The We Shine Well Podcast

Train Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Gut Brain Connection, Wellness That Works with Jewel Zimmer

90% of your serotonin is produced in your gut. So why are we treating the brain and the body like they're separate? In this episode, I sit down with Jewel Zimmer — certified brain health trainer and Founder of Juna [https://www.juna-world.com] — for a conversation that reframes everything you thought you knew about mood, focus, sleep, and what it means to feel well. Jewel's path to building Juna started with severe postpartum anxiety and a medical system that offered a prescription with no questions asked. Her refusal to accept that answer sent her all the way to the Amen Clinics and Stanford and eventually to founding a brand built specifically around female physiology. This is the gut-brain masterclass you didn't know you needed. Tune in! Key insights: * Why 90% of serotonin and 50% of dopamine are produced in your gut * The gut-brain axis and how your microbiome communicates via the vagus nerve * What it actually means to train your brain as a certified brain health trainer * Dr. Amen's Four Circles framework: psychological, physiological, social, spiritual * Why your brain is most adaptive in theta state and how to use that window * Gratitude, journaling + meditation: the simple things with the most profound brain impact * Why sleep is the biggest longevity hack and what your glymphatic system does overnight * The 1% better philosophy: small daily habits that compound into transformation * A tour of the Juna product line: detox drops, gut therapy, sleep gummies, Smart Burn + more * Founder as spiritual practice — why building Juna has been Jewel's greatest teacher Ways to be Supported: * Follow @jewel_zimmer [https://www.instagram.com/jewel_zimmer/] + @ [https://www.instagram.com/juna.world/]juna.world [http://juna.world] on Instagram * Shop at juna-world.com [http://juna-world.com] — use code SHINE for 20% off full-priced products * Read Jewel's Substack Only Better at jewelzimmer1.substack.com [http://jewelzimmer1.substack.com] Ways to Support the Show: * Join our We Shine Well Substack [https://substack.com/@weshinewell] for prompts + community * Connect at @weshinewell [https://www.instagram.com/weshinewell/] * Follow, rate + review, and share with a friend ready to optimize from the inside out You are loved, supported, and exactly where you're meant to be.

From Self-Doubt to Self-Trust: Building Self-Connection with Jacq Gould

What if the anxiety, the people-pleasing, the comparison, the overwhelm, what if none of that means something is wrong with you? In this episode, I sit down with Jacq Gould [https://www.instagram.com/jacqgould/], founder of Your Inner Babe [https://YourInnerBabe.com], for a conversation about what it truly means to come home to yourself. Jacq teaches self-connection as a skill, something we are never taught, but can absolutely learn, and her work has helped thousands of women move from chronic self-doubt into a foundation of deep, lasting self-trust. We talk about what disconnection actually looks like in everyday life, why self-connection is the base of everything, the micro actions that can help you start reconnecting today, and the magic that happens when you stop outsourcing your worth to other people. Tune in! Key insights: * Why self-connection is a skill, not a personality trait and how to build it * The symptoms of disconnection hiding in plain sight: anxiety, people-pleasing, overwhelm * Self-connection as the foundation of self-trust, confidence, and worth * The language audit: "I have to" vs. "I get to" and why it changes everything * Finding connection points in what you already do, no new routine required * The Reconnection Deck: how Jacq uses it and how Zoë uses it every morning * Into Me, You See — a connection game designed to create depth in your closest relationships * Why Jacq does everything in group — and the medicine that comes from being truly seen * Navigating social media from a place of self-connection instead of comparison * The bounce-back rate: how self-connection shortens the recovery from hard seasons Ways to be Supported: * Follow @jacqgould [https://www.instagram.com/jacqgould/] on Instagram * Explore retreats, group programs + offerings at YourInnerBabe.com [http://YourInnerBabe.com] * Shop the Reconnection Deck + Into Me, You See at YourInnerBabe.com [http://YourInnerBabe.com] Ways to Support the Show: * Join our We Shine Well Substack [https://substack.com/@weshinewell] for prompts + community * Connect at @weshinewell [https://www.instagram.com/weshinewell/] * Follow, rate + review, and share with a woman who's ready to come home to herself You are loved, supported, and exactly where you're meant to be. Thanks to our sponsor, NOW Foods. Use code WESHINE for 20% off at nowfoods.com [http://nowfoods.com]. *These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

