Written by Mel Abbott, Therapist in Chronic Illness Recovery Mel Abbott is a mind-body health specialist and founder of The Switch Program, a pioneering approach that helps people recover from chronic illnesses such as ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, CRPS, anxiety, and many other conditions. Autoimmune disorders are typically described as lifelong, incurable illnesses that must be medically managed rather than resolved. Yet emerging research is beginning to challenge this assumption. This article explores how real people have recovered from autoimmune conditions labelled “incurable”, what modern science tells us about the links between stress, emotion, and immune function, and how supporting nervous system regulation can sometimes allow the immune system to reset and heal. What are autoimmune disorders? Autoimmune disorders occur when the immune system, whose job is to protect the body, mistakenly attacks the body’s own healthy tissues. Depending on which tissues are affected, this can show up as: Joint inflammation and destruction (e.g., Rheumatoid arthritis) Widespread systemic inflammation (e.g., Lupus) Digestive tract (e.g., Crohn’s disease) Thyroid dysfunction (e.g., Hashimoto’s disease) Skin conditions (e.g., Psoriasis) and more Mainstream treatment involves potent immunosuppressants and anti-inflammatory medications. While these treatments can be essential for symptom control and preventing organ damage, many people find the side effects as difficult to tolerate as the condition. However, if we instead look for the underlying cause of these conditions instead of just managing symptoms, a more sustainable outcome can be achieved. What the science says about stress, emotion, trauma, and immunity? Research increasingly shows that the immune system does not operate in isolation. Instead, it is deeply influenced by the nervous system and stress physiology. Psychological stress predicts autoimmune risk. Large population studies show that people diagnosed with stress-related disorders, including PTSD and acute stress reactions, have a significantly increased risk of developing autoimmune disease. Childhood trauma correlates with later autoimmune illness. Individuals with histories of childhood trauma have higher rates of autoimmune disease in adulthood.  Chronic stress alters immune regulation. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, the body’s central stress response system, directly interacts with immune signalling. Chronic stress and cortisol dysregulation are associated with sustained inflammation and loss of immune tolerance. Stress often precedes the onset or flare. Many people with autoimmune conditions report significant emotional stress prior to disease onset or symptom flares, suggesting stress commonly acts as a trigger or amplifier. This evidence does not suggest that emotions and a stress response are the sole causes of autoimmune conditions. Autoimmune illness is multifactorial, but it does suggest significant links between these stress and immune function, and possible reasons for the good results that many of my clients are reporting. Client’s experiences that challenge the “incurable” label My first autoimmune client was a woman who had lived with rheumatoid arthritis for ten years. By the time she came to see me, her fingers were severely distorted and immobile, and she lived with constant pain. By the end of Day 4 of my programme, she had regained full movement in her fingers and experienced a dramatic reduction in pain. Within two weeks, her symptoms had resolved completely, and she returned to her doctor to discuss a safe medication-weaning plan. Another client had active lupus during her first pregnancy, with persistently elevated CRP inflammatory markers and poor foetal growth. After completing the Switch programme, her symptoms resolved. Follow-up blood tests showed her inflammatory markers had normalised. She later went on to have a second pregnancy, during which both she and her baby remained healthy. Here is a movie of a client attending The Switch ,  showing her increases in finger movement and comfort across the four days of the programme. Here is a 20-minute interview with a client talking about his recovery  by attending The Switch. He talks about how he could not even hold his own toothbrush before the Switch, and had CRP markers of 155. After The Switch, his levels are now in single fingers and he is thrilled by how much his inflammation has reduced. These are not isolated anomalies. I have seen these sorts of results regularly over 15 years in clinical practice. You can view more recovery stories here . Are autoimmune conditions “all in the mind”? No. Just because people resolved their conditions using emotional healing techniques does not mean the condition was all in the mind. Autoimmune disease involves real immune processes, inflammation, tissue damage, and measurable biomarkers. What this work suggests is that the mind, nervous system, and immune system are not separate systems, but parts of one integrated whole. Changes in stress regulation, emotional processing, and belief frameworks influence neuroendocrine pathways that in turn affect immune behaviour. What can you do to help resolve your autoimmune disorder? While every person’s situation is unique, several themes appear again and again. While you should see a doctor for diagnosis and treatment, there are many things you can also do to help your healing. Restore hope. Simply encountering credible recovery stories can have a measurable physiological effect. When people realise recovery might be possible, the nervous system often softens, reducing threat signalling and stress activation. For some, this alone begins to shift symptoms. Actively calm the physiological stress response. Practices such as meditation, breathing exercises, gentle movement, time in nature, and activities that feel genuinely relaxing help shift the body out of chronic fight-or-flight. As stress physiology settles, energy becomes available for better immune regulation and repair. Change patterns that maintain threat. Constant symptom monitoring, predicting flares, worry, and frustration, while understandable, can keep the nervous system in a heightened danger state. Learning to step back from these patterns allows the body to register safety and continue healing. Address guilt and unresolved emotional load. Many autoimmune clients carry long-standing guilt or unresolved trauma. Releasing it can significantly reduce internal stress and immune over-activation. If these steps are sufficient for you, that is wonderful. If they are not, it does not mean failure, it simply means deeper nervous system support is needed. At The Switch, we work with more comprehensive techniques that address trauma resolution, belief change, and nervous system dysregulation. Visit here  for more info. You can attend a free 45-minute webinar “First Steps to Recovery” to find out more, or you can sign up for our 4-day Switch programme for full support and techniques. For an overview of the main principles covered, you can read this Related Article: Chronic Illness Recovery – Address the Five Root Causes . A note on medical care This article is not intended as medical advice and is not a substitute for diagnosis or treatment by a qualified healthcare professional. Autoimmune conditions can be serious and, in some cases, life-threatening. The approaches described here are intended to complement, not replace, conventional medical care. Clients who have reduced or erased symptoms by attending The Switch are recommended to redo blood tests and speak to their doctor before weaning from medications. Follow me on Instagram , and Linkedin for more info! Read more from Mel Abbott Mel Abbott, Therapist in Chronic Illness Recovery Mel Abbott is a mind-body health specialist and founder of The Switch Program. After an 11-year struggle with chronic illness herself, she made a full recovery and has since helped thousands of people worldwide overcome conditions such as ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, CRPS, anxiety, and more, achieving around 80% success rates. She has been voted best speaker at two national GP medical conferences and is a contributor to the Otago Medical School Year 3 handbook, where her insights help shape the next generation of doctors. Mel’s work blends science, compassion, and practical tools to calm the nervous system and unlock the body’s natural healing ability. Her passion is simple yet powerful, recovery is possible! )

Written by Annette Densham, Chief Storyteller Multi-award-winning PR specialist Annette Densham is considered the go-to for all things business storytelling, award submission writing, and assisting business leaders in establishing themselves as authorities in their field. Decades ago, American sociologist and communications scholar Everett Rogers showed in Diffusion of Innovations that innovators and early adopters make up a small minority. They exist to test, break, and explore. The early and late majority are where technology becomes stable, repeatable, and commercially viable. Across the past century, from electricity and telephones to PCs, cloud, and smartphones, the same pattern repeats. The pioneers pay the chaos tax so everyone else can get the dependable upside. Rogers noted the early majority are deliberate. “They adopt innovations only after observing that the innovation has been adopted by others in their system.” Inbal Rodnay, a technology adoption expert, sees the same pattern playing out with AI. “Innovators are supposed to experiment. They try things early, they break things, and are very vocal about it. That’s their job, but it’s not yours.” The danger of early adoption isn’t that it never works. It’s that the cost of learning is high, unpredictable, and usually underestimated. Early adopters absorb immature tooling, incomplete integrations, shifting pricing models, and fast-moving risk. In consumer tech, that’s annoying. In professional services, it’s dangerous. Gartner has consistently found that most AI initiatives fail to deliver sustained value. By 2026, more than 80% of organisations will have used generative AI tools, but fewer than 30% will see measurable, ongoing business impact. Most spend is lost to duplicate tools, short-lived pilots, and solutions that never make it into real workflows. What’s different this time is the environment around adoption. Social media has seen speed and visibility rewarded more than judgement. “Now you can access powerful tools in minutes, so adoption feels harmless and reversible, even when the consequences aren’t,” Inbal says. “Social media has changed the adoption curve. Early adopters used to experiment behind the scenes. Now experimentation is public and performative, and it makes sensible leaders feel like they’re falling behind.” “AI looks cheap to try, but it’s expensive to clean up. The licence cost is small, but the risk, rework, and governance debt show up later. People think they’re buying efficiency, but if the tool doesn’t fit how work actually happens, you end up creating more work, not less.” Early adoption focuses on what’s possible, not what’s sustainable. But the other extreme carries risk too. Firms that delay too long don’t stay neutral. They