Sharing my interview on Herbalism and Iridology!

A good friend of mine who is studying holistic healing modalities, and asked me to share a little bit about my practice with her! Here are 15 of her questions, and my answers on Herbalism, Iridology, and natural animal medicine practices!

Herbology 

First, as a note, in my practice, Herbology is acknowledged as the ‘study of herbs, plants, etc’, however putting that study to use is called Herbalism. Therefore I have studied Herbology as a part of what I do, but I am an Herbalist, which encompasses much more than just the study of plants. 

1. How long have you been doing this? I have been practicing as an Herbalist for 7 years. I will be a Clinical Herbalist (also sometimes referred to as a Master Herbalist, or Advanced Herbalist) by January of 2022.

2. What got you interested in this? Rather than exclusively see a general practitioner (physician), since my mother was pregnant with me, she saw a Master Herbalist, and so, literally since before I was born, the world of Herbalism has been ‘normal’ for me when addressing the balances of life and health.

3. How long do you have to study and where? This depends on where you live in the world, and what your goals are. For myself, I have always wanted to be a Clinical Herbalist, therefore my studies would be up to about 8 years in total. This varies by country though. You can be considered an ‘Herbalist’ by taking a short course, but your skills may be limited to personal Herbalism practice, or practice as a “Family Herbalist”, meaning that you practice for yourself and your own immediate family. These designations are not regulated, though there are Herbalist councils in many countries that will give you a ‘licence number’ to practice under, similar to other alternative practices (chiropractor, physio-therapist, naturopath, massage therapist, etc.)

4. Do you practice other healing methodologies? In my practice an an Herbalist, I focus on Iridology, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine, and more modern Western Herbalism. These all encompass the practice of Herbalism (see the above note regarding Herbalism vs. Herbology). One of the main aspects of my practice is the interest in the absorption of herbal remedies through my skincare products, Isola Herbals, where my key ingredient is sustainably harvested Pacific Coast macro-kelp (sea kelp), and its benefits on the body, skin and hair. 

5. What are the assessment tools you use to find imbalances? The practice of Herbalism can be a science, (for example, phytochemistry) but it can also be an ‘art’, as such is the case with Iridology. My physical tools only include a special magnifying glass to see the iris of the eye, along with a special light. For animals (horses and dogs), I might use a stethoscope as well. Otherwise my ‘tools’ are my eduction, my senses (for instance, the smell of a horse can tell me a lot about its glucose levels), and my own eyes, looking at the color and texture of a persons skin, hair, nails, and tongue. I also will ask a series of questions to help me understand if a persons imbalances are coming from the mind down into the body, or the body up into the mind.

6. What kind of treatment tools do you use to correct imbalances? The ‘tools’ for treatment are recommendations for lifestyle and health, such as food recommendations to enjoy and/or avoid, herbs to include and/or avoid, and exercise(s) to include and/or avoid. I also often refer clients to massage, acupuncture and physicians/veterinarians. I almost always recommend that clients (people, horses and dogs) include the consumption of sea kelp into their daily regimes!

7. What are the most common conditions you find yourself treating? Everyone is different, so while some discomforts may be similar, the root of the individuals discomfort/imbalance is rarely the same. That being said, in general, humans are not as intuitive as animals with regards to transitioning from season to season, and imbalances can arise easily during seasonal transitions.

8. Are there any contraindications to medical/veterinary treatments/medications? Yes! Plenty. These are the reasons why it is important to choose your Herbal Practitioner carefully. There are many herbs that interact with pharmaceuticals, and on top of these potential interactions, there are many herbs that should not be taken or administered to your animal during a certain season. Self-prescribing herbs and/or administering herbs to your animal without consulting an Herbalist can create unwanted imbalances.

9. What is your favorite success story? I consider all of my iridology consults successes, as I often find people to be skeptic of this art. But each time I am able to identify an imbalance from the past or the present which opens up a discussion where we can begin to work together to correct that imbalance. I do love working with horses in particular, as they are very communicative when I have identified a source of their discomfort. Their intuition often prompts them to be very affectionate and very grateful when I have begun to speak to their owner about their health. It’s a wonderful feeling.

10. How might you think this modality might be applied to horses & other animals?  Horses and dogs have irises so similar to humans that they can be read easily by a trained Iridologist. They are also similar to humans in that they can encounter imbalances based on emotions, and seasons. It is crucial that herbs are prescribed by a trained professional, even though many herbs are sold at pet stores. Horses dosages are usually less than those for dogs, and horses are exceptionally sensitive animals. Therefore a professional can prescribe safe dosages and identify the correct time frame to administer them. 

Cats are an entirely different thing, and I would be skeptical of a cat Iridologist without knowing their training and history. Other animals like birds and reptiles can respond to Herbalism, but they are not included in my practice out of personal preference.

