Sally’s Journey

Hi, my name is Sally. I am from a place known as “the long white cloud” Aotearoa or, New Zealand.
I have always been aware that food has the capability of being our medicine and found that Herbal Medicine with its time-honoured traditions gave me the perfect vehicle to pursue this with.
As a young person I was the girl that had her own personal kit of essential oils, teas, lotions and potions. My kit would come out whenever friends or family were sick or ailing.
This grew even more once my daughter was born, out of wanting to keep her environment as natural and healthy as possible. Choosing cloth nappies over disposable, breast milk over formula and home-made food or organic over store bought to name some examples.
I started on a night class leaning about herbs and how to introduce them into your everyday life. It was here that I was introduced to the beauty and strength that Herbal Medicine has offered since time began, and I was hooked, shortly after I enrolled in a fulltime Diploma to become a Medical Herbalist.
The diploma covered: chemistry, anatomy and physiology, nutrition, botany, Materia Medica (the study of herbs), herbal therapeutics, pharmacology, Bach remedies, manufacturing, drug/herb interactions, differential diagnosis, iridology, aromatherapy and more.
Whilst studying I also worked part time at the Herbal College and the Herbal Shop which upon graduation turned into fulltime employment both in retail and my own clinical practice.
The “shop floor” added to my knowledge in the changing diets and the need for a healthy digestive system that was to be achieved through healthy eating, supplements and herbal medicine. It was my clinic that proved this and to never underestimate the power of your food to make you better, or the opposite -to add to poor health.
Also, I discovered that not all herbs and supplements were of the same quality. I have come to believe that if it is good for the planet, then it’s great for the humans that inhabit it.
In the pages that follow are my personal favourites.