How deeply do you trust your gut?
Often, when we experience discomfort, we start to trivialize our own symptoms. If we don’t take the appropriate steps to resolve our discomfort, what starts out as “not so bad” could turn out to be a much more serious health issue.
In this episode of the Love Your Gut Podcast, I talk to Chelsea Haines about trusting your gut to tell you when something is wrong, becoming 1% better every day, changing mindsets on a subconscious level, and creating sustainable results.
Recently featured “The Gut Health Coach for Entrepreneurs” by Yahoo! Finance, Chelsea Haines has a special way of helping high-performing people heal. She doesn’t claim to be the “guru” or know better than you. In fact, her entire mission is the complete opposite: to remind YOU that you are the only person that has ever lived in your body, you truly know exactly what you need, and that you, in fact, are not “broken” or “crazy” for feeling how you feel. She is here to remind you that your symptoms are simply messages that something is off, and that healing GETS to be easy (a paradox in today’s modern system.)
Her formal bachelor’s degree in psychology combined with extensive training and certifications from ICF accredited Health Coach Institute, plus over 500+ hours of yoga teacher training (as well as a God-given gift of deep empathy and life-altering experiences at a young age, such as abandonment, bankruptcy, suicide, and divorce) has set her up to be able to hold space for deep self-reflection and transformation, without judgment.
She has successfully combined the latest studies and science of gut health and behavioral psychology with her deep emotional and spiritual knowing to heal from autoimmune disease and experience a life of true health and abundance… and is ready to show you exactly how to do the same.
She is also a wife to a worldwide seafarer. They live happily with their kitten, Lily, in Panamá, Central America, where she runs her health coaching business with a view of the Pacific Ocean.
Topics Covered in This Episode:
- The immense wisdom that our body has
- De-stigmatizing the menstrual cycle
- How to get 1% better
- Making gradual changes to our mindsets
There’s an important distinction between common, normalized symptoms and non-optimal health symptoms. As we shift our mindsets to trust the messages we’re receiving from our bodies, we also start on a journey of a complete health transformation.
If this episode has been helpful, hit me up on Instagram, and tell me about your experience!
Quotes:
- “Seeking help is different than not trusting yourself.” [7:31] Chelsea Haines
- “We deserve to live a life full of joy and full of energy.” [11:00] Chelsea Haines
- “You become aware of the thought when you allow yourself to shift into curiosity.” [38:19] Chelsea Haines
- “Any thought that is going to send you into a stressed state, is going to turn your digestion off.” [45:00] Chelsea Haines
- “Honoring my gut is loving my gut.” [49:18] Chelsea Haines
Resources Mentioned:
Follow Chelsea:
Chelseahainescoaching.com
Connect on LinkedIn
Follow Along on Instagram
Connect with Dr. Heather
Follow the Podcast
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TRANSCRIPTION:
SPEAKERS
Dr. Heather Finley, Chelsea Haines
Chelsea Haines 00:00
And I’m gonna say the word should. And I often say we shouldn’t show it all over ourselves. But in this circumstance, like, we deserve to live a life full of joy and full of energy. And if you’re not feeling that, then
Chelsea Haines 00:13
if there’s a little nagging voice in the back of your mind that says, like, I don’t think this is normal, but also I, heaven forbid, what does it mean? If I seek help? For this? It must mean that I don’t love myself. Like silence all that crap.
Dr. Heather Finley 00:28
Hey, welcome to the love your gut podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Heather Finley, I know what you’re thinking, how am I supposed to love my gut when all it does is hold me back. I thought the same thing before I found my own relief from my own gut health issues. I dedicated my life to getting to the bottom of my own gut issues, so I can help women just like you transform theirs. Now I’m here to guide you through your own gut health journey. We do this through identifying your root causes and making sustainable and transformational changes. As a result, you can unleash your true potential. My goal is to empower you with the information and tools you need to love your guts. So it loves you back right here on this podcast.
Dr. Heather Finley 01:13
Welcome back to the next episode of the love your gut Podcast. I’m so excited to be joined today by Chelsea Haines. She is in my gut Practitioner program. She’s a good friend of mine, and she is a health coach for entrepreneurs and other high achieving women struggling with digestive issues. And I know that you guys are going to just love hearing from her today. So Chelsea, welcome to the podcast. Hello. Thank you. Thank you also how just full circle because I had had you on my podcast. But how was that two years ago? Now it’s been a while I feel it was a while ago, I feel like I mean, it was definitely at least two years ago, maybe even longer, maybe even longer. So I’m super excited to be here with you. And I’m just so grateful to be in your mentorship and also honored to be here today. Well, we are going to just kick it off, where today we’re going to talk a lot about trusting your gut, which is probably kind of a little bit cheesy of a term. But something that I don’t think a lot of people actually know how to do and something that I think a lot of people don’t even really understand how to do. But before we do that, why don’t you just tell everyone a little bit about who you are, why you do what you do. And then we can jump into how to trust your gut. Awesome. I love it. Thank you for that. And yes, it’s, it’s trusting your gut is something that I feel like definitely feels a little bit cheesy. But the more I do this work, the longer I do this work, the more I realize actually how pivotal and important this really nuanced aspect to gut health really is. So
Chelsea Haines 02:52
I am a certified health coach. I’ve got a degree in psychology, I’m also a certified yoga teacher and on paper, you know that all kinds of adds up to one thing but really, at the end of the day, my passion is helping people trust themselves and reminding my clients that they have the ability to heal because I’m sure you can relate to this, Dr. Heather that when when you’re in the depths of not feeling good, it can sometimes be it can feel hopeless at times. So my passion really lies in reminding people that they don’t need to look outside themselves for all the answers, but that actually the answers really are inside and as ironic as that is sometimes we need help getting there because we may be so stuck and what led me to doing what I do now is my own personal journey with autoimmune disease that started manifesting in high school it looked like psoriasis. I thought it was just dandruff. I thought I was a swimmer in high school. I thought the chlorine in the pool just made my skin really dry and come to find out it was actually childhood abandonment that led to chronic stress, which eventually led to an opportune environment for leaky gut, and dysbiosis and all of the things that
Chelsea Haines 04:07
fed autoimmune symptoms and turned into these horrible rashes on my skin. And after years of kind of just being shunned and laughed at by my dermatologists. I mean, there was really a time where I had a dermatologist giggle in my face when I was expressing to them how awful this was.
