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What if you’re not “unmotivated”… you’re depleted?
In this week’s episode of Growing Tall Poppies, Dr. Nat Green sits down with Dr. Heather Clark—existential coach and creator of Divinely Structured Success—to unpack what burnout actually looks like on the inside, why it can feel terrifyingly physical, and how recovery begins when you close the identity gap between who you really are and how you’ve learned to operate for safety.

Heather shares her personal journey from pharmacy and high-achievement to a sudden collapse where even a shower required a lie-down—followed by years of searching for answers, navigating the “it’s all in your head” loop, and finally rebuilding her capacity from the ground up.

Together, Nat and Heather explore the intersection of science and spirit, nervous system realities, and the practical framework Heather teaches clients to prevent the slide back into exhaustion: Goals, Roles, and Resource Flow.

In this episode, we explore:

• The difference between “tired” and true burnout exhaustion (the kind sleep doesn’t fix)
• Why high-achievers can be great at their job… and still be deeply misaligned
• The long, costly road of searching for answers when tests say “you’re fine”
• Adrenal fatigue: what it can look like and why it made sense physiologically for Heather
• The “identity gap” and how it shrinks your capacity to access vitality and energy
• Why recovery accelerates when you own who you are (instead of performing who you should be)
• Burnout risk factors for conscientious, impact-driven, neurodivergent “justice-wired” humans
• The power of saying no (and how people-pleasing is often a survival strategy)
• A practical self-leadership tool: Goals → Roles → Resource Flow
• Why self-care shouldn’t become another obligation—and how to build your personal “self-care menu”
• A grounding reminder: you are not broken—there’s nothing to fix

Heather’s practical framework (take this with you):

1) Goals: What do I actually want right now (be honest)?
2) Roles: What is my role here—and what isn’t mine to carry?
3) Resource Flow: Am I resourced enough (time, energy, executive function) to do this well today?

Connect with Dr. Heather Clark:

Website: vibrantagain.com

Instagram

LinkedIn

If this episode landed for you, share it with someone who looks fine on the outside—but is quietly running on fumes. And if you’re ready to close the identity gap and rebuild capacity from the inside out… this one is for you.

Subscribe, rate & review Growing Tall Poppies on Spotify or Apple Podcasts—it helps more people find these conversations.

If this episode resonates with you then I'd love for you to hit SUBSCRIBE so you can keep updated with each new episode as soon as it's released and we'd be most grateful if you would give us a RATING as well. You can also find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drnatgreen/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DrNatalieGreen

Intro and Outro music: Inspired Ambient by Playsound.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be deemed or treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.

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In this latest powerful and moving episode Kellie Burns is back — and this conversation goes deeper than ever. In Episode 12, Kellie shared her powerful trauma story and the loss of her beloved brother, Sean. Today, we pick up from the next moment that changed everything: a major back injury, the fear of a three-level spinal fusion, and the wake-up call that became a turning point.

Together, Dr Nat and Kellie explore the real relationship between physical pain and mental health, why midlife can feel like an identity earthquake (hello empty nest + perimenopause), and what it actually takes to rebuild yourself when life forces you to evolve.

This is a raw and empowering conversation about reclaiming agency, choosing what matters, letting go of old identities, and creating sustainable wellbeing through movement, nourishment, nervous system support, and community.

In this episode, we cover:

• Kellie’s update since Episode 12 — and why life demanded a new chapter
• Postnatal depression, the “radical” advice that helped, and why movement matters
• Grief, trauma, and the long shadow of losing a sibling to suicide
• Chronic pain and mental health: why your physiology shapes your mindset
• The moment before surgery: fear, despair, and the line between coping and breaking
• What it means to stop trying to “get back to who you were” — and evolve instead
• Psychological flexibility as a key predictor of peace and future happiness
• Midlife identity shifts: empty nesting, menopause, agency, and reinvention
• “Grey divorce,” relationship re-negotiation, and the courage to choose yourself
• Muscle, bone density, and why strength is protective as we age
• The hidden mental health signal: screen time, numbing, and nervous system overload
• Community as medicine: “In order to have a village, you need to be a villager”

Guest spotlight: Kellie Burns
Kellie Burns is a successful real estate agent and business owner, mum of two young adults, and a fully qualified health coach. She holds a Diploma of Counselling, Certificate III in Fitness, and Certificate IV in Nutrition, and has a special interest in the powerful connection between emotional wellbeing, physical health, movement, and nutrition — especially for midlife women.

