What if healing is not about fixing yourself, but learning how to finally meet yourself with honesty, compassion, and accountability?

In this episode of Rooted & Resilient, I sit down with Tess, a therapist, coach, and deeply reflective practitioner whose work centers on trauma, addiction recovery, shadow work, emotional healing, self-inquiry, nervous system awareness, and helping people reconnect with who they are beneath their protective layers.

Tess shares her powerful personal story of growing up as a highly sensitive child, navigating childhood trauma, addiction, endometriosis, and a life-threatening medical crisis that left her in a coma with a very small chance of survival. After waking up, she had to learn how to walk again and spent years rebuilding her physical health. Tess describes this experience as one of the hardest things she has lived through and also the moment that changed everything. In her words, almost dying saved her life.

Together, we explore what it means to rebuild from the inside out. Tess shares how working with a teacher helped her learn self-inquiry, connect with her body, question the illusion of the mind, and begin living more from the heart than from old protective patterns. We talk about shadow work, accountability, defensiveness, perfectionism, stubbornness, compassion, inner child healing, victimhood archetypes, addiction recovery, and the slow process of learning how to see ourselves clearly without shaming the parts that helped us survive.

We also discuss the difference between healing and growth. Tess shares how, after years of deep inner work, she eventually reached a point where she no longer wanted to stay in an endless loop of needing to heal. Instead, she began shifting toward simply being, living, feeling, growing, and meeting what arises with more gentleness.

Whether you are navigating trauma, addiction recovery, chronic illness, emotional pain, people-pleasing, perfectionism, shame, or the long process of reconnecting with yourself, this episode offers a grounded and compassionate reminder that healing does not require rejecting who you are. Sometimes it begins by sitting with what is here, telling the truth, softening toward the parts you have judged, and allowing yourself to grow from a place of honesty rather than self-abandonment.

Connect with Tess:

Website: https://uncharteddepths.net
Instagram: @uncharted_depths

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This episode is sponsored by Histamine Tracker, an app designed to help you log meals, symptoms, and possible triggers so you can begin noticing patterns in how your body responds. If you’ve been wondering whether histamine may be playing a role in symptoms like headaches, racing heart, panic-like sensations, flushing, congestion, or other mystery reactions, Histamine Tracker can be a helpful place to start connecting the dots.

Check out Histamine Tracker here:
https://histaminetracker.com/?utm_source=rooted-resilient&utm_medium=podcast

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In this episode of Rooted & Resilient, I sit down with Nellie, a health coach who helps women navigate chronic health issues, highly sensitive bodies, nervous system dysregulation, food and body healing, and the confusing in-between of learning how to live well with symptoms that are often dismissed, misunderstood, or hard to diagnose.

Nellie shares her layered health journey, beginning with symptoms she remembers having as far back as childhood, including chronic headaches, stomach aches, digestive issues, painful periods, joint pain, hypermobility, and the feeling that something was “off” in her body. She also opens up about growing up in a family where health, food, body size, and appearance were deeply connected and how that eventually contributed to orthorexia, anorexia, exercise addiction, and a long process of rebuilding her relationship with food, movement, and her body.

Together, we explore POTS, orthostatic hypotension, dysautonomia, hypermobility, possible Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, endometriosis, PCOS/PMOS, eating disorder recovery, blood sugar regulation, medical gaslighting, invisible illness, and the emotional complexity of receiving — or still waiting for — a diagnosis. Nellie also shares why so many people with chronic symptoms end up searching for the perfect diagnosis, perfect supplement, perfect diet, or perfect provider, and how that search can sometimes become its own kind of stress.

We also talk about highly sensitive bodies, environmental triggers, mold, artificial fragrance, heat, blood sugar crashes, overexercising, foundational health habits, and the pressure many people feel to optimize themselves through biohacking, supplements, treatments, and wellness trends. Nellie reminds us that while tools can be helpful, they cannot replace the basics: sleep, food, hydration, rest, movement, nervous system regulation, community, joy, and connection.

Whether you are navigating chronic illness, POTS, PMOS/PCOS, endometriosis, hypermobility, an eating disorder history, medical gaslighting, or the exhaustion of trying to “fix” yourself, this episode is a compassionate reminder that your body is not the enemy. It may be asking for protection, nourishment, rest, and a new way of relating to yourself.

