Heal with Grace

This one's for the therapists, coaches, and practitioners. (And honestly, if you're a listener who's ever sat across from a provider who didn't know how to help you stay. This episode is why I made it.)Here's the gap I want to name. Most of us were trained beautifully in one half of this work. We learned to hold space, build the therapeutic relationship, sit with hard feelings, work with trauma histories. What we were never taught is that the nervous system is actively generating physical symptoms in a huge portion of our caseloads. Some physicians in this space estimate close to 40% of people walking through a primary care door have symptoms driven this way. Those are the same people landing on our couches, in our rooms, on our Zoom calls. And a lot of us were never taught to even assess for it. I know I wasn't.So in this episode I'm walking through the difference between regulating a nervous system and rewiring it, and why almost all of us were only trained for one. Regulation is state management. It's the longer exhale, the feet on the floor, the co-regulation. It's foundational and it matters enormously (a nervous system that never gets to feel safe cannot do deeper work). BUT if regulation is all we do, we're managing the danger alarm instead of updating it.I also get into how the brain learns a symptom in the first place, what neuroplastic symptoms actually are, why "your pain is real AND the signal is coming from the brain" is the most important thing you can say to a client, and what changes on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon when you finally have a map for the client whose GI tests keep coming back normal.And I'll tell you what this did for me: it didn't just change my clients' outcomes, it changed how it feels to do the work. I stopped doubting whether I could help.Resources mentioned:Free neuroplastic symptom assessment toolFree practitioner masterclass, Tuesday, September 8MindBody Integration Method practitioner training, launching this fallHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you've been living with chronic pain that won't go away -> the kind that hasn't budged in years, no matter how many doctors, scans, or treatments you've thrown at it -> this conversation is going to give you something most appointments never have: a reason it makes sense, and a real way forward.Dr. David Schechter has been treating chronic pain through a mind-body lens for decades. He trained under Dr. John Sarno himself -> the physician who started this entire field -> after walking into his office as a young medical student with knee pain that wouldn't quit. What Sarno told him that day changed the direction of his career. And what happened at that Monday night seminar might sound a lot like what you've been waiting to feel: a weight lifting.In this episode, David breaks down the difference between acute and chronic pain, and why anything past the 3-6 month mark means your nervous system is involved -> no matter what your scans show. We get into the concept every patient needs to know: the nocebo effect. Because the words a doctor says to you ("you have a horrible spine," "you'll need surgery in five years") don't just describe your body. They can shape your pain. Language, as David puts it, is the software of the brain.We also talk about what it takes to heal symptoms that have been around for years, not months -> the persistence, the doubts worth exploring, and why focusing on capacity instead of pain changes the trajectory. And he shares two stories I can't stop thinking about: patients who saw more than twenty physicians, and finally found their way to neuroplastic healing because AI pointed them somewhere no doctor had.If your pain has been dismissed, mislabeled, or just plain stuck -> this one's for you.Find Dr. David Schechter:WebsiteBooks: The MindBody WorkbookThink Away Your PainATNS Practitioner DirectoryHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

You know that feeling when a trip is coming up and your brain starts running a whole side operation at 3am? That's what this episode is about: how to calm your nervous system before a trip, instead of white-knuckling your way through the two weeks beforehand.Grace is leaving for a three week trip and instead of packing her schedule and trying to get everything done before she goes, she's doing the opposite. She calls it her grounding period. No hard workouts. No last-minute house projects. No pretending the anxiety isn't there. Just noticing it, writing it down, and letting it be there without making it mean something's wrong.She also tells the story of the time she went straight from an ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica to a flight to Europe, no integration time, no rest, and how that taught her more about nervous system regulation than almost anything else has. Plus the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual prep she does now, what she actually does when a flare hits mid-trip, and the realization she just had about jet lag that's going to blow your mind a little.Resources mentioned:John Sarno / mind-body pain literatureHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you've ever had someone tell you your pain is real and then in the same breath tell you there's nothing wrong; this episode is for you.Here's the thing the medical model never made room for: both can be true at the same time. Your chronic pain and illness are real. Completely, 100% real. And your nervous system is still driving it. That is not a contradiction. That is how pain actually works.Symptoms are not a damage meter. They’re a danger signal. Your brain's best guess about how much threat your body is under. Which means two people can have the identical MRI findings and one of them is in agony and one of them is fine. And a person with completely clean scans can be in the worst pain of their life. The finding does not predict the feeling. That's not a flaw in the system; that's the system doing exactly what it was built to do.Grace breaks this down in this episode with two groups: people whose testing comes back clean (negative testing is not the end of the road — for a lot of you, it's the beginning of the real answer), and people who do have real positive findings. Both have nervous system involvement. The nervous system is the volume dial on pain, and it decides how loud the signal gets turned up — regardless of what the scan shows.There's also a sharp test in here worth knowing: pain that moves around from your shoulders to your hip to your jaw is not structural. Tissue damage doesn't travel. A dysregulated nervous system does. And pain that eases on vacation — if a beach touches it, it's nervous system.Save this one for when you’re flaring and need to hear it again.Resources mentioned:- Dr. Schechter — mind-body physician [GEL: link to his previous HWG episode]- PRT practitioner listserv - Practitioner masterclass - Mind-Body Healing Method program for nervous system healing How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you've been doing the breathwork, the journaling, the somatic work and you're still stuck — this episode is the one that explains why.Karden Rabin didn't arrive at this work as a patient who got lucky. He arrived as the practitioner who thought he had the answer. Twelve years as a bodyworker — craniosacral, structural integration, myofascial release, the whole thing. Then a seven-month horror show of back pain landed him on John Sarno's book. And he couldn't unknow it. He's now the founder of Somia International and the HEAL Program and the author of The Secret Language of the Body.What he brings to this conversation is the frame most people in this space are missing. Every technique you've been using; breathwork, brain retraining, journaling, somatic exercises is doing the same thing. It's interrupting and updating a protective pattern your nervous system built when it believed you were in danger. Most of those patterns aren't dangerous anymore. They're just on loop. The game isn't collecting more tools. It's recognizing the pattern and updating it toward safety.He also reframes something a lot of people in this work need to hear: calm isn't the goal. Calm is a dependent state; it's what happens when two things are true. You feel safe from danger (yin). And you know you can handle danger if it shows up (yang). Most people who've done a ton of inner work have a lot of yin. They're missing the yang. Not more softness - the felt sense that if life gets hard, you've got yourself.We also go into the "I can't" — the deep freeze that lives underneath most type A behavior, right before the double espresso and the push-through. And why dissolving it is completely different from powering past it.Resources mentioned:- The Secret Language of the Body by Karden Rabin and Jennifer Mann- Somia International / HEAL Program- John Sarno — Healing Back PainHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

There's a specific kind of exhaustion that comes from understanding everything and still not changing. You've read the books. You've listened to the podcasts. You can explain neuroplastic symptoms. You might even be fully bought in. And you're still sitting in your body going — so why isn't this working?That's what this episode is about.Here's the thing most people in this space haven't heard yet: insight and regulation are two completely different skills. They happen in different parts of your brain. You can have a life-changing realization about why your body does what it does, and your nervous system can sit there completely unmoved by it. Because it doesn't speak the language of insight. It speaks the language of experience.If a symptom has been in your body for more than six months — the pain, the fatigue, the gut stuff, the dizziness — your nervous system is involved. That's true no matter what your labs say. No matter what specialists have or haven't found. No matter how many times someone has told you they're not sure what's wrong. Your nervous system and chronic pain or illness are connected in ways the old medical model just never had room for.Grace shares from her own journey in this one — including a stretch where she went deep into the physical route, got caught in protocol after protocol, and realized she wasn't working with what actually mattered: the emotional state, the belief patterns, the stuff her body had been holding. The shift that changed everything for her wasn't more understanding. It was structure. A repeatable, sequenced framework for actually practicing regulation — not just knowing about it.This episode is for you if you're somewhere between knowing and doing. If you've absorbed all the education and your body still hasn't caught up. If you're wondering whether the nervous system piece is really what's going on for you.The map doesn't move you. The road does.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you've ever heard that childhood trauma and chronic illness are connected — and immediately thought "but was mine actually bad enough to count?" — this episode is for you.Dr. Monica Fitzgerald is a licensed clinical psychologist, trauma researcher, and director of the Center for Resilience and Well-being at the University of Colorado Boulder. And she breaks something open in this conversation that I think a lot of people need to hear: the big T and little T framework? It's outdated. What we now know is that the small, ongoing, repeated things — the criticism, the dismissal, the not-quite-feeling-safe — can wire your nervous system just as powerfully as a single event. Sometimes more.She walks me through the three E's of trauma: the Event, the Experience, and the Effects. That second E is the one that changes everything. Two siblings can grow up in the same house and have completely different nervous system responses. Because trauma isn't just what happened — it's the meaning your system made of it, in the body of the person you were at that age, with the resources you had.We also talk about the backpack most people are carrying. Full of moments that made them question themselves, doubt their own experience, feel like they needed to be more or better to deserve love or safety. That backpack doesn't stay in the past. It shows up in chronic pain, in not trusting your body, in handing your healing over to every provider and hoping they fix it. And it starts to get lighter when you stop going at it alone.Monica's closing thought is something I'll be sitting with: we're not built to do this alone. None of us. And if a therapist you've seen has seemed overwhelmed by your story — that wasn't a sign your story was too much. It was a sign that wasn't the right fit.RESOURCES MENTIONED:- Dr. Monica Fitzgerald: Resilient Families Therapy- Center for Resilience and Well-being, CU BoulderHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

You've probably done a lot. The podcasts, the books, the breathwork, the therapy. You might be able to explain how your nervous system works better than most people can. And you're still not where you want to be.That gap — between knowing and actually healing — is exactly what this episode is about.Understanding and healing are two completely different skills. Understanding lives in the mind. Healing lives in the body. Your nervous system doesn't respond to insight. It responds to experience. You can have the clearest, most accurate awareness of what's keeping you stuck — and your body can still be sitting there completely unmoved by it.Grace calls this the map versus the road. Insight is the map. Regulation is the road. And a map, no matter how accurate, no matter how detailed, never moved anyone a single inch.She also goes into something a lot of people skip: you don't have to trace every trauma back to its origin or have everything figured out before you start. The work doesn't require perfect understanding first. It requires actually doing it. And there is a structure to it — it's not vague. It's sequenced, repeatable, something you can actually follow.If you've been circling the information for a while and wondering when things are going to actually shift -> this one's for you.Resources mentioned: Free mind-body masterclass trainingPractitioner training waitlistHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you've been told your interstitial cystitis is something you just learn to manage — this episode is for you.Andrea spent two years cycling through doctors, prescriptions, the IC diet, and specialists. Her symptoms started as IC, then added vulvodynia, then joint pain. Different labels, same pattern: her nervous system running on constant high alert.What finally shifted things wasn't a new protocol. It was the moment she fully, 100% believed her mind was driving her symptoms. Not a little bit. Not "maybe." All the way.She talks about what that actually looked like in practice — stopping the elimination diets (which were making her more hypervigilant, not better), cancelling a specialist appointment, quitting the IC Facebook groups, never going back to medical Reddit. Not from giving up. From finally understanding what was causing her symptoms.There's a moment in this conversation where Andrea describes going from counting the minutes between bathroom trips — giving herself gold stars for every three hours — to just... not. Not tracking it. Not thinking about it. That quiet shift in mental focus was the first real sign something was changing.She also talks about the tools that helped. Heart coherence meditations. Channeling the feeling of vacation. The Eras Tour. Music. Not because they're magic, but because they showed her nervous system what safety actually feels like — and it turns out, you can practice that.One of the things she said that stuck with me: "This was never just about the symptoms. I needed to change the way I approach life."That's what this episode is really about.Resources mentioned:Andrea's Instagram: @instinctualmothering and @socialboob How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