lose context, capability, and credibility. McKinsey’s research shows generative AI has already reset expectations around speed and responsiveness. Clients may not articulate it, but they feel it. Faster responses, clearer summaries, and better first drafts are becoming the baseline. Inbal is blunt about the cost of opting out. “If you completely opt out, you don’t stay safe. Your clients are using AI, your team is experimenting, and you lose visibility and control.” When leadership says they’re not using AI, it doesn’t remove AI from the business, it removes oversight. Inbal says shadow AI fills the gap as people use whatever is easiest and fastest to get through their workload, often without telling anyone. “Judgement calls get made without guidance because staff have no shared standard for what is acceptable. People have to guess what’s safe and what’s not. You end up with inconsistent decisions across the firm, and no one can confidently say what good looks like,” Inbal says. This isn’t really a question of maximalists versus minimalists. The early majority, what Inbal calls the confident majority, avoids both traps. They don’t rush, and they don’t freeze. They build literacy before scale. “Start with what you already have in your stack,” Inbal says. “Try something small, contained, and reversible, with a clear definition of success. Then you decide: this works, or not yet. And you move on.” “You don’t need AI to be magic,” she adds. “You need it to be useful.” That mindset reframes progress away from speed and towards judgement. AI doesn’t remove responsibility, it redistributes it. Someone still owns the work. Someone still supervises the output. Someone still explains the decision years later if it’s challenged. Most organisations don’t fail with AI because they chose the wrong tool. They fail because they chose the wrong posture - too eager, fearful, too much faith or none at all. “The winners are the confident majority. They don’t get distracted by hyperbole or paralysed by fear. They stay curious, set boundaries, invest in AI literacy, and move when the capability is stable enough to be useful and defensible,” Inbal says. “The confident majority are the key to widespread adoption.” Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Annette Densham Annette Densham, Chief Storyteller Multi-award-winning PR specialist Annette Densham is considered the go-to for all things business storytelling, award submission writing, and assisting business leaders in establishing themselves as authorities in their field. She has shared her insights into storytelling, media, and business across Australia, the UK, and the US, speaking for the Professional Speakers Association, Stevie Awards, Queensland Government, and many more. Three-time winner of the Grand Stevie Award for Women in Business, gold Stevie International Business Award, and a finalist in Australian Small Business Champion awards, Annette audaciously challenges anyone in small business to cast aside modesty, embrace their genius, and share their stories.

Written by Sarah Roberts, Global Strategy and Communications Leader Sarah is one of two managing partners at Vane Percy & Roberts with 25 years of experience in global strategy and communications. Known for her clear thinking, sharp wit, and approachable style, she blends expertise in media, public affairs, and strategy to deliver smart, effective solutions that make a real difference. Most organisations still talk about reputation as if it lives somewhere “out there”, in headlines, analyst reports, social media sentiment, or the hands of a communications team tasked with polishing the message. Reputation, in this framing, is something to be managed externally, shaped by visibility and perception. But that view misses where reputation is actually formed. Long before customers decide whether to trust you, before regulators scrutinise your decisions, or before talent chooses to stay or leave, reputation is already being built quietly, repeatedly, and often unintentionally, inside the organisation itself. In meeting rooms. In performance reviews. In leadership behaviour when no one is watching. Reputation is not a communications output. It is a leadership outcome. This is why the organisations that struggle most with trust, credibility, or consistency are often the ones investing heavily in external messaging while underinvesting in the internal conditions that make those messages true. This matters because reputation now sits at the intersection of leadership, culture, governance, and brand, not as a bolt-on function, but as a core strategic asset. The myth of reputation as an external game Traditional thinking positions reputation as something to be shaped after decisions are made. Leaders decide. The organisation acts. Communications then “explains” or “frames” what happened. This separation creates risk. When leaders treat reputation as downstream of behaviour, they unintentionally allow gaps to form between what the organisation says and how it actually operates. Over time, those gaps become visible, to employees first, and eventually to everyone else. Employees are always the earliest audience. They see how decisions are made, who is listened to, what is rewarded, and what is quietly tolerated. If the internal story doesn’t align with the external one, trust erodes internally long before it shows up in public metrics. And once trust is gone inside, no amount of external narrative can fully repair it. Reputation begins with internal stakeholder trust  We often talk about stakeholder trust as something that needs to be “earned” in the market. But the most fragile stakeholder trust is often inside the organisation itself. Employees are not neutral observers. They are interpreters. They read meaning into leadership behaviour constantly: Who gets promoted and why? How dissent is handled? Whether values are invoked only in good times? How mistakes are owned or avoided? These moments form a lived experience of the organisation’s character. If leaders speak about integrity but performance systems reward only short-term results, the internal reputation becomes clear very quickly. If inclusion is part of the brand narrative but decision-making remains closed and hierarchical, employees notice. If governance is framed as a commitment to responsibility but is experienced as box-ticking, credibility quietly drains away. Reputation, in this sense, is not what leaders declare. It is what people conclude. Internal communication as a reputational system Internal communication is often underestimated because it is mistaken for information-sharing. In reality, it is one of the most powerful reputational systems an organisation has. What leaders communicate and, just as importantly, what they don’t, signals priorities, power, and intent. Ambiguity, silence, or over-sanitised messaging create their own narratives, usually less flattering than leaders realise. Strong internal communication does not mean constant reassurance or polished optimism. It means coherence. It means helping people understand not just what decisions were made, but how they were made and what trade-offs were considered. When leaders communicate with clarity and honesty internally, they reduce speculation and increase trust. When they avoid difficult conversations, uncertainty fills the gap, and uncertainty is corrosive to reputation. Over time, the quality of internal communication shapes how people talk about the organisation externally. Employees become either its most credible advocates or its most convincing critics. Governance shows up in culture before it shows up in crisis Governance is often treated as a technical or legal concern. Something that becomes visible only when something goes wrong. But governance is deeply cultural, and its reputational impact is felt long before a crisis hits. How risk is discussed. How accountability is enforced. How ethical grey areas are navigated. These are daily cultural signals, not abstract policies. When governance is strong, people feel clear about boundaries and expectations. When it is weak or inconsistent, people learn that rules are flexible for some and rigid for others. That lesson becomes embedded in culture and culture is the most durable carrier of reputation there is. By the time governance failures become public, the internal reputation damage has usually been done for years. Culture is the delivery mechanism of reputation Culture is often described as “how things get done around here.” From a reputational perspective, it is how promises are kept, or broken. Every organisation has stated values. What matters is how those values are translated into behaviour under pressure. Culture reveals whether values are operational or ornamental. Leaders sometimes underestimate how quickly culture translates into external perception. In reality, culture leaks. It shows up in customer experience, in supplier relationships, in decision speed, and in the tone of leadership communication during moments of uncertainty. An organisation cannot sustainably project a reputation externally that it does not live internally. Eventually, the truth surfaces, not necessarily through scandal, but through inconsistency, disengagement, and loss of credibility. Why this reframes reputation as a leadership responsibility This perspective flips traditional PR thinking on its head. Reputation is not something leaders delegate after the fact, it is something they create continuously through their choices. Every leadership decision carries reputational weight: Who is included? What is prioritised? How power is exercised? How accountability is applied? Seen this way, reputation becomes a strategic leadership discipline rather than a communications specialism. The most resilient reputations are built by leaders who understand that internal coherence precedes external credibility. They invest in trust before they invest in messaging. They align governance, culture, and communication so that reputation becomes an outcome of how the organisation operates, not how it is marketed. The real reputational advantage In an era of scrutiny, transparency, and scepticism, organisations cannot afford to treat reputation as surface-level polish. Stakeholders are increasingly adept at sensing disconnects between narrative and reality. The real advantage lies with organisations willing to do the harder internal work first, to build cultures that can sustain the reputations they seek. Because reputation doesn’t start with what the world sees. It starts with what your people experience every day. Follow me on LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Sarah Roberts Sarah Roberts, Global Strategy and Communications Leader Sarah is one of two managing partners at Vane Percy & Roberts, with 25+ years in global comms, strategy, public affairs, and stakeholder relations. Known for her clear thinking, sharp wit, and approachable style, she delivers tailored solutions that drive impactful change. Her mission is to lead with authenticity, foster collaboration, and ensure every team member feels heard and valued. Recognised for her bold, inventive approach, Sarah is a gifted networker and convenor of creative talent, always ready to make strategic choices that drive success.

