Medicine Stories

Tara Couture, owner of Slowdown Farmstead and mom to three daughters, shares her heart-wrenching journey following the loss of her daughter, Mila, to cannabis-induced psychosis. They discuss the devastating effects of high-potency THC on young minds, revealing critical insights into mental health risks. Tara reflects on the interconnectedness of life and death, the importance of awareness around cannabis, and the beauty that can emerge from grief. Her poignant storytelling invites listeners to cherish the fragility of life and the impact of choices.

Kami McBride, a seasoned herbalist with nearly four decades in the field, passionately discusses the role of women in utilizing plants for self-care and family healing. She shares personal stories about navigating motherhood without maternal guidance and emphasizes the importance of community in holistic wellness. The conversation dives into the evolution of herbalism amid information overload, highlighting the need for genuine knowledge and discernment in today's landscape. Kami also reflects on how home herbalism fosters stronger community bonds and supports emotional connections.

Suuzi and I continue the discussion sparked by my last episode about culty trends in the wellness space by talking about her past with Kundalini yoga- what drew her in and, eventually, how noticing the state of nourishment of those deepest into the cult precipitated her exit. We then catch listeners up on our midlife metabolic meltdown hEaLinG jOuRnEyS and what path we’re taking forward as we continue to recover our vitality and deepen our understanding of why women’s bodies are so metabolically expensive. Patreon bonuses for this episode include an extended conversation w/ Suuz about the reaction to the German New Medicine episode (114) & how it surprisingly kindled a discussion amongst patrons about a remarkably similar ideology, a 10% off coupon code for Suuzi’s grass fed, grass finished liver pills, and a chance to ask us questions. Also photos of Suuzi in turbans! Dr. Suuzi on Instagram Mother’s Best Liver Pills Amber’s Nourishing Motherlines Substack Amber’s website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Amber/Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) Mentioned in this episode: Kimberly Ann Johnson on Whose Body Is It Breath of Fire Kundalini cult/Guru Jagat documentary Kathleen Stewart's story The Rooted in Resilience podcast and specific Minnesota Starvation Experiment episodes with Kathleen Stewart The Energy Balance Podcast The group coaching program Suuzi is in is Transfrom Cronometer nutrition tracking app How to Not Get Fat on the “Pro-Metabolic Diet”: a guide for switching to nourishing foods while avoiding fat gain by Kaya of Fundamental Nourishment Eating a “Pro-Metabolic Diet” Will Not Heal You: an appeal for having context to understand the big picture by Kaya of Fundamental Nourishment

GNM is an alt health trend that has grown in popularity in recent years. It is attractive to so many (including me and my guest, once) because it acknowledges the role that emotions and trauma play in physical health and symptom manifestation, something that mainstream medicine still somehow refuses to do. But just because some aspects of an ideology are true and helpful does not mean that the entire framework is valid. Critical thinking and humility are essential tools for navigating information overload and complex frameworks, especially when it comes to health. The allure of certainty and specialized knowledge can lead people to adopt rigid belief systems that don’t hold up to critical thinking, and the the zealotry of believing that your group’s belief system will save the world only further strengthens unconscious confirmation bias (along with other logical fallacies common in GNM- loading the language, heads you lose tails I win, us v them thinking, bizarre antisemitic conspiracies, etc). But what might be most worrisome about this growing movement is the purity mindset demanded of its more extreme adherents- the belief that nothing outside of us can affect us if only we believe strongly enough in our own omnipotence and prove our righteousness and purity by attaining a total lack of symptoms. What is viewed as radical sovereignty and empowerment is really just outright magical thinking reinforced by an absence of humility, mystery, and the reality that ultimately we are not in control of what happens to us. The body is not a closed system; we are deeply embedded in overlapping ecologies. This episode has been years in the making, and I have been asked time and time again for my take on GNM. When I was sent Demetra’s essay on the subject I knew that I had finally found the right person to have this conversation with. Her past cult experience, and my years of deep dives into culty thinking and behavior, provide a lens through which to view this phenomenon. Though we do not claim that GNM is a cult in the traditional sense, cultishness is a spectrum and GNM is definitely on that spectrum. Also its tenets are demonstrably false, and have led to death in some cases. NBD. In our Patreon bonus conversation Demetra shares her cult story- joining what she thought was a good thing, slowly realizing it wasn’t, leaving, being attacked by the leader and other members, and the long “deprogramming” and stabilization process that all cult survivors undergo Demetra’s essay The Culty Fraud of German New Medicine Dr. Moss’s report German New Medicine- Hope or Hoax? Demetra’s podcast Impolite Company on Spotify and Apple Amber’s Nourishing Motherlines Substack Amber’s website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) Mentioned in this episode: Tension Myositis Syndrome Cell Danger Response A Little Bit Culty podcast (the best!) Cult documentaries (by no means an extensive list)- The Vow (NXIVM), Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence, Breath of Fire (Kundalini yoga), The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin Steven Hassan’s BITE model Cult expert Robert Jay Lifton  

What metabolic patterns did you inherit from your parents, and what may you have passed down to your own children? Many behavioral issues, and even what are usually considered personality traits (like that of high sensitivity), can be linked to mineral imbalances and overall health.  Heavy metals often accumulate in individuals due to stress, compromised metabolic function, or ancestral imprints, not necessarily always due to direct exposure. Heroic detoxification protocols should be approached with caution, as forcing the removal of metals without addressing underlying nutrient deficiencies can have unintended consequences. Let us welcome in the medicine of sitting with the right questions as we collectively navigate information overwhelm, and walk slowly together toward ever deeper levels of self attunement and inner resourcing. Links for Niecia: Niecia’s HTMA packages Eat To Go Deep course membership Niecia on Instagram Links for Amber: Medicine Stories Patreon (extended convo w/ Niecia + more) Nourishing Motherlines Substack Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz MythicMedicine.love  Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) Mentioned in this episode: Lead Safe Mama  

