Radical Health Rebel
Welcome to the Radical Health Rebel Podcast, where Leigh, a renowned Functional Medicine Practitioner, CHEK Practitioner, CHEK Faculty Instructor, Active Release Techniques® Therapist, Emotion Code Practitioner, author, and podcast host, takes you on a journey to achieve optimal health, wellness, and happiness. With his extensive training and years of clinical experience, Leigh provides a truly holistic approach to health that has proven effective even when other methods have failed.
Join us every week for insightful discussions and expert interviews focusing on chronic pain, gut health, and skin health. Leigh's diverse background and passion for holistic healing brings you valuable knowledge and practical tips from leading experts in the field. Whether you're struggling with persistent health issues or simply looking to enhance your well-being, the Radical Health Rebel Podcast is your go-to resource for achieving a vibrant and healthy life. Tune in and start your journey to radical health today!
Radical Health Rebel
131 - Holistic Approach to Chronic Pain with Nisha Srivastava
This week on the Radical Health Rebel Podcast, I chat with fellow CHEK Practitioner, Yoga, and Pilates Instructor Nisha Srivastava about her distinctive approach to addressing chronic pain. We explore Nisha's diverse background, delving into her studies of Eastern and Western philosophies, and how she masterfully combines the strengths of both to guide her clients toward a pain-free life. Tune in for insights that bridge ancient wisdom and modern science!
We discussed:
0:00
Holistic Health Approaches With Nisha
12:34
Evolution of Yoga and Pilates Practices
20:06
Journey to Holistic Health Transformation
25:43
Transformative Learnings From Indian Philosophy
34:25
Healing Chronic Pain Holistically
46:11
Exploring Holistic Health Practices
59:11
Sporting Experience With Nisha
You can find Nisha @:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishasrivastava/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pilates.guru.7
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nishapilates/?hl=en
Don't forget to leave a Rating for the podcast!
You can find Leigh @:
Leigh's website - https://www.bodychek.co.uk/
Leigh's books - https://www.bodychek.co.uk/books/
StickAbility - https://stickabilitycourse.com/
Eliminate Adult Acne Programme - https://eliminateadultacne.com/
Substack - https://substack.com/@radicalhealthrebel
YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@radicalhealthrebelpodcast
Rumble Channel - https://rumble.com/user/RadicalHealthRebel
The biggest killer in India now is diabetes and people are so chronically inflamed because of these seed oils. Before lockdown, I was a regular speaker for the Asian channel on the BBC and it's something I must get back into. So the biggest myth in Indian cooking is that we can't use ghee. Ghee is the best thing to cook in Lee, but all the marketing has been seed oils and that has bred inflammation, poor joint formation and serious inflammation.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Radical Health Rebel podcast. I'm your host, lee Brandon. This work started for me several decades ago when I started to see the impact I could make on people, helping them to identify the root cause of their health problems that no doctor could figure out, including serious back, knee, shoulder and neck injuries, acne and eczema issues, severe gut health problems, even helping couples get pregnant after several IVF treatments had failed. And it really moves me to be able to help people in this way, and that is why I do what I do and why we have this show, what I do and why we have this show.
Speaker 2:This week on the Radical Health Rebel podcast, I chat with fellow Czech practitioner and yoga and Pilates instructor, nisha Srivastava, about her distinctive approach to addressing chronic pain. We explore Nisha's diverse background, delving into her studies for Eastern and Western philosophies and how she masterfully combines the strengths of both to guide her clients toward a pain-free life. Tune in for insights that bridge ancient wisdom and modern science. Nisha Srivastava, welcome to the Radical Health Rebel podcast that's coming on the show. Thank you for the invitation, lee. Yeah, it's good to have you on, nisha, and to get things rolling. Can you give the listeners an overview of your background and what led you to become interested in yoga and Pilates, and also helping people overcome pain.
Speaker 1:Well, lee, I grew up in the Northwest and as a child my mother was English and my father was Indian and everybody in my family was in medicine. So it was academia was pushed very, very much at home. But I always wanted to move and my mother was definitely the Felicity Kendall of the 60s and 70s, so she was ultra spiritual, ultra hippie. We used to grow everything at home. We had hens and ducks. It was really beautiful the way my mum brought me up and the way we did things from scratch. And then I always wanted to move, but from an Indian perspective and I want to respect my parenting and respect the cultural background, your way out of poverty is through academia. So I was pushed very, very much to do medicine. But at school I really, really struggled, lee and I was greatly behind. And when my parents got divorced at the age of 16, I had the opportunity then to go to dance college and move and be artistic and express my true inner self.
Speaker 2:Lovely, lovely. So what happened? So how long did you study dance for?
Speaker 1:I studied dance at college for three and a half years and that was all the main theatrical things ballet, tap, modern and jazz and after that I opened a dance school, well, a dance and drama academy, and I had three branches which I then ran for about 17 years across the Northwest and we did shows, you know, for different charities, we did festivals and you know, at that time, lee, there was no internet, there were no phones, there was no social media and it really was true connection. And then from there I went into Pilates really and yoga and then from there I went into Pilates really and yoga and it was really when I went into Pilates and yoga that real, you know, holistic thoughts and holistic lifestyles started to equate as I started to come across other people in the holistic business.
Speaker 2:So what year did you so? At some point your dance schools must have closed, right? Yes, they did Well you started them, or whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm nearly, I'm 53, Lee, and I closed my dance schools when I was 37. So when I was in the dance world I was also teaching things like exercise to music, step aerobics, and I was going to fitness conventions. And I actually came across Paul Cech in my early 20s when I was working at Loughborough. And there used to be another famous fitness convention run by an Australian gentleman who was running leisure clubs and gym clubs in London called Daryl Preston, and he had something called the Fitness Forum which was running in Maidenhead. So I came across Paul Cech. I was working at Loughborough, going to Maidenhead Convention, but at that time, Lee, I wasn't ready to acknowledge the information. So I used to go to all Paul Cech's lectures but I just couldn't take it in. I was that fog brain. And then later on in life, as I became clearer and as I became healthier, I started to question more in life and that's really when the question crossover came.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's interesting because you know, would that have been FitPro at Loughborough?
