Hi, I'm Katy,
Speaker 2And I'm rid, and
Speaker 1We're here at Commonwealth Holistic Herbalism in Boston, Massachusetts,
Speaker 2And on the internet everywhere. Thanks to the power of the podcast. Woo, woohoo. Happy New Year. Hello, 2023. Hello, uh, podcast listeners.
Speaker 1Hello. Hello. YouTube listeners. Also,<laugh>. Uh, we are really excited for 2023. It's going to be an excellent year. Yeah.
Speaker 2Yes. We've got a lot planned, but you'll hear about it when it happens.
Speaker 1<laugh>.
Speaker 2So, for now, let's just say that, uh, remember in our last episode, all the way back in last year, okay,
Speaker 12022, like so long
Speaker 2Ago, enough about joke. Uh, um, last episode we talked about three species of mint, specifically Minta. And, uh, the thing is, we're not done with the Mint family yet, because today,
Speaker 1<laugh>, that was excellent.<laugh>. Hey, mint family. We're not done with you yet.<laugh>.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's for real. Today we're talking about catnip and about Menard. Uh,
Speaker 1I mean, aren't we actually talking about Menard and catnip? Yes. That's, I mean, when we think about these in terms of alphabetical order on the shelf, the minora does come. Uhhuh,<affirmative>, I'm sorry. Yeah, I
Speaker 2Just, yeah, gotta keep your alphabets
Speaker 1In order. If we are talking about it in priority order, Torin, then perhaps catnip is first the cat, the catnip is probably first. No question about that. I mean, the minora is a close second, but<laugh> Okay. Anyway, sorry if we were saying<laugh>.
Speaker 2Yeah. So it's gonna be our topic, but, uh, before we jump in, I just wanna remind you that if you like our podcast, you'll probably love our online courses. They're taught primarily by video lessons, and they're designed for you to progress at your own pace with lots of support as you go along. But, you know, since you like podcasts, we want you to especially know that we also provide MP3 versions of all of the video content, so that you can download that, put that on your phone, and take a walk in the woods mm-hmm.<affirmative>, and, uh, take us with you wherever you go, even to places that don't have cell service. Yeah.
Speaker 1Pretty good. Well, good. Yeah. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Yeah.
Speaker 2So if you wanna support our podcast, on the other hand, the best way to do that is to buy some of our online courses,
Speaker 1<laugh>
Speaker 2<laugh>. That way everybody gets something
Speaker 1Good. That's right. You're not just, um, supporting us, you're also getting something cool. All of our courses have twice weekly live q and a sessions that you are invited to. They're not mandatory, but they're really fun. And that way you kind of get the best of both worlds. You get to work on the material at your own pace. It never expires. You have lifetime access, so it doesn't matter how long it takes you to get through it, but on the, on the same hand, on the other hand, on all of the hands, you also have the opportunity to talk to us live twice a week. Ask your questions. You can ask your questions, questions in writing too. They get answered daily, but it's just really fun to be together in person and, uh, we would love to see you there.
Speaker 2Yeah. So you can find everything we've got@online.commonwealthherbs.com mm-hmm.<affirmative>. All right. And, uh, then the other thing we have to do before we get rolling is our reclaimer. And that's where we remind you that we are not doctors. We are herbalist and holistic health educators.
Speaker 1The ideas discussed in this podcast do not constitute medical advice. No state or federal authority licenses herbalist in the United States. So these discussions are for educational purposes only.
Speaker 2We wanna remind you that good health doesn't mean the same thing for everyone. Good health doesn't exist as some kind of objective standard out there in the universe. It's influenced by your individual needs, experiences, and goals. So keep in mind that we're not attempting to present a single dogmatic right way that you need to adhere to.
Speaker 1Everybody's body is different. So the things that we're talking about may or may not apply directly to you, but we hope that they'll give you some good information to think about and some ideas to research. Further
Speaker 2Finding your way to better health is both your right and your own personal responsibility. This doesn't mean you're alone on the journey, and it doesn't mean that you're to blame for your current state of health, but it does mean that the final decision when you're considering any course of action, whether it's discussed on the internet or prescribed by a physician, is always your choice to make.
Speaker 1Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2<affirmative>. All right. So let's talk about our friends. Our minty minty friends, who, neither of them is particularly minty menthol.
Speaker 1Yeah. Min
Speaker 2Cat catnip has a touch touch of it in
Speaker 1There. It's not like minty like, double your pleasure, double your fun double mint gum. It's not like that. Right. If you're a child of the eighties,
Speaker 2Sing a little jingle in your head.
