March 6, 2025 • 34 mins
What if you could turn the chaos of herbal studies into a structured and rewarding journey? Discover essential strategies for crafting a Materia Medica with Demetria Clark, director of Heart of Herbs Herbal School, as she shares her insights on managing this extensive project. Whether you're using it for personal reference, educational purposes, or publication, defining the scope is key. Learn how to set boundaries on plant selection and how to effectively break your work into manageable tasks, all while using reliable resources like reputable books and scientific journals to ensure safety and accuracy.
Balancing the demands of creating a Materia Medica with everyday life can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be. Explore practical methods for overcoming common challenges in time management and organization. From setting realistic goals to embracing the Pomodoro technique, the focus is on prioritizing consistency over perfection. Discover the importance of choosing a format, digital or physical, and sticking with it to prevent the temptation of restarting. By integrating these strategies, you can make steady progress and avoid the pitfalls of seeking flawlessness.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, this is Demetria Clark, the director of Heart of
Herbs Herbal School, and thispodcast episode today was
supposed to be a student lecture.
Guess what I forgot to hitrecord when I did the lecture.
So I spent all this timetalking to our students about
the different strategies andworkflow options for creating a
(00:24):
Materia Medica and I forgot tohit record.
So when I came back, I said youknow what this could make a
really cool podcast episode too.
So that's what I am doing today.
So this is a podcast episodeabout creating your Materia
Medica and the strategies youcan use to make it more
(00:47):
manageable and something thatdoesn't cause you strife.
Some organizations if you aregoing for, like registered
herbalist status or somethinglike that, can require anywhere
from 40 to 160 Materia Medicafiles.
So this is something that canreally be helpful when it comes
to time organization and helpingyou stay manageable and
(01:10):
consistent throughout theprocess.
So here are some practical tips, time scheduling strategies to
help you get started and stayconsistent, and we're also going
to do an overview of what aMateria Medica is.
I will try to also answerquestions that students commonly
(01:30):
ask throughout, just so itdoesn't feel as much like a
boring lecture from me.
So, anyways, starting a largeproject like a Materia Medica
can feel overwhelming,especially if you have issues
with organization and followthrough.
If you are the kind of personthat stops themselves from
(01:52):
submitting anything because youbattle with the feeling or the
need to be perfect, you need tostop.
Now we're going to help youbreak through that so you can
work on it in a manageable wayand feel good about what you are
turning in or what you arekeeping for your herbal database
(02:13):
, for your Materia Medica.
Here are some practical tipsand time scheduling strategies
to help you get started and stayconsistent.
The first thing you're going towant to do is define your scope
and practice and your purpose.
So why are you creating thismateria medica?
Are you building it forpersonal reference, education or
as a published resource?
(02:35):
Your purpose will determine thelevel of detail and
organization.
If you are doing this for likesomething like the american
herbalist guild, you're going towant to come up with a level of
organization that is somethingthat you can follow through for
all of the required materiamedicas.
(02:56):
As I am saying this, theamerican herbalist guild is
redoing some of theireducational requirements, so
that number that you would needto submit is something that we
always tell you to go and doublecheck.
But if you're listening to thisright now, go and double check
as you were, you know when youwere, you know halfway through
(03:18):
the process, just to make surethat if you need more than you
thought or if there's somethingelse needed, you can add that to
your Materia Medicas and youwon't feel like you have to
start from ground zero.
Set boundaries, so decide on howmany plants or what kind of
(03:39):
plants, or, you know, setboundaries with what you want to
create.
If you start looking at aMateria Medica, as I'm going to
catalog every single herb onearth, this is going to be a
lifetime of work and if that'syour boundary, that's your
boundary.
If you want to stick toregional plants, if you want to
(04:00):
stick to herbs for certainailments, you know, definitely
create some kind of category towork with from, especially from
the beginning, because whenyou're creating this
comprehensive guide, if you havesomething from the beginning,
it is really helpful.
You're going to want to breakit down into smaller tasks, so
and we're going to go intoorganization in a bit but have
(04:25):
the major components.
So what are the main componentsneeded for a Materia Medica?
Common name, botanical name,actions, indication,
preparations or formulations,safety, contraindications.
Treat each section as a minitask.
Set milestones.
So some examples would be likeresearch and document five herbs
(04:48):
.
Complete one section for allchosen herbs eg constituents for
all of the herbs of your fiveherbs and create some kind of
stepping stone to work within asyou go through creating this
file.
Create a workspace and gathertools.
Organize your resources books,scientific journals, herbal
(05:11):
databases, field notes.
Do not get your materia medicafrom blogs or AI services.
Now, why do I say blogs?
If you're going to use a blogand there's lots of great blogs
(05:35):
out there, don't get me wrong Ifyou're going to use a blog for
your resources, you need todouble check.
You need to look at who theirresources are.
You need to you know how longhas this person been writing
about herbs, what is theinformation in it?
Because a lot of times thesethings can you know, not always
(05:59):
be written by people who areherbalist.
You're going to want to look atbooks.
So we're seeing an influx of AIwritten herbal books that seem
to quote, sell well and havelots of good reviews.
The problem with that is is ourbots making these reviews and
the information can be reallyproblematic and dangerous.
(06:20):
Recently, an herbalist that Iyou know, um, like we're not
like really friends, but we'refriends on Facebook right
Detailed a book that's out thereand it's recipes based on a
very common children's book andthese are recipes that are in
the book and it's usingmonkshood at amounts that would
(06:45):
kill a person as like a recipe,and people are following these
recipes because it also, I mean,or potentially could follow
these recipes because it alsohas recipes that have lots of
sugar and soda, kind of like,you know, those kinds of things
that people would assume wouldbe safe to drink.
(07:08):
So making sure that your bookis from someone who's an actual
herbalist not hard to do poptheir name into Google, see what
they've written before.
You can also, you know, poptheir name into like Google,
scholar or scientific journalwebsites or herbal databases and
(07:30):
see if there's other peopleconnecting to their work and if
there is, there's a good chancethat it's a pretty safe person.
But if someone has abest-selling herbal book you've
never ever heard of them beforedoesn't mean they're not legit.
But if there's no informationout there on them at all, then I
would be really suspect if thebook was a safe book to use Now.
(07:55):
Fortunately, there aren't tonsof those resources out there, so
most herbal books that you'regoing to find are going to be,
you know, have a certainstandardized quality and a way
for you to check on where theygot their information from.
You can use apps or softwarelike Evernote, google Docs or
(08:16):
physical notebooks, and you'regoing to need to choose your
format.
So decide up front whetheryou're going to use note cards,
a binder, digital spreadsheetsor other like formats.
Don't be afraid to shift to adifferent format.
But if you keep doing that tokeep yourself at stage one stop
and make yourself stick to aformat, even if you don't like
(08:38):
it.
You can import it to adifferent style later.
A lot of people will start theMateria Medica.
They'll do notebooks andthey'll do a binder, then
they're going to do a digitalone, then they're going to go
back to a notebook and they'renot.
And they start from square oneeach time, and so they're never,
ever progressing and they'renever, ever finishing.
(08:59):
And this is something thatstudents do and I've talked to
students who do this all thetime and it doesn't have to be
perfect, you don't have.
It doesn't have to be the mostbeautiful thing that you've ever
seen in your life.
Don't be afraid to just get itdone.
Another problem that a lot ofstudents are faced with is time
(09:22):
scheduling.
It's really hard to scheduletime if you have a job and
children and other things thatare going on.
So a lot of people my age are50 and they have kids in college
, and then they have parents whoneed help too.
I'm really fortunate I have myfirst child a little bit younger
I was 21 and so my kids aregrown by the time I'm 50.
(09:46):
And my parent is very, veryhealthy and active and doesn't
need any help, except for likewith our grandmother.
But I do know a lot of ourstudents are faced with this
sandwich dilemma and they'rereally trying to get things done
.
Or they're my age and they havetoddlers.
The world is opening andfamilies are taking all
(10:08):
different shapes, and they'vealways had all different shapes.
Don't get me wrong.
But what I'm saying is thatthat also affects our time
management and our ability tostrategize and do projects and
so set realistic goals anddeadlines.
Carve out time for yourself todo this.
It is okay for you to say Ineed one hour a week to work on
(10:29):
something that's important to me.
I know when I was doing myinitial, I was in college and I
was going through my firstformal herbal program, I had a
baby and so I really had to sayto myself it's okay for me to
(10:50):
take this hour or two hours aweek or a day to really do that,
and it helps set some positivegrowth in my family too, because
it said that mom is importantor other things are important
besides work.
So divide the project intophases.
This is just one way to do it.
(11:11):
So set realistic goals anddeadlines.
Divide the project into phases.
So phase one research anddocument 10 herbs in two weeks.
Phase two organize and reviewdata.
Phase three expand and editbased on feedback and further
information that you collect.
Assign specific deadlines foreach phase to maintain momentum.
It's okay to give yourselfgoals.
(11:32):
It's okay to put calendaralerts to keep those goals.
Another strategy is to use timeblocking.
So dedicate specific blocks oftime to work on your Materia
Medica.
For example, 30 minutes in themorning, an hour in the evening.
Avoid multitasking to maintainfocus.
Avoid multitasking to maintainfocus.
So multitasking has become likethis badge of honor and you
(11:56):
know, sword in the gut rightLike multitasking does not mean
you're actually doing betterwork.
There's a lot of informationout there that says to stop
multitasking.
Focus on what you can do.
I will tell you this you willbe so surprised on what you can
get done of in 15 to 30 minutesof focused work time.
(12:20):
So at Harder Verbs we'll havework sessions occasionally and
students we literally all hop ona Zoom call I even do this and
we have a half hour time periodwhere we're all just basically
sitting at a virtual kitchentable working together and
students are always like, oh mygosh, I can't believe I got so
much done.
Without that distraction, itcan be really easy to get a lot
(12:44):
done.
Our brains are really wonderfuland strong and fascinating.
So as long as we don't letourselves get distracted with
what's going on, it can bereally easy to maintain focus.
You can also apply techniqueslike the Pomodoro technique Work
for 25 minutes, take a fiveminute break.
After four cycles, take a longer15 to 30 minute break.
(13:07):
I have done this before whenI'm working on something that's
really, really important.
So during my five minute breakmaybe I will do squats or get a
cup of tea.
After my four cycles I may takea longer break.
You know, 15 to 30 minutes.
I would often swim during COVID.
During COVID, I was working 24seven.
(13:28):
I also run birth artsinternational.
So, like um, during COVID, theyneeded to verify doula
certification who was cominginto a hospital that was closed
to outsiders.
So I would have hospitals fromaround the United States calling
me at two or three o'clock inthe morning Like I was not
getting a lot of sleep, and sowhen I did this and my 30 minute
(13:48):
break, I would go swimming, um,or I would take a walk.
So it's definitely a great wayto help prevent burnout and to
keep your energy up usingmethods like this.
You're going to want toprioritize consistency over
perfection.
Quit trying to be perfect.
It's an impossible task andthere's always going to be
(14:09):
someone more perfecter than you,so don't even stress it.
Commit to working on theproject daily or weekly, even if
it's just for 15 minutes.
It's better to make small,consistent progress than to aim
for perfection and get stuck.
And this is a huge problem.
This is a huge thing that Iwork through with students with.
I'm always telling them hey,submit it.
(14:31):
What if it's wrong?
Who cares if it's wrong?
I mean, who cares if you've?
You know, stop.
Let's get something here, getsomething in front of me for me
to look at.
That's what I tell them andthen if there's a problem, I'll
let you know.
You're not gonna like fail outand lose access to everything
because you did one thing wrong.
(14:53):
My goal is for our students toknow that if something's wrong,
I'll be like there's levels ofwrong.
First one is I'll send you anemail.
Second one is I'm scheduling aphone call.
Third one is I'm calling you.
Like please don't give that tosomebody right?
Like, what's your phone number?
Because the reality is is thatwe all get stuck and we all try
(15:14):
to do things just right.
But we don't have to do thingsjust right, we don't have to be
perfect.
Sometimes it's important tojust get the work done, and it's
really funny because studentswill love on things that people
put out there and they'reclearly not perfect.
(15:34):
The cameras wiggle in and allthis other stuff's going on and
I'm like, look, those people arenot trying to be perfect,
they're getting the informationout there.
So do not put pressure onyourself to be perfect.
And then a lot of the stuffthat we see out there, this
whole like drive to be like theperfect family, the perfect life
, whatever.
It always seems like they'regoing up in smoke.
So I'm going to take myimperfectly perfect and roll
(15:57):
with that, because I don't needyou to feel like you need to be
perfect for me.
