40. The Power of And: Why Your Nervous System Needs Room for Both Joy and Sorrow

40. The Power of And: Why Your Nervous System Needs Room for Both Joy and Sorrow

What if healing isn't about choosing between grief or joy but learning to hold both? In this deeply personal episode, Leanna reflects on returning from the funeral of a close friend's 16-year-old daughter and shares how one simple word and has become one of the most powerful lessons in her own healing journey. Drawing from her experiences with loss, the ongoing healing of her relationship with her late father, and the work she does every day through the lens of the nervous system, Leanna explores how true healing isn't about eliminating pain. It's about expanding our capacity to carry both heartbreak and hope, sorrow and beauty, grief and gratitude. You'll discover why nervous system healing isn't about never struggling, but about building the resilience to stay present through life's hardest moments. Leanna also shares meaningful insights on supporting those who are grieving, the importance of remembering loved ones by speaking their names, and how hope and faith can coexist with profound loss. If you've ever wondered how to keep moving forward without leaving your grief behind, this episode offers a compassionate reminder that you don't have to choose one emotion over another—you can make space for both. In this episode, you'll learn: * Why the word "and" can transform the way we experience difficult emotions. * How nervous system healing increases our capacity rather than eliminating pain. * The difference between moving on from grief and learning to carry it. * Why presence is often more powerful than advice when supporting someone through loss. * How continuing to remember and share stories of loved ones can become a beautiful act of healing. * Practical ways to notice hope and "glimmers" even in life's darkest seasons. Whether you're navigating your own grief, supporting someone you love, or simply learning how to hold life's complexities with greater compassion, this conversation is a gentle invitation to embrace the power of and. Because healing isn't about becoming someone who never hurts—it's about becoming someone whose heart has grown strong enough to hold both the pain and the beauty. 💬 Have a Question You’d Like Answered on the Podcast? If you have a question around the nervous system, healing relationships, or generational patterns, you’re invited to submit it anonymously using the link below. There’s also an optional box you can check if you’d like to be considered for a short audio coaching conversation on a future episode. 👉 Submit your question [https://forms.gle/L7uKcEh1AneQtxKz7] Connect with me: Instagram → @aligningwithleanna [https://www.instagram.com/aligningwithleanna] Website → leannahunt.com [https://www.leannahunt.com] Disclaimer: Although I am a licensed Associate Clinical Mental Health Counselor, The NeuroHeir℠ Podcast is not a substitute for therapy, counseling, or medical treatment. The tools and practices I share are for educational and coaching purposes only. Every nervous system is unique, and what we discuss on this podcast should not replace your own individual therapeutic work or professional support. The focus of this podcast is my coaching work, which centers on education, nervous system practices, and generational healing tools designed to support—not replace—your personal journey with a qualified provider. If you are struggling with your mental health or experiencing overwhelming emotions, please seek support from a licensed professional in your area. You don’t have to do this work alone.

39. How EFT Tapping Helps Calm Your Nervous System (A Guided Tapping Session) with Mitch Gainey

Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed by your to-do list, stuck in anxiety, or unsure how to calm your body when life feels like too much? In this episode, Leanna welcomes back evidence-based EFT practitioner Mitch to explore one of the most accessible nervous system regulation tools available: Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), also known as tapping. If you've ever been curious about tapping or wondered whether it actually works, this conversation is the perfect place to start. Together, Leanna and Mitch break down the science behind EFT, explain why it can feel so effective for stress and overwhelm, and guide you through a simple tapping practice you can begin using today. Whether you're navigating parenting, work stress, or simply carrying the weight of everyday life, this episode offers practical tools to help you slow down, reconnect with your body, and build greater capacity for whatever comes next. In this episode, you'll learn: * What evidence-based EFT tapping is and how it supports nervous system regulation * Why slowing down is often the fastest path toward healing * How tapping helps calm stress, anxiety, and overwhelm * A guided EFT tapping session you can follow along with in real time * The difference between self-guided tapping and working with a trained practitioner * How to know when a situation is appropriate for self-tapping—and when additional support is helpful * Alternatives for those who don't enjoy tapping directly on the body * Why curiosity, compassion, and pacing matter so much in the healing process One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation is that healing isn't about forcing yourself to "get over it." It's about meeting yourself with compassion, moving at the pace your nervous system can actually handle, and remembering that even small moments of regulation can create meaningful change. If today's conversation resonates with you, be sure to download the tapping point guide in the show notes so you can continue practicing on your own. Remember: you don't have to carry everything alone. Sometimes one breath, one tap, and one moment of self-compassion can be the beginning of something entirely different. Resources Mentioned:  Tapping Points Guide  [https://leanna-hunt.kit.com/f166c2874e] 💬 Have a Question You’d Like Answered on the Podcast? If you have a question around the nervous system, healing relationships, or generational patterns, you’re invited to submit it anonymously using the link below. There’s also an optional box you can check if you’d like to be considered for a short audio coaching conversation on a future episode. 👉 Submit your question [https://forms.gle/L7uKcEh1AneQtxKz7] Connect with me: Instagram → @aligningwithleanna [https://www.instagram.com/aligningwithleanna] Website → leannahunt.com [https://www.leannahunt.com] Disclaimer: Although I am a licensed Associate Clinical Mental Health Counselor, The NeuroHeir℠ Podcast is not a substitute for therapy, counseling, or medical treatment. The tools and practices I share are for educational and coaching purposes only. Every nervous system is unique, and what we discuss on this podcast should not replace your own individual therapeutic work or professional support. The focus of this podcast is my coaching work, which centers on education, nervous system practices, and generational healing tools designed to support—not replace—your personal journey with a qualified provider. If you are struggling with your mental health or experiencing overwhelming emotions, please seek support from a licensed professional in your area. You don’t have to do this work alone.

