Healing ME/Chronic Fatigue Through the Mind-Body Healing Method

[00:00:00] Hey there, and welcome to Heal with Grace.
[00:00:03] I'm your host, Grace Secker, and I'm a holistic, licensed therapist and nervous system coach
[00:00:08] who believes that the chronic and often unseen symptoms you're living with are a sign of
[00:00:12] something deeper going on.
[00:00:14] A sign that your nervous system needs attention.
[00:00:17] In each episode, I'll share the science behind the most common chronic health disorders
[00:00:21] plus holistic health tips using mental, physical, and spiritual practices.
[00:00:26] You'll hear what I've learned in my journey and the true stories from our trusted guests
[00:00:30] so you can feel less alone in your experience and give yourself grace no matter what you're
[00:00:34] going through.
[00:00:36] So without further ado, settle in and get cozy.
[00:00:38] It's time to Heal with Grace.
[00:00:42] Welcome back to the Heal with Grace podcast.
[00:00:44] I have a very special guest, Sydney.
[00:00:47] She has agreed to come on as a past client and someone that I've worked with for
[00:00:53] a while now who's made a really amazing progress in her mental and physical health.
[00:00:58] And so I'm just going to introduce her now.
[00:01:01] And hi, Sydney.
[00:01:02] Thanks for coming.
[00:01:03] Hi, Grace.
[00:01:04] Thanks for having me.
[00:01:05] I'm really excited.
[00:01:06] I am also super nervous, so I'm just letting everyone know.
[00:01:09] I'm going to talk about it so I can hopefully just move past it.
[00:01:13] So I'm Sydney.
[00:01:15] I currently live in Austin, Texas.
[00:01:16] I'm originally from Long Island, New York, and I live here with my two cats and
[00:01:22] my husband.
[00:01:23] I work in health care by day and the scientific research community.
[00:01:29] And what a lot of people don't know about me is that I'm also really interested in like
[00:01:32] the esoteric world.
[00:01:34] So over the years, I've gotten training in energy healing and energy medicine and
[00:01:42] also yoga teacher training.
[00:01:44] So that's what I'm currently doing these days.
[00:01:47] And the yoga teacher training is actually, I think that's where we first connected,
[00:01:50] right?
[00:01:51] I think that's where you first found me.
[00:01:52] Yeah.
[00:01:53] Actually, because I believe you got your yoga therapy license through them and you had seen
[00:01:58] you on their social media and that's how I found you.
[00:02:01] Yeah.
[00:02:02] I love that.
[00:02:03] I mean, I love that you have such an interest in science and research and you're bringing
[00:02:07] kind of both worlds together, right, of that and then all of your healing modalities
[00:02:10] and what's helped you feel.
[00:02:12] So then what drew you first to working with me?
[00:02:17] What were you struggling with and why did you want to work in this type of kind
[00:02:22] of mind-body way?
[00:02:23] Sure.
[00:02:24] So I think that I've always been attracted to the healthcare field, but I realized that
[00:02:33] in Western medicine, there is something missing there and it's that holistic piece.
[00:02:39] And that's what you offer in your therapy services.
[00:02:42] And that's one of the reasons why I was so attracted to what you offered was because
[00:02:47] you serve the entire human and not just one aspect.
[00:02:53] And at the time I was dealing with burnout, I had what I referred to as chronic fatigue
[00:03:02] or ME-CFS and I only knew that because I was working in the field at the time.
[00:03:08] And in the ME-CFS, long COVID, chronic fatigue field, it's pretty, at the moment, there's
[00:03:16] no findings that are pointing to a cure.
[00:03:21] So when I was going through this journey, I was pretty hopeless.
[00:03:25] I didn't think that I'd ever have no symptoms again.
[00:03:30] I never thought that I would just be baseline again.
[00:03:32] I just assumed that for the rest of my life, I would be dealing with waves of symptoms.
[00:03:39] And so when I came across you through my vinyasa practice, I think you had shared
[00:03:44] your own story with healing through chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, very similar things
[00:03:51] to what I was dealing with.
[00:03:52] And so I think just seeing that connection there, how you healed yourself.
[00:03:59] And also, I love the videos of you dancing ecstatically in your living room.
[00:04:03] I was just like, yes, this is my girl.
[00:04:06] That all, I think, was just the pieces I needed to begin working with someone.
[00:04:13] Do you know what started some of your symptoms?
[00:04:17] Like what were the precursors?
[00:04:18] Do you have an understanding of how it came about?
[00:04:23] Like, yes, there, yes and no, I want to say.
[00:04:26] So my symptoms started my sophomore year of college
[00:04:31] when I got Epstein-Barr virus or mono.