Speaker 1Yeah. Seventies. Yeah, exactly. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Uh, so we are drinking catnip anda together today. Yeah. And if you are at home and you're thinking, I've got catnip and I'm gonna make that into a tea, um, well, first off, that's a great idea. Do it. Um, you can pause us, don't worry. We'll wait.<laugh>. Um, and, but the other thing that I was gonna say is that I find a tea that is only catnip anda just a little on the sharp side. And so I also tossed in a little bit of pulmonary and a little bit of marshmallow, which both have very, like, neutral flavors, but they just do take a little bit of the sharp edge off the men. Mm-hmm. And I think that's actually maybe a good introduction to Minora, um, because that sharp edge is heat, and
Speaker 2It's a, it's a very, there's a few plants that we use this word to describe that they have that sharpness to their, to their aromatics. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, you know, um, time can get there, oregano can get there. Even rosemary can, although I'd say less so mm-hmm.<affirmative>, but is a standout<laugh> Yeah. In that regard. Yeah. Is, is pretty ferocious with those fiery, uh, fiery aromatic elements in there. And that's fantastic. Right. Because that's, that's powerful stuff. That's good. Well, many actions come outta that. Right? We get antimicrobial effects from those, we get immune stimulant effects in the local tissues. They get exposed to. Um, they are carative in nature. They're gonna move blood to, or carative and rubian. So carative is kind of like you, you drink the thing and your lips, and if we were to see the inside of your stomach and all of that, that that gets red and it gets infused with blood and activity and movements. Yeah. Uh, and, and digestive processing and so on. And you can also take these and do a poultice and put it on your skin, and not just from the heat of the poultice, but from the action of the herb itself. You'll see that redness mm-hmm.<affirmative> and that, and you'll feel the warmth and the, and the blood movement. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1<affirmative>, I'm thinking about, I'm sure at some point you've heard that phrase, my dad really liked to say this, um, about, well, like, that's how, you know, it's working. So like, um, something would be really hot or really bitter or really like whatever. And, and then, you know, you, somebody will say, well, ah, yeah, that's how, you know, it's really working, you know? Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, and it's like kind of in that tone of voice too. Like very kind of manly macho. It's working, it's ah, it's making me sweat and I'm crying that I can taste it so strong. Ah. That's how I know it's working, you know? Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Yeah. And, um, and so on one hand that's like a very kind of heroic sort of approach, which is not necessarily bad, but it is, um, you know, assertive<laugh>. Um, but I, I also feel like men is really the poster child for<laugh> for that phrase,<laugh>, because in fact, the intensity of the flavor and also even the smell of men is how you know it's working. I know it's working at least in some of its actions mm-hmm.<affirmative> and, and specifically here I'm thinking about the antiseptic actions, um, that the, the flavor and the smell, a lot of that is carried in the volatile oil content. So minea is also really helpful if you have a respiratory infection and you have it as a steam. And one of my favorite ways to work with minea, but when you inhale the steam, it's just as like, hot. The, the smell of the men is just as hot as the flavor is when you drink it. And, um, those an, those volatile oils, that's where, um, up most of the antimicrobial action is carried. And or where it like is, it's it where it is housed in the plant, where it lives mm-hmm.<affirmative>. And that, like, the intensity of it is, I, I don't wanna say that the intensity of the flavor and the intensity of the smell is a reflection of the intensity of the action, because it's not actually a reflection. Those smell slash flavor chemicals, the chemicals, the organic chemicals right. In the chemicals in the plant that, that are part of the plant that are creating that smell and that flavor, they are actually doing the work of being antimicrobial. So it isn't just like reflective of the power, like it is the power<laugh>, you know? So, so in this one case Yeah. That's how you know it's working. Yeah. Actually,
Speaker 2Yeah. Yeah. Right. And that, you know, that kind of leads us naturally into, um, uh, into administration methods or preparation methods for this plant. Uh, anything with these kind of volatiles, you, you have some flexibility. Actually. You can take these as tea, uh, and as you smell it, and as you drink it, you'll, you'll smell and you'll taste, uh, those elements, those hot, sharp, uh, volatile coronoids and other friends<laugh>, uh, in the, in the menard coming through. Um, you can also tincture these kinds of plants very effectively. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> mm-hmm.<affirmative>, because those constituents are super enthusiastic about leaping out of the plant matter and into the alcohol. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, and they'll swim all around in there and do their thing.
Speaker 1<laugh>,<laugh>, I'm just imagining like littlea, uh, volatile oils. They're like green. They're definitely green. Yeah. Um, green with like purple edges and they're just swimming around in the alcohol. I just, whatever. I'm sorry. It's a cartoon inside my head right now. Yeah, yeah. We're sharing it. Yeah.<laugh>.
Speaker 2So, so a tincture is, is good and strong, you know, and, and that's handy, right? Because, you know, it's nice to drink a hot cup of tea. And, uh, that can enhance even further the, the diaphoretic quality of a, of a hot, uh, aromatic plant like this. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. So if you were taking to like, raise heat in the body and get a good, a good strong fever going, then a nice cup of hot tea is really the best way to go for that, right? Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. But if you're traveling and you think, oh, I don't know, I'm, I'm worried about my lungs, or, you know, something like that while I go, then it's really handy to be able to bring a little bottle of tincture and know that it's pretty potent in there, you know, uh, that you can squirt that, uh, into a, a hop of hot water that you get at the airport or whatever mm-hmm.<affirmative>, you know, put a few squirts into there and drink that down. That's still gonna be good and good and solid. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. But, um, uh, an herb like this that have these has these strong, hot, sharp aromatics for us always makes us say first and foremost, and you've probably been waiting right? To get it out there is the steams. Yeah. Herbal steams. Yeah. Are so, so good for this plant.
