​For so many years, Pilates and Herbal Medicine have been my 2 separate lives. At first I was overwhelmed with my pilates studio situation, and when that changed it was a relief but I no longer had the independence to be creative. I couldn't break down the gate between these two wellness approaches. 
 
My entire pilates career, I’ve been hearing about how surprisingly great pilates clients felt once they got into their practice. At the same time, I’ve been hearing about how amazed herbal clients were that simple plants could change their digestive system, stress responses, mental focus, ability to heal, and more.
 
Now, as I write this, it’s day 16 of my own coronavirus shut down. I’ve only seen my pilates machines maybe twice, while I was picking up some items to try and make workout-at-home videos. And I’ve been seriously contemplating the overlap of movement medicine and herbal medicine.
 
Here’s what I believe: It’s all inputs. Nothing we take in or do “makes up” for past inputs. No amount of exercise “makes up” for sitting most of the day, or eating anything, or dwelling in spite or anger. I don’t believe there’s any subtraction or division or past- there’s only addition, or multiplication, and future. This is what my experience has taught me.

Maybe it's not a good time to introduce a new program. People are stressed. We're experiencing collective anxiety, fear, and trauma. Our routines have been trashed, our freedoms curtailed, our very ability to move restricted. 

Maybe it's the perfect time to introduce a new program. Avoidance coping mechanisms mean we spend all day at the computer, or on the couch. Learning how to exercise in our living rooms and basements via Zoom and YouTube leads to unaccustomed tweaks and soreness. So many people adopting the WFH lifestyle are unprepared for the amounts of time they'll spend in a different chair, at a different desk, without the support and customs of their "normal" day in place. 

I don't know. Maybe it's both.

The very fact that we're not supposed to leave our homes means that we should be deliberately trying to move more in them. The very stress we're sinking under has a multitude of outlets in Adaptogens, herbs that help us adapt to stressful environments. The very virus we're threatened with requires us all to look after our immune systems, one of many systems that traditions like Herbalism are very well prepared to build and support.

So maybe this isn't for you. Instead, it might be perfect for someone you know. Or it is perfect for you, but there's just too much "I can't even right now" for you to focus. All that is fine. 

Here's all the details about my new online program that combines movement, herbal medicine supports, private coaching, and small-group learning. I'm calling it Release and Relief: Back and Pelvic Pain Edition

You're invited to join, share, or ignore- whatever fits you best. 

Aren’t these Grape Hyacinth cute? They’re tiny too, just a couple inches high. If you wanted to, could you get your face all the way down to the ground to find out if they’re fragrant?
                    
There’s 2 parts to that question- whether you have the mobility to get your face that close to the surface of the Earth without having fallen on it, and also whether your clothes allow for that much movement. Both can be improved upon! The first is something I can help you with. The second is something you choose.

Let’s think about the clothes for a second. I went to the Mutter Museum and looked in horror at the misshapen skeleton of a corseted woman. It’s incredible that anyone would have accepted that as not only fashion but proper and essential.

But then I thought about today’s fashion. I am not generally considered fashionable- tasteful, maybe, and sometimes even matching, but certainly not a trend-follower. And yet I own jeans I have to unbutton when I drive. I own boots that could break an ankle, or in fact one pair that could prevent an ankle break they’re so stiff. (They’re the ones that messed up my knee.) I own underwire bras, and too-small underwear, and narrow-shouldered button-down shirts.
 
Clothes that restrict movement are called body casts. That name makes sense, since they hold us back like a medical cast or splint would. And you know what- I love some of them. Those break-an-ankle boots are gorgeous. I traded an entire pilates training package for them years ago, they’re knee high stretch suede by a real designer, and heeled. Amazing. But. I rarely wear them.
 
The concern is really for when we wear our body casts day in and day out. When we train our bodies to lose mobility and support structures, or even damage circulation and lymphatic drainage. What good is, say, getting out in the garden if your pants cut off your lower body blood flow and your bra won’t let you take a deep breath? It’s not like torture, it IS torture!

What would it take to allow yourself the freedom to completely move, to have full Range of Motion, at least most of the time? Sure there are special occasions, but what would your life be like if your Usual Occasions gave you access to more movement? Movement is medicine too. 
 
If you’re not sure what you’d even do with more range, then let me introduce you to the Release and Relief online coaching program. We’re learning to release long-held buttresses that have been holding you up while the rest of you couldn’t, and to move with newly aligned muscles. There’s also herbal supports built in, because that stress and GI inflammation isn’t doing your back pain any favors, for example.
 
