When I first started studying herbs over two decades ago, I learned herbs (like many people do) by memorizing herbal actions, memorizing lists, and then throwing it all together. But I found that choosing herbs for people using these memorized lists didn’t always work, which was incredibly discouraging!

Luckily, I found out about herbal energetics, and that’s what I’ve based my herbal practices on ever since. However, I’ve noticed over the years that there are a lot of misconceptions about this helpful system of matching herbs to people! In this episode, I’ll share what people often get wrong about herbal energetics - and why it bothers me.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Why herbal energetics is such a practical - not mystical! - system of matching herbs to people

► Why using herbal energetics can be more effective than the modern medicine approach (especially when dealing with chronic conditions!)

► How using your senses to understand an herb can give you a big-picture view of its phytochemistry

► Why learning herbal energetics together with herbal actions is such a powerful way of understanding plants

► and so much more….

If you’re interested in learning more about herbal energetics, you’ll love my free Herbal Energetics mini-course, which is happening now and for the next week only! This video training course will show you why herbal energetics is so important - especially when working with herbs for your health!

I’ll also be sharing an important safety guide for herbs as well as my Herbal Energetics Flavor Wheel.

You can join the mini Herbal Energetics Course here.

Access the transcript for this episode:

https://www.herbalremediesadvice.org/herbal-energetics-misconceptions.html

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal...

It’s easy to love the taste of thyme in stews and roasts and sauces, but have you taken the time to really taste thyme? When you have really good quality thyme, it’s highly aromatic and very spicy and hot!

Tasting an herb and experiencing how it feels in your body when you take it as food and medicine is at the heart of herbal energetics. This system is a great way to really get to know the plants you’re working with, and to choose the herbs that are best suited to your unique body and conditions. In this episode I’ll walk you through the energetics of thyme (and why they matter!), and how you can use this system to choose the best herbs for you.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Why tasting herbs is such a powerful tool for assessing their quality, potency, and herbal actions

► The particular respiratory conditions that thyme’s gifts are best suited for (and how to know that, based on its taste!)

► Why thyme is such a helpful digestive aid

► Tips for harvesting thyme (and how to do so while still allowing the pollinators to enjoy its lovely flowers!)

► and so much more….

If you’re interested in learning more about herbal energetics, you’ll love my free Herbal Energetics mini-course, which starts later this month. This video training course will show you why herbal energetics is so important - especially when working with herbs for your health!

I’ll also be sharing an important safety guide for herbs as well as my Herbal Energetics Flavor Wheel.

You can sign up for the waitlist here.

Access the transcript for this episode:

https://www.herbalremediesadvice.org/thyme-herbal-remedies.html

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses....

There are so many medicinal benefits of meadowsweet herb! Some people think of meadowsweet simply as a natural form of aspirin. While it does shine at relieving pain (especially a particular type of pain!), meadowsweet’s gifts go far beyond this.

In this episode, I’ll be sharing my love of this beautiful member of the rose family, as well as one of my favorite ways to enjoy its pain-relieving benefits with my recipe for Meadowsweet Flower Pain Relief Tea. You’ll find a link to your free, beautifully illustrated recipe card here: https://bit.ly/4gaHvnE

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How the herbal energetics of meadowsweet can help clue you in to its medicinal benefits

► Why using meadowsweet in its whole-herb form is safer than using aspirin

► The particular type of pain that meadowsweet excels at relieving

► Three different digestive issues that meadowsweet can help with

► and so much more….

If you’re interested in learning more about herbal energetics, you’ll love my free Herbal Energetics mini-course, which starts later this month. This video training course will show you why herbal energetics is so important – especially when working with herbs for your health!

I’ll also be sharing an important safety guide for herbs as well as my Herbal Energetics Flavor Wheel.

You can sign up on the waitlist here.

Access the transcript for this episode: https://www.herbalremediesadvice.org/meadowsweet-herb.html

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in

This is the first time I’ve sat down with Leslie, and I enjoyed listening to her winding story of learning about herbs through the decades! I was equally amazed by the extensive information she shared about the medicinal benefits of magnolia. She really opened my eyes to the gifts of this beautiful, ancient tree.

