Often these kinds of things that are
difficult, suffering, relationships,
breakups, illness, take us to a point of
like, We're at rock bottom, but at rock
bottom is when we can start going up.
And at rock bottom, we can start to
say, do I love all parts of myself?
Cause when I first got divorced and
my husband left for someone else and
all of this happened, I literally
was like questioning my own value.
Am I worthy of love?
Like at the core, right?
The question is, am I worthy of love?
And the only way we can truly heal,
especially in the realm of auto immunity
is to look at all parts of ourselves
and truly and unconditionally love and
accept ourselves just like we do those
friends and family that are around us.
Welcome back to the Inspired
Living with Autoimmunity podcast.
I'm your host, Julie Michelson.
And today we are joined by Dr.
Jill Carnahan.
You're a functional medicine expert.
She's a double board certified physician
and the founder and medical director
of Flatiron Functional Medicine.
As a survivor of breast cancer,
Crohn's disease, and toxic mold
illness, she brings a unique
perspective to treating patients.
Released in 2023, Dr.
Jill's best selling book, Unexpected,
Finding Resilience Through Functional
Medicine, Science, and Faith, is a
powerful prescriptive memoir that
will have you laughing and crying
with her on the journey, leaving you
with the key resources you need to
achieve optimal health and wellness.
Dr.
Jill's also the executive producer, film
writer, and featured in a new documentary
that was just released about her journey
of overcoming illness, which is called Dr.
Patient.
In today's conversation, we are talking
about the healing power of loving
yourself and addressing the emotional
root causes of autoimmunity and illness.
We share our experience with changing
your patterns to change your immune
system and how it's an essential part
of any successful healing protocol.
dr.
Jill, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you, Julie.
I'm excited to be here.
I am so excited for this conversation.
Um, and I just, this is
such a gift for listeners.
I was just saying before we hit record,
you know, your movie just released.
And I think it is one of the most
impactful things that anybody.
Anybody in general, um, but especially
anybody already struggling with any kind
of chronic illness or auto immunity.
They need to, they need to go see a doctor
patient, um, find it, see it, and, and
we'll get into the book and movie later.
For the few listeners that may not know
you and be familiar with you, can you
share a little bit of your journey?
I am guessing when you were a little girl,
you were not dreaming that this was your
path that you were going to be taking.
Okay.
Yeah, so I grew up on a
farm in central Illinois.
I was one of five children and really
wonderful loving family and lots of,
you know, the classical what you'd
imagine on the farm and that kind of,
um, but unbeknownst to me that life
that the chemicals on the farm and that
was classic in the 80s, 70s and 80s.
in the Midwest were kind of slowly
poisoning me and I didn't really
understand this until I got to
medical school, was pursuing my
dream of becoming a doctor and
I noticed a lump in my breast.
This was at, uh, I was actually 24 when I
first found the lump and then by the time
I was diagnosed, this was right around
my 25th birthday, I went to surgery and
got a call from the surgeon that said,
Jill, you have aggressive breast cancer.
breast cancer.
And, you know, I always say we all
remember those calls, whether it's a loved
one who just passed away suddenly, or a
diagnosis that's, you know, completely
out of the blue or whatever it is.
We all have those moments in our
lives where things change forever.
And I'll never forget like the place
I was sitting and the color of the
wall and the music that was playing at
that moment when I heard, because it
was such a, like, this is so surreal.
I can't believe I have cancer at 25.
And even the diagnosis was kind
of like, Oh, I have a lump.
It's no big deal.
I'm 25.
25 year olds don't get breast cancer.
All that to say, I finally
got the diagnosis and it
was really a turning point.
First of all, the shock because I
didn't know now I'm 20 years out
and I'm surviving and thriving.
But at that moment, I didn't know if I
had six weeks or six months or six years.
So it was really shocking and
it kind of changed everything.
Now, I always went into medicine knowing
there was more holistic ways and that
food was helpful for medicine and
all kinds of like, principles that I
grew up with, but the rubber met the
road when I was diagnosed with cancer
because I had to decide, what do I do?
And because it was 25,
it was so aggressive.
I ended up choosing very
conventional, aggressive three drug
chemotherapy, surgery, radiation.
But what I did on the side was I
had a naturopath and I had pastoral
prayer and I had friends that were
there and I had all kinds of other
things and I feel like, um, you know,
getting through the cancer was easy.