No Leggings Required: A Lifestyle of Movement with Kodi Kitchen Berg

What if the secret to moving more isn't a new routine, it's a weight you actually want to reach for? In this episode, I sit down with Kodi Kitchen Berg, Founder and CEO of Equipt [https://www.equiptmovement.com], for a joyful, grounded conversation about design, movement, intentional building, and what it looks like to trust a full-body yes. Kodi built Equipt from a simple, radical observation: fitness equipment was ugly, end-result-obsessed, and disconnected from the life people actually wanted to live. So she designed something different. And now she's on a mission to make movement feel like a natural, beautiful, snackable part of everyday life — no leggings required. Tune in! Key insights: * How design lowers the barrier to movement and why beautiful tools actually get used * The "no leggings required" philosophy and what it means to move in whatever you're wearing * Snackable movement: how even one minute can shift your energy, mindset, and day * Building Equipt slowly and intentionally — and why that was the right call * Failure as a muscle: the more you practice it, the less it stops you * Why Kodi doesn't know where product ideas come from — they just arrive * Hiring for your deficits and building a team that balances your creative brain * Community as the quiet engine behind Equipt's growth — evangelists, trainers, and micro-leaders * The movement app evolution and what's coming for Equipt next * It only takes a minute — and why that's always enough to start Ways to be Supported: * Follow @kodikitchenberg [https://www.instagram.com/kodikitchenberg/] on Instagram * Shop U-Bars, U-Wraps + more at equiptmovement.com [http://equiptmovement.com] — use code WESHINE15 for 15% off Ways to Support the Show: * Join our We Shine Well Substack [https://substack.com/@weshinewell] for prompts + community * Connect at @weshinewell [https://www.instagram.com/weshinewell/] * Follow, rate + review, and share with a friend ready to move differently You are loved, supported, and exactly where you're meant to be.

Microdosing Your Aliveness + Aging Strong with Nicole Sciacca

What if aging well isn't about what you do in the gym, it's about what you repeat every single day? In this episode, I sit down with Nicole Sciacca — yoga teacher, mobility specialist, former professional dancer, and creator of Sweat and Stillness [https://www.sweatandstillness.com] — for a conversation that is equal parts wisdom, joy, and full-body inspiration. Nicole shares her journey from a herniated disc that a surgeon said would never heal, to building a movement philosophy that has helped thousands of women feel strong, mobile, and alive at every age. She also shares the profound losses that cracked her open and how movement, stillness, and community became the framework for her own healing. You keep what you repeat. This episode will make you want to repeat better things. Tune in! Key insights: * From professional dancer to herniated discs and how that injury changed everything * What it means that movement metabolizes emotion and why your body knows what to do * The three habits that have helped Nicole step into her highest self * Why aging is not synonymous with weakness and how to customize it * CARS (Controlled Articular Rotations) the overlooked mobility practice everyone needs * Sweat AND stillness: why you need both, and why neither works without the other * Microdosing aliveness how to come back to yourself one small decision at a time * How loss deepened Nicole's zest for life and connection to spirit * Building a curated circle of women who hold you accountable and help you rise * Be real, not perfect and why perfect is a trap Ways to be Supported: * Follow @nicolesciacca [https://www.instagram.com/nicolesciacca/] on Instagram * Access on-demand classes, monthly groups + retreat info at sweatandstillness.com [http://sweatandstillness.com] * Listen to the Shock and Y'all podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shock-yall/id1726638938] on Apple Podcasts Ways to Support the Show: * Join our We Shine Well Substack [https://substack.com/@weshinewell] for prompts + community * Connect at @weshinewell [https://www.instagram.com/weshinewell/] * Follow, rate + review, and share with a woman who's ready to feel alive again You are loved, supported, and exactly where you're meant to be. Thanks to our sponsor, NOW Foods. Use code WESHINE for 20% off at nowfoods.com [http://nowfoods.com]. *These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Why Beans Heal: Gut Health, Weight Loss + Hormones with Unique Hammond

What if the most powerful healing food on the planet has been in your pantry this whole time? In this episode, I sit down with Unique Hammond — holistic nutrition practitioner, founder of The Bean Protocol [https://www.youregreat.com], and author of Your Tastebuds Are A**holes — for one of the most eye-opening conversations I've had on this show. Unique spent years battling Crohn's disease and endometriosis, trying every healing protocol imaginable, before discovering the one food that finally changed everything. Now 13 years into natural remission, she's helped thousands of people heal their gut, balance their hormones, clear their skin, and feel like themselves again — all through the power of foundational nutrition and beans. We go deep on what soluble fiber actually does in the body, why your bile health is the missing link no one is talking about, how to start the bean protocol without the dreaded side effects, and why "you are not broken" might be the most healing thing anyone can hear. Tune in! Key insights: * Unique's journey from Crohn's + endo diagnosis to 13 years in natural remission * What the Bean Protocol actually is — and the difference between healing vs. longevity plans * Soluble fiber + bile binding: the gut-hormone-detox connection no one explains * How beans support weight, hormones, skin, fertility + gallbladder health * The biggest mistakes people make starting the Bean Protocol (and how to avoid them) * Foundational nutrition vs. supplements — and when each actually makes sense * Training your tastebuds back to factory settings * Purified water + chewing: the two most underrated health habits * The gut-vaginal microbiome connection + why it matters for women * "You are not broken" — you just haven't applied the right tools yet Ways to be Supported: * Follow @uniquehammond [https://www.instagram.com/uniquehammond] on Instagram * Get her book Your Tastebuds Are A**holes [https://www.amazon.com] and stay tuned for her NEW book The Bean Protocol [https://www.amazon.com/stores/Unique-Hammond/author/B079Z95T1Q] on Amazon * Explore group programs at youregreat.com [http://youregreat.com] * Listen to the You're Great podcast for healing stories from real clients Ways to Support the Show: * Join our We Shine Well Substack [https://substack.com/@weshinewell] for prompts + community * Connect at @weshinewell [https://www.instagram.com/weshinewell/] * Follow, rate + review, and share with a friend on her own healing journey You are loved, supported, and exactly where you're meant to be.