Words of Wellness with Shelly

Understanding and Embracing Anxiety: Elizabeth Scarcella's Holistic and Compassionate Approach to Healing

• Shelly Jefferis • Season 1 • Episode 61

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Unlock the secrets to understanding and managing anxiety with our guest, Elizabeth Scarcella, a pioneer in bringing a holistic approach to mental health. Elizabeth dives into the depths of anxiety beyond the surface-level symptoms, emphasizing the importance of uncovering its root causes. Through her unique blend of neuroscience, hormone balancing, and faith, she guides us to view anxiety as a natural and treatable condition without stigma. By listening, you'll discover how to embrace anxiety symptoms as signals for deeper healing, highlighting the importance of personalized care and moving away from relying solely on temporary fixes like affirmations or medication.

This conversation explores the profound interconnectedness between physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health, shedding light on how nervous system dysregulation and hormonal imbalances can contribute to anxiety. Elizabeth and Shelly discuss the role of somatic practices and faith in achieving lasting wellness, along with the benefits of working closely with skilled physicians to identify and address the root causes of anxiety. This episode is a beacon of hope for those grappling with anxiety, offering practical insights and encouraging listeners to seek comprehensive, compassionate care tailored to their unique needs.


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Thank you for listening to the Words of Wellness podcast with Shelly Jefferis. I am honored and so grateful to have you here and it would mean the world to me if you could take a minute to follow, leave a 5-star review and share the podcast with anyone you love and anyone you feel could benefit from the message.

Thank you and God Bless!
And remember to do something for yourself, for your wellness on this day!

In Health,
Shelly Jefferis

Speaker 1:

don't run away from your symptoms. They're a signal. They're trying to tell you something. They're not something to be afraid of. There's something to be embraced. I know that you're scared. I know that the worry and the overthinking and the and the panic attacks and the shaking body and the not being able to sleep is so scary, but those are signals of parts of your body that need to be healed.

Speaker 2:

Do you get confused by all of the information that Vabar does every day on ways to improve our overall health and our overall wellness? Do you often feel stuck, unmotivated or struggle to reach your wellness goals? Do you have questions as to what exercises you should be doing, what foods you should or should not be eating, how to improve your overall emotional and mental well-being? Hello everyone, I am so excited to welcome you to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries and I will be your host. My goal is to answer these questions and so much more to share tips, education and inspiration around all of the components of wellness through solo and guest episodes. With 35 plus years as a health and wellness professional, a retired college professor, a speaker and a multi-passionate entrepreneur, I certainly have lots to share. However, my biggest goal and inspiration in doing this podcast is to share the wellness stories of others with you, to bring in guests who can share their journeys so that we can all learn together while making an impact on the health, the wellness and lives of all of you, our listeners. The ultimate hope is that you leave today with even just one nugget that can enhance the quality of your life, and that you will. We all will, now and into the future, live our best quality of lives, full of energy, happiness and joy. Now let's dive into our message for today.

Speaker 2:

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries and I will be your host, and I am really excited to have this conversation today with my guest. She is an anxiety expert helping Gen X women feel calm, confident and capable. She uses a unique approach of neuroscience, hormone balancing and faith. She definitely helps you let go of worry, self-doubt and overthinking that might keep you stuck from being the person you are designed to be. Elizabeth Scarcella, welcome. I'm so excited to have you here and have this conversation today.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh. Thank you so much, Shelly. This is such an honor and I am thrilled to be able to share some information and help your audience.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I'm looking forward to it so much because, as you know, because this is your specialty, this is a topic that affects a very high percentage of the population. Yes, and interestingly enough, many years ago, one of my best friends was going through some anxiety and when it first started she was embarrassed to share about it. And she was embarrassed to share when she was having episodes and come to find out when she started to talk about it she couldn't believe how many almost everybody that she was talking to about it. Yes, I've gone through that too. I've experienced that as well, and so I think it's this was gosh, I don't know so many years ago. So now it's definitely more openly discussed and you know, I think she felt a lot of shame about it in the beginning, but now she knows it's just kind of a part of who she is. So what have you experienced?

Speaker 2:

You've been involved in this area and you've done a ton of research in it. What can you, what can you see how it's evolved? I mean, do you feel like people are more comfortable sharing?

Speaker 1:

Yes, I believe so, but I think that most people are misled about what anxiety is and misinformed. It's not their fault, they're misinformed, it's just they don't have the full story. So, honestly, shelly, there's a massive myth out there keeping people trapped in anxiety, and that's what I'm so excited to share about today. So, whether you're Susie and you can't fit into your holiday clothes and it's making you really stressed out, or you're Sally, who's afraid to see her brother because he was so abusive to her in their childhood, or your Molly, who's having a terrible time with your teenager, or even Hannah, who was told by her husband that he wants to split up after Christmas.