Leslie shared several ways to work with magnolia, including her recipe for Magnolia Bark Oxymel (and you’ll hear how Leslie uses it both internally and externally). A beautifully illustrated recipe card for Leslie's oxymel can be found here: https://bit.ly/3yDvBCc

When might you turn to magnolia? Here are just a few ways this stunning tree can be worked with to benefit your health:

► To help moderate diabetes

► As a pain-relieving tea or ointment

► To help quit smoking tobacco

And there are so many more benefits to this wonderful tree medicine! Tune in for all the details.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Which parts of the magnolia tree are used in medicine-making

► Three different digestive issues that can be helped by magnolia

► How magnolia can help you get a good night’s sleep

► The types of pain that can be relieved by magnolia

► Five different ways of working with magnolia for food and medicine, including a yummy pickle!

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Leslie Williams, RH (AHG), M.Ed. (UGA), is an experienced herbalist who finds wisdom in conversations with trees and rivers. She believes that herbalism is the best work in the world, full of both delights and heartaches. Growing up in the woods and swamps of north Florida, she spent her childhood plowing with a horse and wildcrafting meals. Leslie is trained in basic Five Element Theory and Ayurveda, as well as rural Southern herbalism, and has spent years reading worldwide clinical research. With 58 years of Zen meditation and many years in recovery, she brings a wealth of knowledge and personal experience to her practice.

I’m excited to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book

It was truly a pleasure to chat with Richard Mandelbaum about self heal! He not only discussed many medicinal gifts of this lovely little herb, but also dove deeper into nature connection, herbal energetics, and the intricacies of medicine making, weaving all of these things together in such a beautiful way. Richard’s joy in embracing his curiosity about the world is so delightful, and I just know this episode is one I’ll be listening to again.

Richard also shared his incredibly detailed recipe for making a Fresh Tincture of Self Heal - making it easy for both new and experienced herbalists to make potent medicine from this beautiful little plant! A link to Richard’s beautifully illustrated recipe card can be found at: https://bit.ly/3YRJY05

Self heal is often seen as simply a wound-care herb, but this underrated herb can also be worked with in so many other ways! Here are just a few ways self heal’s gifts can benefit your health:

► To help you recover from injury and wounds - including after surgery!

► To soften hardnesses and masses, such as tumors or cysts

► To help restore and maintain good skin health after sun exposure

To learn even more ways that you can work with self heal, be sure to check out the entire episode!

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Five different herbal preparations you can create using self heal

► How self heal can be supportive when you’re feeling anger and frustration

► Ten health challenges that can benefit from self heal’s medicinal gifts

► How the taste of self heal gives you insight into its medicinal benefits

►Two things to consider when determining what alcohol percentage to use in making a tincture

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know him, Richard Mandelbaum has been an avid student of our native flora for close to forty years. He has been practicing as an herbalist since 1999, blending Chinese and Western herbal traditions, with a private practice online and in person in the southern Catskills, NY.

In addition, Richard teaches classes in clinical herbal medicine, phytochemistry, medicine making, field botany, and foraging. He is co-founder of the ArborVitae School of Traditional Herbalism and is on the faculty at David Winston’s Center for Herbal Studies and the Won Institute of Graduate Studies.

He has been an AHG Registered Herbalist since 2003, and served on the AHG board of directors from 2012 to 2018, serving as Secretary and chair of the Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Richard lives with his wife Gabrielle and his daughter Rose in their straw bale home in Forestburgh NY.

I can’t wait to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for...

This was my first time meeting Molly, and it was an absolute joy to talk with her and hear the many ways she is working with herbs to strengthen relationships and build connections. I just loved when Molly walked me through how she connects with mugwort through the five senses - what a delightful way to begin to build a relationship with a plant!

Molly shared many ways of working with mugwort, including her process for creating beautiful, seasonal herbal garlands using this dreamy plant along with other natural materials. See the resource section below to download your beautifully illustrated recipe card at: https://bit.ly/3LH1agY

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How to work with mugwort to aid with dreaming and imagination

► Eight medicinal preparations that can be made with mugwort

► How the taste of mugwort can help you understand some of its medicinal gifts

► How using energetic herbalism might help you consider herbs that are not typically worked with for a particular health condition

► A fantastic tip for softening mugwort’s effects on your dreams

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Molly Meehan Brown is a mama, folk herbalist and lifelong learner in love with relationship building between plants, land, and people. Molly is the founder of Wild Ginger Community Herbal Center, and together with her husband Javier, stewards herbal and birth programs in his native Costa Rica, in Maryland, as well as online.

