Speaker #0I am so excited for today's topic. We're going to talk about how ignoring your mind-body connection has you paying the ultimate price. And we're also going to reveal how you can begin to undo it and start living again. Let's get into it. Well, welcome to the Healing at Home podcast. I'm Gabrielle, the founder of Mighty Zen and your podcast hostess. And I am so excited to embark on this transformative journey with you. So if you're ready to discover how to heal your mind-body connection from the comfort of your own home and ease your chronic pain, well, this podcast is your gateway to unlocking strategies, insights, and inspiration that will quite literally change your life. Now at Mighty Zen, we believe that true healing begins within, and there are some rituals that your body has been craving that your mind just might not be aware of. So we want to empower you so that you can reclaim your well-being through these practices. As we dive into thought-provoking conversations, advice, and real-life stories that will help you feel seen, understood in your journey, and feel equipped to heal. So are you ready to transform your healing journey into daily practice? Well, let's dive into this episode to creating a healthier, happier you right at home. Well, welcome to the Healing at Home podcast. I am so excited for this name transition. You have no idea. I'm a little mournful over the soul signs. But before we get into today's episode, I want to talk to you about the name change and why. So if you listen to past episodes or you're intrigued after this and you're like let me go check them out. When I initially started the podcast it was about these intuitive signs that you have that just something's off. Well about the time of our last episode, maybe a little bit before, started like getting into all these other products and things and offers and so I had to tuck into that. and let it be. And sometimes I do that. I have to go within, be like, connect all the dots, and have these conversations with, you know, lots of people who are going through chronic pain, who have diagnoses, who don't have diagnoses, and it really sits with me. And I realized that what we were doing was bigger than just intuitive soul science. It was really about it. empowering people to heal at home. And I'm going to use an analogy right now, which is of teeth brushing. We all do it every day, one time, two times, three times, maybe more. But we still go see the dentist. Hopefully you still go see the dentist. And so we check in with those professionals, but we have the tool at home to help maintain. And to me, that is something that is missing. in the industry. And even if you, alternative treatments can be expensive to go and feel like you need to put yourself in somebody else's hands and go have this appointment and it's going to cost you X amount of dollars and you need to go X amount of time per week, per month, whatever it is. In conversations I was having with people who were undiagnosed with, you know, the symptoms they were experiencing, or they did have a diagnosis, there was this next level of overwhelm with, you know, how am I going to pay for it in the time? And it burdens us to not just be able to focus on our healing. And I have had... Such a transformation myself from being at this place before Mighty Zen was even an idea where I had given up hope. I've been through a lot of different traumas in my life. And this last one, I was just over life. Every day I woke up, I was just like, I can't do another fucking day. And it was through this spark of hope. that everything changed. And it continues to evolve. And that empowering myself at home in order to be able to heal myself. Because when you're stuck in a state of chronic pain, the body needs TLC. Your mind needs TLC, without a doubt. And I'll say this. That it can't happen in one day a week. It can't happen in one massage a month. It can't. And I've seen it in conversations I've had with people when you are able to empower them in their own home with the tools. It's it takes such a weight off. And so that's. how we got into the Healing at Home podcast name and change. And I think the episode is going to be a little different and juicier. And we're going to have so much fun tackling into different topics and professionals, experts. And I want to bring this approach to I'm going to talk, you know, some people who go academia, they're interested in a topic, and then they look into the science. And then they go out and apply it in real life with, you know, clients. But then there's those of us who have walked through the fire. Life has dealt us whatever whammies. And some of us wind up curious enough to be like, how do I solve this? I think I talked to you about, you know, I had almost given up on life and hope and everything. And there was one social media post that changed my life. It changed my life. It is the reason that Mighty Zen is here. There's also a reason why Mighty Zen is here. It's because of the trauma that I've been through. But this one pivot moment where I had hope, it was talking about fascia, which we're going to get into in more episodes because there really is the motor highway of the mind-body connection. And that changed everything. So I went into from having a life experience. to the academia and the science, and then how can I apply this and help heal? And then, A, do these things myself, but then share it with the world. So that's where we are. And I am really excited to tuck into today's topic. Because when you're ignoring that mind-body connection, which most people we just don't think, we just accept things the way they are. Or if we go see a doctor trying to get our pain diagnosed, and they're just like, oh, well, it's age, menopause, it's your weight, you need to work out more, and just blame it on these things versus tucking into the mind-body connection. It's just an incredible thing. And I love it. And I'm so grateful for this journey. And I'm really grateful to be sharing it with you. So without further ado, let's tuck into today's episode. So