What if you didn't have to react to everything life throws your way?

In this episode of Push Pause to Heal, Dr. Emily Roedersheimer sits down with motivational keynote speaker, leadership trainer, cancer survivor, and Becoming a Better YOU podcast host Monica Brooks to explore what can happen when we create a little space between what happens to us and how we respond.

After a Stage III breast cancer diagnosis and years of feeling exhausted by corporate life, Monica began reevaluating how she was spending her time, energy, and attention. That experience eventually helped shape her Power of PAUSE framework—a practical approach to navigating change with more intention, self-awareness, and emotional resilience.

Monica and Dr. Emily talk about how to stay present instead of getting lost in worry, practice acceptance without pretending you like what is happening, focus on what is actually within your control, become more aware of your emotional reactions, and find possibility even during difficult change.

They also explore why pausing can feel so difficult in a culture that constantly asks us to react, respond, achieve, and keep moving—and why creating even a few intentional moments in your day can begin to shift how you feel. Monica's reminder is simple but powerful: you may not be able to control what happens, but you often have more influence over your response than you realize.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• Managing stress and emotional reactions
• Navigating change and uncertainty
• Radical acceptance and letting go of what you can't control
• Emotional awareness and self-regulation
• Living more intentionally
• Creating small habits that make everyday life feel better
• Why you don't have to wait for burnout, illness, or crisis to make a change

And perhaps most importantly, Monica challenges us to ask:

How bad does it have to get before you give yourself permission to pause?

Because sometimes the most powerful thing we can do isn't push harder. It's pause long enough to decide how we want to move forward.

Guest Website: https://monicabrooks.com/home

Books Discussed:

https://danielsilvabooks.com/books/an-inside-job/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0743269519?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

https://shop.eckharttolle.com/products/the-power-of-now?

srsltid=AfmBOoouLGWQbSg3OlI1shTK3dezcVpdJKzbHT0SF1Zy7BK3cFICi2Ju

https://www.tarabrach.com/books/radical-acceptance/

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning

What if feeling better doesn't require a complete health overhaul?

In this episode of Push Pause to Heal, Dr. Emily talks with former Balanced Living client Toni about the small discoveries that made a surprisingly big difference in her energy, digestion, sleep, stress, and overall well-being.

Toni was already incredibly active—teaching fitness classes, playing pickleball, and prioritizing her health—but she was still struggling with afternoon fatigue. Through learning to pay closer attention to her own body, she began noticing connections she hadn't recognized before: how coffee affected her energy and stomach, how certain foods made her feel, how stress showed up physically, and how a simple bedtime meditation changed the quality of her sleep.

She also shares what she learned from wearing a continuous glucose monitor—including one blood sugar response that completely surprised her—and how seeing her body's response in real time helped turn health information she already "knew" into choices that actually worked for her.

But perhaps the biggest shift wasn't about food, exercise, or a number on the scale. It was learning to listen to her body, let go of some of the things she thought she should do, and think about health as staying strong, capable, energetic, and able to keep doing the things she loves as she gets older.

In this conversation, you'll hear about afternoon fatigue, blood sugar, continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), stress, sleep, healthy aging, strength, body awareness, and the power of small sustainable habits.

Because sometimes the next step toward better health isn't doing more. It's getting curious enough to notice what your body has been telling you all along.

Join the Balanced Living experience: https://www.balancedlivingfm.com/balanced-living-experience

What if constantly trying to "fix" your health is actually keeping your nervous system on high alert?

In this episode of Push Pause to Heal, Dr. Emily Roedersheimer sits down with holistic transformation guide Christine Ruch to explore the powerful connection between nervous system regulation, chronic illness, food sensitivities, stress, and healing.

Christine shares her personal journey with multiple sclerosis (MS), celiac disease, restrictive eating, and chronic health challenges—and how years of striving for the perfect diet and perfect wellness routine eventually became another form of hypervigilance. Together, Christine and Dr. Emily discuss what can happen when healing shifts from controlling and fixing the body to learning how to listen to and trust it.

You'll hear why nervous system dysregulation can become so familiar that we don't even recognize it, how fear around symptoms and food can shrink our lives, and why slowing down may be one of the most powerful things we can do for our health.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What nervous system dysregulation can look like beyond anxiety
• Why chronic illness can create hypervigilance around symptoms
• How perfectionism and "doing everything right" can add more stress to the body
• Christine's 30-second "Sit With It" practice for responding differently to uncomfortable symptoms and emotions
• How fear and restriction can affect our relationship with food
• Why rebuilding trust with your body may require small, gentle steps
• The difference between reacting to symptoms and listening to what your body may be communicating
• Why rest, spaciousness, nature, and slowing down can support a healthier nervous system

If your health has begun to feel like a full-time job—or you're exhausted from constantly wondering what to eliminate, fix, test, or optimize—this conversation offers a different way forward: less force, more curiosity, and a deeper relationship with your own body.