It was kind of the recovery after.
And then within six months of me
totally getting through the cancer,
being considered in remission, I
was diagnosed with Crohn's disease,
which was another kind of shock.
And now in hindsight, it makes
perfect sense because the chemo
caused more permeability of the gut.
I already had a genetic problem.
predisposition towards autoimmune
on the gut lining like Crohn's.
And then that, you know,
caused me to develop Crohn's.
And so then I delved into the idea of
what does the gut have to do with disease?
Can we cure disease through diet?
And I, through that journey, I
completely am free of both Crohn's and
cancer, but it was kind of a, right.
It was kind of a trial by fire for
me to learn how to do this with my
own health and my own physiology.
And I know even in your journey, um,
you too, like so many, this may be
one of my biggest pet peeves, um,
we're told, no, no, don't, don't
worry about what you're eating.
There's no connection between
Crohn's disease and food, right?
Yeah, that was a real shocker because I'm
in third year medical student and I knew
that I mean, I knew food was medicine.
I grew up kind of with chiropractor
helping and actually one of my first
books that I read was about nutrition,
but I didn't really know and I'd
never really come across Crohn's.
And so when I was seeing the
gastroenterologist for the first
follow up, I'm asking him questions
and he's like, Jill, you're probably
going to need lifelong, um, drugs
that modulate your immune system.
You're going to need steroids.
You might need surgery to resect
part of your colon, it's likely.
This is incurable.
I mean, it was really,
really dismal and hopeless.
And as I left, I thought,
well, I'm willing to do what I
need to do, whatever it takes.
And I asked him in all sincerity,
you know, doc, does diet have
anything to do with this?
Could I change my diet?
And he didn't even budge.
pause.
And he said, Jill, diet has
nothing to do with this.
But that's where I always tell
patients, trust your intuition.
I did not know much.
I didn't know it here, but my
heart was like, that can't be true.
How in the world could a gut
disease not having to do with diet?
So I kind of, my little stubbornness
that was underneath all of this was
like, I'm going to prove him wrong.
I'm going to figure this out.
And I started researching
and lo and behold, I did find
out some dietary changes.
And I was within two
weeks of changing my diet.
The fevers were gone.
Some of the symptoms were gone.
I wasn't cured, but I
was significantly better.
Which is amazing.
And I love that, you know, we're
not talking about a year ago.
This, this was a while ago.
20 years ago.
Yeah.
Not that you haven't had a
continuously eventful wellness journey.
Um, I lived for years, not
too far from where you lived.
And so I, nobody, nobody.
that I knew at the time would have been
aware that, um, even if you weren't
living in a flood zone, the area
around Boulder, Colorado can flood.
So, um, I know that that's a, I want
to share, I know we could just go
through your story and, and, um, so
I, I know we, you have so much value
to give to listeners, but I, I do
want to share also that caveat of,
because, um, What I see all the time
is there is such an intersection
between mold toxicity and autoimmunity.
Um, and so, you know, fast forward,
you heal, you heal Crohn's, you're
shifting, you're becoming, you're
this pioneer in functional medicine.
And what happens?
Yes.
So I got through the Crohn's and
the cancer and really like with
my own, um, diving into the gut.
I became the gut expert and
healed that and did well.
And then in 2010, I left my position
at a hospital in Peoria and moved to
Colorado to start my own practice.
And it was so exciting and so
terrifying and things were going well.
I was actually back to like running
marathons and hiking and skiing and
just pretty much back to living.
Yeah, living life, doing well.
2013, there was a massive flood in
Boulder, um, epidemic proportions that
flooded just, you know, hundreds of
miles of land in most of the town,
and I also didn't think much of it.
In fact, I worked that day as the
floods were, waters were rising.
Um, and then about a year later, I
started having unique symptoms, shortness
of breath, rashes, brain fog, fatigue,
um, congestion, all kinds of symptoms.
My immune system was crashing.
And at first, my office manager
even thought that I had cancer
back, but it wasn't cancer.
And I finally realized, oh, there
might be something in my environment
because I always felt worse in
the office than I did at home.
So I started testing and did
some mold, uh, urine, mycotoxins.
And then I also hired an inspector
to look at the building and we
found bulk samples of some really
nasty black mold in the basement.
And in hindsight, it's almost funny
to talk about because my office
was on the second floor and it
was built over an unfinished crawl
space that had standing water.
