Michelle Garbutt - Holistic Therapist

01/10/2026

These things helped my autoimmune disease after 20 years of flares and symptoms impacting my life. For 10 years I have been doing these things and the results speak for themselves.

I still work with my medical team but adding these things change my IBD life in ways that surprised me.

I’m here to support you with this work when you’re ready. Tackling something 2 ways is better than 1 approach.

30/09/2026

Stress management is one of the first things that I did when I decided there had to be another way.

It's one of the first things that I work with my clients on, not just with meditation but in other ways as well.

The autoimmune community is monitoring, watching and living in a more stressed state. Having an autoimmune disease is not for the faint hearted. Your day is full of questions like:

- how much energy do I have today?
- how much pain am I feeling today?
- will I be able to make it through a full day at work?
- do I have enough energy for my day?
- how is my body feeling today?
- will I have to let anyone down today?
- where is my disease at today?

And usually that is before you have even gotten out of bed. There is a background awareness that is consistently on.

Alert. monitor means the stress response is waiting, it might not be fully on but it is activated a little. And that is just how life is.

That is why I start here.

I was told, you were probably told, we are all told, stress can be a trigger for flares.

That's where meditation came in for me. It wasn't because I thought it would be a magic fix but I knew the stress needed to be reduced. Meditation does that, so it is where I started.

I encourage you to give meditation a go and not write it off straight away.

If you are want to reduce stress and understand what else I did to support my UC along side my medical treatment I share this and more in Beyond Survival Mode my mentorship program that guides you through all the steps I took to be symptom free for 7 years.

29/09/2026

This one is a bit raw, a little real but I want to be honest and share.

Two years ago I experienced a pretty bad flare, I was admitted to hospital twice in a 3 month period. I was placed back on biologics after 7 years. It made me feel like a failure, what business did I have talking up the mind-body connection, the power of body regulation and the inner work on autoimmune disease.

So I stepped back from my business and changed direction. The change never really felt right but I felt like I couldn't speak about my experience, I felt like a fraud.

Discussions with my new specialist (new because of moving back to Australia and not having one until the flare) around what I had done to experience 7 years no symptoms no flares, his surprise at my results from the work I had to done to support my IBD, reminded me that it was pretty amazing.

The direction I took my business never felt aligned and the more time I spent doing the intuitive readings the more it didn't feel right, nor was it making me happy.

I have had to face some hard truths about why I shifted, stepped back. I realised that I was not a failure nor a fraud but a person experiencing a life-long chronic illness who was also moving through peri-menopause. Could that life change, hormone change have impacted my disease, there is no research but speaking with some people I have learnt that when women with autoimmune diseases go through this life-change they experience some level of flaring with their disease.

Who knows what caused the flare.

What I do know is that I am back to living symptom free, the approach that I have taken alongside my medical care has an impact on how my disease behaviours and that I want to share this with others because if I can help one person experience a shift in their disease then that's what matters.

My why was for people to experience the change that I did, to experience some level of relief with their autoimmune disease, to not feel so impacted by their illness and know that there are other ways to support their health alongside medical care that can make a difference.

So yep I am coming back to the reason I started all this in the first place, and it feels right.

25/09/2026

For the first 20 years of living with IBD, I struggled with symptoms, flares, exhaustion, brain fog, a body that often felt deeply tired and kept me on my toes!

Over time, I began looking beyond the physical illness and addressing what else my body had been carrying. This included experiences of abandonment, emotional manipulation and abuse, relationship and financial stress, and the deeper work of rebuilding my self-worth and self-love.

I began understanding the connection between my mental and emotional wellbeing, chronic stress, my nervous system and my physical health. I learned how to recognise when my body was under pressure and how to support myself towards greater regulation, safety and calm.

This did not replace my medical care, that is an essential part of my journey. The mental and emotional wellbeing, mind-body connection became an essential part of how I cared for the whole of me too.

Since bringing this mind-body focus into my life and continuing to work with my emotional wellbeing and internal regulation, I have experienced only one flare in 10 years.

In 2016 I started slow, with meditation and gentle yoga, I was coming out of a severe flare. As I regained strength, brain fog decreased and energy increased, I went further into the inner work as a result of changes I witnessed. Within 12 months I was in deep remission and stayed there for 7 years.

I have continued the inner work, focusing on my overall wellbeing (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) to support my autoimmune disease in the best way possible. While still following the advice of my medical team. It's a double barrel approach and its been life changing.

So much so that I went on to study and understand the WHY of what happened and changed careers.

Have you tried this approach and how did it go for you? I would love to hear your stories.

25/09/2026

19/09/2026

You know you need to relax. But it's a struggle, you can't seem to turn off and relax.

It's more exhaustion, collapse, and back at it.

It's not from a lack of trying.
It's not from a lack of wanting.
It's not from fatigue or exhaustion.

It's hard for a body to change focus from constant monitoring, constant watching, constant scanning to be able to switch into relax moode.

Relaxing used to be hard for me, especially when my ulcerative colitis was more unpredictable.

You are on alert all the time. Noticing each little sensation, asking what was that? What does it mean?

I mean how can you relax with everything that is happening in your body and as a result your mind!

Relaxing was something that I had to teach my body again. This is one of the things that I work with my clients on. Being able to trust their body enough to allow themselves to relax.

Relaxing means that your body moves out of fight or flight / survival mode. The body moves into the relaxation response, otherwise known as rest and digest. The place that the body can tap into it's natural healing ability and calm.

Beyond Survival Mode is the mentorship where I guide you through the steps that I took and share with my clients to allow relaxation as well as gently explore the experiences, fears and patterns that may be keeping you in a state of protection stopping relaxation.

EOI are currently open for Beyond Survival Mode mentorship, DM survival if you are interested in details.

17/09/2026

Hi, I'm Michelle and I wanted to introduce myself.

I support women living with IBD and autoimmune disease with the emotional and nervous-system impact that is so often overlooked.

When your body has become unpredictable, it can be difficult to feel safe within it. You may find yourself constantly scanning for symptoms, fearing what might happen next or feeling as though you are always preparing for something to go wrong.

My work provides the time, space and support to explore what you are carrying, understand your stress responses and begin creating more moments of calm and safety within yourself.

This work sits alongside your medical care. It is not about blaming your body or telling you to fight harder. It is about asking a different question:

What might my body need from me right now?

When I started asking my body this question things changed for me. I have lived with UC for 30 years and when I stopped fighting and fearing my body, my disease things drastically changed.

Your disease deserves medical care and you deserve care too. That's what I am here to support.

13/09/2026

A luxury meditation and mindfulness retreat by the sea

There are times when you don’t need to push through, try harder or add another thing to your life.

You simply need the space to pause.

To step away from the noise, the responsibilities and the constant stream of things requiring your attention and spend some time nurturing yourself.

This intimate meditation and mindfulness retreat offers you the opportunity to slow down, experience a range of meditation practices and discover how mindfulness can support greater calm in your everyday life.

Held in a beautiful luxury beachside house, it is a peaceful escape designed to help you rest, reconnect and return home feeling calmer, clearer and deeply nurtured.

You don’t need an established meditation practice to attend this retreat.

During the retreat, you will explore simple mindfulness practices and leave with practices you can continue at home.

You don’t need to arrive feeling calm.

You only need to arrive willing to pause.

This is your invitation to step away from the noise and return to yourself; rested, nurtured and carrying a little more calm home with you.

More details and book your spot here: https://www.michellegarbutt.com/retreat/

Spaces are limited to allow space for the calm to arise