Every episode, every episode, every episode of a heart.
What up, what up, what up?Welcome to today's episode of the Trent Sheldon Podcast.Listen, I want to thank you.Thank you for being here.More and more, you're right.Your dad is the best, right?I'm going to take that.But we have a special guest today.
And when I have a special guest, you always know it's somebody who is close to me, right?Somebody who I'm actually friends with.And this person is no different. She's also a fellow Baylor Bear.
She actually brought me her podcast years ago and really believed in me, so I wanted to return the favor.And actually, she's helping me with my health.Rachel Shear is with me, a true force in the wellness world.
Man, Rachel, as you're gonna hear, has been through her own battles with health.And she's come out stronger, turned her journey into a mission to help others.And what I love about Rachel is she's all about real talk.You know what I mean?
Like, when it comes to health, gut wellness, knowing your worth, and finding balance that actually lasts.So I hope you're ready. to hear from someone who's actually walked the path.Somebody who truly, truly lives it.
And as you follow her, you're gonna see that she truly lives it.And she's really about that life.Our conversation is great.We go all over the board.So let me be quiet.Let's jump into Rachel's wisdom.And thank you.Let's get it.Rachel, what up?
You just actually just tore apart my pantry.I think I got some semi-healthy stuff, but I'm glad you did that.I mean, a lot of that was my kids' stuff, but I care about my kids.So thank you for bringing some reality to me.
We have to dive into what your diet looks like.
My diet, we can for sure.Like my diet is just basically I fast.I try to stay with, you know, clean meats, you know, steaks, chickens and veggies and some salads and stuff like that.
My problem is I probably don't get enough protein and enough calories in.That's like the main thing. And it's one, for every pound, it's one gram, right?
Ideally, one gram per pound of ideal body weight.But after the age of 30, you lose about 3% to 8% of your skeletal muscle mass per year.So supporting skeletal muscle is literally the most important thing when it comes to optimal health.
Gut health, I know we'll dive in today, but muscle mass as well, which has so much more to do than just, you know, being a bodybuilder, looking good naked, having big muscles, right?Locomotion, it has everything to do with
keeping inflammation low in the body, blood sugar balance, right?When you're sick, it fuels your body during times of illness.
My good friend, Dr. Gabrielein, she focuses on muscle-centric medicine and her even focus dives into it's not the fact that we're over fat, but we're under muscled because of the muscle really plays.
in our overall health, and we look at type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, all of these health issues that now have evolved today.
Yeah, we can look at the overconsumption of food, processed food, sugar, all of this, but we're also missing the root cause, which is a lot of what my business focuses on, and a lot of these people are under-muscled, and that can come back to not getting enough high-quality animal protein to support skeletal muscle resistance training.
Yeah. You know what about resistance training?People think I do a lot of resistance, and I do, but people think I like lift super heavy.
Yeah, and I just, I think with me, with lifting, we'll get, this is totally random, but I do want to talk about this, but like, I love running.I love running.I love trail running just for my mental, but I love doing Pilates.
I love a lot of body weight stuff, but just, I think it's like, I lifted heavy my whole entire life, and I got to the point where it was like, I don't want to lift, and I lift resistance, but I just, I'm not the guy you probably think,
Oh, he's benching like 300 some pounds.I just focus on a lot of strength stuff.You live heavy.
I don't live as heavy as I used to.Yeah.I used to definitely have some ego involved in it because I competed in bodybuilding for three years consecutively.
Not like the big bodybuilder stuff, but bikini fitness, like Victoria's Secret model type stuff, which actually led to a lot of my health issues down the road.So, you know, we talk about aesthetics doesn't always necessarily mean overall health.
But that was really my core focus.It was just lifting as heavy as possible.And now I can no longer train that way anymore.But I used to squat like 225.Literally full 10 reps, 225.For those who think I'm lying.
And I'm 5'5 and was weighing 115 at the pound at the time when I was doing that.But now my low back loves me so much for it.I was stupid for sure when I was training like that.
resistance training, weightlifting is still a huge part of my routine, but now I incorporate other things.Like I love yoga, I love running as well too.
I love yoga too.That's my favorite.
Yeah, I used to be that person who was like, no cardio.I had like the slang, like cardio no. Because it was going to eat up all of my muscle and I was so hyper-focused on muscle, but I love it.It's like an act of meditation for me.I love sweating.
And so I get it when you're like, you love all of these things that just, it's a boost of endorphins you feel after, which sometimes you don't get quite the same from just heavy lifting.
Yeah, I like the hybrid style.I want to jump into this because I have a lot to ask you and pick your brain on because I'm very interested.I feel like I'm going to get 10 times smarter today with Rachel here.
But the question, well, you made a statement on your, I believe it was your Instagram, or maybe you're on the stage. And it really struck me, I actually wrote it down on my wall, and it struck with me because I think it's so important.
And you said, excellence over perfection.And when you said that, I'm just curious to dive into that, have a conversation, like, what do you mean by that?Because some people might say, well, excellence is perfection.
They might think it's the same, but I think you have a different perspective towards that.
Yeah.And this comes from my history.I'm a recovering perfectionist, type A achiever, hyperachiever, right?I have multiple businesses that I've created.But you're right.
Perfectionism at the core is very, very different than excellence, and that's something that I had to get very clear on.And diving into what is the root of all of these things and everything, right?We could say good or bad.
peel it back into what is really the intention and the place that we're operating from, that really reveals if it's something that is serving us or not serving us.
So when I operated from a place of perfectionism, it was actually stemming from a place of unworthiness.
And if we dive into that, right, a perfectionist mindset says, if I achieve the perfect body, if I reach a certain level of success, whatever your definition of perfection is, and for most perfectionists, it's a never-ending hamster wheel, right?
It's unattainable in so many ways.So if you're If you're measuring up to this standard that you have for yourself, then you can be happy, then you are satisfied.But excellence is very different from that, right?
Excellence operates from the mindset of, I'm going to give my best in everything that I do.It's not operating from a place of, I have to achieve X, Y, and Z, the perfect body, this amount of money, this type of success, in order to be worthy.