The basement had had water damage before
and then the flood just made it worse.
And then my office, which was on
the second floor above this crawl
space, was built, um, My, I had a
contractor come in and remodel and
it was beautiful, but what he did
is he just threw down some beautiful
new bamboo flooring over old carpet.
Which was probably 20 years old.
So every step on that soft bamboo was
like puffing up this garbage underneath.
It makes me gag every time
I hear about that part,
because, because I think there's
such an important takeaway.
I mean, here you're walking the walk,
living the life, helping people heal.
And so often people are like,
well, no, I don't have like, you
think of mold as something you see.
Yes,
right.
And you can be so educated
and know all the things.
And if you don't peel back
the layers, you don't find it.
That's exactly.
And even then, I mean, I had been doing
functional medicine, I was, you know,
teaching and all that, but I didn't
understand how much mold was at play.
the root of so many, especially autoimmune
diseases, but all complex chronic illness.
And it was almost, I always have
compassion for patients just finding
out because there's a bit of denial
and almost a hundred percent of the
time, because it affects your home
or your workplace or something.
And it's really like very
intrusive into your safety.
Like it affects our, our core safety
messages, because if our home is
contaminated, then of course, where
we live is not safe for our bodies.
And so there's a lot of other
psychological things around it.
But when I.
Finally was like, believed it.
I remember it being like Christmas Eve
or Christmas day of 2014, where I got
the results and I knew beyond a shadow
of a doubt, my urine, my building,
they matched, there was an issue.
I literally did not set foot again in
my office and I had books and I had
Michelle, I had all kinds of stuff.
I just literally.
gave it up and started over at
that point because my health
was so valuable to do that.
And this is the other message.
It took me about 18 months to
really start to move the needle.
It's not an easy, like,
let's do a month of detox.
I got more sick before I got better.
And I had to really, really learn.
And also one of the messages of the book
and the movie is that self compassion,
I had to have lots and lots and lots
of self compassion in the journey.
Yeah, which, which can be so hard.
You, you mentioned even just the
kind of external that psychological
process of do we have to move?
Do we have to give up everything?
I, you know, I thought my home is my
safe place or my office is my safe place.
No, it's not.
And add to that.
Some of that signaling and, and anxiety
driving mycotoxins, like there's
just so many layers of alarm bells,
you know, that are, that you may not
understand why or what's going on.
Um, but anxiety can, I can, I'm
sure you see this all the time.
You're just, I know you, intuition is.
Is coupled with your vast medical
knowledge is is one of the things that
makes you such an amazing physician.
Um, and sometimes listening to somebody
initial conversation, like there's
a there's an energy that signals.
I'm like, let's talk about mold for,
you know, I think I know where that's
going to fall once all the tests
come back and it's going to be high.
Um, and so that's a lot, even for.
A professional to mention
that because I feel like that's so true.
And when I was researching for the book,
one thing that was shocking and then like,
of course, was there is research on limbic
activation through the olfactory system.
So basically we inhale a chemical
or mold in particular, and it
activates our limbic function.
bite and flight kind of trauma response.
And this is separate from say, we're
like, Oh no, I'm going to lose my home
or I'm going to have to fix my home.
That's like logical analytical thing.
This bypasses all of that.
And literally there's this chemical
effect of a trauma response.
And when I saw that, I'm like, Oh no
wonder, because I would say literally 100
percent of patients, including myself,
even if they're emotionally healthy,
they have a great support system.
They've done therapy.
They've done all the work.
even if there's still a
trauma response to mold.
And I think that's what you
were alluding to when you can
kind of sense this underlying.
And again, even if they're not an
anxious person, like I wasn't, I
definitely had a bit of anxiety and
then a bit of like reclusiveness.
Cause I was trying to heal and
I'm normally pretty social, but
I couldn't handle stimulation.
There's so many factors there,
but there is some real factors on
the limbic activation that if you
don't deal with that piece of it,
it's a trauma like anything else.
Yeah, yeah.
And I love that.
And you talk about that in your book.
And again, kind of just right out
there for all of us to, I just was
blown away with just how open and
honest and personal, um, you get in
the book and in the movie, um, and
in the documentary as well, but.
But I really believe that's the best
way to connect with people, um, and,
and that in and of itself, just even,
I know, remember when I was reading
your book, when it first came out
and it was like, Oh, and I I've,
I've met you, I've followed you.