Written by Dr. Tanya Hames, Rapid Transformational Therapist Dr. Tanya Hames is a certified Hypnotherapist and Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) Therapist. RTT was created by the internationally renowned hypnotherapist, Marisa Peer. Dr. Tanya Hames empowers clients in Guernsey, the Channel Isles, and worldwide by Zoom to conquer their limiting beliefs in order to transform their lives. When fear is running the show, your mind becomes efficient, controlled, and strangely uncreative, even when you are brilliant. If that sentence landed, stay with it for a moment. Because what I see time and time again in the high achievers I work with is a narrowing. A subtle tightening of the very thinking that built their success in the first place. The cost of holding on too tight: How fear limits creative thinking You have probably noticed it yourself. The decision that used to take an afternoon now takes a week. The creative instinct that once fired quickly has been replaced by another round of analysis, another opinion sought, another delay dressed up as due diligence.  For high achievers, fear rarely looks like fear. It arrives wearing a convincing disguise: perfectionism, over-preparation, the need to control every variable before making a move. These are the behaviours that built careers. And they are the same behaviours that, past a certain point, start to cap what is possible.  The assumption that keeps you stuck Most of us operate on simple logic: if things feel uncertain, get more certain. Gather more data. Plan further ahead. Tighten your grip. It is a strategy that works beautifully in the early stages of a career, when outcomes are relatively controllable, and the stakes feel recoverable.  But stakes have a way of rising. When they do, the unconscious mindset that once drove you forward begins to read every opportunity as a potential threat to your reputation, your credibility, your carefully built identity. The grip tightens. Your creative range quietly shrinks.  What is actually happening beneath the surface This is neuroscience, and it is worth understanding. When your subconscious detects risk, and for high achievers, reputational risk registers just as powerfully as physical danger, it narrows your perceptual field. You see fewer options. You default to what worked before. You become less willing to experiment, less open to the unexpected, and less able to access the fluid, lateral thinking that creative problem-solving requires. In my work as a Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) Therapist, I see this pattern with remarkable frequency. The people sitting in front of me are capable, accomplished, and deeply competent. Their subconscious has simply identified something it perceives as dangerous, often visibility, vulnerability, or the possibility of getting it wrong at a level where people are watching, and it has done what it is designed to do: lock down.  A pattern I see often Someone in a senior leadership role comes to me because they feel stuck. On paper, everything is working. Privately, they have been circling the same decision for months, consulting their board, their mentors, their spreadsheets, refining their options until they are polished to the point of paralysis.  What we often find when we work together is that their subconscious has attached an old meaning to the act of choosing. Getting it wrong in the past once meant something painful, perhaps being seen as less competent, perhaps losing standing they had fought hard to earn. That meaning was stored, and now, years later, it is still running quietly in the background, narrowing every decision to the safest possible option.  When that pattern is seen clearly, and the underlying belief is released, something opens. Range. The ability to weigh options with curiosity rather than dread. The willingness to trust their own judgement again. The return of creative, flexible thinking.  A small experiment If this resonates, here is something you can try this week. The next time you notice yourself tightening around a decision, seeking one more data point, running the scenario one more time, delaying for reasons that feel rational but do not quite add up, pause. Ask yourself: what am I actually protecting here? What feels at risk if this goes wrong? You may find the answer has very little to do with the decision in front of you. It may be something older and quieter, something your conscious mind would never have connected to your quarterly strategy review. Simply noticing the pattern is the beginning of loosening its hold.  Why this work matters to me My academic background is in motivation and affect. I have spent years observing what drives people and what quietly holds them back. Transformation has always been at the heart of all I do. This led me to Marisa Peer’s award-winning Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT), because the most enduring shifts I have seen happen at the level of the subconscious patterns that shape how we perceive our options. As a certified Hypnotherapist and RTT Therapist, I bring the same rigour to every session: evidence-informed, precise, and focused on lasting change.  I also work with the environments people inhabit, because I have long believed that transformation also has an outer dimension too. Sometimes the space around you needs to shift as well. But that is a conversation for another day. The real shift Flow becomes available when your unconscious mindset stops treating every new chapter as a threat and starts treating it as an invitation. With a fresh approach, that shift can happen faster than you would expect and bring profound results.  If you recognise this pattern, you are welcome to explore my work at Perfect Mindset. I offer a free, no-obligation Discovery Call for those who want to understand what their subconscious may be protecting, and what it would help soften.  Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Dr. Tanya Hames Dr. Tanya Hames, Rapid Transformational Therapist Dr. Tanya Hames is a certified Hypnotherapist and Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) Therapist. RTT was created by the award-winning, internationally renowned Hypnotherapist, Marisa Peer. Dr. Tanya Hames is registered with the General Hypnotherapy Register and the International Association of Counselors and Therapists. Her background includes a doctoral thesis on motivation and mindset, years as an Analyst in Singapore creating groundbreaking educational programmes, and presenting at international research conferences. Dr. Tanya Hames helps clients rewire subconscious blocks to transform their lives, both personally and professionally.

Visiting France is a dream for many, especially food lovers. French cuisine, known for its rich history and variety, offers everything from croissants to hearty stews. To fully enjoy the experience, it's helpful to know a few key French food words for ordering and understanding menus. Staying connected during your trip makes exploring easier. Consider getting a France eSIM plan for seamless internet access, allowing you to use your phone for maps, restaurant reviews, and menu translations, all without roaming charges. In this article, we'll share 6 essential French food words that you should know when traveling to France. Here are the list of 6 essential French food words every traveler should learn: 1. Fromage is the French love for cheese Cheese, or fromage in French, plays an essential role in the country's food culture. France has hundreds of types of cheese, each with its own unique flavor. Some popular ones include Brie, Camembert, and Roquefort. These cheeses are often served as part of a cheese board, in sandwiches, or used in dishes like quiches. If you're not sure which cheese to try, ask locals or your server for suggestions. They will likely guide you to the best options to fit your taste. In France, more than just food, cheese is a cultural experience. 2. Menu to understand French dining When dining out in France, you will often come across the word "menu." In French restaurants, a menu usually consists of several courses: entrée (starter), plat principal (main course), and dessert. Each course offers different choices, allowing you to sample a variety of French dishes. Some menus also feature special dishes of the day, which can be a great way to try something new and unique. If you are unsure about what to order, don’t hesitate to ask your server for recommendations. A little knowledge of the menu can help you enjoy your meal to the fullest. 3. Soupe is a French tradition of comfort Soupe, or soup, is another essential part of French cuisine. French soups range from light and flavorful broths to hearty, rich stews. One of the most famous French soups is soupe à l'oignon, or French onion soup. This dish is made with caramelized onions, a savory broth, and topped with melted cheese and toasted bread. Other regional soups include bisque (a creamy seafood soup) and pot-au-feu (a beef stew with vegetables). French soups are comforting and often enjoyed during colder months, but they make a great starter for any meal. 4. Vin is essential in French dining Wine, or vin in French, is another important part of the dining experience in France. Whether you enjoy a light white wine, a rich red, or even sparkling Champagne, France has a wine for every taste. The country is divided into several wine regions, each known for its distinct wines. For example, Bordeaux is famous for its red wines, and the Champagne region is known for its bubbly wines. Wine is often paired with meals to enhance the flavors of the food. While traveling in France, be sure to try a local wine that pairs well with the dish you choose. 5. Pâtisserie offers sweet pastries and desserts Pâtisserie refers to the wide variety of sweet treats found in French bakeries. French pastries are famous for their delicate flavors and beautiful presentations. Some popular French pastries include éclairs, tarts, macarons, and mille-feuilles. Visiting a pâtisserie is a must for anyone with a sweet tooth. Whether you’re trying a simple croissant or a more complex dessert, the quality of French pastries is unmatched. If you’re in France, don’t miss the chance to experience this part of the country's food culture. Key French food phrases for easy ordering Here are a few helpful phrases to use when dining out in France: Je voudrais... (I would like...) L'addition, s'il vous plaît. (The check, please.) C'est délicieux! (It’s delicious!) Avez-vous des plats végétariens? (Do you have vegetarian dishes?) Learning these simple phrases can make ordering food easier and help you connect with locals while you enjoy your meals in France. 6. Bon appétit for wishing you a delicious meal "Bon appétit!" is the French expression for "Enjoy your meal!" It’s a friendly phrase you will hear in almost every French dining setting, whether you're in a restaurant or at home. Saying this phrase is a nice way to show appreciation for the meal and to wish others a good eating experience. The French take their food seriously, and "Bon appétit!" reflects the importance of savoring each meal. It’s a simple yet meaningful phrase to remember when traveling through France. Knowing these 6 essential French food words will help you have a more enjoyable and authentic culinary experience in France. From the iconic baguette to the delicious pâtisseries, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to taste the best French cuisine. Having access to reliable data through France eSIM plans  is essential for staying connected and navigating the country seamlessly. Whether you're looking up restaurant recommendations or using maps to explore local sights. So, next time you’re in France, remember to try the local food, use these phrases, and don’t forget to say "Bon appétit!" before digging in!

