October 22, 2025 • 51 mins
The pace of modern work can make even basic self-care feel out of reach. We sat down with Maddison Sutton—former corporate turned integrative health coach and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner—to map a calmer, smarter path: tiny rituals, honest body check-ins, and practical boundaries that protect your nervous system while you build the career you want.
Maddison opens up about navigating grief, stress, and the moment she realized “pushing through” wasn’t resilience—it was burnout in disguise. She explains what an FDNP actually assesses across hormones, digestion, detox, sleep, and stress, and why most people don’t need every lab to start feeling better. The surprising unlock? A return to basics anchored in consistent, doable actions. Think five quiet minutes for breakfast, a short morning inventory of mood and tension, and cooking simple meals as intentional resets rather than chores.
We talk about how slowing down can increase authority at work, improve sleep quality, and reduce anxiety. Madison shares how phone-free cooking, evening tech hygiene, and a gentle night routine lowered her stress and brought more presence into meetings and relationships. We also dig into making big moves with both courage and logic: creating financial runway, building safety in your nervous system, and trusting yourself enough to leave what no longer fits.
If you’re a busy woman in a corporate role looking for holistic health strategies that don’t require a life overhaul, this conversation is your blueprint. Expect grounded advice, real stories, and tools you can use today to feel better tomorrow.
If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a calmer morning, and leave a quick review to help more listeners find us.
Connect with Maddison at wellwithmaddison.com
Let's connect on social media! You can find me @ _journeytowell
Be sure to reach out and say hello 🤍
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be well, my friend
xx Hannah
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (01:11):
Hello.
Welcome back to the podcast,Journey to Well.
My name is Hannah, and I amjoined with uh Madison Sutton
today.
She is a two-for-sacralmanifesting generator.
I don't know when I'm puttingout all of these episodes, but I
don't know how it's happened.
I feel like the last five guestsI've been having conversations
(01:35):
with, I haven't even talkedhuman design with.
So I'm very excited to talkhuman design with you.
Um, not the point of thispodcast, though.
Madison is a certifiedintegrative health coach and a
functional diagnostic and healthpractitioner.
Uh, she and I had a really coolconversation about how we can
(01:55):
incorporate holistic health intoour corporate lives.
So, for those of you that are inthe community that work the
corporate nine to five and loveit or work that at corporate
nine to five and maybe want tomake some changes, this episode
is definitely for you.
And it's really an episode forthe busy woman, which is
(02:18):
technically everyone these days.
So, um, Madison, I'm so excitedto chat with you today.
I would love for you to give alittle bit of an intro of who
you are, how your life journeyhas been thus far, and anything
that you'd like to share tointroduce yourself.
SPEAKER_01 (02:37):
Yeah.
Well, thank you so much forhaving me, Hannah.
You have such like a calmingvoice and presence, and I love
it.
Um, it's very nice.
So yeah, I guess a little bit ofbackground on me.
Um, I was in the corporate spacefor the majority of my career.
Um, I was in the software space,and funny enough, I'm kind of
(03:01):
getting back into that, but I'llgo into that in a little bit.
And loved that world, likereally thrived in that world,
did really well.
I feel like it opened up so manyexperiences and like really
changed who I was in so manyways.
So very grateful for that time.
I think that because of somestuff that was happening
(03:25):
personally for me, I kept beingdrawn back into the holistic
health space.
Um, I felt like the universevery much was like, you need to
be in this space, and I'm gonnado everything I can to like
bring you into it.
Um, so you know, kind of startedwith somebody that I was dating
getting really ill.
(03:46):
Um that was kind of a big introfor me, and that's what really
opened my world to holistichealth and wellness and how much
we are in charge, truly, and dohave so much more authority over
our health and our future thanwe think that we do.
Um, so that was the bigeye-opening moment for me, and
it just became such a passion.
(04:08):
I carried it through into my ownhealth struggles.
And when my father was diagnosedwith cancer, probably about four
years ago now, I think that wasreally my the beginning of the
end of my corporate, you know,job.
I don't think the pace that Iwas moving was sustainable for
(04:29):
the stress that my body wasexperiencing.
And I think I had beenexperiencing high levels of
stress just from work for a verylong time, but I had been able
to kind of just push through it.
You know, I was in my like 20sand I was like, this is fine,
like it's okay.
It's fine that I don't sleepliterally ever.
(04:52):
Um, it's fine that I needalcohol to go to bed and gummies
every night, you know.
Um, so I was just just, youknow, kind of making excuses and
just unaware.
And then when dad got sick, Ithink just the grief, like
knowing that he was gonna passalong with the stress that I was
already experiencing.
(05:13):
I also like entered into like anew relationship with my now
partner.
And I think that was a biteye-opening.
So it was kind of like worldscollide situation.
And just like the timing ofeverything, I was like, I'm
stepping away from the corporatespace.
I decided to get my functionaldiagnostics and nutrition
practitioner.
I had already been coachingpeople just for fun on the side.
(05:34):
Um, and I decided to sort ofmake a leap and make it my
career.
Um, funny enough, now I'm doingconsulting for um a wellness
company that wants to bringwellness into um the corporate
space.
So it's like very, very much umit's very synergistic.
SPEAKER_00 (05:53):
What a full circle moment.
And how cool that we are havingthese conversations, not just on
podcasts, but we're reallyseeing this integration in
corporate worlds.
And one of the big foundationsof my business often I talk to
my clients about is like we feelthat we need to make these huge
(06:16):
shifts sometimes because we'vebeen burning the candle at both
ends for so long that we reallyhave this breakdown moment where
we're like, nope, can't just Ijust cannot do it anymore.
Which sometimes happens inrelationships too.
Like it doesn't have to be yourjob, it could be moving or a
relationship or your job or orwanting to lose weight or
(06:37):
something like that, a lifestylechange that we often don't
change until we hit a breakingpoint.
But we don't have to get to thatbreaking point before we start
making some small adjustments.
And so I personally love workingwith clients in the corporate
world that love their job, uh,but they know that it's not
(07:00):
sustainable the way that theyare doing what they're doing.
And they know that they're gonnaeventually hit burnout and to
have that foresight to be ableto do some preventative measures
and make these little shifts isso cool.
So I love that you're going backinto the corporate world in a
different way.
And I think you and I kind oftalked about that a little bit
(07:23):
when we had a conversation.
It'll be interesting toexperience how how you feel
going back in this new way withthe tools that you now have,
because I would imagine thatit's going to be vastly
different and feel much morealigned, making sure that you
have these boundaries and yourown whatever whatever it is that
(07:44):
you do, and we'll learn moreabout you, but like having your
own morning routine, nighttimeroutine, creating that space
within your day and your week toreally pour back into yourself
versus kind of constantly beingin that go, go, go mode.
Um, so let's start at thebeginning.
What is a functional diagnostichealth coach?
(08:08):
What do they do?
SPEAKER_01 (08:10):
Yeah.
So uh maybe I'll differentiatehere between like just a health
coach and the FDNP, which Iended up getting later down the
road.
So I got my my health coachingcertification through IIN.
Um, and it was, I loved that.
You know, it was such a goodeducation on like holistic
(08:31):
health and really likehigh-level everything from like
nutrition to ancestral trauma,um, you know, wellness and how
important it is to really lookat all aspects of your life as
being important to wellness.
So, like your social, yourrelationships, your creativity.
(08:53):
And so that was like the healthcoaching aspect.
So, really, with that, I wouldwork with women and I kind of
always have I I definitelyalways wanted to work with
women.
I felt very called to that.
Um, I felt that's where I couldmake the biggest impact.
That was a little bit more oflike the high level stuff.
(09:15):
Um, and it's funny because afterI got my FDNP, I was like, okay,
it's still all about the highlevel stuff.
You know, um, it's funny, likeyou get all these
certifications, and then you'relike, I didn't actually need any
of this, but I needed to getthat certification to know I
didn't need it.
Um so when my dad was about sixmonths before he passed, I was
(09:39):
experiencing my own likephysical health issues.
And I ended up going to anaturopathic doctor, and that
did not, they just it it, youknow, gave me some temporary
relief, but like really didn'tdo what I needed.
Um, I was not better.
I was still like waking up atnight with all, you know, all
these issues.
I won't even like go into it.
(10:00):
I was having like what I believewas just like a total like
nervous system shutdown.
That's when I decided to get myFDNP because I was like, well,
if my naturopathic doctor can'theal me, and if all of my
holistic stuff that I alreadyknow and like what I educate
women on today, if that won'thelp, let me try this route.
(10:21):
And what FDNP does is um, youknow, I'm still not a doctor,
but I'm able to interpretfunctional labs, basically.
So the, and I really, reallyaligned with FDNP's sort of
mantra and how they approachhealth.
They really like to look at thewhole body at once.
(10:42):
You know, we're not just lookingat digestion, we're not just
running a GI map, you know,we're not just testing your
hormones.
We're gonna look at all of theseareas, which kind of feels like
overkill to some people.
They're like, why am I gonna doall these labs?
I'm like, I get it.
Labs are expensive, but like ifwe fix your hormones and your
(11:02):
digestion, but you're notdetoxing properly, then like
maybe you'll get some temporaryrelief, but then you're gonna
have some issues down the roadbecause your liver is not
working the way that it shouldbe.
