From Wall Street Biomedical Engineering to Thyroid Yoga Healer in Costa Rica: Unveiling the Path to Healing Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism with Nutrition, Hormone Balancing, and the Power of Nature

This episode explores Fern Olivia's transformative journey from a high-pressure career on Wall Street to becoming a thyroid yoga healer in Costa Rica, focusing on natural healing methods for Hashimoto's hypothyroidism.

1. Holistic Healing: Emphasis on treating the root causes of health issues, not just symptoms.
2. Impact of Environment: The significant role of one's environment in overall health and recovery from autoimmune diseases.
3. Nutritional Healing: Importance of diet in managing and healing from Hashimoto's hypothyroidism, including avoiding gluten, dairy, and processed foods.
4. Thyroid Yoga: The development and benefits of thyroid-specific yoga practices that aid in hormone balancing and overall well-being.
5. Power of Community: The supportive role of a community in healing and maintaining health, as seen in Fern's integration into Costa Rican life.

1: Introduction to Fern Olivia

Fern Olivia shares her background and the drastic changes from urban living to embracing a nature-centric lifestyle in Costa Rica. Jenny Jones: "Welcome Fern, tell us about your journey from Wall Street to thyroid yoga healer."

2: Diagnosis and Early Challenges

Discussion on early health challenges and misdiagnoses that led Fern to seek alternative healing methods. Fern Olivia: "I was initially misdiagnosed, which set me on a path of self-discovery and holistic healing."

3: Thyroid Yoga and Lifestyle Changes

Fern explains how thyroid yoga originated and its benefits for thyroid health. Fern Olivia: "Thyroid yoga helped me synchronize my body's needs with my lifestyle, dramatically improving my health."

4: Life in Costa Rica

Insights into how living in Costa Rica has facilitated Fern's healing process and how she integrates local practices into her retreats. Fern Olivia: "Costa Rica's environment drastically improved both my mental and physical health."

5: Community Impact

The episode wraps up with discussions on the impact of community in healing and maintaining health improvements. Fern Olivia: "The community here is integral to my continued health and happiness."

• Mindful Relocation: Consider environments that support your health goals.
• Diet Overhaul: Emphasize whole, unprocessed foods and avoid known irritants like gluten and dairy.
• Engage in Yoga: Explore yoga practices that specifically target your health needs.
• Community Engagement: Find or build a community that supports and enhances your health journey.
• Continuous Learning: Stay informed about new health insights and integrate them into your life.

Show Notes
1. Introduction to Fern Olivia: Explore Fern Olivia's transition from a high-stress career in finance to finding her calling in thyroid health and wellness in Costa Rica.

2. The Impact of Environment on Health: Fern discusses her personal healing journey, emphasizing how her move from urban chaos to a natural paradise contributed significantly to her physical and mental health.

3. Thyroid Yoga and Holistic Healing: Discover the development of Thyroid Yoga—a blend of yoga practices tailored to improve thyroid function and overall hormonal balance, enriched with holistic methods like meditation and breath work.

4. Epigenetics and Personal Health: Fern explains epigenetics, shedding light on how our lifestyle choices can influence our genetic expression and potentially lead to healthier lives.

5. Dietary Changes and Autoimmune Health: Learn about Fern's dietary strategies in managing her Hashimoto's hypothyroidism, particularly her elimination of gluten and dairy, and the profound impact these changes had on her health.

6. Detoxification and Mental Health: Fern discusses the critical role of detoxification in mental health, specifically focusing on heavy metal detox and its potential to alleviate symptoms of mental health disorders.

7. Healing Retreats in Costa Rica: Gain insight into the unique healing retreats Fern hosts in Costa Rica, utilizing the abundant local produce and natural resources to promote health and wellness among participants.

8. Closing Thoughts on Health and Empowerment: The episode wraps up with a discussion on the importance of a holistic approach to health that includes diet, environment, and emotional well-being, encouraging listeners to take active steps towards their own health transformation.

People

Fern Olivia, Jenny Jones

Guest Name(s):

Fern Olivia

Content Warnings:

None

Jenny Jones
Welcome to another episode of the Biohacker Bondi podcast where we get into all things health, wellness, longevity and of course, biohacking. I'm your host, Jenny Jones, aka Biohacker Blondie, and today I am thrilled to have Fern Olivia join us for a transformative conversation. Fern, a renowned thyroid health expert and wellness advocate, shares her inspiring journey from high intensity world of Wall street to the lush landscapes of Costa Rica. In this episode, she delves into her personal health challenges and recovery, exploring the profound impact of natural healing practices, diet changes and the power of environment and overall well being. Tune in as Fern Olivia discusses the importance of understanding and treating the root causes of health issues rather than just addressing dressing symptoms.

She'll talk about her unique approach to thyroid health, her experiences with heavy metal detox, and how she uses her background in biomedical engineering to empower others in their health journeys. Whether you're curious about the benefits of a detox cleanse, interested in thyroid yoga, or just looking to hear an incredible story of health transformation, this episode is packed with insights that could change the way you think about your health and lifestyle choices. Join me for a deep dive into the holistic health and learn how you can start your journey towards healing and vitality. Well, welcome to another episode of the Biohacker Blondie podcast and we are here with the amazing Fern Olivia. And do you go by Fern Olivia or just Fern?

Fern Olivia
I do. I go by Fearne Olivia. That's my full, my real name. My middle name is Olivia. So yes.

Jenny Jones
Okay, so. And you have this whole workshop, retreats, everything, all based off of yoga to help our thyroid and hormones. So this is so interesting. And you have a whole journey coming from New York and now you live in Costa Rica and you're doing this podcast from Costa Rica and you have all these amazing retreats there. So tell us about your whole journey, your, how you got into this space, how you transition from Wall Street, New York to living a Costa Rica life and healing your thyroid and all your hormones.

And we want to hear it all. So give a little intro about your journey in life. I will share all of it. I'm so happy to be here, Jenny. It's really an honor.

