I use my intensive training, intuition, and relationship with the natural world to formulate personalized herbal blends for physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. Health is a journey and I serve as an intermediary between the healing properties of the natural world and the needs of my client to allow the path to begin.


Contact me at UnderRootHealing@gmail.com or 617-733-6872. I am available for one on one consultations in person or on the phone.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Upcoming Event: Drink Your Way to Better Health!

Come participate in a workshop!

Drink Your Way to Better Health!

Live longer! Fight Disease! Throw out your vitamin supplements! There are dozens of super herbs that grow all around us. Drinking a cup of these herbs everyday can help us build deep health, detox, heal free radical damage, prevent cancer, and nourish our body with all of the vitamins and minerals it needs. You will feel more vibrant and alive!

Herbal Teas will be available!



Tuesday, September 20th
5:30pm - 7pm
at The Awake Collective
509 Forest Avenue
Portland, Maine

$10 - $20 sliding scale

Friday, August 26, 2011

Herbalist at Your Service!

The main focus of my business is doing one on one consultations with clients, however there are many other ways to utilize a local herbalist such as myself!

Here are a few examples of ailments or issues that I can easily whip up a tincture, tea, oil, or salve.

PMS/Cramp Reliever

Wound Healer

Natural Gas-X (we all need it sometimes)

Anxiety Ease

Stress Buster

Muscle Ache Relief

Headache Relief

Upset Tummy Soother

Sleep Time

Arthritis/Achy Joints Relief

Injury Healer

Cold and Flu Fixer

Allergy Relief

Skin Irritation Ease

Weight Loss

Etc! Etc!


I also make personalized Flower Essences. If you feel the need for a more spiritual/emotional healing presence in your life, than having a customized flower essence formula is just the thing. If you haven't worked with Flower Essences, they operate on a more energetic level. They are created by taking the energetic footprint of a flower and capturing that healing essence. Flower Essences are wonderful for healing anxiety, depression, upset, anger, and other emotional or spiritual troubles.


Just email me or call me for whatever you might need! I can also mail remedies to you or you can pick them up here in Portland, Maine.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

An Invitation to Dream: A Message from Mugwort


There are no accidental weeds. We tend to think of weeds as inevitable nuisance that mucks up our efforts to garden and have a pure grassy lawn. However, I happen to think that certain weeds intentionally grace our spaces. On several occasions I have given someone an herb which I feel is best for their condition and then later learn that that particular plant is growing all over their backyard. We should pay attention to the weeds that surround us. Notice even the plants in the cracks of your driveway...there is a purpose to their presence.

I happen to find invasive weeds somewhat interesting. I know that most people cringe at this because it means a loss of native plants and habitat. However, lots of the invasive plants we have in the U.S. now are also incredible medicine for some of our most noxious diseases, including lyme disease and cancer (japanese knotweed is a good example). One of my teachers often says that it takes an invasive plant to counter an invasive disease.

One plant that I am particularly drawn to is mugwort. It is commonly viewed as an invasive plant. You certainly see it everywhere: lining the highway, growing in between the cracks of sidewalks, taking over abandoned city lots, spreading through open meadow areas. However, I feel that mugwort has some purpose to its wild proliferation.

Mugwort is most used as a women's herb. It's silvery underside is a signature that mimics the light of the moon, indicating it's importance to women. It is an emmenagogue so it can help bring on a delayed or irregular period. It can alleviate cramps and other symptoms of PMS.

One of the most common uses of mugwort is as a sleeping herb. It is known to bring on dreams and help you remember them. Sometimes when mugwort is growing I will harvest a little and place it under my pillow when I sleep. I always have the most vivid and memorable dreams! Mugwort can also be used as a rather magical smudge. There is something quite other-worldly about this plant.

