Joining the conversation this week is Board Certified Wellness Coach, Podcaster, and Syndicated Columnist, Savio P. Clemente.
Savio was living a healthy life doing all the right things when he went to the doctor for some routine bloodwork and issues with his stomach. That appointment changed the course of his life when the option to return home after the appointment turned into a hospital stay and a cancer diagnosis.
Savio, now in remission, empowers individuals to find meaning in the "why?" so they can thrive.
Connect with Savio:
Interview with Savio P. Clemente:
*Text has been edited for clarity
Calla: We're really excited one that you came in, we're excited to hear your story and to learn from you today. So just again, thank you for being here. I would like to start off though, by going back to 2014. With your cancer diagnosis, and you realized that your your calling existed outside of what you knew to be familiar. And I just want to ask you to explain to us what caused that shift?
Savio P. Clemente: Sure. So prior to my cancer diagnosis in 2014, I was living traditionally what would be considered a very holistic lifestyle. I rarely took any medicine, I rarely took any aspirin. Saw a naturopath who did blood work on me for like eight years prior to that I was eating organic food, I was working at a very high end gym doing high intensity workouts, I was meditating every day, been a meditator for about 20 years now. And I was doing all the right things. But something sort of shifted. I think for me, if I look back now on it, there was a lot of things happening in and around my life in terms of I was in a, I was in a business, small business with about three other partners. There was a shift that happened with two of the partners personally. And I think I kind of emotionally took that on a little bit. I'm not saying that was the main cause of it. But I think if I was to be really honest with myself, I think that was definitely a part of it. And I found out that what was happening to me was that I was my stomach was getting bigger and bigger and bigger. It's like almost like a pregnant woman. And I saw my naturopath and it's like your bloodwork is so off the charts. He's like I can diagnose you with like three or three things right here. He's like, I have no idea what's going on with you. I've been monitoring you for over eight years. So he told me to go get a you know, traditional medicine treatments or just, you know, seek out the advice of a, you know, traditional doctor, which I did. They told me to go get a sonogram which I did, and they would not let me leave the office after I got on sonogram and I'm like, what's going on? And then about an hour and a half later, if it's up to me, I really think you should have someone come pick you up and I'm like but I have my car here and they're like, No, I really think you should. And they said you really should go to the hospital and I'm like, for what they're like, Just do it. So I go there and about an hour and half later, I was admitted to the hospital. I found out about three days later. I'm sorry two days later that I had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma stage three. They did a bone marrow aspiration on me. Fortunately, it didn't go to my brain. But they did have to put in a nephrostomy tube which ended up I think I had about eight liters of fluid that was slowly draining for me in about a two week span. First week, I was bedridden I couldn't couldn't leave. And then the following week, about three days before that, he told me I should go on my first round of chemo. Which honestly, I consulted with a lot of people because I do have a lot of time and I have Wi Fi and my phone and good friend of mine was like, sure you want to put those poisons in your body. Like literally it's going to destroy everything. And so I sat with myself and like I said I'm a meditator, and I just realized You know, I don't know if you ever ever watched that movie with Keanu Reeves, Little Buddha?
Leanne: No, I haven't seen it.
Savio P. Clemente: Okay, so there's a scene in it. So it's been a long time. It's been a few years since I've seen it. And this image in that movie popped into my head as I was like quad contemplating this, what am I going to do? And there was a scene in it where so canneries Siddhartha in the movie is meditating, he leaves all his earthly possessions meditating with other Yogi's for like many years, he's barely eating any food, maybe a grain of rice a week, or whatever the case may be. And here's that he's meditating these two people in the fishing boat, in the ocean. If you hold the string too loose, it won't play. And if you hold it too tight, they'll snap. The path is the middle path. And like, literally, I realized, Oh, my God, I don't have to choose one or the other. I can do both. I said yes to chemo. And then I did integrative modalities in between my treatments.
Leanne: Were you trained in these modalities before you decided to take that middle path?
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah. So I was like, I was a burgeoning biohacker in the beginning. So this is 2014. I was always preventative minded. I always kind of knew there's a deeper path to questions. I always questioned things. So I can't say I was 100%. Exactly. I knew what I wanted to do. But I had all the time in the world. And I had Wi Fi and so I did my due diligence and research. I've consulted a lot of people, I literally treated my cancer as a challenge and a mission. And I left I literally didn't do anything else, but focus on helping healing. And fortunately, my story is that I was able to beat it in four months. I'm since cancer free. It's been seven years. And now I've promised myself after five years of being in remission, that I would do something with it if I am still alive, which fortunately, I still am.
Calla: Fortunately, it's right. That's amazing. What a story. Wow. Lots to unpack.
Savio P. Clemente: And I'm sorry, if I was a little long winded there. It's just no think about what you think about how it happened. It's to me, it's like a stream of consciousness. I just kind of go with it.
Calla:Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, you go in for one thing, and then your your whole life changes. That's a lot to unpack just right there. I know that you said you immediately went into how can I solve this problem that I find myself in, can you walk through that? Where did you start to look? I just want to know more?
Savio P. Clemente: I had some hesitancy with the chemo. Because you know, you hear chemo and I wasn't really concerned about, like losing hair. I since adopted the look. And now it's a badge of honor, I realize that people told me I look good with it. And I was like, You know what I'm spending all this time worrying about like my hair. I might as well just like, let that go. And so but what they don't tell you about the hair with men, and I'm just gonna be really candid here is that when you lose hair from chemo, you lose hair everywhere. And if you know what I mean, like looking at myself in the mirror, it's a little weird. Like a pubescent boy, yeah. I basically, you know, talk to the medical director, and I remember she looked at me deadpan face and she basically used an expletive. She goes, Listen, you are really, really sick. You have stage three cancer. I don't care what the eff you do outside of this hospital, but you need to get chemo. It will It will save your life. There's this new drug called the doxorubicin. It's it shows major promise with the drug. So please I advise you to do it. And like I said, you know, I had to make the system all on my own, but I wasn't given it you know, people have cancer and they like can go home and like, ruminate. I had no choice. I was literally bedridden. So it was either I don't do it, and, you know, cross my fingers or I, you know, get the treatment. And so I I think I made the wisest decision. I was just you know, researching on the Internet. You know, Sloan Kettering obviously is a big one. Anderson is another one. I also read the Quran, believe it or not, and there's a passage in there, which talks about something called a black seed oil and the passage goes, "There's only one thing that black seed oil cannot kill, and that's death". So I did that. I did red light therapy. I did ozone therapy. I did a whole bunch of stuff. Yeah, so yeah, I could go on and on.
Calla: Please. That's so interesting.
Leanne: I'm so curious. I listened to one of your podcasts. I think it was, "The one who: didn't trust her body" or or something to do with that. I didn't realize that her story is very similar to yours where she was doing all the right things. She was eating healthy. She was working out she was meditating and she felt betrayed by her body when she got the diagnosis. Did you feel similarly?
Savio P. Clemente: It's really interesting. I am a firm believer not in everything happens for a reason. I mean, I do believe that but I'm also firm believers that challenges are put to us to test us in a way, whatever your belief system is, this is what I believe. And so when I got the diagnosis, I remember like, so my hospital was amazing. I counted, there was like 18 Doctors attending to me in that two weeks period. I don't know why that was, I'm not questioning their care. And so I remember three of them, the one who did the bone mass, because they're like, we've told a lot of people this and they like literally broken down. And I just said to them and said, What am I going to do? Like, me breaking down right now, it's not going to help solve the problem. And it's interesting, because my sister was the first person to come see me. Like, the day after I was admitted to the hospital, like the early in the morning. I remember I told her, she literally broke down. And like, I had to like console her and I was like wait, wait, wait I'm the one. I'm the patient. I'm the one with the problem here. But I'm like I understand. I think for me, it's probably a personality type of mind where I've been really good at, like, taking care of myself and surviving in a way. And so I think I just went into that into that particular zone.
Leanne: Wow.
Calla: It prepared you for it almost in a sense with everything that you had been doing leading up to it. That's really beautiful. Yeah, it's really beautiful.
Leanne: You said that you kind of took on some emotional stress from the business that you were in, have you noticed with a lot of other patients or survivors that you've worked with, is emotional stress, kind of previous to the cancer a pattern that you see?
Savio P. Clemente: So it's interesting. Yeah. So when I do my coaching, so I basically coach cancer survivors, because I feel like that particular part of the cancer journey, most people feel like, You're a winner, and which I'm not taking anything away. I've lost many people to cancer myself. But there's a lot of stuff that happens to you. And nine times out of 10, it's cancer is a very physical thing. It attacks physically your body. But there's like a psychological, there's emotional, there's mental, there's some soul things that, you know, we as humans have to kind of unearth and figure out for ourselves. I think those are the things that my clients, usually when I go through the cancer sort of coaching process with them, that we unearth, and most of the time, I find that it's not something that they ignored, but something that they just kind of didn't want, didn't really see nine times out of 10 because they weren't aware or they weren't present, or that they felt that maybe that would work itself out somehow. And so most of cancer survivors that I know, we share this sacred truth, which is we only have a limited amount of time, you're never cured from cancer, you just diminish it. So it could come back? Hopefully not. But we know that time is, to some degree, not on our side.
Leanne: Did you have that feeling before the diagnosis? Or did you kind of get one of those new lease on life experiences?
Savio P. Clemente: You know, it's really funny, because it's, I remember that night that I was in the hospital before they transferred me to the seven floor just called, "The cancer floor", which is horrible name, but that is what it was called. I remember breaking down to a nurse. And I think, and it's really crazy, but most of it was, like, I didn't want to leave people with burdens, like, you know, like financial burdens or personal responsibility burdens. It wasn't really for me about the death experience, I think. So I grew up Catholic, but I've been someone who's been very interested in just the wisdom from all you know, desperate parts or, you know, steady comparative belief systems, and not really afraid of the dying death process. Not that I know, for certain what's going to happen, but I'm sort of peaceful with that. I think for me, it was more of I would be a disappointment to people. Like I, you know, like I that they would think of me, it's probably it's probably doesn't make any sense. But they would think of me less than that I kind of left them now with this burden. That was the first thing that ran through my greater wisdom in the last seven years has shown you there's other things.
Leanne: Yeah, cuz that's kind of like an ego plus guilt reaction
Calla: In a super fragile situation, right?
Savio P. Clemente: You know, I know and with a nurse, I don't even know. I mean, she just kept saying to me, of course, she's probably see hundreds of cancer patients. She just basically said to me. It'll be okay. It'll be okay. So that was nice. Yeah.
Calla: So how long after your remission were you like, Okay, I really I know you kind of gave a timeframe when we first started talking that you really did see the purpose in this, but how long after did you know you wanted to share with people?
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah, so I, I made a promise that if I hit that five year mission mark, it's never a guarantee. But it's when they consider it less than likely that it might reoccur. And I was tired of seeing my oncologist every three months, then six months and a year. And so I said, after the five year mark, which happened around the pandemic, that I would do something with this. So my background is IT. I used to design websites and mobile apps, and I was very good at it
Calla: We've got that common
Savio P. Clemente: Behind the scenes is like, it's, it's a, it's an innate trait of mine. But I realized that if I hit the five year mark, I want to do something, you know, sort of front facing. And so that's where kind of coaching came into play. It sounds a little woo-woo, but I did let the universe kind of guide me, I knew something was tugging at me. I didn't know how that was going to be or what that was going to be. And so I pursued, you know, board certification in wellness coaching. So I'm a board certified wellness coach. I chose a niche, which is my, my only interest is cancer survivors. And then within the last three months, I am also syndicated columnist. So I write for Authority Magazine, and Thrive Global. And one of my first interview series was really popular, and it was called, I Survived Cancer And Here's How I Did It. I interviewed over 160 cancer survivors. I'm religious about posting four to five times a day, even with the LinkedIn algorithm.
Leanne: Oh, Savio it gives me a headache. How?
Calla:Teach us your ways.
Savio P. Clemente: I feel like I need to tell these stories. So I tell them stories. And, yeah, and just reading their stories. It's amazing what some of them have been through. Most of it is breast cancer, which is, you know, not surprising, but also a little disheartening.
Leanne: So is that how 'The Human Resolve' came to be?
