Melissa Deally: 00:00:06

Imagine getting up every day full of energy as if you were in your 20s again. What would that be like? What would that be worth to you? What is your health worth to you? Think about it. Your health isn't everything, but without it, everything else is nothing. And yet, too many of us are taking it for granted until something goes wrong. No one wakes up hoping to be diagnosed with a disease or chronic illness. And yet we've never been taught how to be proactive in our health through our school system or public health as a registered health coach and integrative health practitioner, I believe it is time this information is made available to everyone, combining new knowledge around your health and the ability to do my functional medicine lab tests in the comfort of your own home will allow you to optimize your health for Today and all your tomorrows. Don't wait for your wake up call. Welcome back to another episode of The don't wait for your wake up call podcast. My name is Melissa Deally, your host of this podcast, and I'm very excited to bring to you today a another fabulous guest, Heather Stewart, welcome to the show, Heather.

Heather Stewart: 00:01:24

Thank you so much. Melissa. It's so great to get to our conversation. We've had lots of chats. Now it's time to have a real in depth conversation

Melissa Deally: 00:01:34

that it is, and I'm excited to introduce you to the audience. Heather Stewart is a dynamic force in the wellness world. She seamlessly marries her background in corporate finance with her fervent dedication to Holistic Health to help guide transformative coaching experiences for her clients. She found her own escape from the societal expectations of a career at the expense of health and vitality, and now helps other midlife women do the same using her thriving life method framework, she helps overwhelmed and overachievers create a new roadmap to the life they want to live. And she is also the host of the back to me podcast, helping guide wellness your way. So I love everything that you're about, Heather, you know, I also have had a past in the corporate world and know exactly what you're talking about. And I love having guests come on the show and be able to share their story, what they've learned from that and how they are now, helping others shortcut getting to where you're at now, because they just have to follow your path. They don't have to figure it all out for themselves like you had to do, right? So let's just dive in with let's go back to life in the corporate world for you, and where that led to,

Heather Stewart: 00:02:55

oh my gosh, life in the corporate world was so it seems like it was a dream at this point. You know, because you, when you leave something and you change your life so dramatically, you step back sometimes and go, did I really do that? So, yes, I spent, I was a chartered accountant, CPA, so it was what you were supposed to do back then, right? Go to university, get your degree and go get your career happening. And I hit a point in that life where I was stressed out. I was sitting 12 and 14 hours a day at a desk like we know, like we knew then, but now we actually say it out loud that sitting is so bad for you, those long hours on the desk. And it's funny, at the time, I was going to yoga for stress relief, because I said, you know, I have to do something healthy for myself. I'm not feeling well. I feel icky. It's the best, like, the best word way to describe it. It's very technical word, icky, and yoga kind of helped me move some things around. It couldn't counteract sitting around for that long, but it was starting this new way of thinking about the body and about health,

Melissa Deally: 00:04:16

and it always starts with one thing, right? It's not that you have to have it all figured out at point zero. However, just choosing to start going to yoga started you on the path,

Heather Stewart: 00:04:28

and you can't get it all figured out at once. I mean, there's a reason you go to school for that period of time because they can't teach you quantum physics in kindergarten that I know of. I mean, it's like you need Foundation, and you need to build step by step. But it was interesting. One day, I was driving to yoga after work. I was rushing to yoga because it's like, oh, you know, you work till the last second, and you rush to yoga. And I was driving through a light at a very busy intersection in Toronto, and I. Uh, there was a pedestrian in front of me, and I was thinking, what is that person doing there? Are they trying to get themselves killed? Why didn't they stop? And I looked up, and my light was red, so I was driving through a super busy intersection, through a red light, and I did had no idea if that pedestrian hadn't been there, I would have kept going and not even known that I'd done it. I'd done it, or I would have been hit by a car, you know, and it was just like that slap in the face of, wow. I was so disconnected from what was actually happening that I almost could have, like, caused a lot of could have killed someone, or got myself killed, and I went to yoga, and I was talking to my yoga teacher, who was a friend of mine at this point, because I'd been there so much, and she said, Heather, like, what is like? What are you doing with your life? You know, you're, you're working really hard for what? And I couldn't have, I didn't have an answer then, and it's okay if people don't have an answer now, because if no one's ever asked you before or you've never thought about it, but that was like, my let's change things. So it started with that going to yoga on a regular basis. It started with recognizing that something was not really right going on in my life, and starting to pay attention so, paying attention to things I that were working, things that weren't working, and making shifts along the way. And I mean, now I am what 20 odd years out, and I am an entirely different person, and I have done the same as you tried all these things. This works, this doesn't work. And I believe everybody's an experiment of one. And I always tell my clients, I'll experiment. Tell myself, if you want, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Melissa Deally: 00:06:53

Same thing. I don't ask my clients to do something that I haven't tried first, for that very reason you know exactly. Want to try all the things too, and because we are, and I think I heard a saying once that said, your body is the greatest experimentation lab that's ever existed.

