First and foremost! Welcome back, or welcome to, Wild Pine Hollow – the blog section! I’ve made a lot of changes around here over the last two years. Sheesh, it’s been that long since I last posted a blog. Here are some bullet points of what I’ve been up to!
- I got a certificate in herbalism
- Created and grew my apothecary
- started a full-time job, after being a stay-at-home mom for 5 years
- enrolled in a clinical herbalism program AND a master’s degree program.
Whew! That’s a butt-ton! Now that we are all caught up, with all of the super cool and wonderful things that I’ve been up to. How are you? What have you been up to? Are you eating well? Staying hydrated? Taking a moment for yourself from time to time? I really hope you are, it’s important you know!
Let’s get to the nitty-gritty of this post, what brought me to herbalism. Envision some dreamy flashback-type waves, all the way back to 2009. I started getting bumps under my skin. Unbearably painful, with several showing up at one time. I was scared and confused. The doctor told me I had something called Hidradenitis Supprativa (HS for short). An autoimmune condition that affects the skin, I’ve written several posts about it, which you can read about here. During that appointment, the doctor also told me that turmeric had been used to help relieve the inflammation.
From then on, I became a sponge absorbing all of the herbal information I could find. My first herbal book came from Goodwill. I relentlessly googled and read books and found every bit of it interesting. For example, when you look up turmeric, you’ll also find information on ginger. Because, it too has anti-inflammatory properties, and is also a great soother for stomach issues. Once you go down that rabbit hole, you’ll learn that peppermint is also great for stomach issues, as is chamomile. And chamomile in all of its wonder, is also amazing at soothing the nervous system, which then leads you to valerian root. The foot bone is connected to the leg bone…
I lived with HS and learned about herbs for years without signs of any other autoimmune conditions. Did you know that more often than autoimmune conditions like to hang out in pairs? Then in 2021 I started losing weight like crazy! I figured it was because I was working out and being super conscious about what I was eating. But my heart was also beating irrationally and being even a little bit warm pissed me off. Then my eyeball happened. I woke up one humid morning in Louisiana (we were there for my sister’s wedding) and my left eye was gigantic. As soon as we got back to Oregon, I made an appointment with my doctor, who told me I had an autoimmune condition called Grave’s disease. Cool. Cool. Not.
Grave’s disease attacks your thyroid, and is known as the primary cause for hyperthyroidism! As opposed to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, which is the cause of hypothyroidism. My grandma, one of my aunts, and my sister all have hypothyroidism. I again felt scared and confused and consulted Dr. Google when I totally should not have.
A few months after being diagnosed, I had the opportunity to enroll in an online herbalism course through Chestnut School Of Herbal Medicine. I fell in love with all of the detailed outlines of herbs, called materia medica, the easy to follow videos, and the well written text books. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to be an herbalist. To help people that live with autoimmune conditions and hormone imbalances.
I began building my apothecary, filled it with teas, tinctures, salves and oils. I pay special attention to herbal actions along with flavor profiles. I mean, medicine isn’t supposed to taste good, but paying extra attention to flavors, makes it taste a whole lot better!
I wanted to learn more about the different body systems so I enrolled in a clinical herbalism course with Heart Of Herbs Herbal School. Which has given me the confidence to open my own herbal practice and accept appointments to help others!
So that’s it, that’s what brought me to herbalism, my body attacking itself, and me being tired of feeling like shit. My goal as an herbalist is to of course help anyone that wants to learn about what plants have to offer, my specialty though is autoimmune conditions and hormone imbalances. I still have a lot to learn about myself and my body and how it reacts to certain foods and stressors. And I’d like to help you do the same!
And another thing before I go! I’m not perfect, no one is, I cuss like a sailor, I do like me some whiskey and I occasionally eat fast food. But that’s life, each of us has a thing or two we aren’t proud of doing, but we continue doing it because it brings us joy or comfort. And that is totally ok. I will never, everrrr judge you, that’s not what friends do! And as a part of the growing process, we can learn to accept those things as they are, together.
If you want to be kept up to date on herbs, autoimmune conditions and hormones (and some fun stuff too, like diy herbal remedies, dad jokes and a friend offering encouragement every step of the way) please follow along!
Be First to Comment