Handcrafted healing herbal oils with Kami McBride

Herbal healing oils with Kami McBride
Kami: which herbal modality can you get started with today that you can engage with every day? Because it's that every day engagement that helps you embody and really learn on a deeper level, which is what we need.
And so the oils do that for you. Every day it's on your lips, it's on your feet, it's on your dry skin. It's on your face, it's after the showers, before the bath, it's this herbal treatment this herbal product that you can engage with every day.
Lana: You're listening to Plant Love Radio episode number 79.
Hello friends. I hope you're having a great week. I'm here with you to welcome back a friend and a teacher of mine, Kami McBride. In the past, I invited Kami to talk about herbal kitchen remedies. And today we'll narrow our focus down a bit and talk about handcrafted herbal oils.
Kami is the author of the herbal kitchen. Over the past 30 plus years, she has helped thousands of families to make the highest quality herbal remedies to prevent illness, take care of common ailments and protect their health naturally. She has thought herbal medicine and complementary in alternative medicine courses at different colleges and programs.
Today we discuss why herbal oils are essential for your herbal journey, what are some of your favorites and why, and how you can use practical tips to embrace oils into your self-care rituals for healing and health.
Later we'll talk about Kami's free workshop on handcrafted healing, herbal oils where she shares her wisdom with you. You can find the link to the workshop in the show notes at https://plantloveradio.com/79. Enjoy!
Kami, hello... how are you?
Kami: Hi, Lana. Great to see you
Lana: Great to see you as well. I am so, so excited to welcome you back to Plant Love Radio. In our first conversation, we discussed your philosophy on incorporating herbs and spices into everyday life. I love this episode and will definitely include it for our listeners.
Today we're chatting on a slightly different topic and selecting as small category of herbs, spices and self-care products that you love very much.
But before we do that for the listeners that have not met you yet, I want to ask you to share a little bit about your herbal path, how it began and what eventually brought you to where you are today.
Kami's health journey
Kami: Oh, thank you. Thank you for having me Lana. I love what you're doing. I love the education that you're providing for people and just being one of those bridges to help bring people into the whole Plant world. I think it's beautiful what you're doing. Thank you.
And for me. I grew up not ever even having heard the word holistic health or healing I don't think, you know, it was like, you do what the doctor says. You do what everybody's doing. You listen to the ads on TV that talk about the pharmaceuticals. So I just kind of grew up in the mainstream . And so then I ended up having a brain surgery, actually to remove a tumor from taking a medication.
And so after I have this brain surgery and my surgeon said, Hey, your doctor's not going to tell you this. Nobody's going to tell you this, but stop taking that medication.
I do this surgery all week long on people that have been on that medication. So here, I'm 19 years old, just going, whoa, mind blown world blown up in everything that I find the way it was supposed to be, all of a sudden now was suspect. It was like, well, if that wasn't true, what about this?
Because once you've been a statistic, there is no going back. There is no like, oh, well maybe that drug could not have a side effect. No, you need to read that insert that's inside the drug that you're taking. It's folded 5,000 times and the script is like teeny tiny, but you need to read that You need to know what you're doing.
And so at some point just said, oh my gosh, is there not another way? Is there another way to do this? And so then within a year or two, after that, I was in massage school, yoga school and herb school.
Lana: wow. Wow.
Kami: I was just like, I am going to learn another way, you know, but it's amazing when you don't have a choice to go against what you've been taught and then the world opens up to the other realms of what's possible. Like what else am I empowered to change in my life? Right.
So, I went to massage school and herbs school, Rosemary Gladstar said, if you can't eat it, don't put it on your skin.
Lana: absolutely. Absolutely. I remember that.
Kami: And I believed her. And so then I went to massage class, like the next day, and we're putting petrochemical just junk all over our bodies, you know?
And so I was like, Hmm. I'm going to listen to Rosemary. So I started making the herbal oils right away. I was learning how to make all herbal medicines, but the herbal oils are what I put to work right away because I was in massage school.
