The Hidden Language of Inflammation: Trauma, Neurodivergence, & the Body
Release Date: 07/11/2025
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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....
info_outlineIn this powerful and deeply resonant episode of Essence Rising, Chanté Anderson, a licensed mental health counselor, somatic practitioner, and neurodivergent guide, dives into the often-misunderstood relationship between chronic inflammation, neurodivergence, and unprocessed trauma.
Through her signature blend of evidence-based insight, soul-rooted truth, and embodied wisdom, Chanté explores how inflammation isn’t just a physical issue, it’s emotional, energetic, and deeply personal. She breaks down how chronic stress, unresolved trauma, and systemic neuroinflammation can manifest as persistent fatigue, brain fog, emotional dysregulation, memory issues, sensory sensitivities, and chronic pain, especially for neurodivergent individuals navigating ADHD, Autism, PTSD, or grief.
Listeners will learn:
- How trauma and childhood stress alter immune function and the stress response system
- Why inflammation is linked to mood disorders, cognitive symptoms, and body-based agitation
- How dysregulated interoception and emotional flooding relate to both trauma and ADHD
- The impact of neuroinflammation on the nervous system, sensory processing, and pain perception
- Why healing must be somatic, systemic, and soul-led for neurodivergent clients
This episode offers validation, science, and embodied compassion for anyone whose symptoms have been dismissed or misunderstood, especially those living in neurodivergent bodies with a history of trauma. Whether you're a client, a clinician, or simply someone seeking to understand the deeper language your body is speaking, this episode is an invitation to slow down, tune in, and remember that inflammation isn’t your fault, and healing is possible.
✨ This isn’t just about symptoms. It’s about reclaiming sovereignty in your body, honoring your neurobiology, and choosing healing that speaks your language.
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