38. The Body Remembers: How Tapping, Safety, and Somatic Healing Help Us Move Forward with Mitch Gainey

What if the symptoms you're trying to "fix" are actually your nervous system's best attempt to protect you? In this powerful conversation, Leanna sits down with Australian counselor, facilitator, and evidence-based EFT trainer Mitch Gainey to explore the profound connection between trauma, the nervous system, and the body's innate capacity to heal. Together, they unpack why traditional talk therapy isn't always enough, how unresolved experiences can become "stuck" in the body, and why creating safety is often the first step toward lasting change. Mitch shares his journey working with youth experiencing homelessness, refugees, trauma survivors, and helping professionals, and how those experiences led him to discover the transformative power of Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), commonly known as tapping. Whether you're a parent, helping professional, or someone navigating your own healing journey, this episode offers a compassionate reminder: there is nothing wrong with you. Your nervous system has been doing its best to help you survive and healing begins when we learn to listen. In this episode, you'll learn: * What Clinical EFT (tapping) is and how it differs from social media tapping practices * How trauma gets "stuck" in the body and why symptoms often make sense * The connection between nervous system regulation, safety, and healing * Why increasing your capacity is more important than eliminating activation * How tapping can help process anxiety, fear, grief, anger, and unresolved experiences * The importance of learning to tolerate joy, connection, and feeling fully alive * Why compassion—not shame—is essential for lasting transformation If you've ever wondered why you keep getting pulled back into the same patterns, emotions, or survival responses, this conversation will help you understand what your body may be trying to tell you and how to begin listening differently. About Mitch Gainey:  Mitch Gainey is an Australian counsellor, facilitator, and trainer specialising in Evidence Based EFT, Focusing, somatic practice, and trauma-informed change. His work helps therapists, coaches, and helping professionals understand the body as an intelligent living process, not just a set of symptoms to manage. With a background in youth homelessness, refugee support, executive facilitation, and practitioner training, Mitch brings both depth and practicality to the healing space. He teaches Evidence Based EFT as a body-based method for creating enough safety to process emotion, trauma, stress, and stuck patterns without overwhelm. Mitch’s work is influenced by Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing, Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing, and contemplative traditions of deep listening. He is especially interested in how tapping, presence, and somatic awareness can help people stop fighting themselves and begin listening to what the body is trying to carry forward. Connect with Mitch: Website: https://www.mitchgainey.com/ [https://www.mitchgainey.com/] 💬 Have a Question You’d Like Answered on the Podcast? If you have a question around the nervous system, healing relationships, or generational patterns, you’re invited to submit it anonymously using the link below. There’s also an optional box you can check if you’d like to be considered for a short audio coaching conversation on a future episode. 👉 Submit your question [https://forms.gle/L7uKcEh1AneQtxKz7] Connect with me: Instagram → @aligningwithleanna [https://www.instagram.com/aligningwithleanna] Website → leannahunt.com [https://www.leannahunt.com] Disclaimer: Although I am a licensed Associate Clinical Mental Health Counselor, The NeuroHeir℠ Podcast is not a substitute for therapy, counseling, or medical treatment. The tools and practices I share are for educational and coaching purposes only. Every nervous system is unique, and what we discuss on this podcast should not replace your own individual therapeutic work or professional support. The focus of this podcast is my coaching work, which centers on education, nervous system practices, and generational healing tools designed to support—not replace—your personal journey with a qualified provider. If you are struggling with your mental health or experiencing overwhelming emotions, please seek support from a licensed professional in your area. You don’t have to do this work alone.