Speaker 1:

What I've discovered about all of these cases, and more, is that, even though they all have different reasons for being anxious, the cause is the same. What's underlying this is the same, and that's what we have to get to. We can't manage our outside circumstances. We can't manage our thoughts. In order to be able to help ourself with the anxiety, we have to get to the root cause of what is causing these thoughts. Our thoughts aren't random, and it's more than just thinking positively, more than saying our affirmations. It's more than a prayer and a pill. I am a deep Christian and I know that you can't just pray away anxiety. You have to get to the reason, the cause of your anxiety, and that's exactly what I've learned how to do after 25 years of working with clients.

Speaker 2:

Wow, that's amazing and so so necessary. It reminds me of the discussion around any kind of an illness that we have or any kind of a disease that we have is finding what's the cause, what's the root cause, and that's not done enough right. We're learning that there are some doctors that do, but most of the time it's, you know, kind of put a bandaid on it right and rather than find out why and what's really behind the cause. So this is fascinating and you know you were talking earlier. You had mentioned that it's a similar cause.

Speaker 2:

The cause of anxiety is similar across any experience that we have which reminded me of how our bodies respond to stress and physiologically, our bodies respond the same exact way, no matter what type of stressor, right. So it's something I've, you know, shared with students through the years when I've taught health in my classes. That I have taught through the years is the fact that your body responds the same way, whether it's a positive stress or a negative type of stress. So understanding that and being able to manage stress is so important when you understand that point. So when it comes to the cause of anxiety, I would imagine it's very similar is is understanding what's the cause and, like you're saying, what's the root cause, so that you can manage it in a in a healthy manner.

Speaker 1:

Yes. So let's be clear that stress well, let's be clear that anxiety is unmanaged stress over time. They're not two different things. Anxiety is a deeper form of stress. So stress is I'm having an exam, if you're speaking of your students. Stress is I have to make a presentation, I'm going to be interviewed on a podcast. That's stress, right, the butterflies in our stomach, the face flushing, and if it is really a big deal, maybe we've missed a couple nights of sleep and we don't feel like eating. That's stress.

Speaker 1:

Anxiety is that type of stress that's happening over and over, not from, not from a smaller event like being interviewed or taking a test, but from a bigger trauma, or a trauma that your body thinks and perceives as something catastrophic. And so anxiety is the response to that. And while it seems so much and this took me a long time to get through while it seems so much that, of course, it's the marriage that ended that caused my anxiety, I mean that only makes sense. Of course it is this terrible time I'm having with my teenager, who just can't seem to get it together. You know, um, but it's not that, because why did another mother deal okay with the teenager? How come there's another person who wasn't happy and had grief about the end of their marriage, but it didn't destroy them.

Speaker 1:

Or even let's use this let's talk about family systems. So in a family system, provided the parents stay intact and they stay together and there wasn't some huge life catastrophe, why is Steven going to become a medical doctor with pretty much ease and Sonny becomes a drug addict? They're from the same family. Why is that so? It's not the circumstance that causes these issues. It's what's going on inside our body, the chemistry of what's going on inside our body, that actually feeds the wrong information, the faulty, the wonky information up to our brain. That has us think the thoughts we think and then we act on our thoughts.

Speaker 2:

Well, and I think that's such an important point, and I think that's what my, my girlfriend, came to realize is that for most, if not everyone, that experiences this, it's like you're saying, it's that chemical imbalance, if you will, that's creating it Right. And it's like you say, when you have two children from the same exact family and we see this often right Two that are completely opposite and go in complete opposite directions, Like you're like, wait, what they're related, how can that be, you know? And so I think it's just so fascinating. Everyone is I mean for lack of term, better term right now wired so differently. Yes, and that's what really is at play here, right, how they're going to respond, how they're going to handle things, how resilient they are.

Speaker 1:

It isn't just buckle up and pick, put on your big girl panties. Like we used to say, it isn't fake it till you make it, it can't be. The reason why some people can so-called fake it till they make it or put on their big girl panties is because they have the resilience in their body. They have the resources in their body, their hormones are firing the right way, their nervous system is regulated and then another a part of their brain called the limbic system is in a repair state. Okay, and their gut is also working well. If we don't have our gut working well, we don't have our hormones, we don't have our nervous system working well. If we don't have our gut working well, we don't have our hormones, we don't have our nervous system working well and our limbic system is all screwed up. How could you expect someone to be able to just thrive? It's kind of like if you had a broken leg. You see the person with the broken leg. You're not saying you're being a baby. Why aren't you taking a five mile walk with me? What's wrong with you? Of course you're. You see the person with the broken leg. You're not saying you're being a baby. Why aren't you taking a five mile walk with me. What's wrong with you? Of course you're not going to say that because you see they're broken.

