Sacred Illness™

Dr. Erin Hayford
  • 5.0 (9)
  • ALTERNATIVE HEALTH
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Exploring illness as a sacred invitation to deep healing and self-discovery. sacredillness.substack.com

  1. Ep. 56: Radical Alignment: Cancer as the Path to Knowing Oneself

    2D AGO

    Ep. 56: Radical Alignment: Cancer as the Path to Knowing Oneself

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sacredillness.substack.com What happens when the “wellness girl” gets a cancer diagnosis at 36? Natalie Emmer shares how a rare salivary gland tumor dissolved her identity—and led her to a deeper spiritual calling, mediumship, and radical alignment. Episode Overview In this profound and intimate episode, Dr. Erin Hayford welcomes Natalie Emmer—a former holistic health coach, mother, and spiritual seeker—who was diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma at age 36. Natalie’s story begins with a small nodule, ignored for years, that eventually demanded her attention during pregnancy. What followed was not just a medical journey, but a complete dismantling of her “wellness girl” identity. She explores the tension between holistic living and conventional treatment, her dive into energy healing and mediumship, and how cancer became a sacred portal to her soul’s purpose. This conversation is a powerful testament to illness as initiation—a call to listen, to trust, and to radically align with the truth of who you are. 🌿 What You’ll Discover ✨ How a “wellness girl” faced the ultimate identity crisis when diagnosed with cancer—and what she found on the other side. ✨ The intuitive downloads Natalie received during pregnancy that urged her to take her health seriously. ✨ Why she never spoke the word “cancer” out loud—and how our thoughts and words shape our reality. ✨ The moment her holistic worldview expanded to include energy healing, Reiki, and unexpected mediumship. ✨ How connecting with her spirit team and ancestors brought profound healing and clarity. ✨ What “radical alignment” really means—beyond diet and career, into soul-level purpose. ✨ The both/and approach: how Natalie navigated proton radiation while deepening her spiritual practice. ✨ Why illness asks us one essential question: Did you take the next step toward knowing yourself? ⏳ Timestamps 00:00 – Introduction: The Illusion of Wellness & A Cancer Diagnosis 02:00 – Welcome Natalie: From Health Coach to Cancer Patient 05:00 – The Nodule: Ignored Signals & Pregnancy Intuition 10:00 – The Diagnosis: Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma & Identity Collapse 15:00 – Searching for Answers: Holistic Research & Spiritual Opening 20:00 – Reiki, Mediumship & Connecting with Spirit 25:00 – Radical Alignment: What It Means to Live in Truth 30:00 – The Decision to Do Radiation: Bridging Worlds 35:00 – Grief, Surrender & Stepping into Power 40:00 – Who Did Her Illness Invite Her to Become? 43:00 – Where to Find Natalie & Final Thoughts 💫 Guest Information & Links Connect with Natalie Emmer: Website: natalieemmer.com Instagram: Natalie Emmer 💫 Want to Go Deeper? → Join The Sacred Illness® Community:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/community Use code PODCAST for 20% off your first month. → Apply to be a podcast guest:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/podcast-guest → Follow Dr. Erin on Substack: 🎶 Music by: “Instructions for Living a Life” by Savfkhttps://www.youtube.com/@SavfkMusic

    44 min
  2. Ep. 55: Learning to Receive: On Caretaking, Kidney Transplants, and Unbecoming with Shelby Hanson

    JAN 23

    Ep. 55: Learning to Receive: On Caretaking, Kidney Transplants, and Unbecoming with Shelby Hanson

