Homestead And Heal Podcast

What happens when you get to step away from your everyday life and experience the life you've been dreaming of?
In this episode of Homestead & Heal, Lindsay and Scott welcome special guest Elissa, a mother, caregiver, and self-proclaimed "country mouse" who has spent her life in Los Angeles dreaming of wide-open spaces, farm animals, and a deeper connection to the land.
After deciding to homeschool her son, Elissa began looking for opportunities to learn practical life skills together. When she discovered the Homestead & Heal Retreat, she knew it was exactly what she had been searching for.
Elissa and her son traveled from Los Angeles to rural Vermont for a week of hands-on homesteading experiences, connection with nature, and meaningful community.
From learning about food preservation and hunting to exploring the land, gathering with neighbors, and experiencing the rhythms of rural life, their stay offered something beyond a traditional getaway. It gave Elissa the opportunity to experience firsthand the lifestyle she hopes to create for herself and her son.
Together, Lindsay, Scott, and Elissa reflect on the beauty of slowing down, the importance of community, and what becomes possible when we step outside our familiar environments and reconnect with what matters most.
In this episode, we explore:
Elissa's journey from growing up in Los Angeles to dreaming of a homesteading lifestyle
How homeschooling inspired her to seek hands-on learning experiences for herself and her son
What it's really like to attend a Homestead & Heal Retreat in Vermont
Learning traditional skills like food preservation, hunting, and connecting with the land
The unexpected gift of finding genuine community and connection
How experiencing a different way of life can bring clarity to the future we're dreaming of
Finding gratitude in our current circumstances while continuing to pursue the life we desire
Whether you're dreaming of homesteading, curious about living closer to nature, or simply craving a slower, more intentional way of life, this conversation is an invitation to explore what's possible.
About Our Guest: Elissa
Elissa is a mother and caregiver who has worn many hats throughout her 40 years on Earth: daughter, Girl Scout, straight-A student, Marine, college graduate, registered nurse, wife, mother, divorcee, and birth worker.
Through the many versions of herself she's experienced, her journey has ultimately led her right back to who she is.
A self-proclaimed "country mouse" raised in Los Angeles, Elissa dreams of one day owning land, filling it with farm animals, and creating a life deeply connected to nature.
Experience Homestead & Heal for Yourself
Curious about what it would feel like to step away from your everyday routine and immerse yourself in life on a Vermont homestead?
Our Homestead & Heal Retreats offer the opportunity to reconnect with nature, learn practical homesteading skills, experience meaningful community, and create space for rest and reflection.
With personalized experiences and opportunities for hands-on learning, each retreat is designed to meet you where you are.
Explore our Homestead & Heal Retreats and discover what your own experience could look like.
www.homesteadandheal.net
Connect with Lindsay & Scott: 
To learn more about our retreats: www.homesteadandheal.net
Follow Homestead & Heal:  https://www.instagram.com/homestead.andheal/ 
Connected with Lindsay: https://www.instagram.com/lindsaycourcelle/
Connect with Scott: https://www.instagram.com/alchemygardens/

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What if becoming a powerful bodywork practitioner wasn't about memorizing more techniques, but learning to trust your hands, your intuition, and the wisdom of the body?

In this episode of the Homestead & Heal Podcast, I'm joined by my dear friend, colleague, and Fascia Alchemy co-teacher, Dani Granaroli, for a conversation about the art of intuitive bodywork, deep inner transformation, and what it means to truly listen to the body.

Dani is a bodyworker and coach whose work lives at the intersection of fascia, the nervous system, and deep inner change. Blending myofascial release, breathwork, intuitive bodywork, and transformational and shadow-based coaching, she helps people connect with the wisdom of their bodies, explore the patterns that keep them stuck, and cultivate greater trust, autonomy, and freedom within themselves.
Together, we explore our personal journeys into healing work, the importance of moving beyond rigid protocols, and how curiosity, intuition, and connection can open the door to profound transformation. We also discuss the power of creating spaces where people can meet the tender, uncomfortable, and often overlooked parts of themselves with greater compassion and radical approval.

We take you behind the scenes of our Fascia Alchemy Professional Bodywork Training, sharing how this unique approach combines hands-on learning, intuitive exploration, community, and ongoing mentorship to help practitioners develop confidence and discover their own art of working with the body.