Heather Stewart: 00:07:14

Oh, I totally believe it. And because of that, I also believe that we aren't one size fits all. I always hated that label in the store because it never fit me right. It's like, this is not one size fits all. And that's the same with how you live your life, how you walk, how you talk, how you sleep, how you eat, how you exercise, what job you have absolutely everything is has to be aligned with you, yes, but you need that. You need to take that opportunity to look at what's what works for you and what doesn't, and be able to make mistakes. I saw a sign recently as I was driving along that said mistakes are proof that you're trying. So how is that from your permission slip to go and stumble as many times as you need to right to figure it out. Mm,

Melissa Deally: 00:08:09

hmm. I was just having this conversation with my niece yesterday. Actually, we were back country hiking, and I said, the stakes are how you learn no invention was ever invented the first time around. And in fact, every useful invention we have is graded because of the mistakes that happened along the way. And each time you make a mistake, you get to go, Okay, well, that didn't work. How do I tweak it in order to make it better? Learn from it and try again, right?

Heather Stewart: 00:08:37

And we keep finding these ways to you. Uh, we only seem to celebrate perfection and high achievement. And you know these overnight successes, I'm like, well, there's no such thing. You know exactly there's no such thing. If that's a social media invention, Yes,

Melissa Deally: 00:08:57

totally. Because that overnight success is on social media. We see it however. It doesn't count. According to Malcolm Gladwell, you know those 10,000 hours prior

Heather Stewart: 00:09:07

that it thought

Melissa Deally: 00:09:08

could get to the overnight successful moment, right?

Heather Stewart: 00:09:11

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that we talk about it a lot and we I think people recognize it intellectually, but when it they think it's for other people, right? They can make mistakes. I can't make a mistake, right? So why can't you make a mistake? I mean, I make them all the time.

Melissa Deally: 00:09:32

We're only able to laugh at them. Actually. Can't be perfect,

Heather Stewart: 00:09:36

no, thank goodness.

Melissa Deally: 00:09:38

Therefore, we're going to make mistakes. Yeah,

Heather Stewart: 00:09:41

and let's be okay, yeah, right. It's so crazy the things we do to ourselves, absolutely

Melissa Deally: 00:09:50

it is, it is, there's, you know, so much pressure, as you say, because of the celebration of the high achievers and the overnight successes versus. Celebrating the journey, celebrating the mistakes on the on the along the way, because each mistake taught you something that got you to the next step.

Heather Stewart: 00:10:08

Yeah, sometimes people ask me, you know, if I regret the spending that 15 years as an accountant and like, Well, no, actually, even my past relationships, I don't regret, because I would not be able to be who I am if I hadn't had those experiences and been able to stand in this place and say, Yes, I know, I know what's happening right now for you, I've, I've done it right, right? It's, it's a, definitely a place of knowing versus a place of understanding, yes

Melissa Deally: 00:10:43

and also recognizing that everything is always happening for us. So to your point, all of you know, even relationships that have ended, they happen for you because you learned something in those relationships about yourself, about what you wanted from a healthy relationship about who you were becoming versus perhaps who you were when you entered that relationship, right because of the journey that you're on. So yes, celebrating every step of it, we can't negate any part of our past, because every part of it got us to where we're at today.

Heather Stewart: 00:11:20

Isn't there a movie where the guy did that once he was trying to erase his memories of his girlfriend, but then it started erasing the good ones and the bad ones, and he realized that it was a bad idea. I can't even remember what it was. It was probably a bad movie.

Melissa Deally: 00:11:36

I'm sure there was a movie about that. I don't know what it however, I'm sure there was.