Molly also founded KidsHerbalism.com, a vibrant global village of inspiring herbalists and plant people helping raise our next generation in relationship with the plants. KidsHerbalism.com app hosts an abundance of almost 200 on-demand classes and also provides brand new online classes weekly on herbalism, gardening, and nature connection for youth-centering care, healing, and justice.

Molly is a white cis female descendant of Irish settlers living on Piscataway land in Southern Maryland and BriBri & Kekoldi land in Costa Rica.

I’m delighted to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book

It’s been on my mind to have Michael Pilarski on the show for quite a while now, so when he dropped by the other day to see my garden, it seemed like the perfect time to invite him to be here. I loved talking with Michael about his experience of both wildcrafting and farming, and his perspective about the benefits and drawbacks of both of those ways of working with the land. And it was so much fun chatting with him about our love for herbal gatherings!

Michael also shared some fantastic tips on gathering arnica and making medicine with it, including his recipe for Arnica Liniment. You can find the link to a beautifully illustrated recipe card for Michael’s liniment at: https://bit.ly/4daL0Z5

Arnica is an herb that belongs in everyone’s first aid kit! Here are two ways arnica’s medicinal gifts shine:

► To help speed recovery of bumps and bruises

► To reduce joint and muscle pain and swelling

To get all the details and hear more about gathering and working with arnica, be sure to tune in to the entire episode!

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How working with wildcrafted herbs can sometimes be more sustainable than working with farmed herbs

► Which arnica species are medicinally active - and how to tell by looking at the plant

► Why Michael prefers using arnica liniment rather than arnica-infused oil

► Why medicine made with fresh arnica is better than dried - and why you should make your own!

► Harvesting tips for arnica

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know him, Michael Pilarski is an herb farmer, wildcrafter and educator with 50 years of experience in Washington State, Oregon, north Idaho and Northwest Montana. He farms a diversity of medicinal and food plants in agroforestry/permaculture systems and has expertise in seed collecting, value-added products and propagation of native and non-native species. He has worked with over 1,000 species of plants.

Michael combines the science of herbs with the magic of herbs through his studies in plant spirit medicine. He has initiated and organized many herb gatherings including the Northwest Herbal Fair, the Montana Herb Gathering, and the Medicinal Herb Growing & Marketing Conference.

I’m thrilled to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book

I had such a great time catching up with Phyllis Light in this conversation! Hearing Phyllis’ unique herbal story and her philosophy about herbs and herbalism was a real treat. Plus, she shared such an abundance of information about sumac and its medicinal gifts that I am inspired to start working more with this amazing plant!

Phyllis shared so many ways to work with sumac, including her recipe for Sumac Elderberry Syrup (along with several suggestions of how to use that syrup). You can download a beautifully illustrated recipe card for Phyllis’ syrup here.

You will be amazed at the many medicinal gifts that sumac has to offer! Here are just a few ways that you can work with sumac to benefit your health:

► As a topical remedy for skin issues like fungal rashes and poison ivy

► To help reduce high blood sugar

► As a cooling summer beverage that is high in Vitamin C

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! I was delighted to learn just how many health challenges can benefit from this incredibly versatile plant. Be sure to tune in to the entire episode for all the details!

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How herbalism and human health have changed in the United States since Phyllis began her herbal journey

► How to distinguish poison sumac from other species of sumac

► How to tell if your dried sumac berries are still medicinally active

► Eighteen - yes, eighteen! - health conditions sumac’s gifts can help with, and six different herbal preparations for sumac

► Why it’s so important to move beyond internet searches when learning about a new plant or herbal treatment

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Phyllis D. Light, a fourth generation herbalist and healer, has studied and worked with herbs, foods, and other healing techniques for over 30 years. Her studies in Traditional Southern Folk Medicine began in the deep woods of North Alabama with lessons from her grandmother, whose herbal and healing knowledge had its roots in her Creek/Cherokee heritage. Phyllis’ studies continued as an apprentice with the late Tommie Bass, a nationally renowned folk herbalist from Sand Rock, Alabama. She is the director of the Appalachian Center for Natural Health in Arab, Alabama, which offers both online classes and in-person classes. She is also on the faculty of the Matthew Wood Institute of Herbalism. Phyllis is the author of Southern Folk Medicine, Healing Traditions from Appalachian Fields and Forests published by North Atlantic.

If you’d like to hear more from Phyllis, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media channels. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes and you can access your recipe card at: https://bit.ly/4bHb64Y.

I can’t wait to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone...