Unlocking Stress Relief: Chantal Donnelly on Body Insight, Stress Management, and Holistic Health | ANEW Body Insight Podcast

In this enlightening episode of the ANEW Body Insight Podcast, co-host Chantal Donnelly shares her journey from aspiring actress to becoming a renowned physical therapist and the author of the Amazon bestseller, Settled: How to Find Calm in a Stress-Inducing World. In a deep and insightful conversation with Dr. Supatra Tovar, Chantal discusses the pivotal moments that led her to establish Body Insight, a wellness company focused on helping people reconnect with their bodies to enhance their overall health.

Chantal’s story is one of transformation, beginning with her early struggles with jaw pain and stress while navigating the unpredictable world of acting. It was during this challenging time that she developed a deep interest in the mind-body connection, a relatively new concept at the time, which would eventually become the cornerstone of her professional practice. She made the bold decision to leave acting and pursue a career in physical therapy, driven by a desire to explore how physical health intertwines with emotional well-being.

Throughout this episode, Chantal delves into the concept of "stress fluency," a term she uses to describe the ability to understand and manage the biological processes of stress. She emphasizes the importance of "body fluency," the ability to listen to and communicate with your body, as a critical component of stress management. By incorporating knowledge of the nervous system and applying practical tools, Chantal empowers her clients—and listeners—to take control of their health in a holistic way.

Chantal’s approach to physical therapy goes beyond the traditional methods. She combines her extensive knowledge of anatomy and physiology with cutting-edge nervous system science to create a comprehensive strategy for managing chronic pain, stress, and stress-related illnesses. In this episode, she shares specific techniques from her book, such as targeted breathing exercises, mindful movement practices, and strategies for mindful eating, all designed to help individuals regulate their nervous systems and build resilience against stress.

Moreover, Chantal opens up about her personal health challenges, including her own struggles with stress, neck pain, and the trials of perimenopause. Her candidness about her journey adds a relatable and compassionate dimension to her professional expertise, making her advice not only practical but also deeply empathetic.

For those dealing with stress, chronic pain, or the pressures of daily life, this episode offers valuable insights and actionable steps to take charge of your health. Chantal’s holistic approach, grounded in both science and personal experience, provides a refreshing perspective on wellness.

To learn more about Chantal Donnelly, her work, and how you can embark on your own wellness journey, visit bodyinsight.com. Through her website, you can explore her upcoming workshops, one-on-one consultations, and a range of resources designed to help you find calm in a stress

Thank you for joining us on this journey to wellness. Remember, the insights and advice shared on the ANEW Body Insight Podcast are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making any changes to your health routine. To learn more about the podcast and stay updated on new episodes, visit ANEW Body Insight Podcast at anew-insight.com. To watch this episode on YouTube, visit @my.anew.insight. Follow us on social media at @my.anew.insight on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads for more updates and insights. Thank you for tuning in! Stay connected with us for more empowering stories and expert guidance. Until next time, stay well and keep evolving with ANEW Body Insight!

Transcript

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Welcome to the ANEW Body Insight podcast,

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empowering and inspiring your journey to optimal health.

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Hosted by Dr. Supatra Tovar, clinical psychologist,

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registered dietitian, fitness expert and author of Deprogram Diet Culture:

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Rethink Your Relationship with Food, Heal Your Mind and Live a Diet Free Life,

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and Chantall Donnelly, physical therapist and author of Settled:

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How to Find Calm in a Stress Inducing world.

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We follow our guests journey to optimal health,

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providing you with the keys to unlock your own wellness path.

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Tune in and evolve with us.

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Hi and welcome to the ANEW Body Insight podcast.

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I am Dr. Supatra Tovar and I have the privilege

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of interviewing my co-host.

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Miss Chantal Donnelly.

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Say hi to everyone, Chantal.

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Well hello everyone. Yes.

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So I'm going to read a little bit about Chantal.

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And just for our listeners, we want you to to get to know us

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what we do, what our backgrounds are.

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That's why we're interviewing each other today.

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So I'm going to read a little bit about Chantal,

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and then I'm going to dive into picking her brain.

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I have a hard time listening to people read my bio.

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So if I look weird while you do this, just ignore my face.

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Okay. Will do.

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Chantal

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Donnelly is a physical therapist and author of the Amazon bestselling

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book Settled: How to Find Calm in a Stress Inducing World.

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She is also the owner of Body Insight,

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so hence ANEW Body Insight.

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That's how we made our podcast name.

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We are combining our efforts and our companies,

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She owns Body Insight, a wellness company designed

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to help people reconnect with their bodies and improve their health.

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She combines her anatomy and physiology knowledge and experience

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with nervous system science to help people with chronic pain,

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overwhelming stress and stress related illness.

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Through videos, workshops and her book, Chantal

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teaches body focused tools for calming the nervous system.

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She believes that stress fluency can make the world a better place.

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Chantal, I'm

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so excited that you're my co-host and that I get to pick your brain today.

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How are you doing today?

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I'm good.

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We're doing this podcast thing, aren't we? Holy cow.

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Yeah, we're doing this podcast thing and you are an amazing co-host.

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But you're also just an amazing physical therapist

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and have written a wonderful book.

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I got to be a little bit a part of that.

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So I'm very proud to be a part of her book.

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And just like she is a part of mine as well.

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So Chantal, we're going to go back into history, back

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through time as we like to do.

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I would like to know why you chose to become a physical therapist.

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Tell us what inspired you.

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Oh, yeah.

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We are going back, aren't we?

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Yeah. So just like you.

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I started out as an actress.

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I was living in LA.

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I was trying my hand at the acting thing, which basically meant

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that I was waiting on tables,

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and I was a terrible waitress, and I was kind of miserable.

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and I started getting jaw pain.

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And at some point, I saw a doctor

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who basically said, you're jaw

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pain is related to

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whatever's going on in your life,

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your stress, your,

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your unhappiness.

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And as soon as he said it, I broke down crying, and I knew he was right.

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And from that moment on, I was sort of obsessed

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with this mind body connection, which at the time was

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not really talked about and was this sort of new idea. And,

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I thought, you

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know, I think I'm going to go and,

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stop acting and

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go get my degree in psychotherapy.

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So I wanted to become a therapist, just like you are.

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I did not know this. You did not know this?

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I did not know this. Yes.

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So I went to Occidental College.

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Actually, I went to a whole lot of community colleges to get into Occidental.

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And then I got into oxy and my undergrad degree is in psychology.

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My goodness. Yes.

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And then because.

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I was so interested in this body piece, I got a minor in kinesiology.

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So I was mostly focused on

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following the track of talk therapy and becoming a therapist.

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And I didn't know exactly if it was going to be MFCC or like,

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you get my PsyD or I didn't really understand where I was going.

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I just knew

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I was getting my undergrad in psych and I would figure it out from there.

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And so while I was at Occidental,

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I needed to kind of pay the bills and have some, some money.

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So I became a massage therapist and that was my side gig

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while I was a student, as at night I would go

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and I would give people a massage, as

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I had a portable table and I would go to their home.

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30 pound portable table, mind you.

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so, what I found

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is that I really enjoyed working on people's bodies,

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and if somebody had a specific physical injury,

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I would kind of wake up and be, like, really excited

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to work with them versus somebody who just wanted a relaxing massage.

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And that's when I started to realize that I have this real,

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desire to explore the physical,

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maybe a little bit more than the cognitive stuff.

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And so I started working as an aide for a physical therapist.

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I worked for a chiropractor for a little while.

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That didn't quite turn out so well.

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She and I butted heads, and so I ended up at a physical

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therapy place, and I just kind of fell in love with what they were doing.

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And this idea of giving people education, the exercises and the tools to, to, to,

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you know, then be able to be discharged

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from physical therapy and have their own healing journey versus,

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you know, a system where people are sort of meant to stay

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on forever and ever and ever and kind of get dependent on the therapist.

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And that's not what I was seeing in the physical therapy world.

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And that really appealed to me.

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And so I applied to physical therapy to school from there.

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And so the I got my undergrad at Occidental, as I mentioned,

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and then I got my master's in physical therapy at Mount Saint Mary's College.

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I love it, I love that it's just borne out of just a general desire to help people,

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and then became more and more narrowly focused as you went along.

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Why do you think after,

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you know, being in private practice for so long and doing kind of straight up

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physical therapy that you shifted from traditional physical therapy

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and really just did a deep dive into stress, stress management,

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the effect that stress has on the body.

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Yeah.

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I mean, it's kind of interesting when you think

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about the first part of my journey to physical therapy.

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It's almost like I came back full circle or like I sort of started

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with the cognitive piece and then ended up kind of coming back around to

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how is stress affecting my patients bodies and I

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what happened is I was practicing and it was probably like

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15, 17 years somewhere in there into my practice, and I started realizing

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that my patients were getting better on my table,

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but they would go to their stressful lives.

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You know, it didn't matter if it was at work

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or at home, in relationship or maybe it was,

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you know, taking care of elderly parents or whatever their stress was.

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It would negatively affect, affect their progress in physical therapy.

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And it kind of felt like what I was doing was just putting a Band-Aid

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on the situation, and I wasn't really getting to the root of

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what was causing the inflammation in their body.

