Winter Stasis to Winter Stasis: and everything in between

A time to reflect, re-calibrate and rest.

Here at Animal Botanical we hope you have had a chance to embrace a little winter stasis of your own as the solstice, Christmas and the New Year unfolded. Allowing for some down time with family and friends. Furry and otherwise. A powerful time for setting intent for the year ahead and letting go of what no longer serves you.

Innate Botanical Selections Practitioner course Completion: round 2

The completion of the year has also seen the completion of our second Innate Botanical Selections cohort. What a joy it has been guiding these talented and caring individuals through our practitioner course as we have circled once more around sol. 

Such a fine set of animal and herby skill sets were displayed throughout the year but particularly as we moved into the final assessments. Every one proving their worth and now ready to go out into the world as qualified herbal therapists with this wonderful modality. 

Making and Creating With our Seasonal Challenges

Additionally, with the end of the Autumn series marking the start of the festive season it has been a real pleasure to be sending out pins to all those who completed the 'Autumn Shake Down' Challenges and tasks in Herbal Shenanigans. 

From making our own immune syrup to fight off those winter colds to making dandelion root coffee to warm away those winter chills; from creating a 12 day advent calendar to share with our furry friends to making a rose hip vodka tincture to enjoy on Christmas day; from pumpkin carving to fruit leather creations, it has been a season of making, creating and enjoying the fruits of our labors. Very in keeping with the time of year.

And of course preparing our new tasks and challenges for our 'Winter Warm Up.' Not letting to much away as I'm sworn to secrecy, but I'm very excited for that :-D

Animal Communication With Herby Help

We have also felt a great sense of achievement in introducing our 'Connecting With Plant  Energetics For Animal Communication' course. This course was designed to help animal lovers deepen their connection with animals through the power of plant energetics. it was in our mind to create this course for some time, so to see it created and implemented has been a real pleasure.

We couldn't be more delighted with the incredible results we have seen from our first cohort. Throughout the course, participants were able to explore the fascinating world of plant energetics and its impact on animal communication. The depth and level of communication undertaken by our students were truly remarkable. Through our guidance, they learned how to tap into the energetic frequencies of 5 given plants and use them as a tool to enhance their communication with animals.

One of the most exciting aspects of this course, as we had hoped, was the effectiveness of the herbs in the communication process. Each herb brought its own unique character and dynamic to the communication experience. Students discovered how different plants can evoke specific emotions, thoughts, and sensations in the animal communication process, allowing for a deeper understanding and connection. The herbs acted as catalysts, key and gateway; facilitating a more profound and meaningful connection between humans and animals. The feedback we received from our cohort was overwhelmingly positive. Participants expressed their gratitude for the knowledge and skills they gained throughout the course. Many reported significant improvements in their ability to communicate with animals, as well as a greater sense of empathy and understanding.

We are honored to have had the opportunity to facilitate this transformative experience for our students. We look forward to welcoming more animal enthusiasts into our community and witnessing the incredible connections they will forge with the help of plant energetics and other courses we have planned for 2024. 

We have introduced so many free training webinars this year we have also had to start using words like 'catalog' and 'category' :-D

The Challenges of Our Own Herby Growth In The Tropics

Growing our own herbal medicines in the tropics can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience, but it also comes with its fair share of challenges. Particularly when it comes to growing plants that are more comfortable in the northern hemisphere. The stark differences in climate, soil quality, and pest pressure can make it difficult to cultivate plants like nettle, dandelion, calendula and mother wort, to name but a few.

One of the primary challenges faced when growing northern hemisphere plants in the tropics is the poor soil quality. It seems counter intuitive considering the abundance of life here but Tropical soils are often characterized by high levels of clay and sand, which can lead to poor drainage and nutrient deficiencies. These conditions are vastly different from the rich, loamy soils that many northern hemisphere plants thrive in. Gardeners in the tropics must invest time and effort into improving soil fertility through organic matter additions and regular soil testing. Our own approach has been a simple compost made with used coffee grids and egg shells. It seems to have helped with the nutrient short soils we are finding, but all our stock is still in pots until we find some land to call our own. 

Another obstacle is the unrelenting heat of the tropics. Many plants from the northern hemisphere are accustomed to cooler temperatures and struggle to adapt to the intense heat and humidity found in tropical regions. Heat stress causes wilting, leaf burn, and death in these plants so like many people we adapt and provie shade, water a lot and hope for the best. on the whole it has been our choice of climate, altitude and location that has helped us overcome some of these challenges. And the chickens help a great deal with pest control! 

Mold is another common issue faced by gardeners in the tropics. The combination of high humidity and warm temperatures creates the perfect breeding ground for mold and fungal diseases. Luckily its often the same in the Uk so space, air flow and rotation help a lot

Our Eldest Family Member

Oody, our 13 year old GSD who came with us from the UK, old in relative doggy years] has been showing the signs of his age a little more. He has lost some weight, losing his sight and hearing alongside  showing the signs of stifness in his muscular skeletal system. He is also finding the gap between recognising he needs the toilet to actually going to the toilet shortening all the time. 

All this sounds pretty bad on paper but he is still enjoying his life tremendously and showing no signs of discomfort and pain. As sharp as he ever was though. He still comes out for regular walks with the other dogs always leading the way and takes his job of doggy pack guardian very seriously. 

We have been supporting Oody through herbal offerings, essential oils, massage and Reiki. Combining this with increased feeding times, timely walks to negate accidents, helping him in and out of the truck and lots of reassurance seems to be doing the trick, bless him. 

I could do with some of that myself :-D

Our Youngest Family Member

Some of you may know already but about 3 months ago a small dog appeared at our door and never left. After verifying, as much as we could, she did not belong to anybody else, after about 2 weeks of her sitting and sleeping on our front door we accepted the inevitable and invited this little addition into our home, naming her Mora. She is less than a year old, about as Costa Rican as a dog can get [small, bonkers and from a tiny genetic pool/puddle] but she has been a playful and friendly addition to our furry family. And now a fully integrated member. I think her age helped a lot. She was accepted by dogs, cats and people alike instantly, which is a first for all of them, normally sending any other creature who dares to board their territory running away with their tail between their legs. But not Mora. I guess they just knew her need. We think she was abandoned on a road near us the first time she came into season and the universe then lead her to our door for a reason. Can't argue with the universe. <3

A Happy New Year to all of you lovely people and may it bring you joy, happiness and health in abundance.

Love and light blessings

Rachael and Jason