Healing, Sacrifice & Midlife Awakening: Near-Death, Menopause & the Power of Surrender with Dr. Claudia Welch

About this episode: In this episode of the Thrive with Cate Stillman Podcast, Cate Stillman leads a live session from Club Thrive, sharing insights from her own recovery after hip replacement surgery while guiding participants through a gut health and fasting reset. This conversation dives deep into the relationship between fasting, the microbiome, and adipose (fat) tissue—revealing how the body naturally detoxifies and regenerates when given the right conditions. Cate explains how practices like the fast mimicking diet, microbiome reset, and 72-hour fasting activate autophagy, improve metabolic health, and reshape cravings at their root. Through a blend of modern science and Ayurvedic wisdom, she reframes fat tissue as an active endocrine organ and highlights how stored toxins, microbes, and inflammation influence behavior, energy, and long-term health. Beyond the physiology, this session also explores the mental and emotional aspects of fasting—how to navigate cravings, build awareness, and use community support to move through resistance and create lasting change. Key Takeaways: Autophagy & Detoxification: How fasting allows the body to "upcycle" itself by breaking down and recycling damaged cells for optimal function. Adipose Tissue as an Endocrine Organ: Why fat tissue plays a central role in hormones, cravings, and overall metabolic health. Microbiome Reset: Understanding the "battle" between good and bad microbes—and how diet and fasting shift the balance. Cravings Explained: How detoxing fat tissue and starving dysbiotic microbes can temporarily intensify cravings—and why that's a sign of progress. Fasting as a Skill: Why practicing fasting regularly builds resilience, clarity, and even prepares the body for deeper states of healing and integration. Community & Repetition: How doing this work in a group setting makes transformation easier, more sustainable, and more impactful over time. Resources & Links: Wellness Pro Academy: https://wellnesspro.academy Yogahealer: https://www.yogahealer.com About the Host – Cate Stillman: Cate Stillman is an Ayurvedic practitioner, author, and founder of Yogahealer and Wellness Pro Academy. For over 25 years, she has guided wellness professionals and individuals to align their habits, health, and business with natural intelligence and sustainable practices. Tune in and reflect: "What would shift in your body and mind if you trusted its natural ability to reset, detox, and renew?"

In this fascinating conversation, I sit down with Julie Ryan, a serial entrepreneur and inventor of surgical devices, to explore the "buffet of psychicness." Julie reveals that psychic ability isn't a rare gift for the "chosen few"—it is a physiological part of our anatomy that anyone can learn to activate. After years in the medical supply industry, Julie pivoted to mastering medical intuition and mediumship. She now teaches students globally how to scan the human body like a "human MRI" and communicate with spirits instantly, bypassing the need for long meditations or complex rituals.   Together, we explore: The Satellite Dish Brain: How to tune your frequency to communicate with any spirit—living or dead. The "Human MRI": How medical intuitives identify energetic blocks, broken bones, and even baby spirits waiting to be conceived. Energy Field Membranes: Understanding the "Saran Wrap" container of your spirit and how energy leaks precede medical conditions. Ancestral Clearing: The power of rituals like Tarpanam to digest generational trauma and clear inherited patterns.  Past Life Scripts: Why we often repeat the same basic "script" across multiple lifetimes from different perspectives. De-conditioning the Mind: How our education system trained us to ignore our intuition in favor of being "good employees." This episode is an invitation to move beyond doubt and fear and reclaim a lost part of your human anatomy. Whether you are a wellness professional or simply curious about the "woo-way," this conversation provides the bridge between practical science and spiritual wisdom. Notable Quote: "Everybody has the ability. You don't need any special skills. We all come in with the hardware." Connect with Julie Ryan: Website: askjulieryan.com   Free Gift (Digital & Audio Book): julieryangift.com   Trainings: Two-day psychic ability workshops (In-person and Online) Connect with Cate Stillman: Website: wellnesspro.academy Podcast: Thrive with Cate If this episode opens a new door for you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone ready to awaken their own intuitive buffet.

