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Episode 98: Elemental Design, Mental Inflammation & Returning to Your Rhythm – with Dr. Shivani Gupta

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Shivani Gupta—Ayurvedic practitioner, turmeric researcher, founder of Fusionary Formulas, and host of Fusionary Health. We talk about her early health wake-up call, how she discovered Ayurveda, and why understanding your elemental design (Vata, Pitta, Kapha) can change everything about how you approach your body and energy.

We also dive into her concept of mental inflammation—how modern stress quietly inflames the body—and simple, accessible daily rituals that help you reset, cool inflammation, and return to yourself.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• What Ayurveda is and how elemental design (Vata, Pitta, Kapha) shapes your body and energy.
• How mental inflammation from stress becomes physical symptoms.
• Why the 10pm–2am sleep window is crucial for detox, hormones, and inflammation.
• Simple Ayurvedic practices you can start today (tea rituals, circadian walks, grounding foods).
• How turmeric and other super spices support gut health and chronic inflammation.

Key Takeaways:

• Inflammation is inevitable, not a personal flaw—modern life is inherently inflammatory.
• Stress hygiene matters; mental inflammation often drives physical symptoms.
• Knowing your elemental design helps you choose routines that align with your natural rhythm.
• Sleep is foundational—that 10pm–2am window is your body’s prime detox time.
• Tiny rituals—like “tea time is me time”—create space for intuition and regulation.

Chapters:

• 00:01 – Welcome & setting the stage
• 01:09 – Shivani’s wake-up call & shifting to Ayurveda
• 04:01 – Discovering elemental design
• 07:25 – What Ayurveda actually is
• 09:52 – Mental inflammation explained
• 15:00 – Nervous system anchors: tea time & micro-pauses
• 19:34 – The inflammation forest fire
• 24:47 – Vata, Pitta, Kapha: a deep, accessible breakdown
• 32:00 – How to find your constitution
• 36:09 – A Pitta’s daily rhythm: sleep, food, and movement
• 41:51 – Nature’s medicine > gadgets
• 44:55 – What she’d tell her younger self about healing
• 46:46 – Her returning ritual: tea time is me time
• 48:25 – Super spices, turmeric, and her research
• 52:34 – Where to find Shivani & her upcoming Hay House book

Links & Resources:

Connect with Dr. Shivani Gupta:

• Supplements: Fusionary Formulas — Use code RETURN for 15% off
• Instagram: @doctor.shivanigupta
• Book: The Inflammation Code (Hay House, Feb 2026)

Explore More from Caitlan:

• Website: caitlansiegenthaler.com
• Work with me through Human Design, IFS & Return offerings

Support the show

Produced by Caitlan Siegenthaler
Cover Art by Kiara Opara

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend, post it to your Instagram stories, and tag me. And if you really loved it, the best thank-you is a written review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify.

That is a beautiful energetic exchange for Caitlan creating the show.

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Return+ Evolving Beyond the Therapist Identity

Episode 97: The Journey of Transformation and Growth

In this Return+ episode, Caitlan Siegenthaler takes you inside the quiet, sacred, and often uncomfortable process of identity evolution. She shares how becoming a mother cracked open her sense of self, how the traditional therapist role began to feel too small, and how Human Design and Internal Family Systems became her compass for integrating truth, intuition, and authenticity.

Through personal stories and energetic insights, Caitlan explores the tension between who we were trained to be and who we are becoming, the whispers that guide us, and the deep desire to return to the most honest version of ourselves. This conversation is an invitation to step out of the boxes that no longer fit and trust the transformation that’s already unfolding within you.

TO LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE, SIGN UP FOR RETURN+ HERE

Projectors/ Reflectors/ Manifestors: Sign up for the Undefined Waitlist Here.

Doors Open January 13th, We Start January 20th!

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why evolving beyond your professional identity is both common and courageous
• How authenticity often clashes with expectations placed on therapists and helpers
• What postpartum intuition can reveal about purpose and direction
• How Human Design and IFS together support identity integration
• Why listening to your inner whispers matters more than external validation
• How to navigate fear of judgment during big transitions
• Why creativity and intuition are essential parts of the therapeutic process
• How community makes identity transformation less isolating

Links & Resources

• Learn more about Caitlan’s offerings: www.caitlansiegenthaler.com
• Join Return+: deeper personal reflections, energetic tools & community

If you loved this episode, don’t forget to subscribe to Return+, leave a review, and share this conversation with someone on their own path of becoming

Support the show

Produced by Caitlan Siegenthaler
Cover Art by Kiara Opara

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend, post it to your Instagram stories, and tag me. And if you really loved it, the best thank-you is a written review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify.

That is a beautiful energetic exchange for Caitlan creating the show.

Send us a text

Episode 96: The Legacy of Being Seen (Part 5 of the On Being Seen series)

Today I’m joined by my friend and amazing guest, Mao Beckett, LCSW—a liberation-centered somatic + spiritual therapist and founder of Reset & Resilient Wellness. Mao is a second-generation Cambodian American, rooted in a lineage of Kru Khmer traditional healers/mediums. Her work weaves ancestral wisdom with neuroplasticity and nervous-system science to help people repair relational wounds, unlearn internalized oppression, and reclaim voice.

We explore the legacy of being seen: generational silence, perfectionism, white supremacy culture, colonization, parenting + co-regulation, interception, and why visibility can be both sacred and scary—yet essential.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• How “generational silence” shows up in the body and voice—and why it isn’t all yours to carry.
• Ways systems (white supremacy culture, colonization, capitalism) shape our nervous systems, productivity myths, and isolation.
• Practical self-inquiry to discern: Is this resistance mine—or inherited?
• Why being seen isn’t all-or-nothing: pacing, choice, and community support.
• Parenting through a co-regulation lens (don’t rescue from feelings) and building interoception as a visibility skill.
• How sharing personal stories creates collective repair (and why AI can’t replicate that human-to-human attunement).

Chapters:

• 02:30 — A musical portal to Self: Thee Sacred Souls and liberation themes
• 05:40 — The big visibility block: “I want to… but can’t”
• 07:25 — Generational Silence & Cambodian history: “broken courage” and freeze that never completed
• 12:50 — This is human, not just cultural; systems that shape us (perfectionism, “right to comfort”)
• 21:15 — Individualism vs. collective care; why our bodies aren’t built for factory productivity
• 24:20 — Mao’s own launch resistance: discerning mine vs. lineage
• 28:50 — “Valid fear of seeing ourselves” and how to approach the pause when pausing is scary
• 33:00 — Interoception as a practice; patriarchy, men’s friendships, and emotional attunement
• 35:10 — Parenting: don’t rescue from feelings
• 45:10 — Vulnerability as decolonizing practice
• 51:20 — Where to find Mao + offerings (intensives, membership, meditations)

Connect with Mao & Caitlan:

• Mao Becket — Reset & Resilient Wellness: resetandresilientwellness.com
• Instagram: @maobecket_resetresilient
• Caitlan's website: https://www.caitlansiegenthaler.com/

If this episode hit a nerve (or soothed one), share it with a friend who’s navigating visibility. Rate + review Return so more big-hearted humans can find us. For deeper dives, resources, and behind-the-scenes of this On Being Seen series, join Caitlan's Subst

Support the show

Produced by Caitlan Siegenthaler
Cover Art by Kiara Opara

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend, post it to your Instagram stories, and tag me. And if you really loved it, the best thank-you is a written review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify.

That is a beautiful energetic exchange for Caitlan creating the show.