Claudia Wenning on Rewiring Beliefs, Natural Healing & Growing a Heart-Led Practice

Zane Myers (00:00)
last week and I somehow got distracted. We got through the entire podcast and at the end, after an hour, I went to press the stop button that was done recording and I realized that I'd never pressed the start button. It was most embarrassing. It was terrible. he was so nice that he actually agreed to stay on for another... I didn't even ask him. said, I...

Claudia Wenning (00:20)
Yeah. Yeah.

Zane Myers (00:28)
I hate to even ask you, but he said, you know, I'll stay on for another hour. So we did two hours of, it was an endurance test, but it ended up pretty nice. So tell me, so I'm gonna just do a quick introduction about, you know, what I've, doing a little bit of research on you. You have a PhD in natural medicine, you're a naturopath, functional medicine practitioner, and counselor. Tell me.

a little bit about your life journey and who Claudia Winning is. Let's just talk about how did you get into, what led you into being where you are now, originally.

Claudia Wenning (01:07)
Yeah. So before I start,

how much time are we allotting for that? Okay. And

Zane Myers (01:15)
about an hour.

Claudia Wenning (01:21)
Who do you expect will be listening to this? So I have an idea who am I talking to besides you.

Zane Myers (01:28)
Okay, so

we take a little bit different twist in that we're talking to both your potential patients and as well as your peers. So some of it has to do with running your business and some of it has to do with your journey as a practitioner and helping patients and clients and what you do.

Claudia Wenning (01:55)
Yeah, I have clients.

Zane Myers (01:57)
do for them. So it's kind of a little bit of a mix. the idea is that if you are using this, and we'll do some shorts. We'll cut a couple of shorts out of this and just give them to you. So like a one minute or two minute short. And you can use them on your website or however you want to use them. But the idea is if someone listens to this, that they get a better feel for you as a person, as a human being, and not just as a

as a, from your care aspect, but you know, sometimes it's, it's adds a little humanizing touch to be able to recognize that this person is also running a small business. And it puts a little bit different spin on, on, on things that there's pressures beyond, know, here I'm helping my client to achieve certain goals, but I also have to make a profit along the way. So it's just kind of an interesting twist on things.

Claudia Wenning (02:55)
Okay, and now, I'm... Okay, I'm looking at... Yeah, makes sense. I'm looking at you now. Do I look like I'm looking at you? I am, okay, because if looking at you... Okay, great. Okay.

Zane Myers (02:59)
Does that make sense?

Yes, you do. You're looking perfectly. Your lighting is very good.

You look great. You're photogenic too.

Claudia Wenning (03:14)
Okay, so, ⁓ and you're in Seattle.

well, thank you for that. So, ⁓ you're in Seattle, right? Okay. So I'm in Northern California and I've lived there here for a long time.

Zane Myers (03:20)
Ha

Yes.

Claudia Wenning (03:29)
I was born and raised in Germany and this is really where my story starts because from early on I was diagnosed with all kinds of illnesses which are all under the grouping of chronic diseases which basically at that time and even today you know you are told you have this for the rest of your life deal with it we can't cure this so you know

when there's one, two, three, four, five, you really wonder what's going on with this body, right? And maybe I should learn things I haven't been told that might help me to be more at home in my body.

Zane Myers (04:12)
How old were you when you started to think about that kind of thing?

Claudia Wenning (04:16)
early teens. I got diagnosed with the first chronic disease. I just got into elementary school. And then they accumulated. Then I had a near-death experience when I was 11. And after that, I recovered from that. It was during surgery. I started to have questions, you know.

a teenager and I think that's the appropriate time. So what can I do differently just because I wasn't happy in my own skin and I always felt drawn to nature so it wasn't really difficult at all to combine this

going to town, going to the natural food stores, which were plenty and still are in Germany, look at what herbs can be used, how you can use food less processed, like how they actually are grown and they're coming from the farm. So this is it started. It started with me falling in love with herbs.

Zane Myers (05:21)
So when you move from Germany to the US, did that happen as a child or as a young adult? Way later.

Claudia Wenning (05:26)
No, no, that happened way later. Yeah. So,

⁓ so I ended up here and I'm very grateful to be in this country and I live in a very rural area too, which totally fits, fits my passions, if you will. I have an extensive, herbal cultivation myself. had it for years and actually takes some years to come to a point where you can sustainably harvest and respectfully harvest because you always have to leave plenty.

for all these other creatures that live with us, starting with the bees, really all the insects. So you want to do it in a way that it serves everyone, not just the humans.

Zane Myers (06:08)
So when you, did you get your training, initial training in Germany? In Germany. And then you came over here and started serving clients over here. How was that? did you start a, would you call it a practice or is that what you'd call it in Germany?

