#22: Beyond Willpower: Neuroscience, Faith, and the Foundations That Heal with Wendy Francis

In a world of constant input, your brain is always adapting — to noise, to stress, to what you repeatedly tell it is normal. In this conversation with board-certified health coach and adjunct professor Wendy Francis, we explore how real change begins not with more effort, but with clearer signals to the mind and body.

We name what’s actually keeping people stuck: information overload, ultra-processed food marketed as health, chronic stress worn like a badge of honor, and sleep patterns that quietly dysregulate cortisol and cravings. From there, we return to the foundations — hydration, movement, nourishment, and sleep — as stabilizing pillars that lower stress, restore energy, and bring the nervous system out of fight-or-flight. Wendy explains the gut-brain connection, how to read ingredient lists instead of labels, why frozen vegetables can outperform “fresh,” and what a deep orange egg yolk reveals about nutrient density.

But this episode goes beyond food and habits. We talk about thought training, the language that reshapes neural pathways, and how small, repeatable actions rewire the brain through neuroplasticity. Faith and neuroscience are not in opposition here — stillness and prayer calm the amygdala, engage the prefrontal cortex, and align behavior with conviction. When belief meets the basics, internal order returns.

If you’ve been doing “everything right” but still feel scattered or stuck, this conversation offers something steadier than motivation: a return to coherence. Start small. Reduce noise. Feed your body what it recognizes. Speak clearly to your mind. And let stillness become the place where change takes root.

Be still — and live.

Connect with Wendy:

Website  

716-523-4966

CoachWendyFrancis@Gmail.com

Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok: @HealthcoachWendy, YouTube: @HealthCoach-Wendy LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/wendyjfrancis

New here? Start with episodes 1-3: “Take Back Your Life”, "From Hustle to Healing",  and “5 to Thrive.” 

*Start Fog to Freedom Here*

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Transcript

Opening And Core Premise

Wendy 0:00

The brain is going to believe what you tell it. So if you're constantly in negative thought mode, that's one of the first things we have to do of taking back our power.

Meet Wendy And Her Approach

Gillian 0:09

If your days feel full, but your heart longs for more meaning, you're not alone. Between the screens, the schedules, and the never-ending noise, it's easy to lose your sense of peace. But what if the way forward isn't found in doing more, but in learning to slow down, to simplify, to be still. Welcome to Be Still and Live, a podcast for individuals, couples, and families longing for calm, connection, and a more meaningful way to live. I'm Gillian, speaker, coach, and founder of Soleil Health and Wellness. And I'm here to help you create space for stillness and step into a life that feels whole and good again. In today's episode, we are talking about something so many people are quietly struggling with, feeling stuck, scattered, or anxious, even when they're doing all the things right. My guest today is Wendy Francis, a board certified health coach and adjunct professor who specializes in cognitive coaching. Her work helps people understand how the brain actually drives habits, decisions, and change, and why willpower alone is never the answer. We explore how neuroscience, neuroplasticity, and simple lifestyle foundations work together to create lasting change and how faith and brain science don't compete. They beautifully support one another. If you've ever wondered why change feels harder than it should, or why your faith is strong, but your nervous system feels exhausted, this conversation will meet you right where you are. Let's begin. Good morning, Wendy. Thank you so much for being on the show today. Good morning. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. Wendy is tuning in from Florida today. I see this beautiful view of the beach behind her and the waves as I look out of my window at two feet of snow in upstate New York or Western New York. So I'm living vicariously through you right now. I hope that's okay.

Speaker 3 2:06

Absolutely. Well, I am a Western New Yorker, so I feel your pain. But I had to uh go towards warmer, warmer weather. So I'm here in beautiful, uh yeah, it's called the Emerald Coast, which is um dust in Florida. It's in the panhandle. And it's just absolutely incredible. It's my first time here, and it's just um the waters are just like the Caribbean. It's just beautiful.

Gillian 2:30

So yeah, I've been there once before. It's a very slow-paced area in Florida.

Speaker 3 2:37

It is, it is. And I was surprised because I was like, oh, it's gonna, it's you know, getting close to spring break. I said this place is gonna be just, you know, busy, busy, busy. And um, yeah, it was surprising. So I love it.

Gillian 2:50

Yeah, nice place to retreat to.

Speaker 3 2:52

Yes.

Gillian 2:53

So I met Wendy a couple years ago actually at a high school open house. She was there um with her health and wellness health coaching business, and um, we connected immediately, and then I crossed paths with her again through a church that she's a part of, and she does a lot of work there, um, giving back to the community and offering health coaching and health and wellness presentations to the community there in Niagara Falls, New York. And when I watched her present, she was presenting before me. There were so many things that we aligned with and that we aligned on. And uh I was, as I'm watching her present, I'm thinking I have to have Wendy on my podcast because you are just so on point kind of pulling all of the health and wellness aspects into the faith side of things, which resonates quite a bit with me with what I'm doing with Be Still and Live and Soleil Health and Wellness. So here we are. I'm glad you were open to this um opportunity to come on my podcast. And Wendy has her own podcast that she'll share a little bit more about at the end of the episode here. But um she is she is a pro. So we're here to learn more about um what she is an expert at. And uh we're we're excited to have her here. So thank you, Wendy. Thank you.

Speaker 3 4:09

It was quite the intro. Thank you. Yeah, it was a pleasure meeting you. I really uh yeah, the connection was there right away. And as you were speaking after I did, it was like I was like, wow, it's like we really are on the same page, which is important because the health industry, health and wellness industry is so vast. And um, and you can come at it from different directions as being a health coach or life coach. And it really does um, you know, when you when you find someone that aligns with you, it really um hits home.

Gillian 4:42

So yeah, absolutely. And I think what we both agree on is this this world is so oversaturated. There's so much conflicting information out there. And uh what I connected with Wendy on is the fact that we're bringing it back to our faith. We're bringing it back to the basics, we're bringing it back to the order that feels intuitive. And this is really important to share because it feels like the calm in the storm. It feels like the the safe space in all of the noise that's out there because there's just so much, there's so much information being thrown at us nonstop. And it's really hard to know how to navigate through all of it.

