The Holistic Herbalism Podcast

We’ve come to the end of the “mainstream” top-40 best-selling herbs list! Dandelion, rhubarb, and ginseng take the last three spots. Dandelion is an herbal workhorse. It’s inexpensive because it’s ubiquitous, and its resilience is legendary – dandelion coming up through the concrete is one of the herbalist’s favorite symbols of resistance and the power of nature. Much more than a simple “detox” herb, dandelion root and leaf improve the functions of our liver and kidneys, feed both us and our gut flora, and eliminate excess fluids from the system. Its bright yellow flowers can even lift our spirits when taken in tincture or wine – this is one of Ryn’s indispensable herbal remedies for the winter doldrums. Rhubarb root used to be much more of an herbal mainstay than it is in contemporary herbalism. The Eclectics of the 19th century worked with it extensively, largely for its “cathartic” – stimulant laxative – properties. It is a key ingredient in the famous “neutralizing cordial”, a formula developed in that era and designed to be a nearly-universal remedy for digestive upsets of all sorts. This remedy is still prepared by herbalists today, though often with some variations in the ingredient list. Ginseng needs no introduction. It is one of the most famous medicinal herbs in the world, and it is “the original adaptogen” – the category which has spawned millions of dollars in product sales in our stressed-out, depleted, fatigued society. Ginseng products can be extremely helpful, but you absolutely cannot simply buy the first one you find: these remedies are very prone to adulteration. That, too, is an old problem: historical texts are littered with descriptions of adulteration and falsification of supposedly mature, supposedly Panax roots which were nothing of the kind. Some things never change… CLICK HERE FOR FULL SHOW NOTES & REFERENCES “Detox” came up in this episode (again), and we hinted at the issues rampant in this category of supplement products. For the full story, you’ll want to dig in to our course Elements of Detoxification. This course takes a fresh look at the concepts of “toxicity” and “detoxification”, a holistic perspective that goes beyond “cleanses” and products. Learn a memorable, practical model for understanding how the body’s detox functions work, along with the roles herbs can play in supporting them. Like all our offerings, this is a self-paced online video course, which comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions, lifetime access to current & future course material, twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more! If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

At number 35, 36, and 37 on the list of top-selling herbal supplements we find bacopa, senna, and rhodiola. Bacopa is also known as brahmi, and this name is just as often given to gotu kola (Centella asiatica) as well. This is because both are known by that name in Ayurvedic herbalism, where they originate. Both are able to improve mental clarity and cognitive function, and have the same type of energetics as well as growth habits. For practical purposes they are nearly identical, but their chemistry does differ, so the best extraction method may not be the same for both, and this could be relevant in the context of a commercial extract capsule. Senna is one of the cathartic stimulant laxatives. It is possible to become dependent on senna – not after one dose, but if taken for several days running. A person may then find it difficult to move the bowels without taking it every day. Better not to get into that situation! In the commercial context, note that this herb is often included in ‘detox’ and ‘weight loss’ supplements… although it does not truly serve either of those functions in a root-cause or restorative manner. Rhodiola is a very stimulating adaptogen, and so it’s no wonder people talk about it as an ‘herb of happiness’ or even an ‘herbal antidepressant’! But that is a misleading way to think of the root, and it can lead to some bad choices. This one is particularly drying, so unless your constitution (or local environment) are very damp, it’s best to include demulcents in your protocol whenever taking rhodiola. CLICK HERE FOR FULL SHOW NOTES & REFERENCES As you’ve heard in today’s episode, one of the ways we can understand these herbs is by attention to their chemistry. Which constituents contribute to their effects? What synergy exists between the many different chemicals a plant contains? Which constituents are shared between herbs with similar actions? If these questions pique your interest, you’re in luck! Our Basic Phytochemistry course for herbalists is a low-pressure introduction to the practical aspects of plant chemistry, the ones which are most relevant to the practice of herbalism. Like all our offerings, this is a self-paced online video course, which comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions, lifetime access to current & future course material, twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more! If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