Claudia Wenning (06:13)
Germany, yes. Yes.

Yes, no, I didn't start my practice there. I learned natural apathy, which has a...

total different stance than what we have seen here, although it's getting better in the last 10-15 years. Naturopathy, homeopathy, herbal remedies, are still fortunately much more integrated in the German culture or I would say in the European, middle Europe culture than here. And that's also one of my passions. It's time to come back to the natural elements of healing, which have been used for centuries.

thousands of years and these are all of enduring quality and then modern medicine came in about hundred hundred thirty hundred fifty years ago which I love and I appreciate but let's not forget how many natural remedies we do have which are available before we just throw this all out of out of the window

and how this is also very self-empowering that people can make choices that make them more independent from the medical care that can be difficult, it can be expensive, there are other problems that come in with that and if it's just a matter of living more naturally, if you can do it yourself and you don't have to go to a clinic, I would say do it.

Zane Myers (07:56)
Hang on, I have a fan going back here and it's just a little noisy. I'm going to turn that off.

Claudia Wenning (08:01)
Okay.

Zane Myers (08:22)
I didn't realize how noisy that was until I turned it off. And now it feels like, wow, that's a relief. You probably didn't notice it. Yeah.

Claudia Wenning (08:26)
Okay, let's take a deep breath, right? Okay, so

where was I? So I'm...

Zane Myers (08:32)
So I want to

ask you about when you started to incorporate the whole foods into your routine, what were the results? how did you decide, OK, well, I'm going in the right direction here. I really want to continue on this. then what happened? What was the transition that happened there?

Claudia Wenning (08:54)
Well, I had a lot of intestinal problems as a child and as a teenager. And when I started to change my diet, I got better. The whole intestinal tract...

started to rebuild itself and there was before probiotics were a thing. It was just with food. was just with food. Less processed food, less refined sugar, actually none. More fiber, fiber, fiber. I am in love with fiber. Fiber is so important to keep things moving in all ways. How you want to understand that. So it's really critical that we literally

what we eat. So it behooves us all to look at what we put in our body. Right?

Zane Myers (09:42)
Yep. So

when you moved out to Northern California and then started your practice, how did you get your first clients? What did you do to get your first clients?

Claudia Wenning (10:01)
I think I did what everybody would do. You start with the people you know and the people who knew me knew what I'm passionate about anyhow. it just, think time is the most important factor to grow any business.

And to use the time wisely by networking, I think that's what's called now. Actually, it wasn't called networking then it was talking to people. just talk to right? You talk to people, tell them.

What are you doing? Tell them how much you love what you're doing and why you love it. And really that connection with this has worked for me. I am my best testimonial that I think speaks volumes. So I'm not...

Theorizing this is what I live and I've been living this ever since I was a teenager. So with all the variations that come throughout a lifetime and And the adjustments you have to make according to your age and to your activity level and so forth. Yes I think the old adage Walk the talk

Zane Myers (11:15)
Mm-hmm.

Claudia Wenning (11:16)
Is that what it is? Walk the talk, I think.

Zane Myers (11:18)
Yeah, block the talk.

Claudia Wenning (11:20)
There you go.

Zane Myers (11:23)
So tell me about your books and how you wrote your books. And do you use those as part of your marketing that when you talk to people, you give out the books, do you talk about the books or refer people on the books so that they can use those? Or is that something, a different kind of passion?

Claudia Wenning (11:27)
all the books. Ha!

No, it all goes. It all flows, right? So, yes, I wrote two books. The first one in 2014, the other one in 2015. So basically, these are... They're coming out of a very intense period in my life with a lot of changes and a lot of incredible insights that were gifted to me. I can't even say it any other way. So...

major shifts happened and they changed how I look at life and obviously at that time 2011 I changed the name of my business and called it quantum level health because I finally found a concept that kind of mirrors what I was believing in anyhow which is quantum physics and

that we now can allow ourselves to look at reality in a very different, very more expansive way than before. it just spoke so intensely to me that I decided this is one scientific aspect I can incorporate in how I look at life and make it understood to people. What happened though, nobody understood what I was talking about.

Zane Myers (13:05)
Hahaha.

Claudia Wenning (13:05)
in 2009,

2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. It was like, what are you talking about? And it is much better now, 15 years later, it's all over the place. To the point that I think it's also taken out of context what quantum physics really intends to...

the views that they intend to share, the scientists. But that's besides the point. I still think even if it at least creates interest, what is that? What do mean by going to the quantum level? What do you mean with this whole quantum thing? I think it is a wonderful way of opening up a conversation with someone who is ready and

interested in looking at life differently. So out of this looking at life differently, I started to write again, which I hadn't done for a long time, decades. And these became reflections and that became the first book from the lightness of the heart. And then I had started to work with my clients and developed all these processes, which I think they're kind of evergreen.

I put them all in a book and that became the second book, handbook, Quantum Level Transformation. That then anybody who has a few dollars to spare can get these processes and work with them independently because they are self-explanatory and the introduction of the book, I think, explains everything I want to...

share with my quantum level approach. so yeah, the books themselves are tools. Tools for reflection, self-discovery, for changing some trajectories in one's life if we're just so stuck and so frustrated and we haven't found the answers with the questions we have asked thousands of times. Why don't we ask some different questions?

Zane Myers (15:25)
what would be your typical client be like? So if somebody's coming to you and they're experiencing what sorts of situations where they would say, did you go by Dr. Claudia or Dr. Winning or Claudia or Claudia? Claudia? Okay, so I mean, you could pick any of those and it would be right. So I'd...

Claudia Wenning (15:44)
Doria. Doria.

Zane Myers (15:53)
I like the just using the first name too. It's just a little bit more friendly. But if you have a client come to you and they come into you, in what sort of situations are they coming to you? Why are they coming to you?

Claudia Wenning (16:13)
because their approach to life is not satisfactory anymore. That could be physical health, mental health, emotional health, could be relationships, it could be being out of sorts with what they have signed up to do day by day in a work situation with their family, with their environment.

It's that moment in time where someone becomes really honest with themselves and knows that something has to change. Something has to change.

In regard to physical health, may have to change certain aspects of your lifestyle, your nutrition, you have to look at your stress levels. Mental health, pretty much too. Then there are environmental factors, relationships. So yes, I would say the common, the easiest common denominator for anyone who decides they want to talk to me is the clear realization that something has to change.

Zane Myers (17:17)
So when you are most of your patients, it a, are they, it sounds like a mix of both physical and mental, emotional, and just dissatisfaction in life. How do you find these people? Is it, do you do any sort of advertising at all or is it all strictly word of mouth?

Claudia Wenning (17:37)
I really don't do much advertising, although you could classify my postings on social media as sort of advertising. When I think of something that I think might be of interest for someone out there and then I post it, that's kind of my advertising, if you will. coming back to the other aspect you just touched upon.

Zane Myers (17:49)
Mm-hmm. So.

Claudia Wenning (18:08)
Everything is related. is where the holistic approach comes in. Holistic means we're looking at all the aspects of the human being. That is the mental, the physical and the emotional. And it all is connected with the field we are in. That also affects the field that is...

given to us to express ourselves. So it's all connected and yes, holistic is like a key word in all of that.

Zane Myers (18:43)
So give me an example of someone who came in without identifying them, who they are or anything, someone who came in in a situation and that you were able to help them through that situation and created a result.

Claudia Wenning (19:02)
Okay, all right, so, you know, we also wanted to talk about the aspect of de-hypnotizing, remember? Yes. Yes. Yes.

Zane Myers (19:14)
Yes, I did want to. That was one of my things that I asked you about first off and you were asking, well, what do you want to know about that? Just it seemed

just the concept was was just built my curiosity.

Claudia Wenning (19:27)
Yes, so this is actually something that is a very practical approach. Like imagine, let's say there's a woman my age says, Claudia, I gotta talk to you. I can't take it anymore. Okay, so she comes in and I have a studio, so I see people in person or on video. And it's a long story. It's a very convoluted story and the woman is in true distress.

it's very difficult for her to make sense of what she's going through. And it is very emotional and it's physically depleting. There's insomnia. I mean, a lot of elements, is loss of appetite, there are headaches, there's insomnia. It's physically taxing as well. So this actually really happened and

So we started to talk after she explained the symptoms she's going through and nobody can help her and all her blood tests are regular and nobody can find anything wrong with her, but she's really suffering. So yes, yes, it's emotional, it's mental, it's physical, it's just life is not worth continuing the way she feels right now. So we looked at, yeah, it's terrible, absolutely terrible.

Zane Myers (20:35)
So she's having physical and mental things that are going on.

⁓ terrible then.

Claudia Wenning (20:54)
after having gone to the medical doctor who drew the blood, looked at all what could be going on and can't find a darn thing. So whatever she tells me and the...

evaluation she shares with me about how she feels about what's going on this is nothing else than judgment right we judge certain things that happen our lives we judge ourselves and the big question is have you ever taken the time to actually look at the judgment you are

using how you not only see life but also how you have this inner voice talking about yourself.

