In a world that often tells women to be everything to everyone, Dr. Tanya’s story is a powerful testament to the transformative power of self-discovery and the profound connection between mind, body, and spirit. She didn’t just follow a path; she forged a new one, driven by a deep desire to heal not just symptoms, but the root causes of women’s suffering. Her journey, marked by pivotal moments of realization and personal challenge, reveals a truth we often forget: true healing begins within. Prepare to be inspired, challenged, and empowered to embark on your journey to “More Joy.”
Dr. Tanya always knew she wanted to be a doctor. Even as a child, there was never any doubt. In those days, the path to practicing medicine was singular: attend medical school, learn to diagnose and treat diseases, prescribe medication, perform surgeries, and send patients on their way. As a dutiful Caribbean girl, she followed this path, completed medical school, and built a successful career in family medicine. She loved the holistic aspect of her practice—treating not just the patient, but understanding their families and circumstances, which often provided deeper insight into their health.
For years, she followed the conventional model of care, until a few pivotal moments changed everything.
One day, a patient came in with a prescription for nine different medications. Another doctor had prescribed them, and she needed a refill. As Dr. Tanya examined the list, alarm bells went off. “This is a lot of medication,” she thought. She had taken an oath to ‘do no harm’, but she realized medicine had become a cycle of treating symptoms rather than root causes. One drug led to another to counteract side effects, creating an endless chain of prescriptions.
Curious, she asked the patient how she was managing all these medications. With a sense of pride, the woman pulled out a container, neatly organized with notes detailing when and how to take each pill. At that moment, Dr. Tanya had a realization—medicine had become mechanical. Patients were simply following instructions without being asked how they truly felt. No one was questioning whether the treatment was improving their quality of life.
The second pivotal moment came when a longtime patient, who had been under her care for two decades, was transitioning toward the end of his life. Despite her efforts, she knew that this was a battle she couldn’t win. In his final hours, Dr. Tanya found herself at his bedside, surrounded by family. As his feet grew cold, she gently rubbed them, a small but powerful act of compassion that spoke volumes. It was in that moment that Dr. Tanya realized that sometimes, the best thing a doctor can offer is not a prescription but love—a love that transcends physical care and focuses on the emotional and spiritual aspects of healing.
But it wasn’t just her patients who were teaching her profound lessons. Dr. Tanya’s own health was beginning to decline. While treating her patients with care and compassion, she was neglecting to care for herself. She found herself burnt out, trapped in a system that demanded constant work without room for self-reflection or rest. Her body began to protest. Sleep became elusive, and she experienced intense mood swings, digestive issues, and constant fatigue. But in her world, doctors were meant to have it all figured out—they were supposed to be immune to burnout.
Determined to heal herself, she sought answers beyond conventional medicine. She explored health coaching, integrative and functional medicine, and the profound connection between mind, body, and spirit.
The biggest lesson she learned was the importance of reconnecting with oneself. Women, especially, had been conditioned to prioritize everyone else’s needs over their own. They looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize the person staring back. They carried guilt—guilt for not doing enough at work, guilt for not being present at home, guilt for wanting more
The first patient to benefit from her new approach was herself. She realized that burnout was not just about physical exhaustion—it was about living a life misaligned with one’s truth, suppressing emotions, and carrying the weight of societal expectations.
Her journey led her to health coaching and integrative medicine, where she discovered the transformative power of looking at health from a holistic, functional perspective. She began to understand that burnout, much like the physical illnesses she treated, was a complex issue that needed to be addressed from multiple angles—emotional, mental, and physical. The tools she gained through health coaching allowed her to not only help others but to begin healing herself.
As she delved deeper, she realized that many of the symptoms women experienced—fatigue, mood swings, brain fog—were not just signs of burnout but also perimenopause. The parallels were striking, yet often misunderstood. She had gone into early perimenopause, only to realize that her unresolved burnout had worsened her symptoms. The more she researched, the more she saw how modern medicine failed to adequately address the full spectrum of women’s health.
The biggest lesson she learned was the importance of reconnecting with oneself. Women, especially, had been conditioned to prioritize everyone else’s needs over their own. They looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize the person staring back. They carried guilt—guilt for not doing enough at work, guilt for not being present at home, guilt for wanting more. When patients came to her, they often said, “Doctor, fix me. I’m a hot mess. I just want to feel like myself again.”
She understood that feeling all too well. Healing, she realized, was about more than just medicine. It was about self-awareness, self-care, and self-forgiveness. It was about understanding that the body, mind, and spirit were deeply interconnected. Treating only the physical symptoms without addressing the emotional and spiritual wounds meant the cycle would continue.
“I’ve seen it firsthand in my research,” she explains. “Low vitamin D levels impact blood sugar, mood, heart health, bone health, and brain health. It’s a multifaceted issue, which is why I love the functional medicine approach—it looks at the root cause for each individual. Every person has a unique journey. Why did Person X get to this point? Why did Person Y? Even when lab results overlap, the root causes are different for each individual.”
It was this realization that led her to create the More Joy Method. She felt this method was not just the answer to her own struggles, but also a solution for others. The method, built on the principles of Body Joy, Mind Joy, and Soul Joy, was designed to help people rediscover their vitality and passion for life.
Body Joy was about reconnecting with one’s physical strength. Many women, she found, were exhausted from juggling the demands of modern life—work, family, and social responsibilities. They were neglecting their own health, and in doing so, their bodies began to suffer. That’s a Body Joy imbalance. Often, the root cause is poor gut health, nutritional deficiencies, or toxin exposure—mold is a big issue for many people. This pillar focuses on restoring balance—through better nutrition, exercise, and self-care—the results were remarkable.
Mind Joy was about reigniting passion and purpose. As children, we dream big. Then society tells us we can’t, that we’re not good enough, or that we don’t fit in. Over the years, many of the women she worked with had lost touch with their dreams. They had become so focused on their roles as mothers, wives, and professionals that they had forgotten what made them feel alive. Through practices like stress management, sleep optimization, and self-reflection, she helped them reconnect with the parts of themselves that they had neglected. We dig deep into self-worth—not in terms of a bank account, but in terms of using your essence to serve the world in a way that matters to you.
Soul Joy was about nurturing your connection with something greater than oneself. For many, this was God; for others, it was nature or a sense of inner peace. The goal was to nurture this connection, using meditation, journaling, or simply being present in the world around them. In her experience, many people, especially women, had not processed the trauma of living in a world that often left them feeling unseen and unheard. Many people felt disconnected and lonely, especially after the collective trauma of COVID-19. We never truly unpacked what we went through. Now, in 2024, burnout and disconnection are rampant. People avoid looking in the mirror because they don’t recognize themselves anymore.
Through morning practices, journaling, sound healing, and intentional solitude, I help clients reconnect with themselves. In my office, I have a Soul Joy sanctuary—a quiet space with red light therapy and a grounding mat. Patients spend 15 minutes in there, and when they come out, they say, “I haven’t slept like that in months.” That’s when the healing begins.
Read more about Dr. Tanya’s story by clicking on the magazine below
