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Functional Nurse Academy Success Stories: Christin Smoot and a Somatic Approach to Women’s Health, Hormones, and Nervous System Regulation

Aug 26 / Melissa Schreibfeder, BSN, RN, BC-FMP

🎧 Listen to my podcast with Christin below!

For many women, symptoms like painful periods, migraines, mood changes, and burnout are treated as separate problems. But for Christin, her own healing journey revealed something different: the body is always communicating.

On today’s episode, I had the opportunity to interview Christin Smoot, a Functional Nurse Academy graduate, holistic registered nurse, functional wellness practitioner, somatic coach, and founder of Sacred Somatic Wellness.

Christin helps her clients reconnect with their bodies, regulate their nervous systems, and cultivate lasting wellness through a blend of nursing, functional wellness, herbalism, somatic processing, and evidence-informed, heart-centered healing practices.

Her work (like many of my students') is deeply personal because it was born out of her own journey through burnout, hormone imbalance, and profound personal transformation.

Christin’s Story: From ICU Burnout to Functional Wellness

Christin began her nursing career in critical care, working on a step-down unit before moving into the ICU around the time of COVID. After about two and a half years in that environment, she began to feel the effects physically, mentally, and emotionally.

At first, she thought night shift might be the main issue. She transitioned into home health, hoping the change would help her body recover. But even after leaving night shift, she was still experiencing:

  • Daily migraines
  • Menstrual issues
  • Emotional overwhelm
  • Mood dysregulation
  • Difficulty functioning for nearly half of every month

Like many women, Christin went to conventional providers looking for answers. She saw her doctors. She saw her gynecologist. And she was told everything looked fine.

But she knew something was not right.

Eventually, Christin worked with a functional nutritionist, and that experience changed the way she understood her body. Even though her labs looked “normal” from a conventional perspective, they revealed important patterns through a functional lens.

She learned that:

  • Her thyroid was asking for support
  • Her female hormones were dysregulated
  • She fit the criteria for PMDD, or premenstrual dysphoric disorder
  • Blood sugar regulation was playing a major role in her symptoms

Christin did not want to rely solely on birth control, antidepressants, or anti-anxiety medication without understanding why her symptoms were happening in the first place.

Instead, she began supporting her body through nutrition, blood sugar regulation, magnesium, B vitamins, and reconnecting with nature.

Those changes made a major difference in her life. Her daily migraines completely resolved, and she began to experience firsthand what happens when the body is supported instead of dismissed.

That personal healing journey eventually became part of what led Christin to functional medicine, somatic work, and the Functional Nurse Academy.

What Christin Loved About Functional Nurse Academy

Christin shared that Functional Nurse Academy prepared her to open her business in ways she was not even expecting.

Some of the things she loved most included:

  • Deep functional medicine knowledge: Christin appreciated the depth of clinical wisdom and functional medicine education inside the program.
  • Step-by-step business support: She loved that FNA broke down the process of building a business in a way that felt reasonable and digestible.
  • Monthly mentorship: Christin found the ongoing mentorship incredibly valuable, including both functional medicine deep dives and business support.
  • Real-time answers and guidance: She appreciated being able to ask questions about anything that came up as she was learning and building.
  • A strong return on investment: Christin made back her investment in Functional Nurse Academy within just two clients, even while starting on the lower end as she was ironing out the details of her business.

It prepared me in ways that I wasn’t even expecting. I loved the deep knowledge wisdom part of it, but I also loved that there was business support and you broke it down literally step by step of how to build your business, and do it in a way that feels reasonable and digestible.
Today, through Sacred Somatic Wellness, Christin works with clients virtually and has been able to support individuals outside of her immediate local area, including clients in other parts of Georgia and Florida.

Supporting the Body, Mind, and Nervous System

One of the most powerful parts of Christin’s work is the way she brings together functional wellness and somatic healing. During our conversation, we talked about how stress, trauma, suppressed emotions, and chronic nervous system dysregulation can affect the body over time.

Christin shared that early in her nursing career, she began to notice that disease often appeared after years or even decades of things being suppressed. In her view, there is always a physical layer that needs support, but there may also be emotional, relational, or energetic layers that need to be acknowledged.

This doesn't mean Christin works as a therapist or tries to take clients back into trauma processing. Instead, her work focuses on helping clients return to the present body, build tools, regulate their nervous systems, and reconnect with their own inner awareness.

For many people, especially those who feel disconnected from their bodies, nervous system regulation becomes a bridge back to presence, safety, and self-awareness.

Prefer to watch? Watch my interview with Christin below!

Breathwork as a Simple, Powerful Tool

One of the main nervous system tools Christin uses with clients is breathwork.

