The Nourished Nervous System

Send us Fan MailToday's guest is Lori Montry — somatic healing practitioner, author of You're Not the Problem, and creator of The Freedom Formula, a nervous system-based roadmap for sustainable behavior change. Lori helps people who feel stuck in stress, overwhelm, or self-sabotage understand the survival patterns driving their choices so they can build the safety, capacity, and clarity needed to take aligned action in every area of their lives.There is so much resonance in this conversation — between Lori's work and Ayurveda, between the Freedom Formula and what we talk about every week on this podcast. I think you're going to feel it too.What we cover:Why Lori uses the word adaptation instead of problem, habit, or failure — and why that single reframe changes everything about how we relate to ourselves and our patternsThe most common adaptation she sees in women: I'm not enough — and the Mississippi River of coping mechanisms, people-pleasing, overachieving, and self-sabotage that flows from itWhat is actually happening at the nervous system level when you know what to do and still don't do it — and why it has nothing to do with willpowerThe three things the nervous system needs before behavior change is even possible: safety, capacity, and energy — and why trying to change without these in place is like expecting a seed to bloom in a dark closet with no waterWhy nervous system tools sometimes make things worse — and what to do insteadThe difference between managing stress and befriending it — and why safety lives in the body, not in the mindThe resonance between Lori's framework and Ayurveda — being situated in the self, the sattvic state, and why regulated nervous systems see reality more clearlyLori's vision of reaching 50 million people with the message that they are not the problem — and why a more somatic-literate world is one of the most urgent things we need right nowConnect with Laurie:Website: www.LoriMontry.com Youtube: Lori Montry -Somatic Healing Practitioner - YouTubeFacebook:  www.facebook.com/LoriMontryInstagram: Instagram Email List (1.5k): https://www.lorimontry.com/book-introResources:Free Masterclass:  The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

Send us Fan MailToday we're going somewhere I've been wanting to go for a while — into the neuroscience of oxytocin. Not oxytocin as the cuddle hormone, though it is that too. Oxytocin as a brain-changing, nervous system-healing, plasticity-promoting substance that you can actually learn to stimulate intentionally through your daily practices.What we cover:What oxytocin actually is — beyond the "love hormone" label, it is a neuroplasticity agent that promotes new neuron growth, reshapes synaptic connections, and helps the brain become more open to change and healingThe oxytocin-safety loop — how oxytocin and the parasympathetic nervous system reinforce each other, and why this is the biological basis for healing happening in relationship and community rather than in isolationThe research on meditation — particularly loving-kindness, gratitude, and compassion-based practices — and why the heart-opening, relational quality of the practice matters more than meditation style aloneNadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) — the honest framing of what the research does and doesn't yet show, and why the vagus nerve pathway makes it one of the most direct routes to oxytocin release we haveSeven everyday oxytocin releasers — gentle touch and self-massage, warmth, face-to-face community, humming and chanting, gratitude — and how each maps onto Ayurvedic practices you may already be doingFree downloads: Grab the one-page guide — 7 Ways to Release Oxytocin Today — with the science and Ayurvedic wisdom behind each practice. Click HereAnd my Self Abhyanga Guide HereResearch ReferencesOxytocin & Neural PlasticityPekarek, B.T., Hunt, P.J., & Arenkiel, B.R. (2020). Oxytocin and Sensory Network Plasticity. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 14, 30. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2020.00030Froemke, R.C., & Young, L.J. (2021). Oxytocin, Neural Plasticity, and Social Behavior. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 44, 359–381. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-102320-102847Meditation & OxytocinBellosta-Batalla, M., et al. (2020). Increased salivary oxytocin and reduced anxiety in a mindfulness and compassion-based intervention. Mindfulness. (Referenced in Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2024)Machida, S., Sunagawa, M., & Takahashi, T. (2018). Oxytocin release during the meditation of altruism and appreciation (Arigato-Zen). International Journal of Neurology Research, 4, 364–370.Resources:Free Masterclass:  The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

Send us Fan MailToday's guest is Ms Elizabeth Munoz, founder of Soul Haven and creator of the Reclaiming Radiance framework. Elizabeth spent 17 years in corporate — the last 11 in high-stakes technology sales — before her body completely shut down. Two emergency C-sections, a fibromyalgia diagnosis, and the moment her legs gave out walking to an airport when her daughter was three months old were the turning points that changed everything.What followed was a deep healing journey — through the nervous system, through identity, through grief — that led Elizabeth to build a life and business rooted in joy, regulation, and what she calls reclaiming radiance. She is also certified through the HeartMath Institute, holds a degree in psychology, and brings a deeply personal and deeply practical perspective to everything she teaches.What we cover:Why burnout is not a personal failure but intelligent nervous system signaling — and why pushing through only drives it deeperThe too much / not enough paradox that so many women carry, and how it shapes the way we show up in our bodies and our workThe difference between resilience and regulation — and why regulation has to come firstA simple, accessible mirror practice for women who have been overriding their bodies and want to begin rebuilding trust with themselvesWhat emotional congruence actually feels like in the body — and how micro aligned actions taken consistently are what build it over timeWhy our healing is never just for ourselves — and the personal loss that deepened Elizabeth's commitment to this workWhy midlife is not a decline but a reclamation — and why it is never, ever too lateElizabeth's invitation: You do not have to prove your worth. You were born worthy. The fact that you are here, breathing, in this timeline is proof enough.Connect with Elizabeth:Soul HavenReclaiming Radiance coursePodcastInstagramLinkedinResources:Free Masterclass:  The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram