Embrace Holistic Health: Small Steps to Transform Your Life - Berta Azzi

About the Guest:

Berta Azzi is a distinguished holistic health coach and nutritionist with a rich history in the wellness industry. Over her expansive career, Berta has transformed her personal health journey into a professional mission to empower others. With expertise in holistic approaches to wellness, she emphasizes the integration of mind, body, and soul in achieving optimal health. Berta is also a Pilates instructor and has an extensive background in counseling. She is the founder of Bellator Wellbeing, a platform dedicated to nurturing individual health through personalized holistic strategies.

Key Takeaways:

• Holistic health considers the mind, body, and spirit as a cohesive unit and focuses on individual-led strategies for health improvement.
• Small, mindful lifestyle changes can have significant impacts on overall health, challenging the notion that complex problems need complex solutions.
• Listening to one's innate wisdom is key in recognizing what truly benefits one's health, rather than blindly following generalized health trends.
• A safe space and the support of a health coach offer invaluable insight into personal health narratives and encourage sustainable lifestyle adjustments.
• Taking time for self-care, rest, and reflection counterbalances the culturally ingrained glorification of busyness, enhancing both physical and mental well-being.

Notable Quotes:

• "Health and wellbeing go beyond just a diet; it goes on to look at you as a whole person." - Berta Azzi
• "Our body is made up of systems that rely on each other... when one system is off, it affects the others." - Berta Azzi
• "You are the expert in you; you know what's wrong; you know what the solutions are." - Berta Azzi
• "Even complex health issues can be addressed with simple changes and choices." - Debbie Draybi
• "Don't compare yourself to other people... be in touch with yourself." - Berta Azzi

Resources:

• Berta Azzi's Website: Bellator Wellbeing

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Transcript

0:00:00 - (Debbie Draybi): Welcome to another episode of Finding Sanctuary. And I'm really excited. Today we've got another special guest who's also a dear friend of mine and colleague, former colleague, actually, but we always stay connected. Berta azi, who's a holistic health coach and also a nutritionist. And Berta and I go way back. We worked together probably over 20 years ago now.

0:00:20 - (Berta Azzi): Yes.

0:00:21 - (Debbie Draybi): And so it's just so nice to reconnect with you. And I'm also really excited because Nat's sitting right next to me and so we've reunited and we're going to co host this session. Berta, welcome.

0:00:31 - (Berta Azzi): Thank. Thank you.

0:00:32 - (Debbie Draybi): We're really keen to talk to you a bit about your journey. I love your title, particularly the word holistic. To me, it really resonates in terms of the things that we want to talk about and we have been talking about on this podcast around thinking about having a balance and approaching life from that really holistic perspective. So I just wanted to get your thoughts on that. What drives you in your work and, you know, what's your passions?

0:00:57 - (Berta Azzi): Look, holistic health came about because of my long journey. Like you said, we've known each other for a very, very long time. Going through life as a single person, entering into a marriage and motherhood and then having difficulties with pregnancies and then just health issues as I, you know, as you grow older, I realised that the typical and general approach that we used to take wasn't working. I was experiencing things myself, physically and mentally.

0:01:24 - (Berta Azzi): Everything just stopped working. I needed to look at things differently. I needed to stop a lot of the. That we were experiencing. We get that a lot from social media. Do this, don't do that, eat this, don't do this, exercise this way, don't do this. And so I needed to declutter all that. That's why I got involved into holistic health. I've always had a passion for nutrition, always healthy eating because of digestive issues, you know, as a child always had some kind of gut health issue.

0:01:48 - (Berta Azzi): So nutrition has always been at the forefront, but I knew that to life. And there's more than just eating. Well, health and wellbeing goes beyond just a diet, it goes on to looking as a person, as a whole, looking at your, your lifestyle, your emotional wellbeing, your social influences or your relationships, looking at your spiritual connection, you know, your purposeful life. And I really had to dive into that to become a better version of myself and really achieve optimal health. Once I hit my 40s, I just noticed my health was starting to deteriorate, hitting perimenopause and menopause.

0:02:22 - (Berta Azzi): I knew I had to tackle this differently. I was constantly being diagnosed with something else, you know, a range of different issues and I thought no, I can't have this, I can't constantly have some inflammation and new diagnosis. So I approached holistic health and delved into a lot deeper and then really got rid of all my symptoms and have no diagnosis at all other than a healthy 48 year old woman.

