GraceFilled Community

Nurturing Mental Health: A Holistic Approach

• Nicole Cater • Season 1 • Episode 19

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Tracy Spiaggia delivers a holistic perspective on mental health that integrates physical wellbeing, family dynamics, and spiritual faith. She challenges conventional approaches to mental health by examining the physiological root causes behind emotional struggles rather than simply medicating symptoms.

• Mental health symptoms often stem from physical imbalances like nutrient deficiencies, gut dysbiosis, or toxicity
• Modern culture has devalued the vital role of mothers in the home, creating unsustainable expectations
• Understanding marriage as a reflection of the Trinity helps establish healthy family dynamics
• Chronic stress creates hormonal imbalances that lead to physical deterioration and mental health issues
• Women must balance self-sacrifice with proper self-care to maintain health and wellbeing
• God designed different seasons of life that allow for both career and family, but not always simultaneously
• Faith provides a framework for finding peace during difficult seasons rather than avoiding discomfort

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Speaker 1:

My name is Nicole Cater, your host, founder and servant leader of Gracefield Community. I want to thank you for tuning in to Gracefield Community Podcast. This is a safe space, a place in which we just share stories of how God has touched individuals' lives all across the world and how they are now impacting the kingdom of God. Thank you for tuning in. Blessings to you. Hello Gracefield community listeners. As always, I'm excited for another impactful episode coming your way. Today we have a very special guest. I believe that this recording you are going to find to be impactful on your mental health, on your physical health and, as always, emotional and spiritual. But this guest today definitely is going to explain to us some details of how our physical body plays a role, even with our mental health. And, of course, we know it all connects, and so I want to thank you for joining us today and listening, in viewing in. Welcome to Graceville community. Help me give a very warm welcome to Tracy. Hello Tracy.

Speaker 2:

Hi Nicole, Thank you so much for having me today.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. It is my pleasure because I'm excited to learn and receive my very own self today. So please tell us a little bit about yourself. Please let our audience know why they should even be tuning into all the wisdom that you're going to impart our way.

Speaker 2:

Well, fantastic, my name's Tracy. Tracy Spiaggia. My last name's a little tricky, so if you're wondering how to say it, that's how to say it. I am a mental health practitioner. I am in this space in a pretty unique way. I still find myself struggling to find colleagues doing approaching mental health the same way that I do most, most especially from a faith centered perspective, but but coming at the this crisis that we find ourselves in right now, from the perspective of not just the body but the holistic living of each of each person and each person trying to find that sense of balance in their mind, in their mood, in their relationships, in their work and all other aspects of life. So, of course, like the traditional, like almost a knee jerk approach, if somebody begins to struggle is, of course, to go seek professional therapy and perhaps have some medication intervention. Those things are fantastic and we're so grateful for those inroads.

Speaker 2:

But what is so overlooked, not only in mainstream medicine but in my opinion, sadly from the pulpit, so to speak, is the prioritization of the body that oftentimes people have profound struggles with what it's a very large umbrella term to just say mental health. It means so many things but we're not really guided and led by, you know, the leadership within the church and within the medical community, that stewardship of the body is a critical component of how the brain itself shows up. There's something in my space which is functional medicine. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that terminology, but in functional medicine there's this idea of false moods and somebody can present, let's say, for example, false moods, and somebody can present, let's say, for example, somebody struggling with severe anxiety, which I mean who can't relate to that. But but that main, that mainstream kind of conventional approach somebody may be opening up about circumstances in their life, perhaps in present day or perhaps in their past, and they'll kind of use talk therapy to navigate that tricky terrain. And then medication is typically prescribed, and the vast majority of medications for mental health are prescribed from just general practitioners or practitioners without that specific training, unfortunately so.

Speaker 2:

But but what happens if that anxiety is a presentation of a mineral imbalance in the body, of something called gut dysbiosis, where there is, you know, profound disease within the gastrointestinal tract, or if they're a person suffers from heavy metal toxicity, or mold toxicity, or parasite infection, or nutrient deficiencies, chronic dehydration? There's so many physiological drivers for anxiety that aren't really appreciated and examined. And so when we medicate to try to get the uncomfortability of anxiety let's call it physical tension, racing heart, perhaps even panic attacks when we try to medicate that away, we never really get the opportunity to uncover what's pushing that, what's driving all of those symptoms. And I find that to be quite tragic that, you know, we never really get. I feel like, as practitioners collectively, we shouldn't be. I feel like, as practitioners collectively, we should. We shouldn't be afraid of coming alongside somebody in a season of suffering and say how about we just sit with it for a bit? How about we just kind of sit with this for a bit, get curious around it and appreciate and make sure every person understands part of being human is being uncomfortable in many different ways. It's, it's just, you know, pressing into the Lord, asking for the Holy spirit to guide that journey of relief. But being okay saying some days are good and some days aren't so great. Just like the weather, Some days it's so beautiful and sunny and some days it's really stormy, some days it's just overcast and cloudy. It doesn't have to be sunny every day for us to rejoice in being alive, you know.

