by Sheila Julson

Before forming Renew Holistic Wellness, Kelly Kolodzinski lived on the East Coast and worked in advertising; a profession known for high stress and long hours. Despite being physically active and eating what she thought were healthy foods, she developed vertigo and often felt fatigued. Standard medical tests provided no answers as to what was ailing her and she continued to develop more symptoms.

Kolodzinski returned to her hometown of Milwaukee and began researching food allergies on her own. With the help of a local natural health practitioner, she discovered that the crux of her problem was leaky gut, a digestive issue that causes an immune reaction. She shifted her diet and lifestyle to fix her leaky gut, as well as hypothyroidism, and hormonal imbalances caused primarily by stress.

“Once I began my health journey, my heart wasn’t in advertising anymore,” she says. “I always wanted a job where I could be a permanent student, learning and helping people.” She kept her full-time job while earning a coaching certificate from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She also became a certified colon hydrotherapist through the Wood Hygienic Institute, as well as becoming a certified thermography technician through Kane IR Services.

In 2016, she began offering coaching programs from home and traveled to offer thermography services. This past January, Kolodzinski moved her practice, Renew Holistic Wellness, to a location on Howell Avenue in Milwaukee, across from General Mitchell International Airport.

Among Kolodzinski’s services, it’s colon hydrotherapy that generates many questions and curiosity, but that’s okay with her. “It’s taboo in society to talk about the colon, but it shouldn’t be. Colon health is integral to our overall health and vitality,” she affirms. “Colon hydrotherapy is a gentle bath for the large intestine with purified water. The process gently bathes water into the large intestine and carries it back out, along with old stool and toxins that can build up inside the colon, almost like plaster on a wall.”

Kolodzinski uses the Wood Hygienic gravity method, in which water is fed by gravity with little to no pressure. The process differs from an enema, which often just hydrates and cleans out a portion of the colon, whereas colon hydrotherapy can clean the entire large intestine. She emphasizes that colon hydrotherapy also does not work like laxatives where one becomes reliant on them. Regular colon hydrotherapy treatments can improve regularity and strengthen the elimination process.

The process is discreet and is done with a closed system, with a water-feed tube and a waste disposal tube. She notes that most people are good candidates for colon hydrotherapy, especially those who experience gas, bloating, incomplete elimination, constipation, diarrhea, skin issues, low energy levels and more. Through Kolodzinski’s intake process, she can determine if someone is not a candidate or would need a doctor’s referral to receive the procedure.

Another of her services is thermography, which is a non-invasive risk assessment procedure that produces a heat-map image of the body—a useful tool since inflammation produces heat. According to a Harvard Medical School report, “Chronic inflammation plays a central role in some of the most challenging diseases of our time, including rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and even Alzheimer’s.”

“Thermography is as easy as getting your picture taken,” Kolodzinski explains. “It’s an infrared image that can assess risk for breast cancer, sports injuries, determine a source of pain, identify low-grade thyroid disorders and more.” Kolodzinski states that with breast cancer as a growing concern, people shouldn’t wait until it’s too late to understand breast health. “Understanding risk means you can then implement preventative lifestyle and dietary changes, wear better bras and use less toxic deodorant and products in order to lower risk and improve breast health. Every month should be breast cancer prevention month.”

Kolodzinski takes a non-judgmental approach toward coaching services. She believes this helps peel back the layers in order to understand the stories that we all tell ourselves and memories we have that make us act a certain way today. “I want to provide a safe space so people can share those stories.” She works with coaching clients to help them understand their priorities and goals, identify steps to achieve those goals, and understand why people get in their own way and prevent growth.

Kolodzinski jokes about the irony of going from a career advertising foods that she now believes nobody should eat. Satisfied with the slice of life she’s created, she shares her story to help others. “I love meeting people. Everyone has a wonderful, unique story. I’m always learning and fine-tuning what I do, and adding more ways to help people discover how to feel their best.”

Renew Holistic Wellness is located at 4727 S. Howell Ave., Ste. LL, Milwaukee. For more info or a free 30-minute consultation, call 414-331-8626 or visit RenewHolisticWellness.com. To read the Harvard report, visit Tinyurl.com/y3l6orkk.

Sheila Julson is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Natural Awakenings.