Khara' Jefferson: The Stress Connection

In this episode we talk about the gut-brain connection and how a mindfulness practice is supportive of healing. Khara Jefferson joins us to guide us through whole body health.

Show Notes

Khara struggled with stomach pains and digestive issues for three years in college, only to be told that it was a virus.  When she finally got properly diagnosed, the doctors told her that she had advanced Crohn's Disease, and should avoid the stress of medical school, as she would have to deal with being ill for the rest of her life.

After several surgeries, Khara finally turned to Reiki, essential oils, and alternative medicine for healing, which brought improvement and led her to Functional Medicine.

Stress
Stress is not just one thing.
Eustress - good stress counts too!
Distress - bad stress can stay and compile and lead to chronic stress, in turn leading to illness.

Gut-Brain Connection
Of course there is a connection!
50% of dopamine is made in the gut, as is over 90% of serotonin.
It is not just brain health, but full body health. Including emotional.
We are not one dimensional!
Holding stuff in can derail health!

We can handle acute stress in about 90 minutes.

We are living a life of convenience today which leads to rushing and stress.

Mindfulness
Your ability to be fully present in the moment.
We need to slow down!

There is no such thing as a quick fix!
Being mindful is a PRACTICE!

Pause, Breathe, Reflect!

JOY - Vitamin J
Joy is essential
We need to have little moments of fun!  It will lead to being more positive and less stressed.

Little small things, minute by minute present opportunities to tune in and be mindful.
Relax down to the cellular level.

Ask yourself...what is the one thing that my body says it needs right now?

Creators and Guests

Host

Julie Howton

What is Inspired Living with Autoimmunity?

The podcast for high achievers who want to stay sharp, focused and full of energy despite their diagnoses. Those who know there has got to be something better than simply accepting decline.

Hosted by Julie Howton, a National Board Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach who used to suffer from crippling Rheumatoid Arthritis until she learned the tools and strategies to take her power back from autoimmunity.

In this podcast, Julie brings you interviews with thought leaders in the Functional Health and Wellness space. You will get actionable recommendations to Take Your Power Back and catapult your health. No fluff, just concrete, useful steps to improve your health!

Welcome back to the inspired
living with autoimmunity podcast.

I'm your host, Julie Michaelson.

And in today's episode, we're
joined by Khara Jefferson.

And we're talking about the gut
brain connection and the role that

chronic stress plays in illness.

Kara's healing journey is beyond
inspiring and led her from working

in the ER to functional medicine,
where she empowers patients to have

more control over their health.

Khara shares how we can all bring
mindfulness to our day to day in order

to keep in touch with what our bodies
need and have better lives all around.

Khara, welcome to the podcast.

Thank you.

It's so nice to be here.

So I am so excited for you
to share with us today.

And I love to have listeners
get to know you a little bit.

I know most of us don't decide
when we're youngsters, that this

is where life is gonna take us and,
and how we're gonna spend our time.

So I would love for you to share
a little bit of your journey with

listeners and, and specifically, of
course, you know, what brought you

to the functional medicine realm?

So, yeah, you're exactly right.

I was a college student many years
ago and I thought that everything

in my life was going great.

And then.

You know, I had some stomach pains.

Like everybody else, you have
a little bit of stomach pain.

You have a little bit of diarrhea.

You think you have a
stomach bug, you move on.

Cuz that's what I was told that
I actually had for three years.

And then in my senior year of college, I
started having worsening belly pain to the

point that I didn't wanna leave the room.

I couldn't be far from the bathroom.

I.

10 pounds in less than a
month, went to the doctor.

And I was told I had a stomach virus and
I knew I didn't have a stomach virus.

All of those symptoms, you
know, night sweats, all of it.

And so I remember leaving that
office feeling so fired up.

I was angry and I called my parents
and I was like, I actually need to

go see a gastroenterologist, cuz my
major at the time was biology premed.

And so I also knew that
something was wrong.

So I called the insurance company
and they gave me a big, long list.

And the wait to get into all of
the gastroenterologist was like

three to six months and I just
called and made appointments and

canceled appointments until I found
somebody who could take me ASAP.

And I did.

I found somebody who could take me.

I had a colonoscopy and I remember
waking up and looking at my parents'

faces and knowing something was
immediately wrong, but I was too

sleepy at the time to recognize it.

And then later that evening
they were like, Yeah.

