Full Bio: Julie Smith Taylor

Smiling woman in black and white portrait with short hair and hoop earrings.
A woman sitting on the grass, affectionately holding a horse's head, with trees and a wooden fence in the background.
A woman standing next to a horse, both looking in the same direction. The woman is smiling and wearing a striped shirt. The horse is outfitted with a simple rope halter. The background is an outdoor setting with blurred trees.
Ginger root on a wooden dish with jars of dried herbs and flowers on a marble surface.

Julie Smith Taylor is a women’s health Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Herbalist, and Science of Energy Flow® Foot Reflexology Practitioner who is committed to opening the heart, mind, and body to self-care and healing. 

As a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner for more than 25 years, Julie recognizes that many health pattern disruptions experienced by women can be lessened or eliminated through attention to lifestyle, diet, and simple plant-based remedies. Her practice is unique in that she prefers to “hear the client’s story” and partner with the client to develop a solution focused approach to care. 

Julie will work with each client to determine their approach to the plant world and utilize plant remedies to clear patterns allowing a solution for health pattern disruptions to emerge. While the client may be experiencing a specific acute or chronic health problem, there are usually multiple pattern disruptions happening simultaneously. By engaging in this approach to health enhancement and management, most clients can begin to find solutions through coaching and integrative care.

Clients are encouraged to share and discuss their own self-care modalities and healing traditions to facilitate complementarity among health care paradigms. It is through this active exchange that clients can continue to engage in any health behaviors that they feel are beneficial (solution focused) while also partnering with plants to enhance their health as appropriate.

Central to the process of healing is the movement of energy through Science of Energy Flow® Foot Reflexology using Herbal Treatments such as herbal foot baths and herbal foot wraps/packs. Through the movement of energy, the normal anatomical and physiological function of the body can be optimized.

As a Nurse Herbalist and Science of Energy Flow® Foot Reflexologist, Julie bridges traditional healing practices with biomedical healthcare to provide a foundation for partnering with plants for health and healing.  She began her journey into Nurse Herbalism over 10 years ago with Dr. Martha Libster.  Julie studied nurse herbalism with Dr. Libster and apprenticed with her to complete education and training as a SEF Foot Reflexologist.

In 2018, Julie completed her Equine Facilitated Learning and Coaching education and training with Kathy Pike at the Academy for Coaching with Horses in Colorado.  She has offered equine inspired coaching sessions, experiences, and retreats with her amazing horse coaching partner, G, since completing her program.

Julie has been an avid yoga practitioner for many years and completed her RYT 200 teacher training in 2013 through the Yoga Alliance Approved Teacher Training Program at Porters  Neck Yoga a Spa, Wilmington, NC. Julie teaches yoga classes weekly in her home yoga studio, JTs Yoga on the River.

Her educational background includes obtaining her BSN from UNC Chapel Hill, her MSN from the University of Pennsylvania, and her PhD from UNC Chapel Hill.  From 2004 - 2014, she coordinated and taught in the Family Nurse Practitioner program at University of North Carolina Wilmington. She has published many articles on women’s health and has a particular interest in genital pain experienced by women, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), feminist theory, and health disparities.