Embark on a transformative journey with Carolina Marrelli, the luminary at the helm of EquiBalance Health, as she bridges the gap between holistic health and Christian faith. Unlock the secrets of a vibrant life where caring for your mind, body, soul, and heart not only nurtures your spirituality but also glorifies God.
This episode is an invaluable conversation for believers grappling with societal pressures and the guilt that often accompanies self-care. Carolina's empathetic approach to the unique challenges faced by Christian women, paired with her own experiences balancing business, family, and self, offers insightful perspectives that resonate deeply with those seeking harmony in their multifaceted roles.
Discover the Energy Rx method as Carolina Marrelli and I unveil how health and wellness transcend the personal and touch the divine, acting as a ministry of its own.
Learn how mindset shifts, coupled with a physical reboot, can foster both spiritual and physical well-being. Amidst the cacophony of health advice bombarding us, this episode serves as a beacon, guiding listeners toward feasible, incremental changes that promise lasting impact.
Plus, get a tantalizing glimpse of my forthcoming TEDx talk, designed to cut through the noise of information overload and chart a course for sustained healthy living.
In the final moments, I share a poignant reflection on how personal tragedy can instill a sense of purpose and urgency in our lives. Whether you're weaving faith into daily routines or grand ambitions, this discussion offers practical advice and grounding wisdom.
Join us for this heartfelt exchange that promises to enkindle your spiritual connection and elevate your holistic health.
We hope you found the episode to be enlightening and insightful. Our goal is to create content that not only entertains but also helps you grow spiritually and connect with your inner self.
If you enjoyed listening to this episode, we would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to like, subscribe, and write a review. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us and helps us to improve the quality of our content and reach a wider audience.
We believe that by sharing knowledge and insights about spirituality, we can help to inspire positive change and personal growth. So, if you find our podcast to be meaningful and informative, we encourage you to share it with your friends and family.
Embark on a transformative journey with Carolina Marrelli, the luminary at the helm of EquiBalance Health, as she bridges the gap between holistic health and Christian faith. Unlock the secrets of a vibrant life where caring for your mind, body, soul, and heart not only nurtures your spirituality but also glorifies God.
This episode is an invaluable conversation for believers grappling with societal pressures and the guilt that often accompanies self-care. Carolina's empathetic approach to the unique challenges faced by Christian women, paired with her own experiences balancing business, family, and self, offers insightful perspectives that resonate deeply with those seeking harmony in their multifaceted roles.
Discover the Energy Rx method as Carolina Marrelli and I unveil how health and wellness transcend the personal and touch the divine, acting as a ministry of its own.
Learn how mindset shifts, coupled with a physical reboot, can foster both spiritual and physical well-being. Amidst the cacophony of health advice bombarding us, this episode serves as a beacon, guiding listeners toward feasible, incremental changes that promise lasting impact.
Plus, get a tantalizing glimpse of my forthcoming TEDx talk, designed to cut through the noise of information overload and chart a course for sustained healthy living.
In the final moments, I share a poignant reflection on how personal tragedy can instill a sense of purpose and urgency in our lives. Whether you're weaving faith into daily routines or grand ambitions, this discussion offers practical advice and grounding wisdom.
Join us for this heartfelt exchange that promises to enkindle your spiritual connection and elevate your holistic health.
We hope you found the episode to be enlightening and insightful. Our goal is to create content that not only entertains but also helps you grow spiritually and connect with your inner self.
If you enjoyed listening to this episode, we would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to like, subscribe, and write a review. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us and helps us to improve the quality of our content and reach a wider audience.
We believe that by sharing knowledge and insights about spirituality, we can help to inspire positive change and personal growth. So, if you find our podcast to be meaningful and informative, we encourage you to share it with your friends and family.
