Commonwealth Podcast For Holistic Herbalism

The best-seller herbal supplements we’re covering today are yohimbe & horny goat weed. They placed #30 and 31 on the list we’re using for this sequence of episodes. These two are marketed & sought-after as “male aphrodisiacs”, “testosterone boosters”, and even “herbal Viagra”. While it’s true that each can “help” with some forms and manifestations of erectile dysfunction, in the short term or “in the moment”, they cannot correct the underlying issues… and might even make them worse.They’re also quite potent, energetically speaking: heating, drying, and tonifying to a high degree. These qualities are primarily derived from potent constituents such as yohimbine and icariin. Each herb also possesses a multitude of other constituents apart from those more famous ones, which means its actions are diverse and in some cases self-contradictory.There’s also a very serious problem in the supplement market for these herbs, which is that these products are frequently contaminated or adulterated. Many cases of ‘he

When people start learning herbalism, it’s not unusual for them to begin to feel like there’s a lot “wrong” with their bodies. Some of this comes from a new recognition that symptoms they’ve been tolerating are actually a sign of something deeper, or indicate a need for change. Since it’s the new year, we’re thinking about this feeling of a need for “a whole new body” – what it means, and how to achieve it (or something more realistic, but close).It’s actually a lucky thing to have this kind of realization! Because it is, in many ways, true for most of us. And not only because ‘modern life’ is difficult and damaging, but because it’s simply a fact of nature that it’s difficult to be and stay healthy. Our culture often imposes a moralistic frame on health, but here’s the truth:You’re not Good if you’re healthy. You’re not Bad if you’re unhealthy. Health is not a moral quality!Our world has changed over time, and so have we. What we do to stay healthy, and what we struggle with that harms us, have all shifted t

What kind of year has it been for you, as far as herbs & health go? On today’s episode of the Holistic Herbalism Podcast, we’re taking a look at the herbal year in review for 2025!Everyone’s doing their year-end best-of lists, their ‘top 10 takeaways’, and the like – and we want to join in on the fun. As you’re considering your 2025 and looking forward to your 2026, don’t forget to take some time to think about the progress you’ve made as an herbalist! Give these questions some thought and reflect on yourDid you work with any new herbs this year? If so, what kind of shift have they created in your health and habits?Did you get some new insight about your own health, and how you can support yourself (or others around you)?Did you implement any holistic strategies – like shifting your diet or adding in more movement? (Even if these didn’t stick, they still represent progress, and that counts!)What about your herbal education over the past year?This turned into a wide-ranging conversation! CLICK HERE FOR THE

Katja wrote this essay years and years ago, and it’s still a favorite. Today she needed to hear it again – yeah, you can do that with your own writing, it’s allowed, don’t worry – and she decided to share it with you. It’s about how so many of us think we’re the only trainwreck in any given room, and how we all have That Person in our lives (or just in our minds) who seems to really Have It All Together.Why can’t I just get it together like That Person?, you think, like everyone does. Like even That Person does, Themselves, sometimes. Like someone might very well be thinking about… you! We are all trainwrecks. Outward appearances aren’t the whole story, and it’s hard to get to know the people around us. So this experience is super common.But don’t worry! There’s a lot we can do about it, starting with acknowledging the reality, then asking for help, then getting outside… and also – never doubt it – with a drink of tea. Some of our favorite nervines for these feelings include tulsi, betony, and calamus – but f

Don’t forget, our December sale is on! Details below.It’s time we resumed our exploration of the top-selling herbs as supplements in the US! We're three-quarters of the way through the main list. (Remember we’re working with the 2023 data for the purposes of this series, but I gave some updates about the 2024 Herbal Market Report data in the last installment.)Our herbs today are valerian, pumpkin (seed [oil]), goji berry, and red yeast rice. There are some fun details about each of these, including…how to predict if valerian will keep you awake instead of helping you sleep,why certain medicinal seed oils are promoted in a gender-based dichotomy,who should not take goji, andwhy everyone should probably avoid red yeast rice supplements.Listen for the full story.For full show notes with reference links & further reading, click here!December 2025 Sale Code: CALENDULAThe code for this year’s sale is CALENDULA – use it during checkout to get 20% off everything we offer – all the courses, all the programs,