Speaker 2:

So for me as a functional practitioner, that's more the approach I take. It's definitely holistic. So we we look at all of those potential physiological drivers. We look at familial relationships as something that I have a lot of training in, specifically in attachment theory, and just trying to explore. Are you feeling depressed? Are you feeling anxious? Is there a lack of attention because of just trying to avoid? We tend to kind of avoid those harder things, so maybe attention can't sit on something for terribly long, maybe a lot of that is actually within the realm of normal. So, helping people kind of expect relational strife and then the therapeutic approach then is to kind of equip you to navigate that well, to express grace. If the Lord has called us to be forgivers and he's called us to be grace-filled like your, like your show, we have to then, of course, be presented with opportunities to become those things, to express those things and give those things away. Right, the context is like yes, all strife, right? Yes, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

I mean, the very first thing that came to mind, and probably because this is really fresh, my husband and I just taught a class yesterday that was conflict resolution and how to rebuild trust, right, talking about the rupture and the repair.

Speaker 1:

And one of the scriptures that was kind of the foundational point was Romans 5, 3 through 4. And it's not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that the suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character and character, hope. And we like to call it like our math formula of our household, right, but that is the reality is that I think in our day and age, and especially, like you said, in the church, it's so much of the message of, yay, everything's going to be great, or, you know, come to Jesus and live a great life and, yes, absolutely, live that abundant life. It does not remove us from the suffering. It says that we will suffer with Christ, right, and it does. It produces that character, produces that hope, while we persevere through it. And so I like how you acknowledge not running from it but sitting in it, right, there's a reason why we have lamentations, right?

Speaker 1:

Sometimes we need to lament and sit in it so that we can have that perseverance, we can develop that character and sit in that hope. Because there's a reality that once you come out of something, then it encourage you. When the next thing, when that thing comes back along, you're like, oh, I've overcame this before.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, absolutely yeah.

Speaker 1:

I love the work that you're doing, especially combining, of course, the faith aspect, the spiritual practices I'm huge and graceful community about. We're physically emotional, spiritual, physical, emotional, spiritual and mental right, like. Those are all the components that we have to be mindful and care for because they all work together. One of the things that I really am excited to dive into because I, as a mother, a homeschooling mom of three teenagers, a wife, I know the weight that it carries, often mentally and emotionally and on our physical body, and I was just watching a podcast which, yes, I'm sharing with you listeners. I am definitely in that perimenopause stage. Like my family is like can you not have the temperature at 60 degrees in the house? And I'm like it's still hot, okay, so I want to have a discussion about what it looks like for the role of moms. Will we consider our mental health and our physical health? And, yes, I'm curious and excited to hear your thoughts.

Speaker 2:

Oh, they are so many. And you really just kind of tapped the geyser because, like mom's role, I got to tell you that, nicole, this has been for as long as I can remember. Even as a young teenager, I can remember being so enthralled with the idea of family and the very unique position and power of mom. You know, like every other person in the world, I had my fair share of dysfunction in the home and I had my fair share of function. So, and I'm grateful for all of it, I just can always remember, I can't remember a time where I didn't look at the mom as the solution to so many of the societal ills we suffer today.

Speaker 2:

And this kind of it really reminds me so much of the temptation in the garden, where it was Eve who was tempted away and then Adam not stepping into leadership and trying getting in between her falling prey to the tempter, right, because's his, his role is to protect and to shield, but he was more passive and she was more aggressive and she fell for um, the lie that god alone is not enough, right? Yes, I feel like we are falling for the same lie over human history. Now you know that that's, that's likely, the way god will carry out the narrative of the human experience and to populate his kingdom with the expression of free will that, yes, I choose you, lord. I understand all of that. There's much still to learn and to glean from scripture. So when we take that account of the original fall, that original sin, we can then, if we, if we can be courageous enough, we go in and figure out how am I also falling prey? And I feel like one of the more broad stroke ways we, as as women, have fallen for a similar lie is believing our values found outside the home. And I mean you and I both have to come to terms and agree. We both love work and love the idea of a career. We love impact, we love that right.

Speaker 2:

The lie that we fell for is not that we should go and pursue those beautiful things. The lie I believe we fell for is that we can have it at the same time. That's, I think, the lie that we fell for. That's, I think, the lie that we fell for. These are like God puts passions and gift sets and dreams in our heart, because we're made in his image. So we must be creators, we must be designers, we must be filled to overflow with passion to run out into the world and just make it a better place to be. If we're made in his image, right, but God being outside of time, of course, because he's the creator of time, he can do all things simultaneous, but we are his created thing and we can do all things well simultaneously. Now, you know we can, but we're not going to get that. That best outcome that I know, in our hearts, we really desire come. That I know in our hearts we really desire.