Hello everyone, welcome to our Spiritual Spotlight series. Today I'm joined by Carolina Morelle. She's the founder of Equivalence Health, a devout. She is a devout Christian and a certified holistic health and lifestyle coach who supports organizations both sacred and secular. She's also a TEDx speaker and she also does keynote talks, workshops and team health coaching. Thank you so much for coming on Spiritual Spotlight Series. I'm so happy you're here. Thank you for having me. I'm really honored to be here, so we're just going to jump right in. So how do you intertwine holistic health practices with your Christian faith and your coaching, and why is this blend essential for your spiritual growth?
Speaker 2:
Wow, that's a really good question. So before I became a holistic health coach, when I would hear the word holistic I would think like, oh, it's TBGB. This is like so weird. But really what I came to understand in my education and as I've gone through several years of being in my world is holistic is just about embodying the whole person.
Speaker 2:
It's your mind, your body, your soul, your heart, all the things I feel like in my work, especially with Christian women, that is one area that they tend to overlook when it comes to health. It's like, oh yeah, we have our bedtime, read our Bible and have our things, and then everything else is separate and really it's like so intertwined together. So that's how I just kind of blend the two. And not everybody that I work with is gonna be a woman of faith and that's totally okay. But the ones that are, when they really grasp, like wow, you're actually glorifying God by taking care of yourself, because then you have the energy to go do what you were put on the start to do. It's a beautiful thing. It's a very transformative mindset shift.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely, and I really respect the fact that you don't have to be a Christian to work with you. Like it's amazing that you honor anyone, no matter what journey they're on. I think that's beautiful. So, in your experience, what are some unique challenges that Christian women face in maintaining their health, and how do you address these in your coaching?
Speaker 2:
One big thing that I see is this guilt of putting myself first, especially moms. Right, your mom, I'm a mom, we get it. There's this thing about being selfless and serving your church, community and all the other things, but God forbid that you should take care of yourself and that you're doing yourself and your family a very huge disservice by doing that.
Speaker 2:
So a lot of times that you have to address that, like, hey, it's totally okay that you are taking care of yourself, because you cannot give, as the saying goes, from an empty cup. Right, gotta put that oxygen mask on first, as everyone says.
Speaker 1:
That is a really really good point, I think. Why do you think that women especially have such guilt for taking care of themselves?
Speaker 2:
Gosh, that's a great question, I think, depending on the culture that you grow up in like I'm Cuban American and us Latinas we are all about our husbands and our families, right?
Speaker 1:
That's a good point, yeah.
Speaker 2:
I will tell you, you see, a lot of obese Latinas. They don't take care of themselves because they're so busy cooking and cleaning and taking care of everybody else. So I think a lot of it is cultural. For one, I think some of it does stem from the church. Just because you know different, there's different beliefs in different churches.
Speaker 2:
But I think that there's this mindset of I'm holier when I'm in a place of service, and again you go back to that place of like, oh, but wait, I'm miserable and I haven't slept and I haven't. When's the last time I washed my hair, put some makeup on? Like when's the last time I've eaten a healthy meal or moved my body? And oh, but that's selfish. So again it gets put on the back burner. So I think it's the two things. I think it's culture and I think it's I'm sorry cultural. I think some of it is different church beliefs and I think, too, you also generationally, like what did your mom do and what did your grandmother do and what did your great grandmother do? And there's that shame that comes along down the line of like, well, you're my mother, your grandmother would have never gone to the YMCA before she made a five course dinner or whatever that thing is, that your grandma did or your great grandmother did so that's what I think.
Speaker 1:
But your grandmother probably also wasn't working a full-time job. We're looking at our cell phone all day either. I mean, I do feel like so much. I wanna ask you this question, and this is completely off topic Do you feel like society as a whole hasn't caught up to the amount of work that women actually have to do in this day and age? Oh gosh, I think there is.
