Let’s Talk About Poop: Trusting Your Gut with Marina Ortega
The Vitalist
In this episode, Dr. Keiko sits down with Marina Ortega, founder of Scottsdale Hydrotherapy and Trust Your Gut, to explore the fascinating and often misunderstood world of colon hydrotherapy. Marina shares her personal journey from debilitating constipation and chronic illness to becoming a leading voice in gut health and detoxification. Together, we dive into the science, history, and surprising emotional layers of gut healing. You’ll learn why supporting your drainage pathways is essential, how the gut is directly tied to immunity and mood, and what you can expect if you’re curious about...
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The Most Counterintuitive Healing Advice You’ll Ever Hear with Wes Kress (014)
The Vitalist
From growing up in a cult religion to facing years of childhood trauma, autoimmune disease, and a body in constant distress, Wes Kress’s story is not one of defeat, but of radical transformation. In this episode, Wes opens up about the hidden feedback loops that keep us stuck, the biology of emotional pain, and why true healing has nothing to do with fixing yourself and everything to do with listening to the truth your body has been telling you all along. We explore the patterns that wire shame into survival, why most people unknowingly run from the very thing that could set them free, and...
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Numb Is a Feeling: How to Work with the Emotions You Can’t Name with Coach Micheline Green (013)
The Vitalist
In this episode of The Vitalist, master life coach Micheline Green invites us into the complex terrain of true transformation. Drawing from over two decades of experience, including her early work investigating child abuse and her training in Integral Coaching, Micheline reveals what it really takes to shift deeply embedded patterns. Together, we explore: Why real change happens beneath the psychological immune system How fear shows up in disguise: as rage, anxiety, depression, or numbness The role of the “loving witness” in releasing trapped emotion Autonomic signatures beyond fight,...
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Healing Isn’t in Your Head: Why You Can’t Bypass What Lives in Your Body with Brittny King (012)
The Vitalist
What if the stories you’ve been telling yourself—about your worth, your happiness, your healing, aren’t the truth? In this raw and revelatory episode, Brittny shares her journey from high-performing “happy girl” to a deeply embodied woman rewriting generational patterns. From hiking Mont Blanc on her honeymoon to navigating postpartum anxiety and uncovering childhood trauma through motherhood, Brittny holds nothing back. She’ll show you how a single belief like “everything is figureoutable” can become a lifeline, why you can’t outthink a dysregulated nervous system, and how...
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Music as Medicine: How Your Heart Can Rewire Your Nervous System at 60 BPM with Barry Goldstein
The Vitalist
What if music isn’t just something we hear, but something our bodies remember? In this powerful episode of The Vitalist, Grammy-winning composer, producer, and sound healing pioneer Barry Goldstein joins us to explore music as medicine. From heart coherence to brainwave entrainment, Barry breaks down how rhythm, intention, and vibration interact with the nervous system, emotions, and even the cells of the body. He shares his journey from burnout as a mainstream record producer to becoming a “musitarian”, someone who uses sound to uplift humanity. Through personal stories, scientific...
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Turn Toward the Fear: Why Stillness Is the Hardest (and Most Healing) Thing You’ll Ever Do with Akshay Nanavati
The Vitalist
Let us be real with you: most people aren’t actually afraid of failure, pain, or fear itself. They’re afraid of being still long enough to feel any of it. In this episode, Dr. Keiko sits down with Akshay Nanavati, a former Marine, ultra-endurance athlete, and author of Fearvana, who went from addiction and self-harm to attempting the first ever solo ski crossing of Antarctica, pulling a 420lb sled. And no, this isn’t about becoming fearless. It’s about building the courage to face the parts of yourself you’ve been running from. We talk about: Why fear isn’t your enemy, it’s...
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From Overwhelm to Inner Wisdom: The Get Quiet Method Explained with Elaine Glass (009)
The Vitalist
In a world that praises the hustle and drowns us in noise, what if the most rebellious thing you could do… is get quiet? In this soulful conversation, Dr. Keiko sits down with Elaine Glass, author of Get Quiet, transformational coach, and former dental hygienist, to explore what actually happens when we stop doing and start listening. Elaine has sat with over 40,000 people. She’s heard their fears, their stress, their longing for peace. And what she’s found is something we all need to hear: healing doesn’t happen in the noise. It happens in the stillness. You’ll hear the story...
