Western Medicine Has Gaslit You with Heather Gray, Comedian and Functional Diagnostic Nutritionist

What happens when humor becomes a healing tool? Join us as we unravel the transformative journey of Heather Gray, a functional diagnostic nutritionist and bioenergetic practitioner, whose battle with chronic illness, including Lyme disease and autoimmune disorders, is both inspiring and deeply personal. Heather's story traces her path from a trauma-filled childhood and medical gaslighting to finding resilience through comedy. Her experiences highlight the power of functional medicine and the importance of not letting chronic illness define one’s life, offering a unique perspective on the intersection of health and humor.

Curious about the complexities of Lyme disease and its often-overlooked symptoms? Heather, alongside our hosts, navigates the frustrating maze of misdiagnosis and sheds light on the emotional challenges that accompany chronic health issues. From unexpected symptoms like joint pain to the societal challenges of dating with a health condition, listeners are given a candid glimpse into the broader implications of living with Lyme. The discussion also humorously rebrands the 'Karen' stereotype, adding a layer of levity to a serious topic, while emphasizing the necessity of root cause medicine and functional diagnostics.

Heather doesn't stop at illness; she explores healing through somatic practices and bioenergetics, illustrating how these methods can empower individuals to overcome genetic predispositions. Delve into the significance of self-love, mindset shifts, and practical biohacking tools that Heather champions. Her insights, coupled with her comedic flair, challenge the notion of victimhood, urging listeners to embrace empowerment and personal growth. This episode is a rich blend of inspiration, practical advice, and the heartening message that healing is possible beyond chronic illness.

The Gaslit Truth Podcast will be live and in person at the Feed the Recovering Brain Conference in Dublin, Ohio

Join us with the top names in brain health, including Christina Veselak, Hyla Cass, and Julia Ross, author of The Mood Cure.

We’ll be bringing you interviews and behind-the-scenes content as we explore how nutrition transforms mental wellness.

Chapters

• 0:23 Healing Beyond Chronic Illness
• 9:10 Navigating Lyme Disease and Misdiagnosis
• 14:32 Epigenetics and Healing Stress
• 29:00 Healing Trauma Through Somatic Practices
• 33:57 Bioenergetics and Stress Reduction
• 43:07 Healing Through Self-Love and Empowerment

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:23

Hey everyone. Western medicine has gaslit you and there is healing beyond chronic illness. We are your whistleblowing shrinks, dr Tara Lynn and therapist Jen, and you are listening to the Gaslit Truth Podcast.

Speaker 2: 0:36

We sure are, and Jen and I were gaslit a lot over insurance companies, so you might see our titles on YouTube today.

Speaker 1: 0:43

Today.

Speaker 2: 0:44

I'm Dr Salty with insurance companies and she's my salty ally.

Speaker 1: 0:48

Yeah, I'm the salty ally. I don't do nearly as much work as she does with the insurance companies. I think it's because your level of patience is so much greater than mine, your knowledge is so much greater than mine. Your interpersonal communication is so much greater than mine.

Speaker 2: 1:03

Well that I don't know about all of that.

Speaker 2: 1:06

I think that's all legit, all right. All right, we're going to bring in our guest today. I'm going to click her in right now. Here she is. Here she comes. Yes, meet Heather Gray. Heather is a functional diagnostic nutritionist and bioenergetic practitioner, specializing in supporting clients with chronic and complex illnesses such as Lyme disease, mold toxicity and autoimmune diseases. With over 32 years of personal experience, she understands the struggles of living with these conditions and is dedicated to helping others find relief. Her personalized approach as a practitioner, podcast host, author and stand-up comedian has helped countless clients reduce inflammation in the body and brain, improve gut health and achieve optimal wellness. She helps her clients get to the root cause of their symptoms and help them take control of their health journey. It's effective and empowering. She wants you to know that you don't have to let chronic illness control your life and you can achieve the health and vitality you deserve, which is everything that we agree with as well. So please welcome Heather Gray to the show.

Speaker 1: 2:14

Woohoo Thanks for having me. All right, you're going to start with a really good joke.

Speaker 3: 2:19

Well, you know, once we get into my story, you'll see how it is that I turned into a stand-up comedian. You'll be like, oh, there it is.

Speaker 2: 2:29

Yes, as I was reading your bio, I'm thinking, yeah, because you have to have one hell of a sense of humor to get through any type of chronic illness, or even mental health disorder sometimes.

Speaker 3: 2:38

But wait there's more. But wait there's more, I can't wait. All right, so let's get to it.

Speaker 2: 2:41

Wait there's more, I can't wait, All right, so let's get to it. If you wouldn't mind sharing your story. I said, you know, when we were off air here, I said you know there's a reason why people go into functional medicine and things like that. So we want to hit that area kind of hard today. So if you can kind of share with us your story, how you got to where you are here, that'd be great.

Speaker 3: 3:11

And don't forget how did you become a comedian? Cause? I am super interested in that part. Yeah, absolutely yeah. So I started at the beginning because so many folks think that there's just a cause and effect. Right, I got bit by a tick, I got Lyme disease. You know, I have genetics for cancer and now I have cancer, and I'm usually the one on the hill going no, it started way, way, way before that. So let's start, let's go back in the way back machine. And it basically started with me being born full of shit, like you know. How many of your patients can relate, how many of you people can relate? Oh, my daughter can.

Speaker 3: 3:38

Conspirated at a young age, right? So I'm four years old, sitting on the potty so long that my feet are falling asleep, and this started out my let's throw band-aids at symptoms. You know nasty thick oils, stool softeners, but nobody was trying to figure out why this four-year-old couldn't poop Hindsight's 20-20. That was the year my uncle committed suicide. That was the year my grandmother died of breast cancer and I was being raised by alcoholic addicts. So, needless to say, my ACE score adverse childhood experiences off the roof and it just really set me up to be that perfect storm. My mom then divorced my dad for his brother and then got pregnant with twins. So I now have sister cousins. Can anybody else say that? So basically my life just kind of wrote this material all along.

Speaker 1: 4:25

Oh, how could to process that? Sister cousins, okay.