Connect with Nellie:

Instagram: @well.withnell
TikTok: @well.withnell

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This episode is sponsored by Histamine Tracker, an app designed to help you log meals, symptoms, and possible triggers so you can begin noticing patterns in how your body responds. If you’ve been wondering whether histamine may be playing a role in symptoms like headaches, racing heart, panic-like sensations, flushing, congestion, or other mystery reactions, Histamine Tracker can be a helpful place to start connecting the dots.

Check out Histamine Tracker and start your 7-day free trial here:
https://histaminetracker.com/?utm_source=rooted-resilient&utm_medium=podcast

🌿 Loving the podcast and want to support the growth of Rooted & Resilient?

Your contributions help support podcast production, guest conversations, editing, and creating a space for honest discussions around nervous system healing, resilience, and integrative wellness.

Thank you for helping this community grow 🤍

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Music licensed through Soundstripe.
Code: ZSM1LEGX7D57DRTC

What if the symptoms you’ve been told to “just manage” are actually invitations to look deeper?

In this episode of Rooted & Resilient, I sit down with Dr. Katie Guidotti, a naturopathic physician who has been in practice since 2012. Katie is passionate about supporting women and children in creating and sustaining vibrant, lifelong health, with specialties in women’s health, pediatrics, hormones, thyroid conditions, and gastrointestinal disorders. Nervous system regulation is also one of the core pillars of her practice, because she has seen how often chronic stress and dysregulation sit at the root of so many symptoms — both in her patients and in her own personal health.

In this conversation, Katie shares how her own health journey began after surviving bone cancer at 14, going through chemotherapy, and later being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s while in naturopathic medical school. She opens up about chronic fatigue, brain fog, muscle pain, digestive issues, sleep deprivation, and the realization that many symptoms she thought she simply had to live with were actually signs that her body needed deeper support. Together, we explore Hashimoto’s, chronic stress, inflammation, sleep hygiene, gut health, hormones, blood sugar, movement, low-dose naltrexone, and the foundational habits that can support long-term healing.

We talk about how stress, trauma, misalignment, sleep, nutrition, exercise, and nervous system regulation can all play a role in healing, and why tools like supplements or medications often work best when they are supported by strong foundations. We also discuss the power of becoming curious about your own body.

In the episode, I share a bit about my experience using a continuous glucose monitor through Levels Health, and how seeing my blood sugar data in real time helped me understand how my body was responding to different foods, meal timing, food order, and lifestyle choices. Katie and I talk about how tools like CGMs can help people become “curious detectives” in their own healing process, offering personalized insight that goes beyond generic wellness advice.

If you are interested in learning more about Levels Health or trying a continuous glucose monitor for yourself, you can check out my Levels link here: https://app.levels.com/invite/LVLS-QFWHVVJK

Connect with Dr. Katie Guidotti:

Instagram: @drkatie_hashimotos
TikTok: @drkatie_hashimotos
Facebook: Dr. Katie Guidotti

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This episode is sponsored by Histamine Tracker, an app designed to help you log meals, symptoms, and possible triggers so you can begin noticing patterns in how your body responds. If you’ve been wondering whether histamine may be playing a role in your symptoms, Histamine Tracker can be a helpful place to start connecting the dots.

Check out Histamine Tracker and start your 7 day free trial here:
https://histaminetracker.com/?utm_source=rooted-resilient&utm_medium=podcast

🌿 Loving the podcast and want to support the growth of Rooted & Resilient?

Your contributions help support podcast production, guest conversations, editing, and creating a space for honest discussions around nervous system healing, resilience, and integrative wellness.

Thank you for helping this community grow 🤍

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Music licensed through Soundstripe.
Code: ZSM1LEGX7D57DRTC

What happens when chronic illness changes the life you thought you were going to have and how do you begin finding your way back?

In this episode of Rooted & Resilient, I sit down with Kat Hargreaves, occupational therapist, chronic Lyme warrior, and passionate advocate for helping others reconnect with movement, resilience, and hope. Kat’s symptoms began at just 15 years old with a mysterious tremor, eventually leading to years of testing, treatment, setbacks, neurological symptoms, and a diagnosis of Lyme disease and Bartonella. Her story is one of deep loss, persistence, and rebuilding.. not by pretending chronic illness is easy, but by learning how to create meaning, strength, and possibility alongside it.

Together, we explore Kat’s journey from being a high-achieving teenager whose life changed almost overnight to spending the last decade rebuilding her health from the inside out. We talk about nervous system healing, acceptance versus resistance, mindset shifts, community support, and the small daily practices that can create profound change over time. Kat also shares the emotional story behind accomplishing a goal she set during one of her sickest seasons: running a half marathon as a reminder that a diagnosis does not define your future.

Whether you are navigating Lyme disease, chronic illness, neurological symptoms, setbacks, grief, or the emotional weight of wondering whether life will ever feel like yours again, this episode is a powerful reminder that healing does not always mean becoming symptom-free. Sometimes healing means learning how to build a meaningful, connected, and resilient life in the middle of the unknown.

IG: Chronicallyfitkat

IG: kathrynm.ot

Tiktok: Chronicallyfitkat

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In this grounding and deeply informative conversation, I sit down with Kate Ray, Certified Ayurvedic Health Practitioner, Yoga Instructor, and Founder of Grounded Health and Wellness, to explore the connection between chronic symptoms, gut health, circadian rhythm, nervous system regulation, and returning to the wisdom of the body. Kate shares her own long and layered healing journey, including lifelong digestive issues, skin symptoms, hormonal challenges, PMDD, migraines, and eventually discovering mast cell activation syndrome after years of searching for answers. Through yoga, Ayurveda, circadian biology, and learning to work with her body instead of against it, Kate found a path that helped her feel healthier than she had in years.

Together, we discuss why healing has to be bio-individual, why gut health is about more than just food, and how simple practices like chewing your food thoroughly, eating locally and seasonally, getting morning sunlight, blocking blue light at night, grounding, opening a window, and reconnecting with natural rhythms can create profound shifts in the body. Kate explains how Ayurveda views digestion as not only the digestion of food, but also the digestion of emotions, sensory input, stress, and life itself. She also shares how circadian biology helped her understand the importance of sunrise, seasonal living, light exposure, sleep, hormones, mood, and energy.

If you’ve ever felt like you’ve tried everything and still feel stuck, this conversation offers a hopeful reminder that the body is always trying to help us and sometimes the most powerful healing practices are also the simplest.

Kate is a Certified Ayurvedic Health Practitioner, Yoga Instructor, and Founder of Grounded Health and Wellness, a space for deep inner healing. Her approach blends the practices of Yoga, Ayurveda, and Circadian Biology to help clients feel empowered in their own health. Grounded Health and Wellness honors the fact that each of us has bio-individual needs, which means each healing path must be unique. Those who have tried everything and still feel stuck can work with Kate one-on-one or explore the online courses offered through Grounded Health and Wellness.

IG: @groundedhealthandwellness
Website: groundedhealthandwellness.com

Circadian app: https://mycircadianapp.com/

Blue light blockers: https://www.emr-tek.com/GROUNDEDHEALTH

For access to Kate's FREE blue light blocker guide email: [email protected] with subject line "Kate's guide"

🌿 Loving the podcast and want to support the growth of Rooted & Resilient?

Your contributions help support podcast production, guest conversations, editing, and creating a space for honest discussions around nervous system healing, resilience, and integrative wellness.

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What happens when decades of unexplained symptoms finally lead to answers and an entirely new purpose?

In this episode of Rooted & Resilient, I sit down with Erica Zernzach, transformational guide, founder of A Right Path Wellness, and creator of the EZ Method, to discuss her remarkable journey through decades of undiagnosed Lyme disease, mold toxicity, fibromyalgia, PTSD, addiction, and other complex health challenges. After spending nearly 40 years searching for answers, Erica shares how her diagnosis became a turning point that deepened her understanding of healing, nervous system regulation, intuition, and the connection between mind, body, and spirit. Together, we explore chronic illness, brain retraining, Lyme disease, mold exposure, herbal medicine, and why many people feel called to look beyond conventional approaches when searching for wellness.

With more than 30 years of experience in natural wellness and intuitive healing, Erica brings a unique blend of lived experience, neuroscience, energy work, and holistic health education to her work. Our conversation dives into nervous system healing, subconscious beliefs, human design, Reiki, intuitive guidance, and the powerful role that hope, self-trust, and alignment can play in recovery. Whether you're navigating chronic illness, feeling stuck in your healing journey, or simply curious about alternative approaches to health and personal growth, this episode offers an inspiring reminder that healing is rarely one-size-fits-all—and that sometimes the path forward begins by learning to listen more deeply to yourself.

Email: [email protected]

TikTok: Ericamzernzach

IG: Erica_zernzach

Facebook: Erica M Zernzach

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🌿 Loving the podcast and want to support the growth of Rooted & Resilient?

