Herbal Supports for Living in the Anthropocene and Dealing with Climate Anxiety

Last week was a powerful week for storytelling and sharing our anxiety, stress, and fear over climate change and living in the age of the Anthropocene.  I really want to thank everyone for holding space for each other last week.  I honestly feel much better for three reasons–one, I think it is really good to share how we are feeling; two, it’s nice to know that I’m not in this alone in how I feel, and three, we actually got about 1/2″ of rain! So, am once again in a more hopeful place.  In the aftermath of everything, I decided it was time to re-evaluate the herbs I was using for support and to re-assess my overall approach to stress management.  And then I thought, well since so many of us are also struggling, it seems a good time to share some information on herbal support for all of us living through this age.  So here’s a follow-up post that focuses on herbs to support our overall stress and anxiety so we can all go out and do the great work needed to build a better tomorrow!

The thing that I love *most* about plant medicine is that it offers powerful healing in gentle and nourishing ways.  You can grow or forage your own medicine, and in doing so, develop a very deep relationship with the plants that offer you healing and strength. You can learn these simple and time-tested methods yourself.  While there are so many ways to use plant medicine, and I would encourage you to learn how to use herbs to support you during this difficult time.  I have turned to plant medicine again and again when I am feeling anxious, stressed, or have other conditions.  Plants are particularly good for long-term chronic conditions–like say, stress management when the world is in upheaval–because they do not A) cost much or are free to find/grow, B) they do not have the long-lasting and potentially detrimental side effects of modern pharmaceuticals, and C) they allow you to directly connect and deepen your relationship with the earth. This is part of my herbalism series of posts–for a complete listing of posts, please visit my Herbalism page.

Understanding Stress and Adrenal Fatigue

One of the consistent things I’m hearing from people (in many different places) is how stressed, run-down, and depleted they feel.  Things have been difficult for most people since the global pandemic, and if the stress of living through the pandemic wasn’t enough, we now have increasing climate change, a seemingly speeding up world, the upheaval of AI (which is radically reshaping some jobs, eliminating others, etc.), growing political instability, multiple wars happening, massive amounts of inflation, and general social upheaval.  Not to mention the other things that may be specific and personal to you–health, family, finances, and so forth.  This is all to say that there’s a lot of stress happening and the stress seems pretty constant and crippling.  It can be hard to catch a breath.  I believe that these challenges require us to tend to ourselves, care for oureslves, and care for others.

The Nervous System

Understanding how to use herbal supports during this difficult age begins with a discussion of how our nervous system works.  The Nervous system includes your brain, spinal cord, and nerves themselves and it coordinates all of the activity throughout the body. The Automatic Nervous System is “automatic” and therefore completely outside of conscious control; it maintains and governs the vital functions of the body, such as breathing, circulation, digestion, and heart rate. It has two modes: the sympathetic (fight or flight) and the parasympathetic (rest and digest).  Earlier in human history, the sympathetic nervous system was used to get us out of immediate danger—our bodies would respond to immediate danger by increasing our heart rate, heart contraction and raising blood pressure, diverting blood to skeletal muscles, stimulating the brain, speeding breathing, dilating pupils, releasing adrenalin, and releasing the body’s stores of fat and glucose. In the sympathetic nervous system state, anything that’s not immediately needed for survival, including our digestive system, our immune system and inflammatory responses, and our sexual organs, are essentially shut down.

Adrenal glands are tiny glands (about the size of a hickory nut) located on top of your kidneys. They regulate many hormones in your body, including your adrenaline and cortisol (with a stress response), your blood sugar, estrogen, testosterone, and more.  They are responsible for your general energy levels. Cortisol, which is known as a stress hormone, is great when we are dealing with immediate challenges – like losing control of your car or encountering a bear in the woods. This raises your blood pressure, provides you with a burst of energy, and pulls in energy from reproductive, digestive, and other systems not needed in an emergency.  Too much cortisol leads to many long-term health problems including digestive issues, reduction of healthy muscle and bone, weight gain, and more.

The problem for those of us living as modern humans is that stress doesn’t work like it did in earlier points in human history. Most stress is not stress we can just run away from and relax—rather, it’s continual and grating.  You can’t get away from all of this, even if you try.  Feelings of being overwhelmed, overworked, and isolated are three key signs of a continual sympathetic nervous system state. Due to modern demands and fast-paced cultures, we make things worse by pushing our bodies to go even further using various common stimulants (sugar, coffee, caffeine, energy drinks—in fact, caffeine mimics adrenaline in the body).