Back to it! Today’s best-seller herbal supplements are CBD, fennel, and oats. To the extent there’s overlap between these, it’s some capacity to touch on the nervous system – or at least, in the case of fennel, digestive symptoms which can be due to stress and anxiety. CBD is a widely-known, and yet poorly-understood, substance. It is not identical to a full-spectrum cannabis extract, neither in terms of its range of effects nor its safety profile with respect to adverse effects or addiction. Its regulatory status in the US also complicates matters: nationally legal only when certain criteria are met, and of varying legality state to state. It is neither a cure-all nor a placebo, and variance between products makes direct comparisons tricky. Fennel is one of the herbs on this list with the greatest similarity between folk and traditional medicine applications and its modern market presentation. As a carminative, sweet demulcent, and mild galactagogue, it is helpful for a variety of discomforts. Its pleasant and familiar flavor is a strong point in its favor, and it plays very nicely in formula with other herbs. At our school, we don’t devote much attention to oats, whether milky oats or oat straw. We have reservations about its purported actions – particularly oat straw – and about its potential to trigger those who are gluten-sensitive. This does set us apart from basically every other herb school and herbalist out there, we admit it! Still, its popularity both with the general public and among herbal practitioners is undeniable, so it’s worth understanding the nature of these discussions. CLICK HERE FOR FULL SHOW NOTES & REFERENCES Nerve pain? Agitation impacting digestion? Burnout? CBD, fennel, and oats may be helpful with these problems, but you’ll get better results by learning the underlying physiology of your nervous system and how herbs can influence it. Our Neurological & Emotional Health course is a user’s guide to your nerves, your emotions, and the herbs who can lift you, hold you, brace you, and sustain you. We teach holistic herbal strategies for addressing both neurological & psychological health issues. It includes a lengthy discussion of herbal pain management strategies, too! Like all our offerings, this is a self-paced online video course, which comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions, lifetime access to current & future course material, twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more! If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

Have you ever wished you had thorns? Have you ever felt like you needed to protect your heart, your space, your peace of mind, or your time from a world that asks too much of you – or takes without asking? You’re not alone. This is what thorn medicine can bring you. Thorns aren’t weapons, they’re defenses. They don’t seek an animal or human out with the intent to cause harm, they hold space and define boundaries. Touch me here, says the rose, but not there. Admire my flowers, says the motherwort, but don’t you dare clutch my seeds. We can learn from this. We can take the medicine of thorns into ourselves. We can do this literally, not only (oh, “only”!) metaphorically or symbolically. Most all thorny herbs, and particularly the thorns themselves, carry a key herbal action: astringency. This is an action which literally pulls things together, and holds things together. Each plant’s thorn is different, serving its own purpose. Hawthorn’s long, widely spaced thorns evolved to counter the hungers of the giant sloth, and they retain that shape long after the lumbering herbivore went extinct: they are the living memory of a predator past. Ocotillo’s inexhaustible rows of spines render it no more easy a prey than the cactus who share its landscape. Thistle spikes out from every possible surface, asserting itself in all directions as its firework flowers reach for the sky. Which thorns are yours? Pull yourself together. Hold your boundaries. Make a safe space. Then, within that thorn-walled refuge, your flowers will unfold. Thorn medicine is only one form of support herbs can offer our emotions. Our Neurological & Emotional Health course is a user’s guide to your nerves, your emotions, and the herbs who can lift you, hold you, brace you, and sustain you. We teach holistic herbal strategies for addressing both neurological & psychological health issues. It includes a lengthy discussion of herbal pain management strategies, too! Like all our offerings, this is a self-paced online video course, which comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions, lifetime access to current & future course material, twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more! If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

What are the best herbs for happiness? How can herbs make you happy? What does “happiness” even mean? These questions are important to consider before we dive right in, searching for “herbs for happiness.” When we say it, we’re thinking: what are the things preventing you from being calm & steady? It’s not so much about finding the herb to “make” you happy, as it is finding the herbs that alter your state such that happiness is something you can access. If you’ve ever heard “mimosa is the herb of happiness”, well, you’ve come across a very common but not very nuanced approach to herbalism. Instead, we need to ask: what’s in the way of feeling happiness, and how can we help you get past it? More important than any list of herbs is the method of thinking through how we can identify the herbs that are likely to help a specific person. In the episode we share a couple common tendencies – excess tension and laxity, stuck heat – and describe how those can show up as happiness blockers. Then we share a few herbs we’ve found helpful in opening the way to happiness for ourselves, our students, and our clients. Keep Calm and Help Your Neighbors with the Birthday BOGO Bundle! Every year for Katja’s birthday, we choose a course to offer at 50% off – but this year, we couldn’t pick just one course. So instead, we’re offering a bundle with the herbs and skills to help you stay steady & grounded, and to help you help your community, and it’s more than 50% off! Click through for all the details! You might also want to check out our… Herbs to Help You Feel HappinessHerbal Activity Calendar If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

