Transcript: Christine Garvin 0:02
Hey everyone, welcome to this week’s episode of hormonally speaking. This week, we are diving into something a little bit different. We talk somewhat about herbs on the podcast, but we haven’t really delved too deep into them. And I don’t know, I can’t recall if we’ve actually talked about Flower Essences in the past, which is interesting because it is something that was part of my training years ago and my master’s program, and can be really useful in a lot of situations is a very gentle support system that I think maybe we kind of jump over sometimes because we’re like, let’s do the big stuff and do it hard and do it fast. Right. So today I’m talking with Sarah Marie Miller, who is a clinical herbalist, nutritionist, flower essence practitioner, postpartum doula artists and podcast host of time in the studio. She is passionate about womb wellness, and loves helping folks to be more resilient, happy and healthy through plant connection, nourishment, rest, creativity and self compassion. She is about to launch a course savor this season. Food is medicine and herbal self care at the end of September. You can find her at her website, time in the studio.com. And that is thy and E as time in the studio.com. Welcome Sarah Sarah Miller 1:24
Oh my gosh, Christine, thank you so much for having me. I’m so delighted. Christine Garvin 1:28
Yeah. So wonderful. Like even just looking at your website, I was thinking about like, like that feeling of how nature and herbs and flowers can be such a support system to us, and especially I think as women, right when this like super Go Go Go world. And they can be such a reminder of just kind of really slowing down and sort of breathing into life in a different way. So I’m excited to talk to you about all of that today. Can we start off with how you got into herbal medicine in the first place? Sarah Miller 2:07
Yeah, beautiful. Thank you. And I think there is just such a amazing connection and revitalization that can happen when we connect with plants in different ways. And it can be, you know, through Flower Essences or herbs or adding more plants into our diet. So there’s so many ways to connect. And yeah, thank you for that question. I would say I’ve always been interested in plants and different healing remedies. You know, I did yoga teacher trainings and Reiki attunements. And I was always really interested in learning to feel better learning acupressure and different things like that and interested in food. And then I was living in New York City about eight years ago, and maybe it was nine years ago. And I just had all these weird symptoms happening, didn’t know what was going on. You know, maybe a year later after seeing lots of different doctors and things. It came to be that I had Lyme disease. And I doctors were just not really any help at all. At that point. I think it was getting, there’s a little bit more awareness whose things are getting a little bit better. But I think Lyme is still under underserved and under not understood very well. And so I started working with herbalist that my friend suggested Richard Mandelbaum, and it was so transformative, just starting to work with plants. One of our sessions, we just took a walk through the park and we’re just talking about plants. And he suggested all these different teas and tinctures to try and I just I started feeling better. And then I also worked with nutrition and started cutting out gluten and dairy from my diet. That made a huge difference as well. And I just realized I wanted to study plants. And so I found a school in Colorado. I grew up in Colorado, so I felt drawn to come back here. And in New York is just a lot. Especially when you’re going through a chronic illness, like there’s just so much stress your body’s going through and then to be in a stressful, but magical place but stressful, right? It was just a little too much for my nervous system. So it’s like I need to be in a place where things are a little more chill and slow and nature oriented. So I came to Colorado and started studying at the color to school clinical herbalism which has about a three year program and did all three years of that. So just learning about different plants, how they end wracked with our bodies working with flower essences. And I got to work with a number of different practitioners through that time. And kind of a lot of self study as well, like different plants and teas. And I’ve gotten better not doing anything. Crazy and heroic are. You know, I think a lot of times with Lyme, people are, though, take antibiotics for years. And I find in my experience, you know, everyone is different. But in my experience, that was not. I did that for a couple of weeks. And it just made me feel worse and worse and worse. So I was like, that’s not the path for me. Christine Garvin 5:43