Heather Stewart: 00:11:41

But we also seem to want to live in Pleasantville, if anybody saw that movie, Pleasantville where everything's always everyone's always happy, the sun's always shining, the kittens always get saved. And we try to bury and hide what we call negatives, but we can't have positives without negatives. And your positives are they feel so more amazing because you've had the negative to contrast it to Yes and you aren't a failure or a bad person. If you have something quote, unquote, negative happened to you if someone decides for you? Yeah, right, happen for you, which is interesting, because of some things that are going on in my relationship sphere right now, it's like an ending of a relationship is not the end of the world. It's a it's a change in a world, right? And it takes a big adjustment. I get. I do understand that, but find your feet and find your breath, right? Find your breath. Yeah, really, I have two rules in life. The first rule is, you have to breathe, and the second rule is, try not to cause yourself any pain. You know, those are great rules, especially,

Melissa Deally: 00:13:09

don't forget to breathe. One,

Heather Stewart: 00:13:10

don't forget to breathe. Yes,

Melissa Deally: 00:13:14

yes. And you know, as you say, even in you know, a relationship breakup, there still can be gratitude found in that relationship. There still can be lessons for yourself learned in that relationship that allow you to find your feet and keep moving forward, and

Heather Stewart: 00:13:34

you have changed along the way as well. Absolutely, I wonder if people still think they're the person they were at the beginning, not recognizing the growth they've had themselves right through that relationship. Even challenging relationships help you grow really,

Melissa Deally: 00:13:54

absolutely. I remember years ago I saw, I don't know if it was a meme or something, and it said, Men marry women hoping they'll never change, and women marry men hoping they'll start changing right away, right?

Unknown: 00:14:10

And the reality good way to do it

Melissa Deally: 00:14:11

exactly. And the reality is you're both going to change, yes, and how do you navigate that path, allowing each of you to grow in a way that you need to grow to become the person that you were always meant to be, and be in alignment with that, right?

Heather Stewart: 00:14:33

Yes, 100% and instead of becoming what I used to call the two headed monster, you know, you are joined. It's okay to be, you know, close in your relationship, but if your relationship is only defined by the partnership, then you lose yourself, right? Yes, absolutely. Then you have to go back to me. Yes,

Melissa Deally: 00:14:56

it's back to me. That's where the true. Is found too, right? Is one more Yes, in alignment with that, back to me,

Heather Stewart: 00:15:04

and something that I talk to clients a lot about is taking responsibility for your own life. And that's not that's not in a selfish way, that's not in a way that's cold hearted to other people, that's not in a way that you know isolates you, that's taking responsibility for your own happiness and not putting your dependence for what you need in your life on the people and things outside of you. Because I was talking to a psychologist recently on my podcast, and she was saying, you will never be happy if you put all of your happiness expectation on someone else, because they'll try and try to make you happy, maybe, but it's never going to fit your interior requirement of this is what I want, and you're not doing it the way I want it. They're doing it the way they understand it, but you creating your joy and happiness for yourself, then it'll always align with how you want it right exactly,

Melissa Deally: 00:16:05

and that it's entirely internal, because I've read research about people who pay a lot of money to plastic surgeons to change how they look, thinking they'll be happier if they could just look a certain way?

Heather Stewart: 00:16:22

Yeah,

Melissa Deally: 00:16:24

and the results of those studies all show that they are no happier post after the surgery than they were before, and in some cases, they're even less happy because they thought that was the answer, and now they know that it isn't the answer, and they still haven't found the answer. And the answer is that the happiness is internally generated. As you said, you create it for yourself

Heather Stewart: 00:16:50

well. And if you think about that, like if you're changing your external appearance, you're not looking at your external appearance, right? So it's like, I'm looking out from my eyes I can't see, mean I can see on my zoom, but I can't see what I look like on a regular basis when I'm walking around. So my happiness has to come radiate outwards from inside of me. If I spent all of my time looking in a mirror, maybe that would make me happy if my face was different, but I can't see that actually happening so that external appearances you are trying to show you are trying to be something outwardly to other people, and those people still aren't going to make you happy. You. It's the internal happiness. And if you notice, there's people who, if you look at them, if you just looked at a photograph of someone, you might not think they were all that attractive or that they were okay, but if you meet them and they have this joy coming out of them in their like live form, you're like, wow, that person's gorgeous, but it's more to do with their Energy and how they're radiating their their inner being versus their external appearance, right? Exactly,

Melissa Deally: 00:18:05

exactly. So I love all of this conversation, and I want to come back to a part of your story that we never got to though, is when you were in the corporate world, you also ended up having a significant health issue.

