If you have Hashimoto’s or hypothyroidism and you have been doing all the right things without seeing results, the problem may not be what you are doing. It may be the order you are doing it in. So many of us with thyroid issues are taking the right supplements, cleaning up the diet, and chasing our hormones, yet still feel stuck. There is usually a deeper reason, and it often comes down to sequence.
In this episode, Inna is joined by Dr. Meg Mill, a functional medicine practitioner who works with women all over the world on thyroid, hormone, and gut health. Rather than treating the body as a list of separate problems to fix, Dr. Meg maps out the precise order the body actually needs in order to heal, and she explains why almost everyone starts in the wrong place. Together, they unpack the often missed connection between the nervous system, digestion, and thyroid function, and why your own thoughts may be physiologically blocking your recovery before it even begins.
Why Most Women with Hashimoto’s Are Doing the Right Things in the Wrong Order
One of the most common frustrations with Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism is feeling like you are doing everything correctly and still not getting better. Dr. Meg sees this constantly in her practice. The women who come to her are smart, informed, and motivated, and they are rarely doing the wrong things. The issue is that they are doing them out of order.
Most people understand that there is a physiological sequence to healing on some level. You would not try to pull mercury out of the body before supporting the gut and the liver, for example. But Dr. Meg takes this idea much further. She explains that hormones, which so many women rush to balance first, are usually not the right starting point at all, because so many other systems in the body are sending those hormones their messages. When you start in the wrong place, you end up swimming upstream, feeling better for a little while and then sliding backward. When you work in the order the body actually needs, the same efforts finally start to hold.
Your Thoughts Are Giving Your Body Concrete Instructions
Here is where this conversation gets fascinating. Dr. Meg explains that your thyroid, your digestion, and your hormones are all being directly influenced by your nervous system, and your nervous system is being directed by your thoughts.
The autonomic nervous system has two branches most people have heard of. The parasympathetic, known as rest and digest, and the sympathetic, known as fight or flight. The problem is that the body cannot tell the difference between being chased by a bear and receiving a harsh email, missing a deadline, or scrolling past something upsetting on social media. It responds to all of them the same way physiologically. Every anxious thought is essentially telling the body that it is in danger.
What fewer people realize is that digestion actually begins in the brain, before a single bite of food is taken. This is called the cephalic phase of digestion, where the brain signals the body to prepare stomach acid, enzymes, and bile in advance of a meal. When you are in fight or flight, the opposite signal is sent. The vagus nerve, which runs from the base of the brain through all of the digestive organs, tells the body to shut digestion down. Stomach acid drops, motility slows, and blood is diverted away from the gut entirely. For anyone with Hashimoto’s, this is enormous, because if you cannot properly digest and absorb your nutrients, you cannot convert T4 to T3, you cannot support healthy immune regulation, and you cannot get the full benefit of any of the supplements or dietary changes you are working so hard on.
The Seven Second Switch
To interrupt these stress patterns, Dr. Meg created a tool she calls the Seven Second Switch. It is a science-backed method built on neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to reshape itself based on the thoughts we repeat. Over time, our most repeated thoughts become well-worn pathways, and many of the negative ones become beliefs we accept as true simply because we have thought them so often.
The process moves through several steps. First, identify the core thought, which often traces back to a deeper belief like I am not good enough, I do not belong, or I am not capable of healing. Second, notice where that thought lives in the body, whether it is tightness in the stomach, heaviness in the shoulders, or constriction in the chest. Third, question whether the thought is 100 percent true, because in nearly every case it is not. Fourth, physically release it, imagining yourself pulling it out or swiping it away. Fifth, replace it with a believable, neutral thought rather than a forced positive affirmation, something like I am okay right now or I am healing. Sixth, take a slow breath and exhale longer than you inhale to activate the vagus nerve and reset the nervous system.
Dr. Meg is honest that the new thought will feel unfamiliar at first, almost like writing with your non-dominant hand. That is expected, because the old pathway is well established and the new one is just beginning to form. Repetition is what builds it into something real. The biggest advantage of this tool is that it requires no special time or quiet space. You can do it in the car, in the shower, or in any moment you notice a thought or a physical shift, which makes it something you can genuinely start using today.
The Order the Body Actually Needs to Heal
Dr. Meg’s full framework is called the Solara Method, named for the goal of giving every cell in the body its full strength and function. It lays out the exact sequence the body needs to heal rather than spin in circles.
The sequence begins with calming the nervous system, which is the foundation everything else depends on. From there, the focus moves to engaging digestion so the body can actually break down and absorb what it takes in. Next comes loading the nutrients, making sure key micronutrients like selenium, zinc, iron, and vitamin D are getting in, since these are essential for thyroid function. After that, the elimination pathways are addressed so the body can move waste and toxins out effectively. Then metabolism is supported, including blood sugar regulation, mitochondrial function, cortisol rhythm, and thyroid function. Only after all of that does the work move to balancing sex hormones, which is where so many women want to begin. And detox comes last of all.
This last point is where many people with Hashimoto’s run into real trouble. Detox has become incredibly popular, but attempting it before the rest of the body is functioning well very often backfires. When the elimination pathways are not clear, when digestion is compromised, and when the nervous system is still dysregulated, adding a detox protocol can make symptoms significantly worse. It is not that detox is harmful in itself. It is that timing determines everything, and the same protocol that helps one person can set another person back if their body is not ready for it.
Hypersensitivity and the Path Back to Safety
For those who have been unwell for a long time, the nervous system and immune system can become hypersensitive. The body has been in a state of threat for so long that it starts reacting to things that never used to trigger it. Dr. Meg uses a memorable analogy here. If you were handed a rose and told to touch a hot stove every time you received it, eventually the rose alone would trigger a stress response, even with no stove in sight. That is what happens inside a body that has learned to associate everyday life with danger.
