Wake up and Thrive
Bridget Covill is a Feminine Embodiment/ Relationship Coach, a wife, a mom of 4, and a Women's health RN sharing tangible tools to help you FEEL wildly turned on by life again. She is the CEO of Find Her Wild Coaching. In this space, we will apply holistic coaching tools to everyday moments that we deem hard. Instead of allowing these experiences to keep us stuck, we will lean into their lessons and let them wake us up. These tools will help you connect deeper to yourself, your purpose, and to the people in your life. Grab a cup of coffee, have something to take notes and keep an open mind. It's time....it's time to WAKE UP & THRIVE.
Wake up and Thrive
EP 79- The Healing Rhythm: Breathwork and Gut Health Unveiled with Abby King
In today's episode I sit down with Abby King, whose expertise in nutrition and integrative health offers a new perspective on how our gut, breath, and mental health weave together to form the tapestry of our overall health. We dive into Abby's personal health journey, revealing how it sparked her to champion a holistic approach that marries nutritional basics with the power of breathwork and nervous system regulation.
We discuss the art of listening deeply to our bodies' cues and the importance of tailoring physical health strategies to the individual rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach. But it's not just about the physical; the emotional aspect plays a vital role in our gut health. Together with Abby, we explore how addressing emotional undercurrents can lead to profound healing and how practices like breathwork serve as a bridge connecting mental and physical health. We share stories that illustrate the transformative power of nurturing not just the body, but also the mind and spirit, charting a course toward deep, lasting change. Tune in to discover how to orchestrate your path to well-being with wisdom and sensitivity.
Meet Abby:
Abby King is a Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS), has a Masters in Nutrition and Integrative health and is a certified RESET Breathwork Facilitator. She is a mind-body nutritionist and practices a bio-individualized approach to nutrition, supporting clients in a variety of health conditions, focusing on preventative health. She specializes in helping clients heal their chronic gut issues and uses a personalized approach to help people heal using nutrition, functional testing, mindfulness and breath work. Her goal is to not only provide the physical tools to keep your brain and body healthy but also the foundation to elevate consciousness and find your bliss in all aspects of your life.
Free Gut Girlie Guide: https://www.blisspointnutrition.com/opt-in-1
Book a free call: https://calendly.com/abby-bliss/strategy-session?month=2024-01
Gut Brain Blueprint program info:
Let's Connect.
If you want to inquire about coaching and receiving support in helping you create stronger connections to yourself, your purpose, and those in your life email me your story here....bridget@findherwildcoaching.com
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Come find me on Instagram: @findherwildcoaching
Check out my website and my offerings here
Hi, my name is Bridget and this is my podcast, wake Up and Thrive. My intention for this space is to help women around the world live more awake, aligned and truly alive. I believe wholeheartedly that we are designed to live, feel and experience the full range that life has to offer, and in doing so, we can live fully turned on in all areas. My story began with sobriety and has since been an initiation into rediscovering parts of myself that I forgot about or had abandoned. Learning to reclaim all of who I am has been the greatest gift of living awake, and together we will go on a journey of helping you to do the same. You can expect to learn practical tools to help you connect deeper to yourself, your purpose and those in your life. All you need is an open heart and an open mind. So if you're ready, it's time. It's time to wake up and thrive. Hello everybody, welcome back to Wake Up and Thrive. I'm so excited for our interview today.