    In this profound episode, Shelby Hanson—a speech-language pathologist, kidney transplant recipient, and nervous system coach—shares her harrowing and transformative journey through sudden kidney failure, a high-risk pregnancy while on the transplant list, and a transplanted kidney that took 49 mysterious days to “wake up.” After being asked by her nephrologist, “What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you getting better?” Shelby realized the healing she sought wasn’t going to come from the outside—it was in her own nervous system. We explore how a lifetime of people-pleasing, perfectionism, and hyper-independence kept her body in chronic fight-or-flight, and how learning to regulate her stress response, visualize healing, and truly receive care allowed her body to finally accept the gift of a new kidney. This is a story that bridges critical Western medicine with the essential, unseen work of somatic healing. It’s about how illness can become the ultimate teacher in boundary-setting, self-trust, and reclaiming your energy—and how sometimes, the body needs safety more than it needs another treatment. 🌿 What You’ll Discover ✨ How Shelby went from 100% to less than 20% kidney function in 18 months—with no clear explanation. ✨ The shocking moment she discovered she was pregnant while on the kidney transplant list, and how her baby’s kidneys began filtering toxins from her blood. ✨ Why her new kidney failed to function for 7 weeks post-transplant, and the pivotal moment that shifted everything. ✨ How chronic people-pleasing and a “caretaker” identity wired her nervous system for stress, leaving no energy for healing. ✨ The “accidental” discovery of nervous system regulation through an anti-inflammatory diet, and how it prepared her body to conceive. ✨ Why visualizing her healed self and connecting to her future self were critical in activating her transplanted kidney. ✨ How a decades-old hip pain vanished when she realized it was her nervous system’s way of protecting her from emotional pain. ✨ The profound practice of learning to receive—from a kidney to everyday help—and why giving from a place of abundance requires it. ✨ Why Shelby feels healthier in her 40s, post-transplant, than she did in her 30s, and how she now lives in a place of deep reciprocation and trust with her body. ⏳ Timestamps 00:00 - Shelby’s Opening: “What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you getting better?” 01:25 - Dr. Erin’s Introduction & The Sacred Illness® Question 02:17 - Welcoming Shelby Hanson: Speech Pathologist & Student of the Nervous System 03:20 - The Story Begins: Military Life, Moving Across the World, and Early Symptoms 05:00 - The Life Insurance Denial That Revealed Kidney Failure 06:00 - Diagnosis, Transplant Listing, and the “Impossible” Pregnancy 07:30 - How Her Baby’s Kidneys Filtered Her Blood 08:00 - The Transplant Call & A “99% Sensitized” Body 09:00 - Post-Transplant Crisis: A Kidney That Wouldn’t Work 10:15 - The Doctor’s Question That Changed Everything 11:00 - The Realization: “My Body Had Never Failed Me” 12:00 - People-Pleasing, Anesthesia, and the Caretaker Identity 13:00 - Discovering Nervous System Regulation & Joe Dispenza 14:25 - Visualization, Prayer, and the 49-Day Turnaround 18:00 - Shifting From Disease-Promoting to Healing States 20:00 - Unlearning Emotional States & Connecting to Your Future Self 24:00 - The Chronic Pain That Was a Nervous System Memory 27:00 - Epigenetics, “Soft Diagnoses,” and Reversing Conditions 30:00 - Learning to Receive: The Kidney as the Ultimate Gift 32:00 - Life 7 Years Post-Transplant: Purpose, Movement, and Listening 35:00 - “Your Body is Never Wrong”—Reallocating Energy, Not Losing It 38:00 - Functional Freeze and Why Exhaustion Isn’t a Lack of Energy 40:00 - Shelby’s Work: Helping Women Reclaim Their Energy 43:00 - Free Gift & How to Connect With Shelby 45:00 - The Aligned Self: Who Did Her Illness Invite Her to Become? 47:00 - Closing: “Our Bodies Can Heal.” 💫 Guest Information & Links Connect with Shelby Hanson: * Instagram: @shelbylivingvibrantly * Facebook: Shelby Creates a Beautiful Life * Website & Coaching: Get Your Energy Back Coaching * Podcast Episode: Thriving with Kidney Disease – Apple Podcasts Link 🎁 Free Gift for Listeners:“Get Your Energy Back Guide” – Shelby’s Top 3 Tips 💫 Ready to Go Deeper? → Begin your Sacred Illness® Journey: https://www.aurorasomatic.com/community Save 20% off your first month with code PODCAST → Apply to be a podcast guest:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/podcast-guest → Apply to be an Affiliate and help share this work:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/affiliate → Follow Dr. Erin on Substack: https://drerinhayford.substack.com 🎶 Music by: “Instructions for Living a Life” by Savfkhttps://www.youtube.com/@SavfkMusic This episode is a testament that healing is never just physical. It’s a nervous system conversation, a spiritual reckoning, and a homecoming to the self. Thank you for listening and for your ongoing support of this work! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredillness.substack.com/subscribe

    48 min
  3. Ep. 54: From Cancer Diagnosis to Sacred Awakening — How Vivian Quintana Found Healing Beyond the Body

    JAN 7

    Ep. 54: From Cancer Diagnosis to Sacred Awakening — How Vivian Quintana Found Healing Beyond the Body

