The Surprising Link Between Trauma and Gut Health (And How to Heal It!) with Cristina Calvi

In this transformative episode of AwakenHer, Corissa is joined by Cristina Calvi, a certified herbalist, Nutrition & Health Coach, for a deep-dive conversation into the powerful, often overlooked connection between trauma and gut health. Together, they explore how trauma—especially chronic or relational trauma—disrupts the gut-brain connection, impacts our nervous system, and alters our ability to trust our inner cues.

Cristina shares her integrative approach to healing that blends science, spirituality, and herbal wisdom to help trauma survivors regulate, restore, and reconnect with their bodies. From understanding the physical symptoms of unresolved trauma to discovering the healing power of joy, energy work, and adaptogenic herbs—this episode is rich with insights and actionable tools for your healing journey.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why trauma disrupts digestion and intuition—and how to begin reclaiming both
• How the body speaks when we don’t feel safe enough to
• Why joy, play, and pleasure are not luxuries but vital parts of trauma recovery
• How energy work can reach layers of trauma that talk therapy often can’t
• Adaptogenic herbs Cristina recommends for stress, burnout, and emotional restoration

Cristina’s holistic approach reminds us that true healing goes beyond symptom relief—it reconnects us to who we are underneath the trauma.

Ways to Connect with Cristina:

Website: Www.empoweredwellness4u.com
Instagram: @Empowered_wellness_4_u
Www.naturallysue.com

Cristina Calvi is a certified herbalist and wellness coach specializing in gut health, using nutrition

💫 You’re invited to join us in the brand new Savvy & StrongHER Community—a powerful membership space for women healing after trauma or toxic relationships. Join for as low as $7/month in our entry tier. With three levels of support, there’s a path for you. Visit savvyandstrongher.com for more information and to join now!

💖 Strong enough to heal, savvy enough to thrive

________________________

Corissa is a Holistic Trauma-Informed Coach & Narcissistic Abuse Specialist™ who empowers women after they’ve endured narcissist trauma to rediscover who they are, reclaim their power, and find the clarity and courage to move forward and live a life they love. Corissa is also a recovering people-pleaser and codependent who has endured way too many narcissistic relationships to count! She coaches not only from her knowledge and training but also from the wisdom she has gained from her own healing journey.

Book a FREE 30-min Clarity Call HERE.

Ways to connect with Corissa:

Podcast Website
Website: www.corissastepp.com
Book: The Savvy Girl's Guide to Thriving Beyond Narcissistic Abuse
Instagram: @corissastepp
Facebook: Corissa Stepp
Free Quiz: Is My Partner a Narcissist?

