00:00:06 Shreya: What if wellness is not about doing more, but about remembering who you are beneath the burnout, beneath the rolls, beneath the pressure to constantly perform. So many of us chase health in fragments. A diet here, a productivity hack there, but still feel disconnected. And tonight we are exploring what it truly means to live holistically, not as a trend, but as a way of being. Welcome back

00:00:33 Shreya: to the Wellness Reimagined, a space where we question old wellness narratives and explore what actually supports real human well-being. I'm your host, Shreya, and today I'm joined by Liz Worth, author, speaker, holistic wellness expert, and co-founder of Be Healthy UTA, one of the largest natural health conferences in the region, Liz helps individuals and leaders thrive in mind, body and purpose, especially in seasons of burnout, identity shifts, and the search of sustainable success. Welcome, Liz. I am honored to have you on my show.

00:01:12 Liz Watt: Thanks for having me on today.

00:01:14 Shreya: And Liz, like before we talk about frameworks and strategies, I'd love to start. Like when you hear the phrase holistic wellness, what does it feel like in your own life right now?

00:01:29 Liz Watt: So holistic wellness is often we've lived this life where we have been told what we need to do, and we need to take this medicine and we need to go see this doctor and we need to use this regiment. But holistic wellness isn't just going down the path of of medical medicine, but it's looking at every aspect of our life because we are. Um, we are a being of emotional, physical, spiritual, mental and holistic. Wellness is looking at every aspect of our life to be able to live the best life that we can.

00:02:21 Shreya: Yes, I appreciate that, like because it sounds less like a checklist and more like a relationship with yourself. And I think that distinction is really important. Yeah.

00:02:35 Liz Watt: Because, you know, when we are living our life, we sit there and we think that often we don't think that the emotional aspect of is dealing with what's going on physically. And I had that experience where I thought that I was basically living a holistic life. I was married to a chiropractor. I had all of my babies at home. I didn't do a lot of medical stuff, and I, I just I tried to, like, make my kids homemade food and we were trying to live this holistic lifestyle. But my body started to get sick, even though we were doing everything. We thought that was holistic. And eventually it came to a point to where I at days I ended up being in a wheelchair because my body was just. I just felt like it was deteriorating. And it was hard because at this point I had six kids. Well, I went on a healing journey and I started to ask a different question. And instead of asking what? What do I need to take? Who can I go see? You know, who has answers for me. I started to ask within myself, what is it that my body needs? And every day I just incorporated something that my body was telling me that it needed. And eventually my body did restore, which was a I felt a huge miracle. But as I was going down this healing journey, I thought that now that my body was back, now that I could now be the mom that I wanted to be, I could run my business the way that I wanted to. I started to realize that these physical symptoms that I had been experiencing weren't just because of. I wasn't eating the right types of food, but they were actually because of emotional baggage that I had carried throughout my life that now are manifesting in my health. And so the emotional aspects of our lives are just as important to our health as our physical aspects.

00:05:13 Shreya: Yes, I agree. And like what is the biggest misconception do you think people have about holistic wellness?

00:05:25 Liz Watt: Since I've lived this my whole life, a lot of times people don't, they they associate you that it could be, as I say, woo woo. And because we've been trained within our brains to look at the doctors, what is it that the doctors are telling us? And if the doctors don't, if the doctors don't tell us that, then it must not be true. And we have now put our faith outside of us rather than inside. but I truly believe that our bodies were created to heal. And there is. It's just just like when we get a cut on our on our body, what happens to it? It begins to heal because our bodies know what to do, but we just need to find that environment to heal. And oftentimes in the world, it's told to us, take this drug, do this regiment. But you know what? It's it's about holistic health is looking at our bodies and figuring out what how we can work with our bodies. And so one of the biggest misconceptions is that our bodies are not strong enough to heal by themselves. Yeah.

00:06:46 Shreya: Yes. I think that is so interesting. Like, so when people, uh, reduce it, to supplements or clean eating. What do they miss about the deeper layers?

00:07:02 Liz Watt: When we look at our foods, we have we have been bombarded with processed foods because of ease and convenience. Just the way that the world is set up now and what can we grab really quickly to go? But what we're doing is we're stripping ourselves from what comes from the earth that was actually given to us, from the earth so that we could nourish our bodies. So when we look at food, we need to say, what is the what is the most whole form of that food? And so when I look at when I'm making something for dinner, instead of grabbing for something that's processed, I'll say, what can I do to make that even a little bit more healthier? And it might be maybe making the sauces from scratch and not grabbing the processed the process. You know, things that are there that are really easy and convenient to have. But if we just ask ourselves every time we eat, what is it? One thing I can do on my plate to make it even more healthier? How can I get back to the things of the ground of the earth? That's what is just one more step to do that. Because I do realize that we do live in a world that is fast paced, and there's a lot of things that we're all trying to do. And I'm not saying that we have to go back to how the pilgrims used to be and do everything, you know, from scratch. But what we can do is we can look at our plates, we can look at the things that we're eating and just ask ourselves. The one question is, what is one thing that we can change to make it even more healthier for us?

