Feral Medicine

Feral Medicine Evolutionary Medicine | Anthropology | Neuroscience | Epigenetics | Board Certified Health Coach

I am a holistic health coach and certified yoga/mindfulness instructor. I graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelors degree in Health Science with a minor in Healthy Lifestyle and Fitness Science. During my time at the university I was introduced to Evolutionary Medicine, which is now a strong passion of mine and I additionally received an Evolutionary Medicine Certificate as well. I

believe in the bodies innate ability to heal itself if given the appropriate conditions. This can be attained through multiple stress management techniques, healthy lifestyle choices, physical activity, and using the appropriate complementary healing modalities regularly. Our bodies have developed amazing tools that help us to overcome many ailments, although many people have learned to see these symptoms as things that need to be stopped or suppressed. As a holistic health coach, I will work with you to identify the area's of your life that you would like to improve both physically and mentally. You are the driver in your life, and having a clear understanding of health behaviors can help you to work towards your ultimate goals, and I will happily help you to work through any challenges that you might face during your journey towards the healthiest you that you can be.

There’s this quiet lie that I feel is floating around spiritual and healing spaces…. And it’s the belief that only the “...
07/20/2025

There’s this quiet lie that I feel is floating around spiritual and healing spaces…. And it’s the belief that only the “chosen,” the “traumatized,” or the “enlightened” can truly “heal”.

But here’s the truth, and it might not make a lot of “spiritual teachers/leaders” very happy.

It’s cool, because I’m not here to make people feel good about 💩 they push to create separation between them and everyone else, and gatekeep spiritual spaces to make themselves feel above other people. I’m here to shine some serious light on the fact that every single one of us has the ability to overcome our BIOLOGY and find our connections to the universe.

No one has a patent on self-awareness and spiritual balance.

NO ONE.

You do not have to be set apart, selected, or initiated into anything.

You do not need to be part of a religion.

You do not need to move to a monastery.

You do not need to be part of an historical or indigenous community.

You do not need to be part of a specific yoga community, or martial arts linage.

You do not need to be certified as a reiki master or sound healer.

You don’t even need a dramatic breakdown or awakening.

Self-awareness and healing (spiritual, emotional, physical) doesn’t happen because you’re unique.

It happens because you’re human.

It happens through your nervous system. It happens through the same biology every one of us shares.

It is our SHARED BIOLOGY that actually matters.

Not how many times youve ascended the astral realm, or how many times you’ve sat an Ayahuasca ceremony.

Your patterns, your pain, your defenses… they’re not proof that something is wrong with you.

These are signs your biology has been protecting you.

Healing isn’t a performance. It’s not reserved for gurus, or teachers, or shamans.

There’s no such thing as a guru. YOU are your own.

This isn’t about ascending…. it is about coming back down into our bodies.

Healing happens when your nervous system feels safe enough to shift.

That’s available to everyone.

You do not need to be “special.”

You just need to be willing.

Healing has nothing to do with being unique in our spirituality and everything to do with our biology.

I wrote about the DMN yesterday, and I am working on an article that takes a deep dive into what I’m talking about that should be ready tomorrow.

Let’s start making spiritual connections and BIOLOGICAL connections so that we can DEMYSTIFY what has been behind a wall that’s been defended by gatekeepers for centuries.

I’m ready to start peeling back some layers and revealing some truth.

Are you?

✨🙏🏼🤸🏼‍♀️🪬🧘🏼‍♀️✨


Did you know that even when you’re doing nothing, your brain is doing a lot?In fact, some of the most energetically expe...
07/20/2025

Did you know that even when you’re doing nothing, your brain is doing a lot?

In fact, some of the most energetically expensive mental activity happens when we aren’t focused on anything in particular. This is the work of the Default Mode Network (DMN), which is the neural circuit responsible for your inner world.

It’s not just “background noise.” It’s the narrating voice, the autobiographical storyteller, the part of your brain that fills the quiet with meaning…. or dread.

The DMN is a highly active set of brain regions that switches on when you’re at rest, unfocused, or turned inward.

It includes several parts of your brain…
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) – involved in self-referencing and emotional meaning. The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) which is important for memory and integrating past and present. The precuneus, angular gyrus, and hippocampus, which are all regions associated with memory, imagery, and spatial awareness

These areas form a coordinated network that enables us to reflect, imagine, wander, and weave mental narratives.

The DMN activates during times when we aren’t focusing on completing a task. Times when we are daydreaming, or thinking about the past.

Imagining the future? There’s the DMN!

Mentally going over that chat you had with your boss? There it is again!

It’s essentially the neural origin of your inner dialogue. It is the place where thoughts arise, unbidden, like the aquifer of a spring in the forest.

I’m sure you’ve heard me say it before….

“Thoughts think themselves.”

This is what I mean.

You’re not always choosing to think. Often, the DMN is doing it for you. It’s completely on autopilot, and essentially shaped by our experiences through our lives.

The brain is estimated to generate 6,000+ individual thoughts per day, and much of this happens when the DMN is active. That’s an immense volume of neural activity….. and most of it is repetitive, self-referential, and unconscious.

This is the explanation behind why we can get mentally exhausted doing “nothing”. It is also why thoughts can seem to loop, repeat, or spiral in the absence of conscious focus. Or why our minds drift unless deliberately anchored on a point of focus.

The DMN doesn’t need a task. It defaults to autopilot…. and that autopilot is you.

The DMN is not inherently a problem…. but if left to its own devices it can lead to issues like rumination, anxiety spirals, over- identification with our thoughts (and essentially our ego), and ultimately disconnection from present moment awareness.

This is why certain practices have such powerful effects on the nervous system and mental clarity….

Meditation is scientifically proven to reduce DMN activity, especially in the mPFC. It shifts attention from self-referential thought to immediate sensation, breath, and awareness. Over time, this rewires the brain toward stillness and spaciousness.

Journaling (I wrote about this yesterday a little bit) helps externalize the DMN’s raw output. It gives shape and structure to the otherwise chaotic stream of thought. By choosing what to write, you engage an executive network in your brain, helping to regulate and redirect DMN activity toward clarity.

Both practices allow you to observe your inner world without being consumed by it.

The Default Mode Network is your brain’s built-in narrator, and it is constantly stitching together memory, identity, and imagined futures.

It’s why silence isn’t always quiet, and stillness can feel like too much.

But you can learn to notice it.

You can create space between you and the stream of automatic thought.

And in that space?

There’s power.

🙏🏼✨🪬🧘🏼‍♀️





Everyone wants to talk about world peace.But most of us can’t even get through a family dinner without throwing emotiona...
07/14/2025

Everyone wants to talk about world peace.

But most of us can’t even get through a family dinner without throwing emotional grenades.

We say we want unity…. but can’t stand our coworkers.

We want a better world…. but shame, judge, and ghost our neighbors.

We say we want safe schools…. but when you walk into a school board meeting and witness how the adults behave?

The bullying starts at home, and kids are just mimicking what they see.

We cry out for healing… but reach for pills before we ever place our bare feet on the Earth.

Our bodies are breaking.

Our minds are fractured.

Our children, Gen Alpha, are on track to be the first generation in modern history to not outlive their grandparents.

That’s not “progress.”

That’s a warning sign.

We claim to walk with God.

But the same week we say it, bulldozers flatten wild medicine under guise of progress.

We desecrate the sacred.

We poison the soil.

And we call it development.

The truth is…. we’ve been sold a lie.

For 150 years, we’ve been fed propaganda dressed up as “science,” “policy,” “progress,” and “normal.”

We pass those same lies to our children.

Wrapped in bright packages.

Sanitized, weaponized, and monetized.

No.

I’m not playing around today.

You want a better world?

Start in your home.

Start with your nervous system.

Start with how you speak to your children when you’re tired.

Start with what you teach them through your actions.

Start with what you consume…. not just food, but media, medicine, and meaning.

We cannot demand global healing while living lives of quiet violence against ourselves, each other, or this Earth!

This isn’t about perfection.

It’s about direction.

Real peace is earned through radical honesty, nervous system resilience, and a full-body return to what is real.

And most of what’s real can’t be found in a bottle, a screen, or a trending hashtag.

It’s time to remember.










Let’s talk about how people numb, and how even “spiritual” people do it.Not all addictions come in a bottle or a pill.No...
07/07/2025

Let’s talk about how people numb, and how even “spiritual” people do it.

Not all addictions come in a bottle or a pill.

Not all numbing looks like zoning out with Netflix or reaching for a drink.

Some of the most praised, celebrated, even spiritually branded behaviors are actually sophisticated ways we avoid pain, avoid change, and avoid ourselves. Ive seen it countless times from the yoga studio or the gym to “mommy groups” and spiritual retreats.

🧠 Workaholism? Rewarded.

🏋🏼‍♂️ Obsessive fitness? Praised.

📱 Endless scrolling? Normalized.

🍷 Wine culture? Cute and meme-worthy.

🛍️ Shopping? “Retail therapy.”

🌬️ Spiritual bypassing? Marketed as awakening.

And now in certain circles, the new addiction is altered states of consciousness.

🌿 Plant medicine journeys

💨 Psychedelic highs

⚡ Kundalini surges

🔮 Channeling and “downloads”

All powerful tools….. when used with integration.

But without it? Just another way to escape the deeper work.

So many people are chasing transcendence without transformation.

They want altered states without altering their traits.

They want the high of healing without the humility of change.

And just like more “traditional” coping mechanisms, these spiritual tools can become:

👉🏼A crutch

👉🏼A mask

👉🏼A performance

👉🏼A distraction

And often, these patterns break along cultural and biological lines:

💥Men numb with performance: work, s*x, status, control.

💥Women numb with caretaking, food, appearance, and emotional labor.

Both are often applauded for it. 🤷🏼‍♀️

But numbing is numbing… whether it’s in the boardroom, the bedroom, the kitchen, the yoga studio, or an Ayahuasca ceremony.

What matters isn’t how “elevated” the tool is. It’s whether you’re using it to connect…. or to avoid.

✨ Real healing is messy, slow, and often unglamorous.

✨ It requires embodiment, not just enlightenment.

✨ It asks for accountability, not just awareness.

The hardest work?

Being present with yourself when there’s nothing to distract you.

Feeling what you’ve spent years trying not to feel.

Changing the patterns that kept you safe, but small.

So here’s your check-in:

Are you healing?

Or are you hiding behind something that looks like healing?

🤷🏼‍♀️🙏🏼✨🧠🫶🏼








Why Are So Many “Successful” People Still Miserable?It’s a question that puzzles many: how can someone have everything (...
07/06/2025

Why Are So Many “Successful” People Still Miserable?

It’s a question that puzzles many: how can someone have everything (wealth, status, accolades) and still struggle internally?

Behavioral science and neuroscience offer some powerful insights 👇

🔄 The Hedonic Treadmill

In a previous post we talked about this in a little more detail (I call it destination preoccupation, remember?) This aspect is about our brains being wired to adapt. That big promotion or dream home? It boosts happiness temporarily, but soon becomes the new normal. We chase the next win, hoping this one will finally satisfy us.

🧠 Dopamine vs. Fulfillment

Success often triggers dopamine, the brain’s “reward” chemical. But dopamine is about wanting, not really having. It drives us to pursue more, not to enjoy what we already have. True fulfillment relies more on serotonin and oxytocin, which are linked to connection, purpose, and inner peace…. not external achievements.

😔 Misaligned Goals

Many people chase what society tells them to want (money, fame, power) without stopping to ask what they actually value. Behavioral science calls this “goal misalignment,” and it’s a major source of discontent.

📉 Neglected Inner Work

Emotional well-being, resilience, self-compassion…. None of these come from hustling harder. Neuroscience shows that mindfulness, meaningful relationships, and a sense of purpose are far more predictive of lasting happiness. And hear me out - if being hard on ourselves worked, it would’ve worked by now.

So no, success isn’t the enemy. But if it’s built on autopilot, without self-awareness and alignment, it can lead to a life that looks good on the outside and feels hollow on the inside.

✨ Real success includes peace of mind, connection, self-awareness, and a sense of meaning.

What do you think defines true success?

I know a lot of “type A” people…. In fact, I’m a fully recovered “type A” myself. So if you identify as a “type A” perso...
07/05/2025

I know a lot of “type A” people…. In fact, I’m a fully recovered “type A” myself.

So if you identify as a “type A” person, first you’re in good company, second this post is for you…. And it might not make you happy, but it will help set you free.

With that said, let’s GO!!!

💥Perfectionism isn’t about doing your best.💥

It’s about becoming highly skilled at finding fault…. in yourself, in your work, and very often in others.

And while perfectionism often masquerades as a drive for excellence, research consistently shows it’s more closely tied to fear of failure, chronic stress, anxiety, and burnout than to sustainable high performance.

In psychological terms, perfectionism is marked by:

👉🏼Unrealistically high standards

👉🏼Over-identification with outcomes

👉🏼Harsh self-criticism

👉🏼And often, a nervous system stuck in threat-detection mode

In fact, studies link perfectionistic tendencies to higher levels of cortisol, decreased heart rate variability, and impaired emotion regulation.

✨All signs of a dysregulated stress response.

For those of us in the health and wellness space (practitioners, educators, entrepreneurs) it’s easy to confuse perfectionism with passion or integrity. But true integrity includes flexibility, compassion, and adaptability…. not rigidity and shame.

✨Doing your best means showing up with care, effort, and humility… even when it’s imperfect. (ESPECIALLY IF WE KNOW IT ISN’T PERFECT). ✨

💡Perfectionism tells you you’re never enough.

✨Healing shows you are worthy just as you are. 🙏🏼



If you enjoy my content here, you might want to check out my substack! 100% unfiltered talk about holistic, natural heal...
07/04/2025

If you enjoy my content here, you might want to check out my substack!

100% unfiltered talk about holistic, natural health and how it is impacted by what our society is built on!

Modern life's mismatches with our human anatomy and physiology is what is causing 90% or more of our chronic diseases.

Let's have a real conversation about what is happening and how we can take our health back from the modern machine that we call life.

Check out my first post!!!

👉 https://open.substack.com/pub/kcshealthutah/p/your-brain-is-always-listening?r=5t7bzf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Why do so many high-achievers feel perpetually restless?Behavioral science has a name for it: the hedonic treadmill. But...
07/04/2025

Why do so many high-achievers feel perpetually restless?

Behavioral science has a name for it: the hedonic treadmill.

But I prefer to call it destination preoccupation…. And it is the belief that real happiness is always waiting at the next goalpost.

⏩ “I’ll feel better when I hit six figures.”

⏩ “Once I get the degree, the house, the title… then I’ll relax.”

⏩ “If I could just reach that next level…”

Sound familiar?

I hear it all the time.

“I’ll take time for myself once I ….”

“I’ll rest once I get ….”

Neuroscience shows that this mindset is rooted in how dopamine works. Dopamine isn’t the “pleasure” molecule… it’s the anticipation molecule. It fires when we chase something, not when we actually achieve it. That means our brains are literally wired to want, but not necessarily to savor.

So we end up stuck in a loop of achieving 👉🏼 adapting 👉🏼 striving again.

The satisfaction fades.

The goalposts move.

We look for the next mountain to climb.

The nervous system never truly settles.

The antidote?

👉🏼Build in savoring, not just striving

👉🏼Align goals with your values, not just your resume

👉🏼Cultivate rest, connection, and internal validation… not just external wins

Because fulfillment isn’t a destination.

💥It’s a practice.💥

Let’s stop outsourcing our peace to the next achievement.

Start living like you’re already enough…

because you are.

🙏🏼✨🧠💯

If you’ve ever set a goal; clean eating, daily movement, less screen time only to abandon it weeks (or days) later, you’...
07/01/2025

If you’ve ever set a goal; clean eating, daily movement, less screen time only to abandon it weeks (or days) later, you’re not alone. But this isn’t a moral failing. It’s neurobiological, emotional, and systemic.

Here’s what’s actually going on when we “fall off the wagon”:

🧠 1. All-or-Nothing Thinking

👉🏼This perfectionistic cognitive distortion says, “I messed up, so I might as well quit.” It ignores neuroplasticity and the nonlinear nature of real change.

🛤️ 2. Brain Systems in Conflict

👉🏼New habits rely on the prefrontal cortex (decision-making, impulse control), but under stress, the basal ganglia (home of autopilot behaviors) takes over. Old patterns resurface not because of weakness, but efficiency.

😣 3. Emotional Substitution

👉🏼Many habits (especially the ones we want to change) serve as emotional regulators. If we remove the habit without addressing the underlying need (stress relief, connection, stimulation), the system breaks down.

📉 4. Dopaminergic Decline

👉🏼Dopamine drives motivation—but only initially. Once novelty wears off, the brain needs deeper intrinsic anchors or environmental scaffolding to stay engaged.

👤 5. Identity-Behavior Mismatch (This is a big one!!!)

👉🏼Behavioral change won’t stick if it conflicts with one’s subconscious self-image. You can’t white-knuckle your way to being someone you don’t believe you are.

🔁 6. Unsustainable Systems

👉🏼Most people don’t fail due to lack of effort…. they fail due to lack of design. Goals that require constant willpower will always collapse under pressure. Always make a plan!!!!

🧨 7. Shame Looping

👉🏼Slip-ups trigger shame → shame reduces self-trust → self-trust collapse leads to avoidance and relapse. The problem isn’t the mistake—it’s the meaning we assign to it.

✨ If we want behavior change to last, we need more than hacks. We need self-awareness, nervous system literacy, and sustainable systems, all rooted in a compassionate relationship with the self and our identity.

Habit change isn’t about perfection. It’s about pattern recognition, nervous system support, self-awareness, and identity-level integration.

💥If we want REAL, SUSTAINABLE change then we must build systems stronger than our feelings💥

Curious if any of this resonates with your experience, either personally or professionally.

Let’s nerd out!!!

✨🙏🏼😃🧠

✨Unpopular Opinion✨In the new age “spirtual” movement I hear all the time “I can’t be around them, they’re just too nega...
06/30/2025

✨Unpopular Opinion✨

In the new age “spirtual” movement I hear all the time “I can’t be around them, they’re just too negative”.

That is often spiritual bypassing dressed up as self-care.

And in the workplace?

It shows up like this:

❌ “My manager plays favorites.”

❌ “My coworker is so draining and never does their job.”

❌ “The vibe here is toxic.”

Sometimes those statements are valid.

And sometimes… they’re just avoidance in disguise.

If you’ve done your internal work…. if you’ve built emotional regulation, self-trust, and nervous system stability, then someone else’s mood, disengagement, or leadership style shouldn’t unravel you.

👉🏼Boundaries matter.

👉🏼So does accountability.

But not every difficult boss is a bully.

Not every underperforming teammate is your problem to solve.

And not every tough environment is a reason to quit.

Sometimes resilience looks like staying steady while others flail.

Sometimes emotional maturity means leading yourself even when no one else is doing it well.

And sometimes?

💥The common denominator is you.💥

Emotionally weak people are a product of their environment.

Emotionally strong people make their environment a product of them.

Self-leadership isn’t about controlling the room.

It’s about not letting the room control you.

✨🙏🏼💥

The goal of emotional resilience isn’t to be calm all the time. It’s to be adaptable.In health and wellness spaces, “cal...
06/29/2025

The goal of emotional resilience isn’t to be calm all the time.