Right, as we know, it wrecks your gut, you know, that’s the hard part. It’s like, how do you heal your body when you’re wrecking your gut at the same time? Yeah. Yeah, so Sarah Miller 5:54
it’s, I just am so grateful for the plants and working with flower essences has been really transformative as well. So those are interesting, because it’s like a vibrational medicine. And it was actually designed by a doctor, Dr. Bach, in England, in the 1800s. And he realized the underneath people’s physical illnesses. The true cause was from emotions springing up in the body. And so maybe it was fear. Or maybe it was jealousy, you know, different emotions really fuel what’s going on, externally in our bodies. And so, Flower Essences were so profound at helping me kind of unravel and untangle the emotions that were at play I find in chronic illness. A lot of emotions come with that. And in nutrition, as well. Yeah, yeah. So there, I mean, we are, we are holistic beings, we have feelings, emotions, like, we’re vibrate, we live in a vibrational universe, and so it’s just so fun to be able to add a flower essence, into someone’s life and see things just totally transform in this beautiful way. So, Christine Garvin 7:24
yeah, I remember taking, you know, I think I had maybe two or three sort of, you know, extra classes that were part of my master’s program and flower essences, and it was interesting, because, you know, the, it would be like a weekend class, and we would go and, you know, kind of work through that first day, and the instructor would create, you know, a flower at or help us create a flower essence, that day, and then you would take it that night, and come back then the next day, and people would feel differently, you know, it was like, amazing off of taking it like twice, or whatever it was, you know, over that night and, and you can really see the power of that. And I you know, I’m glad that you’re speaking to sort of that emotional, like component of health, which I talk a lot about on the podcast as being, you know, the driver of our physical symptoms, and something that is so often overlooked, because it can be tough, right? It can be tough to really get into the trauma, and to the emotional stuff. But you know, you can eat the perfect diet and take all the right supplements and move your body and all those things. But if you have this underlying emotional component that you aren’t dealing with, then things most likely aren’t going to get better. Sarah Miller 8:45
Yeah, yeah, so true. And I mean, it doesn’t have to be Flower Essences like I feel like even just drinking a tea, like chamomile tea just can reset your nervous system help things release and relax. So I think even through just like sprinkling more plants onto our food, you know, doing sprinkles, like Hawthorne, that is a really beautiful heart medicine that can improve circulation in the brain, in the body in the heart. And it’s also very hard protective as well. both emotionally and physically. They there are studies with Hawthorne that show that it helps to regulate heartbeats and can help to strengthen the heart muscle and yeah, make it more resilient. Christine Garvin 9:35
That’s amazing. You know, it’s just such a reminder that nature has everything that we need to heal us. And we’re, we’re always looking for these really complicated things. And it’s right out there, you know, I mean, I always tell people, even just getting a nature and doing that, if you can on a daily basis is going to change a whole lot for your health, you know? Sarah Miller 9:59
Yeah, so how are like getting outside. I love when people can try to get outside before 10am. Because it really helps to reset the circadian rhythm within your body. You know, being near a window can help a little bit. But really getting outside a lot, a lot of windows have a UV coating, right protection. So being outside in the sunshine, letting the sun be on your skin and on your face. It just helps you to sleep better sleep as medicine as well, like, yeah, that is such a huge component to hormonal regulation and our gut microbiome. I mean, if we’re not getting sleep, everything starts to Christine Garvin 10:50
exactly pretty quickly. Yeah, that’s I mean, I’m sure it’s similar with you. So many of my clients, particularly in their 40s, that comes to me, the first thing we really focus on asleep because their sleep is awful. I haven’t had one of them come to me and be like, Yeah, it’s like, great for eight hours, like, no, that’s not what’s happening. You know, it’s, and like you said, I think I mean, that circadian rhythm just underlies our hormones. And so we can’t get our hormones back in check, you know, working right if we can’t get that circadian rhythm back and how it’s supposed to be working. Yeah. So can I ask you, because I obviously, I know that it’s individual. And you know, we would need to actually talk to someone to do recommendations, but with Lyme, I’m curious, what kind of herbs were useful for you in that situation? Sarah Miller 11:43