What if the crisis you're trying to fix is actually an invitation? In this intimate and wide-ranging conversation, I sit down with Dr. Claudia Welch to explore near-death experiences, menopause, identity collapse, and the spiritual art of surrender. After surviving a life-threatening case of MRSA pneumonia, Claudia found herself stripped of certainty, control, and even aspects of her professional identity. What emerged wasn't just physical healing—but a profound shift in how she relates to death, leadership, and the second half of life. Together, we explore: The true meaning of "sacrifice" — to make sacred What illness can dismantle (and reveal) about identity Why menopause is mythological—not just hormonal The danger of over-identifying with being the expert "Sell your knowledge, purchase bewilderment" Death awareness as a clarifier of what truly matters The Vanaprastha (forest dweller) stage of midlife Leadership beyond hustle and control This episode isn't about optimizing harder. It's about loosening your grip. If you're navigating midlife, health changes, burnout, or a quiet internal shift you can't quite name—this conversation will meet you there. Notable Quote: "Be ready to leave everyone and everything at any time." Listen in for a deeply reflective dialogue on surrender, maturity, and what it means to lead—and live—from depth rather than dominance.     Connect with Dr. Claudia Welch: Website: https://drclaudiawelch.comMenopause Chronicles: https://drclaudiawelch.comBook: Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life If this episode resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone navigating their second act.

  About this episode: In this episode of the Thrive with Cate Podcast, Cate Stillman is joined by spiritual author, intuitive guide, and former lawyer Patrick Paul Garlinger for a rich, multidimensional conversation on bending time, identity, depth work, and awakening within modern professional life. Patrick shares his unconventional journey from Spanish literature professor to New York City lawyer—and ultimately into a life devoted to spiritual inquiry, intuition, and channeled wisdom. Together, Cate and Patrick explore how deeply ingrained identities, cultural conditioning, and productivity-driven mindsets shape our experience of time, growth, and selfhood. At the heart of the conversation is Patrick's concept of "Bending Time" not as a productivity hack, but as a spiritual and relational practice of seeing the present without projecting the past onto it. They unpack how we unconsciously relate to people, work, and ourselves through old filters, and how true transformation requires slowing down, entering vulnerability, and allowing depth to emerge organically. Cate weaves in reflections from her work with Club Thrive, including the distinction between growth paths and depth paths, somatic healing, leadership, and the necessity of safe containers for professionals undergoing identity shifts. Patrick speaks candidly about depression, childhood trauma, intuition, channeling, and why not all healing is fast or meant to be. Rather than offering surface-level self-improvement, this episode invites listeners into a more honest relationship with time, becoming, and the unknown where awakening unfolds one step at a time. Key Takeaways: What "bending time" really means in daily life and relationships Why we often relate to people through past versions of them—and how to stop Growth path vs. depth path: why both are essential Identity, professionalism, and the cost of predictability Vulnerability and intimacy as gateways to transformation Channeling, writing, and capturing insight before it disappears Why healing often requires slowing down not fixing faster Reference links: Official Website and Endless Awakening: www.endlessawakening.com About the Host – Cate Stillman: Cate Stillman is an Ayurvedic practitioner, author, and founder of Yogahealer and Club Thrive. For over two decades, she has guided individuals and wellness professionals to reconnect with body intelligence, ancestral wisdom, and aligned leadership rooted in biological reality. 🌿 Yogahealer → https://www.yogahealer.com 🌿 Club Thrive → https://clubthrive.global Tune in and reflect: Where are you living from an old version of yourself and what might become possible if you allowed the present to meet you fresh?

About this episode: In this episode of the Thrive with Cate Podcast, Cate Stillman is joined by spiritual teacher, Ayurvedic lineage holder, and author Maya Tiwari for a deep and necessary conversation on Shakti, ancestral healing, and embodied feminine wisdom. Together, Cate and Maya explore what modern wellness culture often avoids: the role of darkness, descent, illness, and loss as initiatory forces in true healing. Maya shares how **Shakti—the primal feminine intelligence—**is not something to be optimized or bypassed, but something remembered through presence, surrender, and devotion to biological and spiritual truth. Drawing from her lived experience, classical Ayurveda, and decades of spiritual practice, Maya reframes healing as remembrance—of ancestral memory, cellular intelligence, and the cyclical nature of creation and dissolution. Cate weaves in reflections on leadership, motherhood, illness, and navigating spiritual truth within modern systems. Rather than offering surface-level self-improvement, this conversation invites a deeper reckoning with what it means to live in alignment with body intelligence, feminine sovereignty, and sacred rhythm in a world shaped by extraction and control. Key Takeaways: Shakti as a biological, ancestral, and cosmic intelligence Why darkness and descent are essential to regeneration Ancestral memory, vasanas, and embodied healing The loss of feminine rites and womb-based wisdom Surrender as a radical act of sovereignty Living spiritual truth inside modern culture This episode is especially meaningful for women and seekers navigating identity shifts, illness, grief, or a deeper call to embodied leadership and remembrance. Connect with Maya Tiwari: 🌿 Website → https://www.mayatiwari.com 📘 Featured Book: NEW – I Am Shakti 📘 I Am Shakti → https://www.mayatiwari.com/i-am-shakti 🔹 Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/mayatiwari 🔹 Wise Earth Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/wiseearth 🔹 YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/mayatiwari Cate's books: 🌿 Yogahealer → https://www.yogahealer.com 🌿 Club Thrive → https://clubthrive.global 📘 Body Thrive → https://www.yogahealer.com/body-thrive 📘 Primal Habits → https://www.yogahealer.com/primal-habits About the Host – Cate Stillman: Cate Stillman is an Ayurvedic practitioner, author, and founder of Yogahealer and Club Thrive. For over two decades, she has guided individuals and wellness professionals to reconnect with body intelligence, ancestral wisdom, and aligned leadership rooted in biological reality. Tune in and reflect: What part of your power is asking to be remembered—not fixed?

About This Episode In this grounded and insightful episode of the Thrive with Cate Stillman Podcast, Cate Stillman is joined by Sujatha Reddy, Ayurvedic practitioner, educator, and wellness guide, for a deep conversation on what it truly means to build health and a life from alignment rather than pressure. Sujatha shares her lived experience of Ayurveda not as a rigid system, but as a practical, compassionate framework for restoring balance in modern bodies navigating stress, inflammation, hormonal disruption, and chronic depletion. Together, Cate and Sujatha explore how subtle daily habits - sleep rhythms, digestion, nervous-system regulation, and self-trust—shape long-term vitality far more than extreme protocols or willpower-driven discipline. This episode weaves ancient Ayurvedic wisdom with modern lived reality, offering listeners a refreshingly humane approach to healing that honors both physiology and intuition. Rather than asking, "What's wrong with my body?" Sujatha invites a different inquiry: "What is my body asking for right now?" Key Themes from the Conversation 🌿 Ayurveda as a Living Practice Sujatha reframes Ayurveda as an adaptable, responsive system, one that meets people where they are instead of forcing them into idealized routines. 🧠 Nervous-System First Healing True balance begins with regulation, not restriction. When the nervous system feels safe, digestion, hormones, and immunity naturally follow. 🔥 Small Habits, Big Shifts Sustainable change comes from gentle, consistent practices that support circadian rhythm, metabolic health, and emotional resilience. 🧍 Listening Over Fixing Healing accelerates when we stop overriding the body and begin cultivating awareness, curiosity, and trust in its signals. 🌸 Embodied Wisdom in Daily Life Ayurveda becomes most powerful when translated into everyday choices—how we eat, rest, work, and relate to ourselves. Why This Episode Matters In a wellness culture often dominated by extremes, Sujatha's perspective is a reminder that health is not something to conquer - it's something to cultivate. This conversation offers a nourishing pause for anyone feeling burned out by "doing all the right things" yet still feeling off-balance. Whether you're a wellness professional, an Ayurvedic student, or simply someone seeking a more sustainable relationship with your body, this episode offers wisdom you can return to again and again. Resources & Links Guest Website (Ayumind LLC): Www.Ayumind.com Instagram: Ayumind Healing Center Yogahealer → https://www.yogahealer.com Club Thrive → https://clubthrive.global 📘 Uninflamed by Cate Stillman 📗 Body Thrive 📙 Primal Habits 📕 Master of You About the Host – Cate Stillman Cate Stillman is an Ayurvedic practitioner, author, and founder of Yogahealer and Club Thrive. For over two decades, she has guided wellness professionals and conscious leaders to restore body intelligence, reverse inflammation, and create lives rooted in alignment, vitality, and purpose. 🎧 Reflect as You Listen: Where might your body be asking for gentleness instead of effort?

