EP 195 WTH?!?: Embracing Paradise Today with Mahwish Syed

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Welcome back, everybody. Dr. Greg Eckel. And our title of the show today is straddling the ancient and the modern. Your personal paradise and why it matters. My guest is Mawish Syed. She's an award winning fashion and interior designer, celebrated author, cancer survivor, survivor and devoted mother. Her creations have adorned bodies and homes for over two decades. She's fostered spaces that nurture and heal as well. Featured in distinguished publications like the New York Times, Architectural Digest, Elle Decor and Hampton's Cottages and Gardens. Her designs transcend boundaries. Her book Purgatory to Paradise unveils her triumphant cancer journey, showcasing how design became her healing, sanct, sanctuary. Committed to empowering others, she advocates for personal paradises, affirming that genuine beauty is immediate and attainable for all. Welcome aboard.

Thank you so much for having me.

You are very welcome. And I, I'm excited for this one. You know, it has been a, a goal of mine in my centers that what we look at and what we're surrounded with is actually part of the healing process. And it sounds like you've come to that honestly with your own cancer journey. I'm wondering, so your book, Purgatory to Paradise, it delves into your cancer journey and the intersection with design. How did you bring this together? What was that pivotal moment to inspire this?

Oh, my gosh. I would say what lit a fire in me was truly my cancer treatment and going through and dancing the tango with Hades as I wrote. So the idea of the ancient and the modern always played out in my designs anyway. But the mythological aspect and the kind of it transcends the idea of our body just being a mechanical thing, but going into the quantum mechanics of it and basically the energetics of healing and what that looks like. And what I realized was that, you know, most cancers are not genetic. They are epigenetic, which means that they are the result of your environment and your lifestyle. So once I started really looking with curiosity at my diagnosis and investigating about what could have caused this, I started looking around my space and realizing that we are in a living ecosystem, right? We, our body is an intelligent community of cells, and that intelligent community interacts with your environment, right? And it's, it's the tango. And that we are very much empowered and have agency because that means that if we change our environment and our lifestyle, we can change our health.

You know, there's this saying in Chinese medicine. You are in the universe, the universe is in you. And to have that understanding, more of a unity principle of we're just pretending to be separate in this Reality, having that play out. How did it play out in your world? I mean, you come from the arts world, you know, you're a designer. Like, that kind of is like, okay, well, this was part of your understanding of the way things work. But did, did you have tangible effects of changing something in your environment that then played out health wise?

Oh, my God. So, so much. First of all, I just want to parse out this common approach to the word beauty. Okay. I am an image maker. I've been an image maker in New York City for my entire career. And I feel like when we say the word beauty and something's beautiful, we think of the aesthetics of it just on the surface of things. And what we're talking about here is cellular alignment, divine cellular alignment. To me, that is real beauty from the inside out. And I think that's really important to say because there's a lot of new studies with neuro aesthetics about how art affects your nervous system. And that's true, and beauty does too. But I'm talking on a completely cellular and also a spiritual level. There is that dance, and I believe, you know, quoting Bruce Lipton, like the biology of belief, we have the ability to shift that with our mindset, with our approach. And I think it's important because designing spaces, it's literally my sandbox. Greg. I love it. I love it so much because I'm not only able to create something new and different, but sometimes you're not able to see what you really want and then someone else is able to draw that out of you.

Yeah.

And oftentimes we don't give ourselves permission for the things that we desire. That is why my book is called Purgatory to Paradise, because I was living a life by default. I was living. I was in the waiting room of life, basically waiting. Say, for example, this notion of, oh, I'll feel beautiful after treatment is over, or I'll enjoy this house once I get enough money to do that renovation, whatever it is, we kind of put things on, on hold. And what I really want to emphasize here, and this is the whole tenet of my book and my life mission, is to create that paradise for you today. What can you do today? What are the protocols that you can practice today that would help you align with that paradise, whether that's your home or internally too, in that divine state of balance.

That's lovely. So that that component of inspiration, of why, number one, why do we limit ourselves that way? What do you see with people working with people?

Oh, my God. I think it's Our upbringing. You know, it's so weird how much inner child work I do with my clients, like, really trying to figure out. And this is what my book talks about. That shadow side, that part of us that we put away or we think we've outgrown or we should out that, you know, we're adulting now. We should want that beige, even though it's awful and you hate it and it's like, wait, everyone else has it. You know, it's kind of like it's, you know, mature. And so we kind of have these false and externalized extrinsic definitions of what's important and what's valuable to us. And I think working with my clients, I'm always. I'm digging. I'm like an archeologist. I'm digging in those layers, those strata of your being, and like, okay, let's find out what you really love when you were 8 years old and why that stopped. You know, let's figure out what really got you passionate. What were you into? What was your favorite superhero and why, you know what I'm saying? And how that affects your design choices today.

Sure. Well, so how going forward then, in the future, how do you envision your work with merging the design and healing and accessibility for everyone?

Well, I'm living this. So when I was going through cancer treatment, I started really practicing what I preached. I was my own guinea pig. And I'm talking, like, with nutrition, with rituals of reverence. And I'll give you an example. So while I was going through chemo, I couldn't eat that much. Things smelled different. And I remember my mom flew in and she was making all these wonderful Pakistani dishes, my favorite dishes from childhood. And I couldn't even eat them. They were too spicy, which is crazy. And so even if I had a sliced banana, I would lay it out on my best dishes. I would bring my best silver silverware down using my cloth napkins. I would decorate my table with rose petals or decorate my. My banana with pansies from the garden and create this ritual, light a candle and celebrate what I could imbibe, right? So I was able to create that beautiful experience in whatever humble moment that was for me, right? And create that beauty in that moment. I think that that's really important to emphasize. So then I started doing workshops at the hospitals with other cancer survivors. And I remember I had someone ask me, well, you know, you deal with a 1 percenters. How can I afford you? What can I. What can I do today? And I went, oh, my God, have I got something for you. Try this. This and this. So I started looking at the world through your senses, your five senses. What can you smell today? What can you taste today? What can you touch against your skin today? And so on and so forth. And listening to beautiful music. Like when I played 90s EDM in my radiation room. So like, basically creating, like wonderful neural. Neural pathways right in that moment of despair, in that moment of terror. Especially then. And I think it's really important to emphasize. We think that we, again, have to wait until we heal in order to feel good. I believe that we can design ways to feel good in order to heal.

Well, you know, that gives me chills. And I think it's spot on. Is you've gotta. You know, I think it's always when you're putting out that future, it's all of those things that you're describing is all about how to become. How to have deep presence. And in the eternal present now, which is all we ever have. And so all of those things are set up to bring somebody to now to. What do you smell? What do you taste? What are you in your body? What does your skin, you know, feel like? What does that feel like on your body? All of those. Like the rose petals, the. The lights, the candles, the. The ceremony of the feeding of the soul. Not just with the food, but of the whole scene. I think we need more and more of this. So it's really. I'm really pleased. And why I wanted to have you on what the health. Because this whole interplay of it. We aren't mechanistic. It's not mechanistic. It's not just the apparatus. There's something else going on here. And what you're bringing literally to the table is that honoring and celebrating and almost exalting the. The spirit. Which. Do you talk of spirituality in this or. I mean, how it seems like it just comes up naturally with you. So my guess is yes.

Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of poetry there. That's why we, you know, we're titling this the ancient and the modern and straddling the two. Because I think. Think about it this way. And I'm using science here. We are ancient beings. Our biology is ancient. Right. For thousands of years, we have functioned in relationship to the sun. Right. Why did I go get my certification and applied quantum biology as an interior designer? This is why. Because I'm interested in that ancient part of us. And how to design a space that is in alignment with our ancientness. With. With our immortality. So to Speak. And I have meditations in my program for, you know, people undergoing cancer while you're going through chemo, while you're going through radiation to do the visualizations that I did. So instead of, for examp, you know, feeling like the chemo was killing cells, instead I researched the drug that I was taking, which was a taxol. Taxotere based drug, which is derived from the Pacific yew tree, Taxis brevifolia. So then I labotany. So I ended up thinking about that and researching how that it was venerated as a tree of immortality by the druids and in Greek mythology. And I thought, oh my God, this is, is fabulous. So I'm imagining as I'm being infused with this immortal fire that is illuminating me from the inside out. Now imagine that versus someone who's like, oh my God, I'm gonna die. Yeah.

You know, and this idea, toxin to kill cells. Right, right. So that's the elixir of longevity. That's awesome. Yeah.

So, so I turned it, I pivoted, I turned it on its head. And frankly it, it is in alignment with that spirituality because we are not machines. You know, this mechanical viewpoint of like, do this, shift this, shift this gear, change this around and then you'll have this result. We are a complex system of intelligent life that knows and seeks homeostasis at all times. Right. I was just basically helping to get my body to that state of homeostasis and kind of getting out of my own way, so to speak. Right. Because oftentimes our fear is what blocks us.