Faith As A Compass For Health

Habits, Neural Pathways, And Self‑Sabotage

Speaker 3 5:22

Yeah, you're absolutely right, Julianne. And it's um it's information overload. And we have um, you know, the internet to thank for that. Uh, and so many people are, you know, WebMD, and um they're they're trying to figure things out on their own. And the the most harmful thing I think for a lot of people are like there's there's conflicting things out there. So, with um in my practice, um, I am a um board certified health coach as well as a cognitive coach. And the reason why I went back, um I thought it was really important for the cognitive aspect, and I focus a lot on that, is because no matter what my clients come to me for, it's like you really have to address the underlying issues, and that's usually right here, right? So maybe they, for example, maybe they want to quit smoking or they want to lose weight. Well, we kind of have to understand why, you know, obviously over time these habits have been created, but why are you self-sabotaging? So, and understanding that because I can give people, you know, food plans and you know, be their rah-rah coach and get them to uh you know inspire them and keep them motivated. But if you we don't address the underlying issues of what's going on and attacking the habits, because these habits are ingrained in our brain. Um, and that's just biological. The more repetition that we have with anything, the more we uh it's called our neural pathways. And those neural pathways, every time you repeat a um uh something that you're doing, when it's repetitive over time, that creates those neural pathways get deeper and deeper. Think of them as a path that you're walking on, like grass, right? The more you walk on that path, the more like the grass goes away, the deeper the path gets, and the more apparent it is. It's the same way that's going on in our brain. So when you have a habit, like um maybe you're overeating or smoking or drinking too much, whatever it is, uh it it all goes back to changing those habits in the brain. So that's where I come at it from.

Gillian 7:50

So yeah, and I I completely align with that. I I agree with you. Like so many people come to health coaches with um the objective or the objective they think they have, like losing weight or breaking a habit like smoking or just getting healthier in general, so their heart can be healthier, so they can lower the cholesterol or things like that. But I think what what we both agree on is that's what that's what our clients are saying. That's what they believe the issue is. But our job is to peel back the layers and get to the root of the problem. And a lot of times that goes back to people's childhood, back to the belief systems they have, back to the mindset they have. So it's really helping them understand that, okay, let's put that aside for a minute and let's start to talk about the deeper issues here, the deeper um friction that we have within our mind, body, and soul that we need to figure out first. And once you come back to that order, once you come back to that alignment within yourself, then you can start working towards changing those habits and, you know, reaching those goals that you might have. But I find it so important to help people understand why. Why do you want to lose weight? Is it because you're being told you have to? Is it because of the cultural norms right now, the pressure you're receiving from the outside, or is it coming from the inside, something that you want to truly feel better in your life and in your skin? And I think that's an important difference to make.

Speaker 3 9:17

I think when you were giving um your presentation, the bit it's funny because one of the first things that I asked my clients is what's your why? And you were the same, like it was like it was we're so close because it is so important and um getting to that. And one thing I want to address also is that is being coaches, sure, we have to peel back the layers exactly like you described and figure out their why and why this is going on. However, we're not um we're not doing therapy, right? We're we're not uh we we need to understand it, and then with coaching, where that's the therapist's job, right? Like really peel that back and um you know, and but what we're doing is we are moving forward. Coaches move forward, and we um we we address those issues, and that's our starting point, and say, okay, we acknowledge that, accept it, and that's what helping our clients do is to acknowledge it, accept it, and move on. Yes, and that's really um, that's really so important for so many clients.

Gillian 10:33

Oh, absolutely. I I really do believe it's it's drawing awareness to what's actually going on and then reminding our clients they have a choice. We've forgotten that we have a choice because so much is imposed on us and we feel like we're victims, right? We got stuck in that victim mentality, that woe is me mentality. But I think our job is to help people to remember that you do have the ability to choose. Give them back that power so that they can understand how they move forward, realign them with their values, and then I think it's the integration. That's that's the key piece that coaches help you with. And like you said, like we can we can help our clients understand that there might be some things that you need to step into from your past or these mindsets that you've been carrying for a long time and why you can't let go of them. And and you're right, that's not that's not our space to work in. But we can direct people to good counselors who can help them work through that, but then help them with the integration as to how you make those changes in your life, how you break those habits, how you how you break through and and move forward, which is which is so important for actually changing those habits and putting them into action and making that real change in your life.

The Four Pillars: Hydration, Exercise, Nutrition, Sleep

Speaker 3 11:42

I I love that you brought that because we all forget that. We all forget that we have a choice, right? And it's so important. It's really, uh really important. A lot of things that I do with um my clients is uh uh uh just getting back to basics. Uh when they're overloaded and overwhelmed with information, and you know, they there's there's a lot of choices out there, right? Like in in I'm just thinking, it just popped into my head, like uh even like with food packaging, they have like energy drinks, and there's companies out there that make these things look super healthy, and they're not. And when but the biggest thing I work with besides cognitive coaching and getting to the understanding here and changing all of that is to just get back to the basics. And I use the four pillars. Uh actually, the one of the reasons I came to Florida is to finish a book I'm working on. Um and it's the it started off as a um cookbook. I actually started off with a basic book, uh, basic um recipe book. And I was always, because people are always asking me, um, you know, uh, well, what should I eat and how do I eat it? And it's like, well, I, you know, I could put a few recipes together, and then it started becoming, it started, you know, getting more and more. But then I really started um focusing on lifestyle as well. And uh then just getting back to the basics with the four pillars. And the four pillars are um, I I call it like hens, like chickens, hens. Um so hydration, um exercise, nutrition, and sleep. When what I explain to clients is that I can't really like sure, you may want this goal, like you said all the time. Clients come to us with they think this is what they want, but really the issue is this. Yeah. And what I'll use is for an example is that say they want to we'll go back to losing weight, um, but they're not when I go through, like when I'm checking on them for all the basic pillars, and this is how this all came about, is that I was I would I would inquire, like as a health coach, you would want to know like, are you hydrating enough? And are you hydrating properly? Okay, because there's some steps to that. Are you exercising? What are you doing for movement? What are you eating? And you know, obviously, you know, we're gonna help them in that. And how are they sleeping? And 98% of my clients just that they're just not hitting all four of those. Uh, and until we get that basic down, and it's funny, you you really work on those four core things and a lot of the health issues start resolving.

Speaker 4 14:39

Oh, yeah.

Sleep, Cortisol, And Stress Cycles

Speaker 3 14:41

So, but one of the things I was gonna say was just like with sleep, for example, if you're not sleeping well, I would a majority of my clients have sleep issues, and I think it's a chronic illness in um uh sleep deprivation is chronic illness across the United States. Uh people just uh they're either able to fall asleep, but they can't stay asleep, or they can't fall asleep. And there's a lot of reasons that's going on in our brains because of that, and understanding that from a cognitive level, it's very important. But circling back to their weight loss, if you're not sleeping, your whole body's off, right? You're during your sleep stage stages, because we have several sleep stages, during sleep stages, um, you're producing hormones like cortisol, and cortisol is our stress hormone. And when we wake up in the morning after a good night's sleep, our cortisol levels are high where they're supposed to be. And then they gently decline at night, allowing you to go to sleep. But when you start off the day um and you didn't sleep well, your cortisol is not um, you know, at its peak performance. It's and what happens is that when this happens on a regular basis, um, you know, one of the things, one of the unfortunate things is that cortisol it sees you stressed all the time because our central nervous system has two modes, right? Fight or flight, or rest and digest. And um, with that, when it's constantly in stress mode because of lack of sleep, for example, then our cortisol's off and we get the abdomen, the belly, um, you know, the bloating, and it's so it creates havoc within the system, with our nervous systems.

Gillian 16:33

Yeah, I'm so glad you're touching on this, Wendy, because I feel like it is it is an epidemic. It's um this nervous system dysregulation that has become the norm for so many people because of the culture that we live in, where we're always in fight or flight, we're always in stress mode, and we talk about this a lot on this podcast. We don't have these spaces to be still anymore, to relax and recover and to allow ourselves to heal because we fill those spaces with uh, you know, uh scrolling and TV shows and busyness and you know, the news and all the headlines. We're not allowing ourselves to have these spaces to relax. So our body feels like we're always in this fight or flight mode where mode where it can't relax. And therefore the cortisol is just pumping through our system constantly. And then when we want to go to sleep, our body doesn't know how to shut down. So we're not able to sleep, relax, and recover for the next day. So it's just this vicious cycle. And I love that you're talking about these basics because I agree with you. I almost feel like the the oversaturation of information has made people believe that the solution is complicated. But it really isn't. I mean, we were created by a God who is ordered and is quite simple. And we've forgotten that the the answer to a lot of our problems is so simple. We almost we almost want to choose to believe that it's complicated because it makes us feel better about the disorder that we're feeling in our lives.

Food Labels, Ultra‑Processed Traps

Speaker 3 18:09

And God did not intend us to be living these um chaotic, you know, be living in chaos. Um, you know, and our bodies are amazing and how they adapt to it. However, if you continue to push, like you said, and you're constantly in that, um, you know, your um your central nervous system is in that constant uh state of fight, it's uh it really does take a toll on your health. And that's just one little instance, right? That's going on in your body. I'd love to see, I'd love to have a diagram. I I have one, but it's um, but I'd really love to see what's going on inside our body. I'd love to be just um to see all the chaos and just when people understand that when they take a bite of something maybe unhealthy, like sweet, how it bing, bing, bing, it it like pings everything in your body, all your systems. And a lot of the food, um, you know, and I'm sure you agree with this, our food source in the United States is just, you know, um, I just finished up a uh blog post on how did we get there, right? How did we get where we are right now? Or how do we get here actually? Because um, you know, it's convenience, it's packaging, and even like the packaging, they're allowed to get away with. Um, and I mean the big food companies are allowed to get away with certain things like natural flavors or um, you know, and they have all these, they they brand the the foods well. And then but what I tell everyone is don't look at the front of the package of the food, yeah, but look at the back. The ingredients are all that matter. And if there's a lot on them, if there's a lot that you can't pronounce, it's probably something to stay away from. I like to steer people the whole um the whole start of my recipes and that were all based around God food.

God Food And Simplicity

Gillian 20:08

You mentioned this in your presentation, and I'd love for you to touch on this, Wendy, because it's so simple. It's so simple and so easy to wrap our head around, but for some reason it's really difficult to make the change. But you talked about God food. Like, can you expand on that a little bit?

Speaker 3 20:24

Sure. So it just means what God provided us for. So, you know, is there, you know, did it grow from a seed? Did it grow in the ground? You know, I'm not talking about the genetically modified stuff and ultra-processed foods right now and what they're doing to our food system, but is it does it come from the ground? Does it come from an animal? Um, these are things that God blessed us with. And our bodies are made to eat these foods. And that is very important for people to understand. When we start giving our bodies food, like the convenience food, ultra-processed foods, foods with, you know, um colorings and additives, and the myriad of things that they're adding to foods, uh, to make them taste better, to make them, you know, last longer for convenience sake. When we start doing our body doesn't recognize this as food because they're not food. Bottom line is they're not food, um, not real food. So what I really like to do with clients is to get them back to just basic again, it comes back to basics. And like you had, um you had you had said that it really is it it people think that they have to do all this and this.

Speaker 4 21:40

Yeah.

Speaker 3 21:40

And when I give my presentations on the four pillars, I always tell everyone in the room, it's hey, the this is not rocket science. You know you should be drinking more water, you should you know that you should be moving more, you should know you should be eating healthier, and you know you should be sleeping seven to nine hours a day. Day. It's you know, but are you?

unknown 22:04

Right.

Speaker 3 22:04

And why aren't you? So that's that's what I feel like I help people get to in reminding them and how important it is.

Gillian 22:13

And and we do need support in, you know, getting back to these basics because it's um it it's no longer the norm. So sometimes we need that that extra support in, like you said, letting go of the things that no longer serve us. And that can be disorienting because we we often feel like more is better. You know, more options at the grocery store is better, more ingredients is better. But really, every additive that's in our food is something that our body needs to process. And that's what stresses our body out is instead of just having, you know, the one whole ingredient, there's all of these additives that our body now has to process, and that causes stress within our system. Our body has to figure out now what to do with all of these extra ingredients that aren't natural. So it does cause this internal state of stress. And that's just talking about food. We can go on about the water we drink, the air we breathe, and all of these things. But we do have a I mean, I like to tell people that they have a choice. Obviously, there's people who have access who to better food, organic food, local food, and there's people who simply don't have access to that kind of food because it's too expensive, it's not accessible. So I am aware that there is a range of um, you know, accessibility that people have. But even within that range, you can make healthier choices. Right. You know, frozen vegetables are less expensive than fresh vegetables.

Speaker 4 23:37

But often healthier.

Gillian 23:38

Yeah, often they're very gosh. I will never forget. My midwife shared this with me. She said the frozen vegetables are often more fresh because they're frozen when they were in a in a fresher state, whereas the fresh produce in your grocery store has traveled so far that they're less fresh than the frozen vegetables. So I'll never forget that.

Access, Budget, And Smart Swaps

Speaker 3 24:00

But yeah, nutrients and vegetables, like you know, well, fruits and vegetables freshly picked um deteriorate rapidly. So by the time, and you figure, you know, obviously in Western New York, we can't grow year-round, like, you know, uh at least outdoors. So we're getting our food supply from other places that have to travel and usually tractor trailers or however they come, you know, to our grocery stores, they're usually at least a week old. And that's um, so the nutrients have really depleted. So you're absolutely right. Um, the fresh is usually um, you know, within a day or two. It's uh, you know, it's it's cleaned and cut and uh frozen. So yeah, frozen vegetables are not a bad thing at all.