Chelsea Haines 04:29
I don’t think it was malicious intent but it felt so awful to be laughed at by my doctor
Chelsea Haines 04:35
and then just sent out the door with another steroid cream after college. I finally said this enough is enough. And I sought my first health coach. This was back in 2009. And I paid a month’s rent in 2009 to work with a health coach for four weeks and I remember thinking my god this is this is the scariest thing, but I have no other option. I was 2122
Chelsea Haines 05:00
years old, I was
Chelsea Haines 05:02
in pain and exhausted. And my first intuitive hit at the time was, Oh, I must have food sensitivities, this must be an allergy of some kind. And you know, the cool thing about that is that I’ve kind of learned along the way now that actually those food sensitivities were very real. But it was actually a sign that something else deeper was happening. So that led me down the long and fun path of,
Dr. Heather Finley 05:29
you know, studying human behavior and studying the gut, which now I feel passionate about helping other people with. I love it. And there’s really nothing worse than going to the doctor and either being laughed at or being told, there’s nothing wrong, or it’s all in your head, or whatever. I think probably everyone listening to this podcast can relate to that, which is probably why a lot of people listen to this podcast and many other gut health podcasts because they’re searching for answers. And so I think a lot of times, we’re trying to outsource our answers to a professional to a doctor or to someone who has training in this. And of course, both you and I, as well as many other practitioners have a lot of training and knowledge and gut health. But I like what you said earlier is that sometimes the answer is within inside of you. And so I want to talk about this concept of trusting your gut. So if someone has had an experience of being told, it’s all in your head, there’s nothing wrong with you. Everything’s, quote unquote, normal. How does someone start to even tune into trusting their gut or trusting their intuition that no, not everything is fine.
Chelsea Haines 06:50
I’m going to first and foremost, just pause and give an example of exactly how to do this. And that’s literally to just
Chelsea Haines 07:02
take a deep breath. And I know it sounds almost Elementary. But in a world where we have so much information at our fingertips, where we are constantly inundated with information.
Chelsea Haines 07:21
I even catch myself doing it still, you know, in those moments of despair, of course, you’re going to seek help, and that you know that
Chelsea Haines 07:31
I want to make sure that it’s clear that seeking help is different than
Chelsea Haines 07:37
not trusting yourself, you seek help, because you trust yourself enough to know that there’s something deeper going on. And, you know, how how do we trust that? Well, I think knowing that we kind of have to be relentless. And and I’ve said this even on my podcast, and in other conversations, it’s like honoring yourself for being relentless in the pursuit of health. And I say that with a grain of salt, because I think the pursuit of health is something that we can also become addicted to, I think there’s this desire to look or feel like what everyone else is portraying is like the ultimate end goal. And I think it’s important to remember, and you speak a lot about this to Dr. Heather, that health is not necessarily an end game. But it’s actually something that we are trying to implement into our everyday lives, we’re actually creating a lifestyle that supports longevity, and energy. And
Chelsea Haines 08:42
I’ll say peak performance, right, and not in a way that I’m trying to perpetuate hustle culture. But actually just knowing that like, the food that we eat is going to be broken down by our system in our digestive tract, and we’re going to absorb nutrients, we’re going to eliminate the toxins, and that we’re going to be operating in this, heaven forbid I say balance that is going to be supportive of our brain functioning clearly, and of our body working optimally. So
Chelsea Haines 09:16
how do you know if something’s not working? Well, and I think this we could go down like almost a whole nother rabbit hole here. And I’m gonna try to be mindful not to do that. I think there’s a lot of really powerful conversations being had around body positivity, especially in social media right now. And thank God for that we need to change the dialogue around diet culture, and you know, the negative mindsets that we get from all these
Chelsea Haines 09:47
expectations that we have around our body, and there’s a fine line between loving yourself and your bloated belly for what it is and all
Chelsea Haines 10:00
So understanding that that bloat might be a sign that something else is going on. So ultimately, if you’re waking up already tired, if you are not able to get through your day without copious amounts of caffeine, if you’re eating really limited diets, and experiencing symptoms, like really painful periods, or acne or rashes on your skin, this doesn’t mean that you need to love yourself any less. I actually think there’s a paradigm shift here to think well, I love myself so much. And I respect myself so much that I’m going to look at this for actually what it is. And I’m not going to gaslight myself into believing that this is normal. And though these things that I may be experiencing, are typical for me, I’m not going to allow them to control my life anymore, because actually, you know, an optimally functionally functioning body.
