​​Ah, the Rose. You can probably name me 6 popular references to Rose from poetry and songs without even trying. What's up with Rose's popularity??

Like the rest of nature (humans included!), Rose isn't just one thing. She just does all her things so well! Yes, she's a pretty face with a heavenly smell! And the scent and taste of rose will soften and open a hard heart, which can be startling or overwhelming if someone's not ready for that. 
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But she also has thorns, for straight up protection. Don't just take from this beauty, she'll fight back- as she should. Plus, her leaves are a fantastic astringent, tightening loose or drippy tissues, the opposite of the opening and softening of her flowers.

A Rose person may have grown themselves too many thorns, trying to stave off the outside world. They might need some softening, some gentle opening, in the realm of the heart and the feelings. And holding themselves so stiffly, so apart from people can leave you cold and stagnant, so Rose leaves can help tone up tissues that aren't flowing right- maybe some in a bathtub, along with flowers, might help improve the quality of menstruation or varicose veins or sluggish lymph. And what a lovely experiment to try!

Recently I was asked, "Are there particular herbs or remedies that you’d suggest for clients with pelvic floor dysfunction?"

Well, yes and no. This is a classic answer, I know!

One of the things I’m on a mission to teach is that plants weren’t invented for our illnesses, so having that expectation of “what’s a good herb for…” doesn't really translate into actual improvements in our health. 

Because as a general rule plants don’t really care what our problems are! Right?! They're out there, living their lives, making chemical compounds to attract pollinators and defend against pests and foragers, and generally not too concerned with the bipeds sharing their planet. They're not trying to help us, regardless of how much we want to use them to our ends.

Having said that, there are some herbs that can help us in some more specific ways. It turns out that lots and lots of plants do interact with us chemically in ways that are beneficial to our health! Just not always, or in expected ways, or precise amounts, so take your time trying out plants as medicine. 

There are also some other plants that can help with PFD symptoms-

If you're experiencing irritation, like maybe cystitis, soothing things can help, like:

• Oats
• old fashioned Barley water
• Cinnamon
• or even Corn silk, leftover after shucking fresh corn

Astringent aka toning things might help too, like:

• Raspberry leaf
• Rose petals
• Hibiscus

Choosing between them is often a matter of self-knowledge and trusting intuition. Does it feel dry, like it needs soothing? Or feel boggy, like there's too much fluid and it needs toning? 

These herbs are great as teas, especially since these kinds of internal PFD conditions are often helped with more fluid diluting urine. ​

Curious about the soothing suggestion? Yes, you can add Oats to tea! You can also just eat them, well cooked and thick. Also, here's a SUPER tasty and really easy experiment: 
​

1. Put a couple Cinnamon sticks into 2 jars
2. Fill one with hot water, loosely cover, and leave on the counter overnight 
3. Next day, fill the second with hot water, loosely cover and wrap in a kitchen towel, and leave for about an hour
   1. While you wait, what do you think they'll taste like? What do you expect to feel, smell, taste?
4. Now, taste both the cold, overnight tea and the warm, freshly made tea
   1. What did you actually experience?
   2. Objectively- how did they taste, what did you feel, how do they compare?
   3. Subjectively- did you enjoy it? What emotions came up with the tastings?

Remember, though, plants weren't invented for us and so it doesn't work to just "use" them for our benefit.

For example, before just walking into a health food store and announcing to the confused staff, "An herbalist on the internet says I need Solomon's Seal for my prolapse!," or buying a case of Raspberry leaf tea and starting a quart-a-day discipline, I might suggest a gentler course of action.

Avail yourself of the internet and do a local search for herbalists. Reach out to them and say you're interested in learning more about [enter plant here] and do they grow/sell it, or know anyone who does? Try to talk to an herbal practitioner face to face (or zoom to zoom, as the case may be) (yes I do consultations). Learn what the plant looks like, and try to recognize it if you walk in parks or gardens. 

Order some dried plant from a bigger supplier like Herbiary or Mountain Rose if you can't find it locally. Chew on a few pieces for a while. Make it into tea (roots need to steep overnight or simmer at least an hour). Drink some tea, then add the rest to a bath.

