In this profound and eye-opening episode, we explore the neuroscience of stress and trauma, what it really means to heal, and why your nervous system holds the key to everything.
In this episode of Broken Beautiful Me, Kelly sits down with Dr. Elizabeth Stanley Georgetown University professor, US Army veteran, international bestselling author, and creator of the groundbreaking resilience training program Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT). Her book Widen the Window: Training Your Brain and Body to Thrive During Stress and Recovery from Trauma has become an essential guide for anyone navigating the lasting effects of stress, trauma, and burnout.
Liz's path to this work was deeply personal. After serving as a US Army Intelligence officer through multiple deployments including a harrowing experience in Bosnia where she stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated. She found herself in her late twenties battling PTSD, depression, chronic health conditions, and eventually losing her eyesight. What looked like a breakdown was, in truth, a body that had finally run out of road.
Out of that experience came decades of research, a science-backed resilience training program tested with thousands of soldiers and Marines, and a mission to help everyday people understand what is actually happening in their minds and bodies and what to do about it.
In this episode, Liz shares:
🧠 Why trauma is never in the event — it's in how your mind and body meet it
🪟 What the "window of tolerance" is and why widening it changes everything
😮💨 The hidden danger of breathwork for trauma survivors and what to do instead
📓 How to use journaling the right way to support nervous system discharge
⏱️ Why a wave of emotion is neurobiologically never longer than 90 seconds
💀 The real cost of "suck it up and drive on" in high performance environments
🫀 How grief and PTSD overlap and why the bereaved community deserves this science
🔁 Why the survival brain not the thinking brain is the key to healing
🌍 How systemic trauma, racism and inequality are narrowing our collective window
💡 What gives Liz hope about where humanity is headed
Kelly also shares her own deeply personal experience of loss and what it felt like to hit a moment where she had no plan B — a moment of raw honesty that anchors this entire conversation in the human experience.
A conversation that is equal parts science and soul and one that could genuinely change the way you understand yourself.
🎁 Free Gift from Liz: 5-Minute Survival Brain Exercise
Join her mailing list at: https://elizabeth-stanley.com
Follow Elizabeth Stanley
🌐 Website: https://elizabeth-stanley.com
📚 Book: Widen the Window — available everywhere books are sold
🎓 MMFT Online Course (8 weeks, lifetime access): https://elizabeth-stanley.com
🆓 Free access for teachers, medical workers, first responders & military: https://elizabeth-stanley.com
About Your Host
Kelly Buckley is a trauma life coach, speaker, and the heart behind Broken Beautiful Me — a podcast dedicated to stories of hope, gratitude, and resilience.
🌐 https://www.kellybuckley.com