It's really about how you show up every single day. right, which looks different on different days.So I know for myself on, you know, weeks where my body's exhausted, maybe I haven't slept good.I'm sure you can relate to this.
You have kids and they wake you up in the middle of the night, right?A perfectionist mindset would say, well, if you don't show up the exact way that you do every single day, then you're going to be filled with shame.
In inadequacy, excellence says, all right, my best looks different today.And that's where both of these can create, right, success on the outside, right?
We see people who are hyperachievers and perfectionist mindsets, they have an incredible amount of success, but they're unhappy inside because of that deep rooted belief of,
not enough versus excellence says I am worthy and I'm gonna show up for myself every single day and give it my best no matter what that looks like on a given day because I'm worthy.
you suffer from perfection, right?And things like, I just want to dive deep on that because I know a lot of people do.I know I do.And I know you have worked to overcome that, but I'm just curious if you want to talk about it.
Like, where did that come from?Like, as far as, I got to be perfect to have value.I got to be perfect for people to like me or I'm not achieving if I'm not perfect.Because I always say, progression over perfection.
That's why I love the excellence thing, because I think it's very, very important.Even my event Legendary, when I say the word legendary, people think, oh, it's only available for certain type of people.I can never be legendary.
And legendary is just a decision to live your best life.So for you, like, what was the moment where you were like, you know what, F perfection?Or you know what, I ain't trying to be perfect no more.Was there a certain moment in your life
And you're smiling, because I'm sure it is.A certain moment in your life where you're like, all right, cool.Because I had that moment in my life where I was like, regardless, people are going to judge me.So who cares about it?
I'm just going to live my best life.
I've had many moments throughout my life, and I think every moment that I've had has brought me into a greater level of my own healing.
But I'd say the big wake-up moment for me was when, after three years of competing in bodybuilding, I started to struggle with a lot of my own health issues.
I had severe gut issues, hormonal imbalances, my thyroid completely plummeted, and that's when I started going more of this Western medicine approach.
being put on 5-plus medications, antidepressant, birth control, thyroid medication, laxatives, I could go to the restroom.I literally was in survival mode every single day, could barely get out of bed.And I'm that type of person, right?
I'm like, I'm a go-getter.Muscling my way through things has never been a problem.Discipline has never been a problem.Doing the opposite, slowing down, has always been the problem.So I was searching for answers.I went to
I don't even know how many specialists, how many endocrinologists, gastroenterologists, right?And I was just given these medications which ultimately led me to a colorectal surgeon because how severe my gut issues became.
I couldn't even use the restroom anymore.I had severe dysmotility and that was when they actually suggested the removal of my entire large intestine.
And that was not only a big wake-up call for me on the whole Western medicine approach and how, you know, when it comes to a lot of these chronic health issues, we're really just offering these band-aid solutions.Great for acute-based problems.
Incredible.Saves lives.That's not what I'm talking about.Chronic health issues, depression, anxiety. IBS, which is really just irritable bowel syndrome, autoimmune conditions, other things like fibromyalgia.
I could go on and on and on, but when it comes to these health issues, we're really just offering these Band-Aid approaches and managing them with medication. We can dive into that.
The story, though, of my wake-up call about really stepping out of my perfectionist mindset was really that moment where I was faced with, all right, am I going to get my entire large intestine removed or am I going to seek another alternative for healing?
And I gave myself a time frame.I gave myself six months of, all right, I'm going to lean into this holistic approach.I just became obsessed, literally obsessed.
I took my discipline from fitness and bodybuilding and pivoted it to be getting to the root cause of my health issues.
I became obsessed with learning about the microbiome and how these bacteria in our gut are connected with all these different systems in our body between our hormones, thyroid, adrenals, to our mental health.
I had to make some big changes with my diet, which was already relatively healthy, but it was more focused on aesthetics, looking good, right?That's what bodybuilding focuses on, not on overall health and well-being, not on my gut health.
I had to do very strict elimination diets, dwindle my diet down to quite a bit.I got into testing, looking at what was the root cause.I found out I had a ton of
bacteria imbalances in my gut, dysbiosis, something called small intestinal bacteria overgrowth that was leading to a lot of my dysmotility.And I share all of this because I thought I found the root cause, right?
An imbalanced dysfunctional microbiome.And I would do a lot of these therapies that was not offered through Western medicine to heal.
These key targeted supplement protocols, herbals to eradicate a lot of the bacteria overgrowth, healing my gut lining, cleaning up my diet, but I would relapse. And I would relapse.But I was making progress.
So for me, this was already a big shift from almost having my entire large intestine removed.But then I started to try to ask the question, why am I continuously relapsing and relapsing?
And that's where my healing journey began to evolve into a much deeper healing journey, which was diving into the relationship that I had with myself.
I want to talk about that.I want to talk about the relationship you had with yourself. I actually have this question written down about self-worth, but before we get into that, I am curious on, you talked about, you know, high achievers.
Is it type A people?Is that the correct?
Yeah, type A personalities, achievers, perfectionists.
So, you know, I'm the guy. in this personal development world that's going to tell you to rest.I'm going to tell you to protect your peace.I'm going to tell you to go hard and all these things.
And I just want your perspective on that because I think we live in a society now, I believe society is getting to this place since 2020 of like, oh, you know, mental health and like slow down a bit.I think rest, not laziness, but rest,
is one of the most important recipes to success.But when we look online at times, it's go hard, go hard, 24-7, 365, boom, boom, boom.And I understand that mindset too.I want you to touch on that because I think
you know, looking at you, and I'm probably judging, but you're a person that I know is a high achiever.It's a person that takes care of her health.It's a person that functions high in business, that's on her stuff.
To the outside eye, it would look like you are a person that finds it hard maybe to shut it down at times.And I don't know if that's true or not, but I just want you to talk about that a little bit.Like, how do you feel about that?
Do you feel like rest, you know, is important?Do you feel like, man, you're in this window of opportunity, like you gotta get what you can get? Or how do you find that balance?
Yeah.It's not black and white, right?
I think that's what so many people are looking for.Should I rest?Should I go hard, right?And it's so different on different days.And that's really the place that I had to get to.There are times to crush it, to go hard, to give it all that you got.
