Michelle Garbutt - Holistic Therapist

This memory from a 2016 Facebook post - "As I pause and take stock at the start of my 39th year as I wonder around the heath with my furbaby. I'm thankful for the wonderful family and friends that surround me but also I wonder about what improvements I can make for a healthier body, mind and the overall betterment of me and life in general. Action plans are forming and I'm feeling re-energised"

Well if I only knew that the Universe was going to throw me a massive curve ball and show me just what improvements I could make for a healthier body, mind and overall betterment of me!

This post was made about a month & a half before I experienced my worst flare in my 20 years of living with UC. 2 week hospital stay, prednisone not working (IV high dose didn't do a thing), put on biologics (Remicade).

A flare that made me think what can I do to have agency with my health, my disease. Medicine was not working like it used to, I needed to look at other ways to support my disease.

It's when I focused on stress management and what I could do to calm my internal body / environment to support my disease.

Best thing I ever did! Within a year I was living symptom free, in deep remission and off the biologics. Not only had my IBD improved but I felt different inside.

I kept up with the changes I was making, started studying and exploring to understand what had happened, why I had experienced such a shift.

I wanted other people to experience the relief that I felt, the life I got back, the way I felt "normal" again. I didn't want to keep quiet, I wanted other people to know, to experience the same thing as me.

The post reminded me that things can change in an instance. That one experience can start you on a completely different direction. Most importantly why I wanted to get into the work that I do.

It has given me inspiration and motivation. Be prepared to hear more, to be invited to step into something new and more on this topic that gets me excited and a little firey at times.

Yes I miss London, I made a wonderful group of friends, it's more dog friendly, Millie and I walked on the Health numerous times a week and I miss that. But I also love Oz.

Feeling a little spicy with this one today. The question is inspired by a post I saw the other day.

My story around this is for the first 20 years of having IBD I was closed off to any ideas or suggestions that didn't come from my medical team. I shut-down those conversations quick. I wasn't even open to the idea, to considering suggestions.

I think for me this came down to:
- being conditioned to think that all the answers lie in modern medicine and closing off anything else
- having UC is scary, unpredictable, there is a level of fear, I was living in a state of alert a lot, i.e more in a state of stress than a state of relaxation
- I was trying to avoid the next flare & wary of anything that might trigger one
- I was living in survival mode, meaning I couldn't be open to more, I didn't have the capacity for more. I wasn't in a position to think about more, so just lets not have those conversations because I didn't have the mental space.

What changed to allow meditation and what followed?
- the worse flare to date in 2016, where prednisone didn't work (even high dose intravenous) and I had to go on biologics

The fear of my condition progressively getting worsen made me think there had to be another way because it looked like my medical options were starting to fail.

I heard the words "stress can impact your disease/cause flares" in my head. Something my doctors had told me previously. A friend had taken up meditation and spoke about how it helped him with stress and I thought ok I will give it a go.

It wasn't easy but I built a regular practice.

Within a year after some tests I was declared in deep remission and came of the biologics.

I am not naive I know the biologics played a role but so did the meditation as it helped allow my body to rest, relax and come into the relaxation response (a space where the body naturally heals itself).

I stayed in deep remission for 7 years and am currently waiting on tests to confirm that I am back in deep remission, I am pretty sure that I am.

Meditation didn't cure my IBD but it did provide support for my illness.

Some things I have noticed as I move through the Quiet Mornings for Calmer Days 14 day challenge. Not so much about the change but what happens now when I don't get my quieter mornings, how it all started and the impact on my days.

One thing I realised is that madam Millie keeps me in check on our walks. In terms of I am present, I don't listen to anything, I am not on my phone (besides to record a little story as we walk, anything longer and she gives me a look). The only time I am on my phone is for urgent stuff, and I mean emergency urgent.

Yes Millie notices the difference in my presence and our connection on our walks. If I am on my phone, she gets annoyed and I can feel the shift in energy.

No I can't listen to podcast or music on our walks. It actually grates on me and my nervous system now. It stops me from being in the present moment, its a distraction and kind of annoying now. I love a podcast and music in the car, when I am working, working out etc but not on a walk.

On the rare mornings when I don't get the chance to meditate, gently stretch and get in some form of movement, my body notices. I am not in the same state of being.

It's interesting how my quiet mornings have such a big impact on my day, my body and my state of being. I love my quiet mornings and the impact they have.

I am so honoured to be able to share these with the woman in the challenge. I can't wait to hear how they feel once the challenge is done.

How do you start your day?

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.

I don’t think I’ve ever shared this story before.

Meditation saved me.

It gave me a safe space to heal, witness and understand myself more deeply. It gave my mind and nervous system a much-needed break and helped me find the inner peace I had been searching for.

But my journey with meditation wasn’t easy.

I turned to it after coming through what was, at that point, my worst autoimmune flare. Steroid treatment had not worked, I had been placed on biologic medication for the first time, and I was petrified.

The flares were becoming worse, and I knew something had to change.

I kept returning to five little words:

“Stress can impact your disease.”

Friends had told me how much meditation had helped them, so I decided to try it.

The first time, I probably lasted less than two minutes.

For a long time, I could only manage five. My mind raced, I worried about the time, and because I couldn’t make my thoughts disappear, I assumed I was doing it wrong.

But I kept trying.

I stopped and started, found ways to work with my mind and eventually became consistent.

That was when something began to shift.

I felt calmer. Clearer. More peaceful. The way I responded to the world changed.

Within a year, my autoimmune disease was in remission, and I was able to come off the biologic medication. I then lived the next seven years without a flare.

I don’t believe meditation did all of that on its own but I do believe it was the gateway.

It led me into deeper healing, inspired me to study and ultimately changed the direction of my life.

Meditation is incredibly special to me. I have often been told that I have the perfect voice for it, but I think what people can really hear is the love I hold for it.

For years, people have asked me when I would hold a meditation retreat.

Finally, I can answer.

The Quiet Within
A luxury meditation and mindfulness retreat
23–25 October 2026
Werri Beach, NSW

An intimate weekend to step away from the noise, pause and allow the stillness within you to arise.

I would love you to join me as I share one of my greatest loves. Bookings can be made here: https://www.michellegarbutt.com/retreat/

Intuitive Energy Healing offers a gentle space to pause, release what no longer serves you, and reconnect with a greater sense of calm, clarity and balance.

This is not about fixing who you are, it's about providing a space to release what you’ve been carrying.

Appointments available this Thursday afternoon and Saturday. Bookings can be made here: https://www.michellegarbutt.com/energy-healing/

As I evolve so does my business and the offerings. One thing that I had been struggling with was how do I describe what I do now? I can't rattle of a list of qualifications, it doesn't reflect the work that I do.

I decided the easiest way to wrap it all up in a pretty bow so to speak is to call it Holistic Therapy.

So now that I have a title that feels reflective. What is it that I do? The core of it is supporting woman to move out of survival mode. What does that mean? To me its about providing you with a place to put down all that you have been carrying and providing the space for you to find a way forward so that you feel like you are living again. Obviously things need to happen for that to take place and thats where I come in to meet you where you are and move forward from there.

You can do this with:
- 1:1 sessions
- dedicated and meaningful mentorship for big shifts and changes
- intuitive energy healing
- online programs
- membership

I will meet you where you are and what feels right for you in that moment.

If you would like to work together please reach out and we can talk about which support would be best for you.