Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
[Music] he [Music] [Applause] [Music] he [Music] well good morning good afternoon good evening wherever you are in the world it’s Dr. Jan Forman with Relationship Matters TV and um you see I have my mask on again and you know why but I’ll wait until we get kind of more into the show so that I don’t have to explain this twice. But I hope everyone is having a beautiful morning, afternoon, or evening. I just happened to see this is a butterfly and there’s another butterfly. What a coincidence! Today is the seventh day of Women’s History Month and I chose this particular lady to be who I would like to talk about a little bit today and this is who that is: that is Ketta Scott King and her famous quote is, “Women, if the soul of a nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become the soul.” I think that is so appropriate for the times that we are in.

Another thing I want to show you is this before I bring my guest [Music] on and I just want to verbally thank you all for viewing my show. And what did Sally pH say? Oh, they like me, they really really like me! Because sometimes you really wonder, is anybody really watching? But I just want to thank you all for over 2023 when I did my analytics, over 36,000 views! I love all of you, thank you so so very much!

So now, let’s get on with the show. My guest today is someone who you really really really need to get to know. Oops, need to get to know! Let me tell you a little bit about her before I bring her on. Her name is Donna Ambrose and she’s all the way in Toronto, Canada. Let me tell you a little bit about Donna: she is a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, she is an elite health and wellness coach, she is the creator of “Reignite Your Health, Reignite Your Life,” she is also a belief clearing coach, an award-winning best holistic director of a clinic in Toronto, and she’s an acupuncturist. And she was a contributing author to “I Pray on Purpose.”

Without further ado, all the way from Toronto, Canada, Donna Ambrose!

Donna Ambrose
Hello! And you are on mute.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh my! Hello, Dr. Jan! Thank you for having me!

Donna Ambrose
Thank you! Thank you for being on this show! How’s the weather up there in Canada?

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Surprisingly, it’s warm today! You know that we’re in um, we’re in C C so it’s two degrees, so anything above zero is good. It means it’s not freezing, right?

Donna Ambrose
I don’t know anything about Celsius, but it’s warm! It’s probably just 30-something is what it is.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Girl, that’s not 30-something degrees! It’s Fahrenheit, it’s cold!

Donna Ambrose
Well, it’s relative! You see, normally we’re used to like way, way, way colder than that, right?

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, alright! We’re excited! Canadians are excited when it’s zero!

Donna Ambrose
Oh wow! Well, it’s good to have you, it’s good to see you! Thank you!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So I want to get right into this. First of all, I want to ask you this: when I was looking at your bio, after your name it says BSC and then it says MSC. So what is that?

Donna Ambrose
So that was my Bachelor in Science and then a Master’s in Science.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, alright! So now I know that you mainly work with health professionals, but this is the first question I want to ask you: why traditional Chinese medicine versus Western medicine? Why did you decide to go into that?

Donna Ambrose
The short version of it was I was always interested. I think when I was about 14 years old, I fell in love with the human body from my biology teacher in high school and I thought, “Wow, fascinating!” And then I thought for sure this is it, this is it for life! I’m just going to be in the health sciences somehow or another, a doctor or scientist.

As time went by, I decided no, I’m going to be a mad scientist! So I started down that path, but as I was in university, I was working in the hospital and I saw there would be patients that came in on one medication, two medications, and they’d leave on multiples. So I got to thinking one day, I just asked myself the question: “Wasn’t the body designed to heal itself? Is that possible?” Just sort of a question to myself.

And then it just became a theme, a reoccurring theme: “Can the body heal itself?” I was perplexed all the time with this question. And lo and behold, fast forward many years later, I found out that it is indeed the case! And there was such a thing as alternative medicine, but there are so many options in alternative medicine. I didn’t know where to go!

So I followed a couple of different people around, different mentors, to see whether or not I wanted to get into a branch of alternative medicine. Then I chose Chinese medicine because it was the one that didn’t introduce something foreign into the body. It was interesting; it allowed your own energy to heal itself, so to speak.

I mean, there is the insertion of needles, so that’s an external force with acupuncture, but not introducing any substance per se into the body. And that it could realign itself and it could heal. That fascinated me! And then I had my own experience with it when I was unwell, and I was sold after that. It was game over!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So you had your own experience?

Donna Ambrose
Well, I had a car accident a number of years ago and it was pretty catastrophic in the sense that I lost my gait, my walking ability. I couldn’t see very well and definitely couldn’t speak in terms of fluidity. I stuttered severely and couldn’t get anything out. My body just literally shut down.