I know you a bit and, and was still
like, Oh, you know, I went through that.
Oh, I can connect on that.
Like it, there is something so healing
in sharing our stories, which is why.
We do the podcast, right.
And I know why, you know, in addition
to giving the information and
the tools and, and sharing that.
And so
I love that you say that
because it really reinforces.
I remember when I first did the first
draft of the book and one of my editors
said, Nope, go back to the drawing
board and it was partially done,
but it wasn't at that same with the
documentary, we got this one version.
Both of them went through multiple
redos to get to that real, real core.
And I had to go to the scary core
of sharing things that I felt like
were so personal, so intimate and so
like a shame, maybe shameful, right?
Like it, whether it's something
I suffered with something I
struggle with or something about
the emotional impact of medical
education, or I could go on and on.
And I even talk about in the
movie, this ugly cry scene that
I did not want in there at first.
And then I was like, Oh,
Oh, that's hard to watch.
But you know what?
Oh, it was not
ugly, by the way.
But the truth is like that, what I kept
realizing over and over the lesson in
all of this is like, when we go to those
points that feel shameful, feel, you know,
hard to share, that's where we connect.
And my story, whether it's a book or
the movie is every person's story.
I am not unique.
And what my goal or prayer is in that
is as I share those experiences that
someone would see themselves and be
encouraged and know they're not alone
because we're all walking this life.
And so often we hide
those parts of ourselves.
So we think that we're the
only one suffering with this
emotion or this struggle.
And when we share it, it's like, Oh,
everybody's struggling with this.
You don't see that on the
Instagram reels, right?
It's like, that's not the, yeah.
And, and, um, I may be using different
words, but it's kind of like the
mask that you've had to, you know,
you really did take the mask off.
And, and I thank you as somebody who,
you know, has been on this planet for
55 years, I I've had my own journeys.
And, and again, there's
just, um, that is, I believe.
S the, the most important piece
of healing and, and you can do the
protocols and be doing the, the
things, you know, the right things.
And without the emotional
healing, sometimes you don't get
the results you're looking for.
Often you don't get the
results you're looking for.
True.
It
isn't.
I say more and more, the longer I've
been doing this, I'm sure like you
as well, is, I know the protocols and
the supplements and all that stuff.
It's wonderful.
It's core foundational, but
if you don't do the, yeah.
The trauma, if you don't do the work
on the self love and acceptance, and if
you don't do the work on relationships,
and those are really core just as
well as the supplements and protocol.
They are.
And I promised we weren't going to be here
for five hours, even though I have like
five hours of questions I want to ask you.
Um, and so I would, that's the perfect
segue into let's dig in a little bit
about the healing power of love, because
I know when when I first asked you to
be on the podcast, of course, I was
thinking, you know, let's talk about
the mold and autoimmune connection.
Um, but I, this is even more important.
Yeah.
So what I realized, again, this
is all comes from starting with
me and my own journey and having
to heal from all these things.
And, I felt like I knew, you know,
cure from get over breast cancer
and Crohn's disease and all of that.
But after my divorce, which I had
been married to the same man for
20 years, never in a million years
thought I would go through divorce.
And I did.
And we both now we're friends.
He actually helped produce the movie.
So it's a beautiful relationship.
Yeah.
Um, but in that sense, uh, we had to go,
we had to separate and go to those pieces
that were broken parts of ourselves and
really love ourselves because, um, and
again, often these kinds of things that
are difficult, suffering, relationships,
breakups, illness, take us to a point of
like, We're at rock bottom, but at rock
bottom is when we can start going up.
And at rock bottom, we can start to
say, do I love all parts of myself?
Cause when I first got divorced and
my husband left for someone else and
all of this happened, I literally
was like questioning my own value.
Am I worthy of love?
Like at the core, right?
The question is, am I worthy of love?
And that's so relevant to autoimmunity
because if you look at even Gabor
Maté's work, there's this piece
of autoimmune that's self hatred
or self denial or self repression.
So even if there's parts of yourselves
you love, there's probably a part of
yourself you hate or disown or like
even a part of your body where like,
oh my belly, I hate this part of
myself or whatever thing it is for you.
I know I have my own things.
And the only way we can truly heal,
especially in the realm of auto immunity
is to look at all parts of ourselves
and truly and unconditionally love and
accept ourselves just like we do those
friends and family that are around us.
