Intuitive Wellness as a Path to Purpose with Certified Health Coach Sneha Patel
Reese
Sneha, thank you so much for joining me and coming on the podcast I'm so appreciative
Sneha
well Reese of course I mean just honored to be here honestly thank you I love it
Reese
well the first question I always ask just to kind of set the tone for the conversation we're about to have yes is what is one thing you're grateful for
Sneha
right now one thing I'm grateful for is just having a really fun Light Summer m I haven't had that in years and it's been since 2019 since I had a summer like that but even then like I don't think my like what I was doing was right for me like very aligned with me I was like drinking and stuff like that then which there nothing wrong with that it's just like I still fell off and I just kind of was having fun doing stuff which served me at the time right but now I'm having a summer that's like so me and I'm having fun and just being silly and being a kid and I'm just like really grateful for that oh I love that that's so lovely so being silly and being a kid talk to me about what it feels like cuz we're adults now which feels weird to say but what is leaning back into that like kid-like play and joy feel like if I'm being honest it kind of brings me well right now I'm hanging out with my sister and my cousin a lot my sister's 18 my cousin's 14 I'm 27 that's a bit of an age Gap yes and they're kids you know so being around kids helps me get like into that space totally but then it also kind of reminds me of like I don't think I had this much fun as a kid myself and like no wonder I need it so bad as an adult which you just need it in general as an adult that like fun and play but like I'm like I don't think I ever really let go like this as a kid or had the opportunity to really just purely have fun and so yeah to answer your question
Reese
I love that that's so beautiful well and I do think that there is something really um magical about like you also getting to provide your sister and cousin with maybe some of that like childlike joy that you missed out on a little bit being an older sister and all of that stuff um that like you get get to provide that is probably really cathartic
Sneha
yeah like they can tap into it easier than I can and they like bring it out of me which I think is so fun and like I'm like being such a goofball and like kind of cringing a little at myself but like it's fun it's like a fun cringe you know what I mean like if you want to have fun and be goofy you really just have to lean into the weirdness of it too like cuz kids are weird yeah kids are so weird and so it just like kind of brings me back to that and then like I had it at like little times when I was a kid and stuff was inconsistent like when you're growing up you have a friend next day you don't or like you just you're relying on your parents to take you places and this and that and so it's just like or you have friends that are like toxic yeah and a lot of drama where it's just I don't have any of that right now it's just about the fun there's no drama involved there's no one messing with me there's no one being playing games cuz I I don't allow that in my life yes and I'm just here for could clean fun I could clean fun
Reese
I love that well and it's very much like when you're a kid Everything feels like the end of the world because everything is so important because your life is so short that it's like everything is really important at that time and so it just feels so much bigger so now having that perspective on it and also being able to tap back into that is really special I love that okay well next question to really break open the conversation is what is your story I know that that's a loaded big question a loaded one but whatever you feel called to share about in this moment is perfect perfect
Sneha
I think like if anybody just on the street asked me I'd be like well like I grew up in a really odd way like my parents are entrepreneurs and because of that being Indian and being first generation when they came to this country and everything they were like how do we make money and how do we make good money so we can really set our family up it required a lot of hard work my dad bought a motel and so he fixed it up my parents got married at the same around that same time and we lived in that Motel as well so it's like our home was in here was our home and then the rest of it was like our motel and that's a 24/7 business they did everything they cleaned rooms they did night they did everything and to grow up like that as a kid is really tough well like you're there there's literally when you talk about like work life balance there is any there's it's impossible because it's literally physically the same space yes yes so that's like all I had ever known and it wasn't that I didn't know other people whose environment was like that cuz like there were some other Indian kids I knew and like people in our community who like also like parents did the similar things sure right right but then family Dynamics uh play into that and really influence how this goes is it going to go well for your family all of that there's a lot of sacrifice that you see like on your end you have to do even as a kid but on the parents end as well my parents don't see that I had to do a lot of sacrifices as well maybe because they just don't want to for their own sanity you know they want to think that like they gave us everything and like nothing bad at all which like I'm grateful for my parents like I went to therapy yeah got I got I went through my villain era like I got it out of me and she had her reputation era and we literally literally that's what happened I had to do it and so I just grew up I was a very sensitive kid I grew up just like not having my emotions ever like regulated I didn't know what like any of that looked like CU my parents didn't know about any of that they didn't any of that stuff a lot of trauma got passed down right yeah and a lot of projecting I had this I have this rough relation ship with my mom growing up as a kid my parents um have um just not a great um relationship as well so that also influenced it so because of that I started accumulating a lot of like emotional um trauma right and I worked on it in therapy and everything and I thought these last