Speaker 2:
Unless you are a mom, I don't think you really grasp what we do for our families, Husbands. I think I'm very blessed because my husband is a saint all right, man does everything too, and he comments a lot like, wow, you're building a business and you're managing a house and the kids managed to have clean underwear every day. Oh, my gosh, and the plants and the dog have been alive, Bro, I don't know. But I think, in general, if you're not a mom, you just don't grasp how much mental energy we give out, thinking about so-and-so has okay, how many kids do you have? Like four kids? Okay. They all have sports practice or theater or whatever after school, on top of homework, on top of laundry, cooking, cleaning. You've got your own work you're trying to do and you're trying to take care of yourself.
Speaker 1:
I mean, I feel like us women we work 10 jobs, 10 full-time jobs 100% agree with you and I would say I would like to commend your husband for acknowledging the amount of work that you do.
Speaker 2:
I will say that.
Speaker 1:
I'm very lucky, too, that my partner is the same way he cooks, he cleans, he does it all, and I'm always like thank you so much. I appreciate all that you do.
Speaker 2:
It's such a blessing to have somebody that, like they come in, that's it. They get it. Oh my gosh, cause you know they get the worst of you, then it's a team effort.
Speaker 1:
It's not a one-off position Like I love. I'm sorry we're going off topic here, but it kills me seeing videos online about men who are commended for watching their kids. No, they're your children, honey, you made them Exactly. No, no, no, how to create them? Like? Hmm, okay then my friends.
Speaker 2:
I wash, I wash the kids today. Big fricking deal.
Speaker 1:
You want a reward. I mean that will actually come out of my mouth. Like I don't want to. I like them. I love that. So thank you to your husband for actually acknowledging all that you're doing as well. So I'm going to shift to bed. So how has your role as a women's ministry speaker influenced your approach to wellness and spiritual teachings?
Speaker 2:
How is it?
Speaker 1:
influenced. She's like it hasn't moved.
Speaker 2:
Next question oh well, it's just because it's so. You know, before I became a health coach, I had been in full-time music ministry for over 15 years. That was on the first like. I got deathly ill after my youngest was born and that's what ended up like almost died and that's what ended up leading me into the work I'm in now, like I I tell us a little bit about that, about you getting really sick and in transitioning kind of like it sounds like your life's purpose.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, yeah. So I had been full-time music ministry. I had a band. We were scheduled to go out on tour three months after my youngest son was born and I had a really rough pregnancy. And then I, when my son is coming out, I find out I'm group B positive. Have no idea, because I'm proud of him. No, I was supposed to get my test results that day but I went into labor early so I got all of one bag of penicillin in me and it wasn't enough. And then they kept me in the hospital the next day. Nothing, I'm good. No, it was good. Four days later I am 104 and a half degree fever. I mean shaking, dry, heaving. I couldn't control my bowels, like like, so sick, and I got immediately admitted back into the hospital and it took a few days for the cultural sugar bucket. They thought I had meningitis. I did not see my test results from when I went into labor. I am a good groupie, like they're like different units.
Speaker 1:
We don't know how to review records. They did not know.
Speaker 2:
They're like they thought that epidural needle got lodged in my butt, Like it was crazy. Come on, I'm like y'all, but I was in and out of consciousness the whole time. You wouldn't really know. I mean honestly I couldn't communicate.
Speaker 2:
I cannot communicate. My husband was like juggling the newborn. My parents were running in. I mean it was. It was a circus. Yeah I. I was in the hospital for a week, home for a week with a nurse on an IV line giving me the medications I come off that and I get hit with C difficile and that. Both these things almost killed me. The doctor looked at me and he's like you are lucky to be alive. Like I can't even believe you had a baby. Then you got groupie and then you got this, like I should. So I remember laying in the hospital and being like remember clears day? I was looking up at the ceiling and I was like I don't know how this is going to get turned for my good, but I know it will. So, long story made short, I had a two and a half year recovery and over those 30 months I because I had because I had C diff and it's antibiotic induced, like I can't take antibiotics.
Speaker 1:
You can't, absolutely, and that's not just run out of your system.
