Meet Dawn Kulaski | Functional Medicine Practitioner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dawn Kulaski and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dawn, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
Serving my community and living a life of purpose.

I believe we are all here for a reason. It is my purpose in this life is to guide and educate people to find answers to their health challenges, so they can cultivate their inner healer, regain optimal health, and live a life of purpose. So many healers are on that life path because of their own health struggles. Myself included. I thought that was my story, too, until I was tasked with defining my “why”. I thought my journey was about finding answers to my health challenges. About educating myself. About empowerment and personal health freedom. And it is. It is about all of that. But when I really sat down and thought about why I do what I do, I realized it was really two-fold. One, find the answers as to why my body was struggling so I could get healthy and get my life back and, two, live my soul’s purpose. It was then that it really occurred to me that without the health challenges I have struggled with over the years, I may have never discovered my life’s purpose. And when you finally learn your truth and are blessed with this knowing, it is your joyful duty to share it.

I missed years of my life visiting doctors not getting answers and not feeling like myself. This kept me from quality time with my family and friends and unable to enjoy life the way I wanted to. So now it’s my turn to teach my client’s what I have learned. To educate them in the process of how to take back control of their health. They don’t have to make the mistakes I made or search for answers in all the wrong places. I want people to be heard and know there are answers and that they can get their life back and regain youthful energy, mental clarity and optimal digestion and live a healthy, balanced and sustainable lifestyle. I help my clients do this by creating a customized roadmap with a clear plan of action to reach their goals, so they will feel supported knowing that a program has been designed specifically for them to address their body and their needs.

What should our readers know about your business?
Over the years I have gone up against some pretty tough health struggles. Thankfully I have come through them with not only more knowledge of my body and what it needs to work optimally and how I can best support it, but with each of these hurdles I have acknowledged that the new skills and information I obtain must also be mastered clinically so I can use them successfully in my practice. This has led to countless years of schooling and continued education, but it has allowed me to create a business where I can truly serve my clients with skill and aptitude using discernment in regard to which modality would be benefit them and their needs.

After opening my acupuncture practice, having two kids and still working a part-time job., my heart palpitations returned. “You’re just stressed” the doctors told me. “Do you have any support at home? You are still very young and don’t fit the profile of typical heart issues.” I knew it wasn’t stress. I know what stress feels like! This was different. And what about the stomach pains that would keep me up all night long and nothing ever helped? The doctors told me “You have post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome”. A big fancy term for my symptoms with again, no answers as to why or what to do about it. Just deal with it. Thankfully at the time I was sharing clinic space with a Chiropractor who also practiced Nutrition Response Testing. She saw I was suffering and told me she might be able to help find answers as to why my body was struggling and why I was experiencing these symptoms. And did she ever! Bacteria, virus, heavy metals and parasites just to name a few. She introduced me to a system to help uncover stressors at the organ level that were keeping my body from being well. This was a new level of health. I had not felt this good in years! So of course, armed with this knowledge, I knew it was my duty once again to learn this medicine so I could in-turn finally help others find answers to their health challenges.

Just when I thought I had put all the pieces together, exhaustion, brain fog, a loss of connection with my husband. What was happening? At the time I was only 47. It couldn’t be menopause already, right? My doctor ran what was supposed to be all the right tests, but everything was always in the normal range. At that point I was the student again and found myself researching hormones and metabolic disorders. I learned about functional medicine and the laboratory diagnostics available that could show me exactly why I was exhausted and had no motivation and why I couldn’t think straight. My hormones were a mess! My body was in metabolic chaos!

But how was I going to fix that? You guessed it, functional medicine training. I knew that if I was experiencing these symptoms then my patients were too. Once again, I found myself back in school (hopefully for the last time) to add in this last missing piece of the puzzle. I finally learned that not only was it important to rid the body of stressors like bacteria, parasites, heavy metals, etc., but it takes a whole lifestyle approach to really manage your health. I had to reduce my stress and find better ways to balance stress, I had to eat a more balanced diet, change my mindset, and make my sleep a priority.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love my town of Littleton. I think the downtown area (where my clinic is located) is just precious. We have some super cute boutiques and many delicious restaurants. I love to hike and spend time connecting with nature. My favorite local trail is the Enchanted Forest at Apex in Golden. My family loves to camp and rarely goes to the same place twice. This summer we went to Molas Lake by Durango and also tried out a few yurts in the Basalt and Carbondale area. And while you are over that, a stop at the Iron Mountain Hot Springs is a must. I love live music. Red Rocks is my favorite venue for not only music, but yoga on the rocks and the sunrise service on Easter Sunday. If you can’t find me out in nature, you will likely find me at the hockey rink watching my son play for the Foothills Flyers.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
When my husband and I were struggling to get pregnant with no real answers from Western Medical Doctors, someone suggested I try acupuncture. I scheduled an appointment with Susan Gallagher at Soul Journey Health and my first appointment was life changing! Right after my appointment I headed straight to the library and found every possible book I could on this ancient medicine. I knew deep in my soul this was part of my life path and was enrolled in Acupuncture school a few months later.

Website: www.catalystfamilyhealth.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dawnkulaski

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dawn.kulaski

Image Credits
Edica Pacha