Meet Larry Frieder of The Enlightened Gut in Boulder/Longmont

Today we’d like to introduce you to Larry Frieder.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Larry. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an autoimmune bowel disease, at the age of 10 in 1971. The Doctors told me “There’s nothing you can do for this”. “Just take these drugs and we’ll manage the symptoms”. So that’s what I did. After all, I was 10 years old. What else was I to do? But I quickly became uncomfortable with accepting that I was completely helpless and powerless about my health and future. My health challenges inspired me to stop being a victim and take responsibility for my health, searching for alternatives to the narrow and limited medical options of the time. There wasn’t much around in the 70’s and 80’s but I discovered while in high school that chiropractors offered me some hope through diet, lifestyle, nutrition, and bodywork.

My search for healing inspired my decision to eventually become a chiropractor, acupuncturist, yoga teacher, meditation instructor and digestive wellness coach. I now I work with patients with chronic digestive challenges as both a mentor and coach. I teach tools and practices that I have experienced personal success with including diet, nutrition and microbiome cultivation as well as mind-body medicine, meditation, mindfulness, prescriptive yoga and stress management. Most importantly, I share with clients that Crohn’s has taught me what it means to have gratitude for life, accepting that the good, the bad and the ugly are all part of the package.

Has it been a smooth road?
I’ve never met anyone who’s had a smooth road and I’m certainly no exception. My road includes hospital ER visits, two hour waits in the doctor’s office, surgery, medications, fear, anxiety, anger, resentment, shame, embarrassment and cancer. But I wouldn’t trade any of it for anyone else’s struggles. I believe my challenges were tailor-made to teach me what I need to learn is this lifetime.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I’ve practiced Sports Chiropractic for the last 30 years. It has been my passion and I’ve had the opportunity to work with many Olympic athletes and medalists, ironman triathlon champions and high school and masters athletes, as well as regular folks like me.

My transition to coaching over the years comes from my desire to utilize all the skills, knowledge and gifts that I’ve acquired over my lifetime as both patient and doctor. The coaching structure allows for the luxury of having enough time, focus and intimacy to allow for true mind, body and spirit healing. It’s very exciting and rewarding.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
The Boulder/Denver area has been an ideal place for my work. There are an openness and desire for holistic health and natural healing in this town and people here put a high priority on their health and fitness. Because of that, there is a high bar for excellence in alternative therapies here so the competition is high. But that’s a good thing. The better the healers, the more referrals and the more people discovering and utilizing our services. It helps that I am able to coach clients remotely and I have clients from around the country.