Animari Wellness is built with the wisdom and intuition from a background in Nursing and Neuroscience, courage and curiosity, and a deep desire to help people heal themselves. But deep healing begins with yourself.

In 2019 I was living my dream as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Neuroscience Nursing. I had just helped open a Neurocritical Care Unit and was working with incredible teams. But as healthcare shifted toward business and away from people, the pandemic amplified that change. By Fall 2021, the weight of what I’d witnessed through changes in Nursing and patient care became unbearable: I couldn’t go into the hospital. I drove home and began to listen to what I’d been ignoring.

A small curiosity for backyard foraging and a chance viewing of the Fantastic Fungi Summit  opened a new world. I dove into plant and earth medicines, ancestral wisdom, reiki, breathwork, and somatic practices. Slowly I felt myself untangle from a rigid, solely evidence-based way of being and make room for other ways of knowing. Healing became personal: a Hawthorn initiation and transformational breathwork released a 50-year nail-biting habit and shifted stuck energy in my nervous system. A vision board and work with a mentor helped illuminate a path.

I leaned into simpler, joyful living by teaching nurses breath techniques, offering reiki sessions, spending time outside and connecting with plant spirits and my own inner wisdom.  I completed an 18-month psychedelic practitioner training and traveled to train in Costa Rica. In December 2023, I resigned from the hospital and stepped into a life aligned with my heart. I took a year off for traveling to learn from plant elders and teachers in the U.S., Brazil, and Portugal, and connected with my local community; working at a local farm store and with my husband’s tree service.

In 2025 I founded Animari Wellness, named for animare, “to give life,” and in loving memory of my friend, Marianne Markwell. I’m grateful to hold space for others as they return to wholeness, bringing curiosity, humility, and a blend of holistic healing experience and plant-centered, heart-led practice.