0:02:46 - (Berta Azzi): So I'm really happy with that approach and I can see the effect on myself and on those around me. Also when we take a look at our mental well being and understanding that our mind affects our body, our body affects our mind and that spiritual connection to us, you know, a more purposeful light to bring that joy and happiness into our life is so important, especially as women and especially, you know, going through, you know, your phase when you're single, you're married and you've got kids and just aging in general, you know, you change and you're constantly evolving.

0:03:15 - (Berta Azzi): So you need approach in life where that can evolve with you. And a holistic approach is that it looks at you as a person at different ages and at different stages of your life. You need to be able to be in touch with your internal self, your innate wisdom to know what is right for you and to follow that path. So that's where I kind of got into it or from my own personal experience and just bringing out optimal health for myself.

0:03:38 - (Natalie Moujalli): Yeah, I love hearing you speak Berta. Yesterday we had a pre recording zoom meeting and I wasn't meant to stay on because I needed to go off and feed my kids. But I started that my mum made. Thanks mum. Because we can't do it all. We do it all very averagely. But hearing you speak caught my attention so drastically because I was like, wow, you really get it. To look at health and healing from a mind, body and soul I think is the only way forward.

0:04:09 - (Natalie Moujalli): That's the work we're trying to do at Hill Sanctuary House. Like so the programs that we're starting to introduce tackle mental health from all aspects. We're doing workshops, we're doing exercise programs, we're looking at rolling out computer courses to simulate the mind and gardening courses to get moving and being out in the sun. Because mental health is complicated, but it's simple in the sense that we need to approach it as a system, you know, part of a whole network that's going on with us.

0:04:37 - (Natalie Moujalli): And you use that word innate wisdom. And I just would love for you to elaborate on that a little bit.

0:04:43 - (Berta Azzi): Look, I'll use it as. And give you an example of a personal example. I always had autoimmune conditions and inflammation. I would sit there and think, where's this coming from? And it got worse as I got older. The more kids stress, life going through, perimenopause, you know, symptoms got worse. There's always something new went from, you know, specialist to specialist, doctor to doctor, and nobody could identify it. But they were treating every part of me as in an isolated form.

0:05:11 - (Berta Azzi): You know, whether it was a cardiologist, just treating my heart. Your heart's fine. I know my heart's fine. As a vascular surgeon, your blood system, everything's, you know, vascular system is fine. Immunologist, you're fine. Everything was fine separately. But there was something that was affecting my body and I knew it and I knew there was something wrong. And somebody once said to me, it's your life.

0:05:31 - (Berta Azzi): And I just went, what does that even mean? What does that mean? And that's all he said. And I walked out and I cried and I thought, my life is making me sick. And that was a turning point for me. And then I looked into it a lot more. And sometimes the way we live in our environment is what affects us and it affects our whole being. Because our body is made up of all different systems that are interconnected, that rely on each other and that work in harmony when we treat them well as this whole system.

0:06:01 - (Berta Azzi): But they can also, when one system is off, it's going to affect the other systems. And when we view our body as a whole and view the life that we live as a whole, understanding that our home environment, our social networks, our work environment, our social. Everything that impacts us on an individual basis or in our life affects our health and wellbeing, then we can understand our role and touch into that innate self and go, okay, well, what is it that I don't like about my work environment that's causing me stress? What is it that I don't like about my. My social environment that's causing me stress?

0:06:33 - (Berta Azzi): When I eat this product, it bloats me. Well, bloating is not normal. You shouldn't be getting bloated. So don't eat that food item. Or I broke out into a ratio. Maybe that's just, you know, we're getting all these signals and signs from places, but we dismiss a lot. And so that tuning into that innate self is about coming back to a quiet place, really sitting with yourself, getting to know who you are, getting to Know your body and these symptoms ago, these are not normal.

0:06:57 - (Berta Azzi): What is it that I need to figure out? What is it that my body is trying to tell me? Those symptoms are signals that your body is telling you something's not right. You know, you're feeling anxious, your mind is telling you something's not right. Why? And having the, I guess the strength to be able to explore that a lot more is where people struggle with and that fear, because it can uncover a lot for some people. And I guess that's where my role in health coaching comes in, is that, you know, it's a safe place for you to be able to uncover what are your blocks, what are your barriers, what's holding you back?