with all that said, They don't call me Gabby for nothing. I want to share the good news with you. And maybe you've picked up what I'm laying down. But you can undo these patterns and start enjoying life again. Life can get better. Even if you do have a diagnosed chronic condition that you need to battle for the rest of your life, there's a way to ease that. And it is really through listening to what your body is telling you and then responding with compassion. And so in this episode, I'll wind up sharing with you some tools for healing and introduce you to what I call micro healing moment that you can do for my rest framework that you can use right now to start feeling better. So stay tuned. I have a downloadable freebie for you at the end of all of this. I have shared a little bit about my own story, and what I want to do right now is acknowledge your own struggles, whatever personally you're going through, and validate your experiences of chronic pain, overwhelm. Maybe you're in a toxic relationship, or you're out of one, and you're trying to heal. Maybe you have past trauma, to with anxiety, depression, whatever aches and pains you're feeling. you've dealt with this for so long that it just feels like that's your norm. You gotta suck it up and accept it. And so every day you're trying to push through, distract yourself, maybe even medicate the symptoms. But deep down, talk about soul signs, you know, there's just something wrong and it's not right. And if you are experiencing something in the body, you know, these signals, whether it be joy and good or, you know, pain, anxiety, your body is just dealing with information. So it's the messenger. And it's really neutral. It's like there's a problem here or heck yeah, this feels amazing. It's just sending you these signals. And so we need to listen to that because it's not just random. Your body's telling you in connection with your mind that it's time to pay attention. And when you start listening, everything can change. And what most of us typically do is we just... push through it. You know, just keep going because we're strong. We're strong like that. And we might numb with medication and do even more damage to our bodies. But the benefits of connecting with your body and your, especially the mind-body connection, is that you can start to neutralize these negative... signals that you're receiving. You can reduce pain. You can regain energy and you can start feeling good again. In fact, in my own journey, and it's hard to describe chronic pain. I've never been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, but I probably do when one of the little dogs jumps on me and it feels like you're being, you know, stabbed because it's just like so sharp. You're like, ooh, ooh. You know, if you've experienced it, you get it. Or if you're walking through the grocery store and you just feel like there's this force pulling you in. It's different than because I was athletic in the past when you have like a muscle ache after a good workout. You're like, dang, my quads. It's totally different. It's completely different. And people who don't live with the chronic. pain issue. And there's, I'm using chronic pain very generally, because there's so many different types. And each person is different in their experience. But for me, it was like just going through the grocery store, it would be like, I'd be just dead afterwards. And it would take time to recoup. And a lot of doctors like you need to start working out again, you need to do this. Well, when you do that, and you're in a state of like, inflammation and heightened awareness and your body's in like protection mode, then your body's just like, wait, what's going on? We got to go protector. It doesn't work. You need to start off with a softer approach and be able to calm your nervous system down. And especially the fascia because the fascia is like this mind body highway. We're going to like talk a lot about it in my episodes because I am like it's It's the thing that I feel is just on the horizon of people starting to really tuck into this part of the body. It's the second largest organ underneath your skin, protects all the things, and so much runs through it. It is amazing. But when you can get that calmed down, then you can start incorporating. more of this movement. And so in my own journey of, gosh, maybe a couple years now, when I first heard the word fascia, I'm now off hiking, and I don't feel dead afterwards. And if you have chronic pain, you know exactly what I'm talking about, where it's like, I'm going to be on the sofa for a few days trying to heal from this. I overdid it or not even be able to make through and do it. I remember when walking through the grocery store was a challenge. And so let this be a testament and hopefully offer you some hope that you can reduce pain, you can regain energy, and you can start enjoying life again. You know, listening and acting with compassion, giving your body that chance to rest. Okay, so we're talking a lot about these patterns and listening, which, you know, it's a skill. It really is a skill that you have to develop. It's a muscle you got to form. And one of the ways to start is to begin with a simple practice like journaling. where you can write down how your body feels every day. And I actually have a freebie, I'll link it below this episode, which is a pain pattern tracker. And it comes from a journal that I've written called the Daily Impact, which is all about tracking pain symptoms, doctor appointments, and all that kind of stuff. But download this, this one sheet, and at least start just tracking it. And you'll start to notice this. And the other thing with the other type of journaling that I want to introduce you to, if you're not familiar with, is journaling prompts, where you have this guide to help tap into the things that your mind-body connection, maybe it's like, there's things that are just, they're subconscious, and we need to bring them to a conscious level. And I'm not someone who's going to be like, oh, you need to go back to the trauma. We