Beyond Burnout: Faith, Healing, and the Balance of Life with Amy Cunningham
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reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Invisible reality. So today we are exploring the high stakes intersection of faith, somatic healing, and the ROI of rest. ~ROI. ~And we'll ask, what does that mean with Amy Cunningham. Amy is ~a~ a 900 hours yoga therapist and the founder of Worthwhile Wellness. Welcome to the podcast Amy.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Thanks for having me.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: ~So I wanted to ask you before we go to questions. What does ROI mean?~
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: ~What did you say? ROI,~
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: ~Yeah. ROI of rest is it? No.~
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: ~I'm sorry, I don't understand.~
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: ~Oh, sorry. So this is something I I looked it up and it's. Related to the somatic healing and spirituality. That's what I was asking about, but let's go, let's dive into the questions. So that's gonna come up, I'm sure.~
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: ~Okay, that sounds~
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: ~So yeah, ~You've shared that your transition begun with an autoimmune diagnosis and chronic.
fatigue at your lowest you felt called to breathe, move and be still for the high achievers listeners who view movement as a task to be optimized, how did that first small step of diver from per performative fitness. We see in mainstream culture. How's that different?
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: So when you're really sick like that and you're [00:01:00] bedbound, you're willing to do about anything to get well. And I just wish more people would think about that before they do those things that get them to that point in the first place. But unfortunately, those high achievers, those of us that just go, have to do. At some point we deal with burnout. And it can really manifest in all different kinds of ways. And so for me, I was just, I felt fluish and I felt like I just couldn't get outta bed. And so I doctor said, sorry, there's nothing we can do for you. You're just gonna have to learn to live with it.
And that wasn't an option for me to get up every day, feel like I had the flu and try to force myself to do things. So I just. Started to think I need some mindfulness practices that just really completely make my nervous system reset. the thing about nervous system reset is I just did tons of research on why some [00:02:00] people heal and some people don't.
Like you see someone with a stage four cancer diagnosis and they get better against all odds. And so it's the same thing. I, so many people are told you're not gonna get well, but some people still get well. So the difference is the people that are getting well, their immune system is calm and it allows the body to heal.
So I couldn't do much, but I just take my computer and put it up in my bed in the morning and I would go find videos on breathing techniques and movement, and they were just really simple things, in bed at first. And then that gave me more energy and more peace. And I just started to heal and really saw this as, wow, this is really cool.
And when you add your own faith and spirituality to it, then it goes the outcomes go way up because you believe in something. That is bigger than yourself. There's hope, and that's a huge key. So when you [00:03:00] take the hope, you put that together with, allowing your body a space where it can truly heal. Then it all comes together.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Wow, that's very true. That question is always in my mind like, why are some people heal and some others don't? And what I noticed that people have like negative perspective of life and don't relate. They are not at peace inside. ~They're not, ~they don't include their spirituality or they don't heal,
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Right.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: even if they have as you said, stage four cancer, they would heal.
Because of the inner peace and spirituality. So before I go to the next question, you were like for 30 years in high corporate life, right?
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Is that the point of transition for you when you got diagnosed?
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah, so I had come right out of school and I just always wanted to do [00:04:00] well, and I just, had so much energy. I look back at that person that had all that energy and I'm like, if I could just take a little bit of it. But just doing that, being a mom of three and trying to there were times where I was a single mom, and so just being able to. Really cope with all that. I just started getting all kinds of symptoms. Like it started with migraines and then it moved into other things. And I'm sure that everyone can relate to that. 'cause there's signs of burnout and I thought that was all it was burnout. But when you allow your body to get in that space where you're always in fight or flight, you're going, trying to sell and all those things, it really takes a toll.