Speaker 1:I have my friend Abby King here, and Abby and I have both worked together. I have worked with her. We also were participated in the breathwork training together, so that's how we met, and then I loved her content. She's so freaking knowledgeable so I actually reached out and have been working with her specifically related to some gut health and skin health issues that I am experiencing, and she is a wealth of information and what I love the most is that she is incredibly holistic. So today we're not just going to talk about gut health, because I know that's such a hot topic and a lot of people can use that information, but she weaves in breathwork and nervous system regulation, because it's that important. So this conversation is going to be filled with lots of information, inspiration and she's just I'm just really excited to have her here. So, abby, thank you for being here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for having me, I'm excited.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so quick. Bio. Abby has Abby King. She has a master's in nutrition and integrative health. She's a certified nutrition specialist, so she has the education and y'all. If you guys are struggling with gut health, I highly recommend booking a call with her. After listening to this, you will, if nothing else, walk away with just a wealth of knowledge. So, abby, I want to throw it off to you and I would love for you to introduce a how you got into this work and then leading up to why. Why would a gut health nutritionist specialist be interested in something like breathwork?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I kind of always like I feel like tell my story and how I got into nutrition and then breathwork in like it's like a three part series almost, but starting with, you know, growing up I had a ton of gut issues. I was kind of always sick, couldn't eat out a lot of times, like always kind of struggling with, with bloating, different symptoms like that. Fast forward to playing sports in college. I was struggling a lot more with those issues with acne, with low energy, and it was weird because I was like I'm exercising three, four hours a day, right, like I'm doing all the right things, and just kind of like not feeling good in my body and also knowing not, that I was not reaching like my greatest capacity in performance. So at that point I really just started. I was like, okay, I'm going to start learning to cook, I'm going to get healthy, you know whatever you think that means at that time. And I actually just started eating more whole foods, started eating less you know refined sugars like the super basic stuff, just generally more anti-inflammatory foods in my diet and within like three months I had had athletic induced asthma and it completely went away. My symptoms started getting better immediately. I could tell like I was less puffy, less inflamed, and so from there I was like kind of hooked.
Speaker 2:I was like, okay, like this is what I want to do, like I'm obsessed, like I need to pursue this as my career, so that I kind of like highlight that that's where it's really important to start with nutrition foundations and just doing the basics, because I think a lot of people jump into like these fancy supplements or fancy protocols and it's like, but first, like let's focus on eating balanced meals, let's focus on eating enough calories, let's focus on getting good sleep and really setting that strong and resilient foundation.
Speaker 2:So that was a big part of kind of like my the start of my journey and really when I decided that I wanted to pursue nutrition. Part two is I was in school studying nutrition at this point and I traveled overseas and actually got really sick, contracted multiple parasites which led to later downstream issues of fungal overgrowth, bacterial overgrowth, and I actually lived for like eight, nine months with all of these things happening and so I didn't really realize because, like I had always kind of had different issues but nothing really seemed that often like of course, always when we're in our symptoms, we don't realize that we're not actually feeling the best version of ourselves and, exactly, you start to normalize it.
Speaker 2:But the thing that really started happening for me was that I was having like anxiety attacks and started having depressive symptoms and I was like wait, this is like not me. Like I started to not feel like myself and actually for school we were required to see a nutritionist to kind of like experience that as a practice as a patient, and she recommended stool testing because I had some other blood work that was like coming back really weird based on like my diet and things like that. So we had that done and basically I found out that like everything was messed up, from the parasites to funguses to extreme inflammation and leaky gut. It was kind of like this. She was like I've never seen a stool test like this.
Speaker 1:So yours was worse than mine.
Speaker 2:Mine, honestly, was worse than like anyone that I've seen so far. It was bad, wow. It was really really extreme. And I will point out that part of that was during that time I was getting my master's. I was working two jobs, so usually 50 to 60 hours a week at least, plus school on top of that, and I was just kind of in that like grind, go, go go mindset, and I wasn't really listening to my body, of course, right Like I was having symptoms, but I just was like no, this is normal. No, this is fine.
Speaker 1:No, that's important, that's important yeah.
Speaker 2:I was like living in that dysregulation and really had lost, kind of all those really strong foundations that I had set years prior. So, fast forward. I'm working with this nutritionist. I have like a whole protocol and doing all the things right and I was getting better right, like I was having less symptoms, I was noticing my mental health improve, like I could tell I was making progress, but I definitely was not feeling like myself. And all the while during this I was still working, doing school, and then, like still in that athlete mindset, like doing like hit workouts on top of this because I had gained weight, and it was really that I was just like I didn't feel like like. I was like this is not my body, but this is not what, like how I'm used to feeling. And that was a really kind of like jarring experience because I was like I didn't change anything with my diet and my exercise and of course, this was all downstream issues from all the gut imbalances and inflammation and then die off from the protocol.
Speaker 1:So wait, meaning, let me pause you meaning that was was it normal for you to be experiencing this anxiety and depression? Like what do you mean? That was like a side effect, sort of of the die off.