So in massage school, just to get your first level, you have to give a hundred massages, you know? And so by now I have slathered oils on thousands of bodies. Right. But the oils were first . I started making them and the other massage students were like, Wow that is so cool.
And so then I started teaching it. They drafted me. They're like what are you doing? And so I never knew I was going to be an oil maker, sell oils, teach oils, but it was just this marriage of these two worlds that hadn't happened in a while. They just came together in my life. And I started making and using oils and I had an oil bar for my clients.
Lana: Mm.
Kami: And so people would come and get a massage for me. And I would have like 10 different herbal oils and I would have them smell like three or four and let them pick, or let them pick two. I got my massage license in 1987. So after all these years these formulas were born, just different, beautiful herbal formulas. And so now I teach that because I really feel that herbal oils are one of the underused herbal medicines.
Lana: so much love your story. First of all, so many healers start as patients, right? We always have this weakness, this weak link in us that really prompts us to go and dig deeper and really learn lot more about how we can use the amazing gifts of nature in our healing. And so I really love and appreciate that in your own story. So thank you so much for sharing it.
I initially learned about you through another herbalist Rosalie de la Foret. And Rosalie was raving about handcrafted healing herbal oils. And I was really inspired by videos and ended up taking your course.
I was telling you earlier today that I actually went back and I looked at the course itself because you have access to it for life. And so I really loved the course and everything it allowed me to learn.
Essential oils versus Infused oils
I want to talk a little bit about Difference between oils. So people talk about aroma therapy or essential oils versus those handcrafted oils that you are discussing. Can you talk to us a little bit about the difference between those?
Kami: Yeah. So first of all, essential oils are really popular. They're so easy to carry. They come in such little bottles. And so essential oils, which I am not talking about and I do not teach. So just to be really clear, anything that I say, that has helped me has not been with an essential oil. Okay. So, yeah, let's just lay that out. So an essential oil is a distillation process. There's a different ways of doing it, but basically you take a very large amount of plant material and then distill it down or do different processes to capture certain components from that oil.
And it's highly concentrated and it can take hundreds of pounds of plants to get small bottles of oil. So, you can take two or 300 pounds of plant and get one or two or four ounces of oil. So it's super highly concentrated. It's its own study. If you're going to study aroma therapy and essential oils, that is The school you go to, it's not like, oh, you know, the lavender infused oil is the same... there are some crossover, but they're different medicines. And essential oils since they're so concentrated they have a lot more contra-indications and you really need to know what you're doing.
Okay.
Where what I teach and what I do is we herbal infused oils and where we take a carrier oil. All over the world, everywhere you go. There is somebody who has taken the local fat, whether it be an animal fat or a vegetable fat, like whatever's fat is produced locally and infuse their favorite topical herbs and used it. Okay.
So that's what we're talking about. So I live in olive land where the olives grow. And so I infuse my herbs, my topical benefit herbs into this carrier fat. It can be coconut oil or it can be almond oil or so I use olive oil or I use other carrier oils also. And you infuse it.
There's different methods for infusing that entire plant into that oil and then you use that. So it's a much slower process. There's a lot more different constituents than with essential oils and it's very safe. The thing that I love about herbal infused oils you counter indications. You don't have to put them on the top shelf if you have kids in
Hmm.
house, they can be laying around. Your kids can slop around in them. Anybody can benefit from them. And so that's what I love is their safety. And there's just a whole different ball game. And you don't have to have any kind of distillation equipment.
Anybody can do this at home. And so it's really the people's oil. It's an herbal medicine that is so safe, so friendly, so versatile. And we can all do it and benefit from it.
Lana: I love that. And I agree with you. When we're talking about the essential oils or aromatherapy, that the distillation component is so much more difficult, that you need very specialized equipment. You mentioned that you are extracting a single or a couple of different typically volatile compounds.
And we are finding in research that when it is used for antibacterial purposes there is a higher percent of bacteria that can adapt to these oils just because there is a single compound that is present there.