Written by Phil Edwards, Leadership Educator and Foster Care Advocate Phil Edwards is a Leadership Educator and Foster Care Advocate, and the creator of the CARE Leadership Framework. He focuses on trauma-informed leadership, foster parenting, and youth development. Leadership is often associated with visibility: platforms, titles, and accomplishments. But when I reflect on my journey, I see something deeper. The most meaningful growth in my life did not come from positions. It came from people. My primary mentors were my parents! They raised me with such love and openness that they prepared me for my secondary leaders. Thank you, Mom & Dad! I am incredibly thankful for seven leadership mentors. Each of them carries their own niche, their own grace, and their own strength. None of them lead the same way, and that is exactly why their impact on me has been so profound. Together, they shaped not just how I lead, but who I am becoming. 1. The mentor who taught me character comes first: Mr. Donald Dominico (Shoreham Public School, grades 5 & 6) Mr. D was the greatest teacher an elementary child could imagine! He was funny, great at art and storytelling, played the violin, and was a sharp dresser! This mentor grounded me in integrity. Before strategy. Before branding. Before influence. He emphasized that leadership begins with character. He taught me that consistency is more powerful than charisma, and that trust is built quietly over time. His leadership reminded me of figures like Nelson Mandela, steady, principled, and anchored in conviction. He introduced art, drama, and storytelling as methods of communication. Earning lead roles in several school performances developed a love for public speaking and a desire to be the center of attention. Never running from the spotlight, instead, owning it and touching the audience: “Someone out there in the world needs to hear your message!” From Mr. D, I learned that credibility is built in private long before it is celebrated in public. 2. The mentor who modeled servant leadership: Dr. Kersley Peters (community advocate and educator) I met Kersley while I was in high school at a community program in Jane and Finch. He was always challenging us to participate in new activities and be more than athletes! Kersley showed me that influence grows when you lower yourself to lift others. He was present. Accessible. Engaged. He didn’t lead from a pedestal, he led from proximity. His approach echoed principles often taught by John C. Maxwell, that leadership is about adding value to people daily. In his program, he modeled the importance of brotherhood and relationships. From him, I learned that service is not beneath leadership. It defines it. Throughout the years, we have stayed connected, and he has become more than a mentor; he is a lifelong brother whom I can depend on and occasionally engage in verbose discussions or sit with a crew for our monthly breakfast chitchats. 3. The visionary who expanded my thinking: Chris Spence (summer camp counsellor, summer of ‘86) Chris Spence is one mentor who simply refuses to think small. He constantly stretches ideas, challenges comfort zones, and presses for excellence. As a 10-year-old child in summer camp, I would show up every day trying my hardest to beat him in any competition; he would never let us win! He kept us working hard and taught us to work smarter! Whenever I settled, he would demand more. There was an unmatched feeling of gratification when you knew he saw potential in you! To him, I may have only been another 10-year-old in summer camp, but to me, he taught me to think generationally, not just situationally, to build systems, not moments. The desire and determination to overcome my biggest obstacles. His niche is vision, and because of Chris Spence, I learned to dream bigger and execute stronger. 4. The corrector who refined my edges: Lester Green, City of Toronto Not all growth feels comfortable. This mentor specializes in refinement. I could easily place Lester in every category, seeing that I met him while attending recreational programs in Jane and Finch, and the position he held represented power, decision-making, wisdom, experience, and leadership! Lester was notorious for correcting with care and would confront you with compassion. Regardless of how tragic the crisis may be, he would always take a moment, rub his head, take a heavy sigh, and then deliver his outcome. He was not impressed by hype or what upper management had to say: he ensured that his team was safe and supported. Lester was committed to substance! This forced me to produce the highest quality amongst my peers, which led to awards and accolades; and to that, he would affectionately say “Goody-Good!” Lester taught me that feedback is a gift, that accountability is protection, and that humility accelerates growth. Because of him, I understand that leadership needs self-awareness as much as confidence: both are characteristics that would best describe his suave approach whether he was meeting with the mayor or the “Mandem!” 5. The encourager who believed early: Melanie Tenant, guidance counsellor and phys-ed teacher (CW Jefferys CI) Before the wins. Before the proof. Before the recognition, this mentor believed. Melanie saw capacity when I saw questions. She spoke confidence into seasons of uncertainty and ambiguity. I recall a semester at school when the Women’s Basketball season was in jeopardy because there were no staff available to coach. I, being a student in my graduating year, was approached by my peers, and they asked me to coach the team. Without hesitation, Melanie said to the principal, “I think he is more than capable, and I will be his staff advisor!” This relationship blossomed into what became a winning culture for the next 7 years! I was hired by the school board to work along with students with special needs and would continue to coach our way to 4 female and 4 male championships. Melanie had a niche for brewing greatness! And sometimes, belief is the fuel that keeps leaders moving when results are not yet visible. She reminded me that leadership is not about arrival, it is about evolution. We are still friends to this day, and her passion for sports and excellence is still as potent as it was since day one! Thank you, Melanie, for seeing such brilliance in me. Next time we meet, coffee is on me! 6. The strategist who thinks structurally: Roy Rana, NBA, FIBA, International, University, & High School basketball coach Coach Roy Rana has climbed to the mountain top, has won at every level, and manages to remain as attainable and accessible as he was when we first met while he was in his first teaching contract. Roy was my head coach in my final year of high school. I was oozing with testosterone, overflowing with confidence, and a competitor as ferocious as they come. But it was not the high school season that left the lifelong impression. Coach Roy opened his home to us players. I was invited to his wedding and met his entire family. The single man had evolved into a family person, and he was always showing us the blueprint to his next adventure and would always be in contact with the guys. I would watch from a distance as his followers grew; several of them had even greater basketball success stories and would edify Coach Rana for his impact in their lives. Roy consistently operates with precision, systems, planning, and sustainability. He taught me that passion without structure burns out and that innovative ideas require frameworks. He is living proof that longevity demands discipline. His leadership reminds me of strategic minds like Stephen Covey, intentional, principle-centered, and rooted in long-term effectiveness. Because of Roy, I learned that there are no limits to where basketball and passion can lead to. 7. The culture builder who leads with heart: Wayne Dawkins, founder of P.H.A.S.E.1 Academy, E1CBL, and pioneer in Canada AAU / prep basketball The seventh mentor understands something powerful: culture shapes everything. Allow me to introduce you to Wayne Dawkins; a man who has played the roles of both Fred Flintstone and George Jetson, at distinct stages of his life. I had the privilege of witnessing Wayne Dawkins play basketball while he was in high school. At this time, the Toronto Raptors were not in existence; therefore, high school basketball was the greatest show on earth and Wayne Dawkins was a part of that show. Wayne was born in Jamaica but was raised in Canada. His basketball resume includes being a phenomenal player, earning a Div 1 scholarship to Eastern Michigan, playing for Team Canada, coaching at the collegiate level, one of the innovative leaders of AAU/Prep basketball in Canada, the founder of P.H.A.S.E.1 Academy (Jamaica, Canada, USA, and Burundi), and the longest-running National High School All-Star Game: Rumble in the T-Dot “All-Canada Classic.” What Wayne has excelled at is he leads with emotional intelligence, empathy, and awareness. Wayne has taught me to ensure that I understand people. By doing so, he has built environments where others feel safe to grow. His return to Jamaica has gone beyond the limits of the hardwood. His niche is connection. Unity. Belonging. The local and international players all have a relationship with Wayne, and this has taught me that you can have vision and strategy, but if you do not build a healthy culture, you will not sustain impact. His historic impact on player development, combined with his futuristic visionary skills, enables Wayne to lead beyond his peripheral view. I adopt those skills daily and implement them in my leadership framework. The beauty of different niches What I appreciate most is that none of these seven leaders compete with one another. Each carries a distinct lane, character, service, vision, correction, belief, strategy, culture. Their differences are not contradictions; they are complements. Because of them, I lead with integrity. I serve intentionally. I think expansively. I accept correction. I believe boldly. I build structurally. I nurture culture. Mentorship shortens learning curves. It protects you from avoidable mistakes. It strengthens both your voice and your values. I am thankful for each of my seven mentors, not just for what they taught me, but for how uniquely they taught it. Leadership is never a solo journey. It is a relay. And because of these seven leaders, I now carry the responsibility to pour into others the same way they poured into me. Leadership challenge Who are your seven mentors? Write one (or all) a letter and remind them of how significant they have been in your life. Email your entry to coachphil@careleadershipframework.com  for a feature on our website and podcast. “Gratitude is not just appreciation. It is multiplication.” Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn ,  and visit my website for more info! Read more from Phil Edwards Phil Edwards, Leadership Educator and Foster Care Advocate Phil Edwards is a Leadership Educator, Foster Care Advocate, and creator of the CARE Leadership Framework. With 30+ years of coaching experience, 20 years of foster parenting, and 15 years in post-secondary education, he writes and speaks on trauma-informed leadership, foster parenting, and youth development.