37. The Body Doesn't Keep the Score? A New Perspective on Trauma, Healing, and Nervous System Patterns

What if the patterns you've spent years trying to change aren't flaws in your personality but predictions made by your nervous system? In this thought-provoking episode, Leanna explores a controversial paper that has sparked widespread discussion in the trauma and nervous system world: The Body Does Not Keep the Score. While the title may sound contradictory to everything we've learned about trauma, the conversation opens the door to a deeper understanding of how healing actually happens. Leanna shares her personal experience with EFT tapping, explores the concept of predictive coding, and examines how survival responses like fight, flight, freeze, and fawn may be less about who we are and more about what our nervous system learned was necessary for safety. Through a generational lens, you'll discover how nervous systems learn patterns through relationships, attachment, and repetition and why many of the traits we identify as "just who I am" may actually be adaptive responses passed down through generations. In this episode, you'll learn: * Why the phrase "The Body Doesn't Keep the Score" may not mean what you think it does * How predictive coding influences trauma responses and nervous system patterns * The connection between fight, flight, freeze, fawn, and learned predictions of danger * How generational trauma shapes the way nervous systems develop * Why nervous system flexibility—not perfection—is the true goal of healing * The difference between viewing symptoms as problems versus messages * How flow states, creativity, nature, movement, and connection support healing * How the Four N Framework (Notice, Name, Nurture, Navigate) helps create new nervous system pathways Whether you've struggled with anxiety, people-pleasing, overworking, hyper-independence, or feeling stuck in patterns you can't seem to change, this episode offers a compassionate reframe: You are not broken. Your nervous system learned to protect you. And with safety, awareness, and practice, those predictions can change. Because healing isn't about becoming someone different—it's about creating enough flexibility that the past no longer has to dictate your future. Sources for Episode: Kotler S, Mannino M, Fox G and Friston K (2026) The body does not keep the score: trauma, predictive coding, and the restoration of metastability. Front. Syst. Neurosci. 20:1812957. doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2026.1812957 Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-hope-circuit/202605/the-body-doesnt-keep-the-score [https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-hope-circuit/202605/the-body-doesnt-keep-the-score] 💬 Have a Question You’d Like Answered on the Podcast? If you have a question around the nervous system, healing relationships, or generational patterns, you’re invited to submit it anonymously using the link below. There’s also an optional box you can check if you’d like to be considered for a short audio coaching conversation on a future episode. 👉 Submit your question [https://forms.gle/L7uKcEh1AneQtxKz7] Connect with me: Instagram → @aligningwithleanna [https://www.instagram.com/aligningwithleanna] Website → leannahunt.com [https://www.leannahunt.com] Disclaimer: Although I am a licensed Associate Clinical Mental Health Counselor, The NeuroHeir℠ Podcast is not a substitute for therapy, counseling, or medical treatment. The tools and practices I share are for educational and coaching purposes only. Every nervous system is unique, and what we discuss on this podcast should not replace your own individual therapeutic work or professional support. The focus of this podcast is my coaching work, which centers on education, nervous system practices, and generational healing tools designed to support—not replace—your personal journey with a qualified provider. If you are struggling with your mental health or experiencing overwhelming emotions, please seek support from a licensed professional in your area. You don’t have to do this work alone.