need to go there. We need to talk about it. No, because sometimes there's triggers that bring up these patterns subconsciously that we're dealing with. And maybe you're not familiar with a term called complex post-traumatic stress disorder. And I've never been diagnosed with it. This is back to my analogy. Some people have a life experience that turns them into this, you know, researcher and then a tester of things. And I'm going to interject a little personal story here because what I do when I started this podcast to take what's in my mind and connect with people so hopefully they get hope and inspiration and can learn some things that I've learned in my own healing journey. And if you're here still listening, there's You're intuitively connected to this for some reason. And I had traveled to Greece when we were initially, you know, kind of got some, a few initial things rolling with Mighty Zen to do the filming of the tutorials and to shoot the products. I love Greece. I'm very connected spiritually to that. It's a healing place for me. And so it made sense to go there for this. And I still go there all the time. I freaking love it. If you haven't been, there we go. That's a travel plug for that one. But anyway, I'm sitting on a bus stop because bus hub on the island of Santorini is everything. And there's a girl who's sitting there reading a book. And the cover is The Body Keeps Score. And of course, what I'm there for, I got my big Mighty Zen Karma Kit bag, hauling all the stuff around the island, having conversations with people. It's just, it's this lovely, lovely, lovely experience. I'm so grateful for it. And of course, I'm intrigued. So then I'm immediately downloading this book. It's got tons of, you know, five-star reviews. And it is another thing that changed my life. Because this guy brought up about complex post-traumatic stress disorder and what that means. And it was a very hard book for me to push through because it tapped into so much of how I'm like, oh my gosh, this is me. This is me. And so the variable here with complex post-traumatic stress disorder is that you've experienced a trauma in which you can't, your body just can't escape it. You can't like. run away from it. It's not like, you know, hit it and quit it kind of trauma, where then you can go and repair and do healing like you're in it for some duration. And child abuse is a perfect example of this. And it will change your mind body connection forever and how you're triggered by little things. And so I was learning that at this point in my life, I was interested. triggered by really weird stuff. And we'll get into this in another episode, I promise. But I learned that I'd already had an inclination that I compartmentalize things, but I didn't understand exactly how it works. I didn't understand hypervigilance. And so back to this journaling prompts that I've created, it's how do we tap into what's really going on? Because When I was being triggered, what I noticed was the patterns of... big pattern noticer person for lack of a good term for that one. And I was just like, wait, why am I being triggered by this? Like, why am I having a panic attack? Why are my nerves pulsating? Why am I getting anxiety? I'm safe. Why am I so bothered by this? Why is this? And it was just this reaction to not. being seen, heard, understood, feeling loved, like all these things that were connected to a past trauma. And that was a mega, mega pivot point right there. And so through journaling and developing these guided journaling prompts that I set at my kitchen table and had papers freaking everywhere, like connecting the dots of all this to put together this journal and then test it. through my own stuff and some people who became testers of it was like, Oh my god, this is this is the process to work through like this is amazing. And I was able to undo like money blocks. I had anxiety. And I still honestly, I still struggle with it sometimes. And it doesn't matter if there's money in the bank or there's not money in the bank or you know, could be negative. And, you know, the past, like, I've done the roller coaster of all the things in my life. And, and there was just something about that. And so I was trying to connect with this, like, where did this come from? And through doing these journaling prompts and working through all this, and what I'm talking about is my journal, The Lucky Soul. So if you're like, what is this journal? You can check out the details on that one on the website, mydesign.co. I was able to connect this to the shame of being taken out of a regular class and put in a remedial class. And that was the source. of my shame around not being smart enough or capable enough or whatever it is, whatever it is that stuck with me for decades where, yeah. And there was a lot of other things because I experienced a lot of trauma early on in life. And it is through doing the guided journaling prompts is so pivotal. But I want to tuck into how do you get to a space where you can neutrally connect with this and go like, oh, well, okay. And bust the myth of where you are today. Like, I don't have a problem. Like, how have I been good my whole life? Like, why am I still feeling bad? Why am I still carrying this? And that's the important part that we're going to segue into is how do you do just that? We need to be able to regularly check in with ourselves. And over time, these things will be able to release mentally and physically all the tension and pain and emotions that your body's been holding. And it is such a lovely, lovely feeling. All right, so let's dive into this simple yet powerful practice that you can use right now. And it's the first step in my R.E.S.T. framework. And R.E.S.T. stands for relieving the nervous system. As I said earlier in this episode that you cannot heal from a heightened, stressed out state. When your body is in that like state of panic, anxiety, nerves racing, that is not the moment that any kind of transformation is going to happen other than go calm yourself down. Literally like when you start feeling