And so I went into college. Publishing. And so I started out in sales. I've been an editor, marketing manager. I've done the tech specialist role, a little bit of everything. I wanted to be the national sales manager and as soon as I saw I could get that, I just decided I would rather [00:05:00] also have time for my children. But I just needed to know I could do it. And then I got sick and I just couldn't lay there and be still my brain, wanted to create and do those things and, but yet I can't really move. so I think. So many people are headed for that, and it's really my passion to help them, not to get to the point I did. And then also to learn how to take people that have got to that point, unfortunately, and walk them out of it, letting them know that you can get better and it's really important that you believe that
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: That's a big transition because. People in like high stakes and like they are very high achievers. They would think if they transition to that. They feel empty, but it's not because you're giving to the community, you're giving to yourself. Like you can't hold it up for all of your life.
So I'm glad you did [00:06:00] that. So in sales we are taught to outwork the competition. You tried to outwork your own biology, what was the most difficult thing you had to unlearn about productivity to actually allow yourself to heal?
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: So you actually. Get more done if you take the those breaks, and this is from someone who never allowed themself to get up off the couch to go to the bathroom or get food if I was completely focused on a task. I always felt bad I'd get a headache like my body was speaking, get up, move, get a drink, eat. But I'm like, no, I gotta get this done. So you get so laser focused and you think if you do anything outside of that, it's just gonna make you not get things done as quickly. Everything you just talked about, when I had no choice but to add these things, I saw, wow, my pro, my productivity went way [00:07:00] up in those other times. So I was getting really more done and taking care of myself and my body. Just, screaming to want that balance. definitely.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: You often say healing is holy. So for the skeptical fears yoga might conflict with their f faith how do you explain that? The body is a sacred space designed for integration not just a vehicle for the mind.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: I think the more the research that comes out, it just backs up all neuroscience is backing up what the Bible has always said, and I, it doesn't have to be the Bible, like we, we don't only work with people that have the same faith we do, but. I really felt passionate about bringing this to the Christian community just because they felt like they couldn't do that.
You can't do yoga because, there's just all these things behind it. And I think that, the [00:08:00] research is showing that we are connected, our mind, our body, our soul, our spirit. And if one of them is out of balance, then it's just not going to work. And it was bringing in the faith component with the movement and the mindfulness that really started to give me just a whole different perspective, and I just started to feel better and better. And so I'm like, I just really wanna share this with people, but if you are, let's say that you're in the hospital and a lot of hospitals now have yoga therapists on staff because it's been proven that the outcomes go way up for patients from all kinds of things that they might be in there for. When you add the faith component, it even jumps up more and it makes a lot of sense because when usually all the things that go with faith back up, positive psychology. So being in community, we know how that [00:09:00] important is to longevity and. God wants us in community. And so there are just so many things like that, that when you put them together, it makes sense. So if someone's completely focused on Christ and their practice, which I always was even going to a secular yoga class because that's what connected me and other people. Maybe thinking about other things, but if it's aligned with their values, their faith, those outcomes just go way up because you don't feel like, should I be doing this?
I'm focusing on being enlightened and being this, like amazing like person that's one with God. And Christians don't believe that. They really believe that you are trying to have less of yourself and more of him, and that by doing that, he's gonna just take care of everything. And that faith being able to trust in [00:10:00] something like that. I've just, that's what I've seen really makes the most difference. It also brings people stronger into their faith because they always say you should listen. For his still small voice, and I could never hear it because my brain was full of clutter all the time. And I remember going to my first training as a teacher and I was like I could hear, I like, people would say, I feel led to do this. I feel the spirit's leading me here. I never heard that because it was so cluttered. But the first time I was still and just really tried to get into his presence. That's when everything changed for me and I could hear him clearly directing me and leading me. So he's always there, we just don't always listen.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: I agree. We believe the same thing like many religions and like beliefs believe the same thing is just a matter of changing the title, the name of the religion. This is a question [00:11:00] just came to my mind. So the practice, the yoga the authentic yoga practice is different than the yoga that they do at the gym.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Right.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Okay. So what's the difference?
