Herbal Womb Wisdom

Recently, I've been noticing this concept of "emergent process" coming up.  Between all of us navigating the collective unknowns, relationship shifts and changes, personal upheavals, and whatever else is happening - there is also somehow a theme I've been hearing of needing to let go and trust. And it's in this vein that the "emergent process" shows up.  It'...

So many focus on preparing for birth during pregnancy, as if the birth itself is the biggest event. And as someone who studied midwifery and attended births for 5 years, I can say confidently that it IS important to prepare for the birth.  But it is arguably even MORE important to prepare for the initial weeks and months postpartum. And not just with meal trains and herbal remedies, but also - fro...

We spend so many of our cycling years trying NOT to get pregnant - whether that's on hormonal contraception, non-hormonal IUD's, using barrier methods or with Fertility Awareness Method. So, when we finally decide that we want to try to conceive, we just assume it will be easy -- particularly if we're younger, healthy and have no obvious conditions that would get in the way of pregn...

It's so easy to overlook the power of pleasure, especially in challenging times.  But it is SUCH an essential part of how we can bring our best selves to the world. When we feel better, we are better able to weather the ever-changing terrain of our lives, and we have more capacity to share our gifts, too. In today's medley episode, I combine three episode snippets to support your pathway...

We're all navigating so much right now. Collectively, relationally, personally. This week's episode explores three different frames for understanding and tending your nervous system when it's stretched, strained, burnt out or plain dysregulated. In addition to the collective unrest so many of us are feeling, this week I learned about the loss of John Gallagher (founder of Learning H...

It's summer solstice time!  And for some reason, when I think of the buoyancy and fullness of the sun -- the expansive expressiveness, the creative life force energy -- I also think of our breasts / chest. This voluptuous tissue we often either fear, sexualize, or think of as nourishment for our babies. But this part of our bodies is a center of compassion and heart connection, and something...

Got cramps? The truth is there is not just one answer to how to relieve menstrual cramps, and my guess is that if you've got cramps you've realized this yourself. It took me years to understand that there are many different KINDS of menstrual cramps, and they all come from different imbalances in the body and the pelvis. Today I explore a question I received from a listener about how to...

I get asked a lot about herbal approaches to fibroid care, and there is actually a lot that's possible!  But I also haven't personally been through the journey myself, so I'm excited to bring Kate Douglas, founder and curator of Earth Body, onto the podcast to share about her own embodied experience over the past couple years. She shares about how she even knew she had fibroids in t...

As herbalists or herb-curious folks, we're taught to avoid poisonous plants -- and with good reason! They aren't plants to mess with. They can literally kill you.  But... what if there were ways to work with these plants safely? There are! And today's guest, Megan Desrosiers, speaks all about it.  As you might imagine, this is NOT physical plant medicine. This is more energetic, spi...

How can slowing down to "body time" support your healing process? There is a HUGE difference between the speed of your mind/emotions and your body. The mind moves quickly, and the emotions, while not as fast, are still far faster than the body itself. So... what happens when you slow down to the rhythm of your body, your cycles, your womb, your tissues? THIS is where healing happens.  Wh...

Have you ever wondered if there was a connection between your menstrual cycle, hormones and ADHD or other symptoms? I know personally I've seen a lot more inattentiveness myself during the few days leading up to my bleed. You? But today's guest, Adele Wimsett of Harmonise You, specializes in the link between  ADHD/neurodiversity and hormones, particularly in the perimenopausal years. And...

What comes up when you hear the term "vibrational medicine"? Does it feel appealing or repelling? I know how easy it can be to dismiss more subtle therapies, especially because so many of us are oriented to our tangible, physical senses. But then again, I bet you've experienced energy of place, people or experiences before. The inner knowing, or feeling, that something feels good or...

Navigating our past trauma experiences (and the recurrent stressors in our modern lives) can feel intimidating... especially if we don't have tools or methods to guide us.  Most of us didn't grow up in emotionally mature families with healthy models of what it can look like to complete waves of nervous system arousal and relaxation.  Really, very few of us have that imprinting.  But when...

Springtime is finally here in the northlands and I wanted to offer an episode along the theme of celebrating springtime both in our menstrual cycles and in the wheel of the year. So, today you'll hear first about some keys to encouraging a healthy follicular phase, and how tending this springtime in your menstrual cycle has impact on the whole cycle and even future cycles, too. And then you&a...

Have you ever wondered what the experience of endometriosis like?  Maybe felt curious about whether your own symptoms might actually be something more than common menstrual cramps? While endo is characterized by sometimes debilitating pain -- which is a common reason treatment is sought, the amount of endometriosis tissue present in the body does NOT correspond to the amount of pain felt.  It&apos...

Over the course of the past couple hundred years, we've been progressively losing our intact communities. Instead of extended family and village style lives, most of us in the western industrialized world exist in nuclear family structures.  Some of that independence has been welcome; but there is also a tremendous loss of community care and support.  There is perhaps nowhere this loss is mor...

It's officially springtime in the northern hemisphere, so you may be wondering what you can do to support yourself in this transitional time.  Honestly, were all facing so much collective instability right now, even if you aren't usually one to do a "spring cleanse" you may be feeling a little more interest in finding ways to simplify and release some of the accumulation from t...

If you've experienced pregnancy, you're postpartum.  Yep, even if it was decades ago, and especially if you made it to 28+ weeks when your body started really shifting and changing, your connective tissue relaxed, and your blood volume expanded, and your organs were miraculously displaced to accommodate for a babe! And that has impact, both short and long term.  While our bodies know how...

How can cultivating a relationship with the elements - air, water, fire, earth, ether - help you connect more deeply with your embodied experience? And what are some pathways to support this practice? In today's episode, lead steward of Dancing Freedom and ritualist Phoenix Onesong Marolda shares about her personal path to a more liberated life through connecting with the elements. From her d...

The most common questions I get as an herbalist are "what herb is good for [insert imbalance or condition here]?"   Like, "what's good for reflux", or "what's good for constipation" or "what's good for menstrual cramps?" While absolutely there are herbs that can help symptomatically alleviate challenges, we don't orient enough to supporti...

What if these precarious times are not just destabilizing but instead an opportunity to find your unique gifts and power? I've known today's guest, soul mentor and wisdom teacher Maitreya Wolf, for a long time now... and I've seen her growing through what she speaks to as a 18 year long soul initiation process. A time that has challenged and tried her in ways that have asked for her...

Can mold impact your health? And if so, what does that look like in your body and mind? Does it exacerbate symptoms of other conditions like autoimmunity? What about hormonal imbalances? The reality is that most of us are exposed to mold regularly in our lives, but some people can end up with truly debilitating symptoms while others have none at all. What is that about?  In today's episode, n...

We all go through periods of upheaval in our lives at some point, often individually or on a smaller community level.  Right now, many of us are feeling the immensity of upheaval on a collective level.  Even if you're feeling some ground, there's a real uncertainty about what happens next.  When we're faced with this combination of both acute and chronic stress, it can take a toll o...

Fascia connects every structure in our bodies. While commonly just thought of as a layer of connective tissue, fascia has a sentience unto itself. It's more than just collagen, elastin and the gel-like ground substance it's made of... it holds memory too (whether physical, emotional, or otherwise). Today's guest, nutritionist-herbalist-author Lisa Masé has been diving deeply into wo...

What do you think of when you hear the term "leaky gut"?  It's such a common reference, and often people even have a sense that it may be at the root of their digestive challenges (or at least a part of them).  But how many of us actually know what it means - and how impactful it is on our whole health (including hormonal health!), not just gastrointestinal issues? In this week&apos...