Illuminated with Ellie Loves

This week I’m talking to friend and guest SYDNEY Zwicker, a Holistic Pelvic Care practitioner based in Colorado.

Syd's one of those people who has that time traveller quality about her - wise beyond her years and has an ability to push boundaries and facilitate healing for women of all ages. We met when we were both doing our Qoya teacher training and she felt I’d known forever.

Welcome to part 2 - where my guest is Nasreen El-Mariesh. Naz is an Empowerment + relationship Coach: helping professional women fall back in love with their life and their relationship - Her unique style of transformational coaching,  helps women to change their belief systems, connect with their heart and and take the starring role in their life. She's also the Co-Founder of Tonic Retreats and Events Director at Wellbeing by The Lakes - an annual boutique wellness festival in Dorset.

We talk about reaching that point in life when your body/mind is screaming at you to do something different. When you accept that you need to make changes in your relationship, job or life.

I share my own experience of therapy and getting help when I most needed it.

Naz talks about how transformational coaching can empower you to listen to your heart and do what's right for you whether that's to stay in the relationship and to find happiness AND to get your needs met, to leave knowing your worth and to be a peace with your decision and how to navigate co parenting with compassion and confidence.

We talk about:

• How when making a decision feels impossible - don't make it until you feel like you're making it from a solid place.
• The transformational power of coaching and how it can really help you in all areas of life.
• A simple but powerful exercise to get a visceral yes or no in the body.
• If one person in a relationship is unhappy - it's likely that they both are.
• That by one person in the relationship doing the work - you can both benefit.
• Esther Perel describes that in a relationship, you are in a constant evolution and that you go through many versions of yourself over the years.
• That the growth is in the discomfort and as we step out of the shadows and into our truth - that's where the magic happens.
• The joy of skinny dipping, Qoya and breathwork, cold water swimming and how a daily practice however short is so valouable.
• Finally Naz shares a powerful meditation exercise for getting clarity.

This week’s guest is Nasreen El-Mariesh. Naz is one of those friends who will lift you up, inspire and remind you of your limitless potential - she's an Empowerment + relationship Coach: helping professional women fall back in love with their life and their relationship - but really she can coach anyone on anything.  She's one of a kind.

She's also the Co-Founder of Tonic Retreats and Events Director at Wellbeing by The Lakes - an annual boutique wellness festival in Dorset

Naz and I met originally, when she was working in PR, Marketing and Events and I was working in another job in a familiar pattern - frustrated and being called to speak up and recognise my worth!

She shares how she got into coaching and was invited to learn with Jayne Jewell, a renowned Tony Robbins Platinum and master trainer.

And how coaching transformed her own life and how she's passion about sharing the ways of how we can do the same.

We talk about:

• Growing up in Dubai and her parents separating
• How a family tragedy shaped her life irreversibly
• How she rescued her dad from China - and how supported you are when you let go and trust
• The connection to our parents/caregivers and how that relationship often shapes what you choose in a romantic partner
• About her relationship: how taking ownership for her part, releasing control, the never-ending list of hoops to jump - they went from THAT couple  (constantly bickering) to THAT couple, that people admire and come to for relationship advice! And they recently got engaged!
• You can't go back into the darkness when you've seen the light.
• The difference between coaching and therapy.
• How we tell ourselves such stories and how coaching is about undoing them
• Your heart is the compass, which you use to make the decision and your brain is the tool that you use to get you there.

This week I’m talking to Lili Petit, an inspiring intuitive home organiser and breathwork healer, based in LA.

Lili and I met a couple of years ago online as I loved seeing her epic organising for clients and her beautiful aesthetic - but more than that, I loved how she worked with her clients to understand and heal more than their spaces.

Lili matches expert organisation with intuitive energetic cleansing to evaluate, coordinate and completely rejuvenate a home. Trained in a series of respected and time-honoured traditions,She works one-on-one with clients to identify and uncover emotional attachments to their possessions and takes them on a gentle path toward releasing and removing them from the home. Leaving spaces clean and clients feeling relaxed, energised and inspired to begin a new lighter way of living.

We share our love of organising and talk about how this was a valuable coping mechanism, growing up. We talk all things energy, the connection between making space in your home and the process of healing ourselves.

