Dana O'Driscoll By Dana O’Driscoll
In today’s day and age, we grow up in a culture that has particularly destructive ways of thinking about the human body and human health. If we look around, the results of this thinking are fairly obvious: the majority of Americans are unhealthy in mind, body, and spirit. I would argue that part of this is due to the ways in which modern medicine treats the body—assuming everything is separate, working to suppress symptoms and not causes, and not treating the whole person.
In order to practice herbalism effectively, one of the things we need to learn how to do is to think like a holistic herbalist. This allows us to embrace more holistic, relational, and humane views of our bodies, minds, hearts, and spirits. It is important that we realize the question isn’t “is there an herb for that” and rather than ask “how can herbs support this specific person at this specific point in time?” The challenge is that this line of thinking requires us to really interrogate and consciously shift how we consider the role of herbs and health. Because we have a lifetime of exposure, it can be easy to fall into the mindset of modern medicine applied to herbalism. So, in this article, I’ll offer seven principles that help us to think like herbalists, so that we can achieve maximum benefit to support long-term health for ourselves and our loved ones.
Principle 1: Herbalism is founded upon different assumptions than modern (allopathic) medicine.
There are quite a few differences, but I’ll share some key ones here. The emphasis in modern medicine is on treating specific conditions and suppressing symptoms, and the main focus is symptoms and disease. In fact, modern medicine is not so much interested in curing people as it is in prescribing medicines (many for a lifetime) with the goal of managing symptoms. Modern medicine sees the body as broken, sees symptoms as the enemy necessary to address, and works to suppress symptoms (using often extreme and harsh methods that cause tremendous a host of side effects).
On the other hand, holistic herbalism is focused on treating a whole person and recognizing that people get sick because of imbalances with lifestyle, dietary factors, environment, emotions, and stress along with genetics. In holistic herbalism, we emphasize using herbs along with other lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, meditation) to bring people back into balance. Holistic herbalists realize that the body knows how to heal itself if given the opportunity, and thus, we use herbs to support the body’s healing and well-functioning.
Is there an herb for that? Sure, but we need to work through more principles to understand how to apply that herb!
Principle 2: Herbalists develop and apply pattern literacy.
Holistic herbalists work to understand the whole person so that we can select herbs that are best for them. This includes applying principles of herbal energetics. In their most basic form, herbal energetics includes the overall constitution of a person: do they tend to run hot and dry? Do they tend to have stagnation in their body? These principles can help us understand systematically and emotionally where a person is at. The second principle of herbal pattern literacy (called tissue states or energetics) is using the five senses to understand how a specific imbalance in the body manifests. Take the common cold: for some people, this manifests as a snotty, drippy, condition where they feel lethargic. For other people, the same cold may manifest clogging their sinuses, and resulting in a headache and general heat in their head. While the virus may be the same, the result it has on their body is not, and understanding this helps us determine which herbal supports work best. The third pattern is that the herbs themselves have both actions and affinities—the snotty drippy condition suggests that an anti-inflammatory and anti-histamine would be helpful, but we need an astringent that would specifically work on the sinuses and mucus membranes and not on the kidneys! Herbs often have affinities to specific organs and organ systems.
Once you understand this broader triad of patterns: the overall pattern of the body, the pattern of the specific state of unbalance in the body, and the pattern of the herbs themselves, you can begin to really ‘think like an herbalist” and get specific for how you support health.
Principle 3: Each person is unique and may respond to herbs differently.
All of the patterns above lead us to understand that not all herbs work well for all people. As each person has a different constitution, different lifestyles, and different needs, certain herbs may not be appropriate for them or work really well. The other part of this is that over time, people change and the herbs they want to use to support themselves may change too.
A good example of this comes from my own experiences with Holy Basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum). Many herbalists know and love this plant using it from everything from supporting the nervous system to relieving joint pain. On paper, this plant looks just like something I’d want to use often. But I also know that I always naturally have a lot of energy, and I have to be careful of any plant that is energizing and uplifting (I avoid caffeine entirely, for example). I have found Holy Basil to push my energy into an extreme direction, preventing me from sleeping. For someone who had difficulty in getting moving and feeling like they always had low energy, Holy Basil would be perfect. For someone like me, it puts me out of balance—I am better off with nervines that do not raise energy levels, and for these I turn to Catinip (Nepita cataria), Wood Betony (Betonica officinalis), and Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca).
In addition to the energetics of it, this is where learning to really carefully observe ourselves, our reactions, and be in touch with our own bodies is so critically important.
Principle 4: Herbalists must develop keen observation skills and use a combination of intellect, intuition, inspiration, and instinct.
To do the work of the first three principles, we have to develop our own skills of our minds, bodies and spirits: keen observation combined with our intellect, inspiration, intuition, and instincts. Modern medicine is based on measuring people at the cellular level and using very expensive tests and equipment to understand exactly what is happening to cells. While this is very precise, it also has a tendency to lose the whole person and an emphasis on the big picture. Herbalists do not have access to this kind of fancy equipment, nor do we need it—we think about the body differently. We spend a lot of time talking to people about how it feels to be in their body, what their GI functions are like, their mental state, their overall experience being a human in today’s age. We ask a lot of questions and through this conversation and our own observation and intuition, we develop a picture of a whole person. But another part of this is tuning in with the subconscious cues present to us and asking others we are working with to do the same. Intuition is body-based; it comes from older parts of our brain that knew how to avoid predators and keep ourselves alive. Paying attention to the subtle cues of our own bodies can be part of the whole picture we are exploring.
The other side of this is tuning into ourselves and our own bodies. How does an herb make you feel? How did you feel before taking the herb, and what changes do you notice here? Keen observation of ourselves using herbs is a huge part of learning to be a good herbalist. So many things vie for our attention right now, especially everything on our phones and screens. Taking time away from screens to be present in our bodies is critical for herbal practice.
Principle 5: Holistic herbalism works to address imbalance and support the body’s own healing systems.
As we began to explore in principle #1, part of the practice of holistic herbalism is working with the body and supporting the body’s own healing systems. This is a really important distinction from how modern medicine treats the body—as broken, in need of drugsto suppress symptoms.
A good example of this is addressing a fever. According to modern medicine, a fever should be suppressed and kept down so that a person isn’t as uncomfortable. In herbal practice, we recognize that a fever is the body’s natural reaction to illnesses—there is a virus or bacteria in the body causing an infection, which activates the immune system. When the temperature of the body rises, this elevates a range of cellular mechanisms that strengthen the ability of the immune cells to fight, stresses the pathogen’s cells, and helps begin to remove toxins from the body through sweating. Suppressing this body’s response can actually prolong illness and make it much harder to fight off an illness. Herbalists use diaphoretics, which increase sweating, increase peripheral circulation, relax and open the pores, and also stimulate an immune response. In our ecosystem, these include Elderflower (Sumbucus niger), Linden flower (Tilia americana), Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) or Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum), along many others.
Principle 6: Holistic herbalism realizes that while herbs are powerful, they cannot override lifestyle choices or other ongoing root causes of imbalance.
The reason we call it “holistic” herbalism is that we know that herbs can’t solve every problem. People are often looking for the quick fix or magic wand—a way to completely solve a problem immediately. Herbs can do tremendous things, but they work best when you are combining them in holistic ways with other holistic health choices.
GI problems are a great example here. One of the most common complaints that people have (and come to herbalists for) are GI issues. They want to know—is there an herb for that? The first thing I like to do is talk about their daily diet, as what they are putting into their bodies very likely has a significant impact on what they are experiencing in their gut (that’s not the only factor, but it amazes me how many people don’t link diet with GI issues). A lot of people have food intolerances or allergies (note intolerance and allergy are really different things), especially here in the US because so much of what we put into our bodies is not actually food—it is highly processed, it is chemical-laden, and it is nutrient deficient. So while many herbs can certainly help reduce gas and boating and stimulate the digestive system (such as Yellow Dock (Rumex crispus), Burdock (Articum minus), Peppermint (Mentha piperita), or Ginger (Zingiber officinale), these herbs may not be enough to address the underlying cause—which is eating things that aren’t actually nutritional food.
Another example is the role that mental health and chronic stress play on the body. Stress affects nearly every system of the body, and over time, it can damage and degrade many of the body’s systems including our gut health, our body’s elimination systems, our sexual organs, or brain functioning, and more. If stress is the root cause, herbal supports for those other systems will only suppress symptoms, but not address the root cause.
