ABOUT
Welcome! I'm Rachel Bonello, the Clinical Naturopath behind Gypsy Belle Botanicals. I work with adults and children who are dealing with nervous system dysregulation, immune challenges, mental health concerns, and the kind of complex health pictures that don't fit neatly into one box.
My clinical approach is shaped by psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), the study of how the nervous system, immune system, and mind influence each other. I'm currently completing a Masters in Clinical PNI through the Pruimboom Institute, and this lens informs everything I do in clinic. It's why I don't just treat symptoms in isolation. I'm looking at how your stress response is affecting your immune system, how your gut is talking to your brain, and what your nervous system actually needs in order to heal.
I'm a HeartMath Certified HRV Practitioner and Trauma-Sensitive HeartMath Practitioner, and heart rate variability biofeedback has become a central part of my clinical work. I use it as a baseline assessment tool with all clients and offer standalone HRV training programs for adults, teens, and children. There is something genuinely powerful about being able to see your own nervous system on screen and learning that you can shift it.
Alongside HRV biofeedback, I draw on functional iridology, evidence-based herbal medicine, terpene-informed aromatherapy, nutritional therapy, sound therapy, and functional pathology testing. Every treatment plan is built around you, your body, and what's actually going on underneath the surface.
I have a particular love for working with children. Kids respond beautifully to this kind of work, especially the biofeedback and sound therapy, and supporting their nervous systems early can change the trajectory of their health in a really meaningful way.
Whether you're navigating chronic illness, burnout, anxiety, immune dysfunction, or you just know something isn't right and no one has been able to help you figure out what, I'd love to work with you.
How I Got Here...
My connection to plants and the natural world started long before I ever opened a textbook. Growing up in Murwillumbah at the foot of Mount Warning, I spent many weekends climbing the mountain with my family, exploring the ranges, fossicking for treasures, and playing in the creeks and streams that wound through the rainforest. Nature was never just a backdrop for me. It was (and still is) where I felt most at home, most calm, most myself.
My grandmother had her own way with plants. She wasn't a formal herbalist, but she instinctively turned to nature to support her family's health. When I started to delve deeper into the world of herbs, my family would tell me I reminded them of my nan. I think something of that has always been in my blood. Turning to the plants and the natural world has always felt right to me, but it wasn't until I began my formal studies that I realised it doesn't just feel right. The scientific evidence for why these things work is abundant.
When my second child was diagnosed with asthma at two years old and was hospitalised on a number of occasions. That experience broke my heart and lit a fire in me. I wanted to understand how the body heals, what it needs, and how I could support not just my own family but others too.
Plant medicine was my first love in practice, and it still is. The ability of plants to support the body's own healing processes never stops amazing me. For years I worked in clinic seeing clients with all kinds of health concerns, and it never ceased to amaze me how when given the right circumstances and nutrients, the body has the ability to restore balance and heal.
Over time my practice evolved. I found myself drawn to the deeper questions, not just what herbs to prescribe, but why the body was stuck in the first place. That curiosity led me to psychoneuroimmunology, to HeartMath and HRV biofeedback, and eventually to the Masters I'm completing now. Each step has deepened my understanding of how the nervous system, immune system, and mind work together, and that understanding has transformed the way I practise.
The art of formulation has always been where I feel joy and flow, and that creative love extends beyond the dispensary into the botanical skincare, herbal teas, and wellness products I make by hand in small batches. These products are an extension of my clinical philosophy: quality ingredients, therapeutic intention, and care in every detail.
If you would like to work with me consultations are available via telehealth Australia-wide and in person at Reserve Creek, NSW.
Much love, Rach xx
My Promise
At the heart of everything I do at Gypsy Belle Botanicals is a commitment to genuine, thorough, whole-person care. Whether I'm sitting with you in a consultation, interpreting your HRV data, or formulating a herbal prescription, I promise to treat you as a complete human being, not a set of symptoms.
That same philosophy carries through to the products I create. Alongside my clinical work, I formulate a range of botanical skincare, herbal teas, tonics, and therapeutic blends. Every product is crafted in small batches from my dispensary using the freshest, highest quality ingredients I can source. Where possible, that means organic, wild-crafted, biodynamic, and always cruelty-free.
Formulation is where my love of plant medicine comes alive in a different way. Each product is designed with the same naturopathic lens I bring to my clinical prescribing, choosing ingredients not just for what they do on the surface but for how they support the body as a whole. The aromatics are chosen with as much intention as the actives, because I believe that a daily ritual with beautiful botanicals can be a quiet act of nervous system care in itself.
I use glass packaging wherever possible to keep your products fresh and potent, with the added benefit of being reusable and far kinder to the earth.
If you ever have questions about a product, a formulation, or anything at all, I'd love to hear from you at hello@gypsybellebotanicals.com.
