Shireen [0:32]:  In today’s episode, we are in conversation with registered dietician Shannon Safi. Discover the insights that led her to a deeper purpose and the creation of a fully holistic approach, empowering women to embrace confidence and fulfill their soul’s desires, she will guide us to navigating the realm of holistic nutrition counseling. Stay tuned. Shannon Safi is a registered dietician empowerment coach, and beauty yoga instructor. She is the owner of Fuel the Fire, where they combine Western and Eastern practices to help their clients heal their relationship with their bodies, and emotions. Hi, Shanon.

Shanon [1:20]: Hi, thanks so much for having me here.

Shireen [1:23]: An absolute pleasure. Right out the gate. I think that was a very strong open with really understanding how to heal that relationship. And I do want to get into that. So one, welcome to the podcast. It’s an absolute pleasure having you on. And we’re going to talk about some of this stuff around holistic nutrition counseling and holistic wellness. But I do want to take a step back and really start with learning a little bit more about you, and what really took you on this journey to even consider nutrition and holistic wellness. 

Shanon [1:54]: Yes, so in college, I initially started college as a neuroscience and pre med student. And then I shifted into studying nutrition because I really enjoyed the emphasis on the human body through those studies. So as time went on, I decided to really continue even though I did continue studying pre medicine and did some study abroad programs in that realm. It really just showed me how important the preventative end of medicine is, which I felt like, through my work, when I was an intern, when I was doing student research in college, I just really saw how overall it needed to be emphasized more like what are we doing so that we don’t end up in the hospital, and educating people on what that means. And because the media is so difficult to navigate now, and there’s so much talk about diet, culture, and just the standards and the marketing industry with foods, it’s really overwhelming. So I just felt like putting more emphasis on that. And really, getting back to the basics and focusing on the preventative end of medicine is really where I wanted to be. So that’s how I got into functional and Integrative Nutrition, which is just another way to kind of talk about holistic nutrition.

Shireen [3:20]: I love that. And I do want to understand what exactly is that? Like, how is it maybe, just taking a step back, help us understand what, like, traditional nutrition techniques and information or knowledge is and then how is this line really different from what again, traditional nutrition is?

Shanon [3:39]: That’s such a great question. A lot of what you see in the mainstream media. And traditional nutrition, I would say is more in the realm of what I would say almost like not allowing you to properly connect to the body and tune in to your intuitive guidance. So a lot of it is informational, you’re being told, this is what you need to do. This is how you need to do it. This is the easiest way to go about doing it. And when you’re looking at it from a holistic approach, you’re really looking at the entire person you’re looking at, okay, well, what is their culture? What was their upbringing? Did they have traumas? Is there a certain way that they’ve been influenced? And how can we actually show them how to connect to the body to use it as a guide to understand what it is that your body is asking you to do? There’s definitely a realm of deconditioning, I don’t think you can necessarily jump right into that because all of us are exposed to the media and we’re kind of taught all of these ways of thinking about food or in our family environment. We were taught a way to think about food. So there is a layer of deconditioning that needs to happen before you can really jump into doing things in a fully holistic approach with, like, an intuitive drive for How you receive your nutrients and how you navigate life. But yeah, the major difference is getting external information versus turning inward and understanding how to listen to the signs of your body.

Shireen [5:15]: But does that disconnect sort of the external nutrition? Or are you saying you only focus on sort of those cues? And that’s what you focus on?

Shanon [5:25]: It is truly a blend of both. But it’s also you know, because I do think there’s like a piece of nutrition education that we all have to go through. And I would say, I almost call it more like deconditioning. Like, let’s unlearn all the things we thought we knew about nutrition, for example, like a lot of people come in thinking carbs are bad, or we shouldn’t have high fat foods. And yeah, there’s a lot of sources that would support the use of, like, low fat products and low carb things, and artificial sweeteners and things of that nature. And so it’s kind of knowing like, Okay, how do we take this information? How do we like, unlearn some of these? And how do we take in more truth, more knowledge, things that are rooted in science, things that are tried and true, and kind of integrate that into how we can almost like use the body as a guide, right? So it’s like, partially like, Okay, if I take this nutrient in, here’s a possible outcome. Now that I have that information, I can rule out other possible outcomes, because sometimes your body can do a lot of different things for a lot of different reasons. So it is kind of still like a science in the way you’re navigating it and exploring it. So the informational piece is definitely different. I wouldn’t neglect it. But it’s knowing how to use both in the proper way. 