Speaker 2:So, basically, when you're going through a gut protocol and you're taking like different antimicrobials or antifungals, when you kill off like that bacteria or fungus, it releases this specific type of toxins that can cause a lot of various symptoms. Sometimes it's like flu like. Sometimes it's like headache. Sometimes it's like I had like crazy acne breakout for like three days Like nothing I'd ever experienced, and just like went away after that. So part of that process, too, is preparing your body prior, making sure you're opening liver detox pathways, making sure that your body is basically prepared to detoxify whatever the die off is going to happen. But I think, going back to your question, I think with the mental health piece, I mean, yes, it was normal to experience some like malaise and lethargy and things like that, but in terms of those symptoms, I was noticing those improving. But I still kind of was just like yeah, exactly Like. I have trouble explaining it beyond just saying like I didn't feel like myself.
Speaker 2:Like I wasn't like waking up and being like, oh, I'm excited, I'm, like you know, inspired.
Speaker 2:Like it was just like waking up and having like so many anxious thoughts, just like rushing in and like feeling like a weight.
Speaker 2:And I think a lot of people experienced that, but don't necessarily always connect it to their physical body, Right, right, like, oh, I'm just anxious, like that's just my personality. So, finally, like during this process, I kind of hit a point where I was just like, okay, I need to like slow down, like I need to just like give myself like time. I can't work out the way that I have been, like it's not helping, it doesn't feel good. And so at that point, like I started, just I was like, okay, I'm going to walk outside in the morning, like that's going to be my workout, I'm going to do that every day. And I just started to slow down and at that time I was focusing more on meditation, I was spending a lot more time outside, I was dedicating specific, like you know, times on my weekends of like I'm not going to do anything, like I'm not going to read for productivity, like I'm going to like go, you know, sit at the park or something you know, like really, really like taking that step back.
Speaker 2:And when I even just made that small shift, I noticed a huge difference and I was like, oh, like things are starting to move right, like I'm starting to actually like make a lot more progress. And actually at that time too, after hitting like the supplements in the diet really hard at the beginning, I kind of gave myself a little less structure there too.
Speaker 1:Wow, Okay, while you were, feeling young.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I was like, okay, like I'm not going to be as strict with, like there's a specific diet I was on for the fungal overgrowth. Like I'm going to like allow you know, some fluidity with it, and so I immediately noticed that that was like a big shift.
Speaker 1:Like what did you notice physically?
Speaker 2:I remember a waking up a day and being like I feel like me again. I remember like sitting at like a park with my boyfriend, like we were like drawing or something and being like is this what like being present, feels like Because I've not had this feeling before yeah, he was like yeah, I know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1:It's because I always describe being present is having your mind be where your body's at Right.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, and I feel like for people who are like in their head a lot and I'm one of those people when you feel those two like connect and come together, it's like whoa, like it's a very strong feeling. And I also started to like connect more with my intuition at this time. Like I had a day where I woke up and I was like, oh, I'm not supposed to work where I'm supposed to work or where I'm currently working anymore, like I'm supposed to start my own business. So it was a lot of like reconnecting with, like the clarity within myself. I guess, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1:It makes sense. I also really like your answer because me being on like my own gut protocol right now and trying to heal my skin and my gut health, it's not a quick fix, right? I hear you say this all the time, so I was wondering if one of your answers was going to be oh, I felt less bloating or this, but the fact that you went to I felt present, like that. That was your noticeable symptom from slowing down, but from most people don't understand the power of that from that place of now being connected to your intuition, now being present in your body, being happy. From that place, like how did your gut health journey sort of transform?
Speaker 2:I think it became a lot less of doing things right on paper and a lot more of like listening to my body and what I actually need.
Speaker 2:I think a lot of people that struggle with issues like I said like have that similar mentality to me of like being in there in your head, like running on the little bit more anxious side of things, and so it's really easy to fall into okay, if I check everything off the list, then I'm going to heal and I'm going to ignore any sign over here that says maybe that's actually not the way that I'm going to heal. What's going to work for me because I'm checking things off the list so I'm going to get the results right, and so instead it's like shifting and being like okay, like I can tell, like when I do these things I actually feel better. I think so many times in the wellness space it's like it's the checklist of like I meditated for 20 minutes, I read 10 pages of my book, I did this workout, I ate this food and like, all of a sudden it's like running your life, but like not in actually a positive way Right and creating more anxiety.
