BONUS Cracking the autoimmune code "Overcome skepticism"

Are you struggling to find lasting relief from your autoimmune or chronic condition symptoms?

Many women feel stuck, relying solely on medications and expert opinions without seeing significant improvement in their health.

By embracing a holistic approach that addresses the root causes of your condition, you can take charge of your healing journey and experience transformative results.

Day 2 of the Masterclass series "Cracking the autoimmune code" session is about overcoming skepticism and realizing that healing is possible without a cure. 

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING TO THIS PODCAST EPISODE, YOU'LL DISCOVER:

- The difference between healing and cure, and why focusing on healing is crucial for chronic conditions
- The role of modern lifestyle factors in immune system dysregulation and disease progression
- The foundations of health that can help you reduce inflammation, rebalance immune function, and heal your gut
- The importance of self-care, compassion, and nourishment beyond just food in your healing journey
- Real-life stories of transformation from women who have overcome their autoimmune and chronic conditions

You'll leave this episode empowered with the knowledge and tools to start making simple, yet profound changes in your life that can lead to lasting relief and improved health.

OTHER LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: 

• Book : "The Four things that matter most" by Dr Ira Byock
• Book : "The disease delusion" by Dr Jeffrey Bland

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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 their symptoms. Your body is your guide and ally in healing. If you are ready to embrace this journey with compassion and awareness, then the show is free. During V-Day, 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.

Welcome to day two of Cracking the Autoimmune Code. I am so happy to welcome you for the second day of this amazing Masterclass series. So today is about overcoming skepticism, right? And the reason that I'm starting with this is a lot of times we, uh, are not really, um, convinced that we can really get better or that, you know, we can see much improvement because we've pretty much tried everything and it's not really maybe worked very well for us.

So that is why I named today's session Overcoming Skepticism, because that's what we will be doing. Uh, I'll be sharing, uh, real stories. I'll be sharing my story. I think that gives us an idea as to what to look forward to and what is really possible, basically. And for those of you who are joining me, uh, for the first time today, a little bit about me. My name is and of course, and I am a functional medicine certified health coach and a functional medicine practitioner. And I have been working since 2017. When I started working, it was with, you know, all kinds of health issues, but now I primarily work with women with autoimmune conditions and, uh, you know, help them make all the changes that they need to in their lifestyle, their diet, their mindset, their thoughts, all of it. It's basically mind, body and spirit so that there is a long lasting transformation. There is that this is what a holistic approach is all about in goes beyond physical health. It goes beyond mere physical symptoms. And you will hear. When you hear the stories that we will be sharing, you will understand what I mean. So let's get let's get going.

 And a little bit, you know, because I shared this so that you have an idea of some of the things that, you know, everyone goes through because, uh, you know, here I am in front of you sharing my story, sharing my clients stories of transformation. And, you know, so because I want you to know it's possible for you to. And I feel blessed to be the first functional medicine certified health coach in the country in 2017 when I started. And I'm at the forefront of this functional medicine revolution in India that is picking up steam, um, because it is actually the solution for all kinds of chronic conditions, including autoimmune disease. But I remember a time that I was filled with doubts and worries. I was, uh, I felt all alone as I was trying to make sense of my daughter's health challenges and try to uncover a solution. Of course, my family was there. I mean, we were all doing it together, but I was the one who was driving it. And, you know, I just couldn't see a way out. And, uh, then yesterday I mentioned that I did work with the functional medicine practitioner. This was in way back in 2015, and I had already taken her off gluten and dairy. And it was so hard at that time. You know, nobody knew about gluten, dairy, vegan, keto. You know, these were not even, you know, anybody's radar. So when what it meant is that when I took out these kind of foods, we could hardly eat outside. We could hardly go anywhere, we could not travel. And this went on for a couple of years, actually, more or less. I couldn't even send her to a friend's birthday parties because she. What could she eat? Everything is made with stuff that she could not eat, and I was convinced that food was actually going to help her in the long run. I didn't know when, so it was all confusing and uncertain. And, you know, as I say, this was more than eight years ago, so, you know, things were not even available. So I would call them the mother, the and the who are the basically the ones who decide about the menu before the birthday party and ask them about the menu, because then I would try and make some of these foods. So she used to go to very limited birthday parties, and I used to make her some gluten free cake, gluten free brownie. Not the best tasting ones in the world because I have never baked, you know, all these till then. Uh, and I used to make some of these things and send her, and she would actually just eat those foods because she'd been through so much, uh, before that hospitalization, etc.. She knew that, uh, you know, she had understood even at that very young age, she was only eight, that these foods would hopefully help her. So I used to actually make gluten free breads before even sourdough was a thing. I would have opened a gluten free bakery and anyway. But it was such a such a hard time. And, um, and every time, you know, she had to say no to a birthday party, to an event, it would break my heart because, you know, she had to say no to things that other people considered normal. Right. And you may be dealing with some of this as well. Like, you have to say no to things that you can see others enjoying, others eating. And it's so hard. And she was just a child. And so whether it was eating out, whether it was swimming, whether it was outdoor activities or people looking at her very strangely because of her skin condition and asking whether it's infectious, you know, I would feel angry and I will feel sad. Uh, so, you know, it was a whole host of these emotions and we had to deal with a lot of emotions and restrictions and all I wanted to do. Find a way to really help her to, you know, so that she could dream, she could grow, you know, grow up and do what she wanted to do with her life. Right? Live her life not just to somehow manage and just go, you know, like, barely survive, but actually to live her life. And that's the exact reason why I am here today in front of you, sharing this story, sharing my telling stories of transformation. Because I want you to understand, you know what? What is really possible for you, you know? And also, I'm sharing the knowledge that I have gathered over the past decade. Actually, it's not just my training, but my own lived experiences, because I want to empower you to take charge of your own healing journey.

