Exploring the Mind-Body Connection with Alice Grasset

Today, we're diving into the transformative power of the mind-body connection! I'm thrilled to be joined by a special guest, Alice Grasset, a wellness coach who has dedicated her career to helping individuals enhance their well-being through holistic practices. Join us as we unpack the profound impact that the mind-body connection can have on your life.

Discover the science behind why integrating mind-body practices helps with mental clarity, emotional stability, and physical health. Learn how to harness the power of yoga, meditation, and coaching to cultivate resilience, happiness, and overall well-being. We'll also discuss practical tips for incorporating these practices into your daily routine.

From personal stories of overcoming adversity to practical strategies for maintaining a consistent wellness habit, this episode is packed with insights to help you enhance your health and well-being.

Tune in as we discuss:

• The science behind why the mind-body connection works.
• How to use mind-body practices to enhance personal and professional growth.
• Practical strategies for maintaining a consistent wellness habit.
• The benefits of integrating mindfulness and physical activity into your daily schedule.

Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting your journey, this episode will equip you with the tools to embrace a holistic approach to health. Tune in, take action, and start enhancing your well-being through the mind-body connection.

Introduction (00:00)
Guest Introduction (00:28)
Alice’s Story and Diagnosis (01:08)
Career Shift and Health Transformation (03:00)
Benefits of Yoga and Meditation (04:52)
Building Resilience (06:12)
The Concept of Ecosystem in Recovery (08:01)
Personalized Healing Journey (09:43)
Support Systems and Community (11:32)
Daily Practices for Well-being (13:17)
Challenges in Health Journey (14:59)
Role of Nutrition in Health (16:43)
Future Plans and Projects (18:30)
Advice for Listeners (20:14)
Closing Remarks (21:58)

Connect with Alice Grasset!

Alice is a certified yoga teacher, mindfulness meditation teacher, and life coach. Diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40, she used yoga, meditation, and coaching to embark on a transformative recovery journey, solidifying her belief in mind-body practices. After 15 years in the pharmaceutical industry, she left her corporate job to found Yapura Wellness with her husband, Carlos. Their goal is to help clients release tensions and cultivate grounding and centeredness.

Leveraging her corporate experience, Alice highlights the importance for professionals of adopting a healthy lifestyle to support physical and mental health, enhancing performance and happiness at work. To that purpose, she offers yoga and meditation practices specifically tailored to busy individuals. 

Additionally, she founded Sparkles of Grace, a holistic well-being initiative for women in breast cancer recovery, offering practices to ease treatment side effects and reconnect with the inner self.

💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-lucie-grasset/
🍃 https://www.yapurawellness.com/
🤝 https://sparklesofgrace.com/
🧘‍♀️ https://www.instagram.com/yapurawel

Transcript

0:10

Welcome everyone to the Endgame podcast, season two, where I bet you didn't know what you didn't know. I'm Dr Ryan Wakim, successful entrepreneur and your Endgame coach. Sit back, relax, and tune in to today's episode, exploring the mind body connection with Alice Grasset. First and foremost, I want to take a minute to introduce a very special guest we have today. Alice, who's the founder of Sparkles of Grace. She is a certified coach, yoga instructor, and meditation teacher. Alice's story began to take a profound turn when she was just 40 years old and received a life changing diagnosis of breast cancer. Through yoga, meditation, and coaching, Alice transformed her life, finding greater meaning and happiness. This experience solidified her belief in the power of the mind body practices for overall well being. She's here to share her story and offer practical tips for bringing wellness and joy into our lives. Alice, welcome to the show. Thank you. It's good to be with you. I think I may have butchered your last name just to verify. No, you did a really good job. Okay, good. Yeah, no, awesome. As someone who has a tough last name to pronounce, I'm always sensitive to that. So anyway, welcome to the podcast. You know, the mind body connection is something I've always, you know, as a board certified psychiatrist, something that really means a lot to me. It's always meant a lot to my practice. You know, if you've heard some of my podcasts or information, I've done a lot of work with the idea of mind, body connection, the kind of physical plant, your, your mental plant, your health set, your mindset, and how they're so intimately intertwined and I'm, I just love meeting others who, you know, share that same mindset and same belief system around that connectivity and, and how we can help. Enhance and foster and kind of grow and evolve that connection and therefore health and wellbeing. So again, always excited to have these conversations and really appreciate you coming on the podcast today. No, I'm really excited to be here. And, uh, you know, we, we definitely share this, this passion for the mind, body connection. So excited for our discussion. Yeah. Well, to kick it off here, I always like to have our guests just kind of share. Kind of their foundational stories or their background. So, you know, just to start off, how would you, or what would you like to kind of let the listeners know about as it relates to your experience? I know I talked a little bit on the intro around the diagnosis of breast cancer and how profound and impactful that obviously can be and was. So do you want to talk a little bit about, you know, that and kind of how you came to the, you know, where you are today and the services you provide? Yes, absolutely. So you did mention that, uh, I'm a yoga teacher, a meditation teacher and a life coach. But before that, I had a completely different career because I worked for 15 years in the pharmaceutical industry. So I worked for the vaccine division of a big company in Belgium. But in 2016, they opened the center in Maryland. And they suggested for me to move there to be part of the first people on site. And so that's how I came to the U. S. I'm sure you've heard my accent, right? I'm not American, I'm French. And so that's how I moved to the, to the U. S. back in 2016. But a year later, so I just had turned 40, I went to my OB GYN because I was feeling something in, in a breast, in one of my breasts on the right side. And they sent me to do, uh, a mammogram. So I was just, you know, 40. So that's when they start to do the, the mammogram. So they sent me to get a diagnosis and what I was feeling was fine. It was benign, but on the other side, they found a lump, uh, which after biopsy, uh, was shown to be breast cancer. So, I mean, it's, it's unfortunately a disease that touches many, many women because it's one woman out of eight and you can imagine really, it's a big shock, right? Yeah. There's a lot of questions, a lot of unknowns for why you don't really know what your treatment is going to be, what your prognosis is going to be. So it was really, really overwhelming. And at the time, you know, uh, so I was working in the corporate world. I didn't have really a good lifestyle. I was working longer hours, not exercising, not moving enough, you know, like probably not the right food. So one of the first decision after my diagnosis was to Take ownership of my health. I really wanted, you know, to play my role. Of course, the doctors have a really, really key role to play, but I also wanted to play my part. So I decided to change a lot of things in my lifestyle. So starting with my diet, but also with yoga and meditation. So I was already practicing yoga and meditation, but I decided that I would do that on a daily basis. And I also started to work with one of my coaching teacher who was also a cancer survivor. So I started also to do coaching with her to help me more on the mindset and how to manage my emotions as I was going through the treatment. And yoga and meditation really brought me a lot of benefits. I mean, the yoga helps a lot for helping manage the side effects of the treatment, the physical side effects. Even today, I continued, you know, to take this hormone blockers that do have an impact on my joints, you know, on the muscles. So the, uh, yoga helped me manage those side effects and the meditation on the coaching really helped me, you know, to take a deep breath and feel better. Being able to look at my experience with a little bit more distance. And to be able to manage everything that I was going through, you know? Yeah. I mean, that's again, a very tough story, obviously, but one that to your point touches, you know, really touches a lot of lives with the one in eight females in the country. I think statistically, it's actually gotten a little bit more than that, even, but the reality is it's still, you know, it's still overwhelmingly shocking statistic. And your point of very jarring in someone's life to suddenly. You know, have, you know, any health condition come your way that's, you know, spelled with cancer begins or ends with cancer is, is one that can be very jarring. And so your journey not only is, you know, admirable, but also the fact that you took that opportunity to really focus on you and, and put the, the appropriate ecosystem or foundation in place so that you could be. Stronger, better, you know, more resilient into the future. And that's a lot of what we talk about. Or, you know, what I've talked about before is this idea of