Next Level Healing

Dr. Christine Bishara, gut health physician, founder of From Within Medical in New York City, and author of The Gut Revolution, joins Dr. Tara Perry for a live Q&A exploring the science of the gut-brain connection and what most people are getting wrong about healing from the inside out.

Dr. Bishara draws on her personal journey, losing over 70 pounds as a teenager through food, intermittent fasting, and microbiome science before most of the research even existed, to lay out a practical, back-to-basics framework for optimizing mood, metabolism, and immunity through the gut.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

00:00 The conscious mind processes 30 bits of information per second. The subconscious processes 40 million. Lasting healing requires reaching the elephant, not just the rider.

07:39 Most Americans are eating in a way that keeps their gut in digestion mode around the clock, leaving no time for immune function or neurotransmitter production.

10:04 Inflammation begins in the mouth. Oral microbiome imbalances can deposit arterial plaque directly into the heart.

15:34 Serotonin requires tryptophan, an amino acid the body cannot make on its own. Mood disorders are often a nutrient deficiency problem, not just a chemistry problem.

22:15 Acetylcholine controls the speed of neuronal communication. Brain fog and sluggish thinking are often tied to low healthy fat intake, not willpower.

29:25 Chronic cortisol elevation keeps the body in fat storage mode. It is persistent stress, not short-term spikes, that drives chronic inflammation and disease.

45:37 The biggest intermittent fasting mistakes: not eating enough fiber, fasting too long, and confusing restriction with healing. For women, prolonged fasts can backfire by triggering cortisol.

54:47 Beneficial gut bacteria produce postbiotics that activate GLP-1 receptors naturally. You can get the satiety effect without medication, just eat the vegetables first.

58:13 Children who had high levels of bifidobacteria were largely protected from severe COVID outcomes. Bifidobacteria, which thrive on plant fiber, is the single most important bacteria in the microbiome.

01:00:26 Studies show meditation and prayer increase lifespan by an average of five years. Heart-brain coherence directly affects immune function at the cellular level.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

From Within Medical — Dr. Bishara's practice and free gut health starter guide (50 best foods, healthy oils, healthy sweeteners)

The Gut Revolution — Dr. Bishara's book, available in print and on Audible

Dr. Christine Bishara on Instagram — @dr.christineb

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Traver Boehm, founder of the Uncivilized Men's Movement, two-time TEDx speaker, men's coach, and author of Today I Rise, Man Uncivilized, and 28 Days in Darkness, joins Dr. Tara Perry to explore the root causes of male suffering, why healing men is the key to ending harm caused by men, and what it actually took to spend 49 days alone in complete darkness.

Traver draws on his background in MMA, professional bodyguarding, and Traditional Chinese Medicine to make a case for a new masculinity, one that is raw, relational, and built on brotherhood rather than isolation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

00:03 Toxic masculinity messaging has left a generation of young men ashamed of natural desire. 
03:35 Ending harm caused by men requires first addressing the pain that men are carrying. 
07:38 Men in crisis stay silent because every outlet has taught them nobody cares. 
10:34 Traver chose a 28-day dark retreat to discover who he was beyond physical achievement. 
16:25 On his first retreat, the facility had never let anyone attempt more than three days. 
22:41 Men are purpose-driven, and telling them they are not needed creates dangerous disconnection. 
30:51 Owning your mistakes and attacking your resistance makes 90% of relationship problems disappear. 
36:08 Brotherhood and high relational standards are the key to welcoming men back to the table. 
38:40 Men do their best when given a place to be raw, real, and in relationship with their anger. 
01:01:15 The four pillars Traver teaches: curiosity, physical competency, skill development, and relationship.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Man Uncivilized — Traver's men's movement, coaching, and community hub 28 Days in Darkness — Traver's latest book on his first dark retreat experience Today I Rise — Traver's book for navigating divorce and profound personal loss Traver Boehm on Instagram — @traverboehm

Work with Dr. Tara Perry

Tune in every Wednesday for a new episode of Next Level Healing. Subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and never miss an episode!

Steven Twohig, international speaker, author, and founder of Mastering Change, joins Dr. Tara Perry to discuss what happens when you stop running from your shadow and start treating it as a guide. Steven's story begins in a basement, where as a three-year-old he endured abuse, starvation, and threats — and it ends with 26 years of shadow work, over 200 trained guides, and a growing global community built around one core idea: you are the medicine.