Fern Olivia
And I mean, how. I found your podcast through the LA group where I used to live in LA, in Venice. So I moved to Costa Rica almost seven years ago and I had been living in LA for a couple years and before that New York City where I worked on Wall street. And I burned out completely. My adrenals were at burnout.

They called it stage three burnout. At the time, I was trying everything. Infrared, saunas, colonics, different types of diets, and nothing was really working because I. In New York? Yep.

Jenny Jones
Yeah. I just, you know, I didn't realize that what really needed to happen was I needed to fully reset. I fainted in the subway in New York City. It basically was like my soul saying, this is not right. You are not in alignment with what you're meant to do.

Fern Olivia
I posted on Instagram yesterday this photo of me in my, like, my corporate headshot. I'll totally share it with you. It's a hilarious photo, and I don't look like the same person at all. And basically, I was. I needed to go to Costa Rica, and I didn't know that until after living in LA for two, almost two and a half years.

I came to Costa Rica and just ditched my medication. I said, you know what? I'm going to heal. Yeah. I'm going to heal with, you know, sunshine and beautiful fresh foods from the land.

And after, you know, I studied biomedical engineering. I've been studying, studying biohacking and all these different techniques. And the truest essence of what we need is grounding and being on the earth and that medicine of really, really stripping away all of those excess toxins and pollutants that were plaguing my body. I needed to just have. My body just needed to settle in and have a break.

I had started thyroid yoga back. We can talk all about it. But I started that back in 2013 when I was still living in New York City. So it really evolved in the time that I lived in New York and then lived in LA and then Costa Rica, I began studying all these new techniques, and that's evolved into what it is today, which I'm so excited to share. So when did you move to Costa Rica?

In 2017. I came in August, and it was not my intention to move here. It was a house swap. I was living in Venice, near Erewhon, and I was going to erewhon every day, so I had no desire to move, to be honest. I was obsessed.

Jenny Jones
I know, great life. You know, I was doing all the LA things. I had a great tribe. I was living the La dream. I had a little mini Cooper convertible, and I would drive down the PCH to Soho house with my surfboard in the back of the car.

Fern Olivia
And I was really happy in LA. And my health was. I wouldn't say that my thyroid and my hormone balance was where it is now. It definitely had room for improvement, but I was feeling pretty good, and I came to Costa Rica, fell in love with it, met an amazing community of really healthy, really inspired people, and I was like, wow. I could do what I did in LA here, and I.

My soul was like, big, full body fuck, yes.

Jenny Jones
I was just listening to a podcast. It's like we all have that voice in our head, but to actually take action and do it, because I think in the back of our head, we always know, like, we feel what's right, but the hard part is actually taking action, right? So you took the action and. And went through with it. Come on.

Fern Olivia
I mean, there was. There was no turning back, you know, walking barefoot. I would see people walk. Before I moved to Costa Rica, I'd see people walk barefoot in Erewhon in LA. And I was like, wow, they're so brave, you know?

I was like, wow, okay. Because I'm from upstate new, so I come from that, like, more like, earthy roots background, but, you know, living in New York City for so long, and then LA, and then I would get. I got back from Costa Rica after my first month here, and I was in my house in Venice, and I started walking barefoot when I got out of the house and walking, you know, down the street barefoot. I gotta get back to the jungle. Like, this is.

It's not the same. The sidewalk, barefoot, not the same as the jungle. Yeah, yeah, I know. It's. It's a hard.

Jenny Jones
You know, it's like, I love the city, but I also know part of it is not healthy. Right. Like, the more I feel like we're in a jungle in nature, the healthier you can be. So I think it is always a give and take, and that's why I think so many people in LA and New York have to do so much more for their health, because we're just surrounded by more toxins, ems, like all these things that are in more in cities. And when you live in a very nature environment, it's just easier to be healthy.

So why did you focus on thyroid? Yeah. So I have an autoimmune condition called hashimoto's hypothyroidism, which, as you know, is a disease or imbalance, not ease in the body, that affects the thyroid. And so I focused on thyroid yoga on the thyroid, but essentially it targets the microbiome, it targets the liver, the adrenals, because everything is related. And it's the thyroid, which is the check engine light saying something in the body is not in alignment or imbalance.

Fern Olivia
So I focused thyroid yoga on the thyroid. Yeah. So when did you. I guess, for listeners, how did you find out you had hashimoto's? Did you take the test?

Jenny Jones
And then you said, okay, this all makes sense now. Now I need to. Which. Where did you get your test? How did you find out?

And was this in Costa Rica or before? Way before. So, good question. So, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was 16 years old in New York when I was a teenager, because I was sweating so much. Like, literally, my shirt.

Fern Olivia
I had to wear black all the time, and I didn't want to, but I was wearing black all the time because my. My shirts were just sweating through. And this was in high school, so it's super, super embarrassing. And so my mom has a thyroid condition. My grandma has a thyroid condition.

So basically it was like, oh, well, thyroid conditions are passed down, so let's get you on medication, like, right away. It was like, let's get a test. Let's get you on medication. I even had shots, like steroid shots under my armpits. But to stop the sweat.

Yeah, but the sad thing. And I was constipated constantly, even as a little girl. Like, just constipated. These are the symptoms, like sweating, constipation, other symptoms. Brain fog, like feeling like I couldn't concentrate, headaches, trouble digesting, bloated gassy.

The really interesting, not really funny thing is, but how interesting that instead of figuring out what it was, it's just like, here, let's take some. Let's give this 16 year old girl some steroids. You know, the other thing was that my cholesterol was so high, and I didn't find this out until I was in New York City working on Wall street, and I was getting sick all the time. No matter what I was eating, I was just like, it wasn't good. I was, you know, my food was coming up.

And this. And this was based off of your thyroid. This is also other symptoms. Yeah. So, the thyroid is the master control balance gland in the body.

So if something's dysregulated, if something's not working correctly, the thyroid will be this, like, flaring, inflamed gland, saying, okay, there's something in the body that's not working properly, as it should. So, for example, if the body's not metabolizing certain nutrients, or if you're eating, for example, gluten, dairy, other inflammatory foods, the microbiome, the digestive system gets inflamed, and then the thyroids blaring. Right. Because the thyroid is the. Hey, hey, hey, wait.