Pay attention to how it feels, comparing it to plants you're used to feeling like Coffee, Peppermint, Chamomile, Onions, Strawberries... you get the picture. You're learning if you and this plant get along, and this isn't anything like watching out for side effects from medications, is it? 

No one person- friend, therapist, chef, author, actor, boss, etc- is perfect for everyone. No one herb is either. So give it a little time, get to know it, before you decided if it "works for you."

Have you ever spent time trying to get to know a plant? 



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​FUN FACT: your feet aren’t the blunt end of a pogo stick, they’re more like the springy part of the pogo stick! We’re supposed to roll with and propel from our feet, not stump around slapping them down.

You’ve got 26 bones in there- that’s 25% of your TOTAL bones between those 2 feet- but can they move or are they all smashed up next to each other?

Feet are designed to have just about as much movement as our hands do! Not many people can spread their toes out even a little, let alone like their fingers, and this has massive implications “up the chain”
✔ for stability at the ankles, knees, and hips
✔ for balance
✔ for gait
✔ for pretty much everything

So UNSQUISH YOUR FEET and get some space around those foot bones. Use yoga socks, your own fingers, foam pedicure forms, or silicone toe separators (gold star⭐for these!) Practice your toe spread and see if it impacts your other aches and pains too.

Have you ever really stopped to think about just how complex and mind-boggling you are?

Well, I've been thinking about it. And I've been thinking about how many descriptions and metaphors I've used in the last 15 years or so to try and describe our selves to my clients.

​It's time to make a series out of those descriptions.

Everyone is different, yes, but we're all very similar too. And our bodies tend to move (or not) in familiar (at least to me) ways. 

The more you can understand about these functional, "physiology" ideas, the more you'll understand the deep, intertwined connections you have- why your breathing is connected to your digestion and your knee pain and your hearing and vision, for example.

This leads you down the rosy path of "the foot bone is connected to so much more than the ankle bone" as one of my teachers Claire Mockridge says. Why do you care? Living with ease and grace means avoiding strain and overwhelm, and since we tend to be so much more familiar with the latter, the former takes deliberate awareness. 

Hence, this series happening about monthly, where I'll start introducing you to your own self! Deliberately, cheekily, colorfully, and clearly.

Coming up first: 

• Your ribs are supposed to move like fireplace bellows. Do yours?
• Your feet aren't just the rubber bottom of a pogo stick, bouncing you around!
• Do you have space between your bones?
• Your spine is like a stack of tea cups...

Do you have any body movement questions you want answered? I'm serving the cheek here, nothing dirty or NSFW.

Plants can help us in a variety of ways through all of our healing processes. They can:
🌼 help prevent infection of open wounds, decreasing the immune system’s workload
🌼 decrease pain
🌼 cool a site when swelling gets too much
🌼 increase lymph flow when it’s not getting out of a site and things are getting crowded
🌼 normalize the inflammation response when it needs to increase or decrease but isn’t
🌼 support the healing of specific tissues like nerves, blood vessels, connective tissue, or gut lining

Now, I’d like to make it clear here that I’m talking about the kinds of injuries you’d commonly have no problem dealing with yourself. If it’s anything outside of your comfort zone, SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP. 

So how, exactly, can herbs help your feet and pelvic floor (and everything else) heal? There’s a couple of specific herbs to tell you about, and a couple of common combos you’ll find at health food or herb shops.

Let’s take your feet as an example. You’ve been listening to this Paula person online, and you’re using your feet more, getting more texture in your walking surfaces, turning them to parallel several times a day, and things are getting a bit uncomfortable. Maybe your feet are tired and a little tender, maybe your hips and knees are getting used in new ways and are a little sore.

Also worth noting here is Magnesium in all its glorious forms- crystals, sprays, gels, balms, rollers, sticks, and internal supplements like powders, tablets, and liquids. Magnesium does a lot of things so let me explain it like this- your muscles need Mg to relax (like, at all. As in, the opposite of contract), and tension restricts circulation. So I always, always suggest Mg supplements internally or externally for anything that hurts for more than a day. Be warned though, your digestive tract is a muscle too- excess Mg makes it hard for things like the colon to hold onto its contents since it’s, you know, relaxed. Go easy on the Mg supplements till you know your tolerance!