Shireen [6:46]: So that you know, this external body of knowledge, but we also need to sort of connect in ourselves and listen to those cues. Can you give her listeners an idea of what are some of those cues? Where does someone even begin to understand those cues or even reconnect with them again?

Shanon [7:04]: The first place that I recommend people typically starting is starting to notice how we are under stress, and also how much stress are we truly under the way we are in society, we’re sort of conditioned to operate under stress that so many of us don’t even know that we are actually stressed. And when we’re so busy, and we don’t have the time to really sit down, it makes it almost impossible to really connect to the body. So if we’re always in the Go, go go mode, eating on the go, not sitting down for meals, you know, doing something like watching TV, or working through lunch, which again, is so normalized, when we’re doing that it really stops you from hearing your cues. So if you’re really wanting to start to connect, it really requires a state of mindfulness and slowing down. So mindfulness practices are also a really great thing to implement. So once you’re able to kind of alleviate some of your stress, or at least carve out time in your day to set aside just for eating and just to focus on your body and the meal and the experience that you’re having. That really helps to start turn you inward, because it just takes out all distractions and allows you to truly focus on, like I said, just what you’re eating in your body.

Shireen [8:27]: And you know you also bring this element around fitness to this practice. How does it connect and help us understand, I guess, my body’s keys or do not work out? Right? So we understand how do you sort of connect that journey into fitness?

Shanon [8:43]: Fitness can look so different and unique for everyone. And again, that’s something even personally, I’ve expanded on so much because growing up, I always saw it in a very specific way. I was an athlete. And so in my head, things always had to be high intensity. And, you know, I had to expend myself completely in order for it to feel like a good workout and like I was doing something for my health, when in reality, it can be so much more simple than that. And everyone’s body again responds differently. Some people do well with high intensity, but for your average person, it’s really not necessary. So it’s starting to pay attention to, how does the body feel to like the same way we’re doing mindful eating practices. We also do mindful movement, where rather than disconnecting from the body and trying to go as hard as we can and push as much as we can. It can be as simple as walking. It can be as light and easy as certain practices of yoga. It doesn’t need to be anything like hardcore weightlifting all the time. While I do recommend types of resistance training to mix in. Resistance training can just be bodyweight stuff. It doesn’t necessarily need to be something where you have to get a gym membership to do it. and your fitness could even be like playing with your grandchildren. So you know, rather than thinking of it as very conventional, we can start to notice different ways that we can incorporate more movement in general in our days, without it feeling like it has to be something that’s formal or something that has to take an hour or two out of your day every day. Like how can we truly integrate movement in a seamless way that is pleasurable and also feels good to your body?

Shireen [10:30]: You know, there’s a lot of work that you’re doing again, in this intersection of looking at fitness really looking at sort of coaching, emotional management, I also in your bio, it said, beauty yoga, which I definitely want to get into, because the first time I’m hearing about it, but how do these different traditions really form and approach a holistic approach around nutrition?