Something's not something's not working correctly in the body. So here I was working on Wall street, eating all these foods. My body at least got to a point where it was so inflamed. It was so inflamed. Also, I was taking birth control, which also, when you're having different hormone hormonal imbalances, and then you're putting birth control in the mix, and then they were trying to figure out my thyroid medications.

Jenny Jones
You know, that goes down. I know. It's just like, what's interacting with the other. And the doctors. Yeah.

Fern Olivia
And the doctors weren't. It's like one, you get go to one doctor for one thing and another doctor for another thing. And so I went for my cholesterol because I was just like, what's going on? They wanted to put me on a statin, like a blood thinner at 22. I was 22 at the time, and that's the western medical world.

Jenny Jones
Did they ever ask you, like, what are you eating? What is. Are you sleeping? No. These are the crazy things, right?

Like, I hope people are bringing awareness to this, that hopefully doctors and. And I, you know, I definitely appreciate all they do and all the hard studying they do and knowing the body and surgery and everything, but it's like, these basic things. Why are we not taking care of those first before we're just giving out medication? I think the whole, like, system really needs to change that and say, hey, let's look at your food, let's look at your sleep, let's look at your habits, and then maybe we'll put you on this medication that has side effects if needed, you know? But we just give it out.

Like, I feel like doctors just give it out like candy, as, like, yeah, and it's so bad, especially at such a young age. It's like 22, and you're just gonna. They're gonna put you on three medications. It's like, what? So then I became really empowered.

Fern Olivia
So here's the thing, is that since I studied medicine in college, my undergraduate degree was in biomedical engineering. And then before that, in high school, I also did research on stem cells. I was in this, like, accelerated science program. So I would do symposiums, and I would study all this. You know, I was a researcher.

I would go into scientific journals. I had access. I could do all this research. So, yeah, I went into Wall street, but that was just a pivot, you know, and because I didn't want to, I was really into not herding animals, and I couldn't dissect things in college. It made me so queasy and so I failed.

I failed a class at one point. Because you couldn't dissect. I just got so. Yeah, I just got so queasy and so upset that I was like, okay, this is not for me. But I still graduated with honors in biomedical engineering because I was very committed.

And even though I did, I just wouldn't dissect things. And so, long story short of that was that I was a researcher, so I took matters into my own hands. And when they couldn't figure out what was wrong with me, you know, like, I was going in for tests and tests. I finally got diagnosed with Hashimoto's hypothyroid condition, and that was in my late twenties, you know, like, they didn't figure. That out for so long.

I mean, it's a simple antibody test. So you were asking about the test. So it's a tpo antibody test. And then they also did an antibody test for Epstein Barr virus, which is one of the precursors to having Hashimoto's, as well as many, many, many autoimmune diseases. And it's something that I.

Jenny Jones
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Like, it's more common with your thyroid, with Hashimoto's. You said that's partly, like, genetic with your. With your family. Like, you have more of a history. Of having hypothyroidism on the podcast.

Fern Olivia
I can talk about it a little bit here, is that basically we can change our genetic code and our genetic line by the choices we make and cleansing our body. So people say many times, hey, your mom had a thyroid conditioner, my grandma, you know, that kind of thing, it's passed down. Yes, true. However, if you clear your body from that inflammation, you don't necessarily need to have that hereditary line of whatever condition or dis ease was passed, being passed down in your lineage. So.

Jenny Jones
And I think too, with like genetics as well is like, yes, that's, you know, tells you a little bit about your health, but there's always things that you can do, like, to, you know, change that. Like, it's not like, oh, I have to, you know, have all these health issues because of it. Like, you look at it and you can say, okay, I'm not going to be able to absorb this nutrient as much or I'm more likely to have heart disease or whatever. And then you say, okay, I'm not going to eat these many fats or I need to eat more, you know, vitamin a and like these things that you can do. So I do like genetics because I think it can help, but it's not.

Something like that should hinder your health, you know? Exactly. So as a researcher, I started realizing that I was able to change my own disposition to whatever conditions my family had in their history. And from there I was able to eliminate gluten from my diet. Right away I started eliminating gluten.

Fern Olivia
I had already started eliminating dairy because I knew that that was affecting me and inflammation. So I stopped gluten and dairy and then I tried all these different diets. I was just researching everything. I went from Paleo, I was trying raw vegan, vegan, pescetarian, low carb, high fat, low fat, no fat, like just doing all the different things. And what I finally found that worked for me was obviously no gluten, no dairy.

And the reason is because gluten is super, super inflammatory for the thyroid because it's so highly processed. And the structure of gluten, the protein molecule gliadin, mimics the structure of the thyroid gland. And then with an autoimmune thyroid condition, your body thinks the gluten is actually an invader and will attack it, so it creates more inflammation. And then I started following the medical medium protocol, which is actually one of the biggest life changers that I found. And that's why I lead medical medium retreats and cleanses, is that diet is actually a lifestyle.

It's basically very, very low fat. And tons of organic whole foods like leafy greens, fruits and vegetables. It's very intuitive. It's what the body really loves and thrives on. And so that became a big game changer for me.

And then thyroid yoga was birthed out of my knowing and research of the human body because I studied it. So thyroid yoga is a sequence, many sequences of yoga poses and targeted sequences for different organs in the body and different meridians, different systems. So I'm able to see a client and understand what's happening in their body and give them specialized sequences for the adrenals, for the liver, for the thymus gland, for the lungs. And all of these organs. And all of these systems are affecting the thyroid.

So if the thyroid is out of balance, we have to figure out why, what's the root cause of it? And then I combine rewiring and all these other modalities that I've studied, like breath work, holotropic breath work, rebirthing breath work, meditation or meditation, of course, yoga, nidra, self regulating the nervous system, self expression, all these other energetic modalities as well, to understand what's going on in the mind, what's going on spiritually, because all of that is affecting the physical body, because any dis ease in the body is a manifestation of something that's happening or has happened energetically. So we need to heal from the source, not the symptom. It's all about the source. So my job as a researcher, as an engineer is going back and figuring out for every person and then empowering people as well.

