April 8, 2025 • 25 mins
Discover how Kavita Sahai transformed from a burnt-out executive to the founder of Vibes Tribe, a holistic wellness platform for women in midlife. Kavita shares her personal journey and practical wisdom for anyone looking to move from feeling exhausted to vibrant.
• Kavita's background in the corporate "hustle culture" that led to complete burnout
• How her child's simple comment about her always being tired became her wake-up call
• The science behind aromatherapy and its powerful effects on brain fog and anxiety
• Why essential oils break the blood-brain barrier immediately for fast-acting benefits
• The importance of practicing breath work before meals for better digestion
• How ancient cultures approached women's health differently than modern medicine
• The timeline from "meh to magic" – noticeable changes in one month, transformation in three
• Why feeling tired and overwhelmed shouldn't be normalized
• The power of experimentation and tuning into your own intuition
• How Vibes Tribe creates a supportive community for women's wellness journeys
Connect with Kavita and learn more about her monthly live events at vibestribeco.com.
We are happy and honored to be part of your life changing health and wellness journey:
https://telewellnesshub.com/explore-wellness-experts/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome, friends, to another episode of the
tele-wellness hub podcast.
My name is Marta Hamilton, yourhost, and today we're speaking
with Kavita Sahai.
She's the founder of VibesTribe, a personal development
platform empowering women inmidlife.
After overcoming anxiety andburnout herself, she created
Vibes Tribe as a sanctuary forholistic healing.
(00:23):
Certified in yoga, aromatherapyand optimal nutrition, she
blends natural wellnesspractices with over a decade of
experience.
Welcome, kavita.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Thank you for having me.
I wanted to start first withthe question I like to ask all
the guests is why I got a littleglimpse in the introduction.
But why do you do the wellnesswork that you do?
Why I got a little glimpse inthe introduction.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
but why do you do the wellness work that you do?
I do the wellness work becauseI think at some point in my life
I realized that feeling good,like waking up and just feeling
energetic and having thatfeeling throughout the day, was
the most important thing for meand, I think, for most people,
and so that's sort of how Iended up shifting.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Awesome.
Yeah, I love that because Ithink so often I was listening
to another podcast recently Ithink it's Mel Robbins, and
talked about like waking up.
Yeah, I love it.
Yeah, talked about like justkind of like white knuckling
waking up, like waking up andjust pushing through right
Rather than like waking upfeeling good.
So I feel like searching forthat.
(01:29):
I'm sure, like opened up awhole new world for you that you
now share with others.
So I know that your backgroundin being, I guess, burnt out led
to this search for health.
I found this fact that burnoutis now officially recognized by
the World Health Organization asan occupational phenomenon with
(01:50):
chronic stress leading toexhaustion, cynicism and reduced
efficiency.
So that's like the ICD code,officially, of burnout.
So I'm wondering if you couldshare a little bit about you
know you personally experiencedburnout before you created Vibes
Tribe.
Can you walk us through that?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
they've defined burnout because I have to tell
you 10 years ago, when Iexperienced it myself, it was
all hustle culture and it wasall about how little you slept
(02:32):
and how much you worked, andthat was the conversation at
home and at the workplace andthat was my life.
I think in those years I maybehad one meal at home.
I ate everything out.
I lived on many, many cups ofcoffee.
I would say coffee more thanwater.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, I think a lot of people can relate to that.
I like me, me too, you knowlike just living that life, just
going powering through.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
And you think that's what you're supposed to do.
Because you're, you're gettingthis level of financial success
and recognition.
And people are like, oh, you'rea real hustler, and you're
getting this level of financialsuccess and recognition.
And people are like, oh, you'rea real hustler.
And you're like yay, I'mamazing, I drink coffee and work
all night.
I'm so cool.
And that was me.
I thought that I was doing theright thing and then, all of a
sudden, I realized that I wokeup every day and I was tired.
(03:19):
I was tired all the time, and Ithink I had this moment when my
kid was asking me to dosomething, and it was like in
the middle of the afternoon andbefore I could say anything, he
was like let me guess you'retired and I was like oh man is
this one to be known as Likewhen your kids speak to you.
that's like when it really yeah,they're like the mirror right
(03:40):
yes, so I was like oh man, Idon't, that's not how I want to
be remembered.
Like how was your mom TiredBecause meanwhile, my mom was
super fun and energetic.
It's like what is happening,and I think that's where I
shifted my goal of justfinancial success to no, I want
to feel amazing.
Like why have we normalizedfeeling tired and cranky, like
(04:03):
it's just normal?
Like, oh, I'm so tired, I'mbloated.
Like this has all become likeour normal state.
Like how?
Speaker 1 (04:09):
are you?
I'm busy, I like.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I got so much going on Overwhelmed, and it's like,
and nobody stops to be like, ohmy God, that's terrible.
No, it's like, oh, yeah, me too.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And so I think that was that ofmoment that I realized I posted
notes everywhere because Icouldn't remember a damn thing.
My brain fog was something youknow intense, and I, yeah, and
(04:36):
that's when that started thatjourney of exploration of I went
to my doctor and all my bloodwork looked great.
So they were very much like oh,you're just, it's normal to be
an overwhelmed mom, it's normalto be tired, and I was like, no,
it's not normal.
I happen to have had a motherwho's never tired like this and
I'm too young to be.
This can't be the rest of mylife.
(04:56):
And so, with the goal shiftingto, I'm going to feel amazing
every day.
It became sort of this processof curiosity of what modalities
could I try, um, sinceapparently there was no magic
pill I could take, um, thatwould get me there, and and so
those, it was those baby steps,and that's how I sort of went on
this learning journey of like,well, maybe it, you know, I had
(05:19):
a friend who ran, who swore byit and that was clearly not what
was going to work for me, likeokay, but but to me it was
information.
It wasn't like a waste of mytime.
I was like, okay, well,running's not for me.