building resilience and building off of a. physical plant foundation that gives you the opportunity to be healthy, both physically and mentally, even in the face of difficult conditions or diagnoses or treatments. Obviously, if you're starting from a stronger foundation, the chances that you'll get better sooner and stay better longer, much higher. And so the idea that you without, you know, with your coach at the time, which is a call out to coaching in general and how important it is, but Absolutely that mentorship to really help shift your mindset from doom and gloom and anxiety and all the negativity that rushes upon you. I'm sure in that in those moments and to be able to really shift your focus and change your mindset. And do something about it and love that you're using, you know, not only things you you're talented at and, and, uh, know a lot about, but we talk a lot about meditation and journaling and, and kind of mindfulness and grounding and, and just how you actually get in touch with your physical health and your mental health state. Uh, cause a lot of, a lot of us walk through life quite honestly, out of touch with our physical health. Absolutely. And I really like when you use the word ecosystem that really resonates with me because the cancer journey doesn't really stop after you're being given, you know, like, Hey, you're good. You have your, your, you know, they say N E D no evidence of disease. It doesn't stop there because there's always in the background and a fear about potential recurrence. So you want to build the right ecosystem. So physically, emotionally, mentally, So that's hopefully cancer will not come back, right? So you want to take care of your body, have the right food exercise and also have the right mindset, you know, to be able to manage that fear. I mean, you're a psychiatrist, so you know much more than I do. But I've heard about this Damocles syndrome. I think that's how people say it. This sort of this fear that cancer will return, right? Like a sword, like the Damocles. And that's something that as cancer survivors, we have to manage on a daily basis. Yeah. And one of the ways you help put yourself in the best position, regardless of what happens is again, that daily practices and this idea of mindset and I, and I do use ecosystem intentionally because uh, you know, I talk a lot about foundations and foundations are important, but if you have a really strong foundation, but you're in the, always in the middle of a tornado, the house won't stay upright for very long. So the environment around the foundation is also really important. And that is both. To your point into the point of this podcast, both a physical health environment. Um, so there's a, you having a great foundations truly foundational, but the environment physically is important and that's what you put into your body, right? Um, I think you've, you may know I own juice bars and that's because I believe wholeheartedly and you get out of your body, what you put into it. And if you put junk in, you're going to get junk out. And so there's both a physical health ecosystem and environment, but there's also the mental health environment. And that is all the way down to neurotransmitter levels and all the way up to just basic, again, uh, the, the basics of meditation and mindfulness and grounding and the things that we really struggle to practice day in day, day in and day out that are, can be so simple, but oftentimes you need someone who's going to hold you accountable to it. So it seems like you're probably one of those, someone, so. Um, do you want to talk a little bit about, you know, your, uh, company, your business, the way in which you approach this? Cause I think you approach it really from that three prong approach of yoga, meditation, and coaching to really get someone in the right mindset, health set, et cetera. And I believe that's, you know, You know, part of, or all of what you do as it relates to sparkles of grace. So do you want to talk a little bit more about that? Yeah. So after treatment, you know, I, cancer puts a lot of things into question. So I had that experience and I really wanted to be able to share my learnings. with other women. So I decided to leave my corporate job and I started a business with my husband. So we have a wellness studio. But in addition to that, I wanted to have a specific program for women recovering from breast cancer. And based on my experience, I wanted to combine all these different techniques because when I was going through my own journey, you know, I was going to my coach into my yoga studio. I was going to a meditation teacher. I was going to my coach. So, um, it's, it was different, different people. And I thought, well, what about putting everything together and really bring a holistic program to support women, you know, after, um, after the cancer treatment. So I offer yoga meditation and coaching, uh, into, into my programs. I do also, um, uh, I also teach yoga, specifically oncology yoga. Uh, so in group, so outside of my studio, but, um, really what I really love and my passion is to be able to, uh, work with women and to bring them these three elements at the same time. That's awesome. Uh, can you tell me, I've candidly never heard about cancer yoga. Can you explain to me a little bit more of what that is or what that might be for the listeners? Yeah. So yoga is a really, really good practice for people going through cancer treatment or after treatment. So for cancer survivors, because it helps manage the side effects. We know that You know that cancer treatment have a lot of side effects on our bones, on our, um, you know, digestive system, uh, on our mental health. Uh, so it's important with the yoga to, um, help maintain a really, really good physical condition. So yoga is really wonderful for that. Plus it also helps manage the stress and all the emotions. But we know as well that the treatment puts some constraints on the body. So there is some yoga posture that are no longer appropriate to do at least for a while, you know, when we are in the very active part of the treatment. So in oncology yoga, we take that into consideration. to be able to provide a very safe practice for cancer patients and survivor. So we want the benefits of yoga, but we don't want, you know, to put people into a risk of injury by doing things that are too straining on the body. So it's finding that sweet spot, finding that balance where we really bring the, you know, the best benefit, but in a really safe environment. Wow, that's again, really incredible. New to