Rituals & Recipes for Moonfolk (Or how I’m celebrating 13 years of community)

This past month marked thirteen years of Worts & Cunning Apothecary.

It feels like both a very long time and a very short time has passed since I first opened the Apothecary in a small Northeastern city at the end of autumn, specializing in home-made herbal remedies with a focus on alcohol-free options. Now, I write and teach full-time, helping others to craft their own remedies and explore their inner worlds and community connections through the lens of plant healing and magick. It's been an incredible (and wonderfully strange and challenging and joyful) journey so far.

I love what I do, I love our community, and I am so grateful to be able to fulfill this calling of mine to help connect people and plants for our collective liberation and joy.

While my ideas of what Worts & Cunning would be and what I’d be doing as an herbalist has changed over the years, a constant thread has connected all my various projects and offerings together - to create and share resources that are useful, that spark curiosity, and help folks to call themselves back home. I’ve doubted whether or not this calling of mine is useful (Maybe it’d be better to open a dog rescue instead! Camp out in a permanent protest on the steps of congress! Become a city planner to help our communities be centered around the planet and people instead of cars and corporations!), but I return again and again to what it feels like to share resources, to teach a class where I’m learning along with everyone else present, and to know that hours of quiet research might help someone grow more into their practice and community. I love the feeling of being able to share my joy of land and plants and stars and the unknowns of life with so many kind-hearted folks, and to hear their stories of land and plants and stars in return. For me, sharing resources is a form of sacred communion and expansive connection, and I’m so grateful that this is what I get to do.

While I don’t know all of what the future holds (though I’ve got a lot of exciting things I’m working on), I want to take a moment to celebrate what has already been done. I've been writing this community blog for thirteen years and it is chock-full of free and useful resources from plant profiles to seasonal apothecary guides, explorations of the energetic system of traditional western herbalism, a guide to creating financial access in your own business, and my growing collection of astroherbalism guides. I host four courses and a growing library of plant knowledge which you can access for as little as $1. I have hosted in-person workshops, classes, and sound baths featuring plant song which some of you have been able to attend (and those are all coming back!).  I've taught as a guest teacher in other herbal courses and been published in zines, planners, and plant guides (my self-published ebooks and zines are available in patreon). I've chatted on podcasts about plants and strange encounters with your ancestors and how healing is a community effort. Three years ago I started a patreon community which has been so much fun and features extra guides and posts, as well as plant song recordings, free access to The Plant Ally Library and a not-a-podcast audio class thing. 

All of this has only been possible because I've had a community supporting me along the way and it's why I continue to do this work. I have been able to grow into my kindness and softness and complexity as a person because I've been held in a community that values such paths and reflected them back to me. As I continue to grow and learn, my goal is to keep making the majority of what I do free and low-cost so that you can access useful information and inspiration on intersectional herbalism and magick that supports your ability to re-member how whole and holy you are.

Which is why it was such a joy to share The Moonfolk Book of Shadows with everyone. With over 120 rituals and recipes, Moonfolk is my big-hearted thank you for thirteen years of support. You can access it completely for free by signing up for my newsletter and if you’re already a subscriber to Magick Mail you’ll find all of the details in the Magick Mail Apothecary (yes, there’s a secret section of the blog for Magick Mail subscribers).

So, in celebration of Moonfolk and cycles of change and transformation, below I’ve shared the ritual and recipe inspired by the New Moon in Cancer.

But all of this is to say: thank you, friends, for helping to make possible this quiet and kind-hearted community space.

Developing Intuition
I am intuitive

So much of developing intuition is learning to trust oneself and that can be challenging for many of us. The experience of having influential people in our lives (parents, caretakers, friends, partners, etc.) denying or dismissing not only our intuition but our truths is all too common and can make it hard to connect with our intuition later in life. 

Reconnecting with our inherent intuition can be a long process, requiring multiple healing practices from therapy to spiritual explorations to boundary-setting and so on, so please don't feel bad if you feel like everyone else has an easy time with it. Fortunately, Cancerian energies are excellent at supporting our ability to connect our waking consciousness with intuitive states of being, which is why an intuition ritual at the New Moon in Cancer ritual can be so powerful. 

The following is a simple ritual and guided meditation that can and should be practiced over a length of time (at least a full lunar cycle) to help you cultivate your intuitive gifts. Approach it with a playful heart or at least a not too overly serious one too focused on "results" and you'll find yourself having an easier go at things. Why do I recommend a ritual performed every day or night for a full lunar cycle? Often it has been years that we've been hiding away from or denying our intuition, so we deserve to give ourselves plenty of time to make space for our intuition to awaken and be embraced again. The time and effort are part of the ritual, showing your intuitive self that you really do want them to come home to you and feel supported.

You will need:

• An intuition altar filled with inspiring things and supportive objects like quartz crystals, images of the divine and/or familiar and ancestral spirits, and so on

• Vessel of drinking water or tea such as a bowl and plate, cup and saucer 

• Incense or feather

• Stone of choice

• Candle

Once you have set up your altar, make a place for your water vessel with the feather, stone, and candle forming a triangle around it. Cast a circle if you like and practice some breathwork and/or your favorite grounding and centering technique. Light your incense or hold your feather and pass it around your water three times while saying:

By Air
I awaken my powers of intuition
Already within me
Ready to arise

Hold your candle and pass it around your water three times, saying:

By Fire
I awaken my powers of intuition
Already within me
Ready to illuminate

Pour some of the water on the plate or saucer, symbolizing your intuition spilling over from its current confinement, saying:

By Water
I awaken my powers of intuition
Already within me
Ready to flow free

Hold your stone and pass it around your water three times, saying:

By Earth
I awaken my powers of intuition
Already within me
Ready to be embraced

Visualize your water glowing with the power of the elements, here to help you awaken your own intuition. Take a sip and begin the following visualization:

In the air before you visualize a closed Rose. See it slowing turning in the air in front of you so that you can see it from all sides, its color and shape, the way it seems to glow with an inner magick. Slowly but surely the petals begin to open one by one. Take time to watch this happen, feeling that something within you is opening, slowly but surely. When the flower is fully open, a magnificent bloom, it comes close to you and lands upon your heart, where it glows and slowly fades into your energy.