The option for me was just doing some form of therapy, but really getting on medication and things of the sort. And the question that I had asked myself many years earlier, like I mean seriously, “Can the body heal itself?” I had to ask myself now the real hard question as opposed to just a question. I had to ask that of myself, right?

And then I sought an alternative practitioner, a Chinese medical doctor, and she treated me. I remember distinctly, like it was yesterday, coming out of the office after having had acupuncture for the first time and literally feeling like I was floating! I thought, “What’s going on? What did you do?” I felt like it was magic! And I always remember that moment. I thought, “No, like this is my path! I want to do this!” It was that remarkable!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh wow! So did it take a lot of studying?

Donna Ambrose
It did! Off the undergrad, you do three years of just getting the basics before you can put a needle into someone because really it’s understanding the anatomy of the body. So there’s a lot of anatomy and neuroanatomy, of course, a lot of neuroanatomy because you’re needing to know where there are lots of danger points in Chinese medicine. You couldn’t just put the needles anywhere, let’s say.

There are lots of danger points, and so really understanding the anatomy of the body, which is a course called neuroanatomy. It goes on for infinitum and everyone hates it! But we hate it because we have to understand it so intricately, right?

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And I’ve heard a little bit about acupuncture, but I’m not that familiar. But don’t the needles hurt?

Donna Ambrose
It’s relative! It depends on a lot of factors, right? It depends on the skill of the acupuncturist, it depends on the person’s body, where they’re at, how much pain their body is in, how at ease they are. But for the most part, the short answer is really no!

Because what it is, is if you can get your hair, it’s like one strand of a strand of hair. This is really this! So it’s not a needle in the sense of a needle that we typically think of. It’s just tiny little flexible needles. The techniques and the different things, which half of really learning acupuncture is learning the techniques in terms of swiftness.

So the short answer is yes or no, but mostly no!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, so what? Okay, does acupuncture cure or does it just take away symptoms?

Donna Ambrose
It does both! It depends on how long the patient wants to be undergoing the treatment. You can undergo treatment until you’re cured, depending on what’s going on. Like in China, whilst I was there, people come in the morning. They have a different way of looking at health, right?

Health is really just, it’s not here. I think what health is like not being sick, but there health is a different concept of it in the sense of always being well. So in the morning, on their way to work, they’ll come and they’ll get acupuncture if there’s an issue. And on the way from work, they’ll come and they’ll get acupuncture if there’s an issue. And if there isn’t an issue, they’ll still do that so that they can maintain wellness.

It’s a completely different concept! You want to stay well, so you get acupuncture!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, so Dr. Lauren Michaels Harris says you have amazing energy!

Donna Ambrose
Thank you, Dr. Lauren! Energy is everything!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
I was ready to say, speaking of energy, you are a, let me make sure I get this right, an energy healer or energy therapy coach? What is that?

Donna Ambrose
Well, all of what I do really is all of what we are is energy. All of what I do is aligning people’s energy. Really, when there is dis-ease in the body, there’s a misalignment of energy. Our job as practitioners is really to get that alignment back.

We do it in many ways. Acupuncture is only one of the ways in traditional Chinese medicine. But of course, you know, you’ve heard of Qigong, you’ve heard of Tai Chi, you’ve heard of food therapy, herbal medicine. There are several different ways to realign one’s energy.

And so we’re all energetic beings!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
I know about Qigong! I had a Qigong Master on and he did a couple of little exercises for us. And we have a visitor here, this wonderful lady, her name is Margaret Lance and she is from Scotland. It’s like one o’clock or two o’clock in the morning there! Thank you so much, Margaret, for viewing! And Dr. Lauren Michaels Harris greets you, Margaret!

Donna Ambrose
And she also says, “Oh, it is relative indeed!” I guess she’s talking about pain. And she says she can’t believe she had acupuncture!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow! I’ve never ever had acupuncture!

Donna Ambrose
Oh, I can’t wait to give you acupuncture, Dr. Jan! You would absolutely love it! If you don’t love the insertion of the needles per se, you would absolutely love the feeling! You’d fall in love with the feeling! It is so therapeutic, so relaxing! People snore, fall asleep! I mean deep sleep, snoring and the whole work! Oh, just a sense of real well-being, a sense of energy! It’s just, it’s everything!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So, okay, what exactly is energy therapy? You know, what is that?

Donna Ambrose
So energy therapy is, in short, when you’re not in alignment. So people are coming to me because they’re unwell, right? And so really I’m checking their energy in terms of every aspect of their lives: the energy at home, their energy with their relationships, their energy at home meaning their surroundings, their relationships, the food, clothing. There is energy everywhere in anything!

