There's lots of pressure each December to spendspendspend your way into others hearts or good graces or respect. I don't want to add to that. Besides, I don't really make or sell anything that's packageable in a gift-giving fashion anyway, so why add to the noise?

But I do want to showcase some of my favorite people who are making a difference in the world, so if you do decide you need a perfect gift for someone, maybe you'll find it here. Or just give them a hug. That always works for me. 

In not much order, I present to you my favorites. 

• Wholisitics An appointment-only, women-focused wellness center. I teach reformer pilates here, and there's lots of other services like group and personal training, chiropractic, nutrition and therapy. And they sell gift certificates
• Glenside Acupuncture Margaret is a dear, the space is quiet and not intimidating, and you'll love it
• Painting with a Twist 2 pilates friends own franchises, so I can say with full support that you'll love your time at Jenkintown, NE Philly, and Warrington PWAT locations, and with full expectation that you'd love any other site too
• Tooth of the Lion amazing PA based herb farmers and remedy makers
• Arete more amazing PA based remedy makers, my partner in the DIY Herbalism program
• Barefoot Botanicals more amazing PA farmers, remedy makers, and educators
• Saltability Retreat local-to-me salt spa with salt cave, float tank, and more
• Backyard Beans Lansdale coffee shop with good light, good space, and good tea
• Round Guys, and The Underground Lansdale brewery and live shows, including the Ladies of Lansdale!
• Domani Star off the charts amazing regional Italian food in Doylestown
• Dishes and Knishes my go-to deli with great soup, in Lafayette Hill
• Fuller Chiropractic wonderful and excruciating Active Release Technique, has saved my ability to speak for a living
• Ace Hardware seriously, this store has it all and they're super helpful
• Kimberton Whole Foods a small local chain since 1986, with local food and great options
• MOYO Skippack PA yoga, including aerial yoga. Come see me teach about immunity and make some Garlic Honey in January
• Yoga Brain East Falls yoga, come see me teach about Herbal Digestion and Detox in January
• Yoga Barn Unionville yoga, home of the DIY Herbalism program
• The Studio St Michaels MD yoga, including the best aerial yoga every, with Paulette
• Lucia LaFerme CA botanical dyer of silks and linen, and a gorgeous IG feed
• Nicole La Pera on Facebook and Instagram soul-healing free content, and a Self Healer's Circle
• Claire Mockridge creator of Your Pelvic Matters teacher training program and a helpful weekly newsletter on functional movement and business things
• Stop Chasing Pain body education in a no-nonsense style I enjoy immensely 
• Katy Bowman my favorite expert on all things movement and feet. Books, videos, blog, social media, trainings, she's got it all
• Holly Hill my local independent health food store/magnesium supplier/well-curated shop of wonders
• The Square a renovated factory in Dublin PA full of small shops and businesses

I've probably forgotten some people and places. And I'll probably update this list as I remember them. I'd love to hear about your favorites too, in the comments!

Thirty years ago I would have said that Herbalism was taking capsules of dried plants, and a few teas and foul-tasting tinctures, so that I didn’t get sick. Today Herbalism is much more widely known than it was in the 1980’s, but perhaps it’s no better understood. Let’s look at this!

Yes, Herbalism is plants. You can quibble about mushrooms and resins and a few other not-exactly-plant items, but basically we’re talking “go out in the woods or the fields and gather” items here. Except, not really.

To really get a handle on what Herbal medicine is about, I need to ask you to try something: Set aside your understanding, your ideas about medicine and disease and wellness. They’re perfectly valid thoughts, but I want you to try to imagine an entirely different way.

People are complex- just check out the online reviews of restaurants or gyms or anything else. No one thing is for EVERYONE. And plants are just as complex as we are- did you know that the only chemical difference between our blood and chlorophyll is that where we have an Iron molecule, the plants have a Magnesium? We inhale what they exhale, they make the water cycle the entire planet depends on, and the exact same plant can vary widely in its growth habits and chemical makeup depending on where it’s grown. I’m the same- I’d be very different living in the far North, or on a tropical island, or in the middle of a city, based on the choices, opportunities, and resources available to me. 

So what is Herbalism? I nominate this idea: It’s The Act And Art Of Living With Plants As Food And Medicine To Maximize Your World.

​Herbalism definitely has a big knowledge component- you need to know your plants. How many plants is up to you, though. 

A dozen or two well-chosen plants could cover pretty much everything you’d need, and some herbalists work well with 6-10 individual and combination remedies handling almost all of their client’s complaints. On the other end of the spectrum, there are honestly thousands and thousands of plants to choose from. 

The “art” of herbalism is inseparable from the knowledge base. Facts, research, and “proof” inform us right alongside intuition, inspiration, and experimentation. 

Every single herbalist I know balances the science and the art that underpins the “knowing” of their plants differently, beautifully, and dynamically, allowing change to morph their practice over time. Practicing herbalism is a dance with all the information- known and unknown- out there.

Food and medicine the same thing! That tomato you grew is tasty, it fills your belly, and it provides you with vitamins, minerals, and other molecules like lycopene and beta carotene that support different functions in your body- they’re medicine. 

Often the difference between food and medicine is just the dose. A little mug of hot water with a Chamomile teabag is a nice beverage, but a jar of fresh flowers covered in cold water steeped overnight in the fridge makes a fragrant, uplifting apple-sweet drink that delivers all the muscle-relaxing and petulance-overcoming benefits of Chamomile’s volatile oils. And a mug of long-brewed Chamomile tea, dark and earthy and bitter, helps move full or constricted digestion along. 

Good food- whole, clean, organic, and consistent- seasoned and spiced with further good foods, becomes your medicine

Just make, and keep, one promise to yourself everyday. One little promise, one little moment of showing up for yourself. 

This was the post I saw from @the.holistic.psychologist, just when I was feeling overwhelmed and undeserving and defeated. She’d said it before, but that day I needed it. OK, I thought, I will. 

Now I encourage (Urge! Demand!) you do the same. We ALL need to remind ourselves that we’re there for ourselves; it builds such resilience and resolve!

In keeping with my spirit, I made 2 promises. In keeping with Dr. LaPera’s advice, I made them tiny. 

1. Journal every day, even if only for a minute
2. Plan tomorrow’s To Do list each evening

I’ve also been having trouble falling asleep, so the last few nights I’ve taken an herbal sleep tablet by Garden of Life (a sample from Expo East!) with a powdered Magnesium and Sleep drink (love this stuff), and doing a Deepak Chopra meditation after lights-out.

It’s amazing what a few nights of good sleep, and a few days of clear and ordered tasks, can accomplish. 

This morning’s journaling- from last night’s meditation prompts- showed me that lately I’ve been most in my “flow” when I’m writing about my passions, like developing the DIY program, or writing blog posts. Yet I don’t write creatively that often, putting it off in favor of other “more important” tasks. 

Since I don’t have any morning appointments today, I decided to have a sauna (we have a Relax FIR sauna tent in the bedroom, you can try one at Holly Hill, my local health food store), a quick stretch and shower, and sit down to write a bit. No guilt, no judgement, I just opened a few docs I had been working on recently but had put aside. I'm really looking forward to this!

Before I turn back to them, I really want to know: What’s ONE promise you can make to yourself every day? Comment below!

​Some of the above links are affiliate sources

Excess Earth can be cloying, clinging, or sickly sweet, so if you recognize this in your life- again, literally or figuratively- you might benefit from some cleaning up and throwing away. This is a great time of year to donate unworn Summer clothes and uninspiring Winter clothes, to clear out dying landscape and garden plants, and to empty your fridge for a good cleaning now that it’s not too hot to leave its contents out for a few minutes. Mental or food-related indigestion can be prevalent now too- spending some time simply, in gently fasting or meditation or journaling, for example, gives you space and perspective to move forward clearly again. 

Sleep is always important and usually neglected, and we tend to get even less in summer because of the longer days and all the things we try to do in the nice weather. As the days shorten, try going to bed earlier so you can get more rest- who doesn’t need this?! One trick I’ve found is to prepare for bed throughout the evening, so when I’m finally ready I don’t then stay up to brush my teeth, get in my PJ’s, pack my lunch for tomorrow, find my sleep mask, whatever. I can just get in bed, which saves me an hour or more some nights. I heard one teacher say that the time spent asleep before midnight is more important than the total hours you got, and my experience agrees with that. 