If you have made the transition into moveable clothing, what has it been like?

Yay, a picture story! This is a slide I just showed to my last DIY Herbalism class, when we dug into Immune health and the herbs that act on it. 

See, what we’ve got here is a hole in the skin up top, bad guys getting in, the first line of defense trying to contain them, and notifying the rest of the immune cells to the problem. This is a super simple, easy way to see what your immune system is doing against invaders.

Much of the time, when it comes to herbs and the immune system, you’ll hear people talk about “immune stimulants” that really get this process moving in overtime. ZoomZoom the defense cells arrive and Kapow! They knock out the baddies, regroup, and speed off to the next Bat Call. It’s a good visual.

But I like to question everything, like the assumption that we even have enough good guys to go around in the first place, and what happens if we don’t. 

(In addition, this kind of Rapid Response team only functions on the say-so of your Stress Levels. Too much stress will actually shut down your immune system- when you’re trying to outrun the Sabre Toothed Squirrel your body doesn’t want to waste resources on a paltry cut finger. And it expects to quit running soon, either because you got away or you didn’t, so we’re not made for the constant high-stress environment we live in today and don’t have a mechanism to keep immune function under chronic stress.) 

So here’s another story.

Imagine you’re cooking pasta and the water level gets a bit low. The water gets thick, sort of gloppy, the noodles aren’t circulating as much as they should to cook evenly. What do you do? You wouldn’t turn up the heat under the pot to get the noodles to cook as much as possible in the remaining water, would you? No! You’d add water to the pot so the system works as it’s supposed to.

The same is true of the immune system. Before turning up the heat and stimulating function, we’ve got to make sure we have plenty of immune cells to go around in the first place- fill up the system, if you will (bonus points for actually adding water, those cells float!)

“But hoooow?” I hear some of you wail.  “I want my immune cells nooooow!” OK, Veruca, we’re coming.

If you wade into the crazy world of the internet you’ll find LOTS of head-scratching references to remedies you’ve not only never heard of, but ones that I’ve never heard of either. It’s just not helpful to tell people to find True Indigo Root, or patented TCM formulas, or dozens of other specialized and NOT local-to-whereever-you-are plants.

Instead, let’s focus on what we CAN do because these are things people have ALWAYS done. These are all age-old techniques for building the robustness and vitality of your entire self, including your immune system.

• Food medicine
  • Bone broth- buy it, make it. Use your Google and find out how
  • Spice It Like You Mean It- be heavy-handed with all your culinary herbs, because they are also medicinal herbs! And they're all anti-microbial. Thyme, Oregano, Basil, Rosemary, Pepper, Turmeric, Paprika, go for it
  • Onions and Garlic- stinky BECAUSE they’re effective. I had a group of Israeli pilates clients who told me they put half an onion in their kid’s bedrooms with the door shut overnight to get rid of respiratory yucks, and their kids were never sick
  • Soups are basically pre-digested so you can use all the nourishment in them very easily
    • The simplest soup I know is a package of ground beef browned in a pot, add rice, carrots, and celery, cover with water. Cook till the rice is done, taste it and add salt till you’re happy
    • I usually add a handful of dried nettles, some kind of seaweed, and serve it with miso
  • All the grounding, nourishing vegetables- squashes, dark greens, mushrooms especially the Asian ones like Shiitake
  • All the spicy, warming foods like Ginger, Horseradish, Wasabi, peppers
  • All the colorful fruits and vegetables= eat the rainbow
  • btw Sugar shuts down your immune system so no ice cream, OJ, or alcohol 😞
• Sleep
  • No joke, this is non-negotiable. We are not Ikea furniture, we’re not machines, we’re not cars. Sleep-time is when we repair, when we empty the brain of toxins, when we rebuild things like immune cells. And get more hours before midnight in, the difference in how you feel will blow your mind
• Supplements- So yes, these are newer. But our food also has less nutrition in it than is used to!
  • Vitamins A, C, D
  • Zinc, Selenium
  • Medicinal Mushrooms- check your health food store              
  • Probiotics- the kind you get in capsules, the kind you get in fermented foods (yogurt, kefir, raw sauerkraut and pickles, like that), AND the kind you get in nature. Get in the dirt. Walk around barefoot outside. Plant something. Plus it’s enjoyable so that lowers your stress.