And then I tried yoga and Ifell in love with it and ended
up getting certified in it andthat really did help.
And same thing witharomatherapy.
I'm like, oh, it's like there'sa science, formulation and how
you can use that to support yourentire body.
(05:40):
I was like, oh, ok, now I feela little bit.
And so it was like these littlesteps towards feeling better and
I thought, wow, this was areally difficult, comprehensive
journey of like finding mentors,studying the material and and
(06:00):
wouldn't it be great if it wasjust easier, because it's very
different for women than men,which seems obvious, but in
medicine they've kind of treatedus as the same, but ancient
cultures didn't.
They respected that we havecycles and that there are
different things you should dobased on where you are in your
cycle and there's differentfeelings and emotions, and all
this stuff was really taken intoaccount with ancient modalities
(06:21):
.
So I thought, what if there wasa platform where all of it
whether it was yoga, breath,work it was all tailored for
women, especially in midlife,because I find that that is when
our body and our emotionalhealth and our brain and there's
a lot of science to back it upkind of is like no, I can't
anymore, I'm going to, you know,blow up, stop working until you
(06:46):
listen, until you change, youknow, and treat it in a way that
will work.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yes, I think we're just now starting to have that,
the capabilities, right withtechnology, to measure.
Like this inflammation, thiscortisol, this reaction, is your
body telling you somethingright.
Like this is a signal and it'shere, and I I'm so fascinated by
so much that you, the way youput it, in the way you mentioned
(07:14):
like aromatherapy when it comesto like measurement and science
and and I it makes sense with,like formulas that we use all
the time in other areas of ourlives for our health.
So I definitely want to kind ofdive into that a little bit
more.
If you could share a little bitabout the aromatherapy and
(07:35):
mental well-being, because Ithink, like you mentioned, I
think a lot of people thinkabout aromatherapy as like
pleasant scents for their home.
Like you mentioned that in thelemon, like, maybe, like make my
house smell better and it'sless toxic.
Like you mentioned thatmillennium, like maybe, like
make my house smell better andit's less toxic.
But you mentioned like there'san actual science behind it.
I actually knew you worked withoils, so I found that essential
oils, like in the Journal ofAlternative and Complementary
(07:59):
Medicine, so 2019 peer-reviewedstudy.
It shows that essential oilslike lavender and rosemary have
been shown to stimulate thelimbic system.
I feel like I need to probablyinsert the picture of the brain,
because that's the brain'semotional center, and so that's
when it's been actually shown toreduce symptoms of anxiety and
(08:21):
depression.
So how do you use them in yourapproach?
How have you found them toimpact, like mental health and
in your experience and yourtrainings, and how have you seen
it transform women's lives?
I'm curious.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I will tell you, I am acomplete lover of plants and the
essence of them, because theyare so incredibly powerful and
potent.
And there is, like youmentioned, rosemary.
I could probably pull 50different science articles on
all the different benefits ofrosemary or lavender.
So they have so many differentbenefits just on their own and
(08:56):
then synergistically you can putthem together to then create
formulas that are then even moreso impactful.
And the cool thing aboutessential oils is the impact is
immediate because they breakthat blood brain barrier
immediately, because you justsmell it and it's absorbed and
it goes exactly where it needsto go.
Oh, wow.
So I was immediately sofascinated and actually it was
(09:18):
one of the big steps in mywellness journey because once I
started to learn about it, ithelped my brain fog tremendously
.
My son at the time was kind ofin and out for respiratory
issues and within six months hewas off medication.
So I went all in.
I went all in.
There was a company I kind ofwent in and took over as their
(09:39):
CEO that sold the oils.
And that's where I sort oflearned about the formulation
piece, because, just likecooking, which I happen to not
be as good at.
You can give me the sameingredients and you can give a
chef the same ingredients, andwe're going to come up with
super, super different things.
And that's kind of how it iswith formulas, and that's that's
what I learned.
It was like, yes, absolutelyTake the individual ones and
(10:02):
then, by the way, they're sopotent, make sure you dilute
them so you're not just puttingthem directly on your skin,
which a lot of people make themistake of doing, but then
really looking at whichcompanies have really great
formulas, and so, even as a partof Vibes, I kept the oil line
to be a part of it.
So we do some formulations onour site that have been
(10:23):
pre-formulated, based on thecompany that I used to work with
, which was 21 Drops which, bythe way, it was in like Oprah
and like all the different oh mygosh.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
I'm like going to go online right now.
You're speaking my language.
Plants like.
I'm like how the cactus-.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yes, I love it.
I love it.
I just there's more plantselsewhere, but yeah, If I could
spin you around, I'd be likehome is where my plants are.
I've got plants all over.
But yeah, no, I'm a really bigbeliever.
I mean, even just looking atplants has been shown by science
to be relaxing.
And so it's this really amazingtool where we're supposed to get
(10:58):
out in nature all the time butin absence of that, when we can
introduce the essence of plantsinto our body, it is sort of
grounding.
It does help our microbiome, itdoes help study the different
parts, and that's what's coolabout it, because while rosemary
can help with memory and withall these different symptoms,
it'll work where it needs to.
It'll go and do the thing thatit needs to do.
(11:20):
And so I hate, hate fragrance Iwon't even get onto that
soapbox.
But oils, when used correctlyand that they're high quality
because that's the other thingyou really want to make sure,
like all the testing and stuffis available for them, they can
be incredibly, incrediblypowerful, fun tools.
Like I hate taking pills, butyou know it's so funny, I have
(11:40):
my oils here, but like I can, Ican rub it on all day long and
it's fun and it's fine.
Like I can rub it on all daylong, it's fun and it's fine.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Wow, and so do you.
On your website and just inyour work you have those oils
that you know you've gonethrough thorough testing.
Because that's the thing isthat as women, we're trying to
multitask and you know, if Icould show you like all the tabs
that I have open, or like pinsthat I have saved, or like books
I need to read but haven'tgotten to.