I don't ever want you to feel that you don't have any power that you can't do, you know, really do. Much rather, apart from just taking a medication or two, or just waiting for someone to tell you or give you permission to take better care of yourself. I don't want you ever to do that. I want to give you the tools that will help you to take charge of your health, right? No matter what your diagnosis, no matter where you are in your disease journey, disease progression, these are very basic tools. These are things that you know which will help you no matter what. Because this is the foundation that we are doing, and this is what I focus on a lot in my coaching practice. But it's also about taking responsibility for finding out what your unique body needs to thrive.

Not just to survive, but to truly thrive. It's your responsibility. No one else's. No one else can do this work for you, but you don't have to do it alone. That's the that's the good thing. I mean, a lot of it I did alone at that time. And that's exactly why I'm doing this masterclass series, that so that you don't have to do this all by yourself. You are in a community, this community, and hopefully beyond where you will have the tools and you will have the support and the encouragement that is needed, because why should you stop dreaming?

Why should you stop living your life to the fullest?
Why should you stop smiling?
Why should you stop playing with your children just because you have a disease diagnosis or a disease condition?
 Why should you stop enjoying time spent with your family? Why should you stop enjoying your hobbies?
 These are not things that you should give up. These are things that that make us whole, that make us happy. This is what is, you know, important. Our relationships are family. You know the things that we love that make us unique. So we all have that creative power. We, you know, we we are born with this gift that we have to share with the world, right? And I don't want any of us to live from this world with our gifts unopened. That's really sad. So, um, and how we are going to do that is I'm going to show you some ways to, you know, get better, find relief from your symptoms and your pain simply by addressing the root causes. Will it solve 100% of your problems? Nobody knows. But yes, you will be a different person at the end of this three days or the five days, including the two bonus Q&A sessions that I that I have. That certainly would to be true. Okay. So let's get going. Let's move ahead.

this is what we covered on day one. we covered the perfect storm of autoimmunity. We talked about myths and truths. If you've missed one, you can always go and watch the replay. You would have gotten a replay link. You can go to Facebook. We talked about a healthy immune response. We talked about how disease begins in the gut and functional medicine. So we will keep going deeper now. And today I'm going to talk about a very, very important topic of heal versus cure. I don't think you will hear of this. Um, enough from you know, what is a different and there is a big difference, and it's a very important difference. And what are the characteristics of chronic illnesses that makes it so hard to get rid of? And some of these things, three mistakes changing perspectives around your symptoms. And again some stories I want to share with you today. And introduction to the renew model. This is the powerful model that I use inside my program that gets my client results. And I want to share that with you as well. And at the end of the day today you will become clear how why healing is possible even with no cure. Because some conditions, especially chronic conditions, don't have a cure, which means that it doesn't. You know, it's not that it's never going to come back, but what does it mean? It's what we explore chronic conditions.

Most importantly, you are the expert on your health. So a lot of us get hung up on this conventional medicine. Functional medicine. Which one should I do? Which one is better? It's not about what is better or not. It is what it is about what your body needs. And a lot of times it's actually both. Uh, you may need both at the same time, which means that you need medication so that, uh, you don't, uh, you know, your, um, damage is basically a restricted. And sometimes you need to start the functional medicine, uh, you know, um, implement functional medicine principles so that we actually start addressing the root causes. So this can go on simultaneously, like it does for many of my clients or for my daughter that she was on medications at the same time we were doing all that. I'm sharing with you in this three day masterclass. So regular checkups are often necessary because you need to go to the doctor, make sure that you know there is, uh, your organs are not getting, you know, damaged even further. So these are complex chronic conditions. Severe illnesses or conditions are no joke, as you know. So sometimes we need these medications to make sure that, you know, it's the damage is, um, you know, like, sort of restricted. You don't want it to continue because some of the damage becomes irreversible. And moving on to heal versus cure. The reason I put this slide is this is something that I truly believe in, that has made a lot of, um, you know, this is what makes my program and my philosophy unique, different from others because I talk a lot about healing through healing, because healing is very different from cure getting cured. Cure is perfect for acute conditions, infections, uh, surgeries, emergencies. I mean, I mean, in that sense where you you need that expert approach and you need to go and get, you know, nothing done, but, uh, healing it goes beyond that. And healing is more applicable with chronic conditions. Uh, it can be applicable to acute conditions as well. But healing starts with where you are right right now. And it's a natural process. And it does not depend on outside experts. It is in the range of everyone, no matter what stage of diagnosis. It is because healing is about a willingness to address underlying imbalances, underlying deficiencies. So it is a holistic approach addressing mind, body and spirit. That's what healing is about.