And in those that you're discussing that are infused oil. Such a complex bouquet of different compounds being pulled by that oil you were using.
I agree with you that essential oils have been popular. But I have several episodes previously recorded on the topic and I'm always learning something. And I agree with you that the safety considerations one and really knowing what you're doing is super, super important.
So thank
Kami: I mean, it's essential oils have their place. And if somebody wants to go down that road and become an aroma therapist, we need all hands on deck. And my work is really about every household. This is in every household medicine, the herbal infused oils they really are in every household medicine for anybody can do it. It's simple, it's much more simple.
Kami's philosophy on using infused oils
Lana: Yes. Yes. For sure. So in your teachings, you are talking about making, knowing and using these oils. I want to ask you, and this is literally how you approach it, what your philosophy is. Can you tell us a little bit more of what these things mean to you?
Kami: Yeah. So I actually can't imagine my life without the oils. I engage with them every single day of my life for decades. It's like everybody needs lip balm, everybody needs salve, everybody needs that foot rub.
And the thing about studying herbal medicine, if you're just dabbling or you're just starting, or you're wanting to get started, you need to find your place. There are so many gateways into the herbal world, there's just so many different medicines and the oils are such a good place to start because you don't have to wait until you're catching a cold to use them.
You don't have to wait until you have a sinus infection to use them. You can study for three, four or five years, but herbalism is about embodiment.
Lana: Hmm.
Kami: like what modality, which herbal modality can you get started with today that you can engage with every day? Because it's that every day engagement that helps you embody and really learn on a deeper level, which is what we need.
And so the oils do that for you. Every day it's on your lips, it's on your feet, it's on your dry skin. It's on your face, it's after the showers, before the bath, it's this herbal treatment this herbal product that you can engage with every day. And it is the best way to learn about herbal medicine is to find that thing that you can engage with all the time.
And the thing about the oils is a lot of times we think like, oh, it's for, you know, to get rid of my wrinkles or, you know, make my skin look beautiful. But the thing is, the skin is an organ.
Lana: Mm.
Kami: Your skin is an organ of elimination, assimilation. It just regulates so many things for you. And just under the skin, if you look at like a picture of the skin in a physiology book, just under the surface of the skin is the lymph and the nerves. Right.
And so whenever you affect your skin, whenever you support your skin, you are supporting your nerves. And people don't think about that. Your nerves respond and work well in a moisturized environment, and if your skin is dehydrated, your nervous system has dehydration going on and the nerves don't communicate, things don't happen as well.
And so when your skin is dry, you can bet that your maybe a little bit grouchy or that day, or a little bit less resilient or a little bit less responsive. When your skin stays moisturized it's very grounding and calming to the nervous system.
And I have hundreds of testimonials from my students over the past 30 years talking about. How their body oiling, their foot oiling, keeping their skin oiled helps them with anxiety, stress, tension, hard times. Right?
So we don't think our skin and our skin care products as also are our nervous system support products, but they are. All the oils and the salves, they support our nervous system. They support us to feel nourished and calm and grounded and capable. And so you want to start thinking about your skin like that dry skin equals just more tension and anxiety. It's a really powerful thing that a lot of people don't really make that connection. You know what I mean?
Lana: I love that idea. And I think it's very important to think holistically about our body. And what you're also bringing for me is that oiling will take a little bit more time. And so as a result, you're really paying a lot more attention to your own body and you're a lot less rushed and you're breathing probably a little bit deeper and you're just taking your time. And I think part of this just nourishing yourself is such a powerful medicine. So thank you so much for that incredible reminder.
Quick pause
Hey there just a quick pause to let you know that the Kami has a free workshop to go into greater depth on handcrafted healing herbal oils, and share her wisdom with you. You can check out the class at https://plantloveradio.com/kamiherbaloilsclass. I will include the address in the show notes and also in the description of the podcast.
And now back to our conversation.