We live in a very literal, and rather yang/masculine society. Perhaps mugwort is here to simply ask us to step out of that. Mugwort is inviting us to let go and allow a more yin side to flourish. Mugwort wants us to dream, to step into our subconscious selves, and to remember that journey when we awake.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Receiving Healing: How to Begin Taking in Herbs


So, all of these herbs are sounding pretty good, right? Skullcap, nettle, dandelion, milky oats, rose petals, etc, etc! There are just hundreds of herbs out there that are so wonderful and awesome to include in your life! But...how to actually do that. Perhaps you have read on this blog or read somewhere else about an herb that sounds like it might be good for you. Here is a basic guide for different ways to take an herb.

Herbal Teas: Infusion and Decoction

I love taking herbs as a tea! Who doesn't love drinking a nice mug of hot tea? Taking herbs as a tea allows your body to slowly absorb the medicine from the herb. If you are preparing a tea from herbs you will either prepare an infusion or decoction, or some combination of both. If you are preparing a tea using leaves or flowers, than you would make an infusion by pouring gently boiling water over the herb material. I typically prepare a quart of herbal tea in a quart Ball jar, so I cover the bottom of the jar with about a 1/4” on herb material. If I were making a mug of tea then I use about 1 tsp – 1 t of herb material. I then place something on top, perhaps a lid or plate (if I use the jar lid I don't screw it on or else it will seal and be somewhat difficult to remove) and let it sit for at least 20 minutes and up to overnight. Placing a lid or plate on top keeps the essential oils of the herbs in the tea.

If you are making a tea that is using bark, roots, or tough berries or seeds then you would make a decoction by placing the herbal material in a pot, pouring room temperature water over the material, slowly bringing the pot to a boil and then allow to slowly simmer for at least 20 minutes and up to several hours (depending on how much water you have added). Simmering the herbal material will ensure that the woody material will be broken down to release the medicinal qualities of the herb.

At a workshop with Phyllis Light, an awesome Southern Appalachian folk herbalist, I learned that a folk way of preparing any herbal tea is to simmer the herbal material on the stove with the lid off, using about 1 tsp – 1 t of herbal material per quart of tea. In the folk tradition you would do this even if you are preparing a leaf or flower tea. When I first began dabbling in herbalism, this is how I prepared all of my herbal teas, mostly because I hadn't read the typical way to prepare an infusion, but also I think that is what my intuition led me to do. When I learned about how to make an infusion, I began preparing herbal teas that were leaves or flowers in that manner. Since my workshop with Phyllis Light I have gone back to simmering all of my herbal teas. I do this partially because this is what I had the hunch to do when I first began making herbal teas. I feel compelled to follow my initial intuition. Also, simmering the herbal material will make the tea rich in all of the minerals within the plant. I feel as though this preparation of an herbal tea creates a deeper, more complex medicine.

I encourage you to experiment and see what you prefer. The only thing I would recommend sticking by is to be sure to decoct roots and woody material. There is a definite different in allowing the roots to simmer on the stove than than just steep.

Tincture

A tincture is another way to take in the deep medicine from an herb. A tincture is a very concentrated extraction of an herb typically using alcohol (though vinegar and glycerin are also used at times), often vodka, brandy, or grain alcohol. Though some herbalists say grain alcohol is the best at extracting the medicinal properties of the plant, I find grain alcohol tinctures too harsh. I prefer using vodka. At times I use 100 proof vodka, at other times I use 80 proof. For herbs that I feel act subtly I use brandy (some adaptogens and rose come to mind). The alcohol extracts the medicinal properties of the plant in a very concentrated and powerful form. When you take a tincture you often only take a few drops of the medicine. Because it is alcohol the medicine goes right into your bloodstream, so it is very fast acting. However, it does not travel through your whole digestive system, so if you want to take an herb for digestive or kidney issues, you want the medicine to travel slower through your system so a tea or capsule would be better. Tinctures are however really great for when you are on the go since they are so convenient. It is also great if you have an issue that has flare ups, such as panic attacks, sudden pain, etc, since alcohol tinctures are so fast acting

