105 – Herbal Support Through Repression

Welcome to the Frontline Herbalism Podcast with your host, Nicole Rose, from the

Solidarity Apothecary.

This is your place for all things plants and

liberation.

Let's get started.

Hello. Welcome back to the Frontline Herbalism Podcast.

I hope you enjoyed the show last week, which was a recording of a talk I did about burnout

for an anarchist book fair in Croatia.

So today it's also a recording of a talk.

So I was so honored to be invited to speak online at a congress called Together We

Resist, which is a feminist congress in Basel in Switzerland.

And yeah, like, the theme of the conference was all about repression,

you know, especially in terms of, like, queer and feminist movements.

And, you know, how does that relate to fighting borders and nationalism and hell,

we're really seeing that in the UK at the moment, right, with this Tommy Robinson

nonsense.

And,

yeah, I'm thinking.

Thinking of everyone.

I. You know, I put like a.

A post on Instagram, but, like, yeah, honestly, like, if anyone is.

Is organizing, like, against afar, right, and wants some support, like, please request a

herbal care package.

Like, you're the people I want to get medicine

to,

you know, especially, like, black and brown comrades who, you know, are like, feeling

really unsafe, like on the underground and with these ******* idiots everywhere.

So, yeah, I just wanted to say that that's,

um, that's available.

And if you're not sure what the care packages are, you can listen to the herbal care

packages episode.

So, yeah, so this talk is all about herbal

support through repression.

So I kind of, like, weave through various threads of the work, from, like, herbal first

aid at protests and uprisings to,

you know, court support to care packages to,

you know, healing from incarceration.

It's kind of like an overview of lots of

different things, and I would hope at some point to kind of like, get.

Do deep dives into the different areas.

But, yeah, hopefully it's interesting.

Like,

yeah, like, I had to pause for simultaneous translation, so there's, like, some gaps.

I could have edited it, but, like,

girl got no time.

So, yeah, anyway, I hope this sounds okay.

And finally, the Herbalism PTSD and Traumatic stress course is ******* launching next

Monday.

And, oh, my God, I am behind on promoting it.

This is the smallest my waiting list has ever been.

And,

yeah, it's just been really tough.

I'm just doing the whole, like, single mom

hustle at the moment.

And, yeah, kind of launched this Hawthorne program supporting people experiencing

repression, which has been ******* incredible.

But I think maybe I timed it wrong because I

should be promoting the PTSD course, which is like, the foundation of my livelihood and you

know, funds like 95% of everything the Solidarity postgres does.

So please check out the course in the show notes.

I will be talking about it more soon.

But it's like a ******* amazing sliding scale

offering.

No one is turned away for lack of funds.

All about herbal support for the nervous system,

you know, for trauma, collective responses to trauma and traumatic stress, the politics of

trauma.

And then just like loads of geeky stuff, like nervous system physiology and you know, like

nerve tonics and all different kinds of nervines, which are herbs with an affinity for

the nervous system.

You know, from relaxant nerve irons to herbs that can help you sleep to herbs that can

support in panic attack.

Blend.

Blends like all the things,

you know, it's like a ******* amazing huge body of work that is like created to be as

accessible as possible.

You can work through it at your own pace

online.

And if you've already enrolled in it and are like even just a little bit of the way

through, I would love your testimonial or for you to share it on the old Instagram or

Facebook or wherever you interact with people.

Just that kind of like word of mouth recommendation, like grassroots support.

Like, you have no idea how much more effective it is than like writing a ******* post that

doesn't get seen by like anyone.

And you know, I've been so shadow banned.

Like, it's just.

Yeah, someone messaged me saying that like you click on my link tree and it like warns you

that it's like spam and stuff.

And it's just.

It's so frustrating.

So, yeah, any kind of like peer to peer

support, like, yeah, I will love you forever.

You have no idea how much I appreciate it.

All right, I'm gonna stop talking so you can listen to the episode.

But yeah, let me know your feelings about this series.

Anything you'd like me to cover.

And yeah, thanks so much again for your time and energy to listen.

Okay, take care.

Hello.

Hi, everyone.

Thank you so much for inviting me to talk.

I'm so sorry to not be there in person.

Okay, can you see my.

My screen?

Okay,

maybe you can make a bit noise that you know, that I didn't hear anything, but I know you're

there.

It's all right.

I've got a friend texting me live updates,

so it's all good.

Okay, can you see my screen? Okay.

Yes. Yeah. Okay, perfect.

Okay, so a little overview.

I'll introduce myself and my project and then

I'll talk about the practical ways herbalism can support us through repression.

And yeah, we'll talk a little bit about like very practical things,

first aid, some nervous system support, chronic stress support,

and supporting people in prison like during and after.

And yeah, I just want to say I'm really grateful to be invited and for the theme of

the conference or the congress.

It's like super important and.

Yeah, I'm sorry.

Oh,

sure,

sure.

Sorry.

Okay.

Yeah. And the reason I'm not there today is because I'm looking after my little baby who

is here at a soft play,

******* up a police car.

I put the, the balaclava on myself.

He doesn't normally wear this, obviously.

Okay.

And just a content warning that like,

you know, there are like more graphic references a little bit to prison and state

violence and.

Yeah, and just that like so many people are

doing this work, especially like black and brown abolitionists and people who've been

supporting people in prison for a really long time.

Okay. So yeah, I'm Nicole Rose.

My lineages are English, Welsh and Irish.

I started learning about herbalism in prison,

which was like 16 years ago, I think now.

And yeah, I went through 10 years of state repression before I learned more about

herbalism.

And now I try and like combine,

combine these life experiences and passions.

So I have a project called the Solidarity Apothecary and the mission is to support

revolutionary struggles and communities with plant medicines to strengthen collective

autonomy, self defense and resilience to climate change, capitalism and state violence.

And in practice, that looks like supporting people one to one and distributing care

packages.

I have a book called the Prisoner's Herbal that goes to people in prison worldwide.

I'm part of a separate project that supports refugees and forcibly displaced people in

northern France.

And I also try and support different, you know, different organizers.

And yeah, I'm very involved in like prisoner solidarity, like anti prison struggles.

And I also have a podcast called the Frontline Herbalism Podcast, which I'll refer to when I

share some of the resources.

Am I still speaking too fast?

Probably am a little bit slower.

Okay,

okay, sorry.

So I recently published this book called Herbalism and State Violence, which shares

everything in this talk.

And I wanted to give a little shout out to my friend Kez who's in the audience, I think

because she basically made the book happen.

I was very, very pregnant and yeah, she helped

me with lots of writing and you know, like editing my work and emotional support to make

it happen.

And if anyone wants to write a book, then ask her and pay her to support you because, yeah,

you won't regret it.

So that's her website,

and she has some.

Some zines available.

Some like, queer ecology, like queer plant zines, which are, like, super cute.

Okay,

okay.

So practical ways plant medicines can support

people.

We're going to start with, like, herbal first aid.

Just this very acute beginnings of kind of, you know, herbs in action.

So street medics and action medics,

however you call them, you know, they play a really important role at demonstrations and

riots and uprisings,

like as first aiders and trying to keep people safe.

I've put safe in, you know, quotation marks because it's.

These aren't like, safe places, obviously,

but herbal medicines can be, like, fantastic additions to people's toolkits.

And one of the main herbs here, plantain on the right, this picture was from Palestine.

And there's like A.

And I just thought it was like an interesting picture of this kind of.

Yeah, amazing first aid herb.

And then, you know, the state.

The state violence or the Zionist violence.

Okay. So some examples, a lot of chemical weapons exposure can harm our livers.

So we can work with herbs to support our liver,

like plants like milk thistle and dandelion and burdock.

We can, you know, help soothe, like, irritated skin with things like, you know, oatmeal.

And very importantly, we can support our respiratory systems with, you know, herbal

steams and demulcents, which, you know, are kind of supporting our mucous membranes and

supporting our, our tissues that are kind of harm.

Harmed by, you know, some of the chemicals that the police use.

And there's also, you know, like,

just basic, like bruise ointments and muscle rubs and things for injuries.

Okay. And then I'm sure most people will know, like, any kind of interaction with the state

often is, like, stressful and potentially traumatic.

And people are often experiencing a lot of, like, emotional shock.

So,

yeah, plants are really fantastic at supporting people in this, like, state of

like, acute activation of their sympathetic nervous system.

So this is our fight flight response.

Sorry, I know I'm talking too fast,

trying to slow down.

So those can be feelings of, you know, like, panic and fear and rage and anxiety.

And I'm going to talk through some herbs that are helpful,

but I just want to say that, like, any relationship with a plant can be.

Can be strengthening and soothing and grounding.

You know, like, I remember being sexually assaulted when I was much, much younger and

then,

you know, kind of like escaping this house and trying to run back to the train station and I

saw this massive piece of Land which had dandelions like everywhere.

And I just felt like instantly, like supported and,

you know, could take a breath and.

Yeah.

So any herb we have a relationship with can, you know, offer this to our, to our bodies.

And burning herbs can be helpful.

Like, for example, if you were raided by the

police and you have that kind of like, energy in there,

it's nice often to kind of try to clear that.

And, you know, people have been burning herbs

for thousands of years.

You don't have to buy a herb that is, you

know, like,

not from your lineages and is like over harvested and exploited in a different

continent.

You know, you can just grow, you know, you can

burn plants that are growing like in your, in your garden,

if you have a garden.

So some example herbal allies for this kind of emotional shock.

We might work with plants like lavender, for example, chamomile, lemon balm.

I'm hoping you can find some of these herbs on your plant walk.

Also, hawthorn is an amazing, like, medicinal tree that's very common on the land where I

live.

Plants like motherwort are very fantastic for,

you know, like, heart palpitations and states of emotional shock.

And I should emphasize before taking any plant, like, you know, research if it has any

contraindications with medication you are taking or if you were in like, early pregnancy

or pregnancy.

Sure. Sorry.

It's so hard because I can't see the

translators.

So it's like,

shall I take a pause now or can you see them when we make this?

Because the problem is I have the slides.

Big.

Yeah.

Okay. Maybe unless you.

I can have my phone next to me if you want to,

like, send me a message on signal at all.

But yeah, it's harder to not to not see people.

Okay,

I will send you a message.

Okay, perfect.

Yeah. And we also have herbs that can help us with like, sleep disturbances.

So trauma often really affects someone's nervous system, which really affects someone's

ability to sleep well.

And so plants like passion flower or wild lettuce or skull cap, like, they're really

great at supporting people to.

Yeah.

To kind of access higher quality sleep.

And I have a podcast all about this and there's a,

a chapter in the book as well about police raids and herbal allies for shock.

Okay,

so now I'm going to talk about, like herbal support for more like ongoing stress and

burnout.

And one thing that many people experience,

you know, I've supported like hundreds of people going through state repression.

And it is very common for people to feel so overwhelmed that they are often having like,

Regular panic attacks.

And I love to make for people, like,

blends that they can reach for, like, during a panic attack, which can help, you know, make

it last less time and make it be sort of less intense for someone.

Sorry, I'm getting some funny texts.

Yeah, so some plants I use, I work with are like, again, motherwort,

lemon balm,

passionflower, skullcap, and valerian.

And this is motherwort here.

But what we're aiming for as herbalists is how to,

like, prevent someone having panic attacks and support their.

Their nervous system, like, longer term.

And that's when we have, like, different types of plants that are helpful.

And I'll talk about these in more detail in a moment.

But there is also a podcast all about this and a free guide on my website about herbal

support for panic attacks.

So.

Excuse me.

There are, like, very particular dynamics of trauma that are common with, like, state

repression, particularly.

And there has been a lot of research about what makes a particular situation,

like, more stressful or more traumatic for a human being.

And some of the common themes are like uncertainty,

fear, loss of control.

Like, you, you are not in control of the outcome,

feeling overcome by a greater power,

and finally, like, social isolation.

And these dynamics are common through, like, all forms of state violence.

So herbs can support us through these periods of chronic stress.

They can help with nutrition.

And we call these, like, nutritive.

Nutritive herbs.