Heather Stewart: 00:18:22

Oh, it was, right. It was actually after my corporate world that I had that health issue, which is super interesting, because, you mean my stroke, yes, let's, let's make sure we're talking about the same one. Because that stroke came when I thought I had, you know, the universe kicks us sometimes. I was like, wow, I've got everything working just the way it should. And the universe gave me, blessed me with a three day retreat in the hospital with where it was during COVID. So it was 2021, so it was a few years after I'd left corporate and they I couldn't see properly. I had double vision because it was COVID. No one could visit me. It was Halloween in the ER, which is a very bizarre time of year, in the emergency room in the Downtown Hospital, and there was no beds in the hospital, so I stayed in, er, for three days, and because I couldn't like, I mean, our typical now thing when we're uncomfortable as we go onto our devices and we scroll, because that's a distraction. I didn't have any distraction capabilities because I couldn't see properly. So it's my I was blessed with my three day silent retreat and and sitting there I was thinking, okay, but I did all the things. You know, I'm healthy, I take care of myself, I eat well, I exercise, I have good relationships. My business is great. My partner is great. You know. I know what I'm doing. And then I realized, Wait, I'm not doing fully the things that I should be doing. I was business coaching at the time for health and wellness people because I had that business background, I had the wellness background, and they needed my help. But as I was sitting there, I laying there, I realized, okay, I'm still playing too small, and the universe was allowing me to see that what I needed to do was help people who were in that space where they're like, Ah, I don't know what to do. This life isn't bringing me joy. Life isn't happy. Why is this happening? What is this all there is to life. There's too much going on. I can't even think straight all of these things that happen to us. We hit a stage in life where we think that we have all the stuff we're supposed to have, and we're unhappy and we can't manage it, or we can manage it and we're not happy. You know, all of these, like the and those are all external requirements that we've placed on ourselves. So I, as I was lying there, I realized, oh, okay, so I need to help in a bigger way, to help people understand the trajectory that I took to get to this thriving life method, because I took all of the pieces that I've been learning all along the way, and I put them all together in one neat little package. And even while I was lying there, I recognized the pieces that I hadn't fully I was I had to, I had them in my life, but I hadn't identified them in my life. You know, like relationships is really important. And I mean, COVID taught us that a little bit which relationships were not working right, which relationships we were missing. But when I was there, one of my friends contacted everyone she knew to let them know what was going on, and told them to send me voice messages, because I couldn't receive text messages on my phone. So I had all these voice messages wishing me well and thinking, hoping I was okay, and sending me funny stories to make me laugh. So I was like, wow, I am so lovely. I had built more than I realized. And I said, this has to be shared. This has to be how I have to help people build this for themselves and empower them to recognize that it's not selfish to have yourself come first. You know, we I, I always avoid the cliche, but it's so true that put your mask on first you can't help the person next to you if you're drowning or suffocating. So if you can make yourself as well as possible and be thriving, imagine the power you have stepping out into your world to help other people to create whatever they need to create. Well, it was just for those people. It was one of the very

Melissa Deally: 00:23:03

first things that was eye opening to me when I started in health coaching school, when they told me self care is not selfish. And I went what I literally had to hear it again. Because until that point, what is it now, like eight years ago, I truly believed it was selfish, and then I had to look after everyone else first, and then, if there was time, I I could look after me. And when was there ever time at that point when you're, you know, building a career and being a wife and a mom and a sister and a dad

Heather Stewart: 00:23:35

and so typical for women, it is but themselves. Last think it is that it's noble, and, yes, that this is the way it's done, and it's the worst way to do it.

Melissa Deally: 00:23:46

You need it and and it's societally been passed down generation by generation.

Heather Stewart: 00:23:52

And because you're teaching your children the same thing, exactly, you're teaching them to put themselves last and to put you last, right?

Melissa Deally: 00:24:01

Because they're following, you know, you're in your footsteps. They're modeling what you have been doing. And so I created a mantra that, you know, my regular listeners will know, but I love to share it, because every time I share it, it lands again for me and it also lands for the audience. And that is that self care is the most selfless act, because it allows you to show up and give the world the best of you instead of what's left of you, right, definitely, and that is just such a good reminder for people to hear on a daily basis, especially if this is new to you. Yeah,

Heather Stewart: 00:24:38

put it on your phone as a reminder Exactly.

