Stop Searching Outside Yourself for Healing—Your Body Already Knows The Way with Dr. Marissa Heisel
Field Notes: An Exploration of Functional Medicine
Release Date: 11/06/2025
Field Notes: An Exploration of Functional Medicine
What if the way you manage your money isn’t all that different from the way you manage your health? In this episode of Field Notes, host Heather Moon sits down with financial planner Tanner Link for a fascinating conversation about the surprising parallels between financial wellness and functional medicine. Just like chronic health issues rarely start with symptoms alone, financial stress often stems from deeper patterns hiding beneath the surface — impulse behaviors, lack of awareness, misaligned priorities, and operating on autopilot. Together, Heather and Tanner unpack how budgeting,...
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What if burnout isn't the price of success—but proof you're doing success wrong? In this powerful conversation, Garrett Wood shares the heartbreaking story that transformed his understanding of achievement, stress, and identity. Drawing from his work in hypnotherapy, nervous system regulation, and executive well-being coaching, Garrett explains why grit, hustle, and pushing harder eventually fail—even for the most driven people. He reveals the hidden drivers of burnout, from misaligned values and sensory overload to subconscious beliefs and emotional labor, and offers a radically different...
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Most athletes spend countless hours training their bodies, but what if the biggest factor holding them back is something they rarely train at all? In this insightful episode of Field Notes, sports psychologist and former Olympic ski coach Andy Liebner reveals why mental performance may be just as important as physical preparation. Drawing from his own journey as an elite athlete, coach, and PhD candidate in sports psychology, Andy shares practical strategies for building confidence, overcoming self-doubt, mastering visualization, and staying focused under pressure. Whether you're a competitive...
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In this powerful episode of Field Notes, Heather Moon sits down with Jenny Loudon, co-founder of the Alaska Eating Disorders Alliance, for a compassionate and eye-opening conversation about the reality of eating disorders. Jenny explains why these illnesses are so often misunderstood, overlooked, or minimized — especially when someone does not “look sick.” The discussion explores how eating disorders impact the mind, body, relationships, and identity, while challenging many common assumptions around food, weight, and health. From social media pressure and perfectionism to atypical...
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Season 5 of the Field Notes podcast continues with a thoughtful conversation hosted by Heather Moon, who is stepping into a larger hosting role this season with her signature warmth, curiosity, and whole-person approach to health. In this episode, Heather sits down with returning guest and Alaska-based personal trainer Heidi Cox to explore what fitness really looks like when it’s aligned with real life, changing hormones, injury recovery, mental health, and sustainable wellness. Together, they unpack the importance of individualized care, behavior change, movement as medicine, and why true...
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What if the headaches, fatigue, brain fog, poor sleep, allergies, or “mysterious symptoms” you’ve been chasing for years aren’t just about food, supplements, or stress… but the environment inside your own home? In this fascinating episode of the Field Notes podcast, Dr. Rob Downey and Joe Rignola dive into the emerging concept of “functional medicine for the home” — exploring how air quality, lighting, EMFs, water, cleaning products, and even the items in your pantry may be silently taxing your body every single day. Dr. Rob shares why he partnered with Clean Elements and...
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In this fascinating episode of Field Notes, Dr. Rob Downey sits down with Dr. Shawn Talbott to unpack the powerful connection between the gut and the brain—and why your microbiome may have far more influence over your mental fitness than most people realize. Together, they explore how gut bacteria can affect stress resilience, mood, sleep, motivation, and even cognitive clarity through pathways involving neurotransmitters, inflammation, and the immune system. What makes this conversation especially compelling is that it stays grounded in both science and practicality: yes, there...
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In this fascinating episode of Field Notes, Dr. Rob Downey sits down with Greg Lee—a former NASA systems engineer turned acupuncturist and chronic illness specialist—to explore a radically integrative approach to complex health conditions. Drawing from decades of clinical experience, Greg explains how hidden drivers like mold toxicity, stealth infections, nervous system dysregulation, inflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction can keep people sick even when their labs look “normal.” He walks through the tools he uses to uncover and address these deeper patterns, including advanced...
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In this powerful episode of Field Notes, Dr. Rob sits down with Christine Ruch to explore one of the most overlooked pieces of true healing: the nervous system. Christine shares her own journey from being diagnosed with MS and doing everything “right” in the world of diet, supplements, and holistic health—yet still getting sicker—until she discovered that deeper healing required more than a perfect protocol. Together, she and Dr. Rob unpack how unresolved stress, trauma, hypervigilance, and emotional suppression can quietly block recovery, and why embodiment, surrender, and nervous...
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This episode of Field Notes, hosted by Nurse Practitioner Heather Moon, explores the often-overlooked intersection between functional medicine and spirituality through a deeply human conversation with hospital chaplain Frank Alioto. Together, they move beyond protocols and lab results to examine how meaning, connection, and presence shape the healing process just as much as biology. Frank shares powerful insights from his work with patients and families in moments of uncertainty, emphasizing that true care isn’t about having the right answers—it’s about showing up, asking the right...
info_outlineIn this episode of the Fieldnotes Podcast, Dr. Rob Downey speaks with Dr. Marissa Heisel—a chiropractor and midwife—about the importance of trusting our body’s innate wisdom and recognizing that true healing begins from within. She shares how modern society, particularly for women, has conditioned us to depend on external authorities rather than our own intuition. Through her experiences in chiropractic, midwifery, and holistic care, Dr. Heisel emphasizes the power of self-trust, simplicity, and returning to natural grounding practices to restore vitality and sovereignty over one’s health.
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(00:02) Introduction to Dr. Marissa Heisel and the theme of self-healing
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(02:11) Her transition from conventional medicine to holistic practice
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(03:48) Core philosophy: “You are your own best medicine”
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(08:24) How cultural conditioning undermines women’s body wisdom
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(32:05) Practical guidance—using breath and nature to reconnect to inner balance
Key Takeaways
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We are both our own best expert and our most powerful healer.
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Cultural conditioning often erodes self-trust, leading to overreliance on external validation.
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True healing begins by simplifying—removing noise and reconnecting with the body’s signals.
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Mindful breathing and grounding in nature are accessible ways to restore inner clarity and resilience.
Learn more about Dr. Marissa here: