The Nourished Nervous System

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What if everything you've been told about change, motivation, and stress is missing the most important piece — your brain?
This week I'm joined by Lisa Riegel, educator by training, strategist by practice, and someone who has dedicated her career to translating brain science into language and tools that actually help people feel more self-aware, regulated, and in control. 
Lisa is the creator of the NeuroWell Framework and the Aspirations to Operations Commitment Framework, and whether she's working with Fortune 500 leaders, school systems, or individuals navigating their own lives, her message is the same: real change starts in the brain.
In this conversation we cover so much ground, and I think you're going to find it as accessible and practical as I did. We talk about:
Why 80% of the thinking happening in your brain right now is unconscious — and what that means for your behavior, your reactions, and your relationships
Meet Bob and Harold — Lisa's brilliant, accessible way of explaining how your amygdala and thalamus work together to filter reality and trigger your stress response
The four states of wakefulness (calm, alert, alarm, fear) and exactly what happens neurologically when you burn out
Why change is so hard — and why most change initiatives, in organizations and in our personal lives, fail before they even begin
The difference between outcome goals and action goals, and why that distinction is everything
Why we don't know what our body feels like when we're happy — and a simple morning practice to start changing that
The power of identifying not just what stresses you out, but why — and how uncovering the underlying fear gives you genuine self-control
Why celebration is the most underused and misunderstood tool in leadership, parenting, and self-development
How to create your own resilient inner bubble in a world that feels increasingly out of control
Lisa brings so much warmth and wisdom to this conversation, and her ability to take complex brain science and make it feel immediately usable is truly a gift. This one is for the leaders, the parents, the burnout survivors, and anyone who has ever wondered why they keep reacting in ways they don't intend to.
Resources:

Free Masterclass:  The Alchemy of the Perimenopause Portal
Ayurvedic Dosha Quick Reference Guide
Abhyanga Self Massage Guide
Weekend Nervous System Reset
Nourished For Resilience Workbook

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

Send us Fan Mail
There'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 life
The 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 up
Sandhya — 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 receive
Borrowing from Kapha — practical ways to fill your well now, before the full heat and activity of Pitta season arrives
Dinacharya — how your daily rhythm is naturally shifting right now, and how to let that happen gradually and with intention
The 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 more
This 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 Portal
Ayurvedic Dosha Quick Reference Guide
Abhyanga Self Massage Guide
Weekend Nervous System Reset
Nourished For Resilience Workbook

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

Send us Fan Mail
Today'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 patterns
The 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 it
What 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 willpower
The 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 water
Why nervous system tools sometimes make things worse — and what to do instead
The difference between managing stress and befriending it — and why safety lives in the body, not in the mind
The resonance between Lori's framework and Ayurveda — being situated in the self, the sattvic state, and why regulated nervous systems see reality more clearly
Lori'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 now
Connect with Laurie:
Website: www.LoriMontry.com 
Youtube: Lori Montry -Somatic Healing Practitioner - YouTube
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/LoriMontry
Instagram: Instagram
 Email List : https://www.lorimontry.com/book-intro

Resources:

Free Masterclass:  The Alchemy of the Perimenopause Portal
Ayurvedic Dosha Quick Reference Guide
Abhyanga Self Massage Guide
Weekend Nervous System Reset
Nourished For Resilience Workbook

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

Send us Fan Mail
Today 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 healing
The 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 isolation
The 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 alone
Nadi 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 have
Seven 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 doing
Free downloads: Grab the one-page guide — 7 Ways to Release Oxytocin Today — with the science and Ayurvedic wisdom behind each practice. Click Here
And my Self Abhyanga Guide Here

Research References
Oxytocin & Neural Plasticity
Pekarek, 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.2020.00030
Froemke, 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-102320-102847
Meditation & Oxytocin
Bellosta-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 Portal
Ayurvedic Dosha Quick Reference Guide
Abhyanga Self Massage Guide
Weekend Nervous System Reset
Nourished For Resilience Workbook

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram

Send us Fan Mail
Today'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 deeper
The too much / not enough paradox that so many women carry, and how it shapes the way we show up in our bodies and our work
The difference between resilience and regulation — and why regulation has to come first
A simple, accessible mirror practice for women who have been overriding their bodies and want to begin rebuilding trust with themselves
What emotional congruence actually feels like in the body — and how micro aligned actions taken consistently are what build it over time
Why our healing is never just for ourselves — and the personal loss that deepened Elizabeth's commitment to this work
Why midlife is not a decline but a reclamation — and why it is never, ever too late
Elizabeth'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 Haven
Reclaiming Radiance course
Podcast
Instagram
Linkedin

Resources:

Free Masterclass:  The Alchemy of the Perimenopause Portal
Ayurvedic Dosha Quick Reference Guide
Abhyanga Self Massage Guide
Weekend Nervous System Reset
Nourished For Resilience Workbook

Find me at www.nourishednervoussystem.com

and @nourishednervoussytem on Instagram