Episode 35 - Reiki Energy Healing, Chakra Balancing, Power Of The Crystal With Athena Bahri, Part 1 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 35 Reiki Energy Healing, Chakra Balancing, Power Of The Crystal With Athena Bahri, Part 1.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Amy: 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Katie: 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

Amy: 0:28

Welcome to Nirvana sisters. We are so excited to chat with Athena Bahri today and also Katie and I are live in studio together, which is a first since we started so it's really exciting to be together. I'm visiting Katie and her family for the weekend. So Athena Bahri is the founder and creator of crystal Reiki healer one of the fastest growing online presences for Crystal and chakra education and Crystal Reiki healing. Hailing from a Hollywood dynasty, the niece of Rita Hayworth and cousin of Ginger Rogers and Donna Reed amazing. Athena had a career as a successful actress as Athena casino before leaving her life of glamour and paparazzi to create a life of peace and energy healing. Today, she is a certified Reiki master crystal Reiki master and chakra healer, leading retreats, clinics and workshops. And where are you leading workshops Athena, because we need to join and have a little Nirvana sisters retreat there.

Athena: 1:25

Oh, I would love for you to do that. That would be so much fun. Well, during the pandemic, we've been doing mostly everything with Zoom. Everybody else right. And then I have a beautiful crystal studio close by called Rock paradise. They're going to be opening I'm so excited in January. And I'm not sure when this is going to air but in January, they're going to be opening their event center basically and over there between classes and courses. And there's so lovely, like they're just some of the most genuine people have a gorgeous crystal shop and they hosted my book signing and release, which was super exciting. And they're like, please come teach you. I'm like, Okay, sure. Yeah, we could do that. So, you know, it's, it's going from like in person to zoom and now back to in person slowly as the world kind of begins to reemerge. And yeah, if you guys were ever on this side of town, I would love for you guys to come.

Katie: 2:23

Okay. All right. Well, why don't we kick it off with our nirvana of the week? I'm excited to hear both of yours. So Amy, why don't why don't you go first, I want to hear yours.

Amy: 2:33

I would say it's visiting you in West score. So as our audience knows that they've been following keeping up with Katie she said a journey to move to Connecticut and she's been in and out of suitcases. So it's just nice to see Katie and her family finally settled in a beautiful home. I'm we're looking right now at these gorgeous autumn trees. And it's just I'm really happy for them. They're getting settled into their new beautiful home and new environment. So it's just nice to see you guys happy and settled. So that's my Nirvana and love. What about you, Katie? Well,

Katie: 3:04

my nirvana is also you coming here. But in addition to that last night, when Amy got here, my eight year old made her a welcome kit. And it was the cutest thing. It was a bag it had it said welcome to Connecticut. There was a welcome stuffed animal dog. There was toiletries. There was like a notepad and pen and paper the whole nine.

Amy: 3:26

Yes, it cosmetics lipstick. Yeah, it was it was through hospitality. It was super cute. Yeah.

Katie: 3:33

What about you Athena? What

Athena: 3:34

was your Nirvana leave my Nirvana this week. It's been an it's been a very interesting week. So my Nirvana out of it. You know, there's always a silver lining, we had a passing in the family. So this silver lining and all of this is that we have had, all of the family really come together and celebrate the life and the love that we all have for each other. And it's been so important for my kids, especially because they're seeing relatives that they haven't for, you know, ever in their lifetime. They're visiting from Iran. And just to see the whole family together like this, even though we've had, you know, this moment of tragedy, we've also turned this into this gorgeous silver lining of love and of unity. So that was my nirvana for this week.

Katie: 4:27

Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you for sharing and we're sorry for your loss. But I can see bringing the family together how how healing that

Athena: 4:33

cooperative miracle thing, you know, it's the cycle of life, you know, everything. You know, you have like when when a new baby is born, it's this big disruption and, but suddenly the family is all together. And it's the same thing with a passing and even though it's, you know, there's hard moments to that. The silver lining in that is you're bringing everybody together and you're celebrating love and you're celebrating the life of that person that was such a big part of your life. So that's really one of the special things if the cycle of life

Katie: 5:02

asks you to fly, wow, okay, well, I want to get started because I feel like we have a seminar to cover your book is phenomenal. It's such a really beautiful kind of how to guide to do everything that we're gonna dive into. And personally, I've always been really interested in Reiki, but I know I don't know much about it. Yeah, I know, I know nothing about it. I really don't even know how it works or anything. So how long have you been teaching and practicing Reiki? Let's start there.

Athena: 5:35

Okay, so practicing Reiki, we're going on, I guess for like five years now, which is like woof, that was fast. And then teaching about a year and a half now, I really felt like I needed to, you know, really settle into the knowledge and really become familiar with how it works and the practice and channeling that energy before I felt comfortable sharing that and teaching that some people dive into the teaching right away. And that's, you know, great for them. But for me, I felt like the more I knew, and the more I worked with this energy, the better teacher it would be. So and then, of course, I kept studying, I got my first Reiki master, and I felt like, oh my god, this is so amazing. I need more, I need more. And so then I studied with another master. And then I studied with another master. And it was after this last one learning the Japanese lineage that I really kind of came into my own as a Reiki Master and I have been teaching and working with others since and it's it's been such a joy. So

Katie: 6:41

when you say teaching, are you teaching other people how to become Reiki Masters? Are you teaching people to do Reiki on themselves?

Athena: 6:51

Well, if that depends on what level that the person wants to learn, so what's interesting with the book is and it was really important for me, because Reiki is a gift that should be enjoyed by all you know, and in, in the Reiki circles, there's a lot of secrecy around it, there's a lot of like, you know, this kind of raised raised noses about, you know, how we shouldn't share and you have to, you know, really go through the process of learning before you can enjoy this energy. And I just kind of disagree with that ideology. As we learn in Reiki all the way through, it's that it is everywhere, and everybody has the opportunity and the ability to channel this now how, how open your channel is really, you know, becomes apparent as you study. But you know, for level one, that's a gift for everybody. So in the book I have, it's, it's called a self attunement, but it's really, it's really me, I made sure the publisher, both for the audio and the print, gave me the final cuts before it went to print. So that I could do my Reiki blessing, my attunement, on that on those pages on those words, to really make it an authentic and valid attunement for people and just to allow them to be open. And so my publisher was really accommodating in that way, she was lovely, and like, made sure like, oh, we gotta get her this before we send it out and gave me the time to work with it. And so in Reiki level one, this, which is really your introduction to Reiki, and being able to channel for yourself, for your immediate friends, family, loved ones, even your pads, you don't learn so much about the pets and level one, but you definitely learn how to channel this energy and just tune in is really what it is you're tuning into it. And then if you decide, you know, you really love this, and this is, you know, this is for you, you feel called to it, you can then go ahead and continue and actually study it, you know, as a practice, but for just our general population just for you know, our moms or sisters or brothers, you can have access to this beautiful healing energy and really take your power back in healing yourself, because that's what I did. And it's just been such a gift and a blessing on my own life. I feel like it's something that deserves to be shared. So then, you know, if you want to go on and really get into it and be a practitioner, then you would definitely need a Reiki Master to help you and guide you and, and that's where I can help with that. Or you can find someone you know, that you really resonate with, because that's going to be important.

Amy: 9:40

Just stepping back for a second for someone who doesn't know what Reiki is at all. Can you kind of give us a overview of what it is what it means. What if it works? Yeah, it does. Yes,

Athena: 9:52

what works. So Reiki is an energy healing modality. And it is Reiki stands for or means translates universal life force energy is also, you know, it's like the highest vibration of love, right? You are channeling this beautiful just think of it as love. So when someone is working with this and they're not familiar with the energy Well, when you think of love, you are raising your, you know your vibration to this, which is essentially Reiki. So for example, you know, let's say you have a little one, and he or she falls and scrapes their knee, the immediate response initially is to put your hands over the auchi, and then you know, mom or dad or whoever the caretaker will is will come over and and also do the same thing. There'll be touch involved. And sometimes you know, it'll be like my, you know, kissing the booboo on the head or on the knee. And you know, for that child, suddenly, it feels better. Well, why does it feel better? Is it just a comfort thing? Well, you know, as we believe in the energy healing community, you are channeling that divine energy and that love to the source of where the hurt was where the pain was. And it works like this in in everything in life in our emotional pain or physical pain or mental pain, heartaches. You know, everything you can think and I guess you could envision like channeling as in, kind of like calling, calling in this divine healing light. Now, depending on your faith, Reiki has no affiliation with any kind of faith. So it's really personal to the person, you know, depending on your faith, let's say you know, it's in God, it's in universe source, spirit, plants, whatever, people are really drawn to just think of your channeling that love and that energy from your higher source to your your place of pain. And by doing that, you're really like loving on that, on that area that needs healing. So that's kind of the best way would know how to how to describe what we're doing when we channel Reiki energy. So just think of like,

Amy: 12:07

someone comes to see you, they would typically come because they're trying to overcome something or they have something they want to release, and then you would help them to do that using Reiki healing does that,

Athena: 12:19

once it's like that, sometimes it's a matter of releasing, you know, I'll have a lot of clients that come that have, you know, childhood traumas, and we work through those traumas and help them to release that emotional attachment to the trauma, obviously, I can't go back and erase it for them, I can't take it back, it's already done. But you can go back and remove the emotional attachment to that pain. So then the person can go move forward and, and heal and, and I'm, I'm not necessarily the healer, I guess I'm the I'm the channel, I'm the conduit, I'm, I bring in that energy for them. And then it's up to the person to really open and receive this so that they can heal. So I'm just kind of setting the stage, it's kind of like when you have a car when you you know, you have to keep it clean, you have to give it some Neosporin you know, a band aid, but your body is what does the actual healing, not the band aid, not the Neosporin that's just right, setting the stage. So it's much the same with Reiki but I'll also have people that come that have, you know, chronic headaches or anxiety is a big one, especially during the pandemic, I saw a lot of people for anxiety it was it was incredible what kind of surge we had an anxiety and depression and doing you know, performing Reiki for them and they did a lot of distance work during this time. It really helped them just calm, you know, take a pause and calm on, you know, that stress and those nerves and so that they can continue with their life and be productive and enjoy their relationships. When we're struggling with these kinds of emotional and mental issues really does affect everything in our life, you know, our careers, our families, our relationships. So being able to give them that kind of sense of peace really helped them to be able to move forward and, and have some clarity and their purpose and balanced chakras is always you know, a plus, right? Because when everything is flowing within your energetic body, you know, everything in your outside world works better to you're like manifesting that balance into your physical world. So that kind of makes sense.

Katie: 14:33

Absolutely. And and you just mentioned chakras, when you are performing Reiki is it it always involves balancing one of the seven chakras or multiple chakras. Is that always part of the practice?

Athena: 14:46

It's always part of my practice. Yes, when I work with someone, you're really able to tune in to their energy and when you when you do this, they call it bias and scanning but it's basically you know, holding your hand and above them, and you can just feel where there's something out of alignment where there's some kind of, you know, you can call it a blockage, you can call it an imbalance, it's, it's all kind of the same thing or just, you know, an area where energy is not flowing. And you'll also feel worse in areas pulling more energy, like, yes, please, you know, like that kind of that kind of sensation, I guess. And, you know, so I'll definitely work on the chakras. And sometimes it's more than one most often, it's more than one just because, you know, they all work together, they're all you know, like this, if you just imagine like a Trinity saying, like an eight, if you have any dip in any area there, you you know, the whole thing doesn't flow. So usually you'll have a couple that are an applies to whatever's going on in their life, they're often the clients are surprised, like, wow, that's, you know, yeah, exactly. Like, I'm not able to speak from a place of love, because I'm actually hurting hearing my heart center. So what's coming out doesn't, it's not what I mean to say it's just coming from a place of pain. So working with those two chakras, just, for example, really opens that flow and helps them one to heal and to, to be able to share their own truth and from a place of love with those around them. So it's, it's interesting, and then a lot of the time to will, for example, you'll have a blockage down it, so your root or your sacral chakra, and this is also a place that they're having a lot of pain. So working on that area, you're, you're working on that pain, but you're also working on, you know, opening that flow of energy, you know, it's almost like a protection mechanism from the body, like when you have pain, it kind of shuts down, you know, your muscles get tight, everything kind of shuts down and pulls in, and it works the same energetically. So we want to we want to open that and allow allow energy to flow and allow the person you know, the best stage that we can give them so they can heal. Okay,

Katie: 17:01

this is this whole thing really blows my mind. And I just want to say this really quickly, I pulled up your book, which by the way, we should say the name of your book, raise your vibes energy, self healing for everyone. It's a beautiful book. So when I went into the chakras, the seven chakras crown third eye, throat, heart, solar plexus, sacral, and root. And then in the book you explain which chakra is responsible for, for what areas and what you're going to feel when they're off and what you're going to feel when they're working well, et cetera. Some of this blew my mind. I mean, really helpful. I honestly. So the adrenal cortex, the route and the route is like your lower back, right, like down and down in your

Athena: 17:48

one word? Yeah, maybe. So yeah,

Katie: 17:51

I have adrenal insufficiency. So my adrenal cortex is a hot mess all the time. And I always have problems there. I'm always like, very, very tight and very sore. Anytime anyone like massages my lower back in that area, it actually hurts, it doesn't feel good. So that really kind of threw me. And then you know, I have thyroid problems. So it says like expressions with creativity and communication are unable to speak your truth or creative block. I get that all the time. And it drives me insane. So this really it's like it's so spot on, it really kind of, it just blew my mind. So

Amy: 18:26

and what we're looking at in the book, for our listeners, it's a chart that basically lists out all the chakras, and then it has, what it is how you should feel the emotional energy signs of imbalance. And so it's a really like simple kind of breakdown breakdown of what it is and what it means. So you can really go through it and determine if you're, you know, have a blockage anywhere. So in terms of how you're healing people, and this is just because I've never done it before, and probably our listeners are new to Reiki as well. If let's say, you know, Katie's having imbalance in her route or her lower back area. What do you actually do? Is it crystals isn't meditation like what's the process,

Athena: 19:05

I'm a crystal Reiki master. Well, I have a Reiki Master but then I love crystal Reiki. So using crystals as healing modalities and tools to add to my practice, I find really helpful for example, because let's say you know, you're you're having an issue with creative block, right? And you want to deal with this right now. But when you're going in for your Reiki session, Reiki is being pulled to your root chakra where you're having, you know, your adrenal issues, right. So you you want it over here, and Reiki intuitively is like Oh, but we need to work on on over here. So what's really nice about and you know, when you enter crystals, is you're able to kind of focus and direct energy to where the person really wants that place that focus where they feel like they want it and it's important, while Reiki also will be channeling to where you know for your highest good where you really need it. So when you're working with the chakras, you know, you always want to start at the bottom and work your way up, right. So when you start, you have that really strong root chakra, it's much easier to, you know, kind of go up the ladder there, to keep everything balanced and everything whole. So think of yourself as like, you know, you're like a balloon, right? And his everybody wants to work on like, third eye, for example, you know, he's like, I want to be open and intuitive, and psychic, and all this stuff. And it's like, okay, that's all great. But you're this balloon. And if you're working on that third eye alone, your balloon is just like floating up in the sky with no anchor, right, you're just, you're just kind of all over the place. But when you when you work on your root chakra, and you have that strong, steady base, you know, you're kind of free to fly and free to explore. And so that's really important. And a practice when you're working on a person is to give them that strong base, and then work on the other chakras to make sure everything is open and balanced, but they stay grounded. At the same time, you know, all of these, these issues that we have that come up really manifest from where we're out of alignment energetically. So it's kind of like, hopefully, you could think of it with manifesting when you're manifesting. And you're thinking, you know, I want that house in Connecticut. But then at the back of your mind, you're like, but I can't, I can't get it because I you know, my jobs in Maryland, or, you know, I can't quite afford that mortgage, and you start giving yourself all these reasons that you can't You're it's like you just sabotaged your own dream, you just told yourself, I want this. And that's it. No, I can't have it. So you know, when you're working with Reiki, it's really nice. You can also channel that energy to, you know, what you're manifesting in your dreams and what you want for your life so that you're, you're also unblocking your own, you know, self sabotage. And that's really helpful for clients that come in to I mean, everybody's different. So whatever everybody's, you know, their focuses, crystal energy works really well for their specific focus. But then Reiki will also help them where you know, they need it most for their highest good. So it's, I really find that it's a beautiful union. And crystals are from the earth, right, so it's this beautiful grounding energy as well. While Reiki is universal. So you have that gorgeous spirit source universal energy. So it's kind of like you give them that strong base, and they're safe to fly. Does that, that kind of, yeah, make sense of it for that. For those that don't know how Reiki works? That's kind of that's kind of how it works. It's really, it's really a beautiful thing. It changed my life in the most amazing ways. I mean, look, I'm here talking to you guys now. I mean, it's so it's, it's I've met so many wonderful people and, you know, wrote a book and healed myself to it.

Amy: 22:54

I think you said five years ago or so?

Athena: 22:57

Yes. Yeah. Well, I had well, now it's how many years were 21 years ago? Oh, gosh, him? He just getting away with me? Yeah, over 20 years ago, I had a really crazy car accident where I rolled over four times in a convertible on the freeway, just Oh, my basketball for those that don't have freeways yet landed upside down on the, you know, next to a mountain. And it was it was one of those, you know, Pivotal, life changing moments that I didn't realize at the time was so life changing. And I walked away didn't have you know, even a scratch. Every glass was shattered in my car. But when I got out and thought, yeah, no, it was It was wild. And the person who hit me didn't even stop like didn't even Yeah, don't even have no idea who that was. What happened. All I knew is it was a white car. So these beautiful women though these four four women and I think they were sisters to actually had pulled over and helped me and like got me managed to get me out of this crazy car and, you know, talked through to the paramedics and police because there they couldn't understand, you know, what's this girl doing? alone at night on the side of the road upside down? Like how does that even happen? You know, are you drinking like look, I'm like, No, well, like no, I he hit me. What do you mean like look at my car and they were amazing. They saw it they helped me through and even though you know they will they thought I broke my neck. So thank God I didn't apparently remember as a common injury. So I went through all the MRIs and all the testing, but they never checked my lower back. And so you know, within, you know, a year even I suddenly had like, I had episodes where I couldn't walk. And we found out of course, I had been married my husband who's a chiropractor, which, you know, know that divine timing. I was like, well, you marry him. It's like okay, so Oh, you know, he worked on me this poor guy, he worked with me for 16 years trying to help me manage my pain. And I take in all of it everything in western medicine I've tried, and you know, from pain pills to therapies to, you know, and then finally, and then surgery, I had a fusion surgery, my L five s one. And, you know, none of these things were were helping me was working. I mean, I really, and I had had three kids, meanwhile, which every pregnancy also put, you know, additional stress. And it got to a point where I was like, I can't I can't do this anymore. I don't want to live like this. And I, I'm always on edge, I'm irritated. I'm in pain, like, this is not the way I want to live. I've tried everything, like there has to be another way. There's just there has to be another way you can't tell me this is the end of the line, and I'm going to be on pain medication for the rest of my life. Like I am not going to accept that. And so when I went in for my fusion surgery, and by then I had started taking, you know, Reiki classes and started learning and I got my first master's at this point, which I really felt helped direct me to the correct surgeon. Because that was a whole nother story that we don't have time for Shambo kazoos. Oh, that was nice. That just the process of finding someone. And in the when I was in the hospital, in an incredible, incredible amount of of pain, like my jaw was rattling my, you know, I couldn't breathe sobbing, you know, very dramatic, you know, situation and my husband leans over me and this and that we're on like, day five post off and I should have been out of there day one. So we don't know what happened there. But my husband leans over me and he's like, a theme that you're a Reiki Master, for God's sakes do Reiki on yourself, like in the desperate plea and it was this like moment of like, didn't you know, like this, like, the lights went on. And I was like, I can do that. I can do that. Like, oh my god, okay, you know, when I started doing, you know, my hand motions and channeling energy to myself and 3045 seconds into this, my jaw stopped rattling my breath came back to me. Suddenly, I could see in the room, there were actually all these people there at that I didn't even know were there. And it was just this really incredible moment of validation from my work, but also just, wow, I can really do this. And you know, usually Reiki is done in this nice, quiet, serene, you know, you're on a massage table. And those lights, you know, are like, you know, music and crystals and maybe some incense. And it's so nice, like a spiritual massage, right? It's this beautiful spiritual massage you're receiving. This was not that kind of environment. This was like hospital traumatic pain meds, the whole works. And I was a disaster. So that I was able to channel this in such an intense moment in my life, and really receive that calm and that clarity. And that, you know, just a release of this pain from my physical body was really such an incredible moment where it was like, Oh, my God, this is not just something that's like fun, and I love it. Like, this really, really works. Like this is something that really works. People need to know, I need to share this, like, how do I do that? What's the best way to start sharing with people? How do I do this? And it was from there, you know, everything kind of, you know, took took a life of its own, it grew incredibly, it was like, wow, okay, yeah, so I'm right, like people need to know, and they were really drawn to it, it was really cool. And, and, and now we have raise your vibes that's out in the world, and, you know, hopefully serving its purpose in helping others and, you know, learn about themselves and learn how to take their power back, because I've tried everything in western medicine. And I'm not saying that Western medicine is bad, and we should disregard it. Absolutely not. Like I would never say that, because I've used so much of it myself, and my husband's chiropractor. So you know, that would be kind of counterintuitive, but they work really well together. It's almost like Reiki and crystal energy comes in and fills in the gaps where Western medicine, you know, lacks, they're really great at treating symptoms. But then Reiki can come in and get to the source. And so between the two it's just a really beautiful union between them and and I hope that's expressed and clear in the book, raise your vibes to because I definitely have used all of it. And the whole point of this book was to empower people to you know, take your power back your power. Gorgeous, incredible vessel, you're you're this body of how many millions and millions of tiny little pieces and cells and energy. And, you know, if you can work those together in harmony, you, you know, you can get to the root source of where you're having pain. That is because that pain is manifesting into your life into your physical life into your, you know, your, you know, your daily life, but also into your physical body. So by working on that source, and getting to the root of issues with something so gentle, as Reiki, you really have this, you know, a way of empowering yourself to heal. So you can be your own band aid, be your own Neosporin, you know, and help yourself to heal. So that's, that's kind of takes away from teaching. But that's okay, that wasn't the point.

Amy: 30:54

Beautiful. I mean, I've so many things to say. But I will say, it's like, that story is incredible. So thank you for sharing it with us. A couple of things I found interesting is that well, first of all, that take back your power just like resonated with me. Because I think a lot of times when you have an ailment, you kind of surrender to it, and it overtakes you. But if you kind of switch your mindset and take it back, then it allows you to bring in other things. So thank you for sharing that with us. But in terms of your story, it's incredible. And I also think it's really interesting that you were attracted to Reiki somehow before the surgery because it almost like somehow the universe told you you need to like look into this Reiki because when you have this surgery, you're going to be in pain, and you're going to need a way to relieve yourself. So it's just so interesting to me how that happened. Yeah, before and then it was sort of your calling thereafter. So that's just incredible.

Katie: 31:47

Yeah. And also to, to what Amy take your point, Amy of saying taking your power back. Like what you said you could have succumbed to years of just being in this pain and taking these pain medications and so many people do because they just have a hard time seeing that there can be so much more. And it's just so empowering what you've done and this book, I mean, it can really help people it's so beautiful. I personally from my own health issues know exactly what it's like to want to throw in the towel and to give up and you just you have to say no, it's like why can't we have optimum health? Why can't we feel great? Why do I have to succumb to this? So thank you. It's it's really empowering and beautiful.

Athena: 32:32

No, I'm I'm so glad that helps you and you know resonates for your own life because it's so true. Yeah, you take your power back, you've got this, you know, your your your goddess, get it, do it right.

Amy: 32:48

We hope you enjoy part one with Athena. Stay tuned for part two next week where we go into her book, raise your vibes and talk about some chapters that we think are helpful. We go through meditation we go through mantras we talk about signs and numbers and angels and it's just a really fascinating conversation. So stay tuned for part two. Thanks, Nirvana. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 33 - Gratitude, Self-Care, & Pausing To Be A Better You (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 33 Gratitude, Self-Care, & Pausing To Be A Better You.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Amy: Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Katie: 0:19

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a form of fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are

Amy: 0:25

sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started. Welcome back to the show, everyone. It's Amy and Katie today. And before we get moving with the show, I think we all should just take a quick breath. So I'm going to do it and you follow me because I know that I need it today. So ready, go. Okay, I really needed that guys, because I am feeling very overwhelmed lately. Katie knows this. It's towards the end of the year. There's so much going on, I feel like so many plans to be made. And I just got a new puppy. And you know, it sounds silly because it is amazing having a new puppy. But I have to say it is like having a newborn again. Except I'm much older. And I feel like I have to keep my eyes on her every second. And I have no time to myself. Because every time I try to go to the bathroom, take a shower, she's either in my room all over me has to go outside. And so I just feel like I've had no time to myself. So I was telling my family last night, I'm feeling very overwhelmed. And I need to take a step back. And I need them to help me do that. Because I've just been all over the place. So our episode this week is really about moving into the new year, taking a pause, looking back on the year and trying to balance and organize ourselves. So we're going to the New Year strongly. And I know Katie and I have been having a lot of these conversations offline because we are loving our podcast. And we love all of our listeners and all of our guests. But we do need time to take a step back and kind of think about next year and who we want on the show and what you guys want and how we want to kind of grow this community that we love so much. So we're taking time over the next few weeks to do that. And in this episode, we're going to talk about kind of balance, we're going to talk about some holiday weight loss things that we've been thinking about just a urine review a little bit, take a moment of gratitude, and just talking about how we can take care of ourselves over this busy season because the holidays are great time. And I'm really excited to move into Thanksgiving and the holidays. But they can also be somewhat stressful because you got to plan things, and you're going out a lot and seeing people which is all great, because we haven't been able to do it. And I think everyone's excited to do it. But it does have this feeling of moving quickly. And I just want to enjoy the moment and be kind of at peace and be in the present. And I'm just trying to do that. So Katie, can you help me with this? What are your thoughts? Yeah, I

Katie: 3:05

mean, also the holidays brings on more fun and partying than we probably any of us really, truly need in our lives, like as fabulous as it is. And as exciting as it is to see our friends. And to do these things, it can just totally throw us out of whack. Like I already feel in the weeds to begin with. I feel unorganized. I feel like you know, there's so much going on, we can't get on top of it. And now we've got to throw the holidays into the mix. And then there's the holiday parties and all of this and then I'm dragging and I just don't feel good. So it's a very difficult time I find for people to tune into themselves and to take care of themselves. And that's kind of what we're here as your reminder to try to do like, we're not saying beat yourself up if you aren't able to do it. But just try to remember to also take care of yourself through the wrap up of the end of this crazy year.

Amy: 3:52

Yeah, I know that I since I got the puppy. I haven't been working out as much. And I think that's why I feel so unbalanced and unorganized. Because I've been taking the time for myself to work out. So that's really getting on my nerves. So I need to start, like ASAP getting back on schedule with working out because I think that will make the rest of my days and weeks better. What about UK? Yeah, it just shows you moved. You were saying

Katie: 4:16

since since we moved, it's like really, really hard to get on in a routine. And it just goes to show like a major shift in anyone's life. Like whether it's a new baby, a new puppy, a new house, a new job, anything. It can really throw you out of whack, and it can be really hard to get back on track. I mean, it's our whole thing. And just so everyone knows, like we struggle with it, too. So yeah, I mean, I have only been able to get my workouts on like maybe twice a week, and I could feel it and I definitely feel like I'm edgier. I have a shorter temper. I am just not like a peace and present and calm as much as I would like to be. So yeah, I agree. I'm really I think us taking this cause is, is is gonna be great on so many levels, not just for Nirvana sisters, but personally also,

Amy: 5:06

yeah, I am feeling good about it. And I just need to set some mini goals for myself like, with working out, I definitely feel like I need to be doing at least five minutes of meditation, I've been totally off that practice and I need to be doing like my five minute meditation, I need to do some gratitude practice. And I feel that when we do get busy, those are the things that fall to the wayside. But then it almost makes it worse because it makes you more stressed out. And we know this because we talk about it all the time. But when you're in a busy time, it's good to just remember so this is our way of remembering and telling our community to remember to do this too, even if it's five minutes of walking five minutes and meditation. So with all this being said, let's do our nirvana of the week. Katie, why don't you start?

Katie: 5:50

So mine is kind of funny. And it's like a little unexpected for me. But do you ever have like, Have you ever had a song where you've heard maybe in a TV show, or you've heard it on the radio? You've heard it in a movie, like over a year's time, and every time you hear a little bit of it, you're like, I love that song? What is that song? Yeah, I had a song like that for I don't know how long like the better part of my life. And I'm always whenever I hear and I'm like, oh, I need to figure out what that is. I figure out what it is. And I never do. Well, the other day, the song came on the radio at like on Sirius. So it had the title and the artist, and it's hard. Oh my god. Do you know Harvest Moon by Neil Young?

Amy: 6:32

I think so. It's really listening to that. No way. Like, I feel like you told me about it or something.

Katie: 6:38

It was after you left? And uh, no, because this was all after you left. And I have probably I want to say this was on Monday because I was going to the grocery store. I have probably listened to it 100 times. It's the only thing I've listened to since I heard it. I'm playing it on repeat like a psychopath. But it's brought a young boy. Yeah. Like, honestly, I should play I'm just gonna play like a second or two of it. Ooh. And you're Yeah, and you'll know it but

Amy: 7:15

don't know if I know the song.

Katie: 7:17

Very like the first line is so good. I'll stop it after that.

Amy: 7:27

Oh, yeah, I know the song. So it reminds me of the Grateful Dead actually, it has that kind of vibe. And I feel like I heard this. Maybe Adam played it when I was there. Because I'm telling you, I heard that song with you when I was there this weekend. And it's a great song. And I'm gonna download it and it's definitely a mellow vibe. I love it.

Katie: 7:44

Yeah. And it's also like, it's about Harvest Moon, which is the fall and I'm of what I really like about it. It's about a couple that have been together for years and years and years and years. And they're still in love. And it's like, huh, like, like they're trying to spark that like young love feeling again, you know, it's good. So anyway, it's probably nirvana. Yeah, it's been like epic. Oh, I

Amy: 8:05

love it. I'm gonna definitely do that. I'm going to add it in. Maybe I'll listen to it when I do a little workout later. Yeah. Meyers, Ana, there's a few things I would say I was visiting Adam and Katie, my brother Adam and Katie obviously, and the girls last weekend, which was fabulous, because a I had like a little time to myself, but be I'm just really happy for you, Katie. And so happy with your move and your new community. I just felt really good being there. And I felt really happy for you and settled and that made me happy and that made me feel Nirvana because you guys really chose the right community to be in and Adam had this vision and he was right and it's such a nice warm community where he moves and I just felt so good for you that you guys were starting out in such a positive way with the girls that are really good age to move. So that brought me a lot of nirvana. We also have a special guests that were booking that I won't say that will probably be into the new year. So that also brought me a lot of Nirvana being that I pretty much manifested this person to come on our show, so I'm really excited about that too. Yeah, let's move on to some holiday eating weight loss. So when Katie and I were together, I had told her that I recently lost about 15 pounds

Katie: 9:23

doing lose my mind because you don't even look like you have 15 pounds to lose ever.

Amy: 9:28

Thank you. I felt that I put on a lot of quarantine weight and it was really I felt like more water retention and inflammation just because I wasn't paying attention I was eating I was I mean for the most part eating clean but definitely probably indulging more and then when I was indulging probably not taking a step back and like trying to eat healthy again. So I was just like off you know how sometimes you just get off and you get into a stage where you just feel bloated and you look at pictures and you're like oh, I don't like the way look and I don't like the way they feel. So I did this thing called Octavia which I was very against actually because I've known about For years, I know people that have done it. And you can lose a lot of weight from it, but I was very against it. Because you know, I actually don't think the ingredients are that bad, but it's packaged. And I was like, it's not organic. It's not fresh. I like to eat everything fresh and whatever. But Nicole, honestly, and Whole Foods Exactly. But honestly, I've been so busy that I was like, let me just do this and see. And I also am not one to make like, meals for myself so much, because I'm always on the run. So I do like to grab things and have more snacks throughout the day. So I was like, You know what, I need to lose a quick way, you know, 10 pounds, let me just try it. So I the way that the program works is you have a coach and my friend Stephanie, when I was visiting her over the summer had been doing it and she told me her coach, and I was like, set me up with her because it was someone I don't know someone that lives in Texas. She's so sweet. I've asked her a million questions. And she's sort of my Coach and Trainer along the way. And the reason why I personally thought that was helpful is because a lot of people this has become like a, I don't know what they call like multi level marketing, or whatever they call it, where people do the program, and then they become coaches. And it's a whole thing. But it is good to have a coach. But I did find that it was really helpful to have a coach that I didn't know, because there are people in my community that sell the products that I know. And I just didn't want to have to like, talk to someone that I knew and tell them my ups and downs and ask them all my silly questions. So it was actually really nice to have a somewhat anonymous person in my life that I could just ask a quick question to like, Hey, am I eating the right this or my eating right that so anyway, though, I'll probably do a full review on the program. And we were actually talking about maybe having one of our nutrition experts or contributors to the show to talk a little bit more about it. Because I know generally speaking, it's not good to lose a lot of weight in a quick manner. But I do have to say I have been on it since probably, I would say August, September, October. So it has been three years. It's not like I lost 10 pounds overnight, so I have lost 15 pounds, I'm looking to lose a few pounds more. So that way, when I gain some holiday weight, it won't be so drastic, but it has really helped because I do feel 1000 times better. I was telling Katie, I do not feel bloated at all, my stomach is flat, I feel so much better. So I think I just my body kind of flushed out all the things that I didn't need and that weren't serving me. And this will be a really good basis moving into the new year. So we'll probably go more in depth on it. But it was just something I wanted to mention because it was definitely one of these things where I was like, I'm not sure if I want to do a program like this, but it has actually been really helpful. Another one that I've used in the past is called proline, which I did a few years ago and I've done it a few times. And it's kind of like a one week almost fast. And it's more like soups and like very minimal food. It's almost like mimicking fasting but you are eating and I've done that too. And that's good for like a quick cleanse, you lose a few pounds and you kind of feel good, but that's just like a quick thing to do over the holidays that I know some people do to kind of get a you know, flush out if you will. But Katie, I know you have some some tips for holiday eating as well.

Katie: 13:08

Yeah, well really fast. I just want to touch on Octavia because, I mean you look great and what's most important is that you feel great. But we also know other people that have had really good success stories on it. It's kind of like this little hidden secret I feel like so, you know, listeners let us know if you want to learn more about it. And you know, next season we could probably do an in depth episode on it like you were saying but I think it could potentially help a lot of people that are you know, like stuck with some stubborn weight. Mine is was so my go to, you know, like I said because of the move I was just like out of whack and not really eating very well not on a great routine. So my reset is Pete's paleo. It's this fantastic, like food ordering service that I found during the pandemic when I was just so sick and tired of cooking and then I would not cook so I would end up just like putting a mishmash of random things together for dinner and it would be just like a really unhealthy dinner and I would feel like garbage the next day. So I ordered this. It's pizza paleo.com And

Amy: 14:14

basically you might have reviewed this or talked about and

Katie: 14:17

we talked I think it was one of my miliar it was one of my Nirvana's because it was it Yeah. My meals are so good. So what you do is you you order by Monday and then they have these weekly menus like here's here's an upcoming menu, white truffle and portabella chicken thighs with chives, mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli, thyme roasted turkey with artichoke and phenyl don't know how to say that word and roasted red rutabagas so on so the they're really really tasty meals that they prepare fresh and then shipped to you fresh within days times. And this is a chef, this is an actual chef This is his company and he he puts it together and the meals are So like savory and delicious, it's not it's not what you would think when you get like something that's pre packaged. They're really, really, really good and satisfying.

Amy: 15:09

And they're How do you meet them? Yeah, get in the microwave anything. It's like literally microwave like how does it come as a come frozen it comes,

Katie: 15:18

it comes fresh, but with like a freezer ice pack that keeps it fresh until you can put it into your refrigerator or freezer. And like these black things that are vacuum sealed. And so I toss mine in the freezer, you can keep them in the refrigerator. And then I just stand to

Amy: 15:35

put them in the microwave like in that the whole data that comes in, you just pop

Katie: 15:39

it in. And it's like it steams inside of the bag and reheat it. And it's really, really like the meat is super moist and juicy and fresh. And the flavors are always great. And so the reason why it works for me is because a it's a perfect portion size. It's a perfect balance of like protein to, to veggies to like starch. And it's paleo which is for those of you that aren't familiar, the Paleolithic diet is it's really geared towards people with autoimmune disease, but it just essentially helps fight inflammation, which is like the bane of my existence. I'm always dealing with inflammation because of my autoimmune stuff. So there's certain foods that are not like there's never any dairy. There's never What about gluten? There's never any gluten. There's never any like this child mashed potato is probably not a white potato. Like there's not you know, like there's certain starches that are not in there. There's never any preservatives, gums fillers, like none of that stuff. It's super so you feel

Amy: 16:46

like when you eat it, you feel you don't feel bloated at all, because that's how I guess thing, right? Not

Katie: 16:52

at all. And it's very filling and satisfying. And it's it's whole foods like so you'll look at the most and it's every single item is a whole food. You know, there's a Yeah, and

Amy: 17:00

is it? Is it just dinners or is it lunches and breakfasts like what's the You Can

Katie: 17:05

Do they do have breakfast they do have I think the lunches are probably just it would just be the same meals like you just use them however you choose to use them. They do offer breakfast, I've never done it. And you can get all different packages you can get like this past two weeks, I've just been getting a delivery of five every week. But I before I've done deliveries of 10 and like Adam eats them and Madeline eats them. So

Amy: 17:27

I think do it eat that too. I'm gonna try that. And it's, it's paleo like you can't order vegan if you're vegan or vegetarian, they

Katie: 17:33

don't have they do have like some food options. But I think it's more like AIP, which is really hardcore, an autoimmune protocol that I've tried to do, it's just been even more restrictive at one time, they did have like ketogenic offerings and things like that, but I don't, I don't think they're doing that anymore.

Amy: 17:49

So it just sounds to your point, like a healthy balanced meal. And honestly, with Octavia, the way that you do it is you eat these, what they call fueling. So basically little meals or snacks, you eat like five of them a day, but one of your meals is a regular meal, which is essentially protein in grains. So they call it like a lean and green, but you basically eat a lean protein and a lot of greens. So this sounds like it would be a nice way so I don't have to make it and I could just heat it up. And it also sounds like it might be a good transition for when I start to eat more like maybe I would have one of those for lunch instead of a salad or, or instead of a snack or whatever.

Katie: 18:26

Absolutely. It's, it's great. It's really good and seasonings always great. And you know what we really like? It's like the perfect amount of salt. Sometimes you get those kind of meals. And it's like they're they can be bland, like these are really well seasoned. They're really good. So I highly recommend no surprise,

Amy: 18:41

you really use that to keep on track and to keep it as an easy way to get healthy meals. So when you're feeling off and you've eaten crappy, like you'll go back to just eating that every day. And you'll feel like it's a good way to get you back on track eating healthy. Yeah, yeah. And I feel really good. It's early for weight loss, but in a way clean. Like is very clean and healthy eating.

Katie: 19:00

Yeah, good cleaning. Like I mean, you know, like I'm more regular when I do it. And I just feel better. And yeah, I don't wake up like puffy or bloated. I don't feel bloated up. Yeah,

Amy: 19:10

it's good. I'm going to try this. I'm going to try this over the holidays and moving into the new year because I think that's really good. I think it's good for Stu too, because especially for lunch, he's always you know, he'll run to Balducci's or Whole Foods or wherever the grocery store and just get something prepared and eat it. But I feel like something like this is probably better because you know what's in it and a bit healthier. So yes, sounds great. All right, awesome. So we'll keep you guys posted on how the how the holiday goes in terms of our eating. But I think if we're incorporating and we're thinking about what we're eating, obviously, like I also think it's healthy, to have fun to drink to eat, and all the and all the fun things because that's the fun part about the holidays. It's about being present with your family and friends. It's about having good food and celebrating and we should be doing all that but then on the days that we're not doing that we should be making sure that we're better liking and like eating healthy again, just to, you know, set it apart. So you're having just certain days where you're not eating as well. And then I think that makes makes for good balance. And so I think being really intuitive about that is helpful as well as you know, meditation and movement. I also I was listening to a podcast this morning, I only got five minutes in, but I'm going to listen to it later, when I go for a ride to do some errands. Brooke Dillard on naked beauty planet, she has her naked beauty podcasts. And I love her. She's awesome. And she was really good content on her shows. And the one that launched it was either, I think it was this week was around organization. And she's doing a bunch of episodes from now to the end of the year that are basically kind of like setting you up for the new year. And as you go into the holiday in the new year, different things to be helpful. So this one's on organization, I think she's gonna have like a bunch of different people come in and talk about different things as they as you move into the new year. But the person that was on her show started talking about Oregon organizing and organizing all your skincare products and all your beauty products because we have like a million and they could cause a mess. And my son is organized, but I call it like organized chaos. Like I know where everything is, but it's not super neat. It's kind of neat, but there's just like a lot of stuff. So anyway, I was listening to her and I'm excited to listen to that episode. Well, we'll post it because it sounds like this woman who's on has a lot of really good tips around not only organizing your beauty staples and your products, but also closets and all that. So I always holidays try to get really organized like Katie knows I do my pantry. And that's like I love doing it. But sometimes in where I had stopped in the podcast, which I listened to later was she's talked about getting in the mindset of organizing, because I think too, you get really overwhelmed with the thought of organizing and then you don't do it because you see all the clutter and you see all the stuff you have to do. And it's just like you don't know where to start. So I'm really interested to hear what she has to say about that. Because you do have to kind of psych yourself up to do organization project. Yeah, it's super organized Katie, like much more organized than I am. Yeah, but still,

Katie: 22:04

I could be better and like, like, you know, I mean, you saw we were saddled with the house except for like my closet. Right? I haven't taken the time to do the thing that is like my thing. And it's a

Amy: 22:15

drain. I'm sure it's overwhelming. Yeah, it is

Katie: 22:17

very overwhelming the thought of getting into it. But yeah, you have to get it's funny. So you'd like to organize around the holidays I like to I always like tend to organize in the spring, like the spring cleaning thing. But I mean, I still need to do it. I like when I when I have

Amy: 22:30

well, like when I have time usually between Christmas and New Year's I'll usually like go to The Container Store and get like fun containers and just try to organize because it's funny, I really actually love organizing. And I like doing it for other people to like I did it in my parents house. Like for my dad's library I've done like I do people's pantries like I love to actually do it once I'm in the mode. But it kind of takes me a little while to get into the mode and to do it myself, like my office is a disaster. And I feel like I need there's so many areas of clutter that I need to organize and clean up. I just haven't done it because I can't get my head around doing it. But that's one of my goals to do over the holidays. But I usually do like want to do organizing projects over the holidays or I try to we shouldn't she's

Katie: 23:13

a picture of your dad's office. It was so good. I want to do that with my office.

Amy: 23:16

Yeah, there's something like cathartic about doing it, because I think you should really good afterwards, and the person feels really good. That's actually what this woman was saying on the podcast this morning that she really she was like he used to be a beauty editor and all these different things. And she got into the organizing space. And she found that when she started doing this for people, they felt like like a weight was lifted off of them. And she loved giving them that feeling. So I need to do some organizing projects, for sure. So yeah, lots of organizing projects. I'm sure Katie, you have a lot of stuff to do around the house that you're excited to. Again, depending on

Katie: 23:46

how you said like you it's really it takes a weight off of you. So this past weekend, when you're at my house and your girlfriend and her kids came over, like the girls totally had the best time with our playroom, but it looked like the absolute bomb exploded afterwards. And it's been like that for the last few days. And every time I look at it, I'm like, Oh, it's so much it's too much. I don't have time for it. And like Frankie walked by it ever a million times. It was on my to do list every single day this week. Finally, this morning, I just did it. I just got up and did it. Reese helped me before she went to school, it did not take nearly as much time as I thought it was going to and now it's like light and airy. I can breathe. I feel like a normal human again. Because that one room isn't haunting me. You know, it really is

Amy: 24:31

so true. And that happens to me all the time. And there's so many things where I will look out for literally a year and be like, I can't get my head around doing it. But um, I know what I was gonna say before what I was gonna say is this woman was also talking about which is so true, is it's easy to be organized once you have a system. So I remember when I first moved to my house I had someone helped me organize my kitchen and she set it up and I've literally use the same system ever since. So it's like once you have that system, even if you're not super organized, you can be organized so I just set up Some stuff in my bathroom, like some ways to have my products out. And now I have a system. So I know where to put my wash at night. I have my wife, like, as long as you have a system, I feel like it really helps with organizing. So yeah, it's good. We'll get to some organizing. And then what about just kind of like, our year, we've had the show for a year. I have, like so many ideas, and so many growth plans. And we're so excited. And just thank you to everyone who has supported us from the beginning and listening and helping us to grow. We're so great. We're so grateful. Katie, what were what have been some of your kind of highs over the last year of launching and sustaining this podcast and brand?

Katie: 25:39

Yeah, it's been. I mean, we're so grateful to everyone that's been on the show. It's been such a highlight of mine. Finally, doing something aside from motherhood, has really given me so much confidence. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love being a mom. It's the most amazing gift in the world. It's also a very hard job. But like I needed something more I was a career woman at one point, and it just feels really good to, to be like mentally stimulated and creative. And it's also so fun talking to these people and learning so much. And also it's funny. It's given me like better people skills, like just moving to a new town. And now I have no problem meeting somebody and chatting it up with them and asking them about it. It's like I'm like, naturally an interviewer now, which is so funny. It's not a byproduct that I expected. But it's been great. I mean, I feel like we've learned so much. And it's been just such a joy, being with you every week and then getting to know these new people. It's brought me a lot of nirvana. I mean, just last week, Amy and I had a meeting when she came in town with Ann fryer who was a guest on our show on the first season. And I was like the coolest day because we sat with an fryer and talked about growth and expansion. And then we went to see another guest, we went to see Meredith Quill from Beckett and Quill and went to her trunk show and I literally felt like a career woman again, which is a feeling I haven't had and I don't know, nine years. So so fun. It's been it's been amazing. What about you?

Amy: 27:09

Yeah, I feel the same. I mean, I, there's so many things, I think being able to launch my own thing has been so amazing for me personally, because I work full time, I have a really busy demanding job, which I love. And it's creative, and it's great. But it's a big company. It's very corporate. And I've been there a long time. And I felt like I needed an outlet, and a way to be entrepreneurial again, because I tried to be entrepreneurial within my organization. But it's hard. It's just big, and it's great. But it's great in different ways. So I it's so nice to have my own thing with you that we can create ourselves, that we can edit ourselves that we can press that button, it goes live globally, we can talk about what we want to talk about, we can do the creative we want to do, it's just nice having my own creative outlet, that's a passion for me and to be able to talk about and be connected to it and talk to all these people and learn so many things that I'm so interested in. And it's just been a really nice outlet for me. And I feel like it's made me so much more well rounded, because it's interesting. And I feel like people want to hear about it. And it just I think it really has rounded me out because I have a really big corporate working marketing background. But now I have sort of this content creation creative side that I still do at work, but some of it has been lacking. So it's just nice to be able to have that outlet for myself and to be able to start building this brand together. And of course doing it with you makes it a bazillion times better. Like it's so funny, even though we're close before now. I feel like we're so bonded. We talk all the time, like I don't even talk to my brother. My parents are always like, Oh, if you talk to Adam and like, Katie, they're like Katie told me this. I'm like, yeah, now she texts me this morning like we're so synched up. Yeah, and it's really rare, because everyone I've talked to is like, Oh my God, that's so amazing. You have a podcast with your sister in law, and you guys are so close. And I was like, Yeah, it really is amazing, because it is unique. Yeah. And it's such a nice way for us to connect, but also to build a business and to like, build this brand and community together is so much fun. And we have all the same interest. So it's just been really meaningful. And I think it's brought me obviously a lot of Nirvana and joy, to keep it going. And I think we also have to give ourselves grace. Because Katie and I have these conversations all the time. We just we have so many ideas for this show that we want to do, which we will do and we have so just so much going on. And we definitely need time to take, take that pause and reflect and move into the new year with a really good plan of action and being rested. And even though this is like a it's an enjoyable thing for us to do. I'm all about momentum as Katie knows, I feel like we have to keep her Do swing and miss moment every week did it. But it's but it's stalling me from really taking a step back and thinking about okay, what guests do we want to have on next year? And who do we want to, you know, go after and, you know, just a shout out to all of our guests too, because everyone that's been on the show has been truly part of our Nirvana sisters family, and I've really an entire aligns with what we're all about, and have inspired us, but also have said, Yes, and there's a lot of people, it takes time to do this. I mean, you know, it takes half an hour, hour, whatever it is out of the day, but I think people say yes, because they look at it as a really good time to connect with people. And the way that we do it is very comfort, conversational and fun. So I don't think it's looked at upon as a chore. I think people actually like to get away from their day to day and talk to new people. So thank you to all of our guests who have been on the show and have been helping us to grow. And thank you for the ones that have come back. And you'll be still coming back and contributing to the show for years to come. So just feeling really grateful that we've now have, this will be I think, Episode 3233.

Katie: 31:04

This is our 33rd Yeah. Which is incredible

Amy: 31:08

over a year. I mean, so many people that I've talked to that knew us when we were first launching this a year ago, and we were trying to come up with the name and we were teaching ourselves how to do everything. They're like, Oh my God, you have all these downloads, and you have this whole show, and you have so much content. It's incredible. And I really loved this episode and this product. So it just brings me a lot of joy. And I feel very well rounded and happy and really in my creative zone when we're doing it. So yeah, long story short,

Katie: 31:35

it's uh, it's amazing how like, we've had a lot of hurdles it hasn't been easy. We do everything soup to nuts. I don't know if people know that. I mean, we do we do all the editing, we do all the bookings, we do the whole nine. And there's been times where it's been so stressful to try to make it work, but I think having each other and this is like something that people should should take on if you're if you're trying to get on do something on your own. Go find a partner because having Amy to like, keep me in the game when I'm not and and to bounce ideas off of advisor. Yeah, like, it's It's crucial. I mean, it's crucial. It's been so uh, Kevin, you know, a partner. And we have, we're very fortunate and blessed. I think we have like a really healthy working relationship, in addition to personal sisterhood. But yes, it's, it's definitely, it hasn't been easy. And the exciting thing is, is that we're now we're like growing and expanding. And so true, you can be so in the weeds, you can be so in it, that it's hard to see outside of it, and what else you have to do to make it bigger. So like Amy said, we're going to step back for a few weeks, I had to twist her arm to get there, but Miss momentum, I gotta agree to it. And we're going to focus on bringing you bigger things, new things, exciting things, and we're just gonna keep keep growing. And we would love to hear from our listeners, like, what do you guys want from us? It would be really exciting, you know, like, let us know. And instead, I think, yeah,

Amy: 33:02

we'd love to hear your ideas. And I just to echo what you were saying, Katie, I 100% agree that having a partner has completely changed the game for me, because yes, we have each other's back, we motivate each other, we keep each other accountable, and props. And, you know, shout outs to my husband, Stu, because he was the one when I was talking to him a year, year and a half ago. And I was like, I definitely want to start something I don't know what it is. And he was like, you know, you really need a partner. Because you have so many ideas that like you, you need someone to bounce them off like another woman who can really connect with you. And obviously Katie was like the first person I thought of like, this would be such a good idea for us to do together because we're always talking about this stuff. But I didn't recognize it myself. I always feel like I have to do everything myself. And then it never happens. Because it's just it's too hard to start. So having a partner for anyone listening that's wanting to start a business wanting to start a whatever it may be. I think having that partner is crucial to talk through things and get in the nitty gritty because you know, your husband and your friends don't want to hear about it all the time that like you'll talk about it with your partner every second and get into the minutiae of everything. And it's just so, so helpful to have and excited and it's fun. Yeah, it makes it more fun. Exactly. 100%. Moving on. As we close out the episode, I think Katie might have a nice mantra for us. But again, just wanted to tell our listeners to have a great holiday season, take care of yourself. We are going to be every day intentionally trying to do that. I definitely feel better after having this conversation. Katie, I've been so stressed and I feel like I can breathe again. I feel a lot more relaxed. So I'm going to take this energy and move it into like the rest of the holiday season. I hope you feel the same way and I hope our audience feels the same way. And yeah, we'll continue to be talking to you all on Instagram and email and however you want to reach us. We're here at Nirvana sisters. Um, we're going to be producing a lot of content over the next few weeks to that will will launch in 2022 at the start of the new year. So we're really excited about that. But definitely keep in touch. And we'll continue to be, you know, putting out a lot of social content and tips and tricks and all of the things.

Katie: 35:15

Yeah, and look out for us one on Instagram, because our past guests, they have a great exciting holiday things going on that we're going to share with you. So yeah, definitely tune in for that. Okay, so

Amy: 35:27

just closing out with some thoughts. I don't know if this is necessarily a mantra, it might just be a quote, but I was on LinkedIn yesterday, and this woman who I don't know, I'm following her, her name is Sarah Kay. She is a creative thinker, brand innovation. She's an author of the book brand new world, which I'm going to try to read. And she put out a really amazing post, which I'll share on our social, but it was really about embracing your uniqueness. And it was a whole paragraph about when you get feedback from people how that can, you know, you take it so seriously, and then you don't defend yourself and you become someone that you're not. And anyway, there was one part of it, which I really liked, which said, your uniqueness is perfect, never apologize for it, on the contrary, dial it up. So I just love that because it just basically is saying, Be yourself and don't apologize for it. And I think it's a good thing for us all to remember because we sometimes hide who we are, depending on the environment that we are. So I think that is so helpful. So that's my kind of words of wisdom. And thank you, Sarah, if you're listening from LinkedIn, I will definitely share this. It's a whole paragraph and I thought it was super empowering.

Katie: 36:38

I love that. Yeah, that's very true. All right. Well, I love what you said, because it's very true. It's yeah, it's like don't dim your light around other people and everything. I mean, I feel like I'm guilty of doing that from time to time. So it's a good reminder. But let's suppose let's close with a little mantra that I think is on par with what we have going on right now. So it is I'm slowing down and creating space to rest replenish and take care of me. And I think we're both going to do that and we're also going to do that for Nirvana sisters. So yeah, deeper 100%

Amy: 37:15

in and out. Thank you so much everyone and we will chat soon. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 29 - How to Mix Face Yoga, Beauty Tools, Botox, and Lasers for a longer lasting Lewk with Shelly Marshall, Founder of BeautyShamans skincare (she's back!) (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 29.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Amy: 0:07

Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Katie: 0:19

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a former fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are

Amy: 0:25

sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started. Welcome back to the show Nirvana Sisters, we are so blessed to have Shelly Marshall aka the beauty shaman or beauty shamans with us today. She is back in season two. If you have listened to season one, she was in Episode 15. And that episode has done so well. She got so many downloads. So we wanted to have her back because I know a lot of the things we talked about. In the first season we had more questions and so we want to round it out and keep the questions going and hear more from from Shelly about all things guasha natural beauty etc. Natural and actually I want to ask you some questions today about injectables and things like that because I know we didn't get to it last time. So for those who didn't hear episode 15 Shelly is the founder of beauty shamans. She is a skin expert on a mission to help people raise the vibration of their skin using non toxic products, tools and rituals. She believes that beauty is rooted in health and mindset and our skin will reflect the things we consume. After years of experience and deep dives into cellular nutrition and aromatherapy, she developed a luxury line of Spa grade products for the skin to eat daily. She also teaches a unique style of facial healing using using a combination of facial massage, reflexology face yoga, and the ancient art of guasha. Her purpose is to help people shine their brightest light through practices of self love, therapeutic touch and healing their skin within. And Shelley's quote that I want to repeat, which I love is my purpose is not to heal you but to teach you how to heal yourself through the lens of skincare and self love, which is so nice. And for those of you that don't follow Shelly on Instagram, she has an incredible feed. It's called at beauty shamans. And I watched it daily, I watch all of your videos, all of your content, it's always changing. It's always new. It's always relaxing for me to watch you you're so beautiful and angelic and just the way you do all of your methods just inspires me every day to take care of myself even more. So thank you for coming back to the show. We're so happy to have you back.

Shelly: 2:41

Thank you so much for having me. I'm really happy to be back if

Amy: 2:45

you guys awesome. So we're gonna start again with our nirvana of the week, which for those of you who are new to the show, it's just something we want to take a step back, think about what brought us joy. I think it's really important as the fall is is is in full effect. And people seem to be busier than ever. It's good to take a step back and think about what was good this week. So I'll turn it to you Katie to tell us what was your Nirvana this week?

Katie: 3:09

Gee, I can't imagine doing now. I moved. Finally, we've only been discussing this move for I don't know how many months Amy's probably so sick of hearing about it. So we finally got and we moved into the house on Monday. And it's so good to be in our home. We've been so transient with the kids. And we've been living like nomads for the last month. And it's just good to be settled. We're getting settled. And I love the house. I love the house more than I would love to it before. You know like when you're in the space you find all the little things. You discover new stuff. So that is for sure it so yeah, yeah, it's like Nirvana of the year. I'm talking about Yeah.