[00:04:34] I was in bed for like a month.
[00:04:35] And I just recall after that having insane fatigue.
[00:04:39] The pain didn't start then.
[00:04:41] I would say the pain started more so when I was living in New York City after graduation
[00:04:47] from college and I was working in a high stress environment.
[00:04:52] There was a lot.
[00:04:53] It was a toxic work environment for sure.
[00:04:55] And there was a lot of shame that I was experiencing myself from not being able
[00:04:59] to work to their expectations in a sense.
[00:05:04] And so from our work together, I now recognize that a lot of the symptoms
[00:05:09] that I was feeling was the shame in my body, like the shame cycles
[00:05:14] that I was going through and putting myself through this form of like perfectionism
[00:05:20] that I never realized I had.
[00:05:23] That was really interesting because for most people that know me,
[00:05:27] they would never, ever, ever describe me as a perfectionist.
[00:05:32] And I think from looking at me from the outside, you would never say that.
[00:05:35] But from internally looking in, I definitely see it now.
[00:05:40] It makes a lot of sense.
[00:05:41] I want to touch on a couple of things here.
[00:05:43] I want to back up first to, I mean, the fact that you were literally
[00:05:47] working in this field and researching in the CFS, right?
[00:05:51] And you actually have a, there's a lot of people that start that have
[00:05:56] symptoms starting after used to be a lot of EBV, Epstein-Barr virus,
[00:06:01] mono. Now we're seeing a lot of it post COVID, right?
[00:06:05] So long COVID.
[00:06:06] So there are a lot of people.
[00:06:07] That's why I ask people listening to this will resonate with that
[00:06:11] and recognize that's how their symptoms kind of started as well
[00:06:15] or just lingered after they had something happen, right?
[00:06:18] I think it's important for everyone in this community to know
[00:06:22] your symptoms are not like they are real manifestations of a disease.
[00:06:28] In the research field, we are seeing clear manifestations of illness
[00:06:32] in the body. There's dysbiosis in the gut microbiome, in the
[00:06:37] metabolome, in the, you know, the way that energy is produced in the body.
[00:06:42] So there are physical manifestations of this illness that are showing up.
[00:06:47] So it's not just all in your head.
[00:06:49] And I think a lot of people have been told that.
[00:06:51] And it's really fascinating for me who had gone through this
[00:06:55] because I'm a scientist at heart.
[00:06:58] I completely believed the community when they were saying, you know,
[00:07:01] people have been telling us it's all in our head.
[00:07:03] It's not all in our head. It's not psychosomatic.
[00:07:05] But when you think about how stress impacts the body,
[00:07:10] we know that stress causes illness.
[00:07:13] So it's like, why wouldn't this stress be causing
[00:07:17] clear manifestations of illness in the body?
[00:07:19] So I just think it's all fascinating how everything sort of like came up for me.
[00:07:25] Thank you so much for saying that.
[00:07:27] It is so true.
[00:07:28] And it's really helpful to hear from someone who literally is seeing that
[00:07:32] research and science, because, yes, it is like truly you're having physical
[00:07:36] symptoms, physical manifestations of stress.
[00:07:40] We can say that a little more simplistically, but for more of what
[00:07:42] you said, what's happening in the body is really happening.
[00:07:46] And so you're right.
[00:07:47] We've been told a lot of people have been told, like maybe you're just
[00:07:50] kind of it's in your head or like it's more psychological, right?
[00:07:54] Which is true, but it doesn't mean it's not happening.
[00:07:58] So, yes, making that connection and realization is really important
[00:08:01] so that you're not just feeling so dismissed and like you don't know
[00:08:04] what to do with yourself.
[00:08:06] Exactly. Yeah.
[00:08:07] I think just working in this field, there's so much hopelessness.
[00:08:12] And I want people to understand that, like, there is another side
[00:08:18] and I've experienced that other side.
[00:08:19] It's just like it's wild.
[00:08:22] So then you were talking about how one of the big insights for you was
[00:08:26] recognizing your shame and perfectionism pattern, leading to
[00:08:31] the stress in your body or how do you see that leading to symptoms?
[00:08:36] Well, I think that so I'm a chronic overthinker.
[00:08:40] I'm in my head constantly.
[00:08:43] And so a lot of what was coming up for me was a shame cycle
[00:08:48] after like social events.
[00:08:51] And I started noticing that I would I would go to a social event.
[00:08:55] I would communicate with people.
[00:08:57] I would have whatever, you know, good time, a bad time.
[00:09:00] Didn't matter how the event went.
[00:09:02] I would go home after and just ruminate on everything that I said.
