November 14, 2025 • 32 mins
Hey friends—welcome to the Heart of Herbs Herbal School Podcast. I’m Demetria Clark, and today we’re opening one of my favorite doors in herbal study: the Materia Medica.
If you’ve ever wondered, “What exactly belongs in a great plant profile?”—this episode is your roadmap. we’ll talk about what a materia medica is (and isn’t), the clean, repeatable outline i teach our students, and how to write entries you’ll actually use in real life—whether you’re blending a tea tonight or presenting a case next week. We’ll dig into naming and identification (Latin saves lives!), taste and energetics, key actions and indications, preparations and dosing (within an education-only scope), safety and contraindications, plus the big one—citations—because giving credit and showing your sources keeps our work ethical, traceable, and safer.
Quick reminder: everything here is education-based, not medical advice. always consider medications, pregnancy/lactation, and red-flag symptoms, and partner with licensed healthcare providers when needed.
Alright—grab your notebook, pour a cup of something lovely, and let’s build a materia medica you’ll be proud to use and share. 💚
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, this is Demetria Clark, the director of Harder Verbs Herbal
School and this podcast episode today was supposed to be a
student lecture. Guess what?
I forgot to hit record when I did the lecture.
So I spent all this time talkingto our students about the
different strategies to and workflow options for creating a
(00:24):
materia medica and I forgot to hit 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 episode
about creating your materia medica and the strategies you
can use to make it more manageable and something that
(00:49):
doesn't 'cause you strife. Some organizations, if you were
going for like registered herbalist status or something
like that, can require anywheresfrom 40 to 160 materia medica
files. So this is something that can
really be helpful when it comes to time organization and helping
you stay manageable and consistent throughout the
(01:11):
process. So here's some practical tips,
time scheduling strategies to help you get started and stay
consistent. And we're also going to do an
overview of what a materia medica is.
I will try to also answer questions that students commonly
ask throughout just so it doesn't feel as much like a
(01:35):
boring lecture from me. So anyways, starting a large
project like a materia medica can feel overwhelming,
especially if you have issues with organization and follow
through. If you were the kind of person
that stops themselves from submitting anything because you
battle with the feeling or the need to be perfect, you need to
(01:59):
stop now. We're going to help you
breakthrough that so you can work on it in a manageable way
and feel good about what you areturning in or what you are
keeping for your herbal databasefor your materia medica.
Here are some practical tips andtime scheduling strategies to
(02:19):
help you get started and stay consistent.
The first thing you're going to want to do is define your scope
and practice and your purpose. So why are you creating this
materia medica? Are you building it for personal
reference, education, or as a published resource?
Your purpose will determine the level of detail and
(02:39):
organization. If you are doing this for like
something like the American Herbalist Guild, you're going to
want to come up with a level of organization that is something
that you can follow through for all of the required materia
medicas. As I am saying this, the
American Herbalist Guild is redoing some of their
(03:02):
educational requirements. So that number that you would
need to submit is something thatwe always tell you to go and
double check. But if you're listening to this
right now, go and double check as you were, you know, when you
were, you know, halfway through the process just to make sure
that if you need more than you thought or if there's something
(03:24):
else needed, you can add that toyour materia medicas and you
won't feel like you have to start from Ground Zero.
Set boundaries. So decide on how many plants or
what kind of plants, or you know, set boundaries with what
you want to create. If you start looking at a
(03:47):
materia medica, as I'm going to catalog every single herb on
earth, this is going to be a lifetime of work.
And if that's your boundary, that's your boundary.
If you want to stick to regionalplants, if you want to stick to
herbs for certain ailments, you know, definitely create some
kind of category to work with from, especially from the
beginning. Because when you're creating
(04:09):
this comprehensive guide, if youhave something from the
beginning, it is really helpful.You're going to want to break it
down into smaller tasks. So, and we're going to go into
organization in a bit, but have the major components.
So what are the main components needed for a material medica,
(04:30):
common name, botanical name, actions, indication,
preparations or formulations, safety, contraindications.
Treat each section as a mini task, set milestones.
So some examples would be like research and document 5 herbs,
complete one section for all chosen herbs, EG constituents
(04:52):
for all of the herbs of your 5 herbs, and create some kind of
stepping stone to work within. As you go through creating this
file, create a workspace and gather tools.
Organize your resources, books, scientific journals, herbal
databases, field notes. Do not get your materia medica
(05:19):
information from blogs or AI services.
Now why do I say blogs if you'regoing to use a blog?
And there's lots of great blogs out there.
Don't get me wrong. If you're going to use a blog
(05:39):
for your resources, you need to double check.
You need to look at who their resources are.
You need to, you know, how how long has this person been
writing about herbs? What is the information in it?
Because a lot of times these things can, you know, not always
(05:59):
be written by people who are herbalist, you're going to want
to look at books. So we're seeing an influx of AI
written herbal books that seem to quote, sell well and have
lots of good reviews. The problem with that is is our
bots making these reviews and the information can be really
problematic and dangerous. Recently an herbalist that I you
(06:24):
know, we're not like really friends, but we're friends on
Facebook, right, detailed a bookthat's out there and it's
recipes based on a very common children's book.
And these are recipes that are in the book and it's using
monkshood at amounts that would kill a person as like a recipe.
(06:49):
And people are following these recipes because it also, I mean,
or potentially could follow these recipes because it also
has recipes that have lots of sugar and soda, kind of like,
you know, those kind of things that people would assume would
be safe to drink. So making sure that your book is
(07:13):
from someone who's an actual herbalist, not hard to do.
Pop their name into Google, see what they've written before.
You can also, you know, pop their name into like Google
Scholar or scientific journal websites or herbal databases and
see if there's other people connecting to their work.
(07:33):
And if there is, there's a good chance that it's a pretty safe
person. But if someone has like a best
selling herbal book, you've never ever heard of them before,
doesn't mean they're not legit. But if there's no information
out there on them at all, then Iwould be really suspect if the
book was a safe book to use. Now, fortunately there aren't
(07:56):
tons of those resources out there.