And that is the moment where everything can change. Let's question our evaluations. Let's question the answers we have drawn so far from the questions we have about life. What if there's a different way of looking at what's going on with you? What if the problem that you have clearly identified as a problem, if we look at it differently, may not be a problem?

may be something that has to be addressed but it doesn't have to like destroy the quality of your life. But that alone is easier be done with somebody like me because I am not under this heavy burden of emotional heaviness that already has developed out of these judgments and has then led to choices like

not sleeping enough, using alcohol or other things to get off the situation and of course they don't work. So when I come in I can look at it from a different level and I can take it with that person to the quantum level. So what do mean by that?

Zane Myers (22:47)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, so tell me about that. What do you mean by that? And then, you know, what in this particular instance, what happened with this client? I what was the result? I mean, what was the journey that you went on with her where she was going in this direction and then you identified things that were going on and you were able to change the direction? What happened there?

Claudia Wenning (23:06)
Yeah.

What happened? Yes.

Yes, I like what you do. she's going in this direction.

I'm coming from another direction, so we together bring this to a higher level. We can both live with our directional imprint, if you will. And now we're looking at, well, that is an option, but this is an option too. Now what if there are other options to look at your life? And that will totally shift the judgment you have about what's happening.

What's happening is happening. What has happened has happened. How it has affected you is obvious. However, what if there is another way how to deal with something has affected you? That would be in regard to grief, loss, disappointment, frustration, and even something as simple as the realization of getting older. The realization...

of having to deal with a loss of something. And we can always shift this. If it is really so unbearable in the moment, who wants to stay there? Why would we want to continue feeling completely overwhelmed and just miserable?

Zane Myers (24:54)
So you're really talking

about self-punishment in a way. You're punishing yourself because of the views that you have about who you are, that you've already, you know, in your mind, it's part of your soul. And that's really, I mean, I think we all do that to a certain degree. especially if you get into a mental trap, I would think it'd be really difficult to almost break that

to break that cycle. And so this is where you're talking about the de-hypnotizing.

Claudia Wenning (25:28)
Exactly,

yes, because we hypnotize ourselves by investing all our energy in one belief. Well, this is how it's supposed to be, this is how has to be, and now things are not like this. It's a disaster.

This is how it's supposed to be. I have believed this for 30 years. This is how it's supposed to be. It's not happening. I'm really disappointed. Well, what if we just allow ourselves to assume there is a possibility that we could actually continue living without being completely aligned with this belief? That's where the de-hypnotizing starts. These are beliefs. These are not necessarily facts.

It's one thing if something happens in front of my eyes and I have to process it. It is another thing if I have a belief that I just keep rotating in my head and that keeps me from seeing anything else that might be possible because I'm so self-hypnotizing myself. It's got to be this. It's got no it can't be anything else. It's to be this. It's got to be this. It's got to be this. How frustrating. How frustrating.

Zane Myers (26:40)
So I just think in my mind about somebody in my own family that does this kind of self-destructive behavior, the nicest person, but she's always in this cycle of, you know, her beliefs are, she has this negative view on things, even though she's a kind person. But, you know, I just, I can't see her breaking out of that. What do you do specifically?

Claudia Wenning (26:41)
Thanks.

Zane Myers (27:10)
to break someone out of that. When you talk about hypnotizing, it actually there's a hypnosis component here?

Claudia Wenning (27:18)
I do think we all are very susceptible to hypnosis. I do think we do it ourselves and we allow elements to get us into that space too. Watching a movie, not being able to take your eyes away, right? You have to wait till the commercial comes up.

that is an investment in the story that has a hypnotic component to it.

like a sense of trance like oh I gotta watch this, I gotta watch this, oh I can't go in it, no no I have to wait till commercial comes for example right so I think it's the willingness the readiness for change and this is the people who come and talk to me there is a certain element of willingness and readiness to change but how? yeah

I'm really tired of doing this day after day after day, waking up with frustration, written all over this day, another day full of frustrations. There is an innate, this spark of, I want to live a good life. I don't know how to stop it, but I'm ready for change. I think the readiness for change is the most important aspect.

Zane Myers (28:37)
Mm-hmm.

Claudia Wenning (28:44)
allow change to come in our lives. And it's invigorating, it's rejuvenating, is inspiring for others too. When somebody in your family says, I'm kind of tired of doing these things the same way and being frustrated year after year after year. I'm going to change something. And then allow your innate intelligence to help you to change it not

Maybe not too drastically, not chaotically, let it unfold and expand and enrich your life and the lives of all people who you touch.

Zane Myers (29:23)
So are there certain exercises that you do when you're going through this so that they can kind of break their habits or kind of what's driving them? Or give me an example of something that you might suggest to someone to use.