She explained that when fear, anxiety, or stress begin to rise, one of the first things that changes is the breath. Many people begin breathing shallowly and become disconnected from their bodies, caught in racing thoughts and mental overwhelm.

Breathwork can help bring them back into the body.

One of Christin’s favorite breathwork exercises is box breathing. With box breathing, you:

  1. Inhale for four counts
  2. Hold for four counts
  3. Exhale for four counts
  4. Hold again for four counts
  5. Repeat the pattern

It is simple, free, and available in almost any moment. And as Christin said, if you're alive, you have your breath.

For clients dealing with anxiety, overwhelm, stress, or emotional dysregulation, this type of practice can become a practical tool they can use in real time to support their nervous system.

Women’s Health, Hormones, and Blood Sugar

Christin is especially passionate about supporting women’s health, including women struggling with hormone-related symptoms, painful periods, PMDD, PCOS, and metabolic dysfunction.

During the episode, we discussed how PCOS has recently been reframed as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, which better reflects the metabolic and endocrine nature of the condition.

Christin explained that many women experience symptoms of PCOS without actually having ovarian cysts, which made the old name confusing.

At the root of the condition, Christin shared, there is often dysregulation in blood sugar and insulin, which can contribute to elevated androgens and a wide range of difficult symptoms for women. This was part of Christin’s own experience as well.

When she was first told she might have PCOS, there was very little discussion about metabolic health. No one talked to her about fasting insulin. Instead, the conversation quickly moved toward birth control.

Through her own healing journey, Christin discovered how much blood sugar regulation impacted her mood and overall hormone patterns. She also shared that she had previously followed a vegetarian diet for about five years. At first, she felt good, but as life got busier, she began to struggle with getting enough protein and noticed that her body was no longer tolerating that way of eating well.

Over time, she shifted her perspective and began eating meat again, recognizing how important protein, healthy fats, cholesterol, and nutrient density can be for women’s hormone health.

A Client Success Story: A Pain-Free Period After Years of Struggle

Christin also shared a powerful client success story from her practice. She had been working with a young woman diagnosed with PMOS and hypothyroidism. This client was experiencing:

  • Very painful periods
  • Heavy bleeding
  • Estrogen-dominant symptoms

After only two or three weeks of working with Christin, the client had her first pain-free period. She told Christin that if she had not known she was on her period, she would not have known otherwise.

For both Christin and her client, that was a huge celebration!

It was also confirmation that the same types of functional strategies that helped Christin personally could also help other women when applied in a thoughtful and personalized way.

Christin shared a few foundational supports that made a meaningful difference, including:

Fish oil: Christin discussed how EPA and DHA may help support a healthier inflammatory response related to prostaglandins, which can play a role in menstrual cramps.

Magnesium glycinate: Christin emphasized magnesium as a powerful tool for women, especially because magnesium deficiency is so common and magnesium can support muscle relaxation, cramps, mood, and overall hormone health.

Blood sugar support: Since blood sugar regulation played such a major role in Christin’s own healing, it is also an important part of how she thinks about women’s health and hormone support.

These are the kinds of simple, foundational interventions that can make a meaningful difference in a woman’s quality of life.

Herbal Support for Women’s Health

Because Christin has also studied herbalism, we talked about one of her favorite herbs for women’s health: stinging nettles.

Christin loves stinging nettles because of how nourishing and mineral-rich they are. She described them as almost like nature’s Gatorade, but better.

Stinging nettles contain minerals such as magnesium and trace nutrients like silica. Christin also shared that nettles can be supportive from a histamine perspective, which may be helpful for some women dealing with PMDD and histamine-related symptoms.

For Christin, herbs are just another example of how beautifully the body can be supported through simple, natural tools.

A New Path for Nurses

Christin’s story is another reminder that nurses do not have to stay stuck in burnout or remain confined to a system that does not align with how they want to care for people.

Her nursing foundation gave her the clinical experience, assessment skills, and compassion to serve clients well.

Functional Nurse Academy helped her build on that foundation with deeper functional medicine education, business training, mentorship, and a step-by-step path to opening her own wellness practice.

About Christin Smoot, RN

Christin Smoot is the founder of Sacred Somatic Wellness. She is a holistic registered nurse, functional wellness practitioner, somatic coach, somatic facilitator, and yoga instructor.

Christin helps clients reconnect with their bodies, regulate their nervous systems, and cultivate lasting wellness through nursing, functional wellness, herbalism, somatic processing, and heart-centered healing practices.

Inspired by her own journey through burnout, migraines, hormone imbalance, and personal transformation, Christin now supports clients in creating more balance, self-awareness, and connection with their capacity for healing.