So it's the idea of looking atall major body systems and
making sure that all major bodysystems are in balance so that
we can find all areas of healingopportunities and basically
(11:25):
bring health and restore healthcompletely to the body at a
cellular level.
SPEAKER_00 (11:34):
I have so many questions.
Um will do you recommend gettingall of this, all of these panels
ran when there's a problem,before there's a problem, when
you notice something, when isthe best time to kind of start?
SPEAKER_01 (12:00):
So I will say I am a big believer in the basics.
Like obviously, if something isvery, very wrong, you should,
you know, go to yournaturopathic doctor or whoever
your healthcare provider is andget that checked out.
But do I think that you need torun all of these labs just like
for preventative reasons?
(12:21):
Not really.
Um, you know, I think if you'rechecking off the basics, if
you're getting quality rest, ifyou're eating good, neat
nutrient-dense foods, if you arereally truly caring for your
body, like I believe that'sgood.
You know, if you're listening toyour body and making changes as
needed, then yeah, maybe youjust need to run a, you know, do
(12:45):
a Dutch or like a hormone,stress and hormone test.
Um, if you're feeling slightlyoff.
I'm not, I don't think that youlike always need to go get
everything.
And I certainly don't run all ofthese labs with all of my
clients.
But if somebody comes to me andthey're really unsure what's
going on, they're supersymptomatic.
(13:05):
Um, weight loss is a big thing.
A lot of women come to me forweight loss.
They just can't lose weight nomatter what they're doing.
They feel like they're doingeverything right.
Then yeah, let's look ateverything.
Let's make sure that everythingis operating well.
SPEAKER_00 (13:21):
You said something interesting.
You said, as long as you'relistening to your body, what
does that mean to you?
SPEAKER_01 (13:31):
I think it means maybe something different to me
than it does to like othersbecause I again I've been in
this space and I feel like I amvery in tune with my body.
Um I think for some people,they're like, oh, I'm hungry.
You know, like that's and that,yes, that's listening to your
body.
That is a cue that you get fromyour body.
(13:52):
For me, it's waking up and doinga little bit of an evaluation.
So I'll give you an example.
This morning I woke up and I wasjust kind of in a bad mood.
And like there was no reason forme to be in a bad mood.
I slept really well, you know,I've been eating really well.
(14:16):
Like, what is this?
Like, I'm I'm in my follicularphase, like, you know, I'm not
in my lunatile phase.
Like, what's the deal?
So, you know, I sat down and Imeditate every morning.
And I think this is really whereI'm evaluating like, how do I
feel?
Like, this is where I'm doing abody scan.
And I actually noticed that Iwas really feeling like a lot of
(14:37):
grief and sadness.
Um, you know, I kind of had likea routine right when my dad
passed, and I was like regularlylike scheduling time to cry and
be upset.
And I haven't done thatrecently.
So I have myself like a littlecry session this morning.
And I noticed that with that, somuch tension that I've been
(14:57):
holding this past week in myforehead was gone.
And this like tension headachethat I've been having was
released.
And I went on a walk and I wasjust so happy.
And, you know, maybe there hadbeen a few like little signs,
you know, the past few days thathave kind of been pushing maybe
(15:19):
my tension headache that I'vehad.
Maybe something was off.
And I but it took sitting down,I think, and just kind of giving
myself that that moment of peaceand quiet to to listen to what I
needed.
I think it's listening to thatemotional intelligence.
(15:40):
Um really listening to like howyou are feeling and how maybe
how you feel about the day.
You know, I have a lot going onthis afternoon.
So um really kind of trying totune in to like my stress levels
and how do I feel about thisafternoon?
(16:01):
I'm a little bit nervous becauseyou know, I'm going back into
the corporate space.
I'm have more of a jam-packedday.
Like that kind of scares me alittle bit.
So, what can I do this morningprior to those meetings to make
sure that I'm set up forsuccess?
Um, that's I think whatlistening to my body means to
(16:22):
me.
It's waking up, evaluating whereI am currently, thinking about
maybe a little bit of what'scoming.
I don't like to think too far inthe future, and figuring out how
do I work with myself and givemyself what I need in order to
get through those things in themost positive way possible.
SPEAKER_00 (16:46):
That's really beautiful.
And and I love that you are ableto have those moments of I have
found in my journey that when Iget quiet, that that's when my
body speaks.
Um, or that's when I'm able togain these insights.
(17:07):
And I know in my journey in thebeginning, it was like two
seconds sitting down.
I'm like, I don't know what todo, or I don't know how to help
myself, or I don't know whatthis, you know, tension is
trying to communicate, or thispain is trying to communicate.
But I certainly have found thatthe more that I'm able to slow
down, even without thatexpectation of trying to figure
(17:31):
it out, of just sitting down andkind of just being with myself
and not really doing anything,that is when the communication
lines tend to open up and I'mable to communicate a little bit
more.
But you also you're making mechuckle when you're like, I'm in
my follicular phase, because Ihad the same conversations with
(17:53):
myself of like something that Ireally love learning and and
that I love teaching as well isour cycles.
So, like luteal phase,follicular ovulation, menstrual
cycle phase, and um and how wecan feel a little bit well, our
our hormones are different indifferent phases of our cycle,
(18:17):
and and then our emotions andour ability even sometimes to
tap into those emotions or thoseinsights are different in
different phases.
Um, and then the moon phases,like there's so many things that
we can kind of check off thatfor me and from a human design
perspective, I have a one-linein my profile, and like I really
(18:39):
I want the data.
I I'm very um logical, and likeI just want someone to tell me,
you know, the steps or or tellme what to do.
Um, same with body scans andchecking in with my body, and so
there's always like kind ofthese things that I run through
in my mind as well of oh, I'm inLudial right now, and oh, it was
(19:02):
just a full moon, and oh, blah,blah, blah, blah.
But what a great reminder thatyou just shared that we can do
all of these beautiful check-insand hold all of these tools.
But kind of like you were sayingwith your training, like it
really does always end up backat the basics of simply checking
in with yourself, and and you'reallowed to have these feelings
(19:24):
of grief and sadness oroverwhelm in your ovulation
phase or in your follicularphase, and it's not just your
luteal and menstrual phase thatwe're more emotional, as I'm
putting that in quotes if you'relistening to it and not watching
the video.
Um so interesting.
So, thank you for sharing thatreminder and and kind of giving
us giving us a chuckle.
(19:46):
So, I'm really curious.
I want to hear your journey, butI also would love to hear how
this is incorporated with yourclient work and and any advice
you have for people that arelistening that are hearing this
and saying, Oh my gosh, thatsounds lovely to be able to sit
(20:08):
down in the morning for howeverlong you sat down and meditate
every morning.
And good for you, Madison, lovethat for you, but I can't get
into it, or I don't have timefor it.
And how did you feel in yourcorporate journey?
Like, did you start meditatingwhen you were on your corporate
journey or before you left thecorporate world?
(20:32):
Um, and how can we begin to takethese small steps of creating
these beautiful routines that wehear about, but often we kind of
stop at like hearing them andwe're we tell each tell
ourselves, oh, that's a great,great idea, but I don't have the
(20:53):
time or I don't have theconsistency or I don't have the
discipline or whatever excuse wegive ourselves.
SPEAKER_01 (20:59):
Yeah.
Well, I will say now my morningroutine is aggressively long.
But it did not always look thatway.
I mean, I probably did not likedo any work this morning until
like 11, and I woke up at 6:30.
So, but that was me going on awalk and everything.
So, um, and I'll never go back,honestly.
(21:22):
I think the more you lean in andthe more you realize you need
these things and you see whatpeace and happiness it brings
you, you're not willing to goback.
Um, I think it's almost the sameas being like in a bad
relationship and then leavingand being in a good
relationship.
And you're like, why would Inever go back to that bad
(21:45):
relationship?
Um, but to answer a question, sostarting out, obviously it is
difficult.
I try to journal.
I've actually been journaling,like I picked up journaling when
I started in high school, likein high school, probably end of
my high school um years, anddefinitely did not do it
(22:05):
consistently.
I would only do it if somethingwas like really bothering me.
Um after college, I startedjournaling, but again, not
consistently.
Like I've probably had 15 yearsof like inconsistently
journaling.
You know, I would go for a monthand I'd journal every day and
(22:27):
then I wouldn't do it again forlike three months.
Same with meditation.
Meditation for me has beenharder than journaling.
Um, you know, same probablytried for like eight years, on
off, on, off, on, off.
So, you know, if that is youright now, I hear people say all
the time, well, like you're goodat the health stuff, you're good
(22:49):
at it.
No, I'm not good at it.
Like, I didn't want to take abreak to make lunch for myself
today, but I made myself do it.
You know, it's not necessarilyeasier for some people than it
is others.
I just think you reach a pointwhere you're like, I feel better
when I do this.
(23:11):
And I'm not no longer willing tosacrifice that.
And I think that's what'shappened with me.
Um, at the height of my likestress with work, right before I
decided to leave.
And I see this with a lot ofwomen, like they're wanting to
find, they're wanting to add inthe morning routine.
I didn't add in the journaling,the meditation.
(23:34):
I added in making myselfbreakfast.
Making myself breakfast andsitting down to eat breakfast.
So many women, in fact, everysingle woman almost that I've
worked with, they don't eatbreakfast, they don't take that
time.
Um, they either don't eatbreakfast or they just like run
through it or they're likeshoveling, you know, a granola
(23:56):
bar in their mouth.
If you are not sitting down toeat breakfast or allowing
yourself just five minutes tolike eat something in the
morning, then don't try tomeditate or journal, you know.
Like start with sitting down andeating breakfast and just, you
know, allowing yourself a fewminutes there.
(24:18):
I started by I would like makebreakfast and then I would go
sit on my porch for like 20minutes.
That was it.
I wasn't meditating orjournaling, but I was like, oh
my gosh, this is nice.
And because I'm actually makingmyself like a home cooked, like
protein practiced breakfast, Ihave energy now and I feel good
(24:38):
and I'm not crashing throughoutthe day.
Um it really is trying somethingsmall, and the concept of we do
not have time or the lie that wetell ourselves that we do not
have time, it is just that it isa lie, it is not true.
(24:59):
Um I know so many people arebusy, I get it, I I do, but you
have to make time for yourselfbecause nobody else is going to
make time for you in the waythat you need.
You know, you have to createthat space for yourself, or you
(25:20):
will literally never have it.
And like I think this is soimportant for moms, for women
that are busy, for women of thecorpus, literally just women,
because men don't really havethis issue, not as much as women
do.
So ask yourself, what do youneed to happen in order to
create a little bit of space foryourself?
(25:43):
What do you need to do?
Do you need to wake up a fewminutes earlier?
Does that mean you need to go tobed a few minutes earlier?
Do you need to say, hey husband,hey partner?
I need you to help me with thisin the morning because I I need
that time or I need that space.
Like you have to figure out whatyou need.
SPEAKER_00 (26:04):
Amen.
Isn't that isn't that the secretof just creating a little bit?
And I like that you even startedof just sitting on your deck.
Those were some of my favoritemornings where I just would sit
on my couch and watch my catsplay and drink my coffee and not
(26:25):
do anything.
There's no journaling, checkingin, doing the body scan, doing
the meditation, doing the yoga,whatever it is.
It's just sitting, and that'swild, just slowing down in that
way of not doing anything.
And it's different thanmeditation because I think
meditation can also be a littleunapproachable for people when
(26:49):
we are really busy.
It's hard to slow down that muchwhere we are supposed to clear
our mind.
Um, so maybe just try sitting.
Maybe that's the invitation thatyou pull from today's episode of
just sitting and doing nothing,or sitting somewhere beautiful,
um, or noticing.
(27:09):
I always like noticing what younotice around your house or uh
what you notice outside, likejust not all of the mess and all
of the stress and everythingthat you need to clean, but just
noticing the little beauty, thelittle beauties that come up.
Um so what did you what did younotice?
(27:30):
Speaking of noticing, I guess,uh what did you notice was the
biggest shifts that you felt inyour body moving from I actually
I was going to say from thecorporate, but that's not how I
want to word it.
What were the biggest shiftsthat you noticed and felt in
your body when you began toincorporate all of these tools
(27:54):
that you learned in yourtraining and that you now share
with your clients?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (27:59):
So I I I had a very large decrease in anxiety
personally.
Um, and I started sleeping a lotbetter.
So I would say those were likethe two biggest like physical
things that I noticed when Istarted creating that space for
myself.
I also just started craving morespace for myself.
(28:24):
You know, like you give yourselfthat little bit of space in the
morning and that peace, and youwant to protect it.
Um, something else I was gonnakind of add to that is like I
started slowing down with otherthings.
So, you know, instead of doinglike a K cup with coffee or
(28:46):
whatever, I would actually makemy mud water, which is like a
seven to 10 minute ordeal, youknow.
And I, but that's okay.
So I started noticing I would doother things slowly.
And in the shower, I'm not likerushing through, running out,
you know, like slathering onsome lotion.
(29:08):
I was slowing down in theshower, and I was taking some
time afterwards to like put onmy body oils and like massage my
legs, you know.
I started slowing down andcreating more space for myself.
And I am a believer that whenyou start moving slow more
(29:28):
slowly, when you start reallylike flowing through life, other
things come in.
Things that you want, thingsthat you're working towards,
things that you're probablypushing really hard to get start
coming to you more effortlessly.
So as soon as I started doingthis, partner came in to the
(29:50):
picture for me.
Like I started really owning,like I felt like I had authority
at work.
But when I really startedprotecting my peace personally,
that's when a a partner, a goodpartner came into my life.
You know, that's when I startedbeing able to slow down at work
(30:10):
because I think I was maybeexuding a little bit more
authority.
I wasn't, you know, trying torush to meet everybody else's
needs and make everybody elsehappy.
I was showing up to the meeting,not stressing out, giving my
authentic self, giving my bestand not stressing out about it
and not worrying about itafterwards.
And I just, I don't know, I feltlike other things just started
(30:33):
falling into place very well,including me having the
confidence to actually step awayfrom that job.
So I don't know.
I think when you start givingyourself that space and that
permission to take care ofyourself, I believe that the
universe responds to that.
SPEAKER_00 (30:56):
Do you feel like having the confidence to walk
away?
It was also this trust that youhad of I'll be able to figure it
out or I'll be okay.
Like, walk us through thatjourney of making that big life
(31:18):
shift.
SPEAKER_01 (31:20):
Yeah, I think I had been like sitting on it for a
long time.
And I am a person that when Imake a choice, like truly
actually actively make it, it'sdecided, like it's happening.
So I think I was like kind ofsitting on it for a little
while, not 100% sure that it wasthe right move.
(31:41):
And I honestly think I could notcontinue to stay in that role
and keep the peace and happinessthat I wanted.
You know, like for me, it wasn'tnecessary.
I mean, yes, there was aconfidence that it would work
out and it would be okay.
Truthfully, I also looked at myfinances and I was like, okay,
(32:03):
like I've saved up enough moneywhere I can be okay for a little
while without making money.
So like it wasn't just likeblind confidence in myself.
Like there was some logic behindthis.
I was like, okay, I have alittle bit of a cushion, but I
was not operating as the personI wanted to be any longer.
(32:24):
Like that job was not making mehappy.
I was not showing up in myrelationship the way that I
wanted to.
I did not feel the way that Iwanted to.
I was not living the life orbeing the person that I wanted
to be any longer, even with myjournaling and my meditation and
my eating healthy.
You know, like I was doing allthose things, but I was just not
(32:47):
in the right space any longer.
I had outgrown that situationand it was becoming a toxic
place for me.
And that was really what pushedme was, you know, I don't want
to be this person anymore.
I want to be happy in my life.
SPEAKER_00 (33:02):
And isn't it interesting when we create the
space to slow down and the spaceto notice that and when we are
doing these holistic wellnesssupportive things, isn't it
funny that we normally end uplearning, realizing, realizing
(33:23):
or recognizing the areas in ourlife that are just not aligned
anymore, where we spend a lot oftime just kind of going, going,
going, like the hamster runningon the wheel.
And we don't spend a lot of timelooking around because we are
just too busy going.
And so creating that space, Ithink that's also could be part
(33:46):
of part of the alignment andeverything kind of coming into
flow is that you are actuallyaligning with what you want to
bring into the world and how youwant your energy to feel and how
you want to feel moving throughthe day.
And and when we have thatintention, then they then I
(34:07):
guess from an energetic our ourwoo-woo side, when we have that
intention, then we're puttingthat intention out into the
universe, and the universe knowsthat they can work with that.
That's a little woo-woo, alittle spiritual, but no.
SPEAKER_01 (34:20):
I mean, I've I believe that.
I feel like, you know, I havesome friends that they tend to
have like a more negativeoutlook on life.
And it seems like bad things,like thing, you know, not bad
things, but you know, they theytend to have the bad days more
than you know, the people thathave the positive outlook.
I do really believe if you arein this like chaotic space
(34:43):
that's always busy, I don't havetime for anything, space, that's
what you're gonna get back.
Um, so you really have to, andthis is the hardest part taking
that first step to make spacefor yourself.
But once you do it, like youwill get a return.
That is a time investment thatyou will get return on.
SPEAKER_00 (35:02):
Hmm.
You said something interestingthat I want to point out about
your human design.
And and I was curious how youanswer.
So the two four profile is likeour profile is like our
personality, and there's alwaystwo numbers, so it looks kind of
like a fraction.
You have a the first number, thesecond number.
(35:22):
Your four line is what we callthem in human design.
So the four number is one of thecool parts about if you have a
four line in your if you have afour in your profile, is when
we're talking about makingdecisions and kind of making the
leap, right?
And like you said, like I wasn'ta blind thing.
I didn't just willy-nilly likedecide.
(35:44):
And I had been sitting with itfor a while and I looked at my
finances, knew that I would beokay if I didn't work for a
while, and I had really createdthis.
If we're talking in terms of thenervous system, this felt sense
of safety and security to beable to leave this corporate
job.
That's a lot of what we talkabout in four lines.
(36:06):
It's important for them to likeI always use the analogy of like
you're jumping from one rock toanother, big life shift,
whatever it is.