me. You learn something new every day. And that's really, you know, what I hope for our listeners on the podcast too. So with the oncology yoga or with this, your program specifically, if someone wanted to engage with you, is that would you take them on potentially as a client? How early in the stage of diagnosis and treatment would you potentially engage with someone? Is it, would you, would you meet with people right after original diagnosis before any treatment started? Or do you usually wait till a little bit further down the care path before you would get involved? So my program is more specifically for women. Uh, we're, uh, in recovery. So after treatment, but I'm very open to work with women who are just being diagnosed and we're going through treatment as well. The reason why my focus is specifically on, uh, the recovery is, uh, based on my experience, uh, because when I was going through treatment, I made this decision to change my lifestyle. I was doing my yoga, my meditation, my coaching. And. You know what you have to do, right? The doctors, they tell you where, when is your next appointment? What is going to do your next exam and so on. So you really have a very clear plan. But when you are being this, given this green light that you're good to go and you are no longer in active treatment, there is this phase where you feel lost. Because you don't really, you know, you have to go back to a new normal. You have to reinvent yourself. And I think it's a time where, uh, family expects you to be as you were before. Uh, you no longer have this regular touch point with the doctor. So you do feel very lost. So that's why I wanted to specifically target that moment. Uh, because I think a lot of women go into depression. You know, after treatment, but if we catch them early and if we give them these tools so that they can take care of themselves, take care of their wellness, reconnect with their body. I think there's, you know, we helping lower that risk for them to go into depression. Yeah. No, the preventative nature of that is again, to your point, super important because whether it's breast cancer or again, really any form of cancer, we know that the stress on the body that comes with both the diagnosis alone, but also the treatment certainly. Can really impact someone's mindset and health set in a way that sets them up for conditions like depression or anxiety disorders. So the sooner we can intervene and, you know, help address those things and provide resources and support again, really helping to prevent the downward spiral into stuff like that. So that's how important that is. In this population. Yeah. And I think, you know, in every challenging experience that we go through in life, there are some learnings, you know, if we spend the time to really reflect, we can also bring some positive back into our life. And so that was really, for me, one of the key learnings of You know, that's my, my cancer experience and why coaching was so important because it gave me the space and time to really learn more about myself, you know, and also to be able to reflect on how I wanted to live moving forward. Uh, of course, you know, when you are facing a cancer diagnosis, you realize. That's life as an end, right? So you feel that that's need to live life more fully. And so I think that's why coaching is so important. Taking the time to reflect is so important. That's a, again, a really great tip or strategies. We think about, Again, broadly speaking, yoga and meditation and coaching, but what are the kind of practical or tactical things that often that's often included as part or all of that and reflection is 1 of those. That's why I talk a fair bit about journaling. What are some other, you know, just. Maybe specific examples or tips or strategies that you would impart upon the listeners around how you approach the way in which you can tackle these things head on again. So like reflection would be one, but what's, what's another one that you use commonly for yourself or for your clients? I love that you mentioned journaling because it's, it's also one of my favorite tool. I think it's, uh, um, it's, it's really, really powerful. When I was going through my, uh, cancer journey, I, I had a diary so I was journaling on a regular basis and it's interesting because I had, um, you know, I did journaling a different time of my life, but what I noticed it was always at time where something big was happening, you know, like a life transition or Or like the cancer diagnosis. So journaling really helped me, you know, when I'm going through something a little bit more challenging, and it's very interesting to keep those journal because now that I can read them again a few years later, I can really You know, realize how much I've grown, you know, all the integration that happened over the year. So journaling is really a beautiful, beautiful tool. I think something also super important is nature and the contact with nature. Uh, so just going outside, going for a walk, being surrounded by nice trees and flowers, just spending time, you know, Looking at nature, it's something which is really, really good for stress management. It's really good for our soul. And it reconnects us to ourselves and to something bigger, uh, for people, uh, we relate to that. So I think nature is something simple that we can all do. Sometimes, you know, we see very complicated things like, Oh, I'm going to have to sit and in meditation for half an hour and not move. But they're actually simple things that we can do that Bring us this peace of mind and nature is definitely definitely a beautiful one as well to do. Also listening to music. I do believe a lot in the power of songs on music. So if you have a favorite song, just spending the time fully listening to that song. song with, um, you know, full awareness, being mindful about your experience as you listen to the music is something simple that anybody can go do, even if you don't practice meditation, but it's very, very soothing and it helps with stress management as well. Yeah, I really love that because, as you know, adaptation into things like a full yoga class or the fear of what meditation means and never being able to really do it. Well, those things are barriers to someone just kind of starting out or thinking about how can I, how can I make a baby step in the right direction without having to take a full on step, so to speak, little things like putting on a song and then really listening with intention. It's a great tip. I love the nature thing. Um, you know, even, you know, if you spend all day on meetings, you know, you can be off camera for a bit and take a walk, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Movement is so important. Yeah, right. And those don't have to be daunting things. You know, everyone's wearing a smartwatch these days and everyone's talking about their steps. And yes, that's important, but you got to take the first step. And if you can do it on a nice day and beautiful weather and really Yeah, absolutely. Be able to enjoy the beauty of nature around you. To your point, that can be incredibly soothing and very impactful for helping to set that foundation. Again, the ecosystem for for resilience and stress management into the long term. So I love those 2 things, 2 tips as just very easy ways to start. Baby stepping in the right direction towards this mind body connection and in the awareness there in, um, any other tips you'd have for, uh, helping someone who might be thinking about their mind body, but, um, maybe don't isn't fully tapped into that or doesn't really hasn't really, uh, address their emotions or connected those to physical health. What other tip might you give someone for just. Becoming more aware of oneself in the space of mind, body connection. I think for me, what is really important is lifestyle. So, you know, it's because we're talking about mind and body, and we know that both are so intertwined and influence each other. We have to take care of both. So we have to take care of our body, exercising, sleep is super, super important. There are so many biological, you know, functions that happened when we sleep. So if we are awake, when these processes are supposed to happen, then they're not going to happen. So that's going to have an impact on our health. So sleep is super important. What we eat is also super important, and this is going to influence our mind. But then we need also to do our little, you know. Mental health exercise, right? So that's where the meditation, that's where the yoga are so important. But like we were saying, sometimes it can be the simple things like nature, like journaling, listening to music, all these simple things that help us be more connected to ourselves, to be more mindful, just drinking it. You know, when you drink your tea, you can actually practice mindfulness. You can practice meditation. When you do that, just feeling the cup. feeling the warmth, just the, you know, the nice warm liquid in your mouth and in your throat. So just reconnected to simple things. I think it is the most powerful. I do believe a lot in, in putting this skill, simple practice into your life. That's something that is accessible to everyone. Uh, so I would really encourage people to, to try that. Tapping into your own senses is a really great first step in terms of how you start to begin to connect your mind and body and really develop the ecosystem we talked about. So, yeah. And that's a really great summation of what we talked about today, the journaling, the meditation, the yoga, some of the tips and tricks, even keeping it just super simple as it relates to stepping yourself in the direction of. How you might begin working on grounding or mindfulness or meditation, or these tools you can use to help with stress management and resilience building. I know that you have a lot of this information on your website, which is sparkles of grace dot com. I believe you also have a link on your website to be able to access your podcast. So I definitely encourage the listeners to visit the website, check out what it is you're offering, make sure that you check out all the content there because really great information. And. You know, really builds upon what we talked about today again, talking about foundations and growing from there. So, I guess, as we wrap up today's conversation, what else would you want to convey to listeners about sparkles of grace or your experience or what you're offering? Um, I was, I was thinking, maybe we can do a very simple exercise together, you know, because we were talking about tips. So maybe we can just do a little practice. Maybe that would be of value for your for your audience. What do you think? Yeah, sure. Let's go. Yeah. So, so what we're going to do is to start by rolling our shoulders. So we're going to roll them, you know, back and then in the other direction, really being mindful of the movement of your shoulders. And then relaxing them down. Now we're going to bring our shoulders very close to the ears and on the exhale bring them down. And then again up and down. The last one up and down. And now you may want to close your eyes or just look with very soft eyes in front of you and you can put a hand on your chest and a hand on your belly and gently starting to connect with the breath. the gentle movements of the breath without trying to control the breath or to change it, just enjoying this breath. And you may want to imagine that your mind It's like a vast blue sky expanding in all directions around you. And in that sky, there is a single puffy white cloud. And my invitation to you is to send all your worries, all your expectations, your upsets, your to do list. Just then let them float into the cloud. And then see the cloud gently drifting away and ultimately disappearing in the distance. Connected to your breath, relaxed mind. And when you feel complete, I invite you to open your eyes. There you go. Really great guided meditation there. I appreciate that. You're very welcome. Um, no, that's awesome. So, uh, for the listeners, I hope you guys, uh, take a moment to, to do exactly what it is, uh, Alice and I just did, um, do a guided meditation, get yourself grounded, uh, be mindful, connect to your senses, let your worries go. And expand from there, Alice. So great to have you on the podcast. My pleasure. Incredible stuff. Great tips. Tremendous information. Again, we'll make sure to drop, uh, in the comment section, your website and the information that our listeners can can grab from there. So, thank you again for coming and really appreciate your time and your expertise and your, um, incredible information and looking forward to continuing to chat along the way. Yeah, me too. Thanks a lot for having me today. All right. Thank you all for listening. Uh, please like, subscribe, share this episode with friends and family. Once again, I'm Dr Ryan Wakim, successful entrepreneur and your end game coach. I'm here to teach you how to exist today. Be mindful and meditate so you can expand tomorrow and create the ultimate end game of your wildest desires. Talk to you soon.