Speaker 2:

So I'm feeling like there's this movement that's kind of like you can almost start to hear the grassroots starting to shake of moms. It's actually okay, it's more than okay. It's how you were designed and made is to be in this marriage, and I understand, nicole, that this is not the reality for many, many people I'd say probably the majority, given the divorce statistics and what have you. We have to think about how we play into that too, though, but the design is, you know, the husband. When you look at his energy cycle, he's more in line with the sun. He gets up and gets a burst of cortisol, testosterone to go out and tackle where females were more energetically aligned with the rhythms of the moon, and so we have spread out long suffering type of energy. We have the ability to kind of be this Medusa where we are multitaskers to the nth degree.

Speaker 2:

If you really look at a woman in her sweet spot, especially a woman who's yielded to the Holy Spirit, that's where we really shine is. I can totally, but I also need sleep. I need to be nurtured too. I can't only be a vessel pouring out. My husband needs to help and pour in. Give me opportunities to do and be placed, do things and be places. That fills the cup back up, but it's really the priority is God. Husband is directly underneath, being informed as the Christ, and then wife not in, not in status, just in order, just the way the design works.

Speaker 2:

If she listen. It's hard to yield and listen to what you and I are in agreement. If you're married to somebody yoked, with somebody who isn't taking his rightful place as that, that person who would give their life for you, so every yes and no he utters is in your best interest and the best interest of you and his children. That's not. You're married to my, my heart does break because it's hard to then carry out what you and I are having a conversation around right now. Holy spirit is capable of anything, though, and we can't forget about second Peter's verse that women like, it'll be your lives, that your husbands will be one over the way that you will live, not your words and not your nagging.

Speaker 2:

It's the way that you will live that will win them over. But getting back to your original question, I feel like a good chunk of this mental health crisis is just this abandonment of the home in general. Not blaming women, but I am holding people accountable to saying part of following Christ is picking up the cross onto which we sacrifice and we crucify the desires of the flesh.

Speaker 2:

And if my flesh wants to pull me out of the God-ordained role of nurturer and homemaker into the workplace at the same time. My children desperately need shaping and molding and relational safety and nurturing. There's a natural consequence to that, you know. I remember I know it was Paul who said, like everything's permissible but not everything is good for you. Like you know, we can, we're free will creatures, we can do pretty much anything, but it's not without its natural consequences. And those natural consequences, I believe, are what grieve God's heart the most. He made us, he knows exactly how we're supposed to live and when we constantly, through our free will, step outside the design and feel that the stove is hot, even being warned that it's hot, I think it grieves his heart. Every time, you know, individually and collectively, we experienced that natural consequence of diverting from. I made you guys. I know exactly how you're supposed to live and do this life, but you keep kind of like rebelling against. You know, against that I will.

Speaker 2:

And I will admit to you, nicole, like when I was very young, you know, like, let's say, like mid teens to like mid twenties, I couldn't wait for my career. I wasn't the kind of young girl who sat home like dreaming about being a mom and pushing my food shopping cart with like. That wasn't necessarily my dream. My dream was, like, my career, and so the intention was to go to college and to go to law school and be a family attorney. It was always about family for me.

Speaker 2:

But you know, god, in his, in his infinite wisdom, he knew the only way to turn me around from that self-destructive path was to give me a child that I wasn't expecting. So we were, you know, married for a couple of years and my husband was going. I was supporting us both as he was going through chiropractic school and right towards the end we discovered, 11 weeks in, that I was having a baby and I'm like, what are you talking about? That was truly the only thing that would have would have been strong, the immediate love you feel, this idle wave, this tsunami of of like, and I wasn't even all that maternal growing up, but the second you learn there's life in there. I mean everything in a nanosecond changed for me, yes, did a 180 degree pivot. I marched right back into home and said this is where I squat for the next 25 years or so, like this and I mean it was a.

Speaker 2:

it was a little hard letting go of that. It was a lot hard letting go of that professional dream. But here I am. Our, our kids range in age from 24 to 18. Here I am, not only doing it, and doing it without any regret as far as like, oh, I shouldn't, I can't go back and reclaim those years Like I was. I was on man. I gave those kids and that home and my family, everything I had, right.

Speaker 2:

But now, now that the role launched and doing their thing and I'm doing this beautiful career that's so filled with meaning and purpose doing their thing, and I'm doing this beautiful career that's so filled with meaning and purpose I can see his masterful plan. It's just, oh, it's just masterful. So you know, my plea is to inspire mothers to really not bypass this unbelievable anointing on your life, which is to first get yourself in a place of stewardship where you're, you know you're surrendered to the Lord. You, you will give anything and everything for your family, and not to the degree of complete self-deprivation. That's not what this is about. It's about balance and harmony and all of that. But I promise you, if you're a career oriented woman, believe me when I tell you when they launch, you will be so grateful to have something meaningful to pour yourself into, because the kids are gone Like if.