Gillian 24:50

No, no, and that's why you you you notice this waxy covering that's on our apples throughout the winter, right? Yeah, well, even when you wash it, you can't get that wax off. And you know that this has been covered with some kind of preservative because it's traveled from so far away. So nothing's perfect. And the more local we can eat, the better. And that's why I try to encourage people to eat local in your grocery stores. If they're selling local food from local farmers, purchase that food. You know, better yet, go to the farmer's market when the farmer's market is open the months that it's open. And even better than that, grow your own food. Even if you're starting with a couple of um, you know, options in these containers on your patio where you're growing your own tomatoes. Start somewhere because there's something about that process of growing your own food that helps you to understand the process that or the journey that this food goes through from planting that seed, you know, cultivating healthy soil, and then nurturing that plant to the point that it's actually producing fruit. We take that for granted when we're when we're detached and disconnected from our food, like just picking it up at a grocery store. So if nothing else, it it brings back that appreciation for food and you know, the process of that it had to go through before it went on that grocery store shelf.

Speaker 3 26:10

Right. Oh, you're absolutely right. And there's like a lot of pride, like, oh, I grew this. Even if it's even if it's a um, like you said, um a container on your patio with um cherry tomatoes. It's like there's something about picking it right off the right off the vine. And I'm very blessed. Actually, my brother who lives not far from me in western New York um has a huge garden and he puts a lot, him and his wife, they put a lot of work and effort into it. So I'm very blessed that I'm they're they're they they share with me.

Local Food, Gardening, And Community

Gillian 26:41

So wonderful. And there's this whole sense of community around this world too. Like when you go to the farmer's market, you're getting to know the farmer, you're making friends with them, you're hearing about their stories about you know how this produce grew this year and how, you know, maybe it was a bad year, maybe it was challenging for them, maybe they had to face these these complex um, you know, situations where they had to, you know, get rid of a certain grub in their food. Or it creates this community around food and growing that food. And it just uh it creates these layers of um something else that we're seeking. It's not just the food that we're seeking, we're also seeking the community that comes along with it. So the more local you are, the better. And if it's in your backyard and you're actually starting with cultivating that soil from your own compost, and you're seeing like the the microorganisms that are in that soil that are allowing that soil to be aerated and nourished, that allow that food to grow. I mean, it just connects you back to your soul, right? Back to the earth, back to all of these things that really do um remind us of our humanness, which is so important, especially today.

Speaker 3 27:50

Yeah, and one of the examples that I tell people all the time is like, look at the difference between eggs, right? Now, again, let's go back to labeling. Very confusing, right? Because you have cage free and you know, organic options. But what I tell clients to do is always opt for pasture raised because that's because companies can get away with a lot by cage-free. People under don't understand that. That just means they're not in a tiny cage, they could still be being raised in concrete with thousands of other chickens like jammed in with them. Yeah, but one of the biggest things I tell people to look for is to buy like um regular eggs and a carton of pasteurized eggs. And yes, I agree with you. I'm very fortunate um that I'm able to get fresh farm eggs. That's a great option. And a lot of people are raising chickens these days. So um, but what you want to look for is the color of the yolks. The color of the yolks is a direct correlation from the nutrient the chicken ate. So when you crack open a pasteurized egg, it's beautiful, deep gold color, like almost like an orange. And then if you buy like a regular egg without being, you know, that it's probably raised in very commercial conditions, you know, jam-packed in. Um they're not getting a lot of nutrition, they're probably getting GML corn or green. Um they're not, they're not able, the chickens aren't able to eat the the worms and the bugs and everything that, you know, um and the grass and everything that they they normally do. So what happens is that the color of the yolks pale yellow. And it's just it's a startling contrast. So when people are able to see that, and I'll say, see, this is just a tiny example of what a chicken, how how like how fruitful it was with um, you know, being raised in that condition. So can you imagine like what we're doing to our bodies? So yeah.

Eggs, Yolks, And Nutrient Signals

Gillian 30:00

Before we continue, I want to offer you a quiet pause. If you've been feeling overwhelmed, mentally cluttered, or like your mind never truly rests, I'd like to invite you into a quiet reset. Fog to Freedom is a simple grounding exercise designed to help you slow down, release the mental load, and reset. There's no fixing and no pressure, just a quiet pause. So clarity can return and your nervous system can settle. Many people describe feeling lighter, calmer, and more clear after just a few minutes. And it's something you can return to anytime the noise starts to build. If your soul is asking for space, you're warmly invited to begin with Fog to Freedom. You'll find it linked in the show notes or at SoleoCoaching.com. Come exactly as you are and offer yourself the gift of space and clarity. Thank you for taking that pause. Now let's return to the conversation. Yeah, it's it's paying attention to those little things, paying attention to the food we're eating and how it makes us feel. Like I feel like a great example of this is we could buy strawberries in the grocery store year-round. And they're often a little bit green or white on the edges because they weren't fully ripe when they were cooked, when they were picked, and um they were probably grown in a greenhouse or something like that, somewhere far away. But then I go strawberry picking with my kids. So those strawberries will last in the fridge for a week, sometimes more. And uh sometimes I'm like, oh my gosh, like this these things are still ripening in my fridge, or if they're on the counter, they're ripening, but they will last for about a week. But if I go strawberry picking with my kids in the middle of summer at a local farm, those strawberries are turning within a day. I have to get them, you know, cut and frozen, or use them for a jam or process them in some way, or else they're rotting on my counter within 24 hours. So it just shows the difference between the two types of produce and what is real, what still has like the microbiome on it, what still has like that that earthiness to them that that is breaking them down at an earlier stage. That's the type of food that we want. Right. That's the type of food that's going to nourish our system and our gut bio microbiome and such. So pay attention to that. If it's rotting quickly, that's a good thing. That means it's real.