Speaker 3: 4:33

Yes, my so yeah, that's actually a bit in my show talking about how trauma to comedians is like gold. Right, it's like having a poker.

Speaker 3: 4:40

You know, I see the rural abuse of your first grade bully and I'll raise you. My mother divorcing my dad for his brother, boom, well, flush. Or is that a full house? Oh my God. And you, here we go.

Speaker 3: 4:55

So I'm now 13 and I'm pretty sure right around that time too it kicked on my celiac gene, just because of the amount of stress going on. So now I'm eating a standard American diet, sad diet, right. I've kicked on my celiac gene. Lots of childhood trauma, lots of abuse, and so when I was 13, I just became the perfect host so that when I did get bit by a tick, like I said, all of its little friends and itself, you know, was able to have a party because, you know, my parents weren't home. Basically, my symptoms developed about two years later when my first attempt at suicide and again nobody was trying to figure out why this 15 year old couldn't, you know, handle life they just called me attention seeking and put me on all kinds of drugs. It pat me on the head and send me out the door to so only end up there two more times, but for the age of 22,.

Speaker 3: 5:50

Fast forward now 34, my kid is nine and I'm really having a hard time again, like I'm needing to be talked off a ledge. I've seen easily over 20 or 30 doctors at this point. They all told me it's all in my head. So here's the gaslighting right. My mom was a nurse. Nobody fucking believed me, ever Nobody. And finally, I don't know, I got the strength to go one more time to this doctor an hour away from me and within five minutes she got a little glimmer in her eye and she goes. I know exactly what's wrong with you and I'm thinking bullshit.

Speaker 2: 6:21

Crazy lady Like okay, Bring it on lady.

Speaker 3: 6:26

Have you ever been bit by it? Yeah, she's like have you ever been bit by a tick? I was like yeah, when I was 13. I remember picking it out of my stomach, oh, and my mom took it out the wrong way. Don't ever take a lighter to a tick, like that's not the way that you take, because that stresses it out and it makes it regurgitate everything that's in its system. So, anyhow, I didn't get the bullseye rash either, which only 30% of people who actually have Lyme disease ever get that bullseye rash. So I say yeah, and so I'm driving home. I mean, I still need to write my damn book. It's called I told you I'm not crazy the realities of Lyme Disease. And because that's what I screamed at the top of my lungs, I'm driving down the highway 75 miles an hour, cheers streaming down my eyes, and I just screamed I told you I'm not crazy, right, because that my whole life, and so I have that in a bit as well. I want to stop calling people crazy. Instead, I want to stop calling people crazy.

Speaker 2: 7:26

Instead I want to say your brain inflammation is showing, because that's what's really happening. That's the title of your book, right?

Speaker 3: 7:30

there. Actually, you're never crazy. Your brain inflammation is showing Because that's the reality of it, and once you slap somebody with that crazy stigma, it's really, really, really, really hard to wash off. I am anything but crazy. I am brilliant. I am funny. I have a heart the size of Texas. Like I am not crazy, but when my brain is inflamed like this. Last summer, when mold was blowing in on me from an air conditioner, I flat lost my shit, like I absolutely it was an. It was absolutely not so. So I told my ex-husband that I'm like, if I ever act that way again, like we need to, that should be a flag on the play.

Speaker 2: 8:10

right, there's something going on in my environment that's triggering me, because Heather doesn't normally act that way and you can't. You probably can't see it yourself, like not in the moment, not when my brain is that inflamed because it feels.

Speaker 3: 8:18

And that's when I got out of it. I felt so horrible, because I felt so justified in the anger and the reaction, everything towards him. And then, once I got on the other side of it and I was just like I am so, so sorry, Like that is not me. I am so sorry.

Speaker 1: 8:37

So, Heather, before you keep going with your story so symptom-wise, the things that you experienced throughout these episodes, that would happen. Obviously there was some unaliving that occurred. You're talking also about anger, extreme irritability, being disconnected from reality. What are the symptoms that you were experiencing that you apologize for here now later? But what did you experience even when you were younger? Are they similar?

Speaker 3: 9:10

Yeah, I mean so, even in my bed. I talk about giving the Karens of the world some grace, right, because?

Speaker 2: 9:12

I saw that on your Instagram Most people who act that way.

Speaker 3: 9:15

There's something going on right. A healthy, happy, well-adjusted person doesn't act that way. But I also wanted to stop calling them Karen, because I don't want to shit on women anymore.

Speaker 3: 9:25

But I also wanted to stop calling them Karen, because I don't want to shit on women anymore, so I changed the name to Stan, um, so when Stan is acting, um, but so yeah. So reactivity, like people used to say all the time, just count to 10. And I remember being in like 15 years old and being in anger management control classes which was a joke there was and so I always thought there was something massively wrong with me because I couldn't count to 10. There was no buffer, there was something happened and I reacted I mean that fast, it was horrible and then I spent the rest of the time apologizing because, again, that's not who I am. So reactivity, anger, emotional outbursts, weight gain, gut issues, constipation, chronic pain, especially joint pain. Lime likes to eat collagen and so it likes to hang out in the joints. Jeez, what else I mean? My left knee would swell up to like three times its size for no reason. They call that lime knee. Oh, they also call that reactivity lime rage.

Speaker 1: 10:22

Yeah, yeah, I was like Hulk smash, like that was physical, physical oh my God the Hulk, he's got Lyme disease.

Speaker 2: 10:31

That's funny.

Speaker 3: 10:36

I just thought of that. I'm going to have to remember that you said somewhere. I've had a couple things come this morning. I must be really open today because now I'm going through a divorce and recently single, and now, as a practitioner, knowing what I know, like humans are gross and all of us have parasites and 50% of the population has H pylori and that's spread through kissing, and so how? The hell am I going to date now, knowing what I know? I'm just screwed or I'm not, unfortunately, you can be unscrewed, literally, and figuratively.

Speaker 1: 11:09

We've got things to take care of that, Don't worry.

Speaker 3: 11:13

Before we start paying you have to take some metulazine and some anti-parasite cleanse for a month before I talk to you.

Speaker 2: 11:21

I've got some parameters on the dating that I do Anybody that ever wants to sleep with you.

Speaker 1: 11:25

There's going to be a laundry list of shit I'm going to do first. It's just it. That's all there is to it. You're going to be like this bitch better be worth it? Yeah, exactly so mental, psychological symptoms that pop, as well as some legit physical pieces going on as well. So both were happening.

Speaker 3: 11:42

My teeth completely fell apart because they like to hang out in the gums too. Eyes it really affected my eyesight because when you're that inflamed, especially with mold, mold likes to inflame the optic nerve. So one of the less expensive tests that you can do is called a VCS test. It's like a $10 eye test that you take online and it's the same test that they do for fighter pilots to see if they can see contrast, you know. So if your optic nerve is inflamed, you know it's usually because of some kind of mold or environmental toxins.

Speaker 3: 12:14

So yeah, I mean Lyme disease is called the great mimicker for a reason, because between its co-infections that it usually comes with and itself it's a spiral shaped bacterial and it can invade any system, any tissue in the body and start systematically kind of shutting things down. So if you've been diagnosed fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue or Crohn's, als, celiac, I mean the list goes on and on and on and on and on, that it can mimic. And MS they're starting to find out like huge portions of people with MS are actually misdiagnosed. Lyme disease and MS they're starting to find out like huge portions of people with MS are actually misdiagnosed. Lyme disease, alzheimer's same thing, like it's crazy.

Speaker 2: 12:52

I feel like Alzheimer's and MS are just kind of like a diagnostic bucket, like we don't really know what's happening right or why it happened, so we're treating symptoms. I saw this post this morning on Facebook and it was this woman who was on Lexapro and she started experiencing symptoms that were mimicking Parkinson's disease. So then they diagnosed her with Parkinson's and gave her a whole bunch of medications on top of that. And she's like so now I have Parkinson's? I'm like no, now you've got something else. And this is this, is the same same situation here. Like this goes down into the root cause. Root cause medicine is so important, um, which is where you got into the functional diagnostic stuff.

Speaker 3: 13:38

Yep. So, yeah, I was going the traditional route for a while and I thought I was going to die. They literally were throwing massive amounts of napalm at a body that had been sick for over 30 years. I still wasn't pooping. Nobody was asking me if I could shit or what my stress level like or what my diet was like, and it was still crap. All of it was crap, but they just went to war with a body that hadn't been working right for three decades. I thought I was going to die.

Speaker 3: 14:05

And on a podcast that's where I heard the founder of FDN speaking with Sean Croxton. He used to have a show called Underground Wellness and they were talking about how you got to make sure your hormones are balanced and that your detox pathways are open and you got to heal your gut. I was a silly hairstylist at the time. I didn't have a medical background, but intuitively I was like that's it, that's, that's my, that's my ticket out of here, and it was for the most part. I had to peel back other layers like mold, um, heavy metals. I had cavitations, which that's a whole nother story, and then, uh, the last piece was putting the nervous system work into place, because I would clean myself up, and then I would relapse, and I would clean myself up, and then I would relapse, and it was the one missing piece, right, because we've got to get out of fight or flight.

Speaker 3: 14:54

We can't heal when we're in fight or flight, most of us with a chronic illness, especially those high ACE scores. That's why we have those high ACE scores is because the tiger is always chasing us, is because the tiger is always chasing us. So I had to learn how to get the tiger to stop chasing me and to calm and to get my nervous system in a different, completely place. And then, once I got that into peace, I haven't had an autoimmune flare, I haven't had a Lyme disease flare and I think that's what breaks my heart so much these days is because so many folks are like they take that as just part of the package. Oh, I'm flaring from my Lyme or oh, I'm flaring from autoimmune.

Speaker 3: 16:22

And I'm like you don't have to do that, Like that's not, that's not how this works, Like you can put it in remission. You know, I'm nothing. I'm nothing special. I told you I was just basically brought up poor white trash, was a fricking hairstylist. Like I didn't have the means, the education, the support, nothing to do what I've done.

Speaker 2: 16:41

And. I did it feel like if they have certain genetic codes, that they're doomed Like this is, this is just the the reality of it.

Speaker 3: 17:07

I have this I'm doomed. Do you want to expand on that a little bit? Yes, cause I love epigenetics, which is what really you should be focusing more on, because it depends on what your lifestyle is like and what gets shut off. You know, turned on and shut off, you know. So for me, I mean, I did get I am the canary in the coal mine like all my detox pathway genes suck, horrible. I don't process and convert vitamin D, I don't store it, I don't transport, right, you know. So there's a lot of things against me.

Speaker 3: 17:34

And once I cleaned up my environment, once I cleaned up my body, I take, you know, certain supplements to kind of help support myself.

Speaker 3: 17:41

You know, and, like I said, I don't have these disease processes anymore because of the way that I take care of myself. Unfortunately, this world is not set up, it's not conducive for human health at all, and we're seeing that on a mass level. And so sometimes, when you leave this, leave this lifestyle that's why I like podcasts like this it can feel very isolating, right, I feel like the bubble girl sometimes. When I go out, I'm bringing my own food, I'm bringing my own water. When I travel to hotel rooms. I have my fricking air filters because so many of those damn hotel rooms are moldy from running the AC 24 seven. But, like I said, though, I'm living a life that I didn't even know was possible with the type of energy and, you know, the brain power that I said never in a million years, at the age of almost 47, that I feel like I was going to be this vibrant and I don't look 47.

Speaker 2: 18:36

If you want to see that, you're going to have to check out YouTube. Yeah, get on.

Speaker 1: 18:38

YouTube people. She looks like she's 27. It's fantastic.

Speaker 3: 18:42

And I don't color my hair.

Speaker 1: 18:43

Look at this Live disease and three autoimmune diseases later, she looks fucking amazing. That's what's up. That's what's up.

Speaker 2: 18:51

That's the most important part, isn't?

Speaker 1: 18:53

it.

Speaker 3: 18:54

I'm pretty.