    When Vivian Quintana was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017, she faced the terrifying whirlwind of biopsies, mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation—but it was in the enforced stillness of “chemo brain” that her real healing began. In this raw and radiant conversation, Vivian shares how her illness became a sacred pause, forcing her to confront a lifetime of stored trauma, hypervigilance, and C-PTSD. Through inner child work, meditation, and a profound shift in perspective, she didn’t just survive—she transformed. Vivian’s story is a powerful testament to the idea that healing isn’t about curing the body alone, but about coming home to the self. Episode Overview In this episode, I sit down with Vivian Quintana, a breast cancer thriver who journeyed from a stage 2B–3 diagnosis through a double mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation into a life of deep presence and peace. Vivian reveals how the medical system had no explanation for her cancer—no genetic markers, no clear cause—which led her to uncover the emotional and energetic roots of her disease: childhood trauma, immigration stress, single motherhood, and relational patterns that kept her body in a state of hypervigilance. We explore how the pandemic, arriving just as she finished treatment, gave her the pause she needed to alchemize her pain into purpose. Vivian’s journey illustrates that true healing begins when we stop asking “Why me?” and start asking “What is this here to teach me?” 🌿 What You’ll Discover ✨ How a simple bump on the breast led to a life-altering diagnosis—and why Vivian chose a double mastectomy from the start.✨ The moment her doctors said, “We don’t know what caused this”—and how that became her invitation to look deeper.✨ The link between C-PTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder) and chronic illness—and how trauma lives in the body.✨ How “chemo brain” became an unexpected spiritual gateway, forcing Vivian into silence, presence, and energy awareness.✨ Why the pandemic felt like a synchronistic gift—a global pause that mirrored her personal reckoning.✨ The mindset shift from “victim” to “sovereign being”—and how Vivian visualized chemotherapy as a cleanse of stored emotional toxicity.✨ Practical tools for healing beyond medicine: meditation, inner child work, acupuncture, and somatic awareness.✨ How Vivian now lives without hypervigilance or fear—and what it means to see illness as a “blessing in the mess.”✨ Her heartfelt message to those with cancer: “You are the medicine. Advocate for yourself. Your mindset is your most powerful tool.” ⏳ Timestamps 00:51 – Welcoming Vivian Quintana02:00 – The Diagnosis: From a Bump to a Cancer Journey04:00 – Choosing a Double Mastectomy & Navigating Lymph Node Results05:00 – Chemotherapy, Radiation, and the “Red Devil”06:00 – The Spiritual Awakening: Inner Child Work & Meditation08:00 – The Role of C-PTSD & Trauma in Illness10:00 – How Chemo Brain Forced a “Stop” and Opened Spiritual Awareness12:00 – The Pandemic Pause: Synchronicity and Deeper Healing15:00 – Releasing Hypervigilance & Living Without Fear18:00 – Visualization as Medicine: Working WITH Treatment22:00 – The Hospital as a Penthouse: Shifting Perspective25:00 – Message to Those with Cancer: Advocacy & Mindset28:00 – Who Has Your Illness Invited You to Become?30:00 – Closing Gratitude & Invitation 💫 Guest Information & Links Connect with Vivian Quintana:Vivian is a breast cancer thriver, speaker, and testament to the power of trauma-informed healing. She shares her story to inspire others to find meaning and medicine within their own journeys. 💫 Want to Go Deeper? → Begin your Sacred Illness® Journey: Join the community https://www.aurorasomatic.com/community Use coupon code PODCAST for 20% off your fist month! → Apply to be a podcast guest:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/podcast-guest → Apply to be an Affiliate and help share this work:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/affiliate → Follow Dr. Erin on Substack: 🎶 Music by: “Instructions for Living a Life” by Savfkhttps://www.youtube.com/@SavfkMusic This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredillness.substack.com/subscribe

    34 min
  4. Ep. 53: From RA to Remission: A Journey Back to the Heart with Teresa Smith

