I’ve always said the root cause of my health spiral was not being myself, and I see this show up with most of the clients I coach, too.

Today, I’m interviewing Claire Fletcher, who worked with me to resolve her debilitating Hashimoto’s symptoms. She thought she needed help with food and supplements, but her transformation was primarily a result of improved self-talk and brave lifestyle choices.

What’s Covered in Episode 3

  • How being your true, unfiltered self is the absolute best medicine
  • Claire’s limited success with the autoimmune paleo protocol
  • What “stress” really means, and how it was keeping her sick
  • The career and lifestyle moves Claire made to set herself free
  • Setting boundaries and eliminating toxic relationships
  • Financial wellbeing and money mindset
  • The role of spirituality and trust in reducing anxiety
  • How Claire navigates the broken healthcare system
  • The shocking lab results she received after a year of healing
  • The best advice Claire has for people who are struggling

Relevant Links and Credits

Podcast Transcript – Episode 3: Heal by Being Yourself with Claire’s Food Freedom

Quick heads up, giving you a little ears alert. There is some adult language in this episode, so if you need to come back to it later, grab your headphones. Do that. If you don’t like adult language, this is not going to be the episode for you, but I’ve gotta say you’re missing out on some pretty juicy stuff. Okay? Enough of the warnings. Let’s go to the show.

This is Mindspeak. Everything you thought you knew about health is about to be turned on its head. I’m Holly Higgins, a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, and I’m here to show you how your mind can heal your body, your body can heal your mind, and no matter what you’ve been told, you are in the driver’s seat of your life. Let’s go.

Welcome to episode three. We have our first ever guest on the podcast, Claire Fletcher. Claire was a client of mine. We are talking all about the sides of healing that have very little to do with food and you’re going to hear all about Claire’s massive transformation, and how it had way more to do with her life than it had to do with her food. So I know you’re going to love this. Let’s jump right in.

Hello and welcome to episode three. I’m so excited because today we have our very first guest, Claire Fletcher. Claire was actually my client. We worked together for a little over a year and throughout her journey she just had so many incredible insights that I know you are going to get so much value out of. It’s going to be, I just know it’s going to be a good episode. I can feel it. So welcome to the show, Claire.

Hi, I’m so excited to be here. It’s crazy to sit across from you and have it be recorded, right? Not a coaching session. Yeah, just a little different, but very exciting. Um, a little about me. I am in Santa Barbara, California and I’m a realtor and I have been sharing my health and wellness, spiritual everything journey on Instagram @clairesfoodfreedom,for about a year, it’s almost my year anniversary.

That’s crazy. I remember when you started that account and it was like I’m doing it like I’m going to share my message, I’m going to put my stuff out into the world and I feel like that in and of itself was healing for you.

Oh yeah. It was 100%. It was, it was one of those things that I had started, you know, a health Instagram and deleted for, you know, three years prior, and to actually stick with it and do it and put myself face first in front of Instagram stories. It was like a huge healing point and journey for me for sure.

Yes. And if you aren’t following Claire at @clairesfoodfreedom, you will love her. I get, I get DMS from people all the time. Like I’m so glad that I’m following Claire now. I learned so much from her and she’s so fun and like she’s helped me so much. So definitely. Yes. You, you are on top of the Gram game, girl.

Oh yeah. I know millennials. We share everything, right?

Yes. Speaking of sharing everything, we’re going to go deep today. Yes. Um, how about you start us off with your backstory. So you and I, what was it, July of 2018 we started working together, I believe. Yeah. So tell, tell me, tell us, tell the audience about your backstory, what you had been struggling with before we started working together. Kind of like where you were at when you started coaching with me and everything you had been going through.

Yeah. So I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune disease, July, sorry, January of 2017 so about, you know, almost two years prior to working with you. Um, and I had struggled with all sorts of things. Acne, my weight was always fluctuating. I had pretty severe anxiety at that point. Food sensitivities. I had bouts of depression, um, hair loss. I’m trying to think. There’s a whole list of, of things. I think I had really dry skin, I would wake up like I felt like I got hit by a bus every single day. Um, just in and out of Hashimoto’s flares basically. Every day was kind of different, but those were the main symptoms. And so when I came knocking on Holly’s door, I had done the autoimmune paleo protocol on my own. I was like, I just needed somebody to like help me protocol harder really, you know?

Hold me accountable, right? Keep me in line!

I even said that to you. Like I really just, I need help with reintroductions and just like figuring out my food sensitivities. And that was like the main reason I was like, I really just need somebody to help me with that because I thought that that was really gonna clear all the symptoms up. I had done AIP for probably about six months before I had started working with you on my own for about four months. And I had absolutely no improvement in my symptoms. None. You know, it was really hard. Yeah, it didn’t do anything. It just kind of made me, I, I don’t even know what the right word is. Like I was stuck in my house and couldn’t go anywhere, because I couldn’t eat anything and I couldn’t, you know, and I was sick and miserable. So when I came to you, it was really like, okay, I have all these symptoms. All these things are quote unquote wrong with me, help me fix it. Just help me diet harder.

Yeah. So that’s kind of where you thought the work was headed and you know, we did walk you through AIP and you did do reintroductions and you did learn kind of the nitty gritties of some of your food sensitivities, but the, the journey I think you realized very quickly for you was gonna look a lot bigger and a lot different than that.

Yeah. I think that for so many people, including myself, food is the catalyst. That was the thing I needed to knock on your door or to like kind of deep dive into how I was going to start feeling better, but I learned really quickly, I think I started working in July and I think I quit my job in August.

I think you’re right. It was that quick, wasn’t it?

Yeah. It was only like a month or two later that I realized like, so similar to your story, I was like, Oh my God, I have to quit my job. Like I can’t keep living this life because I’m never going to heal with just the food. That there was so many other facets of my life that needed to be looked at that I was just ignoring.

And I remember like first of all, I remember thinking, when you quit your job, I’m like, Oh damn. She’s on top of it. Like this girl means business. I remember thinking that. But I remember like in those first couple sessions we had talking about your adrenal health and your stress levels and I was like, Claire, you know, I’m going to give you this really kickass adrenal supplement, but we gotta look at your life, girl.

Yeah, yeah. And I think that was what really got me thinking about it because I was like, okay, I knew I had adrenal fatigue. I had done testing with a naturopathic doctor and I had been on the supplements, you know, it had all happened already once it was like I was redoing it and then realizing, Oh, Holly can give me all the supplements she wants to give me, and those help and they’re needed at that time. But that wasn’t what was really the issue here. I was stressed out beyond belief. I hated my job. I felt underappreciated, not respected, underpaid. And it was, that was the step I had to take. And I had so much fear. My life depended so much on, well, how am I going to pay my student loans? How am I going to do this? And I had all questions circling in my head to tell me not to because it was scary.

