Inner Healing & Personal Growth Coach
Inner Healing & Personal Growth Coach
Apr 3, 2025
S1
Ep2

Ep 2: Rewriting Your Story: How Your Brain Transforms

The Second Initiation: Healing Through Vulnerability

In this deeply personal episode, Sarah Brassard shares her experience with a recent respiratory infection that became a powerful catalyst for healing old grief. Speaking with vulnerability even through her recovery, Sarah connects this physical illness to a similar respiratory infection she experienced 32 years ago—what she calls her “first initiation” into self-discovery.

Episode Highlights:

  • Sarah reflects on recording the previous episode about her bronchial pneumonia at age 32, only to experience similar respiratory symptoms hours later
  • The connection between physical ailments and stored emotional pain, particularly grief from losing her parents at ages 13 and 16
  • How Sarah recognized this illness as “old grief coming through my physical body”
  • The importance of prioritizing self-care by clearing her calendar and allowing herself to be vulnerable
  • The science of neuroplasticity and how reframing our stories physically rewires our brains
  • The shift from seeing experiences as “happening to me” to “happening for me.”

Key Quote:

“I am courageous as I move closer to the way I was made.” 

– Inspired by poet David Whyte

Guided Practice

Sarah leads listeners through a “Story Shift” exercise:

  • Recall a challenging experience from your past
  • Notice how your body feels when recalling this experience
  • Ask yourself: “What if this experience wasn’t happening to me, but for me?”
  • Consider what gifts it brought, what strengths you developed, and how it prepared you for something important later
  • Notice the subtle shifts in your body as you reframe the experience

Science Behind the Practice

Sarah references neuroscientist Dr. Maya Reinhardt’s research on how reframing our narratives can:

  • Improve vagal tone and heart rate variability
  • Strengthen immune function
  • Decrease stress hormones
  • Help the nervous system understand that we’re safe

Weekly Invitation

Choose one story you tell about yourself—perhaps something labeled as a failure or disappointment:

  • Write it down exactly as you currently tell it
  • Write a second version focusing on what you gained, learned, and how you grew
  • Read both versions aloud and notice how your body responds to each

Connect with Sarah

  • Sarah’s Book – Inside: A Guide to the Resources Within
  • A gentle companion for your healing journey. Explore the book
  • Stay in Touch: Receive Sarah’s notes from the heart, upcoming offerings, and soulful reflections. Subscribe to the newsletter
  • Connect on Instagram: @sarahbrassard

Thank you for holding space for today’s story.

May it remind you that you’re never alone in your healing.

🌸 Until next time, stay close.

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Stay Close

with Sarah Brassard

“Stay Close,” explores the courageous journey of returning to our authentic selves in a world that pulls us away from who we truly are.

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free Live workshop

Breathe Away Anxiety

How Conscious Breathing Tames Anxiety's Grip

Nov 2, 7 pm Eastern

with Sarah Brassard and Jen Broyles