When one of my favorite magazines reached out to interview me, I was SO thrilled!! EcoSalon is a one stop knowledge shop for all things eco, organic and healthy. I wanted to share the open minded discussion I got to have with the #1 most read conscious culture site with you today.

Truly, it was so awakening to answer these thoughtful questions about health, wellness, coffee!, skincare, meditation, business and more! Written by the amazing Liz Thompson. Check it out:

Leading a healthy lifestyle and avoiding toxins is good for our bodies. No secret there. Did you know it can also improve mental and emotional health issues? Author Tara Mackey shares her journey from prescription drugs to good health in her book, “Cured by Nature”, and you are going to want to get your hands on a copy.

Mental and emotional health issues affect nearly 7% of adults and 3% of children in the U.S., according to Anxiety Disorders Association of America. The main treatment? Prescription medication. While, certainly, some people need prescription drugs to treat their health issues, many are being given antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds to address symptoms without knowing the cause of the imbalance.

Tara Mackey was one of many people suffering from physical, mental, and emotional illnesses from a young age. No surprise, she was prescribed a range of medications to treat the symptoms, while the cause of her maladies was left unchecked.

As an adult, Tara took her health into her own hands and found other, more natural, means to better health. In her book, “Cured by Nature”, Tara spells out in detail how she came to discover toxins were behind her health issues, and the changes she made to get and stay healthy.

Interview with Tara Mackey, Author of “Cured by Nature”

LT: So many people, especially women, are diagnosed with anxiety and depression these days, and subsequently prescribed antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications. Do you think these conditions can be treated other, more natural, ways?

TM: I believe that regardless of if we’re taking medication, we should be incorporating natural methods of healing into our everyday lives. I took pills for over 11 years, for any illness, pain and various diagnosis – emotional, mental and physical – that you can name. They may have masked the problem, or handed me some chemicals, but never, ever actually helped me on my way to being truly healed. The reason it’s important to have natural methods and tools for healing is because at the end of the day, you can’t rely on a pill. A pill won’t do the work. You need to do the work. You need to be able to rely on yourself, no matter what.

LT: Do you feel we are an overmedicated society?

TM: Without a doubt. Walgreens sold over 900 million – almost a BILLION – prescription drugs on 2015. That’s 3 times more drugs than there are people in this country! And that’s just one pharmacy!! 70% of Americans are on some kind of drug! That makes me a very, very small minority.

Some drugs are needed, of course. Even psychiatric drugs, in severe cases. But Walgreens alone sold enough drugs last year for everyone in this country to be on 3 meds at the same time! There is no DOUBT that we’re overmedicated. These companies have investors, stockholders, lobbyists, and CFO’s to satisfy. Their filled prescription drug numbers WILL go up, year by year. I have no doubt about that, and their books prove it. We need to know what we can do for ourselves to make sure we’re not one of the overmedicated ones.

LT: How does meditation factor into a healthy lifestyle?

TM: Meditation is the simplest form of mind-work. Sitting quietly gives us the time and tools to learn things about ourselves we’d NEVER figure out otherwise. One of the first things I learned in meditation was that my normal breathing was totally panicked. Well, no wonder I had anxiety! I didn’t need medication – I needed to figure out how to breathe!

Most of the things that hold us back from our dreams are learned behaviors that we may not even realize we have! It wasn’t until I started meditating that things really started falling into place for me. I was able to give up a lot of ego gratification, which left room for amazing things like new friendships, amazing opportunities and fearless action. Without mind-work, you won’t be able to find the strength needed to conquer learned helplessness, which becomes totally ingrained in us.