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And that's when I started looking into stress,

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because I knew it was something that was really affecting my my patients

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and started realizing how the inflammation was coming

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from the response to stress that biological response.

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And the as we know now, a lot of the diseases that we see

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that we are combating, whether it's, you know, type two diabetes or,

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dementia, or heart disease,

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these are all stress related responses.

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and so

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with pain, it was very obvious to me that I needed to really get

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to the root of the problem and that past trauma and, and stress was really

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an important component for me to be able to have the knowledge and to, to address.

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So it was really it was born out of my frustration

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of not being able to help my patients.

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And of course, I too was going through stress.

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So I was frustrated with my own health journey.

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And now I'm curious about that because I think our own journey also

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greatly influences, you know, the path that we take with our clients.

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What were you experiencing personally that led you down this path too?

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Yeah, well, I mentioned before I was having a lot of jaw pain

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when I was trying to be an actress, and that went away when I went to school.

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I, and I really felt like the jaw pain

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was my need to control things, and I didn't feel like I could control my life

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in the acting world, in the thespian world,

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as one can't.

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and then with school, I kind of felt like a little bit more control.

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And so that jaw pain went away.

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The harder I studied, the better I did in class

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generally that that wasn't always the scenario, but generally.

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And so I felt like I had some more control.

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So that pain went away.

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But I was dealing with my own stress,

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as a physical therapist, you know,

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I had a young child, I come from, a mother who's an immigrant

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who didn't really teach me how to manage stress.

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In fact, she taught me how to stress

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because that was how she got through life as as an immigrant woman.

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and so

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I had that as my, my learning platform.

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and then I also, you know, just life, financial stuff.

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I was dealing with a lot of neck pain and still am, but but it's better now.

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But, I was dealing with

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sort of recurrent insomnia,

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and neck pain and moodiness

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and blowing up at my child and not really knowing how to stay regulated as a mom.

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And and so all of those things are also what guided me,

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not just my patients needs, but my own needs to seek help and

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then figure out this stress thing, unpack it, figure out how to manage it better.

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Right.

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And you mentioned insomnia.

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And that's something that I've struggled with.

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You know, I think with a tremendous amount of stress,

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especially going through school and all the years of that.

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And how did you, like, cure your insomnia?

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Is it cured or how how are you dealing with it now?

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Well,

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in my my insomnia got better and then got worse again.

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And the reason it got worse again

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is because I started going through perimenopause. so.

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as I started regulating my nervous system, I found that

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I did sleep better because I wasn't in survival mode.

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Right?

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Like, if you think about your nervous system being up ticked,

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it's not in a place where it feels that sleep is safe.

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Right.

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So I learned how to talk to my nervous system.

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I call it body fluency.

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I learned how to talk to my nervous system

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and let it know that I was not in an emergency.

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Right.

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And that's how we get out of sympathetic nervous system

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or fight flight, as we're often calling it.

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and once I did that, I was able to sleep a lot better.

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And then along came perimenopause.

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Yay, yay.

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So fun. Yeah.

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the funnest times.

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Really crazy.

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and I thought, oh, all the things that were working for me before are the,

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you know, now that rules have changed and they're no longer working.

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So that was another deep dive.

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That was more a deep dive into the sleep science than it was into the stress,

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because I had kind of already figured out the stress piece.

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so but what I added,

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to help me sleep as, a perimenopausal

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and then menopausal woman was, you know, going outside within 30 minutes

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of waking to get, sun on my face

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and not direct sun, necessarily, but just seeing sunlight. Yes.

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I started

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not eating too late at night and not drinking alcohol.

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And those two things helped my heart rate go down.

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And then I was able to get back into deeper sleep.

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Yeah.

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and for me, this isn't appropriate for every woman, so this is just my choice.

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But I am very sensitive to fluctuations in estrogen

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to the point where, it is detrimental to my mental health.

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So I got on hormone replacement therapy

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and that helped with, a myriad of things.

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my brain fog it helped with.

00:14:06:20 - 00:14:09:20
Although half the time you can't tell on this podcast.

00:14:09:24 - 00:14:11:15
But no, it did. It helped.

00:14:11:15 - 00:14:14:05
I was way worse before.

00:14:14:05 - 00:14:16:24
And you are never foggy on our podcast.

00:14:16:24 - 00:14:19:24
Never. Always on.

00:14:20:06 - 00:14:23:06
and it really helped with the insomnia piece.