And there are times where we need to lean into surrender.We need to lean into rest.And it's not an all or nothing mindset. And just like excellence, right?It's going to look different on different days.
It's going to look different based off of the periods that you're at in your life.
And, you know, for me, even as I got to the root cause of a lot of my own unworthiness, which was manifesting and all of these health issues operating from a place of perfectionism, you know, that's where I really began to, um,
I began to work on healing the relationship that I had with myself, which involved giving myself a lot more grace along the way.
But you were pretty hard on yourself?
Yeah, I'd say, right, the perfectionistic mindset is you have to show up in a certain way and after for bouts and bouts of burnout that manifested, so it resolved a lot of this.And like I said, you do a level of healing, but then
oftentimes you uplevel in your life, right?So for me, first manifested in more of the physical and bodybuilding.I healed that part of myself exponentially where, you know, I released a lot of the perfectionism on the physical side.
The way I was operating in my health was different.And then I stepped into entrepreneurship, right?And I had big dreams and big visions and things that I wanted to create in my life and I would go hard.
And I, you know, for me, I have, I had at the time like a very no excuse mindset.So I created everything that I wanted.
You know, and something that I've said before is, you know, the first phase on my healing journey was actually realizing that I could create absolutely anything that I wanted.
The second phase on my healing journey was realizing just because I could, I didn't have to.
That's deep right there.That's really deep.And I'm actually taking that in.I like to let things breathe on that because That's so true, because a lot of us, we can do that.
But I always think, like, just because you can, and maybe I'm misquoting this, but just because you can create it doesn't mean that you need it.Is that kind of what you're talking about?
I think at the early stages, right, often we're operating from a place of, I want to prove this to myself, and I want to prove this to other people.Right.We're operating from a place of pain.
And that's where a lot of businesses and incredible things are created from, created from pain.
But I think there reaches the point where you realize what you're able to do, you have that sense of trust in yourself, and then it evolves into, I know that I can, but I don't need to.And I can actually slow down.
But I think, you know, for a lot of people, there is that point, just like you said, is it black or white?You know, to be able to show yourself what you're able to do is a part of a lot of people's healing journey.
And you need to buckle down and you need to get rid of a lot of your excuses and you need to go all in. And that would be the best thing that you could do and the most healing thing you could do.For somebody else, it may be the exact opposite, right?
It's okay.Like for me, you can put your blinders up, you can go head down, you can create what it is that you want.But for me to have to slow down and pull back, that was the greater challenge.
And actually a coach said to me once, usually the thing that's going to be the most healing for us and what we need to do is the opposite of what we habitually want to do.
very often, so if I automatically want to lean into pushing past where my body says, slow down, you need rest, and I'm like, go all in.
For me, the best thing is probably going to be to pull back and to rest in those moments, versus for somebody else, maybe they have a different mentality.
Maybe they've given themselves excuse after excuse time and time again, and their habitual pattern is, all right, I'm afraid.I'm going to cop out, so I'm going to pull back.
And the best thing that they can do for them is to say, all right, I'm going to do this.I'm going to take imperfect action, and I'm going to go all in, and I'm going to get rid of my excuses.And that's what I mean.It's so different for each person.
Let's go.I love that because you lived that.Recently, you just came to one of my events, and you told me, hey, Trent, I might be there tomorrow, but it depends how I feel, and I need rest.And I love that because So many people don't honor that.
You know, I talk about in a particular piece, you know, about saying yes to yourself and yes to what you need.And sometimes we feel so guilty for that because me too, like I don't want to let people down.
So I'm saying, yeah, I can be there even though my body is saying no, even though my mental health was saying no, but I keep saying yes to other people and saying no to myself.So I really respect that, that you're doing that and have that insight.
I think the people listening to this right now, they need to understand how true that is and how that can create so much momentum towards your higher self and towards your success.
And the question I want to ask you right now, Rachel, and I'm gonna give you some time to think about it, but like, what's been, because I feel this thing, I feel like you've had a breakthrough, maybe in the last year, six months, maybe the last two years, like what's been your biggest breakthrough and
The second part of that question is, how did you find it?How did you discover it?Was it something that you worked towards?Something that just came to you because maybe you silence other things in your life?
But what's been your biggest breakthrough in the last, you know, six months?
I know right away.My purpose is tied to my authenticity.
Break that down for me.What does that mean to you?
You know, I grew up as incredibly shy, right?I was that little girl in the back of the classroom who would like never speak up.
I would raise my hand, like a half hand raise, and then when the teacher would call on me, I would just kind of mumble under my voice.And so for me, you know, for a lot of my life, I purposely put myself in situations that were
were the exact opposite of what I inherently wanted to do.This is what got me into speaking, into podcasting, creating an entire business, being on camera all the time, and really leaning in so much to my fear.
But in the process, right, that perfectionistic mindset comes in of who do I need to show up as? what is gonna be most received by other people.And I think that's really the core wounds that a lot of us carry.
We put on these masks when we're just little kids, right?Because at the core, if we think about what a kid's core needs are, it is attachment, right?It is love from our parents.
And when it comes down to choosing attachment or authenticity, being ourself, we choose attachment.That's just the way that we operate from.
So just as little kids, right, if we have parents who only give us praise when we're achieving, that was very common for myself. we begin to develop these beliefs of, all right, if I'm achieving, if I'm doing X, Y, and Z, then I am worthy of love.
And we begin to put on these masks of how we believe that we need to show up in the world in order to be loved, in order to be worthy, right?
And over time, through relationships, through friendships, more of these masks develop because of us trying to just fit in.
And I think this is where, right, even so many successful people that we can look at, they can achieve so much in their life, but they're so unhappy, right?They're depressed.And you have to ask the question, why?Right?
And for me, you know, I didn't realize that I was even operating from that place because it's so inherent, right, that we show up this way.It's normal.It's human nature to want to fit in, to want to be loved.
And so for me, a lot of my healing has, it's been more of a process of unbecoming, right?There's so much self-help out there about who do I need to become?
and become the person that you envision, like your highest self and all these things, which is great when it comes to mindset and self-help.My healing journey has been very different.I've been removing mask by mask by mask.
and slowly revealing authentically who I am.And in the process, it's me affirming that my authentic self is perfect, is worthy.And when I think about my purpose, what I'm here to do, and my whole purpose revolves around healing, right?
