Hi! đđťââď¸ Iâm Mariana Calleja, and welcome to my newsletter, The Feel Good Life! A newsletter about health, prevention, empathy, and hope.
Iâm a medical doctor, and Iâm here to teach you how not to go to the doctor (whenever possible)âby helping you understand your body and prevent health issues before they arise. Iâll also show you how to communicate effectively with your doctors, so you make the most out of it, and leave every appointment feeling informed, confident, and in control. In todayâs healthcare system, time is gold.
If youâre new here, start with the starter page. Many readers also love my easy, medically-guided course on managing stress and daily habitsâcheck it out here.
Who Am I?
I'm a Costa Rican-Spanish MD, writer, dancer, traveller, polyglot (on my fifth language and loving it) and overall, a curious human in love with the world, its cultures, languages, landscapes, dances, and foods.
Having worked in Palliative Care and Occupational Medicine, I went from helping people and families navigate the humbling life and death transition, to understanding how much prevention in earlier years plays a key role towards enjoying a calmer life later on.
Which now brings me here, where I share what I have learned, to help you embrace your health and overall well-being from an integrative and preventive point of view, as explained by a medical doctor.
If youâre curious about my professional journey, you can visit my Linkedin profile.
About This Newsletter
The Feel Good Life is a newsletter about health and all aspects of what makes a good life. I write about medicine and life, health and hope, healing and emotions. Also about difficult topics that need to be addressed such as sexuality, chronic pain, life/death transitions, just to mention a few. Basically, everything that makes us human and that brings us together in our shared humanity.
As doctors in strained healthcare systems where time and resources are limited, we struggle to be fully present with our patients, and to be able to educate themâno matter how much we try. The increasing frustration I have felt over the span of two decades made me want to take radical action and do things differently.
Hence how this newsletter was born.
My Golden Promises to you:
No medical jargon, just cool, easy learning for your everyday health and life.
Everyoneâs welcome. No tags of any kind in here. Wellbeing is for all.
This is a safe, judgement-free space to grow and evolve. Haters will be blocked.
Through thought-provoking writing, professional health guides and e-courses, curious science-based explorations, and other creative medical prompts (my way), I invite you to re-think how to build your own Feel Good Life.
My Newsletter Is 100% Free.
Why? Iâm convinced of two things:
Health and wellbeing are a birthright, so it should be of universal access to all.
People deserve empathy. Easy, calming and understandable ways are possible. As doctors, it costs us nothing to give a good deal of clarity, empathy and peace of mind by simply being less technical and instead, more human.
Free subscribers get access to all written essays and reflections.
Hereâs my starter guide for you:
A free 8-part stress management course. Lesson 1 is here.
Resources Page: the most reliable health sources to get well informed
âŚAnd if youâre into music, Iâve created 4 playlists on Spotify for different moods to accompany you throughout the day.
Paid subscribers get a few additional extras beyond the writing, as a way to support this work:
The first Feel Good eBook: Donât Stress It! â a medically guided guide to managing stress and enjoying life (available here)
Access to Green Prescriptions
Audio versions of the newsletters
One annual 1:1 session (Yearly & Founding Members)
Access to special features and live events
*If you want more personalised medical guidance, you can book an appointment with me, or contact me to discuss how could I help you further, and possible appointment plans.
Community: The Feel Good Lab (Coming Soon)
The Feel Good Lab is where The Feel Good Life continues off the page.
Itâs a private members-only space for community, conversation, and shared learning around health, prevention, and living well â with live sessions, class recordings, and room for questions, reflection, and curiosity. Virtual cups of tea and dance classes just for fun might be included.
Iâll also share more personal notes, behind-the-scenes thoughts, and ideas in progress, in this more personal, conversational setting.
The Feel Good Lab is where we gather, experiment, and get to know and support each other in this journey towards a healthy life. Youâll get access to it all through a unique monthly fee. Stay tunedâcoming soon.
Into The Future: The Feel Good Foundation
This is the larger vision for The Feel Good Life: the development of The Feel Good Foundation - Costa Rican-based non-profit organisation aimed to create health education programs to be seeded both locally and internationally.
It aims to become a social tool granting universal access to health educationâgiving a much needed boost to preventive education for better public health worldwide. Your subscriptions, whether free or paid, will help me keep going as I develop this project. Thank you in advance!
If you want to get in touch for inquiries, collaborations or any other newsletter-related questions, please message me at thefeelgoodlife@substack.com. I'd love to hear from you!
Much Love,
Dr. Mariana Calleja
âď¸ Some housekeepingâŚ
If you canât find the newsletter in your inbox, please check your spam folder. Make sure to mark this address as ânot spam.â If the newsletter isnât in your spam folder, either, you should look in the Promotions tab.
You can always access everything on the web version.
Thanks again for being here.
Let's grow this beautiful thing together!
Much love twice,
Mariana đĽ°