00:09:07 Shreya: Yes, like what I'm hearing is that holistic wellness is not about what we consume. It's about alignment, like alignment between our values with our identity, with our body and how we show up. And I think when the alignment is missing, no green smoothie can really compensate for it.

00:09:27 Liz Watt: No it can't. You have to address all of those areas like we talked about with the it's we're not just physical beings, but you know, when we are going down this path, we have to look at, okay, the emotional things that I you know, I had experienced some some hard trauma, like when I was in a child in my childhood. And guess what? Everyone on this is listening to. This podcast has also experienced things within our life. I say that, you know, we we have different stories, but we feel the same emotions. And when we don't address those emotions, they have to come out someplace. And often it comes out within our health. And so when we're looking at that, we need to say, you know what, what are and how do we get through those emotional things, like what are the tools that we need? And I, I enjoy, I enjoy doing meditation. I believe that meditation can move us through a lot of our emotional aspects that we have in our life and get to a place of peace, because if we can get to a place of love, peace and gratitude within that emotion, then I feel like we can finally move on to be able to heal that part. Now, it doesn't mean that those emotional things that we went through as a child. Uh, aren't real because they are real. But it's all about how we choose to look at things in our lives, and we have that opportunity to choose or not to choose how we choose, how we look at it. But if we if we can get to a place where we feel, even though it may not make sense on the outside, but if we can get to a place of love, peace and gratitude, then we can become aligned to be able to accept that emotion, to be able to accept that this emotion that we have is actually a beautiful thing, and that we are blessed with these emotions for a reason. And these emotions that we have are so that we can experience life to the fullest. So it's not about burying these emotions, but it's about looking at how can we make these emotions become a beautiful aspect of our life?

00:11:56 Shreya: Yes. And also, you have worked with leaders and individuals navigating exhaustion and identity shifts. So beneath burnout, what patterns tend to repeat?

00:12:13 Liz Watt: So most of the times when people are under stress or when they when they are expressing, um, stressful situations, our biggest thing that we like to do is avoidance, because we feel that if we avoid it, then we don't have to take care of it. But really, what it is, is coming to whatever situation is coming to it, with our right mind being grounded in that and coming, you know, coming to the situations where we feel that we are, where we have our knowledge about it, where we feel grounded emotionally about it, where we feel that we can show up as our whole self. And that's what I call whole self leadership. Because when we're dealing with businesses, when we're dealing with teams, when we're dealing with people that are outside of us, we have to in order for us to serve them and to be able to make these hard decisions. Then we can't just show up physically, but we have to show up emotionally and we have to show up physically. I mean, spiritually, we have to show up as our whole self so that we can have mental clarity so that we can know how to make those decisions and lead the best that we can. And so when we're looking at burnout and we're looking at leadership, it's about finding that balance of showing up the best that we can. And that is what I call is our whole self leadership. So whenever you go into a situation, I want you to ask yourself, am I showing up the best that I can? Have I taken care of the emotional aspects of whatever, whatever we're dealing with? Have I been able to, you know, we're looking at physical parts. Have I been able to eat in a way that gives me nourishment to show up, that I am not just running on snack food? You know, have I hydrated my body? So I'm not, uh, so I'm not coming up where, you know, when we drink water, it connects all the electrical systems within our body. And when we're not hydrating ourselves, we're not being able to show up the way we are. Um, am I exercising? Am I doing the things that are going to strengthen who I am because when I walk into that meeting, it's not just about the words that you say, but it's how you show up in that meeting that is actually going to give you the best ability that you can to make the best transactions that you can, and to have the relationships that you need to have so that you can further along your your mission and your purpose that you're doing within your business.

00:15:10 Shreya: Yes. So like when someone has built their identity around achievement, what tends to happen internally when they slow down?

00:15:21 Liz Watt: Well, often we we pride ourselves in fast pace. We pride ourselves in accomplishments. But if we get to the end of the end of whatever is that we're doing and we feel depleted, we actually didn't win because we will never be able to feel the goodness of that. Why? Because we are exhausted. But life is about enjoying the journey along the way. It's about seeing those little moments as we accomplish something, as we have a conversation with something or somebody. It's about seeing that spark in this world. And if we just think that it that the end goal is all that it's about, we will never truly be able to enjoy the journey that it took for us to get there. And so that is where we have to stop. We have to meditate. We have to pray. We have to, uh, sit there with our food, not hurry through it, be able to enjoy every single bite. We have to, as we're going along this path, just experience the beauty and everything that is around us, because life is also about joy. And the more joy that we experience, the more love we can give to others, the more we can serve people in a way that we know that is best for them. Because we're not worrying about everything as as just a destination. But we are worried more about the journey that it takes to get to that destination.