Shanon [10:51]: It’s like really almost impossible to isolate one system in the body, right, every process flows together, everything works together. And that’s the same way with our health when we think about it that way. So when we look at the word health, which it’s a term that everyone defines differently, everyone looks at things in different ways, and will perceive one thing as healthy versus another thing, when I look at health, and when I think of like, what’s healthy, it’s a balance of all the things that honor the body while also honoring the soul. And so through these practices and finding your unique balance, you can really meet yourself in a place where you’re getting fulfilment on multiple planes. So with the practice of yoga, it’s intended to be something that allows your mind to rest and for you to be present in your body. So that was something really big that yoga taught me because I was always someone that lived very much so in my head. And I think Western society sort of teaches us that, like, logic is king. And so the practice of yoga kind of helped me get out of my head, to get out of work mode to forget all of the things that we tend to worry about, and a lot of those repeating thought patterns that we have, and brings us back into the physical experience of our reality. And it integrates really beautifully with movement, it goes really well with what we teach in nutrition, and of course, the emotional experience. So many of us have an emotional experience throughout our day, that also connects to our food. So it’s starting to pay attention, because our bodies, like the first layer to alerting us to an emotional experience. So every emotion we have, also has a physical sensation. So it’s starting to pay attention to like, Hey, I’m having a response to an emotion, this is what it feels like in my body. And you’ll do the same with food, like, oh, I consume this food, it’s having a physical response in my body, the same way we do movement, oh, I’m doing this movement, here’s the physical response in my body. And so they all come back to a sense of presence within the body that, again, like normal life kind of keeps us more operating from the logic zone from our head. And so when we think about using all of these practices to bring us back into the present moment, it really helps alleviate a lot of what we experience a lot of ailments. And even just our general sense of happiness can greatly be impacted by all of these things. 

Shireen [13:33]: That’s very helpful, and can you give us an example of what that looks like for someone, you know, either samples, sort of a person that you’ve worked with, but what are those steps that sort of come together and just walk us through one example, perhaps,

Shanon [13:48]: Alright that’s such a cool thing to think about. Because I really feel like using that example, just give you a clearer picture of what that might look like. So for example, I’ll think of a client who, she was someone that was really ambitious, and she worked in a very high pace environment. And the norm was sort of like, the harder you push, the better you do, the more respect you gain. And she was like, looking to, Yeah, just really excel in her career. The thing about it was, its like working late hours and the stress that would come up, it was leaving her feeling really depleted outside of work hours. So what that looked like is she just would be wanting to sleep or veg out or do something that would further disconnect her from her body. So like watching TV, or drinking with friends, things like this, which, again, there’s nothing wrong with any of those things. But it’s when we are being depleted from other things and like we’re sort of left feeling empty and we don’t have a lot to really motivate us towards taking action. So she knew, like, okay, there got to be a point where she wasn’t feeling great in her body and felt like something needed to shift. She just felt overall lethargic, tired and unmotivated. So during our journey together, where we really started with setting boundaries, so we were like, Okay, what boundaries need to be in place to give me time back that I can put towards this thing that really matters to me, which is my health. So it was little things like, Okay, I’m just going to turn off my phone notifications from 8pm to 8am, when I get up for work, so it’s like, okay, like she had to recognize like that was pulling her away. So then it became okay, well, now I have this space to use for something else. So now I can start to think about my health in a way. So it became Okay, can I just block off 20 minutes in the middle of my calendar so that I can sit and have a meal without interruptions. So yeah, that comes back to boundaries, it was like placing these little boundaries to carve the space to work on these practices. And a lot of times, we don’t even really implement the fitness or movement piece. For the first, like, couple months, it’s really focusing on the mental, emotional, and nutrition piece. Not everything has to change all at once for us to start to feel more present, feel more in our body, to feel happier, to feel more energized. And sometimes it can be overwhelming when we try to do all at once, which is self defeating. So it’s like, if it feels like too much, then we never really want to start or we can really feel like we can stick to it. Like I like to say if, you know if you try to do everything all at once you just feel like an actor and a show, it doesn’t really feel like your life. So the goal is to just make those small, incremental changes that bring you closer to a state of presence. So it’s like, can we keep practicing presence, starting with the way we’re eating. And once we feel really comfortable with that, and we’ve become comfortable with these boundaries that we set, then we can start to carve out more time for other things, if necessary. So for her, it really went from feeling, like, tired, overworked, and like she could never catch up. And it was amazing. By carving this time out for herself. She found herself in a space where she was actually working less, and she had more time to focus on that presence. And so I don’t really like to emphasize weight loss, like it can sometimes be a byproduct of doing this kind of stuff. And I always say like, if it’s at the forefront of your goals, it never works out in our favor. So when we just allow it to be a byproduct of things we do, it will happen more naturally. So she was just physically feeling better, more confident in her body in herself, and ended up getting a promotion at work, which I think is sometimes our fears like if we take time away from other things, will that hurt us, but actually creating that space and slowing down can actually accelerate us in many ways in our lives. So it was really cool to witness that journey. And I feel like a lot of us can relate to that. Because we all live such a busy lifestyle. But yeah, that was like one of my favorite journeys to witness.