few years like up until last year like not that I was good and healed but I had let go you know but my body hadn't let go so you know if like the body keeps the score yeah that's the situation like I've been in and I'm still kind of in and I've had like chronic pain since I was a teenager on my shoulders and my neck and it's just like it's like the weight of life is what it feels like truly like on me sometimes it's worse sometimes it's not and so that was like one of my health problems that started and because of the environment I grew up in like you know all that it's like a perfect storm yeah yeah and then because of that I started like all these toxicities my body started just like accumulating them you know just last year I found I had mold toxicity glyphosate toxicity and just like gut health just in shambles all this stuff because my coping mechanisms and the way I was like going about my life too wasn't like helping my health either and I was like playing into my own chaos like creating my own chaos and it just wasn't helping me and so because of that that's another factor that also determined like how my health went for me sure and just not having guidance I think a lot in my life really led me down like a path where I had to go through all these really hard things and being so lost and having this like unrealistic expectation set upon me by my family and I just spent a lot of time being lost like since I was like got to college at like 18 to like early last year I'm 27 now no shame no shame no not at all no not at all so I just you know I didn't know what I was doing in college at all I just I felt like I was floating around didn't want to be there I was having the hardest time finding my purpose and my passion but I had my my intuition was kind of there as well I just wasn't really listening to her and I I had a feeling that something about about business and about like Health was like drawing me together yeah so I went like the medical route you know just didn't feel right felt very chaotic as well so I was like I don't think this is it then I went to business school got my information systems degree and everything and that wasn't it either for me I quickly hated it after some internship and jobs and then um I was like maybe I should do healthcare administration I was like I really want to help people I know I need like something where I feel like I'm making a difference and that also felt very corporate and like I couldn't really make a difference sure and then after that um I started doing marketing and creat-creativity stuff cuz I was like maybe I need to like lean into my creativity I never allowed that for myself so then I tried doing so many different things I did like it and it did teach me some things but it still felt like I was missing the bigger picture maybe like the the thing keeping me going like it wasn't fueling me enough and then I really just like was like well what am I always obsessing about like what am I like cannot get off of my mind and it was like wellness like health and wellness like I would talk my friends and Family's ears off about like the new thing I would learn maybe my health and wellness podcasts I would listen to books I would read and then I was just like how do I get into that how do I get into holistic health and I actually had listened to a podcast about like this like health expert and I was like well how is she an expert yeah and then so I saw that she also did like some certifications became a certified coach how they want us coach and everything and then I was like okay well maybe I can do this it was like staring at me in the face for so many years but I didn't see it until I was like actually think I can pursue this I think I can do this and it was just like the most dumbfounding thing ever like it was insane and when I told all my friends they were like how have we not realized that and they were just like they were so like that's it like that is it for you
Reese
what do you think it was that was the final like oh my gosh obviously like what was the switch that flipped
Sneha
I think the switch had flipped was I was looking for different like income streams at the time early last year and I was like how can I different like make that happen for myself sure and then like usually people who have different income streams are expert in something and I was like okay well I feel like I'm an expert kind of in health and wellness stuff but I'm not really as well and so that that kind of like hurt knowing that and having that reality check with myself meaning like the self education piece you have but there's no like formal yes thing backing me up got it got it and it's also really hard to get that information as well I will say it's not out on Google like the most you can see is like Tik Tok it feels like cuz that's where people are candidly honest yeah and um I was like well I'm I want that holistic information the health and wellness the functional medicine where can I find that information so podcast is where I leaned into it where you'd find the bits and pieces and then but like grouping it all together was really hard so it just felt like I had random little pieces together but nothing like it's like the big piece of the puzzle it was lost somewhere yeah right like you had the corner pieces but we need to like build the other exactly and so then I I was just like so then I was like well how do I become this like expert at this thing like it started getting my like I don't know my brain turning yeah and started really thinking about it and I was being a reality check with myself and then I'd also been like listening to like like a bunch of stuff about like how to discover your purpose and passion and I just kept asking myself like what is it that I love so much what is it that I obsess over what is it that I'm so passionate about and everything would lead me back to like gut health everybody everything that would lead me back to would be like autoimmune disease disorders like things like that and mental health and when I listened to that podcast with that expert her name was Vanessa Fitzgerald and I was just like wow well there there is a way actually I didn't know there was a way and if people are it felt like because someone else took her seriously and gave her credibility I was like well how can I not