Julie Howton (00:01.675) Anik, welcome to the podcast. Anik St Martin (00:04.28) Thank you so much for having me. Julie Howton (00:06.795) I'm so excited for you to share your skin wisdom, which we know is health wisdom with listeners. I know psoriasis affects so many people now. And so I would love first for to, for listeners to get to know you a little bit and share a bit of your journey as to how you got into this world. Anik St Martin (00:31.79) Thank you so much. Yes. And you're right. There are currently 125 million people with psoriasis. And the number grows almost exponentially every year. And so that's something that really needs to be addressed. Otherwise, it just will continue to, you know, perpetuate itself. But as far as how I became interested, it was, you know, it's always despite yourself that you end up in this world having these conversations and Julie Howton (00:38.965) It's amazing. Anik St Martin (00:59.538) Eventually contributing to the conversation. And for me, I was a really sort of like rough and tumble kid. You know, like most of us, I grew up on Wonderbred and Nutella and antibiotics and you know, all the things. And when I was about 12 years old, I started noticing some psoriasis on my on my arms, but behind my ears, around my eyebrows, you know. places where it was pretty obvious, but it was very mild, comparatively speaking, now that I have perspective. And we didn't know. My family didn't know what was going on, what it was, which is why, again, these conversations are so important, especially for kids and with kids. and so sh I went to my family doctor. I was given a topical steroid. And for the next seven to eight years I, you know, just used the steroid. And and as we all know, I had to, you know, I eventually started using more and more and more of it to be able to mitigate the symptoms. And and for me, like most of us, I think, with any type of autoimmunity, you know, with a skin issue, it's it's you're wearing it for the entire world to see. And you're seeing it on yourself every day. And so it becomes Julie Howton (02:20.557) Sure. Yeah. Anik St Martin (02:25.784) front of mind very quickly. And so you know when there your exacerbations are happening in real time and you can you can see them in the mirror. And so for me, what happened was it was very, very mild. And usually there's a particular type of insult, right? Some injuries happen over time and some injuries happen very suddenly. And for me, what really sort of exploded the situation was When I went through undergraduate studies and when I started graduate school, I was I grew up in Canada. I was moving to the United States for grad school in New York. And in order to obtain my student visa, I needed to show proof of vaccination, which to come to this to come to the US. Well, back when I was fully vaccinated as a child, it was all on paper. You had a card. Julie Howton (03:20.535) Sure. Anik St Martin (03:21.95) None of it. And I'm sure my doctor had obviously some records, but it never even occurred to us to ask for that. But to make a long story short, my vaccine records had been destroyed in a house fire. And so I had no records and and not really knowing any better and not knowing how to advocate or really not knowing anything at the time. Exactly. I was vaccinated for everything mandated at the time in one sitting. Julie Howton (03:33.72) gosh. Julie Howton (03:42.083) Sure, options, yeah. Julie Howton (03:51.558) gosh. Anik St Martin (03:52.279) And you know, obviously being that I had psoriasis already, my gut was already affected. I may have had some a hard time detoxifying and processing, you know, chemicals in the first place, my skin became probably about thirty-five percent worse on the spot within two weeks. And then I went through graduate school and you know, all the stressors and I'm a chiropractor, and so I was in a a human anatomy lab for about 20 hours a week for a year and a half. And so being exposed to all the formaldehyde and the, you know, the the chemical toxins, my skin just kept getting worse and worse and worse. And I just at this point was practically bathing in the steroids and taking things like methotrexate, which is a chemotherapy drug that they try, right? Which Julie Howton (04:44.256) Lots of autoimmune people are familiar with methotrexate, not a pleasant drug. No. Anik St Martin (04:47.91) Methotrexate. Not not pleasant. And for me, it just exacerbated my problem. Every time I would take it, I would get worse, right? Because it was just another chemical irritant. So then my husband is American, and when he proposed, and I decided I needed to get my green card because we were about to graduate it, I wanted to work, obviously, and Julie Howton (04:57.771) Ugh. Anik St Martin (05:13.96) In the green card interview they do, you know, they separate you and they interview you and then they do a medical examination and I guess we were still so young and naive and blindsided, I was vaccinated for everything all over again. Julie Howton (05:29.004) my gosh, how do you even still have skin? Like, holy cow. Anik St Martin (05:31.437) Yes. I know. I know. And it took me a while for for it to occur. I wouldn't have let that happen if I'd realized really what had happened in the first place. But it happened and now I was literally covered. And I was about 24, going on 25. And that just put me on a a situation where for ten years I ha I had no choice despite myself but to just figure it out. Julie