How to work with Kellie:

• Instagram: @kellieburnscoach
• Website:

This episode may include a short message from Dr Nat about her upcoming live masterclass:

Why You Keep Hitting An Invisible Ceiling — Even After All The Work

🗓 Friday 27 February 🕚 11:00am AEDT (Sydney, Australia)

This 90-minute live session is for those who've done the work but still feel like something is holding them back. You can find registration details via this link Masterclass Signup

If this episode resonates with you then I'd love for you to hit SUBSCRIBE so you can keep updated with each new episode as soon as it's released and we'd be most grateful if you would give us a RATING as well. You can also find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drnatgreen/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DrNatalieGreen

Intro and Outro music: Inspired Ambient by Playsound.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be deemed or treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.

Send us a Message to connect

What if the animals in our lives are more than companions?
What if they are part of our healing?

In this deeply moving and thought-provoking episode of Growing Tall Poppies, Dr. Nat Green is joined by animal communicator and psychosomatic practitioner Katherine Luna Sol, whose life journey bridges trauma, intuition, science, and the profound connection between humans and animals.

Katherine shares how early childhood trauma, sensitivity, and survival shaped her path — and how an extraordinary bond with her first horse became the catalyst for healing, identity discovery, and ultimately her life’s work.

Through loss, grief, and relentless searching for answers, Katherine immersed herself in multiple healing modalities, blending traditional animal care, somatic awareness, and energy-based approaches to support both animals and their humans.

This conversation explores the powerful ways animals can:

• Reflect our emotional world
• Support nervous system healing
• Help us reconnect with identity after trauma
• Walk beside us as we move from survival into growth

Whether you’re an animal lover, trauma survivor, or someone navigating your own healing journey, this episode invites you to consider connection, hope, and healing from a completely new perspective.

🌿 In This Episode, We Explore:

✔ How trauma can shape identity — and how healing can reshape it
✔ The deep emotional bonds between humans and animals during times of adversity
✔ Why animals often become anchors of safety, regulation, and connection
✔ Katherine’s journey from pre-veterinary training to psychosomatic and intuitive healing work
✔ The role of somatic healing, emotional release, and inner work in post-traumatic growth
✔ How grief, loss, and resilience can open unexpected pathways to purpose
✔ The importance of hope, tenacity, and following even the smallest spark forward
✔ Moving from codependency to what Katherine calls “sovereignty and union” in relationships — with animals and ourselves

🌟 Key Takeaways

- Healing doesn’t always arrive logically.
- Sometimes it begins with connection.
- Sometimes it begins with loss.
- And sometimes, it begins with the quiet presence of an animal who helps us feel safe enough to come back to ourselves.

🔗 Connect with Katherine Luna Sol

Instagram

This episode may include a short message from Dr Nat about her upcoming live masterclass:

Why You Keep Hitting An Invisible Ceiling — Even After All The Work

🗓 Friday 27 February 🕚 11:00am AEDT (Sydney, Australia)

This 90-minute live session is for those who've done the work but still feel like something is holding them back. You can find registration details via this link Masterclass Signup

If this episode resonates with you then I'd love for you to hit SUBSCRIBE so you can keep updated with each new episode as soon as it's released and we'd be most grateful if you would give us a RATING as well. You can also find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drnatgreen/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DrNatalieGreen

Intro and Outro music: Inspired Ambient by Playsound.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be deemed or treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.

Send us a Message to connect

Have you ever found yourself thinking:

“I’ve done so much work on myself…
So why do I still feel stuck sometimes?”

You’ve been to therapy.
You’ve read the books.
You understand your patterns.
You’ve grown.

And yet…

There can still be moments where something inside you feels slightly braced and on edge. Like you’re doing well in life… but not fully relaxed inside it.

In this deeply honest episode, Dr Nat Green explores one of the least talked about stages of trauma healing:

👉 When your life is safe…
👉 But your body is still catching up.

This episode explains — in simple, real language — why you can understand your healing journey mentally, but still feel tension, hesitation, or fear in your body.

And most importantly:

Why this is not failure.
Why this is not you being broken.
Why this is actually incredibly normal after trauma and chronic stress.

🌿 What You’ll Learn In This Episode

• Why you can feel stuck even after years of therapy or personal development
• The difference between understanding your trauma and your body feeling safe
• Why your nervous system can still react to old danger — even when life is different now
• How early survival patterns can show up as perfectionism, overworking, hyper-independence or overthinking
• Why body-based healing approaches (like TRE — Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises) can help release stored stress patterns
• What real “moving forward” often feels like (and why it’s usually quiet, not dramatic)

💛 Who This Episode Is For

This episode is especially for you if you:

✔ Have done therapy or deep personal development work
✔ Consider yourself self-aware and reflective
✔ Are high-functioning but still feel tension or “brace” in your life
✔ Feel confused about why growth doesn’t always feel easier
✔ Want trauma healing explained in real, relatable language
✔ Are curious about nervous system healing and body-based approaches
✔ Are ready for healing that feels safe, not forced

🌱 About Body-Based Healing & TRE

This episode also introduces the idea that trauma and stress aren’t just stored in thoughts — they can be stored in the body.

Dr Nat gently explains how approaches like TRE (Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises) help the body release long-held stress and survival tension safely and naturally.

No forcing.
No rehashing your story.
Just allowing the body to let go of what it no longer needs to hold.

This episode may include a short message from Dr Nat about her upcoming live masterclass:

Why You Keep Hitting An Invisible Ceiling — Even After All The Work

🗓 Friday 27 February 🕚 11:00am AEDT (Sydney, Australia)

This 90-minute live session is for those who've done the work but still feel like something is holding them back. You can find registration details via this link Masterclass Signup

If this episode resonates with you then I'd love for you to hit SUBSCRIBE so you can keep updated with each new episode as soon as it's released and we'd be most grateful if you would give us a RATING as well. You can also find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drnatgreen/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DrNatalieGreen

Intro and Outro music: Inspired Ambient by Playsound.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be deemed or treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.

Send us a Message to connect

Have you ever thought…
“I understand the pattern… so why does it still feel so hard to change?”

In this second episode of The Invisible Ceiling mini-series, Dr. Nat Green explores the missing link that so many high-functioning, self-aware people overlook:

Insight alone doesn’t create transformation — your nervous system must feel safe enough to come with you.

Because survival patterns aren’t stored only in the mind…
They live in the body.

In your breath.
In your bracing.
In your over-functioning.
In the way your system tightens at the edge of visibility, success, rest, or receiving.

This episode is a compassionate deep-dive into the nervous-system foundations of the Invisible Ceiling — and why expansion can feel like threat, even when life is different now.

In This Episode, We Explore:

✨ Why awareness doesn’t always equal change
✨ How trauma responses are physiological — not just psychological
✨ The nervous system’s primary job: protection, not expansion
✨ Why visibility, ease, rest, and receiving can feel unsafe
✨ The truth about “self-sabotage” (it’s often self-protection)

High-Functioning Survival Strategies (That Aren’t Personality Traits)

Many people aren’t collapsing…
They’re coping through high-functioning protection, such as:

• Over-functioning and carrying everything alone
• Constant productivity and inability to slow down
• Perfectionism and fear of mistakes
• Hyper-independence and difficulty receiving support
• Always being “the strong one”
• Chronic urgency and nervous system rushing
• Overthinking as a form of threat prevention
• Emotional containment and staying tightly composed

These aren’t flaws.

They are adaptive nervous system strategies — often rooted in what Dr. Nat calls an Identity Fracture: an early agreement about who it was safe to be.

Why Expansion Can Feel Like a Threat

Here’s what surprises so many people:

The threat is not fear of failure.

The threat is often:

• Being seen
• Rest
• Ease
• Receiving
• Growth

Because the nervous system prefers what is familiar…
Even when the familiar is exhausting.

The Somatic Path Forward (TRE + Nervous System Completion)

This episode also introduces the power of somatic healing, including:

TRE — Trauma & Tension Release Exercises

TRE is a gentle mind–body practice that supports the nervous system in discharging

This episode may include a short message from Dr Nat about her upcoming live masterclass:

Why You Keep Hitting An Invisible Ceiling — Even After All The Work

🗓 Friday 27 February
🕚 11:00am AEDT (Sydney, Australia)

This 90-minute live session is for people who have done therapy or personal growth work but still feel like something is holding them back.

You can find registration details via the link in the show notes.

If this episode resonates with you then I'd love for you to hit SUBSCRIBE so you can keep updated with each new episode as soon as it's released and we'd be most grateful if you would give us a RATING as well. You can also find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drnatgreen/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DrNatalieGreen

Intro and Outro music: Inspired Ambient by Playsound.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be deemed or treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.

Send us a Message to connect

Have you ever wondered why… even after therapy, self-awareness, and years of inner work… you still feel stuck?

Why you keep hitting an invisible ceiling?

Why growth sometimes feels like it should be easier by now — but something inside you quietly holds back?

In this powerful opening episode of the mini-series The Invisible Ceiling, Dr Nat Green introduces a deeply transformative concept:

Identity Fractures

Identity fractures are not a mindset problem.

They are not a sign that you are broken.

They are the unconscious, nervous-system-based agreements we form early in life about who it is safe to be — often in moments of shame, trauma, adversity, or emotional disconnection.

In this episode, Dr Nat explores:

✨ Why not all limits are chosen — some are learned early and carried quietly
✨ How identity fractures form beneath conscious awareness
✨ The difference between healing, insight, and true integration
✨ Why high achievers, coaches, therapists, and healers often feel capped even after “doing all the work”
✨ How childhood experiences can create invisible identity agreements such as:

• Don’t stand out
• Don’t take up space
• Don’t be fully seen
• It’s safer to stay small

Through a powerful client story, Dr Nat shows how the nervous system remembers the “cost” of visibility — and how these protective patterns can shape our leadership, relationships, success, and sense of freedom for decades.

This episode is an invitation into compassionate awareness…

Because the goal is not fixing.

The goal is wholeness.

And integration begins with understanding.

Dr Nat closes with a gentle guided reflection to help you begin recognising your own identity agreements — and to remind you that nothing is wrong with you.

Your system adapted intelligently.

And your next chapter is possible.

🌿 Guided Reflection Included

At the end of this episode, you’ll be guided through a short nervous-system-safe reflection to explore:

• Where you feel your own invisible ceiling
• What early identity agreement may still be shaping you
• How integration begins through safety, not force

🎧 This Episode Is For You If…

✔ You’ve done therapy but still feel held back
✔ You feel stuck at the edge of your next level
✔ You are a high achiever, coach, healer, or therapist who secretly braces for visibility
✔ You want to understand trauma through an identity and nervous system lens
✔ You’re ready for gr

This episode may include a short message from Dr Nat about her upcoming live masterclass:

Why You Keep Hitting An Invisible Ceiling — Even After All The Work

🗓 Friday 27 February
🕚 11:00am AEDT (Sydney, Australia)

This 90-minute live session is for people who have done therapy or personal growth work but still feel like something is holding them back.

You can find registration details via the link in the show notes.

If this episode resonates with you then I'd love for you to hit SUBSCRIBE so you can keep updated with each new episode as soon as it's released and we'd be most grateful if you would give us a RATING as well. You can also find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drnatgreen/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DrNatalieGreen

Intro and Outro music: Inspired Ambient by Playsound.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be deemed or treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.

Send us a Message to connect

Have you ever felt like you’re “doing all the right things” for your health, yet your body still won’t cooperate? In this deeply powerful episode of Growing Tall Poppies, Dr. Nat Green is joined by Jodi Geline, a health expert known for helping people age healthier, banish bloat, IBS, and chronic health issues, and reclaim lasting wellbeing.

Jodi shares her lived experience of years of debilitating gut symptoms including intense bloating (to the point she looked “nine months pregnant”), severe pain, and a life dominated by the bathroom. But what makes her story especially meaningful is what she discovered underneath it all: the emotional energy of trauma, shame, and chronic stress stored in the body.

Together, Nat and Jodi explore the mind–body connection, how trauma can disconnect us from our bodies (and intuition), and why symptoms are often your body’s way of saying: “This needs to be healed.” If you’ve experienced childhood adversity, narcissistic abuse, chronic gut issues, or you’re on a post-traumatic growth journey and ready for deeper integration, this conversation will land.