Once you are done with your visualization you can drink the rest of your water, knowing that the magick of the Rose is working within you, its softness calling forth your intuition, its thorns protecting your boundaries. Continue to work this ritual for a lunar cycle, keeping your altar fresh, and playfully practicing intuitive when you feel called to them.

Intuition Tea
I am tending to my psychic nervous system

I believe that part of the work of reconnecting with or strengthening your intuition is not only to strengthen your psychic body, but to tend to your psychic nervous system. While our intuitive gifts can show up in all kinds of settings, not least of which in stressful or challenging ones, developing intuition over time requires an ability to develop a sense of peace and inner security. Cancer is an excellent sign to work with when developing your intuition because it reminds us that the security of our shell (i.e. our boundaries) allow us to protect our inner softness (i.e. our receptivity to psychic insight). The following blend incorporates herbs that help us feel protected and regulated, as well as the gift of helping us awaken our intuition.

Blend together the following herbs:

• 4 parts Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)

• 1 part Rose (Rosa spp.)

• ½  part Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)

Standard dosage. Placing blended herbs under the light of the New Moon adds to their magick. Store with a quartz crystal inside or on top of the jar. Make a cup before any form of divination, ritual, and/or meditation. 

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If you want more lunar-inspired rituals and recipes, be sure to sign-up for Magick Mail so you can access The Moonfolk Book of Shadows for free.

Thank you again for thirteen magickal years and here’s to many, many more!

Keeping Space for Healing: How To Organize Your Plant Profiles

Apparently, March has become the month that I write about plant profiles and materia medicas. So, at the risk of writing about increasingly niche topics on an already niche blog, I now want to talk about organizing your plant profiles as you start to write and/or collect them.

I know, I know what it sounds like. We're not heading into thrilling territory, but how you organize information that you need regular access to - whether that is as a community herbalist or a home herbalist - supports your ability to practice with ease as an herbalist. 

When I was a student herbalist, I was simultaneously thrilled by everything there was to learn and pretty overwhelmed by all the information on plants that I was studying. As with so many paths of study out there, I came to understand that the purpose of an herbalist was not to have memorized all the uses for all the herbs (though you'll certainly know many uses for many herbs through time and practice), but to learn what it is you need to know and how to seek it out. So when I have a client show up in clinic with a condition I've never heard of before, I've not already failed as an herbalist. Instead, my training helps me to ask the questions that need to be asked and listen deeply to what needs to be heard so that I can seek out the resources that'll support my client.

One of the most important tools in my kit is my collection of plant profiles and materia medicas. I've already written about plant profiles, why they're useful, and how to create your own, but now that you've got these useful plant profiles in your collection, how do you use them in a practical manner? In addition to the plant profiles I've written, I've got handouts from classes and workshops I've attended, a collection of herbal books both modern and historical, and lots and lots of notes. It took me a while to find a system of organization that worked best for me and if I can help some of you develop your own much sooner into your practice as an herbalist than I did, then this post will be a success!

Well-organized resources helps you to find the information you need efficiently which matters whether you're working one-on-one with clients in a time-constrained environment or as a home herbalist taking care of sick family members (and half the time being sick yourself). Hopefully, one or more of the suggestions below will be of use to you in your own practice or, at minimum, inspire thoughts of how to make your herbal practice feel more easeful and nourishing to you and those you serve.

image via @purejulia

Keeping It Accessible

I do much of my work on a computer where everything is digitally stored and organized, but when I'm working on a new recipe or sitting with a client, I prefer looking at paper than a screen. I like the physicality of being able to flip through books and scribble notes on a paper, plus having a screen free space, particularly within a client consultation setting, is an important part of how I am able to be present to the energy at hand. For me it's important to have non-digital reference material available, but you might prefer to have everything digitized. Figuring out how you want to access your plant profiles and other herbal tools is part of understanding how you're able to remain present and engaged, so if you're annoyed by having to pull books off the shelf every time you want to look up information about a particular plant and would much prefer being able to pull up that same book on your tablet of choice, make the switch! 

So much energy and concentration is needed to show up for others as an herbalist, whether clients or members of your family, which is why it's important to reduce any hassle or hindrance in your practice as much as possible. Make it easy for yourself, friends.

Questions to consider:

• What profiles, books, and other reference material do I want physical copies of?

• What profiles, books, and other reference material do I want digital copies of?

• Where will I keep my physical reference material (and herbal tools) for easy access?

Keeping It Together: Modes of Storage

How you choose to store your plant profiles and other tools of your trade is going to be deeply personal and informed by the space you have and your preferences. I like using physical materia medicas over digital ones so I always have my bookshelf within reach of my writing desk, but for those of you who keep everything digitized, you might not need this arrangement. Having a tablet stand equipped with ease for charging might be your priority instead. It takes time to figure out what works for you, but it is time well spent so that when your services are needed, what you need is organized in a way that makes the most sense for you to access. 

I hope the following suggestions help you to figure out how you organize your plant profiles, perhaps in a way you hadn't considered before.