In this episode, Steven breaks down why the patterns we can't escape aren't bad luck — they're the mind looping unresolved trauma until we're willing to look at it. From the boardroom to the carpet ceremony, from Tony Robbins' stage to a bathtub suicide attempt, this conversation goes deep.

Key Takeaways

01:07 Shadow work isn't spiritual theory, it's the most practical tool Steven knows. 03:12 The first time someone turns within, they see they're both the warden and the prisoner. 05:00 Even a skilled guide catches himself deflecting fear — on the way to the vet. 09:48 Childhood torture, addiction, and multiple suicide attempts shaped Steven's entire path. 12:15 Jung was right: what you don't address will appear in your life as fate. 16:12 Projection isn't a metaphor, it's a measurable dynamic playing out in real time. 17:44 "Shadow dancing" is why couples keep triggering the same wound in each other. 21:53 The Shadow Work app and 65+ online integration groups are free entry points. 28:05 Family constellation parallels: when the container is right, trauma peels away. 47:57 The 100th monkey effect, HeartMath, and why 144,000 people doing the work could shift everything. 54:02 High achievers at peak performance are often running hardest from their core wound. 1:08:44 The mind wants to rewrite itself — you just have to stop blocking it.

Resources Mentioned

• Turning Within: Reclaiming Your Soul from Shadow by Steven Twohig
• Shadow Work App — free download, includes the 28-question Wheel of Life quiz
• masteringchange.com — full program and guide training hub
• shadowceremony.com — live immersion carpet work (next event: September 18–20, Orlando)

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In this episode of Next Level Healing, Dr. Tara Perry sits down with New York Times bestselling author, CPA, entrepreneur, and financial literacy advocate Sharon Lechter, co-author of Rich Dad Poor Dad and long-time partner of both the Rich Dad Company and the Napoleon Hill Foundation.
 

Sharon’s Origin Story: Money at the Dinner Table

• Sharon grew up lower middle class in a family of entrepreneurs, living between her father’s used car lot and her mother’s beauty shop, and helping manage rental properties from the age of 10. [4:50] [5:00]
• Her family also owned orange groves; her father taught her that the oranges were cashflow while the land itself would grow in value—land that later became part of SeaWorld in Orlando. [5:10]
• Money, assets, and investing were regular dinner-table topics, shaping her understanding of wealth early on. [5:10] [5:24]
• She became the first in her family to attend college, was the only woman in her accounting classes, and one of the first women in public accounting in the late 1970s, where she learned how companies succeed and fail. [5:24] [5:51]

From Talking Books to Rich Dad Poor Dad

• Sharon helped build a global company around the first talking children’s books with sound strips, licensing with Disney, Warner Brothers, Sesame Street, and Marvel Comics to get kids excited about reading. [6:17] [6:35]
• After selling that company and moving to Arizona, her oldest son went to college, was lured into credit card offers with “free pizza” and “free t-shirts,” and ended up in serious debt—an experience that took him seven years to repair and ignited Sharon’s lifelong commitment to financial literacy. [6:50] [7:12] [7:36]
• In December 1992, she dedicated the rest of her career to financial education, initially working with school systems. [7:56]
  Meeting Robert Kiyosaki & Building a Global Brand
• Sharon’s husband, an intellectual property attorney, introduced her to Robert Kiyosaki, who had created the board game CASHFLOW. [8:11] [8:33]
• At the first beta test, Sharon was the only player to get out of the “rat race,” and she loved how the game aligned with her teachings on investing, assets, and the difference between active and passive income. [8:33] [8:46]
• Drawing on her experience commercializing products, she helped Robert bring the game to market. When he wanted to price it at $200 in 1996, she suggested writing a brochure to explain his philosophy and justify the investment. [9:09] [9:21]
• That “brochure” became Rich Dad Poor Dad, which they co-wrote and never expected to become a standalone phenomenon; their company was originally branded Cashflow Technologies. [9:38] [9:54]
• Over a 10-year partnership, Sharon served as CEO, co-authored 15 books, created multiple games and infomercial products, and launched the Rich Dad Advisors series, helping build what became the world’s largest personal finance brand in 110 countries and 51 languages. [9:54] [10:09] [10:28]

Leaving Rich Dad & New Doors Opening

• After a decade, Robert wanted to move into franchising, which Sharon felt was not a good model for franchisees; she chose to leave, emphasizing that sometimes you must close one door for others to open. [10:28] [10:41]
• Shortly after, she was appointed by President George W. Bush to the first President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, later serving under President Obama as well—an opportunity she believes she would not have had if she’d stayed at Rich Dad. [1:29] [10:52] [11:08]
• In March 2008, the Napoleon Hill Foundation invited her to help reinvigorate Hill’s teachings, leading her into the world’s largest personal development brand. [11:08]

This podcast episode of Next Level Healing features Dr. Tara Perry speaking with fitness industry expert Kevin Steel, PhD, about the transformative benefits of exercise for brain health, anti-aging, and overall well-being.