Shireen [18:12]: That’s so interesting, right? Because you’re absolutely right. Like we live in such a logic culture, the more time you put in, the more rewards you reap, right like that’s the more in the more out, right. That’s the way you sort of think of that equation. But what you’re saying is think of the quality of the time that you’re putting in, it’s not the quantity of the hours, its the quality. And so what happens is in this shift that you mentioned, and what I’m assuming here is that you start putting more qualitative time in the limited time from what the schedule may have been previously, when you do you’re showing up more, that leads to more opportunities. Likely, what you’re saying is, it’s really hard to give 50% of yourselves, you know, over 16 hour days, you’re much better off doing half of that by giving 100% of yourself to that. 

Shanon [19:01]: Yeah that’s exactly it. It’s like just spending your energy more wisely. And sometimes just that proper time allocation can make such a big shift in our reality. 

Shireen [19:14]: That’s helpful. And I’m sure some of the listeners Shannon is are listening to this go but I truly don’t have the time I’m trying to balance work and I’ve got kids and other commitments, and I have to put in the time because I do have certain goals that I need to accomplish and then you throw Fitness on top of that and I need to cook or you know, where I’ve got, you know, a sort of late hours job like it could be a bunch of different things. Where does someone start? Where does someone say, Okay, if I need to reset, where do I begin?

Shanon [19:45]: It’s almost hard to give, like one answer for everyone to take and apply. But if I could summarize it in the best way, it would be like the easiest entry point is what I always say like why Where is it the easiest for you to start? Because that’s gonna look so different for everyone. So for example, say, you are a mother and you have kids, and you also have a full time job and your kids have extracurriculars. And so you just feel like, okay, what time could there possibly be for me to have any form of presence? Maybe you start by saying like, Oh, okay, you know, like, I can play with my kids and count that as like, just a little bit more movement, where before, I might just be more like, sitting on the couch, watching them play, where it’s like, okay, can I get involved, so that I’m able to do something that is like, you know, I always say, like, tie one habit with another, and it’s so much easier for it to happen. So if I’m already in the habit of sitting with my kids, can I just add in the habit of playing with them for a little bit and getting some movement in? Or on the flip side? For some people where it’s like, okay, I’m noticing that I’m never prepared with cooking. And that leads to us ordering out. And we feel like we spend a lot of money on that. And it takes away from other things we want to do. And yeah, so maybe for you, then it’s like, oh, could I potentially, like, order a meal prep service that delivers things to my door, so I don’t have to grocery shop. And it’s just one less thing that I had to do this week. There’s so many things available to us now, because we are so health conscious as society, which sometimes can be difficult because we’re always inundated with so many things. But on the flip side, it gives us so much opportunity to make it simple for ourselves. So it’s really like, where is that easiest point of entry for me to start to save time, so to speak? And in what way? Can I do it that integrates seamlessly into my life ,that it doesn’t feel like a big switch?

Shireen [22:05]: That is so interesting to start small, really set yourself up for success. I mean, a few minutes ago, you mentioned really having like, the soul level fulfillment, so we’re not talking mediocre, right? We’re talking soul level fulfillment. Can you share an example of what that looks like? And what does one even expect out of that? Like, what does it look like? 

Shanon [22:27]: Yeah, I will use another story as an example, because I feel like it’s helpful sometimes. So people can come from different ends of the spectrum with like, their relationship with food. So one person that I can recall, she came in, and it was more around, like this fear of eating, because there was just a worry around gaining weight or feeling uncomfortable in her body, and just kind of like what diet culture promotes. So a lot of these fears were built up that it led to just a point of restriction. And this can really influence a lot of different areas in our life. And so part of the work that I do, I’m also a certified life coach, which really helps. Even though I already have my degree that allows me to counsel, I just thought it was really nice to just be able to get deeper with people because it is so tied. Like a lot of times our relationship with food is just a mirror to something deeper. So it’s usually an emotional experience that we’re having. And our relationship with food is just the physical manifestation of it. So in this space, when we really dug deeper into this, like desire to restrict or this fear from food, what was really lying underneath was like a space of feeling like, I’m not worthy. If I can control everything around me or do my best to gain a sense of control in this area of my life, such as food, then maybe I can be more aligned with love and acceptance around me. And so while it doesn’t feel directly related, a lot of times we connect like our physical body with our worthiness of being loved or accepted. Or even if there’s like a physical trauma that happened to the body, it can manifest in our relationship with food as well. And so the soul liberation aspect. It’s like when we really dig deeper, and it’s like, why am I resistant to making this change? Why don’t I want to eat more? Or why don’t I want to find the right portions? Or, you know, why is it when I feel a strong emotion I have to eat. So it’s like when we start to explore that deeper layer, it naturally leads to that emotional and soul liberation, that naturally helps us come to balance with our relationship with food.

Shireen [24:58]: That’s so lovely and poetic. at the same time I find, and that you have this physical manifestation right? Of how you’re feeling, right? And then that is guiding sort of some of those things that show up in a little bit more, like I said, physical. I’m really curious as to what are some of the emerging trends that you foresee really shaping the future of holistic nutrition counseling? What does that look like? What does nutrition advocacy look like? Help us understand a little bit more of where this is headed next.

Shanon [25:30]: From my perspective, just from, like,  what I’ve gotten more in touch with, I think that there’s going to be a big movement towards the whole holistic approach in general. I think with consumerism, it’s almost like, it makes it more challenging, like we are, just, like I said, constantly bombarded with information. And I think that there’s a pole to come back to almost like the way we did things in the olden days, you know, there’s just a poll to be like, okay, yeah, I want to have my own garden, or I do want to slow down for meals, or I don’t want to be overworked. And so I really see there being a trend where there’s more of like, you know, I would almost say like a spiritual connection to food, where it’s like, really looking at the overall purpose, because I think even as a society, we’re progressing and evolving to such a higher level where we have the space to connect to like this deeper level of fulfillment that we seek from life, where it’s like, we’re beyond just meeting our basic needs. And so we get to move into a space of like, well, what is the purpose? Like? Can I find deeper? Meaning can I find deeper purpose in my reality? And that I feel like it kind of goes in tandem with how we approach the way we treat our bodies to where it’s like, yeah, we still have the world of, you know, I think like a lot of cosmetic things are very popular as well. But I also see just in my field, like the progression, the longer you’re in the field, you start to see some of the cracks, you start to see what’s overwhelming people. And I would say like quite a few of my colleagues were kind of like, yeah, we’re starting to see this emotional, like this deep emotional tie to the way that we eat. And it’s also tied to, like our spiritual experience, or what we believe to be the reason we’re here, roaming this planet. And so while, you know, might seem new age-y, I do see a lot of movement towards that. And again, like finding that deeper meaning in life, and how we take care of our body is a big piece of that. 

Shireen [27:48]: Lovely on that notion, and we are toward the end of the episode, can you tell our listeners how they can connect with you, and then just learn more about your work? 

Shanon [27:57]: You can find me on Instagram, or my website or my podcast, but I would say, yeah, you can find me on Instagram, and probably all my links are on there. And it’s @fuelthe_fire. So that’s how you can find me. 

Shireen [28:11]: Absolutely, and we’ll link up everything in the show notes so folks have access to it. Shanon, thank you so very much for this very insightful conversation. To our listeners. It is that time toward the end of the episode, we want you to head over to social media and find this podcast post comment below to tell us what topics related to holistic nutrition and wellness are you most interested in learning about? Again, head over to @Yumlish on Facebook on Instagram. And again, find this podcast post comment below to tell us again, what topics related to holistic nutrition and wellness are you most interested in learning about? With that Shanon, thank you so very much for your time. It’s such an absolute pleasure having you on.

Shanon [28:53]: Oh, thanks for having me on here. It was my pleasure.

Shireen [29:37]: Thank you. 

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