66: How Stored Trauma Rewires Your Biology, The Three-Level Healing Framework + The Inflammation-Trauma Feedback Loop | Dr. Aimie Apigian

Hey Functional Friends!This week I'm sitting down with Dr. Aimie Apigian — trauma expert, surgeon-turned-functional medicine doctor, and author of the bestselling book The Biology of Trauma — for what might be the most profound conversation about trauma and healing I've ever had. Aimie shares her deeply personal journey of trauma, to her own health collapse that led her to completely reimagine what trauma actually is and how it lives in our body. We go deep into the critical distinction between stress responses and trauma responses, why most people stop at safety when healing requires readiness, and how trauma creates a three-level lock (psychological, somatic, and biological) that keeps us stuck in chronic illness patterns. Aimie drops absolute truth bombs about why feeling our feelings is terrifying, how disconnection is actually a survival mechanism, and why jumping into deep healing work without proper preparation is like diving into the deep end before learning to swim. If you're dealing with chronic health issues, autoimmunity, or just can't seem to break free from old patterns — this conversation will fundamentally shift how you understand the mind-body connection.A Preventive and Addiction Medicine physician with Master’s degrees in both biochemistry and public health, Dr. Aimie Apigian is the national bestselling author of The Biology of Trauma. She hosts her podcast, leads online nervous system healing courses and a practitioner certificate training program. Bridging the worlds of functional medicine, attachment and trauma, she is a leading expert on how the body holds fear and overwhelm from the past to make one sick today.Find Aimie and her book here: https://biologyoftrauma.com/Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/draimie/Check her out on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DrAimieApigianKey Timestamps:01:57 - Dr. Aimie's backstory: From biochemistry to surgery to becoming a foster parent in medical school04:09 - The story of Miguel: How a 4-year-old with reactive attachment disorder changed everything06:07 - Aimie's health collapse: Chronic fatigue, autoimmunity, and the wake-up call15:58 - What is trauma, really? The critical distinction between stress response and trauma response19:48 - The specific sequence: How trauma encodes in the body through art narrative therapy21:33 - Why your body never got the message that "it's over" — and how this keeps you hustling for worth decades later26:24 - The three levels trauma must be resolved: Psychological, somatic, and biological33:04 - Perimenopausal women and decades of stored trauma creating biological damage35:14 - Internal danger signals: How inflammation, nutrient deficiency, and toxins create feedback loops41:24 - The expansion vs. contraction principle: Why asking "how do I stay safe?" keeps you small42:15 - The better question: "Who do I want to be?" — choosing expansion over protection46:47 - Why people struggle to feel their feelings (and why numbing is a survival mechanism)48:19 - The five patterns of stored trauma (Chapter 9 of her book)49:17 - Dissociation explained: From emotional eating to watching yourself from outside your body50:32 - Chronic functional freeze: When you learn to function while holding trauma51:04 - How society promotes disconnection (screens, foods, inflammation)52:08 - The shocking reality: 95% of people Aimie meets are walking around with unprocessed pain53:01 - Why "just feel your feelings" is the worst advice — you need safety first54:08 - The deep end vs. shallow end: Why jumping into healing too fast backfires (especially with chronic illness)57:22 - Creating new experiences: How to safely dip your toe in the shallow endCheck Out Brendan:Brendan’s Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@the_holistic_savage⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.metabolicsolutionsllc.com/⁠- - - Send in a voice message:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ http://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/holisticsavagepodcast/message