Commonwealth Podcast For Holistic Herbalism

New Year’s Eve is right around the corner, and we, like many folks, are ready with our list of resolutions. Let’s all make them more about self-care and becoming who we want to be in the world, and less about guilt & shame! In this podcast we’ll give you some tips how to do that, along with our own holistic & herbal resolutions for 2019. There are plenty of ways for herbs to help you stick to your resolutions – listen in to learn how!Our weekly listener question this time is about what to do when herbs are out-of-stock & how to go about making elegant substitutions.Herbs discussed include violet, betony, kava, pedicularis, green tea, calamus, pine, elecampane, sage, tulsi, goldenrod, ginseng.Mentioned in this podcast:Stephany Hoffelt, “How I Make Tinctures” – great post with some thoughts on different methods. Find the Excel sheet and PDF downloads at the end, great details there!AromaCulture – an aromatherapy & herbalism magazine. We were on Episode 22 of their podcast back in May, about our

Solstice is the quiet time, a moment of pause between the dying of the old and the rebirth of the new year. This week we share some meditations, stories, and traditions that shape the way we think about this time of year and its effects on our habits & our health. Listen in with a mug of your favorite sunny tea, and some nice warm blankets!PLUS: Listen in to get a coupon code for 25% off ANY of our online courses, good until MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!~Herbalism 101 is our entry-level program in practical herbalism: detailed profiles of 87+ medicinal plants, along with up-close instructions for making your own herbal remedies. Try it for 14 days with our zero-risk return policy! Learn your herbs & make your medicines with this in-depth set of herb profiles & medicine-making instructions.Support the show (https://commonwealthherbs.com/supporters/)

Holiday foods are delightful & delicious, but what if you’re allergic to some of the ingredients? Never fear! In this episode we’ll share some of our best tips & tricks for when gluten, dairy, or other allergens are a no-no. Whether making a simple substitution, or trying out something entirely new, we’ve got you covered. We even have some strategies for if you accidentally get exposed – or even if it was accidentally-on-purpose!PLUS: Listen in to get a coupon code for 25% off ANY of our online courses, good from now until December 21st!Herbs discussed include calamus, ginger, chamomile, yellow dock, & blackberry.Mentioned in this podcast:Our Recipes – Here you’ll find Katja’s taste-tested recipes for everything from ginger-chamomile cookies to paleo pumpkin muffins to herb-powered cranberry sauce (it's in the Hawthorn post).Gut-Heal TeaEnzymedica Digest Spectrum – These are the enzyme capsules Ryn has found helpful when indulging in his allergens (just every once in a while).What To Do When

Handmade herbal remedies and self-care items are a great solution to the conundrum of gift-giving. In this episode we’ll share three DIY herbal gift ideas that you can make at home and share with all your loved ones: herb-infused wines, coffee-pecan cocktail bitters, and an evergreen-scented sugar scrub. The gift of herbs shows you care – give something unique this year!PLUS: Listen in to get a coupon code for 25% off ANY of our online courses, good from now until December 21stHerbs discussed include cacao, cayenne, ginger, cinnamon, angelica, calamus, hawthorn berries, goji berries, rose hips, hibiscus, elderberry, lemon balm, coffee, pecan, wild cherry, orange, black pepper, maple, pine, spruce, & fir. (Whew!)Mentioned in this podcast:Herbal Medicine-Making – Our video course teaches you to make more than two dozen types of herbal remedies.~Herbalism 101 is our entry-level program in practical herbalism: detailed profiles of 87+ medicinal plants, along with up-close instructions for making your own herb

This week we continue our exploration of herbal holiday traditions with a quick chat about some of the ways herbs turn up in holiday foods. Whether it’s a nice herbed roast, a ginger-enhanced cranberry sauce, or a paleo mulling-spice cookie (yep, we’ve got a recipe for those!), herbs add more than flavor to your season – as if that weren’t enough!PLUS: Listen in to get a coupon code for 25% off ANY of our online courses, good from now until December 21st!Herbs discussed include sage, pine, juniper, mint, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, orange peel, allspice, nutmeg, clove, & anise.Mentioned in this podcast:This post about hawthorn includes Katja’s cranberry sauce recipe. It’s super simple!These Ginger Chamomile Cookies can be modified to be Mulling Spice cookies with a simple substitution for a mulling spice blend in place of the ginger & chamomile powders. Try it!The Holistic Herbalism Podcast, episode 24 – Taco Seasoning HerbsThe Holistic Herbalism Podcast, episode 35 – Cinnamon, Vanilla, & CacaoThe