So most herbal books that you'regoing to find are going to be,
you know, have a certain standardized quality and a way
for you to check on where they got their information from.
You can use apps or software like Evernote, Google Docs, or
(08:16):
physical notebooks, and you're going to need to choose your
format. So decide upfront whether you're
going to use note cards, a binder, digital spreadsheets, or
other like formats. Don't be afraid to shift to a
different format, but if you keep doing that to keep yourself
at stage one stop and make yourself stick to a format, even
(08:37):
if you don't like it, you can import it to a different style
later. A lot of people will start their
materia medica. They'll do notebooks and they'll
do a binder, then they're going to do a digital one, then
they're going to go back to a notebook and they're not.
And they start from square one each time.
And so they're never ever progressing and they're never
(08:58):
ever finishing. And this is something that
students do and I've talked to students who do this all the
time and it, it doesn't have to be perfect.
You don't have it doesn't have to be the most beautiful thing
that you've ever seen in your life.
Don't be afraid to just get it done.
Another problem that a lot of students are faced with is time
(09:22):
scheduling. It's really hard to schedule
time if you have a job and you have children and other things
that are going on. So a lot of people my age are 50
and they have kids in college and then they have parents who
need help too. I'm really fortunate.
I have my first child a little bit younger.
(09:42):
I was 21. And so my kids are grown by the
time I'm 50. And my parent is very, very
healthy and active and doesn't need any help except for like
with our grandmother. But I do know a lot of our
students are are faced with thissandwich dilemma and they're
really trying to get things done.
(10:02):
Or they're my age and they have toddlers.
The world is opening and families are taking all
different shapes. And they've always had all
different shapes, don't get me wrong.
But what I'm saying is, is that that also effects our time
management and our ability to strategize and do projects.
And so set realistic goals and deadlines.
(10:23):
Carve out time for yourself to do this.
It is OK for you to say I need one hour a week to work on
something that's important to me.
I know when I was doing my initial, I was in college and I
was going through my like first like formal herbal program.
(10:43):
I had a baby. So I really had to say to
myself, it's OK for me to take this hour or two hours a week or
a day to really do that. And it helps set some positive
growth in my family too because it said that mom is important or
other things are important besides work.
(11:05):
So divide the project into phases.
This is just one way to do it. So set realistic goals and
deadlines. Divide the project into phases.
So phase one, research and document 10 herbs in two weeks.
Phase two, organize and review data.
Phase three expanded edit based on feedback and further
information that you collect. Assign specific deadlines for
(11:28):
each phase to maintain momentum.It's OK to give yourself goals.
It's OK to put calendar alerts to keep those goals.
Another strategy is to use time blocking.
So dedicate specific blocks of time to work on your materia
medica. For example, 30 minutes in the
morning, an hour in the evening.Avoid multitasking to maintain
(11:49):
focus. So multitasking has become like
this badge of honor and you know, sword in the gut, right?
Like multitasking does not mean you're actually doing better
work. There's a lot of information out
there that says to stop multitasking.
Focus on what you can do. I will tell you this.
(12:11):
You will be so surprised on whatyou can get done of and 15 to 30
minutes of focused work time. So at Harder Verbs, we'll have
work sessions occasionally and students, we literally all hop
on a Zoom call. I even do this and we have 1/2
hour time period where we're alljust basically sitting at a
(12:33):
virtual kitchen table working together.
And students are always like, Ohmy gosh, I can't believe I got
so much done. Without that distraction, it can
be really easy to get a lot done.
Our brains are really wonderful and strong and fascinating.
So as long as we don't let ourselves get distracted with
(12:54):
what's going on, it can be really easy to maintain focus.
You can also apply techniques like the Pomodoro technique.
Work for 25 minutes, take a 5 minute break.
After 4 cycles, take a longer 15to 30 minute break.
I have done this before when I'mworking on something that's
really, really important. So during my 5 minute break
maybe I will do squats or get a cup of tea.
(13:18):
After my 4 cycles I may take a longer break.
You know, 15 to 30 minutes. I would often swim during COVID.
During COVID I was working 24/7.I also run birth Arts
international. So like during COVID, they
needed to verify doula certification who was coming
into a hospital that was closed to outsiders.
(13:40):
So I would have hospitals from around the United States calling
me at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, like I was not getting
a lot of sleep. And so when I did this in my 30
minute break, I would go swimming or I would take a walk.
So it's definitely a great way to help prevent burnout and to
keep your energy up using methods like this.
You're going to want to prioritize consistency over
(14:02):
perfection. Quit trying to be perfect.
It's an impossible task and there's always going to be
someone more perfecter than you,so don't even stress it.
Commit to working on the projectdaily 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.
(14:22):
And this is a huge problem. This is a huge thing that I work
through with students with. I'm always telling them, hey,
submit it. 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.
Get something in front of me forme to look at.
(14:43):
That's what I tell them. And then if there's a problem,
I'll let you know. You're not going to like fail
out and lose access to everything because you did one
thing wrong. My goal is for our students to
know that if something's wrong, I'll be like, there's levels of
wrong. First one is I'll send you an
e-mail. Second one is I'm scheduling a
(15:03):
phone call. Third one is I'm calling you
like, please don't give that to somebody, right?
Like what's your phone number? Because the reality is, is that
we all get stuck and we all try to do things just right.
But we don't have to do things just right.
We don't have to be perfect. Sometimes it's important to just
(15:24):
get the work done. And it's really funny because
students will love on things that people put out there and
they're clearly not perfect. The cameras wiggle in and all
this other stuff's going on. And I'm like, look, those people
are not trying to be perfect. They're getting the information
out there. So do not put pressure on
(15:45):
yourself to be perfect. And then a lot of the stuff that
we see out there, this whole like drive to the like the
perfect family, the perfect life, whatever, it always seems
like they're going up in smoke. So I'm going to take my
imperfectly perfect and roll with that because I don't need
you to feel like you need to be perfect for me.
So you can also batch similar tech tasks.
(16:07):
So group related tasks together to streamline your workflow.
Example, spend one session researching botanical names for
several herbs, or in another session focus on writing safety
profiles. You're going to want to stay
flexible and avoid burnout. Life happens, so allow some
buffer time in your schedule. If a section feels overwhelming,
(16:27):
switch to a different task temporarily.
Sometimes things are overwhelming because it's
bringing up stuff in ourselves. It's bringing up feelings in
ourselves or we feel like if we get to this certain point, we
failed before and so we're goingto fail again.
We have a lot of students that come to us from like other
herbal schools or, or other they, you know, take another
(16:50):
kinds of classes and they stop because something happened in
their life at this certain point.
And so they worry about going past this.
They worry about, you know, lotsof people will find this and
lots of different things in their lives.
So switch to a different task temporarily change your focus,
you know, change the air in the room, celebrate the small wins
to stay motivated. You're going to also want to
(17:14):
schedule your time. So look, this is just a real
quick example of what you can do.
So week one to two planning and setup.
Define the scope and select yourfirst 10 herbs.
Research basic details, names, parts used in descriptions.
So that would the define the scope and select your 10 herbs
would be day one. Day 2 to 4.
(17:35):
Research basic details, names, parts, uses and descriptions.
Days five to seven, organize your findings into your chosen
format, spreadsheet, notebook, no cards anything like that.
Week 3 to 4, deep research and writing.
Dedicate one to two herbs per day, focusing on actions,
indications, and preparations, and then use time blocking or
(17:56):
Pomodoro for focused writing. Then you're going to want to, in
week 5 and 6, review and expand,edit and refine entries, begin
researching additional herbs or categories.
And then week 7 would be to consolidate and share and
finalize your format and then toshare with your peer or mentor
for feedback. So those are things that you can
do to help strategize and to getyour materia medica where you
(18:20):
want it to be. Now, there's all different kinds
of formats for materia medica, but no matter what you do, find
a way to back it up. So if that means you go to
Staples and you get them to photocopy your notebook, have
them photocopy your notebook. If that means that you are using
a cloud service to backup your data, use a cloud service to
(18:40):
backup your data. We have a lot of students that
go through our programs and like10 years later they will e-mail
me and be like, do you have all of the emails I sent you that
had attachments? Because we used to allow people
to send attachments and they because we did.
There was, this was before therewere online classrooms where you
could upload stuff, right? And I'm like, no, I'm not a good
(19:02):
backup for you. We purge, you know, a lot of
unnecessary mail. At some point we don't pay to
keep, you know, we would have 2627 years of e-mail backed up.
You know, that would be huge with everyone sending their
pictures and their files and stuff.
So make sure you find a way to back it up.
You can get things, you know, photocopied and you can even
(19:24):
keep a copy at a parent's house or a kids house.
Just like, hey, can I keep this notebook here?
So if something happens to your home, which we are seeing more
and more frequently, we have students who are like, I just
lost my full materia medica in aflood or the fires or, or
anything like that. I don't know what to do.
(19:44):
I have to start all over again and there's nothing I can do for
them. I feel really bad, but so I've
been just advising students to back everything up and whatever
format you want, just find a wayto back it up, make the
commitment to get it done. So what is your materia medica?
And I'm going to briefly go overmateria medicas because we do
have other lectures in our classrooms and even on the
(20:10):
podcast about materia medicas that you can listen to.
But anyways, a materia medica is.
Literally your plant file, right?
Materia Medica is a comprehensive collection of
information about medicinal plants, herbs, and other natural
remedies. We in western herbalism tend to
not use things like bone and hair, but those are in some
(20:34):
countries and so those may be indifferent materia medicas.
It serves as a reference guys for guide for herbalist and
natural health practitioners. An enthusiast to understand the
properties, uses and potential effects of different substances
used in herbal medicine. The term originates from the
Latin meaning materials of medicine.
(20:54):
A materia medica can be as simple, as complex, or as
needed, is often tailored to specific interests or practices
of the individual creating it. So it is really about you.
It's a dynamic document that involves new or gained
knowledge. Your materia medica will never
ever be the same as someone else's unless you literally copy
(21:15):
them. Right?
Because everybody looks at herbsdifferently and different
regions. So you can have one herb that's
used for digestive issues in onepart of the world, and in
another it's used for the nervous system, and that's its
primary use. I loved when we traveled a lot
when our children were little and we were living in Europe.
(21:37):
We would go to all these different places.
And I love just seeing like evenplaces that were 50 to 100 miles
apart on the map in their appetites and different kinds of
places that sold herbal medicine, that they were very
different remedies for the very much same herbs.
It was very, very cool just to see how regions embraced and had
(22:00):
a difference in a different way to look at herbal medicine.
So parts of your materia medica.So this is the basic structure
of a materia medica and it can vary, but it typically involves
the common name of the plant. So these are easily recognizable
names, for example, like chamomile, the botanical name,
(22:21):
which is the scientific name. You're going to want to have
that. Also, if it has more than one
common name, try to get in as many as possible.
That'll be helpful, especially if you are making a searchable
database. So a Word document or a
spreadsheet or something like that, you can search that and
(22:42):
it'll give you the different common name.
So if someone says I use such and such common name, you can go
and look up that variety of the common name.
There's lots of different herbs with very similar or the same
common name. So snake root is one that you
will see written in various different books around the world
(23:04):
and it is different plant in different regions or many plants
can have a similar common name. Then you're going to want to
have the botanical family and this will at times change as we
are learning more about geneticsand botany.
But basically the botanical nameand the family botanical, the
(23:29):
botanical name in the botanical family are pretty.
