The Body Heals Itself | Fatherhood, Strength & Natural Healing w/ Ben Page

Roderick Richard II: All right, welcome back to the ForFit Fatherhood podcast, a podcast for fathers by fathers, where we talk about the four pillars of fatherhood, which are faith, family, finance, and fitness. And ⁓ I'm excited to have this guest on today because I always like to hear things of fatherhood from different perspectives and getting to hear different people and their journey in fatherhood and seeing kind of how we have these through lines in fatherhood.

AR Wellness Consulting: Man, I really appreciated the way that Ben approached this. It was grounded, it was patient, it was practical. Listen, for the dads that are listening, healing isn't a shortcut, it's a process. And strength isn't just about lifting heavy. It's about showing up consistently, moving your body, taking care of your mind, and being present with your family. If this episode landed for you, don't keep it to yourself. Share it with a dad who's feeling beat up physically or mentally. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. And as always, stay present, stay strong, and I'll see you soon.

Roderick Richard II: before we get into health, chiropractic or books, I wanna start somewhere more important. This show is about fathers, but it's really about men. The kind of men who carry responsibility, who try to do things the right way and who often put themselves last while taking care of everyone else. Today's guest is Ben Page. He's a husband, a father and a man who believes your body is built to heal if you stop ignoring it and start respecting it. ⁓ But before we talk about health or healing or any of that, I want people to understand who my next guest is. Not his title, but who he is as a man and a father. So when people hear a doctor or entrepreneur, they tend to make assumptions. Let's strip all that away. Who has been Page at his core? But before we talk about how he helps people heal, I wanna talk about who he is. Who he is when the title comes off, who he is at home, and who he is when no one's watching. Because how you live as a man shapes how you show up as a father. And how you show up as a father determines everything else.

Benjamin Page: exactly i am a father and i'm a husband course i'm a chiropractor and i'm an entrepreneur but above all i'm a father and i am a son of god also and my hope is to be the person that my sons and daughters will look up to eventually ⁓ i've been at this for ⁓ 20 years now my son turns my oldest son turns 20 on ⁓ March 10th and I have a two year old so I've got a lot of experience and the coolest thing about it is I've had a new experience and a wonderful miraculous blessing he was because we've been waiting for him for 13 years so it's not like it was something that's was a miraculous wonderful ⁓ news that we were able to know that we're gonna have that third child that we're always looking for. ⁓ I've been able to truly take advantage of it ⁓ because now I know how fast it goes. I have a son that's 20 years old out. ⁓ He's out there and he's out sharing the gospel and now I have this two-year-old that I can actually take really advantage of and wish I can go back and do with my first son but it can't happen but now I get that experience I'm gonna bring it to my new one but yeah as a father that's my goal is to provide protect and to preside with my wife and if we can do that together I think we'll be alright

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, awesome. So I got to ask you then with the gap being the way it is, there, if you look back at when your oldest was around the same age as your youngest, do you see yourself doing things differently?

Benjamin Page: 100 maybe not 100 % but ⁓ yeah, I am Definitely trying to enjoy the moments I have with them because I know now how fast they fly ⁓ They just go by way too fast. I Mean, I remember when he was a kid we and I don't know what's right what's wrong but we were able to teach him at a young age to I would read him a story and he'd go to bed not leave with this one kind of want to, but at the same time I know it's going to end, so I'm not rushing it. I go in there, I read the stories before we go to bed, then I ask them, do you want me to go or do want me to stay with you? He every night he says stay with me So I stay with him until he falls asleep and that's another 45 minutes to an hour that it could use doing something else like growing a business But I was like it's gonna be gone sooner or later So I might as well just stay in here be with him until he falls asleep and sometimes I fall asleep with them and then I get out two hours later I'm like all groggy and zombie like but It's something I look at it totally. I look at it totally different. I look at it as these are moments. I need to cherish instead of I need this time to be able to do something else. when I had my son, when he was two years old, I was right in middle of chiropractic college. I was going to bed at eight, waking up at one, studying till six, going to college. I wouldn't come back till six at night. I'd be with him for two hours and then I'd be off to bed waking up at one o'clock in the morning to study again. And it was just... it's it's it's a lot of for now yeah one hundred percent a lot different not one hundred percent different we're still trying to be the best for the weekend discipline wise and helping understand what's good and what's wrong and with because age of course ⁓ but a lot different yes a lot different

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, and I imagine too with the times, just times being different in the way we kind of, just looking back at maybe 20 years ago, the way you parented as, like what was good parenting 20 years ago versus what's quote unquote good parenting now. And then having that perspective or at least that lens to kind of look at it as like, not things you, maybe not negatively like looking at maybe things you did wrong, but like things you would do better or things that you would, like you say, embrace a little bit more. And that got me thinking, I, You know, they have like the Facebook memories. I think it was Wednesday. One of the memories popped up and it my daughters and I have two daughters. We had a tea party and I think it was like four years ago, but it was the last time we had a tea party and I don't remember like, you know what I mean? That time that we had it, I didn't know it was going to be the last time. And we had a ball like watching the video back. We had a great, I don't think it was four years, maybe it two years ago. We had a great time in the video. I was just, I just remember it. Like it was yesterday and then got a little sad, like, man, we haven't done that. Like that was the last time. And I don't, I didn't know it was the last time. And like, if I could do it again, maybe I would have like, we would have had a longer tea party, would have turned into a tea dinner. Like we'd had a whole thing. We made it a whole thing. But, uh, you know, it's funny because we don't, you're right. We don't know when it's going to be the last time. We don't know when they're going to stop asking us to stay a little longer or to. read us, even read the bedtime story. Like, ⁓ I got it. I can go to sleep without that tonight. And so it is important, you know, to lean into those moments and really spend that time with them.

Benjamin Page: Yeah, 100%. I never know. There might be one night where was like, yeah, I'll go to sleep alone tonight. And I'll be like, good. But at the same time, like, ⁓ man. You want to be alone? I could stay with you a little bit more. But at the same time, like I said, it will give me some time back. But I just got to take advantage of him.

Roderick Richard II: Yeah. So. When you were, ⁓ with your oldest you said you were in chiropractors and you were in the middle of school.

Benjamin Page: Yeah.

