School of Botanical Medicine
From the category archives:
Anxiety has been around for centuries. It has been referred to as nervousness, hysteria or panic attacks, but it is all the same to the sufferer. And as our world spins, instances of clinically debilitating anxiety are occurring at a record pace. In part one of this series, Plants for Anxiety, the chemical triggers that [...]
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(Note: These recommendations are for acute illness. If you have a chronic lung condition, please seek the advice of a trained practitioner or physician.) Before the leaves turn and fall, the first little tickle begins in the throat, and a cough erupts. The season for respiratory illness is here. While the country struggles to understand [...]
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Anxiety is a body-wide response to a perceived threat. An event or situation fuels a chemical reaction in the endocrine system. Combined with personal history, spiritual wounding and the power of the mind, one is left feeling compromised, vulnerable and in danger. For those who experience anxiety regularly, our emotional reaction to the world around [...]
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Transition is change on a life bending scale. The act of it, and the passage it requires, reshapes our lives, as well as parts of who we are. To struggle against it is normal. But the goal is to pull it into our being and honor the passage. To truly grow from the experience is [...]
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Autoimmune diseases are cunning. They catch us, and hold our bodies, minds and spirits in a pattern of disarray. Our own life patterns, emotional triggers, and spiritual disposition perpetuate the disease. This can cause the person suffering to feel a complete lose of control over their bodies and their lives. According to the American Autoimmune [...]
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Some of our oldest cultures have used herbs and essential oils to experience a heightened sense of intimacy for centuries. The Asians used opium. The ancient Egyptians used aromatic plants topically and in bathing rituals. The Polynesians drank kava kava to enhance their experience. Using plants was a colorful and rich way to transcend the [...]
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Though anxiety does not define who we are, it can certainly feel like it. Anxiety can cause one to feel as if they are powerless. When powerless, many emotions flare, from fear to shame. Our hearts become stressed. And regardless of the situation, there is an element of failure and loss involved. Motherwort, Leonurus cardiaca, [...]
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To align the body with nature is a great endeavor. It is a way we become different. We feel ourselves in relation to things differently; we walk differently and begin to see things differently. We get perspective. When we think of sustainability, we think of reusing and redirecting energy in the environment. To align our [...]
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There was once an herbalist I knew who swore off illness. He believed that illness was a state of mind. He claimed that he had not been ill for years. Perhaps it was his state of mind, and perhaps it was the fact that he was a hermit living in a remote part of New [...]
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