Claudia Wenning (29:41)
Okay, there are lots of ways to get there. You open your mind and your heart and your perception to something which I call the Big A. The Big A stands for awareness.

Anything that helps you to become more self-aware will get you there. Breathing techniques, meditation, walking meditation, singing meditation, sitting meditation, dancing meditation. Anything that helps you to hone the awareness of being alive in this moment and being the observer to witness

Zane Myers (30:01)
Mm-hmm.

Claudia Wenning (30:27)
that you're a conscious being. is an end. It's endless. For some people it is watching the sunset without commenting, just allowing something to fill you up. For others it's gazing in the eyes of your best friend.

Zane Myers (30:37)
Mm-hmm.

Claudia Wenning (30:48)
finding a connection. For others is watching children laugh. This is the most beautiful thing on the planet. You watch children laugh with an abandon and a complete presentness. They are our best teachers. Just watch a child laugh. It can revolutionize your world if you're really watching.

Zane Myers (31:16)
Yeah, so I have grandkids and yeah, I'm really familiar with that concept. There's a certain joy that children have. when people are doing these thought processes, it's really easy to kind of like meditation or something like that. It's easy to also drift into a negative thought.

process, how do you coach them to not drift into the negative, but to stay in the positive or do you? don't, I mean, how do you, you know, are you, are you trying to clear your mind or are you trying to embrace the positive things in your life?

Claudia Wenning (32:02)
I see where you're going with that. Okay, so you know there's this very well-known topic of mindfulness? Well, I would say we don't have to go there. It's more...

Zane Myers (32:09)
Mm-hmm. Yes.

Claudia Wenning (32:17)
It's a way of emptying your mind. So whatever happens, whatever you think about, just let it happen. Don't cling to it. Don't identify with it. That is just as important as when you become aware of the thoughts that come through your head, right? That's where we think they are, but they're actually in our whole field.

We have the freedom to identify or not identify with every thought that comes through us. And that is incredible power. the most important aspect of us being humans. We have the capability of witnessing our thoughts and the choice of

identifying with it or not identifying with it and if we identifying with a thought again and again and again there comes a hypnotic quality to it which can be very energizing as well if we're aligned with the values that are behind it as you say like is it negative or positive does it make me feel more alive or does it make me feel like I want to hide under a rock that

Zane Myers (33:29)
Yes.

Claudia Wenning (33:35)
may not be life-affirming. So I wouldn't want to support that. But if it's life-affirming and makes you feel more interested in getting to know yourself and what happens in your psyche and in your body and in your emotional field, yes, I am all for it.

Zane Myers (33:37)
Mm-hmm.

Do you use incantations or anything like that, you know, where you're saying the same thing over and over to kind of bring that, or is that something that's part of your practice?

Claudia Wenning (34:07)
Not primarily, I'm not against it. It really depends on how it serves the individual. If this is something, again, you are already identified with and you believe this will help you, try it out. But I wouldn't say, hold on to the belief that this is the only thing that will help you because that already will lead you in a direction where there is no expansiveness. So if it's a tool of several tools,

and it speaks to you, use it. If you think that's the only way I get to self-awareness and eternal happiness, that may not be so realistic.

Zane Myers (34:49)
Okay, yeah. So

what was that famous movie some years back where, you know, that people would, they would say incantations or they would believe that this was gonna happen and then it would just happen. Was it The Promise or something like that?

Claudia Wenning (35:04)
⁓ yeah,

I am... this is a big topic. I think it's very important. First of all, we want to become aware of our beliefs. Yes, that's where it starts. If I believe that I will...

drive a purple car tomorrow for whatever purpose there would be. Maybe look at what the purpose of that is first of all. That's where you start right before you identify with this belief and energize this belief because that's a lot of energy you put in there. And then is it realistic?

Does it need any further energy of you to make this actually become reality? Or am I just sitting back and I am of the belief that as long as I say it often enough it will happen? Does it work? You know?

Zane Myers (35:58)
Mm-hmm.

Claudia Wenning (35:59)
You have to question how you use these incantations. There are of course other ways to use words and vocal cords which I think can be very beneficial in centering. It would then be more in the sense of a mantra. So there is no interest in having something to be delivered to you or having something to achieve but rather using a mantra to be more in the present moment and

sound is super important to bring a certain vibration into my field. So if you say it out loud you better want to be aware of what you say out loud because it carries a vibration and the vibration will live within your field when you speak something out loud. So that goes in whole different direction.

Language is super powerful. Super powerful. Words.

Zane Myers (37:01)
So tell me about

that from when you have a client in, what they say, what you say, how that affects the whole session.

