Listen with Forage Botanicals Natasha Richardson; Herbalist, Doula and Antenatal Teacher

I'm happy to say the most frequent question I get off the back of my podcast is how do I study as a herbalist? This podcast, and final episode, aims to answer that question for anyone in the UK and gives some online options too.

The information in this podcast was true in 2018. Please check the course websites below to ensure nothing has changed since then.

Visit our website for the full list of courses.

http://foragebotanicals.co.uk/forage-botanicals/how-to-become-a-herbalist

Belle Benfield shares with us her deep rooted connection with Elecampane. She became a herbalist after years of studying on an apprenticeship with Karen and Fi from Sensory Solutions and now works side by side with them.
Elecampane is a root which is harvested in Autumn. I have grown this herb and candied it in the past for coughs but Belle raised other uses with me. Such as, it's amazing ability to kill MRSA! She also spoke about its associations with Helen of Troy and...
Amparo's website:  www.bellebenfield.com  Sensory Solutions' website: www.sensorysolutions.co.uk Belle's seed pilgrimmage: https://seedpilgrimage.wordpress.com/

Amparo is a Spanish born Scotland based herbalist. She learnt Herbal Medicine in the UK and is currently training to become a doctor. She brings a fresh look at Marshmallow using her wonderfully in-depth and colourful knowledge of phytochemistry. 
Marshmallow gave it's name to the sweet. It's wonderfully softening and soothing properties most commonly used for digestion. Amaro explains how she likes to prepare and use it. It's a herb I have a lot of but don't use much. 
I'd like to apologise for the late publishing of this podcast. I had to take my sweet time on the sound levels in post-production and well, it was a right FAFF! 
Amparo's website: https://mediciplant.com

Sarah Smith is an old friend of mine. She qualified from Lincoln University just a couple years after me. Since then she's gone on to qualify in massage, and as a doula. I have to say, Sarah gives the best deep tissue massage I've ever had! 
She loves women's health as much as me and we talked about Shepherd's purse as it is a traditional herb to stop excessive menstruation. But from there we go down all kinds of conversational rabbit holes involving clinical trials and ending with pornography. Tune in to hear the madness! 
Sarah's website: https://redearthholistictherapies.com/about/

Vivienne is passionate about Rose. I'm sure drinking rose brandy whilst recording helped a little with that too. She's created an amazing online course in which she teaches herbal medicine which is linked to below. In this episode we talk about the medicinal value of Roses. We talk mostly about the wonderful uplifting properties it has for emotions. 

In this episode I talk about the common Peppermint with Erika Galentin. We discuss how Peppermint is not just cooling but also potentially irritating and heating to the body. How information about herbal medicine can be pretty unreliable online. Why it's important to use essential oils safely and how different herbalism is in the UK vs. the USA where she's based. Erika is a wonderfully inspiring herbalist who has successfully transitioned from one form of herbal medicine to another. She is the course development director for the wonderful Herbal Academy.