Recipe Box

When I was making and selling remedies, the best way for me to store my recipes were on index cards in a wooden recipe box that I'd thrifted. They were organized alphabetically with dividing tabs because that made the most sense for me, but they could've easily been organized by body system, primary herb used, astrologically, and so on. While I also had my recipes written up and stored digitally, I didn't like having my computer around when making recipes because I did not want to risk spilling something on it and I worked in a very small space at the time and couldn't fit my laptop and remedy making supplies in the same area even if I wanted to.

You could store shorthand plant profiles in a recipe box, too (i.e. information about an herb that you use frequently such as herbal actions, energetics, indications, and contraindications). What I like about my recipe box full of recipes is that it is easy to add or subtract from, reorganize, and grab what I need (a index card or two) in a form that is not overly precious or takes up too much space. While you could organize your plant profiles alphabetically in a recipe box, there are a number of other ways that might be more useful to you and how you practice including by:

• Body System

• Energetics (traditional western energetics or otherwise)

• Disease or Imbalance (i.e. Prunella vulgaris for indigestion)

• Astrological Correspondence (i.e. the planets or by signs of the zodiac)

• Magickal Use

• Seasonal Herbs (i.e. what's in season in your garden and surrounding area throughout the year - check out my seasonal apothecary guides for inspiration)

• Seasonal Remedies (i.e. herbs organized by common seasonal imbalances such as a section for herbs for spring allergies and another section for cold and flu herbs for autumn and winter)

A recipe box system is great for students who can easily add a note card as they learn, expanding these cards into full profiles as they progress in their studies. It's a great system, too, for harried parents who want to know what plant will help this with the latest bug brought home from kindergarten without too much effort.

In the recipe box (or any of the following suggestions) you might keep a few cards with basic remedy making instructions and standard dosage guidelines (you can access my remedy making quick sheet for free as a member of Magick Mail).

image via @purejulia

Expanding File Folder

As someone who travels to teach, I don't have permanent storage set up within the classroom I visit, so I have to be mindful about how much stuff I carry around as well as being able to set-up a class quickly and in a way that doesn't leave me feeling scattered. One of my solutions is to use an expanding file folder to keep all of my class handouts organized which include any notes I'll be sharing, plant profiles, as well as one page medicine-making guides (i.e. a guide for making and taking tinctures). My file expanding file folder has become my traveling library full of resources that I can share with folks and it's made my ability to teach and share resources that much easier.

Side note: If you teach or work with clients, I highly recommend creating your own one page guides to hand students and clients, and when you keep them organized in something like an expanding file folder you always know what you have on hand or what needs printing.¹

Binder

For some printed resources, I really like having a three ring binder for them. In a binder is where I keep the plant profiles I've written myself or ones that I've received from classes and trainings I've attended. Some folks like using plastic page protectors so pages can be flipped frequently without tearing, but that's up to you. 

My binder is definitely reflective of my role as a community herbalist, but here's what a family herbalist binder might include to help you start to think about your own needs:

• A page for each family member summarizing allergies, medications, and other important information as well as a section to note remedies that work well for them. If you practice medical astrology, you can also include a birth chart here.

• The plant profiles you've written and/or collected.

• Seasonal guides to help you quickly determine a useful herb based on common seasonal conditions.

• Quick guides to ailments common to your household (i.e. steps for treating a fever with herbal recommendations). 

• Remedy making calendar (i.e. make elderberry syrup in August for the start of the school year). 

• A page of contact information for your family doctor, medical services, and so on.

If you're putting together a family herbal care binder ask yourself what would make your life easier when someone in your family is sick again. You can create a similar binder if you're a clinical herbalist and/or herbal teacher, asking yourself what would make your sessions or classes easier. 

Digital Storage

Whether on your own harddrive, cloud storage, or through an app like Goodnotes, having easy digital access to your plant profiles is a good option either exclusive of or in addition to paper storage. I created The Plant Ally Library not only because students and readers were asking for an easier way to access resources I've written but because I wanted an easy way to access all of the plant profiles I'd written over the years in one spot. There are so many digital storage options out there but the ones I prefer can be accessed anywhere on any device which not only  protects them from anything calamitous that might happen to my personal computer, but they need to be searchable (which is one of the biggest advantages of digital storage). 

The recipe box and binder idea can be translated into digital form through notes apps and other online options. If you choose a searchable option you've created a very useful and easy access resource. 

image via @purejulia

Keeping a Bird's Eye View

Regardless of how I store my plant profiles and various tools of the herbalist, I make sure to have a record of what I do have, don't have, and need. For me, this is a spreadsheet kept in an online drive where I keep track of what herbs I have in my home apothecary, what form they are in (i.e. whole plant, tincture, oil), what needs restocking, as well as my own correspondence charts (i.e. herbs in my home apothecary organized by body system and so on). If I could go back in time to my younger herbal student self I would tell them to start making this chart right away. A spreadsheet like this helps you to use what you have because you know you have it, prevent overstocking and potentially wasting herbs, and hopefully prevent the stress of searching through jars when you really need a plant but can't remember if you have it. Is my spreadsheet color coordinated? Yes. Is everyone going to get as excited about a spreadsheet like me? No, of course not, but if you sense that this might be useful for you, give it a try. And you can choose whatever pretty colors you like!²

Overview documents like this are especially essential if you are in any sort of community practice and working with other herbalists. Community work is hard enough without the stress of not knowing if you have the herb you need for clinic days or who has ordered what and when it is supposed to arrive. There is a reason that activist work is also referred to as "organizing" - that color-coded spreadsheet is a (very nerdy) revolutionary tool, use it.