Kevin Steel brings decades of experience in health and fitness, having completed multiple Ironman competitions and holding a PhD in exercise physiology with a subspecialty in nutrition. He spent his career working with everyone from corporate executives to athletes, eventually becoming director of education research and member services for the world's largest health club company. 

The conversation centers on Steel's assertion that exercise is like a miracle drug - "if science could put it inside a pill, people would be lined up around the block, willing to pay anything to get it". He emphasizes that only 7% of chronic diseases are genetic, meaning 93% are lifestyle-related and preventable. 

Key benefits of exercise discussed include:

Brain Health: Regular exercise regenerates neurons and expands gray and white matter in the brain [13:52]. It stimulates brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which acts like "fertilizer for your brain" [15:32]. Exercise can reduce amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer's and dementia [13:52].

Mental Health: Steel references Dr. John Ratey's book "Spark," which demonstrated that exercise therapy can achieve the same or better results than pharmaceutical drugs for treating anxiety, depression, and stress [21:12] [21:38].

Physical Health: Exercise improves cardiovascular function, blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, and can even reverse type 2 diabetes when combined with healthy eating [18:58] [16:32] [18:01].

Children's Health: A study in Naperville, Illinois showed that structured exercise programs eliminated ADHD symptoms in children, allowed them to go off medications like Ritalin, and dramatically improved academic test scores [23:05] [23:34] [23:44].

Steel advocates for a whole food, plant-based diet, noting concerns about hormones and antibiotics in mass-produced animal products [34:11]. He emphasizes that exercise doesn't require expensive equipment - simple activities like walking 30 minutes daily cost nothing but provide significant health benefits [29:33].

Despite these proven benefits, only 26% of American adults exercise regularly, and only 18-20% belong to health clubs [28:34]. Steel attributes this partly to doctors receiving little education about exercise science in medical school, leaving patients without specific guidance when told to "eat better and exercise" [30:53] [31:41].

The episode concludes with Steel's contact information for those seeking more guidance: LinkedIn at Kevin D Steel PhD: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevindsteelephd and email at [email protected]

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Dr. Hyla Cass, known as "the drug-free psychiatrist," reveals how nutrition and targeted amino acids can naturally heal depression, anxiety, and other brain imbalances without prescription medications. She shares powerful case studies and practical strategies for taking control of your mental health using the building blocks your brain needs to create its own feel-good chemicals.

Resources: 

Dr. Cass’ website - https:/cassmd.com

For more information on therapeutic use of amino acids for mental health, and training for professionals: https://aminoacidtherapy.com (Christina Veselak LMFT, CN) 

Further reading: 

Dr. Candace Pert: The Molecules of Emotion, the Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine

Julia Ross: The Mood Cure, The Craving Cure

Christina Veselak: EAT!

Hyla Cass: https://cassmd.com/my-books/  

For more information on Balance Oil to counter inflammaging:  cassmd.com/zinzino

Free ebook: "Reclaim Your Brain”

Here is a link for your own use:  https://cassmd.com/reclaim-your-brain-download

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS 💡

[00:02:34] - The Prescription Problem

• Discussion of how 16.5-20% of US population is on psychotropic medications
• Key quote: "As soon as somebody says something about their mood to a doctor, any doctor doesn't have to be a psychiatrist... they get a prescription for an antidepressant and nobody is looking under the hood."

[00:04:48] - The Brain as Master Control Panel

• Brain uses 20% of nutrients despite being only 2% of body weight
• Key quote: "The brain weighs about 2% of the body weight and uses over 20% of the nutrients, oxygen in all the goodies, very, very biochemically active."

[00:06:05] - Neurotransmitters: Your Natural Feel-Good Chemicals

• How proteins break down into amino acids that form neurotransmitters
• Key quote: "We make our feel good chemicals and sometimes we can't make them because we don't have enough of the source material."

[00:09:32] - Case Study: 50-Year-Old Woman's Transformation

• Woman with lifelong depression and suicidal thoughts improved in 3 weeks
• Key quote: "Three weeks later, she tells me, I so appreciate what you've done for me. I feel so different and I'm making big changes in my life."

