The Hidden Link Between Trauma and Autoimmune Disease

Overview

In this episode, Rachel joins Becky’s podcast for a conversation about the deep connection between physical symptoms and trauma. Rachel shares her Hashimoto’s story, breaks down her RISE approach to functional medicine, and the conversation expands into polyvagal theory, adverse childhood experiences, the overachiever and people pleaser pattern that so commonly precedes chronic illness, and practical tools women can use to start healing right now. Becky brings her own somatic healing background to the conversation, making this a genuinely reciprocal exchange between two practitioners who have done this work on themselves.

You’ll Learn

• Why normal blood work does not mean nothing is wrong, and why functional labs like the GI map, organic acids test, and hair tissue mineral analysis give a far more complete picture of what is actually driving symptoms
• Why leaky gut is found in virtually every autoimmune case, why mineral testing matters as a window into cellular function, and how toxins accumulating in organs like the thyroid can create dysfunction that bloodwork will miss entirely
• What the three nervous system states look like in practice, how fight-or-flight immediately suppresses immune function and shuts down digestion, and how the dorsal vagal shutdown state produces the numbness, dissociation, and exhaustion that many chronically ill people recognize as their baseline
• Why research shows that people with both childhood and adulthood trauma have measurably higher CRP levels than those with adulthood trauma alone, and why this chronic low-level inflammation becomes a direct driver of autoimmune disease
• How ACEs, adverse childhood experiences like abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction, raise the statistical risk of autoimmunity, heart disease, lung disease, cancer, and diabetes
• Why the overachiever people pleaser pattern is so consistently linked to autoimmune disease, how chronic go-go-go depletes the adrenal glands, drives down cortisol and sex hormones, and eventually collapses the whole hormonal system
• Why holding on to unexpressed emotions can begin to affect specific organs, with grief commonly showing up in the lungs and chest, and frustration affecting the liver
• How to use your calendar as a body-based check-in tool by scanning upcoming commitments and noticing which ones produce a felt yes versus discomfort or dread, and why if it is not a full yes it is a no
• Why defaulting to no first rather than yes when asked for a favor or commitment gives you the breathing room to actually feel into your body before agreeing to something that drains you
• Why increasing fun and play is one of the most underrated anti-inflammatory interventions available, lowering inflammation, boosting dopamine, and doing more for the body than most supplements

Resources

• Natural Health Rising website: naturalhealthrising.com
• Instagram, TikTok, YouTube: @NaturalHealthRising
• Free resources: Energy Reboot Plan (recipes and holistic lifestyle tips) and Free Autoimmune Webinar (lab testing guide, meal plans, supplement recommendations)

You can either choose to slow down now, or your body is going to slow you down for you. That is not a threat. That is your body’s love for you. Start there.