Claudia Wenning (37:13)
Whatever someone will say about themselves I would invite them to listen to that and not just expect me to listen to it like I'm talking to you, but I'm listening to what I'm saying and It brings me into a certain level of awareness Is that actually what I want to share with you or is it kind of off mark and then I have to rewind the wait? That's

I have to say this differently, right? and intonation is very important too, because this is how we actually can engage.

Zane Myers (37:43)
Yeah.

Claudia Wenning (37:53)
It's a matter of how you bring something verbally towards another. It depends how you do it to create the willingness of the other to actually pay attention to what I say. Some people, probably have the belief that the louder they talk, the more people will listen to them. That may be the case or may not be the case. Right? That's an interesting belief though, right?

Zane Myers (38:05)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, we've all known people like that.

Claudia Wenning (38:19)
So yes, words and not only the intonation but also the...

The agreed upon interpretation of certain words socially, agreed upon, certain words mean certain things or certain words are meant to create a certain response in the listener, we have to be careful about this. It could be words that are used in a more manipulative way than...

Zane Myers (38:53)
So give me an example of that.

Claudia Wenning (38:59)
All the words they go in the category of what you call cast words.

Zane Myers (39:03)
Mm-hmm.

Claudia Wenning (39:04)
they have a certain energy and certain intensity that would affect the listener if the listener is open to that. because we are socially, I think, agreeing that they have an intensity, most likely it would affect somebody. If I cast at you now for five minutes, like on the top of my voice, it may do something to you. You may not be able to say, OK, well, that's just for talking. It doesn't affect me, right? Yeah.

Zane Myers (39:29)
Mm-hmm.

Claudia Wenning (39:30)
On the other hand, it could be very endearing words that completely are aligned with your psyche, what you want to hear. Like I tell you how wonderful you are in certain aspects and how you're such a genius doing XYZ. Yeah, you know where I'm going with that, right? Yes.

Zane Myers (39:49)
Yeah, it does really have an effect on you. Even

just to listen to it and kind of hear it, you think, ⁓ I'm pretty good. So what do you do in your... If you could pay somebody to do something about your business, whether it was that you do right now, that you could get rid of, what would that be? This is totally off the wall kind of question.

Claudia Wenning (39:58)
So yeah.

Say that again. Okay, okay, tell me again, what is the question?

Zane Myers (40:15)
I changed focus completely. So if you

could pay somebody to do something in your business that you could get rid of, what would that be? So in other words, if you had somebody who could walk in and could do it, you know, maybe as good as you, because you could get rid of doing that, what would that be?

Claudia Wenning (40:38)
Okay.

Okay, it's very personal, but since you asked me, have one of my chronic conditions is that my handwriting is not sustainable. I can't really write long. So I would say somebody who takes over making the notes for me.

Zane Myers (41:04)
Mm-hmm.

Claudia Wenning (41:06)
But you know, it's very delicate because then you would have to bring someone else in and it's a matter of confidentiality. So, yeah, taking notes. That might be something.

Zane Myers (41:22)
That's kind of

tough. you use dictation? Do you use any dictation?

Claudia Wenning (41:28)
No, I really haven't really upgraded this whole project. It's like I make handwritten notes. That's what I do, right?

Zane Myers (41:38)
Probably

while you're sitting there with a client, you're making notes and there's no other way around it. You can't put a computer screen. It's too distracting. It's just like, yeah. No.

Claudia Wenning (41:46)
It's like, ⁓ wait a second. I'm going to, I'm going to tell you can do that. So,

⁓ but I, I'm sure there's other things that could be delegated. just haven't really given that much thought. I'm, I'm sure there could be something done, but at the same time, in my case, I am the business.

Zane Myers (42:11)
So what's the, tell me, let's talk about the stress of running the business, that part of it. you have patience, you're always trying to help them achieve the goals and get the positive results. And then you end up with blank spots in your schedule. And that's kind of, how do you deal with that?

Claudia Wenning (42:40)
You're not gonna like it. ⁓ that's just an assumption. Okay, I'll take it back. You may like it.

If for some reason there's a certain time in a day that I don't see clients, then I believe that time is meant for me to re-align my energy to be then in a complete present state of being when the next client walks through the door. So, and it's not...

that often that it happens. I actually do give myself a lot of time between sessions exactly to do that. So it's not like in out in out. I do need a lot of time to come to a sense of completion for what has happened with one individual.

come back to a little space that I am then not taking anything from the last session into the next session. I think that's very important.

Zane Myers (43:51)
So your practice, your business, the way that it is right now, is it pretty self-sustaining? Is something that you're at the size where you want to be and you've got the right amount of clients, you really don't want to change anything about where you are right now? If you could change anything, would there be anything?