Connect with Christine Ruch: Visit Christineruch.com

If this episode resonates with you, share it with someone who needs permission to stop striving so hard for healing. And follow Push Pause to Heal so you don't miss future conversations about functional medicine, nervous system health, chronic illness, and creating the conditions that allow the body to heal.

What if your pain isn't just about the place that hurts?

In this episode of Push Pause to Heal, Dr. Emily Roedersheimer sits down with physical therapist Dr. Stephanie Duffey of Empower Physio and Wellness to explore the powerful connection between stress, the nervous system, chronic pain, tension headaches, TMJ, jaw clenching, movement, and resilience.

Dr. Steph explains why the body can continue to hurt even when imaging looks "normal," how stress can show up physically in the jaw, neck, head, pelvic floor, and back, and why nervous system regulation may be an important piece of getting out of persistent pain.

You'll also hear a simple analogy for understanding your capacity for stress: your "resilience cup." Instead of trying to eliminate stress from your life, what if you could both empty your cup a little each day—and gradually build a bigger cup?

In this conversation, we explore:

• How chronic stress can contribute to physical tension and pain
• Why jaw clenching, TMJ, tension headaches, and neck pain may be connected to the nervous system
• What it means when an MRI or other imaging doesn't explain your pain
• Why awareness and curiosity can help interrupt the stress–pain cycle
• The difference between escaping stress and actually processing it
• How breathing and movement patterns affect pain and muscle tension
• Why 30-second pauses throughout the day may matter more than waiting for your next vacation
• How sleep, nutrition, strength training, movement, and stress processing build nervous system resilience
• Why small, consistent changes can create meaningful shifts in how your body feels

If you've ever felt like your body is carrying more than you realized—or you've been searching for an explanation for headaches, jaw tension, neck pain, or persistent pain—this conversation offers a different way to understand what your body may be communicating.

Your body isn't simply something to fix. Sometimes healing begins by creating the conditions that help it feel safe enough to change.

Guest website: https://www.empowerphysioandwellness.com/

nervous system quiz and free resource: https://www.empowerphysioandwellness.com/nervous-system-quiz

Guest Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empowerphysioandwellness/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/empowerphysioandwellness

What if your skin isn't betraying you—but communicating with you?

In this episode of Push Pause to Heal, Dr. Emily Roedersheimer talks with double board-certified dermatologist, somatic therapy practitioner, and mind-skin expert Dr. Keira Barr about the powerful connection between skin health, stress, the nervous system, and our emotional well-being.

Dr. Barr explains why skin symptoms like acne, eczema, rosacea, flushing, and other flares can be influenced by much more than what we put on our skin. Because the skin, immune system, endocrine system, and nervous system are constantly communicating, what shows up on the surface may offer important clues about the stress and load your body is carrying.

You'll learn why symptoms sometimes appear after a stressful season has ended, how chronic stress can affect the skin's microbiome and inflammatory response, and why constantly trying to "fix" your skin can sometimes create even more stress.

Dr. Barr also introduces psychodermatology and somatic practices and shares simple ways to work with your nervous system through breath, movement, touch, and orienting to your environment.

In this conversation, we explore:

• The connection between stress, the nervous system, and skin health
• What psychodermatology is and why it matters
• Why stress can contribute to acne, eczema, rosacea, and skin flares
• Why symptoms may appear after a stressful event is over
• How the skin participates in the body's stress response
• Why nervous system regulation doesn't mean being calm all the time
• Simple somatic practices you can use when you feel overwhelmed
• How hypervigilance around food, supplements, skincare, and health can add to the body's stress load
• How curiosity and compassion can help rebuild trust with your body
• Why your skin is not a measure of your health, beauty, or worth

One of the most powerful reminders from this conversation: your symptoms are information—not an indictment.

Instead of asking, "What's wrong with me?" this episode invites you to ask a different question:

What might my body need from me right now?

If you've struggled with your skin, chronic symptoms, stress, or the feeling that your body is working against you, this conversation may help you see your body—and your healing—in an entirely new way.

Guest Website: https://drkeirabarr.com/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/drkeirabarr

FREE Stress Relief Guide: https://drkeirabarr.com/stressrelief

Has taking care of your health started to feel way too complicated?

Between specialty testing, supplements, diets, wearables, biohacking, protocols, and conflicting wellness advice, it's easy to start believing that the answer to feeling better must be somewhere outside of you.

In this solo episode of Push Pause to Heal, Dr. Emily Roedersheimer explores an unintended consequence of modern wellness and functional medicine: we can become so focused on finding the "right" intervention that we forget how much influence we already have over our health.

Functional medicine was never meant to make health more overwhelming. At its best, it expands the possibilities by asking a different question—not only What's the diagnosis and treatment? but Why might this be happening, and what conditions could help the body heal?

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why complicated doesn't necessarily mean more effective when it comes to your health
• How to shift from feeling powerless to asking, "Where do I have influence here?"
• Why sleep, nutrition, movement, stress regulation, connection, rest, sunlight, and joy matter more than we sometimes give them credit for
• How your everyday habits create the conditions that support healing
• Why simple does not mean insignificant
• The difference between controlling your health and actively participating in it
• How one supportive choice can begin rebuilding trust in yourself
• Why consistency matters more than perfection

Dr. Emily also shares a simple five-minute practice you can try tomorrow morning: before reaching for your phone, email, news, or to-do list, pause and ask yourself:

How do I want to feel today?

Then choose one thing you can do that supports that feeling.

Because your health isn't only happening in a doctor's office or on a lab report. It's happening in your kitchen, your bedroom, your relationships, your calendar, your thoughts—and in the choices you make on an ordinary Tuesday.

You don't have to do everything. You don't have to make the perfect choice. And you don't have to wait until life calms down.

Before the world begins making decisions for you, pause long enough to make one for yourself.

In this episode, Dr. Emily also introduces The Balanced Living Experience, a monthly community designed for women who are ready to stop collecting more health information and start practicing what they already know—with one clear theme, one meaningful practice, and a supportive place to keep coming back to their health.

Website: balancedlivingfm.com

Back-to-school season can bring excitement, but it can also bring anxiety, overwhelm, packed schedules, and a sudden shift in rhythm for the entire family. In this episode of Push Pause to Heal, Dr. Emily talks with elementary principal and health coach-in-training Kate Miller about how parents, kids, and teachers can move through the transition with more calm, connection, and intention.

Drawing on more than 20 years in education, Kate shares practical ways to recognize when a child may be struggling—even when they can't put their feelings into words—and why "behavior is communication." She and Dr. Emily explore the power of validation, co-regulation, predictable routines, and the simple 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise for helping children feel safe and supported.

They also talk about what the adults need during this season. You'll hear why a "to-be list" may matter more than your to-do list, how routines can reduce decision fatigue and support the nervous system, and how intentionally planning your week can keep your family from living in constant reaction mode.

Kate also shares her NESTS "soul-care" check-in—Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep, Time, and Support—along with her practice of choosing one word to guide a season and using gratitude to retrain the brain to notice more of what's going right.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How to help kids navigate back-to-school anxiety without passing along your own stress • Why validation and emotional safety matter when children are struggling • How nervous system regulation and co-regulation affect kids at home and at school • Simple routines that can make busy school mornings and evenings feel easier • The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique for anxious or overwhelmed kids • How to create a "to-be list" alongside your to-do list • Why giving kids age-appropriate responsibility builds confidence and agency • How the NESTS framework can help parents and teachers check in with their own well-being • Why gratitude, connection, and intentionality can change the way you experience a busy season

The goal isn't a perfect school year. It's creating a rhythm that supports your family so everyone has a better chance to thrive—even when life gets busy.

If the start of school has you feeling like life is suddenly speeding up, this conversation is a reminder that you don't have to simply get swept along with it. You can slow down, reconnect, and choose how you want to move through the season.

Here is a canva link for the to do list that was mentioned:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAG5QHfBuiE/SAutEljU1ugP3apxXwCaeA/edit

Urinary leakage when you sneeze. Constipation that doesn't improve with more fiber and water. Painful sex, pelvic pressure, urinary urgency or stubborn hip and low-back pain.

These symptoms may be common—but that doesn't mean they are normal or that you simply have to live with them.

In this episode of Push Pause to Heal, Dr. Emily Roedersheimer talks with pelvic floor physical therapist Dr. Allison Ingley, founder of Core Strong Physical Therapy, about the often-overlooked signs of pelvic floor dysfunction.

Dr. Allison explains what the pelvic floor actually is, how it affects your bladder, bowels, sexual health, hips and core, and why pelvic floor physical therapy is not just for people who have given birth or reached a certain age.

