Podcast Episode 1 - Breaking The Stigma Around Bloat, IBS & Digestive Issues

The speaker wants to break the stigma around bloat and IBS and encourages open discussion about gut issues. They share their own experience of shame and isolation and emphasize the importance of seeking help and expressing struggles. They discuss the societal pressure to appear perfect and the false perception of idealistic lives on social media. The speaker shares a personal embarrassing story to highlight the power of expressing and accepting struggles. They discuss their own journey of seeking help and finding relief through a new approach. They now help others with similar issues and emphasize the importance of releasing expectations of perfection and understanding the root of these feelings. The speaker believes there is a gift in the challenge of gut issues and encourages listeners to rate and review their podcast to help break the stigma and overcome these issues together. Breaking the stigma around bloat and IBS and talking openly about these gut issues. There are so many women that are struggling with belly bloat, stomach discomfort, constipation, diarrhea, gut issues that can create a lot of shame, even guilt. These are emotions that I definitely felt when I was in the thick of my bloat and IBS. And I was so afraid to open up about it. And this is why I did not seek out help for a very long time, because there was so much shame around experiencing these gut issues. I also felt so alone in experiencing these, yet now that I have, one, experienced freedom from bloat and IBS, and two, I've chatted with so many women who are in the thick of these uncomfortable gut issues. And there's such a stigma around it, there's a lot of shame associated with it. And my goal is to help raise awareness about it, to break the stigma around bloat and IBS, and to help empower you over experiencing freedom from bloat and IBS, and open up a discussion about it, chat more openly about these struggles. And this too also ties back to fear of expressing our struggles, whether it's fear of judgment, fear of failure, fear of rejection, these are often deeper layers at play, impacting our decision to keep it secret, to hold these struggles in. Also as a society, there's a perception of needing to be perfect, having it all together, of not dealing with any digestive troubles, of being free from bloat, being free from other gut troubles, especially with social media, there's this false perception of this idealistic life free from these gut troubles. So if you're listening and you are experiencing bloat and IBS symptoms, I want you to know that you are not alone in this. And you deserve, you deserve to openly express what you are struggling with, so that you can ultimately overcome it. When we hold things in, when we keep things secretive, when we're hiding things, trying to cover it up, when we're just going about our day to day, pretending like everything is fine, when in reality we are really struggling internally, even physically, mentally, mentally, that just leads to more isolation, more loneliness, and also triggers even more symptoms. In fact, what if, what if your digestive troubles, your bloat and IBS are there as a gift to lead you on a journey of opening up about your struggles, to allow yourself to say yes to help, to allow yourself to say and be honest that you are struggling and that's okay. That is okay, because it's human. Struggling is a part of our life experience here on earth. And so often, we have these subconscious beliefs that have been ingrained in us over time, that have been ingrained in us over time, going all the way back to childhood, that we are a failure for dealing with these embarrassing good issues. They're honestly embarrassing. And speaking of, I'll share a personal story that is quite embarrassing, but I also want to show you the power of allowing yourself to express what you are dealing with and what you are struggling with, even if there is embarrassment around it, those emotions are just a protective mechanism. Your mind is telling you, don't express this, don't tell anyone else about this, they'll think you're crazy, or they'll think what is wrong with you, right? So as an example, when I was in the thick of dealing with bloat and IBS, I was working as an RN in the hospital at the time, and one night at work, I was experiencing extreme gas, it was very embarrassing, I could not hold it back, could not control it, and I was getting medication out, and there was a nurse behind me, and to be totally honest with you, I was so gassy in that moment, he heard everything, the nurse behind me, and I wasn't facing him, I could not see his facial reaction, I turned deep red, I mean, it was loud, it was loud. And in that moment, I felt so ashamed, thinking what is wrong with me, why am I dealing with this, and two, at this time, I was trying to eat healthy, exercising, taking supplements, trying to do the right things, yet I was constantly dealing with gas, with bloat, with other embarrassing blood issues, and months down the road, that nurse actually told me that she remembered that moment of when I had that gas attack, right in front of him, and I pretended like it didn't happen, but it very clearly happened, and we were able to laugh about it. He didn't judge me, he didn't say, what is wrong with you, why are you experiencing this, he simply laughed and said, he's like, that made my night. He was like, I was honestly just laughing, not at you, but it just made me laugh, and it was like a joyful moment, ironically. And it just goes to show that so often, we put these assumptions in our mind of worst case scenarios, of these judgments from other people, when in reality, we're all human, we all experience these things in different ways. And that moment of when he did bring up that situation to me, and openly said, yes, I remember when this happened, and that helped to bring my guard down regarding my bloat, my gas, my other blood issues, helped to break a little bit of resistance, I still had a little bit of a wall up, but helped to lower that, lower that resistance, lower that shame a bit. Because he was essentially accepting that he wasn't attacking me for it, he didn't view me as a terrible person, or as a disgusting person. And that is so freeing, so freeing. And that also helped me to eventually reach out for help, and openly express what I was experiencing with, and what I really needed help with, because what I was doing wasn't working. My approaches with diet, avoiding specific foods, going on low-calorie diets, low-carb diets, elimination diets, trying different supplements, cleanses, green juices, so many things, you name it, I was trying. And that also created more shame at that time, because I was trying so hard to stop feeling so bloated and so uncomfortable, to stop dealing with these issues, I felt so, I felt so out of control in it. And that also led to more shame, because in my efforts, my efforts weren't working, I was feeling like a failure. And I was also ashamed to admit that what I was trying wasn't really working as hard as I worked. And it wasn't until I actually did say yes to getting help with this, I worked with a functional health consultant who helped me really uncover the deeper layers, the deeper factors at play in my gut issues. And she helped to reframe my perspective around it. She gave me a new approach to healing that I wasn't trying before. And I needed her guidance, I needed her expertise and knowledge to help me implement a new approach. Because what I was doing wasn't working, and the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same things over and over and over again, yet you're not reaping the results that you really desire. But you still keep trying the same approaches, right? So a new approach needed to be implemented. And now, as a nurse practitioner working with clients who are dealing with bloat, IBS, and other gut troubles, I help them to implement the new approaches that are essential for them to experience true healing, true relief. And gosh, it is incredible what happens when you have the right guidance, and also when you allow those walls to come down in the fact that you are struggling with these gut issues. That is the first step, is to release this expectation on yourself that you need to be perfect. And also uncovering, too, and being honest with yourself of where is this coming from? Where is this desire to be perfect, or this desire to feel like a failure for dealing with these gut issues? Where is this really coming from? Where is this rooted in? Just to bring more awareness to it, not to stay stuck in it, or not to stay stuck in the past by any means. Just more so bringing more awareness around this. And then from there, you can pinpoint and hone in on the areas that need to be shifted a bit, some reframing that needs to happen as well. And I want you to know that this challenge that you are in right now, there is ultimately a gift in it. And when I was in the thick of it, I would have thought, Rachel, you are crazy. Why is there anything good that can come from dealing with these awful gut issues? Yet, these gut issues led me on a path that changed my life in incredible ways that had I not been dealing with these gut issues, I wouldn't have experienced the breakthrough. As a result, if you resonate with this, if this encourages you, I would love if you could rate and review my podcast, and also share it with a friend, a loved one who can also benefit from this. Let's break the stigma surrounding gut issues. Let's overcome them together. Gut issues, let's overcome them together. I cannot wait to be on this journey with you, continue to unpack this even further, and help you achieve freedom, true freedom from bloat, IBS, and other gut troubles. This is possible for you, and you absolutely deserve this freedom.