Today we’d like to introduce you to Janice.
Hi Janice, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey into holistic and functional health didn’t begin as a career choice. It began as a lifelong search to understand why I was so sick.
I spent most of my childhood not feeling well. I had my first surgery at three years old and went on to deal with anemia, extreme fatigue, heart issues, brain fog, digestive problems, hormonal and female issues, joint pain, frequent sore throats and fevers, and a list of symptoms that seemed to keep growing.
I was so tired as a child that there were actually pictures of me in the school yearbook asleep on my desk. Talk about embarrassing!
My joint pain was brushed off as “growing pains,” and it seemed like every time our family had a gathering, I would end up sick with a fever or sore throat and couldn’t even enjoy the food and time together that I had been looking forward to.
I married young and had my four children young. Looking back, I think there was a part of me that intuitively knew I needed to. I had always dreamed of having four children, just like my grandmother, and thankfully I did. But pregnancy, motherhood, and simply keeping up with life were not easy on my body.
By my mid-30s, my health had seriously deteriorated. Over the years, I had been diagnosed with multifocal atrial tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, IBS, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, psoriatic arthritis, and numerous other problems. I had extensive dental issues, a hysterectomy, bladder sling surgery, hernia surgery, a heart ablation, and years of physical therapy, chiropractic appointments and pain management because of the amount of pain I lived with.
What was so frustrating was that I was trying to do everything “right.” I didn’t drink. I didn’t smoke. I drank plenty of water and ate better than most people I knew.
And yet I kept getting sicker.
Eventually, I became so weak that I needed a shower seat because standing long enough to take a shower was difficult. I spent much of my time either in bed or on the couch. I couldn’t reliably grocery shop, cook for my family or do basic chores around the house. When my grandchildren began coming along, I wasn’t healthy enough to keep them the way I wanted to.
My husband and I also had a family country band, something we loved, but eventually we had to stop booking performances because I simply wasn’t well enough to continue.
By that point, I had probably seen close to 100 conventional doctors throughout my lifetime. I kept hoping that the next appointment, next specialist or next diagnosis would finally explain everything.
It never did.
By 2017, I had hit rock bottom. After spending years searching, researching and trying practically everything I knew to try, I had basically given up on ever getting well.
I remember praying and telling God that if He wanted me to remain here, He was going to have to show me where to go for help because I simply could not figure it out anymore. I could literally feel my body giving out.
Around that time, my pain management doctor suggested that I see an integrative physician he knew.
That referral changed the direction of my life.
I had my first appointment in November 2017 and began what would become a long healing journey. Only a month later, our family experienced one of the most devastating events of our lives when we lost our seven-month-old grandson. It was an enormous trauma and understandably a setback, but our family walked through it together.
As testing began coming back, for the first time I started uncovering pieces that helped explain the bigger picture of what had been happening with my health.
I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease along with Bartonella and Babesia co-infections, as well as Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome associated with mold exposure. Additional testing later showed very high levels of mercury, lead and other heavy metals. I was referred to a biological dentist, where infections and cavitations were discovered in my jawbone, and I underwent oral surgery as well as removal and replacement of amalgam fillings.
Over time, my healing journey also included addressing chronic viral issues, parasites, environmental exposures, gut health and other underlying stressors. I spent approximately two years working through heavy-metal chelation.
But one of the biggest lessons I learned was that healing wasn’t only about what was happening physically.
My body had carried an enormous toxic burden, but I was also carrying emotional pain.
I had childhood trauma. I had experienced the devastating loss of my grandson. I was a perfectionist and a lifelong people pleaser who had a very difficult time telling anyone no. I would push myself until I physically collapsed. Certain difficult family relationships triggered such intense anxiety that I could literally feel myself shaking inside and out.
So part of getting well became learning to address that side of my health too.
I learned how to set boundaries. I journaled. I learned how to process emotions instead of stuffing them down. I worked on childhood trauma, nervous system regulation and rewiring old patterns. I had to learn how to love and care for myself without feeling guilty about it.
That part of my journey was life-changing.
Today, I can be around some of those same people and circumstances that once sent my nervous system into overdrive. They haven’t necessarily changed — but I have. I can still love them without allowing their behavior to control my health or my peace.
About two years into my treatment, I began feeling significantly better, and something else started happening: I became fascinated by everything I was learning.
I had always believed there had to be an underlying reason I was so sick. Even during my worst years, I constantly researched natural approaches and tried to connect the dots. I just didn’t yet have the education or tools to understand how all those dots fit together.
Once I began to see health through a functional and root-cause lens, it changed everything for me.