Elise Luu, the founder of Inner Blossom Healing, offers a holistic approach to healing through Reiki, sound therapy, yoga, and emotional wellness practices. Specializing in helping individuals navigate anxiety, burnout, and stress, Elise empowers her clients to reconnect with themselves and achieve lasting transformation. With a focus on nervous system regulation, her practice supports deep emotional release and holistic well-being. Elise Luu, Holistic Healing Practitioner Who is Elise Luu? Elise Luu is a devoted yogi, energy healer, and mental wellness advocate whose work is rooted in discipline, spiritual integrity, and lived experience. For over seven years, she has maintained a daily meditation practice that became her anchor through trauma, major life transitions, and moving across four countries. Immersing herself in different cultures deepened her understanding of healing as a universal human need. Music has always been her refuge, which led her to sound healing therapy – a modality that transformed her from within. At home, she is grounded and introspective; in business, intuitive and focused. Her strength was forged through adversity, and her practice was born not from theory, but from personal healing. What inspired you to create Inner Blossom Healing, and what does the name truly represent? Inner Blossom represents the lotus flower rising from muddy waters – a symbol of resilience and rebirth. Life’s challenges are often the mud, yet within each person lies the capacity to rise. Healing can be uncomfortable and layered, but it is necessary to experience peace and authenticity. Inner Blossom Healing was created as a safe, non-judgmental space where individuals can reconnect with themselves and unlock their full potential. Who are the people you feel most called to help right now, and what are they struggling with? In a world of constant stimulation – economic pressure, social media comparison, global uncertainty – anxiety and burnout have become normalized. I feel especially called to support high-functioning individuals who appear stable externally but feel overwhelmed internally. Many are exhausted from suppressing stress or searching for quick fixes to deeper emotional pain. Through yoga, breathwork, Reiki, and sound healing, I help clients regulate their nervous system, release accumulated tension, and reconnect with inner stability.   What makes your approach to healing different from other practitioners in this space? Healing is intimate and requires trust. My priority is emotional safety and deep listening so clients feel supported in releasing what they may have carried for years. She integrates sound therapy, Reiki energy healing, mindful movement, meditation, nutrition awareness, and coaching to create a holistic, tailored experience. No two healing journeys are identical; each session is intentional and responsive to the individual. How do you help clients reconnect with themselves and create real, lasting change? Lasting transformation begins with calming the nervous system. When the mind slows down through meditation or energy work, clarity naturally emerges. From clarity grows confidence, and from confidence comes aligned action. Rather than fostering dependency, I empower clients to trust themselves again and take ownership of their healing. What are the most common blocks or patterns you see holding your clients back? Many clients struggle with chronic overwhelm, pressure to perform, fear of disappointing others, and difficulty asking for help. In a fast-moving society, vulnerability is often misinterpreted as weakness. In truth, acknowledging internal struggle is one of the most courageous acts a person can take. Can you share a powerful transformation you’ve witnessed through your work? One client who had suffered from depression and severe anxiety during the COVID period came seeking relief from racing thoughts, low motivation, and diminished self-worth. After her first Reiki session, she experienced a profound emotional release a long-held energetic blockage began to dissolve. Within days, her stress levels and physical tension decreased. A week later, she returned noticeably lighter, thinking more clearly and approaching challenges calmly. After a month of consistent sessions, she described feeling reconnected to herself, with renewed energy and hope. The shift began with nervous system regulation and energetic alignment. How do emotional, energetic, and spiritual healing come together in your sessions? Emotional wounds often manifest energetically before they appear physically. Reiki and sound healing work at subtle energetic levels, helping release suppressed emotions stored in the body. As energy flows more freely, physical balance improves, the mind softens, and spiritual awareness expands naturally. Spiritual growth is not forced; it unfolds when safety and balance are restored. What role does self-awareness play in the healing and blossoming process? Self-awareness is foundational. When clients begin noticing how their body responds to stress or how environments affect their energy, they reclaim control. Meditation and energy work cultivate this awareness, allowing individuals to respond rather than react. Over time, self-regulation replaces autopilot patterns, making healing sustainable. What does working with you look like, and what can clients expect from the experience? The journey begins with a consultation call to assess needs and determine the most aligned modality. Sessions, offered online or in person, include grounding check-ins, personalized healing, and integration at the end. Clients can expect emotional safety, practical tools, and consistent support within a confidential and compassionate space. What advice would you give someone who feels stuck but doesn’t know where to begin? Isolation intensifies suffering. Stay connected, even when it feels difficult. Speak to someone you trust, explore healing solutions that resonate with you, and ensure you feel safe and understood before beginning. Healing starts the moment you decide not to carry everything alone. How can people connect with you and take the first step toward working with Inner Blossom Healing? Inner Blossom Healing offers a free consultation call to explore individual needs and alignment, so feel free to reach out by email or social media. Sometimes, blossoming begins with a single conversation. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Elise Luu

Written by Dr. Florence Lewis, PhD, LMFT, Relationships & Health Researcher, Therapist Dr. Florence Lewis is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the founder of the Upside Health Research Network (UPHRN), where she helps healthcare providers integrate evidence-based tools to measure and support relational health outcomes. Imagine a cardiac patient leaving the hospital against medical advice. Their vitals are stable. Their medications are optimized. Every clinical metric says they're ready for discharge. But when asked why they're leaving early, they reveal something profound: "Nobody here knows what I'm living for. If they don't know why I want to stay alive, how can they help me heal?" This scenario, which plays out in hospitals every day, reveals what I've spent my career at Upside Health Research Network trying to prove: We're measuring everything about health except what might matter most, the quality of human connection itself. The invisible vital sign we're not tracking Healthcare systems today are drowning in data. We track blood pressure, glucose levels, medication adherence, wait times, satisfaction scores, and hundreds of other metrics. We can predict who's likely to be readmitted, who might skip appointments, and who's at risk for complications. But here's what we don't measure: Does this patient trust their doctor enough to share what's really wrong? Does the nursing team communicate in ways that make families feel heard and valued? Are patients connected to people who help them want to get better? I call this "relational health," the measurable quality of connections between people in healthcare settings. After a decade's worth of research and clinical work, I'm convinced that it's the missing vital sign that could transform how we deliver care. What the research tells us about connection The science is actually screaming at us to pay attention, but we keep looking at spreadsheets instead of faces. Let me share what the evidence shows in plain language. Research in primary care found that patients reporting high levels of concordance with their physician were one-third more likely to be compliant with their medication regimen, NCBI . That's not a small bump, that's the difference between managing diabetes successfully or ending up in the emergency room. A comprehensive scoping review identified that information and knowledge of diseases and their treatment, communication, trust in patient-provider relationships, support, and access to adequate resources appeared to be the critical facilitators of medication adherence from the patient's perspective.[1] When patients feel genuinely connected to their care team, their relationship with treatment undergoes a fundamental change. Studies of heart attack survivors found that low emotional support was associated with increased mortality. In contrast, social support from significant others was significantly associated with a lower risk of readmissions, including both all-cause and cardiac readmissions.[2] Connection isn't just nice to have, it's lifesaving. Research shows that social support has been shown to decrease hospital readmissions, improve mortality, and lower reported levels of depression in cardiac patients. One study even equates the mortality risk associated with a lack of social support to that of smoking.