Chelsea Haines 11:00
And I’m going to say the word should, and I often say we shouldn’t shut all over ourselves. But in this circumstance, like we deserve to live a life full of joy and full of energy. And if you’re not feeling that, then
Chelsea Haines 11:13
if there’s a little nagging voice in the back of your mind that says, like, I don’t think this is normal, but also I, heaven forbid, what does it mean? If I seek help for this, it must mean that I don’t love myself, like silence all that crap. There’s a few four letter words that I say all of them involve poop, of course.
Chelsea Haines 11:34
silence at all, take a deep breath. And remember that your body knows everything. What’s that book, Your Body Keeps the Score or something like that. And that’s, yeah, and I think there might even be a little bit of like a negative connotation there, like, yeah, it keeps the score, but also, like,
Chelsea Haines 11:52
see that as an opportunity to remember that your body is so wise, like ancient
Chelsea Haines 11:59
and has real wisdom to it. Your body wisdom has so much knowledge to it that is like, generational, that, who are you to not trust that. And I think it’s actually a radical
Chelsea Haines 12:16
act of self respect, to start trusting those little gut instincts, that something else might not be right.
Dr. Heather Finley 12:24
They love what you said about the symptoms that are common, not normal. Because I do think there is an element in our society where we have normalized a lot of symptoms, like, oh, it’s totally fine to go to the bathroom once a week, or it’s okay to be bloated. And I think it would be helpful maybe if we could differentiate some of those common not normal symptoms, because yes, some bloating can be normal. If you eat a whole plate of cauliflower, I can guarantee you, regardless of who you are, you’re probably going to be a bit bloated. And that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with that. But So in your experience, what are some of the symptoms that your clients or maybe you in the past, have been normalized, that are common or normal and common, but not necessarily? What is optimal for optimal functioning and optimal health? Definitely, the first few things that pop right up are definitely having to do with the menstrual menstrual cycle. So you know, I think often times,
Chelsea Haines 13:32
I mean, PMS, there’s like, this is a whole nother like, very, we don’t need to go down this rabbit hole, also another rabbit hole, we could go down. But I think there’s a lot of societal stigma around that time of the month. Right? And I think remembering that actually, number one, having a menstrual cycle is a sacred thing. And I think I read the red tent a long time ago, and it changed my whole perspective on a week of bleeding. And like, can we just say that, like, I’m sorry, but I don’t know.
Chelsea Haines 14:10
I don’t know in any other circumstance where you could bleed for a week and still live.
Chelsea Haines 14:15
It’s a pretty powerful, almost sacred thing. So we can allow that experience of our hormones fluctuating to be a sacred synchronistic thing. And if you’re really dealing with intense premenstrual symptoms, or even pain during your menstrual cycle, that is definitely something to look at. And it doesn’t have to be that way. And obviously there’s always nuance to all of this. There’s always circumstances to all of this. But
Chelsea Haines 14:51
I think being able to have a period without it really affecting the rest of your life or even having premium
Chelsea Haines 15:00
unsterile symptoms that are not, you know, causing you to lose your lose your crap.
Chelsea Haines 15:10
That’s something to look at because it doesn’t have to be that way. And I’m walking living proof of this. And when I think about my autoimmune symptoms, my psoriasis and also my menstrual cycles back before I really looked at healing my gut and my dysbiosis, my leaky gut.
Chelsea Haines 15:28
I mean, I was pretty debilitated for a few days, every single month. And that’s looking back now now I’m like, I like can predict my period to the hour. And it’s like, without, I don’t skip a beat anymore. And that’s partially also because I cycle sync, so I plan accordingly. But it’s not because I’m in pain. So that’s definitely one thing to look at. Another thing is severe bloating, like you said, yeah, if you eat a huge meal, especially something like cauliflower that has, you know, a lot of same with beans, like we just traditionally don’t eat a lot of lagoon. So your microbiome is going to adjust to your diet. And all of a sudden, if you throw in this huge amount of something that you’re not used to always eating, you’re going to have some reaction to it. And that’s okay, like, can we also just normalize a little bit of like having
Chelsea Haines 16:24
it would be unrealistic to not have any reactions to everything that we’re putting in our body. So I think that’s okay. But if, if the reaction becomes extreme, or genuinely, if you turn to the side, and you look like a different person, or if you are in pain, then there’s something going on there. And that’s not normal. It’s not normal. Again, it might be typical, but it’s not normal.
Chelsea Haines 16:49
Another big one that I see often is brain fog. And I think as high performing women,
Chelsea Haines 16:55
I don’t know I think maybe we,
Chelsea Haines 16:58
we write things off as normal. Like, it just kind of gets to a point where we’re busy. You know, we have a life, we have a lives, we have a life, maybe we have kids, we have businesses, we have careers, we have a lot on our plate. And multitasking is something that women are generally also good at. And if you’re finding that you’re just really struggling to get your words out. Again, there’s always nuances to all of this. But if you’re finding that it’s starting to become debilitating,
Chelsea Haines 17:28
there’s something else going on there. There’s something else going on.
Chelsea Haines 17:32
Sleep, this is another big one. And it’s interesting to consider, like, the symptoms that we may be experiencing. And then also the things that we have control of that we might be able to start shifting our habits in order to start healing as well. But if you’re really exhausted when you wake up, and you’re tired all day, but then you’re wired at night and unable to fall asleep, this is definitely a sign that something else is going on.
