The Healing Power Of Therapeutic Enemas With Monika Holland

Last week, Monika Holland explained why rebuilding the gut with No Plant GAPS can lay the foundation for healing. In this follow-up conversation, she explores another often-overlooked piece of the puzzle: therapeutic enemas.

Monika explains why enemas have been used for generations as part of the GAPS protocol, describing the different purposes of cleansing, nourishing, and targeted enemas and how she incorporates them into her work with clients facing severe digestive, neurological, and autoimmune challenges. She discusses meat stock enemas for nourishment, coffee enemas for supporting the body’s natural detoxification pathways, and other approaches designed to address specific needs.

Along the way, Monika shares her own experiences, addresses common misconceptions, explains who should—and should not—consider coffee enemas, and emphasizes the importance of individualized guidance. She also discusses why she believes healing begins with nourishing the body rather than aggressively “killing” pathogens, and why patience, rather than rigid timelines, may be one of the most important ingredients for recovery.

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Episode Transcript

Within the below transcript the bolded text is Kendall Nelson and the regular text is Monika Holland.

Welcome to the show. Last week, we explored the foundation of healing through the GAPs protocol and No Plant GAPS, discussing why nourishing the body and repairing the digestive tract are the first steps towards recovery. According to this return guest, healing doesn’t stop there. Once the body begins to rebuild, it also needs support in clearing the burden of accumulated toxins. This is episode 596, and our guest is Monika Holland. Monika is a certified GAPS practitioner whose own recovery from life-threatening Crohn’s disease led her to specialize in GAPS and no-plant GAPS and other therapeutic strategies designed to support deep healing.

In this second part of our conversation, we turn our attention to one of the most misunderstood topics in natural health enemas. Monika explains why she believes different types of enemas can serve different purposes, from cleansing and nourishment to supporting the body’s natural detoxification pathways. She discusses meat stock enemas, coffee enemas, and other therapeutic approaches, explains how they fit within the broader GAPS protocol, and offers practical guidance on who should and who should not consider using them.

Along the way, we also explore the surprising connection between detoxification, emotional healing, and restoring the body’s natural ability to recover. Before we get into the conversation, are you looking for a conference that feeds more than just your mind? Join us October 16th through 18th in Washington, DC, for the 2026 Wise Traditions Conference, the conference that nourishes you in every way. Spend three inspiring days with more than 40 speakers, exploring nutrition, farming, health, food freedom, traditional cooking, and practical ways to live well.

Enjoy delicious nutrient-dense meals prepared with real, traditional foods. Browse an exhibit hall filled with like-minded vendors, and connect with people who share your passion for healthy living. Whether you’re a longtime advocate or just beginning your journey, you’ll leave with new knowledge, new friends, and renewed inspiration. Come hungry for wisdom, for community, and for real food. Visit Wise Traditions to register and learn more. We hope to see you in Washington, DC, October 16th through 18th. Now let’s welcome Monika Holland.

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Monika, welcome back to the show.

Kendall, it’s very nice to be here.

Understanding the Difference Between Cleansing and Nourishing Enemas

I’m so glad you’re back for part two. In part one, we talked about rebuilding the gut with No Plant GAPS and why that type of nourishment is so fundamental to the therapeutic protocol of No Plant GAPS, but that’s only part of the picture. There are lots of other things, modalities that we use. We’re going to explore another aspect of healing and one that is often misunderstood and sometimes never considered. With that, we are going to be talking about enemas and why they are such an important part of the work that you do. Why do not you introduce how and why you use enemas in your treatment of people?

There is so much stigma about enemas, and there is so much misinformation out there on the Internet or even from health practitioners. That it’s sometimes very disappointing. I’ve used enemas on my own when I was going through my own healing. I do support clients to choose the right type of enema. Typically, people associate enemas with some kind of detox or cleansing practice. Actually, there are different types of enemas. Yes, of course, the first kind of group or type of enemas is cleansing enemas, whose goal is to physically help to remove that waste and physically stimulate that bowel movement.

We just want to get that poop out. With those cleansing enemas, we can just use water, or we can just use water and mineral salt, or we can just use water and bicarbonate of soda. We get the water in, and then the first urge comes. We release. That’s the easiest. There are also enemas, which help us to nourish ourselves and help us to rebuild ourselves. One example is a meat stock enema. Those enemas, traditionally, because this is not a new thing, something has been used for many years.