[3] Why we're missing what matters So if relationships are this powerful, why aren't we measuring them like we measure cholesterol? I've identified three big reasons: First, we've convinced ourselves that what's hard to quantify doesn't count. Blood pressure is a number. Trust feels fuzzy. But here's the thing, we measure customer loyalty, employee engagement, and brand affinity in business all the time. We just haven't applied these tools to healthcare relationships. Second, we're scared of what we might find. If we actually measured relational health, we'd have to face that our 15-minute appointments and rotating providers are breaking the very connections that help people heal. That's an uncomfortable truth for a system built on efficiency. Third, nobody's getting paid for the connection. Insurance reimburses procedures, not presence. Medicare covers medications, not meaningful conversations. Until we value relationships financially, we won't be able to measure them systematically. How we can start measuring what matters Through Upside Health Research Network, I'm working with hospitals and clinics to change this. We've developed simple tools that make relational health as measurable as any vital sign. We use brief surveys that ask questions like: "Does your provider remember important details about your life?" and "How often do you feel truly heard during appointments?" These tasks take 30 seconds to complete but reveal patterns that predict outcomes more accurately than many clinical indicators. I'm proud that I'm able to teach teams to do "connection rounds," quick daily check-ins where staff rate the quality of their interactions with patients and each other. We're even using AI not to replace connection, but to strengthen it. Machine learning helps us identify which patients feel disconnected before they disengage from care. Natural language processing analyzes clinical notes to identify providers who excel at building trust, allowing us to learn from their approaches. Technology becomes a tool for more profound humanity, not a barrier to it. The future of healing we're building Consider what happens when a care team knows not just a patient's medications but their motivations, when nurses understand what gives someone purpose, when doctors ask about what matters beyond symptoms. When therapists recognize that patients aren't just recovering from procedures, they're preparing for life moments that matter to them. Research on the therapeutic alliance between cancer patients and their physicians found that patients with higher therapeutic alliance scores had better emotional acceptance of their terminal illness, NCBI . When patients feel known and valued, clinical numbers improve, certainly. But more importantly, patients want to be well. That desire born from feeling connected is more potent than any prescription we could write. This is the future I'm fighting for through Upside Health Research Network: healthcare that measures connection as carefully as it measures blood counts. Systems that track whether patients feel seen, not just whether they've been screened. Organizations that understand the science of connection are also aware of the science of healing. Recent research emphasizes that higher levels of perceived social support are associated with lower hospital readmission rates, highlighting the necessity of targeted, durable, and trust-based interactions between people with chronic diseases and nurses to support and improve medication adherence.[4] Because when we finally start measuring relational health, we'll discover what patients have always known: The quality of our connections doesn't just affect our experience of care. It determines whether we heal at all. What if your next medical appointment asked not just "How are your symptoms?" but "How are your relationships?" That's when we'll know we're finally measuring what matters. Ready to make relational health measurable in your organization? Connect with Upside Health Research Network to discover how evidence-based tools can transform connection from a feeling to a metric. Because the future of healthcare isn't just about treating disease, it's about strengthening the relationships that help us heal. Learn more about our approach . Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Dr. Florence Lewis, PhD, LMFT Dr. Florence Lewis, PhD, LMFT, Relationships & Health Researcher, Therapist Dr. Florence Lewis, PhD, LMFT, is a Medical Family Therapist and founder of the Upside Health Research Network (UPHRN), a nonprofit focused on measuring the impact of relationships on health outcomes. With clinical roots in integrated care, she has worked alongside medical teams to support patients' mental, social, and relational well-being. Dr. Lewis is a published author and dynamic speaker on diversity and holistic health. She hosts "The Relational Health Report" podcast. Her current work helps healthcare providers use evidence-based tools and AI to improve relational health metrics in practice. She also runs a private therapy practice supporting individuals and couples in navigating and building healthy relationships amid past emotional trauma. Reference: [ 1] (PubMed Central ) [2] ( ScienceDirect ) [3] (PubMed Central ) [4] (PubMed Central )

Written by Andrea Byers, Holistic Wellness Practitioner Andrea Byers is an award-winning holistic wellness expert, Air Force veteran, and chronic illness warrior dedicated to redefining well-being through personalized care. As the founder of Chronic & Iconic Coaching, she empowers individuals to reclaim balance, purpose, and health through mindset, movement, and transformative coaching. At some point, survival stops being something you do and starts being something you are. Not because you chose it, but because it worked. The ability to stay alert, self-sufficient, emotionally controlled, and constantly prepared becomes so familiar that it feels like personality. It gets labeled as independence, strength, maturity, or leadership. People praise it, rely on it, and expect it. Over time, it hardens into identity. “This is just how I am.” “I’ve always been like this.” “I don’t need much.” “I function better on my own.” These statements often go unchallenged, not because they’re always true, but because they sound confident and composed. What’s rarely explored is why these traits formed in the first place. Adaptation is intelligent. It’s efficient. It develops when circumstances require it. But adaptation is not the same as identity, even though we often treat it that way. For many people, these patterns began in environments where staying aware mattered, where being capable meant being safe, where emotions had to be managed quietly, and where reliability earned approval. When staying ahead of problems kept things from falling apart, those skills became essential. The problem is that skills don’t disappear when circumstances change. They become default and automatic. And because they produce results, no one questions them. What once protected you continues to earn praise long after the original threat is gone. Over time, however, protection turns into limitation. Hyper-independence becomes isolation. Emotional restraint becomes distance. Constant vigilance becomes exhaustion. Reliability becomes invisibility. Still, people say, “That’s just who you are,” without realizing the cost of maintaining that role. The truth is more nuanced. Many of the traits people defend most strongly are the ones they’re most afraid to question. If those traits aren’t identity, then they were responses formed under pressure, reinforced by reward, and maintained by expectation. Letting go doesn’t feel like growth. It feels like a risk. Who are you if you’re no longer the strong one, the dependable one, the person who never needs anything? Who do you become when survival is no longer required, but familiarity still feels safer than change? This is why growth can feel destabilizing even when it’s wanted. People aren’t just changing habits, they’re renegotiating identity. They’re loosening roles that once made them feel necessary, competent, or safe. There is grief in that process, even when the role was heavy. Adaptation often brings belonging. It builds a reputation. It earns trust. Stepping away from it can feel like losing relevance, even when it’s the healthier choice. That’s the part we rarely talk about. We encourage people to “be themselves” without ever asking who that self had to become to survive. We treat long-standing adaptations as permanent truths rather than temporary solutions that stayed too long. But identity isn’t meant to be static, and strength isn’t meant to require self-abandonment. There is a difference between who you are and who you learned to be. Growth doesn’t require erasing your past or disowning the skills that kept you going. It requires recognizing when those skills no longer need to run the show, when they can become tools instead of traits, and choices instead of defaults. Survival doesn’t get to define the future forever. At some point, identity deserves to be chosen, not inherited from necessity. If this article felt personal, it’s because survival patterns don’t disappear on their own. My book  Trauma Bonded  dives deeper into how trauma shapes identity, relationships, and self-protection, and how to start choosing who you are instead of who you had to become. If you’re ready to move out of survival mode with real support, I also offer private, trauma-informed coaching for people who are done coping and ready for lasting change. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Andrea Byers Andrea Byers, Holistic Wellness Practitioner Andrea Byers is an award-winning holistic wellness expert, transformation coach, and decorated Air Force veteran with over two decades of experience in healthcare and integrative wellness. As the founder of Chronic & Iconic Coaching, she empowers individuals, especially those navigating chronic illness or burnout, to reclaim their health, purpose, and personal power through mindset, movement, and radical self-leadership. Known for her bold voice and compassionate approach, Andrea is a fierce advocate for sustainable healing, unapologetic self-worth, and whole-person wellness.