Amy: 3:51

So I was thinking about this this morning, because I have been so stressed this week. I've just had a lot of work, a lot of stuff going on all good, but just really busy and been trying to take step backs and just reground myself. It's been a little hard this week. But last night I went to play golf. So I've been learning over the last year or so, how to play golf. I have done it over the years, but never have been consistent. Nor have I had time, but over quarantine and being home more. I've had a bit more time to take lessons and really work on it. Because I used to hate it. And now I'm turning into really liking it because I can actually hit the ball. So I'm thinking eventually I'll be able to play with my husband and kids and it'll be a nice activity for us but had a lesson last night and I hadn't gone in a couple of weeks and I did really well. So I was just really proud of myself because I hit the ball. Well I putted well, and I was like, Okay, I'm getting there, and I was feeling really good. So I came home kind of on a little Nirvana high. So that was mine of the week. What about you, Shelly?

Shelly: 4:47

Gee, I have a couple but I'll just, I'll touch on one. I had known about this subscription called gaia.com, which I'm sure a lot of people who are listening to this also You know, subscribe to gaia.com. But and it was recommended to me a few years ago. And I finally signed up for the subscription. And it, I've been feeling a lot, very low energy recently and just kind of stuck. And we also moved to new apartment, so you know, lots of new energy going on. And I started watching some of the documentaries and listening to some of the episodes on gaia.com. And it's just been so energizing, because a lot of it is based on spiritual practices, alternative healing techniques, alternative medicine, herbs, and you know, just the supernatural and metaphysical stuff and all this stuff that brings me joy and all the stuff that raises my vibration. So I've been feeling that, you know, being stuck in Instagram and emails, and really the news, my energy level was just totally tanking. And getting the subscription and watching a little bit of it each day has really raised my vibration and like, I just feel, I just feel so much lighter and so much more peaceful. It's like the Netflix of spiritual growth

Amy: 6:07

I heard of it is ga,

Shelly: 6:12

ga i a.com. Yeah, and it and it's like, it's it's set up, basically very similar to like Netflix or something. And you just go in, and you, you know, I want to watch this documentary, I want to watch this series, I want to do this yoga practice, I want to do this meditation, or you know, whatever. And it just, it has something for you, whatever, you're in the mood for that day, but it's always very uplifting, very eye opening, and it just gets my energy moving in the right direction of where I want to be in place. Great. That's

Amy: 6:41

good to know. I gotta try that. Because I think I've been feeling that way too. And you just described it. Well, kind of that low energy kind of stuck in a rut. And so yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I love that. Great. Well, getting into all the things. So one of the things I wanted to ask you about last time you were on the show, I bought it from you afterwards, because I really wanted to try it was this new face? Tool? Can you tell our listeners? Ah, there you go.

Shelly: 7:08

Yeah, what it does, I've

Amy: 7:10

used it I've, it's funny, I got it, and I started using it. But then I don't know, I kind of get out of the routine. So I need to get back in today. But can you tell us what it is and like how to use it and when the best time is to use it?

Shelly: 7:21

Sure. So um, so the new face. And there's a bunch of different kinds of, of microcurrent devices. But this is just the one I use because it's FDA approved. And because it's a professional strength device. But basically what microcurrent is, is it's a low level, energetic current that mimics the ionic currents in our own body, because you know, we are electrical beings. And so it kind of it kind of connects or stimulates that electrical current, which then activates and energizes cells to tone the muscles. So essentially, what microcurrent is doing is it's toning and strengthening the muscles. In this case of the face, they do have, you know, there are microcurrent for the body as well. But the face is so unique and that the muscles are directly connected to the skin. So you use a microcurrent device for lifting the face for improving the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It can also it's also been FDA approved for I believe it's been FDA approved for increasing the proteins in the skin, collagen and elastin. So it's just a really great at home device that you can use. And this one that I sell is a professional device. So it's it's the strongest of this series. And if you use it consistently and when I say consistently that can be whatever it means to you. Some people use it every day. Some people use it three times a week, I shoot for two or three times a week just to maintain and it basically you don't feel anything at all but what it's basically doing is it's energizing the muscles, thus the muscle cells to then strengthen those muscles. And when the muscles are strengthened and they're lifted, your skin will also follow

Amy: 9:12

and how do you when is the best time to Yeah,

Shelly: 9:15

so, so electric microcurrent you don't feel it but it does need a water soluble medium on the skin in order to conduct that electricity so if there's any oil on the skin, the electrical currents won't work. So the device comes with a kit that's that is a water soluble gel. But sometimes if people just have access to ultrasound gel or simply just water that that you continue to spray on the skin you need water on the skin in order to activate the electrical currents. And then the idea is to go in the direction that the muscles are so you know you have the the zygomatic major up on the cheek area you have the zygomatic major minor also on the cheek but connecting more to the muscle around the eye. You have the resource muscle that kind of comes out to the side that helps us to smile, you have so many muscles in the face that they connect here in the mouth area or the nasal labial fold area, and then kind of connect back on the hairline near your ear. So the idea is to use it in a way that trains the muscles upward. And there is a five second timer in this. And the idea is to move this device slowly because you're activating and stimulating that cellular activity. So you know, it'll go beep, and then you just move it along.

Amy: 10:37

And it seems like the in between the beeps, it's so slow. And I'm like, Am I doing it too slow, it feels so

Shelly: 10:41

odd to do it slow. And sometimes you'll it's even recommended that once you get up to where the muscles attach that you hold it for another five seconds, ah, so you can do you know, five seconds, all the way up the cheek and then hold it for five seconds, it is a slow process, I typically pair this with a deep breathing exercise because there's no getting around the fact that you have to move slowly when using this. So you may as well just slow down everything. And just you know, really oxygenate your lungs, which oxygenates your skin and just make it a somewhat meditative practice at the same time. So there are a lot of different pathways to use this. And you can actually go to the company website or the company Instagram and they do great tutorials. That's all they do all the time is tutorials on how to use this, but the general idea is moving from the center of the face to the outside and upward just to lift and tone the muscles.

Amy: 11:41

Yeah, I was gonna say do you is it better to do it Morning or night? That

Shelly: 11:45

really depends. I don't really think it matters. Okay, I don't think I think it matters more of when is it going to be most useful to you in terms of when you can slow down and relax. So if the mornings are more relaxing for you, then do it in the morning, if it's if it's better to do it in the evening, when you have more time than maybe the evenings. Sometimes what I'll do is in the morning, I'll have like an extra 20 minutes. So what I'll do is after I get out of the shower, I'll apply the gel, I'll use the new face for about, you know, five to eight minutes, wipe off the gel put on all the rest of my skincare products, give myself a nice little massage. And then that's like, you know, that's like a 15 minute thing right there. 1520 minutes, and then I just I feel great. And then I'm like, Okay, I did it for today like tonight, I'm going to work on something else.

Amy: 12:35

Can you use something else? I know you were talking about the gel. Like I've tried it with a serum before, but I don't know if it works just because I don't like the way that that gel feels because then it feels sticky. And I guess I yeah, maybe didn't wipe it off as good. I just would rather use like a thinner kind of, but I don't know,

Shelly: 12:52

you can you just have to be careful that there's not too much of an oil content in the serum. And that's why I use the gel or I just use ultrasound gel because I really because you can't feel it. So the little sparks a little bit. Okay, if you're feeling the sparks, that means you don't have enough jell O, or you don't have enough of the product on

Amy: 13:15

them, then it was working.

Shelly: 13:17

Well, that's how you can feel that it's working. But you want to be careful because it's electricity or electrical currents, it could cause a skin irritation or burn. So if you're feeling that sparking, you want to apply a little bit more gel. And then I agree with you. I don't like the feeling of jello on my face. But I do a really good job of taking like a hot washcloth afterwards and wiping all of it off using a toner getting all of it off completely. I don't like leaving any gel on my face. Yeah. The other way that you can sometimes tell that it's working is it will sometimes in some people stimulate this tastes of metal in their mouth. I don't know if you've experienced that. But if you experience tasting metal in your mouth while you're using it, then you definitely know that it's working.

Katie: 14:04

So is that an okay thing to pay some metal? That's fine. That doesn't mean perfectly. Okay, good.

Shelly: 14:10

Okay, doesn't mean you're overdoing it.

Katie: 14:12

Alright, that's interesting. I think I had a facial at a spa. I don't like how many years ago? And they did they use some kind of tool like that. And it was like little apps, apps, apps apps. It just felt like an electrical current was kind of going through my body. Yeah. Which I guess this is now the home version of that, which is this was I mean, before I moved out of the city, so it's a long time ago. Yeah,

Shelly: 14:31

yeah, this is the ad home version. So it's, you know, safe to use the only contra indications to using a microcurrent pregnancy because of the you know, has like a frequency to it. Epilepsy again, because of the frequency and active cancers in the area. So like if you have thyroid cancer or some sort of mouth or throat cancer, and a pacemaker because again, it is electrical current so you don't want to interfere with that.

Katie: 14:59

I will Make sure my father does not use new face.

Shelly: 15:04

You can't use any microcurrent devices.

Amy: 15:06

That was super helpful. Thank you for going through that, because I'm sure other people have those questions too, when they're novices like me. Okay, now I want to talk to you about like fun, other non natural things like fillers and laser, because we have dermatologists on the show earlier this season. And we were talking to her a little bit about that stuff. But I know the last time you mentioned or I've seen you mentioned on your Instagram that you'll integrate, like people will do, you know, glass shop, but they'll also do sometimes Botox and fillers, and how do you kind of balance it? And what is your recommendation on you know, as you're aging, and kind of like, you know, you don't want to do too much you, you still want to look natural, but what's your sort of recommendation on how you integrate both?

Shelly: 15:50

If somebody wants to integrate both, I obviously always leave it up to my clients, I educate them on the pros and cons of all options before before I may even make any suggestions. So first, you know, someone has to be open to the idea of these advanced procedures like like Botox or fillers or even you know, lasers, which are pretty non invasive. But you know, it all depends on their concern. It depends on their budget, it depends on what their goals are, it depends on what they're willing to sacrifice, it depends on a lot of different things. So for someone who, you know, say comes in and, and they straight UPS said, Tell me I don't want Botox or fillers I but I have these concerns. Well, then I'm going to focus on teaching them home care, and stuff like that, you know, going over treatment plans and whatnot. If someone comes in and they say, I these lines on my forehead are just bothering me, I can't like i It's all I see in the mirror, I can't stand them, please just get rid of them. What can we do? I educate them obviously, on what the pros and cons are of something like Botox to which paralyzes the muscle, which then paralyzes the skin from wrinkling. And there are pros and cons. But then, you know, they're they're like, Well, how, you know, does this mean that I have to, you know, keep coming is there anything I can do to prolong? So what I've found is that when people come in for say like Botox on the on the eye, between the eyebrows, and on the forehead, we'll just take that, for example. The Botox is paralyzing the muscle, so then the skin is no longer creasing, it's no longer wrinkling. At the same time, there's not a lot of blood flow going through that muscle anymore, because we've stopped all activity. So what I usually tell them to do is maybe about an hour, you know, Botox will last anywhere from three and a half to five months. So I tell them at about, you know, a month, so three to four weeks after their treatment, they need to start incorporating these at home practices, massage, reflexology, guasha. And really, you know, mind to muscle like imagining what they are doing, you know, is what's having the effect on the area. And you know, at the same time the because of the Botox, the wrinkle has completely flattened out, right. So they're, they're happy they see it. But you know, the more that they can train their muscles with either face yoga, or with guasha or you know, ironing out like the connective tissue now that it's in that relaxed state, the more they can massage the muscle now that it's in the relaxed state, they may be able to prolong. And so when they start to see the movement come back, they can go to those techniques and do them. And it can help to prolong their need to do more. And they can maybe get to the point where instead of coming in four or five times a year, they're only coming in one or two times a year. It's because they're doing these at home practices and these add home techniques that are enhancing their results. And then they're going to be happier, obviously, because they're paying less they're doing less intervention, and they're taking more control into their own hands of how to care for themselves.

Amy: 19:04

Right and can you do the guasha sooner than a month like if you're used to doing guasha like I've been doing it more and I love it I just find it relaxing as well as you know lifting and all of that. I never know like because I just got botox I don't know two weeks ago like right around my forehead and right here and I'm like afraid to do that. I'm like, can you? Is it bad? She is a guasha right after you get Botox you have to wait a certain amount of time.

Shelly: 19:30

Yes, you do have to wait a certain amount of time as the product takes generally seven to 10 days. I would say in general just to keep it simple two weeks to kick in as you're as you're noticing. Two weeks is usually the peak effect. And then after that, you can go back to your guasha you can use the new face You Can you know go get a massage, you can get a facial, I say rule of thumb I tell people no massage or you know getting facials or treatments for two to three weeks just to be safe. because if you do, let's say you do go get a massage and put your face in a head crate or something. at day two or three, when the Botox hasn't fully kicked in, well, it may be possible that that that injection point, the medication in that injection point is going to spread to other muscles that you may not want to relax. So, you know, and you know, when the muscles relax on the forehead, they are pushing it down. And so you don't want to come out with this sort of like sad truth the way she is. Right? Yeah, yeah. So I always tell I always tell my clients the story, just to really hone in on you need to be careful. The there was a an instructor that I had, who told us the story that, you know, he he had this patient that came in, she was irregular, she came in for her Botox injections all the time. And one time she came back two weeks later, and she was completely, her eyes were almost closed, like completely droopy. And they were trying to figure out what happened. Because, you know, she had been so many times before they did the same treatment plan, Nothing like this had ever happened before. And the receptionist said, Yeah, but when you came in, weren't you wearing a bike helmet. And she said, put the bike helmet on for like, you know, 20 minutes to ride home. But that was enough time to spread the product to other muscles, which then settled into the muscles, and then cause that paralysis, which caused the droopiness in her eyes for five months,

Amy: 21:26

though, that's all my easy. That's so So I tell

Shelly: 21:29

that story to my clients so that they remember it. And you guys have to be really careful there. Yeah, I'll never forget that, ooh, you just have to be a little careful with that. But after two or three weeks, you can go back to doing guasha and facial massage, some people will say that it it wears the product off because you're increasing the metabolism. And that's definitely true. But I just I think that it's such a, it's such a great way to address your concerns is to is to blend you know, sort of the the Western medical approach to it with the sort of self care practices, because it just it flattens out the muscles when you really iron out the the connective tissue and really work on the muscles and bring circulation. And I just have seen the change in myself, I am at the point now where I no longer do Botox for my forehead. I did it for years and years. And I got to I use that practice that I just explained where in between my sessions I would do you know, things like the guasha. And I would you know, work it out with different tools and different techniques. And I'm at the point now where I basically trained my face to not move in that way. And I've trained and sort of broken up and loosened up enough of the muscle tissue and the connective tissue and energized it that when it does crease, I know how to flatten it right back out.

Amy: 22:53

Yeah, you have. And that's the same rule applies like the two to three weeks, I just saw you had your storyteller tool, which I use all the time. Same thing there. You don't want to use that for a couple of weeks, I would imagine to Yeah,

Shelly: 23:04

same thing, nothing on the forehead for like two or three weeks. Now if you have filler, like in the middle of the face or something same you can do? Well, sorry, let me back up. If you have, let's say you have like Botox up on the forehead, you can still do your squash on the bottom half of the face. Okay. But if you have, but if you start to put fillers in, same thing, the fillers can still be somewhat movable for the first two weeks. So you don't want to do any sort of manipulation on the face whatsoever. I just tell people rule of thumb, anytime you get any kind of injection, wait two to three weeks before you do anything.

Amy: 23:40

Okay, what's your thoughts around filler?

Shelly: 23:43

I think it's appropriate in some cases. And and I've done it in the past, I haven't done it in years now. Because you know, I just have figured out other ways to to lift my face. Naturally, cause your a shaman, which is you know, and I studied, I studied it to figure out how to do that. But I think that for some people, again, who are just I need that quick fix, I feel awful, I see myself like on Zoom, I, you know, I don't like the way it's looking what, you know, I, you know, I want to have the discipline, but I don't, I just need that extra lift to get me started. And for some people, that's all it is, is just giving them an extra little lift or a little fill an area to fill the void of where the collagen and the fat has been broken down. And then it it can then well, at least I tried to coach them or teach them to start using some of these practices that will just enhance those results. But I don't think it's a bad thing. I think, you know, everybody's individual and everybody, you know, has different goals and concerns and I'm not against it. I'm not,

Amy: 24:51

you know, I really appreciate that because I think that you're very unique in the sense that you have all you do all of the The guasha and the eastern type is called Eastern. I don't know if that's the right.

Shelly: 25:06

Yeah, just like its natural modality, yeah, the natural

Amy: 25:10

techniques, but then you also do the injectables. And that combination is really unique. Because a lot of times I've asked just to kind of see, I had asked my well, not dermatologist, she's, she's more of a surgeon who does my Botox. I asked one of the nurses there, or maybe her like, Oh, can I do wash after this? And they were like, Yeah, I think it's fine. Like they don't, they're not very educated on it. So the fact that you know, both is really important, because I think this, this meeting of both is like the best of both worlds and to be able to keep it going versus always getting something put in your face. So

Shelly: 25:43

I think the most important thing is how getting these injections, or using these natural modalities make someone feel, because if you look in the mirror, and you are happy with what you see, the chemicals released, when you feel that you love yourself, when you look in the mirror, those chemicals released in your body are so much more powerful, and stronger and more impactful than any neurotoxin, any sort of injectable filler you will ever put in your body. So for me, it's about finding out and helping people figure out what is going to make them feel their absolute best. Because self love and self discovery and just feeling good about yourself is just there's nothing that matches that.

Amy: 26:36

I just think that that's medicine. Yeah, I

Shelly: 26:39

just think I just think that whatever is going to make you feel your most beautiful, is going to make you feel your best. And then you're going to show up and perform everyday better for yourself and for others, you know, and really what we're what what am I really trying to do here, I'm trying to raise the vibration of the whole collective by starting with the individual. And so if we as individuals can feel good about ourselves, then we're doing our part. And you know, it starts with you know, I mean, beauty is very powerful. And it's a part of our everyday lives whether whether you like it or not. Beauty is an you know, health they go hand in hand, but it's a very powerful tool in connecting and and being a part of this world.

Katie: 27:23

Yeah, well, sad and connecting with yourself to write and just staying. Yeah, yeah. So it, it speaks greatly to who you are as a businesswoman because you're telling people how to see you less so that they can self care for themselves. You're teaching them tools to do at home so that they can do these injectables for your environment between so I'm sure your patients really appreciate that too. So I wanted to touch a little bit about I want to go back to fillers and lasers because I am totally green to it. I've done Botox, and I've had some Botox experiences better than others, I have hopped around who I see and I think that's important too. You have to find somebody that knows how to do exactly what you want. But fillers when when is it an appropriate time to use them? And where do you find most people want to use them?

Shelly: 28:13

Most people want to use them for their undereyes

Katie: 28:17

okay, that into a hollowness or to pump up the cheekbones, the same thing.

Shelly: 28:23

So what happens it Well, I would say the two areas that people think that they need the filler is the under eyes and the nasal labial folds, okay, but to get an area that is right, the area that I filled the most is right here in the mid mid face like the mid cheek area. And you know, I mean my instructors and teachers have told me in the past like always treat what they want like you know give them exactly you know, if they come in for nasal labial folds, even though you see the rest of their skin falling, you treat the nasal labial fold, but what I do but what I try to do instead is I talk to them and I show them okay, you're you know you want your under eyes filled you have this like darkness here at the same time. The reason why that's happening is because the cheeks are falling and that's also causing this nasal labial fold to be more prominent. So what's actually happening is you've lost volume and you've lost the elasticity and your skin is starting to fall here where it used to be the skin the muscle the collagen used to be up here on this cheekbone, but now it's fallen and that's where you see the void but where you really need filling is in the most natural looking place which is where you naturally had it before. Okay, naturally had it in the cheek

Amy: 29:42

so I that's literally eye opening because I have gotten filler under my eyes for that exact reason because they're hollow. They're dark and like every time I look in the mirror, I can't stand it. Katie knows I was complained about it. I did fill her once and I actually didn't like it because I thought it made my undereyes look worse it almost like pushed out like the fat pads underneath like it made in like, almost more exaggerated and I didn't want it. And I felt like I could see it. And then it's funny because I asked my doctor about that. And she's like, Yeah, I wouldn't do it there. She said, I would do it in a few other like little places like in the cheeks just because then that will give the overall appearance. And but she didn't explain it the way that you explained it. She just kind of recommended what she would do, which I haven't done. But that's actually a really interesting way to think about it. And I never thought about that. I'm going to I might have to try that. Yeah, I

Shelly: 30:31

mean, like some people, I will feel their undereyes because let's like their cheeks are nice and full. And then they have that fallenness. And it's like, okay, well, that's actually where you need it. But I would say maybe eight times out of 10, it's because they've lost volume in the cheek. And that's really where they need the filling. Because it's going to it's going to like push it up, it's going to push it up a little bit. And what's going to happen is it's going to make this under eye area look less like drab,

Amy: 30:59

I guess we're like less

Shelly: 31:00

droopy. And then at the same time, you know, pushing a little bit of the skin up here is going to have an indirect lift on the nasal labial fold. So it just gives, to me a much more natural looking appearance. And people are usually a lot happier when I do that. Versus like what you said just filling the under eyes because then they always come back. But it's still

Amy: 31:22

right, because it looks nice. Yeah, kind of like we're supposed

Shelly: 31:27

to have a little bit of a depression there. And we're and we're also supposed to have a little bit of a nasal nasal labial fold, like, right, you know, if you're thinking about getting fillers, for those reasons, just remember, you should still have a little bit of it there. Otherwise, you're gonna start, in my opinion looking older

Katie: 31:46

in exams, and so often right people overdo it, and then they people over stretch, and

Shelly: 31:51

then and then they end up looking older. To me. It looks like they're scared person trying to look young. Yeah. And it's, that's really not the point. You're really just trying to look great and rested for

Katie: 32:02

so then. So I know nothing of lasers. I don't Amy, do you do lasers? I

Amy: 32:07

know. But I want to know, I want to learn about Yeah, what it is because I always hear people doing them. And I'm like, What does that even mean? And what does it do?

Katie: 32:13

When do we do it?

Shelly: 32:14

There are different, there are different kinds of lasers. I've used a couple I haven't used anything like a real Fraxel or anything like that. But I do know the science behind it and what it's doing. There are other things that are more way more, you know, invasive like co2 resurfacing, which I don't I you know, I don't have really any experience with that. But the majority of lasers that you see at these med spas, that you go in, and they say yeah, there's like maybe one to three days downtime, or there's no downtime, what those lasers are doing, and the technology has really advanced a lot in the last 20 years. For the most part, a lot of these lasers that are used for collagen rejuvenation, are bypassing the top layer of the skin, and they're heating up or making little micro injuries to the collagen layer. And collagen once it has been stimulated, or once it has been damaged, naturally, will grow back stronger, thicker, newer, and it basically produces new collagen cells. So that's what most lasers, you know, that you would go to a med spa for are doing is they're just basically using heat and using the laser technology to make those micro injuries so that it's so that the collagen can can kind of come back a little bit more, with a little bit more vibrancy with a little bit more cushion. And that helps to fill the fine lines and wrinkles. It can help to detoxify the skin. So you have less redness, it helps to you know, kind of constrict all the blood vessels away from the skin. There are also some lasers that are used for pigmentation. And those kinds of lasers do not work so much on the collagen layer, but more on the top layer of the skin. Now you'll feel those ones more. And they'll hurt more, because you have more of your nerve endings on the top layer of the skin. And so what those are doing is it's attracting or the laser is attracted to the pigment and the damaged pigment. And that brings it up to the surface which then sloughs off after about a week or two. So ah, so probably, yeah, yeah. Okay, and it's different from melasma melasma. You can think of I don't remember if I explained this to you guys in the last episode, but in order to tell the difference between melasma and sun damage, if your pigmentation looks like a continent, it's melasma. And that means it's internal and it's deep, and you should not use laser on it. If your pigmentation looks like little islands, not a continent, but little islands, most likely that sun induced it's on the surface of your skin. It's damaged melanocytes and that can be treated with laser with peels and with you know, internal nutrition sunscreen, and it's

Katie: 34:54

a great way to break it down. I know like melasma I had that with my first pregnancy and a lot of women get one they're pregnant, but then it goes away. But age spots. Yeah, I mean, they're pretty common. And I see them and I have girlfriends that are my age that have them and then you know, my mom has them, it can happen at any time. So a laser is a go to to get rid of the age spot.

Shelly: 35:14

It can be if you have a certain skin type. Also there. There's also that caveat as well is that the lasers for pigment work best on light skin, if you have olive skin or any skin color darker than mine, it's not recommended because the laser is looking for pigment. So if you're you know of, you know, African descent, Indian, Hispanic, you know, dark Asian, you have pigment, and it could actually cause a burn. Okay, because that yeah, so so like you too, would be fine, because you have fair skin. So the laser is not going to, it's going to hone in on the pigmentation and it's not even going to see the rest of your, you know, the rest of your skin cells for someone who's darker that the laser will see all of it and it's going to try to pull all of it up, and that can cause a burn. Wow.

Amy: 36:05

So let me ask you a question. I have done micro needling and PRP is microneedling a laser.

Shelly: 36:11

No. So okay, lasers, lasers mimic what microneedling does on a very low scale. So micro needling is otherwise known as collagen induction therapy. And what it's doing is much like how the lasers bypass the top layer of skin and treat that collagen layer that that layer underneath the skin where collagen and elastin and blood vessels are. The microneedling is using physical, sterile needles to go through the top layer of skin and target that collagen elastin and blood vessel layer to make that make a physical injury. So that the collagen can grow back the benefit of doing microneedling is that because the the needles are going directly through the top layer of skin, you can infuse certain ingredients because you've made microchannels in the skin. So you can infuse vitamin C hyaluronic acid PRP, which is platelet rich plasma which helps the skin to heal faster. And it also helps to stimulate cell renewal, which happens on the top layer happens happens more on the top layer of the skin. That's where we see, you know, the sloughing of dead skin. So micro needling is like laser on steroids. So it's almost better. Okay, I didn't realize that I tell people when they come in, you know, with the with the laser that we have, I tell them if you want to do you know slow and you know, study and just have a maintenance routine, we're going to do laser. If you need a one and done, you know, 123 treatments to treat X concern. We're going to do a bootcamp of three microneedling spaced about four to six weeks apart. And then you can you can go to lasers to maintain

Katie: 38:02

it was a painful, it's funny.

Amy: 38:03

I well, I did it. And I can tell you, I It wasn't painful for me. I mean, because they put numbing, they put numbing? Yeah, so I felt it a little bit. But it was not bad at all was kind of relaxing, just because I was laying there not doing anything. So I was like oh,

Shelly: 38:18

so I've done it with and without I've done it without numbing. And let me tell you, it is

Amy: 38:24

very painful. I can't imagine without an Amen. So so the

Shelly: 38:28

way that they actually discovered how microneedling works is through tattoo artists. And they were noticing that, you know, these tattoo, people were getting tattooed the skin that was being micro that was being injected with ink. That skin and the directly surrounding that skin was healing better and faster, and the skin looked more plump. And it looked you know more beautiful. And so that's how they kind of discovered it was that interested view. If you stimulate this collagen layer, it's going to produce more collagen. So I mean, that's so it's basically when you do it without numbing cream, you're basically tattooing your entire face without

Amy: 39:11

ever doing. So let me ask you a question because I did it a couple years ago and I did three sessions exactly like what you said it made like a huge difference like my business so much more like plump, younger, like just rush. And then they basically said you could do it once a year just to kind of keep it going maintain. Yeah, but I did it another time. I guess more recently, and I didn't really see that big it was okay, but I didn't see that big of a difference like I did the first time. So is it worth continuing to do that? Or should you do one of these different lasers is like upkeep or should you do it again? Like what's the, um,

Shelly: 39:45

I usually tell people you know, to do their boot camp first, you know, like 123 or you know, some people that have really deep acne scars and so they're going to do four to six days four to six weeks apart. And then after that I say you know as maintenance We can do it, you know, every, every turn of the season. So three to four times a year, you just come in, we'll do your microneedling. And then you can do lasers to maintain. And then after a couple years, like if you really need to go through that boot camp again, I would say, you know, depending on your age, depending on your particulars, maybe every three to four years, you do that boot camp again. Because usually it'll do

Amy: 40:24

it you're saying, like three to four times a year after the boot camp?

Shelly: 40:29

Yeah, I think so.

Amy: 40:30

I haven't seen those

Shelly: 40:32

I usually recommend Yeah, I usually recommend to do that. Again, I will say that the very first time you do it is when you're going to see the most dramatic results. And then after that, it's it's never going to be the same dramatic effects. Right.

Katie: 40:46

So I want to touch on what you just said, for people that have acne scars. So bad acne scarring, like does is that what that's good for that will help relieve that for people?

