An Herbalist's Place In This Conventional WorldHerbalism in the US isn’t regulated. We aren’t degreed, licensed, or registered (for the most part). Our education and certifications are only as good as the people who taught them. Does that freak you out? Not me- I like it this way. I think Fiona Heckles from the UK said it best: “You don’t have to have a medical degree to be able to practice herbal medicine, and that’s because the medical profession (the allopathic medical profession) doesn’t want to recognize it as a profession in itself. But in doing that it opens up this amazing freedom to be able to study with apprenticeship programs or with whoever or however you want to practice, as long as you feel confident about it… what you really need to do is know your plants.” Yes, legally, Herbalists have to be careful not to suggest they are impersonating a “medical professional” and need to stay on the side of education and information. But philosophically, that’s not hard. We’re teaching people to care for themselves- the boring daily routines of good food and good rest and good movement
This all means that in the end, Herbalism's "place" in our world is in many ways outside of the usual way of doing things. Herbalists must follow the laws, but we make our own rules. I believe the care of your health is your own responsibility, a right that you deserve, and that is in sometimes direct disagreement with established health care expectations. And this is OK, because Herbalists are also (often primarily) educators. We're all always learning how to be more healthy in these bodies we have, and that usually means learning new ways to think about everything. Someone like an Herbalist is well suited to help guide you through new experiences as well as new ways to understand them. How do we practice? Let me count the waysProfessionally, this freedom gives Herbalists a simply fantastic scope of practice. There are SO MANY ways to practice the “act and art” of Herbalism, and SO MUCH we can we can learn from the established Herbalists of our time (not to mention the archived and salvaged documentation of practitioners past) that we can sample and try on and morph into our own practices. These ideas span the gamut of practice from:
All kinds of practices are used by all kinds of practitioners to help all kinds of people, and have been for all of history. Sill, many will argue that it can’t work to have so many disparate practices, it’s just the placebo effect making people feel better. So what? We’re out here helping people feel better using all the tools at our disposal, not treating our clients like machines missing some upgrades, or like disposable furniture. Let me say it again: I. Do. Not. Care. If. The. “Placebo Effect”. Is. What. Helps. You. Feel. Better. Besides, there’s no line we can draw that says, “On this side it’s only the placebo effect; on that side, it’s real healing…” Even the word "healing" is rather non-specific and subjective- it's hard to define what being well or better or healed actually means. In practice, Herbalism deals well with the vague and unspecific complaints people have that often stump Western medicine, which is mostly concerned with identifying the offending microorganism or organ and attacking it. Western medicine works well in many situations (believe you me, my time as an EMT taught me the benefits of Western medicine well.) However, Herbalists are concerned with helping the body function to the best of its ability so our clients feel better, which is also vague and unspecific- plant medicine and people go together so well, you'd think we evolved together... oh wait, we did! My own practice is changingTo this end, I’ve been mulling over my own particular kind of practice. I’ve been an Herbalist for a long time (a decade since I got my first certificate, though it’s been my calling wayyyy before that.) I’ve also taught Reformer Pilates for almost 15 years, and I’ve encountered some surprising parallels about the benefits of regular, thoughtful, whole-body movements and regular, thoughtful, whole-body plant medicine.
I want to ask you all, out here in the vast void that is an internet post- do you see any connections between your exercise/movement/work-out practices and goals, and your herbal wellness ones? Or maybe even more to the point- Do you want to? How could connections like these serve you, help you, or even interest you? I’m very interested in having a discussion with you about this. Comment below, email me, let me know what you think!
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“Maximize Your World”
No matter how many creams and balms you pour onto your skin, an overloaded liver will keep pushing toxins out from under the skin as breakouts. No matter how much you reduce your diet variety, inflammation will continue to cause food sensitivities and systemic inflammation. No matter how much you rest, weak muscles will cause low back pain and reduce your quality of life. Addressing problems, not just moving on from them, takes time, determination, practice, and quite often a guide. As an Herbalist, that's something I offer- guidance as you do your healing work. Prevention Really is the Best MedicineIt’s really, really tough to be experiencing symptoms and to also step back for perspective, to try and find the roots when the branches are on fire. Doing preventive work when you are doing OK goes a long way here, to reduce or eliminate problems before they can even occur. And a skilled practitioner is trained to lead you through the acute symptoms now, so you can work on the chronic cause later. So how do you go about finding the help you might need? Set up your health care team now before you have troubles, or more troubles. Get recommendations, try introductory appointments, interview professionals, attend events like health fairs. Vet everyone on your team, including your GP, OB/GYN, Dermatologist, Therapist, Chiropractor, Massage Therapist, Herbalist, Nutritionist, Acupuncturist, Fitness Trainers, and whoever else helps you feel better. You should always feel supported and empowered by our team. And visit your teammates on a regular basis, at least for check ins. Make sure your wellness is going according to plan, and that no one sees a red flag you’ve missed. Self care isn’t selfish! We don’t tend to have the communities around us anymore that might have pointed out important things, like scary looking moles or an odd gait, so we need to assemble a team to help us with these things. As Terry Pratchett put it in A Hat Full of Sky, “And what you might need them for was to tell you, as a friend, that you were beginning to cackle.” I don’t want you out there by yourself, cackling. What is Herbalism? At the start of my journey, I experienced Herbalism as just an alternative way to treat conditions that my friends went to their doctors for- colds, earache, constipation, anxiety, and the like. Take this herb, instead of that pill, and then go on with your day.
Today, I see Herbalism as one branch of a lifestyle that has plants as wellness partners, instead of pills (or alongside them when necessary), and views western medicine as the outsider- it’s good for lots of big problems, but not very good at improving our day-to-day existence. Plants are everywhere, and they’re much cheaper than drugs, so I also think of Herbalism as an equal-opportunity system. Herbalism is people’s medicine. As Dr Nicole LePera (@the.holistic.psychologist) says, “In the old paradigm, we relied on 'experts' to tell us about ourselves and our bodies. In the new paradigm, we take accountability and advocate for our own healing. If we choose to have someone guide us, it’s a part of a large puzzle.” We get to be responsible for ourselves, if we choose. Thirty years ago I would have said that Herbalism was taking capsules of dried plants, and a few teas and foul-tasting tinctures, so that I didn’t get sick. Today Herbalism is much more widely known than it was in the 1980’s, but perhaps it’s no better understood. Let’s look at this! Yes, Herbalism is plants. You can quibble about mushrooms and resins and a few other not-exactly-plant items, but basically we’re talking “go out in the woods or the fields and gather” items here. Except, not really. To really get a handle on what Herbal medicine is about, I need to ask you to try something: Set aside your understanding, your ideas about medicine and disease and wellness. They’re perfectly valid thoughts, but I want you to try to imagine an entirely different way. People are complex- just check out the online reviews of restaurants or gyms or anything else. No one thing is for EVERYONE. And plants are just as complex as we are- did you know that the only chemical difference between our blood and chlorophyll is that where we have an Iron molecule, the plants have a Magnesium? We inhale what they exhale, they make the water cycle the entire planet depends on, and the exact same plant can vary widely in its growth habits and chemical makeup depending on where it’s grown. I’m the same- I’d be very different living in the far North, or on a tropical island, or in the middle of a city, based on the choices, opportunities, and resources available to me. So what is Herbalism? I nominate this idea: It’s The Act And Art Of Living With Plants As Food And Medicine To Maximize Your World. "Act and Art"Herbalism definitely has a big knowledge component- you need to know your plants. How many plants is up to you, though. A dozen or two well-chosen plants could cover pretty much everything you’d need, and some herbalists work well with 6-10 individual and combination remedies handling almost all of their client’s complaints. On the other end of the spectrum, there are honestly thousands and thousands of plants to choose from. The “art” of herbalism is inseparable from the knowledge base. Facts, research, and “proof” inform us right alongside intuition, inspiration, and experimentation. Every single herbalist I know balances the science and the art that underpins the “knowing” of their plants differently, beautifully, and dynamically, allowing change to morph their practice over time. Practicing herbalism is a dance with all the information- known and unknown- out there. "Living With"
"Food and Medicine"Food and medicine is the same thing! That tomato you grew is tasty, it fills your belly, and it provides you with vitamins, minerals, and other molecules like lycopene and beta carotene that support different functions in your body- they’re medicine.