It’s to be adaptable.

In health and wellness spaces, “calm” is often sold as the ultimate goal…. as if being completely unbothered is a sign that you’ve finally arrived.

Nope.

That is not how the nervous system works.

A healthy nervous system doesn’t avoid activation, it moves through it. It rises to meet the moment, and then returns to baseline. It knows how to respond to stress and how to recover.

👉🏼This is regulation.

👉🏼This is resilience.

👉🏼This is true health.

If we pathologize every moment of stress or intensity, we miss the point. You should feel fear sometimes. Anger sometimes. Excitement. Grief. Even activation. These are not signs of dysfunction.

They are signs of life.

The work isn’t to never react. The work is to move fluidly between states without getting stuck.

✅ Not flatlined, but responsive.

✅ Not calm at all costs, but balanced over time.

✅ Not emotionally numb, but emotionally attuned.

Let’s stop chasing constant calm and start building real capacity.

Because adaptability (not avoidance) is the mark of a resilient nervous system.

And no matter what type of healing we are talking about know this:

Avoiding being triggered isn’t healing.

Facing them with courage and strength, knowing that nothing lasts forever is.

“Using a toxic product on your skin isingesting it!” Tell me you don’t understand human physiology without telling me. 🙄...
06/28/2025

“Using a toxic product on your skin is
ingesting it!”

Tell me you don’t understand human physiology without telling me. 🙄

Let’s get into it.

There’s a LOT of misinformation out there about how substances get into the body… especially via the skin.

So here’s the deal, backed by actual physiology and biochemistry (not fear-based marketing or propaganda):

Your Skin is a Fortress

Contrary to popular belief the skin is not just a passive layer. It’s an active, defensive organ (for you trivia folks it’s also the largest organ) that evolved to keep the outside world out.

It’s made up of multiple layers, each with different roles in protection and absorption:

Stratum Corneum (SC): Outer Armor

This is the top layer of the epidermis and is made of dead, flattened keratinocytes embedded in a lipid matrix (think bricks and mortar).

• It’s about 10–20 microns thick but incredibly effective.

• Only very small, lipid-soluble, and uncharged molecules can passively diffuse through.

• Water-soluble or large molecules? Nope. Good luck.

Epidermis: The Middle Layer

Once past the SC, molecules encounter living keratinocytes. This layer has tight junctions and active enzymes that can metabolize substances before they reach deeper tissue. It also lacks blood vessels (meaning no direct systemic access yet).

Dermis: The Vascular Highway

Below the epidermis lies the dermis; where blood vessels, lymphatics, and nerves live.

• If a molecule reaches the dermis, it can enter circulation.

• But this is rare and slow…. unless the substance is specifically designed (like a transdermal drug with a delivery vehicle or pe*******on enhancer).

Not all routes of exposure are equal.

Period.

Let’s be real. Your skin isn’t a straw, but it’s not surgical steel either.

You can not smear kale on your thigh and call it detox, or rub broccoli on your gums and call it nutrition.

But that also doesn’t mean every ingredient in your lotion gets a free pass, either.

The SC is doing its job: keeping most large or water-loving molecules out. But small, fat-soluble, and persistent compounds? They can get in and that’s where formulation, frequency, and chemistry matter.

Parabens, phthalates, sulfates and other endocrine disruptors have been found in the bloodstream and urine and YES, skin exposure plays a role, especially with chronic use of multiple different products.

👉🏼But let’s be clear:

🚫 Rubbing Vaseline on your elbow ≠ ingesting crude oil.

✅ Reading your ingredient list = smart.

The skin is selective, not invincible. That’s why we can have both transdermal hormones and greenwashed junk we don’t want anywhere near our lymph nodes.

Respect the body. Respect the chemistry. Read your labels, but don’t fall for fear in a lab coat, or in Birkenstocks. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Address

Kearns, UT

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Feral Medicine posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Feral Medicine:

Shortcuts

Share

Category