Speaker 1: 18:56

I like Terry asked about this because I have a lot of clients that will come to me and if they have been told at one point in their journey by probably some type of Western medicine practitioner, that there is a biological or a genetic link that is bringing this symptomology on, it's never there is a way for us to work through it. It's more so. This is your crutch Right.

Speaker 2: 19:22

It's never there is a way for us to work through it. It's more so. This is your crutch.

Speaker 1: 19:25

Right, you can identify with this forever, like the whole flare-up thing. I have people say that all the time I'm having an autoimmune flare-up. Well, I don't even know what the hell that means. That doesn't make sense in my brain. To me, right.

Speaker 2: 19:37

I do want to back this up because there are certain genetic health things that epigenetics probably won't help Like if you're born with something genetic we're not talking about that, absolutely.

Speaker 3: 19:49

I'm never able to switch off my crappy genes for detox.

Speaker 3: 19:53

So that means that I have to live a very more hypervig know to make sure that I don't develop a disease because of my crappy genes, Right. So there's like a way to work, there's a workaround, Right. But no, it doesn't have to be destiny. And now I'm working with a pretty famous cancer doctor breast cancer. You know and she talks about that often that even if you've got the BRCA gene, it does not mean that you are doomed to have to cut off your freaking breasts, Like there's a lot of things.

Speaker 2: 20:20

I say that a lot actually. I think that's a really great example, right? I think she'd be awesome on your show too.

Speaker 1: 20:26

Oh, get her on Bring her on, get her on, get her on.

Speaker 2: 20:29

We will hook that up for sure, but I think that I use that as an example like the breast cancer gene doesn't just because you have it doesn't mean that you will 100% develop breast cancer, and I think that's an important acknowledgement. You know it's a big one, it doesn't resonate with everybody, but the idea that just because you have a genetic code doesn't mean that you are that genetic code and that is going to be your destiny forever. You know that you're constantly going to be sick because of that.

Speaker 3: 20:59

Right. Forget it as a warning sign, just something to be cautious of.

Speaker 2: 21:03

Cautious right, yeah, but if you don't know what those are, yeah, but if you don't know what those codes are, but still, we're talking about just going back into reducing stress, right, absolutely, and defining what that stress means. And that's what I find is that the definition of stress in our world is not really the definition of what stress actually is. You know, I and you guys can chime in.

Speaker 1: 21:29

Let's talk about that.

Speaker 2: 21:30

Yeah, let's talk about the multiple stressors that aren't just my shitty husband and my shitty job, right, right or traffic or you know the state of things in today's world and all of that Like there's a lot more stress, like nutritional stress is huge you know, artificial lighting, chemicals in our water, in our air.

Speaker 2: 21:52

Yes, inflammatory stress, you know. Dmfs, yes, all the things. Or if you have something happening in your bowels, right, like what's going on in there that's causing your stress to happen, hormonal stress, like there's a lot of different stressful things to account for and that is overwhelming. That's overwhelming because the majority of the stuff that we think about as stressful are things that we can't control. I can't control the state of the world. I can't control overhead lighting. If I work in an office, they're not going to shut it off for me. I can't control the traffic. I can't control emissions. I can't. What can I control your reaction?

Speaker 3: 22:37

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: 22:38

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 22:52

Tell us about that and tie that a little into because you've used the word inflammation a couple times your reaction flight and into rest and digest. You know something as simple as like box breathing and I have my clients do that. You know two, three times before they eat, right, because if we're not in, if we're a fight and flight, we're not in rest and digest, and so many people these days have so many digestive issues. Let's start off with just slowing it down, doing some box breathing a few times before you eat and making sure that you're mindful with your food, that you're actually sitting down quiet, not rushed, not grabbing to eat, not eating in front of your screen. You know actually being present with your meal and it's amazing at how much different your body can absorb and assimilate and digest the food properly. You know. So like sometimes those little little, those little little tweaks, right, getting out in the first morning sun.

Speaker 3: 23:44

If you're having problems with sleeping and you need to reset your circadian rhythm, right, the the best way to do that is actually first thing in the morning, not at night. It's getting that first morning light sun in your eyes five to 10 minutes. Do that for a week straight, they say, people who are really, really like insomniacs, go camping for a week? Right, because that helps put you back in the rhythm of nature. You're on the ground, you're awake, you know, because nature gives us clues, right? So we have heat in the house, so that's always the same temperature, right? Well, if we were out in the wild, you know, as soon as the sun goes down, the temperature would go down. That's a cue to our body that we should be getting ready for sleep.

Speaker 3: 24:24

Instead, we're in lights, with these warm houses, and then we go to lay down and we wonder why we can't sleep. It's because our bodies haven't gotten the cues and so there are a lot of little things that we can do. And that's the part that I really love to focus on, because once you get those foundations down, it really love to focus on, because once you get those foundations down, it's like fricking magic. People are like holy crap, I'm like I know, right, like it doesn't have to be this complicated. You know biohacking, I love biohacking, but I think sometimes it can be a little misconstrued and I think people put the cart before the horse sometimes. You know, I really don't think biohacking tools should be used until the foundations are put down properly.

Speaker 2: 25:01

And then talk about what biohacking is, before you keep moving forward just so people know.

Speaker 3: 25:03

Yeah, biohacking. So there's a lot of like red light, pmf therapy, cold plunges, data collecting, very fancy supplements, expensive MRIs. It's big in. The anti-aging and the longevity space is where a lot of it came from. Like I love my red light, I love a lot of my biohacking tools, because there was so much collateral damage after three decades of sickness for me that I kind of use I need these tools to help me be Batman, right, but I still have to put my down my foundations every day. I still can't eat like crap, I still can't stay out late at night, I don't drink. So there's foundations first and then I'll use these other tools to kind of just help up-level my game a bit.

Speaker 2: 25:51

Yeah, yeah. So that's exactly what I was thinking when you were talking about all those other neat things that you can do. They're not foundational though, like there's still. If you get red light therapy, that's not going to outperform a bad diet. That's not going to. It's kind of like supplements, right.

Speaker 1: 26:08

You can't out supplement a shit lifestyle. Exactly, you're just pissing your money away, yeah.