I wanted to help the integrative doctor who had helped me, so I enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. After graduating in September 2020, I went to work for her.
That experience confirmed what I already felt in my heart: this was what I was supposed to be doing.
In 2022, I opened my own practice, Rejuvenate Your Life Holistic Wellness, and continued my education through Functional Diagnostic Nutrition and other advanced training. Today, I work virtually with clients who are struggling with complex and chronic health issues, using functional lab testing, personalized protocols, nutrition, lifestyle education and one-on-one support to help them better understand the bigger picture of their health.
I’ve learned to look beyond the diagnosis and ask a different question: What is contributing to the dysfunction underneath it?
My own case taught me that sometimes there isn’t one single answer. I had many layers to unravel, and it took patience, testing, education and a willingness to address my health physically, mentally and emotionally.
But I have my life back now.
And maybe one of the greatest gifts is that I have my brain back too. I lived in such a fog for so much of my life that I didn’t fully realize how impaired I was until the fog began to lift.
Today, I can work doing something I am deeply passionate about. I can keep my grandchildren. I can go fishing with my husband, ride bikes, practice yoga, cook, learn, read and actually retain what I read. I no longer live in severe pain or depend on a pain management doctor. I don’t need to spend my afternoons sleeping. I sleep well, have energy to get through my days, and feel clearer and more grounded than I ever remember feeling.
When I look back now, I can see that something incredibly meaningful came out of some very difficult years.
I know what it feels like to be the person lying on the couch wondering whether this is simply what the rest of your life is going to look like. I know what it feels like to keep searching while people around you don’t fully understand how sick you feel. And I know how powerful it is when someone finally helps you start connecting the dots.
Through everything I went through, I believe I found my purpose.
Today, my mission is to help other people who are buried under the weight of chronic illness begin finding their own way back — to help them understand their bodies, uncover the factors that may be standing in the way of healing, and hopefully regain pieces of their lives they thought they had lost for good.
For me, this is much more than a career.
I’ve been on the other side of that desk.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not been a smooth road.
For most of my life, one of the hardest struggles was simply not knowing why I was sick. I knew something was wrong, but I kept collecting diagnoses instead of answers. I spent years going from doctor to doctor, specialist to specialist, trying medications, procedures, therapies and anything else I thought might help. At one point, I had probably seen close to 100 conventional doctors throughout my lifetime.
Eventually, my health declined to the point that I could barely participate in my own life. I was too weak to stand in the shower without a shower seat. I spent much of my time on the couch or in bed. I couldn’t grocery shop, cook for my family, keep my grandchildren or even do basic chores without paying for it physically. My husband and I had a family country band that we loved, and we eventually had to stop booking shows because I simply could not keep going.
That was incredibly difficult because I have always been a doer. I was a wife, a mother, a grandmother and someone who was used to taking care of everybody else. Suddenly, my body was telling me no even when my mind desperately wanted to say yes.
Then, just as I finally began my healing journey in late 2017, our family lost our seven-month-old grandson. There really aren’t words for that kind of loss. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life, and it taught me that healing is not always a straight line. Sometimes you are moving forward and life knocks you flat again.
Once I finally began uncovering some of the contributors to my illness, there was another challenge: there wasn’t one simple thing to fix. There were layers.
I had chronic infections, mold-related illness, heavy-metal toxicity, dental infections and other physical stressors that took years to work through. I spent about two years chelating heavy metals alone. Healing required patience, persistence, testing, lifestyle changes and a willingness to keep going even when progress felt painfully slow.
But some of my biggest struggles weren’t found on a lab report.
I had to face the way I had lived my life for years. I was a perfectionist and a people pleaser. I had a very hard time saying no. I pushed myself long after my body was begging me to stop. I carried childhood trauma and tremendous emotional stress, and certain difficult family relationships created severe anxiety for me.
I had to learn that boundaries were not cruel. Rest was not laziness. Taking care of myself was not selfish. And loving someone did not mean allowing their behavior to continually rob me of my peace.
Learning to process emotions, work through trauma, calm my nervous system and change those deeply ingrained patterns became just as important to my healing as nutrition, supplements or lab testing.
Starting my own practice brought a completely different set of challenges. I had to go from being the sick person searching for answers to becoming the practitioner helping someone else search for theirs. I had to keep learning, build a business, develop confidence in my abilities and accept that I would probably never know everything there is to know about the human body — because the more you learn in this field, the more you realize how much there still is to learn.
There have been setbacks, hard lessons and plenty of moments when I wondered whether I was capable of doing what I felt called to do.
But those struggles have also shaped the way I work with people today.
When someone tells me they are exhausted, discouraged or scared that they will never feel like themselves again, I don’t have to imagine what that feels like. I remember it.