It’s December, and here are some delightful things we’d like to share with you!December 2025 Sale Code: CALENDULAThe code for this year’s sale is CALENDULA – use it during checkout to get 20% off everything we offer – all the courses, all the programs, anything on a payment plan, anything at all!Browse All CoursesThe discount code even works for gifts! Just make sure to check the box that says “this is a gift” and the extra gift information will pop up for you to complete.Herbal Activity Calendar – Stacked with Holiday HelpThe herbal activity calendar is a fun free way to get more herbs into your life. There are recipes, experiments, things to think about, and more – and you can set it up to autoload right into your online calendar if you want to!You’ll find it right on your student dashboard if you’re a student, and if you’re not, just click here:Herbal Activity CalendarFor the month of December, the calendar’s stacked up with gift ideas, recipes, and strategies for staying stress-free through the holidays.S

A quote attributed to Hippocrates says “all disease begins in the gut.” No surprise, then, that gut-heal tea is a major part of our practice! We work with this formula – or better said, this schema for creating individualized formulae – very, very often. It’s not only a ‘digestive’ blend, it’s also a nervine formula: it operates at the nexus between the digestive and nervous systems.But we don’t prepare it the same way every time! Variation is essential to make a blend that best suits a person’s body and needs. Today’s episode of the Holistic Herbalism Podcast is all about this flexibility in formulation.We can adjust the blend based on the person’s energetics, the desired actions of the herbs, and special affinities they have. While we must avoid creating a ‘kitchen sink’ of insufficiently intentional herbs, there’s plenty of room for addressing the specific patterns in each person.Here are the specific versions of gut-heal tea formulae we explored in this episode:“the original” gut-heal teacalendula (Calend

Elderberry syrup isn’t everything an herbalist has to offer to someone suffering from a cold, the flu, COVID, RSV, or any of the other respiratory ailments to which we humans are susceptible. Despite being the first to come to many minds when asked if they’re prepared for winter illnesses, we encourage you to broaden your view both of what elder does, and what herbs can do.Elderberry is famous for inhibiting viruses by interfering with their capacity to replicate. Elderberry constituents have been shown in petri-dish studies to bind the neuraminidase ‘spike’ on the virus. It can therefore reduce the virus’ capacity to ‘break into’ our cells and convert them into virus-making factories.Sounds good! Note, however, that this particular mode of action was identified through in vitro studies. The limitation here is that the required concentration of those constituents may not be attained in our bloodstream when we ingest elderberry syrup. It may not reach the tissues which are under attack by the virus. So while t

We’ve been running a clinical herbalism mentorship program of one kind or another for more than fifteen years. We have some thoughts! Today’s episode is all about our model for an herbal mentorship, what we think it needs to include, and how it’s structured to benefit our students and clients most fully.For context, we do have prerequisites to join mentorship – you need to have your herbal know-how dialed in before you can join! Completing our Family Herbalist and Community Herbalist programs, and performing well on the exams, is the baseline. Our mentorship students are also working through the Clinical Herbalist coursework concurrently, because mentorship is less about knowledge and more about communication, connection, strategy, and practicality.Our students participate – first as observers, then as clinicians with faculty backup, then on their own – in our Free Clinic and Student Clinic sessions each month. We hold roundtable meetings with them after each of these events, so that everyone can share their

If you haven’t made herbal cold/flu/COVID care kits for your household yet, now is the time! Herbal care kits are one of our very favorite things. Here’s the premise: when you’re sick, it’s hard to think, no matter how good an herbalist you are. So get the stuff you’re going to need ready ahead of time! It’s like taking care of your future self.Plus, it’s likely that you’re the herbalist in your household – so you’re going to need to take care of everyone else too! But life doesn’t stop just because someone gets sick, so if you make care kits for everyone, then even if they get sick at the most inconvenient time – no problem. You’re already ready!There’s two steps to this process. First, think about each person in your household, and how they tend to get sick. Then, plan your kits based on that.For us it goes like this: Ryn tends to get a sore throat and a cough, or a stomach ache, whereas Katja always starts with an earache or headache. Even if we have the same bug, that’s where things tend to settle in our