Speaker 2:

I didn't have this career where I knew I was really helping people and families. I don't know I might be sitting in a corner rocking in the fetal position because they're all gone.

Speaker 1:

So I just feel like God's order is just and right, just perfect. I tend to think about just the reality of seasons, right, Like if we look at God's creation, he created seasons. And I know often individuals will refer to the Proverbs 31 woman and they're like she did it all, but it didn't say she did it all at once. Right, and so very much like into your point. I think about even in my, my own world, right, I have individuals and women that I mentor that say like, oh, okay, well, how do you do it? Or I want to do this. And I'm like wait, there was a season when I had three kids and diapers. There was a reality that my Bible probably was not open, sometimes even once a day. Right, I was professional feeder and diaper changer. But that nurturing aspect is so important, even in that infancy stage, right, Like the first zero to five years is crucial, yes, and then it continued.

Speaker 1:

I remember the time that I was in a corporate career and never had intentions of homeschooling, but got to this point where we had to decide like, okay, the kids are at crucial stages. Now it's first grade and second grade and unfortunately, the world is telling them some things that we're not in alignment with. So do I choose the career or do we sacrifice and, yes, maybe have to live a more moderate life so that we can make sure that we're doing the needful thing of a partner? And I remember I fought it. I fought it like Lord. This is not what I thought I was going to be doing. I mean, I truly didn't think I was going to have these twins and have three kids all in the same kind of age bracket. But here we are, where we had to adjust.

Speaker 1:

And I remember even and y'all, I'm just being honest with you when the time had came and my husband said you know, the Lord told me we need a homeschool. And I remember looking at him like you homeschool, like what do you mean? But now I sit and I'm like I'm so thankful. Some of my greatest days yes, Were they challenging, but they were so rewarding and still are. I mean, I'm not out of it, Right, First of all, you're never out of it as a parent, but I'm not out of it in the sense that I have a 60 year old, I have twins that are 14, but there's a different level, right, we're at a different season. I tell people like they don't necessarily. I'm not making your meals every day.

Speaker 1:

I'm not doing these things but you're definitely coming in at 10, 30 at night, like hey, can we talk, right when I want to go to sleep? But there's this emotional need and so I likened to your point. There's seasons, and God created seasons, and we need to pay attention to the season that we're in. Even in this season, with three teens, I'm like I can't go running hard outside of the home. That's why I do a business that's inside the home, right, so that I'm still ever present Five years from now. That might be, you know, hey, we could run a little harder outside and do more traveling, engagements and so forth. And so I think, paying attention to just like we do we don't go outside without a jacket when we know it's not the season for it we need to pay attention to the season that we're sitting in and recognize am I using the tools? Am I using the things that God gave me for this season? Absolutely, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

And I think that is a message that's that's sorely missing from the narrative as we raise our, our young families, especially, you know, just just within the context of this conversation, our young girls, to say it's awesome to have these amazing aspirations. I mean, god gave you intellect, he gave you talent, he gave you drive. It's amazing. But you know, when Satan, satan is the great mimicker, so he will come alongside with a, with a, with something that sounds true, like it's never a full on lie, because we can kind of call that out real quick. But he comes with these doubt filled questions Like did God really say that? You know, say that.

Speaker 2:

And I think that this is part of not forsaking the gathering, because if you're in a community of really safe women of God, you can share where your head's going and, without shame or judgment or none of that, you can be sharpened. I think that's also grossly missing. I know it was. It was okay when I was raising the kids, but I definitely needed more. But again it's everybody is at the waterline, right at the nose, like everybody's just trying to survive, and I think that that's the tragedy of the standard American way of life, is we're in a, we're in a hurry and we don't even know why we're all like in such a hurry and we don't even know why.

Speaker 2:

We just feel and I know that that Satan's energy shoves from behind and God's love pulls us from the front. So we all feel so shoved. We know the enemy's all up in our lives, all of us, the sabotage, and he knows he can't win the war once you're sealed for the kingdom. So let me just win the day. Let me just win this little skirmish of the day. Make you short and and, um, you know, miss a tune to your children. Let me, uh, completely sap your libido. So your husband, you know, never really feels that intimate connection with you and feels abandoned by you and children are prioritized over him. Now the marriage begins to thin and fracture and there's just so many subtle but yet obvious this side of it ways that he comes in with these kind of micro attempts. It's like taking a house well-built but just every day doing something to compromise the integrity of the foundation, coming in every day with like an anvil, like boom one little bang or boom one big bang, and before you know it, the whole house is starting to shake and give way. And that's why addressing mental health from using mom, as I look at this, is. I don't know if this is scripturally accurate and I've never heard anybody else say it, but I'm going to say it. Maybe you can correct me, nicole. But this is. I don't know if this is scripturally accurate and I've never heard anybody else say it, but I'm going to say it. Maybe you can correct me, nicole. But this is.