Whereas cure is actually about symptom management. And sometimes you need both. But do not confuse, uh, one for the other and certainly do not only keep looking for a cure for your condition. There is, you know, a quick fix or a cure. It doesn't go hand in hand with chronic illnesses. And you will understand why, when we come to this slide about chronic illnesses. So it's available to everyone. It is emotional, it is physical, it is spiritual. So healing happens at different. You know, it's a very multi-level transformation that the healing is about. . So which is why the beautiful thing about healing is it's in the reach of everyone. Even a terminally ill patient can heal herself or himself. Who can? That person can heal the relationships. The person can heal the relationship with their own body, with their own soul, with their family members. There's so many levels that you can heal yourself. Even if that person is going to be, you know, terminally ill, doesn't have much time left even when that person can heal themselves. So there is a beautiful book on this. It's called The Four Things That Matter Most by Doctor IRA Byock. If you want to read about, you know, not healing. But you know what I was just talking about, then you can do that. And healing is actually a natural process. I mentioned that it is also holistic and it's available to everyone, I think. Yeah. The slide. And it's about personal growth and understanding your own body's wisdom. That's what actually healing is about. So I call it moving from being a very warrior to an empowered warrior. That's what healing is actually about. Right? So you're you're trying your best. You're like stuck in the same place as I call it, a disease, where you go round and you've been able to move to being empowered and confident and owning your power because you're finally taking charge. Right. And the reason I'm showing you some of these stories is because I want you to understand that you need to think far beyond just managing your symptoms.  And when I mean far beyond, it means mind, body, and spirit. And that's what all you know, if you see all my clients and even my philosophy, it's all about that. This reversing the disease is not the same as finding a cure for it, but you can certainly put it in remission. Now. Western medicine.

Allopathic medicine provides life saving medications and treatments, and that has its place. As I as you know.  It's absolutely necessary. But there are limitations that it has severe limitations when it comes to chronic illnesses, because the very nature of chronic illnesses is that it is multifactorial, multiple multiple factors, multiple triggers. And that is why there is no one medicine that can cure it. And then what happens is that when you take one medicine, then there are side effects and then you start another medicine, then that has that might have side effects. So then you land up it I don't know how many medications and these are. And when you're talking about immunosuppressive medications in the case of autoimmune conditions each has severe side effects. Right. So then so it's this polypharmacy that goes on and it doesn't really solve the problem, which is why people remain stuck on medications for the rest of their life. And I don't want you to think that is the only way out. And that's why I am talking about all of this in so much details.. And, um, there is this book, another book. I will say that I am a lot into books, I love books. I think I get a lot of insights from there. Uh, this is called the disease delusion. He is known Doctor Jeffrey Bland. He is known as the father of functional medicine, and he talks about the characteristics of chronic illnesses. This is an important slide. Um, and again, you can read this book. It's called the Disease delusion. Uh, chronic illness does not heal by itself. It's going to get better on its own. It actually tends to grow worse over time because the underlying imbalances and deficiencies, unless they are addressed, it will not, you know, get resolved on its own. And there is no I mentioned, there's no one single factor. And a chronic illness has complex symptom profiles. Then multiple things going on in the background. And a lot of times if you saw the slide from yesterday, I talked about the perfect storm. A lot of times there is one thing like one particular illness, one infection, one vaccine, one you know, one thing or one stressful time frame that is the last that that's the straw that breaks the camel's back, that means all the other things that are already in place your genetics, your intestinal permeability, a weak or an imbalanced immune system. And then the final thing that happened was something just set it off, you know, and I then I talked to when I talked to prospective clients, when I talk to my clients, they'll tell me, oh, I took you know, I remember now that I actually took this you know what? I had this infection. And then suddenly autoimmune conditions sort of just developed. It didn't develop suddenly, of course, none of these diseases develop overnight, but all the other things were already in place. And it was that one trigger that the body could not compensate.  So I want you to understand this part. But having said that, what I also want you to understand is that you can still become free from your symptoms. And take charge of your help, right? That is still possible for you. And the reason for that is that you are the expert. You are the expert on your body, your life, and your health. No one else's. So when you start taking responsibility for your healing process, for your healing journey, that's when the magic happens. And then when we hear about unity, you will see that that is you know how that happened for her yesterday from Palak. So that's how it is. And but why is it I mean, before, you know, I want to change tracks a bit here as in and to just explain to you why is it that we are all in this kind of a situation? Why is it that, you know, the world has progressed so much with modern technology, medical sciences, everything but the, you know, the the major disease of the 21st century are chronic illnesses like an autoimmunity, cancer, diabetes. 