Melissa Deally: 00:24:40

Schedule your time for you in your calendar. That's what I had to start doing, was blocking the time in my calendar. So I had time for me,

Heather Stewart: 00:24:50

and then doing it because I have clients who will block things into their calendar. And I had a client say to me, Well, I'm the boss, so I can just. Not do it. I'm like, You are the boss, and you would be a terrible boss if you did that, because, think of it. You know, if you tell somebody, if you tell somebody, you're going to do something for them, you're going to do it, but you won't do that same thing for yourself, right? Yep,

Melissa Deally: 00:25:17

yep. So. And to that point, I always ask my clients to block the time in the calendar and say what they're going to do with the time. Yes, so it goes into my calendar is like, at this time of year, it's often paddle boarding, or it's a workout at home, or, like this whole past weekend, it was three days of back country, camping and hiking, and you know, we're going in another month, and the only time we could get was midweek. So I'm the boss. I get to choose. I'm going at the I'll work on the weekend if I need to to make it up. However, it's important to me to get out into nature and do that, therefore I make that happen. And sometimes I book it in my calendar, and something comes up at the time that I want to do that, and then I have a choice. How important is this thing that's come up? Do I really want to do it? Yes, and if I do then, okay, where can I move this other thing that's also very important, when else can I do that? And it allows me to be in control of shifting that time, versus if I didn't have it in my calendar at all, this other thing would have just got booked in. And maybe that wasn't even important to me, right?

Heather Stewart: 00:26:24

Yes, it's, it's very true that you as the boss. I remember way back I did like a guide for entrepreneurs, and one of the benefits and challenges of entrepreneurs is you are the boss, and you decide how much you work. Sometimes entrepreneurs work too much. Sometimes they slack off too much, and it's not slacking necessarily, but sometimes they they're just not prioritizing what's actually important. So that was part of the business coaching I did. It was like, what do you need to be happening? What is really important here? And it has to include self care. Like, even business coaching, it has to include self care. And it's true, when you are the boss, you can schedule your calendar. I have a, I know a coach who schedules it, and she's got this crazy spreadsheet with these, like, 15 minute blocks that he can shift around. I'm like, Oh, that's too much for me. I need bigger chunks of time. But he's good at that. It works for him, right? Everybody's Exactly. It's

Melissa Deally: 00:27:31

what works for you. Figure out what works mine's not a 15 minute increments either, that that would be too crazy for me as well. But

Heather Stewart: 00:27:38

for instance, next week, I just came back, actually, on Sunday, from guiding a six day kayak trip, and I'm going again next week, so my time is blocked, but I know within there that I do have the capacity to take some time away, to make a phone call or to, you know, check in on some things while I'm away, so I will put that in my calendar, in key spots, knowing that this time is fully blocked for this, but I can peek out here and there. You know, not working 24 hours a day when I'm guiding I have time at night, and that keeps me accountable to myself, but I'm also being accountable to the people that are with me, so trying to keep that balance of your priorities, what's what's actually important and what's going to move you towards your goal, whether it's your business goal, your health goal, financial goal, relationship goal, all of those things there, they need to play together, right? And there has to be some way to harmonize the pieces so they sometimes you're going to get double booked with things that are really awesome, but trying your best to keep even keeled well.

Melissa Deally: 00:28:56

And that happened, that happened with us in terms of double booked like we had booked to do this podcast on a different day. Yes, and then I had a friend from Australia, who's a flight attendant, contact me and say, I'm coming to Whistler for one day. And of course, it was the day that you and I had booked. And so I just messaged you and say, Hey, would it be okay if we recorded on another date? Because good thing we hadn't left this to the very last minute to get recorded. And so we were able to adjust that because, you know, graciously, you allowed me that space and said, I love with visiting with friends, and we had the most magnificent day. And I think we were up the mountain hiking at the time that I would have had to be on the podcast with you, right? And just a matter of you have it in the calendar, and when things come up, you do have the flexibility to change things. It's not like it's locking you down. It's actually giving you more freedom, because you don't have everything running around in your head. You have it on paper, you have a map. You can see what you're doing, where you're going, what your day looks like. And if things do need to be tweaked, that jumps out at. You, and you can tweak it far enough in advance that if it impacts other people, that both your calendars have some space, as opposed to you don't realize it until the day before,

