The 3LS Wellness Program (Three-Legged Stool)

The 3LS Wellness Program, created and promoted by Walt Stoll, M.D., resolves a wide range of health conditions and can also be used for maintaining good health. I first found it tremendously effective in helping my own chronic health condition! Consequently, I shared it with many of my clients, who have also found it life-changing. This is why I have adopted it for use in my practice, am writing a book with Dr. Stoll about it, and also recommend it on my website.

The healing practices of the 3LS Program - rest, diet, and exercise - are not new. They are time-tested methods proven effective in maintaining health. However, Dr. Stoll's unique and detailed version of this protocol is extraordinary and gives much greater results than doing these practices uninformed. It is a simple protocol to follow, yet requires learning and persistence on the part of the participant. With consistent practice, many health benefits may be attained.

The more you understand the subtleties of the three practices, how they all harmonize synchronistically, and the way the entire process of holistic healing works, and after you start using these practices in your daily life, the sooner you will see dynamic health improvements.

Here are a basic understanding of how to practice the 3LS Wellness Program. The following is an excerpt from the introduction of our book, Recapture Your Health: A Step-By-Step Program to Reverse Chronic Symtoms and Create Lasting Wellness, which has been adapted for use on my website.

Two Ways to Use the 3LS Protocol:

As a Short-Term Health Benefit Program for Healing a Chronic Condition
If you have a specific health problem or chronic condition that you are wishing to heal, for fastest results, start the 3LS as a short-term health benefit program and stick to it for at least six months to a year. We recommend:
- Skilled Relaxation for 20 minutes twice a day
- A Perfect Whole Foods Diet
- Exercise of any kind, which may gradually lead to doing Aerobic Exercise 20 minutes, 3 times a week.
We have seen this basic regimen produce the quickest and most certain health results for the largest number of patients. However, since results are individual, some people will get better sooner while others will take longer.
For Health Maintenance
Adapt the 3LS Wellness Program for health maintenance after your chronic condition has improved or healed by using the above protocol, or if you are already healthy. We recommend:
- Skilled Relaxation for 20 minutes once or twice a day
- A more liberal Whole Foods Diet
- Aerobic Exercise for 20 minutes, 3 times a week or more. (Or whatever type of exercise you can do.)
Once you are well, you will know what wellness feels like and then you can determine how much time and energy you still need to devote to doing the practices. It would not hurt anyone to continue the health-benefit program forever, but some people can choose to spend less time on wellness later on than they did at the beginning.

How does the 3LS Wellness Program work?

The bodymind we were born with is the most powerful tool we have to heal and prevent illness. The Three-Legged Stool aims toward enhancing the web of a person's total function which allows the bodymind to rebalance itself. Since everything works together and is interconnected like a spider's web, anything that really helps any part helps the whole. The human species has yet to find a better way to rebalance a dysfunctional body system than utilizing the power of nature. Sometimes, using heavy-handed attempts to hurry up the healing or rebalancing, for example with conventional medical approaches, can actually cause damage instead of healing.

The legs of the Wellness Stool are most effective at rebalancing the bodymind when done together. Each leg of the Stool enhances the others in an exponential way, creating a synergistic effect. It goes like this: you get 3 points for doing one practice. When you add a second, you get 9 points rather than 6. If you add the third activity, you get 27! Our normal thinking is if we get 3 for each part, we get 9. But the way in which the body, mind, and spirit responds to our efforts is not 3 plus 3 plus 3, but 3 x 3 x 3! Everything directly affects everything else. It is a kind of synergy (synchronistic energy).

You still get benefits by doing only one or two legs of the Wellness Program, but this synergy is why eating whole foods won't address or resolve all the problems without the Skilled Relaxation. And exercise won't solve everything by itself. The best, and quickest, results are obtained by utilizing all three legs at the same time.

How can I learn more about the 3LS Wellness Program?

First, on this website, see the 3LS Wellness Program Resources for a list of other articles on this website about the Program, and other related resources. Further details and information about healing with the 3LS are included in our book, Recapture Your Health, and we encourage you to read it so you can obtain the most benefit from your practice of the 3LS.

On his website, www.askwaltstollmd.com, Dr. Stoll also describes the 3LS Wellness Program and its use in several articles and glossary entries, and within extensive archives.

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