Speaker 1:Yes, it was FitPro. I mean, we were talking a long time ago, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's interesting because I would have been there, yes, and the one in Maidenhead as well. I would have been there. I was probably even assisting Paul in Maidenhead all those years ago. It was probably 20 plus getting off 25 years ago. Yes, it would be Interesting, interesting. So you were doing that. So those conferences were still while you had your dance schools.
Speaker 1:Yes, they were.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because obviously they were a long time ago, so you'd have been in your early 30s probably.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, yes, I was in my early 30s and then, at 37, I decided to sell the schools and go more into Pilates and yoga, but before that I'd been questioning you know, raising questions for a long time. So, a bit like a lot of your other guests, lee, all pain is there to raise consciousness. So my brother tragically took his life when I was 27. And I hate to say it, lee, but that was the biggest awakening, because everything happens for me, nothing happens to me. So from there I really stepped up and started to question things in life. And I came across Paul Chek, and Paul Chek's brother had done the same, you see. So that's when I felt I really had a connection with him.
Speaker 1:And then from there, Leah went from strength to strength. And you know, people say to me you've had a terrible life. I haven't, leah, you've had the most amazing life, because all these things of pain have made me the most remarkable person. I am the ability to heal myself and I'm still work in progress and also to look at life from a different perspective and help others reach their dream so, so you're 37, you decided to sell your dance schools.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:What was it about? So what did you study first? Did you do yoga first, or did you do Pilates first?
Speaker 1:No, I did Pilates first because I tried to do yoga first and when I went on some yoga courses they told me that I had the wrong body, so I just couldn't get into the positions and I still can't. So, on the bait and scale leave, even though I've been to professional dance college, I'm a nought on the Baten scale, so I'm very, very good at, you know, cueing yoga, understanding the philosophy, the breath work, the meditation, but I just can't get into all the positions because I've just not got that mobility of the joint. So I went into Pilates first and I went to a massive convention across in San Jose in the States and there were two Czech practitioners there from Lebanon and they asked. The questions they were asking in the convention really blew my mind and again I was really drawn to Paul Cech and then from there really I started to really take it seriously and really study with him and really, you know, empower the work.
Speaker 1:But it was a very slow process for me, Lee, and it still is. You know I'm a lot slower than other people, but what I feel is I'm embodying it at my pace. So other people do it at four or five years. Gosh, been looking at paul, check now. I'm still studying, 15 years now you know, yeah, well, yeah, I.
Speaker 2:I would probably say I've been studying paul check for 30 years now, yeah, and I'm still learning from him almost every day every day yeah, I mean that man's got so much to teach the world. You know, I could probably live two lifestyle, two lifetimes, and still not learn everything that he could potentially teach me. That's right. So you go to San Jose. How long were you there for?
Speaker 1:I was only there for the convention time, a bit of time before in San Francisco, san Diego and LA, so probably about three to four weeks in total.
Speaker 2:Okay, and then when you came back, were you, were you qualified to do Pilates?
Speaker 1:Yes, I was. I was qualified, but previously to that I'd gained a qualification at 29 in Toronto. So every time you take yourself into a different environment, you grow more and you learn other perspectives. Lee, so I was the first person to actually introduce Pilates Reformer Apparatus in the Northwest over 30 years ago. You'll see a boom on social media now, I think, on the fitness trends. Pilates Reformer is trending, but it's more fitness and fitness is amazingly. But, as we know, personalized medicine is now the way forward. Personalized exercise is the way forward. Personalized nutrition is the way forwards. Personalized nutrition is the way forwards. So the more you learn, the less you know and the more you can be more specific yeah, yeah, absolutely so.
Speaker 2:So you came back from san jose. You don't have your dance studios anymore. What was? What was the next step for you?
Speaker 1:um was to expand really the pilates, because I started the Pilates while I had the dance studios but we were only doing that work and then it branched onto apparatus and then it just grew and grew. But the clients who were coming in Lee newspapers like the Daily Mail and the Telegraph and the Guardian and I don't want to knock them because we're also building awareness we're telling people that Pilates will cure this, it will cure that, it'll help everything. But what I found is there's no such thing as a bad exercise. There is such thing as a badly prescribed exercise.
Speaker 1:Pilates is sold as the be-all and end-all and yoga for everything, but it isn't and it can actually make a lot of clients worse. So a lot of the clients who were showing up at my door, they had fibromyalgia in particular, chronic pain and pilates. Yes, some of the exercises will assist, but you have to look at the body holistically because exercise alone cannot change the quality of the tissues. If the tissues are what's called PPP, so when I did 10 years of cadaver in the cadaver labs we used to call PPP piss, poor, protism, plasm, so you can't repair if the tissues are under a constant state of stress, of fight and flight. You have to look at sleep, nutrition, breathing, mindset, you know, movement, all these things make a difference.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you were doing pilates in your, in your dance studios, but after you sold them did, did you have, because I know you've got your own pilates studios now yes did you? Did you set up a pilates studio almost straight away after that no, because I was always one step ahead at least.
Speaker 1:So I'd got a Pilates studio before and a beautiful opportunity came to take over a beautiful art gallery in St Helens and it had all beautiful paintings which had been hand painting on the ceilings and walls. So I took over that straight away and I got funding off the European Commission to run that for 18 months so I was already teaching yeah, and using church halls and things.
Speaker 1:So I had my client base established. And of course, back in those days, lee, I was already teaching and using church halls and things. So I had my client base established. And of course, back in those days, lee, I was the first one. So I remember when I originally came back from Toronto at 29, I was teaching in the gym, I had a queue in the gyms to get into my class because I was the first person to bring Pilatus there as we know it.
Speaker 2:Wow. So by the time you're 37, you're kind of reasonably well established in the Pilates world already. You've got quite a good client base. What time did the yoga come in? Where did that come?