Quiet Reset: Fog To Freedom

Speaker 3 32:25

Exactly. You're exactly right. I um yeah, that's a great. And people will say, well, um, we'll just use bread, for example. And uh they'll say, Well, I don't buy this kind of bread because it goes stale so fast. I'm like, well, that's good because it doesn't have preservatives in it, and that's what it needs. And yeah, you're absolutely right. Uh and that's and to help people understand the reason that those store-bought um strawberries are not, is because they have some type of, you know, they're either genetically modified, and that's what uh they GMOs have their place for certain things, they can be helpful, but um, you know for the most part, they're manipulating the food and they're processing the food to where it's in an unnatural state, and getting back to sure, well, that's great that you bought strawberries and they're still in your fridge and they're still edible a week later. That's great. Economically, I understand. Um, and can for convenience, I get it. However, you're still putting something in your body that your body doesn't recognize, and that's what creates havoc in your body. When your body has to so even though you may be very calm on the outside and you don't have a lot of things going on, your body could be under a tremendous amount of stress just trying to process different foods that you're giving.

Inflammation: Acute Versus Chronic

Gillian 33:51

Yeah, yeah. In this state of inflammation. I love that you bring that up. And the way I've started to think about it is we have we have limited bandwidth and we have limited energy. And when we're feeling like every day is a slog, like we have low energy, we have, you know, this um this inability to really feel vibrant in our lives. I believe it's because our energy is being poured into things that it doesn't necessarily need to be poured into. And when you think about it that way, with everything that you put into your body, your body has to use energy to process that. So if you're putting whole nutritious, god-grown food into your body, your body has to think less about how to process it. There's less energy used to process that food. So then there's more energy available to be vibrant in your actual life. So if you think about it that way, it's really um this motivating factor to feed your body as clean and wholesome as you possibly can so that energy is freed up to actually live your life.

Speaker 3 34:55

Yeah, you're absolutely right. And a word that keeps circling back to whatever I do, working with clients or um just even in conversations is inflammation. And we use it a lot. And sometimes I have to tie kind of step back and help people understand that. So um just acute inflammation is fine, right? You you have like a paper cut or you have a small um cut or something on your finger, for example, and it will turn red, it inflames, right? That's your body sending cells to that wounded area. That's how smart our bodies are. Sending, you know, it's sending help. So it becomes inflamed, which is a good thing. This is like because it's like overloaded with like our body's trying to repair that cut. And uh so for a short-term basis, and then it will, you know, it usually will scab over and it heals, right? And the inflammation subsides. That inflammation is fine. But when we talk about chronic inflammation caused from usually bad food, lack of sleep, not enough nutrition, not enough, not enough hydration, and not enough movement, that that's where it becomes an issue. And like long-term studies are showing that chronic inflammation, when your body is under this stress and it's inflamed, people, you know, and what happens because people aren't taking the time and stepping back and understanding why. And that's why we help them, right? We help them understand what's going on in their body. Because when they don't, what happens is instead of like having aches and pains from this inflammation, they don't understand, they're just like, oh, I must have slept wrong or I didn't sleep or whatever. You know, what happens? They're popping the like, you know, a pain reliever, for example. That's just creating more and more. It may be a short-term fix, but it certainly isn't a long-term solution. So inflammation is here in long-term studies. What I started saying is that they they are finding that not only um chronic inflammation is leading to neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's and dementia, but it's also a myriad of different, you know, unfortunately, cancers and things like that when our bodies under this type of chronic inflammation. So it's it's a huge word, and I'm glad that you brought it up because it's an issue.

Gut‑Brain Link And Healthcare Gaps

Gillian 37:28

It is an issue. And um I don't know if it's fully understood by a lot of our physicians. Any physician that I've spoken to, this is not something that they learned in medical school. And uh I think we're slowly coming around, but I think that's the place that health coaches have right now is we're bridging that gap until the healthcare system catches up and understands that this is a systemic issue. This this inflammation is systemic. And it starts with the food that we eat. How many times do you go to the doctor and before they prescribe you something, they ask you what you're eating, what your diet is, how you're nourishing your body. But because the the state of the food system is in the US, especially, and I'm from Canada, it's the same there, it's um it is so deprived of true nourishment that it's actually breaking down our gut microbiome, the gut lining within our digestive system. I'm sure you know about leaky gut. This is something that I learned about with my own digestive issues that after eating a certain diet for a certain amount of time, if you're not really nourishing your body and your digestive system, the gut lining can actually break down and create gaps so that the toxins and the things that your body would typically filter out through your digestive system, they're now leaking into your bloodstream and they're flowing through your body, which creates this chronic systemic stress and this inflammation that is, you know, this domino effect of all of these ailments that we're feeling. And we don't really know what to do with it. We have all of these symptoms, and then we go to a doctor and they treat the symptoms, but they're not understanding the underlying issue, which is, like you said, those four pillars of health. Are you eating well? Are you sleeping well? Are you moving your body? These basic things aren't discussed in a doctor's office because many doctors, and I'm not blaming them, this is the system that they were raised up in and educated in. Many doctors are trained to prescribe medication. They're not trained to help with lifestyle changes, and they actually don't have the time to do that, anyways, because it's a business. They're just, you know, having people go in and out. They have a certain amount of time and they have to write that script and move on to the next person. So there is a there is a major shift that needs to happen here. And it starts with us because every dollar is a vote, right? The medical care system is a business. Yeah.

Speaker 3 39:59

And uh you're absolutely right. It is, and and that's what happens is that um they are treating the symptoms. Uh, I heard and I didn't really follow up on it, but I did hear that the administration is requiring a minimum of nutritional classes for doctors. And it's it's a shame that, and I know that there's so much to learn as an MD. I I get it. However, they're not being trained in nutrition. And that should be the first when someone's when someone comes to me with a health issue, the first thing I was like, what's your what's your diet look like? You know, getting back to the basics. And um, yeah, we we are definitely an over-prescribed society. Um, one of my goals working with clients is to get them off of prescription medication. Some of them are, you know, some of them are necessary, but a lot of them aren't, you know, statin drugs, um, you know, type two diabetes definitely can be, you know, in most cases can be cured just with what you put into your body.

Coaching, Insurance, And Systems Change

Gillian 41:06

Absolutely. Absolutely. And so much of this research is coming back to our gut health and that gut-to-brain connection, you know, even these mental issues that we're we're seeing in our world today, especially with our youth, with depression and anxiety and ADHD, it's all related to our gut because our gut and our brain talk to each other. They're constantly communicating to each other. And if our gut isn't healthy, our brain isn't going to be healthy. So, this is what the research is showing us. It just, it just hasn't become mainstream yet. So I believe we will get there. And I believe that health coaches are going to help bridge that gap. And once health coaching is covered by insurance and doctors see that health coaches will help them to heal their patients, then they'll bring more health coaches into their clinics and allow the health coach to do that lifestyle work with their with their patients. Obviously, doctors have their place, they they certainly do. And so, so do these medications, right? We are so blessed to have access to this, but it can't be the front line.