And there's different manifestations of this.I can dive into functional medicine or gut health or the fitness side.I can dive into somatic breath work.There's so many different facets when it comes to healing, ultimately.
But I can't live out my purpose if I'm not authentically myself.It's impossible.How could your purpose ever be tied to anything other than you showing up so fully as all of you?"
And so, yeah, my healing has been a lot of this removal of the masks and bringing more of myself forward to the scene, allowing the parts that
You know, like I love Jamie, when she spoke at your event, she talks so much about unworthiness, but allowing us the imperfect parts of ourselves to be seen.
And you think about how healing that is for somebody who feels like they have to show up and be perfect.That's the core wound of our perfectionist mindset.If we were to peel that back is show up perfect, therefore I am enough and I am loved.
So when we do the opposite, we have to show up as our fully authentic self.
Oh man, I can talk to you this for like 10 hours about this, and I'm glad that you shared that in your transparency.Your vulnerability is totally admirable and respectable because we need more of this.
One of the things that I speak about on stage, I always say this, I tell people, for most of you in here, your next level is not upward, it's inward.
Because most people come in and think, oh, I need the next thing, I need the next podcast, and maybe there's some information that you do need.But for a lot of us, it's, as you said, unbecoming, getting back to the core of who we are.
Even as a parent, I've had to work on that.Like even with Tristan playing sports, you know, I had to tell him and remind him, bro, you're a love.I don't care if you drop a million passes.Now we're going to work.
So you don't, but I don't care if you score a million touchdowns, like you're loved regardless.I love you.You know, I want you to show up and give effort.Like, cause I always preach that effort, effort, effort.But even if you don't feel.
Up to par, it's okay.And you're right, as parents, luckily I had parents that, you know, gave me the grace and loved who I was.But as an athlete, you know, I struggled with that because everybody loved the performance.
Everybody loved the stat line, right?I just had a kid over here yesterday, one of my close, Tristan's close friends, he's a quarterback, and he said, he calls me Uncle Trent.
He's like, Uncle Trent, man, you know, when I had a bad game, everybody hated me at school. So I had to break it down to my say, hey, they don't hate you.They hate or love the performance.And so you got to separate that.And it's so hard in life.
And I'm glad that you shared that.And I'm just wondering, too, for you, like, was there a moment like where you said, like, F the mask?Like, I don't care no more.Like, was it a certain moment for you?
I don't have to maybe share particularly or specifically.But for me, it was even online because I realized no matter how perfect I was, my perfection is still not gonna be enough for certain people, right?No matter how low I was, right?
It's just, so I say, you know what?I wrote a spoken word, I always say this, called Pick Me Apart.It's one of my favorite ones, because I was fed up.I said, you know what?The first step to being unhappy is trying to please everyone else.
What's the point of gaining the world's approval when that gain means you lose yourself?And I wrote it, like my pen was like super hard, I'm like, uh.But that was my moment in 2016 where I said, I don't care.
You know, not in a bad way, but in a way of like, this is who I am.If my authentic self is not enough for you, so be it.
So for you, like, when was that moment where you just got to a place of like, or maybe you're still working through it, where it's like, you know what, I'm taking off this mask.This is who Rachel is.
I see some of your posts, like, I don't know if you've always been like that, but I see you like dancing.It seems like you're just free.I see it.And I love that because I see freedom in you.So like, speak to that. Yeah.
For this part of my healing journey, there's been more micro moments, right?Like losing my health was a huge wake up moment.And for me to have to take a real and honest look at myself of how I was showing up, right?
Because ultimately what led to my health issues, it was that relationship I had.
It was that perfectionist mindset that was therefore causing me to push my body to extreme levels that was creating, you know, all of this nervous system dysregulation that led to the motility in my gut to slow down and we can even
dive into that a little bit of how the gut and the brain are interconnected and the nervous system because it's not a coincidence that most type A achievers, you know, perfectionists, entrepreneurs also suffer with gut issues and all of these other health issues because the mind and the body is connected.
But my micro-wake-up moments, you know, I still have them.
I can't say, you know, that I'm at a point where I no longer have those moments where they come up, but in every single circumstance where I'm faced with an opportunity to lean into really authenticity and self-trust, because self-trust is a huge part of authenticity.
or showing up from a place of fear, for me, I make it into a game, right?Because also we... I was gonna ask you that.
Like, do you have like a mental QR ritual that's like... We take things so seriously.
So like, you mentioned me dancing, right? on my stories and spinning around.I grew up as a dancer.There was this day I was in my garage gym and getting in a workout, and I was having the best time ever.
I was having so much fun, and I had my camera up, and I got a video of me spinning.And if you were to look at me in this video, I just was so happy.I was having the best time.You know, it was funny.
I was about to share it, and what came up for me in that moment was, oh, no. People are going to think you're weird.People are going to think you're too much.You should not share it.
It took me a full day to actually share that on my stories and it became this whole inner battle.And I'm like very aware of this of what's coming up and I'm like, This is so like one conversation, like, you look so cute.You're having a blast.
And then this other conversation is, but yeah, no, people aren't going to like that.People are going to judge you.They're going to think you're weird.And then it became like me against me in that moment.And I was like, F this.
I just got to that point of this inner dialogue I was having with myself.I'm like, because all of this is coming up for you, Rachel, how do you actually heal? Because it's in these moments that we actually get to actively heal.
We think healing is like this big, and for some people it can be these big wake-up calls, but I believe it's in these micro-moments where we get to choose into
really not rejecting ourselves, because here's the thing, we reject ourselves before we ever give somebody else the opportunity to do so, right?
So in those moments where we're like, I'm not gonna put that out there, because people aren't gonna like it, are they rejecting us or are we rejecting us?Because that was actually me rejecting me.
That's right, you didn't get a chance.
Yep, so I got to that point where I'm like, no, I'm putting it out there. I'm putting it up there.And to other people, they probably didn't even think twice about it.It wasn't a big deal.
But it's so funny that you bring up that dance, me and my stories dancing, because that was actually a moment for me really lean into allowing my full self to be seen.So it's these micro moments that we have.