And four lines need to know likewhere they're jumping, but it's
it you gave a cool distinctionof it doesn't it doesn't mean
that you knew exactly what youwere gonna do, and that you
(36:28):
know, you had the entire planmapped out.
You just knew that one, like yougot yourself, you were you were
okay, you had that confidence,and you were unwilling to be on
this said first rock anymore.
So you knew you had to move, youknew that you had the financial
security, and you knew that youhad, and and then you created
(36:51):
these tools, right?
Because you did decide to goback to school and you got all
of the certifications that youfelt that you needed.
So really creating that safety,even if you don't have the whole
plan listed out in front of you,which we never can plan enough,
honestly, because there's gonnabe so many things that pop up
that we don't think about.
But um, yeah, that was justreally cool.
(37:12):
I like sometimes pointing out afew little pieces of people's
human designs that seem toreally pop out, and that was one
of one of them for me.
SPEAKER_01 (37:22):
Yeah, it's funny because I feel like I'm a person
that very much like does need tofeel safe, but I'm also not like
risk averse, you know?
So it's it's like a little bitcontradictory, I'd say.
SPEAKER_00 (37:39):
Yeah.
Well, even from a psychologicalstandpoint, it's always
interesting.
I've read some studies of like,I think there are baby monkeys,
but um, when mom is there andthe child feels safe, then the
child will go out and you know,go explore that like
(37:59):
weird-looking toy or that weirdsound machine.
Um, and isn't that true for allof us?
I mean, whether that's therelationship that we have with
ourselves, again, like I've gotme, I will be okay.
The relationship we have withour partner, that I feel safe
enough to be able to take thoserisks.
(38:20):
Uh, I think some people aredefinitely more risky without
needing that safety net, but itreally does again.
I I think everything alwayscomes back to the nervous
system, and that's a really goodindication or insight that you
shared of having that safety tothen be able to take the risks
and feel confident in them.
(38:42):
Yeah, I think that makes sense.
Interesting.
It does, yeah.
So coming on this podcast, whathave you not had the opportunity
to share or touch on that asyou're setting your intentions
to come on that you feel likeyou would really like to share?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (39:02):
I mean, I think I've talked about this for the
majority of the time, likecreating that space for
yourself, but like I think Icannot emphasize it enough.
Um and I'm seeing it come up asI'm going back into the
corporate space.
(39:22):
Like it would be very easy forme to go into this new role and
go back into bad habits and wakeup in the morning and you know,
open my phone or my laptop,check email, check Slack.
And like I think that's whatmost women or a lot of women I
work with do.
(39:43):
They wake up in the morning andthey immediately jump into
action into going into work.
It's so easy to do that.
And we are just like trained,you know, I whether it's society
or watching our parents, or justthis like fear that as a woman
we need to work harder than aman, but you do not have to
(40:05):
start your day with that chaos.
You don't have to do it.
Um, so I really think that's thebiggest thing for me.
Find and it doesn't have to bethe morning, but find a time in
your day to create space foryourself if you are not doing
that right now.
And I can pretty much guaranteethat once you start creating
(40:27):
that small space for yourself,it is something that you're
gonna want to hang on to andprobably grow and expand in your
life.
SPEAKER_00 (40:37):
What are some of your favorite ways to create
space in your day?
SPEAKER_01 (40:45):
I so I definitely have my morning routine.
I meditate a journal, like Iwant to walk when I can.
If I can't, that's fine.
But the journal meditation isnon-negotiable.
Um, I make space in my day bycooking every meal.
So like I make myself breakfastevery morning, I stop and I make
(41:06):
myself lunch, and I end my dayat five and I make dinner with
my partner.
So I feel like I almost usecooking as a way, one, to
nourish my body, but to alsokind of recalibrate throughout
the day and make sure I'm takinga break and like being
(41:27):
intentional with my health.
Because, you know, I'm cookingat home, I'm not eating out, I'm
making sure that I'm makingsomething that tastes good and
is beautiful and colorful.
Um, so that is a way where I addspace that I think a lot of
people they're like, oh,cooking's such a, you know,
takes so long and I hate doingit.
And I'm like, cooking is showingyour body love, like and being
(41:52):
intentional with your health andtaking time for your health.
So I think that one is a reallygood one.
I'm also very intentional aboutlike electronics.
So I put my phone away afterdinner and well, really before
like while we're cooking.
(42:12):
So basically after work, myphone is pretty much away.
Um, and you know, we'll watchmaybe a show or something, but I
like to have my nighttimeroutine of like reading and
making tea.
So with all of that, like I feellike I do bring a lot of,
(42:32):
they're not crazy things, Idon't feel, but it's spread out
throughout the day in a way towhere I'm like kind of always
coming back and to thatstillness and that intention
with my health.
SPEAKER_00 (42:47):
Yeah, I like that reminder of using cooking or
using something almost as thatreminder of taking some time to
clear your mind or clear yourenergy and reset.
And I like that reminder, I likethat pairing with food.
Although you said what I wasthinking that there's so many
(43:11):
people that I've that I've metthat find cooking very
stressful, uh, and like it'salmost like another job instead
of getting off of work andhaving this tool to unwind.
It's like they're not reallyable to unwind until after that,
(43:33):
after they cook.
And it's always like, how fastcan I cook?
Or what's the easiest thing todo?
Have you always been a greathave you always found that you
enjoy cooking, or was thissomething that you've worked on
and kind of developed?
SPEAKER_01 (43:47):
It's something that I worked on.
So I I haven't like hatedcooking.
I've gone through my ups and mydowns, but there was, I mean,
when I lived in San Francisco,like probably the height of my
like craziness with work, Iprobably ordered out like twice
a day.
I mean, I don't even want toknow the amount of money I spent
on ordering out.
It's like terrifying.
(44:08):
Um, so no, no, that's not alwaysbeen my thing.
I think for that person, I wouldchallenge you and say, what are
you doing when you're cooking?
Or like, what is the stressthat's associated with cooking?
So, an example, I like had abusy day today, and I wanted to
(44:28):
bring my computer and my phonedownstairs to cook lunch.
And I think if I had done that,it would have made, and really,
when I say cook lunch, I waslike heating up on the stove
some soup from last night.
So it took me 10 minutes.
I'm not saying you need to dolike soup, something super
elaborate if you don't have thetime, but like I was very
(44:50):
intentional about leaving myphone and my laptop because that
trying to like check your emailand like your Slack while you're
trying to make dinner or tryingto like multitask while you're
trying to make dinner, yes, thatis very stressful.
Um, so that would be my firstthing.
Like, are you just cooking orare you trying to multitask
(45:14):
while you're cooking?
SPEAKER_00 (45:15):
Hmm.
Hmm.
There's so much, but I thank youfor sharing that that it was not
always that way because I dofeel like some people that I
talk to are just like, you haveit or you don't.
And honestly, I never hatedcooking, and I've always seen
it.
It's it's kind of thisexpression of love to my people,
(45:36):
and it's also this expression oflove to my body.
You said that really poignantly,and and I want to bring us back
there of you're nourishing yourbody, and this is this is like
this act of love to your body.
And when I have thatperspective, it's like I'll take
(45:58):
the time to cook the food.
It's so important because I'mnourishing myself and I'm
pouring into myself, and andthen you can make kind of the
whole cooking process thatpouring in the love to yourself
as well.
Um but a lot, a lot of a lot ofinvitations.
Cooking is always an interestingtopic of conversation because I
(46:22):
do feel like a lot of women feelthat it's overwhelming or an
extra job, or and I also wonderwhat would shift if you created
more space in your day in otherways.
Maybe you would enjoy cookingmore.
I don't know.
If you didn't feel so stressedgoing into it, then maybe you
(46:44):
would feel so stressed goingthrough it as well.
SPEAKER_01 (46:47):
So it's easy to feel like things are stressful when
you're when you're trying tosummon energy from nothing.
SPEAKER_00 (46:56):
Ooh, that was a good one.
Thank you for that.
All right.
Last question.
Thank you so much for coming on.
Oh my gosh, I'm jumping the gun.
Thank you for coming on.
I appreciate your time and yourinsight and your wisdom.
And if people are looking toconnect with you, learn a little
bit more from you.
(47:17):
Uh, where do you spend a lot ofyour time?
Where do you hang out?
Do you have a podcast of yourown?
I can't remember.
Um, share all those good things.
SPEAKER_01 (47:26):
Yeah, no podcast of my own.
Um, feel free to go to mywebsite.
Um, that's probably the bestplace to get in touch with me,
learn a little bit more aboutwhat I offer and my services.
I have an Instagram, but I'mhonestly a bit, I'm kind of on a
hiatus from social media.
It just like doesn't jive withme.
(47:47):
So you can go there, but there'snot probably gonna be anything
like super updated.
unknown (47:53):
Sure.
SPEAKER_01 (47:54):
And uh website will be listed below, but what is the
website?
It is wellwithmadison.com andMadison has two Ds.
SPEAKER_00 (48:03):
Beautiful.
Thank you.
Okay, now last question.
Uh, if you could go back andgift your younger self a somatic
tool or perspective that you nowuse daily, what would that tool
or perspective be?
SPEAKER_01 (48:28):
I okay, I think for me it would be a perspective.
And I don't really know how tosay this.
