✨In this episode, Sarah Griffiths discusses functional medicine as a whole-body, root-cause approach that looks beyond basic nutrition to the gut microbiome, inflammation, organ function, and nutrient deficiencies before building a plan. The conversation covers how gut health can affect mood, sleep, skin, hormones, and chronic issues, and critiques overreliance on medications, unregulated supplements, influencer advice, and non-evidence-based testing.

🌙 Sarah explains her lab-accredited stool microbiome and blood-based food intolerance testing, the importance of scientific backing and practitioner support, and why generic elimination diets can be harmful without proper replacements. She shares examples involving eczema/TSW, antibiotics reducing beneficial bacteria, fasting and detox protocols, and emphasises simple, fiber-rich eating, full-fat choices over added sugar, and realistic consistency over perfection.

🎧 About The Souls Podcast
The Souls Podcast is a space for deep conversations on spirituality, healing, consciousness, manifestation, and personal growth — hosted by Claire and Nic.

00:00 Meet Sarah Griffiths
00:22 Functional Medicine Basics
01:43 Root Cause Over Pills
04:15 Mood Gut Connection
12:15 Testing Versus Guesswork
13:27 Lab Backed Pricing
17:42 Influencers And Misinformation
19:12 Pathogens Detox Protocols
22:40 Old School Eating
24:17 Simple Gut Friendly Diet
29:43 Oils Sugar And Full Fat
32:24 Personalised Plans
34:07 Client Support And Reports
34:53 Skinny Pens And Gut Damage
38:17 Bodybuilding And Starvation Lessons
39:09 Healing Timeline And 80 20 Rule
43:22 Food Intolerance Pitfalls
45:44 Fasting And Parasite Cleanses
48:30 Caffeine And Sugar Addictions
51:53 Late Night Cravings And Insulin
56:08 Collaboration And Influencer Drama
01:01:24 Online Trolling And Wrap Up

✨In this episode, Rachel Bertenshaw shares her lived experience of PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) and explains why she created a peer-led PMDD community in the UK Northwest to address the lack of post-diagnostic support. She describes PMDD as a cyclical mood disorder and disability that can severely disrupt work, relationships, and daily functioning, often worsening from ovulation to menstruation, and details symptoms including rage, agitation, brain fog, overstimulation, swelling, bowel issues, heavy periods, and suicidal thoughts.

🌙Rachel discusses frequent misdiagnosis (e.g., bipolar disorder), underfunding and limited research in women’s health, possible sensitivity to hormone fluctuations, and links with ADHD. She outlines diagnostic tracking over three months and treatment options ranging from contraception and SSRIs to hysterectomy, and directs listeners to “PMDD Northwest” on Instagram for events and peer support.

🎧 About The Souls Podcast
The Souls Podcast is a space for deep conversations on spirituality, healing, consciousness, manifestation, and personal growth — hosted by Claire and Nic.

Chapters:
00:00 Meet Rachel
00:31 Building a Peer Support Community
01:22 What PMDD Really Is
02:19 Cycle Timing and Hormone Sensitivity
04:45 Years to Diagnosis Story
06:10 Symptoms Rage and Brain Fog
08:54 Awareness and Self Forgiveness
09:25 PMDD and ADHD Connection
10:37 Physical Symptoms and Genetics
13:20 Cyclical Living and Research Gaps
15:12 Coping Tools Diet and Acceptance
17:16 Women Misdiagnosed Historically
18:10 Cycles Perimenopause and ADHD
19:13 Work Life and Partner Support
22:06 Fertility Questions and Body Awareness
22:47 Diagnosis Tracking and Treatments
25:32 Suicidality and Monthly Crisis
26:39 Young Girls and Mental Health Services
27:48 Diet Hormones and Social Inequality
30:36 Community Support and Finding Help
32:40 How to Reach Out and Final Thanks

✨ This episode we interview Phoebe Greenacre, a Bali-based somatic therapist and nervous system coach, about her path from 10 years in corporate marketing and repeated burnout to yoga teaching, entrepreneurship, and supporting women (especially mothers) with nervous system regulation and generational trauma healing. We discuss grief after losing a parent, how it reshapes identity, and how grief can ebb and flow through everyday moments, alongside the added complexity of reparenting while parenting.

🌙Phoebe explains somatics as a bottom-up mind body approach that locates emotions as sensations in the body, contrasts it with talk therapy, and describes how layered, unprocessed emotions can surface as anger or anxiety. She shares practical strategies like scheduling rest first, “micro-mum moments,” and using yin yoga and conscious connected breathwork to access deeper release, including how yin targets fascia and meridians linked to emotions.

🎧 About The Souls Podcast
The Souls Podcast is a space for deep conversations on spirituality, healing, consciousness, manifestation, and personal growth — hosted by Claire and Nic.

Chapters:
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
00:58 Phoebe’s Burnout to Bali Story
01:39 Motherhood and Generational Healing
02:49 Personal Grief and Identity Shift
08:00 What Somatic Therapy Means
10:06 Layers of Emotion in the Body
14:06 Breathwork and Emotional Release
15:42 Business Burnout and Micro Rest
18:10 Yin Yoga and Daily Self Care
19:19 Self Love Isn’t Selfish
20:07 Breaking Family Patterns
21:32 Layered Grief and Rewiring
22:14 Tools for Emotional Awareness
23:01 Letting Grief Be Messy
23:59 Helping Someone Start
25:35 Talking About Death Openly
28:06 Yin Yoga Explained
33:37 Retreats Chakras and Meridians
35:44 Stillness Introspection and Journaling
37:50 Where to Find Phoebe