And we can show that same kindness.
And I had to literally go back to my
five year old self and say, sweetheart,
you are worthy of love and you're
so brave and you're so strong and
I love you and I'm here for you.
And we can almost like re parent
those parts of ourselves that felt
like alone, or felt like isolated.
Or felt like unworthy
And I grew up in a wonderful
family and I had trauma, right?
Like, and so I,
we all do, I mean, there's no one, yeah,
those pieces of ourselves that either
we felt misunderstood or unloved.
And even with the movie, there was this
underlying theme, BLT that we use to drive
every scene and everything in the movie.
And it was believe, believe in yourself,
believe that you are able to heal.
The L was love, love
yourself and love others.
And an unconditional love to ourselves
is how we start the healing process.
And the T was trust,
trusting your intuition.
So often patients know something's
wrong or know that maybe there's
something else that they could be
doing, just like me with the diet.
And they don't trust, well, they
trust their intuition until they
go to the doctor and the doctor
says, There's nothing wrong.
It's all in your head.
Your labs look fine.
And so they start to start to doubt.
It's almost like medical gaslighting.
They start to doubt their own truth.
Like, well, maybe he's right.
Maybe, or maybe she's right.
Maybe there's nothing wrong with me.
And they start to doubt.
And when we disconnect and have some
other authority other than ourself
telling us what's true, and we start
to believe that more than ourselves,
that's when we lose our intuition.
And at the heart of healing is
reconnecting to our human body and saying,
sweetheart, what are you telling me?
What I did in medical school
was I dissociated from my
body so I could survive.
I was a highly sensitive young
girl and medical school was brutal.
It was abusive.
It was a brutal, it was, I could
not have survived had I not told
my body to shut up and be quiet.
I need to get through school and use this.
And then I had to, in my 40s,
reassociate and say, I am so sorry.
For all those years, I denied you sweet
body to giving me these signals and I
had to start listening and a huge portion
of my healing came from reconnecting
to my soul, my spirit and my body and
being so kind and compassionate with
those signals instead of ignoring them.
Oh, which is, it sounds so easy, right?
I'll take the supplement protocol.
Thank you.
That's so much.
It is a continual practice.
And I think one of the things
that's so impactful of how you've
shared your story, um, Is it's not
that you're saying anything that
hasn't ever been said before, right?
Like it's this isn't new information.
Um, it's prioritizing it differently
and sharing it in a way, you know, back
to the relatable, um, sometimes we hear
that and we don't know the back story.
And so we get the like,
well, easy for you to say.
You know, easy for you to say, you're
beautiful, you're smart, you're a
doctor, you're this, you're that, you
know, and so by sharing those parts
that were really uncomfortable and
difficult to share of your journey, I
think that it is the most important part.
It really is because.
As you mentioned, and that's why,
you know, the word trauma, everybody
has, some people have a trauma
response just to the, um, you know,
it doesn't have to be a big event.
It's a big T, little T.
And I love that you qualify, um,
because I know, you know, when people
hear re parenting, they think, Oh,
she must've had to, no, you have
a beautiful family, lots of love.
That's not it.
It's, it's, stuff gets in
that if we don't like see.
Sit back and take stock, you know, because
there is that and it is a very autoimmune,
you know, push down, push down.
Um, I know one day I'm going
to find out why we try to kill
people who want to be doctors.
Like I don't understand
why medical school is
unbelievable.
And all conducive to
compassion or empathy.
No, no.
And it's like, internet,
it's not just this country.
Like, that's just how it is.
And it's very, always fascinating to me.
Um, and so I love that, that,
you know, you're, you've
taken really conscious steps.
It's to heal from, from that
part of your journey and the
other parts, uh, it's almost like
we have to heal from
medical school, right?
Yeah,
absolutely.
Well, you, do you know how many physicians
I interview that, you know, they're
autoimmune or their cancer or their,
whatever their thing was that, you know,
the conventional approach didn't fix
all be all started in medical school.
And it is just because of that,
you know, so, you know, I'm sorry.
And thank you for.
For making it through and then
teaching us that there's a better way.
Hopefully things will continue to change.
Do you have well, they will because I
know 1 of your big contributions is is.
You know, the, the whole point
is to change the system, right?
We want to help people, but we
also want to change the system.
And I think the more you do training
physicians and, and other people, you
know, even health coaches, any, anybody
who will listen, I think is those little
baby steps toward changing the system.
