Interview with Emilia Erkisson on Love and Life

Emilia Eriksson is a friend I met in Dubai, who similar to me has been living a nomadic lifestyle, (but I’ll let her explain below). She recently posted a personal and raw story on love, commitments + relationships on instagram which I really wanted to share with everyone this Valentine’s Day. Big thanks to Emilia for opening up and sharing her story.

ABOUT YOU EMILIA

From growing up as a slight introvert on the cold west coast of Sweden, to feeling like a star in the drunken high nightlife of Barcelona and Ibiza, healing my soul on the beaches of Bali and Thailand, to chasing success in the money hungry city of Dubai, I have finally landed myself in the city of big dreams, The City of Angels.

At the age of 31, I feel like I have lived many lives in one. This has been a long journey, where every story has its purpose, leading me to where I am today.

If you would had asked me about purpose a few years ago, I would had said it’s an abstract word. It was a word that caused me a feeling of anxiety, a feeling of that there was something I had to find, which I had no clue where to look for. To the outside world I was living a good life. I was making good money, traveling the world, getting paid to go to fancy events and parties, and I had lots of free time to do whatever I wanted. Yet, I felt empty inside.

The show of the self empowered, free spirited woman I was putting off on Instagram was not reflecting what was truly going on in my life. The truth was, I was very sick. For years I had been suffering with digestive issues, food intolerances, candida overgrowth and high levels of inflammation. I had been trying to address all of this by changing my diet, I had gone to plant medicine ceremonies, visited healers, holistic doctors and conventional doctors. I spent thousands of dollars on treatments and supplements, but still nobody seemed able to fix me.

Two yeas ago I started to get really worried. With a diagnosis of “unspecified colitis” (high levels of inflammation in the large intestine), higher risk of intestinal cancer and a doctor telling me it was chronic and there was nothing to be done about it, I decided to take the matter into own hands and heal myself.

I read up on all the information I could find about inflammation and anti inflammatory diets and went on an elementary diet for some time, to ease my digestive system. I spent a lot of time journaling, meditating and connecting with my body. Even though I was very good by myself, I felt very lonely and isolated at times, as if no one could relate to me. I stopped dating, and I didn’t want to socialize anymore because I was too restrictive with my diet. I hated being “that person” at the restaurant, asking the waiters about every ingredient of a dish.

I started dreaming about what it would be like if there was a place to go and heal, that would be fun and inspiring at the same time as you could heal from complex conditions. It would be a place in nature, where we would come in touch with our creative gifts, our life force and feel connected to others at the same time. It wasn’t a place where we’d focus on our illness, but instead on what makes us feel the most alive.

A month later in Costa Rica, I met one of my best friends today, Nadav Wilf. With his coaching, he inspired me to put my vision into words. At the time, my vision felt like nothing but a distant dream.

But something had sparked in me. I hired Nadav as my coach and with his help I started inventing small obtainable action steps that would take me closer to that dream. That’s when the magic started happening.

TODAY

I decided that I was going to turn one of the worst things that had happened to me into something good. All those years of pain were now transforming into purpose. I took action by signing up to a year long program at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to become a certified health coach. I was going to use everything I had learnt throughout my illness to help others heal too.

Only 3 months later, I started coaching my first client.

A year after that I co invested into The Imiloa Institute in Costa Rica. A magical community and retreat center where I will be hosting life transformational retreats.

I further deepened my studies with The Institute for Integrative Nutrition and I now specialize in gut health. I’ve realized through my own healing journey that most digestive issues are emotional. They are often connected to experiences we’ve gone through in life, which we haven’t fully been able to digest.

THE PAST

In the past I put my body through a lot:

• Years of bad eating habits

• Daily drinking and drug use

• Abusive relationships

• Sleeping with countless men

All the times I had been silencing my voice, when I wanted to express myself, had become congested in my belly. I walked without clear sense of direction in life and it left me feeling unfulfilled, insecure and worried about the future. Those were all choices I made, because I didn’t know what I needed or how to love myself. I didn’t know my own body or how to listen to it.