    12/31/2025

    Ep. 53: From RA to Remission: A Journey Back to the Heart with Teresa Smith

    What if the fiercest, most healing thing you could do is to stop fighting? When Teresa Smith was told her rheumatoid arthritis was incurable, degenerative, and would require aggressive medication, a deep inner voice said no. This refusal launched her not into a harder battle, but into a profound surrender—from a life of high-achieving “yang” striving into the soft, receptive, and heart-led practice she calls Qi Flow. In this episode, we explore how releasing anger, fear, and the need for perfect control didn’t just manage her symptoms but led to a full remission, revealing that true healing begins not with a protocol, but with a homecoming to the self. Episode Overview In this conversation, I sit down with Teresa Smith, a former yoga instructor from the UK who experienced a spontaneous remission from rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis after consciously rejecting a conventional pharmaceutical path. Teresa recounts her journey from being “yoga girl”—living a fast, achievement-oriented life—to being forced into stillness by debilitating pain. We trace her shift from fear-based searching and restrictive dieting into the creation of her own somatic practice. Together, we examine how healing required moving from a mindset of doing to a state of being, and how connecting to the “smile in the heart” can change the body’s chemical environment from one of stress to one of safety, enabling profound cellular repair. 🌿 What You’ll Discover ✨ The pivotal diagnosis moment and the inner voice that guided Teresa to reject a frightening prognosis. ✨ Why fear-based protocols and strict diets ultimately failed to address the root of her illness. ✨ The essential transition from masculine “yang” energy (striving, perfection) to feminine “yin” energy (softness, flow, receiving). ✨ How Teresa developed “Qi Flow,” a practice blending gentle movement with heart awareness for somatic release. ✨ The science behind emotions and healing: how chronic stress (cortisol) damages cells, while safety and love promote repair. ✨ Forgiveness as a somatic release, not just an intellectual concept. ✨ The core healing realization: shifting identity from “I am sick” to “I am love.” ✨ How illness serves as an ultimate invitation to unlearn, soften, and come home to yourself. ⏳ Timestamps 01:30 - Welcoming Teresa Smith 05:00 - The Diagnosis: Facing a “Degenerative” Prognosis 10:00 - The Inner ‘No’: Rejecting the Conventional Path 15:00 - The Pitfall of Fear-Based Protocols & Dieting 20:00 - The Shift from ‘Yang’ Striving to ‘Yin’ Receiving 25:00 - Creating ‘Qi Flow’: Movement from the Heart 30:00 - The Science of Safety: Cortisol vs. Coherence 35:00 - Forgiveness as Somatic Release 40:00 - The Identity Shift: “I Am Love” 45:00 - Illness as an Invitation to Come Home 50:00 - Teresa’s Offerings and Final Reflections 💫 Guest Information & Links Connect with Teresa Smith: - Website: http://www.soulwavestudio.com - Instagram: @qi.flow.girl - Offerings: Online Qi Flow training and resources for people to slow down and reconnect. 💫 Ready to Go Deeper? → Begin your Sacred Illness® Journey: https://www.aurorasomatic.com/community Use coupon code PODCAST at checkout for 20% off your first month! → Apply to be a podcast guest: https://www.aurorasomatic.com/podcast-guest → Apply to be an Affiliate and help share this work: https://www.aurorasomatic.com/affiliate → Follow Dr. Erin on Substack: 🎶 Music by: “Instructions for Living a Life” by Savfk https://www.youtube.com/@SavfkMusic This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredillness.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 5m

  5. 12/16/2025

    Ep. 52: Releasing the Womb: Hysterectomy as the Holistic Path to Healing with Oriana Broderick