that, that's your body's signal like, okay, I need to go rest. When you start to dip, let this analogy stay with you, when you start to dip, which is a destructive immune process. You need to rest. So let that stick with you. When you're having that moment, you can literally say, I'm dipping right now and I need to rest. And number one is relieving the nervous system. So we need to get to a neutral place. And so this exercise is one of what I call my micro healing moments that aligns with that first element. And we do want to just gently release the stress that you connect with yourself and feel a little lighter. And there are no products needed in this. However, I will say that the mighty Zen tools that we've developed help tremendously. Like the infrared sauna blanket. is, it's just incredible. It's been an amazing part of my own transformation and journey. And I equate it to having a weighted blanket on you and being in the womb because you're sweating and it's wet. You're in this plush towel. It's like hopping in a sleeping bag. two basically because one is the towel insert and then you have the infrared sauna blanket and then it heats up and for some of us the woo was the last time we were loved or we felt loved because we popped out and we were born into an abusive environment or a toxic environment and it's it's just it's incredible so but I'm going to give you the way to do it from your own home right now And just with what you have around the house. So here's how you do it. And you can download this. There's the artichoke story, which I'll talk about here in a minute. But you can download this one too. I'll attach the freebie. So you want to lay down in a neutral place. And this is where the mighty Zen way is different. Because when people think meditation, you think sitting there, legs crossed, you know, fingers and ohm. Yes, that practice exists. But when you really need to get in a neutral place, I want you to try to get your body in a zero gravity position. So you can literally like take the weight off and let your body completely relax. When you're sitting upright, you're still engaged, right? You have to hold your neck up, your shoulders might be tense. So you can just pay more attention to your body awareness when you're in a neutral position. And You just want to like breathe and relax and be aware. All right, so get into this neutral play. So if you download the artichoke story article that's attached to this, it gets into how to get started, what to look for, has all the tips, even my favorite, favorite sound bath to listen to. And that's what it's really, you're going to do. be in this neutral place, put a nice, you know, heavy blanket on yourself, and put on headphones, and just listen to this music. There are these healing frequencies, which help calm. And there's a lady, her name is Mylon. I'll tag her in this. It's actually tagged in the article. And I worked through so much stuff just listening to her music and meditating like this. That was great. And start to be aware of where the pains were in my body and what I was dealing with and let things surface as they need to. It's a lovely, lovely way. So it's all tapped out in there, how to create your relaxation space, play the sound bath. And then we talk about breathing and taking these deeper, slow breaths. And there's one way that I was kind of taught. to breathe that I didn't know how to write it in this article, but it's basically like, if you put your hands on your rib cage, like underneath your your breast area, and as you're breathing in, you want to expand your body out to the sides. And that helps with because the the rib cage breathing, I was getting ready to jump to another thought there where When we have stress, anxiety, and all these things, we tend to have very short, shallow breaths. And so learning to take these deeper breaths and expand your lungs is really important because it's also how you can use those techniques to calm down in the moment. And then you're able to scan for any body tension and just deepen the relaxation. And this helps you get in a neutral state for the rest of the healing work that you will be doing. Then I want to highlight why the artichoke story, because I guess it kind of makes sense. I won't go too far into it. You can read it. But a year ago, I wound up seeing this beautiful purple flower, and it looked kind of prickly and cactus-y, and I had never seen it before in my life. And I was so drawn to this cart that had all these beautiful blooms on it. And it was an artichoke. And if you listen to my podcast, you're going to learn that I love analogies and anecdotal stories and all that kind of stuff. And people use the analogy of peeling back the layers of an onion. But when I'm seeing this artichoke that, so I just think eating artichokes, artichokes at the table, like close to how we see it and not the blooming thing. Oh my gosh, I was just, I immediately wrote this story about how I was so connected to it. Because if you've experienced trauma or you're living with chronic pain, there's literally this hardened protected shell that kind of happens. And that's similar to the fascia, what it's doing to protect our body. And then we have our mind that reacts in certain ways, whether right or not to further protect ourselves. Like, oh, she's starting to feel pain. We got to like fire it up and let's go protect her. Let's, you know, put up the walls. And there's this tenderness inside and there's this beauty inside. And to be able to literally allow that to dry up and fall away and reveal this tender inside, it's just lovely. And if you're listening to this, this time of year, this podcast was recorded right at October 1st, maybe you can find a blooming artichoke and pick some up, put them in a vase at home, dry them, have it forever. I have more right now that I've just picked up and I love them. They're my favorite flower for this symbolism alone. So I want to address as we wrap up this podcast. a common misconception that maybe you're just like, okay, well, this is great, Gabrielle, and I've