The Plant Path

with Sajah & Whitney Popham, founders of The School of Evolutionary Herbalism. Herbalist, Spagyricist, Medical Astrologer•www.evolutionaryherbalism.com

Health & Fitness

Alternative Health

Medicine

The Plant Path is a window into the world of the herbal medicine. With perspectives gleaned from traditional western herbalism, Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, Alchemy, Medical Astrology, and traditional cultures from around the world, The Plant Path provides unique insights, skills and strategies for the practice of true holistic herbalism. From clinical to spiritual perspectives, we don't just focus on what herbs are "good for," but rather who they are as intelligent beings, and how we can work with them to heal and consciously evolve.

Last refreshed: July 2nd, 2025 at 7:23 AM ⓘ

Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.

Follow on

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

RSS

Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app

Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

The Herbal Detox Myth

Detoxification felt like a big fad for a while, where like everyone was cleansing and detoxing and trying to purge a lot of things that shouldn't be in the body out of the body. And they turn to herbal medicines in order to assist in that process. While it’s great that folks are considering their health and wanting to make sure that their bodies are pure and clean and functioning properly, we do run into some issues with detoxification. So this is an important topic to discuss. ———————————— CONN...

Aug 26, 2021•19 min

The Importance of Moistening Plants

Most herbs tend to be drying in nature. They're bitter or they're warming or they're astringent. The dynamic of dryness in terms of the state of our tissues or the state of someone's constitution is common. We live in a culture that is common for people to have an underlying state of dryness. So I tell my students that it's best to learn and know and memorize and integrate all the herbs that are typically moistening, and especially what organ systems they are moistening for. After that, you can ...

Aug 18, 2021•36 min

Terrain vs. Germ Theory

Why do we get sick? When we're speaking about getting sick from some sort of pathogen, do we get sick because there are pathogenic germs that get into our body and make us sick, or do we get sick because of the terrain of the body, the ecosystem of the body, that is creating an environment that is then hospitable to those germs? It's almost a “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” kind of question. ———————————— CONNECT WITH SAJAH AND WHITNEY ———————————— To get free in depth mini-courses an...

Aug 10, 2021•11 min

Addicted to Bitters

Bitters are a common category of herbal medicine that are universally used to support digestion. While bitters are amazing and incredible in all the many ways in which they support the digestive system, they're not always the most appropriate type of remedy for people to use. In our modern world where it seems like almost everyone has a digestive symptom of some sort, bitters are becoming significantly more and more popular and are commonly used by lay folk who aren't herbalists. There is some d...

Aug 04, 2021•11 min

Willow Bark vs. Aspirin

It's common for folks to think about willow as an alternative to aspirin. Most people know that willow bark also contains salicylic acid, which is the main compound in aspirin. But if we think of willow just as an herbal form of aspirin, it can oftentimes lead to misuse of this plant, which can lead to possible adverse side effects if you give it to the wrong person. But I also think that, contrary to popular belief, there are times where aspirin has its place. I have been adopting a little bit ...

Jul 22, 2021•21 min

Interview with Kami McBride

Herbal oil applied to the skin is an excellent form of self-care. Oils provide several benefits: there’s the healing from the medicinal constituents of the herb, the affirmation that we’re taking care of ourselves, and the self-healing power of physical touch. We need to overcome the incorrect notion that infused oils are for skincare or to look pretty or to take away wrinkles. We do need to keep in mind that when we use oils, we’re absorbing things into our skin. That’s why herb-based oils are ...

Jul 13, 2021•56 min

Herbal Support for ADD and ADHD

Using plants to address ADD and ADHD can be beneficial for children on so many different levels, not just helping them navigate our standard educational model, which isn't always suitable to all learning types, but also helping to keep these kids off of some of these stronger medications that they're put on and some of the detrimental side effects that they can have, not to mention helping parents navigate some of this territory. ———————————— CONNECT WITH SAJAH AND WHITNEY ———————————— To get fr...

Jul 06, 2021•12 min

Eating for Your Constitution

As Ayurveda has become popular, interest in eating according to your constitutional type has grown. Over the last few years we've seen this dynamic of eating and tailoring your diet to specifically suit your unique dosha . And while I think there are some great aspects to that, I also think there are a few risks in terms of how we approach food, how we approach eating, the state of our mind, how we think about our food, and how sometimes we can turn food into a stressor. A few topics discussed i...

Jun 30, 2021•19 min

How to Learn the Unwritten Herbs

A student from Africa asked some questions about how to start to fit herbs into our Western model of understanding them when that information isn't readily available. In Africa, there are lots of local medicinal plants that you can't look up in your typical materia medica reference book. But if you are studying Western herbalism, it's helpful to understand your plants in terms of their medicinal actions, their energetics, their organ system affinities, and so on. So where do you start? How do yo...

Jun 23, 2021•21 min

Truly Ethical Wildcrafting: Creating Reciprocity and Relationship with Wild Plants and Places featuring Rosalee de la Foret

On this week’s episode of The Plant Path, Whitney is joined by herbalist Rosalee de la Forêt. They have a discussion around wildcrafting practices; how to build relationships with the plants that grow around you by learning how to honorably harvest, tend, and care for land in your bioregion; how to work with the wild plants around you for food, medicine, and healing; and much more. ———————————— CONNECT WITH SAJAH AND WHITNEY ———————————— To get free in depth mini-courses and videos, visit our bl...

Jun 10, 2021•1 hr 17 min

← Prev

Hosted on Libsyn

For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android