(12:06):
Like what I love about whatyou're saying is like you have
done the deep dive, you've donethe work, you've taken the time
to really research to guidewomen, and I just love that.
With the ancient you alsomentioned, like you know, we
have ancient wisdom and ancientstudies, but now we're combining
it with modern science.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
With the exception of the US countries all around the
world.
You can't just sell oils topeople because they are so
powerful and potent.
Right, it's a lot more that youwould go, you know, not that
you can't I guess you could butlike it's more accepted that you
would go to like a pharmacy ora place and then they would like
help put it together for you,whereas here we're just like
take whatever, use it, however,throw it on your food, like no,
that's.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
I had no idea that you would maybe go to a
pharmacist.
That's like fascinating.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
It is a science, there is chemistry to it, and a
lot of actually modern medicineis based on the anatomy of plant
medicine, right?
So what they did is they tookit and they just timesed it by
10, but that's not always greatfor you, right, exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Great for you, right, exactly.
Okay, well, that's incredible,cause I think you know you
talked about the gut brain, likethe gut, the microbiomes, with
aromatherapy, which I didn'teven realize that it could.
I had heard about aromatherapybeing able to go through the
blood brain barrier, but I hadno idea how it could also affect
the microbiome, because youknow, I, we know the importance
of like the gut brain connection, right when it comes to mood
(13:30):
and what, what would you say aresome like maybe impactful
changes that women can make toimprove, like mental clarity
you've talked about, likegetting rid of that fog, or just
like with your emotions, withenergy and I know cause.
You also have a background withnutrition, so I don't know if
you can enlighten.
I feel like we're going to.
I feel like this needed to havebeen a series, now that I'm
(13:51):
looking at my all the questionsand research I had prepared.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
But yeah, no, look.
I think the reason I say toapproach it with curiosity is
because different things workfor different people at a
different pace, and so it'sreally about experimenting with
small changes and see how youfeel.
But part of that is reallyseeing how you feel, and so the
first thing I think women needto do is to tune into their own
(14:16):
intuition, because intuitively,we know what's going to help us,
but we've become so reliant oneverything else.
We have a watch telling uswhether we slept well, we have
you know something else tellingus whether we ate the right
calories or but, but we know,like if we could really tune in
after we ate something, we'dknow does it work or not?
Like we don't need a foodsensitivity test.
We could probably figure it out, but we've become so out of
(14:39):
tune with our own body and ourown emotions, and so I think
that's really the first step isreally starting to think about I
call it sometimes like anenergy diary or like what how do
I feel after each step of whatI'm doing?
And then, if there's a stepthat you're like, oh, it's
really not, like I can see thatI'm dipping.
At this point, what can youchange or introduce or play or
(15:01):
experiment with to see how itmakes you feel better, with to
see how it makes you feel better.
So I love using oils atdifferent periods through the
day, but I also love breath work.
I think you know, especially inmidlife you can find women all
of a sudden get very anxious.
That have never had anxietyever before, or this feeling of
overwhelm.
That's almost too much, whichagain, never happened before and
(15:23):
there's a lot of science behindwhat happens to our brain and
our body that causes that.
But if you can practice alittle bit every day and I
always say it's great to do itbefore a meal.
So ancient cultures always usedto pray before a meal because
it calms your fight or flight,so that you're ready and you can
digest your food better.
So that was why they did it.
Now we don't pray before we eat, or I think most people don't
(15:43):
but if you did like a little boxbreathing or just a little, you
know conscious breath.
First of all, it's not a verypublic thing.
You're not like holding handsin the middle of, like maybe
your lunch meeting or anything,but you know just it.
Again, it helps practice it andthen when you are having
something that, where you dofeel like you're spinning out of
control when you do it, yourbrain immediately is like oh
(16:04):
yeah, I'm calm.
When this happens, when I, whenI do this breath work, I'm calm
.
Or when I use this oil, youknow, before I eat, and then I
use it when I'm having a panic,oh, I'm calm, this is my calm
space.
Um, it can even be as simple aslike a mudra, like just being
very conscious of when you'recalm, that I do this thing, and
then the way, the best way Ithink, to practice it is before
(16:25):
you eat, because it'll also calmyour body.
But then, when you have thosemoments, you use that tool,
whatever it is aromatherapy, amudra, breath work, whatever
works for you.
It'll be available to youbecause your body will say oh
okay, I'm okay, I'm safe, thisis fine.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Right.
This is blowing my mind because, as a therapist, we've done
like mindful based eatingpractices, right.
So you're being mindful to thetexture, the you know every
single moment, but I had neverconsidered the mindfulness or
breathing exercise before youeven eat, to just put that body
(17:03):
in a.
You know that we don't have to.
We can turn off the fight orfight to be in that calm state.
That's incredible and I'm I'mthinking like you know, as I you
mentioned your, your son, right, and I I have daughters and I
think about, like the cafeteria,like how rushed it is, right,
and like and how we just kind oftake that, like maybe rush
through.
(17:23):
I have I have been guilty oflike eating my lunch in front of
my computer, you know.
So how incredible to be able toI love that tip that is so easy
to practice anywhere, anytimeto to just have some breath work
, maybe even before you eat.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
A hundred percent and and and again, and even if that
sometimes like cause I have twodaughters as well, but so
madhouse with the three kids,but you know they're like.
You know I don't want to do thebreath work, like it just
doesn't fit for them.
So I'm like this is the GyanMudra, it's really easy and you
can just put it in your lap andcan you just do that before you
(18:01):
eat, like who would?
Who would notice you, itwouldn't matter, right?
And then if you do that also,when you do have time to be
mindfulness again, your bodywill just recognize this is my
time to be calm.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I love that.
That's incredible.
Yeah, so if, if someone were,it sounds like everything's
really catered when it comes tothe clients and the platform
that you work with, because I'mtrying to picture you mentioned
that you can pull two oils atcertain time of the day.
