Podcast
The Nourished Nervous System
Hosted by Kristen Timchak · EN
An exploration of stress, the nervous system, and resilience through the lenses of Ayurveda, Somatic Practice, Herbs, Neural Plasticity and much more!
35episodes
Episodes
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Don't Skip the Transition: Finding Stability in Late Spring's Liminal Space
1w ago00:23:12Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThere's a moment every late spring where you can feel it — that internal pace starting to pick up with the heat, the to-do list for the garden suddenly feeling urgent, the rollercoaster of summer starting to pull you toward it before you're quite ready. This week's episode is for that moment.In this solo episode, I'm sharing what I've been working with personally as we move through this beautiful, liminal edge between Kapha and Pitta season — and the teachings from yogic philosophy and Ayurveda that have been grounding me.We explore:Sthira — the Sanskrit word for steadiness and rootedness, and how Patanjali's sutra sthira sukham asanam (the seat should be steady and at ease) is an invitation not just for the meditation cushion but for how we move through lifeThe gifts of Kapha dosha — why that stable, slow, grounded energy deserves to be carried forward into summer rather than shed in our rush to lighten upSandhya — the sacred in-between, the twilight of the seasons, and why this transitional moment holds so much more magic and potency than we usually allow ourselves to receiveBorrowing from Kapha — practical ways to fill your well now, before the full heat and activity of Pitta season arrivesDinacharya — how your daily rhythm is naturally shifting right now, and how to let that happen gradually and with intentionThe idea of not releasing things into the world until they're overripe — and how that applies to creative projects, seasons of life, and so much moreThis episode is an invitation to linger a little longer in the in-between. To savor the lushness of what's here before the harvest comes. To trust that things will fruit in their own timing — and that your steadiness is the foundation you'll stand on when summer's rollercoaster arrives.Resources:Free Masterclass: The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram
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You're Not the Problem: Adaptations, Nervous System Safety & the Conditions for Change with Lori Montry
2w ago00:45:03Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailToday's guest is Lori Montry — somatic healing practitioner, author of You're Not the Problem, and creator of The Freedom Formula, a nervous system-based roadmap for sustainable behavior change. Lori helps people who feel stuck in stress, overwhelm, or self-sabotage understand the survival patterns driving their choices so they can build the safety, capacity, and clarity needed to take aligned action in every area of their lives.There is so much resonance in this conversation — between Lori's work and Ayurveda, between the Freedom Formula and what we talk about every week on this podcast. I think you're going to feel it too.What we cover:Why Lori uses the word adaptation instead of problem, habit, or failure — and why that single reframe changes everything about how we relate to ourselves and our patternsThe most common adaptation she sees in women: I'm not enough — and the Mississippi River of coping mechanisms, people-pleasing, overachieving, and self-sabotage that flows from itWhat is actually happening at the nervous system level when you know what to do and still don't do it — and why it has nothing to do with willpowerThe three things the nervous system needs before behavior change is even possible: safety, capacity, and energy — and why trying to change without these in place is like expecting a seed to bloom in a dark closet with no waterWhy nervous system tools sometimes make things worse — and what to do insteadThe difference between managing stress and befriending it — and why safety lives in the body, not in the mindThe resonance between Lori's framework and Ayurveda — being situated in the self, the sattvic state, and why regulated nervous systems see reality more clearlyLori's vision of reaching 50 million people with the message that they are not the problem — and why a more somatic-literate world is one of the most urgent things we need right nowConnect with Laurie:Website: www.LoriMontry.com Youtube: Lori Montry -Somatic Healing Practitioner - YouTubeFacebook: www.facebook.com/LoriMontryInstagram: Instagram Email List : https://www.lorimontry.com/book-introResources:Free Masterclass: The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram
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Oxytocin, Neural Plasticity & the Practices That Change Your Brain
3w ago00:33:18Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailToday we're going somewhere I've been wanting to go for a while — into the neuroscience of oxytocin. Not oxytocin as the cuddle hormone, though it is that too. Oxytocin as a brain-changing, nervous system-healing, plasticity-promoting substance that you can actually learn to stimulate intentionally through your daily practices.What we cover:What oxytocin actually is — beyond the "love hormone" label, it is a neuroplasticity agent that promotes new neuron growth, reshapes synaptic connections, and helps the brain become more open to change and healingThe oxytocin-safety loop — how oxytocin and the parasympathetic nervous system reinforce each other, and why this is the biological basis for healing happening in relationship and community rather than in isolationThe research on meditation — particularly loving-kindness, gratitude, and compassion-based practices — and why the heart-opening, relational quality of the practice matters more than meditation style aloneNadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) — the honest framing of what the research does and doesn't yet show, and why the vagus nerve pathway makes it one of the most direct routes to oxytocin release we haveSeven everyday oxytocin releasers — gentle touch and self-massage, warmth, face-to-face community, humming and chanting, gratitude — and how each maps onto Ayurvedic practices you may already be doingFree downloads: Grab the one-page guide — 7 Ways to Release Oxytocin Today — with the science and Ayurvedic wisdom behind each practice. Click HereAnd my Self Abhyanga Guide HereResearch ReferencesOxytocin & Neural PlasticityPekarek, B.T., Hunt, P.J., & Arenkiel, B.R. (2020). Oxytocin and Sensory Network Plasticity. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 14, 30. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2020.00030Froemke, R.C., & Young, L.J. (2021). Oxytocin, Neural Plasticity, and Social Behavior. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 44, 359–381. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-102320-102847Meditation & OxytocinBellosta-Batalla, M., et al. (2020). Increased salivary oxytocin and reduced anxiety in a mindfulness and compassion-based intervention. Mindfulness. (Referenced in Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2024)Machida, S., Sunagawa, M., & Takahashi, T. (2018). Oxytocin release during the meditation of altruism and appreciation (Arigato-Zen). International Journal of Neurology Research, 4, 364–370.Resources:Free Masterclass: The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram
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Reclaiming Radiance: Burnout, Nervous System Healing & Remembering Your Worth with Ms Elizabeth Munoz
4w ago00:38:46Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailToday's guest is Ms Elizabeth Munoz, founder of Soul Haven and creator of the Reclaiming Radiance framework. Elizabeth spent 17 years in corporate — the last 11 in high-stakes technology sales — before her body completely shut down. Two emergency C-sections, a fibromyalgia diagnosis, and the moment her legs gave out walking to an airport when her daughter was three months old were the turning points that changed everything.What followed was a deep healing journey — through the nervous system, through identity, through grief — that led Elizabeth to build a life and business rooted in joy, regulation, and what she calls reclaiming radiance. She is also certified through the HeartMath Institute, holds a degree in psychology, and brings a deeply personal and deeply practical perspective to everything she teaches.What we cover:Why burnout is not a personal failure but intelligent nervous system signaling — and why pushing through only drives it deeperThe too much / not enough paradox that so many women carry, and how it shapes the way we show up in our bodies and our workThe difference between resilience and regulation — and why regulation has to come firstA simple, accessible mirror practice for women who have been overriding their bodies and want to begin rebuilding trust with themselvesWhat emotional congruence actually feels like in the body — and how micro aligned actions taken consistently are what build it over timeWhy our healing is never just for ourselves — and the personal loss that deepened Elizabeth's commitment to this workWhy midlife is not a decline but a reclamation — and why it is never, ever too lateElizabeth's invitation: You do not have to prove your worth. You were born worthy. The fact that you are here, breathing, in this timeline is proof enough.Connect with Elizabeth:Soul HavenReclaiming Radiance coursePodcastInstagramLinkedinResources:Free Masterclass: The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram
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Take the Stairs: A Dream, a Teaching & the Medicine of Simple
Apr 2300:20:11Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailHere in Maine we're still tiptoeing into spring — warm days that feel like a promise, then snow flurries and the wood stove again. It's been a season of letting go and being with what is, which turns out to be exactly what this episode is about.A few weeks ago I had a dream. In it, I was on top of a crumbling Lego platform, trying to hold everything together, piece by piece — while a perfectly good staircase sat right there, unused. When I woke up, I couldn't stop thinking about what it meant. This episode is me unpacking that.Two teachings from one dream:The first is about taking the stairs — the simple, unsexy, already-available thing — instead of endlessly complicating our way toward health. We live in a world that constantly tells us to do more, take this supplement, follow this protocol, optimize this. And in all that noise, we miss the stairs. The morning sunlight. The consistent bedtime. The seasonal meal. The thing that actually works, hiding in plain sight.The second teaching is about foundation. It doesn't matter how hard you work at the top of the platform if the foundation is shaky. Whether we're talking about hormonal health, autoimmune disease, perimenopause, or just a general sense of depletion — the small, slow, foundational steps are what make everything else possible. HRT might help. Supplements might help. But if we're not also looking at sleep, stress, diet, and the root causes underneath, we're still just patching the top of a crumbling platform.And perhaps most importantly: how we talk to ourselves in this process matters enormously. When we notice we've been making choices that aren't serving us, do we take our own hand like a loving friend and say look, there are stairs, we can do this — or do we berate ourselves for not seeing them sooner?Free resource mentioned: The Nourished for Resilience Workbook — a simple pie chart to help you see where you feel nourished and where you don't, and find your starting place. Also includes questions for contemplation and a habit tracker. Free Workbook Here!Resources:Free Masterclass: The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram
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Your Life Is Not the Enemy: Energy Codes and Embodiment with Michelle Walker
Apr 1600:49:53Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailToday's guest, Michelle Walker is a life coach, self-healing mentor, and retreat guide devoted to embodied awakening and holistic healing. In this conversation, we explore the Energy Codes — a seven-step system developed by Dr. Sue Morter — and the profound philosophical reframe at its heart: that our challenges, our symptoms, our struggles are not separate from us or happening to us. They are our lives, and they are feedback.What we cover:Michelle shares her own journey — from running a successful retail business while battling chronic pain she couldn't resolve, to discovering the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza and eventually Dr. Sue Morter, and realizing that her condition wasn't something separate from her life to be eliminated. It was an expression of how she was living — and that realization was the gateway to everything changing.We explore the Energy Codes system itself: how it maps onto the seven chakras, what "circuit building" means and why it matters, and how working at the level of energy rather than trying to force change at the physical level is both more efficient and more sustainable.We talk about the difference between the protective personality — the ego self that adapted to keep us safe, often in childhood — and the soulful self: the eternal, expansive being that sees life as an adventure it signed up for rather than a threat to survive. And we talk about the quantum flip — the idea that the moment we recognize we've slipped into protection or defense, we can shift back. It doesn't have to take weeks. It can happen in an instant.There is so much resonance in this conversation with Ayurveda, yogic philosophy, and somatic work — the prana body, the idea of being "situated in the self," the understanding that energy precedes matter. If you've been listening to this podcast for a while, you'll feel it.Michelle leads us through two practices:The Central Channel Breath — a foundational embodiment practice from the Energy Codes that connects cosmic energy above with earth energy below, anchored through the body using Mula Bandha. Grounding, orienting, and genuinely beautiful.Take It to the Body — a circuit-building practice for working with triggers and difficult sensations. Rather than moving away from discomfort into story, this practice invites you to locate the sensation in the body, embrace it with your breath and attention, and build the capacity to let it move through.Resources mentioned:The Energy Codes by Dr. Sue Morter — foundational reading for this workDr. Joe Dispenza — Michelle's earlier influence in understanding the mind-body connectionLimina Renewal Center, Searsport, Maine — where Kristen and Michelle both offer retreats and classesConnect with Michelle: [Add Michelle's website, Instagram, and coaching links here]Resources:Free Masterclass: The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram
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Moving Through the Mud: Yamas & Niyamas as Medicine for Kapha Season
Apr 900:27:47Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThis episode is one I've been sitting with for a while — a synthesis of two things that have shaped my whole path: Ayurveda and yoga philosophy.In this episode, I bring those two threads together and look at the yamas and niyamas — yoga's ethical and personal observances — through the lens of kapha season.What we cover:Kapha dosha is made up of earth and water. It's heavy, slow, stable, cool, and moist — and late winter into spring is kapha season. When kapha goes out of balance, we might notice lethargy, mental fog, resistance to change, a tendency to oversleep or overeat, or that feeling of comfortable-but-stuck stagnation. The medicine for kapha is warmth, stimulation, movement, and letting go — and the yamas and niyamas offer a beautiful map for exactly that.I give a brief grounding in the eight limbs of yoga and what the yamas and niyamas actually are — not as a rulebook, but as living, breathing invitations to notice and redirect with curiosity rather than criticism.Then we explore six practices through the lens of kapha season:The Yamas — how we relate to the world:Aparigraha (non-grasping) — where are you clinging, and what wants to be released as spring arrives?Satya (truthfulness) — using honest, clear seeing to notice where we've gotten comfortable in stagnation — without judgmentBrahmacharya (right use of energy) — not about deprivation, but about noticing where energy is leaking and asking: is this giving me life or pulling me deeper into heaviness?The Niyamas — how we relate to ourselves:Tapas (inner fire) — the gentle, consistent showing up; kindling the fire rather than forcing itSaucha (purity/cleanliness) — clearing physical clutter, mental tabs, and anything that's accumulating and pulling on your energySvadhyaya (self-study) — observing your own kapha patterns without judgment and seeking what genuinely inspires youI also talk about my own evolving relationship with tapas — how it looked very different in my pitta-dominant twenties than it does now in midlife, and why the middle path is the one I keep returning to.My invitation for you this week: pick one of these six practices, sit with the questions it offers, and let it be a gentle lens for seeing your life more clearly — without judgment, without pressure, just with curiosity.Free download: Grab the one-page guide to all six practices — with reflection questions for each — in the link below. A simple, beautiful reference to keep nearby as you move through the season.https://canva.link/yamas-niyamas-kaphaMentioned in this episode:Abigail Rose Clark — author and somatic facilitator, cleaning/decluttering as a somatic practice https://www.abigailroseclarke.com/store/p/k473j0h0mmmaramvp2rrrrkuib9m38Resources:Free Masterclass: The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram
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Rest is Your Birthright: Yoga Nidra, Ancestral Patterns & Living a Rested Life with Hester Brooks
Apr 200:34:28Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailIn this episode I'm joined by Hester Brooks, a certified Daring to Rest coach and Yoga Nidra facilitator based in Lincolnville, Maine. Hester specializes in helping women break the cycle of exhaustion and create a life that truly honors their capacity — and this conversation could not have come at a better time.We talk about what it really means to rest (hint: it's not the same as sleep), why so many women struggle to give themselves permission to do it, and how our family lineages shape our relationship to both rest and productivity. Hester shares her own journey of discovering Yoga Nidra during a period of major life changes, and how it transformed her sleep, digestion, anxiety, and overall sense of self.In this episode we explore:What it means to be a highly sensitive person and why rest is a nervous system necessityThe difference between rest and sleep — and why both matterHow ancestral patterns and family modeling shape our "rest ethic"What Yoga Nidra is and what to expect from the practiceThe concept of the "rested voice" and how the way we speak about our lives affects our energyRested decision-making as a daily practiceThe difference between resting and living a rested lifeWhy this work is especially important during perimenopause and times of transitionResources mentioned:Hester's free 18-minute "I Had a Long Day" Yoga Nidra recordingHester's websiteHester's Rest OfferingsResources:Free Masterclass: The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram
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Breaking the Breakfast Rules: An Ayurvedic Approach to the Morning Meal
Mar 2600:27:08Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailI get this question all the time from clients and listeners: what do I eat for breakfast? So in this episode, I'm finally diving in.I'll start with my own story — because I was not always a breakfast person. It took a bowl of miso soup at Kripalu in my twenties to crack open my idea of what breakfast could even be. And once I realized I could eat anything for breakfast — soup, roasted vegetables, leftover dinner — everything changed.From there we get into the science, because the research around breakfast and cortisol is genuinely fascinating and validates so much of what Ayurveda has been saying for thousands of years. Then we look at breakfast through the Ayurvedic lens — what agni needs in the morning, how to eat for your dosha, and how to shift your breakfast with the seasons.This episode is a permission slip to ditch the breakfast rules and start listening to what your body actually needs.In this episode:My personal journey from breakfast-skipper to born-again breakfast eaterThe miso soup moment at Kripalu that changed everythingWhat the research says about cortisol, blood sugar, and skipping breakfastThe UC Davis study on breakfast skippers and elevated cortisolA nuanced take on intermittent fasting and how to do it in a way that's easier on your nervous systemAgni and the Ayurvedic philosophy of the morning mealBreakfast for Vata, Pitta, and Kapha doshasSeasonal breakfast wisdom — what to eat in fall, winter, spring, and summerWhy savory oatmeal is underrated (and delicious)Practical tips for making nourishing breakfasts sustainable and doableThis week's small step: one simple question to ask before you reach for your coffeeResources mentioned:Dosha episodes: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha deep dives Free Dosha Reference Chart Witbracht et al. (2015). Female breakfast skippers display a disrupted cortisol rhythm and elevated blood pressure. Physiology & Behavior, 140, 215–221. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25545767/Resources:Free Masterclass: The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram
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Rewiring Reality: Neurofeedback, Spirituality & True Coherence with Dr. Amy Albright
Mar 1900:50:47Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailIn this episode, I sit down with Dr. Amy Albright — Chinese medicine practitioner, neuroscientist, executive coach, and co-founder of Holon — for a conversation that genuinely stopped me in my tracks. Amy bridges neuroscience, business strategy, ancient medicine, and spirituality in a way that doesn't feel like it should work — and yet feels completely inevitable.We dive into:How a spontaneous spiritual awakening sent a committed atheist on a 32-year journey toward integrating science and sacred practiceWhat neurofeedback therapy actually is and how it differs from what most of us think of as biohackingThe difference between the brain and the mind — and why that distinction mattersWhat neurological coherence actually means (it's not a buzzword here)Why positive self-talk isn't spiritual bypassing — it's biologyThe flocking metaphor: what birds, basketball, and improvisational dance can teach us about our nervous systemsHow Holon's immersive intensives are creating measurable, lasting change in people's brainsFinding the miracle of the moment — even when the world feels chaoticConnect with Dr. Amy Albright:Holon website — free nervous system regulation meditation download available on the homepageLinkedInYouTubeFacebookInstagram Dr Amy AlbrightInstagram HolonResources:Free Masterclass: The Alchemy of the Perimenopause PortalAyurvedic Dosha Quick Reference GuideAbhyanga Self Massage GuideWeekend Nervous System ResetNourished For Resilience Workbook Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.comand @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram
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