Speaker 1Uh, this plant is so, so good for herbal steams. Yeah. Uh, this, this plant, uh, you know, we do try not to say that plants are good for things, but, uh, in this particular case, I, I meant more like this plant just wants to, to get into a steam. That's what I really meant. Yeah. Um,
Speaker 2It comes through really well. It delivers, it delivers this medicine, it delivers the actions of this plant that we want, right. Where we want them. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, right? You're dealing with a respiratory infection. You might not know what it is,<laugh>, you know, uh, it could be a viral thing, maybe it's a bacterial thing. Maybe you've got exposed to some fungal stuff, you know mm-hmm.<affirmative> and it's in there. Hey, it could be all of them together.<laugh> having, having a little pathogen party
Speaker 1That's so common, that's so common. And like, you can get really hung up on, I need to know exactly what virus I've got right now mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Okay. Sometimes that is important. Yeah. But I mean, Ebola, it starts off as a respiratory virus too, and like, if that's what you've got, you do in fact need to know<laugh> that that's what's going on. Yeah. Like, okay, sometimes you need to know exactly what virus you have, but sometimes you don't. Sometimes, uh, it's like, I don't know, my nose is dripping. My, I'm coughing, I'm sneezing, I'm, you know, runny nose and aching and stuffy head and all that stuff, and<laugh>. Um, and, and honestly, most of the time it's not just one thing. Most of the time there's lots of pathogens involved. They, you know, they're friends, they network, they, they hang out together.
Speaker 2Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Yeah. It's, um, with, with this herb and with a lot of our herbs that we work with for this kind of, um, kind of effect, they, they can be very direct in action against some kinds of pathogens like the bacteria or fungi, you know, but, uh, they're also gonna help out if you have a viral thing going on, because it's not like a pharmaceutical where it's totally reliant on one, one chemical activity, one receptor binding, one, one capacity to penetrate and disrupt the metabolism of a, of a pathogen in some way. Right. The, the pharmaceutical has that, that one trick, and it's powerful, and you can stuff a whole lot of that power into one tiny capsule. Yeah. And so, you know, this is why they've become so popular in our world. Right. But there's a, a limit to that. If you pick the wrong pill for the pathogen, that that's, I need another P word, um,<laugh>
Speaker 1<laugh>,
Speaker 2That's propounding in your preposterousness. Okay. Whatever. Um, yeah. If you pick the wrong one, it's not gonna work. Right? Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, and we see this as a, as a real problem in our world, right. You've probably heard about antibiotic resistance, and yes, a huge portion of that comes from what we do to feed animals, all right? Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, uh, and, and, you know, uh, feed lot agriculture and that kind of stuff, but another big part of it comes from giving away too many antibiotics for viral infections. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, I'll tell you, my childhood doctor, he was always really ready with that erythromycin prescription. It was just like, you know, 10 seconds and you're, and you're done. Get outta here,<laugh>. Um, and that's, unfortunately, that's been extremely common for a very long time. And there's consequences, you know? Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. So, um, we're very lucky a surplus, cuz we don't have to worry about that in most cases. Right. And with a plant like this directly, we can, we can break apart or we can like, like, like literally melt<laugh> some of some of these pathogens. Yeah. Uh, with those aromatics, with those sharp, sharp hot aromatics. Uh, and at the same time, it's, it's a little bit, honestly, a little bit irritating to your mucus membranes and to the tissues of your own body. And the way they respond to that irritation is more blood flow. And to wake up some white blood cells that live in those tissues and say, Hey, hey, something's going on over here. Do your job,
Speaker 1<laugh>. Yeah. It's kinda like, um, you know, herbs in their function are multifactorial. So men doesn't just have one volatile oil that has antimicrobial action, has many that are like a complex mixture, um, that blend together. It's like every plant has its own perfume. It doesn't just have one scent. It's all these scents blended together, all these chemicals that carry scent or that that produce scent blended together to create the smell of that particular flower. Hmm. So, and then remembering that the smell is actually doing this antimicrobial action, but the, the more complicated the smell is, the more different chemicals it takes to make up the smell, the more different types of antimicrobial action you're getting. Okay. So we're multifactorial or like broad spectrum in that regard, but then also multi, like multiple mechanisms of action are happening too. The actual like kills germs on contact became behavior of the volatile oils, but then also the like humal stimulation of the, um, impact of those volatile oils against your mucus membranes and et
Speaker 2Cetera. Yeah. And I think in this context, it would be fair to to call these both antiseptic and immune stimulant, right? Mm-hmm.<affirmative> mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Now that phrase immune stimulant is often used for plants like eia, you know, or maybe red root or something like that. And a lot of times people sort of try to imply what that phrase, or to use it as shorthand for like, increases white blood cell counts,<laugh>, you know mm-hmm.<affirmative>, but that's not the only type of immune stimulation that, that, uh, one can induce. And it's not even, I think in a lot of cases the most important type Right.