Speaker 2:And that's where I was, and then I shifted into wait. Okay, I actually noticed, like when I spend time outside, like I feel significantly better, like when I actually reincorporated more carbohydrates instead of doing this like lower carb, which was, you know, required for removing the, the funguses and things like that. Like wait, I'm actually starting to feel better. So it was actually like paying attention to my body and not just the science, and I think that that's like what gets lost in nutrition space a lot. It's like we're all over here or all over here, but really it's that like combination approach that we need for healing the structure and then you know the fluidity within that structure.
Speaker 1:You're like describing masculine and feminine, and that's what I love. Yes, and that's the way that I think of it too.
Speaker 1:so I was like, oh, this is perfect, it's so perfect and I will attest to it's one of my favorite parts about you when we were on the call. You have the knowledge and the science, which I know is one of the reasons both you and I joined with the healing couple. Like the science is important. I'm a yes for the science, I'm in the medical system, I get it and there's the human experience, which is not it's not black and white, it's not in a box, and so I do. I do just want to share that like that is feedback from just even our one, two calls.
Speaker 1:I absolutely love your holistic approach and I think you, going through the depths of the pain, right, like you're not just a nutritionist who loves nutrition, like you have actually felt what many of us have feel on a daily basis. So that's what makes you incredibly powerful at what you do and, yeah, you're welcome. So I want to backtrack just a minute and just if you I know this is like a such a big topic, but can you just give my audience an explanation of the gut brain? I think you call it like the access, but what is the relation because I do know oftentimes with the symptoms we're experiencing if the root might be in the gut, but what we're noticing is in the mind.
Speaker 2:So I'll try and like keep it safe. So basically, I think we hear a lot like about how, like the gut affects the brain, but we don't also realize how, like the brain and our nervous system affect our gut. So basically they are connected by the vagus nerve, which you're familiar with. We talked about it in breath work but basically, like our microbiome sends different signals to our brain on how to respond, based on those different levels of bacteria, like very simple, like broad stroke approach. So when we're dealing with like a ton of inflammation or if we have like higher levels of certain bad bacteria that we don't necessarily need to have there, that can create changes in levels of neurotransmitters in our brain, so like serotonin, dopamine usually we hear about those. When we're talking about mental health, it can alter cravings, it can actually alter stress levels and almost the way I like to think of it is like it reduces our resilience and our ability to respond in a beneficial way to stressors in our environment. That was a huge one for me. I just felt like I was like I can't hold the amount of, you know, stress or weight or whatever is that I used to be able to, and then also basically imbalances in the microbiome or things like IBS have been shown to increase likelihood of things like of developing anxiety, depression, any type of mental health or mental illness. So that's kind of how the gut plays into the brain and then, conversely, the brain and the nervous system can affect the gut, and I mean honestly like.
Speaker 2:The list goes on. I'll touch on a few. One is that when our nervous system is in fight or flight mode it shuts off digestion, right, so it shuts off creation of stomach acid, of digestive enzymes, of bile. So basically at that point, like we're not able to really break down and digest food and nutrients, and so that can again then play back into the brain piece too, because without certain micronutrients that's going to affect the function of our brain as well as, like our metabolism, our thyroid, all of those things right, because nutrients do. It can affect motility because, again, when we shut off that digestion it can slow down.
Speaker 2:So people who struggle with constipation, that can actually become worse when we're in that fight or flight mode, or the opposite way, because your body should kind of like, okay, we're getting rid of all this. It can also affect the immune system of your gut. So there's one specific marker that I usually see low on GI map stool tests. But basically it's like your guts immune army or the way that it fights off different Certain overgrowth, microbes, things that might enter your system, and a lot of times when we're in that fight or flight it's actually suppressed and so you can see how the actions on one side will actually lead to worse downstream actions on the other and it kind of just feeds in this cycle. It's just like kind of like very surface level of-.
Speaker 1:No, no, I love surface level and like simple yeah, cause it is a big topic, but it's bi-directional. It's bi-directional is what I'm hearing you say.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:The nervous system affects the gut and the gut affects the nervous system, and you really can't work with one without at least addressing or noticing.
Speaker 2:And yes, I would say the nervous system is a huge root cause for most people's gut issues, whether that's you know. And that's not to say that like we don't have to use supplements and diet and work all that piece. But a lot of times I'll see people do all that stuff correctly and then have their symptoms come back. Because, if you think about it, if you don't actually address the nervous system piece, it's like well, you're gonna end up bloated again, or you're gonna end up with overgrowth again because all of the systems needed in order to keep those in check aren't able to function, because you're in fight or flight all the time.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:So it's usually with the reoccurring symptoms that I see it like the nervous system being like a huge piece.