Speaker 3 42:10

I think that it has to be a last option, right? Right. And and you're so important, that's so important, um, especially with the insurances, but there are some trial periods that they are using health coaches. Um, as a board certified health coach, I have a billing number. We actually have our own as a health coach billing um uh line now. So uh it is becoming um, I think more and more um, you know, whether through the government or whatever, but people are becoming more aware that um this is an issue that can be, you know, and I'm not saying easily solved, but it so many things can be rectified just by, you know, going back to the basics. It really can be. So um getting people off of some of the prescription medication again, our bodies were not designed to handle this. You see all the crazy side effects from it, and maybe you might not feel it right away, but it might have long-term, you know, um impact on your health.

Choice, Free Will, And Obedience To Care

Gillian 43:16

And we don't right, right. I'd love to circle back to um naming the real problem here and why people feel so stuck, and also give people back their agency uh over the choices that they make and remind them that they have a choice. Because I believe this is this is 100% faith-based. Like it goes back to the story of Genesis, the creation story, where God gave humans the ability to choose, even the ability to choose him. Very well. He doesn't force himself on us, right? He doesn't force his order on us, he invites us into it. God, however, you understand God, God, source, universe, invites us into that order that was created to allow us to thrive and be vibrant. It's never imposed on us. I think what's happened is we've entrusted external, you know, government and um healthcare systems. And I mean, rightly so. We're supposed to be able to trust. We're supposed to be able to trust the humans who are in charge of our health and wellness. But I think what we're understanding is this has become a business. It's become a money-making machine. And these entities are making money off of us being sick. So, how can we take back our power? How can we take back that agency over ourselves, over our own health and wellness for our families? That's kind of where I want to go with this, like giving people their power back. So many of the listeners, sorry, go ahead, no, no, no, but it is.

Speaker 3 44:48

It's uh, you know, I mean, we were blessed with free will, and we have the choice. So that's a really important word. And people, you know, they just need to step back and take a look at what are you putting into your body? And I'm not saying you have to stay away from ultra-processed food altogether. Once in a while, your body can tolerate it, and the healthier you eat, your body's gonna start revolting when you start putting that back into it. And you're gonna just say, it's not worth it, right? Yeah, um, but your body gets accustomed to trying to, but it's in a constant state of stress, as we had talked about, trying to digest this food. So I think um by giving people the choice um uh in letting them know, but it's just breaking them down because so many people goes back to information overlook, they just don't know who to trust. Yes, and I think it's important um from a faith um-based standpoint. Um, what I do with a lot of my um presentations is I encourage it's like we have an obedience, we were blessed with these bodies. And yes, no matter what your belief is, you were blessed with this amazing human body, yeah, and uh which is very resilient to a lot of things. And that's um that's where some of the problem comes in because it's trying to keep up with everything that we're doing, the fast pace, the chaos that we live in. Um we wear busy in our society like a badge of honor. There's, you know, oh, I'm busy. No, I can't do it. I'm busy, I'm busy. It's slowing down, taking a step back, taking a deep breath. I know that sounds easy. However, you know, some people just say, you know, they just don't have the time. But we have to make it a priority and helping people understand that how much can be fixed and the feeling that they will get, the feeling when you have all those, like uh the four basics that I kind of rely on, when you have those all clicking, yeah, it's uh you you you experience the joy. So when I what I help people understand is we have an obedience, we do so much as a society, we do so much for others, especially um, I find on the female side, we have that maternal instinct, right? We're you know, we're doing for our kids, we're doing for family, and we're always putting ourselves, you know, second or last or you know, down the line. And it's just gets back to that analogy with the airplane, you know, when the things drop down, you have to put on yours first, or you're not gonna be able to help anyone. Same way with your health. And I think that's so important by making yourself a priority, because I just don't think people do. And uh we have an obedience. And if you, you know, if you believe in God, it's like you have an obedience to the Lord to take care of your body. That's what He wants. And He blessed us with these incredible, um, they're like machines, right? Because they really they're I can't believe anyone can say this was cre this was evolved. Yes. This is our our bodies are just too like they're too intricate.

Non‑Negotiables And Time Budgeting

Why Change Is Hard: Thought Training

Gillian 48:01

So yeah, yeah. Well, it's it's um the combination of God and and science, right? We've we've evolved through through God's design. And um therefore we can we can lean on our faith to help us through this, to help us understand our order and what looks like order in our lives. I love when I talk to my clients about this, I talk about the the non-negotiables and I help them with this time budget. Don't plan your health and wellness around your professional career and all of your to-dos. That needs to be planned around the non-negotiables of your health and wellness. Because if you aren't healthy and well, how are you going to be good for yourself? How are you gonna be good for your spouse, your family, for your you know, place of employment? You're gonna be, you're gonna be dragging. So I really do believe that you know, even these corporations should be teaching their employees how to prioritize these non-negotiables of health and wellness first and then fit the job and around it because people are gonna be far more efficient, far more motivated when they feel like they are thriving and when they feel like their boss cares about the fact that they're thriving. So I feel like everything's a little bit flip-flopped right now, and I feel like it's a pretty simple change that we need to make. But I want to switch to our listeners here who feel like they don't know what to do, and um they can't seem to follow through. They're hearing this message, they've heard it before, it's resonating with them. But from a cognitive and neurological perspective, and this is where you shine, Wendy, why is change so hard, even for motivated, faith-filled people? How do they take back that power?

Speaker 3 49:45

One of the biggest things taking back your power is um immediately the negative thoughts. We are constantly telling ourselves, oh, I tried this before, I just can't do it. We accept where we are and we make excuses around it. Your brain only believes what you tell it. I know it's we have and everyone has different IQs and different, you know. However, our brain only believes what we tell it. So if you have negative thoughts going through your brain, shut them down. Period. Your brain, even like when I work with people um on their sleep, right? It's like what happens? People wake up in the middle of the night and it's like the first thing they do after talking to hundreds of clients, so the first thing they tell them, so I'm not gonna go back to sleep. Well, you just told your brain that.

Speaker 50:50

Yeah.