0:07:31 - (Berta Azzi): And being in tune with that, being confident enough to be able to come into that place where some people is quite deep and tapping into that innate wisdom. You're the expert in. You, you know what's wrong, you know what the solutions are, but what's holding you back from identifying the problem and then applying the solution to whatever, you know, you experience in.

0:07:53 - (Natalie Moujalli): You said earlier about, like, dismissing. Like, sometimes we dismiss. And I think that sometimes we do that consciously, but a lot of the times we do that subconsciously, we're too busy. You know, we might know, we might have that innate wisdom that we know what's wrong with that. You're right. We are the expert, but we don't. We don't have time. So we're easily distracted and we're onto the next thing until it really kind of catches up with us and floors us.

0:08:20 - (Natalie Moujalli): So, I don't know. I struggle with that. Deb, what do you think about that?

0:08:25 - (Debbie Draybi): Yeah, look, I know in a lot of our conversations we've talked about thinking about approaching ourselves with a humble curiosity without judgment, because, yeah, we are constantly busy, and that busyness, in a way, takes us away from ourselves.

0:08:41 - (Berta Azzi): Yeah. And I think that's the thing, is that we always. I kind of got to a point in my life where I went, everybody says we're busy, busy, busy, busy. I have no time. Time, time, time. And actually, no, I have time just not using it well. And I need to reevaluate and I need to declutter and I need to be brave enough to do that. And, you know, obviously I'm. I've got six kids, I've got a husband, and I've got to manage my family life also around all that.

0:09:09 - (Berta Azzi): But I had to find those moments where can I let go of what is nourishing me, what isn't nourishing. Me what relationships are nourishing me, what aren't. And I think the fear that people think is that you have to do everything at once and you don't. It's about choosing one thing, one small thing, and doing that because our environment, because our life, everything's interconnected. That one thing will play a role in every other part of your life.

0:09:35 - (Berta Azzi): For example, for me, I realized I was always tired and I was drinking. I love coffee, but I was drinking too much and I had to cut down. But I realized, why am I always going for a cup of coffee? Because I'm tired. Why are you tired? Because you're not resting. Okay, well, how about you rest? So I started just sitting down, having a glass of water instead, hydrating my body and 10, 15 minutes, just sit and have some quiet time. Whether I was reading a book, watching a favorite program on TV or whatever it is, it was my rest time. Anything that allows me to come to a sense of peace and relaxation.

0:10:11 - (Berta Azzi): And then I realized from there that I was having about five or six cups of coffee and some of them were double shots. So you can. I reduced it to one single shot of coffee a day. And I started off with one small action and it was just resting more. Whether it was five minutes, whether it was 10 minutes, whether it was 20 minutes, whatever time I had, I rested. If I needed a physical rest, I, you know, just sat down. If I needed a mental rest, I quietened the house or I'd lay down on the grass and, you know, connect with nature. Nature has a beautiful way of grounding us. We've been given the gift of beautiful grass and environment here in Sydney and you know, just lying down on the lawn and just connecting and whether it's five minutes. And I think the thing is we don't give value to those small things in life. We always think everything has to be big and grand, but they don't.

0:10:57 - (Berta Azzi): It's those small steps that make the biggest change. And you choose one small thing, you end up with more energy and then you can choose another thing and that will affect every part of your life. And then you choose another small thing and everything has an impact. Don't be dismissive of that is the key thing. Choose those small steps, what's easy and practical for somebody to do straight away and then keep adding to that, you know, whether it's once a week, once a month, whenever is right for you. And then you will see that your life transforms and you develop sustainable and long term behaviors. You're building new habits and you can't change old habits overnight. You need to just take a really slow, progressive style with that and keep chipping away. And if you fall back into old behaviors, that's fine, that's normal.

0:11:42 - (Berta Azzi): Don't get caught up and just keep moving forward, making that time for yourself. It doesn't have to be big, it's just small. Even a minute of deep breathing really puts yourself into that healing system of your body. Your parasympathetic system was where healing and nourishment happens. Focused breathing, in through your nose, out through your mouth, it's just really restorative and really healing for the body.

0:12:05 - (Berta Azzi): So that's where my thoughts are. Small progressive steps are the key for success. Really? Yeah.

0:12:13 - (Debbie Draybi): And I think about it sometimes, you know, it's so powerful in terms of Often we're presented with very complex issues and we think the solution has to be complicated as well. But what you're doing is simplifying it. And even complex health issues can be addressed with simple changes and choices. And sometimes we minimise that because we think, well, how can inflammation be treated by having a rest or having less caffeine or, you know, it's incredible how the solution is so accessible to us and it doesn't have to be massive or complicated.