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Transcript

Welcome to Awaken Her, the podcast where women find their strength and transform their pain into power. I'm Carissa Step, your guide on this journey of healing, growth, and empowerment. Here we share the real stories of women who have faced life's toughest challenges and emerged stronger together with expert insights to light your path forward. Whether you're seeking to heal, grow, or empower your life after heartache, Awaken Her is here to show you that not only is change possible, but you are capable of achieving more than you ever imagined. Let's dive into today's episode and take another step towards becoming your most empowered self. Hey. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Awaken Her. I'm your host, Carissa Step. And today, I'm gonna be chatting with Christina Calvi about how to support your body for deep healing after trauma. Many women healing from narcissistic trauma struggle with adrenal fatigue, chronic inflammation, hormonal imbalance, digestive issues, and so much more. With emotional and spiritual healing are essential. While emotional and spiritual healing are essential, the physical body also needs support. So today, I am joined by Christina Calvi, who is an expert in holistic health, nutrition, and gut healing, to talk about how we can nourish and strengthen our bodies after prolonged stress and trauma. Christina, I'm so excited to have you here. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Yes. It's gonna be an awesome conversation, and I can't wait for listeners to tune in. So to kick us off, would you mind just sharing with us a little bit about your own healing journey and what led you to focus on gut health and whole body wellness? So in my twenties, I started having a lot of GI issues, and I ended up going for a colonoscopy because most doctors couldn't figure out what it was. And what they had originally told me, which was, you know, over twenty years ago, was that I had what they call the spasmodic stomach, and I needed to stay away from bleached flower and anything really bleached. Now back then, what would be known now as a gluten intolerance wasn't really common. So he was actually he's actually a great doctor. I still go to him today. But, he was an older man and very educated, and that was his take on what I needed to do. So symptom wise, I was having, you know, irregular bowel movements, often constipated, which then became pain. And when I would try to eat and I was hungry, it would I would have a sensation of fullness. So I cut out the bleached flower. I went that route. I was good for a little while. And then probably about ten years ago, I was having just whole body pain, which ended up being a lot of inflammation. I found out that I had herniated discs, and my stomach was still doing the same thing it was doing years prior. I was introduced to a naturopath, incredible naturopath. Her name is Susan Cucciara. She's a naturopathic m d, MD. Well well, she went to medical school, but they call her an MD, who totally changed my life. So what she ended up doing for me was giving me food allergy testing, multiple supplements that I had not been taken taking, you know, things that we should probably be taking every day, especially especially for women, certain things that aid in our health. And I found out I was allergic to not only gluten, but dairy, eggs, and then, you know, minor things like walnuts, pistachios, cranberries, and she took me on the journey of healing the gut. So, in addition to that, I was diagnosed with PCOS, which is polycystic ovarian syndrome. And my doctor at the time, my my gyno, had said there's no way to really deal with this. And I was nervous, like, what what problems can I run into with that? And he said, you know, fertility will go down. You might have a hard time getting pregnant. And it's just the lining of the ovaries are covered in cysts. And I had had cysts, you know, along the way. And they would rupture on their own and and come back, and now I had an overwhelming amount of cysts lining the ovaries. And I asked him what I could do, and he was like, basically nothing. You know, this is something you have to live with. I immediately called my naturopathic doctor, and she put me on what they call seed cycling, which is at various times of the month, you utilize different seeds and also a couple of homeopathic remedies. Six months, I went back from my sonogram, and I remember hearing my doctor go, oh my god. And I'm like, oh, no. Did it get worse? And he's like, it's gone. And I'm like, what? He's an amazing doctor too, but, you know, he doesn't believe in in herbal medicine. He doesn't believe in holistic medicine. So I wanted to explain my story to him, but medically trained, they are not so open to that. But since then, I've you know, the PCOS is gone. So there are so many things she did for me, and I firsthand watched it heal my body and became very interested in holistic health. And throughout the years, I've researched it, studied it. I've learned from her. We became very good friends, and I was helping so many people with the knowledge I had. And one day, she said to me, you should really go back to school because you should be doing this. This is like your calling. So I did. I completed my certification at IIN and opened my business, and then she actually took me on to her practice. I just joined her practice couple of months ago, and now I'm working with her. So now I'm getting to do what I love again because it's a second business for me, and I'm learning so much from her and, another doctor she has on board. And it's just been it's been an amazing journey. I feel better in my forties than I did in my twenties. So Which is crazy because I was gonna say that to the listeners. By the way, for those of you who can't see Christina, she's not that old. So she's telling you about all these health issues, and she's not that old, and she wasn't that old when she was experiencing it. Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. Your body was, like, literally screaming to you. Yes. Yes. And it was it's helped me be able to help others because a huge problem in life now for most people is, you know, gastrointestinal. It's bloating, fatigue. These are all things that come with it, and it's, you know, linked to diet, but it can also be linked to food allergies because they have food allergies or because their gut is the microbiome in their gut is so unhealthy that they are having allergic reactions to things that they may not be allergic to. You know, the common leaky gut that's it it's so common amongst people now. So Yeah. And I know, like, even, like, for my listeners, those have experienced narcissistic abuse, their bodies have been flooded with cortisol for years. Yeah. And so that leads to the inflammation. It also decreases their immune system's ability to actually fight real germs and things like that, but then it also can become hypersensitive and react to things that you're now eating as an allergy, like, where an intolerance will show up in that kind of way. When it may not technically be that, it's just that your body is, like, in constant fight or flight, so it's literally fighting everything in every kind of way. % correct. So, that triggers inflammation in the body, and inflammation is one of the leading causes of disease. Yep. But you will start having reactions, you know, food, skin, headaches. When the body's inflamed, it can never be at rest. So you will become sick. That's and that has you know, trauma affects emotions, but people don't realize how much it's linked to the physical body and physical ailments. Absolutely. There's a very big connection between the mind and the body. A %. And the trauma isn't stored to your point in the mind. It is stored in the body, and then it physically manifests through these symptoms. So it's like your body's telling you something is off, something is wrong. Yes. And and people are bioindividuals. So everyone reacts to things differently. For example, foods, trauma, and everyone's body reacts differently. So trauma gets stored in different places of the body. So people will feel trauma. For instance, according to Chinese medicine, which I use a lot, but, you know, feelings of betrayal and grief are linked to the lungs. They're linked tightness of chest, breathing issues, asthmatic responses for people who have never had asthma before. So depending on your body, if you push through emotional trauma without properly dealing with it, it will get stored in certain places and have physical results. Yeah. Oh my god. That's so interesting. I love Chinese medicine. I mean, I wish I could study it more because it's fascinating. Yes. It is. So for those that have been in these prolonged states of stress or trauma, right, what are some of the most common ways that it impacts our health? Like, you just mentioned betrayal and grief can impact our lungs. So what are some of the other things? Like, why would someone have a history of, like, migraines? Or, what are some of the other manifestations of this prolonged trauma? So it has cognitive effects, generally from the inflammation, from that fight or flight response. So cognitive people will get brain fog, migraines. You can have skin reactions, psoriasis, eczema, rashes. Fatigue is a huge one because in a state of inflammation, it'll create hormonal imbalances that will affect your thyroid, muscle tension pain, which, you know, is very common, chronic muscle tension. A lot of people hold their tension in their necks. When you have that tension in the neck, you're more it the tendency to get headaches is more common. And then you have people who will get, like, cardiovascular, responses, increased heart rate, high blood pressure. So those are the and and gastrointestinal. You know? Those are the main the most common symptoms, but that Yeah. That's usually what most people will get from, you know, housing that trauma, being in that fight or flight. The body doesn't have that time to rest and digest, they call it. So Yes. When we're in ventral vagals, because we're stuck in the sympathetic Yes. Or we're stuck in a dorsal shutdown, then forget it. Our our body's not able to actually process and metabolize because it does impact everything. If you're being chased by a bear, the last thing you're gonna feel, number one, is hungry or thirsty. Right. You're also not gonna be worried about your body's not gonna be worried about digesting your food. Exactly. It well, it doesn't even have a chance to because it's never resting. You know? Digestion, you need rest and relaxation, and your body just cannot do it when everything is being affected and constantly being triggered per se with stress responses, with cortisol levels, adrenal fatigue. Yeah. It's Yeah. It's a big problem, and people don't realize it. They just think it's almost normal to feel those things, which it is a normal stress response, but there's ways to deal with it. Yeah. You know? But we live in a burnout culture. We do. So that's the hard and difficult part is that some people might be listening to this and be like, oh, I've been dealing with this for years to your point. Yeah. I get through until you'd no longer do, until you get the big health diagnosis or you're completely burned out Right. And you have absolutely no energy to do anything, and all these other physical ailments are showing up. And sometimes it's even, like, undiagnosable. Stress, very undiagnosable. Anxiety, that's another one, actually, that we didn't, you know, talk about. But anxiety is huge because when the when the gut is not functioning properly, you're not getting dopamine and serotonin to the brain. And once the brain is depleted of that, most people will start dealing with depression, anxiety that had never struggled with it prior. So that's a big problem. And some people have gotten so used to living in that fight or flight, they don't they don't even recognize the symptoms. It's normal to feel bloated for them. They don't even consider it bloating. It's normal for them to have fatigue. They don't recognize that you shouldn't be that fatigued daily. So how can people begin to support their health through all of this? Are there nutritional things that they can do, or would you recommend more more physical exercise or maybe less physical exercise? Because if we are totally, what's the word, saturated with cortisol, the last thing I think we'd wanna do is go run on a treadmill or do a heavy weightlifting session. Right. So, the the easiest ways to start because usually when I'm talking to clients, I don't wanna overwhelm them. Because if you overwhelm them with too many things to do, the chances of them