I'm just talking as far as you're running your business and it sounds like you're happy with your whole business and situation, which is really great.

Claudia Wenning (44:26)
Yeah, I actually am. I'm very

grateful. I'm super duper grateful that anybody who comes in the door has the capacity of trusting me enough.

I mean, it's just miraculous. I'm just another human being. And then when actually something transpires in the time we're together, solutions just come to the surface and show themselves and create an incredible shift for that person. It's like, I mean, I basically celebrate with my client together. It's amazing. So yeah, I'm very grateful for what has evolved.

Eventually, of course, I may retire someday. No, in the the perceivable future. I may still then be available in video. But for the time being, I am a firm believer that it takes time to build trust. And one aspect that

has its own beauty is that I'm actually working with various generations in one family, if you will. let's say the mother came to see me, now she's the grandmother, her daughter and her grandkids come to me. So that is, it's really amazing. That is the...

the epitome of word of mouth literally when somebody has enough trust to send their own family their kids and their grandchildren that is just beautiful to me that's a testimony is that we we did something that works yeah so that

Zane Myers (46:17)
Mm-hmm.

Claudia Wenning (46:27)
I think if somebody sees that in their practice, mean, just pinch yourself. It's real. It's beautiful. It's unbelievably beautiful. And that only time can bring.

Zane Myers (46:40)
So let me ask you a different question. So when you first started out, how did you bring in, so you say, actually you reached out to people that you know, and then a few of them came in, and then how did you go from that to, I mean, you had been doing a lot of talking with various people saying, hey, I do this, and if you have this happening, you know,

Claudia Wenning (46:54)
Yes.

Zane Myers (47:10)
you know, love to talk to you about it. What's even the conversation that goes on there? It's probably been so long ago you don't remember exactly, but what would you tell somebody young starting out that they should do?

Claudia Wenning (47:19)
No, I remember.

When I decided to really give it all I had, that was the time when I was writing my books, I also offered local events where they were meant to not only show what I do, but basically what everybody has to offer in a local area in regards to non-medical health support.

And these events were very successful and lot of people came and got information and talked to all kinds of what are called alternative health practitioners. And I think that

Zane Myers (48:02)
Mm-hmm.

Claudia Wenning (48:06)
made a difference how I connected with the community. And again, it's all personal, right? It was events where people walk in the door and they have an experience, a day long experience with me and others, which made this so real and tangible that there are ways how you can improve your life.

with the help of practitioner but then also that you get shown certain ways you can continue on your own. Again, it's all about self-empowerment. I don't want anybody ever to think they have to be dependent to go to a practitioner for 10, 20 years. That is not something I would ever embrace.

Zane Myers (48:51)
So actually, I'm really curious about this event because that sounds like such an interesting way to really get people to kind of not just know that you exist, but to actually experience what it is that you do. So how many different kinds of practitioners did they have and who organized the whole thing? you did it.

Claudia Wenning (49:12)
Well, I did, of course. Yeah.

⁓ the first event.

Zane Myers (49:16)
Maybe that's

your next career.

Claudia Wenning (49:18)
No, that is already

a career that has been in the making and I'm actually slowing down because yes, I have provided a lot of events over the years. The first one I would say maybe 20 practitioners. The next one, it was a different format. There were active processes with, I want to say 10, 12 practitioners. And then we, my, at that time studio partner and I, we offered monthly events with highlighting

one practitioner for a either a modality or just a certain teaching people can take home and do themselves. Yeah, so this has been going on for over 10 years. Yes, there's probably another event in the making as we speak. I don't have a title.

Zane Myers (50:01)
Mm-hmm.

so it still continues to this day.

Are they all local

or do you go around to different places?

Claudia Wenning (50:16)
They're local, yeah. And

most of them are videotaped and on my YouTube channel.

Zane Myers (50:22)
Okay, I'll have to go check that out. Because actually I'm really interested in that because I'm always talking to practitioners who are looking for ways to grow their business. And like I say, you're either dealing with clients or patients, but you're also a small business person. So there's two competing things and you only have so much time to go around between seeing the patients, growing your business,

Claudia Wenning (50:26)
Yeah, you have to go check out my YouTube channel.

Zane Myers (50:52)
You know, you can't do everything. And so I was just kind of curious about the concept of these meetings.

Claudia Wenning (50:58)
So I think Zayn, I mean, we all went through COVID. I think one of the lessons we might realize coming out of this incredible time of isolation that it really helps for people to find common ground and communicate with each other in person.

And yes, I mean by default it's local of course because you don't want people to drive all over the place for hours and hours and hours but it is also something that has Merit that it can grow from there. It is just one point of contact as I said, it's back to the principle you make a connection a really beautiful

new relationship with somebody locally and I could give you several examples. They will talk to a family in Utah and they will call me. So it's just a matter of connecting but with an open heart and authentically. And I mean I have nothing really to sell. What I offer is a service.

way to help someone to get out of a rut, whatever shape or form it might be, to get out of this place like I don't want to be here, I don't know how to get out. know, it could be again physically, mentally, emotionally. I don't want to live life like this anymore and this is where I can provide the service to help that individual to find new avenues, more than one.

Zane Myers (52:25)
Mm-hmm.

Claudia Wenning (52:40)
and is of their choice and how they want to move forward.

Zane Myers (52:47)
So how did you come up with the idea of having these events? You just said, I need to get more patients, I can help more people. But it's kind of a sharing thing too. mean, how did you get all the different modalities and what were the modalities? I mean, did you have an acupuncturist and a chiropractor, structural medicine, homeopath? you say you had like 20 people at one of these?

Claudia Wenning (53:17)
Yeah,

massage, EFT, Qigong.

another talk therapist, therapist, one, two, three, four therapist, a therapy just geared for children, another acupuncturist, somebody spoke about the importance of diet, nutrition, nutritionist if you will. Yes, so all these things, of course things I'm passionate about too, to really the common...

Zane Myers (53:45)
huh. Yes.

Claudia Wenning (53:55)
goal is always in offering events to give people tools to improve their lives independently with the help of someone for a time to bring the focus on something that doesn't work and find solutions to make it work.

Zane Myers (54:15)
And when you had

these events, how did you market them so that people would know, hey, they've got all these group of different experts. I'd really like to.

Claudia Wenning (54:24)
The old fashioned way,

the old fashioned way, posters, newspapers, word to mouth, social media, you just gotta let people know this is happening.

Zane Myers (54:38)
When you did that, how far out did you schedule it? I'm asking you real pragmatic kind of questions, but I'm really curious.

Claudia Wenning (54:43)
No, that's fine.

I think it was three months. Yeah, yeah.

Zane Myers (54:47)
Three months? Yeah.

And then where'd you have it? mean, the actual physical place you had it, you usually have to pay for something like that, right? Yeah.

Claudia Wenning (54:58)
Yes, you do.

Yes, you rent a, you know, there's places for this. You rent a hall big enough. Yes. Yes.

Zane Myers (55:11)
and how many people would showed

up.

Claudia Wenning (55:16)
AD the first one and about 120 the second. I mean that's for somebody who was not known at all pretty amazing because I live in such a mean we have our town is 5000 inhabitants. so it's a very small town and

Zane Myers (55:20)
⁓ that's great.

Ha

Claudia Wenning (55:39)
Yeah, it works. And then the ongoing events, were usually, because the room wasn't very big, know, 25 people, 30 people. But if you do this every month, it's something people actually can rely on that.

there will be some information provided. And a big aspect of this also was always the herbal aspect, like learning about herbs, how to use herbs, do all these kind of things. again, help people to find ways to enhance the quality of their lives and their health at the same time.

Zane Myers (56:14)
Yeah. And well, fortunately in the U.S., like you said at the very beginning, that we're going that way. It's awful glacial, slow pace. And I talked to somebody last week, a functional medicine guy who really enjoyed it. And he was somewhat frustrated with his allopathic brethren that they did not, he just didn't get any referrals. It was always

You know, it didn't get any referrals from, you know, what's called traditional medicine, which is actually naturopathic source of medicine really is traditional medicine and allopathic medicine is something new in the last 150, 200 years before it was just didn't even exist.

Claudia Wenning (57:01)
this.

And you know the amazing thing now with functional medicine, it is actually the bridge between the old fashioned way of doing things and allopathic medicine, because that is an approach that uses all the incredible science we have, how to interpret lab tests and all that, that all is in functional medicine. But then the way how to treat them, we're going back to naturopathy. for me, watching this, this being going on now,

Zane Myers (57:23)
Mm-hmm.

Claudia Wenning (57:33)
It was coined by Jeffrey Blant, think 1996, I want to say. might be wrong on that. Functional medicine is this bridge for naturopathy and allopathic medicine to come back together. And really what we want that it works for the client or patient is the best of both worlds. That's really what should give us the energy to move forward. And it will happen, I think.

patience and diligence, we will get there.

Zane Myers (58:04)
I think that about winds it up, Claudia. I really appreciate your time. That was really great. I really enjoyed it. So hang on with me. I'm going to press this stop button and then.

Claudia Wenning (58:07)
Okay.