By Tiffany Paige of Green With Tiffany, Contributing Editor
I can’t think of a better pick for our “Girl Power” issue! Tracy Duhs is a hydration expert and educator. She started her “wholistic” wellness journey, as well as becoming a mom, early in life. Now with two teenage daughters she’s able to give them all the right tools to live as “high voltage humans,” as she says.
With a father who was a minster and missionary, Tracy traveled to Guatemala, where she shadowed a missionary doctor working in an indigenous village. What a great experience to have at the young age of 16, and this set the path for where she is now. Tracy holds a PhD in biogenetics and has shadowed doctors from around the world, learning about their different approaches to disease and regenerative care.
Tracy’s focus is on hydration and you won’t believe what an important topic this is and the role it plays in your overall health. “Most people around the globe are chronically dehydrated, lacking trace elements that are the building blocks for life, so people can’t heal as well. They’re having mental fog, anxiety, depression, weight gain, the list goes on; and all the metabolic functions. If you’re not hydrated then your cells cannot communicate and then there’s an issue with all of our biological functions.”
It can be a misnomer thinking that you have to drink 8, eight-ounce glasses of water a day to be hydrated. I like to joke and say, “wine is my water”. Tracy lets us know that it’s not just about water. “Drinking water is a small portion to the bigger picture to hydration. We are 98.9% water molecules and if we’re that much water molecules that means it’s an important topic. There’s so much we can enhance with our vitality when we optimize our hydration game.”
Armed with a wealth of information, Tracy launched a podcast in May called “Hydrate with Tracy Duhs” and she has a book coming out in January. It will include lifestyle tips, and recipes, including elixir recipes. Tracy is known as the “Elixir Queen.” She loves to make drinks that are “high vibe,” makes us feel good, tastes good, have no alcohol and use ingredients like adaptogen herbs. “We don't want to take things that are going make us feel good right now, but take away time and energy on the back end of our life, right? We always want things that are just going to be feeding us and giving to our lifeforce.”
A buzzword I hear about a lot is adaptogens and I don’t think most people know what they are or what they do. Tracy gives us the quick lowdown…
“Adaptogen herbs, I call them “smart herbs,” are like little doctors that go into your body and help modulate your system. This one herb can either enhance or diminish whatever's happening in your body based on what “your” body needs. They help you adapt to what's happening inside of your biological system. This is just a simple way to put it. Adaptogen herbs are some of my favorite herbs and you can take them on an ongoing basis.”
Tracy radiates from the inside out so whatever she’s doing, it’s working for her.
She’s created the “9 Pillars of Health.”
“These nine foundational pillars are really about how to truly hydrate at the highest level.”
Starting with the obvious – “Hydration. Water. Drink water.”
Mineralization – getting all of the trace elements that you need and getting that from the oceans plasma is probably the most elite way to do that.
Nourishment – we need to nourish our bodies and eat nutrient-dense foods.
Sunlight – It “is a part of our diet. It's a part of the food that our skin is taking in. Think of your skin as a solar panel that's taking in the sun's light and then you're using it as energy."
Movement – “You're not going to be hydrated if you're not moving. Primally move, every part of your body that has fascia; rubbing, massaging, moving all day, whatever feels good.”
Grounding – When you take your shoes off and you're connecting to the magnetism of the earth, then you’re able to charge your body. You know how to plug in your cell phone at night, but do you know how to charge the cells of your body? Walk on the beach or stand on your lawn. 45 minutes daily is the minimum.
Creative Playtime – "It can be many different things for different people, but I think just being open to the things that excite you. What lit you up when you were a child? Tap into that again, rediscover it and start rediscovering yourself."
Loving, Connected, Community – There are many studies now focused on the frequency of love and connection. Humans were made to connect. If we're not connecting at the heart level, if we don't have a connected community of people that we know love us, then we're not going to be high voltage, we're going to be low frequency, low voltage and that's going to take a toll on our cells communicating with each other. You can do all of these other pillars, but if you don't feel connected and feel love here (Tracy points to her heart chakra), then you're not you're not going to thrive.
Sleep - we all need it and many don’t get enough. Tracy can help with all of this at her 3-day retreats she created for The Sanctuary in San Diego, California. With eight cottages two blocks from the beach, you can be “restarting a reboot on your whole system in private luxury. Making sure all your cells are hydrated, taking you through those nine pillars of health in a really fun way that it's going to be an experience like you've never had before. “You're going to come home a whole new human and with an idea of how to do this on your own and how to integrate it into your everyday life.”
I’ve always thought of our bodies as a sophisticated computers and Tracy agrees: “Our body has this innate intelligence and knows what to do. Our only job is to eliminate the obstacles for healing and our bodies will heal. If you’re feeling like a victim to your health, or a prisoner to your body, there is hope, absolutely, 100%. I truly believe that you can transmute the situation and change it to become the most beautiful health story ever. I do think that it starts with hydration, though, because the cells need to know how to talk to each other, so they know how to do their magic.”
Photos courtesy of Tracy Duhs
Watch the interview: