Meet the Herbalist Bringing Medicine to the People
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I do really feel that all of the solutions
to all of the societal ills we face
can be found in the arms of nature.
I feel like plants are just a really beautiful
window into returning to our nature,
which is very land based and earth based.
A lot of the work that I do is about creating accessibility.
I do that in various ways,
from working with extremely common
plants that are found right outside your doors,
to using very easy, uncomplicated
medicine making techniques.
Then I also try to make things as low cost
as possible, if not free,
because that is a huge barrier to keeping
folks out of herbal medicine.
I just really feel strongly that herbal medicine
is the medicine of the people.
The first moments that led me on this path
of plants, herbalism, and medicine
started after high school.
I started doing a bunch of migrant farm work.
I would detassel corn and in Iowa,
rake blueberries in Maine,
and pick apples in Vermont.
Then, honestly, someone gave me a book.
It was a book by Deb Soule,
who is an herbalist in Maine,
who I love.
I thought, "Oh my God. Plants are medicine."
I had no idea until that point.
As soon as I realized that that was a thing,
that was just my whole trajectory.
I want to know all that I can know
about how plants are medicine.
I was reading all the books about herbalism that I could.
Then I apprenticed with a few different herbalists.
I was continually learning in all the ways.
Then I started growing and making medicine myself.
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The People's Medicine School is
one of my educational offerings.
It is a 6 month Introduction to Herbalism course.
It is focused on making herbalism very accessible,
very user friendly, and easy to take away
the intimidation around starting something new.
What makes it different from other herb
schools or programs out there
is that we really try to uplift Black,
Indigenous, and folks of color
and their histories with herbal medicine,
and their experience in how they are able
to access herbal medicine
because in our world today,
BIPOC folks are so marginalized.
There are so many things systemically
stacked against them that impacts their health,
that impacts their access to medicine.
I feel that when we are uplifting
the most marginalized folks in society,
that only makes the whole so much stronger
and so much more beautiful and so much better.
I feel like my life's work is to help
facilitate mutually beneficial
relationships between plants and people.
That is a place where I really try to
break away from what I was taught in herbalism,
which was, "You see a plant,
you think about it for its uses
and how it can serve you.
You take it and you make medicine with it.
And that is herbalism."
I really love facilitating people having
one-on-one relationships with plants,
like getting to know a plant
like you get to know a person.
I feel like once you have a relationship with that plant,
you can figure out what is good for that plant.
What is good for that plant is good for that land,
is then good for the earth, is good for people.
It is all the same.
When I am teaching or when I am making medicine,
I primarily only do that with what people consider weeds.
I feel like the more people can realize
what they need is right outside their door....
so these things that we are weeding
out of the rows are medicine.
That again blew my mind.
Plants are not only medicine,
but it is super accessible.
Plants that are overlooked by most people
that are just everywhere,
are actually here and can help us to heal and nourish us?!
Some of the really common weeds
that I love to work with are dandelion,
burdock, yellow dock, red clover,
nettles, plantain, yarrow, and motherwort.
I see herbalism as such a beautiful remedy
for really all of the ills of society.
It is healing on all of the levels.
It is going to be healing physically,
like if you are ingesting the plant,
using it as medicine.
It is going to be healing emotionally.
It is going to be healing spiritually.
You are going to build this connection with the Earth,
so it is going to be healing at an environmental level.
For me, it is really about zooming in
and focusing with the things that I can
immediately change, right now, with my hands.
When I think too big, it becomes overwhelming.
I feel paralyzed by all of the things that are going wrong.
How could I ever do anything to effect that?
How could I ever do anything that is
going to make a meaningful change?
But then, you know, when I zoom back in
to immediately, "Ok, it is just me and this plant."
"It is me in this relationship with this plant."
Then it is sharing relationships with
other folks and plants.
Just seeing the little moments
of joy that it brings me,
and the little moments of joy
that it brings other people,
I feel like that cannot be underestimated.
That is so important.
One of the most beautiful parts of
the things that I get to do in my life
is seeing these "aha" moments for people,
like when I first realized plants were medicine.
Being able to see that in other people,
and people who did not think about plants at all,
are now in these love affairs with plants.
It is amazing.
I feel so honored to be able to be a part of that process.
Rob Greenfield Films
Learn more and support:
www.rootworkherbals.com
with support from Guerrilla Foundation
Rob Greenfield Films