Herbal Ally Series - Gotu kola - A Leader’s Ally for Clarity, Calm & Brain Resilience
Project Joyful: the Podcast for Health Centred Leaders
Release Date: 08/23/2025
Rest As a Strategy, Not a Luxury
Project Joyful: the Podcast for Health Centred Leaders
In our final episode of 2025, we close the year with something most leaders rarely give themselves: a spacious, grounded moment to breathe. This conversation is a gentle exhale. A remembering. A subtle but powerful shift from pushing to presence. If you have ever found yourself checking work emails on a Saturday, feeling guilty for resting, or believing you will finally relax once every last task is done, this episode is for you. Together, we explore: The quiet tug of war between your mind’s end of year urgency and your body’s invitation to slow. The micro signals your unique nervous...
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The Return to Yourself: Leadership When You Are No Longer Who You Used to Be
Project Joyful: the Podcast for Health Centred Leaders
As we close out this year, today’s episode offers a gentler kind of leadership conversation. A spacious one. The kind that invites you to pause and notice the quiet truth that often arrives before you name it. You have evolved. Yet your leadership identity may not have caught up. In this episode, we explore the subtle signs that who you have been in leadership is no longer who you are becoming. This shift is not a failure. It is your biology, your subconscious, and your inner intelligence guiding you home. Inside this episode: • What it feels like when old strategies take more energy than...
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The Quiet Reset: Micro-Shifts That Change Your Entire Nervous System
Project Joyful: the Podcast for Health Centred Leaders
As the year begins its gentle descent, your body starts preparing for completion long before your calendar does. Yet your mind, especially the part of you shaped by professionalism and responsibility, may still be pushing toward the finish line. In today’s episode, we explore the subtle yet powerful tension between your biology and your identity at this time of year. You will learn four micro-shifts that help your nervous system, your thinking, and your leadership land in the same place. These are simple, practical and deeply supportive for ambitious women who want to end the year with...
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Milk Thistle The Herbal Ally for the Season of More
Project Joyful: the Podcast for Health Centred Leaders
In this Herbal Ally episode, Medical Herbalist, Tracy Tutty, explores one of her favourite seasonal herbs, Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum). As we enter the season of more, with more celebration, more travel, and more richness, our bodies work quietly behind the scenes to keep us in balance. In this episode, Tracy shares how Milk Thistle supports your liver’s incredible capacity to regenerate, process, and protect, helping you stay energised and radiant throughout the festive season. You’ll learn: • The fascinating story behind Milk Thistle’s name and its resemblance to Scotland’s...
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The Currency of Calm: When Stillness Feels Expensive
Project Joyful: the Podcast for Health Centred Leaders
When calm feels out of reach, it’s not a lack of willpower. It’s biology. In this episode, Tracy Tutty explores why high-achieving women often equate movement with safety, and how to teach your nervous system that stillness can be safe too. Discover what happens when calm becomes your most valuable currency and how to invest in it without slowing down your success. Stillness sounds simple, but for many leaders it feels risky. In this episode, Tracy Tutty reveals the hidden economy beneath busyness; how dopamine, oxytocin, and inherited survival wiring keep us trading calm for control....
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The Hidden Stress Behind "I'm Fine"
Project Joyful: the Podcast for Health Centred Leaders
So, how are you, really? In this episode of Project Joyful, Tracy Tutty explores what happens when your brilliance outpaces your biology. We look at the subtle ways high-performing women say “I’m fine” while their nervous system is quietly braced for impact, and why rest can feel more like risk than relief. You’ll hear how control masquerades as calm, how adrenaline disguises itself as productivity, and how to begin showing your body that ease isn’t earned, it’s remembered. Tracy shares the hidden cost of performing composure, the science behind “I’m surviving” disguised as...
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You Don’t Need a Sabbatical — You Need a Nervous System That Trusts You
Project Joyful: the Podcast for Health Centred Leaders
You don’t need a sabbatical - you need a nervous system that trusts your success. If you’ve ever felt the quiet edge beneath achievement - the sleepless nights, the inbox brace, the holiday cold that hits the moment you finally stop - this episode is your invitation to recalibrate. Tracy Tutty unpacks what’s really behind high-functioning fatigue and why control feels safe… but isn’t the same as being regulated. You’ll discover how biology and identity intertwine, why retreats don’t create lasting change, and what happens when your nervous system begins to believe that ease is...
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Herbal Options For Stimulating GLP-1
Project Joyful: the Podcast for Health Centred Leaders
In this episode of Project Joyful, Tracy Tutty explores herbal approaches to stimulating GLP-1 - a key metabolic hormone widely known through medications like Ozempic. But there’s more to this story than injectables. Tracy explains what GLP-1 does in your body, how it’s linked to metabolic syndrome, and how bitter herbs like ginger, chen pi, feverfew, wormwood, and gentian can naturally support GLP-1 activity. Medical Herbalist, Tracy Tutty, shares the traditional and scientific insights behind these herbs, explains the mechanisms of action (in plain English), and unpacks how your genetic...
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You Can't Think Your Way to Calm: Why Your Leadership Needs Your Body
Project Joyful: the Podcast for Health Centred Leaders
You’re brilliant at staying calm under pressure. But what happens when your body doesn’t feel calm - even when everything on the outside looks fine? In this episode, Tracy dives into the neuroscience behind the thought-emotion loop and explores why leading from the neck up is no longer enough. You’ll discover how your body feeds your brain critical information, and how ignoring that intelligence quietly drains your energy, clarity, and leadership presence. We’ll unpack the hidden cost of disembodiment, challenge the myth of work/life balance, and show why emotions aren’t a liability...
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The Hidden Cost of Being the Reliable One
Project Joyful: the Podcast for Health Centred Leaders
In this episode, Tracy continues the series on The Hidden Costs of High Performance with a powerful and deeply personal exploration of what it means to be “The Reliable One.” High-performing women are often the first to show up, the last to flinch, and the ones everyone depends on. But what’s the hidden cost of holding it all together? Tracy unpacks how this identity forms, why it persists, and how it can quietly erode your presence, intuition, and connection - both with your team and yourself. What You’ll Learn: Why being dependable became your identity - and what it might be...
info_outlineIf your leadership edge feels dulled by constant overdrive, you’re not alone. In this episode of Project Joyful, medical herbalist, Tracy Tutty, introduces you to one of her favourite herbal allies - Gotu Kola. Known for centuries as a rejuvenator for the mind, and now confirmed through modern research, Gotu Kola supports mental clarity, stress recovery, and even long-term brain health.
We’ll explore:
- How Gotu Kola calms the startle reflex so you can respond instead of react.
- Why it’s a powerful nervous system tonic for long-term resilience.
- Its role in memory, focus, and neurological repair - without overstimulation.
- How its collagen-boosting magic benefits skin healing and radiance.
Tracy also shares why Gotu Kola is the herb for leaders who are overwhelmed, overextended… just over it - and how its cooling, calming nature resets your system for sustainable clarity.
Whether you’re leading a team, a company, or a vision, herbs like Gotu Kola can be a foundational leadership strategy - quietly working in the background to keep you steady, sharp, and ready for the long game.
🎧 Listen to Episode 202 now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast app
Resources & Links:
- Herbs for Health - Each month, discover how one simple herb can support your sleep, stress, mood, or immunity - without supplement aisle overwhelm.
- Connect with Tracy on LinkedIn for leadership and herbal wisdom: LinkedIn — Tracy Tutty