Triggered

Welcome to Truth. In this episode, Whitney Kell shares the daily grounding meditation she invites you to start every morning with, so you go inside first before running into your day.

Whitney walks you through the full practice step by step:

• A tour of your bones and a connection to your essence
• Dropping your roots deep into Mother Earth and letting her fill you up
• "Me, not me," a clearing process to release other people's energy and call your own back home
• Setting your auric field with the intention that only what's in your highest and best good can enter

The full guided meditation runs about 15 to 20 minutes. Once you know it, you can do it on your own in 10 to 15. Whitney believes meditation is medication, and this practice is the foundation for the six-week Triggered course. Press play, get comfortable, and set the stage inside so you're ready for whatever comes your way.

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We talk a lot about being triggered by what's going on around us. In this episode of Triggered, Whitney Kell turns the focus inward, to the triggers that happen inside of us, like the ones that show up when you can't sleep, get stuck in traffic, or feel that flash of frustration and don't know why.

Whitney starts with her own night: she didn't fall asleep until 4 a.m. and had a podcast to record the next morning. Instead of resisting it, she sat with it, meditated, stretched, and asked herself what she needed. From there, she opens up a bigger question: what if you could learn to love your triggers, and the parts of yourself you've been trained to reject or shame?

In this episode, Whitney talks about:

Whitney previews more on childhood triggers in the next episode.

Ready to turn your triggers into truth? Follow Whitney on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, and ask about her six-week course and her book.

This podcast is for general education and is not medical advice.

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In this episode, host Whitney Kell sits down with Dr. Gabrielle Pelicci — professor of integrative and holistic medicine, transformational storytelling expert, and bestselling author — for a wide-ranging conversation about turning emotional triggers into personal growth.

Gabrielle opens up about the spiritual awakening that followed her mother's death in 1996, the years she spent researching women healers across 50 countries for her doctoral dissertation, and how that work shaped her belief that community and connection are essential to staying emotionally grounded. She and Whitney talk candidly about self-abandonment versus self-prioritization, the resistance and "tribal shaming" that often comes with choosing an unconventional healing path, and the two directions people tend to go when pain becomes unbearable — toward transformation or toward illness and numbing.

The conversation moves through grief, mortality, and the loss of both parents at relatively young ages, plant medicine journeys, and why creative practice — writing, music, art — can be one of the most powerful tools for processing difficult emotions. They close with reflections on death as transition rather than ending, and how everyday moments of gratitude can anchor us against fear and distraction.

A raw, spiritually-minded conversation about self-connection, healing community, and living with intention — even amid uncertainty.

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After 43 years in medicine — starting as a military medical officer and evolving into one of San Diego's most sought-after anti-aging and functional medicine physicians — Dr. Andrea Cole-Raub has seen nearly every pattern the body can throw at her. On this episode of Triggered, host Whitney Kell sits down with her longtime doctor for a wide-ranging, detective-style conversation about what standard medicine misses.

They dig into why testosterone therapy transformed Whitney's health and relationships in her 30s, how gluten sensitivity hides behind "negative" celiac panels, and why H. pylori and leaky gut quietly wreck absorption, immunity, and even brain health years before symptoms show up. Dr. Cole-Raub explains the gut-brain connection behind "leaky brain," why reactivated Epstein-Barr virus becomes a hidden driver of fatigue and inflammation after 50, and how pharmacogenomic testing can end the guesswork around antidepressants and anxiety meds. They also talk candidly about AI's growing (and limited) role in modern diagnostics, and share a sobering story about why patients must advocate for themselves — even after a "normal" test result.

Part detective story, part masterclass in functional medicine, this conversation is a reminder that your body is always talking. The question is whether anyone's listening.

In This Episode:

Connect with Dr. Andrea Cole-Raub: Oceanside, CA (telemedicine available) — reach out via email for consultation inquiries.

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This week on Triggered, host Whitney Kell sits down with Chelsea Rykus — founder and president of Ethos Benefits, national speaker, documentary filmmaker, and self-proclaimed "raging Leo" — for a two-part conversation that moves from the deeply personal to the boldly professional.

Chelsea opens up about the traumatic brain injury that derailed her path to medical school, the divorce at 26 that taught her more about courage than staying ever could, and the eight-and-a-half months of relentless morning sickness she powered through while still landing on stages across the country. Whitney and Chelsea dig into spirituality, EMDR therapy, somatic healing, and what it really means to turn pain into a pathway instead of a prison.

Then the conversation shifts gears: Chelsea pulls back the curtain on the health insurance industry she calls "the cartel" — explaining how she built a fee-based (not commission-based) consulting firm from the ground up, walked away from a multi-million dollar book of business on principle, and now helps employers slash healthcare costs by exposing how wildly claims can be manipulated (think: an $82,000 hospital bill for a procedure that costs $2,000 down the road).

Equal parts trauma-informed and take-no-prisoners business talk, this episode is a masterclass in choosing agency over victimhood — and building your own playbook when no one else's fits.

Guest: Chelsea Rykus, Founder & President, Ethos Benefits | Co-host, Business of Benefits podcast
Find her: LinkedIn @ChelseaRykus | businessofbenefitspodcast.com

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In Part 2 of this raw, unfiltered conversation, Whitney Kell continues her story of living with a congenital limb difference — and goes deeper into the emotional and spiritual work that helped her reclaim her identity after decades of hiding.

Whitney opens up about:

This episode is a masterclass in turning pain into self-awareness — and a reminder that no one else can fully understand your triggers but you.

Topics covered: self-acceptance, congenital limb difference, narcissistic parents, The Four Agreements, trauma healing, meditation, breathwork, sobriety, personal transformation, mindfulness practices

This is Part 2 of a two-part episode. If you haven't listened to Part 1, start there for the full story of Whitney's 28 years wearing prosthetic fingers.

Find Whitney Kell on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Grab her free e-book Triggered or join her 6-week course, Track Your Triggers — links in show notes.

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Whitney Kell, host of Triggered, shares the story she's never told publicly: living with a congenital limb difference and wearing prosthetic fingers for 28 years to avoid bullying and hide part of herself from the world.

In this deeply personal episode, Whitney opens up about:

This episode is about triggers, identity, disability, self-acceptance, and the courage it takes to be seen. If you've ever hidden a part of yourself to fit in, this conversation will resonate.

Topics covered: congenital limb difference, prosthetic hands, childhood bullying, body image, disability acceptance, sobriety, spiritual awakening, self-worth, personal transformation, identity

Find Whitney Kell on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Grab her e-book Triggered or join her 6-week course, Track Your Triggers — links in show notes.

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In this episode of Triggered, host Whitney Kell sits down with entrepreneur, author, and strategic operator Novalena Nichele for a deeply personal conversation on self-worth, intuition, and radical responsibility.

Novalena opens up about how curiosity and trust in her own intuition have shaped every major decision in her life — from navigating friendships and relationships without attachment, to building a business alongside her husband, to raising her daughter with an intentional, trauma-informed approach to parenting. She shares the personal development practices that changed her life, including a 30-day thought-awareness exercise inspired by T. Harv Eker, and a daily self-love journaling habit that reshaped how she sees herself.

Whitney and Novalena also dig into:

This is a conversation about self-worth, presence, and learning to see every difficult moment as an opportunity to grow — exactly what Triggered is all about.

Connect with Novalena Nichele: thetotalfemalepackage.com and on Instagram
 Connect with Whitney Kell and Triggered: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and wherever you get your podcasts.

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After 36 years as an ER nurse — stepping into what she now calls a daily war zone — Jenell Kelly thought the chaos was just who she was. It took a spinal cord injury that doctors said would leave her paralyzed for life, a stroke ten years later, and a night crying over a chapter of The Body Keeps the Score before she realized she'd been recreating the fight-or-flight of her childhood her entire career. Whitney sits down with Jenell to unpack how she left nursing leadership with no formal training, found her way into an entirely new identity, and finally did the deep, unglamorous work of healing the little girl inside her who thought chaos was normal. They talk belief before proof, the "roommate in your head," why journaling and five minutes of meditation beat an hour you'll never actually do, and what it really looks like to stop living out somebody else's story.

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Whitney Kell sits down with legendary Tantra teacher Leah Piper (25 years in the field, founder of More Love Works and host of Sex Reimagined) for a raw, wide-ranging conversation on what really happens in our bodies when we get triggered — especially around sex and intimacy. Leah unpacks the difference between enduring sex and truly desiring it, why testosterone can't heal childhood trauma even though it can restore charge and desire, and the startling link she's seen between sexual abuse history and weight gain (including the eye-opening bariatric surgery statistic that changed how she sees the obesity conversation entirely). She also shares her own story of childhood sexual abuse and disordered eating, and walks listeners through the somatic technique she uses to help people re-parent the younger, wounded parts of themselves. Plus: why curiosity — not fixing — is the antidote to shame, and the one question ("What would love do?") that can transform how you show up in every relationship.

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