0:12:50 - (Berta Azzi): And I think that's the understanding of the role of when you have a science backed approach to it. So understanding the human body, the way it interacts and the role that holistic health plays with that human, it is science backed. You know, these things that, you know, our ancestors may have done a lot more. Having that community environment and, you know, having that laughter and joy in your life is so healing.

0:13:09 - (Berta Azzi): But we dismiss all that kind of stuff. Again, we think if I'm not paying a certain amount for something, it's not going to work. If I'm not taking whatever's the latest thing on social media, then it's not going to work. If I'm not doing this form of exercise, it's not going to work. And it is really just being in touch that understand that the body doesn't actually need much. It needs you to be attentive to it and that's all it needs.

0:13:33 - (Natalie Moujalli): Easier said than done.

0:13:34 - (Berta Azzi): It's easier said than done and it is easier. So that's why you take those small steps. It's just that going, oh, hold on, I'm feeling anxious. I've got to take some deep breaths. Okay, My heart is racing, I've got some heart palpitations. I've just got to do deep breathing. That doesn't cost you anything. You can do that while you're driving, you can do that while you're cooking. And I know as mums it's really difficult and like I said, I've got six kids, I understand it's really difficult. And some days you just feel like it's relentless, it's non stop, you can't even breathe, you don't even know where you can hide in the house to get away from the kids, to have a little bit of moment.

0:14:06 - (Berta Azzi): I have funny stories of where I've hidden. I've hidden in the garage and then hopped in the car, locked the doors of the garage and the car just to feel like I've got some quiet time. So I understand how desperate you can get. But I got my quiet time, I calmed myself down and then I went back out finding where works for you in your life. So what works for me may not work for somebody else. And that's where the innate wisdom is really important.

0:14:32 - (Berta Azzi): Don't compare yourself to other people. You know, you can always get ideas and strategies and go, that would work, that wouldn't work. And that's why again, the holistic health is really important, is sometimes when we're given strategies and you know yourself, you know you've been given, you need to do this and you need to do that. And in your mind you're sitting there thinking, that's not gonna work, there's no way I'm going to do that. And you just walk out of the office and you go back to your normal life and you've made no changes.

0:14:58 - (Berta Azzi): So holistic health is when the solutions are driven from within and that's why they make them, they become sustainable, they're effective, they work because you decided that this will work for me, this will work within my family environment, this will work within my social environment, this will work generally for me. And that's why it's effective.

0:15:17 - (Debbie Draybi): Yeah, finding things that are accessible, meaningful and relevant to you rather than, you know, we've had conversations around comparison, particularly through social media where you see a lot on your feed, lots of examples of the way you should be and this is the only way that it's going to work. But you know, what you're saying is the opposite of that. It's shutting that down and recognizing what works for you and getting to know, almost having your own internal feed of your life and your own real sort of what your life looks like and what's going to work for you.

0:15:49 - (Berta Azzi): Yeah. And you know that when you look at social Media. I mean, I'll use food and diet as an example. You need to go on the keto diet. You need to do this diet. You need to do that diet. And you sit there confused about what would work and what works best. And you need to eat this healthy food because this food is really healthy and it's high in nutrients. Yeah, they are. Apples are healthy. And apple a day keeps the doctor away. You know that old saying, apples don't sit well within my digestive system.

0:16:15 - (Berta Azzi): My body prefers pears. Apples are healthy, but I don't eat them because my body's telling me I don't like it. You know, you need to get rid of the social media in the sense of, yeah, you can look at it, but you can't be driven by it, by what's the latest fad. You've got to really go back and listen to your body, listen to those symptoms. It's telling you something. It's telling you something that's not right. I don't like.

0:16:39 - (Berta Azzi): You know, I always laugh because I always think of, you know, we teach our kids when they go to school, stop it. I don't like it. Kind of your body's telling you the same, stop it. I don't like it. Okay, Stop what you're doing. I don't like it. You know, some people think they need to do cardio exercise, for example, because it's a fat burning and so forth, and their body's just reacting negatively to it. Well, your body's telling you, stop it. I don't like it. Choose another form of exercise for me, you know, for you to do.

0:17:03 - (Berta Azzi): I teach Pilates. I love Pilates. I find it very restorative. But not everybody does. Not everybody enjoys it. So it, again, is about, what is it that you like? Be in touch with yourself. What is your body telling you? What's your mind telling you? What would bring you joy? What brings me joy is something you know. What brings you joy would be something totally opposite. But it's about finding that and not being afraid to find out who you really are.

0:17:27 - (Berta Azzi): And in that way, you end up living a life that aligns with you. Your mind, body and soul and spirit are connected, and they're in line with each other. And then there's no disharmony. So when you have harmony within those three levels or four levels, then you live a purposeful life, because what you're thinking, what you believe is the way you behave is the way, you know, you live your life generally, and you feel very content. And that's where joy comes in.

0:17:52 - (Debbie Draybi): So, Betty, I know you're a Pilates instructor. What else do you do in your day to day as a coach? You know, what are some of the things for those that are not familiar with that discipline? What does it look like?

0:18:02 - (Berta Azzi): So the health coach is really, I guess, providing a safe space. We ask really targeted questions to find and, you know, there's obviously looking at key health issues or key health areas within for individuals that we assess. What's your level of satisfaction there? Where do you want to go? What is it you want to work on? And then what are the factors and identifying the blocks for you? So that way we can find the root causes of what your issues are. It's very different approach. It's a very team approach.

0:18:31 - (Berta Azzi): So even though I am the health coach, you are the expert in you. So we work together to help identify what do you want to work on? Where do you want to go with it? What approaches would work? What do you need to get there? How do I support you to get there? What kind of level of support do you need? How long do we need to be working together for? It could be six weeks, could be six sessions, it could be a year, it could be a year and a half. It could be one off. And then we just kind of work together to make sure you achieve and develop healthy habits and a new way of life for transformation to come into your life.

0:19:06 - (Berta Azzi): And we target everything from physical, mental, emotional. It's a safe space for women to tell their stories. And you know that generally that we don't get a chance to tell our full story. I find that when women come to see me, there's a box of tissues ready because they go into areas that they didn't think that they would actually be talking about.

0:19:26 - (Natalie Moujalli): Yeah, that's. I guess that's where my question's going, actually, because I would imagine that doing this, this holistic work, mental health would be at the real crux of all of it, because you're dealing with what people may present to you as a physical health issue is actually probably possibly a mental health issue. So how do you manage that? Like when, when they've come in and have said to you, oh, I need work on something physically, but that box of tissue comes out and they start to tell their story.

0:19:54 - (Natalie Moujalli): How do you manage that?

0:19:55 - (Berta Azzi): So basically it's just exploring it with them. Where is this coming from? Allow them just to talk. A lot of the times it's just allowing them to talk. They just want to be heard. And then as people are talking, then they kind of answer their own questions because they're in a safe space, but all their thoughts that have been running around in their head are now being verbalized and they can hear it differently, they can come to the solution. And then I just sit and we just ask questions. Obviously, if something is outside of my scheme and my, you know, expertise, we find, you know, the expert that's professional that will help them. The best, you know, a health coach is. Has a limited role, but we're there to support them through that process of who would be best to support you in this part? This is unlocking something that maybe you didn't want or didn't realise.

0:20:46 - (Berta Azzi): How can we work best to make sure that we address that? So that is something, I guess it comes with the, you know, potential warning label that, you know, things that may come up for you that you didn't realise. But I find a lot of the times it's just this story, it's just the experience that they want to be able to tell, they want to be heard, they want to unlock the emotions that are hold within when we hold.

0:21:07 - (Berta Azzi): And as females, we tend to hold a lot of emotions within our body and emotions stored within our body has to have an effect somewhere and it'll affect our organ. It could be joint pain, it could be digestive issues, could be anxiety, it could be, you know, moods, it could be anything. When we able to talk and tell our story and release those emotions and address them and have that cry or, you know, be able to find that safe space, then that's when the healing journey begins. And then within that journey, then the support, you know, if, like I said, if referrals need to be made, then you do that. Otherwise we continue the journey together. And that's something that we work out together.

0:21:45 - (Berta Azzi): Because sometimes some people have had negative experiences with different things. And so we make sure we work together to get them to the place where they need to be and that.

0:21:53 - (Natalie Moujalli): They'Re feeling safe and however they're being managed. A lot of the times people just need to share their story to someone who will listen. And once those words come out of their mind and into reality, those words hold less power over you. 