Savio P. Clemente: That's how 'The Human Resolve' came to be. It started off with sort of just me sort of speaking about my story. And my truth, my website's really, I try to paint a picture of just someone living their life, I often find and even in my podcasts on my podcast, with the same name, that human resolve, I want to do something differently with it. I wanted to do what I do best, which is coach and so I basically offer people a coaching session in the beginning, and then I let them talk about their expertise, who they are, what they do, I find for me, I think I read it somewhere when I was really young, that people really great in their business life, but not really great in their personal life. And so for me, I want to help people try to kind of figure that out. So within the last month, I've leaned into the interviews I've done for Authority Magazine and Thrive Global into the guests, my podcast before it was just anyone talking about wellness, and now kind of being a little more well, at least the next few months being a little more sort of focused with it.
Leanne: So that's what I was wondering, because I was listening to your podcast. And I do love the format, because it's very unique to what I'm used to listening to. And I wondered how, because I thought those were your just individual coaching sessions and how you got people comfortable enough to share that much on a public platform. But you already had interviewed these people?
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah, so the interview is an actual, you know, online interview. So I kind of know about their story in a way. And then I just say, Listen, I really love the interview, and I picked you in order to do a podcast session, this is my format. Are you interested in going there? But initially now beyond the cancer survivors, before I started focusing more on them for the podcast, I had other people who just was like, Yeah, I need help. And I have to remind people, like, I'm not a therapist, I'm not licensed to be a therapist, nor do I kind of want to be a therapist, I'm a coach. So I'm all about the present to where you want to go. So like, as long as you want to go there with me. I'm totally happy to, you know, be a facilitator in that process.
Calla:That's a beautiful, how much it can overlap to how much talking about just being present can be so therapeutic to a lot of people.
Savio P. Clemente: People are great. People are great. And I've had a lot of no's, people are great at like, talking about their expertise and who they are as experts, and I'm an expert in what I do. But they are not really good, really good at like talking about the human side of life and, and things and, you know, my job is not to unearth secrets, definitely not. But people find that I have an empathetic approach. And so they are just comfortable with me just asking the right questions, to just get them moving a little further ahead. You know, like my goal is never to give people promise transformation. But people often forget transformation is an individual thing. And there's also you know, Soul karmic, you know, there's a whole bunch of stuff that has happens there that people have to kind of unpack and it doesn't happen in a one hour session doesn't happen in the 30 minute podcast session. It happens over time.
Leanne: Well, I played on your website for about an hour this morning.
Savio P. Clemente: Okay. All right. So anything that anything that you think I should do?
Leanne: It does paint a great picture. But I had so many questions just because you have so many different expertise and so many different credentials. I wanted to know first, like, how you found the importance of the three brains that you talked about?
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah, so that was through my training. So beyond being a board certified wellness coach, I'm also an ICF certified coach doesn't mean anything that anyone listening who's not in the coaching world, but it is the gold standard and coaching. I'm at that first level ACC level. And through that, so I did a program with with a coaching program called The Human Potential Institute. It's Dave Asprey. He's one of the Yeah, he's considered the grandfather of biohacking. Don't tell him he's an actual grandfather, but he's considered one of the foremost biohackers. And in that there was just all this research on how many, you know, documented, reported studies, the fact that there are these, you know, sort of consciousnesses in our physical body beyond the obvious, which is the brain, the heart, and obviously, the gut, I just coined it the three brains because just easy to understand, and people can kind of relate to it. And it also piques their interest a little bit. But yeah, I mean, really, the, the whole premise of it goes is that the heart has more valuable information than the head will ever have. And that they work in cohesion. And then if you tap into the gut, so it basically goes heart, back to the brain, from the brain back to the heart. Because if the resource that didn't go into the gut, then from the gut, go back into the heart, and so on, and so forth, until you get any information that people think like it's some revelation or some vision. Sometimes it's just like a knock. Sometimes it's just a visual, sometimes it's just the feeling. And I use that. So I have a newsletter. And so basically, for my newsletter, every week, I have a prompt, and I answer the prompt for myself, I'm really candid and open about relationships, it's one of my most weakest areas. And I will go into how I'm feeling and what I'm sensing and how I'm using the three brains in my own life.
Leanne: Wow, how do you help connect people to their heart in their gut, if they're always in their head?
Savio P. Clemente: The visual that I use for a lot of my clients is, and I learned this to my trainings, is think of it as an elevator. So we're always up, we're always like, as humans, we always want to be up, we also want to be like, up there, you know, like, looking below, think of as an elevator, and I make them count down from five to one, and I make them go into their belly or try to go as close to their belly as possible. So that visual usually helps people because it allows them to feel like, oh, there's a task I need to do, as opposed to thinking about a problem. They think about, oh, I need to do the task, okay, the task is to go from five to one, okay, I'm there. I can just have them sort of feel into it. And it's not a, you know, it's really interesting, because there's a whole bunch of, you know, mechanical things that you can do, you know, there's, you know, people who go into sort of the area of like, you know, modalities right, sort of feel into it, and sense into it, if it doubled in size, what's the color, you can do all those great tricks. But I often find that when people go into their bellies, or go into their heart, it's things that they never thought would come up or feelings or sensations, that they kind of put to the side. And that's where we start first. So I really don't even like allow them to feel like they have to do it. I don't make them do it as like an experiment. I say experiment because I kind of want them to feel into it. But it's more of what's happening right now for like literally what's happening. And then we start.
Leanne: Okay, then I have heard you do that on your podcast with some of the guests. That's really cool.
Calla: Can you talk through the seven energy centers? That was something on your website that really caught my eye?
Savio P. Clemente: Sure. So people know it as the chakras if you're into yoga, or if you're into sort of that realm of understanding. I just thought chakras and whatnot. You know, not that it's confusing for people, but people then have a preconceived notion of what it may or may not be. And so I just coined it as seven energy centers. It's something I've learned for many years studying energy and sort of the body and once To gain consciousness, and how those are sort of the prime drivers, so it starts like mental, emotional, spiritual soul, astral, which is your dreams, and then obviously the physical body. And so when I go into a coaching session, so I have three month packages and six month packages, we sort of explore, but it's never didactic, like, I never want them to be like, Hey, today we're doing the spiritual, it's more of an organic conversation. And if that's what they want to nudge into, then that's great. You know, the thing with coaching people also kind of have preconceived notion about is that they think, to some degree that I'm going to fix their problem, and I always tell them, I will never be an expert on you, you'll always be an expert on yourself. I'm just a facilitator who stomped to my own journey, and maybe I'm a few notches ahead of whatever your goal is. Or maybe I'm just exploring with you, but I'm just really there to kind of hold space and, you know, be that container and hold that container, right, in order for you to unearth or, you know, flesh out those things.
