Erin Lovell Verinder is a fully qualified Western herbalist, nutritionist, energetic healer, mentor and educator. She has walked the plant path for almost 20 years, working with natural medicine to promote health and wellbeing. She is committed to empowering others to reconnect to their innate ability to heal, and to look to nature for remedies and insights. Erin is also just about to release her first book on herbalism–Plants for the People (of which we have signed copies)!
Today, Erin is on the blog to answer a few of our questions about her new book. Read on!
Please tell us a little bit about your new book, Plants for the People.
ELV: I wanted to offer an upgraded take on herbalism, for one and for all! There is so much information circulating on plant medicine, yet I was constantly approached for solid resources, and I was at a loss where to direct people for easily accessible and digestible information for the novice or for the advanced. So for me the book was born from a deep desire to fill a space that felt a little empty. I wanted to take people on a journey to reconnect them with the plants, into nature, into beauty, into the realms of healing with herbs to remind them that plant medicine has always been with us and is a mighty and profound medium to support our bodies and beings.
Erin Lovell Verinder
When did you first discover your passion for plant medicine?
ELV: I was always enamoured by nature. As a child I spent as much time as I possibly could outside between the swaying gums and expanses of dandelion lighting up the neighbourhood. I became aware that plants offer healing, and are medicinal. In the simplest ways I realised they were woven throughout my family, ginger and lemon tea for a sore throat, aloe vera on sunburn. Although my family were in no way herbalists, there were these generational gifts handed down from their childhood that continued into mine around how to bring plant medicines into the home. It sparked a love affair and career for me!
What do you love the most about plant medicine?
ELV: I love that ultimately nature is the greatest healer in the form of plant medicine, I love that it is a very simple gateway to connect in with nature. When you make a tea, you are working with nature in her purest form with leaves, roots, barks, berries and flowers. I love that everyone can access plant medicine in some form or another. It truly is the people’s medicine!
Do you have a favourite recipe from the book?
ELV: I am sipping on the super nutritive “Warmth of the sun” (pg 58) tea infusion right now aplenty. It tastes incredible as a cooling iced tea and has been on repeat lately in my household!
Any quick tips for people looking to start a home apothecary?
ELV: Starting small and building up a collection of dried plant medicines is a great way to create a home apothecary. Pop to your local health food store and begin your collection. Start with picking the herbs you are drawn to, your intuition is generally the best compass for what your body is actually needing – let that lead the way!
In your opinion, what is the biggest misconception that people have about plant medicine?
ELV: That it is a little woo woo and unfounded in science! The truth is that modern research around the potency and efficacy of plant medicine continues to expand and affirm. These are age old remedies for our contemporary day, the perfect merge of the ancient and the modern exists when we work with plant medicines.
Also there is a great misconception that plant medicine is complex, yes of course it can be, but there are many nuances to the medicine of plants. And there are so many plant medicines that are super gentle, super flexible and supportive for all. It does not need to be hard, a daily pot of herbal tea can be just the right medicine needed–super easy and available to all.
What do you hope readers will discover in Plants for the People?
ELV: I hope to inspire and promote the concept that plant medicines can be woven into our everyday lives in such an accessible way, many of the herbs in the book are already herbs they would have! Ginger, cinnamon, garlic, thyme, oregano, turmeric. They are culinary masters that also offer profound therapeutic benefits. Plants for the People is a reminder to connect in with nature, to connect to our wild world- no matter where you may live. There is a sincere richness in the offerings of herbalism, a portal to connect with our bodies, to assist and support them with the forces of nature’s medicine.
And finally, what’s up next for you?
ELV: I will be continuing to deepen my love affair with plant medicine, filling my days in my clinic supporting clients to shift and heal, mentoring, writing aplenty and teaching and preaching the powers of the plants!
Thanks Erin!
Plants for the People is out now, and for a limited time only you can order a copy signed by Erin Lovell Verinder* – click here to order yours!
Find out more about Erin Lovell Verinder here.
* while stocks last.
Plants for the People
An antidote to the frenetic pace of modern life, this book offers a beginner’s guide to plant medicine as a source of self-care, vitality and wellness. Plants! People! We belong together!
Plants are our past. Plants are our future. We are diminished if we can't celebrate plants, properly understand their powers and harness their energy to heal ourselves...
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