Like, you know, kind of doing alot of like inner work, like
when I was younger, I was likesuper confident.
And then, you know, that kind ofreally went away in those
(48:48):
in-between years.
And I feel like I'm just nowlike re-stepping into like that
version of myself that I waswhen I was a younger, you know,
child.
And I don't know how I wouldgive myself this because you
have to go through those hardthings and those growing pains.
But you know, I think if I wishI could give myself that
(49:12):
confidence to be myself and umnot be scared to be seen and
heard, I think that wouldprobably be what I would want to
give my younger self.
SPEAKER_00 (49:24):
Thank you.
That's really beautiful.
Thank you for sharing.
And thank you so much for yourtime and your insight.
This was such a funconversation.
I appreciate you, Madison.
SPEAKER_01 (49:35):
Thank you.
I appreciate you too.
Hello.
Welcome back to the podcast,Journey to Well.
My name is Hannah, and I amjoined with uh Madison Sutton
today.
She is a two-for-sacralmanifesting generator.
I don't know when I'm puttingout all of these episodes, but I
don't know how it's happened.
I feel like the last five guestsI've been having conversations
(01:35):
with, I haven't even talkedhuman design with.
So I'm very excited to talkhuman design with you.
Um, not the point of thispodcast, though.
Madison is a certifiedintegrative health coach and a
functional diagnostic and healthpractitioner.
Uh, she and I had a really coolconversation about how we can
(01:55):
incorporate holistic health intoour corporate lives.
So, for those of you that are inthe community that work the
corporate nine to five and loveit or work that at corporate
nine to five and maybe want tomake some changes, this episode
is definitely for you.
And it's really an episode forthe busy woman, which is
(02:18):
technically everyone these days.
So, um, Madison, I'm so excitedto chat with you today.
I would love for you to give alittle bit of an intro of who
you are, how your life journeyhas been thus far, and anything
that you'd like to share tointroduce yourself.
SPEAKER_01 (02:37):
Yeah.
Well, thank you so much forhaving me, Hannah.
You have such like a calmingvoice and presence, and I love
it.
Um, it's very nice.
So yeah, I guess a little bit ofbackground on me.
Um, I was in the corporate spacefor the majority of my career.
Um, I was in the software space,and funny enough, I'm kind of
(03:01):
getting back into that, but I'llgo into that in a little bit.
And loved that world, likereally thrived in that world,
did really well.
I feel like it opened up so manyexperiences and like really
changed who I was in so manyways.
So very grateful for that time.
I think that because of somestuff that was happening
(03:25):
personally for me, I kept beingdrawn back into the holistic
health space.
Um, I felt like the universevery much was like, you need to
be in this space, and I'm gonnado everything I can to like
bring you into it.
Um, so you know, kind of startedwith somebody that I was dating
getting really ill.
(03:46):
Um that was kind of a big introfor me, and that's what really
opened my world to holistichealth and wellness and how much
we are in charge, truly, and dohave so much more authority over
our health and our future thanwe think that we do.
Um, so that was the bigeye-opening moment for me, and
it just became such a passion.
(04:08):
I carried it through into my ownhealth struggles.
And when my father was diagnosedwith cancer, probably about four
years ago now, I think that wasreally my the beginning of the
end of my corporate, you know,job.
I don't think the pace that Iwas moving was sustainable for
(04:29):
the stress that my body wasexperiencing.
And I think I had beenexperiencing high levels of
stress just from work for a verylong time, but I had been able
to kind of just push through it.
You know, I was in my like 20sand I was like, this is fine,
like it's okay.
It's fine that I don't sleepliterally ever.
(04:52):
Um, it's fine that I needalcohol to go to bed and gummies
every night, you know.
Um, so I was just just, youknow, kind of making excuses and
just unaware.
And then when dad got sick, Ithink just the grief, like
knowing that he was gonna passalong with the stress that I was
already experiencing.
(05:13):
I also like entered into like anew relationship with my now
partner.
And I think that was a biteye-opening.
So it was kind of like worldscollide situation.
And just like the timing ofeverything, I was like, I'm
stepping away from the corporatespace.
I decided to get my functionaldiagnostics and nutrition
practitioner.
I had already been coachingpeople just for fun on the side.
(05:34):
Um, and I decided to sort ofmake a leap and make it my
career.
Um, funny enough, now I'm doingconsulting for um a wellness
company that wants to bringwellness into um the corporate
space.
So it's like very, very much umit's very synergistic.
SPEAKER_00 (05:53):
What a full circle moment.
And how cool that we are havingthese conversations, not just on
podcasts, but we're reallyseeing this integration in
corporate worlds.
And one of the big foundationsof my business often I talk to
my clients about is like we feelthat we need to make these huge
(06:16):
shifts sometimes because we'vebeen burning the candle at both
ends for so long that we reallyhave this breakdown moment where
we're like, nope, can't just Ijust cannot do it anymore.
Which sometimes happens inrelationships too.
Like it doesn't have to be yourjob, it could be moving or a
relationship or your job or orwanting to lose weight or
(06:37):
something like that, a lifestylechange that we often don't
change until we hit a breakingpoint.
But we don't have to get to thatbreaking point before we start
making some small adjustments.
And so I personally love workingwith clients in the corporate
world that love their job, uh,but they know that it's not
(07:00):
sustainable the way that theyare doing what they're doing.
And they know that they're gonnaeventually hit burnout and to
have that foresight to be ableto do some preventative measures
and make these little shifts isso cool.
So I love that you're going backinto the corporate world in a
different way.
And I think you and I kind oftalked about that a little bit
(07:23):
when we had a conversation.
It'll be interesting toexperience how how you feel
going back in this new way withthe tools that you now have,
because I would imagine thatit's going to be vastly
different and feel much morealigned, making sure that you
have these boundaries and yourown whatever whatever it is that
(07:44):
you do, and we'll learn moreabout you, but like having your
own morning routine, nighttimeroutine, creating that space
within your day and your week toreally pour back into yourself
versus kind of constantly beingin that go, go, go mode.
Um, so let's start at thebeginning.
What is a functional diagnostichealth coach?
(08:08):
What do they do?
SPEAKER_01 (08:10):
Yeah.
So uh maybe I'll differentiatehere between like just a health
coach and the FDNP, which Iended up getting later down the
road.
So I got my my health coachingcertification through IIN.
Um, and it was, I loved that.
You know, it was such a goodeducation on like holistic
(08:31):
health and really likehigh-level everything from like
nutrition to ancestral trauma,um, you know, wellness and how
important it is to really lookat all aspects of your life as
being important to wellness.
So, like your social, yourrelationships, your creativity.
(08:53):
And so that was like the healthcoaching aspect.
So, really, with that, I wouldwork with women and I kind of
always have I I definitelyalways wanted to work with
women.
I felt very called to that.
Um, I felt that's where I couldmake the biggest impact.
That was a little bit more oflike the high level stuff.
(09:15):
Um, and it's funny because afterI got my FDNP, I was like, okay,
it's still all about the highlevel stuff.
You know, um, it's funny, likeyou get all these
certifications, and then you'relike, I didn't actually need any
of this, but I needed to getthat certification to know I
didn't need it.
Um so when my dad was about sixmonths before he passed, I was
(09:39):
experiencing my own likephysical health issues.
And I ended up going to anaturopathic doctor, and that
did not, they just it it, youknow, gave me some temporary
relief, but like really didn'tdo what I needed.
Um, I was not better.
I was still like waking up atnight with all, you know, all
these issues.
I won't even like go into it.
(10:00):
I was having like what I believewas just like a total like
nervous system shutdown.
That's when I decided to get myFDNP because I was like, well,
if my naturopathic doctor can'theal me, and if all of my
holistic stuff that I alreadyknow and like what I educate
women on today, if that won'thelp, let me try this route.
(10:21):
And what FDNP does is um, youknow, I'm still not a doctor,
but I'm able to interpretfunctional labs, basically.
So the, and I really, reallyaligned with FDNP's sort of
mantra and how they approachhealth.
They really like to look at thewhole body at once.
(10:42):
You know, we're not just lookingat digestion, we're not just
running a GI map, you know,we're not just testing your
hormones.
We're gonna look at all of theseareas, which kind of feels like
overkill to some people.
They're like, why am I gonna doall these labs?
I'm like, I get it.
Labs are expensive, but like ifwe fix your hormones and your
(11:02):
digestion, but you're notdetoxing properly, then like
maybe you'll get some temporaryrelief, but then you're gonna
have some issues down the roadbecause your liver is not
working the way that it shouldbe.
So it's the idea of looking atall major body systems and
making sure that all major bodysystems are in balance so that
we can find all areas of healingopportunities and basically
(11:25):
bring health and restore healthcompletely to the body at a
cellular level.
SPEAKER_00 (11:34):
I have so many questions.
Um will do you recommend gettingall of this, all of these panels
ran when there's a problem,before there's a problem, when
you notice something, when isthe best time to kind of start?
SPEAKER_01 (12:00):
So I will say I am a big believer in the basics.
Like obviously, if something isvery, very wrong, you should,
you know, go to yournaturopathic doctor or whoever
your healthcare provider is andget that checked out.
But do I think that you need torun all of these labs just like
for preventative reasons?
(12:21):
Not really.