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: So in, are you talking about in just regular secular yoga? Versus the gym
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: yes.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Okay. So yoga is a real practice that is not focused on Asana, but in the West, everybody just and Asana are just the postures. So the, the movements that you're doing, that's really what a lot of gyms are doing is you're just moving into those postures they use in yoga, but without understanding what it means.
And so it's all about trying to be kinder to fellow man doing things, giving back to the world and to society, helping others. There's so many things and they all align with Christian values and also, with other face as [00:12:00] well. And so when you go to like just a regular type yoga class at a gym or even some studios, it's really all about working out, get like really doing a rigorous vinyasa and like working out.
But that's not what it really is. It's about stilling your mind, learning to be introspective, learning to listen for something that is bigger than you. So that's really the main difference and it's a big difference. There was very little postures and asana done back when yoga began. It was more about stillness and mindfulness and all that.
And then the postures they were in there, but they didn't really become that big until yoga moved to the West.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: So I'm asking that because I went to yoga class once in a gym, and what you are describing is totally different than my experience like they were [00:13:00] telling me to do. Like they're telling us to do this position and I don't know what this position is, so they won't guide me. And then quick move to the other position.
So you can't, you are not still in the position. You know what I mean? So what you're describing is very spiritual.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yes it's very spiritual and that's really the point, is to allow for your body to, and your mind, your heart, all of it, to work together to allow you to have balance and so that you don't burn out. Because the fact of the matter is most people that work at that level I did. And like we were talking about earlier, they're going to burn out.
It's just a matter of what level. It may just completely take them to bed like it did me. But what happens is I know for me and many others you start off by just ignoring the little signs, but they come and you're just still ignoring them. No, I [00:14:00] can't stop. Yeah, I would love to do that, but I don't have time.
I gotta keep going. And you realize that, that's not part of it, that is really what it's all about, is being able to steal your mind, to have more control, to not let outer influences really affect you. So when you are, practicing, in a real spiritual practice, you are really focused on those things.
The other thing people don't realize, they don't think that they've had a workout unless they do the different poses and postures and things like that, so they don't feel like it's a workout. But the problem is when you go and you do a really aerobic vinyasa, you don't get the same benefits from yoga that it was meant to have. So it's better sometimes to do a restorative practice or a slow movement where you can think yen is very healing. It's where you hold [00:15:00] something for anywhere from about three to seven minutes. So you're in that for a while and you're focused on whatever that is. And so for me, I just like to picture things and I lead people through a guided rest where, and or a nidra. And I will say, you're walking in a garden and Jesus and he looks so calm and so it depends on the audience. There are times, where I volunteer at survivor resource centers and things like that for women that have been through a lot and some women have had spiritual abuse, so you can't like really even bring that up. You can hold that sacred space for them, you can allow them to rest, you can allow them to trust again. And all of that really is where the shift happens. But yeah, it's definitely not just about, it's not about exercise. That's one small component.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah I remember [00:16:00] I went once and I didn't like it because what I went four was not the exercise. I was like, I wanted to just move slowly. But you said something, you said spiritual abuse and I think one of the things that is out there that makes us not talk about faith that much, a lot of people went through spiritual or like religious abuse and they are like, they don't wanna.
Relate to it or like they don't want anything to relate with it, even if like we're trying to get you somewhere good and not abuse you. So that's a valid, like a very important point. So you offer faith-based integration, right?
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yes,
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Can you walk us through the mechanics of how specific spiritual truth like a verse on peace can actually signal the nervous system to drop out of fight or flight and into state of safety.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah, there's [00:17:00] actually, we didn't know this before. I went through a period of having panic disorder as a teenager and I had to, back then, people didn't know what it was. And so I remember going to see a therapist and, just not really feeling like he understood and I was basically like, I'm gonna have to figure this out myself. And so I was always in that, state of fight or flight. wasn't really a lot of help. Now we know so many techniques and practices where we can stimulate the vagus nerve, which will calm the nervous system, but I don't think there's any peace, like the peace. For me, it's God, it's Jesus. For someone else it might be.
God. Or it could be something different. I think just knowing that you, no matter what has happened in your faith environment, I was a preacher's daughter, so for me it was a lot of just really judgy Christians that expected me to be perfect and it made it really difficult for me. I was always good with [00:18:00] God. I just didn't love some of,
yeah.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: I can realate, not the expectation of the society we're living in.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: And I think a lot of people have gone through that. So I always just, there's always like an intake form at the beginning to find out, if they want to share, what things they wanna work on. And they'll tell you like, I've. If there's trauma, they will explain to you what they've been through. And I had someone that was abused by her pastor and that's really difficult 'cause that's someone that you should really trust. But it happens, right? We're in a fallen world and it happens. Being able to just tell her, ask her, are you comfortable with me praying for you out loud? And, is it okay?
Like always asking for me? Permission to touch to make sure the environment feels peaceful and safe. All of those things. And then, they may have always been great with God too, but not necessarily they had these experiences and just [00:19:00] helping them to walk through that and release the trauma from the body because now we know that trauma stays in the body.
We can talk it out through therapy all we want, which is a great thing. However, if you don't move that outta your body, it's gonna stay stuck and you're gonna have physical illnesses because of it. So I just think that for me, when I focus on that, part of it take for instance, a scripture, like as simple as Psalms 46 :10 Be still.
Know that I'm God. And there is scripture after scripture in the Bible that says, don't be anxious, fear nothing over and over. So he's telling us that for a reason, because he wants us to know that it can be better. So I think that just being able to have that connection because we get so busy and you might go to a church and there's a beautiful like band with great music and all the things, [00:20:00] and you get hyped up and you're like really excited. And then you go back to your daily life and it's just the grind and you lose that connection again. This is a way to get up in the morning, connect directly. So for me, that's Jesus, and so I'm waking up with my Bible honoring him, moving my body. He wants us to take care of our, he says, these are our holy temples. He wants us to care for them. And so being able to do that for me brings me in line with him right away. And then I've found that I don't have a lot of separate prayers. I'm constantly talking to him all day I do and it's always connection. And I found that, people that have different face, it's still, believing in something that is powerful gives you the hope, the strength, everything you need to come back out of anything you're going through really.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah, I believe believing in something powerful [00:21:00] that has our backs it makes me feel safer. Like
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: yeah.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: periods of my life. I have been always spiritual, but then death happened in my family and I'm like, why God? Why did you do that? Because
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: I'm heartbroken, but believing that I'm gonna, those people are with God and their souls are safe and I'm gonna see them afterwards.
It makes me feel better. It makes me feel connected.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Right.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah, rather than just existing.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah,
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: I usually say that to people. It's like when things are going on that are really bad in someone's life, I make the comment to my husband or I just don't understand what people do without faith because when things are at their worst, I always know he's still gonna pull me out no matter what. And if I didn't have that, I don't know if I could have made it through some of the really hard things I've been through in life.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah I totally agree a hundred [00:22:00] percent. So as a trauma sensitive therapist you work with people who feel stuck or dissociated from their physical selves. If someone is walking into wild flow session for the first time, what does the first step of free entry into their own skin looks like?
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: So you, you mean like from the beginning, what it is that we take them through. The most important thing, like I had mentioned before with trauma is safety. There's so many little things you don't think about, like letting them know what doors go to, because if someone has been. Like, let's say they were a veteran and they've been in combat, they like to have their back to the door.
There's so many things, involved in that. Having yoga, props, like a strap. You don't wanna have it hanging. And the words you use. Most people will say Yoga pose. You won't hear me say that very much. I only when it slips out or if someone doesn't understand, but I'll say posture [00:23:00] or form or something like that. Because again, the word pose can be triggering.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: can be triggering. There's no way to completely be able to guess every trigger, but it's just trying to make a safe environment. And then once you do that, talking to them about what gives them peace, and it's all about the individual person, 'cause we're all different and so they may really like to move more.
