A hard start in life can still be shaping your gut decades later.

What will surprise you is that your gut microbes can sense when you are stressed, and they change how they treat your gut wall.

➡ Full show notes + resources

➡ Stored trauma Quiz: https://draimie.co/4B08KvT

Dr. Aimie speaks with Dr. Emeran Mayer, gastroenterologist, neuroscientist and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA, about how early life stress reaches the gut, the immune system and the brain. He explains increased stress responsiveness, his term for how a difficult birth or childhood becomes biology, and why it does not mean you are doomed.

They also talk about why brain fog may start in the gut, the mucus layer that protects the gut wall, and the foods that help it, from diverse fiber to fermented foods.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• 00:00 – 00:38 Introduction
• 00:38 – 02:44 The First 1,000 Days
• 02:44 – 06:31 Early Stress Doesn't Mean You're Doomed
• 06:31 – 08:44 Hard Births and Stress Responsiveness
• 08:44 – 10:56 How Early Stress Shows Up in the Gut
• 10:56 – 14:27 Your Gut Microbes Can Sense Stress
• 14:27 – 17:28 From Gut to Brain: LPS and Brain Fog
• 17:28 – 19:17 The Gut's Protective Mucus Layer
• 19:17 – 21:42 The Interconnected Plate
• 21:42 – 24:01 Why Food Diversity Matters
• 24:01 – 26:46 Foods That Protect the Mucus Layer
• 26:46 – 30:13 Dr. Mayer's Key Message
• 30:13 – 31:12 Closing Reflection and Stress or Trauma Guide

"When a gut microbe is exposed to the stress hormone norepinephrine, it changes its genes and becomes more aggressive toward the bowel wall." ~ Dr. Emeran Mayer

If you had a difficult birth or a stressful childhood and have lived with gut symptoms or brain fog for years, this episode is for you.

RESOURCES:

• Get the free Stress or Trauma Guide and learn the physical difference between a stress response and a trauma response in under two minutes.
• Get The Biology of Trauma book. Chapter 11 explains how early life shapes the filter through which the body meets every later stress.
• The Mind-Gut Connection by Dr. Emeran Mayer.

This episode is educational and is not medical advice. Please work with your own qualified healthcare provider for decisions about your care.

Grab your copy of The Biology of Trauma

Emotions held down for decades are still shaping your body.

What will surprise you is that the way back can start very small, even with one finger.

This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Part 1 is here.

➡ Full show notes + resources

➡Trauma Pattern Quiz: https://draimie.co/4jIXc9V

Dr. Aimie continues her conversation with Dr. Howard Schubiner, internist, Clinical Professor at Michigan State and an early mentor of hers. He describes what changes in the body when an emotion held down for decades is finally felt and expressed, and why safety and self-compassion make that possible.

They talk about why neuroplastic symptoms are reversible, how compassion, curiosity and calm answer the question pain is asking, and where to start when your capacity is very low.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• 00:00 What changes when buried emotions are finally felt?
• 01:14 What does it mean that neuroplastic symptoms are reversible?
• 03:36 How does the nervous system learn its default response?
• 04:31 What changes in the body when emotions are expressed?
• 07:15 How do you make it safe to feel buried emotions?
• 10:37 How can compassion, curiosity and calm change pain?
• 13:49 Where do you start when capacity is very low?
• 18:23 How do you train the nervous system with patience?
• 20:45 Why ask whether your symptoms are neuroplastic?
• 22:29 How can you see your own patterns of stored emotions?

"Sadness turns right into compassion. Anger gets expressed, and you let it go." ~ Dr. Howard Schubiner

If you have held your emotions down for years and wonder whether it is safe to feel them, this episode is for you.

RESOURCES:

• Take the free 2-Minute Assessment for Stored Trauma and see which patterns of stored trauma are most active for you.
• Get The Biology of Trauma book. Chapter 3 explains capacity and the critical line of overwhelm.
• Unlearn Your Pain by Dr. Howard Schubiner.
• The Foundational Journey, a clear path for stabilizing your internal state and nervous system.

This episode is educational and is not medical advice. Please work with your own qualified healthcare provider for decisions about your care.

Grab your copy of The Biology of Trauma

➡ Full show notes + resources

Pain that no test has fully explained is still real pain.

What will surprise you is that the brain decides whether to turn on pain, and it treats emotional danger from childhood or from an unjust world as danger.

This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation

Dr. Aimie welcomes back Dr. Howard Schubiner, internist, Clinical Professor at Michigan State and author of Unlearn Your Pain. He describes how a child who learned to keep the peace grows into an adult whose brain still reacts to everyday stress as danger, and why he sees racism and injustice as sources of pain.

They talk about why chronic pain, fatigue and POTS keep rising while the body has not changed, why neuroplastic symptoms are real and reversible, and how someone with rheumatoid arthritis can carry both structural and neuroplastic pain.

Trauma Pattern quiz:

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

• 00:00 Why would the brain create pain?
• 02:02 Can emotional pain cause physical pain?
• 04:23 How does a childhood without safety become pain later?
• 07:32 Can racism and injustice cause chronic pain?
• 10:08 Why are chronic pain, fatigue and POTS becoming more common?
• 14:37 Can rheumatoid arthritis pain be neuroplastic?
• 18:27 How can the nervous system learn it is safe?

“Not all pain is due to injury. It’s our job to sort it out because emotional pain can cause physical pain, and that’s a fact. And that’s how we’re wired.” ~ Dr. Howard Schubiner

If you live with pain that no test has fully explained, this episode is for you.

RESOURCES:

• Take the free 2-Minute Assessment for Stored Trauma and see which patterns of stored trauma are most active for you.
• Get The Biology of Trauma book.
• Unlearn Your Pain by Dr. Howard Schubiner.
• The Foundational Journey, a clear path for stabilizing your internal state and nervous system.

This episode is educational and is not medical advice. Please work with your own qualified healthcare provider for decisions about your care.

➡ Full show notes + resources

Grab your copy of The Biology of Trauma