Um, you know, I think if you'rechecking off the basics, if
you're getting quality rest, ifyou're eating good, neat
nutrient-dense foods, if you arereally truly caring for your
body, like I believe that'sgood.
You know, if you're listening toyour body and making changes as
needed, then yeah, maybe youjust need to run a, you know, do
(12:45):
a Dutch or like a hormone,stress and hormone test.
Um, if you're feeling slightlyoff.
I'm not, I don't think that youlike always need to go get
everything.
And I certainly don't run all ofthese labs with all of my
clients.
But if somebody comes to me andthey're really unsure what's
going on, they're supersymptomatic.
(13:05):
Um, weight loss is a big thing.
A lot of women come to me forweight loss.
They just can't lose weight nomatter what they're doing.
They feel like they're doingeverything right.
Then yeah, let's look ateverything.
Let's make sure that everythingis operating well.
SPEAKER_00 (13:21):
You said something interesting.
You said, as long as you'relistening to your body, what
does that mean to you?
SPEAKER_01 (13:31):
I think it means maybe something different to me
than it does to like othersbecause I again I've been in
this space and I feel like I amvery in tune with my body.
Um I think for some people,they're like, oh, I'm hungry.
You know, like that's and that,yes, that's listening to your
body.
That is a cue that you get fromyour body.
(13:52):
For me, it's waking up and doinga little bit of an evaluation.
So I'll give you an example.
This morning I woke up and I wasjust kind of in a bad mood.
And like there was no reason forme to be in a bad mood.
I slept really well, you know,I've been eating really well.
(14:16):
Like, what is this?
Like, I'm I'm in my follicularphase, like, you know, I'm not
in my lunatile phase.
Like, what's the deal?
So, you know, I sat down and Imeditate every morning.
And I think this is really whereI'm evaluating like, how do I
feel?
Like, this is where I'm doing abody scan.
And I actually noticed that Iwas really feeling like a lot of
(14:37):
grief and sadness.
Um, you know, I kind of had likea routine right when my dad
passed, and I was like regularlylike scheduling time to cry and
be upset.
And I haven't done thatrecently.
So I have myself like a littlecry session this morning.
And I noticed that with that, somuch tension that I've been
(14:57):
holding this past week in myforehead was gone.
And this like tension headachethat I've been having was
released.
And I went on a walk and I wasjust so happy.
And, you know, maybe there hadbeen a few like little signs,
you know, the past few days thathave kind of been pushing maybe
(15:19):
my tension headache that I'vehad.
Maybe something was off.
And I but it took sitting down,I think, and just kind of giving
myself that that moment of peaceand quiet to to listen to what I
needed.
I think it's listening to thatemotional intelligence.
(15:40):
Um really listening to like howyou are feeling and how maybe
how you feel about the day.
You know, I have a lot going onthis afternoon.
So um really kind of trying totune in to like my stress levels
and how do I feel about thisafternoon?
(16:01):
I'm a little bit nervous becauseyou know, I'm going back into
the corporate space.
I'm have more of a jam-packedday.
Like that kind of scares me alittle bit.
So, what can I do this morningprior to those meetings to make
sure that I'm set up forsuccess?
Um, that's I think whatlistening to my body means to
(16:22):
me.
It's waking up, evaluating whereI am currently, thinking about
maybe a little bit of what'scoming.
I don't like to think too far inthe future, and figuring out how
do I work with myself and givemyself what I need in order to
get through those things in themost positive way possible.
SPEAKER_00 (16:46):
That's really beautiful.
And and I love that you are ableto have those moments of I have
found in my journey that when Iget quiet, that that's when my
body speaks.
Um, or that's when I'm able togain these insights.
(17:07):
And I know in my journey in thebeginning, it was like two
seconds sitting down.
I'm like, I don't know what todo, or I don't know how to help
myself, or I don't know whatthis, you know, tension is
trying to communicate, or thispain is trying to communicate.
But I certainly have found thatthe more that I'm able to slow
down, even without thatexpectation of trying to figure
(17:31):
it out, of just sitting down andkind of just being with myself
and not really doing anything,that is when the communication
lines tend to open up and I'mable to communicate a little bit
more.
But you also you're making mechuckle when you're like, I'm in
my follicular phase, because Ihad the same conversations with
(17:53):
myself of like something that Ireally love learning and and
that I love teaching as well isour cycles.
So, like luteal phase,follicular ovulation, menstrual
cycle phase, and um and how wecan feel a little bit well, our
our hormones are different indifferent phases of our cycle,
(18:17):
and and then our emotions andour ability even sometimes to
tap into those emotions or thoseinsights are different in
different phases.
Um, and then the moon phases,like there's so many things that
we can kind of check off thatfor me and from a human design
perspective, I have a one-linein my profile, and like I really
(18:39):
I want the data.
I I'm very um logical, and likeI just want someone to tell me,
you know, the steps or or tellme what to do.
Um, same with body scans andchecking in with my body, and so
there's always like kind ofthese things that I run through
in my mind as well of oh, I'm inLudial right now, and oh, it was
(19:02):
just a full moon, and oh, blah,blah, blah, blah.
But what a great reminder thatyou just shared that we can do
all of these beautiful check-insand hold all of these tools.
But kind of like you were sayingwith your training, like it
really does always end up backat the basics of simply checking
in with yourself, and and you'reallowed to have these feelings
(19:24):
of grief and sadness oroverwhelm in your ovulation
phase or in your follicularphase, and it's not just your
luteal and menstrual phase thatwe're more emotional, as I'm
putting that in quotes if you'relistening to it and not watching
the video.
Um so interesting.
So, thank you for sharing thatreminder and and kind of giving
us giving us a chuckle.
(19:46):
So, I'm really curious.
I want to hear your journey, butI also would love to hear how
this is incorporated with yourclient work and and any advice
you have for people that arelistening that are hearing this
and saying, Oh my gosh, thatsounds lovely to be able to sit
(20:08):
down in the morning for howeverlong you sat down and meditate
every morning.
And good for you, Madison, lovethat for you, but I can't get
into it, or I don't have timefor it.
And how did you feel in yourcorporate journey?
Like, did you start meditatingwhen you were on your corporate
journey or before you left thecorporate world?
(20:32):
Um, and how can we begin to takethese small steps of creating
these beautiful routines that wehear about, but often we kind of
stop at like hearing them andwe're we tell each tell
ourselves, oh, that's a great,great idea, but I don't have the
(20:53):
time or I don't have theconsistency or I don't have the
discipline or whatever excuse wegive ourselves.
SPEAKER_01 (20:59):
Yeah.
Well, I will say now my morningroutine is aggressively long.
But it did not always look thatway.
I mean, I probably did not likedo any work this morning until
like 11, and I woke up at 6:30.
So, but that was me going on awalk and everything.
So, um, and I'll never go back,honestly.
(21:22):
I think the more you lean in andthe more you realize you need
these things and you see whatpeace and happiness it brings
you, you're not willing to goback.
Um, I think it's almost the sameas being like in a bad
relationship and then leavingand being in a good
relationship.
And you're like, why would Inever go back to that bad
(21:45):
relationship?
Um, but to answer a question, sostarting out, obviously it is
difficult.
I try to journal.
I've actually been journaling,like I picked up journaling when
I started in high school, likein high school, probably end of
my high school um years, anddefinitely did not do it
(22:05):
consistently.
I would only do it if somethingwas like really bothering me.
Um after college, I startedjournaling, but again, not
consistently.
Like I've probably had 15 yearsof like inconsistently
journaling.
You know, I would go for a monthand I'd journal every day and
(22:27):
then I wouldn't do it again forlike three months.
Same with meditation.
Meditation for me has beenharder than journaling.
Um, you know, same probablytried for like eight years, on
off, on, off, on, off.
So, you know, if that is youright now, I hear people say all
the time, well, like you're goodat the health stuff, you're good
(22:49):
at it.
No, I'm not good at it.
Like, I didn't want to take abreak to make lunch for myself
today, but I made myself do it.
You know, it's not necessarilyeasier for some people than it
is others.
I just think you reach a pointwhere you're like, I feel better
when I do this.
(23:11):
And I'm not no longer willing tosacrifice that.
And I think that's what'shappened with me.
Um, at the height of my likestress with work, right before I
decided to leave.
And I see this with a lot ofwomen, like they're wanting to
find, they're wanting to add inthe morning routine.
I didn't add in the journaling,the meditation.
(23:34):
I added in making myselfbreakfast.
Making myself breakfast andsitting down to eat breakfast.
So many women, in fact, everysingle woman almost that I've
worked with, they don't eatbreakfast, they don't take that
time.
Um, they either don't eatbreakfast or they just like run
through it or they're likeshoveling, you know, a granola
(23:56):
bar in their mouth.
If you are not sitting down toeat breakfast or allowing
yourself just five minutes tolike eat something in the
morning, then don't try tomeditate or journal, you know.
Like start with sitting down andeating breakfast and just, you
know, allowing yourself a fewminutes there.
(24:18):
I started by I would like makebreakfast and then I would go
sit on my porch for like 20minutes.
That was it.
I wasn't meditating orjournaling, but I was like, oh
my gosh, this is nice.
