Best Tools You Need To Heal in 2026

[00:00:00] Hello, hello. Welcome back to the Heal With Grace podcast and happy new year.
[00:00:05] I'm really glad you're here, whether you're listening from the car, laying on the couch,
[00:00:10] or hiding in the bathroom from your family. Honestly, I'm proud of you for getting a moment
[00:00:15] to yourself. Today, we're going to look back at 2025 and really what helped you all the most,
[00:00:23] like what podcast episodes were the most popular, what I've heard from my clients and students,
[00:00:29] like really digging into what was common, what did you need to hear, what did you need more of,
[00:00:35] and then really look towards what are we redoing in 2026? How are we helping you recover and feel
[00:00:43] better in your body and your mind and in your life? Because everything that supported people
[00:00:47] last year is exactly what will also help you step into 2026 feeling safer, clearer, and more in
[00:00:53] your body. Hey there, and welcome to Heal With Grace. I'm your host, Grace Secker, and I'm a
[00:01:00] holistic licensed therapist and nervous system coach who believes that the chronic and often
[00:01:04] unseen symptoms you're living with are a sign of something deeper going on. A sign that your
[00:01:09] nervous system needs attention. In each episode, I'll share the science behind the most common
[00:01:14] chronic health disorders plus holistic health tips using mental, physical, and spiritual
[00:01:19] practices. You'll hear what I've learned in my journey and the true stories from our trusted guests
[00:01:24] so you can feel less alone in your experience and give yourself grace no matter what you're
[00:01:29] going through. So without further ado, settle in and get cozy. It's time to heal with grace.
[00:01:36] So first and foremost, one of the most popular podcasts that you have listened to is the
[00:01:43] number one thing that shifted the feeling of safety in the body. When you stopped trying
[00:01:49] to fix your body and started helping your body feel safe, everything changed. And this came from
[00:01:54] the episode about finding messages of safety with Vanessa Blackstone and understanding that
[00:01:59] symptoms weren't the enemy, they were protective. I have talked to numerous people around how do
[00:02:04] they really know when they're in recovery mode? People who've been in recovery for years,
[00:02:08] people only doing this work for a few months and feeling better, like what is that indicator?
[00:02:13] And so many people have mentioned, I now see my body differently. I now see my symptoms as
[00:02:20] messengers. And I know I've said this a lot before on this podcast. And if you're deep in
[00:02:25] your symptoms or deep in pain, it's hard to see that or hard to feel that. I totally know when
[00:02:31] I would hear that. And I believed it, I got, like I get it, right? I understand that. But
[00:02:37] inside I was rolling my eyes and being like, I don't know how to do that. I'm in pain,
[00:02:42] I'm frustrated, I'm miserable in life. Like, I don't know how to see that. But I can now very much
[00:02:48] so attest to that's what I noticed as well is something pops up every now and then. And yeah,
[00:02:54] I look at, okay, body, what are you needing to show me or tell me? Or, you know, what's running in
[00:03:00] the background? What was activated? What fear was activated? What self-defeating belief was
[00:03:04] activated about myself? Is there something triggered from my past? Like, what's going on
[00:03:09] right now? And so when you can come at it from that place of curiosity and love, you feel more
[00:03:15] empowered, first of all, so much more empowered to help yourself and so much more compassion
[00:03:22] towards yourself and towards your body because it's just trying to help you. Those messengers
[00:03:27] become the activators for medicine. And the medicine is safety. Medicine is compassion.