doing it are going to be slim to none. The way I try to address it is it's a lifestyle change. It's not where you have to completely change everything in one day, but you start with little steps. I usually suggest walking, you know, even if it's ten to fifteen minutes, light exercise like yoga, Pilates, low impact Pilates, but it doesn't have to be an hour every day for seven days. And I think that's the biggest misconception that people think it has to be where it's all or nothing. It doesn't have to be like that, and it doesn't have to feel like you need to set aside hours to address it. So exercise is huge. It'll take down some of the inflammation. Muscle mass is very important for, emotional health, longevity of life. These are all really important things. Hydration is key. I can't explain to you how many people I speak to that I ask them how much water they drink, and some say no. Not at none. You know? Some say, I don't know, one to two glasses a day. Hydration is huge. So I start with the basics. You need at least six to eight glasses of water a day. Then magnesium plays a big role, in regulating cortisol, so I always try and supplement with something like that. A probiotic, just general, will get their gut more healthy, takes down a lot of the bloating, so that's a big one. A multivitamin, people don't take multivitamins daily. So magnesium would be in that. But, generally, you supplement with an extra some extra magnesium because most people are not getting the proper intake. B vitamins are huge, for hormone production, adrenal function. It helps manage stress. So those are the really the big ones. Okay. Walking is one of the first things I tell people. Ten to fifteen minutes a day. Get moving. That'll really help you. It de stresses you. And, basically, taking a little time to yourself daily outside of work, outside of the kids, your family, things that you have you so focused and not paying attention to what your body's feeling, what your body needs. People inherently have a gut instinct. They ignore it a lot, but your body does tell you what it needs, but you have to be connected to it to do that. So that's huge. Yeah. Well and and, you know, if they are in a sympathetic state or they're in dorsal shutdown, they are completely disconnected from their body. Mhmm. We're not used to it. And we're also so used to, especially my listeners, who, again, who've experienced narcissistic abuse, we're so used to a lot of times stuffing down our feelings, our emotions, and with that, the sensations of the body as well. Yeah. So we get very disconnected from our gut instincts, our intuition. Yes. And we have a hard time trusting that too. It really is. That really does happen. And and another good thing, you know, depending on the person, adaptogenic herbs like ashwagandha, Those are huge huge for, mental mental release, calming of the mind. So Yeah. Yeah. Yes. I love that. And so funny because, like, there's so many things that you mentioned that I'm doing. Oh, you are? Happy. You are yeah. Omega threes. You know, I could go on and on about it, but starting small, like, I I stick with the basics. But good. I'm glad you're doing them. I mean, you seem very well informed about this. So, I would hope that you're taking some the supplements daily because it helps you feel good. It really does. It changes the way you even starting your day, it changes. You're doing things to enhance the health of your body, and it changes the way you look at things for the rest of the day moving forward. You're giving yourself some time and nurturing that you need. So yeah. Well, I'm glad you're doing them. Well, that was the other thing that I was gonna ask you is because for us in our age, in our forties Yeah. Right, we're also experiencing perimenopause potentially. So how do people discern the difference between this is a perimenopause symptom and this is related to trauma or something else? Well, I don't know why you said we for now forties because I like to say that I'm I'm 29. But, but yes. So a big part of that I feel distinguishing the difference is that you have to start getting your body healthy so that you can distinguish the difference. Mhmm. So like I said, there are so many people who feel bloated daily, who feel edgy, moody. When your body is healthy, those aren't things those are things you'll struggle with here and there, but not daily. So perimenopause symptoms, those are you know, that's a lot of it. Bloating, fatigue Brain fog. Brain fog, moody being you know, moodiness. So a little, you know, edgy, anxious, anxiety is part of that as well. So Hormones get out of whack? Yeah. Yeah. The mind can take you to some very dark places. So, you know, cognitive function is super important because it will help you discern the difference of is this, a sporadic symptom or is this is it an acute illness or is it a chronic illness? That's that's kind of the difference. So, I think starting with the basics, if everybody just got to the basics, which is hydration, exercise, the basic supplements, multivitamin, probiotic, maybe a little extra magnesium, vitamin d. That was another huge one. Vitamin d is huge. We are so vitamin d deficient. I think they would be able to distinguish the difference between am I in perimenopause or are these chronic symptoms that I've had for years? Interesting. Yeah. That's so helpful. And I think giving people kind of, like, how to discern the difference is key. Yes. So I guess I'd like to kinda just move on a little bit more and talk a little bit more about the movement side of things. Because we talked kind of about the supplements. You did talk a little bit about the movement of starting slow. Yes. Yes. Small gentle movements, things like that, which are even things that I would suggest to someone who might be identifying with being in a shutdown state. Right. Right? Right. And I call this, like, for me, when I experienced it, it was my zombies time period. It was like my zombie my zombie time. Like It's a good word. Yeah. And then I, like, woke up, and I was like, wait a second. What happened to my life? Who am I? I don't recognize who I am. What's going on? I don't feel connected to myself anymore. I don't know if I know who I am anymore. Maybe I never did. And so for people who are in that state, that gentle movement is really, really good for helping to move them back down