Hi there!   I’m so glad you stopped by.

My name is Lisa Byrne and I am a wife to a fantastic husband and mother of three feisty little ones.

I didn’t have much experience with children until I had my own and I have to admit, I sometimes feel like I am learning to “swim” by being thrown into the deep end!

As a stay at home Mom, I’m also learning fast that if I don’t take care of myself I simply can not care for the people I love most the way I want to.

I have a background full of science.  My undergrad degree is from Cal Poly State University in Biochemistry with a minor in Nutrition and Metabolism.

In college I was on the pre-med track and volunteered in Kenya, Tanzania and Guatemala doing work in the area of health and nutrition with communities of women and farmers.  These experiences led me to pursue public health instead of medicine and I earned my MPH in Social and Behavioral Studies from Boston University.

Though I love science, what I find most fascinating is applying modern science to age-old traditional wisdom to better understand our bodies and what we need to keep us healthy, well and whole.

Too many people today are scattered, exhausted and on the brink of serious illness because their lifestyles are not in balance– and when I see other Moms like this my heart literally aches, because I know how difficult it is to raise children and keep yourself cared for as well.

This passion led me to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NYC where I became certified as a holistic health counselor. I now have a holistic health business supporting busy moms to take great care of themselves. I’m doing the work I love and that has tremendous meaning and value to me.  It allows me to stay at home with my children and still grow and contribute in the world.

I started this blog to support other moms on the wild journey of parenthood and also to give myself an online inspiration board of sorts…where I could create a beautiful, informative and encouraging space that was my own visual reminder  to stay well and balanced.

If you’d like to contact me directly, my email is byrnehealth (at) hotmail (dot) com.

I’m grateful you stopped by.  I hope you find the posts here useful and practical.  Please leave comments and join the conversation as we all spur each other on to a better place.

Some other places you can find me

Simple Mom Monthly Columnist: Writing a monthly health column on Simple Mom.

On TV: Hosting a community wellness show, Healthy Perspectives. View some previously aired shows online: Longevity and Sugar Shock

Guest Faculty for Natural Kitchen Cooking School (Princeton and NYC): Teaching students how to better understand their bodies and biochemistry in response to stress and food’s role in stress response and reduction.

Speaking to groups, teaching classes and workshops on inspired nutrition and healthy living.

And just for fun

A few things that may give a flavor of my personality.

* Alone on a deserted island with one CD (and a CD player with batteries) I’d choose Paul Simon’s Graceland

* My favorite “healthy” snack is toasted whole wheat bread with avocado spread on top and sprinkled with garlic powder and sea salt.

* I love to travel and have enjoyed volunteering in many developing countries. Some of my favorite memories are holding the infants in an orphanage in Tanzania, working with a group of women farmers in the fields and spontaneously busting out in song and dance together (these women know a thing about JOY!) and a brutal hike that started at 4am but got us to a top of a volcano in Guatemala in time for the sunrise.

* My eight best girlfriends from college and I are all still very close and we take yearly reunion trips together.

* My favorite “indulgence” is Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie icecream.

* I consider myself the luckiest woman alive to have married my husband and to share this lifetime with my children.

* An ideal (winter) day to myself would include a slow to start morning with time for prayer and quietness, a long good hike in the woods or mountains, a great smelling bubble bath, a personal massage, maybe buying a new outfit, relaxing time to cook a wonderful meal – with a huge bowl of berries and a warm cup of cocoa for dessert.

* I’m an amatuer painter and was once part of a gallery showing in California.

* I am a sucker for 80’s music and love turning it up, especially to get through housecleaning!