So you can also batch similartasks, so group related tasks,
together to streamline yourworkflow.
Example spend one sessionresearching botanical names for
several herbs, or in anothersession, focus on writing safety
(16:18):
profiles.
You're going to want to stayflexible and avoid burnout.
Life happens, so allow somebuffer time in your schedule.
If a section feels overwhelming, switch to a different task
temporarily.
Sometimes things areoverwhelming because it's
bringing up stuff in ourselves.
It's bringing up feelings inourselves or we feel like, if we
get to this certain point,we've failed before and so we're
(16:41):
going to fail again.
We have a lot of students thatcome to us from like, other
herbal schools or other.
They, you know, take in otherkinds of classes and they stop
because something happened intheir life at this certain point
and so they worry about goingpast this.
They worry about, you know,lots of people will find this in
lots of different things intheir lives.
(17:02):
So switch to a different tasktemporarily.
Change your focus, you know.
Change the air in the room,celebrate the small wins.
To stay motivated, you're goingto also want to schedule your
time.
So, look, this is just a realquick example of what you can do
.
So week one to two planning andsetup define the scope and
(17:24):
select your first 10 herbs.
Research basic details, names,parts used in descriptions.
So that would define the scopeand select your 10 herbs.
Would be day one.
Day two to four research basicdetails, names, parts used in
descriptions.
So that would define the scopeand select your 10 herbs.
Would be day one.
Day two to four research basicdetails, names, parts, uses and
descriptions.
Days five to seven organizeyour findings into your chosen
format spreadsheet, notebook,note cards, anything like that.
(17:46):
Week three to four deepresearch and writing Dedicate
one to two herbs per day,focusing on actions, indications
and preparations, and then usetime blocking or Pomodoro for
focused writing.
Then you're going to want to,in week five and six, review and
expand, edit and refine entries, begin researching additional
herbs or categories.
And then week seven would be toconsolidate and share and
(18:08):
finalize your format and then toshare with your peer or mentor
for feedback.
So those are things that youcan do to help strategize and to
get your Materia Medica whereyou want it to be.
Now there's all different kindsof formats for Materia Medica,
but no matter what, you do finda way to back it up.
So if that means you go toStaples and you get them to
(18:31):
photocopy your notebook, havethem photocopy your notebook.
If that means that you areusing a cloud service to back up
your data, use a cloud serviceto back up your data.
We have a lot of students thatgo through our programs and,
like, 10 years later they willemail me and be like do you have
all of the emails I sent youthat had attachments?
(18:51):
Because we used to allow peopleto send attachments and they,
because we did, there was.
This was before.
There were online classroomswhere you could upload stuff,
right, and I'm like no, I'm nota good backup for you.
We purge, you know, a lot ofunnecessary mail at some point
we don't pay to keep.
You know we would have 26, 27years of email backed up.
(19:14):
You know that would be hugewith everyone sending their
pictures and their files andstuff.
So make sure you find a way toback it up.
You can get things you knowphotocopied and you can even
keep a copy at a parent's houseor a kid's house, just like hey,
can I keep this notebook here?
So if something happens to yourhome, which we are seeing more
and more frequently, we havestudents who are like I just
(19:36):
lost my full Materia Medica in aflood or the fires or anything
like that.
I don't know what to do, I haveto start all over again and
there's nothing I can do forthem.
I feel really bad, but so I'vebeen just advising students to
back everything up and whateverformat you want.
Just find a way to back it up,make the commitment to get it
(19:57):
done.
So what is your Materia Medica?
And I'm going to briefly goover Materia Medicas, because we
do have other lectures in ourclassrooms and even on the
podcast about Materia Medicathat you can listen to.
But anyways, a Materia Medicais literally your plant file,
(20:19):
right?
Materia Medica is acomprehensive collection of
information about medicinalplants, herbs and other natural
remedies.
We in Western herbalism tend tonot use things like bone and
hair, but those are in somecountries and so those may be in
different Materia Medicas.
It serves as a reference guidefor herbalists and natural
(20:42):
health practitioners andenthusiasts to understand the
properties, uses and potentialeffects of different substances
used in herbal medicine.
The term originates from theLatin meaning materials of
medicine.
A materia medica can be assimple, as complex or as needed,
is often tailored to specificinterests or practices of the
individual creating it.
(21:03):
So it is really about you.
It's a dynamic document thatinvolves new or gained knowledge
.
Your materia medica will willnever ever be the same as
someone else's unless youliterally copy them right,
because everybody looks at herbsdifferently and different
regions, so you can have oneherb that's used for digestive
(21:24):
issues in one part of the worldand in another it's used for the
nervous system and that's itsprimary use.
I loved when we traveled a lotwhen our children were little
and we were living in Europe.
We would go to all thesedifferent places and I love just
seeing, like even places thatwere 50 to 100 miles apart on
(21:45):
the map in their epithets, anddifferent kinds of places that
sold herbal medicine, that theywere very different remedies for
the very much same herbs.
It was very, very cool just tosee how regions embraced and had
a difference and a differentway to look at herbal medicine.
So parts of your Materia Medica.
(22:05):
So this is the basic structureof a Materia Medica and it can
vary, but it typically involvesthe common name of the plant.
So these are easilyrecognizable names.
For example, like chamomile thebotanical name, which is the
scientific name you're going towant to have that also.
(22:26):
If it has more than one commonname, try to get in as many as
possible.
That'll be helpful, especiallyif you are making a searchable
database, so a Word document ora spreadsheet or something like
that.
You can search that and it'llgive you the different common
names.
So if someone says I use suchand such common name, you can go
(22:48):
and look up that variety of thecommon name.
There's lots of different herbswith very similar or the same
common name.
So snake root is one that youwill see written in various
different books around the worldand it is different plant in
different regions, or manyplants can have a similar common
(23:11):
name.
Then you're going to want tohave the botanical family and
this will at times change as weare learning more about genetics
and botany.
But basically, the botanicalname and the family botanical uh
, the botanical name and thebotanical family are pretty um,
(23:34):
they're pretty solid.
We've had just a few upsets inthe last few years Description
and identification.
So plant description size,shape, color, habitat, flowering
time.
You're going to want highquality images or illustrations.
Parts used the specific parts ofthe plant used, such as leaves,
flowers, roots or seeds.
The constituents these are theactive compounds, like
(23:58):
flavonoids, alkaloids andtannins.
