What Is Naturopathy, Really? Science, Liquid Herbs & Common Misconceptions

What actually is naturopathy? And how evidence-based is it?

In this episode, Morgan breaks down what naturopathy really involves, separating fact from fiction and unpacking some of the biggest misconceptions about the profession.

We chat about:

What naturopathy is and who it can help
Why liquid herbal medicine is one of the most powerful tools in clinical practice
The role of pathology, functional testing and science in naturopathic care
Common myths and misconceptions about naturopaths
The importance of practitioner regulation and professional registration
How a personalised approach differs from a one-size-fits-all treatment plan

Whether you're curious about seeing a naturopath or simply want to better understand how natural medicine works, this episode offers an honest look at modern naturopathic practice and the evidence that supports it.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Mood Swings with Moen Morgs. Where we chat all things womanhood, motherhood, and everything in between. We're a naturopath and a nurse who love an overshare, swapping insights and the occasional tangent.

SPEAKER_01 0:11

From hormones to healing and moments of chaos, nothing's off lemons here. So let's get into it.

SPEAKER_04 0:27

Hi. Hi.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

It's a big sigh.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

How are you? I am good. Today it's all about you. I know I'm well, I say I'm excited, but I'm like a little bit excited.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

You should be excited. I'm so excited. Yeah, yeah. There we go. I am so excited.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

That's the energy we want and we need. Um, before we get into talking about an era and neuropathy and business life on your end, um, why don't we do our mood swings for this week? You go first this week. Okay. My mood swing is a no-brainer. Um, I got a beautiful painting made from uh Tyler. Oh yeah. Who is um a girl who I know through my husband, um, and she has started doing like this small little business of like painting pictures for people and um works on like a commission base. Anyways, I like reached out to her a few months ago because I actually wanted her to make one for mood swings, which she's still gonna do, but I also really wanted to showcase it to people in the flesh, and I was like, actually, her seasons will be perfect because at least then people will get to see her product like face to face, be able to see whether or not they want one as well, because you absolutely do want one. Um and yeah, I quickly did she do that. That seems like such a good turnaround, yeah. So I reached out to her a like a while ago, like like early start of this year. Um but to do this painting, we cemented it like what are we, June? Maybe start of May. And yeah, she's just buckled down and gotten it done, and I'm just like so obsessed with it. It's just stunning.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

Gorge. When I saw it, I was like, She hit the breach.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

I was like, girl, you have creative direction. Like, I do not care. I have no qualms or anything about what you do. I've got the colour palette, this is like her season's colours, run with it. Yeah. And she was perfect. It was scrinting. Yeah, yeah, um, obsessed.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

And hopefully, when you have it at the Her Seasons event now, like people will see it, and then if they need a new painting for their home, they know exactly where to go.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Yeah, absolutely. She has um a page on uh Instagram that you can look at and like have a look at all of her other work that she's done, and also um it it's supporting small business, and that's something that I truly feel like is something I pride myself on is supporting the small businesses and small creators um in the local realm of my life. Yeah, uh, because I think it's important to feed into these people's little passion projects or dreams because I mean, like, look at us, we're doing that now as well. So yeah. I feel like if people are pouring into me, I have to pour into other people. It's just the way the cookie crumbles, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:45

I love that. Like full circle mode. I was gonna say circular always, and it's so nice to know that you know, obviously, everyone works so hard for their money and like to know that your money is going, you know, exactly where it's going, it's going to a good place. Like, yeah, it just it feels happy. Whereas when you go for like water shopping spree at Kmart, which we all do, it doesn't necessarily you don't know where that's going.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Well, yeah, like you could buy a painting from Kmart. Like, I feel like we've all bought a painting from somewhere like Kmart on the floor, and it's just it just doesn't hit the same. No, at least with these things, there's so much love and time and energy that have been poured into making these beautiful pieces. And it's not just like Tyler alone, there's so many other women out there that are starting to get their creative juices flowing and are doing artworks, um, all different kinds of artworks. And I think, you know, if you want to have a little bit of individuality in your home, just pour into these people.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

I know, like, what a beautiful feeling to walk into your house each day and know that you've got like this amazing piece of art just like sitting there and you know exactly where it came from, you know exactly who did it. Like, that's just you're like boom, boom. I'm happy. Oh, that's so good. I love that mood swing. Yeah, me too. I'm so excited to hear about you. Okay, I've got a funny one this week.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

I've got a funny one this week.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

So I um I've been swiping, swipe, swipe, swipe on hinge this week. Ah, you can't. And it's actually fucking shit. I'm not gonna lie. Like, I don't want to be negative, but it's so bad. It's just like it's not it. Like me and my sister have been talking and we're like, okay, it's just not fun. So I've decided again to put a break. You're over the swiping. I'm o I I can't do it anymore. Swipe and no swiping. No swiping. Like it's it's just it's draining me. Like I was like, I'll just go for a little swipe at nighttime. No, I won't. Like it's not fun. Yeah. Anyway, I've been so I I was going through scrolling on TikTok instead, which is not a good so one one swipe one one finger movement to a different type of finger movement.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Instead of swiping, you're flicking.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Yes. So I went for the flick.