Speaker 1:

The only, the biggest problem is anxiety isn't obvious like a broken leg. It's invisible, but it's not any less important than a broken leg. In fact it's worse, because a broken leg will heal. Anxiety left untreated will not heal and we will just get worse over time, which is what I found with so many of my clients. I jokingly call my practice. It's not really this, but I jokingly call my practice the last resort. And I call it that because so many people have gone to counselors and therapists and coaches and psychologists and psychiatrists and neuro neurologists and then they have their tummy issues, so they go to a gastroenterologist, and they have hormone issues, so they go to their gynecologist. You see what I'm saying. And they keep not getting better because it's not one problem. And they keep not getting better because it's not one problem, it's all together and we need to heal the root that caused all of this.

Speaker 2:

Well, and that's amazing too. Going back to, I mean, everything in our bodies and especially, as you know, your gut health, is such a huge part of our overall health, a hundred percent Right. So treating all of that again is so important. So so let's talk a minute for for our listeners. When you have a client, elizabeth, what I mean, of course, I mean in the beginning you're getting kind of their history and starting to get a handle of maybe some of the causes of their anxiety. But can you kind of take us along in a simplistic and short form journey?

Speaker 1:

when you work with someone and work on I've streamlined this very much and I actually have webinars about this, so you don't even need to see me one-on-one actually, and I have an assessment that people can take and that's how much it's been streamlined. So, really, we're looking at the symptoms that you're having. That would cause that are that their root is hormonal imbalances, and by hormonal imbalances I'm specifically talking more about reproductive imbalances, more about reproductive imbalances estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid Okay. Then I also am asking them questions and looking at symptoms that have to do with nervous system dysregulation. So this is where you hear the term cortisol all the time, right? So this is where people are stuck you having too much cortisol, which is a hormone that is excreted in our brain, and it's excreted from our adrenals. That starts in the brain, okay. So fancy way of saying those people are caught in the fight, flight freeze, okay. So they have a difficult time relaxing.

Speaker 1:

And then I look at symptoms of people that have limbic system disrepair, which I said is a part of the brain. Again, you don't need to know the word limbic system. You never even need to hear that again, except to know what are the symptoms of that. So when we can see if it's all of that if it's two of those, if it's one of those, then we know exactly what to do. We know what types of foods we need to eat, we know what types of exercises I don't mean push-ups, but different types of exercises that we need to do. We know what type of supplementation we would need to do, and we also know what type of movement we need to do so. And movement isn't just exercise, it's different types of movement that has to do with regulating our nervous system and our limbic system, so that's called somatic practices Again, a fancy word for movement. So that's what we do. It's just, it's very straightforward actually.

Speaker 2:

And it sounds like you're coming from a very holistic approach.

Speaker 1:

Very holistic. And then the other thing that I infuse that I think is different than most is really I infuse a good dose of faith. So not everybody believes what I believe, but in order to be well, we have to believe in something other than ourself. We have to, and so we need to look at that too, so we also use that as well. It's all. We're looking at the body, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

Speaker 2:

Well, and I love that because that makes up just the complete wellness umbrella. You know, there's like this umbrella and that's that's really truly the reason that I call and and came up with the name for my podcast, because I want want it to be and I wanted it to be all encompassing. So, whether someone talking about financial wellness, or emotional wellness, or mental or physical, right, it's all part of the complete picture, a hundred percent. So I, you know, I would always, when I would lecture about this to my students, I would just say you know, we all have these different components and some areas we might be really strong in and some others maybe not so much. So so let's focus maybe on the areas that we could improve a little, because we're not going to be perfect. But think from that again, just that overall approach of you know, just doing the best that we can and coming from that holistic approach, is so important. So I love, love what you're doing. I'm really very curious to know what are your thoughts on medication to treat.

Speaker 1:

So medication sometimes is necessary. And it's important to note that I am in a practice with my husband, who is a 40-year veteran physician, so he oversees my practice and we don't discount medication. Of course we're not in the business of prescribing medicine, although we do do bioidentical hormones in our practice for those that have hormonal imbalances, and that's more of a natural type medication, which in my webinar, we go deep into that. But sometimes medication is necessary. I don't think that we need to make life harder, but just because we take medication it doesn't mean that the anxiety is going to go away, because the body feeding the anxiety is still going to be operating, regardless of whether we're taking a pill to help manage the symptoms.

