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Jan. 11, 2024

Episode 007 | The art of self-advocacy for managing chronic conditions- a conversation

Are you feeling unheard by traditional healthcare and struggling to find relief from persistent health issues?

You might be sticking to conventional treatments that fall short of addressing the root causes of your discomfort and pain.

In this episode,  I’m in conversation with two amazing women (Sonali Chowdhury and Sonali Mundle) as they open up about their personal health battles and share how shifting focus from conventional treatment to addressing root causes led to their remarkable recoveries.  

Discover their empowering experiences and learn from their successes so that you too can feel inspired to embark on your own healing journey!

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU’LL LEARN:

  • How a holistic health approach can offer more than conventional medicine alone.
  • The importance of understanding and advocating for your unique health needs
  • Strategies to partner with health coaches and embrace functional medicine for long-term wellness.

Remember, your health is your own—embrace it, advocate for it, and make it a priority.

And if you would like to get a taste of the kind of organic transformation these women have seen by working with me and get a clear roadmap for YOUR healing journey, then schedule a free 45 minutes DISCOVERY CALL and learn what your next steps should be by clicking on the link below

SCHEDULE A FREE DISCOVERY CALL NOW!

When you finish listening, I'd love to hear your biggest takeaway from today’s episode. Take a screenshot of you listening on your device, share it to your Instagram stories and tag me, @aninditarungta .

While you’re there, make sure you follow me on Instagram so you can see behind the scenes of how I teach women how to discover their own power to HEAL.

LEARN MORE FROM ANINDITA

@aninditarungta | nourish heal connect | Embrace Your Healing Journey

Your body knows how to heal, are you ready to support it?

Chapters

03:08 - " I had hit rock bottom" - Sonali P

06:08 - "Most autoimmune conditions start this way" - Sonali M

09:43 - What is something you were NOT made aware about in the conventional medicine approach

12:26 - "A lot of people slip within the cracks" - Sonali M

15:21 - Test markers are only ONE piece of the puzzle

16:31 - ONE thing that changed your way of thinking

20:51 - "It's ok to be vocal about your pain and address your issues" - Sonali P

24:16 - "Don't let anyone dismiss your pain" - Sonali M

24:57 - "I am very convinced about the efficacy of what I am doing for my health" - Sonali M

28:15 - "I have gone from just surviving to thriving" -Sonali P

30:38 - "I feel alive and this transformation has impacted every aspect of my life"

Transcript

 Welcome to Embrace Your Healing Journey, a podcast for women with autoimmune and other chronic conditions to help them navigate the illness without fear of isolation and uncertainty, and find relief from the symptoms. Your body is your guide and ally in healing. If you're ready to embrace this journey with compassion and awareness, then the show is filmed during as I, a functional medicine certified health coach, delivered tips and insights that demystify the healing process, guiding you towards the relief you deserve so that you can feel healthy and happy once more. 1s 

In today's episode, I am in conversation with two amazing women as they open up about their personal health patterns and share how shifting focus from conventional treatment to addressing root causes led to their remarkable recoveries. That's all coming up next right here on Embrace Your Healing Journey podcast. Sonali Mundle and Sonali Chaudhary.

Sonali Mundle is a very, very dear friend of mine. She's actually like my younger sister and, uh, she was one of the first whom I had the honor of, you know, helping with guiding her with her severe health issues, autoimmune, actually related, uh, you know, health issues many years ago. And she, uh, sort of took things into her own hand. And she has an amazing and inspiring and heartening story to share with us today as to how she overcame the challenges of not working for one and a half years. She will share the story herself, and, uh, she's living a life on her own terms today. So welcome, Sonali.today. 