Howton (05:42.742) Right? Anik St Martin (06:01.906) because no matter what I did, you know, I was just maybe addressing the symptoms a little bit, but everything I would do would just eventually exacerbate. And so I had to figure out the nutrition piece and the supplementation piece. And and what ended up happening is I became so obsessed with what I was doing because I wasn't getting better, partly because we all know that healing takes time, but Also, I think I was I was placing myself in this little box of restrictions, right? I became, I didn't know what I was doing at the time in the beginning, so I became vegan and then I became raw vegan, and I just didn't know I was trying everything. And I was living in this space where I would punish myself with this self-deprecating language when I would veer off course. Julie Howton (06:37.783) Yes. Anik St Martin (06:58.828) Like many of us do, right? What am I gonna look like? What am I gonna feel like tomorrow morning? Tomorrow morning, if I if while I'm at this pool party and there's no other food and somebody offers me a hot dog or whatever, something, and in you know, at the risk of being rude or starving, you know, I'm gonna have it. And then it's like, okay, tomorrow is it gonna be worse? Is it worse now? Is it gonna be worse? Julie Howton (06:58.967) Right. Perfection yeah Julie Howton (07:12.183) Something, yeah. Julie Howton (07:21.251) I'm gonna pay. Anik St Martin (07:23.49) So then I would make the box smaller and smaller and smaller until I think it really turned into a a the behavior became stressful in and of itself. Julie Howton (07:33.588) It's yeah, it becomes almost disordered. I think we've all been there anybody who's been really serious about a healing journey Oftentimes it's a little later in the journey when they are when you are like figured out enough things to start feeling better and then you know But but as you know, and I know that's not actually healing that Health is resilient. And so, yeah, so so. And I heard you to you were doing the nutrition and the supplements and I know what's missing because I cheated. You know, it is it's so hard to to really hear when you're in in the beginnings of your healing journey or you haven't even started yet. But. Anik St Martin (08:04.512) Exactly. Anik St Martin (08:13.838) Yeah. Julie Howton (08:29.815) but when you hold healing really tightly, it's not gonna happen, right? Most people at one point or another can execute really well. That's not usually the problem, but it sounds crazy to say you have to hold it gently and allow the healing to happen, but you figured it out, you got there. Anik St Martin (08:45.998) Exactly. Anik St Martin (08:54.476) Well it just it I did get there and I remember, you know, going through all of this and somebody at one point saying to me, Have you tried meditating? And I remember I exactly. I was like, Are you crazy? I do you know what I've tried? I've tried everything. You know, I have literally tried everything. You know, it's not, it's not gonna be I remember actually feeling angry about it and going home and seething about it that night. Like that's so, you know. Julie Howton (09:05.251) And you were like, are you a lunatic? Julie Howton (09:14.307) You're Julie Howton (09:23.734) yeah. Anik St Martin (09:27.528) And I've often thought about giving her, like finding her and giving her a call and you know, apologizing for the thoughts I had that night. but what ended up happening was years later, as I was going through, and you're right, I was getting better and I knew, I knew, you know, that the nightshades exacerbated it, and I knew that the legumes exacerbated it, and and I do I knew what not to do. And I was so obsessed with what not to do. Julie Howton (09:27.885) So off base. Bye! Julie Howton (09:56.193) Mm-hmm. Anik St Martin (09:56.835) That I forgot, you know, how to enjoy life. Julie Howton (09:59.716) What you should, yeah, yeah. No, it becomes, it really does become almost obsessive, right? Because for those of us that have lived in discomfort, whatever that looks like, know, if chronically, and so, know, so, and then, you're, all of a sudden you started to figure it out. Anik St Martin (10:02.979) And Anik St Martin (10:06.978) Yes. Anik St Martin (10:13.934) Exactly. Yes. Anik St Martin (10:26.606) So well, what happened is I was somebody, because I'm a chiropractor, we have these conversations about, you know, these and this is a part of the conversation in chiropractic. I mean, a third of what we know creates illness is, you know, thought patterns and the way we think, the the language we use with ourselves. But I just somehow that didn't apply to me at the time. And I somebody sent me or somewhere along the way I I got a hold of the book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Julie Howton (10:33.581) Sure. Anik St Martin (10:56.162) B Y R N E. And it was the first time. And honestly, the the book is brilliant. It's not very well written in terms of, you know, you're not going to read it and be like, wow, this is a piece of literature. But it doesn't matter. It I read it one night in bed, in, you know, it's a very fast read. I read it in a couple of hours. And I couldn't believe the language being used around. Julie Howton (11:09.016) Right. Anik St Martin (11:22.732) What happens when with visualization and gratitude and manifesting and all of these conversations. And and I just had this sort of shift, like the world underneath my feet