Shelly: 40:57

Yes. So in my opinion, microneedling is one of the best treatments for acne scars. And really, I think micro needling is probably best suited for people with acne scars, more so then people with pigmentation issues, wrinkles, and called general you know, collagen rejuvenation, micro needling is going to help but the people who are going to see the most difference, in my opinion, are those with acne scars. Because what it's doing is it's remodeling, that collagen layer, and it's breaking down some of the scar tissue as well. So I've seen dramatic changes and transformations and people who have, you know, done the micro needling for acne scars. Now, if they have active acne, that's a little bit more difficult, because you really shouldn't be, you know, puncturing into, you know, active blemishes. But as long as you don't have too many breakouts, it can really be transformational for like the texture of your skin. I mean, I had a lot of acne scars. I mean, so many. And I mean, I have photos that I can send to you guys like the transformation that I went through doing micro needling and that's really my opinion, the only thing that really like helped, but I got rid of it. That's

Amy: 42:13

because micro needling help with sunspots, like you were talking about before.

Shelly: 42:18

In not directly it will help to stimulate you know, the new collagen and stimulate new skin cells, which kind of helps to slough off some of the some of the old damage pigment cells, it really helps to, like I said, make those micro channels in the skin so you can get actives in the skin, which can help with lifting off some of that pigment. So you can like, you know, put on like a vitamin C, which is going to help to brighten the skin, you can put on you know, like a hyaluronic acid which is going to hydrate the deeper layers of the skin, which helps with overall healing of the skin. So I wouldn't say like if someone came to me and said I have pigmentation, do you think I should do micro needling, it wouldn't be the first thing that I would that I would recommend for them but it might be an added benefit it

Amy: 43:03

might bonus for them. Maybe one of the other lasers would be better for that.

Shelly: 43:07

One of the other lasers and and honestly, I think chemical peels because then they need to be somewhat light chemical peels, I find that with pigmentation. You always want to treat slow and low because any sort of trauma, any sort of excessive heat or invasive procedure is actually going to trigger more pigmentation. So I always tell people go slow and low we'll start with peels just to kind of lift some of that pigment up. And then you know, maybe we'll you know do some lasers later on. But we'll still keep it very light.

Katie: 43:39

I think the the chemical peels what you're just saying about going slow and low is so important because there's always like the horror story of somebody that does one and they're so shockingly red. I when I was modeling in my early 20s. I went to photographers loft one time and he opened the door and he looked like a burn victim is Oh Honey, don't worry. I just had a chemical peel. It'd be right. You know? It's hilarious. I had to look at that.

Amy: 44:03

You're like but I still remember it and I'm not doing it.

Katie: 44:07

I will never do a chemical peel because you just have the right person do it right and then guide you in the right direction.

Shelly: 44:14

Yeah, exactly. Okay,

Amy: 44:16

so funny. Yeah, no, Shelly, what are your clients asking about now? Like what's on the radar? What's kind of, what are you seeing? Go um,

Shelly: 44:25

you know, a lot of people are seeing themselves on Zoom. And they're really unhappy with like, you know, the nasal labial fold the under eye area but a lot of people the double chin. A lot of people are really like I see this like huge bulge on go. Yeah, yeah, it is. And so a lot of people ask, What can I do for that I have so many people that come in what can I do for you know, for a double chin? And they asked about Kybella and they asked about you know CoolSculpting which I wouldn't recommend now it's Some of the stories that have come out, but you know, liposuction, I mean, I think that this area right here underneath the chin doesn't get enough love, because we're constantly looking down. And we're constantly on our phones, we're constantly on the computer, we're not exercising the muscle. So there's no circulation, there's no lymphatic flow, all the fat is accumulating there, it's not getting any exercise. And so I always show people, you know, I give them homework at the end of their service, and I say, Okay, you're going to start doing this every single day. So that, you know, you can start exercising this muscle, you're going to start doing some guasha underneath the neck to sort of move some of the toxins that are, you know, stuck in the fat there and, and also just stuck under the skin. And you're gonna start to see the difference, you know, after a couple weeks of doing this,

Amy: 45:54

and that you do a lot of these videos on your feet like this face yoga. Yeah.

Shelly: 45:59

Mm hmm. What are the easiest ones, and I'll show you guys one. And I can walk listeners through this is literally just to tilt your head back, like your chin is all the way up. And then you can you can either just kiss the ceiling or kiss, you know, kind of make a motion like you're kissing the moon almost. Or just stick your tongue to your upper lip. And you can feel that muscle. Yeah, you can feel it stretch. Yeah, it feels good. Yeah, feel the muscle underneath your chin activate. Right away, do it right away. And if you just do you know, a couple sets of that couple times a day, so you can really make it's so easy. It's so easy. But we don't do it enough. Because our heads are down. All right, constantly

Amy: 46:44

down. Yeah.

Katie: 46:45

It seems like that's a crime. I love that. It's got to be a prime guasha tool spot to I would imagine, right? Like getting in there with that. I feel like it would help. Yeah, it is yeah,

Shelly: 46:55

definitely you want to you know, kind of you can break it up a little bit, but then always kind of come to the side. Because you always want to come out to those lymph nodes on the

Katie: 47:04

around the year not necessarily down.

Shelly: 47:07

Not necessarily down, you can do that to sort of just massage it and get things moving. But the way that you want to drain it is from the center under the chin to underneath the jawline to the ear, and then down to the collarbone because that's the pathway where it can be your get eliminated.

Katie: 47:24

Yeah. All right, the old double Chen. Well, I just wanted to mention really quickly, I've been looking at your website, it's so beautiful. And you look like Do you have some new exciting products at some skincare stuff? What's this, um, maybe the mermaid I didn't notice it before it what

Shelly: 47:41

I was, Oh, my pet I've had that we are we are sort of about to revamp some of our packaging, upsize some of our packaging so people can get more out of the products, make them a little more convenient for people. And we are also going to be adding a couple new things here in there. On the line. I have some stuff in the works.

Amy: 48:03

Yeah. Well, you did an Instagram poll the other day where you asked people what they wanted. So I was wondering as a coach, probably something in the works.

Shelly: 48:10

Yeah, yeah. And we also have, you know, a couple, like a new tool coming out for the holidays, which is it's, I have a very limited supply. So that will be something around the holidays that people can grab. And I also have a very special project that I'm working on as well on the side that I that can reach more of international or global audience. And you know, people can take what I do in the treatment room and use it in the comfort of their own home, as well.

Katie: 48:41

So congratulations. Oh my gosh, exciting.

Amy: 48:45

Congrats. We're such big fans.

Katie: 48:47

We really are. The other thing that I love on your site is your section about the things that you love, too. There's some great products in there. So yeah, I highly recommend that you're finding that. Yeah, it's so good. It's so good.

Amy: 49:00

And I also love which I know you've had for a while but I bought it after we first talked was the seaweed cleanser. And it's it is my favorite thing. It's like is there like peppermint or something in there? Like

Shelly: 49:11

some there's peppermint Yeah. And it was funny because

Amy: 49:15

I was away with a girlfriend of mine. And I was like, try this. And she's like, Oh, I love this. And I was like, Yeah, I think there's peppermint or something in it.

Shelly: 49:21

Yeah, it's the peppermint but also, you know, we make and formulate our products with pure seaweed or I'm sorry with pure seaweed, but also salt water, sea water, seawater, okay. And that is sort of the special ingredient in pretty much all products. The water based products, at least is the seawater, because the ocean has so many minerals. And what happens is those sort of ions, you know, from the from the different minerals and trace elements, they're, they're electrically charged and they're, you know, biologically are they they are with your own skin because you know that the the minerals in the seaweed are very compatible with your own blood plasma. So what you're feeling is a little bit of that peppermint, but you're also probably feeling sort of the magic from the ocean on your skin.

Katie: 50:12

That's very well, yes,

Amy: 50:14

I love it. Okay, so we did this last time, we're going to do it again, because you might have new answers. What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack lately?

Shelly: 50:22

Face yoga?

Katie: 50:24

Hmm, yep. Yeah. So I need to get into it. Yeah, did you just teach yourself how to do it? Or

Shelly: 50:31

I'm taking a course right now. And I'm nearing the end of it. I'm taking a teacher certification course for face yoga. And it is so amazing. And it's so easy to do. It requires no tools it requires just just you're watching TV. Yeah, yeah, I do it with, you know, walking down the street with a mask on and no one knows. No one even sees it. So face yoga has I just think that the exercising the muscles of the face is so underrated and not utilized enough. And you know, if you don't use it, you lose it.

Katie: 51:07

So sure. Can you show us a little teeny bit of face? Yeah,

Shelly: 51:10

sure. So yeah, so this one, I like to call the happy the happy child. And it's where you stick your bottom lip onto your top, you lift the corners of your mouth, and then press your tongue to the roof of your mouth. And while you're doing that, you activate your cheeks, and you relax the rest of the face. So I'll show you how to do it.

Katie: 51:34

You can say it's kind of hard to do. Ah, oh my gosh, that's great. That is so

Shelly: 51:47

relaxed up here, relax up here and you want to activate here. Stick your tongue on the roof. I'm

Amy: 51:53

putting this on video. This is hilarious.

Shelly: 51:58

And then if you tilt your chin back, you also get that stretch here. So it's like an all

Katie: 52:02

in Nice. I love that. It's so great. Yeah, I love it. Fun, fun, fun. Alright, so the next one, we call five minute flow. I don't know if you remember. But Uber just pinged you. You're just getting out of the shower, got no time to get ready. What are you going to do really quickly to get yourself out the door? And in that Uber on time?

Shelly: 52:22

Oh my gosh, I do remember this question. And I I remember last time I was like, Oh, I'm just I'm completely naked. And I put oil all over my body. And yes, I would still do that. But I want to give a different answer. So I would probably I just got out of the shower. I'm going to I'm going to spray my face with one of my toners I'm going to apply some oil to my face. And as I'm getting dressed, I'm going to be doing some of my face yoga poses. Nice.

Amy: 52:55

Good, nice. Good one. And how are you maintain your daily Nirvana lately? I know you have your fabulous new apartment with all that beautiful natural light coming in. But what were you doing lately? Well,

Shelly: 53:04

yeah, I was actually gonna say now that I have this new apartment with this beautiful East facing balcony, we get the morning sunlight. So what I've been doing is every morning I do about five to 10 minutes of stretching and then I sit silently for five to 10 minutes with my face facing the sun and I just sort of take that in and it just sort of grounds me right you know, before the start of the day before I have any coffee. Anything is that's the first thing I've been doing.

Katie: 53:29

That sounds no magical. Yeah, well, that sounds fantastic. I think I could get up and have a little sun on my face every day and be a much better person. I need that. So thank you for sharing. Amy, you have a product recommendation for us right I'd love to hear what it is.

Amy: 53:46

I do I do so in season one I did a review of the Maybelline sky high mascara which was trending on tick tock and I love it and I still love that because it really makes your lashes long but I found something better. Which is the Ilia i Li a Ilia fullest Volumizing Mascara. Do you know Celli? Yeah, yeah. And I love it. So it's $28 you can get on ilia.com Sephora, etc. And this formulas clean so I feel much better about using it. It's a volume volumizing mascara that wraps each lash in weightless buildable volume without flaking, smudging, irritating even the most sensitive eyes which I can attest to. And I just love it I've been testing it out over the last month and it's just as good if not better than the sky high because I feel like the sky high made my lashes long but didn't really make them thick and this really does both and I just feel like it gives me a fuller like lush look Shelly's you feel the same way.

Shelly: 54:44

Yes I love that mascara I've been using it and I at this point it's now my go to

Amy: 54:49

now totally and I love the branding is just clean and pretty and it's a similar color color to our Nirvana sisters branding, so of course I love it but I also love the tube because it's thick. It's just like kind of feels good in the hand. There's just something about it. It's like a nice wait. So that's my reco of the week. Definitely a great, great mascara. We're still wearing masks. So you gotta have those eyes looking good. So that's my record of the week. And Katie, I think you have a mantra to close this out.

Katie: 55:15

I do. And I think this will definitely hit home for those of us that have had a stressful few weeks, which it seems, is always going on in the fall when everyone's transitioning back to work, or back to school with the kids. And then of course, you know, it's q4, if you're working, you're slammed and you've got crazy things like a move. It's, it's all nuts. So to remind us, my strength is greater than my struggle. And it will always get us through because we are strong and powerful. And any thing that hits us along the way, is just going to make us stronger. So there you

Amy: 55:50

go. Good one.

Katie: 55:52

Yeah. All right. Well, Shelly, thank you so much. It was so good to see you and to have your energy and your vibe. We just We love you so much. And we are so honored and thrilled to have you. Thank you so much. And we can't wait to

Amy: 56:05

see us in the city because we're definitely doing that. But yes, thank you so much for being on the show and being our resident beauty Shaman.

Shelly: 56:14

You guys so much for having me.

Amy: 56:17

Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 28 - Fitness, Self Image + 6 Effective Skincare Products for Men with Model and Personal Trainer, Alon Reitchuk (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 28.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Amy: 0:07

Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Unknown: 0:19

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a former fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are

Amy: 0:25

sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started. What's up Nirvana sisters family it's Amy. Before we get into this week's episode, I wanted to thank you all for your support. We are so grateful and we would love for you to please rate and review us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Apple podcasts Stitcher. castbox pod chaser and podcast addict I know all have ratings and reviews. So if you would take the time and do that we would be so so appreciative. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode. It's a good one.

Unknown: 1:05

Welcome back to Nirvana sisters. So this week I'm so excited as as Amy because we have a first happening. We have our first male guest of the entire series ever. So he's going to be our honorary Nirvana brother. And he also just happens to be a very dear longtime friend of mine. He is a model that's how we know each other. And now a very successful personal trainer and influencer and his name is alone, right? Check. Hi, alone. Hello.

Amy: 1:40

So nice to meet you. I've heard so much about Thank you for having me.

Unknown: 1:43

Thank you for having me. So I learned I met in the modeling industry. what seems like forever ago we were in our early 20s and wild and crazy in New York and he's a very successful model. You have walked in fashion shows for Dolce and Gabbana, Valentino, you've been in vogue USA, you've been modeling for magazines, billboards, etc, for years, and then you moved on to your professional personal training career. At some point, this is actually super cool. Adidas sponsored you as one of their professional athletes. And he did the Tel Aviv 2014 Adidas marathon campaign, which is pretty epic. And now your main focus is being a certified personal trainer and Nutrition Advisor. And you are highly specialized across the board. You work with pregnant women post postpartum, you work with women coming out of plastic surgery, and so much more. And at one point, developed your own unique training technique which we will dive into and opened your own hips studio, so I can't wait to hear all about it. We're so happy you're here.

Amy: 2:50

Very impressive.

Unknown: 2:51

Thanks for being here. Bam. Aim. What was your nirvana of the week?

Amy: 2:55

Well, this is sort of a I was telling Katie before we started recording, alone, my dog, my little baby dog is 16 and a half years old. And he's kind of in the last chapter, I would say. And it's kind of a weird time because he was doing well. And then all of a sudden, the last few weeks, it's just been not great. And so and I have two boys, and it's been a little bit emotional. But anyway, he's a great dog. And he just had an episode last night, which was so sad. He like, couldn't get his bearings, and he was off balance. Anyway, I literally slept on the floor with him last night, I created this bed and I slept on the floor with him. And even though it's kind of sad, it was sort of this bittersweet moment because he was like, literally in my womb, He was like, in my belly. He couldn't relax because he was nervous because of all this stuff going on. But I finally was able to relax him and he was like, literally in my stomach. I was holding him and he just like, let our breath out and just like relaxed, and then he ended up going back to sleep. But I laid there with him for hours, which I haven't done probably since he was a puppy and it was just like a sweet, cute moment. One on one with Him, which I never get. And it was an older night, which is why I'm exhausted today. But anyway, it was kind of a it was a Nirvana because it brought me joy because it was just I was making him feel better. And it was just a sweet moment. He's my firstborn. He's 16 and a half of my other boys are 14 and 11. So you know, I feel very,

Unknown: 4:16

very good to just about to. I was just about to ask, I guess you had to put the dog before you had your babies before you educate dad.

Amy: 4:24

So he's my first baby. So it's, it's, yeah, it's an interesting time. But yeah, so that's me. What about you, Katie?

Unknown: 4:31

Yeah, that's I mean, that's really sweet. Has your first baby. I know how that is a teddy on my nirvana of the week happened this morning. I took a kundalini yoga class this morning, which I don't know. Are you you're familiar with Yeah. And Amy, are you familiar? You've heard of it. So I've never taken one before but it was a 90 minute Kundalini class. And basically, it's like a meditation with yoga asanas and you can hold a pose anywhere from two minutes. for five minutes, not like an a yoga pose, but, you know, meditation poses. And I think at one point I even held on for maybe like 20 minutes, but it was just really, really cool. They also did a gong sound bath at the end. And it was a you went to a class. I went to it. Yeah, that's Yeah, yeah, it was really, it was really cool. It was I had like, I feel like I had an emotional release. So it was just, it was really super special. And I'm excited to do it again. So I'm definitely going to sell them on JIRA nirvana. So I'm currently in Paris, I went to my husband, family, brothers and sisters, I met these parents, but it's gonna be it was the first time I met the sisters and brothers. And it was really nice and happy. It's also the Jewish holidays. So Katie, happy Jewish holidays. I woke up this morning, and I felt a bit tired and gloomy outside today. And like yesterday was really sunny and beautiful. And I went to the park and I ran eight miles. And it was beautiful. I sweat it out. All the bad energy. I cleared my body. And I feel I feel way better. Where we've arrived. And yeah, so that's my Nirvana off today.

Amy: 6:13

That's on I have. Yeah,

Unknown: 6:15

I think I have a little moment of Nirvana every day. Something that I really love to do. That really puts me together and makes me feel good with the rest of my day, even if things don't go smoothly. Just this little moment. Always. Always bring me back to, to my conscious and yeah, so today, the 10 kilometer, a eight mile run was the was this Nirvana moment for me. It's green and beautiful in Paris. And it's a gorgeous city. And it's also a way to, to view and explore this beautiful place alone is originally from Tel Aviv, and you've lived in Tel Aviv, New York, London. Now, you did live in Paris at one point. I lived in Paris. I lived in Paris briefly because I've been in and out just on jobs. And also I've lived in Germany, in Hamburg, and in Berlin for a while. I was racing born raised in Tel Aviv. And then when I was 18, I moved to the UK to the US, sorry. And then I moved back to Israel. And then I traveled around Europe working for modeling agencies and doing some major jobs. And now I'm in London, the past two and a half years. Yeah, I moved to London. First, because I basically wrote a trademark, I had a concept of hit fitness, that include boxing, rowing, lifting, and cycling. And I just travel around the world, doing presentations about my concept until I found an investor in the UK. And two years ago, we opened a studio, this beautiful multi million studio, and unfortunately, did not survive. COVID. So I'm back to basics. I'm on my own again. And currently, I'm doing some private trainings, I see some clients and also I train some clients on Zoom. I have couple of clients that I train in Dubai, and in New York. So yeah, I keep myself busy. Yeah. So how when did you start personal training? At what point? Did you transition from modeling into personal training? Basically, I never stopped modeling. I take jobs all the time, but more. Right now I'm more like my own agent. I don't have an agency for modeling because I have quite a big platform on my Instagram. So I get I get modeling jobs, and I started to be a private trainer. I think 10 years ago after I finished my study, I studied in sport Institute in Israel called Wingate. I studied sport and nutrition. I started to be a private trainer. And yeah, since then, that's what I do.

Amy: 9:01

Speaking of Israel, Katie and I, hopefully will be going on a trip next year to Israel and we'll be going to Tel Aviv for my son's my, my youngest son's Bar Mitzvah, we're hopefully planning student Israel so we'll be able to visit your hometown.

Unknown: 9:15

I did not realize you Jewish as well. So happy support to you as well. We've touched on how you started your your modeling career, personal training career and also you have an insane social media following. I mean, obviously, it's because you're absolutely gorgeous. And you're incredible in front of the camera, but how you have like, what over 200k followers on Instagram, is that right? I have I have 200k overall actually on Instagram. I have 150k Currently, but I have another platform, which is Facebook, and I'm starting my YouTube page. So it's altogether 200,000 on Instagram at the moment we have 15 It goes up and down all the time. How did you do you feel like it's just because you're super consistent with posting and sharing and that that has a lot to do with it. Like how did you make that happen. You know what, I've never invested any money on growing my social media platform, I think I was always authentic and true to who I am. And my style, what I believe in, I was always slightly different than others, I always had my opinion about things, and I always lead in my own direction, and ever want to follow me. Great ever not. It's also great, you know, and I was just authentic and honest about who I am. And I also grew and evolved and changed with the years, you know, and it just organically grew. Just just being myself and being honest to who I am sharing my life sharing my journey. Also, like we did deep awareness, this social media is not our real life. And we are choosing choosing to share what we are choosing to share, but it doesn't reflect who we really are for, for you know, 100%. But yeah, I think I think authenticity and honesty about who you are, for me is the key. Absolutely.

Amy: 11:04

I agree. So I have a question for you. So tell us your favorite thing about personal training, your favorite thing about modeling and then to tell us your least favorite thing about both of those things?

Unknown: 11:15

Okay, so first of all, I like I like fashion, but let's start with modeling. I love fashion. And I love climbing up. And I love that people actually make want to make the best of themselves, you know, visually and to look at the best. And I think fitness and, and fashion, they are very much aligned. And they may very much be together. Because for my clients, for example, I always tell them, if you look in the mirror, and you satisfied who you see, and just go out of the shower, look in the mirror, if it makes you smile, that's a good. And I also think that like clothes should not cover who you are, I think you should be happy with who you are. The clothes is just fabrics, you know, to make us happier. But if you are glowing from the inside, and if your aura is positive and good. So that's what's most important about fashion, I have a love and hate relationship with it because I have I have some very bad experience with fashion and some good experience with fashion. You know, I started really early. And I think it shaped my personality in many aspects because I didn't always had a good experience with it. You know, I started as a 717 year old kid, I was thrown in Milan, I did the first show that I did was Dolce Gabbana, everybody was older than me, I was treated like, you know, like an adult, which I wasn't, you know, and the things that will say to me sometimes hurt me, and I think shaped my personality and subconsciously I built walls. And you know, I made me very, very, I don't know, sometimes separate, like, separated from my emotions. And you know, you put up a line how to protect yourself, it can be an ugly industry. Yeah. And it reflects on anything on anything in my life, you know, especially on my relationships because we knew are trying to protect yourself. Sometimes you cannot be very vulnerable and honest and transparent with your feelings and with your emotions, and especially when it comes to love and relationships with any type of relationship on the scale. If it's romantic relationship friendly relationship, family relationship, I think all these boundaries that they subconsciously build harm me in a way. On the other way. You know, I've made a lot of money. I traveled the world executed my love for fashion and for style. It helped me grow my role, my style, and you know, know exactly what I like and what I don't like be involved with people that are very much like me, meet very interesting people along the way, like JT about everything that I've done in all my journey. I don't regret anything because I'm at the end of the day, I'm a happy person and I'm very happy with who I am. What about your love hate for personal training? Do you is there something you love the most about and something you just like the most about it, I cannot say that there is something that I don't like to buy personal training to be honest with you. I just love to take people and show them the way to make a better version of themselves you know and take people as a project start started at some point in the finishing point have this person blog to see them blossom in front of my eyes and you know, be happy with their achievement and be happy with their new lifestyle and the new routine. And see this transformation is just fascinating. Never gets old really. So you told me that you're focusing a lot right now your expertise you're working with a lot of women that are either post pregnancy and post plastic surgery. Let's touch on that a little bit. What what is something for our listener that just had a baby? What would you what would you say to help them get back to where they I'm gonna be so first of all, I train girls that are actually very progressive in a pregnancy, I have two girls that I train now that they are in the eight months, but they're still training. And I must say, like people that have a training routine prior to their to their pregnancy can carry on training. And it's actually very good for the particular cardiovascular and it's very healthy for the baby. On post training. I currently don't train any girls, but I've had a lot of girls that I that I've trained in the past have been after like couple of pregnancies, actually after two or three babies. And you know, it's a process. But some girls can get into a better shape than they were before their pregnancy, and into results that they actually did not believe that they will reach after their pregnancy, girls with pregnancy, after pregnancy, after they give birth. The most important is to get the strength back to their core to midsection, a lot of concentration about the area of the pelvis, about all the core muscle, oblique and abdominal area that needs basically to be refurbished if you can, if you can say that way, because this is the most areas that are being damaged after pregnancy, I can say that you can see very, very good results. And some girls again, get to a better shape and to a better physique than they were before the pregnancy. Basically, I start with them, I start with them from a very, very, very foundation of like really simple aircraft, exercising of even breathing, you bring you know, it's exhale, and inhale to get the strength of the of the core back to the body. And then I start like a little bit more and more and more harder exercises, planks, abs exercises, a lot of bridges of the pelvis, you know, there, I can basically do a Mat Workout for an hour with the girl with bunch of different exercises to basically rehabilitate this area. That makes sense. And then is it kind of somewhat similar for these plastic surgery, post plastic surgery clients that you're working on? It depends what kind of plastic surgery if it's a tummy tuck. So basically girls with a tummy tuck, it's a super, super difficult surgery, you know, it takes like six months to just recover from, from the surgery and to recover from all the wounds and you know, the stitches and all of that. And a lot of girls that do atomic tag, they do a bob boob job at the same time, I guess because they open already. They want to

Amy: 17:40

get a two for one.

Unknown: 17:42

Yeah, yeah. So a lot of girls, I don't know, I think I, I see this in in London, for example, I've trained, I think it's fourth, the fourth person that I trained with tummy tuck and boob job that this procedure done at the same time. So basically, you know, tummy tuck is just like, you know, it takes the skin and stretching it back and put it back on. So you don't really have problem with it with the muscle area there. So it's very individually depends what each person needs some girls, you know, they have a tummy tuck, but they still have access fat in different areas in their body that they need to work on. Some of them have a very bad Cellulite is in the legs. So you need to even out and you know, make the body of the best version of itself. I currently train a 55 year old woman, she had a tummy tuck and a boob job. And you know, this area looks great, but she's very weak, she needs a lot of work on the core area because also if your core is weak, you get that big belly because there is nothing to protect the the, you know, the intestines, the inside part of your body. If you make it stronger than everything stuck in it looks firmer and smaller. So yeah, we work on that. She you know, she has a lot of similarities in her legs. So that needs to be executed and work on very aggressively, you know, but it's really it's really individual because girls after Tomita can do job. Each girls is individual they need different things. So you can't really I can't really give you one solution or one remedy of what I do with them.

Amy: 19:18

What are you doing? What are you doing with that one client about cellulite? Is it more strength training? Is it Pilates like what types of things help to make it look better? I know you can't get rid of it but what things help it help?

