Sky House Herbs

Eight showings, no offers, and one interested person. I'm still waiting, and this week I'm feeling how deeply depleting that can be.
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In this third episode of How to Wait, I share an honest update on selling our home and how the uncertainty has been showing up in my body. After another autumn bout of bronchitis, I'm asking what it means to rebuild my reserves while life is still unresolved.
In this episode, I explore:
● When waiting wears us down: Getting sick, needing prednisone and antibiotics, and the vulnerability of being an herbalist who also needs care.
● Recognizing depletion: What I noticed when I looked at my tongue and why it prompted me to slow down and replenish.
● Four tonic herbs: American ginseng, eleuthero, Panax ginseng, and rhodiola, and how I think about their different energetics.
● Everyday herbal support: Lemon balm in the morning, peppermint in the afternoon, chamomile at night, and the supports I'm using for sleep and neck tension.
● Messages from the flowers: Drawing the Flower and Aster cards from the Flower Speaks deck and reflecting on creative downtime and the difficult choices waiting asks of us.
If you're in a season of waiting too, how is it showing up in your body? What's helping you feel nourished and supported? I'd love to hear in the comments.
This episode follows Dividing What's Left and The Wild Is Watching in the How to Wait series.
Herbal safety: This video is educational and is not individual medical advice. Herbs can interact with medications, and some are unsuitable during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Please check with your pharmacist or qualified healthcare professional before adding herbs, especially if you take prescription medications.
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 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.
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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?
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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  
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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.
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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.
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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