I train many hundreds of facilitators, and my training is based on finding the medicine woman or medicine man within you that is smart enough, because we all are inner healers within ourselves. We're smart enough to figure out intuitively what caused this. Was there trauma? Was there, you know, it could be hereditary, but then what spiked it? Was there a midlife crisis?

Was there a heartbreak? Was there a job loss? Was there, you know, an accident, something that triggered the condition to spike in the body? So do you also work with clients based off of this trauma as well? So you have them kind of reprogram their thoughts?

Yeah, yeah. Is that part of your. Okay, okay, so you're trying. So you're combining the nutrients you're combining. Have you done.

Jenny Jones
I'm curious, too. Do you have any of your clients or patients test, like, test their thyroid initially and then test afterwards? Absolutely. Yes, of course. It's really.

Fern Olivia
And during your time with me? Yeah, it's really fun because I've seen clients go off medication. I mean, it's a goal of many clients are like, I just want to do what you did. And I was like, well, I just went off it without doctors telling me anything. I just did it.

And I don't, I tell people, you know, like, let's just be a little bit more conservative with that and then, you know, but I've had many, many, many results, you know, beyond the medication. It's like the feeling better, right? It's like the instant, oh, my goodness, I haven't felt this good since before I was diagnosed with this condition. And that's my, my goal is to have people feel amazing again and not dependent on a medication to balance their body. They are the balance.

They are balancing their body. The percentage of people on medication is absurd. Like, I forget what it is. Especially as you get older and then you're on three to like ten different medications. It's just insane.

Jenny Jones
And it's like, I feel like if you're not on medication, you're like, right, like, you're like one of, at the top percent who's like, this very small percentage who's not on medication, you know, and I, like, we're surrounded by toxins. It's hard to. So with your, also with your clients patients, are these people that are living maybe in New York, LA, or do they all come to Costa Rica? I wish they all would come to Costa Rica. If you're listening and you want to, it's, I think it's the best.

Fern Olivia
But the thing is, many of my clients live in the modern day world, somewhere in the states or in Europe. A lot of my clients are based in cities especially like the big hubs like New York, LA, where I've lived as well. And I have a lot of clients that have been my clients for many years. And then come to Costa Rica and then I have some clients that find me online through the medical medium, work that I do or like a Google search, and they're looking for some way to heal their thyroid or get through some sort of chronic disease. Because I don't only specialize in the thyroid, I specialize in helping the body to heal, heal naturally from many different inflammatory conditions.

Specializing in thyroid because that's what I've had. So I know, you know, I know it firsthand what it's like. So I just want to talk about something I am loving right now. You guys know I love peptides for all things regenerative healing, but level up health has one of the best oral peptides. I love all of their supplements.

Jenny Jones
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And you get 10% off any of their peptide supplements. So now let's get back into, into this amazing episode with Katie. And yeah, it's like your passion too. It's my passion because I feel that every woman and every man should not have to stop her. I don't think people are focusing.

And I know when they do typical blood work, it's very minimal hormone tests and they're not testing the t three, the t four, maybe the tsh. So they're not doing all the tests and then they're not testing for selenium or iodine or nutrients that are affecting your thyroid as well. So it's like these are blood tests that cost, I don't know, you know, maybe a few hundred dollars max or whatever. And they could be life changing. Instead of putting you on a medication saying like, oh, you have Hashimoto's or something, you know, and let's put you on a steroid that's like highly going to have a lot of side effects.

A lot of, you know, so much medication takes away other nutrients as well. So people have to be aware, like when you're on a medication, you have to maybe research and say, what is this nutrient taking away from me now? You know, and what other organ or system is being affected? Because that's the thing. For example, it's usually one medication will create some sort of effect.

Fern Olivia
Always. Yeah. Tired too. Like, people are like, I'm worth it. Yeah, I know.

Jenny Jones
And is there something else you can do? Absolutely. Absolutely. And a lot of it comes down to diet and nutrition and stress. Yeah.

Fern Olivia
What I always have my clients do is first track that within themselves. Like, are you so stressed out? Because even if you're doing the most amazing things with your diet and you're eating super clean and you're exercising and you're taking care of your body, but you're not taking care of your spirit and you're in this misaligned job or relationship toxic environment, those things are sometimes they're known as your primary food in functional nutrition, we call that the primary food. If your primary food is toxic, then even if your secondary food, like what you're actually putting into your body is healthy, it's going to still be acidic for your body. Stress is very acidic for the body and you want to create that really alkalized, radiant environment for you to thrive.

Jenny Jones
I know, and I think especially in New York and Los Angeles, it's go, go, go do as much as you can. A lot of entrepreneur, you know, like, and it can cause, I feel like this cortisol, this stress, and then it affects your sleep. And sleep is everything. I'm going deep down sleep right now. I'm like, I'm trying because lately I've just been doing so much and I realize that I'm not getting good sleep.

And it really impacts, it impacts your hormones, like, drastically. If you are not getting, you know, seven, eight, 9 hours of sleep, it completely. And different times and all these different factors affect everything. There's a whole like, big, huge rabbit hole down sleep. But it's very important, like those basics, you know, and if you're stressed all the time, you're probably not getting that deep sleep which is affecting your hormones and causing this downward cycle of health issues.

Yeah. So what I'm always telling my clients is like, put yourself, if you are listening to this and you're wondering like, oh, that sounds like me. Or, you know, it sounds like someone I know. The, what I, what I tell people is like, put your hand on your heart and remind yourself, this matters. I matter.

Fern Olivia
If I'm in my healthiest and I take care of this, everyone around me is going to feel it. I'll be more productive in my passion and my work. I'll be more creative. Creative. I will be the spark in my relationship.