And I would also like to introduce Sonali Chaudhary. She is another amazing woman. And she has been, uh, working with me currently, and it's been about three months. And, uh, she's again taking matters into her own hands with a lot of enthusiasm. And it's all it always never ceases to amaze me. When women decide to take matters into their own hands, they decide that enough is enough. You know, this is not how I want to do things. And with so much of enthusiasm, with so much of energy, and she's seeing some of the results already, so I will leave it to her to share her story as well. So welcome, Sonali. 1s So let's dive right in. 2s 

Sonali will start with you. I think that will be easier. so if you could just share what was your health like before you started the program or started working with me and some of the challenges they faced? You know, what was going through in your life if you could just share briefly about that? 2s 

 First of all, thank you so much for having me here. I think it's, it's a privilege that I'm on this platform, uh, to tell my story with so many more women and help them actually come out, um, help them to come out in the open and rather than just struggling in silence. So just to address your question over here this dates back to around 3 to 4 years back. I think, you know, my life was in a mess. I had just hit rock bottom and everything was just spiraling downwards. So when I came to Anindita, when I embarked on this program, I was my most vulnerable self. And, um, I knew I needed help. I was seeking help, but I was going to the wrong people. Um, I probably went from pillar to post, but without any sort of, you know, respite from my health issues. So coming to symptoms,  my symptoms ranged from extremely poor digestion, um, which would mean that I could survive on just one meal a day, and I would just not feel hungry. very poor bowel movements. Uh, absolutely. Irregular bowel movements. I had thyroid issues, I had physio, I had cystic acne, and it just kept increasing and increasing. Now, like, we all know how autoimmune begins. It begins as benign autoimmunity, where I just had very mild symptoms. So I used to have, you know, upper gastrointestinal tract pain, um, like I'm saying, poor digestion, no hunger. Absolutely. So and, slowly as time went by. So talking about four years back, the symptoms just kept worsening. And I was at cystic acne with very low self-confidence, very low energy, extremely fatigued, lethargic mood swings and everything related to thyroid and pcod. Like I said, I had hit rock bottom and I tried, tried and tested everything. Um, but nothing worked. And coming to the challenges that I was faced with, given that I was facing all of this, I was highly irritable. Just I mean, I was leaking with negativity and, I just didn't have any energy. and I would have to overthink every time. you know, I'm, let's say through the day, I'm into a certain activities or tasks, I would have to think about whether if I do this, this will I have energy, sustain energy till the end of the day to even teach my child or play with my kid. I mean, it was as bad as that. Even going out meant I had to plan out so many things because once I'm back home, I just wanted to hit the sack so there was just no energy at all. And that's when I decided, I mean, this is too much. I'm not leading a normal life. I mean, it's just completely abnormal. And that's when I decided to take charge of my health, and I embarked with this program. 1s Thanks. That's that's quite a lot going on that was going on in your life. And, uh, that's usually the same story for so many of us. So thank you so much for sharing those details. Help others to also know that they are not the only ones enjoying this kind of thing. And as we go along, give them some hope that things can change. Thanks, lovely. Would you like to take over? 

Yeah. Um, I would like to share. So, you know, as everybody was dealing with an autoimmune, later realizes, when you are needing up a new call to a little bit of a recovery journey, that every most autoimmune condition starts with multiple undiagnosed symptoms or multiple unexplained symptoms. And that's exactly how my journey started, where I had severe pain in one knee joint, then went to to my Joints and my hips and my ankles. And I had a special case called zero negative rheumatoid arthritis, which when it doesn't show up on any test or any test result, but all the symptoms are there. And like typical advancing rheumatoid arthritis, my symptoms were getting worse and worse because there was no treatment given and I was getting very bad and no doctor was actually recognizing it or acknowledging it. And hence I wasn't getting the right treatment and I was just getting progressively worse. I had to, as a result, give up work for almost a year and a half. I couldn't get off the bed. I also struggled to go to the bathroom and uh, I had multiple. So the thing with doctors also is that, you know, the one doctor will treat one thing. So like you have to go to a neuro doctor, a neurologist for, uh, you know, any kind of nerve to show you if you have any issues, they will send me to an orthopedic. And I had multiple issues cropping up, and then I would just play from one doctor to the other doctor to the other doctors. When days I had stopped meeting friends, I used to. I followed embarrassing at some point to say, I'm going to get a test and I'm going to get test, and all the time I had no answer. So what do I tell people? I'm getting tested and I'm going to doctors, but I don't know what I have. So it was a long, long time of having pain in multiple issues and not knowing what to do. And I think the know what to do and not knowing what it is, but what was what bothered me the most. I had sleepless nights and I thought, where's my future heading? And people give you advice like, you know, now just look for part time work, look for something two hours a day. And I was very, very scared. So it was a thing like that where I think I just hit a wall one fine day and, uh, at the same time, you know, I also I spoke to you about this thing. I'm so grateful to you that you showed me the way. Outlook was such a source of comfort at that time. When you're drowning in a, in a, you know, tidal wave for symptoms, uh, you had to have had your support. And I'm so grateful for it. And I think that's where my journey began. On how to treat and manage my autoimmune condition. 2s 