That scarcity mentality of like, okay, if I leap well what’s going to happen next?

Yeah. Like Oh, it was like I had this idea that if I quit my stable corporate job, like the world was literally gonna crumble around me. I was going to lose my house. I was going to end up on the street. That was my story. I was telling myself, yes, living under a bridge, taking handouts. Yeah. Just like super dramatic and kind of be, you know, crying in a sleeping bag on the sidewalk. I don’t know, it was just a made up story that I was telling myself and it, it really ended up being the best decision and again, another catalyst to like break through knowing that all of these stories I had been telling myself were a lie.

Yeah. And isn’t that amazing when you realize it’s actually the stories that are making you sick?

Yeah.

Not the situations, but the stories that you’re telling yourself about the situation and why you can’t get out of the situation. But actually if you’re willing to break up with those stories, I mean you’re, you’re living proof. I mean, what are you, tell us what you’re doing now.

Yeah. So now I would say I have many jobs, many hats. I’m a realtor and I actually work with my mom, which is super fun. Um, and I’m a marketing manager for a nutritionist and I also run an Airbnb out of my house. So I say I have three jobs now. Um, so, it’s funny, it was, I truly thought I would never make more money, and this year, I’m going to make more money than I ever have.

That’s amazing. Doing stuff that isn’t burning you to a crisp. I mean, I know you work hard and I know like you’re, you’re in it and you’re doing a lot of things, but it’s better suited to your personality than sitting at a desk from nine to five.

Exactly. Like I work, people probably think I’m crazy from the outside, like I’ll work at weird hours on the weekends, but like to me it doesn’t feel like work. It’s fun, right? Yeah. I enjoy what I’m doing. And maybe I do work 40 hours a week or maybe I work less. I don’t know. I don’t keep track, but it’s kind of irrelevant because I like what I’m doing and I’m excited to like get up every day and do what I’m doing and work with my mom and you know, um, the Airbnb is super fun meeting new people. So, you know, it’s all just kind of relative. And when, when I stopped telling myself those stories of if you’re going to work for yourself, it’s going to be no money and awful. Well, it wasn’t.

It was quite the opposite. You’re going to make more than you were making in corporate, which just goes to show you if you trust, if you, if you take the leap, if you have the right things in place. The question I always like to ask people is not what is your worst case, but what if it ends up being even better than you ever gave yourself permission to even fantasize about?

Yes. And that’s what you said to me about the Airbnb.

Yes. Because you were like, I don’t know, maybe we should have a roommate. Like this is scary. And I was like, Claire, what if it’s even cooler than you’re letting yourself believe right now? And I think it’s pretty much turned out that way, right?

Yeah. Making way more money than we were with a renter and all because I got out of my own way, like standing in front of myself saying, no, this is scary, Claire. Like, what if? What if? What if you don’t? It doesn’t get booked. What if blah, blah, blah? Well, I live in a town that many people want to visit and we’re pretty much booked every single night. Yeah. And I just got out of my own way and just went for it. And yeah, the universe delivered. It really did.

That’s one of my favorite stories. So you quit your job, you have these other new endeavors. Now you’re more financially abundant than you were. And you said you wake up every day excited and ready, like living in that energy versus living in the energy of, Ugh, my alarm just went off. I gotta drag my butt to my corporate gig. Like that has so much of a different impact on your body and your health and how you feel like this is the stuff that really contributes to healing.

100% and I didn’t, I didn’t necessarily believe that in the beginning. I mean, I didn’t believe a lot of things were possible. And I realized how much of a scarcity mindset I was living in every aspect of my life. It wasn’t just money, it wasn’t just my job, but it was everything I was doing. I just didn’t think the world wanted me to succeed that, that I was living in this kind of like, Oh, well this is your destiny. Claire, you’re going to work at a corporate job and you’re going to just have student debt for days and you’re never going to, you know, because we’ve been told that a lot of us who are, you know, millennial age, it’s, Oh, it’s not like when our parents were younger or blah, blah, blah. All these stories are told and told and we start to believe it.

And it’s like I just woke up one day and decided, yeah, well too bad I’m going to change that. I’m going to write a different story.

Yeah. I don’t like your story. Your story sucks.

Your story sucks and is much more conducive to my healing if I wake up every day and I like my life. People don’t realize how much, I mean it’s like you can eat the best food and you know, exercise everyday. Do you like your life?

Ah, okay. That’s going on the quote card for Instagram. Do you like your life?

But is that true or what?

It’s 100% and that’s why you made the rapid progress that you did. I mean not only with the changes you made in your life, but you did some serious healing over the last year and a half. I mean your cystic acne went away. Your hair stops falling out, your fluctuations stabilized. I mean, you have a case study like written up on my website that people can go read. We’ll link it up in the show notes, but I mean radical physical healing. But I think it’s a testament that you had been doing this healing diet for six months before you started this lifestyle work and the healing diet wasn’t doing anything for you. Then suddenly you make these big ballsy shifts in your life and your health turns around.

Yeah. And that’s so crazy, but when you take those leaps, it really just like pushes you in every aspect of your life. You get so caught up. But if you just jump off the deep end a little bit and go for it, everything starts to align. And like when you’re getting in touch with your intuition and what you really want, the universe follows suit. You’re not, you’re not gonna just get left in the dust. Even though that’s the story we like to tell ourselves, Oh, you know, there’s, there’s so much of that. But if you just keep pushing it like opens. And I’ve seen that in my own life.

Yeah. I think what I always say is the more clear we can be with our decisions. So, you know, you made this very clear decision, OK, I’m, I’m not going to have a roommate. I’m going to, I’m going to open an Airbnb. Okay, I’m going to leave this job. When you make a clear decision like that, it sends a signal out to the universe that’s like, okay, show me the goods. Whereas if you make these muddy decisions, and you kind of have one foot in and one foot out and you’re like, eh, I’m not really sure what I’m doing. The universe doesn’t really reward that, but you, you made decisions from a place of clarity and you were rewarded.

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And the clarity in those decisions didn’t come easily. I don’t want anyone to think, I just woke up one day and I’m quitting my job, or I’m opening an Airbnb. Like I stewed on this stuff for a while and I needed a coach. I needed somebody on my team besides my family. And I also gave myself permission to, you know, get rid of the shitty friends and the people in my life that were toxic. And Holly knows the whole story with that, but just not allowing that to control my life anymore and choosing who I was around. Yes.

Yeah, let’s talk about that. You know, especially when you’re growing and you’re changing and you’re making these leaps and bounds. If you have the shitty friends around, a lot of times shitty friends don’t like it when we grow. And I think you can always tell a true friend. A true friend will be there when you’re struggling. But are they there when you’re thriving? Cause a lot of times when you’re thriving, suddenly those shitty people, like they’re not there anymore. It’s really interesting. So how did that all, I mean you don’t have to get into the details, but just tell, tell us a little bit about that.