Speaker 1:Well, it's funny that you said the nervous system is the root cause. I remember on our call, one of the first things I noticed was I came to the call and I'm like I already know Abby like I just can't have gluten and sugar and dairy. I'm working on it and you're like actually food cause. I think that's a misconception as well, so I'd love you to touch on that. You said something to me in the call I'll let you take it over, but something along the lines of like food is actually not always the root cause.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think usually food intolerances are a downstream consequence of some root cause, regardless of what that is. So a lot of times, like people jump to like food intolerance tests or just like trying an elimination diet. They're like, oh, I'm gonna, you know, eliminate gluten or refined sugar or whatever it is, and usually those things will help right, because those are things that if you're already dealing with a lot of gut inflammation, usually like removing gluten or even just like simply eating whole foods, is going to help quite a bit. And so I think that's where that connection is made. People are like well, I took out gluten and I started to feel better and I'm like that's great.
Speaker 2:But if you're still dealing with a ton of inflammation of your gut lining or you still have a bunch of overgrowth, probably after a while you're gonna notice like, oh, that elimination of gluten isn't actually like healing the issue. It's kind of putting a band aid on it or supporting you. But we still have to address that deeper root, which is usually microbiome related. There's all the exceptions, of course, like people who are celiac, like gluten, you know like. But yeah, I would say with majority people it's like kind of missing the forest for the trees.
Speaker 1:Yes, no, yeah for sure, and I would highly recommend anybody listening that's struggling with gut health to get in touch with Abby, because that GMAP testing for me was information that I had never heard of before. I had always been told about the anti-inflammatory route. You know I'm in breath work so I understand the connection there, but I also was still focused on just the food aspect, so highly recommend that for any of my listeners. There was two things I wanna really dive into, partly related to your story and what you talked about.
Speaker 1:I specifically know I'm thinking of a handful of women right now that, like you said, are doing all the things, Part of all of the things are including major workouts like hard workouts, right, but they're eating healthy, they're watching their gut health, they're eating whole foods and they're still experiencing gut issues and they're confused. So what would you talk about? Because you know we're told like, go hard, work out, Like that's great to move the body, but why specifically would working out like you talked about? When you started walking and slowing down, you started to immediately feel the benefits. Can you explain that? Cause I think that's sort of like it's opposite of what we're hearing and I love that you're talking about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think a lot of times with in this space, we want like black and white answers, right. We want like, okay, this type of workout is healthy and this type of workout is like okay. Or like we want like eggs are good for you or eggs are bad for you, or whatever it is right, and like the truth of nutrition is that? Like it's not that simple, like it's a spectrum and it also changes and fluctuates in different phases throughout your life, right? So with the exercise piece, I think what a lot of people don't know or don't understand is that exercise is a stressor on our body, right?
Speaker 1:I don't know, I would never have thought of it that way, but it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so it's. If you think about it in like the kind of like biohacking space, like cold plunges are a stressor on your body, like even like reset breath, like when we're getting into that sympathetic state, like you could probably argue that that's like a stressor to an extent, because we're triggering that sympathetic response and right Like hit exercise or high intensity is doing that same thing. And so when you think about it that way, you're like oh, we're getting into that same sympathetic state that shuts off digestion, that oppresses the immune system of the gut, that does all of those things.
Speaker 1:Ding, ding ding.
Speaker 2:And so at that point it's like okay, wait, is this actually the type of exercise that is serving us at this point, when we're trying to kind of retrain our gut to do all of those things in order to support itself and defend itself.
Speaker 2:So it's like we could be over here triggering that state over and over again, then going to lunch, taking our digestive enzymes and our stomach acid to make sure that we can actually digest our lunch and then staying in that cycle versus okay, maybe we just take some time off of the high intensity exercise. And I will say too that usually when you're in that place of like total inflammation, like trying to deal with and adding on that exercise, it's not actually helping, because when your body's already stressed and then you put it into more stress, it's like okay, like, especially as women like I'm gonna hold on to calories, I'm gonna slow down my metabolism, I'm trying to survive, right. So that's why a lot of times when women are seeing or like doing like high intensity exercise, especially throughout their whole cycle, because that's part of this view right Is that they're actually doing more harm than good.