36. When Connection Feels Safer Than Authenticity: Understanding the Appease Response

Why is it so hard to say no, disappoint someone, or put your own needs first? In this episode of the NeuroHeir Podcast, we're continuing our exploration of the nervous system's survival responses by diving into the often-overlooked appease response—sometimes called the fawn response. While fight, flight, and freeze tend to be easier to recognize, appeasement is often praised and rewarded, making it one of the most difficult patterns to identify in ourselves. Using beloved films like Runaway Bride, Barbie, and Encanto, Leanna explores what happens when the nervous system learns that staying connected feels safer than being authentic. You'll learn how people-pleasing, perfectionism, chronic caretaking, conflict avoidance, and self-abandonment can all be rooted in a nervous system strategy designed to protect connection and belonging. In this episode, you'll learn: * What the appease (fawn) response is and why it develops * How people-pleasing and self-abandonment can become automatic survival strategies * The connection between appeasement, attachment, and nervous system regulation * Why appease is often the most socially rewarded survival response * How these patterns can be passed down through generations * The physical, emotional, and relational signs of chronic appeasement * Somatic practices to rebuild self-trust and authentic self-connection * How to stay connected to others without abandoning yourself Whether you've always been the peacemaker, the helper, the overachiever, or the person everyone depends on, this episode offers a compassionate framework for understanding your patterns and beginning the journey back to yourself. Because healing isn't about caring less—it’s about learning that connection doesn't have to cost you your voice, your truth, or your authenticity. 🌿 Somatic Tools For Appease 🌿 Tactile Anchoring Cross your arms over your chest or place a hand on your heart and another on your stomach. Appease energy often pulls awareness outward toward everyone else.  This practice helps gently anchor you back into your own body and nervous system. 🌿 The Micro-Pause Before automatically saying “yes,” practice pausing for 3 seconds. Take one slow breath and ask yourself: * What do I actually feel? * What is my capacity right now? * What do I genuinely want? Small pauses help interrupt automatic people-pleasing patterns. 🌿 Orienting Inward Instead Of Outward Notice what is happening inside your body before scanning everyone else. Ask yourself: * What emotions are here? * What sensations am I noticing? * Do I feel open, contracted, tense, tired, anxious, resentful, or overwhelmed? Appease healing often involves reconnecting with your own internal cues. 🌿 Grounding Through The Feet Push your feet firmly into the floor. Notice the support underneath you and allow your posture to gently expand. Appease patterns often physically shrink the body. Grounding helps create more stability, embodiment, and presence. 🌿 Boundary Breathwork Take a slow inhale and imagine gathering your energy back toward yourself. As you exhale, gently press your hands outward with a steady breath. This can help the nervous system begin learning:  “I am allowed to take up space too.” 🌿 Voice & Throat Work Appease often lives in the throat, jaw, and voice. Try: * gentle humming * jaw massage * low vocal tones * practicing small “no’s” in safe spaces * saying: “Let me think about that.” This helps rebuild nervous system safety around self-expression. 🌿 Noticing Preferences Practice noticing what you actually like. Food. Music. Rest. Pace. Activities. Boundaries. Self-trust is often rebuilt through small moments of preference and choice. (Yes… very Runaway Bride egg scene energy 😂) 🌿 Practicing Small No’s Healing appease patterns does not require huge confrontations. Start small: * “I can’t tonight.” * “I need some rest.” * “That doesn’t work for me.” * “I need a little time before I answer.” The nervous system learns through repetition. 🌿 Mirror Work & Posture Expansion Practice taking up physical space: * standing taller * relaxing the shoulders * soft eye contact in the mirror * allowing your body to remain open Physical expansion can help support emotional expansion too. 🌿 Safe Anger & Emotional Expression Many people in appease suppress anger for years. Healing may involve gently reconnecting with: * frustration * disappointment * truth * boundaries * honest emotion Not explosive anger—authentic emotion. 🌿 Co-Regulation With Safe People Appease healing often happens in safe relationships. People who allow you to: * have needs * disagree * say no * be imperfect * remain connected without self-abandonment Sometimes the nervous system needs repeated experiences of:  “I can be fully myself here and still be loved.” 🌿 Reflection Questions * When do I notice myself prioritizing someone else’s comfort over my own needs? * What happens in my body when someone is upset or disappointed with me? * Where did I first learn that keeping the peace felt safer than expressing myself honestly? * What emotions feel hardest for me to express in relationships? * What preferences, needs, or desires have I disconnected from over time? * What would it look like to stay connected to myself while still staying connected to others? * What is one small boundary, honest response, or act of self-trust I can practice this week? * What happens when I pause long enough to ask:  “What do I actually want?” 💬 Have a Question You’d Like Answered on the Podcast? If you have a question around the nervous system, healing relationships, or generational patterns, you’re invited to submit it anonymously using the link below. There’s also an optional box you can check if you’d like to be considered for a short audio coaching conversation on a future episode. 👉 Submit your question [https://forms.gle/L7uKcEh1AneQtxKz7] Connect with me: Instagram → @aligningwithleanna [https://www.instagram.com/aligningwithleanna] Website → leannahunt.com [https://www.leannahunt.com] Disclaimer: Although I am a licensed Associate Clinical Mental Health Counselor, The NeuroHeir℠ Podcast is not a substitute for therapy, counseling, or medical treatment. The tools and practices I share are for educational and coaching purposes only. Every nervous system is unique, and what we discuss on this podcast should not replace your own individual therapeutic work or professional support. The focus of this podcast is my coaching work, which centers on education, nervous system practices, and generational healing tools designed to support—not replace—your personal journey with a qualified provider. If you are struggling with your mental health or experiencing overwhelming emotions, please seek support from a licensed professional in your area. You don’t have to do this work alone.