The energetics, based on atraditional system, like
ayurveda or traditional chinesemedicine, eg like warming,
cooling, dry or moist, differentactions.
The therapeutic properties theanti-inflammatory, diuretic and
nervines.
Indications, so conditions orsymptoms that may help the um,
(24:21):
that or may address, likechamomile for anxiety or
digestive upset.
Preparations how to use the herbteas, tinctures, infusions,
poultices, capsules.
You, you know, can go on and onand on.
If you have a recipe, so sayyou're writing about chamomile
and you have this awesomechamomile recipe, put it in your
Materia Medica.
(24:41):
Don't make it something thatyou're hunting and pecking and
trying to find later, at a laterdate.
Just put it in your MateriaMedica.
If it has four or fivedifferent herbs in it, or two or
three whatever, put it in thosetwo.
So if it's like chamomilenettle and something else, put
it also in the nettle section.
Put it in the other thingssection.
(25:04):
The important thing is is thatyou're going to want to be able
to find these recipes when youneed them and then the
recommended dosages for thisspecific formulations.
You're also going to want tohave safety information and
contraindications.
So your contraindications areimportant Also in your Materia
Medica.
If it's especially if it'sdigital, like you know, like
(25:27):
have a link to the source wherethe contraindication is within
the file.
If it's a digital file or youknow, cite your sources for this
so you can go back and checkthings later or see if things
have changed or if theinformation has been updated.
So there's great databases outthere, like and there's great
places to access differentarticles, like the American
Botanical Council.
(25:48):
The American Herbalist Guildhas different, you know links to
studies and things like that.
You can use the Cochranedatabase.
You can even use something likePubMed, even though those are
not always the best place.
You can also check, like GoogleScholar.
That's a great way to getaccess to studies or places to
find studies from othercountries, because other
(26:10):
countries are also studyingherbs too and following
scientific protocols.
Following scientific protocols,you're going to want to write
down any interactions orprecautions or notes from
clients who use something.
(26:31):
So you know that so-and-so hadthis reaction and they didn't
like it.
For whatever reason, anyreaction someone has they don't
like and they report to you.
Try to make a note of thatbecause you're going to see,
maybe certain people with thisissue have this reaction or
interaction, but people whodon't have the issue have no
(26:51):
problems, and so you can startto even make your personal notes
and observations in your owncase studies, and this is an
important way to have valuableinsight to your herbal practice
and the clients that you areserving.
So then there's ways to collectand organize data for your
(27:12):
Materia Medica.
So we talked about how to setaside time and get started.
We talked about what a MateriaMedica was.
Now we're going to talk aboutways to collect and organize the
data for your Materia Medica.
So there's so many ways to dothis, and really you're going to
want to do one that you'regoing to want to do consistently
(27:33):
.
The method you choose willdepend on your personal
preferences, access totechnology and the depth of
information you wish to document.
Okay, so don't feel like youneed to write a book for each
one.
So you can use note cards.
You can use physical or digitalones.
Index cards are apps likeTrello.
Each card focuses on one herbwith sections for all parts of
(27:57):
the Materia Medica.
They're easy to range, carryand have for field work.
Now you can carry them with youin um like a coupon Uh, what do
they call the coupon accordion?
Or you can use something like aphoto album that has postcard
(28:18):
sheets and so you can slide inlike six postcards or four
postcards per sheet.
You can also use something likea spreadsheet, so Excel or
Google sheets.
You can use columns for thedifferent parts of your Materia
Medica.
This will allow for easysorting, filtering and comparing
between herbs, and you can alsosearch your spreadsheet.
(28:39):
You can also use a Worddocument and just put them all
in a Word document one page ortwo page per herb and then you
can paste in or import thephotos into that.
So you can use platforms likeGoogle Docs or Word.
(29:02):
You can also use blog posts, soyou can even have blog posts
that no one can see and it'sjust for your Materia Medica,
just for you to access it.
You can use journals andnotebooks.
So this is a very tactile andtraditional approach.
(29:24):
You can, you know, paste inpictures or or plant pressings.
You can dedicate a page orsection to each herb.
It's ideal for people who enjoywriting and drawing.
You can also use blog posts, andI just mentioned that with the
digital.
But basically, when you do adigital document, you can also
include images, links andmultimedia elements, herbal apps
(29:49):
and databases.
So you can use apps likeEvernote or specialized
herbalist tools to keep yourdata accessible and on the go.
Many apps will allow tagging,categorization and advanced
search functions.
Those can be very potentially,anything you put in an app may
be almost impossible for you toupdate into export.
So that may be something thatmay be good on the go, but it
(30:11):
may not be a good long-termsolution and you may not be able
to keep them for free.
So it may be something whereyou're going to pay every month
or every year to keep it andthen, if you let that lapse, you
may lose all your information.
You can also use binders like athree ring binder with printed
(30:32):
sheets for each herb, organizedwith dividers with different
categories.
So, however you want tocategorize your herbs by body
system, by plant type, that's upto you.
You can also do illustratedscrapbooks.
We have a lot of students thatare super creative and they like
paint and they do pressed plantsamples and sketches and
botanical illustrations andthey're so beautiful and that is
(30:55):
where I want to go one day.
I don't have time right now,but I do love looking at them
and I think anyone who can dothat is where I want to go one
day.
I don't have time right now,but I do love looking at them
and I think anyone who can dothat is just I'm just so
impressed.
So, how to gather data for yourMateria Medica?
So you're going to want to haveyour primary research.
So this is going to be yourfield work, your observations,
you seeing their natural habitat, your notes on growth patterns,
(31:18):
preferred conditions andpersonal observations.
You seeing their naturalhabitat, your notes on growth
patterns, preferred conditionsand personal observations, your
preparation testing.
So your formulations, your youknow your documented effects.
You're going to want to havethat as your primary research is
is what you personally canobserve or talk about.
Then you're going to want yoursecondary and this is your more
(31:41):
academic aspect.
So you're going to want to useyour trusted herbal textbooks.
You know there's a lot of greatones out there, like the Herbal
Medicine Maker's Handbook byJames Green.
I've written some books.
Then there's like books fromyou know authors like Rosemary
Gladstar, david Hoffman,christopher Hobbes I mean you
can just go on and on DavidWinston, use peer-reviewed
(32:03):
scientific journals for detailedstudies on active components
and efficacy, and if you haveyour document digital, you can
also have links in there or youcan cite your sources.
You're going to want to alsolook at collaborative learning
environments, so courses are agreat way to learn with a group
(32:24):
or to get feedback aboutdifferent things, and you can
also talk to other experiencedherbalists and you will want to
also maybe talk to people inyour community that have
traditional knowledge.
So this is an overview ofcollection and data and
(32:44):
formatting and strategies tomake your Materia Medica the
best that it possibly can be.
Thank you for listening andhave a wonderful, wonderful day.
Hi, this is Demetria Clark, the director of Heart of
Herbs Herbal School, and thispodcast episode today was
supposed to be a student lecture.
Guess what I forgot to hitrecord when I did the lecture.
So I spent all this timetalking to our students about
the different strategies andworkflow options for creating a
(00:24):
Materia Medica and I forgot tohit record.
So when I came back, I said youknow what this could make a
really cool podcast episode too.
So that's what I am doing today.
So this is a podcast episodeabout creating your Materia
Medica and the strategies youcan use to make it more
(00:47):
manageable and something thatdoesn't cause you strife.
Some organizations if you aregoing for, like registered
herbalist status or somethinglike that, can require anywhere
from 40 to 160 Materia Medicafiles.
So this is something that canreally be helpful when it comes
to time organization and helpingyou stay manageable and
(01:10):
consistent throughout theprocess.
So here are some practical tips, time scheduling strategies to
help you get started and stayconsistent, and we're also going
to do an overview of what aMateria Medica is.
I will try to also answerquestions that students commonly
(01:30):
ask throughout, just so itdoesn't feel as much like a
boring lecture from me.
So, anyways, starting a largeproject like a Materia Medica
can feel overwhelming,especially if you have issues
with organization and followthrough.
If you are the kind of personthat stops themselves from
(01:52):
submitting anything because youbattle with the feeling or the
need to be perfect, you need tostop.
Now we're going to help youbreak through that so you can
work on it in a manageable wayand feel good about what you are
turning in or what you arekeeping for your herbal database
(02:13):
, for your Materia Medica.
Here are some practical tipsand time scheduling strategies
to help you get started and stayconsistent.
The first thing you're going towant to do is define your scope
and practice and your purpose.
So why are you creating thismateria medica?
Are you building it forpersonal reference, education or
as a published resource?
(02:35):
Your purpose will determine thelevel of detail and
organization.
If you are doing this for likesomething like the american
herbalist guild, you're going towant to come up with a level of
organization that is somethingthat you can follow through for
all of the required materiamedicas.
(02:56):
As I am saying this, theamerican herbalist guild is
redoing some of theireducational requirements, so
that number that you would needto submit is something that we
always tell you to go and doublecheck.
But if you're listening to thisright now, go and double check
as you were, you know when youwere, you know halfway through
(03:18):
the process, just to make surethat if you need more than you
thought or if there's somethingelse needed, you can add that to
your Materia Medicas and youwon't feel like you have to
start from ground zero.
Set boundaries, so decide on howmany plants or what kind of
(03:39):
plants, or, you know, setboundaries with what you want to
create.
If you start looking at aMateria Medica, as I'm going to
catalog every single herb onearth, this is going to be a
lifetime of work and if that'syour boundary, that's your
boundary.
If you want to stick toregional plants, if you want to
(04:00):
stick to herbs for certainailments, you know, definitely
create some kind of category towork with from, especially from
the beginning, because whenyou're creating this
comprehensive guide, if you havesomething from the beginning,
it is really helpful.
You're going to want to breakit down into smaller tasks, so
and we're going to go intoorganization in a bit but have
(04:25):
the major components.
So what are the main componentsneeded for a Materia Medica?
Common name, botanical name,actions, indication,
preparations or formulations,safety, contraindications.
Treat each section as a minitask.
Set milestones.
So some examples would be likeresearch and document five herbs
(04:48):
.
Complete one section for allchosen herbs eg constituents for
all of the herbs of your fiveherbs and create some kind of
stepping stone to work within asyou go through creating this
file.
Create a workspace and gathertools.
Organize your resources books,scientific journals, herbal
(05:11):
databases, field notes.
Do not get your materia medicafrom blogs or AI services.
Now, why do I say blogs?
If you're going to use a blogand there's lots of great blogs
(05:35):
out there, don't get me wrong Ifyou're going to use a blog for
your resources, you need todouble check.
You need to look at who theirresources are.
You need to you know how longhas this person been writing
about herbs, what is theinformation in it?
Because a lot of times thesethings can you know, not always
(05:59):
be written by people who areherbalist.
You're going to want to look atbooks.
So we're seeing an influx of AIwritten herbal books that seem
to quote, sell well and havelots of good reviews.
The problem with that is is ourbots making these reviews and
the information can be reallyproblematic and dangerous.
(06:20):
Recently, an herbalist that Iyou know, um, like we're not
like really friends, but we'refriends on Facebook right
Detailed a book that's out thereand it's recipes based on a
very common children's book andthese are recipes that are in
the book and it's usingmonkshood at amounts that would
(06:45):
kill a person as like a recipe,and people are following these
recipes because it also, I mean,or potentially could follow
these recipes because it alsohas recipes that have lots of
sugar and soda, kind of like,you know, those kinds of things
that people would assume wouldbe safe to drink.
(07:08):
So making sure that your bookis from someone who's an actual
herbalist not hard to do poptheir name into Google, see what
they've written before.
You can also, you know, poptheir name into like Google,
scholar or scientific journalwebsites or herbal databases and
(07:30):
see if there's other peopleconnecting to their work and if
there is, there's a good chancethat it's a pretty safe person.
But if someone has abest-selling herbal book you've
never ever heard of them beforedoesn't mean they're not legit.
But if there's no informationout there on them at all, then I
would be really suspect if thebook was a safe book to use Now.
(07:55):
Fortunately, there aren't tonsof those resources out there, so
most herbal books that you'regoing to find are going to be,
you know, have a certainstandardized quality and a way
for you to check on where theygot their information from.
You can use apps or softwarelike Evernote, google Docs or
(08:16):
physical notebooks, and you'regoing to need to choose your
format.
So decide up front whetheryou're going to use note cards,
a binder, digital spreadsheetsor other like formats.
Don't be afraid to shift to adifferent format.
But if you keep doing that tokeep yourself at stage one stop
and make yourself stick to aformat, even if you don't like
(08:38):
it.
You can import it to adifferent style later.
