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Sensory Herbalism
The Herbal Apiary Project

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School of Natural Fertility
Sensory Herbalism
The Herbal Apiary Project

Hayley Anderson – 07929639569 – hello@pellarandpollen.com

Fertility Empowerment & Menstrual Awareness Teacher | Sensory Herbalist | Regenerative Horticulturist

Sometimes my insta feed might look like I’m ‘h

Sometimes my insta feed might look like I’m ‘herb-ing’ all the time. This truth is that most of my time is consumed with the unrelenting fullness of mothering ~ often with joy & sometimes with overwhelm & frustration ~ or more accurately, all of it at once.

Right now I find myself letting go of a lot & choosing to become consumed by motherhood afresh ~ to celebrate that 1st & always, I am Mother. Not feeling pressure to be or do anything more than Mother (I’m aware this is a massive privilege). Knowing that the Mother in me is beautiful & strong & has so much to bring in simply being here. Sometimes Mother is all I am & all I want to be. Sometimes I crave & long for so much more. It’s a dance.

This re-appreciation of the Mother in me comes as I celebrate 18 months of breastfeeding which aligns with breastfeeding awareness week. I thought I’d share a fun/weird/important calculation I did while ‘anchored’ (sounds nicer than trapped) in a contact nap ...

I worked out that during the last 18 months, I have breastfed around 7500-8000 times. I have clocked 2500-3000 hours (or 104-125 days) of breast time & produced around 5000 pints of milk!

Then I worked out that if I‘d have been paid a living wage for this time, I‘d have earned £28,500. Then I saw a meme that breastfeeding uses 25% of your energy, while the brain uses 20%, so maybe I should add another 5% to my imaginary salary. & maybe an extra 10% because half of the work is done during the night shift. & would the extra calories you have to eat be considered expenses? Anyway, you get the point. I’m dreaming the matriarchy again. & the ability to nourish & comfort my beautiful baby is priceless ❤️

What I really want to say is well done me for breastfeeding & well done you if you are or have breastfed. I want to acknowledge the work, persistence & commitment it takes ~ especially when it gets exhausting, hard & maybe painful. I see all the love & comfort given & all the feelings that get triggered in it all. & the huge effort it takes to continue to breastfeed alongside any sort of work or childcare set up 💕 Breastfeeding is truly amazing & I‘m honoured to have been able to do it for this long 💕

. A v e n a S a t i v a ~ O a t s N e r v o u s

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A v e n a S a t i v a ~ O a t s

N e r v o u s S y s t e m
C a l m . N o u r i s h . P r o t e c t

Much of the shift I experienced in becoming a mother has been at a nervous system level. Motherhood propelled me into a 24/7 embodied learning of my automatic nervous system responses & how these dictate my interactions with the world around me ... including how I am with my daughter.

Mothering (& simply living amongst the stimulation of everyday life) offers a constant invitation to tend to & re-condition our beautiful wise nervous systems. The role of our nervous system is to keep us safe & well every minute of everyday ~ it’s a very very wise compass indeed. & at the nervous system level, mothers carry the extra load of needing to keep their children safe & well ... & doing that alone everyday, like many of us do, is a lot for the nerves.

Oats are a truly brilliant daily ally for their deeply nourishing, calming & protective gifts for the nerves. I consider Oats essential for anyone mothering outside of the ‘village nervous system’ that would share the responsibility of keeping the children safe & well. This is why I always try to start my day with oats in some form ~ do not underestimate porridge! & I then also turn to a tincture of oats sporadically throughout my week. Oats are part of my village.

This video is this year’s beautiful harvest of Oats from the herbal apiary garden ~ the garden is also part of my village. A tincture is now maturing in the cupboard ~ infusing in nourishing creamy oat magic!

A full moon weekend of feelings, very little sleep

A full moon weekend of feelings, very little sleep (anyone else’s children not sleep over full moon??), Mugwort & bundle making. Feeling grateful for Mugwort today 🌿

Precious shiny Milk thistle seeds

Precious shiny Milk thistle seeds

It is time for the making of Mugwort aromatic smok

It is time for the making of Mugwort aromatic smoke bundles & this year I’m offering them to you too.

As Mugwort’s medicine responds to a ritual container, I gather her for medicinal smoke with purpose with the same moon each year. This year I will meet her in her magic with the coming full moon on Saturday.

Mugwort is our native, culturally appropriate smoke herb which I bundle up alongside aromatic herbs from the herbal apiary. This year’s blend will be lavender & rosemary.

Mugwort is a dream keeper, hedgerow midwife & womb tender. She can be a guide for cyclical wisdom & labyrinth-like situations supporting the containment of ritual, receptivity & exploratory practices.

I inhaled Mugwort smoke during labour (but be aware it is contraindicated with pregnancy) & use it in ritual & to become more receptive to the wild ones on the land. She brings a gentle perception shift & a gate to the unseen. I recommend working with her with intention because whenever you call on a gatekeeper, you also summon a gateway!

We may enter through Mugwort’s gate for:

~ supporting a (re)birth space: physical or symbolic

~ creative insight & visions beyond the linear mind

~ cleansing & marking ritual space, ceremony or circle

~ dreamwork

~ the descent of menstruation

~ self initiatory work to consciously enter the labyrinth

~ receptivity

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As I make the bundles, I speak intention into each tie so you have any words/a feeling you’d like infused into one let me know.

I make them in 3 sizes:
S ~ inside single use £4
M ~ inside use £7
L ~ outside use £10

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• Please invite those using smoke/smudge in their work to consider native herbs over imported ones that are deeply sacred to others. (Smudge is a word I’m using for clarity with the awareness of its roots in practices not native to Celtic lands.) Inhaling smoke from herbs gathered around us is an instant way to connect to place so lets stick to our place.

• I live in an area with many people wild harvesting so I choose to gather Mugwort from the thriving plant communities I have nurtured from seed in the herbal apiary.

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