The Holistic Herbalism Podcast

• Two Herbal UTI Formulae - Moving Beyond Uva Ursi and Cranberry

  When you think of UTI and herbs, you probably think of cranberry and uva ursi first. You’re not wrong to do so! They’re reliable and effective remedies. But if you stop there, though, you’ll be missing out on some herbs who can also do the job, and do it well. In this episode we outline two herbal UTI formulae we work with ourselves, and explain why and how they’re helpful.We also take this opportunity to demonstrate our method of formulation, and show how the same actions and qualities can be achieved from different sets of plants.Formula 1:primary – yarrow (Achillea millefolium) flower, goldenrod (Solidago spp.) flower;support – linden (Tilia spp.), marshmallow (Althaea off.) leaf, chamomile (Matricaria recutita)catalyst – juniper (Juniperus spp.)Formula 2:primary – heather (Calluna vulgaris), calendula (Calendula off.)support – marshmallow (Althaea off.) root, catnip (Nepeta cataria), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)catalyst – cedar (Thuja plicata) leafIf you’d like to learn more about supporting your urinary system, our Urinary Health course is for you! It’s too common to neglect this system of the body – until something goes wrong. Take proactive steps to prevent UTIs and kidney stones, and learn methods to manage issues such as interstitial cystitis or incontinence. You’ll be glad you did!And if you’d like to dig deeper into formulation, well, then our Fundamentals of Formulation course is where to go next! Learn our strategies for combining herbal actions and balancing the qualities of herbs to produce more effective remedies.Like all our offerings, these are self-paced online video courses, which come with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more!If you enjoyed the episode, it helps us a lot if you subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas.Support the showYou can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

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• Herbalists' Views on the Top-Selling Herbs (Part 1)

  This episode begins an intermittent series we’ll be doing this year, covering the top-selling herbs in the United States and giving you our thoughts about them. From the perspective of a practicing herbalist, these herbs are frequently pigeon-holed into very narrow ranges of application – the “what is it good for” answers are quite limited! The Herbal Market Report from the American Botanical Council comes out every year, with data about herbal supplement sales for the prior year. Check it out and take a look at the “mainstream” and “natural channel” best-seller lists – you might be surprised at what’s on there!If you’re an herbalist, you should be well-educated about the herbs people take most frequently. You should know what’s popular, and why. You should know how to talk to people about these herbs, how to correct misconceptions, how to offer more effective alternatives, and which ones are worth the money. We’re hoping this series will help you do that!If you’re new to herbalism – yay, we get first crack at forming your opinion of these herbs! 😄 More importantly, this will serve as an introduction to marketing literacy in the realm of herbal supplements, as well as some good materia medica study.In today’s episode we cover psyllium, elder berry, turmeric, and ashwagandha.1. Psyllium – Plantago ovataHHP 205: Herbs A-Z: Pinus & PlantagoPlantain: Herb of the Week2. Elder berry – Sambucus nigra, S. canadensisElder: Herb of the WeekHHP 216: Herbs A-Z: Sambucus & SassafrasElderberry and Cytokine Storms3. Turmeric – Curcuma longaHHP 184: Herbs A-Z: Crataegus & CurcumaHHP 149: Our Top Topical Herbs for Acne4. Ashwagandha – Withania somniferaHHP 226: Herbs A-Z: Withania & ZanthoxylumAshwagandha: Herb of the WeekHHP 155: Equinox Thoughts On Balance & Amphoteric HerbsWhether you’re a brand-new beginner or an herbalist with experience, it’s always helpful to study the herbs in depth! Our comprehensive presentation of herbal allies is in our Holistic Herbalism Materia Medica course. It includes detailed profiles of 100 medicinal herbs!Like all our offerings, this self-paced online video course comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, and more!Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas.Support the showYou can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

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  1:14:41
• A Definitive Guide to Bitters

