You’ve got that remedy, and I know you have good intentions, yet somehow it sits unused. There’s so much more to getting that into the rhythm of your day than willpower and memory! Come on in for ideas that help you reach for your remedies when you need them.
What you’ll learn:
- Discover who this show is for and its depth
- Meet the host
- Consider what often gets skipped before care practices can stick
- Why working with plants might feel like connecting to who you’d be without oppression’s thumbprints
- Explore the under-recognized facets of self-care and how oppression shapes well-being
SHOW NOTES
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📧 quai [@] discoverspace.me
Full Transcript:
Welcome in From Out of the Rain, I’m Quai and this is In Your Hands. Herbal Self-Care for Emotional Bodies, a podcast about the complexities of building your own wellness blueprint. I’m a psychotherapist and herbalist who brings the critical lens to the systems that both help and harm. I’ll hold that tension with you as we explore plant remedies, trauma work, nervous system support, and building self-care foundations.
And now for that awkward dis. Disclaimer, I’ve gotta give you. This shows for educational purposes only and is not a replacement for therapy or personalized herbal care. The herbal remedies and practices discussed are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please consult your healthcare provider for medical advice.
Now, let’s begin.
The other night I was so stimulated and stressed. I knew I was gonna have a hard time getting to sleep. And I mentioned it to my partner in passing who was like, Hey, could you make yourself a cup of tea? And I was like, oh my gosh, I’m so swept up in what’s going on right now. That didn’t occur to me. And I feel like this happens to us a lot when we’re in the middle of something and we actually need a resource that we might have around.
It’s not in our consciousness. So this is a facet of what I mean when I say in your hands. One layer of that is having the consciousness to know, um, to be able to reach for the things that are gonna support us. And I know for me, I’ve built some. Pretty good practices around using resources and setting myself up, and still as an herbalist, I can forget these things.
I think that this is just a really human experience and I’ve learned some things over the years that are helpful, so I’m gonna share that with you today.
I wanna talk about things that I think are often behind for getting to take our remedies. One is that it’s really hard to work something new into your daily rhythm. Another is that we are dealing with capitalism and a lot of structural issues that make it difficult to track ourselves on a more moment to moment basis.
And then the third is that it can be really challenging to remember, especially if your nervous system. Learned that your needs didn’t matter. So an unlearning process and reorientating can be helpful. Forgetting doesn’t mean we’re irresponsible, lazy, or failing. It just means that if we can bring some other things into the mix, that is probably gonna help us.
So let’s talk about what will actually help.
Think about it. When you bring anything significant into your life, you naturally spend time thinking about what it will mean for you, like preparing for it, making space for it. We can easily see this with a new job or relationship. You gear up for that in some way, and maybe a remedy doesn’t seem like it merits that much thought, but consider the last time you got a new phone or computer, I’m sure you spent time learning it, adjusting to it.
Making it work with your life. Now think about what’s actually in that tiny amber dropper bottle or bag of dried herbs. Those plants started as seeds. They grew to maturity through one or more seasons. They were harvested by hands that knew exactly when the timing was right to yield the most potency.
Then they were processed with care, which takes time. Anywhere from days to weeks before being carefully packaged and labeled. All of this has to be done thoughtfully to preserve the plant’s therapeutic qualities. And maybe in this whole chain of events, someone or you, yourself took time to match this particular remedy to what you specifically need.
There’s this entire chain of intention and labor, both human and earth base that culminates in that little bottle or bag of herbs, and that’s what you’re working with. So what actually helps in honoring all of that and remembering a remedy that could be supportive for you? I’m gonna share with you five practices that I’ve seen do something essential.
They turn the unfamiliar into familiar. They help something new. Find its way into the rhythm of your days, not through willpower or forcing, but through gentle structure and intention. These are ways of befriending your remedies so they can actually be there when you need them. The first is to set a clear intention before your remedy even arrives, and you wanna make this really.
Simple for yourself. You don’t have to over complicate it simple, such as Help my body relax or support better digestion. And then write that down somewhere and keep it visible for yourself. Or have a way of reminding yourself that this is the discreet thing that you’re working on. Because if you have that intention, it’s gonna transform a fleeting self-care idea into something that’s a focused intention.
A focused intention means that you have moved something that was perhaps passive or less defined as something that you want into something that’s active and clear that you’re trying to do for yourself.
The second thing that can be helpful is unpacking your remedy as soon as it gets to your home. So don’t leave it stashed in a bag or a box somewhere. Take it out right away, even if you’re not using it that day, and then put it somewhere where you see it regularly. You wanna recognize that at this point you’re in a crucial introduction phase.
You are becoming conscious of this resource and you’re building familiarity with it. The third thing that I think can be supportive is find a perfect home within your home for that. Remedy to live within the first one to two days if that perfect home is gonna need to check off three boxes. The first box is that it’s easy to grab and visible so it’s not tucked behind other bottles or things that you kind of have to maneuver to get to it.
You wanna make it just easy to pick up and use. And I know that might sound obvious. But that really can be a mental hurdle or barrier in some ways if it’s not easy for us to get to. The second is you want to store it someplace that is aligned with when you’ll take it. So that might be near a dinner table if you’re working with it for meals.