SPEAKER_03 5:55

Ah are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_02 6:04

Whatever you want to take that as. Take it how you like.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

Do what you do with that information.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

That was just um well, anyway, this girl popped up. And I don't know if you know anything about me personally, if you're listening, but I do love a good Etsy witch every now and again. No, okay, quick, quickly, quickly say what an Etsy witch is. So an Etsy witch, you go on Etsy and you can hire a witch pretty much for anything that you would like. Um I Witchie Poo! Witchie Pooh! I've seen it work multiple times with the weather. So my friend got it for her wedding, it didn't rain, it was predicted to rain all day. I got it for my best friend's birthday, it was predicted to rain the whole day, it didn't rain. Um I can I can vouch for that one. Yeah, they the we call it a witsy, they really they pop off. Anywho, we love a whitsy. This girl on TikTok got a whitsy to draw her future soulmate and predict when she would find her soulmate. And then she she was recording it after the fact of meeting the guy that looked exactly like the drawing that the whitsy had given her. So I was like, nah, fuck this, I'm doing it. So I've jumped off TikTok, I've gone on Etsy. She's bought herself a Whitsie. I got the prediction. I'll show you the photo of him.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Oh my god, I can't I'm I'm actually I'm dying to see this.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Can you put it up to the camera?

SPEAKER_02 7:42

So if anyone meets this guy, put that Morgan's soulmate. Please introduce us or fucking touch him.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Because yeah, don't fucking touch him because he's my soulmate.

SPEAKER_03 7:54

What? Okay, sorry, why does he look a bit like John Travolta? Don't say that. Don't write it. Don't he looks good. He looks good, but wow.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Yeah. So anyway. He's very chiseled, isn't he? Which I love. Like tall, dark, and handsome kind of vibe. And she gives you this big play-by-play. Wow. What his personality is like, when I'll meet him, how I'll meet him. Um, and just to give you a quick summary, I'll meet him in 10 to 14 months when I'm not looking. So she said, Stop looking. Go live your life. It is gonna h happen after a massive change happens in your life, and you might meet him traveling. So she said, say yes to every single travel opportunity that comes by.

SPEAKER_02 8:40

Okay, I'm so excited to see what the next 10 to 14 months holds for us. Exactly. So I'm writing the I am actually. I'm very much part of your life. So whoever this night in shining arm is better come for us. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

And it's a tick of approval from everyone. Um, but yeah, so that's my movies from the show.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

Stop. I can't wait to read that thing in full detail. No, it's really nice. It's like we want to keep a bit of mystery there for everyone.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

And I will be really excited in a year's time to come back to the potty and be like, bring him on and be like, oh my god, he's gonna come on.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

And then he's gonna hear me go, You look like John Travolta. Yeah. And he's gonna think, Yeah, who is this melon? Yeah. And then he's gonna fall in love with me as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

Right, most fucking weirdo, we'll move on from that.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

I've had too much caffeine today.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

And before everyone comes at me with the caffeine, it's only one coffee. It's it's instant, so I'm not gonna it's fine. Yeah, I'm not I'm not gonna damage the child.

SPEAKER_03 9:55

We're okay with you.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Alright, well, now that we've had a fun time mood swinging and finding out your soulmate. Your soulmate. I'm gonna be on the hunt. I'm actually gonna be looking around.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

Thank you. I also sent him to Maddie and she said the same, so yeah. Yeah. Everyone's I've got multiple eyes in multiple locations. So I'm like, come on, girls, rally. But the the Whitsy did say it will be outside of my normal social circle. Amazing, amazing. Which I liked that as well, because like like how we've spoken about on the dating podcast, when I'm out with my friends, I'm not like looking. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. So I can keep being out with my friends, not looking.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Yeah. Which is nice. Yeah, I get you, I get you. Okay, this is this is exciting. All right, well.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

Let's get into the nitty-gritty of it. Let's get into the nitty-gritty. So today's podcast episode, as Mori spoke about at the start, I'm very excited about. We are going to chat a little bit more about my business Anera neuropathy. And I just wanted to touch on what neuropathy kind of is, or maybe go through a few things so you all have to do that.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

What it actually is.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

Yeah, because I get a lot of feedback from friends, family, the general public that they still don't really know what I even do.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

Um, what is neuropathy?

SPEAKER_00 11:23

Yeah. So we're here to set the record straight today. We meaning you.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Morgan's setting the record straight. Yes. For everyone. All right. Tell us what neutropathy actually is. So what's that sound? Oh, it's just my dishwasher.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

Oh second my god, it's really loud.

SPEAKER_02 11:51

Um sorry everyone for the rude interruption. It's just notifying us that it's finished in the cycle.

SPEAKER_03 12:00

Dish is ugly.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

Um, so neutropathy is a beautiful modality that blends traditional knowledge with science. And as we have progressed into the 20th century, over the 20th century now. Is it twenty? Oh my god, yeah, gosh. Are we in the 21st? 21st century. Oh my god, with the 21st century. That's embarrassing. Um but as are we? Yeah, I don't know. Ignore that part. But as we've progressed into modern times, we're so lucky now that we have the ability to do these thorough, um, you know, scientific studies that now support traditional knowledge, which is just fantastic. Um, so in neutropathy, we use tools like herbal medicine. And when I talk about herbal medicine, um, we're looking at plants. So, you know, for example, the commonly known ones would be ginger, turmeric, garlic, chamomile. They would all classify.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

And how they play a role in like supporting your functionality and in your in your well-being.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

Exactly. Yeah. So if what traditional knowledge showed was for instance, back in the day, they would use chamomile if you had an uh upset stomach. Now I think we're so lucky, they take that traditional knowledge and then they go and develop a scientific study and they find out the exact constituents in the plant that have that effect on the body, and now they're just constantly proving and corroborating things that we knew back in the day. And now they're just marrying it up with the scientific study. So it's backed by science. Everything we do as modern naturopaths is evidence scientific based. All degree qualified naturopaths practice in this way. Previously, it was a little bit more folky, it probably was a little bit more a bit more witchy poo. You look at some of America. Yeah. And some parts of Australia and some parts of America still do practice in that way. But when you see someone call themselves a clinical naturopath, the way they are practicing is science first. Okay. Always.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

So is there a difference between a naturopath and a clinical naturopath?

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Well, it's a it's probably a gray area. And I would say people calling themselves a clinical naturopath is quite a new term. Um, I would say someone that's called referring to themselves as a clinical naturopath is someone that is relying heavily on science, is relying heavily on testing. So they're relying heavily on blood testing, um, functional testing um to help guide their practice. They're not just more like a results driven uh framework of care.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Rather than just saying, oh, chamomile is good for soothing.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Here you are.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

Yeah. And with neutropathy, the thing we always hammer home is we are looking for the root cause. So we're hammering it home. So for chamomile, for instance, you know, I'll keep using chamomile as an example just because it's a commonly known plant. But you know, you might have, again, an upset tummy. So we use chamomile to soothe that. But then in the background, we might be doing a gut microbiome map to address the root cause of your issues. So once we address the root cause of your issues, you potentially did then don't need the chamomile anymore because you'll no longer have those symptoms. So we're always digging deeper, we're always trying to connect those dots. So you're at a place in your life where you're not getting the flares, you're not getting the pain, you're not getting the digestive symptoms, all of that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_04 15:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

We're very we love to investigate. We want to look at literally every single system of the body.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Little heavy sluice. Yeah, oh, I'd love that.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

And when you sit down for a naturopathic consult, which I think a lot of people are shocked about, is I always tell clients at the start, this is going to take about an hour and a half. It's not like a normal consultation because we're going to ask questions about your gut, we're going to ask questions about your sleep, we're going to ask questions about your energy, we're going to ask questions about your menstrual cycle.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Like a fully holistic everything assessment from like head to toe.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

Literally, quite literally head to toe, because you might think that that skin rash once a month isn't impacted by your hormones. But when I ask you about your period and you're telling me that you're getting the skin rash a week before your period each month, I'm able to be like, hmm, have we thought about hormones? And they're like, uh, no, I haven't. So we love painting the whole picture. You should see the mind map we'll throw together after a consult. Arrows going from this body system to this body system. Wow. So yeah, it's quite some people like we can sometimes feel a little bit tired after the first consult because we've just gone through so much information.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Yeah, well, you've just done a full, like a full on lecture and and assessment and yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

Literally everything. Yeah, literally everything, like down to what your birth was like, whether you're breastfed, like all of these questions will get asked in the first place.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Like literally nitty-gritty. What if you're someone like me who I just don't even remember half of the shit in my life?

SPEAKER_00 17:47

That's fine, and that's why we have follow-up consults. So, like a lot of the time I'll ask questions and then someone will be like, I actually don't know, I've never paid attention to that. And I said, That's easy. Like, of course, I'm asking questions that like, why would you pay attention to that? We'll touch on it next consult. Go and ask your mum, go and talk to your family, you know. Look at your poo in the toilet bowl when you go to the toilet each morning.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

Okay, I love looking at my poo. I know this is gonna sound stomping. No, no, but it's I and I tell Cam to look at his poo poo because it tells you a lot about what's going on in the pool.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

It tells you that so I ask so many questions about your poo. Like, does it float? Does it sink? Does it float? Does it have colour? Is it oily residue coming off of it? Do you get diarrhea? Is there mucus? Are you going every day? Do you fart a lot? Do you yes, yes, all these questions? And they're like, why are you asking me this? Normalise poo talk. Oh normal poo talk. And normalize looking at your poo every day. Like, please, just look at the fucking toilet bowl. How many times do you have to wipe? Like all of these kind of questions.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

Um, what if you get poo left in Yandes?

SPEAKER_00 18:58

Yeah, that's yeah. 742? Yeah, it's good old G-Bang. I actually don't ask that question, but I will. Um, but really, as nature class, we just want our clients to understand that your body operates as a whole, everything's connected. And the reason we ask all of the questions is that one system is definitely having an impact on another system. And it also helps with our treatment because a lot of the time, when we're well, actually all of the time, when we're looking at a herb or we're looking at a supplement, you know, chamomile isn't just helping your digestive system, it's also helping your nervous system, you know. Um, a supplement isn't just helping your period, it might be helping you sleep, it might be helping with pain.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

But it's and can it also be like if we're giving you one thing, it may affect another organ system, not in a negative way, but you might have to be more mindful of how much use you're having of that.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

100%. Yeah. It's always it is always going to have multiple impacts on the body, whether it's through a direct action or through an indirect action. It's going to affect your whole system.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

But the beautiful things about herbs is we view them as modulating. So they're quite magic in the way that how they would impact, say, you compared to how they would impact me is different because I need different things than what you need. Yeah. So we like to think of herbs as they go into your system and they modulate to what you kind of need, as opposed to walk working like a medicine where it kind of has a direct mechanism of action. Herbs don't work. Mechanism of action, baby. Baby. Herbs don't work in that mechanistic way. And sometimes we do view it in that way to help with the understanding, but they're a plant at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Well, talking of plants, what are liquid herbs? Yay. Well, this is my favorite question.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

Yay! She's like, I can't wait to answer this. So liquid herbs are my favorite, and I will always suggest, nearly always suggest, clients to try liquid herbs because they can target so many things at once. So a liquid herbal formulation is a tincture, like an alcoholic extract of a herb. So what the alcohol does is not only helps preserve the um medicine, but it also helps to extract the active constituents out of the plant. Like we were just talking about before, the scientific studies of plants really go into what component of that plant is working on the body and how can we extract it so we can make sure in that liquid herbal formulation you have enough of. The active active constituent for it to be effective in the body. So that's what the alcohol does. A lot of people get confused like, why would alcohol be a part of herbal medicine? And that's why. Another reason is it kind of hits your system a lot quicker. Um, so I always say if you want uh quicker results, I think liquid herbals are the way to go. Also, you only have to have 15 mil pretty much every morning. So you just have your little shot of your liquid herbal, boom, and you're ready to go for the rest of the day. Which I think is fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

But disclaimer liquid herbs can taste like earth.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

So they can taste like shit. Like some of them are so bad, like, especially the main things I would use in for liquid herbs would be like digestion, so helping with constipation, hormones helping with hormonal balance, and nervous system helping with anxiety, depression, sleep, all of those kind of things. I will say, especially the herbs that are to help with digestion and constipation in particular, they're bitter as fuck because the bitter taste is what kind of gets things going. They are so bad. They're so bad. Like after you kind of have to have a swig of juice or you have to have a spoonful of yogurt just to kind of get them down when you first get started. Once you've done it a few times, like you'll find your you'll find your chaser chaser.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

You might be a widow like me who just actually flips the taste. I love them now.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

And they give you like a little ding when you first have them, and I'm like, ooh, now I feel good.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

But I find I I think if you're someone who can like shot alcohol and like not flinch, then having a tonic is fine.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

It's fine. I honestly think I was born for this life because I went from being a 19-year-old shotting tequila like it was fucking nobody's business. And now I shot my herbs like honestly, just shot, shot, shot.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

I haven't been able to get out of my mind like the desire for our margarita. Not really several. I just want I just want a nice strong margarita. It's not the same. I've never had one, so I wouldn't know. Also, my reflux is cooked if it would just send me on a frenzy. Oh, honey bar. Yeah, but tonics are well or liquid herbs, they're the same thing, really, aren't they?

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. And they just have an a a taste. They have a very, very strong flavour. We can make them taste nicer if you're a beginner, just to help with the the taste. I won't lie, some clients do come back to me and say, I'll never have them ever again in my life and never give it to me again. I'm like, okay, cool, we'll go, we'll go to the tablets and the yummy powders, it's all good. Like there are other alternatives. But they just don't work as well? No, it's not that they don't work as well, but you have to remember that I am constructing this liquid herbal ones. Specifically for you. Yeah. So, like, literally, if you've come to me in the console and you have you want help with your period, you want help with your sleep, and you want help with your constipation and your immune system, I can put a herb in for every single one of those things. And you get it in a nice little bottle, you take it home, you have your one or two shots a day, and you're done. It's unique to you. Yeah. Boom. Individualized medicine. Love that. Yeah. So it's my favorite. You'll hear me talk about it all the time. Shot, shot, shots for everyone. Um, and yeah, like if you haven't tried a liquid herbal, what are you doing? Pretty much. It's 2026. Get on it.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

Yeah. At least try something. Try something. Even like the C Sue ACV shot. Let's start off with that. That's healthy. That's got lots of um uh herbs in it that thank you. Forgetting me. I've really started losing my um train of thought or even just my word structuring since being pregnant again. I mean, I lost it beforehand because I was just, you know, baby brain, but now it's like even tenfold.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

I can't do well. I can't notice, so you're doing great. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 26:17

You're doing great, honey bun. Yeah, starting off with something small like that that just gets you into the rhythm of every day, like having that that ritual of like shotting something or taking something that isn't the nicest tasting but has herbal benefits to it, that might help you when you do get into the more individualized um liquid herbs.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

100%. And like at the end of the day, life is busy and life can be fucking hard. So if you can just have one shot in the morning and it gives you the little pep in your step you need, then my nose is running again. Then like I honestly, it's magic to me. It's literally liquid gold. Liquid gold.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

Can we myth bust? Go. What is the biggest misconception of neutropathy?

SPEAKER_00 27:07

Yeah. Actually, this is a cool question because I was talking to um one of my friends about this the other day. Um, and she will she was one of the ones that said to me, like, what do you even do? Like, honestly, you call yourself an afterpath, but I actually have I actually have no idea what you do.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

You just smell different herbs, look at them, yeah, and just go home. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

And like, not to say, like, I will say there is You wear a daisy chain. I would love that. You know what? I would fucking love that. I would fucking love that. I would have no no problems with that. Um, but I will say, like, you know, neutropathy is a broad term. Is a broad term. And then when you start to look at things like herbalism, that is kind of your, you know, your your dried tease and a bit more folky and a bit more intuitive, and you know, there's nothing wrong with that. That's just a that's a different way to practice. Again, talking about what we were speaking about at the start, is we are university trained, like in a health science degree. So, first and foremost, our bachelor degree is in health science, majoring in neutrophy. So, I think that's probably a misconception that even I had when I first started. I didn't actually realize I had to do a health science degree. I literally thought I had to do maybe a six-month course online, and then I could go and call myself an anthropath. Um you didn't realize the extent of it. I had no, like I actually had no fucking idea. And I still to this day, I am constantly like obviously science just keeps evolving. Functional testing just is through the roof at the moment. Like it just doesn't stop evolving. Um, and I I didn't realize that was going to be such a large part of the job, and I don't think a lot of people realize that is such a large part of the job. Because you go to the doctor, especially if you have like gut health concerns, this is a big one, and they do, you know, a colonoscopy and an endoscopy, and everything comes back fine, and the person's left with an IBS diagnosis. They come to me and they don't realise that we have like another so many tests we can run in a more functional way to understand what's going on with your microbiome or your um like the bacteria overgrowth or you know anything like that. So yeah, it's more the level of science and complexity behind what we do is massive. Another thing I want to touch on though is it actually isn't a registered profession, neutropathy. So we're not under APRA. So be fucking careful who you see as an atropath and ask them if their degree qualified.

SPEAKER_01 29:57

Because any So like anyone could just say I'm an atropath. Anyone. Any person could open up a clinic. And how do you find like what is the steps you could take to be able to make sure that they are qualified in the field?

SPEAKER_00 30:13

You will find that anyone qualified wants to make it obvious to you. So if they're not if they don't have it in their Instagram bio, if they don't have it, if they don't have an association membership on their website, if they don't have their degree hanging in their clinic room, I would be asking some questions.

SPEAKER_01 30:33

Yeah, okay, okay. So so seeing that they've obviously done the the clinical work through study and stuff like that is what you gotta look for. I wonder if they will end up changing you to a registered profession eventually, because I feel like there is just way more um naturopaths practicing now, and there are a lot of different sort of focus areas that naturopaths do, you know, like vocalize on social media and stuff like that. So I feel like you almost have to.

SPEAKER_00 31:10

There's two minds of thoughts. I'm there's there's a group of it's very divided in the naturopath world. Some of them I don't get into the politics because I am scared of politics, but one half of them doesn't want to be registered because they're scared that we might get certain things taken away from us, like pouring liquid herbs could become limited. The way we use social media obviously will be stripped way back, so we won't be able to promote ourselves the way we're doing at the moment. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

Well, that's actually a good segue to get into after.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

Yeah. Yeah. But the other point, which I must say I'm more leaning towards, is like if we're at if we're under APRA, then people are actually gonna recognize us as what we are, not just these woo-woo fairy witches pouring weird tonics in the back of a room.

SPEAKER_01 32:04

Yeah, absolutely. Look, I I think in this like current like day and age, we need to be able to have credible like resources and credible uh um like and and registrations for these professions because it's just so easy for people to just get uh fucked over if they don't do their research, which uh everyone should always do their own research and and you should never just take something for what it is at face value, you should really always dig a little deeper. There's nothing wrong with that. I think it just shows that you're just being super vigilant for yourself and your safety, but also for anyone in the future that may uh, you know, use that service or use that person for that service, or if you recommend them and then you find out, oh, actually, they're not even they've never even they've done witchy poo stuff in their backyard. Yeah. They've looked at the they've looked at the leaves in the backyard, they've looked at the dandelions, they've spoken for the dandelions.

SPEAKER_00 33:22

And please don't take this, like I love the woo-woo, but obviously when you're dealing with people's health, like you can deal with the woo-woo yourself, but when you're dealing with people's health, it needs to be embedded in science. Like that's the end of the day. Like it needs to be.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

100%. Yeah. I think as well, people don't realize is herbal medicine also has interactions with pharmaceutical products and interacts with uh bodies body organ system, like organ systems in a way that maybe you didn't realize and can have an effect long term. So you need to be able to understand the risks and the the um rewards of giving these liquid herbs and not just saying, okay, well, this is what you're going through, this is what you need, and not looking at the whole picture of that, yeah, without having some scientific knowledge to support though that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

100%. There's a lot of debate online I've been seeing at the moment, which again I'm like in the group.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

I mean, I can understand why people would be concerned if you're registered with ARPRA. So ARPRA is a major uh regist like registration body that that looks after physiotherapists, doctors, nurses, dentists. You can literally look up any of those sort of professions and you can look at their ARPRA registration and you can see whether or not they've ever had any prior complaints against them, if they are current in practicing. You can l literally look at that as as a as a um what's the word when you're the person who's receiving that service? The patient? The patient, the consumer. Uh-huh. The amount of money that a doctor has to pay to keep their registration, like, is is insane. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:15

It's just like it's like you're not.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

And the same for us as nurses, we have to pay a registration fee every year. And that's to prove that we are we we have met the minimum requirements of continuing professional development and also that we are maintaining um, you know, credible practice that we've studied.

SPEAKER_00 35:37

Yeah, that's I think that just gives people that that extra level of confidence, and maybe then you don't feel like you need to investigate further because you're like, okay, they have that credibility. But at the moment with neitropathy, I would encourage you to investigate because there is not, there just is not that level of um credibility yet amongst all naturopaths.

SPEAKER_01 36:00

How much of a presence did you realise you needed to have on social media for your business?

SPEAKER_00 36:10

So at the start I knew that I was going to have to have a little bit, and I think it excited me. And then as when it was when I was at uni, it was more of a hobby, so that was fun. And then when I first graduated, it started to scare me a bit because I felt like it was only to market, which for me felt a little bit soulless, and like I, as you would know, I'm not really someone that can do things like in a robot robotic manner, like it has to come from authentic and natural. It has to feel authentic, it has to feel natural, and I cannot feel like I'm trying to sell something to someone. So because I've only been a natural path now for two years, that first year last year was really hard for me because I felt like I just constantly had to be putting out content to stay relevant to so people would essentially book in with me, which felt gross to me, really. Like I really was trying to find that fine line. But then this year's rolled around and I think I found my spark again, and I've really enjoyed sharing what I share now. And at the end of the day, I just love I love being on social media. Like I love showing what I'm eating, I love showing how I live my life, I love showing when I get a good result from a call.

SPEAKER_01 37:30

Well, and I think you said something just literally before about marketing yourself, but it's not about that. It's actually about you building trust and community. Yeah, it's about you building trust with the people that are about to trust you with their health. Yeah, exactly. And they want to know who you're doing, how you're helping your own health, yeah, what you're supporting yourself with. Yeah. Um, and I think when you change your mindset with that stuff, it just helps so much in terms of how you are portraying yourself in social media. Yeah. Or on social media. Like you would have probably when you first started, like you felt like you had to market yourself or market like like you know, sell yourself to these clients, potential clients. But now what it is is it's actually you're building upon the client base you have and you're showing them, well, hey, you're going through this this um journey to, and so am I.