    In a world that often pits holistic healing against conventional medicine, the bravest choice is often the one that honors the sacred message of your illness, even when it leads to surgery. This is a story of how a hysterectomy became the ultimate somatic release of a lifetime of swallowed emotions, inherited burdens, and the profound responsibility of being the “strong one.” Far from a failure, it is a testament that true healing is not about the protocol you follow, but the unwavering step you take toward your own truth, and surrendering to what unfolds from there. Episode Overview In this powerful and deeply personal episode, I welcome back Oriana Broderick—writer, artist, and former co-host of the Sacred Illness® Podcast—to share the culmination of her multi-year healing journey. Oriana unfolds her path from a childhood of emotional caretaking and trauma to a life of van-life freedom, which paradoxically unleashed a torrent of debilitating physical symptoms. We trace her search through countless supplements and holistic practices to the pivotal moment of confronting numerous uterine fibroids. This conversation bravely navigates the tension between holistic ideals and medical necessity, exploring how Oriana’s decision to have a hysterectomy became a sacred, somatic ritual to release not only her own stored grief and anger but the painful stories of the women in her lineage. We examine the radical self-trust required to make such a choice and how illness ultimately asks one question: did you take the next step toward knowing yourself? 🌿 What You’ll Discover ✨ How leaving a high-stress life for van life created the space for suppressed physical symptoms to finally surface. ✨ The turning point from seeking external solutions in a “huge box of supplements” to seeking internal truth and somatic understanding. ✨ Why the pressure to heal “naturally” can be as fear-based as the conventional medical system, and how to find your own sovereign path. ✨ The profound realization that her fibroids were “bubbles of emotion” holding the anger, grief, and sadness of a lifetime—and a lineage—of silence. ✨ How the universe tested her resolve by canceling her surgery, and why rescheduling it became the ultimate act of self-trust. ✨ Why a hysterectomy can be a holistic, healing choice when approached as a conscious release and a reclaiming of personal space. ✨ The essential reframe: “You can’t fail yourself… The whole point of this journey isn’t what you did or didn’t do… It’s about did I make that next step towards myself?” ✨ Oriana’s message to her younger self—and to anyone in the depths of hopelessness: “It might get harder before it gets easier, but it gets easier, and it is so worth the journey.” ⏳ Timestamps 02:00 - Welcoming Back Oriana Broderick 03:00 - The Foundation: Childhood Trauma and the Role of the “Pillar” 06:00 - Van Life & The Unraveling: When Freedom Triggered a Physical Collapse 10:00 - The Search for Answers: Doctors, Dismissal, and a Box of 50 Supplements 15:00 - Finding Somatic Work and Learning to Trust Support 20:00 - The Fibroid Diagnosis: Navigating Medical Options and External Opinions 25:00 - The Pivotal Realization: Carrying a Lineage of Women’s Pain 30:00 - The Surgery Cancelation as the Final Test of Self-Trust 35:00 - The Hysterectomy as a Somatic Release & Experiencing Divine Support 40:00 - Post-Op: The Journey Continues—Rebuilding Iron, Learning to Rest 45:00 - The Core Philosophy: Your Body is Never Wrong, No Choice is a Failure 50:00 - Would You Have Healed Had You Not Gotten Sick? Oriana’s Honest Answer 55:00 - Ecstatic Dancing, Writing, and Becoming “A Woman Who Speaks Her Truth” 01:00:00 - The True Purpose of Life & Illness: To Know Yourself Deeply 01:05:00 - Oriana’s Message to Anyone Feeling Hopeless 01:10:00 - Who Has Her Illness Invited Her to Become? 💫 Guest Information & Links Connect with Oriana Broderick: - Instagram (Personal & Writing): @whispersandrevelations - Instagram (Art & Jewelry): @rootandwing2025 - Book: When The Soul Howls (Coming Soon!) 💫 Want to Go Deeper? → Begin your Sacred Illness® Journey: https://www.aurorasomatic.com/community Use coupon code PODCAST for 20% off your first month! → Apply to be a podcast guest: https://www.aurorasomatic.com/podcast-guest → Apply to be an Affiliate and help share this work: https://www.aurorasomatic.com/affiliate → Follow Dr. Erin on Substack: 🎶 Music by: “Instructions for Living a Life” by Savfk https://www.youtube.com/@SavfkMusic This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredillness.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 5m

  6. 11/25/2025

    Ep. 51: The Womb as a Wound and a Sanctuary — Healing Uterine Fibroids by Re-mothering the Self with Claire Hickson

