Mindful Gut Project

Dripping with fire and soaked in sweat, my body so weak I could barely move. I woke in a hospital bed. The night before, I’d slipped into a dreamless sleep that felt eerily final. Then, in the quiet morning light, a gentle voice cut through the fog — a kind nurse whispering, “Cara Marie…” as he searched for my veins. His presence woke something in me.

Looking down at my fragile body, I saw it clearly for the first time: I had pushed too hard, run too fast, and ignored every whisper of my gut until it screamed. Diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease, doctors warned I might lose part of my colon. They said food wasn’t a factor — but my body told a different story.

That hospital stay became a turning point. I began to hear the quiet wisdom of my body. I could sense — even know — which foods would heal or harm me. My gut became my guide.

Back then, I was a countryside soul living in a fast-paced London life that never fit. After I left the hospital, I laid my belly to the land, literally. Grounding. Listening. Healing. I didn’t yet know about gut microbes — but intuitively, I was already feeding them.

That deep listening led me back to meditation, mindfulness, somatic healing, and self-compassion. Over the next two decades, I trained with some of the world’s leading teachers — including the Dalai Lama and Dr. Dick Schwartz — and attended over 100 retreats.

But I wasn’t collecting credentials. I was learning how to hold myself — and others — in spaces where science and soul meet.

Through this journey, The Mindful Gut was born.