I will, you know, be a better parent, all of that. It's so true and so important. So let that be your big motivation for getting the sleep. Even if you think that, oh, this. Is selfish or, yeah, or I don't have time.

Jenny Jones
Yeah, it's, you'll thrive more during the hours you're awake. So whether or not you can make it to come take a retreat with me. Costa Rica, you know, do that for yourself where you have that self motivation. And that's what I empower people to do, whether they're coaching with me, you know, on, you know, virtually or coming here. It's setting up rituals and I call it Sadhana in Kundalini yoga, which is one of the practices that I've studied for many years.

Fern Olivia
It's we talk about Sadhana of having this devotional practice. And devotional doesn't mean devotional to a guru or to, you know, this faith in anything in particular. What it means is having the devotion for yourself and for your soul and for your healing. And then that practice becomes an echo out into every area of your life. And that practice can take five minutes or 30, 40 an hour.

Jenny Jones
Yeah, I know. I think these, like, daily lifestyle habits can also have a huge impact on your health. So I just have a quick question for all the people that are wondering maybe what can they do to start working on their thyroid? What are your healing practices and do you think with the food? I know everyone's genetics are different, everyone's lifestyle is a little different.

So I think personalization for food, like, some people will crave more meat or go fully vegan, they feel better on a high carb, you know, low fat diet. Or some people thrive on like a very high fiber, you know, high carb. So I just feel there are different. Like, everyone's body is different. And do you recommend everyone do the same, like nutrition as you or just for a little bit for cleansing?

I know, like with the medical medium, he's big on like liver detox and also celery juice. I'm curious if you do celery juice every morning.

Fern Olivia
Yes. Okay. So I used to do celery juice every morning when I lived in LA and in Costa Rica. It's really challenging to get organics, celery. I get it for the retreats, for sure.

But, you know, for myself, every day, I do a little bit of. I have another. I'll tell you what I do every day. We'll get. We'll get into that.

I'd love to share. It's a little different what I did in the states, because I have access to, like, the most amazing fruit on the planet and. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. And so first question is, no, I do not expect everyone to eat the way I eat because not everyone has access to the same foods that I have access here and the same herbs and the same superfoods and the same lifestyle.

So first of all is I expect that everyone starts to listen to their own body and their own wisdom and not prescribe to a diet just because medical medium said it or just because I said it, but because you really feel it inside, though. What I do tell my clients is please stay off gluten, dairy, and process food foods and minimize alcohol. Minimize alcohol. Minimize refined sugars, but eat fruits, eat whole, delicious, beautiful foods. What I suggest is doing a medical medium, 28 day cleanse just to flush and reset your body.

And that cleanse is basically what I said before. You're not having gluten, dairy, processed foods. It's mostly, what about. What about. Because I know, like, the five hour allergic foods are corn, soy, wheat, dairy, and eggs and peanuts, I guess, but, yeah.

Jenny Jones
So do you stay away from all of those? I do. I stay away. Well, I'm vegan, so I stay away from eggs for sure. And also I stay away from peanuts.

Fern Olivia
And I do stay away from soy. That's another one. So the thing is, in other countries outside the US, I've learned that the soy is not so processed, and it's not gmo, and it's fermented. So some people actually don't react in a. In a negative way to soy.

I would stay away from it in the states because it's gmo and so is corn. And it's kind of just. I don't even know what it actually is at that point. Corn, fruits in the body in not a good way. So many people with gluten intolerance as well, reaction.

But I try to make it as simple as possible and not try to say, okay, don't eat this, don't eat this, don't eat this. Because then they're like, what can I eat? It's like, eat this. Eat the beautiful fruits and vegetables and eat. If you do feel fine having grains like quinoa or millet, those should be more, you know, easily digestible to the body.

But also listen to your body. Perhaps you want to be grain free as well. And eat a lot of really nice, starchy vegetables that might be better for your body and your digestion. There's a lot that I can talk about for nutrition, but what I recommend is getting the book cleanse to heal by Anthony Williams, the medical medium. And then the 28 day cleanse is something that I support people on that journey as well.

So if that's something that's calling to, to anyone that's listening, definitely reach out to me, because cleansing can be a whole. It's not just a physical process. It's definitely very emotional and very spiritual. So I call it, like, this, this really amazing vision quest that you get to have for yourself and your physical body and your spiritual and emotional body. And he has a heavy metal detox, right?

Yeah. Yeah. So that's a lot of stuff. Cilantro and spirulina. I love doing those heavy metal detoxes because I learned I did that many times when I was detoxing from heavy metal fillings that I have the mercury fillings in the states, I was exposed to so many pollutants and, you know, things like lead and, you know, not so much in Costa Rica.

Jenny Jones
So, you know, I just. Yeah, someone just. Or it was on, thank God, the best one yet, or something. So this whole lunchables are now, like, part of the school system, the lunchables, but. And they're trying to get it off because it's very processed.

Of course, other lunches in other countries, and they're actually finding it's like a high level of lead in the lunchables as well. And I'm like, of course, like, you. Know, and then the kids are, why. Are we giving this as their lunch? It's, like, insane that we're even thinking this is food.

Fern Olivia
It's so sad because then the kids are getting diagnosed with ADD and ADHD, and no one's talking about, well, people. Are starting to be metals. It's actually the food, right? It's actually the refined sugars and because the heavy. So here's one thing I really want to touch upon, because, you know, may is mental health awareness month, and many people have been diagnosed with conditions, and they're taking medications, and they're not being told by their doctors, hey, you know, it could be heavy metal toxicity.

And if we detoxify you from this, you will never have to go on the medication, and you'll feel great. So many people actually come to me for medical medium cleanses in Costa Rica because they want to heal, or they want to help a family member heal from a mental health healing condition. And they know that if they do a heavy metal detox, that there's a high likelihood that they can heal and not have to be reliant on medication. So that's. I know.

Jenny Jones
And people like, our whole brain, you know, we have these neurotransmitters. Of course the heavy metals are going to affect that. Or even if you're nutrient deficient, you do not get that chemical reaction from x to Y when you need that nutrient to provide, you know, that chemical reaction. So, like these mental disorders or whatever that people are getting diagnosed with and then put on the medication. There's so many things I think people should do beforehand to see if they can work on it before being.