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Creating your own system of organization for your plant profiles is an act of compassion by your present self for your future self by making what may come easier to manage with already prepared tools for your practice. If you're wanting to make your life harder as an herbalist, I've written about that, too. To support your nervous system and brain as you consider and implement your organizational options you might want to add Peppermint (Mentha piperita) and/or Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) to your tea. I find that connecting with your old self and future-dreaming self can be helpful, too. 

Finally, whether or not any of what I've suggested speaks to you, I do hope that you're feeling curious about the ways you can make it easy for yourself so you can do what you love with as little hindrance as possible: working with plants and people to create paths of wellness.  

This post was made possible through patron support.
❤ Thank you, friends. ❤

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Footnotes

1. It took me far too long to figure out this trick for my own classes, but when I did I felt so clever, ha! This is a great exercise for students, too, as part of your studies, and think of other one-page informational resources you can create for your clients. Creating resources like these are a practice in succinctness and accessibility as they should be to the point but also use language that is comprehensible to many types of folks. 

2. If you're curious, I've shared my spreadsheet and correspondence charts in The Plant Ally Library.

Herbs for Breathwork + Respiratory Health

Last month I wrote about how breathwork is a community tool and works in online spaces (thank the Holy Ones for transcendent digital magick). I wanted to follow-up that post with suggested herbs that can assist us in our breathwork but are also useful for respiratory health in general. We're in the midst of protest season which is looking like it's going to be an appropriately long one also while living through a pandemic. Respiratory health, whether we're being exposed to viruses or chemicals like pepper spray and tear gas, is really important right now. Breathwork combined with attention to the bodily systems which help us breath helps us to return home to our bodies and nourish our nervous system after prolonged periods of stress. You can combine these herbs not only with your breathwork but with other centering and body-grounding practices like healing movement modalities, therapy and mental health practices, walking, sex and sensual touch, ritual and spellcraft, and more.

I've listed four categories of herbs that I think are particularly useful for breathwork: Nervines, Adaptogens, Respiratory Tonics, and Heart Tonics. There are so many herbs present in each of these categories that I could recommend but hopefully by describing the types and qualities of herbs I recommend you'll be able to find ones that you are already familiar with, that are stocked in your cabinet, and/or more regionally relevant.

I'll follow these categorical descriptions with short profiles on eight herbal allies that I've been turning to frequently these days. Since these are just short descriptions of each herb, it is important for you to do your research with reliable materia medicas and consult with herbalists for further information, contraindications, and stories that will deepen your relationship with our plant friends. Of course, when you are able to, meet these plant allies in spaces where they grow and ask to sit with them to learn directly from their wisdom.

image by Isaac Quesada

The Four Categories of Breathwork Herbs

Nervines are plants that calm the nerves and often nourish the nervous system. Since so much of breathwork is about interacting with our nervous system in healing and beneficial ways, helping us to return to a state of rest and digest, nervines are beautiful companion herbs and guides in our practice. They help us to relax and open up to breathing deep and purposefully. So many of our diseases and ailments either have roots in or are exacerbated by stress which is why knowing and working with nervines not only in breathwork but in daily life can be of such great benefit to us. Nervines include Milky Oat (Avena sativa), Lavender (Lavandula spp.), Holy Basil (Ocimum spp.), Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis), and Catnip (Nepeta cataria).

Adaptogens are herbs that do a multitude of healing actions, but are probably known most popularly as helping us to adapt to stress. Adaptogens and nervines work well together and when it comes to breathwork, adaptogens can help us stretch back into ourselves after a period of prolonged stress. It's important to remember that adaptogens don't "cure" stress and are not meant to replace stress-reducing actions and choices in our lives from healthy movement to mindful consumption. And also, the reality is that many of us are dealing with tremendous social and political stress in our lives further impacted by global environmental changes. Adaptogens can help us develop a sense of resiliency and purpose so we are less distracted by stress and more invested in the tools which help us (such as breathwork) continue on in life with a feeling of wholeness and purpose. Some adaptogens are Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus), Holy Basil (Ocimum spp.), Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica) and Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea). The following wisdom from Toni Morrison from a talk at Portland Statue University in 1975 feels like an adaptogenic one to me, helping to tell the story of these plants:

“The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary. There will always be one more thing.”

Of course, if we're talking about herbs to support respiratory health, I'm going to feature Respiratory Tonics. These include herbs which can be immunostimulating (since the respiratory system is an primary entry way for viruses and bacterias) as well as decongestants, demulcents (herbs that moisten mucous membranes), and expectorants (herbs that relax lungs while promoting elimination of mucus from airways). Many respiratory tonics are also considered aromatics - herbs that are rich in volatile oils and deeply scented. Aromatics often do all the actions I just described for respiratory tonic herbs and have a wonderfully harmonizing or synergizing energy which helps to bring a blend together as well as helping a tea taste better. Respiratory tonics herbs include Mullein (Verbascum thapsus), Elecampane (Inula helenium), Licorice, Nettles (Urtica dioica), Thyme (Thymus vulgaris), Goldenrod (Solidago spp.), Wild Cherry Bark (Prunus serotina), and Pleurisy Root (Asclepius tuberose).

I also include Heart Tonics in my recommendations. In my experience, so much of breathwork is heart work. Yes, the benefits of mindful and meditative breathing are many - it is calming to our nervous systems, lower blood pressure, stimulate our immune systems, shift emotional and mental perspectives, disrupt anxiety and panic attacks, and so on. It is not unusual during breathwork and working with our respiratory system in general for there to be a feeling of opening, expanding, and along with that, grieving for un-grieved for experiences. Heart tonics help us to open our hearts with support (many heart tonics are protective along with being opening) and make space for grief to move through and out of our bodies instead of stagnating. Herbs include Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa), Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), Rose (Rosa spp.), and Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca).