I hope that's what I tell myself.
Yeah.
So do you have some sage, you know,
where does somebody start, right?
These are big things, right?
Just like remediating mold
is a really big thing.
This is an even bigger thing to take
on, um, and, and essential for everybody
for true for like, really why we're
supposed to be here, right on this planet.
Like, how does somebody listening that's
like, Hmm, I wonder, you know, um, you
know, what, what am I pushing down?
Or, you know, Oh, you know, I
call it the mean girl voice.
You can just whatever
that we all have one.
And I don't, I've yet to meet
anybody who's like, Oh, the things
I tell myself are just so nice.
You know, that's not so like, as do you
have any kind of advice for taking stock
of where a good place to start might be?
So I think it's first kind of like
you mentioned is us actually being
aware, um, awareness is the start
and awareness, um, like I said, even
in med school, I didn't know during
med school, I'll give you an example.
Um, this, there's a scene we
talked about the ugly cry in the
movie and I'm back, all this stuff
in the movie, there's no script.
I'm just.
in real life talking and I go back
to medical school because we're going
to film about what happened there.
And I'm just, this is just
a couple of years ago.
So about 20 years after my medical
education, I walk into one of the
big lecture halls and I start talking
to the film person about, wow, this
is bringing back a lot of memories.
And as I'm talking, I get so choked
up because what I see in my vision
as I'm talking is I see myself now
today in my forties and I see back
to that 20 something year old girl
that was, I had just married and
inherited three beautiful stepchildren.
I was going to medical school and
then I was diagnosed with cancer.
And I, I look back at her and I'm
like, How in the world did she survive
raising three children, getting through
medical school and getting a breast
cancer diagnosis that was so traumatic.
And I start crying in the film
because I'm like, so like deeply
touched by, Oh, sweetheart, you
went through so much and you had
to suppress so much to get through.
And now that I look back, I have clarity.
So I think part of it is starting
by looking back at our younger self,
whether it's five, Or 15 or 25 and
trying to perceive what we went through
as an adult now that we are more
aware and look back and say, Oh, wow,
I can't believe either how strong I
was to get through that or how, um,
dissociate was to go through that.
And once we become aware, of those
patterns that again, maybe kept us
ill, then we can start to change.
And that change starts
with the conversations.
I remember right after my
mold related illness, I was so
sick and trying to get well.
And there was one day I
remember understanding.
I had fought cancer, I had fought
Crohn's, and I won both of these
battles, but it was all a fight.
And as I related to mold related illness
in that moment in that day, I thought,
Oh my goodness, my immune system is so
aggressively fighting the mold that it's
damaging my cells and causing issues.
And this is so relevant to
autoimmune, because it's the
same thing, attack of self.
And at that moment, I thought,
I have to change my story.
I can't fight mold or I'm going to
kill myself in the battle, right?
Right.
Right.
And I literally made up a little,
I remember hearing about a man who
had gone through, um, stem cell
transplant, uh, bone marrow transplant.
And the doctor said, we need so
many of these cells in your blood.
So he started meditating and visualizing
on his blood cells to replicate them.
And when he got to the doctor and they
took the biopsy of the bone marrow,
the doc said, how in the world, you're
like 10 times the normal amount we get.
And he said, well, I've been meditating.
And I remember hearing that story.
And of course we know the
power of the mind by that.
Um, I can change my
story of these fighting.
So at that moment, I created an image
in my mind, a whole movie scene.
And it was the minions, these
little yellow guys, and they were
my immune system and despicable me.
And they were happily whistling, escorting
the mold out, but they were not fighting.
And I started meditating.
Every day.
And I would say every day in every
way, I'm stronger and healthier,
wealthier, more resilient,
younger, and more beautiful.
I will overcome all obstacles.
I will outlast all adversity.
Things are turning in my favor.
And then I'd start meditating
on these minions, right?
And this whole changing myself,
talk, changing my story, it literally
transformed my immune system.
And I believe with all of my heart
that part of that new story, that
new meditation was how I healed my
body from mold and from autoimmune.
No doubt.
I have no doubt at all.
Um, and I laugh because again, lived
outside of Boulder for a really
long time, um, from the East coast.
So the thing, it's not woo woo.
It's science.
We know that, you know, change
your thoughts, change your life.
Like this is real.
