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The Age Old Practice of Herbal Energetics

Herbal Energetics, Bev McLeish Chartered Herbalist Herbal North Aurora York Region Out of the Woods Wellness in Aurora

The practice of energetics is almost as old as herbal medicine. It has been practiced for thousands of years around the globe, but what exactly is it?

The general idea behind energetics is body balance or homeostasis.  This idea is connected to the herbalist belief that the body can heal itself. That it will do whatever it can to even out its internal processes to come back to its original state of health/balance. Energetics is a method we use to view what’s going on inside the body to help it return to its normal state using herbs.

How the Ancients Viewed Disease

Long ago, disease was seen as a sign that the body was experiencing internal disharmony or imbalance. Symptoms weren’t seen as the problem, but pointed to how the body had to contort itself to continue to function. It was believed that disease, or dis-ease, occurs when one organ isn’t functioning properly. Another organ or function in the body starts to overwork or stops working altogether to compensate instead. Once this happens we start to see or experience symptoms that create pain or discomfort for us.

The symptoms themselves weren’t necessarily seen as the problem but as a sign post or a red flag that communicated what might be going on in the body so that the source of the symptoms could be addressed. The body and disease are seen holistically when using energetics.

The Six Tissue States

Traditional medicines use various ways to understand the body’s language and help the body make the internal adjustment back to health. In those days, we all trusted the plants and our bodies to be on our side. We believed that our body and plant remedies could be trusted and worked together to help us regain a healthy state. We saw these entities as sources of great intelligence.

To continue reading this blog please click here…

 

Bev McLeish

Chartered Herbalist

Herbal North

 

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An Herbalist’s Perspective on the Legalization of Marijuana

Legalizition of Marijuana, Bev McLeish, Herbal North, Out of the Woods Wellness Aurora

Just like everything else, the legalization of cannabis and its various product derivatives brings both positives and negatives. My perspective as an Herbalist is unique. I work with natural plants every day to help people with their physical concerns. So it probably goes without saying that my opinion will differ from the majority.

Here’s my take on this development and my advice to any who may wish to experiment with these new products.

On the Positive Side…

With this new change in legislation, society is starting to reflect a more open mindset. The idea that the natural world can’t be trusted is eroding away. Ten short years ago, cannabis was seen as an enemy to civilized society, something only the young or rebellious would use. Two decades ago, the idea that we would legalize marijuana was laughable.

Since then we’ve done a lot of changing and we are now starting to recognize that there are viable natural alternatives to address our health concerns. This shift is small but mighty and I believe it’s just a matter of time before other plants finally see their day in the sun.

Once the majority agrees that one plant can support our well-being and quality of life without the scary side effects of man-made drugs, it’s just a matter of time before other plants receive their much due recognition. This is the reason why we’ve used plants for health for thousands of years.

It’s Not All Rosy Though

Being an herbalist, you’d think I would praise CBD, cannabis and marijuana from the rooftops as the next best thing. I won’t. In fact, I have to admit I get a little angry when I see people who don’t know anything about plants selling CBD oil and saying everyone should be taking it.

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Bev McLeish

Chartered Herbalist

Herbal North

 

 

 

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Herbalism –A Holistic Approach

Herbalism Aurora - Herbal North Bev McLeish Herbalist Newmarket - Holistic Health

Most modern Western herbalists would say they practice holistically. We hear the term all the time but what does it really mean? First of all, holistic medicine recognizes that it takes more than a pill or cream to improve a person’s sense of wellness.

Traditional Medicine Models

Holistic approaches to wellness look at the entire person and sees physical health as only one aspect of what creates meaningful health. Traditional medicine models are similar in that they take the entire person and their experiences into consideration. They review a person’s mental, emotional, physical, social and spiritual state (which includes morality and ethics) in order to determine what the person needs to come back into balance. A main goal is to get a person to a point where they function productively in all of areas of life so they can reach their full potential.