So the stress response in the body, like, greatly uses many, like, you know,

micronutrients all the time, leading to kind of, like,

extended state of depletion.

So working with nutrition is, like, really important.

And I mentioned sleep.

So sleep is, like,

the most important thing that the body needs to process traumatic memories and recover from

trauma.

But unfortunately, it's the thing that often goes wild, like, when we're experiencing

stress.

So I love to work with people to, to, like, establish a stronger sleeping pattern.

And plants like skullcap are amazing for this.

With our nervous system,

like, being in fight or flight, a lot has,

like, in this sympathetic nervous system state, it can have big kind of, like,

repercussions for the body in terms of, you know, like,

being, like, often,

like, generative of disease and inflammation.

So if we can support someone to, like, reduce the levels of activation they're experiencing,

not only will they feel better, hopefully, but also we are trying to prevent something more

chronic from establishing.

And herbs are incredible at supporting, like, the structure and the function of the nervous

system, which we call, like, nervine tonics.

And obviously everyone expresses, like, distress in their body in a different way.

So My old clinical supervisor would call these, like, fault lines.

So for some people, they will get, you know, like, any stress, they will get like, bad

tummy, like, digestive problems.

Other people will get headaches or muscle pain.

You know, some people, it may affect their, like, menstrual cycle, for example.

And so herbalism can support with, you know, these various different manifestations of

stress in the body.

And finally, like, it's the act of herbalism, which is, like, amazing for people.

So, you know, I can post someone some medicine, which is fantastic, but the real

medicine is.

Is them, you know, connecting with plants and

foraging and making medicine and having that relationship themselves.

And I have a resource on my website called State Repression, Trauma and the Body,

which goes into all of this stuff in much more detail, which is free for anyone to watch.

All right, and now I'm going to talk about care packages.

So,

yeah, one manifestation of repression is obviously, like, you know, legal.

Legal court cases.

And these are often, like, periods of, like, big, you know, like, high stress for someone

because, you know, maybe they are going to prison.

And in my experience,

like, if someone is feeling,

like, calmer and more resourced,

they can often,

you know, like,

do a lot better for their outcome in court because,

as we know, the court system is, like, *******, like, classist and racist.

And these juries will, you know, judge someone on their personality and their kind of, like,

performance in the courtroom.

So having,

like, a more resourced nervous system can mean, like, we can meet the enemy with, like,

a bit more,

like, capacity, if that makes sense.

You know, trials can often be very, like, emotionally and physically intense for

defendants and supporters,

which is why something I started doing was giving, like, hair,

hair packages,

herbal care packages to people going through court cases.

So these would include some support for the immune system,

like elderberry or ginger and thyme.

They would include a nervous system support blend, like, you know, chamomile or hawthorn.

And I would always make a nice tea for someone to drink after a long day in court that can

help them move into,

like, a parasympathetic nervous system state and to sleep better.

And I make an amazing lavender oil with olive oil from the west bank in Palestine combined

with dried lavender.

And it's just, like, amazing and, you know, it's really fantastic for.

For helping people sleep.

So anyone going through repression is welcome to request a care package.

I send them, like, all over the world for free.

And if you're interested in doing something similar, I have two podcasts where I'm, like,

talking,

like, in detail about how I make the care packages and which medicines are included and

how I organize it and distribute and fundraise for them.

Okay, so now I'm going to talk about like herbal support in prison.

So yeah, we cannot forget the people experiencing like the sharpest end of state

repression, which is, you know, people in prison.

And I know it is like ******* impossible to send medicines to people inside,

but we can support them to learn about prison.

Sorry, don't want to learn about prison.

To learn about herbalism while they are in

prison.

And it's a really important,

fantastic opportunity to kind of develop this like increased health autonomy.

Because in prison like you have no autonomy over your health.

Like,

you know, sometimes it can take weeks to see a doctor or months.

Often like the range of like medications are very, very limited.

And so any tools that can help someone take care of themselves and not be dependent on the

******* prison officers I think is really important.

So for example, in the start of the pandemic,

a friend in prison,

lots of people on his, on his wing, like his unit in the prison were, you know, were

getting sick.

And so he had my book and some friends in prison had his, had the book too that I'd

posted.

And together they like combined all their like spices that they had that they could buy from

the, the prison, we call it canteen or commissary in the US and they started to make

like turmeric drinks like in their kettles with like soy milk or dairy milk,

and then were giving it to people,

you know, who were self isolating because of COVID And yeah, I thought this was like a

really nice example of the, you know, the book in action.

And I have like hundreds of letters from prisoners with examples like this of them

finding a plant in prison or you know, starting to work as a gardener in prison or

you know, making a tea with something that is helping them, you know, to sleep in prison,

for example.

But herbalism can also support with this, you know, this feeling of connection and

relationship to, you know, to something bigger than ourselves.

And it can also.

Sorry, it's a helicopter.

It can give people this like,

you know,

passion for learning and kind of purpose inside.

So the book has,

I think maybe I've lost count, but I think like 5,000 copies now have gone to people in

prison around the world.

And we have 3,000 more printed last month.

And it has been translated by various comrades into different languages.

So comrades translated it into Spanish,

two different kinds of Spanish.

And yeah, it's been distributed like across Mexico and Chile and also like the Spanish

state.

And they are going to do, like, a second book with stories from prisoners in prison who

they've connected with about their experiences with plant medicines and their, like,

indigenous traditions.

Sorry, one second.

I'll just see if I'm speaking too fast.

Okay.

Okay. So then there's also support for healing, like, after incarceration.

And, you know,

being in prison can have big health effects on people.

The life expectancy of a prisoner in the UK is like 52 years old,

which is like.

Like 30 years less than someone on the outside.

And I think, yeah, it's, you know, I mean, I don't care about prison officers dying, but,

like,

an interesting statistic is that once they stop working in the prison,

they commonly die, like, very quickly, like within a year or so of leaving the job.

And I think it shows the.

Yeah.

The effects of the kind of environment and the chronic stress and the trauma inside it.

So herbalism can support with people's, like, hormonal systems like this, like, chronic

stress response.

Many people in prison have digestive issues because of eating such terrible inflammatory

food and often experiencing, you know, hunger.

Many people will have, like, cardio metabolic problems, like, you know, type 2 diabetes or

high blood pressure,

again because of the environment and the diet and the stress.

So, yeah, herbalism is, like, powerful in helping to reduce inflammation and, you know,

support someone to improve their health and.

Yeah.

Shameless.

Shameless plug.

If anyone is, like, interested in these.

These themes or learning about herbalism, I

teach a course called Herbalism, PTSD and traumatic Stress.

And yeah, no one is turned away for lack of funds, so anyone can access it for free if

need,

like, if they are experiencing, like, financial distress or poverty.

And yeah, it has like, eight modules all about,

you know,

trauma and different kinds of herbs.

Different kinds of herbs that support the

nervous system.

And yeah, it's opening, like, very soon,

in, like, 10 days or something.

But it.

It only opens twice a year.

So if you were interested, like, please, please, like, you know, look at it soon.

Okay.

Yeah, and I mentioned the.

The book,

the Herbalism and State violence book.

It contains, like, all of these things I've

talked about with, you know, recipes and profiles of plants and, you know, examples

from different solidarity projects.

And yeah, you can find everything at this solidarity apothecary.org website.

All right,

I think I can stop sharing.

Yeah.

Hello.

Can see your face again.

Many, many things.

Nicole,

Maybe you can hear it.

I can't hear anything.

It's crazy.

Oh, it's so sad.

Never mind.

It was really interesting.

And you don't see them, but, yeah,

in this room there are around 50 pieces listen to you and it was really nice.

Thank you.

Pleasure a lot.

Does anyone have questions?

Maybe the person can come to me.

Anyone?

I'm just gonna plug in my computer.

Ah, there.

Hello. Sorry, I'm just doing my,

my laptop is dying.

Right.

Hello.

I want to ask a question about herbs you can

use for abortion and did you use it in prison?

If you can access for abortion in prison in uk but the herbs were using for abortion for

many, many years.

And I wonder if,

if it's something what happens.

Okay,

so I actually did my dissertation in my clinical training about herbal support through

abortion.

