The Mercantile Apothecary

02/21/2026

The Fine Line Between Body Awareness and Health Anxiety
-New blog post 🌿

https://mercantileapothecary.com/blogs/the-herbal-audit/the-fine-line-between-awareness-and-anxiety

I talk a lot about learning our bodies. Knowing your baseline, recognizing your normal, and paying attention when something shifts, and I stand by that.

But there’s another side of that coin that doesn’t get talked about enough.

You can become too aware. You can start scanning, monitoring, interpreting every twitch, every flutter, every digestive gurgle as Meaningful and Possibly Catastrophic (ask me how I know this). And that is not health, it’s hypervigilance.

There’s a difference between body literacy and body surveillance. One builds confidence and the other builds anxiety. When awareness tips into hyperawareness, your nervous system never gets to stand down. You’re constantly evaluating, searching for symptoms, looking for proof that something is wrong and every twinge sets off alarms.

And ironically, chronic stress from that hyper-monitoring can create the very symptoms you’re afraid of:

• Palpitations

• Digestive changes

• Muscle tension

• Sleep disruption

• Fatigue

• Cortisol dysregulation

A body under watchful suspicion does not relax. Yes, know your patterns. Yes, you notice true deviations. But most sensations are actually normal, and most shifts are temporary. Most bodies are resilient. Trust me, I’m not judging here. If you’ve ever taken one of my classes, you’ve likely heard about my health anxiety and the fact that every twinge in my head is an aneurism. I struggle with it too.

But health consciousness should lead to empowerment, not fear.

- The Role of the Nervous System

Hyperawareness is often a nervous system issue, not a medical issue. When the sympathetic system is constantly primed, you feel everything more intensely. Your threshold for “that’s weird” lowers. Your brain begins scanning for threats. That is not intuition, it’s activation. This is where herbs can shine beautifully!

- Herbs That Support Calm Without Numbing

These are not herbs to suppress symptoms, they help steady the system:

Nervines

• Lemon balm

• Milky oat tops

• Skullcap

• Chamomile

• Passionflower

These help tone and nourish the nervous system over time (know which one is right for you because it matters, do your own research, and let me or another qualified herbalist help):

Adaptogens

• Holy basil

• Ashwagandha

• Schisandra

These help regulate stress response and support resilience, especially when cortisol patterns are off.

Mineral Rich Support

• Nettle

• Oatstraw

• Alfalfa

Chronic anxiety and hypervigilance often coexist with depletion. Sometimes what we interpret as “something is wrong” is simply an exhausted nervous system.

Herbs can definitely help but mindset matters too.

A few anchors I often suggest:

• Stop symptom Googling.

• Give benign sensations 24-48 hours before reacting.

• Ask: Is this new, persistent, and worsening? Or just noticeable?

• Remember your baseline history.

• GO OUTSIDE. Breathe some fresh air, put your bare feet on the earth. Hug a tree. Yes I said it.

And most importantly: Peace is a huge part of health!

You are allowed to care about your health deeply without living in constant medical surveillance mode. Your body is not a ticking time bomb. It is adaptive, responsive, and designed to recalibrate. Learning to listen to but also trust it is just as important as learning to care for it properly.

Awareness + Trust. Not awareness + Fear. That’s the balance 💚

02/17/2026

Last night’s Perimenopause Class was one of those evenings that reminds me exactly why I do this work ♥️

When women sit down together and get real with and about themselves, that’s how knowledge gets passed down instead of lost. I love it soooo much.

I’m so grateful for every single one of you who showed up ready to learn, ask, and engage. I couldn’t do this without you!

And yes… I’m sharing a pic of my leftovers because this is some of what we ate while talking hormones:

Quinoa with sautéed greens and fresh herbs
Roasted sweet potatoes
Homemade L. reuteri yogurt

Mineral and fiber rich, blood sugar stabilizing food. Nourishment that actually supports the transition we’re in.

Thank you all so much for a wonderful class! I’ll announce the next one soon ✨

02/14/2026

There is something steady about shelves lined with herbs. Loose leaf teas blended by hand. Ingredients you can pronounce. The Mercantile Apothecary was built with intention. Thoughtful formulas, honest sourcing, and a place to ask questions and get honest answers.

If you have not stepped inside yet, I would love to welcome you. Wednesday-Friday 10-5, Saturday 10-2 🌿

02/04/2026

✨ Perimenopause Class Menu! ✨

We’ll be enjoying a buffet of steady, nourishing foods designed to support hormones, digestion, and the nervous system! 💙

-Quinoa with sautéed greens, fresh herbs, and lemon. Mineral rich, fiber forward, and blood sugar friendly.

-Roasted sweet potatoes with smoked paprika & thyme. Slow carbohydrates to support adrenal function and steady energy.

-White beans with infused olive oil, rosemary, and garlic. Protein & Fiber. Supports satiety, gut health, and estrogen metabolism.

-Fresh sourdough from Front Porch Bakery. Naturally fermented, easier to digest, and emotionally important 🙌

-Homemade Lactobacillus reuteri yogurt with raw honey and fresh berries. Supports gut health, insulin sensitivity, and overall resilience.

-Dark chocolate squares. Because magnesium delivery systems matter!

-Iced Nettle & Oatstraw infusion & Lemon Balm tea. Nourishing minerals and nervous system support.

-Spring water. Because hydration.

This is a menu that steadies blood sugar, supports mineral balance, and helps your nervous system relax.

Recipes will be provided. There will also be a rasp aka a grater thingy for those who, like me, enjoy showering their yogurt and berries with chocolate shavings.

Tickets: https://mercantileapothecary.com/products/ancient-fire-part-1-the-spark-perimenopause-amp-the-first-shifts

02/03/2026

Love our chamber ♥️

01/31/2026

We’re open today until 2:00 pm! In case you are nutty like us and decide to get out. It is nice and warm in the apothecary but that wind out there is brutal!

Locals, county road 14 on the mountain is slick. It’s passable but if you must get out please go very slowly! Main roads in the valley around here look fine.

Dusty was appalled that I was leaving him and the heater.

01/30/2026

Look for us in the February issue of Jackson Magazine! ✨

The February issue is coming soon! ✨💗

A new month brings a new edition of Jackson, filled with stories that celebrate connection, service and the people who make Jackson County feel like home.

🌿 Find calm and personalized care at The Mercantile Apothecary with owner and clinical herbalist Leanne Holcomb.

🍎 Learn more about how Scottsboro Woman’s League builds community through friendship, philanthropy and traditions like their annal Apple Annie fundraiser.

📚🌸 Find your newest read and arrange beautiful blooms at Petals & Pages, downtown Scottsboro’s book and flower shop owned by Blair Lowery.

🍪 Treat yourself to sweet comfort and community at The Cookie Lady Bake Shop with owner Wendy Brewer.

👥 Meet Vicki Watts, a familiar face behind many of Jackson County’s most-loved events.

👮 Get to know the faces behind local law enforcement

📸 Plus, highlights from the Scottsboro Renaissance Faire.

This issue highlights the many ways love for our community shows up through service, small businesses, creativity and people who give their time and hearts to others. ❤️

📖 Pick up the February edition of Jackson and celebrate the stories of connection, service and creativity happening all around you.

🍀 Don’t forget to look for the 🩵 Lucky Charm for your chance to win $50! 💸
📬 This issue will go out to subscribers in the Saturday, Jan. 31 edition of the Jackson County Sentinel.
📍 Additional copies are available at our office at 208 South Broad Street, Scottsboro.
📞 Want to subscribe to Jackson Magazine and the Jackson County Sentinel? Stop by or call 256-259-1020.

01/27/2026

Did you know your gut has its own nervous system? I am actively avoiding the making of face cream (or the doing of anything, really) right now so let's have another chat and give me an excuse to put it off a bit longer, shall we?

Your gut's nervous system is called the enteric nervous system (ENS), and it’s basically a second brain that lives in your digestive tract. It runs from your esophagus to your colon and contains hundreds of millions of nerve cells. More than your spinal cord!

This system is able to control digestion on its own (it still communicates with the brain via the brain-gut axis, which we have discussed in past classes but that's another post). It controls how food moves, when enzymes are released, and how your gut responds to stress. It doesn't wait for your brain to weigh in first, which is why stress can hit your stomach instantly and why gut issues can affect mood, anxiety, sleep, and focus. It is also why why you can get butterflies, nausea, urgency, or appetite changes without consciously thinking about it. This is one reason why people say things like “trust your gut.” It’s not poetic, it’s neurological.

About 90 percent of your serotonin is made in your gut. This connection between digestion and mental health is well established in neuroscience and gastroenterology.

So when someone has chronic bloating, reflux, IBS-type symptoms, or a stomach that always feels tight or reactive, it’s often not “just digestion.” It’s the nervous system doing its best under pressure. It can even go so far as to affect someone's personality. Irrritablity, short temper, anxiety, low motivation, brain fog, social withdrawal, heightened sensitivity, depression ... on and on ... are often driven by digestive troubles.

This is one reason herbs can be so helpful. Many plants work gently with both the nervous system and the digestive tract.

Some classic enteric nervous system allies include:

Lemon balm - Gently calming, antispasmodic, and supportive of gut-brain communication. Great for anxious stomachs.