Roderick Richard II: And so that's obviously a lot different than where you are now. ⁓ But I can imagine, right? It's still like, you're still going to work. You're still providing. You kind of talked a little bit about how you were kind of setting up your time then. How are you doing that differently now? Because I mean, coming back to school obviously is very busy, but if you got, you you're an author and you got a business and you got, you know, you have all the things still. So how are you managing that now?

Benjamin Page: it Yeah, that's a constant. I I'm still struggling to learn how to manage my time properly. So yeah, work at a clinic eight hours a day. have a business. And then, yeah, I want to be the best father and husband I possibly can. Those are the priorities. And at the same time, those are probably the least amount of hours I'm actually using with them or. being there for them. One thing I would say is... early mornings that's that's my key that's where I that's the time so five o'clock in the morning is when I get up and that's the time I have to work on business that's the time I have to work on business until my son gets up or if he doesn't get up at 630 I start to wash the dishes whatever comes first so an hour and a half to focus on business and then I'm with him until I go because he usually wakes up way before my wife so it's just me and him just chilling until my wife gets up we drink something because we're my wife's from Argentine my mom's I have a lot of Argentine. So yeah my mom's Argentine so first thing we do is drink mate together and then I usually head off to the job until I can eventually let that go and just focus 100 % on the business because it's still it's still just it's not a side hustle it's a business but it's not what brings in the majority of the money yet so I still go to the job and then work as a chiropractor. and eventually hopefully i can leave that and just focus on the job and really focus on my family because there's a lot of things i'd like to do mainly being home with my son to be the one that's teaching him i would like to be his teachers of the goal is to get to a point where i can actually be at home and do in also be his teacher i would like to home school my son make sure he doesn't go to the public school system But to answer questions tough. mean, yeah, it's still tough.

Roderick Richard II: Okay, all right. Yeah, that. You there? I got you.

Benjamin Page: Yeah, yeah. I think I'm here.

Roderick Richard II: Okay, all right. thought the winter storm might have taken you out.

Benjamin Page: I No, not yet. Not yet. No, I just finished off saying that, it's a work in progress learning how to manage my time properly so everything gets the proper amount of time. Yeah.

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, and that's the infinite game, right? Because I think that happens forever, right? You're always kind of managing your time and trying to be as effective and efficient with the time you have. we all have the same 24 hours and we're trying to do everything we can with them to maximize our profits and our potential and our purpose and all of the things. And that's something that we kind of continue to struggle with, but it's also to some extent, one of the only things we can control. Right? Because we, we know, right? Knowing that it's a finite amount of time, we have the ability to prioritize the things that are important in that time. And you mentioned like, obviously you got to go to work, right? Because you got to pay bills and right now, you know, going to work is paying the majority of the stuff. So that part, that chunk of time is already accounted for. Now, what do you do with the rest of it? Like, how do you show up as a business owner? How do you show up as a husband? How do you show up as a father? That's decided by you and that remaining time. ⁓ Obviously you gotta sleep and you you get six to eight hours of sleep if you can. ⁓ And then the rest of that time has gotta be devoted to the people who are most important to you, including yourself.

Benjamin Page: 100%. Yeah. Sometimes that does fall in the back burner, unfortunately. ⁓ Especially as fathers. We let that go. definitely, no, not especially as fathers, but as parents. Yeah.

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, yeah, I agree. I find myself at times like kind of falling off and not doing what I need to do. Just because, right, because life gets in the way and we start doing stuff and things are lining up. as even as like dedicated to my schedule and blocking things and having my calendar like kind of be set up exactly where I want to, there's always something that like throws a monkey wrench and things, messes me up. And you know, you gotta get back to it and try to figure out exactly how to make, like I said, the most of the time.

Benjamin Page: I would... about looking and taking care of yourself and everything, mean yeah, right now I have so limited time. This is what I force myself to do. Physically. I wake up at 5 and I do least 10 minutes of motion and then every day before I go take a shower I do 25 two push-up burpees. And that's pretty much all the time I have to dedicate to me at this moment in my life.

Roderick Richard II: Mm-hmm.

Benjamin Page: but I am dedicating some time. That's what's most important, dedicate some time. I've dedicated my life to wellness and health for last 18 years and you look at all these people and they're out there they're doing all this stuff and you're like, why can't I do all this? this is what i can do for myself right now i know i can why no i can wake up and i can do ten minutes of motion to give me woken up and movement and stretching and then i know i can do i'll have enough time it'd be too late so i shower short because i cold showers are not to worry about the water heating up so i take ten i take five to ten minutes into twenty five to to push a burpees and so they get that was the effort to our job in the cold shower and then that's what i can do right now that's what i can do right now and each

Roderick Richard II: Mm-hmm.

Benjamin Page: you will you'll hopefully you find what works for you this moment in life in that moment life just but make sure you are doing something something daily is is utmost important little stuff and consistently is how you win

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, 100%, 100%. Hey, I'm gonna pause really quick. I realize the charger for this computer isn't in here. It's in the other office, so give me one second.

Benjamin Page: perfect. You

Roderick Richard II: All right, that's the downfall of editing in one room and recording in another. But, ⁓ so, okay, so go back. You said you cold shower. that something that, I would just say, let me just say why, why cold shower?

Benjamin Page: Hehehehehe ⁓ We actually doesn't it doesn't even bother me actually prefer it but when I first started doing it I was like well if we know we're gonna suffer Why can't I pick what I'm going to suffer through? So at the very beginning I just I just did it Because I knew I was gonna have to go through something difficult today, so I'll choose what I'm gonna go through because if you don't choose life will find something to help you suffer through. So life, mean, life has hard moments and I personally believe that a lot of times we can choose how we're going to suffer. And a lot of people do not like cold water. I actually prefer it now. I've been doing it for so long. mean, I've been, don't, that's seven years when I started doing, I just continued to do it. So I just. cold showers because it feels good now I don't I don't mind the cold shower even when it's freezing outside I when I first started doing it it was actually when I was living in Argentina and I would go play soccer and I'd come home and I'd take a shower outside and it didn't didn't matter if it was summer or winter. I would just go out and take a shower. mean, sometimes I'd be freezing, shivering because I was in the middle of winter, but I would just go out and do it. now it just became, it's just something I do. I just cold shower all the time. And it's not that I do it, again, I've studied health and wellness for the last 18 years. I don't do it for some health benefit. I just do it because at first it's like, well, if I'm gonna have to suffer, I'm gonna choose when I'm gonna suffer through. And now I love it.

