WHAT TYPE(S) OF HOLISTIC MEDICINE OR WELLNESS HAVE YOU STUDIED AND WHAT DO YOU SPECIALIZE IN?

Ayurveda, Integrative Nutrition, Yoga. I specialize in healing digestion, balancing hormones, and helping women ease into perimenopause

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOU. WHAT’S YOUR BACKSTORY, AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO HOLISTIC WELLNESS?

About fifteen years ago – as a restless, heartbroken twenty-something — my journey to Ayurveda began inside a healer’s apartment in Venice, California.

Through my tears, I managed to relate my sob story, and he responded with a simple suggestion that changed everything.

He said I should wake up feeling rested and rejuvenated.

I remember just staring at him.

I had been struggling with fatigue. Something definitely felt wrong, I was a first-year elementary school teacher and blamed my fatigue on my hectic work schedule. Everyone around me felt overworked and exhausted.

We all relied on coffee to get through the day. I thought that’s what it meant to be an adult and have a career. I didn’t realize my body was trying to communicate a deeper message. It was screaming for help. Exhaustion was so normal to me that I hadn’t even considered that there might be an alternative.

After meeting with the healer, I became fascinated with feeling well. It launched me on a path to well-being that I am still walking to this day.

I’ve had so many experiences throughout my life of symptoms that doctors struggled to diagnose. Antibiotics and hormonal birth control were the blanket solution, and when they didn’t work, they prescribed more. I became particularly frustrated about the lack of research and understanding around women’s health in western medicine. I didn’t want another band-aid. I wanted to truly heal.

As I delved deeper and deeper into the root of my physical issues over the past few years, layers of stored emotions began to surface. Finally, paying attention to my body has revealed an inextricable link between my emotional and mental health and the physical symptoms I was experiencing. It became clear to me that real healing requires a lot more than popping pills. It requires a healthy lifestyle; an integration of mind, body and spirit.

Discovering what this insight means in practice has been a roundabout journey spanning many healers, countries, treatments, cleanses, detoxes…you name it. But my search for a comprehensive approach to health eventually brought me to Ayurveda, an oasis of common sense in woo woo land. What can I say…it was in the stars.

I’ve taken my training in integrative health, energy work, yoga, and Ayurveda and put it into my Ayurveda Nutrition + Lifestyle programs that I offer to those who are embarking on their own journey into core healing. It’s immensely gratifying to know that my clients don’t have to be on their own, struggling blindly against the grain, like I did. Health is the ultimate freedom and my greatest wish for the world.

WHAT’S YOUR PREFERRED STYLE OF WORK?

Virtually, I offer 1:1 health coaching, seasonal group cleanses, and various group programs around Ayurvedic rituals. I’ll be launching in person retreats soon.

WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU’RE MOST PROUD OF IN YOUR WORK?

I’m most proud of the results that people get from adopting an Ayurvedic approach to living. Ayurveda has changed my life and I’m watching it do the same for my clients. I’m watching people naturally boost their energy, sleep through the night, regulate their cycle, reset their nervous system, eliminate night sweats and hot flashes, and heal years of digestive issues. It’s really beautiful and rewarding. And I love building this amazing community around health.

WHERE DO YOU GET MOST OF YOUR HEALTH INFO FROM (OUTSIDE OF YOUR TRADITIONAL STUDY). ARE THERE ANY PODCASTS YOU LOVE, BOOKS YOU’D RECOMMEND, OR NEWSLETTERS YOU ENJOY GETTING?

Ooh, so many! I really loved The Path of Practice by Bri. Maya Tiwari and Healing the Thyroid with Ayurveda by Marianne Teitelbaum.

I love any course by Dr. Vasant Lad. And I love podcasts from Vital Veda, Commune, Zach Bush, Cate Stillman, and Elements of Ayurveda (just to name a few!)

WHERE DO YOU MEET MOST OF YOUR CLIENTS?

Mostly through client referrals.

IF YOU COULD GIVE ONE PIECE OF ADVICE TO A NEW HOLISTIC PRACTITIONER, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Really figure out who you want to help. In the holistic health realm, it’s easy to want to work with everyone. Niching down can be very powerful in your marketing and content creation.

WHERE CAN PEOPLE FIND YOU?

• Website: www.marissahutterayurveda.com
• Instagram: @marissahutterayurveda