The Missing Link in Your Healing Journey Why Forgiveness Might Be the Key to Feeling Better

Justin Kempf

How Releasing Emotional Baggage Through Forgiveness Can Support Gut Health, Immunity, and Lasting Healing

The Missing Link in Your Healing Journey: Why Forgiveness Might Be the Key to Feeling Better



We often chase healing through supplements, diets, and lab tests. But what if one of the most powerful healing tools has nothing to do with what you eat or take and everything to do with what you’re still carrying?


I’m talking about forgiveness.



What Is Forgiveness? (Hint: It’s Not About Approval)



Forgiveness is not the same as saying what happened was okay.

It’s not about pretending something didn’t hurt or letting someone off the hook.


True forgiveness means you’re no longer willing to carry the weight of pain, resentment, or betrayal—not for them, but for you.


It’s a conscious decision to release emotional poison that’s silently affecting your body, your hormones, your gut, and your energy.



How Unforgiveness Impacts the Body



When you hold onto anger or resentment, your body holds it too.

It shows up in ways that most people don’t connect:


  • Chronic tension or inflammation
  • Digestive issues (your gut is especially sensitive to stress)
  • Blood sugar dysregulation
  • Insomnia or shallow sleep
  • Hormonal imbalances (like elevated cortisol or low progesterone)
  • Autoimmune flares
  • Anxiety that won’t resolve with supplements alone



That’s because emotional stress, especially buried emotional trauma, activates the nervous system and keeps the body in a fight or flight loop.

The longer it stays activated, the harder it is to heal, no matter what protocol you’re following.



Forgiveness Regulates Your Nervous System



When you forgive, you release stress chemicals like cortisol and adrenaline.

You invite your nervous system back into safety, what we call the rest and digest state.


From that place, the body can finally do what it was designed to do:

repair, detoxify, digest, and restore.


Studies show forgiveness improves:


  • Immune function
  • Heart rate variability (a sign of nervous system health)
  • Blood pressure
  • Sleep quality
  • Emotional resilience



This isn’t just spiritual. It’s biological.



Forgiveness Heals You First (Even If They Never Change)



One of the biggest myths is that forgiveness is for the other person.

But the truth is, they don’t even have to know you’ve forgiven them.


This is about you getting your energy back.

You taking your power back.

You choosing healing over bitterness.


Because when you hold resentment, you’re the one still suffering. And when you release it, you become free.


Forgiveness creates space. Space for joy. Space for peace.

Space for your body to finally feel safe enough to heal.



Forgiveness Isn’t a One-Time Act. It’s a Practice



Sometimes, forgiveness doesn’t happen all at once.

It may take layers, reflection, even grief. That’s okay.


The key is to be willing.

Willing to stop rehearsing the hurt.

Willing to let your body off the hook for a story that’s no longer serving you.


And sometimes, the most powerful healing begins when you forgive yourself—for what you didn’t know, for how long it’s taken, for the ways you’ve tried to survive.





Ready to Go Deeper?



At Executive Functional Healing, we don’t just treat symptoms.

We help you uncover what your body’s been trying to tell you—physically, emotionally, spiritually.


If you’re ready to explore root cause healing on every level, let’s talk.


 Book your free 15-minute call at www.ExecutiveFunctionalHealing.com

You don’t have to carry it all alone anymore.