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The Moment(s) I Realized I Was Never Meant to Be "Normal"

Essence Rising

Release Date: 04/18/2025

Toxin Load and the Neurodivergent Body show art Toxin Load and the Neurodivergent Body

Essence Rising

In this powerful episode of Essence Rising, Chanté dives into an often-overlooked piece of neurodivergent wellness: toxin load. Toxin load is the cumulative burden of environmental toxins, synthetic fragrances, and food additives on sensitive systems. We'll explore how common exposures like heavy metals, pesticides, plastics, mold, perfumes, detergents, air fresheners, artificial dyes, preservatives, and sweeteners can quietly impact the nervous system, immune system, gut health, and emotional regulation, especially for autistic, ADHD, and other neurodivergent bodies. Chanté breaks down...

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ADHD, Autism, and Chronic Health Conditions: Navigating Your Neurodivergent Body show art ADHD, Autism, and Chronic Health Conditions: Navigating Your Neurodivergent Body

Essence Rising

Many neurodivergent individuals experience physical health challenges alongside ADHD or autism. Often, these conditions are misunderstood, dismissed, or misdiagnosed. In this episode of Essence Rising, we explore the complex connection between neurodivergence and physical comorbidities, from Ehlers-Danlos and dysautonomia to GI issues, migraines, chronic pain, sleep disturbances, and more. We’ll dive into how sensory sensitivities, nervous system differences, and hormonal fluctuations interact with ADHD and autism traits, and why these experiences are often overlooked by healthcare...

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When Hormones Meet ADHD and Autism show art When Hormones Meet ADHD and Autism

Essence Rising

Hormones don’t just influence mood swings or monthly cycles, they can deeply shape how ADHD and autism show up in everyday life. In this episode of Essence Rising, we explore what really happens when hormones meet ADHD and autism. From puberty to perimenopause, and every stage in between, hormonal shifts can amplify sensory sensitivities, emotional regulation challenges, and executive functioning struggles,but they can also provide insight into patterns that help us better understand ourselves. We’ll break down: Why hormonal fluctuations can intensify ADHD and autistic traits The...

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Navigating the Neurodivergent Nervous System: Regulation Without Conformity show art Navigating the Neurodivergent Nervous System: Regulation Without Conformity

Essence Rising

In this episode of Essence Rising, we dive deep into the neurodivergent nervous system by exploring what dysregulation, overstimulation, and shutdown feel like, and how neurodivergent individuals can support themselves with compassion, curiosity, and authenticity. We unpack practical, non-suppressive strategies for noticing and tracking your nervous system, creating sensory-friendly spaces, using movement, breath, and grounding exercises, and advocating for your needs in work, relationships, and healthcare settings. You’ll learn how to experiment gently with these tools without pressure or...

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Third Eyes and Divergent Minds: Awakening While Wired Differently show art Third Eyes and Divergent Minds: Awakening While Wired Differently

Essence Rising

In this deeply personal and enlightening episode of Essence Rising, Chanté explores the rich intersection of neurodivergence and spirituality. How autistic, ADHD, and other neurodivergent minds uniquely experience mystical states, spiritual awakenings, and the profound sense of connection with the unseen. Drawing from her own journey and professional insights, we dive into vivid personal stories, the science behind these experiences, and how traits like heightened sensitivity, divergent thinking, and altered time perception shape spiritual awareness. We also tackle the challenges that come...

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Metabolic Psychiatry & Neurodivergence: A Whole-System Reframe show art Metabolic Psychiatry & Neurodivergence: A Whole-System Reframe

Essence Rising

In this transformative episode, we dive into a rich conversation exploring the often-overlooked connections between neurodivergence, metabolic health, and mental wellness. What if depression, anxiety, ADHD, and other neurodivergent expressions aren’t just chemical imbalances or behavioral challenges, but signals of deeper systemic imbalances, including how our bodies process energy, stress, and nourishment? We’ll unpack the foundations of metabolic psychiatry, a growing field that challenges traditional mental health models and instead looks at how cellular energy, inflammation, nutrition,...

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Unmasking at Midnight: How Neurodivergent Brains Really Sleep show art Unmasking at Midnight: How Neurodivergent Brains Really Sleep

Essence Rising

In this deeply restorative episode, we explore he intricate relationship between neurodivergence and sleep. We explore why it is often elusive, how our circadian rhythms can run offbeat, and what we can do to build a relationship with rest that honors our nervous systems rather than fights against them. We begin with the science: what circadian rhythms are and how they function differently in autistic and ADHD brains, including how these differences affect neurotransmitters like melatonin, serotonin, dopamine, GABA, and glycine. We unpack the impact of sleep on executive functioning, mood...

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The Gut-Brain Connection: A Neurodivergent Approach to Gut Health show art The Gut-Brain Connection: A Neurodivergent Approach to Gut Health

Essence Rising

In this episode, Chanté dives into the powerful and complex relationship between the gut and the brain, what’s often called the “second brain.” We unpack how this connection influences our mood, focus, emotional regulation, and mental health, and why it especially matters for neurodivergent folks, including those with ADHD, autism, PDA, and ARFID. We’ll explore: What the gut-brain axis actually is and how the vagus nerve and neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine fit into that picture The role of the microbiome in mood, cognition, and overall wellness How chronic stress,...

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The Connectivome Theory: You're Not Broken, You're Just Wired Differently show art The Connectivome Theory: You're Not Broken, You're Just Wired Differently

Essence Rising

In this soul-expanding episode, Chanté Anderson dives deep into a radical, holistic framework that redefines how we understand trauma, neurodivergence, healing, and human experience: The Connectivome Theory. More than just brain science, the connectivome invites us to look at the entire web of connection that shapes who we are, neurologically, yes, but also emotionally, socially, spiritually, ancestrally, and behaviorally. It asks not, “What’s wrong with me?” but “How has my system learned to connect in order to survive?” Whether you're a therapist, healer, neurodivergent...

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What Emotional Alchemy Looks Like in Real Life show art What Emotional Alchemy Looks Like in Real Life

Essence Rising

What does it really mean to transform emotion into something sacred, embodied, and true? In this powerful and deeply grounded episode, Chanté explores the real-life process of emotional alchemy, not as a concept or buzzword, but as a lived, felt experience. We dive into what emotional alchemy looks and feels like in the body, in relationships, and in moments of overwhelm, shutdown, or deep grief. Chanté unpacks how trauma, neurodivergence, collective pain, and ancestral memory shape the way we experience emotion, and how we can still create space for softness, clarity, and transformation....

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More Episodes

In this raw and reflective episode, Chante shares the layered, lived journey of realizing she was never meant to be “normal.” Through stories of her childhood obsession with horses, the early awareness of spiritual sensitivity, and the social complexity of growing up neurodivergent and intuitive, she explores how her uniqueness was pathologized, misunderstood, and eventually reclaimed.

This isn’t a tale of being weird for weird’s sake, this is a homecoming to the truth: that being “different” was never a defect. It was a divine design.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

  • The early signs of neurodivergence and intuitive sensitivity
  • The shift from playful selfhood into masking and self-monitoring
  • How school, friendships, and relationships shaped her survival strategies
  • What it means to look back with clarity, and name your truth retroactively

If you’ve ever felt like you were too much, too sensitive, too odd, too intuitive, or simply too different to belong…this is for you.

You weren’t meant to be normal.
You were meant to be you. Fully, freely, and without apology.