Why is it actually while there is no one particular thing, but one main factor is our modern lifestyle. A typical modern lifestyle may not be for everyone, but most people are in that situation, right? So, you know, whether it's toxins, whether it's stress, high levels of stress, whether it's pollution, uh, whether it's processed foods, you know, all of it, all of it is actually making us sick and keeping us sick. And, you know, it's a. In fact, it's actually nowadays it's become more difficult to stay healthy. I mean, if you don't do anything, most people will head towards disease. It's that's that's the unfortunate part. And the reason I do these sessions, and I'm so passionate about this topic, is that I am very, very aware of the world that we are living for our children. One is our own health, of course, but what kind of world are we living for our children right where we are, sort of all these things they're inheriting. So I want to make sure that I empower as many women, sense that this message to as many women as I can so that they can, once they get better, they understand or, you know, you understand what it actually is, what's really happening. Then you can, you know, make that change in your own family, in your own community. And I've seen this again and again and again that when the woman actually changes and she changes her health, she changes her mindset, she changes her behavior. She's the one who's doing everything for the family. The whole family benefits as a family benefited. A lot of times it ripples out to friends and the community. So it has a ripple effect. And that's why that's what that's actually the reward that my work brings me. So again, you know, all of this is our modern lifestyle. I think this the. Say a thousand words. So I have you know, I don't want to get into that. But yes, this slide I'm bringing back today, uh, if you were not here yesterday, this is a very, very important slide because this is, you know, sort of tells you what actually the progression is all about. I mean, any kind of disease progression that is related to immune system dysregulation and immune system dysregulation is at the heart of or any kind of autoimmune condition even. What is that? I have not really delved into what are the kinds of autoimmune diseases, etc., because all that information is available online, right? I don't need to educate you about MS, RA or Hashimoto's. I mean, I can do that, but that information you will get online, I mean, you can go to Google and search and you will get all of it. But what you will not probably get is that all of these diseases have at their root immune dysregulation. That's what you need to understand. Unlike cancer, where there is only one name, you can have breast cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, depending on which organ is damaged or affected rather, uh, autoimmunity doesn't have that. It has all kinds of different name, which makes it so confusing, which is why I talk about it. Right. So immune regulation, primarily, uh, processed foods or crap food, toxins and stress. And you have disease, uh, you have overactive immune system on one side and underactive immune system on the other side. Right? So when you move to the right, it is showing underactive immune system. That means that there's chronic infection going on. Similarly severe infection ongoing, you know all the time. And you teased infection, you know, ongoing um, IBS dysbiosis. So all of it is it's a spectrum. Nobody is lying. It's not like a black and white you can actually move between these things. Also, it's not static. That's what I'm going to say. It will keep shuffling. And then you also can have a overreactive immune system when you have the allergies and the eczema. So immune system is reacting to anything and everything that comes its way like it's hypervigilant and learns to activate it. And then it can also move towards autoimmunity, which is an extreme form of hypervigilance. So it is actually food, uh, as I said, toxins or low nutrient foods, uh, processed foods, um, malabsorption, all of these toxins, toxins are a different category by itself. And it would need a different webinar. And I have done workshops in the past on top things. But just to suffice to let you know that they hamper they uh, they affect detoxification capabilities. So it's a double whammy. It's not only, uh, sort of, um. Uses up a lot of nutrients because to get rid of the toxins, we use up nutrients and then it can also hamper the detoxification, you know, and and energy production. So a lot of things get hampered where as far as toxins are concerned and then stress. And I'm talking about chronic stress. When I talk about stress it's not that stress is bad. There's nothing wrong with stress. We need stress. We need cortisol to in order to survive. It's the chronic stress, the ongoing stress that never stops. Right. And some of it is we have to take responsibility for that. So again, stress can also uh is also a big factor whether it's physical emotional, mental all of it. Right. And um, this is another important slide that I had shared yesterday. But I am sharing today. 

because this is what you need to understand. The disease often begins in the gut, which is why specifically in autoimmunity related diseases, we look at the gut first, we address the gut first. And it can start with very, very minor symptoms such as headache, anemia. You know, you know, things that just come and go. But then maybe becoming chronic over time and then it can move to more, uh, you know, serious form of it, which is a gastrointestinal disease, which is your, which affects motility. Motility means the passing of stool in your intestine. So constipation, belching, bloating and all of the other things. And then there's inflammation. So there is inflammation. So as Mars with all uh, you know, uh, uh, conditions where immune system is actually creating antibodies. And this is part of the inflammatory response. Right. But it's an ongoing response. That is it's a problem. And of course, then you have the extreme case of as you can see, it happens over a period of time. None of these things develop overnight. Right? That's the most important thing to understand. Now, as I mentioned, that inflammation is a natural response. It's a survival mechanism by our immune system. It creates antibodies, it keeps us alive. And these are the signs of inflammation, right? It's the ongoing inflammation which is the problem that these are the typical signs. So which is why these you know, one of the things that we are doing here in this masterclass series is decoding your symptoms.  And this is what I'm doing. This is over these three days. You will learn to understand that your symptoms are these messages. They are not happening randomly. There are reasons why you have a headache or you have a congestion or something. It's it's a message from your body that something is wrong. Something is missing. Something has to be addressed. Something is deficient. Right. So these are the kind of some of the signs of inflammation that you can have. And it's always best to address any of these things at as early as possible. Right. So I tell my clients that when it is a whisper is when you address it rather than it becoming a scream. Right. Because because it sort of keeps building up and building up. And a lot of times we end up in a situation where a body is not able to manage because inflammation is necessary for survival and human functioning necessary for healing a wound. So inflammation is all all of it is important. That's not the problem. The problem is chronic inflammation, the ongoing inflammation. Because what I want you to understand is this a healthy outside starts from the inside, right? So what you are eating, what you are doing, what you are putting in your body, what you are putting on your body. 

