The Eversio Experience Podcast

You've read the books. You've done the workshops. You've got the strategy. So why does everything still feel like too much? Tess Rouse has a different answer than what you've been sold: you don't need more strategy. You need more capacity. In this episode, we sit down with Tess Rouse, breathwork facilitator and somatic practitioner, who spent 18 years managing rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease while building a 16-year executive leadership career on sheer drive. She's worked with individuals and organizations on one disruptive idea: burnout isn't fixed by doing more, it's fixed by building the body's ability to hold more. If you've ever wondered why you can have all the tools and still feel like you're running on empty, this episode is the conversation you need. What You'll Learn What "capacity" actually means and how low capacity shows up in your relationships, your rest, and your reactions The honest difference between someone who is genuinely regulated under pressure and someone who has gotten very good at masking dysregulation Why the high-achieving, overperforming coping mechanism is one of the hardest to recognize because everyone is applauding you for it The two specific steps to actually build nervous system capacity (and why everyone wants to skip the first one) What Hebbian law has to do with the automatic patterns running your daily life right now Why the nervous system doesn't update just because your circumstances do, and what it takes to actually rewire old patterns Why the body cannot tell the difference between an imagined experience and a real one, and how breathwork uses this to help repattern the nervous system What Tess is actually watching for in a session when she sees someone's nervous system shift in real time Why avoiding emotion doesn't dissolve it, it embeds it, and what that embedding looks like in the body over years Your Next Steps: Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Take our wellness quiz to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz

Summer is over, and your body already knew it before your calendar did. If you've spent every September trying to white-knuckle yourself back into discipline and ended up feeling worse than when you started, we made this one for you. It's not another checklist. It's something better. In this episode, Brandi and Dr. Des introduce the Return to Rhythm Mushroom Moment Reset Box: a collaboration with functional diagnostic nutritionist and cyclical living expert Jenn Pike. This box, and this whole episode, are built around one idea — the problem isn't your willpower. It's that most of us have been trying to run on a 24-hour clock while our hormones are running on a 28-day one. We walk through why September feels so hard every year, what cyclical living actually looks like broken down by the four phases of your cycle, and exactly what's in the box, what each piece does, and why the sequence matters. Jenn is not on this episode, but she's all over the box: her free masterclass comes inside it via QR code, and her cycle-matched fitness membership Synced is included as 30 days free. This episode is for anyone standing in September thinking they don't even know where step one is. What You'll Learn: Why your body feels September coming before your brain has even caught up — and what that signal actually means The real difference between a routine (which can still burn you out) and a rhythm (which works with your body's actual pattern) Who Jenn Pike is, what she built, and why her cyclical living framework applies even if you're postmenopausal or not currently cycling What the four phases of the menstrual cycle mean for your energy, strength, and stress tolerance — and why ignoring this makes consistency feel impossible Why you cannot build a sustainable rhythm on top of a nervous system that is already maxed out What the five-mushroom blend in the box contains and what role it plays in your morning Why Reishi is included separately in capsule form and what it has to do with sleep What Synced is and why the 30-day trial means no two people using this box will be doing the same thing What Jenn's masterclass actually teaches inside the box - and why it's the operating manual for everything What "nourish, sync, prime" looks like as a daily arc from morning to night Your Next Steps: Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Take our wellness quiz to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz

We have both stayed somewhere that was quietly hurting us. For Brandi, it was a classroom and a pharmaceutical protocol that had stopped feeling like healing. For Desiree, it was an apartment with mold and a body that would not stop signaling that something was wrong. We stayed because leaving felt like the bigger risk. This episode is about what it actually took to move. Abundance is not a vision board word. It is not about your bank account. It is a nervous system state a felt sense that there is enough and your body either lives in it or it does not. In this episode, Brandi and Dr. Desiree get into the physiology of what scarcity does inside your body, walk through their own stories of staying stuck longer than they should have, and share what it really looks like to shift out of survival mode and into something that actually feels like a life. This one gets personal. We cover the science, the stories, the receiving problem most high-achievers have, and where Reishi and Lion's Mane fit into all of it. 📃What You'll Learn The body-level difference between scarcity and abundance and why it is not just a mindset issue Why your nervous system cannot tell the difference between "there is a bear in front of me" and "I might not make rent" The fourth stress response most people forget (and why so many women spend most of their lives there) Brandi's full origin story: two decades of teaching, an autoimmune diagnosis, a medication stack with mounting side effects, and the moment staying finally felt scarier than changing How Dr. Desiree "called in the one" while managing mold illness, living on arugula, and showing up to work every day without complaint Why receiving is so much harder than giving for most high-achievers, and what a real practice for it looks like The difference between a season of quiet building and a season of failure (they are not the same thing) How to tell in your body whether your effort is coming from devotion or from fear How Reishi supports the body's stress response and sleep, and why Lion's Mane was Brandi's first experience with cognitive clarity A simple sentence-completion exercise that surfaces the story keeping you stuck right now 📃 Your Next Steps Take our wellness quiz to find out where your body needs support right now: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Follow us on Instagram at @eversiowellness: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/

Three minutes. That's how long it took Brandi to go from completely dysregulated to completely herself this morning. Three minutes of intentional breathwork, and the tears came, and the only words that followed were: "That's not who I am. What was I thinking?" We walked into this recording session with Dr. Laura Foster shaken, and we're walking out of it with something we had to share with you immediately. Dr. Laura Foster is a chiropractor with over 25 years of experience working with the nervous system. She is also a certified breathwork facilitator, retreat leader, and founder of the Breathe Into Being membership. She discovered breathwork during the pandemic, trained as a facilitator in Costa Rica, and now runs women's retreats in Canada, Costa Rica, Italy, and Portugal. She has spent the better part of a decade watching people come home to themselves through the breath, and she joined us to explain why this particular tool is the one she keeps coming back to: it's free, it's always available, and it lives inside of you. This episode covers the science of what breathwork does to the nervous system, why healing doesn't require reliving what you're carrying, and how Brandi proved the whole thing works through a screen in under three minutes before we hit record. What You'll Learn: Why your body's natural default is healing, and what actually gets in the way of that How breathwork produces altered states of consciousness similar to what Stanislav Grof researched when he pioneered holotropic breathwork after psychedelics were banned from clinical use What the body does with stored experience that the mind can't process, and why the breath bypasses the need to think your way through it Why talk therapy can sometimes keep us wired to the same nervous system loops, and what breathwork does instead How Dr. Laura went from a reluctant first-timer (her words: "my soul wanted to take a decade nap") to certified facilitator to retreat leader Why Brandi was fully skeptical of online breathwork and had a profound release anyway What the cumulative shift looks like over time vs. the single big release most people expect The story behind Dr. Laura's Heart Spark retreats and why she believes women heal more completely in circle with other women How to find community and continued practice through the Breathe Into Being membership Your Next Steps: Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Take our wellness quiz to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz

She had a packed chiropractic practice, 150 to 200 patient visits a week, four kids, a husband who was a pilot, and was training for Iron Man races on the weekends. From the outside, the life was finished. Complete. And then something went quiet on the inside. Dr. Laura Foster spent 25 years as a chiropractor before the gap between who she was and who she was being in her life became impossible to ignore. She'd been setting goals, hitting them, and moving straight to the next one without pausing for even 10 seconds. She'd been outrunning her life in every literal and figurative sense of the word. And when she finally stopped, what she found was not what she expected. In this episode, Laura walks us through the breakdown that became her breakthrough: the year she sat in the discomfort, asked herself the questions she'd never thought to ask, and started making 2% shifts that changed the entire trajectory of her life. She now leads breathwork, homeopathy, and retreats for women going through their own version of that same reckoning. If you've ever hit a goal and felt nothing, or built a life that looks right but doesn't feel right, this conversation is for you. What You'll Learn: Why achieving your biggest goals can make you feel worse, and what that feeling is actually pointing to The difference between achievement and fulfillment, and why most of us have been chasing the wrong one What Dr. Laura means by "the gap" between who you are and who you're being, and why closing it doesn't mean burning everything down The 2% shift: the golf ball foot analogy that reframes what big life change actually requires Why Laura stopped setting goals for a year, and what she discovered when she did How to identify your top values and actually live them, not just list them The homeopathy story that started with two small pellets, a whale-sized pregnant woman, and a very unexpected afternoon What three years in Costa Rica taught her about freedom, health, and choosing your own experience Your Next Steps: Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Take our wellness QUIZ to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz

Acne doesn't care how old you are. It shows up at 15, then again at 37, on the same side of the jawline, around the same time of the month, no matter what you change in your skincare routine. If you've been treating the surface while something else is running the show underneath, this episode is going to reframe the whole conversation. This is the third and final episode in our Skin Series, and we're closing it out with acne. Not just the teenage kind. The adult hormonal kind that shows up like clockwork, concentrates along the jaw, and connects to a single enzyme most people have never heard of. Dr. Desiree breaks down the four types of acne, what makes hormonal acne structurally different, why your blood work can look completely normal and still not tell the full story, and how the research on Ganoderma lucidum triterpenoids connects directly to the enzyme driving sebum production. We also cover the gut connection, which maps more precisely to acne than most people expect, the psychological weight this condition carries at a level the research documents clearly, and where chaga fits in as a secondary supporting player. What You'll Learn: Why acne is actually several distinct conditions, and why getting the category right changes everything about how you address it What malassezia folliculitis (fungal acne) is, why nearly 1 in 3 people diagnosed with acne may actually have it, and the one symptom that gives it away Why hormonal acne concentrates specifically along the jawline, and what androgen receptor density has to do with it The four-factor cascade behind every breakout and how one upstream hormone driver sets all of them in motion Why completely normal blood work does not rule out hormonal acne, and what actually matters more than your lab numbers What the research actually documents about acne's psychological impact, and why clinical severity doesn't predict how much it affects someone The specific compounds in reishi's fruiting body that inhibit 5-alpha reductase, the exact enzyme converting testosterone to DHT in androgen-sensitive skin tissue How a low glycemic diet connects to sebum production through a well-mapped biological line from food to insulin to IGF-1 to your sebaceous glands The gut microbiome research connecting a specific lactobacillus strain to IGF-1 expression and oxidative stress in acne Why dual extraction matters specifically for the reishi compounds most relevant to hormonal acne, and what to look for on the label Your Next Steps: Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Take our wellness quiz to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz

➡️ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15 ⬅️ https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Picture someone waking up at two in the morning because the itching finally won the fight against their sleep. Not a mild itch. The kind that makes you consider, for one irrational second, whether scratching until it bleeds might bring relief. Or a parent standing in the pharmacy aisle at midnight, Googling one more cream, because nothing has worked yet and the pediatrician is six months out. That is eczema in real life. And it deserves more than another tube of cortisone. In Part 2 of our Skin Series, we get into eczema, the one that gets dismissed as "just sensitive skin" more often than it should be. Dr. Desiree breaks down the Th2 immune pathway driving atopic dermatitis, the specific cytokines behind that relentless itch cycle, and why eczema in early childhood can be the first signal in a broader immune pattern that sometimes includes food allergies and asthma. She also shares her own experience developing adult-onset eczema from mold exposure, the invisible kind that took four years to identify. We cover how reishi's triterpenes connect to the mast cell and histamine side of the story, where the gut-skin research lands, and three concrete things you can do right now regardless of where you are in managing your skin. What You'll Learn: Why eczema is a mapped Th2 immune condition driven by specific cytokines, not just dry or reactive skin The role of IL-31 in creating the itch signal, and why scratching sends the whole cycle into a physiological feedback loop What researchers call the "atopic march" and what the data says about eczema predicting asthma and food allergies in children Why mold exposure in the home is backed by a 2024 meta-analysis as a measurable eczema and asthma risk factor The five distinct types of eczema and why getting the right diagnosis determines which approaches are actually relevant to your situation Dr. Desiree's personal experience developing eczema as an adult after four years of unknowing mold exposure, and what finally changed How reishi's triterpenes (specifically ganoderic acids unique to this mushroom) target mast cell histamine release at the source of the itch response What makes reishi an immune modulator rather than a straight suppressant, and why that distinction matters for eczema Why infant gut microbiome diversity appears as an early predictive marker for eczema risk, and how reishi's beta-glucans connect to that story The three things to verify before buying any reishi product, and what to walk away from entirely Your Next Steps: Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Find the right mushroom for you with our wellness quiz: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz

➡️ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15 ⬅️ https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-productsThis is Part 1 of our brand-new Skin Series. We're starting with psoriasis because it's personal for both of us. Brandi shares her history with psoriasis starting at age 15, over a decade on a pharmaceutical biologic, and how she eventually found her way to remission through a combination of lifestyle shifts and functional mushrooms. Dr. Desiree breaks down the exact immune mechanism driving psoriasis, including the IL-23/IL-17 pathway, the TH17 cell overactivation loop, and the documented role of oxidative stress as a contributing factor in the disease process. Then we walk through why chaga is the functional mushroom most aligned with this picture, what the research actually shows, and how the gut-skin axis connects it all.📃What You'll Learn▸ Why psoriasis is an immune condition that shows up on the skin, not a skin problem, and why that reframe changes your entire support strategy▸ The IL-23/IL-17 axis explained simply: the self-sustaining inflammatory loop that drives psoriasis flares▸ What actually happens to skin cells during a flare (a 28 to 30 day cycle gets compressed into 3 to 7 days)▸ Why oxidative stress is a contributing factor in the psoriasis disease process, not just a side effect▸ The five types of psoriasis and why many people don't even recognize their own condition▸ The real mental health cost of psoriasis: the numbers are significant, and this episode names them▸ Why chaga has one of the highest measured antioxidant capacities of any natural substance researchers have tested▸ How chaga polysaccharides affect TH17 and T regulatory cell balance, the same immune players driving psoriasis▸ What the gut-skin axis has to do with psoriasis severity, and how chaga fits into that layer▸ Exactly what to look for on a chaga label, and why most products on store shelves wouldn't make the cut📃Your Next Steps▸ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/▸ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products▸ Not sure which mushroom is right for you? Take our quiz: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz

You have read the books. You've done the retreats. You have overhauled your diet, your sleep, your morning routine. And you still feel the gap. Not broken, not lazy. Just caught in a loop that the next fix never quite closes. We want to talk about why. This episode is about the biology of being stuck. Not the shame of it. The actual mechanism. We get into what is really happening inside a nervous system that has been running on chronic stress, why the search for the next solution is neurologically wired into that state, and what it actually takes to interrupt the cycle for good. We cover the 90-second chemistry of emotion, Hebb's Law, the reticular activating system, Viktor Frankl's stimulus-response space, and the neuroscience of mental rehearsal. This one is about giving you a real explanation for what has felt personal, and a real path forward. What You'll Learn: Why your body can become physiologically addicted to stress hormones, and how that keeps you unconsciously generating the exact conditions you are trying to escape The 90-second rule: what Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's neuroanatomy research reveals about how long an emotion actually lasts in the body, and what everything after that means Why insight alone cannot change your nervous system, and what your nervous system actually responds to How Hebb's Law works in your favor: every time you practice a new emotional state, you are building real, measurable neural architecture What the reticular activating system (RAS) is doing with your beliefs, and how shifting that filter changes what you are available to see and act on Viktor Frankl's "space between stimulus and response," and why every external fix misses it entirely What mental rehearsal actually is neurologically, and how elite athletes have used it for decades to become familiar with a state before they are living it The identity question that changes everything: who do I need to decide I am for this to become true? Your Next Steps Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Take our wellness QUIZ to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz

For 15 years, the world saw Samantha March's creative output: nine novels, a product brand, a YouTube channel, a loyal audience who shows up because she makes you feel like a friend. What most people didn't see was what was happening inside her body at the same time. Episode 60 is the conversation she's finally ready to have. Samantha March is a lifestyle creator, published author of nine contemporary novels, and founder of By Samantha March, a brand of intentional living products including card decks, planners, and habit trackers. In this episode, Samantha shares the health journey she's kept mostly private until now: an adrenal PCOS diagnosis that took the better part of a year to get and four years of rebuilding her health from the ground up. We get into the symptoms that started appearing in October 2021, why multiple doctors dismissed everything she was experiencing, and what changed when she finally connected with a naturopathic doctor. Samantha also talks about the shame that kept her quiet early in her journey, what it looks like to keep creating when your brain is foggy and your body feels like a stranger, and why she's sharing this story publicly now that she has four years of results behind her. What You'll Learn: Why Samantha's symptoms were dismissed by her OBGYN, primary care doctor, internist, and endocrinologist, and what finally broke through What adrenal PCOS is and how it differs from other types, plus why the condition recently got a new name that actually fits better The brain fog moments that genuinely scared her, including a preheated oven she had no memory of turning on Why she pulled back from talking about her health publicly early on and what gave her the confidence to come back four years later How hormone labs gave her more answers in one appointment than years of guessing ever could The specific changes that made the biggest difference: an elimination diet, stress management, low-impact movement, and functional mushrooms Why Turkey Tail was recommended to Samantha by two completely separate practitioners at nearly the same time How Lion's Mane shifted her concentration and mental clarity within weeks What it looked like to keep writing novels and running a brand through a health crisis Why shame keeps women silent about their health and what shifts when they finally start talking Resources Mentioned: Samantha March on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marchbeautyword/ Samantha's website and novels: https://bysamanthamarch.com/ Your Next Steps: Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Take our wellness QUIZ to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz

You paid good money for a mushroom supplement. You took it every single day. And you felt absolutely nothing. Before you write off functional mushrooms entirely, there's something you need to know. In this episode, we pull back the curtain on the three categories of mushroom products on the market right now, and why the one most people are buying is the one least likely to do anything at all. Brandi shares the story she's never told on the podcast before, the one that led to Eversio existing the way it does today. It starts with a white plastic bottle, organic brown rice, and a very expensive lesson. Dr. Desiree walks through the biology behind what actually makes mushrooms work, and together they hand you a checklist so you can evaluate any mushroom supplement in 90 seconds flat. If you've ever bought a mushroom product and wondered why you felt nothing, this episode is the answer. What You'll Learn: The three distinct categories of mushroom products on the market and why most of what you'll find falls into the least effective one What mycelium on grain actually is, what's inside that capsule, and why the label is allowed to say "mushroom" anyway Why "polysaccharides" on a label is not the same thing as beta glucans, and what that difference means in your body The real reason Brandi felt nothing from the first mushroom supplement she ever took (and why it wasn't her fault) How to read a mushroom supplement label in 90 seconds with eight specific questions to ask before you buy What extraction method tells you about a product's potency and why "mushroom powder" is not the same as "mushroom extract" Why a certificate of analysis from an independent lab is non-negotiable, and what it means when a brand won't give you one The caffeine problem hiding in "mushroom" products that makes people think they're feeling the mushrooms when they're not What USDA organic certification actually means, how to verify it, and how to spot the fake version Resources Mentioned: Episode 2 (Brain Health): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_064s35G0qs Mushroom Math Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbAh8iTyK7w&t=15s USDA Organic Integrity Database: https://ams.usda.gov/organic-integrity Your Next Steps: Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Take our wellness QUIZ to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz

Your dentist has never grabbed your tongue, checked your nose, and asked you about your sleep but maybe they should. In this episode, we're sitting down with Dr. Laura Caylor, a dentist in Chilliwack, BC who has built her practice around a root cause approach to oral health. Dr. Laura didn't set out to become the practitioner who looks at your airway, your tongue tie, your jaw posture, and your nervous system in a single appointment. She got there through her own lived experience as a parent, breastfeeding struggles, chronic congestion in her kids, and a magazine article that changed everything. What she discovered is that the mouth is not a separate system. It's the beginning of the whole story. Dr. Desiree found Dr. Laura while recovering from mold-related health concerns, looking for a dentist who understood airway health at a root cause level. And after that first appointment? She called Brandi on the way home. That's the kind of practitioner Dr. Laura is. What you'll learn: Why the mouth is for eating and the nose is for breathing and what happens when we mix those up chronically The connection between mouth breathing and your oral microbiome (yes, your mouth has one too) How nitric oxide production from the nose affects your blood flow, immune function, and cardiovascular health and how mouth breathing bypasses all of it What snoring is actually telling you and why it's never the starting point for treatment The role of tongue position in guiding jaw development, airway patency, and your midface structure Why a tongue tie isn't just a newborn breastfeeding problem and the signs to watch for at every age How the trigeminal nerve connects jaw instability to nervous system dysregulation and compensation patterns through the whole body The fascial line that runs from the tongue all the way to the toes and what happens when it's restricted Dr. Laura's family's nasal hygiene routine, including the xylitol nasal spray that changed her son's chronic congestion The truth about mouthwash, fluoride, hydroxyapatite toothpaste, and when to brush relative to coffee and lemon water Resources Mentioned: Nelson's Naturals hydroxyapatite toothpaste (BC-based): https://nelsonsnaturals.com Dr. Laura Caylor on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.lauracaylor/ Dr. Laura's clinic: Vedder Dental, Chilliwack, BC https://vedderdental.ca/ Tongue Tie Course for Parents: https://www.thetonguetiecourse.com Dr. Laura Caylor's website: https://drlauracaylor.com/ Your Next Steps: Follow Eversio Wellness on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Take our wellness QUIZ to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz

You're not depressed. You're not in crisis. You're functioning, showing up, holding it all together. But something is still off, and you can't quite name it. This episode is for that person. Brandi and Dr. Desiree Caruso, ND sit down to break down the real biology behind low-grade mood dysregulation — the kind that doesn't show up in standard bloodwork but is absolutely happening in your body. We're talking about two specific functional mushrooms, lion's mane and reishi, and going straight into the mechanisms: the actual compounds, the actual pathways, and the actual research that explains why these mushrooms have a genuine relationship with how you feel. This is not a vibe episode. This is the science. We've been asked over and over again whether functional mushrooms can do something for mood, and if so, how. Today we answer that question properly. If you've ever walked out of a doctor's appointment feeling dismissed — told everything looks normal, maybe it's stress, maybe it's your age — this episode is what comes next. What you'll learn: Why mood is a physiological state, not just a feeling, and what that means for how you address it The specific terpenoid compounds in lion's mane (hericenones) that can cross the blood-brain barrier and what they do once they get there Why BDNF is the mechanism most antidepressants are thought to work through, and how lion's mane stimulates it directly How 90% of your serotonin is produced in your gut, and exactly how lion's mane supports that pathway The three-directional approach lion's mane takes: blood-brain barrier, neuroinflammation, and gut-brain axis simultaneously What the HPA axis is, why chronic stress dysregulates it, and how reishi's ganoderic acids help restore the natural cortisol rhythm Reishi's relationship with GABA, the brain's calming neurotransmitter, and why that explains the felt sense of settling down The 2026 randomized controlled trial showing measurable reductions in anxiety, cortisol, and inflammation at 12 weeks How disrupted sleep literally changes how your brain processes emotional information, and the two specific mechanisms reishi addresses to help with that How to self-diagnose which mushroom fits your experience right now, and what to track over four weeks to know whether it's working Resources Mentioned: Dr. Andrew Huberman episode on adenosine and coffee: https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/using-caffeine-to-optimize-mental-and-physical-performanc e Vigna, L. et al. (2019). "Hericium erinaceus Improves Mood and Sleep Disorders in the Elderly." Journal of Medicinal Food, 22(5). Contato, A.G. & Conte-Junior, C.A. (2025). "Lion's Mane Mushroom (Hericium erinaceus): A Neuroprotective Fungus with Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, and Antimicrobial Potential — A Narrative Review." Nutrients, 17(8), 1307. Frontiers in Nutrition (2025). "Benefits, side effects, and uses of Hericium erinaceus as a supplement: a systematic review." Frontiers in Nutrition, 12, 1641246. Ratto, D. et al. (2023). "Hericium erinaceus: Acute and Chronic Effects on Cognitive Function, Stress, and Mood in Young Adults." Nutrients, 15(22), 4842. Cui, X.Y. et al. (2012). "Extract of Ganoderma lucidum prolongs sleep time in rats." Journal of Ethnopharmacology / Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior. PMID: 22297086. Yong, V.K.J. et al. (2026). "A blend of medicinal mushrooms including Reishi reduces anxiety, cortisol and CRP in a 12-week randomized controlled trial." Brain and Behavior. Your Next Steps: Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Take our wellness quiz to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz

You could be eating well, supplementing intentionally, and doing all the "right" things and still be quietly working against yourself every single day. Not because of what you're not doing, but because of what you're putting in and on your body without realizing it. Nobody told us either, until someone who loved us did. Now we're telling you. This episode is a swap episode. Six things, three from Brandi and three from Dr. Desiree, that we have personally changed in our own lives. Not from a place of panic, but from a place of having the information and making the obvious next move. The science on what's in conventional cookware, makeup, lotion, and coffee isn't obscure. The product industry just hasn't had much incentive to share it. We do. Brandi walks through her swaps from body butter to wooden kitchen utensils to a blood-sugar-stable chocolate bar that actually tastes like a chocolate bar. Dr. Desiree covers the research on non-stick cookware and forever chemicals, the fragrance loophole hiding in your makeup bag, and what's really in most commercial coffee. None of these swaps require blowing up your life. Most of them cost the same or less than what you're already using. What You'll Learn: Why the first ingredient on most conventional lotions is water and what that means for your skin barrier What Chaga's ORAC value actually is and why applying antioxidants topically to inflamed or psoriatic skin has a real mechanism behind it What happens when a plastic or silicone spatula sits in a hot pan (and why "BPA-free" didn't solve the problem) Why monk fruit has a glycemic index of zero and how that changes what happens to your energy an hour after a sweet snack The PFAS "forever chemicals" in conventional non-stick cookware, what temperature matters, and the simple technique that makes stainless steel actually work The fragrance loophole in US and Canadian cosmetic labeling that lets one word hide dozens to hundreds of undisclosed compounds Why coffee is one of the most heavily pesticide-sprayed crops in the world and how mycotoxins get in before the bag ever reaches your kitchen How L-theanine in matcha changes the quality of caffeine in the body and why it may matter more for perimenopausal women managing cortisol Four free apps and databases you can use right now to check what's actually in your makeup before you repurchase it Resources Mentioned: EWG Skin Deep database (free ingredient safety ratings): https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ Yuka app (scan product barcodes in-store for ingredient scores): https://yuka.io/en/ SkinSafe (developed with Mayo Clinic, helpful for sensitive skin): https://www.skinsafe.com/ Merit makeup: https://www.meritbeauty.com/ Your Next Steps: Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products Not sure which mushroom is right for you? Take our free quiz: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz

If you've ever woken up at 3 a.m. for no reason, walked into a room and completely blanked on why, or felt like your brain was wrapped in cotton wool... this episode is for you. These are not random complaints. They are among the most common early signs of perimenopause, and most women have no idea that's what's happening. I took a perimenopause symptom assessment through my Oura Ring recently and my results came back as mild across the cognitive and sleep categories. My first thought was, "mild doesn't sound that bad." Then I read what actually falls under "mild," and I recognized myself immediately. That was enough to make me sit down with our naturopathic physician, Dr. Desiree Caruso, ND, and record this episode. Dr. Desiree breaks down exactly what is happening in the brain and body during perimenopause, why the symptoms are real and measurable, and what the research says about how functional mushrooms can support women through this transition. We cover lion's mane, reishi, cordyceps, maitake, and tremella, and I share why all five of them ended up in Eversio's Five Mushroom Blend. If you have a woman in your life who is in her late 30s, 40s, or early 50s, this episode is worth a listen even if perimenopause isn't on your own radar yet. What You'll Learn: What perimenopause actually is (and the clinical definition that finally makes it clear), and why it is not a disease or a dysfunction Why the brain feels hormonal fluctuation so directly, including which brain regions have estrogen receptors and what that means for memory and decision-making How lion's mane supports the same nerve growth factor pathway that estrogen was protecting, through a completely different mechanism that does not require estrogen The research behind lion's mane and cognition, including a placebo-controlled study done specifically in menopausal women showing improved focus and reduced anxiety after four weeks Why reishi does not sedate you the way a pharmaceutical does, and how it works through the gut-brain axis to support your body's own melatonin production The GABA connection: how declining progesterone disrupts sleep and how reishi's triterpene compounds appear to support that same calming pathway What cordyceps does for energy and adrenal function during perimenopause, and why adrenal health becomes increasingly important as the ovaries step back How maitake supports metabolic health and glucose regulation as estrogen declines, and why that matters more than most women realize Why tremella earned its place in the blend, and how its polysaccharides support skin hydration from within as estrogen drops What "standardized to 35% beta-D-glucans" actually means and why that number on the label makes a real difference in whether a mushroom product works How Dr. Desiree thinks about functional mushrooms in relation to other perimenopause support options, including hormone replacement therapy, with an honest look at what the research does and does not yet show Resources Mentioned: Eversio Five Mushroom Blend: https://www.eversiowellness.com/products/5-mushroom-blend-organic-extracts?variant=45340200599751 Oura Ring perimenopause symptom assessment feature: https://ouraring.com/womens-health Atomic Habits by James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits Your Next Steps: Shop Eversio Wellness: https://www.eversiowellness.com/collections/all-products Follow Eversio on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Try the Eversio Five Mushroom Blend: https://www.eversiowellness.com/products/5-mushroom-blend-organic-extracts?variant=45340200599751 -- use code PODCAST15 at checkout for 15% off your entire order

We have been looking forward to this conversation for a long time, and it did not disappoint. Mike Prince is a friend of the Eversio family, founder of the Conscious Man Project, and a coach who helps men stop performing their lives and start actually living them. He is the kind of guest that makes you put your phone down and just listen. And if you have a man in your life who you love and quietly worry about, this one is especially for you. Mike walked away from the identity he had spent decades building: high-achieving athlete, corporate leader, husband, father, the guy with everything. At the peak of it, he felt completely empty. A Lyme disease diagnosis became the forced pause that changed everything. What he built in that stillness, he now helps other men find. He calls it conscious creation. This conversation went deep, fast, and it did not stay in the lane of men only. We talked about masculine and feminine energy, what women unknowingly do that makes it harder for their partners to heal, and what it actually looks like to design a day with intention rather than obligation. Whether you showed up today as a woman, a partner, a mother, or someone in the middle of your own reckoning, this episode will give you something real to work with. What You Will Learn In This Episode What it actually means to be an unconscious creator and the one habit that keeps most people there without realizing it What men are almost never able to name in a first coaching session and why naming it changes everything The physical toll of living out of alignment and why the body starts speaking when nothing else will What well-meaning partners do that feels supportive but actually makes it harder for men to find their way Why congratulating your man for grinding might be the thing quietly costing you the relationship The difference between masculine and feminine energy that has nothing to do with gender, and why both of you need both How Mike's Lyme disease shifted from purely physical to something he now calls his greatest gift What a consciously designed day actually looks like for someone who is not a monk and has three kids and a full life The one thing Mike's male clients resist the most, and then cannot stop talking about after they try it What Mike wants his three boys to understand about being a man that took him far too long to learn himself Resources Mentioned: The Conscious Man Retreat: www.consciouscreator.world Eversio Wellness Chaga mushroom: https://www.eversiowellness.com/products/chaga-mushroom-extract?variant=42490371211463 Shop all Eversio Wellness mushrooms: https://www.eversiowellness.com/collections/all-products Connect with Mike: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconsciouscreatorcoach Website: https://www.consciouscreator.world Your Next Steps: Shop Eversio Wellness: https://www.eversiowellness.com/en-us/collections/all-products Use code PODCAST15 for 15% off your order: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15 Follow us on Instagram @eversiowellness: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/

This is not a morning routine episode. This is a therapeutic system built from years of trial, error, and paying very close attention to a body with autoimmune disease. Brandi takes you through her full day, from 6:30 AM to lights out at 11, and Dr. Desiree breaks down the biology behind every single piece of it. Not because it looks good on paper, but because the research backs it and the Oura ring data confirms it. If you are living with an autoimmune condition, or you know something is off and you cannot name it yet, this episode is the one to send to every woman in your life who needs to hear it. What You'll Learn: Why the first five minutes after you wake up are the most neuroplastic window of your entire day and how to use that on purpose What Brandi puts in her morning mason jar and the specific reason each ingredient is in there (lemon, apple cider vinegar, mushroom extract and why order and timing matter) The three-legged stool model of autoimmunity and how every element of Brandi's day maps directly to one of those three legs Why meditation is not a wellness extra for someone managing autoimmune disease, and what the epigenetics research actually says about it The difference between morning coffee and matcha for your cortisol levels, your gut lining, and your immune regulation What "back pocket thoughts" are and how a 10-15 minute journaling practice is physically building new neural pathways in your prefrontal cortex Why morning light in your eyes (without sunglasses, without a window) sets your circadian rhythm for the entire day and directly affects sleep quality 14-16 hours later The one thing that is independently associated with increased inflammation regardless of what else you are doing (and it is not your diet) Why Brandi takes Reishi and magnesium bisglycinate every single night and what her Oura ring data shows about sleep quality when she does How a hot shower before bed is triggering the same nervous system wind-down signal as your evening supplements What the glymphatic system does while you sleep and why no supplement or practice can replace the repair work that only happens in those hours The single strongest predictor of microbiome diversity, and how to hit 30 plant foods a week without overhauling your entire kitchen Resources Mentioned: Eversio Wellness 5 Mushroom Blend (Metabolic / Hormone Balancing): https://www.eversiowellness.com/ Eversio Wellness Lion's Mane: https://www.eversiowellness.com/ Eversio Wellness Reishi: https://www.eversiowellness.com/ Soar Organics Matcha (Vancouver-based, USDA and Canada Organic certified): https://www.soarorganics.com/ EWG Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen (annual pesticide guide for produce): https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/ Oura Ring: https://ouraring.com/ The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk (referenced in context of trauma and autoimmune disease) Brandi's Book: https://www.eversiowellness.com/products/healing-your-body-mind-and-soul Take the Eversio Wellness Quiz: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz Your Next Steps: Take the Wellness Quiz to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15 : https://www.eversiowellness.com/ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCSZdEq_Qk0SYCKCeAwuuiw Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0cNGNkTVcgpS2an1IFy1HJ?si=673791bd190e4c33