Yeah, I mean, I think that’s a great, I just want to just reflect that back like yes, each person is such an individual what works well, for one person isn’t going to work well for another. But there are definitely things that I find are helpful for numerous people. I really go to just helping to address depletion, nutrient depletion, and just adding in herbs that are just packed full of vitamins and minerals. And those like just a daily infusion of nettles, red raspberry leaf alfalfa, you know, a little bit of I love time, buckets time in the studio, and time is an amazing antiviral, antifungal antibacterial herb, so it kind of gently gets into the body and kind of finds those little pockets of things that don’t belong and just helps to gently excavate it. So I’m not into heroic medicine. The school that I went to Paul Bergner was one of the main teachers and he’s kind of this legendary herbalist and his big thing is be a boring herbalist. Do anything crazy, just keep it simple, encourage more variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs, because most people aren’t getting enough variety in their microbiome. And so if you can just add in a beautiful nourishing tonic with like 10 different herbs, you’re adding in all these different phytonutrients and different supports for the body so that we have this web of web of support in our gut microbiome rather than just like 10 Different plants or something. So I find just a really delicious nourishing tonic. I love Gotu Kola is phenomenal in there as well. cat’s claw is a herb that I worked with a lot buehner Steven Herod, buner has a lot of different protocols for Lyme, and I think there is validity to it. But for me, I found it to be a little bit too complicated and cumbersome and too many kind of heavy hitters. For me. I just was more about like, just saturating myself in nutrients and demulcent herbs bitter herbs, like I love a little mother Ward is wonderful for digestive microbiome, I think remembering to add in those bitter flavors has. There’s this other herbalist Guido might say and he says tastes bitter to feel better. And so that is such a wonderful little saying because it’s it’s the Forgotten flavor. Yeah. added states and so I oftentimes wonder like, Oh, are we sick because we’re not tasting any bitter plants. So getting in those that arugula, those radishes, you know, just different plants that have a little bit of that bitter flavor. It just helps to wake up your palate, your tongue, and those enzymes start being like, oh my gosh, what’s going on this is I have work to do, you know, it kind of, it’s like this workout for our salivary glands. And then I love arome aromatic herbs, to kind of acts more like as a massage for the gut microbiome. So you know, adding in a little bit of that lavender, or anise seeds, cinnamon, a little bit of clove, like getting in some aromatics, and then double sense as well. So the Molson herbs are really, really powerful in that they kind of act as this slime, and coding the gut microbiome from T from tongue to tail, you know, it’s just when you think of the gut microbiome, that the lining of our stomachs is only one cell thick and is very easy to get a leaky gut. And, you know, there’s just these like holes kind of blasted through our belly. And so those demotions kind of act as like a protective jello coating that surface so that you’re less reactive to things I find if people add in a little bit of marshmallow or slippery elm, aloe, seaweed, things like that, that are just really gooey, gooey, it helps people to be less reactive to things. It also supports if there’s any issues with constipation or diarrhea, so it can go both ways. It’s great for issues with GERD or acid reflux. I think just having something that coats and is soothing, it kind of it acts as this like gentle slime that helps to gently break away biofilms within the body gets those kind of, I feel like it’s almost like this, just rain water washing away things that no longer belong within your body, you know, just, it’s just like softening and releasing things that don’t belong. So I find the most sense, bitters, and aromatics are my friend and just adding in a nourishing tonic. So I just want to simplify that a little bit. So if somebody wanted to make their own tea that incorporated all of those elements, they could do something like nettles, alfalfa, they could add in some marshmallow root, some spearmint for that aromatic a little pinch of Mother Wort for that bitter elements and licorice for a little bit more demulcent. So those are just some herbs you could add in a nourishing tonic to have every day and raspberry leaf as we’re speaking about hormones, yeah, and supporting women, raspberry leaf, raspberry leaf Oatstraw. And nettles are three herbs that are oftentimes in I put in formulas for