0:22:19 - (Berta Azzi): And I found that quite a lot with people that just said, I've never told anybody this and they've just held something within them. And they just want to tell their story. And it may not be big, but it's big to them. And again, you know, I go into the health coaching from my own personal experience. You know, we all have lives and that's full of ups and downs. And that's why holistic health is about. You are the expert.

0:22:41 - (Berta Azzi): Because no matter how much you may sit with me or anybody else, nobody knows your full story except for you. Nobody knows how this solution would work best in your own home and your environment with your partner and your kids. You know, I can describe my kids personalities, but that's just a snippet. You know, I can describe my home life, but that's just a snippet. That's, you know, so only you know your environment, only you know you, and only you know the solutions that will work best for you. And if you don't know the solutions, that's what we work on. You know, so it's a very different approach from your normal, I guess what we're used to with health and wellbeing. But I think it's a growing, we think it's quite big overseas, but in Australia it's slowly getting, I guess, more of attention than it needs. And I do think it needs attention.

0:23:26 - (Berta Azzi): It's very effective. But it just requires, I guess, the courage to be able to say, okay, I want to try this. This is something new. I want to see where this takes me. Because I think that it will take you to places where you will be achieve optimal health, where you will be in tune with yourself and you will live a life that, that aligns well and aligns with you as an individual. And I think life is short. I'm here, you know, nearing 50, and I think, I feel like, Debbie, you know, I feel like we were, you know, working 25 or whatever years ago. I still feel that age, but we're not. And you kind of go, okay, well, I don't want to spend my life constantly with ill health or with some kind of symptoms or I just want to spend my life healthy and happy and making the most of it.

0:24:12 - (Debbie Draybi): It's been a journey reconnecting with you after all these years, hearing your story, the evolution of you as a person and how you've come to know yourself and how that's really supported you in your development, not just your health, but also your development as a professional.

0:24:29 - (Berta Azzi): Yeah.

0:24:29 - (Debbie Draybi): I mean, how you've integrated that into your life.

0:24:32 - (Berta Azzi): Yeah, look, I think it's all those years of experience. I did counselling when I first started and I Remember being in my 20s and sitting there and having this one particular client come in, and he was a foster kid, so he must have been in his mid-60s. He sat down and we were talking and he broke down and cried. And he told me his story and he said, I've never told this to anybody before. And I thought, wow, he must have been in his mid-60s. You've never told this story before and you've held it on all these years.

0:25:01 - (Berta Azzi): And I thought, people just need a good friend. They just need somebody to talk to. And that's where that was the beginning. That was one of the origins of my, you know, and I know I needed it for myself. You know, you just needed a good friend to be able to say, I'm experiencing this. This has been really difficult. And that's where my passion, I guess, really stemmed from initially was that particular client that came in. And I went, oh, wow.

0:25:24 - (Berta Azzi): Just need a safe space. And that's what health coaching is about. And that holistic approach is a safe space for you to tell your story. You know, we go through life when we go through experiences. I had twins and they were premie. I had three young kids at home, had twins in hospital, and it was difficult to manage. And as women, you're just soldiering on constantly and you never get that time because sometimes in life you don't have that time to do it. You've just got to keep moving. You're in survival mode. But after that, you need to make that time. You know, I didn't.

0:25:57 - (Berta Azzi): I suffered from post traumatic stress after that experience. Didn't know what was happening. And, you know, there's a lot of experiences that, you know, I'm sure a lot of people can recall that they've had and they just wish there was that somebody that they can say, this was really difficult. I don't know how I'm going to get through with it. I need some help. I need some support and being able to ask for that and somebody to give you the support to be able to be confident enough to ask family for help or whatever you need.

0:26:25 - (Berta Azzi): It's just about living everyday life, you know, your everyday experiences, I think, and how they impact on us and how we can, I guess, move forward with the support, the right support.

0:26:36 - (Debbie Draybi): As you're talking, I think about our very first episode that we had for this season with the comedian Anthony Salemi. And he talked about our parents as migrants. They soldiered on and they just got on with it. And I think we've really come from that generation of just getting on with it. And what I'm hearing from you is trying to do that differently and to pause. And we do have incredible life experiences and often traumas and difficulties and that get on with that mindset.