The best-seller herbal supplements we’re covering today are yohimbe & horny goat weed. They placed #30 and 31 on the list we’re using for this sequence of episodes. These two are marketed & sought-after as “male aphrodisiacs”, “testosterone boosters”, and even “herbal Viagra”. While it’s true that each can “help” with some forms and manifestations of erectile dysfunction, in the short term or “in the moment”, they cannot correct the underlying issues… and might even make them worse. They’re also quite potent, energetically speaking: heating, drying, and tonifying to a high degree. These qualities are primarily derived from potent constituents such as yohimbine and icariin. Each herb also possesses a multitude of other constituents apart from those more famous ones, which means its actions are diverse and in some cases self-contradictory. There’s also a very serious problem in the supplement market for these herbs, which is that these products are frequently contaminated or adulterated. Many cases of ‘herbal’ supplements for ED have been found to contain pharmaceutical drugs. In other words, that “herbal Viagra” was actually just… Viagra. Of the two of these herbs, Epimedium is significantly safer – but to be honest, we don’t advise people to work with either of these plants. Other methods of addressing the issue at hand are more successful and more permanent, starting with herbal work to improve circulation and emotional steadiness. That’s perhaps not as exciting as “herbal Cialis”, but it’s safer and more realistic! CLICK HERE FOR FULL SHOW NOTES & REFERENCES It’s worth emphasizing that the majority of cases of erectile dysfunction, and several other types of sexual dysfunction or performance issues, are attributable to circulatory issues rather than hormonal imbalances. If you’re looking for herbs to help with this trouble, and to address circulatory, blood, and heart health more broadly, then our course Cardiovascular Health is for you! Like all our offerings, this online video course comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more. If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

When people start learning herbalism, it’s not unusual for them to begin to feel like there’s a lot “wrong” with their bodies. Some of this comes from a new recognition that symptoms they’ve been tolerating are actually a sign of something deeper, or indicate a need for change. Since it’s the new year, we’re thinking about this feeling of a need for “a whole new body” – what it means, and how to achieve it (or something more realistic, but close). It’s actually a lucky thing to have this kind of realization! Because it is, in many ways, true for most of us. And not only because ‘modern life’ is difficult and damaging, but because it’s simply a fact of nature that it’s difficult to be and stay healthy. Our culture often imposes a moralistic frame on health, but here’s the truth: You’re not Good if you’re healthy. You’re not Bad if you’re unhealthy. Health is not a moral quality! Our world has changed over time, and so have we. What we do to stay healthy, and what we struggle with that harms us, have all shifted through the centuries. New technologies and medicines may be miraculous, and ancient herbal practices may be traditional, but neither is The Answer To Everything For Everyone. Best is if we can take the strengths of each. Working as an herbalist to make a whole new body starts at the foundations: what’s the current baseline? How are your habits helping or hindering your path to health? Working on the five pillars of good health is where we begin, along with herbs to enhance or support or accelerate that effort. Alongside some herbs to directly address (or even palliate) the most troubling current issues – and a big dose of encouragement, inspiration, and accountability – these interventions can be deeply transformative. Given time. None of us will ever be perfect, or “young again”. We can’t really make a whole new body – but we can help our body do the best it can, and herbs can help. If you’d like to start taking care of your body for the long haul, our Community Herbalist program will equip you to do so! This program prepares you to support your family & community with holistic herbal methods. Like all our offerings, this bundle of self-paced online video courses comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more! If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