This week we continue our investigation into the best-selling herbal supplements in the US. First, an update: the 2024 Herbal Market Report data is here!The overall picture is very similar to the 2023 data, with most items on the lists simply changing position. The overall market had a 5.4% increase, topping out above $13.2 billion for the highest annual sales on record. Direct-to-consumer commerce – via websites like Amazon, for instance – continues to be the largest fraction of sales.In the mainstream list, the biggest story is the increase for “mushrooms (other)”, which reached #26 despite not appearing at all in prior years. This listing includes lion’s mane, turkey tail, and other mushrooms – but not chaga, cordycpes, or reishi (those are tracked individually). Also of note, the sales numbers for saint john’s wort in 2023 were adjusted to the tune of a $20 million increase! This would place SJW at #17 on that year’s list, instead of being absent from it. This makes much more sense, since SJW has been suc

When Ryn first met Katja, she was in the habit of inflating her age a bit. Why? Because as an herbalist – at that time – it was preferable to present as older, even as an ‘elder’, if possible. Times have changed, and now “influencerbalists” dominate the social media world’s public face, for herbalism as for so many things. Staying young forever looks almost plausible, when it’s shown through short-form videos on a tiny screen…It’s not, though. We’ll all age, and that will mean some things don’t work as well as they used to, don’t feel as good as they used to, don’t heal as fast as they used to. We’ll get tired, our hair will thin, our faces will wrinkle. All the amazing new products and one-weird-tricks will not stop these things from happening.We don’t need to stop them. They’re part of life. In just the same way that yes, it’s OK to be a plus-sized herbalist, it’s OK to be an aging herbalist. Chasing immortality is a fool’s errand, and it can distract both from more effective means of mitigating discomforts

Herbs #22 and 23 on the top-selling herbs list for 2023 were milk thistle and black cohosh.Today we continue our series on commercially popular herbs, and share our views as herbalists on the actions, benefits, and applications of these.Milk thistle is widely known as an excellent herb for the liver, and this is a case where the common wisdom is correct. It’s one of the safest herbs out there, and fortunately, it is also widely available and inexpensive. Hepatoprotective and even able to regenerate damaged liver tissue, it is at the same time a very gentle and benign plant. But don’t try to make tea with it!Black cohosh’s reputation is as a remedy for PMS and menopausal symptoms, and often this is attributed to phytoestrogenic activity or constituents. The reality is murky – and has remained so despite decades of argument and investigation on both sides of the claim. Regardless, black cohosh can often help. We find it best to view the herb through the lens of its action as a relaxant. If PMS or menopause are

When you’re using your herbal skills to help others – whether you’re doing that as a Clinical Herbalist in private practice, volunteering in your community, or even just caring for your own family – it becomes obvious pretty fast that your herbal knowledge is only part of the skillset you need.You also need to creatively adapt what you know, so that it will actually work in that person’s life. Since every body is different, different strategies work for different people. Holistic herbalists are never trying to present “one right way” that everyone has to adhere to.Which means that as herbalists, we need to be creative and flexible. We need to match our strategies to each person’s life individually – and that creativity can be challenging!That’s one of the skills that we teach in our Clinical Skills course. Today’s episode is a segment of content on this topic, from that course, which we wanted to share with you. It’s self-contained, but it’ll also give you a peek into what our course material sounds like.When

On the top-selling herbs list for 2023 (the most recent data), the herbs in places #19-21 were Tribulus terrestris, Pycnogenol (an extract of Pinus pinaster), and garlic. Today we continue our series on commercially popular herbs, and share our views as herbalists on the actions, benefits, and applications of these ones.The pine extract is an interesting item, given that it’s not an entry for the herb itself but rather for a specific proprietary extract from one species. It’s true that this extract has been well-studied and shown to exert good effects, but it’s also true that pine is much more than this one product.Today’s trio also offers an excellent opportunity to apply herbal energetics to help us critique and navigate marketing hype. While tribulus is very popular as a body-building aid, its cooling nature tells us that it is most helpful for those who already run hot. Garlic is the polar opposite of that. While garlic is very famous for its capacity to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, these effects

