Your spine does more than hold you upright. It protects your nervous system and serves as a main communication highway between your brain and the rest of your body. And in this episode of Healing Beyond the Symptoms, Dr. Leah Hahn D.C., explains something most people have never been taught: your spine also plays a powerful role in how you process emotions and heal.

Dr. Leah Hahn, DC, explores how stress and emotional overwhelm can create protective muscle bracing around the spine, shaping posture and creating tension patterns over time. She connects this to the research of neuroscientist Dr. Candace Pert and the “molecules of emotion,” explaining why emotions aren’t just “in your head”—they have biochemical and muscular components that the body can store, especially around the spine.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why the spine is a nervous system communication channel (not just “posture”)
• How emotions shape posture, breath, and muscle tone
• Why stress can create long-term spinal and fascial tension patterns
• The Candace Pert connection: emotions as biochemical messengers throughout the body
• How Network Spinal supports regulation, adaptability, and emotional release
• Practical strategies to support emotional healing through the spine (posture, movement, breath, joy, epsom salt)

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to the Spine's Role in Healing

00:44 Understanding the Spine and Nervous System Connection

01:30 Emotional Impact on the Spine

02:30 Trapped Emotions and Their Physical Manifestations

05:25 Healing Through Nervous System-Based Chiropractic Care

13:04 Case Study: Overcoming Chronic Issues

14:57 Practical Tips for Emotional Healing

18:20 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Booking your first visit can feel like a big step—especially if you’ve never experienced nervous system-based chiropractic before. In this solo episode of Healing Beyond the Symptoms, Dr. Leah Hahn D.C., walks you through exactly what happens when you come to Body in Balance Wellness Center in Golden, CO—so you can feel informed, confident, and at ease.

You’ll learn what the first appointment includes (and why we typically don’t adjust on day one), what we measure in your nervous system exam, and how we create a care plan that’s personalized to your goals—without pressure, scare tactics, or confusing jargon.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to schedule your first visit + what we ask on that first call
• What happens during the consultation, history, and goal-setting conversation
• The nervous system exam: HRV, surface EMG, spinal thermography, and when X-rays may be recommended
• Why we usually don’t adjust on the first visit—and how the Report of Findings works
• What the first gentle Network Spinal session feels like (fully clothed, light contacts, no force)
• How to support your nervous system after a session and why “familiar movement” matters

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction to Nervous System-Based Chiropractic

00:38 Scheduling Your First Appointment

01:13 Consultation and Exam Process

02:21 Understanding the Nervous System Tests

04:25 Report of Findings and Personalized Care Plan

05:14 Beginning the Healing Process

06:55 Creating a Healing Environment

07:39 Patient Success Story

09:59 Different Types of Chiropractic Care

11:15 Tactical Takeaways and Final Thoughts

Learn more about Body in Balance Wellness Center
Website: https://www.bodyinbalancechiropractic.com/

When Pain Speaks — What Your Body Is Trying to Tell You

Sometimes the wake-up call comes as pain — the kind you can’t push through, stretch out, or numb away.

For Ellie, it started as severe lower back pain that threatened her career, her relationships, and her sense of self.

In this powerful episode of Healing Beyond the Symptoms, Dr. Leah and Dr. Scott Hahn D.C. of Body in Balance Wellness Center in Golden, CO, explores how pain often signals more than just physical dysfunction — it’s the body’s way of asking for attention, safety, and truth.

Ellie’s story unfolds from physical suffering to emotional clarity. Beneath her back pain were years of unprocessed family trauma and emotional strain that her body had been carrying for decades. Through gentle, nervous system-based chiropractic care (Network Spinal), Ellie not only released tension and pain but also rebuilt her relationships and rediscovered joy in her life and work.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why chronic pain is often rooted in emotional and nervous system dysregulation
• The connection between family trauma, tension patterns, and pain
• How breath reveals safety and healing in the body
• The power of creating safety and coherence in the nervous system
• How true resilience means growing beyond pain — not returning to who you were before it

Pain doesn’t mean you’re broken. It means your body is ready for transformation.

Learn more about Body in Balance Wellness Center
Website: https://www.bodyinbalancechiropractic.com/
FREE Guide [5 Simple Ways to Help Your Nervous System Feel Safe Again]: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/LejHoOM/starthealing

If you’ve ever said to yourself, “I’m so lazy — why can’t I just get it together?” stop right there.

Because chances are, you’re not lazy at all — you’re dysregulated.

In this powerful episode of Healing Beyond the Symptoms, Dr. Leah Hahn D.C., of Body in Balance Wellness Center in Golden, CO, breaks down the truth behind “laziness” — and reveals how fatigue, procrastination, and emotional shutdown are often signs of a nervous system stuck in survival mode.

Dr. Hahn explains the science of freeze and dorsal vagal responses, where the body shuts down energy, digestion, and motivation in order to conserve resources and feel safe. What looks like “laziness” is actually your nervous system protecting you from overwhelm.

You’ll also learn how to gently restore regulation through breathwork, co-regulation, connection, and nervous system-based care, creating a path from burnout to balance.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why “laziness” is often a sign of chronic stress and nervous system shutdown
• How the dorsal vagal response creates fatigue and emotional numbness
• Why connection and co-regulation are essential to healing
• How gentle chiropractic and somatic care help reactivate safety in the body
• Simple daily resets to shift from survival to restoration

If you’ve ever judged yourself for being tired or unmotivated, this episode will help you see your body with compassion — and remind you that you’re not broken. You’re patterned. And patterns can change.