Thank you for sharing that. I know, I mean, because I know what you went through and when you have come out on the other side, it's been amazing and absolutely bang on the uncertainty, the unpredictability. That's what makes it so hard because you don't know when it's going to end. It's not like a jaundice or a chicken pox or some such infection. Right? That's what makes it so hard. And then if you are told that there's nothing, a lot of times it's you're dismissed. It's it's so hard. I think that's, uh, that's that's the worst bit apart from, of course, all the symptoms that you're facing. So thank you for sharing that. 

So I would like to move on to what is something and this actually question, uh, Sonali Mandal a shared and I think it's a very important question. And I you know, I've been asking during polls also in the group. Sonali Chaudhary, let's start with you. What is something that you wish you were made aware of or given advice about through conventional medicine or medical doctors, uh, that you felt were essential, but you weren't. I mean, you weren't made aware of that fact. And then you later on probably may have realized it later on, maybe it through your own study research or through the program. So what is something say 1 or 2 key things that you felt were essential but you were not made aware of. 1s 

I mean, I think the devil is in the detail. And conventional medicine just overlooks that completely. Um, I think when I began this program, I never knew you can actually read blood Work so thoroughly. doctors just came through those blood. Blood reports. Um, and they just for, for the for five period blood report, you'll get probably two pills. Uh, they look at symptoms in silos. They do not think. Let me just give you an example. They do not think poor digestion, skin problems and thyroid can actually be connected. They do not, uh, they do not make they do not draw lines. They do not make any connections. Uh, they treat symptoms in silos as if to say, if you have poor digestion, they will probably give you a magic pill. If you have lack of regular bowel movements, you will get a laxative. And if you have skin issues, you'll probably get ointments. So, uh, like, uh, Shonali has just said that she had to probably go for a different doctor for every other symptom and issue, which is the case with conventional medicine. And, uh, they just, uh. But when I began working with Nandita, she actually showed up a certain values that were clearly had hit rock bottom. But none of the conventional medicine doctors had even, you know, prescribed any medication for it. Or even if you even go and tell them, I have aches and pains at the max, I'll give you probably a multi-vitamin. So, sadly, they just treat symptoms in silos. They do not even related to the larger issue, which is, you know, your underlining, uh, underlying foundational disease, which is either thyroid or pcod, because of which you have all the rest of the symptoms. And that's completely overlooked in conventional medicine. 1s 

Yeah. Thanks for sharing that. That's a that's a very important part. 

Yeah. Actually I agree with you completely. It's, conventional medicine I think Looks at, uh, you know, just the test reports and very basic test reports. And, uh, a lot of times, sadly, I don't know if it's an Indian problem or really it is worldwide and not sure, but pain, especially in women, is not seen as a marker. You know, that somebody is really undergoing pain. It's always dismissed. I don't know why that is the case, but it is. And, uh, I was reading up when I was doing my own in my desperation, I should read up like a fanatic in those years. And I read something saying that, uh, some people slim between the cracks. And that's what I realize happened with me is because when you have very clear. So, for example, if my bloodwork had shown that I have arthritis, I would have been given a immunosuppressant right away to treat it to rather to, to keep the pain and control. But I was negative here, which means that I didn't show any test result. And so as a result have it, there's nothing going to work and you're fine. And I had swollen knee joint. So anybody who saw it, even a layperson and a lot of doctors knew that I had a problem with my knee joint because it was swollen and their little walls. And that's what it is. You know, a lot of people slip between the cracks and there's absolutely no acknowledgement of it. 1s Uh, and what I realized through my journey was that there is a problem. This. And I'm so glad, uh, that this I did not have to imagine finally getting that treatment from conventional medicine, which is an immunosuppressant. And what I've just suppressed my, uh, immune system. It forced me to actually understand the root cause of my problem, which was my gut, which I had had all my life. And I have never realized because I had never known that there was another way. So, for example, we were given milk always because milk is supposed to be good for you. I always had bloating all my life, and I never understood why. My stomach used to be out all the time, and I just thought it was normal because I had it all my life. But the moment I made these changes and I started addressing my root cause, I realized that like she just said, you know, a skin problem and a bowel movement and pain can all sometimes work together. And when you make 1 or 2 changes in your lifestyle, all these things, you don't need to go to a dermatologist and an orthopedic and a gastroenterologist. Sometimes just one thing fits all. Three. And I realize that that's where the root cause is. And so now, ever since I understood that, I just focus on the root cause every time I have some kind of inflammation, I have something that has to be a root causes. What is going wrong? What is how is my gut getting affected? So then that's something that conventional medicine. Listen, that's where all of us get stuck when we go to doctors for this and then come away feeling frustrated, unhappy, still in pain or discomfort. 1s 

