The Holistic Herbalism Podcast

This week we bring you a podcast we originally aired on the HerbRally podcast as its inaugural episode, last July, all about the model we use for running free clinics - both in our own space here in Boston, as well as out in communities in need. We wanted to share it in case you missed it, and also because we're preparing for another trip to work in a free clinic in West Virginia mountaintop-...

If back-to-school means the nest is empty, you may want some herbal support! Katja shares her favorite allies for this difficult transition.  Ryn reflects on a forest movement immersion event he experienced recently, and shares some lessons he [re]learned there about challenge, adaptability, and seeing the complex context.  Herbs discussed include hawthorn , motherwort , sage , linden, catnip , ch...

This week, Ryn leads off with some thoughts on salad: why it's often boring and nutritionally deficient, and how to boost it up with some wild greens, herbal pesto, spice blends, and feral berries - and how to get these from the grocery store when it's not spring or summer.  Katja goes over some herbs that can help with the stress, fears, and excitement swirling around this transitional...

In this episode both Ryn & Katja have things to share related to sleep. Katja leads off with a listener question about alcohol cravings at bedtime, then discusses some of her own strategies for coping with restless thoughts that interfere with rest. Ryn lays out the effects of caffeine in the body to help you understand how it can in fact interfere with sleep, even many hours after consumption...

This week, a case of histiocytoma on a dog's paw leads Katja to talk about wound care for animal companions. What to do when a furry friend has a wound? Help it out with herbs! It's not as hard as you might be thinking.  Ryn received a helpful email this week that made him want to dig deeper into essential oil safety, and will lead to some revisions of his liniment and muscle rub recipes...

The world's on fire, no one wants to admit they're occasionally catastrophic, and sometimes all you want to eat is ice cream. In this episode we'll talk about herbs to support respiratory health in times of dryness and smoke inhalation. We've also got a dramatic* reading of Katja's favorite blog post ever, You're A Trainwreck. We'll wrap it up with a listener que...

Introverts & extraverts, as patterns of personality, each have their strengths and weaknesses. In this episode we'll discuss herbal allies to accommodate common discomforts experienced by those who identify with one or another pole of this spectrum. Introversion & extraversion don't need to be "fixed", but their extremes can be balanced and their weak points strengthene...

A listener asked us what would be our five favorite tinctures to have on hand, so this week we're each going to share with you a list of herbs we just can't live without! We talk a bit about each one's virtues and the way we ourselves work with these herbs.  Katja's list: ghost pipe, tulsi, calamus, ginger-chamomile, lobelia.  Ryn's list: solomon's seal, catnip, yarro...

Katja's daughter Amber is off to camp this week, so she shares with you the list of things they packed into Amber's herbal first aid kit. If you have kids headed off to camp - or are going to one yourself - you'll want to listen in!  Ryn muses on the capacity for receiving information from some parts of the body that don't make the Top Five Sensory Organs list (eyes, ears, nose...

This week we share some practical first aid herbalism for burns and sprains. Whether you're hiking far out in the woods or simply have an accident at home, these tips will help you take care of yourself effectively & naturally with herbs.  A few resources for you: Dressing A Burn - this is the video about burn care Katja mentioned! Go-To Joint Liniment - this is Ryn's trusty recipe f...

Katja & Ryn discuss how these "exotic spices" came to be ubiquitous among Americans, and how we can learn from the history of plant trade, cultivation - including some bitter history and present affairs of colonization and slavery. We try to recognize and explore the chain of relationships between the farmers and ourselves, and give thanks and respect to the hands that touch these pr...

Ryn leads off this week with a discussion of herbal affinities - the ways in which herbs may be centered in their effects on a particular organ or type of tissue in the body - and how these can help you make good herbal choices or make more effective formulas.  Katja shares some thoughts about how to cope with the political crisis machine by finding ways to enter into service for the good of other...

This week Katja had a bit of back pain, and has some thoughts to share with you about how this can happen an what to do about it. From mindset management to gentle movements for the release of tension and improving alignment, of course with the support of herbs, here are a few quick tips to get you bending and flexing again.  Ryn shares a couple ideas for herbal liquid extracts to combine with spa...