11.What are the benefits of herbology? For Herbology, we have literally multiple millennia of history and practice of the uses of plants and their medicines. For Herbalism as a practice, we have even more history, and we have texts which are thousands of years old for administering and treating people with plants. In my opinion, while the regulated world of Western Medicine (the pharmaceutical industry, Physicians, Surgeons, etc) is undoubtably essential to mankind and animalkind, this has been in regulated practice for only about 150 years. Therefore the benefit of Herbalism is that we can combine it with Western Medicine to find a great balance of treatments to keep ourselves healthy and happy.

12. What other treatments are complimentary to herbology?  Perhaps my favourite is one that I am not skilled in, but in my opinion is one of the best assessment skills in the world, is that of pulse-reading by a trained professional in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Acupuncture.

13. Can you describe the process of selecting appropriate herbs for clients? While this process is different for every person, essentially once I have determined where we will begin to address their imbalances, I must ensure that it is the right season for the right energetics of the herbal formula that I am recommending. When I do virtual Iridology sessions, I rarely prescribe herbs, as I am unable to fully assess a person solely by iridology (I need to see their skin, their hair, the way that their pupils change in different lights, their tongue, and their hands for a more complete assessment). From a virtual iridology session I will make more dietary and lifestyle recommendations rather than herbal recommendations.

14. What advice would you give someone wanting to pursue your profession? The best advice I could give to anyone wanting to become an Herbalist is to be patient. It has taken me a lifetime to get to where I am now, and it will be the rest of my life of learning these skills. I have wonderful mentors, which is imperative if you want to be a Clinical Herbalist. I also attend two schools, one in Canada and one in the USA, as there are differences between Canadian studies and American Herbalism studies (and further differences in European Herbalism). Studying is not enough to become an Herbalist, it takes practice, and practice takes a long, long time. 

15. What are your most popular products? As an Herbalist, I create skincare and haircare products. My products are organic herbal oil infusions with a zero-low comedogenic value. This means that they are easily absorbed into the skin without causing pore blockages. While the infusions are absorbed into the skin, helping to keep a youthful, healthy skincare regime, the herbal components are also taken into the body via the skin, helping to balance the body as well. I have had my skincare company, Isola Herbals for six years, which I offered skincare and haircare products for sale while I was first studying Herbalism, and prior to offering clinical assessments.

Iridology 

1. How long have you been doing this? I have been studying and practicing Iridology for three years, and I have been assessed by an Iridologist my whole life, so it is an art that I have great familiarity with. 

2. What got you interested in this? My own lifetime of experience seeing an Iridologist.

3. How long do you have to study and where? This varies from country to country, and school to school. Even with a certification and a lifetime of personal experience, I still consider myself a novice Iridologist. Therefore I would be cautious to declare the amount of time one would study for. I attended the Wild Rose College of Canada for my Iridology certification.

4. Can you describe an iridology session? This part is simple for the client: I will look at the iris while shining a light on the eye, through a magnifying glass. I will look 2-3 times per eye, making notes and sometimes referring to my Iridology map.

5. What are the assessment tools you use to find imbalances? I use all of the assessment techniques that I know in Herbalism, except for pulse-reading, which is best left to an an expert in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

6. What kind of treatment tools do you use to correct imbalances? (See Herbalism response)

7. What are the most common conditions you find yourself treating? (See Herbalism response)

8. Are there any contraindications to medical/veterinary treatments/medications? (See Herbalism response)

9. What is your favorite success story? With iridology specifically, I enjoyed an experience with a beautiful mare (horse) I was assessing. Her owner was, as most are, slightly skeptical of Iridology. I explained to the horses owner that I believed that the horse only had one working ovary, based on my Iridology assessment. The owner was mystified, and explained to me that that very week she had had an ultrasound done on her mare, and the results of the ultrasound were that one of her ovaries was significantly larger than the other, and likely the only functional ovary. This assessment allowed the conversation between the owner and I to be opened up to the treatment options available for her lovely horse to help balance her hormones.

10. How might you think this modality might be applied to horses & other animals? (See Herbalism response)

11.What’s your favorite thing about iridology? I love this art – it is what allows me to open up peoples perspectives on health, nature, the seasons, and how the bodies organs maintain their working relationship with eachother. 

12. What other treatments are complimentary to iridology? All Herbalism techniques. 

13. What are the benefits of iridology? See response for No. 11

14. What advice would you give someone wanting to pursue your profession? I would say that it’s important to be humble; Iridology is an art, it is arguably not a science (although there are many scientific theories on how it works, but none yet thoroughly proven). There are many important things about a persons body and health that Iridology CANNOT tell us. So I would advise that anyone seeking to be an Iridologist never stop studying, never stop practicing, and never claim to know it all, because it is likely there will always be something new to learn from experience. 

15. Are there other healing modalities that you are interested in pursuing? As the world of Herbalism in my personal practice, I will be studying for the rest of my life! Not only the traditional practices involved in my Herbalism like Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic Medicine, but also in phyto-chemestry, phyto-skincare and phyto-haircare, and the pharmaceutical industry.