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What if the body keeps score, and the mind decides who wins?

This week on Thrive After 45, Denise Drinkwalter sits down with Ellen M Busch, a former EMT and hyperbaric technician turned certified Unbeatable Mind coach, author, and speaker. Ellen's story starts young: diagnosed as dyslexic at six, written off by her own school system, and told her future was finding a husband rather than an education. That early wound set the stage for decades of being a target, first of bullies, then narcissistic managers, two stalkers, and a marriage that turned violent.

Ellen walks Denise through the thirteen year path out, from her surrender point to years of therapy, EMDR, and somatic work, to training for a decade with retired Navy SEAL Commander Mark Divine and his Five Mountain Program, which works the physical, mental, emotional, intuitional, and kokoro (the merging of heart and mind) simultaneously. She talks candidly about her Sheepdog Training, three days of firearms, martial arts, and catastrophic injury training alongside retired Navy SEALs, and the moment an instructor told her to stop apologizing, a lesson that later showed up when she faced down a threatening stranger on a Colorado sidewalk and walked away untouched.

This conversation covers trauma recovery, the value of a woman's wisdom, boundary setting as an ongoing practice rather than a one time decision, and Ellen's father's phrase that became her life's compass: one question at a time.

You can find Ellen -

Website:https://ellenbusch.com

Substack at https://ellenbusch1969.substack.com

LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenbusch.

CONNECT WITH DENISE DRINKWALTER

Website: denisedrinkwalter.com

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If this episode moved you, please take a moment to leave a review, it helps more women find their way to these conversations.

Thank you for spending time with me today on the Thrive After 45™ podcast! If this episode spoke to you, be sure to hit that follow button so you never miss one.

I will be hosting a live, in-person experience called IGNITE: The Inner Uprising™ .

It is a two-day immersive gathering for women in midlife — women who feel the quiet pull toward something more truthful, more embodied, more fully their own.

IGNITE is an extension of these conversations.

It’s where reflection becomes embodiment.

Where insight becomes integration.

Where women who have held so much for others gather to stand fully in their own sovereignty.

If something in today’s conversation stirred you — if your body leaned in — that is NOT accidental.

The ticket sales will be coming soon, so get your name on the waitlist, and never miss an update and special price breaks that will exist for early registrants.

https://ignite2026.lovable.app

There is a place for us to gather.

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Your journey doesn’t stop here - let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with me at denisedrinkwalter.com, and follow ...