Unknown: 19:33

So I'll be honest here satellites if they really did, you cannot entirely 100% Get rid of them. Especially when you're in a progressive age after 50 It's very it's very hard to reverse it but if you make the muscle stronger, you make the skin stretch and then it looks smoother and better. You know, cellulite is usually comes in the hamstring area in the back of your legs. This is the most common area to have cellulite just They do a lot of squats, a lot of lunges, a lot of deadlifts, a lot of bridges on the floor. And you know, like really working specifically on this area, you get some good results, but you cannot get 100% rate of cellulitis, unfortunately, where does cardio come into into play as well? I mean, I would imagine, do you, of course, there's, there's got to be a balance of having both to really achieve results. So yeah, you know, a lot of girls that believe that they want to lose, they believe they want to lose weight, they think the cardio is the answer. But girls don't believe don't understand. Also, guys don't understand that. Like, if you do only cardio, it's actually not good for your muscles. And it doesn't make your body look firm and tight and strong. So what happens is, some girls or guys do five sessions of cardio a week, and then they lose all the fat in the body, but their muscles become very, very soggy. You know, so it's a very, very specific, gentle balance between cardio and strength, which need needs to be executed together. I would imagine just all body types are different. Like there's no, you have to have, essentially, you have to have a balance of building muscle mass, and also cardiovascular exercise. And then what about in regards to like stretching and leaning out and yoga and things like that makes? A question came up when you're talking about say, like, when you use a roller like you rolling out the Maya fascia, does that do anything for cellulite at all? Or not really, I think that like the normal traditional sports are the most helpful for cellulite. So that's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about strength. I'm talking about cardio, and I'm talking about proper stretching every time after workout, and even have like the have half an hour, once a week of proper stretching, because this is very important, very rewarding to your body. Otherwise, if you don't stretch your body accumulate a lot of lactic acid, which is not allowing you free mobility of your muscles. It makes the muscles really tight and stiff. And we don't want that, in my opinion. Muscles should be sorry, my long and Leander Yeah,

Amy: 22:20

exactly. Especially for men, there's they just most men I know can't like touch their feet. Like they're just so much tighter than women who do more like stretching. And so what's your stance on so

Unknown: 22:34

I tell you that a year ago, I'm I'm not a big lover of stretching, but I have to do it. A year ago, I was working out. And I was doing deadlifts with really heavy bar in the gym. And I felt that something cracking in my back and on the way out of the gym, I fell on the floor without the ability of getting up the floor. Oh my god. Luckily, luckily, I didn't you know, I didn't do any river, a river irreversible damage to my body. But I had like, proper muscle spasm in my back that didn't allow me to stand up straight for like two months. Wow. Horrible, horrible, it was super painful is the most excruciating pain I've ever felt in my life. And since then, I realized that even if I don't like it like any other thing that sometimes we don't like in life, and we have to do this is one of them. I don't like it, but I have to stretch otherwise, I will not be able to, you know, to execute the kind of workouts that I do the long runnings that I do. And if I have to do a little something that I don't like in order to execute all these great things that I love to do, that's what it is. Stretching is super important and super, I think crucial to people that are working out on a daily base. And even if you don't like it, you need to give it the time. Otherwise it will retaliate at some point right up to my, my husband, Adam, he, he couldn't touch his toes at all. Like he couldn't even come close. He couldn't even touch like mid Shin almost for a really long time. And then he started boxing. He's going to a boxing studio, where they also box and then they also do hit routines. And then they also stretch. And now he's super flexible. I mean, it's amazing that he's got all of that from one program. But

Amy: 24:27

yeah, I mean probably helps us back to that for sure he

Unknown: 24:31

has he has had a lot of really bad back. Yeah, it's helped him a lot. Today for example, after my run, I really felt shortness in my lower back, you know, because the impact of your foot your feet to the floor. Makes this make this muscle really tight. I guess I'm also in my late 30s now so you know when you're getting older, it's you feel these things more than in the past. So you have to give it attention. I was in the shower. I didn't have time to work to do a proper stretching but that We're standing up in the shower, and forcing myself to stretch myself in these three minutes that I have in the shower. So I don't feel I don't feel my back later on today, if you have to, you have to and you can always find time for it. And to be honest with you people that working out four or five times a week, it's crucial and super important to do yoga. Because yoga, balance it out. The cardio, the heat workouts, the boxing, they're running the strength, whatever you do, you need to do the stretching. Yeah, so we Amy and I both kind of like rotate everything right like I do. reformer Pilates yoga. And then like, like cardio, I don't do intense cardio. But Amy, tell them what you do.

Amy: 25:42

Yeah, I mean, I kind of do whatever feels intuitive that day, I try to move at least 20 minutes a day, sometimes more, sometimes less, I run, I spin, I do a lot of like floor Pilates type work, yoga, just kind of depends. I've just tried to mix it up. Lately, I've been doing more yoga, pilates, because I've been more in that mode. I haven't i i was actually running a couple weeks ago, or actually it was over the summer. And I felt the next day my knee like the outer part of my left knee was hurting. And I was like, it's gonna take a break because it made me a little bit nervous because it's happened to me before. And it's like I could hear it when I was like going up and down the stairs as I'm going to labor. So I haven't really run since then I've just been like, walking, but I'll do a lot of times I'll do a conference call. And I'll just like go on my treadmill and walk the whole time. And it's great. You know, I like burned a lot of calories, they feel good. So just kind of depends on I feel Katie and I talked about this last time, I feel like the older you get, the less like of this intense cardio is appealing because I used to do tons of intense cardio and I like, I just want to do that. Now. Oil is good. When you

Unknown: 26:45

get older, the recovery is very important in order to maintain like good health and good workouts. Also another tip that is important to say, if you do a lot of cardio, and if you go walk on the treadmill, going in incline on the treadmill is much healthier for your joints, especially for your knees than going down. Yeah. All flat or downhill is not very important for your knees. Because I mean, it the movement is invisible. But basically, when you when you're going downhill or you're going flat, the you lock your knee in a way that is not very, it's not very good for it. When you're going uphill, it's actually not happening because you're not blocking your knees entirely. And then you kind of protect them. So the movement is much healthier. If you do incline or one incline, it's very important to keep the gradient because it's really protecting your, your joints. I've done marathons in my life. And you know, if I had a long distance of running downhill, I really felt the impact after on my knees. Yeah, I try to walk always with somewhat of an implant, even if it's just like a one or a two. Just something right.

Amy: 27:59

Yeah. And it helps your hamstrings too.

Unknown: 28:01

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Also, if you do a lot of cardio, it's really good. It's really important to do some strength workouts on your legs because your muscle, if the fibers are strong and firm, they are really protecting your bones and cartilage and it's really important to balance it out if you do only cardio, and you don't actually give some effort on your muscles. You want to feel it on your bones sooner or later. And it's really important to make the muscles around your legs super firm and strong and make the fibers hold your bones you know? So yeah, this doesn't have to be done with strength training. Can you do that? I mean, can you achieve that through Pilates and yoga and things like that? Or do you are you like a firm believer that you can only gain muscle with weights? No, no, you can. Very hard workout you can definitely achieve it but you can also you know you can also do some squats and deadlifts and and you know in some lunges at home and achieved just with your bodyweight. You don't need a lot people can achieve a really really nice healthy, fit body with nothing. That's the thing I want to blow all that meet people can really have a healthy body with nothing just a body weight, and their their ambition. That's it. You know, it's great to do a great workout at home especially for girls. They don't usually don't want to grow, grow muscles. If they are really ambitious about it, you can achieve amazing workouts without nothing just you and your yoga mat in your living room set right

Amy: 29:33

it's I feel like it's just all about commitment and consistency and if you're just absolutely now

Unknown: 29:38

just consistency commitment and you know, believe that you can become a better version of yourself and we all can

Amy: 29:44

just so want to move into nutrition and just want to hear about kind of like what your diet is or what you recommends to your clients like because that's least for me getting older diet has become whereas before I didn't think about it as much diet has become such a bigger Do because they feel like everything you're eating, you can just feel it the next day or you know, it's just harder the older you get, like you eat one thing and you gain like two pounds, and you're like, what I just had like a piece of whatever you know, love to hear your thoughts.

Unknown: 30:14

Okay, so just a general thing about, about nutrition, I recommend to all my clients when they first wake up in the morning to drink at least three or four cups of water. If you have them a minute to boil your water, let them let them cool off for a second, squeeze a lemon into it, clear out your body start fresh today. That's amazing. That's a very simple hack that you should, everyone should execute to be honest with you. Also, you know, when you drink a lot of water in the morning, it makes you feel fuller, it helps you go to the toilet much easier because your body is full of fluid. Everything goes smoother, clears your body, the lemon is acid cleanse your your stomach's cleanse your system. And then you start on a fresh foundation. So this is something that I recommend to all my clients. Second of all, I divided them into two parts. So let's say you're awake for 16 hours a day, okay, on the first eight hours, I would recommend you to eat your carbs to eat your pasta to eat your rice to eat your bread. But on the eighth, the second eight hours, start eating all of that and take and consume protein, which is fish, can be lentils can be meat can be chicken, all of that, okay, and fresh fruit, fresh vegetables made in any way. Stir fried ovan, whatever you like. So, you know, I would suggest to eat your carbs during the first time or the first hours of the day. So you use these carbs as a fuel to function during the day. If you eat your carbs in the second part of the day, your body turn tends to store it and keep it inside, especially when you have heavy dinner, let's say 9pm. And then at midnight, you go to sleep, your body does not use these carbs to fuel as a fuel to function, but your body wants to store it. And then the following day, you're waking up uncomfortable, because you had like a very heavy meal. And you actually heavier than you were the previous day. Yeah, I don't believe I don't believe in not enjoying food. I love food. And I eat from every I eat everything to be honest with you. But you know, yesterday I had a heavy meal. So I will balance it out. And I will go for a run today. So I actually you know, I'm actually in a good place because it balances out. Also like you have to consider how much you burn compared to how much you consume. Because if you eat 1500 calories a day, it's just an example. And you just burn 1000 Of course you're gonna gain weight. It's very simple. But to be honest with you the the hack of dividing your data to and take the first half of the day, and eat carbs and eat everything you like, and let your body use these calories as a fuel. And then the second the second part of the day, just try to eat protein and vegetables and as much less carbs as you can. This is a this is a hack that works for everyone.

Amy: 33:21

Yes, easy to remember.

Unknown: 33:23

Yeah, I I feel like though, it's probably key for a lot of people. For me, especially I have slow digestion. So finding the carbs that I can eat in the first half of the day that aren't going to weigh me down or bloat me all day is crucial. So I typically end up doing the opposite of what you say because yeah, sure, like I want to have some some some bread or some rice or whatever. But if it's going to weigh me down and make me feel bloated and feel lousy, then it's going to make me drag all day. But I have found that if I start my day with a giant bowl of fruit, which is it's carbs, it's carbs and sugar, that it gives me great energy and I feel I feel really good. So and then I do find that I like naturally want to eat less heavier carbs later in the day. But yeah, I don't think like some people just you have to find what works for your body. Right? We are very individual and very different. But I think what you say is very true, but it's all about portions. If you sit and eat like a full bowl of rice Of course it's going to make you bloated and exhausted. But if it's going to be monitored and you're going to have I don't know portion of chicken with the sauce and then two or three spoons of of rice. I don't I'm not sure it will make you feel the same way. Okay, yeah.

Amy: 34:33

Yeah, I think portions is such a big I've been focused on that lately just like not because we just these these meals that especially Americans are used to the rough. It's just it's too much. You just need a little bit.

Unknown: 34:47

You don't need it. You really don't need it. We have as modern people as best in the Western world. We have big eyes, we consume way more than we need. You know. For me Like, you know, I never refill my plate. You know, I eat whatever I want. I enjoyed the food, but I never refilled the plate because I know that if I will refill my plate, afterwards, I'm going to feel heavy and tired. And I will not be able to carry on with my day. Lightly smoothly, you know, because it's going to be there, it's going to be stuck in my stomach, I'm going to be too full. Also, if you eat a lot right away, you feel tired, you want to sleep, so your brain is not functioning properly. So a little trick though, just to say, You know what, I'm not going to refill my plate. That's just a good, that's a good little trick. You know, I like

Amy: 35:39

and what about alcohol? Do you drink alcohol,

Unknown: 35:42

I don't drink during the week, it all I usually have one day in the weekend, not more than one day, because if I pour it when I need a recovery, a full recovery time after I drink alcohol, I drink one night, I would even hate the thought of drinking alcohol The following night. So I will find one day, one night in the weekend, you know, especially usually a day that they don't work the following day, because when I drink alcohol out there, I drink

Amy: 36:10

you're all in.

Unknown: 36:13

So I will find one night that I'm drinking and that will be the only day during the week that I actually drink alcohol. And every six months, I take full months of that I clear my body. I don't drink at all. And you know, it gives about it gives you the energy to to you know, to start again. Also, I you know, I just I think I haven't changed in terms of how I look for I think 10 years at least. And I'm the same way as well. I can say it I mean, I'm sorry if it sounds pretentious, but it's true. You you look at because it's amazing. Because I make sure that I drink and this is the easiest, simplest act so that I can you know, that I can recommend to everyone I drink between 20 to 30 glasses of water every day. You know, and this is like I think this is the only thing that really says definitely rejuvenating keeps your body young and healthy. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that. So in regards to drinking, too, just to circle back really quickly. Like, we're not even saying, you know, lots of drinks every night. I mean, I know from personal experience, even just like one glass of wine during COVID I would have one glass of wine almost every night. But still, I was like trying to lose the COVID weight afterwards, but still having that one glass of wine and I couldn't lose a pound to save my life. And then finally when I was like, okay, you don't need this one glass every night, chill out. Then I started losing the COVID weight. You know, it's like I put on a few extra pounds. It started to come right off. It's like especially I feel like for women and as we get older, that like one little extra glass Samia block is gonna really screw you over. Right? You know, we? Yes, absolutely. We are very different. You know, each one of us have different needs. And you know, for me, I don't need a glass of wine. You know, I have like a pipe of CBD oil that I take to puffs and I feel great after it relaxes me. It ends my day in a proper way. It fits my brain. You know, it makes me more mellow. And yeah, so for you. It's a glass of wine. It's for me. It's the CBD. It's all

Amy: 38:22

sugar. I know. You don't tell me from that.

Unknown: 38:25

Tell us what that is. What brand are you using? No, really well. So this is the brand that I use. Now someone bought bought it for me. And it's blueberry and raspberry flavor. It tastes amazing. Not harsh. And it's nice and smooth. So yeah. Thanks.

Amy: 38:46

That was definitely a better way to relax. I yeah, definitely had to put in. So before we get into our rap session alone, I gotta hear something about Katie from her younger days, because you know, I hear starting, I hear I don't know if I should open it here. Let's be very careful to X rated but you know, like, we got to hear something juicy. Because let's be real. I didn't know Katie back then. And I have a feeling it was a good time. So

Unknown: 39:15

he and I were actually very close. Very, very close. We were kids in New York, just like trying to figure out our own identities. We did a lot of bad stuff together. Alongside with a lot of good stuff together. We had the time of our lives. Yeah. We had a time of our lives who made amazing people we all we were the most amazing who circle of friends. I have such I have goosebumps just talking about. We lost some amazing people along the way. Our friend dear friend Lisa left us earlier the day she was there she was supposed to but have only good memories from Katie and also also like every time that they seek it at every time I see Katie I feel like the time the time stopped and I see the same girl with the same smile and the same attitude and that's what I love about her nothing changed her nothing touched her. And I hope you feel the same way about Of course I do. Like why is so fast we have so many great memories. Know what go ahead we got some beauty hacks because I prepared my beauty bag.

Amy: 40:32

Oh yeah,

Unknown: 40:33

I love that but first Okay, so just really fast though. How can our listeners find you if they want to work with you? Um, well, they can reach out to me on Instagram and I can leave my phone number with you. I don't have my website right now. It's not an error to be honest with you. I'm working on a new website. So the best way is just go on Facebook on Instagram you'll find me right away alone dude. Right? Definitely. So I prefer I prefer my bag here. Oh my god, I love the shows. I can show you what I what I use you know after all, I'm gay. I'm gay and I'm a model so you know I need to have that tag with

Amy: 41:10

me. It's like a win win of products. I can't wait.

Unknown: 41:14

Let me find just like the the most crucial most important ones and I'm with you in a second okay. Yes, this is your favorite. Okay, beauty. So I must I must say that I don't believe in us is super expensive skincare. I believe in using skincare that have minimum ingredients in it. And each ingredient have like 20 or 30% of the actual product because I find it working way better than product that combining many different ingredients in it. And then it touches many many things but in the end of the day it does nothing. Okay. So I'm gonna start with this. This is company I just I just found out about it. The name of it is the inky list.

Amy: 41:57

Oh I know that brand. Yeah.

Unknown: 41:58

Oh nine caffeine. And this is actually incredible. It well it recommends to use it during the day but I put it at night as well. It is basically just like a caffeine, D puffiness. product. It works amazing. And it's super smooth. It has a lot of moisture in it and it's great for your eyes every time I put it I see the difference right away was the brand what was the first inky

Amy: 42:27

list in the

Unknown: 42:28

list? Nice. Okay. This is the collagen booster of the same brand which is amazing.

Amy: 42:36

Oh, is that like a serum or?

Unknown: 42:39

It's a serum? Okay, it's a very simple product it cost maybe $12 like nine nine in British pounds, but it's amazing. I go to sleep with it at night and I wake up and I literally feel that my skin is smoother

Amy: 42:51

Wow Yeah.

Unknown: 42:54

Now this one is if I want to glam up a little bit or I go out or before photo shoot. The name of the Charlotte Tilbury yeah Charlotte Tilbury and it makes your skin like marble literally.

Amy: 43:12

Is it is it a serum or is it like something you put on top of?

Unknown: 43:18

No no you put it first and then you put your lotion? Okay. Also this all the stuff that I showed you? This is like the foundation you put it first and then you put everything else? Yeah. Okay. No, this is my night. My nighttime mask that I use every like every other day to be honest. Say what it is I slipped at it at a clinic monstrous surge overnight mask of hydration. We are we are facing we are facing the winter now. It gives you a lot of motivation. It's amazing. Super good. Simple, you know cheap product. Nice. And then I have something else I wanted to show you just one moment. Sorry. So there is this brand. I don't know if you ever come to us but it goes face gym. Yes, Jim. I haven't heard of it. Yeah, they have stores. I have this. It looks like clips. Okay, when I put this at night, I take this and I literally massage all the muscles in my face. Yeah. Yeah, like this, my forehead, my cheekbone. All of that. I guess this is like $40 but it's actually very useful. And after you use it for a couple of weeks, you see the difference? For sure. Yeah, we love quassia Nice. Okay. And this is when I'm going out or I want to look super nice for an occasion but it's fashion week now. So I need to play I need to play the game. I find this the best makeup in town girls. This is the best stuff you can ever get. It's amazing. It absorbed into the skin. You cannot see that you wear anything. And it makes your skin look like

Amy: 44:58

marble literally. It It Cosmetics CC cream eight because

Unknown: 45:02

it cosmetics CC cream and then you need to choose your tone. I'm a medium, okay? But it's amazing. And it's also not expensive. It shouldn't cost more than $45.

Amy: 45:13

And it looks like that too, right? Yeah.

Unknown: 45:17

In one drop in one drop, you are covering your whole face you don't need a lot at all. So a tube like this, let's say that you use it twice or three times a week will last for five for four or five months. It's amazing. Honestly, this is the product that I recommend the most. Wow. So yeah, this round of applause

Amy: 45:39

those are all great. We're gonna put them on the show notes for all the listeners.

Unknown: 45:42

Amy's going to turn around and purchase all of them as soon as we can. Because that's a

Amy: 45:49

well since we're talking about products maybe I should give you guys my product review this week. Yeah, let's hear what is your review so my product is called the hot mess ice roller. Okay, I don't know if you can see it. I'm trying to get it close to the camera see? It's by the skinny confidential the skinny confidential is the brands by Lauren Bostick, who's like a fashion lifestyle blogger influencer. She has a podcast her husband Michael owns I think your media Podcast Network. And she this this was her first product that came out and so you put it in the freezer, or the fridge or nothing and it's just a roller and it feels like Yeah, I had it in the freezer overnight and I'm putting it on my skin. It feels amazing. If your face is puffy in the morning, like mine and I know Katie's is all the time like just from it feels so good and it really brings down the swelling in your face so I use it

Unknown: 46:43

look somewhere between like shaver and massager.

Amy: 46:46

Yeah, exactly. It's so it's it's $69 and they say it's a preventative skin tool that uses the power of cold therapy to contour Titan and Depop your skin. The hotness eyebrow is all aluminum roller gets cold fast and stays cold longer than those those are ice roller so I never knew what an ice roller is until this came out. But apparently it's like something that they have like that they sell but they're more like medical, but this one's like more fine. It has a little groove here so you can put your thumb there so it just makes it easy. Oh just kind of go like this and I just

Unknown: 47:21

haven't I need it.

Amy: 47:22

Oh good. I actually do it on my sometimes too. It's my neck is always sore. And I do it on there but it's fabulous. I love it. I do it morning and night so it really helps with the puffiness. So that's tinny, confidential hot mess eye roller and it's it's really fun and I think it just came out recently and I'm looking on their website they just won the 2021 Readers Choice Beauty Awards from InStyle so anyway, yeah good product after you get all your products off and you just do that feels good right in the morning after a night out of of the one day that you drink so

Unknown: 47:56

so now I don't want to skip out on our rap session. I definitely want to hear allowance five minute flow and his Yeah, I mean kind of told us how you maintain your nirvana. But alright, here's what we call our five minute flow. You just got out of the shower. Uber pinged you there five minutes away. What are you going to do to get out the door? Like looking amazing, like you'll always do in that time? Bing bang, boom. I mean, you're a guy so it's so much easier. But what are you okay, so I'll probably well if I'm, if I'm be honest, like in real life, I would probably put you'd sunglasses and a hat. Yeah, I would probably I would probably drink lots of water. Put my vitamin C serum on my face and you woke up? Nice. That's what which Vitamin

Amy: 48:42

C Serum do you use? Was it I use the

Unknown: 48:45

No, no, I don't have it here. Actually, I have it back in London. It's a basically simple. It's a simple clinic drops that I put on my face makes your skin look glowing and refresh. And you know, breasted. Yeah. Plenty guys are working they should be hiring you to do I honestly, I honestly don't. I mean, I change products all the time. Because I believe that your body will your face, get your skin get used to a product, it stop reacting to it. I try things all the time. And also because I'm an influencer, I get I receive a lot of products. So I get to try new things and to see what I like and what I don't like. I also I also must say that like I suffer from a slight rosacea that actually appears in the summer. So yeah, I have to consider that when I choose my product because some some products in really inflame it and make it worse. Yeah, that's I get that from time to time also, so I know exactly what you're saying. Okay, all right. And then how do you maintain your daily nirvana? I mean, you kind of said it earlier. You What do you do you exercise every day?

Amy: 49:51

What's your day so keeps you peaceful? Yeah, yeah,

Unknown: 49:53

I think I think I really like I'm meditating my brain when I run and when I work out And this is the things that I do for my nirvana. I'm usually, I'm usually very calm, I'm not a very stressed person, and I Let life be very politic to my thoughts and to my been, and I don't get too involved. You know, I can think about someone something or something that stresses me out. But I know how to keep it all and don't get too involved with it. And this is what keeps me calm and you know, relaxes me, basically. But, yeah, but basically sports and fitness. And yeah, this is my therapeutic time in my Nirvana time, like this morning that I went for 10 kilometres one, I'm not gonna lie to you. It was a bit hard today, but I've done it. And you know, after I finished it, I'm a whole new person. Yeah, for sure. So yeah. Sorry. It's very simple. Yeah. Yeah, we all kind of do similar things. And it doesn't make such a huge difference. Alright. So before we say goodbye, let's wrap with our mantra. And I thought, since I did this kind of lean D, I'm probably saying it wrong. Yoga this morning, that I would bring the Sanskrit mantra that we used. So nice today, because I had such an emotional moment with it that I almost I had tears rolling down my face at one point. And it's Sat Nam. And what that means is, this truth is my identity. And I mean, I'm just, you know, I'm going through a transitional phase in my life and trying to be really, really true to myself. And like you mentioned, you spoke to it earlier alone, like, knowing who you are and being true to who you are. How important that is. So such nom

Amy: 51:50

Satnaam All right, well, nice to meet you. Oh my

Unknown: 51:57

gosh, yeah, it was so good. Dave. It's so nice. To see you face you to be live soon. Yes. So nice to talking to you girls. And taking part in your show. And we'll speak soon.

Amy: 52:11

Yeah, absolutely. Thank

Unknown: 52:12

you, man. Bye. Bye bye.

Amy: 52:15

Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 24 - Finding Your Flexibility With Yoga Goddess Amina Taha (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 24 Finding Your Flexibility With Yoga Goddess Amina Taha.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Amy 0:07

Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Katie 0:19

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a former fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are

Amy 0:25

sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started. Welcome to Nirvana sisters, Nirvana sisters family. I am so excited that we are talking with Amina Taha today, straight from Egypt and we're so excited to have her on the podcast. She's a friend of mine that I met a few years ago. She's an amazing human being and I'm so excited to hear everything that she has to tell us about her journey to yoga. So Amina found yoga at the age of 27. During the start of her career as a fashion designer, she was immediately drawn to yoga and how it taught her about her body and herself. Without further ado, I will say hello to Amina, how are you? Amina?

Amina 1:13

Hi, Amy, thank you so much for having me.

Amy 1:15

Thank you so much for joining us. And thanks for your time. I know you're in Egypt, and it's like, what time is it there? It's probably like eight hours ahead.

Amina 1:22

It's 630 right now. So like 36 hours?

Amy 1:26

Yeah, six hours. Okay. Amazing. So, we always start our show Amina with a weekly nirvana. And it's really just a way to talk about what was what brought us joy this week, big or small, just something that brought us a little bit of sunshine. So I'll hand it to Katie to do her weekly Nirvana first.

Katie 1:47

Alright, well, Thanks, Amy. Hi, Amina. It's so great to finally meet you. We've been talking about this for a long time. So excited to be here. So my weekly Nirvana I think honestly is about to happen. Aside from how fabulous This is, as soon as we sign off, I'm going to go have a special day with my mom and my two girls where we were getting ready to move out of the state. So it's been kind of crazy and hectic around here. So we're going to go do many petits and go shopping and just have a fun little girl's day. So I'm excited for that. One, yeah, it'd be fun. What about you, Amy?

Amy 2:17

Well, I'm probably about to have mine too, because my boys Jackson and Jules who are 14 and 11. For those who are new listeners have been at summer camp all summer for seven weeks. And they didn't have a visiting day this year, obviously, because of the pandemic. So we're going to pick them up in like an hour. So I'm so excited to see them. So that's my future nirvana. My my weekly nirvana. I've had a pretty busy week, I would say one little thing that brought me joy, which is kind of silly slash embarrassing is that I tried to not drink this week. And for the next like two weeks, I was like, Okay, I'm not going to drink anything. Because I mean, I've been like, on vacation and just having a summer you know, with the boys gone and drinking and just enjoying it. I'm like, this is just too gluttonous. I need to cut it off. So I like haven't drank a weed. I've eaten really clean and I feel so good. So it was just I don't know, I feeling really good this week, because I was cutting out all of the sugar and all the bad stuff for me. So that's my nirvana. What about you, me now?

Amina 3:12

That's amazing. I'm proud of you. It was it was also kind of related to motherhood. I was in this cute little town called the habit, Egypt's that's kind of a diving and snorkeling town. And I was walking with my son, and just ahead of us was my sister and her husband. And so we were kind of walking behind me and my three year old boy. And he just kissed my hand and said, I love spending time with your mama. And it just like, melted my heart. And I feel like keep this moment with me throughout the week because of how special it was.

Amy 3:44

Oh, he's so sweet. What was his name again?

Amina 3:47

Malik.

Katie 3:48

Now, like, that's such a good name. Remember

Amy 3:50

when we met, he was like a baby. And I watched him grow on your Instagram. And he's beautiful. And I love pictures with you guys together.

Amina 3:59

You know that? That I met? You was actually the first time I had left him ever.

Katie 4:04

Oh, wow. That's right.

Amy 4:05

And we had that long conversation about motherhood on the boat. I remember that. So yeah, I Katie, I have just you know, I've been to some of Amina's classes in New York. And I've talked to her a lot. And I really wanted to interview her for the show because I one thing stuck out to me. I mean, and I think I told you when we were chatting that when I first met Amina, I was like, Oh my God, she's so incredible. She's so flexible. She's so beautiful. Yoga just must come to her like so easily. And I remember her saying, No, in fact, I just started yoga. I think it was at that point. Maybe you had started yoga five years ago, and you were like, I couldn't touch my toes. When I first started. I was not athletic. I would lay around on the couch and I was like blown away because someone like you seems to me like you would just like have it in your nature. So thank you for coming on the show. And I just wanted to give Katie that little update because I was just so impressed. So we have some quickfire questions and then we'll kind of get into the main interview. But how long have you been practicing yoga?

Amina 5:00

I started November 2014. So it's about seven years now, I would say,

Amy 5:05

amazing. And what is your favorite pose?

Amina 5:09

My favorite pose changes every week. This week. It's happy baby, just because it feels so good and happy, widespread. Yeah. Yesterday, we did a happy baby under the stars in a workshop. So it just felt so amazing. And I still love that post right now.

Katie 5:26

Sounds amazing.

Amy 5:27

That's awesome. Okay, so Amina tell us about growing up in Egypt and your background and kind of your journey to yoga.

Amina 5:34

So I actually moved to Egypt in middle school, and I always wanted to study fashion. So yoga was completely out of my, you know, ambitions or, or any kind of future plan. And when the revolution happened, I had just graduated. So the Egyptian revolution happened in 2011. And I had just graduated university, I had studied fine arts. And I was dreaming about, you know, living abroad and studying fashion because there was no fashion schools in Egypt. So I moved to Paris did an intro to fashion course. And then from there did another, applied basically to do a master's in fashion in New York. And I finished that. And then I was about to start my first job with choice and Abu Dhabi in fashion. And I had a month to kill. So in that month to kill, I was like, let me start something new, like a new hobby. And that's how I walked into my first yoga class. And my life just completely changed from there because it became my passion.

Katie 6:35

That sounds amazing. You first of all, you're a little you're not little but your big growth through passion sounds epic and Paris and New York, but must have no such an unbelievable experience.

Amina 6:46

Love it, like, yeah, it's always gonna stay a part of me. But if for some reason, I just felt more connected to the My purpose felt more true to teaching yoga, nothing brought me more joy than doing that.

Katie 6:58

That's really beautiful. Were you active before? Did you exercise or do anything prior to that?