shifted for a moment where I just knew that this was something to explore. It was the time to explore it and that it most likely was it. I felt it innately. And so a few days later, I was going back east to for a family wedding and Julie Howton (11:46.595) Mm-hmm. Anik St Martin (11:51.945) my kids and my husband were staying h or my kids came with me. My stuff my husband was staying home. My parents lived on this beautiful farm on a hundred acre farm on the Ottawa River. And I I just had this thought that, you know, what if I started observing my thought patterns? And I shared this with my parents and they agreed to they loved you know, obviously my kids and but they agreed to just kind of let me be by myself for hours every day to kind of work on this Julie Howton (12:08.992) Mmm. Anik St Martin (12:21.624) Thought project. And I had five days to do it. And so every day I would go for a long, long walk on this old country road for about 15 miles a day. I mean, it was gone for hours. And no phone, no just my running shoes and a bottle of water. And I started paying attention to my thoughts. And what I realized is that every at least a few times per minute. Julie Howton (12:23.777) Yeah. Julie Howton (12:37.922) See you. Julie Howton (12:43.17) Yeah. Anik St Martin (12:51.37) if not every handful of seconds, I was having some sort of self-deprecating thought around my skin. And I had never had these conversations before. I didn't even know that a person could do that. I didn't know. I thought it I I I didn't know. I couldn't believe what I was hearing in my own head. And and I and I started Yes. Julie Howton (12:59.308) Yep. Yeah. Julie Howton (13:13.9) Right. I want to I want to pause you there just for listeners to highlight the the way we all do and we don't typically hear it unless we're paying attention and just like with diet or nutrition or movement or any other lifestyle, you know, pillar. Anik St Martin (13:24.994) Yes, yes. Julie Howton (13:42.691) It's the awareness is always the first step of to change right to create change So I love that you shared that you know for you It was really eye-opening to realize how much of that Anik St Martin (13:47.694) Absolutely. Julie Howton (13:56.853) has been, I call it like it's equivalent of having an open program running on your computer in the background, right? Like, you don't, just because you're not noticing and paying attention and actually realizing doesn't mean it's not working against you. Yeah. Anik St Martin (14:13.216) Exactly. And that's part of it, right? It's this whole like be careful what you say, because you're listening, right? And you're saying you're you're and Yes, and you're using language when you think. And so that and of course there's so much science. I mean, I really explored the science behind that because I just am fascinated by it. And so I started doing so on day one I started just sort of noticing, you know, for hours work walking on this road, shock. Julie Howton (14:18.752) Yeah, right. Language. Julie Howton (14:26.038) Yeah. Julie Howton (14:32.78) Yeah. Anik St Martin (14:40.878) I mean, I still get goosebumps when I think about it, absolutely shocked with the language I was using with myself. And so then the next day I started this sort of project where I would catch the thought, and as much as possible, I would reverse it to the exact opposite, right? And so if the thought is something like, I'm ugly, let's let's say, then the thought became, I'm so beautiful. Even if it felt, you know, far reaching and and I would just try to flip it, flip it, flip it. And I was do I mean, this was like thousands of times on this one walk. And then the following day I started really trying to believe it, right? Mm put some gratitude in my heart, open myself up and truly be grateful and and start to instead fall in love with myself instead of, you know, the opposite. And Julie Howton (15:10.721) Right. Anik St Martin (15:37.964) By day five, and this is in my husband, my parents, we were all witness to it, because my husband came, you know, flew in about five days later. By day five, my skin was completely clear. Anik St Martin (15:55.497) It was an absolute I wanna call it a miracle, but we only call things miracles because we don't believe they can happen, I guess, right? Exactly. And I if I hadn't lived it, I mean if somebody and this is why it's so important to me to have these conversations, because I know how crazy it sounds, but at the same time like Julie Howton (15:56.746) Wow. Julie Howton (16:02.423) We don't understand the mechanisms, right? Julie Howton (16:11.553) Yeah. Well, and here's the thing. You you are special and beautiful and all the things, but we are all created to heal like we all have that power. Everybody's journey may look different. You had this remarkable, you know, a. Anik St Martin (16:21.634) Yes. Absolutely. Yep. Julie Howton (16:33.271) like you had this also this dedicated time and I'm already also filling in the like and you were in nature and you were, you know, there were all these levels. But but the intention and the dedication you put into that process to give it a try is is amazing. and. Anik St Martin (16:42.88) Yes. Anik St Martin (16:50.644) Absolutely. Well Julie Howton (16:54.979) I want to just highlight the that open program, that language, the conversations going on that we're not paying attention to. We may not be conscious of them, but our cells are responding to them all day long. So I love