Speaker 2: 26:13

Yeah, you have to get the foundational things and then do all the cool stuff if you want to, or you know, or implement something in your life that you really find valuable after your foundation has been.

Speaker 1: 26:24

And so two things. Heather One, I hope you're Michael Keaton, Batman oh my God. You're horrible.

Speaker 3: 26:32

It's so the last. I was like I will never want to watch another Batman movie again. I'm like what happened? These used to be fun.

Speaker 1: 26:39

Okay, so that's the first point. Okay, second point, that is, of the somatic pieces you're talking about. Where did you start? Because I'm curious to know about not only the somatic pieces, but even some of the biogenetic and the testing. What did you have to do? What was the process? And I know there's a lot of steps, but where did it start for you, once you saw the testing, what did you have to do? What was the process? And I know there's a lot of steps, but where did it start for you? Once you saw the speaker, you had the aha moment. What I need to do this, this is what it is. What did you start doing?

Speaker 3: 27:11

So it's funny, I asked the universe at first. I'm like, what am I missing? And the book the Body Keeps Score dropped in my lap. Very triggering, very hard to read and it was beautiful and it kind of set me on this path and they talked about a couple of different ways, you know neurofeedback. So kind of started with that. Okay, I have a tendency to jump straight off a cliff. There's no hot and cold for me. I went from doing nothing to doing ayahuasca two weeks later.

Speaker 1: 27:37

See, this is my later. I have the same fucking problem.

Speaker 3: 27:40

I was like I didn't even know much about it. I found, I put it out there, found somebody and I was literally having a soul death two weeks later. Right, I was processing mother shit 40 years of mother shit one night I thought I was gonna die.

Speaker 2: 27:55

It was so horrible you're like fuck emdr, I'm going straight for ayahuasca.

Speaker 3: 28:01

She's not even Yep yeah. So, since then I've done ayahuasca once, I've done mushrooms twice, bufo twice and then low dose ketamine Okay, those are hardcore things to do.

Speaker 3: 28:13

Huge fan Under the right guidance, under the right circumstance. Again, the foundations need to be put down. They're not, you know, it's not a magic bullet, but I've had some hardcore fricking traumas in my life that I just I was having a really tough time gaining entryway in and it just really helped open up parts of my brain, parts of my body, parts of my consciousness, to feel and see things from a whole other dimension. So that, and then I did somatic experiencing work. So Dr Amy Apigian she's got a program called the biology of trauma absolutely brilliant woman. I actually worked for her for a bit as her course manager and she's the one who taught a lot of the somatic work. And then I started following Wim Hof and started doing a lot of his breath work.

Speaker 2: 29:01

I just even want to back up a little bit further. Let's talk about what somatic means for people if they're listening and they're like I don't even know what that word means.

Speaker 3: 29:09

So you want to explain when you say that, yeah, it means in the body.

Speaker 3: 29:14

I think Somatic is so of the body, something like that, but it's body-based exercises that help because a lot of times, especially if you've got chronic pain and if you've got a lot of trauma, we're kind of constantly detached right. We're disassociated from our bodies. It helps us put us back in our bodies, back in the present moment, and the beautiful part is is that you don't have to like and you know, unfortunately like talk therapy, where you're kind of reliving it. You don't have to relive it, you don't have to know what it did. And that was the part that always I was really disheartened by, because I thought, in order to heal, I'd have to remember what hurt me and my memory is gone, Like it was. I'm starting, I'm getting memories back now that I'm healing, but my whole childhood was wiped away and so you know it wasn't until I started doing this work that stuff started coming back. But but you don't have to relive it and that's the beautiful part of it.

Speaker 3: 31:06

So, like, my favorite is called a voo with a push away, and the voo, you know, stimulates the vagus nerve which is attached to all parts of our body and we need to get that clicked into the, the parasympathetic, not the sympathetic, and then the push away, especially for those of us that are like energetically sensitive and it seems like everything just touches us. It really just kind of helps push our energetic bubble out, to give us some space, and then that way I have room right to think and react. Before you know, I'm just reacting, and so my ex-husband, he'll see me in the grocery store because grocery store pisses me off sometimes people and they're just entitled ways and he'll see me stand there and I'm like and he's like who pissed you off?

Speaker 3: 31:52

Like that woman in general pissed off in the grocery store yes, but so even just that little bit that I did, like I just trained my nervous system, it's like, oh, I just came down like a notch, which is great. I didn't realize I was getting kind of excitable, because this you know type of stuff turns me on, excites me, yeah, but I need to, you know, come back down.

Speaker 2: 32:19

Sometimes I feel like therapy misses the boat in some respects because just the retelling of trauma, the retelling of your story, I mean it isn't. There's an important piece of it, but if that's all you're doing, like I don't know that, you're even tapping into the emotional part, because I can retell my story and be not attached emotionally to it at all, you know yeah, here's what happened Boom boom, boom, boom, boom, you know, and so that's.

Speaker 2: 32:44

Sometimes I feel like it's just like tapping into the logical pieces of the story, rather than how the emotions are in your body and the story of you right. Like what happened. So, yeah, I feel like that's where kind of therapy might miss the boat sometimes. You know, absolutely.

Speaker 3: 33:03

So, speaking of therapists, so you asked earlier how did I get into comedy? So I belong to a big networking group called Mastermind Mindshare and it's like all the cool kids in alternative health and I know this guy online and I found out he just lives down the street from me, you know, in another town, and I was like we should meet for lunch. And he's a he's a chiropractor who's on the spectrum who does standup. He's got a one man show called neuro spicy Nice, yeah. So we meet in person and within five minutes he goes and I he knows that I want to be a keynote speaker. He knows I want to be on more stages and he's like have you ever thought about doing standup? I was like, fuck no, why would I do that to myself? He's like because it looks really good on a CV. And he's like it's just a great set of skills to have. You should take this class with me. And I was like and then he goes, do you have any trauma in your life? I said how long do you have for lunch?