Yeah, I think that I had just moved in a different direction cause there’s nothing wrong with those people and there’s never anything wrong with people who could be quote unquote toxic to you. It’s just that they don’t align with you anymore. And I had to realize that constantly being around that when I was trying to move into a different direction, just kept pulling me back and I couldn’t heal and I couldn’t find myself aligned with who I really was when I still had this noise. You know, it’s just like that constant chatter like gossip in your ear.

And it was like I just, I had to break it off and it took some time and I really isolated myself. And, and by no means did I think I handled that right. To be totally honest. There was some friendships I didn’t, didn’t handle well. Um, but I think it was all a learning experience and yeah, they were really understanding of what I was going through. Of course, some are still here, but the ones who weren’t, aren’t. And I’m finally at a point where I’m okay with that and I’ve understood how important that was in my healing to not dim my light and be around people who told me I was too much for the last 10 years because…

Yeah, that’s when we dim our light and we shrink and we think we have to make ourselves small and contort ourselves and you know, it’s when we’re living in that shrunken energy, especially if we are creatives and people who have something to contribute to the world, which you definitely are, like when you’re living in that shrunken space, like your body will start screaming at you.

Yeah. It definitely was. And when I decided to just kind of move away from that is when it was another door that kind of opened and shifted and I realized like I didn’t have to have a billion friends to feel fulfilled. I didn’t need to live up to society’s expectations of what I should be doing or how I should be interacting with women my age. I get to decide that and the friendships that I have in my life and that it didn’t need to be, Oh, but you were friends with them in high school or Oh you were friends with them in college. It’s irrelevant. And I think we, again, another story that is always told or we tell ourselves is, Oh, we’ve known them forever.

It ties in with that whole family is everything story that a lot of us are conditioned into. A lot of us are also conditioned into, well, friendships are everything and you have to always be there even if even if somebody is literally like sucking the life blood out of you.

Yeah. And it’s, and it’s no fault to them. And I think my advice to people is to like look, look at the people in your life and have honest conversations with them. And if it’s just not gonna work, it’s okay. You can move on and still love and appreciate the time with them and still love and appreciate them from afar. But you don’t need to be best friends with that person. And have the life being sucked out of you at the same time that you’re probably not contributing to their health and wellbeing either. Really, relationships work two ways and I think it took me a lot of years to figure that out, but it was a huge part of growing and healing was knowing I didn’t need to please anybody.

I didn’t need to be anybody’s champion or anybody’s anything to feel fulfilled that I could just be me. And either they liked it or they didn’t.

And that’s the ultimate freedom is when you’re just showing up as yourself because when you’re just truly being yourself and living in your light, you don’t have to filter. You don’t have to contort, you don’t have to pretend. And all of that stuff is so exhausting and energy draining and makes us so sick. And when you can just be, and you don’t have to think about it, you get all that energy back.

Yes, 100% I mean I dance around my living room like a lunatic like once a week and that was something that I was always so embarrassed of because people used to like, Oh Claire’s the crazy friend or Claire’s this and it was a story that I started to identify with. I just, I don’t think that I, I can dance around my living room like a lunatic just because I feel like it and I don’t need to do things to please people or to feel like, Oh well they like me because I’m doing this. It’s like, no, I stepped into my truth and that was enough to like really set me free of so many boundaries I had given myself because I never wanted to be too much.

That one has been huge for you and your “too much” is going to be just right and just perfect for the people who are supposed to be in your life. I mean I watch your stories and I see you dance around your living room and be goofy with Jacob in the kitchen and like if you were anything but that if you were showing up as anything but that, it would be a huge bummer because then like I wouldn’t get that joy in my life from just like seeing you be who you are.

Yeah. Thank you. I mean I think that that’s really, it’s a really interesting thing now that I feel like I have so many people who really just support that and support me and I feel like Jacob, my fiance, um, is extremely supportive of it, but he doesn’t, he doesn’t want to participate in it, but he could care less. He thinks it’s great. He’s like, yes, you do that on Instagram or I’ll video. You were like that Instagram husband. Yes. He doesn’t want to be on camera. He doesn’t want to dance around the living room, but he never tries to dim my light. And I think that that’s so important that you have those people in your life who, even if they’re not the same as you, even if they don’t agree with you, they never try to stop you from doing what makes you happy or fulfills you.

Totally. Totally. I have a very shy Instagram husband too, but he, he’s got my back.

Yes. That’s the best kind of Instagram husband. Right? Oh my gosh. I’ll take photos of you. Don’t worry.

Ah, so there was the job, there was, um, shifting dynamics in your relationships, moving out of this story of being too quote unquote, too much and moving past that. I’m trying to think of like other big lifestyle things that you did. I know, um, you’ve done some work on your money mindset. Um, I think we’ll talk about the spirituality piece a little bit later. Yeah. Is there anything that we haven’t touched on about your lifestyle changes that you’re like, Ooh, we should, we should talk about that thing?

Uh, I feel like a big overarching one was just putting myself first. You know, I think that it’s something we all forget and it doesn’t have to be in a selfish way, but like, I’ll excuse myself to go to bed or all, you know, if I need to wake up and do X, so later in the day I can go to yoga or, you know, just making sure that I was putting myself first in everything that I was doing. Because if I didn’t put myself first, then I wasn’t showing up for anybody else in my life. Amen. You know, as cheesy as that can sound, it is freaking hard to do. People, you know, we decide that we aren’t good enough and it’s just not true. We are good enough to put ourselves first. We are good enough to show up for ourselves and, and make sure that we’re fulfilling all of the things that we need in our soul in order to, to be our best selves. Otherwise, what the hell is the point? You’re gonna live your whole life for somebody else?

Burned the F out? Yeah. No, thanks. Yeah. Yeah. That leads right into my next question for you, which was, and I think you’ve already kind of touched on it, but how do you think that playing small and dimming your light and people pleasing, how do you think all of that contributed to your physical health issues?

Well, the people pleasing. Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I was a people pleaser. Yeah. I just think it, it really contributed to everything. I didn’t realize how much stress I was putting on myself and how much stress contributed to a Hashimoto’s flare. If I ever wake up that way now I’m like, Oh, I was people pleasing or stressed out about something because I wasn’t, you know, showing up as my, as my full self. So I definitely feel like it contributed to pretty much all of my health issues, um, because it plays into the bigger picture.

Yeah. Yeah. And we, you know, we all here, um, in the health space, the functional medicine space, the wellness space, Oh, stress is a killer and you have to distress and you have to get your stress under control. But I feel like we hear that so often that it’s just become kind of this meme that doesn’t mean anything. But this is what it means. The jobs, the relationships, the stories you’re telling yourself. Like when we say stress, this is what it means.

