Called to the Plant Path: Herbal Myths, Healing Forward, & Human Ecology - Sajah Popham
Release Date: 01/28/2020
First Blood & Lost Rites of Passage - Kami McBride
Medicine Stories
Menarche- a girl’s first period- shapes how we experience womanhood for the rest of our lives, and the lack of initiation most of us experience is itself an initiation. In this culture that has fractured from the rites and wisdom of our grandmothers, where so many of us met our first period with confusion or shame, how do we begin to heal this tender threshold- for our daughters, and for the younger version of ourselves? In a conversation brimming with practical suggestions, my herb teacher Kami McBride- who has led countless women’s circles, developed and taught a class for cycling...
info_outline
TCM's 7yr Timeline of Women's Life Transitions - Dr. Suuzi Hazen
Medicine Stories
Did you notice metabolic changes around age 35 and/or 42? Does perimenopause even exist? Is there an ideal childbearing window? Why are humans one of the only species to experience menopause? Suuzi Hazen, doctor of Chinese Medicine and my closest companion in healing from midlife burnout, gives us the Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective on the 7 year framework for girls’ and womens’ life transitions. that inspired this conversation Join me & Suuzi at the Medicine Stories in Costa Rica November 2026! Related previous episodes with Suuzi- , , by Suuzi by Suuzi herbal...
info_outline
Reshaped by Parenthood: Families, Fathers, and the First Year - Rachelle Seliga
Medicine Stories
Birth opens the door, but what comes after walks you through it. Many new parents find themselves moving through the first year feeling lonely, confused, and wondering why it’s so hard. In this episode, I’m joined again by Rachelle Seliga of Innate Traditions, who has spent over 20 years teaching and gathering communities to explore postpartum, motherhood, and revillaging. Together, we open the conversation wider — into the realm of fatherhood — with Rachelle’s signature depth, wisdom, and grounded practicality. Whether you’re preparing for birth or reflecting on your own...
info_outline
Cannabis-Induced Psychosis: A Mother’s Story of Love and Loss - Tara Couture of Slowdown Farmstead
Medicine Stories
In 2021 Tara and her family got the knock on their door that every parent fears most. In the days that followed they discovered eighteen-year-old Mila’s journal and were able to piece together the shocking and devastating chain of events that led to her death. Tara’s Instagram and Substack, Slowdown Farmstead, is followed and admired by tens of thousands of people. Tara and her husband raised their three daughters on their beautiful Canadian farm, lovingly tending to and butchering their own livestock in order to nourish their family and community. Deeply acquainted with the cycles of...
info_outline
Women Making Medicine for Healing & Connection - Kami McBride
Medicine Stories
My most beloved herbal elder and I talk about our favorite subject- women throughout time using plants for self care, family healing, and community connection. After nearly 4 decades as a practicing herbalist and teacher, and in an age of informational overabundance, Kami has seen what actually works when it comes to truly embodying herbal knowing. (including the peek at what you see when you log in to the course). Two for this episode- 1) an extended conversation with Kami where we share our stories of Mothering Without Elders 2) two free videos with Kami entitled Garden Herb...
info_outline
Nourishment Lost: in Culty Spaces, Self Induced, & Culturewide - Dr. Suuzi Hazen
Medicine Stories
Suuzi and I continue the discussion sparked by my last episode about culty trends in the wellness space by talking about her past with Kundalini yoga- what drew her in and, eventually, how noticing the state of nourishment of those deepest into the cult precipitated her exit. We then catch listeners up on our midlife metabolic meltdown hEaLinG jOuRnEyS and what path we’re taking forward as we continue to recover our vitality and deepen our understanding of why women’s bodies are so metabolically expensive. for this episode include an extended conversation w/ Suuz about the reaction to the...