Speaker 3: 33:58

He starts off his bit with you know, comedians are people who can't afford therapy. You know that are like. You know, basically, you know, hashing it out on stage. Um, so that's so. I took the class. Uh, that was so. It graduated last year May. I had my first paid gig in June and then I had like 40 paid gigs last year. Like that's kind of an unheard of like entry for a new standup. But being a girl for the first time in my life actually gave me a leg up, because only 10% of comics are female and so they're like oh, you're a funny girl, come, come, come, we need one of you. You know, kind of like the token, you know black man back in the day. Now it's the token girl, a funny girl. So, um, but yeah, so that's been fun.

Speaker 3: 34:44

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that, because I've worked really hard to stay out of bars and staying out late at night staying away from people who aren't doing their work and the majority of them aren't, and so it can be a bit of a shit show, and so I'm kind of wrestling with you. Know, I love it. It's so much fun to make people laugh.

Speaker 1: 35:02

but there's that other piece that comes with it that I'm just like okay, maybe, yeah, yeah, it kind of goes against the lifestyle part that you're working on. Have the flare ups happen. Yeah, they're like we're going to have you on at 930.

Speaker 3: 35:14

And I'm like I've been in bed by 930.

Speaker 2: 35:18

Yeah, yeah, I mean, that's definitely something to be mindful of.

Speaker 3: 35:22

I was like, if I become a headliner, we're starting at six. Yeah, it's going to be a matinee 4.30.

Speaker 1: 35:32

Early bird hour. 4.30. Tell us about in your bio that we read on you. There is a very intriguing word to me in your title, which is bioenergetic. Okay, and I, can you tell people about what that is and and how that is brought into your practice, cause you've you've touched on some of it as you're talking here, um, and I want you to. What is that? What the hell is that even mean? Are you just full of energy? Like clearly you are. I mean mean we could see this yeah, uh, so.

Speaker 3: 36:02

So, yeah, it's. Most people think it's woo, woo. It's actually backed in physics. We are energetic beings, we are bio, uh, we are magnetic, electromagnetic beings. Like we can measure that with an ekg with the heart, with an eeg with the brain and basically, uh, if those energetic fields are off and they're not talking to each other in concert, right, that also creates disease. So so many people are so focused on the physical and so I'm also focusing on the mental, emotional and the bioenergetics of it, because if you're not looking at a person wholly like that, you're missing out on pieces of healing, and so it can be just as easy as, like I said, going. This is a funny.

Speaker 3: 36:46

My stepson was like crawling out of his skin and just being a dick one day and I was like go outside and sit on the ground with your feet in the grass 20 minutes and he fought me on it. He came back in a completely changed kid. I shit you not Just getting our feet on the ground, grounding or earthing, however you want to call it like dispersing the EMFs and the other stuff and getting like plugging back into the mother nature of our battery. There's another thing I use called a Nikki watch, and I can't believe I don't have it on right now, but it actually sends frequencies through red light. It's been amazing.

Speaker 3: 37:23

A lot of bioenergetic tools that I've used in the past are phenomenal for diagnostic, but I haven't found them that they actually move the needle very well to where there's no diagnostic part with this. It's just like a menu and so I can choose well. For instance, I mean, every single time I went to a health conference, it never failed. By the third day I was sick. I got this little watch. It's got an EMF travel protection on it, so now when I'm in the plane and going through the airport I put it on that and then when I get to the conference I would put it on immune boost. I haven't been sick at a conference now for two years.

Speaker 1: 37:56

I always get sick when I travel. What's EMF? What is that?

Speaker 3: 37:59

Electromagnetic frequencies, Everything is the whole setup I'm sitting in front of not as bad, because I hardwire in a lot of my stuff and I shut my wifi off at night, and so those are just a couple of little tips that people can do. Right now my phone is in airplane mode and it's away from me, so that it's also not because I am again that canary in the coal mine. I've seen it in my jeans, where it's like you are more sensitive to EMF, so I'm like, of course I am.

Speaker 2: 38:25

Well, this goes back to control what you can control. Not everybody can control those things, but when you realize some of the things that are in your control, go for it.

Speaker 3: 38:36

Well, it's a part of those biohacking tools, so I don't have it on me too and I normally do but I have a. I have an EMF blanket that I wear like a towel when I'm sitting at my desk and I sleep with it on. I so I love, and so this is another biohacking tool. It's a, it's a ring, she's not really flipping you off.

Speaker 1: 38:49

I love it. I know, and just so everybody knows, Heather has these on her website. I've seen them. The Nikki watches on there.

Speaker 3: 38:57

So if you want a discount on it, a little plug, cause I've seen all this stuff out there Like cause I love it Watch. I don't plug anything that I haven't tried myself. Same Cause I, I believe I wholeheartedly like man, I'm waiting for that.

Speaker 1: 39:10

Like let's go, people, bring me the products and I'll try them and I'll plug any shit that works.

Speaker 3: 39:16

Well. Guy later today who's got a red light mask that he wants me to try it. He's going to send me one and I'm like, okay, I love that part of the job, so let's go back. So the tracking ring shows that my stress at night is like 48, which is considered high normal. And I'm like, ah, I really like to get that down. And even though I shut my wifi off at night, I know one bedroom, one wall in my bedroom, has dirty electricity and my bed's not near that. But I just, I just know there's some stuff going on in my house. So I started using that blanket and the very first night my freaking stress level dropped from a 48 to a 25. But just adding that emf blanket to the mix, like, so those are kind of the biohacking tools that I I love, love, love, the ones that I can track.

Speaker 2: 39:55

You get data from it like so yeah, and I think whenever we collect some data and we're like, oh, this data looks bad or good or I can move my data, I think there's more buy-in with data.

Speaker 1: 40:06

So when you say stress, we are measuring these magnetic fields. Essentially what this is doing, right To decrease some of that that's happening and is this leading to decreased inflammation, like when you say stress and it decreasing what is actually? What's it helping the body with then?

Speaker 3: 40:23

Absolutely Cause. Every single piece of stress we can take off the body. It's like a boulder that we can take off the immune system and then the body can go. Oh God, thank you, I know how to work now. Our body knows how to heal. We know how to stay in homeostasis if we get out of its way Right. So each little piece, and a lot of times people don't even think like overexercising, which a lot of people are, you know. That's another stressor. Stress on the body is stress on the body. Our body doesn't recognize good stress and bad stress, you know.

