Field Notes: An Exploration of Functional Medicine

What if the way you manage your money isn't all that different from the way you manage your health? In this episode of Field Notes, host Heather Moon sits down with financial planner Tanner Link for a fascinating conversation about the surprising parallels between financial wellness and functional medicine. Just like chronic health issues rarely start with symptoms alone, financial stress often st...

What if burnout isn't the price of success—but proof you're doing success wrong? In this powerful conversation, Garrett Wood shares the heartbreaking story that transformed his understanding of achievement, stress, and identity. Drawing from his work in hypnotherapy, nervous system regulation, and executive well-being coaching, Garrett explains why grit, hustle, and pushing harder eventually fail—...

Most athletes spend countless hours training their bodies, but what if the biggest factor holding them back is something they rarely train at all? In this insightful episode of Field Notes, sports psychologist and former Olympic ski coach Andy Liebner reveals why mental performance may be just as important as physical preparation. Drawing from his own journey as an elite athlete, coach, and PhD ca...

In this powerful episode of Field Notes, Heather Moon sits down with Jenny Loudon, co-founder of the Alaska Eating Disorders Alliance, for a compassionate and eye-opening conversation about the reality of eating disorders. Jenny explains why these illnesses are so often misunderstood, overlooked, or minimized — especially when someone does not "look sick." The discussion explores how eating disord...

Season 5 of the Field Notes podcast continues with a thoughtful conversation hosted by Heather Moon, who is stepping into a larger hosting role this season with her signature warmth, curiosity, and whole-person approach to health. In this episode, Heather sits down with returning guest and Alaska-based personal trainer Heidi Cox to explore what fitness really looks like when it's aligned with real...

What if the headaches, fatigue, brain fog, poor sleep, allergies, or "mysterious symptoms" you've been chasing for years aren't just about food, supplements, or stress… but the environment inside your own home? In this fascinating episode of the Field Notes podcast, Dr. Rob Downey and Joe Rignola dive into the emerging concept of "functional medicine for the home" — exploring how air quality, ligh...

In this fascinating episode of Field Notes, Dr. Rob Downey sits down with Dr. Shawn Talbott to unpack the powerful connection between the gut and the brain—and why your microbiome may have far more influence over your mental fitness than most people realize.  Together, they explore how gut bacteria can affect stress resilience, mood, sleep, motivation, and even cognitive clarity through pathways i...

In this fascinating episode of Field Notes, Dr. Rob Downey sits down with Greg Lee—a former NASA systems engineer turned acupuncturist and chronic illness specialist—to explore a radically integrative approach to complex health conditions. Drawing from decades of clinical experience, Greg explains how hidden drivers like mold toxicity, stealth infections, nervous system dysregulation, inflammation...

In this powerful episode of Field Notes, Dr. Rob sits down with Christine Ruch to explore one of the most overlooked pieces of true healing: the nervous system. Christine shares her own journey from being diagnosed with MS and doing everything "right" in the world of diet, supplements, and holistic health—yet still getting sicker—until she discovered that deeper healing required more than a perfec...

This episode of Field Notes, hosted by Nurse Practitioner Heather Moon, explores the often-overlooked intersection between functional medicine and spirituality through a deeply human conversation with hospital chaplain Frank Alioto. Together, they move beyond protocols and lab results to examine how meaning, connection, and presence shape the healing process just as much as biology. Frank shares p...

In this powerful Field Notes episode, Dr. Rob Downey sits down with Dr. Jeff Brown to unpack a topic that far too many women have been told to simply endure: painful periods, hormone imbalance, and the deeper systemic issues driving their symptoms.  Dr. Brown shares his journey from conventional medicine into functional and regenerative care, explaining why he became frustrated with symptom manage...

In this episode of Field Notes, Dr. Rob sits down with functional health practitioner Kim Heintz to explore the long and frustrating journey that led her from chronic illness to vibrant health.    Kim shares how debilitating migraines that began in childhood eventually spiraled into anxiety, fatigue, brain fog, and digestive issues—symptoms that conventional medicine struggled to explain or resolv...

In this Field Notes conversation, Dr. Rob Downey sits down with speech-language pathologist and holistic feeding specialist, Lena Livinsky to reframe "picky eating" as a whole-body, whole-family issue—less about willpower or "bad behavior," and more about safety, biology, skills, and environment. Lena shares how conventional feeding therapy often over-focuses on behavior, and how working through h...

In this episode of Field Notes, Dr. Rob Downey sits down with integrative psychiatric provider Dr. Josh Waddell to unpack mental health through a functional medicine lens—moving beyond symptom labels and "chemical imbalance" shortcuts to ask what's actually driving anxiety, depression, and emotional instability in the first place. Dr. Waddell lays out a clear roadmap for understanding mental illne...

In this episode of Field Notes, Dr. Rob Downey sits down with Dr. Jen Mann to talk about one of the most frustrating (and common) experiences in modern health care: the "mystery illness" — the symptoms that don't fit neatly into a diagnosis, and the exhaustion that comes from chasing answers. Instead of defaulting to more tests, more protocols, or another "perfect stack," Dr. Jen invites a differe...

In this powerful episode of Field Notes—hosted by Nurse Practitioner Heather Moon—we're joined by Mary Ellen Doty, NP, a pioneer in wilderness medicine and founder of Wilderness Medical Staffing. Mary Ellen shares gripping stories from serving as the sole medical provider in some of the most remote and unforgiving environments on earth, including Bush Alaska, where medicine is practiced not by pro...

In this powerful episode of Field Notes, Dr. Rob Downey sits down with Dr. Chloe Weber for a deeply human conversation at the intersection of functional medicine, Chinese medicine, and lived experience. Dr. Weber shares how her son's rare neurological condition became the catalyst for her life's work—pushing her beyond the limits of conventional care and into the ecosystem-based wisdom of Chinese...

What if the missing link behind stubborn hormone issues, mood swings, fatigue, and digestive chaos isn't your hormones at all—but your gut? In this powerful Field Notes conversation, Dr. Rob Downey sits down with nutritionist and gut-health expert Jacqui Meehan to unpack the deeply personal story that led her from chronic illness to healing, and why the microbiome is the true cornerstone of vibran...

In this deeply moving episode of Field Notes, Dr. Rob Downey sits down with Veronique Ory to explore the powerful intersection of embodiment, trauma, and healing. Veronique shares how lived experiences—especially those shaped by early life, intergenerational trauma, and unexpressed emotion—are stored in the body, influencing our health, behavior, and sense of safety long after the original events...

In this  Field Notes  conversation, Dr. Rob Downey sits down with  Dr. Avinish Reddy  to explore a powerful but often overlooked truth about longevity:  social connection isn't a "nice to have" — it's a biological necessity . While modern health culture fixates on metrics like VO₂ max, glucose, sleep scores, and diet precision, Dr. Reddy explains how meaningful relationships directly shape stress...

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 disillusionme...

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 jus...

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...

In this episode of the Fieldnotes podcast, Dr. Downey interviews Natalie Lund and opens up about her unexpected journey through perimenopause and how it forced her to rewrite long-held beliefs about her body and identity. She shares how she experienced medical gaslighting when her symptoms were dismissed, and how she found real relief through hormone therapy and the mindset-shifting technique of r...

In this episode of the Fieldnotes Podcast , Dr. Rob Downey speaks with Dr. Marissa Heisel—a chiropractor and midwife—about the importance of trusting our body's innate wisdom and recognizing that true healing begins from within. She shares how modern society, particularly for women, has conditioned us to depend on external authorities rather than our own intuition. Through her experiences in chiro...