Today we’re kicking off a series of podcasts on herbs and the holidays! We begin with emotional support, because no matter how you feel about the holidays, those feelings are probably pretty big. In this episode we take an energetics-based approach to sorting out emotional categories and matching supportive herbs to them. Whether you’d like to be more grounded, centered, resolved, or emotionally flexible, herbs can help you get there!Herbs discussed include lady’s mantle, yarrow, marshmallow, violet, lemon balm, elderflower, cardamom, vanilla, motherwort, hawthorn, linden.Mentioned in this podcast:Check out our YouTube Herbs for Holidays series from 2017 – wow, we’ve learned a lot about video production since then! We’ll be adding a lot more video content to YouTube soon – subscribe to our channel now so you don’t miss it!The Holistic Herbalism Podcast, episode 2 – Avoiding Adaptogen Debt & EmotionalymphaticsThe Holistic Herbalism Podcast, episode 14 – Alternatives to Adaptogens for BurnoutThe Holistic He

Every time we talk about cold & flu herbs, we seem to start out with elderberry syrup and a good old thyme steam. Well, this time we’re going to talk about something different! Here are a few good friends to have on hand as we move into cold & flu season.Herbs discussed include white pine, sage, ground ivy, boneset, elecampane, ginger, catnip–elderflower–chamomile, and lemon!Mentioned in this podcast:Herbstalk’s Wintergreen Market – Saturday November 24th at the Armory in Somerville. We’ll be there! Ryn’s doing a demo on electuaries (pastes made with honey + herbal powders) at 2:00pm, and we’ll have a small table with our Herbal Oracle Cards and our book, Herbal Medicine for Beginners for sale!~If you like our podcast, you might like learning from us in a more intentional way – like with our Herbalism 101 program! It’s a great way to start incorporating herbs into your daily life, to keep you and your loved ones healthy and resilient all year round!Support the show (https://commonwealthherbs.com/suppo

This week our episode is an interview with Shari & Russ Apotheker of Apotheker’s Kitchen, makers of fine honey-sweetened confections and longtime friends of ours. We visited them at their homestead in Way Up There, VT, to chat about their work and how it’s changed over the years. Along the way we talked about a lot of issues close to the herbal world as well as that of artisanal chocolatier-ing: ethical ingredient sourcing, navigating certifications, prioritizing pollinator protection, and life as intentionally-small, purposefully-scaled-down small businessowners. Give it a listen!Herbs discussed include cacao, cashew, & vanilla.Mentioned in this podcast:Apothekers Kitchen – go here to order directly from Shari & Russ!Apothekers Kitchen on InstagramHerbstalk’s Wintergreen Market – Saturday November 24th at the Armory in Somerville. The Apothekers will be there with their chocolates, marshmallows, & other confections. We’ll be there too – Ryn’s doing a demo on electuaries at 2:00pm, and we’ll h

This is our one-year anniversary episode! This week we cover a lot of ground. Katja talks about ways adding a little inconvenience to your home environment helps encourage you to move more. She also talks about how she came around to appreciating rhodiola as an herb on our honeymoon to Iceland, and offers some non-caffeine-containing stimulant herbs for midwives (and anyone who may have long nights ahead). Then, Ryn shares some of his discoveries on looking for exceptions to the herbalist’s adage that “nothing in the mint family is poisonous”.Herbs discussed include rhodiola, angelica, eleuthero, tulsi, betony, calamus, yarrow, ground ivy, & pennyroyal.Mentioned in this podcast:Roseroot – Herb of the North, Anna Rósa8 Poisonous Plant Families, Marc WilliamsBotany In A Day & Shanleya’s Quest, Tom ElpelToxic Plants of North America, Second Edition, Burrows & Tyrl~If you like our podcast, you might like learning from us in a more intentional way – like with our Herbalism 101 program! It’s a great way