Speaker 1:in Yoga probably came in. Actually it came in roughly about 38, 39 then, and I went to train with the British Wheel of Yoga and the course was a minimum three years. And that suited me, lee, because what I've realized is when you do anything slow, you really learn the thoroughness and you have a chance to embody it. And I'm not knocking fast track courses. Fast track courses are quite great, but you develop as a person so you start to change your inner reality and when your inner reality changes, your personality changes and your perspective and the way you see the world changes as well so where did you, where did you do your british world of yoga training?
Speaker 1:and it was in liverpool at the time. Um, because you know, and now there's just so many trainings, I don't know whether that training is still even going Now. It's heavily competitive in the Pilates and yoga world because of course we have social media. So everybody's selling a course, which is wonderful because it gives all these tools an opportunity for everybody to access them. And Joseph Pilatus was the whole. You know, ethos was that everybody could access his work.
Speaker 1:But when he was teaching this work lead, there was no inflammation. You know, life was very different. You know, people's immune system was high, they were working on the land. I mean, when he was interned in the prison of war camps in the Isle of man, he said that everybody who did his method didn't get the Spanish influenza. Well, he was right. But the time of that time was different from now. And what I see now is people highly stressed and with highly stressed and long term stress, lee, that lowers the immune system and once the immune system has been lowered for a period of time, disease, depression, all these things come about disconnection, divorced, you know.
Speaker 2:So you came back, you did three years of training in yoga, so were you around 40 when you started delivering yoga sessions yes, well, a bit earlier than that, because you're allowed to deliver as soon as you start your training.
Speaker 1:And I then, at 39, went into partnership with a colleague of mine and we opened a very, very large hot yoga and pilates apparatus studio in the center of manchester and I did 18 months there in partnership and then I decided to go off by myself then.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so at that point Did you convert the place you were doing Pilates in so you could do both, or did you get somewhere new? How did that work?
Speaker 1:I got somewhere completely new, liam, because of square footage and overheads. All I focus on now is Pilates apparatus. So people come to me for Pilates apparatus back pain and spine, you know, spinal correction and rehabilitation and then we have two aspects of the business. We have where people just come and they want to do the apparatus, and we also have a chronic pain side because you and I both know we all want the quick fix but it takes a minimum of one year to even get into the flow state and to even really see change with people. So you know, health and wellbeing is a whole, you know, way of living for life, not just for a three-month, six-month or 12-month course.
Speaker 2:Yeah gotcha. So do you still deliver yoga now, or is it purely Pilates? Not?
Speaker 1:really Now I teach fusion, I'd say fusion of everything. So now the whole industry is really going more shamanic and people are doing drumming, ecstatic dance, shamanic cambo practice, ayahuasca. So my studio is more on the clinical pilates and rehabilitation but the way the spiritual community is going more down the shaman line. So at the weekend now I practice, I go and practice. I don't teach it because I wanted to be myself practice. I go to aesthetic dance, I'm going to drumming. This weekend I go to movement meditation and that really gives me the creativity in my business and also the creativity to think differently, because I always want to change lay, because we are all where we are because of our belief system and if we change our belief system we get different results and that's what.
Speaker 2:I'm working on at the moment yeah, yeah, so you know you meant you mentioned what happens, your brother, I didn't know that.
Speaker 1:Really sorry to hear that yeah, well, I didn't make it. You know, lee, I didn't want it to become a story. So the problem is, when you meet people, they tell you, so that becomes their story.
Speaker 1:So I never went into it and you know I only start to speak about it now because my mother passed away this year. So when she found him, initially, for 27 years she blamed herself, Lee, and I watched her body decay. I watched her body be full of fungus and parasites. As you know as well, with family members, I've heard you talk very deeply about your family members and I'm really connected with you, lee.
Speaker 1:I forced my mother to have check coaching because I wanted to heal her, because I wanted her to be what I wanted her to be, but she only stuck at it two or three weeks and then the check practitioner gave the money back because it was me wanting her to change and she was stuck and she embodied that whole pain and that whole sufferingly and she had a brain hemorrhage this year and this is why I think we're missing something really big, big, um. Sorry, my voice will go. She had a brain hemorrhage on the 18th of april this year and that was the date my brother took his life 27 years ago, lee. So I know how it embodies and how we're connected at a spiritual level.
Speaker 1:So you know it's so important because I have such an amazing gift, lee, and I can really not only heal myself but help other people.
Speaker 2:Yeah God, I didn't know that as well. So again, sorry to hear that.
Speaker 1:I just didn't see it on Facebook, lee, because I just put you know, because these things again, I don't want it to be my story, because then I have everybody contacting me who's suicidal and depression. But you've got to want to do the work and you've got to do it for yourself, lee.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I have to be honest, I've never suffered from depression or suicide and I get myself up and I go to work and I go to the gym because I want to go now onto IMS4 and IMS5 and I want to reach my potential at Paul Chek. So nobody's going to do the work for me, lee. I've got to do it myself and you've got to rise above your environment, lee, where I live in St Helens helens it's amazing, but you've got to reach out and find those people on the internet, on podcasts, through library books and things, who are doing better than me, who've got more knowledge, and you know you've got to reach out to get to their standard, otherwise you get pulled down yeah, yeah, I hear that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so what I was kind of I was just going to ask you before you gave me another surprise was, you know, for a lot of people, you know, one of the reasons why we get into what we get into is because we've got our own challenge. Health challenge that we're dealing with was was there? Was that the case with you, or was it more like you mentioned? Your brother was quite a big thing for you, but was there something you were dealing with personally?
Speaker 1:yeah, I just just think. I think, lee, I'm doing a lot of research and ancestry and past lives and things, and I'm not putting all that belief system on it. But I was just so stiff as a child and I wanted to move and the school I went to was full of Indian people because at the time there was a lot of prejudice, so the Indian community stuck together and put them there, but the school pushed so much for academia I could never, ever reach my true self. So when I moved, it was a form of expression and I feel you know whether my brother had done that or not, lee, it's been one of my most powerful things and people won't like me saying that, lee, and they won't want to hear it.