0:27:07 - (Debbie Draybi): We see the impact that it has and often it's been generations of that that's been modeled for us. And we see that it takes its toll, what you're saying and the message. And I guess what I'm hearing, and you know, please don't let me paraphrase, but please correct me, but what I'm hearing is actually honor your experiences, the difficulties, the challenges. Pause. Getting on with it. Sometimes we have to. But then seeing opportunities to pause and reflect and understand those experiences, share them, sometimes for the first time, say them out loud and be able to think about what they mean to you, how we experience them, but also how you can recover and heal from them.

0:27:47 - (Berta Azzi): Yeah, and I think that's really important. I think, you know, that soldier on. You know, like you said, you know, our parents were migrants and that's the way we just lived. And that's what we just. You just got to do it. You've just got to do it. And you know, as mothers, sometimes, you know, you just got to do it. I'll use the twins being premier and the kids at home, I just had to do it, but afterwards I should have taken time out.

0:28:09 - (Berta Azzi): And I think that, yeah, I had to have that time to reflect. And you need to be able to sometimes in phases in life are going through particular experiences. You've just got to stay in that survival mode. But after that, you don't have to stay in that survival mode. You should be able to take that time out to reflect on your experience and be able to voice that experience with somebody and talk about it.

0:28:31 - (Berta Azzi): And that way you don't end up with. It's just a supportive way to make sure that, you know, I experience post traumatic stress because I didn't speak to anybody about it. I held it within. I didn't feel anybody was strong enough. And sometimes we rely on family and friends, but sometimes they don't have the experience or the expertise or the know how of how to deal with that. And that's why seeking outside help is really, really important.

0:28:55 - (Berta Azzi): And. And it's important because for your own wellbeing, but it's also important for everybody around you also because I think it's unfair to put pressure on people when they don't have the skills to do that. They really would love to help, but they just don't know how to. And so that's why we seek that professionals to do that for us.

0:29:15 - (Debbie Draybi): I'm wondering as we're finishing up whether there's anything. I mean, you've shared so much wisdom already, but if there's anything that you want to leave for our listeners, you know, any key message that you think would be really important, particularly those who are at the beginning and are really stuck and, you know, what's something that you think could help get them unstuck and support them to seek help and to maybe explore A holistic coach.

0:29:39 - (Berta Azzi): Look, I think one of the things is we care so much about others, but I think it's important to care for yourself, be kind to yourself and be fair to yourself and love yourself first. And in that way, then you're able to give from within, from a place of fullness. So I think, you know, don't underestimate the impact of small steps. Keep it simple and keep it moving and keep it progressive. But love and be kind to yourself is really, really important.

0:30:09 - (Berta Azzi): Be fair. I think that's a big thing for me is be fair to yourself.

0:30:15 - (Debbie Draybi): Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. That's a beautiful message, Nat. I wondered whether. Is there anything you wanted to.

0:30:21 - (Natalie Moujalli): The thing that's resonating with me the most is giving myself permission to rest in a world that glorifies busyness and like, I'm a victim of that a lot. So permission to rest and to allow myself to go between the two worlds. Like, it's not all rest and it's not all busyness and just to find that happy medium where I'm listening to my body a little bit and also, you know, powering through when I have to.

0:30:47 - (Natalie Moujalli): So thank you for that.

0:30:48 - (Debbie Draybi): Finally. I just want to echo that in terms of what you said about that innate wisdom and recognising, you know, in that kindness to yourself that you do have it. It's about reconnecting. You have the knowledge, you have the skills, you have the insight into yourself, but it's just about having the opportunity to dig a little bit and explore. And I think that's just been a wonderful message. We do rely on expertise from others, but it's engaging in the expertise within ourselves.

0:31:17 - (Debbie Draybi): And sometimes a professional can help you do that.

0:31:20 - (Berta Azzi): And I think that's where the health coach comes in, is that it will help you become more attuned within yourself and tap into your innate wisdom.

0:31:28 - (Debbie Draybi): Yeah, it took me a while to find you again. I'm just wondering, you know, if people are interested in your work and some of the services that you provide. I wondered, you know, where they could reach you.

0:31:39 - (Berta Azzi): Look, I have a website called bellatorwellbeing.com. so that's one word. B, E L, L, A T, O, R. And I chose Bellator because Bellator is Latin for warrior. And we need to be warriors in our life. We need internal strength and we need a strong body to be a warrior. So bellatorwellbeing.com is where I guess you can find me.

0:31:59 - (Debbie Draybi): Perfect. And we'll put all those details in our show notes as well. And you are an incredible warrior, and it's just been an absolute privilege to have you sitting with us.