Amina 7:04

Never.

Katie 7:05

Gosh, it's insane. That's

Amy 7:07

what I'm saying. I was like, incredible.

Amina 7:10

I could not touch my toes. I had never done any I just always also like labored labeled myself as a person who just doesn't enjoy sports who's not active. So I had the most unhealthy kind of foods lifestyle, I just had a really fast metabolism. So I would eat, I would wake up and eat cheesecake, I would just, I was like, oh my god over for a few years, I just had this disconnect from my body. And I felt like I was a stranger and my body never really understood my body. And then that's really what drew me the most to yoga was that at 27, I felt like, oh, I can start to actually connect to this to this vessel that I use every day, you know?

Katie 7:47

Yeah, I definitely understand that I started practicing yoga, I want to say like, maybe three years ago, but nowhere near anything like you. I'm so curious about your practice. Like when you first started, were you just taking the occasional class and then you realize that you enjoyed it and ramped up? Like, how did that transition happen? Because I mean, I'm lucky if I get like 230 minutes sessions a week, which is so lame. But how did that happen for you?

Amina 8:12

So I actually had that month to kill until my office was ready. So I was practicing very consistently, the first month that I started, I was going to yoga classes, I would say like about three times a week. And I just had the, you know, kind of the luxury of going whenever I wanted in the day. And then when I started my nine to five job, that's when I really felt the shift after doing it for a month as much as I wanted, then having that, like, I'm sitting on a desk nine to five, you know, then I started to have to prioritize it into my day. So I'd wake up really early practice at home, or I would finish my, my work my meetings, and I would go to like a yoga class in the evening. And I didn't have you know, an abundance of yoga studios around me. So I actually had to also rely on myself. And that process of just reading up about things, you know, reading about a reading up about the body or anatomy or like, whatever I was inspired to achieve. For example, I was like, Oh, I would love to do a headstand, it would be so cool if I could do a headstand. And then I would watch these tutorials and kind of teach myself step by step how to how to do that. So I was already kind of on the path of becoming a yoga teacher because I was teaching myself and everybody around me because I was so excited about these things that I was learning so I definitely prioritize it. And I would say I had a daily practice for the most part ever since I started like, wow, minimum maybe like five you know? Yeah, like three to five times a week but once I had that, that nine to five job I was doing it almost every day.

Katie 9:42

Wow. And for the listener, Amina can do yoga positions that I mean, just are completely uncommon and very rare. I mean, you can bend your body into things I've never seen before. It's really amazing. The other day I saw on Insta you had you were like halfway up, sit down and you had your arm completely wrapped around you leg, your leg was over your shoulder. It was insane. So it's really, it's really impressive. It's so cool.

Amy 10:08

And being that you weren't able to touch your toes before you started, like, how does that happen? I mean, how how can you go from one to the other is it just just the practice and the repetition and your body just gets the mental memory and gets used to it. I mean, it's really remarkable.

Amina 10:25

Honestly, I think, I believe truly, that if you are in control of your breath, and if you are, you know, using your breath as a tool to keep your nervous system calm, and you're not forcing anything, you're actually just being curious and just breathing and, and also prioritizing stability over everything in your flexibility practice, you can do anything. That's what I always tell my students, like, if I can do this, you can do it, I had the most rounded upper spine when I started, I was always sitting down and hunching over on a table in like fashion school, my shoulders were tight, my hips were tight, like, so all of these things I feel like are just about convincing your bought your you know, the the brakes on your body are done by your nervous system. So if you are breathing slowly, using a lot of ease and a lot of like, just gentle techniques with your body, you will be able to release any kind of tension that you've accumulated. And I always like to think of it as we're all born flexible. This whatever tension we have or holding on to it's just accumulation of years of postural habits, or, you know, it's it's not something that's outside of us, we are all flexible, you just have to uncover those layers of of what doesn't need to be there.

Amy 11:38

You know, that is I've never thought about that before. And that is so true. Because if you think about babies, you're right, you are more flexible, and then the world takes over and you become not flexible. So I love that. And I think with the breath, I mean, I practice breath work as much as I can. And I think practicing the breath work is probably just as you probably have to do that just as rigorously as you practice the poses because they both require work and repetition, I would imagine.

Katie 12:04

What is that? What's the breath? I'm sure I'm saying like Awaji or something that you do on yoga, specifically, what is it called?

Amina 12:11

It's the Ojai. Yeah. And it's that that the reason this breath is so powerful is because it also it's meditative, because it has a sound. So you're just focusing on the sound of your breathing. And when you're focusing on the sound of your breathing, any thoughts about your body kind of start to you know, you have a little bit of space, because, you know, I've had these moments where I've gone into a pose and thought, Oh, I'm so stiff, oh, today is just not my day. My hips are tight, you know, our by our minds are always narrating and chattering and telling us judgments about us or about the world around us. So in your practice with your Ojai breath, you're actually able to just be like, hey, wait a minute, I'm just gonna tune into my breath and just allow whatever is to be and I'm not gonna try to make these constant assessments and judgments.

Katie 12:55

What is the trick that makes you make that sound? I can't remember, how do you how do you describe that?

Amina 13:00

You basically like constrict the airflow, so you squeeze the muscles of the back of your throat. And when you do that, it makes that sound like an ocean oceanic kind of sound. And it's so fascinating, because I always thought of it as a meditative breath. But I recently have been reading a lot about how this breath is tied to your deep core muscles and your pelvic floor. So it's actually when you actually activate that, that throat, breath activation, you're actually contracting your entire midline, all the way down to the base of your pelvis, your pelvic floor. So it even allows you to use your core without even being consciously squeezing your core. You're actually contracting your core just with that breath. So it's amazing. Wow,

Amy 13:42

that is that is incredible. So Amina, you've been teaching for a really long time. And then obviously, you know, growing and getting super popular. And for anyone who hasn't taken a class with Amina, I highly recommend that you do I did. I think the last time I saw you, Amina, we met in Brooklyn and I did that class and I felt so incredible afterwards. And I remember doing what's like a backward bent a wheelbarrow on the wheel. And I hadn't done that in probably 10 years and in your class, I was able to do it because I felt so relaxed and at ease with you that I felt comfort I don't know, there was something that came over me that I was like, I'm going to try this again and I feel safe. So just for anyone that is listening, please go take one of her classes and now she's I was going to ask you about your transition to zoom because I knew you were teaching in person then obviously everything hits so how did that work? The transition and tell us about that a little bit.

Amina 14:35

So I actually felt a sense of panic when COVID happened because my in studio classes were canceled put on hold for you know indefinitely so I was kind of I was upset because this is the main thing that I just love doing you know and and so I remember feeling like okay, I could sit here and panic or I have to just adapt so I right away started teaching I think Instagram lives. And then I remember that and it was it was really Nice, but I also felt like I would love to actually see my students as well, I would love to like, see them, you know, and just see what they're doing and give them life feedback. So I started teaching on Zoom. At first, it was very manual, I would collect people's emails and send them the link and it was like, and then it, it slowly grew, luckily, and then it got to a point where I just needed the platform to be able to manage all of this, it was crazy. So I found the platform. And then I started kind of growing it into like packages and subscriptions. And so now it's just super fun that I could just focus on creating workshops or immersion trainings or you know, classes and then people get to join and everything's automated. So it's been great. So people

Amy 15:41

how to, is it on your Instagram? Like if someone wants to sign up for your zoom class, they can just click a link and then you send them the link and it's all kind of easy. Oh,

Amina 15:51

yeah. So I have like a weekly schedule that they find on my in my Instagram bio. And then through that there's a schedule of all the workshops, all the live classes, and then some people are practicing from Australia so the timezone isn't like suitable for them. So what they'll do is they'll sign up still, but they'll get a recording to practice the class right after whenever they're ready.

Amy 16:12

Oh, cool. Yeah, that's

Katie 16:13

great. Do you practice are rather teach various types of yoga or just vinyasa? What do you what, what are you doing there?

Amina 16:21

Right now I'm kind of doing this, like kind of my own thing. So it's a blend of yoga and pilates. And so it's like a bit of sometimes I'll teach just kind of a more traditional vinyasa flow. Sometimes I'll teach Hatha, but right now what my body is loving is a blend of yoga and pilates. So that's kind of what I've been teaching and playing around with. And it's, it's, it's been really nice, because I've been balancing a lot of strength with, with flexibility with, you know, graceful yoga transitions. So it's hard to describe, but I would say it's a it's a mix of dynamic flexibility, breath work, and a lot of stability work as well.

Amy 16:59

And how long are your classes typically on Zoom.

Amina 17:02

So on Zoom, I do usually 75 minutes, if sometimes workshops could be up to like 90 to two hours, 90 minutes, but I am also doing some classes that people can stream. And so those I'm going to have them range from like five minutes to 60 plus minutes as well.

Katie 17:22

I need to take one of your classes stat.

Amina 17:25

I would love for you to come. It would be amazing.

Katie 17:28

So tell us about your being an alo ambassador. I assume they're probably one of your favorite brands to rock. But how did that all come about?

Unknown Speaker 17:39

Yeah, I actually used to buy all my Alo outfits myself, and I you know, this was always like a dream. And I would I would get these brand deals and I would wear this stuff. And then I would always be like, aloes, just superior, you know, and I still have these moments now that are like, when they release a new collection. And I get sent a new collection have these pinch me moments of like, wow, this is such an incredible opportunity. I love the clothing. Being a former, you know, fashion students, I truly appreciate how they keep, you know, they get you excited to wear to wear their stuff. And as a brand. I just really aligned with them. So it's been it's it's still like I still sometimes find it so surreal that this happened. It was like a dream come true. But yeah, I actually moved to New York when they were opening up a studio, their first New York studio, so So I feel like the studio was growing as I was also teaching there. So so it feels very personal to me that space and the brand itself. So yeah,

Katie 18:39

that's congratulations. I mean, that's really that's huge. It's really exciting at the actually they're their yoga app was how I learned how to do yoga. I mean, of course, I've taken classes before, but I've never practiced at home. So that's, I use their app and their their teachers to learn how and it's really it's a it's a great app, it has an offer so much, right?

Amina 19:00

Yes, it's amazing. Honestly, them as a brand with everything. They just really support their Yogi's in every sense, and it's incredible to work with them and just to be working with yoga teachers that I was learning from online when I started my journey, you know, it's, it's amazing. Yeah, so

Amy 19:16

speaking about starting your journey, we you know, I'm sure we have listeners that are across the spectrum from people that do yoga all the time, or people who haven't tried it and want to try so what would you what would your advice be to someone who wants to

Amina 19:28

start so I would say just let go of any expectations of what your practice should look like. And just know that starting anything as a beginner is going to be very humbling and very challenging. And I think it's just reminding yourself that it's not about being you know, quote unquote, good at anything. It's just about going and having this experience with yourself, getting to know yourself a little bit better, getting to know your body and just working with it very gently forcing nothing and just allowing that journey to unfold naturally. And I think that is just you know, the most important thing

Amy 20:00

Yeah, that's really good advice.

Katie 20:02

It is I heard, I heard somebody once say about yoga that like, it's it's not a pose, it's a feeling. And I just always try to remember that went through it. Yeah, cuz it is helpful because you think like, do I am I doing this pose? Right? Does it look cool? Am I like, if I was in a class right now what I look like someone that knows how to do yoga, you have to remind yourself like, yeah, it's about, it's about how it feels.

Amina 20:25

And also like, Instagram has also kind of set this, you know, crazy standard for yoga, like I take accountability for all posts, our best shapes. And you know, you rarely really see a person's millions of falls and struggles and how they actually learned to get to where they are. And that that process is really important. And that process is the beginner beginner phase. And you're always a beginner, you're never going to you know, in yoga, there's no such thing as ever mastering anything, you're always going to be to continuous, lifelong work in progress. So I think just remembering that and trying to keep it very consistent, just making it a habit, even when it's the last thing you want to do just get on your mat for five to 10 minutes, you can even just put on a song and breathe and move intuitively and and just just in that you're connecting to your body and your breath. And that in itself is so it's so life changing. Yeah, that's

Amy 21:16

a really good point. Yeah, I mean, speaking of the process of yoga, I've seen you'll share on your Instagram, a lot of your your community and and then sort of learning different poses and showing their successes and challenges along the way. So I love that you do that, because it's very relatable to see, you know, the people that are taking your classes and the things that they're learning, and they're not, you know, perfect either. So, that's great to hear. And also speaking of your Instagram, we love all the beautiful photography on your Instagram. It's just gorgeous. And of course, I love the ones with your family. Who does your photography? Do you do it yourself? Or do you have someone? How does that work? Because you just have gorgeous photography.

Amina 21:55

So it's actually my partner, my husband who started taking photos of me with a phone when I was first like still learning yoga, I would be taking you take this photo, and I would like fall out and he'd be like, learn it first before you want me to take a photo of it. And he would act like he didn't take it seriously at all, you know, but then when he would take a photo, he had such a good eye that I would post that photo and I had like 300 followers, and it would go viral. So I told him I was like, There's something special about how you take photos. And so can we just get a camera and just try this out. And he was like, Okay, I'm not very excited. And then it just grew because he like, I know that he has a very special eye in the way he captures anything. And so he's the main person that takes all of my photos. And he actually was the one that started filming my first online series. And he has no experience with us. He just knows how to like create something out of nothing, and just make it amazing. He's just so talented like that. So now we actually are releasing an app. And he's also, you know, my main videographer, my main to everything, he has another job, but he does this just

Amy 23:02

to oh my gosh, I had no idea that is amazing. It's a family affair I live in.

Katie 23:08

I mean, he has his gorgeous muse to propel this forward. That's really cool. And the photography is absolutely stunning. I mean, even the picture I'm looking at right now on our zoom meeting is insane. Well, thank you. So you just said you brought this app coming? Tell us Yeah,

Amy 23:23

tell us about the app and your website, I saw it said coming soon.

Amina 23:27

So this app, I wanted to create a platform that you know offers like kind of accessible movement classes from people for people all around the world ranging from like five minutes to 60 plus minutes, and for all levels. So whether you're completely new to yoga, you have a class that you can, you know, a series that you can do every single day that you grow with. And even if you're more experienced as a practitioner, you can also dive deeper into poses, take your time to learn, you know, different types of movements. So it's going to be a blend of yoga, pilates, and Barre and some meditation classes as well. And it's I just wanted to kind of have as an extension of my teaching to just, you know, be easy on people's phones on their laptops, and they can just have really good quality classes to use.

Katie 24:11

That's genius. It'll do well,

Amy 24:13

when is that going to launch? Congratulations.

Amina 24:15

I think it's launching in September now. So it's very soon. I've been filming a lot of different things for it here. So I've been traveling around the country and just kind of sharing my home with with my app so that my students from everywhere can can get to experience it with me too. So I'm so excited.

Amy 24:33

Okay, well you have to let us know when it launches so we can tell our listeners well maybe by the time that this airs, it might be long it might be longer check it out. Yes, I can't I can't wait. That's awesome. Well,

Katie 24:45

the app sounds incredible and I'm I'm super excited for it and I'm so happy for you. It's

Amy 24:50

it's huge. It's we will definitely be subscribers for sure.

Katie 24:54

So that's ticket into our rap session. Amina. We have a couple of fun questions to ask you because you are Without a doubt the picture of health and wellness and beauty. So what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? So

Amina 25:08

my favorite wellness or beauty hack is good, a good skincare routine, something new that I've started doing. And I just, I just love it. And now it's like my daily thing. And I've noticed such a big difference because it's also kind of a mindfulness practice, you know, just taking that time, especially if you're a mom, or you're running a business and running around. So I just really enjoy my daily very simple skincare routine. And what is that routine? So I wake up, I wash my face and I put vitamin C, my dermatologist is the one that recommended all this. And then I put my sunscreen. And then at night I wash my face with a like a double cleanse and then I put my retinol and moisturizer and then go to sleep. This is very simple.

Unknown Speaker 25:53

Routine, right? Yeah, it's my daily daily practice

Amina 25:55

for

Katie 25:56

the amazing you'll have to you have to give us the brand's ears and we'll put them in the show notes. Yeah,

Amy 26:01

I find to like sometimes now that I'm into a skincare routine as well, that it's very like therapeutic in a way. It's like relaxing to do that at night and have that ritual.

Amina 26:10

Yeah, it really is. And then I actually noticed, it's like it gives you these results after a while like it's not a quick fix, but it's like, now I'm really seeing the difference because I've kept up with it. So I always like believe that consistency is the most important thing consistency over like intensity, you know, and it's been great.

Katie 26:27

Yeah, sure. Love it. Okay, so the next one's kind of fun. We caught our five minute flow. You just got out of the shower and dried off and Uber pings you they're five minutes away. What are you going to do to get out the door and get in that Uber on time like your holy grails, what do you do to get it together and out there.

Amina 26:43

So I would get a get out of the shower, put honey oil on my hair. It's something I really like to do. And then sunscreen, and eyeliner. And that's it.

Katie 26:57

Honey oil that sounds intriguing.

Unknown Speaker 27:00

It's a brand called Gisou. And it's really nice if you have curly hair, it's and I've kind of relieving my hair curly. So I put it on the ends and it just gives your hair just stops like your hair from being frizzy, especially with like New York City humidity, where I live most of the time. It's like, very humid in the summer. So it's it's yeah, it's called Gisou. It's

Unknown Speaker 27:20

great. Nice.

Amy 27:21

Oh, those things often heard of that before? Okay. I mean, this probably goes without saying, but how do you maintain your daily nirvana.

Amina 27:28

It's either the daily movement or a five minute meditation every day where I just sit down, just focus on my breath and put it I actually put a timer for five minutes, and I sit and just see the thoughts that come up. And I just shift back my attention to my breath. And it's such a simple, small thing, but it makes the biggest difference in my day. It's a good reminder to us all. Yeah. And it's pretty easy. You know, it's just something that you kind of just keep up with and just do and like my husband says, it's annoying, because it's something that you really feel the difference when you don't do it. You know?

Katie 28:05

It's true. Well, I was gonna ask you, you know, when I started yoga, it was before I started meditating, and I noticed how present it made me and don't you feel like yoga is such a meditative practice that it can almost work. It can do the same thing for a lot of people I find Yogi's are always super present and engaging and calm. Which is Yeah, such a lovely byproduct.

Amina 28:26

Yeah, it really is. I always love one of my friends says there's a you before yoga and a you after yoga, and those two people are not the same. And it's so true. You know, you can walk into a yoga class with so much just, you know, chaos and chatter and a lot of you know ideas about your day or about yourself and you just leave that class just feeling a little bit lighter. And that's so valuable.

Katie 28:48

All right, well, should we wrap with our product review? And then I think Amina, you have a mantra for us, right? Yes. Okay, great. All right. So let me kick in this product review. Really? Yeah, I'm

Amy 28:57

excited to hear this. Katie has been like bringing all these product reviews surprising me and I don't know what they are, like very excited to hear what you have.

Katie 29:05

Well, speaking of vitamin C cream Amina. It's part of your repertoire now. It's part of mine as well. We recently interviewed a dermatologist Dr. Nazarian, she'll be well her episode will be up shortly and she was talking about vitamin C creams. I've always had kind of uneven skin and I felt like it's been really dull lately. So I got this product. It's Sunday. Riley is fabulous. We've talked about Sunday, Riley before and it's their CEO 15% Vitamin C brightening serum. Nice. I have used it for a month now. And within probably like a week or two weeks, I noticed a difference instantly. Like my skin tone has always been a little uneven and it's now even down to the point where I don't feel like I need to put makeup on anymore.

Amy 29:48

Oh my gosh. It's amazing. Well, thank

Katie 29:50

you. It's also brighter, like I don't know how to describe the difference between my skin not being bright and when it is bright. It's just something I noticed and I See, right for it just felt like dull maybe sometimes like ashy and pale and now there's a brightness to it. So you can get this at Sundayriley.com or Sephora obviously I'm sure many other places it's $85 for 1.7 fluid ounce. And the ingredients that matter are the key ingredients is obviously the vitamin C has phytosterols complex and they are they help reduce the look at redness, which is partly like why I would be blotchy all the time I never felt like it was my skintone was even was like redness around my nose and stuff. And then saccharide SRE extra glycolic acid, all that good stuff. And then of course, it's without all the bad stuff that we don't like the parabens, sulfates and everything.

Amy 30:43

So Katie, do you put that on in the morning? Like is that the first thing you put on your? Yeah, do you do like a serum first.

Katie 30:49

So this is the very first thing I put on. I use two pumps. I was doing it day and night and I kind of ripped through it quickly. And now I'm looking at their website it says really like if you just use it in the morning, it works just as well. So I literally ran out yesterday. Yeah, I've been doing that. And then my serum and then yeah, and then my my lotion and my eye cream. But I love it. And it also happens to be it was rated by like Elle in 2020 is like the number one product for the year. So it's it's legit. It's really good stuff. Yeah,

Amy 31:22

I like that brand a lot. I am I have a I have the SkinCeuticals vitamin C, but it's like vitamin C, with Yeah, the E with folic acid, which I really liked too. But when that runs out, I'm going to try this for sure.

Katie 31:36

You'll love it. And I mean, it worked right away it really, it's really good stuff.

Amy 31:41

That's great. Well, good product review. Thanks for that. And we're going to close out the show with Amina giving us a mantra, which I'm excited to hear.

Amina 31:50

It's been my mantra for the past year since the pandemic hit and I actually another yoga teacher that I was teaching at a festival said it in his class and I stuck with me. And it's I breathe in. I love my body. I breathe out. I'm home in my body.

Katie 32:06

I love that.

Amy 32:07

I was just like taking that. I was.

Katie 32:10

I know I was just thinking about I'm going to be using that when I meditate later. That's beautiful. Thank you.

Amy 32:15

That's beautiful. Well, thank you so much. Amina, this has been great. I definitely would love to have you back. I feel like there's so many more yoga and questions about you. I want to hear I want to hear all about your Egypt experience this summer and other cool stuff you're working on. But I know we're running out of time today. But thank you so much for your time for dialing in from Egypt for sending us all your positive energy and vibes and just your your beautiful soul. I think you're such a great person. And I just hope I can see you sometime soon. Maybe when you're back in New York.

Unknown Speaker 32:46

Yes.

Amina 32:46

I hope you come into a class or even just take an online class. I

Unknown Speaker 32:50

know you have to join in. Yeah. And Katie. Yeah,

Amina 32:55

thank you so much for having me. It was so fun to chat with you and I hope we chat again soon.

Katie 33:01

Thank you. Thanks, Amina.

Amy 33:03

Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 5 - Family Series - Staying Young - It’s All A Mindset (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 5 .

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Amy: 0:07

Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Katie: 0:19

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a former fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are

Amy: 0:25

sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started. Welcome back to our family series, part two, which we are calling staying young. It's all a mindset. So I am honored to be joined by my parents, Alan and ADA Chandler, aka mom and dad. And we wanted to take some time while we're home for the holidays Katie and I to talk to them about how they stay young how they keep their minds sharp and a little bit about their love story perhaps. So I will let them introduce yourself, Dad say hello.

Unknown: 1:08

Hi, Amy. Hi, Katie. It's fat. And Alan for TV,

Amy: 1:13

Mom. Hi,

Unknown: 1:15

I'm Amy, Amy's mom, and Katie's mother in law,

Katie: 1:19

the best and most ever. Alright, so we wouldn't kick it off with asking you to tell us about your nirvana of 2020. You know, I was doing weekly nirvana. But since our family series we want to hear your high of the year.

Unknown: 1:33

Ellen Show my heart of the year would be unbelievable timing. My grandson's Bar Mitzvah, his bar mitzvah was on February 22, we went to the bar mitzvah, everybody was drinking, dancing, having a great time not thinking about anything till 10 days later, where the country in the world froze on and we're still in the COVID 19. Virus. So that was my high of the year.

Katie: 2:01

Data. What about Yeah,

Unknown: 2:02

that's a good one. What high the year is happened twice. Once this summer, when we went to the beach with everybody family, my daughter's family, my son's family. And then we right now they're all here for the last of the year, and just being together live as opposed to phone calls and FaceTime and stuff like that. We've done a lot of virtual but I'm very, it's just excited. You know, I get motivated just by being with you guys.

Katie: 2:34

It's great. Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. I wanted to start with just a few quickfire questions just to get to know you guys. Because first of all, this is about hire keeping it young. So how old are both of you? Oh, Ellen help. Me six. Ada. How

Unknown: 2:47

old are you just turned 74.

Katie: 2:49

Wow. Okay. 74 and 76 going on? 25 each? Definitely. How did you meet? Give me a brief story. Ada. How did you meet?

Unknown: 3:00

We met the very first time he doesn't remember it. in Atlantic City on the beach. He and his best friend came and sat next to me and my girlfriends. And that's the very first time we met.

Katie: 3:12

Okay, that's great. And

Unknown: 3:14

I remember that.

Katie: 3:17

So what's your story?

Unknown: 3:18

My story is we went to the University of Maryland. And I was drafted into the Army because it was the Vietnam wars in the 60s 1966, actually. And so when I went into the service, I came back. And I had my I was dating a gal who I wasn't dating when I came back six months later, and I went to the go to a to a party for my fraternity. I asked a girl between if ADA who I knew because she was dating, one of my best friends also went into the army. So she was fair game. And we started going out. And one year later, we were

Katie: 4:01

engaged. Oh, that's pretty fast. I don't think I realized that two years. And how many years have you been in wedded bliss now?

Unknown: 4:14

51. Exactly.

Katie: 4:16

That's amazing. Amazing.

Amy: 4:18

So I was gonna take it all the way back with how you were born or the circumstances in which you were born dad, because the story is actually unbelievable. And I tell people all the time, but I'd love to hear it from your voice and kind of the first couple years of your life.

Unknown: 4:34

But it's interesting because we were just talking about the Vietnam War. You know, me sir. I was a National Guard. The big deal, but my father was in the regular army. And back then, I guess was 1940 I guess it's 1941 around there. They then take people to draft them if they had a kid, or they were over a certain age. My father was 29 I am I my mother was pregnant, and he was drafted. And he went to the Philippines. First he was in the United States drafted when you're pregnant. She wasn't pregnant when he was drafted. She was like pregnant, like, a month later. So what happened was, she became pregnant. And my mother was very kind of hyper got this thing, because she wasn't seeing my father. My father said to her, I'll be there when Alan me when I'm born. So he wasn't, he was on a ship heading to the Philippines for two years. So I was born, my father and transit, my mother thought he would be there, because he told her to keep her calm. But of course, he was on a ship. And he didn't see me for two years. So my mother raised me for two years by herself, single mom, and my father and mother were letters to each other every day. And there's like 1000 letters we have. And I've yet to, because, you know, just talking about it makes me emotional. But eventually, I'm going to open these letters. And who knows, maybe there's a screenplay in there. So

Amy: 6:08

I always say you are born from love. Because Bobby and pop up, my grandmother and grandfather wrote letters every single day and talk about the picture of pop up in your crib or help number every day, she would show you the picture. Oh, yeah.

Unknown: 6:26

So mother returned me, my father everything like one. I don't know what's going on everything. Anything I know, is I remember the first time I saw him, was at night about the room was dark, and it came out. I knew he was obviously, you know, from the picture. And it's just a real love story. My parents had a wonderful marriage. Just one of the reasons he married me because we'll come out. Parents are just really in love story. Starting with that they both grew up. It's a whole nother story. But they both grew up in dire circumstances found each other and it's, it's beautiful story

Katie: 7:01

in both of your parents were married the whole time the whole time. Yeah, that's really amazing.

Amy: 7:07

Yeah, so Gaby was how when she passed away 1995

Unknown: 7:13

And my father's 92. They were married 65 years. Yeah. And he had a love story. They really did.

Amy: 7:20

Yeah. And what about your parents? Mom?

Unknown: 7:26

Your prayers, right? Yeah. I don't really know too much about how they got together or who introduced them? Or, you know, I? I didn't think to ask good questions like that back in the day. So no

Amy: 7:43

one probably talked about it as much.

Unknown: 7:45

It just isn't. life threatening. Oh, yeah. My brother was born about 10 years after they were married. And she had a tough time with him. And they said not to get pregnant again. And then I know they went to Atlantic City, where I came about by accident. 20 years ago, not 20 or 20 years ago for the American nine years. Wow. Something like that. My brother was born either. He had actually been born on their, like, 10th anniversary on the same day, June 26. I was born another nine years later. How was your mother? When you were born? When I was born? I think she was about 38. Wow.

Amy: 8:26

Pretty old. Yeah. Now that's normal. But then that was pretty old to have a kid.

Katie: 8:31

She must have had the ability to keep herself young if she could have a baby at 38 years old.

Unknown: 8:35

I don't know. I never really got into those questions with or have no idea.