They're pretty solid. We've had just a few upsets in
the last few years. Description and identification
So plant description, size, shape, color, habitat, flowering
time. You're going to want high
quality images or illustrations.Parts Use The specific parts of
(23:51):
the plant use, such as leaves, flowers, fruits or seeds.
The constituents. These are the active compounds
like flavonoids, alkaloids and tannins.
The energetics based on a traditional system like Ayurveda
or traditional Chinese medicine EG like warming, cooling, dryer,
moist different actions, the therapeutic properties, the
(24:12):
anti-inflammatory, diuretic and nervings indications.
So conditions are symptoms that may help the that are may
address like chamomile for anxiety or digestive upset
preparations, how to use the herb teas, tinctures, infusions,
poultices, capsules, you, you know, can go on and on and on.
(24:33):
If you have a recipe, so say you're writing about chamomile
and you have this awesome chamomile recipe, put it in your
material medica. Don't make it something that
you're hunting and pecking and trying to find later, at a later
date. Just put it in your material
medica. If it has four or five different
herbs in it or two or three, whatever, put it in those too.
(24:55):
So if it's like chamomile nettleand something else, put it also
in the nettle section. Put it in the other thing
section. The important thing is, is that
you're going to want to be able to find these recipes when you
need them and then the recommended dosages for this
specific formulations. You're also going to want to
have safeties information and contraindications.
So your contraindications are important also in your materia
(25:21):
medica, if it's especially if it's digital, like, you know,
like have a link to the source where the contraindication is
within the file. If it's a digital file or you
know, cite your sources for this.
So you can go back and check things later or see if things
have changed or if the information has been updated.
So there's great databases out there like, and there's great
(25:44):
places to access different articles like the American
Botanical Council, the American Herbalist Guild has different,
you know, links to studies and things like that.
You can use the Cochrane database.
You can even use something like pub Med, even though those are
not always the best place. You can also check like Google
Scholar. That's a great way to get access
(26:06):
to studies or places to find studies from other countries
because other countries are alsostudying herbs too, and
following scientific protocols. You're going to want to write
down any interactions or precautions or notes from
(26:26):
clients who use something so youknow that so and so had this
reaction and they didn't like it.
For whatever reason. Any reaction someone has they
don't like and they report to you.
Try to make a note of that because you're going to see
maybe certain people with this issue have this reaction or
(26:48):
interaction, but people who don't have the issue have no
problems. And so you can start to even
make your personal notes and observations in your own case
studies. And this is an important way to
have valuable insight to your herbal practice and the clients
that you are serving. So then there's ways to collect
(27:11):
and organize data for your material medica.
So we talked about how to set aside time and get started.
We talked about what a material Medica was.
Now we're going to talk about ways to collect and organize the
data for your material Medica. So there's so many ways to do
this. And really you're going to want
to do one that you're going to want to do consistently.
(27:32):
Consistently, Sorry, the method you choose will depend on your
personal preferences, access to technology, and the depth of
information you wish to document.
OK, so don't feel like you need to write a book for each one.
So you can use no cards. You can use physical or digital
ones, index cards or apps like Trello.
(27:53):
Each card focuses on one herb with sections for all parts of
the material. Medica.
They're easy to range, carry andhave her field work.
Now you can carry them with you in like a coupon, what do they
call the coupon accordion? Or you can use something like a
(28:14):
photo album that has postcard sheets and so you can slide in
like 6 postcards or 4 postcards per sheet.
You can also use something like a spreadsheet, so Excel or
Google Sheets. You can use columns for the
different parts of your materia medica.
This will allow for easy sorting, filtering and comparing
(28:35):
between herbs. And you can also search your
spreadsheet. You can also use a Word document
and just put them all in a Word document, one page or two page
per herb. And then you can paste in or
import you know the photos into that.
You can also so you can use platforms like were Google Docs
(29:01):
or word. You can also use blog post even
you can, so you can even have blog post that no one can see
and it's just for your materia medica, just for you to access
it. You can use journals and
notebooks. So this is a very tactile and
(29:21):
traditional approach. You can, you know, paste in
pictures or plant pressings. You can dedicate a page or
section to each herb. It's ideal for people who enjoy
writing and drawing. You can also use blog posts and
I just mentioned that with the digital, but basically when you
(29:43):
do a digital document, you can also include images, links, and
multimedia elements, herbal appsand databases.
So you can use apps like Evernote or specialized
herbalist tools to keep your data 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 to
(30:05):
update into export. So that may be something that
may be good on the go, but it may not be a good long term
solution. And you may not be able to keep
them for free. So it may be something where
you're going to pay every month or every year to keep it.
And then if you let that lapse, you may lose all your
(30:27):
information. You can also use binders, like a
three ring binder with printed sheets for each herb, organized
with dividers with different categories.
So however you want to categorize your herbs by body
system, by plant type, that's upto you.
You can also do illustrated scrapbooks.
We have a lot of students that are super creative and they like
(30:47):
paint and they do pressed plant samples and sketches and
botanical illustrations and they're so beautiful.
And that is where I wanna go oneday.
I don't have time right now, butI do love looking at them.
And I think anyone who can do that is just, I'm just so
impressed. So how to gather data for your
materia medica? So you're going to want to have
(31:09):
your primary research. And so this is going to be your
field work, your observations, you seeing the natural habitat,
your notes on growth patterns, preferred conditions and
personal observations, your preparation testing.
So your formulations, your, you know, your documented effects.
You're going to want to have that as your primary research
(31:31):
is, is what you personally can observe or talk about.
Then you're going to want your secondary and this is your more
academic aspect. So you're going to want to use
your trusted herbal textbooks. You know, there's a lot of great
ones out there like the Herbal Medicine Makers Handbook by
James Green. I've written some books.
(31:54):
Then there's like books from authors like Rosemary Gladstar,
David Hoffman, Christopher Hobbs.