This is especially relevant for people with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, food sensitivities, and Hashimoto’s, where the body can seem to react to almost everything. Until the nervous system is given a genuine sense of safety, many of those reactions simply will not settle down no matter what else is being addressed. This is exactly why calming the nervous system has to come first. Simple, free tools like humming, gargling, and the breathing reset built into the Seven Second Switch can begin to recalibrate the system over time. These are not placebo measures. They have direct, measurable effects on the vagus nerve and the body’s threat response, and for someone with thyroid issues, they may be the missing first step that finally lets everything else work.
Connect with Dr. Meg Mill
Website: megmill.com Women’s Functional Health Institute: womensfunctionalhealth.org Podcast: A Little Bit Healthier Instagram: @drmegmill Book: The Seven Second Switch (coming soon, details at megmill.com)
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Inna Topiler CNS MS (00:02.53)
Dr. Meg, I am so excited to have you on thyroid mystery solved, Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism revealed. Welcome.
Meg Mill (00:09.529)
Thank you so much for having me today.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (00:11.509)
Absolutely.
You guys are in for a treat. If you don’t know Dr. Meg, she is a globally recognized voice in women’s functional health. She’s also the host of a little bit healthier podcast. And she’s the creator of two proprietary frameworks, which are really exciting. One is called the Solara method, which guides women through healing in the precise sequence the body actually requires. And then also the seven seconds switch method, which I’m very excited to talk about, which in seven seconds, it’s a science back tool that interrupts the thought patterns
that are physiologically blocking your digestion, your hormones, and your energy. All of the things that we want to make sure are working for us when we have thyroid issues. So Dr. Meg, I’m really excited to get into all of this. Now, one of the things that you talk about is that most women are failing to heal not because they’re doing the wrong things, but…
because they’re doing them in the wrong order and because their own thought patterns are blocking the process of healing before it actually begins. So I’d love to dig into that. So tell us a little bit more about this and what’s happening.
Meg Mill (01:17.389)
Yeah, so I have a global functional medicine practice and I’ve worked with hundreds of women all over the world. And as over the years, as I’ve worked with people, it started to become apparent. A lot of people come to me after maybe hearing me speak somewhere or something, and they’ve been to a lot of other practitioners. Maybe I’ll be the third, fourth practitioner that they’ve come to see. And they haven’t done the wrong things. You know, it’s one of those things where they, or even if they haven’t seen many practitioners, we have a lot of,
your audience, I’m sure, smart listeners. We have a lot of smart listeners and there’s no lack of information out there. We can get information. But what I see happen a lot of the time is that it’s not necessarily the wrong things, but it’s the wrong order. So if you’re not doing things in the order that your body needs in order to flow through and to really get your cells to the place where they’re optimally functioning and doing that in the right way, then we can be kind of swimming up
stream, we’re butting our heads, we’re just not getting the results and maybe you feel better for a little while even and then you go back and you, you know, or you just can’t seem to get the results. So when we actually do things in a way that works with your body instead of working against it, we actually start to see these results. And one of the biggest things that I’m just going to point out right now because we’re women listeners is hormones. So, you know, people want to come in, it’s my hormones, I’m going through perimetopause, everything is perimetopause. Yes, we need to
balance your hormones. But that’s not often the first place that we actually need to start because so many other things in your body are actually giving those hormones messages.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (02:55.31)
Yeah.
Yeah, that’s so true. And I can’t tell you how many people I see also in the same situation where they’re doing all the things. And what’s interesting is that a lot of times people think about the order of things as like physiological still, right? So, well, you you can’t cleanse out mercury until you clean your gut or else you’re just going to reabsorb all that mercury, right? Makes sense, right? So it’s like gut then liver or, know, there’s other protocols with like phase one or phase two, you can’t take
these writings before you do this, which makes sense, but you go much further with that. So tell us more about that.
Meg Mill (03:31.247)
Yes, so I think from all of the research that I’ve done over years and years and worked with like close to a thousand people, I think it all starts with your nervous system and your thoughts. And that just is from experience of patterns that I’ve seen and the research that I’ve done. And see what happens is I’m gonna go, wanna go into some of the science behind it. Yes, okay, so we’ll go there.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (03:56.238)
We have very smart listeners and you know, again, I know when you say science, you’re not going to go over people’s heads, but people who listen to the show, they love to be inspired, but they also love to learn and they love to know why, like how things work and why. So please.
Meg Mill (04:00.111)
Okay.
Yes.
Meg Mill (04:13.134)
Okay.
So we’re gonna kind of talk about two different systems right here to get started and we’re going, we’re gonna talk about the nervous system and your digestive system. first of all, your nervous system has different branches. So our autonomic nervous system is the part of our nervous system that does the things that we don’t consciously think about. So it’s controlling things like your breath work, your heart rate, and your digestion. And in that nervous system, we have different branches.
And so a lot of you’ve probably heard that we have the rest and digest, which is your parasympathetic nervous system. And we have the fight or flight, which is the, I’m chased by a bear. I have to run for my life. And the problem is that we’re not being chased by bears on a regular basis, but physiologically your body can’t tell the difference between I’m afraid I’m going to miss my deadline or
you know, all the things that are going, you know, I didn’t get all my lists done today or I didn’t get that special treat made for my child’s class or any of the things that we’re worrying about and stressing about. Your body can’t tell the difference between that and being chased by a bear. So it’s actually giving your body physiological responses when we’re in that fight or flight. And so our thoughts are actually telling, you know, when you have that negative thought, you’re telling your body, okay,
Danger like this isn’t good. I’m in danger your body’s saying okay now we’re in danger So we’re going to do certain things and so
Meg Mill (05:50.287)
So now I’m gonna switch over to digestive system. So when you’re in that your body actually has what we call the cephalic phase of digestion and it’s really interesting I like to give this fun fact because Ivan Pavlov, you know Pavlov’s dogs Well, everyone knows about him from condition response and ringing the bell and the dog response But he actually won the Nobel Prize in 1904 for the physiology of digestion So he wasn’t actually studying condition response. He was studying digestion, which I don’t know a lot that a lot of people know that
Inna Topiler CNS MS (06:09.326)
Mm.
Meg Mill (06:20.241)
that, yeah.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (06:20.502)
I did not know that.
Meg Mill (06:21.577)
Yeah, so that’s an interesting fun fact that you can share. but he when he was studying the physio the physiology of digestion He discovered the connection of the brain and so we now call that the cephalic phase of digestion So your digestive process starts before you even eat so we think of digestion starting maybe with saliva Or maybe with stomach acid, but you actually have what we call the cephalic phase of digestion, which is your brain telling your body that food is coming from
for digestion, start acid, start releasing enzymes from the pancreas, start releasing bile so that you can get digestive things ready. Well when we’re in the sympathetic nervous system, we are actually saying do the opposite. So we have something called the vagus nerve that goes from the base of our brain and travels the whole way down through your spine and innervates all of the digestive organs.
We have the enteric nervous system. We can go down that road, but I don’t want to right now. But it’s giving your body messages. So you’re having this, I’m being chased by a bear, so your body’s getting the message, wait, in this situation, we don’t digest. So now we don’t produce stomach acid. We don’t release bile. We have something called the migrating motor complex that helps us get food through. So we decrease motility.
We tell the blood to divert actually away from the gut. So you’re literally shutting down your digestion before you even eat so it’s Not often connected. So, you know, I feel like there’s kind of two camps going on There’s like the mind there’s the functional medicine where we’re talking about, you know healing the gut and Digestion and nutrition and all of the natural health things but and then there’s the mindfulness people that are out there talking about like meditation and mindfulness
and rethought reframing, but we’re not connecting them. So we need to connect them because you’re actually giving your body like concrete instructions. And so then we move when we’re getting these instructions, if you’re shutting down digestion, like let’s bring it back, you know, start to bring it back to the thyroid. There’s a lot of different components here between we can talk about adrenals and the thyroid. We can talk about if you’re not getting enough.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (08:24.334)
you
Meg Mill (08:45.615)
of your nutrients digested to actually convert your T4 into T3. So there’s so many things that happen here. When we can’t digest and absorb, we can’t absorb the nutrients that we need for other functions too.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (08:57.934)
Right, exactly. Yeah. And if we’re not digesting, then we’re probably breeding SIBO and all types of dysbiosis, which are such triggers for the Hashimoto’s piece, which is such a huge piece of anyone that has a thyroid issue. So it’s important for everything.
Meg Mill (09:14.189)
Yes, exactly.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (09:16.514)
Yeah. So, then with the gut and it’s, you know, and I love what you’re saying that people don’t connect the two. And I think even people who are listening that understand this, sometimes we still don’t think about that. Wait a minute. Like our mindfulness stuff is directly impacting the physical, but we don’t always know how. And I love your explanation of this is exactly how that’s done.
Meg Mill (09:40.451)
Mm-hmm.
Well, and that’s another piece of this. So then you go into, now we understand that your thoughts are affecting you physiologically, but then what do we do? And so, you know, a lot of people, I have a lot of people, even after you have a lot of stress, you you can get into a fight flight freeze state, where even breath work can be too much for you. There’s, you know, where some people are at very different points in nervous system regulation. And so we have these tools that a lot of people are
given but a lot of people say well you know like okay let’s say you meditate one a lot of people don’t have time to meditate but you do okay I feel good in that in that moment when I’m meditating but then I have to go back into my life and then or I feel good when I’m practicing mindfulness or doing some of the routines but then I have to go back to my life so and so many people also saying to me
Well, I just have so much stress. don’t know how like, yeah, you can say this, but how do I actually deal with it? What do I do? And, and that’s where the seven second switch comes in. And that’s where this where it’s actually a process to rewire your brain. So we’ll go into the science and then we can go through it. I can actually talk about what we do. So, but there is also science behind this. It’s not again, just like, do this and that we’re actually giving our body instructions. So there is a concept
Inna Topiler CNS MS (10:50.882)
I would love to, yes.
Meg Mill (11:00.985)
neuroscience called neuroplasticity and that means that your brain is constantly reshaping itself based on your thoughts. So the good thing, know, the bad thing about this is we can create paths of thought.
that we think over and over and over that aren’t true and we’ve been thinking them so long they become beliefs and we just believe that is true. But the good thing is we can get out of it. So we just have to actually create a new pathway. And you create a new pathway by creating a new thought and firing that thought enough times that it becomes, you know, first it becomes a path and a road and then a highway. So you’re kind of creating this new path. And that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to say, okay, we’re creating this new path for you to have this new thought that’s actually giving your body
Inna Topiler CNS MS (11:21.304)
Yes.
Meg Mill (11:44.391)
the right instructions. And it does take time. It’s one of those things you do it and you’re in you can think like, okay, have the shift and then your mind will go right back to like, wait, but and it starts justifying it again, because it’s like, wait, but we’re already in that pathway, we already have this so we have to to practice it but
What we do is we, and it takes, once you get used to it, and you do it a while, that’s where it really does take only about seven seconds. what we do is we, do you want me to go through it with you right now? Okay. So I want you to think of a thought that is the meanest thing that you say to yourself. So when I’m talking about this, I’m talking about layered thoughts. So I’m gonna give you an example here and say, okay, let’s say your thought is, okay, what are you always saying to yourself?
Inna Topiler CNS MS (12:16.974)
Yes, please.
Meg Mill (12:34.295)
It’s I’m always late. Okay. Well, why does it matter that you’re always late? Like maybe you’re stressed about being late. Okay. Well Because I’m letting down the people I love okay. Well, why does that matter because I’m not good enough for love So there’s often these like underlying core thoughts underneath the kind of the surface levels that we when we drill down we come back to so You feel that you take that so I want everyone to just like, you know You can practice this later, but take time and just think of that what when you’re up at 3 a.m
and your mind’s racing, like what is the thought that that core thought?
And so then we take the core thought and we say, okay, now where do we feel this in our body? Because we often are holding this energy in our bodies and we’re so used to go, go, go, we don’t even know it. So you feel the thought and you feel it like, okay, maybe your stomach feels tight. Again, remember our body’s physiologically responding. Maybe your shoulders are heavy. You might feel tightness. Do you say, okay, feel the thought in your body. And then you question it. And this is like a really,
there each step has purpose, this is an important part. And you say like, do I 100 % know that this is true? Because it’s actually not true. So it’s just that you’ve been believing this thought for so long that you feel that it’s true because now it has become a belief of yours just based on repetition. And so we say, okay, do I know this 100 % true? And in 99.9 % of the time, the thoughts that are negatively that are going through our head
Inna Topiler CNS MS (13:46.691)
Mm.
Meg Mill (14:08.793)
every day on repeat all the time or are not true and we can’t prove it but we just you know keep repeating these same patterns so you say okay so then you prove to yourself okay this isn’t real this is a thought and then you remove it from your body so you want to actually try to physically remove it like you know kind of if you can you know you might be around people when you’re doing this but like like imagine swiping it from your mind imagine like like you can you can actually physically like pull it out of your stomach
Inna Topiler CNS MS (14:35.328)
Right.
Meg Mill (14:38.689)
pull it out of your chest, let it go. So just get the thought out of you and then, cut it off. Yeah, pull it out and then remove it and then, and then we replace it. So then we say, okay, you replace it with a, we’re giving ourselves that new neurological pathway. So you replace it with something that can be believable. So, you you’re not saying like, okay, that like, you know, I’m so amazing or something, you know, it’s something that’s like, I’m okay in this moment.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (14:43.702)
I do that with my kids.
Meg Mill (15:08.543)
I am healing. I can get better. Like, you know, I am good enough. Something that’s just can stick that you’re like, okay, I can, you know, feel this. And so then you replace the thought and you feel the shift. And then you take, you put one hand on your belly. You don’t have to put your hand there, but like, I’d like to feel that you’re breathing it. You breathe in through, do a deep belly breath. And then you want to try to exhale longer than you inhaled to activate your vagus nerve.
So we’re resetting our nervous system at that point. So now we have gone through, and again, when you practice, just like, okay, that thought, da-da-da-da, you go through it. It’s much quicker. And I have been doing this for so long that it’s just, when you start to do it, it’s very interesting because you start to realize how you feel things in your body. You’re catching your thoughts so often. like, I’ll feel, like sometimes I don’t even know.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (15:57.891)
Yeah.
Meg Mill (16:03.575)
Like what I’m feeling, but I’ll catch it like, ooh, my body shifted. I, you know, ugh, I feel tighter. I feel like, ugh, you know, you can tell that something happened. Like, well, what was that? And it’s like, I got that email that I didn’t like, or someone said this, or whatever. And then you can go clear that, you know, like switch that thought. But,
Inna Topiler CNS MS (16:12.334)
Thank you.
Meg Mill (16:23.759)
It’s funny when you’re doing it so often so for so long it just kind of naturally comes in and you’re able to just like okay You know we can switch it and yeah But at first you will go you will do it and then you’re like I said your mind if you do it
Inna Topiler CNS MS (16:31.715)
Yeah.
Meg Mill (16:39.951)
I want you to sit and feel the shiver in it and then it won’t be surprising if your mind does go right back at first though to like, but wait, and it wants to stick to like, yeah but I know that is true because you just, like I said, we’ve been doing this for so long, it takes practice.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (16:54.742)
Yeah, now this is maybe to give people a more concrete example.
You mentioned something about, you you felt something, your body tight and you’re like, it’s the email that you got. And I think this is very common for many people. And I think maybe we could go through that thought process because I think people can then see themselves in it, you know, whether they’re dealing with health issues or not. Right. Like generally though, speaking, I am generalizing a little bit, but generally a lot of people with thyroid issues are more sensitive, which is a good thing, right? Like the canaries and the goldmine. So like we basically like test things out.
Meg Mill (17:23.353)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (17:29.104)
and you know it’s good like it’s it’s there for our survival however with that said very often we are too again I don’t want to over generalize but we can be affected
more profoundly by what happens on the outside, right? So someone may say something, someone may send us an email and maybe the wording is slightly harsh, right? Maybe someone said something or maybe it was a comment on something on social media, right? I mean, that’s everyone’s on social media and you know, we know the pluses and minuses of that. And I think that so many of us with thyroid issues can take those things to heart.
You know, sometimes it’s warranted, sometimes it’s not, whatever the thing is. So can we do a practice with something like that? Because I think a lot of people can really resonate. Cause I think most people at least once a day will have something where they receive a comment in email, you know, something from someone that’s like, Ooh, that felt not so good. You know,
Meg Mill (18:25.987)
Yeah.
And I think the first step of that is recognizing that it doesn’t. Because that is one of the things. So I think most of us are going through the day not even recognizing that those things are building up in us. So you get that and you can’t actually even, you don’t feel good about it, but you’re not necessarily even able to think like, wait, I can change that. So I think even that first is recognition like,
Inna Topiler CNS MS (18:31.726)
you
Meg Mill (18:56.015)
once you get into working on this and you can feel, like I said, how that sits in your body. Hey, something has shifted in me. Why? Asking yourself why that has shifted and then going back to, you know, so, like, let’s say, give me an example of an eat. Give me an example of something like, you know, just this, because we can reframe it.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (19:20.462)
So let’s just say, you know, when I talk to clients about this a lot, you know, they’ll say like they were feeling really good. They had good energy.
And then they saw something on social media that someone said about, it wasn’t even really even necessarily about them, but it like implied something and somehow instantly just kind of this feeling of like, you know, and I think for a lot of people it comes up as, that’s rejection or, you know, and then from there, I think a lot of people naturally have that feeling of, well, they may not realize that, but I think the thought process is what does that say about me? well, I’m not good enough or I’m not cut out.
Meg Mill (19:41.209)
Yeah.
Meg Mill (19:45.219)
Yeah.
Meg Mill (19:56.169)
That’s what I just going to say to you. so then those go back. So I think that’s what also doing it. So, okay. So why do you feel, you know, let’s say,
Okay, let’s say, they have a prettier house. they’re filming and they have such a pretty house than me. Or, if I see another one of those, this person is like, four weeks later, you’re gonna look like this. And they’re standing in a bikini and they’re like, yeah, you’re like, who? No, no, no, people don’t change 100 % in four weeks. So it’s sales, everyone, if that’s upsetting you. But again, okay, I don’t look like that. all these things are, people were out without me.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (20:18.124)
Yeah. Right, right, right.
Meg Mill (20:36.631)
I think a lot of those are going back to that quote, I’m not good enough.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (20:37.774)
Yeah, and that’s a big one. had clients talk to me about that being like, I saw pictures of other friends and I wasn’t invited. And it’s like, why do you care? You know, but yes.
Meg Mill (20:48.601)
but it’s going back to like, I’m not good enough or there’s something wrong with me or you know, like, why, like, so that, I think a lot of the feelings kind of come back to some of those, those stems, which it’s like, okay, if we work, work on it and know that we are good enough, you know, that that isn’t, we can’t, that’s like the thing. You can’t ride everybody else’s emotions your whole life or your, it’s kind of like your flood, you’re floating around and like whiplash in some ways.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (20:52.056)
I don’t belong, yeah.
Meg Mill (21:18.545)
I mean, so it’s like all the stress. you can’t, we can’t say, I mean, if we could snap our fingers and be like, your stress is gone forever. We would, but that’s impossible. There’s gonna be other things that come up. There’s always gonna be something. So how do we regulate ourselves in a way that keeps us calm, keeps us centered, keeps us healthy, keeps our body functioning? So we’re learning to keep ourselves in that space where we are as healthy as we can be because we’re regulating our
bodies and our minds. why like so you have to go back to okay why if if you are upset about that why and really again is that true like is that 100 you know when we’re feeling that is it 100 % true like
No, it generally isn’t. Maybe those, like let’s say you weren’t invited. Well, okay, so you’re going back to like, they all went out without me, they don’t like me. Okay, that you don’t know that you’re saying that that’s your thoughts creating a pathway in your mind. They may have been together another time and it was like, we should do this and it just came up and they didn’t mean to not invite you or there was a connection somewhere else or there’s always, we can’t say why, but I
I think it goes back to those core things where we’re feeling like we’re creating that negative story and you need to change the story. It could be the exact same thing. You have a different story and you’re like…
you know, everybody loves me and it just didn’t work out tonight or something, you know, whatever. It’s no different. It’s just the fact that it’s the story that you’re telling yourself. Really, our nervous system reacts to how we perceive things. And so I think that’s a really big thing to think about because it’s not what it is. It’s how you actually perceive it. So I do also want to just a little bit, the other point, because you did bring up the more
Inna Topiler CNS MS (23:04.547)
Yeah.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (23:14.178)
Yeah.
Meg Mill (23:18.805)
sensitive thing. And so the other thing is we do start to get where our nervous system and our immune system start to become, we can get to that point where they’re becoming hypersensitive. And so we do see that a lot of times in women where you’re kind of in this, I do like to kind of say, I use an analogy here when I’m talking with people, because I do work with a lot of sensitive people. And it
It’s like if you’re, if you, if I gave you a rose and I said, smell this rose and you were like, okay, it’s, you know, it’s nice. It smells good. I’m happy. And then I was like, okay, you need to touch, every time I hand you the rose, you’re going to touch the stove. And.
And every time you got the rose and you’re like, I’m touching the stove, I’m getting this negative response. And then I take the stove away and I’m like, okay, now here’s the rose again. Your body’s still gonna react to that because it’s gonna feel that like, that stove, that rose isn’t a good thing. And so we do need to, again, where a lot of us are sort of trained in this hyper sensitive way to calm the nervous system actually back down and feel like you are safe because a lot of the health
Inna Topiler CNS MS (24:15.02)
Yes.
Meg Mill (24:33.609)
symptoms and that sensitivity and the overreaction to everything won’t calm down very well until you can give your body that sense of safety back.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (24:43.374)
And that’s a big one that I’m so glad you’re mentioning that because I think
Most people actually just had a conversation with a client yesterday. He, um, you know, they had a new baby, he didn’t sleep for six months. And now obviously a lot of things are going downhill in his health and he was like, Oh, but the baby’s sleeping now. So just with time, you know, I’ll feel better. And I’m like, well, yes and no. mean, it is eventually right. But like, we need to actually recalibrate things back down and heal the adrenals and do some of the things. And so I think it’s true in so many different instances. So the question is with adrenals, you know, we know how to do that from a biochemical perspective.
But from all of the other recalibrating, how do people do that when they have become even more sensitive from a nervous system and immune system perspective?
Meg Mill (25:29.965)
Yeah, well, I think that you have, it just takes time and it takes effort. And I think this is like a thing that people want to skip over. You know, we live in a world where we have, where our health system is designed around medicine. And so it’s like, yeah.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (25:47.246)
Can’t you just give me a pill, Dr. Mac? Come on!
Meg Mill (25:49.739)
Exactly. Give me a pill. I have an issue. I need a pill. That’s what we do. So we’re savvy and we’re like, okay, we want to do this ourselves. We don’t want to just rely on a pill.
I see a lot of people switch that over to like just supplement answers. So it’s like, okay, I don’t want to take medication, but I just want to supplement my way out of everything. Well, you know what? Those also have effects on your body. Every one of the supplements you take also do have effects on your body. And so we don’t necessarily, again, just want to supplement our way out of things. And we can’t always, you know, there’s certain things. Yes, you can. But you can’t just like always just say, okay, we’re going to replace the medication with supplements. So then we kind of go back
And we’re like okay, but we understand we need to eat right we need to the right nutrients But we don’t necessarily want to take the time to do the nervous system work because that’s too simple right it’s like that doesn’t give us a concrete answer and so that’s where when we start there and we say okay, I’m going to Work on and like that’s why you know I’m writing a book the seven like all about this about the seven second switch about neuro digestion about all why this works because you
and then my whole Solara method. So that should be coming out soon. And the reason that I want to give this to people is because it explains why we have to start there. Because if we’re doing those other things and we’re not going back to this, the reason that I start with the seven second switch is because that takes…
Not like you don’t have to take time in your day. You don’t have to say I need 20 minutes like there is literally no excuse like I You do it you do in the shower you do in the car you do like anywhere It’s a tool you have like all the time so you don’t have to say don’t have time for it you can start right there And that’s where I see people and getting the effects because they can they do it they do it in the situation their mind starts to change they start to live their life different because their thoughts around what they’re
Inna Topiler CNS MS (27:31.84)
Yeah, can do it on the go as it’s happening.
Meg Mill (27:55.937)
around themselves. mean, how often do we judge ourselves? too, I’m like, okay, I have, I’m not judgmental of other people, but I have to really be careful of judging myself. And so we’re living with our worst critic all the time in our head that likes to like tell us all the stuff. And so, you know, really just starting there and starting to do it. Now you can also do some, you know, even some vagus nerve exercises. And those are free too. You can do like humming or gargling or things like that.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (27:59.663)
Yeah.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (28:09.87)
Yeah.
Meg Mill (28:25.827)
brush, know, like you can do it your kitchen when no one’s around. Those, you know, those aren’t gonna be doing anywhere, but they’re also free techniques. So I think we just brush over these to get the other deeper things. And if you just start with the basics, you can build the blocks to get to where you wanna be so much more effectively.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (28:47.342)
So in order to then desensitize, this is where people have to start.
Meg Mill (28:53.345)
Yeah, well, I work with a lot of MCAS people. when we’re talking about sensitivity, those are some of the most sensitive cases that I see.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (29:02.102)
Yeah. And for people who may not be familiar, that’s Mass Cell Activation Syndrome.
And it’s something where, you know, people have so many different symptoms. have a podcast on that as well. you know, yeah, those are people that are extremely sensitive to everything. But it makes so much sense that you start with the nervous system there because you can desensitize some of the food sensitivities and the reactions and all the gut stuff until that nervous system is more balanced. That makes sense. Yeah.
Meg Mill (29:30.445)
Mm-hmm. Yep.
You need to calm everything down. even if you’re not that sensitive, like, but for there, like, I really do think unless you, you add it in, we don’t see some of the sensitivities go down as well, you know, like that it needs to be, but it’s something you can do alongside, like any protocol that you’re doing and it’s, it’s free and it’s something you can do anytime. Like if people need to know that, you know, these, these tools are out there and they have, I think the
Inna Topiler CNS MS (29:56.507)
Always nice, yeah.
Meg Mill (30:02.152)
that they have purpose, there is physiological purpose, not just like woo woo, that people are like, that’s just the mindset stuff, woo woo, does that even matter for me? When we see like, that actually affects your body, this is why you do it, some of the other things maybe you’re investing in and you’re doing.
aren’t gonna be as effective unless you work on this too. And work on those. I’m not discounting all of the wonderful things that we do, but it’s just doing, adding. This is something to add in and start with.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (30:36.259)
Yeah.
Now I wanted to go back to what you talked about in the seven second switch, the part, the middle part where you recognize the belief, like I’m not good enough, I’m not capable enough, whatever it may be. Right. And then you ask yourself if it’s true and then you kind of shift into the more positive. So this is where I think a lot of people get stuck because I think that they probably can recognize that it’s likely not true or at least not true most of the time, but switching it I think is
Meg Mill (30:47.524)
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (31:06.98)
very hard for people. if it’s something like, okay, let’s say they’re saying I’m not good enough or I’m not capable or I’m not strong enough to heal it I can’t possibly, you know, take all these vitamins or whatever it may be, right? Just reversing the thought to, yes, I am good enough, right? Then kind of sometimes feels false. And then it’s almost like your conscious mind is fighting with your unconscious mind because, you know, it’s kind of like affirmations, you know, I think they can work in some situations, but if you don’t truly believe them, they’re actually going to make it worse. So how do people
find that positive that is actually believable for them in the moment.
Meg Mill (31:41.519)
So you just get, try, well I have two things here. One, you do the most neutral thought you can think of. So we don’t, that’s why I was kind of using the example. You’re not like, I’m amazing, I’m gonna run a marathon tomorrow. Because you’re just gonna be like, yeah, whatever, that’s not gonna happen. But you wanna say, okay, what’s neutral? Like, I’m okay right in this moment. I’m fine right now. Like.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (31:49.172)
Mmm.
Meg Mill (32:05.761)
I’m not like, you know, anything that is just as neutral as you can believe that you can. So I would say that would be where I would recommend. We’re not trying to like say.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (32:15.65)
So even if it’s not the exact opposite of that belief.
Meg Mill (32:17.923)
doesn’t have to be the exact opposite. just has to be a new thought that’s better. we’re kind of, have you ever heard of the emotional ladder where there’s like, you know, different levels of, okay, so try to like go at least like a step or two above. So maybe you’re satisfied. Maybe you’re, you know, like.
I’m fine right now. I’m okay. they can be, they don’t have to be like, necessary positive thoughts. They just, we want them to change. Now the other aspect though, is like, I really do think you are not going to believe it. So I’m going to acknowledge that and say, that thought is gonna feel fake to you because you don’t have a pathway yet. So you’re like walking, it’s like writing with your non-dominant hand. So you feel like, I’m right. Like I have this like, I know I will never heal. I’m never gonna get better.
on for years and years and years and now you’re saying wait I I’m okay like or I you know I can get better but you’re you’ve already had that other pathway like going and going and strong it’s a highway and so you’re saying now I have to like break through the grass and kind of find my new way so it doesn’t feel real and that’s why you have to keep practicing it so you just keep practicing and practicing and practicing even if it like even if it doesn’t feel real like I’m just gonna do it again I’m gonna do again and you’re eventually going to
it’s eventually going to build its own pathway and it’s going to you know you’re gonna have that as the thought process now and as that pathway builds the old one weakens so we we neurologically switch you know rewire and you’ll get that one will have less weight for you and you’ll start to build the new one.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (33:56.153)
That’s great. That’s great. think that’s so helpful for people to hear. in terms of the order of things, because I know that’s one of the big things that you talk about. So if someone, let’s say, is doing some autoimmune protocols, right? mean, a lot of people are trying to go gluten free and dairy free. If they aren’t already, they might be taking supplements. They might be doing some testing. Maybe they’re looking into cleansing. You know, their gut may have certain issues. They may have other triggers. Maybe they have EBV. These are just some of the common things that people with Hashimoto’s will have, right? And so
Meg Mill (34:01.892)
Mm-hmm.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (34:26.166)
doing that and you know that’s like one step forward two steps back you know they may not know their thyroid type they may not be doing all of that right but they’re kind of working towards that right so then what’s the order how would you do that with what you teach i’m assuming you’re using the seven step the seven second switch all the time and then you layer in the other things or is there other things that they have to be aware of in this order of things
Meg Mill (34:52.335)
So the order that I use is called Solara because the basis is for our cells because each of our whole body is made up of cells and we want our cells to have aura. We want our cells to really be functioning strong. So we start with calming the nervous system. So that’s what we’ve been talking about. So regulating, making sure that we’re doing this. And some things of these we can do simultaneously. But then we need to engage digestion.
things that we talk about if we’re not digesting and absorbing the nutrients that we need, know, particularly for your thyroid function and all of our functions, we’re not getting the full benefit of some of the other things that we’re doing. And so sometimes we’re doing things that, you know, are focusing on one piece without looking at the whole body. And so we want to make sure that we’re engaging digestion, that we have good motility, you know, that we’re so we can make sure we’re able to digest and absorb the nutrients. Then we also have
to sure we move into loading the nutrients. So we have to load our nutrients to make sure that we’re getting, you know, that now we’re digesting and absorbing.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (36:00.269)
How is it? Just saying, let’s make sure we’re getting what we need. Yeah.
Meg Mill (36:01.431)
We gotta make sure we get them. you getting selenium? Are you getting iron? Are you getting vitamin D or zinc? Like all the things that you need to have good function. So are we actually getting those nutrients? Then we have to make sure that we liberate elimination pathways. And I think this is one that a lot of people skip sometimes. So a lot of we’ll get into detox, but there’s a lot of talk of detox out there. I’ve had so many people come to me after doing like, I did a detox and things
got so much worse because your body was not ready to detox. And so we have to make sure like all the waste, all the way the body removes everything, all your cells are functioning, like that we can actually be able to eliminate well. So we have to make sure the elimination pathways, then we have to actually make sure that we have good metabolism and cellular metabolism. we have to yield, the next is yield metabolism. So make sure the body is able to create and use energy.
supporting blood sugar, mitochondrial function, thyroid function, cortisol rhythm, all of the metabolic flexibility, all of that. And then…
actually, and this is where surprise people, then we look at hormones. Then we’re looking at sex hormones because if we’re not, if we’re doing that, and I know that’s a big one, a lot of people are talking about hormones and that’s wonderful, but again, if we’re not getting all of those other things in, we’re not actually doing the things that are establishing good hormone function and good balance. So then we make sure that the hormones are balanced, functioning, estrogen, testosterone,
and progesterone, all of the hormones, and then after that we work on detoxing. So we work on detoxing last, after everything else is done, because if everything else isn’t in order and you try to detox, that’s when I see the most often where it backfires and people are doing things that are actually causing worse things. And they’re not always bad things, they’re just not right for the person right now. it’s confusing.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (38:09.005)
It is.
Meg Mill (38:10.479)
people message me all the time. I’m like, should I do that? Should I do that? And I’m like, you know, I saw this at this, you know, on this podcast or on this, you know, Instagram and I’m like, not for you right now. Like not a bad, not a bad thing overall, but like what’s the, I wanted you all to think like, what is the purpose for you? Like if you ever see a product or a supplement or something out there, like
not just that, that’s the greatest and that helped that person and their life totally changed, but like, how does that help you and how does that fit into like with what you’re working on and where your body is? And I think if we think of it in that way, like what is our purpose? And so much more intentional than just adding to like the supplement graveyard.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (38:54.626)
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Meg Mill (38:56.663)
Yes.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (38:57.698)
that makes sense. And yeah, the supplement great for that. That’s that’s a whole that’s all of the podcast. I that’s partly why I thyrolof to try to condense things because people are taking so many different supplements. And there’s for a lot of people, no need to do a 10 different bottles. But there’s also a time and place for things. And I love what you’re saying that, you know, it’s the digestive piece and a nervous system piece and then the hormones and then detox. And I agree so much like there’s so many people who want to do major detox. But when your body’s not ready,
Meg Mill (39:01.903)
Yeah.
Meg Mill (39:14.691)
Yes.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (39:27.887)
It’s just, it’s not going to help. And all those pieces need to be in there. Yeah.
