Summary
Dr. Marisol Teijeiro, naturopathic doctor and founder of Queen of the Thrones, joins Margaret Floyd-Berry to discuss the energetic and physiological benefits of castor oil packs. Marisol shares her personal journey from chronic fatigue and burnout during naturopathic school to discovering castor oil packs as the missing link in her healing protocol, despite initially dismissing them as woo-woo. The conversation dives deep into the Ayurvedic framework of doshas (Kapha, Pitta, Vata) and how castor oil packs help women navigate the energetic shifts of perimenopause by grounding them back into their bodies. Marisol explains how the pack stimulates the vagus nerve and promotes oxytocin production, shifting the body from sympathetic stress into parasympathetic rest-and-digest mode, which is essential for liver detoxification, lymphatic drainage, and hormonal balance. For practitioners, the episode offers a clinical perspective on why castor oil packs should be a foundational tool alongside supplementation, emphasizing that healing the gut from the outside in through the skin can dramatically improve supplement absorption and reduce the overall supplement burden on patients.
Key Points
- Castor oil contains ricinoleic acid, a unique molecule that mimics prostaglandins and progesterone, making it anti-inflammatory and supportive of hormonal balance
- The pack component stimulates skin receptors that communicate with the liver, intestines, and vagus nerve, promoting parasympathetic nervous system activation
- Castor oil packs promote oxytocin production, which counterbalances cortisol and helps people who struggle with meditation achieve deep relaxation
- Wearing a castor oil pack over the liver nightly, combined with an eye mask, closes the liver meridian circuit in traditional Chinese medicine
- The Ayurvedic framework of Kapha (earth), Pitta (fire), and Vata (air) stages explains why women in perimenopause especially benefit from grounding practices like castor oil packs
- Castor oil should always be stored in glass, never plastic, as it will leach chemicals from plastic containers
- In clinical practice, patients on regular castor oil pack protocols required lower supplement doses and healed faster
Key Moments
Castor oil packs as the missing link for chronic fatigue recovery
Dr. Marisol describes how after doing everything right in naturopathic school, she finally tried a castor oil pack and experienced a profound shift, feeling like the sky opened up and angels began to sing, marking the beginning of her true healing.
"I've got nothing to lose now. You know, I'm in bed. I can't get out of bed. So I may as well try this thing."
How the pack stimulates the vagus nerve and parasympathetic state
The pack covers the abdomen and contacts the vagus nerve and skin receptors that communicate with the liver, intestines, stomach, pancreas, and gallbladder, stimulating the relaxed nervous system state and promoting oxytocin production.
"And a lot of the things within the castor oil industry, like most of the castor oil was in plastic bottles. All of those things did not fit right with me. Like they just did not sit well. And so I went about making myself my own very first pack. And then when I put it on my body, the oil on the pack, and I put it on my body, that moment will forever remain imprinted in my mind as the moment that I began to truly transform and change and move into my true purpose."
Castor oil packs for embodiment and trauma processing during perimenopause
Marisol explains that during perimenopause the body's energy moves upward into the Vata state, causing emotional dysregulation. Castor oil packs provide the grounding needed to process stored trauma and stay embodied.
"Many women, majority women going through perimenopause start to lose their minds because the energy is moving upwards at a faster pace."
Using liver pack and eye mask together to close the meridian circuit
Marisol describes her nightly practice of wearing both a liver castor oil pack and an eye mask because the liver meridian ends around the eyes, creating a complete circuit for grounding and energetic balance.
"The liver meridian, they also end up around the eyes. So in order to close the circuit, I put the eye mask on as well as the liver pack every night before going to bed."