Speaker 2:

I feel like God gave this to me many, many years ago. So again, I said earlier like God is over everything, everything right. And then inside the home, the husband is the representation of Christ, the one who represents God perfectly and who will give his very life for you as his. And then what does that leave us? That leaves us as Holy Spirit representatives in the home. The Holy Spirit hovers over. The Holy Spirit makes order out of chaos. The Holy Spirit is long suffering and filled with nurturing and compassion. And that is female. That is like that. I mean it makes my own hair stand up, like you can see the triune God in every marriage and home if you look.

Speaker 2:

And so what we've tried to do is usurp and try to be the Christ head too. So we have double headed serpent, of sorts. Instead, it's like no, if we all just take our position. I mean the truth is, you know, happy wife, happy life is a is a credo, because it's true. So the truth is, you will not be forsaken, you will not be overlooking, you are subservient, you are not less than it's kind of like if you're, if you have an assembly line and there's different tasks that happen at each part of the assembly line, but then the final final product is, let's say, a glorious, healthy family.

Speaker 2:

Is there a? Is there a reason why one station location is more priority, like anybody missing from that assembly line, the end product is not making it there. So why is one role, you know, lauded and the other one, who's like, has, like almost a shame about it? That's where I think family started to really disintegrate. At least modern family just started to disintegrate when women were pulled from the home after war and you know like during the wartime, and the men are all fighting and and we felt this surge of like oh my gosh, this must feel. This is like amazing, I don't have to be home doing the diaper. I think that's where Satan really started doing his dirty work, dismantling the honor that used to come with being a homemaker.

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Speaker 1:

You know okay. So I'm going to say it's so uniquely in our home we have what we call table talks, right, and so we literally have these little conversation points, keep them on stands and when we sit at the table we make sure we sit at the table and it's like at minimum once a week, like let's come together and we pull out a table talk and one of our table talks that we kind of go through what occurred from the week and I will give credit to. There's a company called Settle Co. It is led by dear friends, jason and Elizabeth Settle, and this is something that they taught me during one of a Kairos freedom ministry training.

Speaker 1:

And so we sit and we ask them in what ways did dad represent God, the Father, to you this week? In what ways did you miss it? And then we ask what ways the mom represent Holy spirit to you? What ways did we miss it? And then, as siblings, what ways did you guys represent Christ to each other, where? What ways did you miss it?

Speaker 1:

And so there's a reality that the word um help her, right, help her comes from the Hebrew word excerpter, right, and ether is the same word that's used for Holy Spirit. It's the same word used for the suitable helpmate, that he was called the helper right. And so, in very much like him, I I do tell women that I meet with I'm like, hey, look at the traits of the Holy Spirit, because that is our role in our home, our role to gird and guide right With our sensitivity. We are more emotional beings and there's a reason for that. The man is very typically logistically driven right and when we come in with that sensitive, when we come in that compassion side, I often think about, there's a reason why the original design and when we do it God's way was to have father and mother in the home, because there's a perfect balance that creates this peace and there truly is a form of peace and rest that comes when you're just like I'm the wife and I value my role.

Speaker 1:

I love what I get to do. But there's a piece that comes from me not having to try and strive to take on a role that was never intended for me to carry, and that's where we get into carrying a burden that was never ours to carry, and even though we tend to try and cast it up, it's like I didn't give that to you anyway.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, exactly to you anyway. Yeah, exactly. You are the first person to affirm what God whispered just to me personally about the women being that Holy Spirit represent. I knew I actually didn't do what, you just kind of triangulated it for me Holy Spirit, edzer, and then same word as suitable helper, there's. So now we have perfection, now we have, I mean. So now I mean I think that's that is amazing, that God will whisper a truth. I hear I've never heard anybody articulate it kind of the way that you just did, and now I know that that's him. Him literally speaking to me and giving me his truth without it having to be downloaded from a person per se.

Speaker 1:

Yes, absolutely, and I tell people all the time cause we can get into, like you know, church schematics of like.

Speaker 1:

Well, the Holy spirit is in a sheet. I absolutely agree. The Bible is very clear. It says he. I am not saying like the Holy Spirit was a few. What I'm saying is the traits, right, even us. We are image bearers. Scripture said that he created us out of his image to be like, right, like it. So just because God, the father, which clearly would take on a male component, and he created me in his image, I'm still his image bearer as a female. So I want to clarify for anyone listening. Like I am not saying you know, holy Spirit is female. What I'm saying is that the traits and the way the Trinity was designed was the example of how the family is supposed to be Exactly.

Speaker 2:

I couldn't agree more. I mean, you make me even think about as you say that and you know, just trying to be careful as as we put this, this type of messaging into the world, that were accurate. But but are any of your children's sons Did you?