Learn more about Body in Balance Wellness Center
Website: https://www.bodyinbalancechiropractic.com/
FREE Guide [5 Simple Ways to Help Your Nervous System Feel Safe Again]: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/LejHoOM/starthealing

Have you ever noticed how stress doesn’t just make you anxious — it affects everything? Your digestion, your hormones, your sleep, your mood.

In this solo episode of Healing Beyond the Symptoms, Dr. Leah Hahn, D.C. of Body in Balance Wellness Center in Golden, CO, unpacks the powerful role your autonomic nervous system plays in regulating your body’s most vital functions. She explains how chronic stress locks your system into survival mode — keeping cortisol high, slowing digestion, disrupting sleep cycles, and throwing hormones off balance.

She breaks down the science of the sympathetic (fight/flight) and parasympathetic (rest/digest) systems, helping listeners understand how modern life keeps us stuck in a loop of vigilance, fatigue, and hormonal chaos — and what it takes to reset.

You’ll also learn about the vagus nerve, your body’s master regulator of calm, and how to activate it through breath, movement, and gentle care.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The difference between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems
• What “dorsal vagal shutdown” really means for digestion and mood
• How cortisol imbalance disrupts sleep and energy
• Why chronic stress causes hormone fluctuations and PMS
• Practical steps to regulate your nervous system naturally

Your symptoms aren’t random — they’re communication. When you support your nervous system, your body can finally return to balance.

Learn more about Body in Balance Wellness Center
Website: https://www.bodyinbalancechiropractic.com/
FREE Guide [5 Simple Ways to Help Your Nervous System Feel Safe Again]: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/LejHoOM/starthealing

Most of us think of stress as something that happens in our minds — a mental storm we can outthink, outplan, or outwork.
But what if stress isn’t just mental?

In this solo episode of Healing Beyond the Symptoms, Dr. Leah Hahn, chiropractor and functional wellness doctor at Body in Balance Wellness Center in Golden, CO, breaks down how stress leaves a physical imprint on your nervous system and body.

She explains how chronic overwhelm creates visible changes — from tight shoulders and shallow breathing to digestive problems, sleep disruption, and hormone imbalance. Stress doesn’t just fade; it imprints on your physiology and behavior until you teach your body safety again.

Dr. Hahn also shares practical ways to release stored stress and retrain your nervous system — including body check-ins, micro-resets, breathwork, movement, and Network Spinal care, which helps reorganize tension and restore balance.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• How stress becomes a physical pattern in the nervous system
• Why muscle tension, gut issues, and hormone imbalance are stress responses
• The four main stress responses: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn
• How chronic stress impacts digestion, sleep, and immunity
• Simple daily practices to regulate your nervous system and restore calm
  
  

If you’ve been dismissing your body’s signals as “just stress,” this episode will help you understand the deeper meaning — and how to finally reset your system.

Learn more about Body in Balance Wellness Center
Website: https://www.bodyinbalancechiropractic.com/
FREE Guide [5 Simple Ways to Help Your Nervous System Feel Safe Again]: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/LejHoOM/starthealing

Stress doesn’t end when the moment passes — it leaves an imprint.

In this solo episode of Healing Beyond the Symptoms, Dr. Leah Hahn D.C., of Body in Balance Wellness Center in Golden, CO, explores how stress is not just mental but deeply physiological, affecting posture, hormones, immunity, and emotions long after the trigger is gone.

Dr. Hahn explains how stress, trauma, and chronic overwhelm imprint on the nervous system, keeping it stuck in fight-or-flight or freeze mode. Over time, this creates tension, hormonal imbalance, sleep disruption, and emotional reactivity — even when life seems “fine.”

You’ll also hear the story of a client who faced profound loss and physical limitation after years of emotional trauma — and how her nervous system, through Network Spinal care, gradually reorganized toward stability, peace, and healing.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why stress is stored in the body, not just the mind
• The neuroscience behind trauma and nervous system imprinting
• How stress changes muscle tone, hormones, and digestion
• Why talk therapy alone may not resolve body-held trauma
• Practical tools to retrain your nervous system and create safety
• How Network Spinal care helps release stored stress and restore balance

Your body isn’t broken — it’s patterned. And those patterns can change.

Learn more about Body in Balance Wellness Center
Website: https://www.bodyinbalancechiropractic.com/
FREE Guide [5 Simple Ways to Help Your Nervous System Feel Safe Again]: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/LejHoOM/starthealing

Have you ever felt tension, fatigue, or heaviness that seems to come out of nowhere — almost as if your body is trying to get your attention?

In this episode of Healing Beyond the Symptoms, Dr. Leah Hahn D.C., and Dr. Scott Hahn D.C., of Body in Balance Wellness Center in Golden, CO, share the powerful story of Sarah, a patient who came to them with chronic brain fog and upper back tension after a head injury — only to discover that her symptoms were pointing to something much deeper.

Through gentle, nervous system-based Network Spinal care, Sarah began to release years of stored emotional and physical tension. As her body unwound, clarity began to emerge — clarity about her relationships, her career, and her sense of self.

What started as physical healing evolved into personal transformation. Her posture shifted before her circumstances did — and her nervous system became the guide that led her toward a life of congruence and authenticity.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• What it means when your body and life are out of sync
• How emotional tension shows up as physical pain
• Why safety is the starting point for making major life changes
• How nervous system regulation improves clarity, energy, and awareness
• The science of “defense physiology” — and how to move out of survival mode
  
  

If you’ve ever ignored your body’s whispers until they turned into shouts, this episode will help you understand how your symptoms might actually be your body’s way of showing you what’s ready to change.

Learn more about Body in Balance Wellness Center
Website: https://www.bodyinbalancechiropractic.com/
FREE Guide [5 Simple Ways to Help Your Nervous System Feel Safe Again]: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/LejHoOM/starthealing