He says you have one of the
most advanced cases of Crohn's

disease that he's ever seen.

He's gonna try to keep you on and keep
you as his patient, but he's not sure.

So we're gonna just start with
these steroids and these pills.

So that was the, the beginning of what
seemed like a long tumultuous journey.

I.

Soon had a GI bleed.

I had pancreatitis.

They weren't sure if it was the
medication they put me on or my

gallbladder since it had sludge.

So then they removed my gallbladder.

Got pancreatitis again.

It wasn't the gallbladder

it wasn't the gallbladder.

No, it was . It was
actually the medication.

Was on bunch of different medications,
medication after medication steroid, after

steroid, then moved up to the biologics.

And the one thing that we determined
is once I started the biologics,

every two years, I was having surgery,
my Crohn's disease, which is an

autoimmune disease, which affects you
anywhere from the mouth to the anus.

It actually forms strictures.

So imagine like your intestines
being the size of this, but.

Food is only passing
through this pinpoint hole.

So my stricture would get so
inflamed that I had to have.

First.

I had a Hemi colectomy, and then
I had a small bowel section.

Then I had a stricter of plasty
and a small bowel section.

Then I had another small bowel restric
and throughout all of this, yeah.

Permanently broken digestion

So they told you

Yes.

Yes.

Exactly.

And so, you know, bowel obstructions,
because now I have all these

surgeries and all the surgeries
form, scar tissue or adhesions.

And so then I kept getting
bowel obstructions.

So severe cramping, vomiting,
like projectile vomiting.

And so finally I remember going and I,
he saw me in the hospital and he was

like, you need to have another surgery.

And I'm like, I'm not doing it.

I'm I actually had saw something somewhere
about this lady who had had fertility

problems and adhesions, and she did this
manipulative type of physical therapy.

And so I said, I'm gonna try that.

And the surgeon was like,
that's a bad idea, but my GI

doc was like, you know what?

Do it.

Yep.

Try it.

And so that's what actually
started my role to recovery.

I did that.

My mom is a Reiki master yoga
instructor, and hangs out with a

bunch of alternative medicine friends.

We put a little bit of essential
oils in that mix, and I slowly found

functional medicine started employing
some of those practices and micro

Crohn's disease has been in re.

What an amazing I see.

I knew you had, I knew you had a story.

I didn't know it was that intense.

And it it's one of my, I I've.

So many, this isn't supposed to be what
the whole interview and it won't be what

the whole interview's about, but I have
so many questions is this is listeners

already know, you know, my mission is
that nobody is told they can't heal.

And that if somebody's told they can't
heal, they've already heard enough

to know they shouldn't believe it.

And.

Obviously auto immunity across the
board, chronic illness in general,

but auto immunity across the board,
but Crohn's and ulcerative colitis are

like my pet peeve diagnoses in that.

And I'm, so I'm really
curious about your story.

Most of the people I encounter.

They're not told to change diet or
they're told to avoid things like

vegetables, cuz that's dangerous.

Or a, and you know, a again, it's that
same story that I was told with the RA.

Nothing you could do, but take
the steroids, take the biologics.

It's your only hope.

And it it's maybe.

I don't have either one of
those diagnoses never did.

But I have a son with celiac who
projectile vomited his first four years

of life and was super medicated for
that and saw the quote unquote, top

specialists at the universities, you
know, that, and, and nobody ever said.

What are you eating when I was nursing?

Or what is he eating when he was, I mean,
it, it just, and now in hindsight I'm

like, okay, it, we all know all of it,
and we're gonna talk about this today.

The gut is related to, to all of it.

But when you have something like
Crohn's Sy symptoms, the fact that

food is like the last thing they think
about just literally blows my mind.

Blows my mind.

It.

Yeah.

So it, it blows my mind too.

Like as I go back and I look.

Look back at what happened.

It wasn't probably until 10
years into my journey that

they actually had me sit down.

I think I sat with both a dietician
and a nutritionist on two different

occasions, but that was way later their
main message in the beginning was I

understand that your desire was to go to
medical school, but you actually can't

because the stress is gonna kill you.

Crohn's disease is something that.

You will have to live with
for the rest of your life.

There is no cure.

You will be on medication
forever and ever.

The only thing that might help you is if
you happen to have surgery that you end

up with a bag for, you know, for life.