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, I mean, they say that if you get the hard stuff out of the way, right, do the uncomfortable thing early or, you know, choose your hard. You chose two hard things like the cold shower and burpees are two. You wake up and start your day with punishment, man. ⁓ But those are those are two really good ways to kind of shift your mindset on the day, right? Like you got the hard stuff out of the way. Now you kind of, you know, you're going downhill on everything else. Everything is kind of like.

Benjamin Page: You

Roderick Richard II: if something bad happens, like I already did some stuff, some tough stuff today so I can handle what's coming next.

Benjamin Page: Yep, and one more thing that I'll make sure I every day is once my wife gets up, I make the bed too. I remember listening to some Admiral or something like that. like, you can have the worst day in your life, but if you come home and you see your bed made, like, at least I did one thing right today.

Roderick Richard II: There you go. All right. I guess I to add that in. I used to do it all the time, like, cause it was just a habit from, you know, being in my parents' house. You had to make your bed, get up in the morning, you had to make your bed. And then I got out of the habit of it just recently, honestly, just because like being busy, my wife would still be in the bed cause I get up early. So she's still there and I'd be gone. And so I just kind of got out of the habit of it cause I wasn't doing it. But I do agree when you come home and the bed is made, there's a different feeling, right? Like getting into the bed and like when the covers are all tousled all over the place sucks. But a freshly made bed just has a certain, yeah, a freshly made bed just makes you feel different.

Benjamin Page: 100 % yeah

Roderick Richard II: All right, so some people will hear you say chiropractor, talk about chiropractors and they think, and I go to chiropractor once a week now because I had some back stuff, but people think chiropractor, all they think is cracking necks, cracking backs, ⁓ but what is it that you want people to kind of understand about what you really do as a chiropractor? Because I know it's different, right? But that's the perception is, I gotta get my back cracked, I gotta get my spine aligned or whatever. But I know there's much more to being a chiropractor than just that.

Benjamin Page: 100%. I think that's the smallest point of being a chiropractor is actually adjusting. Really, most chiropractors believe that you need to get adjusted frequently. I'm not of that. Truly, I'm not of that. That thought process, I believe all medicine should be used for the shortest amount of time possible because the body heals itself. The body wants to heal itself. We just need to provide what it requires to heal itself. So injury, injury requires motion. especially if it's soft tissue based, you have a soft tissue injury, ⁓ motion is how you heal that injury. That's how you make sure that the proper tissue is constructed in the area that was injured. So spinal injury, it's almost always ligament because that's what's between the joints. that's what we're usually so motion is how you're going to heal that chiropractic can help with that in an acute situation. But as the as human being, if we want to really make sure we heal properly and maintain that heal, we need to continue to move ourselves through time and we need to make sure that our joints and we're strong and we're flexible. So my job is to help the patient understand that health is your responsibility and what you need to do is make sure you provide your body what it requires to allow it to heal itself because again you heal you. ⁓ Nothing ever will heal you. I won't heal you as a chiropractor. treating you ⁓ doctors and their medicines and that won't heal you your body heals itself if you're going to heal it's going be because of you you are the powerful you have all the potential the power to heal my job is to help you understand what that is and how you can take advantage of that potential of who you are as a person with incredible power I mean people don't understand how wonderful their bodies actually are people think their bodies are fragile i think our practical does that too. No, need to come and see me all the time because if not you're not going to. No, your body is so strong and so powerful and it has so much potential to heal. But in today's society, unfortunately, it's really hard to find what our body requires because we're constantly in a toxic state. If it's not emotional, if it's not physical, and it's toxic due to the fact just what we eat, I mean just what we breathe in. So our body is in a very toxic state. So it's hard to find what our body is required to allow it to do what it is naturally, itself. that's my job as a chiropractor is to help you understand, to help you give you tools to put your body in a situation in the environment externally and internally that allows you to heal yourself. And if you can heal yourself, that's where long lasting relief happens. That's where you don't, that's where you long lasting relief, not the return of pain. get always, people always, they'll come in with a pain, they'll go away, but where does the pain usually come Same place over and over over and over again because you never fully heal. You get that scar tissue formation, get that tearing, so it never fully heals. You have to provide your body what it needs for the proper amount of time. I think that's another reason why healing is so hard. We have to be patient with our bodies. Patience is something that we just don't have anymore either and if you want to truly heal you have to be patient. You have to go through the time to allow your body to heal itself. Music chiropractor, mean right now... like who carpac you got a stiff neck i've a stiff neck so i woke up last saturday with a really stiff neck so what do i have to do i know i have to step to move in certain planes i have to stretch it out to continue to strengthen it and then as i move it and of course i use plants as medicine i eat that's probably talk about them just a little bit but i use plants as medicine especially for physical injuries because that's what i work with more than anything is physical injuries as a chiropractor it takes time it takes time you gotta realize that it's gonna take time and and it you have to provide your body what it requires for the proper amount of time to allow your body to do what it does naturally which is kill itself and then eventually maintain healing is a process usually you'll usually you'll know kind of when you're hitting that healing because you'll feel a jump in energy because it's a lot more easy for your body to maintain that it is to heal it's a lot more energy intensive to heal so you but that takes a long time takes a long time and people are not willing to provide their body what it requires for that proper amount of time that's why we never get a full heal my job is try to teach that it's very hard very hard especially today's society

Roderick Richard II: For sure, for sure. We want everything to happen like right now. ⁓ So a couple things I kind of want to pull out of that. You mentioned that plants are medicine. I've also seen you say that meat and fat are fuel and that could be, guess, controversial depending on who you are or what you're, know, where you stand on that side. ⁓ But what is it like? What do you actually mean when you say plants are medicine and fat, meat and fat or fuel?

