Wellness mindset is not just positive thinking when your body has been through years of symptoms, surgeries, medications, and unanswered questions. In this first episode of Becoming Natural, I wanted to introduce myself, share where I came from, and explain why I went from “No way” to “OK” when it came to starting a podcast.
Healing often begins when we stop fighting the body long enough to ask what it has been trying to tell us.
TL;DR
This episode shares the story behind Becoming Natural: my long journey with Crohn’s disease, my background as an occupational therapist and former pharmaceutical representative, my shift from hard-core medical-model thinking into a more open and faith-rooted view of healing, and why small, sustainable changes can help women become better friends to their bodies.
What You’ll Learn
- Why I started Becoming Natural after decades of chronic illness.
- How occupational therapy shaped the way I see the body’s healing design.
- Why my pharmaceutical background gave me a unique view of both medicine and natural wellness.
- How Crohn’s disease, surgeries, sepsis, and recovery changed my faith and my health decisions.
- Why a wellness mindset can help overwhelmed moms take practical steps without panic or perfection.
- What you can expect from future Becoming Natural episodes.
Why a Wellness Mindset Matters in My Story
I am a regular mom with big faith, three teenage boys who mean the world to me, two very entertaining dogs, and a husband who has stood beside me through more hospital seasons than either of us ever expected. He finds hospitals overwhelming. I, on the other hand, have always felt oddly at home there.
That probably has something to do with my work as an occupational therapist. I love helping people recover from life-altering conditions, especially patients with traumatic brain injury in the most critical stages of healing. Watching the body move through orderly, layered stages of recovery fascinated me because healing has patterns. The body is not chaotic or accidental. God did not design it haphazardly.
Long before I had language for it, that belief became part of my wellness mindset. I saw that the body was created with wisdom, and eventually, that same curiosity pushed me to ask harder questions about my own health.
My Chronic Illness Story
Before I became an occupational therapist, I was battling severe digestive symptoms that were eventually diagnosed as Crohn’s disease when I was 24. My symptoms had started as a teenager and continued to worsen for more than 20 years.
At the time, I was working in an acute care hospital with a Level One Trauma Center, and I had never even heard of Crohn’s disease. Now, it is a household name. That question alone is one I knew I would eventually want to explore.
Two serious reconstructive stomach surgeries happened while I was still working in the hospital. Later, a pharmaceutical sales job landed in my lap, and for that season, my body needed something less physically demanding. I ended up selling one of the best-known acid-reducing medications on the market, which gave me another window into the medical world — this time from doctors’ offices instead of hospital rooms.
I had excellent care, access to specialists, and providers who genuinely wanted to help me. Even so, my health continued to decline. In 2015, after having 80% of my stomach removed, I became severely septic. Those dark days changed my life, my marriage, my faith, and the way I understood healing.
When the Medical Model Was Not Enough
My background was deeply rooted in the medical model. I trained at one of the top hospitals in the nation, loved the medical field, took the medications, used them to help my patients participate in therapy, and later promoted them as a pharmaceutical representative.
So when I began asking deeper questions, it was not because I had no respect for medicine. It was because I had lived inside that world from almost every angle — as a clinician, as a patient, and as someone who had sold medications — and I was still very sick.
One medication suppressed my immune system so much that bleeding gums, a ganglion cyst, and repeated pneumonia followed. That forced me to ask a question I had not asked before: why was I suppressing my immune system while opening my body up to more problems? Pain medication helped me care less about the pain, but it was not healing the larger illness underneath.
That became one of the turning points. I started wondering whether my body needed more than symptom control. Maybe it needed a different environment. Maybe food, toxins, stress, emotions, plants, and daily rhythms were not side issues after all.
How Plants Opened My Eyes
When a friend introduced me to essential oils, skepticism was my first response. I wanted research, mechanisms, chemistry, and proof. But then I tried what she suggested and saw real improvement. Even my doctors and dentist were surprised, and at that point, I needed to understand why.
That curiosity sent me into the world of plants, botany, terpenes, sesquiterpenes, flavonoids, and the ways plant compounds help protect plants and may support human bodies too. I knew God gave us a garden, and I believed it was for a reason. The science helped me start connecting what I was seeing with how the body was designed to work.
That journey did not make me anti-medicine. It made me more curious. It taught me to ask better questions and to stop assuming every natural tool was nonsense just because I had once dismissed it as “hippie stuff.” I had come a long way, baby.
Faith, Healing, and the Reason I Started Becoming Natural
My healing story cannot be separated from my faith. During the hardest years, people were praying for me when I barely had strength to keep going. My minister once told me my miracles were not meant to be kept to myself. They were meant to be shared so others could see how prayers had been answered and how God brought me out of the pit.
I love sharing that part of the story because it was not tidy or fake-shiny. Incredible doctors and nurses fought for me, and the medical care I received mattered deeply. Still, there were moments when only God could have carried me through.
That is the heart behind this podcast. I want Becoming Natural to be a place for moms and women who want to clean up their lifestyle, support their bodies, and make wiser health choices without shame, panic, or perfectionism.
If you want to explore more about the connection between faith, the body, and stewardship, my Faith & The Body Connection guide is a natural next step.
What I Am — and What I Am Not
I am not anti-medicine. Western medicine has made huge advancements, and I am deeply grateful for the ways it can save lives. At the same time, I believe we sometimes reach for medication before asking whether the body needs support, rest, nourishment, cleaner inputs, emotional care, or a different environment.
Perfection is also not the goal here. I am not a fitness guru, a die-hard health nut, or someone who threw away everything in my pantry overnight. Moderation, sustainable change, and small steps that fit real life matter to me. I am still a work in progress, right down to my daily Coke. Please do not judge.
That is part of why this podcast exists. Everything I have learned is something another woman can learn too. One small beginning might look like reading labels with fresh eyes, swapping a product when it is time for a refill, asking a better question at the doctor’s office, or making one change that supports your body better than yesterday.
What Becoming Natural Is About
Becoming Natural is for women who want to become better friends to their bodies. It is for moms who want cleaner choices for their families but do not know where to begin. It is for women with chronic illness who are tired of feeling like the only options are ignore it, medicate it, or just push through.
This podcast will explore topics like:
- Simple food swaps.
- How I addressed chronic illness symptoms naturally.
- Reducing harmful household chemicals.
- When and how to use plants wisely.
- The role of emotions in health.
- Preventative wellness.
- How faith shaped my healing journey.
- Supporting loved ones with chronic illness.
- Learning how the body was designed to function.
For more support around chronic illness and resilience, you may also want to read Episode 08 on finding strength and clarity with chronic illness or Episode 36 on healing beyond the pill bottle.
FAQ
What is a wellness mindset?
A wellness mindset is a more intentional way of approaching health. It helps you notice patterns, ask better questions, and support your body with curiosity instead of shame.
Is Becoming Natural anti-medicine?
No. My background includes occupational therapy, pharmaceutical sales, and years as a chronic illness patient. I respect wise medical care while also believing women should be allowed to ask deeper questions about food, toxins, stress, emotions, faith, and daily choices.
How did chronic illness shape this podcast?
Living with Crohn’s disease for decades changed how I saw the body. It forced me to look beyond symptom management and ask what kind of environment my body needed in order to heal and function better.
Do I have to change everything at once?
No. The Becoming Natural approach is built on small, achievable steps. Sustainable change usually starts with one label, one swap, one question, or one cleaner choice at a time.
How does faith fit into natural wellness?
Faith is part of the way I understand healing, stewardship, gratitude, and hope. I believe the body was designed with purpose, and caring for it can become part of honoring that design.
Final Encouragement
If you are living with chronic illness, trying to clean up your home, or simply wondering why your body feels so worn down, you are not alone.
You do not have to change everything today. Start with one small step, ask one better question, learn one new thing, or give your body a little more support than it had yesterday.
That is what Becoming Natural is all about. If you are ready to start living clean in a dirty world, follow along and never miss an episode.