Speaker 1:

did you say your son yes, so my oldest, I have a 60 year old son, and then the twins are boy, girl, oh wow.

Speaker 2:

So, oh, interesting. So boy, girl, twins. So do you see any of your husband in your daughter? Do you see any of yourself into your son?

Speaker 2:

So the gender is, is just this material aspect. We know that there's no marriage in heaven. We know that that part of the experience in this body, in the and in this life will cease to be because there's something even way better waiting for us. It's just, we are very finite and limited in the ways that we can articulate things and describe and understand things. My ways are higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts. So we, just we, we have to understand. We are limited.

Speaker 2:

We're doing the best we can to describe this indescribable God in language that lands on a human being with its limitations. Yes, of course the gender is like that's kind of to me, like something fairly small to get stuck on it's. You know we can't put god in a gender box either, like I know that we have jesus, a male rep, but the male representation is male is the head. Of course he came down in a male body, male, male is the head. But I mean, this is what you know, modern, cultural. Now, oh, actually, I think spanning the human experience is that women were marginalized and so it's like the gender itself. We're trying to fight our way back. If you could just collapse in to God himself and say I know that you know every hair on my head you know every thought that I have.

Speaker 2:

You know, when you have your baby and your nurse and your baby feeding your baby, you study every nook and cranny, every hair follicle, fingerprint, lip shape. I mean. How much more so does he study us as the one who knit us together. So how can we feel overlooked? You're going to find your, your, your, even like level ground. When you get into his word, you will find that you matter. He, he.

Speaker 2:

He brought his perfect son here through a female. He. He gave a female, the, the immense privilege of being the first to see jesus reincarnated like resurrected. He's the. She was the first one see Jesus reincarnate like resurrected. He's the. She was the first one, the most unlikely of accounts coming from a woman. Like you know, we have so many examples in scripture of where God lifts high the woman. So I don't know, I just feel like let's not get caught up on human thinking as far as like we've got to be even and we've got to be. I just I don't know. Know, I think we lose a lot in this, like when we squander our mental energy going there. Yes, but absolutely we've kind of taken this to a real spiritual place, but um, I'm like, welcome to gracefield community.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yes, so, and actually you know, as you were like, yeah, we've taken it to a real spiritual aspect, but I want to navigate how that affects our body. Right, because when we feel the need to strive for more, or when we can't sit with the peace of the season that we're in, right, like, our faith plays a role on our work. Our faith plays a role on our even our physical health. I mean, studies have shown that when people have a form of faith and hope that they're sitting in, they respond differently even to the what would we call it I don't, you probably can help me with the term, but the medicine culture. Right, that the response is different when there's a faith backing behind it. And so when I think about what you're talking about.

Speaker 2:

I believe the placebo effect. Yes, Thank you.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and so when I think about like our bodies and I recently was listening to a podcast and she was talking about, she was an orthopedic surgeon and she acknowledged that she finds that in women they hip replacements when they break a hip, or hip replacement often can be detrimental and the reason being is because for so long they were focused on an hyper extensive form of taking care of everyone else that they put their physical on the back burner again, trying to be all for everyone.

Speaker 1:

Put their own physical on a back burner and the thing that you don't see kind of deteriorating is like what's happening inside. Right, so we can see outside and be like, oh, I, you know, even like I'd want to lose weight, but the interior thing of that bone structure, like the calcium in there, those things will be deteriorating and you get to this point where, over time, you just you know she said the term that she heard here as often as I don't know how I got here I used to not feel this way, yeah, yeah, and so that really stood out to me because, again, I sit in so many spaces with women who are trying to be all do, all for all spaces, and then their, their own health components physical bodies we talk about, and mental health are placed on the back burner. What would you kind of like say into that, or do you see that? Is that something that you also?

Speaker 2:

would. It's incredibly ubiquitous and again, it's this, it's it's a disordered way to carry out your life's calling it's so something like just the example that you gave. That makes sense to me, because this is just one of many explanations and there are many how. Let's just, let's say, like a hip replacement in a female, probably around my age or maybe a little later One of the main contributors to that type of bone loss there's many, but one one sticks out in my mind is chronic high states of cortisol, which is a catabolic hormone.

Speaker 2:

Mind is chronic high states of cortisol, which is a catabolic hormone. So if you have cortisol from chronic, unrelenting stress over years and decades, even the body, it breaks the body down. That's its job, like that's well, that's the side effect of. It's supposed to be short burst hormone for for true emergency use only like break glass in case of emergency type of emergency use. Only like break glass in case of emergency type of. Um, you know, we've got these in a in a healthy rhythm. We've got a spike in cortisol upon wakening and then it's. It should take like a very smooth, slow dip into the evening where then it's at its lowest point so we can sleep and rest and repair, but many women have fitful sleeps. We've got disrupted sleep. Children need us 24-7, 365. I don't know about in your home, but my husband wasn't woken up one time for stuff.