Yeah. I always thought that was a bunch of bullshit. What the fuck is stress? You know what I mean? Like, Oh, my grandma’s in the hospital. Like that’s what I thought that meant. And then I realized like I was living in chronic, constant stress because I wasn’t living my truest, I wasn’t living life as my truest self. And when I finally, you know, that really came up with, with things in my family and coming forward and talking to my mom about, you know, things that happened when I was a kid and, and going through a big healing journey with my dad who I hadn’t talked to in 10 years. You know, people don’t realize that that is a constant stressor in the back of your head, not talking to your dad for 10 years. And having built up resentment towards him, that was a huge amount of stress. And when I went and talked to him, it was like this release. Yeah, just a release of pressure and stress. That was just little tiny thing. But all those little tiny things build up.

They do, until until the bucket, it’s like a drop of water, drop of water drop of water, the bucket overflows. And you know, when I always heard, you know, within the wellness space, Oh, destress, you think of these acute situations like Oh, grandma’s in the hospital or things like that. But it’s, it’s these everyday things that build up subtly in the background until you have these hulking monsters over your back. And you know, I said, I’ve always said the exact same thing that you just said, which is the root cause of my downward health spiral was not being myself. Yeah. And I think so many of us, if we can just inch our way toward showing up as who we truly are, you’re going to find healing that you didn’t even think was possible for yourself.

Yeah. Even if you don’t feel like there’s quote unquote that much to heal. You know what I mean? Because there was a lot that I didn’t think needed healing. I just thought, Oh, I just need to eat better and it will just help the symptoms. Well, the symptoms are happening because of all the things in your life. Yes. You know, it’s not just one singular thing that causes all, all of these things to be wrong. And it’s like, even if you have one small health issue, it’s like, well that could be because of something major in your life that you’re just acting like isn’t important.

Or you’re putting it on the back burner acting like it’s not a big deal or I’ll deal with that later. Yeah. Yeah. Let’s talk a little bit about the role that spirituality has played in your healing and kind of your journey with that. Because I think, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you’re a little bit similar to how I once was, which I used to consider myself agnostic slash atheist. Like I’m not really into this stuff. And then, you know, as I healed, I got more and more into spirituality and I don’t define myself by a religion or any certain thing, but I am a very spiritual person and I think you’ve taken a similar path. Um, tell us a little bit about that.

Yeah, I grew up, um, Greek Orthodox, nondenominational Christian and you know, participated until my teen years. And then I just really decided, you know, organized religion isn’t for me. And so I just completely shut that out. And it wasn’t until more recently that I’ve realized that spirituality is so important in your healing, whatever that looks like to you, whether that means you’re religious or you’re not, or you’re just using crystals and tarot cards like me. Um, I realized how, how much that really played a role in me connecting to my intuition and to like my highest self.

That makes sense. It does make sense because I think when we get sick, it’s because we’ve strayed from our true selves. We’ve strayed from who we really are. We’ve strayed from our intuition. We don’t even know how to access our intuition anymore or what that even means. And so bringing in tools and practices to help you realign with your intuition and with your truth is everything. Because if you can trust yourself, you can trust the universe. You can trust that life is there for you.

Yeah. And I think I didn’t for so long. And you feel so small in the world when you don’t feel like there’s anything out there. There’s no universe, there’s no god. Even if you’re just saying, Oh, positive energy, right? Even that brings you some sort of peace. And this is funny, Holly, I hadn’t even, I haven’t even told you this yet, but I have since kind of getting into the more spiritual journey. My, I’m a very nervous flyer. I’m a very anxious, anxious, anxious flyer and I’m doing a lot better because I’ve just been getting on the plane and trusting and whatever that looks like. Do you know what I mean? Like just getting there and say, you know what? Your irrational fear of death in an airplane crash. You’re just gonna go on and you’re going to just trust. And that has brought my anxiety down as much work as I have done and how much better my day to day anxiety has gotten. Still airplanes are triggering, but I feel like as my spiritual practice has developed, I’m able to just walk into situations with more trust and more, um, ability to like enter something with calmness and peace because I’m in tune with myself and my intuition and the brain chatter. I can say, shut up brain chatter. So I feel like that’s been huge.

That’s amazing. And that’s such a tangible thing. I mean often I feel like when we talk about spirituality, especially if we’re averse to spirituality or if you’re anything like, I used to be like pretty hardcore agnostic, we can just like immediately like tune out. Like that’s bullshit LA, LA, LA, LA, LA. But to be able to say I can get on a plane now and not have a panic attack or not be a nervous Nellie the whole time. And it’s because I’ve tuned into my spiritual side and my intuition. I mean that’s tangible and that’s real. And that’s, that’s incredible. Cause I know how much you used to struggle with that.

Yeah. And I think it’s something that is going to be ongoing. It’s not like these things just disappear from your life, but I’m able to like use that practice and when it comes to like using tarot cards, like if I’m feeling super overwhelmed or stressed, I’m like, let me just, let me just sit down and like talk to the universe through tarot. And I think that a lot of these spiritual, you know, kind of old school, I don’t even know how to say it, like hippy practices that people think are kind of, you know what I mean? They think are kind of strange. They have this…

Like are you talking about the mysticism or the lore that kind of surrounds these actresses?

That’s the right, that’s the right word. That’s very daunting to people. But if you just use it as a tool, I think it’s a lot less scary.

Yes. Or this idea, this idea that, Oh, if if I want to start using tarot cards like, well I have to go to a class and I have to read a book and like I, well crap, I might as well just go get certified in tarot because I don’t know anything, that’s actually like the opposite of how you’re using it, which is just like let me connect with this thing and tune into my intuition.

Yeah, and I think that no matter what, if you identify as a religion or whatever spiritual practice you have is you can talk to God that way. You can talk to Allah that way, however you feel, whoever is a part of your spiritual practice, it’s like you can use these tools to connect. And I, I’ve found that when I just like dropped the label, and decided like, I’m just going to use these and I’m just going to see what happens and go into it really innocently. Like you were saying, it’s opened like a whole new world. Cause I, every time I pull a card I’m like, no, no, there’s no, you know, and then I’m like, this is nuts. And when I first started using them, I would like yell at Jacob and the other room, like, you’ll not believe what I just pulled like funny. It’s honestly like, it’s hilarious. And then when you start doing it, you’re like, okay, now I get it. I get that. As woo as this can all seem, it’s just energy being exchanged. Exactly. Things showing up in your life that you need to see or numbers or has so many different things that the universe is giving you that or God or whoever you know is giving us.

And when you start tuning into these things. I know numbers were a really big thing for me on my path of healing, and I hate the term spiritual awakening, but I don’t know what else to say. Um, I started seeing numbers. I started seeing 111 and 444 and 222 and 222 and 444 are like my big numbers. And I see them all the time and it’ll often be when I’m worried about something and how it’s going to turn out, all of a sudden I’ll see that number on a receipt or it’ll be in a URL or it’ll be on a license plate. And it’s like the universe saying, Holly, chill out. It’s going to be okay. And the more that you engage with following these signs and paying attention to them and not writing them off and saying, Oh, that’s not real, the more they’re going to show up for you.