So sitting in the center of our circle, we sit with our backs against the tree of life, calling to us respiratory tonics from the east, nervines from the west, adaptogens from the south, and heart tonics from the north. Let's meet our plant allies gathered here... 

image by Wolfgang Hasselmann

Herbs for Breathwork + Respiratory Health

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) | Respiratory Tonic, Nervine
Mullein is great for all sorts of lung-related complaints from asthma to bronchitis, the herb opens the respiratory passageways helping us to breathe deeper and more effectively. It's a demulcent which also reduces inflammation and helps to protect against infection. Mullein is one of my favorite herbs for fire season here in California. Overall, it helps us to release tension from our bodies. Within breathwork, Mullein is good for those type of folks who overwork and stretch themselves thin - the herb helps them to soften and open up to relaxing as an act of justice and repair.

Elecampane (Inula helenium) | Respiratory Tonic, Heart Tonic
I've written a full plant profile on Elecampane and it is a well-regarded lung tonic in traditional western herbalism. The herb is an astringent decongestant as well as being antiseptic and antibacterial. It is really useful for treating chronic coughs and long-term lung complaints. Elecampane, also known as Elf Wort, has a traditional use for "elf shot" in Celtic culture which can be interpreted as a number of ways one of which is as a sudden energetic and emotional pain brought on by a traumatic event. Drop dosages of the herb or flower essence can be really helpful in cases like this. For breathwork, Elecampane is a helpful ally for those who are coming to the practice after a shock-inducing experience.

Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californicum) | Respiratory Tonic, Nervine
Yerba Santa is an astringent decongestant that dries up excess mucous by normalizing excess mucous secretion. Normalizing mucous secretion means that you won't have to go back and forth between too much and too little secretion leading to being too dried out and equally uncomfortable. Along with Mullein it is also one of my favorite herbs for fire season here in California. In addition to its powers of mucous normalization, Yerba Santa is antimicrobial and antiseptic. On an energetic level, Yerba Santa sticky resinous quality helps to pull up and out old grief and trauma so that you no longer have to carry it around. For breathwork, it can be helpful if you struggle with breathing out deeply.

image by Maude Frédérique Lavoie

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) | Respiratory Tonic
Thyme is one of my favorite kitchen garden remedies - I always have the fresh herb growing in my garden or at least dried leaves in my spice cupboard. I add it to most of my respiratory tonics because it is pleasing in taste and effective in its actions as a decongestant expectorant. Thyme strengthens the immune system without being over-stimulating and protects against bacterias and microbes. It is one of my favorite allies in removing respiratory infections from the body and one I turn to often in the winter months. Thyme is not classically categorized as a nervine, but it certainly acts like one, helping to relieve tension and mental exhaustion. For breathwork, beyond being wonderfully aromatic and enhancing the physical breathwork experience, Thyme helps us to settle into our practice while gathering our inner resources and loosening our belief that there is not enough time for all the work that needs to be done.

Plantain (Plantago spp.) | Respiratory Tonic
Ubiquitous Plantain is commonly used in traditional western herbalism for topical treatments but in recent herbs I've come to know the plant for its respiratory tonic qualities. I live in fire country and have started working with Plantain as a smoke relief ally. Plantain heals tissue internally as well as it does externally which is especially useful for healing post-exposure to environmental pollutants and chemical weapons such as pepper spray and tear gas. For breathwork (and any sort of mindful practice or magick), Plantain helps us remind us of the abundant truth that simple practices cultivate profound peace.

Holy Basil (Ocimum spp.) | Respiratory Tonic, Adaptogen, Nervine
Holy Basil, also known as Sacred Basil and Tulsi, is an antispasmodic demulcent and expectorant. The herb is immunostimulating and protective against microorganisms like Staph infection. It's a lovely warming plant and one of my favorite adaptogens helping to reduce anxiety while uplifting the spirit and sparking hope within us. Of course, I have a personal love for Holy Basil that is tied to the lessons I have learned sitting with this plant and its ancestral stories, but I can't help but feel that the recognition of Holy Basil as an earthly embodiment of the Goddess Lakshmi speaks to the sacredness that Holy Basil helps us to recognize in people and places. Within breathwork, Holy Basil helps us to connect to our holiness and the holiness of the moment while releasing those things which no longer serve us. Here is one of my favorite tea blends featuring Holy Basil.

image by Belinda Fewings

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) | Respiratory Tonic, Heart Tonic
Holy heart opener and guardian of the gates, Hawthorn is one of the most treasured heart tonics within traditional western herbalism. I've written about its power of thorn, how it helps us to thrive in eclipse season, and why it is one of my favorite autumn season herbs. Hawthorn is known as a cardiac tophorestorative which means that it acts as a restorative for our heart bringing our physical and energetic heart back into balance. The herb helps with the brave journey of opening up again after heartbreak - no easy task and yet one essential to healing. In breathwork, Hawthorn is the ally of the broken-hearted and those who avoid quiet contemplative practices because of their broken-heartedness. It is an herb that works best when taken over an extended period of time.

Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) | Nervine, Heart Tonic
Rooibos is a relaxing nervine with anti-spasmodic qualities and cardioprotective qualities. It's one of my favorite herbs to use in daily morning teas - it's a gentle adaptogen, rich in antioxidants, incredibly calming to the nerves without being sedating, and it's just a really delicious tasting. Rooibos finds its way into many of my tea blends include this one for the First Harvest. Plants are storytellers and in this current wave of culture-changing Black Lives Matter protests, South African native Rooibos can act as an ancestral teacher and gifter of wisdom. For those of you of African descent wanting to work with ancestral herbs, Rooibos is one place to start since it is often easy to find and gentle enough for most folks to work with.  For folks of non-African descent we can learn from plants like Rooibos, too, practicing our listening skills and turning to quiet reflection with our plant teachers alongside the many other humxn teachers helping us to dream up a more just and kind future. Within breathwork, Rooibos helps us bring sweetness to our practice especially for those folks who have a hard time recognizing pleasure as an essential part of healing and justice work.

image by Kings Lee

Recommended Preparations

Many of the herbs above can be prepared in a variety of ways. I feel that the following three ways are particularly conducive to using these herbs in breathwork practices, but please use what you have available and what is appropriate for your individual needs. All of these preparations are water based and require very simple tools to make. 

Teas: One of our oldest forms of herbal medicine, teas or herbal tisanes - if we want to get fancy - are the infusion of plant material with water. Sitting with a cup of tea before, during, and after breathwork only enhances the experience in my opinion. Making tea can be a ritual, helping to set the space for your breathwork and, if drinking hot tea, the steamy aroma of the brew can further help to open airways and deliver the medicine through our breath. Typically, for herbal teas you’ll add 1 heaping teaspoon of herbs per 8 ounces of water and steep for 10 - 20 minutes.

Herbal Steams: Opening up the airways and delivery herbal medicine directly to our airways can be a lovely way to connect with plants before and during breathwork. Typically an herbal steam consists of pouring hot water over a bowl full of herbs and positioning your head above it so that you are breathing in the vapors. Some folks like to cover their head and the bowl with a towel, but this can be a bit too intense for others. It is important to be careful and not burn yourself with the steam which can be quite hot initially. I like to pour hot water over a bowl of herbs, cover with a towel and let sit for 5 minutes before breathing it. You can perform an herbal steam before breathwork or have a bowl of herbs and hot water positioned before you so that you are inhaling their fragrance while partaking in your breathwork practice.

Herbal Baths + Showers: Another option is to take an herbal bath or shower. Herbal baths consist of infusing your bathwater with herbs much like bathing in a large cup of tea. You can learn more about herbal baths and showers here. I like combining herbal baths and showers with breathwork because I find them inherently relaxing and opening - both energetic shifts useful for breathwork. While you can take an herbal bath or shower and then perform your breathwork, you can also perform simple and short breathwork while bathing. As a Witch, bathing is an opportunity for spiritual cleansing and releasing unwanted energetic entanglements - combined with herbs and breathwork bathing and showering can become a powerful ritual.

I hope that these suggestions are useful and that you are inspired to meet with any one of these plant teachers yourself. Be sure to check out my companion post on breathwork for more resources. If you're looking for more resources on herbs that help remind us of our wholeness check out my post on work and worth and those plant allies that are especially useful for the more sensitive among us. Since breathwork is often connected to (re)learning how to rest, here's my guide on how to find insights on ways to rest particular to your personal starmap.

If you’re looking for a deeper dive into breathwork, check out my course on the subject.

Finally, I just received a book in the mail today that I think many of you would find useful when it comes to the overall practice of arriving back into our bodies. Nourishing the Nervous System by tayla shanaye is a beautifully designed pocket-sized book (can I tell you of my deep love for pocket books?) with simple somatic exercises you can do daily for nervous system wellness. The book is produced by Loam which I was only recently introduced to (thanks, Yarrow!) and I’m sure many of you will be as happy to find them as I was.

❤︎ This post was made possible through patron support. Thanks, friends. ❤︎

Breathing With Friends

I've had a number of conversations with folks about the gratefulness of technologies like video chat to enable essential services (like mental health and medical appointments) to continue and the complete soul-suck that many experience with the same medium. As one friend put it "I am tired of trying to create meaningful connections through video chat but I also know that I need video to be able to connect at all with folks right now." 

Video chat as an essential form of connection isn't going away any time soon, so let's come up with an alternative approach for connectivity with less suckage and more nourishment. At the best of times, for me video chat has been an uncomfortable medium and this has been true long before living in quarantine. It has always had a valley of the uncanny feeling to it and only amplifies the feeling of being observed as opposed to being listened to. As I've been navigating this new world of only video chat based meetings, I noticed that I would get off some calls feeling exhausted and other times I felt a sense of connection and wellness.

What was the difference? Breathwork. 

But more on that in just a minute.

(If you’re looking for herbs to support your breathwork practice, come this way.)

There are a few reasons so many of us are feeling burned out about video chat. Even if we're connecting with folks we love, video chat is often a reminder that things are not normal right now. That's stressful in and of itself, but then there is the empathy wall that occurs through video chat. In-person conversations and connections are full of all sorts of shared experiences, including the experience of being in the same environment at the same time as well as energetic markers that don't translate well through video (now there is an upside for folks who tend to get emphatically overloaded in conversations - the empathy wall can actually provide a bit of reprieve). Then there's all the specific to video chat frustrations like technological blips (disconnects, laggy wifi), crappy lighting, interruptions that happen more frequently if we live with others, and having to stare at a screen as opposed to sitting with a person you want to connect with.

Yet, through all these frustrations, I've had consistent moments of connection with folks over video chat and it was because we were using a tool that translates really well to this format: breathwork. Breathwork can take many forms but it's essentially the practice of paying attention to your breath with intention. Breathwork is present in a number of modalities from sitting meditation, trancework and pathworking, spellwork, martial arts, yoga, and more. If you're wanting to connect with folks through video chat but finding it draining or difficult why not try breathwork with your friends and family instead?