Speaker 3: 40:53

So, people are shocked when they start working with me and I tell them okay, I mean, you need to stop doing the CrossFit, you need to stop doing the marathon running for the next, terry, did you put her up to this, like did you put her up to this shit.

Speaker 2: 41:03

One of the first things I told Jen Yep I'm like oh did.

Speaker 1: 41:06

I walk into something. Oh yeah, oh yeah, I was this validated me. Fuck adrenal fatigue. You don't know what you're talking about, dr Salty. I'm going to keep doing my CrossFit, no, no, no, no, don't do it, don't do it.

Speaker 3: 41:21

Your poor adrenals are like ah.

Speaker 1: 41:23

Exactly that number didn't lie.

Speaker 2: 41:25

Yeah, well, I like the idea of taking off the stress that we can take off so that we're getting out of our body's way, because your body has a lot to process all the time and, as the world evolves, even more to process, right? So help it out just a little bit by taking off some stress that you can control Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 41:51

So yeah, it's an interesting-. So you're telling me I got to take my cell phone out of my bra and it can't stay in there all day. Oh my God. No, that's a good joke. You should use that, you're-up comedy. You can give a shout-out to therapist.

Speaker 3: 42:03

Jen.

Speaker 2: 42:06

Exactly.

Speaker 1: 42:07

Oh please, I can't fit shit in that bra.

Speaker 3: 42:10

It wouldn't be truthful to me because I wouldn't be caught dead with my cell phone on my bra. I can't, even. I wouldn't be able to say that with a straight face. Do you know what's really funny? This is a side note. You wouldn't be able to say that with a straight face, do you know what's really funny this is a side note, no-transcript now.

Speaker 2: 42:31

I probably would have been sued my ass off for making the right.

Speaker 3: 42:34

Yeah, exactly, I called it the brocket see, I want you know it's funny I wanted to make a pocket for a bra but for your crystals. Maybe we should collab on this?

Speaker 2: 42:46

I don't know.

Speaker 3: 42:47

Yes because I would put my oh, I've got here, watch, I've got something what you got it's my little Hannah Kroger cross.

Speaker 2: 42:55

She's pulling shit out of her bra if you guys are listening.

Speaker 1: 42:59

Oh yeah. Oh, yeah, Like my mother would be very disappointed in the fact that my lipstick is not in my bra, but it's sitting next to me.

Speaker 3: 43:08

She would be very pissed at me right now because it's always supposed to be in the bra, so I take it off and I forget that I got my crystals in there and then they hit the ground and they shatter and they break into a couple different pieces and so I was like, oh, I need to find a way. A crystal bra, you know something, but yeah, so not, not. Not, you were onto something, not for a phone, but let's do something for crystals.

Speaker 2: 43:26

Well, I did that because this was back in the day when my daughter was in high school and all the girls would take their phones and shove them in their bra front right you know, and I'm like I now, I'm like I wonder what that's gonna do to them later on, you know, and if they're still doing it, because it's habitual yeah so I mean again that that would be a small fix like that would be a bad, because the warning is in the phones themselves now look in the phone now, yeah, but people don't even realize that though they.

Speaker 2: 43:54

They just yeah, 10, 12 years ago no, you know what I mean Like we've evolved a little bit, but yeah, so I mean just these there's some little things that we can do that can help with that foundational stuff, and then kind of dabble in some of the X little extras, right that, uh, we have. So that's, that's pretty cool, that's empowering stuff, Right. And and I also think, just as a final touch on the stress thing, how we talk to ourselves and our processes is a huge stressor for people, and that is like the number one thing that we have control over, but nobody thinks they do. Nobody thinks it's like Nope, can't stop thinking that can't stop, won't stop. You know, and I think that is in today's world, our number one stressor is our own thoughts.

Speaker 3: 44:39

So I have a good story with that, my ex-husband. A couple years ago I was in the middle of just completely berating myself and he was like stop talking to my wife like that. And it stopped me in my tracks. I was like, oh shit, you're right, and it's so funny. Not funny, but when I'm sitting on these discovery calls with these cancer clients and I'm I'm listening for little clues and you know, and I'm like, oh, I'm hearing regret and how stupid and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah and I'm like that's like number one, first thing we got to start working on.

Speaker 3: 45:10

Like you're never going to get better until you start loving yourself, and you can't love yourself if you're talking to yourself like that. So yes, 110%.

Speaker 2: 45:18

Yeah, and that is where therapy can come in pretty handy. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. But no, I agree with that because the way we talk to ourselves, we would never talk to our children that way or somebody that we loved, but we'll talk to ourselves that way and that's just kind of a litmus test on how you're feeling about you, and I think that that is something that definitely people have control over and they need to acknowledge that they do have control. I think when people don't acknowledge that, it's because they want to still stay stuck sitting in that bullshit swill, you know, for their life.

Speaker 3: 45:50

So Victim, victims don't get better, and that's the other part. You know it's really hard in the Lyme world. I ran across a lot of victims, you know, and it's. It was really different working in the Lyme world and then now I'm working in the cancer world. It's so bizarre.

Speaker 3: 46:04

Most of these cancer folks are like let's do it, let's beat this, I got this and they're not identifying with their disease as much as Lyme and I think because the CDC just recognized it chronic Lyme as an actual disease just two years ago. You know we had been gaslit for so long that we finally got an answer and then we wear that like a badge of honor, like a cloak, like a comfortable blanket. But I used to tell my clients that I used to work with with Lyme. I'm like you have got to stop identifying with this disease. If you're going to get better, you have to stop being the victim. Oh, I was bit by a tick. No, you know, nothing I did in my life did this. I was just bit by a tick and I'm like that's not identifying with this disease, Like I think that's one piece of the puzzle.

Speaker 1: 46:49

We talk about this in terms of people identifying with, like a mental health diagnosis as well. So it's a medical diagnosis right, similar pieces right. It just becomes who you are and it sickens you. Actually, it makes you worse. It doesn't allow for any almost like inner agency or inner responsibility that you can do something about it. It's yep, nope, I was bit by the tick and that that's it and that's forever the story.

