Zebra Talks: Living Your Best Bendy Life

Eating Disorders and Hypermobility: An Embodied Recovery Approach with Heidi Andersen

Zebra Talks: Living Your Best Bendy Life

Show Notes

Host Dr. Libby Hinsley welcomes Heidi Andersen, a licensed clinical mental health counselor supervisor and founder of Reclaiming Beauty, to discuss eating disorders and their overlap with hypermobility syndromes. Heidi describes shifting from traditional CBT/DBT-focused treatment toward Embodied Recovery for Eating Disorders, reframing disordered eating and chronic tension as adaptive responses shaped by nervous system regulation, sensory processing, trauma, attachment history, and underlying health issues, including hypermobility syndromes and related comorbidities.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: 00:00 Welcome to Zebra Talks 00:41 Meet Heidi Andersen 02:45 From Burnout to Embodied Recovery 06:58 Hypermobility and Nourishment Clues 08:08 Why This Overlap Is Trending 11:07 Eating Disorder Definitions 15:41 Age of Onset and Diagnostic Confusion 18:16 Research on Anorexia and Hypermobility 21:23 Containment Safety and Proprioception 23:09 Strength Training Grounding 24:25 Developmental Movement Push 27:15 Reframing Restriction Wisdom 28:06 Autism Sensory Overlap 31:21 Treatment Window Tolerance 33:43 Medical Motility Referrals 34:55 Vagus Nerve Compression 38:07 Somatic Tools Boundaries 39:00 Directories Closing Resources

EPISODE LINKS & RESOURCES: Reclaiming Beauty Follow Heidi Andersen at Reclaiming Beauty on Instagram @reclaimingbeauty LINKS AND RESOURCES: Learn more about Dr. Libby Hinsley, How to Work with Her, or Join her Email List Follow Libby Hinsley on Instagram @libbyhinsleypt Follow Libby Hinsley on Facebook Leave a review on iTunes

More from Zebra Talks: Living Your Best Bendy Life

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Host Dr. Libby Hinsley interviews pelvic floor physical therapist and author Dr. Amy Stein, founder of Beyond Basics Physical Therapy. Stein discusses the strong overlap she sees between hypermobility and pelvic floor dysfunction (estimating about 70% of her patients), including patterns of pelvic floor gripping used for stability, pelvic pain, prolapse, hernias, constipation/IBS symptoms, possible pelvic congestion, and bladder, bowel, and sexual dysfunction across all genders.

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