Benjamin Page: I if you look at who we are as humans, mean, since we started, we've always started with the hunt. We've always. as humans we've always started with the hunt. If we didn't get the hunt, that's when we looked for the tubers, that's when we looked for the leaves, that's when we looked for the berries, that's when we looked for something that would give us enough energy to get to the next day to look for the hunt. As humans, I mean, you can see so much. You can go back and you can see certain studies, there were certain studies that were cherry picked that said that certain things are not good for you to eat. But as human beings, and that's what I base it on, I base it on how I feel with what I do, and everyone's different, on pretty much all humans. If you're consuming the majority of what you eat is animal fat and meat, you will feel a lot better. And if you are sick, if you're not feeling well, if you're metabolic sick, I highly recommend it. I highly, highly, highly recommend that you go to lots of animal fat and lots of meat. ⁓ I think most, so many people are scared of animal fat. They think that's what's going to cause so many problems. But if you really look into it, it's not fat. It's insulin and sugar what's going to spike insulin. Insulin is the primary cause. you want arteries that are sticky, it's insulin. has nothing to with cholesterol. The cholesterol sticks just like everything else when your arteries are sticking. What makes your arteries sticky? It's insulin. So decreasing that as much as you possibly can. If I had to say there's one super Again, this is my opinion through 18 years of studying, but if there's one superfood, it's probably animal fat. Animal fat is the superfood. Not only does give you energy and gives you the fuel that you need to get through the day, but it is chock full of nutrition too. if that's something, and in plants we've used them. as human beings, since the very beginning, they've been passed down from generation to generation up until four or five generations ago where that kind of stopped and when pharmaceuticals kind of took over. But that's how people healed. If you injured yourself, you went to the plant in your backyard. I mean, you didn't even go to the plant. across the country or on another continent, you went to the plant in your backyard. And those plants were passed down from generation to generation. And the knowledge was passed down. Like, use this for that, use use for that when you injure yourself. And then they would truly thrive on animal fats and meats. That's what I've, and that's studying nutrition for last 18 years. Because unfortunately, even as an alternative medicine chiropractic college, I got one class of nutrition. one class that's it i think i'd one class and and i didn't learn anything fighting will learn anything from either had to all come from me looking and reading on the outside and and people that i look up to that have been able to learn from and that's what i found i've found and again i've been ups and downs to i mean i had a really hard time understanding this at the beginning because I was raised, and I'm an avid gardener. I love permaculture. I love being out, and I love growing vegetables. So was like, stop eating vegetables and starting to want more fat. And he was like, but my garden? I like, I love to garden. I still garden, and I love to work with nature. So I'm always out there working with nature. I love being part of nature, because I believe we truly heal through nature. I've written a whole book on it called Playing in the Dirt.

Roderick Richard II: you

Benjamin Page: But at the same time, understand that if you want to thrive with proper nutrition, it's animal fat and meat. And I cannot wait to start to raise my own cattle, pigs, and chicken again to be able to do just that. I'm not there yet, but I will get there soon enough.

Roderick Richard II: Nice, nice. You mentioned your book, Plain in the Dirt. You also have another book called The Four Pillars of Health. ⁓ We kind of share with us what the two books are about and kind of what we can expect to learn from either one.

Benjamin Page: So the four pillars of health is me trying to simplify health. I want to make it as simple as possible. So I talk about four things that we need to provide to our body. And then our body does everything else. Our body does all the hard work. If we can provide four things, so proper nutrition, proper motion, and then community, so who we are inside and who we have around us. And also the rest we get, put that with motion. And if we can provide our bodies with what it requires, and four simple pillars, our body does all the rest. It's basically, it's my philosophy on health and how to reach a proper human health and maintain it through time. And it just focuses on those things. So motion, diet, community. in the whole mental aspect. I call it natural internal dialogue, so working on who you are on the inside. And I break that down using actually Dr. Miguel Ruiz's work. He's a Toltec. I don't know if he's Toltec, but he studied the Toltec philosophy of the indigenous people in Mexico. and he he he basically brought down to four four things that we need to focus on if you can focus on those four things mentally we become very strong internally and mentally too. that chapter is mainly focused on that. Again, I'm writing, I'm on the shoulders of other giants. So what I wrote is just other things I've learned over the last 18 years to help simplify what I believe health truly is. And that's what the Four Pillars of Health is. In playing in the dirt, I take my life experience and I put it into eight ways nature has helped me heal myself. ⁓ When I say heal myself, it wasn't as much physically. So I, like most people, we have dark times in life. I was going through a really hard time. emotionally and i would have to say i mean i've always been pretty strong physically my weak spot in my health has always been misbehave emotional aspect i'd break myself down because i'd just never think i'm enough i'm not doing what i should be doing i'm not being the best i can so i it's a thing that i had that i had to overcome and i'm still overcoming it it's not like i'm ⁓ yeah here i am i still have to consistently overcome and beat that resistance every single day but nature helped me so much of letting all that take that boulder off my shoulder that's like is this am I ever gonna move forward and nature allowed me to do that I mean I could I could share I mean it was it was the first garden I went back and did since living with my parents because my parents always garden but when I kind of went off on my own I stopped doing it in college I started getting back into whole I guess they call it the modern survivalism movement and gardening is one to able to prepare for yourself I like, I got to get back into this. And I didn't know was going to help me so much emotionally. But I was walking around. I mean, I was a student. had no money. I was walking around. I'd see wood out to get thrown away. And I'd go knock on the person's door. was like, hey, can I take this wood? He's like, sure. Take it to wood. So would take that wood and I would build planter boxes because we were living in an apartment. So we didn't have any place to really plant a garden. But I wanted to plant something. So I took this wood. I built two planter boxes. And I planted. two tomatoes and three peppers and I just remember this is right I remember very well that just getting home from college and watering those plants for those five to ten minutes made me feel so much better emotionally just be in it was just a small garden. it wasn't even I wasn't even playing really in the dirt. had soil that I had bought that put in this planter boxes. So it doesn't have to be a huge garden. can be something small. nature is a great way to help us heal. And it's not just the it's not just being there and touching it. But it explains eight ways that nature has helped me heal me from from the emotional aspect to the grounding aspect where all the science in what is grounding and just getting outside and putting your bare

Roderick Richard II: Mm-hmm.

