Rooted in Wellness with Mona Sharma

Most of us know when we are drifting away from ourselves. We feel it in the sleep that stops restoring us, the anxiety that starts to feel familiar, the energy that never fully comes back, the cravings that get louder, the workouts that drain us instead of building us, and the quiet sense that our body is asking for something we keep trying to override.
The problem is that modern life has trained so many of us to normalize that state. We wake up and reach for our phones. We move through constant stimulation, blue light, low-grade stress, ultra-processed food, world events, long to-do lists, and the pressure to keep optimizing. Then we wonder why the body feels like it is always bracing, even when nothing is technically wrong.
In this episode, I sit down with my dear friend and mentor Dr. Scott Sherr to talk about the cellular side of that stress loop. Dr. Sherr is a Board Certified Internal Medicine Physician specializing in Health Optimization Medicine and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, and his work sits at the intersection of mitochondrial biology, the autonomic nervous system, and advanced tools for recovery. We talk about what he calls the Sympathetic Spiral, why the nervous system is not broken, how mitochondria shift when the body feels unsafe, and why burnout, hormonal chaos, broken sleep, inflammation, and low energy may keep coming back when the body never fully gets the signal that it is safe to recover.
What’s Discussed:
15:03 Why excitement, anxiety, and hypervigilance can feel so similar in the body.
20:29 The metabolic side of burnout and what creates the “wired but tired” state.
30:55 How high performers become accustomed to living in hypervigilance.
39:04 Why calming the nervous system can backfire when cellular energy is already depleted.
01:01:23 Why burnout is affecting people earlier and how to find the right entry point.
01:11:56 How methylene blue interacts with mitochondrial energy and oxidative stress.
01:24:57 The connection between estrogen shifts, mitochondrial stress, GABA, and sleep during perimenopause.
My hope is that this conversation helps you stop blaming yourself for exhaustion that has a physiological root. 
Learn more about Mona Sharma:
Download Your FREE Guide - 12 Wellness Tips to Unlock Your Best Health Now: Ready to reclaim your vitality? Download Mona’s 12 Wellness Tips and take actionable steps to transform your health, energy, and mindset. Get started now at monasharma.com/12tips 
Visit Mona's website: monasharma.com – Unlock powerful tools and wisdom rooted in wellness to elevate your health, energy, and clarity. Mona blends ancient healing practices with modern science to help you achieve lasting transformation.
Follow Mona on Instagram: Stay connected with Mona for daily inspiration, holistic health tips, and personal growth. Join the conversation on Instagram at @monasharma
Learn more about Dr. Scott Sherr:
Website: Troscriptions.com
Instagram: @troscriptions
OneBase: onebasehealth.com
For Practitioners
Explore the seven-module HOMeHOPe certification, cohort-based learning, clinical case discussions, and practitioner education Dr. Scott mentioned in the episode.
Explore HOMeHOPe practitioner education
Dr. Scott also invites you to the 2026 HOMeHOPe Conference, happening October 2–3, 2026, at the Drake Hotel in Chicago. The two-day event is open to practitioners and anyone interested in exploring the latest in health optimization, hormones, longevity, metabolic health, and more.
Learn more and reserve your seat at https://homehope.org/homehope-conference-2026. Use code MONA for 10% off your ticket!

Mushrooms are suddenly everywhere, and honestly, I love seeing this ancient medicine finally getting the attention it deserves. But between lion’s mane lattes, mushroom gummies, fruiting bodies, mycelium, and microdosing, how do you know what is actually supportive and what is simply great marketing?
In this episode of Rooted in Wellness, I sit down with my sweet friend Alli Schaper to take you into the incredible world of fungi. We talk about the mushrooms that may support your brain and body, what to look for before buying a supplement, and how microdosing is changing conversations around our habits, grief, joy, and even our fear of death.
Alli Schaper is the CEO and cofounder of SuperMush, host of Into the Multiverse, and cofounder and board member of Microdosing Collective, the first U.S. nonprofit dedicated to legal microdosing advocacy. She has been featured in Forbes 30 Under 30, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Goop, Bloomberg, and Summit Series.
What’s Discussed:
(08:16) Why functional mushrooms may be difficult to feel when your body is already running on overdrive.
(19:06) Alli’s journey from chronic gut issues and multiple prescriptions to taking her health back into her own hands.
(29:56) The difference between culinary, functional, and psychedelic mushrooms.
(36:02) Fruiting body, mycelium, extract ratios, and what actually matters on the label.
(54:52) Why mushrooms have remained part of human healing for thousands of years.
(01:05:16) How mushrooms became what one of Alli’s teachers calls “instruments of joy.”
(01:09:47) What to understand about microdosing, protocols, sourcing, and responsible exploration.
Thank You to Our Sponsors:
Timeline: Timeline’s clinically proven formula is now available at a new, lower price. Mitopure now starts at $79, when you go to timeline.com/MONA 
Learn more about Mona Sharma:
Download Your FREE Guide - 12 Wellness Tips to Unlock Your Best Health Now: Ready to reclaim your vitality? Download Mona’s 12 Wellness Tips and take actionable steps to transform your health, energy, and mindset. Get started now at monasharma.com/12tips 
Visit Mona's website: monasharma.com – Unlock powerful tools and wisdom rooted in wellness to elevate your health, energy, and clarity. Mona blends ancient healing practices with modern science to help you achieve lasting transformation.
Follow Mona on Instagram: Stay connected with Mona for daily inspiration, holistic health tips, and personal growth. Join the conversation on Instagram at @monasharma
Learn More About Alli Schaper & SuperMush:
Website: allischaper.com
Instagram: @allischaper   
Website: supermush.com 
Instagram: @supermush