Leanne: Yeah. When did you feel like you became an expert on yourself? Asking for a friend.
Savio P. Clemente: You know, I will humbly say, I don't think I'm ever going to be an expert on myself. But I will say, I've done a lot of work on myself. So you know, once again, being really candid. I'm an openly gay man, I came out in in the late 90s. And, you know, I feel to some degree beyond, so let me backtrack a little bit. So, I kicked so I was born in Mumbai, India, Kenya, when I was three years old. My parents are from Goa, India, which was about a Portuguese. So that's why my name is a little, not a common typical Indian sounding name. And so I grew up in a little town called Peekskill, which is in Westchester County, if you ever watched the show The Facts of Life, I know, I'm dating myself here, girls. That's where it was supposed to take place. And it was a really, really nice middle, you know, middle class, you know, town, but it was about 48%, black 48%. White, and about 2% on it. And it was me and my family and a few other family members. So I dealt with sort of not racism, but I sort of dealt with sort of trying to fit in. And so I would get questions like does your mom have a doton her head? Do you eat rice every day? And the answers to one of them was the essence the other one was no. But I'm sort of trying to fit in and trying to sort of figure out what that even look like, for my family was a and then I got with an LGBT issue, you know, just coming out and just kind of figuring that out. That was the college. I've had a business falling out. And so that would have been cancer happened to me. So I think to a large degree to answer your question. I feel like life has given me challenges to test me but also to see kind of what what you know, like, what is it that I can glean from these experiences? What is it that I can maybe impart or give or help? And I really have to believe that's the reason. Otherwise, I got a sucky lifetime girls.
Leanne: Well, you're turning lemons into lemonade.
Calla: That resiliency is beautiful.
Savio P. Clemente: I'm trying.
Calla: You're no trying, your doing.
Savio P. Clemente: I'm doing.
Leanne: You talked a little bit about your interest in biohacking. I'm a personal trainer. And that's something that I'm very interested in myself. Where did you start with that? And what have you tried that you like to recommend?
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah, so I, so I was a, I would say a burgeoning biohacker. Before cancer, I became an extreme biohacker for cancer, just to keep myself on the up and up. So I've tried ozone therapy. Basically it's a frequency issue that changes energy frequencies. I have a small one that connects to my laptop that does that. I've done ozone therapy where I've had IV drips that's been ozonated I drink Ozone Water. I see I don't see that same nature path. But I do take tons of different sorts every single day in order to keep me on the up and up. Apple cider vinegar. I've done cold therapy. I've done so many things I've done oh my gosh. See what else going on. Like I'm like, Oh yeah, I have it's the one that the it vibrates in a figure eight so you lie down. It's like escaping me, I have it upstairs in my house. And it basically goes back it's a CHI machine. So basically it follows the goldfish figure eight and there's science and and you know research supporting that particular product that's supposed to balance the energy system, the energy systems. I also have a red light red light machine. And that's what's helped with mitochondria health as well. There's probably a few others. But yeah,
Leanne: Can you go into the ozone? I've tried ozone therapy before. And it's been years. But I remember when I was in there reading all the paragraphs of benefits. Can you go into that for our listeners? It's been a while for me.
Savio P. Clemente: Sure. So ozone therapy has been used in Germany for over 60 years. Here in the US, it's um, let's just say it's not as adopted and there's definitely some sketchy practitioners out there who don't know what they're doing or just, you know, are not sure what they're doing. I found it effective for my life, so I can speak to that truth. So when I got diagnosed with cancer, besides my chemo treatments, on off weeks, I basically saw an actual practitioner who does ozone therapy, for my particular cancer because it was a blood cancer. There's different methods that it could be used in. So it could be anally. It could be you know, using IV drip
Leanne: I did the nasal inhalation. That's the one that I tried.
Savio P. Clemente: So the one I did was basically, they had a saline drip, they ozonated it a few times in a baggie, and they gave it to me as an IV drip and took about an hour. I felt great. Felt really energetic. Of course, these things you can't really measure. And then I have a smaller machine that I ozonate need my water. I used to do it religiously. Do it maybe once a week now. And that's basically underneath my water. Supposed to really help with bacteria, fungi, mold. If you have colds, flu. You know, for me, these are all preventative. I can't measure but I feel like at least did my part.
Leanne: Can I ask selfishly, what red light you use? Because they are pricey. And I have looked but haven't been successful?
Savio P. Clemente: Oh my gosh, what's the name? So I have a small travel one from a different company. But I have the most popular one, which is hanging in the back side of my door.
Leanne: Is it Joovv?
Savio P. Clemente: Yes, it's Joovv. Yeah, it's, it's expensive. And I'm not equating that price equals quality, but kinda does sometimes. I'm happy with it. I have no issues with it. It's still going strong. And I do about 10 to 15 minutes.
Calla: What are the benefits of that? This is not my world at all. I'm married to an extreme biohacker. And my sis over here is I'm not, I'm like a skeleton just trying to make it. So I'm very curious.
Savio P. Clemente: So I can tell you that and then you probably gonna ask me how but it basically supposed to help with mitochondrial health. So it's the basic, you know, you know, the powerhouse of the DNA, it's no cell structure. Now, of course, you're gonna say to me how you gonna measure that?
Leanne:It's on their website, though.
Savio P. Clemente: No, I absolutely. But if you tell someone that they're like, so what was your mitochondrial account? No, like, there's no way to like really like, it's just like, it's kind of subjective in a way. However, I will say that, anytime I've ever had a cut or bruise, it's healed faster than any other thing that I've tried. So that's proof for me positive that it that does work on some level. Now, I can't prove them about mitochondria, but I can prove that like so. For example, I used to get a lot of cold sores, and even my oncologist you know, gave me something to take. And so when I got the red light machine, I'm like, You're not gonna take this. I'm just gonna try it literally would take me about four or five days. It's like, if you've ever had cold sores on your lips, it's not pretty nice to be like super self conscious about it. And literally, within a day and a half in went away. And that happened numerous times. Yeah. I have heard too.