Before you will learn what love is, you will learn what it isn’t.

I still step into situations and relationships sometimes that are not fully nourishing me, but I now have the tools to distinguish them, reconnect to myself and my truth, and walk out with grace. I let them become mirrors to show me what else I need to work on. The only thing worse than failing, is never even trying.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS

I’m an Integrative health coach and I’m running my own business, In the Glow. I take my clients on a very personal, holistically guided journey, where they will learn to feed themselves in all areas of their lives.

Most of my clients have initially come to me with digestive issues, only to discover that this, as an example, partially was caused by them feeling unfulfilled with their career or unloved in their relationships. They were feeling disconnected and trapped in a life they didn’t enjoy.

Together with a customized nutrition plan, me and my clients identify in which areas of their lives they feel out of balance. We look at what is currently not working and why.

During our sessions, my clients talk to me about their most intimate matters. It is a safe space for them to share, and by asking them the tough questions that nobody else will, I help them see things that previously have been hidden to their view, giving them the opportunity to work on it. Now they will be left with a new possibility to take action and create the changes they want to see in their lives.

Healing is a journey and I explain to my clients that this is not another “quick fix” or fad diet. It is deep, transformational work, a progressive journey, building a lifestyle that will create long lasting, sustainable results. I work with each client for a minimum of 3 months. During this time they will learn, grow, heal and maybe fall off the wagon a couple of times. They will learn to stand up again and create new possibilities for themselves that will leave them feeling inspired, empowered and nourished in all areas of their lives.

Most of all they will create a connection to themselves where they will start caring for their health from a place of self love.

All my coaching is done online, via Skype or WhatsApp calls. This gives me and my clients the freedom to work together from anywhere around the globe.

YOUR GREATEST INSPIRATIONS OR INFLUENCES?

I love Dr. Axe! He is my go-to resource anytime I come down with an ailment and want to find a natural cure. He provides so much good information on his website, all for free, so for someone like me, who can read about health for hours, that is my library. I have avoided taking antibiotics several times thanks to natural cures I have found on his website.
Another amazing resource that I started following more closely this last year is Anthony William, the Medical Medium. He channels information from source and I have seen amazing results following his healing program.

INSPIRING WOMEN

I am very inspired by motivational speaker Lisa Nichols. She speaks in such a raw, touching and inspiring way about her story of domestic violence and her realizations through that.
My emotional clearing coach Lisa Warninger, she is intuitive, badass and her happy voice feels like sunshine every time we get on a call. She has been with me through some of my hardest times throughout my healing journey and helped me move through many obstacles on my way. I feel so grateful for her!
Last and not least, my best friend Matilda. She has gone through a long and tough healing journey with her knee, where doctors told her she would never walk again. Well, she is proving them wrong! With a strong determination, a healthy mindset and healing diet, she is not just walking, but dancing through life again! She is such an inspiring human being!

THANK YOU FOR BEING VULNERABLE + SHARING YOUR STORIES, YOU REALLY PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE ON YOUR LAST POST ON LOVE ( HERE ). WHAT’S YOUR MESSAGE THIS VALENTINE’S DAY?

The best love is self love. When you start treating yourself how you want others to treat you, you will start attracting the people into your life who treat you like that.

ON POSITIVE MANIFESTATIONS

Whatever it is you want, write it down. Be as clear as you can. Come back to it, read it again, share it with others and continue adding in more specific details. Writing is spelling (You are casting spells). The universe only knows how to give, when you know what you want.

ANYTHING ELSE?

I want for anyone who is reading this to know that you can have anything you want, if you put your mind and heart into it. You really can. The only thing standing in between you and your vision, are your own limiting beliefs. And let’s be real, I’m not saying that I don’t have mine. Every coach needs a coach. Therefore, I work with coaches too, so that I can always continue growing, come past my own fears and take my clients deeper.

For more information and to book a free health consultation with me, visit my website intheglowhealth.com.

Cover Photo Dennis Vrthur