What Health Lessons Can Your Favorite TV Show Characters Teach You?

What Health Lessons Can Your Favorite TV Show Characters Teach You?

May 2025

TV shows aren’t just entertainment—they’re reflections of real life, full of stress, snacks, stomachaches, and self-sabotage. If you’ve ever felt “off” in your body, chances are you’ve seen your symptoms mirrored on screen. Whether it’s emotional eating, gut-wrenching anxiety, or chronic fatigue, these characters show us that wellness is about more than kale and crunches—it’s about emotional processing, boundaries, and how we treat our bodies under pressure.

Let’s explore the surprising gut and wellness lessons your favorite characters are teaching—often without a single green juice in sight.

1. Shiv Roy (Succession): High-Functioning Stress Wrecks Digestion

Shiv is composed on the outside, but her internal pressure cooker is screaming. Chronic stress like hers can destroy digestion. In TCM, that’s Spleen and Liver disharmony, manifesting as bloating, fatigue, and tension that lingers in the gut.

Lesson: Calm isn’t always calm. Stress takes a toll, even in silence. Restore your gut by regulating your nervous system.

Monica from Friends: stress eating

2. Monica Geller (Friends): Perfectionism = Abdominal Tension

Everything must be just right—except Monica’s gut. Her constant need for control hints at chronic abdominal clenching and Spleen Qi Deficiency. Constipation, tension, and stress-eating are no surprise.

Lesson: Loosen your grip, and your belly might loosen too. Digestion loves flexibility more than order.

3. June Osborne (The Handmaid’s Tale): Trauma Lives in the Body

June’s story is a masterclass in survival—but survival has consequences. Long-term trauma can shut down digestion entirely. In TCM, it’s a collapse of Spleen Qi, Liver Qi stagnation, and Heart disturbance—leading to fatigue, IBS, and emotional dysregulation.

Lesson: Healing the gut means processing what the nervous system is still holding.

'The Last of Us" Joel's grief

4. Joel (The Last of Us): Grief Disguised as Grit

Stoic and shut down, Joel is driven by protection—but at a cost. Chronic grief and guilt often live in the chest and gut. He may be surviving, but his digestive fire is long burned out.

Lesson: When grief is ignored, digestion often is too. Rebuilding trust in the body starts with gentle nourishment—physical and emotional.

5. Andor (Andor): Fight Mode = Digestive Shutdown

Cassian lives in a constant state of fight or flight. Sound familiar? For those in chronic survival mode, digestion isn’t a priority—your body literally diverts blood away from the gut. That means bloating, irregularity, and constant tension.

Lesson: Rest-and-digest isn’t just a saying—it’s a biological reality. Safety heals.

Mark Scout from Severance: disconnected from body

6. Mark Scout (Severance): Disconnection = Digestive Disruption

Living a life split in two, Mark’s disconnection from self and emotion mimics what many feel in modern life. That disembodiment often shows up as digestive issues—bloating, lack of appetite, sluggish bowels. In TCM, this is a Heart-Spleen disconnect.

Lesson: Reconnect with yourself, and your gut often follows. Awareness is medicine.

7. Leslie Knope (Parks & Rec): Overdoing Leads to Burnout

Leslie runs on ambition, caffeine, and very little sleep—classic Yin Deficiency. Her zest is admirable, but burnout looms. Digestive fire needs downtime to rebuild.

Lesson: Pushing too hard for too long will push your gut offline. Nourish, then lead.

Carrie Bradshaw: skipped meals

8. Carrie Bradshaw (Sex & the City): Skipping Meals, Skipping Balance

Fashion over function? Carrie is stylish, but not exactly nourished. Skipping meals, relying on caffeine, and stressing over relationships leaves her with a gut that’s just as chaotic as her love life.

Lesson: You can’t build Qi on coffee and cosmos. Stability starts with steady meals.

9. Gregory (Abbott Elementary): Anxiety Hiding in Plain Sight

Gregory is calm and collected—but his gut is probably doing somersaults. Quiet anxiety often shows up in the stomach: nausea, reflux, or IBS symptoms. His nervous system’s holding pattern keeps his digestion on pause.

Lesson: If your brain can’t relax, your gut won’t either. Soothing the mind supports digestion.

💡Your Gut Is Smarter Than You Think

Whether you’re a Shiv or a Mark, digestion doesn’t lie. It’s always giving feedback—and it’s often a direct translation of your emotional landscape. Bloating, constipation, cravings, and discomfort aren’t random—they’re reflections.

Want to get back in tune?

🌿 Book a Medical Abdominal Massage (Chi Nei Tsang) or download the 3-Day Gut Reset.Let’s help your gut catch up with the healing your body’s already ready for. 🎬