Resonant Herbs

08/25/2022

I am now back to working with clients on a limited basis. Sorry to those that I had to turn away.

12/24/2021

I am dealing with some serious family issues and need to focus on my own family at this time. I can still help direct people to the right resources, if needed.

03/30/2020

I am noticing a drastic increase of activity on my page and am guessing this is due to corncern over COVID19. General advice would be to eat lots of fruit and vegetables, exercise and get sunshine. If you are low on vitamin D it would make sense to supplement. If you are interested in a virtual consult on strategies to strengthen your body now and supplements to stock up on that may help with preventing cytokine storm with COVID19, I am offering initial consults at a reduced fee $45 with a sliding scale. Obviously, this is a new virus. Anyone telling you that they have the definitive answer to this virus is lying though we can look at strategies that have shown success when dealing with other viruses.

03/27/2019

How cool is this? And it features some of my favorite herbal businesses!

Happy to be featured under Resources in the special issue of National Geographic, Healing Remedies.
🎉🎉🎉
Thanks to Institute for the Preservation of Medical Traditions for the photos.

Mountain Rose Herbs

11/29/2018

It has been a long time since I've posted anything to my page. I wanted to update that I do free health consultations Saturday mornings at the Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany, NY. You can sign up by calling the front desk. I also wanted to post some thoughts I've had about some trends in natural healing that I have known about for many years but hadn't given much thought to until they affected my life. Many herbalists and other natural healers (such as chiropractors) are resorting to a practice called dowsing. Traditionally, it has been touted as an effective way to locate water, but having a strong and devoted background to science I had honestly kind of rolled my eyes at the practice until it fell in my lap during an herb class on Lyme treatment I was taking three years ago. For the sake of the class, I decided to dowse for the duration of the course, planning to only do it a few days while I learned the techniques of the respected and well-known herbalist teacher. Without going into detail, I have decided I can't ethically go forward in my life without stressing that I recommend all should avoid dowsing, any form of divination and all practitioners that use it and please teach your children to steer clear of the practices as well. This is information our great-grandmothers knew and our moms (understandably) laughed at in the name of science and my generation for the most part is oblivious to (I was). Firstly, we do not need outside help to make decisions. Humans have the capacity to make intelligent and information based decisions for care and if your practitioner or doctor feels that they need to look to an unknown source for help they should not be practicing. Don't be afraid to ask your natural health practitioner whether they use dowsing to help decide how to treat you. My other thoughts are: don't invite what you don't understand into your life, you can look up in the sky on a dark night and know there is way more than we can imagine out there. It may be beautiful up there, but it is not necessarily all good. When any form of divination is undertaken, whether it be Ouigi or dowsing, it is like opening a door to the unknown that you cannot willingly close.

06/10/2015

When I am feeling powerless in my life, I put seeds into the ground.

05/31/2015

Saying that a particular herb is anti-inflammatory is a bit misleading. What herbs that are "anti-inflammatory" actually do is down regulate inflammatory cytokines. If the type of cytokines reduced by an ingested herb are not specific to your condition, the herb won't benefit you in the intended manor. Part of what I try to do is match herbs with the cytokines that are overactive. This can be true in autoimmune conditions but also in the case of infections in which cascades of cytokines are created. These "cascades" are essentially a positive feedback loop in which microorganisms use inflammation to further infect the host (as can be seen in sepsis). I have been spending quite a lot of time reviewing research articles to determine novel herbs for infectious conditions.

05/16/2015

There are herbs for trying to fix what is broken and there are herbs used to sustain and improve good health. The theme of my week has been gentle (and not so gentle) reminders of the importance of using diet and herbs to keep our bodies on track and preventing common ailments that tend to occur as time marches on. Two of my favorite tonic herbs are Hawthorn Berry and Milk Thistle. Hawthorn is a tonic for the heart. It strengthens the tissues of the heart and circulatory system and as a result can help modulate heart function. It is anti inflammatory and full of wonderful anti-oxidants that are good for the entire system. Give it to someone you love. Milk thistle is another tonic herb that could not be better designed for modern living. It strengthens the liver and kidneys, is extremely high in antioxidants and raises glutathione levels in the body. Glutathione is a very important molecule made by the body that helps the body process toxins and reuse vitamin C. I prefer that milk thistle be taken in capsule form. It is one of those herbs that you can often see the change when someone starts taking it, bringing a clarity to the eyes and skin.

07/27/2014

I'm wondering if anyone familiar with Asian cuisine could provide me with information about the heart-shaped food herb Houttuynia Cordata (Fishy-Smelling Herb / Dokodami / Chameleon Plant /Fishwort)? It is one of the most effective herbs for treating the extremely tenacious Lyme coinfection of bartonella and I am looking to see if pregnant women regularly consume it as a food herb anywhere in the world? I get asked about what is safe during pregnancy occasionally and I often wonder if this herb might be an option for some very sick moms-to-be out there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houttuynia_cordata

Houttuynia cordata (simplified Chinese: 鱼腥草; traditional Chinese: 魚腥草; pinyin: yúxīng cǎo; literally: "fishy-smell herb"; Japanese: dokudami 蕺草, literally "poison blocking plant"; Vietnamese: giấp cá; pak kao tong (ຜັກຄາວທອງ) in Lao; Korean: 약모밀. In Manipur, it is known as toningkok. In English, it…

06/15/2014

I don't know that I have a favorite plant but if I had to pick my favorite genus it would certainly be Scutellaria (the skullcap family). Offering a medicine chest of uses, this genus is as beautiful as it is unassuming. The little patch of it in my yard would easily be overlooked amongst a backdrop of showy artemesia, however look a little closer and it offers a profusion of tiny purple flowers.
As the most used skullcap in traditional North American medicine, American Skullcap is a wonderful nervine that is great for reducing stress and anxiety and is a light sedative. It is more effective than chamomile while being gentler than Valarian root. Other types of skullcaps such as Barbat (pictured) and Baical Skullcap have been traditionally used in other areas of the world to effectively treat cancer (inducing aptosis in cancer cells), to treat infections and to reduce inflammation.

05/22/2014

Goldenseal root is often thought of as an herbal panacea for healing infections. This has resulted in the overharvesting of goldenseal plants in the wild. Goldenseal contains the active constituent Berberine, a potent antibiotic. However, Berberine is not well absorbed into the body so Goldenseal probably has limited use for internal infections. Berberine is detoxed via the digestive tract, urinary tract and to some degree the lungs. Therefore, Goldenseal can be useful in healing intestinal and urinary infections and as part of an herbal complex for treating lung ailments. It can also be useful topically for the treatment and prevention of skin infections.
When purchasing goldenseal, it's important to buy it from a supplier that grows it themselves and doesn't harvest from the wild. One great option is Herb Pharm. Or, you can try growing it yourself if you have wooded areas in your yard. The picture of the plant below is from a goldenseal plant in my (city!) yard. I planted it last spring and decided early this spring that it must have not survived the cold winter. Then, seemingly instantaneously a fairly robust plant emerged. I'll have to wait a couple more years to harvest the roots but for now in a bind I can use the leaves. Goldenseal plants can be purchased from Horizon Herbs (my favorite supplier of herbal plants and seeds).