FAQ

Please reach out to us by writing on our Contact Us page, email us, or call us with your inquiry.  After touching base with us, you may wish to fill out an Application Form.  Once received, we can determine if/how best we may help your needs.  

Our Application Form can be found here.  It is comprehensive, so you may find it may take some time, but filling it out with sincerity will only help us serve you better.  You can either fill it online or download it to fill out by hand and mail or scan and email it back to us.  Please be assured that everything that is shared with us is absolutely confidential.

Programs can be in either English or Spanish, or both.

In comparison to a Wellness Institution where you may be one out of many, Choose Life Abundant purposefully structures its programs under the warm and friendly setup of a home environment where you should find a more personalized experience.  Here, you will enter a Blue Zone home microcosm without the expenses of moving and relocating to an actual Blue Zone.  The experience is designed to be as interactive as possible.  We are able to learn, retain, and apply best when learning incorporates more than just one of our five senses.  For example, our food will be intentionally chosen to cater to your needs, and its preparation will be like a culinary micro-class where you can learn the reason why we are eating these foods and how to eat them, too.  As we work together to prepare our meals, we hope you learn new recipes to take home and use on your path to health!  We encourage all our visitors to take part in the preparation of foods and washing, as these encourage frontal lobe activity as well. All of these things also will help prepare you for our brain health/mental health workshops where you will be able to practice some of the strategies you are learning about in the lecture series.

This focus on mental health is one of the main differences here: we highlight the connection between our thoughts and health.  It has been said that 9 out of 10 diseases originate in the mind.  An ancient proverb captures it well: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” 

At Choose Life Abundant, we believe in cause and effect. In taking the risk of oversimplifying things, what is your reaction if I would ask you to close your eyes and imagine a nice juicy lemon being squirted on your tongue?  It is likely you may have had your salivary glands segregate saliva into your mouth just at the very thought!  Take for example when you are overwhelmed with stress.  The blood is routed away from your digestive tract to your periphery muscles, thereby impairing the absorption of nutrients from your last meal.  Can you imagine the impact on your health if you are chronically stressed out? Even though what we think and tell ourselves is of great influence, most of the time we are not even aware of what we are telling ourselves!   We may be thinking incorrectly for decades; and though it may be a habit too difficult to break, it’s not an impossible one to overcome.  

The effects of our thoughts are not just physical. What we tell ourselves can also impact anxiety, depression, addictions, and more.  If we were to see ourselves as trees, our thoughts or beliefs are the seeds and roots, while the behaviors and illnesses that result are the peaches on the branches.

When was the last time you heard your practitioner prescribe an exercise routine, a plant-based diet, or counseling?  While some doctors understand and advise their patients how to treat the seeds or roots of illness holistically, prescribing medication to prune the fruits away is how many were trained, not to mention more profitable for the pharmaceutical and medical companies and much easier for the patient.

Choose Life Abundant looks past the fruits to the root level. What good is it to help someone conquer an addiction to drugs without addressing the cause of the addiction? Drugs be easily exchanged for something else (think food, pornography, work, etc.)?  Though some addictions may appear to be more acceptable, spending an unreasonable amount of time at work, for example, will still take a toll on one’s health and relationships.  

To drill down to the roots, it is necessary to spend time in the right kind of environment.   We will share a unique meal plan and incentivize you to give the body the activity it was made to receive.  These should help set the right kind of foundation for us to commence working with our thoughts in the ideal setting of the countryside.

Based on scientific and Biblical evidence, we subscribe to the Corrective Diet for healing dysbiosis or other imbalances in the body. Since research shows that the body is most adept at metabolizing nutrients during breakfast, our morning dishes are selected to be the most nutrient-rich as is possible. 

We also believe in the physiological and mental benefits of contrast baths, blue-light therapy, music therapy, and handy work, all of which are part of your visit.

Visitors and their companions are responsible for booking their own flights. The closest airport to Choose Life Abundant is in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with airport code MSL, and is about 1 hour away by car. 

Alternatively, you may wish to check flights to Huntsville, Alabama with airport code HSV, about 1:50 hours away by car.

There is also the Nashville, Tennessee airport, with code: BNA, which is about 1:45 to 2:10 hours by car. Traveling times vary depending on traffic.

If you are coming in from South Florida, consider looking for flights departing from the Fort Lauderdale airport as well, as you may procure cheaper fares through Spirit.com and Southwest.com.  

Alternatively, you can choose to drive to the program. Our address is 399 Levi Hollow Rd., Lawrenceburg, TN 38464.  From South Florida, the trip takes about 13:30 hours but can be longer if you decided to make stops along the way.  To assess the cost of driving here, you can do that on this website:  https://www.gasbuddy.com/TripCostCalculator

From either airport, you can always procure UBER or LYFT services, the estimated costs for Uber according to this website https://www.uber.com/us/en/price-estimate/ is as follows:

Uber from the Huntsville Airport: approximately $180 one way. 