Speaker 1You know, it's just that we live in a pharmaceuticalized world and, and like a and that's the perspective for, for all of us. That's, that's what we grew up with as the perspective. So when we think about immune stimulation, the very next thing we think about is, ah, white blood cells, there must be more white blood cells. No, no, no. There's like so many other parts of the immune sim the immune system that you can like wake up and shake out and say like, come on, come on, come on, let's go, let's go. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2<affirmative>. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1Okay. Just, I'm sorry, a word from our sponsor here, um, is that, so we're filming this so that we can put it on YouTube. We're just wearing whatever we were wearing, including the cat hair that came on it, whatever. That's our, that's our deal.
Speaker 2And that is here giving me more cat hair and more.
Speaker 1Well, see that's the thing. That's what I, it's like, like we're filming this so that we can put it on YouTube because some people like to watch stuff on YouTube, and so we wanna make this available for everybody. And normally we would say, oh, you lovely podcast listeners. Our beautiful cat is in the room and you can't see her, but she's wonderful and she's brewing at you. Except that today Ethel has managed to,
Speaker 2She's like, she's like hiding behind the
Speaker 1Right. She has found the only spot that the camera can't see, and that's where she decided to curl up and fall asleep. Yeah. So whether you are listening on the podcast or watching on YouTube, you can't actually see, but Ethel is here and, um,<laugh>. Yes,
Speaker 2Yes. Yeah. She's probably here for the cabinet, but we're not quite done with miner yet. Um, there was at least one other thing I wanted to, to add in here about this. So we've been, we've been kind of emphasizing the heat and the potency and, and we keep using this word sharp for this and that I'm realizing that might put some people off<laugh>. And you know what, uh, some of that is actually appropriate because the syrup is hot in nature. It is drying in nature, it's tonifying in nature. And if that's not your constitutional pattern, then this might not be the herb for you to drink every single day. Right?
Speaker 1Right. Like, if your lungs are already hot, hot, hot, dry, you just feel like there's a desert inside your lungs, you're probably not gonna love men right now. You might love it some other time, but right now it's probably not the time. Yeah. On the flip side, if you have like a cold, wet, boggy lung infection, and every time you cough, it's sounds like a, whatever sounds like when there's lots of fluid in the lungs. Right? It sounds like that gurgly that like, like you can hear the stuff like peeling off the inside of the lungs and gurgling around inside the cough. Right. If you've got that kind of lung infection, then you would probably really enjoy monta. Yeah.
Speaker 2Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Yeah. Um, but the thing thing that I've been thinking about recently, I started a new student group the other day and, and this was kind of coming up spontaneously as I was doing some intro talk, is that when whenever we say something like that, like, oh, this sort might not be super appropriate if you have this, this type of constitution, that's not actually the end of the story. And it doesn't mean that, that the folks with the dry or the hot pattern can never, ever work with men. Mm-hmm. Um, the solution is formulation<laugh>, right? Yes. And this herb, I I find it formulates really, really well with the, the herbs we refer to as sweet demulcent. So the two best examples of that for me are gonna be licorice root and fennel seed. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Um, there's something about the heat, the, the pun seed, the, it's not time, it's not sage, it's not rosemary, it's close. No, it's close to them, but it's
Speaker 1Not them. Minea has a, uh, some kind of flavor in there that is all its own. Yeah. It's, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2Um, and it, it, it's so nice<laugh> against fennel or mm-hmm.<affirmative> or right up along with a little bit of licorice mm-hmm.<affirmative>. And she won't like the licorice, but I like it. Right. But,
Speaker 1Uh, but I, but I know, but I recognize that that's, uh, a flavor for you. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2Uh, but it's so nice and, and the, the sweet toil sense, they have this, this velvety feeling like in the mouth or as you swallow, um, and they mitigate some of that, some of that sharpness, you know mm-hmm.<affirmative>. So maybe if you had, uh, like a kind of an irritated throat, the men on its own might feel a little too much like that, but you pair it with a, an equal portion of fennel or even a half portion of fennel, and now the drink is a lot smoother and, and it feels more comfortable. Yeah.
Speaker 1And pleasant. Uh, the same, you know, I'm not a fan of the sweet demulcent, although fennel, the fennel works for me.
Speaker 2You're, you're getting a more appreciation for fennel I
Speaker 1Am this year. Uh, yeah. On a regular Yeah. I am, it is true. But, um, you know, I don't also don't put honey in my tea. I don't, I just find that flavor to be very cloying. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2<affirmative>. Um, but that, that is another option if you're like, I don't have fentanyl. No.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's true.
Speaker 2You can put some honey in there and that that does a similar effect.