Enemas aren’t just for detox. Nourishing options like meat stock deliver vital amino acids directly to compromised gut linings.

Traditionally, it has been used to, first of all, provide hydration, to provide minerals, to provide amino acids, and to provide all that nourishment to people whose digestive tracts are so severely compromised. If you think about it, the people who have severe digestive issues, number one, they definitely have low stomach acid. Number two, they have decreased enzymatic activity. Number three, they have slow gut motility or sometimes too fast gut motility. They typically have issues with the small intestine. What happens in the small intestine?

That’s where most of the absorption actually happens. When they eat, they do not absorb those things. They do not digest those things. It could be too overwhelming for the body, and it could be too inflammatory. For those with poor digestive tracts, even on animal-based diets. Secondly, when I deal with people who are severely malnourished, those people, yes, they can digest stuff to some extent, but we have to help them to get nutrients a little bit faster. People, for instance, with eating disorders. We’re talking about clients with anorexia. Clients with bulimia and others on Ozempic.

Basically, those people, they have their hunger suppressed. As we know, Ozempic mimics the GLP-one hormone, which tells us, “I’m full. There is enough food in me.” They start losing muscle mass. They start losing their bodies, and their bodies start eating themselves. We have to feed them. They do not want to eat because they feel full. Other examples of medically complex digestive conditions of people who, for whatever reason, are unable to eat or absorb nutrients.

Delivering Direct Vitality Through Nourishing Meat Stock Enemas

I had a client who lost all the elasticity around her throat. She had issues with chewing and swallowing. It’s really tough. How does that meat stock enema work? Basically, nutrients are delivered through the rectal mucosa instead of through the mouth. If we think about what happens around the rectum and the lower colon, that area is very rich in blood supply. What does it mean? It means that the nutrients can be absorbed that way, bypassing the digestive tract.

As we talked last week, we talked about meat stock and its benefits and how it works. It comes in that predigested form. All of the amino acids, collagen, naturally occurring fats, and minerals are absorbed without any effort from the digestive tract. Meat stock enema is just one example. We can do an egg yolk enema, we can do sour cream, we can do kefir, we can do other probiotics, and we can do enemas with electrolytes. We can do enemas with other things that will feed, nourish, and rebuild.

Utilizing Targeted Therapeutic Enemas for Specific Health Protocols

The third group of enemas is more targeted or therapeutic enemas, where we use some specific substances, such as coffee, herbs, or other things to support whatever problem there is. For instance, I’m just going to give you a few very quick examples. For anything antiviral, an apple cider vinegar enema is great.

Antiparasitic, garlic enema, or a few other herbs that we can use. For better circulation, beetroot enema. To balance the nervous system, chamomile enema. Of course, one of the ones that people probably know the most is the one that supports our liver, the one that supports our blood, and the one that causes deeper detox is the coffee enema or the wheatgrass enema if somebody cannot tolerate the coffee enema. There are a lot of enemas, so it’s not only the cleansing effect.

I have to confess, I know very little about this topic. You shocked me when you said that you would use sour cream or garlic. How did anybody ever come up with this? How do you actually use something like garlic in an enema?

I have no idea who came up with it. The first time I learned about it was many years ago. When I was a teenager, I was getting support from a Russian doctor who was coming to our village in Poland, and he was giving holistic treatments, and he was actually administering some NMS to me. I’ve learned more, obviously, through Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, who trained us on enemas as well. I do not know who the first person was who came up with that kind of enema. When we talk about sour cream or any fermented dairy, and in fact, any other kind of probiotic, with the sour cream, the probiotic content will help to rebalance microbiomes and will also help to soothe the gut lining.

Wise Traditions - Kendall Nelson | Monika Holland | Enemas — Enemas: When oral digestion is severely compromised, nourishing enemas bypass damaged digestive tracts to deliver predigested nutrients straight to the bloodstream.

Sometimes we use whey from sour cream, sometimes we’ll use whey from kefir, sometimes we’ll use whey from yogurt. The rule with any probiotics being put up at the rear end rather than here is that the maximum amount we can put back there has to be whatever amount we can tolerate orally. You always divide it by six. Why? It’s because probiotics can give you a strong die-off. Strong die-off is because those probiotics kill off the pathogens. When pathogens die, they exhale toxic gases. Those toxic gases cause all sorts of symptoms. That could be feeling as if you’re getting cold.

It could be bloating, it could be diarrhea, it could be constipation, it could be headaches, it could be muscle pains, or it could be anger, irritation, whatever it is. We can list 500 different symptoms that can be kind of linked to die-off. Because we’re putting something through our colon, and because there is that blood, very rich in blood supply, that area is very rich in blood supply. It goes to our system much quicker than through digestion. The risk of a stronger die-off is higher. I would only use it when I know, and I have confidence, that the client can tolerate probiotic food orally without strong die-off.

I wouldn’t use it if they report to me that they’re still getting stronger die-off. In terms of garlic, you can make a garlic infusion. You can sow garlic. You can cook garlic. Again, garlic is a very strong antiparasitic. This is not something I would use to start with. The first principle is that we never go after parasites to start with, as we talked about last week. We need to calm the fire in the gut with the meat stock, with the No Plant GAPS or whatever that spectrum of the GAPS diet people follow. If we go after parasites, parasites are there for a reason. What does it mean? If you think about the explosion, the nuclear plant explosion in Chernobyl, in Ukraine, many years ago.

We’re talking 1986 from what I recall. What is the first thing Mother Nature called to clean up that radiation? It was yeast. It was fungi. For many years, Mother Nature has been using fungi to help that area to clean up and to recover. Now, we are almost 40 years old. After that explosion, animals came back. The forests are lush. The level of radiation is very low. You can actually go on a trip.They organize tours to Chernobyl just to see. Obviously, people did not go back and live there because I do not think they will ever allow it.

The point is, if we go after parasites too quickly, we are going to expose ourselves. When I say parasites, I also mean yeast and so on. We’re going to expose ourselves to something deeper. If we have lots of heavy metals in the body, if we have mold in the body, if we have radiation in the body, and so on, if we kill off parasites too quickly, we’re exposing ourselves to those metals. Parasites will come back again, and they will just come back stronger. The garlic enemas. Probably maybe after one year of healing, depending on the situation.

When you’re trying to cure extensive gut issues and you mention parasites, yeast, and mold, what’s the order? What are you trying to eliminate first or repair first? Talk me through what the progression would be. You said you do not go after the parasites right away. What are you going after right away, and in what order would you try to accomplish getting rid of the bad things?

Restoring Gut Terrain Prior to Initiating Parasite Cleanses

First of all, we’re not getting rid of anything from the body on purpose. The body will start pushing things out. What we’re getting rid of is the external toxicity, so the foods which do not serve us, obviously the obvious ones, are processed foods, sugars, and so on, and the more damaged. We have to even remove plant matter the way we talked about No Plant GAPS last week. The strategy is always this. We rebuild and heal and seal that leaky gut. That’s non-negotiable. We have to do it. We nourish. We actually give. We do not take away anything from the body.

Once we remove, let’s say in the context of No Plant GAPS, but that applies to any other spectrum of GAPS. Once we remove, let’s say the food that parasites need are thriving on sugar and starches, and for those with more severe issues, that will be even low-fiber or low-starch vegetables because they can be pro-inflammatory, and the more inflammation, the more parasites attract. When we remove the supply of the food, those parasites they say like, “It’s boring here. I do not have any more food.”

They start leaving, so they have clients, and this is my example as well. Without doing any anti-parasitic treatments, we see parasites in the toilet sometimes within two weeks. When we heal and seal the gut, when we provide all the right nutrients, minerals, amino acids, natural fats, animal fats, and so on, this will create a less favorable environment for parasites. The immune system will be stronger. Naturally, we will start having higher stomach acid.

From chamomile for nervous system balance to apple cider vinegar for viral support, therapeutic enemas offer targeted protocol options.

Naturally, we’ll start producing more bile, and bile itself is anti-parasitic, so they will start living. Now, when we do anti-parasitic treatment. Let’s say if I work with a client and there is a massive infestation, a lot of heavy metals and everything, we’ve worked for a year, maybe one and a half years. We consider it because we need to address it. In the meantime, we can even do coffee enemas. Coffee enemas, or sometimes my clients report that even after cleansing enemas, they pass parasites.

You just mentioned coffee enemas. I know that coffee enemas are used for several reasons. One of them is to deal with emotions. Can you tell us how that’s possible?

Releasing Physical and Emotional Toxins Through Coffee Enemas

It is a fascinating concept. Many years ago, when I studied enemas, especially coffee enemas, I read how the body will release emotions, how oils in the coffee will taint negative vibrations into more positive vibrations. They will neutralize them. Those emotions, which we hold onto, become toxic. Emotions themselves, it’s not bad. Anger is not bad if it’s expressed in the right way. If we hold onto it, it becomes an emotional toxin. Typically, anger is held in the liver. Number one, a coffee enema helps to detox the liver on a physical level. This is biochemistry.

Once we shoot up the coffee up our bum, that coffee solution goes through the hepatic portal all the way to the liver. We’ve got a few substances which help to rejuvenate that liver, which help to cleanse the blood. These are palmitic acid, theophylline, caffeine, and chlorogenic acid. If we’ve got time, we can go into the functions of those components. Physically, when we help the liver to rejuvenate, we start releasing emotions. I’m going to tell you a story about my client. My client was a lady in her late 40s who sadly had a really traumatic childhood, a lot of sexual abuse for years.

The context was even worse because her mom knew about it, observed it, and didn’t do anything about it. For all these years she was holding whatever emotions she was holding, probably resentment, guilt, shame, you name it. We started working, and of course she was on a GAPS diet, and she started doing coffee enemas daily. She reported to me that before she started doing coffee enemas, she was emotionally numb. She only felt vibrationally low emotions. Anger, lots of anger, lots of resentment. She couldn’t feel joy. She couldn’t feel love. She couldn’t even feel kindness.

Everything was, she was very snappy. Even during the consultations, I had to take a big breath in before I had a consultation with her. I had to bring that compassion out of me because she was so broken at that point. She started doing coffee enemas. What happened within the very first, I cannot remember whether it was five, maybe six weeks. It wasn’t long, she started crying. For years, she hasn’t cried because she wasn’t able to cry. She didn’t feel that. She felt safe to release that sadness or whatever those tears started bringing up. She started crying. After 5 to 6 weeks, she may have had a little cry here and there.

Each time she did coffee enemas, each time she cried more and more, and she cried every single day for at least three months. Every single time she would put the coffee up the bum straight away, gates open. After 3 months of crying, she said that as if something opened up her heart chakra, and she said, “I feel safe. I feel compassion for my mom. I do not hate her anymore.” That actually brought tears to my eyes. That was the first client with whom I experienced how a coffee enema can release emotions. I had more clients who experienced very similar things.

Sometimes they express a lot of anger. It’s not only crying, but they also say things like, “I feel so angry. I feel so angry when I do coffee enemas afterwards. I feel so angry. I just want to punch something.” I said, “Go and punch the pillow. Do not punch people.” Release it. It’s phenomenal. What is also fascinating about coffee enema, what I absolutely love about coffee enema, this is particularly important for those who live in their heads. I used to live in my head, the motorway.

Thoughts overlapping, overwhelming. There was no space in my mind. Of course, the main recommendation always is that you have to ground yourself. You have to get that energy all the way down through your feet and give it back to Mother Nature. Absolutely, that’s what I was also doing, but it wasn’t enough, and it was only with the coffee enema that my mind, my thoughts, were absolutely clear. That was very fascinating for me. Since that time, I have had many clients who report the same thing. I love coffee enemas.

To remind the viewers, you grew up in Poland. You had exposure to Chernobyl. You had very serious Crohn’s disease and gut issues and were given three months. You were predicted to live for three months before you found Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s book and dove into the GAPS diet and the No Plant GAPS diet, which you now specialize in. I’m curious. Doing enemas is that part of the GAPS protocol, or is that just something extra? What was the first one that you used, and how did you feel using it?

GAPS protocol recommends using enemas, and actually Dr. Natasha describes enemas in both her books, the yellow and the blue one, Gut and Psychology Syndrome and the Gut and Physiology Syndrome book, because they just support the whole body, and coffee enemas in particular. One of the things that helps with a coffee enema, it helps to restore the bile flow. Many people in the modern world have issues with bile flow because we’ve all been manipulated into eating low-fat diets. Our bodies aren’t trained to produce enough bile. Our gallbladders aren’t trained to facilitate more high-fat animal diets. Coffee enemas will help the body to produce more bile. What’s on top of that?

Coffee enema claims to increase glutathione production by over 600%. What is glutathione? Glutathione, think about it as a super duper cleaner, which goes through your body, finds some toxicity, grabs it, mops it all the way down, where bile catches it, and we poop it out. There are so many benefits to coffee enemas, and yes, they are part of the GAPS protocol. Of course, they’re not mandatory. If I had the choice, I would definitely choose that, especially if we’ve got a lot of toxicity in the body. What I started with was a coffee enema, and I was absolutely terrified to do it.

I was so afraid, and funny story that funny, not funny, it was my husband who had to sit next to me on the edge of the bathtub, holding my hand whilst I put the nozzle at my bum, and he was turning the nozzle and allowing the coffee solution to obviously flow inside me. Whenever I felt like “Stop,” I was like so panicking and so fearful, and I’ve made so many mistakes. Once I’ve learned how to make them safely and correctly, how to read the body, and what my body needs, because there are some things that we need to consider when we do coffee enemas. It’s not like everyone should do it or everyone should do it daily. Again, it’s so bio-individual. We just need to know what our body needs.

What is a person who’s interested in doing enemas? How do they begin? Is it unsafe for them to begin by themselves, or do they need to find a practitioner to work with? What kind of guidance do you have on the proper techniques and how to begin?

Observing Essential Safety Rules and Contraindications for Enema Protocols

Maybe if I just highlight who definitely should not be touching coffee. If we’re talking about coffee enemas, who should be touching them? People who go through chemotherapy or people who are on medications because coffee enemas can interact with medication. That needs to be discussed with the experienced GAPS coach or GAPS practitioner or whoever is using enemas as a modality in their practice. People who have any cardiac, renal, or respiratory system failure should not be using coffee enemas. Those who are active flare up with bleeding.

Let’s say if there is ulcerative colitis with active bleeding or Crohn’s with bleeding, then there is a risk of infection. I would not do this. People who have no colon, so I would not do it. People who have issues with hypertension. People who’ve just had any surgery in the body. Dr. Natasha’s recommendation is to wait 6 to 8 weeks at least. Again, in those situations, I would definitely be working with a practitioner and pregnant women because pregnancy is the time for nourishment, not detox. That’s important.

Other considerations. The more depleted you are, so let’s say if your adrenal glands are very weak, if your mineral status is very weak, a coffee enema may deplete you even further. Do I work with clients who have adrenal fatigue and do coffee enemas? Yes, I do. There are a lot of adjustments. Let’s say we’re changing the frequency, we’re changing the strength, we’re changing the type of coffee. We’re changing the amount. We make sure that we push minerals. Those situations definitely need to be adjusted by somebody who knows what they’re doing.

There are some, obviously. The main risk, I would say, is losing too many electrolytes and dehydration. If somebody goes on the research, like a rabbit hole of research on the internet and they start reading about coffee enemas, they destroy gut bacteria. Actually, coffee enemas help to restore good bacteria because it helps to remove parasites and yeast, making space for good bacteria to grow. There are obviously situations where people harm their bowels.

Coffee enemas boost glutathione production by over 600 percent while helping release deeply held emotional stress stored in the liver.

When you read the context of how they do it, number one, there was one woman who put alcohol in her enema. Do not put alcohol in enemas. I do not know what she was trying to achieve, but definitely do not put alcohol in your bum. Some people get some infections. When do you get an infection? You get an infection when there is active bleeding. There is a risk of infection. That’s why I’ve mentioned not touching it. Number two, infection occurs if you do not clean the nozzle properly or if you share the nozzle with somebody else, so do not do it.

There is some evidence of people burning themselves while doing an enema. The right temperature is important when you prepare the coffee solution. It cannot be too hot, so it does not burn you. There is an episode of somebody overdosing on magnesium. I understand that people want to get healthy very quickly, and I understand that pretty much everyone in the Western world is depleted and very deficient in magnesium.

Again, we have to know how to, what the dose is, and what the best modality is because adding magnesium to an enema may not be the right thing for that person at that very time. Number one, if you want to try cleansing enemas first, I think everyone is fine to do it. When it comes to a coffee enema, start with a very diluted one. Endless experiences. Can I tolerate it? How does my body feel? Do I actually feel less pain in my body? Do I feel less of a headache? Do I feel a clearer mind? Do I feel better? Even if it’s five percent better. Maybe this is a good modality for me.

Let’s say you’ve done an enema, and now you’ve got a lot of cramps, and now you’ve got heart palpitations, now you’ve got headaches, now you are so tired and sleepy, and even if you go for a nap, you do not feel that nap. You did not restore your vitality or energy. You should be working with somebody who can guide you through that journey. That’s how I would approach it. Actually, I designed the whole Enema Masterclass for people to do it by themselves. I go through many different scenarios on how to prepare the body, how to read the body, and what to do when things go wrong, because that’s important.