Because I've seen with Medicaid, this medication is very addicting. It makes you not have emotions. It's like, you know, it's not really living. And so it's a very you know, huge risk to do, like, to take this medication. And I think people are not, I don't think doctors are kind of saying, look at all these side effects and what might, you know, and the.

Are you going to be on this for the rest of your life? You know, these questions and these, they should be telling patients before just giving out, you know, but so there's so many things to do with, you know, cleansing first, looking at your nutrients, looking at deficiencies. I think we have like, toxins that we need to detox and then we have deficiencies. I think those are two huge factors that people should always look at first before deciding to be on a medication, you know? Absolutely.

So. And so you have people come to Costa Rica and do like a whole cleanse? Yeah, yeah. Do they come stay with you? No, no, no.

Fern Olivia
We have villas. Okay. I used to host. I used to host plants in my home when I was in Nosara. So we host retreats in Nosara, Costa Rica, and also Puerto viejo, Costa Rica.

So what I love about. What about Costa Rica is that we have the most beautiful fruits that have such amazing nutrients, like dragon fruit. We have the most amazing papaya that don't taste like feet. Oh, my God, they taste like feet. Because they've been flown all over and they're, they're not ripe.

Jenny Jones
I know, forever, but we know gorgeous. Mangoes and jackfruit and, you know, all these fruits. I could name that, probably the names of them. They're like, what's that? But, um, it's.

Fern Olivia
It's amazing. I know. Truly, papaya in maui is like a whole other level. Or mangoes or gas. I know.

It's like a whole. It tastes so different. It's. I think that's maybe why people like, you can taste like carrots from different farms or they have different flavors, you know, and some fruits and vegetables you get at the grocery store don't have flavor. And so that's why I think some people might not really like fruits and vegetables because like, they're not real fruits vegetables.

Exactly. That's so true. I mean, I remember my family not really eating greens and salad and like, you know, they don't really have a taste. Sometimes from the bag they're just like, you know, crunchy. But here with things, they're so flavorful.

So we can make the most delicious meals. And when you're eating raw, you're tasting everything and then there's a high chance that you're going to fall in love with these recipes. Many of our clients cannot believe that we, what we use in things, you know, we make dressings sometimes completely fat free, but it's completely creamy. And they're like, how did you do that? And I'm like, that was a fruit, you know?

Jenny Jones
Oh, my God, it's amazing. So, yeah, what we're able to do for these retreats is completely life changing and, you know, combined with brain, brain rewiring. So doing these retreats where we're having this really healthy food, meditation and breath work, brain rewiring practices, thyroid yoga, sound therapy, and sound healing frequencies, there's just so much that we're sharing that is, is amazing. So people have been taking 1410 days, 14 day days, 14 day cleanses, 21 days. I love it so much.

Fern Olivia
People have been reaching out to about, like, multiple months. They're like, can we do two months, three months? And a lot of people with chronic conditions have said, hey, I just want to relocate. Can you help me with cleanse? And then what if I want to move here?

And I'm like, yeah, like, let's do it. You know, this is. If you have that motivation to heal yourself. I'm. I've done it.

You know, I mean, I still. It's still commitment and the devotion that I continue to have to do, I get to do for my body, because if all of a sudden I just start eating, you know, processed food, I won't feel so good. So it's a commitment, and it's something that I love to walk people through that. That life path. It's really.

Jenny Jones
Is there. I've never been to Costa Rica. Do they have processed food in Costa Rica? Is that a thing? Of course, yeah.

Okay. When you ever see anyone go to Costa Rica, it's always this beautiful food you don't ever see. But, like, I know, with, like, Hawaii, though, too, and of course, you know, other places, but, like, I'm always shocked at locals eating so much processed fast food. And I'm like, you have all this beautiful fish and papaya, bananas and watermelon. I'm like, oh, my gosh, why?

And I. But actually, a lot of the locals eat fried, processed food. It's kind of shocking to me. Well, the interesting thing about that is that, okay, so Costa Rica has two polarities. It is one of the blue zones in the world, meaning the largest percentage and concentration of people living over 100.

Fern Olivia
So why is that? Is that the real, the real old, the people that are staying into, you know, their old age is that they are eating farm food from the farm, right? Like, if they're eating chicken and they're eating cows. They're eating it fresh from the land and it's not processed and there's no pesticides. However, the western world has influenced Costa Rica a lot, and that includes pesticides.

And big, big banana farms like Dole and Chiquita have come in and taken over the little crops and the little farms. And so there are now a lot more things grown conventionally, unfortunately. And a lot of those big processed food companies have come in. So if you go to the big cities, you will see KFC and you will see McDonald's and you will see, I know, not good, not bad. It's so sad.

Jenny Jones
And then, you know, these chemicals seep into the soil, seep into the water, and that's why it's so hard to stay away from. And they're forever chemicals. Like, there's some that were, that they got rid of because they were so dangerous. They allowed them, you know, maybe 50 years ago, forgot what it was, but now they're still finding them in people's body. It's just like they're still there.

So these, you know, it's. I, it's hard to say with like, these blue zones and this, when you live, like, in a very, you know, different type of environment, it's hard to say, like, you know, is it the food you're eating or is it the water and the. In the soil and not, you know, there's so many different factors that affect so many factors. I'm happy that where I live, it's. There's not that, you know, we don't have factories.

Fern Olivia
We don't have fast food restaurants. The fast food would be like, you know, people like the typical, they call them sodas in Costa Rica. And it's the, you know, like they would fry their plantains or they'd fry the, you know, their yuca or something like that. But it's not like a process, you. Know, chicken nugget or something.