Speaker 2:

Or I have to throw up or never. It was a and listen, I'm not saying that to knock it wasn't the healthiest of distribution. I will say in hindsight we did the best we could with what we knew at the time. If I were to be a new mother now, there would be a little more balance than that, but I would want to continue to do the lion's share because that's who I am and that's what I want to do.

Speaker 2:

But but you think about as soon as you become pregnant, I don't know that you're ever going to sleep again, like I really just don't know. Like, now that my children are launched, don't think sleep comes. The stakes are so high when they're no longer home. Yes, forget about it. And so you think, even that chronic, even the loss, even loss of sleep one night raises blood sugar levels exponentially, which because of cortisol. Cortisol draws glucose out of the muscle and into the bloodstream for use. There's no lion chasing me. My body believes that there is because of either ruminating fear, thoughts or sleeplessness. Whatever's causing a stress response is causing my blood sugar levels to spike, despite not having one bit of food in my mouth, right? So if that's what we're bathing in, along with a million other potential contributors, but that's just one that came to my mind is this chronic state of disordered living because we're so self-sacrificial and giving that our bodies do degrade.

Speaker 2:

We are by far the largest percentage of sufferers of autoimmune disease. Autoimmune is self attacking self because the immune system becomes so disordered it can't differentiate from an external threat to an internal threat. I actually suffered through something myself with that pertaining to gluten to, like you know, figured that out and it's been profound for me taking that out of my life. But the body begins to attack self because that immune system is so overworked and so overwhelmed it mistakes bodily tissue for proteins that are threatening. So we are the ones who suffer. I think 80 some percent of autoimmune sufferers are female because we give ourselves away. We literally like, literally fillet open and give. But I mean that's beautiful as long as it's balanced.

Speaker 2:

I have this like little black scale here that I use with clients in session with a buck, like a little jar of stones and putting on one side. Give me all the stressors in your life, anything that comes to your mind, and then I want to see what are the? Where are those stressors being mitigated? How do you fill yourself? How do you restore and replenish? And inevitably that scale is always like this because, as women were so, others focused uh, we, we, we pay tremendous price.

Speaker 2:

So you know that example that you gave from the podcast, that doctor, um, yeah, yeah, we do suffer, but one of my many roles is to highlight for these women whether she's the one suffering with a mental health challenge or one of her children once in a while. Can you help me help my husband Once in a blue moon, but it's usually mom, or because dads, men, don't tend to vocalize. That's why I believe they die In general, they die earlier than we do, because at least we do what we're doing right now. We kind of choose. This is the woman staying home in community, all the kids, all of the mothers talking, right. So at least we give it, we give it a sound and we we articulate and express to a certain degree. We give it a sound and we we articulate and express to a certain degree.

Speaker 2:

Men just tend to kind of stuff that down and just keep barreling forward and the body had been giving warning signs that will fell on the deficit of ears and then the body's just done. So that's usually that difference between why we suffer long but. But we communicate. Men suffer acutely and never communicate, and then the body just kind of reaches its kind of max tipping point there. But but that's one of the main aspects of the education and coaching is how aware or unaware are you of your physical, mental state right now? Have you ever connected all of the many, many dots that even preceded your conception? So we do something, I do something with my clients that I call my mental map miracle, and we just create this beautiful timeline, over many months together, of all the high and low lights in life. And have you gone through and given this an opportunity to heal? Have you metabolized these harder experiences? Because if not, they're alive and well in the body and they're causing hormonal chaos, they're causing all types of disorders and diseases in your body. You've got to be. You've got to get permission from your loved ones and most especially from yourself, to take the time to examine your life up until now, look for the potholes in the road and let's figure out how to create a road that's much smoother for you in the future, by considering yourself too. You have to be part of the narrative Now.

Speaker 2:

A good husband would constantly be saying to his wife what do you need from me? What do you need from me? My husband said to me last night we finished up after dinner and he said honey, what else can I do to serve you? Like, when he says that to me, I'm like dude and the irony is usually like nothing, nothing right, that it's like so beautiful. But once in a while he will actually say those words what can I do to serve you? That's what it should look like. But so that's why it has to be a family experience. You can't just like pull your car up, kick the person out who's unwell or they're sick. No, no, no, they didn't get here by themselves. They got in the context of the family, the whole family system. So everybody, to varying degrees, needs to participate, if for nothing else, to show the sufferer your family's here for you, no matter what you're going through we will never leave nor forsake you.

