How Real Connection Supports Healing (Even When You’re Exhausted) with Heather Nelson
Release Date: 10/29/2025
MCAS vs Histamine Intolerance Why Your Body Reacts to Everything (And You’re Not Crazy)
Dear body, I’m listening
“A reaction is not a moral failure— it's information. Your body is just responding to something, and right now it's giving you signals that it doesn't want that or it needs some extra help.” —Donna Piper When every meal feels like a risk and symptoms seem to come out of nowhere, it can start to feel like the body has turned against us. Many in the chronic illness community are stuck between labels like “histamine intolerance” and “MCAS” while still getting no clear plan or validation. This conversation names what is happening in the body and why it is not “all in...
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Rest Without Guilt (When Your Worth Got Tied to Output)
Dear body, I’m listening
“Rest isn't a character flaw. It's what your body needs in order to heal from these invisible illnesses. And for some of us, it's also a grief process, because we're not just resting from task; we’re resting from the version of ourselves who thought we had to earn love through output.” —Donna Piper Ep 36 Shownotes: Podcast Platforms We talk about rest like it is simple, but for many bodies it brings guilt, fear, and shame. When worth gets tied to productivity, stopping can feel dangerous even when the body is breaking down. This conversation meets the tension...
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Is It POTS? When Standing Up Feels Like a Trap
Dear body, I’m listening
“You're not making it up. You're not weak, you're not failing. Your body is working hard to keep you upright, and you deserve support that matches the reality of that.” —Donna Piper Standing up should not require strategy, recovery time, or mental math. When heart rate spikes, dizziness hits, and showers wipe us out, the hardest part is not the symptom. It is being told nothing is wrong while our body says otherwise. Donna shares lived experience with POTS, dysautonomia, and multiple comorbidities, blending physiology with trauma-informed insight. Her work is shaped by years...
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Traveling with Chronic Illness: Germany Edition
Dear body, I’m listening
“If you're traveling with chronic illness, I want you to hear me. There is nothing wrong with you. You just have to prepare a little bit. You deserve to travel in a way that doesn't punish you, that helps you, that makes you feel good.” —Donna Piper Travel takes more out of the body than most people admit. For those living with chronic illness, the cost shows up before the suitcase is even packed. Energy drains through lines, noise, time pressure, swelling, and the fear of crashing far from home. Donna shares her real-time approach to spending a month in Germany while...
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Pack, Move, Fly, Heal: Why I’m Choosing Germany for Lipedema Surgery
Dear body, I’m listening
“Movement and less pain is why I'm doing this and why I've chosen to go to Germany.” —Donna Piper Big life changes rarely wait their turn. When health decisions collide with exhaustion, logistics, and uncertainty, clarity matters more than certainty. Donna shares the personal and medical reasoning behind traveling to Germany for lipedema surgery while managing multiple chronic conditions. This episode traces how lived experience, failed conservative treatments, and the need for long-term care shaped a choice rooted in mobility, pain reduction, and nervous system safety. Press play...
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Lipedema Surgery Vs. Non-Surgical Care… Do I Have To Choose?
Dear body, I’m listening
“Anything you choose is not weakness. It's the best for you… Instead of thinking surgery or no surgery, try this question: ‘What would make my next step safer?’... Safety is a step, not a switch.” —Donna Piper Pressure around medical choices can turn care into panic. When the body is complex and money, time, and fear are involved, certainty starts to feel like a deadline. This conversation slows that moment down and gives it room to breathe. In this episode, Donna shares her lived experience navigating lipedema and the long road of conservative care, research, and...
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Hot Flashes, Heavy Legs: Lipedema Meets Perimenopause & Menopause
Dear body, I’m listening
“Lipedema is not a willpower issue. Shame is not a treatment plan. Late diagnosis does not mean late reality. It means late recognition. Your best advocate is yourself. There's nothing wrong with you. You've just been navigating a body that hasn't been understood by the medical world yet. Be gentle with your capacity. Meet yourself where you are.” —Donna Piper Bodies can change in ways that do not follow the rules we were taught. Pain, swelling, and heaviness show up, and the explanations never quite fit. Many women carry this quietly for years, assuming it is just weight or age....
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How Trauma Rewrites Pain Part 4: Flare or Trauma Response? When the Body’s Signals Get Confusing
Dear body, I’m listening
“Flares and trauma responses often look the same because fascia remembers, the nervous system protects, and the immune system overreacts to help defend itself, and the body is trying to keep you alive, not confused. So your job isn't to decode perfectly. Your job is to offer safety consistently, because when the body feels safe, the symptoms soften, and when the symptoms soften, the story changes, and when the story changes, the healing becomes possible.” —Donna Piper The body can shift from steady to overwhelmed without warning, leaving confusion about what just took over. Pain,...
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Transformation Boundaries: Protect Energy And Design A Purposeful Life with Didi Selwa
Dear body, I’m listening
“Move forward, take action. It may happen, it may not, but it's just about putting one step in front of the other— doing that is so important. When you go forward, you realize, ‘oh, that's not for me’, but in the process, you discover what is.” —Didi Selwa Drop the guilt of being stuck and discover a movement that meets your body where it is. Press play to hear how embodiment, faith, and small practical steps shift shame, chronic illness limits, and stalled dreams into forward motion. Didi Selwa went from a 25-year banking career to a Certified Transformational Life...
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The Science of Feeling Safe: Gentle Practices to Regulate Chronic Stress with Ann Diment
Dear body, I’m listening
"We are the experts in our well-being and our own bodies, and it's important for us to advocate for ourselves. We're not defined by our past. Our past is gone. It's in the past, and the beliefs we formed about ourselves based on what we've been told by other people or experienced in the past aren't necessarily true." —Ann Diment Some seasons of life push us past our limits, and the body keeps score long before we understand why. Many of us try to outwork the chaos, yet the real shift begins when we finally question the version of resilience we were taught to admire. There is a quieter...
info_outline“Push your life to be the life that you want and not accept that it's just the way it is. Every choice that you make should be toward loving the life that you have.” —Heather Nelson
Connection isn’t just a feel-good extra. It’s a lifeline when the world feels heavy and invisible battles make us want to shut down. Isolation, overwhelm, and invisible struggles don’t need to be our whole story; even small acts of reaching out can reshape everything. The truth is, connecting with the right people and sharing our messy middle is stronger than any secret solution.
Heather Nelson, founder of The Connection Hive and Host of Life Conversations with a Twist Podcast, turned a knack for listening into a movement, making careers, health challenges, and even surrogacy a shared experience, not a solitary climb. Her unfiltered take on relationships and resilience inspires a fresh perspective on both strangers and friends.
Press play to explore the profound impact of human connection as Donna and Heather delve into invisible illness, friendship, self-care rituals, flexible work arrangements, honest communication, and the raw beauty of surrogacy, all with candor and no sugarcoating.
Connect with Donna:
Website: https://www.donnapiper.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnapiper
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedonnapiper
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedonnapiper
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedonnapiper
Episode Highlights:
03:55 Living for Connection
12:33 Simple Ways to Connect
26:28 Setting Business Model Based on Flexibility and Accommodation
33:11 Connection When You Don’t Feel Like It
37:01 Navigating Surrogacy Journey
48:42 Challenges and Support in Surrogacy
01:01:44 Balancing Personal and Professional Life
01:04:59 Advocating for Surrogacy
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Some days, a real connection is stronger than any quick fix or advice. Listen in for raw stories about chronic illness, supportive friendships, and building a life that fits you as Donna sits with The Connection Hive Founder, Heather Nelson. #DearBodyImListening #MCAS #Lymphedema #Lipedema #ChronicIllness #connection #community #authenticity #support #surrogacyjourney #selfcare
Quotes:
04:53 “We all have a story, and I really want women to embrace theirs and be okay with talking about it, because at the end of the day, the goal is to inspire and empower other women to do the same.” —Heather Nelson
08:23 “The more we talk about things that we think are shameful or embarrassing, the more we put our self-esteem.” —Donna Piper
24:46 “We're here to learn how to connect with people and how to improve and go on through our relationships.” —Donna Piper
28:38 “Something that goes missed with employers is showing appreciation, telling people you're doing a great job; I see you; I'm thankful for you.” —Heather Nelson
30:44 “The more trust you build, the more that they're going to want to do for you.” —Heather Nelson
35:08 “Give yourself grace when it's really not a moment that you can show up; it's okay to take a break.” —Heather Nelson
50:44 “I really never push it upon people. If people want to have the conversation about [surrogacy], I will have it. If they don't, I leave it alone.” —Heather Nelson
01:02:10 “Connect with an open-ended presence. Be flexible— that makes your connection with people and yourself and the world around you an easier flow.” —Donna Piper
01:03:27 “The more you talk about things, even if it's scary or you feel weird about it, or you don't want to be judged, it opens up more true conversations, so you can have relationships that are more rooted in trust.” —Donna Piper
01:04:21 “Push your life to be the life that you want and not accept that it's just the way it is. Every choice that you make should be toward loving the life that you have.” —Heather Nelson
Connect with Heather:
A seasoned expert in the hospitality industry with over 20 years of experience in events. Heather is a significant influencer in Sonoma County.
As the founder of The Connection Hive, she is committed to empowering small businesses by curating innovative business development plans.
Her extensive network allows her to link individuals with the precise resources needed for growth—spanning marketing strategies, event curation, and business relations management.
Website: https://theconnectionhive.co/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathercelestenelson/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heather.nelson.7587
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathernelson.life