Faith And Wellness Reset with Dr Katherine Lanning

Welcome And Today’s Focus

Well, welcome everybody to Connect, Inspire, Create, a podcast where we explore meaningful conversations about life, work, creativity, and the ways we can grow. Let's just take a moment to notice what inspires us and how those insights can help shape what we create or invite into our lives. On my show, we explore living with intention and self-trust, alternative ways of thinking and being, creativity and purpose and personal growth, and navigating transitions in both work and life. I am Carol Clegg, your host, an accountability and mental fitness coach, inviting my guests from around the world with a wide range of backgrounds, just to share their insights on how they live, think, and navigate the wonderful challenges of just being a human in our world. And with our focus today on faith, wellness, and living a transformed life, it is my pleasure to have my guest joining me today, Dr. Catherine Lanning and Katie. That's your full name. So Dr. Catherine Lanning is an occupational therapist by trade and the founder of Transformed for Life Ministry. Catherine is passionate about helping women experience psycholistic healing and transformation spiritually, mentally, and physically through faith, personal growth, and practical strategies. She loves sharing stories and insights that encourage women to step into the life that God has designed for them. So welcome, Katie. I am really pleased to have you join me today. Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here. Yeah, lovely. So before we get into all the wonderful stories behind how you created the transformed for life and the tie-in with occupational therapy, I'd love to just start with a quick personal question, which I love to sort of give my guests a moment to

Moving Often And Building Courage

just think about. But when people first meet you, what is something they are often surprised to learn about you?

Oh, that's a good question. I think that sometimes people are surprised to learn that I've grown up as a military brat. So I've moved around quite a bit growing up and just live a very transient lifestyle. Not anymore now that I've been married and have settled down in North Carolina. But I think that people are surprised that I moved as much as I did growing up and that I moved to North Carolina kind of on a whim. I just had heard that Charlotte was a good place to be, and my parents were moving anyways. And at that time I was finishing up graduate school and trying to figure out what I wanted to do next. And so I just moved to North Carolina. And to me, that seems like just the next thing to do. But people were very surprised that I would just move somewhere by myself and am used to kind of moving around every few years or so.

That gave you the obviously the background and the confidence and the knowledge to go, well, why not? I can step into this. I can really exactly. And I've I can relate to that so well because having moved myself, not only from my country, South Africa, where I was born and have all my family, but moving around the Caribbean and then settling in the United States and you know the travel. I have a certain admiration for some people who never move and never leave because I think, oh, that must be quite incredible. But on the other opposite stun of that coin is this fantastic, you know, we get to experience and we're going to do it. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. So I'd love for you to share a little bit about what led you into creating Transform for Life. Yeah. Was there this season in your life where you suddenly realize that hang on a minute, this is this is more than an interest uh turning this into work, or you know, did did it help you move from a struggle

From Insecurity To A Ministry

into healing and growth?