  Welcome to 2025, everyone! Let’s give the year a bitter start – that’s better than a bitter end, right? If you don’t think so yet, listen to this episode and by the end, we’re sure you’ll agree!Bitters are a truly indispensable piece of an herbal toolkit. They – like demulcents, adaptogens, and alteratives – can achieve things in the body which pharmaceuticals, acupuncture, and other healing modalities simply cannot replicate. Bitters are one of the herbalist’s superpowers!In this episode, we cover:bitter as signal – and why their actions on the body are nearly immediatebitter deficiency syndrome – a uniquely modern human problemenergetics of bitters – is bitter always cooling, or is it more complicated than that?actions of bitter herbs – digestion-activating, fluid-draining, liver-awakening… mind-centering…bitter-tasting constituents – and an ode to the flexibility & variety of bitter taste receptorssubcategories of bitter herbs: pure bitters, mild bitters, aromaic bitters, inulin/berberine/artemisinin-bearing bitters, fungal bitters, warming/relaxant/moistening bitters, …how to take bitters – drops, sips, chews, and more.Since they’re so helpful – and really, not only for digestion – we address bitter herbs in many of our courses. Quite possibly all of them, now that we think about it! They’re that important. Bitters get a significant mention in:Holistic Herbalism Materia MedicaHerbal Medicine-MakingHolistic Nutrition & Digestive HealthBasic PhytochemistryNeurological & Emotional HealthLike all our offerings, these are self-paced online video courses, which come with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, lifetime access to current & future course material, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more!If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!!Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas.Support the showYou can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

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  2:23:56
• Herbal Holiday Gifts for YOU! 🎁

  A brief update this time, to let you know about some herbal holiday gifts we’ve put together for you & yours!Herbal Activities CalendarThe best way to learn herbalism is to do a little bit every day – so we’ve built you a whole activities calendar that will feed itself automagically right into your own calendar of choice (Google, Yahoo, Outlook, etc). You can even set notifications so that you don’t forget to try fun new herby things!View the Herbal Activities CalendarInstructions for adding the Herbal Activities Calendar to your calendar system.Herbal WallpapersEach week we’re putting out a matching set of herbalism wallpaper images for your phone and your computer. The desktop version has a mini materia medica info, and the one for your phone has a tiny bite-size bit of info – and a lot of herbal beauty & inspiration.They’ll help you learn your botanical Latin names, they’ll help you with plant identification, they’ll help you learn herbal actions, and best of all, they’ll help you fit herbs into every day!View & Download Herbal Wallpapers20% Discount on EVERYTHINGUntil the end of December, you can use the code CHAMOMILE at checkout to get 20% off of everything we offer!You can use this code for gift purchases, too! Your loved one will be automatically enrolled in the course you buy for them. Remember to check “This is a gift” during checkout.Every course, every full program, all the one-off courses… the discount works on everything. It works for the payment plans, too.View All Courses & ProgramsDon’t forget to use code CHAMOMILE at checkout!If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!!Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas.Support the showYou can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

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  10:45
• Just Press Play

  We’re still making the podcast! We have not abandoned you, dear listeners. 💚We’ve been busy producing material for our online courses – especially the Accessible Herbalism and Clinical Skills courses. We’ve also been enhancing our student experience and building up our student community, so that learning with us is more enjoyable and cooperative. You’re not out there in the world on your own, when you study herbalism with us!Today, though, we wanted to hop back on the pod feed and convey this simple message to you: just press play!Lots of our students get caught up in feeling like everything needs to be perfectly aligned before they start studying. The right quite comfy place to study, the right amount of private time, no distractions, a new notebook and a fresh pen – all those things are great! But they’re not essential, and if you only study when everything’s perfect, well, you won’t study very much! So just press play, and let’s get at it. 🤝When you sign up for any of our courses – including our FREE Herbal Study Tips, Four Keys to Holistic Herbalism, and Herbal Business Productivity courses – you get access to twice-a-week live Q&A sessions, integrated discussion threads on every lesson, and a vibrant student community. Our courses are centered on video lessons you can watch at your own pace, and once you’ve bought a course you retain access to it (and any future updates!), forever.If you have a moment, it would help us a lot if you could subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!!Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas.Support the showYou can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

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