Leanne: It helps with like muscle soreness and, and cellulite for all our ladies out there just saying.
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah. It's really good to Well, I can also say from a man's perspective, it really is good with spring production as well. There's a lot of research. I know Dave Asprey says he, as he calls it, I put that thing on my junk. That's, that's his words, not mine.
Leanne: Get those lysol wipes out afterwards. I want to pick your brain because we're all about alternative therapies here. Brain spotting what is that?
Savio P. Clemente: Brain spotting? It's a pointer. So basically, it's brain spotting. And so I don't use it all too often because it, it goes kind of in the realm of therapy, and I have to be very careful about the lane that I'm in. However, the technique is mostly focusing on a point. So I'll tell you to like focus on like the point right here. And then you move into the different areas. So as you're speaking, that focus that you're having on that particular topic or problem issue is a memory. It's like muscle memory, it's a memory you're having. So as you shift in a different position, sometimes it releases those particular emotions, or those feelings, and newer insights come out of it. It's not a one and done, it happens over a course of a period of time. But I found it fascinating. And so it's just something that, you know, I myself, like I said, have to be very careful how I use it. But I basically use it with the three brains, because those are the parts of our body that we rely on most right? The heart, the gut, right? And, and we as humans share that whether or not our mind is working properly with our mental health issues, or our gut with, you know, digestive issues or with our heart with, you know, actual cardiovascular issues. Factor management, I use it in tandem with that, it ends up allowing people to shift because they don't feel like they have to look at me, now they're looking at an object or looking at a point in time or space and time.
Leanne: Cal do you know that reminds me of?
Calla: What?
Leanne: EMDR
Calla: Oh, yeah. A little bit.
Leanne: We've had some therapists on to talk about EMDR. And we've had some people who have been patients and done the EMDR and had great success. And there was something about the movement of the eyes while processing through a trauma that helps them kind of release it is it similar
Savio P. Clemente: 100% It's similar to that. But this technique is just, you know, someone basically as doing EMDR. And this figured out that this is maybe a more practical, or more approachable aspect of it.
Calla: Are there some alternative therapies that you haven't tried yet that a feature interest that you would love to try?
Savio P. Clemente: Ah, that's interest. So I did this one before the pandemic in New York City. You know, there was like a few biohacking sort of places. And so it's like, literally, like, I felt like I was like, you know, KalEl, like Superman. It was like this little like, spacejet thing where you're in, and this supposed to limit oxygen and supposed to put you in an altitude and I didn't enjoy it at all. It wasn't therapeutic at all for me. And I tried so many other ones were, Oh my God, one of them was like this bike. And there was a voiceover and it said, "you're riding the bike." "I want you to go a little faster, which faster. And they're like, and all of a sudden, they're like, "There's a tiger behind you! There's a tiger, he's chasing you!" and they're like, "Go faster, go faster!"
Leanne: Sounds like a typical orange theory class I feel like.
Savio P. Clemente: You know, so I got a good workout. But I don't know.
Calla: You're just more stressed out at the end of it. Like what just happened?
Savio P. Clemente: Totally.
Calla: Put the Tiger back in the cage.
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah, totally. I'm like, I'm like, get me to the infrared sauna now, because I'm already sweating and I just want to sweat more. So if you read my website, one of my big passions, or one of my dreams, too, and it could probably happen now that there's two big competitors out there is to go to space. I've always been fascinated with space. I think I wanted to be an astronaut. When I was really in the Challenger explosion happened. And I'm like, Oh, thanks. I was like only six years old.
Calla: Press pause on that one.
Leanne: Yeah, redirect.
Savio P. Clemente: But I do know that they have some bioactive things that simulate anti gravity and like space exploration. So those are things that but I am going to the Mecca, which I call the Oscars of wellness, which is the Global Wellness Summit in Boston, and we're supposed to be in Tel Aviv at the end of the month. I'm going to be interviewing a few wellness pioneers which I'm excited about and I'll be learning about some new things happening I'm sure.
Leanne: We'll have to get the dates for next year. I would fully love that.
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah. Yeah, I'm just like, so excited. So, Boston from my house is like three hours. So it's not a huge commitment. But it's also four days and like, oh guys like what I do. I'm like so excited about it.
Leanne: That's so cool. I did notice on all of your platforms. You specifically talked about helping people through the confusion of a cancer diagnosis. Can you explain what you mean by that and how you personally had confusion with yours.
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah. So I, you know, so my tagline, so to speak is you know, I help cancer survivors overcome the confusion game and clarity needed to get busy living in mind, body and spirit. Reason why I said it that way is because, hey, most of the time when you get a cancer diagnosis, and then you kind of like a marathon, you're like, I gotta get to that remission status I got to get and you get to that remission status, and it's great. Then, like, even the slightest little thing happens in your life, like, oh, no, is it coming back? It's like, is this cold? Like, you know, like, even for myself, I'm like, wait, tonight, too much? It's like, is it? Did I just eat too much? or am I getting this stomach again? And so that's number one. So number two, it's like, it's also like, sort of this feeling of like, my friend didn't make it. So why am I here? Like, why? Why am I here, and she's such a good person, and he's such a good person. And, and they're not. And then sort of the other sort of aspect of that is sort of the confusion of thinking through to yourself and just kind of figuring out like, like, but that particular, you know, personality, as it gets in my podcast that her body betrayed her, like, she did everything, right. But somehow, I got it. And somehow, you know, this is my cross to bear. The confusion comes into play for myself as well, is sort of thinking, Okay, now that I have this time, I don't want to eff it up. I don't want to mess this up, because I got the second chance. So I want to like make something of it. The confusion happens is where do I start? How do I start? What do I do? So the main, the magic sort of question that I always ask individuals is, if I created a miracle fee, and apps, like I literally had the ability to have genie powers here, I created that miracle for you, what would life look like? And some people don't know how to answer. And so people have this answer that's so quick, and so fast and so furious, but they just don't know how and what the steps are. And that's the beautiful thing about coaching is that it's people don't it's sort of like a misconception, it's not that people don't know or don't want to change if people don't know how to change. So there's a theory in coaching and also therapies that there's called, it's called The Stages of Change. Like, are you in contemplative mode? Are you pre contemplating it? Are you an action mode, and then you sort of allow the client or, or, you know, or the person to sort of move through those steps until they get into the sort of maintenance phase, or you know, the phase where they no longer think about what it is that they want it to change, they're living the change. And so the confusion is really like, what is it? And then how do I get there? And most nine times out of 10 You need an expert or be someone who's kind of been on that journey, or, or at least a few steps ahead of you that can sort of help you along.
