Podcast

Welcome to the Wellness Sherpa Podcast, where we engage with passionate leaders, holistic thinkers, and disruptors who courageously share their personal journey, mission and wisdom with you. Together, we create a safe space to empower you to live your best, most vital life. Thanks for being here. Hello, everyone. Excited to have you here with us today. I am with the lovely Jane Hogan, who is known as the Wellness Engineer. And Jane and I met several years ago at a Mindshare summit and she, she and I had so many things in common. Coming from the corporate world and then finding our path into this new, expansive world of healing. So Jane, it's so awesome to have you here.

Oh, it's wonderful to be here. I love that the Wellness Engineer is meeting the Wellness Sherpa. I know.

I was like, we both have wellness.

Yay. Yes. Yes. I'm so happy to be here. Thanks so much for inviting me.

Yeah. I'm just so grateful. So I would love to hear more about your story. How did you go from Jane Hogan to Jane Hogan, the Wellness Engineer? What prompted it and what did you learn from that experience?

Well, I, I started off well. I became an engineer because I was a good daughter and my father wanted me to be an engineer and I, I did like engineering and things were going along well and I was actually coming to the end of my career just about, you know, the freedom years were just a few years away. My husband was retiring and my. Our kids were all grown up, so we had the empty nest and. But then I had a really stressful year. It began with my mother dying suddenly and she was like my closest friend and my biggest supporter and we had no idea. It was just, it was sudden. I was talking to her, she was gone. And it started off besides being in grief, I was also dealing with the contents of my parents house. They had lived in the house for 50 years and they were collectors, they travel a lot. They had collections of all kinds of things. I had all of that to deal with with two older siblings, one younger sibling. And if anyone has ever been in that situation, you know, it can be tense. It can be tense. So I had a very tense year. Grief and stress. Why I wasn't sleeping. And so when it came round to about a year later, I, I was suddenly like just my body started saying no and I just started getting this joint pain all around my body. It would migrate from like all over the place one day of being my left shoulder and next day be the right elbow. And I felt like someone had a voodoo doll and was sticking pins in Me, and I didn't know what it was, but I was pretty sure it was related to the stress because, you know, it was so obvious and clear. And so my doctor, we didn't. Again, we didn't know what it was. But she said, you know, sometimes things you eat can cause joint pain. And I thought that was ridiculous. It was. That was 2016, and I think is more known now. But I didn't know that then. So I started. I started down this whole journey of, you know, food is medicine, but along the way discovered there's a whole lot more medicine as well. And I forgot to say too, that like when I still didn't know what any. Anything was, but I was in this awful pain, I thought, all I need is to have a little bit of time off and I'll be fine. I got my mother's house sold. The contents were dealt with, and I.

Thought I just need to rest. But I got worse.

And I remember waking up one morning, my husband had gone to work, and I was just lying in bed and.

I was like, this pain is still here.

I've been resting. The stress is over. What? I'm just. If this is the way my life is going to be, I'm just ready to quit. I'm ready to be done. I. I couldn't see how the freedom years were going to be free. I felt like I was going to be a burden on everyone. And I was in pain. And right after I had that thought, I heard a voice. It was in my head, but it wasn't my voice. And that voice said, if this is the way you're. I'm sorry. The voice said, this is not how your life is going to turn out. You're going to figure this out and you're going to teach other people. Yeah, I know. I. I wiped my tears and I was. I was still in pain. But I had this. From that moment on, I had this deep inner knowing that I was going to figure it out. And so that it just. It just helped me keep going. And I tried everything. It took me a while, but I did eventually figure it out. Decided I was not going to stay in my engineering career because I had something to teach. And so that's how I became the wellness engineer.

That's beautiful. And I have two questions for you. So you said that you had this awareness, this knowing of the pain being connected to stress. Tell us more a little bit about that. Because, you know, I know when I went through my health crisis, my body was screaming at me and I ignored, ignored Delete Delete.

Right.

I just kept going and driving through. What was it in you that took that pause to say, wait a minute, this is not, you know, some random thing. There's more purpose happening here?

Yeah, I don't think I did see that in the beginning. I just. I just knew I wasn't feeling well. But, you know, the pain. The pain, really, when that happens, it's. It calls your attention. Right. Because pain is really how our body protects us. And so I had been in this state where I. My body just said, it's time for protection. So I think I. I knew that I'd always been healthy and strong. Nothing wrong with me. I didn't have. I didn't have any allergies. I didn't have, you know, anything looking back, I did have. You know, my neck would get sore. Sometimes my shoulders go to the chiropractor. But it always seemed like there was a reason for it. But it was just such. So clear that I was fine and then I wasn't fine, that it had to be related to stress. And I kept on thinking, if stress turned this on, I should be able to turn it off.

