Our time and energy are the only things we truly own — and I’m reclaiming mine.

You know what the best marketing strategy is? Telling the truth. Your truth is your success.

I'm sharing why I left Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and TikTok — and what I’m doing instead: reading, creating, and focusing on meaningful work. I dive into the books that transformed my life, art, and healing, including: The Ultimate Coach, Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, In the FLO, WomanCode, and The Artist’s Way.

I want to hear from you!

Take my listener survey and get a personal shoutout on the podcast. Your voice matters — let’s shape this community together.

Links

• Take the Survey HERE
• All of my links I mention are HERE
• • Selvia Filteau - my mentor
  • Laura Matsue
  • Books by psychologist author Lindsay Gibson: Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, Who You Were Meant To Be, Finding Your True Self, Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents, Self-Care for Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, Dise - LINDSAY GIBSON, PSY.D.
  • Julia Cameron Books - The Artist's Way
  • The Ultimate Coach
  • FLOliving

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✅CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

00:48 The Illusion of Social Media

04:44 Reading is now Rebellion

06:25 Life-Changing Books

20:31 Pain to Power ebook

About the Podcast

Tired of being dismissed or told your pain is “normal”? So was I.

I’m Meredith Ochoa—ANOTHER F#%ING ARTIST, photographer, author & generational cycle‑breaker. After 17 years of endometriosis I faced my shit, healed myself, and turned the journey into art.

🩸 Face Your Shit, Heal Yourself is a movement + a podcast: Raw talks on healing chronic pain, hormones, trauma, endo, autoimmune disease and more.

We expose medical myths and spotlight the tools Western medicine buries—functional medicine, Reiki, Ayurveda, Taoist & sacred‑sexuality practices, cycle syncing, biohacking, and beyond. Episodes drop every third Wednesday with mini art‑process drops in between.

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Authenticity is the first dose of medicine; art is the second. Even though I was lied to by big‑pharma‑loving doctors; I found the experts & practices who helped me achieve what I thought was impossible—this show introduces them to you.

🩸all my links are here

In a world addicted to clicks, likes, shares, dancing, and TikTok videos, I'm choosing a different path. For years, I've been told that if I want my art to reach people, if I want my business to succeed and make money, I. I have to be on social media.

I must be following the latest TikTok or Instagram Reels trends. But here's the truth. I'm not here because I love it. I'm here because I let other people convince me that I had to be.

And I've learned through experience that couldn't be further from the truth.

Social media started as a sort of digital hangout space for everyone, a place to share, connect, create, talk to people and friends you haven't caught up with in forever or have moved away or in different countries. But lately, it's become something else entirely. Something that used to be social has become pretty fucking antisocial.

It's a space full of ghost watchers and lurkers, full of people who never comment, never engage, just silently scroll, peering into your life, never intending to be a part of it. I'm sure you have a few on your mind.

And honestly, I am done performing for an algorithm that rewards noise over nuance, that rewards the least amount of thought possible just so someone can binge. Our time and energy are the only things that we truly own, and I am done giving mine away. No more thinking in terms of memes and reels.

No more letting my creativity get siphoned into the infinite scroll. It's not just the time cost, it's the mental toll. It's the loosh.

It's the energy that you own, just given away to ads or people that really don't give a shit about your life Comparison, the anxiety, the constant measuring of worth through screen. I have found myself literally checking Instagram just to see if people realize if I exist or not. And it's all fate.

We think that it's real and we see these followers and we see these beautifully curated and crafted posts and memes and reels, and we think that that person is actually living that life.

So it's literally a world full of lies that we are telling ourselves is the truth and then beating ourselves up when reality or our likes don't compare and we're comparing them to something that isn't even real in the first place. You know what the best marketing strategy is? Telling the truth. Your truth is your success. I'm reclaiming my focus, my attention, my art.

From here forward, I'm building my business and community through spaces that actually nourish me, like my substack, my podcasts, and my YouTube channel, and of course, the conversations that happen in real life. I am creating from presence, not performance. I want to connect through art, not algorithms. If you want to stay connected, you know where to find me.

In the places where depth still matters, where words and images are born from truth and not the need to be seen. Never let anyone tell you that you have to be doing this one thing, whether it's social media or some other crap to be successful. You don't.

Your art is your message. And this. This choice to step away is just another act of creation. Because my gift is my art, and this one is for you.

Now that I've stepped away from the noise of social media, I've reclaimed something I didn't realize I had lost my attention and the deeper truth. Shout out to Laura Matsu for this one. Short form Video is becoming a major contributor to an illiterate world.

And an illiterate world is one that can be very easily manipulated. It should be seen as a drug, and we now know that it creates a kind of brain damage.

Who really knew that reading, once the most common natural hobby, would become a rare act of rebellion? But it has.

In a world that can't focus, remember, or think critically, reading has become the resistance, which is exactly what we're going to talk about today. So instead of binging memes or trying to outrun algorithms, I'm reading more, I'm creating more.