And that's the only, that's the
only thing I was told in order

to keep your symptoms at day.

You can eat rice.

You can eat as much potatoes
as you want stay O yes.

White bread, white rice.

Anything else is going to aggravate your
gut vegetables, stay away from them.

They will aggravate your gut.

And so I did the exact opposite when
I was healing, you know, of every

single thing they told me, but yeah,
that's what, that's what life was like.

Well, and this is exactly why
we do this, right, because.

Again, I, nobody needs to take
that as truth and, and see,

it took me so good for you.

You got angry right away.

You know, it took me years to realize
like, wait a minute, maybe they're wrong.

You know?

I know 11 years and I was on 10
prescriptions, 11 years in that weren.

Helping and, and so good for you, although
you obviously still had a very tumultuous

journey to get to where you are now.

How are you today?

So today I feel good.

And I also look back and I think that
I made some of the right choices.

Even though I didn't
know, they were right.

So, you know, is stress bad?

Yes, it is.

It's bad when you have any kind of
gut problem, but it's bad for anybody.

So it wasn't just the fact that I
had Crohn's disease that made it bad.

But I think back right now, especially
every single time I was in pain

and I had to go to the emergency
department or I went and I saw,

they were like, Do you need a
prescription for some pain medicines?

And I never did.

I was, I have a pretty high pain
tolerance, and so I never became

addicted to any pain medicines or
anything like that, but I could

see how somebody in my very same
shoes, how easy it would be because

you're just suffering all the time.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I, I did take pain
medications at night to sleep.

I was a single mom, so, well,
still am a single mom, but

with young kids at the time.

And so taking them during the
day, wasn't an option for me.

And I remember it's.

So I remember, I mean, those
are the two things they're

willing to write quickly, right.

That, and do you need an antidepressant?

No, I'm not depressed.

Like fix me.

like, I'm not, you know, but I
remember when I was making changes.

And they were starting to work.

And I went to the rheumatologist
and I said, and, and he said, do

you need a prescri, you know, a
new prescription for painkillers?

And I said, no.

And he said, well, why not?

And I said, well, I
don't take them anymore.

And he looked at me and he goes, wow.

Most PA all my, you know, almost
all my patients just need more

and more, you know, higher doses.

Nobody ever takes themself off.

And, and I remember thinking, I didn't
say it cause I was raised well, you

know, like, well, don't you think
something's wrong with that model?

like, why is that?

The only thing you expect is
to have to write, you know?

So thank God.

I'm so grateful that.

Yes, I, I was using them, but I did,
I wasn't addicted and didn't become

addicted and, and I, I can just
see how, you know, it could totally

become a crutch and, and, you know,
it's, it's not the patient's fault.

Like it just is just part of,
they give them out like PS

candy.

I'm I'm I know guilty.

Worked emergency medicine for practically
my whole nurse practitioner career.

So I

Well, and, and so you understand kind
of the behind the scenes too, part of

it is, you know, you, if, especially in
an ER, because I went through this, this

made me, I, again, I was, don't even
remember where I was in, in my journey,

but I, I still had pain medication.

I was starting to do better.

I was riding my horse again.

I had fractured my back
and ended up in the ER.

Gave them, my full history gave them
all 11 medications or 10 medications I

was taking, including the painkillers.

And they a, they didn't find the fracture
in that particular ER, and, and I had

that like knew something was really wrong.

So luckily I had a great doctor
and called her and said they just

sent me home, but they missed
something something's really wrong.

And so she called ahead and sent me
to another ER, and of course, and I

had a, I had a fracture and, and which
made much more sense, but the one thing

they were sure to do was send, you
know, call in a Percocet prescription.

And I even said to them, I'm like, but.

Have a bottle of Vicodin at home.

I don't need Percocet.

Like this isn't about the
PA I'm not pain seeking.

like I, you know, or medication seeking.

But that part of it is I think their
feedback loop that, you know, they can't

send you home without good pain control.

And that's, you know, that're
taught that that's good medicine and

And when somebody's ha in acute pain,
you know, the goal is always, let's give

you something to be more comfortable
because I, you know, all the times I

was in the emergency department and
at the time I used to apologize and I

actually didn't want my parents to bring
me because I was like not to that, ER,

because I knew all the people working
there and I always felt like I'm so sorry

I don't wanna be a burden.

Yeah.

Well, and.

