68. A Vision for Plant Connection, Healing and Learning: Elder Tree founder Twiggy Dawn on Self Care with Herbs

The Elder Tree Podcast

Twiggy Dawn is a Mother, Herbalist, Permaculturalist, Educator and founder of the Elder Tree. Folks if you want to hear all about the vision for the Elder Tree from our founder, this episode is for you! Twiggy is passionate about growing, harvesting and making medicines and also has a keen interest in wil & naturalised medicines. She loves connecting people to the plants and also to their own ancestral roots. She has been entranced by plant medicine for as long as she can remember, forming an early interest in witchcraft and fairy lore and making potions from plant material as a child. She honours the plants as teachers with deep reverence and respect. During our chat, Twiggy shares how her experiences working with suboptimal herbal materials and feeling frustrated with offering only surface level herbal symptom relief to customers, inspired her to birth her business Alchemilla Herbals where she has really stepped into a teaching role through her many workshops which help to activate the home herbalist in participants. During a transformative experience at Pindara farm in Tasmania after the birth of her daughter where she helped grow, harvest and make herbal medicines, Twiggy shares how her dream for a space for healing and learning with plant medicine began to solidify into her vision for the Elder Tree. It’s really lovely to hear Twiggy speak passionately of her vision for the Elder Tree and as this episode was recorded towards the beginning of our podcast journey, this vision is now beginning to become a reality… Chatting about self care, Twiggy shares the pillars of health that encapsulate what self care means to her and how it’s really important for her to start her day mindfully, rather than jumping straight in… She speaks about balancing her time and allowing herself enough time in the outdoors amongst nature and her plant friends, engaging all her senses- smelling, tasting and listening to the plants. Twiggy takes us on a little journey amongst her plant friends, sharing how when she connects with a long term ally, Motherwort, all her senses are awakened… Towards the end of our chat, Twiggy shares some beautifully accessible ways for us to invite herbs into our daily rituals, using simple techniques and ingredients and finding ways to connect with the plant allies that grow around us… **CONNECT** Alchemilla Herbalshttps://www.alchemillaherbals.com.au/ ** Find out about Twiggy's new online course 'Meandering Medicine' to learn about herbs in a deep, gentle, explorative way here https://www.alchemillaherbals.com.au/meanderingmedicine Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alchemillaherbals/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/AlchemillaHerbals/ **SHOW NOTES** How do I use herbs in my daily life? Isabell Shippard **THE ELDER TREE TROVE PATREON COMMUNITY** You can join our Patreon ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ and gain a deeper connection to our podcast. Pay only $2 per week to have access to bonus and often exclusive resources and opportunities- plus support the Elder tree at the same time! To find out more about The Elder Tree visit the website at ⁠www.theeldertree.org⁠ and donate to the crowdfunding campaign ⁠here⁠. You can also follow The Elder Tree on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠sign up to the newsletter⁠. Find out more about this podcast and the presenters ⁠here⁠. Get in touch with The Elder Tree at: ⁠[e-mail]⁠ The intro and outro song is "⁠Sing for the Earth⁠" and was kindly donated by Chad Wilkins. You can find Chad's music ⁠here⁠ and ⁠here⁠.