All of it is important. All of it. What you are thinking. I think a lot of times we are so focused on diet and supplements, right? We just want to know what is the right diet. Should I be gluten free? Should I be dairy free or all of that? And then supplements. How many supplements should I take with supplements? That's not enough, right? We also have our thoughts. We have the environment. We have the mindset. All of it is important. Okay. Thank you. A modern lifestyle is responsible for the immune system dysregulation. Yes, it is contributing to it big time. So we need to find ways to make changes. Uh, at an individual level. Um, you know, at a global level, at a country level, that's something that's not in our hands, but at an individual level, at a family level, at a community level, yes, we can make certain changes starting with ourselves. And then hopefully it will have a ripple effect, right? As we, uh, improve our own health as as others see that? I mean, like, uh, the classic case here is Palak, who joined me to join my team as a health coach where she got better. So she's made the changes in her family, in her life. Uh, and she's seen, uh, improvement. So she decided to then do this and share her experience and knowledge with others. So that's how it works. Like we do. We can each do our bit. Chronic inflammation is the problem. Yes, because it is as basic as this. Right. And this is the part that we often overlook because we want to diet. We want the supplements. We overlook the foundation. You cannot build a strong building or a. Any kind of thing with without a strong foundation. This is your foundation. Right. So hydration, eating, hygiene, nutrient dense food is not really about which label of food you should be consuming, should be having keto or gluten, you know, free or all of that. It's not about that. It is about nutrient dense, unrefined, unprocessed, whole, fresh homecooked all of it. It's about that. And then the second part of it is that it is also about now what food is suiting your body. Right? So it's not so much about what label of food are you consuming. Toxin avoidance, regular bowel movement. You need to clear the, you know, the metabolites from the hormones, the toxins, all of it from the body. Right. So that is very, very important. You need to create a belief in yourself that your body can actually overcome this illness. And if we act, you know, what we believe in affects the, you know, our body. Like there is a direct connection and there is actually a connection between the brain and the gut and the gut and the brain and the gut talks to the brain, I think two times more than the brain talks to and can. So whatever we are thinking and feeling it, it's affecting each and every part of our body. Right. Um, so that is there then regular movement moving your body. It's not just about exercise, it's actually about movement. again, this is a, uh, misconception that we have that I need to do go to the gym, and I need to exercise. That's not true. You need to move your body. Our bodies are designed for movement.  So if you can move your body by swimming, by walking, by cycling. Yes. After that. After that, what? All you need to do? Maybe do some weight training and resistance training. As we grow older, muscles become weaker. So all of that is fine. But the basic point is that you need to move your body. We are not meant to be sedentary for eight hours, ten hours and then suddenly workout over the weekend. That's not how this works. It cannot compensate. You need to move your body. So what I do, for example, is keep a timer for half an hour or 40 minutes. I have this, um, app on my, uh, browser, and then it sort of gives me this, uh, the take a break and then I will take a break. And the way I take a break is go around the house if I'm working from home and take a sip of water, you know, so all of it. So just take a break my body around. So there are different ways of doing that. Then a balanced stress. Stress is going to be part of your life. You can't really eliminate the stress as as I said, it's not all that. All stress is bad is a chronic stress. So how do you, uh how are you dealing with it or how are you not dealing with it? Right? Are you ignoring it? It's really stressful lives, but our body takes it to believe that there is a tiger chasing us, right? So is there really a tiger chasing you? Of course not. I mean, that's very rare, if at all, in this day and age, but our body ends up believing that there's a tiger chasing us, and that's a big problem. Um, and then sleep. And sleep. We don't talk about it. It's not that sexy. It's much easier to talk about diet and supplements. Of course. Uh, exercise, maybe, but sleep nobody talks about. There's a reason why we need sleep. It has so many functions. So are you getting regular, deep and restful sleep? And it's not going to happen on its own. In today's day and age, you need to prioritize it, right? You would know that. And then of course digestive function. We've talked about gut health enough. So now by now you would have understood why gut health is so paramount. Right? So these are very, very basic but very, very important daily choices that you need to start making. And you need to change. So what I want you to do is, uh, for the workbook, I had put down a few pointers. You can, uh, complete them at your own pace, but I want you to just brainstorm for lifestyle adjustments, like just small things. And even if you can't do for right now, that might be a bit too much. Maybe just do 1 or 2. Like, what are these 1 or 2 things that you will do to, you know, change something like, uh, prioritize time, energy or money. But by that I mean is something as simple as just watch one or less TV of Netflix and is giving an example before bedtime, and maybe use that time to get the, uh, you know, uh, to do a work after dinner. That's actually what I do at night. I make sure that I work. I'm trying not every day but try and work for a 15 to 30 minutes work after dinner. So I prioritize that over TV watching or doing something else on screen. Right? That's what I mean. It can be as small as that. All these small things are not. So what is that one thing maybe that you can do differently from today that's going to help you, uh, make healthy choices, that that will be a healthy choice. So because I want you to understand that you can start here, right? You can start here. Let's not complicate the process of healing. Uh, I would like to simplify it. 