So I think we actually made a couple of very important points. And both of you did. And one is slipping through the cracks. And that happens mostly with women. And to answer your question, it happens across the globe. It's not an Indian phenomenon because I've been part of a lot of international groups, and I speak to other coaches in other parts of the world. It's women who are dismissed, and they are told that it's all in your head half the time. Unfortunately, that's how it is. Okay. So that's that's not how it should be, but it is a worldwide phenomenon, which is why I wanted this, because I only I can only work with a few women, but my podcast can reach many. So that's one point. And I think the other thing is, yes, in functional medicine, the way we deal with it and the Shonali Chaudhury can attest for it. That's why she said that the blood work that we do, even the basic blood markers, can give us so much of data because what is normal is not optimal. And then the first thing I educate my clients is do not go by what is normal. The normal population is not very healthy unfortunately. Right. So you are blood sugar levels can range from in the normal range is from 80 to 110. Right. And by the time of 800 you're already pre-diabetic. So that's not normal. But it's you know, so the doctor goes through and says it's normal and it's okay. But as Charlotte Emanuel said, you have so many symptoms, your stress reports, for some reason, they do not show up in dress reports. Reports are only one piece of the puzzle. And I'll be talking about it in, uh, you know, some of the upcoming episodes because we feel that, you know, everything will show up and tests are the only thing. It's just one piece of the puzzle. Right? So that's that's the other problem here I think Mrs. Gupta has. Okay. She is thanking both of you for sharing your experience. 

As I said, it links other people say, you know, feel less alone and, you know, more hopeful that, you know, you can change and improve. And I think that's the tipping point. The tipping point is always when you first have the symptoms, not necessarily that we have to reach out to a doctor when they first have like minor symptoms, like headaches or like Mandela had, uh, you know, gut related symptoms. And most people do. Not all everyone does, but most people have that same channels. We need to start paying attention. I think that's where we start. Just start paying attention and not medicate it away, not ignore it, not suppress it. Right. That's where you start. And then of course, you can take a, you know, take a call on whether to reach out to a doctor. But the starting point is when the symptoms happen, because there are messages from your body that something is going on. And I'll be talking about it in an episode. So I'm going to go back to some of the questions. I think this is also a very important question. 

So Sonali Chaudhary, what was the biggest lesson, mindset shift or realization that propelled your journey? So like one thing that sort of changed your way of thinking. So if you can just share that. 2s They're quite the fuel. But since you're just saying one. Yes, I always say yes. Yeah. 1s 

I think just focus on the smaller things and rather than the bigger things, you know, I think somehow modern age is just, uh, conditioned us to think, look at the bigger picture. It's just a smaller thing. You know, just focus on, um, eating clean, um, thinking right, thinking positive. Uh, that has a huge impact back there. And, um, just go slow. I think we are just in this fast paced world, uh, I think just the power of of a pause is amazing. So just pause and just go slow. And I think if you just focus on these smaller things. Everything else is just going to be set, right? I mean, that's I think my biggest learning and lesson after joining this program. 

Oh thank you. That's so beautiful. And that's so true. Actually, the if you take care of the smaller things as day to day things, a lot of times the bigger things take care of themselves because they do fall into place. It starts with those small symptoms, small things, small mindset shift. You're absolutely right. The small self-care activities that you do, it's what you do every single day that actually matters. And answer. So thank you so much for sharing that. It's a beautiful thought. Sonali. 1s . 

