BECOME A PATRON

A card with a big yellow cat with black spots with it's mouth open. In the opening, large text reads "Thank You." A 1 oz extract bottle lays on the top of the card, with a brown label that reads "lemon balm." — lemon balm extract 4 anxious hotties navigating These Times

**ingredients**: lemon balm from maple spring gardens and vegetable glycerin.
**supports us with**: SUNSHINE & OPTIMISM IN A BOTTLE! ☀️ a buddy who takes us on a sunny walk and helps us lift our spirits.
**recommended use**: 1-3 dropperfulls, 1-3x per day.
**potion inspired by**: saying “no ❤️” to the supreme court

A 1 oz dropper bottle with a brown label that reads "tulsi cinnamon" lays on a hardcover copy of "Solitary" by Albert Woodfox. The book and potion are on a turqouise table with green plant leaves around it. — tulsi cinnamon extract 4 finding our way through These Times

**ingredients**: tulsi amrita & tulsi kapoor from maple spring gardens, wild cinnamon quills from diaspora co, and vegetable glycerin.
**supports us with**: 🎶 I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW THE BRAIN FOG IS GONE 🎶 adapts our stress response by clearing mental fog.
**recommended use**: 1-3 dropperfulls, 1-3x per day.
**potion inspired by**: smol groups of people coming together to organize for radical change, to paraphrase angela davis + stuart hall, ‘as if it could happen tomorrow, even though there are no guarantees’ 🍄

i love these two intimate descriptions of both herbs by Janet Kent — from the *Ease Your Mind: Herbs for Mental Health* zine which i’ve mentioned before because it’s one of my fave herbal texts.

tulsi was also named “holy basil” by europeans.

A 1 oz frosted clear dropper bottle with a brown label which reads, "hiva's borage." The bottle lays on top of a bundle of creosote on top of a bright pink card, near a white card with black text that reads, "sumistreet." — hiva’s
borage flower essence 🦋

**ingredients**: borage flower mother essence, spring water, vegetable glycerin, and gin (less than 10 drops).
**supports us with**: emotional heaviness + depression. integrating grief + loss. finding the courage to heal (via Flower Essence Services).
**recommended use**: 4 DROPS, 1-4x per day.
**potion inspired by**: hiva’s garden 🏡 (my friend who grew this plant and made the mother essence!)

BECOME A PATRON

Here we are! insert lion’s roar LEO SZN BABY! I’m biased and it shows. For July & August, I wanted to make a “summer juice pack” with three herbal buddies who you gotta meet, especially if duckshit in the world has got you down.

(As always, the ingredients, healing abilities/what the plant supports us with, and dosage recommendations are written on the blog for each potion.)

We’re gonna call this Leo SZN medicine because this trifecta of potions is giving SUNSHINE! VISION! COURAGE! So let this spirited Leo medicine work on ya! (The tulsi is also giving us a little taste of Virgo magic because discernment)

A PERSONAL NOTE:

I’m currently healing from a breast reduction surgery this month, as well as supporting my partner through top surgery in August. We’ve nicknamed this the “summer of surgery” and LET ME TELL YOU. Surgery and recovery and watching yourself be miraculous and heal day-by-day is amazing and also phew, pretty angsty too because you’re a wounded creature. Esp if you’re dramatic and lean towards being a moody dog on a regular day. Not my experience though, but I’m just saying. (100% my experience.) If you’re curious about my surgery journey, I’m documenting some parts of it here.

To conserve my energy, I’m keeping this month’s herbal talk brief, metaphorical, and to the point.

LEMON BALM is…

🍋 The sun sharing vitamin D for free.

🍋 The lemonade of herbs.

🍋 Two smiling pit bulls feeling nice.

🍋 Dressing in a way that feels exactly “you” & feeling ur oats.

🍋 A bright, turmeric-dyed comforter on your bed.

TULSI is…

🌱 A captivating 20 min conversation where words aren’t wasted and true back and forth is had.

🌱 Watching the sunrise and feeling your feet on the ground, simultaneously.

🌱 Angela Davis quoting Stuart Hall, reminding us that we have to organize in a way that makes us believe that the radical changes we fight for could happen TOMORROW, even when there are NO GUARANTEES.

🌱 Making distinctions between what is doable and what is not.

🌱 Completing a task without looking at your phone.

🌱 When someone speaks and it makes sense.

🌱 Seeing how you were wrong, without shaming yourself for it.

And finally, BORAGE.

This mother essence was made by my friend Hiva, from a big plant growing in her yard which she described as having “the courage to be messy” while emphasizing, “obvi not in a toxic way!” –because the borage plant grew in multiple, seemingly divergent directions. Borage is a BFD in the flower essence world. It’s known as a powerful ally for depression, heavy hearts, grief, and growing our confidence.

I bottled the mother essence into dosage bottles and we’re calling this “hiva’s borage flower essence!” I actually haven’t worked with this potion for long because I haven’t needed it—yet.

So here’s when I plan to use it:

🦋 When I feel like “nothing will change” and hopeless about our species.

🦋 Before a big public speaking moment that I’m nervous about.

🦋 When seasonal depression hits me – or when Leo SZN is over 🥲

🦋 When mediating conflict and wanting the courage to say something, even if it means I may not be “liked” for it.

🦋 When I’m struggling to integrate the grief that comes from losing a loved one.