Heather Stewart: 00:30:10

and then you're scrambling exactly, trying to make excuses and and I remember there was some I can't even remember where I heard this about discipline is freedom. Discipline thinks it's think people think discipline is restrictive because they see it as the person telling you what to do. But discipline is more self discipline and self mastery is more. I will be disciplined with myself in my intention behind what I do, and by being disciplined with myself. You do have that option to say that's booked for this time you it's out far enough that you know when it's going to be someone contacts you and you say, I really want to go and play with with my friend who's coming to visit. So I'm going to, you know and and because I also have my calendar, I'm just looking down at it over here on the side, all written out, and I know what is when and how, who, what's happening. Shifting is a fairly easy thing to do, right? It's just making sure our time zones line up. That's my hardest part. Yeah, talking exactly when you're talking to Dubai, it's very hard to talk Yes,

Melissa Deally: 00:31:24

which time zone are we talking about now? Yes, I know you're right. When you have it mapped out, it's not set in stone. It's there's a guideline, and you do have the freedom to shift things. And so this conversation also leads us into, you know, you're talking about balance in terms of, you know, balancing all that's going on in your life. However, I know that you often speak about the fact that there's no such thing as a work life balance, and that instead, you want to be harmonizing six aspects of wellness. So if you would like to talk about those and the acronym you've created, that would be wonderful. Well,

Heather Stewart: 00:32:01

and I talk about balance and work life balance in a couple of ways now. So the first way I started talking about work life balance, way back, was you can't cut yourself into work and then the rest of your life like they're like they have to exist separately, because your work is a big part of your life, whatever it is, even if you're retired. I have a client who calls it her beloved location, those pieces go together, and it has to be incorporated into your life. So when we try to say, well, this is work, and then I'm going to do the rest of my life over here, then it's very it's very disjointed how you're trying to live your life. And then you become resentful of if you have to work a little bit extra, or, you know, you go on vacation and you get sick because you spent all your time working your butt off right before you went. And you're like, it's like, it becomes like, this friend that you don't really like anymore, but you still hang out with. And I've started, I switched it to talking about harmony, because if you think about balance, so balance is a point where you're just sitting like a teeter totter, one little nudge and it's going to knock you off your balance, where, for me, harmony is more about all so I talked about six pieces, which I'll tell you in a second, but it's them all working together like a big floaty I love floaties and the six pieces. When one's starting to sink, the other six pieces can hold it up. Do you know what I mean? So when I talk about the six pieces, it spells the word become. So you have your body, which is your physical health, your E is your emotional health. C is your community, your relationships, which, oh my gosh, friends like relationships are so good occupation and your beloved vocation, your job, your career, whatever it is your money or your financial health, and then your engagement, which is your purpose, your passion, your higher calling, whatever that is that makes your heart happy, like, that's those six pieces when one so think about if you're feeling sick, if you're like, just have some the flu or something. So your physical health is dropping. It's going to pull on your emotional health, and it's going to pull, if you have an entrepreneur, it's going to pull on your occupation a little bit, pulling it down. It's going to pull on your financials a little bit, maybe. But if those are strong enough, they can pull help you pull yourself back up, or keep you stable while you work on that thing. So if your physical health is suffering, you need to give it that time and attention. So these, if the other six, the other five can can coast while you're taking care of that. It's like having five children, if you're if you could take care of this one child and let the other kids self entertain for a little while, then when it comes back. Up. They can all play together again. But by having those six pieces, and think I just got this right now, it's a floaty device, you know, they can just kind of float with the waves. Big waves might come and they will help balance each other out. One might take a little knock, the other, the other group parts are there to help it out and balance it out, and by being in harmony, you can kind of flow with the knocks that life gives. I mean, a stroke is a fairly big knock, a a business knock, it's a huge knock. Yeah, okay, it is a huge knock. Even a wrist break. So I broke my wrist in December, and I'm left handed. I broke my dominant hand, so that had to shift a lot of what I was doing. And I have a friend right now who's a kayak instructor who just broke a bone in his hand. His season is over, so how does like his now the other parts of his life have to shift a little bit to kind of step in for that he can still do a lot of things. He just Yeah, unfortunately, there's no way he's going to be kayaking this for a few months. So thinking about these things in advance, it's almost like your insurance policy to a happier, healthier life, really, having

Melissa Deally: 00:36:20

all those parts in place and to having the resilience to recover from whatever comes you know, the dip the one side that takes you down, you have the pieces in place to give you the resilience to bounce back much more quickly. Yeah,

Heather Stewart: 00:36:33

definitely, resilience is much easier when you've got a full cup. Right?

