Prunella vulgaris, also known as Self Heal and Xia Ku Cao.
Botanical Medicine
botanical: "concerned with the study or cultivation of plants," French botanique (17c.), Medieval Latin botanicus, Greek botanikos "of herbs, grass, pasture"
In this practice, the term botanical medicine refers broadly to the perspective that plants and the natural world are powerful allies in health. This includes a focus on consuming a variety of vegetables and fruits in a Mediterranean or other plant based diet, knowing how to cook, the use of culinary and medicinal herbs and the power of spending time in nature among flowers, gardens and tall woody plants, also known as trees. This approach helps strengthen our connections to the change of seasons both in the world around us and in the timeline of our own lives. It appreciates complex interconnections and the wisdom of staying closer to whole foods and whole plant medicines and finding time to rest. This perspective accepts that no type of medicine can work optimally in a physical terrain beset with the crashes and cravings of processed foods, endless screens and chronic stress.
Food is Medicine
I encourage everyone to consider how what they are eating nourishes them and/or contributes to medical diagnoses, poor mood and fatigue. Having helped design a Food as Medicine program for low income patients and having asked countless people if they are eating vegetables, I get how hard eating healthy and changing habits can be. Still, I work to find sustainable practical solutions for individuals that work with their preferences, resources and schedules - and try not to increase people’s stress about food. Really! I love watching people (re)discover the joy of eating real delicious food, try new recipes, notice their taste and palate preferences changing and replace rigid ideas about diet with more flexibility and self compassion. I can assist with elimination diets to explore allergies and intolerances, as well as therapeutic eating plans to address inflammation or metabolism or work with weight loss medications.
Personalized Formulations
When requested and arranged in a visit, I create custom herbal tea or botanical extract formulas, choosing ingredients based on a person’s concerns, medical history, preferences, available research and historical usage. I am a professional member of the American Botanical Council and United Plant Savers and have access to resources including HerbMedPro, Natural Medicines Database, The Complete German Commission E Monographs (on herbal medicine) and UpToDate. Mindful of both safety and quality concerns, I work with high quality botanical dispensaries that practice sustainable harvesting, seek ethical relations with growers, do independent testing for adulteration and contaminants and use organic plants when possible. The personalized formulas are mailed directly to the client and I do not profit from the sale, like a regular prescription going to a mail order pharmacy.
Gardyns
The Gardyn is a home hydroponic garden system with built in lights to grow greens of all types, culinary herbs, fruits, flowers and more. I feel it fits right in with my interest in botanical medicine and plant based diets, so am promoting here as my first ever affiliate link. I bought one within a few hours of first seeing it and can personally attest I start most mornings by smelling the flowers and am eating more salads with more interesting greens than ever. It still amuses me to harvest vegetables in the living room and the bright light in the morning has been quite welcome in the dark days of winter. Two of the pictures here are my own personal Gardyn. I still have some plants left here from the “Budding Florist” starter kit.
With this link you can get a discount on any model of Gardyn. The promo code “integrative” should appear in the cart and it can be used even when they are having a sale. If there are any questions let me know and their website offers these FAQs well. I know it is an investment but can be amazing to have continual harvests from individual plants and watch their growth so closely.
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”
-Rachel Carson
