Unlocking Mental Wellness: Ashley Miers on Integrating Nutrition and Joy through 'Dancing in the Kitchen

In this episode of the ANEW Body Insight Podcast, we continue our conversation with Ashley Miers, a success coach, health and nutrition advocate, Kundalini Yoga instructor, and star of Dancing in the Kitchen. Hosted by Dr. Supatra Tovar, clinical psychologist, registered dietitian, and author of Deprogram Diet Culture, this episode dives deeper into Ashley's unique approach to mental health and well-being.

Ashley shares the inspiring story behind Dancing in the Kitchen, a show combining cooking, music, and dance to promote mental wellness. The idea for the show emerged from a conversation with her friend and co-producer, Octavia Klein, during the pandemic. Together, they created a platform that blends Ashley’s expertise in nutrition with her passion for music and movement. The show has grown significantly, gaining traction with audiences, and even partnering with the Flamingo Network on Roku.

Throughout the episode, Ashley discusses how her personal journey with mental health challenges has informed her work. She talks about how her experiences with depression and recovery have shaped her mission to help others find joy and nourishment through food and movement. Ashley emphasizes the importance of community and support systems, particularly for new mothers, and shares her involvement in the Silver Lake Family Collective, a group that offers vital support for mothers navigating the early stages of parenthood.

Dr. Tovar and Ashley also explore the pressures women face to "do it all," leading to burnout and mental health struggles. They discuss the societal expectations placed on women and the importance of self-care, flexibility, and staying true to oneself. Ashley offers practical advice on balancing life’s demands while prioritizing mental and physical health.

As the episode concludes, Ashley reflects on her journey, highlighting the lessons she's learned about resilience, creativity, and the power of community. Her story is a testament to the idea that mental health is about more than just addressing symptoms; it’s about creating a fulfilling, joyful life.

This episode of the ANEW Body Insight Podcast offers listeners valuable insights into Ashley Miers' inspiring journey and provides practical tips for improving mental and physical health. From the kitchen to the dance floor, Ashley shows us that wellness is a holistic journey involving the nourishment of body, mind, and spirit.

For more about Ashley Miers and her work, visit www.ashleymiershealth.com, www.ashleymiersspeaking.com, and www.dancinginthekitchen.tv.

Thank you for joining us on this journey to wellness. Remember, the insights and advice shared on the ANEW Body Insight Podcast are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making any changes to your health routine. To learn more about the podcast and stay updated on new episodes, visit ANEW Body Insight Podcast at anew-insight.com. To watch this episode on YouTube, visit @my.anew.insight. Follow us on social media at @my.anew.insight on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads for more updates and insights. Thank you for tuning in! Stay connected with us for more empowering stories and expert guidance. Until next time, stay well and keep evolving with ANEW Body Insight!

Transcript

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Welcome to the ANEW Body Insight podcast,

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empowering and inspiring your journey to optimal health.

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Hosted by Dr. Supatra Tovar, clinical psychologist,

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registered dietitian, fitness expert, and author of Deprogram Diet Culture:

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Rethink Your Relationship with Food, Heal Your Mind, and Live a Diet-Free

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Life, and Chantal Donnelly, physical therapist and author of Settled:

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How to Find Calm in a Stress Inducing World.

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Here at City Club Los Angeles, we follow our guests journey to optimal

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health, providing you with the keys to unlock your own wellness path.

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Tune in and evolve with us.

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Welcome back to the new Body Insight podcast.

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We are back for the second half of our episode with success coach

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and Dancing in the Kitchen TV star Ashley Miers at City Club Los Angeles.

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Welcome back. Thank you.

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Ashley gave us some really fascinating information about her background

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and her struggles with mental health, and how this led her to become a leader.

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And innovator in her field.

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We are really excited to learn more.

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Ashley welcome back. Thank you. Yay!

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So Dancing in the Kitchen TV.

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I am very excited about this.

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I'm excited to be on it.

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It presents a very unique blend of cooking and entertainment.

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Can you describe how the concept came about,

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and what do you hope viewers take away from this

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incredibly joyful combination of food and dance?

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So the way that this came about,

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my good friend and co-producer and Octavia Klein,

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who's actually in the audience with us tonight, she, Octavia,

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she and I have kids that are about the same age.

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My oldest is the same age as her daughter, and we met through

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a moms club, a family collective that we were both a part of.

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And we had been friends for several years,

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and I knew that Octavia had a background in photography.

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but our friendship had really just been about being moms and being friends,

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and we'd never really picked up the thread and explored anything career related.

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and we'd both taken detours during the pandemic

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or sort of around the same point in our lives.

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So I had been doing acting and music up until in 2018,

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I did my Kundalini Yoga teacher training while I was pregnant with my first son.

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And then in 2019 was when I launched my coaching business.

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And then obviously the pandemic started the beginning of 2020, and Octavia

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had kind of gone

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on a detour from photography, and she had learned a bunch of business skills,

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and we were just having a conversation in January of 2023,

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and she was like, you know, my passion is food photography.

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And I was like, you know, that I want to make a cookbook and a cooking show.

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And so the idea was born there.

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And then, my friends, one of my best friends,

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Elizabeth Russo, who's the co-host and, songwriting partner of mine,

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she and

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I had a songwriting session later that week, and Liz has a beautiful house.

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and so I was like, Liz, we're going to do a cooking show.

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And she goes, can I be your sous chef?

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And I was like, yes, can we use your house?

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She was like, yes.

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It is a really beautiful kitchen.

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I thought it was a studio kitchen. It's gorgeous. It's gorgeous.

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She doesn't have kids. It helps.

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I feel like it can stay gorgeous that way.

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Kids are kind of like little pack rats.

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Mine are always like bringing things in.

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I'm like, why are there rocks on the counter? Exactly.

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And they're just smearing stuff everywhere.

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Know they do. Yeah.

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So that was kind of the inception of it.

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and it just really kind of took off and went from there.

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We shot every month for I don't even know if it was like 6

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or 7 months of 2023 and then took a break over the holidays.