00:14:23:13 - 00:14:27:24
what was happening during menopause that was different than the insomnia

00:14:27:24 - 00:14:30:13
I had before menopause that I knew

00:14:30:13 - 00:14:33:14
I knew it was an entirely stress related and more hormonal,

00:14:34:06 - 00:14:36:18
was that I'd be gone in the early part of sleep,

00:14:36:18 - 00:14:41:22
I'd be going into deep sleep, and I would be jolted awake and.

00:14:42:01 - 00:14:46:07
Yeah, and that was that was how I knew that this was a menopause.

00:14:46:07 - 00:14:48:06
Insomnia.

00:14:48:06 - 00:14:50:13
and then there's also that 2:00 wake up, right.

00:14:50:13 - 00:14:52:17
Which is cortisol. That's more stress related.

00:14:53:17 - 00:14:54:15
Absolutely.

00:14:54:15 - 00:15:00:10
You had mentioned, like, what you say to yourself when you're stressed.

00:15:00:10 - 00:15:04:17
This was kind of before you talked about, this part, this is insomnia part.

00:15:05:13 - 00:15:09:00
I think it's also, you know, yes, we have to figure out what we say

00:15:09:00 - 00:15:12:14
to ourselves, which is also something that we need to do with our bodies.

00:15:12:14 - 00:15:18:07
So give me a picture of how you started to manage your stress, not just

00:15:18:07 - 00:15:22:23
with what you were saying to yourself, but what you were doing with your body.

00:15:23:11 - 00:15:26:11
Well, that's a huge, huge piece.

00:15:26:14 - 00:15:30:24
So stress fluency is your ability to understand

00:15:30:24 - 00:15:34:00
the biological processes of a stress response,

00:15:34:00 - 00:15:37:00
but also acknowledge and understand

00:15:37:00 - 00:15:40:11
and notice the patterns in yourself

00:15:40:11 - 00:15:45:10
and in your loved ones of how they respond to stress and

00:15:46:11 - 00:15:48:00
one of the key

00:15:48:00 - 00:15:51:03
key things for learning stress,

00:15:51:03 - 00:15:54:03
fluency, and becoming more resilient

00:15:54:11 - 00:15:58:04
is having better body fluency.

00:15:58:23 - 00:16:01:23
And body fluency is,

00:16:02:16 - 00:16:06:13
we is your ability to talk to.

00:16:06:14 - 00:16:09:12
So when I was saying I'm talk to myself, my nervous system,

00:16:09:12 - 00:16:13:07
I was actually talking to my body more than my brain in that instance.

00:16:13:17 - 00:16:17:00
So talking to your body and people get a little, like, weirded out.

00:16:17:00 - 00:16:19:18
Like what in the how does one talk to the body?

00:16:19:18 - 00:16:22:04
Right. We know that we can talk to our brains.

00:16:22:04 - 00:16:23:06
We do it all the time.

00:16:23:06 - 00:16:25:13
But can we really talk to our body?

00:16:25:13 - 00:16:26:13
Yeah, we can.

00:16:26:13 - 00:16:29:13
When we change the way we're breathing. Yes.

00:16:29:16 - 00:16:34:08
we are then having a conversation

00:16:34:08 - 00:16:38:03
with our body, and then our body has that same conversation with the brain.

00:16:38:03 - 00:16:40:22
Right. And that's that brain body connection.

00:16:42:03 - 00:16:42:21
the way that

00:16:42:21 - 00:16:45:21
we are touched or touch ourselves,

00:16:45:24 - 00:16:48:24
we know that there are alternating

00:16:49:08 - 00:16:52:08
bilateral tactile,

00:16:52:08 - 00:16:56:07
cues that we can give our body to actually dampen

00:16:56:07 - 00:16:59:19
what's happening in the amygdala, up in the brain, in the fear center brain.

00:17:00:01 - 00:17:00:07
Yeah.

00:17:00:07 - 00:17:04:17
So what that is, is like, for example, if I cross my arms

00:17:04:21 - 00:17:08:13
so that my right hand is touching my left shoulder and then left

00:17:08:21 - 00:17:15:06
hand touching right shoulder, and I just alternate in the and little taps.

00:17:15:13 - 00:17:18:05
And it can be. Squeezes. It doesn't have to be taps.

00:17:18:05 - 00:17:21:19
Yeah, it can be squeezes or taps or whatever, even sweeping.

00:17:22:10 - 00:17:24:05
They call it butterfly technique?

00:17:24:05 - 00:17:25:17
That is the butterfly hug.

00:17:25:17 - 00:17:26:23
Yeah. Yes.

00:17:26:23 - 00:17:29:23
That is an eMDR technique. Yeah it is.

00:17:30:00 - 00:17:32:00
I use it with my clients.

00:17:32:00 - 00:17:32:19
I love it.

00:17:32:19 - 00:17:34:14
It's such a great it's easy you know.