And while I'm off social media, I'm absolutely not off of this podcast or my YouTube channel. In fact, I'm pouring even more energy here, where actual depth can thrive.

There's a different kind of dopamine that comes from that, the kind that actually feeds you instead of draining you. And because I'm building this next chapter with more attention and presence than ever before, I want to hear from you.

I've created a short survey so you can tell me what you want more of or what you want less of. The conversations, topics, stories, and healing work that actually matter to you. Your voice matters a lot to me.

So everyone who fills out this survey will get a personal shout out from me on the podcast as a thank you. Just pop your info in at the end of the form so I know who to love. On.

With all of that said, today I want to share a handful of books that have completely changed the trajectory of my life. There are many, but these four are an incredible start. I promise, if you choose to explore or read any single one of these or even part of one.

I can guarantee you your Thanksgiving and holiday season will benefit. Okay, so these are in no particular order, but I want to start with this one. The ultimate coach. Shout out to Amy Hardison.

This book is about Steve Hardison, her husband. And let me put it this way, Amy. Steve is the light switch. Amy is the power grid.

None of his work and what she writes about would be possible without her. This book was referred to me by a fantastic mentor of mine, Sellvia Filto. Shout out to Sellvia.

And what I was saying to her, what I've said to Amy is the best part about this book is that it's true. It's so well written by Amy that it's similar to the Harry Potter, like Twilight series. Like where you just can't stop reading.

Like, you literally just won't want to stop reading it. But instead of being fiction is true. So this, it says it's the ultimate coach, but it isn't about coaching. This is about being.

It's about your beingness. Who you're becoming, who you're being. How everything in life starts with not what you're doing, but who you're being.

Because who you're being is going to completely make whatever you're doing irrelevant if it's coming from a place that you don't like being. Also, how this is written. You read the back. These questions right here.

Who would I need to be to.

Be a more loving person?

Who would I need to be to.

Be a more effective parent?

Who would I need to be to.

Create a level of confidence that is remarkable?

Who would I need to be to.

Be at peace with who I am?

Who would I need to be to.

Be fully in love with myself and my life?

Who would I need to be to.

Live the most extraordinary life I can live? Those and the questions right here in the intro. And it says, before you begin. Yeah, it says it's a book about being. And it's a book about you.

To access this book, ask yourself these questions as you read. Who am I being as a leader? Who am I being as a member of my community?

Who would I need to be to.

Create more value in the work I do?

Who would I need to be to.

Alter my relationship with fear?

Who would I need to be to be present as a way of being? Who would I need to be to.

Step powerfully into my future?

Who would I need to be to.

Live the most extraordinary life I can live?

Who would I need to be to.

Know that my life makes a difference?

Who would I need to be to.

Improve my relationships with the most important people in my life.

Who would I need to be to.

Read the Ultimate Coach and have a personal breakthrough in being wonderful? Me. The best part about this book, this book is about you, is that it is endless.

The story goes on and it is written by your being and that is the truth. And so you read those questions and the back questions every time you pick up the book.

And I promise you, your experience will be completely different if you do that as opposed to if you just read it like a normal book. Because it isn't. It will. It's a game changer. It's a game changer for your life. And it's certainly true for me.

So this one, shout out, Steve, Amy, you're awesome. Love you guys. And I tried to, by the way, I tried to get him on the show. He doesn't do interviews, podcasts, any of that.

You guys can shout out to him and ask him why. That would be an interesting conversation. But yeah, I did say that I would be shouting him out. So here it is. Thank you, Steve. Thank you, Amy.

Okay, here we go. This one may be a little fiery. Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson.

Before you freak out over the title, which the title is very accurate, this isn't just a book for these children. This is a book for both these parents and mature parents and mature people, everyone.

It is a solid understanding of how emotions arise, how to the different coping mechanisms we use.

It is such a solid understanding of our entire emotional psychological body and it really, really helps validate and clarify confusing, manipulative situations in situations where you may not even know how you felt. Super, super, super clarifying, very supportive for all people. I would recommend this to again, all people.

Regardless if you consider yourself someone that has an emotionally immature parent or or not. It is one of those books that makes you exhale in recognition and whisper. Oh, that's why.

And also this is just one of the many things that I have used to emotionally heal.

There's a lot of other resources and when you sign up for my lead magnet, there's narcissistic abuse recovery, there's Melanie, Tanya Evans, there's Lisa Romano in there. But this is a very, very, very good overview of Bird's Eye View.

What is happening in these situations without going to the extremes where you're dealing with. It does obviously reference narcissistic behavior, but it doesn't use the that kind of terminology.

It's an overall encompassing just emotionally immature people which makes it available and accessible to a lot more people rather than those that just have endured narcissistic abuse, because that is separate and it is different. But all of that still applies and those people would still benefit as well.

Highly, highly recommend Before Thanksgiving and definitely before Christmas too. Okay, so you guys know I couldn't even have this episode or I wouldn't even be on this podcast without these books.

The next three books that I'm introducing In the Flow, Alyssa Vt Woman Code, Alyssa Vt and the next we'll get to in a second. This should be required reading for all women and men. I would say too.