Dr. Heather Finley 17:58
Yeah, and I feel like that’s a super common one, especially for the clients that both you and I work with is they’re exhausted throughout the day, they get a spark of energy before bed, and they’re like, I’m gonna clean my house and answer all my emails and do all the things and then they’re exhausted the next morning, and it can be super, super hard to shift those cycles. But like you said, you can start making these small incremental changes. So he was talking to somebody else about this earlier on a different podcast, actually. And we were talking about the concept of just everyday being 1%. Better. And I love that thought, because I think sometimes like the gut health world, it’s a very wellness kind of, it’s a little bit
Dr. Heather Finley 18:45
diluted, I think with diet culture of like,
Dr. Heather Finley 18:49
it’s this detox or this cleanse, or like to achieve optimal gut health, you have to be super extreme and restrictive. But really, I think, and I know that gut health is about abundance and diversity, and I know that you agree on that. So if we’re thinking about this concept of trusting your gut becoming 1% better every single day, how can someone start to trust their gut and become 1% better every single day? I love this, and this is gonna get a little bit woowoo. But there’s, there’s
Chelsea Haines 19:25
that’s, I think that’s part of my uniqueness a little bit here. So bear with me a little bit.
Chelsea Haines 19:31
Obviously, over here, we we love the wounds specifically that’s backed by science. That’s like really what we’re all about at the gut health agency. You know, it’s merging all pieces of us. And it’s important to remember that your soul is a big piece of that. And for me,
Chelsea Haines 19:46
when I think back on my own personal journey, one of the big things that led me down this path of really deeply understanding how important it is to trust my gut was to start to recognize
Chelsea Haines 20:00
Is the signs and synchronicities in your life? And it’s kind of like, okay, well, that’s not really related to gut health, but it eventually does become really relevant to your own personal healing journey. And what I mean by this is like
Chelsea Haines 20:15
coincidences? Sure, of course they exist. But, and
Chelsea Haines 20:23
I almost don’t believe that they do. And it’s to a point now in my own personal life, where I almost make a game out of it, where I have this whole, like, spiritual practice where I, you know, I kind of I talked to that which is greater than me. And I say, you know, give me a sign. And this is something that Gabby Bernstein is really big on as well. And he said, Give me a sign. And and it’s, it’s amazing to me what ends up happening. When I asked for a sign, and the sign shows up, or if the sign doesn’t show up. That’s also information as well. So you know, we’re thinking about information and thinking about the fact that we are energetic beings, right, we can feel like I can feel your energies you this podcast either. And that’s why I love sharing the space with you. Because we we resonate at a certain frequency that’s uplifting and it’s exciting. And I think anyone listening to this, hopefully can feel that too, right? There’s something to that, and leaning into and starting to trust, and seeking evidence, right. So this is how we can kind of bring it back to the science piece of it.
Chelsea Haines 21:33
When we’re healing, there’s a lot of evidence that our brain, I don’t know why I actually do know why the brain loves to seek evidence of the negative. And that’s because the brain is constantly trying to help you survive, right, that’s what it’s all about. Your brain is going to have you look at the things that are a threat to your life. And we live in this weird time, where all of these threats are not necessarily life threatening, but our brain perceives it that way. So beginning to seek proof of the opposite is really important. And along that journey in the beginning stages of really being able to trust your gut, almost on like a clairvoyant level is seeking proof of the opposite of doomsday. And for me, what that personally looked like was seeking evidence of the sign. So I’ll give an example the other day, I was feeling a little off and I was walking the beach like I always do. And I said, let me find a puka shell, if this is what I’m supposed to be doing. Let me find a puka shell.
Chelsea Haines 22:35
And I just threw this out there, I threw this out there. I was like, let’s play a game and see what happens. So I’m almost at the end of my walk, and I’m like, Alright, I didn’t find a puka shell. That’s information too. And I swear to God, I turn around, and I look, and I find a puca necklace, a puka shell necklace, like from the 90s, wrapped in a rock in low tide, like it had fallen off of somebody. And I thought, okay, I didn’t just find one, I found a whole string of puka shells like that, for me is a sign that chill the eff out, you’re on the right path. And I’m going to choose to see that as evidence that
Chelsea Haines 23:11
I’m on the right path. Right. So again, it’s like a little bit of Woo, but it’s also backed with that, like, we are energetic beings. And I think what we can really also relate to is that feeling or that moment, where we look back, and we say, Man, I should have trusted myself, I should have trusted my gut. So when you’re first starting on that journey, looking back and thinking about those moments, where you thought, Man, I knew I was right. And I didn’t trust myself and look at what ended up happening.
Chelsea Haines 23:46
actually taking an inventory of those what what it felt like in your body, what were How did you know that
Chelsea Haines 23:55
if you want, you know, if you went down this path versus you went down that path, a certain thing was going to happen.
Chelsea Haines 24:02
I think we can all relate to that. So it’s almost sometimes easier because the brain is so good at thinking about the negative thinking about those moments where in life you think man, I really should have listened to myself. And then taking again, inventory of all the evidence that you had coming your way when the messages were coming to you. So right this can also be related to your health journey. It’s like okay,
Chelsea Haines 24:28
first it was this little sign and then it was that little sign and then my body started speaking to me in this way and then I have this feeling in my chest or in my jaw tingles in my jaw or whatever it may be. Start having a dialogue with your body and seeking evidence of
Chelsea Haines 24:47
the path that you know you want to walk down because you’re gonna get a lot of information from all other
Chelsea Haines 24:55
aspects in life. So why not get information from that which is greater than
Chelsea Haines 25:00
You and your own sovereignty, you are a sovereign being, you know the answer. And you can turn it into a game by asking for for signs and symbols and trusting the synchronicities. I think it kind of makes it fun. And especially if you’re what I call down in the mud pit of your health journey, if you’re really stuck, if you’re rolling around in there.