Examples of favorite oils
So I know that in your classes and in your free workshops, you talk about a variety of different herbal oils. And there are many that are very versatile. I would love to talk to you a little bit about maybe one or two that you love and that you really recommend to your students or to any beginner that is thinking... hmm, that sounds really cool. I want to try it.
Kami: Yeah.
So there are so many, and the first thing I would say is if there's something that you're really intrigued by, or you want a plant to fall in love with start there.
One of Kami's favorite oils
But I love making rose oil out organic rose petals. This oil is cooling, it's supportive to the nervous system. It's calming. We know that roses speak to the heart. Right. And it's such an opening oil and also people don't realize, but roses are vulnerary. They help to heal the skin. They reduce inflammation.
So your rose petal oil can go on your face. It can go on any red mark on your skin. It's a great summer oil for the end of the day when your skin drier and hotter than it should be. And also it is one of these oils that we rub our feet with. Right. We rub our feet to calm and ground and nourish and support each other.
The beautiful thing about having an oil that's beautiful like that like, like roses, it doesn't seem quite as medicinal,
Lana: Hmm.
Kami: Like it's rose infused oil, right? Is that you use it, you use it more. And I am all about having these oils that really are pleasing, like lavender and just invite the senses and engage the senses and wake us up, wake up our senses. We need to wake up our senses. And so I keep them all over the house in the living room. And so they become part of your home culture.
I'm not just about teaching herbal medicine. I'm about activating the herbal healing arts in our homes. Right. So that we remember our heritage as healers and herbalists, and the oils are amazing to do that because you have to put them on your hands, and your hands are healing.
And if you have that rose infused oil sitting in the living room when we sit around the house, we give foot rubs while we're watching a movie or whatever, you know? And you start to sense your body more, you start to sense the body of the people that you live with more.
And the thing about herbal medicine, it's not just about the herbs. It's not just about the action of the herbs. You have to have some body literacy, you have to understand when the body needs what, right. And how do you learn that? How do you learn to read the body? Right.
That's a whole other part of herbalism. And so for me, having these oils in the house that we use in our home culture, our healing, our home culture is a healing culture. Then it teaches us that body literacy in a slow but steady way.
So for example, you give that foot rub, over time, you start to be able to feel that person's pulse, and you don't have to be a Chinese pulse reader, or Ayurvedic pulse reader? You just start to have a sense of the texture of their muscle, of the tone of their skin, your, or whoever you're rubbing there, the speed of their pulse.
And you can notice that.... today your muscles are really tight and your pulse is really strong and something feels off. See the herbs work best when you use them before things get serious.
Lana: Sure.
Kami: learning to read the body like that, like how your pulse is really elevated. You don't have to know what it is. You just have to know that it's different and then pay attention. Like, whoa, you got sick the next day, like, wow. Okay. The body was telling me that, it was agitated about something. So that is the healing art, the observation that we've lost in ourselves, in our medicine practices, that can be reclaimed when we start to touch each other, when we have these oils that help us to activate the healing art culture in our home. Fresh or dry - plant personalities for oil making
Lana: Oh, I love this so much. I have a couple of Follow up questions for you. So the rose oil you were talking about, when you're making oils, do you typically recommend using dried petals or dried herbs or are you open to just wilted plants can you talk to us a little bit about that?
So this will be my first question, and then I'll ask you the next one.
Kami: So that is the question that I created an entire course
Lana: Hmm.
Kami: because for every plant that's different and we don't have time to cover that here, but really is what I based my course on. And if you get into the free workshop, I have enough time in there to really go into that with you. But it's a beautiful question because you know, people go, oh, I want to make lavender oil. Oh, I want to make calendula oil . Oh, should I use the fresh or dry? And they look it up on Google and it's like, oh, dry.
But the thing is, it's not just about fresh or dry or wilt or whatever you need to understand why. What I've learned for optimum extraction experimentation over three decades is some of them like to be wilted. Some of them, the wilting doesn't matter. Some of them have to be dry. Some of them have to be fresh. You know, each it's like,
Lana: Personalities Right.