If you’d like to tackle you home or spaces - check out amazing online her course, Sacred space - held over 8 weeks you’ll get to the root of your clutter and where it all began, so that when things feel unmanageable, you’ll know how to reset You’ll learn expert tricks of the trade on how to organise your things Plus the tools to keep yourself accountable, emotionally stable and grounded through the process. 

This week, I’m talking to Keri Bainborough, Human design expert and manifesting generator based in Cape Town, SA.

You’ve probably heard of Human design - but if you haven’t - this conversation will give you a great insight!

Human design brings together the principles of The I Ching, astrology, Kabbalah, the Hindu-Brahmin chakra system, and quantum physics.

Your Human Design Chart, also called a BodyGraph, is calculated using your birth date, time, and place, to reveal your genetic design.In short, its a system that explains how you were built, and how to best respond to the world.

Keri has worked with hundreds of clients all around the world to help them live in alignment with their unique Human Design and energetic gifts. She has a gift for being able to structure complex conceptions into layman’s terms makes her popular with clients of all ages and backgrounds.

She also a passionate social and environmental activist

My reading with her was really illuminating as a generator I love starting things and should wait until I get that pelvic energy stirring before I commit to things like creative endeavours.. I also get tired and burnt out if I don’t conserve energy as the generators internal motor can keep running if you don’t take time out. Sound familiar?!

We talk about:

• The different HD types and how society is made up of the different types
• Focus on Manifesting Generators and generators
• Intuitive eating
• Listening to your intuition and recognising your calls to action
• Your gifts and challenges
• Relationships
• Managing your energy

Welcome to episode 9

So Welcome to episode 8!

This week I’m excited to share a conversation about the power of plant medicine with Marta Wanderlust, space holder, spiritual mentor, Yoga teacher and a Breathwork facilitator.

I’ve long been intrigued by ayahuasca, listening to friends, watching documentaries wondering if the opportunity arose if I’d feel called to try it.

Ayahuasca’s appeal has become widespread over the last 10 -15 years and now you don’t have to travel to source to experience it - you can find ceremonies in your neighbourhood, in apartments in London and New York but you also hear a lot of negative stories of people feeling blown open, even traumatised and questioning their desire to try it in the first place.

Marta shares her experiences living in the Amazon jungle and the High Andes, working with the Shipibo people and plant medicine, and being immersed in community.

She brings rich context the power of plant medicine, its history, its place in amazonian shamanism and how the importance of being held in a safe container with experienced practitioners, either directly or directly from the communities - with which it holds its roots.

Its a fascinating conversation about healing, self awareness, and Marta has such reverence and respect for the medicine. I’m still not sure if its for me - but I definitely feel I can make an informed decision and understand the care necessary in the preparation before and the integration afterwards!

Marta also opens up about her own journey and how plant medicine has help her heal from trauma and addiction - and how it has helped her to guide others on the healing path.

Enjoy!

Find Marta on instagram:

This week's guest is Elan Vital McAllister, former Tony Award winning Broadway Producer and founder of US non-profit organisation Choices in childbirth. She’s a Doula and leading birth advocate, supporting thousands of women in New York City to give birth in a supported and empowered way. She’s also a classically trained dancer, Qoya teacher and activist for women. Her mission is to create safe space for creation in all parts of life. 



We talk about her love of dance and how her passion took her to NY, but it was being invited to be present at her brothers birth as a teen, that she felt her calling - opening her eyes to the power of birth and importance of being held and supported in the process. 

We discuss, passion, love, creativity and what happens when it's all torn down - How letting go and trusting - opens up space for things you could never imagine. 

Elan shares how in 2017, almost overnight everything she loved fell away; her marriage, her work, her home of 15 years and how she was faced with the choice; keep fighting or surrender. What followed was a year of self-discovery, adventure and truly embracing the process of transition. She named it ‘The leap of faith tour’. 

Elan now works as a conscious birth guide and helping women and families embrace their power as creators and consciously birth their babies with love, respect and deep reverence for the creative process. 

We talk about.. 

* Feeling the fear and doing it anyway 

* There’s no right way to give birth, there’s the birth that’s meant for you for your growth. 

* Giving birth in the US health system 

* Transition is an invitation to surrender 

* The Mama Gena Community 

*  Qoya

* Rent the musical on Broadway and the story behind it’s creation.