I mean, you can just go on and on, David Winston, use peer
reviewed scientific journals fordetailed studies on active
components and efficacy. And if you have your document
digital, you can also have linksin there or you can cite your
(32:14):
sources. You're going to want to also
look at collaborative learning environments.
So courses are a great way to learn with a group or to get
feedback about different things.And you can also talk to other
experienced herbalist. And you will want to also maybe
talk to people in your communitythat have traditional knowledge.
(32:38):
So this is an overview of collection and data and
formatting and strategies to make your materia medica the
best that it possibly can be. Thank you for listening and have
a wonderful, wonderful day.
Hi, this is Demetria Clark, the director of Harder Verbs Herbal
School and this podcast episode today was supposed to be a
student lecture. Guess what?
I forgot to hit record when I did the lecture.
So I spent all this time talkingto our students about the
different strategies to and workflow options for creating a
(00:24):
materia medica and I forgot to hit 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 episode
about creating your materia medica and the strategies you
can use to make it more manageable and something that
(00:49):
doesn't 'cause you strife. Some organizations, if you were
going for like registered herbalist status or something
like that, can require anywheresfrom 40 to 160 materia medica
files. So this is something that can
really be helpful when it comes to time organization and helping
you stay manageable and consistent throughout the
(01:11):
process. So here's some practical tips,
time scheduling strategies to help you get started and stay
consistent. And we're also going to do an
overview of what a materia medica is.
I will try to also answer questions that students commonly
ask throughout just so it doesn't feel as much like a
(01:35):
boring lecture from me. So anyways, starting a large
project like a materia medica can feel overwhelming,
especially if you have issues with organization and follow
through. If you were the kind of person
that stops themselves from submitting anything because you
battle with the feeling or the need to be perfect, you need to
(01:59):
stop now. We're going to help you
breakthrough that so you can work on it in a manageable way
and feel good about what you areturning in or what you are
keeping for your herbal databasefor your materia medica.
Here are some practical tips andtime scheduling strategies to
(02:19):
help you get started and stay consistent.
The first thing you're going to want to do is define your scope
and practice and your purpose. So why are you creating this
materia medica? Are you building it for personal
reference, education, or as a published resource?
Your purpose will determine the level of detail and
(02:39):
organization. If you are doing this for like
something like the American Herbalist Guild, you're going to
want to come up with a level of organization that is something
that you can follow through for all of the required materia
medicas. As I am saying this, the
American Herbalist Guild is redoing some of their
(03:02):
educational requirements. So that number that you would
need to submit is something thatwe always tell you to go and
double check. But if you're listening to this
right now, go and double check as you were, you know, when you
were, you know, halfway through the process just to make sure
that if you need more than you thought or if there's something
(03:24):
else needed, you can add that toyour materia medicas and you
won't feel like you have to start from Ground Zero.
Set boundaries. So decide on how many plants or
what kind of plants, or you know, set boundaries with what
you want to create. If you start looking at a
(03:47):
materia medica, as I'm going to catalog every single herb on
earth, this is going to be a lifetime of work.
And if that's your boundary, that's your boundary.
If you want to stick to regionalplants, if you want to stick to
herbs for certain ailments, you know, definitely create some
kind of category to work with from, especially from the
beginning. Because when you're creating
(04:09):
this comprehensive guide, if youhave something from the
beginning, it is really helpful.You're going to want to break it
down into smaller tasks. So, and we're going to go into
organization in a bit, but have the major components.
So what are the main components needed for a material medica,
(04:30):
common name, botanical name, actions, indication,
preparations or formulations, safety, contraindications.
Treat each section as a mini task, set milestones.
So some examples would be like research and document 5 herbs,
complete one section for all chosen herbs, EG constituents
(04:52):
for all of the herbs of your 5 herbs, and create some kind of
stepping stone to work within. As you go through creating this
file, create a workspace and gather tools.
Organize your resources, books, scientific journals, herbal
databases, field notes. Do not get your materia medica
(05:19):
information from blogs or AI services.
Now why do I say blogs if you'regoing to use a blog?
And there's lots of great blogs out there.
Don't get me wrong. If you're going to use a blog
(05:39):
for your resources, you need to double check.
You need to look at who their resources are.
You need to, you know, how how long has this person been
writing about herbs? What is the information in it?
Because a lot of times these things can, you know, not always
(05:59):
be written by people who are herbalist, you're going to want
to look at books. So we're seeing an influx of AI
written herbal books that seem to quote, sell well and have
lots of good reviews. The problem with that is is our
bots making these reviews and the information can be really
problematic and dangerous. Recently an herbalist that I you
(06:24):
know, we're not like really friends, but we're friends on
Facebook, right, detailed a bookthat's out there and it's
recipes based on a very common children's book.
And these are recipes that are in the book and it's using
monkshood at amounts that would kill a person as like a recipe.
(06:49):
And people are following these recipes because it also, I mean,
or potentially could follow these recipes because it also
has recipes that have lots of sugar and soda, kind of like,
you know, those kind of things that people would assume would
be safe to drink. So making sure that your book is
(07:13):
from someone who's an actual herbalist, not hard to do.
Pop their name into Google, see what they've written before.
You can also, you know, pop their name into like Google
Scholar or scientific journal websites or herbal databases and
see if there's other people connecting to their work.
(07:33):
And if there is, there's a good chance that it's a pretty safe
person. But if someone has like a best
selling herbal book, you've never ever heard of them before,
doesn't mean they're not legit. But if there's no information
out there on them at all, then Iwould be really suspect if the
book was a safe book to use. Now, fortunately there aren't
(07:56):
tons of those resources out there.
So most herbal books that you'regoing to find are going to be,
you know, have a certain standardized quality and a way
for you to check on where they got their information from.
You can use apps or software like Evernote, Google Docs, or
(08:16):
physical notebooks, and you're going to need to choose your
format. So decide upfront whether you're
going to use note cards, a binder, digital spreadsheets, or
other like formats. Don't be afraid to shift to a
different format, but if you keep doing that to keep yourself
at stage one stop and make yourself stick to a format, even
(08:37):
if you don't like it, you can import it to a different style
later. A lot of people will start their
materia medica. They'll do notebooks and they'll
do a binder, then they're going to do a digital one, then
they're going to go back to a notebook and they're not.
And they start from square one each time.
And so they're never ever progressing and they're never
(08:58):
ever finishing. And this is something that
students do and I've talked to students who do this all the
time and it, it doesn't have to be perfect.
You don't have it doesn't have to be the most beautiful thing
that you've ever seen in your life.
Don't be afraid to just get it done.
Another problem that a lot of students are faced with is time
(09:22):
scheduling. It's really hard to schedule
time if you have a job and you have children and other things
that are going on. So a lot of people my age are 50
and they have kids in college and then they have parents who
need help too. I'm really fortunate.
I have my first child a little bit younger.
(09:42):
I was 21. And so my kids are grown by the
time I'm 50. And my parent is very, very
healthy and active and doesn't need any help except for like
with our grandmother. But I do know a lot of our
students are are faced with thissandwich dilemma and they're
really trying to get things done.
(10:02):
Or they're my age and they have toddlers.
The world is opening and families are taking all
different shapes. And they've always had all
different shapes, don't get me wrong.
But what I'm saying is, is that that also effects our time
management and our ability to strategize and do projects.
And so set realistic goals and deadlines.
(10:23):
Carve out time for yourself to do this.
It is OK for you to say I need one hour a week to work on
something that's important to me.
I know when I was doing my initial, I was in college and I
was going through my like first like formal herbal program.
(10:43):
I had a baby. So I really had to say to
myself, it's OK for me to take this hour or two hours a week or
a day to really do that. And it helps set some positive
growth in my family too because it said that mom is important or
other things are important besides work.
(11:05):
So divide the project into phases.
This is just one way to do it. So set realistic goals and
deadlines. Divide the project into phases.
So phase one, research and document 10 herbs in two weeks.
Phase two, organize and review data.
Phase three expanded edit based on feedback and further
information that you collect. Assign specific deadlines for
(11:28):
each phase to maintain momentum.It's OK to give yourself goals.
It's OK to put calendar alerts to keep those goals.
Another strategy is to use time blocking.
So dedicate specific blocks of time to work on your materia
medica. For example, 30 minutes in the
morning, an hour in the evening.Avoid multitasking to maintain
(11:49):
focus. So multitasking has become like
this badge of honor and you know, sword in the gut, right?
Like multitasking does not mean you're actually doing better
work. There's a lot of information out
there that says to stop multitasking.
Focus on what you can do. I will tell you this.
(12:11):
You will be so surprised on whatyou can get done of and 15 to 30
minutes of focused work time. So at Harder Verbs, we'll have
work sessions occasionally and students, we literally all hop
on a Zoom call. I even do this and we have 1/2
hour time period where we're alljust basically sitting at a
(12:33):
virtual kitchen table working together.
And students are always like, Ohmy gosh, I can't believe I got
so much done. Without that distraction, it can
be really easy to get a lot done.
Our brains are really wonderful and strong and fascinating.
So as long as we don't let ourselves get distracted with
(12:54):
what's going on, it can be really easy to maintain focus.
You can also apply techniques like the Pomodoro technique.
Work for 25 minutes, take a 5 minute break.
After 4 cycles, take a longer 15to 30 minute break.
I have done this before when I'mworking on something that's
really, really important. So during my 5 minute break
maybe I will do squats or get a cup of tea.
(13:18):
After my 4 cycles I may take a longer break.
You know, 15 to 30 minutes. I would often swim during COVID.
During COVID I was working 24/7.I also run birth Arts
international. So like during COVID, they
needed to verify doula certification who was coming
into a hospital that was closed to outsiders.
(13:40):
So I would have hospitals from around the United States calling
me at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, like I was not getting
a lot of sleep. And so when I did this in my 30
minute break, I would go swimming or I would take a walk.
So it's definitely a great way to help prevent burnout and to
keep your energy up using methods like this.
You're going to want to prioritize consistency over
(14:02):
perfection. Quit trying to be perfect.
It's an impossible task and there's always going to be
someone more perfecter than you,so don't even stress it.
Commit to working on the projectdaily 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.
(14:22):
And this is a huge problem. This is a huge thing that I work
through with students with. I'm always telling them, hey,
submit it. 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.
Get something in front of me forme to look at.
(14:43):
That's what I tell them. And then if there's a problem,
I'll let you know. You're not going to like fail
out and lose access to everything because you did one
thing wrong. My goal is for our students to
know that if something's wrong, I'll be like, there's levels of
wrong. First one is I'll send you an
e-mail. Second one is I'm scheduling a
(15:03):
phone call. Third one is I'm calling you
like, please don't give that to somebody, right?
Like what's your phone number? Because the reality is, is that
we all get stuck and we all try to do things just right.
But we don't have to do things just right.
We don't have to be perfect. Sometimes it's important to just
(15:24):
get the work done. And it's really funny because
students will love on things that people put out there and
they're clearly not perfect. The cameras wiggle in and all
this other stuff's going on. And I'm like, look, those people
are not trying to be perfect. They're getting the information
out there. So do not put pressure on
(15:45):
yourself to be perfect. And then a lot of the stuff that
we see out there, this whole like drive to the like the
perfect family, the perfect life, whatever, it always seems
like they're going up in smoke. So I'm going to take my
imperfectly perfect and roll with that because I don't need
you to feel like you need to be perfect for me.
So you can also batch similar tech tasks.
(16:07):
So group related tasks together to streamline your workflow.
Example, spend one session researching botanical names for
several herbs, or in another session focus on writing safety
profiles. You're going to want to stay
flexible and avoid burnout. Life happens, so allow some
buffer time in your schedule. If a section feels overwhelming,
(16:27):
switch to a different task temporarily.
