There’s Never a Perfect Time to Heal — But There Is a Right Time

Resources:
Book a wellness consultation with Dr. Leah Hahn D.C. at Body In Balance Wellness Center, Golden CO → https://www.bodyinbalancechiropractic.com/

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So many people wait to start healing until life “slows down.” 

In this episode of Healing Beyond the Symptoms, Dr. Leah Hahn D.C., chiropractor and functional wellness doctor at Body in Balance Wellness Center in Golden, CO, explains why the body is ready to heal long before the mind believes it’s time. She explores how nervous system dysregulation keeps you from feeling calm, clear, and connected—and why small, aligned actions can create lasting transformation.

You’ll hear powerful real-life stories of patients who waited months or years to start care, only to realize that healing began the moment they chose themselves.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why waiting for the “perfect time” keeps you stuck in survival mode
• The hidden costs of delaying your healing journey
• What “healing capacity” means and how to strengthen it
• How nervous system regulation helps your body shift from protection to connection
• Practical ways to begin—without overhauling your entire life

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction: The Right Time to Heal is Now

00:41 Understanding the Cost of Waiting

01:32 A Patient's Journey to Healing

04:14 Recognizing Your Body's Signals

05:51 Building Capacity for a Better Life

08:20 Taking the First Step Towards Healing

If you’ve been waiting for a sign, this is it. Healing doesn’t require perfect conditions—it just requires a decision.