if we're looking at the nervous system from a hierarchical standpoint Right. Into more of, like, a sympathetic to then the ventral vagal. Now if you're in sympathetic all the time where you are maybe experiencing a lot of anxiety and you're feeling like constantly on edge or you're always defensive and angry, and that's kind of like your go to emotion, then from my perspective, from a nervous system perspective, my suggestion would be doing something a little bit more active Yeah. Than just maybe gentle movement or stretching or walking. Do you do you kind of agree with all that? I do. Yes. So it depends on where they're at in their journey, how their adrenals are, how their cortisol levels are. That's a big part of it. But, yes, I do. I do agree with strength training. Smaller interval intervals, not, you know, obviously, not pushing yourself to the point where you're so fatigued that it's not helping you. But, yes, strength training is huge. Tai chi is another good one. It gives you that mind body connection. I already expressed that yoga is a huge one, but you can do higher intensity yoga. You could do higher intensity Pilates. Not only does it give you the muscle tone and strength, but it gives you the mind body connection as well, which is huge. It gives you that time period of you being just with yourself, taking a deep breath, unaware of what's happening around you so that you can spend some time with yourself and focus. So those are huge. Exercise wise, that's those are my biggest go tos. I think Pilates is amazing. Reformer Pilates is one of my favorite. It's gentle on joints, and a lot of people who are in states of trauma have inflammation around their joints. So it's it's a one of my go to exercises. I do reformer Pilates. I love it. I've done it for years. And, it also relaxes the mind, gets a lot of stress out. So I love that. And then beyond exercise, prioritizing sleep, that's a big one. People are so void of sleep these days. They don't get ever get into that deep state of sleep that that is needed. The electronics, the technology, the lights in the bedroom, the TVs being on, your body can't produce melatonin like that. So we need to almost think of going back to the dark ages where when they had candles and they blew out their candles and they went to bed, you know, but they had complete darkness. So being in a room of complete darkness when it's time to go to bed and shut not looking at your phone, putting your phone aside, getting it away from your bed, those that coupled with exercise hydration, the proper supplements, those are my biggest go tos. Something that actually my functional medicine doctor recommended to me was first thing in the morning, instead of getting up and looking at your phone and spiking your cortisol levels Yeah. It's going to the window, maybe even opening the door, opening a window if you can, and literally getting some sunlight on your face to kick off, you know, your circadian rhythm Yeah. Right, to get everything started and going for the day. Yeah. So that by the end of the day, you're naturally producing more melatonin. Yes. So that that was a very good suggestion. People open their eyes and immediately roll over and grab their phone, and they sit in bed with the phone Yeah. Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. You didn't even have a minute to gather your thoughts for the day. And for me, the morning is, like, the most important time. I'm a morning person. So seeing the sunlight and waking up and kind of getting myself together and doing I have a lot of routines in the morning, but doing each of those I have a ton. I've gotten them down to a science. So I'm at, like, a ten minute window of my routine now. Yeah. Wow. I've been doing it for a long time, but it's super important to me, and I don't skip it. Even if I'm away, it has such mental benefits for me in addition to physical, you know, the energy I get from the things I'm taking, the juices I'm drinking. But having that time to yourself without being on your phone and seeing who needs me for what, who's texting me, what client do I have to get back to. And then even just Facebook and social media scrolling through, things that can boost, you know, that not boost. That's the wrong word. You. Trigger you, raise your cortisol levels. You that shouldn't be the first thing you're doing in the morning. Your body needs to wake up properly. So Yeah. I love that she told you that. That's that was and have so have you been doing it? Yes. And I honestly am not one to really go to my phone right away. Although, I did change up my, like, alarm kind of situation. So I used to have, like, Alexa wake me up in the morning, and my phone was always in the bathroom. On? Oh, she's talking to me because she oh. Now I'm using my phone on, like, a charger in my room. It's away from my bed. Mhmm. And so now when I go to turn it off Oh. I'm gonna go to She's coming in again. She's like, hey. Yeah. Here I am again. She's like, you needed me? Listening to everything you're saying. Everything I'm saying. So now when I go to get my phone to turn off the alarm, I had gotten into a habit of just checking the notifications, which is so bad. So I'm like, I have to stop doing that. But my typical routine is normally getting up. I go let the dog out, so I'm getting kind of outside. But I wake up so early that it's still dark. So it's been hard for me to get, like, that first initial sunlight on my face. But I do have a practice of meditating every morning, journaling, sometimes pulling tarot cards or oracle cards Love that. And slowing down. Like, for me, my mornings, I love a slow morning. Like, it just makes me so happy to have, like, a day where I'm getting, like, this intentional start to it Yeah. At a pace that feels really soothing to my nervous system and my body. It's huge. It's huge. I also do not look at my phone anymore first thing in the morning unless there's something pressing I have to get to. But the routine of getting up, looking outside, then I do all my drinks and juices. And I have a dog, so I taking him for that walk in the morning is huge for me. Huge. Ten, fifteen minutes. Even on my most tired day, that ten minute walk, fifteen minute walk that I force myself to do changes my whole mental state. All of a sudden, I'm I'm refreshed when I walk back through the door, I'm ready to go, then