My Herbalism path ultimately began with my life-long fascination with the world around me, especially the natural world, as I was given free reign in the countryside and woodlands throughout my childhood, even though I wasn't raised with much direct exposure to herbs specifically. Celestial Seasonings tea was about it. I did however, become intimate with many plants, who were my childhood companions, and whom I would later utilize for health: Yarrow, Queen Anne's Lace, Dandelion, Chicory, Burdock, Plantain to name a few. I didn't get direct exposure until 1993 at the age of 19 when I serendipitously began working at a greenhouse/nursery that specialized in herbs – Blue Ridge Botanicals – growing over 200 varieties. I always held a fondness for and connection with plants, so naturally, I immediately became fascinated with these wondrous plants called herbs with spectacular smells, and lo and behold, a multitude of uses for us, including much to offer for our health.
I immersed myself at once in the vast study of Herbs, and haven't looked back. I've always been an avid reader and am heavily self-taught. I read Materia Medicas and other non-fiction for fun, and for hours a day. I've not owned a television during these decades, preferring to read on my favorite, captivating topics: Plants, Health, Philosophy.
Back in '93 I also began ingesting the herbs, taking them all the time. I have taken herbs almost daily for over 30 years now. Beginning largely as preventative care, but also regular ingestion of various plants is very good for us – we get different nutrients, tastes, and regulating and balancing effects from them. In other words, they aren't just for when you feel really unwell, though of course they are of benefit then too. There is a spectrum that goes like this:
Food
<------------------>Medicine<-------------------->Poison
What matters is the dose. Herbs run
the full spectrum. This daily consumption is a healthy part of life (and also super educational for me
in understanding herbs). Some herbs being more food-like, are
consumed in larger quantities more frequently, others more
poison-like are only administered to the right person at the right
time. And still others fall somewhere in the middle... Being a
trained and experienced Herbalist, I can help you determine which
ones are right for you in this moment...
These fields of Horticulture and
Herbalism may seem to not be that related, but actually they are
completely related for me because I see the garden and the human body
with a similar mindset. When care-taking either I look for places of
balance/imbalance. I nourish the terrain to feed the branches/body.
I look at the whole, not taking one part out and considering it
separate, as nothing is truly separate in our world. I look for the
root of any problems I see, rather than just putting a patch on the
symptoms; I attempt to get at the cause and rectify things there –
for good. I aim to create an ecosystem, whether it is a garden or
body, that is healthy and vibrant throughout. The body and life
itself, has an amazing, innate healing force within it. I attempt to
support this and, as my Herbalism client, to support you, in having
this flourish.
Since my early Herbalist years I have helped myself, those closest to me, and my cats with herbs. In 2008 I began seeing clients broadly as a Clinical Herbalist. That same year, I began my study of TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine, by starting the professional course at East West School of Planetary Herbology. I wish I had begun this sooner because TCM is profound. I am thankful at least that I discovered Eastern philosophy in my early teenage years (I spent my free time at the library); it really spoke to me and I read everything on that topic I could get my hands on – it guided my life. This early immersion in Eastern philosophy laid a good foundation of understanding when I finally began my study of TCM. I am enamored with this thousands-of-years-old tradition of diagnostics, herbal energetics, and formulary. It has added much to my Herbalism and is a large part of how I practice now. I utilize herbs from many traditions, including some from Ayurveda, but my understanding of the body and the plants is largely orchestrated from TCM and Western traditions.
There have been two times over these decades that I did not do Horticulture for a living. Well make that three, I did a brief stint as a florist, but other than that being art, it is not too related to Herbalism. I managed a health food store, Valley Farms Natural Foods, for a couple years. This was back in the late 90s when you couldn't find health food, or supplements, or herbs, at the grocery store. It was a good experience because I got to see that area of Herbalism where the focus is largely on “active constituents” and, on the other hand, self-help. I am all for people taking their health into their own hands and think it's a very important undertaking – one that I fully support, but I am disillusioned with the idea of an herb only having one active constituent. Herbs work together, again as a whole, often synergistically, and are naturally interactive with the human body. Taking one thing out and concentrating it makes it more like a drug, more likely to have side effects – and also patent-able and profitable, wink wink. Herbs taken “in context,” meaning in their whole form, don't confuse the body. You practically eliminate side effects when the right herb(s) are taken for the right person at the right time and in the right combination. Formulas are more than the sum of their parts. The custom formula I will make for you will be specifically tailored to YOU.
I understand that people need to make a
living, myself included, but I am not in this for monetary profit; I
am in it for health: yours, mine, the whole world... I do my part by
doing what I can in my immediate environment, whether that is with
people, places, plants. I am wary of profit being a motive in
science and health, with drugs and other patent-able things being what gets
funded, while something simple, but miraculous, that you can grow in
your yard, gets ignored, or worse, denigrated. I prefer to look to
long-standing, deep tradition and direct, intimate experience for my
understanding. I do consider science in my understanding, but only
after determining if it's actually valid – something that I took an
entire class on in college, scientific validity that is, along with
taking statistics to understand the math behind it. Both classes
were required for my major. I have a B.S. in Psychology; graduated
with honors in 1995, and minored in Philosophy and Environmental
Science. I find the link between emotions and health a strong one with each feeding the other in a mutual feedback loop. Herbs can be very helpful in improving emotional situations too.
I also spent a couple years working as a librarian and research assistant at a private, rare plant book library, Oak Spring Garden Library. During this time I was blessed with the opportunity to put my eyes and hands on books that were created (literally hand-written and drawn on vellum) when the “New World” was being explored including some actual copies of the first Western Herbals, including Culpeper, Gerard, and many more. I assisted with research and editing of a book that was begun while I worked there: 'An Oak Spring Herbaria: Herbs and Herbals from the Fourteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries; A Selection of the Rare Books, Manuscripts and Works of Art in the Collection of Rachel Lambert Mellon.'
I have studied with many Herbalists and TCM practitioners over the years including Michael and Lesley Tierra, Brendan Kelly, Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa, Harriet Beinfield, Efrem Korngold, 7Song, Kathleen Maier, Phyllis D. Light, Benjamin Zappin, Thomas Easley, Christopher Hobbs, Sean Donahue, Jim McDonald, Paul Bergner, Kiki Geary, Guido Mase, Roy Upton, Miles Coleman, Susan Kramer, Matthew Wood, David Winston, and more... I've read the books and articles of so many others... a few whose work I am especially fond of are Kiva Rose, Lonny Jarrett, and Heiner Fruehauf. Perhaps I will study with them someday, but have given up flying, so that limits me. I am a member of the American Herbalist Guild.
I've spent most of my working years working for myself. In my first business, began in 1997, Serenity Gardens, I grew and sold potted organic herbs and perennials, herbal wreaths, and fresh bouquets at Farmer's Markets. My current business, Metamorphosis Plantscapes & Artworks, LLC, began in 2006; in this I offer Landscaping, Art, and Herbalism. Another aspect of my arts that I offer to the public are collage workshops and one-on-one sessions, Renew and Release: Collage as aTool for Transformation. I also work intimately with another lover of plants, the honeybee. I have been a natural, treatment-free beekeeper since 2007. I achieved black belt in Tae Kwon Do in 2008, have completed Reiki level I training, and otherwise work on an energetic level with various internal practices personally. I am a long-time meditator and dabble with (not trained) Yoga, Chi Nei Tsang, Qigong, Shiatsu, Shamanic Journeying, Shadowwork, Somatic practice, Inner Child work, and the like on a regular basis.
I am a 'Wounded Healer' having experienced severe trauma which I worked through.
In addition, I am Lyme-literate, having been initiated into the understanding of living with dis-ease when I acquired Lyme in 2011. I was very sick and it took a couple years to resolve,. Admittedly I do not feel confident that Lyme is not a lifelong relationship with a bacteria we can only hope to keep in dormancy. Nonetheless I am better now and have been well for years. Both of these experiences mixed with my long-time practice of Eastern philosophy to create in me a well-spring of compassion which I mix with my knowledge, experience, and determination to be of service to you and your well-being on your life path.
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."
- Hippocrates