Speaker 2:

You have your family and that's what, that's what makes my, my approach unique to do the functional nutrition, the functional lifestyle you know, looking at gut health and genetic expression and amino acids and nutrient levels in the cell and the integrity of the cell membrane, and you know the food you're eating or not eating, all those types of things we look at. But it's the spiritual component, it's the relational component, it's gaining more emotional mastery in your life because the emotional mastery actually gains, gives you, yields you better internal health because the hormonal cascades are healthier. You said about the placebo effect. We lean into hope, that that that generates a completely different tsunami of biochemistry than leaning into the fear of what, if that's a, those are.

Speaker 2:

This is a catabolic and this is a building up. This is a life giving type of biochemistry. This is a life tearing down and destroying type of energy. So when I set before you life and death and blessing and curse, oh, that you would choose life for you and for your descendants, it's leaning into the hope molecules. It's leaning into the trust of you know, I know I'm a partner with God, but if I listen to him, he's going to tell me what to do next, and it'll always be the right thing. If I'm just listening, you know, oh so good.

Speaker 1:

Oh my goodness, I have truly enjoyed our time. I mean, that was so good. I tend to say I'm like we do these recordings and I'm like, lord, you really love me, you speak to me through these recordings, like it. Each time, I'm like this is the thing that I'm in and this is what I needed to hear, and so I want to thank you for taking time and joining us today. For our listeners and our viewers, I do want to make sure that they understand and know how to stay connected with you, and also just a little bit about some of the services that you offer. What's the first step in even evaluating where am I at with these things?

Speaker 2:

Wonderful, nicole. I appreciate the opportunity to share that. Of course it's going to be. Just. First stop would be at the website. Pretty much everything is there and it's slingshot hc for health coachingcom. That's based off of David and Goliath. I wrote a book called from chained to changed, break mental Strongholds and Transform your Life Through Faith, and in that book people can understand how I got to the place.

Speaker 2:

I am personally and professionally, but slingshothccom and Slingshot Health Coaching on Instagram, facebook. I mean I'm somewhat of a social media person, but not really too big. I'm more of this. I just like to be where people are, not where the bots are. So you'll see a little bit on social but, but you'll find me on my website. You'll find me um, you know, if you even just Google my name. There's other um podcasts and interviews and things that you can come across.

Speaker 2:

But as far as services, any, anywhere from free um, free webinars that I offer on mental health and the physiology component of that, and all the way up to, you know, six to 12 month programs, I do group, I do group opportunities, I have one-on-ones, so all different types of like points on the road where people can meet me where they're at in terms of resources, of time and money and, frankly, the the bandwidth to do the work. So sometimes it's just the free webinars. That's all I can do is just kind of consume the teaching and that's totally fine and it's out there in in the universe for you to grow. But then there are people who say like, if I don't do something now, then when? And they're the ones who typically engage in the six plus month one-on-one programs.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, yes, Well, thank you again. I mean it's been such a joy to have you listeners. I definitely want to encourage you check out our show notes, as always. Down below we have Tracy's website. We have her social links. Just know that. You know, like she said, she's not necessarily riding our social media daily like that, and you can always go to her website. Of course, we will have that listed and it is listed down there in the show notes. There for you, Tracy. Thank you again so much for joining us today. I am excited. I'm about to go look for your book. I'm going to order it. I am signing up to get the information because, hey, again, I care about physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, and so even in just our conversation, I said this is who I need to hear from.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much, really appreciate you, you, yes.

Speaker 1:

Well, likewise, graceville community listeners, we want to thank you again for joining us for another episode. Uh, as always, if you are in need of community. During this episode, we talked about the importance of having community, having people around you that you can speak to and they can give you sound wisdom, and so if you're in need of community wherever you are, we encourage you to email grow at gracefieldcommunitycom. We, of course, have an online community there for you, but we also make sure to have partners located all amongst the global continent sorry, global world that are available for you to connect with. We were not made to do life alone and we want to help you ensure that you have community and support around you. So, email girl at gracefieldcommunitycom if you need a space and a partnership of community to connect with. Thank you again for listening and viewing. As always, have a blessed day. Thank you for tuning in to today's episode of Graceville Community Podcast. We would like to invite you to visit gracevillecommunitycom.

Speaker 1:

Graceville Community is all about doing church the way Church of Acts did, using five main principles that we see in the book of Acts. Sharing resources, as believers pooled their possessions and resources to support those in need, as we see in Acts 2.44. Through hospitality the early Christians practiced hospitality by opening their homes to others, as we see in Acts 2 and 46. By financial aid the church in Antioch sent financial aid to believers in Judea during a time of famine, as described in Acts 11 and 29. In Acts 11 and 29. Prayer and encouragement they supported each other through prayer and encouragement, as we see in Acts 4 and 24. And finally, spiritual guidance the apostles and elders provided spiritual guidance and teaching to help strengthen and build the community, as we see in Acts 15 30. I would like to encourage you. If any of those areas are areas in which you are in need or can contribute, please reach out to Graceville community. We are working together across the world with ministries and individuals unlike to help bring back the Church of Acts.

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Nicole Cater

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