Oh, absolutely. So a little bit more about me. I know I shared that. I come from the background being a military brad and growing up moving. And so I just had always struggled with a feeling of insecurity from a young age. I think it had to do with not having a solid group of friends or not really knowing where I was going to end up next or just what was in store for me. So looking back, I can see that I carried a lot of insecurity growing up. And that insecurity manifested itself in different ways. Eventually, I got into my first relationship when I was around 15 years old. And it ended up being a very traumatic experience for me. Um, I was really taken advantage of in a lot of different ways. And also being a teenager, I didn't really quite know what to make of that and how to process it properly. And so as I got older, I just carried a lot of that. And then I found myself kind of turning towards some pretty negative coping strategies. I found a lot of temporary fixes in alcohol and in drug use and just wanting to fit in with different social groups. And I just really never knew kind of where I landed. I didn't have a secure sense of self and who I was and what I wanted to be. But I did always have a particular interest in health and wellness. I think I always wanted to learn and understand that. And I think that I knew from early on that health was about a lot more than just diet and exercise. I knew that there had to be a component that had to do with mental health and with spiritual health. And I just didn't quite understand how all of those things were meant to fit together. And so there were many phases of my life where I felt like I had a good grasp, maybe on one or two of the domains, but I could never have all of them working together holistically. So what I mean by that is that even in times where I was very physically fit and had a great appearance on the outside or was doing all the right things, it was still coming from that place of insecurity or that place of lack or that place of brokenness because I hadn't really processed everything that was going on underneath the surface. And I decided to become an occupational therapist because I really appreciated that OT had such a unique lens of looking at health and kind of bringing in a lot of different elements to health. I originally actually wanted to be a dietitian, but the chemistry classes were just really hard on me. And nursing was out of the picture because I was also incredibly squeamish growing up. I still can be. So I knew that I didn't want to go down that route. I kind of considered maybe becoming a psychologist or therapist, social worker. But again, I didn't want to just focus on one aspect of health as far as mental or emotional. I really wanted to bring in all the different facets of it. And so, in that pursuit of becoming an occupational therapist, I really learned a unique way of looking at health and understanding it. And then was really shaped and impacted by the experiences I had working in a hospital. And then also at the same time, kind of going through my own personal health struggle and starting to understand how I was going to bring myself to a better place of health and well-being. And I kind of started using those occupational therapy practices and lenses on myself and started really analyzing my different facets of health and also understanding what the impact that was on my daily activities of life and just how I could kind of tailor those things to really addressing holistically. So, and from there, it really just kind of what led to Transform for Life specifically was that I encountered, you know, the truth of the gospel, and that was radically changing for me as well. And as I grew deeper in my faith, really started to understand just the scriptural and the spiritual foundation of health and how all of that was in alignment with the truths revealed to us in the Bible and how I could kind of start bridging those gaps between healing and health and wellness and transformation and what is available to us in Christ.

I think this so looking forward because I think this talk is going to be so refreshing. And, you know, the little bit that I've read about what you share, that you're bringing it with a very wide open lens to just allow people not to have this narrow, you know, keep me in the box. But it's it's so interesting that the work that we're often called to do comes from what we've had to walk through ourselves, um, which gives strength to that, I think. But I'd love for you just to briefly explain to our listeners, because I know that there's a difference between occupational therapy and physical therapy. A big difference. And so just, you know, to give them help to understand a little bit of, you know, how occupational therapy, it's such a practical, you know, whole life field. And you you're sharing, and I have some more questions about how this has influenced how you help women. But would you mind just letting them know what the difference is?

Yes, absolutely.

Occupational Therapy Explained Simply

So within occupational therapy, that word occupation is a little bit confusing and misleading for people who are not familiar with the profession. So typically when we hear the word occupation, we immediately think of work or vacation. But really, the word occupation in occupational therapy means a meaningful activity of life. So from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to bed, all day long, we're engaging in occupations. So you're engaging in your self-care tasks, the things that you have to do to get ready, like brush your teeth and brush your hair and get dressed. Then we have work, we have our health management, we have leisure and play and social participation and education. So all these different categories of occupation we're constantly engaged in. And so the idea behind occupational therapy is that when an individual experiences some type of injury, illness, or disability, engaging in those occupations that we so often take for granted can actually become very difficult. So a lot of times in traditional settings, like in a hospital or maybe in a nursing home or an outpatient pediatric clinic, you might see occupational therapists working with someone who had maybe like a birth defect and is now trying to help them engage in those occupations as meaningfully or functionally or independently, if that's the goal, as possible, or all the way up to, you know, hospice end-of-life care, even just keeping people comfortable or able to rest, or giving caregiver education so that those individuals can be supported. So, with that understanding, we can see just how broad the scope of occupational therapy is, especially considering that we do work with individuals across the lifespan and just the variety of settings that you could find us in. So, as an occupational therapist, ultimately we have to have a really holistic way of looking at how to work with individuals because we consider that every individual is so different and is made up of all kinds of different abilities and interests and needs and personality types and different diagnoses. So having an understanding of how that diagnosis is going to impact their abilities who engage in certain things. And then it's really becomes a matter of examining those different aspects of things. So looking at the individual and seeing are there any skills or abilities that we can help foster or build up within a person that would make engaging in activities easier? Or is there something about the activity itself that could be tailored or adjusted in some way, perhaps by introducing some type of strategy or a tool or a compensatory aid that would make it easier? Or is there something about the environment that could be adjusted as well, even if it's a simple change, like turning down the lights to reduce sensory overstimulation or removing distractions or bringing in some visual cues or a caregiver? Like, so we're just constantly kind of examining those three different areas just to find that optimal fit between.

Right. That's gonna support that person in that stage. That's I love when you mentioned alternative things that come into that because I'm very familiar with occupational therapy and using horses. And we actually have an organization just down the road from us that does this with children that have hearing disabilities and sound disabilities and balance. And so the horses you know come into this perfectly with all the tuning in to you know everything that's around them. So and but you've certainly even given me some more depth to I didn't, you know, it's it's quite fascinating and very powerful and very important. So let's talk a little bit about integrating faith now with as you've given us this wonderful background, you know, of with this mental, emotional and physical.

Faith As The Foundation For Health

And as I said earlier, what I've gathered is that you offer faith in the way you talk about things as a support and not a pressure. How do you help women integrate faith into their mental, emotional, and physical health?

Yes. So within the Transform for Life Ministry specifically, that's where I really am able to tie in all of these things together. And so I really just am trying to help women and individuals understand that as we are created in God's image, we are triune beings because God is triune, right? Father, son, Holy Spirit. And so we have triune aspects of us as well regarding our mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. And so all throughout scripture, we see that when Jesus came to earth and he healed, he did these wonderful miracles, but the spiritual healing was his priority because he came to absolve for the problem of sin. He came to offer forgiveness, offer redemption, and to be the sacrifice that allows us to have that. And so for me in my personal life, before I became a believer, before I accepted that truth, I did not have a faith. I was not spiritually awakened to any type of truth. And I had tried, I had dabbled in various things. There were many times where I was very into yoga, I was very into manifesting, very into reeky energy types of healing. So I was looking. I was a broad background.

I mean, a broad spiritual that you're looking at this truth.

Yes. And I even had, you know, the understanding, well, God is just, he's real, he's out there, but he can be whatever I want him to be. And all religions can point to the same thing. As long as I believe in something and believe that that something is good, then, you know, my life is going to work out because I'm a fairly good person. And so I just was kind of all over the place. I didn't have solid footing on what I really believed because I had a lot of questions too, and you know, a lot of things that were very difficult for me to grapple with or to feel like I could come to understanding about. And so with that being said, I didn't have spiritual life. I was spiritual, spiritually dead. And even in that, I was doing all of the right things for my health physically and mentally. I mean, this was also really coming together at a time where I'm in grad school. So I'm studying to get my entry-level doctorate. I am the therapist. Like I am the one who knows how to lead other people through health and wellness. And yet I couldn't experience that on my own. And it was because I was missing that piece. And something that was really profound to me was especially when I was working in the hospital setting, I would encounter most of the time elderly people who maybe were there because they had a stroke or traumatic brain injury or they were recovering from an orthopedic procedure. What was so interesting was that you could always tell who the Christians were. Could always tell. And it didn't, it wasn't because like they had these amazing prognosis, or it wasn't because they were, you know, the healthiest, like on the outside. I mean, they were old, they were frail, but they had such vibrant spirits and they were so agreeable and so willing to come to therapy and so ready to get out of bed in the morning. And they would always have wonderful families or church communities come by and give them a meal or give them a blanket from home or make sure they had the slippers and the clothes that they wanted. And they just had such like life within them. And I just remember feeling so confused as to like, how do I really see that this person who is much older than me, who is in much worse physical health than me, has something within them that is vibrant and true and lasting that I don't have. And so I think that we really just kind of miss the importance of having that spiritual foundation and letting that be what enables us and empowers us to care for our physical and our mental well-being from a place of stewardship and love and respect. Because even when I was doing all of those things, like working out and eating a really strict, really clean diet, I was doing it because I kind of hated myself and I was just trying to control these things.

Yeah, often sometimes women feel they should be stronger in all of these areas, including their faith, and yet they are they're struggling.

