Nat, the SunWhore

Everyone’s path towards their own awakening looks different. Mine started at the ripe old age of twenty one, just after having my first child.

I didn’t want to fill my body with trash anymore.

Hell, the question hadn’t really occurred to me till then. Was I bathing in a sea of chemicals every single day without knowing it? Shockingly, I discovered I was.

That realization opened pandora’s box for me. Overnight, I went from a conventional American diet to reading labels and buying organic as much as possible. Truth tends to have a natural domino effect if you allow it to make a home in you. My hunt for local, quality organic food burgeoned into wholehearted devotion towards creating an abundant, nourishing life that traded harm for healing.

Of course, I fell into plenty of trending diets along the way: paleo, Whole30, vegan, keto, fruitarian, and extreme juice cleanses. Bless my bones. Most have positive initial perks (quick weight loss, energy spike, temporary mental clarity) but they all lose their luster relatively quickly, often with long lasting negative effects.

Fast forward almost a decade later…

I was 30 years old. At this point, we’d been a crunchy family for nine years BUT I was leaning heavily on too much caffeine, not enough sleep, and drinkin’ wine a few nights a week. I was still eating clean and doin’ all the things I knew to do while weaning my fourth baby…when all of a sudden, my hair started to fall out! Like, a lot. 

I gained 25lbs in a hurry. Brain fog was OFF THE CHAIN. I walked into a clinic stressed and confused, and walked out with an alleged autoimmune thyroid disease: Hashimoto’s. They found scar tissue on my thyroid and flatly stated, “Your body’s attacking itself…we don’t know why…and there’s really nothing you can do to fix it.”

I was coldly assured, “We have no idea where it comes from or how to heal it. Diet and exercise don’t help or harm the disease. You’ll need medication indefinitely to try and mitigate the symptoms. It’s unfortunate.”

But that kind of answer has never worked for me.

I reluctantly tried Big Pharma’s medications. Not a single one brought any relief to my symptoms, despite having cut back caffeine, wine and anything else that seemed counter-intuitive to healing. So, I knew within the first year that real healing would be a slow burn and it wouldn’t come from a magic pill.

Down the holistic health rabbit hole I continued to fall.

(And it is DEEP, y’all!)

Alongside being a homeschoolin’ mama of four, I spent the next decade reading, researching, listening to podcasts from trusted teachers, getting a holistic health + life coach certification, learning regenerative gardening + homesteading, devoting myself to good therapy, and unlearning all the programming I was inculcated with as a 80’s child, growin’ up in the Bible Belt—the dirty, seed oil lovin’ South.

I was the ultimate Guinea Pig.

I tried hundreds of supplements, fascia chiropractic work, weird fringe diets and protocols (like the famous celery juice detox) and every tip I could find to heal autoimmune thyroid disease, strengthen my bod, heal my cycle + hormones, clear brain fog, and find the ideal weight that would feel right and cozy for my body.

In the midst of that long season, we moved from a bustling suburb to a rural farmhouse in the Appalachian Foothills and started homesteading. We raised our own pigs, turkeys, chickens and ducks, planted a garden + a berry patch and a tiny organic fruit orchard. Mother Nature and I grew closer than ever. I was barefoot in the sunshine all summer long. And I saw some positive changes. But, I still struggled some with brain fog, big energy crashes, and my body was holding weight I wasn’t comfy carrying.

I even gave up alcohol altogether in 2020.

Just when I’d finally started to find my groove, my darlin’ Mama began to show signs of Lewy Body Dementia, brought on by severe mold toxicity. Shortly after that, 2020 hit. I spent those next three years in a gut-wrenching season of trying to support her in all that was tragically happening, while also taking care of our homestead, homeschooling, and mothering four children. The stress and grief took a heavy toll on my brain and body. I put on forty pounds that wouldn’t budge. My hair thinned. I formed a bald patch from the nightmare of it all. Sleep was awful.

I experienced anxiety for the first time in my life. I was in constant fight or flight and my thyroid antibodies were through the roof.

It was the very hardest season of my whole life.

And then I lost my her. My precious mama died July 25th, 2022 from complications with Lewy Body Dementia. I was holding her hand.

Losing her changed everything for me. But that’s a long, raw series of stories for another day, friends. I’ll tell you all about it sometime.

My hormones were wrecked. The success I’d found in healing my autoimmunity became a distant memory. Brain fog continued to be off the charts. My nervous system was frozen in fight or flight and my weary body felt heavy and lethargic. I allowed myself till the end of that year to indulge in all the Trader Joe’s sour candy and chocolate I could stuff in my mouth…in addition to all the rest + slowness…I put my weights down and opted for walks in our sunshiny woods instead. I took lots of deep breaths, cried myself to sleep and grieved my heart out till after the holidays.

Then it was time to begin again.

Side note: Grief lasts much longer than most of us hope or expect it to.

I chose to rebuild my body and mind while wading through devastating grief and a host of other residual losses. Positive growth truly can come in the middle of the suck. I’m living proof. Sometimes we can only glimpse the Light because it has grown pitch-black dark everywhere else we turn.

I put down the candy. I began using an infrared light a few times a week.