You've been to the specialists. You've done the tests. And you still feel like nobody really knows what's wrong — or how to fix it. That's not you failing. That's a gap in medicine that mind-body medicine chronic pain practitioners are finally starting to close.Dr. Rita Gupta spent almost 20 years as a primary care physician watching her patients get sicker despite everything she offered. The referrals, the labs, the medications. She had access to every record, sat with them through every specialist visit. And she was watching people not get better. That wore on her.Then she ruptured a disc in her neck and was told surgery was her only option. She didn't take it. She turned inward -> toward integrated medicine, mind-body work, pain reprocessing therapy, mindfulness. And she eventually left conventional medicine entirely to practice the kind of care she couldn't offer inside the system.In this episode, we get into something that doesn't get talked about enough: self-trust as medicine. Not as a mindset hack or a feel-good concept. As an actual biological process that shifts your nervous system, lowers your threat response, and creates real relief.Here's what changes when you stop trying to force your body into submission and learn to be with what's there instead: your threshold expands. The loop breaks. Your values become a compass instead of a source of grief.Dr. Rita says it plainly - every time you can sit with a sensation without collapsing, you're building something. Not ignoring it. Not giving up. Building.Resources mentioned in this episode:- Alan Gordon / Pain Reprocessing Therapy- Ellen Alden's Long COVID community - Dr. Rita Gupta's websiteHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Most of us never decided to start performing. It just happened, early, quietly, because we needed to belong. And your body has been carrying the weight of every single mask.This is a solo episode, and it's one Grace has been sitting with for a while. Not about somatic tools or specific nervous system signals — about the deeper question underneath all of it. What does real healing actually require?Here's what doesn't get said enough in the mind-body space about people pleasing and chronic symptoms: your body isn't malfunctioning. It's been watching you override yourself for years, and at some point, it stopped whispering and started screaming. That's not a breakdown. That's your nervous system saying she has to come back. What you think of as your personality? A lot of the time, it's just the most successful coping strategy you found before you were old enough to choose differently.The path forward isn't a massive overhaul. You don't have to quit your job tonight or cut everyone off. It's a thousand tiny moments where you choose truth over performance. Every single one of those is a message to your nervous system -> she's back, it's safe to be her.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Ashley Novak is a Certified Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP), Restorative Wellness Practitioner (RWP), and Holistic Lifestyle Coach with a BS in Biochemistry. As the founder of Seeded Sage Wholeness, she takes a root-cause approach to women's health — specializing in gut health, hormones, fertility, and acne. Ashley's work lives at the intersection of functional medicine, ancestral wisdom, and women's empowerment, helping her clients move from chasing symptoms to truly understanding their bodies. She co-hosts the Yoni University Podcast and is passionate about reclaiming women's health intuition and building a legacy of generational wellness. Follow her journey on Instagram @itsashleynovak.In Ep 128 we go deep on the bridge between functional medicine and nervous system work. Why you can have the diagnoses, all of them, AND still need to start with your nervous system. Why Ashley calls it the "scab that never heals." What created the wound first, before the parasite, before the H. pylori, before the mold? Almost always stress.We get into the "yes and" approach. Yes, the parasite is real. AND your body is freaking robust -> something weakened it before the parasite could take hold. We talk about why the women in Grace and Ashley's worlds are so often the highest functioning, the eldest daughters, the recovering perfectionists who do not realize they have been in fight or flight for 15 years.We also unpack what women's health research gaps mean for fasting, sleep, fueling, and the ADHD reframe. (Women were not included in medical research until 1993. That is recent. That changes everything we have been told about female bodies.)And we land on the free basics most people are still bypassing -> water, sleep, walking, sunlight, saying no. Not because the supplements are wrong. But because the body cannot use them until the basics are in place.If you have been to every functional practitioner, gotten every test, taken every supplement, and you are still stuck -> this episode is the missing piece.Connect with Ashley:- Ashley Novak, Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner - InstagramHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you have been at this for months. Or years. Doctor after doctor. Protocol after protocol. Nothing fully landing. This is the episode I needed when I was you.In Ep 127, I am taking you back to the early stages of my own healing. The crying in waiting rooms. The maxed-out credit cards. The functional practitioner who handed me a brain rewiring pamphlet that I dismissed because I was not ready.There are six things I would do completely differently if I were starting over. These are not protocols. These are the patterns underneath all the protocols. Education first. Stop frantically searching. Build tolerance for discomfort. Chase trust instead of relief. Repair your relationship with your body before it feels better. Stop looking for the perfect approach.Each of these took me years to learn. Some of them took specific clients of mine in the Mind Body Healing Method to teach me. If I can save you even a fraction of that time, this episode did its job.If you find yourself constantly switching practitioners every 5 sessions, panic-searching at 2am, or treating your body like the enemy until it "earns" your love -> pin this one. Come back to it the next time you are about to swap programs.Your body is not broken. You are not broken. You are missing the patterns under the protocols.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you have been told for years that interstitial cystitis or overactive bladder is just something you have to live with, this is the recovery story you need to hear. Callie Krajcir suffered with IC, OAB, IBS, and vulvodynia for 25 years -> and got her life back in 2-3 years through nervous system work. Not the IC diet. Not another supplement. Not another procedure.Callie is a bladder dietician, the vice chair of the Interstitial Cystitis Association, and runs Road to Remission, the leading recovery program for IC and OAB. Here's the part that catches everyone off guard -> she's a dietician who has stopped prescribing the IC diet to almost all of her clients. In this episode she and Grace get into exactly why, and what they're seeing instead.They also get real about the OCD piece, which Callie was finally diagnosed with at 28 after two years of trying to figure out what was happening. She talks about relationship OCD, emetophobia, the fear loops most people in the pelvic pain community are stuck in, and why ERP (the gold standard OCD therapy) works on the exact same nervous system mechanism as PRT for chronic pain.If you have been white-knuckling through every flight, every meal, every plan with friends -> scanning for bathrooms, bailing at the last second, terrified of strawberries and seltzer water -> this one is going to crack something open. Callie's honesty about what "healed" actually means when your symptoms used to be daily is worth the listen on its own.Resources mentioned: Road to Remission with Callie Krajcir (IC / OAB recovery program) Callie's Instagram + podcast NoCD (OCD-specialized therapy company)How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you've been told you need to "regulate your nervous system" and you're still wondering what that actually means, this episode is the one. Today we're walking through how to heal chronic symptoms from the inside out -> the five phases I take every single client through inside the Mind Body Healing Method.Most of us start this work doing one thing. Maybe a lot of somatic exercises. Maybe a ton of brain training. Maybe just reading book after book about the nervous system. And then we wonder why our symptoms aren't shifting. Here's what I've learned. It's not that any of those tools are wrong. It's that they were never meant to work on their own. Your body can't soften when your brain is still sounding the alarm. And your brain can't update if your body never gets to feel safe. They go together.I'm walking you through Recognize. Rewire. Regulate. Integrate. Reclaim. Each phase is doing something specific -> changing your relationship to the signal, retraining the thinking brain, expanding what your body can hold, releasing what's been stuck for years, and then building a life you actually want to be in. We talk about why somatic work alone wasn't enough for me, why I waited to add body-based work until after brain training in my program, and why the integration phase is the part most people skip -> the one I think is the secret sauce.If you've been in this work for a while and you're still stuck, this is the episode that will help you see where the gap actually is.RESOURCES MENTIONED- Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) - Liana, in-program therapist + coach How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you have been chasing test after test and the doctors keep telling you everything looks fine -> this is the episode where you find out why. Today Grace walks you through the 7 signs of a dysregulated nervous system that almost nobody connects back to chronic symptoms.You are not making it up. Your pain is real. Your bloating is real. Your fatigue, your dizziness, your reactions to food and smells and weather -> all real. They are also exactly what nervous system dysregulation symptoms look like when your brain has been stuck in danger mode for a long time.In this episode Grace breaks down what neuroplastic symptoms actually are, why "normal labs" are usually a green light not a dead end, and the checklist she walks every new client through in their first few weeks of working together. She also talks about why the labels you have been carrying around (IBS, MCAS, chronic fatigue, hypermobility flares, IC, OAB, migraines, fibro) are not life sentences, and what shifts when you stop identifying with the diagnosis and start training your brain.If you have been doing the supplements and the elimination diets and the protocols and the PT and you still feel stuck -> the missing piece is your brain and your nervous system. Real talk: not everything is neuroplastic. But if even a few of these 7 signs land hard, you are in the right place. And there is a path forward.Grace is hosting a FREE live masterclass on May 13th to take this one step further. SIGN UP HEREHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you've ever caught yourself thinking "that's just me -> I'm an anxious person," or "I've always been a perfectionist, it's just how I am" -> this one's for you.In this episode, I'm walking you through the 6 personality traits that show up over and over again in people with chronic symptoms. Anxiousness. Pressure. Perfectionism. People pleasing. Catastrophizing. Black and white thinking. These aren't who you are. They're learned patterns. Which means they can be unlearned.I'm digging into how each one keeps your nervous system stuck in threat mode, where it actually came from (hint -> it's almost never random), and the small shifts that start to loosen the grip. I'm also sharing the moment my therapist called me out on my own perfectionism in grad school -> and the light bulb that finally went off for me.If you've been doing the work, listening to podcasts, reading the books, and you still feel like something keeps pulling you back into the loop -> it's probably one of these. Maybe more than one. The good news is, naming it is half the work. Once you can see the pattern, you can step outside of it.You don't have to fix your personality. You just have to give your nervous system a different message than the one it's been getting for years.Resources mentioned in this episode:Sign up for my FREE Live Masterclass happening May 15th : How to know if your symptoms are nervous system driven and what to do nextPain Reprocessing Therapy How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you've been doing all the right things and still putting pressure on yourself to heal faster, this conversation might land deeply.Grace sits down with Lindsay Vine, an ME/CFS and long COVID recovery coach who spent seven and a half years navigating her own healing journey, including a period of being fully bedbound. Lindsay now works one-on-one with clients and teaches mind-body and neuroplasticity courses within the healthcare system in British Columbia, Canada. She also co-created the CFS Programs Guide, a searchable resource covering 34+ recovery programs to help people find the right fit without the overwhelm.Together, they explore how the pressure to "get better" can become the very thing keeping the nervous system stuck. They discuss the role of goodism — the deep need to be seen as good — and how it drives people to turn recovery into another achievement to get right. Lindsay shares her own turning point of shifting from valuing achievements to valuing who she is, and they talk through what it looks like when brain retraining feels fake, why positive psychology alone isn't always enough, and how doing less can sometimes be the real healing move. They also break down the three pathways that keep people stuck — worry, pressure, and self-criticism — and what to pivot to instead: gratitude, focusing on wins, and self-compassion.This episode is for anyone who's ever thought, "I should have figured this out by now."Find Lindsay: WebsitePost Viral PodcastCFS Programs GuideListen to Episode 14: Healing ME/CFS Using Brain Training and Nervous System Regulation How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

In this solo episode, Grace breaks down what it actually means to create safety in the nervous system — moving beyond the vague advice of "just feel safe" and into six specific, practical approaches that listeners can start using right away. She explores why a dysregulated nervous system keeps responding to non-dangerous things as threats, and why safety isn't something you can think your way into — it has to be felt in the body. Grace walks through the power of accepting where you are instead of fighting it, how suppressed emotions keep the system stuck in chronic activation, the role of spiritual connection in co-regulation, and why authentic self-expression may be the deepest safety signal of all. Drawing from her own healing journey and clinical experience, she gets honest about what it took to stop performing okayness and start actually feeling it. This episode builds on her popular earlier conversation with Vanessa Blackstone in Episode 24, going deeper with concrete examples and practices. An episode to save and return to — each practice builds over time, and different ones will land for different people.Referenced episode: Ep 24. How to Create Your Own Authentic Message of Safety with Vanessa Blackstone: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2346801/episodes/15170620How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Kayla Jacobsen is a licensed clinical social worker and mental health therapist based in Minnesota, where she works at a small group practice supporting individuals navigating anxiety, chronic pain, trauma, and traits associated with being a Highly Sensitive Person. Her approach is relational and holistic, shaped deeply by her own healing journey with chronic migraines and a sensitive nervous system. Through the Mind-Body Healing Program, Kayla experienced meaningful shifts in how she relates to her emotions, beliefs, and symptoms — work that continues to inform how she shows up with clients today.In this episode, Kayla shares what it was like to have migraines starting at age 10, cycle through Western and Eastern medicine without lasting answers, and eventually realize that information-gathering had become its own form of avoidance. She and Grace explore how perfectionism, shame, and suppressed anger were quietly driving her symptoms — and what actually changed when she stopped trying to fix her migraines and started relating to them differently. Kayla also talks about what this work has opened up in her therapy practice, including how she now invites conversations about physical symptoms into sessions and incorporates more experiential, nervous system-informed approaches with her clients.Find Kayla: Psychology TodayWillow Creek CounselingHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Ellen B. Alden is a Mind/Body Coach who fully recovered from Long COVID after the medical system could not help her. When chronic symptoms took over her life, Ellen discovered that healing was possible through nervous system regulation and brain retraining. Using mindfulness, meditation, and Pain Reprocessing Therapy, she overcame chronic illness, anxiety, and lifelong hypervigilance. She is certified in PRT, MBSR, MBCT, and functional breathing, and now helps others heal through her community, My Recovery Crew.In this episode, Grace and Ellen discuss what it was like to be shuffled through the medical system with diagnoses of Long COVID, MCAS, and POTS — and how Ellen moved from hopelessness and victimhood to full recovery. Ellen shares the nighttime turning point that shifted her mindset, how she used visualization and micro moments to retrain her brain, and why she started reintroducing feared foods using breathwork and safety cues. They explore what recovery actually looks like day to day, why post-exertional malaise disappeared when Ellen changed how she related to movement, and how letting go of perfectionism and outcome-driven thinking was essential to healing.Connect with Ellen: www.stress-less-studio.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellen_mindful_healing/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ellenalden-mind-body-healing Email: [email protected] to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

In this solo episode, Grace Secker opens up about the one thing she was missing during her own healing journey — and why it kept her stuck in flare cycles for years, even after she understood the work. It wasn't more information, more books, or more podcasts. It was consistent support, accountability, and community.Grace shares her personal story of recovering from chronic pain in her 20s through what is now called pain reprocessing therapy, only to develop a wave of new symptoms years later — chronic fatigue, gut issues, histamine reactions, migraines — and having to find her way back to mind-body work all over again, this time completely alone.She explains why understanding alone doesn't change the nervous system — because knowledge lives in the prefrontal cortex while the patterns driving symptoms operate from much older, less rational parts of the brain. Real change comes from practice, repetition, and showing up consistently, especially on the hard days. Grace also explores the science of co-regulation — how our nervous systems are wired to calm and heal in relationship with other safe humans — and why so much healing content is consumed in isolation, which limits how far it can take you.Grace introduces what she's been building behind the scenes: small, intimate group containers (six people max) designed for people already in the MindBody Healing Method course who want structure, accountability, and a community of people who truly get it. The first group launches in April.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you've been diagnosed with IBS, chronic constipation, cyclic vomiting, or another functional GI issue and your doctor can't find anything structurally wrong — that's actually good news. In this episode, Grace sits down with Dr. Jennifer Franklin, one of the first gastropsychologists in the US, to break down the gut-brain connection in a way that's simple, clear, and genuinely hopeful. They explore how the autonomic nervous system controls both stress and digestion, why lifelong patterns like people-pleasing and emotional suppression quietly fuel gut symptoms, and how your brain works around the clock to keep certain emotions out of consciousness — and what that means for your body. Dr. Franklin shares her powerful "passenger seat" analogy for working with your body instead of against it, and explains why reducing stress is the one intervention with no downside. If you've been told "nothing is wrong" but you're still struggling, this conversation reframes that diagnosis as a starting point for real healing — because it's a software problem, not a hardware problem.🔗 Find Dr. Jennifer Franklin:🌐 Website📸 Instagram📘 Facebook▶️ YouTubeHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you've been doing the nervous system work but still feel stuck, this episode is for you. Grace Secker dives into the seven habits she consistently sees in people who actually heal — and why how you show up to the process matters just as much as what you practice. This isn't a checklist or protocol. It's about the mindset, identity, and ways of being that shift everything. Grace explores why waiting to feel "ready" keeps you stuck, how over-identifying with being sick reinforces survival mode, the quiet belief that you don't deserve to heal, and what it looks like to build real safety in your daily life. She also gets honest about why consuming information without practicing keeps the brain locked in old patterns — and how to stay in the process even when healing isn't linear. Whether you're just beginning to explore mind-body healing or you've been on this path for a while, this episode offers a grounded, compassionate reframe on what recovery actually asks of you.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