A bowl of purple-blue borage flowers in a clear glass bowl of water. — borage mother essence being made

photo by hiva kadivar

BECOME A PATRON

july + august 2022 herbal meditation: summer juice pack 🧃☀️

Here we are! insert lion’s roar LEO SZN BABY! I’m biased and it shows. For July & August, I wanted to make a “summer juice pack” with three herbal buddies who you gotta meet, especially if duckshit in the world has got you down.

(As always, the ingredients, healing abilities/what the plant supports us with, and dosage recommendations are written on the blog for each potion.)

We’re gonna call this Leo SZN medicine because this trifecta of potions is giving SUNSHINE! VISION! COURAGE! So let this spirited Leo medicine work on ya! (The tulsi is also giving us a little taste of Virgo magic because discernment)

A PERSONAL NOTE:

To conserve my energy, I’m keeping this month’s herbal talk brief, metaphorical, and to the point.

LEMON BALM is…

🍋 The sun sharing vitamin D for free.

🍋 The lemonade of herbs.

🍋 Two smiling pit bulls feeling nice.

🍋 Dressing in a way that feels exactly “you” & feeling ur oats.

🍋 A bright, turmeric-dyed comforter on your bed.

TULSI is…

🌱 A captivating 20 min conversation where words aren’t wasted and true back and forth is had.

🌱 Watching the sunrise and feeling your feet on the ground, simultaneously.

🌱 Angela Davis quoting Stuart Hall, reminding us that we have to organize in a way that makes us believe that the radical changes we fight for could happen TOMORROW, even when there are NO GUARANTEES.

🌱 Making distinctions between what is doable and what is not.

🌱 Completing a task without looking at your phone.

🌱 When someone speaks and it makes sense.

🌱 Seeing how you were wrong, without shaming yourself for it.

And finally, BORAGE.

I bottled the mother essence into dosage bottles and we’re calling this “hiva’s borage flower essence!” I actually haven’t worked with this potion for long because I haven’t needed it—yet.

So here’s when I plan to use it:

🦋 When I feel like “nothing will change” and hopeless about our species.

🦋 Before a big public speaking moment that I’m nervous about.

🦋 When seasonal depression hits me – or when Leo SZN is over 🥲

🦋 When mediating conflict and wanting the courage to say something, even if it means I may not be “liked” for it.

🦋 When I’m struggling to integrate the grief that comes from losing a loved one.

If you’d like to start receiving monthly gifts in September, become a patron!

Enjoy your summer juice pack and see you in September!

blog

july + august 2022 herbal meditation: summer juice pack 🧃☀️

Here we are! *insert lion’s roar* LEO SZN BABY! I’m biased and it shows. For July & August, I wanted to make a “summer juice pack” with three herbal buddies who you gotta meet, especially if duckshit in the world has got you down.

(As always, the ingredients, healing abilities/what the plant supports us with, and dosage recommendations are written on the blog for each potion.)

We’re gonna call this Leo SZN medicine because this trifecta of potions is giving SUNSHINE! VISION! COURAGE! So let this spirited Leo medicine work on ya! (The tulsi is also giving us a little taste of Virgo magic because *discernment*)

A PERSONAL NOTE:

To conserve my energy, I’m keeping this month’s herbal talk brief, metaphorical, and to the point.

LEMON BALM is…

🍋 The sun sharing vitamin D for free.

🍋 The lemonade of herbs.

🍋 Two smiling pit bulls feeling nice.

🍋 Dressing in a way that feels exactly “you” & feeling ur oats.

🍋 A bright, turmeric-dyed comforter on your bed.

TULSI is…

🌱 A captivating 20 min conversation where words aren’t wasted and true back and forth is had.

🌱 Watching the sunrise and feeling your feet on the ground, simultaneously.

🌱 Angela Davis quoting Stuart Hall, reminding us that we have to organize in a way that makes us believe that the radical changes we fight for could happen TOMORROW, even when there are NO GUARANTEES.

🌱 Making distinctions between what is doable and what is not.

🌱 Completing a task without looking at your phone.

🌱 When someone speaks and it makes sense.

🌱 Seeing how you were wrong, without shaming yourself for it.

And finally, BORAGE.

I bottled the mother essence into dosage bottles and we’re calling this “hiva’s borage flower essence!” I actually haven’t worked with this potion for long because I haven’t needed it—yet.

So here’s when I plan to use it:

🦋 When I feel like “nothing will change” and hopeless about our species.

🦋 Before a big public speaking moment that I’m nervous about.

🦋 When seasonal depression hits me – or when Leo SZN is over 🥲

🦋 When mediating conflict and wanting the courage to say something, even if it means I may not be “liked” for it.

🦋 When I’m struggling to integrate the grief that comes from losing a loved one.

If you’d like to start receiving monthly gifts in September, become a patron!

Enjoy your summer juice pack and see you in September!

Here we are! insert lion’s roar LEO SZN BABY! I’m biased and it shows. For July & August, I wanted to make a “summer juice pack” with three herbal buddies who you gotta meet, especially if duckshit in the world has got you down.

We’re gonna call this Leo SZN medicine because this trifecta of potions is giving SUNSHINE! VISION! COURAGE! So let this spirited Leo medicine work on ya! (The tulsi is also giving us a little taste of Virgo magic because discernment)