Speaker 3: 47:17

I'm an anxious person. You know my anxiety, my anxiety a lot of cute in the lime world. They call themselves limeys and I'm like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, yeah, my world.

Speaker 1: 47:31

They're SSRI-ians and they will forever be on. Ssris, and that's it, and that's just, that's the thing right so there's these cutesy little like names that are being put on that people identify with, and I think you say it well. How do you get better, how do you move on beyond that when this, your words, put you in a?

Speaker 3: 47:54

in a grave. So I had a wonderful example of a guy who so back to the bioenergetics right uh, muscle testing. So this guy was doing muscle testing or kinesiology and basically you know you put your arm out and something that is strong in your body they're not going to be able to move much um, but if it's weak in your body, you know your arm goes down. And so I stood up in front of the class and he was like say something nice about yourself. And I was like, you know, say your name, my name's Heather and I was strong. And then he's like say something bad about yourself. And I did and my arm went down. And it was just such a beautiful representation of meeting that what I said at that moment made my body weak, physiologically react. Stress lowers your immune system Like we're starting to see that. Like high stress lowers your immune system. So these more kind of lower vibration anger, sadness, anxiety, beating yourself, shut up that weakens the body. The body's listening right, like it's just crazy.

Speaker 2: 48:53

Well, I think there still is a fair amount of gaslighting with Lyme's disease patients. There still is 110%. Yeah, and it annoys me. I mean, we're in Wisconsin, so Lyme's disease is prevalent here. I'm sorry, I did that last thing else.

Speaker 1: 49:10

I always had an S on. You got to yell at her. She did that one other time. It makes me twitch.

Speaker 2: 49:17

Maybe it's because I want it to be collective, I don't know, but anyhow, lyme disease, stopping some close-up. God you know, yes, I want to do it with everyone, but anyway. So it still is very much a gaslit experience for a lot of people, even to the fact where I'll tell people like maybe you know, maybe it's this, maybe we should figure out, if it's this, you know, and they'll go and it'll be like no, it's not that and I'm like you know there's different doctors from the East coast.

Speaker 3: 49:44

their patients come to me and they're like oh, my doctor said blah, blah, blah, it doesn't you know, or they'll refuse to test for it altogether. Cause there was no bullseye.

Speaker 2: 49:53

Did you notice a bullseye? Did you notice if you actually got bit by a tick? So all that stuff just needs to go away and I guess I don't understand why we just don't test anyway. Why not? Why not just uncover whatever we can? But yeah, it's so sad, it's so sad, but there's also this big light of hope and I really appreciate the like stop identifying with the disease, stop saying you are the disease, stop saying this is your disease. State Like all of that stuff will not promote good healing, that it'll just promote more stress. So and and this, it's not even resistance, it's a when do you just give up? It's like a truce flag, right, like well, it's just this disease. You know the wave the flag of truth.

Speaker 1: 50:42

Oh my gosh, oh my God, Somebody's got my tail.

Speaker 2: 50:46

Yeah, exactly so. Is there anything else you want the listeners to know?

Speaker 3: 50:53

No matter how common a symptom may be, it is never normal. It is always your body's check engine light coming on, and do not put a piece of tape over that engine light with over the counter crap, right, it starts off by whispering to you and then pretty soon it starts screaming and yelling at you with things like cancer and Lyme disease and weight gain and diabetes and Alzheimer's. And you know, alzheimer's, alzheimer's we're starting to like take as a normal part of aging, and it doesn't have to be a normal part of aging at all, folks. So again, no matter how common the symptom may be, it is never normal. Dig deeper and don't stay okay with the status quo If the person you're working with only wants to put you on drugs or cut something out next, next, next. You know it took me 20, some 27 years to get diagnosed and probably 30 different doctors, but I didn't give up and that's that's. You know, every time I learned something new. Oh well, that's not it. That didn't work. You know it's an, an elimination game, unfortunately, yeah.

Speaker 1: 51:53

And you're not crazy. That resonates for me driving in the car tears down my face. I know I am not crazy. I know that because this experience is really happening to me.

Speaker 3: 52:04

It's real.

Speaker 1: 52:06

And it's not a state of psychological bullshit that's happening in my mind. I'm not crazy. I know that this is happening to me in my mind.

Speaker 2: 52:14

I'm not crazy.

Speaker 2: 52:15

I know that this is happening to me, yep, and I want to just reiterate one more point here, because this is you're like the third or fourth person that has mentioned this concept of and I love it like this feather brick semi-truck, right?

Speaker 2: 52:27

So something will touch you like a feather, first, like a little, then it'll hit you like a brick and then it's going to knock you over like a semi-truck. And I'm like we got to start paying attention to the feathers, like pay attention to the small things first before you get to a semi-truck, because yours was a semi-truck and then digging out of that post-accident semi-truck, hit you over and over and over again is a lot harder than figuring it out when it's a feather. But I would also argue too, like I understand that if something is a feather, nobody's going to take you seriously. They start taking things a little more seriously when it's a semi-truck, you know, unfortunately, because that's the way our healthcare system operates, especially when it's women, because it's just hormones or it's just mommy brain or it's just or weight loss, yeah, all the things, yep.

Speaker 3: 53:13

Feather rhymes with Heather, so you know Heather, heather brick semi-truck Anyway. I actually grew up with twins in Cheyenne Wyoming their name's with Heather. Oh, it was Heather and Leather, sorry, not Feather. Oh, remember the Heathers.

Speaker 2: 53:25

Heather and Leather, yeah anyway, heather and Leather yeah.

Speaker 3: 53:31

That's a really good name yeah, exactly. All right, well, if you've hung out with us this far.

Speaker 2: 53:36

Thank you for being here, and I would like to remind all of our listeners to only give us five-star reviews, because those are the only reviews that we accept. Yeah, that's right, five-star? We don't know bullshit, exactly. So make sure you like, comment, share, subscribe, leave us, leave us those five stars, and you, too, can tell us your gas gaslit truth stories by emailing us at the gaslit truth podcast at gmailcom. And that is a wrap thanks, everybody.