Guest Blog - By Detoxer Laura Kightlinger

When Michelle (“Mish”) and Erika asked if I would be interested in writing a guest blog about my experiences in Double Detox, my immediate response was “of course, I would be honoured!” Quickly I thought, “how can I possibly put into words all that I have gained from them?” I won’t let that stop me, though, because as they teach, so long as I am doing my best for the higher benefit, I can’t get this wrong.

This story starts in a lower ground conference room in an office building in London in 2017, where I interviewed Mish to join my team in a scaling software company. I was immediately struck by her confident yet approachable communication style and demeanour, self awareness, and strategic and forward thinking. I hired her. I left that company a year later, but we stayed in touch and started to build a deep and vulnerable friendship. When Mish decided she was ready for a new job, I hired her again, and our bond only grew as we built another team together. Mish relocated from London to Ibiza in February 2021, and she left our company in December that year to start her business. I had no doubt it would be successful - because I had already reaped some of the rewards of her gifts.

My mindset and consciousness have changed dramatically since I first met Mish. Every major step I have taken in my personal development in the last years has stemmed from an insight or quality question that Mish has had for me. She regularly gives me “kicks up the bum”, always with love, to tackle the tough stuff, and I am so grateful. From standing in my power at work, to healing a difficult relationship with food and my body, to finally taking action on a longtime dream about where I live, to some other major changes in the works that I’m not yet ready to share, Mish has challenged and encouraged me to listen to my heart and provided me tools to guide me on my journey. Double Detox has been integral, which I will come onto soon, but first - enter Erika.

On my inaugural visit to Mish in Ibiza in April 2022, she and Erika had just started their lovely home together, and I was meeting Erika for the first time. Her passion for and knowledge about nature and holistic wellbeing as well as her incredible intuition and connection to spirit were unlike anything I had ever experienced. I learned more about how to use food and my body together in a few days’ visit than I had in years of reading about nutrition and health. During lunch on our last day together, Erika shared two key insights with me about myself that she had intuited (they were spot on, of course) and offered sage advice on how to work with them, rather than against them. Amazing.

I don’t know any other couples this powerful, and when Mish told me they had created a program for mind and body together, I knew I needed to take it. The first cohort timing did not work for my schedule, so I mentally committed to the second cohort. Then the doubts started creeping into my mind. I could hear Mish telling me that doubts are fear-based and low vibe, so I can always shift my perspective toward an outcome and passion focus to overcome them and raise my vibration. That’s what I did, and I’m so glad because the outcomes of the Double Detox far surpassed my expectations. I left feeling:

• Empowered to live in alignment for me, not for others or society
• Cleansed physically, with brighter skin and eyes, healthier hair, and a much healthier feeling gut (bye bye usual bloating and inflammation)
• Confident I have the tools to continue feeling this well or get myself back on track if I falter

Of course this didn’t happen without effort, focus and commitment from me as well as incredible facilitation from Mish and Erika. Here’s how my doubts turned into beneficial outcomes:

1. Doubt: Can I handle another virtual commitment? My job demands at least 6 hours of Zoom calls/meetings per day, which is already exhausting. Do I want to add 30 minutes daily, and 2 more hours twice/week?

Outcome: Double Detox Live was a very special container of people going through a personal transformation together. The space Mish and Erika created was supportive, loving, and helpful. The accountability I felt kept me motivated, and the vulnerability everyone showed aided my transformation by knowing I wasn’t alone, being able to support others, and feeling support from the group. Being virtual made it easy to attend and meant no excuse to miss or not be able to catch up afterward if I couldn’t be there live.

2. Doubt: I have a history of disordered eating and rules around food that ultimately did not serve me or lead to beneficial outcomes for my body and health. Will my body respond negatively from deprivation, out of memory of prior experiences, and is this unhealthy for me?

Outcome: The healthy, natural, and gradual manner in which the body detox was approached meant that my body felt “safe” throughout and responded really well to letting go of things that weren’t currently serving it. Additionally, using positive self-talk and reinforcing mentally to my body that the outcome was to make it healthier (not starve/deprive it, as years ago) supported me throughout the cleanse and meant that I felt the full positive effects.

3. Doubt: I will be travelling and socialising during Double Detox. How will I manage to follow the protocol?

Outcome: Always do your best is a mantra by which I try to live, and it applied here. I did everything I could to stay focused on my goal of taking full advantage of the Double Detox program, but if it was causing me immense stress to tick all of the boxes, I did whatever I could to stay as “clean” as possible. Ultimately, I knew stress was more counterproductive than eating something that wasn’t ideal or needing to cut short my morning meditation, for example. 

4. Doubt: Mish has taught me a lot of this material previously. Will it still be worth it?

Outcome: Absolutely worth it! Repetition never hurts when it’s such valuable tools. More importantly, as I was in a different headspace and stage in my spiritual journey during Double Detox than in prior lessons, I took away new and different perspectives that are serving me in even deeper ways now. Hearing the questions and discussions from other participants was also very helpful in teaching me new ways to apply the frameworks.

Double Detox was transformational for me, leading to some major shifts mentally and physically. I am so glad I invested fully in it and will very likely join future cohorts, as I want to continue to feel as on top of the world as I do now after just concluding my first program.