[00:03:32] The medicine is expressing emotions that maybe you needed to express or setting a boundary that
[00:03:36] you didn't realize you needed to set or your body saying, hey, this isn't right. We have to stop what
[00:03:42] we're doing. Symptoms, chronic symptoms are a mind-body-human response. Every single human on
[00:03:47] this planet has a mind-body connection, has physical symptoms that manifest from a mental
[00:03:54] and emotional place. It's just that some of us have it a little more chronically than
[00:03:58] others or more debilitating or develop these symptoms and syndromes, right? But everyone
[00:04:04] probably has had a stress headache where everyone has had tight shoulder muscles, tight traps,
[00:04:08] right? Or a stomach ache when we're anxious. Everyone has had mind-body symptoms and messengers
[00:04:13] that something's going on. So my point being, when we can get to that place where you can
[00:04:18] learn how to send your body signals of safety and also be curious about what's happening,
[00:04:24] right? Like, okay, well, I'm having that stomach stuff again. For me, sometimes that might
[00:04:28] happen. I might have a little digestive issues for a day and I'm kind of like, okay, all right,
[00:04:35] what's happening? I don't have any fear around it. I know that it'll go away in the next day,
[00:04:39] probably. And it's really more just about maybe I'm taking on too much or have something coming
[00:04:45] up that I'm nervous about or I'm not giving myself enough time to slow down or something
[00:04:51] along those lines. It has nothing to do with usually what I ate or didn't eat or
[00:04:57] my gut, dyspiosis is off. Like, it doesn't have anything to do with that. It's more of like,
[00:05:01] hey, my body's trying to signal something to me. And when we can approach that from a place of
[00:05:05] compassion and love and safety, then it resolves itself and moves on. That's what recovery is.
[00:05:12] And I think that's been really helpful to hear from so many people who have told their story
[00:05:17] because it gives, I hope that it gives you hope that that's possible, one. And two,
[00:05:22] that we're not looking for perfection. I was just talking to a client the other day about how
[00:05:27] she's made so much progress and like almost not even like three months, to be honest. I even
[00:05:32] reiterated that to her. I was like, you've really taken on this work and have, man, you have
[00:05:38] transformed, you know, and to be honest, like when you came in, I've seen plenty of people.
[00:05:43] And also, I could just tell how much you were really struggling. And so I was kind of curious
[00:05:48] of where this would take you and, you know, what the trajectory would look like. And so my point being,
[00:05:55] she recognized maybe recovery doesn't look like I literally never in the rest of my life have
[00:06:01] any kind of reaction or symptoms. It's all right, maybe here or there. And it's like a
[00:06:06] two out of 10 instead of a eight out of 10. And sometimes I just kind of move on with life.
[00:06:11] I just kind of take it with me throughout the day. Or sometimes I look a little bit
[00:06:14] deeper and figure out what's going on. That's it. No fear around it. No anxiety around it.
[00:06:19] No frustration or hopelessness or depression that comes when we have symptoms. That's just
[00:06:23] a normal human body response. That's a beautiful place to be because you're so in touch with
[00:06:28] yourself. You're so in tune with your internal state and your inner self to have that relationship.
[00:06:34] You can have that relationship with yourself. And that is what I want for you.
[00:06:38] That's seriously so much about this work. Having a deeper relationship with yourself,
[00:06:42] with the people around you, with your life. That's what comes out of this work. All right,
[00:06:47] I kind of went into a whole other direction than when I started this first one. But that seems
[00:06:51] to be like understanding what recovery actually looks like. And then understanding that safety
[00:06:55] and curiosity are two of the biggest players in creating that recovery, building safety in the
[00:07:01] body and being curious about your body and releasing the fear. I guess we could say three.
[00:07:05] Curiosity, safety, releasing fear. Those are huge. And that's what I've seen a lot
[00:07:10] of this year. And honestly, I don't think that's just a year thing that's going to continue to be
[00:07:14] really important pillars of this work. One of the other things that I recognized was
[00:07:18] self-compassion. Right? I talk about it all the time on here. Self-compassion, self-compassion,
[00:07:24] self-compassion because there is not one person that I have not started working with and not
[00:07:28] one person that I know, myself included in my community of therapists and practitioners
[00:07:34] and coaches that do this work, not one person started doing this work and said,
[00:07:38] yeah, I've got self-compassion in the bag. I'm great. I love myself. I'm so compassionate and
[00:07:42] flexible with myself. No, said no one ever that needed to start this work. Most of you have
[00:07:48] either you're coming to or you're realizing how critical you are of yourself, how self-critical
[00:07:52] you can be. And we cannot recover if we are self-critical towards ourselves all the time.
