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What if waiting could teach us how to watch? In this second episode of How to Wait, I'm sitting with the Page of Cups from the Herbal Tarot, the plant damiana, and the wildness of a place I'm still waiting to call home. With one foot in my old life and one reaching toward the new, I'm exploring what it means to let the land shape me before I arrive with plans of my own. 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/LwqJbjA4Yg8  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://skyh.to/SUB  The word wait comes through Anglo-French and Old North French waitier, meaning "to watch." Its early meanings included keeping watch and lying in wait; the familiar sense of remaining patiently in expectation developed later. That connection offers a beautiful invitation for this season: to pay attention to what is already here while something new takes shape. Through stories from Minnesota nature writer Sigurd F. Olson, reflections on the Page of Cups, and a mother moose's fierce protection of her calf, I explore: ● How plants, animals, and daily encounters give a place its character ● What happens when we allow ourselves to be changed by our surroundings ● Wildness as devotion, protection, and care ● Keeping a waiting journal to notice the small changes we might otherwise miss Working with damiana (Turnera diffusa) Damiana leaf is traditionally prepared as a tea and is also available as a tincture. Its traditional uses include support for anxiety and sexual vitality, though human research remains limited. For this week's practice, you might prepare a tea according to your supplier's directions, sit beside a window or outdoors, and notice the aroma, your bodily sensations, and the life moving around you. Let the cup accompany a few quiet minutes of watching. Damiana safety: Avoid during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Damiana may lower blood sugar, based on animal research, so consult your healthcare professional before use if you have diabetes, experience low blood sugar, or take glucose-lowering medication. Follow product directions and check with your pharmacist about medication interactions. This information is educational and does not replace individualized care. What are you noticing in your own season of waiting? I'd love to hear in the comments! HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom

What do we do with the part of ourselves that is ready to begin when life is asking us to wait? 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/ZqDkWzkcygo  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://skyh.to/SUB  In this first episode of How to Wait, a new series following Savoring the End, I share what it feels like to live between two places: preparing to leave the garden I've tended for six years while waiting to meet the land that will become our new home. With the Knight of Wands from the Spirit of the Herbs herbal tarot as my companion, I explore my own impulse to charge ahead, make plans, and start building. Meanwhile, dividing my garden plants offers a quieter practice: choosing what comes with me, what stays behind, and where to direct my energy while the next chapter takes shape. In this episode, I explore: • The Knight of Wands and the tension between enthusiasm and restraint • Dividing black cohosh, iris, and lady's mantle as a practice of choosing what to carry forward • Monkshood's symbolism and the respect that great force asks of us • My decision to spend a full year observing the new land before building a garden • How waiting can become a meaningful form of preparation Where in your life are you ready to charge ahead before the path is clear? What might it look like to hold that energy with a little more patience and care? I'd love to hear your reflections in the comments. Monkshood (aconite) is highly toxic and is discussed in this episode only as a symbol, not as an herbal remedy. HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom   ———— Resources: Savoring the End Series - Watch Here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQYhK0h_mY0o&si=xu_qdrX1C_kcVCYe  The Herbal Tarot Deck by Michael Tierra and Candis Cantin: https://amzn.to/4yb3cfq  The Journey Home by Radhanath Swami: https://amzn.to/47IkUfc  Everything is Waiting for Us by David Whyte

After the final episode of Savoring the End, many of you reached out to ask more about our move: how it came about, where we're going, and what I've been processing along the way. This epilogue is my chance to share that fuller story. 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/oL7-4p2TWFE  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://skyh.to/SUB  I talk about my long-held longing for quiet, how the wild landscapes of Southern Italy helped me recognize what I was seeking, and the pond that made meeting our new home feel deeply personal. In this episode, I explore: - Wanting privacy while continuing to teach, host, and share plant medicine. - The privilege of being able to make this choice, and my hesitation about sharing it. - Becoming a steward of the pond, wetlands, and life already present. - Letting go of my plan to build a garden right away and giving the land a full year of attention first. - Making room for creativity, family, and a slower relationship with home. For someone whose instinct is to jump in and build, choosing to wait is a meaningful shift.  I'm ending this series with a question I'm learning to live into myself: What would it look like to give something in your own life a full year of attention before you act on it? 2027 The Oracle Within Retreat - https://nightlightastrology.com/oracle-within-retreat/  Sky House Herb School - https://www.skyhouseherbs.com/  HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom

Valerian, Valeriana officinalis is one of our most well known herbal allies for sleep and nervous system support, but it does not affect everyone in the same way. 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/UJPnJWZUt3U  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://skyh.to/SUB  In this Herb of the Month episode, I share the story of how my brother and I both took valerian and had two very different experiences. Our responses illustrate an important truth in herbal medicine: a plant that feels deeply calming for one person may feel stimulating or unsettling for another. We will explore: • How to identify and grow valerian, Valeriana officinalis • The traditional use of the root for sleep, anxiety, tension, and nervous digestion • Valerian's fascinating connection to dreams, folklore, and the otherworld • Why valerian relaxes humans but excites many cats • The difference between fresh and dried valerian root • Why some people experience a paradoxical stimulating response • Preparation methods, safety considerations, and possible interactions Valerian is a powerful reminder that herbal medicine is personal. Learning about an herb's actions is important, but paying attention to how your own body responds is just as essential. This video is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice. Watch my other Herb of the Month Videos here on my playlist! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtGmbdK5tigdQ6AtMVIyHsQ7fytqaR25Q&si=sxTSKPx2ZJ-OQVRB  #Valerian #HerbOfTheMonth #HerbalMedicine #MedicinalHerbs #SleepHerbs #NervousSystemSupport #SkyHouseHerbs HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom

What does it mean to savor an ending? In this final episode of the series, I reflect on change, transition, and the tender work of letting go. As my family and I prepare to move into a new home, I share some of the emotions that arise when one chapter closes and another begins. 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/frtSymG4Q5Q  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://skyh.to/SUB  Together, we explore the burden of fullness and consider how releasing what no longer serves us can create space for new growth. I offer several questions for self inquiry: ● What are you ready to release? ● What are you being asked to witness? ● What lessons and practices do you want to carry forward? As we welcome the Equinox, we pause to honor the balance of light and darkness and the wisdom found in every season of transition. Endings can be difficult, but they can also be beautiful invitations to trust, reflect, and begin again. Thank you for being part of this journey and for sharing this space with me. I would love to hear what you are releasing and what you hope to carry into the season ahead. HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom   ────── Join my Year Two Herbal Apprenticeship - https://www.skyhouseherbs.com/second-year  Book - "Prayers for the Wild Heart" Compiled by Gail Faith Edwards - https://blessedmaineherbs.com/collections/literature/products/prayers-for-the-wild-heart-tribe Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: BATMTR66BH8NEYJ6, USJ5FQSBPNHXZCXT, V8TPNCXHTEMUCVWI, MT3KJIU4VST1BYUA

In this episode of Savoring the End, I reflect on the changing winds of early autumn and the feeling that something in the air is asking us some big questions about our next steps. 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/ZyIXMLz7yWU  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://skyh.to/SUB  Drawing inspiration from the film Chocolat, I explore the wind as both a force that calls us forward and one that exposes what is tender. Sometimes the wind tells us it is time to leave. At other times, it asks us to stay, protect what we love, and become more deeply rooted in our values. HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom   ────── Together, we'll explore: ● Wind as a source of change, vulnerability, and seasonal illness ● Wisdom from Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, and Italian folk traditions ● The relationship between cold air, the neck, and our immune defenses ● Astragalus and Reishi for long-term seasonal support ● Echinacea and Red Root at the first signs of illness ● Nervines for wind-related anxiety, restlessness, and disrupted sleep ● How to discern whether we are being called to move or invited to hold our ground This episode guides us toward deeper questions: What do I value enough to protect? Where am I being asked to take a clearer position? What needs sheltering and what is ready to be carried somewhere new? I'll also share more about open enrollment for the Year Two Herbal Apprenticeship and invite you to our Fall Equinox Gathering with Adam and me in Minneapolis on September 19.   Resources: Watch: Herb of the Month: Astragalus - https://youtu.be/2Ny7BsrOxsc?si=i1je2HMo68OqDxTV  Herb of the Month: Tulsi - https://youtu.be/48cwQ5P6iq8?si=E4_6rBQrk4aS0af5  Herb of the Month: Echinacea - https://youtu.be/ocLzjJXRgsg?si=t65xwPkdvsuNr2Z_  Herb of the Month: Chamomile - https://youtu.be/fHKpuIx7ApM?si=Lwj35OUWQ-dqttso  Music Attribution: Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: HE0TI35GJCPPSBLW, FCZKSWMTU03V855N, 9UOYSW224T4MMZ0F, FHPJX1MLRLI4EZZ8, AWCCEU5BFPBYS7ZI, CM2WBPGFPZ9A42PS