And if you want more specifics just for you, check my calendar for free Clarity Call spots or drop me an email to chat.

Take a deep breath, we'll get through this together

There are all kinds of Herbal Medicine makers out there. Let's support them!

This is NOT an exhaustive list, and I will be adding to it. Please send your recommendations or drop them in the comments below.
​

High Garden Tea- their Memphis TN shop was completely destroyed by a tornado in early March 2020
The Botanical Bus- a bilingual mobile herb clinic in CA
Bay Herbalism- a free holistic and mobile health clinic in Sonoma County CA
Commonweath Herbs Free Clinic- in Brookline MA
Rootwork Herbals' People's Medicine Project- provides BIPOC a safe, experiential education in working with common plants to help heal themselves and their communities

But what if you want to combine remedies with different times or temperatures? For example, a great combo for an angry gut is Chamomile and Marshmallow, but you’d want a long steeped Chamomile and a cold steeped Marshmallow. What to do?
 
The answer is- staggering. No, I mean that as a verb, not an adjective!
 
Do this: make your Chamomile tea in a quart jar around dinner time in hot water. Before bed, when it’s cooled off, add the Marshmallow, and wait till morning. Just stagger *when* you add different herbs to create your different combos. 

Staggering is also a good solution for when you would like to include more gentle notes of strong flavors. Try stirring your tea with a Cinnamon stick, if you don't want an overpowering spice. Or add your Chamomile or Rose petals right before serving, if you want the aromatic bloom. 

There are so many ways to infuse your plants in just simple water! What are your favorite flavors or techniques?

Herbalism in the US isn’t regulated. We aren’t degreed, licensed, or registered (for the most part). Our education and certifications are only as good as the people who taught them. Does that freak you out?
 
Not me- I like it this way.

I think Fiona Heckles from the UK said it best:
“You don’t have to have a medical degree to be able to practice herbal medicine, and that’s because the medical profession (the allopathic medical profession) doesn’t want to recognize it as a profession in itself.
 
But in doing that it opens up this amazing freedom to be able to study with apprenticeship programs or with whoever or however you want to practice, as long as you feel confident about it… what you really need to do is know your plants.”
 
Yes, legally, Herbalists have to be careful not to suggest they are impersonating a “medical professional” and need to stay on the side of education and information. But philosophically, that’s not hard.
 
We’re teaching people to care for themselves- the boring daily routines of good food and good rest and good movement

• We’re NOT trying to assume authority and responsibility for someone else’s health and wellbeing

 We’re trying to match plants and their actions to people’s states and their complaints

• Plants don’t exist for our complaints so saying “You have X so you need to take Y” doesn’t work out. There’s an actual relationship there- we need to know the plant’s personalities to judge if it’ll match the person’s personality too

This all means that in the end, Herbalism's "place" in our world is in many ways outside of the usual way of doing things. Herbalists must follow the laws, but we make our own rules. I believe the care of your health is your own responsibility, a right that you deserve, and that is in sometimes direct disagreement with established health care expectations.

And this is OK, because Herbalists are also (often primarily) educators. We're all always learning how to be more healthy in these bodies we have, and that usually means learning new ways to think about everything. Someone like an Herbalist is well suited to help guide you through new experiences as well as new ways to understand them.

Professionally, this freedom gives Herbalists a simply fantastic scope of practice. There are SO MANY ways to practice the “act and art”  of Herbalism, and SO MUCH we can we can learn from the established Herbalists of our time (not to mention the archived and salvaged documentation of practitioners past) that we can sample and try on and morph into our own practices.

​These ideas span the gamut of practice from: 

• drop-dosing, to tea-by-the-quart
• straight-up intuition, to narrow science-based research
• from generations of tradition, to starting new traditions in the moment​

Besides, there’s no line we can draw that says, “On this side it’s only the placebo effect; on that side, it’s real healing…” Even the word "healing" is rather non-specific and subjective- it's hard to define what being well or better or healed actually means. 

In practice, Herbalism deals well with the vague and unspecific complaints people have that often stump Western medicine, which is mostly concerned with identifying the offending microorganism or organ and attacking it. Western medicine works well in many situations (believe you me, my time as an EMT taught me the  benefits of Western medicine well.)

However, Herbalists are concerned with helping the body function to the best of its ability so our clients feel better, which is also vague and unspecific- plant medicine and people go together so well, you'd think we evolved together... oh wait, we did!