I think, uh, I had absolutely no idea that, uh, there was a way to manage something as massive as rheumatoid arthritis. I had no clue. And I also think that, uh, it's something that's really bad that's happened to you. I know life has come to an end at the mere age of 27, which is when it happened to me but I'm my biggest learnings from functional medicine was that it is something so manageable and has given me a life of so much fulfillment and dignity, that that's my message to anybody else who's suffering today. Then you can live a perfectly healthy, happy, fulfilled, fun life. it's a completely manageable condition. Anything that you may have that is a little autoimmune disorder. there is a root cause to everything, and you can completely legit. Don't get disheartened by, uh, you know, Doctor Golden Cheetah or, you know, medications. I feel like at least my body was able to use the medication. So after a couple of days, it stopped responding. I don't get it. That was my biggest learning, uh, that there is always some way to manage each condition and live absolutely fine. 1s 

Now that's that's amazing and so inspiring and giving hope because I think that message has to go out more to more people than there is a better way than there is a solution. There's so many people. And it's not just and I share a lot about the walls of Dr Mark Hyman, but it's not just the celebrity or, you know, well-known doctor. It's, you know, people like you, people like my daughter Sonali. I mean, you know, they're changing. We are changing our lives for the better by addressing the root cause. So I think this message needs to go out, that there is a better way and you don't have to sort of give up. 

And, um, so what and why is I think now we've reached that stage where last 1 or 2 questions, then if we have any questions from the audience, what advice would you give someone? I think this is also very important. Who is where you started? So who feels maybe hopeless on the same power and what would you tell them? 3s 

I think the point of forward is in the present moment. I think Louis, uh, she said this in her book and, um, I think, um, it's not too late. Like Sonali had said that, you know Women are a I think you know, we are men to struggle in silence. And that's how it's just been. It's a generational bias. But we need and I mean, um, just to let your guard down and let everyone else know and be vocal that, you know, you are in pain and you're not going to be, you know, we've somehow, um, our generation or across, you know, the ages we've women are and epitome of strength. But it's okay just to be vocal about your pains and, uh, I think,  people are more, I mean, are becoming more accepting of that. 

So my message to every woman out there is just become more vocal and address your issues. I don't sideline them and do not, you know, brush them under the carpet saying that was just some random, uh, you know, pain. It will be fine. I'll try some home remedy. Yes. You could. I'm not I'm not, uh, against home remedies, but try to understand the root cause. Also, often this is something that I have done across the years. Her resorting to Google Baba, resorting to YouTube videos, uh, social media posts. We are in. I wouldn't I mean, just to coined the term in terms of pandemic infodemic and, uh, in an age where there's so much of information to delineate, what is real and unreal is so difficult, uh, and hence, it would be best for each one of us, I mean, who's struggling with an autoimmune condition or any of these very severe health conditions or foundational diseases is to approach a health coach or a, um, you know, or a guide.  medicine has gone through a very paradigm shift from medicine. 1.0, and today we sat at 3.0 of personalization and personalized guidance. Um, uh, there's a there's again, not that one size fits all that doesn't work out. And when you when you approach a health coach, she or he is going to assess where you stand and is going to give you, um, you know, guidance, medications, supplements, advice. And again, it's just not medicine. It's a lot of other, other, lot of, uh, inner healing advice. It's going to be given that will actually transform your lives. 

So my advice to young women is not please to not go from pillar to post and, you know, watch YouTube videos. I did a lot of that, um, for my own thyroid health one randomly I would be eating a Brazil nuts the other day. I would be, uh, you know, smoking figs, and another day I'll be doing something else. But I never found any results. It's not going to happen unless you go to a proper health coach., a guide, a mentor to, uh, you know, guide you across is. It's difficult. The journey is difficult. I mean, I had come to a stage where, um, I didn't see remission of any symptoms despite, uh, following my knee, I was following a very clean, healthy lifestyle. Exercising, clean eating. I was doing it all, but yet nothing. I didn't see any results. And that's when I approach Anindita. So my advice to all women would be, um, personalization is the key. So please do approach a coach, a mentor or a guide for help. 1s 