[00:09:08] I was definitely like a perfectionist in the way that I wanted to
[00:09:11] present myself to the world.
[00:09:13] And I think holding all those expectations within me
[00:09:17] caused the symptoms in a sense because there was no release of them.
[00:09:21] I was just holding them in and I was just in this constant state of shame.
[00:09:26] And when we're not recognizing that shame or perfectionism,
[00:09:30] it's well, we're not consciously recognizing it.
[00:09:32] I will say it's happening unconsciously.
[00:09:34] And so that's when for people understanding this pattern,
[00:09:37] that's when our brains are saying we don't want to feel that shame.
[00:09:41] We don't want to feel, you know, those emotions,
[00:09:43] those beliefs that are happening unconsciously.
[00:09:46] So that's why we're going to kick on some of these symptoms,
[00:09:49] like fatigue or brain fog to kind of just shut you down in a way.
[00:09:54] Fatigue is a way to shut us down, right?
[00:09:56] We're just unable to really move through and be in life.
[00:10:00] So that's how that pattern can happen.
[00:10:03] And I see this so often, especially in chronic fatigue and me, patient
[00:10:06] or clients, people that struggle with it.
[00:10:10] For sure. That reminds me of the window of tolerance work
[00:10:13] that we were working on together.
[00:10:15] And the like the different phases of the nervous system.
[00:10:19] What helps you in understanding the window of tolerance?
[00:10:22] I think it's helped me see that
[00:10:26] there was a range of experience
[00:10:30] that my nervous system was able to safely respond to.
[00:10:35] And then there's and then once I fill up that window,
[00:10:39] that's when I experience overwhelm.
[00:10:41] And that's when my nervous system goes into a state of overwhelm.
[00:10:44] So sort of just understanding my own range.
[00:10:48] And I'm still not there yet.
[00:10:49] I still don't know exactly like what that what that line is.
[00:10:53] But just knowing the different stages of my nervous system
[00:10:58] and like that I have a window of tolerance has helped me.
[00:11:02] Just just the awareness of that has just helped me.
[00:11:07] Yeah, definitely.
[00:11:09] And so for those listening, the window of tolerance
[00:11:11] is basically the the window of available experiences
[00:11:16] that we can go through, we can experience in life
[00:11:19] and be OK with, be in a regulated state of our nervous system.
[00:11:23] When we're pushed outside that window of tolerance,
[00:11:26] which happens over time when we experience chronic stressors,
[00:11:29] whether that's mental health, emotional health, physical stressors,
[00:11:32] so that can be anything from like
[00:11:34] Epstein-Barr virus to a big life transition to a loss
[00:11:38] to anything that can stress our bodies out.
[00:11:41] That over time, that window shrinks.
[00:11:43] And so when people deal with chronic symptoms
[00:11:46] like fatigue or pain, our window is probably pretty small.
[00:11:51] And so anything that happens in our life
[00:11:53] and it can be small throughout the day, little stressors,
[00:11:56] just push us outside of that.
[00:11:57] And we just that's where we're dysregulated.
[00:11:59] That's where our stress response kicks on.
[00:12:01] And so I think Cindy is saying like just understanding that
[00:12:05] helped her maybe think about or reflect on how to get more
[00:12:09] into that window.
[00:12:11] And what we do is help expand it basically
[00:12:13] through regulation techniques and tools.
[00:12:16] That's exactly it, Grace. Yeah. Thank you.
[00:12:19] Yeah. OK.
[00:12:20] So you mentioned that there were some of your
[00:12:24] aha moments or kind of insights where you recognize
[00:12:27] the shame spiral, the perfectionism,
[00:12:29] understanding that window of tolerance really helped you.
[00:12:32] What else helped in recognizing that you can find relief
[00:12:37] from chronic fatigue by this work through this work?
[00:12:40] I mean, there's so many exercises we did together
[00:12:43] that helped me.
[00:12:44] I will say that along with the ones I spoke about before,
[00:12:48] I really want to point out the red, yellow, green zone
[00:12:50] indicators exercise because I feel like that's been
[00:12:54] the biggest driver to my success.
[00:12:57] It's just understanding where I am and removing the shame
[00:13:01] that I'm feeling because there's a separation from my emotions
[00:13:05] and my body.
[00:13:06] There's this detachment, in a sense,
[00:13:10] where I don't put the shame on me anymore.
[00:13:13] It's like, no, it's just my nervous system
[00:13:15] and there's a level of compassion that I can put on that,
[00:13:18] knowing that it's my nervous system that's activated right now.