Prolonged stress responses encourage the adrenal glands to produce a hormone called cortisol into the blood, which again mobilizes stored glucose and fat, suppresses the inflammatory response (how the body can heal from damage), and taxing the liver. If the body continues to face stress, the body responds with a “general adaptation syndrome” – which is essentially a chronically stressed system—with the adrenal glands releasing all of the cortisone they can. Long-term exposure to cortisol taxes the liver and can lead to digestive problems, muscular tension, poor joint health, high blood pressure, various reproductive system issues–and eventually adrenal burnout (next section).

The Parasympathetic nervous system is where we are at rest.  This system increases our sexual functions, digestion, and healing processes in the body.  This is not only the place where we are able to rest and relax, but also where much of our deep healing happens—the body works to absorb more nutrients, build its reserves, and heal damage.

Adrenal Fatigue Due to Prolonged Stress

The body cannot stay in a chronically stressed state forever, and eventually, these high amounts of stress take serious physiological and mental tolls.  Eventually, the body is exhausted from being in a constant sympathetic nervous system place and suffers what is known as adrenal fatigue, adrenal depletion, or adrenal exhaustion. When this happens, we have a severely decreased ability to deal with stress, severe mental and physical exhaustion, and higher susceptibility to illness and disease.

Adrenal fatigue (aka adrenal burnout) is what happens when our bodies have been in the sympathetic nervous system state (the “fight or flight” response) for too long.  Here are some of the symptoms:

• Weight gain and difficulty losing weight
• Feeling like it’s a struggle just to maintain everyday living
• Depression and irritability
• Non-refreshing sleep (you get enough sleep, but you feel tired when you wake up)
• Being unable to cope with everyday stress, even the smallest stressors set you over the edge
• Feeling low-energy, overwhelmed, and run down (and feeling that way all the time or very often)
• Feeling the strong urge to nap in the afternoon (even if you haven’t traditionally napped)
• If you do have time off, literally collapsing and often getting ill
• Depending heavily on stimulants such as caffeine, energy drinks to get yourself moving and keep yourself going and awake
• Poor digestion, including undigested food or “stagnant” digestive states
• Cold sensitivity, feeling cold
• Being slow to recover from illness or injury, feeling that illnesses just linger long after they should be gone
• Difficulty concentrating on tasks or focusing
• Low stamina in general, getting really tired out from exercise or physical activity
• Feeling most energetic in the evening
• Craving sweet or salty foods

Adrenal burnout is not psychological—it is a physiological breakdown of the body’s energy system. People who are in burnout do hold full-time jobs, and may even appear in good health—but they are chronically tired or stressed, and may require stimulants to keep going.  When they go on vacation, they often crash or get sick because their bodies are in a fatigued state. Eventually, if these issues are not managed and the body given time to rest, a major health crisis can emerge.

Holistic Approaches to Stress and Anxiety

So now that you have a sense of how stress manifests in the body and the body’s response, I wanted to share some general practices of stress management from the herbalism community. I practice Traditional Western Herbalism using a holistic framework.  What this means is that while we can use plants as healers, we have to look at the whole person and see how we can balance mental health needs.  That is, we can take herbs and they can help, but often, we also need nourishment, rest, and rejuvenation.

Herbalist David Hoffman suggests four things for general stress relief:

• Spiritual Integration and community (meditation, prayer, connection to nature, spiritual community)
• Bodywork (Yoga, dance, massage, acupuncture, chiropractic care)
• Psychotherapy/Mind work (Psychoanalysis, Gestalt, Counseling)
• Medicine (anything that is taken internally) (Herbs, Drugs, and Diet)

Adrenal Fatigue requires its own special support:

Adrenal fatigue is often something that happens to us over a long period of time—and it takes a lot of time to recover from this condition and find ourselves in a better place of help.  Herbs can help, but they can’t “fix the problem” without the following:

• Lifestyle changes include getting better and consistent sleep, getting rest during the day, finding ways of avoiding stress and managing stress better (meditation, exercise, reducing stress).
• Diet changes include avoiding stimulants (short-term, they pick you up but long-term, they put further stress on the adrenals, making them work harder to produce energy), cutting down on sweets and simple carbohydrates, and adding more leafy greens and healthy proteins at every meal. Make sure you are getting enough B-complex vitamins, magnesium, zinc, and vitamins A, C, and E.
• Herbal supports are useful to help directly rebuild damaged adrenals over time. And it is to these that we now turn!