Speaker 2:And that's not to say like intense exercise is bad. It's more to say that, the same way that you need to listen to your body and what foods you wanna eat, you also need to listen to your body and what exercise is actually serving you. If you feel like, after doing one of those workouts, you feel like, oh my gosh, like I need two cups of coffee to get through the day and I feel like low energy and like all this like is that actually really good for you?
Speaker 1:You know, or to that point like if you're working out because it's a stress reliever, but then when you're not working out, your stress is at a level 10.
Speaker 2:Yes, actually, yes, I think that's a huge piece too. It's like almost looking at like the nervous system is and stress is like okay, here's our capacity. And if your capacity is filled that much, dealing with your inflammation, your gut health, plus like your work, your family, all the other stressors are happening outside of your nutrition, then it's like okay, and your exercise is taking you up here, like is that really helping you? And so I think, yeah, that that was a lot of like my, my experience and my, my journey, and I think that, yeah, people who are struggling with, with issues tend to fall into that more extreme personality type. That's something that I noticed across the board with a lot of my clients. So we're like I can work my way out of this, like if I hold on tight enough and I drive like hard enough, like I can get through this, I can force my way through it, when really, the answer is the exact opposite.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can't force, that doesn't work, doesn't work. But yeah, I mean and I love that, you know this, I've told you this but that specific part of your story really stands out, because I do work with women who say like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, like I work out daily, like that's how I get rid of my stress. And again, I love again your, your holistic approach of it's not wrong, it's not bad. Is it actually serving you in the season, specifically if you're dealing with anxiety, depression, specifically gut health issues, right, and the word you use that was the word I wanted to come back to, because it's a great segue into breathwork and it's how I describe the reset breathwork as well.
Speaker 1:It's that capacity, that resiliency, right. So it's every time we go through a journey, every time we do that, we are stretching this sympathetic nervous system, we are placing stress on the body and you can just kind of reinforce this, because I've talked about this before, but it's this yes, we're not, we're completing the cycle. Cycle and breathwork, which we're not doing in hit workouts, is at least, at least my understanding of it. So do you want to speak a little bit to that? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So that was kind of like how I think the segue to breathwork for me was one I saw this personality emerging in a lot of my clients and also in myself, because I was doing all the right things, I was also doing all the self development things and like I'm going to change my mindset and all that stuff. And then I was like living between, like my brain knows that I want to hold this mindset but my body's like no way. Yeah, that's, that's not where we're at. And so with reset breath, like I feel like a lot of times we talk about like nervous system regulation or like, and the way I think of like regulation is like it's managing right, Like when we do like meditation or even when we do like certain types of breathing patterns that are great as practices, but I think need you know kind of reset to balance them, like you know doing like alternate nostril breathing or like the four, six breaths that do bring you into that parasympathetic state.
Speaker 2:Those are great, especially when you notice yourself falling into that dysregulation, but they aren't going to fix the root of the problem. And so that's why I liked and found the reset breath, because in that we're actually like taking the capacity from here to here. Right, we're actually expanding that window tolerance, yeah, and that we're going to see downstream with your nervous system and your gut issues. Right, Because we're not just taking you back down when you're dysregulated from taking some deep breaths or taking a bubble bath, which is usually what you hear about when people talk about nervous system regulation. Right, it's like no, we're actually retraining the body, yeah, and increasing that capacity.
Speaker 1:I love that you said it that way, abby. Sorry to interrupt because I agree, it's not. Nervous system regulation is not the goal. Nervous system resiliency is the goal. It's exactly. Can you be in a state of stress? And this is how I described the reset. Breath work changed my life. It's not that I don't ever feel stressed or overwhelmed Like I had a freaking tantrum this morning. It's fine, it happens, but I can. I bounce back a lot quicker, I can fold a lot more before I have that tantrum.
Speaker 2:Yes, right, you're able to move in and out of that final flight sympathetic to parasympathetic with a lot more ease, instead of getting up here or like getting even way down here and just being like I can't even do anything, like I'm stuck here and like living your life in that. Instead it's like okay, I got stressed and then I'm back down. Yeah, and it's like and then we move forward.