That story the, the apologetic, you
know, well, behaved young lady plays

right into, you mentioned stress.

Right?

And, and it is interesting to me that
that doctors told you even early on

like medical school's too stressful.

So, so on some level they
do understand that there's a

lifestyle connection, right.

but they never said what do what?

This is how you actually manage stress.

This is how you decrease stress.

It was, you can't go to medical
school because it's gonna kill you.

And so for me, I've
always been very driven.

So I was like, so what
do you want me to do?

Because I can't stay home.

I recognize that for some people,
things get really bad and debilitating

enough that they feel like they don't
have a choice, but for me, I knew

that I still wanted to help people.

So I did the other stressful thing and
I went to nursing school, the nurse

Yeah, cuz that's so much better.

so much less stressful.

oh my goodness.

So your, your story.

So accentuates and again, it's not
just Crohn's and UC it's all of us.

We have this, this
connection with the gut.

Anybody with auto immunity, all of
us in general health and immunity.

I wanna talk about that and bring
stress into the conversation since

it is, we know such a such, I always
look at like chicken or egg, right?

Like, so they, you know, once
you're diagnosed, they say, well,

this is too stressful for you.

Well, like I wonder if
that stress level led to.

The diagnosis to begin with.

So, and I'm gonna just throw it at you
to start wherever you want with that

really giant, multi tentacled question.

Yeah.

And I think so there's
different kinds of stress.

And I don't think that people
really recognize that stress is.

Not just one thing, but stress
is usually defined as your body's

response to any kind of demand.

And so there's good stress,
which is called UREs.

So, you know, you preparing for your
wedding or you just got engaged in,

or putting together an engagement
party or your kid's birthday party.

Those are examples of good stress because
you know that the, in the end you're

generally gonna have some kind of good.

The problem comes in when our body goes
into distress, which is the bad stress

and it has a negative connotation and you
stay there for prolonged periods of time.

So then it's no longer an acute event.

It is something that is.

Chronic.

And so that's when you start getting all
these little warning signs from your body.

And so that's when those
symptoms occur, right?

Maybe it's a headache, maybe it's belly
pain, you know, like sometimes when

things don't feel good, some people
get that little sensation in their gut.

So you automatically know, oh,
something's not right here.

Those are all your body
saying, Hey, look at me.

Something is going on.

I need you to slow down.

And so that's kind of how I tie stress in.

The other part is, you know, stress,
a lot of people think your brain is

completely separate from your gut.

They're not, you're serotonin, you know,
50, 50% of your dopamine producing in

your gut over 90% of your serotonin.

Produced in your gut.

And so people think about those
things as just dealing with the

brain, but it's not just the
brain, it's your full body health.

And so the reason that you find that
when people are stressed or they say

they're anxious, they generally have
some kind of gut component to it.

That's why people who are chronically
ill, Crohn's disease, ulcers of colitis,

they wanna give you the antidepressant.

So I think exactly what you said they're
they know that the medical community

knows there's some relationship,
just not quite sure how, and it's

always easier to throw a pill

Well, and that's the training of the
model to, you know, it, it really is.

And you worked in an ER, like got,
you know, if I had an emergency, if

I need surgery, like that's where
I'm going is to that Western system.

It's great at acute care.

I wanted to circle back and cuz
I know you see this and I see it.

And for those listeners that are like,
oh, they're talking about stress again.

You know, I don't feel stressed out.

We don't necessarily, you talked
about the signals, but we get, we

always get the signals, but often.

We're we've become disconnected
from them and we don't hear it.

So for everybody listening,
you, you didn't, you guys

have heard me say this before.

You don't have to feel stressed out.

To have chronic stress be affecting your
health and you, you did such a beautiful

job, you know, giving us examples of, of
the, both the use stress and the distress.

And just know like in today's world,
it like it doesn't, doesn't have

to be one stress that's there.

Chronically.

We have.

Countless little stressors that
rotate and compile and add up.

And so, and that creates that,
that kind of chronic stress issue.

And that's why some
sometimes will support.

You know, clients with, you know, gut
stuff, real, real significant gut stuff.

Where, and I know stress is a
player and we're working on stress

management and they'll support
with some neurotransmitter support.

And they're like, but wait,
why am I on that supplement?

And I'm like, well, all this stuff's
made in your gut or a lot of it

is, and again, chicken or egg it's
like which, which imbalance came.

And, and so somebody doesn't have to
have chronic diarrhea or constipation.

And, and we just were talking
about somebody who came into

the clinic last week and.

It people hear I say, are you constipated?

Or how's your gut?

And people say, oh fine.

And I'm like, well, tell me more.

yes.

tell me more about that.

How often are you moving your
bowels and what is it like?

We don't have to get too into all of
it here, but I'll just offer this.

What is normal for you?

May not be optimal.

So just cause you've had
diarrhea since childhood doesn't

mean that's how it should be.

And if you're only pooping once a week
and you think that's fine, Uhuh, no bueno.

Yeah.

It's not.

People think that when I.

It's that most people for most people's
stress is mostly a mental thing.

But even when you're sick,
even when you have a cold, your

body is under stress, right?

It's still under that physical stress.

There's also the emotional stress.

If you have a.

Undergo any kind of traumatic event, the
death of a loved one, even loss of a job.

There's so many examples that I can
give, but every single thing factors

in, and we are not one dimensional,
like we experience life on all

these different levels and all of
that combined makes us who we are.

But just because we're not
thinking about it, just because.

I could have something going on in my
life right now, and I'm smiling and

I'm talking and everything is fine.

It doesn't mean that I don't have all of
this stuff in the back of my head that

the minute I stop is not gonna come right
back up or I know I need to cry, but I'm

holding it all in because I don't want
people to see my emotions over time.

Holding stuff in is really,
it's really detrimental to.

And that's a whole, that's like that
chronic stress, because normally

if you have an acute stress event,
your body is able to take that.

And within 90 minutes, turn that around.

Generally, assuming you're sleeping
well, too, but when you're not.

It's over and over your system is
hit and it's so like imagine standing

up marching and every single time,
some stressful event hits you.

You go down, you go down, you go down.

And so then you're not upright anymore.

Right.

You're kind of beaten and worn down.

And that's what stress does to you.

That is very, very well said.

And, and again, we, you, you
mentioned it right in the beginning,

but I'm gonna circle back.

Stress people hear stress.

And, and because we talk about chronic
stress and illness or stress and, and

health they think, oh, stress is bad.

No stress, isn't bad.

We need stress.

Exercise is stress, right?

You build muscles by stressing
them so they can repair.

So stress.

It's not the stress.

It's how we manage it.

Or don't.

or don't

and so I wanna talk about that because
I always joke, you know, we don't

have the podcast just to be Debbie
downers and, and sound hopeless.

That's that's the opposite of the cause.

Right?

So you're really here to share with us.

What we can do about it or what
we should be doing about it

or what we might do about it.

And so if we, you and I can get
everybody to believe us, that they

all are experiencing chronic stress
to some degree, where do we start?

What are some things we can be doing?

So one of the most important things
I think that we need to realize is.

Our life, especially here in America,
but I've ventured to say all over the

world has become one of convenience.

And so we are rushing, rushing,
rushing, which means that we are

putting our autonomic nervous system.

It is having to choose
between your sympathetic.

Nervous system state, which is
your fight or flight versus your

parasympathetic nervous system state,
which is rest and digest, which

is where we want to optimally be.

And so in order to get yourself
and get that stress level down, we

actually need to be more mindful.

And I know people are probably listening
to this and they'll say, oh, here we go.

At that

The eyes just rolled.

Yep.

here we go with that.

But really.

All mindfulness is, is your ability to
be fully present in the moment to be able

to feel whatever it is that you need to
feel for you to not be overwhelmed about

everything that's going on around you.

And.

Slow down, right?

What's your body doing?

How am I moving?

How am I breathing right now?

Because when I usually, when I ask this
and I ask this in a workshop that I just

did, like, so how are you breathing?

And it forces people to actually
stop and say, I don't ever

really think about breath.

And it's not something that people
normally do, but I also have seen

people who walk around and in
their attempt to be swimming, they

hold their breath in all the time.

Like they hold their belly in right.

All the time.

And when you hold your belly in,
you can't fully expand your lungs.

So that's still stressing your body in a
way that it doesn't need to be stressed.

So.

Just being mindful.

Am I holding my breath in?

Do I have tension around my neck?

Like just what's going on
in your body at this moment.

I love that with the kind of
picture that flashed in front of me.

When you, when you said you
talked about your ability to

be fully present in the moment.

It is, it's an art that is almost lost.