Our job as energy practitioners really is to just make sure that is all in alignment because if you’re misaligned in one area, it can take you off course, right?

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And so how does one do it?

Donna Ambrose
It could be acupuncture, of course, and it could be really checking in detail what one eats because food has energy. Like I said before, it could be the people with whom they’re in relationship with. They could be draining their energy!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah, well I know, right? We know about that! We can feel energy! Like when someone can enter a room and you would have never met them before, but you know whether or not that person’s got energy or if you like them or if you don’t or if you should talk to them or not, right? Energy is everywhere!

Donna Ambrose
Well, we just need to start sensing it! And so we might just be surrounding ourselves with dark energies or energies that are not aligning with who we are and what it is that we’re wanting to accomplish. Our job is to find out where that misalignment is and what are the tools that we have to get it back in alignment.

There are several, like I mentioned, and we might need to use all of them or we may not.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, food! Does pizza have energy? What kind of is that like your favorite food that you can’t give up?

Donna Ambrose
Does pizza have energy? Yeah! How it works is that so there’s, you go from neutral and then you can have, you know, cold and well, you can have cool, then you can have cold food, and then you back it neutral and you can have warm food and hot foods, right?

And we’re talking not in temperature, so probably the better example would be like if you got fresh ginger, let’s say, and you make an amazing drink out of it, like your favorite ginger drink, let’s say, and you put it in the freezer and it was a slushy. It became a slushy! And you just really enjoy your nice cold slushy ginger drink at the end of the day.

Once you ingest that, it’s actually a hot food! So it’s not the temperature of the food, the property and the energy of ginger is hot. A better example might be if you’re having pepper, it doesn’t matter if you just took it out of the freezer. As soon as you ingest it, your nose might start running, dripping, your eyes start running, and so on. That’s a hot food energetically, right?

And the opposite is true! So for example, maybe if you took cucumbers, let’s say, and you made a stir fry out of it, right? And it’s warm in temperature and you ingest it, it’s a cool food, right?

So our job is to know the energy of the food and treat you with the energy of the food according to the conditions. So we have to also know if the condition was a hot condition, a cold condition, a neutral. So it’s quite, it’s layers upon layers!

So a hot condition would be any of the “itis” conditions, right? Arthritis, something like that. Any of the “itis” is a hot condition. So then I would need a food that was either neutral, cool, or cold, right? I couldn’t treat it with a hot food; it’ll exacerbate it.

And maybe at a certain point, I might, but for the sake of the example, if you have a hot condition, you’ll need a neutral food, a cool food, or a cold food. And so food then becomes the therapy! And thus the saying, you know, “Make food thy medicine,” so to speak, because it could be, it is indeed, not could be, it is indeed like medicine when used appropriately!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow! Now that’s something I really, really didn’t know! So I have arthritis in my knee, but I thought ginger was good for me!

Donna Ambrose
Well, it’s good in the sense that it’s a circulatory, you know, it’s good for circulation and it’s anti-inflammatory. It’s an anti-inflammatory! And so there are basic principles and there are exceptions to every rule, like everything else.

And then of course, you’re talking whether or not it’s topical or systemic, you know, and you’re talking about timing of an illness as well. What stage are you at? So it’s quite, it’s multi-layered! I mean, someone comes in for an assessment and it’s about eight pages that we go through with them and it could be an hour to two hours of an assessment because it’s so multi-layered!

You know, not as simple as in terms of, you know, conventional medicine. You’re treating the symptom, whereas alternative medicine, we’re trying to get to the root of what’s really going on. So it might simply be, “Well, what’s causing your arthritis?” You know, it’s not just that you didn’t just subtly get arthritis.

And it could be that we need to eliminate that pizza because, you know, maybe the cheese is too damping as a food. It’s, you know, that damp energy, let’s say. And you know, we’re not doing macros and stuff like that in Chinese medicine. There are no calories, there are no macronutrients or anything like that!

So it’s kind of a, it’s like one good thing! The best thing, actually, the best combination is a marriage between the Eastern and Western, and not very, there aren’t very many of us that can do that marriage very well of Eastern and Western nutrition and put them together in a layer that would be suitable!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Well, it was a vegan pizza!

Donna Ambrose
It was? So yeah, I might have to work on the pizza issue altogether!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So okay, so Maxine Walker says, “I use acupuncture to stop smoking!”

Donna Ambrose
And there is an amazing protocol, a NADA protocol! It’s a protocol that one uses for addiction because there are several different types of acupuncture you could specialize in. We call it micro acupuncture, so that would be auricular acupuncture, just using the ear for sensation for any, because of the connection with all the nerves and going to the brain and the, you know, that whole dynamics of physiology, anatomy, neuroanatomy, all that connection with what’s going on there.