[00:13:21] You know, if I'm noticing that, you know,
[00:13:24] I'm in a state of hopelessness and and I'm just, you know,
[00:13:28] very tense and there's a lot of intrusive thoughts
[00:13:30] and, you know, shaming myself
[00:13:33] like I can say to myself, Sid, back up a sec.
[00:13:37] Like this isn't you.
[00:13:38] This is the red zone talking and then that automatically
[00:13:42] like just adds so much compassion for myself and for my body
[00:13:47] that I can get out of that shame cycle.
[00:13:50] So I will say that's been one of the most healing exercises
[00:13:55] for me. I actually have the post it right in front of me
[00:13:58] right now, the whole triangle with all of my symptoms in each zone.
[00:14:02] So I love that.
[00:14:03] I have a post and a video on exactly what she's describing.
[00:14:07] And then actually I'm going to have the founder of the feel good scale
[00:14:10] come on the podcast. So looking forward to that soon.
[00:14:12] So I'll link all those things to get you a better idea
[00:14:15] because I can't go into all of it right now.
[00:14:17] But the idea is when we're learning about our nervous systems,
[00:14:21] we want to recognize our indicators of which zone that we're in.
[00:14:26] When we're in the stress response, when we're in the relaxation response,
[00:14:30] basically those are the two and then the stress response has a couple
[00:14:34] different zones. So when you can identify your indicators
[00:14:38] of a stressed out nervous system, then we can help you become aware of it
[00:14:41] and become a little bit more as anything detached in a way
[00:14:45] to just recognize, oh, that's my nervous system.
[00:14:48] That's a little stressed, provide compassion and help yourself through it.
[00:14:53] So that's why it's really important for us to understand
[00:14:56] like personally, our nervous system stressed out indicators
[00:15:00] like what symptom or what symptoms, emotions, thoughts, feelings
[00:15:04] are going on when we're in each zone.
[00:15:06] So yeah, that awareness is huge.
[00:15:08] And that's why some of the first thing I do with anyone in our program
[00:15:12] or individually. So yeah, yeah, I'm glad you pointed that out.
[00:15:17] That's a good one. Of course, yeah, my favorite.
[00:15:20] And then just to touch on the most transformative practice
[00:15:24] that we did together.
[00:15:26] And this was during a session, just one of our talk therapy sessions.
[00:15:30] You guided me through a meditation, which you call somatic tracking.
[00:15:35] And in that exercise, you cured me of my fatigue,
[00:15:41] my brain fog, the pain in my body.
[00:15:44] It was the most wild experience I've ever had.
[00:15:48] And I just recall like it's the most simple thing.
[00:15:52] And when I remember at the end of our program, you asked us,
[00:15:57] you know, what what practices are we going to continue, including in our life?
[00:16:02] And I said that one and I just don't understand how it works, but it does.
[00:16:06] And it's really just sitting and staying present with what's showing up for you
[00:16:11] and just reminding yourself that you're safe as you're feeling these emotions,
[00:16:15] you're safe to stay in your body because I think that was something
[00:16:18] that I had to work on was feeling safe in my body.
[00:16:22] And when I didn't feel safe in my body, I would like dissociate
[00:16:25] and just remove myself.
[00:16:26] So I wasn't feeling the emotions that were happening inside of me.
[00:16:31] So that's somatic tracking exercise, just like experiencing that,
[00:16:36] just sitting there and breathing through the emotions.
[00:16:38] And then watching the emotions in my body just move and tracking their course.
[00:16:45] The wildest thing was when my fatigue just flew up out of my right eye.
[00:16:51] I don't know how else to describe it, but it was the weirdest sensation.
[00:16:56] And I haven't had that same fatigue since.
[00:17:01] Hey, friend, it's Grace.
[00:17:02] I know you're tired of feeling like managing your physical and mental health
[00:17:06] is just one big moving target.
[00:17:07] I also know that you've spent years of your life and hundreds of dollars
[00:17:10] on doctor's visits, juice cleanses, fad diets and fancy supplements,
[00:17:14] only to feel like nothing about your chronic symptoms has changed.
[00:17:18] If this sounds like you, consider this your invitation to find a holistic health
[00:17:22] protocol that works for you and your body, even if you have chronic symptoms,
[00:17:26] unhealed trauma or a dysregulated nervous system.
[00:17:29] That's exactly what's waiting for you inside the mind, body healing method.
[00:17:33] My 12 week group program that's designed to help you say body
[00:17:36] or chronic symptoms through learning how to regulate your nervous system,
[00:17:39] retrain your brain and heal unresolved trauma.