Speaker 1:So the day after the Alder Centre in Alder, hey, they have a counselling thing and I went for one session of counselling and I don't want to not counselling Lee, but the woman said to me you're incredibly strong and I said, yes, I am, because this isn't going to be my story, it's going to make me the amazing person that I am. And it has done, lee, and I don't believe when we die, the physical body is gone but the soul lives on. So I'm doing a little bit of lucid dreaming, so I still remain connected to those people, lee, like Paul Jack does, and I'm now looking at those perspectives from shamanic, from reaching the astral realm and all those types of things shamanic, you know from you know, reaching the astral realm and all those type of things.
Speaker 2:So so you know, obviously I've had a lot of guests on this show and they've had their own their own story of oh yeah, you know blew my back out and you know that was my moment that I got into this. You've mentioned, you mentioned a little bit about you know you've been studying for quite a long time. Yes, what? What got you into looking at things from a holistic point of view, and what effect did that have on yourself and on your own health?
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, when my mother was young, lee, we did everything from scratch. And even though everybody in my family is in medicine you'll find this funny A lot of the Indian people actually don't believe in antibiotics and things. So my one of my relatives died because she had elephantitis and they refused to take any antibiotics and she would have lived a lot longer. So we did everything from scratch. You know, we did homestead. And as I got older, lee, I started to balloon up and put a lot of weight on. So after my brother died I wasn't comfort eating but I was having two pieces of Warburton white toast at night with margarine. And my mother you know my mother, I do feel, you know had gone through a lot of pain in childhood. She was adopted and she saw her parents die of 52. They had strokes and she was adopted into a, a cake family, so people who had a bakery. So when I was growing up we used to actually used to say, well, we'll have a cake for lunch because it's the same calories as a meal and I managed to get away with it late for years. And then suddenly I absolutely ballooned up.
Speaker 1:And when I went to toronto when I was 29 to study, because after six months after my brother died actually I never tell this story I wanted to find something more peaceful. So I saw this course advertised and it was Pilatus. So I went to study with Michael King in the UK and then went across when I was 29 over to Toronto and then at the end of my studying and backpacking and traveling around America, I just went ginormously. I was so inflamed and I had really bad fungal infections and I was drinking two liters of Diet Coke a day because I'd read that's how you would stay slim.
Speaker 1:And it was really from there then which I came across Paul Cech and he was talking about the basic foundations. And you're not going to believe this, lee, loads of people told me to change my eating. But until I actually really connected with Paul Chek and what he was saying and you look at people I mean I can't lift anywhere or do all the things he can do. But when I started to apply those things full fat, butter, cutting out all the white carbs, drinking water, high protein, fat, protein fat, having fat on the chicken and all this type of thing the weight dropped off. You wouldn't believe. And I was going to diet clubs, I was going to Slimming World and I was going to Weight Watchers and I was just going bigger and bigger and then, as soon as the inflammation went, lee, I could think clearly and then I could really absorb the information on the check courses. And you have to be ready, lee.
Speaker 1:So it's no good people saying do it, do it, do it. And there's no good me judging people who were where I was, because I honestly didn't know Lee and people in the fitness industry and I was telling Gavin this you know we were living on slim fast. It's not an educated in industry, lee, when I go to the gym in the morning they've got Prime, you know, on the desk and things, all these energy drinks.
Speaker 1:So people aren't educated and I wasn't educated. But once I started to apply it and I've really gone through the system very slowly the changes are second to none, lee. I mean, I'm going through menopause now and I'm doing it naturally. Now I'm not saying that's the way for your listeners, but everything is the basics. It's got to be looking at nutrition. It's got to look at hormone regulation. What are you doing? What's balancing your hormones? And if those aren't in place, it doesn't matter whether it's menopause, flu, long COVID, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis.
Speaker 2:You cannot move from a place of strong foundations yeah, yeah, now I know I know you've spent some time in india yes, I have so tell me, tell me about that and kind of, you know what you learned about the eastern approach when it comes to you know the body and and overall health I first first met Amelia at a health club where I was hosting an event offering back screenings to the members.
Speaker 2:The first thing I noticed about Amelia was a dullness in her eyes, which I later realized was due to extreme pain, and I noticed that she was unable to turn her head and had to turn her whole body if she wanted to look in a different direction. Amelia informed me that she had a history of repeated shoulder and neck pain for the last two years and was diagnosed with spinal stenosis at C45, c56 and C67, and a stenosis is a blockage which, in Amelia's case, was in the spinal canal of her neck, irritating her spinal cord. She had extreme tenderness over her neck and trapezius muscles on both sides, and she suffered from severe neck pain continuously. Amelia informed me that she'd been advised that spinal surgery was the only option, but the surgery came with great risks, including potential paralysis and no guarantee of success, which made Amelia fearful of the surgery. In addition to this, amelia suffered from continuous exhaustion, painful intestinal gas and bloating, even though she felt she was following a healthy diet.
Speaker 2:After a thorough evaluation, I designed Amelia a corrective exercise, nutrition and lifestyle plan, plus. I referred her to a new chiropractor for specific adjustments to her neck. After following the plan religiously, amelia is much stronger and much more flexible than she's ever been before and no longer suffers from repeated neck pain and has full range of motion in her neck. Amelia also reported that her energy was maximized and that she no longer suffers from the gripping stomach pains that had dominated her life for a very long time. If you're suffering like Amelia was and you'd like to find out more about getting to the root cause of your pain, go to wwwbodykcouk to request your consultation.
Speaker 1:Well, my father's side of the because my mother was English my father's side of being going to India since I was three, lee, and everything is all natural remedies there and I remember my grandma. She couldn't speak a word of English but if you had a sniffle you had like ginger and hot water and lemon and it was all natural remedies. And my father was brought up with seasonal food and seasonal cooking. And then you know, right the way through childhood and going, everything was done from scratch. And then I got the opportunity to work in Bollywood when I was 24 and I did 24 to 29, working with one of the great film greats called Devanand, and that was a really beautiful opportunity because I got to travel all over India, meet people from different walks of life, people I would never have connected with. And then since then, lee, I've been going back all the time.