Speaker 1Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but earlier I was talking about marshmallow leaf and pulmonary, and so that also softens the flavor, but just in a different direction instead of that direction being like pushing into a sweet kind of place it is Hmm. Pushing into a, you know how sometimes they describe wine as being like full bodied or like a, well, that's how they describe it. Or sometimes coffee too. Sometimes coffee will be described that way. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, I, on one hand, I can't really tell you what I think full bodied means as a flavor, except that pulmonary and marshmallow leaf both have it. Mm-hmm. Like, I'm not sure how, how else I could possibly describe it, but I know it, I know it when I taste it in coffee, I know it when I taste it in wine and pulmonary and marshmallow both have it and that broadness of their flavor, it's almost like it spreads out the sharp heat of the men mm-hmm.<affirmative> and, and just makes it so that you're, you're not getting it all in one like sharp stabby bit. You're, you're sort of getting it all spread out neatly over. Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah. Yeah. I can feel that. Yeah. Um,<laugh>, wait, I, I think we both
Speaker 1Yeah. Had an idea at the same time. That's okay. Go first.
Speaker 2Uh, one other, one other thing, um, about men that I really love to do is to both steam with it and then drink a cup of it and then bath in it. And this is like, I must be really sick if I'm gonna do all these things. Yeah.<laugh>,
Speaker 1Right?
Speaker 2It's true. Like, it's the actual flu, it's the mm-hmm.<affirmative>, it's the whatever, right? Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Yeah. Um, and so that can all be the same, same pot, you know, as long as you don't drip any snot in it while you're doing your steam<laugh>, uh, then you can like scoop a cup out and drink that, and the rest you can pour into a good hot bath and you know, bring it into you through all of the pathways of absorption. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> basically.
Speaker 1It's true when you start asking for that and it's just like, oh my God, he's really, really sick. But it works so well. Yeah. It worked so well. Yeah. Uh, the thing I was gonna say was that, um, you know, I'm talking about pulmonary and marshmallow as like a flavor component, but they're also both like really helpful lung components and both of them have a little moistening action. And so if you are a person like Rin who you run dry, like for me, I can have a hot drying herb all day long forever. And I will never get too hot and I will never get too dry because I, I'm cold a damp to begin with, um, constitutionally. But if you're somebody like Rin where you're already a little on the dry side, that or a lot on the dry side, even then, if you are working with Menard over a long period of time, maybe you need to do that because even though you're a dry person, you still can have a wet lung infection. Like you can get pneumonia, you can get whatever.
Speaker 2Or it could be like, I can't move outta this apartment cuz I don't have the money, but I know there's black mold in here, right?
Speaker 1Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2<affirmative>. Yes. So a nerve like this every day,
Speaker 1Right? Yeah. But then if your body runs dry, bringing in any of these moistening herbs, whether it's on the, the flavor side of pulmonary and marshmallow or the flavor side of licorice and funnel, any of them is gonna help balance out the heat and the drying action of the men so that it doesn't like c compound the dryness you already had mm-hmm.<affirmative> in other parts of your body. Maybe you didn't have it in your lungs because of too much dampness in, in your environment or because of a wet lung infection or whatever. But you have it in the rest of your body mm-hmm.<affirmative>. And so that will smooth that out for you so that you're not uncomfortable. Right.
Speaker 2Yeah. What a lovely plant. We got a gross on this here.
Speaker 1Yeah. It is also, it is also gorgeous. Super beautiful.
Speaker 2Yeah. So beautiful
Speaker 1<laugh>. Yeah. Yeah. And not hard to grow. I mean, the mints, they're, they're pretty, they'll grow pretty readily mm-hmm.
Speaker 2<affirmative>. Yeah. And you know about species, um, we've just been saying men and it's really as far as we've, as far as I'm aware, every one of them is, is great. So you've got men Dima and men osa and a couple of others kicking around here and there mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Um, but as far as I know, all of them can do the
Speaker 1Job. You know, I am always fairly, so menardo is such a beautiful plant that there, there are some horticultural cultivars. Ah, yes, yes. And I am always kind of picky about that. I, I prefer, uh, like wild versions of plants over horticultural cultivars. Yeah. But if it has the smell and if it has the flavor, that's the most important thing to think about. Um, if if it doesn't have those things, then it's not going to give you the action that you want. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> because so much of the action is bound up in the smell and the flavor. Yeah. But if it does, you don't have to worry too much about exactly which species it is. All of them that have that strong smell and strong flavor will do the job.
Speaker 2Nice. Yeah. All right. Catnip,
Speaker 1You've been holding it in<laugh>, you've been just waiting.
Speaker 2Yeah. Well, I kind of wondered. So one of the reasons Ethel probably came in here was that we both have catnip in the tea mm-hmm.<affirmative>. And she in particular, she knows Yeah. She can, she can smell it when, when our tea has catnip in it, she'll come walking along the counter and she doesn't really lap it up, but she'll sit there and
Speaker 1She will put her face right in the cheek. She'll sniff at it. Yeah. She does like that a lot.
Speaker 2Yeah. Um, and, you know, we can lead with that. Catnip is actually Yes. Good for cats.<laugh>, uh, I always like to emphasize this. I think it's important for people to know that cats are not the most enthusiastic herbalist, you know? No. Um, out in the wild. They're,
Speaker 1They're, you know, they come reluctantly to the plant world.