There's certain breath work.
It's individualized Some thingsthat work for one person may
not work for others.
I'm just curious because nowI'm like I think I need to go to
(18:36):
a session like this, like as atherapist, I would love to talk
to somebody about this.
So could you walk me through alittle bit of what it would look
like to to go to a session with, with you, or what it looks
like?
I've been to your platform, soI just didn't know.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Like, yeah, really it's.
What we do is we invite ajourney of self-exploration.
So it's not about me tellingyou what I think is supposed to
be, because, again, you have totune into your own intuition.
So, through the platformthere's again, there's so many
different journeys of experts inyoga, experts in meditation we
even had someone do feng shuifor clarity so like, can you
energetically maybe move yourspace around Self-love?
(19:15):
That was, you know, a reallypopular big topic, and so we
bring in teachers to do it.
And then every month we do alive event which I am there to
to help.
If you're just like I justdon't know, yeah, right, and so
then you can receive some sortof live coaching.
We don't record it, so it canbe very private and people can
be very open about whatever itis they're having in community.
That feels like a safe space,and of course there's also a
(19:38):
private Facebook group.
But really it's meant to bethis journey of self-exploration
, self-love.
I'm not going to know what'sbest for you.
All I can do is tell you tostart tuning in to what do you
think feels right?
Does the idea of starting withworking on your nutrition make
you want to go crazy?
Okay, no problem.
Maybe you want to start withsleep, maybe it's like a sleep
routine and you do that.
Or you know, maybe you're like,oh, yoga is definitely not for
(20:01):
me.
Or you know it used to be.
I couldn't sit still formeditation.
Honestly, it took me some timeto get there.
But you, you know, you knowthat intuitively, like you kind
of get that like gut, like ohyeah or no, right.
So so then go for journaling,or you know.
But the point is to experimentand then tune in.
Did that make it better?
Do I feel better?
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Yeah, you know, you mentioned, you know the time
right, like how long would yousay for you?
What has this journey look like?
Everyone's different, right, Iunderstand that.
But I think just to give me andother listeners just kind of
that encouragement, right,things take time.
And I think we're used to kindof like this on-demand feel good
(20:46):
hits right.
So I'm just, if you couldn'tshare with us because you see
these radical changes in yourlife.
I know you have like an MBA,right, so I'm picturing you with
your business world and youtalked about the hustle and the
shift into really focusing onfeeling good.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
If you could share a little bit about what that time
looks like.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
I used to do mergers and acquisitions for defense and
aerospace companies post 9-11.
So I'm dating myself.
But, yes, so that was meh.
That was not eating well, thatwas not being mindful, that was
just total hessive.
And then I'll go to what I calllike more magic.
So meh to magic.
To me it was sort of thisunwrapped, like I would say.
(21:32):
I noticed a dramatic differencewithin a month, wow.
But then to go completely whereI didn't wake up exhausted, you
know, because I was still, Ifeel, know, cause I was still, I
feel better, but I was stillwaking up tired and I was still
not, I would say, vibrant.
Um, it probably took aboutthree months and then, and then
that was it.
But I, I dove right in.
I mean, I know that everyonedoesn't have the ability or
(21:54):
flexibility, but I rage, quit myjob and just kind of went all
in Like my new goal in life isjust to feel amazing, even if
I'm broke.
I'm going to be the mostvibrant, broke person you've
ever met.
But I had the flexibility toobviously do that and not
because I just felt like if Ididn't take a break, I was, I
(22:17):
was, I was going to break.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
So yeah, well, thank you for sharing.
I was curious, like you know,just sharing your role in the
story and it's interesting youtalk about that because I was
reading um an article todayabout the top 10 happiest
countries.
But there a lot of the ones inthe top are also like on some of
the most like what's consideredlike kind of poverty stricken
(22:42):
countries, right.
So I think you know, justlooking at values, goals, what
you've got in in life, and yeah,I just I thought it was.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
I have this other memory I'd love to share.
I went to India and it was withmy daughter, and you know she
was, it was her first time andshe was very heartbroken by all
the homeless children she sawlike kids her age, begging and
awful, and you know, and she was, you know, trying to give away
all my gluten-free food things.
(23:14):
And so I decided to take her toan NGO and it was an NGO of
girls who were rescued fromhuman, from sorry child
marriages.
Oh wow, girls that had beenmarried at the age of like, as
early as six or seven, right,and they were on the floor and
they were like making thesedifferent textiles or whatever.
But can I tell you they were sohappy, happier than me, and I
just thought how is it possiblethat these girls who have such
(23:37):
trauma, lost everything, theyhave no family, that these,
whoever these people are in thisNGO right now, these are their
family, these kids are theirfamily.
They're happier than me and mykids.
What's going on right?
Because they have such a deepsense of gratitude and purpose
and you know, of course, theyeat right and they're doing the
right things in that particularone.
But I thought, wow, that's, itwas just one of those things
(24:00):
that I observed and was justsort of like wow, that's that's
crazy, yeah, it's so inspiring.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Yeah, my, my family's from Mexico originally, so I
think there's yeah, there's justkind of stepping into just
seeing another way to, like youmentioned like live the lens
through which you see the worldRight A hundred percent.
Yeah, so well, you know, if youhad to, if you had to then
share one message with women whomay feel stuck or unfulfilled
(24:35):
in midlife, or just life ingeneral, what would it be?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
It would be.
It's not normal.
Don't let anyone tell you thatit's normal to feel meh, it's
not normal.
And if you can, however muchtime, you can spend it on
experimenting on ways to feelgreat.
And that would be my message,honestly, because everyone
should feel great and you canonly give and care and, you know
(25:03):
, do all the things that youwere here to do if you're
feeling good about yourself andyou're feeling healthy.
And we have just, I think, fortoo long, normalized feeling
exhausted, not feeling good.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
I love that.
Experimenting it sounds likegoing from the met to the magic,
Like you said.
I love that.
I loved that.
How can people connect with you?
Speaker 2 (25:26):
So vibes tribeco is a site and we actually have the
live event every month, so theycan always register on the site
and attend one of the events,which would be a great way to
meet again.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Awesome, I will be joining.
I'm very excited.
I feel, like this will be great.
This is, this is awesome.
Well, thank you so much, kavita, for joining us and being a
part of our wellness journeytoday.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Thank you for having me.
Welcome, friends, to another episode of the
tele-wellness hub podcast.
My name is Marta Hamilton, yourhost, and today we're speaking
with Kavita Sahai.
She's the founder of VibesTribe, a personal development
platform empowering women inmidlife.
After overcoming anxiety andburnout herself, she created
Vibes Tribe as a sanctuary forholistic healing.
(00:23):
Certified in yoga, aromatherapyand optimal nutrition, she
blends natural wellnesspractices with over a decade of
experience.
Welcome, kavita.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Thank you for having me.
I wanted to start first withthe question I like to ask all
the guests is why I got a littleglimpse in the introduction.
But why do you do the wellnesswork that you do?
Why I got a little glimpse inthe introduction.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
but why do you do the wellness work that you do?
I do the wellness work becauseI think at some point in my life
I realized that feeling good,like waking up and just feeling
energetic and having thatfeeling throughout the day, was
the most important thing for meand, I think, for most people,
and so that's sort of how Iended up shifting.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Awesome.
Yeah, I love that because Ithink so often I was listening
to another podcast recently Ithink it's Mel Robbins, and
talked about like waking up.
Yeah, I love it.
Yeah, talked about like justkind of like white knuckling
waking up, like waking up andjust pushing through right
Rather than like waking upfeeling good.
So I feel like searching forthat.
(01:29):
I'm sure, like opened up awhole new world for you that you
now share with others.
So I know that your backgroundin being, I guess, burnt out led
to this search for health.
I found this fact that burnoutis now officially recognized by
the World Health Organization asan occupational phenomenon with
(01:50):
chronic stress leading toexhaustion, cynicism and reduced
efficiency.
So that's like the ICD code,officially, of burnout.
So I'm wondering if you couldshare a little bit about you
know you personally experiencedburnout before you created Vibes
Tribe.
Can you walk us through that?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
they've defined burnout because I have to tell
you 10 years ago, when Iexperienced it myself, it was
all hustle culture and it wasall about how little you slept
(02:32):
and how much you worked, andthat was the conversation at
home and at the workplace andthat was my life.
I think in those years I maybehad one meal at home.
I ate everything out.
I lived on many, many cups ofcoffee.
I would say coffee more thanwater.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, I think a lot of people can relate to that.
I like me, me too, you knowlike just living that life, just
going powering through.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
And you think that's what you're supposed to do.
Because you're, you're gettingthis level of financial success
and recognition.
And people are like, oh, you'rea real hustler, and you're
getting this level of financialsuccess and recognition.
And people are like, oh, you'rea real hustler.
And you're like yay, I'mamazing, I drink coffee and work
all night.
I'm so cool.
And that was me.
I thought that I was doing theright thing and then, all of a
sudden, I realized that I wokeup every day and I was tired.
(03:19):
I was tired all the time, and Ithink I had this moment when my
kid was asking me to dosomething, and it was like in
the middle of the afternoon andbefore I could say anything, he
was like let me guess you'retired and I was like oh man is
this one to be known as Likewhen your kids speak to you.
that's like when it really yeah,they're like the mirror right
(03:40):
yes, so I was like oh man, Idon't, that's not how I want to
be remembered.
Like how was your mom TiredBecause meanwhile, my mom was
super fun and energetic.
It's like what is happening,and I think that's where I
shifted my goal of justfinancial success to no, I want
to feel amazing.
Like why have we normalizedfeeling tired and cranky, like
(04:03):
it's just normal?
Like, oh, I'm so tired, I'mbloated.
Like this has all become likeour normal state.
Like how?
Speaker 1 (04:09):
are you?
I'm busy, I like.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I got so much going on Overwhelmed, and it's like,
and nobody stops to be like, ohmy God, that's terrible.
No, it's like, oh, yeah, me too.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And so I think that was that ofmoment that I realized I posted
notes everywhere because Icouldn't remember a damn thing.
My brain fog was something youknow intense, and I, yeah, and
(04:36):
that's when that started thatjourney of exploration of I went
to my doctor and all my bloodwork looked great.
So they were very much like oh,you're just, it's normal to be
an overwhelmed mom, it's normalto be tired, and I was like, no,
it's not normal.
I happen to have had a motherwho's never tired like this and
I'm too young to be.
This can't be the rest of mylife.
(04:56):
And so, with the goal shiftingto, I'm going to feel amazing
every day.
It became sort of this processof curiosity of what modalities
could I try, um, sinceapparently there was no magic
pill I could take, um, thatwould get me there, and and so
those, it was those baby steps,and that's how I sort of went on
this learning journey of like,well, maybe it, you know, I had
(05:19):
a friend who ran, who swore byit and that was clearly not what
was going to work for me, likeokay, but but to me it was
information.
It wasn't like a waste of mytime.
I was like, okay, well,running's not for me.
And then I tried yoga and Ifell in love with it and ended
up getting certified in it andthat really did help.
And same thing witharomatherapy.
I'm like, oh, it's like there'sa science, formulation and how
you can use that to support yourentire body.
(05:40):
I was like, oh, ok, now I feela little bit.
And so it was like these littlesteps towards feeling better and
I thought, wow, this was areally difficult, comprehensive
journey of like finding mentors,studying the material and and
(06:00):
wouldn't it be great if it wasjust easier, because it's very
different for women than men,which seems obvious, but in
medicine they've kind of treatedus as the same, but ancient
cultures didn't.