There is a strange pause in the garden right now. Summer isn't quite over, but autumn hasn't fully arrived. Some plants are still blooming brightly, while others have already gone to seed. 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/miISIwjRO2Y  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://skyh.to/SUB  In this episode of Savoring the End, I explore the doldrums, an old sailing term for the place where the winds go still and a ship has nowhere to go but wait. Together we'll explore: • The garden's transition from late summer into autumn • Why periods of stillness can feel so disorienting • Sunflowers, goldenrod, jewelweed, echinacea, and the first changing maples • The difference between being stuck and simply being still • What it means to recognize something as complete rather than trying to squeeze more from it • How waiting itself can become a practice The wind will pick back up. You don't have to make it happen. Sometimes our work is simply to stay in the boat. I will also share some personal stories of the moment and show you what a sunflower head looks like once it has given everything it can. Year Two Herbal Integration and Practicum - https://www.skyhouseherbs.com/second-year  Book - "Blue Iris: A Collection of Poems and Essays" by Mary Oliver - https://amzn.to/4ydDQOb  HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom

As late summer reaches its peak, the garden begins to bow beneath its own fullness. In this episode, I explore Doyo, the transitional season associated with the Earth element and how we have to work this time of year to stay grounded.   🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/HXaWr_d4uy4  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://skyh.to/SUB  I’ll take you on a tour of my garden, my mammoth sunflowers, Joe Pye weed, and look for the signs of Doyo in each of them.  I share a few simple practices for building support from the ground up and stories from my life when things almost fell apart. In this episode: ● What the sunflowers are teaching me about fullness, endings, and support ● Doyo, the Earth element, and the practice of returning to center ● Simple grounding rituals with bare feet and trees ● A short strength practice for building physical support and reserves ● A centering tea with chamomile, catnip, ginger, licorice, and rosemary ● A simple navel-pulse practice for exploring your own sense of alignment As the season begins to turn, perhaps the invitation isn't to resist the change, but to strengthen our roots, tend our center, and create the support we need for what comes next. A 15-MINUTE STRENGTH PRACTICE Here are some equipment free practices you can do each day to build strength in your core and in the supportive muscles of your body. - Wall sit — held 30-45 seconds, repeated 2-3 times - Plank — held 30-45 seconds, repeated 2-3 times - Push-ups (modified on knees if needed) — 3 sets of 10 - Bicycle crunches — 3 sets of 10 HERBAL SUPPORT — A CENTERING TEA BLEND These herbs warm and support digestion, assimilation, and transformation, while also relaxing and centering emotionally. - Chamomile and catnip — calming the nervous system - Ginger — warming digestion - Licorice — grounding sweetness, adrenal support (avoid if you have HBP) - Rosemary — mental clarity and circulation Visit my website: https://www.skyhouseherbs.com/  Watch my video on Rosemary - Herb of the Month: https://youtu.be/m4GacKSTeP4?si=GTibNmRahGJOUR_C  Watch ny NEW  Rooted in the Stars Series - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP8chd2N9iSk&si=vD9GplfZxeVRBhQ9   HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom

Meet Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), one of my favorite late-summer plants for cooling, soothing, and tending hot, irritated skin. 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/H4etBI78_Q0  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://skyh.to/SUB  In this month’s Herb of the Month, I take you into the garden to meet Jewelweed up close. I’ll show you how to identify it, harvest its juicy, gel-like stems, and use it fresh on the skin. In this episode, we’ll explore: ● It’s many names like “touch-me-not” and spotted jewelweed ● Its traditional uses for poison ivy, bug bites, stings, and hot skin rashes ● How to harvest and use the cooling sap inside its succulent stems ● Why Jewelweed so often grows right alongside poison ivy ● Some of the plant’s medicinal constituents and what modern research has to say ● Stories from my own experiences using Jewelweed, including with the young herbalists at my recent Junior Herbalist Camp I’ll also share an important conversation about the difference between traditional herbal knowledge, personal experience, and clinical research and how we can hold all three with curiosity and respect. Jewelweed feels a little like the Midwest’s wild aloe: juicy, cooling, soothing, and arriving at exactly the right moment in the heat of late summer. Join My Upcoming Herbal Apprenticeship Courses - https://www.skyhouseherbs.com/ Watch more Herb of the Month videos here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtGmbdK5tigdQ6AtMVIyHsQ7fytqaR25Q&si=BlfxekVo6Fe7G6MD   HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom   ────── 🌼 GARDEN GATHERINGS A sacred, seasonal monthly gardening circle where we root our hands in the soil and our hearts in community. We explore medicinal plants, create herbal medicines, plant inspired art, and tend to both the earth and our own nervous systems. All levels of gardening experience are welcome. Classes are in-person in the Minneapolis metro area. 👉 Explore Garden Gatherings → https://skyh.to/garden  ────── 🌸 GENTLE FRIDAYS A live gathering for plant spirit support in changing times. Each session includes a check‑in, a short reading, and simple practices with medicinal herbs that support stress, depletion, and emotional overwhelm. We draw plant spirit cards for symbolic guidance. This is a calm, supportive space to settle, listen, and be held by plants and shared wisdom. Come as you are—quietly listen, participate in the chat, or simply rest in the hour. 👉 Join Gentle Fridays  → https://skyh.to/events

What does it mean to let something end? In this episode, I’m taking you into the late summer garden to explore the simple practice of deadheading and what it can teach us about letting go. As I remove spent blooms from my petunias, I reflect on the ways we continue to hold onto things that have already completed their cycle and how much energy that can quietly require. 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/g4B8UtdovJo  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://bit.ly/4iRnpyX Just as a plant redirects its energy when we remove dying flowers, we can create space in our own lives by recognizing what is finished and allowing it to go. 🌿 In this episode, I explore: • What deadheading teaches us about letting go • How to recognize what is fading, decaying, or already complete • Why releasing something at the right time can support new growth • How digestion and elimination mirror the body's natural processes of release • Gentle herbal support including triphala, marshmallow root, psyllium husk, and fiber • How eclipses and seasonal cycles can invite reflection and change • The symbolism of Mary Magdalene, the skull, and the relationship between death and new life The garden reminds us that we cannot grasp anything forever. Flowers bloom and fade. Seasons change. Bodies release. Old versions of ourselves fall away. Sometimes the most loving thing we can do is recognize what has already ended, remove what is no longer serving the whole, and give our energy back to what is still alive. 🌱 This week, I invite you to go outside and deadhead something. As you do, consider what you might also be ready to release in your own life. What are you ready to let go of as we move toward autumn? 💚 If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone who might need this message today. AUTUMN EQUINOX EVENT  RSVP to Reserve your place here: https://nla.to/FALL  HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom   ────── 🌼 GARDEN GATHERINGS A sacred, seasonal monthly gardening circle where we root our hands in the soil and our hearts in community. We explore medicinal plants, create herbal medicines, plant inspired art, and tend to both the earth and our own nervous systems. All levels of gardening experience are welcome. Classes are in-person in the Minneapolis metro area. 👉 Explore Garden Gatherings → https://skyh.to/garden  ────── 🌸 GENTLE FRIDAYS A live gathering for plant spirit support in changing times. Each session includes a check‑in, a short reading, and simple practices with medicinal herbs that support stress, depletion, and emotional overwhelm. We draw plant spirit cards for symbolic guidance. This is a calm, supportive space to settle, listen, and be held by plants and shared wisdom. Come as you are—quietly listen, participate in the chat, or simply rest in the hour. 👉 Join Gentle Fridays  → https://skyh.to/events     ———— Chapters: Savoring the End: The Quiet Labor of Letting Go 0:00 Roots 3:54 Eclipse 8:35 Petunias 13:05 Decay 17:58 Digestion 22:54 Mystery