00:17:11 Shreya: Yeah, I think that tension between who we have been praised for being and who we actually are can deeply, like, be destabilizing. I think it's almost, almost like burnout forces and identity like reckoning. And, uh, also change is not linear always. So what tends to derail people when they start building healthier and more aligned lives.

00:17:40 Liz Watt: So I have this peach tree that's in my backyard. When we moved into our house, we decided that we were going to put in peach tree, nectarine tree, pear tree, grow grapes, all this type of stuff because I really like to be able to feel like I have a garden in my backyard, that I can go out and just get things. And we had this. We had this nectarine tree that was right next to our peach tree and our nectarine tree, after about ten years started to die. So we knew that we needed to pull it out and get another nectarine tree. We went and got this nectarine tree, and it takes quite a few years for the nectarines to start to produce. But once it started to produce, all of a sudden we saw that it was a peach tree instead of a nectarine tree. And then we went and after we had that, that this new peach tree for a couple of years, we decided, okay, we really want to have a nectarine tree. So we pulled it out. We pulled the nectarine tree. I mean, this peach tree that we thought was a nectarine tree out. We pulled it out and put in another nectarine tree. And after a few years, the fruit started to grow. And guess what? It was another peach tree. And here we are, frustrated that now we have to pull it out and get another nectarine tree. And I believe that this is just how life is, is that we we think that we plant something and it's going to produce something beautiful that we want, But often it's not that. It's that we we plant something and it grows into something maybe we weren't expecting, didn't want. So we have to take it out again, and then we have to plant something else again, and then it grows. And guess what? It's not exactly what we want. And so we have to take it out and put something else again. And hopefully this time this is what we want. And that's what life is about. It's about learning. So then we can unlearn something so that we can learn something. Again. It's not about just planting something and have something flourish in front of us and be exactly the way that we want it. But life is about learning. And sometimes when we plant things, it's not exactly what we thought, what we anticipated. But that's okay, because it's not about being perfect at that moment. It's about trying to You learn something and then unlearning it, recalibrating whatever you're doing and then trying again. And guess what? Even that try like it was with our with our peach tree. It might not even be the second time. You might have to then take what you learn and unlearn that again, recalibrate what you're doing, and then learn some more again, because it's not like I said, it's not just about having planting something and having it flourish, but it's about recalibrating our the way that we're going through every aspect of our life because it is like we talked about. It's about that journey. And it's not that it's going to be perfect all the time, and it's going to be messy, and there's going to be things come up that you don't anticipate, but it's about the resilience that we can have that we can gain within us with each of these step backs that helps us to become the better leader that we need to become within our lives and within our organizations.

00:21:40 Shreya: Yes, that's a beautiful thing that you just explained. I think, uh, now what you said, I think it explains everything so beautifully with the story. This is so wonderful. And also, I have a reflection question for you, like for someone who is listening right now and who feels disconnected, uh, from themselves, uh, what is one gentle question they can ask themselves tonight?

00:22:06 Liz Watt: Tonight I would ask themselves today, in every situation that I did, I show up as my whole self because if you didn't show up as your whole self, then ask yourself why. And then you can ask yourself, how can I change tomorrow? Because it is a step by step That process. But you first have to become aware. You have to. Whenever you're doing anything in your life, you have to become aware before you can make the change. And so ask yourself tonight, did I show up in wholeness in every aspect of my life today? And if you didn't ask yourself why? And then ask yourself how you can change.

00:22:51 Shreya: Yeah. This is so beautiful. And like, if there is one thing I'm taking from this conversation, it's this holistic wellness is not about optimizing every area of your life. I think it's about bringing your life back into coherence. And this is truly another very powerful, very insightful conversation with you. And if after this, my listeners want to connect with you and want to know more about your work, then what's the best way.

00:23:22 Liz Watt: You can find me at Elizabeth Ann Whatcom on my website and on there I have a free a a free offer that you can. It's a ten ways to to declutter your life. And what are these things that are in your life that you can change or correct or, or just put you on a new path, and then it has a seven day journey that it takes you on from day one to day seven. You will see a big difference within your life by just removing the clutter that we think is important, and getting back to the things that are actually important in our life.

00:24:03 Shreya: Yes, and I will make sure to attach all these details and links below so that the listeners can find them easily and get in touch with you. And for my listeners, thank you for spending this time with us on the Wellness Reimagined.

00:24:17 Liz Watt: Thank you.

00:24:18 Shreya: Thank you so much. And, uh, if today's conversation resonated, then maybe take a few quiet minutes after this episode to check in. Not with your goals, but with yourself. What needs attention, what feels misaligned, and what feels ready to be restored. And until next time, stay curious, stay compassionate, and keep reimagining what wellness truly means for you. And do not forget to hit the follow button. Subscribe and feel free to share your thoughts because your ears deserve premium content. Thank you.