Yeah, the more they become apparent and in your face, I’ve noticed that too, where it’s just things all come full circle. You know, I’ve even done like Reiki and intuitive Reiki and had things said to me that I was like, there is no way you would know that there is just no way, you know? And, and it all just kind of starts to make sense and all those blocks I had up about like, Oh I’m not spiritual or I’m not, you know, like the, again a story I was telling myself and I just let go of that and just started just being present and seeing what I would walk into or what numbers I would see or things that would show up or what cards I would pull. And then I really started tuning in and I’m like, I’m the holder of all of my answers and the universe is showing me what I need to see every single day.

And if I just excuse my language, pull my head out of my ass a little bit. Yes. Not, it’s all good. You know, it’s the way we need to see it.

Yeah. We can live in this space where we think we’re in charge, we’re in control. Like we’re driving the bus and, and we are to a certain degree, but like we’re co driving the bus with the universe and when you kind of like loosen up your grip on the steering wheel a little bit, you find you don’t have to try so damn hard to drive the bus.

No, you don’t. And letting go of the control is, is half the battle. I know I’m very type a and I’m an Enneagram eight for the host of you who follow Enneagram and I’m very like headstrong and forward and controlling and I’ve had to loosen the reigns, but in loosening the reigns, that’s when the healing has come and that’s when the change has come in the most positive way.

Yeah. And just the awesome things that show up for you.

Yeah, exactly. It’s crazy how your mindset and all of those walls you have up keep those things from coming in. They really do.

They really do. It goes back to episode one and beliefs. It’s like whatever you believe you’re going to see that reflected in your reality.

100% and it’s one of those, that’s one of the things I never realized either. And when, and that has a lot to do with money mindset too. Like if you just believe that it is possible, it happens. Yeah. Like, okay, I’m going to share something personal because this is a crazy money mindset. One that I just, sometimes I can’t believe it, but maybe a couple months ago I was like, Jacob, we’re going to have 10 grand in one of our savings accounts by the end of the year, I have two checks coming this week. Guess how much is going to be in our savings account? No way. Yes. And I, and I, we, you know, bought our house, didn’t have a ton of extra money laying around, so this is a big deal. And I decided that was a crazy number for me to put out there. Yeah. But I was like, I looked at him and I’m like, we’re going to do it. He was like, okay, it’s going to come. It did. And it’s, it’s, it’s not, I’m not making this up like it is crazy how much just shifting your mindset will change the way things come into your life. If that’s money, if that’s not money, whatever it may be. That is amazing.

And yeah, it was a goal that it sounds like it was a big stretch for you. Like, we’re going to have this, I have no idea how it’s going to show up, but I’ve decided we’re going to have this.

Yeah, I just decided, I’m like, I don’t know if we’re going to save, I don’t know if you know, some sort of check is going to fall from the sky. I don’t know. But I know that’s gonna happen and that’s going to be the goal. And, and I just believed it would and it did.

That applies to everything, but I really want to get across that. That applies to health. I think if you believe in the possibility of yourself getting better, that goes such a long way and you getting better versus you telling yourself the story every day. I’m always gonna feel like this. I’m never going to get better. Well, that’s just going to be true.

Yeah. I truly believed that I would get better. Yeah, and to this day, I truly believe I’ll never be that sick again, and I think that’s super important. I don’t remember the last time I had a really bad flare because it just isn’t even something that’s in my mindset anymore. It’s like I don’t live in that world. If I do start to feel sick or not that great, I know what to do. Like I have the tools in my toolbox to be like, okay, focus on what you’re eating. Focus on what the stress in your life is. How can you get rid of it? You know? Are you moving? Are you laughing? Are you having fun? Are you focusing on those things? Because the rest will fall to the sides and you won’t feel sick if you just focus on those things.

Yes. Are you showing up as the truest expression of you? Are you putting the things in the world that you want to put into the world? Are you being fully expressed, Claire? Because I feel like when you’re doing all of that stuff, everything else, it’s almost like, it’s not that you don’t have to think about it. I mean, you and I have talked about this before. It’s not like, Oh, if you heal your life, that means you can just go eat a bunch of shit and you’ll be fine. Like I know you and I both still get our butts kicked by gluten if we ever have gluten. Um, and you know, other things. But at the same point, like you don’t have to be, I don’t believe that when you’re truly living your best life and you’re living in your full expression and you’re, you’re, you’re being fulfilled by your life. I don’t think we have to micro control the food.

No. And it’s been for me really letting go of that because coming from AIP, it’s so, so strict. Yes. It did give me a lot of anxiety and a lot of like, Oh, I have to do it perfect. And as time went on and I’ve learned, you know, what is really going to put me in bed? And what is okay, maybe your stomach will hurt a little or you’ll break out and it’s not really the end of the world, but you’re having so much fun at dinner with your friends or your family and it’s like, okay, I’ll have a little gluten-free, whatever and not being so stressed out. And that’s something you really helped coach me through is like I went on this big trip to Japan where there was literally no way to avoid gluten and gluten is in Japan and I just like leaned into it and had fun and ate the things and enjoyed it and like, yeah, I was puffy and you know, but I didn’t really feel that bad because I just really enjoyed what I was doing. And obviously gluten is much different in Japan than it is in the US but overall it was like, okay, I’m not going to hold on to these food rules so tight that I’m stressed out while I’m eating dinner.

Right. I’m not going to hold on to these rules so tight that I am then restricting my life. Exactly.

Yes. Which then I think dims your light. Yes, and you’re in a box because you’re not living the life you want to live because you’re controlled by food. I mean, think about how crazy that is. You don’t need to have your whole life controlled by what thing you can and can’t eat. Yes, of course it’s important to your healing in her health that you’re not just like stuffing your face with Twinkies, but as someone who doesn’t eat gluten but, and I go, can I go to Japan and like enjoy myself for a week or two? Yes. Yes, that’s all possible.

It’s about finding that balance. And I know that you guys had like an amazing time on that trip and if you had been living in hyper mega fear around food the whole time, I don’t think you guys would have had as much fun as you did.

No. Or hyper, you know, fear of flying or money or basically that trip would have never been possible a year ago because I wouldn’t have been able to let go of spending money of getting on a plane of anxiety of being in crowds and trains and you know, all of those things, the food, it just wouldn’t have been possible if I was still living in that mindset and still scared to live my life, but letting go. I remember just looking at Jacob and being like, Oh my God, I can’t believe we’re here.

Yeah. With the cherry blossoms.

I can’t believe it because I was in bed a year ago. I couldn’t even get out of bed and walk around my little studio apartment with Jacob, you know? So second. It’s crazy. What a year of healing and having a coach and having somebody on your team can do to your health and just like letting go of all the bullshit you believe.