Uber from the Nashville Airport: approximately $80-$120 one way. 

If you have more than one person in your group, choosing Uber and sharing the cost would be more economical.

Ideally, you will want to spend at least either 5 full days or 10 full days in the program.  It is recommended to book your incoming flights during the day (not at night) just because we are approximately 2 hours from the nearest airports.  If your arrival or stay includes an extra day due to travel arrangements, please let us know ahead of time.  For example, if your arrival plane lands at night, it will be very hard for us to have a driver meet you there (2 hours one way, 4 hours in total) and you probably will have to Uber instead for quite a distance.  Booking your departure mid-morning or later during the day is ideal.  You can find on logistics below. 

Though not staying in, you can still be part of the program.   A schedule will be tailor-made based on your circumstances with meal preparation (breakfast and lunch), exercise, digital lessons, morning thoughts, hydrotherapy (if needed), garden work, and more. ​  For our cleanses, however, we encourage you to consider the stay-in program. 

As you get nearer the property, you will find little to none cell phone signal.  This is very common when you visit the countryside, and most people that live out here find ways to live without it.  At Choose Life Abundant there is no steady cell phone signal, but rest assured. You can still communicate with your loved ones with our office or house phones.  Our local office phone number here is (931) 300-2925, and you can share it with your family.  We encourage you, however, to use our local phone number as little as possible for the sake of focusing on the program.  Evenings are free and a great time to connect.  So that all may have a chance to use the phone, we suggest less than 30 minutes per person, please. 

We also highly discourage bringing work with you since it counters the purpose of your visit.  The programs are structured to be in the seclusion of the countryside on purpose to hopefully influence your heart and mind to find its needed rest.  To help us serve you best, please consider preparing for your responsibilities (i.e. your employer, work, family engagements, etc.) in advance, notifying them of your lack of connectivity during your visit for the next five or ten days.

You may notice Choose Life Abundant also has an Office WIFI, but it is strictly reserved for the business use of the non-profit.  Because of the remoteness of the property, we could not find any internet provider that would be willing to come out here.  Therefore, we had to invest in obtaining internet through satellite, and their unlimited options are not affordable to the non-profit.  We thus have a very limited number of gigabytes per month that we must safe keep for the regular operation of the charity.  Thank you for your understanding.  Nonetheless, you are welcome to use our slower home WIFI network.

Part of the program requires music therapy. To obtain the results desired, every day we will play about 45 minutes of carefully selected baroque classical music in the background.  This may take place during our mealtimes.  We prefer to stick to the program requisites (i.e. baroque music is ideal) so that you can find the results desired, please. 

Please refrain from bringing CDs, DVDs and movies; there are plenty of videos you will watch during the program.  If we stick to the schedule, you will not find enough time to watch movies.  Please note, Netflix and any other streaming services will not work here either.

Whether you visit us in winter, spring, summer or fall, the dress code is the same: casual.

1. If you are planning to visit during our colder seasons, please make sure you bring some warm clothes--especiallly if you are visitng us from tropical areas.  This includes: sweaters, sweat pants, warm pajamas, thermal underwear, warm socks, and warm long-sleeved shirts. If you have house slippers, please pack them too; they will help you keep your feet warm inside the home (fleece-lined crocs work really well). It is very important to keep your limbs warm, so long sleeves and thick socks are a plus!
2. For the contrast baths or showers, you can bring flip flops as well as two swimsuits.  We will provide towels and bathrobes.
3. We will also be spending a lot of time being active outdoors and in our fitness area, so bring fitness attire and at least two pairs of comfortable sneakers. You may wish to bring one older pair as we will be walking dirt trails, rain or shine.  A raincoat is also very important, and a hat if you like to keep your head warm during the winter months. 

For a chart with the average temperature throughout the year click here.  However, please check the weather on weather.com for area code 38464 for a more accurate reading!

Ladies, please avoid tight or revealing clothing.

There is a washer and dryer at the premise that is available for your use during our onsite 5- or 10-day programs.

Things to bring:

1. Consider procuring a pedometer as we will be monitoring our activity by tracking our steps on a daily basis.  You can find pedometers online for less than $10.  We recommend procuring one with a bracelet, like the Fitbits, or iWatch.  
2. Your own water bottle.  If you have one with insulation, even better.  We will be drinking lots of water during your visit.
3. Your own toiletries such as toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, lotion, sunscreen, etc.  Please if you can, avoid perfumes or colognes, as these are counterproductive to our detoxifying work. 
4. Rubber boots (i.e. rainboots), a hat, a mosquito net, and gardening gloves.
5. Your medications and supplements for at least 12 days. 
6. Optional: a flashlight. 