get that how like I can get that too yeah right I just didn't think that people would take me seriously right and all this holistic stuff wasn't mainstream until now it's still getting there but it's there at least and that's what like really just opened the flood Gat not the floodgates open the doors yeah yeah yeah open the doors for me and I just felt like I cracked the code on like the one of the biggest things for myself and I was just like on cloud n like when I figured that out for myself and I was just so proud of myself and just telling all of my family and my friends about it and I just felt so right about it and I still did I still do and I had a feeling there was something more I wanted from it like at the time it was just want me to get my certification to be a functional health and wellness coach yeah the next steps are clear yes yes yeah it's like it's like you once you know where you're going you can get there but I had no idea where I was going and so that's why I was kept hitting walls cuz I'm like okay I'm doing this but where am I going like what is what's the point exactly what's the point what's the next steps I can't see beyond anything else but like now that I've chosen like and then through that um certification at the end of it I started realizing I was like I think I actually want to be a functional medicine practitioner and like I wouldn't admit it to myself for a few months thinking like I wasn't capable still or like there was a lot more I needed to do in order to prove myself yeah and then I was just like no shoot like that's what I want to do that is the next step I can see it so clearly I was like and it's going to be hard work yeah but it's the first time where it's hard work I've wanted to pursue
Reese
it's the hard work worth doing exactly yeah yeah what do you think loaded sorry yeah no no that's beautiful what um why do you think even once you would kind of you said you cracked the code which I just love um cuz it does feel like this big puzzle to also use another one of your analogies that um it's like you're trying to solve a puzzle but you don't even have the picture for reference and it's like well I have these things but what is it building up to when you finally found that reference picture so you can kind of start searching for these other pieces why do you think where was that piece that was still you said that that there was still this like feeling of um the perhaps like not quite good enough or um holding you back just a little bit or maybe needing another like certification or some sort of formal um credibility to why do you think that that was there
Sneha
it was all fear it was all fear-based like there was like it's it's all there's no reason you know like I I know myself at the end of the day before the overthinking kicks in I am more than capable I a very intelligent woman and like I am I'm just great honestly like like I know that but then the overthinking kicks in and then like I think it's like I started thinking of like how other people will perceive me and stuff like that and like I had family members who were in the medical field and everything and it's just like holistic health is so drastic from that and I was and some people will not take you seriously or even give you the credibility that you deserve even if you've walked the path like I'm not somebody that just like up and decided this is what I want to do I've had to walk this path to get here like I've had [ __ ] health still am getting better and then I got there yeah can we cuss I didn't know yeah yeah absolutely yeah you're good you're good yeah so I don't know as I realized that like I have a lot to offer and I don't know it's just the overthinking that kicks in but it's I think what it is is before the overthinking kicks in when you have that sense of like this is it I know it in my bones in my soul like the overthinking will come right after that but you have to remember that the truth in the reality is first thought that you had not all of the rest that followed because th then those aren't even your own thoughts those are other people's thoughts yeah those are other people's thoughts that kept me from seeing the whole picture I want to like pause on that
Reese
Goosebumps - yes all the overthinking that kicks in after is someone else's thought other people's thoughts that is so profound what do you think was the when you realized that like how did that change the way you approached this path
Sneha
I mean I became more confident in telling people I used to have a really hard time just like when people like what do you do you know and like for a long time I'd be like I'm still figuring it out so and then now I'm just so proud I'm like I work in functional medicine that's what I do and then I explain it further along right yeah and ask me your question one more time I want to make sure I'm really answering it
Reese
yeah no you're good how does um that realization that the truth is that first thought how has that changed the way that you approach your path
Sneha
okay yes I mean I keep it in mind right once when you're not ignoring yourself and you're not um trying to like just hide and stuff like that and you you really actually let your intuition your higher self like speak in and you listen to it and you trust it then like that is that is so right because there's never a time where I've had where my Intuition or my higher self has said something to me and it doesn't feel right it's never happened and I don't think that is like a thing at all yeah because if you feel it in your body What It Feels Right your body body knows what feels right and what feels wrong like when you see someone who is like dangerous or something your body tenses up or a dangerous situation or something and or a situation you don't like to be in your body tenses up your body knows before you do totally and what I've realized is that like when my body is feeling good my body is responding well I'm feeling really light those days that's the that's what I need to listen to and so it's like before the thoughts kick in like like ask yourself how is it that you feel like how is it that literally how is it that you feel like why do you feel so light like why are you feeling so clear that's what it is that's what it is actually um when that that first thought always feels so clear maybe it's the second or third thought for the other person but what I'm saying is is like when whatever it is that you're trying to do or getting to or that decision you're trying to make and something pops in your head and you're like that's the one that's right feel so Crystal Clear and then everything else kicks in then you're like oh well now I'm stuck again in the spiral and that's because the none of that is clear that's all that vague other people's thoughts other people's emotions that projected onto you and their versions of their lives projected on to you that's not you at all once it starts getting muddy that's not you yeah