​Have you ever asked your friends to praise you? An outright, blatant, shameless request to tell you what your best, strongest qualities are? Last Spring, an online course I was taking asked me to reach out to people close to me and ask them what they think my superpowers are. It felt SO. WRONG. Asking others to do this is humbling, terrifying, and rewarding. 

​I sent out an email in a surge of positivity. I just said “You all are my friends. What do you think my superpowers are?” I didn’t apologize, didn’t hedge. As I waited for my friends to answer my email, my positivity positively fled. I felt embarrassed. I felt flustered. I felt unworthy, and even a little ashamed for asking in the first place. And my friends proved me wrong. 

​I’m here to tell you, this is a GREAT exercise. Think about it- wouldn’t you be happy to tell your friends about the wonderful things you see in them? Wouldn’t it be fun to heap them with praise knowing they’d have to listen, because they ASKED for it?! Wouldn’t it be great to point out those things that makes your friends unique and special? They enjoyed doing this, many of them even thanked me for asking, and asked me to let them know the outcome of the exercise!

​And in the vein of doing things that make me uncomfortable, I’ll toot my own horn here and share what my friends told me. It means the world to me that this is what they see, because these are important qualities that I’m not sure I always manage to bring. Doubting ourselves is human! Supporting each other is human, too. And learning what others see you bringing to the world is divine.

"Dear Friends. What do you think my superpowers are?”

• enthusiasm, expertise, connection

• You are (1) resilient, (2) have a forward moving spirit and energy, and (3) are industrious, creative and tenacious.

• 1. Theatrical and fun approach to teaching and life without any drama 
• 2. Always one of the most positive and vibrant people to be around
• 3. Penetratingly insightful when clarity of vision is needed

• 1. Your curiosity. This is the easiest one! I feel like you're inquisitive af; you constantly seek to learn. 
• 2. Your intuition. I've been trying to figure out how to describe your super power as an explainer-of-things. You're really excellent at that. And I think what it boils down to is that you're really skilled at figuring out how someone needs something explained, which is where your intuition really comes into play.
• 3. Your intelligence. This is maybe cheating because it's something I highly value in others so when others have it, I tend to think that that's one of their greatest strengths. But you're so super smart, and it's a hugely important trait.

• Also, you're a witch. So

• Compassion:  You are so dedicated to helping people improve their lives, not out of your own ego, but because you really care about others.

• Wisdom: You continue to learn, grow, evolve.  You seek out new information, explore new modalities, not simply to have the knowledge for yourself or to improve your own life, but to share with others (see “compassion” above!).  And you integrate your learning – you are not solely about Ayurveda or keto, for example.  Rather, you are curious about how those sciences relate to information that you already have, what do they have in common, where are they different, what new learning can you pull out.
•  Joy:  You always have a smile on your face and a gentle way about you.  You are approachable and trustworthy.  You don’t judge.  I know that I can be vulnerable with you, share the not-so-nice parts of my life, and you always make me feel better about myself (see “compassion” above!). You paint a picture of a brighter, more hopeful tomorrow that keeps me going.

• Conscientious 
• Empathetic 
• Curious
• Joyful
• Informed
• Knowledgeable
• .....and when you communicate instructions or information, you do it in such a way that your client feels you are advocating for them, on the same team, and not condescending or patronizing.  I couldn’t find that in the thesaurus ;-). Is that a teacher?

•  You manage to balance a practical, no-nonsense approach to life, teaching, and learning with a whimsical nature. You see the beauty and magic in everyday life and the knowledge you seek and dispense, even if at first blush it appears mundane to others.
• Related to the above, your attitude is infectious. You help others see the beauty and magic when you are talking about what you are passionate about –whether it be a book, herbal medicine, self-care.
• You are steadfast and loyal. And you do not suffer fools.

• compassionate, good listener, determined, resourceful

Aw shucks, guys.

And yes, there are some herbs that can help you through this!

Tulsi springs immediately to mind- she can help calm the stress of doing this asking in the first place, and you may find she helps you transition into a person who believes what your friends are saying.

Rose is also a powerful friend in terms of opening your heart to receive the love your friends offer. 

Chamomile can help you turn off the inner-child who is afraid and uncertain, and Calamus might help you digest everything you are told. 

What other herbs would you work with? And I was serious- go ahead and ask your friends about your superpowers. You can thank me later ;)

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