Did you know that this week the first week of May is Maternal Mental Health Week? Yes there is such a thing to help highlight the need support for mothers.

This is an area I'm passionate about, however I would expand the banner to Maternal Mental, Emotional and Energetic Health week! Having worked for a number of years as a therapist specialising in maternal mental and emotional wellbeing I got an insight into the reality that many mothers, with no prior "mental health" issues can really struggle with the transition to motherhood internally, while desperately trying to keep up appearances on the outside.

And as a mother of 3 young children at the time, I could totally relate.

I had similar train of thought that came crashing in and around until I managed to get a handle on them and chuck them out again.

What was really eye opening to me was that many mothers who sough my support were concerned about the possibility of Post Natal Depression, some already diagnosed and on medication,...

Working in the sphere of natural health for many years, I'm a firm believer in the power we have as people to support our wellbeing in Natural ways. Of course as a herbalist, plant medicine is one of the primary pathways I use and promote.

Did you know that approximately 80% of the worlds population rely on plant medicine as their primary form of healthcare?

It's quite an incredible realisation when we consider that the awareness in the general population about the role that plants can play in health is so limited. In our dualistic, mechanistic society there is often a black and white approach taken. It's either/or, this or that, one or the other.

Within the mainstream population, herbal medicine is often considered as an alternative, new-age, tree hugging pursuit that has little opportunity to be integrated into life for the regular Joe. Most people would never consider that plant medicine can play a powerful role in their health and wellbeing.

The truth is that plant medicine when...

We are living in a time where the awareness of the benefits of natural health approaches are moving from the realm of fringe lunatic to the mainstream population. The days where herbs are relegated to the realms of hippies are gone. Much scientific data, confirms what has been known for eons by traditional plant practitioners. The awareness of "We are what we eat" has rippled across the world making a glossy, well-marketed comeback from the days of Hippocrates to the modern Cosomopolitan magazine readers. And the reality of the challenges that using pharmaceutical medications can pose in relation to side-effects and limited effectiveness has encouraged more and more people to start looking for alternatives or at least complementary methods to support their natural health and wellbeing in a more natural way.

There are as many ways to support our health naturally as there are rivers to the sea. These pathways can range from food, herbs, supplements, cleansing regimes, talk therapy,...

Growing up in a house with a football and hurling obsessed father where the smell of Deep Heat was a regular, almost comforting aroma, when I first came across the recipe I share below I thought “Now that will give Deep Heat a run for its money!” 

There is so much to say about Cayenne Pepper. It was one of the first of many surprises I got when I began to study herbal medicine. Not being a fan of spices in general, and having no knowledge of them other than in cooking foods that my palette couldn’t handle, Cayenne Pepper what one hell of an eye opener as to how food can be medicine and in the most powerful of ways! Cardiovascular health, Pain Relief, digestion and metabolism. The list goes on. 

The health benefits of Cayenne deserves a whole article to its self but for today, I just want to share a herbal remedies recipe using this wonderful plant that is so simple anyone came make it and benefit from it. Paint by numbers and...

HAWTHORN- CRATAEGUS

Working with people on both a physical and emotional healing level, there is one area that presents again and again as central to the healthy functioning of the individual. The Heart. On a physical level, when it stops functioning we die. On an emotional and energetic level, when its negatively impacted we disconnect and our relationship with those around us, the world a large and life itself can be hindered.