They respected that we havecycles and that there are
different things you should dobased on where you are in your
cycle and there's differentfeelings and emotions, and all
this stuff was really taken intoaccount with ancient modalities
(06:21):
.
So I thought, what if there wasa platform where all of it
whether it was yoga, breath,work it was all tailored for
women, especially in midlife,because I find that that is when
our body and our emotionalhealth and our brain and there's
a lot of science to back it upkind of is like no, I can't
anymore, I'm going to, you know,blow up, stop working until you
(06:46):
listen, until you change, youknow, and treat it in a way that
will work.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yes, I think we're just now starting to have that,
the capabilities, right withtechnology, to measure.
Like this inflammation, thiscortisol, this reaction, is your
body telling you somethingright.
Like this is a signal and it'shere, and I I'm so fascinated by
so much that you, the way youput it, in the way you mentioned
(07:14):
like aromatherapy when it comesto like measurement and science
and and I it makes sense with,like formulas that we use all
the time in other areas of ourlives for our health.
So I definitely want to kind ofdive into that a little bit
more.
If you could share a little bitabout the aromatherapy and
(07:35):
mental well-being, because Ithink, like you mentioned, I
think a lot of people thinkabout aromatherapy as like
pleasant scents for their home.
Like you mentioned that in thelemon, like, maybe, like make my
house smell better and it'sless toxic.
Like you mentioned thatmillennium, like maybe, like
make my house smell better andit's less toxic.
But you mentioned like there'san actual science behind it.
I actually knew you worked withoils, so I found that essential
oils, like in the Journal ofAlternative and Complementary
(07:59):
Medicine, so 2019 peer-reviewedstudy.
It shows that essential oilslike lavender and rosemary have
been shown to stimulate thelimbic system.
I feel like I need to probablyinsert the picture of the brain,
because that's the brain'semotional center, and so that's
when it's been actually shown toreduce symptoms of anxiety and
(08:21):
depression.
So how do you use them in yourapproach?
How have you found them toimpact, like mental health and
in your experience and yourtrainings, and how have you seen
it transform women's lives?
I'm curious.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I will tell you, I am acomplete lover of plants and the
essence of them, because theyare so incredibly powerful and
potent.
And there is, like youmentioned, rosemary.
I could probably pull 50different science articles on
all the different benefits ofrosemary or lavender.
So they have so many differentbenefits just on their own and
(08:56):
then synergistically you can putthem together to then create
formulas that are then even moreso impactful.
And the cool thing aboutessential oils is the impact is
immediate because they breakthat blood brain barrier
immediately, because you justsmell it and it's absorbed and
it goes exactly where it needsto go.
Oh, wow.
So I was immediately sofascinated and actually it was
(09:18):
one of the big steps in mywellness journey because once I
started to learn about it, ithelped my brain fog tremendously
.
My son at the time was kind ofin and out for respiratory
issues and within six months hewas off medication.
So I went all in.
I went all in.
There was a company I kind ofwent in and took over as their
(09:39):
CEO that sold the oils.
And that's where I sort oflearned about the formulation
piece, because, just likecooking, which I happen to not
be as good at.
You can give me the sameingredients and you can give a
chef the same ingredients, andwe're going to come up with
super, super different things.
And that's kind of how it iswith formulas, and that's that's
what I learned.
It was like, yes, absolutelyTake the individual ones and
(10:02):
then, by the way, they're sopotent, make sure you dilute
them so you're not just puttingthem directly on your skin,
which a lot of people make themistake of doing, but then
really looking at whichcompanies have really great
formulas, and so, even as a partof Vibes, I kept the oil line
to be a part of it.
So we do some formulations onour site that have been
(10:23):
pre-formulated, based on thecompany that I used to work with
, which was 21 Drops which, bythe way, it was in like Oprah
and like all the different oh mygosh.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
I'm like going to go online right now.
You're speaking my language.
Plants like.
I'm like how the cactus-.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yes, I love it.
I love it.
I just there's more plantselsewhere, but yeah, If I could
spin you around, I'd be likehome is where my plants are.
I've got plants all over.
But yeah, no, I'm a really bigbeliever.
I mean, even just looking atplants has been shown by science
to be relaxing.
And so it's this really amazingtool where we're supposed to get
(10:58):
out in nature all the time butin absence of that, when we can
introduce the essence of plantsinto our body, it is sort of
grounding.
It does help our microbiome, itdoes help study the different
parts, and that's what's coolabout it, because while rosemary
can help with memory and withall these different symptoms,
it'll work where it needs to.
It'll go and do the thing thatit needs to do.
(11:20):
And so I hate, hate fragrance Iwon't even get onto that
soapbox.
But oils, when used correctlyand that they're high quality
because that's the other thingyou really want to make sure,
like all the testing and stuffis available for them, they can
be incredibly, incrediblypowerful, fun tools.
Like I hate taking pills, butyou know it's so funny, I have
(11:40):
my oils here, but like I can, Ican rub it on all day long and
it's fun and it's fine.
Like I can rub it on all daylong, it's fun and it's fine.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Wow, and so do you.
On your website and just inyour work you have those oils
that you know you've gonethrough thorough testing.
Because that's the thing isthat as women, we're trying to
multitask and you know, if Icould show you like all the tabs
that I have open, or like pinsthat I have saved, or like books
I need to read but haven'tgotten to.
(12:06):
Like what I love about whatyou're saying is like you have
done the deep dive, you've donethe work, you've taken the time
to really research to guidewomen, and I just love that.
With the ancient you alsomentioned, like you know, we
have ancient wisdom and ancientstudies, but now we're combining
it with modern science.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
With the exception of the US countries all around the
world.
You can't just sell oils topeople because they are so
powerful and potent.