About this episode: In this expansive and deeply grounding conversation, Cate Stillman is joined by Udo Erasmus, M.A., legendary pioneer of the healthy fats movement and author of Your Body Needs An Oil Change. With over four decades of research in biochemistry, nutrition, and counseling psychology, Udo brings clarity to one of the most misunderstood topics in modern wellness: dietary fats—and what truly creates disease and vitality. Together, Cate and Udo dismantle the seed oil controversy, explaining why the real danger isn't omega-6 fats themselves, but the industrial processing methods that damage oils through heat, light, and oxygen. Udo shares the science behind "right fats," the essential role of linoleic acid, and how restoring fat intelligence restores cellular health. The conversation goes far beyond nutrition. Drawing on his background in counseling psychology, Udo introduces his 10 Steps to Whole Health—a holistic framework that integrates physical health, mental clarity, emotional healing, and conscious presence. He also speaks powerfully about trauma, resistance to change, and how cultivating awareness and calmness is essential in chaotic times. This episode is both deeply practical and profoundly philosophical—offering listeners a roadmap to reclaim health, peace, and personal agency in body and mind. Key Takeaways: 🧈 The Truth About Seed Oils Seed oils aren't inherently harmful—the damage happens during industrial processing. When oils are protected from heat, light, and oxygen, they become powerful healers. 🧠 Why Omega-6 Is Essential Avoiding omega-6 fats is misguided. Linoleic acid is vital for cell membranes, brain health, and immune function when consumed in its natural, undamaged form. 🌱 The 10 Steps to Whole Health Udo's holistic system addresses the full human experience—nutrition, nervous system regulation, awareness, and alignment with nature. 🕊 Mental Health for Modern Times Resistance to change is rooted in unresolved trauma. Healing begins with directing attention, cultivating calm, and learning the language of the heart. 🔥 Right Fats, Real Change Simple dietary shifts—choosing fresh, properly made oils—can rapidly reverse damage caused by years of processed fat consumption. Resources & Links: Guest Links Udo Erasmus Official Website → https://udoerasmus.com Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/theudoerasmus Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/udoerasmus Books & Products Your Body Needs An Oil Change (New Book) → https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F7J3YJD7 Udo's Choice Supplements → https://udoschoice.co.uk/ Host Links Yogahealer → https://www.yogahealer.com Club Thrive → https://clubthrive.global Wellness Pro Academy → https://wellnesspro.academy Uninflamed → https://amzn.to/3UUBgJ2 Body Thrive → https://amzn.to/3udNFR0 Master of You → https://amzn.to/3OlfoGn Primal Habits → https://amzn.to/3OvfPOx About Cate Stillman: Cate Stillman is an Ayurvedic practitioner, behavior change expert, and founder of Yogahealer and Club Thrive. For more than 20 years, she has helped wellness professionals and conscious seekers reverse inflammation, restore body intelligence, and lead with alignment and purpose. 🎧 Tune in and reflect: What's one "right fat" choice or inner shift you can make today to support whole health?

About this Episode: In this groundbreaking conversation, Cate Stillman sits down with Dr. Charles Akle, pioneering surgeon, immunologist, and co-creator of immy. The friendly bacteria in immy, Mycolicibacterium aurum Aogashima (M. aurum), works naturally with your immune system to calm inflammation. With decades of experience in transplantation, oncology, and immunology, Dr. Akle brings rare clarity on how the immune system actually works, why chronic inflammation is rising globally, and how reconnecting with soil-based microbes may be the missing link in human health. Together, they explore the science behind the gut-brain-immune axis, the role of mycolyssi bacteria in regulating inflammation, why modern environments weaken immunity, and the future of "bugs as drugs" for cancer, autoimmune disease, and post-viral syndromes. Key Takeaways: 🧬 Your Immune System Is an Orchestra Health isn't about killing pathogens—it's about tuning the entire immune "symphony." Mycolyssi bacteria act as the conductor that brings the immune system back into balance. 🌱 Soil Microbes Are Medicine For most of human history, we absorbed beneficial mycobacteria through dirt, animals, and nature. Modern sanitized living breaks this evolutionary relationship—and our immunity pays the price. 🧠 The Gut-Brain-Immune Superhighway New research shows the gut sends direct immune instructions to the brain via dendritic cells and the vagus nerve—reshaping how we understand placebo, mood, inflammation, and healing. 🔥 Chronic Inflammation Is an Immune Misfire Post-viral fatigue, brain fog, autoimmunity, and even some cancers stem from immune cells that have "gone to sleep." Mycolyssi bacteria help "wake" and repolarize these cells. 🌿 Natural Immunotherapy Is the Future From early cancer trials to mood improvements, the data on mycolyssi bacteria is impressive—and points toward a future where gentle, nature-based immune modulation replaces harsh interventions. 🌍 Modern Life is Anti-Immune Ultra-processed foods, sterile environments, and lack of microbial diversity weaken immune resilience. Rewilding your microbiome is now essential, not optional. Resources Mentioned: Learn about immy → https://immy.co/ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/immyhealth/?hl=en Yogahealer → https://www.yogahealer.com Club Thrive → https://clubthrive.global Uninflamed by Cate Stillman → https://amzn.to/3UUBgJ2 Cate's Books: Body Thrive, Master of You, Primal Habits About Cate Stillman: Cate Stillman is an Ayurvedic practitioner, author, and founder of Yogahealer and Club Thrive. For over 20 years she has guided wellness pros and conscious leaders in reversing inflammation, reconnecting with body intelligence, and leading regenerative, purpose-aligned lives. Tune In & Reflect: What if the key to healing chronic inflammation, fatigue, and immune dysfunction has been under our feet all along?