women, especially pregnancy postpartum, like I just find that can be really supportive. But raspberry leaf, you know, it almost has a little bit of that slightly fruity flavor that raspberry has, and it’s just this amazing room tonic, so it helps kind of pull the wound back together. It’s very tone of fine. Has that kind of tannic drawing. Just supportive quality to it. It’s also a really beautiful phyto estrogen. So adding in some of those phyto estrogens like anything in the mint family, as I mentioned before, Mother ward or sage, spearmint mint time, you know those things that are have those kind of minty qualities to them. They’re in the Lommy ACA family is the mint family and adding those in can just be really supportive for the gut as well. So I think a nourishing tonic tea is a wonderful suggestion and I love to add in. Yeah, that raspberry leaf is just wonderful for supporting women. And then getting in those phyto estrogens because they As they help to excavate the forms of estrogen that are kind of the cranky, Cranky estrogen, I think it’s s drone, which is, you know, if you can help get that out of the body, it just helps us to feel better. So adding in herbs that support our hormones and act as this web of support for our liver, our gut, our brain, you know, all these different aspects of ourselves. Christine Garvin 20:35
I love that I’m like wanting to run and make a tonic for myself right now. All I want to do is drink tea now. But you know, I am so glad you brought up the bitters. Because I think that that’s something like you said, it’s just not part of our diet in general. But it’s interesting, right? Because a lot of people say that maybe drink alcohol will like an alcoholic drink that has bitters in it, you know? So I tell people, they’re like, what’s bitters? I’m like, Well, if you’ve had like this kind of alcoholic drink, like it has bitters mixed in, and that’s kind of what levels out the flavor, you know, and it’s like, you can take those without the alcohol to stimulate your digestion. I have, I don’t know why I just always have been drawn to them. If since I first had them. And I like how many options you have now around it, you know, you can get like little sprays, you can keep it in your bag, that kind of thing. And it’s just something that you’re like, Oh, I just want a different little flavor. And you know, take it they’re not all like super, super, super crazy, better, like I think some people think they are. But I think theirs is you know, we were talking about before we got on that. training through restorative wellness solutions, it’s just like, digestion is compromised in the majority of us in the United States, right. And we need to be stimulating our, you know, hydrochloric acid in our stomach, which the digestive bitters can help with. And then we certainly have major issues with acid reflux, and GERD, and leaky gut and all of those things. And really, when you start doing a kind of a healing protocol, often you bring in those herbs. You know, I think a lot of people don’t think about it, because it comes in a supplement form. But really, those are just herbs in this supplement form. And I’ve met very few people who don’t need some level of gut lining lovin. You know, and, you know, as you mentioned, and I’m really glad you mentioned this, because I try and explain to people, you know, the gut lining, if you kind of, if you imagine goes from your mouth down to your anus, and it’s just kind of one long to write that that’s happening there. And that lining is kind of similar to our outer scan, but even more susceptible to damage, right, we have like multiple layers of our iris scan to protect us. And it’s a lot less going on inside. And so you can see how it really can be damaged easily, especially from inflammatory foods and things like that. And so I can’t imagine there’s a person that doesn’t need that support. Yeah, I Sarah Miller 23:25
mean, I feel like everyone can do, there’s always, you can always do a little better, you could always do a little worse. You know, I think it is wonderful to just find ways that you can weave it into your life to improve your gut microbiome because it is something everyone could stand to benefit from a little improvement. So a couple, something that came to mind as you’re talking is the idea of an herbal pesto. So you something like I’m just thinking of how our most people don’t have enough hydrochloric acid in their stomach, especially if there’s a chronic illness. Part of the underlying cause is oftentimes low hydrochloric acid and so that can be connected to a zinc deficiency. So you could make a pesto with some pumpkin seeds which are really high in zinc. You could add in some dandelion greens. Oftentimes, you can get that at different grocery stores or if you have a yard yard, sprayed with chemicals, you can harvest your own dandelion greens, and that’s free medicine. You