Things to leave at home:

1. Your laptop, MP3s, iPods, and iPad, as well as school work, or office work.  Our own music therapy is designed to uplift your brain. 
2. Snacks and food.  The meals provided are designed to provide the proper nutrition which plays a central role in our programs.  Please only eat what is provided at Choose Life Abundant at the specific meal times.  Your body and mind will thank you for it at the conclusion of your visit. 

Choose Life Abundant is in the middle of a beautiful, forested 12-acre property in the Tennessee countryside.  On one side, we found a spring (maybe two) and a little creek that originates from there.  We have a 1-mile trail winding through the woods, fruit trees and bushes, a greenhouse, and raised beds. 

The house where you will stay is divided into two levels.  The upper level is where the master suite is found. This beautiful room with attached bath can accommodate married couples or a single person.  If you are not married, we will accommodate you individually, please; we appreciate your kind understanding.  You will have an electric adjustable-bed-frame, air-conditioner and heater with remote control, bedside tables and a 6-drawer dresser, bathtub/shower, and bidet toilet-seat.  There is also a downstairs bedroom and bath, equally equipped but with its bathroom just around the corner with a stand-up shower.  

Regarding our wastewater, we have a septic tank buried underneath the property that requires we take good care of it.  For this reason, we kindly ask not to flush anything but your personal waste and toilet paper, only.  Our toilet-seat bidets should help you avoid the overuse of toilet paper while being gentle with yourself, especially if you are on a detoxing cleanse.  Anything else must go on the trash bins, please; we really don’t mind that. 

Choose Life Abundant has been purposely structured as a non-profit to provide an affordable alternative to a typical Wellness Center.  We have seen more economical Wellness Centers starting at $300 per day and climb to $850-$1,000 a day.  At Choose Life Abundant, we felt that the information to find good health should not be for those that can afford to pay for it alone, and that is why we operated part-time, at no cost, for our first 3 years.  We are in our 7th year now, and though we now have a suggested donation need amount, we feel it is still very accessible.

Now that we have gone full-time, we can only make it through your generous donations.  For when we have 1 to 4 visitors, we currently have a suggested donation need of $250.00/day per stay-in visitors, and same goes for our out-visitors.  Though this barely covers the fixed costs of running the non-profit (mortgage, maintenance, and other operating costs), we have decided to keep it low.  However, the words suggested donation implies that you are not held to the minimum suggested amount, and you are free to contribute below or above the minimum according to what is on your heart. We are also open to discussing payment options.

For our Telephone/Zoom programs, our suggested donation needs are as follows: 5 days for $325, and $65 for subsequent sessions, up to 10 days, or as needed.  

For an summary of our donation needs please visit the Costs tab. 

DONATION REIMBURSEMENTS:

Please note:  All donations that are unrelated to any of our programs are final. 

For program-related donations:

Half of the full donation will need to be received one month (30 days) prior to starting any of our programs, please.  You can make your partial donation here.  This donation is fully refundable until 15 days from the starting day.  A 30% fee will be processed on refunds after day 15.  A 40% fee will be processed on refunds when canceling a second time regardless of its timing.   Program-related donations, reservation donations, and security deposits will be forfeited in case our code of conduct is violated.  Once a program is completed,  all donations are final.  Thank you for your understanding.   

If you still feel the cost of visiting is too high, one alternative that I have seen work is running a fundraiser through websites such as gofundme.com.   

Most times churches, family, or friends can help out collect the necessary funds too, all it takes is a little bit of planning, and sharing with others your needs.   Before soliciting donations from church congregations, we encourage talking to your minister first.  Feel free to give our telephone number 931-300-2925 or email info@chooselifeabundant.org to your minister in case he would like to talk to us about your church donating on your behalf.    

We accept donations online, Zelle (under our email: info@chooseLIFEabundant.org), Cash App, all major credit cards, checks written to: Choose Life Abundant and sent to our address 399 Levi Hollow Rd, Lawrenceburg TN 38464, and cash.  Donations need to be prepaid before visiting, please. If you are unable to do so, please contact us to discuss your options.

Yes, you may!  The only difference between our participating visitors and non-participating companions is that they won't go through a health assessment, cannot do any of the cleanses, and cannot partake of the contrast baths.  Because of our limited infrastructure, most of our activities will take place in the common areas of the house.  In other words, non-participating companions will be exposed to the program (i.e. digital lessons, activities, corrective diet, etc.).  Non-participants companions are encouraged to join the person's schedule who they are supporting.  If the non-participating companion prefers to not participate, it's important to remember that activities outside of our program are very limited due to the nature of where we are located, far in the countryside.  Unfortunately, our internet access is strictly for the operations of our non-profit.  For our non-participating companions, there is an added donation need of $200.00/day per person to cover for a room, meals, and other boarding expenses.   

