Dr. Rob Downey welcomes Benjamin Bressington for a wide-ranging conversation that goes far beyond the mushroom hype cycle and into lived experience, integrity, and true therapeutic potential. Benjamin traces his path into mushrooms through years spent navigating infertility and IVF, where he witnessed firsthand the physical and emotional toll of narrow, protocol-driven medicine. That disillusionment, combined with his own struggle with depression as a high-performing entrepreneur, led him to explore mushrooms as a tool for accessing buried trauma and restoring a sense of vitality that talk therapy alone never unlocked. The discussion then turns practical and deeply educational. Benjamin breaks down why caffeine creates a cycle of "borrowed energy" and crashes, while certain functional mushrooms support the body's natural energy systems more sustainably. He also exposes why many mushroom supplements fail—using clear analogies to explain the difference between fruiting bodies and mycelium, and why extraction methods matter so much. By unpacking spagyric extraction and microdosing concepts, this episode equips listeners to make informed, discerning choices in a rapidly growing (and often misleading) wellness space.

Time stamps

01:27–06:19 — Infertility, IVF, and disillusionment with conventional medicine 03:04–04:08 — Depression, trauma, and mushrooms as a catalyst for healing

08:43–10:12 — Caffeine crashes vs. clean, adaptogenic mushroom energy

18:12–24:08 — Fruiting bodies, extraction methods, and why most products fail

Key takeaways

• Caffeine often stimulates fake energy, while mushroom adaptogens support real, sustainable energy production.
• The therapeutic impact of mushrooms depends heavily on fruiting body sourcing and extraction quality.
• Many "high-dose" mushroom products are ineffective because they rely on mycelium and weak extraction methods.
• Ancient practices like spagyric extraction and microdosing offer insights that modern wellness often overlooks.

Get your free sample: https://checkout.bareremedy.net/energygummy1?event_id=1ecc8bda-7d0c-4db1-a6e7-850bf586a522

Heather Moon, our wonderful nurse practitioner here at Seaworthy, is taking over as host for this episode of The Field Notes Podcast!

She welcomes fellow NP, Marcia Mankin, whose lifelong passion for skin health began on a Wyoming ranch and deepened through profound personal experiences with melanoma in her family. Together, they explore something I wish more people understood: your skin isn't just a surface.

It's a living, intelligent messenger—constantly reflecting your internal health, your environment, your stress levels, your sleep quality, and even your emotional state. Marcia brings decades of surgical and clinical wisdom to this conversation, helping us see how skin changes often reveal what's happening before we see it anywhere else.

Heather and Marcia also unpack the lifestyle patterns that shape skin health—nutrition, movement, hydration, sun exposure, and daily habits—and they shine a light on popular aesthetic trends that may do more harm than good. It's an empowering, science-grounded discussion that reminds us that the fundamentals matter far more than quick fixes. If you've ever wondered why your skin suddenly looks dull, inflamed, puffy, reactive, or "off," this episode will help you understand the deeper story and make meaningful changes that support whole-body vitality.

5 Key Takeaways

• Your skin is often the first place deeper issues—autoimmune, inflammatory, emotional, or organ-related—show up.

• Whole foods, adequate protein, hydration, and micronutrients directly support collagen, repair, and radiance.

• Stress, sleep quality, and emotional health influence the skin almost immediately—often within hours.

• Be cautious with trendy aesthetic procedures like PDO threads and injectable PDGF; research is limited, and risks include inflammation and scarring.

• The most powerful skin practices are simple: daily sunscreen, gentle cleansing, hydration, good sleep, and consistent care.

In this episode of the Fieldnotes podcast, Dr. Rob Downey interviews naturopathic doctor Sarah Love about why nutrition alone often fails to resolve modern health issues. Sarah explains that despite patients following excellent diets, chronic stress, lack of breaks, and sympathetic overdrive frequently block healing. She emphasizes the importance of intentional rest, reconnecting with nature, and stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system. Her clinical experience led her back to herbal medicine and the creation of her own caffeine-free tea blends designed to support relaxation, gut health, cognitive clarity, and daily rituals that restore vitality. The conversation highlights simple, "common-sense" lifestyle practices — like scheduled breaks, outdoor time, and herbal tea — as essential foundations for wellness.

Timestamps:
02:40 – Diet alone not healing patients.
04:54 – Break culture urgently needs revival.
06:43 – Breaks must be truly restorative.
13:48 – Herbal teas reintroduced into practice.
21:39 – Gut drives overall body health.

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Key Takeaways:
Breaks are essential for true healing.
Stress blocks digestion and vitality.
Nature exposure boosts parasympathetic activity.
Herbal teas support gut and mind.
Simple habits outperform complex interventions.