A lot of people will start theMateria Medica.
They'll do notebooks andthey'll do a binder, then
they're going to do a digitalone, then they're going to go
back to a notebook and they'renot.
And they start from square oneeach time, and so they're never,
ever progressing and they'renever, ever finishing.
(08:59):
And this is something thatstudents do and I've talked to
students who do this all thetime and it doesn't have to be
perfect, you don't have.
It doesn't have to be the mostbeautiful thing that you've ever
seen in your life.
Don't be afraid to just get itdone.
Another problem that a lot ofstudents are faced with is time
(09:22):
scheduling.
It's really hard to scheduletime if you have a job and
children and other things thatare going on.
So a lot of people my age are50 and they have kids in college
, and then they have parents whoneed help too.
I'm really fortunate I have myfirst child a little bit younger
I was 21 and so my kids aregrown by the time I'm 50.
(09:46):
And my parent is very, veryhealthy and active and doesn't
need any help, except for likewith our grandmother.
But I do know a lot of ourstudents are faced with this
sandwich dilemma and they'rereally trying to get things done
.
Or they're my age and they havetoddlers.
The world is opening andfamilies are taking all
(10:08):
different shapes, and they'vealways had all different shapes.
Don't get me wrong.
But what I'm saying is thatthat also affects our time
management and our ability tostrategize and do projects and
so set realistic goals anddeadlines.
Carve out time for yourself todo this.
It is okay for you to say Ineed one hour a week to work on
(10:29):
something that's important to me.
I know when I was doing myinitial, I was in college and I
was going through my firstformal herbal program, I had a
baby and so I really had to sayto myself it's okay for me to
(10:50):
take this hour or two hours aweek or a day to really do that,
and it helps set some positivegrowth in my family too, because
it said that mom is importantor other things are important
besides work.
So divide the project intophases.
This is just one way to do it.
(11:11):
So set realistic goals anddeadlines.
Divide the project into phases.
So phase one research anddocument 10 herbs in two weeks.
Phase two organize and reviewdata.
Phase three expand and editbased on feedback and further
information that you collect.
Assign specific deadlines foreach phase to maintain momentum.
It's okay to give yourselfgoals.
(11:32):
It's okay to put calendaralerts to keep those goals.
Another strategy is to use timeblocking.
So dedicate specific blocks oftime to work on your Materia
Medica.
For example, 30 minutes in themorning, an hour in the evening.
Avoid multitasking to maintainfocus.
Avoid multitasking to maintainfocus.
So multitasking has become likethis badge of honor and you
(11:56):
know, sword in the gut rightLike multitasking does not mean
you're actually doing betterwork.
There's a lot of informationout there that says to stop
multitasking.
Focus on what you can do.
I will tell you this you willbe so surprised on what you can
get done of in 15 to 30 minutesof focused work time.
(12:20):
So at Harder Verbs we'll havework sessions occasionally and
students we literally all hop ona Zoom call I even do this and
we have a half hour time periodwhere we're all just basically
sitting at a virtual kitchentable working together and
students are always like, oh mygosh, I can't believe I got so
much done.
Without that distraction, itcan be really easy to get a lot
(12:44):
done.
Our brains are really wonderfuland strong and fascinating.
So as long as we don't letourselves get distracted with
what's going on, it can bereally easy to maintain focus.
You can also apply techniqueslike the Pomodoro technique Work
for 25 minutes, take a fiveminute break.
After four cycles, take a longer15 to 30 minute break.
(13:07):
I have done this before whenI'm working on something that's
really, really important.
So during my five minute breakmaybe I will do squats or get a
cup of tea.
After my four cycles I may takea longer break.
You know, 15 to 30 minutes.
I would often swim during COVID.
During COVID, I was working 24seven.
(13:28):
I also run birth artsinternational.
So, like um, during COVID, theyneeded to verify doula
certification who was cominginto a hospital that was closed
to outsiders.
So I would have hospitals fromaround the United States calling
me at two or three o'clock inthe morning Like I was not
getting a lot of sleep, and sowhen I did this and my 30 minute
(13:48):
break, I would go swimming, um,or I would take a walk.
So it's definitely a great wayto help prevent burnout and to
keep your energy up usingmethods like this.
You're going to want toprioritize consistency over
perfection.
Quit trying to be perfect.
It's an impossible task andthere's always going to be
(14:09):
someone more perfecter than you,so don't even stress it.
Commit to working on theproject daily or weekly, even if
it's just for 15 minutes.
It's better to make small,consistent progress than to aim
for perfection and get stuck.
And this is a huge problem.
This is a huge thing that Iwork through with students with.
I'm always telling them hey,submit it.
(14:31):
What if it's wrong?
Who cares if it's wrong?
I mean, who cares if you've?
You know, stop.
Let's get something here, getsomething in front of me for me
to look at.
That's what I tell them andthen if there's a problem, I'll
let you know.
You're not gonna like fail outand lose access to everything
because you did one thing wrong.
(14:53):
My goal is for our students toknow that if something's wrong,
I'll be like there's levels ofwrong.
First one is I'll send you anemail.
Second one is I'm scheduling aphone call.
Third one is I'm calling you.
Like please don't give that tosomebody right?
Like, what's your phone number?
Because the reality is is thatwe all get stuck and we all try
(15:14):
to do things just right.
But we don't have to do thingsjust right, we don't have to be
perfect.
Sometimes it's important tojust get the work done, and it's
really funny because studentswill love on things that people
put out there and they'reclearly not perfect.
(15:34):
The cameras wiggle in and allthis other stuff's going on and
I'm like, look, those people arenot trying to be perfect,
they're getting the informationout there.
So do not put pressure onyourself to be perfect.
And then a lot of the stuffthat we see out there, this
whole like drive to be like theperfect family, the perfect life
, whatever.
It always seems like they'regoing up in smoke.
So I'm going to take myimperfectly perfect and roll
(15:57):
with that, because I don't needyou to feel like you need to be
perfect for me.
So you can also batch similartasks, so group related tasks,
together to streamline yourworkflow.
Example spend one sessionresearching botanical names for
several herbs, or in anothersession, focus on writing safety
(16:18):
profiles.
You're going to want to stayflexible and avoid burnout.
Life happens, so allow somebuffer time in your schedule.
If a section feels overwhelming, switch to a different task
temporarily.
Sometimes things areoverwhelming because it's
bringing up stuff in ourselves.