Speaker 1:

And what we'll find over time is that most anxiety medications, although necessary and I'm not going to lie, I was on them too Not anymore, thank goodness, I've been able to heal through the grace of God and all of this work that I've done and but they are necessary. But the problem with medications, particularly benzos, that are an anxiety type medication is that you continually need to go up in the dose. And I could get really deep into why that is, but just suffice it to say our body is stronger than anything thing, and when we are using a medication that is foreign to our body, our body's going to repel it, and so then we need to have a higher and higher dose. So so it's. Benzos and anti-anxiety meds aren't the solution for a long-term, but it is great to help somebody get through something, like if it was a some sort of grief, like, like I said, their husband's leaving them, or or their best friend or mother died, or something like that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Well, it's like a very traumatic where they need some assistance in addition to doing the work, like with you, but something just to probably, when it's so traumatic and so extreme, it's really just being able to function right, finding the way that they can function day-to-day life to do get better. And in some cases, yes, the medication is definitely necessary. And how wonderful that you can work alongside your husband. That's fantastic, yes, well, I mean, I don't know.

Speaker 1:

I'm just assuming that wasn't his idea. He said I'm trying to retire. I said, well, I've got other plans. So that's what's really great. And I have three programs and in the deepest program that we have, the most comprehensive program, it's a concierge medicine program. You will be meeting with a, with a physician who has 40 years of experience. That actually takes the time with you, unlike going to your primary care that has 15 minutes. So not to brag about my husband, but he's a board certified internist, emergency medicine doctor and surgeon, as well as board certified in pediatrics. Not that we're kids, but he just has this big breadth of knowledge that he can bring to our clients, to our patients, and and be able to really help them. But you don't have to start there. We can start it off easy with just a little webinar that gives you all kinds of information and that is personalized to what's going on with you. I love that.

Speaker 2:

Well, it's phenomenal what your, your husband, has, all of that background and that knowledge, it just to me, it's just. It's just a great combination with what you're doing as well. You know, you can just really compliment each other.

Speaker 1:

This gets to happen, yes for sure.

Speaker 2:

So tell us, elizabeth, where can people find you? They want to find out more and possibly work with you.

Speaker 1:

Sure. So one easy place is to find me on Instagram at my name, elizabeth Scarcella, which I'm sure you'll spell out for them, because it's kind of not an easy one. And the next is I really encourage you to take this assessment. It's just 30 questions and it is easy, and it's going to tell you what, if it's, if your anxiety is coming from a mostly primarily from a hormonal imbalance, from a nervous system dysregulation or limbic system, you know, lack of healing and you'll be able to see what that, what is the cause. And then you can join our webinar after that, and the webinar goes into details about why it's happening this way and what to do what to do.

Speaker 2:

That's wonderful and of course I will, for all of our listeners. I will add all of this information in the show notes and and we will be adding the quiz, and I think that's that in of itself to me sounds like calming and encouraging, just to know. Okay, I can take this quiz, this questionnaire, and now kind of find out what, what, what's the area that we need to really focus on first. What's the what's, where's this coming from and where is this anxiety stemming from? And I just feel like that.

Speaker 2:

That just feels hopeful for someone who might be feeling good at a loss, or feeling frustrated or not want to talk about it, or feeling, like I said, how my girlfriend was feeling. I feel like shameful and embarrassed. It's not something to be embarrassed about. You can't help it.

Speaker 1:

I mean, would you be ashamed of having diabetes? Would you be ashamed of of having an ear infection? Would you be ashamed of having high blood pressure? How could you be ashamed of that? That's just a dysfunction in your body, and anxiety is that now, it isn't it? A lot of times people had unmitigated or unmanaged stress that turned into anxiety, but sometimes it's not that. Sometimes people just have anxiety. Sometimes I have clients that can't remember any traumatic situation. They just showed up anxious one day and there, there again is such testimony to the fact that it has to do with what's going on with our body. It isn't just what's going on outside of us that caused this reaction.

Speaker 2:

Right, it's so true, and it, like you said, it just can show up, and so that's just telling you that maybe there wasn't a huge traumatic event. You know, as we often think, yes, what's going to cause it? Right? And so I think that's another kind of a comforting thing to know, because I know, you know people, and I feel like I've had talked to friends who feel this way going okay, why, what did I do? Or I can't even think of an experience as to why I would feel this way, 100%. Again, it just gives. I don't know if the right word is permission, but permission to go, accept it and then to seek help.