I usually do a workout, and I start my and I start my work routine, you know, which can last pretty long some days. So it definitely gives me that energy boost, and and it's it is a big deal. It does change a lot. People really don't realize that. Yeah. Absolutely. I love that. So some women that have experienced trauma have also been dealing with chronic fatigue. Right? So we talked about getting good sleep. Can we talk a little bit more about setting up those good routines at night? Because like you mentioned, you know, turning off those lights. Right? And maybe disconnecting from technology early. Something that I know I personally have found to be really helpful is keeping to a schedule in some ways. Right? So I'm in bed by 10:00. As much as I can help it, I'm in bed by 10:00 every night, and I get up at the same time every morning, whether it's a weekday or a weekend. Right. But it, for me, like, I know that that's been most supportive with me getting that deep rest Yeah. And that REM that I need on a daily basis. Yeah. Do you agree with that? Is there anything that you would add there? I completely agree with that. That is very important, having a having a routine, shutting everything off. Some people would benefit from a light meditation before bed, just to calm the mind. So those are big ones. Part of the routine, I think, for a lot of people to balance cortisol levels would be a walk after dinner, a light walk, because it kinda starts winding you down. You can do herbal teas, which I love. You know, they have their sleepy time tea, but chamomile is amazing. So, basically, what you what you mentioned, which is a routine, you can add in even even a light yoga, you know, stretching so that your muscles are at rest. When you go to sleep, you can get rid of some of those aches and pains. And, herbal teas are great. Obviously, not caffeinated, but, yes, herbal teas are great. The other the other go to that's really good is a little bit of lavender essential oil. You can use that in a diffuser at night. You can also rub it on your hands with a carrier oil and put it on the bottoms of your feet before you go to bed. That works really, really well for people. That's amazing. I love that. I've also used magnesium spray. That's great too. That's another good one. Yeah. Yeah. Very good for relaxation, muscle muscle pain, muscle tightness. Yeah. That's so good. And there are different types of magnesium too, because I know, like, my doctor has me on magnesium threonate. I think that's how you threonate. I don't know. There's different types of magnesiums, and there's a certain kind that's good for, like, sleep and stuff like that. The one that I'm on is more for, like, cognitive function and anxiety and things like that. So there's all these different, I guess, compounds of magnesium is maybe There are different compounds. The most commonly used the most common the the most common that I use, magnesium citrate, magnesium glycinate, and each of them have different benefits. For instance, citrate is better for people who deal with constipation. So I've Milk of magnesium. Milk of magnesium. I've always done I've always done citrate. But, yes, there are there are different forms, and they do benefit in different ways. Just it's just depending on what you're what you're looking for it to help you with, what your symptoms are. Yeah. So I just wanted to I guess, my reason for bringing this up is I wanted to make sure that listeners are grabbing the right type of magnesium Yes. To help support them with sleep. Because if you're getting milk of magnesium, version of magnesium, that's not gonna help you sleep. No. You're you're gonna be running to the bathroom most of the night. So yes. Exactly. Exactly. Alright. Awesome. So, are there any other daily habits that you think we could offer listeners to help them with reducing inflammation that we haven't talked about already or that might promote long term well-being? Daily habits. So a lot of them, we have talked about vitamins and supplements. So inflammation, exercise, hydration, whole meals are huge. So you don't wanna overload with things like gluten that are known to be inflammatory. You wanna eat whole meals. And what I mean by that is I often tend to go back to old times. So prior to us having all these processed foods, people were eating a protein, a vegetable, starch, whatever you wanna you know, however you wanna look at that, whether it's a grain or a potato, but they were eating meals that were nutrient dense. So things that weren't covered in heavy sauces that are gonna bog you down, things that aren't covered in flour, and it's so much more attainable than people think it is. So you think of even, a grass fed organic steak. It's very good for you. A fish. Omega threes are amazing for you for inflammation, number one. So that's a really good go to. Dark leafy greens. You can have potatoes. They are good for you. Sweet potatoes are great for you. Russet potatoes, Idaho potatoes, they are good for you. You just wanna try and get organic so they're not riddled with chemicals, and you don't wanna fry them in a fryer. You know, deep fry them in oil. Other than that, though, potatoes have made amazing benefits that people Yeah. Don't even realize. They have vitamin k, which helps your body absorb vitamin d. Yes. And it's been said many times that potatoes allow you to have muscle memory. They're very good for muscles. I actually I had a a dog previous to the dog I have now, and he had what was what is kinda like Lou Gehrig's in people, but it was called degenerative myelopathy. And I was giving him potatoes for his muscle memory because the muscles tend to deteriorate, so it was really helpful to him. What they told me you know, they had told me he would maybe have six months to a year. He lived two years with, and I also was giving him tons of herbs. Let me also preface it by saying that. And he lived two years and was never in pain and only lost his mobility in the back legs, never in the front. So and and he died peacefully, naturally, so it was amazing. But, again, potatoes, huge. Then, you know, for inflammation, my go to when people are in stress and trauma, I love ginger. Ginger is one of my favorites. I usually clean it. You don't have to skin it if you wash it properly, if it's organic. And I cut it into, you know, one inch, two inch pieces, steep it in a teapot for, like, fifteen minutes, and you drink that with some lemon. That will tremendously take down inflammation. That's so That yeah. That's a really, really good one. That's one of my favorites. I love that. That sounds delicious. I think I'm gonna have to It also cleans out your digestive system. So there are multiple benefits to it, but that's a big one. Yeah. That's one of my go tos. I do that every day. That's That's amazing. It sounds so good too. And so, like It is. Heartwarming. I don't know. Like, the ginger, like, it's just so warm with that freshness of the lemon. Oh, it sounds so good. So good. Alright. Well, is there anything else that we didn't touch on today that you think might be important for listeners to help them in healing their bodies after deep trauma? Yes. There are a couple of things. I I firmly believe in energy healing. So some people aren't very open to that, but for the ones who are who who are willing to try something different, sometimes it's not possible for people to move traumatic energy in the body on their own. They have a hard time with it. It could be in the subconscious. There are so many sources of healing, and energy healing is a huge one. You can do Reiki. You can there are energy healers who help you move it through your body. So there are so many sources for that, and it's something I I wish more people were open to because it really does help. I've done it myself in the past, and at times where I felt like there was a mountain on my shoulder. I walked out from an hour session and felt like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders. So that's a really big one. And I don't know I'm sure you've Yeah. So dove into that in the past with what you're currently doing. So Yep. Have you seen the benefits of that? Absolutely. So I actually use, I use EFT in my practice, hypnotherapy, and I'm now training to be a sound healer. And I've done Reiki for myself. So I've certified up through level one, and I use it on myself. I don't use it with clients. But EFT is like an energy psychology tool, so we do shift and move, energy through the body. It's a lot of rewiring neural pathways, releasing things somatically through the body. Obviously, a lot of my work is somatic releasing. Somatic movement. Yeah. Somatic movement, giving people somatic exercises to help them with their nervous system, which is obviously getting triggered from past trauma. Yeah. Hypnotherapy is where we're, again, accessing that subconscious mind similar to EFT. And then sound healing as well is, an amazing, amazing tool to help shift and move energy and release things even without your conscious awareness. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Huge. So funny, I went to a sound healing, and I have a very a type personality. I'm I I have a lot of energy. I'm always doing things. I've always been open to the spiritual world and energy healing and, you know, things of that nature, but I was unsure if I was going to be able to relax for an hour during the sound healing. Mhmm. And I remember the first couple of minutes I was there, I couldn't shut down my brain. Mhmm. And I've meditated in the past, but I do short meditations. I'm not a long meditation person, but I can I I've I've trained myself to kinda get into it? And I remember sitting there, and I'm like, oh, man. This is gonna be a long hour. And somewhere between that five and ten minutes, I remember them stopping it, and I I came to almost, like, as if I couldn't believe the hour passed, you know. And I wasn't sleeping, but I was so relaxed and calm. Yeah. And just the the joy that came over my body. And that's that's another very important thing that I did not mention. Things for healing, things for people who have suffered from trauma. You need joy in your life. You have to find sources of joy. It's huge. For instance, in you know, some of the harder times in my life, going out with my friends, even if I wasn't sticking to my daily routine, and coming home and being in bed by a certain time, being out, dancing, laughing, even having a couple of drinks. To be healthy, you don't you do need discipline. Discipline is the highest form of self love. It does create longevity of life, but everything my my motto is everything in moderation. Mhmm. You need joy. You need fun. You need dancing. If that's something that you love to do, for me, it's a big one. Laughter, socialization, these are all very important things for whole health, and a lot of people skip them. They get into ruts, they get into routines, and they have no source of joy. Some people have no sources of health, nutrients, joy, and nurturing. It's like a recipe for disaster. You could be doing everything right. You could even be eating everything you're supposed to be eating, but you need the full picture. Yes. You need that primary health. Yeah. The primary food, we call it, and environment, social life, spirituality, career, education, relationships. It all makes the big picture. Yes. So it's not just about what you eat. It's not just about what supplements you take. It's about experiencing joy, nurturing, love from people, having an environment that is not toxic. Huge. People don't recognize their environments as toxic, but they are. You need every piece to that puzzle. You cannot just be disciplined in one area and not the rest, but part of the discipline is knowing a balance. So if you do it, if you live a healthy life in most of those areas, normally, when you go out and stay out later and have some fun with your friends and have a couple of drinks, you're not gonna be shut down for seven days because your body bounces back. It gives you that sense of life that people need. There have been times where I've gone out super late, had one too many drinks, you know, and the next morning, I feel refreshed, which is so odd. And some I I need that. It's everyone has different vices. That's one of my vices. I need to be with people. I need to be laughing. I need to have fun, and it rejuvenates my soul. So whatever that is for people, they need to find it and make sure they put enough time aside to do it because it will help you with your physical health, your mental health. It's it's very, very important. And I also just wanna comment that I think what you're also speaking to is that resilience. Right? As you heal your body, as you work