Jenna Ellis, a high-performance somatic coach and founder of Soma Soul Journeys, shares her transformative approach to reclaiming coherence in the body while living with autoimmune conditions. Drawing from 17 years of personal experience, Jenna helps women with autoimmune conditions regain vitality and confidence by addressing nervous system dysregulation and fostering deeper body awareness. This holistic approach goes beyond symptom management, empowering clients to reclaim self-leadership and live life on their own terms. Jenna Ellis, High Performance Somatic Coach Who is Jenna Ellis? Please introduce yourself. I’m Jenna Ellis, a High-Performance Somatic Coach and founder of Soma Soul Journeys. I help women with autoimmune conditions regulate their nervous systems so they can move beyond symptom management, regain vitality, and experience greater ease and resilience. I have 17 years of experience with rheumatoid arthritis and a background in evidence-based somatic and mind-body practices. By bridging medical care and nervous system-informed work, I help women reduce pain, increase resilience, and regain confidence in their bodies so they can lead from an embodied sense of self-authority. What is Soma Soul Journeys, and what inspired you to create it? Soma Soul Journeys came from my own 17-year journey with rheumatoid arthritis. At 21, doctors said I would likely never run again. My joints stayed locked for months, and many mornings I needed hours to open my hands. There came a point when I realized I couldn’t accept that this would be my life forever. I searched for ways beyond symptom management to truly understand my body and nervous system. I realized my body wasn’t against me. It was communicating with me. I just needed to learn how to listen. I explored medical treatment, nervous system regulation, and somatic practices. I learned autoimmune conditions do not mean the body attacks itself; instead, they are the body’s intelligent attempt to protect and survive. Today, I am stronger and move better than before my diagnosis. I created Soma Soul Journeys because I am proof that transformation is possible. Women with autoimmune conditions and those stuck in chronic stress or nervous system dysregulation do not have to settle for “this is just how it is.” They deserve more than symptom management. They deserve to rebuild trust in their bodies and discover their full potential. What specific problems or challenges do you help your clients overcome? I work with women who won’t accept that symptom management is their only option. They experience nervous system dysregulation, chronic stress, and feel disconnected from their bodies. Many have tried medication, therapy, and wellness, but still feel like they just survive. I help by building nervous system capacity and rebuilding trust in their bodies. Clients move from patient identity to embodied self-leadership. The main issue is the disconnect between mind and body that traps them in a state of survival. How would you describe somatic healing to someone who's never heard of it? I use the term "somatic practices" instead of "somatic healing." The body is whole, even when it protects itself. Somatic practices help you reconnect, regulate, build emotional resilience, reduce stress, and deepen self-awareness. We are not fixing something broken. "Soma" means body in Greek. These practices focus on how you sense, perceive, and connect with yourself from within. We work directly with your nervous system using breathwork, felt-sense awareness, and gentle movement. The body holds intelligence that the mind cannot access on its own. Somatic work helps you use that wisdom to create sustainable change at the cellular and emotional level, not just the mental level. What makes your approach unique compared to other healing or coaching modalities? Three things set my work apart. First, I have 17 years of lived autoimmune experience – I don’t just theorize about nervous system dysregulation; I’ve lived it. This unique perspective helps clients feel deeply understood and supported. Second, I bring a strong analytical and evidence-informed lens. I prioritize nervous system science and clinically grounded somatic practices over spiritual bypass, ensuring clients receive practices that are grounded and effective. I care about understanding how and why something works, not just that it feels good. Third, my framework moves beyond symptom management to identity-level change. We don’t just regulate your nervous system. We rebuild your relationship with your body and help you reclaim your authentic leadership. As a result, clients gain confidence, resilience, and a renewed sense of self. Most approaches stop at feeling better. I guide women to create lives that align with who they’re becoming, not just cope with who they think they have to be. Can you share a transformation you are especially proud of and why it mattered? I’m working with a woman who has mast cell disorder and PTSD. She started with constant nervous system responses and felt her body was unpredictable. Now, her nervous system feels more resourced. She has deep awareness of her patterns. She makes choices from coherence, not fear. She’s rebuilding trust with her body and making meaningful life changes. That’s the difference between coping and transformation: meeting life from an embodied, resourced place. What are the most common signs that someone could benefit from your work? Women often come to me stuck between knowing what they “should” do and not being able to do it. Many have tried therapy, meditation, and wellness, but nothing works. Signs include chronic anxiety that does not respond to stress management, unexplained physical symptoms, disconnection from body signals, or always being in survival mode. Women with autoimmune conditions get frustrated when treated as a collection of symptoms rather than whole people who want to thrive.   How does your own healing journey influence the way you support your clients? My journey taught me the body isn’t fighting you – it is working for you. This changed how I see nervous system dysregulation. I know the fear of feeling betrayed by your body and the grief of losing who you thought you would be. I also know the frustration of only having symptoms addressed. I have seen what’s possible when you bring harmony to mind and body. I can hold space for chronic conditions and transformation. I never ask clients to do anything I have not done myself. What can a new client expect in their first session with you? We start with the body. I guide clients to notice sensation, tension, and ease without judgment. We use breathwork to watch the nervous system, or clench-and-release, to spot bracing and relaxation. The goal in the first session is to build safety and a relationship with the body, not to fix anything. Many clients discover new things when they slow down and feel their system. This foundation supports all that follows. What type of person is the best fit for your coaching and programs? The best fit is a woman ready to take responsibility for her own coherence. She does not want to be fixed or rescued. Benefits include finding sustainable strategies beyond pushing through, reconnecting with her body, and learning to slow down and self-regulate. She is willing to explore her nervous system and rebuild self-trust, guided toward rediscovering her own authority rather than quick fixes or answers from others. What is one piece of wisdom you wish more people understood about healing and self-connection? The body is not broken. Coherence moves only as fast as the nervous system feels safe. Our culture treats slowness as failure, but biological safety requires sacred pacing. Change happens when you follow your body’s timeline, not society’s schedule. The nervous system protects you and needs to feel safe before it can expand. True coherence comes from listening to your body’s wisdom, not forcing progress with willpower. Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Jenna Ellis

Written by Diana Cantu Kawas, Holistic Coach, Psychologist & Spiritual Leader Diana Cantu Kawas is a psychologist, holistic coach, and spiritual leader known for blending ancient healing practices with neuroscience and psychology to help others transform fear into passion and power. She helps creative leaders unlock deeper layers of their true self-identity for success. In the world of personal development and psychology, we often talk about finding ourselves. But what happens when what you find is a label that weighs more than the wound itself? To move toward a life of true influence and fulfillment, there is a rite of passage that is rarely taught but paramount, the divorce from old identities. Divorce who you no longer are We spend years trying to save a relationship with a version of ourselves that has already expired. We cling to who we were under the weight of trauma, who we were to survive, or the definitions others projected onto us. However, real growth demands a clean break. If you want to marry your most powerful version, the one capable of leading, creating, and healing from a stable foundation, you must first sign the divorce papers with your small, limited, and, above all, diagnosed identities. The label trap: Healing or sentencing? As a psychologist, I was taught that diagnosis is the compass. In clinical practice, however, it often becomes the cage. I have seen how calling someone a patient immediately places them on the list of the broken. By labeling a client, the term I prefer, we risk legally binding them to their dysfunction, essentially marrying them to a version of themselves they are desperately trying to divorce. Research indicates that these diagnostic labels can profoundly alter self-perception, creating an internalized stigma that complicates the recovery process. [1] I recall a client whose life revolved for three years around an ADHD diagnosis and chronic pain. When she changed psychiatrists, her diagnosis changed almost as quickly as the signature on the new prescription. Another client spiraled for years when their diagnosis was used as a farewell letter from their psychologist, I don’t know what else to do with you. Your case is beyond help. Here lies the great paradox, if manuals like the DSM-5-TR  (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision / DSM-5-TR) are the ultimate scientific reference, why does a person's identity change radically just by walking through a different office door? It happens because we have forgotten that the DSM is a catalog of symptoms, not a formula, not the answer to everything, and definitely not a map of the human soul. Indeed, clinical research suggests a poor separation between symptom profiles and DSM-5 criteria, questioning the precision of these diagnostic boxes.