Reese
so I'm going to ask a leading question which I'm so bad about but one thing I was thinking about is when you were talking about your experience in college that you knew that your intuition was there but you weren't listening to her yeah and now when you were just talking you were talking about how that first gut that is your intuition it's calling in your higher self it's that alignment with um purpose and that brings Clarity one thing that I think I've struggled with and I still struggle with is telling being able to identify the difference between intuition and anxiety or like a gut feeling and like oh this is the nervous feeling that means but you're excited and you should do it anyways or the stress feeling that means no this is bad do you think that it is that Clarity that is the difference
Sneha
it is I actually um asked an intuition coach that answer I was like how do I know the difference between intuition and fear yeah and we did this whole intuition like exercise and everything and she said that intuition always is clear it's never your higher self is always going to do what's best for you and what's good for you and once those other emotions start kicking in that's when like it's like imagine a clear vase clear water it's just mudding it up it's like pebbles being thrown in and so that's the difference it can be hard to figure it out I will say if you're not used to listening to yourself if you're not used to your intuition and everything but your intuition will never give you anxiety or fear or any of that because it's not supposed to be like that at all and which I'm sure you felt that at times right where it's like it feels so like this is right and then everything else kicks in but that's because that those are life's problems yeah those are everything else that's kicking in and everything but if you listen to that guidance that you already have within yourself then like you will be okay yeah yeah yeah
Reese
I have to believe that in order to get through this life honestly truly well and to continue and talking about one of the I mean in my opinion obviously you're much more expert on this than I am but one of the foundational principles of Functional Health is that connection between um body and spirit mind whatever right whatever you want to call the like ephemeral other thing um and I do think that like intuition Taps into that intersection between the two where you are like like you're saying pulling in your higher self pulling in Source the universe but then we do go back to how does it feel in our bodies like is that the like butterfly in our stomach like clenching um jaw tight shoulders tense or is it the clarity relaxation rest can you just talk a little bit more about that intersection and the inner play between those two pieces
Sneha
yeah definitely I will say that I've always been really intuitive it's just times we all have them where we don't listen to it and we do and I'm sure all of us many of us have had times where we're like I knew that you know you're like I should have listened to myself I should have done this and it's like I just knew it the whole time like that person that was in your life that was causing all that chaos you're like I just knew it yep that's your intuition yeah that is your intuition you didn't listen to it at first it's always in your head like a little voice in your head that's what it is for me at least that's kind of like it's not always talking or anything but sometimes it just like drops in when I need it and it's different for everybody but like yeah like when you're in a situation where something's telling you to leave you know or like any situation you're in we've all had them where something's like you're not safe here you need to some people don't something bad happens and then some people do and then they have to find out something bad had happened they like I'm so grateful I left yeah they listened and they feel that relief just like soaring through their body cuz they listen to themselves but you never you never regret following your intuition like you just don't and if you if you do things that are you know I want to say if you do things that are hurtful to other other people are to yourself that's never intuition that is never alignment with yourself at all that's you just being chaotic like really that's you being chaotic and that's you playing into the reactivity of your life you know and but like I I feel like people who might do that there's no way they feel really actually good in their bodies yeah you know what I mean I'm not saying like they don't feel good about themselves but like there's no way that their body likes that you know yeah and yeah I feel like does that answer your question totally and do I think
Reese
I just kind of have a followup it absolutely does but I'm thinking about this like um is it possible for because like hurting someone else is like my worst fear yeah right cuz you don't want to do that but I think sometimes um like your Intuition or like higher self will bump up against someone else's higher self and it's not that you're hurting them but it's perhaps y'all are like pushing each other to be better like where does um cuz I agree with you when you're hurting someone else or yourself you're not in alignment but I do think that sometimes inevitably um you're not going to be everyone's cup of tea oh no right and so what's that inner play like where it's like well I may hurt someone else's feelings but like that's also okay and that's also part of like learning that um I am not meant for everyone exactly
Sneha