I mean, it, it does take, we
talk about mindfulness practice.

It does take practice in this day and
age, as, as you mentioned, you know,

the way we're in this go go, go society.

And if you think about, you know, a.

I was gonna say a teenage kid, but
it's not even it's adults, too.

You know, people always on their
phones and they're not really

with you when they're with you.

So we went from like, not even being
in touch with what's going on in our

bodies to not even being present and
connected with those that were with.

Yes

And so what a gift it becomes for loved
ones and friends and everybody, you

for everybody.

Yeah, I think.

I, I I'm guilty.

So like, you

we all

though we, yeah, even though
we practice this stuff, it

still takes conscious effort.

And the one thing that I try to
tell my clients is that there's

no such thing as a quick fix.

Right.

Even when you think you're
doing something, that's a quick

fix, like taking a pill time,
there are consequences to that.

So.

Being mindful is a practice.

Just like anything else, all
of a sudden, you didn't just

get good at your job today.

It took you doing it
over and over and over.

And that's what mindfulness is.

It's the same thing with, with breathwork
because I like to think of breathwork a

lot with my mindfulness, but breathing
helps to especially breath work.

It helps to regulate your
autonomic nervous system.

And so then.

It helps you become more resilient
so that you just don't fall apart at

any time of stress, you can actually
just pause cuz I was at something and

the three words were pause, breathe.

Reflect.

And so if you can do that and just
pause and really be conscious, some

for most people, it's taking a big
deep breath and letting it out.

Some people do the box breathing
technique, where they inhale for

four, pause up at the top for
four exhale for four and start

the whole process all over again.

Whatever you need to do
breathing can really help you

It it's so it is one of
my absolute favorite.

Hacks, if you will,
it's not really a hack.

, it's an essential tool.

But what I love about breathing, I always
tell nobody knows when you're doing it.

So once you build the practice and that is
a tool that you can use as a go to, oh my

gosh, the power in, you know, somebody's
trying to push your buttons, you can be

breathing and it's just not gonna get
you to that spot where it could have.

And so it is so, so powerful.

I, I love that.

I love the pause.

Breathe, reflect.

I, I have a friend.

I don't know if that's where you were,
who has a, that's the name of his, his

business is PBR pause, breathe, reflect.

So it's, it's essential.

So is that where you have
people start is breath or.

So I think, well, I think it's
a, you can start with breath.

I don't, I think so.

The way that I approach
things is there's no.

One way fits all for everybody.

So people have to start with
the thing that feels the best.

I generally encourage people cuz in
addition to stress stress, we have to work

on sleep, which kind of goes in concert.

And we also have to work
on food and nutrition.

But the thing that I really want
people to do is find some kind of joy.

Right.

I call that vitamin J that's
what I learned from that.

So find something that makes you happy.

And so whether that's putting on
music because you like music, or

maybe you're one of these people
who likes to dance, get up and dance

and shake it like nobody's watching.

Right.

Laugh.

Comedy helps a lot of people.

So whatever that strategy
is for you find something.

And when you're feeling stressed, just
make sure that you have these moments like

that interspersed throughout your day.

So that it's not, oh my gosh, I have
this to do I have this to do, and

you're not having any fun at all.

Just a little, those little moments of
fun are actually the thing that actually

got me out of my head when I was going
through this and I encourage it for every.

They are so, so powerful and I love
that you hit on how individualized

it really does need to be.

Just like.

Diet and other lifestyle areas,
you know, people say to me all the

time, just tell me what to eat.

You know, what do you eat?

I'll eat what you eat.

I'm like, oh, but you're not in my body.

It's the same.

I, I joke one of my absolute favorite
stress relievers is time with my horses.

And I joke cuz you know, some people
might not find that stress relieving

to be with a 1200 pound animal that.

Lives in a fight or flight
response all the time.

so, but for me, that's like
my Zen, my BLIS, I love it.

And so it really does, it is
individual and some of it,

obviously that's a bigger activity.

Although they're here at home so I
can run out, but Whether it's and the

laughter and the joy, I am sure you
see what I see it, it breaks my heart.

I'll ask people what brings you joy.

And so often they don't,
they don't have an answer.

That's quick.

Yeah.

And, and so often, and especially anybody
who's been experiencing chronic illness

for some time, it, it, that is one of
the things we do tend to lose touch with.