Most of us were taught to treat the body like something to fix. Pain shows up, so we chase the pain. Stress builds, so we try to calm the mind. Tension gets louder, so we stretch harder. But what if the body is not working against you? What if it has been communicating through the very signals we keep overriding?
In this episode, I sit down with Jason van Blerk of Human Garage to talk about fascia as one of the most misunderstood organs in the body, and why it may be a missing piece in how we understand chronic pain, stored emotion, tension, trauma, pressure, movement, and healing. We explore why pain may not always begin where it shows up, why the body is not just biomechanical, and how fascia may change the way we think about what the body holds, repeats, and struggles to release. 
Human Garage,  co-founded by Jason van Blerk and Aisha Rodrigue, is a wellness platform that teaches self-guided fascial movement, breathwork, and body awareness techniques designed to relieve tension, improve mobility, and promote self-healing.
What’s Discussed:
10:38 Why the body’s signals get overridden from a young age.
14:05 Why quick fixes may quiet pain without addressing why it was there.
20:32 What fascia actually is, and why it is more than most people realize.
22:31 How fascia may change the way we understand memory, emotion, and the body.
23:49 Why pain may show up in one area when the pattern begins somewhere else.
26:30 Why the body is pressurized, not just biomechanical.
35:17 Why trauma is not only psychological.
40:53 What can happen when the body finally begins to release.
46:50 How jaw tension may connect to what remains unexpressed.
01:00:24 Why breath and counter-rotation matter in Fascial Maneuvers.
01:05:08 A simple practice to help shift the body out of stress.
Listen to this episode if you have been trying to think your way through something your body may still be carrying.
Thank You to Our Sponsors:
Carol Bike: Visit carolbike.com/mona and use code MONA for a special discount.
Learn more about Mona Sharma:
Download Your FREE Guide - 12 Wellness Tips to Unlock Your Best Health Now: Ready to reclaim your vitality? Download Mona’s 12 Wellness Tips and take actionable steps to transform your health, energy, and mindset. Get started now at monasharma.com/12tips 
Visit Mona's website: monasharma.com – Unlock powerful tools and wisdom rooted in wellness to elevate your health, energy, and clarity. Mona blends ancient healing practices with modern science to help you achieve lasting transformation.
Follow Mona on Instagram: Stay connected with Mona for daily inspiration, holistic health tips, and personal growth. Join the conversation on Instagram at @monasharma
Learn More About Jason van Blerk, Aisha Rodrigue  & Human Garage: 
Website: humangarage.net 
Instagram: @jasonvanblerk 
Instagram: @aishahumangarage 
Human Garage Instagram: @humangarage