Nervine Herbs for the Nervous System

The word “nervine”  is that it is a general term that describes herbs that have some effect on the nervous system.  They come in several different varieties.  I have more about choosing the right nervines below.  I will also share that this entire classification system (and really, most of this post) was taught to me by Folk Herbalist Jim McDonald (who has a fantastic series of inperson and online courses).

Relaxing Nervines:  These are plants that help relax the nervous system and are calming in nature.  Some are tonic, meaning they work over longer periods of time, while others are immediate.  Many of these are very gentle herbs and can be enjoyed in a cup of tea, tincture, and through aromatherapy.

• Chamomile (Matriciaria recutita): Chamomile is all-around excellent for relaxation, especially when there are stomach issues (butterflies, tension, etc).
• Passionflower (Passiflora Incarata): Passionflower works both in the short and long term, meaning that she is a nervine troporestorative. Passionflower is particularly indicated for people who carry around excess stress and have difficulty releasing it.
• Lavender (Lavendula officinalis): Lavender is a nervine that works on the mind, helping gain clarity and relaxing the mind. Lavender can also be used to help people sleep effectively when racing thoughts keep them up (Lavender is particularly effective for this use when combined with Hops and Valerian, two sedative nervines, below).
• Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis): Lemon balm is a fantastic nervine with a broad relaxant action. Lemon Balm functions as a troporestorative that will nourish and strengthen the nervous system over time. Lemon balm is good for people who are downtrodden/detached—it uplifts the spirits and helps deal with melancholia.  When combined with Catnip, Lemon Balm also good for people who are overstimulated and hyper. Lemon balm is good for tension-based migraines, insomnia, and anxiety-induced palpitations.  I will also say that like some others on this list, she is not contraindicated with other pharmaceuticals and is very gentle and can be used by animals and children as well.
• Wood Betony (Stachys officinalis): Wood Betony is a fabulous nervine, gentle and with a very broad action on the mind and body. Wood Betony is a digestive tonic, calms a stressed digestive system that is caused by nervous tension, anxiety, or depression. The herb is also indicated for those who cannot eat or stop eating when they are stressed. Wood Betony also is indicated when people have racing thoughts that prevent relaxation or sleep. Wood Betony also can help relax the physical body and is good for headaches caused by tension and stress. Wood Betony also helps you improve your concentration, focus, and memory. Really, I see Wood Betony is one of my top herbs to work with for recovering from adrenal depletion because of her wide range of supportive and nourishing actions. Wood Betony also has ties to magical and creative work.
• Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora): Skullcap functions both short-term as well as long-term as a troporestorative (it builds over time) and has a stronger relaxant effect than the other herbs on this list. Skullcap effectively soothes nervous tension while renewing and revivifying the central nervous system.  This herb is useful for any condition associated with exhaustion or depressed states and can be used for premenstrual tension.  Skullcap is also good for hysteria, restless sleep, nightmares, and insomnia.  Skullcap is particularly indicated when people have irritability, crankiness, or emotional reactivity.
• St. Johns Wort (Hypericum perforatum): St. Johns has nervine relaxant effects for anxiety, neuralgia, anxiety, tension, and similar problems. There is debate among herbalists about whether St. Johns helps depression, although firsthand and secondhand experiences suggest that it can have an “uplifting of the spirits” effect.  St. Johns is also a powerful anti-inflammatory herb (among other medicinal virtues).  Note that St. Johns is contraindicated for those who are on most forms of pharmaceutical anti-depressants.  I love St. Johns because she blooms at the summer solstice and really brings that brightening energy into one’s life!

Sedative Nervines:  More potent than a relaxing nervine is a sedative nervine—these are plants that allow us more deep relaxation and can aid in rest and sleep.  Most of these plants have a very “skunky” quality.  Most sedatives should be used for short-term relief.

• Valerian (Valerian Officinalis): Valerian is good for someone who is hyper-alert, anxious, panicky, fidgety, anxious, and worried. Valerian is really fantastic for people who have anxiety and nervous sleeplessness and carry bodily symptoms of tension (such as muscle cramping and indigestion). Use any time in which tension and anxiety cause problems, either psychological or physical.
• Catnip (Nepeta cataria): Catnip is a Nervine Sedative, Relaxant, and Digestive Relaxant.   Catnip is safe for the whole family (including children) and is a gentle nervine sedative in addition to general relaxant properties. You can use it for hyperactive kids really safely, including to get them to go to sleep. Catnip is particularly good for people who hold stress in the gut, indigestion, or when they are are nauseous or have butterflies in their stomach.

  

• Hops (Humulus lupulus): Hops is a central nervous system relaxant and sedative nervine.  Hops is really useful for people who are very anxious, very strung out, and can’t sleep.  This herb helps them get a few nights of good sleep.  You can really knock people out with hops as it is a strong sedative (and this is part of why people enjoy drinking hoppy beers–the hops allow them to relax).  Hops is really useful for insomnia, especially when insomnia is caused by tension and anxiety (or even when tension leads to headache, indigestion, restlessness, and lack of sleep).  Use in combination with Valerian for added effect. Hops is best for short term use, like Valerian.  For longer-term, someone can transition from hops to a more restorative nervine, like Wood Betony, Skullcap, Lemon Balm or Passionflower.

Stimulating Nervines:  Stimulating nervines can help “perk up” the nervous system through stimulating the mind and body and/or through promoting circulation and getting the blood flowing.

• Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis): Rosemary is particularly effective in treating “nervous depression” by helping provide a pick-me-up to those in need. She is good for nervous tension of all kinds, and in dealing with immediate stress when you still need to “keep going” through the moment. You can use a tea, floral water/hydrosol or diluted essential oil for this purpose very successfully.
• Peppermint or Spearmint (Mentha piperita, Mentha spicata): When you need a pick-me-up that isn’t too intense, peppermint or spearmint tea is an excellent choice.  Peppermint stimulates the nervious system in a gentle way, it is an antispasmodic (helping with body spasms and cramping) and carminative (helping soothe digestion). Spearmint to a lesser extent has the same medicinal functions but is generally milder than Peppermint.
• Holy Basil (O. sanctum, O. gratissimum):  Holy Basil is a fantastic herb in the mint family (warming) that is used for a wide variety of purposes.  Holy Basil is an adaptogen properties (see below), the herb is initially stimulating (especially to the mind, where it opens up cerebral circulation) but then brings calm, solidity, and a sense of groundedness to get you through the long haul.  Holy Basil also helps with mental focus and allows us to better adapt to stress; and opens and balances us.

Adaptogen Herbs for Adrenal and Long-Term Support

Adaptogens are a class of herbs that, over a period of time, build overall health and wellness and can help you build resiliency and overcome the negative effects of stress and adrenal fatigue, restoring balance within the body. Herbalist David Hoffman writes,

“An adaptogen enables [the body] to avoid reaching a point of collapse or over-stress because it can adapt ‘around’ the problem.…the core of their action appears to be in helping the body deal with stress. Adaptogens seem to increase the threshold of resistance to damage via the support of adrenal gland and possibly pituitary gland function. By stretching the meaning of the word it can come to mean what in the past was called a tonic. This is especially when an herb can have a normalizing effect; that is, contradictory actions depending on the body’s needs. This restorative quality is a common and unique feature of herbal medicines” (The Herbal Handbook). 

Not all adaptogens are appropriate for all people—you are going to be taking these herbs for a longer period of time, so you want to make sure they match your own needs and constitution (see below).  Some common adaptogens include:

Astragalus (Astragalus membranaceus): Astragalus is anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, protects the body and strengthens the immune system.  Astragalus is also useful for those with compromised immune systems.  Astragalus helps the body adapt to stress of all kinds and also helps the body renew and rebuild energy reserves.

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera): Ashwagandha decreases anxiety, improves overall sleep, and helps the body adjust to stress.  Ashwagandha provides a nice boost to the body’s overall energy and helps with fatigue and difficulty concentrating.Ashwagandha also rebuilds the adrenals over time.

Lemon Balm (Melissa Officinalis) *: Helps us recover from nervous exhaustion, insomnia, or low spirits. Lemon Balm has a gentle and powerful effect on the central nervous system over time.