It's bringing up feelings inourselves or we feel like, if we
get to this certain point,we've failed before and so we're
(16:41):
going to fail again.
We have a lot of students thatcome to us from like, other
herbal schools or other.
They, you know, take in otherkinds of classes and they stop
because something happened intheir life at this certain point
and so they worry about goingpast this.
They worry about, you know,lots of people will find this in
lots of different things intheir lives.
(17:02):
So switch to a different tasktemporarily.
Change your focus, you know.
Change the air in the room,celebrate the small wins.
To stay motivated, you're goingto also want to schedule your
time.
So, look, this is just a realquick example of what you can do
.
So week one to two planning andsetup define the scope and
(17:24):
select your first 10 herbs.
Research basic details, names,parts used in descriptions.
So that would define the scopeand select your 10 herbs.
Would be day one.
Day two to four research basicdetails, names, parts used in
descriptions.
So that would define the scopeand select your 10 herbs.
Would be day one.
Day two to four research basicdetails, names, parts, uses and
descriptions.
Days five to seven organizeyour findings into your chosen
format spreadsheet, notebook,note cards, anything like that.
(17:46):
Week three to four deepresearch and writing Dedicate
one to two herbs per day,focusing on actions, indications
and preparations, and then usetime blocking or Pomodoro for
focused writing.
Then you're going to want to,in week five and six, review and
expand, edit and refine entries, begin researching additional
herbs or categories.
And then week seven would be toconsolidate and share and
(18:08):
finalize your format and then toshare with your peer or mentor
for feedback.
So those are things that youcan do to help strategize and to
get your Materia Medica whereyou want it to be.
Now there's all different kindsof formats for Materia Medica,
but no matter what, you do finda way to back it up.
So if that means you go toStaples and you get them to
(18:31):
photocopy your notebook, havethem photocopy your notebook.
If that means that you areusing a cloud service to back up
your data, use a cloud serviceto back up your data.
We have a lot of students thatgo through our programs and,
like, 10 years later they willemail me and be like do you have
all of the emails I sent youthat had attachments?
(18:51):
Because we used to allow peopleto send attachments and they,
because we did, there was.
This was before.
There were online classroomswhere you could upload stuff,
right, and I'm like no, I'm nota good backup for you.
We purge, you know, a lot ofunnecessary mail at some point
we don't pay to keep.
You know we would have 26, 27years of email backed up.
(19:14):
You know that would be hugewith everyone sending their
pictures and their files andstuff.
So make sure you find a way toback it up.
You can get things you knowphotocopied and you can even
keep a copy at a parent's houseor a kid's house, just like hey,
can I keep this notebook here?
So if something happens to yourhome, which we are seeing more
and more frequently, we havestudents who are like I just
(19:36):
lost my full Materia Medica in aflood or the fires or anything
like that.
I don't know what to do, I haveto start all over again and
there's nothing I can do forthem.
I feel really bad, but so I'vebeen just advising students to
back everything up and whateverformat you want.
Just find a way to back it up,make the commitment to get it
(19:57):
done.
So what is your Materia Medica?
And I'm going to briefly goover Materia Medicas, because we
do have other lectures in ourclassrooms and even on the
podcast about Materia Medicathat you can listen to.
But anyways, a Materia Medicais literally your plant file,
(20:19):
right?
Materia Medica is acomprehensive collection of
information about medicinalplants, herbs and other natural
remedies.
We in Western herbalism tend tonot use things like bone and
hair, but those are in somecountries and so those may be in
different Materia Medicas.
It serves as a reference guidefor herbalists and natural
(20:42):
health practitioners andenthusiasts to understand the
properties, uses and potentialeffects of different substances
used in herbal medicine.
The term originates from theLatin meaning materials of
medicine.
A materia medica can be assimple, as complex or as needed,
is often tailored to specificinterests or practices of the
individual creating it.
(21:03):
So it is really about you.
It's a dynamic document thatinvolves new or gained knowledge
.
Your materia medica will willnever ever be the same as
someone else's unless youliterally copy them right,
because everybody looks at herbsdifferently and different
regions, so you can have oneherb that's used for digestive
(21:24):
issues in one part of the worldand in another it's used for the
nervous system and that's itsprimary use.
I loved when we traveled a lotwhen our children were little
and we were living in Europe.
We would go to all thesedifferent places and I love just
seeing, like even places thatwere 50 to 100 miles apart on
(21:45):
the map in their epithets, anddifferent kinds of places that
sold herbal medicine, that theywere very different remedies for
the very much same herbs.
It was very, very cool just tosee how regions embraced and had
a difference and a differentway to look at herbal medicine.
So parts of your Materia Medica.
(22:05):
So this is the basic structureof a Materia Medica and it can
vary, but it typically involvesthe common name of the plant.
So these are easilyrecognizable names.
For example, like chamomile thebotanical name, which is the
scientific name you're going towant to have that also.
(22:26):
If it has more than one commonname, try to get in as many as
possible.
That'll be helpful, especiallyif you are making a searchable
database, so a Word document ora spreadsheet or something like
that.
You can search that and it'llgive you the different common
names.
So if someone says I use suchand such common name, you can go
(22:48):
and look up that variety of thecommon name.
There's lots of different herbswith very similar or the same
common name.
So snake root is one that youwill see written in various
different books around the worldand it is different plant in
different regions, or manyplants can have a similar common
(23:11):
name.
Then you're going to want tohave the botanical family and
this will at times change as weare learning more about genetics
and botany.
But basically, the botanicalname and the family botanical uh
, the botanical name and thebotanical family are pretty um,
(23:34):
they're pretty solid.
We've had just a few upsets inthe last few years Description
and identification.
So plant description size,shape, color, habitat, flowering
time.
You're going to want highquality images or illustrations.
Parts used the specific parts ofthe plant used, such as leaves,
flowers, roots or seeds.
The constituents these are theactive compounds, like
(23:58):
flavonoids, alkaloids andtannins.
The energetics, based on atraditional system, like
ayurveda or traditional chinesemedicine, eg like warming,
cooling, dry or moist, differentactions.
The therapeutic properties theanti-inflammatory, diuretic and
nervines.
Indications, so conditions orsymptoms that may help the um,
(24:21):
that or may address, likechamomile for anxiety or
digestive upset.
Preparations how to use the herbteas, tinctures, infusions,
poultices, capsules.
You, you know, can go on and onand on.