Benjamin Page: on soil and what it does to who you are. mean, it goes free. If you just plant your feet on the ground for 30 minutes a day, you will be decreasing overall inflammation because free radicals is what causes inflammation. That's what causes tissue damage. And what a free radical is, is it's something that's looking for an extra electron because electrons always have to be paired. The ground is negatively charged. Our feet, every square inch of our feet have 1,300 receptors for these electrons. It's like our roots. So these electrons enter our feet or any part of our body, really. And they go in and they neutralize these free radicals, which stops inflammation. Because if we can stop the free radical, if we can give it what it wants, the other electron, it won't go looking for it, breaking healthy tissue. Nature and the sun are of utmost importance in our health as human beings and most people are scared of the sun and they want to put on sunscreen I would highly recommend don't I would just highly recommend slowly adapt your skin to the sun if you haven't been out for a long time don't use it mean you need sun don't use it just slowly adapt it though because if you're gonna get to go out suddenly for three to four hours you're gonna turn red and you're burn but if you slowly adapt over time 15 minutes a day until you can take that wonderful you need sun and yeah go barefoot I mean just get outside and just Put your feet on the ground. Just let nature do what it does in nature. Let it heal you, because it wants to. We just don't allow it anymore. We wear shoes everywhere. So those are the two books. I can go into a little bit more if you want about the other aspects of how nature can heal us. I can go a little bit deeper in how we can. provide our bodies what it requires to be able to heal naturally. ⁓ We can go anywhere you want. I'd love to talk about what I use to heal myself faster, ⁓ a plant-based medicine that I personally use that I'm pretty sure that your listeners can really get help from also.

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, yeah, you know, I was actually gonna ask you about that. I know I was gonna say that you obviously went to school for it and you've been kind of studying it on your own, but this comes from your own personal experience, right? Like, I think you broke your toe and then you made a salve and kind of started to heal yourself. Tell us a little bit about that and kind of like how that process happened and what did you notice that changed?

Benjamin Page: yeah this is all so this actually happened also living in argentina so like i said i love nature love working with nature always have a garden wherever i go i plant i plant something i don't have and everywhere i go and i always take comfor with me because i use comfrey as my garden fertilizer Comfrey is a plant. It's a dynamic accumulator. It mines minerals out of the soil and brings it up into its leaves and its roots. So what I did originally with Comfrey is I'd plant it around my garden beds. I'd plant it around my fruit trees. Whenever the leaves would come out, I would just cut the leaves and put them around my fruit trees or I'd cut the leaves and throw them in my garden beds. I'd use it as a natural fertilizer for my garden so I didn't have to put anything that's synthetic on my soil, always looking for natural ways to increase soil. And so I would take root wherever I went. So when we moved to Argentina, I put comfrey root in my in my suitcase and I took it to Argentina with us and when I got there I planted it and then I eventually had comfrey growing and it got to the point I had so much leaf because I were living in a place where we had no backyard it was all cement so the whole backyard was cement and I had probably in my front yard I had maybe eight foot by eight foot square biggest I mean that's that's all I had to plant so I had four planter boxes in my backyard and I had this eight by eight is that but alice had all this conference what am i gonna do with all this conference anything about the garden on the front yard ⁓ i'd probably eight maybe twenty percent because people come i just take it so it come on it just take it you got there we'd see all our star squash is gone become my is funny they would just take they would take and and just rip out the lettuce that actually cut the lettuce take the lettuce with them they cut the lettuce take with them and they would grow back you they weren't like I don't think they're rocking it. They were just like, well, I think can eat this, so I'll just cut this and take this with me. So a lot of my stuff in my front yard garden, didn't get to enjoy. But I had all this leaf, and it was actually my dad. My dad was like, well, make a salve out of it. You got all this leaf. So I did. I found a recipe. I dried comfrey leaf from my front yard. I made a comfrey salve, and then just threw in my fridge. was like, I have no idea what I'm going to use this for. So I just put it my fridge. Five days later, I was playing soccer with my buddies. and me I was on defense offensive player we were coming we're both going for the ball I know this is very embarrassing we both missed the ball and all of his force and all of my force went to my big toe my big left toe and I broke my big toe on my left foot not much you can do with broken toes like well experiment time on myself I just started to apply the sad every three hours just to see what happened I had no idea what was gonna happen I from breaking my toe playing soccer to playing basketball 10 days later And I was like, OK, this doesn't make physiological sense. What's going on here? So I jumped down this rabbit hole of comfrey. And I found out that, first of all, it's nicknamed in plant medicine. So it's been used traditionally for thousands of years. Its nickname in plant medicine was knit bone. So specifically used for broken bones. I was like, OK, this is crazy. How does that even work? And I continued down this rabbit hole. And I found out that this plant is actually backed by science now. So it's not just traditional use anymore. It's got science backing it up. This plant has six medicinal compounds but the one that I think helps most with physical injury is a plant, it's a compound called allantoin. And allantoin has been scientifically proven to increase the proliferation rate of tissue cells. So it speeds up what the body does naturally. So you injure yourself by applying this. The body at the cellular level remodels the broken tissue faster, allowing you to heal yourself faster. And of course, the faster you heal, the faster you get symptom relief. Like what I did is like, this is insane. Of course, I did apply it frequently. But since then, I started to offer it to my patients in Argentina. I was like, hey, try this. Try this on the sprained ankle. Or try this on your knee. See what happens. Try this on your spine. And they're all coming back like, what is this stuff? was like, It's comforting. so I started to offer to my patients in Argentina. And then we ended up coming back to the United States. then we went and.

Roderick Richard II: Hehehe.

Benjamin Page: Yeah, we just continued to offer to people. We offer on Amazon more than anything now. I still do offer to my patients, but they usually go to Amazon to buy it. So it's a Comfrey set that I offer on Amazon, which has been helping thousands of people heal themselves faster. So it's really cool to see something that I kind of made on accident help people heal themselves faster that is actually science-based now. So it's not just traditionally used. There's science behind this wonderful plant called Comfrey. I recommend everyone have it in their backyard.

Roderick Richard II: Okay, all right, well now I gotta go plant some in my backyard. ⁓ So now I got a question for you, because this is, most of the guys, ⁓ does it? Okay, perfect, perfect.

Benjamin Page: And it grows wonderful in California. ⁓

Roderick Richard II: All right, so I was gonna say, so most of the guys that listen to the podcast or that follow, they lift, they train, or at least they try to stay active, right? ⁓ And with that, guys are sore or tight or dealing with nagging injuries. ⁓ What would you suggest or what do you see like kind of maybe the biggest mistakes that people come into you and they're like, you know, I'm all beat up, I'm hurt. Like, what is it that they're doing? Or maybe what should we start doing or stop doing in order to kind of... get past that. I got a follow-up question to this, but I'm curious to hear what you say to that one.