That is actually the hallmark of functional medicine. You're absolutely right. It's about personalization, which is why I actually have a podcast episode on this. What happens when you have gluten or dairy free diet doesn't work out. Now what? Because the reason is it's not about gluten and dairy free. It's about knowing what to take for your body's unique requirements. So I think you brought about a very, very important point and of course, about the Google and the social media. They can get you started off. So it's a good thing. So at least you can start off and you can find books and all. But finally you have to figure out what's going to work for you. And that's when you start seeing results. So very very important points. So thank you for bringing that up. we have so many. 1s 

I would also say something similar to what she said is that I would any anybody who's going through this today, I would give the two pieces of advice. One is that don't let anybody dismiss your pain. Don't let anyone dismiss your health issues and your no matter what people say. I went to the best immunologists and they said things like, go on holiday and, you know, find a boyfriend and get married. They actually gave me advice like that. And I started doubting myself. You know, I came back one time when I said that Miriam in Argentina, and I don't think it's that bad, but I feel it. And luckily I had a very good support system. Who said, you can't imagine pain? You can't imagine wanting to sit at home and not go out friends. So you do have the pain. Stop doubting. It's really only dismissive of it. And secondly, I would urge you to read up, to find out, to always keep researching all things and unless you are convinced about it yourself, you can follow diligently. So in my case, for example, I used to always when I in my days of dealing with and speaking to our eyes, to always cross our eyes, to ask tons of questions. And in her answers I was when I got convinced that this was the right thing. And today, the only reason I was. So. It's so easy for me to lead the kind of lifestyle here is because I am very convinced about the efficacy of it. I'm very convinced that this is the right thing I'm doing. This is what helps me be healthy. So I think it's important for each person to be very, uh, you know, usually convince yourself, don't depend on somebody else to tell you this is your right leg. Women are always told that, you know, there's so much work to be done. Just look up something, look at some home remedy, look at. And the first thing is to go on YouTube. And how do I fix myself? How do I complain less? So uh, but don't allocate time to yourself. Take out and further reach out to a health care practitioner and be well researched and read up. So you are convinced of your own recovery and your own treatment. Don't let someone tell you what to do. You will only do it best when you are convinced. So that's why I advise somebody who's at the start of all of this. 1s 

Thank you for sharing that. You're absolutely right. You need to be convinced. You know, you need to be doing it for the right reasons. And the reason that I think all the women that I worked with have been able to sustain, because it's not about getting well, it's also about staying where of course, you want to get better, but you also need to be able to sustain it and not go back to where you were right, in like three months flat. And the reason that you can do that, and the only way that you can do that is if you are convinced and you're doing it for the right reasons, you have to be very clear as to why are you doing this right? Why are you taking supplements? Why are you getting this expensive testing done? Why are you not taking this food? Or why are you having this food?  So you need to know why are you taking out nightshades like capsicum and bell peppers when you have that right, there has to be a reason for it and there is enough. And you can dig as much deeper as you want or not. I mean, that's completely up to you, but you're absolutely right. You need to be convinced and you need to be doing it for the right reasons. And coming back to Shonali, Jody's point is that and of course, that's why it has to be personal and straight. It's a personal approach. And for those of you who don't have any existing health issues, etc., it is also preventive, right? By doing all of these things, you can prevent health issues in the in the future. And even if you have minor symptoms, you know, all of us, none of us are perfect health. We do have minor singleton niggling symptoms. If you can take care of that, then it can prevent a lot of pain and suffering in the future. And I can say this from experience that in my daughter's case, had I known all of this when she in 2007, when she had, uh, you know, her eczema patches and all, and I had at that time started working on a gut health. I know that in the next five years, her eczema would have not reached by the third unless she had to be put on immunosuppressive medications and oral steroids so it wouldn't have reached it. Right. So that's but that's a learning experience for me as well as Shonali is here and, uh, yeah. So that's one way one to any anyone. Any question that you have for them here. Just put it below and before we leave we can hop off. Now in the early on was at the end of today's session.

if you can, Sonali, you want to share one thing from either today's session or from the launch or the podcast. Anything that you want to share right now before we hop on. 1s Any one thing that you want to share right now? 3s 

So I think this is for every one who's out there right now and on Facebook Live. Um, for me, this I'm just three months into this program, but, um, to talk about my transformation in this, uh, through this program, it's been very organic, number one. And I have gone from just surviving every day to thriving. And I was I think all of us just, uh, you know, survive on this autopilot mode where we just, you know, go through daily life, um, daily motions of life, regular stuff. But we are never there. You know, the be here be now is just never happening. 