That maybe that helps them still their mind or maybe it is more meditation, nidras, breath work that really leads them in. So as a yoga therapist, what's different about that is we put together a specialized individual plan for someone. So we have all their background history. A lot of times doctors and yoga therapists work together for best outcomes. And also I've worked with mental health professionals. I'm not gonna pretend I don't cover the mind in the way that a mental health professional [00:24:00] would. That's not my scope of practice. But together I can help calm the body so they can actually implement, the things that the therapist wants them to do. The thing I love the best about it is that they actually start to show real improvement really quickly. Like someone can have four sessions with a yoga therapist and almost feel like they're just fine, and that's really cool where I haven't seen that as much in therapy, but I think that they do go really well together.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah. I went through therapy. I remember it was very difficult when I first had my twins, like after the first year, I'm alone. I don't have family. So it was a lot. So I went through therapy and I'm like, , I'm a physician, but still, I don't feel like the tools they gave me are good or like improving because it's like.
I've done all of that. Like I want something else. I want something that calm my mind, my body. [00:25:00] So I think it goes well together rather than just therapy alone.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah. definitely. And it really does make a, a scientific difference. There's just so much research and evidence-based cases out there that when you add, just the stillness and the breath work and all that, it calms the nervous system. That's what allows your body to heal. Sometimes though, you just need that guiding light that you can also, believe this is this is my God. This is what I believe, and I know he's always there and it just allows me to have more motivation to, to feel better and to know it's possible because He's the great healer. He can perform miracles, and so as long as we always have that belief, there's a hope there. And I'm like you, like I wanna know, my mom passed about four years ago and it was very suddenly and she wasn't [00:26:00] very old and it was really difficult. But I know where she's at. And one of the things that the person that did her funeral set is she's, we say, we lost a parent, or we lost, a child, but we didn't lose them. We know exactly where they are. And so I know she's up there just waiting and I know that, even if Christianity and stuff.
You just think it's ridiculous and you don't think that there's a heaven, or a hell or anything like that. Just believing those things sets you up for a better life here on earth. I actually my son and I together, we did a blog one time about how the Christian life aligns with true happiness.
And so it's kinda like what I was talking about before. You have the list of all the things that you do when you have that faith and they're all things that psychiatrists and psychologists that spend years and years researching. Find [00:27:00] that it aligns perfectly. Yeah I think just movement by itself is not gonna help. You have to be, if you're trying to get rid of emotions in your body, you want to, be thinking about what that is. I always like to have my clients. Basically I'll tell them to scoop up all their worries, everything they have, and then they're just gonna hand them to him and that when they leave, I want them to leave all those worries because he tells us, all you have to do is be still and I'll fight for you.
And that scripture was like. S just life changing to me because I'm like, wow, he really does want me to be still. And we're worried that we're gonna not make up the time somewhere else. But like I said. It's exact opposite. He never meant for us to work and work, and it's just debilitating on our bodies.
And I think that when you incorporate the faith and all that's where my true healing began. Had I not had [00:28:00] God, I don't know if maybe just yoga alone would've helped. So combining it is so powerful and really life changing to so many.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: I think work and work is just a modern life style. We are not built for that. I think God wants us to be like slower, at least. Because of the modern life, I feel like we don't give ourself or God the time we need to. And it's like just people are working so hard to provide and yeah.
It's just, we lost him somewhere. Yeah.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah, we really did. And it shows, doesn't it? Everybody's fighting over all these things and it's Jesus is not the type to shove, like he could have made us follow him. God doesn't do that. He gives us free will. So we have that, opportunity. When that's what our focus is, then it really changes the way that you do manage your [00:29:00] day, and it's a really nice change and I see people go from being completely stressed out to just even after one session sleeping like a baby that night. So there's just so much to it, and I think that is just really important that we realize that we need to keep our bodies. Still always so they can heal from whatever comes our way because it manifests differently in all of us. For me, it was fatigue and feeling like I had the flu. For some people it's fibromyalgia type symptoms or all those things. It's like 85% depending on the research you look at, to 95% women that are having these autoimmune issues.
Because we're usually the main caregivers of our children while we're trying to be successful in our careers, and it's just a lot for the nervous system. And if we don't do something to change it and incorporate these practices daily, I'm just [00:30:00] worried that all women. That it's just gonna be a fact. If you are a mom and you have a career, you're going to burn out. And it happens to a lot of men too. But that was where I was coming from. Just trying to keep this from getting worse.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Women were built differently than men. I think they take more physical, burden. And the other day I was joking with my husband, I'm like, oh my God, I just wanna go back and change my mentality and be a housewife.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: I know.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah. We're high achievers, ~but ~but like raising kids and have a household that you manage, it's really not easy. I don't know how my mom did it or like our mothers do it, but they did a great job and it's not like women wants to work all of them, but most of them are forced to because of the economy and like they have to provide for their kids. And some of [00:31:00] them are like, as you said, single moms and they have to do something.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Right.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: I always tell him we are created to be spoiled.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: That's right.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: I always wondered is our modern day society, the fact that we aren't staying home with the kids and doing these things is that's what it's contributing, to these things. And I would never, because when I was working as a single mom, and it was real easy for women that made a whole bunch of their husbands made a whole bunch of money to say, you should stay home with your children.
And I'm
Yeah, I could do that. And then we would, live in an unsafe place
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: and bad schools.
You just feel that pressure as a mom to give your kids the best things and what they didn't have. So it's definitely a contributor. Like all those things are just hitting us all. And also the like things that we found that really affect, like what I was dealing with chronic fatigue, is. All the [00:32:00] new toxins that weren't there before. You were talking about your mom and I also, a lot of our moms also didn't have a career that felt like it was so engrossing. So that's different. Because of technology, people can reach us 24/ 7 and it's just constant, so the email's popping in and then your phone's dinging and you have to be willing to let that go, even if it's just for five minutes every hour. I have the people that work for me. I'm like, set your alarm for every hour, and I want you to take five deep cleansing breaths and stand up. Make sure you have water, you know these things. But we've gotta teach this. If we teach the kids this now, they don't ever have to struggle with anxiety.
My son was during COVID, he was a freshman in college at Washington University in St. Louis, which is a very difficult school. [00:33:00] And, his friends were depressed. He was having to take people to, emergency for mental health counseling. And I saw that and I'm like, there's no reason it has to be that way because now we know what helps.
And if we start that, like with my grandsons, I'll have them if one of them gets really upset, just simple as I'll have them hold their hand and trace it and breathe in on the way up. And exhale on the way down. So simple things like that really help our kids so that when they get to that age, that starts to be really stressful.
Like during puberty, they don't have that incredible anxiety. And we can still help people that have been through it, but wouldn't that be great if we could just eliminate it? That would be phenomenal.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yes, I agree. So in 2026 we are more overstimulated than ever. Biologically speaking, what is happening when we prioritize mobility and [00:34:00] breath over an intense cortisol spiking sweat session.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: And that's one thing that I love talking about 'cause like I said, a lot of people just think if they don't do that, they didn't get anything from it. And it's just the opposite. Stealing your mind allows your body to just let go. So we all live especially high achievers in a state of just fight or flight. So we're constantly just what do we gotta do next? And we're always on alert and that makes us good at our jobs, right? But it's not good for our bodies, for our spirit anything else. So we start to just get tense. Again, that's where I was, which is why my body couldn't heal. I'd started doing things like a, for instance, a viral load, like having Epstein Barr as a kid mono. I had that. We found out that it had reactivated in my system and was wreaking havoc, which is why I felt fluish And then we talked [00:35:00] about the toxins and the mental clutter and all of that adds so much that your body's just like help. And so when I went to an integrative doctor who believes in incorporating all this, he was really good at helping me to see how I got to that point. And he always calls me the most complicated cases ever had. And I think it's just because I kept going for so much longer 'cause my mind is so strong, but my body was like, help, I can't do anymore. And so I think that it's really incredible how much of a difference you feel. So now if I start, I used to, if I start to get a colder, the flu being just like this, it would just hit me hard. Now because my body is mostly in a state of rest and digest. Just my body knows what to do again and it can start to heal itself. And [00:36:00] God made us with the purpose of being able to listen. He made our bodies perfectly designed to do and heal the way they're supposed to, but we don't listen to them anymore. If we get uncomfortable, we eat, we go, we do more work, we do all those things. We don't wanna be uncomfortable, but being able to learn to be still with the uncomfort and then it moves into peace is what everyone needs. And then they could actually really listen to that wisdom they were given for their bodies.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm one of those people who when I take it slow, I don't feel like I got the workout I need to do, but I'm learning. You did a TEDx talk, right?
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: No, I haven't done that yet.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah, you should do a TEDx Talk because I feel like a lot of people need [00:37:00] to hear what you really have. So I wanna talk about the Worthy Plus Wyld philosophy. The name feels like beautiful tension, worthy feels grounded, wyld, feels free. How do these two concept together create a sustainable healing philosophy?
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: So the worthy comes from, we're all worthy to heal. It doesn't matter our backgrounds what we've been through, we are all worthy of healing, and we're all worthy of love and we're all worthy to have peace in our lives. All those things. The wyld part of it, like you said, it has a lot to do with being free from all of the stuff that like bogs us down.
Also, there are some of us, and I know I am, especially this way that I was raised in the church as a preacher's daughter, but I just always pushed the envelope a bit. I didn't just think the way people wanted me to think. I was always questioning [00:38:00] and what does that mean? And what should I do?
And so because of that, I just have always felt like I didn't fit sometimes into the traditional church mold for myself. And that sometimes that doesn't go over well, especially when you live in a small town. And so they're not, some people aren't, just, aren't as open-minded.
So I wanted a place where everybody could feel like they could come and heal. And there's so many Christians that were, maybe they went through a bad season and they had a problem with substances or they went through a divorce. And they feel like they don't deserve to come to church. There's actually people, there's studies that people will come to church on a Saturday night, but not a Sunday morning. If they've been through a lot in their lives, they don't feel worthy, but they'll come for whatever reason on Saturday because it doesn't feel as, and so I'm like, I want this space where people, even though they feel like they love [00:39:00] God, but they feel like they're isolated from that community, or that he's not gonna forgive them, to be able to walk them into a space and say, you are absolutely worthy of that.
And it's nice that I've lived through some of that because I can say. I don't fit into that mold either. All I know is what the Bible says and what I'm supposed to do. And being connected and calm in those moments allows me to know what I'm being led to do and really listening instead of just putting all the stuff
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: In my brain that, oh, you gotta do this, and then it's gotta be this, and it just gets bigger and bigger. So yeah, I think that when we're in that state of calm, it's just really incredible because your body knows what to do. You can hear, you can think clearly, and let's be honest. Most of us are just surviving in this culture. We're not doing anything other than [00:40:00] surviving, and that's really sad and we should be thriving and, helping one another and all of those things.
So worthy and wyld to me, just represented all of that we're all worthy. Here's a community. No one will be turned away. We're here for you. And people feel so lonely right now with everything, and people are more depressed than ever, have more anxiety. We can stop that. If people that have the knowledge, share it. And that's where I've really, grown. And at first it was just gonna be a really robust, all in one place for healing and to feel comfortable in those different environments as a Christian as well as, someone that already subscribes to, the philosophies of that. And I, I think that what really makes the biggest difference is when we just. We're open minded enough, to bring [00:41:00] people in. And then the stillness calms our mind, and then we think clearly and we don't get into that monkey mind of do this, do that, back and forth. And even me recently. This went, was getting so big really quick, and I started to feel that exact stress I had when I was in the corporate world. And I'm like, I gotta do this. This isn't working. The technology, and I'm like, okay, you're not doing this so you can feel bad again, and you've got to lead. So, I thought, how can I make the biggest impact?