Benjamin Page: you're probably going too much then listen to your body that's that's the one thing i recommend all people especially when you're injured listen your body you want to stop when you're injured you don't because you never fully heal you want to continue but just listen to your body be very be very cute what your body's telling you and take it to that point and never pass that point Take it to that point, wherever that point where your body's saying, that's enough. And usually that's a pain point, like that's enough for now. Let's say we're going to go to this point. And it always starts with normal just motion. So if you're injured, it's just motion at the beginning. And then you start to put weight on that motion. But it's just motion to the point of pain, then motion without pain, and then weight, and then continue to become as strong as you possibly can, and flexible. And for most guys, flexibility is their weak point. That's why the injured themselves are not flexible enough. So building flexibility. I read this cool thing the other day. was like, so men, we need to lift more. more than what was it we need to lift more than yogis no and then stretch more than lifters so I mean we have to have it we have to get a good combination of both but for most men working on flexibility up front is key because that's where we're weakest that's where we're gonna injure that's when we're gonna take the joint that's where to take that tissue to its place where it tears because we're not flexible enough so Listen to your body, take it to point of pain without weight as soon as you can do without weight, add weight and then become as strong as you possibly can and don't forget flexibility. Flexibility is key. And again, if you injured yourself, I mean if you're sore after workout, yeah, that's where Consuelo comes in. That's that recovery workout when you're sore, apply to those areas and just, I mean it's just wonderful just to watch how... how plants support the body's natural healing capacity. That's their job. It's not to heal you, it's to support you in allowing you to heal yourself through proper motion, proper nutrition, proper rest, and again, the support of. Hopefully that kind of answered your question.

Roderick Richard II: Okay, all right, so now for somebody, no, it definitely did. It definitely did. Definitely did. So now, so let's say I'm that one of those guys and I am right worked out and get sore or whatever and I'm injured and I say I actually hurt myself, right? And I wanna get healthy and heal faster. I know you said, you know, move to the point of pain and then move without pain and then add weight. But I go to the doctor and they tell me, here's this medicine, go take that. And it heals the symptom of pain, but it doesn't actually heal the problem. What should I be doing if I want to heal faster without this? What are maybe the first two to three tools you would point me towards?

Benjamin Page: And that's the thing, healing takes time. So a medication, there's a great quote by a doctor, it's like if you take medication, now you have to heal twice, you to heal from the medication and also from the injury. Medication will definitely relieve a symptom, that's for sure.

Roderick Richard II: Mmm.

Benjamin Page: It will never heal you though, but it will relieve a symptom and usually you'll get back into the game and you'll re-injure yourself even worse the next time. So healing is, you have to be patient. You have to be patient with your body. And as the older we get, we have to be more patient. But that doesn't mean you stop. That means you continue and you continue to move. ⁓ But if I had to say three things, yeah, one, make sure you're patient. Modern medicine does have its role. So it does, I mean, if you're looking to heal, if you're looking to maintain health, yeah, you want to stay as far away as you can from modern medicine. But if you're in a crisis or you're in an emergency, They have helped and saved millions of people that are in crisis and emergency. But we need to understand that crises and emergencies are short lived. They never should be long term. So if you're going to use modern medicine, make sure it's for short term. And again, if you want to reduce a symptom, yeah, it'll definitely help you. But just remember, consistency through time, patience through time, giving your body what it requires. again, look to proper nutrition, proper rest. proper motion and again don't forget the spiritual and emotional aspect but this so you need all to fully heal but a physical injury look at those three things and yet be patient be patient with your body don't stop though don't stop if you injure yourself don't say okay I'm just going to stop no you continue to do it again body motion body weight weight more weight build strength make sure you're as flexible as you possibly can. highly recommend that men get to a point where they can do front and side splits. And that's just with, that's what's just flexors, that's what the muscles of your legs, I mean we want to be flexible all over, but as like, you want to be able to get to that point where you can actually do front and side splits, that's not something that you can't achieve. I'm not saying you're do it from day one to day two, it's going probably take you years to actually get to that point for some people, but you can. and that should be a goal for most men is to stay physically active and be able to be flexible enough where you can actually split.

Roderick Richard II: I didn't have the splits as my goal, but I do have being more flexible and more mobile. That's something I'm working on ⁓ in 2026 just because as I get older, I have these little nagging things that kind of seem to linger a little bit longer. And I know that overall muscle quality and muscle health, the flexibility and mobility of the joint, the flexibility of the muscle all plays into it. Like I'm obviously training to be strong and to look strong, ⁓ but I also have to work on those other parts that take time and are boring and aren't sexy at all. And so it's harder for me to get into it. ⁓ But I definitely am leaning into, ⁓ I've been trying to do yoga now at least once a week. Obviously I should do it a little bit more or just some mobility and flexibility kind of built into my workouts now just where I'm getting it a little bit more ⁓ because it's necessary now. But but I guess I got to put the splits in there now and try to try to get up to get up to doing the splits in the next few years.

Benjamin Page: Yeah. I interviewed a guy, man, I know his social media reel is range of strength. And that guy is strong but flexible. ⁓ like speech strong and flexible and before final on social media range of strength check him out i don't remember his name because i've interviewed him a couple years ago unfortunately but i do remember israel its range of strength and back i've got some really cool things about how to maintain strength and flexibility as we grow older really good

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, think it's necessary. I think that's one of the first things to I even notice it now. There's just certain things that when I was young and I was playing football and I could get pretty close to the splits. I couldn't do the splits, but I can get pretty close. And now it's just like, yeah, no, I'm not even gonna try that. I'm gonna get hurt trying to do it.

Benjamin Page: You

Roderick Richard II: But again, it's something that's necessary,

Benjamin Page: for sure one hundred percent as especially as we go older don't let that go to the side yet flexibilities key strength is key but for guys yeah i mean they're not you just tell the women opposite strength is the key because usually they're flexible enough to take on the stressors of life but they're not strong enough that's where they get their injuries so most injuries in women are muscle and because of weakness of men it's because they're not they're not flexible enough

Roderick Richard II: ⁓ Other than flexibility being one of the things we need to work on, I know you have your four pillars of health. What is maybe the one pillar that guys or dads are neglecting?