And I, I love that you share that
because, um, It's so impactful.
It really is.
And what I was hearing as you were,
you're sharing your, your personal, you
know, statement is I, I have everybody
in the very beginning of our, our work
together, create a healing statement.
It can evolve and change of like, what
does my body need to believe right now?
Even if I don't like here
yet in my head, you know?
Um, and so I love that
because I believe that.
Helps whatever protocol, whatever
approach, all the things just work
exponentially better and quicker.
And, and.
You know, longer.
Julie, I love that you do that
because that's what, when I started
realizing the subconscious will
act out anything you believe.
It's not discriminatory.
So if you can program that
subconscious with repetition
and emotion, it will perform.
And I'll tell you the honest truth.
When I first came up with
that, there's actually verses.
from a faith perspective that I go
along with each of those things.
So there's actually more to it,
but that's what I would say.
Which is
the more meaning it has to you.
Yes.
For me, it's
like very personal.
Like one of them is the sickness
will not end in death, but
it's for the glory of God.
So for my faith background, it is
like, there's a bigger purpose to this.
But I was going to say when I
first came up with that stronger
and healthier, wealthier and more
resilient, younger, more beautiful,
there was my own mind going, who are
you to say you're more beautiful?
That's ridiculous.
That's so vain.
Who are you?
Wealthy.
That's.
But the truth is, I know in
my heart, those things are
motivation to inspire the world.
It's not about me.
It's not about ego.
So I, I grabbed onto those, but even
our own mind can be the one that kind
of says, no, you can't have that.
And we have to actually.
Reprogram it and, and, uh, change
those thoughts because when I
first came up with, I thought
this is ridiculous and even right,
but you created the awareness, right?
You caught, that's the thing
that voice is in there.
And like I said, it's almost never nice,
you know, but we, we've, We ignore it, but
it does, but our cells are still reacting
to it, whether we're conscious of it.
So I love all change starts with
awareness, but that in particular,
um, I love how even in that example,
you were like, Oh, you know,
and,
and the, the self compassion
that you talked about, I
want to highlight for people.
Um, cause I've had people
say, well, you know, okay.
So my, you know, my, my personality gave
me autoimmunity or my coping, you know.
No.
All of these things were survive, like
you, the medical school example's.
Perfect.
It's a survival tactic.
It served you.
Yes, in a way at the time.
And you know, I have some, you know,
sometimes tell off the mean voice.
Sometimes just say thank you,
doesn't serve me anymore.
But I love that you said that
though, because dissociation to me,
I'm gonna tell you another example.
So that again, in med school,
I survived, and then I had to
undissociate, re associate to get well.
But just the other day, I had
an MRI for a, I can't remember,
wrist or knee or something.
And I don't know,
I'm busy, I'm active.
Um, and in that MRI, as you know,
if you've ever had an MRI, it's
loud, it's obnoxious, it's kind of
scary, because you're really close
to the thing right above your head.
And so when I get an MRI, I dissociate
into a beautiful beach and I can
actually, logically, almost like a
lucid dream, I can use that skill of
dissociation in that circumstance and
it's perfect and it's appropriate and
I can get through it without any, so
we can actually use this in difficult
circumstances to actually help.
It's just if we overuse it or over
identify with it, we have to be able to
understand that it's not always helpful.
Right.
And when it's the pattern, I love the,
that's a new appropriate disassociation.
It's a tool.
If you're using it as a tool,
if you're living in it, that's
a whole different story.
So I hope the MRI results were great
and all your parts are working well.
For those of you that don't know, Dr.
Jill is quite the adventurer.
So not only physically active,
but mountain climbs and skis and
rides her motorcycle and just has
lots of fun and, and enjoys life.
I do, the funny story, I have to tell you
really quick, so let's take 30 seconds.
So in February I was, um,
long, long day at work.
I got home and I thought, I
always want to do something fun.
I put on my roller skates, which light
up and have pom poms, they're great.
And I have a condo, so I rolled
down the hall, it's concrete, it's
carpeted, to take out the garbage.
Well, I fell and broke my
wrist and you wouldn't, it was
all, I mean, it's all good.
It was actually a divine
lesson in there too.
But the bottom line was at
the ER and everywhere else I
went, what happened, right?
Is what people want to know.
Well, the garbage roller skating,
everybody loved the story.
You know, and, and you might, I
mean, the, the beauty is when we get
hurt doing something that we love.