exactly I know I'm not for everybody but the thing is is like not everybody's for me either yeah I don't want to be for everybody I used to I definitely did I wanted to be liked so bad and I was people pleasing and all of that and we I still have those Tendencies you know or those times I'll have to call up like a friend or something and like am I right or wrong in this situation I'm feeling a little guilty is that actual guilt or is that the people pleasing guilt you know there's a difference between the two and um I don't know I think that your question was about intuition how like yours might go over somebody else's yeah I guess like the difference between like hurting someone else and that being out of alignment versus like making someone upset and that could still possibly be an alignment like what's yeah yes definitely definitely so it's like if you feel like there's something you have to say like to the point where like you're kind of feeling a little sick because you're keeping it in it's racing through your mind and then like if you're having to outwardly talk about it a lot to other people you're going to ABC and like all these people talking about the situation but you're doing actually nothing about it and telling it to that person then like what are you doing that's not helping you at all no I think that makes a lot of sense because also anytime that I have like been in that situation where it's like I'm like blabbering over this decision or like in my head about it and I talk to all these people before I actually just go to that person it's like aren't you hurting them more by doing that than the honesty there so you are cuz then you're just being selfish in a way when you're not being honest to the other person and about your own feelings like you're putting your feelings above them in that situation ex exactly just because you don't want to face the [uncomfortability] of emotions you know that's like I don't I definitely don't mean that intuition doesn't mean drama drama is going to happen and sometimes having conversations with people who aren't receptive to that it'll cause drama right but you need to say it in order to move on in your life and then you feel better what I've noticed is that like if I've ever I've had times where I've had to cut a friend off you know we've we've all been there we've all been there and like I don't want to say it but like I'm like I have to so then I did and I felt nothing but relief after I felt so light I felt so good I know that that person was hurt but honestly I didn't care because I I was like I feel like I just did the best thing for myself like I don't need that energy or that person in my life at all I wish them the best it's not like I don't like them or anything I wish them the best you know we we had some good times but it now we're not like for each other anymore we're not growing together we're not helping one another be better for one another or like we're just adding chaos into the world being friends together and so it's like why would we keep doing that but that person didn't see that yet but I saw that right so that's my intuition being above theirs knowing better and I'm like I they've only keep hurting me and I feel like as a person I was just getting smaller and smaller because they were hurting me and so I was going out and gossiping about how annoying that person is or did you see that she did this or that you know and like I don't want to be like that yeah I don't want to like gossip like that well that's sending more negativity their way than saying with peace and love it's actually going to be better for both of us to discontinue our engagement exactly if you're not honest and you just want to spare their feelings all it's doing is infecting you with more negativity and just like whatever anger like disgust shame whatever those feelings that you have you're just allowing it more of that into your life one thing I'm thinking about too is the image that you painted earlier of the clear vase with the Clear Water just being that feeling of P pure like intuition and in this situation it's almost like when you have something muddying the water it's like taking a little spoon and scooping it out and if like mud wants to be mud it wants to cloudy things up and it may be hard but scooping it out of your water is actually protecting that Clarity and Purity exact and it's just going it's not going to ever become clear stay in your all that's going to do isy up yours exactly um exactly
Reese
yeah I think also that there's something um in there about like the importance of yes protecting your peace but also that like it is ultimately when when we're talking about like not wanting to hurt someone else and not wanting to hurt ourselves but inevitably we will right that there is something about like you can hurt someone in this moment and still be doing something that is beneficial for your growth and theirs right in the long term like there's these it it can feel really bad to do those things and be like I did hurt that person am I like operating not in my truth
Sneha
I think sometimes it's like no truth can be truth can be a bestie empowering a bestie like truth can be everything like I'll give you an example um one of my best friends have known forever you know like we have a hard time kind of being honest with each other and talking to each other about our feelings and anytime where we've heard each other our actions and just things we've said and that isn't like because like we just don't care or anything it's because of like our own trauma sometimes like get in the way of that whereas like I myself felt like you know being like being upfront to someone so close to me was just so hard because I thought that they just weren't going to understand me even if I tell them the truth cuz that happened to me in my childhood whereas like she felt that if she expressed herself she was just not going to be like even like heard at all or like thought of as crazy or something right or so anything like that but basically like we had this huge conversation and everything and like in the convers ation you know she was like well it hurts me that it took you this long to say something and it hurts me that you like you know think this and say this but I mean we had more conversations about it is the thing and like I told her I was like well this hurt me too yeah we had to express our hurt to move on and like we're still best friends you know you don't have to cut everybody off but if you're not even allowing yourself to have that real honest conversation then you don't give that opportunity for growth to be there
Reese
100% one thing my therapist is actually a she specializes in relationships which is so funny because yeah I am single but I'm like I've learned a lot about relationships from her expertise there um but one thing she always says that she talks to about her couples and she's like gifted me with this advice like think about any relationship whatever um is in the of marriage it's like if you're not willing to walk away there's no growth that can happen because you have to be right like you have to be willing to say this is the boundary that I will not cross otherwise nothing's going to change there has to be something there to like um build up from exactly and that's informed a lot of my relationships with like well if I'm not willing to walk away from this person they could treat me any way they wanted to and it would not matter um and I mean it's a two-way street right if they're not willing to walk away from me I can do anything I want and it will not matter and the relationship will just dig it'll be at the detriment to the relationship exact right um and so having enough self-respect to go into something even with your best friend and be like I'm willing to walk away if something like this happens but then caring enough about each other to work on that is like what I think shows love like I always feel so like corny in going there but it's like
Sneha
it does it does and I'm definitely one of those types of people it's like when I'm hurt my sometimes initial reaction can be to walk away and like I kept having like thoughts like that um but I just know I knew that's not what I wanted to do it's just like how I've been treated in the past I always told myself I will walk away if I'm treated like that again you know and so we just had that conversation I laid down my boundaries told her like what this in this happen wasn't okay she told me the same thing and that like we know we know to like not do that again and if we do we need to immediately talk about it not wait months to talk about it but like I just know exactly our relationship could have been digressing and to the been to the point of detriment if we kept going down the road the same road and taking advantage of each other and assuming the worst of each other when like we're good people we should assume the best of one another cuz at the end of the day I know between her and I it's just all love it's just life got in the way things got in the way our own assumptions got in the way assumptions play such a big role I am like what are those things where people people are just like they hate certain things where they're like I just don't like oh like your pet peeve pet peeve assumptions are my pet peeve right and because like people have made so many assumptions about me or like people use that as an excuse all the time oh I just thought I assumed that you wouldn't want this so I didn't get it for you I'm like well did you ask yeah yeah did you ask me so like assumptions are my pet peeve and I'm guilty of doing it myself but I try to be really thoughtful about it
Reese
no I think that is really important too and it makes me think of um I'm such a Brene brown person I'm like have I had a podcast where I haven't mentioned Brene Brown probably not I mean she's just great she's just great um I'm like her books are somewhere on the shelf behind me but um one of the things that she has is like the stories that we tell ourselves right and assumptions are just stories that we tell ourselves um either about ourselves or about other people people us and one thing that I've been on recently is um realizing that when I'm afraid of judgment or being judged it's not even that judgment is there it's that I'm prejudging myself through the vehicle of someone else like I am assuming what they are going to think already and it's like taking these like three jumps and it's like if they're going to judge you at least let them make the decision exactly we get so ahead of ourselves like and like we're just like it's our brain trying to rationalize you know what it is based on like our own things that we're going through
Sneha
it's like that survival thing kicks in it and so that's where it all comes from but it's like oh my God so much overthinking like and we as women do it so much where it's like I think she's thinking this way of me or he or they or whatever you know it's the it's the self- protection exactly and so it's just like well and then you actually talk to that person sometimes and they like well I didn't say hi because I thought this and they're like I thought you were like like me and you're like no actually you're so cool not at all and then you're just like what was I putting myself through that for like it's exhausting thinking like that isn't it
Reese
totally okay I'd be totally remiss if we didn't return back to Functional Health since that is like whatever like think about life it's true it's true but um one of the things that I found so just beautiful and powerful and important about your story is truly you you were talking about purpose and how for so long this used the word lost that you felt lost even though there was this sense of something there and then you found it and it was just like Cloud n and it's always been there and it was right in front of you um why do you think think it's I I mean you you talked a little bit about how functional medicine is in a lot of ways your story in healing yourself and healing your body and that that's a journey um you're still on and will always be on because no one's ever done with a healing um but why do you think it was functional medicine like what about that that specific one was like this is it this is the thing
Sneha