Kami: Hey, they're like Personalities you know?
And if you can understand the why and the framework that you look at for each oil you make right.
Lana: That that's fabulous and Kami, we are going to include the link to the free workshop in the show notes. So if someone who is listening to this is interested in learning more and really exploring these concepts they will be able to do this.
Kami: Yeah.
Working with the mess of oils
Lana: So my second question, which was the follow-up to your discussion on using it throughout your house is how did you teach yourself to not think of oils... oh, they're going to be messy. I find that people when making oils thinking I really need to have a lot more time or a different environment around me because oils will spill, they will create a mess.
Kami: Yeah. Yeah. There's so there's a lot of different levels to that question. And that's the first thing you do is you just turn it into a salve. That's the beauty and a good salve is really based on how well you make your oil, is the best extraction possible? Does it have the best shelf life?
And then you turn it into a salve and establish a solid, right? It doesn't drip all over the place and you can carry it in your purse. And I also carry my oils in these little pump bottles, like little treatment bottles so that they don't spill.
A lot of it is how it's carried, right, and the medium that you get it into and definitely getting it into a salve or a lip balm is really key.
And the other thing is, here is the answer to that. What you do is you go to the store and you buy some twin size flannel sheets,
Lana: Okay.
Kami: and then you cut them up into like four foot strips. And so if you're sitting on the couch and even you want to use the salve, you just put that little sheet down and you just put that flannel sheet over the couch.
Lana: Okay.
Kami: Or if I'm getting into bed. So at nighttime, I oil my feet every night. And when I don't, my nervous system kind of lets me know. And what I do is I put that little flannel sheet at the edge of my bed and I oil my feet and then my feet go on that little sheet for the next hour or whatever. And so you just, so I have this really simple, very soft, thick fabric that as soon as we pull it out, it's just there.
Lana: Yeah.
Kami: I have a couple in every room and it's very simple. Right? I mean, sure. It's great when you have that spa day, right. You got four hours or whatever, and you're going to really take your time, but really it's amazing how much you can calm your nervous system in five minutes with these oils and with some such five minutes, right? Five minute foot rub, five minute hand rub.
And so you just pull out that little strip of thick flannel, you know, it doesn't have to be entire sheet. It's just a piece of fabric. You just put it down. And so that's just like a habit. It's a very simple little hack, but it makes a huge difference.
Lana: I love this idea because I find that I use oils on my feet a lot more during the winter, just because I put socks on after, but during the summer, just because, you're thinking, where is it going to go? I'm less consistent but thank you this is a great trick.
So wanted to ask you a couple of more questions. We covered a lot on oils and once again, I'm going to include additional links and materials for our listeners to explore more on oils in your free workshop.
But I wanted to mention that you are an author of the herbal kitchen, 50 easy to find herbs and over a 250 recipes to bring lasting health to you and your family. And I love the book.
In addition to oils...In our previous conversation, we went into great detail discussing things related to the book, but I wanted to ask you if there's things other than the oils that really stand out for you as something that everyone listening to this conversation should incorporate into their lives.
Kami: Yeah. So that's really the question why I wrote the herbal kitchen. The herbal kitchen isn't about being a great cook, a great herbal cook, knowing all of your herbs. The herbal kitchen is about taking your culinary herbs, herbs and spices that you already have a relationship with and finding out more about those and how those herbs can help you .
The big focus of the herbal kitchen is getting more herbs into your food. So it's not like taking high doses, but at every meal you have herbs. Digesting your food is hard work, it's hard work. And so the more that you can get the carminative herbs, herbs that help you with digestion into every meal.
Just that is something that it's a very simple thing that over time shows up big time because adding those enzymes, adding those herbs, what I call the worker horse herbs of the world, they help you digest every meal and everybody really needs that.