Stinging Nettle (Urtica Dioca): Stinging nettle is a first-rate adaptogen that restores depleted or exhausted adrenal glands and brightens the spirits.  Nettle is also a nourishing food with many micronutrients that can be added to your regular diet.  Stinging nettle leaf and seed can both be used for this purpose; I have personally found the seed to be the strongest medicinal action. Nettle leaves help specifically lessen the intensity of adrenal burnout and help you recover. One of the key things nettles do is shift our bodies from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic nervous system state.  Jim McDonald writes in Nettles, Oats, and You (PDF), “Nettle is a common weed that houses an abundance of healing virtues. I consider it, along with Burdock, one of the most universally beneficial herbs to use as a basis for restoring and maintaining well-being…nettle is one of the archetypal “alterative’ herbs, herbs that nourish our health by strengthening and balancing metabolic functions… Both Nettle Seed and Nettle Leaf should be taken on a long-term, regular basis.  Consistency here is critically important.”  Jim describes the personality who can benefit from nettle the most as someone who is jumpy, nervous, twitchy, anxious, and constantly in a sympathetic nervous system response.  I will also share that nettle is easy to grow, sustainable and grows like a weed!

Holy Basil (Ocimum sanctum): Holy Basil provides a physical and mental boost of energy, improves focus and mental clarity, restores overall health, helps reduce reactions to stress. A warming and stimulating herb that nourishes the nervous system and supports the adrenals.

Schizandra (Schizandra Chinesis): This Chinese berry is also known as “five flavor berry” and is a wonderful adaptogen that helps us revoer from long-term stress.  Schizandra stimulates and enhances central nervous system, a premier adaptogen herb that helps concentration, coordination, and overall physical stamina.  Boosts the immune system and helps with sleep.

Reishi (Ganoderma Lucidium, Appalatum, or Tsugae):  Reishi is my single mushroom on this list, and I recently wrote extensively about the virtues of this incredible mushroom!  Reishi combines strong immune system support with anti-inflammatory action with a calming and strengthening effect on the central nervous system.

Oats / Milky Oats (Avena Sativa)*:  Gentle, powerful herb and a fantastic restorative, particularly for stabilizing and rebuilding the nervous system. Any oats are tonic and nurturing, but milky oats are most so (milky oats are tinctured when the oats are green and plump, and you can squeeze them and get the milk!). Jim McDonald writes, “Regular usage builds up both the structure and function of nervous and adrenal tissue, resulting in a lasting strengthening effect. It is especially well suited to nervous exhaustion due to debilitative nervous system disorders, overwork (mental or physical), drug abuse, or trauma ,and should be used during any period of prolonged stress.”

Passionflower  (Passiflora incarnate): Anti-spasmodic plant that can help with tension headaches, nervous restlessness, and support a restful sleep. Rebuilds nervous system over time.  Strong nervine with a broad physical action on the body.

Wood Betony (Betonica Officinalis, Stachys Officinalis): Good for an over-dominant head and mind or for someone who is not always connected to reality. Will rebuild and strengthen the central nervous system over time and repeated use.  Strong nervine plant.

Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora):  Strong nervine plant, functions like a natural tranquilizer to chill someone out who is overstressed and overworked. Good for angry or intense people.  Skullcap is also particularly useful for women with hormonal imbalances.

Selecting the Right Herbs for Me!

I’ve provided a very extensive list above, and nearly all of these plants are either able to be easily found or grown yourself.  Some of these are used more in Traditional Chinese Medicine (Reishi, Shizandra, Astralagus) or Ayurveda (Holy Basil, Ashwaghanda) but a lot of these are part of the tradition of Traditional Western herbalism (meaning that you can likely grow, forage, or find these yourself). These plants include oats, nettle, wood betony, skullcap, passionflower, stinging nettle, lemon balm, catnip, rosemary, peppermint, and hops!  I would suggest that part of the medicine is in the cultivation or harvesting of your own plants as that deepens your relationship with them over time.  But in the meantime, by all means, get yourself some of this plant material from a reputable herbalist or medicine maker.

Energetics and Constitution: How is the stress manifesting in your body?

Part of how you choose a nervine and/or adaptogen is to think about the specific indications for the different plants.  Stress manifests in our bodies in different ways–some people get stressed and then fully withdraw, while others may have thoughts a mile a minute and go into a panic, still others have stress affect their digestion or they get headaches.  A lot of what I tried to do above is to share some specific indications for the different nervine and adaptogen plants to help you pick.   (This is also just scratching the surface of herbal energetics, I will have to write more about that at some point!)

Contraindications

A second thing to be aware of is that these plants have potent medicinal actions. Some are very gentle, like Lemon Balm, Mint, or Catnip, while others can interfere with pharmaceuticals that you are taking (St. Johns, Reishi, Ashwagandha, etc).  So you will want to do your research to make sure whatever pharmaceuticals you might be on are not contraindicated.  I really appreciate David Hoffman’s Medical Herbalism book to research contraindications.

Pulse Testing

A pulse test is a very simple way to see how you react to the herb and if your body will like the herb.   Start by sitting with the herb and pay attention to your pulse (you can even feel your pulse or tune in with your heartbeat).

Now, sniff the herb and again feel your pulse–do you sense any changes?

Pay attention to your body and feel your body in relationship to the herb.  You can generally get a sense from your pulse and your body if your body will respond well to the herb. If you are feeling good, you can do the Trial Run.

Trial Run

Give it a trial run and keep a journal of how you feel.  Some herbs work slowly and build over time (like say, Nettle and Oats) while others you can feel an immediate effect (Passionflower, Hops, Valerian).  I suggest you start with a baseline assessment.  Sit and check in with yourself–how does your body feel? How is your mind? What is the state of your emotions? What does your spirit feel?  Write this assessment down.  Now take the herb, and sit for about 10 min and relax.  Then check in again–do you notice any differences?  Keep taking the herb and then do a check in after a few days and again after a week.  Many herbs are subtle but potent, and they build over time.  I like to encourage people who want to use nervines and/or adaptogens long-term to give it one month before deciding if the herbs are working for them or not.

Taking the Herbs Regularly

The final piece of this (rather long post!) is to figure out the best way to take your herbs on a regular basis.  There are lots of options here–some of the nervines have their medicine in their aroma, so using aromatherapy with an essential oil diffuser is certainly a nice option (Lavender, Rosemary, Lemon Balm, Chamomile, Mints).  Making a nice tea and drinking tea once or twice a day is also an option for some of these herbs.  Others are best used in tincture or capsule form.  One of the things you want to make sure you do is find a way to build these herbs directly into your life in a way you will always take them.  For me, the primary way I am taking my herbs (which right now is Nettles, Oats, Reishi, and Wood Betony) to blend them into a tincture.  I sit the tincture bottle on my bathroom sink next to my toothbrush with a little shotglass.  Twice a day, when I go to brush my teeth, I fill the shot glass up with water and then add 1/2 dropper of tincture (I don’t like the taste of alcohol, so this makes it more palatable). And then I do my shot of herbs, brush my teeth, and go about my day.

The goal here is to find a regular way to integrate your herbs–especially those adaptogens–so that you can have them consistently in your life.  This is how they will do the most good.  You can aalso combine this with other spiritual practices that you are already doing daily: meditations, nature walks, and so forth.

Conclusion

I am so grateful to the living earth for providing so many wonderful and nourishing plants and mushrooms.  I feel like we need the earth and her medicines more than ever before and she needs us just as much.  Let us walk hand in hand together with her for the good of all beings!

Announcements – Herbal Education!

For those are local or regional in Western and Central Pennsylvania, USA, I’m happy to share two upcoming classes that still have a few spots left – I am offering a backyard medicine-making class at our homestead and then we also have a Women’s Herbal Retreat in Centre Hall, PA.  More details can be found at the PA School of Herbalism website!

August 13th: Backyard Herbalism and Medicine Making. With Dana O’Driscoll. August 13th, 5-7pm. (Indiana County, located 15 min from Indiana, PA). In this 2-hour hands-on class, you will be introduced to the most common lawn and garden plants that are found in almost every lawn or garden in Pennsylvania.  We will specifically cover plant identification, harvest, their medicinal uses (material medical), and learn how to make a range of basic plant medicines including a backyard healing salve, jewelweed-infused witch hazel for poison ivy, and stomach-ease tea. Students will be able to take three herbal creations home with them. Class cost $25 + 5 for materials fee.

August 24th: 830-4pm Women’s Herbal Retreat with Briel Beaty and Dana O’Driscoll.  Join Briel and Dana of the Pennsylvania School of Herbalism for a Women’s Herbal Retreat Day at Rhoneymeade in Centre Hall. All those who identify as women are welcome to join us. We will spend the day drinking herbal tea and learning about plants to support women at all stages of life. In addition to our herbal focus we will have yoga, breathing and meditation practices throughout the day. You will get to make and take a customized herbal tea and face spritzer to go home with you and we will have some fun herbal drinks and treats to share. At Rhoneymeade in Centre Hall, PA. Sliding Scale $65-95. Preregistration is required