Speaker 1:But what I noticed was now the biggest killer in India now is diabetes and people are so chronically inflamed because of the seed oils. And before lockdown I was a regular speaker for the Asian channel on the BBC and it's something I must get back into. So the biggest myth in Indian cooking is that we can't use ghee. Ghee is the best thing to cook in Lee, but all the marketing has been seed oils and that is bread, inflammation, poor joint formation and serious inflammation, fungus and parasites in the gut. So last year, when I went, was the first time. I came back inflamed and definitely the way they do the wheat is different now. The milk is not. It wasn't cow milk. It never got inflammation and never had IBS or anything from anything there. Um, you know, and now I noticed the difference. So you really have to be prepared and shot wisely there.
Speaker 1:But India has really taught me so much, lee, because when my brother died we had him cremated and we took the ashes back to the Ganges. So half the ashes went to the Ganges and half went to Liverpool Football Club because he was a Liverpool supporter. And you know. You really learn what is in life because in India the basics of life are everything. They're getting clean water, you know it's your survival and your yoga and the way you live your life are just these simple things. And I really feel that India humbles you because every day is a struggle and every day is an adventure for people there and it really makes you realize how much we've got in the West, that how we are seeking happiness. But the happiness lies deep within our health, because you can't be happily if you haven't got your health and, as we know, you know, eventually the soul wants to leave the body when the body becomes so inflamed.
Speaker 1:My mother was so ill, lee, when she was, you know, when she had that brain hemorrhage, and she was like me. I definitely get my stubbornness from her. I had the amazing opportunity to spend 10 days with her when she was on end of life after the 18th, and then she died, you know, on the 28th, and I'm convinced that was because of the morphine overdose, because while she was dying, I was doing shamanic rituals, drumming, was doing frequency work and things. The fungus and parasites was riddled in her body and her body was in so much pain the soul decided to leave. But you know, you know, you really learn. I'm so strong because, really, yes, it's a tragedy but it's a tip of the iceberg to what other people go through in the rest of the world. So you know, everything is your perspective. So if I can turn this perspective around, which I have done since I was 27, lee, you know you can really reach, you know, amazing heights with what you think, what you you do, how you behave and how you react.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you mentioned quite you know, you mentioned a bit about, uh, the diet in india was, was there, was there? I mean, you mentioned also, you know, spending time in india made you grateful for what we have here. Yes, is there anything else that you learned from kind of that?
Speaker 1:let's call it the eastern eastern philosophies yes, I did because I'm a learned lay. The pain is your superpower. So you know, people there have nothing, they have no limbs, there's no nhs and when you don't have all these amenities, you find a whaley. And one thing which is incredible, where there's areas of goa which I go to and some of those people there well, you know, not so much now but years ago, where I'd say, if you go to more places like Kajaro, which is where all the, where all the I'm trying to think of the word the Kama Sutra statues and things were, and it was actually the British who made those statues come down early. So where all the Kama Sutra statues were, most of those people are illiterate. They can't read or write, but guess what? They're fluent in six to seven languages. So there is always a way, lee, if you want to do something in life, if you've got no money, you can find a way.
Speaker 1:And India has definitely given me adversity. It's given me different perspectives of looking at life. It's also showed me now that India's become so westernized, particularly during COVID. I mean China and India are now superb worlds, but you know the damage which is being done there. You know people are too much on the internet. You wouldn't believe. All the holy people are all on the internet all the time. Everything's not. They've got worse problems there now because they seek the West and we seek the East. So it's really given me a perspective.
Speaker 1:Because when you come out of poverty, Lee and this is something in the Chinese and Indian community you crave materialistic things, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not knocking it, because when you come from the gutter, those things mean that you've got somewhere in life. But actually, when you come from the gutter, those things mean that you've got somewhere in life. But actually when you climb that ladder, Lee, those things don't make you happy. The things which make us happy are connection to tribe and community, finding health in ourselves, building communities that can support each other and educate each other and look at different perspectives. Because it is cellular level, lee, we are all one. So we only become disconnected through our belief systems, which are religion, government, schooling, politics, medicine. But actually we're all one, and when we become one, that's when we can grow in power. And if we all empower ourselves and all become leaders, we can't be knocked down. But if we're just one, it's a hard slog yeah, yeah, well said, well said.
Speaker 2:Obviously, I know one of the things that you do, like I do you help people that are in physical pain yes if someone comes to see you that was in pain.
Speaker 2:What, what kind of things would you potentially offer them? What would be on the table for them? Attention, all radical health rebels Are you ready to uncover the truth? The authorities don't want you to know. We've just launched our Radical Health Rebel channel on Rumble. Here's the deal we're bringing you the first half of our subscriber-only episodes for free. That's right. Free access to the hard-hitting, eye-opening conversations that dig into the topics mainstream platforms won't touch, whether it's cutting-edge health insights, exposing hidden agendas or sharing tools to thrive in challenging times. This is your chance to stay informed without subscribing to the podcast. Tune in on Rumble to keep track of what's really going on in the world and join a growing community of truth seekers. Don't miss out. Search Radical Health Rebel on Rumble and start watching today, because knowledge is power and it's time to take yours back.
Speaker 1:Well, first of all, lee, I first of all take them through a 40-minute consult to see, on a scale of 1 to 10, how willing they are to participate in order to get rid of the pain, because probably, like you, lee, people have spent a fortune not only a fortune, but many hours, many days, many weeks, having time off work and going to see all different therapists, so they've really got to be willing and really be at a seven or eight. They then have to fill in a minimum of two weeks paperwork and there is a lot of paperwork that I give because it gives me a full holistic perspective. So you know, you can see what the belief system is. If there's anything in their life which has happened which they perhaps don't speak about, like you know what I've said, said, you know, I keep that in the background, you know, which may be influencing the way they behave or the choices that they make. And then we then embark on a minimum of a six-month journey, because you have to first of all start with the basics and when I've tried to go too quickly with people, lee, it doesn't work. So for people, the first month might be just be drinking more water.
Speaker 1:For me, you know the people who come to me.