You'll learn:

• Why urinary leakage—even a few drops—is considered incontinence • How pelvic floor dysfunction can contribute to constipation, pelvic pain, painful sex, urinary urgency, prolapse, hip pain and low-back pain • Why normal imaging doesn't always mean that nothing is wrong • What to expect during a trauma-informed pelvic floor evaluation • Why Kegels are not the answer for everyone—and may make an overactive pelvic floor worse • How stress, emotions and the nervous system can influence pelvic tension and chronic pain • A five-second "tension check" that can help you notice and release unnecessary gripping throughout your day

Dr. Allison also offers an important reminder: chronic pain describes how long pain has been present—not how long it has to remain. With the right support, it is possible to feel more comfortable, connected and confident in your body.

Because pelvic health isn't just about eliminating symptoms. It can be a gateway to enjoying your body and your life more fully.

Guest: Dr. Allison Ingley, DPT Website: https://www.corestrongphysicaltherapy.com/

Other links mentioned...

https://ourkindra.com/

https://slipperystuff.org/

https://uberlube.com/

Is the clutter in your home making it harder for you to feel calm, focused, and at ease?

In this episode of Push Pause to Heal, Dr. Emily Roedersheimer talks with professional organizer Anne Almquist, founder of The Savvy Sorter, about the powerful connection between clutter, overwhelm, decision fatigue, and your nervous system.

Anne explains why clutter is rarely just an organization problem. It can build during demanding seasons of life, grief, family transitions, health challenges, or periods when you simply do not have the capacity to keep up. Instead of responding with shame or self-judgment, Anne encourages us to become curious about what our surroundings may be communicating.

You'll also learn practical, approachable ways to begin decluttering without turning it into another overwhelming project.

In this conversation, Emily and Anne discuss:

• Why clutter and emotional overwhelm often create a vicious cycle
• How visual clutter can act as an ongoing stress signal
• The role of decision fatigue in decluttering
• Why life transitions, grief, and unmet expectations affect our belongings
• How consumer culture encourages us to purchase more than we need
• Questions to ask yourself before buying something new
• How to release items connected to guilt, identity, or a past version of yourself
• Why creating one peaceful, clutter-free space can make a meaningful difference
• Anne's simple 20-minute strategy for getting started

You do not need to organize your entire home in one weekend. Choose one small space, set a timer, start somewhere—and allow yourself to feel good about what you accomplished.

Learn more about Anne Almquist and The Savvy Sorter at thesavvysorter.com or find her on Facebook and Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/the.savvy.sorter?utm_source=qr

https://www.facebook.com/share/1LpPRf8Zmm/?mibextid=wwXIfr

If this episode resonates with you, share it with someone who could use a little more support, breathing room, and calm in their home and life.

Have you stopped trusting your own body—and started looking outside yourself for every answer?

In this episode of Push Pause to Heal, Dr. Emily Roedersheimer sits down with Katie Ruffino, PA-C, functional medicine practitioner, health and life coach, and founder of Sunnyside KT, to explore why so many women have become disconnected from their intuition.

Katie explains how years of people-pleasing, overachieving, following outside expectations, and putting everyone else first can make it difficult to recognize what you truly need. Together, Emily and Katie discuss how slowing down, calming the nervous system, and paying attention to your body can help you rebuild self-trust.

You'll learn:

• Why more information, testing, and expert opinions are not always the answer
• How to recognize the difference between fear and intuition
• Why intuition often feels quieter than anxiety
• How childhood experiences and unconscious beliefs shape your decisions
• The connection between people-pleasing, perfectionism, and losing yourself
• How listening to your body helps rebuild trust
• Katie's four-step "Trust Your Gut" decision-making framework
• A simple way to practice making intuitive decisions with less pressure
• Why caring for yourself does not make you selfish

Katie also shares her own experience with Hashimoto's symptoms, chronic stress, and realizing that the life that looked successful from the outside was no longer supporting her health.

This conversation is an invitation to clear away the noise, reconnect with yourself, and remember that you are not broken. Your body is always communicating—and learning to listen may be one of the most powerful steps you can take toward healing.

Ceremonial Cacao: https://cacaolaboratory.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoptHi2tRuGeTserNcA3dR3_l1_IcrH4rly-BlrIIuL6d3ky5Uqz

Connect with Katie Ruffino:

Website: SunnysideKT.com Instagram: @bycatherineruffino

Learn more about Katie's Food as Feedback course, Trust Your Gut Collective, and one-on-one coaching through the links in the show notes.