The Art of Formulating Herbs

Hey–are any of you single? Are you looking for a partner? What if I were to tell you that I had a list of 10  single people in your area code and invited you to try picking one at random to go out with because maybe you would have a really great connection?

I don’t know many people that would recommend that as an optimal dating strategy, because finding a good connection with someone doesn’t tend to be that simple. I’m telling you this because the same goes with finding the right plants to work with in order to build an effective formula. 

And yet, that’s exactly what we do. You think “Oh I have allergies” and so and so tried this herb for allergies and said it worked so maybe I should do try it too! Every now and then that strategy works, or it works for a minute and then it stops working, and then we just move on to buying the next thing that we’re hopeful about for the next 30 seconds or so. Shocking we don’t get better results, eh?

We really can do better! I think we get into these patterns both because of capitalism, which is always urging us to keep buying at break neck speed but to not stay satisfied for long, or because we are saturated in the conventional medical model, which is based on how drugs work.

Drugs have one active pharmaceutical compound, and that’s it. They are designed to just do one thing in a really straightforward way (and then you just put up with whatever side effects come along with that). 

Herbs, on the other hand, are beautifully complex–each herb has thousands of different compounds in it that work synergistically to create a unique medicine. And if you’re working with them holistically, you’re never just thinking about one symptom. You’re thinking about the whole person and what would nourish and support them on multiple levels simultaneously.

So while marketing tries to sell us on the idea of ‘get this herb for that,’ it’s important to remember they're just trying to make an immediate sale, and they don't care what happens afterward. If you truly care about whether the herbs will work, a much better approach is to choose them relationally after carefully considering what the situation requires.

Because really, If you are an herbalist, you are in fact a type of matchmaker, and your job is to find just the right herbs to meet the unique needs of the person those herbs are for. When done well, it’s a process that’s strategic, focused, and highly intentional.

This is why learning how to formulate herbs is an art, and it’s going to take a lot of skill and practice to get good at it. If you are creating a formula for allergies, you aren’t just going to throw in everything but the kitchen sink  for allergies and hope something works out for whoever is taking it. I mean, you totally can do that, but I wouldn’t have high expectations of it doing anyone much good, you know?

If you're interested in learning how to formulate herbs, here are some things you are going to need to take into consideration:

• Differences between crafting a quality tea or tincture blend for an individual versus crafting a blend for the general public.

• The safest herbs to work with to avoid herb-drug-interactions or allergies/sensitivities.

• In-depth knowledge about the medicinal ways to work with the plants in your formula.

• An introduction to herbal energetics, which is about whether an herb is considered warming or cooling, drying or moistening, relaxing or tonifying. 

• How to assess those same qualities in people so you can get good at herbal match making.

• Things like dosing, frequency, etc.

• How to make blends that taste good, because the reality is that people are not generally going to want to keep drinking it if it’s nasty (even if medicinally it’s quite effective).

Formulation is typically something people learn at the intermediate level, after they've had some initial experience working with herbs already and making some of their own medicines. I'll be offering a series of classes on formulation this fall on Lopez Island, so if you're local and want to stay in the loop just email me at arikarapson@islandherbalconsults.com and I'll keep you posted. If you're not local, I will be providing additional blog posts of formulating this summer, so stay tuned for more tips (you can get my blog posts delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for my substack here)!

If you’re fascinated with how holistic herbalism can move the needle on your health but you have more complex medical issues, or you need results sooner rather than later, I encourage you to consider doing an herbal consultation with me.

You can read more about what all that entails  or sign up for a free meet-and-greet here: https://www.islandherbalconsults.com/work-with-arika

Happy formulating! -Arika

The information provided here is provided for educational purposes only and is not meant to treat, prevent or diagnose any disease.