What kind of year has it been for you, as far as herbs & health go? On today’s episode of the Holistic Herbalism Podcast, we’re taking a look at the herbal year in review for 2025! Everyone’s doing their year-end best-of lists, their ‘top 10 takeaways’, and the like – and we want to join in on the fun. As you’re considering your 2025 and looking forward to your 2026, don’t forget to take some time to think about the progress you’ve made as an herbalist! Give these questions some thought and reflect on your Did you work with any new herbs this year? If so, what kind of shift have they created in your health and habits? Did you get some new insight about your own health, and how you can support yourself (or others around you)? Did you implement any holistic strategies – like shifting your diet or adding in more movement? (Even if these didn’t stick, they still represent progress, and that counts!) What about your herbal education over the past year? This turned into a wide-ranging conversation! CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SHOW NOTES - with our responses to the year-end questions, and links to all the fun and interesting things we mentioned! If you’re checking this out before the year ticks over to 2026, our sale is still on! The code for this year’s sale is CALENDULA – use it during checkout to get 20% off everything we offer – all the courses, all the programs, anything on a payment plan, anything at all! Browse All Courses The discount code even works for gifts! Just make sure to check the box that says “this is a gift” and the extra gift information will pop up for you to complete. If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

Katja wrote this essay years and years ago, and it’s still a favorite. Today she needed to hear it again – yeah, you can do that with your own writing, it’s allowed, don’t worry – and she decided to share it with you. It’s about how so many of us think we’re the only trainwreck in any given room, and how we all have That Person in our lives (or just in our minds) who seems to really Have It All Together. Why can’t I just get it together like That Person?, you think, like everyone does. Like even That Person does, Themselves, sometimes. Like someone might very well be thinking about… you! We are all trainwrecks. Outward appearances aren’t the whole story, and it’s hard to get to know the people around us. So this experience is super common. But don’t worry! There’s a lot we can do about it, starting with acknowledging the reality, then asking for help, then getting outside… and also – never doubt it – with a drink of tea. Some of our favorite nervines for these feelings include tulsi, betony, and calamus – but finding your own favorite herbs for these moments is the best way to help yourself. Need to reign in your trainwreck? Check out our Neurological & Emotional Health course. This course is a user’s guide to your nerves & your emotions – including the difficult and dark ones, the falling apart ones, the total disaster ones. We discuss holistic herbal strategies for addressing both neurological & psychological health issues. It includes a lengthy discussion of herbal pain management strategies, too! Like all our offerings, this is a self-paced online video course, which comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions, lifetime access to current & future course material, twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more! If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

Don’t forget, our December sale is on! Details below. It’s time we resumed our exploration of the top-selling herbs as supplements in the US! We're three-quarters of the way through the main list. (Remember we’re working with the 2023 data for the purposes of this series, but I gave some updates about the 2024 Herbal Market Report data in the last installment.) Our herbs today are valerian, pumpkin (seed [oil]), goji berry, and red yeast rice. There are some fun details about each of these, including… Listen for the full story. For full show notes with reference links & further reading, click here! December 2025 Sale Code: CALENDULA The code for this year’s sale is CALENDULA – use it during checkout to get 20% off everything we offer – all the courses, all the programs, anything on a payment plan, anything at all! Browse All Courses The discount code even works for gifts! Just make sure to check the box that says “this is a gift” and the extra gift information will pop up for you to complete. Looking for more inspiration? Check out the Herbal Activity Calendar and our 2025 Herbal Gift Guide! If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

It’s December, and here are some delightful things we’d like to share with you! December 2025 Sale Code: CALENDULA The code for this year’s sale is CALENDULA – use it during checkout to get 20% off everything we offer – all the courses, all the programs, anything on a payment plan, anything at all! Browse All Courses The discount code even works for gifts! Just make sure to check the box that says “this is a gift” and the extra gift information will pop up for you to complete. Herbal Activity Calendar – Stacked with Holiday Help The herbal activity calendar is a fun free way to get more herbs into your life. There are recipes, experiments, things to think about, and more – and you can set it up to autoload right into your online calendar if you want to! You’ll find it right on your student dashboard if you’re a student, and if you’re not, just click here: Herbal Activity Calendar For the month of December, the calendar’s stacked up with gift ideas, recipes, and strategies for staying stress-free through the holidays. So if you need inspiration for herby gifts you can make for the people you love, you’ll find it in the herbal activity calendar! 2025 Herbal Gift Guide We’ve compiled a guide to our favorite herbal holiday gifts. It goes out Thursday December 4th, so watch your inbox! This features friends and allies of ours, as well as makers & artisans who we find particularly excellent and skillful. Herbs, tea blends, remedies, mugs, and delights abound! There’s something for everyone. If you’re on our mailing list already, then you’ll get a copy directly in your email. If you’re not on the mailing list, sign up here! After Thursday, you’ll be able to find the gift guide in our blog – we’ll put it right at the top. The Evergreens We’re not leaving you without some herb talk today, don’t worry! This time we’re turning our attention back to our good friends, the evergreens. Pine, spruce, and fir are all excellent wintertime herbs. Their volatiles give them a stimulating, activating action on our bodies – not just the lungs where it’s most obvious, but also in digestion, the kidneys & bladder, blood circulation, and even the nerves & mind. Evergreens make excellent tea, but don’t use the needles from your solstice / Xmas tree! They’ve probably got a lot of pesticide residues. Instead, forage after a storm for a downed branch, and work with the needles from that. Evergreens can also be prepared into steams, elixirs, an evergreen-focused fire cider or thieves’ vinegar, and of course the old reliable resin salve. HHP 205: Herbs A-Z: Pinus & PlantagoHHP 146: Herbs Help Us Feel Our Way Through Difficult TimesIf you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

A quote attributed to Hippocrates says “all disease begins in the gut.” No surprise, then, that gut-heal tea is a major part of our practice! We work with this formula – or better said, this schema for creating individualized formulae – very, very often. It’s not only a ‘digestive’ blend, it’s also a nervine formula: it operates at the nexus between the digestive and nervous systems. But we don’t prepare it the same way every time! Variation is essential to make a blend that best suits a person’s body and needs. Today’s episode of the Holistic Herbalism Podcast is all about this flexibility in formulation. We can adjust the blend based on the person’s energetics, the desired actions of the herbs, and special affinities they have. While we must avoid creating a ‘kitchen sink’ of insufficiently intentional herbs, there’s plenty of room for addressing the specific patterns in each person. Here are the specific versions of gut-heal tea formulae we explored in this episode: “the original” gut-heal tea a gut-heal tea for the holidays katja’s current gut-heal tea ryn’s current gut-heal tea We dive into gut-heal tea most fully in our Digestive Health course, though as you’ll understand after you’ve heard this episode, it’s also really relevant to Neurological & Emotional Health. For more principles & strategies of formulation, check out our Fundamentals of Formulation course! And if you’re feeling a little uncertain about the individual herbs themselves, the Holistic Herbalism Materia Medica is where to begin. Like all our offerings, these online video courses come with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

Elderberry syrup isn’t everything an herbalist has to offer to someone suffering from a cold, the flu, COVID, RSV, or any of the other respiratory ailments to which we humans are susceptible. Despite being the first to come to many minds when asked if they’re prepared for winter illnesses, we encourage you to broaden your view both of what elder does, and what herbs can do. Elderberry is famous for inhibiting viruses by interfering with their capacity to replicate. Elderberry constituents have been shown in petri-dish studies to bind the neuraminidase ‘spike’ on the virus. It can therefore reduce the virus’ capacity to ‘break into’ our cells and convert them into virus-making factories. Sounds good! Note, however, that this particular mode of action was identified through in vitro studies. The limitation here is that the required concentration of those constituents may not be attained in our bloodstream when we ingest elderberry syrup. It may not reach the tissues which are under attack by the virus. So while this is an interesting mechanism of action – and one we’ve taught about often when discussing elderberry – we now consider it as less relevant to the impacts of elderberry on viral illness. So what matters more? The effects of elderberry on inflammatory patterns in the body. An efficient immune response includes inflammatory and anti-inflammatory actions, both at the right times and in the right amounts; elderberry supports this. And here’s the good news: so do other berries! Every berry with deep pigmentation – blueberry, blackberry, cranberry, serviceberry, aronia berry, and many more – will work to improve inflammation management within the body. At the same time, they’ll enhance vascular integrity and flexibility (particularly important given the capacity of COVID to damage these tissues). So elder isn’t the only berry who can help us. And berries aren’t the only supportive herbs, either – nor are herbs the end of our options! First of all, elder offers flowers as much as berries, and those are helpful for managing fever. Working with elder in formula with other herbs – like our homemade winter elixir – is an excellent way to enhance its actions. But there are also plenty of good herbs beyond elderberry syrup, including decongestants like sage, expectorants like elecampane, and aromatics like pine. Last but not least: nourishing food, gentle movement, and restorative sleep can each be just as important as any herbal remedies we choose. Listen to the episode for a COUPON CODE to get our Cold & Flu course for only $20! Herbal Remedies for Cold & Flu teaches you everything you need to know to conquer a cold or fight off the flu. We teach you how to work with herbs that are safe and effective for all aspects of the illness. These strategies can also be very effective when coping with COVID, RSV, and other respiratory infections, too! Our focus is on finding ways to support what your body is already trying to do as it works to restore balance. Like all our offerings, these bundles of self-paced online video courses come with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more. Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