It sounds like there’s a big difference between a coffee enema and a meat stock enema. Would a meat stock enema be safe for anyone, or does it also come with its own risks?

Everything. Even drinking water comes with a risk. If we do not drink enough, we get dehydrated. If we drink too much, again, it’s not very healthy for us. It can flush out the electrolytes. Everything depends on the context. Everyone can try a meat stock enema. Meat stock enema is nourishing. There are situations when I work with people, especially with lots of heavy metals, especially with lots of oxalates, when they try meat stock enema. I do not know why I keep coming back to coffee. Meat stock enema, they have very strong healing reactions. Again, the timing, the dose, and the context of where the body is very important.

I’m not sure you told me about your personal experience with it. You said you had a holistic doctor who came to your town and you tried it. Was that before you found GAPS? What results did you have with it?

It was way before. I was a teenager. I was still living in Poland. My experience was horrendous because I think the context of the setup was not right for me. I was just a teenager. I was like a very young girl, and he was a doctor. He was not gentle with his approach, and even his enema kit was a little bit rough. I was embarrassed. It was not the right time. His approach was not correct. It was not about the coffee enema itself. It was because he tried other types of enemas. I was seeing him. I cannot remember. I think on a weekly basis. It was just the setup which put me off, and I did not want to do it.

After I found GAPS and after I started doing enemas, coffee enemas, meat stock enemas and all the other types of enemas, I’ve made sure that my environment feels safe, that my bathroom feels like my sanctuary, that that was my mini spa. That was me pampering myself. The bathroom was warm. I had a beautiful cushion where I could lay my head on. I created a bedding with a yoga mat, with a blanket underneath, with old towels just in case I had the oopsie on the towel. I’ve put the music on there, so I wanted to feel safe. I controlled that environment to make sure that even if things go wrong, I’m not going to panic.

Obviously there’s some hesitation on a lot of people’s part to do this because there’s a scary factor to doing the enemas. I do not know. There’s something that does not feel like we grew up doing this necessarily. We didn’t ever watch anybody else do it. Can you talk a little bit about how you might ease somebody into being open to trying to do enemas?

When I was growing up in Poland, every family had an enema kit in the bathroom. It was the norm. It was nothing weird about it. Every pharmacy would sell enema kits. It’s just nowadays it’s been replaced by laxatives or other medication, which damages the gut lining and the whole body even further. Many years ago, that was perceived as something people did. Nowadays, it’s that stigma that we do. First of all, I would say, “What’s the reason you would even consider doing, let’s say, a coffee enema?”

If you think about the way they work and the benefits you can get, because coffee enema will get you benefits faster. Let me talk to you briefly about some of those compounds in the coffee enema, because if you know the benefits, you may be a little bit more open to it. Number one, palmitic acid, which enhances the whole liver detox, and it helps to stimulate the nervous system. Theophylline is the hero when it comes to pain. It reduces pain, it reduces inflammation, and it enhances our breathing. It detoxes the whole lung, it balances the nervous system, and it increases urine production, which means that our kidneys are now being cleaned. It has caffeine.

Caffeine helps to increase bile. If you have parasites, if you have constipation, it will help. It improves mental clarity. You can actually read more, you can focus more, you can make better decisions, and you can increase that glutathione, which I’ve already mentioned, which reduces the toxic load in the body. It also has chlorogenic acid in it, which balances out blood sugar. This is good news for whom? For those with addictions. It also turns on so many enzymes, so the whole digestion becomes smoother. If those things do not speak to you, then I would just say try a very weak solution.

The way I would do it is to start with a small cup of water. Have the experience of water flowing in you. If you can hold it, fine. If you cannot hold it yet, release it. It doesn’t matter. Once you know how it feels, then you will build up a little bit more confidence in trying a little bit of a coffee enema. Make it very weak. Make a very weak solution. Again, maybe even do half a cup, one cup. You can always release it. Not a big deal. Explore my enema masterclass because there are lots of techniques for you to go through and help you to remove that fear. By the way, coffee enemas help to remove fear as well.

Monika, it sounds like the enemas pair perfectly with the GAPS. You do not necessarily call it a diet, but the GAPS diet, the protocol. As we begin to wrap up here, can you just summarize how wonderfully they blend together? What is it exactly that we’re trying to do with GAPS and with the enemas? If you were to be talking to the layperson about enemas, how do these two things meld together so beautifully?

We’ve got the GAPS protocol, which focuses on nourishing the body through the foods, detoxing the body through the foods as well, and additional modalities. Those modalities would be detox baths, those modalities would be enemas, those modalities would be outdoor walking, swimming, and sun exposure. Those things will help the body to get rid of that excess toxicity. Therefore, it will then allow the body to regenerate faster. If you just focus on food, you will still detox. Your detox is not stopping, but with the coffee enemas, you will open up the detox pathway faster.

Anyways, you are such a wealth of information. I am so glad that you came back to join us for the second episode. I want to remind everybody that you are going to be at the Weston A. Price Foundation Conference, our Wise Traditions Conference. It’s taking place October 16th through 18th in Washington, DC. People will be able to come and find you and talk to you more, even about all of these other things that go with these other modalities that work with the GAPS diet.

You’ll be there specifically talking about the No Plants GAPS Diet with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. Last time I asked you if there was just one thing that the audience could do to better their health, you said that they could work on releasing their fear. Is there one other thing that you could share with us in order to end our episode?

Ditch the artificial deadlines on your recovery. True healing requires patience and consistent progress rather than rigid calendars.

Removing Rigid Timelines to Support Authentic Long-Term Recovery

One of the things that jeopardizes people’s healing journey is putting a timeline and a deadline on the healing. Most people would say, “I want to heal enough to go away on summer vacation. I want to heal enough by Christmas because I want to spend Christmas.” That brings so much pressure on our nervous system. That brings so much pressure on our bodies. Just eat on any timeline. Do not put that pressure on yourself. You will be healing, and it doesn’t matter if you’re going to heal 10%, 20%, 15%, 50%, or 70% by Christmas. It doesn’t matter. The improvement, the progression, and the trend are important. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. Just do not push yourself to be healthy within whatever timeline it is.

It sounds like the most important thing is just to get started and then let the journey take you where it takes you.

Absolutely. Do not be afraid to make mistakes. You will be making mistakes. You will be. Everyone does. It’s okay.

Monika, thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate all of your knowledge and everything that you shared. I look forward to seeing you at the conference.

I look forward to seeing you too at the conference. I will also be at the GAPS stand. If anyone wants to come and say hello, please do. I would love you to connect in a face-to-face setting. Kendall, I’m so humbled, and I’m so grateful for being here. Thank you so much for this wonderful conversation.

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Our guest was Monika Holland. To learn more about her work, visit Monika Holland, where you’ll find information about her courses, educational resources, and therapeutic approach to No Plant GAPS. This conversation challenged many of our assumptions about detoxification and healing. We explored why Monika believes nourishment and detoxification are partners rather than opposites, how different types of enemas may be used to support the body in different ways, and why she encourages people to approach these therapies thoughtfully, gently, and with respect for their own unique circumstances.

We also discussed the importance of supporting the body’s natural detoxification pathways, the connection between physical and emotional healing, and why Monika believes lasting recovery is not about forcing the body to heal, but about creating the conditions that allow healing to unfold naturally. Perhaps the greatest takeaway from this two-part series is that healing is rarely about a single food, supplement, or therapy. It’s about patiently rebuilding the body’s foundations, reducing unnecessary burdens, and trusting that when given the proper nourishment and support, the body has an extraordinary capacity to repair itself.

I’m Kendall Nelson, the host and producer of the show, on behalf of the Weston A. Price Foundation. For a full transcript of this episode, visit Weston A. Price and click on the Podcast page. If you’re enjoying the show, we’d be grateful if you’d take a moment to leave a rating or review wherever you listen. Your feedback helps others discover the show and become part of this growing community. Thank you for spending this time with us. Be well, be nourished, and be free.

About Monika Holland

Monika Holland is a Mineral Nutritional Balancing Practitioner (MNBP), Certified GAPS Coach (CGC), and Nutritional Therapist who specializes in helping people with severe digestive, neurological, and autoimmune conditions through the GAPS protocol, including No Plant GAPS. After recovering from life-threatening Crohn’s disease herself, she has dedicated her career to researching and teaching gut healing, therapeutic enemas, the microbiome, heavy metal detoxification, and carnivore-based approaches. Monika is a GAPS instructor, founder of the Great Gut Guide online education platform and the How2GAPS community, and is passionate about helping others restore their health through nutrition and lifestyle.