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and then had this very fortuitous thing happen in the beginning of 2024,

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we had started putting out the episodes and a producer that I honestly don't know

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how I was connected with on Facebook saw one of my posts about it,

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and he contacted us and said he loved the concept, loved to what we were doing,

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and wanted to put it up on his network on Roku, the Flamingo network.

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Yay. Yeah.

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So that was great momentum.

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And, you know, we've been filming all year this year as well and starting

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to bring on guests and,

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working on getting partnerships and sponsorships

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and just really working to grow our impact and reach more people

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because we love what we do and the content we feel is great.

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We're making it to help people and we want to get it

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in front of more people to do that.

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What made you decide to incorporate dance?

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How did that all come about?

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I mean, it's it's really informative.

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It's really engaging.

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How do you integrate those elements, for the viewer's experience?

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So I have another female friend.

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her name is Femke.

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she is a music producer in Nashville, and she helps develop and launch artists.

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And so sometimes I consult with her about what I'm doing in music

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and get her guidance.

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And she told me that someone had told her a really good piece of advice,

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which was that everything you do should sell everything else you do.

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And so I knew

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I wanted to do a cooking show, but I didn't really have a concept for it.

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I'm just like what.

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What's the angle.

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Like what are we actually, what are we going to do though.

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Right. Right.

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Besides just like here's some yummy food that we like right.

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And so that was the idea that got me to think, like,

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how can I make music and cooking go together?

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And there was a song that I'd been listening

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to by a band called Lainey called Dancing in the Kitchen that I loved.

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And I was. Like, That's it.

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we'll combine music and food and have that elevate your mood.

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That's our tagline.

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And it all kind of came from there.

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And so I ended up doing a cover of Lainey's song that we used as the theme song

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for the show for the first year, and then Liz and I are actually

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just finishing up our own Dancing in the Kitchen song,

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which was an interesting writing experiment because I'm not used to

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trying to come up with a similar concept without ripping off another artist.

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Like, that's never something I've ever done of,

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like, this artist wrote this song.

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I want to write something similar. Right?

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you know, you were inspired by it.

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Right?

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So it was kind of a fun exercise of like, how do I not be influenced

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by this song that they did and now come up with something

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new that speaks to what we're doing?

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And I actually, no offense Lainey,

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love it better.

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Well, for people who haven't seen it, describe what that dancing looks like.

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What what do you do? Yeah.

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So we feature a recipe in each segment.

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So for Roku we do three segments.

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And that makes an episode.

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And each segment is also its own standalone YouTube episode.

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And so in each segment will have a theme.

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So we started for instance, with the theme of depression.

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And then we would have sort of subtopics.

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So for the first one we talked about iron and iron deficiency and how anemia

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and the symptoms of anemia can, you know, be very similar.

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Yeah. To depression.

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And so the importance of going,

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getting lab work and making sure that there isn't a nutritional deficiency

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before you go in for more invasive treatments or medication.

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Exactly.

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and so we'll speak about something along those lines,

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a subject that's relevant to mental health that incorporates the nutrition.

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And then we'll feature ingredients that, contain that nutrient we're talking about.

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So grass fed regenerative organic ground beef leafy greens.

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And then we'll feature a recipe that incorporates those ingredients

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to make a meal.

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and we set it all to music and make it fun and uplifting.

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Liz brings a lot of comic relief, too.

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She's very, witty, and I love that aspect of it

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because I can get a little bit nerdy and like, you know,

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and she she lightens things up and keeps us on our toes.

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And then we literally will, like, dance

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to the song and incorporate that in as we're cooking and preparing the recipe.

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Right. Yeah.

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So we like to say that, we help people tune up just by tuning in.

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Oh, I love that.

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And I love that you are using nutrition to help aspects of mental health.

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That's definitely becoming more

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of a field and nutritional psychology, which is what I practice.

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And I'm very, very, passionate about.

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Give us a background about you or give us a background.

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Give us an idea of your background in nutrition

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and how that informs this show.

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Yeah.

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So a lot of my nutrition background is actually self-taught.

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My college only offered two classes in nutrition, so I took them both,

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but they didn't have a degree in it.

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Otherwise I probably would have done that degree.

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and then I also had a minor in biology

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and was very interested in like microbiology and understanding,

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you know, the role of various nutrients and how those affect like the Krebs cycle.

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And just like all these different aspects of our functioning at that level.

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so I learned as much as I could about it in college, and then I would just

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read and consume and, you know, anything I could get my hands on.

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there was, there was a magazine I used to love.

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I'm trying to remember what it was called.

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I don't know if I can't anymore, but I would just

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read it religiously in college, and I would try to like again, nerd alert.

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But I would try to, like, memorize

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the different nutrients and like what they did

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and what their function was in the body and, you know, even the names of them.

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So, you know, folic acid and folate versus just like B9 and

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you know, and more complicated things than that.

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But I would have kind of fun intellectual adventures with myself of like,

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can I memorize this and know what it means and be able to like, understand

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how it fits with other things?

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And I think that's just kind of like how my brain likes to work out.

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So how does that inform your episode.

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you just choose like a different topic.

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Is it always about mental health or is it,

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you know more inclusive like physical functioning.

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And yeah I feel like we branched out a bit this year in some ways,

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but I try to keep it on trend with mental health

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because that's really like that's the core of our show.

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and so all different aspects of that,

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because mental health is affected by so many different things.

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So obviously nutrition being huge, but also exercise,

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sleep, you know, learning various therapies and practicing them.

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So we try to pull all of that in.

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and so sometimes there is a bit of a departure from just being straight

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about like the ingredient and the nutrient involved and whatnot.

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And maybe we'll speak to something like we have a guest coming on, who's

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going to be teaching us a dance, and we're going to be focusing more

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on that aspect of it and like the somatic and movement.

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So yeah, we have a lot of fun just pulling in all these various topics

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that are relevant to mental health and to nutrition and to music and just

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blending them together and playing with them and,

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and trying to share something useful. Absolutely.

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I love that you have this.