And so it’s an amazing protocol for addiction to use auricular acupuncture!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, so now when you talk about food and let’s say Chinese medicine, are there oils and herbs that are also involved in that?

Donna Ambrose
Well, yeah! Herbal medicine is a big thing! We make our, it’s very individualized prescriptions. We make our herbal cures per client. I mean, you have your standard, right? You have your standard basic, but you can have your raw, you know, have you ever been in Chinatown and you see all the potions and lotions?

You know, a combination, they each mean something depending on what’s going on. You know, some of this and some of that and some of that. We can probably just, both of us can have a headache, let’s say, and be treated completely differently because it depends on what’s the cause of our headaches, right?

And so you’ll go to the Chinese medical practitioner that then gives you a prescription for the herbal component of it. And we can have two entirely different prescriptions although we’re having the same ailment per se. You know, it depends on the, it’s a different combination of herbs and they have different energies as well.

And so it’s a whole fascinating science, really!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow! Well, a question came in and the question is, what types of ailments can be alleviated through acupuncture?

Donna Ambrose
Well, it’s an interesting question because as a Chinese medical practitioner, we say everything, right? Because the principle is the same: what’s caused that? What’s the cause of the ailment? And once you can get to the root of that and fix that through all the different combinations of Chinese medicine, not just acupuncture, then you get the body back into alignment.

Once it’s in alignment, then it starts healing, right? Because we’re not really doing it; we are assisting the body in doing what it was designed to do. It was always designed to heal itself! There hasn’t ever been any ANS or if about that, I don’t think!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow! Wow! Yeah, because you know they say you are what you eat! And so when you’re saying that food has energy, you know, hot, neutral, and cold, then when you think about it, yes! I never looked at it that way! I just looked at it like certain foods, you know, you shouldn’t eat like processed food and, you know, and then you shouldn’t overdo like, like me and sweets, you know?

Or some people, I know someone who loves salt and she has high blood pressure! You know, and a person who eats a lot of carbs and they might end up in sugars and they might end up being diabetic! But I looked at it that way! I never looked at it as energy! So that’s really, really fascinating!

Donna Ambrose
Well, it goes back to the point I had made before with the perfect marriage! You see, the combination of that Western knowledge of food in terms of what it does on the macronutrients and micro and minerals and vitamins and so on and so forth combined with the energetics of food and the combination is quite powerful indeed!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow! So I need to have just a little break and I got a couple of other questions that have come in and then we’re going to talk about, I hate this, I hate to talk about it, but oh dear! But I did a little survey for you and I didn’t score it all that well, but you could tell me about it!

Donna Ambrose
Okay!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
We’ll do how unhealthy I might be or I might be contributing to it! But okay, and it’s very, very interesting, people! So hang on, don’t go anywhere! We will be right back!

[Music]

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Five years ago, the Power of We Symposium was created to provide a platform for kids from all sectors where they could have a safe and comfortable environment in which to share both their joys and concerns. The Power of We Symposium is proud to have served over 250 kids throughout Romania when we took our mission global back in May of 2023.

Now, two teams of amazing volunteers from both the US and Romania embarked on an 8-day Legacy of Hope tour, bringing encouragement and hope to not only the kids of Romania but also the adults who support them and also to over 100 kids here in the US who contributed handwritten letters of hope to our Romania mission of 2023.

Now this year, we are proud to provide this opportunity yet again in October and we are super excited to up our game! New venue, 750 kids this time! And we want to see you there! We’re looking forward to meeting you in person at this year’s event which promises, as always, incredible speakers, amazing content, and of course, some of the greatest kids on the planet!

So mark your calendars for October 24th and we’ll see you here in Chicagoland for the Power of We Symposium 2024! This year’s theme is “Always Together, Never Alone.” Tickets are available now on Eventbrite or at Power of We Symposium.

[Music]

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
We are back with Donna Ambrose! And I just want to let people know you must, must, you must look for the Power of We 2024! It is an amazing event! And if you have any schools that you know of, any elementary schools, get in contact with Lauren Michaels Harris!

Donna Ambrose
And Lauren Michaels Harris, no, I hope he’s not looking anymore because I said his name! Probably if I don’t see a comment, I know he’s gone! Good!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
But anyway, yes! Just Google Lauren Michaels Harris or Google Power of We Symposium! Also, my book is available on Amazon.com or you can always contact me at Jan for now! I’ll find it here, Jan for now 125 at gmail.com! I’ll put it up there just a little later so that you can see that!

So now let’s get back to Donna Ambrose! Donna, this question came in: did you have a mentor outside of your requirements to be involved in your profession? So did you have a mentor, someone that you really related to or talked to you or really convinced you to go into traditional Chinese medicine and holistic kind of medicine?

Donna Ambrose
Oh, prior to getting in? Yes, I did! I had a mentor for a year! I followed him around literally in his clinic. I lived in the US at the time in Atlanta and literally I went to the clinic every day for a year and watched what he did and listened to his conversations to really get the sense.

I mean, I had the knowing that I wanted to do this, but really what is it all about? You know, like what is it really? Because it’s so foreign, you know? And so what is this concept about it? Before I delved, before I dove all in, I thought, let me, yes, so I did have a mentor! And throughout the years, I’ve had several mentors! Several of my teachers, one of my teachers I actually taught, ended up teaching at his school and supervising, you know, the graduating clinics and so on and so forth. And he was a great mentor of mine, still is, and so on! Yeah, I’ve had several along the way!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, another question came in because I mentioned that you were a belief clearing coach. What is that?

Donna Ambrose
Ah, belief clearing coach! We have so many beliefs, so many things that we tell ourselves that we believe to be true! You know, one of them in relation to health is like, you know, if I get this diagnosis, I can’t get better! You know, or could I get better? Or does this really work?

And so really it’s just getting back to the core of where is it that those beliefs came from and how can we start clearing that so that you can actually get to the place of healing, right? Of believing that it is possible! So it’s really about clearing out old beliefs that are no longer serving you and incorporating ones that would keep you in alignment!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh, okay! Alright! Because our beliefs, our thoughts also carry energy!

Donna Ambrose
Because the whole point of the conversation is that energy is everything! Okay? Our thoughts carry energy! A couple of days ago, I woke up and I was just like not in a great mood! I thought, “What is going on? It’s so weird!” I’m the type of person who, like, I jump out of bed! Like, I don’t use an alarm clock! I don’t press snooze! I don’t have one! I don’t own one!

And my phone’s not there with me! And so I just wake up once I’ve had enough rest! And so I woke up and then my body woke up! It was as if my mind didn’t wake up! And it went on the next day and the next day! On the third day, I’m like, “Okay, Donna, like seriously, what is this about?”

And I had to stop and ask myself the question, “What’s going on? Why am I so energetically heavy?” Right? And because I knew that it wasn’t my normal way of being! And clear those thoughts out! Get to the core of what was happening because that impacts your day! It impacts my day! It impacts the way that I was moving throughout the day, the way that I was responding!

Eventually, if that had gone on longer, it affects everything! But it affected my entire week!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow!

Donna Ambrose
And so it’s really just draining! Everything is energy! And so my thoughts and the way that I was feeling were heavy and I needed clarity! It was really just having a clearing conversation with someone and that was all it took!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
What about having that conversation with yourself?

Donna Ambrose
Yes, I did! I did as well! I did! That’s how I got to the point that I knew that I needed to have a conversation with someone else! So I’m like, “What’s really going on? What’s bothering you?” And so I had to get into asking myself those questions over and over and over! And then I was like, many, many layers of questions later, I’m like, “Oh, maybe I should talk to this person! They’re bothering me!”

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And so, yeah!

Donna Ambrose
Oh wow!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Well, a comment came in and this is from G. Vanessa Glover. She says, “Thanks for this subject! I have been receiving acupuncture for 25 years!”

Donna Ambrose
Oh wow! For different reasons, it is fantastic!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow!

Donna Ambrose
Wow!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And then, who is this? Okay, it’s Asra Geo. She said, “25 years!” Because you also use it, like I said, in China, it’s like it’s to keep well!

Donna Ambrose
I do acupuncture! I have acupuncture every day on my side! It’s just to stay in good health, keep your immune system going, keep your flexibility going! You just, you want to stay in good health!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow!

Donna Ambrose
It’s not only for an illness!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, he’s typing really fast! You know I’m going to talk about him because he is my coach too! So I’m GNA!

Donna Ambrose
And so, well, may, may! You’re all the way in Canada, so maybe I’ll find, maybe, maybe I’ll source you! I’ll source you a good acupuncturist!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Or maybe when we get together!

Donna Ambrose
Oh yeah!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah!

Donna Ambrose
Are you coming to the States anytime soon?

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
I’m always back and forth!

Donna Ambrose
Yeah!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay!

Donna Ambrose
Yeah!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh, so you have your own set of acupuncture needles?

Donna Ambrose
I do! Yeah! Like I said, I give myself acupuncture on a daily basis!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh, you give it to yourself?