In her book Wood Becomes Water: Chinese Medicine in Everyday Life, Gail Reichstein explains that, “The flavor that corresponds to Earth is sweetness… Grains, in general, are considered sweet foods and are therefore highly tonifying, forming the backbone of Taoist cuisine and of most traditional diets. Rice, corn, wheat, barley, rye, amarant, and quinoa are all staple ingredients, as are potatoes and sweet potatoes.” She also lists meats and plant proteins, tree fruits like apples, cherries, and apricots, root vegetables, mushrooms, and nuts as examples of seasonal-appropriate foods. Sweet foods are nourishing and dense, and they cook well- especially when roasted or made into soups. Refined sweeteners aren’t what we’re talking about here!

As you start incorporating more nutrient dense, cooked foods into your early Autumn menus, you’ll be nourishing your immune system and helping to recover from the dryness that Summer can bring. Think of it like a dry potted plant- the roots contract so any water just runs down the sides and out the bottom. You need to loosen up the soil, your GI tract, before you can accept the water, and nutritious, well cooked food with healthy fats does this for you. 
​
What are some of your transition traditions that you find yourself doing at this time each year? Food wise, I start eating squashes, making soups, and braising vegetables like cabbage or fennel+red beets with vinegar and chicken stock. I also try on my winter sweaters to make sure I still want them before putting away my summer tank tops, and pull out the fuzzy couch blanket for cool nights. ​

Ok. You sat. You pondered. What did the plant say?
 
Here, I'll go first.

Do you think this challenge is a ridiculous waste of time? Or did you read it and think, Oh that seems a lovely notion!, and go on with your day? I was like both of you, once.

The first time I did this exercise, in my first year of Herbal studies, I went into my teacher’s garden and sat by this shrubby thing. It wasn't a tree, exactly- there was no trunk, just a collection of bendy stems maybe 8 feet tall. There had been flowers earlier, and berries too, but now it was just leaves and coolly green. I got comfortable on the lawn in front of it.

And I waited.
For anything.
I looked at its bark, the leaves, the ground it grew in.
I breathed, closed my eyes, opened them, lay down, sat straighter.

It felt absurd. I wasn’t having visions, or hearing voices. I was bored, and all I wanted to do was climb the silly thing. This flexible collection of overgrown branches looked so enticing I just wanted to crawl inside it and wrap myself around the stems. Which was of course unreasonable, it could never support me, so I trooped back inside with my classmates, annoyed.

And found out this shrub is Elderberry, literally the Elder of the garden, watching over everything. It has Grandmother energy, and I had wanted to give it a hug SO BAD that I almost cried. My own Grandmother had died tragically in a car accident only a few years before, my life was upside-down, and I had been feeling so alone and without the support that she would have given, in the form of a Dutch Apple cake and just saying nice things to me.

So when I challenge you to go sit with a plant, and you do it, don't "judge" or "assess" or "define" what happens. Because who knows what is happening?
 
This is how you begin forming connections, by not being in charge of the connecting. Let go, and see who or what introduces themselves, if you’re quiet enough to hear them.

Do you have plant connections? A favorite tree, or a culinary herb that always makes you smile, or a spring flower that reminds you of your childhood cat? Did you ever have connection, but have since lost it?
 
I had a rich inner-life as a child. No imaginary friends, but I spent long days playing in the woods, creek, fields, and grass on the 80 acres I grew up with. We didn’t have close neighbors, but there was plenty of “scope for imagination” on that land.
 
There was the stand of hemlock trees that became a whole pretend house, and the one spot where you could cross the creek on a fallen tree, and the white pine that I suddenly couldn’t climb anymore when I grew faster than it did.

I knew where the lawn changed to moss, back by tree line where the old swing set was, and where the mysterious hole was below the tiger lilies, behind the house.

I knew where the spring surfaced, and where it collected into a magical pool that was covered by watercress each spring.

And I always knew exactly where I was, and how to get back home.
 
After high school I went away to college and jobs and apartments and while I sometimes reflected on that time I spent “before”, it was background to my new reality of responsibilities and adulting. Until I went to an herbal conference back in some hills that echoed the hills I used to know. At the end of the day, driving back in the sunset, the landscape hit me so hard that I wept right there behind the steering wheel.
 
I suddenly felt the enormous reality that where I now lived wasn’t “home”, and that I desperately missed those hills I used to call home. But my life isn’t there anymore, and I needed to find ways to start recognizing my new home in that same deep way. I had to rediscover my ability to make friends with trees and rocks, and reconnect to my present world.

(And in this process of rediscovery and reconnection, I remembered my Herbalism. At its heart, my teaching of both Pilates and Herbal Medicine is driven by my passion to help you recognize and identify these small voices without words, that guide you to connect both inside and out.)
 