00:17:34:14 - 00:17:39:22
And the that is based on the fact that this alternating bilateral.

00:17:39:22 - 00:17:43:19
So both sides of the body touch, for some reason

00:17:43:19 - 00:17:48:12
we're not sure why, but for some reason it calms the fear centers of the brain.

00:17:48:12 - 00:17:53:13
And so that's going to help you rewire and get out of that survival mode.

00:17:53:13 - 00:17:53:24
Right.

00:17:53:24 - 00:17:57:09
They say it, activates the vagus nerve, which then,

00:17:58:03 - 00:18:01:07
basically turns on the parasympathetic nervous system,

00:18:01:07 - 00:18:04:10
the rest, and digest the opposite of the sympathetic or,

00:18:04:10 - 00:18:07:14
as I like to call it, the not so sympathetic nervous system.

00:18:07:21 - 00:18:08:07
That's right.

00:18:08:07 - 00:18:12:03
We want to be in parasympathetic nervous system state more

00:18:12:03 - 00:18:16:20
so than not, because when you're in the sympathetic nervous system,

00:18:17:04 - 00:18:21:06
that's when cortisol starts flowing, your adrenaline starts flowing.

00:18:21:06 - 00:18:25:07
And if you're constantly in that state, it is very difficult

00:18:25:07 - 00:18:26:19
for your health.

00:18:26:19 - 00:18:27:00
Yeah.

00:18:27:00 - 00:18:30:12
And I just like to mention that you do want a little bit of sympathetic.

00:18:30:12 - 00:18:33:23
I don't want listeners to think that we don't want any kind

00:18:33:23 - 00:18:38:10
of sympathetic nervous system in our, in our daily life.

00:18:38:20 - 00:18:39:14
Right.

00:18:39:14 - 00:18:41:07
so you need a little bit of sympathetic.

00:18:41:07 - 00:18:43:23
It's actually not such like it's not the bad guy.

00:18:43:23 - 00:18:49:20
It's just that what happens is we need a little bit for alertness, for focus.

00:18:49:20 - 00:18:51:12
Right? For motivation.

00:18:51:12 - 00:18:55:06
It gives us a little bit of umph to our muscles, blood flow, all that good stuff.

00:18:55:18 - 00:18:59:12
But what happens as humans is we tend to get stuck up too

00:18:59:12 - 00:19:02:12
high in sympathetic arousal.

00:19:02:16 - 00:19:05:04
And so it feels uncomfortable in our body.

00:19:05:04 - 00:19:06:18
That's where the shakes can come in.

00:19:06:18 - 00:19:10:03
And the moodiness and the irritability, and your heart rate's

00:19:10:03 - 00:19:13:15
pumping too much, and your breathing is now shallow and fast.

00:19:14:01 - 00:19:17:13
So that is the type of sympathetic that you were alluding to that

00:19:17:13 - 00:19:19:16
we don't necessarily want to be in.

00:19:19:16 - 00:19:20:22
But really,

00:19:21:21 - 00:19:23:01
on a daily basis,

00:19:23:01 - 00:19:26:23
I move in and out of sympathetic parasympathetic, and there's usually

00:19:26:23 - 00:19:31:02
a lot of places where I am in both sympathetic and parasympathetic.

00:19:31:10 - 00:19:34:14
For example, right now I'm doing a podcast

00:19:34:14 - 00:19:37:15
with my Supatra, and I need a little bit of umph, right?

00:19:37:15 - 00:19:39:09
I need a little bit of arousal.

00:19:39:09 - 00:19:44:13
I cannot be in a place of total calm, but I'm also connecting

00:19:44:13 - 00:19:48:02
with another human being and I need to be able to think clearly.

00:19:48:05 - 00:19:50:04
So I do need a little bit of calm.

00:19:50:04 - 00:19:54:06
So right now I'm floating right in between sympathetic

00:19:54:10 - 00:19:58:24
and parasympathetic, and I'm holding both within my system.

00:19:59:07 - 00:20:03:23
They're both on right now, but one isn't overtaking the other.

00:20:03:24 - 00:20:06:24
Now, if I was writing

00:20:07:05 - 00:20:10:01
or doing art of some kind,

00:20:10:01 - 00:20:15:09
I would need less sympathetic and more of the parasympathetic.

00:20:15:18 - 00:20:16:03
Right?

00:20:16:03 - 00:20:19:17
So there's just always this flux and this continuum

00:20:19:17 - 00:20:21:18
that we move around throughout the day.

00:20:21:18 - 00:20:25:19
We might go up into high sympathetic and it might be appropriate.

00:20:26:03 - 00:20:29:22
We get an email that makes us, upset that we need to deal with.