Chamomile - Soothes gut inflammation, reduces spasms, and supports parasympathetic nervous system activity.

Dandelion - Supports digestive signaling and gentle liver-gut communication.

Marshmallow root - Demulcent, calming to irritated nerve endings in the gut lining.

Slippery elm - Supports mucosal integrity and reduces nerve irritation from inflammation.

Plantain leaf - Soothing and restorative for gut tissues and low-grade irritation.

Holy basil - Modulates stress response while supporting digestion and gut comfort.

Red Rooibos - Calms gut inflammation, helps relax smooth muscle in the digestive tract (cramping), can modulate the stress response, including cortisol signaling.

There are lots more, but those are some of my favorites and some that I keep handy in the store.

They can help calm gut nerves, support healthy digestive signaling, and reduce irritation and inflammation without forcing the body to do anything ... unnatural 🧙‍♂️

Supporting gut health isn’t only about silencing symptoms, it’s about helping the nervous system feel 'safe' enough to function normally again 💚

01/26/2026

Let’s talk about “gatekeeping.” (Blog Post, Long)
https://mercantileapothecary.com/blogs/the-herbal-audit/lets-talk-about-gatekeeping

Gatekeeping is when knowledge is treated as something to be guarded instead of shared.

Recently some of my lovely regular customers asked me what paint color I used on the walls of my store, and I told them (it’s called, “Salty Dog," by Sherwin Williams, btw). Then I overheard one of them say to the other, “She isn’t gatekeeping.”

It got me thinking. I’ll be perfectly honest here and tell you it’s a subject that gets under my skin sometimes, but there are many reasons for gatekeeping, and they aren’t always nefarious. I also won’t preach to you from a high horse, because I’ve been guilty of it myself plenty in the past,. There have been times when I've felt possessive over what I’ve worked so hard (and paid so much) to learn.

Some of the reasons for gatekeeping may include:

Fear of being made less important, or even replaced - When someone ties their identity or income to being “the expert,” sharing knowledge can feel like giving away job security.

Trauma from misinformation - After watching dangerous advice spread online, some folks swing hard in the opposite direction and lock everything down.

Protection instinct - They genuinely want to keep people safe and believe restricting access is safer than teaching discernment.

Credential insecurity - If someone invested years, money, or hardship into training, it can sting to see others learning easier or faster.

Control feels safer than trust - Letting others learn means trusting them to act responsibly.

Burnout - Teaching is exhausting. When people are tired of explaining the basics over and over, they may default to “figure it out yourself.”

Past dismissal or disrespect - People who weren’t taken seriously early on may unconsciously repeat the same barriers once they’re inside.

Legal or ethical fear - Concerns about liability, regulation, or misuse can lead to an overcorrection toward silence.

Being taught that way themselves - Many were raised in systems where knowledge was earned through hardship, not generosity. Old patterns die hard.

Scarcity mindset - The belief that there’s only so much success, respect, or recognition to go around. If someone else wins, then maybe they are losing.

Most gatekeeping isn’t rooted in malice. It’s rooted in fear, grief, and exhaustion. I believe the alternative is education with boundaries, sharing with context, and community instead of competition.

Herbalism has seen plenty of it over the years. Here’s where I stand.
I run an apothecary. I make products. I do consultations and teach classes. Yes, I want my business to thrive. I want to pay my bills and hopefully, eventually, make some profit to enjoy. That part matters a great deal to me. But I don’t believe that success requires hoarding information.

Herbal knowledge was never meant to be locked away. It was passed hand to hand, kitchen to kitchen, generation to generation. A lot of that wisdom was lost when it became “professionalized,” commercialized, or stripped from the communities it came from. We’re still feeling that loss.

I don’t believe there’s only room for a few at the table. There is room for herbalists, home learners, gardeners, tea drinkers, clinicians, elders, and the next generation who are just starting to ask questions. There is room for curiosity and for caution at the same time.

Am I saying that everything should be freely handed over with no discernment? Of course not. Many of us have spent years refining our formulas, learning through trial, error, and experience. I’m happy to share ingredient lists and teach what those plants do, and even basic medicine making techniques, but specific product methods, the timing, the process … that’s something each person needs to learn and develop for themselves. That balance feels fair to me: Knowledge shared, craft earned.

My goal has never been just to sell herbs. My goal is to share what I know, teach responsibly, and hopefully help people reconnect with plant medicine in a grounded, informed, and fun way. If that inspires someone to learn more, teach their kids, grow some herbs, or maybe even open their own shop one day, then I feel I have succeeded. It’s not about competition, it’s about community, and the majority of the herbalists I know feel the same. Herbalism survives when it’s shared. And I will always choose an open table over a locked gate 💚