The Nutrient Dense Podcast

Ep 76: The Subconscious Blocks Keeping You Sick with Faith Ashenden

The Nutrient Dense Podcast

Show Notes

In this episode, I sit down with Faith Ashenden, nervous system and subconscious reprogramming expert and founder of That Healing Feeling, to explore one of the most overlooked pieces of the healing journey: the subconscious mind.

Faith shares her incredible story of recovering from Graves' disease, IBS, POTS, chronic fatigue, chronic UTIs, and a long list of debilitating symptoms that ultimately left her bedridden and unable to work. After years of pursuing both conventional and functional medicine approaches, she discovered that while many of those tools helped her improve, they didn't fully give her freedom back. That realization led her down the path of studying neuroplasticity, nervous system regulation, and subconscious reprogramming.

Together, we discuss how chronic illness can become intertwined with identity, why many people unknowingly develop beliefs that keep them stuck, and how the subconscious mind influences everything from stress responses to healing capacity.

We also dive into perfectionism, people-pleasing, symptom patterns, trauma responses, nervous system regulation, and how creating safety in the body may be one of the most important components of long-term healing.

If you've ever felt like you're doing everything "right" but still aren't seeing the progress you want, this conversation could completely change the way you think about healing.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT IN THIS EPISODE: Chronic illness often becomes part of a person's identity, which can unintentionally make healing more difficult.

The subconscious mind acts as the bridge between conscious thoughts and the nervous system.

Neuroplasticity demonstrates that the brain and nervous system can change throughout life.

Many people improve physically but still don't feel truly free because the fear and symptom monitoring remain.

Perfectionism, hyper-independence, overachievement, and people-pleasing are often nervous system adaptations rather than personality traits.

Creating safety in the body is a foundational component of recovery.

Nervous system regulation can benefit people regardless of diagnosis, whether they are dealing with gut issues, thyroid conditions, MCAS, fatigue, or autoimmune disease.

Healing often requires addressing both physical root causes and subconscious patterns simultaneously.

Recovery is not about finding the perfect protocol—it's about creating an environment where the body believes healing is possible.

LINKS: Book a strategy call with Hannah HERE

Take the Gut Health Root Cause Quiz for free!

Equip Protein: use the code hannahaylwardhhc for 15% off

Listen to Episode 1 - How Trauma Impacts Gut and Hormone Health

Listen to Episode 25 - Is Nervous System Dysregulation Causing Chronic Gut Issues w/ Jessica Maguire

CONNECT WITH HANNAH: Instagram | Website

CONNECT WITH FAITH: Instagram | The Full Breakthrough Healing Experience Live Masterclass

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