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And I think more people, if they knew about the power of nutrition

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to help them, not just physically, but with their mental health,

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more people would be gravitating towards foods that help them in this arena.

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I think that we're just inundated in a food environment.

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It's pretty toxic that, you know, you have so much ultra

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processed food out there, a lot of misinformation.

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So I'm really, really glad that you're doing this kind of work

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and helping people to learn about how nutrition helps their mental health.

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Your efforts have not only been on a personal level, but also on

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a community focus.

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with your role in, this local family collective.

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What have been some of the most rewarding

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aspects of this community leadership and describe it for our audience?

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So we know what that is.

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Yeah.

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So as I mentioned earlier, my co-producer DP Octavia,

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and I met through what was at the time called

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the Silver Lake Moms Club and is now the Silver Lake Family Collective.

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I joined it when I was pregnant with my first son,

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and my passion for it really comes from.

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I feel like my experience of motherhood would have been so drastically different

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without that support and that community, you know,

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being up at three in the morning, breastfeeding and maybe being anxious

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about something and being able to text other moms and,

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you know, like, what is this and that kind of support

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just to not feel alone and isolated and like the anxiety of new motherhood

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and trying to figure it out.

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I was put into like a playgroup with several other moms

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that all had babies my baby's age and that group of women.

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We still keep in touch.

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It's almost six years later.

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Wow. And because of the experience I had and what that did

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for me in terms of making my motherhood journey really enjoyable.

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It made me really passionate about wanting to give

00:12:51:20 - 00:12:54:26
that to other moms and have them get to have that opportunity to.

00:12:54:26 - 00:12:55:26
And I mean,

00:12:55:26 - 00:12:59:25
you may be familiar with these statistics, but the leading cause of death

00:12:59:25 - 00:13:03:23
in new moms in the first year postpartum is actually suicide.

00:13:04:18 - 00:13:08:18
So it's so crucial for new moms

00:13:08:18 - 00:13:11:18
to have support and connection community and like normalization.

00:13:11:25 - 00:13:13:05
And people get intrusive thoughts.

00:13:13:05 - 00:13:14:22
People have postpartum depression.

00:13:14:22 - 00:13:18:28
And you know, being someone who's come from a recovery background,

00:13:19:20 - 00:13:23:07
I am lucky I got to go through a lot of really

00:13:23:07 - 00:13:27:06
challenging things before I got into that experience.

00:13:27:06 - 00:13:27:29
Right.

00:13:27:29 - 00:13:30:01
But what about the people who go into that experience

00:13:30:01 - 00:13:33:02
and have no tools and no coping and are isolated and alone,

00:13:33:02 - 00:13:36:02
and now they've got like a little baby that's depending on them too.

00:13:36:02 - 00:13:39:05
I mean, yeah, it's a family collective and it's lighthearted

00:13:39:05 - 00:13:42:05
and fun and we go to the park and we play,

00:13:42:10 - 00:13:47:01
but it's so much more meaningful and so much more important than just that.

00:13:47:02 - 00:13:47:15
Right?

00:13:47:15 - 00:13:50:14
Because it could be a lifeline. Right?

00:13:50:14 - 00:13:53:01
And so how big is this group?

00:13:53:01 - 00:13:56:01
So before the pandemic, I want to say it was,

00:13:57:15 - 00:13:59:15
if I remember correctly, I want to say it was 100.

00:13:59:15 - 00:14:00:23
It might have been two.

00:14:00:23 - 00:14:03:23
Wow. It wasn't huge, but it was it was sizable.

00:14:04:21 - 00:14:08:17
and now we we actually took a break. I,

00:14:09:22 - 00:14:13:23
I was the president for two years, and then I went through some challenges.

00:14:14:04 - 00:14:15:11
I lost my older brother.

00:14:15:11 - 00:14:18:11
He he disappeared, and we actually just don't know

00:14:18:26 - 00:14:20:08
where he is or what happened to him.

00:14:20:08 - 00:14:21:28
So that's been a very challenging thing.

00:14:21:28 - 00:14:23:08
Oh my goodness.

00:14:23:08 - 00:14:23:19
Yeah.

00:14:23:19 - 00:14:26:19
My life has been crazy.

00:14:26:19 - 00:14:28:27
but again, like we were speaking about earlier,

00:14:28:27 - 00:14:32:28
I feel like it gives me sort of a superpower of being able to sit

00:14:32:28 - 00:14:37:08
with people in their pain, because what I've experienced

00:14:37:08 - 00:14:42:15
has been so crazy and so extreme that there's not a lot I can’t hold space for.

00:14:42:25 - 00:14:43:20
Yeah.

00:14:43:20 - 00:14:47:06
and because I've been through so much and I've had a lot of recovery,

00:14:47:06 - 00:14:50:09
I've been equipped with a lot of tools to be able to cope with that intensity

00:14:50:09 - 00:14:50:22
as well.

00:14:51:23 - 00:14:52:14
but that being

00:14:52:14 - 00:14:55:14
said, when he went missing, I took kind of a step back.

00:14:55:15 - 00:14:58:29
And, and so now we're actually getting it started again,

00:14:58:29 - 00:15:01:28
and I think we're at like maybe 40 people.

00:15:02:06 - 00:15:04:29
So I'm so sorry to hear about your brother.

00:15:04:29 - 00:15:06:13
That has to be devastating.

00:15:06:13 - 00:15:07:29
Especially not knowing.

00:15:07:29 - 00:15:12:03
Yeah, where he is and having no clue at this point.

00:15:12:03 - 00:15:14:20
Still no. No clue.

00:15:14:20 - 00:15:17:01
Yeah. So it's been,

00:15:17:01 - 00:15:20:12
it's been a wild ride, but, you know, some of the things that comfort me

00:15:20:12 - 00:15:23:16
and my mom really wants to know, like what happened.

00:15:23:29 - 00:15:24:19
I’m sure.