Yeah.
It's a whole, it's a
whole different thing.
You know,
looking down the moment I looked
down, like, Oh, it's broken.
It's like, okay, God, I need to slow down.
I hear you.
And there was almost a joy.
It wasn't fun.
Right.
But it was like a joyful, like,
Oh, well, at least I did it.
Roller skating.
Right.
Exactly.
Exactly.
All of my horse injuries,
at least they were horse.
Like I was doing what I loved.
And either, you know, and then,
and then the lesson, right, wasn't
paying attention, wasn't whatever,
didn't listen to my intuition.
That was my last, that was
when I broke my shoulder.
So yeah, it's, we always are
getting reminders if we're,
if we need them for sure.
For sure.
Uh, so amazing.
I want, I want listeners first to
know that I keep, I keep referencing
the book, but, and I gave the title
of the documentary, but not the book.
So if you have not already
picked up Unexpected, it is,
and I read a lot of books.
I know a lot of wonderful
people who write amazing books.
This, this is an absolute must read.
Um, for wherever you are in your healing
journey, I think it doesn't matter.
And for whatever faith you
come from, it doesn't matter.
Um, I just, it's such an amazing and,
and ironic kind of, it's a surprise.
Like the book really surprised me.
Shouldn't have the
titles unexpected, right?
So, um, but it did, I, I just was
thinking, Oh, she wrote, you know, all
about how to heal from mold or Um, no,
it's really, it's a, it's a guidebook,
I think, to living your best life.
It's really not even
about physical health.
It's just living your best life.
So, um, yeah, that's amazing.
That's profound.
And I've had lots of interviews about
that, but that's one of the most kind
and beautiful things anyone's ever said.
Like I really, I resonate with that.
And thank you for saying
that about the book.
Well, I, I, it really,
obviously really touched me.
And, and, um, yeah, I, so I know like
I, when I tell people go read it, like
go read it really, or listen to it.
It's on audio book too.
So either way.
Um, and I, cause I love the way you
haven't said it yet in this interview.
Um, I love the only word where the Midwest
accent really comes out is challenge.
The way you say, so I actually love
the, I'm one of those, I like hard
copies, but I enjoyed listening to the
audio book too, because you even made
the word challenge sound fun to me.
I love it.
How do people find the documentary?
Yeah.
So it's out at drpatientmovie.
com and you can rent it, buy it, share
it, whatever you want to do there.
And I hope it inspires you.
It has, if you watch it, it will,
like it has, it's a, that should
come with a warning, like it
definitely will inspire for sure.
Um, and I couldn't even pick like a one
over there and then deep dive with the
book, it's, it's just an amazing combo.
Um, so here comes the part where
people, you're not gonna, you probably
already have one off the top of your
head, but listeners are trained.
This is the part where I ask
you for one step people can take
today to support their health.
It can be.
I will.
Stop pushing.
I think now more than ever
before, we're all overwhelmed.
We're all over committed.
And this year I decided 2024,
I do not do over commitment.
I do not do overwhelm.
And when you decide that, then just like
our subconscious we were talking about.
So I would just say so often we feel
an internal like, um, uh, motivation
might be, but also, um, we, we have to
perform it to someone else's standard.
And I just want to give you
permission today to just rest.
And enjoy life and to do what you love to
do, but don't feel like you have to push.
Such wise advice.
That's it's a bit, I, I actually
was thinking of that when you were
talking about your minions, right?
That fighting and pushing and,
and it's the allowing and the
being is where the healing is.
So such amazing advice.
Oh, Dr.
Jill, where for the people that
listen, like I do to podcasts and
they're on the go and they're not
going to click the show notes, where's
the best place for them to find you?
Uh, if you just go to YouTube
and click in my name, there's the
channel, but really Spotify, any,
um, iTunes, it's all in all channels.
Um, the podcast is.
Thank you.
Um, and resiliency radio is, is Dr.
Jill's amazing podcast as well.
I would highly recommend
you check that out too.
Thank you so much for all the
gold you shared with us today.
You are welcome.
What a, um, a true joy
and to feel seen by you.
Thank you for all the work that
you do in the world and all
the help that you give as well.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you
for everyone listening.
Remember, you can get those show notes and
transcripts by visiting inspiredliving.
show.
I hope you had a great time and
enjoyed this episode as much as I did.
I'll see you next week.