We’ve been running a clinical herbalism mentorship program of one kind or another for more than fifteen years. We have some thoughts! Today’s episode is all about our model for an herbal mentorship, what we think it needs to include, and how it’s structured to benefit our students and clients most fully. For context, we do have prerequisites to join mentorship – you need to have your herbal know-how dialed in before you can join! Completing our Family Herbalist and Community Herbalist programs, and performing well on the exams, is the baseline. Our mentorship students are also working through the Clinical Herbalist coursework concurrently, because mentorship is less about knowledge and more about communication, connection, strategy, and practicality. Our students participate – first as observers, then as clinicians with faculty backup, then on their own – in our Free Clinic and Student Clinic sessions each month. We hold roundtable meetings with them after each of these events, so that everyone can share their cases and get feedback or suggestions. When they’re ready to conduct their own sessions, we roleplay clients whose health issues – or personalities! – present a helpful challenge for that student. In this way they get prepared to take on whatever may come. We also work with our students to get their systems & marketing on point. It may not be what attracted you to herbalism in the first place, but if you want to be a clinician, you’re running a small business! You need these skills in order to sustain your work for the long haul, so we see them as equally important to formulation strategies or protocol construction. Overall, our goal is to provide a clear path, with supports all along the way, toward greater independence and confidence as a clinical herbalist. If you’d like to walk this path and you’re starting at the beginning, check out our Family Herbalist and Community Herbalist programs! They’ll get you fully prepared to enter into clinical training. Like all our offerings, these bundles of self-paced online video courses come with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more! If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

If you haven’t made herbal cold/flu/COVID care kits for your household yet, now is the time! Herbal care kits are one of our very favorite things. Here’s the premise: when you’re sick, it’s hard to think, no matter how good an herbalist you are. So get the stuff you’re going to need ready ahead of time! It’s like taking care of your future self. Plus, it’s likely that you’re the herbalist in your household – so you’re going to need to take care of everyone else too! But life doesn’t stop just because someone gets sick, so if you make care kits for everyone, then even if they get sick at the most inconvenient time – no problem. You’re already ready! There’s two steps to this process. First, think about each person in your household, and how they tend to get sick. Then, plan your kits based on that. For us it goes like this: Ryn tends to get a sore throat and a cough, or a stomach ache, whereas Katja always starts with an earache or headache. Even if we have the same bug, that’s where things tend to settle in our bodies. So in our kit, we’ll put some generally-applicable items – like herbs to steam with – but we’ll also put things in for headache and earache/ear infection, as well as items for sore throat, cough, and stomach ache. Today’s episode is all about how we make our care kits, so that you can make yours more easily! The natural next question is, what are the things we should put in our herbal care kits, for ear infections and sore throats and coughs and and and…? We’ve got you! We made the Cold & Flu mini-course for exactly this reason! It’s got everything you need both to prepare your body to stay strong when folks are getting sick, and to deal with all the symptoms if you do get sick. It even has a simple reference chapter that goes through each kind of symptom individually, so you can mix and match your strategies to meet each person’s specific situation. Like all our offerings, this self-paced online video course comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more! If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