If you have a recipe, so sayyou're writing about chamomile
and you have this awesomechamomile recipe, put it in your
Materia Medica.
(24:41):
Don't make it something thatyou're hunting and pecking and
trying to find later, at a laterdate.
Just put it in your MateriaMedica.
If it has four or fivedifferent herbs in it, or two or
three whatever, put it in thosetwo.
So if it's like chamomilenettle and something else, put
it also in the nettle section.
Put it in the other thingssection.
(25:04):
The important thing is is thatyou're going to want to be able
to find these recipes when youneed them and then the
recommended dosages for thisspecific formulations.
You're also going to want tohave safety information and
contraindications.
So your contraindications areimportant Also in your Materia
Medica.
If it's especially if it'sdigital, like you know, like
(25:27):
have a link to the source wherethe contraindication is within
the file.
If it's a digital file or youknow, cite your sources for this
so you can go back and checkthings later or see if things
have changed or if theinformation has been updated.
So there's great databases outthere, like and there's great
places to access differentarticles, like the American
Botanical Council.
(25:48):
The American Herbalist Guildhas different, you know links to
studies and things like that.
You can use the Cochranedatabase.
You can even use something likePubMed, even though those are
not always the best place.
You can also check, like GoogleScholar.
That's a great way to getaccess to studies or places to
find studies from othercountries, because other
(26:10):
countries are also studyingherbs too and following
scientific protocols.
Following scientific protocols,you're going to want to write
down any interactions orprecautions or notes from
clients who use something.
(26:31):
So you know that so-and-so hadthis reaction and they didn't
like it.
For whatever reason, anyreaction someone has they don't
like and they report to you.
Try to make a note of thatbecause you're going to see,
maybe certain people with thisissue have this reaction or
interaction, but people whodon't have the issue have no
(26:51):
problems, and so you can startto even make your personal notes
and observations in your owncase studies, and this is an
important way to have valuableinsight to your herbal practice
and the clients that you areserving.
So then there's ways to collectand organize data for your
(27:12):
Materia Medica.
So we talked about how to setaside time and get started.
We talked about what a MateriaMedica was.
Now we're going to talk aboutways to collect and organize the
data for your Materia Medica.
So there's so many ways to dothis, and really you're going to
want to do one that you'regoing to want to do consistently
(27:33):
.
The method you choose willdepend on your personal
preferences, access totechnology and the depth of
information you wish to document.
Okay, so don't feel like youneed to write a book for each
one.
So you can use note cards.
You can use physical or digitalones.
Index cards are apps likeTrello.
Each card focuses on one herbwith sections for all parts of
(27:57):
the Materia Medica.
They're easy to range, carryand have for field work.
Now you can carry them with youin um like a coupon Uh, what do
they call the coupon accordion?
Or you can use something like aphoto album that has postcard
(28:18):
sheets and so you can slide inlike six postcards or four
postcards per sheet.
You can also use something likea spreadsheet, so Excel or
Google sheets.
You can use columns for thedifferent parts of your Materia
Medica.
This will allow for easysorting, filtering and comparing
between herbs, and you can alsosearch your spreadsheet.
(28:39):
You can also use a Worddocument and just put them all
in a Word document one page ortwo page per herb and then you
can paste in or import thephotos into that.
So you can use platforms likeGoogle Docs or Word.
(29:02):
You can also use blog posts, soyou can even have blog posts
that no one can see and it'sjust for your Materia Medica,
just for you to access it.
You can use journals andnotebooks.
So this is a very tactile andtraditional approach.
(29:24):
You can, you know, paste inpictures or or plant pressings.
You can dedicate a page orsection to each herb.
It's ideal for people who enjoywriting and drawing.
You can also use blog posts, andI just mentioned that with the
digital.
But basically, when you do adigital document, you can also
include images, links andmultimedia elements, herbal apps
(29:49):
and databases.
So you can use apps likeEvernote or specialized
herbalist tools to keep yourdata accessible and on the go.
Many apps will allow tagging,categorization and advanced
search functions.
Those can be very potentially,anything you put in an app may
be almost impossible for you toupdate into export.
So that may be something thatmay be good on the go, but it
(30:11):
may not be a good long-termsolution and you may not be able
to keep them for free.
So it may be something whereyou're going to pay every month
or every year to keep it andthen, if you let that lapse, you
may lose all your information.
You can also use binders like athree ring binder with printed
(30:32):
sheets for each herb, organizedwith dividers with different
categories.
So, however you want tocategorize your herbs by body
system, by plant type, that's upto you.
You can also do illustratedscrapbooks.
We have a lot of students thatare super creative and they like
paint and they do pressed plantsamples and sketches and
botanical illustrations andthey're so beautiful and that is
(30:55):
where I want to go one day.
I don't have time right now,but I do love looking at them
and I think anyone who can dothat is where I want to go one
day.
I don't have time right now,but I do love looking at them
and I think anyone who can dothat is just I'm just so
impressed.
So, how to gather data for yourMateria Medica?
So you're going to want to haveyour primary research.
So this is going to be yourfield work, your observations,
you seeing their natural habitat, your notes on growth patterns,
(31:18):
preferred conditions andpersonal observations.
You seeing their naturalhabitat, your notes on growth
patterns, preferred conditionsand personal observations, your
preparation testing.
So your formulations, your youknow your documented effects.
You're going to want to havethat as your primary research is
is what you personally canobserve or talk about.
Then you're going to want yoursecondary and this is your more
(31:41):
academic aspect.
So you're going to want to useyour trusted herbal textbooks.
You know there's a lot of greatones out there, like the Herbal
Medicine Maker's Handbook byJames Green.
I've written some books.
Then there's like books fromyou know authors like Rosemary
Gladstar, david Hoffman,christopher Hobbes I mean you
can just go on and on DavidWinston, use peer-reviewed
(32:03):
scientific journals for detailedstudies on active components
and efficacy, and if you haveyour document digital, you can
also have links in there or youcan cite your sources.
You're going to want to alsolook at collaborative learning
environments, so courses are agreat way to learn with a group
(32:24):
or to get feedback aboutdifferent things, and you can
also talk to other experiencedherbalists and you will want to
also maybe talk to people inyour community that have
traditional knowledge.
So this is an overview ofcollection and data and
(32:44):
formatting and strategies tomake your Materia Medica the
best that it possibly can be.
Thank you for listening andhave a wonderful, wonderful day.
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