In becoming a Herbalist, I was learning a new way of life

I was raised according to a system of medicine that favours synthetic suppressive medicine, and in a western culture of ‘ignore-it-and-carry-on’. After my worldly travels, especially influenced by Ayurveda, this approach seemed more and more counterintuitive.

I wanted to help others improve their health, especially from the lens of preventative medicine. It struck me that if we took early action at the first sign of ill-health, then a lot of trouble could be prevented in the future. Even better, if we create a healthy lifestyle then we’re less likely to get unwell in the first place.

Obviously, this is in an ideal world and the reality is much different with all our various lifestyle commitments that very often have a negative impact on our health. However, there are always little lifestyle tweaks here and there that have big impact, and herbal medicines have a huge role to play.

Cultural Influences

The trouble is we were not raised in a culture that values turning our attention to minor health niggles and nipping them in the bud. We were raised within a school system that expects us to just carry on through colds and exhaustion. We were literally trained to ignore the signs and override our bodies need for care. This counts for hunger and satiation, toileting and emotional regulation.

We all know the influence of the media in encouraging us to eat more, cover-up more, slim more, fake more, hide more, basically, pretend like we’re ever-ready robots always in fully functional action mode. It’s a massive hurdle to work with because advertising always comes with a great dose of fun, which means its swiftly, smoothly and slyly internalised without our awareness.

So perhaps one big question is, how can we make caring for our future health fun? Something that happens almost seamlessly. This is the work of a coach. And of course, that of a home-ed parent!

Falling in love with natures medicine

I fell in love with herbal medicine before my children came along, which meant that when they did, I was already far enough down the path to be carving out a new way forward in the way I parented.

It was more than just a qualification, becoming a herbalist was learning a new way of life. I was moving from the synthetic drug domination of western culture and healthcare to a natural approach.

I’d learned the basics in my first year at uni, then became pregnant. Extending my 3-year degree to a total of 11 years. During that time, I home-birthed 3 children, home-educated and home-studied to become a qualified herbalist. Once I graduated, I had a 4-year-old, 6-year-old, and a 9-year-old.

This meant that through 3 pregnancies, births, post-partum’s, and early years, I was mentored by several experienced herbalists. I also clocked up regular hours working as a trainee herbalist in a busy London herbal medicine clinic.

Herbal Mentorship

Having had close access to members of the herbal medicine community was a huge blessing. I think if I’d have just studied my 3 years before the children came along and then got stuck into parenting, it could have been easy to sink into what I’d previously known.

Getting carried along with the tide of all the other new parents around me. Slipping into the mainstream.

As it happened, whenever my children, my partner or I ever had any health issue, my books and mentors were always close by, as was my own growing knowledge, skills and confidence.

Having grown up within our medical system, where the go-to is paracetamol and ibuprofen, frequent antibiotic prescriptions, and food that was less seen as medicine, my task was one of retraining the autopilot to reach for natural remedies in times of need.

And with a growing family, there were plenty of opportunities to test out my herbal practitioner skills!

A transition from the conventional system of medicine to a natural approach

As I transitioned from the mainstream approach of healthcare to a natural approach involving herbal, nutritional, and lifestyle medicine, I came to see that only plant agents deserve the right of the title ‘medicine’.

Herbal medicines are concentrated food stuffs; agents that nourish, build-up and strengthen. There is nothing at all about a suppressive synthetic drug that strengthen. Therefore, they are not medicines.

I get that sometimes suppression of pain symptoms is for the purpose of being able to strengthen an area, say, the hips through walking. However, there are herbal alternatives that do both; reduce pain to allow mobility AND nourish. Incidentally, many joint herbs also work as gentle detoxifying agents, which serve to unburden the body and allow it to function more smoothly.

The wide-ranging positive effects are not part of the profile of over the counter and prescription drugs. Sadly, the opposite is true; they often cause a weakening of the overall system; an increase in toxic load for the liver to deal with, and further ill health, requiring additional treatment.

Helping others

I have been granted the blessing of raising my family by natural means. This has come about as a result of my training and years of mentorship within a natural medicine paradigm, I have adopted a healthcare system that sits comfortably deep inside of me. My children are strong, and they too understand the signs that their body gives them which tells them when to rest, reach for nutritional aids or take plant medicines. They listen to their bodies. Something that a lot of home-educators would say is a big benefit of home-education.

chamomile growing strong

One thing I love doing is helping other parents make that transition from reliance upon conventional drugs and a strained NHS, towards health empowerment. Things as simple as reaching for the chamomile instead of the Calpol. Or skin-to-skin time to reduce a fever. I now have 18 years of experience raising a family by natural means and I’d love to inspire more families to enjoy the benefits!

Feel free to get in touch if you’d like to explore what that looks like. I’d love to work with you!