Shame, Self-Compassion, And God’s Love

So, how would you suggest for somebody to just help them move a little bit away from the big blanket of shame and to invite a little bit of compassion? Because compassion is so so needed, and so many people have a hard time inviting compassion. Sometimes they can give it out to others, but absolutely compassion for themselves, pressurizing themselves. They just they have a hard time finding compassion.

Yes, and shame particularly was something I so struggle deeply with because, like I had shared a little bit about, I had a traumatic past, particularly with sexual abuse. And that was something that just felt it made me feel so ugly, it made me feel so worthless, just so like disgusted with myself. And I remember having to really, really work through that in the safety of God. And at the time, for so long, I couldn't come to him and I couldn't receive his love because I thought that God was mad at me. I thought that he, you know, was upset because I had broken all of his commands. I had not lived a godly life, you know, I had made a lot of mistakes and I knew that. And I think that there's so many wrong perceptions that we can have about God that really prevent us from being able to receive his love because we see him as this angry judge that's just waiting to condemn us and send us to hell for messing up, or we see him as this maybe he's not an angry judge, but he's far off and he's aloof and he's not interested, or he doesn't care about us, or doesn't care about our lives. And so I had carried just such a wrong perception of him. And it wasn't until I learned more about the character and the nature of God and discovered that he had a love for me that was not going to be taken away by my mistakes or my shame or my shortcomings, that he loved us even as the worst of us, you know, even in our rebellion, even in our rejection of him, there's nothing that can keep us from his love, but there's also nothing that we can do to earn it. So on the other hand, too, sometimes we can get lost in our pride of thinking that we don't need a savior and that we're good enough on our own, that we're not that bad, that we don't need anything. But the truth of the gospel is really just in that middle ground and focusing on that there is a God out there and he loves you. And it doesn't matter how broken you feel or how messed up your past seems or how far gone you think you are. All he's looking for is just us to be willing to receive him and to cry out to him and to acknowledge that we need him. And that's a prayer that he answers 100% of the time. And so it wasn't really until I got to the end of myself, I was tired of feeling like I was doing all the right things, but still not getting anywhere, not feeling any better and accepting that like I couldn't do this on my own. I can't fix myself and I need something out there to help me. And when I finally did have that moment of really crying out to him, that's when I do feel that I have an encounter with him's love. And that really radically changed my life and helped put all these pieces together to create hopefully the opportunity to help other women see the same thing.

I love that because you know the idea of beginning. Again, can be so intimidating and lonely. And I think many women they need to give themselves permission just to start with, you know, one small faithful step rather than saying, I yeah, I'm not ready, I'm not ready, I'm I'm starting, and I can't change everything at once. So you know, they don't take that small step. So yeah, what you're sharing is helping women to go tired. And I've tried, and I've tried other things, and nothing has changed. So I'd love for you, just for those that are listening and are inspired by your story of hope and you know what you've traveled through in your young life, because you are yeah, you're you're a lot younger than me. I could see that. But what would you uh suggest as a small practice that would help a woman just reconnect with herself and her wellness in the three this week that's that's coming ahead for her? If we took herself, her faith, and her wellness, what would you say?

That's a great

Practicing Sabbath For Real Rest

question. And I think that the answer that comes to mind is interesting, but really what comes to mind is practicing a Sabbath. And I know that that might seem like an outdated concept or something that's not necessary, and maybe for someone who's listening who is a believer and knows that we are under a new covenant and we are not obligated to uphold these laws. And there were lots of laws and regulations around what Sabbath looked like in the Old Testament and the Old Covenant. But really, I do think that one of the biggest issues that I see with women in society today is that we are just so burnt out. There's just so much on our plate, especially if you're a mom and you're trying to raise kids and maybe also working at the same time and trying to invest in your husband and invest in your friend relationships and just be everything to everyone. And the truth is that God invites us into his rest. You know, it says to come to him if you're weary and that he brings rest. And yet, even in our Christianity or in our religiousness, we can get so caught up in, even if you're a believer feeling like you have to do so many things for God to earn. And I think God really wants to break that narrative in us and help us receive as women again his love and in, and in turn have the identity in him that we are his children, we are his daughter, and that he loves us because he made us and he created us, and that there's nothing that we can do to earn that or to lose that. And so I think that there's such an invitation to rest with him. And I think really practically for us and for my family, that looks like once we get to Friday afternoon, Friday evening, phones are off, you know, distractions are put away. I like to try to make something wonderful for dinner because I love to cook and I love to have fun creating in that way. But if that's not your preferred option, maybe for you, this could look like a date night or going out. And it doesn't have to be fancy. It doesn't have to be expensive or over the top, but just do something that would bring you and your family closer together. Even just if you're lighting a candle, like I never underestimate the coziness that can come with lighting a candle and turning down the lights and putting away phones and just having a conversation with each other. And then after that, you know, the rituals that you can do can be different. Maybe you guys would like to have like a family movie night or to go on a long walk. And it doesn't have to be the same repeated formula every single time, but just try to do something that is removing yourself from the distractions, removing yourself from the burdens, and ideally doing that for a full 24 hours once a week, I think really is more challenging than people realize because we're so accessible now through our phones, through our emails, through the demands of other people, but just really kind of giving yourself permission to say no and to schedule this time and to protect it because it is important. And that as we do that, it really is an act of trust as well. It's an act of trust in the Lord that when we take this step back, he's so sovereign and he's still gonna hold everything together and it's not all gonna be on us. And I think that is incredibly healing. I think that is wonderful for our spiritual health, wonderful for our physical health, for our mental health, for our emotional health, and just being able to, of course, you know, not every week is perfect and sometimes things come up, but the more consistently you can really protect that time. And especially if you're, you know, sometimes people have different work shifts where they have to work on the weekends or have to work at evening. So again, just making it what fits for you and your family needs, but just trying to have one day where you can just truly have a day of rest and not spend that rest doing things that we think are restful but are really not. So trying to avoid like being on your phone the whole time or being in front of the screen the whole time, but go for a walk, engage in a hobby that used to bring you a lot of joy, color, write, scrapbook, play music, sing, before.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pausing and then inviting, inviting nature to sit back in and you know, just being mindful and being present right now in the now, because we do our thoughts run away from us at a hundred miles an hour. And as you say, and it doesn't have to be a specific day of the week. Yeah, I mean, a lot of people associate that with it. So I think that's a beautiful encouragement for people to just realize they can make space for themselves. If they don't have children, they don't have a partner to make space for themselves and invite these beautiful rituals, as opposed to thinking I've got once again, I've got to,

Where To Find Katie And Closing

yeah. So, Katie, this is really thank you. This has been a super thoughtful conversation. I I do I appreciate the way that you've wrapped this around together with faith and wellness and then taking care of ourselves. So I'd love for our listeners to know where they can find you. So I know that you have a podcast, and that is called That is called Transform for Life, yes. Perfect, lovely. And then I'll put these links in our show notes. The website I have is transformedforlife.net. Yes. And then the best place is to find you on social media.

Yes, I do have an Instagram where I post most of my updates there as far as when groups for discipleship opportunities are open and updates about the podcasts as well. So you can find me on Instagram at Transformed for Life2517. I also do have a separate dedicated occupational therapy page, just if you're um looking for tips about health and wellness from that perspective. You can find me there at dr.catherine, k a t-h e r I-n-e underscore landing, l-a-n-n-in-g. And I do tag both of the accounts in each of the bios, so you should be able to find them that way.

Exactly. That'd be so interesting just to be able to also look at the support that you offer with occupational therapy. And as I'm thinking on your website, people can certainly find out how to work with you if they're interested in doing so. Yes. Yeah, that's wonderful. Well, thank you again for joining me. And thank you to those that have been listening to Connect Inspire Create. And if today's conversation has sparked just a little something for you, I'd love for you to share it with a friend who you think might enjoy it too. And you can learn more about me at CarolClegg.com or follow along on my Instagram at Explore Life and Flourish, where I am sharing a window into my travels, my healing, and the small ways I'm learning to care for myself as I move through this new season of my life. So until the next time, may your choices bring you closer to ease and flow.