Just Getting Started with Herbs? Avoid These 4 Common Mistakes.

Maybe you’re curious about herbs because you want a “natural alternative” to allopathic and pharmaceutical interventions. Maybe you’ve tried an herbal tea or supplement that worked wonders for your friend but did nothing for you. 

Transitioning to natural/herbal medicine often requires a total paradigm shift, especially if you want to go beyond symptom management and get to the root of your health issues. Herbs don’t necessarily fit into the traditional allopathic model of care. Plants are as unique as each person who uses them for medicine, and there isn’t just one herbal headache remedy or pain remedy that will work for everyone. 

In order to get the results you want, avoid these 4 common mistakes people make when they’re just getting started with herbal medicine. 

You heard this herb was good for ______, so you’re going to use it for your ______ as well. 

This is common for those starting out with herbs who aren’t used to working with plants energetically. One herb that works wonders for your friend’s headaches may not help yours at all. This is because the underlying cause of your headaches might not be the same as what’s causing your friend’s.

When you google, “What herbs are good for x condition,” you’ll likely get a long list of herbs populating your search results. How do you choose the right herb for your condition? Therein lies the art of herbalism. 

For example, there are several herbs that are antitussive (reduce cough) or anticatarrhal (remove excess mucus/phlegm), but every herb has a unique energy that is appropriate for certain types of people or certain types of coughs. 

Some herbs are more appropriate for a cough that is “hot” and “dry” (small amounts of yellow or green mucus). Others are better for “cold” and “damp” coughs (large amounts of clear/white mucus). Others may assist in reducing tension in the lungs (spasmodic coughs). It’s important to understand the qualities/energetics of your symptoms and of your body as a whole, before selecting an herbal remedy. 

You aren’t taking a large enough dose, or you’re taking too much. 

Some people can smell chamomile tea and they’ll pass out. Others might need to drink a quart of tea throughout the day to fall asleep.  

Again, this can be a paradigm shift for people who aren’t used to working with plant medicine. Dosing plays into how your herbs are prepared as well. Some herbal teas need to be steeped, some need to be boiled, and some herbs are better as a tincture/extract. Echinacea, for example, can be quite potent in a tincture, but may not give you the desired immune boosting effects in a tea bag. 

It’s also important to note that unless you’re taking a standardized herbal capsule, herbal medicine is not standardized like pharmaceuticals. 

Say you decide to grow some chamomile in your garden. You could start two sets of seeds from the same plant and give them the exact same care, but plant them 100 feet apart, and you would find their levels of chemical constituents to not be identical. The chamomile you grow in your backyard (and talk to every day and process yourself) is going to have a different effect on you than conventionally grown chamomile from Croatia that sat in a warehouse for a year before being shipped to you. You probably won’t need as large of a dose of your home-grown chamomile to see an effect. 

You want your symptoms to go away without addressing the underlying imbalance that caused those symptoms. 

I know, you just want your pain to go away. And that’s totally fair. You’re tired of the cramps or the constipation or the headaches or whatever it is you’re dealing with. But our culture of instant gratification makes us want to push the pain away quickly so that we can continue living our lives in whatever way made us sick in the first place.

Your symptoms are messages from your body – the canary in the coalmine. As an herbalist, my goal is never to have people on herbs for life to manage their symptoms. I want to address the cause of the symptoms so that the body can heal itself.

As herbalist Tammi Sweet says, “Pain is a signal to change your behavior.” So, you can either quickly get rid of the symptom, and have the underlying imbalance continue to fester and potentially lead to bigger health issues down the road, OR you could go beyond symptom management and take the slow and steady route to addressing the underlying imbalance. Which way will you choose?

You take herbs without knowing too much about them - like eating packaged food without looking at the ingredient list. 

Gotta get woo on you for a second here: the relationship you have with your medicine matters. Plants are just as nuanced and complex as you are. When you take the time to get to know the plants you’re working with and what they’re doing to your physical or subtle body, you’re likely to have a better experience. 

It’s really easy to see plants simply as a “natural alternative” to pharmaceuticals, but they’re so much more than that! Get curious – ask a plant where it comes from, what it looks like, what it’s doing to your body. What does this plant want to teach you? 

Now, I’m not saying that using a more allopathic, use-this-herb-for-this-condition approach will never work, but, if you’re trying to treat a chronic condition, or you’re sensitive to herbs, you’ll need to educate yourself about the plant you want to work with OR work with someone who understands the energy of the plant you’re considering to see if it’s going to be the best fit for you.

If you’re just getting started with herbs, I’ve got a free starter guide on how to begin to safely incorporate plant medicine into your life. 

Ready for a holistic healing experience that incorporates plant medicine and/or energy work? Explore my offerings here.