On the topic of inflammation, there's SO MUCH to say! Don't get overwhelmed by how much information is available out there. Here's my Rules of Thumbs:

1. Inflammation isn't always bad- it's the process your body uses to heal, so in some capacity it's very necessary
2. Inflammation often goes overboard and that's usually not your body's fault, but during the overboard process it's also not the time to debate particulars!
3. Inflammation will be caused by an injury, and can also be exacerbated by the healing. Treating it like it's its own isolated problem misses out on root causes.
4. When it goes overboard my go-to's are Turmeric (either as supplements or as food- you can sprinkle Turmeric on or in soooo many things, and Golden Milk is fabulous) and Quercetin (also as supplements or as food; it's a component of all the alliums like Onions and Garlic)
5. When you're deciding between putting heat or ice on an injury, go with your gut instinct. Heat will increase circulation and can speed healing, but swelling restricts that same circulation. Ice will reduce swelling and deaden nerve endings to ease pain and discomfort, but it will also restrict circulation and slow down healing. Use what feels right to you. 

This is the quick and dirty list of First Steps to working with herbal remedies to help heal injuries and inflammation. There's lots more that can (and has been and will be) said! But when find yourself in the first throes of injury, these are my suggestions. ​

​In my garden, in someone else's garden that I happen upon while exploring, in tea, in cakes, in sachets, in sleep masks, in wands, in wreaths, in lotions, in baths, in the air, in my water...

There's almost no end to the ways I love Lavender. There's also almost no end to the ways Lavender loves us back!

It cools- significantly. I'm decidedly NOT on the essential oil bandwagon (that's a different soap box for a different day) but as a burn remedy Lav EO has its own spot in my kitchen.

It's analgesic- significantly. Again with the burns, and also with bumps, bruises, headaches, sore muscles. Good quality lotions, bath goodies, and hydrosols (a la Barefoot Botanicals- not an ad, just a fan) are my fav applications.

It's antimicrobial, like most of the Mediterranean herbs. In addition to further helping burns and wounds, this gives it a sharp edge to taste and flavor, similar to what Sage, Thyme, and Oregano have going for them- as compared to the incomparable softness of Rose. I like exploiting this in savory cooking, like in roasted meats with cranberry and red wine. Just saying.

It's relaxing, antispasmodic, and generally expansive. Think of thinking, circulation, muscle and joint fluidity- all things that benefit from more openness.

It's soapy, which comes in handy when zhuzhed up with water for washing delicate fabrics or skin, and not so much when over done in baking or beer (voice of experience here. Trust me.)

Having trouble growing Lavender? She's a dry wit- try replanting with a good amount of sand around her roots to avoid wet feet.

How do you love your Lavender? Comment below with your favs!

The foundation of the training you'll get from me is from the Your Pelvic Matters program, a pelvic floor rehab system that works with alignment, strengthening, and stretching to improve pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD).

Spoiler alert- MOST of us have SOME kind of PFD, at least sometimes.

In my full body approach, I work with people who deal with: 

• Stress incontinence
• Abdominal separation 
• Early stage prolapse
• Hiatal hernia or reflux
• Hip and low back pain from poor posture or muscle weakness

Oh, this sounds like you? And you want to fix it? OK! Here's a list. In a nutshell, you need to:

• Sit better (if you must sit, or vary the way you sit eg floor sitting)
• Stand better (I teach you how to do this in every class setting on my timetable, so no excuses)
• Walk and move more (but you need to learn how to stand better for you to be able to move and walk better, so you can sort of see how these things are indeed connected)
• Strengthen your glutes (a huge role in relieving pelvic pain, sciatica and sneeze wee is building yourself a strong butt, which incidentally is linked to walking better - you see - I can find a tenuous link to everything!)
• Release your hamstrings (particularly if sneeze wee is something you suffer with - it tells me your pelvic floor is possibly too tight)
• Teach your core to switch on reflexively (which means you don't "draw it in" all the time, or at all - you let it anticipate and adapt to the load you're asking it to bear), and finally
• Learn to breathe better (because you can't get a reflexive core, if you're not breathing into your ribs, and breathing better can also help pelvic floor/core synergy too)

 
And, there you have it! 
 
That's quite an extensive list as you can see, but if you've ever asked me a question along the lines of:
 
"What exercises are good for....?"
 