Speaker 1:You know it'll be very simple moves and really working with zone exercises and things to start with, so that we're starting to get energy, starting to change the food chain, because people are so depleted in energy and this is what my mother was like she was so depleted she couldn't change. So you can't change until you've got energy. And in order to get energy, lee, you've got to also start with your food, but start taking something off the plate. Look where are you putting time in other places where you could be doing food prep or something to help you? And I'm not just saying food prep is the only way. There's lots of ways, you know, and then working together, lee, and you know everything is a personality, so you know, with a lot of the times, clients and I will disagree in things, but what I'm trying to do is get clients to ask more questions, because the quality of your life is based on the questions. And when you get vitality, lee, you can really look at the digestive system, the elimination system, detoxification.
Speaker 2:You know your limb, pick your emotional, your hormone system, and then you have the energy to change what do you do if you know someone comes to see you they're in pain, they've, you know, possibly, like you explained, they've seen many other people, probably spent lots of money, certainly have spent lots of time, and they say what do you mean, I've got to fill all these forms in, right? Someone? Yeah, yeah, so someone who perhaps maybe doesn't have that paradigm in their head that actually it's down to me. Yeah, what do you do with people like that?
Speaker 1:When I first started, practically that very happened. So we would sit together and go through it because when I had brain fog I wouldn't be able to do all those forms. And I remember on HLC3, there was one form where I couldn't do the graph because I just couldn't understand it. But now I've got the ability to understand it. So not you know, we, I always meet the client where they are. They and you can always be helped. And you know we have so much potential we really do. We live at such a low vibrational level but unless you meet somebody who's going to give you a hand and believe in you and, you know, assist you and coach you to reach your potential, you can't do it by yourself, and the importance of mentors and coaches are so important in this world.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so so if you've got someone that was, like you say, like yourself, with brain fog and probably may have felt just overwhelmed, filling in a lot of the forms I'm sure a lot of the same forms that I use, it's quite interesting. I would probably say 20% of people that contact me actually go, actually follow through and complete all the forms. Yes, right, which which for me is a way of weeding out people. Yes, they're kind of disqualifying themselves from working with me because they're kind of saying I'm not really, I'm not really ready to change, right, um, but how do you go about? Like, I guess I guess some people might be coming to you thinking all right, I'm in pain. I've heard loads of great stuff about pilates. Maybe that's all I need. Like, what would you do with someone in that situation?
Speaker 1:well, ray would always work with me a one-to-one and I've said to most people, everybody who I've, everybody who comes to the studio first of all, is vetted through a phone consult. So a lot of the clients are not even suitable to go into Pilates. So they go into one-to-one and they have to be ready for, you know, to look at the body holistically and if they're not ready it won't work. And you know, not everybody. Lee, you'll see all the reviews online If you put my name in Google. There are plenty of reviews of everything that's worked. You'll never see the negative Google. There are plenty of reviews of everything that's worked. You'll never see the negative.
Speaker 1:But people have left me where they've not been willing to change and where they've stayed in stinking thinking. But my argument is, lee, if what you're doing is working, why is it you're still getting the same results? Because I learned the hard way. I mean I was looking at a lot of people who I considered very high up, you know, was listening to their information, but it wasn't working. So just because somebody said something, it doesn't mean it's true. So those people may go off. And when I see those people, lee, years down the line, they're actually in more pain. And what the sad thing is, lee, if we don't change, guess who comes knocking?
Speaker 1:The four doctors are Dr Movement, dr quiet, doctor happy and doctor diet. If you don't do something with those four doctors, I hate to say it, doctor, death comes, you know, and once your body gets diseased and it just gets depleted, it just becomes, you know, a breeding ground for fungus and parasites. And have lost so you know well not a lot of clients have lost, say, probably about 10 clients through different things. Because you also have to have the power to take authority and question lacy. You have to be powerful to think right. What I'm doing is going to work, I'm going to believe in it and I'm going to take charge of my health. And that's why I said to you, lee, I am in charge of my body. I can talk to you to lit today, lee, and you can give me information, but if I don't do anything with it when I go away, or don't research it, nothing will change yeah, absolutely, absolutely, now, again.
Speaker 2:Obviously I know you've studied paul check's work quite extensively, yes, so why do you think a holistic approach is the most effective way to alleviating chronic pain? John was a personal trainer and triathlete when he first came to see me suffering from knee pain for which he'd received physiotherapy which, sadly, hadn't proven to be successful. As someone who was passionate about his triathlon performance, john was at his wits end about his knee, as it was preventing him from training properly. I performed a full assessment on John and gave him a corrective exercise program, and together we came up with a revised triathlon training plan in the short term, which included no running or cycling plus some medium and long-term goals. John followed the program rigorously and after 10 weeks I reassessed John and upgraded his exercise program and added in some appropriate strength work in accordance with the progress that he'd made.
Speaker 2:Eventually, I gave John the all-clear to running and cycling again, and John slowly started to gain confidence in his knee and consequently increased his mileage, and was extremely pleased to find out that the knee pain not only went away but never came back. In fact, in his first attempt after completing the rehab program, john managed to beat his 10K run time by four minutes. He put it down to feeling much more efficient in his running technique and having a much stronger core. John has gone on to complete many triathlons since all around the world, including Olympic and Ironman distances, alongside world-class athletes. If you're in pain and it's preventing you from doing what you'd love to do and you'd like to achieve great results, like John, go to wwwbodycheckcouk that's B-O-D-Y-C-H-E-Kcouk to request your consultation. Now back to the podcast.
Speaker 1:Well, the holistic approach is the most effective way because that's the way it was done years ago. I mean, her property said all disease starts in the colon. So my experience is not just because of what somebody says, but what I've seen the results with the clients. So as soon as you become healthier, you think differently, you have more ability to help yourself. Guess what? When you help yourself, you help others. It's the ripple effect. We can actually change the world, lee.
Speaker 1:So I listened to a stat. Lee is that it would take 10 years of us all practicing holistic diet and lifestyle to change the last 100 years. So it's not just myself, it's the damage to the planet. And I've seen it, lee. I don't have lots of clients, but by golly I have such a high standard. And again, my mother dying on the 18th of April.