00:20:29:22 - 00:20:34:17
And it is a bit of an emergency, you know, let's say a modern day emergency.

00:20:34:17 - 00:20:35:10
Right?

00:20:35:10 - 00:20:37:14
And so you might go up into sympathetic

00:20:37:14 - 00:20:41:13
the idea is not to get stuck up there for the rest of the day.

00:20:41:13 - 00:20:46:01
You don't want that high sympathetic from the email to affect your interaction

00:20:46:01 - 00:20:49:01
with your husband or your child or a friend, right?

00:20:49:08 - 00:20:52:08
So it's that flexibility

00:20:52:12 - 00:20:56:13
of the nervous system that is what creates resilience.

00:20:57:13 - 00:20:58:14
I agree completely.

00:20:58:14 - 00:21:01:13
And I think, you know, when you see chronic long term stress, that's

00:21:01:13 - 00:21:04:17
when you start to see a lot of mental and physical health

00:21:04:17 - 00:21:07:17
issues, weight gain.

00:21:07:19 - 00:21:12:03
you know, difficulty concentrating, thinking, anxiety, depression.

00:21:12:12 - 00:21:16:18
So having some fluency, knowing when you need to be on

00:21:16:18 - 00:21:20:06
and when you need to relax, and really moving between

00:21:20:06 - 00:21:24:08
those two states can keep you the healthiest for sure.

00:21:24:21 - 00:21:31:03
So, you know, you talked about writing and so I'm very interested

00:21:31:03 - 00:21:35:22
in what was your main inspiration to write this wonderful bestselling book?

00:21:36:11 - 00:21:39:11
What made you choose that route?

00:21:40:09 - 00:21:42:00
I didn't think I was going to write a book.

00:21:42:00 - 00:21:45:09
I it wasn't, it wasn't on my radar.

00:21:45:09 - 00:21:49:03
I had a couple people after I shared the information that I was

00:21:49:03 - 00:21:53:00
learning on stress with them, tell me that I should write a book.

00:21:53:00 - 00:21:57:23
And it was helping my clients all this information and tools and techniques.

00:21:58:14 - 00:22:03:16
And what I was finding is that people in the New Age kind of space were talking

00:22:03:16 - 00:22:07:14
about these body up body focus tools

00:22:07:14 - 00:22:10:14
for, improving your resilience.

00:22:11:07 - 00:22:14:00
but it wasn't in the mainstream.

00:22:14:00 - 00:22:19:02
And with my sort of science-y physical therapy background,

00:22:19:10 - 00:22:25:07
I felt like I probably had a good platform for helping people understand

00:22:25:07 - 00:22:29:02
why the body techniques were going to help them

00:22:29:02 - 00:22:32:02
with their cognitive mindset techniques.

00:22:32:04 - 00:22:33:07
And so,

00:22:34:09 - 00:22:36:01
that was kind of why I had people.

00:22:36:01 - 00:22:37:21
So a couple people,

00:22:37:21 - 00:22:40:23
all at sort of one period of time, tell me, I should write a book.

00:22:41:06 - 00:22:43:14
And then I had a friend,

00:22:43:14 - 00:22:44:14
tell me that she was joining

00:22:44:14 - 00:22:47:19
a book program where at the end of the year long program,

00:22:47:19 - 00:22:50:05
you would have a book written, and I thought,

00:22:50:05 - 00:22:53:10
okay, the universe is aligning and wants me to write a book.

00:22:53:10 - 00:22:55:04
So here we go. Yay.

00:22:55:04 - 00:22:56:14
And so I did, and it was

00:22:56:14 - 00:22:59:09
it was a really fun the writing of it was really fun.

00:22:59:09 - 00:23:00:24
Really.

00:23:00:24 - 00:23:03:15
it was frustrating at times, of course.

00:23:03:15 - 00:23:05:18
but I learned a lot about myself,

00:23:05:18 - 00:23:08:18
and I learned a lot about stress, and I,

00:23:10:05 - 00:23:11:03
it, it

00:23:11:03 - 00:23:14:21
it unfolded in such a way that I really felt like,

00:23:16:02 - 00:23:18:00
there were other forces helping me

00:23:18:00 - 00:23:19:05
write.

00:23:19:05 - 00:23:19:21
And just.

00:23:19:21 - 00:23:23:01
I feel like it's really what our planet needs right now

00:23:23:01 - 00:23:26:01
is for everybody to kind of really get an understanding of,

00:23:27:03 - 00:23:29:16
what stress is, what it looks like in your loved ones

00:23:29:16 - 00:23:33:07
and what it looks like in yourself, so we can all stop feeling shame about it

00:23:33:07 - 00:23:36:07
and start finding better strategies.

