I always knew I wanted meaningful work. I found it helping women build vibrant health from the ground up so they don’t just feel good, they flourish & thrive.
No more excuses. No more putting yourself your last. You deserve better & your family needs you at your best.
I’m Amanda Mays. A foundational medicine practitioner and educator, mama, book nerd, and possibilitarian.
Give me a slow morning, a cup of coffee & my journal, houseplants, family dinners, long walks with my dog, knitting while watching a British murder mystery, and I am one very content girl.
It takes spunk to show up for yourself, to realize that one size most definitely does not fit all where your health is concerned. And it takes courage to advocate for yourself & your health.
My Story
I started showing up in the online space when I was pregnant with my third child (she’s now in law school) and began a blog to document my days. The blog was mostly about being a crunchy mama, knitting, and homeschooling. Sharing my writing and connecting with a community of women felt like the best kind of meaningful “work” and it filled me with a desire to do something more, something purposeful.
For years I suffered with anxiety, digestive issues, Hashimoto’s, inflammation, unpredictable periods, and restrictive eating. I quietly suffered through the frustration of symptoms. I have been deeply disappointed by doctors who told me, “Your labs look normal,” and then dismissed my concerns.
I have been in that dark place where it seems like you’ll never feel like yourself again, that you’ll never have the energy to do more than just survive. This is why I am passionate about educating and empowering women to reclaim and restore their vitality.
Despite growing up in a home that fully embraced Western medicine, I have always been interested in natural health. As an undergrad, I began learning under a beloved crinkly-eyed curandera who taught me of the power in the land, the sun, and the plants. She planted a seed but navigating the stresses of undergrad, then grad school, and my own health struggles, I neglected her teachings.
With my first pregnancy, many of my symptoms went away and I felt great. I was, however, wholly unprepared for the postpartum experience. No matter how I tried, I could not reconcile the exhaustion, whole body aches, and feelings of hopelessness I was experiencing with the image of motherhood I had envisioned.
I began to nurture the seed that had been planted years before as I soaked up knowledge about ancestral diets, eating to nourish mother and baby, maternal nutrient depletion, the importance of a nervous system that is functioning optimally, and most importantly I learned that women are not made to go through matrescence without a support system to nurture and nourish them physically, mentally, and spiritually.
I nourished my body with nutrient-dense foods. I committed to getting outside daily. I learned to rest (quite possibly my steepest learning curve). I rebuilt my foundations, one small change by one small change until I not only felt better, but I felt like me again. And once I felt like myself again, I was able to fully immerse myself in the busyness and fullness of motherhood. For the first time in years, I felt like I was thriving and went on to have three more children (that makes a total of six), all “geriatric” pregnancies (my last child was born when I was 42).
At 18-months-old, one of my children experienced a regression in movement & speech, then quickly developed a severe peanut & tree nut allergy and eczema. Despite being diagnosed with developmental apraxia and later diagnosed with autism, we worked on foundational health—diet modifications, healing and repairing the gut, multiple therapies (and lots & lots of love). It took work but this child began to speak again, no longer has an autism diagnosis no longer has peanut or tree nut allergies, no longer has eczema, and is now a teenager living a very full life.
I hope my story gives you a glimpse into how foundational medicine became the cornerstone of my health and my something purposeful. I could not have anticipated that educating, empowering, and supporting women on their wellness journey would become the impactful work I was seeking but it has and I’m grateful for the lessons I learned along the way.
CREDENTIALS
Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner with the American Association For Drugless Practitioners (HHP)
Integrative Health Practitioner, Level 2 (IHP)
Mind Body Spirt Release Practitioner™ (MBSR-PRO)
MBCE Functional Blood Chemistry