And because I'm actually makingmyself like a home cooked, like
protein practiced breakfast, Ihave energy now and I feel good
(24:38):
and I'm not crashing throughoutthe day.
Um it really is trying somethingsmall, and the concept of we do
not have time or the lie that wetell ourselves that we do not
have time, it is just that it isa lie, it is not true.
(24:59):
Um I know so many people arebusy, I get it, I I do, but you
have to make time for yourselfbecause nobody else is going to
make time for you in the waythat you need.
You know, you have to createthat space for yourself, or you
(25:20):
will literally never have it.
And like I think this is soimportant for moms, for women
that are busy, for women of thecorpus, literally just women,
because men don't really havethis issue, not as much as women
do.
So ask yourself, what do youneed to happen in order to
create a little bit of space foryourself?
(25:43):
What do you need to do?
Do you need to wake up a fewminutes earlier?
Does that mean you need to go tobed a few minutes earlier?
Do you need to say, hey husband,hey partner?
I need you to help me with thisin the morning because I I need
that time or I need that space.
Like you have to figure out whatyou need.
SPEAKER_00 (26:04):
Amen.
Isn't that isn't that the secretof just creating a little bit?
And I like that you even startedof just sitting on your deck.
Those were some of my favoritemornings where I just would sit
on my couch and watch my catsplay and drink my coffee and not
(26:25):
do anything.
There's no journaling, checkingin, doing the body scan, doing
the meditation, doing the yoga,whatever it is.
It's just sitting, and that'swild, just slowing down in that
way of not doing anything.
And it's different thanmeditation because I think
meditation can also be a littleunapproachable for people when
(26:49):
we are really busy.
It's hard to slow down that muchwhere we are supposed to clear
our mind.
Um, so maybe just try sitting.
Maybe that's the invitation thatyou pull from today's episode of
just sitting and doing nothing,or sitting somewhere beautiful,
um, or noticing.
(27:09):
I always like noticing what younotice around your house or uh
what you notice outside, likejust not all of the mess and all
of the stress and everythingthat you need to clean, but just
noticing the little beauty, thelittle beauties that come up.
Um so what did you what did younotice?
(27:30):
Speaking of noticing, I guess,uh what did you notice was the
biggest shifts that you felt inyour body moving from I actually
I was going to say from thecorporate, but that's not how I
want to word it.
What were the biggest shiftsthat you noticed and felt in
your body when you began toincorporate all of these tools
(27:54):
that you learned in yourtraining and that you now share
with your clients?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (27:59):
So I I I had a very large decrease in anxiety
personally.
Um, and I started sleeping a lotbetter.
So I would say those were likethe two biggest like physical
things that I noticed when Istarted creating that space for
myself.
I also just started craving morespace for myself.
(28:24):
You know, like you give yourselfthat little bit of space in the
morning and that peace, and youwant to protect it.
Um, something else I was gonnakind of add to that is like I
started slowing down with otherthings.
So, you know, instead of doinglike a K cup with coffee or
(28:46):
whatever, I would actually makemy mud water, which is like a
seven to 10 minute ordeal, youknow.
And I, but that's okay.
So I started noticing I would doother things slowly.
And in the shower, I'm not likerushing through, running out,
you know, like slathering onsome lotion.
(29:08):
I was slowing down in theshower, and I was taking some
time afterwards to like put onmy body oils and like massage my
legs, you know.
I started slowing down andcreating more space for myself.
And I am a believer that whenyou start moving slow more
(29:28):
slowly, when you start reallylike flowing through life, other
things come in.
Things that you want, thingsthat you're working towards,
things that you're probablypushing really hard to get start
coming to you more effortlessly.
So as soon as I started doingthis, partner came in to the
(29:50):
picture for me.
Like I started really owning,like I felt like I had authority
at work.
But when I really startedprotecting my peace personally,
that's when a a partner, a goodpartner came into my life.
You know, that's when I startedbeing able to slow down at work
(30:10):
because I think I was maybeexuding a little bit more
authority.
I wasn't, you know, trying torush to meet everybody else's
needs and make everybody elsehappy.
I was showing up to the meeting,not stressing out, giving my
authentic self, giving my bestand not stressing out about it
and not worrying about itafterwards.
And I just, I don't know, I feltlike other things just started
(30:33):
falling into place very well,including me having the
confidence to actually step awayfrom that job.
So I don't know.
I think when you start givingyourself that space and that
permission to take care ofyourself, I believe that the
universe responds to that.
SPEAKER_00 (30:56):
Do you feel like having the confidence to walk
away?
It was also this trust that youhad of I'll be able to figure it
out or I'll be okay.
Like, walk us through thatjourney of making that big life
(31:18):
shift.
SPEAKER_01 (31:20):
Yeah, I think I had been like sitting on it for a
long time.
And I am a person that when Imake a choice, like truly
actually actively make it, it'sdecided, like it's happening.
So I think I was like kind ofsitting on it for a little
while, not 100% sure that it wasthe right move.
(31:41):
And I honestly think I could notcontinue to stay in that role
and keep the peace and happinessthat I wanted.
You know, like for me, it wasn'tnecessary.
I mean, yes, there was aconfidence that it would work
out and it would be okay.
Truthfully, I also looked at myfinances and I was like, okay,
(32:03):
like I've saved up enough moneywhere I can be okay for a little
while without making money.
So like it wasn't just likeblind confidence in myself.
Like there was some logic behindthis.
I was like, okay, I have alittle bit of a cushion, but I
was not operating as the personI wanted to be any longer.
(32:24):
Like that job was not making mehappy.
I was not showing up in myrelationship the way that I
wanted to.
I did not feel the way that Iwanted to.
I was not living the life orbeing the person that I wanted
to be any longer, even with myjournaling and my meditation and
my eating healthy.
You know, like I was doing allthose things, but I was just not
(32:47):
in the right space any longer.
I had outgrown that situationand it was becoming a toxic
place for me.
And that was really what pushedme was, you know, I don't want
to be this person anymore.
I want to be happy in my life.
SPEAKER_00 (33:02):
And isn't it interesting when we create the
space to slow down and the spaceto notice that and when we are
doing these holistic wellnesssupportive things, isn't it
funny that we normally end uplearning, realizing, realizing
(33:23):
or recognizing the areas in ourlife that are just not aligned
anymore, where we spend a lot oftime just kind of going, going,
going, like the hamster runningon the wheel.
And we don't spend a lot of timelooking around because we are
just too busy going.
And so creating that space, Ithink that's also could be part
(33:46):
of part of the alignment andeverything kind of coming into
flow is that you are actuallyaligning with what you want to
bring into the world and how youwant your energy to feel and how
you want to feel moving throughthe day.
And and when we have thatintention, then they then I
(34:07):
guess from an energetic our ourwoo-woo side, when we have that
intention, then we're puttingthat intention out into the
universe, and the universe knowsthat they can work with that.
That's a little woo-woo, alittle spiritual, but no.
SPEAKER_01 (34:20):
I mean, I've I believe that.
I feel like, you know, I havesome friends that they tend to
have like a more negativeoutlook on life.
And it seems like bad things,like thing, you know, not bad
things, but you know, they theytend to have the bad days more
than you know, the people thathave the positive outlook.
I do really believe if you arein this like chaotic space
(34:43):
that's always busy, I don't havetime for anything, space, that's
what you're gonna get back.
Um, so you really have to, andthis is the hardest part taking
that first step to make spacefor yourself.
But once you do it, like youwill get a return.
That is a time investment thatyou will get return on.
SPEAKER_00 (35:02):
Hmm.
You said something interestingthat I want to point out about
your human design.
And and I was curious how youanswer.
So the two four profile is likeour profile is like our
personality, and there's alwaystwo numbers, so it looks kind of
like a fraction.
You have a the first number, thesecond number.
(35:22):
Your four line is what we callthem in human design.
So the four number is one of thecool parts about if you have a
four line in your if you have afour in your profile, is when
we're talking about makingdecisions and kind of making the
leap, right?
And like you said, like I wasn'ta blind thing.
I didn't just willy-nilly likedecide.
(35:44):
And I had been sitting with itfor a while and I looked at my
finances, knew that I would beokay if I didn't work for a
while, and I had really createdthis.
If we're talking in terms of thenervous system, this felt sense
of safety and security to beable to leave this corporate
job.
That's a lot of what we talkabout in four lines.
(36:06):
It's important for them to likeI always use the analogy of like
you're jumping from one rock toanother, big life shift,
whatever it is.
And four lines need to know likewhere they're jumping, but it's
it you gave a cool distinctionof it doesn't it doesn't mean
that you knew exactly what youwere gonna do, and that you
(36:28):
know, you had the entire planmapped out.
You just knew that one, like yougot yourself, you were you were
okay, you had that confidence,and you were unwilling to be on
this said first rock anymore.
So you knew you had to move, youknew that you had the financial
security, and you knew that youhad, and and then you created
(36:51):
these tools, right?
Because you did decide to goback to school and you got all
of the certifications that youfelt that you needed.
So really creating that safety,even if you don't have the whole
plan listed out in front of you,which we never can plan enough,
honestly, because there's gonnabe so many things that pop up
that we don't think about.
But um, yeah, that was justreally cool.
(37:12):
I like sometimes pointing out afew little pieces of people's
human designs that seem toreally pop out, and that was one
of one of them for me.
SPEAKER_01 (37:22):
Yeah, it's funny because I feel like I'm a person
that very much like does need tofeel safe, but I'm also not like
risk averse, you know?
So it's it's like a little bitcontradictory, I'd say.
SPEAKER_00 (37:39):
Yeah.
Well, even from a psychologicalstandpoint, it's always
interesting.
I've read some studies of like,I think there are baby monkeys,
but um, when mom is there andthe child feels safe, then the
child will go out and you know,go explore that like
(37:59):
weird-looking toy or that weirdsound machine.
Um, and isn't that true for allof us?
I mean, whether that's therelationship that we have with
ourselves, again, like I've gotme, I will be okay.
The relationship we have withour partner, that I feel safe
enough to be able to take thoserisks.
(38:20):
Uh, I think some people aredefinitely more risky without
needing that safety net, but itreally does again.
I I think everything alwayscomes back to the nervous
system, and that's a really goodindication or insight that you
shared of having that safety tothen be able to take the risks
and feel confident in them.
(38:42):
Yeah, I think that makes sense.
Interesting.
It does, yeah.
So coming on this podcast, whathave you not had the opportunity
to share or touch on that asyou're setting your intentions
to come on that you feel likeyou would really like to share?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (39:02):
I mean, I think I've talked about this for the
majority of the time, likecreating that space for
yourself, but like I think Icannot emphasize it enough.
Um and I'm seeing it come up asI'm going back into the
corporate space.
(39:22):
Like it would be very easy forme to go into this new role and
go back into bad habits and wakeup in the morning and you know,
open my phone or my laptop,check email, check Slack.
And like I think that's whatmost women or a lot of women I
work with do.
(39:43):
They wake up in the morning andthey immediately jump into
action into going into work.
It's so easy to do that.
And we are just like trained,you know, I whether it's society
or watching our parents, or justthis like fear that as a woman
we need to work harder than aman, but you do not have to
(40:05):
start your day with that chaos.
You don't have to do it.
Um, so I really think that's thebiggest thing for me.
Find and it doesn't have to bethe morning, but find a time in
your day to create space foryourself if you are not doing
that right now.
And I can pretty much guaranteethat once you start creating
(40:27):
that small space for yourself,it is something that you're
gonna want to hang on to andprobably grow and expand in your
life.
SPEAKER_00 (40:37):
What are some of your favorite ways to create
space in your day?
SPEAKER_01 (40:45):
I so I definitely have my morning routine.
I meditate a journal, like Iwant to walk when I can.
If I can't, that's fine.
But the journal meditation isnon-negotiable.
Um, I make space in my day bycooking every meal.
So like I make myself breakfastevery morning, I stop and I make
(41:06):
myself lunch, and I end my dayat five and I make dinner with
my partner.
So I feel like I almost usecooking as a way, one, to
nourish my body, but to alsokind of recalibrate throughout
the day and make sure I'm takinga break and like being
(41:27):
intentional with my health.
Because, you know, I'm cookingat home, I'm not eating out, I'm
making sure that I'm makingsomething that tastes good and
is beautiful and colorful.
Um, so that is a way where I addspace that I think a lot of
people they're like, oh,cooking's such a, you know,
takes so long and I hate doingit.
And I'm like, cooking is showingyour body love, like and being
(41:52):
intentional with your health andtaking time for your health.
So I think that one is a reallygood one.
I'm also very intentional aboutlike electronics.
So I put my phone away afterdinner and well, really before
like while we're cooking.
(42:12):
So basically after work, myphone is pretty much away.
Um, and you know, we'll watchmaybe a show or something, but I
like to have my nighttimeroutine of like reading and
making tea.
So with all of that, like I feellike I do bring a lot of,
(42:32):
they're not crazy things, Idon't feel, but it's spread out
throughout the day in a way towhere I'm like kind of always
coming back and to thatstillness and that intention
with my health.
SPEAKER_00 (42:47):
Yeah, I like that reminder of using cooking or
using something almost as thatreminder of taking some time to
clear your mind or clear yourenergy and reset.
And I like that reminder, I likethat pairing with food.
Although you said what I wasthinking that there's so many
(43:11):
people that I've that I've metthat find cooking very
stressful, uh, and like it'salmost like another job instead
of getting off of work andhaving this tool to unwind.
It's like they're not reallyable to unwind until after that,
(43:33):
after they cook.
And it's always like, how fastcan I cook?
Or what's the easiest thing todo?
Have you always been a greathave you always found that you
enjoy cooking, or was thissomething that you've worked on
and kind of developed?
SPEAKER_01 (43:47):
It's something that I worked on.
So I I haven't like hatedcooking.
I've gone through my ups and mydowns, but there was, I mean,
when I lived in San Francisco,like probably the height of my
like craziness with work, Iprobably ordered out like twice
a day.
I mean, I don't even want toknow the amount of money I spent
on ordering out.
It's like terrifying.
(44:08):
Um, so no, no, that's not alwaysbeen my thing.
I think for that person, I wouldchallenge you and say, what are
you doing when you're cooking?
Or like, what is the stressthat's associated with cooking?
So, an example, I like had abusy day today, and I wanted to
(44:28):
bring my computer and my phonedownstairs to cook lunch.
And I think if I had done that,it would have made, and really,
when I say cook lunch, I waslike heating up on the stove
some soup from last night.
So it took me 10 minutes.
I'm not saying you need to dolike soup, something super
elaborate if you don't have thetime, but like I was very
(44:50):
intentional about leaving myphone and my laptop because that
trying to like check your emailand like your Slack while you're
trying to make dinner or tryingto like multitask while you're
trying to make dinner, yes, thatis very stressful.
Um, so that would be my firstthing.
Like, are you just cooking orare you trying to multitask
(45:14):
while you're cooking?
SPEAKER_00 (45:15):
Hmm.
Hmm.
There's so much, but I thank youfor sharing that that it was not
always that way because I dofeel like some people that I
talk to are just like, you haveit or you don't.
And honestly, I never hatedcooking, and I've always seen
it.
It's it's kind of thisexpression of love to my people,
(45:36):
and it's also this expression oflove to my body.
You said that really poignantly,and and I want to bring us back
there of you're nourishing yourbody, and this is this is like
this act of love to your body.
And when I have thatperspective, it's like I'll take
(45:58):
the time to cook the food.
It's so important because I'mnourishing myself and I'm
pouring into myself, and andthen you can make kind of the
whole cooking process thatpouring in the love to yourself
as well.
Um but a lot, a lot of a lot ofinvitations.
Cooking is always an interestingtopic of conversation because I
(46:22):
do feel like a lot of women feelthat it's overwhelming or an
extra job, or and I also wonderwhat would shift if you created
more space in your day in otherways.
Maybe you would enjoy cookingmore.
I don't know.
If you didn't feel so stressedgoing into it, then maybe you
(46:44):
would feel so stressed goingthrough it as well.
SPEAKER_01 (46:47):
So it's easy to feel like things are stressful when
you're when you're trying tosummon energy from nothing.
SPEAKER_00 (46:56):
Ooh, that was a good one.
Thank you for that.
All right.
Last question.
Thank you so much for coming on.
Oh my gosh, I'm jumping the gun.
Thank you for coming on.
I appreciate your time and yourinsight and your wisdom.
And if people are looking toconnect with you, learn a little
bit more from you.
(47:17):
Uh, where do you spend a lot ofyour time?
Where do you hang out?
Do you have a podcast of yourown?
I can't remember.
Um, share all those good things.
SPEAKER_01 (47:26):
Yeah, no podcast of my own.
Um, feel free to go to mywebsite.
Um, that's probably the bestplace to get in touch with me,
learn a little bit more aboutwhat I offer and my services.
I have an Instagram, but I'mhonestly a bit, I'm kind of on a
hiatus from social media.
It just like doesn't jive withme.
(47:47):
So you can go there, but there'snot probably gonna be anything
like super updated.
unknown (47:53):
Sure.
SPEAKER_01 (47:54):
And uh website will be listed below, but what is the
website?
It is wellwithmadison.com andMadison has two Ds.
SPEAKER_00 (48:03):
Beautiful.
Thank you.
Okay, now last question.
Uh, if you could go back andgift your younger self a somatic
tool or perspective that you nowuse daily, what would that tool
or perspective be?
SPEAKER_01 (48:28):
I okay, I think for me it would be a perspective.
And I don't really know how tosay this.
Like, you know, kind of doing alot of like inner work, like
when I was younger, I was likesuper confident.
And then, you know, that kind ofreally went away in those
(48:48):
in-between years.
And I feel like I'm just nowlike re-stepping into like that
version of myself that I waswhen I was a younger, you know,
child.
And I don't know how I wouldgive myself this because you
have to go through those hardthings and those growing pains.
But you know, I think if I wishI could give myself that
(49:12):
confidence to be myself and umnot be scared to be seen and
heard, I think that wouldprobably be what I would want to
give my younger self.
SPEAKER_00 (49:24):
Thank you.
That's really beautiful.
Thank you for sharing.
And thank you so much for yourtime and your insight.
This was such a funconversation.
I appreciate you, Madison.
SPEAKER_01 (49:35):
Thank you.
I appreciate you too.
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