Benjamin Page: I the one I neglected was the pillar of emotional health. That's what I neglected. I I neglected that for way too long. I got to the point where I was at that point was I was like, I don't think this boulder can come off. I'm done. I I got really low. I neglected that forever. And again, this. If you work on the physical, usually the mental comes that way. Because a lot of people are like, I'm work on the mental first, then I'll do physical. It's the opposite. Usually if you work on the physical, the mental follows. I was pretty much physically well. Physically well. And when I say physical well, doesn't mean I was healthy because I was sick mentally. Throughout that whole time, you would never know. but in on the inside i was i was not well and that's i would say that's something we really need to work on as as men ⁓ support on that and again ⁓ If you want to improve mental well-being, physical well-being is where you should start for most. Because most people all just go talk to somebody or a counselor or something like that. No, work on your physical aspect first and see how you change mentally. And if you don't see that change mentally by working physically, yeah, then go look into it because something might. But what helped me personally was actually nature. Nature is what, again, going back to nature, nature is what helped me realize, well, you're not well, let me help you. Let me help you come and work with me. And just being out with nature and be able to just think through things and figure things out while participating in the beauty of nature, that's what got me out of that terrible hole that I was in for years, years, Not a fun place to be in. I'm definitely lot better. I feel a lot more better. Not 100 % I still have my days but ⁓ nothing like I was before. It was again physical activity and nature for me. Those are the two things that helped me so much. then working like I said in the Four Pillars of Health reading that book by Dr. Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements. really helped me and I take that and I tie that into the four pillars of health. But the book itself is wonderful if you want to read the book. It's called The Four Agreements by Dr. Miguel Ruiz. Just excellent, excellent book.

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, yeah. All right. So if a guy is listening, dad's listening right now, it feels maybe beat up physically, mentally, emotionally, and maybe even feels like he's behind. What do you think is like maybe one change he can get someone who's gone through it, right? It's still working on it. It's still going through. But like, what do you think is maybe one change that they can make like this week, something actionable that that would actually matter?

Benjamin Page: If the guy is Well first of all, I still feel I'm behind quite quite a bit. So I mean, I mean, I'll give you my opinion. ⁓ But yeah, still feel like I'm behind. still got feel like I've got so much stuff to do. I got so many places to improve and all that stuff. But I would have to say since I started Since I started waking up at 5 o'clock and dedicating an hour and half to who I am and my business growth, I've seen a huge increase in productivity. Huge increase in productivity, not just a little bit huge increase in productivity. Get yourself up at 5 o'clock. That means you need to be going to bed around 10. So you need realize I need my seven hours of sleep. So go to bed on time so you do get that rest because if we're not getting rest. But try to wake up before everyone else does. and give your body some time. So move a little bit. It doesn't have to be a crazy workout. Just move and then dedicate time to yourself when everyone else is asleep. Well, most of the people are asleep. You're not going to see many cars out on the road. Most people are still asleep at that time. Get up at 5 o'clock. And most people say it's impossible. It's not. If you just do it. And there is a thing that I don't know how true it is, I've tried it and it feels like it's starting to... it does feel... the last thing you think of before you go to bed is usually what you think of when you wake up. So, I'm gonna wake up refreshed. I'm gonna wake up refreshed. I'm gonna wake up refreshed. If those are your last thoughts before you go to bed, there's a higher possibility that you're gonna wake up ready to go. So make sure you end your day right. So I'm gonna go to... I'm gonna wake up refreshed and go to bed on time. Because we need rest. We can't... that's one of the things we have to have we have to rebuild everything all the rebuilding all the healing happens while resting so we have to rest but wake up a little earlier wake up at five you can do it i didn't i mean there is a point in my life where i thought i was never going to able to do it again because i did it for so long i mean when i was going to chiropractic college i wake up for one straight year i wake up one o'clock in the morning and studying to six and then going to school from seven to whenever And I was like, I can't do this ever, ever again. That killed me. That just wiped me out. I I remember having the hardest time waking up after that. And I can. So if I can do it, know you can. If I can do it, I know you can. There's not a reason why you can't. So wake up before everyone else does and give yourself some time to really focus on who you are and what you want to achieve and do some actionable steps to actually achieve it. Work on Just continue to work on yourself. Like I said, it's patience. It's the little things we do throughout time. So if you're building a business, it's the little things you do. If you're building health, it's the little things you do. And it's the consistency you are with those little things. Little things will eventually compound. And we know that in finances too. If you start young, you start to do what you need to do, and you start to save a little here, save a little there, you know through time that's going to compound. And it just gets better. So starting now. and the little things through time, through repetition, compound, and you'll see huge... and that's the thing, we're looking for something now. I saw this thing the other day, this guy working out, he's like, just a really weak arm, one month later, not much change, one year later, you're starting to see muscle, three years later, now he's in shape. So, wake up early and be consistent. That's not easy to say. I mean, that's easy to say, not easy to do, but if you could build on that...

Roderick Richard II: I like that. I like that. No, ⁓ it's easy to say, not easy to do.

Benjamin Page: yeah because we're all i mean retired one percent retire our lives are busy uh... life is stressful unfortunately we've live in a society that builds on stress it seems like we live a life on on that on that we'll were just same thing over and over again most people don't like their jobs most people have a hard time i think i just heard them said shared something from alan watts the other day he's like when he was doing his work on humans he's any study humans for thirty years like the majority of people work jobs they hate to buy things they don't need to impress people don't even care for and any in most people on that bill unfortunately get off that will first of all but we yeah life is not easy ⁓ not it's stressful for most of us world we are no we all have different stresses every time life for all we all have a hard times no one's not no one's never not going to to to something difficult might not look like that we all we all are me included ⁓ so as as long as we were focusing on just be consistent through time we will eventually win i can tell you when but you will eventually win

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, I appreciate that. That's definitely something that guys need to hear. And I think in the way society is now, ⁓ one, we're trying to keep up with everyone else because everyone's showing us a highlight reel via social media. And two, because time is so important to us, we want everything to happen like right now. ⁓ And so if it's not happening right now, we must be failing, right? Even if we're putting in the work, we're not seeing the results right away. It's not working. It's not doing what it's supposed to do. But the reality is that time takes time and that's just it. Things take time no matter who you are or what you do. And there may be some shortcuts, there may be some ways to ⁓ expedite the time or the process, but it's still the process and it's still gonna take the time it takes.