Through Sacred Somatic Wellness, she offers virtual support and helps clients explore the connections between women’s health, nervous system regulation, nutrition, functional testing, herbal support, and whole-person wellness.

Christin’s Website: https://www.sacredsomaticwellness.love/christinsmoot

Frequently Asked Questions About Becoming a Functional Nurse

What is a functional nurse?

A functional nurse is a licensed nurse who applies the principles of functional medicine to educate and empower clients by helping them identify and address potential root causes of health concerns. Functional nurses focus on nutrition, lifestyle, sleep, stress management, environmental influences, and other evidence-informed approaches while practicing within their nursing scope of practice.

What is the difference between a functional practice owned by a NP and RN or LPN?

Nurse practitioners may operate a medical practice where permitted by state law. Depending on their state's regulations, NPs may diagnose medical conditions, order and interpret laboratory testing, prescribe medications, and provide medical treatment.

RNs and LPNs can own and operate independent wellness-focused functional nursing practices. Rather than diagnosing or treating medical conditions, they educate and empower clients through personalized wellness plans, nutrition and lifestyle education, health coaching, specialty laboratory education and on going support.

How Do Non-Advanced Practice Functional Nurses Utilize Laboratory Testing?

RNs and LPNs can access both conventional and specialty laboratory testing through partnerships with functional medicine laboratories. These partnerships allow nurses to order testing through a physician network at affordable wholesale pricing, while practicing within their professional scope.

While nurse practitioners (NPs) may have the authority to diagnose medical conditions and independently order laboratory testing depending on their state laws, non-advanced practice nurses use laboratory data to educate clients about potential patterns of dysfunction. Laboratory findings can also help guide personalized wellness recommendations and support collaboration with the client's healthcare team to optimize health outcomes.

Please note: Certain states, including New Jersey (NJ) and Rhode Island (RI), have restrictions on laboratory ordering through some functional medicine laboratory networks.

Does Functional Nurse Academy provide continuing education for nurses?

Functional Nurse Academy is an approved provider of continuing nursing education. Graduates receive 90 nursing contact hours, approved for LPNs, RNs, and NPs.

The program combines comprehensive functional medicine education with practical application, case studies, and business mentorship, giving nurses the knowledge, tools, and confidence to launch and grow their own functional wellness businesses.

Can I become board certified after completing Functional Nurse Academy?

Yes! Functional Nurse Academy graduates are eligible for the following practitioner level board certifications through American Association of Natural Wellness Practitioners (AANWP)

  • Functional Medicine Nurse Specialist | BC-FMNS
  • Functional Medicine Practitioner | BC-FMP
  • Functional Wellness Professional | BC-FWP
  • Christian Wellness Practitioner | BC-CWP (for students completing our optional Christian content)

Below are the coaching credentials that our graduates qualify for through the American Association of Natural Wellness Coaches (AANWC)

  • Functional Nurse Health Coach | BC-FNHC
  • Functional Health Coach | BC-FHC

This program has been peer-reviewed and is endorsed by The American Holistic Nurses Association

CEs earned from the Functional Nurse Academy meet CE eligibility requirements for the following American Holistic Nurses Association board certification titles:

  • HN-BC® (Holistic Nurse Board Certified)
  • HNB-BC® (Holistic Nurse Baccalaureate Board Certified)
  • AHN-BC® (Advanced Holistic Nurse Board Certified)
  • APHN-BC® (Advanced Practice Holistic Nurse Board Certified)
  • NC-BC® (Nurse Coach Board Certified)

What is included in enrollment?

Functional Nurse Academy is the leading and most comprehensive functional nursing program on the market for LPN, RN and NP. Enrollment includes the following:

  1. 90 Nursing Contact Hours of functional nursing education
  2. Multiple Board Certification Pathways in functional medicine and holistic nursing
  3. Functional Nurse Toolkit with business resources and practice-building tools
  4. Social Media & Marketing Kit with 9 months of content, brochures, and business card templates
  5. 40+ Advanced Trainings covering functional medicine and business strategy (available in FNA monthly mentorship library)
  6. Six Months of FNA’s Monthly Mentorship Program FREE, including live educational trainings and 60 minutes of live Q&A each month, all hosted by FNA Founder Melissa Schreibfeder, BSN, RN, BC-FMP, plus case studies and full access to the mentorship library.
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Ready to take the next step?

I’m so happy you’re interested in functional nursing! I’d love to connect with you at my next live informational + Q&A webinar, where you’ll learn all about functional nursing, how nurses across the country are launching their own functional wellness businesses, and how you can get started.

You’ll also have the opportunity to meet me live and get all of your questions answered!

Just click below to save your seat! I hope to see you there!

-Melissa Schreibfeder, BSN, RN, BC-FMP Founder & CEO, Functional Nurse Academy