With the many rites of the coming spring in full force (Imbolc, Lunar New Year, Groundhog Day, Candlemas, etc), the warmer weather has me feeling…not only revivified…but also thinking, carefully, about where my energy goes as we enter this new cycle. Just like a archer aiming her arrow, I think about what I want this … Continue reading
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Give Thanks: Feeding Your Microbes and Feeding Your Lineage
It may come of no surprise to you that I tend to think about the holidays a bit differently than most. The usual family tension and meal preparation carry deeper meanings to me, reaching their tendrils into microbial gut colonies and ancestral meanderings. You all may have read previous blog posts on microbes, digestion, and … Continue reading
A Tail of Making Brushes
With harvest season and market season for the apothecary behind me and fall fully in effect, I’ve had some time to explore in nature and create with my hand in other ways. Wandering outside just to admire…without my pruning sheers or shovel…has just been delightful…providing some good juice for mah soul. So, my artist friend … Continue reading
Restoring Digestive Health
“All diseases begin in the gut.” ~ Hippocrates I just taught an intensive in Asheville, NC for the Organic Grower’s School on Restoring Digestive Health and it got all kinds of juices flowing on this topic (smile). Distant memories from my psycho-spiritual break-down (and break-through) re-emerged and reminded me how far I had come. Truly, … Continue reading
Passionflower and Passionfruit Natural Soda
I suppose it’s about time I write about the name-sake of my website, right (well, the former name of this website was Madhupa Maypop)? Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) was one of the first herbs that I took as a medicine many years ago while living in San Francisco. Blended with hawthorn berry and flower, it helped … Continue reading
Plant Medicine Intensive Recap
In the depths of the winter months I normally begin plotting out the calendar for workshops and teaching opportunities the following year. There are usually a few key teaching dates, conferences and collaborations I nail down with room for spontaneity. For the past couple of years I’ve been going down the Maypop Herb Shop in … Continue reading
Dietary Suggestions and Herbs for Type II Diabetes
Dietary habits and plant medicine can offer a wealth of support for those diagnosed with type II diabetes. There are a number of herbs that are viewed as “blood sugar balancers” as well as some herbs that behave like insulin, taking glucose and moving it into the body’s cells. Some of the herbs I will … Continue reading
Eastern Red Cedar: Deep Tree Medicine
I have to pay homage to this amazing plant ally, especially after its generous gift to me after a recent and intense car accident. Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is quite prolific in Mississippi, where I live. It is a common and vigorous pioneer species, found along roadsides and also in deforested areas. It is … Continue reading
The Honored Middle and Gut Health
Some thoughts on gut health ~ Practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) say that gut health actually provides the necessary ingredients to protect the heart (where spirit or “shen” resides). In Japan, the large intestine is referred to as both the “honored middle” (onaka) and “center of the spiritual and physical strength” (hara). The soul … Continue reading
Embracing the Unseen: Microbes, Fermentation, and the Gut
I’m so thankful that a friend of mine got Sandor Katz, the fermentation wizard of the Wild Fermentation movement, to come to my hometown last night! I was able to geek out on all things gut and all things bacterial for an *entire* evening. For those of you that know about my health crisis, healing … Continue reading
Lindsay Kolasa 