So I can, I can send this, I can send this to you if you email.

But the,

my main,

my main outcome is that the, the medication used is actually like extremely effective.

Like the misoprost.

Misoprostol.

Um,

and that it's actually much has a much bigger safety record than herbs because it's.

There's just more consistency.

So I don't like,

I don't support herbal abortion just with herbs.

It depends on the stage of pregnancy.

But these medications are actually very, very effective.

I know it's not possible to always access them.

Oh, sorry.

They translating.

I can,

I think understood it.

Well, could you just, could you just repeat it

one time? I don't know if I understood it.

Well sure.

Basically the,

the medications to, to end a pregnancy are very effective and have like a very strong

like safety record across millions of people.

However, my research focused on how can herbs like support with the, with the side effects.

So for example the you know like emotional distress or like you know like prolonged

bleeding over you know, several weeks.

But I'm sure there are,

there is a lot of knowledge that has been lost and repressed and I know there is one project

in the so called us called holistic abortions and they have like much more experience than I

do with you know like practical dosages of herbs.

So I don't want to you know, recommend any and it's important that like many of the herbs

used to end pregnancy are often like highly toxic for the liver.

Which is why like there have been some deaths from people experimenting with herbs because

we don't have this shared knowledge.

Well, it's been destroyed.

Right.

So not completely but anyway I'm happy to send anyone my,

my 60,000 word dissertation about herbal support through abortion.

I will contact you.

Okay, perfect.

Thank you.

Thanks a lot.

Thank you.

There are more questions you don't have to become here.

I can give the to you.

Yes, I come to you.

Oh, you want to come?

Okay,

the chair is yours.

Hi, Nicole.

Thanks so much for the presentation.

I think we could all use some tips for better sleep.

I don't know about you guys.

I was really curious what you mentioned about lavender oil.

I just wanted to know how do you use it for better sleep?

Sure, let me grab one.

So I just make a little bottle like this.

I won't put it on now because I'm really tired and I will sleep.

But,

um, you just like spray it and put it on your,

your temples or on the back of your neck or on your chest.

Um,

and yeah, it's just very effective at supporting someone to access their

parasympathetic kind of their rest and digest state,

which we need before we can often, you know, fall asleep, unless we are completely

exhausted.

Then.

Normally it's more fast, but the recipe is inside the Herbalism and State Violence book.

How to make it.

So super nice.

Yeah, thanks so much.

Yeah, I have the book.

I've started reading it.

Oh, awesome.

I was really excited when I saw your presenting congress.

So, yeah, awesome, thanks.

I know.

Just you guys, if you haven't even looked at the book, there's so many stories about also

helping people at the borders.

Maybe you can share a bit of this Calais project.

Sure.

Very interesting.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I'm involved in this project called the Mobile Herbal Clinic Calais.

And we go to France,

to Calais and Dunkirk in Northern France, like what, the first week of every month.

And we have a team of four people.

So we have like a doctor or a clinical

supervisor and normally like three herbalists.

And we work in the camps and we support with like first aid and,

you know, like injuries like sprains, strains, musculoskeletal problems,

and then also like acute illness, like upper respiratory infections mostly and, you know,

some digestive problems.

And one most important part of our work is kind of like triaging and taking people to

hospital.

So if someone has had, for example, a persistent cough, we would make sure they go

to the doctor,

try and get them a chest X ray, you know, in case they have pneumonia or TB or something.

So we, you know, we like, are really working in this like first aid context.

And yeah, we make all the medicines mostly in the UK and sometimes in France.

And we have like people growing the medicine, like growing the herbs like around the

country.

And it's like all completely grassroots.

Like, we fundraise for it and yeah, make it

happen.

And the collective is also, you know, trying

to politically speak about the violence on the border and what is happening and, you know,

also working in solidarity with different groups of people that are,

like, fighting the border regime.

Thank you so much.

I think your work is super inspiring.

Ah, thank you.

I love your hat.

Thanks so much for listening to the Frontline Herbalism podcast.

You can find the transcript, the links, all the resources from the show at

solidarityapothecary.

Org podcast.