Often the difference between food and medicine is just the dose. A little mug of hot water with a Chamomile teabag is a nice beverage, but a jar of fresh flowers covered in cold water steeped overnight in the fridge makes a fragrant, uplifting apple-sweet drink that delivers all the muscle-relaxing and petulance-overcoming benefits of Chamomile’s volatile oils. And a mug of long-brewed Chamomile tea, dark and earthy and bitter, helps move full or constricted digestion along. Good food- whole, clean, organic, and consistent- seasoned and spiced with further good foods, becomes your medicine Just make, and keep, one promise to yourself everyday. One little promise, one little moment of showing up for yourself. This was the post I saw from @the.holistic.psychologist, just when I was feeling overwhelmed and undeserving and defeated. She’d said it before, but that day I needed it. OK, I thought, I will. Now I encourage (Urge! Demand!) you do the same. We ALL need to remind ourselves that we’re there for ourselves; it builds such resilience and resolve! In keeping with my spirit, I made 2 promises. In keeping with Dr. LaPera’s advice, I made them tiny.
I’ve also been having trouble falling asleep, so the last few nights I’ve taken an herbal sleep tablet by Garden of Life (a sample from Expo East!) with a powdered Magnesium and Sleep drink (love this stuff), and doing a Deepak Chopra meditation after lights-out. It’s amazing what a few nights of good sleep, and a few days of clear and ordered tasks, can accomplish. This morning’s journaling- from last night’s meditation prompts- showed me that lately I’ve been most in my “flow” when I’m writing about my passions, like developing the DIY program, or writing blog posts. Yet I don’t write creatively that often, putting it off in favor of other “more important” tasks. Since I don’t have any morning appointments today, I decided to have a sauna (we have a Relax FIR sauna tent in the bedroom, you can try one at Holly Hill, my local health food store), a quick stretch and shower, and sit down to write a bit. No guilt, no judgement, I just opened a few docs I had been working on recently but had put aside. I'm really looking forward to this! Before I turn back to them, I really want to know: What’s ONE promise you can make to yourself every day? Comment below! Some of the above links are affiliate sources
1. Get Moving
I know you don't feel like it. But the ONLY way to get past this is to encourage your lymph system to get immune cells in, and trash out. -Take a hot showers -Exfoliate -Use a netti pot -dry yourself briskly! -snuggle into warm clothes 2. Take Stock and Make Stock Start making hot water, on the stove or in a crock pot, and a tea kettle. I am forever freezing chicken bones and this is the time to use them. Dig around in your fridge and freezer to see what you might add to that hot water. If you were thinking ahead, you may have some veggie ends like carrot tips and celery butts and parsley stems frozen against a future soup, in which case toss it all the pot with the bones. Otherwise, just the bones will do fine, with some salt and a wee splash of vinegar. And a few seaweed leaves, if you have them. Then just put the pot on low with a lid and forget about it until tomorrow. 3. DRINK Like #1 up there, keeping your lymph moving and thin is super extra important now, so we need to stay hydrated and warm. With that hot tea kettle water from #2, make yourself some tea- I keep it easy with instant dandelion or ginger tea, or one of these mushroom lattes that help your immune function and are DELICIOUS. Also, dig out that container of miso you forgot about in the back of your fridge (I'll share other ways to enjoy miso some other time) and drop a spoonful in a second mug. Add a sprinkle of kelp and poof- you have soup. Drink up. 4. Feed a cold, starve a fever Here's my take on this saying, really one of the only thowbacks our culture has left of a traditional medicine system. Colds are low-grade attacks on our bodies, and we pull out all the stops to fight it- mucus to trap and drain, fatigue to conserve energy, aches as destroyed cells pile up in our lymph glands. An