I rarely if ever answer it by listing my "go to" exercises, because I look at the body as a whole unit, and just sending you away with 4 movements to do in isolation isn't going to relieve your symptoms.
 
You've got to take some responsibility for your pain and actions going forwards too, you see.
 
If you're concerned that any symptom you're suffering with is not going away, it's probably time to get in touch with me, don't you think?

I teach 1:1 clients all the time, and next month the next round of my semi-private program the Foot to Forehead Fix opens again.

It's a frequently asked question: 

But aren’t you an herbalist? Or are you a movement teacher?

My philosophy is simple- if it helps you be well, it’s fair game to include in my whole body approach to wellness. Boom.

Lymph is a super simple example (this is all the body fluid that’s not actively in your blood right now. It’s in and in between cells, and in lymph vessels and nodes, washing away waste products like old cells and dead bacteria. But the lymph system doesn’t have a pump like the heart in the circulatory system, it relies on the body moving for it to move.)

Lymph can be supported materially by:

• Drinking enough water
• Herbs that can support or stimulate movement
• Reducing inflammation and stress

It can also be supported manually by:

• Dry brushing
• Hot and cold shower rinsing
• Massage
• Correcting posture to straighten out the channels
• Aerobic, bouncing, or functional exercise to add movement

My practice integrates the manual and the material- I’ll teach you to move, stand, and sit right AND how to support your body from the inside. It’s a whole body approach that’s really, actually holistic- inside and out, physical and herbal, consistent and persistent. 

Check out my services here and get to work with me to feel better yourself

Not only does this allow your digestive organs to practice contracting down to their smallest size, the emptiness allows time for any needed repair and construction work to happen. 

​Give your digestive organs a break, and a chance to change sizes. Give the lymph fluid and connective tissue around your organs some space, and some fresh blood flow. And give all the tissues a chance to heal: the GI tract really has a lot of constant damage to repair, so a pause gives all this a chance to happen.

Herbal remedy? Aperitif? Morning bowel stimulant? Yes! 

The bitter taste is an amazing actor in our bodies- not only do our tongues taste bitter, but we have those same bitter taste receptors in all kinds of other body tissues too (like our lungs and kidneys). When we TASTE bitter, all sorts of things happen all over the body.

Specifically regarding digestion::

• Smooth muscles relaxes, so there's less tension in the gut
• Digestive juices like saliva and bile are stimulated
• Peristalsis (movement of the intestines) is stimulated
• Sweet cravings are often diminished
• Circulation is stimulated, improving digestion, metabolism, and healing of inflammation
• and more!

You can find alcohol-based bitters 3 main ways.

1. In little bottles at the liquor store, like Angostura, Peychaud's, and many small batch brands
2. In big bottles at the liquor store, like Campari, Aperol, Fernet Branca, and again, many artisan brands
3. In little bottles at the health food store, like Swedish Bitters, Urban Moonshine brand, and many small herbal makers brands

The rule of thumb is if it's in a big bottle you can sip it neat, if it's in a little bottle it's for flavoring or small dosages

Food based bitters include liquids like Coffee and greens like Dandelion, Escarole, and Radicchio, as well as Chocolate and Cacao nibs.

Dandelion root, Artichoke leaf, Bitter Orange peel, Gentian, Blue Vervain, Angelica, and Horehound are all bitter herbs you may see on some ingredient lists as well. 

Practice these 4 exercises for your Digestive System, and let me know how you're feeling! And Learn more about exercising your insides and outsides, for structural and systemic health, in my Foot to Forehead Fix program.

Can you lift your big toe- without using your hands? Why should you care?

This is important because tension in your feet is a good indicator of also having tension in your pelvic floor, neither of which is good for us.

In my experience, almost all of the aches and pains we deal with are somehow connected to the hips and pelvis. A healthy pelvic region requires a balance of strength and mobility, and VERY often the clients I see don’t have either of these. 

Simply put, your pelvic floor is the very foundation of how you move- and how you feel when you move. Not having good strength and mobility makes for a messy chain reaction up and down the body, and this is why I’m always working with clients on the feet from day 1, regardless of what else we’re also working on.

P.S.- You’ll probably also see some other improvements up and down the chain too. Everything’s connected, after all.

P.P.S.- Want some extra help? I can do that! Sign up for a private session with me.