Breathwork gets us back into our bodies and even when we're practicing mindful breathing at in-person events it is still an inherently private and deeply personal experience. In this way, breathwork is something that can easily be shared together online but still feel like you're having a meaningful individual experience in the presence of community. What's also nice about breathwork within a video chat conference during times like these is that we can experience a reprieve from talking about the crisis while still connecting to our own feelings and holding space for others to do the same all while together. I know that some folks, especially those with an established meditation or breathwork practice, may be full of disbelief at the suggestion that you can have a nurturing, community-based breathwork practice via video chat, but believe me it truly translates well. 

There are a lot of beautiful resources out there for breathwork whether by yourself or with friends. Two accessible books are The Power of Breathwork by Jennifer Patterson and How To Breathe by Ashley Neese. Both of these books teach a variety of simple breathwork exercises for everything from helping to go to sleep, finding inspiration, exploring grief, nourishing the body, and more. There are also a number of tutorials on youtube including one on square breathing (a technique that I teach and recommend to a lot of folks) and this video covers a variety of stress-relieving breathwork techniques. Breathwork can also be combined with visualization such as a grounding and centering tree of life meditation. You can access my version of the tree of life meditation for free on my Begin With the Breath course description page - just scroll down to the course curriculum section and click on "Tree of Life" for both a recording and transcript. There are also a number of wonderful folks hosting breathwork based online gatherings like Yarrow Magdalena and her Unravel course on tending to grief through breathwork, writing, and ritual (I was just on her podcast and she's a gem).

To help you try out breathwork with friends I've created a simple breathwork gathering format for your video chats. For both of them, it helps to have someone in charge of facilitation and time management (one of the ways to make video chats less stressful is knowing that they have an planned ending) and this is a role that can be rotated each time you gather if you like. There is nothing revolutionary about the following outline - it's a format that many of you will probably have come across before. I'm writing it out both for those of you who haven't facilitated a space like this before - either in-person or online - it can really help to have it all laid out and for folks who have facilitation experience but haven't done this work through video chat yet.

A Simple 30 Minute Breathwork Outline

Gathering and settling in - 5 minutes
Time for everyone to arrive and get comfortable. Depending on how many folks are gathered you can choose to leave everyone muted or unmuted for this part. Before you move on to the next part, invite folks to take a moment to pull up gallery view for a moment so that they are able to see everyone that they'll be sharing space together at once before returning to their preferred screen setup. I learned this at a recent class with Yarrow Magdalena and it was a magickal moment similar to what I experience at the start of a community ritual where we all take a moment to gaze upon everyone we've gathered together with at that moment.

Three word check-in - 5 minutes
Invite everyone to speak or write in chat (especially recommended for groups) three words describing how they are feeling at this moment. Check-ins are a good way for folks to begin to connect with their inner world while beginning to hold space and witness the inner worlds of others. If posted in chat, the facilitator can choose to read through all or some of these words depending on group size.

Breathing with friends - 10 minutes
Introduce the breathwork practice with simple instructions (reading them from a book is just fine!) and then settle into breathwork together. You have a few options when it comes to sound at this point. At in-person gatherings you're going to be hearing other people breathing and while you can unmute everyone on the call, that can sometimes prove more distracting than helpful. One solution is to breathe together while muted - the downside is that disconnects happen and that can be stressful for folks who are trying to close their eyes while breathing but also don't want to find that they're no longer in the call. You can choose to have just the facilitator unmuted for reassuring "I'm still on the call" sound cues. Another option is for the facilitator to play a song or two through their computer or play a simple drumbeat if they have a drum.

Reconnect and reflect - 5 minutes
The facilitator gently invites folks out of the focused breathwork and into a space of reflection. This can be a time for folks to journal briefly or they can speak or write three words on what they are currently feeling. Especially for smaller groups there is always an opportunity to expand this part - just make that decision ahead of time to create an easeful time container for everyone.

Closing and departing - 5 minutes
End by reading an inspiring quote, pulling an oracle card, or some such similar departing blessing. Remind folks to allow space for the experience of breathwork to continue to unfold throughout the day and night. Invite folks to jump into gallery view again to be able to see everyone that has gathered and held space together at once. And then you're done!

I would love to hear how you've made video chat easier to manage and connect with folks on a heart level in the comments below. If you do end up doing breathwork with friends or family, let me know, too! For my fellow herbalists and folks serving as healers in your communities, here are my thoughts on serving as practitioners during times of pandemic.

If you’re looking for herbs to support your breathwork practice, I’ve written about that, too.

Maybe these new skills or connections will becomes we carry with us beyond the time of social distancing, but whether that happens or not, my hope is that you and your loved ones can experience peace and connection with one another no matter what medium it is through.

❤︎ This post was made possible through patron support. Thanks, friends. ❤︎

Serving as Herbalists During a Pandemic

Edit: I’ve created a page for herbal calls to action and other community resources geared towards supporting our clients and communities during pandemic and beyond.

There is a lot of need in the world right now.

As an herbalist, serving our communities during times of pandemic can look a lot like what we already do - supporting folks in cultivating longevity and peace of spirit in a sustainable way. For many herbalists I know and certainly in the philosophy I was taught by my teachers, herbalism is slow and steady medicine. Of course, there are always moments of quick relief and insight, but plant medicine is strongest when it is integrated into our lives as an ongoing practice. While relationships with plants is one of the defining features of any herbalist, many of us bring a myriad of other techniques and tools and ways of seeing the world that inform and compliment our relationship with plants (who else is having regular dream visitations from their ancestors who lived through previous periods of pandemic?). All of these skills are needed now as we live through times of great sorrow and uncertainty, strangeness and joy, and begin to dream of how we might emerge in a way that continues to bring us together. 

While this post will not be about herbal treatments or recommended protocols during times of pandemic, what I hope to do here is to highlight practices many herbalists and holistic healers will be familiar with, but can be especially useful during periods of heightened and widespread trauma. For some herbalists serving communities that are under constant threat these suggestions may be more familiar than to others - may they serve as an affirmation of the needful and powerful work you're already doing. The work of emergence continues and what follows are some of the ways you might find useful in serving your community.

Encourage your clients to feel their feelings as they arise (or as soon as they can after the fact).

There are numerous powerful and effective therapies to help folks manage trauma after the fact, but one of the tools we can use during or shortly after a traumatic incident (including the prolonged trauma and disruption of pandemic) is to encourage those we serve to feel their feelings as they arise. One of the things that makes traumatic incidents so traumatic is that all too often we don't feel like we have the space or are afraid to or are unable to connect with the depth of our feelings. It's ok to grieve right now - the world has turned upside down and will not be the same again for better or for worse. It's ok to get angry, to get sad, to get happy - just get to where your feelings are. 

Now, it's also important to acknowledge that sometimes our feelings do feel too big - that's when it's especially important to reach out to friends and family for support or to a therapist. There are so many great therapeutic models out there and while it can be hard for folks of color and queer and trans folks to find adequate care you're still worth being cared for. Services like Crisis Text Line can be very helpful for in-the-moment situations of difficulty and it is easy to use. And if you're someone who is looking to support others during a pandemic and beyond in a very real and needed way, consider becoming a volunteer.

Anxiety is growing - share simple tools for managing it.

Here's a great guide talking about anxiety during times of pandemic (for those of you who serve earth-based spirituality and Pagan populations there's a great connection to made between the decision tree and holy trees in so many of our spiritual cosmology). I teach my clients and students breathwork techniques that I've found very useful over the years for all types of feelings and experiences as well as learning how to connect with plants. I have a sliding scale course on breathwork aimed at folks with a magickal practice but here's a free video resource on square breathing which I think is one of the most useful techniques out there for helping us to pause and expand our emotional possibilities beyond anxiety.

One of my favorite tools for managing anxiety is writing and journaling, so here's some of my tips for writing in your journal especially when you feel too anxious to do so.

• You don't have to start by writing about yourself or your feelings. When I'm feeling especially overwhelmed I start by writing super mundane things - I describe something on my bedside table or what the weather is like outside. It can be helpful to ease into what you think you want to write about by not writing about it at all.

• Establish a set length of time or paper that you're going to write. Depending on my journal size I usually write the front and back of a single page. If I want to write more I do, but my goal is to fill up the space of that single page. What this does is limit any feelings of how much one should write and sets a parameter for how long you should be writing. Sometimes I sit there for quite a while not knowing what to put on paper and that's alright. It makes me think and reflect, even get a bit bored. I've found this practice to be really helpful not only during times of heightened anxiety, but in maintaining a regular journal practice.

• Prompts can be really useful. There are all sorts of journal prompts out there - I have one for each New Moon - and you can choose to use different prompts every time you journal or stick with the same one(s) for every journaling session. When things are feeling hard for me I tend to stick with similar prompts again and again such as What am I feeling right now? What am I needing right now? Additionally, I’ll set a five minute timer and let myself right down, free flow style, everything I am feeling anxious, confused, or just big about. At the end of those five minutes I move on to my next suggestion.

• Practice gratitude. I feel fortunate that early on I was introduced to the importance of gratitude in one’s magickal practice. Whether it was gratitude to the Ancestors, Gods, Spirits of the Land and Waters, and my fellow magickal folk to gratitude for candles to light, for shelter, and food. Taking time to be in our gratitude helps to give us context, pause anxious cycles, and shift perspective. Gratitude doesn’t dismiss the seriousness or severity of a feeling or situation, but when we are faced with what can feel like oversimplified and intense emotions (i.e. everything is awful), gratitude can help us acknowledges complexity and expand what is possible (i.e. some things are awful right now, but there is still beauty and hope).

Connect your clients with resources on emotional and mental health. 

It's important to remember, especially when the needs in our communities can feel so big and overwhelming, that you are not the sole source of care for those that you are serving. You should be referring folks to additional care practitioners, especially mental health providers, as necessary throughout your interactions with your clients. Crisis Text Line is an inclusive and immediate point of support that you can send folks to. Sometimes the need in our community is so big that we can be mistaken in our compassion to think that we are the one to answer it all. I think it is a beautiful and healing practice to share with our clients all of the options and opportunities they have for community support by making sure we have appropriate references available for them. Additional mental health resources can be found here.

Know when to step back and take a break.
The world is changing and even when the immediate crisis of pandemic is over there will be work to do. But that's always been true - we're just experiencing everything on more directly global terms than ever before. Be sure to pace yourself, take breaks, and engage in the relaxing activities that allow your mind and body to rest. Teach your clients how to do the same by modeling this behavior to your community. Reassure your community that it's ok to have fun, celebrate joyful moments, and zone out when they need to. Ask for help, participate in the multitude of mutual aid and kindness groups that are growing and have been here for generations, and when you're able, offer aid in return.

Humble yourselves in the arms of the wild.
Those are the first words of a beautiful Pagan chant by Beverly Frederick that I've found myself singing again and again these days. The wild can mean many things from our plant allies to humbling ourselves to the spectacular wild uncertainty of our times. Remember to connect with the plants who have taught you, the ancestors who dreamed you, the living beloveds surrounding you in your life right now. We do not know where we are going or how we're going to get there but we can choose to know ourselves and each other through the process.

I hope that these suggestions have offered inspiration, affirmation, and reassurance. All of you deserve support and care during and I hope that you're receiving both.