[00:17:42] Our clients have found relief from even the most chronic of symptoms,
[00:17:45] including fibromyalgia, sciatica, migraines, gut issues
[00:17:49] and other uncomfortable symptoms without pills or a long list of rituals and regimens.
[00:17:54] If you'd like to learn more about our program, head over to the show notes
[00:17:57] and learn more because the truth is that there is a protocol that works for you.
[00:18:02] You just might not have found the right balance for your body yet.
[00:18:06] Now, let's get back to the episode.
[00:18:08] I remember that specific moment.
[00:18:11] I do. And I want to say to that it wasn't me.
[00:18:15] You were doing it.
[00:18:16] I was just leading you through a practice because it is just it is a practice.
[00:18:22] I record that I teach everyone at it and you're right.
[00:18:24] It's actually very basic.
[00:18:26] But the idea, actually, to your point earlier,
[00:18:29] is separating ourselves from whatever we're experiencing.
[00:18:34] That's the whole point becoming neutral towards our sensations.
[00:18:38] And I say sensation specifically, not pain or fatigue
[00:18:42] because pain or fatigue has a negative connotation to it, right?
[00:18:47] But if we say sensations, which is why it's called somatically tracking sensations,
[00:18:52] we're just becoming neutral to whatever's there, not making meaning of it,
[00:18:57] not attaching fear to it, not attaching issues, problems, whatever,
[00:19:01] just allowing ourselves to become aware, neutral and let them pass by
[00:19:07] so they don't get so stuck.
[00:19:09] That's what happens in our symptoms.
[00:19:11] And that's what somatic tracking is.
[00:19:13] It's also I will also leak that as well in the show notes.
[00:19:17] It's one of the basic tenets of pain reprocessing therapy, which is therapy.
[00:19:21] I'm trained in and what a lot of the work that we do is in.
[00:19:24] And so, yeah, I will always remember that session.
[00:19:27] I remember your face lit up and it was like, oh, my gosh, it's gone.
[00:19:32] I didn't know that's possible.
[00:19:34] It was a while after 10 years of experiencing symptoms like that.
[00:19:37] And just one session, it's gone.
[00:19:40] It's gone.
[00:19:41] And, like, you know, the the fatigue comes back from time to time.
[00:19:46] The brain fog comes back a little bit more.
[00:19:48] I would say, like, I'm actually experiencing brain fog this week
[00:19:51] because I've just had a stressful week, but they don't linger anymore.
[00:19:55] And I and when I recognize that they're coming up,
[00:19:58] I know what practice is to use to support myself.
[00:20:03] It's wild. Yeah.
[00:20:05] That's what I was just going to ask.
[00:20:07] How often do you still do somatic tracking?
[00:20:09] Do you still use those tools?
[00:20:12] I definitely, like I said, I have the red light.
[00:20:14] I call it red light green light in front of me at all times.
[00:20:18] So I always use that.
[00:20:20] I'm not the best at staying true to it.
[00:20:23] But when I do remember, it's very helpful.
[00:20:27] Somatic tracking, I don't follow your meditation anymore
[00:20:31] just because of the energy modality that I work with.
[00:20:34] I have to be a clear channel and just work with my own energy.
[00:20:37] So I do the essence of somatic tracking just, you know,
[00:20:42] as a self-guided meditation and that I do almost every day.
[00:20:46] Yeah, that's huge.
[00:20:48] Yeah, definitely doesn't have to be my voice or anything.
[00:20:50] That it's just the practice, the idea of becoming neutral,
[00:20:53] tracking yourself, becoming mindful and tracking those symptoms.
[00:20:57] You've always been interested in health care, your yoga teacher.
[00:21:00] You've been interested in energy.
[00:21:02] You do research and science.
[00:21:04] What was missing from your holistic way of living and research
[00:21:07] and what you're into that prevented you from making some progress in your symptoms?
[00:21:13] Yeah, for sure.
[00:21:14] There's a lot of ways that I can go about answering this.
[00:21:17] But I would say that the thing I was missing most
[00:21:21] and I only recently realized this is the structure, I think.
[00:21:26] And, you know, yoga philosophy provides a structure.
[00:21:29] I just maybe it didn't resonate with me.
[00:21:32] I didn't, you know, study it as hard as other people have
[00:21:37] where it's helped them.
[00:21:38] And then with energy healing, it's a bit different
[00:21:43] because the work that I do, it's not targeting anything specific.
[00:21:49] Like so, for instance, in Reiki, you can target specific organs,
[00:21:54] specific types of healing in Reiki and correct me if I'm wrong
[00:21:57] because I'm not a Reiki master.
[00:21:59] In Marconics, what we do is we connect the client with their higher self.