Benjamin Page: and a little thing about time. Time's kind of... I think this was Alan Watts too. Time is an illusion. There's only now. So if you're thinking about tomorrow, it's not here. What you have is now. So in its totality, time is an illusion. Time is right now. That's it. If you can focus like me and you, 100 % focused on you and our conversation, that's where actually time kind of slows down, kind of stops.

Roderick Richard II: Mm-hmm.

Benjamin Page: and you're allowed to truly enjoy and realize that time is an illusion. All you have is now. That's it. That's all you got is right now.

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, I agree. I agree. Hey, I want to I want to try something here. I have some some some rapid fire questions I want to throw at you something I've been trying to do on the podcast lately is just kind of just some things I was thinking about kind of that, you know, this or that kind of questions and see kind of where you go as as someone who is into more natural medicine, but also works as a a chiropractor. Kind of see what you think. ⁓ You ready for that?

Benjamin Page: sure.

Roderick Richard II: Okay, all right, so here we go, first one. ⁓ Morning routine or a nighttime routine, which is more important?

Benjamin Page: Personally, morning routine. I would recommend the morning routine. But let me give you a caveat. I know this is a quick question, but have a night routine so you actually have a morning routine. So prepare to go to rest. Prepare to rest, too. Most people prepare for the day, but they forget to prepare for rest. So prepare for your rest, too. Prepare yourself to rest well so you can actually take advantage of your morning routine. So I would say. maybe both. I guess I... I cheated. I definitely cheated.

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, I'll say you cheat you cheated on that one. You said both, but that's okay. I like that because that's important. All right. Here's the second one. And I think I kind of know where you're to go with it, but train through the pain or rest early.

Benjamin Page: train through the paint.

Roderick Richard II: Okay, all right, I like that answer. I like that. I'm from ⁓ the old school, like, you know, it's gonna hurt a little bit, no pain is no gain. Obviously I don't wanna be injured, right, but no pain is no gain, right? Okay, all right. ⁓ Next one. ⁓

Benjamin Page: And if you're injured, don't stop either. Move, move, move, move. Injured, key component of healing after injury is motion. Again, don't. If you injure yourself, continue to move to that point of pain, though. Don't stop moving.

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, okay. Okay. All right. Ice or heat? said none neither.

Benjamin Page: Neither. No. I wouldn't recommend either of them.

Roderick Richard II: Okay, all right. Okay, all right. Cause I definitely have heard people say, you know, don't ice after an injury. And you know, they say, you know, maybe contrast or maybe use heat, but you say, yeah, I'm on the same. I'm on the same. I've heard the same.

Benjamin Page: I highly recommend you don't ice. None of them. mean, definitely, definitely, definitely don't use ice if you're to use any type of modality heat. But don't use any of them.

Roderick Richard II: Okay. Okay. All right. ⁓ I think I know what you're going to say to this one too. Supplements or habits?

Benjamin Page: habits ⁓ i would highly recommend trying to get all your nutrition from food because food is how we assimilate nutrition and if you look at a supplement actually at the chemical level food spins just a little bit different than the supplement so we're really not assimilating much of the supplements i mean if you're taking a high supplement yeah you will get some of it but it's never what your body really wants because food is how we provide our bodies with nutrition it requires eat fat and meat is what i would say

Roderick Richard II: Okay, all right, last one, strong dad or pain free dad?

Benjamin Page: I'd both. You can be strong and be pain free. ⁓ doesn't... I mean... It all depends... It all depends on what strength is. mean... I look at strength as being able to move your body and lift what needs to be lifted. I'm not looking to be some gigantic person. I mean, I love watching World's Strongest Man and I love to compete in World's Strongest Man. I would be in probably the smallest weight class. But... ⁓ Yes, become as strong as you possibly can. But it doesn't need to be painful to get there.

Roderick Richard II: Okay, all right. All right. ⁓

Benjamin Page: That wasn't the best ad. That wasn't one or the other either.

Roderick Richard II: Yeah, you kind of boast on all of them. Both or neither is kind of where you landed on all of these. Either I gotta ask better questions or you gotta be more decisive, of the two. Or both.

Benjamin Page: Thanks. I know, gotta be more decisive.

Roderick Richard II: All right, Ben, this conversation was grounded, it was practical, and it was definitely needed. ⁓ For the dads who are listening who want to learn more about your work or Consuelo, ⁓ where should they go?

Benjamin Page: So Consuelda. consuelda.com ⁓ on one website. So, BenPageDC or Consuelda.com and if you want to get i mean one the one social media ⁓ yeah one social media on his instagram that's and page dc or call at colin period swell

Roderick Richard II: Perfect, perfect. So, fellow's a few. Okay. All right. Cool. Cool. Cool. I'll make sure I fellas, I make sure I have all that in the show notes and in description for the podcast. So if you guys are listening while you're driving or working out or whatever, just come back to the page. It'll all be there listed for you so you guys can can can hit those links and get something natural to take care of your ailments. ⁓ But hopefully in this podcast, you guys were able to pick up something. that you can use. I know there's some stuff that I heard that for sure I'm gonna be taking advantage of. ⁓ I definitely need to get something that isn't ⁓ Advil or Motrin ⁓ and really lean into more of the natural stuff. Again, as I get older, I'm more conscious of taking care of my body. ⁓ I obviously now have to set a goal to be able to do the splits. I don't know what timeframe I need to put on that, but...

Benjamin Page: I don't know what time frame I need to put on that. But you guys are seeing me posting pictures of me trying to do the splits.

Roderick Richard II: But you guys will be seeing me posting pictures of me trying to do the splits ⁓ or video of me headed to the ER because the splits didn't go well. But either way, thank you. Thank you, Ben, for giving me the encouragement, for spending the time with us on this episode and taking the time out of your day to spend with us. It's greatly appreciated.

Benjamin Page: I love hanging out. mean, it's one of my favorite things to do. So I appreciate you for having me on. just love hanging out. Thanks for all your awesome questions. Yeah, wonderful opportunity. ⁓

Roderick Richard II: All right. All right. So fellas, again, if this landed for you, if it was something that you heard that made sense, make sure you go ahead and thank Ben. either shoot him message on Instagram or head over to the website. And I'm sure there's somewhere you can leave a review and say things are great. I appreciate you guys for listening. Make sure you like, share, subscribe. pass it on to another dad. I know you got a dad friend that's broken and needs some help. This is an episode for him to learn how to heal himself naturally. So make sure you share this episode and I'll see you all soon.