In this episode, we explore:
Dani's personal journey into bodywork, coaching, and transformational healing.
The relationship between fascia, the nervous system, and the patterns we carry in our bodies.
Why learning to trust your hands and intuition is just as important as learning techniques.
Moving beyond rigid protocols to honor each person's unique experiences and needs.
The importance of curiosity, connection, and self-trust in the healing process.
How personal transformation and professional growth often unfold together.
Why intimate learning environments, mentorship, and integration are central to the Fascia Alchemy experience.
What makes Fascia Alchemy different from traditional bodywork trainings and what to expect from the upcoming program.

Upcoming Fascia Alchemy Professional Bodywork Training
Our 2027 training offers an intimate, hands-on learning experience designed to help you deepen your connection with the body, develop your intuitive skills, and grow into your own unique expression as a practitioner.
The program includes a three-day, in-person training in Rutland, Vermont, followed by eight months of ongoing mentorship, integration, and community support.

2027 Level 1 Training Dates:April 9–11, 2027
May 1–3, 2027

Whether you're an experienced bodyworker looking to expand your practice or someone feeling called to explore this work for the first time, Fascia Alchemy offers an opportunity to learn, grow, and discover what's possible when you begin to truly trust your hands.

Learn more about Fascia Alchemy: https://www.lindsaycourcelle.com/professionalbodyworktraining

Connect with Lindsay & Scott: 
To learn more about our retreats: www.homesteadandheal.net
Follow Homestead & Heal:  https://www.instagram.com/homestead.andheal/ 
Connected with Lindsay: https://www.instagram.com/lindsaycourcelle/
Connect with Scott: https://www.instagram.com/alchemygardens/

If you loved this episode - it would mean so much to leave us a review!

What if death isn't the end, love is what brings us back together, and the Earth holds the memories of everyone who came before us?
In this deeply moving episode of Homestead & Heal, Lindsay and Scott welcome Perdita Finn, author of Take Back the Magic and Mothers of Magic, and co-founder of The Way of the Rose, for a conversation about ancestral wisdom, reincarnation, our connection to the natural world, and the extraordinary mystery of being alive.
Together, they explore what it means to remember ourselves as part of the Earth rather than separate from it. Perdita shares stories about the enduring presence of our ancestors, the sacred cycles of life and death, and how our relationships with plants, animals, and the land can reconnect us with a much larger story.
From childhood memories and past lives to motherhood, grief, and the transformative power of love, this conversation is an invitation to embrace mystery, deepen our relationship with the living world, and remember that we are never truly alone.
In This Episode, We Explore:
The long story of our souls and what reincarnation can teach us about life and death
Reconnecting with our ancestors through the Earth, plants, animals, and everyday rituals
How our relationship with nature can transform the way we understand grief, mortality, and belonging
The sacred cycles of nourishment, death, and rebirth
Motherhood as an act of nurturing that extends beyond gender and biology
Childhood memories, ancestral wisdom, and the knowledge we may carry into this lifetime
The importance of rooting ourselves in place and cultivating generational connections to the land
How scent, soil, and embodied practices can deepen our connection to the natural world
Why love may be the force that brings us back to one another across lifetimes
About Perdita Finn
Perdita Finn is an author, teacher, and advocate for reconnecting with the wisdom of our ancestors and the magic of the natural world. Alongside her husband, Clark Strand, she co-founded The Way of the Rose, a spiritual fellowship rooted in the philosophy of "ecology, not theology." Together, they authored The Way of the Rose: The Radical Path of the Divine Feminine Hidden in the Rosary and are currently working on Circles Not Lines: Spiritual Community Beyond Patriarchy.
Drawing on years of study with Zen masters, spirit workers, healers, and psychic Susan Saxman, Perdita teaches workshops on Getting to Know the Dead, helping people reconnect with their ancestors and reclaim their intuitive wisdom.
Her books, including Take Back the Magic: Conversations with the Unseen World and Mothers of Magic: Summoning the Wisdom of Our Ancestors, explore our relationships with the unseen world, the enduring power of love, and the ancestral wisdom available to us.
Perdita lives with her family in the Catskill Mountains of New York, where her work continues to invite people into a deeper relationship with the Earth, their ancestors, and the mystery of existence.
Explore Perdita's work: wayoftherose.org
"Love is gravity. Love is how we find each other." — Perdita Finn

Connect with Lindsay & Scott: 
To learn more about our retreats: www.homesteadandheal.net
Follow Homestead & Heal:  https://www.instagram.com/homestead.andheal/ 
Connected with Lindsay: https://www.instagram.com/lindsaycourcelle/
Connect with Scott: https://www.instagram.com/alchemygardens/

If you loved this episode - it would mean so much to leave us a review!

