Herbalism, medicinal plants and awareness with Rachelle Robinett for Mystic Mag
Rachelle Robinett is a herbalist, educator and life-long naturalist who founded Supernatural, a company dedicated to modern herbalism education. In the company’s website you can shop for products, read great content and also sign up for a 4-week Herbal Health Course. We talked with Rachelle to know more about her story, what Supernatural offers and great herbs people can use for a variety of issues.
Please present yourself and Supernatural to our audience.
I’m Rachelle Robinett, the founder of Pharmakon Supernatural, a company dedicated to bringing the holistic nature of herbalism into the daily lives of modern humans. We are a cafe and apothecary, a product line of herbal gummies (HRBLS), and a library of online herbalism education, all centered on empowerment, accessibility and natural remedies. Herbal health consists of bringing plant-based wellness to people and helping them to learn how to be healthier with plants.
This is something I’ve been interested in for my whole life but didn’t realize was going to be my future, nor my career. It was something I was simply living. I grew up on a farm in the Pacific Northwest, in the United States. I was surrounded by nature, we had a giant garden, animals, and were fortunate to travel and see a lot of the world.
I had early encounters with religion, spirituality and big ideas, if you will. So, I started a personal project to understand the individual human experience: physical and emotional experiences, responses to food, energy, sleep… I was fascinated by all of the things we take in through our senses, and how they affect our experience of reality.
As I read my way through different religions and mystical practices I met Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine and other global healing and spiritual systems. At first, I put everything into practice on a personal level. While living in New York City and working in fashion, people started to take note of my wellness practices. They kept asking me to share my knowledge until I finally “came out of the closet” and began the work of turning my private practice into a company, a product line, and now, my educating thousands of people daily about how to use herbs!
When did you discover your interest in Herbalism?
Herbalism is totally holistic and that’s the main reason I call myself an Herbalist. If I work as an Herbalist, I can talk to you about your nutrition, herbs and supplements, fitness, sleep, psychological state…There are very few healthcare specialties as holistic as that.
Also, I think that the medicine and existing potential in the world of plants is mind-boggling in its capabilities, history and what it could do for our future. There are thousands of medicinal plants we are discovering every year! These are anti-depressant, pain relievers, they reduce inflammation, improve your moods and sleep … it’s endless.
Many people have been discovering the importance of plant-based food and being in touch with nature for the last few years. Do you believe it to be truth? How does Supernatural benefit from that?
I do believe this is true. I think we have generations more aware of the planetary impact of decisions, and more interested in choices they are making in terms of what they are buying to put in their body.
There’s a greater awareness of this in a lot of different industries. We’ve seen more people wanting to know how to be healthier with plants, how to eat better, how to choose a natural option instead of a medication or how to use less medication, or how to find helpful supplements for some kind of ailment. We still need to think about it in a slightly different way but waking up to the power of plants is fantastic.
Sleep issues, stress and anxiety are common problems in today’s world. Which products do you believe can help with those issues?
There’s a lot for each of them! When I say we still need to think about it differently, I mean that there is the mindset of “a pill for an ill.” It is slightly better to search for an herb rather than for a drug, yes, but the better question would be “what’s the cause of the ill?”
If someone can’t sleep and it’s related to blood sugar issues, if I give you a sedative herb it might help but it also might not. If it does help, it’s just covering up the primary issue, which is blood sugar imbalance. If we can back down to what is the problem’s cause, then we can find plants and dietary changes to stabilize the blood sugar, which is going to cascade out into far more benefits — and maybe even a longer life, which taking a sedative wouldn’t have done.
That said, my favorite plants for sleep would be sedative nervines like California Poppy, Valerian, Hops, Catnip, Lavender. Regarding stress and anxiety, I like the category of herbs called nervines, which includes the plants I’ve just mentioned and also Chamomile, Passionflower, Oat, Motherwort. Also, Ashwagandha is an adaptogenic herb really popular for stress support. It all depends on the type and source of the stress we’re treating.
Are these herbs easy to find in the US?
Most of those herbs are. I try not to work with herbs that are too obscure for a few reasons. Mostly, I want them to be accessible to people and we probably have an herb at home that does the same thing another one, bought in another part of the world, does.
How do your online classes work? What is your typical audience for them?
Since I can’t see all people who want personal support, I’ve structured my online classes to serve the most popular issues that come up: hormonal balance, gut health, stress and anxiety, weight and metabolism, brain health, energy. Somebody can take those classes anytime they want, anywhere in the world, they just have to buy it and spend a deep hour with me teaching about the topic of their choice!
I also have a four-week course, which is what I’d take any new client through in four weeks. You get one class every week and we cover Nutrition, Herbs, Lifestyle and some other things that give a well-rounded introduction to our philosophy and approach to overall health.
In terms of the clientele, I see men and women, young people, elderly, but most of my clients are in their 30’s and 40’s and I’d say nearly everybody is struggling with some health issue that is often not clearly defined.
If you could give one piece of advice to a person who is a starter to Herbalism and wants to experience a healthier lifestyle, what would it be?
It would be to start with food. It is the single most important thing we can do for our well-being. If I have to be very brief about it: “Eat more plants!”
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