Katie: 8:40

How long do they live? How old were they when they

Amy: 8:43

were about 85. So moving into how you stay on your mindset, your body, your health, all that stuff? I asked mom first what are what are the thing I know you're not super focused on it all the time. But you obviously look beautiful and young and have a young mind. So what do you do to kind of stay that way?

Unknown: 9:07

I don't know that I do anything, mentally to stay young that I couldn't think of you know, you know, I didn't realize I was old until this pandemic came about. We called Well, according to the pandemic they say well, any you know, senior citizens, older people, anybody over 65 And then I realized oh, I'm in that generation. When did I get old? I don't know.

Katie: 9:32

I think you do more than you realize though. Because I see how you to live and versus how my parents live or or you know, anyone that I know like my grandparents watching them when I was younger and something that I've noticed that both of you do that I think keeps you young so you both are very tech savvy. You always stay up on the latest of everything. It seems you're tech savvy or pop culture savvy Alan you listen to Drake with with Adam with my husband. that, I mean, you're always wearing like the greatest fashion, the coolest thing far

Amy: 10:05

is open at your house, right?

Katie: 10:07

You keep it all the time. It's a it's a mindset, right of like you've never told yourself you're old, like what you

Amy: 10:13

just said, right? And I think too, we were talking about this earlier. It's not. It's just intuitive for you to stay young and feel good and enjoy life, which is the best way to be because I think now a lot of people are intentional about what they eat and how they exercise. And it's very planned where I think with you guys, it's just that's how you are, which is the best way to be

Katie: 10:35

right? Did you win in your, you know, younger years, or 20? To 3040s? Were you physically active? I assume you word tennis and exercise and everything.

Unknown: 10:46

I mean, I have a whole history, I think I think as far as trying to stay younger, the main focus for me, is positive thinking. So I really think if you can do something positive every day, I don't care what it is, right? You know, I can fix your computer, okay, or buy a pair of shoes, or just feel good about something, I think, you know, when I say to be are and all that stuff, it's just all about feeling good about being alive. You know, and as far as you know, exercise, I agree. I mean, I walk when I play golf, not real hard exercise, and I need to exercise more. But I think I think eight it provides a great diet. For us, we always have vegetables and green with our meal, she cooks healthy meals, I think a lot of it has to do with genes, obviously, you know, if you have good genes and your parents live along, finally,

Amy: 11:38

my dad has a full head of hair, which my husband's do would like to always mention.

Unknown: 11:45

I really think in everybody's life, if you can just do something positive. I learned from being in sales all my life, and working with young people all my life, that just by saying the lid would make their day. Right? Really, or just by complimenting them, or just telling a to something great, you know, or just all of you, you know, if you just say something that people say, Say something nice, I say say something positive, and people and do something positive, and that'll make your day better. And that's,

Amy: 12:18

that's fine. I think you have the glass half full mindset, which is what has carried through to me which I appreciate because not everybody is that way. So it's good to always think on the bright side. Think on the positive side, even if it's a small thing. And Mom, what about you? I mean, my whole life I always did aerobics.

Unknown: 12:37

Zumba, Zumba, Zumba and dance jam. I don't like to actual exercise, you know, like do 20 reps of this and 20 reps of that that makes them like oh, so boring. But when you were little Amy and Adam was already in school, I used to take you to Jackie Sorensen, which was the original aerobics creators. I remember that she was a dancer and she realized she was always never had a problem with her weight. And she realized it had to do with a robic exercise, right, which is constant motion for at least 15 minutes. And I did the Jackie Sorensen aerobics twice a week. And I liked it because it was fun because you were listening to music and it was current music and said, Well, I would learn words to all the music and I would remember all the dance steps. So again, that's mental practice. That's good for

Amy: 13:22

Yeah, and you guys like to dance and you often will just dance around the house or do a dance

Unknown: 13:28

for dance this way. When you dance to me that thing from Apple, I Earth Wind and Fire. UAS, you asked her the question, you said play petty tender gris.

Katie: 13:43

Okay. You mean? Yeah, that's great that you guys took a moment and dance this morning? I mean, I just don't think every couple out there and storing that. At all age. Yeah, yeah,

Unknown: 13:58

his parents used to do that too.

Amy: 14:02

Well, so another thing I also noticed is that both of you had long, successful careers and had great relationships throughout your careers and stay in touch with all the people that you've worked with, whether it be mentors or colleagues. So talk about how that has helped you stay young.

Unknown: 14:21

So I think, you know, when I was growing up, a lot of the guys that I grew up with, a number of them became attorneys. And, you know, we just got through school, I mean, we're not great students, they're, they're able to get to University of Baltimore, go to school, become lawyers. And so I looked at it and I said, you know, I don't want to really sit in an office. I don't take the money out. I just don't want that lifestyle. So I got into management. And being in management is the greatest way to stay young. If you're into it. And you know, I work with all young kids. And, in fact, I work with so many young kids, I got to the point where Every time I talk to a kid, they have perfect teeth. Okay, when I come up, nobody had perfect teeth because nobody was worth it. We couldn't afford it. So I say to that, I don't know if you remember this, Amy, I see you. I can't take this anymore. So I actually went to an orthodontist had a couple of teeth 123 Move had a bridge name. All right. So my t look completely different than they did. But at least I can talk to somebody, right? You guys don't feel like what's wrong with me. So, but I think when you're in a leadership role, it gives you a lot of confidence. And it gives you a lot of values just to work with people. And that's been a great career. For me. That's all I ever wanted. I was when I was in school, in elementary school, I was vice president school. When I was in fraternity, I was a steward of the kitchen. I was in boards, charity boards and stuff like that. I just like a leadership position. And you don't think about it while you're doing it. You really think think, Hey, I mean, what's while you think about it, but when you think back about it, you say half of I'd really love it so much. And I work 48 years for the same company, really? And

Katie: 16:11

now, how many years? Have you been retired for four years? But you started your own company? Right? You're

Unknown: 16:17

consulting? I have a small company. Yes. Right.

Katie: 16:20

And you part of the reason why you did that is because you'd love what you do. And you want the stimulation of people. Right? And that's without a

Unknown: 16:30

doubt, especially surely fascinates me. Yeah, yeah.

Amy: 16:34

And what about you, Mom,

Unknown: 16:35

I was just going to bounce off of what he said, a lot of the things you did are similar to my job. While I was in a classroom, I was sort of a mentor to the younger teachers. And I taught for 30 years here, I was sort of like, then I changed to be a stiff Development Teacher, which meant means I worked with all the young teachers and older teachers as almost like a cheerleader, someone to give them confidence, somebody to model whatever, but I used to hang with them, you know, like at lunch or whatever. And, you know, tease them and walk in their classrooms, and they'd start laughing. And, you know, they will say, how would you do that, you know, that kind of thing. But I know you were like a cheerleader, as a manager, and you had names for people. And he wouldn't, when they would walk in the office used to tell me, he would say something like, he's huge. And everybody start laughing and call on that and make that person feel special. Right. And that's really, really fun. But as far as how it makes you stay young, is that my mother used to say your children make you young. But like when you hang out with young people, you know what's going on, you see what they're wearing, right? Kind of have fun together. You know, we had parties, and we would be dancing together. I mean, we had holiday parties, we used our house, in my first school, my second school and my third school, which are the three schools I worked in, out here. And, and and at the parties, we would all do stuff and make, you know, they did this Hawaiian thing and they were dancing. And we just had a bunch of a lot of fun.

Amy: 18:00

And I just have to say too, when I always meet people that have worked with my mom or worked with my dad, they both say the same thing. They go your Dad Your mom is the greatest. So cool. So Young. So hips, so the times are the best. So here's

Unknown: 18:16

the story. So Dana was saying back big nicknames. I had, I think names for people who work with me all the time. But one thing I showed you like, it's funny, had his kid that worked for me, and his name was Ron. And he was like 22 years old, and very competitive. And we were working on one floor and office building, okay, and a parking lot was in front of our building. And my car was always parked in the first five nearby park, and I bought some come in this one kid. He was good. He was very, very good salesperson, but will motivate them every time he came in. He that's all by my office. And I was here every day. 830 right, even though it sucks. And every time I saw him, I guess being just like that. And I'm here with suspenders with a tie in a suit, canalway suit all dressed up and everything. I'm sitting in my office talking to life as him well. Anyway, he left to move to Florida. And basically, if to find anywhere from five or six, he's almost in tears. He says yes. I don't want to miss big. I'm not gonna miss anything else. That made me feel good. He said that made my day and I picked her up and look forward to seeing the next morning. Oh,

Katie: 19:33

that's great. And you you bounce off of that positivity that you've seen him. He gets it back to you and makes you smile on

Amy: 19:41

his face. Yeah. So we could talk all day. There's so many great stories, you know, maybe we'll do a part two one day, but in the meantime, we're gonna do a quick rap session which Katie is going to start with.

Katie: 19:51

So Ada Alan ladies first I'll start with you. Aiden. What's your favorite wellness or beauty hacks? Just something that's been true. tried and true. For me personally yes for you, personally, to Nino to Nino to what is

Unknown: 20:07

Nino is a organic hair straightener. And I've been growing here my whole life and always tried. I always like to blow it out straight. It's a pain in the you know what? And the Tenino makes it easy. You know, you wash your hair, it comes out straight. You blow it dry as no friend beautiful. No Frizz. That's the other piece of it. So that's my beauty. That's

Amy: 20:29

great. And well. Yeah,

Katie: 20:30

Alan, what's your beauty or wellness hack?

Unknown: 20:32

Or conditioning deal? I mean, I my hair. Got her so called is relaxed. I do that I walk

Amy: 20:41

by your skin now because your skin is like, Oh, you say

Unknown: 20:45

your skills for probably 30 years. And I shave? Yeah. And yeah, just kills me all the time.

Katie: 20:53

Okay, what do you do Aida to maintain your daily nirvana? How do you keep your balance your peace?

Unknown: 21:00

I like my coffee in the morning. And I like to play Words with Friends on my phone so I can keep up with my friends. Because that takes me forever. Sometimes I can't think. And I mix the letters around. And that's the two things I do consistently

Katie: 21:15

nice. And Words with Friends. It's also a mental sharpness tool, right? I would imagine it's got Yes,

Unknown: 21:20

it's like Scrabble. You know, it's similar, but you're limited to what words you can make because you only have like seven letters.

Katie: 21:27

That's great. Yeah. Okay, Alan, what about you?

Unknown: 21:29

I think what 100% is if I can walk between two or three miles, when I walk, I feel my best. And I feel that I did something positive and do something good for my body. And it's it just clears our mind. And when the weather's I mean, you can stay apart and walk. But that's, that's my something I look forward to.

Katie: 21:49

That's fantastic. So Amy, I want to hear about this week's product review. It looks like a really good one.

Amy: 21:57

So in the spirit of doing family series, my mother in law Judy always gets me these fun products, either techy products or beauty products are tchotchkes. It runs the gamut. And I'll probably review them many times throughout your vana sisters. But the first one would be this product, which is called the finishing touch flawless brows, eyebrow hair remover. It's $15 on Amazon, or at your drugstore. But basically this has gotten me through quarantine because what it is, it looks like a pen. Okay, it's actually like a really pretty rose gold and it looks like a pen. But when you open the cap, it's a little machine. And it shaves or it cleans up. Yeah, it cleans up under your eyebrows. So if you turn it on, and you go like this, it just gets the little specks so you don't have to pluck your eyebrows. Wow. So it's a great tool. I actually have taught a lot of people about this because it's was a savior over quarantine. And it's also good when you're just doing your makeup and you see a couple little things sticking out, you can just get them off with this thing. And you don't have to pluck your eyebrows and get them all red. It's just a great little product.

Katie: 23:08

What's the name again, I'm gonna buy it on Amazon as soon as

Amy: 23:12

the show notes, but it's called finishing touch flawless brows, eyebrow hair remover, it says what it does. And again, 15 bucks, a great little invention. And it's battery powered. You can just change it anytime. And it's less man. I've probably had it for a couple years. And I use it all the time. So

Katie: 23:26

great product. Love it. All right. So I love that product review. I'm excited to order. So let's hear your what's our mantra this week. So

Amy: 23:36

this is a statement, I guess that my mom has said my whole life and I still use it today with my kids. And it makes perfect sense. And the saying is everything in moderation. Right? That's kind of your slogan. Like you don't want to eat too much sugar. You don't need too much alcohol but just a little bit good. So everything you do in moderation, you'll be fine.

Unknown: 23:57

I like that. Yeah, I got that from my mother and my mother in law was there we go. What's it been a thing back in the day it's

Amy: 24:02

been passed down and then I say that to my kids. That makes sense. So thanks for joining this week. Hope you enjoyed the family series. If you do, we could keep doing this and thank you again. Thanks mom and dad. This is great. Thanks for having

Episode 4 - Family Series - Part 1 - Fit Model To Fit Life (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 4.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Amy: 0:07

Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Katie: 0:19

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a former fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are

Amy: 0:25

sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started. Hi, Amy. So we are actually in person today, which is amazing because we normally do this over our internet and we see each other virtually. And so we are together for the holidays. And we're doing something called a family series. So this is going to be family Series Part One and Part Two, we're gonna do another day and it's gonna be very exciting. So Katie, now you're in person, we're going to talk all things Nirvana sisters, and have some special fun while we're home.

Katie: 1:07

Yeah, home for the holidays. And I'm so excited to be here we have our whole family with us and the kids. And that's gonna kick it off. We're going to bring in our children and and we're going to pick their brains a little bit and see what their nirvana is.

Amy: 1:22

Yeah. And before we do that, Kitty, and I've been reflecting a lot on 2020 and thinking about how fun it's been to do this show and so excited for 2021 where we have a whole lineup of special guests in the wellbeing and beauty and business space. And we're excited to share that with you. But before we do that, let's bring in Jackson who is 13 Jules, who is how are you Jules? That's right. I always forget your lovin Natty. How are you? I'm southern. And Reese. How old are you? And re Wow. Okay. So for our new listeners, and for those who already listened to us, you know, we do something called our nirvana of the week, which is our high point of the week and we talk about it on the podcast. So this week, we thought we would do it with our kids and talk about the highlight of the year. So we're gonna start with Jackson, what was your highlight of 2020?

Katie: 2:21

Well, since COVID happened, I got this. I mean, I got to play video games, all my friends. So that's good. Okay,

Amy: 2:27

good highlight of the year and what are you looking forward to in for next year? Maybe the vaccine? Oh, that's a good thing tonight for that. I like that. Okay, now we're gonna turn to miss Mattie.

Katie: 2:38

Man, I'm what was your highlight of 2020? What was your nirvana?

Unknown: 2:43

Okay, so probably since this virus thing happened. I would probably just in now zoom. What's one my friends? Oh, yes.

Katie: 2:57

Zoom. calling your friends. Yeah.

Amy: 3:00

That's a great one. And what about next year? What are you looking forward to next year?

Unknown: 3:04

Well, doing like, we're not adding this

Katie: 3:09

virus. Yeah. So just being able to be with people be back in school and everything. Yeah,

Amy: 3:15

I agree. Good one. Okay. Next we have Jules, who is 11.

Unknown: 3:21

Okay, so my high of the year is probably when we went I went to the beach with my cousin's. Because I don't know, I just love the beach and everything.

Amy: 3:37

Good. Okay, and Jules, what are you looking forward to in 2021?

Unknown: 3:42

I'm looking forward to the virus stopping because I can see my friends in person. And I'm still seeing my best friend. But all my other friends I'm not allowed to see. So I would like to see them. That's a good,

Amy: 3:57

that's a good one. I like that. Okay. Hey, Reesie. Do

Katie: 4:00

you think you want to answer the question? So let's see. I think maybe I could say for you for for 2020. I thought one of your highlights was also being intimate with your cousin. So it was so much fun. And I know you're looking forward to being able to go to preschool next year, right. Oh, you're

Amy: 4:15

going to preschool next year racy. Okay. Thanks, guys. So, Katie, I am super excited to have this conversation with you. Because I feel like we've had this conversation over the years, but I've never gotten the full story. Because we're always distracted or always running around. We never get to sit and just chat. So I want to hear about how you became a model kind of how it all started, what the journey was, and kind of take us back to where it all began for

Katie: 4:47

you. Yeah, I would. I would love to share with how I started because it was a little wild and bizarre how it happened from my perspective. So for whatever reason, I'm really not sure why but at some point when I As a younger teenager, I started to get this vision of wanting to move to New York someday. And I don't know, I guess I didn't think I had that much more going for me. So modeling was like the way to do it. So literally every single night before I would fall asleep, my way of falling asleep at night, I close my eyes. And I like Daydream in my head. And I would imagine exactly that happening like delay starting modeling in Cincinnati and agency picking me up. moving me to New York, we started your career in New York as a model. Like I would vividly detail. Imagine it happening, like every night, and now it helped me like law into asleep. So it was like a manifestation. It was like a manifestation. It happened the exact same way that I jumped at it like glad literally the exact same way.

Amy: 5:51

I never knew that. Yeah. So So you just naturally just that was just in your dreams, and sort of in your hopes and wishes and you just start thinking about it. And then it happened. It happened. That is so cool. I

Katie: 6:02

remember I heard that. But I think it was my first year in college, and my boyfriend was saying you should get into modeling. And I said always wanted to so I got an agency. And I had a couple small jobs in Cincinnati, Ohio. Wait, backtrack?

Amy: 6:12

How did you get an agency like how does it work? Thursday,

Katie: 6:15

I literally just went to an open call for an agency where they say like, you know, this Saturday morning, if you want to be a model come to our agency, and you wait in line with a couple of other people. Yeah, and they take your picture and they just interview yo, and then they set you up with a photographer after that if they like yo and the photographer was shoot, yo. And if they think you have something they pick you up. Cool. And so that's what they did. And I started getting small jobs. I had like a billboard on the side of the expressway. I heard about that one. So random that made you think that's kind of

Amy: 6:48

everyone knew from that? Yeah, what was it up?

Katie: 6:51

It was for a hair salon. Okay, her local hair salon, makes a giant picture of my head with some gray hair. And then one day an agency in New York, this is what they do. They look for models by going to smaller town agencies and seeing you know what kind of talent they have. And then they pluck them and take them to New York and give them a shot. So that's what happened. I had an agency move me there and put me up in the hole.

Amy: 7:19

So how did that because that's always amazing to me. And I feel like you hear about that. But you don't really know anyone that that's happened to so the agency did they like call you one day and say, Hey, a New York agent is interested in you. Yeah. And they're gonna move you to New

Katie: 7:32

York, pretty much. They said we have someone that is showing interest. It's not a guarantee yet. And I counted them every single day until I got my answer. I was like, You need to let them know that I am all for it. And I want it and we're going to do it. And so finally, you know, they said, Yes, let's take her. And it was a small little agency wasn't that great of an agency? And when did

Amy: 7:57

they move you to New York? Like after that first year in college, or what was the timeframe?

Katie: 8:00

I left? My sophomore year of college. I moved in May. It was May right after 911. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. And my very first apartment was on Fulton Street and actually lived right down at Ground Zero. It's kind of wild. But yeah, so they moved me and put me up in an apartment with three other models. One was also from my hometown, so we knew each other. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. And that's my one of my best friends. Hillary who owns boom cycle in London and we will be interviewing also

Amy: 8:31

that's so funny. I did not realize she was from your hometown. Yeah. I thought you met her in the city. Yeah, no. Okay. And Hillary now lives in London and started

Katie: 8:41

and started a cycling gym. Yes, super successful cycling. And I started getting better. It was her and another mother named Kendra. And then you know, model apartments girls come and go. And we were in this beautiful, like three bedroom with a balcony apartment. You know, so nice. Unheard on women first moving to the cities. Yeah. But here's the kicker. I was there for two months. And then they took all of us and put us in a shack of a studio crammed us in bunk beds. Oh, that's awful. Had like mice and cockroaches and shuttered in shuttled in the next round of girls and put them in that nice apartment.

Amy: 9:25

Oh, interesting. Yeah, that was their that was their deal. They put you up nice and then once they have you they like yeah, bro. You in a regular apartment. Exactly. What a T Yeah, it was a bit of a sketchy Oh, yeah.

Katie: 9:36

I didn't love them. So I was only with them for I want to say maybe like the first six months and then I started looking for an agency and I landed one of the biggest agencies in the city of New York Model Management. Oh, wow. So that was great. But I honestly was not working that much. I was doing like a little bit of catalog work and showroom. I don't know if you know showroom is. That's when you try clothesline for buyers of like Macy's He's, and they decide what they're going to put in the store. Okay, and what was the catalog for

Amy: 10:04

the catalog printer?

Katie: 10:06

Yeah, I was doing print. I also did some magazines I was doing like, it's honestly like, not super proud of it. I was getting like men's magazines who Maxim. You know, like I and that's the thing, I didn't like it right? I was really

Amy: 10:21

I want to be like a sexy type you wanted to be more? Yeah.

Katie: 10:24

And I was not I didn't, the more I was put in front of the camera, the more I realized I actually hated me in front of the camera. So what I thought I was going to love, I started to resent and not like, and I was really kind of unhappy. And then I don't even totally remember how I fell into fit modeling. I got with a different agency for one reason or another. And this was the Fit modeling agency. And it was like the perfect niche. For me, it was it was what I was meant to do, and explain to our audience what a fit model is. So fit model not to be confused with a fitness model, a fit model is a model that's literally used by the designers to drape the garment on to fit the garment to to make sure that you know the shoulder width is correct. And the sleeve is the right length and the the neck is the right width and things like that. And like how the kind of the pant looks. And for a specific size or a specific size. And they started an average size. Like you know, I was never like a five foot 11 runway model, I'm five foot seven, an average size, I was a size six. So that's what they like they like kind of like middle average size so that they can grade the garment the sizing up and down from that base point. And the whole reason why I was able to do it just because literally, it's just because I'm proportionate. That's all an interesting

Amy: 11:53

video for people with even proportion, even proportion. So then they can scale up or scale down depending on the brand. And it's funny because when I first met Katie and I didn't know what fit modeling is, and she explained it to me, I was like Oh, so that's why a size four six in. You know, I don't know, the gap fits different than J Crew fits different than a designer brand. It's all based on the Fit models. Exactly. So that's why your size may change based on brand. Yeah,

Katie: 12:20

100%. That's exactly what it is. So yeah. And that kept me busy.

Amy: 12:25

Then how was that lifestyle? Because I remember when we met when you first started dating my brother, it was a lot of you had to stay the same size. And I remember that was hard. Yeah. So talk about how that worked and what your requirements more were to stay doing fit modeling.

Katie: 12:43

Yeah, that's and really that is what started me and my like healthy life journey, my interest in taking care of myself and exercise and everything because I was measured almost daily. By multiple clients. I could walk into any client any day, and they would measure me.

Amy: 13:02

So nerve racking.

Katie: 13:05

They're also taking photos of you not like modeling pictures where you're posing for the camera, just like we're like standing like mannequin and they're taking pictures of you. And I'm going I did launch Ray, I did swimwear, I did everything. So I had to be really mindful of it. I had to watch what I was eating. I had to educate myself on nutrition, I had to understand macronutrients and micronutrients and why it's not a great idea to exist off of pasta and cookies. And I had to start exercising. And you know, I was on my feet all day long. That's literally you don't sit down you're standing

Amy: 13:39

from Yeah, I was going to ask you like, what's the daily life? Like, what time? Did you have appointments? Was it all day? Like how did it work,

Katie: 13:45

I had appointments, I had back to back appointments. So once you obviously build up your clientele, I would start probably at 9am. And I could see a client for as brief as 30 minutes, or as long as all day. Wow. And it just depended on what the client needed. And that's where every agent came into play. Because, you know, they would put your schedule together like a puzzle every day to accommodate your clients. And so you're running

Amy: 14:06

around on your feet all day. And so when did you eat? Like how did you take care of yourself during that time?

Katie: 14:11

You know, I frequently did not have lunch breaks because I was a hustler. So it was my agency. So you would just kind of grab and go I did a lot of like smoothies on the go or you know quick sandwiches from had a major that you know had like really healthy cut options on the go. Yeah, but I was always really mindful to eat a really healthy big breakfast before I left. And it was kind of nice to be eating light through the day because you obviously don't want to feel heavy right bloated, right? So that also taught me like small meal space throughout the day to keep my energy up, right. But yeah, cuz I would go from 9am to 6pm Back to Back client, go, go go.

Amy: 14:52

And this is all day, every day. All day. I

Katie: 14:55

worked. I worked five days a week. Yeah, I mean

Amy: 14:58

that that sounds awesome. You're exciting in many cases, but also exhausting. It was yes, you're talking to people all day long. And I know you mentioned this too, which I thought was interesting about the fit modeling world as you sort of, were able to consult a bit with the designers in terms of what fit what you liked what fabrics, whereas in your old world, it was sort of like, you're, you're just like,

Katie: 15:20

you're just a face and a body. Yeah. And you definitely have clients that want you to just be a quiet mannequin. But a lot of my clients would take my opinion on not just the technical aspects of it, how it fit, but also the styling, which was fun. You know, I really enjoyed it. Yeah, I did pride myself in being a very technical fit model. So I could work with like, the pattern makers, and, and the fashion techs, the ones that are doing all of the grading and the sizing, and, you know, I worked very closely with them. And they, they took everything I said, and used it. So it was

Amy: 15:57

a power fit. Great. So you had like, say, and what came out, which is so cool.

Katie: 16:01

My voice mattered. Yeah. Whereas in other modeling, they really I mean, your voice is like they that's the last thing they want. Yeah. So it was, I enjoyed it. But like you said, a nonstop Go, go go doing that for about 10 years. I mean, I was burnt out, when by the time I got married and was ready to have a baby, I was ready to retire, which is exactly what I did. I got pregnant and I was like, Alright, I'm out of here. But I do miss it at times. And it taught me a lot. It taught me a lot. I was gonna say what did you learn, I learned how to work with all different types of people. I learned how to the fact that you always have to keep it extremely professional. And one of the biggest lessons that I took away from it was being on time was, was being punctual because I'm getting paid a load of money for 30 minutes of time. Five minutes late. Yeah, a lot of money. And then they don't want to work with me anymore. Right. So it's actually kind of made me become super crazy about punctuality. Yeah, but it's a good thing to have. Yeah. And then obviously, it taught me how to take care of myself and how to be healthy and stay in good shape. And you know, the fact that as a fit model, they want you to be an average size six, I was never pressured to, like starve myself. I was never pressured to, to be thinner than my body was able

Amy: 17:20

to be. So that was just really healthy. Yeah,

Katie: 17:23

yeah. And I mean, I think that's why a lot of these models that are successful that are like these runaway girls that are really tall and slender, that's because that's natural for them. Right? You don't have to kill themselves to be that way. Yeah. So, you know, that's, that's the way to do it.

Amy: 17:39

And then what we're, I mean, you sort of talked about the lows and the bad parts, but I want to hear when you lived with those girls, like, what were they doing and what kind of shenanigans went on like, tell me a funny story or what just can only imagine.

Katie: 17:54

It was wild. I mean, one girl that we left with was literally a gypsy from Turkey. And then I got her way to New York and landed an agency but she had that like gypsy mentality like the nomad lifestyle, and she didn't care about what you thought what you said what you needed, she would steal your things. She

Amy: 18:14

was just really very shady. Like, we had a lot of very shady.

Katie: 18:19

Girls come and go and then we had some of the sweetest, you know, like I a girl Her name was was che she was from the middle of Montana. And she's like, biggest heart and such a sweet girl, get these new girls come in. And you you want to kind of protect them and help them out a little bit. I mean, it was fun. It had its ups and downs. It was a little bit like a party, like an ever revolving door. Yeah, if it never felt very, like settled or safe. But you know, I was 20. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it was fun, what a

Amy: 18:47

good time to do it in New York City, where everything's going on. And it's like the best time to do it. Amazing. Well, I just wanted to hear more about that. So thank you for sharing that story. I felt like I got bits and pieces of that over the years. But I've never heard the full thing. And I think it's so interesting. And I'm glad that you did it for the 10 years that you do it. I think to your point, it's probably a really hard career to be doing long term once you have kids and you're married, because it's just the schedule is brutal.

Katie: 19:12

This schedule is brutal. But you know, it's interesting. It's one of the only parts of the modeling industry where some of the most successful fit models are in their 50s. I mean, think about it. All right. So you never know you never know. They're producing clothes for for all ages of women. So they need fit models of all ages.

Amy: 19:29

You could always go back to it if you want. Really Yeah so much. I liked the point in that it taught you how to eat how to mindfully watch her body without getting obsessive making sure your exercise and kind of staying fit on a daily basis. So super cool. And then and then she met Adam and you know,

Katie: 19:51

yeah, and the rest is history

Amy: 19:52

and the rest is history. Now

Katie: 19:53

here we are in Nirvana system.