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What No One Tells You About Your Cycle, Your Gut, and Getting Pregnant with Dr. Samantha Ess (008)
The Vitalist
If you’ve ever wondered why your cycle feels off, what your gut has to do with your fertility, or how to actually prepare your body to conceive, this episode is for you. In this powerful conversation, Dr. Sammie pulls back the curtain on what most women were never taught about their bodies. From cycle literacy and hormone balance to gut health, environmental toxins, and the truth behind “unexplained infertility,” we dive into the real, root causes that impact your ability to get pregnant and how to heal them. Whether you're just starting to think about having a baby or you've been trying...
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Longevity Starts at Your Feet: Dr. Emily Splichal on Barefoot Science, Mobility & What Most People Get Wrong About Walking (007)
The Vitalist
Your feet aren’t just for walking, they’re the foundation of your posture, your performance, and even your longevity. In this episode, Dr. Emily Splichal, functional podiatrist, barefoot science expert, and founder of Naboso, breaks down the overlooked role of the feet in whole-body healing. You’ll learn why 10 seconds of single-leg balance predicts your lifespan, how foot posture impacts your spine and pelvis, and why the way you’re walking might be limiting your mobility, stability, and overall strength. We dive into: The $0 exercise Dr. Emily gives all her patients How your feet...
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From Himalayan Caves to Healing Chocolate: Lisa Reinhardt on Meditation, Mindfulness, and Cacao as Medicine (006)
The Vitalist
What if the most powerful meditation practice didn't require a cushion, app, or even quiet, but a single piece of chocolate? After 11 years in the Himalayas, living in a cave and studying with Tibetan masters, Lisa Reinhardt returned to the modern world with a mission: to demystify meditation and make presence feel deliciously accessible. In this insightful episode, Lisa shares how she founded Wei of Chocolate and discovered that something as simple as intentionally eating chocolate could soften the nerve system, awaken the senses and reconnect us to our fundamental goodness. ...
info_outlineIn this episode, Dr. Keiko sits down with Marina Ortega, founder of Scottsdale Hydrotherapy and Trust Your Gut, to explore the fascinating and often misunderstood world of colon hydrotherapy. Marina shares her personal journey from debilitating constipation and chronic illness to becoming a leading voice in gut health and detoxification.
Together, we dive into the science, history, and surprising emotional layers of gut healing. You’ll learn why supporting your drainage pathways is essential, how the gut is directly tied to immunity and mood, and what you can expect if you’re curious about colonics.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Marina’s shocking history of going 7–10 days without pooping and losing 7 pounds in her first colonic. (00:53)
Why Hippocrates believed all disease begins in the gut and how colonics were practiced as early as 500 BC until the rise of laxatives. (2:56)
What happens in your large intestine if you’re not pooping after every meal. (5:11)
How a contracted nervous system and an inability to “let go” emotionally keep us constipated. (6:20)
The crucial difference between drainage and detox and why you should never cleanse without open detox pathways. (7:46)
Why your lymphatic system depends on movement and breath to clear toxins. (8:36)
The surprising truth that 80% of your immune system and serotonin live in the gut. (9:54)
Why colonics benefit not just constipation, but athletes, cancer recovery, and anyone seeking longevity. (11:01)
What to expect during your first colon hydrotherapy session. (14:46)
What really comes out in a colonic, think parasites, gallbladder sludge, and more. (18:06)
How coffee enemas supercharge liver detox by boosting glutathione, the body’s master antioxidant. (20:49)
What is castor oil and how does it work? (24:12)
The therapies Marina swears by: DermaShape and the HOCATT ozone sauna. (26:39)
Why Marina created the Trust Your Gut product line. (36:26)
Resources:
Follow Marina: @marinathepoopfairy
Follow Scottsdale Hydrotherapy: @scottsdalehydrotherapy
Trust Your Gut - shop enemas and castor oil packs
NuCalm – technology for nervous system relaxation and healing
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