In fact, I have a three pillar framework that I have for my coaching. And the first pillar is simplify. I want to simplify this process. Right. So it's about reducing inflammation, rebalancing immune function, reducing the trigger load and healing the deadline. It is I said simple not easy right. But you will find that as you. Start progressing as you start making the changes. As you start listening to your body, as you start appreciating what your body does for you and realize that your symptoms are actually messages in disguise. It does become easier and Shonali will talk about it in a bit and will bring her on to you can hear from her and you heard from yesterday. You know it does work. It works wonders because a lot of times these are the three common mistakes I find that people make, that they rely on the experts for all the answers. Uh, of course you need medications, interventions, uh, you know, treatments, diagnosis, all of that is important. And for that, you need to rely on experts. But if you wait for their permission, if you wait for them to tell you exactly, you know what to do, then that's not going to really, um, happen. Most likely you will wait for a very long time, or, uh, people then rely only on medications to find lasting. There's so many other things that you can do, and I've been talking about them since yesterday. The guest today, day one and day two, have talked about a lot of the foundational things that I just talked about that's going to actually contribute to finding lasting relief. Right. Because your body knows how to heal. You are the one who has to now get out of its way and at the same time supported. And the third thing that most people do is they ignore or suppress the symptoms that I hope by now, that slide that I showed you, how disease begins in the gut, tells you how important it is to actually start noticing your symptoms, not to obsess over it, not to become paranoid about it, but really to appreciate the message behind that. So in functional medicine, we say that your symptoms are a gift.  So, um, you may not want to believe that, but it's a way it's a different way of looking at it. Uh, because a lot of times what happens is that, you know, women get women stuck, and men, of course, they remain stuck. And these are the common things that I hear them saying that, you know, uh, and this is very, very common, all the, especially in the case and autoimmune conditions now is a complex chronic condition. And these are the worries that people have.  And I don't want you to be stuck here. I don't want you to, uh, continue to believe that you don't have the power. You don't have any role to play. You have a major role to play in your own healing journey. And I want you to start today. I don't want you to waste even one second, um, you know, after this. And I certainly don't want you to remain being at war with your body. I hope by between day one and day two, you've now slowly understood why these things are happening, why is the immune system so dysregulated, and why the disease progression is continuing to happen and what you can do about it.  So, but stop being at war with your body. Uh, it's not, uh, you know, something that it's doing or betraying you. It's actually trying to keep you safe in its own way. Because as I as I've been talking about it, your symptoms are actually a gift in a way. And it may not seem that way, especially when we are in major pain and fatigue and all of that. But the reason that I frame it this way is that it helps us to appreciate the messages behind the symptoms. Right. So and we need to be guided by our own bodies if we are to get better long term. I'm talking about long term solutions. I'm not talking about quick fixes. Right. You are here because you're looking for a long term solution. You want to go beyond symptom. And that's why you are here for this masterclass, right. Uh, so I want you to, um, understand the language of your body. And the way you will understand the language is by first believing that your symptoms are these messages and your body is trying to get your attention right. So and you can do this in many different ways. Keeping journals, symptom trackers, you know, there are many different ways. And I guide my clients how to do this. The question is, uh, you know, so morning getting up and writing in a journal, gentle practices, stillness, meditation, mindfulness. There are many different ways where we can actually be still and focus. We are, uh, you know, sort of in such a big hurry all the time that we don't really pay attention. And I want you to start paying attention today. And this is another action step that I want you to take. You can, uh, you can share here or you can share in the Facebook group, which is only for women. Um, because I want you to now shift the way you think about all of this. Right. What do you think your body is trying to communicate with you? Like one symptom. So I'll give you an example. It might be that your headache, maybe you never thought about it. Maybe it's just a sign of, uh, dehydration that you're not having enough water. Right. And that's typically the most common reason for a headache.
 
So I'm just saying that at your own level, and, you know, and we underestimate the the knowledge that we have of ourselves because we are so used to not thinking and connecting with our bodies that we have lost that when we were young children, babies and young children and toddlers, we were completely in tune. We knew when we were hungry, when we were going to sleep and we would leave. We would let our parents know, right? As young children do. But we lose that connection. So I want you to sort of get back into that connection because your body is a self-healing organism. Right. And the body guided approach that I've been talking about is all about the fact that your body is your friend, and it's about increasing awareness about your body and supporting your body's healing process. So combining the what and the why is what I do. So what we've been doing a lot of the water and the why here. So which is about what is going on, what disease you have and why do you have it which is the functional medicine. But this is how I describe it.  this is not an official, uh, description or a definition. Rather, this is my definition over years of experience. And the how is the coaching part of it, which is that how do you make changes? How do you sustain those changes? How do you shift your thought patterns, your behavior mindset? How do you change? Right. We're talking about change a lot. And it all starts by laying a strong foundation. And I've been talking about it from day one. It's about laying a strong foundation where you are, um, you know, eating hygiene, mindful eating practices. Again, I keep going back to strong foundation, healing and refinement because that's where true transformation happens. And I call it transformative healing. It goes much beyond whatever you could possibly imagine. So sleep hygiene, bedtime routine, your diet, your diet has to be linked to your body, not because somebody else is following something. Nourishment beyond food. It's not just nourishing your body, it's your mind to not itself. So vitamin J I talk about, which is joy. You know, people don't talk about vitamin J. So I talk about vitamin J a lot. Vitamin P, which is pleasure.  We talk about vitamin D, vitamin B, vitamin C. Are you taking this supplement. That's not enough, right? It works to a certain extent. Then after that it doesn't. So vitamin P for pleasure joy. So all of that. So. 