I can think of another time, and I went on a podcast, and I'm human.I mess up, right?And I was just having a bad day.I don't know.It was a virtual podcast.And I went back, and I listened to this podcast I did, and I was like,
Hey, rehabbers, what's up?In the last couple months, I'm just gonna be real with you.I was stressed.I was traveling, speaking.I was busy being dad, being CEO, sleeping late and waking up early.It was a lot, and honestly, I needed a break.
So the family and I went on a vacation to Park City, Utah, and we stayed at this beautiful Airbnb with a stunning view of the mountains.I mean, it was incredible.
After an exciting day in the great outdoors, settling in for family game night, I felt truly privileged. If you're overwhelmed like I was, but feeling reluctant to press pause on the grind, I have some good news for you.
You can leave the hustle at home, literally.We decided to Airbnb our home while we were away, and you can do the same.Hosting on Airbnb provided us with extra cash to splurge on our trip.
So if you're thinking about taking a break and want to make the most of your home, you gotta Airbnb it.Your home might be worth more than you think.Find out how much at airbnb.com slash hosts.Let's get it.
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beating myself up, right?And anyone else who listened to it, right, probably thought it was great.
Probably thought it was great, but right?Perfectionist.You know your level, so you're comparing your very best that you've ever done to, you know, how you showed up that day, right?
Which excellence would be, that was my best that I had that day based off of what I was walking through.But that's not what was happening in my own inner dialogue.It was me just berating myself over and over again.
And that was a big wake-up moment for me because, right, we're so often in it.We're in this dialogue with ourself where we're so mean to ourself.We're rejecting ourself.We're saying we're not good enough.
And, right, all of these, the ways in which we're showing up in our life usually are manifestations of us trying to protect ourself.Yeah.We're feeling a certain way.That's what those masks are.Those masks are really armor that we're putting on.
But in that moment, I just was able to pull out of it.I do a lot of active journaling.I like to really become the observer of my thoughts.And I'm like, Rachel, what is this?What is this right here?
And so for me, that just allowed me to just really see that moment.And it was more of like a choice in the moment.There wasn't anything actively that I did in that very moment, but it was an internal choice.So I'm like, no, no, no.
We're not showing up at this way anymore."And it was this moment of just giving myself so much love and grace, whatever I needed in that moment, because often it's our wounded inner child that's really showing up in that moment.
It's little Rachel who feels like she has to be perfect in order to, you know, be loved.
And in that moment, what was really showing up for me is that little girl who's like, all right, you weren't good enough, so therefore people aren't going to love you. And that was really what was the trigger for me in that moment.
So when I can hold space for that and I can love myself in that moment, that's so healing.And then I can actively choose really what I want to believe.
I want you to do something, this is very impromptu, I'm giving you time to think about it, because I want you to look at that camera right there, and I want you to talk to that person that might be in that same place that you're at.
And before you do that, I want to talk to the person right now, because when you were saying too much, and I do want to tell you, and you already know this, you will always be too much for people who's not enough for you.
And I realized that in my life.Like, people are always, oh, you're doing too much, you're doing too much.When I look at their life, they're not doing enough.And I'm okay with that.And so I think sometimes we turn ourselves down because you're right.
It's like, we want to make everybody feel comfortable.I had a lot of success guilt.I didn't want to talk about my achievements.
Even to this day, I find it hard to, like, talk about it because I'm like, man, I don't want other people to think I'm this, or I don't want to be too much, or I don't want other people to feel insecure around me.And I had a conversation with myself.
It's like, bro, you're creating your own prison. Like you're living in your own prison by not appreciating the hard work and accomplishments that you have worked for.And so now what happened, I feel like it put a resistance even on my progression.
Like I was almost self-sabotaging my success because I had this success skill.So what I want you to do, if it's possible, which I know it is, you're great at this, it's just like looking at camera,
you know, maybe 30 seconds or so, we'll move into gut health after this, but looking at camera for somebody who might have a mask on and might be struggling with the things that you struggle with, what would you tell that person?
I would say that your authenticity, who you are, all of you, the weird side of you, the goofy side of you, the awkward side of you, whatever parts of you that you don't believe are enough, are the parts of you that are actually going to be changing the world.
These are the parts of you that people need to see.These are the parts of you that are so tied to your purpose.And anybody in your life
where you have to sacrifice your authenticity in who you are isn't somebody who's actually meant for you in your life.
And the more you can lean into all of who you are, bringing that version of you to the scene, the more you will feel so in your purpose and your purpose will always be tied to your authenticity.
I'm gonna just let that breathe, man, because that's it.That's it.
And I think that's a clip and a moment and a truth that so many people are gonna need to hear and also repeat, you know, because I'm proud of you just to tell you, like, you walk into that and for things that you overcome and you've dealt with in your life, you know, some publicly, some non-publicly, I'm sure, it takes a lot of courage and strength to actually do the work.
And you're a person that does the work. Moving forward, I do have a self-worth question I'm going to ask you at the end, but moving forward to your expertise, talking about the gut and gut health.
You're going to have to inform me because gut health for me, I'm not sure if I even know exactly what it is, but it is like a second brain, right?They do say your gut is like another brain in your body.
So I do know that, but can you break that down for, I don't want to call myself a dummy, but For the uneducated people like myself, when it comes to gut health, like maybe what are some signs that you're struggling with gut health?
Just in general, why is gut health so important to people?
Yeah, your gut is connected to literally every system in your entire body.It's not just about digestion. but your gut is connected to your mental health.90% of your serotonin is produced from the bacteria that's in your gut.
Your immune system, 70% of your immune system is in the gut.Your gut is connected to your hormones, to your thyroid.We have a gut skin connection.So actually people who have skin issues, acne, rosacea, eczema, all connects back to the gut.
So this is even for me where I had so many, health issues when I began to heal my gut, but we have to look at what is actually causing the gut to become off, which can be from our diet, it can be stress, it can be trauma-related, right?
Because the nervous system is very interconnected with our gut.So this is what we call the gut-brain connection.
We have our vagus nerve, also called the wandering nerve, but it is this bi-directional communication between the gut to the brain and the brain to the gut.
