Online course
What will I learn in the Acute 2 Root™ Foundations course?
Seven video modules from Dr. Raquel Harrison on the six pillars of lifestyle medicine, plus an opening module on how you form habits. Each pillar comes in three parts: why it matters to you, the science behind it, and a plan matched to your own habit style.
What do the seven modules cover?
Module 1
The Inputs & Outputs of Wellbeing
Everything you take in each day, from food and sleep to stress and the people around you, shapes what you are able to give back. This module frames the whole course and helps you find your habit formation style.
Module 2
Nutrition: Food Is Fuel
No fad diets. Why you eat, then the ideas that change how you see a plate: nutrient density versus calorie density, why the old food pyramid misled us, and practical ways to eat more plants.
Module 3
Exercise: How Do You Move?
Exercise as an input, not just calories burned. A tour of what movement does for each system in the body, from brain to heart to mood, and how to make it something you keep doing.
Module 4
Sleep: Key to Full Body Restoration
Sleep is where many of us borrow time. Quality versus quantity, how sleep stages restore the body, and the daily rhythms that make good sleep more likely.
Module 5
Stress Reduction: Key to Emotional Health
Cortisol, the fight-or-flight response, recovery and exhaustion, explained plainly. Then how to separate what you can control from what you cannot, and spend your energy accordingly.
Module 6
Positive Social Connections: The Benefits of Belonging
Why belonging matters to physical health as much as any habit, and how to build the relationships that protect you.
Module 7
Risky Behavior Reduction: Understanding How You Cope
Risk is more than drugs: texting while driving counts too. Why we reach for an escape when stressed, and how to swap it for a better one.
What is a habit formation style?
Most people already know roughly how to be healthy. The hard part is the practical part. The course starts by helping you see what actually drives your day-to-day choices, then every module returns to it, so the plan fits you.
Outcome-driven
Motivated by immediate results. You want to see what success looks like and track it.
Emotion-cued
Your feelings before and after a choice drive what you do. You change best by noticing those cues.
Rule follower
Give you clear rules and you will follow them. You like a plan laid out.
Knowledge-seeker
You want to understand the why and the evidence before you act.
Many people are a mix, and your style can differ by pillar: a rule follower with food may be emotion-cued with exercise.
How is the course set up?
- Short videos from Dr. Harrison, each with a full written transcript, so you can watch, read or listen on the go
- Readings and references for anyone who wants to go deeper
- “Develop Roots” exercises, including setting a SMART goal and following through on it
- Reflection questions at the end of every module
- Work at your own pace
Where is the course now?
The course is moving from its old platform to this site, and its lessons will also be inside the Acute 2 Root app. Join the list and you'll hear when it reopens.
Tell me when it reopensFree from Dr. Harrison
Want to know when the course reopens?
Practical, physician-backed help for real life, at no cost:
- Simple tips and worksheets from Dr. Harrison's talks and course
- A free 15-minute intro call when you're ready to talk
- First access to the Acute 2 Root app
Prefer email? Write to rharrison@acute2root.com.