In this episode, we cover:

• The link between trauma and gut health (bloating, IBS, chronic symptoms)
• Why “knowing” the mind–body connection isn’t the same as embodying it
• How shame can become a core wound that impacts health, relationships, and identity
• The trauma pattern many people recognise: repeating dynamics with narcissistic or abusive partners
• What it really means to build self-love and self-compassion when it wasn’t modelled
• Jodi’s practical “Step Away Method” to calm an overactive mind when meditation feels impossible
• How to begin reconnecting to your body by asking: “What do you need right now?”
• Why your symptoms aren’t your enemy: your body may be signalling unprocessed emotional energy
• Moving from survival and hiding to visibility, safety, and post-traumatic growth

Key takeaways

Your body hears your inner dialogue. Unprocessed emotions can lodge as tension and symptoms. And healing isn’t just about food, supplements, or protocols—it can also require deep work with identity, nervous system patterns, and emotional wounds.

Connect with Jodi Geline

• Website: JodiGeline.com
• YouTube
• Instagram

This episode may include a short message from Dr Nat about her upcoming live masterclass:

Why You Keep Hitting An Invisible Ceiling — Even After All The Work

🗓 Friday 27 February
🕚 11:00am AEDT (Sydney, Australia)

This 90-minute live session is for people who have done therapy or personal growth work but still feel like something is holding them back.

You can find registration details via the link in the show notes.

If this episode resonates with you then I'd love for you to hit SUBSCRIBE so you can keep updated with each new episode as soon as it's released and we'd be most grateful if you would give us a RATING as well. You can also find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drnatgreen/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DrNatalieGreen

Intro and Outro music: Inspired Ambient by Playsound.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be deemed or treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.

Send us a Message to connect

In this opening episode, for 2026 Dr Nat Green invites you to pause — before pushing forward — and reflect on who you are now, after everything you’ve lived through.

As we close the Year of the Snake and step into the momentum of the Year of the Fire Horse, this episode explores what it really means to stand tall after trauma, adversity, or major life disruption — without shrinking, forcing, or abandoning yourself.

This conversation goes beyond “getting back to who you used to be” and into the deeper work of identity, integrity, and nervous system integration — the often-missing pieces in post-traumatic growth.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why you don’t go back to who you were after trauma — and why that’s not a problem
• What identity wounds are and how they form through survival and adaptation
• The often-overlooked impact of integrity wounds — when staying safe meant overriding yourself
• A powerful real-life case example showing how early experiences shape what feels safe, possible, and allowed
• How the nervous system remembers moments when it wasn’t safe to be seen, heard, or fully yourself
• Why insight alone doesn’t always lead to change — and why the body must be included
• How old “agreements” formed in childhood or adversity can quietly limit visibility and growth
• Gentle, practical strategies to begin restoring identity, integrity, and nervous system safety

This episode is for you if:

• You’ve done a lot of healing but still feel held back or misaligned
• You feel ready for growth but notice your body pulling you back when you become more visible
• You struggle with the idea of “going back to who you were”
• You want to understand why standing tall can feel unsafe — even when you’re capable and confident
• You’re ready to move forward in a way that honours your nervous system, not overrides it

A powerful reframe explored in this episode:

You are not stuck in the past —
you may be organised around it.

And growth doesn’t always require pushing harder.
Sometimes it asks us to gently update agreements that no longer fit the life we’re living now.

As we begin 2026 together, I’ll leave you with this reflection:

Who am I now — really — and what is ready to move forward with me this year?

This episode sets the foundation for a new season of Growing Tall Poppies, featuring solo episodes and guest conversations exploring identity after trauma, archetypes, nervous system wisdom, visibilit

This episode may include a short message from Dr Nat about her upcoming live masterclass:

Why You Keep Hitting An Invisible Ceiling — Even After All The Work

🗓 Friday 27 February
🕚 11:00am AEDT (Sydney, Australia)

This 90-minute live session is for people who have done therapy or personal growth work but still feel like something is holding them back.

You can find registration details via the link in the show notes.

If this episode resonates with you then I'd love for you to hit SUBSCRIBE so you can keep updated with each new episode as soon as it's released and we'd be most grateful if you would give us a RATING as well. You can also find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drnatgreen/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DrNatalieGreen

Intro and Outro music: Inspired Ambient by Playsound.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be deemed or treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.