00:15:24:19 - 00:15:27:29
I kind of like to imagine him, like dancing in Ibiza

00:15:27:29 - 00:15:32:27
or like meditating at Shaolin or like, any number of happy endings, you know,

00:15:32:27 - 00:15:36:22
and that I feel like I'm more able to be comfortable in the unknown of it.

00:15:37:04 - 00:15:42:00
And also like he was a very enigmatic, sort of cryptic character.

00:15:42:14 - 00:15:44:27
And, I feel like it was on brand.

00:15:44:27 - 00:15:49:27
Like he wouldn't have wanted to have, like, a basic ending.

00:15:49:27 - 00:15:50:05
Right?

00:15:50:05 - 00:15:55:05
Like so, I don't know, it sort of makes me smile because it's like,

00:15:55:14 - 00:15:59:05
if it if it was the end, he was he was himself

00:15:59:05 - 00:16:02:11
to the end, almost in a way of like, he's going to leave us wondering.

00:16:02:11 - 00:16:02:20
Yeah.

00:16:03:21 - 00:16:05:18
Leave them wanting more.

00:16:05:18 - 00:16:06:01
Yeah.

00:16:06:01 - 00:16:10:07
Well, I really hope that you do find him, and I hope that that's not the end.

00:16:10:07 - 00:16:14:01
But if it is, you know, you have this lovely place

00:16:14:01 - 00:16:15:24
where you put him in your heart.

00:16:15:24 - 00:16:17:21
And I think that that's what really matters.

00:16:17:21 - 00:16:21:25
Just, you know, ultimately, for all of us, no matter who we lose

00:16:21:25 - 00:16:25:28
or how we lose them, it's where we put them in our heart that really matters.

00:16:26:00 - 00:16:28:22
So I agree with sorry you had to deal with that.

00:16:28:22 - 00:16:29:15
Thank you.

00:16:29:15 - 00:16:33:01
It's inspired you though, and it has really created

00:16:33:01 - 00:16:36:19
kind of this, you're building kind of an empire, it seems like.

00:16:36:28 - 00:16:39:21
And you're doing so much advocacy work,

00:16:39:21 - 00:16:42:25
you reach an international audience at this point.

00:16:43:16 - 00:16:46:27
what are some of the common challenges that you see women facing

00:16:46:27 - 00:16:50:29
globally in mental health, and how does your work address this?

00:16:51:22 - 00:16:54:13
Yeah, so I would say that

00:16:56:06 - 00:16:56:21
what we were

00:16:56:21 - 00:16:59:26
talking about earlier, that stigma is pervasive.

00:16:59:26 - 00:17:02:29
And in some cultures it's maybe I mean, not even maybe

00:17:02:29 - 00:17:05:29
in some cultures it is definitely worse than it is in the United States.

00:17:06:08 - 00:17:08:00
I think that conversation is being

00:17:08:00 - 00:17:11:00
had a lot more frequently in our culture these days. But,

00:17:12:08 - 00:17:14:29
you know, generally the women I work with are in like Canada,

00:17:14:29 - 00:17:18:10
United States, Australia, Ireland, United Kingdom and things like that.

00:17:18:10 - 00:17:21:10
So there's a commonality to the cultures.

00:17:21:22 - 00:17:25:18
But that isolation, that sense of like, I'm

00:17:25:18 - 00:17:28:18
the only person that's like this, nobody would understand.

00:17:28:18 - 00:17:31:10
I can't tell people that.

00:17:31:10 - 00:17:34:25
It has been ubiquitous among like everybody I've worked with and

00:17:35:18 - 00:17:38:13
they are surrounded by people that are not able

00:17:38:13 - 00:17:41:13
to support them in the way that they need.

00:17:41:18 - 00:17:46:02
And whether that's, you know, because they're engaging in toxic relationships

00:17:46:03 - 00:17:49:29
or it's a family system and a dynamic and, you know, you've kind of got the

00:17:50:15 - 00:17:54:20
what do they call that the prescribed patient or the there's a, there's a term for it.

00:17:56:10 - 00:17:58:26
where people kind of get pigeonholed into these roles.

00:17:58:26 - 00:18:00:28
And you have to keep playing your role in the family.

00:18:00:28 - 00:18:02:14
And if you try to break out of it,

00:18:02:14 - 00:18:05:04
the rest of the system will put pressure on you. The identified patient.

00:18:05:04 - 00:18:06:04
There you go.

00:18:06:04 - 00:18:09:09
They'll put pressure on you to get back in your lane, stay in your roles.

00:18:10:12 - 00:18:13:28
and so a lot of times it's kind of like fish in water.

00:18:13:28 - 00:18:17:16
These women don't have any experience other than

00:18:18:10 - 00:18:21:23
what what their sort of dysfunction or their despair has been.

00:18:22:11 - 00:18:26:18
And when they connect with me, it offers them

00:18:27:19 - 00:18:29:24
a whole different paradigm that's available

00:18:29:24 - 00:18:32:28
to them of like, this is actually possible, right?

00:18:33:15 - 00:18:36:22
And so then it's about them

00:18:37:01 - 00:18:40:01
having the courage and the commitment to start to travel the path

00:18:40:14 - 00:18:43:19
to find their new paradigm of like, who do they actually really

00:18:43:19 - 00:18:46:19
want to be versus who do they feel like they have to be? Wow.

00:18:47:03 - 00:18:49:00
What do you think are the most common

00:18:50:27 - 00:18:53:26
difficulties that these women are facing?

00:18:53:26 - 00:18:56:18
Is it the fact that they're pigeonholed?

00:18:56:18 - 00:18:59:18
Is it the fact that they would like to be

00:19:00:13 - 00:19:03:23
achieving a career, getting more education?

00:19:04:01 - 00:19:07:01
What do you think is the most common thing that you see?

00:19:07:16 - 00:19:10:18
It's interesting because I wouldn't say it's necessarily like

00:19:11:15 - 00:19:16:02
one specific thing, like a career or an education.

00:19:16:02 - 00:19:18:11
It's different for different people,

00:19:18:11 - 00:19:21:27
but I feel like the through line tends to be that.

