Blog — Herbal Guru

Like Traditional Chinese Medicine, Native Americans have practiced their healing arts for thousands of years, using herbs to heal their body, mind and spirit.  Native Americans believe that illness is a sign of misalignment in spirit as well as in the physical body. Addressing the spiritual well-being of the sick is considered equally or even more important than addressing the actual physical ailments.  Sage is one herb that has become famous for its healing properties. In Latin, sage translates to salvia, derivative of salvus, which mean safe, so named from its supposed healing powers.  It has long been used for it’s spiritual cleansing properties but did you know sage’s...

When the New York Times wrote an article about adaptogens, and Health Magazine interviewed me asking me to answer some questions on adaptogens for their November article "Adaptogens Explained", I realized that finally, plant-based medicine is becoming more main stream.  This got me excited and I wanted to write about something that adaptogens do that most people don't know about:  Shrink belly fat!   First of all, what are adaptogens?  Adaptogens are a group of plants that can help our bodies adapt to physical, chemical, and environmental stressors. As you probably know, your body is built to release the hormone cortisol to respond to...

It just seems unfair that every month we have to revisit the PMS/Cramps issue.  Is there a natural way we can prevent this monthly drudgery so we can continue our daily routine without moodiness and cramps?  As a practitioner of Traditional Medicine, I help my patients by suggesting some easy tips to incorporate into their wellness menstrual routine.  These are tried and true and I’m happy to be sharing them with you today!   3 Tricks to Less PMS PMS can be accentuated by stress, hormones, and our diet.  Our body is building up blood to prepare for the menstrual flow.  It’s almost...

Now that there is more and more proof that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) are more dangerous than thought to be in the past, there is more reason to try alternatives to treat pain.  As a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a medicine in which there are 5,776 herbs in the Chinese Materia Medica, an herbalist’s bible, I have been prescribing herbs for over a decade for a vast array of symptoms, including pain.  I feel comfortable knowing that these herbs, especially in combination with other herbs, have been used for thousands of years and proven not only effective, but safe...