About us

I'm a certified Holistic Canine Nutrition + Wellness Consultant, as well as a Spiritual Wellness Coach for soul-led dog mamas like you! I also host the Mystic Dog Mama podcast!

So, how did I go from an artist and academic researching creative responses to climate change to helping other soul-led dog mamas nourish their dogs - and themselves - mind, body, and soul?

Well, let’s just say that in 2019, life threw me a curveball. I had just finished a postdoctoral fellowship that I absolutely hated, and I was at yet another crossroads asking myself, WTF am I doing with my life??

I had pursued art and academia for more than 15 years - something I thought was my dream path - and suddenly found myself so deeply depressed that I couldn’t see a way forward.

I decided to travel to Mexico to spend some time with friends and family on an extended Christmas break, with the intention of travelling around for a while on a kind of pilgrimage while I figured out my next move. 

This extended break got much more extended than I expected, and the pilgrimage turned into a journey without distance when COVID hit…

Just before lockdown, I went to visit a local curandero, or a healer, because I couldn’t shake the dark cloud I felt I was living within. I thought I just needed my chakras unblocking, or something. When I arrived for my appointment, he asked me to remind him why I was there, and after I told him, he chuckled.

He told me, “You don’t need your chakras unblocking, you’re a bruja, a witch. You need to learn to work with your energy. Pay attention to dogs and cats that cross your path at this time because they are healers for you.”

Little did I know, a few days later, a neighbour would knock on the door asking if we could foster a 12-week old Chihuahua-mix puppy. And the rest is history.

Well, sort of. When I first brought Lucky into my home, I had visions of what life with a new puppy might be like - lots of play, fun, joy. And there was definitely all of that.

But there were also behaviour issues from him being a pandemic pup, and some pretty serious health issues I wasn’t expecting. 

Lucky started with extreme tummy issues, agonising pain, and then presented kidney issues - all by 1 year of age.

I was overwhelmed

Anxious

And scared I just wasn’t cut out for this

I was also terrified I might lose my sweet boy before he even got a chance to LIVE!

I repurposed my research skills and learned all I could about how to support Lucky through a fresh food diet, but honestly, I would find some advice on one site, and on another site I would find the complete opposite! I just didn't know where to turn or how to make the best decisions for Lucky.

There was a lot of learning by trial and error, and because of this, I hope to save you the time I spent navigating all this!

But what really brought things together for me, what made me understand the need to bring the SOUL to the SCIENCE of nutrition came from an unexpected visit to a local homeopath.

I went to the homeopath initially to purchase silica for Lucky's anal glands, but he insisted on first talking to me about what was going on with Lucky (never did I think I would need to know how to say "anal glands" in Spanish!) He then  performed holistic kinesiology, or muscle testing, on me as a proxy and unearthed a really surprising link to Lucky's physical health issues...

Lucky was storing trauma and fear in his kidneys, and the homeopath worked with me to help release these emotions from Lucky's body

He also identified that Lucky had an intolerance to chicken - even though this didn't show up on allergen blood tests!

I removed the chicken from Lucky's diet, and his anal glands improved almost instantly, as did much of his GI distress!

I also began playing Reiki tracks for Lucky to support his healing, and noticed he really enjoyed these!

Lucky went from a sickly dog in constant pain to a young dog FULL of energy - all from changing his diet, and diving a bit deeper with energy work!

But the amazing growth didn't stop there!

I had made a conscious effort during the pandemic to deepen my spiritual journey. I dove into A Course in Miracles, I revisited teachings from Matt Kahn, Louise Hay, and Paul Selig. I even revisited Carl Jung’s work on the shadow.

And through doing this deep dive, I very quickly came to see how Lucky’s triggers and my own triggers  were opportunities to explore some of the deeper, hidden parts of myself, and bring them back into love. Lucky's health challenges became opportunities to look at my own health, as well as his. And I also came to see that the joy that Lucky brought me was a reflection of the joy that I already am, and just hadn’t noticed.

Lucky and I have such a deep soul connection, and I know we are truly walking the spiritual path together.

And YOUR dog is walking the spiritual path with you, too!

As I have taken the curandero’s advice to heart by embracing my healing gifts becoming a Reiki Master and animal communicator, and recognising Lucky as my own healer and teacher, I have come to understand that nourishing Lucky has been a profound invitation to nourish myself.

But, I have found that this level of deep healing just can’t be done on our own - we need community. We need others to witness us, to remind us of who we truly are when we can’t see it. 

And that’s why I created Mystic Dog Mama - to catalyse the community and support I wish that I’d had during the most challenging days of my own Dark Night of the Soul, and the difficulties with Lucky’s health journey. It is my mission to guide you every step of the way of your journey with your dog!