Calla: Absolutely. Absolutely. Coaches are so important. Mentors are so important. We need people I preach that all the time. But we really do. I would be lost without my coach.
Leanne: Can we talk more about these expertises because we I could absorb the whole hour with this and so-
Savio P. Clemente: I am yours. You can pick my brain.
Leanne: Okay, I don't know if I'm gonna butcher this word but curanderismo?
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah. curanderismo it's basically Native American sweat lodge healing. So basically, you really great guy. He's an actual professor in Long Island. And I stumbled across him through a website in New York City that was doing healing. And basically, it's like sweat lodges. So you just gives you like, this little like plant, you know, we brew, it's not a swastika, it's just a very tame, sort of like plant brew. And you go into sort of this big blue type. I actually like his setup, nine times out of 10. Sometimes people they, they, they do a makeshift one with burlap, and twigs. I don't think it really matters what the vessel is, it's really the key elements are, it's dark. It's really, really hot. You're literally like sweating in there. And you drink this like medicinal type of drink. That's pretty tame. And there are like not prompts, but there are things that he asked you and you can say out loud, he allows you to scream unless you cry. I've been to three of them. One of them in Connecticut, one of them were you know, cuz he has one on his property in Long Island, and one of them in San Diego. All of them were really different. But it's really about using the four directions, Native American beliefs and philosophies using plant medicine to some degree, but also using sort of energy that collectively you guys are all going through this experience in the dark and the dark, there's great sort of power in the darkness, people are afraid of it. But if you're able to embrace the darkness, and also transmute it or transform it, then there's you know, sort of grid elements. I like it because I love sweating. I'm like, I don't like sweating in the subway. I don't like sweating through my clothes. But I like sweating. I like the idea of sweating. And I also like the collective. And I also think, just sort of like that whole experience allows you to feel a little, at least for me a little less burden, and more tethered to life.
Calla:Yeah, there is something about darkness. I think back to when we went to Eat in The Dark. That was a nightmare for us.
Savio P. Clemente: You piqued my interest. Tell me.
Calla:You know, we were in Vegas, and it was my birthday. And I wanted to do this thing where you eat in the dark, literally. Yeah, it was my it was a horrible idea. And I fell for the marketing. So you and literally, you put your hands on the other person's shoulder and your waiter comes with night vision and they bring you in, you eat in complete darkness and the amount of things that it brought up for me. And what I talk about, I still think about to this day, I'm like, Oh my gosh, I talk about my kids way too much.
Leanne: Sorry for talking about my kids. It's like stop!
Calla: It's funny. It's when all your senses are taken away. It does go into what is on your mind and heavy for you, you know, I was away and so they were obviously in the forefront of my mind and it is wild. What comes up for you and your senses are taken away. So I can't imagine doing that and sweating too. I don't know.
Leanne: I was just trying to remember where my fork and my wineglass was it's a miracle we made it out of there alive.
Savio P. Clemente: I did this deposit thing, which is like mindful eating ones where like, literally like, you would take two minutes to like, grab your fork slow. touched your lips and open your mouth. Like literally like it sounds, it sounds excruciating. But after like day two, it actually was because I'm a curious person. I actually was fascinated by it. I'm like, Oh, let me try this. Of course, I didn't adopt any of that in my life. But I did it. And I could check it off as something I did.
Calla: That's exactly how I felt about even in the dark. Yeah. It's so wild. So the sweat lodge. So what are some of the prompts? What are some of the things that they're trying to get you to connect with when you're in there?
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah. So I mean, a lot of it was unfortunately, people's pain. So there's someone who said, she's tired of going for a fifth operation with her leg, like, literally, you know, for me, it was, at the time when I did it, it was I got my cancer mission sets. And I'm like, I I don't know how I even like got through that like, just just generally like being strong and being here. And so that was happening. I think, just if I was to speak very similar, I do like three times, I think some of some of the people kind of do it because it's sort of like church in a way where you congregate with like minds, like hearts, like spirits. And so he kind of go through a collective quote of unfoldment. Right. And for some people, I feel at least the experiences I've had, there's someone listening to my pain, there's someone who can understand and who can actually maybe relate, or who is giving me the space to listen to my pain. You know, for me, it was a combination of the two.
Leanne: Were you able to celebrate your remission? Or did it take a while?
Savio P. Clemente: So happy you asked this question, but I think when I tell you, you get a laugh, because Okay, so hey, my five year readmission mark, in about two months later, I decided to take a plane to Phuket, Thailand to do a fitness retreat, in a place called Unit 27. I knew nothing of this place. I just did research on it. I was the only American. There was like 18 others there were from like London and England and Ireland and different parts of Asia. And there was two workouts a day. I mean, it was insane. One of the challenges was 2.9 miles up an incline to the Great Buddha with a partner with money kettlebell on each arm, in the hot sun, and I literally felt like I was trembling. And he goes, I don't care if this takes five hours for you guys. finished watching I did in two and a half hours. My So I'm like Instagramming this. All my friends were like, only you. Only you would celebrate your cancer remission status by going on a fitness retreat and doing this. Only you would do it. I'm like, Yeah, cuz I'm like, what? Am I going to just have some cake? No, that's terrible. I live. So I lost 4% body fat girls in two weeks.
Calla: Go for it. That's amazing.
Leanne: Climb uphill three miles and 40 pounds on my back. I'd rather keep keep the weight.
Savio P. Clemente: So that was my celebration.
Leanne: Have you ever done a silent retreat?
Savio P. Clemente: So that the Vipassana retreat was a sort of silent retreat so did mindful thinking mindful breathing, mindful eating? It was a long time ago, but I have. I feel like I'm gonna go to my gym and I go into the yoga class. I feel like that's my mindful retreat because people I don't know about you guys. But people are serious at my gym with yoga, like serious. Like, they and I'm like, wait, like, culturally, I'm supposed to be really good at this. Honestly, I'm like, not that really good. I try. I really, really try some times. But I'm just not good at it. And I tried like seven different modalities from like Kundalini all the way to Bikram. I've tried it. I tried yoga by myself. I feel good in a group. There's one where it's like a breathing yoga. Like I'm really good at that one.