And this is what actually Sonali did. And she's here today to share her story. And I will leave it to her to share the transformation that she saw. Uh, and because I just want you to hear from her what is truly possible. Sonali, I'm going to bring you up now. Um, I just want to share yours. And this is exactly what you did and whatever else it was. Yeah. Thank you so much. Hello, everyone. Um, it's a privilege to be on this platform and to share my story of transformation. I think giving the mic to me would be a wrong idea, because I think I could just go on and on. Um. Uh, I think before I joined and then the SAS program and, uh, you know, working with her, uh, has been amazing. Life transformation 360 degrees. And, uh, before I, I think headed, uh, started working with her. Um, I was in this very, very bad space. So, like she had mentioned yesterday, your symptoms are, um, just the last straw. You know, that that that one step before someone diagnosing you with an autoimmune condition. So I had probably been, you know, um, my body was giving me signs. Maybe I wasn't, you know, um, paying attention to it. But around four years back, my body, um, started giving me signs. I started having constipation, um, digestion problems, never feeling hungry at all. Um, and a whole host of other symptoms. Um, I basically had a, I have pcod and thyroid and struggling with it for like 14, 15 years. Um, uh, a lot of difficulties to even have my first child. And what conventional medicine does is it basically looks at those numbers, looks at your blood work, and just brushes it away and gives you top up medication for everything. That's where I was. Having gone through so many treatments, I felt that my body was behaving awkwardly. I was extremely fatigued. I had zero energy even in my, uh, even in like, you know, in my early 30s, I would I probably felt like a 70 year old and not able to be able to keep up with my kid was even more painful. Not able to be, um, like what what what she just mentioned in the beginning of the, uh, you know, of the session today, um, feeling limited, not being able to make plans. Um, so for me, it was just this five days in a month when I felt reasonably good. And that's when I decided to invite guests or to do all those things that I wanted to do. In the rest of it, I was feeling, uh, fatigued and drained out. That's not how a 30 odd year old should feel like. Uh, you should feel energetic. You should be able to make any plans. 1s And I always blamed my disease condition for thyroid. Or it was maybe because of, you know, I have this hormonal imbalance. And I was, uh, I think under this information overload, trying everything, you know, trying a little bit of this and little bit of that. I would try it for like a few weeks and then, uh, you know, go off the wagon so that, that that was where I was and I was, I said, this is enough. Um, and that's when I embarked on this program and, um, 2 to 3, it's just a few changes. There have been a whole lot of changes, though. Uh, but just a few changes. Um, I think mindset shift has, uh, that's that's number one on my list. I think the complete mindset shift sometimes, uh, like, like I just mentioned, we are so fixated on supplements and trying the right diet and I was trying all of that. We forget that there is, um, for me to reach up to a thyroid or a pcod condition. I realized after joining the program, it was because of a lot of pent up garbage inside me. And that was all. That was all coming up as, um, you know, in the form of these symptoms. And that mindset shift has been amazing. Um, so it's come with a lot. It's come very organically. She's helped me, uh, with a few book recommendations. Uh, some of her blogs are amazing. You all must read it. Um, podcast has been amazing. So I, I had started off and she just started off with her podcast. So all that has I've invested time. You need time. You need time, uh, for all of this, you need time to see transformation. It doesn't. It's like even yesterday said, it's not easy. You need to invest a little time, uh, to see that transformation. And, um. Yes, mindset shift would be the first. And someone telling me that, you know, you need to nourish your body. I mean, I was berating I'm expecting my body to respond to a thyroid medication, just the medication. And that's how we all are. We we're looking for supplements. I'm wanting that one magic pill that can make me feel energetic. But before we are so over reliance on medication and not on real foods, nourishing foods, uh, that is something that has happened to this program. I'm not saying I was eating crap, I wasn't eating crap, but I wasn't eating the right balance of foods. And today I am. I think I know what I have on my plate and I decide, um, is this going to nourish me? If the answer is no, then that's just going to be kept aside. That's just crap and dummy nutrients, not even nutrients that I'm adding to my body. That has happened. Um, and a whole lot of other things that's so difficult to even, you know, uh. Even put a cross in the confines of this, you know, session today. Um, I, I, I think I wasn't happy and I think for like a 38, I was, I was 38, 39 when I joined the 39 Warriors join this program. And I was just not happy. Um, I would like I said, just feel five days, you know, little happy. And then the rest of the days I would feel dull and down. And I had this tagline was, I'm feeling tired. You know, my daughter and my family members identified my, you know, she is someone who's always tired. That's not what I wanted. I've seen relationships changing. Obviously when you have the energy, you're able to nourish your relationships. So I'm just telling you, these are just a few of those positive things that have happened. But there's just many more that's happened. And yes, um, it's not supplements and only food that's helped me. It's a lot of mindset shift journaling, meditation. Um, sometimes just stopping by and not going, not having this go go attitude, always just pausing for a while and reflect, you know, self-reflection so that. Just a little bit then for someone who was looking to. Uh, start working with, uh, you know, start working with Amanda. You know, believe me, this is where hope begins. And, uh, if, I mean, if a 30 odd year old can, you know, I. I can see changes. Yes. I'm healed. Uh, curing is a different chapter altogether because, you know, see, it's I've got a is 14 to 15 years of something. It's not going to go away. Just one fine day. You'll have to work on it. I mean, I have to remove all that crap that got into my body that that whole realignment is going to take time. But at least I know the roadmap. I I've got the blueprint and I know if I fall off the wagon, then this is what I need to do. So that's that's something for all women out here. Um, I think we have to take charge of our life and not wait for someone. Wave that magic wand. Your health coach is not going to wave a magic wand to give you a magic pill. That magic lies within you. You need to harness that magic. And she's just going to give you that pathway, and she's going to show you like, like Pollock said, you know, she's going to show you that light into the dark tunnel. So, yeah, that's that's a beautiful message. Um, thank you for all the kind words. But I think, more importantly, the message of hope that you've shared with everyone here. And I, uh, so thank you so much. Just be there. If there are any questions, you can answer that it's a lovely, lovely way, you know, that you shared. And I'm going to just complete the rest of the presentation. Uh, because the last part. Okay, this is done. Uh, because this is what she was talking about. This is actually a model that I have, um, sort of developed over years. I mean, it's now almost a decade of working with my daughter and with my clients. Uh, you know, it sums up what I've learned so far about, uh, you know, how you how you address root causes at a very holistic level, right? As I, you know, I should say that I've been saying, as Pollock has said, it goes much beyond, um, symptoms, uh, physical symptoms. It goes much beyond that, because I want you to. And I want my clients. And I want you to leave from here with tools that can sustain you for the rest of your life. It's not about what we are doing now. So this is a model that I've developed over years of working. Uh, it's an empowering, straightforward and a step by step approach. That's what I want for you. Right. So it's a as you can you can read this. It's r e n e w. And if you notice n is nourish your body. For example, n is not your body. It's about actually going much beyond diet. Right. So now we talked about that R is realize your body is R starts with realize your body's innate healing potential. So that means that not only are you providing what your body needs to heal, but you also removing obstacles and the obstacle might be negative thoughts. Obstacles can mean many things. Obstacles might be certain foods that you are, uh, you know, uh, intolerant towards or allergy. But it can also mean negative thinking. Toxic relationship can mean so many different things. Uh, then, uh, embark on your healing journey so that starting on your journey, that's that's itself is important. Looking at it as a journey rather than as a chore or, you know, that something, it's because it's going to take time. And she said it beautifully that it's going to all of this is going to take time. 
 
And but this is a path that simplifies this process for you. You have to do the hard work, but it simplifies it. And I think the one thing that gets missing from most people's, uh, you know, toolbox or toolkit that I see is the second E, which is embraced self-care and compassion that is often missing. And I think that is a huge gap between, you know, in between what we want, what we are, where we are, and what results we want to see. Because one, we don't have a consistent self-care routine. And even if we do, we do not, you know, practice self-compassion. We will make mistakes. We will fall off the bandwagon. And she mentioned that. But if we do not show ourselves the kindness, you know, and we believe and we don't show ourselves that kindness, you know, when we have made a mistake because we believe that it's going to make us weak, it's actually works to the contrary. And it's a it forms a big part of my coaching. Because you would show your friend kindness if your friend was suffering like and in pain. But we don't do that for ourselves, because when you can do that, you can actually stay motivated. You can actually overcome challenges. You can actually find the strength to continue even when things go wrong, which in other words, resiliency.  So embrace self-care. And compassion is often missing in it's forms a big it's an underlying theme across my program and of course walking the path of holistic wellness. So it is a transformative journey. It is mental. It is a mental journey. It's a physical journey. It's an emotional journey, right? It's at all levels. Only the physical journey is not enough, because what happens with most people is they make those changes. They make dietary changes, they make lifestyle changes, and then they back to square one. Uh, in six months, in one year, in one and a half years, I have clients who are in touch with me after three years, after four years, and they have, you know, still been able to sustain many of these, uh, things because, uh, and I also want to show you what we are going to be covering tomorrow. We're covering some important topics which will sort of round this all up. I think by now you've understood the importance of not only focusing on diet supplements, physical health, and, you know, all of that, which is very important. But you're also missing out a lot of things.