know, you could do dandelion greens, you could add in a little bit of garlic, which is a great antifungal antiviral element, a little bit of Himalayan sea salts that has like trace minerals, some really wonderful organic olive oil little squeeze of lemon ice sometimes we’ll do like roasted roasted sunflower seeds, they just give it a little bit of that nutty cheesy quality instead of parmesan cheese if people are going dairy free because that can sometimes be supportive, you know for for a limited time or extended time depending on what’s going on. But yeah, I think an herbal pesto, I’m always trying to figure out how to make food, my medicine. So, you know, that’s an easy way you can add in a lot of those different elements of the bitter, the salty, the sour, bringing in those different flavors. And you know, you could even puree in a little bit of sauerkraut to add it, you know, make the living food. So I’m always trying to have more alive food that’s alive. Making different ferments and things is just so supportive for our gut microbiome. You could easily make a little food sprinkle just with some nettle. I do like a nettle go Marcio. You can use sesame seeds that are those are really high in phyto estrogens as well. So you could do sesame seeds ground nettle ground seaweed, Christine Garvin 26:18
I was gonna say get the get some of the iodine in there, right? Sarah Miller 26:21
Yeah. And seaweed is wonderful. It acts as this amazing wound healer as well. So if you have like a cut on your hand, we have some seaweed, you can just damp in the seaweed. I wouldn’t want to do the wasabi seaweed. But Christine Garvin 26:38
yeah, Sarah Miller 26:40
I’ve seen it you can just put it on a cut and it helps it to heal. It’s wonderful for after a birth, postpartum women, you know, as their healing their perennial if there’s any tearing, just a little seaweed applied to the perineum is the fastest way to heal that tissue because it’s full cellulose and it’s just full of those vitamins, minerals, and helps the skin come back together. So seaweed, and if you’re thinking of what things are doing, externally, internally, that is amazing. So I love adding in more seaweed to our diet because yeah, it has that iodine, those trace minerals that Molson quality, it’s just so coding and soothing and supportive. So, yeah, oftentimes, people are like, oh, what can I do to make my skin better? If you want to make your skin better, make your gut better, like the gum is the Empress of the body. When you take care of your gut, you are taking care of all parts of yourself, you will sleep better, you will have more exciting libido, you will think more clearly you will feel better in general, you know, like when you take care of your gut, you take care of everything. So I love just doing things to support our belly health. Yeah. Christine Garvin 28:02
Well, and you know, going on about the seaweed too, you know, I definitely find that a lot of women are deficient in iodine. And we can see that in terms of fibrocystic breasts, ovarian cysts, even fibroids, that’s usually pretty good indication if you have some growth like that going on that you’re deficient in iodine because we’re not really getting it in our diets very much, you know, so such a huge help to get the that seaweed for sure. And, you know, if you add some Brazil nuts and then you’re gonna get the Selenium that supports support your thyroid to along with, you know, utilizing the iodine properly. So, I did have a question about a couple questions. So when you’re talking about using seaweed on the perennial them, I’m just thinking about a client that I have that has had, there’s definitely more working on Candida and everything, but there’s an itching that she has in that area, do you think seaweed would be useful for that to Sarah Miller 29:10
be read would be amazing? Okay, one, one thing she could do. She could make an herbal tea, so things that might be supportive. I love which Hazel is nice and kind of tonifying rose, lavender seaweed. You know, I mean, I can think of a bunch of other plants that could be supportive, but just starting with something simple like that. Even just rose and seaweed. Just put that in a jar, pour some boiling water on it, and then let it sit for at least 20 minutes but long, it’d be nice. And then put it in a spray bottle. She could use it as a spray. Use it as like a poultice just like you know stick it on there. Feel the herbs like really pressed against the body. You could use it a little muslin pad Ouch, ribs in a muslin pouch and damp in that and place that against the perineum. You know, you could use a pad that you’re just soaking with that solution or with those, you know those herbs. And some people like cold therapy, some people don’t so I think depend listen to your own body like I think, if cold sounds like that sounds like heaven do it like you what feels right for you, you know? If, if you’re like, that sounds like a nightmare. Not gonna, I don’t want any icicles against my body. You know, because sometimes people are into cold therapy and sometimes they’re not right, it feels good. Do it. So you go warm or cold with that. But yeah, you could do a sitz bath or a steam with herbs. You know, calendula rose, lavender, you know, for that it chain is so profound, really supportive. Christine Garvin 30:57
