Shayna Taylor: Healing Chronic Anxiety and Gut Inflammation by Returning to Nature | TUH #161

She started with a 5‑minute journal, which took months to integrate. Over time, the practice expanded because she noticed the direct impact on her anxiety. She says the ritual 'embodies the energy of which I carry out for the entire day.' A key is using spiritual wisdom audio (currently Kabbalah) to feed the mind with higher‑perspective content before the day’s problems hit. She also does not touch her phone beyond selecting the audio. This ritual, combined with grounding, was the turning point that moved her from constant reactivity to a state of calm she had never known, even as an entrepreneur with global businesses.

She discovered grounding after moving to the Italian countryside, where walking the olive groves barefoot became a daily ritual. She soon noticed her chronic reactive anxiety subsiding. She now teaches it as a cornerstone practice in her retreats and Inner Alchemy course, often alongside meditation and breathwork. She emphasizes it’s free and available anywhere, not requiring a pristine lawn.

When she first started, she believed she couldn’t visualize at all. She learned that meditation isn’t about seeing a crystal‑clear picture; it’s about feeling the essence of a place or sensation. For example, instead of trying to see every detail of a waterfall, you feel the energy of standing before it. This reframe allowed her to drop into relaxation. She also uses visualizations as a tool to access a calm inner world and receive intuitive 'downloads' about her business or relationships. She now meditates unguided, and treats it as non‑negotiable, saying she can feel the difference in her anxiety levels on days she skips it.

Taylor’s olive oil comes from trees that are 200–300 years old on her Umbrian land, with deep roots that pull nutrients from mineral‑rich soil, yielding very high polyphenol counts. She believes this daily shot was a contributing factor to her gut healing and overall vitality, alongside stress reduction. On the podcast, Gary Brecka mentions he does a shot of olive oil daily, and she confirms she never misses it.

Switching to matcha was one of her earliest anxiety interventions, predating her move to Italy. The ritual of whisking the matcha became the anchor for her morning mindfulness practice—she would sit, journal, and meditate with the warm cup. This habit was so transformative that she turned it into her first business, Shaina’s Kitchen Morning Ritual Matcha, which she still sells.

In her Inner Alchemy course, she includes a cooking module on how to make bone broth, and she herself drinks it every morning alongside the olive oil shot and matcha. She mentions it as part of the 'basics' that people can learn even without being a chef.

She uses the Five‑Minute Journal style but has expanded it. Instead of waking up and immediately thinking about all the tasks and stressors, she intentionally directs her thoughts to what she’s grateful for and excited about. She says this sets the 'energy of gratitude' for the day rather than lack or stress. This practice was part of her path out of 'survival mode.' She also asks herself questions to dig into her inner world, a skill she says most people neglect.

Her turning point came when she worked with Dr. Joffrey, who ran a GI MAP and found candida overgrowth, parasites, H. pylori, and virtually no good bacteria. She followed his protocols and saw improvement, but whenever life stress spiked, symptoms returned. It wasn’t until she moved to Italy—forced to sit in silence, away from the Los Angeles grind—that she realized she had been 'running on the crazy cycle' to escape an ever‑present background anxiety. Only after she began meditating, journaling, grounding, and learning non‑attachment did her gut fully heal, despite eating pasta, bread, and cheese in Italy without issue. She emphasizes that the soil quality and regenerative farming play a role, but the primary shift was internal.

In preparation for moving, she practiced non‑attachment and confronted the fear of losing her carefully crafted environment. After arriving in a rustic Italian farmhouse with only a mattress and three suitcases, she had a moment of panic—poured herself a solo glass of wine—and then leaned on the principle that 'home is your vessel; it’s your body.' That insight allowed her to create a sense of home anywhere, without needing a specific location or set of possessions. She now teaches this concept on her retreats as a foundation for authentic resilience.

After noticing how much calmer she felt after time barefoot in the olive groves, she started studying the science of earthing and integrated it into her morning ritual. She emphasizes it’s not about the specific surface—grass, sand, dirt, leaves all work—and that it’s the most overlooked free tool for nervous system regulation. She now teaches grounding as a core module in her courses and retreats, and even while traveling in Miami she made it a point to walk on the beach at 5 a.m.

In her early wellness journey, she experimented with eliminating caffeine entirely but missed the ritual. Switching to matcha, which contains L‑theanine and delivers a smoother caffeine release, gave her the morning routine without the anxiety spike. She became obsessive about sourcing the best‑tasting matcha that wasn’t bitter, and eventually created a brand to share it, naming it 'Morning Ritual Matcha' because it was the centerpiece of her new grounded morning. She continues to travel with it and has it every morning alongside bone broth and olive oil.