In this episode, you'll learn exactly how intuition can guide your healing journey, right down to what treatments to pursue and foods to eat and some practical ways to start listening to it.

Today, you've been told it's incurable, but here at Renegade Remission, we believe in rewriting the story.

If you're facing a terminal or chronic illness, you are not alone.

I'm Elainey Welch, certified nutritionist, and each week I share healing strategies and remission stories to help you take control of your health, feel better, and rediscover hope.

Welcome back, Renegades.

Today we're going to discover how intuition can guide healing decisions even when conventional medicine seems overwhelming.

We'll hear Susan Kohler's incredible story of surviving a terminal cancer diagnosis against the odds.

And we'll learn practical insights for tuning into your own inner guidance when creating a recovery plan.

In our last episode, we explored the science of the gut brain connection and how your body communicates with you through signals, sometimes even before your conscious mind can process them.

Today, we're taking the next step, applying that understanding to healing and recovery.

Intuition can be a powerful guide in deciding what your body truly needs, especially when you're facing complex illnesses.

Our bodies often know what our conscious mind has not yet realized, and listening to that inner guidance can have measurable benefits for health and recovery.

In this episode, we'll look at scientific studies, research and real world remission stories and that demonstrate how intuition plays a crucial role in guiding healing decisions.

Let's start with the mind body connection.

A number of studies show that patients who cultivate self awareness, really tuning in to their gut feelings and body cues, see better health outcomes overall.

For example, researchers have found that being aware of subtle bodily cues can predict better cardiovascular outcomes.

People who tune in to how their bodies react to stress using things like heart rate changes or tension in their muscles, are able to regulate themselves more effectively, which reduces strain on the heart and other organs.

Noticing what your body is telling you, listening to those small signals can have a direct impact on physiological health, which is essentially your intuition at work.

Even in conventional medicine, a patient's belief.

In treatment can influence outcomes.

When you trust your instincts and you approach healing with confidence and attention, you your body responds.

If you feel that a protocol is right for you, you are able to engage the best parts of the placebo effect.

Believing that something will work actually triggers physiological changes in your biology that allow it to.

This is a measurable effect and one.

We dove into in incredible detail in episodes 11.

The placebo effect how belief and mindset Shape healing and episode 12, how the mind Body Connection Triggers Real Healing.

Be sure to listen to those episodes, but in short, expectancy can change hormone levels, immune responses, even pain perception.

In other words, paying attention to your inner guidance and feeling confident that it is leading you in the right direction can literally help your body respond better to healing interventions.

We see this in integrative oncology, the field that combines conventional cancer care with with lifestyle, mind, body and alternative approaches.

Studies of patients who integrate diet, movement, emotional practices and mindfulness into their care report improved quality of life, fewer side effects and better overall well being.

Some trials, for example with breast cancer survivors, show that self guided lifestyle changes like mindful eating, gentle exercise and stress reduction can improve energy, physical function and symptom management.

There's even evidence that patients who take active self guided roles in their healing see more measurable improvements in fatigue, appetite and mood than those who take a backseat in their own healing journey.

This is the principle of intuition in action.

When you take responsibility for your health and learn to notice your body's subtle cues, listen to your inner voice and act on what feels right.

When whether it's about stress, diet, exercise or emotional choices, you're engaging a powerful mechanism that science is increasingly validating.

Your intuition may not replace conventional medicine entirely, but it's a guide, a kind of internal compass that can lead you towards practices and choices that support healing on multiple levels physically, emotionally, spiritually, even energetically.

In other words, your body often knows the path before your conscious mind does, and the research tells us that listening to that guidance can be profoundly beneficial to your health.

All of these studies show us that our bodies and minds are constantly sending a signal, subtle cues that if we pay attention, can guide us towards better health and healing.

But theory and research can only take us so far.

Sometimes the clearest illustrations of intuition and action come from real people navigating their own healing journeys.

So let's explore one of those stories now, which is the story of Susan Kohler as told by Kelly Turner in the book Radical Remission.

When Susan Kohler was 54, she began to notice a mild lingering cough.

It wasn't accompanied by a cold or flu, just a small irritation that slowly worsened over several months.

Eventually it became bothersome enough that she.

Went to her doctor, who prescribed cough.

Suppressants and later antibiotics.

When her symptoms didn't improve, further tests were ordered a chest X ray, then.