army fights on its stomach, so if yours is calling for fuel, go for it. Keep in mind, you are working HARD to fight this off, and it takes energy to digest food into that fuel. Choose simple, nutrient-dense, easy to digest options, which are primarily soft, long cooked, and uncomplicated foods. Soups, stews, roasted vegetables, eggs, applesauce, porridges- you know, the really healthy stuff. Dairy, sugar, large quantities of grains, raw foods will all use too many resources or actually feed the bacteria causing the cold. Help your body out. If you reach fever stage, I believe your body is throwing all available energy at raising your temperature to basically cook your illness right out of you. Support that with hydration, warm clothes, lots of simple resting, and fasting as you feel you need it. Now's the time to really check in and see what you're up for and in need of. It'll take your stock from #2 at least 24 hours to simmer into a mineral-rich broth that will feed your depleted immune system, so nap your way till then. 5. R.E.S.T. Don't be surprised if you sleep for 12 hours or more. Don't be surprised when I suggest you go to bed before it's dark out. Give yourself the chance to recover. Just do it, please! 6. Recovery wasn't done in a day Our culture does NOT value convalescence. But I do! And I get it, it's hard to all for recovery when we're so pressed with obligations and responsibilities from all sides. But if you keep your energy output to 70% MAX for at least 2 days after you start feeling better, you'll actually be able to recover to at least your pre-cold energy levels in record time. A woman was recently telling me about a strange rash she developed on her upper back. After a few rounds of doctor visits, she was finally told that it was coming from a virus that gave her an upper respiratory issue 3 months prior to the rash! Enough people had had the hacking cough AND didn't actually recover from it, leading to identical rashes on the outside of their lungs months later, that the local physicians were recognizing the symptoms- and recommending steroids. I recommend recovering fully in the first place. Drink your broth, make it into vegetable soup, eat your simple foods, allow for more time to do routine things, take naps, and when your symptoms start to recede start the clock- you still need at least 2 days of this easier pace to be well again. Have you ever had an out-of-body moment, when you don't recognize anything but suddenly realize that this is somehow your life? It feels like you're seeing the world like this for the first time, through new eyes, like you just woke up in this body with this life that you didn't have a moment ago. This has happened when I'm teaching a Pilates class, and I'm simultaneously confident in my instruction while also amazed at myself for knowing what to do next. It's also happened when I moved house often- 5 times in 5 years at one point. I'd walk into a room and think, "This is my stuff, but what's it doing here?" It also happened one morning recently, when I was suddenly struck by the quality of the light and the movement of the breeze in stiff bare trees and I was so sure, just for a minute, that it was a late Autumn evening and not 7am in mid-February. For just that minute, I was both here and there. I think these experiences are actually practicable. The reality we each experience is created through our own personal sets of life-lenses. But I think we can practice seeing our own reality without involving our life's worth of expectation and experience and habits. Like in physical exercise, the benefits of a practice like this expand past the goal- beyond examining our own lives more objectively, this allows us to listen and learn in ways that might be logically unfathomable but just need an open mind to help you grow a little. Somewhere along my herbal journey, I began to absorb the idea that plants weren't invented for our illnesses, that self-care and healing is labor and discipline and personal responsibility. It was a very gradual paradigm shift, and re-reading my early notes from the beginning of my training reveal that it certainly didn't start right away.