Right, it's a lot more that youwould go, you know, not that
you can't I guess you could butlike it's more accepted that you
would go to like a pharmacy ora place and then they would like
help put it together for you,whereas here we're just like
take whatever, use it, however,throw it on your food, like no,
that's.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
I had no idea that you would maybe go to a
pharmacist.
That's like fascinating.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
It is a science, there is chemistry to it, and a
lot of actually modern medicineis based on the anatomy of plant
medicine, right?
So what they did is they tookit and they just timesed it by
10, but that's not always greatfor you, right, exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Great for you, right, exactly.
Okay, well, that's incredible,cause I think you know you
talked about the gut brain, likethe gut, the microbiomes, with
aromatherapy, which I didn'teven realize that it could.
I had heard about aromatherapybeing able to go through the
blood brain barrier, but I hadno idea how it could also affect
the microbiome, because youknow, I, we know the importance
of like the gut brain connection, right when it comes to mood
(13:30):
and what, what would you say aresome like maybe impactful
changes that women can make toimprove, like mental clarity
you've talked about, likegetting rid of that fog, or just
like with your emotions, withenergy and I know cause.
You also have a background withnutrition, so I don't know if
you can enlighten.
I feel like we're going to.
I feel like this needed to havebeen a series, now that I'm
(13:51):
looking at my all the questionsand research I had prepared.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
But yeah, no, look.
I think the reason I say toapproach it with curiosity is
because different things workfor different people at a
different pace, and so it'sreally about experimenting with
small changes and see how youfeel.
But part of that is reallyseeing how you feel, and so the
first thing I think women needto do is to tune into their own
(14:16):
intuition, because intuitively,we know what's going to help us,
but we've become so reliant oneverything else.
We have a watch telling uswhether we slept well, we have
you know something else tellingus whether we ate the right
calories or but, but we know,like if we could really tune in
after we ate something, we'dknow does it work or not?
Like we don't need a foodsensitivity test.
We could probably figure it out, but we've become so out of
(14:39):
tune with our own body and ourown emotions, and so I think
that's really the first step isreally starting to think about I
call it sometimes like anenergy diary or like what how do
I feel after each step of whatI'm doing?
And then, if there's a stepthat you're like, oh, it's
really not, like I can see thatI'm dipping.
At this point, what can youchange or introduce or play or
(15:01):
experiment with to see how itmakes you feel better, with to
see how it makes you feel better.
So I love using oils atdifferent periods through the
day, but I also love breath work.
I think you know, especially inmidlife you can find women all
of a sudden get very anxious.
That have never had anxietyever before, or this feeling of
overwhelm.
That's almost too much, whichagain, never happened before and
(15:23):
there's a lot of science behindwhat happens to our brain and
our body that causes that.
But if you can practice alittle bit every day and I
always say it's great to do itbefore a meal.
So ancient cultures always usedto pray before a meal because
it calms your fight or flight,so that you're ready and you can
digest your food better.
So that was why they did it.
Now we don't pray before we eat, or I think most people don't
(15:43):
but if you did like a little boxbreathing or just a little, you
know conscious breath.
First of all, it's not a verypublic thing.
You're not like holding handsin the middle of, like maybe
your lunch meeting or anything,but you know just it.
Again, it helps practice it andthen when you are having
something that, where you dofeel like you're spinning out of
control when you do it, yourbrain immediately is like oh
(16:04):
yeah, I'm calm.
When this happens, when I, whenI do this breath work, I'm calm
.
Or when I use this oil, youknow, before I eat, and then I
use it when I'm having a panic,oh, I'm calm, this is my calm
space.
Um, it can even be as simple aslike a mudra, like just being
very conscious of when you'recalm, that I do this thing, and
then the way, the best way Ithink, to practice it is before
(16:25):
you eat, because it'll also calmyour body.
But then, when you have thosemoments, you use that tool,
whatever it is aromatherapy, amudra, breath work, whatever
works for you.
It'll be available to youbecause your body will say oh
okay, I'm okay, I'm safe, thisis fine.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Right.
This is blowing my mind because, as a therapist, we've done
like mindful based eatingpractices, right.
So you're being mindful to thetexture, the you know every
single moment, but I had neverconsidered the mindfulness or
breathing exercise before youeven eat, to just put that body
(17:03):
in a.
You know that we don't have to.
We can turn off the fight orfight to be in that calm state.
That's incredible and I'm I'mthinking like you know, as I you
mentioned your, your son, right, and I I have daughters and I
think about, like the cafeteria,like how rushed it is, right,
and like and how we just kind oftake that, like maybe rush
through.
(17:23):
I have I have been guilty oflike eating my lunch in front of
my computer, you know.
So how incredible to be able toI love that tip that is so easy
to practice anywhere, anytimeto to just have some breath work
, maybe even before you eat.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
A hundred percent and and and again, and even if that
sometimes like cause I have twodaughters as well, but so
madhouse with the three kids,but you know they're like.
You know I don't want to do thebreath work, like it just
doesn't fit for them.
So I'm like this is the GyanMudra, it's really easy and you
can just put it in your lap andcan you just do that before you
(18:01):
eat, like who would?
Who would notice you, itwouldn't matter, right?
And then if you do that also,when you do have time to be
mindfulness again, your bodywill just recognize this is my
time to be calm.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I love that.
That's incredible.
Yeah, so if, if someone were,it sounds like everything's
really catered when it comes tothe clients and the platform
that you work with, because I'mtrying to picture you mentioned
that you can pull two oils atcertain time of the day.
There's certain breath work.
It's individualized Some thingsthat work for one person may
not work for others.
I'm just curious because nowI'm like I think I need to go to
(18:36):
a session like this, like as atherapist, I would love to talk
to somebody about this.
So could you walk me through alittle bit of what it would look
like to to go to a session with, with you, or what it looks
like?
I've been to your platform, soI just didn't know.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Like, yeah, really it's.
What we do is we invite ajourney of self-exploration.