I also know that healing can require tremendous patience. Sometimes progress is obvious, and sometimes it is happening quietly in the background while you are wondering whether anything is changing at all.
The road was much harder and much longer than I ever would have chosen for myself, but I wouldn’t trade what it taught me. It gave me a deeper understanding of health, but even more importantly, it taught me compassion, resilience, boundaries, patience and how precious it is to simply feel well enough to live your life.
Today, when I can work, spend time with my grandchildren, go fishing with my husband, ride a bike or wake up with the energy to enjoy an ordinary day, I don’t take those things for granted anymore.
The things that once felt ordinary now feel like gifts.
We’ve been impressed with Rejuvenate Your Life Holistic Wellness, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Rejuvenate Your Life Holistic Wellness was born out of my own experience with chronic illness and my desire to help other people find answers sooner than I did.
I work virtually with clients who are dealing with complex and chronic health concerns, especially people who feel like they have been chasing symptoms for years without ever understanding why their body is struggling.
My approach is rooted in functional and holistic health. Instead of looking at one symptom in isolation, I look at the bigger picture: gut health, nutrient status, hormones, stress, inflammation, environmental exposures, lifestyle, nervous system regulation, sleep, diet and other factors that may be contributing to how someone feels.
I use functional lab testing when appropriate, along with a very detailed health history, to help uncover patterns and give clients a clearer roadmap forward. From there, I create personalized wellness plans that may include nutrition, lifestyle changes, targeted supplementation, education and ongoing support.
One of the areas I have become especially passionate about is helping people who have been dealing with chronic and complicated health issues such as mold-related illness, Lyme and other chronic infections, gut dysfunction, fatigue, brain fog, hormone imbalances and inflammatory conditions.
What sets my practice apart is that I understand this journey from both sides of the desk.
I know what it feels like to be the person who has seen doctor after doctor, collected diagnosis after diagnosis, spent money looking for answers and still gone home wondering, “But why do I feel this bad?”
That experience has shaped the way I work with every client.
I never want someone to feel rushed, dismissed or like they are just a collection of symptoms. I want them to understand what we are looking at, why it matters and how the pieces may fit together. Education is a huge part of what I do because I believe people make better decisions when they understand their own bodies.
I also do not believe there is one perfect protocol that works for everyone.
Two people can walk into my practice with the same diagnosis and have completely different reasons for why they are struggling. One person may have significant gut dysfunction, another may be dealing with environmental exposures, nutrient deficiencies, chronic stress or a combination of several different factors.
That is why personalization is such an important part of my work.
Through my Full Spectrum Healing Program, I work closely with clients over time rather than simply giving them a list of supplements and sending them on their way. We use testing, education, personalized strategies and ongoing support to help them make sustainable changes and build a healthier lifestyle around what their individual body needs.
I am a Board Certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner, and I continue to invest heavily in education because this field is constantly evolving.
But I would never want my certifications to be the most important thing someone knows about me or my brand.
What I am most proud of is the relationship I build with my clients and the kind of environment I have created for people who have often felt unheard for a very long time.
Many of my clients come to me exhausted, confused and overwhelmed. They may have stacks of lab work, multiple diagnoses and a cabinet full of supplements, yet no one has ever helped them step back and look at the whole picture.
I love helping them turn that confusion into a plan.
Sometimes that means helping someone understand their lab results. Sometimes it means cleaning up their diet, rebuilding their gut, changing their environment, improving sleep or learning how to regulate a nervous system that has been running on high alert for years.
And sometimes the biggest breakthrough is helping someone realize that healing is not about doing everything perfectly.
It is about learning what your body needs and creating the conditions that allow it to function better.
That is probably what I am most proud of brand-wise. Rejuvenate Your Life Holistic Wellness is not built around fear, quick fixes or miracle promises. It is built around education, compassion, personalized care and helping people become active participants in their own health.
I want people to know that even when their health feels complicated, there is value in slowing down, asking better questions and looking at the bigger picture.
Because I remember very clearly what it felt like to desperately want someone to help me connect the dots.
Now I get to help other people do exactly that.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson I’ve learned is that God designed our bodies with an incredible ability to heal. Our bodies are constantly working for us, not against us. I believe our job is to identify the things interfering with that process, whether they are physical, environmental, nutritional, emotional or lifestyle-related, and remove or reduce those barriers while giving the body what it needs to function at its best. That realization completely changed the way I look at health, illness and healing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rylholisticwellness.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janicel.maynard/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rejuvenateyourlifeholisticwellnesswithJanice/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janice-maynard-fdn-p-inhc-a587b122/