that. I don't think I've ever met anybody that had such an intense. Anik St Martin (17:10.734) Absolutely. Julie Howton (17:17.611) you know, immediate, pretty immediate. But also, to be fair, you really dedicated yourself to this process. Yeah. Anik St Martin (17:25.068) Yes. Yes. And the groundwork, everything else, the physicality of it was already it was t I was, you know, twelve years in the making of of the lifestyle, the diet, the supplements, the sleep the it was literally the missing piece and it was just for me, it was instant. And then I was so I it's almost like I reinvented, you know, I was imagining in my mind that I had been born healthy and with beautiful skin, which I was, we all were. Julie Howton (17:29.185) You were already on point. Yeah. Yeah, was the missing piece. Anik St Martin (17:55.219) and that that this had actually I just sort of reinvented my entire past also. Like this had never been an issue for me. I, you know, I'd always been I I would, you know, take a look. I would try to find one little piece of my skin that was healthy and I would visualize it spreading, right? Visualize myself standing in front of a mirror, spreading all over my body with gratitude and and then telling myself that it had always been that way. And so it just became sort of a one and done. And then Julie Howton (18:12.739) Yeah. Anik St Martin (18:25.474) And then I spent many years not talking about it at all. Because I didn't want to. To me, I was I was so it was so important to me to reinvent myself that I didn't want to visit, I didn't want to revisit that whole conversation because cause I had literally reinvented. Exactly. And I thought to myself, no, I can't, I can't, this can't even be a part of my reality, because it's, you know. Julie Howton (18:45.781) I ride the wave. Anik St Martin (18:54.668) And then I realized, no, this is actually a part of who I am. And this is a conversation that's very important. And I just decided a few years ago I have to share this because now I have trust, right? That if I continue to live the lifestyle and that my body will take care of me, and you're right. The body's default is toward health. That's how we're innately made. And so I think if the proper pieces are in Julie Howton (19:02.125) Yes. Julie Howton (19:09.335) Yeah. Anik St Martin (19:23.136) in place and they're always gonna have to be tended to. Right. No, it's a lifestyle. Yeah. Julie Howton (19:26.947) Right, is no, you're never done. I love that you bring that up. And so from this trust and faith that actually, I would almost say it is like your responsibility. especially as you're already a provider, to share, right? This is why we're here. This is why we have these conversations. And so for me, my first step in sharing was to create the podcast several years ago. And I don't know if I've ever said it on air before, but I... Anik St Martin (19:48.15) Yes. Exactly. Exactly. Julie Howton (20:02.016) was either going to write a book in that moment, you start a book or start the podcast. And I kind of started the podcast as a way to avoid writing the book, which is still coming. It's still it'll be a different book, but it will come. But so from this, you you birthed the baby of a book that can help people that that you may never directly even meet. Tell us a little bit about the book. Anik St Martin (20:27.274) Exactly. Yes, thank you. It's called Skin on Fire, Healing Psoriasis Naturally. And it, you know, encompasses sort of the history, the cause, the very specific causes. And so a lot of people don't realize that with autoimmunity in general, but there's but with psoriasis specifically, there's a lot of information in the literature that points to very specific things. exacerbating and triggering and being the cause of chemically, physically, emotionally, all of these things. And so we take a deep dive to make sure that if somebody's really struggling and they're doing everything they can, that they're not actively taking in something exacerbating their problem. That's very specific. And then I wanted to of course focus on nutrition. There's no choice, involves AIP diet, very specific supplementation, you know. Julie Howton (21:13.346) Yeah. Julie Howton (21:22.914) You Anik St Martin (21:23.848) All of the things and household you know identifying certain things in your household that may be perpetuating the problem as well, and the mindset, which is huge. And so that I, you know, I knew all of these things about mindset, but it forced me to really take a look at the science. And once I found out that there's been science around since the since the 1940s. Julie Howton (21:30.519) Yeah. Julie Howton (21:43.938) Yeah. Julie Howton (21:49.248) Yep. Anik St Martin (21:49.731) on the placebo effect and mindset and I was blown away and then I really felt empowered like, okay, there's actually I I feel confident, you know, instead of just sharing my anecdotal story, there's a lot of science to back it up. Julie Howton (22:05.954) Absolutely. And I have said before on the podcast, if you start working on not a lot of people are going to need more than five intense days for the mindset piece. And so it's never too soon to start working on that. But wherever you are in your healing journey, that has to be. And I think that that's the. Anik St Martin (22:19.074) Yes, yes. Anik St Martin (22:23.682) Yes. Julie Howton (22:32.194) We are complex beings and so there is never one thing, right? It's not just what you