Oh my gosh. It really to sum it up, it’s like moving from an energy of fear to moving into an energy of trust enabled you to go to Japan were just a year prior. You were like, holed up in your little studio. Afraid to do anything.

Yeah. And it’s crazy when I think back on it like that, I’m like, Whoa, Whoa, can’t believe that I can’t even believe that was me.

Right. And it’s, I feel like healing and in the state that you’re in now, like it becomes your new normal and then you forget how bad it really was until you’re a conversation like this and you’re like, Oh my gosh, look how far I’ve come.

How did that happen? Yeah, no, and I, and I feel like I talk to people in DMs all the time and they’re struggling and I’m like, you’ve got to just believe that you’re going to get better and that you’re going to push through and keep, keep doing. You know what to do. I mean, we all know how to eat healthy. We all know, but moving past all the other bullshit that’s keeping you stuck is really what’s going to push you into healing. And it’s not like I have it all figured out or don’t have bad days or you know, because I think that’s, that’s life.

Yeah. Healing isn’t linear. I mean sometimes we got to take a few steps backward or we have to get our ass kicked or we have to learn a new lesson. And um, I think this expectation that healing is super linear and you just run from point a to point B and then you have your transformation story. Like that’s not how it works. It’s more like a spiral.

Yeah. A spiral. That’s a really good way of saying it. Or just like a up and down line. A mountain. Yeah. You’re going to go up and down and there’s going to be good times and bad times, but at the end of the day, you’re always kind of going on an upward trajectory. Yeah.

It’s like, this is a terrible analogy. It’s very mathy, but if you look at the, if you look at the stock, the history of the stock market, like we’ve had some crashes, we’ve had some ups and downs, but if you look at the history of the stock market, it’s done nothing but perpetually go up.

Same with real estate, realtor on, you know, but it’s true. Like, yeah, you just kind of, you have to believe that it’s possible and not get in your own way. I think that’s, if I can stress anything, it’s like get out of your own freaking way to move and just let my highest self show up and forget all the bullshit, all the stories you’ve been told, all the things you tell yourself. Like just move that aside and say, fuck you. Get away from me and I’m going to move forward. You know? I don’t know. Sometimes you really have to give yourself the finger on that and just…

I have to give myself the finger all the time. It’s like talking to the asshole that lives in my brain. It’s like not today, Satan, not today, not today. That was something I was going to ask you is, um, you, I’ve watched you really harness the power of belief and I have to ask you, like, did that come natural to you? Did you struggle with it? Like do you have to talk to the asshole in your brain every day? Like, tell me how you’ve held on to belief in the way that you have.

It was hard in the beginning. And so I still have days where it’s hard, but I think that asshole in my brain has slowly gone down to the basement and left and left me alone. I imagine. I imagined him as a grumpy old man lives in a basement.

Oh my gosh, mine is a man too. I don’t know why. And I was just talking with another client. She was like, I think my, my asshole in my brain is also a man.

Yeah, I think so. But yeah, I feel like, but yeah, I think sometimes he peeks his head in and I’m like, you got to go. I think, especially with things around my body and the way I look, um, and you know, my personality being too much that, that, that idea of too much, yeah. And I have to remind myself like, no, you are fabulous. You are great. And just tell myself those things. As cheesy as it sounds, it’s, it’s so important to be your biggest cheerleader because no one else is gonna think you’re as great. You know, like people are gonna love you and think you’re fabulous. But if you don’t genuinely think that, then what’s the point?

Yeah. It’s, it’s your job to show up and be your number one cheerleader. I mean, you know, we’re always going to have people in our lives that support us, but like if you’re not supporting you, nobody else can lift you up.

No. And no one else can make those decisions for you or you know, live your life and inhabit your body and go through life for you. So it’s like you have to figure out how to be happy and how to lift yourself up because every day is a choice. And I had to learn this the hard way. It’s like I could get up every morning and hate my life and go to a job I hated. But why? I get to choose how I live this life and we all do. And sometimes we give everything else way more power than it should have. It doesn’t need to have that much power. When we can decide like, I’m going to wake up today, I’m going to love myself. I’m going to love what I do and, and shift that entire mindset, which I’m not saying that’s easy. It’s not, but it’s something that’s possible. If you work at every time you catch yourself being a negative Nancy in the corner and be like, Hey, no, this is going to be great. I’m going to live a life I love and, and keep, keep moving forward.

Yeah. And I think, I think that’s where some people get hung up is um, they see people who are living their best lives and thriving, um, and they think, Oh, it must just be easy for them. Or, Oh, they had a happy childhood, or you know, they’re just a positive person. Like God. So annoying. Like I used to look at people who, I used to look at people who are like me now and be like, you’re so fucking obnoxious. Like I hate you.

I know. And sometimes I have to, like on my social media, I’ll try to be honest when I’m not having a good day because overall I live a really happy, healthy life now. And it’s like, but I don’t want anyone to think it’s perfect, right? To think that I go and I just have this perfect relationship in this perfect house and I live and I just have this perfect job. Like, no, I don’t have a perfect family. Like none of that is true. And there’s still things I struggle with every single day. But I also choose to have that like outlook, like, Hey Claire, it’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be okay. And even though it isn’t perfect, that’s part of life and it’s fine.

Right? And you can still enjoy yourself. And, um, that, that’s what I want to say is that, you know, when somebody’s positive and living their best life and they have things going for them, don’t assume that they didn’t do some really, really hard work to get there. Don’t assume that they’ve always been sunshine and rainbows. Um, I find that the most positive people that I’ve met in my life actually have been through some tremendous hardships and they’ve learned to retrain their brains, rewire their thinking to get the most out of this life because this is all we have and we might as well enjoy it. We might as well have a little bit of fun.

Yeah, no, I totally agree. I think that it is really easy and we can get so caught up in like the Instagram, you know, wheel of positivity or you know, people are showing the highlights. Yes. The highlight reel, you know, it is a highlight reel and I think when you can get real with yourself and have a lens when you’re looking at social media and say like, this is not the whole story, it will change your view. You know, totally. You don’t have to get on there and, and beat yourself up about things. Oh I don’t have that life. It’s like, but it’s so possible for you, not that everything’s going to be hunky dory all the time, but it, it is possible for you to live that life if you don’t let yourself go down that negative rabbit hole.

Yeah. Yeah. And that’s what I appreciate about what I really appreciate about the content that you put out is it’s, it’s very real. I mean we, we get to see the joy and the fun and the effervescence, but you also will just come on and be like totally straight with us and it’s, it’s not uber curated. You’re just showing up in your fullest expression.

Yeah. 99% of the time, no makeup, no hair. Just myself and my pajamas.

Epic pajama collection. I have to add, I feel like it rivals, it rivals my cat tee shirt collection.

Okay. But I don’t have, I feel like to be on your level, I need a cat full cat pajama cause I have a full drink pajama that has little drinks all over it. Now I need cats and it would be on your level.

Well you need to make that happen. That’s your next thing to manifest is some cat pajamas. You’re manifesting epic cat pajamas.

Yeah, but thank you for saying say that. Cause I feel like I try to, I try to be as, as real as possible. I mean I even like cried on there after I had a horrible doctor’s appointment and I tried to just be real to show everybody who follows me that it isn’t linear and that I’m going to have times that are super hard and that’s okay and that I want to be real for everybody so they know that they’re not alone. I think that’s the hardest thing. And in this whole journey for me is at the beginning I felt so alone and like I was the only person going through it. Yeah. The reason that I even started my Instagram is because I was like, I don’t, I’m not alone and I don’t want to feel alone and I don’t want people to feel alone.

Yeah. And alone is another story that we tell ourselves. I’ve dealt with this recently of I’m moving past the story, my story of, Oh, it’s hard for me to make friends in person. All my friends are online and they live far away and I just had coffee with another person today. Locally. It’s amazing when you let go of whatever story it is, like what shows up.

Exactly. Yeah. It can be in a healing journey. It can, there can be so many new stories too. Like exactly what you’re saying. Like there’s been times I’ve told myself that too, like, Oh, I can’t make friends or, uh, all of these things. But it’s like I’ve just tried to open my eyes and I’m like, there’s all these people right in front of me that I know that are great that I just wasn’t letting myself see.

Absolutely. And your brain, um, filters that out. When you don’t believe it’s possible, your brain literally filters that out and doesn’t let you see it. Um, Oh, crazy. It’s crazy how powerful the brain is. Honestly, it’s my biggest fascination lately. It’s, it’s so cool. Our brains are simultaneously stubborn and dense and kind of dumb, and yet they’re also these miraculous super computers that we don’t even understand.

I know. And they can just, they revert back to the old thinking so fast if you don’t catch it. Exactly. But they also are capable of so many amazing things.

Yeah, we don’t even fathom or understand yet. I mean, even like the greatest neuroscientists, I think they’ve barely even cracked the surface on what we’re capable of.

Yeah. Maybe I should go back to school and learn more.

Hey, if it’s coming from a place of joy and not a place of scarcity, I say, go for it. I know, right? Oh yeah. Because that’s a trap. I see a lot of people and I’ve fallen into it too and it’s like, Oh, I’m going to go learn more because I don’t know enough and I don’t feel good enough, but there’s the difference between that and, Oh, I’m going to go learn more because this excites me. Yeah. I’m curious. It’s like an energy of expansion versus like not enough.

Yeah. No, I totally agree. It’s funny how I’ve caught myself doing that too and like even when you’re 18 and going off to college, it’s like you do it because you have to. Now, if I could go back, I’m like, Oh, I would have taken all of these classes and learned this much and you know, but then you’re like, Oh, I’m just trying to get through. It’s totally the same idea. Yeah.

I almost feel like there needs to be a time limit, like okay, after high school you have to spend five years in the real world and get your ass kicked and then you can go decide what you want to be in school for.

I agree. I wish somebody would’ve said that to me. Yeah, I was an apparel and textile design major. I mean it was fun and I like fashion, but you know what? I have chosen that now. No.

Right. It’s all part of the journey. It’s all part of the journey for sure. Trajectory. Claire, what do you think is the biggest gift or silver lining or blessing in disguise of all of your health challenges and do you think your illness had a purpose? Oh, sorry. I’ll just go super deep on you. Big question.

Well, yes. I think it’s been the absolute biggest blessing in my life. I wouldn’t be where I am today without it and I’m so thankful that the universe chose me to give that autoimmune disease to, to give all of those obstacles in my life to. I mean, I wouldn’t have it any other ways. As sappy as that sounds, but no, but it’s so true. Yeah, it’s so true and I feel like it is definitely been the biggest blessing. It’s just taught me so much. I mean, I think the silver lining is like I am who I am now because of it. It’s not that it’s given me one thing, it’s like my whole life is on a different path because I chose to like lean in to the illness and figure it out and move forward and not give up. I never gave up on myself for one second and I was like, I’m going to freaking figure this out. I’m going to change whatever I need to change. And I was lucky to have a support system in there, but like even if I didn’t, I was like, I’m doing this. I told Jacob, I looked at him and I said, I’m doing this. I’m changing my diet, I’m changing my job. And you know, I think it was the biggest blessing and silver lining for sure.

Yeah. You what, what you said you wouldn’t be who you are unless you had grown through all of those obstacles.

Yeah. And just like all the people I’ve met along the way, even just all the virtual friends. Yes. You and just everything I’m like, that has been like if I had never gotten sick, I would have never even started that Instagram and met all of the amazing people I’ve met on there and just created this community. And, that is like the, that that kind of thing makes me want to cry cause I’m like, Oh, it’s just so amazing how, how connected we can be. And when you’ve got a bunch of people who are the same fight and just like really trying to live their best life and align with themselves, it’s like Whoa, anything is possible.

It’s so powerful. Yeah. It’s so powerful. And also I think, you know, when you’re building the kind of community that you’re talking about, it takes you beyond surface connections. It takes you beyond like bitching about your job or talking about the weather or some sports team or whatever. Like you get to actually connect with people.

Yeah. It’s so funny. I met, um, I went to a like wellness retreat and I met some girls there and it was like we were in deep conversation and like five minutes and I was like, this is the kind of thing I want. Like I don’t need the surface level stuff. It’s like when you really start to work on yourself and heal yourself and, and find out who you truly are, you’re like, forget the bullshit, leave that on the side and let’s just show up as our true selves and like get into it and have these like nitty gritty conversations.

That’s always the best when it’s just like, Oh, I’ve known you for two minutes, let’s go there, let’s go, let’s go there.

I want to hear all about it. And that’s what makes people interesting and that’s what makes us all human is learning those things about each other and connecting on a deeper level than more than like, Oh, I like the color of your shirt.

Yeah. Right, right. Ah, it’s so true. And jumping back to, you mentioned doctor’s appointments or something a couple of minutes ago. Tell us about the big victory of the year of finding out a particular lab result. We’ve got to hear it.

Yes, I have my hands up in the air since it’s a podcast and no one can see. Um, I cut my thyroid antibodies in half this year, which is huge for those of you who do not deal with autoimmunity. That is a huge feat. And I started sobbing when I saw it. I was like, ah, I can’t believe it. I mean, I can believe it cause I did it, but it’s just, it just validated everything. I had been doing that. I was on the right path and my naturopath was like, Oh my God. She couldn’t even believe it either. She was just like, this is crazy. I’m like, girl, I’ve done some work. You don’t even know the half of it. You don’t even know.