A CT scan, and soon after she.

Was referred to a lung specialist.

By the time she saw the specialist, nearly a year had passed since her cough had started her primary doctor had tried to reassure her, saying it was most likely a fungal infection called histoplasmosis.

Or perhaps benign sarcoidosis.

Lung cancer was mentioned only as a remote possibility, and her doctor told her it was incredibly unlikely, since Susan had never smoked and hadn't been exposed to any chemicals or pollutants that she knew of.

But when the lung specialist reviewed her scans, along with two additional radiologists, it told a different story.

They believed the nodules in her lungs were not benign at all, but metastases, evidence of cancer that had spread from somewhere else in her body.

Susan underwent a full body PET scan, looking for any glowing spots that might indicate cancer.

When her doctors returned with the results, their faces were grave.

The scan showed cancer in her lungs and a primary tumor in her pancreas.

The diagnosis was devastating.

Late stage pancreatic cancer with metastases to the lungs.

Even with immediate surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

Her doctors told her she likely had.

Less than a year to live.

As they began explaining the aggressive treatment.

Plan, Susan's thoughts blurred.

Her heart was pounding.

And then suddenly, she heard something kind of unexpected.

A calm, clear voice inside of her head that said, not that way, not this time.

She had never experienced anything like this before, but she trusted that inner knowing.

Instantly, her doctor warned her sternly that if she didn't follow their plan exactly, she would die.

But Susan was strangely calm.

In that moment, she realized the danger was not the diagnosis.

It was the fear and the disempowerment in that room.

She didn't argue or announce her decision.

She simply left the office, quietly resolving to follow her intuition instead.

At home, Susan followed her first push of intuition.

She.

She called her boss and reduced her work schedule to two days a week.

She instinctively knew that she would need time and space to dedicate herself to healing.

Deep down, she felt that her work on Earth wasn't finished yet, that she still had a purpose to fulfill.

And she knew she would need to find a way to restore her body in order to accomplish that purpose.

Her next intuitive nudge was to dig out an old journal.

Years earlier, after her father had died of lung cancer and his father before him, Susan had begun exploring the roots of disease.

She had studied the writings of medical intuitive Carolyn Miss, eventually attending Mrs. Workshops and even meeting a Native American shaman, Lensch Archuleta, during a spiritual retreat in Arizona.

In that 2004 retreat journal, she found something she'd written but long forgotten about.

Lensch had told Susan that she was leaking energy from her chest and that she had taken on her father's illness as a part of a lineage pattern, one that she could heal for seven generations before and after her, which is a Native American belief.

At the time, she hadn't really bought into any of it.

But now, facing her own diagnosis, the message felt profound.

Susan sought out a holistic doctor known for working with cancer patients.

But when that doctor insisted she must follow their strict regimen without deviation, her intuition again said no.

So she declined and decided she was not going to go see anybody else.

She began researching on her own, reading, studying and testing what felt right to her.

She eventually adopted an alkalizing plant based diet rich in raw and lightly steamed fruits and vegetables, and eliminated meats, sugars, dairy, processed foods and fried items.

At first, she went through an incredible amount of detoxification, and her health seemed to decline.

Her friends were worried, but her intuition.

Told her to stay the course.

Eventually, her body moved through the detoxification process and she began to look and feel better and better each day.

She also felt intuitively during this time not to take supplements.

She felt that her body would better.

Absorb nutrients directly from food.

And then she turned her attention to exercise.

Her inner voice reasoned that her lungs, filled with cancer, would benefit from fresh outdoor air, and therefore she would need to stay out of a gym.

Every morning, even through harsh New York winters, she walked outdoors to connect with the earth and breathe fresh air.

I guess as fresh as it can be in New York.

Slowly, her energy began to return and she walked further and further until her walks stretched to an hour long.

Susan also began studying traditional Chinese medicine, where she learned about meridians and energy flow, how physical disease can manifest when energy becomes stuck.

She began practicing energy tracing and release exercises daily, combining them with kinesiology to identify blocked areas in her body.

She also realized that her emotions were part of the healing.

Chinese medicine teaches that fear and grief can stagnate the lungs and resentment can disrupt the liver and pancreas.

To heal, she had to cultivate emotional safety, joy and forgiveness.

We talked at length about fear and anger in our episodes 15 and 14.

