120 Could Self-Discovery be the Real Secret to Managing Autoimmune Struggles? With Sara Katherine

The Case:

• Leila has been dealing with Hashimoto’s, Lyme and Crohn’s disease for years.
• She was managing her symptoms through a strict regimen of supplements, diet, and various practitioners.
• Emotionally, she was feeling disconnected, discouraged, and joyless.

We so often focus on the biochemistry side of autoimmune issues that we forget the importance of taking care of our emotions and connection to life. In other words, there’s more to feeling good than just the physical.

The Investigation

Getting to the root of health issues, especially chronic and mysterious ones, is quite multi faceted. We really have to address it from all angles. While biochemistry is important, it's just one part and there are many areas that also play a very large role. This was what was missing for Leila and felt it was going to be important for her to really connect with herself and discover her true self.

This is not always easy so to help out, I invited a self-discovery coach to join me on this episode of Health Mysteries Solved.

Sara Katherine is the host of the podcast, Be Your Own Badass and the author of Your Self-Discovery Journal, I’m Awesome: Here’s Why, and Be Happy. Be Calm. Be YOU.

Her mission is to help women achieve their goals without letting people-pleasing or perfectionism get in the way.

What is Self-Discovery?

Before we can dive into self-discovery, it’s important to be able to frame it. For Sara, self-discovery is understanding what you want and what makes you you. She says the ultimate goal of being in tune with who you are, your values, what motivates you and your passions is that the more you’re in tune with these, the more action you can take in life. And, that action will feel authentic and right.

For someone like Leila, or anyone who is so focused on their symptoms and their health journey, it’s easy to start to feel disconnected with that authentic self. Being able to tap into what makes you you again will help you take care of your symptoms and day-to-day issues but also remind you that you’re more than what you're dealing with right now.

How to Get Started with Self Discovery

For anyone who has never looked into self discovery, it can be a bit daunting. Sara recommends starting small by tuning in to your intuition (which is just like doing a gut check). She says to hold space and check into how you’re feeling about something. Pay attention to how your body responds to that thought. Too often our minds are going a mile a minute and we don’t stop to check in with ourselves. She explains the concept of listening to our intuition as having an inner mentor (the opposite of the inner critic). It's the part of you that understands you and wants the best for you. It has the best results for you in mind. Checking in with your inner mentor can take as little as 5 minutes. To do it, start by sitting in silence. Then, do a life audit and scan through what you’re going through on a day-to-day basis. Pay attention to what comes up from your inner mentor. This is a great first step in reconnecting with yourself again.

How to Tell Intuition from Fear

The challenge that many people have with intuition or listening to their gut is that sometimes, when we have fear, we call it intuition. Sara says that she has also struggled with this because anxieties can creep up and get in the way of intuition. She says it’s all about understanding that deep connection to your truth which comes with practice. Practice by paying closer attention to your emotional and physical responses to things. Meditation is also a way to hone your intuition skills. She also suggests paying close attention to which feeling comes first. Usually, the fear comes first but when you sit with it for a moment you can let the intuitive response in.

Misconceptions Around Self-Care

Ask someone for an example of self-care and chances are the response will be either get a message or take a bubble bath but are these really examples of self-care? Sara says they may be but only if that’s what personally fills you up. Self-care is personal. Each person has a different way of recharging their batteries. For some, it might be connecting with friends while others prefer time alone.

There is no one size fits all for self-care - it is highly personal.

If you don’t know what fills you up or recharges your batteries, you need to try new things and pay close attention to how it feels before, during and after. But, don’t wait until your cup is empty - find what fills it up before you need it filled. For example, for me, if I don't sleep, I don't feel well. One of my forms of self-care is going to bed early and getting lots of sleep. If I wait until I’m tired to get more sleep, it’s already too late.

The Difference Between Self-Care and Self-Love

The act of self-care is an act of self-love because it cultivates self-love. Sara also says to think of self-care as the action and self-love as the state you achieve. Being able to take care of yourself and understand yourself throughout the process, that helps you be kinder to yourself and appreciate different pieces about you. This all brings self-love into your life. Self-love also has to do with the inner critic versus the inner mentor. When we are in a state of self-love, we listen more to our inner mentor instead of our inner critic.

Being kind to ourselves, and honoring the inner mentor can be a challenge especially for those who are people-pleasers or perfectionists. The inner critic is strong in these personalities, so there is a lot more work that needs to be done to combat the inner critic. For anyone dealing with autoimmune issues or who are on a health journey, it can be very hard to focus on the inner mentor because things don’t always go smoothly and the path isn’t always linear. So, practicing self-care and cultivating self-love are really important because a negative mindset can affect the healing journey.

How Can a Lack of Self-Love Manifest Physically

While this is difficult to prove scientifically, anecdotally there are many stories of people struggling with health until they are able to cultivate self-love. Sara says that she notices it physically. For her, it’s the digestive system that responds to times when she is allowing stress to creep in, when she’s not getting enough sleep or when she listens too much to her inner critic.

When you let the inner critic win, you end up in a negative state and that can spiral. You stop appreciating the positives, you may not do the things you need to do to feel good (like take time to go for a walk in nature or even just to take some deep breaths). It can compound if you don't combat it with some self-care practices.

Fueling Self-Care and Confidence

Confidence and self-care go hand in hand. When your self-care and self-compassion are low, it affects your self-love. If your self-love is low then it’s hard to be confident. For anyone dealing with autoimmune disease, this confidence is critical.

However, Sara points out that nobody feels totally confident every single day. Confidence comes and goes. Sara says that confidence is more like a muscle than a state of being. Building (and maintaining) confidence requires regular practice, just like self-care. One common way to boost self confidence is through daily affirmations. Another is to remind yourself of what’s good in your life by keeping a daily gratitude journal.

These practices help you focus on the positive each day and give you support through the challenging days. Even when things are challenging, you can always find ...