[00:12:13] - The Sugar Crash Solution

• Friend's sugar binge resolved with glutamine under the tongue
• Key quote: "She took a thousand milligram glutamine, put it under her tongue... She called me that night. She said, you saved me."

[00:14:56] - Safety and Drug Interactions

• Amino acids have high safety profile but require spacing from SSRIs
• Key quote: "If you're taking an SSRI and you're giving a serotonin precursor... take them a few hours apart, you're not going to get yourself into trouble."

[00:17:21] - Pioneer's Journey: Blood Sugar Discoveries

• Early observations of mood changes with nutrition 40 years ago
• Key quote: "I go to the fridge, get some cheese or an apple or something, give them something to eat, and they, they're changed."

[00:19:24] - Orthomolecular Psychiatry Explained

• Definition and origins with Dr. Abram Hoffer
• Key quote: "Orthomolecular, straight molecules, the right molecules in the right place. You get your molecules going in the right direction, and you can make enormous changes."

[00:23:47] - The Four Key Neurotransmitters

• Dopamine for energy and focus, serotonin for mood and satiety
• Key quote: "People who are low in serotonin have the munchies. They're always wanting to eat something."

[00:26:26] - Quality Matters: Choosing Supplements

• Importance of professional-grade supplements from reliable sources
• Key quote: "With something that you're putting inside your body, you really need to be very, very careful."

[00:36:35] - Empowerment Message

• Taking control of mental health naturally
• Key quote: "Controlling your mental health is not rocket science. It's science. It's basic science, basic nature."

[00:40:19] - Essential Fatty Acids: The Missing Piece

• Brain cells need proper omega-3 to omega-6 ratios for optimal function
• Key quote: "Our brain cells we're fat heads. Our brain cells are made out of fat."

KEY TAKEAWAYS 📝

1. Mental health issues often stem from neurotransmitter imbalances that can be corrected with targeted amino acids.
2. Amino acids work immediately unlike prescription medications that take 6 weeks and have significant side effects.
3. The brain requires proper nutrition - proteins, vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids - to function optimally.
4. Getting off psychiatric medications safely requires gradual tapering while building up natural neurotransmitter production.
5. Quality matters when choosing supplements - professional-grade products from reliable sources are essential.

Work with Dr. Tara Perry

Tune in every Wednesday for a new episode of Next Level Healing. Subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and never miss an episode!

In this episode of the Next Level Healing Podcast, Dr. Tara Perry interviews Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard-trained and published neuroanatomist and NYT bestselling author, whose research specializes in understanding how our brain creates our perception of reality.

In 2008, Dr. Jill gave a presentation about her experience with a stroke at the TED Conference in Monterey, CA, which was the first TED talk to ever go viral on the internet. TED and Dr. Jill became world-famous instantaneously, and that TED talk has now been viewed well over 30 million times.

This episode is a must-listen.

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Dr. Chris Molda, a licensed chiropractor and functional medicine practitioner, shares his remarkable journey from battling multiple chronic infections (black mold, COVID, parasites, Lyme) to discovering a groundbreaking healing protocol using phage therapy. After 20+ years in practice and struggling with complex health challenges in his own family, he found a simple yet powerful solution that's transforming how he treats chronic conditions.

Dr. Chris Molda's Website: https://www.drmolda.com

Work with Dr. Tara Perry

Tune in every Wednesday for a new episode of Next Level Healing. Subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and never miss an episode!

Join Dr. Tara Perry and Elena Sophia Ruiz, a human behavior and negotiation expert, as they explore the powerful world of subconscious transformation. Discover how accessing your blind spots through proven methodologies can create rapid shifts in your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being, helping you move from where you are to where you want to be.

Subscribe to Elena's Podcast, Intimate Conversations with Men: https://www.intimateconversationswithmen.com

Work with Dr. Tara Perry

Tune in every Wednesday for a new episode of Next Level Healing. Subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and never miss an episode!

Join us for a transformative conversation with Dr. Tara Perry, who shares her remarkable journey from Hollywood talent agency to becoming a leading expert in subconscious healing. With over 25 years of experience, Dr. Perry reveals how addressing emotional blocks at the subconscious level can create rapid, lasting changes in health, relationships, and success. Discover why traditional therapy sometimes falls short and how working with the mind that processes 40 million bits of information per second can unlock your true potential.

This interview was originally aired on Brenda Mundt's Heartache, Health and Healing Podcast.

Work with Dr. Tara Perry

Tune in every Wednesday for a new episode of Next Level Healing. Subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and never miss an episode!