yeah so I you know I tried Western medicine approach like which nothing bad about Western medicine I think it has uh it serves the purpose that it needs to of like life saving medicine yeah you break your army and need a cast exactly I just don't think it serves the purpose of like longevity Optimal Health and PR preventative as well as just like kind of looking deeper like the root cause of a situation like it's symptom based that's just the fact of the matter and so at the time I didn't know much about like holistic health and things I knew about like iua because it's I'm Indian I grew up in that and things but it still wasn't um science fact enough for me and like it was just kind of like here are some things take that but I'm like I'm not that type like I need more explained to me I need some science behind it as well and functional medicine serves that purpose of like holistic health but with science so what what I did was I I did birth control I did like two rounds of spirino lactone like all these things to clear up my acne balance my hormones it just kept making me feel way worse and um on top of that I had a lot of like emotional um pain in my body my body still was harboring it you know like nervous system disregulation is what it was and for a long time with the way I grew up the way I operated in college even after it my nervous system was just like way out of whack completely and I was just constantly in fight or flight mode it felt like and then um yeah I tried so many things I went to so many specialists for like different things and nothing was helping me everything was just making me feel worse and then last year in functional medicine isn't covered by health insurance like I'll be honest it's expensive it's a privilege and um I just I had tried working with also a um or what's her naturopathic doctor oh okay and the specific naturopathic doctor um I don't think she didn't it's like naturopathic medicine is also a great option but it also has to be root cause that practitioner root cause naturopathic medicine I didn't know that at the time so she went to go and try to heal my um hormones instead of my gut health I see you're supposed to heal the gut and then the hormones can get imbalanced and everything like that I see cuz the hormones are being impacted by the gut yes yeah yeah and other underlying things cuz I just was like I'm still not feeling better so I stopped seeing her that didn't feel right either after a certain point and then I tried to solve it all myself through the education so I just had to seek education try to solve it all myself I did so many things to try like um try it and just like it's like I was getting a little bit better and then it just was all the same again the same symptoms and everything and then um I think it was around last May where I felt like I had felt the best I had felt from February to like April in years like mental health Clarity I had done like my own little research of like certain things to detox I was taking like some practitioner grade supplements I was like let me try a few things on my own before I like dish out the big pot you know and I was feeling really good from it and like really positive I had had some test results like um tell me like I was insulin sensitive like all these things maybe I had candida and so I was like okay well I know what to do what supplements to take so let me try that so I did some research did that feeling great thought I had it figured out then in May um my parents went to India for like 2 months so they asked me if I could go and take care of the motel and it was supposed to be for a month and I was like okay fine sure at the time I was freelancing and everything so I could just work from home and um being in that environment that disregulated my nervous system in the first place you're right back right back and like it's a motel there's chemicals and like things being used with and cleaned with all the time it just felt like it was all starting to come back again my mental health wasn't doing good and it really hurt having a taste of it of feeling good and then not again it just felt like I was going in circles and it was driving me crazy and I was like I think I need to really speak with someone who knows their stuff and so I bit the bullet and my intuition just kept telling me if you don't figure this out right now and you don't just go ahead and go with functional medicine you will end up with an autoimmune disease I was so clear on that it felt so like obvious it's it's just going to keep getting worse in my mind and my body yeah and so then I did it and then through results I found out I had mold toxicity glycosite toxicity my autoimmune antibodies have showed up so so that's and and thankfully I'm at the age where I'm young and resilient still and I haven't like gotten so like far into it like yes I wasn't feeling well at all like I was just felt like rotting all last year like I wasn't feeling good but it wasn't to the point where like like I had an autoimmune disease to be diagnosed you know like some antibodies definitely have shown up and are there I have some really high inflammation and everything in me according to my test results but yeah and so it again it was intuition that led me there and it just felt right and it was nice it was really validating I like I think I spent like 2 months just like crying about it after the results of like like I had been feeling like all of this for on and off like 10 years yeah like almost 10 years and it just felt so validating that it wasn't actually me all of these like all the issues I was having trouble with with my mental health my gut health I was like that was never me and I was being so hard on myself like and I was just pushing myself like trying I'm like why am I like not as motivated why am I not like why am I so fearful I have so much anxiety like you know maybe I need to practice more mindfulness practice this like do that and it was exhausting and I felt like it was so crazy cuz it felt like I was the healthiest person I knew because I was the one actively doing everything I could do it wasn't you and it was this affirmation validation empowerment that what I'm feeling isn't it wasn't really in my head it's it's it's real yeah like I just it was really it was it was like a grieving process I had to go through too of how hard I was on myself and like how like I had a lot of emotions that happened to me and like with the gut health piece like I was bloating like insane like at the time still and then like like I'm still getting better but like the thing about bloating is is it can cause a lot of like damage to your mental health because it's like your body isn't looking what you're used to and like I was working out I was doing all of these things and I'm just like confused you know and it's like a had body dysmorphia too and all of these things already on top of that and I didn't feel comfortable wearing a lot of the clothes I used to wear anymore my lifestyle like had to change things I wore had to change and like it really took a toll on me and my mental health like oh my God that piece just sucked like I had such bad brain fog I was like losing my memory like I my short-term memory was awful and like there are things that my sister and like will be like remember this and I like I don't remember much from last year like I do remember things but it's like certain things I'm just like that's scary you know yeah and so it's just it was nice to know that it actually wasn't me so I've had like another um I want to say flare up this early this year and what got me out of it was friends support and remembering that like this really isn't me at the end of the day this is the disease talking this is the mold talking like this is my anxiety and my fear talking like you know and it's like when you're going through any type of like sickness illness or just anything in life you have to remember that like it's not actually the real you it's all of these things that are kind of right now like piled on top of you you know and layered on you but at the when you scrape all that off that's not the real you and so that was really like I don't know just freeing yeah
Reese
yeah totally and I have to imagine that that freedom mhm that you felt is what you want to give other people yeah
Sneha
I do I truly believe that like not believe my like I'm passionate about the fact that like a lot of people just accept their health for what it is but like I really believe that we feel we deserve to feel healthier than we are that we're used to because I have so many friends so many people I'm around where they're just like well like I just feel so fatigued all the time and I'm like that's not normal that's not just really you you don't need to pump yourself with more caffeine like and like if you're so tired and like you have demanding things all the time from your job your life people like and you're just trying to like you're just trying to figure it out you're like why am I so tired I'm getting enough sleep like how much more caffeine can I drink and then you're just like it's just a you problem is what you think it is you think that's who you are I'm lazy I'm not motivated exactly exactly there's so many times where I thought I was lazy unmotivated not living to my full potential but that was not me yeah at all and now I get to experience who me really is and like I want to say I'll never forget it but like life happens but I have I have good people to remind me pull me out of those spirals I have the right tools now therapy is great reiki is amazing um that helped a ton and then going on like trips helps a lot too like Bali changed my life and it was the best
Reese
I love that yeah well Sneha I cannot thank you enough for sharing your story I have two final questions one is just in light of our conversation and everything we've talked about is there anything we missed that you need to get out there is there anything that you want to clarify return to anything at all you want to share yeah this is space for that
Sneha
all I honestly I think need to say are two things about being lost for as long as I was it's not normal to feel as lost as long as I was and I know some people have felt that for even longer in their life but like you don't have to feel like that actually like you can feel found like you have found something and it has found you and there are ways to get to it and I would like love to help people figure that out and I hope that that's what I also get to do on top of functional medicine because like I'm with my sister and my cousin I'm always encouraging them to try more things never limit yourself limiting myself is what got me to a lost place and also just like people's expectations of me yeah those other voices that those two things really got me there and I just didn't pursue what I wanted to pursue because of fear but like if you want to do it freaking do it yeah like literally just freaking do it because who else is going to live your life other than you yeah
Reese
yeah I love that yeah that's just all I need to say that's beautiful last question yeah what is just one word to describe how you're feeling right now
Sneha
I think ready
Reese
I love that tell me more
Sneha
yeah so like I feel like it's like just really great timing the way you asked me to come on to this podcast you know I've never done a podcast before and I social media is something I want to pursue so heavily for myself yeah um for years for years it's been this like thing in my head I can never get out like I'm constantly just like thinking of oh this would be a really great idea this would be some great content like I know in my bones and my soul it's an intuitive thing that I need to be on social media I need present myself on there but getting to there has been really hard for me and again it's like when you're lost you don't know what to post I didn't want to be all vague about what I wanted to be like I wanted to be obvious like what I care about what I'm passion about purpose about like I wanted a clear message through all of my posts I've now gotten to that point you know in life where it's so clear and now I just need to go for it and I I've been wanting more so much more and I've always wanted a lot of myself I just didn't know if I could do it but I really do think I can and so absolutely I feel really supported in wanting more that's the piece you know it's like I've always wanted more but when it takes when you you need that support to get there too totally it's you can't get through everything life alone you really can't but I want a lot more
Reese
I love that I'm ready and you're ready for it I am so excited that you feel ready and excited to watch all of the beautiful things you're going to do and thank you so much for your time energy vulnerability sharing your expertise I'm so grateful
Sneha
I'm so grateful too I feel like I'm in my highest self just speaking to you you know that is such I feel like we're in a really good vibration right now
Reese
that's like the highest compliment I could receive thank you