Why We Have to Stop Piecing Together Our Health
One of the things I’ve struggled with in Western medicine is how compartmentalized it is. Every symptom is assigned to a specialist. And while that can be incredibly helpful for very specific issues, it often means we get so zeroed in that we completely miss the bigger picture.
An ENT might help with your constant ear infections, but they’ll likely miss that it all started with poor gut health, and now your microbiome has been wiped out from all the antibiotics—which is also why your skin is inflamed, your digestion is off, and suddenly you’re reacting to foods you’ve eaten your whole life. That’s leaky gut. And it’s one of the most common root causes of chronic health conditions.
In his book Fiber Fueled, Dr. Will Bulsiewicz shares that after 11 years of medical training to become a gastroenterologist, he only had two weeks of education on nutrition. Let that sink in. A gut doctor, one of the most specialized you can be, was never taught how to support the gut through food. In fact, helping you with nutrition is technically outside his scope of practice.
That’s just bonkers to me.
But let’s be honest - natural medicine isn’t always better. You go to a conventional doctor and leave with a prescription. You go to a naturopath and leave with $500 in supplements.
Of course, there are exceptions. There are incredible providers, both allopathic and holistic, who take a systems-based approach and understand how everything in the body is connected. But they are few and far between.
So, what’s the answer?
No, you don’t need to become an expert in every organ system. But you do need to understand the basics of how your body works, and how interconnected it all is. Once you understand that, health gets a lot simpler.
Let’s walk through a few examples:
Your Liver: Your Unsung Hero
Your liver isn’t just a filter—it’s your body’s detox lab, hormone manager, and metabolic powerhouse. It processes nutrients so your cells can use them, breaks down hormones, and neutralizes toxins before they can circulate.
But here's the catch: if you're constipated, those toxins can't leave the body. They get reabsorbed, making the liver work overtime. And if you’re living in a state of chronic stress or eating a high-fat, low-fiber diet? You’re adding to the burden.
Your liver also plays a huge role in hormone balance. If it’s sluggish, you might feel it in PMS, skin flare-ups, mood swings, or fatigue. And from a holistic lens, we even consider how emotions like resentment or unprocessed anger can get “stuck” in the liver, impacting its ability to function optimally.
Your Gut: The Control Center
We already mentioned how liver health depends on the gut. But the gut does so much more—it makes up 70% of your immune system, produces neurotransmitters like serotonin, and acts as a communication hub between your brain and body.
When your gut lining becomes permeable (aka “leaky gut”), undigested food particles and toxins enter the bloodstream and trigger inflammation. Over time, this can lead to autoimmune issues, brain fog, anxiety, allergies, and more.
And yet, so much of our modern lifestyle harms the gut: antibiotics, ultra-processed food, chronic stress, too little sleep, and environmental toxins.
Your Skin: A Reflection of What’s Inside
Your skin isn’t just a protective barrier—it’s your body’s largest detox organ. When other detox pathways (like the liver or lymphatic system) are backed up, toxins often try to exit through the skin. That’s when you might see rashes, breakouts, or chronic inflammation.
What you put on your skin matters, too. Skincare and personal care products are often loaded with endocrine disruptors that can mess with your hormones. The skin and the nervous system also come from the same embryonic tissue, meaning your skin is highly sensitive to emotional stress and internal imbalance.
Your Muscles: More Than Movement
Dr. Gabrielle Lyon has done an incredible job reframing muscles not just as movers—but as organs of longevity. Muscle tissue secretes myokines, which are anti-inflammatory compounds that impact everything from metabolism to immune function.
Muscle is also crucial for blood sugar balance, mobility, hormone regulation, and healthy aging. And yet, most women are under-muscled, especially as we age.
Fascia: The Hidden Communication Network
Fascia is the connective tissue that surrounds and weaves through every muscle, organ, and nerve in your body. For years it was dismissed as "just tissue,” but research now shows it plays a major role in how we move, feel, and function.
In 2001 when I went to massage school, I was taught that fascia was inert tissue, that it’s just kind of like saran wrap for the rest of your body and holding everything in. But now, further study is showing that it’s so much more than that.
Fascia is closely tied to the nervous system. It responds to trauma, tension, and even emotion. That tight hip or stiff neck? It might not be a “muscle issue.” It could be emotional tension stored in the fascial web.
Lymph: The Silent Mover
Your lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump like your heart. It relies on your movement, breath, and hydration to flow. And yet it's vital for clearing out toxins, pathogens, and waste.
When lymph stagnates, it backs up everything—gut, liver, skin, brain. You might feel puffy, sluggish, or inflamed. Dry brushing, rebounding, walking, and deep diaphragmatic breathing can all support lymphatic flow.
Your Thoughts: The Placebo is Real
We can’t talk about health without talking about mindset. Your thoughts literally shape your biology. The placebo effect isn’t just a fluke; i’s proof that belief can change physiology. The nocebo effect (when negative expectations create negative outcomes) is just as powerful. I talk all about this in THIS BLOG POST.
If you believe your body is broken or that you’ll never get better, your nervous system will mirror that. But if you believe you’re capable of healing, that hope becomes a signal to your body that safety—and change—is possible.
Your Emotions: They Don’t Just Live in Your Head
Ask any bodyworker if emotions get stored in tissue, and you'll get a resounding YES. I’ve had countless clients cry on the table as we released tension from the body.
Dr. Gabor Maté explores this beautifully in his book When the Body Says No, where he explains how repressed emotions—especially chronic stress, grief, or people-pleasing—can lead to physical illness. The body keeps the score, not just the brain.
So Yes—It’s All Connected
This isn’t even the full list. But hopefully it’s helped paint a clearer picture of why health isn’t as simple as one pill, one organ, or one diagnosis. Your body is a network—not a machine.
That’s why healing can feel complicated … There are a lot of pieces to consider. But here’s the good news:
Your body is incredibly intelligent. Its default setting is to heal. You just need to create the right environment for it to do what it was designed to do.
Here’s where to start:
Avoid harmful chemicals. Pay attention to what you put in and on your body—pesticides, plastics, synthetic fragrances, etc.
Eat a nutrient-rich diet. Focus on whole foods, fiber, polyphenols, healthy fats, and balanced macros.
Move daily. Strength training, walking, stretching, and rebounding all support detox, circulation, and resilience.
Stay hydrated. Dehydration is a major (and overlooked) contributor to fatigue, brain fog, and sluggish detox.
Get outside. Sunlight and nature reduce inflammation, regulate your circadian rhythm, and support your microbiome.
Prioritize sleep. This is when your body heals, detoxes, and resets hormones. It’s not optional.
Regulate your stress. Breathe deeply. Practice gratitude. Get support. Your thoughts and emotions shape your biology.
This Is Why I Created Rooted + Rising
Inside the Rooted + Rising membership, we go beyond surface-level tips. Yes, we teach you how to breathe correctly—but we also dig into the deeper layers of why you’re stressed in the first place.
From understanding stress hormones and self-sabotage, to gut health, nervous system regulation, and liver detox—this is whole-body healing, made simple.
Because mental health isn’t just about your brain. It’s about your whole body being in balance. I wanted to create a space where we could dig into these topics so they were understandable and you left with practical tips you could immediately implement.
And that’s what we’re doing inside Rooted + Rising.