Speaker 1:

Nothing needs to be terrible. I remember one time I sat this is before I knew as much as I know this was in my early 20s I sat down in a therapist's office and I said okay, I'm married, we don't have a money problem, we own a home, we both have parents that are alive, that talk to us that like us Um, I like my husband, I have great health, I'm not ugly and I'm relatively smart. Why do I feel so damn anxious? So that's what I'm saying is that you don't have to have had something bad that happened. A lot of people do. A lot of people do they have a trauma that never got resolved, that they tried to heal on their own, that never really healed, and anxiety showed up. But sometimes we're going to be anxious and nothing bad happened up, but sometimes we're going to be anxious and nothing bad happened, just what our body did.

Speaker 2:

Well, it's like when someone it just reminds me of, when someone is going through a form of depression and some people from the outside might go look at someone like you and say, why are they depressed? They're successful, they're successful, they have a family, they have a you know, beautiful home, and it's so easy to look at all the material things and not realize that it's wait, it's not about that. Again, it goes back to what's happening internally.

Speaker 1:

Exactly, and we need to heal the cause of that. We need to heal the root cause of that. That's what we need to do in order to be able to actually heal anxiety. All the time you hear manage anxiety, manage anxiety. And I'm here to tell you you do not have to live managing anxiety. You don't. You can live having no anxiety. You can build your body up. It can become resilient enough. You can know exactly what your triggers are. You can know exactly what tools you need, what supplements you need, what foods to avoid in order for you to feel good, to feel calm, confident and capable. It is possible. If you heard my story and it's going up my true, my long story is going up on YouTube really soon You're going to be like, oh my gosh, this girl really. Yes, yes, yep.

Speaker 1:

We can have all kinds of bad things happen to us, or nothing bad and we can heal.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I love that. I mean we'll have to do a, a follow-up so that you can share all about your story, cause I I would love to share that with our listeners and I would love that. It would really, really be great. I just, I love this conversation, elizabeth, and again, it just, it just. I feel like it just brings about that just hope and encouragement and, like you're saying, it's not a life sentence, it's not something you have to manage for the rest of your life. You can heal.

Speaker 1:

You can heal. You can heal, yes, and that's just such a-. That is your right, that is your birthright. You just we just have to use the right tools in order to do so, and it comes down to finding the root cause. I love that.

Speaker 2:

I love that, so I mean I would love. That's almost. I feel like a great place to end, but do you have anything else you'd like to share? I feel like a great place to end, but do you have anything else you'd like to share? Any final words of wisdom, advice or inspiration for our listeners?

Speaker 1:

Don't run away from your symptoms. They're a signal. They're trying to tell you something. They're not something to be afraid of. They're something to be embraced. I know that you're scared. I know that the worry and the overthinking and the and the panic attacks and the shaking body and the not being able to sleep is so scary, but those are signals of parts of your body that need to be healed. Take the quiz. Just see what it has to say. It's no big deal. Even if you don't want to go to the webinar. At least you know. No big deal, even if you don't want to go to the webinar. At least you know.

Speaker 2:

At least you know yeah, you deserve this and it is your birthright. Well, and that's a beautiful thing, like I love that. You deserve this. Everyone deserves to feel their best and have energy and and be anxiety free, right To be calm, be confident and capable. Yeah, yep. Oh, my goodness, I love it so much. Thank you so much for you, so much.

Speaker 1:

Yes, thank you so much. I feel so honored to be here and I hope everybody has a very blessed Christmas.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, yes, and to all of our listeners. Again, I will put Elizabeth's information in the show notes and be sure to reach out to her. You're hearing her right now. She is going to be an incredible help to anyone out there who might be suffering from anxiety, whether it's mild or extreme. Take the time, take the quiz, reach out to Elizabeth and, again, thank you to everyone for being here today. Thank you to Elizabeth, and take time today to do something for yourself and your wellness and have a beautiful, blessed rest of your week. Everyone. See you next time.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. I hope you gained value and enjoyed our time together as much as I did, and if you know someone who could benefit from today's episode, I would love and appreciate it if you could share with a friend or rate and review words of wellness so that more can hear this message. I love and appreciate you all. Thank you for listening and if you have any questions or topics you would like me to share in future episodes, please don't hesitate to reach out to me through my contact information that is shared in the show notes below. Again, thank you for tuning in to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries and I encourage you to do something for you, for your wellness, on this day. Until next time, I hope you all have a healthy, happy and blessed week. Thank you, you.