    What if a diagnosis was not a sentence to be carried out, but an invitation to come home to the most fractured parts of yourself? When Claire Hickson was advised to have a hysterectomy for a large uterine fibroid, she heard a different call—one that led her not into an operating room, but into the deepest chambers of her own story. In this deeply moving episode, we explore how a physical symptom in the womb can be the body’s sacred attempt to house a lost inner child, and how the journey to heal is ultimately a journey to reclaim, love, and rebirth the self. Claire Hickson is a yoga teacher, poet, and guide from the UK, who shares her multi-layered journey with a 10cm uterine fibroid. We traverse her path from medical diagnosis and the conventional push for a hysterectomy to the intuitive breadcrumbs that led her to holistic treatments, a profound creative awakening through poetry, and the pivotal body psychotherapy session that revealed the fibroid as a manifestation of a newborn trauma. Together, we examine the deep connection between the throat and the womb, how illness can awaken a medicinal voice, and what it means to become a “safe sanctuary” for yourself and others. 🌿 What You’ll Discover ✨ Why Claire chose to explore the message of her fibroid instead of opting for an immediate hysterectomy. ✨ The pivotal role of community and guided meditation in creating a safe container for deep inner work and creative expression. ✨ How a poetic awakening became the key to unlocking a suppressed voice and healing the throat-womb connection. ✨ The moment in a body psychotherapy training that connected her physical symptoms to a pre-verbal trauma of abandonment. ✨ Why Claire now sees her fibroid as symbolizing being “pregnant with myself” and the profound shift to re-mothering her inner child. ✨ How the journey of healing is non-linear and requires trusting intuitive breadcrumbs, even when they don’t make logical sense. ✨ The transformative power of using your voice—through speech, poetry, and now singing—as a core part of somatic healing. ⏳ Timestamps 01:00 - Welcoming Claire Hickson 02:40 - Claire’s Story: The Uterine Fibroid Diagnosis 06:30 - The Conventional Path: Pressure for a Hysterectomy 10:00 - The Pandemic Pause: Space for Meditation and Inner Seeking 13:00 - The Creative Awakening: An Outpouring of Soulful Poetry 16:00 - Following Intuition into Yoga Teacher Training 19:00 - Choosing HIFU Treatment and Reclaiming Personal Authority 25:00 - The Pivotal Realization: Connecting Fibroids to Newborn Trauma 30:00 - The Practice of Re-mothering and Holding a Young Self 35:00 - The Throat-Womb Connection: Voice as Medicine 45:00 - Claire’s Oracle Poem: “Hey You” 50:00 - The Next Layer: Singing as Somatic Healing 55:00 - Who Has Her Illness Invited Her to Become? 💫 Guest Information & Links Connect with Claire Hickson: - Instagram: @claire_inlight - Website: https://instabook.io/landing/yogawithclaire - Book: In Light - Available on Amazon - YouTube: www.youtube.com/@claire_hickson 💫 Want to Go Deeper? → Begin your Sacred Illness® Journey: https://www.aurorasomatic.com/community Use coupon code PODCAST for 20% off → Apply to be a podcast guest: https://www.aurorasomatic.com/podcast-guest → Apply to be an Affiliate and help share this work: https://www.aurorasomatic.com/affiliate → Follow Dr. Erin on Substack: https://sacredillness.substack.com 🎶 Music by: “Instructions for Living a Life” by Savfk https://www.youtube.com/@SavfkMusic This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredillness.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 2m

  7. 11/11/2025

    Ep. 50: Healing Multiple Sclerosis: On Rewiring Your Brain and Embracing Illness as a Teacher with Matt Rowe

    In this milestone episode, I sit down with Matt Rowe, a master neuroplastician and author of Belief to Heal, who overcame paralysis and a primary progressive multiple sclerosis diagnosis. Together, we traverse his incredible journey from elite athlete to a man facing a prognosis of a wheelchair, and into his current life as a guide who blends science and spirituality. This conversation is a deep exploration of how our thoughts, vibrating at specific frequencies, directly influence our biology. We examine the quantum concept that we are primarily energy, the practical steps to shift from a state of fear to a state of love, and how to cultivate a "knowing" that healing is not only possible but is your natural state of being. 🌿 What You’ll Discover ✨ The pivotal moments in Matt’s journey through paralysis and multiple sclerosis that shifted his path from ego to soul.✨ The scientific and energetic basis for how states like love and shame directly repair or dysregulate the body.✨ Why becoming a conscious observer of your thoughts is the first and most critical step to changing your health.✨ A practical framework for moving from a subconscious "habit" of negative thinking into the empowered 5% of your mind that can choose love.✨ How the principle of "Be, Do, Have" reverses the conventional approach to healing and life success.✨ Why seeing every challenge, thought, and symptom as a "teacher" reframes your entire healing journey from a struggle to an initiation.✨ The powerful journaling exercise to connect with your "Future Self" and let her story guide your present-moment choices. ⏳ Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction & A Reflection on 50 Episodes of Sacred Illness®06:00 - Introducing Matt Rowe and His Story07:30 - Matt’s First Invitation: Paralysis During Ironman Training10:00 - The Second Invitation: Frequent Strokes and an MS Diagnosis12:00 - MS as the Greatest Gift: The Shift from Ego to Unconditional Self-Love20:00 - The Science of Energy: How Your Thoughts Become Your Biology30:00 - How to Start Catching Your 95% Subconscious Thoughts35:00 - The Three Levels of Being: Soul, Mind, and Body44:00 - Navigating Fear and Setbacks on the Healing Path50:00 - The Mirror of the Universe and Releasing "Need"57:00 - The Power of Presence: Healing Only Happens Now01:04:00 - From Belief to Knowing: The Garden Analogy for Healing01:07:00 - Who is Illness Inviting Matt to Become? 💫 Guest Information & Links About Matt: Matt Rowe is a Master Neuro-Plastician, author of Belief to Heal, and dedicated guide in the field of mind-body transformation. After overcoming paralysis to complete an Ironman, Matt now teaches others how to harness the brain’s power to heal and thrive. Blending science and spirituality, he empowers individuals to rewire limiting beliefs and step into their highest potential. As a meditation and Reiki practitioner, Matt helps people reconnect with inner peace and natural healing energy. His mission is to inspire hope, resilience, and the belief that healing is not only possible—it’s a daily practice and choice. Connect with Matt Rowe: Instagram: @optimalbody_optimalmind Website: www.optimalbody-optimalmind.com Matt’s Coaching offer: https://www.mattrowecoaching.com/ Book: Belief to Heal Email: Matt@identityofhealth.com 💫 Want to Go Deeper? → Begin your Sacred Illness® Journey:https://www.aurorasomatic.com → Apply to be a podcast guest:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/podcast-guest → Apply to be an Affiliate and help share this work:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/affiliate → Follow Dr. Erin on Substack:https://sacredillness.substack.com 🎶 Music by: “Instructions for Living a Life” by Savfkhttps://www.youtube.com/@SavfkMusic This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredillness.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 11m

