The Japanese call it shinrin-yoku which translates very roughly to “forest bathing.”
The good news is it reduces the stress hormone cortisol and boosts your immune system.
The better news is you don’t need a bathing suit to particpate.
The great news is you don’t need to do much of anything – other than to get yourself into the woods – in order enjoy the full benefits.
Japanese scientists have … Read more
If I were footloose and fancy free – and fit enough for ten weeks in the fields – I might consider this.
Herb Pharm runs three of these programs every year.
In addition to hands on experience (aka serious work) in the fields and in the workshops and barns there’s classroom learning time too.
Topics covered include plant identification, ethical wildcrafting, traditional western herbal energetics, ayurvedic herbology, ethnobotany, plant communications, … Read more
David Winston is the founder of Herbalist and Alchemist, an herbal medicine maker and education company he started in 1982.
He’s also a clinical herbalist with forty years of experience.
By interesting coincidence, I met David when his practice was new. He was already growing and making his own medicines way back then. How far things have come since then.
David on energetics and herbal medicine:
– Ken McCarthy… Read more
In an interview at the 1999 International Herb Symposium, Ed Smith, the founder of Herb Pharm, talks about what drew him to studying and eventually growing and processing herbs for medicine in the US.
– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org
… Read more
Note: This is for educational purposes only. Diagnosis and treatment, which should only be handled by a licensed professional, is not implied or intended.
Why is winter cold and flu season?
No one knows for sure, but we can guess at some of the reasons:
* Less sunshine and less exposure of the sun to the skin
* People spend more time indoors and away from fresh air and exercise… Read more
The information that follows may seem very basic, but if you don’t know certain things and no one tells you – or if people tell you the wrong things – how are you going to know?
First, there is no battle between essential oils vs tinctures. They are simply very different things.
Because there is currently so much misinformation and hype about essential oils, let … Read more
All herbs are not created equal.
Herbs fall into three general categories:
1. Tonic
2. Medicinal
3. Poisonous
A tonic is something you can consume daily with no ill effects.
Nettle is a good example of a tonic. Oat straw is another. In common parlance, these are “super foods” (just a whole lot cheaper). Consuming them daily is like putting money in your health bank.
A medicinal herb is consumed … Read more
Herbals teas are a big business and that’s a good thing. Not everyone wants or needs to drink caffeine when they drink a hot beverage.
But here’s something not even 1 out of 100 people who drink herbal teas know…
The health effects of herbs don’t kick in until the healing properties have been extracted from the plant.
A commercial herbal tea bag steeped for a couple of minutes in … Read more
Ethnobotanist and herbalist Rocio Alarcon grew up in the Andean highlands of Ecuador in a family that respected and used plants, depending on them for their daily survival.
As a young adult she received an academic training and then went to the Amazon to conduct her real studies.
In this talk from the excellent YouTube channel Herb TV, she discusses the social dimensions of ayawaska use and other shamanic practices … Read more