eat or just what comes in contact with your skin or just your mindset. It's all of it and that is what I think makes it. overwhelming for people or why often people, know, it's not a matter of they're not trying or they haven't read the book or they haven't, you know, but I do believe because I see it time and time again. If you start with mindset, you know, if you are at the beginning of your journey, all the rest of those things are going to work exponentially better, quicker. Anik St Martin (23:15.256) Absolutely. Julie Howton (23:16.13) And so I love that you have my mind going of like, maybe we can create these like intensives where like a jumpstart. Yeah. Anik St Martin (23:24.886) I know exactly to create and it's only honestly it's a lot of work. It was exhausting, but it was so empowering and very pleasant. I mean, interesting and mind-boggling, but very pl like innate, I just innately and intuitively it just felt so timely. And it it really I could I just knew it was the missing link as soon as I started and then Julie Howton (23:33.825) Yeah. Julie Howton (23:45.985) Yeah. Anik St Martin (23:52.099) You know, you take a look at the science. I mean, there's science to show that the moment you stop thinking a certain thought that you've been that you've had forever, the moment you do that, those synaptic connections in real time, I mean, they've we can see it on on you know high high-intensity microscopes, the neuronal synaptic connections will start to break. And the moment that you create a new thought. Julie Howton (24:08.727) Yeah. Anik St Martin (24:19.05) you form new synaptic connections and so you're literally reinventing yourself on the spot, which is amazing. And when it comes to something like skin, I mean our skin turns over every 21 days. And so if you think about how lit how quickly you can start to to reshape yourself, it's it's just really inspiring. And you're right, touching back on you know, it's not one thing. Julie Howton (24:24.802) Yeah. Anik St Martin (24:47.604) It is overwhelming. But you can start with one thing, right? You can start with one thing. Julie Howton (24:48.418) Sure, it can be. Right, you can't. Yeah, I'm doing all of it. I joke, I you know, have apologized to all of my early clients because, you know, we do know food is important, you know, and is often a trigger and we know the gut needs heal. You know, by the time you have autoimmunity, by the time you, know, whether it's lifelong psoriasis or it's a new symptom, you know, we know that we need to heal the gut. Anik St Martin (25:01.976) Yes. Anik St Martin (25:17.58) Yes. Well Julie Howton (25:21.11) And though I used to just stress, but you know, I used to be like, you have to do this, this, this, you know, and I'm sure in my early clients, I was driving stress up and then we were addressing stress management. You know, I'm like, sorry. They got results, but it didn't have to be quite so unpleasant. yeah. Anik St Martin (25:40.341) Exactly. I think there's a lot to be said for giving yourself some grace. And yes, and also realizing that healing is just about time and consistency. And but that consistency, I mean, I and that's the thing. Exactly, exactly. And well that was the challenge actually in writing the book because I thought to myself, I know so much. I'm just gonna I'm gonna write it all down. And then and I did. Julie Howton (25:45.26) It's my favorite word. Yeah. Julie Howton (25:54.061) Yeah. Not perfection. Anik St Martin (26:09.312) And then in the end, at the end, I'm like, but if you just pick and choose right now, pick and choose the things that you're inspired by, you'll see some change. You know? And then six months from now, when you've got a good handle on those things, then you're naturally gonna be more curious, you know, and you might hang pick up on something else. And because when you read the whole, because I couldn't help but write it all down because it all pertains, but then you get to the end and you're like, Julie Howton (26:18.038) Yeah, absolutely. Julie Howton (26:35.052) Sure. Anik St Martin (26:38.754) That feels like a lot. Now just just pick and choose what you want to start with, you know? Julie Howton (26:40.545) Yeah. I love that because it has to be, it has to be something someone can be successful with, right? So it may look as much as I do firmly believe, you gotta start with mindset. It doesn't mean you have to handle all, know, it's like you said, whatever's resonating with you in that moment that you need to build those successes. Anik St Martin (27:05.07) Exactly. Anik St Martin (27:08.684) Yes. Julie Howton (27:09.258) to create that momentum and the energy to make the next change. And doing it all at once is not realistic. Yeah. Anik St Martin (27:14.038) Exactly. No, it's not. It's not because then you're gonna be placing yourself in that box. And that's yeah, I and you know, when I take a look at this too, I feel like people will naturally be drawn to start with what they're meant to start with. You know, if you're excited if you're excited about, you know, if you don't want to eliminate your legumes, but you're excited about sprouting them. Julie Howton (27:21.793) Yeah. Julie Howton (27:33.954) Right, I love that, yeah. Julie Howton (27:44.396) Right? Anik St Martin (27:45.542) Or you you know, the the there are just so many different options and places to start and so Julie Howton (27:52.341) I love that my staff at the clinic teases me that they're going to get