Speaker 2Yeah. Yeah. You kind of wonder like, does an obligate carnivore like a cat, uh, do like animal medicine? Do they say, oh, I'm feeling a little ill today. I need to get, I need to find a beaver or<laugh>,
Speaker 1<laugh>,
Speaker 2This particular kind of mouse has the right kind of chemistry for me. I don't know. Uh, in any case,
Speaker 1<laugh>, um, medicinal mouse. Yeah. I don't even know, man, that's, that's dark<laugh>.
Speaker 2But, uh, but they are interested in a few plants, right? And they, they're interested in catnip, they're interested in Valerian. Uh, there's a plant called Silver Vine, and there's tartar and honeysuckle and, um, a couple, couple of others that they seem to, they seem to get excited about. Um, but for me, when I, when I see that, I think, okay, they're particularly interested in this plant. I wanna make sure they have access to it. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, you know, regularly mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Yeah. And, uh, we get the medicinal grade, you know, uh, catnip quality, uh, for our animals, just like we do for ourselves. That's a general principle, right? We give our animals the same water that we drink mm-hmm.<affirmative>, uh, the same quality of food. Um, that's what we're aiming for. All
Speaker 1Right. And, you know, the easiest way to get really high quality medicinal grade catnip is to grow ourselves. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. It is, um, a very enthusiastic, um, partner in the garden. It is very easy to grow. Um, and of course, the next thing you're gonna think is like, well, how will I grow it without all the cats in the neighborhood destroying it, grow two rows, one for the cats, and just leave it for them, and then put a fence around the other one and they won't bother it because they can't get to it. Um, I suppose you could have some cat that's like super, super, uh, wanting to get in, but if you make the, the fence right around the cat nip so that there's not very much space for them to jump in, uh, it won't guarantee that it's impossible.
Speaker 2But, but what might happen though is that the cat nip will kind of grow through the fence a little bit and
Speaker 1They'll
Speaker 2Eat those parts. They'll come and nibble on those ones. Yeah. They'll eat those parts and leave the rest alone.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.<laugh>. But so it does, it really does require a little bit of fencing, but just like, seriously, one roll of chicken wire will do it, so it doesn't have to be too, uh, expensive or, or difficult or fancy. Um, that that is enough. Yeah. But it's worth it. It's like all of these words that I'm saying and all the time that I'm taking to describe it, like, it's worth so much more than that. Yeah. Because homegrown catnip, oh my goodness,<laugh>. It is, it is so much better quality than like, just think about the best quality catnip you've ever had, and you were like, Woohoo. That is quite cat NiPy. Like home homegrown catnip is infinitely better than that<laugh>.
Speaker 2Yeah. It's so nice. Um, it definitely helps a ton if you have a dehydrator, you know, uh, so that you can, you can get it dehydrated and, and preserved and everything. Um, you could also grow your own if you don't have one. You can't, can't get one, whatever. You can grow your own catnip and then tincture it fresh. Yes. Tincture it. Fresh catnip and tincture of dried catnip are different. They're different. And you know, if you're an herb student, find both, make both, you know, whatever sample them, taste them blind, uh, turn, you know, make grab one at random or have somebody swirl them around and hand one to you, you'll be able to tell. Yeah.
Speaker 1You'll, you'll taste the difference. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Yeah. Uh, also when you grow your own catnip, you can make catnip infused honey, and that is super delicious and wonderful. And then you can blend the catnip infused honey with the catnip tincture. And now you have a like, double catnip elixir and it is pretty amazing. Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah. That is a double extraction, isn't it? Because people always say double extraction and they, and they mean like the mushrooms, you know, you do the water fraction mm-hmm.<affirmative>, you do the alcohol fraction, you combine them, but it's
Speaker 1A double extraction. You have two sets of plant matter, but yeah, it's still, yeah. Right. It's also two extractions, right?
Speaker 2Yeah. Yeah. Two media, yeah. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Yeah. Um, I also think that the way cats respond to catnip can be instructive, you know, so they, they get that initial stimulation and people often point out like pheromone, you know, similarity or that kind of thing with the, within the pone, and yeah, that's part of it. But they get that initial stimulation followed by relaxation. You know, they run around, they play, they, they chase things, they jump up, and then they pur and they stretch out and they find a warm spot mm-hmm.<affirmative>, and they, they just bliss out for a while, you know? Mm-hmm.<affirmative> and catnip is kind of like that, you know, it does have a little bit of stimulation like other mints do. Uh, it has some capacity to move blood to tissues, to warm them gently, gently. Not at all like menard, but gently, right? Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. And, um, and then the relaxation comes and there's that, that release of tension patterns. And especially in your guts, you know, especially in your stomach, your intestines, if you're tight in there, if you carry your anxiety in
Speaker 1Your belly,<laugh>,
Speaker 2Then catnip just lets it out. It just releases that for you mm-hmm.<affirmative> and it's such a relief
Speaker 1<laugh>. Yeah. Uh, those are words spoken from experience mm-hmm.<affirmative> and I, you know, that's, that's one of the reasons that we, um, that we tell students all the time. Like, you, you can't just learn this stuff in a book. You absolutely have to taste it. You have to feel it in your body. And the way that catnip relaxes the digestive system, I mean, it's, it's really profound, but you, you have to feel it. Otherwise, all you'll ever think about catnip is, well, I guess it's a diaphoretic if you have a fever, like
Speaker 2Right. Yeah. It turns up in the, the gypsy cold care tea and the Yeah. All that, whatever they,
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Right. Yeah. And look, it is<laugh>. Okay? It's a relaxant diaphoretic. It's great for that stage where the person's been hot for a while and they're, they're carrying a lot of tension in their body and the blood and the heat, it can't really circulate properly and do the real job. Um, catnip and, and skull cap and these kind of relaxant diuretics, they're really handy for that. Uh, or, or to give you a break if you've been favoring hot for a couple hours and okay, that did the job, now it's time to quiet down rest for, you know, the night and all that, then
Speaker 1Yeah. Even if the job isn't quite done yet, but you've been favoring hard for a whole day and you just need a little break from it. Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah. Yeah. So that's really, that's really, really valuable too. Um, I don't want us to get caught up only in the digestive aspects of catnip either, cuz that would also sell it short. Right.