Late summer has always felt like a sacred threshold to me. The garden is overflowing with life, yet there is a quiet awareness that the season is beginning to turn. In this episode, I share some personal reflections on savoring these final weeks of summer and the herbs, foods, and practices that are helping me prepare for the transition into autumn. 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/_xwG8sBde44  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://bit.ly/4iRnpyX In this episode we'll explore: • Why late summer feels so full, and why fullness naturally gives way to change • The herbs I have been reaching for recently, including Astragalus, Reishi, nourishing mushrooms, Ginsengs, and Maca to help build resilience and support the nervous system • Seasonal foods that nourish the Earth element, including carrots, beets, tomatoes, grains, and warming cooked meals • The wisdom of Late Summer in Chinese Five Element Medicine and why Earth sits at the center of the seasonal wheel as a time of integration and transition • Why I believe sympathy is one of the medicines our world needs most right now • Simple rituals for slowing down, building reserves, tidying our homes, and savoring the gifts of this season before autumn arrives As we approach the upcoming eclipse, I hope this episode offers a gentle reminder to slow down, appreciate what is here today, and prepare ourselves with intention for the season ahead. I'd love to hear from you. What signs tell you that late summer is beginning to shift where you live? Share them in the comments below. Herbal Foundations 2027- NOW OPEN FOR SPRING ENROLLMENT - https://www.skyhouseherbs.com/herbal-foundations-enrollment  Clinical Integration & Practice - Fall 2026 - https://www.skyhouseherbs.com/second-year  Resources Rooted in the Stars The Leo Wound — Plant Medicine for the South Node in Leo  https://youtu.be/y4sbIJT7G4o  Fortify Your Heart — Herbs for the Solar Eclipse in Leo  https://youtu.be/JRaUgpv8Kqg  Herb of the Month: Motherwort - https://youtu.be/iQDa7xBmLqE?si=nsZH4AxIdAQPB8KG  Herb of the Month: Goldenrod - https://youtu.be/zLXe0XBVlC4?si=SEMAQXiFWdmSqh9q  Book -  “Staying Healthy with the Seasons” by Elson M. Haas - https://amzn.to/3TUykBd  HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom

In this final episode of A Devotional Life in a Broken World, I spend time with Yarrow, one of our oldest and most enduring medicinal plants. For thousands of years, Yarrow has accompanied humanity through injury, grief, and survival. She has never promised a world without wounds. Instead, she teaches us how to tend them with courage and keep walking. 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/jgI5kFgEgvc  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://bit.ly/4iRnpyX As I filmed this episode, the world itself seemed to be carrying fresh heartbreak: places of worship desecrated and restored, wildfires surrounding sacred ground, earthquakes displacing families, the loss of members of our own community, and the familiar feeling of searching for words when none seem adequate. Rather than asking how we fix a broken world, I explore a quieter question: What does devotion look like when we cannot hold everything at once? Throughout this series we have discovered that devotion is not about certainty or having the perfect response. It is about returning, again and again, to what is ours to tend. Drawing on the wisdom of Yarrow, the words of Clarissa Pinkola Estés, and a deeply personal story about an unexpected family heirloom, I reflect on the small acts of care that quietly stitch our lives back together. This episode closes not with answers, but with a simple devotional practice and a final invitation to carry one living question forward. Sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is place our hands on something growing and let that be enough for today. In this episode: • The ancient medicine and symbolism of Yarrow as a plant of healing and perseverance • Why devotion is not about finding perfect answers, but continuing to show up • Reflections on grief, sacredness, and finding meaning in overwhelming times • A personal story about inheritance, memory, and the quiet ways symbols find us • A closing ritual for carrying your own unanswered questions with greater trust If this series has accompanied you in your own devotional life, I hope these conversations continue long after the videos end. The questions are still alive. The garden is still here. And perhaps that is enough to begin again. Nightlight Astrology Podcast - Subscribehttps://www.youtube.com/@Adam-Elenbaas  Book - “Untie the Strong Woman” - by Clarissa Pinkoles Estes - https://amzn.to/3SKDv6g  HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom   ────── 🌼 GARDEN GATHERINGS A sacred, seasonal monthly gardening circle where we root our hands in the soil and our hearts in community. We explore medicinal plants, create herbal medicines, plant inspired art, and tend to both the earth and our own nervous systems. All levels of gardening experience are welcome. Classes are in-person in the Minneapolis metro area. 👉 Explore Garden Gatherings → https://skyh.to/garden