Okay, yeah, that was very helpful. And then the other thing I was thinking about when you were talking with the dandelion, is it dandelion that you can eat make into a poultice to help pull things out of your body to like, if you get something stuck in your, you know, whatever this is, whatever, if you get a piece of wood or a piece of glass or something, is it dandelion leaves. Sarah Miller 31:20
I mean, there’s, there’s a lot of really, if you just go find a plant and like chew it in your mouth for a minute and like make a poultice. Yeah, most plants will act as a drawing. You know, as long as it’s not like poison ivy or something. Toxic, but yeah, Christine Garvin 31:36
maybe I’m thinking of plantain plantain leaves. Sarah Miller 31:43
Yep, got some more specific drawing. Also really great and demulcent and soothing for the gut. Yeah, plantain is great. But dandelion would help to I think use what’s around you? Yeah, raspberry leaf would be great. That’s is nice. And drawing or pine, pine needles, pine pitch, like, Christine Garvin 32:08
so many good options? Sarah Miller 32:11
To help us? Yeah, look around you. I always find like, what you need is oftentimes right there beside you. And you just have to look over and be like, oh, Christine Garvin 32:22
there it is. There’s my friend right there. Sarah Miller 32:27
We’re talking to calm down. And here you are with me? Christine Garvin 32:33
Oh, yeah, it’s like, keep your eyes open, you know, can be hard for us to do sometimes. And I like when you were talking, I was really feeling sort of the the magical aspects and the I guess the the mind frame that we’re in when we’re creating food to write or creating a tea or anything like that, because that is an important part of the healing aspect of it too, right is the, that energy that we’re putting in as we’re pulling these things together, and I could tell just, in you talking about it, this sort of love and magic that you put into these combinations that you make? Oh, yeah, and I, you know, I just want to encourage people listening that, in this sort of fast paced world, a lot of times, we’re just trying to, like, make food as fast as we possibly can, right. And so you’re missing out on that, you know, I’m not trying to be like, whatever super woowoo but that ingredient of love, and just sort of connection with this, this food that nourishes you, and that goes really for all food, you know, just like because no matter what for us to be here, you know, there is something that is giving up itself for us to be able to survive, right and so to be ingratitude of that, and also, you know, sometimes I like to tell my body especially if something is off, you know, to say, you know, before II to instruct my body to use what it needs, and let go of what it doesn’t need. You know, and I think this can be very useful to for women who may be stuck in sort of the you know, diet culture mentality of like these good and bad foods and then feeling guilty when they eat these quote unquote, bad foods. You know, instead of, I know how easy it is to get caught in that because we have all these messages coming at us all the time. But if you are going to eat a food that you feel isn’t the best for your body at the moment, say, you know, take what’s good. Get rid of the rest and enjoy it from there. Sarah Miller 34:47
Yeah, beautiful. One thing my friend taught me recently that I love is just before you eat, just placing your hands over your food and just saying yum. It’s kinda like, Oh, I like Oh, um, yeah. Seen, it takes one second. And, you know, you maybe don’t have to say it out loud if you don’t want to, but just like, yeah, um, yeah, I think it really harnesses that idea of bringing in the magic, that delight of food, like, oh my god, this is gonna nourish me and tastes so delicious. Like, even if it is a Twinkie, or something, like, we’re just releasing the guilt and just enjoying it for what it is, I think releasing shame about food is so important. And one flower essence that I love for that is pine, it just helps to release any guilt or shame about anything. And it’s just like, this total self acceptance, loving, like, whatever you want to do is wonderful. Whoever you are, you’re wonderful. Like, it’s just this. You know, when you think of a pine tree, like, I was actually meditating with a pine tree, and it’s the thing that made there was like, You should start a podcast. But yeah, pine flower essence, if people are struggling with guilt, which I find with food is, and in our culture, like I joke, instead of adding fluoride to the water, we should add pine flower essence, because there’s so much guilt and shame in our culture. And what if we didn’t have that? What if we were just like, Christine Garvin 36:24
just living our lives? Right? Yeah. Imagine that. Yeah, let’s imagine it. Yeah, like it. So let’s talk a little bit about because there’s, you know, quite a few listeners that are in perimenopause that listen to the podcast, or are on the verge of that, you know, so I was let women know, you know, start thinking about these things in your early to mid 30s. Because then you’ll be ready on a different level. So what are some of your favorite herbs for women at this time of life? Sarah Miller 36:56
Yeah, I’m with you, sister. I’m 43. So Christine Garvin 37:01
we’re the same age. Sarah Miller 37:04
Yeah, so I mean, that window with you. And you have some herbs that I love at this time shot Avari it’s known as she have 1000 Husbands, which sounds rather exhausting, but but it just brings in this female energy, it’s very supportive for the nervous system and helps you to kind of drop into that parasympathetic realm so that you can relax more, but also gives you more energy. So it’s kind of it’s known as the female version of ashwagandha, if you will, may be more familiar with ashwagandha. So they’re both these beautiful adaptogens oftentimes used in either Vedic medicine. So I love Shatavari is a beautiful plant. Ashwagandha again, is a great one as well. It is a Nightshade. So some people are reactive to ashwagandha. I find that more commonly than with Shatavari. So Shatavari is just a beautiful, tonic and wonderful for fertility and just bringing in that revitalizing energy. Again, I love just things that give us lots of nutrition. So Natalie’s raspberry leaf, and Mother Ward, you know, just supporting our heart. I love Hawthorne and Gotu Kola is a beautiful herb for supporting our brain and our circulation. It’s oftentimes given to children in India’s they’re going back to school because it helps with those like new school nerves, but pay for any time of transition and helps the body with collagen production as well. So it’s great for our brain and our connective tissues. It’s an easy thing to add to tea. It’s a little bit bitter, but it’s not too crazy. Again, the bitters like try to let yourself experience that once in a while, or more than once in a while, Christine Garvin 39:07
like on a daily Sarah Miller 39:09
every day. But yeah, you could add that to a food sprinkle like mixed in with nettle to sprinkle on your food or add it into a tea so I love go to cola. Another one that can be nice, is Don qui. It’s a beautiful blood builder and helps to bring in more iron into the body. It actually doesn’t have iron, but it helps your liver to release iron into your blood stores. So yellow doc and Don qui are supportive for improving iron levels in the body and absorbing iron from your food more readily. So I love dunk why I like it in formula with other things. So oftentimes People think of Western herbalism as just being like one herb, but I never, I rarely, never want to say never. But I rarely work with just one herb at a time. I’m really all about like, creating a community of plants to support me. So in in, I have a little bit of Ayurvedic training but mostly vital vitalist Western herbal training. And but an interesting idea in Ayurvedic medicine is oftentimes people will formulate herbs in odd numbers, so 357 or nine herbs together, so I always like to create formulas. So Don chi is one of those herbs I love working with done quite a bit always in a formula and usually in a decoction with other roots. So I like it with dandelion root, burdock root, a little Dong qui you can do some cinnamon, clove, I like a little, you know, kind of like a chai style blend is nice. But Don chi helps to build the blood. It’s great for fibroids, and people have low progesterone. It’s not if people are having really heavy painful periods, I tend to put less in formulas or sometimes give it out of formulas just because it can sometimes cause more bleeding. So that’s just something to be aware of. If people have really heavy cycles to maybe stay, stay away from the dawn choir. But in general, it’s a beautiful tonic tolsey here leave here today without mentioning Tulsi basil. So this is just such a beautiful plant. It’s holy basil. It’s revered throughout the world and especially Indian Ayurvedic medicine, but it’s just helps our body adapt to stress. It’s this soft, gentle but strong plant tastes almost like if blueberries and a basil were to kiss has that flavor. So it’s a little bit fruity, a little bit aromatic. So I love Tulsi basil just helps our bodies to feel more grounded, more resilient, more able to adapt to stress, and is just so delicious. So I love Tulsi, Tulsi basil, you could do a really nice blend of Tulsi basil, Hawthorne rose cinnamon, a little marshmallow root would be a really nice, delicious, supportive blend for someone. Christine Garvin 42:52
