Introduction

Lisa Beth Lent is an author, speaker, and holistic health educator who has transformed her own health journey from chronic stress and Graves disease to sustained remission. As a massage therapist, nutrition coach, and founder of a nonprofit serving addiction and abuse survivors, she brings both personal experience and professional expertise to the conversation about autoimmune healing. In this episode, she joins me to discuss the warning signs your body gives before autoimmune disease strikes and the daily practices that support lasting recovery.

Episode Highlights

Lisa's Journey from Chronic Stress to Graves Disease

Lisa describes her path from childhood trauma to a life of chronic stress that ultimately led to her Graves disease diagnosis three years ago.

• Chronic headaches starting in college that later revealed advanced cervical osteoarthritis
• Running on empty during perimenopause until she became completely non-functional
• Years of subclinical thyroid dysfunction before the full diagnosis
• The connection between throat chakra blockages and thyroid conditions

The Body's Warning Signals We Often Ignore

Lisa emphasizes how our bodies constantly communicate with us through symptoms, but we tend to override these messages with busyness and self-minimization.

• Chronic inflammation shows up in unexpected ways like persistent headaches
• Food sensitivities often precede autoimmune conditions
• Physical symptoms frequently connect to emotional patterns
• The danger of constantly pushing through discomfort without pause

Her Multi-Modal Approach to Recovery

Lisa discusses the various healing modalities she used during her journey to remission from Graves disease.

• Short-term pharmaceutical intervention (6-9 months) that helped kick-start her thyroid
• Plant medicine work with kambo (frog medicine) for heavy metal detoxification
• Initial experimentation with carnivore diet (though she notes it wasn't sustainable)
• The statistic that 40% of Graves patients can achieve remission with medication

The Power of Stillness and Nervous System Regulation

Lisa explains how learning to slow down and regulate her nervous system became crucial for maintaining her health.

• The importance of creating moments of stillness in our overstimulated world
• How chronic sympathetic nervous system activation becomes habituated
• Practical breathwork as an accessible tool for regulation
• The challenge and necessity of being present with discomfort

Self-Nurturance and Re-Parenting Work

Lisa discusses how healing often requires learning to give ourselves what we didn't receive earlier in life.

• Learning to identify and validate your own needs
• Working with Internal Family Systems (IFS) to witness rather than react
• The importance of self-compassion in breaking old patterns
• How "little t" traumas accumulate over time and impact our health

Gratitude as a Shortcut to Safety

Both Lisa and Julie explore how cultivating gratitude practices can rewire our brains toward healing and resilience.

• Gratitude as a way to signal safety to the nervous system
• The difference between having a gratitude practice and being grateful
• How focusing on what's right helps shift perspective away from chronic pain
• Simple ways to practice gratitude in daily life

Maintaining Health in Perimenopause and Beyond

Lisa shares insights about how hormonal changes impact autoimmune conditions and what's needed for ongoing wellness.

• How perimenopause can trigger autoimmune flares in susceptible women
• The importance of slowing down as we age rather than pushing harder
• Why staying in remission requires ongoing lifestyle prioritization
• The connection between hormonal shifts and autoimmune activity

Notable Quotes from this Episode

If you don't learn how to slow down in your older age post perimenopausal stage, like you're, you start to suffer more and more.
Lisa Beth Lent

The body speaks right and overriding them with pain meds and busyness and self minimization, which I think is learned. Oh, I'm too busy for this, or I, I can't stop. Right? Like there's this unwritten current to life and if we stop, it's like, how dare you? Or you're lazy, you know?
Lisa Beth Lent

Stop and breathe. Take a nice deep breath and, and release, release it all out and with a big sigh, you know, that it's, it's okay. Maybe hand on heart, maybe take another one. You know? It's okay.
Lisa Beth Lent