Donna Ambrose
Oh, I’m just assuming that you go somewhere every morning or you have some, I mean, from time to time I might go to a colleague or a mentor or something, but yeah, for the most part, about five, five days a week, five to six, seven depending, I’ll give myself acupuncture!

When I wake up, I do my practices, my spiritual practices, and then I give myself acupuncture!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, so it says here also that you worked on luxury cruise lines!

Donna Ambrose
Oh yeah! That was an experience! That was an amazing experience!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah!

Donna Ambrose
It came to a point when the passengers, you know, of course on ships, there are conventional doctors and there’s a nurse. And it came to a point where the passengers were saying, “Listen, we want more! Like, what if I didn’t want to take a medication or I didn’t want to whatever, right? I want options!”

And so they were looking for alternative practitioners to be on board, do lectures, and have people understand the way the body works and how they can, the basics of getting back to taking care of oneself and receiving acupuncture and herbal remedies and so on and so forth.

And these are for longer trips, like the ones where you go around the world, takes a couple of months! And so yeah, I was a practitioner on board and it was absolutely one of the most amazing experiences!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow! And you had an award-winning clinic in Toronto?

Donna Ambrose
I did! I did! We won! I didn’t even know that these awards were available or that I didn’t even know! Like someone just called and I thought it was a prank call one day! And yeah, I received best clinic of the year and best practitioner and best therapist and so on and so forth! Yeah, it was quite exciting!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, so here’s another question: what is the age group that you typically work with?

Donna Ambrose
Well, now I’ve actually transitioned! I work with healthcare professionals, actually, in fact!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay!

Donna Ambrose
Right! So now I, and I know I read where you help them as far because of the burnout!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Burnout! Yeah!

Donna Ambrose
And I know if you are a healthcare professional, you are really subject to burnout more so than I would say the average population!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
That’s correct! Statistics do show, though, I don’t remember the numbers, but it is, it’s a real thing! It’s like hand in glove! It is! We give so much as healthcare professionals! We’re always giving! That’s our assignment! That is what we’re here to do!

And you know, we love it! We do it well! And sometimes at the expense of our own health! So we’re always taking care of someone else’s health and not our own! And it’s quite easy to suffer from burnout!

Donna Ambrose
And so my mission now really is to get healthcare professionals to serve from the overflow! You know, like I’m the type of person where, you know those people where the glass is always, you know, half full? It’s never half empty! I’m half full! The glass is half full all the time!

But when it comes to serving, my glass needs to be full and overflowing! And I have come to learn that it just, it always is! And so I have daily things that I do! I suffered from burnout! I suffered from burnout!

And so I had to reignite my own health! And actually, the program is called “Reignite Your Health!” And so they’re just practical! It’s a six-week program I take you through of how to reignite your health again!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay!

Donna Ambrose
For healthcare professionals specifically because we do, we are in the business of giving and giving and giving and giving!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So, here’s another question: how can acupuncture help a cancer patient?

Donna Ambrose
Well, it goes back to the reason why the person has cancer, okay? Right? It’s always going back to the foundational, I mean, it seems like such a TR or vague answer in the sense that, “Well, really, like really is that it?”

And so getting the body back into alignment! What is it? What are the toxins? Like it’s probably, it’s a perfect segue into what it is we’re talking about with our toxicity question there, right?

What are the toxins? What are the everyday things that we’re doing? How could we eliminate those? And how could we align the body right now? Getting into alignment! How could we align our thoughts?

Literally, it’s bringing everything! It’s almost if you’re hearing a preacher, they will say, “You got to come into subjection into the will, you know, to the spirit!” Really, it’s about coming back into alignment!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And using all the tools that you can get to get rid of all those toxic things that have caused you to put you in that position!

Donna Ambrose
So Sandy Barney in say she had acupuncture for back pain and it worked, but it didn’t for her weight control! Boohoo!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh, I’m sorry, Sandy! There must have been something else going on there! Lots of underlying stuff, right?

Donna Ambrose
And Margaret Lance says, as far as healthcare professionals, that you keep filling other people’s cups!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And Lauren Michaels Harris says, “So much valuable information tonight! Thank you!”

Donna Ambrose
Oh, and here’s another question from Margaret! She says, “Can acupuncture heal someone with a stroke?”

Donna Ambrose
I acupunctured! Oh, there is, when I was doing my clinical, actually, in fact, I specialized in stroke at the time! This was way 20-something years ago!

And with stroke, timing is everything! You know, we’re talking about energy is everything, but with the stroke, timing is everything! And there is a 90% success rate with stroke reversal within, forgot what the time frame is now!