Yes. Yeah. I mean, that's the intelligence of our bodies. Right. Our bodies are giving us a sign, and then when we pay attention, our bodies can relax because they know, hey, you've got it. I don't have to keep, you know, sending this signal out. And what was it in you, Jane? The second question was, you heard that voice. What was it in you that knew without a shadow of a doubt that your life was going to be okay and that you were going to move in another direction? What caused you to trust that voice?

It was so clear. It was just so clear that there's. And I knew it wasn't my voice. I. That is not where I was at that moment. I was rock bottom. And so I knew that that wasn't my voice saying that. And so I. I had. I've always. I've always been spiritual, you know, even though I'm an engineer. I trained to do Reiki about 20 years earlier. I'd always been interested in, you know, the supernatural. And so I always had this. This interest. And so. And I also felt very spiritually connected to my mother after she passed as well. Maybe that voice was hers. I. It felt like a male voice, though. But I just. Maybe it was that even though it was a year after she passed, maybe the veil was still a little thin, you know, that I felt very connected to her, and I still feel her. Her presence all the Time. And so it just made me not doubt it. I just couldn't. I think it's kind of like someone. You know, you hear people have near death experiences and they're never the same afterwards. They just know. And that's how I felt.

I just knew.

And then you followed through with it.

Yeah, but I, you know, I wasn't. It was a very circuitous path. Yeah.

So.

So let's talk about that. So, yeah, you get this voice, you get this awareness. So how did you go from engineer to the wellness engineer?

Well, I started, as I mentioned, my doctor said, you know, food. So that. I think that was about a week after I heard this voice. And so I was like, okay, food's the answer. Food is medicine. And I started down this whole path of food. I was eliminating everything. And I was very focused on food, which is kind of. Not very. I mean, it is kind of spiritual, but not really. I was very much in physical, and I developed a lot of food fear. Every time I had a pain, it'd be like I ate something that. That, you know, caused inflammation. And then I was dealing with. I started seeing a naturopathic doctor and was diagnosed with sibo, which is small intestine bacterial overgrowth. So I was like, oh, okay. I just need to get that cleared up. And that took about nine months to clear up, using herbal remedies and so on. But I still wasn't. I was a lot better, but I wasn't 100% better. So I knew there was still something I was missing. And then I started to kind of dive into more of a spiritual kind of route. I remember hearing or must. Maybe it was Byron.

Katie.

Katie. That said, everything is happening for you, not to you. So I was like, this is for me, and there's something deeper for me to learn. And. And what I learned was that I really had it. The stress that I experienced in that year before my mother died was a lot of stress, but I had been carrying stress my whole life. Feelings of not feeling good enough that went way back to childhood. And I didn't have major trauma, mild trauma, I would say, yet it's not really the event. It's how our minds deal with the event. The events. So I had a.

Let me just get clarification there, Jane. It's our minds and our bodies, right? Our bodies are responding as well.

Yes, yes. Because our mind runs our body. Our mind creates our body.

Right.

The power of the mind is huge, as you know. And so whatever's going on in our mind is reflected in our body. And so yeah, this, I just had mild trauma. You know, I had an older sibling that teased me a lot. And in my mind I turned that into, I wasn't worthy, I didn't have a voice. In fact, I stuttered when I was little. And so I realized that I hadn't really dealt with that. I hadn't really forgiven my brother for that. And you know, really it all came up again in this year after my mother died. And I love my brother, like it's totally fine now. I see. I understand that, you know, hurt people, hurt people, nothing to do with me. So it was my responsibility to, to deal with this and, and release the feelings that I had. And so I did a lot of work around that. And anyway, along the way I, my naturopath mentioned that I was like, I really want to dive in and learn more about functional medicine. And she told me about the functional medicine coaching Academy program, which I thought was just right because at that point I was like 52 years old and I'm like, I'm not going back to.

School for many years.

But a one year program sounded pretty good. And I could also learn a bit more about functional medicine. But my favorite part was every month there was a mind body lesson and that I knew that's where I wanted to be in the mind body medicine. And so when I finished the coaching program, I decided I, I, this was my calling, of course, which I knew from the voice I wasn't going to fulfill myself in my engineering job. I couldn't talk about what I wanted to talk about there. And of course your job consumes a lot of your hours. So I just decided I'm going to just leave and, and then do what my, my soul called me to do.

What gave you the courage to leave?