Every year, our Advanced Studies Program ends with a weekend-long exam. There’s a written portion with short answers, essays, and case analysis, and an in-person oral & practical exam as well. This week, we wanted to share with you some of our favorite questions from the exam, mainly to focus on the reasonswe ask these questions in this way and how they help us change our ingrained patterns of thinking. We’re also sharing some particularly great answers from this year’s group!~If you like our podcast, you might like learning from us in a more intentional way – like with our Herbalism 101 program! It’s a great way to start incorporating herbs into your daily life, to keep you and your loved ones healthy and resilient all year round!Support the show (https://commonwealthherbs.com/supporters/)

This week we’re out in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, helping out at a free herbal clinic for folks in this area who’ve been affected by mountaintop removal mining. We interviewed three members of the local Herbal Medics team – Maureen, Hannah, and Lauren share their connections to the area, connecting with locals (and reconnecting them to their traditions) through plant medicine, and their experiences in the free clincs we’ve been running here together for the past three years.We also have new intro music, provided by our dear friend (and Herbal Medics WV team member), Jen-Osha!Herbs discussed include calendula, plantain, wild lettuce, & cayenne; plus formulas including joint liniment and sprain & strain salve.Mentioned in this podcast:West Virginia Herbal MedicsRAMPS CampaignJudy Bonds & Coal River Mountain WatchKeepers of the MountainsAppalachian Peace Paws Rescue – Morgantown, WVStudy finds taking the stairs, raking leaves may have same health benefits as a trip to the gym (EurekAlert)~If y

This week we do a lightning round of “minigraphs” on some of our favorite herbs. We started by taking a look at what we’ve got on our herb shelf (okay . . . *shelves*) in the kitchen right now, and selecting a few semi-randomly until our 45 minute timer went off.We covered reishi, catnip, mugwort, heather, st john’s wort, and za’atar (which is a spice blend, but totally still counts – right?). So give it a listen and meet some of our best friends!Mentioned in this podcast:Our Wedding Tattoo Herbs – including elder, betony, tulsi, bladderwrack (seaweed), pine, yarrow, sage, and marshmallow.Quintessential Arts – purveyor of fantastic plant ally jewelryBehave, by Robert Sapolsky – Katja’s current book / research fascinationCanaan Palestine – our favorite source for za’atar (when we’re not mixing our own)And here’s everything else in the way of loose dry herbs on our shelf right now:ashwagandhaangelicaelecampanetulsigingerlindenchamomilecalamusorange peelplantainschizandramatehawthornmotherwortself-healuva ursibe

It's not just for lattes anymore: the ubiquitous pumpkin spice blend is in fact an herbal formula! The standard pumpkin [pie] spice mix is cinnamon, ginger, clove, allspice, nutmeg. From an herbalists point of view, this is a mix of aromatic, pungent, carminative spices, very antioxidant-rich, and most of which are also antimicrobial. In this podcast we'll break it down and give you the details on each individual herb, as well as the formula as a whole. Spice it up!Mentioned in this podcast:Pumpkin spice as an aphrodisiac, study in the American Academy of Neurology and Orthopaedic SurgeonsCinnamon for blood sugar management, studyKatja's recipe for paleo pumpkin spice muffins!This episode originally aired on the HerbRally Podcast - they have tons of great content over there, check it out!~If you like our podcast, you might like learning from us in a more intentional way - like with our Herbalism 101 program! It's a great way to start incorporating herbs into your daily life, to keep you an