Speaker 3 50:50

And it's just it's going through exercises, and I give people a lot of tools on how to correct that. So one of the things that I tell people is that immediately, say, we'll use that for example. You wake up in the middle of the night. It's like, I woke up, I must be going through a sleep cycle. I ended my deep sleep cycle and I'm in a light stage. So that allowed me to wake up. And you know, sometimes people, you know, they have to go to the bathroom or whatever. So get comfortable again and tell your brain, okay, I'm ready for my next sleep cycle. And it's it sounds easy. I know everything that we're talking about, all the basics and everything sounds easy, but it really is that simple. Your brain is going to believe what you tell it. So if you're constantly in negative thought mode, that's one of the first things we have to do of taking back our power, is just convincing yourself that you deserve this, you you know that you can do this. And I I know it sounds like, but our brain really does believe what we tell it. So get rid of the negative thoughts and just um, I know it's it's like, oh, it's so easy to be positive. And I'm not talking about like rah, rah, rah, you don't have to be like a cheerleader, but just get those thoughts straight. You know you deserve this, you know that, you know, um, forget about even like willpower everything. Just continuously tell yourself, and I use a lot of tools, as I'm sure that you do with your clients, um, to get them to to this point, right? It's easy for us to say, you know, it'd be easier for someone to listen. Oh, okay, I'm just gonna say, you know, it again will go back to our neural pathways. We've become that's a habit. Talking negatively to ourselves is a habit. And it's it goes back to like certain things, even like social media. Look at the pressure it puts on people. People, uh, some people are afraid to post because people aren't going to like it or accept it. And that's it doesn't matter. So it's it's just getting right in your own head and making sure that so I think that's the most important part of taking your power back, is shutting down the negative.

Gillian 53:03

Yeah, absolutely. And expecting that resistance is gonna come. Like the way I describe it is um creating a new trail. I grew up on the trails on the Bruce Trail in Ontario, if anyone knows what that is, but those trails have been walked for decades. They are clear trails throughout the woods. And you're naturally just gonna want to stay on those trails. But the way I describe it is there could be a beautiful waterfall that's off the trail somewhere. And that's where God's trying to lead you to this beautiful place that, you know, is like a paradise, is a place where you could rest. But you have to do some bushwhacking to get there. It's not gonna be easy. You have to choose to go off that well-trodden path of your habits and your patterns, and you have to start to create a new pathway. So expect resistance, expect that it's gonna be difficult, expect that everything in your body is not, or your body, mind, and soul is not gonna want to go down that pathway because our body tries to keep us safe by keeping us comfortable, right? So you're gonna wanna stay in those comfortable habits and patterns that you're used to. And it's going to be uncomfortable to create that new trail, that pathway. It's gonna be there's gonna be thorns, there's gonna be bushes, there's gonna be long grass, there's gonna be insects, there's gonna be spider webs, but it's gonna be worth it.

Neuroplasticity And Rewiring Paths

Speaker 3 54:19

And that's that's exactly um one of our brain's main job is to keep us safe and comfort and comforted. Uh and so the habits that we've built, whether it be smoke, let's let's even use smoking. Well, a lot of people when they smoke, they do it because they're relaxing, they're stressed, um, you know, maybe maybe they're just trying to fill a void, kill some time, whatever. Is so your body recognized, oh, well, she smokes when she's stressed, she smokes when she's um happy, she smokes when she's relaxing. This is comfort to her, and our brain only recognizes that because that's what we've taught it. So that habit is just like you're talking about the paths and the trails that we have been talking about, they're they're deeply ingrained in our brains. So as soon as you get stressed, like say you're trying to quit smoking, so you're gonna be in a little bit of stress, your brain's like have the that's why it's constantly telling it wants to get you back to what you feel, what you have trained it to be, is is like a comfort.

Speaker 4 55:35

Right.

Speaker 3 55:35

And that's where we get into that loop. So yeah, the good thing is is that so all of this, I'm gonna use the word neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is a fancy word for just meaning that our brain is capable of change. And when when it believe it or not, it was only about 30 years ago that they discovered this. They actually felt that when um we grew our adult brain that we were kind of stuck with it. And that's why, like, you know, you say here a tiger never changes the stripes, or um, but it's it's absolutely not true.

Gillian 56:13

Yeah.

Speaker 3 56:13

So that's where I like, you know, help help people like um how to change these deeply ingrained habits. Right. And our brain can. And it can just like you're talking about, you know, go through the thorns and go through um uh yeah, I'm thinking of the parable of the different soils. Um, but you know, go through those um those stumbling blocks, you know, clear a new path. And that's what you're doing, and your brain's capable of it. And the more you do it, the more repetition is going to find a new healthier habit. And that old trail, that old path or neural pathway, it's going to start to just like nature would if you don't use it, it's gonna start growing grass again, it's gonna start filling up again. And soon your brain is going to gravitate toward the healthier habit.

Gillian 57:02

Right, right. And when you experience that resistance, it means you're on track. So it's almost flipping a switch and and looking for that resistance and getting excited about it and seeing yourself as a warrior. Like, this isn't the resistance. I gotta push through this. I was expecting this, I knew this was gonna happen. This means I'm on the right path, right? And I just need to keep pushing it through.

Speaker 3 57:22

It's it's gonna be uncomfortable. Your brain is going to fight it. So not only do you have to like really dig deep, you're fighting your brain too. But your brain will catch on. And I'll say, and after three, four, five times, the more repetition you can get, the more your brain is going to go, oh, I guess we're doing this now. So it will catch on.

Soul, Stillness, And The Brain

Gillian 57:45

Okay. Right. Something that came to mind as you're talking, and we can wrap up on this topic. So I'd like to put the neat bow of faith on this whole conversation because it makes so much sense to me that our brain is the instinctual side of things. That is like our animal brain that's trying to keep us safe, trying to keep us comfortable, trying to keep us in this survival state. That is what our brain wants to do. And it was created to do that. But we also have the soul that is intuitive and has this inner knowing that is connected to our creator that keeps us on track. This is what's unique about humans. This is what's unique about humanity. And if we completely cut ourselves off from that, then then we come, we become more like the animal than the human. I think what we need to do more than ever, especially in this world of noise, of this oversaturation of information, is to come back to that soul factor, that intuitive side of things, that inner knowing that differentiates us from the animal world, that reminds us that we are human, that we are special. We can actually change the way that we think. We can actually follow that intuition and create a new pathway, create a new way based on prior experience, based on wisdom that's been passed along from the generations before us. This is what makes us unique. This is what makes us special. And this is what I think we're needing more than ever in our world today is this deep knowing, this deep listening. And that's where the idea of stillness is so important, so necessary right now, because when we create space to allow ourselves to reflect and to be aware, that's when we can really tune into this ability that we have to, you know, switch gears, to make changes where necessary, so that we can align ourselves with our true purpose.