I think I knew I had to for my health because I realized that in, even though I love the job that I had, I was teaching engineering at a college. I mean, there was a lot of things to love. We had 54 vacation days a year and I loved teaching, but there was a lot around that. You know, you're in a structure, you're, there's just so many rules. And also the, the subject matter. I was teaching structural design, which, you know, I can get excited about structural design, but I wasn't changing lives. And I really felt like I was meant to change lives. And also I've been, I've been so interested in numerology for so many years and I knew from my numerology that I was meant to be a teacher. And I knew, like, I've got a whole bunch of twos and 22s and 33s in my numerology chart. And I, I was just like, I am meant to do something else, not this.

To have a much bigger impact.

Yeah, exactly. So that's what I decided to do.

And that's how.

That's why I'm talking to you today. Isn't that wonderful?

That's amazing. So how, how. What have you done since then? So you now have the Wellness Engineer. Tell me a little bit about the Wellness Engineer, what your purpose is. I love that you have such clarity. I love that you listen to that voice. Because I think a lot of people don't. They get that voice and they go, what? What was that? Okay, that was weird, right? They judge it. And I love the fact that you listen to it. And then you took action as a result and you started, basically started your life over.

Yeah, yeah, I did. I kept my husband, which is good.

He'll agree with that. Yes, she kept me.

And he's a great supporter of everything that I do. So he's. He's absolutely wonderful. Yeah. So I went since, since I finished. So I started. Okay, I'm just gonna like, hang up my, you know, hang up my slate. And I just started doing one on one coaching and was just like word of mouth that people would, you know, a friend who knew what I'd gone through referred her sister and that, you know, it was just like that in the beginning. And I was doing one on one coach, loving it and really seeing transformations in people and. And then along the way, I decided I wanted to have. I wanted to have a more impact on a bigger group of people. So I decided to start a membership. And that's what I've been doing mostly for the last number of years. And I have some courses and things like that. But I love my Living Pain Free membership. It's like a beautiful group of people. And so I, yeah, I do help people. Not just rheumatoid arthritis. I kind of started with that, but then I would get people coming to me with autoimmune conditions and then people coming to me with all kinds of different kinds of pain. So now I'm sort of all chronic pain. And what I've learned, and I keep studying, Jan, like, as I, as I keep learning, I'm looking at the research, I've interviewed now. I've got a podcast as well, Wellness by Design, which you've been on. And I've hosted a couple of summits. I've at this point interviewed hundreds of experts in pain. And I have interviewed or I've, you know, I've written and read, gosh, I don't know how many books, and I would say hundreds of books and, and scientific research papers. And there's such a connection between the mind and the nervous system and what we're. What's expressing physically. And, you know, even though I help people with chronic pain, this really applies to any kind of physical thing. So I really now help people calm their nervous system. And I mean, there's a whole spiritual connection with that too. But I, but people can really relate to. Right. If I can calm, feel, feel calm, calm my nervous system, every single system in your body will work better. And then it allows your body to heal, because your body cannot heal if it's dis. If it's. If it's in a dysregulated state. And so it's just so foundational. So that's what I love. Like, you cannot go wrong with calming the nervous system. So I love it.

I, I love that you're bringing that up because I have found the same thing, that if your nervous system's on lockdown, you can throw every remedy on the planet at somebody and their body won't accept it because it's not fight or flight. Right. And I think evolved as a species to be in constant fight or flight. So I love that you're bringing attention to this because it's. It requires intention.

Yes, right.

It requires intention to slow down. And I'm sure you have a lot of tools in your toolkit, so would you like to share one of those?

I do have a lot of tools, and in fact, I call it my toolbox. So I got a lot of tools. And it's also like you talked about intention. It's intention, but it's also like some of it is just. It's just installing new habits, right? New habits of thinking. And then when you install new habits of thinking, then you actually change your behaviors as well. So there's a whole lot of different things going on when we regulate the nervous system. And I. And just to come back to how foundational it is, I. Even though I started with food, and I did have some big shifts with food, I. I might. I kept my nervous system dysregulated because I had all that fear. So it's not actually where I recommend starting now. I start with the nervous system because if you're feeling calm, you can digest your food better, you can absorb nutrients better. When we, when our nervous System is dysregulated. The three systems to go offline first are digestion hormonal systems and the immune system. So we, we need to get those working for us and just give our body the opportunity to let it do its wisdom. Because actually all healing is self healing.

Yes.

So, yeah, it's, it's a, it's just a wonderful place to start. So, yeah, some, some different tools. So I, I have over the years put my process together in a six step, six step blueprint, I call it. Yeah, I like to use engineering terms. Right. And I was a design engineer, so I call it the design blueprint. So the, the word design stands for the six steps and it's an acronym for desire, explore, surrender, integrate, generate, navigate. And so the first step is desire. So the first thing I get people to do is get a very clear vision of their healed self doing something that, that they would love to do. So they're not, not even really thinking about my healed body. It's like, what's something you'd love to do that you can't do now? And I get them to visualize it really clearly and then tune into the feel. Feeling in the body, really, and practice that. Because I know you've done a lot of work with Joe Dispenza and he talks about, teach your body what it feels like to have what you want before you have it. You have to become that person first before you have it. And, and the problem with that, of course I always hear when people are in pain is like, how do I forget about the pain when I'm in the pain? You just have to practice. You have to do it. Because if you only think about the pain will keep creating more pain. Because that's the vibration you're in.

That's what you're amplifying by thinking you're amplifying. Yes.

That's what every single cell in your body is listening to. That's what keeps you in a state of disregulation. So we have to practice these tools. So, you know, it's a great. I, I'm so happy that I became a coach, because that's what a coach does. Right. Helps people with behavior change. So that's what I do. But if you, if you'd like to do a little experience. Experience. I can lead you.

That would be lovely. Yes.

Okay. All right. So, Jen, usually what I do when I'm doing this with a group of people is I will get them to rate their pain a lot because a lot of people have physical pain. The Pain that they're experiencing out of 10. So 0 was no pain at all. 10 is the worst pain that you can imagine. And it's just a subjective number. But if you. You can also use this for emotional pain as well so you can think of a situation that's maybe been bothering you lately and so you can apply it that way as well. Okay. Because I know you probably don't have physical pain because you're such a beautiful, healthy woman now, but I just lost my mother.

Thank you.

I just lost my mother end of November. So for sure, when you said emotional pain, I said, there it is.

Okay. All right, so let's. Before we start, let's just get a reading on what that emotional pain is. Out of ten.

I would say it's an eight.

An eight. Okay. All right, so let's. So what I would do for people that have. Have pain is I would say let's imagine before we start, let's just kind of get an idea in your head of something that you would do if you weren't in that pain. So I don't know for you what that might be. I'm thinking with your mom, maybe you might be remembering a time, a spirit, but some special moment that you have with your mother.

Yes.

Okay. All right, so let's get nice and relaxed now. So, okay, just let your hands relax in your lap. You can have palms up or palms down, whatever feels comfortable for you. And then when you're ready, you can close your eyes. Or if. I know some people don't want to close their eyes, so you can just have a downward cast. But I think this is better if.

You do have your eyes closed. Closed.

Okay.

So just notice. Now just notice your breathing. You don't need to change anything.

Just notice it.

And then notice the support that's beneath you.

So maybe you can notice where you're touching the chair. And notice your hands and how they're supported. Always support there. And notice that there's always a breath there for you. There's always air. And just notice the rise and fall in your body. Or maybe you might notice the sound of your breath, Or maybe the feel as the air goes through the nostrils. And notice that feels good. We're comfortable and fully supported here.

And now I'd like you to think.

About this situation that we talked about before. So it might be a time when you didn't have pain, or it might be something in the future. So it could be in the past, it could be in the future, but imagine yourself now in this place.

Doing.

This thing that feels so wonderful and free. And notice where you are. Are you indoors or are you outdoors? And notice what's around you. What are the objects in the room? Or if you're outdoors, what are the objects that are around you? There may be some natural ones or maybe man made ones. Just notice. Notice what you're standing or sitting on. Notice what you're wearing. And notice who's with you. Or maybe you're alone. Can you tell what colors you see? You see the colors and notice the colors, the intensity of them. And what sounds are in your environment. Are there sounds of nature? Is there music? Are there people talking? Maybe it's the sound of your own breath. Whatever it is, just notice the sounds. And notice if you feel anything on your skin, is there a sense of warmth or coolness? Is there a breeze? Is there someone touching you?

Maybe you notice smells.

There might be a fragrance in the air and maybe not. So then just notice that as well. Maybe there's a taste in your mouth and maybe you don't notice anything in your mouth and. And that's okay too.

And notice the feeling. So can you put a word on.

The feeling that you're feeling?

Is it.

An emotion of love or joy or peace, excitement, exhilaration? What is that emotion?

Find the word.

Now just go with the first thing that comes to your mind. And now tune into your body and notice where you're feeling that emotion. That emotion creates a feeling in the body. So notice where you're feeling. It could be in your throat or your heart somewhere lower down. And if you're not sure, just pick a spot.

And now tuning into your breath again.

Imagine that you're inhaling into that spot where you're feeling that feeling. And as you inhale, that feeling gets bigger. Just imagine that with each inhale it's getting bigger, doubling in size. And on the next inhale, it doubles in size again. And that feeling is doubling in size again. Maybe it's getting so big it's even outside your body now. And maybe at some point when it doubles, it can even fill up the room that you're in. This beautiful feeling is so big. Just feel that for a moment. And then we want to call that feeling back to where you first felt it. So all it back, say this is for me. Call that feeling back and pull it into a tiny point where it first started.

You can imagine that it's a little.

Light or a dot of color and you tuck it in. Now this little feeling, this dot of this feeling is always tucked in Inside you. And anytime you want, you can go back to it.

And with every inhale, let it get.

As big as you want again, and then you can pull it back in. Anytime you want, it's always there. You've created this, and it's always there. Your body knows how to feel this feeling, and it's there whenever you want it. Beautiful.

Yeah. All right, Audience with. Following along. I'd like to share.

Yes.

I'd like to know, what's your. What's that rating out of 10 now?

Oh, zero. I mean, zero pain.

Wow. Yeah. I'd love to hear your experience if you want to share it.

Sure. So Saturday we went dress shopping. My daughter's getting married, so we went thrift shopping for her. And I think the reason I was an 8, emotionally is just missing my mother and knowing she won't be there, because that was one thing that was really important to her. She kept saying, I'm going to be at your wedding. And so that's, you know, that's where the sadness is, the grief. And doing that exercise. Gosh, I'm getting emotional doing that exercise. Literally right before my mom died, she was in a wheelchair, and I played some music, and we were going on a walk, and she was literally moving her arms like she was dancing. And I had that image of her having that energy in my daughter's wedding. And I just felt this immense joy, you know, being able to have all this time with her, that she was close by and knowing that she will be there in spirit, you know, watching over. And it's interesting because my daughter chose the color blue, and my mother loved butterflies. And so for her service, I bought this beautiful blue shawl that had butterflies embroidered on it. And I saw myself wearing that at the wedding with my blue dress. So I just had, like, this immense joy. And all of that sadness just like in grief just kind of just disappeared.

Oh, Jen, I love that. And that. Such beautiful imagery, too, with the butterflies and all that. And so now you'll have this feeling, right? That.

Yeah.

And that's sort of how I feel with my mother, too, that, you know, I feel like I carry her around with me. And because we can. We can choose to have these feelings, you know, like our thoughts are always a choice. Right now there are times when you'll want to let grief go as well. And so we feel it. We just let ourselves feel it, but we don't want to have to carry it around.

Yeah, we want to carry the joy.

Exactly, Exactly. I love that it went from an E to A zero for you.

That's beautiful.

Yeah, literally in five minutes. That was beautiful. You have a very soothing, calming voice too.

Ah, thank you. Thank you. I. That's what I hear people say.

So, so is that something that you do, like in your membership and.

Yeah.

Okay, so tell us a little bit more about your membership and where the audience can find you to check you out and participate.

Yeah, I do, I do a lot of. I have a lot of guide. I have a new guided meditation every month and I do a lot of these guided things and then the Toolbox has things like this exercise and, and other ones. But eventually I want people to also be able to do this themselves. Right. So they, they don't need to like, okay, I gotta tune in to right into that. So I want the. I, you know, I want to put myself out of a job and empower people. That's my, my goal. So, yeah, the, the membership is called Living Pain Free and people can find it on my website. It's thewellnessengineer.com so they can just go there and into programs and see it there. And if they're curious about it, they can just send me an email. Janeth wellnessengineer.com I'm happy to answer any questions. And it's a beautiful, beautiful community of people I love. They, they support each other. I do a couple of group coaching calls every month.

I have a wellness workshop every month.

And I have these tools, the Toolbox, and I have monthly lessons and themes as well. So it's a really, I don't know, beautiful package of helping people have that awareness so they don't slip into the old patterns. Because it's the old patterns that keep. Got the nervous system dysregulated that we want to break out of so that the nervous system can get back to that beautiful state of regulation so the body can heal naturally.

Well, I just adore you. I think you're a beautiful soul. And thank you so much for joining me today and for this beautiful experience. I encourage everybody who's been listening to, to do it, do it along and, and you'll experience a lot of freedom.

Yes. And if there's, if there's a way to leave comments, I'd love to hear what was your pain before and afterwards. It's always, yeah. So empowering to know that you can do this yourself.

Yes.

Thank you so much, Jane.

Thank you, Jen. I'm so happy to be your guest today.

Me too.