But I haven’t worked in a lot of stroke patients! The last one I’ve worked on maybe was about five years ago! And someone called me like within hours of him having it and he had a full recovery with the stroke!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh wow! Timing is crucial for strokes!

Donna Ambrose
So I want to go to this energy! What was your score? Do tell!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Well, now first of all, audience viewers, this is also a free gift that she is going to send to you! But I took this energy drainers checklist and it says a quick checklist to start paying attention to eliminating some of the energy drainers in your life!

And it says give yourself a one or zero for a total of 25 points!

Donna Ambrose
Awesome!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Almost toxin-free! I think if you have 10, okay, less than 10! Less than 10!

Donna Ambrose
Yeah!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
If you’re less than a little more than 10, make an effort to eliminate more toxins out of your life! And if you have 13 or more, you need to detox!

And she says, “Contact me!” You know, I think I’m going to take this checklist over again because why did you score incorrectly the first time?

Donna Ambrose
Uh-huh! Let’s hear it!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
My score is 14!

Donna Ambrose
Okay, so I need to contact you!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
You need to contact me!

Donna Ambrose
So okay, so one thing I saw and I do this, it says I use air fresheners, bug spray, standard cleaning products in my home and car!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So I shouldn’t be using air fresheners?

Donna Ambrose
Not the standard ones!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Well, what one should I use?

Donna Ambrose
You get one that’s toxin-free! There are several!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay!

Donna Ambrose
Or you open the window on both sides to let the air flow through!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay!

Donna Ambrose
And then another one, I’m not giving all of you all of them because there are quite a few questions! But another one, it’s 25 of them and the score is meant to be out of 25, right?

And if you have 13 or more, then something’s up!

Donna Ambrose
Okay!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
I use a cell phone without a headset!

Donna Ambrose
You know, interestingly enough, I had someone that was coming to me with headaches and just like unexplained! We went through everything, couldn’t find what was going on! We did all the foods, they were sleeping, the this and that and the other!

And then, you know, at the last resort, I’m like, “Listen, do you use your phone without a headset?” And they’re like, “Yeah, why?” I’m like, “Well, you know, just stop doing that! Get a headset! The standard one, not even the ones that are like Wi-Fi!”

And where we go and stop putting it to your ear and draining all your energy! And that was as simple as some people are really susceptible to that!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And one other one, I have taken antibiotics in my life and I have been vaccinated!

Donna Ambrose
Uh-huh! Uh-huh! There’s a level of toxicity that builds up over time!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Well, the antibiotics, of course, over time, it destroys your natural immunity, right?

Donna Ambrose
That I know! But vaccination, I mean, I got the COVID vaccines! I got them all! I mean, you know, I figure better to do that than to get COVID!

Donna Ambrose
Well, really the question was from a standpoint of your microbiome with, you know, which is really your immune system, which is your gut, which is having these toxins in your system!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay!

Donna Ambrose
And the last one I’m going to share is I shower or bath in regular tap water!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay! How am I going to not shower?

Donna Ambrose
There are things that you can put in your showerheads that filter the water!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay! Water filters for showerheads!

Donna Ambrose
Okay!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So people, let’s see, you can go on! I’m going to give you my email address and if you would like this full list of all of the things that you’re doing wrong!

Donna Ambrose
Don’t make it sound like that!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Let me find it!

Donna Ambrose
Okay!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
But it’s so easy to correct because once you know what’s going on, once you know what you shouldn’t be doing, you then know what you should be doing, right?

Donna Ambrose
Okay!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay! So if you email me at jan4now125@gmail.com, Donna has been kind enough to send you this checklist for free! And then you’ll know whether or not you need to contact her!

So evidently, I need to fly to Toronto! No, I do a lot of my work online! In fact, actually, there’s a lot of, there’s a lot of things you can align your energy!

Donna Ambrose
Oh!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
A lot of things you can do other than physical acupuncture! I work online quite often!

Donna Ambrose
So if you send me and just email me at jan4now125@gmail.com, then you will get the list and you’ll find out!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
I’ll put it better! You’ll find out some of the things that you need to change to improve your energy!

Donna Ambrose
To improve your energy!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Now, she does have a lot about people in your life, but I don’t have any toxic! I have gotten rid of all of the toxic friends!

Donna Ambrose
Oh wow! Amazing!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
All of the toxic friends!

Donna Ambrose
So I have one last question! We got just a few minutes! Where would someone start if they wanted to get into your profession?

