Hey there!
Today I am bringing you the interview of a woman, who has been a huge inspiration to me on my healing journey with Medical Medium.
Let me introduce you to Ashleigh Foster …
◊ Tell us a little about yourself. What chronic illness or symptoms do you have? & how did they start & when? ◊ :
I am a wife and mama with a two year old daughter. We live in Southern California in a sunny apartment by the ocean. I work as a writer, filmmaker and recipe creator. My health struggles began in early childhood, even as a young girl of 8 or 9 years old I remember feeling constantly exhausted. I grew up with a traumatic home-life and a lot of instability. In hindsight, even at that young age I believe I was already struggling with adrenal fatigue, thyroid imbalance, and depression caused by Epstein Barre Virus. Through most of my life and into my early twenties I felt constantly exhausted and overwhelmed. I struggled with a cyclical depression that always seemed to come back around even when I thought I was beyond it. In college, I was plagued by sore throats often and came down with mono two times in the space of a year. I desperately wanted to feel good and threw myself into many different alternative health fads in an attempt to heal, without knowing exactly what I was trying to heal from! After having my daughter, my health crashed completely. I went through this awful postpartum depression and lost a ton of hair. I started having panic attacks and found the basic obligations of being a mom unbelievable overwhelming. I felt suicidal every single night and went through a period of harming myself through cutting. It was an awful, dark time during what should have been this magical season of new beginnings. The gift that came from that though was that things got so bad I was willing to try absolutely anything in order to heal which resulted in a consultation with Anthony William. He was able to explain the things that I didn’t understand at the time— how all of the seemingly unrelated struggles I was having linked back to Epstein Barre and severe adrenal fatigue. I felt the truth in what he was saying and followed all of his advice. Two weeks later I could feel myself beginning to heal and it is a journey that has continued over the last two years.
◊ What’s your daily healing routine? ◊ :
I would love to be a morning person but I am just so not. It doesn’t help that my daughter still nurses at night. Most of the time I roll out of bed when she is already awake and drag myself to the kitchen. I try to do 32 ounces of lemon water first thing. I just chug it and it really does feel like it floods my body with hydration. After that, I try to have some kind of a green juice. My favorites are wheatgrass juice or celery + apple + cucumber juice, but that doesn’t always happen. My first meal of the day includes the heavy metal detox ingredients that Anthony recommends. I will combine them in a smoothie or a fruit bowl and snack on that through the morning. I take my supplements around this time too. For the rest of the day I eat whatever combinations of raw fruit and vegetables I want. I often make a chunky version of spinach soup and eat it wrapped in nori. Sometimes I make veggie wraps with avocado or a dipping sauce. And at the end of the day if I want to I will include a nice cooked meal with my family, something vegetable based. But more often than not lately I stay completely raw. I find that it really helps to avoid any of my depression symptoms from coming back when I am able to stay raw.
◊ What was your diet like before you started the Medical Medium protocol? ◊ :
Before healing with the Medical Medium guidelines, I tried to eat what I thought was healthy but it changed a lot because nothing worked for long. I tried eating a paleo diet for a few years and felt horrible. I tried eating a vegan diet for awhile. I tried doing an all fruit 80/10/10 diet and it caused all sorts of flare ups. I even tried doing a diet based on intermittent fasting with green juices all day. I tried everything! Some of it helped for awhile but nothing worked for the long term and it usually left me feeling worse than when I began!
◊ What’s your favorite meal/recipe? ◊ :
Oh man that is so so hard. I really love the aloo matar recipe from the Healing Path booklet. It is so yummy and easy. I also love the mini apple pie bites from that book. I love chunky spinach soup and raw avocado sushi and twice baked sweet potatoes (from healing path). From the newest book, Life Changing Foods, I love the coconut curry recipe, the chili loaded baked potato recipe, and the tabbouleh salad.
◊ What are some of the supplements you are currently taking? ◊ :
I take a lot of supplements to help with mood and hormone support. I love taking gaba and neuromag for that reason. I try to get raspberry leaf tea in as often as possible. And vitamin c and zinc have made a huge difference in my immunity!
◊ What are some of your strategies to deal with pain or symptoms that you experience? ◊ :
I’m learning to rest and really trust my body and to let go of expectations of where I should be in this journey. Because I’m still in the midst of healing, I’m often not able to do as much or be as productive as I feel like I “should”. I still get overwhelmed sometimes and I find that frustrating because I have a tendency to be so hard on myself. But I’m learning to just rest and accept that this is where I am right now and it won’t be forever. Learning that patience with myself has been such a gift and is something I am now able to offer others in my life too. I think culturally we’ve bought this lie that the more you run around like crazy working yourself to the ground the better. But that’s terrible for our health, especially for women because we just weren’t created to operate in that mode. We’re meant to be receivers and offerers of this deep spiritual beauty and the only way to truly step into that high calling is to be listening and living in the sweet spot of grace and rest.
Create habits. And then turn your habits into rituals by giving them a sacredness.