Speaker 1<laugh><laugh>. Okay. Well, while we are talking about the things that are not digestive, um, I wanna talk about the emotional aspects of catnip mm-hmm.<affirmative>. And, um, I, I like to think about catnip for things that rise from the gut. Okay. So I'm kind of talking about the gut, but not, not exactly like emotions that rise from the gut. Like when you have fear that it's just rising and you can feel it, like the fear is in the pit of your stomach and then you feel it rising and as it gets higher, you are starting to panic more and more, or nervousness or anci anxiousness that you feel in like the pit of your stomach. Right.
Speaker 2Butterflies in the stomach. Yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah. And then except, except like, the more that you are experiencing the feeling, the less that it is friendly, beautiful butterflies. And the more that it is like a swarm of wasps in your stomach and, and they're like coming to get you, you know, like whatever. So those kinds of rising emotions, um, that both like are moving upward but also are, are like snowballing as they do it. They're getting worse and worse and worse at the higher that they get. I kind of think of like emotional nausea, right? Like you can have a little bit of nausea and it's in your stomach and then like, like then that moment happens where you start, you get that wave of heat and the nausea starts to move and it kind of like gets worse and worse. And maybe you puke and maybe you don't, but like the heat just keeps happening and it, it's snowballing. Right? Okay. That, but in your emotions mm-hmm.<affirmative>, that's when I'm thinking about catnip. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. That's, and, and for me, especially when you, when it's that kind of fear, fear for the world, fear for your children, fear for whatever it is. There are so many, there's so many things to be afraid of right now. Oh goodness. I don't wanna sound like a downer or like a, uh, like the world is such a dangerous place, but like to No, but you to be realistic.
Speaker 2Yeah. You're aware of the realities in the world.
Speaker 1Yeah. There are things, there are things to, to be anxious about. There are things to be fearful about without just being meaninglessly fearful and Right. And sometimes those things can spiral because you look around and you're like, I'm one person, what are we gonna do? And you hear the news or you hear this or you hear that and you're just like, it's getting worse and worse and I like, I, I don't know how I can fix it. And so you get that kind of emotional response of everything snowballing and, and rising up and, and being harder and harder to handle. Those are, those are the times that I'm just like, okay, just a good cup of cat n tea. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> just like un it settle it all back down again. And that doesn't make everything in the world better, but it makes you calmer Yeah. And more able to like, think clearly about it.
Speaker 2Yeah. And that's so important really for, for lots of different kinds of situations. One of the really nice things about catnip is that this is an extremely safe herb. This is an herb you can give to small children. This is an herb you can give to elders. This is a nerve that you can give to people who are taking several pharmaceutical medications. Um, it's an extremely safe plant and yet it can do these things, right? Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. So if you have a kid and they sprain their knee or they, they skin their knee, right? But like 90% of the screaming and crying is just that this is new for them and they're scared and upset and don't know how to handle it yet. Right? So the pain is really kind of small, but they're pretty, uh, they're pretty unhappy<laugh>, right? They, they would like something, something would be, would be helpful for them and we can give a bit of catnip and, you know, it's the, it's the magic kitty elixir and whatever, and<laugh>, it's like, oh, okay, now I feel better. I'm gonna go play. Right? Yeah. And the honestly, as many people know, and it from direct experience now, it's a pretty similar situation with an elder who's maybe not entirely where they used to be in terms of mental acuity and awareness of what's going on. And it's easy to get frustrated when say the nurse is different or this isn't the meal I expect on Thursdays or whatever else, right? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. So, and herb like this can be really helpful there too.