And I still wanna have resources for everyone and individuals, but by working with doctors and healthcare in general and all different kinds, holistic, regular doctors, all of it, mental health. Then, we can really make a difference in teaching them how to just incorporate small things into. And I think that's why you and I felt so [00:42:00] aligned is because we don't wanna see the burnout.
We don't want for these things to continue. So education is key. You don't know what you don't know. And so I think that's where both trying to come in and just say, Hey, we wanna help make this better.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah. And what you said about it's so deep, so the story behind it is very personal about being free being out of the box. I can totally relate because i'm the same way like I was judged. I'm very close to God. I'm very good with people, like I do what he asked us to do, but I don't follow leaderships or like the norm of society.
Even my dad he's you have to be different. And I'm like, okay. So now I don't share my thoughts and like
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: beliefs and I respect everyone's religion and belief. But, I accept them the way they are. And the [00:43:00] story behind Worthy Plus Wyld is amazing because it's very personal.
I've never thought it's that way. I thought it's just a catchy name.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah, no, it had a lot of meaning and I just knew that there needed to be a space for people like me who, became really sick burnout, and for those that were just teetering on that edge to come and get real strategies to help. Because when you go that through, that on your own, especially as a teenager and you really realize no one has any clue what is going on with you.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yes.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: and you have to walk through that by yourself. I literally, I prayed every day for six months about the anxiety attacks. I'm like, God, please just take this away from me. And about the six month mark. It just went away. I had, I didn't have anxiety. Now it came back later years later. And then I noticed when I started learning [00:44:00] to share yoga and mindfulness and all these things I realized that it's really important to kinda, I lost my train of thought of exactly where I was going with that. But, Just being able to now have real life things that can help people like that would've been amazing. Just like something as simple as, massaging your ears to stimulate your biggest nerve. So your body calms or rubbing along your vagus nerve in order to calm. There's just so many things like that we can do to make a big difference, and I think we all have that. I'm same way with my dad. He looks at it as very black and white, and I don't. And so I completely get that. But it's great to be able to walk other people that have been there and say, Hey, it can get better.
There's lots of things you can do and just trying to make the most difference you [00:45:00] can.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: So Amy as a lead master trainer for yoga Faith, you're literally training the next generation of healers. We've moved away from fitness toward introspective wellness, actually feeling from the inside out. What is the biggest shift you're seeing in what people are hungry for in their wellness practice this year?
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: I think peace and calm and clarity.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yeah.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: Like just getting that mind to calm down feels so good to be able to really have a complete thought without feeling like I need to run here. People just are stressed out. And so I have a class I do for some ladies. I have a studio in my house and it's looks out at the lake.
And, we have some beautiful hammocks and I put them in there at the end for what's called Shavasana, I call it Rusty Angel. And we put them in there and I rock them and they're like completely cocooned and [00:46:00] I make sure to have hot tea afterwards. I do hot towels on the face, just anything that will help them to just escape their life for, and not even escape it, but some people might wanna do that. Some people just really wanna lean more into connecting with the spirit, and so they really just want peace. They don't wanna feel anxiety and they want movement also that keeps them flexible and gives them energy and that kind of thing. That's probably the biggest thing.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: That's beautiful. Thank you Amy for being the bridge between the clinical world of therapy and the spiritual world of faith. You reminded us today that our bodies aren't just machines to be driven. They are sacred spaces where healing is constant invitation. And for our listeners who wants to check out your website, we're gonna have your website [00:47:00] under the video.
Thank you so much. This was very insightful and I look forward to another podcast with you.
amy-cunningham_1_02-17-2026_125930: That's awesome. I'm really glad that you reached out and I'm just excited to see what we can put our minds to, but in a calm way, not a stressful way.
reem-al-brahim--md--mph_1_02-17-2026_125930: Yes. Thank you.