So I love that you mentioned that because
that's a, it's such a, it's it essential.

It, it's not, we think
of joy as like a bonus.

It's not a bonus.

It's essential for our health.

It is it's essential for our health.

And you made me think
about overall pet therapy.

So for you it's horses for
somebody else that might be

dogs or their cat, whatever it

I have four dogs who so far
have been quiet today, but

Pet therapy is real, but you know,
other people have other activities.

So I'll also share that.

One of the other things that I think
is finding when I say to finding joy

in some of the little things that we
do every day sometimes it's a game.

Like I used to try to play this game
with myself, like, okay, I know today

is a really bad day, but what's the
one thing that I can be thankful.

And so if I can find one thing to be
grateful for the more you find one

thing, the more you, you realize how
many things you can still be grateful

for, even in your darkest moments.

Right?

So like I still have eyes that can
see, I still have feet that can walk.

So those little things.

And that's exactly what I tell people.

You know, if you're having one of those
days where, because for me having a

gratitude practice, keeping a gratitude
journal is such a powerful tool and like

the breathing, it doesn't take an hour.

It, it, you know, it, it can be, I like
you said, one thing, I usually I say

three, but one is a great place to start.

And I say, if you're having one
of those days, we all know what

those days feel like for us.

Start with your body.

What is working in your body?

Like you said, you know, I can
see, or I can hold the pen.

I, you know, whatever it is.

And it does tend to snowball and
I'll add because I've had so many

clients kind of look at me like you
don't think I'm a grateful human.

No, it has nothing to do with
being a grateful human, like

the mindfulness it's a practice.

And it's a practice that creates new
and neuro pathways in your brain.

And you, you get to grow and bring in
that wellness that the, and like you

said, then you see stuff everywhere.

Like you can't, you
can't get away from it.

It's

Yeah.

Yeah, you can.

It, it, it starts to make you
more positive and when you're more

positive, you're less stressed.

You may be able to prioritize and organize
yourself just a little bit better.

And you can also realize, like,
you know what, I can stay away from

people who are toxic because toxic
people are another source of a huge

source of stress for most people.

And a lot of people just kind of
deal with it, but you don't have to.

The other thing that you said
that I, you know, taking things a

little bit at a time, I remember
people used to tell me things like.

Oh, just take it day by day.

Actually, I didn't take it day by day.

I realized that if I looked at it
as taking it day by day, who knows

what's gonna happen in that day?

So I actually started saying, okay,
what can I do in the next minute?

yep.

And then it became five minutes and then
it was, you know, and so incrementally,

it might be different on different days.

It might be today.

What can I do this hour?

And another day it might be, what
can I do in the next two minutes?

That's gonna make me feel a little
bit better or just get done.

So little small things help
you to be less stressed because

you're in a different mindset.

And the whole goal is to help your body
to relax way down to that cellular level.

I love it.

Relax down to the cellular level.

I'm writing that one down.

so you just gave us a few.

But as everybody knows, I want
you to circle either circle back

and pick one or add another.

What is the one thing listeners
can start today to, to start

to improve their health?

So today, if I had to pick
one thing, It is just overall.

I know it is , it's just
overall be more mindful.

So when you're feeling like, Hmm,
I might be a little bit stressed.

What is that one thing that my body is
saying that it needs and go with that.

Cause it might, it probably will change
day to day, but go with that one thing.

So if that one thing is turn
up the music and dance till

your heart's content, do it.

If it's journaling start writing.

I love it.

And that's where it's individualized.

So you guys find your one thing today,
which may be different than tomorrow's.

We'll have, I'll have all the links for
people to find you in the show notes.

But I am somebody who loves to list
to podcasts when I'm on the go.

And so for those that are listening
and not looking, where's the best

place for listeners to find you.

So the best place for them to
find me is actually on my website,

which is KHA wellness.com.

They can shoot me over a message or.

Are on Instagram and the DMS, cuz I check
that pretty regularly and that's at Karaj.

Love it.

Carra thank you so much.

You have given us amazing gold today.

Listeners have gotten so much
value out of this and we have

really enjoyed having you here.

Thank you.

I enjoyed being here.

This is like my thing.

So I thank you for having.

Absolutely for everyone listening.

Remember you can get the
show notes and transcripts by

visiting inspired living.show.

I hope you had a great time and
enjoyed this episode as much as I did.

I'll see you all next week.