That this component of bringing that. The quantum, you study quantum biology and bringing that into the design world. And how kind of your, how does that inform your approach to creating healing environments? You know, this is really necessary for modern day living. Bringing back the reverence for, I mean, the miracle that any of us are actually here and able to one, communicate on the interwebs, but two, to even be born into this reality. And so to have a you in, in your approach with design and really bringing this to the forefront, I really, I'll give you a red pom pom moment of the show. I love that, I love that.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, I love that. So I. This is hilarious because we were meant to meet. I really, truly believe that when you're a healer and you want to help people, you can't help but bring in and be a unifier. Right. In that aspect. So in terms of answering your question on the circadian level. Oh my God, have I got tips for you. One simple one right off the bat is, did you know that, you know, everyone's talking about toxic blue light, but I want to talk about the placement of that light in your room at night, and here's why. So your body, which is, you know, you're a light being. We have photoreceptors all over our skin, not just our eyes. So we register and communicate with the light levels in our space. Right now at night, when you turn on that lonely dome ceiling light above your floor, above your head, you're basically giving your body a signal that it's high noon. Because if you think about the placement of the sun at that time of day, then your light placement indoors should also mimic that. I'm talking about the location and proximity of that light to you. So at night, if the sun is at, you know, 10% or 15% off the horizon, think of having table lamps and turn off that overhead light. That's my biggest pet peeve as a designer. First of all, because it's so unattractive to be lit from the top. But also think of candlelight. Think of things that mimic that light, that ambient light. Think of your most romantic hotel, like restaurant. Is it like, like a cafeteria style, institutional bright light? No. Yeah, it's freaking. Damn. It's. It's dim for a reason. It creates that intimacy. And basically, if you're trying to get yourself into a parasympathetic state and a rest and relaxation state, before you go to sleep, you want to dim your lights down and have. I love candles. Candles are great because fire is the only source of natural infrared light other than the. Yeah, everyone's talking about red light, red light, red light. I'm old school. Talk about ancient. What did, what did your great grandparents do? What did, what did your ancestors do? I'm following that.

Yeah, lovely. I love it. So with, so where, where do you take this from? Here? You're, you've got, you're doing lectures in the hospital with cancer survivors or support groups. What, what do you bring into that space for folks? Because it can be quite overwhelming and depressing as well.

You know, people say that, but I never feel depressed. I'm always enhanced when I speak to peop. You know, everyone going through cancer. The reason why is because I'm an initiate. I'm, I'm. It's a sisterhooder and a brotherhood, you know? Yeah, yeah, it's not that at all. As a matter of fact, I did an in person meditation, a beauty meditation with women who were going through active treatment, ovarian and breast cancer. And it was the most amazing night ever. And we were all hugging and, you know, hugging each other afterwards. And it's just about connecting to that goddess in each and every single one of us. And where do I go from there? I have courses that are for patients and providers. So if you're looking for, as a doctor, if you're looking to create a beautiful circadian aligned space and to help your patients have a great experience and for you to have a great. I have protocols for that. I have protocols for people going through active treatment. And this is all based on what I have done from a design perspective. It's all grounded in science, by the way, and what I do, and this is the fun part, is I work with people. You know, if you're interested, I have worked with people across the country to consult and basically create that very specific thing for them. And this is why I love what I do. Because it's. It's one thing to do, you know, these great huge projects that take years. And what cancer has taught me, Greg, is I don't want to wait. I don't want to gatekeep this stuff. I want to be able to have everyone have access to their beauty now. And that's what Purgatory to Paradise is all about. I think you'd really enjoy this book, by the way, because I break down. I break down the symbol of the snake of the staff of Asclepius as well.

Nice. Awesome. Yeah. So really, it truly is the bridging of the worlds and that straddling of the ancient and the modern is. It's a perfectly named Talk Today. Well, in closing, I mean, I think we could talk for days, but I'm wondering, any last parting messages you would like to share?

I would love to tell your listeners to claim your paradise today. Do not wait if something strikes you. If you're walking past a flower and you've never seen that color before, just grab it. If it's a candle that your aunt gave you and you're holding on to light it today, just don't hoard on to these precious things, because the real value is in your pleasure. Wow.

Hear, hear. Well, thank you so much you all. You got to give us a thumbs up on that show and put down in your comments what you're taking out of this. I. I love that the senses in creating your paradise today. I mean, it is a very profound message. We don't know how long we're on the planet and to be able to spend this time with you was a little bit of heaven. So thank you so much.

Oh, likewise, likewise. Such a pleasure.

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