00:19:22:04 - 00:19:25:03
Again, like we talked about, on the previous segment,

00:19:25:12 - 00:19:28:06
they're not being true to themselves in some way.

00:19:28:06 - 00:19:31:24
And so whatever that means for them, maybe they're a homemaker, but they wish

00:19:31:24 - 00:19:33:09
they had a career,

00:19:33:09 - 00:19:36:08
or maybe they have a career, but they wish that they were a mom, right?

00:19:36:08 - 00:19:38:19
So it could be complete opposite.

00:19:38:19 - 00:19:42:09
But ultimately it's sort of more about their being who they feel like

00:19:42:09 - 00:19:46:02
they're supposed to be or what they're trying to play by the rules.

00:19:46:12 - 00:19:49:14
But those rules aren't lighting up their heart, and those rules

00:19:49:14 - 00:19:52:25
aren't speaking to their authenticity. Yeah.

00:19:52:27 - 00:19:56:06
And so then it's about how do we get you on track

00:19:56:06 - 00:19:58:23
with, like, who you really are and what you really want?

00:19:58:23 - 00:20:02:14
And even if that means that we lose certain things

00:20:02:14 - 00:20:06:26
that we've held on to really tightly, like certain relationships or, you know,

00:20:08:02 - 00:20:10:00
and it's interesting because, yeah, it really does change.

00:20:10:00 - 00:20:13:00
I had a client and this has been kind of funny because

00:20:13:16 - 00:20:15:25
I had a moment of like, wow, is this really happening?

00:20:15:25 - 00:20:19:12
I've had a number of clients who have been nurses, doctors.

00:20:19:12 - 00:20:20:18
I've even had therapists.

00:20:20:18 - 00:20:23:24
And I find that kind of comical because I'm none of those things.

00:20:25:20 - 00:20:29:12
but I had a client who was a doctor who had been laid off

00:20:29:12 - 00:20:32:27
and had a whole crisis of confidence around it, understandably so.

00:20:33:23 - 00:20:37:09
but she still wanted to be a doctor, and that was her goal.

00:20:37:09 - 00:20:38:19
And we got her back on track.

00:20:38:19 - 00:20:40:17
And, you know, she went back into the job

00:20:40:17 - 00:20:42:15
interview process and she found another position.

00:20:42:15 - 00:20:46:16
And like, now she's thriving and completely lit up. For somebody else.

00:20:46:16 - 00:20:49:10
They might be doing a career that isn't their truth

00:20:49:10 - 00:20:51:09
and they need to do something different.

00:20:51:09 - 00:20:56:12
I had another client who, had been a nurse her whole life and had retired and was

00:20:56:12 - 00:21:02:11
living in her home town with her family, and it just wasn't it wasn't her thing.

00:21:02:19 - 00:21:04:29
And so she was extremely depressed.

00:21:04:29 - 00:21:07:28
And her lifelong dream had been to move to New York City.

00:21:07:28 - 00:21:11:19
And she wanted to, like, study photography and I think learn Italian and wow.

00:21:11:27 - 00:21:14:27
Yeah. And so that became the goal.

00:21:14:27 - 00:21:18:11
And she actually moved to New York City and she made her dream come true.

00:21:18:11 - 00:21:22:08
And I mean, to get to witness people going from

00:21:22:08 - 00:21:25:25
that's not possible to me, for me to I did it.

00:21:26:21 - 00:21:30:16
I mean, it's I'm the lucky one getting to do this career to get to witness that.

00:21:30:16 - 00:21:32:04
Yeah. And and support that.

00:21:32:04 - 00:21:36:11
I'm sure you also see now I, I see this a lot in my practice.

00:21:36:11 - 00:21:39:11
Women who feel like they have to do everything.

00:21:39:11 - 00:21:40:11
They have to have the career.

00:21:40:11 - 00:21:41:26
They have to have the family.

00:21:41:26 - 00:21:45:15
They have to do everything and be everything for their family.

00:21:45:15 - 00:21:48:14
And they often put themselves last.

00:21:48:14 - 00:21:53:18
And I always encourage them to really care for themselves and put themselves first.

00:21:54:07 - 00:21:57:26
I'm sure you probably see that as well with with your clients.

00:21:57:26 - 00:21:59:05
Absolutely.

00:21:59:05 - 00:21:59:16
Yeah.

00:21:59:16 - 00:22:05:07
And it's a tricky thing because I mean, I'm a mom, I'm, you know, 40.

00:22:05:19 - 00:22:09:23
And I almost feel like that's one of the most tricky

00:22:10:19 - 00:22:14:08
places for me to speak to, because I don't know

00:22:14:08 - 00:22:17:11
how to tell moms of young kids to stop doing it all.

00:22:17:11 - 00:22:19:28
Like, yeah, there's a lot that you can't stop doing

00:22:19:28 - 00:22:21:21
when you're in certain stages of your life.

00:22:22:24 - 00:22:23:04
And if you

00:22:23:04 - 00:22:26:04
don't have the support or you don't have the resources, like

00:22:26:28 - 00:22:30:06
that's part of the nuance of like figuring out how to make it work

00:22:30:06 - 00:22:33:12
for each person of like, what's realistic right now, right.

00:22:33:13 - 00:22:36:11
Like there might be the ideal and then there might be.

00:22:36:11 - 00:22:39:11
What can we do right now to just move in the right direction?

00:22:40:09 - 00:22:43:25
because some people can do some huge transformative life shift,

00:22:43:25 - 00:22:47:04
but not everybody is is able to do that

00:22:47:04 - 00:22:50:04
right in this particular moment.

00:22:50:21 - 00:22:53:21
and so, yeah, it really becomes about, again, just,

00:22:53:21 - 00:22:57:07
you know, I was thinking earlier when we talking about Kundalini, there's

00:22:57:17 - 00:23:00:09
one of the sort of fundamental

00:23:00:09 - 00:23:03:23
things that we practice is Satnam truth is my identity.

00:23:04:10 - 00:23:08:04
And so I'm always telling my clients that it's not about what I think.