Jessica shares how she moved from the corporate world to become a successful intuitive coach, medium and breathwork facilitator - helping hundreds of people along the way. She recalls how following the pings of her intuition hasn’t always been easy - and how as someone with a ‘mind for science and logic’ she took some persuading that this was her path! 

But after a weekend course on intuition in Vegas, literally blew open her psychic abilities - it wasn’t long before she was receiving messages from the other side. She connects the dots between a traumatic childhood and using her intuition to stay safe and how this left her with complex PTSD. Understanding this was a game changer. She talks about how she studiously ignores the invitations to breathwork and when she finally did - it changed everything.. she finally found freedom. 

We talk about complex PTSD, healing and how we all have intuitive gifts - we just need tune in and listen. She’s also created a brilliant PDF, based on her years as an intuitive coach - to help listeners discover their own unique skills. 

Matt Taylor is an alchemist for modern times. He’s best known for his simple, but mind-blowing, soul transforming esoteric gifts. He’s a karmic astrologer, coach and guide - funny, wise and relatable - expect laughter and cheekiness! 

We talk about how you are the director, producer and lead in your own movie. That WE create our own reality. He shares how by changing the way you view your life and understanding your part in your challenges - rather than blaming others - you awaken endless possibility. 

He also gives a valuable insight into Kabbalah - an ancient spiritual wisdom which teaches the individual and the world as a whole, how we can improve our lives. We talk about ‘tikun’ - your life challenges and how we are here ‘in this movie’ - this reality, to fulfil our purpose. The answer to true happiness is working out why you are here - what is your work/ what are your patterns/challenges - and healing them - rather than repeating them and blaming everything and everyone else! 

This conversation gives meaning to life and the healing journey and ultimately reveals how we can find true joy and happiness! We discuss: - By accepting that our life is really up to us, we have the opportunity to grow and evolve. - How by working on yourself - you’ll attract the person/people/opportunities you desire - We chose this life, these challenges. We chose the cast and the plot twists.. - There will always be things outside of you that will promise more - but that’s not where the joy is. 

The old adage, work hard and you’ll be happy isn’t always true. - It’s not ‘things’ that hurt us - it’s the pain it’s triggering - ask what unhealed part of me is being activated. - Consciousness and awareness is everything. - The only way to get rid of a blockage, or a challenge is to invite it in and learn from it. - We choose pain or reactivity. Either way, we’ll learn the lessons - but so much better to take the path than to have it chosen.

Join me for this illuminating and insightful conversation with Show girl and QUEEN OF BURLESQUE, Immodestly Blaize aka Kelly Fletcher, BESTSELLING AUTHOR, PUBLIC SPEAKER and a MIND-BODY EATING COACH. 

We talk about her rise to fame and a career that spans two decades, about body image, her experience in the 90’s of being a curvy girl on stage and in the public eye. 

She shares the power of celebrating your uniqueness and the freedom that comes from knowing who you are ditching comparison. How owning your ’too muchness’ and ending the war with your body is the ultimate empowerment. 

We explore the correlation between food and our mothers and how her own experience led her to recreate and bring the super ultra female form to the stage. And how she now is a Mind Body Eating coach cheerleading other women to celebrate the body they are in.

Betsy is a writer, performer, humanitarian and veteran film maker; Empowering women to use their voices and tell their story. 

She talks about releasing her first book - Autobiography of an orgasm - and how getting nakedly honest about her sensual path was the ultimate healing. We talk about embodiment, feeling pleasure in the body and how expressing yourself doesn’t just feel good - its better for your health! 

Following her heart has lead her to travel the world - holding writing retreats in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Bali, France and London. And she’s just finished writing her 7th book Enjoy! How doing Qoya - really lead her to feel good in her body and how speaking your truth can support your immune system. 

You also never know how telling your story is going to plant the seeds and open up the path of healing for other women. And finally, how slowing down and expressing your soul is the biggest gift you can give yourself. 

In this episode we discuss: * That it’s never too late to feel good in your body! * How Betsy explored her pleasure after her divorce and had the most sensual year of her life * Reclaiming our body * The imprint of our sexual experience’s can stay in our bodies for long after the encounter. * How important it is to be courageous - and to show up for the tough conversations - if not we either abandon ourselves or the other person. * How to create rituals around sharing your truth * How being over 50 has given her freedom she never imagined. * That 80% of stories/books written are by men - Women’s stories need to be told. * How Betsy guides women through the self publishing process. * Chasing Temples - her latest book: about the unexpressed stories of her heart - Slowing down for long enough for her dreams to catch up with us.