So it's not about me tellingyou what I think is supposed to
be, because, again, you have totune into your own intuition.
So, through the platformthere's again, there's so many
different journeys of experts inyoga, experts in meditation we
even had someone do feng shuifor clarity so like, can you
energetically maybe move yourspace around Self-love?
(19:15):
That was, you know, a reallypopular big topic, and so we
bring in teachers to do it.
And then every month we do alive event which I am there to
to help.
If you're just like I justdon't know, yeah, right, and so
then you can receive some sortof live coaching.
We don't record it, so it canbe very private and people can
be very open about whatever itis they're having in community.
That feels like a safe space,and of course there's also a
(19:38):
private Facebook group.
But really it's meant to bethis journey of self-exploration
, self-love.
I'm not going to know what'sbest for you.
All I can do is tell you tostart tuning in to what do you
think feels right?
Does the idea of starting withworking on your nutrition make
you want to go crazy?
Okay, no problem.
Maybe you want to start withsleep, maybe it's like a sleep
routine and you do that.
Or you know, maybe you're like,oh, yoga is definitely not for
(20:01):
me.
Or you know it used to be.
I couldn't sit still formeditation.
Honestly, it took me some timeto get there.
But you, you know, you knowthat intuitively, like you kind
of get that like gut, like ohyeah or no, right.
So so then go for journaling,or you know.
But the point is to experimentand then tune in.
Did that make it better?
Do I feel better?
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Yeah, you know, you mentioned, you know the time
right, like how long would yousay for you?
What has this journey look like?
Everyone's different, right, Iunderstand that.
But I think just to give me andother listeners just kind of
that encouragement, right,things take time.
And I think we're used to kindof like this on-demand feel good
(20:46):
hits right.
So I'm just, if you couldn'tshare with us because you see
these radical changes in yourlife.
I know you have like an MBA,right, so I'm picturing you with
your business world and youtalked about the hustle and the
shift into really focusing onfeeling good.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
If you could share a little bit about what that time
looks like.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
I used to do mergers and acquisitions for defense and
aerospace companies post 9-11.
So I'm dating myself.
But, yes, so that was meh.
That was not eating well, thatwas not being mindful, that was
just total hessive.
And then I'll go to what I calllike more magic.
So meh to magic.
To me it was sort of thisunwrapped, like I would say.
(21:32):
I noticed a dramatic differencewithin a month, wow.
But then to go completely whereI didn't wake up exhausted, you
know, because I was still, Ifeel, know, cause I was still, I
feel better, but I was stillwaking up tired and I was still
not, I would say, vibrant.
Um, it probably took aboutthree months and then, and then
that was it.
But I, I dove right in.
I mean, I know that everyonedoesn't have the ability or
(21:54):
flexibility, but I rage, quit myjob and just kind of went all
in Like my new goal in life isjust to feel amazing, even if
I'm broke.
I'm going to be the mostvibrant, broke person you've
ever met.
But I had the flexibility toobviously do that and not
because I just felt like if Ididn't take a break, I was, I
(22:17):
was, I was going to break.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
So yeah, well, thank you for sharing.
I was curious, like you know,just sharing your role in the
story and it's interesting youtalk about that because I was
reading um an article todayabout the top 10 happiest
countries.
But there a lot of the ones inthe top are also like on some of
the most like what's consideredlike kind of poverty stricken
(22:42):
countries, right.
So I think you know, justlooking at values, goals, what
you've got in in life, and yeah,I just I thought it was.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
I have this other memory I'd love to share.
I went to India and it was withmy daughter, and you know she
was, it was her first time andshe was very heartbroken by all
the homeless children she sawlike kids her age, begging and
awful, and you know, and she was, you know, trying to give away
all my gluten-free food things.
(23:14):
And so I decided to take her toan NGO and it was an NGO of
girls who were rescued fromhuman, from sorry child
marriages.
Oh wow, girls that had beenmarried at the age of like, as
early as six or seven, right,and they were on the floor and
they were like making thesedifferent textiles or whatever.
But can I tell you they were sohappy, happier than me, and I
just thought how is it possiblethat these girls who have such
(23:37):
trauma, lost everything, theyhave no family, that these,
whoever these people are in thisNGO right now, these are their
family, these kids are theirfamily.
They're happier than me and mykids.
What's going on right?
Because they have such a deepsense of gratitude and purpose
and you know, of course, theyeat right and they're doing the
right things in that particularone.
But I thought, wow, that's, itwas just one of those things
(24:00):
that I observed and was justsort of like wow, that's that's
crazy, yeah, it's so inspiring.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Yeah, my, my family's from Mexico originally, so I
think there's yeah, there's justkind of stepping into just
seeing another way to, like youmentioned like live the lens
through which you see the worldRight A hundred percent.
Yeah, so well, you know, if youhad to, if you had to then
share one message with women whomay feel stuck or unfulfilled
(24:35):
in midlife, or just life ingeneral, what would it be?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
It would be.
It's not normal.
Don't let anyone tell you thatit's normal to feel meh, it's
not normal.
And if you can, however muchtime, you can spend it on
experimenting on ways to feelgreat.
And that would be my message,honestly, because everyone
should feel great and you canonly give and care and, you know
(25:03):
, do all the things that youwere here to do if you're
feeling good about yourself andyou're feeling healthy.
And we have just, I think, fortoo long, normalized feeling
exhausted, not feeling good.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
I love that.
Experimenting it sounds likegoing from the met to the magic,
Like you said.
I love that.
I loved that.
How can people connect with you?
Speaker 2 (25:26):
So vibes tribeco is a site and we actually have the
live event every month, so theycan always register on the site
and attend one of the events,which would be a great way to
meet again.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Awesome, I will be joining.
I'm very excited.
I feel, like this will be great.
This is, this is awesome.
Well, thank you so much, kavita, for joining us and being a
part of our wellness journeytoday.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Thank you for having me.
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