’re at. Taking accountability for our own health care can be an extremely daunting task for most of us, and so it can be helpful to have a holistic-based health and wellness professional to consult and to process things with. Most of our lives are extremely busy and complicated and having a dedicated professional to explore all the subtle nuances of health-story and our daily life with can be extremely supportive in the healing process.
As a Health Consultant, I can help you guide you with recommendations related to nutrition or exercise plans, as well as guide you in the use of a variety of powerful holistic modalities/therapies and herbal or homeopathic remedies that may help the body repair and utilize it’s own innate healing abilities.
As a Health Coach, I can help you by simply holding space for you to express yourself and share your story. Often the story we are telling ourselves has a profound impact on not only our mental/emotional state, but also can play a role in how our physiology actually functions. As a coach, my intention is to listen intently to your story, and offer my reflections, affirmations and my intuitive feedback during our sessions. As your coach, I also double as an “accountability partner”, so that during our subsequent sessions, we can talk about and reflect on any previous goals you had regarding lifestyle modifications and how they have (or haven’t) made an impact on your life. Making changes to our lifestyle can be quite difficult, especially if we try to do it alone. Just think about the last time you tried to make a major change (whether it be a commitment to go to the gym, start a exercise routine or new diet, mend a broken relationship, or make any major lifestyle shift). Did those changes ever stick? Or did you get distracted or pulled in different directions by life/work/family/friends…ect? If you got distracted, how did that sit with you? Were you disappointed in yourself or did you celebrate the fact that you had the awareness to even think about making a positive lifestyle transformation to begin with? These are the types of things we’ll explore in our sessions together.
In short, we’ll often hear about something helpful for our health from our friend, or podcast, or seminar, or from ChatGPT and then what happens (from my experience) is that most people will end up with a list of 50 different things “natural” supplements, or diets, or exercise routines that they suspect might be something useful to help treat whatever condition they’re facing. However, in my experience it isn’t always what we can “add” to our body or mind that is going to be of greatest benefit. Most of the time, all our body needs to begin to heal itself is to begin removing all the things that are no longer serve us. This can include bad food, or sedentary behavior, relationships that negatively impact you, or it could even mean creating an intention to move past negative thoughts and feelings you have about yourself or the world around you.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I’m not sure I believe in the concept of “luck” in any traditional sense. Each one of us is blessed with certain awarenesses, abilities and capacities in this lifetime. Some of us are clearly “lucky” to be born into more fortunate circumstances than others; financially, socially and perhaps genetically. However, who determines this definition of “luck”? I have known some folks who are quite wealthy, but absolutely miserable. I have also known folks with almost no worldly possessions to their name who are extremely vibrant and happy. In this way, I believe that we make our own “luck” in life, and regardless of our external circumstances we can always be “lucky” enough to have the inner impulse to embrace life and find a way to embody an authentically lived experience while being immersed in a world that often tries to dictate the parameters we should live within.
Pricing:
- FREE 30 minute Consultations
- $75/1 Hour Coaching Session (In person, Phone or Zoom)
- *New customers get 1/2 off their first session
- Discounts available for 6-Session Packages
- Coming Soon: Group/Family Health Coaching
Contact Info:
- Website: https://roothealthcoaching.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/roothealthcoaching