Speaker 2:
No, I mean, I'm eight years out and I'm still healing my gut. And you know, the doctors were like, well, you have to do everything you can to stay healthy. And I'm like, what do I do? Like I don't know. I'm like, okay. So anyway, I you know I've had so many horrible after effects from group B and C, diff and all this medication, severe anxiety. All of a sudden they're like what is this Like? Why don't I, you know? So I ended up going on this journey. I never expected to go on and all the things that I used to snub my nose at were what ended up helping my body to recover. And with that I was like, wow, this is incredible. And at the time, you know, I had stepped down from my role at the church. We ended the tour plans Like I had to get well, like everything became about me being a healthy wife and mother, my husband needed a wife.
Speaker 2:
My kids needed a mom. So I remember like I was sitting on our dining room table and I was like what can I do that would incorporate? I have a visual communications degree. I've been on a stage since I was 15. I love public speaking. I used to keynote for things all the time and then falling in love with nutrition and all these like Chinese medicine things and. Ayurvedic medicine and herbs and oil, all these things, All like things that I got I would like. Why wouldn't you just take a pill?
Speaker 1:
I can't even swallow a pill, but like.
Speaker 2:
why would any science respecting woman like put oils on her back to like?
Speaker 1:
why would any like? Why so they work, they work.
Speaker 2:
So I suddenly stopped myself. So what was happening was my husband was traveling a lot. I was never alone for like a year and a half. I was never, ever, ever alone, because I just never knew how I was going to feel. So I was always with somebody and he always came home sick. My three-year-old was always coming home sick from preschool, which meant the baby and I would get it, and it hit me 10 times harder and lasted 10 times.
Speaker 2:
By the time I healed, everyone's good, and then my husband comes back from the next trip sick and the cycle starts all over again, exposing you, yeah Right. So I started like trying all these hippie things that I used to make fun of. Stop getting sick so much. My husband stops getting sick, my justice stops getting sick. No one stops getting sick. I'm like, wow, I can heal now. So I'm like there's something to this and I fell in love with it. Neighbors, friends, everyone starts coming to me like what do I do for X, y and Z? Cause I don't want to take antibiotics.
Speaker 2:
I'm like oh, try this, Like what. There has to be something that I could do with myself that would incorporate all of that, plus things I said earlier. Like I don't know. Three weeks later I found out about this career called health coaching and I was like, what is this? So I ended up going back to school. I went to two. I went one for holistic health coaching and one for plant medicine. Cause I wanted to work with doctors and I wanted to understand the herbs and oils and like, just have a basic understanding of it and I haven't looked back.
Speaker 2:
I love that, yeah, and so when you asked me about like ministry and this, like this is my ministry, yeah, absolutely. It's helping them to heal, helping them to feel good, stay healthy, so they have the energy to do what God put them on the sword to do. That's ministry.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely, and I like that you were open to maybe taking a road that you weren't necessarily comfortable with to begin with.
Speaker 2:
Had no idea this happened. I still get to like do music a church here and there when I want to. It's fine, but I mean I can't even imagine tour life now. Now I'm like, okay, I like to sleep way too much and I don't like eating junk food.
Speaker 1:
I love that, but it works for me. I love that. Now, do you still do this energy Rx method? Yeah, my energy prescription, can you? Can you tell us a little bit about the energy prescription method and how it enhances both spiritual and physical well-being, cause that sounds fascinating.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so that is what I do with my one-on-one coaching clients, cause that's over a period of three months.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Not everybody needs three months of health coaching, but I speak about this and then I use this in my practice. But it's basically rebooting your or changing your mindset around your wellness Cause. So I find with people and you probably see this too in your work so much of it starts in our mind 90,.
Speaker 1:
Oh my gosh, jess. We could talk about this for hours. Mindset is the number one start for everything. The body keeps the score, guys.
Speaker 2:
Yes, yeah, that book is amazing too.
Speaker 2:
Yes it is. So I work with people first and foremost on getting around the mindset part, then rebooting your body and retaining your results. So I take people through baby steps because I do not believe in eating the entire pie at once and then having them be worse than when I found them. But I teach people in this three part method like the basic building blocks of a healthy life and lifestyle and unfortunately we just are not taught these things growing up. You know, I mean I had one semester of health in ninth grade. I am a pretty six year old woman. That was a long time ago, it's true, I mean.
Speaker 1:
I'm a registered nurse and right now, my big goal for this year is to focus on health and well-being and shifting to a plant-based diet and everything. And I'm a registered nurse who runs a pediatric and internal medicine office. I'm looking for somebody such as yourself, like I'm like, even today driving work, I'm like I need nutritionist, like I mean honestly, like this is the thing and I'm a nurse. Yeah, it's so sad.
Speaker 2:
And you know it's so. The people that I tend to draw, they are not women that want to lose 50 pounds, they are women that are like I. Just I'm second to second hard, and I know that sounds so cliche, but that is what everyone says to me. But it's true. Like I feel growth, I feel yucky in my skin. Yeah, I want to fit into my clothes. I don't want six pack abs, I don't care about that, I just want to feel better and I want somebody to tell me what to do and how to start, because I'm confused.
Speaker 2:
There's so much information out there and it's overwhelming for me as a health coach. What's up School for it? Like, come on, it's overwhelming. So really, I love getting to work with women like that, because they're just open, they're like sponges and they're willing to do the work. And sometimes it's not huge tweaks, sometimes it's just it's little shifts. It's little shifts, yeah, little shifts. It's like, you know, a couple of supplemental changes, maybe. Maybe it's a couple of changes to the diet or when you're eating, how much you're eating. Like you know, maybe you need 15 more minutes to sleep will make a huge shift. So it's true, it's not. You know, you're not spending tens of thousands of dollars. You're really just getting back to the basics. But that's where that energy prescription really works very well, because one of the biggest things people see is the shift to the energy and that's why I call it the energy.
Speaker 1:
And it's I mean honestly. A lot of people want to have more energy. When push comes to shove, it's that they feel exhausted because they don't like you said, they're not sleeping enough, they're not eating right, they're not exercising. But if you were to sit there and say to them well, I do like give them the pie. They're not going to do it. It's too overwhelming.
Speaker 2:
And when you do baby steps and like when you see, oh okay, I can do this little thing and I could do it consistently, then it's like you feel butter about yourself, you feel better. I mean like all right, well, what's next? What else can I do?
Speaker 1:
I love that. You know it's.
Speaker 2:
I love what, I love what I do so.
Speaker 1:
I love this. Tell me about your TEDx talk, because when this goes live, we'll be linking your TEDx talk, so tell us all about the TEDx talk.
Speaker 2:
Okay. Well, there's only so much I can say, because I am Okay, tell us the secret information. Let me, let me tell you what I can tell you. Okay, tell us what you can tell us by the time that, like this goes live, you will be able to find it.
Speaker 1:
Yes, I'm going to link it. I'm going to link it for anyone listening. I'm going to link her TEDx talks and she's going to give us a little teaser about it.
Speaker 2:
So we have a theme for our group and it's the currency of and mine is the currency of intentional living, and it's all around waking up Nice and I had three deaths in my family, all back to back, I'm sorry, all tragic, and you would have thought me almost dying, would have woken me up out of my slumber, out of the go go go, but it was kind of just like the oh, the crust of my eyes, like oh but it was when I faced my sister in love dying three weeks after two cousins were killed in the service by building collapse in Miami, and I was giving the eulogy.
Speaker 2:
Not only did I give the eulogy, I sang part of the eulogy and that was it. It was my wake up and I realized in that moment I was like holy cow, you have so many more lives, in fact, and you do not know when your time is up. Man, you, you, please. We all think we have, we have, like all. Millions of years and we don't are not guaranteed the next five minutes. Let's be real.
Speaker 1:
I'm. I think that's amazing. Yeah, so that is all on.
Speaker 2:
To be careful what I say no, it's okay, Stop, it's okay. I want to say this to you. I want to say this to you so One.
Speaker 1:
I'm sorry they went through these tragic events, but going through tragic events is really rocket fuel for ascension, so it really changes your perspective. I myself went through a tragic loss with my brother committed suicide and I 100% it's like next level. It makes you realize like your life is short and we are all here with a mission and a purpose and we need to get to it.
Speaker 2:
You know I'm so excited about your TEDx. Thank you, I am so excited about it.
Speaker 1:
It's gonna be amazing waking up. What a beautiful topic for this year. Honestly, goodness, let me ask you this how do you guide individuals and integrating their faith into every aspect of life, including health, family and career? And maybe you don't, because they don't have to be faith-based?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so for the ones that are, I will tell you, scripture talks about doing Everything you do as unto the Lord. Hmm, so when I'm working, when I'm folding clothes, when I'm cooking food, you know whether I'm, you know, keynoting it something. I'm not doing it for somebody else, I'm doing it for God, and I'm right. So my focus is always on how can I use my gifts to glorify God and serve others, because it's not about me, it's not about me at all, I'm just a conduit for something else. Yeah, so For the women that I work with that are faith-based when I am helping them to just take a bird's-eye view at all these different areas of their lives.
Speaker 1:
Mm-hmm I.
Speaker 2:
Get the nudges and I just know like what I'm supposed to sound so weird, but your audience is.
Speaker 1:
No, you're just, you're a vessel, you're you're about self or something.
Speaker 2:
So sometimes I just know, like what questions to ask. I know, I know, you know something going on here. You know, and, and, just really being able to point them back to the promises of scripture, and, yeah, abundant living, and, and, and. Then for the people that aren't Christian per se but they are, you know, they are spiritual. So, like I have a good way of being, I could speak to anybody to be and, but the language is different, but the intention is the same and it's like alright, you're here for a reason, right?
Speaker 1:
When we talk like as a Spiritual and I'm, I'm working with the angels or whatever, it's always God, angels, universe. Like God first and foremost, like that's. That's what I believe. I believe in God, I pray to God every single day, you know, and I just like to bring in a bigger scope of people.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I love that. I think that's awesome.
Speaker 1:
He's awesome that so, before I ask you the last question, if anyone is interested in working with you and your 101 programs I know that you do on corporate Work as well, which I think is amazing what is the best place for them to go to?
Speaker 2:
You can go to my website. It's equity balance, health calm and it's eq ui balance, health calm and I will make sure to link that as well. Yeah, you can find all my stuff on there. I'm super active on Instagram. Oh, what's your Instagram handle? That's Carolina R Morelle. Yeah, that's where you can find me, and I've got in my link tree in Instagram everything and you can get everything off there.
Speaker 2:
Everything's on there. I've got a whole bunch of free cheat sheets that you can download to get you going on this journey. There's something for everybody. I don't just do one-on-one a group coaching I have. I have my mom programs. I have ebooks like I've made myself accessible to Everybody's budget.
Speaker 1:
This is actually gonna lead to our last question. So for our listeners who are seeking to improve their health and spirituality, what is one piece of advice would offer to help them to begin their journey towards our purpose-driven wellness?
Speaker 2:
Get quiet every day. I feel like we are bombarded with noise and destruction all the time and you cannot hear your own heart speak if you do not take Time to be quiet every day and just sit, even if it's five minutes, just be quiet. Start there and you know that you're like I'm telling you, like your own heart is gonna be like hey, I need to sleep more. Yeah, okay, I need you, like you need to forgive, so-and-so or whatever the next thing that you're needing, and it'll come with a quiet.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I want to say thank you so much for coming on the spiritual spotlight series. I am super excited for everything that's upcoming for you. Thank you, I'm honored to be here I.