00:23:36:07 - 00:23:41:00
Yes, I agree, so give us like two of,

00:23:41:00 - 00:23:45:03
I think, your most favorite highlights of the book.

00:23:45:03 - 00:23:47:03
Just two, just pick anything.

00:23:47:03 - 00:23:50:03
Oh my favorite highlights.

00:23:52:19 - 00:23:54:13
I love the tools section,

00:23:54:13 - 00:23:59:10
so I break down the tools into a breathing chapter,

00:24:00:16 - 00:24:04:05
which are in my talk about your your breathing technique.

00:24:04:05 - 00:24:05:01
Right? Yes.

00:24:05:01 - 00:24:09:06
And then I have a movement chapter, and I don't call it exercise

00:24:09:06 - 00:24:13:21
because a lot of people who are have pain cannot exercise per se.

00:24:13:21 - 00:24:15:19
But we know that movement is related

00:24:15:19 - 00:24:19:20
to the important critical factor, not necessarily exercise.

00:24:20:22 - 00:24:21:18
and then I have

00:24:21:18 - 00:24:24:18
an eating chapter which you're also in.

00:24:24:19 - 00:24:27:21
Yes, yes. A stretching chapter.

00:24:27:21 - 00:24:32:15
And there is a chapter on mindfulness on, on using your senses,

00:24:32:15 - 00:24:35:16
your senses, vision and touch

00:24:35:16 - 00:24:38:16
and hearing and smell.

00:24:38:16 - 00:24:41:07
so, let's see what are my favorite highlights.

00:24:41:07 - 00:24:43:03
Oh my gosh.

00:24:43:03 - 00:24:45:17
that is a tough question.

00:24:45:17 - 00:24:46:16
I think. Sorry. Yeah.

00:24:46:16 - 00:24:47:10
One of,

00:24:47:10 - 00:24:50:15
you know, as a physical therapist, I, I deal with a lot of people

00:24:50:15 - 00:24:54:09
who who come to me and, and I got to teach them exercise and they

00:24:54:21 - 00:24:57:21
there's a lot of past history of people,

00:24:59:03 - 00:25:01:14
not doing well with exercise.

00:25:01:14 - 00:25:06:24
And, what I love is the research that I did on

00:25:06:24 - 00:25:12:01
how exercise releases the same hormones of stress. Yes.

00:25:12:21 - 00:25:17:22
So there are sort of these mismatches that can occur,

00:25:18:18 - 00:25:22:14
where when you exercise, when you are already

00:25:22:14 - 00:25:26:06
at your threshold for stress, you're already in survival mode.

00:25:26:24 - 00:25:32:09
exercise can feel like stress because it's the same hormones

00:25:32:09 - 00:25:35:23
and your body's never getting a break from those hormones.

00:25:36:09 - 00:25:38:01
So, people.

00:25:38:01 - 00:25:42:12
Who have resistance to consistently exercising,

00:25:44:01 - 00:25:44:16
when I

00:25:44:16 - 00:25:48:16
point out to them, as I do in the book, that it could be that

00:25:48:16 - 00:25:53:12
they're in survival mode and that may be regulating

00:25:53:12 - 00:25:57:09
their nervous system first before they start an exercise

00:25:57:09 - 00:26:01:12
program will help them in the long run, get to the gym on a consistent basis.

00:26:02:00 - 00:26:04:02
And that again takes away that shame.

00:26:04:02 - 00:26:08:03
Like, what's wrong with me that I can't exercise consistently.

00:26:08:03 - 00:26:12:02
And so I love that piece of being able to bring that in.

00:26:12:02 - 00:26:13:15
So that's probably a highlight.

00:26:13:15 - 00:26:16:15
And then there's all the tools that I talk about.

00:26:17:05 - 00:26:20:01
you know I talk about releasing the jaw

00:26:20:01 - 00:26:23:10
because the cranial nerve that feeds the jaw

00:26:23:10 - 00:26:27:10
is one of the nerves in what

00:26:27:10 - 00:26:30:14
Steven Porges calls your social engagement system.

00:26:31:08 - 00:26:34:08
and Steven Porges developed, the poly vagal theory.

00:26:34:14 - 00:26:34:20
Yeah.

00:26:34:20 - 00:26:35:23
And so he talks about these

00:26:35:23 - 00:26:39:18
cranial nerves, not just the vagus nerve, but a couple of other nerves

00:26:39:24 - 00:26:45:09
that feed this social engagement system and help you to be in a state of calm.

00:26:45:09 - 00:26:50:11
And so I talk about doing a jar release before you sit down for a meal.