Amy: 19:54

Here we are in our manifest. Here's the kids the whole deal. Awesome. Well, thanks for sharing that. I love the story. It's really inspiring. I just think it's a part of the business that people don't hear a lot about. And I think it's really interesting. And I know there's so many people that do that. I know I was looking at sculpt society Megan group who's like a big fitness person online. She, I believe, started as a fit model too. And now she has a whole fitness app. And this super influential in the space of fitness and well being so and I know she had started I think she said, as a fit model doing athletic athleisure and athletic wear. So it's just, it's really interesting to see where people's careers go after that. So being that your first big gig was a hair salon, and you had that amazing billboard that you became known for. I have a really fun product review that I've been dying to tell you about. So I'm going to demo it for you after this is over. But I'm a little late to the game. But I do have to say that this product that I recently purchased as a definitely a splurge is a game changer. So it is the Dyson complete. And before I open it and show Katie all of the stuff and do the unboxing for her. This is like so silly. But every time I go to a public bathroom, and they had those crazy dryers that were so strong, I'd always be like, Oh my God, I wish I had this for my hair because it's so strong, and it would like dry my hair in five seconds. So PS, the Dyson complete air wrap comes out. And I think it came out a few years ago, maybe in 2018. But I just didn't really noticed that I heard about the hairdryer. But I didn't realize there were other parts of it until recently. So I splurged over the holiday season, got a little bit of a deal. And I found the Dyson air wrap. And I think when it first was released a couple years ago, it was like impossible to get. So this was easy to get. But anyway, so here it is, it comes in this beautiful case,

Katie: 21:51

just say it's kind of gorgeous brown leather box with the loveliest little stitching and the Dyson Yeah, it's like so nice, super

Amy: 22:01

luxurious. And so these are just the directions on the shop that I keep here. And I'll show you that so you can help out work. But when you open it up, it's this really nice case, there's this leather kind of pad that you can put down which you can put all your accessories on when you're blow drying your hair. So essentially what this is, it's a hair drying and curling system. So first, it's this hairdryer and it has all these different attachments. It comes with nine different accessories, starting with the hairdryer. So this is the hairdryer is talking about that when you turn it on, it is so strong my hair, which by the way, which I've mentioned before, in the podcast, I've been like a product obsessed junkie for years, we're all products with specifically hair products, because I think curly hair, this dries my hair in like five minutes. It's crazy. It's so strong. And I think with this system, they also say that the heat that it produces is not damaging for your hair because there's a certain technology involved where it doesn't damage your hair. So the first step is you put this dryer on and you dry your hair and they want you to dry it. So it's like a rough dry, they call it like a damp dry, you do that then you can put on there's two, there's three brush attachments. So there's this one, which is kind of like a paddle brush, but it's just a brush with sort of plastic hardens, I don't know how to describe it. Then there's another attachment that has kind of like the plastic balls on the end. So there are two different looks one, the one that I mentioned before that doesn't have the little plastic balls on the end, it's just a straight brush really makes your hair silky and smooth and straight. So if you were to put that on as the attachment if you do the rough, dry just really like gives that luxurious straight hair. This one is more than this is the one with the ball on the end of it gives you more of that kind of like bouncy salon polished look. And then this one, which is the round brush is really good for me for curly hair, because it gives it like a lot of volume and a lot of kind of wave. So there's three different brushes, you can try and like blow out, what you can also do is there's two different barrels. So this is the larger barrel, which I believe is a 1.6 inch barrel. And this smaller one is a 1.2 inch barrel. And what you do with this is you put this on and see how there's an arrow here, you and I'm going to demo it afterwards. But when your hair slightly damp, you put it on there and there is wind that wraps your hair around this war. And then you just basically put it to your head and it dries so you don't even have to like twist your hair or curl it. It's just like this technology whipsawed around this roller and you just stand there and then your hairs in amazing curl. Oh my God, it is so cool. And there's two different sizes and these are just regular size barrels. I also have a long barrel coming which is good for longer hair. And essentially the directions are here, but what they call it is it's this Coanda air. I think that's how you pronounce the Coanda and it's this technique algae that Dyson made where it literally just whips your hair around this barrel and dries it. And it is so cool because I love all things tech. And of course, I love all things beauty and hair. And so when this combination came together, I was like, this is the coolest thing. And it's expensive, you could probably find it for around 550. But it replaces all of your tools essentially replaces your hairdryer, it replaces your flat iron, it replaces your curling iron. So it's really an all in one. So now what I do is I have this really beautiful stack of accessories. And that's all I use. And I put my curling iron and some of my other styling tools away. And I don't really need them, maybe here and there, I would need them for things. But I pretty much can use this for everything, which is super cool. And I feel better that it's not damaging my hair. Like all the other products, I feel like these hot tools really can damage your hair and your ends suck. I'm obsessed with this Dyson complete air wrap, I am still learning how to use it, there's a little bit of a learning curve. And of course, being the beauty nerd that I am, I've watched every video on how to do it. And all the people, there's all these hats that people use it, you know, they use the straight brush, and they do this and they do that and they get this look and that look. But it took me like a couple times to really figure out how to use the curling iron part because it's so different than what you would normally do when you curl your hair and you like put your arm around and you're and then one side is easier than the other. And it's a whole thing. This is like no work. And it just wraps around. But it's such a strict, it's just so different than anything I've ever used that it took me a little while to figure it out and still learning how to do it. So why are

Katie: 26:32

there there's two more barrels are they just doubles of the same thing double.

Amy: 26:36

So basically, it's two barrel. So see there's two different arrows. So you basically when you look in the mirror, the arrows that go out are for one side and the other, which is confusing, because when I first started doing it, I couldn't figure out which way the arrows went. I was doing it the wrong way. And then I did it the right way. And I was like, Oh, this is how it works. Oh, that's cool. So some people, which I've seen online use both these barrels on the same side, like they'll do a couple strands with this one going out, and then they'll use, they'll do a couple strands with this one going in. So it's like they get kind of a textured look. So it's really fun and creative. Because you can kind of create your own luck with it based on barrel size based on the direction of the barrel. So it's kind of fun, and I'm still learning how to do everything. It's it doesn't come natural. So it takes like a few tries. But once you get through that it's just the coolest thing. I just think it's so fun. It's amazing.

Katie: 27:25

And Dyson is a is a vacuum company. Right?

Amy: 27:28

That's so cool that they Yeah. Technology for those Exactly. So I think you know, they got into this beauty space a couple of years ago, just because they have amazing technology with their vacuums. And the power that those vacuums. I mean, I have a Dyson vacuum for 15 years ago, that still works. I mean, it's an amazing technology. So I think they've been working on this for years. And they came out with a hairdryer and I saw they have this air wrap complete set. They also have I believe a flat iron that's wireless and few other beauty tools, which I haven't tested yet. But all of their beauty tools have a purpose. They're not just doing it because they can they're using their technology and they're making it better for hair. So hair is not getting destroyed and fried in the process of you know, blowing out your hair cuts. So when I first just to say is when I first used this, I didn't even use the curling iron or anything. I just used it to dry my hair. And I looked like I just walked out of a salon getting my hair done. Like I mean, so you'll use it. We'll see ya you looks like a full on blot. So anyway, super fun. Love it. And I'm excited to use it more when we can actually get out of the house and go somewhere. Yeah, I can have my hair done looking like I stepped out of the salon.

Katie: 28:37

I'm for sure gonna use it while I'm here. Yeah, I want to curl my honor with it. Yeah, I wanted to try that. It's really

Amy: 28:42

cool. Thank you for joining this week. Our this this episode, actually, we're going to do part two later this week where we're going to talk to my parents and talk about how they maintain their young spirit and it should be a really fun interview. And we're really looking forward to that and being home together.

Katie: 28:59

Lastly, before we say goodbye, we have to leave you with your mantra of the week. It's a good one aim, give it a go.

Amy: 29:07

When you focus on the good, the good gets better. And like that. Yeah, so sending some positive vibes out there to the universe. And with that, thank you so much for listening to Nirvana sisters.

Katie: 29:19

We'll see you next time. Bye friends. Bye

Episode 2 - Breathe… Movement Matters (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 2, Breathe… Movement Matters..

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Katie: 0:27

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a former fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We

Amy: 0:32

are sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all this self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started. In today's episode of Nirvana Sisters, we talk about the importance of fitting daily movement and meditation into your routine.

Katie: 0:52

Amy discusses how she mixes it up to keep it fresh, and I talk about my love for reformer Pilates. And at the end, a really new and exciting way to start your morning, Amy has been using a great product to help her wake up. And Enjoy.

Amy: 1:08

Hello, welcome to Nirvana sisters. Hi, Katie, what's going on. Okay, so we are back with another episode. And today we are going to discuss one of our favorite topics for both of us, which is movement and meditation. Then after that, we're going to go into my top three favorite products of the week. And then we'll talk about our weekly nirvana. So let's get started. cating. I think both of us are really passionate about this topic. We have tried so many different things over the years. And we're just going to talk about kind of a few of our favorite things. But I just wanted to start to kind of talk about health movement, as we both know is really important in your life. I mean, I think that some people can get intimidated and think they always have to like workout really hard and be sweating every day. But I think it's really just about moving your body, whether it's five minutes a day, 15 minutes a day, 20 minutes a day, I think, many years ago, I decided I'm not going to make myself crazy, but I am going to make sure that I have some type of movement every day because I was feeling like I had to do something where I was doing cardio and you know, killing myself every day. But then what I realized is as long as you're moving, even if it's walking, you're doing something for your body, you're feeling better your endorphins are going and you have a much better day and feel more balanced. And before we sort of jump into it, I actually saw this article this week. It's written by this woman her name, I just discovered her her name is Kaki, oh Gomorrah if I pronounced that correctly, and she wrote an article called how Japanese people stay fit for life without ever visiting the gym. And then I realized she has a Japanese wellness blog, which is really interesting. Anyway, I Kyoko Mora wrote this article about how Japanese people stay fit for life without ever visiting a gym. And one of the things she says in her blog is that in Japan, people don't really think about exercises working out, they really think about it as just walking in that they don't really think about as exercising, it's just their way of life. So I'm just going to read a couple sentences from this article that she wrote this week, which says what the above results show is not that exercise isn't important to be healthy, but that in Japan's approach to moving perhaps most don't see it as exercise. Japanese adults walk an average of 6500 steps a day, with male adults in their 20s to 50s, walking nearly 8000 steps a day on average, and women in their 20s to 50s, about 7000 steps. Okinawans in particular are well known for their walking culture, being especially mindful about incorporating movement in their daily lifestyle. Nagano overall prefecture in Japan was able to flip their high stroke rate by incorporating over 100 walking routes. And now their citizens enjoy the highest rates of longevity in the country, which I think was really interesting part of the article. So all this being said, I just think that any sort of movement you're doing on a daily basis is super important for your body. I'm going to let Katie talk about what she prefers to do. And we'll kind of talk about what our routines are to keep to keep moving.

Katie: 4:10

Yeah, I mean, I'm just like you I mean that I don't go and hit the gym for an hour every day of the week. I can't do it. I mean, I used to be able to do it when I didn't have to chase after my kids all day and I could sleep in and I can recover. But now it's just a matter of if I think get in a good 20 to 30 minute workout, even if it's just walking like LIS low intensity steady state. It's so good for you. And then also, we're busy moms, right? We're running around in house all day. We're chasing after our kids. We're cleaning our house. We're running errands, I mean just the act of being on your feet all day. A lot of people kind of take that for granted if you if you're not super sedentary. The idea is to just not be sedentary, right? Just sit in a chair all day and if you do have to sit in a chair all day Do you have to be in an office or you have to be behind a computer screen that's when you need to make sure that you're taking the stairs when you can take the stairs that you're you know, just walking, park the car a little bit further and walk to to the to the store entrance.

Amy: 5:13

Yeah or do or do a walking meeting which I do a lot. I'll walk around my neighborhood and be on a call or have a standing desk or make sure you're having stretch breaks or whatever it may be.

Katie: 5:22

Yeah, that's great. And meanwhile, of course, utilizing exercise is ideal and that is what's going to keep us the healthiest and the fittest for the longest in our lives. So having said that, I've tried everything I've tried everything from weightlifting, I've done bar I've done cycling, I used to be a runner when I was in my early 20s for kids, I've run six miles and I loved it. But I just it's some of it's too intense for me now. My main sources of exercise are yoga and pilates. I know what are you doing you're are you still doing the peloton cycling I do treadmill I do a

Amy: 5:57

mix so I do so same I use I've done like everything I've done weight training, strength training, just all sorts of different things. And what I found for me is the most effective is things that I love to do. So yes, I got the peloton years ago and I did because I did cycling forever. I did SoulCycle I did all the cycling classes. Then I got the peloton. Love that I just got the peloton tread a couple years ago and now I've become somewhat of a runner which I'm not a runner. But I think the thing that I like the most is just mixing it up. I can't do the same thing every day I get bored. So lately, what I've been doing is just like a mix between like cycle running, walking, yoga and pilates. And so actually since quarantine be gone, I really leaned into a lot of yoga and pilates because I think it's been really helpful just to de stress and all of that. And I've been doing the Melissa wood health app, which I know we'll probably talk about in a little bit, but it's been great. So I'll do that a few days I'll do peloton a few days I'll do running walking. So I just like to mix it up because it just kind of depends what I'm in the mood for if I feel like I have a lot of energy, maybe I'll do a peloton run and I'll do a Robin orizon ride she's amazing or ride, walk, run whatever it is. She's awesome. She's like so much energy and she's always playing hip hop. And it's super fun. And then on the days, I just want to kind of have a flow I'll do a Melissa would. So it just kind of depends. But I found for me at least that mixing things up really helps and gets me more excited to to move every day. And it just kind of whatever feels intuitive for me that day. I'll do so what about you, I know you're really big into yoga and pilates. So I kind of want to hear what you're doing now.

Katie: 7:25

I am so yoga has has been my mainstay, especially through quarantine because I didn't have to leave my house, I use the Allen moves app. It's fantastic. They have 1000s of classes, all of these different instructors, every different variety for advanced levels or intermediate beginner that I started doing a couple of years ago and I'm the same if I don't mix it up, then I'm not going to stay I'm not going to continue to exercise if I did the same thing, four days a week, every week of my life, I would be so burnt out, I would just not want to exercise ever again. So I also like to do, like I said earlier, low intensity steady state is really good for my autoimmune diseases, because anything that's high impact is not great on people that have cortisol issues, which that's part of my Addison's disease. So I have to do more low impact and you know, I can get on the treadmill while well resist napping and walk on there for an hour and listen to podcasts like ours.

Amy: 8:22

saying about low you said like a word. I don't know what that that's called. It's called lists. So

Katie: 8:28

you've heard of hit right high intensity interval training. So the opposite of that is less low intensity steady state. That's when you're on a treadmill, you're walking at like you know brisk pace for a long length of 45 minutes, an hour, hour and a half. And you want to just kind of keep your heart rate slightly elevated at the same, same elevation is the same rate the entire time.

Amy: 8:52

Oh, that's interesting. Okay, so would yoga and pilates fall in that category? Or is that a different category?

Katie: 8:57

It's a different category. Well, actually, it's not that different because you're, you're not changing your heart rate so much throughout yoga, pilates, maybe a little bit more. You know, I'd love to talk about reformer Pilates. Have you ever done a reformer Pilates class?

Amy: 9:14

You know, I've done it a few times. But I we haven't done it enough that I have an opinion on it, I guess.

Katie: 9:21

Yeah, it's honestly i It's the one thing that I have done consistently through the years I started doing it 10 years ago. I absolutely love it. It's so effective. And it's interesting and it's different every time and it's low impact, but you're still getting a full body workout. First of all, what a reformer is right for those of you that are listening that haven't done it, it's like it's kind of like a bed like carriage and it has springs on it that aid in the resistance and then has all these straps on it and you and it rolls back and forth and you you're using your own bodyweight plus the resistance of the sprays and their swift straps and there's there's arm straps. There's a million different things that you can do it but A fantastic thing about it that I love is every single exercise or move that you're going to do on it. It has to start in the core. It's Pilates is all centered around our core, all core. And the other reason why people have so much success with it to get like the long lean muscles is because it has something called it does. Eccentric muscle contractions, that's when you're lengthening your muscles as your muscles are resisting force. So that's like, you know, the ballerina, the long, lean muscles, which I prefer. You know, people say a lot of people think that when you start weight training that you're going to bulk up, you're gonna turn into Hulk Hogan, like that's not trill. But there is a different look between someone that's going to the gym and lifting 35 4050 pounds women doing squats with 50 pounds versus somebody doing Pilates and yoga, right?

Amy: 10:57

I totally agree. I mean, I have done well, it's funny that you say the long, lean lines thing, because so Melissa would help for those who are listening who don't know who she is, she has an app, I think it's $10 a month, which is really affordable. And she does all of her. Her sort of trademark is long, lean lines and her exercises and her Pilates moves probably have the same principles as a reformer Pilates, you're just not using the reformer. But I found a lot more. My body has changed definitely from doing that versus weight training, because I had a trainer for years and did a lot of weight training. And it was fine. But I did feel a bit bulkier. I mean, I did feel really strong, but I wasn't as defined as I wanted to be. And I feel like her program and probably yours. With Pilates, you get a lot more defined in your arms and your core and your legs. There's just more of that like long lean muscle than it is when you're doing squats and lifting and just doing that heavy weight. I just feel like depending on what your body reacts to, but I just feel like that does not produce that result as much.

Katie: 12:03

She's definitely utilizing like mat Pilates, Pilates moves, and some yoga moves, which is fantastic. I love it. I've done it at home as well, especially when I couldn't get on the reformer during quarantine. But yeah, the, you're still gonna get really strong on the reformer, which is what I like like unless we map out probably the big difference. Yeah, if you're doing mat work unless you have like a heavy ankle weights on and you're using, you know hand weights the entire time and you're varying the, the weight of the weight, you're not going to gain as much muscle it is going to turn you and you're going to lean out. But you're not going to be able to necessarily gain muscle mass like you can when you're using the reformer because the resistance springs are there. But it's it's also phenomenal for posture, and a lot of people use it to recover from injuries. It's great for relaxing. Yeah, back problems. So I know

Amy: 12:56

have you been able to do the reformer during quarantine,

Katie: 12:59

I just I wasn't I I have worked with a personal trainer off and on for years. And then I stopped obviously, because I didn't want to go to a gym anymore. And it was just kind of getting out of control. And it's so expensive. It really can be very expensive. But I found an amazing studio. Locally, they have six reformers in one room. And the only people that are in the entire place are the people that are on the reformers and the trainer. And then they have these huge plastic partitions in between each reformer. Oh, that's perfect. Yeah, it's it's I honestly, I love it. I'll plug it it's couple of Pilates body bar here in Northern Kentucky. And it's been great. I'm back on the reformer again, which I love.

Amy: 13:37

That's so great. I've taken the classes, we don't have I'd like to find a small studio here like that we have some larger Pilates studios. And they do have the partitions. I guess I could try it again. But it just makes me a little bit nervous during this time, but I'd rather go somewhere a little bit smaller. But yeah, I need to try that and mix that into my routines. Okay, so we sort of have reviewed our routines and what we'd like and I think that the general idea just for anyone listening, any sort of movement for your body is great. It is so good for your body for your minds for kind of everything right? I mean, it's

Katie: 14:12

even just stretching even just a day like if you're tight and you want to go and do take 15 minutes, just stretch it out. Like that is also considered movement. Yeah. So

Amy: 14:22

key message here daily movement, and that so I wanted to to move on a bit and talk about meditation. Now, Katie, I don't know if you meditate. I know. We've talked about it a little bit. But I don't remember. If I have a meditation practice, like on and off probably right.

Katie: 14:37

Yeah. And I after you've talked about it, I have a great app to share. But yeah.

Amy: 14:43

So I try. I mean, it kind of depends on what's going on. I've been trying to infuse it and what I found to be the most helpful because I think when people think about meditation, it sounds very intimidating, but it's really not if you think about like, I do it five minutes a day because I love People don't have patience like me. And it's really hard to sit there. So but I can sit there for five minutes. So I have this app that I use, I have a few apps, but one of the apps that I use is called simple habit. And I can't remember where I found out about it. But it's a free app, I think there's a paid version of it as well. But I like simple habit, because they have a section on it, that's called on the go. And you say, like, if you want to do five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, so I just do five, and then it'll say, different topics, like, you know, can't sleep stressed, need to let go, like, it just has all these different topics, you can just do a quick meditation. So sometimes I'll do one in bed just to relax before bed, sometimes I'll do one in the morning to get energy. But it's five minutes, and you can just kind of breathe and let it go. So that's a really good one. I've been trying to work up to like a little bit longer of a meditation. So speaking of Melissa, what, how, um, she has some meditations on her app, which are really good, but you're like 1020 minutes. So I've been trying those lately, and it's a little bit harder, but it is good. Her meditations are really good because they really focus on the breath work. And then I have some things that I try to do. There's a Dr. Weil, who's like a very famous holistic doctor has a technique called 478, where you breathe in for four, you hold it for seven, and then you breathe out for eight. And you just do that you do that four times, and then you kind of repeat it and the more you practice it, the easier it is to do. But I do that a lot. If I wake up in the middle the night and I can't fall back asleep, I just do 478. And I'm like back to sleep. And like one second. I've been doing it for so many years that it's really easy for me to do. But when you first start doing it, it's a little bit hard. So those that are listening, you can look up 478 technique, and you'll see it online, but that's another great one. So I consider meditation, really anything that's sort of like just taking a step back and just breathing out. So whether you're sitting and doing it or you're doing this breath work in bed, or there's like this nostril breathing technique that I don't know, Katie, if you've seen but you just put one finger on your nostril, and yeah, breathe in. And it really helps to relax you if you're stressed out. So I just kind of tried to do those things every day, as little stressors come up, I need to do it more. I think we all do. But I think it's along with daily movement, having some sort of daily breathwork, or daily meditation is so good for your health. And it really helps to keep your stress levels low. So those are my kind of thoughts about it.

Katie: 17:18

I use Insight Timer. Meditation. Oh, yeah, I've used that before. Yeah, I just did one the other night for decompression, but also for people that maybe I don't know, for whatever reason don't have access to an app or something I learned recently, the simplest form of meditation when you're just starting out. If you can go outside, close your eyes and pick a sound that you want to listen for. Maybe it's a bird chirp. And don't think about anything else. Just wait for that bird chirp. And every time you hear a bird chirp, you think about it. Oh, there's a bird chirping? And then you wait for the next one. Oh, there's another bird chirping? If you do that, that really committed? Yeah, if you're really committed to just waiting for that sound, your thoughts aren't going to creep in. And then it's really cool. Yeah,

Amy: 17:58

I like that idea.

Katie: 17:58

It's just a super simple way of clearing your mind and take it actually

Amy: 18:03

sounds like a great idea to do with kids. Because I always tell my kids like to do like a little meditation with me. And of course, they always roll, roll our eyes and laugh. But I think if we're outside, that's like a good, fun thing to do. I also want to have a hard time paying attention to meditation, even if it's five minutes, sometimes. Some of these instructors will give you a little mantras to say so you're saying something in your mind as you're doing it. So it keeps you focused versus your mind, like wandering off. So I love that I'm going to try that outside idea today. Okay, so two things that I think Katie and I, you know, really live by is this daily movement and daily meditation and making sure that there's balance just to keep you kind of clear headed, ready for your day ready to take on anything and that you think those things are really, really important. And I try to spread the love on all of those all the time. So moving on, I am going to talk about a couple of my favorite things of the week. I have three things that I just want to talk about quickly before we wrap up. And one of them I'm speaking of movement is called a Thai massage, which is nothing new but I had just never done one before. My friend Natasha had always told me about Thai massage. And so I want to do it. I just never did it. And so I had someone come to my house socially distanced outside, like it's not socially distance, but we were both wearing a mask outside. So it was I felt safe. And this was a couple of weeks ago and I got a Thai massage. And it was the most amazing thing. I've never had a massage like this Katie it was like her feet were like on my shoulders. I don't even know what she was doing. And it kind of hurt but felt good at the same time. Because my muscles were so tight and my shoulders and my neck and my hamstrings and I guess she was like walking on me and pulling in different things. But it was really gentle. So it wasn't like jarring by any means but it was also painful because she would like get into the knots and my shoulders and like with her feet and like really kind of push and pull. But it was also really gentle and nice. It was I think I did 90 minutes And I was so relaxed afterwards, I just like laid on the couch and just I wasn't tired. I was just my body felt so relaxed and so rejuvenated I, I didn't realize how much I needed it until I had it. So I like caught everyone on I was like, Oh my God, you have to get a Thai massage. So I still need to make another appointment to get one because it was so good in my body for the next week or two felt so aligned and so balanced. Wow, never have, we just like, for like a week, like my posture felt better. My breathing felt better. I just felt like, really loose and relaxed and nimble. And I've just haven't felt that way before from massage. So that's going to be my new go to

Katie: 20:38

that's love to heaven. And then you got me a time inside. Like I didn't

Amy: 20:41

do it outside. It was so nice. So that was one thing. The next thing that I found on Amazon, which I'll put in the show notes, which is really random, but really good for winter. For those of us on the east coast where it's starting to get cold and dark at night, I found this sunrise alarm clock, which I'd heard about before, but I never really thought about it, but I started reading about it. And it's made a huge difference in waking up in the morning. Because in the morning, you usually have like your alarm clock, and it's loud and annoying. And it's very jarring. But the sunrise alarm clock, you say let's say you want to get up at seven in the morning, you put the timer on. And then what happens from 645 to seven. It's like a gentle sunrise. So you don't you don't wake up you just the room gets a little bit lighter, but it's right next to your head. And it's like not a jarring light. It's really like a muted sort of light and it for 15 minutes just goes a little bit at a time. And then at seven o'clock, you can pick your sound, but I do like birds chirping and it's like a light bird chirp so and I have a hard time getting up and it's I only have it on like volume three, but I hear it I almost sometimes wake up before the bird chirp because I guess feel the light somehow. But it's a very gentle way to get up. I mean,

Katie: 21:49

I have to tell you, it's amazing that you're bringing that up this morning I was reading about the two hormones cortisol and melatonin. Melatonin is what puts us to sleep. Cortisol is what wakes us up in the morning. And these two things are triggered naturally by sunrise and sunset.

Amy: 22:03

Oh, wow. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, that must be while some genius invented this because it seriously has changed my waking up experience because I'm not a morning person. As Katie knows she gets up early. I'm not such an early riser, my husband knows. But this has really helped me to get out kind of in a better mood and more ready for the day because it's just like a gentle nice ease. And especially in the winter when it's really dark in the morning. So I love it. And I got I'll put it in the notes. But I there's some really expensive ones, but the one I got was very reasonably priced and so far so good with it. So highly recommend that. And then my last thing talking about meditation is I have this meditation cushion from a company called Mala collective. I was introduced to them through work last year, and I met the founder and she's amazing. And this question is just around beautiful cushion, but it it's statically beautiful. It's really well made. And it's super comfy. So when you sit on it to meditate, it just has like a really comfortable like the perfect size. So when you sit on it, your sits bones really kind of like sink in and you just can kind of it's a nice way. So you're not like sitting on the floor. Sometimes when you sort of sit on the floor and meditate or do something it's not as comfortable. So this just makes it really comfortable. From meditation standpoint. That would be my fav of the week. So just wanted to share that with you, Katie. Nice. And before we wrap up, let's talk about our weekly nirvana. I'll let you start Katie.

Katie: 23:22

Yeah, mine. It's kind of silly. But my weekly Nirvana this week was my salad. I made the most delicious salad and I eat it every day. This week. It was Oh my god. It was a super simple it was a warm kale and chicken salad and I just saw did some kale and some coconut oil and added some like shredded rotisserie chicken straight out of the fridge so easy. And then I topped it with some scallions and some almonds. I made a plant based coconut milk ranch dressing and it was just like, amazing. You know how in the summertime you want salads, but when it's cold in the winter, you don't want a salad because the salad is cold. Right? This was like my answer the warm I got

Amy: 24:03

I felt so good. It was so good. I need to make that today. Okay, well, my nirvana of the week, which was probably a lot of people's in America is Nirvana was last weekend, celebrating the win of Joe Biden. I just I'm so excited about that. And I think everyone or people that are in the same mindset as Biden, were really happy last weekend, and I think people sort of had that release and breath out last weekend. So I was really excited about that. But I wish I had a food one because that sounds really good. And now I'm really hungry and I need to eat something. Yeah.

Katie: 24:36

Make a salad for lunch. Yeah.

Amy: 24:38

So that's it for this week. Thanks, everyone, friends for tuning in to today's episode. And for more information on this episode, check out our show notes find us on Instagram as always at Nirvana sisters, and if you loved what you listen to or know someone that would please share it but don't forget to check us Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters. We're so excited because we're both doing The food sensitivity test from everlywell, which Katie has been doing a lot of research on, and we'll talk more about it next week, but we're both going to try it this week and share our results on the podcast. So and we'll see you next week. Bye bye