Jenny Jones
Yeah, like 30 ingredients. So it's, it might be fried, but it's a little bit less of a, you know, a toxic chemically made product, you know, so what I've noticed here is that the older people have been, you know, they've been growing up with the land and they're very, you know, they're more aware. What I find sad sometimes are the children that are having their, like, their, their galletas, their cookies from, you know, that's like the package, but, but it's all around education. And what's really, what's really wonderful is there are a lot of people here from the western world, from the states or from Europe or, you know, all around the world buying land, including myself. Buying land and having projects where we're growing our own food.

Fern Olivia
We're getting back to nature. We're really committed to reforesting and planting trees and having a food supply that is our own and that can be shared. And having, like, a lot of people here trade. They trade. They trade food.

They trade. I have a bunch of banana trees and you have a bunch of jackfruit trees and you have some papaya trees. You have coconut trees. We even have cacao on our land. Cacao trees.

Chocolate. Raw chocolate. Oh, my God. Yeah. So we can all.

That's the thing about living here and living in Costa Rica, we can really grow so much. The soil is super fertile. And people from the western world that are coming here, like, wow, how can we make an impact here in this country? We can actually make a better global footprint coming here and growing our own food and being in community and so. And learning the ancient wisdom from the people who have lived for so long here and have the knowledge of the herbs.

You know, knowing the people that work on our land. Tell us about the herbs that are actually growing here naturally. I mean, we came to our land and we had no idea. We basically have so many medicinal herbs on our land that we can. What are your favorite herbs?

So my favorite herbs here that grow locally, Moringa, which is a powerful source of vitamin C. It also is very hormone balancing, very anti inflammatory. There's another herb I have on the land called Gavilana. Gavilana is great for detoxing the liver. It's great.

You can use it in enemas as well. And I have. I've done enemas with my own herbs for, from the land, which is great. Oh, my God. Very cleansing for the colon.

Yeah, it's very awesome to do that for herbs from the land. What else? There's herbs called Santa Maria, which is not cannabis, Santa Maria. But it is another herb for your. Just for your immune health, for your nervous system.

There's a flower here that's really beautiful called butterfly pea flower. It's a blue flower, and it's known as blue pictoria. It's very good for the feminine hormone balance as well. And for the moon cycle, for the, you know, your bleed. And that's a really beautiful flower that you can eat.

And you can also drink, make tea into it or grind it up and use it in smoothies, things like that. Wow. Whole different whole different life in the jungle. We have so many. Wanna miss another one?

Jenny Jones
Missed like a lemon balm. Big city life at all. Oh, what was that? Oh, I was saying lemon. Cut out for a second.

Oh, yeah. Hopefully that came through. I do not miss city life. Can you hear me now?

Fern Olivia
I think it delayed for a moment here. Tell me if you can. If you can hear me again. Yeah, cut out for a second so you don't miss it at all.

Jenny Jones
What? Can you hear me?

Oh, no. Oh, yeah.

Trying to reconnect. Can you hear me?

Fern Olivia
Oh, there we go. Okay. We good? Okay. Yeah, yeah.

Okay. Costa Rica. Costa Rica. Wifi. It should be super strong.

Jenny Jones
Oh, no.

Fern Olivia
We'Re still here. We're good. Okay. Yeah. Okay.

Amazing. Hopefully that. I don't know what happened. Yeah, hopefully it can just. You can just piece those parts together there.

Wi Fi should be super strong, but the jungle, you never know. So if you're asking if I miss the big city, not really. To be honest, I am super happy about this place. It's a little slow sometimes here. Sometimes it takes a while to get things done.

Building a house, you know, you definitely take a lot more time here than you would in. In the states somewhere. But then you. You also get the perks of slow living. You know, you get the perks of living in nature.

And the slow life is. Is. Can appreciate more simplicity. To be honest, I do sometimes miss culture of the city or. But we have such a thriving community here that there's constantly things happening, like a static dance and gatherings and people doing really awesome things because they're from all over the world.

So that's also something that I really appreciate about living here. Yeah, I love that so much. Yeah, it's. It's a whole different lifestyle. It's.

Jenny Jones
It's. I'm like, I love city life. Go, go, go. But I also know, like, is this really healthy?

Because you don't slow down and you don't think about, you know, things to appreciate and connection, and it's just kind of like you're always just, like, on the treadmill, you know? So, I guess. Yeah, we all need that Costa Rica life once in a while. Always. So you're having a retreat, though, in upstate New York.

And this is coming in June or. July, I think July 10 through 14th, it will be in upstate New York. So anyone who wants to come to Costa Rica, but that timing isn't ready. Like, timing's not right to come to Costa Rica. You can come to upstate New York, and that's my hometown, so I'm really, really happy about that.

Fern Olivia
And farm fresh foods where we're gonna be eating organic and organic fruits and vegetables from the local farms that are in season, in the summertime, which is really fun. There's some beautiful farms up there. I'm so excited because my partner and I make the medical medium cleansing foods and they're super nourishing. And so we put all our love in the kitchen and we have thyroid yoga, we do breath work. We're going to be doing some singing around the campfire, activating the throat chakra in that way, spiritually and energetically as well.

Doing some vocal cleansing. Vocal, yeah, vocal expression work, because a big part of thyroid conditions is the energetic need to speak and sing and really open this area here. So we're doing the thyroid yoga movement practices and breath work and brain rewiring and having all of that in, in a long weekend. It'll be a, what is it, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, leaving Sunday? Yeah.

Really special. Wow, amazing. Yeah. I know a lot of people in New York, so you gotta mention that to them. I'm sure they would love that.

Absolutely. Yes. So you have anything else coming up if they want to, you know, work with you, just go onto your website, you do a one on one consultations or how does this work to contact you and work with you? Thank you for asking. Yes.

So there's a couple of ways to work with me. One of them is for sure, one on one consultations. I do work one on one with clients who are committed to healing their bodies. It's generally not just a one time consultation because what I do is I work with you to consistently feel better and then empower you to be your own healer within, but empowering you with tools, really understanding the root cause of symptoms and the root cause of conditions and then moving into a devoted practice and rituals to consistently feel better. So I do work one on one.

