On this week's The Magic Hour, Shereen will be talking about food, herbs and taking charge of your health with the joyful Ebony Williams.  She is Thyroid Disease Coach, Certified Personal Trainer, Food Educator and creates the most dvine bath and body products. Ebony is here with us to share her knowledge on keeping your body in balance through skincare, a healthy diet and living with joy. Let’s make some magic. 

Episode Notes:

In this episode of the Magic Hour, we are going to talk about keeping yourself healthy and achieve balance in your body through the magic of herbs with Ebony Williams. Ebony Williams is a certified personal trainer, food educator, aromatherapist and thyroid disease coach. Having experienced the horror brought by Hashimoto’s Disease, Ebony shares to us how she navigated her life for the better and the magic of herbology to keep ourselves healthy and lively.

Ebony’s Story

[01:43] I got Hashimoto’s disease which is an autoimmune disease that affects your thyroid gland. It happened at the puberty stage. It started to manifest as anxiety but all of a sudden, I started failing my test and my memory.

[02:44] My dad died when I was 13. It was only my mother who supports me and it was a difficult time supporting myself emotionally.

[03:20] Knowing that I have the condition, I see altogether the effects brought by the condition. I cannot remember how I got from point A to point B, having light sensitivity, joint pains, abnormal weight gain & loss until the doctor told me that I got Hashimoto’s disease.

Hashimoto’s Disease

[07:32] The disease was named after the person who discovered it. It involves our thyroid gland. It is a butterfly shaped organ found at the base of your neck.

[09:02] The thyroid gland is your body’s thermostat. A lot of people do not realize the work done by it until it starts failing. Breathing control, joint pains, dry skin, brittle hair and nails are signs of a failing thyroid gland.

[10:17] It affects men but few people talk about it because they chalk it up to “it’s a woman thing”. It affects either sex and age.

What do to after research?

[12:49] Go to a research-focused institution or look for an integrative health branch in your local area. Start from there. You can find pamphlets containing an overview of various diseases like diabetes, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, etc., that are all easy to understand.

[13:23] Don’t look at Dr. Google and spend a lot of time looking at the images. It will just freak you out into thinking that you will be doomed forever.

[13:43] If you research for something, write it all down. Anything that relates to who you are and your individual needs pondering. If you are experiencing symptoms, write it all no matter how subtle or minor it is. Those minor details change everything.

[14:43] When you go to the doctor, present to them what you have researched and ask them questions.

[15:25] If you don’t understand something, do not be afraid to interject and ask for clarifications and elaborations. It is not being disrespectful but you need to remember that it is not an even field.

[16:28] Once you are done, it is now the time to get the work done.

Life Changes

[19:46] I ended up being a vegetarian for almost a year. The thought of eating meat is ridiculous. I try to eat plants to build my gut health. In accordance with my doctor, I drank nothing but bone broth and started taking high-quality vitamins.

[20:45] It is important to rule out food sensitivities to be aware of what you can take in or not.

[21:09] I slowly added more foods. For proteins, I started with fish then poultry eventually beef. However, I made sure to develop a relationship with my local butchers and farmers to know where the food came from, how it is done and the different practices in food preparation.

[21:43] I realized how I started getting better, but old habits die hard. Then I went back again from square one.

Getting back into the flow

[22:53] My stomach tells me everything. Even if my brain told me I enjoyed the food, my stomach will not agree.

[24:46] You don’t realize how bad something is until you get to the point where you can’t take it. There are times where I have to be on medication but I refuse since I am also taking medication for my thyroid condition.

[25:28] I ended up doing peppermint oil and digestive bitters. That sparked my curiosity and interest into herbs with its healing properties.

Magic of Herbs

[28:55] It was amazing to learn about peppermint. My trio is peppermint, spearmint and ginger. I make tea with the three. I started to look into other herbs learning their health benefits and also its caveats with conflicting medications.

[30:39] Learning how to use herbs to support my immune system and body helped me understand how it works in harmony with conventional medicine. It led to my using them in my daily practice.

[31:23] All of that love in herbs led me to become a certified holistic nutritionist. It was an amazing journey diving more to the holistic aspect of health, deeper and deeper.

Organic vs. Processed

[36:02] A lot of people tell me that organic food costs a lot of money. I tell them otherwise. Being a budget queen, I will maximize my funds. I did a cost analysis and made a chart of my expenditures to prove them otherwise. In a week, I spend no more than $54 dollars in an organic grocery store.

[39:23] As consumers, we drive companies towards delivering more organic foods. Reducing sodium content, trans-fats and things that are not good for our well-being are introduced.

[40:48] We try to find ways to make healthier choices. Organic foods may be “the best” but if you are one of the people who does not eat fruits and vegetables, try eating an apple once a day. These tiny choices that you make every day add up to something big.

Activities to Maintain Inner Sense

[44:09] I have a mantra wall, I pray, and I journal. Journaling keeps me grounded and centered. I do my best to do these things daily and when I am in the zone, I color and draw.

Movies to Revive Ebony’s Spirit

[45:19] Lion King, Princess and the Frog and Mulan. Tiana from Princess and the Frog has the working spirit and tenacity. Mulan is her resilience and fighting spirit like me. Her grandmother also reminded me of my “craziness” in natural medicine. The scene where; Mulan walking through, seeing the parts and replacing her heart speaks to me as I have gone through a divorce and learning how to get through that is valuable for me.

Tools that Ebony used to find Life-Changing Discoveries

[46:45] The first is the “The Energy Bus”. It taught me the different energy vampires and it was a game-changer.

[47:16] The second one is “Strengths-Based Leadership”. Doing the SWOT Analysis, we tend to forget growth opportunities, how to be better and how to play your strength to your advantage.

[47:46] Both are different. One speaks plainly while the other is scientific which speaks to both sides of my brain and I love it.

Follow Ebony Williams on:

Website: https://www.joyfulebony.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joyfulebony/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joyfulebony

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj4PmJhIX2WkKmLT2qSwi5g

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/joyfulebony/_shop/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/joyfulebony

Tune in to The Magic Hour podcast to never miss an episode.

http://www.magichourpodcast.org/

https://open.spotify.com/show/0a4w8Z3UP3S9kC4BNVUEcg

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/magic-hour/id1122201914