About this Episode: In this groundbreaking conversation, Cate Stillman sits down with Dr. Charles Akle, pioneering surgeon, immunologist, and co-creator of IMI—a mycolyssi soil bacterium–based immune modulator backed by 25+ years of research. With decades of experience in transplantation, oncology, and immunology, Dr. Akle brings rare clarity on how the immune system actually works, why chronic inflammation is rising globally, and how reconnecting with soil-based microbes may be the missing link in human health. Together, they explore the science behind the gut-brain-immune axis, the role of mycolyssi bacteria in regulating inflammation, why modern environments weaken immunity, and the future of "bugs as drugs" for cancer, autoimmune disease, and post-viral syndromes. Key Takeaways: 🧬 Your Immune System Is an Orchestra Health isn't about killing pathogens—it's about tuning the entire immune "symphony." Mycolyssi bacteria act as the conductor that brings the immune system back into balance. 🌱 Soil Microbes Are Medicine For most of human history, we absorbed beneficial mycobacteria through dirt, animals, and nature. Modern sanitized living breaks this evolutionary relationship—and our immunity pays the price. 🧠 The Gut-Brain-Immune Superhighway New research shows the gut sends direct immune instructions to the brain via dendritic cells and the vagus nerve—reshaping how we understand placebo, mood, inflammation, and healing. 🔥 Chronic Inflammation Is an Immune Misfire Post-viral fatigue, brain fog, autoimmunity, and even some cancers stem from immune cells that have "gone to sleep." Mycolyssi bacteria help "wake" and repolarize these cells. 🌿 Natural Immunotherapy Is the Future From early cancer trials to mood improvements, the data on mycolyssi bacteria is impressive—and points toward a future where gentle, nature-based immune modulation replaces harsh interventions. 🌍 Modern Life is Anti-Immune Ultra-processed foods, sterile environments, and lack of microbial diversity weaken immune resilience. Rewilding your microbiome is now essential, not optional. Resources Mentioned: Learn about IMI → https://immy.co/ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/immyhealth/ Yogahealer → https://www.yogahealer.com Club Thrive → https://clubthrive.global Uninflamed by Cate Stillman → https://amzn.to/3UUBgJ2 Cate's Books: Body Thrive, Master of You, Primal Habits About Cate Stillman: Cate Stillman is an Ayurvedic practitioner, author, and founder of Yogahealer and Club Thrive. For over 20 years she has guided wellness pros and conscious leaders in reversing inflammation, reconnecting with body intelligence, and leading regenerative, purpose-aligned lives. Tune In & Reflect: What if the key to healing chronic inflammation, fatigue, and immune dysfunction has been under our feet all along?

About this Episode: In this powerful conversation, Cate Stillman interviews David Crow—renowned author, herbalist, plant-medicine researcher, and founder of Floracopeia. Together, they explore the worlds of Tibetan, Ayurvedic, and Chinese medicine through the lens of lineage, ritual, and spiritual ecology. David shares his extraordinary journey—from being one of the first Western students in acupuncture college in the 1980s, to closing his clinic and moving to Kathmandu to study Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicine directly from lineage-holding masters. He speaks about transmission, apprenticeship, plant spirit intelligence, and the disappearing wisdom of traditional herbalism. Cate and David dive into the deep relationship between inner and outer alchemy—how consciousness, meditation, ritual, and plants work together to heal, awaken, and extend longevity. They also explore how modern people can reconnect to ecosystems, attention, and plant intelligence in simple, practical ways. If you're a wellness pro, herbalist, yogi, or seeker of spiritual ecology, this episode is a masterclass in ancient medicine—and a reminder of how far we've drifted from the natural world. Key Takeaways Transmission Matters: Healing wisdom traditionally passed through relationship, ritual, and mentorship—not data alone. David recounts learning from Tibetan teachers who safeguarded ancient manuscripts. Inner & Outer Alchemy: Asian medicine teaches that herbal medicine is ultimately for longevity and spiritual illumination—not just symptom relief. Meditation Potentizes Herbs: Where attention goes, prana flows. Mindfulness amplifies plant medicine more effectively than high doses. Ecology = Pharmacology: The same plant species changes potency based on terrain, direction, climate, and ecosystem health. Herbalism Requires Context: Not every ancient practice fits modern physiology. David teaches how to evaluate herbs safely in today's world. Mind–Plant Intelligence: Plants respond to ritual, attention, and intention—something modern supplement culture often forgets. Resources David Crow's Main Website: https://www.crowconsultations.com David Crow's Blog/Further Information: https://www.crowconsultations.com/blog Floracopeia Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/floracopeia Floracopeia Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/floracopeia Floracopeia YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@floracopeia Yogahealer → https://www.yogahealer.com Club Thrive → https://clubthrive.global About Cate Stillman Cate Stillman is an Ayurvedic practitioner, behavior-change expert, and founder of Yogahealer and Club Thrive. For 20+ years she has guided wellness professionals toward deeper healing, embodiment, and regenerative leadership. How could you bring more attention, ritual, or ecological connection into your plant-medicine or self-care practice?