Sometimes things are overwhelming because it's
bringing up stuff in ourselves. It's bringing up feelings in
ourselves or we feel like if we get to this certain point, we
failed before and so we're goingto fail again.
We have a lot of students that come to us from like other
herbal schools or, or other they, you know, take another
(16:50):
kinds of classes and they stop because something happened in
their life at this certain point.
And so they worry about going past this.
They worry about, you know, lotsof people will find this and
lots of different things in their lives.
So switch to a different task temporarily change your focus,
you know, change the air in the room, celebrate the small wins
to stay motivated. You're going to also want to
(17:14):
schedule your time. So look, this is just a real
quick example of what you can do.
So week one to two planning and setup.
Define the scope and select yourfirst 10 herbs.
Research basic details, names, parts used in descriptions.
So that would the define the scope and select your 10 herbs
would be day one. Day 2 to 4.
(17:35):
Research basic details, names, parts, uses and descriptions.
Days five to seven, organize your findings into your chosen
format, spreadsheet, notebook, no cards anything like that.
Week 3 to 4, deep research and writing.
Dedicate one to two herbs per day, focusing on actions,
indications, and preparations, and then use time blocking or
(17:56):
Pomodoro for focused writing. Then you're going to want to, in
week 5 and 6, review and expand,edit and refine entries, begin
researching additional herbs or categories.
And then week 7 would be to consolidate and share and
finalize your format and then toshare with your peer or mentor
for feedback. So those are things that you can
do to help strategize and to getyour materia medica where you
(18:20):
want it to be. Now, there's all different kinds
of formats for materia medica, but no matter what you do, find
a way to back it up. So if that means you go to
Staples and you get them to photocopy your notebook, have
them photocopy your notebook. If that means that you are using
a cloud service to backup your data, use a cloud service to
(18:40):
backup your data. We have a lot of students that
go through our programs and like10 years later they will e-mail
me and be like, do you have all of the emails I sent you that
had attachments? Because we used to allow people
to send attachments and they because we did.
There was, this was before therewere online classrooms where you
could upload stuff, right? And I'm like, no, I'm not a good
(19:02):
backup for you. We purge, you know, a lot of
unnecessary mail. At some point we don't pay to
keep, you know, we would have 2627 years of e-mail backed up.
You know, that would be huge with everyone sending their
pictures and their files and stuff.
So make sure you find a way to back it up.
You can get things, you know, photocopied and you can even
(19:24):
keep a copy at a parent's house or a kids house.
Just like, hey, can I keep this notebook here?
So if something happens to your home, which we are seeing more
and more frequently, we have students who are like, I just
lost my full materia medica in aflood or the fires or, or
anything like that. I don't know what to do.
(19:44):
I have to start all over again and there's nothing I can do for
them. I feel really bad, but so I've
been just advising students to back everything up and whatever
format you want, just find a wayto back it up, make the
commitment to get it done. So what is your materia medica?
And I'm going to briefly go overmateria medicas because we do
have other lectures in our classrooms and even on the
(20:10):
podcast about materia medicas that you can listen to.
But anyways, a materia medica is.
Literally your plant file, right?
Materia Medica is a comprehensive collection of
information about medicinal plants, herbs, and other natural
remedies. We in western herbalism tend to
not use things like bone and hair, but those are in some
(20:34):
countries and so those may be indifferent materia medicas.
It serves as a reference guys for guide for herbalist and
natural health practitioners. An enthusiast to understand the
properties, uses and potential effects of different substances
used in herbal medicine. The term originates from the
Latin meaning materials of medicine.
(20:54):
A materia medica can be as simple, as complex, or as
needed, is often tailored to specific interests or practices
of the individual creating it. So it is really about you.
It's a dynamic document that involves new or gained
knowledge. Your materia medica will never
ever be the same as someone else's unless you literally copy
(21:15):
them. Right?
Because everybody looks at herbsdifferently and different
regions. So you can have one herb that's
used for digestive issues in onepart of the world, and in
another it's used for the nervous system, and that's its
primary use. I loved when we traveled a lot
when our children were little and we were living in Europe.
(21:37):
We would go to all these different places.
And I love just seeing like evenplaces that were 50 to 100 miles
apart on the map in their appetites and different kinds of
places that sold herbal medicine, that they were very
different remedies for the very much same herbs.
It was very, very cool just to see how regions embraced and had
(22:00):
a difference in a different way to look at herbal medicine.
So parts of your materia medica.So this is the basic structure
of a materia medica and it can vary, but it typically involves
the common name of the plant. So these are easily recognizable
names, for example, like chamomile, the botanical name,
(22:21):
which is the scientific name. You're going to want to have
that. Also, if it has more than one
common name, try to get in as many as possible.
That'll be helpful, especially if you are making a searchable
database. So a Word document or a
spreadsheet or something like that, you can search that and
(22:42):
it'll give you the different common name.
So if someone says I use such and such common name, you can go
and look up that variety of the common name.
There's lots of different herbs with very similar or the same
common name. So snake root is one that you
will see written in various different books around the world
(23:04):
and it is different plant in different regions or many plants
can have a similar common name. Then you're going to want to
have the botanical family and this will at times change as we
are learning more about geneticsand botany.
But basically the botanical nameand the family botanical, the
(23:29):
botanical name in the botanical family are pretty.
They're pretty solid. We've had just a few upsets in
the last few years. Description and identification
So plant description, size, shape, color, habitat, flowering
time. You're going to want high
quality images or illustrations.Parts Use The specific parts of
(23:51):
the plant use, such as leaves, flowers, fruits or seeds.
The constituents. These are the active compounds
like flavonoids, alkaloids and tannins.
The energetics based on a traditional system like Ayurveda
or traditional Chinese medicine EG like warming, cooling, dryer,
moist different actions, the therapeutic properties, the
(24:12):
anti-inflammatory, diuretic and nervings indications.