Generally, we don't recognize that our "simple" health-related questions are based in an expectation of "take a pill for it," that assumes some outside force (person, drug, or plant) can/will/should do the work for us. We're actually told that we must submit to doctors and medications even if we feel worse in their "care." I suggest, instead, that this is really your responsibility, and that all the "experts" are really just part of your team of advisers and require constant questioning. It's actually not fair to expect someone or something to fix you, because how could they ever know what you're experiencing as well as you do? How could they ever influence your choices and decisions and reactions more than you can? By now, questions about "what herbs are for [health condition]" and "how much [standardized component] is in there/do I need/works best" no longer get straight answers from me. Should I take Valerian for sleep? becomes a conversation about:
You see how this gets can-of-worms complex? I want you to learn what you have influence over, what you don't, and where you stand in relation to the rest of everything. You have both power over and responsibility for your internal state, your reality. It's a huge shift to come to terms with this. Practicing this has made me a more engaged and stronger human, and has taught me things I didn't know I didn't know. This is my challenge to you: practice being responsible for, or in charge of, your own reality. Practice stepping outside of it and seeing what things look like from there. Practice experiencing yourself, instead of accepting what outside messages say you think. Practice seeing how you feel and react to your food, your medications, your herbs, your exercise, and all the other inputs in your life. Practice being part of the bigger picture, working with the weather, being part of the traffic, rather than outside them as if they are happening to you personally. Practice to see what you find, instead of searching for answers you think you want. I am excited to share with you an exciting opportunity (so exciting I said it twice!) to learn more about supporting your cardiovascular health naturally from one of the brightest teachers in the herbal world, Guido Masé. In a new 6-week online BotanicWise course, Natural Cardio Care: An Herbalist’s Perspective, one of the brightest teachers in the herbal world, Guido Masé, will guide us through the various components of self-evaluation for better cardiovascular health. By the end of the 6-Week Course, you’ll have an extensive, personalized natural cardiovascular care program that will boost confidence in your overall health. Along the way you'll have the benefit of learning with a supportive network of like-minded individuals and experienced health professionals.
Guido has a talent for explaining complicated subjects in an interesting and understandable manner. He creates a bridge between the scientific community and the public, feeding both groups with practical information that can be used personally in the home, or with clients in a clinic.
Check out his teaching style in this free class: Resonance of the Heart with Guido Masé Natural Cardio Care is designed to empower both individuals dealing with cardiovascular issues AND clinicians wanting to broaden their therapeutic options for clients. Check out the full course description here, and if you are interested, use my unique coupon code PAULASHERBALS20 to receive $20 off. The course begins Monday January 21 and wraps up Thursday March 7. This course features live classes, with the option to watch replays until August 2019. Best of all you will walk away with your own customized natural heart care program that you will create through self-evaluations. If you are a practitioner these methods can be used to work with your clients. Full disclosure: a portion of the proceeds from this class benefits my work and BotanicWise, an organization providing plant wisdom, connecting like-minded people and building a community to steward land, medicinal plants and supportive relationships with each other. Even so, I wouldn’t recommend this class unless I would take it myself. Guido is one of my favorite teachers, and I know his students will benefit greatly from this course. Petaled Sunshine Calendula is a classic remedy for skin ailments, helping heal in a gentle steady way. She's also a classic lymph mover, with the same energy, I feel. She's the draught horse, getting the deep work done. Or a nurse, kind and gentle but firm and inexorable. I have been using her infused oil topically with internal issues too. On the abdomen during difficult periods or over irritated intestines, on the jaw during my tongue-tie pain, on a joint when there's an -itis going on. Helping to keep the inflammation fluids (aka the healing process) moving, helping repair, bringing brightness & cheer. She's easy to grow, abundant with flowers, and generously reseeds. Her resinous medicine under the petals dissolves best in an oil, but bath or tea water works well too. Lymphatic Support and Sunshine Think of Calendula as bringing sunshine into your lymph system. Did you know your lymph doesn't have a pump? Its movement relies on your movement- muscle contractions. When you don't move so much, or have too much trash (from illness) for lymph to move, things can stagnate and congeal- you've seen it happen in the fridge, or overnight in the kitchen sink. With Calendula, fluid thins and flows, debris is carried away, congestion eases. Shining light into dark corners chases away monsters. (This is a METAPHOR people! If you want to learn about lymph physically check out @stopchasingpain) Traditionally Europeans called this herb Pot Marigold. A 'pot herb' was a common ingredient in the dinner pot. Calendula helps prepare the immune system for a winter cold by cleaning out the old stuff, so it was harvested and dried all Summer to prepare for this. Fresh or dried, flowers and leaves can be made into a tea, or used directly on the skin, or infused into good oil. Dried flowers into tincture, bath mixes, hydrotherapy edema soaks. Also homeopathic creams/gels/tablets. Skin Love Topically, Calendula is a healing wonder on all types of cuts, nicks, scratches, burns and other damage. It has some immune stimulants, so it can prevent infection and inflammation. But it also encourages lymph, so any grossness or heat is moved on outta there which also helps healing. Matthew Wood also says it's salty, which helps soften skin and prevent hard wounds and scar tissue (Earthwise Herbal, p155) My teacher @maiatoll tells a story of a bad kitchen accident. The open wound was packed with Calendula and the wounded was driven a looooong 1.5 hrs to the hospital. By the time they arrived, the wound was closing, healing. I also use Calendula topically to influence the lymphatics and drainage of inflammation and distress under the skin. Glands, organs, bruises, general internal cranky spots. Calendula is most often infused in an oil, because its medicine, in the resinous underside of the flower tops, dissolves best in oil. Tea, tincture, and bathwater applications are also possible. Read No You Don’t Need A Liver Cleanse! Not A Detox Program Either! I'll wait...
