We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Monica Lesslie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Monica, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?
Habit optimization itself continues to be one of the most important core values affecting my success, both in running my own business and as a healthcare professional. Some habits change with the season and others I am constantly working to improve – how I lead my life is a reflection of that.

These 3 habits, I have found to be most influential over the past couple years:

1. Getting enough sleep to wake up naturally between 6:00-6:30 am without an alarm clock. 6:24 am seems to be my sweet spot. I get 7.5-8 hours of sleep per night.
Current optimization goal: getting to sleep 30 mins earlier so I naturally wake up by 6 am.

2. Having a morning routine that includes: water, coffee, exercise, mental stimulation, and meditation.
I have found that CONSISTENCY here is much more important than the amount of time committed. I’ve tried everything from 25 minutes to 2.5 hours. Currently, my sweet spot is an hour. As an entrepreneur, life can get really busy, yet time spent here multiplies my productivity during the day extensively. My focus soars. My morning routine is non-negotiable for me, especially on weekdays. I’m a better clinician, mentor, friend, lover – human in general because of it. Our world is a crazy place right now, this routine is my sanctuary.

3. Getting outside for morning/evening sunlight and fresh air: daily, 20 min – 2 hours.
Again, consistency is key. My minimum required dose is 20 minutes, and if that’s all the time I can create, I’ll make it happen both morning and evening. This affects my energy levels, vitality and mood more than any supplement on the market.

Something to note: the practice of habit stacking has been a life changer for me. Life gets busy – often. The balance between personal health and running a successful business by yourself can be tricky. However, another one of my core values is to practice what I preach – always. If I’m teaching others how to live a wildly healthy and vibrant life, I better be doing the same. A great trick is to combine habits together. For example – I’ll do my entire morning routine outside, checking habits 2 and 3 off the list together. Efficiency is key and discipline gives us freedom.
Success happens on this journey.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

I run a wellness practice centered around optimizing human potential – on all levels. As a doctor of physical therapy, I am deeply rooted in the science of how the human body is designed to work. Through my 14 years in practice, I have found that the world of PT has some limitations. These limitations became my challenge and my biggest teacher.

I have gotten to where I am today by being wildly curious and seemingly insatiable when it comes to learning and solving the riddles of our humanness. I’m not a surface feeder by any means – as I identified missing links in our field, I’d take the deep dive into active learning/study and fill the gap.

Early in my career I found it frustrating that nutrition was not a deep area of study for PT’s yet played such a large role in overall wellness, pain reduction, healing and vitality. So, off I went to China to study Traditional Chinese Medicine. I wasn’t satisfied though, because it didn’t seem easily accessible for the public (from my position) without still prescribing a lot of herbs. I later discovered Ayurveda, which roots itself in balancing your system with what’s directly available in your surroundings, wherever you are. Commence the deep dive! I studied Ayurvedic medicine through Kerala Ayurveda Academy in CA and later in India.

I also quickly realized the common gap in the mind and body connection, which is crucial to heal fully. If you can’t sense what you’re doing, how are you going to fix an issue AND prevent it from coming back? We have become incredibly disconnected to ourselves as a society – and we don’t have to be. Yoga seemed like a good starting point as a tool to influence people’s ability to connect to themselves on a deeper level. Once I started down this road, a whole new world opened up. A 200-hr training taught me what was available, but it was barely scratching the surface. I kept going, and going. Years later, I have taken over 1000 hours of training and have taught around the world. Movement can be incredibly potent medicine, our breath is our largest nervous system regulator and we can control it, and – there was still something missing – my road to figuring it out took 10 years of trainings, deeper education, and continuously putting more pieces together, while identifying the common truths across many disciplines.

Eventually, I was introduced to a few bodies of work that would fundamentally change the way I saw the world and worked with my clients. A four-year post professional practitioner training in Cortical Field Re-Education (CFR), a potent method designed specifically to reverse physical compensations from any kind of physical or emotional trauma since the age of 4 years old, opened the doors to access an extraordinary level of healing that we are all capable of. CFR, combined with a postural and movement system which teaches how to move from our innate design, creates a level of health in the body that’s accessible to anyone willing to put in the time to learn how. Much of this is still novel to our society today, and it has become my life’s work to teach it to everyone willing to listen and experience.

I am not a typical physical therapist, yoga teacher, mobility specialist or mentor. I have found consistent truths that carry over in all of my fields of study. Those form the foundation from which I work. I practice what I preach, daily. We make it fun, interesting, challenging and potent. It works.

My biggest lesson, which has become a fundamental philosophy I follow, is this: I am not healing you. Your system is healing itself. My specialty is understanding how to create the most optimal internal environment for healing and HEALTH to take place – this is what we are in control of – your innate intelligence does the rest. And there’s no stopping! I am determined to see how vibrant and resilient we can become.

When I started this journey, I had my own health issues to sort through – thyroid issues, chronic headaches, energy fluctuations, back pain. This was a huge part of my motivation. My drive to solve the riddle of my own system fueled me. Now that those issues are gone, I share what I’ve learned with everyone willing to listen and participate. I’ve been my own case study many times. Instead of aging, I’m growing healthier by the day and watching the same happen to those who choose to come along with me.

It’s been an intense and incredible ride. For as much as we know now, mysteries about the human body remain. My never-ending drive to continuously stay on the cutting edge of our advancements has propelled me to where I am today. The ride is far from over.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
SoCal has SO much to offer, it’s hard to fit it all into a week. Here’s my personal low down based on recent experiences:

I’m from New York, which makes the beaches here a prized possession, along with the wine and endless options for healthy, delicious food.

We’d start with a couple nights at my little fairy cottage hidden on a hill, east of Malibu. Wake up to birds chirping, pick some citrus from the fruit trees and drink coffee on the deck watching the world come to life. Hit the farmer’s market. Stop at Joi Café for some healthy and amazing nourishment. Spend the afternoon at Stonehouse people watching and enjoying some bubbles or California Cab.

Then, off to Ventura – rent a houseboat in the Marina for two nights, play on paddleboards, watch the sunset, walk to restaurants and coffee, relax on the boat and chat with (very interesting) marina locals. Make sure not to skip the Columbian brunch delivered right to your boat in the morning – this one’s not healthy but worth the calories. Test your luck eating it off the back deck and try to spot the dolphins cruising through – we did! Seals and sea lions are a guarantee. Downtown Ventura is worth some exploration time, and we’d pitstop at Santa Clause beach once back on the road. A quiet hidden gem.

From here, head to Topanga Canyon and stay one night in a Teepee, secluded on top of a hill, fully equipped with welcome drinks, a private hot tub, sensational view, movie projector inside the teepee, unbelievably cozy bed set up and homemade warm breakfast delivered right outside your door in the morning.

Next up, head south and take the ferry to Catalina Island. Rent bikes, explore, choose the quiet Two Harbors side or more lively Avalon section to stay the night depending on energy levels. Such a fun little adventure.

Head back to the mainland and venture to LA/Santa Monica, hitting a unique rooftop restaurant for lunch. Elephante, 71Above and Perch are a few of my favorites.

Bringing the trip to an end, can’t skip my go to beaches which include Zuma (do the walk to the top of Point Dune) and Broad Beach (quite secluded and always quiet). Grabbing a light dinner and watching the sun meet the horizon from Sunset Restaurant right on the beach is never a bad decision.

There’s so much more! The endless options and excursions here make it hard to go wrong. Friends can return multiple times to have completely different experiences.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

Over the past 15 years I’ve been guided and supported by such extraordinary individuals and influences. Gratitude is an understatement. Their presence has been paramount in the permission I have given myself to take risks and leaps, unsure of what might be on the other side.

Sometimes people appear in our lives and lead so fully by example with such quiet extraordinance, they may not be aware of what’s happening or how deep their influence flows. My dear friend and powerhouse of a human on ALL levels professional and personal, Erica Paolicelli, is one of those. She has inspired me to walk through my fears, soar unapologetically, and trust my power on a daily basis for years. I’d like to dedicate this story to her.

Website: www.LiveYourBliss.com

Instagram: @Dr.Monica.Lesslie

Facebook: Monica Lesslie

Youtube: Monica Lesslie

Image Credits
Evan Buzzell