[00:22:04] And so your higher self is directing
[00:22:06] the type of healing that's necessary for you.
[00:22:08] And so I think that there was a lesson here for me
[00:22:14] as to why I couldn't get this type of healing through energy healing.
[00:22:20] And I almost want to say it's because I'm a very efficient person.
[00:22:25] I want to get to the end as quick as possible.
[00:22:30] It's just who I am.
[00:22:31] I just want to get to the end.
[00:22:33] But when you think about life, getting to the end means getting to
[00:22:37] the end of your life.
[00:22:38] Like, do you really want to be there just yet?
[00:22:41] You know, I'm 30 years old.
[00:22:42] I don't want to be at the end of my life just yet.
[00:22:44] So I think there was a lesson here for me as to like slow down
[00:22:48] and sort of simmer in life a little bit.
[00:22:51] Enjoy this 3D world that we're living in.
[00:22:55] And instead of just trying to, you know, expand my consciousness
[00:23:00] every single day, what is that going to give me?
[00:23:03] That's just going to continue separating me from other people.
[00:23:07] So I think in a very simple way of explaining all of this,
[00:23:14] I think essentially my higher self was saying,
[00:23:17] you have to do this the Earth way.
[00:23:19] Do this tangibly, understand the process, know what's going on.
[00:23:24] Because I like to compare energy healing to like a session of therapy,
[00:23:31] because that's essentially what I would experience is I would do a
[00:23:35] merconics, no touch session.
[00:23:36] And the next day I was looking at all of my problems at a bird's eye view.
[00:23:41] I could see so many different layers of a situation.
[00:23:45] It was just this higher perspective that you get sort of on, you know,
[00:23:49] psychedelics or by an altering drugs, but I wasn't taking any substance.
[00:23:53] This was all just consciousness streaming through.
[00:23:57] I think it just was the universe saying to me,
[00:24:00] Sid, slow down and just stay in the present moment and just enjoy living on Earth.
[00:24:05] That sounds fascinating.
[00:24:06] I'm super interested in that work.
[00:24:08] And if you've been here listening, you know, I have all types of modalities
[00:24:11] that I use because truly, I believe there's a physical, mental, emotional,
[00:24:16] spiritual, spiritual component to our healing.
[00:24:18] And yeah, as Sydney is noting, sometimes we do have to get
[00:24:22] into the structure, if you will, or kind of the details in the weeds
[00:24:26] of what's going on to help unravel some of what's going on in our brain
[00:24:30] and our nervous system.
[00:24:32] That to say, I truly do see all components as helpful.
[00:24:35] So once we can find more of a foundation in our bodies and less stress
[00:24:40] response, a lot of these other healing modalities can take you further.
[00:24:45] That's what I usually tell people.
[00:24:46] I was just talking actually to a functional NP the other day saying
[00:24:50] that's exactly how I see this, right?
[00:24:52] We can make progress in our nervous system and retrain our brains
[00:24:56] to help us have a little bit more of a foundation.
[00:24:59] So we're not our bodies are literally not just like stuck and stressed out
[00:25:02] all the time. Then from there, all these other interventions
[00:25:05] can take us further, whether that is physical, functional medicine,
[00:25:09] whether that's energy healing, whatever it is.
[00:25:11] So yeah, thanks for explaining that because I think that's kind of
[00:25:14] where I'm summarizing or I'm taking it further.
[00:25:16] But that's what I'm hearing you say.
[00:25:19] Yes, definitely.
[00:25:21] And thanks, everyone, for receiving that.
[00:25:22] I don't usually talk about my esoteric stuff to just the open world.
[00:25:29] Yeah, I love it.
[00:25:30] I know there will be plenty of people that are interested.
[00:25:33] Yeah, it is, it is vulnerable.
[00:25:36] So, OK, there's one more question I want to ask around your progress.
[00:25:41] You sent me a screenshot of a little bit ago, a wrap about your
[00:25:45] aura ring and you noticed some details around it since we've been
[00:25:49] working together. Can you share that?
[00:25:51] I can.
[00:25:52] So what I noticed was around heart rate variability.
[00:25:56] And I'm not going to go into the science of it.
[00:25:58] But what I'm going to say is that it's a measure of someone's
[00:26:01] stress level and Grace, I'll let you speak to it if you want to.
[00:26:06] But essentially what I noticed is that while we started working together,
[00:26:10] so I joined the program November of 2022, I want to say.
[00:26:17] Right. Yeah, we're in 2024.
[00:26:19] I got my aura ring in August of that year.
[00:26:23] So I was able to see what my quote unquote baseline was
[00:26:27] prior to working with you.
[00:26:28] So from August to November.
[00:26:30] And then when we started working together, we began November to,
[00:26:35] I want to say, we stopped working together in March.
[00:26:39] I took a break and then I started doing sessions with you again
[00:26:42] in May or June, I want to say.
[00:26:46] And so what I saw was I direct
[00:26:49] correlation between working with you and my heart rate variability.
[00:26:54] And my heart rate variability, I forget the exact measures,
[00:26:58] but I want to say it went up five to 10 points.
[00:27:02] It wasn't just like, you know, one or two variations.
[00:27:05] Like it was pretty significant for me.
[00:27:07] And obviously, you know, it's not a linear line.
[00:27:10] It's not like it's always increasing.
[00:27:13] There would be months where, you know, I'd have a higher
[00:27:16] heart rate variability and then other months where I'd dip back down.
[00:27:19] And that's honestly usually what it does.
[00:27:21] It's like an ebb and flow.
[00:27:23] But what I noticed was during that period when I was working with you,
[00:27:26] it was substantially higher than my baseline.
[00:27:30] When we stopped working together, it would always go back down.
[00:27:34] And so we've I think we've been doing like once a month
[00:27:37] sessions since I got married in October.
[00:27:41] And they're obviously they're helpful, but we haven't been doing them
[00:27:45] to the same extent whereas like when I was in the program.
[00:27:48] And so over the holidays, I noticed my heart rate variability went back down
[00:27:52] and I'm back at like the baseline I was two years ago.
[00:27:56] So now it's just being aware of that.
[00:27:58] So I can continue to add things, add more tools,
[00:28:03] add more feel good activities into my day to sort of get me back into that space.
[00:28:09] Yeah, exactly.
[00:28:10] I will mention first that heart rate variability to her point is in a simplistic
[00:28:16] form, it is a measure of stress.
[00:28:17] So when you have a higher heart rate variability, you want to have a higher one.
[00:28:21] You're essentially your baseline in your nervous system.
[00:28:24] Your heart rate is a little bit lower.
[00:28:26] It's not so stressed up.
[00:28:28] But when it is lower, there's a little bit more stress.
[00:28:31] So sometimes that's a little confusing because you don't think of wanting
[00:28:34] something higher, right?
[00:28:35] But you do when it comes to heart rate variability.
[00:28:38] So it was just, it was fascinating.
[00:28:40] It was just like, oh my God, literally from November to I think March,
[00:28:44] like you're saying, it truly went up.
[00:28:47] And I will note this too, is that the point is not to continue working
[00:28:51] together forever to help that, right?
[00:28:53] I don't want that to necessarily be the message, but at the same time,
[00:28:57] noting what helps us when we work together so you can repeat that
[00:29:00] outside of, well, just in your daily life, right?
[00:29:04] Which is super important.
[00:29:06] So thanks for sharing that.
[00:29:07] I think that was fascinating.
[00:29:09] You're welcome.
[00:29:10] Just the transformations I've seen, I hope that anyone else who is
[00:29:15] going through similar symptoms or just, you know, fatigue, pain that
[00:29:19] I was going through has some hope that there are ways that you
[00:29:24] can heal from this.
[00:29:27] And like great days where there's no pain, no brain fog, no fatigue.
[00:29:34] There is another side.
[00:29:36] Thank you for saying that, because I can talk about it all day long,
[00:29:39] but it's really helpful to hear from someone who's truly gone through it.
[00:29:42] Who's not me, right?
[00:29:45] For sure.
[00:29:45] Thank you.
[00:29:46] Yeah.
[00:29:47] Problem case.
[00:29:48] Thank you for having me.
[00:29:49] Yeah.
[00:29:50] Yeah.
[00:29:50] Okay.
[00:29:51] One more thing.
[00:29:52] And well, you've touched on this a little bit.
[00:29:54] So I guess I'll ask, will you add anything to what you've been
[00:29:58] doing and sustaining your progress?
[00:30:00] Like what are some important things that you keep doing?
[00:30:03] So the first thing I'll say is, and this goes back to even before
[00:30:07] working with you, I've been doing this probably my whole life.
[00:30:10] And that's journaling.
[00:30:12] I never really saw it as something that helped me that much
[00:30:16] until the last few years.
[00:30:19] For me as a kid, it was a way for me to like vent to someone
[00:30:22] that was, you know, not a friend.
[00:30:25] I can share all my secrets too.
[00:30:27] And I think over the years, I just developed this practice
[00:30:30] where I would just say all the things I couldn't say to anyone
[00:30:33] in this diary of mine.
[00:30:35] And over the years, it turned into a brain dump.
