Herbalism has taught me a lot about working with plants, mushrooms, and the physical human body. Your body is something I can see with my own two eyes (and technically could also experience with my other senses as well), but while your brain is a physical organ, your mind (and your mental health) are invisible.
Many people try to “think” their way out of depression, anxiety, and burnout, but your mind is a part of your overall human ecosystem. We can’t heal it if we continue to think of it as “separate” from all the other parts of you.
You’ve heard me talk about the Gut-Brain connection for years now, and if you haven’t, here’s a refresher: the brain inside your head controls the nervous system down your spine, but there’s another complementary nervous system (the enteric nervous system) that surrounds your entire digestive tract.
This means that what you ingest every day over time influences how your brain works. If your gut is all out of whack (what we call “dysbiosis”) it has a direct effect on your mental health. This is why people who eat ultra-processed foods on a regular basis tend to have a higher incidence of depression, anxiety, stress, and other negative bodily reactions. [Source]
The connection between these two systems is the key to understanding your own intuition as well. How else do you explain what’s happening inside your body when you get a “gut feeling” about someone or something? Your small intestine even has a form of taste bud-like receptors that can tell your brain what it feels like eating, causing you to get a craving. The whole system is far more intricately interconnected than you could imagine!
When the Mind Itself Becomes Fragmented
Trauma doesn’t always stay in the past. Sometimes, instead of forming a single, continuous story, overwhelming experiences get stored in separate “compartments” of the mind. This isn’t a flaw or a failure — it’s actually a brilliant survival strategy. This is one of the many reasons why children who experience physical or sexual abuse at a very young age often grow up being simply unable to remember their childhood at all. The mind blocks off the traumatic memories in order for the rest of the body to survive.
This is where dissociation comes in. Dissociation is the nervous system’s way of turning down the volume when life feels like too much.
It can look like zoning out, feeling numb, losing time, or having moments where you don’t quite feel like yourself. For many people, it’s subtle and easy to dismiss as “just stress” or being tired. But sometimes that sense of disconnection is a sign that the mind has been working very hard, for a very long time, to protect you. Putting a name to this feeling can help you identify it the next time it happens.
I started learning herbalism so I could heal myself and my family with the power of plants and nature. I started farming because having access to high-quality food was one of the most important things to me so I could have some control over my own health. Healing my Gut got rid of 17 years of chronic candidiasis and rosacea and was the first big step toward getting my mental health back in order too.
However, I found that while various herbs could support my nervous system regulation, digestion, grounding in the body, and feelings of safety, I still had to learn how to understand the internal fragmentation of my own mind. I could nourish my body with all the healthy foods I could find, but eating “Grade A” steak and organic kale wasn’t about to start healing my conflicted inner child.
Herbalism gave me the stability in my body to survive. But learning how to rewire the internal chaos of my own mind is what finally changed my life.
That story — the messy, unfiltered, and very human version — is what I share in Uncovering Amy.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re fighting a battle inside yourself that no one else can see, this book was written for you.
If you’ve ever felt like there’s more going on inside you than you can explain, you’re not broken — you may just be carrying experiences your mind had to store out of sight. I’ve been there. The path I took to reclaim my mental health changed everything, and Uncovering Amy opens the door to a world of inner awareness most people never realize is possible.
I see you. I know you’re scared. I’m here for you if you need me.