The Monthlies

Home Herbalism

Peppermint plant profile

Peppermint must be one of the most easily found herbs in supermarket but we have really forgotten the massive medicinal uses it has.

3Rose Recipes

We can not love another if we don't first love ourselves. The benefits really are endless. Despite that, self-love is often seen as selfish and egocentric. If you look up self-centered for synonyms the connotations are quite negative:

Rose plant profile

Rose is one of my absolute favourite herbs that I used the most in my practice. I was taught to think of it as a messenger herb, carrying my intentions to strengthen the mix. But now a days I think of it mostly as a way to improve self-love for the person taking it and that's something nearly everyone struggling with an illness could use some more of.

Ashwagandha Plant Profile

Ashwagandha is probably my most used adaptogen because not only does it help people recover from long term stress and burnout but it is one of the rare adaptogens that doesn't over-stimulate at the same time. I found this particularly helpful in my practice when dealing with people who had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia.

3 antidepressing herbs

It's natural at this time of year to take time to reflect on the year gone by. Many of us feel forced to make new years resolutions but honestly it's more natural to save that for Spring when natural energies start to speed up (the quickening). Lots of us are feeling quite burnt out after the Christmas season of parties, hosting and socialising. This leaves a lot of us open to melancholy in January.

Are Herbs Safe?

When many supporters of herbal medicine think of the safety of herbs it is summarised by a simple thought: they're natural and therefore better for you than man made drugs. But I'm here to tell you why that's wrong and the real reason herbs are so safe.

Burdock plant profile

Burdock root is one of my favourite bitters as it is so easy to access. It grows wild in the UK, it even grows in my south London local park. You can also buy it from Asian food markets because it's used as a food in that culinary tradition. We've scoured the internet for the most up to date research to back up the claims made below and put our references at the bottom so you can go look at them.

Do Herbs Really Work?

Although the scientific research papers available for the effectiveness of herbs against specific illnesses are limited, it is estimated that two-thirds of the drugs we use today originate from a chemical derived from a plant.

3 herbs to help mood swings

A while ago I asked you to help me out with something, and help you did. You filled out a form to tell me what bothers you most about your periods. Mood swings was the second most common problem you guys mentioned. So I thought I'd write a little something about the topic. Let's learn about a few herbs that can help.

Period Pain | Herbs & Home Remedies

I have never been persistent enough with self-treatment to get the results I wanted so I actually saw a herbalist. Within 3 months I was having totally painless periods for the first time in years. Incredible. Here are my top tips that I used alongside my prescription that will help you with yours.

Menopause: Natural Remedies for Hot Flushes

There’s a lot of confusion surrounding hot flushes. It’s still not truly known what causes them. We know that they occur when a woman gets lower levels of oestrogen while she transitions through the menopause. But, despite this decrease in oestrogen being certain among women not all of you will get hot flushes. Which raises the question “Why me?”.

Candied Elecampane

Over the last few weeks I'd been reading a lot about Elecampane. I wasn't researching it it just kept coming up. I grow two plants in my garden so I thought I'd better harvest some and get better acquainted with it. It's a gorgeous plant which grows as tall as me with a large yellow flower in the summer time.

Cleansing with Cleavers

Cleavers is probably one of the most commonly found herbs which I use in my dispensary. It is wonderfully sticky thanks to it’s minute velcro-like-hooks and you may have stuck it to friends when at school.

Plant Dye Magic

I recently had an enquiry from Rebecca Desnos, a plant dye crafter. It went like this: I'd love to know more about some of the plants that I use for fabric dyeing. What traditional medicinal properties do they have and what do you like to do with them? These are some of my favourites dye plants, along with the colours that I get from them. I'd love to know what therapeutic value these plants have.

Thrush | Home & Herb Remedies

Thrush is an itch you can't scratch, at least, not in public. It's a common complaint my patients have. The recurring irritation, itching and pain that it causes can go on for days if not weeks. I'm very lucky that I've only had it a few times and it was so long ago I can hardly remember it. But I remember the itching. 

Interstitial Cysitis & Bladder Pain Syndrome | Herbs and Home remedies 

The trouble with syndromes is that they are often viewed within the blinkered perspective of the reductionist model of the body. This means that when they say ‘or other pathology’ they most likely mean pathology relating to the urinary system, when in fact PBS might be caused by a pathology in other areas of the body like the immune system, digestive system or reproductive system.

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