Welcome to Lindsay Kolasa’s site ~
Herbalist, Fiber Artist, Soul-worker
As a life-long learner, my work leans on common sense and is fed by curiosity, observation, and awareness.
Due to my own health crisis that began in 2001, my path has been a long and winding one…of healing, break-throughs, and insights regarding trauma & recovery, the microbiome, trans-generational trauma, biodiversity, and tending the fractures in various forms of modern relationships. This journey has taken me to places such as the mountains of Western North Carolina, to the Pontic Steppe of Ukraine, to the coastlands of California, and to the red clay hills of Eastern Mississippi.
With 10 years of social service work and another 10 years of working with clients through my herbalism practice, I have learned a tremendous amount about the body, the soul, and the spirit. As well, as an herbalist, I am constantly reminded of the honesty of the earth body and the deep lessons of nature. My work is trauma-informed, utilizing tools such as narrative medicine and compassionate inquiry.
The plant path has also led me to working with plants beyond food and medicine. My more recent meanderings have taken me into traditional crafts and fiber arts. You’ll find some posts on these topics on my blog. Plant dyeing, weaving, cordage making, and basketry are some fiber arts that I actively explore.
I teach. I consult. I write. I speak. I create. I organize.
Feel free to explore the tabs to see upcoming workshops & retreats, to learn about my consultations, and to read blog posts on herbalism, whole foods recipes, and other gems.
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Here are links to some of my most viewed blog posts:
A Survivor’s Guide to the Essential Oil Craze
Long-lost, Long-leaf: The Return of a Forgotten Forest?
I Was Born to Do This (an exploration of psychosis)
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And, here are links to plant monographs that I wrote for Catfish Alley Magazine when I lived in Mississippi and ran Sweet Gum Springs Apothecary (2012-2017):
Dandelion: the Teeth of the Lion
Poke: a Deep South Herb for Deep Work
Mimosa: If Happiness Was a Tree
Rose Medicine: Cooling & Comforting
Sumac for the Kitchen & the Medicine Cabinet
Goldenrod: A Plant That Makes Us Whole
“To be healthy is to be whole and to be holy.
It is to acknowledge the great goodness that our bodies are linked to the bodies of other people, to the bodies of plants and animals, indeed to the earth, the sun and moon, and the other heavenly bodies. It is to receive the awareness, at once humbling and exhilarating, that we are a part of Creation, one with all that we live from and all that, in turn, lives from us.”
~ Wendell Berry
Lindsay Kolasa 