[00:07:57] Now, again, we're not looking for perfection. We're looking for increased
[00:08:02] compaction, more grace and flexibility towards yourself. Instead of, I can't believe I did this
[00:08:08] wrong or I'm shaming myself for making mistake or I didn't meditate every single day this week.
[00:08:15] I'm such a bad person. I'm going to make myself sick or in pain or blaming yourselves when you
[00:08:20] do have flares. That's not going to work. We're letting that go. Moving into 2026,
[00:08:25] we are giving ourselves all the compassion. And now I want to say this, compassion and
[00:08:31] flexibility and grace does not mean we just let ourselves be and rest and do nothing,
[00:08:38] like not hold ourselves accountable or strive for goals or meet what we really want for ourselves.
[00:08:44] No, we have both. We can have structure, hold ourselves accountable, meet our goals,
[00:08:49] be consistent daily and do it with compassion and love. Those two things actually have
[00:08:55] to go together because sometimes people think like, well, if I let myself off the hook or
[00:09:00] I'm too compassionate towards myself, then I'm not actually going to get anything done. I'm not
[00:09:05] actually going to heal because I just won't do anything. I'll just be lazy. No. Actually,
[00:09:10] there's an episode that I recorded with Dr. Michael Dow who talked about this.
[00:09:16] Having self-compassion for yourself is, again, it is not weak. It is not lazy. It is this
[00:09:21] fierce place of loving yourself and it takes courage and risk and bravery to do that
[00:09:29] because of how much fear we have on the other side of failing or not keeping up with X, Y,
[00:09:35] and Z or not meeting our goals or whatever. So I want you to start seeing giving yourself
[00:09:40] compassion and love and grace as a non-negotiable. I'm very serious. It has to be one of the
[00:09:46] pillars of your healing, of your life, of being human. It is, I have not seen anyone
[00:09:52] recover without implementing it. I'll just say that. Okay. That's my direct talk to you
[00:09:57] during this. Hey, friends, it's Grace. If you feel like you've been doing all of the treatment protocols
[00:10:03] and all the different modalities to heal and you're still not feeling better and it's just
[00:10:07] kind of managing things, I'm here to talk to you for a second. So it's not because you're
[00:10:13] doing it wrong or you just haven't found the answer yet. It's truly because your nervous
[00:10:17] system and brain are still operating in protection mode and your nervous system and
[00:10:22] brain, when it perceives danger, physical or emotional danger, and even just ongoing stress,
[00:10:28] it keeps your body on high alert. So none of those treatment modalities are actually
[00:10:33] going to stick or work until you work with the bottom line, which is your brain and nervous
[00:10:37] system. Because when you're in the danger mode state, your digestion, immune system,
[00:10:42] hormones and pain signals all get affected. It's like trying to heal while the alarm bells
[00:10:47] are still ringing in the background. And that is why so many people get stuck.
[00:10:52] You can do all of the treatment things you want, but if your system isn't regulated,
[00:10:56] your body can't access its natural healing state. This is exactly why I created my four
[00:11:03] month signature program, the mind body healing method. It's a step by step process that
[00:11:08] helps you calm your system, rewire old stress patterns and retrain your brain to feel safe
[00:11:13] again. So you can finally start to heal for good chronic pain and illness. This is a true
[00:11:18] recovery program, not just management. You'll get guided lessons, nervous system practices,
[00:11:23] live support, individual and group support and a community that actually understands
[00:11:29] what you're going through. Enrollment is now open. So you can find the link below in the
[00:11:33] show notes or go to elevatetherapywellness.com slash mind body healing method,
[00:11:40] because until your brain and body feel safe, no protocol or treatment plan
[00:11:44] will actually work. When your nervous system works, everything starts to heal.
[00:11:50] Another thing that I have realized and I've reflected on that really helps people recover
[00:11:56] is really leaning into emotional honesty and boundaries. Symptoms ease and honestly life
[00:12:03] gets better when you start speaking up and stop swallowing your feelings. So this can happen in
[00:12:10] really subtle ways because we don't actually understand that we're doing it because it's
[00:12:13] so automatic. So what I've realized and my clients have realized is that their pain for
[00:12:18] example, like pelvic pain starts getting worse when they say yes to things that they don't
[00:12:22] want to or maybe your fatigue spikes when you start to carry other people's emotions
[00:12:27] or your bladder flares every time you avoid conflict or the pain in your neck starts
[00:12:32] to happen when you have a lot of fear and anxiety about something. So it's not just about
[00:12:37] boundaries with other people, but it's also with yourself. When you can be really honest
[00:12:41] with how you're feeling about something really truthful with yourself, it doesn't always mean
[00:12:46] you go and tell everyone about it or you tell the person, but when you can be honest with
[00:12:50] yourself and actually say it and express it and feel it, that's regulation, that's nervous
[00:12:55] system work. It doesn't mean that it's easy and the moment when you're expressing it or
[00:13:00] feeling it, it can feel worse. It can feel like, well, if I say this out loud or if I feel it,
[00:13:04] it's going to be more true and it's going to take over, which actually the opposite happens.
[00:13:09] When you say it and you feel it and you express it, it stops having such a strong hold over you
[00:13:14] because it's not repressed anymore. It's not sitting underneath the surface and you're
[00:13:18] subconscious, wreaking havoc all over your body because it's not suppressing and stressing
[00:13:23] out your nervous system. When you feel it and express it, you release it from that suppressed
[00:13:27] place. When you feel that relief of expressing how you feel, how something has hurt you,
[00:13:34] or maybe that you start to realize you're over functioning for someone else, meaning you are
[00:13:43] taking care of their feelings more than your own or your people pleasing a little bit more than
[00:13:49] maybe you need to for yourself, then you start to actually feel relief. You're honoring
[00:13:56] your own self. That's not selfish. That's not bad. That's healthy and it helps everyone around you.
[00:14:02] So, for example, I have recognized many times that it's so small. It's so subtle, but it was a friend
[00:14:09] or a partner or someone that I love and I care about or many people, honestly, if they ask,
[00:14:16] say we are co-working or something, say we're like hanging out in the same space,
[00:14:20] hanging out in the same area, we're working together and I'm starting a task like maybe
[00:14:25] I'm writing an email or I'm planning a podcast episode or something like that and I start to get
[00:14:30] in the flow of it. If you're creative or if you do anything for work really, you know when
[00:14:36] you're in the flow of something rather than you're trying to force yourself to start doing it.
[00:14:41] For me, when I'm in the flow, I got to stay there. I got to continue it. I got to keep
[00:14:45] it going. But if someone asks me on help for something or they say, hey, let's do this
[00:14:51] or hey, do you want something or whatever it is they ask me for something, I have noticed I will
[00:14:57] stop what I'm doing and say, yeah, and I engage and do that thing or go out or ask them something,
[00:15:04] whatever it is, whatever it is to be engaged in, I just will stop what I'm doing and engage with
[00:15:08] them. If you really look at it, it can be small, right? It's not some huge thing that we need
[00:15:14] to be afraid of that we do. It's just recognizing these small things that you're doing constantly
[00:15:19] instead of saying, hey, actually I'm in the flow of something. Let me finish this and then I can get
[00:15:24] back to you. You could say, let me finish the sentence or let me finish this whole project,
[00:15:28] you know, whatever the situation entails. And I guarantee you, they'll be fine. And if they're
[00:15:33] not and if they're offended, well, that's on them. And there's something off with that
[00:15:37] dynamic. And this might sound a little extreme, but what's underneath the surface there is that
[00:15:42] you're afraid of disappointing someone. You're afraid of rejecting them. You're afraid that
[00:15:46] they will judge you or think of you badly. Again, that might sound a dramatic, okay, they're just
[00:15:51] asking you to go get some food or they're just asking you a quick question. But the reason why
[00:15:57] that's so important is because that's just a small example of how it happens time and time again
[00:16:01] within your life, from small things to big things. This is what I mean by boundaries.
[00:16:05] Speaking up, voicing your need in that small moment helps you voice your need in bigger
[00:16:10] moments. That's what honesty is with yourself and then setting boundaries with other people
[00:16:15] means. Now, when it comes to feeling a certain way, maybe you feel like you're constantly taking
[00:16:23] on someone else's emotions. Like they're always coming to you to ask for your help or tell you
[00:16:28] how they feel. And you're just honest, always taking it on without actually asking yourself,
[00:16:32] like, do you want to hold this right now? Can you have space for this? And maybe that answer
[00:16:37] is not right now, but it is later. Or maybe it's not right now, but okay, maybe tomorrow.
[00:16:41] Those things are totally okay to say and to do. That's what I mean by just honoring these
[00:16:46] little subtle shifts. It makes a difference. It helps you feel more empowered and it helps
[00:16:50] your nervous system say, hey, it signals, hey, like, oh, we can take care of ourselves. I can
[00:16:54] listen to you. I honor you. And I learned how to express myself. When you start to shift
[00:16:59] these patterns, especially understanding how to pay attention to yourself,
[00:17:04] that's the biggest gift you can give yourself. So really, as I wrap up some of this,
[00:17:09] what we're doing as we're heading into this new year is the year of being truthful and honest
[00:17:14] and embodiment with yourself. 2026 gets to be the year that you actually live this work. You start
[00:17:21] to feel the sensations without spiraling. You tell your body we can do hard things. You learn how
[00:17:28] to feel sensations even when they're in pain, even when they're high and teach your body,
[00:17:33] it's okay to be there. You start to support your emotions in a moment. You learn to express
[00:17:38] yourself and be radically honest with how you feel and what's going on. It's not easy,
[00:17:43] but it's the brave thing to do and it's the thing that's going to get you out of your stuck place.
[00:17:48] You also start to offer safety instead of panic. Keep asking yourself, how can I create a little
[00:17:54] bit more of safety here in my body today? You start to listen to your body instead of fixing
[00:17:59] it. Listening with curiosity, not judgment, no fear. Even if I don't know what you're
[00:18:04] saying, I'm listening. I'm here. I'm always listening. Even if I can't hear you right in the
[00:18:09] moment, I'm always going to check in. You're also going to create boundaries that protect your
[00:18:13] peace. That's really, really important here. Boundaries with yourself for your life, for your
[00:18:18] daily habits and boundaries with other people. All of this helps build trust with yourself again.
[00:18:24] Trust in your nervous system, trust in grounding into the center of your body
[00:18:28] and trust that you can be your own self-healer. Remember that progress is not about effort.
[00:18:35] It's about nervous system safety becoming your default and not your emergency plan.
[00:18:41] So as we step into the new year, I want to be really clear about how you can do this work
[00:18:48] because yes, you can listen to the podcasts, read the books. All of those are really
[00:18:52] important, but I also understand that sometimes you need a little bit more support.
[00:18:56] I know I have and I know many people I work with do. And so I have a few offers that I want to
[00:19:02] send your way so that you can really grab onto this work and feel like, okay, I got this. I
[00:19:08] know what I'm doing. And we need support. I mean, most of the time at least,
[00:19:12] haven't really heard someone that does this completely on their own,
[00:19:15] never talks about it with anyone else. That's not how we heal as humans.
[00:19:20] So first and foremost, the mind body healing method. I still have the mind body healing
[00:19:25] method course available. At this time, the live group is closed, but the self-paced version is
[00:19:31] open and a perfect way to start the 2026. And basically this is for you if you want a clear
[00:19:36] structured roadmap to all of the skills and the tools that I talk about on here.