In this fourth episode of A Devotional Life in a Broken World, I sit with Rose and one of the most tender questions I know: What is faith, and how do we find it again after it has been wounded? 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/oWRqQLw4GLo  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://bit.ly/4iRnpyX Drawing from my own childhood experiences with Catholicism, stories of my grandmother's quiet devotion, the Christian mystical tradition, Sufi poetry, and the timeless symbolism of the rose, I explore the difference between faith as inherited belief and faith as a living relationship. Together we consider what happens when the containers we were given for devotion crack, and whether losing trust in an institution must also mean losing trust in the sacred itself. For centuries, Rose has been a symbol of the heart that continues to open despite sorrow. Known as Rosa Mystica, the Mystical Rose, she reminds us that faith is often hidden beneath the surface, alive in the roots long before we see it bloom again. This episode is an invitation to grieve what has been lost, honor the questions that refuse easy answers, and tend the small daily practices that quietly rekindle the flame of devotion. In this episode we explore: • Why questioning can be an expression of faith rather than its opposite • Rose as a symbol of devotion across Christian, alchemical, Sufi, and goddess traditions • Childhood wounds, spiritual disillusionment, and finding our way back to trust • The hidden nature of faith and the image of Rosa Mystica • Simple daily rituals that help keep the heart open to the sacred Whether you are rebuilding your spiritual life, grieving a tradition that could not hold you, or simply longing to feel connected to something deeper again, I hope this conversation offers companionship more than conclusions. 🔔 Subscribe to Nightlight Astrology: https://nla.to/SUB Book - “Untie the Strong Woman” - by Clarissa Pinkoles Estes - https://amzn.to/3SKDv6g HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom   ────── 🌼 GARDEN GATHERINGS A sacred, seasonal monthly gardening circle where we root our hands in the soil and our hearts in community. We explore medicinal plants, create herbal medicines, plant inspired art, and tend to both the earth and our own nervous systems. All levels of gardening experience are welcome. Classes are in-person in the Minneapolis metro area. 👉 Explore Garden Gatherings → https://skyh.to/garden  ────── 🌸 GENTLE FRIDAYS A live gathering for plant spirit support in changing times. Each session includes a check‑in, a short reading, and simple practices with medicinal herbs that support stress, depletion, and emotional overwhelm. We draw plant spirit cards for symbolic guidance. This is a calm, supportive space to settle, listen, and be held by plants and shared wisdom. Come as you are—quietly listen, participate in the chat, or simply rest in the hour. 👉 Join Gentle Fridays  → https://skyh.to/events

In this third episode of A Devotional Life in a Broken World, I spend time with Clematis, a plant that offers no herbal medicine, no harvest, and no practical utility but simply climbs toward the light and offers its beauty freely. 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/SthCESqL8-4  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://bit.ly/4iRnpyX Watching Clematis has made me wonder how often I measure my own life by productivity, usefulness, or visible outcomes. What would it mean to pray, to rest, to read, to create, or to simply be present without needing those moments to produce something in return? Together in this episode, we explore devotion that asks for no audience and expects no reward. Inspired by the writings of Clarissa Pinkola Estés, this episode reflects on beauty that continues to bloom even when it is unseen and the quiet courage of offering ourselves fully to something larger than our own ambitions. I also share one of my own devotional practices: making small pilgrimages to places that help me remember my place in the world so I can simply arrive and offer something small to a mothering force that feeds me so much. If you've been feeling exhausted by the pressure to always produce, perhaps Clematis has something to offer you as well. In this episode we explore: • Clematis as a teacher of beauty for beauty's sake • Devotion beyond productivity and measurable outcomes • Prayer, contemplation, and sacred rest • The spiritual practice of pilgrimage • Living without the need for an audience or recognition • Two things can be true: Living a devotional life AND being a social activist Reflection Questions • What in your life is asking to be tended without any promise of return? • Have you been measuring your devotion by its productivity? • What does true rest feel like in your body? • Is there a place you could visit regularly simply to become small and present? Thank you for joining me in this ongoing inquiry into what it means to live a devotional life in a broken world! HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom   ────── 🌼 GARDEN GATHERINGS A sacred, seasonal monthly gardening circle where we root our hands in the soil and our hearts in community. We explore medicinal plants, create herbal medicines, plant inspired art, and tend to both the earth and our own nervous systems. All levels of gardening experience are welcome. Classes are in-person in the Minneapolis metro area. 👉 Explore Garden Gatherings → https://skyh.to/garden  ────── 🌸 GENTLE FRIDAYS A live gathering for plant spirit support in changing times. Each session includes a check‑in, a short reading, and simple practices with medicinal herbs that support stress, depletion, and emotional overwhelm. We draw plant spirit cards for symbolic guidance. This is a calm, supportive space to settle, listen, and be held by plants and shared wisdom. Come as you are—quietly listen, participate in the chat, or simply rest in the hour. 👉 Join Gentle Fridays  → https://skyh.to/events