Meg Mill (39:32.404)
fighting against yourself a lot of times.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (39:35.199)
Dr. Meg, I’m curious, how did you get to be where you are now and doing what you’re doing, know, especially from like, you know, you’re doing functional medicine and like you were saying before, functional medicine, of course we talk about the nervous system, but typically not in the great sense and like overall the way that you are. So how did you get from kind of provider that was more traditional to where you are now?
Meg Mill (40:01.687)
Yeah, so I know it’s a lot of us have a personal journey, right? That brings us to where we are. And so I started out as a clinical pharmacist. I got a PharmD and then I did a residency and I was working as a clinical pharmacist in a hospital setting and different settings. And I was having a lot of my own health issues. So mine was like more gut.
combined to a point where I was getting anxiety, even started getting panic attacks. And I went to five different gastroenterologists. we moved around at the time. I would move, like, this is the answer. Now I’m going to get the answer. And it was like, oh, you’re fine. I’m like, no, I’m really young. And I was in my 20s at that time. So it was like, oh, yeah, you’re young and healthy. And I’m like, no, I feel terrible. I can’t eat anything. I don’t know what’s going on. And this was back in the early 2000s. So even at that time, my
the microbiome everything was just sort of like more emerging research at that at that time so I couldn’t get so because of all the things I was going through I also was starting to get anxiety and so I started doing some of these things with the thought reframing with the seven sets which I was doing them on myself but not understand did a lot I’m a researcher so was doing a lot of research but both like physiologically and you know like mental emotional things like that and and so kind of a pair
then I started to, I actually found functional medicine. And so I actually got certified in functional medicine. I was like, you know, slowly, but I started to be able to heal myself. And then I was like, I need to change my career and help people. And so that’s why I left my career and opened a functional, virtual functional medicine practice. But at the same time, like at that point, I wasn’t really bringing a lot of this in. It was more of all the, you know, the healings, the protocols, those kinds of things. And so I was like,
Inna Topiler CNS MS (41:50.456)
The protocols.
Meg Mill (41:52.969)
okay I’m gonna do this, this is great. Not even knowing for me that the other piece was involved in my healing process because I was just doing it. know sometimes when you just do it then you’re like it’s just happening. So I was seeing people have success but they were like were people that were just stuck that again had so much stress in their life they were you know again that like two steps forward one step back kind of thing.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (42:01.475)
Yeah.
Meg Mill (42:16.611)
would get in these patterns. And so I started to bring it into my practice. And when I started to bring it into my practice, was like, everyone, you know, I just was so like shocked at what a difference it made. So when people worked on this piece, it was like a huge difference in how everything else worked. And so, you know, it’s just been years of, you know, that with seeing my own thing, my own practice and people making such a big change and then also doing a lot, you know, research.
on the gut-brain connection, the physiology of digestion, all of that, kind of like honed over years of practice.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (42:50.563)
Yeah.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (42:54.518)
Yeah, that’s great because this is something that people need. They don’t always know they need it and a lot of times they may not want it but they need it.
Meg Mill (42:59.171)
Yes. Yes.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (43:03.214)
And I think it’s so nice with the work that you do, right? Because they’re coming to you for all these health issues and you’re putting it into this framework and into this like sequence thing. So they’re not, I mean, they probably don’t even realize you’re giving them all of the things that they need because that’s not what they may think. Right. But I just love that so much because, you know, I see the same in mine too. It’s like when you introduce all these things in the right order, people just heal so much faster. you know, and I find.
to it’s not even just the healing I mean of course that’s really important but a lot of people just start doing different things right like they may change careers as a result of that and do something they’ve always wanted to do but never felt like they could for various reasons right I mean there’s so many limiting beliefs that we have and I think there’s so many blocks that can be unblocked with some of this work that we may not even be looking for but they just happen which is just so nice
Meg Mill (43:59.523)
Yes, yes, yeah. And actually I moved in, so I opened the Women’s Functional Health Institute and now I actually certify women’s functional health coaches. So I moved from my, I just felt like I couldn’t, I had so many people coming from all over the world that I couldn’t handle it. So I was like, okay, I need, I just feel called to help. And there was more people than I could help. So now I actually also at the Women’s Functional Health Institute certify women’s functional health coaches specifically in these methods and how to help women specifically.
And because, you know, a lot of us have been on our own journey and are like, you know, I feel called to this. Like, I’ve seen it so it changed my life and I want to be able to help other people.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (44:40.578)
That’s so great. I love that so much. Now, Dr. Meg, for those who want to connect with you, whether they’re patients that want to find out more, or maybe they’re providers that are interested in the certification, can you tell us how people could connect with you and where they can find you?
Meg Mill (44:53.869)
Yes, yeah, absolutely. So my website is Megmill.com. It’s just M-E-G-M-I-L-L.com. And the Women’s Functional Health Institute is womensfunctionalhealth.org. You can actually get there from Megmill.com too. We do have it linked, but it’s womensfunctionalhealth.org. And that is a site where you can learn more about the certification and how we’re helping women out there in the world. And like I said, am writing, and the book is not out yet, but I am in the process of writing a book
that we’re releasing called the seven second switch. So if you want more information about that, you can get that at, again, just go to the website. It will be up on the website, megmel.com. And then I do have a podcast called A Little Bit Healthier. So we’re talking about things that you can do every day in your life to be healthier. And I’m over on Instagram at Dr. Megmel. We have fun there too.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (45:45.954)
Amazing, amazing. So everyone you guys can connect with her there. We’ll put all of them to show notes and thank you so much for being here today and for all of this information. I know it’s gonna be helpful to so many people. So thank you for being here. Of course.
Meg Mill (45:57.871)
Absolutely, thank you so much for having me.
Inna Topiler CNS MS (46:03.037)
Okay.
Thanks for Listening
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