This week we continue our investigation into the best-selling herbal supplements in the US. First, an update: the 2024 Herbal Market Report data is here! The overall picture is very similar to the 2023 data, with most items on the lists simply changing position. The overall market had a 5.4% increase, topping out above $13.2 billion for the highest annual sales on record. Direct-to-consumer commerce – via websites like Amazon, for instance – continues to be the largest fraction of sales. In the mainstream list, the biggest story is the increase for “mushrooms (other)”, which reached #26 despite not appearing at all in prior years. This listing includes lion’s mane, turkey tail, and other mushrooms – but not chaga, cordycpes, or reishi (those are tracked individually). Also of note, the sales numbers for saint john’s wort in 2023 were adjusted to the tune of a $20 million increase! This would place SJW at #17 on that year’s list, instead of being absent from it. This makes much more sense, since SJW has been such a popular herb for so long. In the ‘natural expanded’ list, the most notable increase came for “algae (other)”, which would exclude spirulina & blue-green algae as well as chlorella. Sea moss / Irish moss (Chondrus crispus), as well as other seaweeds, are the big drivers of this increased interest in “algae (other)” – largely due to TikTok trends around ‘detox’ and ‘cleansing’. Mullein, moringa, milk thistle, rhodiola, chaga, and oregano also had >20% increases, while the biggest decrease in sales came for wheatgrass/barleygrass, continuing a slow decade-long slide. Today’s herbs, aloe and flax, are both plants whose modern incarnations and sales points are quite different than their historical applications. In the case of aloe, the stimulant laxative effect of its latex was historically its most valued power. Today, it’s more popular for the gentle demulcent/emollient effects of its gel. As for flax: its oil is very susceptible to oxidation and was previously used in things like paint and varnish more than for human consumption. Today, cold-pressed & refrigerated oil, or fresh-ground seeds, can be a good source of anti-inflammatory omega-3s and other essential fatty acids. 24. Aloe – Aloe vera Aloe in King’s American DispensatoryAloes in A Modern HerbalAloe vera25. Flax seed / Flax oil – Linum usitatissimum Linum in The Eclectic Materia MedicaFlax in A Modern Herbal Flax & aloe are two examples of soothing demulcent herbs, which can calm irritated & inflamed guts. Our course on Digestive Health discusses the effects of demulcents as well as carminatives, antispasmodics, vulneraries, and other key categories of herbs which can help resolve the whole range of digestive upsets. Hippocrates said “all disease begins in the gut”, and supporting this critical system is often key to unlocking chronic health problems. Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

When Ryn first met Katja, she was in the habit of inflating her age a bit. Why? Because as an herbalist – at that time – it was preferable to present as older, even as an ‘elder’, if possible. Times have changed, and now “influencerbalists” dominate the social media world’s public face, for herbalism as for so many things. Staying young forever looks almost plausible, when it’s shown through short-form videos on a tiny screen… It’s not, though. We’ll all age, and that will mean some things don’t work as well as they used to, don’t feel as good as they used to, don’t heal as fast as they used to. We’ll get tired, our hair will thin, our faces will wrinkle. All the amazing new products and one-weird-tricks will not stop these things from happening. We don’t need to stop them. They’re part of life. In just the same way that yes, it’s OK to be a plus-sized herbalist, it’s OK to be an aging herbalist. Chasing immortality is a fool’s errand, and it can distract both from more effective means of mitigating discomforts, and from the benefits this stage of life brings. (Yes, they exist: perspective, experience, even a peaceful detachment – these are the purview of the elder.) Aging is OK. We do have some herbs to recommend, though! In this episode we discuss… ginseng (Panax ginseng)solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum)salve from Healing Spiritssol’seal remedies from CortesianervinesdemulcentsIf you’d like to start taking care of your body for the long haul – no matter what age you are today – our Community Herbalist program will equip you to do so! This program prepares you to support your family & community with holistic herbal methods. Like all our offerings, this bundle of self-paced online video courses comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

Herbs #22 and 23 on the top-selling herbs list for 2023 were milk thistle and black cohosh. Today we continue our series on commercially popular herbs, and share our views as herbalists on the actions, benefits, and applications of these. Milk thistle is widely known as an excellent herb for the liver, and this is a case where the common wisdom is correct. It’s one of the safest herbs out there, and fortunately, it is also widely available and inexpensive. Hepatoprotective and even able to regenerate damaged liver tissue, it is at the same time a very gentle and benign plant. But don’t try to make tea with it! Black cohosh’s reputation is as a remedy for PMS and menopausal symptoms, and often this is attributed to phytoestrogenic activity or constituents. The reality is murky – and has remained so despite decades of argument and investigation on both sides of the claim. Regardless, black cohosh can often help. We find it best to view the herb through the lens of its action as a relaxant. If PMS or menopause are showing up with lots of tension, it’s worth a try and most likely to help. But we can also apply that action much more broadly, for injuries, spasms, and (certain kinds of) headaches. 22. Milk Thistle – Silybum marianaum Milk Thistle: Herb of the WeekMilk ThistleMilk ThistleA Modern Herbal23. Black Cohosh – Actaea racemosa Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) is a non-estrogenic alternative to hormone replacement therapy.Benefits of Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) for Women Health: An Up-Close and In-Depth Review.Black CohoshCimicifuga If all you’d heard (before today) about black cohosh was that it’s “good for menopause”, you might want to check out our Reproductive Health course! We discuss the whole range of human reproductive variability and herbal medicines to support all kinds of people. We even bust a few reproductive-health myths and herban legends. (Hint: vitex is not “a miracle herb for all women”!) If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

When you’re using your herbal skills to help others – whether you’re doing that as a Clinical Herbalist in private practice, volunteering in your community, or even just caring for your own family – it becomes obvious pretty fast that your herbal knowledge is only part of the skillset you need. You also need to creatively adapt what you know, so that it will actually work in that person’s life. Since every body is different, different strategies work for different people. Holistic herbalists are never trying to present “one right way” that everyone has to adhere to. Which means that as herbalists, we need to be creative and flexible. We need to match our strategies to each person’s life individually – and that creativity can be challenging! That’s one of the skills that we teach in our Clinical Skills course. Today’s episode is a segment of content on this topic, from that course, which we wanted to share with you. It’s self-contained, but it’ll also give you a peek into what our course material sounds like. When we talk to a client, we listen to their health goals and priorities. We also form our own understanding of the case, and our own thoughts about what to prioritize – which herbs and interventions to try first. Here’s the thing: their priorities are more important than ours! If we discern some fundamental factor they aren’t aware of, it’s our job to teach them why it’s a priority. It’s our job to educate and negotiate – not to dictate. Sometimes we’ll propose an idea and the client will be uncertain, or will outright reject it. When this happens, it’s not helpful to insist they follow our instructions. That’s not the relationship we have as herbalists – we’re not doctors, giving “orders”. So when the client expresses some resistance, we respect it. That respect may look like offering more information and context, or it may look like going in another direction entirely. The motto for this mindset is: Support the resistance. It’s easier said than done – but learning to do it is something we consider essential to the herbalist’s skillset. If this episode caught your attention, then our Clinical Skills course is for you! Learn to practice legally, safely, collaboratively, and effectively. Get all your client forms & scheduling systems sorted. Cultivate consultation interview skills, and explore methods for planning personalized protocols. Everything you need to be a top-notch herbalist! Like all our offerings, this self-paced online video course comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more! If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

On the top-selling herbs list for 2023 (the most recent data), the herbs in places #19-21 were Tribulus terrestris, Pycnogenol (an extract of Pinus pinaster), and garlic. Today we continue our series on commercially popular herbs, and share our views as herbalists on the actions, benefits, and applications of these ones. The pine extract is an interesting item, given that it’s not an entry for the herb itself but rather for a specific proprietary extract from one species. It’s true that this extract has been well-studied and shown to exert good effects, but it’s also true that pine is much more than this one product. Today’s trio also offers an excellent opportunity to apply herbal energetics to help us critique and navigate marketing hype. While tribulus is very popular as a body-building aid, its cooling nature tells us that it is most helpful for those who already run hot. Garlic is the polar opposite of that. While garlic is very famous for its capacity to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, these effects are not as straightforward in a hot, dry, tense body – garlic could cause adverse effects for such a constitution. So, looking through the lens of herbal energetics remains one of our best methods for matching the right herb to the right person. 19. Tribulus – Tribulus terrestris Tribulus terrestrisGokshura (Tribulus terrestris)20. Pycnogenol® – Pinus pinaster Pine bark: cardiometabolic healthHHP 205: Herbs A-Z: Pinus & PlantagoPine wallpaper for phone & desktop21. Garlic – Allium sativum Garlic at Herbal Reality Every herbalist should understand energetics, and be able to apply them effectively. Our Energetics & Holistic Practice course has all the info you need to understand herbal actions, qualities, tissue states, and constitutions. These critical concepts set herbalism apart from other healing modalities and are essential to effective herbalism. Like all our offerings, this self-paced online video course comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more! That course is one part of our Community Herbalist program. This program prepares you to support your family & community with holistic herbal methods. If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!