In this episode, I talk to writer, mother and adventurer and all round inspiration, Kimm Fearnley about the loss of her daughter and only child, India at 26yrs old, to a rare cancer. 

She shares how India’s passing, 4 years ago, awakened her to a life she could never have imagined and how in coming to terms with life without her, she was taken to places within, where she felt more awake, more alive and more present than ever before. 

After her death with her India’s travel journals in hand, she followed the magnetic pull to trace her footsteps to Nepal, India and Everest, searching for her daughter, but as the journey unfolded, discovering her true self. Kimm shares the powerful and beautiful story of India’s passing and she took Kimms hand and showed her the way, with dignity, wisdom and strength. 

In kimms words ‘There’s not a day that passes that I don’t think of that day and it’s the thing I’m most proud of doing in my life.’ We talk about the transformational process of grief, and how losing her greatest love meant that there was nothing else left to lose...and what an incredibly powerful place that is to be. India set her free to live a life without fear and guarantees in all its terrifying magnificence. 

Kimm is a gifted storyteller and her story is beautiful, heart breaking and transformational in equal measure. This is a love story that speaks to the heart of every woman, daughter, sister and mother. We talk about the power of spirituality and ritual and most importantly the power of love. 

In this episode:- - How in teaching India to live without her, she was actually teaching herself. - In the wreckage of her death, not knowing which way to turn, she found the most beautiful jewels. - That a mothers love transcends everything. - Death felt like the smashing of everything she knew, her marriage, life and very existence and starting it all again. - Discovering Spiritual healing and angels. - Yoga, Breathwork and healing. - The power of grief. - We talk about having a spiritual death. - How India met Maya Angelou and the Dalai Lama. 

So welcome to my exciting first conversation with guest Erin Telford. Erin is a certified Breathwork teacher and healer, acupuncturist, Reiki Master, and herbalist, based in Topanga California. 

The first time I did Erin’s breathwork , it was with my dear friend Jo, I had no idea what to expect. I laughed, I cried and roared and afterwards felt a complete reset, filled with love and totally blissed out. It was one of those moments that was life changing.. and By the following weekend we’d booked flights to New Mexico to do the training. 

Erin shares how breathwork can empower us to connect with our intuition, channel our inner strength, and recognize our own ability to heal. As a skilled practitioner, she was doing the work but it wasn’t until she experienced David Elliott’s style of breathwork at a yoga retreat in Nicaragua that she found, what she describes as the missing piece of the puzzle. She explains having so much rage and grief and sadness in her body, and not knowing how to express it. 

Breathwork was a powerful and safe space where for the first time, she was able to feel it all - then release it. It was a revelation, and one that left her feeling love, compassion and acceptance in a way she’d never felt. She’s helped people all over the world gain emotion freedom and clarity has created Breathwork experiences for Soul Cycle, Goop Health in NY and Wanderlust Festival.  Her work has been featured in Vogue, Nylon, Well + Good and The Numinous. 

We talk about: 

Transitions and how leaving New York and the dream job in fashion, 15 years ago was the best thing she ever did - how midlife could do with a rebrand - How living in your true essence: isn’t just good for you - it’s better for the world! How clearing pain and suffering from your body can really brighten your face! She’s is currently writing her first book and this conversation took place at her home in Topanga Canyon at the very beginning of lockdown. Enjoy In this episode:- - Discussing the deep rich possibility for evolution, we face as humanity. - Evaluating your life and knowing when to wait and when to act. - Where and how to find your answers. - Developing your relationship to spirit & nature and receiving guidance and support. - If you’re in a situation/life/career that you feel is killing you slowly - it might be a good idea to leave it..maybe. And if you’re good where you are..stay there! - Death as a catalyst for expansion and inspiration - to make a different choice or make a different move. - The importance of feeling joy in your body. - How when you experience grief - it opens up a ‘grief window’ for every grief you’ve ever experienced, to feel it, heal it and move it out of the body. - Becoming the person you needed when you were growing up.