Megan’s story
Hi and welcome… my name is Megan, and I’m the co-founder of the SIow Medicine Collective. I’m a mother, a wife, a writer, an herbalist, a nutritionist, an advocate, and a healer. I spend most of my working hours helping people who are struggling to navigate the hormonal shifts that come with perimenopause and menopause, fertility issues, and unexplained chronic illnesses that is often due to emotional and physical trauma. I help people heal their complex relationships with what it is to be healthy while simultaneously helping them recover from overexposure to the cesspool of the wellness industry. My path to slow medicine has been long and winding, with many missteps, trips, and massive falls.
When chronic health conditions arise due to complex trauma, one quickly realizes they can either heed the call and do the work of healing or continue down a path that will likely result in even bigger physiological ailments. Our bodies are truly incredible communicators when we take the time to slow down and listen.
I have been told my entire life that I’m a safe person to be with, deeply intuitive, and wise beyond my years. The degree to which I am these things is not because I was born with magic powers; it’s because I was traumatized in many different ways growing up. Complex PTSD is a beast, and it’s especially hard when you don’t realize that this is what you are struggling with (I will write more about the physiological impacts of CPTSD in future posts). The trauma I experienced resulted in many health issues, multiple major surgeries, surgical menopause at age 38, and not knowing how to take care of my body for the first 38 years of my life. I’ve always been able to help others (that’s been my job since I was born, basically), but to take care and choose myself and my wellbeing? That’s been a new skill— one I’ve discovered goes far beyond choosing the right foods, herbs, and supplements.
Throughout the last 12 years of working as a practitioner, I’ve had the great honor of being hand trained by one of the greatest functional nutrition experts in the field, Andrea Nakayama. Not everyone has the opportunity to be mentored like I was, and I am forever thankful. I received my Master's Degree in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Bridgeport in 2019. I’ve done countless certification trainings over the many years as a practitioner, and at this point, I have worked with hundreds of 1:1 clients to explore what their body needs to take the next step in their healing journey. Over the years, I’ve developed the confidence and skill not to shy away from cases that may seem more complicated, and I can go where ever a client needs to go.
At this point in my career, though I still work with a limited number of 1:1 clients, my passion is teaching and mentoring health coaches, herbalists, nutritionists, therapists, and others who work in the art of healing. The practitioner mentorship pathway we offer helps practitioners to step into their calling, releasing all the things they THINK they need and implementing the core principles of what it is to be an embodied, present, and regulated practitioner who is deeply in their integrity with the services they are providing for their clients.
I am forever committed to the art and practice of healing, not just for me but for my children Oskar and Gus, my husband James, my beautiful friends, and all the clients and students I’m blessed to work with. It takes work, SO much work, and it is through this deep work that the Slow Medicine collective was birthed.
Together Christina and I are offering a new way to look at what it is to heal and work with nutrition and lifestyle modifications. The Slow Medicine Collective is a sanctuary for both clients and practitioners to explore new ways to ignite the inner fire within so that we can FIRST prioritize our own exploration of healing. Remember, the medicine you have to offer is the medicine you yourself have explored and worked with, I know this because I have lived this and while we can skate by on the fumes of disembodied action steps when it comes to diet and lifestyle, our work in this world needs to be fueled by full tanks. And the ONLY one who will fill your tank, is YOU.
With love,
Megan Liebmann-Gudat