Don’t Believe Every Thought

Speaker 3 59:44

I love that. And um, our brain is like you had said, it's uh in survival mode. That and that is just to be look a little nerdy because I am, I nerd out on things. Um, so that's our prefrontal cortex, which is our brains, that's our logic part of our brain, right? Um, that's where it's it's not where our emotions are running at. But we have a tiny part of our brain, which is probably connected to our soul. I love that tie in there, um, that is called the amygdala. And the amygdala is it's part of the limbic system of our brain, and it that's where our emotions come from. And that's where when we're having bad days, stressful days, it's very difficult to get our prefrontal cortex, the reasoning part of our brain, to kick in. And that's why, you know, sometimes it's soul crushing because our amygdala, the emotional side, takes over. Because that's where it's like, no, you don't need to eat healthy, or you don't need, you know, have have the burger, have the cookie, right? And that's what happens when our body becomes under stress. And that's why, like, you know, I know I'll say it again, getting back to the basics is so important. And if it was easy, yeah, I just say people, you know, drink more water, sleep more. We we wouldn't, you know, we wouldn't be here today discussing this if it was. So um, but it is, but I love the tie to the soul. It's like, you know, you're absolutely right. And that's what makes us unique and special.

Gillian 1:01:18

It is, yes. And I think I think it's time to embrace that. It it's uh it's time to return to that space. So, Wendy, if you could leave listeners with one truth about change, healing, or the brain that you wish everyone understood, what would it be?

Speaker 3 1:01:34

Don't believe everything you think. Because it really does. It gets back to the negative thoughts, it gets back to the base because you your brain's gonna believe everything that you tell it. So just because you have a thought doesn't make it true. And that's just with everything. Everything about yourself, about the people around you. It's um, I think that's really important.

Wendy’s Work And How To Connect

Gillian 1:02:00

I couldn't agree more, Wendy. And I'm I'm just recently building my true relationship with God and coming to prayer with all of these things that cause confusion in my life. You know, I I was raised in um a religious uh household, which which had so much beauty to it, but I was missing that relationship. And for the first time in my life, I am really surrendering to that relationship to offer clarity to my life. And I love that you say that. Don't believe your thoughts. If something feels confusing, if it feels disordered, bring it to God, bring it to your creator and ask for clarity. Because what I'm experiencing in my life is that that clarity exists, it, but it's not going to be imposed on us. We need to invite it into our life. Yeah. So we can invite it into all these areas of our life. What we eat, how we exercise, how we sleep, how we rest, how we exist in the world, bring all of that to prayer. And that's what we do in stillness is we humble ourselves to accept that we don't know the way, that we are confused. And through that process of humbling ourselves in prayer, we receive that clarity.

Speaker 3 1:03:06

Oh, I love that. Yeah. And I think uh working with different clients, um, people who are faith-based, I think have like a little bit of an advantage because getting them to believe um is so important. Believing in the process, believing that they can change, believing that they can be better, that they can be healthier on their own, like just by their own devices, what they're doing to like putting into their bodies and caring for their bodies. And by having that belief is so easy. But when you don't have like a system that you believe in, and whether whatever it is, whether you believe in God or as I do, as you do, um, or the universe, whatever, it's like having that strong belief is really important, getting people like not just finding out their why, but making sure that they can truly believe and trust the process.

Gillian 1:04:03

So because they start believing that they are worthy. Yeah. Just because they are for no other reason. And that's a great foundation to start with. Well, Wendy, thank you so much. This was such a a beautiful conversation. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. It it was just such a pleasure to really just talk about all of these topics with you and and to have that cognitive side of um, you know, you know a lot more about the brain and how it works than I do. And and this was just a wonderful conversation. I feel like people are going to walk away understanding themselves a little bit better and you know, having the information they need to start making some true change in their life. So, Wendy, I'd love to give you the opportunity to share a little bit more about what you do and how people can connect with you in the future if they're interested in just staying in touch with you or working with you. Oh, thank you.

Closing Reflections And CTA

Speaker 3 1:04:53

Okay, so um uh health coach Wendy. You can find Health Coach Wendy um on almost social media platforms. I'm a YouTube, TikTok, um, Facebook, Instagram under Health Coach Wendy. I also have my website is healthcoachwendy.com. And I do um, you know, I work with clients one-on-one. I'm also blessed to be an adjunct professor for SUNY Erie, um, teaching health nutrition to aspiring chefs, which I'm really that's a very another um part that's very important to get better food while eating out. That's really important. Um, I do um corporate speaking. You touched on it a little bit earlier about um uh having wellness in the workplace. I do corporate speaking um for small businesses from you know very few employees to hundreds of employees speaking to their employees about different health aspects and some really fun presentations. I also do um one of my past. is golf. I love to golf. I do the mental game of golf. So it's not, it's not your, it's not your swing. It's your head. And everyone knows every professional golfer has at least a sports psychologist as well as a cognitive coach. So um so it it's a fun way of I usually use a lot of fun different techniques like visualization and that for that um aspect. But um I just enjoy what I do and please feel free I have a blog on my um website Health Coach Wendy. I also have a program uh that is um based on the four pillars that incorporates one-on-one coaching too. So anyone that's interested in it, um you'll get one-on-one coaching um after before and after every pillar so that's something I'm very proud of and that's just getting back to basics. So thank you. Thank you so much Jillian this was great.

Gillian 1:06:53

Yes it was and thank you so much for sharing your gifts and talents with the world we definitely need more health coaches out there who are helping to you know clarify a lot of the noise out there.

Speaker 3 1:07:02

Awesome.

Gillian 1:07:03

Thank you. Thank you Wendy have a great day you too thank you so much Wendy for sharing your wisdom as we close today I want to leave you with this reminder that nothing is wrong with you. Change doesn't begin with more effort. So take a breath and relax. It begins with understanding compassion and alignment. When we learn how the brain works when we return to simple rhythms that support the nervous system and when we allow faith to shape not just what we believe but how we live real sustainable change becomes possible. If this conversation brought you clarity relief or even new questions honor that. Dig into it be still and allow the wisdom that comes from that stillness to start to transform your life the way you think the way you act thank you so much for being here for listening and for choosing a slower more intentional way of living. Until next time be still and live thank you for listening to Be Still and Live. As always my hope is that this conversation offered you a little more space space to breathe to listen and to come home to what matters most. If this episode resonated with you I invite you to subscribe to the show and consider sharing it with someone who could use a little more space or clarity right now. That simple act helps this work reach the people who need it most. If you're ready for a gentle next step you can begin with Fog to Freedom in the show notes or at saleocoaching.com.

Speaker 1:08:41

Until next time, be still and live this podcast is produced, mixed and edited by Cardinal Studio. For more information about how to start your own podcast please visit www.cardinalstudio or email Mike at mike at cardinalstudio.co you can also find the details in the show notes