SPEAKER_00 38:39

Yeah, so am I. Yeah, and I think that is the beautiful thing. It's like another thing I thought when I first graduated is when you're a naturopath, you have to be the healthiest person, and you can have nothing wrong with you. And because you're a naturopath, everything should be solved. Like, I remember being out one time and I had acne on my neck because I was really stressed and I was like, oh my god, I'm a naturopath. Like, how could I have acne on my neck? Honestly, it got to that extent. And I think it was the same with social media. Like, I felt like I had to show up in like this perfect way, but now it's like the complete opposite. I'm like, I want you to see how fucking absolutely weird and freaking menic that can be. And but you can still live like a healthy and aligned life, but be crazy.

SPEAKER_01 39:22

Like, I want to- Yeah, well, it's all about balance, really, isn't it? Oh, 100%. Like everything in life is literally about balance.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

Yeah, everything.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

And that's my like you can't always be just this healthy, healthy, healthy person. Like, you've gonna have times when you do have moments of indulgence, and that's so fucking fun.

SPEAKER_00 39:43

And that's fine, and that's fun, and that's all part of a like a healthy life. And I always I think when I used to struggle with the extremist approach, I always used to look at like maybe I glorified a little bit, but like the more European cultures have like they all there's certain cultures that live, you know, well into their hundreds without autoimmune conditions or without any illness, and you know, they're drinking wine a lot of the time, they're eating bread, they're you know, they're doing all of these things, but like everything they do is in balance, and you know, if they have a the opportunity, for instance, to take the stairs or take the lift, they'll take the stairs. Like it's those little micro activities in your everyday that make a difference. It's not yeah, making sure you do everything to 100% 24-7 because that's a fucking boring life. Yeah, we don't know. I don't want boring, I want fun. Um, but I think I went off on a tangent there. We sort of did, but that's okay. Really in social media. Social media. But yeah, now I would say it's fun, and the weeks that I'm not feeling it, I just don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 40:52

Like I'm not And that's so good, and I think that's a really good point to make to anyone who is creating content or has a small business, even if it's not in neuropathy, even if it's just a side little side thing you're doing. Or like us, for example, with Mood Swing, sometimes if we can't do it, we just don't get it out. You know, like the content. We still make a lot of effort each week to show up and do these episodes every week, and like you still show up to neuropathy, but like you might just not have a regimented schedule on like what you post, and sometimes you just post in the heat of like in this in the heat of the moment, you're like, oh, this feels really, really good. I need to do this now.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

They're the posts, the the ones that aren't thought through, they're a little bit messy, they're a little, they're very authentic. 100% they're always the posts that get the most engagement, the most love, the most the most cracking.

SPEAKER_01 41:50

Crazy that we look at engagement and all that stuff, because I mean it it shouldn't matter, but it 100% matters from a business perspective. It's nice to know what people like.

SPEAKER_00 42:00

100% and it's so funny the clinic I work in, she was like testing something and she put up this like stupid reel just to see how much engagement it got in comparison to, say, like this very thought-out scripted thing she did. And I shoot you not, the funny reel got like fucking five times the amount her scripted reel did. Yeah. It's cra it's social media is a crazy world. That's why I think like as much as having a presence and having your authentic flair, you know, don't give it a hundred percent of your time because it's a fucking beast that changes 24-7.

SPEAKER_01 42:31

Oh I mean why don't you think we've got it? Sorry, done with keeping up with the algorithm. Like fuck the algorithm.

SPEAKER_00 42:38

I'm just gonna post what I want. I don't care. Like, it's this is me and the people that align with you will will will stay around. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 42:47

Um, so I've got a little bit of a fire round, just just to ask you some fun, fun little things. Um, what is your favorite herb right now?

SPEAKER_00 43:00

Green tea. Green tea. Green tea is my favorite herb. I've been giving it to nearly everyone. It's great for digestion, blood sugar balance. Um, it's antimicrobial.

SPEAKER_01 43:12

Not just any green tea though, right?

SPEAKER_00 43:14

Well, it is green, it's a liquid extract of green tea, but also green tea drinking, yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 43:20

Like organic green tea, or are we talking like bushels or well?

SPEAKER_00 43:25

I would always have a preference for anything organic. Get what you can, but like organic would always be gold standard in anything, to be honest. Um, but yeah, organic. But I uh when I'm referring to green tea, I'm mainly referring to the the liquid as a whole. Yeah. So I'm giving it to girls at the moment with acne, bacterial overgrowth.

SPEAKER_01 43:46

Acne and bacterial overgrowth. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 43:48

Because it's antimicrobial. Wow, look at that. Yeah, and also has prebiotic um prebiotic function in the gut. So not only is it killing the bad guys, but it's bringing out the good guys. We love killing the bad guys, bringing up the good guys. That's my favorite balance. We love that balance. Green tea. Green tea is definitely my star student at the moment. That will change in a few weeks, but green tea's been gone out like hot cakes.

SPEAKER_01 44:13

Perfect. And and how often does your favorite herb change?

SPEAKER_00 44:19

It's really weird. Like I'm sure you see it at in the hospital, and I've seen it in every shop I've ever worked in. Things come in waves. So at the moment, I see a lot of the same cases, a lot of the same cases, a lot of the same cases. When that starts to shift, I'm assuming then my herb will start to shift. Shadavari, because I was seeing so many perimetapausal, menopausal women, a lot of people with low libido, a lot of mums breastfeeding. So then we're looking at Shadavari. Shadavari, I feel like, is always like my number one.

SPEAKER_01 44:55

Like that's your that's your number one, like for through and through.

SPEAKER_00 44:57

Through and through.

SPEAKER_01 44:58

Like she Like that's that's where you always go back to.

SPEAKER_00 45:01

Yeah, I love her. But green tea is just a little bit more specific.

SPEAKER_01 45:06

On trend. Yeah, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And well, you've sort of, I don't know, I guess this one's gonna be a hard one for you because that you just said that your favourite herb right now is green tea. Yeah. But are you a coffee or a tea girly?

SPEAKER_00 45:24

Oh, I'm coffee. Coffee. I'm coffee. I'm coffee because I just freaking love it. It gives me a boost of energy in the morning. But if I was going to go like objectively health, I'd obviously have to go tea. Like tea would be healthier, but no, I'm a coffee girl. Give me that coffee in the morning. It makes me so productive. Like, coffee just puts me in that in that zone. Like I can just I can get shit done. From the moment I wake up till 2 p.m. with that one cup of coffee. Like, don't mess with me. Don't mess with me. I am I am I'm locked in. I'm locked in.

SPEAKER_01 46:01

Okay, do you have any uh final comments?

SPEAKER_00 46:07

Um final comments. Final comments. I think just yeah, if you haven't tasted a liquid herbal, get on it because I feel like they'll change your life.

SPEAKER_01 46:18

Is there anything that you could suggest like as a generalized approach for a liquid herbal before they did do like more individualized? Is there anything on the market right now that someone could get into or not really?

SPEAKER_00 46:36

Um there's probably a lot, but in all honesty, we do a tonic consult at our clinic, so you can just do a quick little half an hour consult and get yourself a tonic. There you go. And actually at Tonic Co. you can buy tonics on our website. So you can go if you just want to have a little a little look through there. There's some beautiful, already made-up tonics that you can you could just purchase without a consult. So love. There you go. We love to hear it.

SPEAKER_01 47:03

Well, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful knowledge and insight into the world of neitropathy and how it has been for you in terms of business. Um do you know where you're you're looking at going in terms of growing? Like, where's what's the next step for you?

SPEAKER_00 47:22

Just keep learning, learning, learning, learning, more learning, more learning.

SPEAKER_02 47:26

Swimming, just swimming.

SPEAKER_00 47:29

We swim, swim, swim, swim, swim. And also if you get like I will say one thing, like I it makes me so happy when I get feedback from everyone saying how good they feel or like how good their period was. So like if you've been in a tonic from me and you feel good, fucking message me. Is that like that's true hype girl energy? This is I love it. Like, I actually like have a little dance around the house where I'm like, perhaps are working. Perhaps I'm working. Like, so if you've had a good experience, please let me know. It's it makes it makes what we do just ten times more worth it. Like, I just love, love, love, love to hear your positive experiences. Oh, that's so good.

SPEAKER_01 48:09

Well, thank you. Love always chatting to you gals and guys, and we just can't wait to chat again. We'll be back on the pod next week. I think next week's episode, well, we you know what, we actually haven't really planned much for these last few episodes. It's been really we've just been planning them week by week.

SPEAKER_00 48:32

Yeah, which is exciting.

SPEAKER_01 48:33

Um, so yeah, watch this space. We might do something that's a little bit more like in real time.

SPEAKER_00 48:40

Or if you have a suggestion on a topic that we you would like us to speak on, that could be fun as well. So if you have a suggestion, please let us know.

SPEAKER_01 48:48

Yeah, hit that fan mail. Yeah, we've been waiting. Because we see all of you listening to us. Yeah, but we literally see the stats. So we know you're listening.

SPEAKER_00 48:57

But we would we would like you to talk to us.

SPEAKER_01 48:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:00

We don't want to keep refreshing our empty inbox. Every week, no fan mail.

SPEAKER_02 49:08

When our first we're gonna be like, oh my god. Oh my god, it's gonna be so hot. Alright, love you. Love you, bye.