There are lots of ways to deepen your connection to plants, to learn to recognize them outside and to learn what they do inside you. There are classes, walks, talks, books, videos, apps, all sorts of ways to get more information.

But I challenge you to do this one thing:

• go outside
• find a plant you don't know- anything from a flower to a tree. Look around to see what calls to you, what catches your eye
• sit down by it
• look at it for a while, at least 15 minutes
• come back in and grab some paper, and jot down what you thought of while you were sitting there

Memories? Observations? Random, unconnected, meaningless thoughts? (Of course they're not! But we'll get to that.)

Really, get going. I'll wait.

Burdock root (Arctium lappa) is also known by the Japanese name Gobo, and that's usually how I get mine- 3 or 4 roots about the thickness of medium carrots that are at least 3 feet long, shrink wrapped together at the local Asian market as Gobo. (It's also sold dried, from Mountain Rose and Herbiary.) They are beige, darker than parsnips, with slightly darker cores. 

Usually I either cut them into rounds and simmer them in a stock pot of water for 24 hours or so, or I'll make ribbons with a potato peeler and stir fry them. Either way, I've found they oxidize and turn brown quickly once they're peeled, but this doesn't affect anything. 

The taste of Burdock was unexpected the first time I had it. Burdock is generally considered "a Liver herb", in that it helps your liver (a vague and squiffy description!) Most of the time "liver herbs" are bitters, a topic I discussed here. But not Burdock. 

Burdock is sweet, in the herbal tradition that refers not to sugary, syrupy, cloying sweetness, but to nourishing, grounding, and satisfying. Homemade chicken soup, freshly cooked rice, and nuts are other savory foods that fit this description, in my mind. 

This makes me think about the "Liver" attributes, and about its infamous burrs. 

If you've ever walked the forest's edge, you've probably met Burdock. It's a biennial, which means it grows low and leafy the first year, then huge and sprawling to send out seeds the second year. First year plants are the ones harvested for the roots, which grow large to help it survive winter. I've heard of people digging Burdock roots 10-14 feet long, and the accompanying pits they have to fill back in after! First year Burdock leaves are often quite huge too, and I've seen them tied on heads as makeshift hats- it's a great look. 

Second year plants grow UP. Last summer I saw one several feet taller than me (pics below don't really do it justice, I was holding my camera up high). This is when we get burrs. Little round globes of hooks that inspired Velcro, tangle everrrrrything that comes near, and apparently contain seeds that are also medicinal- though whoever puts themselves through the trouble of harvesting them might be a little, um, devoted. 

The fierce presentation of Burdock- massive leaves, aggressive burrs, long taproots- really belies its taste and energy. It puts me in mind of Mrs. Rachel Lynde. 

Have you read Anne of Green Gables? (If not, you are missing out!) Mrs. Rachel Lynde is big, outspoken, in everyone's business, and the first one to deliver a handmade blanket to a new baby or a meal to a sick family. 

The Liver has so many jobs and responsibilities, and sometimes its filtering duties get neglected. This leads to rashes, breakouts, and lots of other skin and joint issues as toxins and debris build up in the blood and are pushed out through the skin- think of Lucy in the chocolate factory, or water spilling over a levy. 

Rather than truly stimulating the Liver like other traditional bitter herbs, I think Burdock is in the blood doing the dishes and the laundry, so to speak. I feel like truly bitter herbs give the Liver a kick in the pants, which can be very helpful, whereas Burdock quietly comes over and mows your lawn when you've just got too much else on your plate. 

It's an excellent gentle tonic, a concept Western medicine is missing but which means to help the body mend, rebuild, and return to healthy normal functioning. Very often our Western baseline test is "Can I function?" Long term help from Burdock would help change that question to, "Am I at the top of my game?" which many people haven't felt in so long I wonder if they'd recognize it. 

Here's what it looks like: 
You + coffee = wired (from caffeine) + poop (from bitter)
This is what our Western expectations are. Fast, concrete results and damn the caffeine addiction!

You + Burdock= You
No noticeable change today, or tomorrow. But months from now someone will comment on your clear skin, your glowing vitality, and you'll think- It must be all the Burdock! You won't have noticed the gradual improvement in your skin, or stress management, or ability to digest rich foods or recover from excess sugar or alcohol. It's just gotten better.