Chelsea Haines 25:26
First off, seek help with someone that’s going to get in the mud pit with you and not try to prematurely pull you out of the mud pit. But also is going to make it fun, because I think, another layer two, this is just like what you said, Heather that like the healing journey can be this sort of like it has to look a certain way, and we lose a lot of that element of fun to it. So bringing back this element of like lightheartedness, and kind of making it a game and dropping into the abundance that is all around us at all times. And then seeking evidence of that. I think that is a really roundabout way to answer. How do we start the process of trusting ourselves. And that’s really asking for signs and speaking evidence that what you’re doing is is right. Hey there, I know you are absolutely loving this episode. But I have to jump in really quick and remind you that I have a quick, free quiz that will help you finally figure out why you’re bloated. In order to live a life free of discomfort, you need to figure out what the root causes that’s making you experience these uncomfortable symptoms. The easiest and fastest way to do this is by visiting Dr. Heather finley.co backslash quiz, take the quiz as soon as you can. So you can transform your gut issues and lead a happier, more vibrant life. Now, let’s get back to the episode.
Dr. Heather Finley 26:52
I love that. And I think, you know, like, a simple way of looking at that is you find what you’re looking for. Right? Like, if you’re looking for evidence that nothing’s going right, if you’re looking for evidence that you’re not healing, or that you’re bloated and you’re miserable, and that your symptoms are never going away. That’s what you’re going to find, unfortunately, and I’m saying this because I’ve been there before, I’m not saying this because I’m greater than anyone listening to this podcast, because I’ve been in the mud pit. And as I know you have as well. And you always find what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for evidence of negative things, that’s what you’re going to find. But if we can shift to this concept of 1% better, I think a lot of times people think that when they’re on this gut health journey, they’re just going to wake up one day and miraculously not be bloated at all, they’re gonna go from zero to 100. But the reality is, it just never is like that. It’s little by little by little, all of a sudden you look back and you’re like, wait, I just enjoyed date night, and I wasn’t bloated after or I just went on a vacation. And I actually wasn’t as stressed as I normally was, or I slept a little bit better last night than I normally do. These 1% shifts all the sudden, you know, you’re at 1530, whatever. And you can look back and not even recognize how much better you are because it’s only these tiny little shifts, which that’s not the sexy answer that people want. You know, everyone wants that likely miraculous, like I woke up and I was better. And I never had to struggle again. But the cool part about this whole journey is that when you can get out of the mud pit slowly and work on these 1% shifts, you start to tune into your body, you start to be able to trust your gut again, and then the power is yours because you’ve no longer outsourced the power to someone else who told you there’s nothing wrong with you or that, you know, just get out of your head or stop being stressed. You know, or in tune with what your body needs. Because you’ve been walking this path of 1% Better 1% Better, which is amazing. And it may even offered to that that sometimes it’s a point zero 1% better. And that’s you know, starting to celebrate that just like what you said Heather like every single day starting to celebrate those small wins hell when I found that puca necklace, you bet your butt I was like, in shock celebrating that. And I know it sounds so ridiculous and unrelated. But that helped me shift my mindset. It helped me come back to a place of remembering that oh, yeah, okay. Today I walked the beach. That was a huge shift for me because I wasn’t feeling well all week long. That is a huge celebration. And I would personally for me consider that a 50% shift today, not just a 1% shift and I’m going to take the time to celebrate that and on top of that, I’m also going to see this sign for
Chelsea Haines 30:00
In the universe as like a extra celebration, Hell, yes, we did this. And I think that’s partly where accountability and support and coaching can really be helpful. And I know that you do this for your clients. And same same with us. It’s like having that shield cheerleader to help you navigate those tough times. And also to celebrate that 1% or point zero 1% win is so necessary. I mean, this is this is human psychology one on one on one, your, your brain is always going to try to help you survive. And if your brain is perceiving a threat, you’re not going to be able to move forward in a way that feels sustainable. Because you’re always your brain is always going to be reverting back to that old pattern that has worked your whole life. Even if it’s leading to the results that you don’t desire. It’s like, it’s a really messed up thing, our brain is so smart. Something I always like to say our brain is really good at playing the games that she knows how to play, our brain is so good at playing games. So just like you said, actively seeking out these 1% or point zero 1% wins, seeking evidence of those wins as something to celebrate. And then also calling in support not only from your coaches and your friends and your family, but also from that which is bigger than us, I think can just help us have perspective sometimes because I’m sure you know this too. And I feel like I still sometimes get stuck in this. It’s like, if I do happen to have a psoriasis flare, I start going down that old path of
Chelsea Haines 31:38
all the old mindsets, this, this that don’t help me. And the stress that perpetuates more reactions, just like what you said, if I’m, if I’m seeking bloat or from an anticipating that I’m gonna get bloated by eating something, it does become a self fulfilling prophecy. And it’s a protective mechanism. And you having studied psychology, understand this, your brain is trying to protect you from from failure. So if you’ve always been told by a provider, that there’s nothing wrong with you, that your symptoms are normal that, you know, it’s all in your head, whatever, then if you do decide to trust your gut and seek alternative help start working with someone to really get to the bottom of your symptoms, you may even subconsciously be self sabotaging, because you still have that little voice inside of your head telling you, there’s nothing wrong, this is not going to work, I’m going to feel like this forever. It’s normal to go to the bathroom once a week, it’s normal to have painful periods, whatever the symptom is, your brain wants to protect you from failure. So it’s safe for your brain to think, well, this isn’t going to work because then it doesn’t feel like as big of a letdown. Which is unfortunate. Exactly, exactly. It’s so true. And like, I mean, just to repeat ourselves, again, your brain is always going to seek evidence of those limiting beliefs that you’re operating from on a subconscious level. And this This is why also working with someone can be super helpful because as professionals, we can see from the outside these subconscious things that you subconscious beliefs that you may be operating on that you’re just so used to operating in that you might not even might not even see it. I mean, what did they say were like 95 to 99% subconscious operating systems, like throughout our day, we’re basically just one big reactor hurry person, like there’s not much that we’re doing that we’re actually in control of. And then if you add gut dysbiosis on top of that, then you’re like, really not in control of your emotions and how you’re feeling. So you add that on top of trauma that you’ve experienced in life and the beliefs that your brain has started to implement in order to keep you safe from all that, then of course the journeys gonna feel overwhelming and scary and like those, you know, 1% winds aren’t enough. But 1% winds are how we sort of biohack those limiting beliefs and is how we start making that progression forward. Rather than just staying in the mud. We got to roll around in the mud a little bit.
