I’m often asked which herbs I take. And my answer is that I am largely intuitive about my herb taking. Despite saying that for years, I’ve never really covered HOW I am intuitive…until now.
I do this to share with you but also to become more conscious of what I’m doing so that I can improve my methods even further.
This is not the end-all, be-all of the subject but instead, the aim is to point you in the right direction. Intuition is a personal thing.
Besides, which type of intuition are we talking about? Is it the countless hours of experience so that from the body emerges an answer that you’re not consciously thinking of? Or is it intuition that comes from some outside source? I believe there are both types available, and the tips here may be helpful in one or the other or both.
Have Lots of Options Available
Obviously, having a wide selection of herbs makes being intuitive about their use easier to do. I suppose this could be done with two options, should I take this or that? I suppose it could even be done with one option, should I take this right now or not?
But having more options available just makes it work better. As you might imagine I have TONS of herbs available. Everything from Lost Empire Herbs but also various other suppliers and many herbal tinctures I’ve made myself. In fact, a case could be made that I have too many available!
Oh well, that’s a good problem to have, if indeed it is a problem.
Tinctures vs. Powders vs. Capsules vs. Teas
Personally, I like tinctures most because of their ease of use. Grab a bottle, take a dropper and you’re done. So most of my intuitive use has to do with the tinctures.
That being said, when I am making a drink I’ll do the same thing with mixing and matching powders. Here I’ll often include things not because of intuition but in order to make it taste better (like Goji Berry, Sea Buckthorn Berry, Elderberry, Beet Juice Powder, etc.). The same process could be said of making any teas.
I don’t take capsules all that much but the process would be the same as well.
Know The Herbs Effects, Subtle and Gross
Last week, I detailed which herbs have the most immediate effects and which have effects I can’t notice. Read that article here.
To be intuitive it is best to have this be body knowledge, not just intellectual ideas about what the herbs do. This better allows your body to signal you as to what is desired at the moment. But you have to start somewhere. Engaging in this process serves as feedback which will help it develop further over time.
Foundational Herbs
I am MOSTLY intuitive with my herb use. But I do have a foundation that I take pretty much daily. This includes He Shou Wu, Chaga, and Cistanche which I add to my coffee each morning. (I drink coffee five days a week then take two days off as I feel this keeps me unaddicted to this powerful substance. On those off days, I’ll often make a faux-coffee drink using Dandy Blend and more in which I still use these herbs.)
These are really the only herbs I take regularly. Most of my other herb use is tinctures and occasional powdered herb drinks all done intuitively unless I’m conducting a specific experiment.
That being said, occasionally I tweak this foundation, which may be brought on by intuition.
Practicing Awareness
Intuition is mostly about awareness. As such ANY means of increasing your awareness can be useful in developing such intuition. Here is a partial list of activities that may help:
- Meditation
- Hypnosis
- Energy Work
- Tai Chi
- Qi Gong
- Applied Kinesiology
- Strength Training with Biofeedback
- Journaling
This is not an exhaustive list. There are a couple of others with special notes I’ll mention below. On the same note, simply aiming to feel the effects of herbs also builds your awareness too.
Relationships with the Herbs
Yes, you certainly develop a relationship, in a sense, by regularly consuming the herbs. And even better, if possible, it is good to work with the living plant or another being. In my book, Powered By Nature I detail a heart perception-based method of “talking to plants.” If you can do this, it is not only awareness-based training but will help to develop and deepen such a relationship.
Psychedelic Use
This path is not recommended for everyone. It’s also illegal in many places so make sure to check applicable laws. That all being said various psychedelics are shown to open sensory gating channels. That means that they allow your senses to take in additional information. With micro, macro or heroic dosing this can allow you to understand better what herbs are doing in your body.
I’ll give you a specific example. Recently at an event, a friend was on psilocybin mushrooms. I gave him some tinctures and they blew his mind. When in that state, taking an herb can cause a dramatic state shift. The next day, when he was back to “normal,” he asked to try the tinctures again. Not nearly the impact. But from this experience, I could tell he was quite a bit more interested in the herbs than before.
Setting Intention
There are various ways you could do this. But as an example, you could silently or out loud say, “I need the energy to get through the next few hours of work. What should I take?” Getting clear on what you consciously want may help the signals that emerge intuitively to come through. After setting an intention or asking a question pay attention to any feelings in your body.
Intuition for Dose
Using your intuition is not limited to simply choosing which herbs to use. You can use all of the above to clue you in on the dose to use whether less or more than is normally recommended.
Once again, this was not meant to give you everything you need to know about being intuitive with herb usage. But these points listed should be enough to get started.
Got methods you use for intuitive herb taking?
Share them below.
Got any questions on what is listed here?
Ask away in the comments.
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Lost Empire Herbs
My method is simple and only involved 2 steps. First, I constantly study herbs and health in general. Second, I meditate occasionally on my health and ask my body to only desire those things which will help me maintain/reach that state. I use this method with every aspect of my life which I consider important. Hope this helps someone out there.
That’s a great and simple method. Thanks for sharing.