Fertility is not just the ability to conceive, but is an indicator of overall health and the capacity to nurture life; it is how we extend genetic strength across time and space into generations we will never know. Pregnancy and menopause are transformative states that reveal underlying metabolic and hormonal imbalances, emphasizing the complex interplay between biochemistry, psychology, and lifestyle. In an age of rampant metabolic dysfunction, let us together find our way to renewed vitality, for ourselves and for those yet to come. Eat To Go Deep course membership HTMA packages Medicine Stories Patreon (extended convo w/ Niecia) Nourishing Motherlines Substack Niecia on Instagram Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz My website MythicMedicine.love  Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) Get the transcript here Mentioned in this episode: Wise Women Diaries podcast interview w/ Niecia telling the story of her first birth, instagram of podcast host is Trusting Life Casey Means Niecia has learned about biomechanics in pregnancy and birth from Adelaide Meadow Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage by Rachel Reed Mary Lou Singleton on early motherhood  

In which I read a few pieces from my new Substack. Bone, blood, milk, and marrow... Nourishing Motherlines is a collection of memoir-adjacent personal writings exploring my evolving understanding of nourishment (not nutrients), how my mitochondria and minerals were inherited from my motherline (and yours from yours), my hEaLiNg JoUrNeY as I navigate hypothyroid and hypoadrenal exhaustion and a host of related symptoms, what I am focusing on as I prepare to help my daughters with seemingly inevitable future health issues as women alive in the 21st century, and your garden variety midlife self-concept implosion. My new Nourishing Motherlines Substack Energy booklet from the 80s Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz My website MythicMedicine.love  Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Chinese Medicine holds that women’s bodies are 10x harder to heal than men’s, as our reproductive system is biologically much more precious and metabolically more intensive to maintain. In this conversation my good friend, third time guest, and Doctor of Chinese Medicine Suuzi and I catch up one year after we both underwent severe energy loss to share how we’ve rebuilt and healed. We talk about shifting away from the mindset of achieving “optimum human health” (an illusion that contributed to our health crises), working and mothering in a state of total burnout, how our childrens’ metabolic patterns can mirror our own & how we’ve helped our own kids heal, the link between high sensitivity and mineral depletion, why we’ve chosen a metabolically appropriate approach to weight loss even though it takes much longer, and so much more. RESOURCES: Join Amber & Suuzi for the Medicine Stories Retreat in Croatia, August ‘24! Register for our Croatia Curious Zoom Call on April 10th (replay available for those registered) Suuzi’s website Mother’s Best Liver Pills and her Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? The Science of Human Energy newsletter book from the 80s Suuzi’s previous interviews- episode 103 Midlife Burnout for Women & Why Healing Work Can Make Us Worse and episode 18 Land Based Living, Mothering, & Eating Women whose work has helped us- Niecia Nelson- Eat To Go Deep course and Instagram (my guest on episode 100 Returning the Mother to Herself: Our Nourishment Shapes How We Receive Life) Sena Maria- Offerings and Instagram Jenna Hamm- Offerings and Instagram Sarah Kleiner- Offerings and Instagram (my guest on episode 104 Your Body is Not a Closed System: The Sun, Cell Signaling, and Metabolic Wellness) My website MythicMedicine.love  Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

The times are unprecedented and there is no template for the future. We all feel this, and we feel the overwhelm of information, influence, and opinions. Herbalism, as it always has, offers us sanctuary from everything vying to take hold of our attention and life force. Not so that we can check out in an endless fog of self care, but so that we can be truly present and embodied as we navigate this time of rapid and radical change.  The plants call us home to ourselves. Kami’s Free Workshop The Art of Arnica: 7 Steps to High Potency Oil & Healing Benefits and Safe Application (week of 3/3/24 only) Kami’s Free Webinar How to Use Kami’s Top Herbal Oil Blends to Soothe Anxiety and Support Daily Nervous System Reset (week of 3/3/24 only) Kami’s revered Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils course Video Sneak Peak at the Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils Course from Kami McBride (what it looks like when you log in) Medicine Stories Retreat: Croatia w/ Amber Magnolia Hill (August ‘24) Mastery by Robert Green Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz My website MythicMedicine.love  Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by  Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Nothing exemplifies the magic of nature more than honeybees. They are insects yet their colonies are akin to a mammalian being, they produce numerous healing substances from their bodies and within their hives, and they have been revered and mythologized since time immemorial by countless cultures. Beekeepers live longer than folks in any other profession, and being in relationship with bees is deep medicine for the spirit in these frazzled times. Let us relearn ancestral ways of tending and listening to bees so that we may maximize our chances of reclaiming a vibrant and thriving Earth. RESOURCES: Ariella’s website Honey Bee Wild Medicine Stories Patreon (3 bonuses for this episode- our extended conversation, 100% off coupon code for Ari’s 14 Kindred Bees classes, and a list of my & Ari’s favorite beetending resources) Take our quiz Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Song of Increase: Listening to the Wisdom of Honeybees for Kinder Beekeeping and a Better World by Jacqueline Freeman The Buzz About Bees: Biology of a Superorganism by Jürgen Tautz Medicine Stories episode 9 w/ Ariella Know Thyself: Weaving Myth & Magic Into Everyday Life Check out our Mythic Medicinals herbal & mushroom remedies Mythic Medicine (me) on Instagram The Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her song Wild Eyes)