Episode Show Notes

We’ve been taught to believe that more exercise equals better health, stronger bodies, and faster results. This episode challenges that belief in a big way. Susan breaks down how pushing harder and training longer can actually backfire, leading to chronic inflammation, disrupted recovery, and even long-term health consequences that often go unnoticed.

This conversation goes deeper than surface-level fitness advice. It connects the dots between genetics, lifestyle, and training patterns to show why two people can follow the exact same workout plan and experience completely different outcomes. From inflammatory gene responses to stress hormone regulation and recovery capacity, your body has a unique threshold, and ignoring it can quietly work against you.

Susan also walks through how overtraining shows up beneath the surface, even when you feel “fine.” Blood markers, nervous system dysregulation, sleep disruption, and metabolic shifts all play a role in whether your body is adapting or breaking down. The goal isn’t to stop moving, it’s to train with precision, honoring your body’s rhythms, recovery needs, and individual design.

By the end of this episode, you’ll have a new lens on exercise, one that prioritizes alignment over intensity, and sustainability over burnout. Because real progress doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from doing what actually works for your body.

In this episode:

• Why too much exercise can trigger chronic inflammation and slow recovery
• How genetics influence your response to stress, training, and inflammation
• The role of stress hormones like cortisol in overtraining and burnout
• Key gene variants (like COMT, IL-6, TNF-alpha) and what they mean for your body
• How different health types respond to exercise, and why personalization matters
• The hidden signs of overtraining, even when you feel “healthy”
• Blood markers to watch for (fasting insulin, triglycerides, CRP, glucose)
• How chronobiology (timing) impacts performance and recovery
• Why recovery, not intensity, is where real progress happens
• How to train smarter by aligning with your body’s natural capacity

RESOURCES:

Find all of Susan’s Resources and links in the show notes:

Shop the products: http://healthygut.com/healthyawakenings (this link will provide you a special discount!)

https://healthyawakening.co/2026/04/27/episode121/

Connect with Susan: https://healthyawakening.co/

Visit the website: healthyawakening.co/podcast

Find listening links here: https://healthyawakening.co/links

P.S. Want reminders about episodes? Sign up for our newsletter, you can find the link on our podcast page! https://healthyawakening.co/podcast

In this episode of the Everyday Epigenetics: Raw. Real. Relatable. podcast, Susan is chatting with early language expert and parent educator Cara Tyrrell to explore how the words we use with children shape their identity, emotional intelligence, and lifelong ability to connect. From infancy through the toddler years, communication isn’t just about what we say, it’s about how we create safety, trust, and connection through both our words and our presence.

Cara introduces her “Core Four” connection framework and her BEND method, offering practical, real-life strategies for navigating challenging moments with children in a way that builds confidence, emotional resilience, and mutual respect. This conversation goes far beyond parenting, it’s a powerful reminder that true connection is a learned skill, and one that impacts our health, relationships, and epigenetic expression from the very beginning.

In this episode:

• Why the first three years of life are critical for emotional and neurological development
• The “Core Four” connectors that build strong, lasting relationships
• How language shapes a child’s identity, confidence, and behavior
• The BEND method for navigating tantrums and emotional moments
• Why connection and not control, is the foundation of effective parenting
• How these communication tools apply to adults, relationships, and everyday life

Learn more about our guest Cara Tyrrell, M.Ed.

Cara Tyrrell, M.Ed. is an early language expert, teacher trainer, parent educator, and founder of Core4Parenting. A former preschool and kindergarten teacher with degrees in ASL, Linguistics, and Masters in Education, she created the Collaborative Parenting Methodology™ to teach parents and educators the power of intentional language in shaping children’s identity, confidence, and future success. She is the host of the top-ranking podcast Transforming the Toddler Years and author of the Talk to Them Early and Often , an intentional language guide for infant and toddler caregivers.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Cara Tyrrell:

Website: www.caratyrrell.com

Podcast: Transforming the Toddler Years

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/transforming-the-toddler-years-parents-and/id1646535788

Book Pre-Order: https://www.caratyrrell.com/talktothemearlyandoften

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caratalkstoddler

https://healthyawakening.co/2026/04/20/episode120/

Connect with Susan: https://healthyawakening.co/

Visit the website: healthyawakening.co/podcast

Find listening links here: https://healthyawakening.co/links

P.S. Want reminders about episodes? Sign up for our newsletter, you can find the link on our podcast page! https://healthyawakening.co/podcast

In this deeply raw and eye-opening episode, Susan sits down with Nicole Bell to uncover the devastating reality of chronic Lyme disease, misdiagnosis, and the critical gaps in modern testing.

Nicole shares the powerful and heartbreaking story of her husband’s journey, from subtle personality changes and memory loss to a misdiagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s… and ultimately, the truth that was missed for far too long. His experience sheds light on a much bigger issue: how thousands of people are falling through the cracks of a system that isn’t equipped to detect complex, stealth infections.

This conversation goes far beyond Lyme disease. It’s about advocacy. It’s about asking better questions. And it’s about understanding that symptoms are not random, they are signals.

Susan and Nicole break down why traditional testing often fails, how infections can mimic neurological and psychiatric conditions, and why getting the right diagnosis could change everything.

If you’ve ever felt like something is “off” in your body but no one can explain why, this episode is for you.

In This Episode:

• How Lyme and co-infections can mimic conditions like Alzheimer’s, anxiety, and psychiatric disorders

Learn more about our guest Nicole Bell

Nicole is an experienced executive in the medical device and diagnostics industries in roles ranging from science and engineering to business development and marketing. At Advanced Liquid Logic, a company that sold to Illumina for $96M, she ran product management and interfaced with top companies across medical diagnostics. At TransEnterix Surgical, she served as the Vice President of Research and Development, driving the development of the surgical robot from breadboard design to FDA submission in 3 years and propelling the company’s market cap to over $500M.

She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from MIT in Materials Science and Engineering, as well as a Master’s of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University. Her best-selling and award-winning memoir, What Lurks in the Woods, vividly details her family’s experience with undiagnosed tickborne infection. This firsthand knowledge of the devastating impact of misdiagnosed chronic illness fuels her passion to drive a new diagnostic standard of care for the industry. She also served as the primary author of “The State of Lyme Disease Research in the United States,” and regularly collaborates with the Center for Lyme Action to change the political landscape for Lyme Disease and related coinfections.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Nicole Bell:

Website: https://www.galaxydx.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/galaxydiagnostics/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/galaxydx

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GalaxyDiagnosticsVideos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/galaxy-diagnostics-inc-/posts/?feedView=all

https://healthyawakening.co/2026/04/13/episode119/

Connect with Susan: https://healthyawakening.co/

Visit the website: healthyawakening.co/podcast

Find listening links here: https://healthyawakening.co/links

P.S. Want reminders about episodes? Sign up for our newsletter, you can find the link on our podcast page! https://healthyawakening.co/podcast