Of Forest & Human

Chantal Blake is a Holistic Menstrual Health Educator and Author, with a professional background in Nursing, Environmental Engineering, and Peristeam Hydrotherapy.  She weaves the fields of medicine, environmentalism, and holistic self-care into fascinating and practical instruction for women of all ages.  In this interview we discuss the power of recognizing other culture's menstrual practices as well as storytelling to release the shame + embarrassment that is commonly found around the topic of menstruating. We talk about holding ceremony for the girls and women in your life who are bleeding, how to begin the topic of discussion with your own daughter and how to slow down and sync your cycle with your life. Chantal enlightens us with her own womb story and how vaginal steaming changed her life. Books mentioned in this episode are: Women Code and In The Flo by Alisa Vitta Chantal mentions the Steamy Chick Institute, where she got her peristeaming certification. Please find Chantal's work, Honored Womb, through her website: https://honoredwomb.com or on Instagram @honoredwomb Pre-Order her book today: https://honoredwomb.com/pre-order-book

There is so much wisdom in ancestral ways of healing trauma, hormone imbalance, cysts and more with the art of vaginal steaming. We talk with Ayurvedic Practitioner and Womb Steaming Consultant, Sabrina of Ummul Herbals, on her family's rich history with herbalism, her own personal relationship with plants, how she was able to heal from a difficult postpartum and excruciating menstrual cycles, why she's drawn to serving postpartum women and how she is expanding her business even further with trauma healing.   Sabrina mentions a few resources that helped guide her down her path: the book, Moon Time by Lucy H. Pearce and her dedicated teachers Kami McBride and Keli Garza. You can take Kami McBride’s Healing Herbal Oils course through Sabrina’s affiliate link here. This is a phenomenal course that I cannot recommend enough!! I have personally taken it and have learned so much. If you are an herbal oil creator, I truly think this will take your practice + relationship with herbalism much deeper.  You can also use this link to become a vaginal womb steaming practitioner through Keli Garza’s class. This was life changing for Sabrina and she goes into depth in it in this episode.  And last but certainly not least, visit Sabrina’s incredible creations through her website. You can browse her offerings and 1:1 sessions. Sabrina’s products are potent beyond belief, gentle, healing and filled with so much love and prayer and intention. You can also follow her on Instagram at @sabrina.womb where she shares beautifully colored herbal photography along with heart-created Reels that educate and encourage women. She is truly such a gift.   **edit: there is a small part of the podcast where it cuts out for a few seconds due to the snowstorm I was getting on the mountain. Thank you for understanding!!

Happy New Year! I dive deep into this episode about adult + child behaviors I’ve witnessed over the past few months, our society’s extreme addiction to distraction of the present moment and the psychology of what is actually happening every time we get on social media (and use our GPS 👀). I talk about how to set healthy boundaries between phone world and physical world, how to initiate genuine connection in your communities and most importantly: how to implement the art of nothingness in your family.

With a childhood similar to yours and nearly a decade of busy city life living pay check to pay check, Maggie + her husband boldly decided to follow their passions and bought a house + land in the isolated mountains of Colorado. They now have a thriving business, incredible client relations, are working towards having a homestead and do what they love every single day…..and in their 20’s! Everything is achievable. We discuss challenges that arose, learning curves and more in this episode about how to live the life you deserve to live. We also dive into how to stand out to clients as a small business owner and relational techniques. You can check out more of their work here: Maggie + Adam’s printing business, Atmos Printing- https://www.atmosprinting.com Maggie’s Woodworking Shop, Wild With Nature- https://wildwithnature.myshopify.com For day to day adventures, you can follow Maggie on Instagram @_wildwithnature_

This episode is for parents of infants or toddlers. In a culture that undermines children, let's be the ones to guide them with trust, respect and empathy. Topics we discuss: Why the "cry-it-out" method is not what you think.  What is *actually* considered normal and healthy baby sleep. Answering every cry & it's importance. How letting go of control allows room for trust. Speaking to your toddler with integrity. The importance of responsibility. Over-praising toddlers, speaking down to them. We are here to guide children, not to punish them. The difference between punishment & discipline. How to handle difficult transitions + routines. We are not executing optimal parenting, we are making it too hard on ourselves.  How to respond to difficult meltdowns. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/moral-landscapes/201112/dangers-crying-it-out https://www.bellybelly.com.au/baby-sleep/cry-it-out/ Hunt, Gather, Parent; Dr. Michaeleen Doucleff The Awakened Family; Dr. Shefali Tsabury  Janet Lansbury Podcast- Respectful Parenting

Join me as I venture back to my childhood days of speaking to trees and listen to how the plants never left my side even through poverty, postpartum depression, cancer and birth. My business has manifested into what it is after much trial and error. My biggest mistake was believing the herbs were here for me and creating products out of herbs that I did not have authentic relationship with. My biggest take-away from all said experiences was that herbs are living things that reciprocate relationship. I talk about this more in this episode.  Things I mention:  How trees speak + communicate/ mother trees- look up anything by Suzanne Simard Herbal Academy Of Forest & Human Website + Offerings My Patron  Follow me on Instagram: @of.forestandhuman