Melissa Deally: 00:36:40

Absolutely, absolutely. So I I absolutely love all of that Heather, and that just leads me into the question that I love to ask all of my guests on the show, what does don't wait for your wake up call mean to you?

Heather Stewart: 00:36:57

This could mean a lot of things. I'm just thinking of the stories I told, like, don't wait till you run over a pedestrian, almost because you're too stressed to notice. Don't wait until you're in the hospital and you've realized that you don't have your places in place to help support you. I mean, life crisis are going to come. And they don't have to be crises. Life events are going to come to you, and your ability to navigate them will be informed by how full your cup is and how much you've harmonized and figured out the pieces of your life that are so that everything is working as well as it can. I don't ever expect perfection. That's not a real thing. But waiting, don't I mean, don't wait for your wake up call. Is like a wake up call for a lot of people, is that crisis that wakes that wakes them up. So if you are ready before that comes, then it will not be as emotionally traumatic and difficult to deal with,

Melissa Deally: 00:38:04

really, and it may not even end up being a crisis, right? Not

Heather Stewart: 00:38:08

be a crisis at all. Your cup is my broken wrist was not a crisis. In fact, it was just very interesting for me, because I had worked again since 2021 with my stroke, I worked on my pieces more than I had been, and so I was fine.

Melissa Deally: 00:38:29

Congratulations. You know, testament to your work, I love it. So if somebody wants to get a hold of you, Heather, please share how people can get hold of you. And also you've generously offered a free gift access to your pop up podcast. So please share what that's all about as well.

Heather Stewart: 00:38:47

So my website, where all things except the pod pop podcast are is Heather Stewart dot coach, so that's where you can find the back to me podcast, and all the social links and everything and the pop up podcast actually takes you through the initial so you can, it's almost like a DIY a little bit. You can go the initial explanation of the thriving life method and takes you through some exercises so you can get the lay of the land for yourself on where you are, and then some suggestions to help you get yourself going. And it's located in a different website. It's on step up to thrive.com because I want people to step up for themselves and step into their life and start thriving. The more the people are thriving and in that good space, the more it will spread out into their their relationships, in their communities, and then we just keep making the world better, right? Loving it out. Love that. Well. Thank

Melissa Deally: 00:39:47

you very much for offering that. And I totally agree with the you know, wanting people to step up for themselves. And so is there any last piece of wisdom that you would like to share with the audience before we wrap up this episode? Today,

Heather Stewart: 00:40:00

yes, you are always more than you give yourself credit for. You are more powerful than you give yourself credit for. Don't let anyone else tell you how to live your life. Go inside. Be with your people inside your inner voices. Embrace them all. They're all smart. They all have something to say and really get that tune in of what makes your heart sing. And even if it seems crazy, go out and try and do it, even just a little baby step forward.

Melissa Deally: 00:40:39

That's beautiful, beautiful way to end the show. Very inspirational. What makes your heart sing?

Heather Stewart: 00:40:45

I love it. Your heart sing.

Melissa Deally: 00:40:47

So thank you very much for coming on the show today, Heather and sharing your personal stories and your learnings from them and what you are now helping others create in their lives. It's such important work, and so many are disconnected, and therefore need this work. So thank you for the work that you do, and thank you to my audience for tuning in each and every week to these episodes on the don't wait for your wake up call podcast. I love bringing them to you and bringing amazing guests like Heather and incredible stories to help inspire you, give you hope on your health journey. And if you know anybody that needs to hear Heather's story today, please share this episode with them. And thank you again for tuning in. Thank you for investing this time with me on the don't wait for your wake up call Podcast. I'm so glad you joined in. If you can take two minutes to share this episode with someone you think can benefit and have a positive impact on their life, that would be wonderful. Please leave a review by going to your favorite podcast listening app and let me know what you enjoy or would like to hear more of it will support me in my effort to bring the possibility of natural healing to a wider audience and help disrupt the sick care system we have today and make human health a global priority. Health is your true wealth. You.