◊ Have you experienced push back from people in your life or even strangers, after changing your diet and lifestyle? If so how do you deal with that? ◊ :
Oh Help Me! Yes, so much push back! My parents think I’m killing myself because I no longer eat meat. My mom frequently sends me news articles about vegan people dying. I don’t know where she finds this stuff. In my birth family, everything revolves around going out to eat at fancy restaurants so there has been a lot of pressure to do that which is fine in moderation but it gets old paying $20 for a crappy small salad that inevitably comes out with bacon bits on top or something. Thankfully, things are starting to shift and we are doing more meals together as a family around the table at home where anyone can eat whatever they want! There’s been other issues too. One member of my family loves to have people over for dinner and gets really offended when I bring my own food. People are funny and they really hate change, especially with food. It seems to be something that everyone struggles with for some reason. I think all we can do is stick to our plan while giving people space to have their own reactions. And ultimately, keep sharing the vision and hope that meal time can become a time of safety and freedom for everyone no matter where they are at with this stuff. At the table in my home, everyone is welcome to show up as they are and to eat or not eat whatever they want. The more of us who set that as the standard, hopefully things will begin to shift in that direction culturally. But right now, sad as it is, it seems like for some reason it is socially acceptable to give people a really hard time about food. 🙁
The more of us who set that as the standard, hopefully things will begin to shift in that direction culturally. But right now, sad as it is, it seems like for some reason it is socially acceptable to give people a really hard time about food. 🙁
◊ Now for a little more about you! What’s your favorite book right now? ◊ :
I cannot possibly pick. I loved reading the Outlander novels for something light and romantic. In that category, One Day by David Nicholls is my favorite book most likely. I love anything by Annie Dillard, Mary Oliver, or Wendell Barry. I’m currently into sort of escapist stuff for late night reading so I’m enjoying Philippa Gregory’s novel The King’s Curse.
◊ Can you share with us your go to tv show right now? ◊ :
Oh man! Okay, This Is Us is definitely the best thing I have watched in a long time. It’s a new show this year and I can’t get enough. It’s sweet and funny and moving. I loved Parenthood with that was on and it reminds me of that show a lot. I also love Gilmore Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, The Good Wife, and The Bachelor/Bachelorette.
◊ What’s your favorite herbal tea ? ◊ :
Fresh mint.
◊ Are you more of a beach or forest girl? ◊ :
Beach.
◊ Consistency is big when it comes to healing. Can you share your tips on how to stay consistent with the diet and supplements? ◊ :
Create habits. And then turn your habits into rituals by giving them a sacredness. Really be present and enjoy the sound of water filling your glass or the spoon clinking as you stir your supplements. Maybe you even buy yourself a nice pretty glass to use for this purpose. So much sacredness has been stripped from our lives and it has resulted in a generation of women that are threadbare and worn. We have the ability to give sacredness back by imbuing even the simplest moments with beauty and meaning. When you create habits and instill them with beauty, you will be acting out of a deep joy that makes “sticking with things” irrelevant. You’ll be living in the flow of the magic of your daily life.
◊ At Breaking Free we always try to look at the positives. What are you grateful for as a result of your illness? ◊ :
Everything. I am truly grateful for everything in my life that brought me to this moment now. I wouldn’t change a single thing.
◊ What would you say has been the most challenging obstacle/s in your healing journey? ◊ :
Balancing healing with being a mom is really difficult. Being a mom alone is really difficult, much less being a mom who is chronically ill. But as you walk out that journey you begin to see your own strength. It just requires a lot of patience because sometimes the needs of my child are in conflict with my own needs and the journey is not a straight line.
◊ Starting a healing journey can be overwhelming. Do you have any tips for someone just getting started? ◊ :
Pick one aspect that feels least overwhelming and do that. Then expand your timeline. Instead of thinking of healing in terms of weeks or months, start to think of it in terms of years. Be endlessly patient with yourself and those around you (they’ll have to change too!)
◊ The foods and supplements can get expensive, do you have any budgeting tips you can share? ◊ :
Buy in bulk. Look for deals. Eat simply. The food gets more expensive if you start to get into gourmet health products. There’s nothing cheaper than a bag of potatoes or a box of bananas. You can also ask your grocery store about buying in bulk. Some places will even sell you discounted boxes of produce that are too ripe to sell but perfect to be eaten. If there is a wholesale market in your area that is open to the public take advantage of it! It can be intimidating but just head down there and ask questions. You’ll figure it out!
◊ With the knowledge to heal yourself, do you have any goals and dreams for the future that you would like to share? ◊ :
My biggest dream is to open a retreat center where those needing healing can come to truly rest. Can you imagine a place where you’re greeted with celery juice and a plate of fresh fruit first thing in the morning? I think a place like that is desperately desperately needed and am hope to be a part of seeing it come together!
OMG Yes! Please to a retreat center!! That would be a dream come true !
To find Ashleigh :
@Ispythebeautiful
I am so ready to make my daily routine in sacred rituals! What a perfect tip – taking all our supplements, drinking juice, meditating, going in nature into a beautiful ceremony. A celebration if you will…
I’m off to do just that.
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Have a beautiful day !
Talk to ya soon.
With Love,