Speaker 1:Exactly, and that's it. That is, that's like the biggest message. I mean, there's so much information we've talked about, but if they take nothing away, it's building the resiliency. Especially when you talk about this gut protocol, right, like that's a really stressful journey to go on. Yes, even if you're doing all the right things and you're starting to feel better like I'm seeing it, it is. It is not a quick fix, it is a long haul. So, to compare something like that with the reset breath work, not only physically is it helping you, but I'm just. I just imagine there's no way I could go on this gut health journey without having that tool in my back pocket, right, yeah, yeah. So I would love to hear, like, personally, related to gut health, what have you or noticed, either in yourself or in your clients? We talked about, you talked about, like in life, feeling like you could hold the capacity.
Speaker 2:But how does?
Speaker 1:that really translate to helping you on this gut health journey.
Speaker 2:I think for me it is. It's a couple things. One, it's a lot less rigidity, so it's a lot less of like when I didn't, you know, eat the way that I normally do, or like when I didn't like do the morning routine. That like is whatever. It's a lot less of like beating myself up and being like, oh, I should have done this, or like, oh, I didn't, like, you know, didn't do the things. But it's also that with kind of that increased like resilience, like I almost feel like I have an increased resilience to things that usually would throw off my physical body, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1:Can you explain more?
Speaker 2:So like foods, like eating out, even like, like I'll give the example of like gluten, because typically I don't eat gluten. The last few months I've been like playing around with it and like kind of like reintroducing it here and there, trying it, and usually for me, like the biggest thing that I see when I consume gluten is a change in mental health. Like I'll start waking up anxious and like being like, like I'll feel that like almost like neuro inflammation and I haven't been having that and so and like I'm like I haven't changed anything else recently.
Speaker 1:Like so so are you saying there's hope that I could have gluten again?
Speaker 2:I think there's always hope you could have gluten again, unless you have celiac. That it's like okay. Like you know, that's kind of a lifelong sentence, but yeah, so that's just an example. Or like going out to eat and like being able to like splurge a little bit more and not feel really bad after, not feel like, oh, that heaviness, and I think I totally attribute that to like the increase in resilience of my body.
Speaker 2:It's like as we're building that, because the nervous system like touches every aspect of your life, you know. So I feel like that's been like in terms of gut health, because, like I wasn't really like struggling a ton with symptoms of gut health at this point, like when I started doing the facilitator training. So it's hard, it's not like I can be like, oh, I'm less bloated, you know, because I was really struggling with bloating prior. But yeah, I feel like that's been the biggest thing is like noticing that shift of like, oh, I can like play around a little bit more. Or even like before when I would drink like coffee regularly, I would start to get anxious and like now I've been drinking coffee again for a couple months and I haven't been experiencing anxiety, you know so.
Speaker 1:What an amazing gift because I, like I know my cousin who had SIBO. She went on the what is it called?
Speaker 2:The fab diet Fab Fab map.
Speaker 1:That's it. That's it, yeah. And she explained how unbelievably stressful that was. Oh, that's like my least.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, exactly, and I know you have. You know we could go off on like a tangent about that, but I love, I love that example of how breathwork can support this journey. So not only is it greatly impacting your nervous system, which, as you explain, absolutely plays a huge role in the inflammation and your gut, but just even the journey of getting eliminating foods, figuring out what works. It's a journey. It's a very stressful journey. So to have breathwork, to have a nutritionist who can do both, is really unique. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think a lot of people teach both of these, Not that I know of.
Speaker 2:Oh, no, yeah, if you were wrong or something, girl.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So I'm really excited. I'm really excited to watch your work, to continue to work with you and learn from you and grow from you. I would love to first just give you an opportunity. If there's anything else about gut health, about nervous system regulation, breathwork, anything that we haven't covered that you would just love to share with my community. We covered a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was like.
Speaker 2:I feel like that was like rapid fire.
Speaker 2:I feel like the biggest thing, too, with breathwork that we hadn't touched on is the emotional piece and our beliefs around ourselves, because I think, along with the person that I've described, that typically has gut issues, comes a lot of times the energy of proving yourself or questioning self-worth, or connecting self-worth with outer accomplishments and things like that, and so I think that there's almost like an emotional root cause too, and so it's like that like three prong.
