With a Little Help from My Friends

Wow! It is with a lot of nostalgia and emotion that I give you this news: this will be the last twirl of its kind on Twirling Leaf! I started keeping this blog when I was in graduate school for Health Promotion, mainly so I could info-dump everything I was learning. That was 17 years ago. A lot of those earlier posts were lost in a server crash, so Twirling Leaf has always had a sort of impermanence about it. In addition to enthusiastically sharing whatever knowledge or glimpses towards understanding that I have, my deeper hope has always been that something that I write lands in the heart or mind of a reader in a way that reminds them that they are not alone in the journey from here to there, wherever “there” may be. 

Twirlingleaf.com will still be an active website, but it is changing to become the home of my new herbal practice. That’s right! In just a few weeks, I graduate from the Vermont Center of Integrative Herbalism with a certificate in Family and Community Herbalism after completing 336.5 classroom hours of education (in addition to completing my 352 hour apprenticeship program with the Ojai School of Herbal Studies). Beginning in February, I will commence my two year clinical training program culminating in another 1,248 hours classroom and clinical practice and education.

In other recent news, since August, I’ve been working as an herbalist at Ema’s Herbs in Ventura, California. It’s been an amazing experience. The degree of community that this holistic health center and storefront has created is beautiful. I am already invested in so many people’s lives and journeys–the person who had a miscarriage and is looking for herbal support in the immediate aftermath. The person who has crushing anxiety or mild depression and is seeking some peace of mind. The person who just wants to fall asleep and stay asleep until their alarm goes off. The person who wants to dream deeply and vividly to seek spiritual guidance or gain insight from their unconscious. And then there are the more physical issues: UTI support, Liver detoxing, boosting the immune system, etc. 

So many people come to Ema’s looking for wellness, but moreover, seeking care. It is tragic that so often people’s medical experiences and interactions with health practitioners lack actual care. Too often, the patient in the doctor’s office is just an unfamiliar body allotted to 20 minutes of an overworked doctor’s time. That is certainly not always true, but it is a frequent theme that I hear, and it has been my experience getting medical care through UCLA Health here in LA. That’s not to mention the amount of money it costs too! I’m still paying off a 3-D mammogram or something (at this point I’ve blocked the experience) that my doctor convinced me to get. It was an exorbitant bill not covered by our insurance! This is not a plug to ditch your doctor or to not adhere to their advice; I’m just saying that our mainstream healthcare system is broken here in the United States. There are many reasons that people seek (often in addition to their physician’s care) complementary and alternative medicine. It doesn’t have to be an either or approach; it can be both/and (hence the word “integrative” in the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism). 

So, next month, I begin offering consultations. I already have one person who is waiting for my books to open so she can schedule a session with me. I can’t wait to work with her. I just need to finish preparing. Which leads me back to the last twirl. This website will become a place where people (you, I hope!) Can find herbal wisdom, herbal medicine, and camaraderie and community. There will still be a blog section, but it will be infused with holistic health themes–everything from tips for how to get the most medicinal bang out of your culinary garlic to deeper wisdom gleaned from the natural world. And recipes! Who doesn’t want to make an aphrodisiac elixir in February? Or an all natural energy bite that tastes delicious and will also enhance your body’s nitrite and nitrate reserves and bioavailability (more nitric oxide improves oxygen delivery and use).

I’ve been incredibly busy with all of the above in the most fulfilling way I couldn’t even have imagined. And after homeschooling for the majority of the first 14 years of Senya’s life and 11 of Juni’s, I didn’t think that finding another vocation was in the cards for me. I guess I assumed I’d be like an Octopus mom and just kind of deliver my babies to the world, recede into a cave, and die. But, I’m really glad the Universe had other plans. And while I LOVE what I’m doing now, it’s a LOT to juggle. But I’m learning how to lean into the people around me—especially the ones who have made it very clear that they are eager and willing to support me on this journey. Two days ago (after not having power for 3 days due to extreme fire danger) my friend and fellow student, Lacey, drove to my house and helped me complete the project on time. One friend picked up Senya and took them to school yesterday morning while I was giving a presentation in class about the Urinary Tract (Collin is in Banff for work this week and Juniper is on a rock- climbing expedition in Joshua Tree for school). Another set of friends bring Juniper and Senya back to their house weekly to bridge the time between when they’re done school and when we can get them. Darby has driven from her home (an hour away) to the canyon on the days that I’ve been working in Ventura (when Collin has been away) to spend time with Senya and Juniper and take them to their extracurriculars. Senya designed and painted my logo. Juniper has been supportive of my new path, and moreover: she now asks me for herbs to enhance dreaming and to keep her nails, skin, and hair healthy. And then there’s the whole category of Collin’s support. Collin has been enthusiastically building my new website, designing business cards, building me shelves for my herbs, building a desk to be more accommodating for my intense upcoming clinical training, and cheering me on at every step. I couldn’t do it without a little help (sometimes a LOT of help) from my friends.

Anyway, it’s an exciting, new era, and I look forward to sharing it with any of you who continue to come to TwirlingLeaf.com.

Thank you for reading all these years, and thank you for sharing this ever-evolving journey of life.

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