“The plants are so wise. They are our ancestors, they've been here, and they're sacred. That humility and that continuous wonder, and being in a kinship relationship with them—of like, let me listen. Let me listen to what they have to say.” - Antonia Estela Pérez

This is the first episode of REBIRTH, a limited podcast series produced by advaya, in partnership with Stella McCartney Beauty.

This episode features Antonia Estela Pérez: a Chilean-American clinical herbalist, gardener, educator, community organizer, co-founder, and artist born and raised in New York City. The arrival of spring brings with it more abundant opportunities to deepen our intimacies with our more-than-human, plant kin. Embedding ourselves in and re-learning plant stories are key to collective healing—and liberation: this is deep decolonial and abolition work. In this conversation, we uncover how it is we can seed these medicinal, intimate, regenerative relationships, exploring personal and practical ways to reconnect.

About Antonia: Antonia Estela Pérez is a Chilean-American clinical herbalist, gardener, educator, community organizer, co-founder, and artist born and raised in New York City. Growing up in a first generation household existing at the intersections of land stewardship, education, and social justice, her passion for herbs and plant medicine bridges the relationships between rural and urban spaces.

With over a decade of experience working and studying in the fields of plant medicine, including environmental and urban studies at Bard College, Clinical Herbalism at Arborvitae School of Traditional Herbal Medicine, and learning with herbalists and elders throughout Mexico, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, and Thailand, Pérez facilitates workshops and produces events as the co-founder of NY based collective, Brujas, and Herban Cura: A space centering Indigenous, Black, Queer and Trans communities in the education of land connection. Perez’s work is rooted in her passion for sharing knowledge that interrupts notions of individualism and separatism from nature to grow towards collaborative and symbiotic communities.

The episode additionally features reflection prompts by Haile Thomas, music by Lea Thomas, "Magnolias", provided by Spirit House Records, and the series cover art is illustrated by Jia Sung.

Transcripts, further reading and resources and video footage of this podcast with subtitles can be found through the YouTube playlist of this podcast: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjKkmvDmI67Q4V9pMCvMn6RJhzzdq6MBU

advaya is a platform for transformative education. We create learning programmes with the leading minds of our time to shift perspectives, transform our relationships and enable thriving lives in harmony with the natural living world.

Find advaya through our website: https://advaya.co/, our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/advaya.co/, and our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Advaya.

Stella McCartney Beauty believes that there is another way to effectively care for our skin. Their products have been formulated to work in harmony with the skin, supporting its key functions of regeneration and protection. Housed in recyclable packaging with a refill system, the range is completely vegan and cruelty-free. Shop the collection here: https://www.stellamccartneybeauty.com/

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