Sacred Illness™

When Renee Spillane had a massage that left her feeling “alive” and “untouchable,” she didn’t know it would change the course of her life. She quit her stable job, trained as a massage therapist, and discovered that the real work wasn’t about fixing muscles—it was about listening to what the body was storing. This is a story about how grief, fear, and unprocessed emotions live in our tissues, and...

Stacey spent her career inside healthcare. She knew the language, the protocols, the system… But when her body began to collapse, she was still dismissed, gaslit, and told to see a psychiatrist when imaging clearly showed she had a stroke. This is an episode on what it takes to keep going when no one believes you, about the exhaustion of advocating for yourself over and over, and about the courage...

When Teresa Hobbs was left bed-bound after a minor fender bender, she couldn’t be near a computer, read a book, or even receive a phone call without blacking out. Her world had shrunk to staring at the texture on her ceiling, searching for shapes to comfort her. This is a story about what happens when you stop fighting your symptoms and start listening to the mechanism behind them—when you realize...

When Kassondra Walters was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, she was told the standard protocol: eight rounds of IV chemo, radiation, and five years of hormone therapy. But something in her body said no . This is a story about what happens when you stop letting fear drive your decisions and start listening to the quiet, unwavering voice of intuition. It’s about the courage to walk a path n...

When Allison Hampton was diagnosed with lupus, Sjogren’s, fibromyalgia, and arthritis, she realized she had been speaking negatively about her body—saying it wasn’t on her team, that it was fighting her. But then came the revelation: her body had been compensating for her, running on a backup generator for years until she could figure out what was wrong. Even when she didn’t know what she needed,...

What happens when the very people meant to care for you tell you that you’re not experiencing what you know you’re experiencing? When Shayla’s body began to collapse—down 68 pounds, unable to speak, losing mobility—she was told by her doctor, “I have no reason you can’t work other than you saying you feel horrible.” Living with invisible illness means existing in two realities: the one your body k...

When Lyn Cole looked up at a small whiteboard in a chiropractor’s office and read the words “Pain is an emotion,” everything shifted. After more than two decades of severe chronic pain that left her 90% immobile and using a walker, she realized that her body wasn’t failing her—it was holding onto emotions she had never been able to express. This is a story about what happens when we stop suppressi...

What if the thing you’re trying to heal is actually here to heal you? When Shenal Arimilli was diagnosed with breast cancer, she did everything “right”—she changed her diet, eliminated toxins, and pursued every physical protocol imaginable. Yet the cancer kept returning. It wasn’t until she stopped seeing her illness as an enemy to be conquered and began hearing it as a sacred calling that her hea...

What happens when the “wellness girl” gets a cancer diagnosis at 36? Natalie Emmer shares how a rare salivary gland tumor dissolved her identity—and led her to a deeper spiritual calling, mediumship, and radical alignment. Episode Overview In this profound and intimate episode, Dr. Erin Hayford welcomes Natalie Emmer—a former holistic health coach, mother, and spiritual seeker—who was diagnosed wi...

In this profound episode, Shelby Hanson—a speech-language pathologist, kidney transplant recipient, and nervous system coach—shares her harrowing and transformative journey through sudden kidney failure, a high-risk pregnancy while on the transplant list, and a transplanted kidney that took 49 mysterious days to “wake up.” After being asked by her nephrologist, “What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t y...

When Vivian Quintana was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017, she faced the terrifying whirlwind of biopsies, mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation—but it was in the enforced stillness of “chemo brain” that her real healing began. In this raw and radiant conversation, Vivian shares how her illness became a sacred pause, forcing her to confront a lifetime of stored trauma, hypervigilance, and C-...

What if the fiercest, most healing thing you could do is to stop fighting? When Teresa Smith was told her rheumatoid arthritis was incurable, degenerative, and would require aggressive medication, a deep inner voice said no . This refusal launched her not into a harder battle, but into a profound surrender—from a life of high-achieving “yang” striving into the soft, receptive, and heart-led practi...

In a world that often pits holistic healing against conventional medicine, the bravest choice is often the one that honors the sacred message of your illness, even when it leads to surgery. This is a story of how a hysterectomy became the ultimate somatic release of a lifetime of swallowed emotions, inherited burdens, and the profound responsibility of being the “strong one.” Far from a failure, i...

