We had the good fortune of connecting with Emily Listmann and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
As with many healing professionals, my business was born from my own healing journey. I was chronically stressed and suffering from autoimmune diseases, cancer, IBS, and more. I was burnt out in my job and stuck in an anxious state of mind.

I spent years on a mission to heal. In my desperation I fell for quite a few “snake oil” health ploys. But as I gathered information about healing, I started to notice a pattern in the difference in human health pre- vs. post- Industrial Revolution. I was shocked to find that most of our chronic health problems today arise from post-Industrial Revolution stressors and toxins. I began to implement a more ancestral/pre-industrial way of living, with mindful practices to soothe my burnt-out nervous system. Two months in, I felt better than I had in years. One year in, my diseases were almost completely in remission. And I couldn’t not share these healing practices with others. It felt like a moral imperative for me to help people who had been similarly suffering to me, and to guide them toward more balance and peace.

I knew my evolutionary philosophy to healing was quite niche, and after obtaining my health coach certification I could not find institutions to work for who mirrored my beliefs about healing. It became clear that I needed to start my own business to have the freedom to help people in this unique way.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I help others heal naturally from both physical and mental imbalances. I call this approach “evolutionary healing:” relying on how our bodies and minds evolved over millions of years to guide our health and lifestyle practices.

Many of us who are experiencing health issues turn to flashy commodities or “magic pills” that promise to solve all our health problems. Yet to restore equilibrium, we actually need to go in the opposite direction of all the modern wellness fads. To heal, we honor our evolutionary history– how human bodies operated for 99% of our existence. Because you simply can’t beat evolution.

In my Natural Healing Coaching Program, my clients learn about the 12 Tenets to Evolutionary Healing. A couple examples of those are: Purifying and Replenishing Water, Harnessing the Sun, and Reducing Toxins in Body Care. I also work with clients one-on-one for personalized coaching to support them in implementing practices we learn. I know how hard it can be to go it alone on a healing journey– in fact, I think it’s nearly impossible not to have support.

Seeing this approach help people again and again brings me so much joy– and affirmation that a return to natural, evolutionary balance is the surest path to healing.

For me personally, implementing this evolutionary healing approach means I can finally tune out all the wellness noise and ploys and trust my body’s natural healing processes. I know that I will never have to go back to the debilitating health issues I struggled with for so many years, and I want that same thing for all my clients.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The work of Marysia Miernowska and her School of the Sacred Wild contains so much incredible wisdom about healing. She is so attuned to the cycles and energy of nature, and how developing intimacy with these calms our modern nervous systems. Her ideas have certainly helped shape my own approach to healing and working with plants.

Website: mindfulandwell.org

Instagram: mindfulandwell

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mindful-and-well-santa-cruz

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutHTX is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.