Speaker 1Yeah. And that is, you know, so many people now are taking care of elderly parents and, um, it's, it can be very challenging to feel like you have confidence in how you can approach things because so many elders are taking so many pharmaceuticals. And so you might be thinking, well, I love herbs, but I don't really know how I can help my mother or my father or the, my aunt or whoever I'm taking care of with that because I'm just afraid of drug interactions. And it, you know, there are a few plants that are very, very safe and have a very low likelihood of interactions and catnip is one of them. Um, so it's, it's so comforting that there are plants like that we can turn to chamomile is another like that that mm-hmm.<affirmative>, um, that it is, has very low risk of any kind of interaction. Um, and both of, both of them are, are so appropriate and so helpful in those kind of moments of like some mental confusion that is contributing to feelings of panic. Uh, yeah. And then if you're the caregiver mm-hmm.<affirmative>, hey, that doesn't feel awesome for you either, right? Like a as, as the person that you are caring for is, is starting to panic. There can be like a mirror reaction in you thinking like, I've gotta calm this down. And they're not calming. And so you are also not calming. Um, and so it can, it can just be a lovely way to just be like, hold on, you know, like, let's just have a cup of tea right now and, and that can, that can break what's happening in the environment. The, the actual um, sit, like create an actual break in the situation. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, but then also, and so that's good because it's sort of like a, just a minute for things to sort of settle in a different way, but then also with the herbs that are gonna help to encourage that sort of winding down of the, of the tension of the anxiousness of the panic. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>.
Speaker 2Yeah. Yeah. Thanks Kenneth.
Speaker 1<laugh>.
Speaker 2That's all per for a while.
Speaker 1<laugh>, let's see, Ethel is doing that for us.<laugh>, she's really demonstrating, uh, uh, you know, catnip efficacy here. Yeah.
Speaker 2All right. Well I think that's it for this episode, but before we go, um, I just wanted to say a couple of thoughts. Uh, so for beginner herbalist, and I know some of our podcast listeners are, one of the most important things you can do is to study the individual herbs in depth. Uh, today's episode was not superficial. No, but it's not, it's not everything we can have to
Speaker 1Say about it's not, it's not in depth yet. Yeah,
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1This is just the beginning. There's so much more. Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah. And I know we also have some intermediate herb students listening and for intermediate herbalist, one of the most important things you can do is to study the individual herbs in depth.
Speaker 1<laugh>.
Speaker 2And you know what? For advanced herbalist, one of the most important things that you can do is to study your herbs<laugh> in depth.
Speaker 1It's not a joke actually, even though I'm giggling.
Speaker 2So depending on which level you're at now, you know exactly
Speaker 1What to do. Yeah. Right. Yeah.<laugh> No, it is, and and the the most important part I think, oh, I don't know. It all goes hand in hand and hand in hand in hand. Yeah. But I think the one part that you cannot leave out is to actually taste the plants, actually work with them in your own body unless there happens to be one that you're allergic to or something like that. Okay. Well then, not that one, but work with them in your body while you're reading material medica entries about the plant. Be drinking it while you are watching videos or listening to podcasts about the plant. Be drinking it, um, while you are studying, formulating with this plant, be drinking it. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Um, because the words only convey a certain amount of information. We're trying to describe things that are happening in the body, and language is imprecise. Hmm. So when you feel it, it gives you the kind of understanding that you can't forget. It's easy to forget words cuz they're imprecise. Right. No matter how hard you try to speak very clearly about something, it is not the same as actually feeling it. When you experience it in your body, your body remembers for you, your brain doesn't have to do that work anymore. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>.
Speaker 2Yeah. Yeah. So to help you with that, our holistic herbalism material Medica course covers 90 medicinal
Speaker 1Herbs. Actually it's over a hundred now.
Speaker 2Indeed.
Speaker 1Indeed.
Speaker 2Over a hundred herbs,<laugh>. And we feature their, their energetics, their actions, their applications, that's the, uh, what do I use it for? Stuff. Okay. Uh, also contraindications and suggestions for formulation. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Um, and this course, just like every single one of our online courses comes with lifetime access to current and future course material.
Speaker 1Yeah. That's like every time we make an update, it just shows up for free in your account automatically. And you don't have to do anything. You just get the new material mm-hmm.<affirmative> and then the next time you log in you're like, oh my goodness, there's more here than what I paid for<laugh>. How great
Speaker 2<laugh>. Yeah. Yep. Jessica, you can come to those twice weekly live q and a sessions that, uh, Kathy mentioned up top there's discussion threads integrated into every lesson. So if you're watching it and you have a question, you can put it right in, in that moment. Get an answer within a day. We've got quick guides, we've got quizzes, we've got all kinds of stuff in there for you,<laugh>. So you can find that course and all of our offerings, incu, including a couple of free courses mm-hmm.<affirmative>, uh, you find them@online.commonwealthherbs.com.
Speaker 1Yes. I'll see you there. Yeah.
Speaker 2So that's it. Uh, thanks for listening and or watching and, um, we'll be back with some more holistic herbalism podcasts for you soon. Sooner than last time.<laugh>
Speaker 1<laugh>. No, no, no. That's part of, that's, that's part of our, I really don't love resolutions. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Uh, so I skirt the resolution issue by setting a theme. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> instead. But, um, I suppose if I do have one resolution for 2023, it is. No, for real. The podcast will be on time every week. There we go. There it is. Yeah.
Speaker 2Until then, take care of yourselves. Take care of each other. Drink some tea.
Speaker 1Drink some tea with your cat, with your cat,<laugh>.
Speaker 2And uh, we'll see you next time.
Speaker 1Bye-Bye.