So, when we have a lot of chronic stress or unaddressed trauma, whatever it may be that is causing the nervous system to operate in a hypervigilant state, in a cortisol-dominant state, what happens?The gut completely shuts down as a byproduct.
It stops producing digestive enzymes, inflammation increases in the gut but also throughout the entire body.
And this is also why too, I don't know if you ever experienced this, like when you're going to go speak, you maybe notice some digestive issues that begin to come up always, every time, right?
Because your nervous system is upregulated because, you know, you're on a high alert.So the gut starts to manifest and all this, but people operate from this, right?
So this is where I say, look at hyperachievers, look at perfectionists, look at a lot of these entrepreneurs.
look at people who have a lot of these unaddressed traumas, all of this is manifesting in nervous system dysregulation and leading to the gut to become impacted.And when the gut completely shuts down, we also see bacteria imbalances begin to occur.
So this can create something called dysbiosis, which is an imbalance in the good and the bad bacteria.So good bacteria probiotics, Most of us have heard of that before, but our gut microbiota has really trillions of bacteria that reside in them.
And when we have a gut that's inflamed or imbalanced, we can start to get bacteria that begin to overgrow because poor motility of the gut shutting down will lead into bacteria overgrowth.
Not to mention when cortisol is chronically elevated, it can cause the gut lining to break down.Our gut lining is only one cell layer thick. And then this can lead to something called intestinal permeability, leaky gut.
Some people have heard of that before, but now we're getting- So like leaky gut, let me ask you that, like what's a leaky gut?
Leaky gut, so we have single cells that line our gut.
It's one cell layer thick, and it is semi-permeable.So water, electrolytes, things like that can flow through it.But toxins, bacteria, food is not supposed to throw through. flow through our gut lining.
So when we have leaky gut, we are beginning to get bacteria, foods, and toxins now leaking into our bloodstream.Because if you think about the gastrointestinal tract, it's this hollow tube, right?It's taking things from the outside world.
It's not actually in our body, right?It's outside of our body.It's in this hollow tube and then our body's extracting the nutrients that it needs from it. And then our gut, when the gut lining is healthy, will extract some of the nutrients.
But when our gut lining is broken down or damaged, which can come from poor diet or stress, this is becoming more permeable and this, when it happens, will lead to more of an immune upregulation, systemic inflammation also throughout the entire body.
So food sensitivities develop.This is also one of the reasons why people develop autoimmune conditions because the immune system becomes upregulated.And then people have leaky gut also end up with a lot of neurological issues.
Actually brain fog is the number one symptom of a leaky gut.
Dang, I might need to get checked.Because the brain, I want to ask, not to cut you off, but I want to ask you this.When it comes to, so you said, have you seen people that are really healthy, right?
That eat all the right things, that, you know, it's healthy. that still have leaky gut because of stress.And I want to just like bring that back out because how important that is.
You could be doing all the right things, taking care of your body, taking care of your mental, well not mental, but taking care of the physical, but the mental is off, emotional is off.Have you seen that from people?Got you.Okay.
That was actually why my gut struggled to heal for a long time.I was changing the diet.I was doing the supplements.
I had dwindled it down, but until I actually addressed the root cause, which was my relationship with myself, which was operating in a hyper-stressed, hyper-vigilant state, rebalancing my nervous system, making that shift, was when my gut actually began to heal.
We can't heal the gut without healing the nervous system.We can't heal the gut without healing trauma and chronic stress.Nutrition plays a role.
but also our nervous system plays one of the biggest roles, in my opinion, because it's very intimately connected.So this is where, you know, if we have the stress, the brain's going to influence the gut, but vice versa too, right?
So if your diet's poor, if you're eating a lot of these.What we showed earlier.
If you're eating a lot of these processed foods and now you have an inflamed gut, now you have bacteria overgrowth or you do have leaky gut because of your nutrition and maybe your stress level is not too bad, you probably will notice a lot of neurological issues, you'll notice brain
We see depression, right?I mentioned that our serotonin is produced from the bacteria in our gut.There's also a new area of research called psychobiotics.
I'm super interested in this, but they are certain types of probiotics, strain-specific probiotics that are actually used.
to treat things like depression and anxiety and chronic stress because these bacteria will interact with neurotransmitter production and they'll also help impact the vagus nerve as well.
And so it'll help with that bi-directional communication between the gut and the brain.So really holistically, if we're looking at optimal health, we want to address the gut.We also have to address what's influencing the brain as well.
You know, I think that's very important because I know for myself, when I tend to go on a poor diet, it's usually tied to my mental, you know, it's usually tied to the things that I'm going through.
But if I keep my routines like today, you know, I get up, I do my cold plunge, I get my workout, I do all the things I'm the likelihood of me sticking to a good routine healthy is going to be high.You know what I mean?
But when I'm not doing my routines and I'm super stressed, when I'm not taking care of my nervous system, taking care of my mental health, I tend to go to comfort.
You know, I think as a kid, I probably did that, like the comfort foods to make me feel better.When you talk about the nervous system, In healing that or taking care of that.What does that look like for you?
What does it look like to the person that's listening?Okay, I want to take care of my nervous system.Is it is it breath work?Is it cold plunges?Is it walking in nature?Is it what is it?And it could be all that but what is it for you?
What does that look like for you when you're healing these things?Of course, maybe um through You know through through medicines, I'm sure but what is it just naturally healing that nervous system?What's worked for you?
Yeah So one, I like to get to the root cause of what's creating so much nervous system upregulation.So right, we can do all of the breath work, which is great.
And I'll talk about breath work because it's a super powerful tool for regulating the nervous system.We can do the ice baths.We can get outside, get in the sun.We should do all of that if you're going through a lot of chronic stress.
But ultimately, right, I like to think of chronic stress and trauma like somebody who's in a very toxic relationship. and they're going to therapy and they're doing all of the things, right?
Like, that's great, but you gotta get out of the toxic relationship.And all of the therapy will help in the world, but the root cause, right?We have to address that first and foremost.
So I think for anybody taking a radical, honest look, like I had to do at your life and saying, what is really contributing to my health issues?
If you are somebody who's struggling with their health, whether that's your mental health or your physical health, whatever that may be,
And really being able to have that conversation with yourself of what needs to shift and change, because we can't heal in the same environment that made us sick, even if we're doing all of these other things that are great.
We can't heal in the same environment that made us sick. So outside of that, right, we have to be able to remove ourselves from those factors.But then simultaneously, yeah, there's great things we can do for nervous system regulation.
Breath work, incredibly powerful tool.Like I'll notice myself throughout the day as I'm on Zoom calls, I'm running my businesses, my breath goes to very shallow.I'll even sometimes notice I'm holding my breath.
And I'm wondering why I'm so exhausted throughout the day.And then I noticed my nervous system getting more upregulated.So for me to pay attention to my breath, lean into deep, deep breathing, deep belly breaths, right?
So eight breaths in. taking time to give myself the space to do that.
I do breath work in the morning.I do it along with meditation to really try to quiet my mind and to regulate my nervous system.But things like paying attention to your breath because that's it's an autonomic
It's on an autonomic, you could say pathway, like we don't have to think about breathing, but we also can control our breath, right?Just like I just showed, if we wanted to slow down our breath, we can.
So I think becoming conscious of our breath when it's becoming short and in shallow by extending our breaths is a really powerful way to bring our nervous system back down into regulation.
But also, too, another thing I'll usually ask my clients that I work with at my practice is if you were to make a list of all of the things that you do throughout the day that cause stress, right, that you don't love to do, whether it's like Zoom calls and work and all of this stuff, how long would that list be?
usually pretty long.Now if you were to make another list of what are the things that actually give you joy that you do throughout the day that make you feel good, for most people that's a very short list that they do.
Maybe they meditate in the morning, maybe they get in an hour workout, but it's a very short list.
So one thing that I've actually done for myself is how can I incorporate some of these things that make me feel good, which is so healing for the nervous system, right?
Like we, we neglect play as one of the best ways for regulating our nervous system.So now throughout the day,
where I used to get to the end of the day and be just like grind it out and be exhausted, I now try to think of how can I incorporate some of these things on the right side of my list constantly throughout the day.
So in between calls, you know, instead of going back to back, I'm going to get outside.I'm going to get some sunlight.I'm going to go put my feet in the grass.I'm going to put on music that makes me feel good.I'm going to dance in between.
I'm going to find moments of play throughout the day.
That's so important.The childlike state.Um, there's a lot that you've talked about that I want to just like reemphasize to everybody else.And the first thing is breath, right?Like I'm a big believer in breath.So I had asthma growing up.I still do.
So I understand how important it is.And somebody told me, I forgot who it was.I don't know if it was a doctor or a coach, but they said, you know, how important breath is.And I was like, not really like, hold your breath.
And I held my breath and obviously I couldn't breathe.And he said, or it was a she or he, he said, that's the most important thing in your life.Without breath, you have no life.And so from that moment on, I have my own breath work that I do.
I love to pick your brain and incorporate yours because it's very important, you know, to people.
And I want to back up a little bit and I want to have another moment because you're so good at this and just telling the person, that camera that's in this position, because you said something you cannot,
heal in an environment that caused the sickness.You said it way more better than that.But also, I say something about root issues.I used to say this back in my rehab process.
I say, you know, if you don't get down to the root issues, the problems will find its way back to the surface, right?It's kind of like the weeds in your life.If you can't heal your life by staying in the pain that caused it.
And I think so many people need to hear that because you're right.So many people go to therapy.Therapy is great. But if you're staying in the thing that's causing the therapy, it's like you're never going to actually heal.
And another thing you talked about is stress.I asked myself, I have a similar list like you.And I asked myself throughout the day, like,
I had this conversation, literally, and this is just, they know, transparent, like, the last few months, I've been in overwhelm.We're moving, I got an event, it's a lot.
And I sat back and thought about it, like, okay, some of these things are necessary, positive stress, but how much stress have I been recruiting in my life?Like, things that I didn't really need that I took on,
And I realized that I was recruiting a lot of freaking stress in my life.And I said, you know what, how can I recruit some peace?As I would say, how can, as you said, how can I recruit some joy?How can I recruit some fun?
Because as adults, like I just turned 40, right?I don't want to be the boring adult that doesn't have fun no more.Like at my event, I rapped, I had fun and it made me feel like a kid again.
What I want you to do, just for this moment right here, is like, to that person out there that's doing all the things, like we compliment them, going to the therapy, going to the stuff, but they're still in situations, whatever it is, it might be a business, it might be a relationship, it might be habits that's not serving their life.
What do you tell that person right now that really wants to heal themself?
I want to touch on one thing real quick that you mentioned, right?Because you were saying, how can I add in more of that play where you had all this stress going on?
And I really do think sometimes it's not that we're burnt out on doing too much, but too little of the things that actually feed our soul and make us feel alive. And that was a huge lesson that I had to learn on my healing journey as well.
So after I was running my business and I was grinding, very disciplined, I kept being like, Oh, I need more rest.I need more rest.I need to take things off of my plate, which to an extent there was a part of that that was true.And I did.
And then I started resting. But I wasn't feeling any better.And I was like, I'm resting, I'm resting, and now I'm even resting more.
And it became to this moment where I had this conversation with myself of, you know, I don't think I need to take more off of my plate.I don't think I'm actually doing enough.
of the things that actually make me feel alive, that give me that sense of purpose, that get me excited every single day to go do.I'm not playing enough.I'm not dancing enough.I'm not in my garage just being a goofball.
I'm not spending enough time connecting with people who I genuinely love, not surface-level conversations, not work conversations where I have to be on. But people where I can just so be myself and I can be relaxed around.
And so it just changed my entire mindset, right?Because if you think about energy conservation, in some ways that can be scarcity-driven, right?
So if we even peel back what's the place I'm operating from, there's a scarcity mindset sometimes intertwined.I don't have enough energy, so I'm going to hoard onto my energy and I'm going to X everybody out.
Now, that does not mean you do not need to say no. and remove some things from your life that are toxic and that are leading to unhappiness, nervous system dysregulation, poor health outcomes.
But I also think sometimes it's also the things that we need more of in our life.And that was one of the biggest wake-up calls.And I actually realized as I started to incorporate more of those things into my life, it was giving me energy, right?
Creativity is a huge source of energy for me.If I'm creative, it's crazy.I can be expending energy And I can also be getting energy that then fuels other things that I do.Exercise can be that for me, right?
You're expending energy, but somehow you're getting more energy.So are you actually doing things that also give you energy throughout the day?
I'm big on that.Literally at my event, I made a video that talked about energy multiplication that produces productivity.So I know a lot of people, and everybody's different, that they will do the hardest thing in the morning, which is cool.
But for me, I do the thing that gives me the most energy, to be able to create that momentum for the next thing in my day.So I love that you shared that. I want to end with this.
I really don't want to end, but I know you have a hard stop, and it's been beautiful and been totally, for me, informational and transformational.I know the listeners out there feel the same way.
I always ask these two questions, and whatever comes to your heart, obviously no wrong or right answer, but what does self-worth, question number one, what does self-worth mean to you in this time of your life?
To me, self-worth means allowing the fullness of all of who I am be seen without holding back.Simple.
That's so good.My second question. and kind of give you some context.So when I did my tour in 2017, I asked this question to everybody, all my VIPs.And the question was, what's enough?And to my surprise, not many people had an answer.
I believe the root issue for depression and things like that, most people will say, I don't feel like I'm enough, right?I'm not enough for this world.I'm not enough for the people.I'm not enough. And I always ask that question, well, what's enough?
And nobody knows.Nobody has a strong definition.So for you, I want to ask you that question, like, what's your enough?Like, do you have a... For me, I'll just give you mine.Mine is... living the life that God created me to live.That's enough for me.
It's nothing external.It's no amount of followers.It's no amount of money.It's none of anything pleasing people's opinions.It's literally living the life that I feel God created for me, and that's enough for me.
If I can leave this earth and people say, man, Trent actually lived his authentic self, and I really felt that, and Trent was a hell of a person that helped a lot of people, I'm good with that.What's your definition of enough for you?
You know, when I think of the word enough, I think of the word wholeness in a lot of ways, because we're trying to be enough so we can feel a sense of wholeness.And my definition of wholeness has shifted quite a bit.
I used to think of wholeness as a place that we get to, right?It's like we're all trying to get to a state of wholeness, we're healing, we're doing all these things.But I don't believe that wholeness is really a place that we get to.
I believe it's a place that we operate from every single day. Right?So when we're operating from a place of wholeness, we're operating from a place of, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.I have everything that I need right here, right now.
There's no striving.There's no, I'm trying to get anywhere else, but you're perfectly content as who you are and where you're at right now in this life.And you're connected with everybody around you.You're fully present.That's wholeness.
Oh my gosh.How have you, one more question, how have you got to that place of trust?
Like, I know you talked about a lot, but just really quick, was it, like, how do you, because I'm thinking about the person listening to this that I want to operate from there, but how do I trust myself enough that I am enough?You know, like, is it,
And maybe it's just a journey that you have to go on.I love that you said it's not a place that you get to because so many people think, I have to arrive, I have to arrive.No, just become and be.
So for you, like, just kind of speak your heart on that for a little bit.
Yeah.You know, it's interesting.No one ever tells you when you set out on big dreams and ambitions and like you want to achieve your ideal of success.In a lot of ways, you're delaying your happiness.
You're saying, I'm not going to allow myself to be happy. And feel like I'm enough until I achieve X, Y, and Z. That's a lot of where we begin to operate from.
But I think if we're looking at wholeness, right, is really the definition of success, to be fully content.
In our life, I think ultimately we have to be able to, yeah, have a lot of these big dreams and goals and ambitions, but not allow them to define our entire sense of worth.
So that's been also the balance for me I've had to work on because I do have big dreams, I have ambitions, and there's nothing wrong with that.But also, simultaneously.
If none of those happen, and I am just fully living out as my authentic self, and also I'd say enough for me is living a heart open life, if I can live very heart open in everything that I do.
And that is my purpose, which is not connected to the outcome of the success, but is actually connected to, again, the place I'm operating from every single day.
I'm in my purpose daily when I'm operating from authenticity and I'm operating hard open.
I'm allowing my light to be seen, and I'm actually pouring that into every person, whether that's through my business, whether that's through what I'm building, whether that's through what I'm creating, whether that's through an interaction with a random person I have at the airport or Starbucks.
I can be in that every single day.So I think for the person, you know, who's saying, you know, how do I really get to the place of being enough?You know, I would really flip the script a bit and I would look at it from a place of, you know,
when you bring all of you, when you are just authentic yourself, what is that gift that you get to give to the world?
Because that is really when you're going to be operating from a place of fullness, and you are actually in that moment in your purpose.You're not striving for your purpose, but you are in your purpose operating from that.
Rachel. I appreciate you.I believe this conversation, I won't say interview, it's a conversation, a connection was whole.I needed it.I know everybody listening to it needed it.
And before we get out of here, I want to make sure I do the honor to let you let people know what you have going on, where they can follow you at, what's going on in your life right now.How can people be a part of what you're doing?
Because I've been knowing you for a while, you know, a former Baylor Bears, Sikkim Bears.But you do great things and I want to give people the opportunity to connect with you.
Instagram, it's Rachel Shear.My functional medicine nutrition practice is rachelshear.com.And then I forgot, I was going to give your audience my gut-brain ebook.
So if they want to learn a bit more about the nervous system, psychobiotics, which are probiotics that can greatly impact the gut-brain connection, I'll give that to your audience.
Sure, we'll put that in the show notes.Rachel, thank you.I appreciate you.And y'all, thank you for listening today.As always, it all starts with you.Find somebody you can share this with.
You know this conversation was highly impactful, highly informational, and somebody needs it.Be a hero today and share it with somebody, even if it's not you.Somebody needs this information.So thank you.I'll see you guys next week.
As always, it's Rehab Time.Let's get it.Never let people place their impossibilities on your life.What they couldn't do, has nothing to do with what you can do.What they couldn't be has nothing to do with what you can become.
Their perception of you is none of your business.Go give your greatness to the world.Go live legendary.It's not an option.It's necessary.Let's get it.
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