I anchored my meals in nourishing protein, especially breakfast. I hopped back into good therapy. I started to introduce supportive supplements like organ pills once again. I began going to a fascia focused chiropractor to help my body release the trauma it was tightly storing in my hips and sacral/root chakra. I moved weights to the yard, right by our ol’ fashion dinner bell, out in the sunshine, and did a barefoot workout 3-4 times a week. I endured a few brief detox cleanses. I was honest about my grief.

I pressed wholeheartedly into supportive community.

Over the following year I felt a subtle shift in my energy and lost a few pounds. But my body was still clutching the extra weight like a security blanket.

[After all of my loss, my striving, and my failures, I finally discovered what really worked.]

Till I discovered the revolutionary circadian health + weight training + real food trio that changed the game forever. I kid you not, friends! I began to get morning light in my eyes before screens, ground my bare feet on the earth, get plenty of sun, and watch the sunset when I was able. After dark, I cut out blue light and bought some fancy circadian glasses. Literally, fell madly in love with the Sun. Hence, I became a real live SunWhore.

Feelin’ a little skeptical at this point?

Kinda jaded towards such audacious claims?

I understand.

But this intuitive thruple is the way humans have lived and thrived since the dawn of civilization! Before you discount such GOLD, consider this…

Our ancestors rose with the sun and slept with the moon. They lived intimately connected with the rhythms of nature, the seasonal cycle, and, YES, the sun was their sacred anchor. There were no shortcuts or artificial lights blasting their eyes + wrecking their hormones after sundown. If they wanted a home, they moved heavy shit, cut down lumber, worked hard, skinned animals and literally built their entire lives. They planted gardens, hunted over long miles, bathed babies, swam in natural mineral-rich waters and walked long distances with heavy supplies on their shoulders. They ate whole foods in season, enjoyed animal meat and drank raw milk when it was available. Their hormones were effortlessly optimized by circadian rhythm and their bodies metabolic state and overall health thrived because of it.

They lived by the SUN.

And we can too.

This is how a SunWhore is born.

This is the Way a SunWhore takes back her (or his) power, reconnects with their Divine Intuition and in so doing, creates a healthy, thriving life.

Also, the name is fun to flex…don’t you think?

You can even get the bumper sticker to make things official.

I mean, let’s be honest. It’s cheeky as hell and a lil’ rebellious, which is 100% my vibe. If you devote yourself to the simple practices of a true, bonafide SunWhore, you WILL begin to feel your nervous system relaxing, your energy grow steady + strong, brain fog will lift, sugar cravings will take a hike, your libido will magically (cum) back to the party and you’ll most assuredly feel like you can conquer just about anything. Any excess weight your body has held will start to fall off because it’ll finally feel warm, strong, nourished, free and safe; just as it was created to be.

This is our SunWhore birthright.

It’s the best kept secret our modern society has abandoned and at devastating cost to the health and well-being of every-body.

Have you given up on your greatest dreams due to lack of energy or motivation? Were you diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and haven’t found relief or lasting healing? Are you stuck on the treadmill (literally) feelin’ like your hard work ain’t doin’ a damn thing to move the scale, clear your brain, heal your bod or help create the kind of life you dream of living? You deserve better, friends. We all do.

Becoming a SunWhore can help change every bit of that.

This is the ancient secret to living a thriving life and it’s more simple than you ever thought possible.

I’ve taken 20 years of real life research, personal trial and error, an in-depth life + holistic health coaching certification, along with my deep dive down the intuitive healing rabbit hole and distilled it all down into a simple 30 day challenge that is 100% FREE to participate in.

You read that right.

You can download my SunWhore Circadian Guide here.

Which is also FREE, y’all! I mean, does it get any better??

(Actually, yeah. It can! If you join the official SunWhore Substack.)

If you want the full experience for less than the cost of a single sushi roll, simply join my weekly pep-talk newsletter to have all-access to the private SunWhore Community of Circadian Besties. It’s only $9 a month. You’ll have access to all my nourishing comfort food recipes, our beautiful online community for support, connection + friendship, along with meal ideas to eat like a seasonal Queen. And as a SunWhore Community Member you can even book 1:1 virtual sessions with me if you’d like extra support and feedback on your journey. It’s my joy to help serve your highest best in this way…and I mean that. I want every woman on earth to experience a fully embodied, ever-healing, THRIVING life.

Each week there will be a fresh post, with delicious (+ easy) meal ideas, simple tips that create big changes and weekly musings on every topic under the Sun…get it? But for real, I’ll be sharing loads about circadian health, and honest stories about life, my journey to sobriety, exercise + movement tips, short + effective workouts, my mama-grief + loss journey, vulnerable midlife epiphanies + what I wish I learned earlier, beginner gardening, products I’m lovin’, homemaker tips, powerful mantras, honest motherhood, play, plenty of adventure, habit stacking ideas and so much more.

Now is the time to get outside, rest your feet in the grass, take your (good medicine) sunshine, and enter your SunWhore era, friends. You deserve to feel good, become strong, heal your body, look your best and create the life you’ve always dreamed of. We can do it together.

This is the Way.