Your contributions help support podcast production, guest conversations, editing, and creating a space for honest discussions around nervous system healing, resilience, and integrative wellness.

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Music licensed through Soundstripe.
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If you've ever felt like you understand your patterns but still can't seem to change them, this episode is for you. 👀🌿

In this powerful conversation, I sit down with holistic trauma therapist Yesim Saldivia to explore EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), inner child work, and why healing often requires more than insight alone. We discuss how trauma can become stored not only in our memories, but also in our bodies and nervous systems, influencing everything from anxiety and people-pleasing to chronic stress, pain, and physical illness.

Yesim explains how therapies like EMDR help the brain reprocess experiences that have become "stuck," while IFS and inner child work help us reconnect with younger parts of ourselves that may still be carrying fear, shame, or emotional burdens from the past. We also explore the connection between adverse childhood experiences, nervous system dysregulation, chronic illness, and the mind-body healing journey. Along the way, we dive into boundaries, emotionally immature parents, rupture and repair in relationships, and why true healing often involves learning to feel safe in your own body again.

Whether you're navigating trauma recovery, chronic illness, burnout, anxiety, or simply trying to better understand yourself, this conversation offers a compassionate and hopeful look at what deep, lasting healing can look like. Most importantly, it reminds us that healing is not about fixing what's broken, it's about reconnecting with the parts of ourselves that have been waiting to be seen, heard, and supported all along. 🤍

IG/Tiktok: Heal_with_Yish

Website: https://www.yesimsaldivia.com/

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Last 4-digits of phone number: 8356

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In this powerful conversation, I sit down with emotional health and vitality coach Claudia Warias to explore the often-overlooked connection between chronic illness, nervous system regulation, emotional safety, and healing. Drawing from her own journey through thyroid issues, PCOS, IBS, chronic stress, and burnout, Claudia shares how her health began to improve only after she stopped viewing her body as the enemy and started listening to what it was trying to communicate. We discuss why nervous system regulation isn't about never feeling anxious, angry, or overwhelmed—it’s about increasing your capacity to move through discomfort without getting stuck there. Claudia explains how chronic stress can keep the body trapped in survival mode, why many people unknowingly complete very few stress cycles, and how perfectionism, people-pleasing, and self-criticism often fuel chronic symptoms. She also shares practical tools for building emotional safety, reconnecting with your body, and creating a life that supports healing rather than survival. If you've ever struggled with anxiety, chronic illness, burnout, adrenal fatigue, unexplained symptoms, or feeling disconnected from yourself, this conversation offers a compassionate and hopeful perspective on what healing can look like.

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Claudia Warias is a professionally certified emotional health & vitality coach specializing in emotional safety, mindset and nervous system regulation with over 5 years of coaching experience. Claudia supports women in exiting chronic stress at the root by reconnecting to their bodies through emotional safety, nervous system regulation and identity work. She is the founder of The Vitality Oasis, a transformative coaching program designed for women who are done performing, pushing, and surviving, and ready to feel grounded, safe, and at peace again.

IG: Claudia.warias

Email: [email protected]

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🌿 Loving the podcast and want to support the growth of Rooted & Resilient?

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Last 4-digits of phone number: 8356

In this insightful interview, Kyra Newton shares her transformative journey from chronic pain and autoimmune struggles to healing through somatic practices like Five Rhythms dance and somatic experiencing. Discover how reconnecting with the body, processing emotions, and community support can lead to profound healing and self-trust.

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Kyra Newton is a somatic trauma-resolution practitioner, facilitator, and expressive dance artist based in Calgary. She is the founder of Somatic Healing Arts. She guides women to shift out of self-abandonement, move beyond the fear of judgment, and stop self-censoring so they can embrace their embodied self-expression and build lives and businesses that feel like living, breathing art. Her work blends somatic experiencing, attachment repair, nervous system regulation, dance, and expressive art to create deep, body-led transformation that goes beyond traditional talk-based approaches. Through group immersions and 1:1 somatic healing, she helps women rebuild trust in their bodies, establish embodied boundaries, and turn emotional healing into grounded, self-led action.

IG: @somatichealingarts 

WEBSITE: Somatichealingarts.ca

EMAIL: [email protected]

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🌿 Loving the podcast and want to support the growth of Rooted & Resilient?

Your contributions help support podcast production, guest conversations, editing, and creating a space for honest discussions around nervous system healing, resilience, and integrative wellness.

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Last 4-digits of phone number: 8356