In this Herb of the Month episode, I introduce you to Creeping Charlie (Ground Ivy, Glechoma hederacea) and explore why this resilient little plant deserves a place in our herbal practice. We'll look at its identifying characteristics, medicinal actions, energetic qualities, historical uses, and practical ways to prepare and work with it. I also share why I believe its abundant presence may be an invitation to pay closer attention to the medicine growing right beneath our feet. 🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/QjFyETaXLbE  🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://bit.ly/4iRnpyX Creeping Charlie is one of those plants that many people spend their summers trying to remove from the garden. Yet beneath its reputation as a persistent "weed" is a generous medicinal ally with a long history of supporting the nervous system, kidneys, skin, and those recovering from tick borne illness.  In this episode, we'll explore: • How to identify Creeping Charlie in the garden and distinguish it from similar plants • Its traditional uses for supporting the kidneys, headaches, and the nervous system • Why it has become one of my favorite herbs to consider after tick bites and in Lyme recovery support • How to use the fresh leaves as a spit poultice and other simple herbal preparations • The fascinating doctrine of signatures that connects its heart shaped leaves with its healing actions • Historical uses, folklore, and why this often overlooked plant has remained an important herbal ally for centuries Whether you've been pulling Creeping Charlie from your flower beds for years or you're meeting this plant for the first time, I hope this episode helps you see it with fresh eyes and a deeper appreciation for the medicine growing all around us. 🌿 Herb of the Month Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtGmbdK5tigdQ6AtMVIyHsQ7fytqaR25Q&si=tiXhIcFu58rTaKVt  Chapters: Herb of the Month — Creeping Charlie 0:00 Welcome 4:14 Poultice 8:32 Reflection  HERBAL COURSES 🌱 HERBAL FOUNDATIONS APPRENTICESHIP A 12‑month online journey designed to help you weave herbal medicine into the fabric of daily life. This is the place we begin, learning to make our own remedies, meeting the plants in our backyards and kitchens, and connecting deeply with the rhythms of nature. It is a foundation built not just of facts, but of relationship and trust in the green world. 👉 Become a herbalist → https://skyh.to/roots   🌿 SECOND YEAR: HERBAL INTEGRATION & PRACTICE For those who have laid the first stones and are ready to walk further into the woods. This second year focuses on the art of advanced formulation, clinical skills, and discovering your unique seat of service as a community herbalist. Here, we refine our listening and deepen our apothecary practice, moving from student to practitioner. 👉 Second Year Details →  https://skyh.to/bloom   ────── 🌼 GARDEN GATHERINGS A sacred, seasonal monthly gardening circle where we root our hands in the soil and our hearts in community. We explore medicinal plants, create herbal medicines, plant inspired art, and tend to both the earth and our own nervous systems. All levels of gardening experience are welcome. Classes are in-person in the Minneapolis metro area. 👉 Explore Garden Gatherings → https://skyh.to/garden  ────── 🌸 GENTLE FRIDAYS A live gathering for plant spirit support in changing times. Each session includes a check‑in, a short reading, and simple practices with medicinal herbs that support stress, depletion, and emotional overwhelm. We draw plant spirit cards for symbolic guidance. This is a calm, supportive space to settle, listen, and be held by plants and shared wisdom. Come as you are—quietly listen, participate in the chat, or simply rest in the hour. 👉 Join Gentle Fridays  → https://skyh.to/events