Nice. That was awesome. But let’s add on in terms of flower essences. Oh my god, it’s not as your favorites are for perimenopause. Sarah Miller 43:02
Oh, yes, great question. I love walnut. It’s great for times of transition. As we’re changing. I mean, I feel like we’re always in transition, right? But walnut helps us to, you know, if you think of a walnut, it’s kind of like this has this protection around it. And it helps you to feel more protected and grounded in what’s true for you and not swayed by what other people are encouraging us to do so helps you to just be really true to your own self. I also really love larch for that confidence. It just helps you to feel you’re on top of the world and you’ve got this. You know, I think as we’re getting older, our culture doesn’t respect, aging. So scared of it. We’re like, I don’t want to get older, forever. And it’s like, no aging is awesome. Christine Garvin 44:00
Amazing. Yeah. Sarah Miller 44:02
I’m so happy that I’m getting that I’m experiencing life and I’m getting to have these encounters and I’m learning things and I’m growing and yes, they have a few more wrinkles. Nice Duke wash Shaw add some collagen like Dragon. Well, what do you like? It’s not the end of the world. Yeah, Christine Garvin 44:21
yeah. And it’s okay. To naturally age, you know, it’s okay. It’s because we have you know, and I, I could go off on a tangent forever about this, and I won’t but you know, getting out of I think this the sort of patriarchal the idealism of, you know, younger women that look like they can, you know, are ready to give birth kind of a thing. And that being the standard of beauty ideal because of that, you know, drawing in of the opposite sex. Well, we’re in a time right now. I think that’s changing a lot for a lot of people. You know, whether you don’t care about the opposite sex, whether you are, you know, I know women, especially at this age that are just getting divorced, and they’re actually the happiest that they’ve ever been. There like, I get to live my life in, you know, for me in a completely different way. And just embracing everything that comes with aging and the beauty that comes with aging. That is a different kind of beauty. You know, and it’s like, you don’t have to not, I’m not saying like, you have to not feel sexy. I’m not saying you can’t do any of the things that you want to do to feel good. But just really stepping out of the mindset around what has held up youth for so long, right? And just, you know, we’re the now’s the time, now’s the time for all of us to sort of step into that. And, you know, those wrinkles aren’t always a bad thing. Sarah Miller 45:58
You know, as you say that that idea of now is the time one other flower essence I want to mention it’s clematis, which is wonderful for just getting you right in the present moment and adding in a little bit more playfulness and creativity. Because when you’re in the moment you really feel this moment is all there is like what can I do with it? What can I do in the moment, you know, I love clematis for getting out of that like future thinking or future dreading or past dwelling. Like, you know, clematis just brings us right into this moment right now. Christine Garvin 46:40
Ah, so beautiful. Man, there’s so many more questions I could ask you about herbs is amazing. But let people know how they can get in touch with you. Sarah Miller 46:51
Yeah, so you can find me at time in the studio. podcast. It’s on Instagram as time in the studio podcast. You can also find me at time in the studio.com. And I have a course that’s starting. It may be it’s probably already starting by the time this goes live, but savor the season. I’m planning to offer it again in January, right. So it’s right now it’s a one month container of learning about food as medicine flower essences, and we’ve been more plants into our daily life to feel wonderful. Christine Garvin 47:30
Nice. That sounds so perfect. And I you know, I think yeah, especially after people hear you talk about all this stuff today. They’re gonna be like, sign me up because it want to feel that way too. So thank you so much for coming on and sharing your knowledge in this area. Yeah, I’m seriously like, Okay, what herbs in the closet right now that I want to pull out to make a tea as soon as we’re done so Sarah Miller 47:56
well, Christina, it was such a delight to get to chat with you and connect with you. And thank you so much for your beautiful questions and curiosity. And I’m just so excited to have you on my podcast at some point soon as well. Christine Garvin 48:09
Yes, exactly. So we get to chat some more, which I’m happy about. Yeah. All right, you guys. I will see you next time. Come on. |