with your nervous system, as you find those pockets of joy or those things that you love to do and complete that bigger picture, it allows you to become more resilient so that when you are dealing with everyday stress Yeah. You're able to more adeptly handle it. Yeah. And it doesn't shut you down, and it doesn't cause you to, like, get sick right away, you know, or cause you to become completely depleted. You're able to be resilient, and your body is able to key is capable of handling it and moving through it. So that's huge. Exactly. I love that. Some of the things that I do in my practice are also around positive psychology. So what we talk about a lot is that in typical, say, therapy rooms, for example, there's so much focus on, like, what's wrong with you. Positive psychology flips the question to kind of almost like, well, what's good about you? Like, what's positive? What what are you good at? What are your strengths? And oftentimes, what I tell clients is, like, those things that you are strong at. And for you, it might just be, like, you're a really good friend, and you're very good at creating relationships and connection and, you know, having those more meaningful experiences with your friends even if that is just dancing and going out for a couple of drinks. Right. And so that's a strength of yours. And when we focus on our strengths, that's usually where we can find our joy because those are the things that come easy to us, that fill our souls, that feel really nourishing for us. And so I love that. Like, I think that's such a big piece of the picture, and I'm so glad that you brought that up because I think that is very important. Yeah. And and I love that you do that because I'm sure you find as I do, there are so many people, unfortunately, who cannot pinpoint what they're doing correctly. They've been in in a rut for so long and so depleted that they can't find the positive aspects of their life or the positive aspects of their character, their personality, their souls. So I love that you do that because it's for me, it's very much about bringing people back to their soul. Mhmm. What does the soul want? What is the soul craving? How can you enhance your life? And, yes, you can do it by medicinally doing the correct things, physically doing the correct things, but what about what's inside of you? Mhmm. What about the things that you've accomplished, you've created, your talents, your art you know, some people are artistic. Some people are financial geniuses, but they just think that's normal. So they don't recognize how important it is that they need to give themselves almost accolades in a sense Yeah. For the things that they're doing that are are benefiting them, that are benefiting others. So I love that you point that out because people need that those positive affirmations to heal. That is that is part of it as well. Yeah. Because some of us have that really loud inner critic Yeah. That's always telling us what we're doing wrong. Exactly. So how do we kind of dial that down and turn up the volume on all of the good? Exactly. And and there are parts of the inner critic that are beneficial to people. Absolutely. So it pushes you. You know? It makes you achieve more, but you have to find a balance there. There has to there has to be a time when you shut that inner critic off and let yourself be a little bit. And now we're talking about parts work. Yeah. It's internal family systems. Right? Like, we all have all of these parts that make up of us. And Yes. You might have this negative relationship with your inner critic, but how do you kind of flip that switch to work with it to drive you to your point? Right? Like, sometimes that inner critic is gonna push you to try something different to make something work better or, you know, approach something in a different way because your inner critic is like, we've tried that before. It didn't work. Why do you think it's gonna work this time? And then it gets those creative wheels and juices flowing to be like, oh, wait. Maybe there's another way to look at this or another way to attempt this. So anyway. And that's where you come in. Yeah. Anyway, this has been such an amazing conversation. I really feel like Oh, I loved it. Yes. This is amazing. I think the listeners probably got so much helpful information. So now I want you to share with the audience how people can reach out to you. How can they work with you? Where do they find you? Okay. So you can find me at empoweredwellnessforyou.com. That's, my my personal business. I am also I just joined doctor Susan Cucchiara's team at naturallysue.com. And the benefits of me being there as opposed to on my own is I have access to a doctor. So we combine efforts when I'm working under her, and we obviously, conversate about things together so I have that extra access to a doctor with her. On my own. I do health coaching and nutrition. I do that for her as well, but we work together. So I can I can for for example, you have access to specialty testing and lab work when I'm working at Natural East too? So that's a benefit of that. The costs are different between me on my own, obviously, and and me working with her because because of those benefits. So they can find me in either place. Also on Instagram, Facebook. But those are the two main places that they can get in touch with me. Amazing. And we're gonna include all of your contact information in the show notes so that people can just reach out to you that way too and make it easy for them. Awesome. Christina, thank you so so much for being here today and having this conversation with me. It's been absolutely amazing and such a pleasure. I had such a good time with you. This is great. Thank you so much for the opportunity. I so appreciate it. Absolutely. It's my pleasure. Alright, listeners. Until next time. Be well. Thank you for tuning in to Awaken Her. Today's conversation may have ended, but your journey towards healing and empowerment is ongoing. Remember, every challenge you face is an opportunity to grow stronger and more resilient. If our stories today inspired you, consider sharing this episode with someone who needs these empowering messages. I'm Carissa Stepp cheering you on as you take the steps to heal, grow and transform your life. Keep believing in yourself. And until next time, stay empowered. | 00:00:17.525 - 00:51:28.910