Transcript

0:00

There's never a perfect time to heal, but there is a right time, and often that time is now because waiting until life slows down or the kids are grown, or the stress finally passes means staying stuck in patterns that quietly cost you more than you realize. Welcome to Healing Beyond the Symptoms, the podcast that helps people discover the root causes of their health struggles, and take back control with science strategy and self-awareness. I'm Dr. Leah Hahn, a chiropractor and functional wellness doctor who believes that true healing starts beneath the surface. So let's dive in. Many people think I'll start care when things slow down or calm down, but stress rarely disappears, and new seasons bring new challenges. A patient once said. I thought I'd wait until after the holidays and then it was the kids' sports season, and then work got busy and suddenly another year had gone by. When she finally came into the office, she had intense headaches, neck tension, and chronic anxiety, and I get it. We all go through this. As a mom, myself and a business owner, I feel pulled in a billion different directions. Every single day. My son's a competitive swimmer. We have swim meets, we have practices. There's always work events to prepare, classes to get ready for. We are all dealing with our own stressors. So believe me when I hear a patient say this, I completely get it. But even for that patient who came in with the chronic anxiety and the headaches and the neck tension , the path to healing was available. Just realized it took longer than it had to if she had taken action earlier. So you can always obtain healing. It just may look a little different depending on where you're at in your journey. We started the process of evaluating her nervous system. We were able to get to the root issues, and it was like peeling the layers of an onion. As the tension dissipated and the headaches cleared, the anxiety started to calm. Now she reports feeling present. Feeling more connected to her family, and as her nervous system reorganized, she was actually able to make a career change that has helped her find passion and joy and purpose, more meaning in her life. It's been an incredible journey to watch unfold. That's the kind of change I'm looking for when someone moves into healing. But what's the cost of waiting, staying in exhaustion, tension, disconnection, or burnout way longer than necessary. The path to healing was available. It just took a little longer than it needed to if she had taken action earlier. Healing is always available. You just have to take the first step. We started the process of evaluating her nervous system, and we were able to get to the root issues, and it was like peeling the layers of an onion. As the tension dissipated, the headaches cleared. The anxiety started to calm, and now she reports feeling present, feeling connected to her family instead of just wanting to watch Netflix at night, she's actually enjoying dinner with her family. She's able to connect to them. She's able to laugh. She's able to play board games if she feels like it, but it's a whole new life. And as she reorganized her nervous system, she actually made a career change that's helped her find passion and purpose and new meaning. The thing is, is that she didn't even know that that was what she needed. It took getting to a certain level of healing and a certain level of wellbeing to realize that the career choices that she had made earlier in her life were no longer congruent with who she was now. So as she healed, then she was able to say, okay, I need to have a different path here. I need to make some different decisions. And when she did, it created so much freedom and joy in her life. That's the kind of change that I'm looking for when someone moves into healing. So what's the cost of waiting, staying in exhaustion, tension, disconnection, or burnout way longer than necessary? The right time isn't when life is calm. It's when you recognize your body's signals, fatigue that rest doesn't fix. Immune system distress, colds and flus that occur way too frequently. Worsening hormonal symptoms, hot flashes, poor sleep and brain fog, constant stress or reactivity and you could be experiencing lack of healing. Maybe you've experienced injuries that aren't healing. Maybe you thought that this injury would've healed in a couple days, but now it's been a couple of weeks. It's not just age. It's not just hormones. It could be that your body literally is in survival mode. It's maintaining fight or flight, and that's where all of your resources are going. It could be that you feel disconnected from yourself or from your family. These aren't inconveniences, they're invitations. I really want you to reframe that. Your body is asking for your support. Your body is desperately asking you to pay attention. I remember when I started practice, I would often hear the comment from people, if it's not broke, don't fix it. Instead of thinking that they should really pay attention to their bodies, they would go into the mindset that things should get worse and worse until they actually paid attention. We know that this is not the right way to live in terms of your health and healing. Paying attention is vital to your resiliency and your adaptability. The right time is the moment that you decide that your wellbeing can't wait any longer. Healing creates capacity. What does that mean? When I think about capacity, what I'm looking for is not that you can just do more. I want you to be able to do more in your life with more energy, more vitality, more presence. It's showing up in a way where you can connect to others, but you also feel like you're living your best self. When you do show up, that's a different level of wellbeing. When your nervous system shifts out of survival mode, you gain the energy and the clarity to actually handle life better, to handle life more efficiently, to handle life with more presence. The key to improving your life is being able to recognize when it's time to make a change, when it's time to take action or adapt in a new way. That takes awareness and it takes mind body awareness. This takes looking at your life in a new way instead of looking at challenges as just extra stress or with the attitude that, oh, well life can be hard. Instead look at challenges at as invitations to pay attention in a new way. What is this experience telling me about myself? What are these experiences pointing to in my life that needs to shift? That needs to change? Is there any area of my life that needs more energy or more fuel? When you start to get to the root of change, it's not necessarily about giving an area of your life more effort. Instead, it's training your nervous system to handle more and energy efficient ways. It's about creating healing and increasing your level of adaptability. When you're confronted with stress, which you know you're going to be, it's an inevitable part of life. Instead of staying in fight or flight mode, you can recognize the fight or flight and move into a state of parasympathetic function that rest and digest and heal, where your higher thinking and your creativity can kick in. This state allows you to move into recovery, but also to regain the energy to be able to make higher level decisions. That's typically where people really need to move with their healing process. It's such a big part of moving forward. If you wanna be more creative, if you wanna be a better problem solver, if you wanna make healthier decisions for yourself, you need more energy in the system, and that's what capacity gives you. Care doesn't require perfection or huge lifestyle overhauls. It starts with one appointment, one breath. One gentle shift. It really starts with taking one action step. I am a list creator, but sometimes I need to break my list into smaller chunks to say, today I am making this one phone call, or sending this one important email, or making the small change, and it helps me gain so much momentum when I do that Every day In survival mode is another day of missed presence. Of missed joy, of missed connection. It's looking at the bigger picture and what's really important to you. What is your why for needing healing, for putting your health and your wellbeing first, for recognizing that your body isn't broken, it's patterned, and maybe these patterns aren't serving you. So for those of you listening, I'd really like you to take a moment, and if you're not driving, maybe even take a few minutes to journal. What is your why? Why is it that you wanna change? Why is it that you need to heal right now? What is your deeper motivation? Starting care doesn't mean committing to an overwhelming routine. It means beginning with a consultation and a gentle assessment and creating a personalized plan. Patients often say that the biggest relief was just starting finally choosing themselves first. There's so much energy created in the act of taking a step forward for yourself, taking a step forward in a way that supports your health and your wellbeing. I wanna reframe the healing process for you. Healing doesn't just mean getting rid of headaches or sleeping better. Healing is unlearning coping strategies that have prevented you from progressing and from thriving. Healing is discovering your voice. It's learning about who you are. Learning about what you want and what you don't want and what your boundaries are. Healing is about building a new relationship with yourself, learning to love your body in a new, more holistic way. Healing is about moving between nervous system states without getting stuck in shutdown mode. Healing is understanding the difference between acute stress and the trigger of an old wound. Healing is coming home to your true self, and this is what we mean by authenticity. Life will never hand you the perfect time to heal. The right time is when your body is asking for help, and that time is now. Healing isn't about doing more, it's about redefining what healing means. It's about creating safety so your body can finally let go and reclaim your life in a way that honors your authenticity. Thanks for joining me today on Healing Beyond the Symptoms. If you've been waiting for the perfect time, let this be your reminder. You don't need perfect conditions to begin. You just need to be willing to start. You can book a consultation at body and balance chiropractic.com and take that first step today and for more daily insights, follow me on Instagram at Body and Balance Wellness Center. Until next time, breathe deep. Listen in and remember, your body is ready when you are. Thanks again for joining me today on Healing Beyond the symptoms. If you've been curious about network spinal or if you've tried everything else and still feel stuck, I want you to know this. Your body is not broken. It's patterned, and those patterns can change. If you're ready to experience how gentle care can lead to profound transformation. I'd love to invite you to book a wellness consultation at body and balance chiropractic.com. Together we'll look at what your body needs to finally release, reset, and thrive. Until next time, breathe deep. Trust your body and remember. Gentle can be powerful.