  8. 10/29/2025

    Ep. 49: Labor and Deliverance: Healing, Empowerment, and the Medicine of Self-Advocacy with Dr. Tracy Shevell

    What if healing isn’t about finding the right doctor, but learning to become an active participant in your own care? In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Tracy Shevell, a board-certified OBGYN and high-risk maternal-fetal medicine specialist who spent nearly two decades inside academic medicine before her own complex illness—and the pandemic—led her to reimagine what healing could look like. Tracy shares her story of moving from exhaustion and mystery illness to self-advocacy, trauma work, and spiritual integration. We discuss the systemic issues within medicine, how patriarchal models of care silence both patients and practitioners, and what it means for women to reclaim authority over their bodies and health. This conversation is both a critique of modern healthcare and an invitation to return to what’s deeply human in medicine: presence, curiosity, and compassion. What You’ll Learn ✨ How Dr. Shevell’s own illness taught her to bridge western and holistic models of healing✨ The emotional and spiritual dimensions of women’s health that medicine often overlooks✨ Why trauma screening (ACEs) belongs in every medical intake✨ How to advocate for yourself without apology✨ Why “it’s just anxiety” is never an acceptable answer✨ The importance of boundaries, partnership, and choosing doctors who believe in your capacity to heal✨ How menopause and midlife can become opportunities for reinvention and sovereignty ⏳ Timestamps00:00 Intro + welcome03:00 From high-risk OBGYN to patient and advocate07:00 The problem with patriarchal medicine10:00 Why trauma belongs in every health assessment14:00 Complex illness, misdiagnosis, and the “it’s just anxiety” trap17:00 Functional medicine, trauma work, and EMDR20:00 Spirituality, faith, and learning to listen to your body27:00 Re-entering medicine as a teacher of empowerment37:00 How to advocate for yourself with doctors42:00 Menopause and the reinvention of the self44:00 Dr. Shevell’s upcoming book Labor and Deliverance 📚 Connect with Dr. Tracy Shevell Website: www.tracyshevellmd.com Email: hello@tracyshevellmd.com Instagram @tracyshevellmd TikTok: @tracyshevellmd Substack tracyshevell.substack.com Book (forthcoming, 2026): Labor and Deliverance – a blend of patient stories, personal narrative, and lessons on healing beyond medicine 💫 Ready to go deeper? → Begin your Sacred Illness® Journey:https://www.aurorasomatic.com → Apply to be a podcast guest:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/podcast-guest → Apply to be an Affiliate and help share this work:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/affiliate → Follow Dr. Erin on Substack:https://sacredillness.substack.com 🎶 Music by: “Instructions for Living a Life” by Savfkhttps://www.youtube.com/@SavfkMusic This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredillness.substack.com/subscribe

    47 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

Exploring illness as a sacred invitation to deep healing and self-discovery. sacredillness.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Erin Hayford
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    55
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Erin Hayford
  • Show Website
    Sacred Illness™

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