Speaker 1:Today, lee, my power has gone through the roof since then. So I've really upped my game in every way. Now you know more than ever and have become more powerful physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. So I can not only better myself, but the clients who come to me only the ones who are ready to receive, lee, you know have that ripple effect and they go away and do the work, but if you're not ready, it doesn't, you know, change.
Speaker 1:But I have seen it, lee. When we're getting good quality water, good quality sleep, good quality diet, you know doing all these grounding things and everything you change and the holistic way is the way forwards and we're seeing a lot now, just starting back in professional football, because I had a break during Covid because of obvious reasons, and you know, a lot of the footballers are practicing grounding. Well, I want to start speaking about these practices more once I get back into the football and I can do more media with it, about getting barefoot outside, so that the footballers can see there are other ways. And, and I think people now, lee, are looking outside the box, because we all want to be better, we all want to change, but nobody wants to be changed, lee, yeah absolutely so from a holistic perspective, because you've mentioned a lot of kind of physical things.
Speaker 2:Yes, what do you do to help clients kind of on a mental, emotional, kind of physical things? Yes, what do you do to help clients kind of on a mental, emotional kind of level?
Speaker 1:On a mental, emotional level. They would be doing breath work, probably, and finding what their creative talent is. So we talk a lot about meditation and there's a big push for meditation, but I certainly find it very, very difficult to sit and be still. So I do what's called movement meditation. I tend to do Osho dynamic meditation or dance meditation or creative meditation. So I find with clients, perhaps if they're into music or perhaps doing artwork or you know, finding something.
Speaker 1:I always ask people what did you love doing as a child that you're not doing now? You know finding time, even walking out the dog, going out in nature, spending time with the grandchildren, learning to be a child, lee, and learning to play. So I don't want to force people to do ecstatic dance, to do yoga, but the mental and spiritual things comes from. You see, change happens, lee, when we're still, so it's when we're doing the exercise or any sort of movement. That's not when the change happens. The change happens in stillness. So if we can find stillness, you know that's the way forward.
Speaker 1:So I tend to do very, very basic four breath pattern, because the four breath pattern forces people to inhale for four. This is the box breath hold for four, exhale for four, hold the breath for four, and when we help the client reach what their dream, goal or legacy is, it might be to lose weight. It might well. With most of my clients, it isn't lose weight. It's to get chronic pain free so they can go on an airplane, so they can get insurance and things. When you have that goal or dream, lee, you will do it, because when you've got a big enough dream, you don't have a crisis. And that's what I feel. Lee has really taken me through my entire you know, 20s and 30s and any hardship which I've had, it's I've always got the dream. So when you've always got the dream, there is no crisis.
Speaker 2:So what is your dream?
Speaker 1:My dream, lee, is well, I'm actually want to follow in your footsteps, lee. So Paul Chex is the most beautiful compliment to me when I did my HLC3. So he said I'm the next Lee Brandon.
Speaker 1:So I want to get a few books out, lee, and I've got loads of material but, like you, when I'm not in flow state and I'm saying yes to doing too much teaching or too many things, I need chunks of time off to be able to write. So I want to get the entire Pilates syllabus out, which is all holistic and looking at the body and the way trauma is stored in the body. I want to carry on with my studio, because the studio, you know, is a community and a place of tribe and connection, and I want to be more creative with my artwork. So my mother was an artist, lee. So after my mother died, I started going back to my artwork and my pottery, which she did, and she was a great sewer. So she's left me so much stuff, lee. She's left me loads of liberty, material and things which I'm going to get something made with them when I go to India. She was a great sewer, so she's left me so much stuff, lee. She's left me loads of liberty, material and things which I'm going to get something made with them when I go to India this Christmas. So I want to fire it, find out, you carry on being my creative force.
Speaker 1:I want to continue my coaching and I want to finish complete my AMS with Paul Chek over the next three to four years. So I've got two more things to do, but I want to do it at my pace and I want to carry on being guests on the amazing podcast hosts like you, lee, because I learned so much by doing the research for the podcast and also connecting, and I want to be a better listener. That's the most important thing to me, lee. They said when you learn to listen and you listen intuitively, the change comes when you learn to intuitively listen, because that's when I can change, because all the answers are there, lee. We're already enlightened. We don't have to wait for enlightenment, we're already there. It's just we've got to do the work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, well said so could you perhaps leave the listeners with three basic things that they can do to help them reduce or even eliminate their chronic pain?
Speaker 1:So first of all, lee, the very, very basic is to look for a good water source. So I would say, start with a Brita jug and start to filter your water with a Brita jug at name for one to two litres of water a day, because that's enough for people to start with, with a British drug name for one to two liters of water a day, because that's enough for people to start with. Number two is to get to bed on time and number three is to make time in the week, even if it's just half a day, to start to cook from scratch. And those are the three basic things. And when I give them to new clients, lee, I know people struggle. But if you just start with those three things and even if you just improve them by 1% per month, at the end of 12 months, lee, that's 12%.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and when you say get into bed on time, what does that mean?
Speaker 1:Well, for me, lee, I like to be in bed for nine and I used to go to bed very, very late and I realized that's why I was so overweight, because the cortisol was just through the roof. So when you look at the circadian rhythm, the circadian rhythm is 10 till 2 is physical repair, 2 am till 6 am is cognitive, mental repair, and then 6 am till 12. Midday is when we should have the highest releases of cortisol and energy. So I like to be in bed for 10 o'clock, winding down from nine, trying my best to get off devices, you know, by 9.30, you know it should be a lot earlier than that and do some wind down and really work on, you know, repairing.