00:23:08:04 - 00:23:11:26
It's not whatever my truth is of your experience, it's

00:23:11:26 - 00:23:16:11
like you discerning for yourself what your truth is and honoring that.

00:23:16:22 - 00:23:19:22
And that's, I think, what is really important

00:23:19:27 - 00:23:22:13
because, yeah, I do see women trying to do it all.

00:23:22:13 - 00:23:26:28
And I feel like it's a fallacy that our whole culture has been like gaslit with.

00:23:26:28 - 00:23:29:14
Yes, I agree, I could. Go off on that. Yeah.

00:23:29:14 - 00:23:29:28
Me too.

00:23:31:18 - 00:23:32:13
Well, before we

00:23:32:13 - 00:23:36:05
go off and other things, we want to know how to find you.

00:23:36:09 - 00:23:37:18
How do people get Ahold of you?

00:23:37:18 - 00:23:39:07
What's your Instagram handle?

00:23:39:07 - 00:23:41:20
I follow her, it's awesome.

00:23:41:20 - 00:23:44:08
give people your 411, and then we're going to open up

00:23:44:08 - 00:23:46:27
for questions from our audience. Sure.

00:23:46:27 - 00:23:50:21
So my Instagram is Ashley underscore Miers

00:23:50:21 - 00:23:55:04
underscore official and Miers is spelled strangely.

00:23:55:16 - 00:23:58:17
It's I before e so Miers

00:23:59:23 - 00:24:02:25
Dancing in the Kitchen is dancinginthekitchen.tv.

00:24:03:12 - 00:24:07:24
And you can also find everything about me from speaking to music to,

00:24:08:09 - 00:24:11:12
you know, coaching everything at AshleyMiers.com.

00:24:11:18 - 00:24:13:15
Yay. Okay.

00:24:13:15 - 00:24:17:15
Well we are so excited that we have a lovely audience here,

00:24:17:25 - 00:24:22:00
and we would love to open it up for questions from our audience.

00:24:22:25 - 00:24:24:13
Come on down to the microphone.

00:24:24:13 - 00:24:26:05
Don't be shy.

00:24:26:05 - 00:24:27:23
I was wondering what type of food.

00:24:27:23 - 00:24:30:04
You make in the TV show. Would you?

00:24:31:07 - 00:24:31:19
Yeah.

00:24:31:19 - 00:24:37:08
So we like to make healthy food that supports mood and mental health.

00:24:37:17 - 00:24:42:00
We also sometimes just make tasty, fun food because enjoying

00:24:42:00 - 00:24:46:22
food is just as important as, you know, eating all your super foods

00:24:46:22 - 00:24:49:28
and your vegetables and getting all the right nutrients in,

00:24:50:26 - 00:24:53:26
so we don't ever want to

00:24:54:02 - 00:24:58:18
we don't want to perpetuate that eating disorder culture of restriction.

00:24:59:10 - 00:25:00:13
Yes please. Yeah.

00:25:00:13 - 00:25:05:08
but that being said, I personally like to follow more of a paleo approach.

00:25:05:08 - 00:25:08:19
I found for myself that eating mainly produce

00:25:08:19 - 00:25:13:00
a lot of vegetables, a bit of fruit, high quality protein, healthy fats.

00:25:13:00 - 00:25:15:03
So for me, that's like wild fish.

00:25:15:03 - 00:25:20:05
It's, you know, nuts, lentils, those kinds of things that does my body really.

00:25:20:05 - 00:25:20:14
Right.

00:25:20:14 - 00:25:24:11
And I tend to minimize grains and like, carbs, processed

00:25:24:11 - 00:25:25:24
carbs, processed foods, obviously.

00:25:27:13 - 00:25:29:00
so that's kind of what I bring to it.

00:25:29:00 - 00:25:30:15
And what I found that's worked for me.

00:25:30:15 - 00:25:33:15
But we also say on the show, just like we said a moment ago,

00:25:33:20 - 00:25:35:00
discern your own truth.

00:25:35:00 - 00:25:37:09
And different bodies are different and need different things.

00:25:37:09 - 00:25:39:16
It depends on if you have a medical condition.

00:25:39:16 - 00:25:42:16
It depends on a lot of things.

00:25:42:20 - 00:25:45:17
and Liz is a vegetarian,

00:25:45:17 - 00:25:48:17
so with most of the recipes that we prepare,

00:25:48:20 - 00:25:51:17
we will also give like a vegetarian option or a way

00:25:51:17 - 00:25:55:11
that the recipe can be modified to suit a vegetarian diet.

00:25:56:22 - 00:26:00:22
and yeah, we, we just kind of like to explore and learn as we go as well.

00:26:00:22 - 00:26:03:11
So we're always kind of experimenting. Wonderful.

00:26:03:11 - 00:26:08:00
I love that you give kind of all options and that nutrition is really personal.

00:26:08:11 - 00:26:11:22
It really does depend on how your body incorporates

00:26:11:22 - 00:26:16:13
and what you know fuels you, how you feel when you're eating it.

00:26:16:13 - 00:26:19:14
So I really like that you make it varied for people.

00:26:19:14 - 00:26:21:21
I think that that's really wonderful.

00:26:21:21 - 00:26:22:01
Thank you.

00:26:22:01 - 00:26:23:03
All right. Yes.

00:26:23:03 - 00:26:25:13
We have another question. Come on down.

00:26:26:12 - 00:26:30:07
Wow, Ashley, thank you so much for these inspiring stories.

00:26:30:07 - 00:26:33:11
And, it's been a lot that you go through

00:26:33:11 - 00:26:36:15
right from the beginning, from your darkness.

00:26:36:15 - 00:26:39:15
And then all the way coming out and shining so much and

00:26:40:04 - 00:26:45:03
dancing and laughing now with, like, so many of your, viewers and all that.

00:26:45:11 - 00:26:49:16
So my question to you is like, it looks like that you've been doing so much.