Chelsea Haines 34:25
But slowly crawling out
Chelsea Haines 34:28
is really the way to do it. I mean, if someone tried to pull me out of an experience that I was having, whatever that may be prematurely before I was ready for it.
Chelsea Haines 34:40
My Of course I’m gonna probably revert right back to those old ways because that’s what we do.
Dr. Heather Finley 34:47
I’m sure that there’s a technical like term for this, but there’s like a whole thought model behind this right like if you have the thought, My bloat is never going away. Then how do your acts
Dr. Heather Finley 35:00
things inform that thought, right? Like, I have this thought, I’m gonna like you said, I’m gonna get bloated after I eat this meal. So then maybe you actually eat super fast because you’re stressed, or you’re not even like aware of the fact that you’re eating because you’re trying to distract yourself because you’re stressed about the bloat. And then it does, it becomes this, that circumstance afterwards. You being bloated, after the meal reinforces that thought, now all of a sudden, you’re like, See, I knew it, but your thoughts inform your actions all day long. So I’d love if you would share maybe something tangible for the listeners? Like how can someone even become aware of how their thoughts are affecting their actions? Or even from like a self sabotage standpoint, even if they’re not aware of it? How can someone even start to tune into that so they can start this process of 1%? Better or point oh, 1% better? If you consider the reticular activating system, right, short, Ra s for short, this is this is the phenomenon as well, like they the example that is always used as you buy a new car, and then you start seeing that car everywhere. Where before you bought that car, you never saw that kind of car in your life. Right? It’s, there’s there’s, I think it’s helpful to know that it starts with awareness. Right. But okay, what does that mean? Well, it’s important to know that your brain is going to again, seek proof of what you’re aware of. So I think it’s often also helpful to know that once once something is seen, it cannot be unseen. Right? It’s like, oh, once I’m aware, I can’t become unaware anymore. So I think that’s helpful just to like, put that little feather in your cap, because I do think the process can feel on tangible at times.
Chelsea Haines 36:52
And overwhelming. But really, it it’s as simple as starting with awareness. So something tangible from that, I think what I,
Chelsea Haines 37:01
what I would recommend is, if you’re in, if you’re in that moment, where you’re like, See, I told you, so talking to yourself, and you’re bloated, it can be helpful to reverse engineer. Right now, this does require a sense of radical self responsibility that not everybody is ready for. And if you’re not ready for that, that’s okay, too. But knowing that can be also helpful, because if you’re trying to follow through, say, with a program, right,
Chelsea Haines 37:31
you join my program, we know you’re going to get results. But in order to get results, you got to be willing to play the game, you got to be willing to show up if you’re really resistant to showing up or to looking in the mirror and taking responsibility. It’s going to feel like a frickin uphill battle forever. And this is how we make healing fun. And not like a uphill battle again.
Chelsea Haines 37:55
We can kind of make it a game. And it starts with
Chelsea Haines 37:59
I call it the five step transformation process number one, become aware of the thought. It’s that simple. Oh my gosh, I’m bloated. Oh my gosh, I knew I was going to be bloated. Oh my gosh.
Chelsea Haines 38:12
I remember thinking I was going to be bloated. How interesting.
Chelsea Haines 38:19
Alright, so you become aware of the thought when you allow yourself to shift into curiosity. This is a huge key distinction. That’s really important to walk away from because the old habit would say, oh my gosh, I’m bloated. I’m the worst I suck. I’m never gonna put a bikini on again. I knew this was gonna happen. This is gonna be my life forever. And then you just are self judging all over the place, right?
Chelsea Haines 38:44
Become aware of the thought. Okay, step one. When you do that, now, you’ve just shifted from judgment into curiosity. How interesting. I say that to myself all the time. Oh, my gosh, my skin’s flaring up. How? Interesting.
Chelsea Haines 39:05
Step one. Right. Now that doesn’t change anything. Right? That doesn’t change anything. Okay, so now we want to jump to let me fix everything and change it. Yes, that’s the temptation. But before we even get there, step two is forgive the thought. No, this is really easy thing to want to over. Like, step over and forget about that, y’all. If we’re not forgiving ourselves.
Chelsea Haines 39:31
Well, then who the hell gives me the right to to forgive anyone. I don’t know to forgive anyone in life or to be forgiven by anyone in life. If I don’t give myself the grace of forgiveness.
Chelsea Haines 39:44
Then what’s the point? And if that’s hard for you, like sometimes it can be helpful to even look at baby pictures, right? Like, look at yourself at one years old, five years old. 12 years old. I know I did a lot of things in my teens that
Chelsea Haines 40:00
I judged myself a lot for a long time.
Chelsea Haines 40:04
I still do things that I judge myself for. But to change that and to shift back into a place of empowerment, rather than feeling like oh my gosh, I’m so stressed about this. And now my skin is flaring, self fulfilling prophecy Dammit, this is all my fault.
Chelsea Haines 40:20
Okay, become aware of the thought, Now forgive the thought I gotta forgive myself have to forgive myself. And then what that does is it allows us, it allows me to choose again.
Chelsea Haines 40:31
So okay, now I know that when I go to the barbecue, and I get stressed out about it, and I know I’m gonna get bloated from eating this hot dog, and then it happens, then I judge myself and it’s just this like constant thing. Now I have actually three steps that I can tangibly start the process of changing and that starts with just becoming aware of that whole cycle that I just walked through, forgiving myself for that whole cycle, because some way shape or form somewhere in my life, I learned that judging myself was how I kept myself safe.
Chelsea Haines 41:08
So
Chelsea Haines 41:10
now I know better I know logically, that judging myself doesn’t actually keep me safe. So survival brain, critter brain, lizard brain, primal brain, we’re going to choose again, because I’m smart. And I know I’m smart. I know, I’m really smart. So I’m going to choose something different. I’m going to experiment, I’m going to drop back into that curiosity, and I’m just going to play a game. I wonder what might happen. If I were to approach this piece of pizza, with gratitude, and with more curiosity and with all of my body,
Chelsea Haines 41:50
rather than fearing it, before I even approach it, I’m actually going to get excited about it. I’m going to let myself have an experience with this piece of pizza and see what happens. And see what happens. Oh, that’s empowered action. So that’s step four. And then the fifth step is to ask for support and accountability. So after I enjoy that piece of pizza, when I go into it without the fear that I’m going to be bloated and just drop into crap, maybe I’ll be bloated. Alright, if it happens, then I knew that it was gonna happen. Anyway, interesting. Now I have information that I can do something with, that maybe if I go into it with a different mindset,
Chelsea Haines 42:35
maybe I won’t get bloated. Whoa, and no matter what happens, I don’t really care. Because I’m going to celebrate it with my people, whether that’s my friends, my partner, my coach, my rd, my doctor, whatever it may be, I’m going to celebrate choosing again, because that’s not just a 1% shift, that’s like a that’s 180 degree different shift, you just completely went in the opposite direction than you used to go into. So implementing support and accountability and celebration of that is how we start doing the process over and over and over again. And this is something that we can implement all day, every day and kind of is again Ode to that. This isn’t an end result, this is something that you’ll get better at over time, and that you’re gonna have to implement every single day, because that’s the human experience. I don’t know what else to tell you. That’s why we’re here.
Dr. Heather Finley 43:28
Yeah, and it will start to just become second nature, you start noticing that you’re just more curious about your thoughts versus judging every single thought or every single action that you take. And just thinking, I wonder, I wonder about this pizza pizza. I wonder about this barbecue. Hmm. Interesting. I love that interesting. Interesting how it’s a good phrase.
Dr. Heather Finley 43:50
Exactly. Well, this was so good. I think our listeners are gonna have so much to listen to probably have multiple times to really get everything out of this episode that we just discussed. But I think the encouragement really here is that your thoughts are very powerful. You can trust your gut, you can trust yourself, you can trust your system to heal. Potentially, we’re just missing a couple tools. And there’s some very, very, very tiny, small shifts that we can make. That can be so powerful on this journey that aren’t these massive, like we were talking about earlier, detoxes and yes. You know, like all the things I think that people associate with gut health, I think and I’m sure that you would agree. A lot of times the missing pieces for our clients. It’s this like, it’s the thoughts. It’s the nervous system. It’s the actions it’s, it’s these tiny little things that really make a difference, of course, like the protocols and nutrition and all of that makes a world of difference. But with this missing piece
Chelsea Haines 45:00
Sometimes that’s why people aren’t getting better. So I love that you shared that with us. Yeah, and I’d love to kind of just cross that T and dot that I, you’re exactly right that like any thought that is going to send you into a stressed state is going to turn your digestion off. So just think about that, right? It’s like, if I go into this piece of pizza, feeling stressed, my my digestion is off, it’s turned off, your digestion is not an essential function, and your body can live for days without food. And that’s what happens when we’re in a stress survival state. So actually, by heating the omens making it a game, reverse engineering the process, both in your gut health and in your mindset, and in your symptoms, it’s sort of like you become this, I always say to my clients, we’re spelunking together in the dark. And I just love that silly word. Like, we’re spelunking. Like we’re we’ve got our head, falling our headgear on, and we’re in the dark, and we’re in the mud. And we’re just rolling around, and we’re having fun. And this is how we can make it sustainable. This is how we can make it not so stressful, and not so extreme. And, you know, I mean, the more extreme we make it, the less sustainable it is. And the less we’re actually going to get results because like you said, if there’s an infection there, of course, we have to address that. However, on the other side of that protocol, if you don’t address your mindset, and your lifestyle, and if you’re not reverse engineering, your symptoms or your mindset, or whatever it may be that you’re trying to spur lunk and figure out and problem solve, or if you’re getting stressed about it all. On the other side of that protocol, your body’s still going to be in an optimal environment for that infection to thrive. So it’s definitely got to be this like combination of, hey, I’m addressing the infection. I’m addressing my mindset, I’m addressing my daily habits, I’m celebrating the 1% shifts, I’m working to keep my nervous system down in this place of rest and digest, which is easier said than done. It’s so much easier said than done, because we live in a stressful state. But that’s why having a community and having support and listening to podcasts like this can be really helpful because like you said, Yeah, listening to it a couple times, taking away little bits and pieces that seem to land and chewing, chewing it up and throwing away the rest, of course, all digestive puns intended. It’s how we it’s how we move forward. And it’s, it’s how we make it fun. I mean, I don’t know, I kind of feel like listen, if we’re not having fun. If we’re not enjoying life, if we’re not enjoying the abundance of food that we have at our fingertips, then, well, what the hell are we doing? We’re in a human body. We’re supposed to experience all of this pleasure. So like, let’s make it pleasurable, because that’s also how we make it sustainable.
Dr. Heather Finley 47:45
100% Yes, we’re approaching the whole thing from abundance. And yeah, so with that being said, the last question that I have for you is what since this is called the love your gut podcast. What is your favorite way to love your gut? Whoo, oh, my gosh, of course, there’s like my,
Chelsea Haines 48:06
my
Chelsea Haines 48:08
long list of self care practices, but I think it’s so much more than that, right.
Chelsea Haines 48:14
On a literal aspect, I love an Epsom salt baths. So that’s like one way that I do really like to express showing that I love my gut is through Epsom salt baths. Because that just it really number one, it helps my skin the salt really helps my skin. And if I do have a psoriasis flare, so anyone who’s dealing with psoriasis, or rashes, Epsom salt baths can be really soothing, they can be really exfoliating in a gentle way. But it also the magnesium really helps to calm my nervous system down.
Chelsea Haines 48:42
But the deeper layer of that, because your self care practices are really beautiful. But for me, it’s really about creating a life that I don’t have to numb out from anymore. And listen, I will not hide from anyone I love to numb. Listen, who doesn’t love to numb like numbing out is great. Netflix, alcohol, sex, drugs, and rock and roll whatever your vice may be. Right? And that’s because it’s hitting that pleasure sensor in your brain, again, bringing it back to that, like, how do we make these sustainable shifts,
Chelsea Haines 49:16
implementing
Chelsea Haines 49:18
things in my life that help hit that pleasure sensor that I know are actually supporting my healing, so deep connections with my friends and family and my partner, having meaningful conversations with people having moments alone and again, trusting my body to lead the way what is it that I need in this moment, and honoring that deeply, even if it feels a little bit scary and I feel like I might disappoint somebody else. Trusting and honoring what my gut needs in that moment, and not being afraid to embrace some of the clairvoyance and woowoo sides of it as well. These are all honoring my gut is loving my gut. It’s real
Chelsea Haines 50:00
really what it’s all about and creating that life with self care practices that are actually supportive of high vibrational living, then low vibrational living is is kind of the bigger picture of it all. Totally. I love that. And I think you embody that so well. And so why don’t you tell everyone where they can find you how they can connect with you, all the good stuff. I am definitely on Instagram. Most days at Chelsea Haynes coaching. We also have an account for our newest health agency, you can find that on the gut health agency. But really, I am at Chelsea Haynes coaching. And I’m in the DMS all the time, it’s me managing my own account. So please, come genuinely connect with me there. I love having conversations in the DMS. And I also have a really, really fun, it’s a gut health assessment. But of course, we wanted to make it a little bit fun because poop talk can be a little bit awkward at times. And we’ve coined it as the poop horoscope. So you can find that also linked in my bio on Instagram. And it’s essentially going to walk you through a really fun gut health assessment in a candid and lighthearted kind of way. But then it really also does give a lot of great tips based on the results of your gut health assessment. So it is going to give you a few
Dr. Heather Finley 51:21
pointers on the other side that you can actually start implementing today on that journey. So come connect with me on the grand Chelsea Haynes coaching. My website is Chelsea Haynes coaching.com. And we’ve got a bunch of free resources for you and all the places. Sounds awesome, and I’m definitely gonna go take that assessment after I’m so curious. You’re gonna love it. I can’t wait. I can’t wait to hear what your horoscope is. I know, I’ll definitely let you know. But thank you so much for joining us. And you guys. tag us on Instagram. Tell us what your favorite takeaway was. And we’ll see you for the next episode of the love your gut podcast next week. Thanks so much.
Please note that this episode is not a substitute for medical advice. And you should always consult your healthcare provider prior to making any changes.
I’m giving your gut a thumbs up because you just finished another episode of the love your gut podcast. Thanks so much for listening in to this episode. I hope it was helpful. I know you feel like you’ve tried absolutely everything to get to the root cause of your gut symptoms. And if you ask me, I think it’s about time we find a long term solution. My gutTogether program is a life changing program that will help you finally understand what’s going on in your gut and the steps you need to take to find relief. Visit DrHeatherfinley.co/guttogether for more information so that you can start transforming your gut today. And as always, remember to love your gut so it will love you back.