And that's also available on thyroid yoga. That's my website, so you can contact me there, find the retreats there as well. So working together virtually and then in person in Costa Rica and then the retreats, for example, the upstate New York retreat. And then I do have some other programs that I've listed on my website online. One of them is called the expressed woman.

And that's an amazing opportunity for women who want to get a taste of my work. It's all these audio transmissions on expressing throat chakra and expressing yourself and getting in your radiance. And that one's not specifically around cleansing or having a thyroid condition. That one's completely open to anyone who just wants to live life with more radiance and more passion and more sensuality. You get a taste for working with me with breath work and vocal activation and some movement practices that really activate this radiant body energy.

Jenny Jones
Oh, I love that so much. Yeah, I just love this. And there's also classes on my website where I have recorded thyroid yoga classes, so you can get a taste of those sequences. I have a bundle of eight, my favorite eight sequences, and I've created those videos. So there's those movement sequences.

Fern Olivia
It's based in Kundalini yoga and some also some other types of yoga I've studied and breath work. And then I also have in that bundle, there's some guided brain rewiring meditations, both just, you know, you lay there and listen and receive. And then there's also some breath work where you're going through this, this journey to clear subconscious patterns. It's really cool. So.

Jenny Jones
And then if you're ever in LA, you're gonna have to do a yoga, thyroid yoga class. So you have to message me and we could. Yeah, that would be so amazing. I will be in LA to La for a. Okay.

Fern Olivia
I don't know when, though. It's gonna. We keep. My partner and I keep saying it's gonna happen at some point soon. The last time we were there was over a year ago.

So definitely be in touch. Oh, my God. Love recommendations on your favorite studios and places where I would do these classes and or training. Maybe I'd offer thyroid yoga training again. Or brush.

Jenny Jones
Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, my gosh, I love that. Yes.

So, since this is the Biohacker Blondie podcast, I always ask my guests three of your favorite biohacks you want to tell listeners that you love or different hacks that you implement daily. Whatever you want. Okay. Bio hacks. Okay, so let's see.

Fern Olivia
One of them is the heavy metal detox smoothie. Putting cilantro. Putting cilantro in your smoothies for me is really nice because I love savory. I love that. If you like cilantro.

Some people don't like cilantro, but I love cilantro. Yeah. And there's a smoothie that's really detoxifying. It's blueberries, organic blueberries and cilantro. I add spirulina banana, we add cinnamon.

And we also add. Sometimes we add some other herbs like ashwagandha or, which is for hormone balance. We sometimes add some other powders like moringa and what else we put in some kind of rose powder because we love that. It's so good. So it's a great one.

It's a daily detoxifier for heavy metals. Yep. So that's, that's one. Another one is the lymphatic drainage through shaking the body. So if you don't have a trampoline.

Yes, if you don't have a trampoline or rebounder. What I love to do is just, I dance and I shake on the beach. I'm also a DJ. I didn't mention this, so I'm also a DJ. Fun things.

Jenny Jones
I can see that. These are my DJ headphones, actually, but they function well for podcasts as well. Perfect. Yeah. So when I come to multifunctional.

Fern Olivia
Yeah. When I come to LA, I'll have to dj and thyroid yoga, so. Oh, my gosh. Amazing. So dancing and shaking the body is such an amazing way to release stored energy in the body and fat cells, and because fat cells hold the toxins, so when you shake, you're releasing density in the body, whether it's physical or emotional, energetic.

So that's my other biohack is I shake. I move every day. I just have to, like, get the energy out. I'm a generator in human design, so I need movement, I need to get tired. So that's another one.

And then my other hack is breath work. I am obsessed. That's why I teach breath work. That's why I'm a breath work facilitator and trainer. Train people in breath work because it's one of the biggest medicines to clear the body and also to really flood your organs and flood your, your cells with the fresh oxygen that you can constantly detoxifying through the breath and clearing your.

Jenny Jones
I know, it's huge. I don't. I think we're so stagnant these days and so the, you know, the dancing, the lymphatic drainage and then the oxygen getting that through our bodies, it's just like, I think that goes. It benefits us so much because we're just so stagnant at our deaths working 8 hours every day, you know, so. But this was amazing.

Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I'm so glad you found me off of our little chat connections in LA and I cannot wait to hear about this retreat and all the things coming up for you. And thank you again for coming on all the way Costa Rica. Thanks, Jenny. I'm so excited to share this episode and if any of you have found this inspirational, please reach out to me.

Fern Olivia
I love to connect that's one of my favorite things about podcasts is when people tell me, I heard your episode with Jenny, or, you know, around the world, there's like, you never know who's tuning in. And its connection, I know, is so cool. So I'm so happy to hear. That's the great thing about these podcasts. And, you know, if anyone's in Costa Rica, reach out to you.

Jenny Jones
Sounds like let's all connect. Yeah, come to New York, meet me there, or, you know, tell me to come out, wherever you are. Whether it's for thyroid, yoga, breath work, djing, you know, we'll create. So I love, you know, I love great energy. Yeah.

Fern Olivia
I love connecting with other people, doing amazing things too. So if you're one of those, like, just let me know who you are, what you're up to. And, you know, the world is amazing that we have this platform, like, just sharing wisdom. I know, we're so fortunate. Yeah.

Jenny Jones
Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode with fear and olivia. It's been an incredible journey learning about the power of natural healing and the impact of our environment and diet on our health. Byrne's insights remind us of the importance of listening to our bodies and taking proactive steps towards our own health and well being.

Please share this episode with anyone you think might benefit from it. Spreading the word helps us build a community dedicated to health, wellness and biohacking, and your support is key to that mission. And if you can, please leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback is crucial for the growth the podcast and helps me reach more listeners, enabling me to keep sharing valuable knowledge and engaging stories. If you want to learn more about Fearne's work or explore the healing practices discussed, be sure to check out the links in the episode description.

Don't forget to take care of your body, mind and spirit. It's the best investment you can make. Stay tuned for more episodes where we dive into the world of health and wellness to improve, empower you with the knowledge you need to live your best life, stay healthy and keep hacking your way to optimal wellness.