640: How to unlock your body’s innate healing system | Victoria Maizes, M.D.

640: How to unlock your body’s innate healing system | Victoria Maizes, M.D.

From The mindbodygreen Podcast by mindbodygreen

March 8, 2026 · 54 min

About this episode

Victoria Maizes, M.D. discusses the body's innate healing capacity and the importance of a safe environment for recovery.

"Your body heals better when it feels safe, when your nervous system is quiet,’ explains Victoria Maizes, M.D. Maizes is the Executive Director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine and co-host of the Body of Wonder podcast. She's a leading voice in integrative medicine and author of the new book Heal Faster, which makes the case that modern medicine has been so focused on treating disease that it's largely overlooked the body's most powerful asset: its innate capacity to heal. In this episode, we discuss: What is the recovery reflex? (1:10) Why two people can have completely different health outcomes (3:26) Protein, the catabolic state, & tests to run before major surgery (6:11) The difference between managing disease & actually healing (18:21) The power of language (19:00) Trauma & how to activate your vagus nerve (29:00) Mindset, guided imagery, & letting go of outcomes (35:42) The mystery of long COVID (41:46) Circadian medicine & red light therapy (48:50) Referenced in the episode: You can find Dr. Maizes website here: www.drvictoriamaizes.com And her latest book, Heal Faster, here: https://a.co/d/0i0OT4KJ We hope you enjoy this episode, and feel free to watch…

People in this episode

Host: mindbodygreen

Guest: Victoria Maizes, M.D.

Topics covered

  • innate healing
  • integrative medicine
  • nervous system
  • health outcomes
  • trauma
  • long COVID
  • circadian medicine

Keywords

  • healing
  • nervous system
  • recovery reflex
  • long COVID
  • circadian medicine
  • vagus nerve
  • guided imagery

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, Body of Wonder podcast

Products: Heal Faster

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