00:26:49:16 - 00:26:52:13
Right, like on the Dancing with the Kitchen,

00:26:52:13 - 00:26:55:11
and you have the coaching and you have the music aspect

00:26:55:11 - 00:26:58:19
and all of that in between, and your family as well.

00:26:59:04 - 00:27:02:16
I just wanted to see like in terms of your like,

00:27:02:28 - 00:27:06:19
it's like really running the business, but also on

00:27:06:19 - 00:27:10:09
the side of helping, like, you know, in terms of the purpose of helping others.

00:27:10:09 - 00:27:13:10
Right? How do you like what are a few

00:27:13:10 - 00:27:17:13
key ingredients that you think that kind of kept you

00:27:18:20 - 00:27:19:24
to be successful

00:27:19:24 - 00:27:24:08
in this, this journey of, of health and health and wellness,

00:27:24:11 - 00:27:28:05
of helping others to achieve this balanced lifestyle?

00:27:28:16 - 00:27:30:16
I love that question so much, so much.

00:27:30:16 - 00:27:32:15
Yes, it comes from a beautiful human as well

00:27:32:15 - 00:27:34:09
So I love that.

00:27:34:09 - 00:27:34:23
Yeah.

00:27:34:23 - 00:27:38:08
So it's interesting because I think that

00:27:39:12 - 00:27:41:13
if we allow it to,

00:27:41:13 - 00:27:44:07
whatever our struggle or our darkness was, becomes

00:27:44:07 - 00:27:46:26
the thing that we're able to teach, if we're able to heal it right,

00:27:46:26 - 00:27:49:26
and like meet the challenge that or the opportunity that it presents.

00:27:52:01 - 00:27:53:06
and so for me,

00:27:53:06 - 00:27:58:07
I used to like lament when I was in my 20s that whenever I would try to work

00:27:58:07 - 00:28:02:06
a full time job, just like a regular 9 to 5, I would burn out

00:28:02:06 - 00:28:07:08
because I wasn't able to exercise, I wasn't able to take care of my chores,

00:28:07:08 - 00:28:11:04
my laundry, my grocery shopping, whatever the things that I like to do and

00:28:11:04 - 00:28:15:10
that I feel I need to do in order for me to be well and balanced and healthy.

00:28:15:20 - 00:28:20:27
And so then end of the week would come, and Saturday, Sunday I would be exhausted.

00:28:20:27 - 00:28:23:22
And just like recovering, doing laundry, maybe getting groceries.

00:28:23:22 - 00:28:25:18
It was like, how do I even go to a doctor appointment?

00:28:25:18 - 00:28:26:28
And I have to like, miss work.

00:28:26:28 - 00:28:30:24
It was just did that whole paradigm, that whole structure,

00:28:30:24 - 00:28:34:15
didn't feel intuitively or intrinsically right to me. Yes.

00:28:35:28 - 00:28:38:27
and the blessing and the curse of it was that, like,

00:28:38:27 - 00:28:42:08
I would just keep burning out and, you know, falling into depression.

00:28:42:08 - 00:28:44:24
And I wasn't able to sustain it.

00:28:44:24 - 00:28:49:00
And in my 20s, I would be like, how do other people do this and still.

00:28:49:00 - 00:28:50:06
Ask that question?

00:28:50:06 - 00:28:50:24
Yeah.

00:28:50:24 - 00:28:57:01
And, you know, I think maybe they just had more ability to sort of

00:28:57:24 - 00:29:01:16
put up with that in a certain way, but that didn't mean they were healthy

00:29:01:16 - 00:29:02:16
and that they were.

00:29:02:16 - 00:29:05:15
Well, in the midst of it. Right.

00:29:05:15 - 00:29:08:19
Like maybe they were tolerating it, but they weren't necessarily thriving.

00:29:08:20 - 00:29:10:10
Right.

00:29:10:10 - 00:29:13:16
and so then when I launched my coaching business

00:29:13:16 - 00:29:15:13
and also with, you know, the suicide attempts

00:29:15:13 - 00:29:18:29
I referenced earlier, I was going for a run one morning.

00:29:18:29 - 00:29:23:13
And I often at that point in my life would be like, why did I survive?

00:29:23:13 - 00:29:27:00
Like most people don't survive, even one of the things that I did,

00:29:27:15 - 00:29:31:20
and then I kind of had this light bulb go off one day where I was like,

00:29:32:03 - 00:29:34:26
because now I can help other people like

00:29:34:26 - 00:29:38:25
this prepared me to be able to, like, sit in this space

00:29:38:25 - 00:29:42:26
with people and not judge and not be afraid and to help them.

00:29:42:26 - 00:29:48:01
And so same thing with the sort of like I wasn't able to force myself

00:29:48:01 - 00:29:51:28
square peg into that round hole in terms of doing it the way we're told

00:29:51:28 - 00:29:52:22
we're supposed to do it.

00:29:53:23 - 00:29:54:26
And so what I found for

00:29:54:26 - 00:29:58:21
myself and how I like to balance my life is exercise is essential.

00:29:58:23 - 00:30:00:01
Nutrition is essential.

00:30:00:01 - 00:30:01:06
Sleep is essential.

00:30:01:06 - 00:30:03:29
Yes, relationships and support are essential.

00:30:03:29 - 00:30:05:25
And so those that's the foundation.

00:30:05:25 - 00:30:06:26
Those are the building blocks.

00:30:06:26 - 00:30:09:09
Those are the non-negotiables for me. Yes.

00:30:09:09 - 00:30:13:22
And then I build in the work, you know on top of that.

00:30:13:22 - 00:30:15:14
And family is essential as well.

00:30:15:14 - 00:30:18:21
So you know, one thing I found with having kids is that it's

00:30:18:21 - 00:30:21:26
an ever changing landscape, like the goalposts are always moving.

00:30:22:03 - 00:30:25:25
So as soon as I start to get used to a schedule that I've created,

00:30:27:01 - 00:30:27:28
there's a new schedule.

