AN OPEN LETTER TO THE WELLNESS AND LIFE COACHING INDUSTRIES - YOUR SILENCE ABOUT HEALTHCARE IS DISHEARTENING...BUT ITS NOT TOO LATE TO SPEAK UP.

Today a bill passed the congress that stripped 24 million Americans of healthcare. They decided that basically being human - especially a woman - means that they can deny you healthcare. Pre-existing conditions include asthma, autoimmunity, having had a c-section, pregnancy, having been sexually assaulted or domestically abused, obesity, and the list goes on.
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A friend of mine offered what I find the most accurate commentary on the terrifying decision.

“Capitalizing on health problems created by our own culture & environment while also using nationalist rhetoric is perhaps the darkest side of capitalism.” - Stephanie Pool

I'm sick to my stomach at the victim blaming, fat shaming, sexism, racism, classism, and just plain lack of humanity. 

Its a war on women and on the American Dream.

​And no, I don't feel I'm being dramatic.

I left a full time, decade-long career in the film industry 3 years ago to start a body positive wellness and women’s empowerment practice because focusing on the problem of my weight for the previous 15 years left me more unwell, deeply self-loathing, and at a loss for power in my life. It wasn’t until I discovered that the number on the scale didn’t actually matter and was in fact distracting me from deeper issues going on that I began to reframe what health means to me.
I wanted to help other women in a similar struggle to find peace, self-love, and wellness at every size. 

I forgave myself, spent years re-building a foundation of self-love and unlearning everything I learned about food and body so I could reclaim my health and sovereignty over my body and my voice. 

I also became passionate about food justice, sustainability, and healthcare. 

Now I’m working through the next levels of conditioning to upgrade my life and shed lack-conditioning, chronic stress, and trauma from my genome. 

I believe that food is our medicine. 
I believe that we create our reality. 
I am a biohacker. 
I am resilient. 

...and thank god because otherwise my chronic pain, anxiety, exhaustion, and autoimmune issues would have probably sent me back to the security of cube life by now. 

I am a living example that you can heal yourself with mindset, inner work, trauma healing, self-love, and good nutrition. 

I’m working through money blocks, which, if you aren’t spiritually bypassing, can take a lot time. 
Healing from chronic stress and trauma takes longer. 

I have also done the intense work of moving out of victim into creator in my life. 

And none of that is possible if you don’t feel safe. 

So I am also, as are literally all of you, incredibly privileged. 

I have had the privilege of having enough financial security and safety to quit full time work and start my business (barely). 

AND I COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT THE ACA - OTHERWISE KNOWN AS OBAMACARE. 

While I’ve healed myself mostly holistically, I still count on having healthcare in my back pocket for gynecological support and to give me the peace of mind to know that if any major accident or illness happened, I wouldn’t be bankrupt and have to give up on my dream. 

HEALTHCARE HELPED ME FEEL SAFE. AND IT HELPED ME LIVE THE AMERICAN, ENTREPRENEURIAL DREAM. 

Now I wonder if I should go back to Canada. But as a dual citizen who has lived in the US for 14 years, I also don’t want to. I love this country, and if I hadn’t found my tribe of coaches and healers in California I know I wouldn’t be as well as I am today.

But most Americans do not have the privilege we do. 
They are in survival. 
And who remembers Maslow’s pyramid of needs? 
If you are on the bottom of the pyramid, evolution and enlightenment are not possible without having basic needs met. 

MOST AMERICANS ARE NOT IN THE SOCIOECONOMIC POSITION TO BIOHACK THEIR BOOTSTRAPS OR EVEN SHOP AT WHOLE FOODS, AND NOR DO THEY HAVE THE ENERGY OR CONDITIONS FOR SAFETY FOR THEM TO MANIFEST THEIR WAY OUT. 

SO I MUST ASK YOU ALL - WHERE ARE YOUR VOICES IN THIS?

Why aren’t you fighting harder? 
For this or anything else going on in the political climate today? 
But ESPECIALLY FOR HEALTHCARE.

Because you’re afraid of not staying positive?
Because you chose love over fear?
Because you’re afraid of not keeping your vibe high?
Because the construct of this political system is beyond help and you want to live outside the system and create your own bubble?

I LOVE YOU.
BUT PLEASE, LOOK AT THE BIGGER PICTURE.

You can still be working towards abundance and vitality, building a business that empowers others and give back while fighting the good fight for the people who are not as privileged as you. 

AND NOT ONLY CAN YOU, BUT YOU MUST. 

Three years ago I helped my friend Max start a 1 for 1 soap company called Maxwell’s Soaps to help the homeless.
He is a former Navy Corpsman, a medic who survived 6 tours and has PTSD (a pre-existing condition). 
He also goes to Burning Man. 

And I want to tell you what he told me that I’ll never forget. 

THE HEALTH OF THE INDIVIDUAL AFFECTS THE HEALTH OF THE GROUP. 
WE ARE ONLY AS HEALTHY AS THE WEAKEST MEMBER OF OUR TRIBE. 

I’m not going to apologize for bringing down the vibe. 
I’m not going to apologize for my anger. 

Because underneath the anger is heartbreak. 

WHERE ARE YOU? 
LIVES ARE ON THE LINE. 

HERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW: 
(and ps - if you are already doing this, let me know because i want to celebrate you and give you hug and a high five). 

1. Call your Senators TODAY. This bill has yet to pass the Senate. It can be stopped. www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
2. Be a spiritual activist. Practice what you preach and start speaking up as leaders in your community on social media and beyond.
3. Donate a % of your earnings to related causes.
4. Take on scholarship clients to help them break free from the matrix.
5. Follow Daily Action (you can sign up for Text updates) and get to know who to call to voice your concern for your community. dailyaction.org/
6. Get involved politically. Marianne Williamson can’t be our only rep out there doing this work.

I’m also going to put my money where my mouth is and practice what I preach.

As of right now, I’ll be donating 2% of anything I earn in my practice to Planned Parenthood from now on.

And I’ll do more when I have more. 

So to all my conscious friends, lightworkers, healers, motivational speakers, health coaches, life coaches, authors, and to every single one of you in the wellness community…

IF YOU TRULY BELIEVE IN HEALTH AND WELLNESS AND BEING THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THIS WORLD...

WAKE UP AND JOIN THE FIGHT. 
YOU CAN’T FULFILL YOUR MISSIONS WITHOUT GETTING YOUR HANDS DIRTY. 
WE NEED YOU. 

​With so much love and light,

​Natalie Baack