a sign made that says better is better. Because when I was still in the box and my husband who wasn't my husband at the time, you I would hear him tell patients, well, just better, better. And I'm like, no, you don't understand. Has to be perfect or it's not going to work. And now I'm like, he's. Anik St Martin (27:58.958) Yes. Anik St Martin (28:10.914) Yes. Yes. Exactly. And then you're gonna make everybody around you crazy. Julie Howton (28:18.346) Yeah, better is better. And so I love that. It's like, if you you have to have it, here's a better way. Anik St Martin (28:20.725) It is Anik St Martin (28:28.556) Well, and also considering, you know, the hundreds of millions of people now who who are afflicted by autoimmunity, you know, having the conversations not just about how to heal it once you have it, but like with my kids, I knew I had an autoimmune issue, but I also knew that it wasn't necessarily genetics causing it, which I explore as well, how your genes are not your destiny and you don't Julie Howton (28:34.444) Yeah. Julie Howton (28:45.804) Sure. Yeah. Julie Howton (28:52.961) Right. Anik St Martin (28:57.964) You know, a lot of people feel like, Well, my mom had this and now I have this, so Julie Howton (29:03.008) like, well, did you eat the same way and get exposed to the same things and hear those patterns? Yeah. Anik St Martin (29:05.326) Exactly. Exactly. What what's your environment like? Exactly. Exactly. And so being able to also take some, you know, responsibility, and I don't mean responsibility in terms of like, exactly, exactly. A responsibility for where we are right now and the fact that that that healing is available, but that it does have to become a lifestyle. Julie Howton (29:19.518) Empowerment. Yeah. Anik St Martin (29:34.53) That's just not something that we can step away from. And so these conversations, as you know, and that's kind of the whole, you know, my understanding from your podcast is the podcast is really meant for people who are inspired to be, you know, a bit more self-directed and to to to Julie Howton (29:48.94) Yes. Julie Howton (29:52.493) Yeah, and find people like you, like me, you know, the hundreds of other health care providers and professionals that that, you know, you can take even with psoriasis, but you can take somebody's healing journey and it's just not going to resonate with everybody. Anik St Martin (30:13.826) Mm-hmm. Julie Howton (30:14.474) Right? And so that's why I love having these conversations because your story may spark somebody who has already been told all those same things, but it just didn't say, or like you said, as a, I, I tend to, because healing is a process. And I'm always working on my health and I'm human too and we get hit with stressors and things and sometimes we need to reassess and up level in a certain area. And I do find as I work with clients, if there's something that I need to see or do, it tends to come up in my work until I'm like, oh, that's the third time that's come up this week. I better check in and see, you know, and so. Anik St Martin (30:34.199) Mm-hmm. Anik St Martin (30:38.678) Yes. Anik St Martin (30:56.94) Right. Yes. Julie Howton (31:03.374) Even though you knew to tell people that the mindset was definitely a part of health, it doesn't mean we realize like, we're missing that right now. Yeah. Anik St Martin (31:14.134) Exactly. Well, sometimes we're not even aware. I wasn't aware. at all. And so I was like, what do you mean go meditate? Just go sit there and be quiet. Which of course all of it is great advice, but it's like the how's that how's that gonna make a difference? Julie Howton (31:17.793) Yeah. Yeah. Julie Howton (31:29.42) Also, what are you ready for? And sometimes I tease, like even just the word meditates makes some of my tightly wound clients like immediately go into a stress response. So like you said, it's what resonates. Yeah. Anik St Martin (31:36.269) Yes. Anik St Martin (31:43.471) Absolutely. Because because we all exactly and we all imagine that meditation looks like sitting on a rock in your backyard, quiet, you know, still for two hours. And I, you know, there are different there are different types Exactly. Exactly. And there's and that works also, you know, I have a sauna and that's where I can find myself sitting for 20 minutes, which is great. Julie Howton (31:52.564) Right? Julie Howton (31:56.917) If that's your jam, yeah. Julie Howton (32:05.367) Sure. Anik St Martin (32:09.602) But walking meditation is fine too. You know, there are so many different morning, you know, morning affirmations, just a few minutes every morning of getting up and yes. Yep, finding something. Julie Howton (32:11.778) Yeah. Julie Howton (32:16.79) Yeah, well, gratitude. Yeah. Yeah, you mentioned gratitude and neural connections and writing a few gratitudes every day. Man, will that help you rewire? Anik St Martin (32:31.796) And even realizing yes, and even realizing that there was a study done out of Harvard years ago in the 1940s, 1946, I believe it was. The doctor, the PhD doctor doing the study, wanted to explore the effects of placebo. And they did a study on people with IBS. And what they did was this doctor gave the people Julie Howton (32:52.802) you Anik St Martin (33:01.312) They had them separated into two control groups. This actually started the entire double-blind placebo control trial, you know, measure by which we study things now. But the doctor, they had a no-treatment group and