So conditions are symptoms that may help the that are may
address like chamomile for anxiety or digestive upset
preparations, how to use the herb teas, tinctures, infusions,
poultices, capsules, you, you know, can go on and on and on.
(24:33):
If you have a recipe, so say you're writing about chamomile
and you have this awesome chamomile recipe, put it in your
material medica. Don't make it something that
you're hunting and pecking and trying to find later, at a later
date. Just put it in your material
medica. If it has four or five different
herbs in it or two or three, whatever, put it in those too.
(24:55):
So if it's like chamomile nettleand something else, put it also
in the nettle section. Put it in the other thing
section. The important thing is, is that
you're going to want to be able to find these recipes when you
need them and then the recommended dosages for this
specific formulations. You're also going to want to
have safeties information and contraindications.
So your contraindications are important also in your materia
(25:21):
medica, if it's especially if it's digital, like, you know,
like have a link to the source where the contraindication is
within the file. If it's a digital file or you
know, cite your sources for this.
So you can go back and check things later or see if things
have changed or if the information has been updated.
So there's great databases out there like, and there's great
(25:44):
places to access different articles like the American
Botanical Council, the American Herbalist Guild has different,
you know, links to studies and things like that.
You can use the Cochrane database.
You can even use something like pub Med, even though those are
not always the best place. You can also check like Google
Scholar. That's a great way to get access
(26:06):
to studies or places to find studies from other countries
because other countries are alsostudying herbs too, and
following scientific protocols. You're going to want to write
down any interactions or precautions or notes from
(26:26):
clients who use something so youknow that so and so had this
reaction and they didn't like it.
For whatever reason. Any reaction someone has they
don't like and they report to you.
Try to make a note of that because you're going to see
maybe certain people with this issue have this reaction or
(26:48):
interaction, but people who don't have the issue have no
problems. And so you can start to even
make your personal notes and observations in your own case
studies. And this is an important way to
have valuable insight to your herbal practice and the clients
that you are serving. So then there's ways to collect
(27:11):
and organize data for your material medica.
So we talked about how to set aside time and get started.
We talked about what a material Medica was.
Now we're going to talk about ways to collect and organize the
data for your material Medica. So there's so many ways to do
this. And really you're going to want
to do one that you're going to want to do consistently.
(27:32):
Consistently, Sorry, the method you choose will depend on your
personal preferences, access to technology, and the depth of
information you wish to document.
OK, so don't feel like you need to write a book for each one.
So you can use no cards. You can use physical or digital
ones, index cards or apps like Trello.
(27:53):
Each card focuses on one herb with sections for all parts of
the material. Medica.
They're easy to range, carry andhave her field work.
Now you can carry them with you in like a coupon, what do they
call the coupon accordion? Or you can use something like a
(28:14):
photo album that has postcard sheets and so you can slide in
like 6 postcards or 4 postcards per sheet.
You can also use something like a spreadsheet, so Excel or
Google Sheets. You can use columns for the
different parts of your materia medica.
This will allow for easy sorting, filtering and comparing
(28:35):
between herbs. And you can also search your
spreadsheet. You can also use a Word document
and just put them all in a Word document, one page or two page
per herb. And then you can paste in or
import you know the photos into that.
You can also so you can use platforms like were Google Docs
(29:01):
or word. You can also use blog post even
you can, so you can even have blog post that no one can see
and it's just for your materia medica, just for you to access
it. You can use journals and
notebooks. So this is a very tactile and
(29:21):
traditional approach. You can, you know, paste in
pictures or plant pressings. You can dedicate a page or
section to each herb. It's ideal for people who enjoy
writing and drawing. You can also use blog posts and
I just mentioned that with the digital, but basically when you
(29:43):
do a digital document, you can also include images, links, and
multimedia elements, herbal appsand databases.
So you can use apps like Evernote or specialized
herbalist tools to keep your data 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 to
(30:05):
update into export. So that may be something that
may be good on the go, but it may not be a good long term
solution. And you may not be able to keep
them for free. So it may be something where
you're going to pay every month or every year to keep it.
And then if you let that lapse, you may lose all your
(30:27):
information. You can also use binders, like a
three ring binder with printed sheets for each herb, organized
with dividers with different categories.
So however you want to categorize your herbs by body
system, by plant type, that's upto you.
You can also do illustrated scrapbooks.
We have a lot of students that are super creative and they like
(30:47):
paint and they do pressed plant samples and sketches and
botanical illustrations and they're so beautiful.
And that is where I wanna go oneday.
I don't have time right now, butI do love looking at them.
And I think anyone who can do that is just, I'm just so
impressed. So how to gather data for your
materia medica? So you're going to want to have
(31:09):
your primary research. And so this is going to be your
field work, your observations, you seeing the natural habitat,
your notes on growth patterns, preferred conditions and
personal observations, your preparation testing.
So your formulations, your, you know, your documented effects.
You're going to want to have that as your primary research
(31:31):
is, is what you personally can observe or talk about.
Then you're going to want your secondary and this is your more
academic aspect. So you're going to want to use
your trusted herbal textbooks. You know, there's a lot of great
ones out there like the Herbal Medicine Makers Handbook by
James Green. I've written some books.
(31:54):
Then there's like books from authors like Rosemary Gladstar,
David Hoffman, Christopher Hobbs.
I mean, you can just go on and on, David Winston, use peer
reviewed scientific journals fordetailed studies on active
components and efficacy. And if you have your document
digital, you can also have linksin there or you can cite your
(32:14):
sources. You're going to want to also
look at collaborative learning environments.
So courses are a great way to learn with a group or to get
feedback about different things.And you can also talk to other
experienced herbalist. And you will want to also maybe
talk to people in your communitythat have traditional knowledge.
(32:38):
So this is an overview of collection and data and
formatting and strategies to make your materia medica the
best that it possibly can be. Thank you for listening and have
a wonderful, wonderful day.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.