Holistic herbalism, thus, doesn’t only consider the role of herbs but the role of many other things: diet, sleep, exercise, stress, daily context and life, and how those other aspects may impact the imbalances present in the body.
Principle 7: Holistic herbalism considers the long term and seeks to intervene early.
As we have been exploring in principle #5 above, holistic herbalism focuses on long-term solutions and long-term supports for the body, mind, and spirit. Just as a pattern of poor eating may lead to a compromised GI system, rebuilding that compromised GI system will take time and change.
Herbs can certainly be used for immediate and acute conditions, quite successfully. If I’m having an allergic reaction to ragweed or my friend’s dog, a quick dose of Goldenrod (Soladgo spp.) will immediately bring me relief. But if I know I have a regular season where I get allergies, I’d want to build in herbal supports long term to help reduce my body’s reaction to what I am allergic to (so I may consume local raw honey and regularly drink a stinging nettle (Urtica dioca) tea.
Another part of this kind of thinking is considering how we can support the long-term well functioning of a person. It is much harder for an herbalist to intervene after someone begins insulin treatments for diabetes, because at this point, their body’s systems are now growing dependent on modern pharmaceuticals and it may be nearly impossible for them to get back off of them. But if they are pre-diabetic, there are a wide range of herbal supports we can use such as Berberine-rich herbs like Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergia), Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus), or Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graceum) to address glucose levels and support the pancreas and lower blood sugar.
This leads us to the final point in principle 6—that one of the major goals of holistic herbalism is to support a good and healthy life. Many herbs strengthen and restore the body’s systems for long-term well functioning and allow us to age well. This may include supporting the Musculo-skeletal system with Solomon Seal (Polygonatum spp.), the body’s elimination system with Burdock (Articum minus), the body’s immune system and reducing free radicals with Reishi mushroom (Ganoderma tsugae locally), or strengthening the cardiovascular system with Hawthorn (Crategeus spp.). There is no equivalent level of thinking in modern medicine for the work that these herbs do to restore and rejuvenate, but this is a main focus of herbalism.
Principle 8: Holistic herbalism recognizes the importance of cultivating mind-body-spirit relationships with plants.
Plants are one of humanity’s very first and oldest teachers. We can see from both ancient cave paintings going back 40,000 or more years as well as the oldest frozen corpses of human ancestors such as Utzi the Ice Man and Princes Ukok the Siberian Ice Maiden that humans have used plants both medicinally and ceremonially for longer than we have human history. We know that our ancient ancestors used plants and mushrooms in a wide variety of ways, and they had deep knowledge that was passed down through the generations.
Practicing herbalism today taps you into these ancient traditions and ancient wisdom—and traditions of herbalism globally emphasize this as part of their practice. Many traditions recognize that nature has an intelligence, that plants not only have physical bodies but metaphysical energies that we can interact with, and that the plants themselves can teach us much about their medicine.
Part of being an holistic herbalist is building your own relationships with these plants—as you use them to heal your own body, mind, and spirit. Leaning to listen to them as you also connect with your own instincts and intuition. As you learn how to identify them in the wild, cultivate them, harvest them, and turn them into medicine.
Part of why I stress locally-based herbalism is because these connections are hard to make when you are using plants that are growing in another part of the world. New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) is a lung Trophorestorative plant that builds, strengthens the lungs and opens them up to avoid constriction (which is particularly good for asthmatics like myself). I work with this plant in my garden, I smell her flowers (blooming now as I write this), and I prepare this plant as medicine each day. It would be a very different relationship if I purchased New England aster and took it in a bottle—now I’m in a consumer relationship with the plant. But by growing Aster, teaching others about the medicine of Aster, scattering the seeds across the landscape (as she is a wonderful native plant), and simply being present with the plant, I build that deeper relationship. Many herbalists believe, and I certainly do too, that plants work with us on all levels—mind, body, spirit, heart. And by building this deep relationship with Aster, I can work with her on multiple levels. When I prepare an Aster tincture for someone who is struggling with Asthma or other lung issues, I am creating a potent medicine built, in part, on that relationship.
Conclusion
These principles form the basis of holistic herbalism practice—and if you follow these principles, lean into them, and learn them, you will have the makings of being a great herbalist. I will also say that there are other principles I haven’t covered here, but I think these are some of the most important ones. And certainly, they are ones that guide my own herbalism practice each day.
