What's Filling Your Glass? The Hidden Burdens Making You Sick
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You're doing everything right. You've cleaned up your diet. You're taking the supplements. You've seen the functional medicine doctors, tried the protocols, done the detoxes.
And yet... you're still not healing.
Maybe you feel a little better for a few weeks. Maybe some symptoms improve. But you never get all the way there. You plateau. Or worse, you backslide.
So you think: What am I missing? What's wrong with me? Why isn't this working?
Here's the truth most practitioners won't tell you: You're not missing a supplement. You're missing the complete picture of what's actually making you sick.
The Glass Theory: Understanding Your Body's Capacity
Think of your body like a glass under a running faucet.
The water represents everything that burdens your system - toxins, stress, infections, unprocessed emotions, all of it. As long as the water coming in is less than your body's capacity to drain it out, you stay healthy. Your glass has room. Your reserves are intact.
But when the water exceeds your drainage capacity? When the burdens pile up faster than your body can clear them? The glass overflows.
And that overflow? That's disease. Or as I like to call it: dis-ease. Your body is no longer working as it was designed to.
I learned this the hard way.
In 2019, I was allergic to 69 out of 72 things tested. I couldn’t remember children’s book I had been reading every night for 9 years. I couldn't drive because of cognitive impairment. I had been diagnosed with early-onset dementia at 39 years old. I spent over $100,000 trying to figure out what was wrong with me and attempting to heal.
And nothing was really working! Because I was only addressing one type of "water."
The Three Types of Water Filling Your Glass
Here's what changed everything for me: Your glass doesn't just fill with physical toxins.
It fills with three distinct types of burdens. And if you're only addressing one or two of them, you'll never fully heal.
1. Physical Burdens: What You Can Measure
This is what most people focus on - and for good reason.
Physical burdens are real and measurable:
Environmental Toxins:
Mold and mycotoxins in your home or workplace
Pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides in food and water
VOCs (volatile organic compounds) from cleaning products, furniture, paint
EMFs (electromagnetic frequencies) from devices and WiFi
Heavy metals from dental work, cookware, deodorant, contaminated water
What You Consume:
Processed foods high in sugar, seed oils, and additives
Alcohol and caffeine in excess
Non-organic produce loaded with glyphosate
Contaminated water supply
Nutrient-deficient, inflammatory foods
Pathogens and Infections:
Parasites living in your gut, brain. liver, gallbladder, and so much more
Chronic Lyme disease and co-infections
Bacterial overgrowth (SIBO, SIFO)
Viral reactivations (EBV, CMV, HHV-6)
Fungal overgrowth (mold and candida)
Lifestyle Deficiencies:
Chronic sleep deprivation
Lack of movement or too much intense exercise
Inadequate sunlight and circadian rhythm disruption
Dehydration and poor elimination
Mouth breathing and shallow breathing patterns
All of these fill your glass. All of them matter.
But if you only address the physical burdens while ignoring the other two types of water? You're still trying to bail out a glass while the faucet runs full blast.
2. Mental Burdens: The Stress Your Body Holds
Here's what I didn't understand for years: Your nervous system doesn't differentiate between a real threat and a perceived one.
When you're stuck in chronic stress - when your nervous system lives in fight-or-flight mode - your body responds as if you're being chased by a lion. Every single day.
And in that state? Your body will hold onto toxins to protect you.
Mental burdens that fill your glass:
Chronic Nervous System Dysregulation:
Living in constant survival mode (fight, flight, freeze, fawn)
Hypervigilance and inability to relax
Always waiting for the next crisis
Never feeling truly safe in your body
Modern Life Stress:
The relentless "go, go, go" lifestyle
Overcommitment and inability to say no
Lack of rest, downtime, and restoration
The mental load of managing everything and everyone
Information overload and constant connectivity
Financial stress and insecurity
Cognitive and Emotional Patterns:
Perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking
Chronic worry and rumination
Suppressing emotions instead of processing them
Lack of boundaries in relationships
People-pleasing at the expense of your own needs
I experienced this firsthand - and it took me years to understand what was actually happening.
During my worst health crisis, I was living in severe mold toxicity while in a very difficult marriage. My nervous system was in constant survival mode. I was doing physical protocols, yes, but my body couldn't fully heal because it wasn't safe - physically or emotionally.
I came out of the worst of the health crisis in 2019. Then in 2020, when the world shut down during COVID and everything stopped, I was finally able to take my healing to a whole other level. The forced pause gave my nervous system space it had never had.
But then came 2022 and a very difficult divorce. My body went right back into survival mode. Everything I had learned through my health crisis helped me navigate it, but I was functioning, not thriving.
The divorce finalized toward the end of 2024.
And that's when something remarkable - and honestly shocking - happened.
My body crashed. Hard.
Waves of mold toxicity started releasing. Symptoms I thought I had healed years ago came flooding back. I could smell the mold in my body, feel it, muscle test for it. Yet there was no mold exposure. The house was clean. The environment was safe.
It was just another deeper layer.
Even now, a year and a half later, I'm still detoxing waves of mold that my body held onto during those years of stress.
Here's what my body was doing: During the difficult marriage, and then the very during the difficult divorce, while my nervous system was in survival mode - my body held back layers of detoxification because releasing everything would have been too much for my system to handle.
It protected me.
And now, as I continue to heal my nervous system, as I finally feel safe - my body is releasing what it held. Layer by layer. Year by year.
Your body can only heal as much as your nervous system will allow.
Read that again. Because this is the missing piece for most people stuck in chronic illness.
When your nervous system is in survival mode, your body prioritizes survival over healing. It will hold onto toxins, suppress symptoms, do whatever it takes to keep you functional enough to get through the crisis.
But once your nervous system finally feels safe? That's when the real, deep healing can begin.
3. Emotional and Spiritual Burdens: What Lives in Your Subconscious
This is the layer most people don't even know exists. But your body remembers everything your mind tries to forget.
Emotional burdens:
Unprocessed Trauma:
Childhood experiences your body never had the capacity to regulate
Acute traumatic events (accidents, loss, betrayal, abuse)
Complex trauma from ongoing difficult circumstances
Developmental trauma from unmet needs in early life
Trapped Emotions:
Grief you never fully allowed yourself to feel
Anger you were taught to suppress
Shame, guilt, or unworthiness sitting in your subconscious
Fear patterns running your decisions without your awareness
Spiritual Disconnection:
Feeling lost, without purpose or meaning
Disconnected from your intuition and inner guidance
Outsourcing your power to external authorities (doctors, practitioners, protocols)
Lack of trust in yourself and your body's wisdom
Living out of alignment with your values and truth
These aren't "woo-woo" concepts. They're physiological realities.
Your body stores emotions in tissues, organs, and glands. Trauma lives in your nervous system. Spiritual disconnection creates a profound sense of unsafety that keeps your body in protection mode.
And until you address what's living in your subconscious? Your body will keep the glass full.
Why Your Healing Has Stalled (And What to Do About It)
If you've tried everything and you're still stuck, ask yourself:
Are you only addressing the physical burdens?
Taking supplements and following protocols while your nervous system stays in survival mode and your unprocessed trauma sits untouched?
Are you only working on mindset and emotions?
Meditating and journaling while living in a moldy house or eating inflammatory foods?
Are you addressing them in the wrong order?
Trying to detox before your drainage pathways are open? Pushing physical protocols before your nervous system feels safe enough to release?
This is why sustainable healing requires all three: body, mind, AND spirit.
Not because any one approach is wrong. But because your body is an integrated system. You can't compartmentalize healing.
How to Start Emptying Your Glass
Step 1: Take inventory
What's actually filling YOUR glass right now?
Physical: Mold exposure? Gut infections? Toxin accumulation? Nutrient deficiencies?
Mental: Chronic stress? Nervous system dysregulation? Inability to rest?
Emotional/Spiritual: Unprocessed trauma? Disconnection from yourself? Living out of alignment?
Write it down. Get honest. Most people have all three types of water filling their glass.
Step 2: Ask your body where to start
This is the most important step - and the one most people skip.
There is no universal protocol. No one-size-fits-all approach. What worked for someone else might not be what YOUR body needs right now.
Some bodies need physical drainage support before they can handle nervous system work. Some need nervous system regulation before any protocol will work. Some need both simultaneously.
Only your body knows.
This is why I use muscle testing with every client - to ask their body directly: Where do we start? What do you need first?
Step 3: Address the foundation first
Before you add more supplements, more protocols, more detoxes - make sure your foundation is solid:
Is your nervous system in survival mode or healing mode?
Are your drainage pathways (colon, kidneys, liver, lymph) open and functioning?
Are you still being exposed to what's filling your glass (mold, toxic relationships, inflammatory foods)?
You can't empty your glass faster than you're filling it up.
Step 4: Work in layers, not all at once
Healing happens in stages, just like disease happened in stages.
Your body moves from vibrant health → toxicity → inflammation → symptoms → disease. And it heals by moving back through those same stages in reverse.
You can't skip steps. You can't rush the process. Your body will release what it's ready to release when your nervous system feels safe enough to let it go.
This is wisdom, not weakness.
The Path Forward
If you're reading this and recognizing yourself - if you've been stuck despite doing everything "right" - I want you to know: You're not broken. You're not missing willpower. You're just missing the complete picture.
Your glass is full. And it's filled with more than just toxins.
The question is NOT: "What supplement am I missing?" or "What diet should I try next?"
The question is: “What's filling my glass? And where does my body need to start?”
I created my Glass Theory video to answer exactly this question. In 15 minutes, I break down:
Why your body holds onto toxins even when you're detoxing
The 4 mistakes that keep people stuck for years
How your nervous system controls what your body can heal
The exact framework I use to help clients finally break through
If you're ready to see the complete picture - to understand what's actually filling your glass and what to do about it - start here.
And if you're ready for support in building the foundation that makes sustainable healing possible? ReNew Foundations teaches you the body, mind, and spirit practices that create lasting change.
Your body isn't failing you. It's communicating with you.
Are you ready to listen?
With gratitude, love, and purpose,
Elena B. Peden, BCND, FMCHC, MBSR-P
Board Certified Naturopathic Doctor
Clean Life Real World
About:
Elena B. Peden is a Board Certified Naturopathic Doctor (BCND), Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach (FMCHC), and Mind Body Spirit Release Practitioner (MBSR-P) based in Houston, Texas. After investing over $100,000 in her own healing journey through mold toxicity and Lyme disease, she now teaches women to access their body's innate wisdom and reclaim their health sovereignty. She offers virtual consultations and online courses through Clean Life Real World.
Disclaimer:
Muscle testing is a form of biofeedback and is not meant to diagnose, treat, or cure any medical condition. It is a tool for personal empowerment and should complement, not replace, professional medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your health protocol.