Donna Ambrose
Well, you start with your sciences, all your undergrad in science! And then you, there are several Chinese medical schools around now, in fact! And if you wanted advanced studies, like really, you get then go to China! That was the path that I took!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh, okay!

Donna Ambrose
So Margaret is responding! She says, “Sometimes we know what we need to do, but we don’t!”

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh dear! You’re exactly right!

Donna Ambrose
Oh yeah!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
That’s the reason we all have coaches! I have a coach! Dr. Jan has a coach! Actually, I have more than one coach! That’s the reason we have accountability partners!

Donna Ambrose
Yeah!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And that’s right! Accountability partners! And a coach! I have more than one!

Donna Ambrose
So if someone wants to get in contact, if you really want to see all what Donna does, just go to www.AmbroseWellnessUI.com!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And is there any way, any other way that people can contact you and that you would like?

Donna Ambrose
And I could put it in here for them to look at!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Well, there is the, um, there is Facebook, of course, by my name, Donna Ambrose!

Donna Ambrose
Okay!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And there’s a site, sort of like the website, similar to Ambrose Wellness! It’s Ambrose Wellness UI, which is the site where I host my retreats for healthcare practitioners!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Is it UI?

Donna Ambrose
No, no! Ambrose Wellness!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
UI!

Donna Ambrose
No!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Why would I put USU?

Donna Ambrose
Okay!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay!

Donna Ambrose
So let me do this!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So they can, I know you would, you’re going to love contacting Donna! I’m going to contact her because evidently, I need to!

Donna Ambrose
I’m going to change some things!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Because like you say, getting the thing in my shower head, I can change that!

Donna Ambrose
And it’s easy to change your toothpaste, let’s say! It’s easy to change your body lotion, let’s say! It’s easy to change, you know, products you put on your skin or your hair that are toxic-free!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
There are so many options now!

Donna Ambrose
Contact me! I’ll tell you where to find a lot of them!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
It’s easy to change a lot of them! Simple, simple, simple tweaks!

Donna Ambrose
So give me just one sentence, a couple of sentences of what you would like to leave with our viewers!

Donna Ambrose
Sometimes I think we complicate the issue of health! Okay? And I like to, like really, it’s everything! Sometimes if I go to do a public speak or something, I said, “Listen, everything I’m going to tell you now, you would have already heard! It is just my perspective!”

So we know that we got to get good sleep, right? It’s basic! That’s when you rejuvenate! That’s when you heal! Well, yet we don’t do it!

So really, it’s really getting back to basics! We know that we should drink our water, or do we do it? Do we measure it? Is it measurable? Like I have several of these throughout the day and I know once I’ve drank how many of them when I pass by and I don’t see it on the counter anymore!

So sometimes it’s just really implementing the things that we already know and doing measurable steps, right? So measure your water in the day and leave it out! And then you know whether or not you’ve drank your half your body weight in ounces of water, right?

There’s just so basic! Getting back to the simple things! Not eating three hours before you go to bed! Eating your heavier meals in the morning, not later in the evening! Literally doing the things that we know to do that we do not do!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay! Well, thank you so much, Donna! I appreciate you being on with us! We have learned so much from you! As a matter of fact, Margaret says, “Thank you, Dr. Jan and Donna Ambrose! We have learned so much!”

Donna Ambrose
Oh, thank you, Margaret! Thank you! Thank you!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And I will be seeing you soon! Talk!

Donna Ambrose
Thank you, Dr. Jan! It was lovely! Thank you for having me!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So you have a beautiful, blessed rest of your evening!

Donna Ambrose
Likewise!

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Alright! Okay! So I’m going to change so I can get all of the toxicity out of my body!

And before we go, I just want to do [Music] this!

[Music]

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
I want to thank all of my viewers because I looked at my analytics from last year and there were over 36,000 views! And as I said earlier, like, uh, uh, what’s her name? Sally, what’s her name? You know the actress that says, “Oh, they like me! They really like me!”

And I just want to thank all of you for viewing! And I really hope that I can continue to have wonderful informative guests just like the guest I had today!

Now, if you would like to be a guest on the show or if you would like to promote your services and products, all you have to do is email me at jan4now125@gmail.com!

Or if it’s someone who you feel could be a good guest or myself or even you, uh, let’s see, what are her initials? SBA? You know who you are! If you would like to be a guest on myself, please contact me! Please email me at jan4now125@gmail.com!

So I will see you again next week! And I have a young lady who I met in Mexico and we’re going to continue to talk about how to stay healthy!

So have a beautiful, blessed rest of your morning, afternoon, or evening! So gotta go! See you next time on Relationship Matters TV! Bye-bye!

[Music]