Leanne: I can breathe.
Savio P. Clemente: I'm really good in that one really, really good at it.
Leanne: Well, I found with yoga, I'm very competitive by nature. And so when I'm in a group class, and she tells me to do a pose, I'm looking in the mirror and that pose better be on point. And I better hold it as long as she says and not lose my balance. And I put all this pressure. But I got this app and I noticed if I did yoga by myself, and I found this out during COVID Because the gyms were closed, no mirrors, I just did it. I was able to actually, like get into it without the judgment part. And that helped me a ton.
Savio P. Clemente: Okay, well, you know what, maybe I should. I mean, maybe I'm being too harsh with it. Maybe what I need to do is just have no expectation and just like, put on like really good music and do it.
Calla: You and me Savio. That's how we'll show up. That sounds good to me. I'm good with that. You said you've been into meditation for like 20 years. I mean, that is major because a lot of people try it and then go away from it. What led you to that in what do you owe your consistency to that?
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah, so it's a it's a I mean, literally, like I'm 45 years old. If I don't do it, I can literally feel that I'm off center and off base. Not like from like, from like, literally like I can feel it within like 30 minutes of my day when I'm like something is totally off. So I make sure that when I wake up in the morning, it's the first thing I do after I like brush my teeth or do hygiene and it literally sets my day sets the tone. So like I said 20-21 years of doing meditation, it started off with a couple of minutes of silence and then I realized it is not really working for me. And so I had some instrumental music and then five minutes then 10 minutes over the years now I do about 20-22 minutes it's totally a perfect amount of time for me. But I don't even want to be like I don't want to even say that I'm completely off center like I'm I am off center. Even for today preparing for this I'm like I gotta make sure to get that in. I do but sometimes when I used to rush into the city I would catch trains and so I'm like oh I could do that later and literally my day would be over.
Leanne: I'm so curious as like such a long practitioner of meditation because I'm like a little over a year in and it's not super consistent it it on paper is consistent but it can sometimes become a snooze button for me. Cal and I have I've talked about this. How has like what what is meditation to you? What is your meditation practice? I know you talked about the music but like in your head.
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah. So there's different sort of disciplines of Meditation some people meditate and want to see visions and fantastic view. And some people go into it with a question and want to get insight, fantastic view. That does happen sometimes, and I'm grateful. But for me, I see it as like a sea, a calm sea. And I just want to kind of float in that calm sea. So for me, I go into it with the intention of just nothingness. Like, I don't want anything, I just want to go into like a pure nothingness and whatever insights do come fantastic. So that's really the intention of it. Some people sort of go into it and sort of try tomake them feel like they are doing something for their health and wellness. And that's great, if that's an impetus for you to continue on that path. Great. There's many studies that it's good for the heart, it's good for the you know, you know, the nerves and the central nervous system and all that. But I think when it comes to just meditation in general, and this was something that a really, really wise person, once I actually not even told me what I heard once with meditation should be sweating effort, you go into the sea of meditation, with the intent of trying to literally deconstruct you as you and that sounds like really quazi and really crazy. But that's why it's sweating effort, because you're going into it into your being your whole being. And if you're someone like myself, who believes that perhaps there are some things called past lives, then you go into it with the totality of all your experiences, whether you know them or not. There's a soul sort of memory that I like
Calla: That's so intriguing to me. Wow, what is takeaways? Yeah, what are some of the takeaways when you are doing that soul work that you found for you?
Savio P. Clemente: I think the number one thing for me is sort of this idea of being objective with life rather than subjective. I know so many people and a really good friend as well, she had a really terrible accident. And she's someone who like, I really massive look up to. If you think I'm like a great meditator, she's like, she's like, doesn't like twice a day, like, really, on her game. But she had this really bad accident. And, I just noticed it sort of, it really confronted her, because she liked to dance. And that took away that aspect of her life. And different things happen. And I realized that she was just so subjective with experience. Okay, it happened. But, it could happen to anyone else, right? Do you know and so, I think for me, what I constantly keep in the back of my mind when anything bad happens in my life, is I'm one of many. And if I have an objective sort of viewpoint on this situation, I can maybe get myself out of this. But if I constantly blame others, or think why me or whatever the case may be, I'll never get myself out of that situation. Because I'm always looking for the answer for myself, rather than the bigger answer, what is the bigger answer? None of us will know until fortunately, we cross over whatever the case may be. But the bigger answer is something maybe beyond our own comprehension. So I always go through things with an objective tone, even my own cancer, I really did. I said to myself, there's people on the seventh floor who have worse cancers, and I do literally are stage four, I've stage three. And some of them have been here for a while. So I should stop saying "Why me?" and sort of like reframe, you know, and, and think of it and and say, Well, why not me?
Leanne: You just coached me today. I needed to hear that Savio, I really did.
Calla: So you're constantly coaching others who who's helping you on that end of it? And where are you going to get your soul fed? Outside of meditation?
Savio P. Clemente: Absolutely. So I have, I have a great mentor, I have a great coach myself. You know, I always tell people, a coach is not a jack of all trades. There's coaches who are really great in one particular sliver of life. And that's if that's the sort of like you need to sort of resonate with you find that coach, and then sometimes it's a it's a process. I would say also, I'm like, I'm really curious, like I mentioned, so I'm always gleaning information, getting information from various sources, podcast, the news. I say that with great inspiration, because the news is a pretty interesting beast right now. And also the stories that I put out, like, listen, listening to human interest stories really feeds me because it allows me not only to think objectively, like I mentioned, but it also allows me to kind of feel like, I'm not in this alone. And I think that's what the dynamic did to most people. They felt alone. And so I would say to short answer that, but I've also been really self reliant. I can be really honest, I've been self reliant. I was the guy who told my family you do not need to drop me off to chemo. You do not need to see me taking the chemo for five hours? You don't, you know, I pretty much in retrospect, maybe I could have been a little more open. But I felt like I got it. And my coach helped me sort of understand that I'm depriving other people of that opportunity to help.