There is a reason brain health feels so urgent right now. So many people are watching parents, grandparents, partners, and loved ones face Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, dementia, depression, anxiety, or cognitive decline, while quietly wondering if the same future is waiting for them. With Alzheimer’s projected to affect nearly 14 million Americans by 2060, this is not a conversation we can keep saving for later.
Most of us think about the brain only when something starts to feel different, but cognitive decline can begin 20 to 30 years before a single symptom appears. That means the way we eat, move, sleep, manage stress, support blood sugar, and care for our metabolism may be shaping the brain long before memory starts to slip. And with only about 6% of American adults considered metabolically healthy, the connection between insulin resistance, inflammation, and brain aging becomes much harder to ignore.
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. David Perlmutter to talk about why prevention has to begin while you still feel fine, which metabolic number he wishes more people knew, and what daily choices may be protecting or threatening your brain without you realizing it. Dr. Perlmutter is a board-certified neurologist, six-time New York Times bestselling author, and author of Brain Defenders, with decades of work connecting the brain to the body, gut, metabolism, inflammation, and the way we live every day.
What’s Discussed:
04:45 How Dr. Perlmutter thinks about connection, gratitude, and what it means to be rooted.
12:20 The daily habit he says may be one of the worst for your brain.
17:54 Why brain decline does not begin the moment memory fails.
24:17 What ultra-processed food may be doing to long-term brain health.
27:08 How inflammation connects depression, anxiety, and neurodegeneration.
31:20 What “I feel fine right now” can miss about the future of the brain.
39:59 The key metabolic labs Dr. Perlmutter wants people to know.
46:50 Why your gut bacteria may act like a signal system for the brain.
57:17 How inflammation can shift the brain’s immune cells from protective to destructive.
My hope is that this conversation helps you stop waiting for symptoms before you care about your brain. The choices you make today are not small. They are signals, and your brain is listening.
Thank You to Our Sponsors:
Timeline: Timeline’s clinically proven formula is now available at a new, lower price. Mitopure now starts at $79, when you go to timeline.com/MONA 
Learn more about Mona Sharma:
Download Your FREE Guide - 12 Wellness Tips to Unlock Your Best Health Now: Ready to reclaim your vitality? Download Mona’s 12 Wellness Tips and take actionable steps to transform your health, energy, and mindset. Get started now at monasharma.com/12tips 
Visit Mona's website: monasharma.com – Unlock powerful tools and wisdom rooted in wellness to elevate your health, energy, and clarity. Mona blends ancient healing practices with modern science to help you achieve lasting transformation.
Follow Mona on Instagram: Stay connected with Mona for daily inspiration, holistic health tips, and personal growth. Join the conversation on Instagram at @monasharma
Learn more about Dr. David Perlmutter:
Website: drperlmutter.com
Brain Defenders: drperlmutter.com/books/brain-defenders
Instagram: @davidperlmutter

There is a point where “everything looks normal” stops feeling reassuring. You may be exhausted, bloated, itchy, inflamed, anxious, sensitive to foods, reacting to supplements, struggling with sleep, or feeling like your body is on high alert, yet the answers you keep getting are stress, aging, hormones, or nothing to worry about.
Most people do not start searching for deeper answers because of one symptom. It is usually the way the symptoms keep stacking, shifting, and refusing to make sense. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Tania Dempsey to talk about the immune patterns that can sit underneath complex chronic symptoms, why the body can stay reactive long after the original trigger, and what it looks like to investigate the whole system instead of chasing one symptom at a time.
Dr. Tania Dempsey is a board-certified physician, founder of the AIM Center for Personalized Medicine, and one of the leading experts in immune dysfunction, MCAS, and vector-borne illness. She has spent over a decade working with patients who have been dismissed, misdiagnosed, or told their symptoms are not connected. 
What’s Discussed:
00:37 What helps Dr. Tania stay rooted while working with complex chronic illness.
07:08 The everyday symptom many people brush off too quickly.
10:31 Why scattered symptoms may not be as separate as they seem.
16:45 How a deeper patient history can change the direction of care.
33:10 The immune pattern that can show up in surprising places.
38:33 Why the usual story about tick exposure is incomplete.
47:13 The hidden layer that may keep people stuck after years of treatment.
54:03 A different way to understand anxiety when it feels physical.
My hope is that this conversation helps you stop blaming your body and start asking better questions about what it may be responding to, so you can feel more informed, less dismissed, and more confident about the next step in your healing journey.
Learn more about Mona Sharma:
Download Your FREE Guide - 12 Wellness Tips to Unlock Your Best Health Now: Ready to reclaim your vitality? Download Mona’s 12 Wellness Tips and take actionable steps to transform your health, energy, and mindset. Get started now at monasharma.com/12tips 
Visit Mona's website: monasharma.com – Unlock powerful tools and wisdom rooted in wellness to elevate your health, energy, and clarity. Mona blends ancient healing practices with modern science to help you achieve lasting transformation.
Follow Mona on Instagram: Stay connected with Mona for daily inspiration, holistic health tips, and personal growth. Join the conversation on Instagram at @monasharma
Learn more about Dr. Tania Dempsey:
Website: drtaniadempsey.com 
ILADS®: ilads.org/resource 
Instagram: @drtaniadempseymd 
Facebook: @taniadempseymd
YouTube: @DrTaniaDempsey