How Trauma Rewrites Pain Part 3—When Trauma Turns on the Immune System
Dear body, I’m listening
“Trauma doesn't just live in your memories, your fascia, or your nervous system. It can also reshape your immune system, especially when no one helped you feel safe. That doesn't mean it's your fault, and that doesn't mean your body isn't on your side. It means that your body has been on your side this whole time, trying to protect you the only way it knew how.” —Donna Piper Some days your body throws signals you cannot ignore, but no one seems to hear them. The swelling, the exhaustion, the crashes that make no sense on paper start to feel like a secret only you and your body...
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Thermal Imaging for Health: Early Answers, Less Guesswork with Dr. Robert Kane
Dear body, I’m listening
"It's a balance between getting information and trusting experts. It's really important that as a patient, you have to be your own advocate." —Robert Kane When it comes to our body, uncertainty can be the hardest symptom to treat. Worry sets in when answers are fuzzy, and bouncing between specialists leaves us more confused than before. The real question is: how can we know what’s happening inside before a health crisis begins? After doubting conventional answers and searching for tools that deliver real clarity, Dr. Robert Kane turned a career in health into a...
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Chronic Pain & Trauma: Gently Breaking The Invisible Link with Science
Dear body, I’m listening
"The body's intelligent. We just have to show up. I equate it to a dance where the body leads and I follow." —Peter Stuart You can run from nagging pain, but it keeps showing up in new ways—wrecking sleep, fouling up moods, and shutting down energy. The worst part? Real answers are rare, and the world keeps telling you to just “push through” or “try harder.” Maybe it’s not about willpower at all—it’s about listening to the actual story your body’s been trying to tell for years. Peter Stuart spent decades fighting through his own injuries, dismissed symptoms,...
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How Real Connection Supports Healing (Even When You’re Exhausted) with Heather Nelson
Dear body, I’m listening
“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...
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The Science of Rest— What the Lipkin Study Taught Us About ME/CFS
Dear body, I’m listening
“Pace first, safety builds capacity.” —Donna Piper There’s a kind of tired that sleep can’t fix, a crash that feels invisible to everyone but you. You push, you pace, you try to “do all the right things,” yet your body still calls a timeout. Maybe it’s not weakness or lack of willpower. Maybe your body’s simply working harder than anyone realizes. In this episode, Donna unpacks a revolutionary study on chronic fatigue, the real science behind “the crash,” and why pacing, rest, and nervous system care are the new power moves for healing. Expect myth-busting,...
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Beyond the Diagnosis: Reclaiming Life and Purpose With Lipedema with Hiba Hamati
Dear body, I’m listening
"Trust your instinct… Our bodies sound an alarm bell that something isn’t right, and we ignore it for years. Don’t ignore it. Don't accept the bare minimum answer. Just because your labs are normal does not mean that your body is functioning optimally." —Hiba Hamati Going to doctor after doctor, trying every tip, and still wondering why your pain and swelling never make sense. You know there’s something happening that nobody else seems to see, and not getting answers just wears you down. This chat right here puts a name to all that frustration. Hiba Hamati...
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If Only I Were Skinny…
Dear body, I’m listening
"Your body is not the enemy—the world's impossible standards are. And every time you name that truth out loud, you don't just free yourself, you also free someone else.” —Donna Piper Some lies are so loud they start to sound like truth—like the idea that confidence waits on the other side of weight loss. And the hardest part? The shame of not being skinny can at times feel heavier than our own weight, turning every step forward into a fight against an invisible anchor. Donna spent years believing her size erased her gifts. It wasn’t until she uncovered her...
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How Trauma Rewrites Pain, Part 2: When Fight or Flight Gets Stuck
Dear body, I’m listening
"If trauma rewrote the wiring one way, that means safety relationship and somatic practices can rewrite it the other way— it is the long game; there is no quick fix.” —Donna Piper Sometimes you do everything right, but your body keeps sending SOS signals no one else can see. Doubt creeps in—is this real, or is something deeper going on? You’re not alone; your body’s story matters, and what you feel makes perfect sense. For years, Donna felt invisible, questioned, and let down by quick fixes and dismissive answers. Her experience battling chronic pain, trauma, and...
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Dollars and Cents: The Real Financial Stress of Being Sick
Dear body, I’m listening
"I'm not my bills. I'm not my debt. I am worthy of care." —Donna Piper Being sick isn’t just exhausting—it’s expensive in ways nobody warns you about. The stress of medical bills, insurance denials, and endless receipts can weigh just as heavily as the symptoms themselves. If you’re tired of feeling like your wallet is as worn out as your body, you’re not alone. In this episode, Donna opens up about the real price tag of chronic illness, sharing her journey through misdiagnoses, out-of-pocket treatments, and the emotional toll of fighting for care. She breaks down the...
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How Trauma Rewrites Pain, Part 1: My Body Kept Score
Dear body, I’m listening
“Moving is medicine. There's something with moving that you don't need to know why or how, or how it relates to your emotions or trauma. And just like how trauma rewrites pain, it is also the opposite when you feel safe, embodied, and in a compassionate relationship with yourself, you can rewrite your story for safety.” —Donna Piper Sometimes pain isn’t just in your head—it’s woven deep into your body, shaping how you move, feel, and even how you see yourself. When life keeps telling you to “push through” but your body keeps shutting down, it’s easy to wonder if...
info_outline"Your body is not the enemy—the world's impossible standards are. And every time you name that truth out loud, you don't just free yourself, you also free someone else.” —Donna Piper
Some lies are so loud they start to sound like truth—like the idea that confidence waits on the other side of weight loss. And the hardest part? The shame of not being skinny can at times feel heavier than our own weight, turning every step forward into a fight against an invisible anchor.
Donna spent years believing her size erased her gifts. It wasn’t until she uncovered her diagnosis of lipedema and connected her lived experience with research on weight stigma that she began reframing her story—not as a failure to fix her body, but as proof that shame, not size, was her real burden.
In this conversation, Donna unpacks the shame-weight connection, how stigma literally rewires the nervous system, myths about size and illness, hidden biases in the wellness culture, why unlearning shame is as vital as any treatment, and simple daily practices to reclaim confidence without waiting on the scale.
Connect with Donna:
Website: https://www.donnapiper.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnapiper
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lipedema_donna
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedonnapiper
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedonnapiper
Episode Highlights:
01:36 The Shame of Not Being Skinny
04:04 Weighed Down by Weight
08:19 Studies on Weight Stigma
14:27 Myths About Being Skinny
15:47 Clummping the Anchor
19:37 Start from “Me” First
21:31 The Real Enemy
Resources:
🤔Got a question for me? Every month, I do a listener coaching episode—and I’d love to hear from you!
Send your questions, stories, or flare-up confessions to donna@donnapiper.com, and you just might hear your answer on the show.
- Weight stigma and cortisol (stress response)
Tomiyama AJ et al., Psychoneuroendocrinology (2014) When people experience weight stigma, their cortisol levels spike—the same hormone that rises when your body senses danger. This study shows how shame literally stresses the body on a biochemical level.
- The stress of stigma — cortisol reactivity
Major B et al., Body Image (2014) In a lab setting, women exposed to weight-related stigma had higher stress-hormone responses than those who weren’t. It’s proof that judgment—even subtle—activates the body’s fight-or-flight system.
- Chronic stress model of weight stigma
Tomiyama AJ, Appetite (2014) This review describes the “cyclic obesity/weight-based stigma” model: stigma triggers stress, stress alters metabolism, and the cycle keeps repeating.
- Lipedema, stigma, and depression
Clarke M et al., International Journal of Obesity (2024) A study of 1,000+ women with lipedema found that internalized shame—not body size—was one of the strongest predictors of depression. It’s not the fat; it’s the stigma about the fat.
- Internalized weight bias and mental health
Durso LE & Latner JD, Obesity (2008) Researchers created the Weight Bias Internalization Scale and found that self-directed stigma predicts worse emotional health, disordered eating, and avoidance of care.
- Review of internalized weight stigma
Papadopoulos S & Brennan L, Obesity Reviews (2021) A systematic review showing that internalized stigma often acts as the missing link between outside judgment and the physical and emotional fallout that follows.
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Confidence isn’t about losing pounds—it’s about losing shame. This week, Donna gets real about chronic illness, fat bias + showing up as you are. #DearBodyImListeningPodcast #BodyConfidence #ChronicIllness #SelfCompassion #BodyPositivity #SelfLove #WeightStigma
Quotes:
01:59 “Shame is sneaky. It doesn't just whisper in the dressing room. It leaks into your career, into your relationships, and sense of purpose.” —Donna Piper
04:41 “It's incongruent— what you want to believe and what you truly believe. You can't trick yourself, so you really have to do a lot of different work around this.” —Donna Piper
06:55 “It's a medical condition. It is not a lack of willpower. It's not laziness, it's not discipline failure. It's lipedema.” —Donna Piper
10:06 “It just wasn't the fat, it was the shame about the fat.” —Donna Piper
14:40 “Confidence doesn't come from subtracting pounds. It comes from subtracting shame.” —Donna Piper
14:53 “Illness is not a size issue. It's a systemic issue.” —Donna Piper
14:57 “Respect doesn't come from a body type. It comes from the humanity inside the body.” —Donna Piper
16:03 “Living with and changing this internal system is tough, especially when you believe it, because here's the thing: affirmations only work if you really believe them.” —Donna Piper
17:29 “Shame does interfere with your healing. It does affect your cortisol, it does affect your inflammation.” —Donna Piper
20:37 “Looking at yourself in the mirror without judging yourself and saying positive things is a very powerful. Your system will slowly begin to shift because you're not just saying the words, you're teaching your body that it's safe to believe them.” —Donna Piper
21:27 “Your body is not the enemy—the world's impossible standards are. And every time you name that truth out loud, you don't just free yourself, you also free someone else.” —Donna Piper
21:41 “You're calling, your leadership, your gifts— they don't shrink because of your size. They expand the moment you show up as you are.” —Donna Piper
21:55 “If you're breathing, you are worthy.” —Donna Piper
Meet Your Host:
Donna Piper is a Relationship Coach, Trauma Expert, and Akashic Records Healer dedicated to empowering successful single women to transform their love lives and attract fulfilling partnerships without sacrificing their professional ambitions.
With a holistic approach blending therapeutic coaching, trauma-informed techniques, and Akashic Records wisdom, she guides clients to release limiting beliefs, heal emotional blocks, and cultivate unshakable self-trust. Her work focuses on aligning mind, body, and spirit to create lasting change—helping clients refine communication, deepen self-worth, and build the foundation for healthy, loving relationships.
Donna’s sessions are a safe haven for those ready to break cycles, embrace vulnerability, and design a love life that harmonizes with their thriving careers. For women committed to both personal and professional fulfillment, she offers tailored strategies to unlock their full potential and step into the relationship of their dreams.