Dr. Shahid Sheikh is a Health and Wellness Coach. His mission is to help you live a pain-free, drug-free, healthy, and productive life. Before emigrating to the United States in 1980, he lived a healthy and successful life. As a young man, after graduating from college, he volunteered for the military, resigned as a Captain after serving for ten years, and moved to the United States to pursue higher education. In the next two decades, he earned an MBA in International Marketing and a Doctorate in Organizational Change, concurrently building a successful career in High-tech, Higher-ed, local government consultancy, and coached mid-career corporate executives in career and leadership development space, both domestic and internationally. All this success came with a high price. He was working three jobs to support himself, but since he did not have the means nor the time for a healthy lifestyle, he soon fell into the convenience and affordability trap of fast foods,  comprised mostly of highly processed and gravely unhealthy foods that led him successively to have several autoimmune diseases: Fanciers Pneumonitis, Parkinson’s Disease (PD), and Inclusion Body Myositis. Since Chronic Fancier Pneumonitis is a rare disease, no one understood what was happening to him for a year. The doctors told him that “it’s all in your head” and referred him to therapists and psychiatrists. They also said, “We’re not so sure this is our domain. We can’t help you either. Get some other kind of help.” Finally, to help him cope with Fancier pneumonitis, one of the physicians prescribed a very high dose of Prednisone. The problem with modern medicine is that it is designed to address symptoms and does not treat or cure the causes of illnesses or diseases. Often the drugs used in treating symptoms cause more harm than the cure. He gained 76 lbs, increasing his weight to 236 lbs., which led to Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol levels. There was a time when he was taking 70-80 pills daily, each with severe side effects, to work and survive while earning an MBA in International Marketing and a Doctorate in Organizational Change. Over time, his condition worsened so much that he had to shut down his consulting firm. He felt tremendously isolated, frustrated, and disillusioned and decided to take control of his health and life. This was when he decided to take matters into his own hands. He told himself, “Shahid, you have served in the military, coached, and trained hundreds of C-suite, corporate executives, small business owners, university faculty members, and graduate students in Leadership and Careers. You can’t give up! Your brain is still working. If traditional medical treatment is not working, look for alternative medication.” With that thought, he started researching and reading extensively. He enrolled in several relevant courses in Complementary and Alternative Therapies, Mindfulness, Mindfulness Meditation, CBT, Positive Psychology, Pain Management, Healing Leaky Gut, and Social and Emotional Intelligence. He also taught himself about the forgotten healing methods and treatment alternatives to modern medicine. He enrolled in relevant courses and self-taught by reading P-2-P reviewed literature and books, ranging from food therapy to mindfulness, from mindfulness meditation to herbalism, etc. In the process, he became certified in:

• Mindful Awareness Practice (UCLA)
• Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (Kornfield & Brach, the Awareness Training Institute at the University of California, Berkley)
• The Power of Awareness (Jack Kornfield & Tara Brach)
• Foundational Skills of Emotional Intelligence (Daniel Goleman Certification)
• Applied Positive Psychology-incomplete (University of Pennsylvania)
• Food as Medicine (Dr. Sears)
• Pain Education  for Chronic Pain (Integrative Pain Science Institute)
• Healing Leaky Gut Program (Dr. Josh Axe)

Through this journey, he learned that although there are multiple causes for these three diseases, chronic inflammation is a common denominator. Poor lifestyle choices, environmental pollutants, and chemical toxins include the side effects of pharmaceuticals widely prescribed in modern (allopathic) medicine. Knowledge alone about Mindfulness, Mindful Meditation, CBT, Positive Psychology, and Social and Emotional Intelligence did not change his medical conditions;to get the desired result, he completely overhauled his lifestyle. He adopted the Food as Medicine teachings in his day-to-day life and as a result, he lost 72 lbs. and got off diabetes, cholesterol, and blood pressure medicines. He stopped using NSAIDs and opiates for chronic pain, cut down the PD medications by 50%, and learned to cope with PTSD without using harmful drugs. Besides these physical transformations, Mindfulness and Mindful Meditation also taught him self-acceptance, self-awareness, and compassion for himself and others. Daily Mindfulness Practice helps him manage his pain, get rid of anxiety, and live a stress-free life. Since then, he has healed most of the harmful side effects caused by modern medicines and managed his  three significant diseases. With Mindfulness knowledge, he has aided people with their personal and professional life problems and even helped them to better manage their relationships. Equipped with knowledge and experience, his purpose in life is to help people suffering from chronic illnesses, diseases, or chronic pain, so that they don’t have to go through what he did.