they had a group that were given for their IBS a little bottle that said placebo pills. And he basically told the the group of participants that were in the placebo group. That they were taking a sham treatment. And so they were completely aware. And then there was a no treatment group. And three weeks later, the group that was taking the sham treatment reported feeling twice better, twice as better as the group that had no treatment. And so, even knowing, and that's my point, and so even if it feels like you're lying to yourself in the beginning, and it will. Julie Howton (33:56.055) Right, and it will, for sure. Anik St Martin (33:59.607) It still on the spot starts to rewire the brain. It doesn't matter that you don't believe what you're saying, eventually you will believe it. and Julie Howton (34:01.472) It's still working. Yes. Julie Howton (34:09.354) And I take it a step further. I think that when you get to the things that you really have that reaction, like you really don't believe, that's now you're getting to the really good stuff. That's the stuff you really need. So I love that you brought that up. Anik St Martin (34:24.331) Exactly. Absolutely. If yes, and so saying certain things even and then there's this, you know, you take it a step further, and when you say certain things out loud, as opposed to just thanking, you know, thinking them and so creating creating a list of of wishes, basically. And it sounds so and say them out loud and say them out loud every day, trying to bring some gratitude. Julie Howton (34:38.274) Mm-hmm. Julie Howton (34:42.668) Yeah. Julie Howton (34:48.096) Right, and make them be true. Anik St Martin (34:56.492) from a heart, you know, a a heart glowing place. is, you know, it's free, it's easy, it doesn't require much effort, and it really I think can tip the scales, especially when most of the other pieces are in place. Or not. It's also a great place to start, you know. Julie Howton (35:14.4) Yeah, absolutely. So do you, we're gonna pull the curtain back now if you're willing. Do you ever get a flare or experience? Anik St Martin (35:20.066) Yes, yes. Anik St Martin (35:25.726) I will tell you that when I get very stressed, and I mean we all have our moments of extreme stress, I will notice small, tiny I see it, I see, I'll see it coming. Nobody else could ever notice it, but we know our bodies so well. And that's when I know I have to just hyper focus. Hyper focus. Julie Howton (35:39.436) Starting. Julie Howton (35:47.946) Yeah, again, time to up level. Yeah. Anik St Martin (35:51.221) Exactly, you know, zero in on my diet a bit more. Take for me high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, some antioxidants, you know, there's very specific a GI repair supplement that I absolutely swear by that's a mixture of diglycerated licorice, slippery embark, and marshmallow root. is Julie Howton (36:12.588) Thanks Anik St Martin (36:14.4) seems to work really well. And then again, my affirmations and my my sort of my reassurance again that I'm already healed. And typically that takes care of it almost ver I can and I have so much trust in the process. I think that's also a big piece of it. I I will say that I had a flair and this I think is important because it's also not something that I had ever heard before. I have a very bad Instagram page because I'm not Julie Howton (36:19.276) Yeah. Julie Howton (36:30.233) Mindset, Anik St Martin (36:43.084) I'm like a dinosaur when it comes to social media and I don't enjoy posting videos and I should do it more. But I posted a video about this and I got so I think I I I had probably hundreds of thousands of reactions where people were like, Well, duh, didn't you know this? I knew this. Didn't you know this? I didn't know this. a year and a half ago, I had a small tattoo. I it's a small tattoo of two birds. Julie Howton (37:09.058) you silly girl. Anik St Martin (37:12.526) I and it's not as if I'm covered in tattoos, but you know, I had I got a little tattoo to commemorate my mom, and and I was so excited about it. It's dainty. And within about three weeks, I had a little piece of psoriasis right on the tattoo, and I thought, that's a physical injury. You know, that's a it's a physical injury from the scratch, the needle, whatever. And then a couple little Julie Howton (37:21.326) huh. Julie Howton (37:39.009) Mm-hmm. Anik St Martin (37:40.009) spaces on my torso and I thought, what is this? And only because it started on the tattoo did I take a sort of a deep dive into tattoo ink and the toxicity of it and really how very toxic it is. And so after that I I did do a a cellular detox, like a heavy metal detox, and it cleared it up. Julie Howton (37:49.43) Connect the dots? Julie Howton (37:53.537) Yeah. Not so good. No, boy, no. Yeah, it is. Julie Howton (38:03.97) Sure. Yeah. Smart. Okay, but. Anik St Martin (38:09.772) Because I knew how to handle it right away, you know. Julie Howton (38:12.756) Yeah, and I love that and that is so thank you for being so open and vulnerable with us. I just, I feel like it's so important for listeners to understand that we've already said it, but healing is not a straight line. You're never done. We're all human and when we have the tools and we know what works, Anik St Martin (38:19.499) Of course. Julie Howton (38:36.276) when there's an oops, whether it's a tattoo or like you said for you, know, like a certain level of stress is a trigger for me. It's typically it will be if I don't prioritize sleep, you know, if I'm, you know, I can handle one night of not great sleep, but if they start to stack up, I will. Anik St Martin (38:43.746) Yeah. Yeah. Julie Howton (38:59.136) realize inflammation is coming back. But it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing because we have resilience and we know what to do and we can up level and return to a good baseline. And so I really... Anik St Martin (39:06.316) Yes, Anik St Martin (39:14.966) And I also yes. I well I also feel like that's you're that's exactly you're talking about again, going back to giving yourself grace. And and not not, you know, not punishing yourself, not it's more about like, you know, and then feeling empowered. Julie Howton (39:23.575) Yeah. Julie Howton (39:30.381) Well, and yeah, and even with the tattoo, it's the same whether it's a food, whether it's a, does it mean you should never, ever, ever get another tattoo? Well, that's your choice. Now you have more information to weigh, you know? And so I love that. And it is such a great example of like things we just, you got slammed. Anik St Martin (39:44.12) Exactly. Exactly. Anik St Martin (39:53.199) Well, it was so funny because literally hundreds of thousands of people. My son, because I'm a dinosaur about it, my 20 year old son sort of manages my my fairly poorly managed Instagram page. And he was like, Mom, you know, you're getting a lot of hate over this tattoo thing. And I was like, I had no idea. And then I also realized if I had no idea Julie Howton (40:04.513) Yeah. Julie Howton (40:16.898) I just... Anik St Martin (40:19.052) I'm sure that there are so many, which is why I wanted to continue to share that. Like just be aware, you know, that if you don't get a tattoo, you may want to do some sort of detox. Yeah. Yeah. Immediately after. Same thing with general anesthesia. That was another one. You know, if you have to have a surgery here. Mm-hmm. Big one. So Julie Howton (40:19.849) other people, yeah. Julie Howton (40:26.112) Yeah, they're dirty. Really detox. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. Big one. Yeah. So, no, I love that you shared that. And it's true. The ones that are like, you know, I didn't know that. They're not the ones that were commenting. But what you did was you started a conversation. And that's that is how we can get the messages out there. Where can people find the book? Anik St Martin (40:49.697) No Anik St Martin (40:53.588) Exactly. Exactly. Anik St Martin (41:02.152) on Amazon or Barnes and Noble or I'm a really big fan of local bookstores and so it can be ordered through your local bookstore as well. Yes. Julie Howton (41:04.738) Thanks Julie Howton (41:12.03) I love it. And where is, for people that listen on the go, where's the best place to find you? Anik St Martin (41:18.934) I have a website. I do a lot of writing, but I have a website for the book. It's Nick A-N-I-K-Saintmartin.com, and then the book is forward slash skin on fire. And for your listeners, I did upload a list of my favorite affirmations, the ones that I use, along with a it's sort of a poem, but also a a prayer, a Navajo based prayer that I absolutely have used for years. I included it on there. And it's under the resource section on the website and it's just available for download, a PDF. And I think it's wonderful. And it's years of just what has worked for me. Mm-hmm. Julie Howton (41:56.386) amazing. Yeah. thank you so much. we are listeners are leaning in because you've already given so much gold. But what is one step that everyone can take today to start to improve their health? Anik St Martin (42:15.534) Thank you. I think actually when you mentioned sleep earlier, you know, that's one thing. I think, you know, with stress comes lack of sleep. I think starting off with as much of a good night's sleep as possible, if that means going to bed earlier, and waking up the following morning, visualizing, waking up in the morning, imagining that you're now at the end of your day, imagining your ideal day. Julie Howton (42:19.404) Mm-hmm. Anik St Martin (42:43.112) And being grateful for that ideal day that you imagine in your mind's eye has already happened, right? So you're still in bed, but you imagine the day's done, and you bring some gratitude into your heart, and you start to thank everything that happened today, and the way you feel, and the way you look, and the choices you've made, and the relationships you've created, and everything else. with some gratitude around your heart before your feet even hit the ground, I think is a wonderful first step specifically when we're talking about mindset. Julie Howton (43:19.554) Amazing so you're manifesting a wonderful day with grant like with gratitude. I love that you include that Nick thank you so very much for sharing your wisdom. I am so excited to share your book I have already like a running list of people I know that are gonna be receiving a surprise copy And really genuinely appreciate your work Anik St Martin (43:22.666) Exactly. With h yes. With gratitude. Yeah. Anik St Martin (43:40.718) Thank you. Anik St Martin (43:47.448) Thank you so much. You two keep doing such a great job. These are these are extremely important conversations and I'm really grateful to have been part of it. Thank you. Julie Howton (43:58.307) Thank you. For everyone listening, remember you can get the transcripts and show notes by visiting inspiredliving.show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week.