Um, if it’s something that you’re using for nighttime stuff, maybe it’s near where you’re gonna grab your pajamas, if it’s something you want to be using when you come home for the day, perhaps it’s near where you store or stash your keys when you come in. The third box you want it to fall into is that it feels good to access.
What I mean by that is for many people, making it aesthetically pleasing builds on the meaning and the the overall feel and ritual of working with this resource. So store it in some. Beautiful remedy cabinet, for example, or place it on a coaster that is in the shape of, or has an image that matches the remedy’s intention in some way.
Another idea is you might wanna put it on a tray somewhere. Maybe this. Tray is something that came into your life in some salient moment, and your intention somehow matches with the energy of that moment. So the point is, make it meaningful. This is not superficial. When something looks and feels special, you’re much more likely to reach for it.
Okay? The fourth thing that I found is helpful is to revisit what I’ll call your original spark with that resource.
When I say original spark, I mean whatever it was that originally got you interested in working with this remedy. The thing that excited you, interested you, or maybe made you a little hopeful about working with it. And that should be something in you and from you. Maybe somebody told you about this remedy, but you’ve gotta make the reason for working with it your own.
When I say that original spark, I mean the thing that kind of got you excited to take it or interested or curious, um, you want to move from, well, you know, so and so said this was good for sleep. So I’m gonna try this. You want it to more capture the essence of what that was like for you. We learn about remedies in all different kinds of ways.
So it could be passed down to you orally, like maybe a friend shared what was working for them, or you heard about it on some, at some type of. Gathering, um, perhaps you learned about it in a book or an article or when you were listening to an herbal podcast or maybe when you were working with an herbalist and they recommended it and it made you curious like, oh, could this be something that supports whatever it is that I’m working on?
If you jot that down and capture that for yourself when you first learn about it. That is gonna help you build a, a more authentic relationship with that resource. If there was no spark originally, that might be something that you need to find. Like you have to know what motivates you to work with it, and maybe you had it and then for one reason or multiple reasons, you’ve lost that and things have shifted in how you relate to that remedy.
That might mean it’s not the right remedy for you, or it’s time to change to a different one, but assuming this is a new remedy and you’ve got that spark, I find that if we can revisit this within one to two days with the remedy arriving, it helps us with that natural resistance that’s. Gonna come up to weaving it into our life.
So if you can go back to whatever notes you jotted down about that, or reread if somebody recommended it to you and gave you instructions for that, reread it. Reconnect with that. Why? Just for a moment. The fifth thing is having reinforcements. We all need to have something reflected back to us and remind us why it’s a helpful resource to have.
Again, I think it’s difficult to bring something new into the fold, so those gentle nudges and reinforcements can make a big difference. Sometimes I like to schedule, send myself a message about what I’m working with and why. Sometimes recording a memo is. Good for people and then they can send that to themselves or just have it handy to revisit.
And in the little story that I gave you in the opening, that was a spontaneous reinforcement that came when somebody asked me, you know, why? Why don’t you make a tea? And. That somebody could be other people in your life. It could be friends that you’re sharing what you’re working with, or it could be coworkers.
That’s great when that happens spontaneously. But also you wanna be intentional about that and make sure that you’re giving that reinforcement to yourself and it comes back to you because you’re much more likely to hold onto that.
So let’s recap five things that are supportive to helping us not forget to take our remedies. One is to have clear intentions before the remedy arrives. The second is to unpack it as soon as it comes into your home. The third is finding a perfect home within your home. The fourth is rereading or revisiting whatever that original spark was for you.
And then the fifth is having some. Reinforcements, uh, for why you’re working with that remedy. Quick note here. If you know someone who’s been trying to stay on track with their remedies, or you’ve had this exact conversation with a friend about forgetting to take things, would you send them this episode?
This happens all the time, and I’d love these strategies to reach more people who could use them. Just hit the share button on your podcast app and pass it along. Thank you. It really helps to share the show. So there you have five ways to turn that little bottle, jar, tin, or inhaler into something you actually reach for.
Your remedies are waiting. Go befriend them. Alright, I hope this leaves you in a better place. If this episode was useful, please share it with someone who might benefit. That’s how the show grows and reaches people who need it. You can also subscribe to my newsletter for monthly insights on Herbal Self-Care and building your Wellness Blueprint links in the show notes.
If today’s episode sparked a question or perspective you’d like to share, reach out, especially if you’re speaking from lived experience or your prep. ER working with similar themes. Take care however that looks for you today, and I leave you with birds I recorded on my city block to wherever you are.
Hi, I'm Quai - psychotherapist, herbalist, and host of In Your Hands: Herbal Self-Care for Emotional Bodies. This show is for anyone deepening their self-care practice, exploring intergenerational patterns, navigating harm reduction or recovery work, herb-curious folks wanting practical guidance, and practitioners looking for resources to share with clients.
I combine herbalism, trauma work, and a critical lens on the systems that shape wellness. Whether you're piecing together care skills that weren't modeled, working with your relationship to coping strategies, or thinking deeply about how oppression impacts wellbeing, this show offers context, frameworks, and practical tools.
We explore plant remedies, nervous system support, and the often-overlooked infrastructure that makes sustainable self-care actually possible. Join the newsletter at for care tips, episode announcements, and herb recipes.