00:30:27:28 - 00:30:28:21
Yeah,

00:30:28:21 - 00:30:30:04
we have like a three week summer

00:30:30:04 - 00:30:32:05
schedule of like summer school and swimming lessons,

00:30:32:05 - 00:30:33:23
and then school starts and it's ia new schedule.

00:30:33:23 - 00:30:36:22
And then baby number three comes and it's a new schedule.

00:30:36:22 - 00:30:40:05
So, you know, I'm being a little tangential,

00:30:40:05 - 00:30:43:11
but I'll get back to the the main point in just a second, which is that

00:30:44:19 - 00:30:46:22
I have found that

00:30:46:22 - 00:30:50:11
earlier on in my recovery, I felt the need to be very rigid.

00:30:50:17 - 00:30:50:26
Right.

00:30:50:26 - 00:30:52:07
Like I need to go to an AA meeting

00:30:52:07 - 00:30:56:05
every day for 90 days and then again for 90 days for six months straight.

00:30:56:10 - 00:30:58:21
And I have to do all these things to be okay.

00:30:58:21 - 00:31:01:05
And at the time, that was my truth.

00:31:01:05 - 00:31:03:24
But when I had kids, it started being about,

00:31:03:24 - 00:31:07:00
I have to learn what I can relax and how

00:31:07:00 - 00:31:10:00
I can be flexible and still be okay.

00:31:10:04 - 00:31:12:07
And that was very triggering because it was scary.

00:31:12:07 - 00:31:14:21
Like, I depend on my structure, I depend on these things

00:31:14:21 - 00:31:17:04
that like I exercise every day and that's how I stay.

00:31:17:04 - 00:31:19:15
You know, if I don't have that, I won't be okay.

00:31:19:15 - 00:31:22:15
Can I be okay if I relax that a little bit?

00:31:22:22 - 00:31:26:14
And at this point in my life, I find that I don't need to be rigid

00:31:26:14 - 00:31:28:25
and I'm much more adaptable. And it's like baby number three.

00:31:28:25 - 00:31:29:14
I'm like,

00:31:29:14 - 00:31:29:25
I don't know

00:31:29:25 - 00:31:32:26
what's going to be happening that day, but we'll just put what support in place

00:31:32:26 - 00:31:35:15
we can and will go with what's happening in the moment.

00:31:35:15 - 00:31:37:06
And first baby, I was like, I got lists.

00:31:39:28 - 00:31:41:22
so I guess, you know,

00:31:41:22 - 00:31:46:10
long story short and kind of coming back to that main point, I feel like

00:31:46:17 - 00:31:51:18
I'm constantly reinventing my structure and I'm doing it intuitively.

00:31:51:18 - 00:31:54:09
I'm basing it on what is the need right now

00:31:54:09 - 00:31:57:18
and doing my best to be adaptable where I need to be,

00:31:58:01 - 00:32:02:01
but also staying committed to the things that I know are really essential for me.

00:32:02:01 - 00:32:03:23
And that for me, is the self-care.

00:32:03:23 - 00:32:05:01
Exactly.

00:32:05:01 - 00:32:09:02
It's I mean, I talk about this a lot, but I practice what I call

00:32:09:02 - 00:32:12:20
militant self-care, and it's only because it's mandatory.

00:32:12:20 - 00:32:16:02
Like I, I agree with you that you have to be flexible with it

00:32:16:15 - 00:32:18:00
for, you know, things that come up.

00:32:18:00 - 00:32:19:14
But I, I feel really lucky

00:32:19:14 - 00:32:23:19
that I've been able to structure my life in a way that I can have

00:32:23:26 - 00:32:28:00
as much self-care as I want and need before I sit with clients.

00:32:28:09 - 00:32:30:23
I have the no talking before 11 rule.

00:32:30:23 - 00:32:33:16
Sorry, you want to go to see me early? You're not going to be able to.

00:32:33:16 - 00:32:34:08
You can see me late.

00:32:35:10 - 00:32:38:02
but that gives me the chance and the opportunity

00:32:38:02 - 00:32:42:23
to take care of myself and feed myself well and walk my doggies and,

00:32:43:07 - 00:32:46:25
you know, feed my family and do everything that I need to do

00:32:47:01 - 00:32:50:02
so that I can be present and sit down with people.

00:32:50:02 - 00:32:52:19
And I really encourage people to do that.

00:32:52:19 - 00:32:56:03
I don't think women especially do that enough.

00:32:56:11 - 00:33:00:09
And it, it, it helps you to be a better helper.

00:33:00:23 - 00:33:03:15
I agree, and that's the important thing.

00:33:03:15 - 00:33:05:19
Ashley, you're amazing.

00:33:05:19 - 00:33:07:03
You're amazing. You're amazing.

00:33:07:03 - 00:33:09:23
Soon as I met you, I was like, yay, I'm so glad.

00:33:09:23 - 00:33:11:17
Yay, she's on my show. Hooray!

00:33:11:17 - 00:33:13:19
Yeah, she's on my show coming up! Woohoo!

00:33:13:19 - 00:33:17:17
So we are just very lucky and very grateful for having you on the show.

00:33:17:17 - 00:33:20:17
And I would sit here for another hour with you if I could.

00:33:20:18 - 00:33:21:05
Likewise.

00:33:21:05 - 00:33:25:12
But we are out of time, so thank you all for joining us.

00:33:25:23 - 00:33:30:16
Thank you for tuning into the ANEW Body Insight podcast at City Club Los Angeles.

00:33:30:24 - 00:33:31:17
We look forward

00:33:31:17 - 00:33:35:18
to our next exciting interview and really hope you join us next time.

00:33:35:26 - 00:33:36:28
Thank you everybody.

00:33:40:18 - 00:33:40:21
Thanks.

00:33:40:27 - 00:33:44:25
Thanks for tuning into the ANEW Body Insight podcast.

00:33:44:25 - 00:33:48:10
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00:33:48:10 - 00:33:51:11
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00:33:51:23 - 00:33:52:26
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00:33:57:04 - 00:34:01:11
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00:34:01:23 - 00:34:04:17
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00:34:08:24 - 00:34:11:12
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