[00:30:37] And it's just been a really fascinating journey to see my
[00:30:41] own journey written in words over the years, because I can go
[00:30:45] back to when I was in first grade and just see, you know,
[00:30:51] who Sidney was back then.
[00:30:53] Journaling is one of my favorite practices that I will
[00:30:56] continue to use for the rest of my life.
[00:30:58] And the second thing I want to touch on is this exercise
[00:31:04] that you gave me too.
[00:31:05] And I don't think this is part of your program, but it was
[00:31:09] trying to find my authentic code words for just navigating life.
[00:31:13] And that also goes into the structure of things like just
[00:31:17] adding a foundation that I can work off of in my life.
[00:31:21] So nailing down my four authentic code words and being
[00:31:25] able to make decisions based off of that has been life changing.
[00:31:30] I feel so much more clear now in my ability to make decisions.
[00:31:34] It's been wild.
[00:31:35] So I highly recommend figuring out your code words, your
[00:31:38] authentic code words, if you haven't already.
[00:31:42] Yeah, actually, it is now we're putting in a practice
[00:31:46] to help identify our words that are authentic to us.
[00:31:49] But really, it's similar to identifying your values and
[00:31:53] your purpose and what's important to you in life.
[00:31:55] And then acting from that, because often we see when we
[00:31:59] keep dismissing ourselves throughout probably most of our
[00:32:02] life when we are trying to live in a way that's probably
[00:32:06] probably we've been taught from either society, family, friends,
[00:32:09] whatever it may be.
[00:32:11] It's not our authentic way of living.
[00:32:13] It's not doesn't actually meet our purpose and our needs in life.
[00:32:16] So when we can identify actually what's more true to ourselves,
[00:32:20] then our bodies can actually feel more safe.
[00:32:22] It can feel more grounded.
[00:32:24] It can feel more have that stronger foundation to where
[00:32:27] then you make decisions from those values, from that authentic
[00:32:30] those authentic words for yourself.
[00:32:32] So yeah, it actually is in the program now because it's
[00:32:36] super, super valuable.
[00:32:37] And I'm glad that really helped you.
[00:32:39] I'm so glad to hear that because, yeah, it's helped
[00:32:42] me significantly.
[00:32:44] Yeah.
[00:32:45] Yeah, it's been wild.
[00:32:47] It's been a wild journey working with you really.
[00:32:50] It's been so amazing to see.
[00:32:52] Oh, so amazing.
[00:32:53] I love it.
[00:32:54] And I'm just so grateful for you to come and share your journey
[00:32:57] because I know it is it is vulnerable to do to share your story.
[00:33:00] But I really appreciate it.
[00:33:01] And I know people will get a lot from this as well.
[00:33:04] Thank you.
[00:33:04] It is one of my I don't want to say a nearest resolution,
[00:33:07] but one of my goals for the year was to be more
[00:33:09] vulnerable and to share more of myself.
[00:33:12] So thank you for inviting me on and allowing me to do that.
[00:33:16] You are welcome.
[00:33:17] One last question I like to ask everyone, what are you
[00:33:21] using on right now when your wellness journey?
[00:33:24] What's lighting you up?
[00:33:27] Could be anything.
[00:33:29] Right now, I want to say mindfulness is I used to study mindfulness a bunch
[00:33:37] and some reason got away from it.
[00:33:41] It is so damn helpful.
[00:33:43] I compare it a lot to energy healing where it kind of gives you
[00:33:46] a detached view of like a situation.
[00:33:50] Like that objective view, bird's eye view.
[00:33:53] So it's been really fun going back to that.
[00:33:56] It's a wonderful basic practice.
[00:33:58] But well, I say basic.
[00:34:01] I love my basic practices.
[00:34:02] Yeah.
[00:34:03] And I mean, the thing is, they're so powerful.
[00:34:06] Some of the most basic practices are just so powerful.
[00:34:09] So, yeah, wonderful.
[00:34:11] All right.
[00:34:12] Thanks, Sydney.
[00:34:13] No problem.
[00:34:14] Thank you, Grace.
[00:34:16] If this podcast means something to you, it would mean so much to me.
[00:34:19] If you could do these couple things, one, go to the Heal with Grace
[00:34:23] Show page wherever you listen and tap the plus sign or click on the
[00:34:26] follow button so you don't miss an episode.
[00:34:29] It helps both of us out.
[00:34:30] While you're there, if you could give a five star review so that
[00:34:34] this podcast can reach more people, it would mean so much to me.
[00:34:38] So I can continue sharing episodes that help you as well as others.
[00:34:42] Thanks for listening.
[00:34:43] And I hope this brings you hope on your journey.