listened to what you have to say this whole entire episode. But there is a misconception that chronic pain, anxiety, depression, all this stuff can only be solved by a professional medication. And of course, it's always destructive just to ignore it. So we don't want to do that. But the mind-body connection is really simple. It's your body's way of signaling something deeper, emotionally or physically, is going on. And I have talked with so many people that I know you're not alone if you have undiagnosed chronic pain. I hear every freaking day for the past two years from people who have a pain story. And they have a story of not getting a diagnosis. They have a story of being dismissed by doctors and professionals. And I absolutely, absolutely love and respect the medical community. But there's millions of us that are lingering with why. Why is this going on? And like I've said earlier, there's a reason that your experience is in your body. There is. And I know in my own journey with going through all the medical tests, I went through all the medical tests. I line up so much in the Daily Impact Journal to help you be able to take this to your medical community because I feel like you need to rule out all the things. And I'll tell you, not one person. ever asked, have you experienced trauma in your past life? And I'd be like, you want the list? And what are you currently going through in your life that might be causing you stress and contention? No one asked. And so that's why this is here. So sometimes, you know, we're relying on these outside forces when we can go search for answers and then be able to take. that back to the medical community and be like, hey, you know, I noticed this. And for the next week, here's what I want you to do. Number one, download the freebies because hey, why not start on your healing journey. But I want you to ask yourself, what do you need right now? What are you tolerating in your life right now? I love that question. I love it. That one's a deep one. And respond with kindness and neutrality. And you're going to be amazed at how much lighter you feel. Like, wow, okay, that's what I need. this is this is what I need. So how then can you begin to put it in action? So let's take a moment to practice this micro healing moment together. I'm going to walk you through just a little meditation. We talked about the neutrality at this point, you haven't downloaded the artichoke story yet. I just want you to lay down. and not get it even in the zero gravity position. You're going to learn more about that in the downloadable. Just close your eyes and you can take deep breaths. Just inhale, try to expand your rib cage out to the side. If you need a guide, just put your pointer finger and your thumb, your thumb towards your back, your pointer finger underneath your... breast area and just breathe in and expand that rib cage out to your sides underneath your armpits as much as you can. Be aware. Are you tensing up your shoulders? If you are, relax those. Fill, fill, fill. Hold. Slowly release. And repeat that as many times as you feel necessary, just to get in that practice of the breathing and notice any attention and areas where your neck, your shoulders, your jaw, and just focus on the control that you have with the mind-body connection to relax those areas. This exercise is all about checking in with your nervous system and giving yourself permission to relax. And this is a really mega small win and one of the first steps in relieving your body from the stress that it has been carrying for far too long. Research has shown that a simple exercise like this, this mindful breathing and nervous system regulation, can activate the parasympathetic nervous system. If you don't know what that is, Google it. And this simple act alone can lower your stress levels and help reduce that pain because you're bringing awareness to where it exists. and how you're holding your body and carrying yourself. So today we've explored how ignoring the mind-body connection can contribute to chronic pain, fatigue, and all kinds of emotional distresses. But you also learn that it's never too late to release these patterns, undo them, ease them if you do have a chronic... pain diagnosis that you know you will live with forever and ever. Amen. You can ease that. In fact, it's just as important that you do so you have a good quality of life for the rest of your life. Don't forget to do the downloads and try the relieving the nervous system micro healing moment from the rest framework that's featured in the artichoke story. I hope you enjoy the story. And I want to thank you for tuning in. And I hope you join us on the next episode. In fact, in our next episode, we're going to continue this journey by diving deeper into how you can truly hear your body from the inside out. And we'll explore the powerful mind-body connection and how emotional stress impacts physical pain even deeper. And I'll share some practical techniques that you can use in addition to the ones you have into releasing that stored tension and finding the relief you so desire. Thank you for joining me today. We'll see you in the next episode. Well, thank you for joining me on this episode of the Healing at Home podcast. I hope you feel inspired and equipped to take those next steps in your healing journey. Remember, true healing is a continuous practice, and you have the power to create this positive change in your life. Now, if you've enjoyed today's episode, I would love for you to take a moment to subscribe to this podcast. give us a rating and review the podcast. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and build this healing community. And don't forget to connect with us on social media at Mighty Zen to continue the conversation and share your insights and experiences. We love hearing from you. And remember, each day is an opportunity to nurture your mind, body, and soul. So take what you've learned today. Apply it in your life. And together, let's create a happier, healthier you right at home. Until next time, thank you for listening.
