When I first entered my natural health era, I remember feeling overwhelmed. I mean, who wouldn’t, especially with an estimated two to three thousand medicinal herbs (1)? I recall seasoned herbalists explaining their favorite herbs but never really explaining why. Then, because I was following dozens of herbalists, it didn’t take long to realize each person had their own go-to herbs, which were almost always different than the last and even more difficult to source.

I couldn’t afford five different herbs to make one herbal extract. I also wasn’t going to use enough in my small family to justify buying a pound of each herb – it would surely go to waste. So, I decided to focus on one ailment at a time. My top concern was lung-health following my family’s symptoms of long-covid.

I searched online for recipes and asked several herbalists for help/assistance. They always tried to sell me something instead of helping me educate myself. With so many variables and little understanding, I asked about formulations and why certain ingredients were used.

That’s when I discovered some self-proclaimed herbalists I was following had no factual information to back their claims. Some claimed herbs were safe during pregnancy when certified herbalists said otherwise. Others claimed you shouldn’t make oil infusions with dried herbs but only fresh plant material. One even claimed vinegar-based tinctures don’t extract medicinal purposes, despite a top-selling herbal resource, the Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine, stating they did.

There was so much conflicting information. Enough was enough. I knew I needed more information before diving in. This lead me down a path of self-discovery at my own pace. That’s when I started researching independently, leading all the herbal information on my website.

Of course, there’s only so much we can learn from reading before we must work hands-on. So, when I learned about mullein and decided to make a homemade mullein tincture for my family, I also started doing the herbal exercises I’m about to teach you.

How to Practice Herbal Exercises

Think about our five senses: sight, touch, smell, taste, and sound. Although we can’t quite hear an herb, we can incorporate the other four senses as we get to know them. When we are using our senses, it is a form of stimulation that’s stored in the body and associated with memory for the future (2). This is why certain smells can bring back childhood memories we had forgotten about. The goal is to make a memory for learning purposes, which could help us become familiar with herbs and better identify them in the wild.

With that said, look at the herb. What does it look like? What color is it? Does it remind you of something else you’ve seen before?

Now, touch the herb. Is it fresh or dried? What does it feel like? Is it soft or hard? Is it fluffy or dense? If you squeeze it between your fingers, does anything come out?

Don’t forget to smell the herb. Is it sweet or spicy? Maybe it’s earthy. Do you like the smell? Does the smell remind you of anything?

Finally, if the herb is safe for ingestion, taste it. Is it sweet or bitter? Maybe it’s spicy. Does it taste familiar, or is it a new flavor?

I like to practice these exercises whenever I work with a new herb. I find it helpful to write down my answers. This helps me track the herbs I’ve worked with and have an offline database of my apothecary’s inventory.

How to Get a Free Printable Herbal Worksheet

Of course, writing down my answers in a notebook was simple. However, it was also quite unorganized. That’s when I decided to make a printable herbal worksheet, which can be accessed for free by subscribing to my email list, The Holistic Hipppie Spotlight. An option to subscribe to my email list is available at the end of every article/post, or you can subscribe here. Please be sure to check your junk folder when confirming your subscription. You will not receive your free printable herbal worksheet or bi-weekly, printer-friendly educational resources until you have confirmed your subscription.

After each exercise, I recommend punching holes in the herbal worksheet and adding it to a 3-ring binder. This will help you organize and easily reflect and look back on each herb as you broaden your knowledge. I also added an option to check off if the herb is toxic, edible, or a protected/endangered species. Remember, some herbs are only toxic when consumed, so be sure to check off all applicable options. Other things to consider jotting down are how you feel after taking the herb 15 minutes to an hour later and what benefits or side effects you experience.

Remember, we must learn about the herbs in our apothecary at our own speed. Doing these exercises with herbs in their raw and cooked forms is important to allow us to know what we are working with at each stage. Understanding how herbs work and how they make us feel is crucial because we’re all unique and may have different experiences. These exercises help us learn how each herb’s medicinal benefits work so we know how each one impacts us and what to grab when needed.

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