You've done the breathwork. You've gone to the retreats. You've signed up for the morning routine. So why does nothing stick? If that question hits close to home, this episode is going to stop you in your tracks. We sat down with Andrea Ferguson, founder of the F.I.T. Life Method Academy (where F.I.T. stands for Fully In Tune), a coach, healer, and nervous system expert who has spent years helping high-achieving women get out of survival mode and into real, everyday capacity for living. Andrea isn't selling you more discipline. She's pointing to the missing piece that most wellness programs skip entirely: true internal capacity, and why building it is completely different from coping. We talk about the science behind your nervous system's "window of tolerance," why your body is not betraying you, and what it actually takes to feel regulated not just on vacation, but on a Tuesday. This one is personal for us at Eversio. Andrea has worked with Brandi and Craig as leaders, and she has come into our retreats and changed how our whole team shows up. We do not recommend people lightly. This is someone we trust completely. What You'll Learn: The difference between coping and building true internal capacity (and the honest signal that tells you which one you're doing) Why high-functioning, high-achieving women are often the most depleted people in the room What the "window of tolerance" is, and how to stop swinging between overdrive and the Netflix couch collapse Why your body is not betraying you. It is communicating with you, and what to do with that message The reason breathwork retreats and meditation don't create lasting change on their own Why more discipline is often just more pressure in disguise, and what to build instead The role of community in real integration, and why you cannot heal in isolation How your life, relationships, and body are all a direct reflection of your internal state What emotional regulation actually is, and why it is the number one skill Andrea says women need right now What Andrea's F.I.T. Life Method Academy looks like, including her certification program for coaches who want to embody this work before they ever teach it Resources Mentioned: Eversio Wellness Quiz: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz Eversio Wellness Website: https://www.eversiowellness.com/ Save 15% on all orders with code PODCAST15 at https://www.eversiowellness.com/ Fit Life Method Academy (Andrea Ferguson): https://thefitlifemethod.com/ Brandi's Book (mentioned in episode): https://www.eversiowellness.com/products/healing-your-body-mind-and-soul F.I.T. Life Method on social: @thefitlifemethod Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch (book recommended by Andrea) Eckhart Tolle (author recommended by Andrea) Gabby Bernstein (author recommended by Andrea) Your Next Step: Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/

Have you ever achieved everything on your list and still felt completely empty? Andrea Ferguson did. She spent nearly two decades building a career in nutrition, personal training, and eventually a fitness studio she poured her entire heart into. She had the team, the community, the results. And then she hit a wall she couldn't push through. What happened next changed everything. In this episode, Brandi and Dr. Desiree sit down with Andrea Ferguson, founder of the F.I.T. Life Method Academy, to talk about burnout, identity, and what it actually takes to shift the patterns that keep high-achieving women running in circles. Andrea shares the real story behind selling her beloved fitness studio, what she means by a trauma-informed coaching approach, and why knowing what you need to change is not the same as being able to change it. If you have ever been excellent at something that no longer lights you up, or if you keep starting over and wondering why nothing sticks, this episode is for you. What You'll Learn: Why the "shadow calling" concept stopped Andrea cold and why it might explain the stuck feeling you cannot name What a default loop actually looks like in the daily life of a high-functioning woman (overcommitting, crashing, scrolling, repeat) The five self-worth traps that quietly run the lives of high-achieving women, and how to recognize which ones have you The difference between coping and building real internal capacity, and why the first one keeps you needing relief instead of feeling free Why awareness is not enough and what integration actually means in everyday life How the body reflects the internal state, and what that means for the women who believe losing weight will fix everything else Why you cannot do this work alone, and what it looks like to have someone hold space for your blind spots The window of optimal functioning: what it is, why most high-achievers bypass it entirely, and how to spend more time there Resources Mentioned: Eversio Wellness Quiz: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz Eversio Wellness Website: https://www.eversiowellness.com/ Save 15% on all orders with code PODCAST15 at https://www.eversiowellness.com/ Fit Life Method Academy (Andrea Ferguson): https://thefitlifemethod.com/ Brandi's Book (mentioned in episode): https://www.eversiowellness.com/products/healing-your-body-mind-and-soul Your Next Step: Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/

We made it to episode 50. And instead of talking about what functional mushrooms can do, we let you do the talking.Dr. Des and Brandi read through nearly 3,000 reviews on the Eversio website and pulled 50 that stopped them cold. These are organized into five categories: energy, burnout, stress, brain fog, and one final category that has become a tradition at Eversio HQ. Stay for the last one.In this episode you will hear:Why Cordyceps powered Wayne through a three-hour daily commute and the Whistler Grand Fondo-How Bridget's cholesterol dropped from 200+ to 144 with real before-and-after bloodwork-Carrie's 30+ daily hot flashes completely resolved with the 5 Mushroom Blend-A breastfeeding mom watching her daughter with Down syndrome hit milestone after milestone on Lion's Mane-A mom whose mother slept through the night without a sleeping pill for the first time in 25 years-The reviewer who replaced her nightly glass of wine with Reishi-What happened when Miranda, a self-described total prude, tried the 3 Mushroom Blend before churchFor more information on our products: https://www.eversiowellness.com/products/lions-mane-capsules?variant=42485393686727➡️Use code PODCAST15 for 15% off your entire mushroom wellness order at:https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15➡️ TAKE THE QUIZ:Not sure where to start on your mushroom wellness journey? Take our naturopathic doctor-curated Mushroom Wellness Quiz to find your mushroom match.https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz-eversiowellness-youtube