Speaker 1:And I know it's not possible for everybody, lee, I have so many NHS and shift workers who come to me and their cortisol is through the roof because of working shifts. But if we can even work on one of those aspects, you know it really does help. And if they're on shifts all nightly, I'd say work on the other two, you know, work on the water and the food and prep, doing food prep so that you can take better quality food to help you going, you know, higher in fat and protein. So you've got the energy, so you're not craving carbs and sugar through the night.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think it's really important making your own food from scratch. Yes, it's so easy, so convenient to buy stuff in a packet, in a jar it's already pre-done. But I think if most people read the ingredients and understood what those ingredients do to the body, they'd probably be horrified. And that's that's certainly something I try and encourage my clients to do is to buy foods as much as possible that only have one ingredient, right. So if you buy a potato, the only ingredient is potato, right. If you buy an apple, it's apple. If you buy beef, it's beef right. Although you still have to check labels. I once went to buy some beef in san diego and it had sugar in it as well, which still blows my mind now. Um, so, yeah, I think that's a. That's a really great idea, and I know a lot of people say, oh, I don't have time. I don't have time.
Speaker 2:Yes, you know, I think it's important to understand where your priorities are. You know if you're in pain, you know there might be some things that you might be able to give up in order to allow some more time. Maybe prepare food. Yes, I think most people probably spend three hours minimum a day watching tv. Yes, they do, you know, and I would ask is that, is that really time well spent? You know, yeah, you know, I mean, nowadays, most people have got mobile devices. Yes, I mean, if it was that important, you could have it on in the kitchen, right? Yes, you know, yeah, yeah, I think that would. For most people in pain, that would make a massive difference. Of course, water definitely will. Yeah, and something like a Brita filter might be a place to start what?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's how I started, Lee, and now I have a full osmosis system in the house.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's taken a long time, lee. You know and I don't want to come from a place of judgment it took a long time to make these changes, but by golly you see the results. And guess what, lee, when you start to change internally and I've seen it on one of my clients actually was the czech study for the next exam his whole skin and his posture. He is glowing, because you glow with vitality.
Speaker 2:You have prana, you have dantian, you have chi, because you can see it when you're coming from a place of health yeah, definitely yeah, and you know, talking about change and the speed of change, I remember it took me about a year to go from. So I would have gluten-containing grains every day for lunch and dinner and sometimes probably breakfast as well. Yes, I'd probably have a pasta dish and sandwiches at some point in the day, some kind of bread, and I would say from the time I kind of realized that wasn't a good idea.
Speaker 2:I think initially I went to gluten-free options of the same things yes which back then, the bread options were pretty horrendous, pastas were all right, and it probably took me from from going from full-on gluten to no grains at all. That probably took me a year and I'm someone that I'm quite open to changing things pretty quickly. But I would say, since then, most things I have changed pretty quickly, but that was the one thing that did take quite a while. Yeah, that was about 25 years ago, if I remember right. Yeah, quite a while. Yeah, um, that was about 25 years ago, if I remember right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but you know, as you know, some people can change things really quickly. Some people they need to go much, much slower. You know, I've had people make miraculous changes in three or four weeks. Yes, but some people it can take them, you know, months to make most simple of changes. But but again, you know, if people are really driven by their destination, the goal they want to achieve, you know that that can sometimes really help them on that journey. So, like you were saying, if they, if they're clear on their dream, yes, they're far more likely to get that motivation to create the change yes, and I think as well, lee, when we're coaching as well.
Speaker 1:You know a lot of the information I give people, it triggers them. So I remember with my mother she used to say, well, I'm not, I've cut my fat off my bacon for years and I'm not adding fat in because they're convinced and they've been, you know, told that fat is bad. So then she was having low fat everything, which was causing her more health problems and then she was comfort eating through sugar. You know, when I say things like that to people, I say, you know, say to my clients, they're triggered very easily. You know, once you're more healthy, you're not as triggered and you'd learn to go away. I think, right, I'll look into that. And I say to people, why don't you just try it? Because when I was on all those diet meals and all those processed meals from Weight Watchers and Slimming World, I was bigger than ever, lee. I wasn't losing any weight at all. I was more inflamed from ever, and as soon as I changed it, it just changed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, absolutely so what's?
Speaker 1:next for you, nisha? Well, next for me. I'm really excited. I'm going to India at Christmas for three weeks. I'm going to go into an ashram and do some dynamic meditation. I'm going to India at Christmas for three weeks. I'm going to go into an ashram and do some dynamic meditation. I'm going to have some beautiful family time Next year. I'm really focusing on everything Czech because I really want to really get myself through IMS 4 and IMS 5 in the maximum of three to four years now. But I don't want to just fly through the exams. I want to embody it and really just see where you know't want to just fly through the exams. I want to embody it and really just see where you know. I want to have a focus and a dream. But I know, lee, wherever I'm taken, there's always opportunity, because the world's your oyster.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's a great, great attitude. Yes, and do you want to tell us a little bit about your free ebook?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I've written an ebook called Transformation with Nisha and it's really for everyday people, people who are overweight, because when we see a lot of things on Instagram and on social media, those people look good already. So it's showing people the pain that I had, the belief system that I had. It actually talks a lot about weight training, ample artists and food and diet, how the two complement each other. So I would never just do one form of movement late. They have to be mixed up.
Speaker 1:So weight training for my body physique, which is an endomorph and which is Catholic in Ayurveda, has been a game changer for me. So I've really gone lean. So, yes, I'm still a more shapelier figure, but I've really gone lean. So, yes, I'm still a more shapelier figure, but I've really gone lean. So it's a really basic manual that people can, you know, get for free, they can read at home and, if they've got any questions, I've got tons of free stuff on YouTube. I've got so many podcasts, I've got loads of top tips and I do like you over Zoom and face-to-face, you know, for people who are really serious about change and changing their, you know, changing and becoming something different from the environment they live in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and where can people find your e-book and where can people find you online?
Speaker 1:Really easily. You can just stick in the internet Nisha Pilatus or yoga anatomycom, nisha pilatus, manchester. I come up all over uh, nisha football, nisha rugby because of all my football and rugby experience which we didn't have time to talk about, which is a whole nother episode, awesome, awesome, nisha thank you so much.
Speaker 2:You know it's always, it's always enjoyable talking to you, but, yeah, thanks for your time today. Thank you, Lee. So that's all from Nisha and me for this week, but don't forget to join me same time, same place next week on the Radical Health Rebel podcast. Thanks for tuning in, Remember to give the show a rating and a review and I'll see you next time.