[00:19:41] If you want that same nervous system first method that my clients use to heal,
[00:19:45] the ones that teach you how to build safety in your body, how to emotionally,
[00:19:49] regularly inexpress, how to retrain your brain and have all of these tools that you can move
[00:19:53] through on your own timeline and you can have them forever. These practices are quick and easy.
[00:19:58] They're on your phone. They're downloadable and you can listen to them and do them at any time.
[00:20:03] And really at the end of the day, they're practices that help your brain feel safe enough
[00:20:08] to change. And it's really, honestly, it's the least overwhelming way to start this work
[00:20:12] and the most sustainable, which is why I think a lot of you, if you're listening and you've
[00:20:16] bought the course, it's why you have. I think I get that sometimes this work can be overwhelming.
[00:20:21] So it's a really great stepping stone to be like, oh, okay, I'm going to dip my toe in or oh,
[00:20:25] I want this structured tool to really help me like forever. So it's a really amazing way to get
[00:20:30] started and to have everything I talk about, everything that you could ever really need
[00:20:36] in this work available to you. So find the link below for the mind, body healing method.
[00:20:40] You can DM me to see if it's the right fit for you or just purchase it today.
[00:20:44] The next that I'm offering this year is one-to-one work with me. So one of the reasons that I'm closing
[00:20:51] the group right now enrollment is because I'm working on some other projects. I'm consulting
[00:20:56] with other programs, let dietician programs and functional practice medicine programs. And I'm
[00:21:02] helping them structure and create their own nervous system courses. And that's really
[00:21:07] exciting. And then I'm going to work on a few other things. I'm going to keep growing
[00:21:10] this podcast. And with that, I'm going to shut down the group and really focus on my one-to-one
[00:21:15] clients and one-to-one support. So I really love this deep close container. It's where we can get
[00:21:22] to know you and your nervous system really well and give you the specific guided tools for you
[00:21:27] when maybe you've been doing this for a little bit and you feel a little stuck or
[00:21:31] feels a little stale or maybe you're kind of just getting started, but you know,
[00:21:35] you love that one-to-one support. It's where we can get into the emotional work,
[00:21:39] the boundaries, the trauma, the rewiring the fear patterns. This is where that sweet spot is.
[00:21:44] The best part about this is that when you work one-to-one with me, you also get the self-paced
[00:21:49] mind-body healing method. And the combination of these two is so freaking powerful. Honestly,
[00:21:54] most of, not all, but most of the people that have been on this podcast that have shared
[00:21:59] their stories do this work. They have the self-paced and they have the one-to-one
[00:22:03] support. And it's just where people usually see the biggest shifts. You get the framework
[00:22:08] plus personalized help applying it to your life, your patterns, your symptoms, your nervous system.
[00:22:12] And so if you've been wanting both structure and connection, this is it.
[00:22:15] And this is where I'm going to pour a lot of my time and energy all into my private clients.
[00:22:19] If you want to understand about that, if you want to learn if it's a good fit,
[00:22:22] you can find the link below to schedule a consult call with me and we can figure it out.
[00:22:26] All right, y'all. As you move into 2026, I really want you to know that you're not
[00:22:31] starting from scratch. Everything you learned last year, every podcast you listened to,
[00:22:35] every moment of awareness, safety cue, every time you've met yourself with even a sliver of
[00:22:40] compassion, it has been rewiring something real. So your nervous system remembers that.
[00:22:46] And for this year, you get to build onto it. I'm really grateful that you're here.
[00:22:50] So let's make 2026 the year that your body finally gets to feel like home.
[00:22:54] Keep healing with grace and I'll see you next week.
[00:22:58] If this podcast means something to you, it would mean so much to me if you could
[00:23:01] do these couple things. One, go to the heal with grace show page wherever you listen
[00:23:06] and tap the plus sign or click on the follow button so you don't miss an episode.
[00:23:10] It helps both of us out. While you're there, if you could give a five star review
[00:23:15] so that this podcast can reach more people, it would mean so much to me.
[00:23:19] So I can continue sharing episodes that help you as well as others.
[00:23:23] Thanks for listening and I hope this brings you hope on your journey.