If there is a woman you know struggling with period pain, please, please buy her this book. Buy her this book for the holidays and then she can read this next. I would start with this though. This is the foundation. This is the very beginning.

And of course there's all kinds of other beautiful nutritional and spiritual wellness guidance off of these. But I started to get my life back after reading this book. And in the Flow they, like I said, should be required reading for all women.

They were the foundation of my healing and the start of my education about the infraredian rhythm, the female biological clock and cycle syncing, which is everything. It isn't just, oh, we get our period, it is our lives goes into even perimenopause and menopause.

It's a complete understanding of how women's bodies work. Thank you Alyssa Vt Flow Living the Every Phase series was inspired. This was like the information, the science behind the science behind the art.

And of course there were other deep internal practices I incorporated to shadow work, sex therapy, pelvic floor, physical therapy. And the book kind of gets into those. And please reach out to me if you'd like any referrals for any of those topics.

And they are again listed in my Pain to Power lead magnet link is in the description notes or the show notes. But that first experience reading Woman Code opened the door to bringing me back to me. Her website, flowliving.com is an incredible resource.

Use the search bar and you can find information on anything hormonal. You can literally just treat it like Google. It is a treasure chest of wisdom.

So like I said, these two books were the inspiration for this very podcast Face youe Shit, Heal Yourself.

And for my long term art series, Every Phase, where I create a piece for every hormonal phase, every cycle for the next 13 years, which that's on the survey too. If you guys want me to continue or expand more on the Every Phase, vlog art pieces or add more biohacking with art. More creativity.

More artists, More creative. Speak creative. Talk creative people on here. Let me know in the survey. Okay, here we are. Here we are. Here we are.

Let me tell you if you want the benefits of an ayahuasca trip or doing mushrooms or any expansive dissociative wellness drug, let's just say that you've heard of lately, but you don't know if you're really up for actually doing one of those things. Do this. Do this the Artist Way. Julia Cameron, and she has so many.

She has a whole series of supplement supplemental books that came off of the Artist Way. I'll be talking about this one in a later episode too, but this is another one. Oh my God. I cannot recommend it enough.

The Right to Write the Artist Way.

This book, in addition to Woman Coded in the Flow, is another catalyst for everything I've created since my art, my book, my podcast, every phase, all of it. It cracked open the part of me that had been basically quietly dying under the weight of perfection, performance, and of course, pain.

Because creativity isn't a hobby. It's the pulse of the soul. It's the part of you that refuses to stay silent no matter how long you've ignored it.

It is an invitation to take responsibility for who you really are. It's kind of like, and she says this in the book, making art only when you have a client is like having sex just to make a baby.

We totally miss the point. Really. It became. This book became the blueprint for my 13 week course, Creative Recovery.

A journey through your inner kingdom that helps you remember who you are before the world told you who to be. And I would highly recommend that once again, if you don't feel like doing ayahuasca or mushrooms, but want to have that experience, come with me.

Come with me. In this course. It is rooted in Julia Cameron's framework, but I've infused it with the deeper healing tools I've gathered along my own path.

Shadow work, alchemical transformation, nervous system regulation, body based wisdom. All the things that helped me live my art instead of just making it. Art is a lie that helps us realize the truth. Truth.

But you don't need to call yourself an artist to take this path.

I repeat, you do not have to.

Relate to yourself as an artist to do this work and have it completely change your life. This is creation as medicine. It is remembering your own magic. And you can sign up for the creativity course.

And I'll also have links to all of these books in the show notes. These books aren't just stories. They are initiations.

They each helped me remember that transformation doesn't come from what's trending, doesn't come from the noise. No, quite the opposite. It comes from the silence, the stillness. From listening.

If this episode stirred something in you, I'd love to hear what landed. Tell me what you're reading, what you're healing, what you want to hear more of.

Take the survey and you can reach out to me through the contact link in the show notes. Because your art, your healing, your truth isn't found in the algorithm. It's found when you finally face your shit and heal yourself.

May the truth set you free. We will see you all next time.

I want to take this time to thank you for having the bravery to face your shit and heal yourself by listening to this show. Because this is more than just a podcast. This is a movement. And a necessary one.

If you've looked around at the world today, if you want to live the movement or you want to go deeper into your healing journey, I pulled together everything I wish that I would have had so practical tools, longevity and biohacking resources, insights, pain relief tips, healing practices, all the things most doctors won't tell you about into one beautifully designed free ebook. Inside, you'll learn how to work with your cycle or with your body instead of fighting against it.

What the mainstream gets wrong about pms, endometriosis and hormonal health why pain is a messenger, not a malfunction plus curated direct links with all of the juicy golden episodes that started it all.

Whether you're navigating chronic illness, endometriosis, burnout, or hormonal chaos, this free guide will help you start reclaiming your power, your body, and your truth. Download it instantly when you subscribe to my Substack newsletter, where I share raw stories, healing artwork, and I write a badass email.