What if becoming a good herbalist wasn't about knowing everything, but about slowing down, staying curious, and building a deeper relationship with the plants around you?
In this episode of Homestead & Heal, we're joined by longtime herbalist, educator, and plant enthusiast jim mcdonald for a beautiful conversation about making herbalism accessible, reconnecting with the natural world, and embracing the lifelong journey of learning from plants.
Jim shares how his herbal journey began with a book left behind by a roommate, the plants growing around his Michigan farmhouse, and a curiosity that never went away.
Together, we explore what it means to truly know a plant beyond memorizing its medicinal properties, why firsthand experience is such an important part of herbal education, and how we can release the pressure to know it all before sharing what we've learned.
We also dive into the mentors who shaped jim's path, the importance of learning at your own pace, sustainable wildcrafting, and the ways our relationships with plants continue to deepen and evolve over time.
In this episode, we explore:
How jim discovered herbalism and developed a lifelong connection with medicinal plants
Why herbalism should be accessible to everyone, not just experts
The difference between memorizing herbal information and truly understanding plants through experience
How mentorship and community can shape our growth as herbalists
The beauty of wildcrafting and developing an intimate relationship with the land
Why you don't need to know everything to become a knowledgeable, confident herbalist
How slowing down and staying curious can transform the way we learn
Passing down a connection to plants and herbal traditions to the next generation
Whether you're just beginning to explore herbalism or have been working with plants for years, this conversation is a reminder that there's no finish line when it comes to learning from nature.
The invitation is simply to stay curious, trust your experience, and keep building relationships with the plants growing all around you.
Connect with jim mcdonald:
Website: https://www.herbcraft.org
Explore jim's herbal writings, classes, educational videos, and online offerings through his website.

Connect with Lindsay & Scott: 
To learn more about our retreats: www.homesteadandheal.net
Follow Homestead & Heal:  https://www.instagram.com/homestead.andheal/ 
Connected with Lindsay: https://www.instagram.com/lindsaycourcelle/
Connect with Scott: https://www.instagram.com/alchemygardens/

If you loved this episode - it would mean so much to leave us a review!

What does it actually mean to have a healthy relationship with food?
In this episode, Lindsay and Scott sit down with Katrina — farmer, mother, food lover, and the woman behind Meaty Mama — for a conversation about food that goes far beyond what we should or shouldn't be eating.
Katrina shares her journey from growing up between Colombian, Finnish, and Canadian cultures, to studying geochemistry, landing on an organic farm, moving to France, and eventually building a farm and family of her own.
She also opens up about the evolution of her relationship with food — from years of plant-based eating to embracing meat and nutrient-dense foods, experimenting with more extreme approaches, and eventually realizing that eating the “right” foods was only one piece of the puzzle.
Because our relationship with food isn't only about what is on our plate.
It's also about how we feel when we eat.
The guilt. The restriction. The comfort. The pleasure. The stories we've inherited. The signals coming from our bodies. And the amount of mental space food can take up in our lives.
Together, we explore what it can look like to come back into a more connected, nourishing relationship with food — one rooted in quality ingredients, body awareness, pleasure, moderation, family culture, and the land itself.
We talk about:
• Katrina's Colombian + Finnish roots and the food memories that shaped her
• Going from a city girl in Toronto to farming in the French countryside
• Her evolution from plant-based eating to a meat-centered approach
• The difference between nourishing yourself and obsessing over food
• Emotional eating, restriction, guilt + learning to listen to your body
• Why food quality changes the experience of eating
• Raising children with a grounded relationship to food
• Creating a family food culture without perfection or rigidity
• Slowing down enough to actually experience our meals
• Simple “slow fast food” and making nourishing meals realistic
• Fermentation, meat stock + foods that can't simply be bought
• Learning to love the foods that make you feel good
• Why small, sustainable shifts can be more powerful than changing everything overnight
Katrina also shares about her new program, Reclaim Your Love Story With Food, where she'll bring together nourishment, body connection, cooking skills, microbiome health, and family food culture in a small, intimate group experience.
This conversation is an invitation to look beyond the rules and ask a deeper question:
What would it feel like to be truly nourished by your food — without having your life revolve around it?
Connect with Katrina on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/meaty_mama
Connect with Lindsay & Scott: 
To learn more about our retreats: www.homesteadandheal.net
Follow Homestead & Heal:  https://www.instagram.com/homestead.andheal/ 
Connected with Lindsay: https://www.instagram.com/lindsaycourcelle/
Connect with Scott: https://www.instagram.com/alchemygardens/

If you loved this episode - it would mean so much to leave us a review!