Yeah, it wasn’t, I don’t think it was your naturopath, but it was another doctor who didn’t he tell you that diet and lifestyle wouldn’t make any difference in, in your autoimmune antibodies?

Yeah. Oh yeah. That was my crying on Instagram moment. So frustrated. Yeah. I was trying to try this MD through our insurance because you know, naturopaths don’t take insurance. So I was really trying to work, work the system in it. Yes. And it backfired majorly. And he basically, I asked him to do my full thyroid panel and he said, no, we don’t do that. I said, well, I had, I’ve been doing all these things and I really just want to know if my numbers have come down. And he said, Oh, you can’t change your, your antibodies through diet and lifestyle. Your antibodies will always be the same. And I was gone. Nope. And I walked out, I was like, I’m not doing this dude.

Which is so irresponsible because if you’ve had that much healing and you’re on any kind of thyroid medication, like you’re going to need that adjusted. So for him to just be like, yeah, you can’t change that, you’re going to stay the same. Like that’s so irresponsible.

It was. It was really, it was really disappointing. And in that moment I just felt like this heaviness of like frustration that I knew there was so many people in this world who go through that, who go to a doctor and get told again and again and again that they, they basically told they’re crazy. I felt insane after living leaving there and I’m, I’m diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and I still felt insane and I was like, I can only imagine how people feel walking in and out of that specific doctor’s office, but every, you know, traditional MDs offices around the country when they have these diseases that they’re trying to get diagnosed or just to figure out what the hell is going on with their body and they’re just being told that they’re crazy.

Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s a form of mass gaslighting in my opinion.

It really, really truly isn’t it? It was extremely frustrating for me and then I realized like, I have the power, I have the power. I don’t ever have to go to that doctor again and I never will. And I can continue to save my money to go to the naturopath and to work with people that I want to work with. And it’s also about just like supporting those people with my dollar. I’m wanna put my dollar towards people who are, you know, they’re at the front end, they’re doing the research, they’re trying to work with you on a holistic level. And that has been huge too. Just empowering myself to say Claire. You can work with whoever you want. Your doctor works for you.

Yes. I hear from so many clients like, well I’m afraid to ask for this lab because I don’t want the doctor to yell at me or I’m afraid to stop seeing this therapist that I don’t really like because I don’t want to hurt her feelings.

And it’s like, wait, who’s working for who? Who’s paying who? Like, yeah, you make the decision. Well, and I think that’s some people pleasing tendencies cause I was very much like that where I just didn’t want to offend anybody and I didn’t, you know, I had gone to some therapists for a long time that I didn’t like and doctors and just cause I felt bad about it and it’s like you’re just trying to please them if they work for you, you’re paying them and if you don’t like them you don’t like your service. Like if you were to go buy something on Amazon and you hated it, you would return it. Same thing. Exactly.

I dealt with the people pleasing tendencies of being in health care type relationships where I wasn’t satisfied but, but yet I felt, I felt like the bad little child of a parent and like, like I was somehow in the wrong when no, that’s completely backwards.

Yeah. And I think that’s kind of how the current medical system is set up is to make us feel that way. You go into the scary building with this man in a white coat and it’s all very like, AAAAHHHH, but at the end day, like you’re in charge and you’ve got to just step in, even though it’s scary. It was scary for me to walk out of that doctor’s office that day and say, screw you, I’m not coming back. Right. You have to hold the power and know that you’re in charge and not people please.

As hard as that is, it’s so hard. It’s like, I feel like it’s, it’s one of our most stubborn habits, you know, we don’t want to have conflict. We don’t want to rock the boat, but at the end of the day, you got to rock the boat to stay afloat. Oh my God. Wait, did I just say that?

Yes. I love it.

Where the heck did that come from? Oh my God. Rock the boat to stay afloat. I kinda liked that though. Rock the boat to stay afloat, dear God. Oh my. Oh my goodness. You have good one liners. Holly. They just fly out of my mouth. I don’t know where they come from. Um, Claire is there, um, as we’re wrapping up here, is there anything, um, we’ll talk about where to find you and stuff in a minute. Anything, any little nugget or wisdom or encouragement you’d like to leave with the audience?

Yeah, I think if you’re just starting on this journey or you feel like there’s, there’s a long path ahead of you, just take a second and breathe it in and realize that you have the power. You’re here, you get to live this life and to just keep taking away all those walls that are in front of you and you’ll get there. I think it can seem so overwhelming and we can feel so overwhelmed by all the information, but just know that like, you know your intuition, you are in power in the power of your life and yourself. And if you just keep pushing, you’ll get there. And I think we, we get in our own heads about that and think we’re not capable. But you’re so, so capable.

Couldn’t have said it better. Keep going, keep pushing. I think of those graphics sometimes where you see the little man like digging for gold with his pick and axe and that is about to break through to the gold. But then he gives up when he, when he’s like two inches away from the gold. And if you would have just kept picking, you would’ve gotten to the gold.

You just have to keep pushing forward. And I’ve seen it in my own life. There’s been times I wanted to give up and you can’t, you can tell yourself you’re not giving up, you’re going to keep going and there will be amazing positive things on the other side if you just believe they’re there.

So true. So true. Claire. I know everybody wants more of your amazing energy and they’re like, Oh my gosh, where can I find this girl and connect with her and hang out with her. So tell us, tell us what you’re up to and anything you want to leave us with.

Yeah, come hang out with me on Instagram @clairesfoodfreedom. You can, I’m big in the stories. You guys can come follow me there. Come say hi, DM me. I also have a website, clairesfoodfreedom.com. There’s a little bit of about me on there. I have some freebies to download if you’d like. They are food related but I’m working on some new stuff and there’s going to be more.

We could talk all night, but maybe we’ll have you on the show again sometime cause I feel like there’s so many rabbit holes we can go down. But Claire, thank you so much for your time today. Um, everybody go connect with Claire @clairesfoodfreedom on Instagram and yeah, thanks so much Claire. Bye. Thanks guys.

I loved that interview. This is what it’s all about. You can do all the things, but if you’re hiding behind a mask, if you’re living in fear, if you’re living in that shrunken, small, scared energy, you can eat all the things. You can take all the supplements and your body is still going to be responding from a place of fear and a place of stress. So I want to thank Claire for coming on and having that super brave open conversation. I know that you got so much benefit out of it as the listener, and go hang out with Claire. Go find her @clairesfoodfreedom on Instagram. Give her some love. It takes some gumption to jump on a podcast and spill your life all over the air. So go give her some love. In the meantime, come hang out with me on Instagram too @hollyfisherhiggins, and if you want more goodness, go to my website at mindspeakpodcast.com/sabotage to get a free download bundle I have an ebook and a bonus audio file there for you. It’s really like a bonus episode of the podcast where I’m talking all about self sabotage and how to start overcoming it. So go get that if you haven’t already, and until next time you know the drill, go believe in you. I do.