Leanne: Oh, that's a beautiful way to look at it. Because you almost feel selfish. I know I do. When I ask for help. It feels selfish. But I know I love to help my loved ones when they need it. And to look at it as a deprivation kind of takes you outside of yourself. I think that's really beautiful.
Savio P. Clemente: And if it's a give and take relationship, why am I not allowing them to give? Which is because-
Calla: Now I've been coached.
Savio P. Clemente: Which is really profound. I know. It's a it's a hard thing. But, you know, especially for me, actually, a good friend of mine a couple of weeks ago mentioned to me how he feels really uncomfortable, like a friend of invited to really nice dinner, you know, things are opening up now really nice dinner where people were kidding to him and all that. He said, I don't like to be catered to, like I don't like, you know, I'm like, Well, why don't you just like reframe that is what you mean, he goes, I said instead of you thinking that they're catering to you. Maybe they're helping. They're helping you have a great meal today. And he said, Oh, wow, I didn't even look at it like that. They're not catering to you. They're not they're not your sleeve. Because that's kind of what he was emotionally kind of feeling. Right. He didn't want to say it. But that's what he was feeling. Like mostly feeling like, Well, why am I sitting on this end, and they're serving me, but why don't you to think of it as them helping you have a good meal. And he's like, Oh, wow, that's that's really good.
Leanne: I'll have another
Savio P. Clemente: Exactly. I love it.
Leanne: What are some of your favorite podcasts?
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah, you know, I mean, Joe Rogan's controversial but
Leanne: He's my favorite.
Savio P. Clemente: I mean, I do like him for what he is passionate about. So he went from Fear Factor from like, scaring the hell out of us to like speaking to some degree, his truth, which I appreciate people speaking their truth, because truth is, there's a small t in truth and there's a big T in truth. Although I, you know, I can disagree with him on certain things as well. You know, Dave Asprey. I brought Brendan Bouchard in the coaching world. I love Brendan, he's like, fantastic. I would say, New York Times, your show you know. I mean, it's just, I like the casual sort of element of it. And then there's sort of the competitive aspect of me, like when people sort of, when people ask you questions, you're like, I gotta, like, cater to this. Like, when you do that with your guests, because it's like, well, they don't know what's gonna happen, because it's a totally different personality now asking the questions.
Calla: Yeah, well, I think we learned so much that way. You know, when when we can just sit and, and have a conversation about whatever it is that you know, we need to talk about today. So that's exciting. That's really nice. It's really, really nice. What is your hope for The Human Resolve? What what do you have big goals of things that you want to check off your list? Are you happy riding this train where it's at right now?
Savio P. Clemente: No, I will reveal to you guys right now. It's 3:02. No, I'm gonna be a book author in a few months. My first book.
Leanne and Calla: CONGRATULATIONS!
Savio P. Clemente: Thank you. So yeah, so I told my sort of editor about it. And he, I said to him, I said, you know, like little children, not everyone. But some little children dream about becoming an author one day. And I'm like, for me, I've never really dreamed that I don't need an ISBN number. I don't, it's not that. I want to write a book, because people want the book, like, and I know, that's easier said than done. But for me, it's not like my name is on a book. For me. It's people who want to hear what's in the book. And so for me, like, as long as that gets promoted, or that's the intention, then then you know, that's great. So that's number one. So I checked off the board certification, I'm an actual coach. And I'm, you know, ACC, and I'm a podcaster. And I'm a syndicated columnist. But that is my next venture. after that. I don't know. I'm gonna let the universe guide me a little bit. But I'm gonna let the universe guide.
Calla: That's not woo-woo at all. That's the only way to do it I think.
Leanne: Can I ask, are you able to say what the book is about and the title?
Savio P. Clemente: I can't say the title, but it's about my experiences, living my life, obviously, but also about my cancer journey. And then also stories of other cancer survivors as well.
Leanne: Oh, that's amazing.
Calla: It's going to be so so great. I'm so excited for you. I know you'll have to come back and talk with us. Well, once you get it out there because we would love to hear more.
Savio P. Clemente: Oh, wonderful. I would love to. You guys have been a dream. So I appreciate it.
Calla: Thank you. Thank you. Well, where can people find you? Where can they get connected with you and all the things?
Savio P. Clemente: Okay, so the best place is my website, thehumanresolve.com from there, you can click on my podcast, you can click on my columns, you know, they're all pretty much listed there on social. I'm at @thehumanresolve both on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, it's my name Savio P. Clemente. But yeah, it's pretty much all there. If you want, you can also search Authority Magazine. And it's one of the largest medium publications or you can go to Thrive Global search, my name is Savio P. Clemente, you'll find all my articles. think at this point, I'm at article 175.
Calla: You are a writer, you got this.
Savio P. Clemente: I'm trying, I'm trying.
Calla: Like I said, You're not trying you're doing it. And thank you so much for coming and just hanging out with us today and sharing your truth and what you've been through and what's working for you. It really means a lot to both of us.
Savio P. Clemente: I really appreciate the opportunity. And yeah, I wanted to sort of I always do with my own podcasts, but any burning question you have, you know, for yourself that maybe I can help you with because I believe in energy for energy. And I believe in that, you know,
Calla: I feel on the spot.
Leanne: I didn't do my homework on this one. I've got one. I don't know if it's too general. But how do you help people through painful circumstances without taking it on?
Savio P. Clemente: Yeah. Oh, beautiful question. So for me, I think the meditation really helps it helps ground me. And then I also do affirmative prayer every day. With my meditation, I actually have affirmative statements that I say, that allow me to protect not only my you know, my energy, but also protect my peace. I learned that right from the start, when I was sort of getting into, you know, learning about meditation or learning about, you know, things of an alternative spiritual nature, let's say so, you know, they call it higher spiritual ism. A lot of books on it. But yeah, that that, you know, that allows me to do that. I've been really good at it. But I would say someone who's just starting someone who's just starting, you really need to be mindful of what you're giving, and what it is that you kind of want to take on. Because when those blur when those lines blur, and problems start happening, which I can attest, that probably not is the reason to my cancer, but I would say contributing factor was that whole situation.
Leanne: And we're back to boundaries.
Calla:
I know right?
Leanne: Damn it.
Savio P. Clemente: It's great, Iove it. Wonderful.
Calla: So good. Thank you.
Savio P. Clemente: Thank you. Thank you.