info_outline
German New Medicine: A Lot of Magical Thinking & A Little Bit Culty Too - Demetra Gray
Medicine Stories
GNM is an alt health trend that has grown in popularity in recent years. It is attractive to so many (including me and my guest, once) because it acknowledges the role that emotions and trauma play in physical health and symptom manifestation, something that mainstream medicine still somehow refuses to do. But just because some aspects of an ideology are true and helpful does not mean that the entire framework is valid. Critical thinking and humility are essential tools for navigating information overload and complex frameworks, especially when it comes to health. The allure of certainty and...
info_outline
Elemental Inheritance: Minerals & Metals in Modern Life - Niecia Nelson
Medicine Stories
What metabolic patterns did you inherit from your parents, and what may you have passed down to your own children? Many behavioral issues, and even what are usually considered personality traits (like that of high sensitivity), can be linked to mineral imbalances and overall health. Heavy metals often accumulate in individuals due to stress, compromised metabolic function, or ancestral imprints, not necessarily always due to direct exposure. Heroic detoxification protocols should be approached with caution, as forcing the removal of metals without addressing underlying nutrient...
info_outline
Fertility is a State of Being: Metabolic Wellness Through a Woman's Lifespan - Niecia Nelson
Medicine Stories
Fertility is not just the ability to conceive, but is an indicator of overall health and the capacity to nurture life; it is how we extend genetic strength across time and space into generations we will never know. Pregnancy and menopause are transformative states that reveal underlying metabolic and hormonal imbalances, emphasizing the complex interplay between biochemistry, psychology, and lifestyle. In an age of rampant metabolic dysfunction, let us together find our way to renewed vitality, for ourselves and for those yet to come. Resources: (extended convo w/ Niecia) Niecia on Take our...
info_outline
Women's Bodies are Metabolically Expensive (Why Things Break So Easily) - Dr. Suuzi Hazen
Medicine Stories
Chinese Medicine holds that women’s bodies are 10x harder to heal than men’s, as our reproductive system is biologically much more precious and metabolically more intensive to maintain. In this conversation my good friend, third time guest, and Doctor of Chinese Medicine Suuzi and I catch up one year after we both underwent severe energy loss to share how we’ve rebuilt and healed. We talk about shifting away from the mindset of achieving “optimum human health” (an illusion that contributed to our health crises), working and mothering in a state of total burnout, how our childrens’...
info_outlineThese times call for potent healers. If you’re feeling the call of the plants, this episode is for you.
IN THE INTRO:
- There is no right way to be an herbalist
- Guidance for navigating your unique plant path
IN THE INTERVIEW:
- The soul’s need to connect with nature
- The most common mistake that newcomers to the plant path are likely to make
- Why an herb will help one person but not another
- The vital ecology of the human being
- Seeing beyond symptoms (and the insufficient approach of merely managing them) to the root cause of illness
- An overview of the four phases of herbalism: indigenous/folk, vitalist/energetic, molecular/biomedical, evolutionary/integrative
- “I’m woo to the max, but I’m also scientific to the max”
- Healing is open-ended and endless, and to know healing is to know life itself
- The (in)significance of the past when trying to heal forward
- The herbalist is first and foremost and forever a student of nature
- Plants are the living, healing intelligence of the earth
- The transference of healing intelligence from nature into the plant and then from the plant into the person
- We can understand health and disease simply by understanding nature
- Narrowing down possible herbal remedies to find the right remedy for the right person- what is the ecosystem behind the symptom?
- Why some people get overwhelmed when they start walking the plant path
- Perceiving with the heart v memorizing information (bodily understanding is superior to intellectual knowledge)
- My favorite personal health reference library
- Herbal medicine should be accessible to anyone and everyone
- Helping others using medicinal plants, and crafting the most potent herbal remedies
IN THE OUTRO:
- My Top 5 Reasons to Be an Herbalist
LINKS:
- The Vitalist Herbal Practitioner Program
- The Evolutionary Herbalism website
- The Plant Path Podcast
- Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!)
- My website MythicMedicine.love
- Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy?
- Medicine Stories Facebook group
- Mythic Medicine on Instagram
- Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)