What if a diagnosis was not a sentence to be carried out, but an invitation to come home to the most fractured parts of yourself? When Claire Hickson was advised to have a hysterectomy for a large uterine fibroid, she heard a different call—one that led her not into an operating room, but into the deepest chambers of her own story. In this deeply moving episode, we explore how a physical symptom i...

In this milestone episode, I sit down with Matt Rowe, a master neuroplastician and author of Belief to Heal , who overcame paralysis and a primary progressive multiple sclerosis diagnosis. Together, we traverse his incredible journey from elite athlete to a man facing a prognosis of a wheelchair, and into his current life as a guide who blends science and spirituality. This conversation is a deep...

What if healing isn’t about finding the right doctor, but learning to become an active participant in your own care? In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Tracy Shevell , a board-certified OBGYN and high-risk maternal-fetal medicine specialist who spent nearly two decades inside academic medicine before her own complex illness—and the pandemic—led her to reimagine what healing could look like. Tracy...

In this powerful episode, I sit down with James Wright—author, father, speaker, and 11-year survivor of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease)—who was originally given just 3 to 5 years to live. He refused to accept that prognosis and instead chose to see his illness as an invitation to reimagine what was possible for his life. Together we explore: → How James’ mindset shaped his journey from day one → The mo...

In this raw and reflective episode, Dr. Kristin Wing, a naturopathic doctor and mother of two, shares her deeply personal journey through chronic skin issues, anticipatory grief, and the ongoing tension between self-sacrifice and reciprocity. We explore what it means to live in a body that keeps score—through psoriasis, alopecia, oral allergy syndrome, and more—and how those signals mirror unproce...

In this fascinating solo episode, I dive into the research on Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) —formerly called multiple personality disorder—and explore what it reveals about the mind-body connection . From shifts in allergies and eyesight to changes in pain thresholds and immune responses, DID shows us what happens when identity, story, and nervous system regulation rewire the body in real t...

What if illness isn’t random—or genetic—but a result of the messages your body has received over a lifetime? In this solo episode, I invite you into a radically simple framework that cuts through the noise of health advice, diagnoses, and symptom management. We explore the idea that the body is an input-output machine , with the nervous system as the primary control center. And if the inputs aren’...

In this extraordinary episode, I sit down with UK-based creator, podcaster, and healer Lizzie Dunn, whose journey with the rare genetic condition MEN-1 defies all odds. At just 13 years old, Lizzie was diagnosed with MEN-1, a hereditary endocrine disorder her doctors said would require a lifetime of surgery and surveillance. But a quiet, stubborn voice inside her said something else: “What if it’s...

What if your body remembers more than your mind ever could? In this powerful conversation, I’m joined by Audrey Burke — a somatic experiencing practitioner, transforming touch practitioner, and licensed massage therapist based in Durham, NC. Audrey shares her deeply personal journey through confusing diagnoses, chronic digestive symptoms, amenorrhea, and mysterious illness flares — and how they ul...

What if pain isn’t just physical—but perceptual? In this off-the-cuff solo episode, I share a deeply personal story that changed everything I thought I knew about suffering, healing, and what’s possible for the body. From a nearly pain-free childbirth (yes, really) to a powerful client breakthrough around chronic pain, this episode is a living case study in the power of narrative and perception to...

🔥 What if your desire isn’t the problem—but the path? 🔥 Welcome to Episode 41 of the Sacred Illness™ Podcast. In this solo transmission, I unpack the deep link between longing, healing, and evolution. We’re told desire is a distraction. That suffering must be eliminated. That symptoms are obstacles. But what if illness is the sacred interrupter—and desire is the fuel that leads us through it? Th...

What if your chronic disease symptoms aren't just physical—but the result of a nervous system stuck in survival mode? For episode 40 of the Sacred Illness™ Podcast, I am sharing an interview I had the honor of recording with ⁨@lizziieedunn⁩ on her MEN1 Mosaic podcast! From Lizzie's Notes: "In this deeply personal and thought-shifting conversation, I speak with Dr Erin Hayford, a naturopathic docto...