Fast food it's not just the problem that it's fast food. It's just that there's no herbs in there to help you digest it. So no matter what you're eating, like if you're eating out, get that black pepper on there. Black pepper is one of the most powerful carminatives. Carminative herbs increase the flow of blood, energy and oxygen to your digestive track so that you can digest your food.
Again, it's just a simple way that you can use herbs in your food every day and you eat, everybody has to eat, right. You eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And we have a saying at my table and it's where's the carminatives. Or we go somewhere and we're like, there's no carminatives on this food. You know?
Lana: interesting.
Kami: Culture begins in the kitchen. We're talking about activating herbal healing culture in your home, the herbal healing arts in your home. And that's another super simple way to just get that culture going, that herbal culture so that it's normalized.
Lana: I absolutely love it. I remember that in our previous conversation, you were talking about simple things like basil and thyme and rosemary and oregano. Coming from Eastern Europe I was not really used to super hot and super spicy plants. It took me a little bit of time to get used to those, but even as I was getting used to them, I started becoming more comfortable with other things that were a lot more familiar. And so I really love this philosophy of yours. That if you start adding these simple things into every meal how much benefit you're actually gaining from that. So, absolutely. Thank you.
Kami: Yeah, so that supports your digestion and then you have the oils to support your nervous system. And people are feeling so overwhelmed and it's like, you don't have to know it all. You can just start with those two things and have a lot of success.
Lana: love it. Love it. Thank you. And I'll make sure to include the link to your book for our listeners to explore as well.
Kami: Thank you.
Lana: We have spent quite a bit of time talking about really fascinating things today. Before we finish, I want to ask you two more questions. How can our listeners learn more about you and from you, perhaps you can give us either your website or your social media .
And then my last question for you would be anything that you would like to leave our audience with in terms of herbal oils or anything urbalism in general.
Kami: Yeah. Thank you, Lana. So yeah, I recommend if you're just starting out on your herbal path, starting out making herbal oils, or even if you've been making herbal oils for a while, I have a lot of herbal oil makers come into class and just be amazed. They have no idea that they could take their oils to the next level.
So I highly recommend just coming on into the free workshop. And if you get into class with me, it's not just a bunch of videos. I'm there mentoring you. I am known for really answering every single question and really helping people get very confident with the oils.
And so that's in the show notes and then otherwise I'm over at kamimcbride.com and also I have a YouTube channel at @KamiMcBride, and I'm always doing stuff over there because for me, herbalism is about evolving our culture into one that takes care of our bodies with healing herbs, a deep connection with the earth and a holistic lifestyle, passes this knowledge onto the next generation, right? So that they don't have to start from scratch like I did. This really is about getting skilled, feeling the confidence to really evolve our culture into one that where herbs are normalized and central to what we're doing.
And so anything that you do to invest in your herbal knowledge, into your knowledge of healing, it changes everything really. It changes who we are. It changes how we heal, it changes our medical system. And so I just invite everybody to just remember that in our bones really to harvest the gifts of the year.
And what we do, the way we say thank you to the earth is by creating nourishing, beautiful remedies and food, that feed life that feed us.
Lana: Wow.
Kami: We received these gifts and we say, thank you. We give back by honoring ourselves with the beautiful medicines that we make.
Lana: Such incredibly powerful message. Thank you. Thank you, Kami so much. Thank you for your time and for your wisdom.
Kami: Oh, thanks Lana. Thanks for having me.
Lana: Thank you.
Thank you for joining us!
Thank you for joining us today for this conversation with Kami McBride. I hope you've enjoyed it and ready to check out Kami's free workshop at https://plantloveradio.com/kamiherbaloilsclass. You can also find the link and all other resources in the show notes at https://plantloveradio.com/79.
This episode is brought to you by Mountain Rose Herbs. Whether you are a budding herbalist or an established practitioner, Mountain Rose Herbs offers the highest quality organically grown herbs, spices teas, essential oils and botanical goods. To learn more about the company and explore their amazing collection please head over to https://plantloveradio.com/mountainroseherbs
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