Living Medicine
An Introduction to SELF CARE with FOOD & HERBS in Edinburgh on Saturdays from 13.00pm till 16.00pm.
Living medicine is a 5-part course, can be taken as a whole course or as individual modules.
Self Care Basics on 22nd February 2025
Living Medicine shows how we can feel better, manage long-term conditions and treat minor ailments with foods, herbs and simple lifestyle changes.
Self care basics is designed to help you assess your own health, provide a basic understanding of common ailments and give you the confidence to use a self-care knowledge kit of food and herbal remedies. Discovering the wonderful ways plants support our bodies reveals a new world in which we are part of, and can work with. Understanding how to use food remedies gives us control and helps us feel good. Self care is about promoting health and treating simple everyday conditions.
Coughs, Cold & Allergies on 22nd March 2025
Coughs, colds and allergies are responses by our respiratory system to infections or irritants.
Most of the time we live in harmony with viruses and bacteria. Beneficial bacteria (flora) protect us from infections by creating acid conditions in the lungs as well as the skin, gut and vagina. If supported, our immune systems are beautifully designed to engulf and digest harmful microbes. Knowing how to improve our defences can help us handle infections which tend to thrive and overwhelm us in cold, damp or other stressful conditions.
Digestive Discomfort on 3rd May 2025
The digestive system is seen as fundamental to our overall health in most traditional medicine systems.
Digestion has a strong influence on our nervous, hormonal and immune systems. The role of foods is now increasingly recognised in conditions not previously associated with diet: auto-immune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis; mood and behaviour problems such as autism, ADHD and depression; degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and arthritis; allergic conditions including asthma and eczema. Inflammation underlies these and most chronic diseases like obesity, heart disease and cancer. We can modify these destructive inflammatory responses by the kinds of food we eat and how we eat them. Common problems like heartburn, indigestion and constipation can be managed with understanding how to use foods, herbs and spices in self care.
Sleep, Anxiety, Fatigue on 17th May 2025
Sleeping difficulties, headaches, anxiety and fatigue have many causes.
The main systems involved are the brain, spinal cord and nerves (nervous system), the adrenal glands (small hormonal glands above each kidney) and the digestive system (abundant in nerve cells). They are all interconnected, so a change in one system can affect the others. In the short term, our bodies respond to stimuli, adapt and then return to normal. However, if the stressor is relentless, the harmonious rhythms within our body go into overdrive until it becomes exhausted of energy to adapt and repair. Understanding these rhythms can help us notice when the body needs support and to choose how to reduce the energy costs. Stress may manifest itself differently in each of us, but the basics of self-care are similar in each case.
Skin & First Aid on 14th June 2025
The skin is the body’s largest organ with multiple nerve endings to protect us. We will explore how to nourish its many functions with foods and herbs.
This practical session will cover how to address common problems such as eczema, cold sores, insect bites and acne, and which herbs are specific for viral, fungal or bacterial infections. We will look at these herbs, smell and taste them and together turn them into useful remedies. We will make an infused oil, ointment, cream and lotion as part of a first aid kit.
​Tickets are £55 per module payable on booking. If you plan to attend all 5 modules, a discount of £25 (£250 instead of £275) is offered. At the end of each session you will go home with a remedy you have made during the workshop.
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