In this episode, Grace sits down with Dr. Rebecca Kennedy, a family medicine physician with over 20 years of clinical experience and founder of Resilience Health Care in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Kennedy spent 15 years at Kaiser Permanente where she led the Long COVID specialty group, treating some of the most severe cases in the entire Northwest region. After witnessing how profoundly the neuroplastic model transformed her patients' lives — and after developing her own severe neuroplastic symptoms — she left Kaiser in 2023 to focus exclusively on this work.Together, they explore why so many people with long COVID, MCAS, POTS, and ME/CFS aren't getting better with conventional treatments, what the research actually shows about spike proteins and inflammation markers, and why the brain's threat response may be the unifying explanation that finally makes everything make sense. Dr. Kennedy shares why the placebo and nocebo effects are far more powerful than most people realize, why long COVID may be better understood as a post-pandemic syndrome, and what it takes to move beyond surface-level nervous system tools into the deeper emotional work that creates lasting change.Covered in this episode: ✨ Dr. Kennedy's journey from Kaiser Permanente to founding Resilience Health Care — and her own experience with severe neuroplastic pain and fatigue ✨ Why spike proteins, cytokine changes, and abnormal blood tests may not be driving your symptoms the way you've been told ✨ The real science behind the placebo and nocebo effect — and what vaccine trial data reveals about the brain's role in side effects ✨ Why most people with long COVID are middle-aged women who were previously healthy — and what that tells us ✨ How MCAS, POTS, and ME/CFS diagnoses can unintentionally keep people stuck in fear and body-focused treatment ✨ The critical difference between nervous system regulation tools and the deeper emotional processing that actually turns off the signal ✨ Why stopping body-based treatments entirely can sometimes be the missing piece ✨ How to accept a neuroplastic diagnosis when everything you've been told points to something structuralConnect with Dr. Rebecca Kennedy:WebsiteInstagramFacebookHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Are you "doing all the right things" — the medications, the supplements, the diets, the protocols — and still not getting better? What if your symptoms aren't caused by something structurally wrong in your body, but by a nervous system stuck in danger mode?In this solo episode, Grace walks you through exactly what neuroplastic symptoms are, how they show up in real life, and shares an 8-point checklist so you can start to determine whether your symptoms might be nervous system–based. She covers conditions like chronic pain, fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, POTS, IBS, long COVID, chronic dizziness, MCAS, and more — explaining why these very real symptoms can still be rooted in the brain and nervous system.If your symptoms lack clear physical evidence, move around your body, haven't responded to conventional treatments, or you've got a history of being highly driven, perfectionistic, or hard on yourself — this episode is for you.In this episode, you'll learn: ‣ What the nervous system actually is and how it creates real physical symptoms ‣ What makes neuroplastic symptoms different from structural problems ‣ The 8-point checklist to determine if your symptoms might be nervous system–based ‣ Why personality traits like perfectionism and people-pleasing are connected to chronic symptoms ‣ Why this is actually good news — and what you can do about itIf your symptoms are neuroplastic, recovery is 100% possible. Grace has seen it in her own life and in the lives of countless clients. Your body is doing exactly what it's supposed to do — it just needs the right tools to learn that it's safe again.Resource mentioned:Episode 40: "When they can't find anything wrong!" with Dr. David ClarkeHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Grace sits down with Dr. Yonit Arthur ("Dr. Yo"), audiologist, vestibular specialist, and creator of The Steady Coach, to explore why chronic dizziness is often a nervous system issue—and why that's actually hopeful news for recovery. Dr. Yo shares how conditions like PPPD, vestibular migraine, MDDS, and medically unexplained dizziness are rooted in brain-generated symptoms rather than structural damage, making them fully reversible through mind-body approaches.The conversation covers why dizziness creates such intense fear and anxiety (even in people who've never experienced anxiety before), how the brain's threat response keeps symptoms alive, and why traditional vestibular rehabilitation often falls short. Dr. Yo explains the role of movement exposure, thought pattern work, and stress reduction in retraining the brain's balance system. She emphasizes that recovery is possible regardless of how long symptoms have persisted, and shares practical guidance on addressing the intrusive thoughts and health anxiety that commonly accompany chronic dizziness.Grace and Dr. Yo discuss the importance of separating symptom reassurance from anxiety reassurance, why therapists need specialized training to support clients with these symptoms, and how the vestibular field is finally beginning to shift toward acknowledging stress and nervous system involvement in chronic dizziness.Connect with Dr. Yonit:- Dr. Yonit Arthur's YouTube channel: The Steady Coach - Free comprehensive chronic dizziness course - Instagram: @therealsteadycoach- Anxiety resources mentioned: DARE (D-A-R-E), Disordered podcast by Drew Linsalata, The Anxiety Guy, Anxiety RX by Russ KennedyHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

You've been doing the work—learning about mind-body healing, practicing the tools, maybe even seeing progress. So why do your symptoms still feel like they're quietly calling the shots?In this solo episode, Grace digs into one of the most common (and most frustrating) phases of healing: when symptoms linger in the background, still influencing your decisions, still getting checked on, still shaping your days—even when the fear isn't as loud as it used to be.She explores why the nervous system holds onto symptoms long after you've started healing, how vigilance disguises itself as responsibility, and the role that identity and secondary gains play in keeping you stuck. Grace also shares from her own healing journey—including the moment a mentor called her out on a pattern she couldn't see herself—and walks through what it actually looks like to loosen your symptoms' grip without dismissing your experience.In this episode, Grace covers:✨ The different phases of the mind-body healing journey—and where you might be getting stuck✨ How symptom monitoring quietly becomes a full-time job your nervous system won't quit✨ Why your symptoms may have become part of your identity (and what to do about it)✨ Secondary gains: what your symptoms might be doing <i>for</i> you on a subconscious level✨ How to replace what symptoms provide—rest, permission, predictability—with something more authentic✨ Practical ways to start loosening the pattern and orienting toward safety and connectionWhether you're in a flare, stuck in a cycle of subtle symptom-checking, or wondering why healing feels like it's stalled—this episode is one to save, revisit, and let sink in.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

In this episode, Grace sits down with Christa Biegler, RD—an award-winning dietitian, root cause nutritionist, and host of The Less Stressed Life Podcast—to explore the powerful connection between stress, inflammation, and chronic symptoms.Christa shares her own healing journey through multiple health crises, including severe skin breakouts and burnout, and how these experiences transformed her approach to working with clients. Together, they unpack the "health triad"—the intersection of nutrition/chemical factors, structural/environmental elements, and emotional/energetic components—and why addressing all three is essential for lasting healing.In this episode, they discuss:The root causes of inflammation and why it's actually a secondary signal, not the core issueHow stress chemistry directly impacts the gut, immune system, and skin healthWhy food sensitivities are often symptoms of deeper imbalances—not the root causeThe connection between restrictive diets, fear, and worsening symptomsA grounded, non-fear-based approach to mold and environmental toxinsHow unconscious stress (relationships, jobs, living situations) manifests physicallyThe shift from "fix me" to self-empowerment in the healing journeyWhy nervous system regulation work accelerates physiological healingThis conversation bridges the gap between functional nutrition and mind-body healing, offering a holistic perspective on why your body isn't betraying you—it's trying to communicate with you.About Christa BieglerChrista Biegler, RD, LN is an award-winning registered dietitian, root cause nutritionist, and the owner of Less Stressed Life Nutrition. She helps people resolve food sensitivities, inflammation, and eczema without unnecessary restriction, endless supplementation, or costly testing. She is also the author of The Eczema Relief Diet & Cookbook and host of The Less Stressed Life Podcast.Connect with Christa:Website: christabiegler.comInstagram: @anti.inflammatory.nutritionistPodcast: The Less Stressed LifeHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

There's a myth that recovery means waking up one day and never having symptoms again—that once the nervous system is "healed," pain and discomfort just stop. But holding onto that belief can actually keep the body stuck in vigilance mode.In this episode, Grace explores what recovery really looks like after years of chronic symptoms. She shares her own recent experience with a painful neck flare-up and how she moved through it without spiraling or letting it derail her life. This is the honest, grounded version of healing that often goes unspoken.Grace discusses why the expectation of perfect healing creates more pressure in the body, how time-based goals can work against progress, and what it means when care becomes intuitive rather than rigid. She offers a powerful reframe: recovery isn't the absence of sensation—it's the absence of fear. The goal isn't protecting yourself from life, but building the capacity to fully live it.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Rebecca Tolin recovered from 13 years of ME/CFS after seeing 50 practitioners and trying everything from anti-viral IVs to 30 supplements a day. In this episode, she shares what finally worked—and why the nervous system holds the key to lasting relief.Grace and Rebecca explore how chronic fatigue develops in the brain and body, why chasing diagnoses like Epstein-Barr, mold, and Lyme often keeps people stuck, and what it actually takes to reclaim your life after years of debilitating symptoms.In this episode: ✨ How ME/CFS and post-viral syndromes become learned patterns in the brain ✨ Why fear and the medical journey itself can perpetuate symptoms ✨ The difference between pacing (which keeps you stuck) and graded exposure (which helps you heal) ✨ Rebecca's "safe zone strategy" for challenging yourself without overwhelming your system ✨ How to use the symptom timeline to uncover emotional roots ✨ What recovery actually looks like—and why symptoms can become wise messengersRebecca Tolin is a mind-body coach who helps people with CFS, long COVID, and other neuroplastic conditions reclaim well-being, self-compassion, and inner wisdom. She's the creator of the Be Your Own Medicine course, blending neuroscience with somatic meditation, emotional awareness, brain training, and nervous system regulation. Connect with Rebecca: Website: www.rebeccatolin.com Newsletter: www.rebeccatolin.com/newsletter Try a free somatic meditation: www.rebeccatolin.com/blog YouTube: Rebecca Tolin YoutubeEmail inquiries: [email protected] to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

In this episode, Grace gets honest about something she's been quietly navigating—how being online as a business owner and content creator has kept her nervous system in subtle but constant activation. Not major symptoms, just a low hum of hypervigilance she couldn't ignore anymore.She shares what she noticed in her own body, why the habit of reaching for your phone might be keeping your system from settling, and how to start pausing before the scroll. Grace also talks about the difference between consuming content and letting content consume you—and why she's started writing on Substack as a slower, deeper space for this work.This isn't about demonizing social media. It's about getting curious about the ways our modern world keeps us in low-grade activation, and what we can do about it.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you're dealing with digestive issues—whether it's IBS, chronic gut problems, or discomfort that's followed you since childhood—or if brain fog has been stealing your clarity and focus, this episode is one you don't want to miss.Alex Eckford can't remember a time when her body felt "normal." From elementary school stomach aches to debilitating brain fog as an adult, she spent years chasing diagnosis after diagnosis—mold, parasites, histamine intolerance—and watched her list of "safe" foods shrink until eating became its own source of anxiety. Nothing brought lasting relief.Then she found mind-body work, and everything shifted. Through the Mind-Body Healing Method and private sessions, Alex experienced a true transformation—not just managing her symptoms, but actually healing them.In this episode, Alex shares her journey from constant symptom-scanning to food freedom, and how understanding her nervous system helped her brain fog finally lift.✨ Why years of protocols and food elimination didn't bring lasting healing✨ The moment she realized her symptoms were tied to her nervous system, not infections or toxins✨ How understanding the "red, yellow, green" zones helped her brain fog disappear✨ The shift from "what's wrong with me?" to "how can I support my body?"✨ What true food freedom looks like after years of restriction✨ Why healing doesn't have to be hard—and how simple, consistent practices created the biggest changesIf you've been wondering whether your symptoms could be neuroplastic, or if this work might be right for you, Alex's words at the end might just be the nudge you need: "If you're wondering if it's for you, it probably is."🌿 Ready to start your healing journey?The Mind-Body Healing Method now has NEW updates with more individual support to help you truly heal—not just manage—your symptoms.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

What actually helped people heal in 2025—and how can you carry that momentum into the new year? In this episode, Grace reflects on the biggest shifts she's witnessed in her clients and community: from learning to see symptoms as messengers rather than enemies, to understanding what recovery really looks like (hint: it's not perfection).Grace breaks down the three pillars that made the biggest difference—curiosity, safety, and releasing fear—and explores why self-compassion isn't optional if you want to heal. She also shares what 2026 can look like when you stop fixing your body and start listening to it.In this episode:✨ Why shifting symptoms are actually a hopeful sign✨ What recovery really looks like (and why it's not about being symptom-free forever)✨ The role of self-compassion, boundaries, and radical honesty in nervous system healing✨ How to make 2026 the year your body finally feels like homeGrace also shares how you can go deeper with the Mind-Body Healing Method (self-paced) or one-to-one support.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

It's no surprise this is the most played and most downloaded episode of 2025. In this Best of 2025 replay, Grace sits down with Christie Uipi, LCSW—psychotherapist and co-creator of Pain Reprocessing Therapy—to explore what it really means to have a sensitive or "higher needs" nervous system.Both Grace and Christie share personal and professional experiences navigating this terrain: the dozens of symptoms, the endless specialists, and the eventual relief of realizing it all stems from one place. They dig into the nuance of what to embrace about your sensitivity versus what might be worth gently challenging—and how to tell the difference between honoring a boundary and letting fear run the show.This conversation covers the snowball effect of avoidance, why comparing yourself to people who "just hop out of bed" isn't helpful, and why the goal isn't to eliminate sensitivity—it's to access more joy. If you've ever felt like your nervous system asks for more than everyone else's, this one's for you.In this episode:What it means to have a higher needs nervous systemContainer vs. limitation: knowing what to accept and what to challengeHow avoidance becomes contagious—and how to interrupt itLetting go of exceptionalism and embracing balanceWhy healing isn't about going back to who you wereConnect with Christie: Website: bettermindcenter.com Instagram: @better.with.christyHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Welcome to our end-of-year tradition! This week, we're re-airing one of the top two episodes of 2025—and it's no surprise this one resonated so deeply.Catastrophizing is one of the most common mental habits keeping people stuck in chronic symptoms, fear, and anxiety. It's that moment when your brain jumps straight to the worst-case scenario: "I'm never going to heal." "This always happens." "What if it never goes away?"In this solo episode, Grace walks through exactly what's happening when you spiral, why your nervous system hits the panic button, and how to catch yourself in real time. She shares from her own journey with fatigue and chronic symptoms, and offers practical tools to help you turn toward yourself with presence and compassion instead of fear.Grace covers what catastrophizing actually is and why your brain does it, the 90-second rule for emotions, how to name it and ride the wave, calming reframes to use during a flare, and why even a one-second pause is powerful.Save this one and come back to it—it's an all-time favorite for a reason.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Chris Sykes-Popham went from Royal Marines commando and adventure seeker to completely housebound with ME/CFS. Within weeks of finding the mind-body approach, he saw significant improvement—and within months, he made a full recovery. Now he's the founder of the FreeMe app, designed specifically for people with ME/CFS and long COVID.In this episode, Grace and Chris explore what actually moves the needle in ME/CFS recovery—including why high-achievers are especially prone to these conditions, how fear and catastrophizing keep symptoms stuck, the power of somatic tracking for fatigue, the difference between helpful and harmful pacing, how food associations can become their own trap, and why joy and meaningful activity are essential tools for nervous system healing.Both Grace and Chris share their personal recovery journeys and the shifts that got them off the couch and back into life.Connect with Chris through the Freeme WebsiteDownload the FreeMe app here: How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

The holidays can feel like the Olympics for your nervous system—and if your symptoms tend to spike around family, you're not alone.In this episode, Grace explores why your body might still brace for impact around family, even if you've done years of healing work and your relationships aren't "that bad." She explains how your nervous system reacts to old emotional patterns rather than your current reality, and why roles like the peacekeeper, the easy one, or the one who's "too sensitive" can get reactivated during this time.Grace breaks down the seven F's that fuel symptom flares—Fight, Frustration, Fear, Focus, Fix, Figure it out, and Forlorn—and shares two grounding questions to ask yourself when you're in a high-pain moment. She also offers a reminder: your symptoms aren't a sign you've gone backward. They're just an outdated security system that can be updated.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Grace sits down with somatic psychotherapist Claire Bailey to explore one of the most common—and least talked about—forms of neuroplastic symptoms: gut issues. Claire shares her own decade-long journey with debilitating digestive pain, IBS, and chronic abdominal symptoms, and the countless approaches she tried before discovering what was actually missing. They discuss why gut symptoms respond so strongly to stress, the difference between being told to "manage your stress" and truly understanding the brain-body connection, and how a single conversation with a physician who validated Claire's intuition became the turning point in her recovery. Grace and Claire also unpack why restrictive diets and food fear often reinforce symptoms rather than resolve them, the role medication can play as a support (not a solution) in healing, and what Claire's master's research revealed about the critical importance of neuroplastic education in recovery. You'll leave with a deeper understanding of why your gut isn't broken—it's responding to signals from a nervous system that can absolutely be retrained.Connect with Claire:Instagram: @bodyfulcounselingWebsite: bodyfulcounseling.com Email: [email protected] to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Grace celebrates 100 episodes by revisiting the most powerful healing lessons from the past two years—the ones listeners say changed everything. She unpacks why healing is never linear (and why your brain needs to hear that on repeat), how recovery stories actually rewire your nervous system toward safety, why food fear keeps symptoms stuck, and how to retrain your brain around eating, and what listener messages reveal about migraine relief, being able to eat again, and preventing caregiver burnout. Grace also shares her own journey with the podcast—the mumbling, the doubts, and why repetition is the key to building new neural pathways. You'll leave with a clearer understanding of what this work is really about: reminding your body it's not broken, it's not failing, and that healing is absolutely possible when you have the right tools and support.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Grace is joined by Kelly Goode, who shares her journey from barely being able to walk up stairs and living with 30+ food sensitivities to reclaiming her life in just three months through nervous system work.Kelly opens up about spending tens of thousands on treatments—from specialty clinics to IV therapy to 20 different supplement bottles—yet still declining to the point where she was Googling her life expectancy. What shifted everything wasn't another protocol, but realizing her nervous system dysregulation was driving her immune system failure, chronic fatigue, EOE, and Lyme disease symptoms.Together they explore how Kelly went from 30 food allergies to just 3, stopped acid burning in her throat with guided meditations, and cleared her brain fog within the first month. Kelly also shares what it meant to finally stop pushing through pain, reclaim her power from practitioners, and learn that "talking nice to yourself" is actually survival medicine.This episode is a hopeful reminder that when you address the brain and nervous system—not just the body—healing can happen faster than you think. Even when you've been told your condition is chronic or incurable.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you've tried everything for your chronic symptoms and nothing has worked—physical therapy, doctors, diets, supplements—this conversation might be exactly what you need to hear.Sean Hershey is a licensed psychotherapist who completely healed his severe, debilitating IBS through mind-body work. In this episode, he shares his journey from chronic suffering to symptom-free living, and gets honest about the ongoing work with his hip pain—including the doubt spirals that still show up even after major healing.You'll learn:✨ How Sean went from severe chronic IBS to fully healed✨ The moment the paradigm shift clicked for him (and why it took hearing it multiple ways)✨ Why his hip pain became a "symptom imperative" and what that really means✨ How to work through doubt—even when you've seen this work succeed✨ Why emotional processing (not just awareness) is key to lasting relief✨ What it looks like when healing isn't linear—and why that's completely normalSean's story is proof that this work works. His IBS is gone. His life is transformed. And he's real about the fact that healing continues, even after breakthrough moments.Connect with Sean: 🎙️ Podcast: https://mind-body-medicine.captivate.fm/ 🌐 Website: https://www.mindbodymedicineforchronicpain.com/ 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/my_gay_therapist/How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

In this episode, Grace explores why conditions like long COVID, POTS, chronic fatigue, Lyme disease, and mold illness often persist—not because of the virus or toxin itself, but because the nervous system remains stuck in survival mode. She unpacks the science behind the body's threat response and how symptoms become learned patterns when the brain keeps predicting danger. Grace shares emerging research on POTS reprocessing therapy and the power of emotional coherence, offering a compassionate reframe: your body isn't broken, it's brilliant. This episode invites you to see healing as teaching your nervous system it's safe again.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Grace is joined by Dr. Michael Dow, a clinical psychologist and lead therapist for Pain Reprocessing Therapy, to explore how our brains can learn to predict symptoms—and why that's actually good news for healing. Michael shares his personal journey from chronic weekly headaches to full recovery, what he learned from running a pain management program where nobody got out of pain, and how everything shifted when he discovered pain reprocessing therapy through the Boulder Back Pain Study. They discuss why symptoms show up at the same time every day, what recovery really looks like, why that last 5-20% of healing feels hardest, and how to address the emotions and life patterns keeping symptoms stuck with fierce compassion.Takeaways:- If your brain learned to predict your symptoms, it can unlearn them- Pain management vs. pain treatment: one keeps you comfortable, one gets you out of pain- Recovery doesn't mean perfection—it means living without fear of your symptoms- That last bit of healing often requires facing what you're most afraid of- Patience and self-compassion aren't optional—they're essential- If one approach doesn't work, keep trying; there's something that will clickABOUT DR. MICHAEL DOW:Dr. Michael Dow has been in practice in Boulder as a psychotherapist for over 20 years. After finishing his MA in Contemplative Psychotherapy at Naropa University, he worked in a variety of settings with different mental and physical health issues. He completed his doctorate in clinical psychology in 2009 at the University of the Rockies with a focus on the development of mindfulness-based psychotherapies. Most recently, he managed a large integrated medical clinic and served as lead therapist and trainer for Pain Reprocessing Therapy—an approach with excellent results for chronic low back pain in a recent randomized controlled trial (Ashar YK, Gordon A, Schubiner H, et al. JAMA Psychiatry). Dr. Dow specializes in mind-body issues, couples psychotherapy, and psychodynamic psychotherapy, with a focus on how close attention to body, mind, language, and connection leads to healing and aliveness.If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it. CONNECT WITH DR. MICHAEL DOW:Website: drmichaeldow.comEmail: [email protected] coaching is available nationwide and internationallyConsultation groups for practitioners working with neuroplastic symptomsHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

 Ever wonder if you should rest when fatigue hits—or keep going? Grace tackles one of the most common (and confusing) questions in chronic fatigue recovery: how to know when your body needs rest versus when your nervous system just needs reassurance that you're safe.What You'll Learn:The Two Types of FatigueNormal fatigue (proportionate to life stress, activity, or lack of sleep)Nervous system fatigue (disproportionate, often paired with brain fog, body aches, or other symptoms—and doesn't improve with more sleep)Why "Pushing Through" Isn't the AnswerThe difference between bulldozing your symptoms and moving through them with compassionHow judgment, fear, and self-criticism actually reinforce fatigue by signaling danger to your brainWhy your approach matters more than whether you rest or moveThe Key Question to Ask Yourself Before deciding to rest or continue with your day, pause and check in:Can I meet this symptom calmly, without fear or panic?Can I reassure myself that this is my nervous system, not something dangerous or broken?Am I responding with compassion—or criticism?If the answer is yes, you can gently move forward. If the answer is no, it might be time to pause, regulate, and build safety first.What True Rest Actually Looks Like Rest isn't helpful if you're spending it in shame, guilt, or panic. Grace shares how to rest with permission—fully, compassionately, and without the mental spiral.Trial and Error Is Part of the Process It takes time to learn the difference between types of fatigue. Grace walks you through how to experiment kindly with yourself, adjust as you go, and notice what your body is actually telling you.Your New Mantra: "Symptoms are evidence of my brain perceiving danger—not proof that I'm broken."Find the links below to learn more or reach out with questions.Resources Mentioned:Why Journaling is Important and How to Use ItHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Ever feel like you're "doing all the right things" but still running on empty?This conversation with Jessica Corbin lit me up. Jessica is a somatic educator and founder of SORCE, and she brings such a beautiful perspective on what it actually means to understand your energy—not just manage it, but renew it.We dive deep into heart rate variability (HRV), but this isn't just a technical conversation. It's about reconnecting with your body's wisdom, understanding when you're extracting from yourself faster than you can repair, and learning the language your nervous system has been speaking all along.If you've ever felt disconnected from yourself, if you've been told to "push through" when your body was asking you to slow down, or if you're curious about what energetic literacy really means—this episode is for you.In this episode, you'll explore:✨ What heart rate variability (HRV) actually measures and why it matters for your healing✨ The five stages of energetic literacy: willingness, awareness, articulation, action, and reflection✨ Why being disconnected from your body is a form of dysregulation (and how to reconnect)✨ The four areas of separation creating the human energy crisis—and why reconnection is the solution✨ How pain can be an intelligent guide rather than something to override✨ Why left-brain-only living keeps you stuck in patterns of burnout✨ What it means to build your life regeneratively instead of extracting from yourself✨ The protective mechanism behind disconnection and how to gently invite your body backKey Moments:Jessica's Journey: From elite athlete who learned to "push through pain" to somatic educator helping others reconnect with their body's wisdomUnderstanding HRV: It's not just about your heart—it's a window into your entire nervous system and your body's capacity to recoverThe Gas Tank Metaphor: How checking in with your HRV is like looking at how much fuel you have before navigating your dayFive Stages of Energy Literacy: The practical framework for moving from disconnection to deep self-awarenessSeparation = Dysregulation: How disconnection from self, nature, and our wholeness creates the conditions for burnout and chronic symptomsRegeneration vs. Optimization: Why we need to shift from muscling through to creating conditions conducive to lifeThe Body as Intelligence: Your symptoms, sensations, and signals aren't the enemy—they're breadcrumbs leading you homeResources Mentioned:Jessica's seasonal cohort for growing your energetic literacy: www.sorce.io/practiceConnect with Jessica on IGConnect with SORCE on IGLinkedInHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

In this episode, Grace explores how the pursuit of “perfect” health can backfire—turning clean eating and non-toxic living into stress, rigidity, and even illness. She shares her personal journey with orthorexia and recovery, reminding us that true health is found in balance, nervous system safety, and freedom, not restriction.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Clinical psychologist and researcher Mark Lumley joins Grace to unpack why the brain—not just the body—is central to chronic pain. They dig into EAET (Emotional Awareness & Expression Therapy), how “doing the uncomfortable thing” can unlock change, why blocked anger and unspoken needs keep symptoms looping, and where journaling and unsent letters actually help. Mark shares vivid stories (including blood-draw fainting and the fight/flight “hack”), how relationships trigger or soothe pain, and when Pain Reprocessing Therapy is a useful starting point. You’ll leave with practical ways to find your voice—privately and in real life—and a clearer map for moving from stuck to relief.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

If you’ve ever felt like your body is playing whack-a-mole with symptoms—pain, fatigue, gut issues, headaches—you’re not alone. In this episode, Grace explains why shifting symptoms, known as the “symptom imperative,” are actually a hopeful sign of neuroplastic pain. You’ll learn how to recognize this pattern, why it means your body isn’t broken, and how to respond so you can move toward healing.How to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website

Grace is joined by Vanessa Blackstone, LMFT to talk about why our brains sometimes expect pain or symptoms before they even happen—a process called predictive coding. Together they explore how this shapes chronic pain and other body sensations, and how tools from Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) can help break the cycle.Vanessa shares stories from her own journey and her clients, showing how to navigate flare-ups (known as extinction bursts) and build evidence of safety in your body. This episode offers a hopeful reminder: recovery is possible, even if discomfort shows up along the way.How to Create Your Own Authentic Messages of Safety (past episode with Vanessa)Connect with VanessaInstagramThe Pain Psychology CenterHow to work with Grace:Practitioner Training-Mind Body Integtration Method Founding Cohort Mind-Body Healing Method Course - Regulate your nervous system nowFree Masterclass: How to Know If Your Nervous System Is Behind Your SymptomsWork with us in private mind-body coaching Subscribe to my Substack for the deeper how-to'sConnect with GraceConnect on InstagramCheck out my website