I think, my takeaway and my, highlight of, you know, embrace your healing journey would be feeling alive. And, uh, for a long time, I hadn't felt alive. And, uh, I think what many women who want this, uh, you know, on this platform can relate to just to feel alive. How often? Um, you know, we just resort to that cup of warm coffee or we just head to the spa, or we love retail therapy just to feel alive for some time. And that that that feeling can just, uh, last for a few hours, for a few days, or even go for a getaway. Getaway and all that is very transitionary, very temporary. I cannot tell you. What can it feel, uh, to be healed inside out? Um, to suck your body out of all that negativity that every cell is reeking and, uh, trust me, it is different. And believe me, it's not happen with supplements. It's not happened with the diet. It just happened with a lot of mindset shift. And, um, I'm still obviously work in progress but I can already see a lot of results. Just feeling alive. Uh, and, uh, I just feel so happy, so contented and so wholesome from within. And just like what Shonali has said, that, you know, living a life on your own terms and living the life that you always wanted to live. But, yes, making a few amends, here and there would be required. So, yes, feeling alive is just my takeaway from this. Thank you. That's such a beautiful share and I'm so happy to be a part of it. And yeah, it's a new normal that you've created for yourself. Feeling alive and thriving, not just surviving.  And these are the things that I myself completely believe in and work towards. And I'm really happy about the transformation that you have seen and be honored to be a part in it. So thank you for sharing that. 

. 1s Just very similar to what my namesake has already said, that I now live a life. I feel that 1s I feel alive saying, I feel so, um. Uh, you know, my body does thrive, and I think it has impacted every aspect of my life. You know, my work life. I feel like I don't much more work I ever did before. I'm able to go out with friends and enjoy myself so much more. Earlier my days, I don't know where restricted for whatever reason or all my life, but today I feel so energetic, which is why I have really long days and I enjoy it. I enjoy walking, I enjoy going out, I enjoy, you know, doing everything that I once thought was, you know, will be restricted and it's all attributed to my good health today. Touchwood.  you know everything. My brain is clear, so I feel fresh no matter what I'm doing. And, uh, I just, I think it impacts to emotionally, physically, psychologically or in any way your relationships with your friends and family and roles. And that is the key thing. I think everyone who's gone through this, once that happens, you feel like there's no going back. I'm not settling for anything less at all so that is the biggest thing of this. And I tell everyone who's listening in today or who hear this whole time that, you know, I hope you reach the stage someday soon. And that is a very easy way to reach over here. And it's it's lovely. It's it's so nice that I would never go back to that earlier life. 1s 

I couldn't agree more. I think, as I said, embracing the new normal. It's worth it. You know, so when my client, when I had them to start on and they do start taking out gluten and dairy and all for different reasons and there's scientific reasons behind it, it's not just a fad diet. And so I always tell them, don't look at what you're leaving out because it's, you know, it's we come from a deprivation mindset. Why am I depriving myself of look at what you're getting. And what you're getting is so much more than goes so much beyond the diet and beyond that. So it's that's how the whole entire mindset has to change. And I think that's what that's a beautiful work that both of you have done. Uh, which is why you have seen the results and you are seeing the results because it's a lifelong thing, right? It's not a fad. Diet and lifestyle let you do it for six weeks and, you know, sort of then you go back to what it was and you never want to go back. I think that's an important point to make. Once you've seen this, once you've seen the kind of like you don't want to go back, why should you? Why would you go back to pain and suffering and, you know, whatever else that you were dealing with, fatigue, etc.. Right. So I think that's a beautiful, uh, no way to end the session today. Uh, because I think it gives hope to so many. If you would like to be supported as to how to step out of the shadows of traditional health care and advocate for your well-being so that you not just survive, but thrive, then join an empowering and thriving Facebook community for women called Embrace Your Healing Journey podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today for episode seven of Embrace Your Healing Journey. If you love this episode, do take a minute to write a five star review. It would help me to keep bringing back more such content to you. In the next episode. Eliminating gluten and dairy didn't work. Now what? By simply removing foods like gluten and dairy may not help improve your health and what you need to do instead. Don't miss it. Your body knows how to heal. Are you ready to support it?