Mutual aid projects are a natural place for herbalists to gravitate, and setting one up in your community is easier than you think! Our mutual aid startup guide is a free resource we offer you to help with this. You can download it right here:Mutual Aid Startup GuideIn today’s episode we want to emphasize two key things about this: First, it doesn’t have to be an enormous undertaking. You can start with a small circle of friends, and build from there. The keys are consistency and continuity of communication.Second, getting started can be very simple! So often, people feel hesitant to begin – thinking they need a fully fleshed-out concept and perhaps some financial backing before they start. But mutual aid can be something that fits into your schedule and that lifts you up instead of burning you out.We discuss three examples to show what mutual aid can look like at different scales: a small personal support network, a medium community fix-it club, and a larger community disaster response team.We hope this epis

Our semi-annual 20% off Sale is active now!For the entire month of July,use code hawthorn at checkoutto take 20% off all our online courses!Sussing out herb-drug interactions is complicated! In this episode we take the example of Celexa + skullcap, and demonstrate the process of investigation we’d use to sort out whether a proposed risk is real.We start with the Botanical Safety Handbook, because it has certain features which make it significantly better than other manuals or databases. These include the varied relevant experience and skills of the editorial team, its clarity about real vs theorized reactions, and other critical data points which are directly relevant to the herbalist’s practice.Checking one resource isn’t sufficient, though. We also need to consider the fact that ‘absence of evidence is not evidence of absence’, and remember that constitutional variations can significantly change the efficacy of a given herb for a particular person. Information outside of scientific studies – such as the pop

Our semi-annual 20% off Sale is active now!For the entire month of July,use code hawthorn at checkoutto take 20% off all our online courses!On the top-selling herbs list for 2023 (the most recent data), the herbs in places #16-18 were saw palmetto, cinnamon, and echinacea. In today’s installment of our best-sellers series, we share our views as herbalists on the actions, benefits, and applications of these herbs. All three are long-term residents on the market report’s top 40 chart, and there’s no reason to expect that to change in the coming years.In this series of episodes, we’re working to present you with the perspective of a practicing clinical herbalist on these very popular plants. In the form of supplements, they’re among the most-taken and most-asked-about herbal remedies for the modern population. Their presentation in the marketplace, though, is generally quite restricted and limited in comparision to both historical and contemporary herbal practices!These herbs are “good for” more than just what’s

Bandaids are undeniably handy, and there are plenty of situations where they do the job that needs doing. But there are also lots of times when a wound is too big, too irregular, or too sensitive for a bandaid to be the best choice. That’s where bespoke bandaging comes into play! You can learn bandaging basics really quickly – yes, even through podcast audio – and that’s what today’s episode is all about.Bandages are extremely versatile and customizable – even without getting a dozen different types of gauze and pads. Truly, a box of 2″ and 4″ roller gauze, plus some gauze pads and micropore tape, is plenty for most situations you’ll run into. For the purposes of practice, they’re all you need to get started.When you’re practicing your bandaging technique, your big goal is to make the bandages neat, secure, and yet still allowing for a normal range of motion. The best way to get good at this is to practice. The best way to practice is to get some friends together for a “mummy party”, where everyone gets banda

When putting together a bug-out bag in case of emergencies, don’t forget your herbs! Just like a first aid kit, a go bag is best when you construct it according to your specific needs, and the needs of people you’ll be with. This isn’t a “one size fits all” situation!The same goes for circumstances when you need to shelter in place. A ‘stay-in stash’ is just a go-bag without the go. It’s an orderly, intentional accumulation of all the things you’ll need if the power goes out for a week, or you can’t leave your home for an extended period of time.Herbs, food, and ‘everything else’ all need to go in there – and don’t forget water! In this episode we discuss what to include, what to avoid, and ways to keep your stock rotating and fresh for a moment of need.Mentioned in this episode:HHP 233: Emergency Readiness Needs A Meal PlanFEMA AppWe’re highlighting first aid herbalism on the podcast all month. You can use the discount code FIRSTAID during checkout for $25 off of our Herbal First Aid course for the month of