Sharon Sayler: The Autoimmune Hour
Sharon Sayler is a bestselling author, professional speaker, and well-being coach. She is also the host of the #1 show on OMTimes Radio and a favorite YouTube channel called ‘The Autoimmune Hour: Inspiring hope and help for those with autoimmune conditions”.
An Interview with Sharon Sayler, host of The Autoimmune Hour
Getting to know Sharon Sayler, MBA, PCC – An OMTimes Influencer
Coming from her own experience dealing with a rare medical condition she created The Autoimmune Show to support you too, to become an informed, and courageous self-advocate as you turn life transitions into transformations. She has made it her mission to bring together top experts and those thriving with autoimmune to bring you the latest, most up-to-date information about living well with autoimmunity.
OMTIMES: What motivated you to create The Autoimmune Hour?
Sharon Sayler: Several years ago, life took an unexpected turn when I received a life-altering medical diagnosis that has transformed into what my friends now call a “compelling-if-slightly-irrational-passion.” That passion is The Autoimmune Hour.
As founder and lead consultant of Competitive Edge Communications and a lifetime of teaching professionals how to enhance their verbal and nonverbal communication skills to achieve their goals I could not believe my own experience dealing with what I came to call the ‘white-coat-authority.’ I struggled to be heard. I struggled to be taken seriously. (To be clear, there are numerous excellent medical professionals out there and several compassionately guided my recovery, and the above ‘label’ is not about them.) And there are those that I’ve experienced on my healing journey that did not seek to understand first. The Autoimmune Hour was born out of frustration with the latter.
OMTIMES: Tell us a bit about your story and why you named your show The Autoimmune Hour.
Sharon Sayler: From the position of feeling crummy and not being heard of how I wanted my recovery and life to be, I thought if I was having trouble with my extensive experience as a body language and communications expert coupled with training others to deal with difficult people, what are others without my skillset going through?
I now teach others to become courageous self-advocates. Self-advocacy communication techniques can turn life transitions into transformations. One of the ways I share the messages of ‘thriving regardless of your diagnosis’ and medical self-empowerment is through The Autoimmune Hour, along with the @UnderstandingAutoimmune YouTube channel, and the show’s website UnderstandingAutoimmune.com.
OMTIMES: Who can benefit from The Autoimmune Hour?
Sharon Sayler: Saying ‘everyone’ seems, so cliché, yet The Autoimmune Hour covers a wide variety of topics, from medical professionals and experts in autoimmune to ‘thrivers’ who are living their life—their way. We strive to bring together the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual sides of healing and offer many subjects that complement and enhance our ability for a life well-lived. We even have guests that do not have an autoimmune and yet have a worthy lesson such as David Dachinger, a stage-4-cancer ‘thriver’ and his wife Tamara Green, his caregiver. In their episode What Now? Navigating Your New Normal, they share what they learned as a couple and as caregiver and care recipient. And, Sarah Peyton, author of ‘Your Reasoned Self,’ in our interview Understanding The Healing Power of Anger, the way I look at anger changed. Just one of Sarah’s transformative insights is, “dig deeper into the distinction between ‘predatory aggression’ and what anger is. Use the critical distinction between ‘are you angry that’ or ‘are you angry at?’” Powerful!
OMTIMES: What advice would you give someone recently diagnosed?
Sharon Sayler: If you can, take time to ‘sit with the bad news.’ If the situation is not immediately life-threatening, take time, and do research. (Be discerning, study using professional-quality research.) The emotional response we all experience after bad news can often cloud rational thinking.
Early on, I was told by a ‘top-notch’ doctor to have a surgery that would have made my life worse in the long run, and with no real assurance that it would solve the immediate problem. Upon finding out that surgery wasn’t immediately necessary, I thanked them and sought other options.
A doctor/friend later said, “Breath, there are other options. That’s a surgeon’s answer to a problem they cannot solve.” Wise words that I use everywhere now as in each expert has a specific point of view, and the more focused their expertise, the narrower their recommendations will most likely be.
Some examples of questions to consider are:
• What are other ways I can view and/or solve ‘this?’
• What are the risks/benefits and how likely are those possibilities realized?
• Are there other options that might give us another answer?
• Would you do this procedure with a loved one, if they had the same symptoms?
Remember, it’s okay to say, “Thank you for your time, and no thank you.” In my experience, there are as many varied opinions as there are experts. It’s up to you to chose and take responsibility for your life. This is your life, your body, your way.
Plus be careful how you talk about what you are going through. Our words create our reality. Words such as ‘my body betrayed me,’ ‘poor me’ and ‘why me? Construct our identity. Consider the words ‘you have’ and how it denotes ‘ownership.’ Do I want to own my diagnosis? No. I prefer to look at the word ‘have’ from the viewpoint that I can ‘have’ cockroaches, but that doesn’t mean I own them and that I can and will eradicate them.
When said enough times, your words become truth in your mind, and in the minds others too. A diagnosis is just a label to chart a possible course based on symptoms, and the prognosis is based on statistics — work hard to be on the positive side of the stats. Challenge yours and others’ conclusions on what your future will be. On The Autoimmune Hour, we share numerous stories of people thriving regardless of their diagnosis. Join us in being a thriver too!
OMTIMES: What other services do you offer our audience?
Sharon Sayler: As a professional coach certified through NBC-HWC, I offer personalized wellness and well-being coaching and group masterminds. I also love to speak to private and public groups on Patient Self-Empowerment and How to Speak Up For Your Self and Get Heard plus other topics. We also offer at no cost. The Courage Club where you can get the latest insights into how to thrive regardless of your diagnosis. And be first to find out about new shows, get exclusive Courage Club Insider Secret videos, plus an immediate download of the helpful e-book Five Things You Can Do Now That Will Help You Feel Better. Go now to https://understandingautoimmune.com/ to join us as we turn life transitions into triumphs.
Connect with Sharon Sayler and The Autoimmune Hour
You can connect with Sharon Sayler in all these sites:
https://understandingautoimmune.com/FB-FeelGood
www.UnderstandingAutoimmune.com/Facebook
www.UnderstandingAutoimmune.com/OMTimes
www.UnderstandingAutoimmune.com/YouTube
Instagram: @autoimmunehour and @understandingautoimmune
Twitter: @autoimmunehour