Native American Medicine is a Prime Example

Native American traditional medicine uses what’s called a medicine wheel representing the four aspects of self and of the life cycle. Their definition of medicine encompasses so much more than what makes the body feel better. They believe medicine can include an idea that gives someone a new, more constructive and compassionate perspective on a problem. Medicine is anything that gives you courage, calms you or teaches you something you didn’t know before. Anything that feeds your mind, body and spirit to bring you back into balance is considered medicine.

How Herbalism Fits

Herbalism, as a form of holistic practice, attempts to empower the individual by treating them as an equal and fully participating partner in the work it takes to get results. A thorough intake (or evaluation) is done usually lasting an hour or more. Personal questions are asked about the person’s past; emotional state; body functions and their regularity; a detailed description of current illnesses and what they feel like; past or present traumatic events; diet; family and family medical history; sleeping patterns and their historical medical conditions.

Everything a person does or experiences contributes to or contaminates the whole. Therefore, separating a person’s illness from everything else disregards a crucial part of the puzzle to help a person regain and maintain wellness.

Click here to read the whole blog post over on HerbalNorth.ca…

 

Bev McLeish
Chartered Herbalist
Herbal North

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Suburban Sage Party

SUBURBAN SAGE PARTY

SUNDAY JUNE 10TH 1 PM TO 3 PM

36 VALHALLA COURT AURORA, ONTARIO L4G 5W4

Women’s Wellness

Empower yourself by learning and experiencing ancient wisdom from both the East and West.

Bev Mcleish, a modern western Herbalist who has a strong drive to share her knowledge of the ever available potent and healing properties of earth’s plant life, will cover multiple plants (many native to Ontario) that have supported women’s wellness for centuries.

Wendy Williams, a tai chi fanatic infuses her calm strength and gentle sense of humour to express and center ourselves through Chinese Martial Arts and philosophy.  Wendy will provide simple practices from tai chi and neigong to leave you with an array of personalized tools for your own empowerment.

From novice to dabblers, all are welcome. There are limited numbers so email bev@herbalnorth.ca to find out how to reserve your spot!

Hold your space for $20. Allergy alert, dog and cat on premises.

 

 

Bev McLeish
Chartered Herbalist
Herbal Nort

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Ethical Wildcrafting: Is There Such a Thing?

Ethical Wildcrafting: Is There Such a Thing?

We are now at the threshold of summer when the growth in our forests and fields is in full swing and the plants await our picking!

Wildcrafting, or the harvesting of plants from the wild, is becoming more popular as natural health alternatives are shared in social media and do it yourself skin care techniques and raw materials are being sought out.

This is a great sign that humanity is realizing the power of the natural world and that, as part of the natural world, our bodies will respond positively to natural remedies. There is however, a very real danger that we will overharvest medicinal plants that are already facing endangerment or incorrectly harvest a plant (for its bark for instance) and kill an entire stand of trees in the process.

Urban Sprawl

In southern Ontario, we’ve seen the constant and relentless expansion of suburbs in most small towns that happen to be remotely close to Toronto. This population sprawl seems to be never ending and in every direction (except south of course).

More Doesn’t Mean Better

Along with this “improvement”, comes the complete destruction of centuries old forests, fields and wildlife habitats. The waterways aren’t even safe as they must be re-routed or updated to accommodate the new subdivisions being built.

Twice I have moved away from Toronto and twice now I have seen the calm, relaxed and picturesque environment in which I lived destroyed to make room for big houses on small lots, more street lights, stop signs and more traffic that we all say is killing the environment.

Along with this systemic destruction, we’re not only removing crucial wildlife habitat and using up farmland below the permafrost line but we’re decimating the medicinal plants native to Ontario, many of which are already endangered (for those interested visit www.unitedplantsavers.org).

Click here to read the whole blog post over on HerbalNorth.ca…

 

Bev McLeish
Chartered Herbalist
Herbal North

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