Some conversations change how you think about healing. This one with ER Nurse turned Herbalist, Heather Shelton is one of those conversations that make you want to go deeper. Tune in, through the podcast below. 

Heather has one of those presences that makes you feel instantly safe. The kind of person you'd want beside you in your most vulnerable moments. And as it turns out, that's exactly what she does, holding space for people as they work through trauma with the support of psilocybin and plant medicine.

We met on our mutual birthday years ago, both digging roots on an herb farm. In this conversation, she shares her journey from medical trauma as a patient to becoming a nurse, discovering herbalism at 21, and eventually stepping into psychedelic facilitation work.

The day Heather and I met (our birthday) at a mutual friends herb farm!
We both opted to go dig up roots to celebrate ourselves.
Talk about kindred spirits! 

When the Plants Become Your Teachers

After meeting a midwife and naturopath in Oregon who introduced her to herbal medicine, Heather moved to Vermont where she didn't have access to teachers anymore.

That's when she learned directly from the plants themselves.

"I realized I need to know how to use what grows around me," she shares. "I don't want to have to rely on herbs coming from somewhere else in the world because what happens when they can't get here?"

She completed Rosemary Gladstar's Science and Art of Herbalism correspondence course at home with young kids, learning by doing, by sitting with the plants, by letting them teach her.

If you've ever wondered whether you can truly learn herbalism without a teacher standing beside you, Heather's journey is proof that the plants themselves are some of the best teachers we'll ever have.

From Nursing to Psilocybin Facilitation

During COVID, Heather was working with at-home ketamine experiences, helping people explore psychedelic therapy. She saw real shifts, but kept coming back to a preference for natural medicine over synthetic when possible.

So she did something bold. She sent an email to a local ketamine clinic: "Hi, I'm the nurse you didn't know you needed."

Within weeks, she was part of the team. When her therapist colleague applied for Oregon's first psilocybin service center license, they received it. Suddenly, Heather was facilitating legal psilocybin sessions, helping people work through depression, anxiety, trauma, and grief.

What Actually Happens in a Psilocybin Session

She shared a story about an older gentleman with significant PTSD who was terrified to take the mushrooms. He'd been building up to it for months. When the day came, he was shaking, sweating, convinced something terrible would happen.

Heather stayed calm. She held space. She reminded him he was safe, that he could choose not to take them, and that she'd be right there the entire time.

He chose to go forward.

For five hours, he sat in his chair repeating: "I cannot believe how good I feel. I've never felt this good before. I can't believe I've been worrying about all that stuff for all these years."

The mushrooms gave him permission to step back and see his life from a different perspective. To recognize that the things he'd been carrying weren't worth his life force and energy.

Understanding Purging and Release

When people think about psilocybin, they often think about vomiting. But as Heather explains, purging takes many forms.

Tears are the most common. But it can also be laughter, movement, tremoring (a trauma release response), or talking.

"I do a lot of listening," she says. "Especially with older men who grew up in families that didn't talk about emotional things. Sometimes talking is the purge they need."

The goal isn't to have a specific type of experience. The goal is to allow whatever needs to move through the body to move.

The Science: Default Mode Network and Expanded Awareness

When psilocybin converts to psilocin in the body, it crosses the blood-brain barrier and quiets something called the default mode network. This is the part of our brain that filters out what it deems unimportant so we're not overwhelmed by every stimulus.

When that network quiets, other parts of the brain that don't normally communicate suddenly start talking to each other. The result is expanded awareness.

"Once you've sat with psilocybin for five hours and watched the plants breathe, now you know it," Heather explains. "It's a knowing. There's no question. Plants breathe. And once your awareness has expanded and you recognize new things, you always know those things now."

That awareness doesn't go away. It becomes part of how you see and move through the world.

Everyday Nervous System Herbs

While psilocybin offers deep transformation, Heather is still very much an herbalist who works with everyday plant allies.

Lemon balm is one of her favorites. It's relaxing without being sedating, uplifting without being stimulating. Kids love it. Adults love it. It helps with nervous tummies and tension throughout the body.

Motherwort is her go-to for the heavy, heart-pounding anxiety that makes your chest feel tight. It's grounding and helps you feel like you can handle what's in front of you.

Chamomile is gentle, accessible, and works beautifully for kids and adults alike. It supports both the gut and the nervous system (which, as Heather points out, are deeply connected).

These plants aren't just supplements. They're allies. Teachers. Supporters in the ongoing work of tending to our nervous systems.

The Art of Holding Space

Throughout this conversation, what struck me most was Heather's calm, grounded presence. Even talking about intense moments, medical emergencies, people in crisis, she maintains this steady energy.

"My energy affects what's going on around me," she explained. "That's true for all of us. Our energy affects what's going on around us because we are part of the environment."

She learned this early from the midwife who trained her: never let them see you sweat.

It's not about pretending everything's fine. It's about being the calm, steady presence that allows someone else to feel whatever they need to feel without having to manage your emotions too.

This is exactly what Heather teaches as a guest instructor in the Community Herbalist Certification & Mentorship Program. She guides students through the art of holding space, conducting herbal intake sessions, and showing up with confidence when people need you most. Her grounded wisdom is everything a budding herbalist needs to feel ready to serve their community.

Teaching the Next Generation

Near the end of our conversation, we talked about teaching kids to trust their intuition. Heather emphasized how important it is for young people to recognize that gut feeling, that inner knowing, before the world teaches them to ignore it.

She shared wisdom from raising three teenagers (and supporting many more): it's hard, but knowing you're the safe person they can call makes all the difference.

And yes, lots of nervines help. Motherwort for the parents. Chamomile for everyone.

Where to Find Heather

Heather teaches a summer apprenticeship program at Herb Song Farm in Eugene, Oregon, where she focuses on bioregional herbalism and learning directly from the plants in her garden.

She's also offering a Nervous System Herbs webinar where she'll dive deeper into chamomile, lemon balm, motherwort, and other supportive allies.

For psilocybin facilitation work, you can find her at Epic Healing Eugene.

And if you want to see her adorable dog Winnie and hear whatever plant wisdom is coming through, check out her Walks with Winnie videos on Instagram @herbsongfarm (soon moving to YouTube).

Final Thoughts

This conversation reminded me that healing isn't always linear. Sometimes it's quiet work with gentle herbs. Sometimes it's profound transformation with mushrooms. Sometimes it's just having someone who can hold space without needing you to be anything other than exactly what you are in that moment.

Heather embodies all of it. And the world needs more herbalists like her.

If you're feeling called to this work, to becoming someone your community can trust in their most vulnerable moments, this episode will show you what's possible. And if you want to learn directly from herbalists like Heather who are actually doing this work in the world, the Community Herbalist Certification & Mentorship Program is where you'll find that kind of real, grounded guidance.