Ryn leads off this week with a variety of herbs to try reducing the ringing in the ears called tinnitus. Herbs to drain stuck fluids, quell nervous irritation, and increase cerebral circulation can all help out with this distracting problem. Katja has some great ideas for you headache sufferers out there - starting with some practical considerations about food and water, sleep, and stress - and then moving on to some herbs you can match to your particular triggers and symptoms. Mentioned in this podcast: The Whole30 ProgramConcenTrace from Trace Mineral Research - a liquid multimineral & trace element supplementIf you'd like to help out and transcribe a portion of our video program for our incarcerated student, contact us! Ditto if you'd like to sponsor a book donation!Herbs discussed include: ground ivy, goldenseal, black cohosh, feverfew, skullcap, passionflower, ginkgo, marshmallow, linden, lemon balm, willow, meadowsweet, wood betony, ginger, chamomile, calamus, peppermint. ~ If you like our

Caregiving is exhausting, thankless, necessary work, and becoming increasingly more common. In the first half of this episode, Katja shares some insights into the difficulties facing those who are caring for elders, and herbal allies who can help them as they help others.  In the second half, Ryn shares what he found after investigating everything to do with botulism: where it comes from, how to prevent it, and how [un]common it really is. The short version is: if you follow good medicine-making practices, you really don't have to worry about it! But listen in, get all the details, and you'll rest easy. Mentioned in this podcast: If you'd like to help out and transcribe a portion of our video program for our incarcerated student, contact us! Ditto if you'd like to sponsor a book donation!The Holistic Herbalism Podcast, Episode 18: Pleurisy in Daughter-CaregiversCCHH on Instagram, to make sure you catch the card deck giveaway next week!Quintessential Arts - Hilary made Katja's necklace

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-removal coal mining country, which also uses this model and has been very successful in bringing herbs to some people who really need the help. Wherever you are, this format can help you bring a free herbal clinic to your community! Mentioned in this podcast:Herbal MedicsMountain SOL / Aurora LightsCoal River Mountain WatchHerbalism and the Law: The Practice of Medicine in Massachusetts~ If you like our podcast, you might like learning from us in a more intentional way - like with our Herbalism 101 program! It's a great way to start incorporating herbs into your daily life, to keep you and your loved ones health

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, chamomile, & goldenrod. Mentioned in this podcast:HerbRally - Lots of great material here. Check out our guest podcast on How To Not Be A Guru!~ If you like our podcast, you might like learning from us in a more intentional way - like with our Herbalism 101 program! It's a great way to start incorporating herbs into your daily life, to keep you and your loved ones healthy and resilient all year round! Our theme music is "Wings" by Nicolai Heidlas.Support the show (https://commonwealthherbs.com/supporters/)

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 season - for both kids and parents - along with strengthening strategies to improve immune resilience so the classroom germs don't get you. Herbs discussed include violet, dandelion, garlic mustard, lamb's quarters, plantain, linden, nettle, mulberry, blueberry, barberry, basil, sage, parsley, dill, cilantro, radicchio, arugula (hey, salad diversity is what it's all about!); plus hawthorn, chamomile, tulsi, rose hips, elderberry. Mentioned in this podcast:Herbstalk's Harvest Festival - THIS SATURDAY, September 1st, from 11:00am to 4:00pm, in Jamaica Plain. Katja's class on Back-to-School Herbs

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. Herbs discussed include tulsi, ginger & chamomile, coffee, & tea. Mentioned in this podcast:Tammi Sweet's Anatomy & Physiology CourseThe Irish History PodcastPaul Bergner's article on coffee: A New Look At An Old DevilWikipedia's History of Coffee - here you can see the 1652 advert for the first coffee shop in London.~ If you like our podcast, you might like learning from us in a more intentional way - like with our Herbalism 101 program! It's a great way to start incorporating herbs into your daily life, to keep you and your loved ones healthy and resilient all year round! Our them

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. Special thanks this week to Jennifer Lombard of Earth and Aether Aromatherapy for the heads-up, and for being so generous with her time and resources. Thank you! Herbs discussed include chamomile, calendula, plantain, witch hazel, rose, catnip, cinnamon, wintergreen, clove, and ginger. ~ If you like our podcast, you might like learning from us in a more intentional way - like with our Herbalism 101 program! It's a great way to start incorporating herbs into your daily life, to keep you and your loved ones healthy and resilient all year round! Our theme music is "Wings" by Nicolai Heidlas.Support the s