And we also talked about the emotions and how they influence our ability to heal or can make us sick in episodes two and three.

So be sure to check out those episodes of the Renegade Remission podcast.

At the same time that she was undergoing the process of releasing fear and resentment and cultivating emotional safety, joy and forgiveness, Susan reevaluated her life.

Before her illness, she had managed a large education program that brought her joy and purpose.

But when that program ended, she had reluctantly taken a Solitary desk job.

One that drained her spirit.

Within weeks of starting that job, her cough began.

After learning how energy stagnation could manifest as illness, she recognized the symbolism.

She had silenced her voice, suppressed her joy and her body had responded.

So she made another intuitive decision.

To quit her job entirely and reclaim her energy.

Susan also began clearing away anything that depleted her energy.

Negative relationships over responsibility for others, even.

Old guilt and fear based thought patterns.

Shame.

She focused only on what lifted her vibration, joy, laughter, nature, gratitude and peace.

She surrounded herself with people who supported her choices and distanced herself from those who doubted her.

Gradually, her symptoms faded.

Six months after she began her self guided healing journey, her cough disappeared.

She decided not to return to her.

Doctors for new scans.

She didn't need external confirmation.

Her intuition told her that the disappearance of her symptoms and her renewed vitality was were all the evidence she personally required.

Five years after her diagnosis of metastatic pancreatic cancer, Susan is alive, healthy and thriving.

Far beyond her doctor's predictions of 12 months to live.

She continued her walks, her plant based diet and her daily energy practices, grateful for the intuition that had guided her every step.

To this day, Susan still hasn't confirmed via scans that her cancer is gone.

She feels intuitively that it wouldn't help her and that her absence of symptoms and abundance of health and energy are all the proof she needs.

Susan doesn't claim that intuition alone cured her cancer.

But she believes it led her to the people, knowledge and practices that did.

Her story stands as a testament to the quiet, powerful voice that lives within all of us.

The one that whispers.

Not that way.

Not this time for listeners.

Integrating intuition into your own healing journey doesn't have to be overwhelming.

Here are some practical ways to start.

One is to cultivate mindfulness.

Take time each day for quiet reflection, meditation or even a simple mindful walk.

The goal is to notice what your body and mind are telling you.

Those subtle nudges or gut feelings that often get drowned out by the noise of daily life.

For instance, you might notice tension in your chest when you're stressed or sudden craving for certain foods that your body actually needs.

By tuning in regularly, you strengthen your ability to recognize and act on intuitive guidance.

The next thing you can do is educate yourself.

Explore different healing practices like energy medicine, acupuncture, yoga or herbal therapies to understand their principles.

This doesn't mean you have to adopt everything you learn.

But having knowledge of how something works gives your intuition a framework to work with.

Susan, for example, studied Chinese medicine and energy meridians, which helped her interpret her body's signals in a meaningful way and design practices that supported her healing.

The third thing you can do is trust your body.

Pay attention to the physical sensations, emotions and even dreams.

They can all be clues from your inner guidance system.

The key is to observe without judgment and experiment gently with what your body is telling you.

It's also important that you seek support.

Healing doesn't happen in isolation.

Surround yourself with people who resonate with your approach, whether that's friends, mentors or practitioners.

Communities can provide encouragement, guidance and accountability, helping you maintain focus on your path.

Susan was intentional about surrounding herself with high vibration, supportive people who reinforced her healing journey rather than distracting or discouraging her.

The final thing you can do is to practice patience and self compassion.

Healing is rarely linear.

Intuition often works subtly, guiding you step by step rather than providing instant answers.

Give yourself permission to explore, make adjustments and occasionally step back to reflect on what's working and what isn't.

Celebrate small shifts and listen to your body's feedback along the way.

Remember that integrating intuition into your healing.

Isn'T about ignoring medical advice or dismissing professional guidance.

It's about creating a partnership between your inner wisdom and external resources, giving yourself permission to notice, explore and act on the insights your mind and body provide.

Like Susan, you can cultivate a deeper sense of agency and clarity in your health, one choice at a time.

And while she chose to not follow her doctor's recommendations, you may not feel right about doing that.

Trust your intuition and what it's telling you.

In our next episode, we'll break down practical methods for accessing your intuition and using it as a roadmap for recovery so you can feel confident following your inner guidance, even when the conventional path seems rigid.

Until then, go be renegades.