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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.

Send us a text

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.

Send us a text

Episode 95: The Human Design of Being Seen: Visibility, Energy & the Art of Showing Up When It Feels Safer to Hide

There’s a quiet truth I keep coming back to: visibility isn’t about being louder — it’s about being braver with your energy.

In this episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on what it really means to be seen through the lens of Human Design — not as performance or exposure, but as recognition. Caitlan explores how visibility, nervous system safety, and energy alignment all weave together to help you show up without forcing it.

Because when your energy is right, recognition becomes inevitable.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The difference between being visible and performing
• How your Human Design type shapes your relationship with being seen
• Why your nervous system plays a bigger role in visibility than your content plan
• What aligned selling looks like when you stop chasing and start resonating

Key Takeaways:

• You don’t have to chase visibility. When you’re aligned, you are visibility.
• Self-recognition is your most magnetic sales strategy.
• Your energy, not your strategy, is what people actually respond to.

TO LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE BECOME A RETURN+ SUBSCRIBER HERE

If you were sitting across from me at the table, I’d probably tell you this:
the best sales energy doesn’t come from doing more — it comes from being seen in your truth.

We talk about how every energy type (Manifestor, Generator, MG, Projector, Reflector) has its own rhythm for visibility, and why the most potent marketing move you can make might just be grounding your nervous system before you hit “post.”

I also share a behind-the-scenes story about how I created a paid partnership for this podcast without pitching or performing — just trusting my Splenic nudges and letting my design lead.

Links & Resources:

• To listen to the full episode become a Return+ subscriber here
• Book a Human Design Reading + Integration to apply this to your own chart here
  
  
• Follow Caitlan on Instagram

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 94: Self-Energy, Skeptic Parts & Practical Alchemy

Today Caitlan is joined by Elizabeth Scott an IFS Level 1–trained psychotherapist, Reiki Master Practitioner, astrologer, certified nature-informed therapist, and Safe & Sound Protocol provider. Elizabeth blends Internal Family Systems, nervous system support, and intuitive modalities to help clients access their own inner wisdom and whole-brain healing. We get into self-energy (and why Maggie Rogers’ “Alaska” might be its anthem), how Reiki actually supports ventral vagal states, using astrology without the “higher/lower” moralism (hello burdened vs. unburdened expressions), legacy burdens, & more!

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• What Reiki is (in plain English) and how it tangibly supports your nervous system.
• How IFS, Reiki, and astrology weave together to create more access to Self.
• “Burdened vs. unburdened” expressions in astrology
• How legacy burdens show up—and a gentle path to unburdening.
• Practical ways to build a morning practice that actually fits your design and life

Chapters:

03:05 Elizabeth finds IFS: from psychodynamic & EMDR to parts work

05:26 Self as tuning fork: the ripple effect in families & relationship

18:44 What is Reiki?

22:50 Talking to skeptical parts + research notes for the left brain

24:45 Reiki as right-brain on-ramp to IFS (wonder, imagination, intuition)

26:16 Why Elizabeth added Reiki & astrology (and how it changed her work)

29:36 Charts as parts-maps: instant unblending through seeing

32:01 How IFS + Reiki + astrology integrate in session

34:32 Polyvagal lens: why nervous system regulation comes first

37:38 “Burdened vs. unburdened” expressions (credit: Sarah Temel)

41:40 What a session with Elizabeth looks like (therapy vs. coaching)

47:17 Elizabeth’s return-to-Self practice (30-minute morning meditation)

49:20 Tailoring practices to your Moon and nervous system

50:04 Return+ bonus: guided Reiki meditation (8–10 minutes)

50:35 How to work with Elizabeth + free “Reclaim Your Calm” meditation

Links & Resources:

• Connect with Elizabeth Scott:
  • Website
  • Instagram
  • Free meditation: Reclaim Your Calm
• Return+ Bonus
  • 🎧 Elizabeth’s Guided Reiki Meditation (8–10 min) — available for Return+ members

If this conversation helped you exhale and remember what’s already inside you, share it with a friend who needs a gentle nudge back to Self. Subscribe/follow Return, and if you want the guided Reiki meditation from Elizabeth plus deeper, behind-the-scenes episodes, join

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 93: A Taylor Swift Human Design Chart Reading for Return+ Subscribers & How You Can Use Those Takeaways for Your Own Chart

In this solo episode, host Caitlan Siegenthaler explores the intersection of identity, visibility, and being SEEN through the lens of Taylor Swift’s Human Design chart and what it reveals about you. As a 5/1 Splenic Projector with the Left Angle Cross of Confrontation, Taylor mirrors the very tension so many of us feel: the desire to be seen while staying true to ourselves. Caitlan unpacks how understanding your own design Human Design Chart, your incarnation cross, profile, and open centers can help you move from living under others’ expectations to expressing your energy with clarity and confidence. Love her or hate her, Taylor Swift's chart breakdown helps you see the power of Human Design on Visibility.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• How understanding your Incarnation Cross can illuminate your life purpose.
• Why the 5/1 profile often grapples with projection and visibility.
• The energetic influence of Left Angle Crosses and the role of confrontation in evolution.
• How open centers amplify collective emotion and influence.
• The paradox of being seen — as both a gift and a burden.
• How authentic expression challenges norms and creates deeper emotional connection.
• What Taylor Swift’s journey teaches us about redefining identity on your own terms.

Links & Resources:

• 💌 Subscribe to Return+ on Substack
• Find Out What Your Chart Says About Visibility & Book a Reading with Caitlan Here
  
  

If this story lights something up in you — maybe a reminder that your next “big moment” doesn’t have to be chased, forced, or perfectly prepared for, let us know.
Share your reflections with me on Instagram or Threads, and if you want the full, unfiltered dinner party version of this episode, join me inside Return+ on Substack. That’s where the tea is spilled.

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 92: Visibility, Vulnerability & Why It Matters

In this kickoff to a new series on Being Seen, Caitlan Siegenthaler invites you into a real, layered conversation about what it actually means to be seen. From her grandmother’s quiet affirmation to the spirals of sharing your work online, Caitlan unpacks the human need for recognition and the very real fears that hold us back. She also shares personal updates—new IFS intensives, Human Design readings, and her brand-new membership space, Return+ before guiding you into reflection prompts that help you navigate the push-pull of wanting to be seen while also fearing exposure.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why being seen is a core human need and why it feels so risky.
• The cycles we get stuck in when we both crave and resist visibility.
• How Internal Family Systems (IFS) explains the parts of us that long for attention vs. the parts that want to hide.
• The difference between authentic visibility and performative “authenticity.”
• Why visibility ≠ validation, and how to define success by your own internal signals.
• How to work with polarization (the inner tug-of-war) to find safe, sustainable ways of showing up.

Chapters:

• 00:40 – Why visibility, why now: an overview of the new series
• 02:00 – Life + business updates: IFS intensives, HD readings, group program, and Return Plus
• 07:59 – The human ache to be seen
• 13:00 – Childhood roots of feeling witnessed
• 15:00 – The messy cycle of creating, hiding, and showing up again
• 17:30 – Visibility vs. the right visibility
• 19:30 – Vulnerability, authenticity & performative “realness”
• 21:30 – Reflection prompts: hiding, validation, boundaries
• 26:30 – Working with IFS polarizations: the part that wants to be seen vs. the part that doesn’t
• 29:00 – Where this series is headed on Return Plus

• 🌟 Subscribe to Return+ on Substack
  to access the full visibility series (essays + paid podcast episodes).
• ✨ Book an IFS Intensive
  (3- or 6-hour deep dives).
• 🔮 Book a Human Design Reading
• 📅 Join Undefined
  —the group program for Projectors, Manifestors & Reflectors (starting November 3rd).

FROM CAITLAN:
Thank you for being part of my own journey of being seen—I couldn’t do this without you. If today’s episode resonated, share it with a friend, leave a review, and subscribe so you don’t miss what’s coming next in the visibility series. And if you’re ready to dive deeper, join Return+ for exclusive essays, workshops, and behind-the-scenes conversations.

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

Hi, hi, hi. I am literally sitting in a Chicago hotel room with a mini mic, fresh off the IFS conference, coffee in hand, and a brain buzzing with about a million things I could share. But instead of doing a full recap (that’ll come later), I kept feeling pulled to hit record on something simpler—something we all actually need right now: a five-minute reset.

This episode is not about more information, more learning, or more hustle. It’s about pausing. Coming back to yourself. Noticing your body, your surroundings, and the parts of you that are whispering (or maybe yelling) for attention. Think of it like me sitting on the edge of the hotel bed saying: “Hey, let’s just check in together for five minutes and see what comes up.”

What you’ll learn in this episode

• A quick, no-rules “meditation” that actually feels doable (no perfect posture required)
• Three guiding questions to carry into the rest of your day: What did you notice? What was that like? What do you need?
• Why embodiment and tiny, consistent check-ins matter more than cramming in more knowledge
• How slowing down for five minutes can shift the way you show up for work, family, and the world

Key takeaways:

• You don’t need fancy props or silence to return to yourself—standing, walking, lying down, coffee in hand, it all counts.
• Curiosity is your superpower. If a part of you rolls its eyes or says you’re doing it wrong, notice that too.
• Even five minutes of presence gives you real-time info you can use to make different choices.
• Returning to yourself isn’t just self-care—it’s how we become the kind of humans who can hold space for others.

Chapters:

• 00:00 Caitlan sets the scene: hotel room, IFS conference vibes
• 01:30 An Uber ride, Adele on repeat, and the magic of quiet connection
• 04:49 Why our bodies will “take us out” when we don’t pause
• 07:19 Invitation to a five-minute reset (don’t call it meditation)
• 09:04 Instructions: step away, get curious, let’s do this together
• 10:50 The guided check-in begins
• 15:02 Wrapping up the reset & Caitlan shares what came up for her
• 16:38 Embodiment = using the info to move through your day differently
• 18:24 Outro, invitation to share, and Return+ shout-out

Links & resources

• Become a Return+ subscriber on Substack for bonus pods, juicy essays, and discounts on Human Design Readings: Return+ on Substack
  
  
• Follow Caitlan on Instagram @caitlansiegenthaler
  for daily snippets and behind-the-scenes

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.