Katja this week reflects on a bit of wisdom surrounding downtime, and on the ways in which stress management can sometimes be the most difficult of our fundamental pillars of health, or the one that gets sacrificed first. Ryn shares his love of jiaogulan (Gynostemma pentaphyllum), a particularly excellent adaptogen for the dry and tense people in your life.  Herbs discussed this week include our W...

Katja shares a hard-fought lesson: that health is not equivalent to merit, and that as herbalists it's important for us to stay away from idea that there is A Right Way and We Know It. Instead our role should be to offer a wide variety of tools to try that can help build greater resilience, and provide guidance on those the client is most interested in. Herbs help out in a variety of ways to...

Since it's Herbstalk's 2018 Herb of the Year, Katja wants to finally give Tulsi its due with a quick monograph for you today!  As promised last time, Ryn shares an exercise in herbal formulation: attempting to re-create the actions and qualities of an herb you don't have, by mixing together several other herbs. We each sketch out a couple of formulae to be "chamomile" and...

After seeing Rising Appalachia the other night, Katja wanted to sing! She sang so much she gave herself a sore throat. So today she'll tell you all about her favorite herbs for soothing sore throats!  Ryn breaks down a couple of "classic cancer cure-all" formulae you may have heard of: Hoxsey and Essiac. He talks you through a way to deconstruct these, so you don't let an old f...

Katja shares her thoughts on herbal supports for those who are coping with eating disorders. Herbs can help reduce anxiety, center us in the body, stimulate appetite, and make it easier to manage cravings.  Ryn gives you some guidelines for building a warming, relaxing herbal muscle rub. This will help speed recovery after an intense workout and reduce discomfort from delayed-onset muscle soreness...

Ryn describes a method you can use to expand your understanding of energetics by comparing ailment profiles and the herbs recommended for them in our book. If you love lists, this is for you!  Katja shares her best strategies for getting through a day when you wake up feeling zonked - from uncoffee to yerba mate formulation to settling-in at bedtime. Herbs discussed include betony, catnip, chamomi...

This week Katja has some thoughts about the number of syllables in neuraminidase and what it means to be a woman in science. Ryn tries to keep it simple with a basic protocol for heartburn.  Mentioned in this podcast:  Behave , Robert Sapolsky Student-faculty research suggests Oreos can be compared to drugs of abuse in lab rats , Connecticut College What Happens to Your Body If You Drink a Coke Ri...

Turmeric is a great herb and an effective anti-inflammatory, but it's not the be-all end-all it's sometimes made out to be, usually by folks who want to sell it to you! This week Katja shares some other anti-inflammatory herbs you may not have considered. Meanwhile, Ryn's been thinking about dreaming - or dreaming about thinking? - with the help of mugwort, a city-dwelling weedy fri...

This week Katja talks about the herbs that defined taco seasoning in her Texas upbringing, and their qualities when as medicinal herbs. Along the way, she takes a moment to appreciate the life of World War I herbalist and author, Maud Grieve. Ryn goes over an important lesson in phytochemistry - that no one compound accounts for all the observed effect of an herb - considering this today as it app...

No, that's not an herbal tea pairing suggestion! This week, Katja sets off on a 100-day experiment with schisandra berries, and Ryn discusses the nuances of peppermint's energetics - is it warming or cooling? Listen in and find out what we think!  Don't forget!   Herbal Medicine for Beginners , our first book, is available for pre-order now on Amazon! Support the show You can find a...

This week Ryn walks you through a short movement sequence he finds helpful when his low back gets tense, and Katja shares (most of) a recipe for a tincture blend that also helps tense muscles - the rest is to be found in our book! Find the video of the kneebend sequence here! And while you're at it, feel free to follow us on Instagram. ;) Herbs discussed include ashwagandha , solomon's s...

This week Katja shares some allies who've helped out with the (several!) kinds of pain which accompany her braces - gentle vulnerary astringents for the cuts in the mouth, anodynes for the bone pain, and a special guest to help drain fluids from the sinus. Ryn talks about one way we try to understand herbal constituents, the chemicals which contribute to an herb's medicinal effects - by...