Samantha Skelly is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, best-selling author, and emotional eating expert who has revolutionized the weight loss industry by examining the individual and underlying causes of eating disorders.
She has shared her mission on an international platform and continues to spread her message and transform the lives of thousands of people through the Phoenix Formula, motivational speaking engagements, the Hungry for Happiness podcast, worldwide international retreats, and her Amazon best-selling book, Hungry for Happiness: One Woman’s Guide From Fighting Food to Finding Freedom.
SHOW NOTES:
ABOUT SAMANTHA
I’ve always been so curious about the world, and how humanity operates
How to create happiness is something I am trying to hack from my young age and did not actually know it
I grew up in an amazing family and I have wonderful parents
When I was 18 to 23 years old, I developed a really dysfunctional relationship of food and my body
And it is when I could not eat like a normal person
I was constantly thinking about food and thinking about diet
It was just the time of my life where I felt so disconnected from myself
And so, I began to just go against myself, shame myself and hate myself
And I got to this place where I was like, “this is so not who I am.”
I can remember when I was walking down the street when I was living in England, and I just thought to myself like, “Am I ever going to get back to that place of just happiness? Where I was happy for no reason and I don’t have to strive for anything and I just get to feel good with myself and my body.”
I just kept pondering this question like, what has to give to get back to this place – to feel good.
Couple months later, I got deported back to Vancouver which was the biggest blessing in disguise which I got to really dig into what was going on with me, with the whole food and the body situation
I was doing fitness competition and I was really trying my best to shay my way to happiness
After about 3 years of trying to figure out of what makes me happy and what is actually going on, I decided to really put it together after I saw the contrast between how bad I felt and how great I felt after I went to that process of healing myself
A few years later, hungry for happiness was born
It has been a beautiful journey of helping people get back into their bodies, heart space and help their relationship about food
When my girl friend took me out for a walk, chat and catch up, and she kind of confronted and she was like, “You know we all know that you are really struggling with this. Let us know if you need help.”
And it was this moment that I should get my sh*t together
I published Hungry for Happiness on my birthday last year – February 28, 2017
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOUR YOUNGER SELF?
To just chill out
Stop being obsess about everything
Happiness is really easy if we allow it
And so often, we create so many structures in order to achieve it
Happiness is our natural state
And when we just remove the beliefs, the source and doubts, that’s where we get to settle in to this place of happiness, but it’s not. It’s so cliché, but it is not outside of ourselves
It’s like, I can make all the money of the world but it is not going to increase or decrease my long live happiness
There’s a huge increase in happiness when it’s really money, if you’re starving and you have no roof over your head
But, once you have your basic needs met, more money does not make you happier
More trips on the world does not create that sustain that happiness, and so it truly is an inside and out game
Material things like buying a car or getting a big paycheck, or travelling around the world, those are like quick hits of happiness
Peace, contentment and safety is truly is an inside job
The biggest lie in the world is time heals
We can’t just expect that time to pass and eventually it will be healed
It takes work, intentionality and us really going to the places that filled really sticky in order to come to the other side
There is no time for that
Time is a mental construct that we created
A lot of women who we deal with are former alcoholics
They just switch from one vice to the next, but they are actually not addressing the core
That core wound has been present in our system for how many years, but since they did not address it, they just switch vices
We all have addictions
We all have those things that we need in order to feel safety
Addiction or vices that makes us feel normal
A lot of the world chooses food, and a lot of the world chooses smoking, drinking, social medias, sex and gambling and things like that
But we have to recognize what is our relationship to this things
Is it healthy or destructive?
THE BOOK
Through out the book, there’s exercises
Those exercise gets more clear
It’s really where it starts
The purpose of the book is to give people clarity on what is actually driving them to use it as a drug
And what are those beliefs identities that people are holding on to
It’s basically talking about the universal laws
The reason why I love that book because there’s nothing to believe in
It goes through the universal law around love, connection, abundance, alignment, energy and frequency
And it is just simple. It’s like, do this and you get this result
It’s less about in love and attraction and more about the embodiment of how to truly feel
WHAT ARE MOST PEOPLE KNOW YOU FOR?
Right now, it’s the food and body game conversation
I have been in that game for nearly 5 years now
I’m in the process right now of enhancing that conversation with my new body of work where I will be launching soon
I was no heavier than I am today but I thought I was double the size
That’s the craziness of the mind. The mind can play some serious tricks on us when we allow it
ADVICE
Use you breath – breathe
If your body is jacked-up with anxiety, it’s because you’re shallow breathing and so you probably think that it is in danger
I do breathing exercises everyday
Every morning, when I wake up, I do a continual breathe
For me, sleep is not actually peaceful
I do not want to start my day from the energy from my dreams
I want to clear it out and start fresh
And so, every morning, I just do a simple breathing exercise to get myself aligned before I start my day
WHAT IS YOUR MORNING ROUTINE?
I love doing a cross fit class or yoga glass in the morning
I do love doing some meditation and journaling
I love movement as well
So, my morning routine is pretty extensive
It’s my time before I start my day, where I can just get in touch with my emotions, figure out my intention for the day
I always start with water and lemon, and coffee
Movement, meditation, breathing work and a little bit of journaling.
I do my quiet time after my workout
The workout is about 2 and a half hours
WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST MISTAKE HAVE YOU MADE? AND WHAT HAVE YOU LEARN FROM IT?
I feel like I make mistakes constantly all day long
And it’s all part of being an entrepreneur
I think, the biggest mistake that I’ve made recently is investing a whole bunch of money into a coach that was not aligned with my vision and my values
And not listening to my intuition and doing it anyway
Mistakes are going to come when we start pushing boundaries, whether we start doing emotional work or business, or parenting, whatever it is
But the beautiful thing is we can always have a choice to go into curiosity or judgment
We can always judge ourselves for it and move through it
Breath work is so powerful for clearing out junk in our bodies so that voice is more clear
FAVORITE HABIT?
My favorite habit is being on the water – wake surfing
FAVORITE QUOTE
“Feel the fear and do it anyway.”
MOST THANKFUL FOR
I am most grateful for my friends
FAVORITE FOOD
Tacos
FAVORITE BOOK
Complete Works
GUILTY PLEASURE
Tons of really yummy buttery popcorn
And crappy Netflix specials
COFFEE OR TEA
Right now, Tea
Chai Teas
FAVORITE MOVIE
The Perfect Storm
FAVORITE ON NETFLIX
Ali Wong’s Comedy
WHERE CAN PEOPLE FIND YOU?
Instagram: @samanthaskelly
Instagram for Hungry for Happiness: @hungryforhappiness