OK, good. We got that straight. Now, I love this time of year. Everyone has their own special take on traditions, and my family is no exception. We have a Slovak Christmas, a dinner called Vilija with mushroom sauerkraut soup, homemade pierogies, a fish, peas, green jello and pineapple (hey now don't judge) and ohmygosh the cookies. The big focus is on sharing, so yesterday when the exterminator came my mom gave him a baggie of cookies along with his check. Everybody gets included! After I get home there's a couple parties, and some "special" eggnog that'll knock your socks off, and who knows what else. It's a fun, adventurous culinary holiday, lovingly made and generously shared, that is not well suited for daily life. After the holidays I'm going to restart some physical and food choices that fell by the wayside this year. My goal is to improve my elimination, heal/repair my nervous and digestive tissues, and feel rested, clear headed, and inspired more often. Do you want to Overhaul with me? Since I’m planning this out ahead of time and being more methodical, I thought some of you might want to join me for the ride. Here’s what we’ll do, from December 31 to January 20:
I’m offering you the inside scoop on my annual New Year’s Overhaul. You’ll learn what I’ve been doing (abdominal breathing! intermittent fasting!) and all the deets on some new things I want to try (lymph support! meditation!) There will be herbs, fermented foods, exfoliation and dry brushing, digestive support and poop talk, gut health and sweating. Simply put, we’ll try some new habits on for 3 weeks and see what sticks, while minimizing the demands put on our bodies. Want to take part? 3 weeks of plans and descriptions, plus my support, delivered early so you have time to prep, is $30. Sign up HERE, and look for your welcome email. I am traveling this week so you may not get it same day. I look forward to going through this with you! In the world of herbal potions, an elixir is at the top of my list. They're yummy, sweet, and are a fantastic way to capture the beauty of a fresh plant, not just its medicine. Here's how I made a Tulsi Elixir, but you can use all sorts of herbs- for example, try fresh Chamomile! This is a great time of year to make elixirs because any outdoor plants are about to die back for the winter, and potted plants moving indoors need haircuts too, so there's one last harvest available. Fresh Tulsi Elixir |
Fun Fact: I'm an herbalist and a movement coach. Not a doctor, or a pharmacist, and not pretending to be one on TV.
This is a public space, so my writing reflects my experiences and I try to stay general enough so it might relate to you. This does not constitute medical advice, and I encourage you to discuss concerns with your doctor. Remember, however, that the final say in your wellness decisions are always yours- you have the power to choose, you are the boss of you. And, some of my posts may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them I'll earn a few cents. Thank you for supporting my work. This website is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not medical, mental health or healthcare advice. The information presented here is not intended to diagnose, treat, heal, cure or prevent any illness, medical condition or mental or emotional condition. Working with us is not a guarantee of any results. Paula Billig owns all copyrights to the materials presented here unless otherwise noted. Categories
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