Category Archives: learning

10 Reasons

by herbqi

Wild Herb Week is always one of the highlights of our summer. There are many reasons why you should join us, but I’ll limit myself to 10 for now. image-4

  1. It’s fun.
  2. You’ll get to hang out with great people of all ages and make new friends.
  3. You’ll go home with a substantial set of herbal products to start of your winter herbal medicine cabinet.*
  4. You’ll learn to make different kinds of herbal products.
  5. You’ll get to eat, and learn to make, new and yummy dishes from wild edible plants.
  6. You’ll learn to recognize many wild plants, and learn how to use them. Not only that, but you’ll remember them, because we’ll do plenty of review & we’ll use them.
  7. You’ll get to drink delicious herbal beverages every day, and you’ll learn to make them.
  8. You’ll go home with a beautiful new basket, made by you!
  9. You’ll learn more about how to take care of yourself and your family using safe methods.
  10. You’ll get to learn with your whole family.
  11. There are always some extra things that we learn, and you’ll have some say in what they’ll be: mushroom safety and identification, fermentation 101, and qigong may be among them.

Oops! I couldn’t quite keep it to 10.

 

Register today!!!

*For example, participants in our recent Summer Wild Herb days went home with at least 8 ounces of herbal tincture. It’s not unusual for participants in Wild Herb Week to go home with 16 or more ounces of herbal tincture, plus herbal salve or oil, herbal shampoo, herbal lozenges, delicious herbal “goo balls,” and other goodies. It’s a bit different every time; we make make things that aren’t on this list and not make some of what’s here. It all depends on the plants, the weather, and the people.

For more information, click here!

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Herbal Gift Making

by herbqi

We’ve rescheduled the upcoming Herbal Gift Making workshop. It will take place on Monday, Dec. 19, 3:30-7:30. We’ll begin with a quick weed walk, during which we’ll harvest one or two of the ingredients we’ll be using.IMG_1207-1

As darkness descends, we’ll head indoors, make some wonderful hot herbal beverage to share, and proceed with the gift making.

We’ll makeimage an herbal shampoo, soap, dream pillow, and vinegar. Most of the gifts we make will be ready right away, but one or two will need some time to mature, and so will work best for an end of Kwanzaa or New Year’s Eve present.

Come join us!!

Languages heal the brain

by herbqi

I was delighted to see this article confirming that bilingualism aids in recovery from stroke, because it corresponds to my experience working with people recovering from concussions. Granted, concussions differ greatly from stroke, but both affect memory.

When I work with people recovering from concussions, I use a complex approach including herbs; shiatsu; specific acupoints for headaches, nausea, and other symptoms; and outgoing qigong, also known as qi projection. I often combine mental challenges with qi projection.

The client and I choose the mental challenge together, but it often involves language. Sometimes it’s rapid-fire transitions among languages, or telling a story – usually one that teases the memory in its own right, such as a minor  conversation from three days ago; or a description of a scene from a five days back that includes details about smells, sounds, textures, and colors as well as conversation – and translating the story into at least one other language. The qi projection makes it easier for the client to remember both the details of the story and recalcitrant words.

Since I am a linguist and a philologist as well as an herbalist  and shiatsu and qigong therapist, I particularly relish the opportunity to bring languages into healing. Fortunately, it turns out to be a very effective combination. In the future I may even combine language instruction with healing work.

 

Make Your Own Fire Cider at Debra’s Natural Gourmet

by herbqi

 Wednesday, January 20, 7:00-8:30 at Debra’s Natural Gourmet in Concord. Make Your Own Fire Cider with Nina Judith Katz.

 

You’ll go home with a pint of this wonderful, traditional winter remedy, and instructions for finishing it off. I’ll talk about how to use both fire cider and some of the herbs that make it so healthy!  Bring a clean, pint-sized jar and $5.00 to help cover the cost of a smorgasbord of ingredients. Limited to 60 people. Yes, do sign up when you’re in the store or call 978-371-7573. This will be great fun!

Natural Herbal Living magazine

by herbqi

Learn more about herbs and herbalism by subscribing to Natural Herbal Living Magazine, a new magazine geared to people curious about or just starting to learn about herbs, and also to people who have been reading about herbs for a long time and are ready to start making their own tinctures, cordials, salves, and other products.

Each month, Natural Herbal Living Magazine focuses on one herb and provides several articles offering a variety of perspectives about that herb, together with recipes and lots of information. As one of the authors, I’m writing one or two of these articles each month as well. There is also an option to subscribe to a monthly herb box with ingredients for the recipes in the articles. The idea is that by focusing on a single herb each month, you’ll remember more than if you try to learn several herbs a month. Focusing on one, making various preparations with it and experimenting on it will let you get to know that one herb reasonably well. The box makes it easier to make all the goodies described in the issue. As a teacher of herbalism, the complaint I hear most often is that it’s hard to remember everything about all the herbs. Slowing it down to one herb a month and exploring that one in depth makes it easier to retain the information and ground it in experience.

I’m one of the writers, and periodically, I’ll repost my articles on this website. I also wrote a glossary for the magazine, and if you find an herbalism-lingo word that you don’t know, you can click on it and get my definition. (There are advantages to being both an herbalist and a lexicographer!)

To subscribe, click on the banner.