Speaker 2:It's like, okay, yeah, we're gonna do all the overgrowth, the stool test, and then, yeah, we're gonna actually regulate the nervous system. And then it's like, wait, actually, though, what are the beliefs and like the emotions that are holding you back from that healing too? Because, like, I think a big part of like my mission is not just like helping people heal their bodies, but it's like, okay, healing your body so that you can like recognize your full potential in your life. And so that's kind of like the icing on the cake that I didn't expect. When I started teacher training was like oh wait, there's this whole emotional piece that so many people, so many of my clients, are also struggling with, that I now also get to bring in just as like an amazing bonus on top of like all this other amazing root cause work that we're doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm actually really glad that you brought that up. I know it's been said before. Like the person you described this overthinker, it's not an overthinking problem, it's an under feeling. And I would add, after going through the breathwork training, it's actually an under expressing problem we are. We might start to get really good at feeling the emotions and being like you know, as you're learning the gut health and you're going through that journey and you're learning to tune into your body. You're learning to tune into your emotions, but it also has to come up and out.
Speaker 2:Yes, that is a really really good point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which is just like a huge. It's again, it's all intertwined, it's all tied together. I absolutely love that. You're not just a one stop shop, or no, you are a one stop shop, but you are not just like a quick fix come here, let me give you some supplements and go like you are a whole package. Let me because and now it's just like, why isn't everybody doing this? Because it is, it's neat, it just makes sense, as I'm hearing you explain it. It makes complete sense. How could you not work with the? How could you not work with one without the other? And exactly Exactly, yeah. So so, before I let you go, can you just share a little bit on what you have coming up for you? And, if anyone's listening and wants to learn more, if they're interested in doing this GMAP, testing, trying, breathwork with you, combining it all together, what do you have going on and how can people reach you?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So a couple of things I think. First one is I'm doing a free breathwork on the end of this month. I can give you the date For people, yeah, that are wanting to kind of focus on this. You know, nervous system regulation, gut healing journey. In beginning of February I am opening enrollment for my six month program. So this is kind of all the gut healing things that we talked about, plus breathwork, adding on for the first time, so kind of bringing it all together. So, yeah, link to that is like on my Instagram or on my website. I can send you that info. And then, yeah, that includes the GMAP stool testing. I also do offer that as like a separate thing If you're just like I want answers. I was like figure out what's actually happening in my gut. So, yeah, just in the process of like bringing all of them together.
Speaker 1:Is that a one to one program or group?
Speaker 2:It is one to one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, One to one. Okay, so for six months they would not only be addressing the gut health like truly getting to that root cause, not just like eliminating foods, but they would also be addressing the nervous system and the resiliency and the regulation about holding the stresses of life Nutrition both.
Speaker 2:It is designed, yeah, to really get to the root cause of everything. So, starting with those nutrition foundations, moving into the GI map and the gut specific protocol, all the while doing the breath work to support retraining that nervous system.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. What's the name of your program Do you have?
Speaker 2:a name, gut Brain Blueprint, so providing the structure, but it's totally personalized within that container because everyone is so, so different.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it and, yeah, by the time this airs, they might have missed the breath work. I'm sure you'll host more virtual ones. I will put links to all of your stuff. I highly recommend you guys just booking a call with Abby talking to her. She's just like I said, a wealth of information and incredibly holistic, which you're not gonna find if you go into your doctor's office. So, abby, thank you for being here with me today. Oh, you also have a really cool free guide that you just put out. Oh, yeah, thank you for reminding me. Yeah, share about that real quick, because I know I wanna grab it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's called the Gut Girlie Guide. It's basically all of it's where I wish I would have started on my gut healing journey, specifically in regards to the nervous system, nutrition foundations and if you resonated with that archetype or personality that we are kind of describing throughout the episode. So really kind of making sure that your body's in a good place to start any type of gut healing work and that's done through what we're eating, how we're eating there is some breath included in there, and then also nutrition tips on kind of where to start, just to make sure you're getting the very, very basics down before jumping into the fancy stuff.
Speaker 1:Amazing, amazing. Thank you so much, so I will link all of that. You guys can go grab that guide now. And, abby, thanks for sharing your wisdom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:It's been awesome. Okay, that wraps up this episode today. I hope you learned something new and or are able to take away a fresh perspective to apply to the moments in your life. Remember to rate the podcast, share it with someone you love or leave a review. I'm always grateful for your time and I'm always rooting for you to wake up and thrive. I'll see you, guys, next week.