[2] By treating a diagnosis as an absolute truth rather than a tool with inherent clinical limitations,[3] we condemn the individual to live within a static label, one that, unfortunately, many claim and use as an identity or a personality trait to justify their choices and direction in life. From disorder to survival strategy Visionaries like Dr. Gabor Maté and Dr. Bruce Perry have radically transformed this view. What traditional psychiatry classifies as a disorder is often an intelligent, protective response of the nervous system to prolonged stress or a lack of environmental safety[4] As Dr. Perry notes in What Happened to You? (2021), we must stop asking What’s wrong with you?[5] And start asking What happened to you? This shift in perspective is revolutionary: Your anxiety is not a manufacturing defect, it was your guardian, keeping you alert when the world felt unsafe. Your depression was not merely a chemical imbalance, it was your off button, the necessary refuge from pain that was, at the time, unbearable.[5] The risk of belonging As social beings, we crave belonging. Fitting into the group of the diagnosed can provide initial relief, it makes us feel understood. But as adults, we must consciously choose our tribe. Having gone through a personal divorce, I know what an identity rupture feels like. However, the label divorced was a transition, not my destination. I had to reclaim myself, not the label of my circumstance. When we identify symptoms, patterns, beliefs, or behaviors, we are not looking for a box to lock the client in, only for them to adopt those walls as their personality. We are decoding their survival story. In this light, your symptoms are not evidence of a broken mind, but of a highly functional survival instinct. In adulthood, these survival strategies often manifest as a dysregulated nervous system, a state where the body remains legally bound to a war-time contract even though the war has long since ended. You can see this contract written in the physical body, the tight jaw, the shallow breath, and in a mindset that constantly scans for the next threat to safety. By understanding, through Perry’s lens, that these behaviors were actually sophisticated, adaptive survival strategies, we restore dignity to the person. Symptoms are fragments of your story, they can show us what you’ve been through, but they do not have permission to become your identity. They are alerts signaling imbalance, but are not meant to become your norm. Treat the human, not the statistic The best physicians and therapists agree on something fundamental, you treat the symptoms, but you heal the person. Our duty as healthcare professionals is not merely to point out what is wrong. It is our ethical obligation to see the strengths the client has overlooked while trying to fit into their diagnosis. Self-knowledge should be a process of expansion, not reduction. If we keep fueling the narrative of being sick, broken, or incomplete, we only ensure the client is consumed by their own identity as a victim. Let’s be clear, diagnosing is not healing. Naming a shadow can provide momentary relief, and in some cases, it is true that healing begins with acceptance, but marrying that label means carrying an unnecessary weight that ultimately sabotages your growth. Instead, understanding that you are an individual in constant transformation can help you detach from that identity, allowing you to embrace the power and responsibility you hold over your own life. Your new potential commitment The most important marriage of your life is the one you enter with your present and future mindsets. Do not marry your diagnosis: Use it as a coordinate of where you have been, not the map of where you are going. Honor your symptoms, but do not invite them to live in your bed: They are survival signals, not permanent residents. Abandon label dependency: Labels are static, you are dynamic. Labels are periods, you are a semicolon. Seek professional guidance to unpack the trauma you’ve been lugging through life, so you can finally set down the baggage of your past. It is time to stop searching for names for your wounds and start seeking space for your power. I understand the temptation, a label provides a tribe, a name for your chaos, and an excuse for your limitations. But depending on a box to feel a sense of belonging is accepting life in a cardboard box when the entire universe is your birthright. I invite you to change your language. The words you repeat to yourself hold profound meaning, even more so when they’re anchored to emotionally intense events. Stop using terms that shackle you to the ground and start using words that act as fuel, connecting you to your power. You are not anxious, you are a person with a highly sensitive and protective nervous system. You are not a control freak nor a perfectionist, you are someone with excellent detail orientation. Your strongest version is waiting for you at the altar of consciousness, but they won't show up as long as you remain legally bound to labels and identities that no longer represent you. To learn more about my programs and services. Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Diana Cantu Kawas Diana Cantu Kawas, Holistic Coach, Psychologist & Spiritual Leader Diana Cantu Kawas is a psychologist, holistic coach, and spiritual leader known for blending ancient healing practices with neuroscience and psychology to help others transform fear into passion and power. She works with creative leaders to unlock deeper layers of their true self-identity for success. Before embracing this path, Diana forged a successful career as an editorial director, fashion stylist, and marketing professional. She founded OMphalos Coaching over a decade ago and is known for catalyzing transformative change, helping clients break free from self-doubt, self-sabotage, and perfectionism through her retreats and bespoke programs, including Navigating Inner Self, Self-Expansion, and the proprietary Energetic Cartography method. References: [1] Altmann, B., et al. (2024). Effects of diagnostic labels on perceptions of marginal cases of mental ill-health. PLOS Mental Health. [2] Newson, J. J., et al. (2021). Poor separation of clinical symptom profiles by DSM-5 disorder criteria. Frontiers in Psychiatry. [3] Gintner, G. G. (2014). DSM-5 conceptual changes: Innovations, limitations, and clinical implications. The Professional Counselor. [4] Maté, G., & Maté, D. (2022). The myth of normal: Trauma, illness, and healing in a toxic culture. Avery. [5] Perry, B. D., & Winfrey, O. (2021). What happened to you? Conversations on trauma, resilience, and healing. Flatiron Books.

Written by Tina Feigal, M.S., Ed., Parent Coach Former school psychologist Tina Feigal specializes in helping caregivers heal trauma associated with adoption, foster care, and children's losses of any kind. She's the author of Present Moment Parenting: The Guide to a Peaceful Life with Your Intense Child and has trained and mentored 850 coaches worldwide. After a childhood fraught with her parents’ mental and physical illness, abandonment, and profound loss, Tina Feigal is grateful to use her experiences as powerful "fuel". What she went through as a kid has evolved into the drive to create tried-and-true tools for helping others to heal and enhance their parent-child relationships, both as a coach and a trainer of coaches. Maybe you’re wondering if the behaviors you’re seeing are from the personality of your child or from the way you parent. Here are some questions to ponder to unwrap the answers. Grab some paper and a pen, because physical writing goes into our brains more deeply, facilitating more authentic reflection.  How would you describe your core beliefs about parenting in four words?  Being aware the driving force behind your parenting can be very enlightening. If sticking to them is not getting the results you want, consider that a change may be helpful to you and your family. If you’re happy with your beliefs and you see kids who are functioning well in life, give yourself a pat on the back! What parent doesn’t need that now and then?  What 4 common challenges do you see most often in your parenting partnership and/or in other parents?  In our modern world, it’s so easy to compare our parenting and find fault with others or ourselves. That’s not what this is for. It’s to take a look at your most frequently observed concerns in parenting. Ages  In what ways can parents tell when pressure or a difference in approach is starting to damage their relationships with their kids? This will be a helpful reflecting exercise for you as a single or partnered parent.    How do you adapt your parenting approach to your individual children? Considering their life experiences, their ages, genders, personality traits, and birth order,  (keep in mind that a gap in their ages changes this effect – if you have a child who is many years younger than the next-oldest sibling, they go back to being the oldest) how to you customize your interactions with each of your children?  In what ways has overcoming one or more of your big life challenges influenced your approach to being a connected parent? It’s great to reflect on how hard things that you’ve experienced have provided you with amazing resilience and self-composure in the face of disrespect, defiance, opposition, and other obstacles to bring effective communication with your young people. Maybe this is the first time you’ve been invited to take a look at the hidden “gifts” of your own youth to see how they influence your parenting.  What shifts are you seeing in how young people view parents today?   There’s almost a guarantee that it’s different from the way you were raised, from my 26 years of experience in coaching parents and training coaches. What a unique opportunity to reflect on this aspect of your relationship with your child/ren and to share it with your parenting partner with judgment-free insights. Maybe you even want to make a plan to adjust your approach in ways that will work better for you all! What lasting impact do you hope your parenting will have on the future adults to whom you’ve given life or raised? This is a very crucial question. Would you like to see your own parents’ legacy forwarded into future generations, or something entirely different? You have enormous power to influence the lives of children to come by raising emotionally intelligent  offspring.  For help with parenting reflection and strategies, click here.  To book a coaching discovery call, click here. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and visit my LinkedIn  for more info! Read more from Tina Feigal, M.S., Ed. Tina Feigal, M.S., Ed., Parent Coach Tina Feigal, M.S., Ed. works with parents of children of all ages, specializing in, but not exclusive to, child losses and trauma (foster care, adoption, reunification). Tina sees parents' power to heal their children's hearts in a way that they often miss. She offers tried-and-true ways of connecting with children of all ages to create emotional safety, the key to better relationships and behaviors. She uses a non-judgmental approach, understanding that every parent carries "how I was raised" as their model, often with unsatisfactory results. She helps parents get what they truly want from their parenting experience – peace of mind!