At times a tincture is made using raw apple cider vinegar or glycerin. Unlike alcohol tinctures, vinegar extractions are really great at deriving the minerals from an herb. For example, making a vinegar extraction of yellow dock and nettle is an amazing way to raise iron levels. Also, since raw apple cider vinegar can be so beneficial to the digestive system, adding some dandelion, burdock, and yellow dock infused raw apple cider vinegar to water can be a wonderful digestive aid. Glycerin tinctures can be a nice alternative for someone who is really cautious with alcohol and wants to avoid it entirely. It is good to know that the amount of alcohol you get from a few drops of alcohol tincture is about equivalent to the amount of alcoholic fermentation in a ripe banana. I personally find the sweetness of a glycerin tincture to be a little overwhelming and takes away from the taste of the herb. However, glycerin is a great option for children since the taste is so much more appealing that an alcohol tincture.

Capsule

Capsules are very convenient since a powder form of the herb is encapsulated in an easy to swallow capsule. It can be harder to control quantity and formulation with a capsule. Also, if you have any lower digestive issues (which many people who eat typical American diets do) than taking a capsule is not the best option since it will be challenging for your system to break it down enough to get the benefit of the medicine. However some herbs, such as slippery elm, are a nice herb to take in capsule form if you don't have time to prepare the tea since slippery elm will be able to get to the belly and provide soothing and balance to the stomach. I personally rarely using encapsulated herbs, but it is a nice option to have if time is an issue.

Oil/Salve

If you are struggling with a site specific injury, bite, sprain, broken bone, etc. then having an herbal infused oil or salve is helpful to apply topically. Some great herbal infused oils to use for injuries are St. John's Wort, yarrow, solomon's seal, and comfrey root. An herbal oil can easily be rubbed into the afflicted area. A salve is simply an herbal infused oil that has had beeswax added to it to create a more lotion-like texture which can be a little more user-friendly than oil.

There are so many ways to include herbs in your life! Later I plan on doing a post about incorporating herbs into your food and daily diet, so that you can easily create healing foods. Stay tuned and feel free to email me with any questions about herbs at underroothealing@gmail.com! :)

Namaste


Friday, August 5, 2011

Food for the Heart: Rose Elixir



Tonight I just decanted a wonderful rose elixir. It's totally magical! I picked wild roses from along the beach in my new home in Portland, Maine. The roses are full of ocean air, and the memory of the lovely time at sunset when I gathered them with my partner. I combined the roses with raw Maine honey and brandy. Such wonderful and delicious medicine!

Roses have this wonderful affect on the heart. Rose petals seems to just melt tension that is held in the heart chakra as well as the lower belly/reproductive area. The chakra in the low belly is the center of where we connect to our emotions. Rose is a powerful spirit medicine. An elixir (an herbal extraction prepared with brandy and honey or other sweetener) with rose creates a wonderfully nourishing medicine that feeds the heart space and source of our emotional lives. It's wonderful medicine to encourage self love, heart healing, and connection to our emotions.

Rose has many physically healing properties. Rose helps alleviate congestion, fights infection, benefits the kidneys, improves circulation, increases naturally occurring bacteria in the gut, and is helpful against diarrhea. It is mildly detoxing and helpful to the liver. Taking rose will also have a relaxing and uplifting effect. Overall, excellent medicine!

Taking rose elixir is a wonderful and tasty way to introduce some sweetness back into your life. The aroma creeps up from the bottle and there is this awesome subtle, but full taste of roses! It is very comforting, as if someone wrapped a cozy blanket around your heart. Taking a dropper full of this elixir feels much like providing deep and nourishing food to your heart. I can't wait to share this awesome medicine!

Contact me at underroothealing@gmail.com if you are interesting in receiving a bottle! $10 for an ounce bottle, or let's chat about bartering! I could mail it to you as well!