00:26:50:11 - 00:26:52:03
And that can sort of help,

00:26:53:05 - 00:26:54:17
increase saliva because

00:26:54:17 - 00:26:58:23
you're, you're calming the nervous system and can just overall

00:26:58:23 - 00:27:02:24
help your nervous system calm down, which is going to help us digest better.

00:27:02:24 - 00:27:04:16
Right? That rest and digest.

00:27:04:16 - 00:27:04:23
Yeah.

00:27:04:23 - 00:27:07:24
So stuff like that can be that, there's

00:27:07:24 - 00:27:10:14
so many things in the book that I'm excited about.

00:27:10:22 - 00:27:14:15
It is a wonderful a resource tool.

00:27:14:15 - 00:27:16:05
I think,

00:27:16:05 - 00:27:20:15
you know, helping people normalize the fact that their stress,

00:27:21:08 - 00:27:25:16
that, you know, taking away that shame and, and, and guilt about you

00:27:25:19 - 00:27:28:20
not performing at our best because I think we're just conditioned

00:27:28:20 - 00:27:31:17
to think we have to do everything perfectly.

00:27:31:17 - 00:27:34:17
I think that that resonates in the book as well.

00:27:34:23 - 00:27:40:04
I can't believe this, Chan, but we're out of time, which is insane.

00:27:40:04 - 00:27:43:16
But before we end this half, and then you get to grill me

00:27:43:16 - 00:27:47:21
with questions, tell our listeners how they can get in touch with you.

00:27:48:05 - 00:27:50:04
What are your socials?

00:27:50:04 - 00:27:51:18
What's your website?

00:27:51:18 - 00:27:54:18
How do they get a hold of you? Yeah, thanks.

00:27:54:22 - 00:27:58:04
as you mentioned earlier, I have a company called Body Insight,

00:27:58:15 - 00:28:02:10
so you can find me at Bodyinsight.com.

00:28:02:18 - 00:28:07:04
And there you can, look at, how to work with me.

00:28:07:04 - 00:28:11:15
I do one on one consultation and, and I also have a ton of workshops coming up.

00:28:11:24 - 00:28:16:23
I've got one in person in Pasadena in October, and I've got an online one

00:28:16:23 - 00:28:21:06
that sort of guides you through my book step by step over six sessions.

00:28:21:15 - 00:28:25:14
That's coming up in September, I believe, and I do that.

00:28:25:14 - 00:28:28:14
I'll be doing some in 2025 as well.

00:28:28:18 - 00:28:32:04
and then on Instagram, I'm @bodyinsightinc

00:28:32:15 - 00:28:36:06
and same place on Facebook @bodyinsightInc.

00:28:36:16 - 00:28:39:18
And please, any listeners want to reach out to me.

00:28:39:18 - 00:28:42:21
I am available via email through my website.

00:28:42:21 - 00:28:44:21
I would love to hear from you all!

00:28:44:21 - 00:28:48:11
Yay! Well, we are blessed to

00:28:48:11 - 00:28:51:14
have you not only as a guest, but as a co-host.

00:28:52:05 - 00:28:54:24
it's you know, we've just started this journey, but

00:28:54:24 - 00:28:57:19
you are an incredible interviewer,

00:28:57:19 - 00:29:01:14
an incredible friend, an incredible physical therapist.

00:29:01:14 - 00:29:04:14
And I am so blessed and lucky to have you in my life.

00:29:04:18 - 00:29:07:22
I am keeping you forever, so you can't ever go away from me.

00:29:08:18 - 00:29:11:03
but we are very, very glad to have you

00:29:11:03 - 00:29:14:03
on this episode of this podcast.

00:29:14:09 - 00:29:17:02
please stay tuned for the second half

00:29:17:02 - 00:29:20:02
where Chantal gets to grill me.

00:29:20:09 - 00:29:21:16
Thank you so much.

00:29:21:16 - 00:29:24:02
Grill that's a good word I'm going to grill ya.

00:29:24:02 - 00:29:26:13
Let’s do it. Okay.

00:29:26:13 - 00:29:29:21
Thank you all for tuning in and we'll see you next time.

00:29:30:05 - 00:29:31:04
Bye everyone.

00:29:32:15 - 00:29:36:14
Thanks for tuning into the ANEW Body Insight podcast.

00:29:36:22 - 00:29:40:08
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00:29:40:08 - 00:29:43:10
purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.

00:29:43:21 - 00:29:44:23
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00:29:44:23 - 00:29:48:24
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00:29:49:04 - 00:29:53:11
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00:29:53:21 - 00:29:56:15
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00:29:56:15 - 00:30:00:14
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00:30:00:22 - 00:30:03:13
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