Volunteer work while going through any of our programs will decrease the program's effectiveness only because our outstanding projects may be complex and large.  Our intention is that our visitors get in a Blue Zone routine, and so we like to keep our focus on the many different kinds of activities that add to the program's success.  

There are a variety of smaller projects so if you have the skills and talents to help out, though, so please reach out to us to talk about it; however, these projects most often take place outside of the program's hours.

Choose Life Abundant is a self-sustainable health-education non-profit organization.  Put simply, our mission is to help others find freedom from the ailments that shackle our human family from obtaining a good quality of life!  Think Blue Zones!

Though we are not a religious institution, we are inspired by the life of Man who more than He preached, He healed.  Despite the fact that no man ever spoke like Him, and many called Him Master, Teacher, Messiah, and God, He Himself got on His knees to wash the feet of friends and enemy alike, for He lived not for Himself.  Even in His last minutes at the cross, He ministered to others.   During His ministry, He taught that heaven measures success by what you do for others, not by what others do for you.  

At Choose Life Abundant we take our example from Him, and like Him, we define love through selfless acts of services.  Even though we cannot heal, we can serve; and by caring for others in preparing foods, lending an ear as we walk together, and showing how to care of our bodies, we hope to obtain some relief from the bondage of the symptoms that assail those who visit us.    

Though there may be several Christian references in our program, they are of non-sectarian nature.  Why do we include them?  As seen in the Alcoholics Anonymous, including a spiritual component has demonstrated unparalleled success in their programs.  At Choose Life Abundant, we have seen the difference when we incorporate the concept that there is something beyond ourselves versus when we do not.  To complement the science portion of the program, we use the story of Daniel, a Biblical story found in the New England Journal of Medicine as the first and oldest empirical study in existence today to demonstrate the relationship between diet and health.  The beauty of this book is that it’s neutrally suitable whether you are Jewish, Muslim, Christian, or Atheist --thanks to the archeological and medical record.  If you are strong enough in your religious or non-religious beliefs, then there is nothing to fear about coming to our program. 

In the same way Christ respected and healed many who believed differently, so shall we be happy to serve those that believe differently here as well.  We open our home and hope you too can find a special peace in this place, free from worry. 

No, I (Rolando) am not, and nothing at Choose Life Abundant is to replace proper medical care.  We have no patients and will never have patients at Choose Life Abundant, only visitors.  We cannot and will not diagnose, treat, or sell anything medical.  All we do is share what a wholesome diet should look like, encourage you to be more active, seek to reframe thoughts, go through educational material, and welcome you to spend 5 or 10 days amidst the restoring sights of nature in and around our home.  Before planning to visit, please visit and carefully read our full disclaimer here. 

All that I (Rolando) have to share is the same knowledge found in the Loma Linda Blue Zone.  Their lifestyle secrets are summarized in the 8 Laws of Health.  To deepen my knowledge of these laws I took a course at Lifeline Wellness Center and became a Lifestyle Health Educator.  In addition, I obtained a diploma in LBA, for educational purposes only.  Below are listed the 8 Laws of Health that have been shared through the non-profit to hundreds of people since our inception in 2015 which have resulted in great things for the health of our visitors:

• Fresh Air
• Sunshine
• Temperance
• Rest
• Exercise
• Water
• Nutrition
• Trust in Divine Power

In addition, I am also a facilitator for Straight 2 the Heart, and a veteran of what is probably considered the best program on Depression and Anxiety in the nation. 

 Yes, bring all your prescriptions, and please do not stop taking anything while you are here.  Your primary care physician (PCP) has first say in all that has to do with your health.  We are only suggesting lifestyle changes, nothing else.  Everything learned here must be always checked out with your PCP first. 

If you are staying for the Ten Day Program, it is likely that we will drive about a 1-hour round trip into town to procure food supplies at some point in the middle of the program.   Nonetheless, please make sure to pack extra provisions for things you may likely run out of during your stay, for example: prescriptions. Please remember to fill your prescriptions prior to your visit.  Driving into town more than we are required will take away valuable time from your program.   

Yes; though it’s hilly out here, there are fewer threats than if we were in the mountains.  The greatest threat here are bobcats, but they are rarely seen.  We hope that through your visit, you will fall in love with living in the countryside too. 

 At Choose Life Abundant, we seek to abide in ways that are honorable.  We have procured this place for nothing else than the purpose of bringing rest and peace to the wearied.  For the sake of a successful program, hallucinogenic, alcohol, recreational drugs, narcotics, and tobacco are forbidden inside our in-home wellness property. 

Let’s make it a priority to be respectful to one another, care for the property, and refrain from romantically engaging with one another as we go through the program, please.  Our mission is to get through the program without unnecessary distractions.   Disregarding these simple requests may end up in terminating the program early without a refund.