Crafting a Comprehensive Materia Medica: Structuring Your Herbal Journey with Demetria Clark

What if you could turn the chaos of herbal studies into a structured and rewarding journey? Discover essential strategies for crafting a Materia Medica with Demetria Clark, director of Heart of Herbs Herbal School, as she shares her insights on managing this extensive project. Whether you're using it for personal reference, educational purposes, or publication, defining the scope is key. Learn how to set boundaries on plant selection and how to effectively break your work into manageable tasks, all while using reliable resources like reputable books and scientific journals to ensure safety and accuracy.

Balancing the demands of creating a Materia Medica with everyday life can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be. Explore practical methods for overcoming common challenges in time management and organization. From setting realistic goals to embracing the Pomodoro technique, the focus is on prioritizing consistency over perfection. Discover the importance of choosing a format, digital or physical, and sticking with it to prevent the temptation of restarting. By integrating these strategies, you can make steady progress and avoid the pitfalls of seeking flawlessness.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Creating a Herbal Materia Medica
• 8:32 Tips for Efficient Herbal Project Management
• 22:13 Creating an Herbal Materia Medica
• 32:24 Researching and Creating a Materia Medica

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:38

Hi, this is Demetria Clark, the director of Heart of Herbs Herbal School, and this podcast episode today was supposed to be a student lecture. Guess what I forgot to hit record when I did the lecture. So I spent all this time talking to our students about the different strategies and workflow options for creating a Materia Medica and I forgot to hit record. So when I came back, I said you know what this could make a really cool podcast episode too. So that's what I am doing today. So this is a podcast episode about creating your Materia Medica and the strategies you can use to make it more manageable and something that doesn't cause you strife. Some organizations if you are going for, like registered herbalist status or something like that, can require anywhere from 40 to 160 Materia Medica files. So this is something that can really be helpful when it comes to time organization and helping you stay manageable and consistent throughout the process. So here are some practical tips, time scheduling strategies to help you get started and stay consistent, and we're also going to do an overview of what a Materia Medica is. I will try to also answer questions that students commonly ask throughout, just so it doesn't feel as much like a boring lecture from me. So, anyways, starting a large project like a Materia Medica can feel overwhelming, especially if you have issues with organization and follow through. If you are the kind of person that stops themselves from submitting anything because you battle with the feeling or the need to be perfect, you need to stop. Now we're going to help you break through that so you can work on it in a manageable way and feel good about what you are turning in or what you are keeping for your herbal database, for your Materia Medica. Here are some practical tips and time scheduling strategies to help you get started and stay consistent.

Speaker 1: 3:00

The first thing you're going to want to do is define your scope and practice and your purpose. So why are you creating this materia medica? Are you building it for personal reference, education or as a published resource? Your purpose will determine the level of detail and organization. If you are doing this for like something like the american herbalist guild, you're going to want to come up with a level of organization that is something that you can follow through for all of the required materia medicas. As I am saying this, the american herbalist guild is redoing some of their educational requirements, so that number that you would need to submit is something that we always tell you to go and double check. But if you're listening to this right now, go and double check as you were, you know when you were, you know halfway through the process, just to make sure that if you need more than you thought or if there's something else needed, you can add that to your Materia Medicas and you won't feel like you have to start from ground zero.

Speaker 1: 4:10

Set boundaries, so decide on how many plants or what kind of plants, or, you know, set boundaries with what you want to create. If you start looking at a Materia Medica, as I'm going to catalog every single herb on earth, this is going to be a lifetime of work and if that's your boundary, that's your boundary. If you want to stick to regional plants, if you want to stick to herbs for certain ailments, you know, definitely create some kind of category to work with from, especially from the beginning, because when you're creating this comprehensive guide, if you have something from the beginning, it is really helpful. You're going to want to break it down into smaller tasks, so and we're going to go into organization in a bit but have the major components. So what are the main components needed for a Materia Medica? Common name, botanical name, actions, indication, preparations or formulations, safety, contraindications. Treat each section as a mini task. Set milestones. So some examples would be like research and document five herbs. Complete one section for all chosen herbs eg constituents for all of the herbs of your five herbs and create some kind of stepping stone to work within as you go through creating this file. Create a workspace and gather tools. Organize your resources books, scientific journals, herbal databases, field notes.

Speaker 1: 5:51

Do not get your materia medica from blogs or AI services. Now, why do I say blogs? If you're going to use a blog and there's lots of great blogs out there, don't get me wrong If you're going to use a blog for your resources, you need to double check. You need to look at who their resources are. You need to you know how long has this person been writing about herbs, what is the information in it? Because a lot of times these things can you know, not always be written by people who are herbalist. You're going to want to look at books. So we're seeing an influx of AI written herbal books that seem to quote, sell well and have lots of good reviews. The problem with that is is our bots making these reviews and the information can be really problematic and dangerous.

Speaker 1: 6:58

Recently, an herbalist that I you know, um, like we're not like really friends, but we're friends on Facebook right Detailed a book that's out there and it's recipes based on a very common children's book and these are recipes that are in the book and it's using monkshood at amounts that would kill a person as like a recipe, and people are following these recipes because it also, I mean, or potentially could follow these recipes because it also has recipes that have lots of sugar and soda, kind of like, you know, those kinds of things that people would assume would be safe to drink. So making sure that your book is from someone who's an actual herbalist not hard to do pop their name into Google, see what they've written before. You can also, you know, pop their name into like Google, scholar or scientific journal websites or herbal databases and see if there's other people connecting to their work and if there is, there's a good chance that it's a pretty safe person. But if someone has a best-selling herbal book you've never ever heard of them before doesn't mean they're not legit. But if there's no information out there on them at all, then I would be really suspect if the book was a safe book to use Now.

Speaker 1: 8:37

Fortunately, there aren't tons of those resources out there, so most herbal books that you're going to find are going to be, you know, have a certain standardized quality and a way for you to check on where they got their information from. You can use apps or software like Evernote, google Docs or physical notebooks, and you're going to need to choose your format. So decide up front whether you're going to use note cards, a binder, digital spreadsheets or other like formats. Don't be afraid to shift to a different format. But if you keep doing that to keep yourself at stage one stop and make yourself stick to a format, even if you don't like it. You can import it to a different style later.

Speaker 1: 9:24

A lot of people will start the Materia Medica. They'll do notebooks and they'll do a binder, then they're going to do a digital one, then they're going to go back to a notebook and they're not. And they start from square one each time, and so they're never, ever progressing and they're never, ever finishing. And this is something that students do and I've talked to students who do this all the time and it doesn't have to be perfect, you don't have. It doesn't have to be the most beautiful thing that you've ever seen in your life. Don't be afraid to just get it done.

Speaker 1: 9:59

Another problem that a lot of students are faced with is time scheduling. It's really hard to schedule time if you have a job and children and other things that are going on. So a lot of people my age are 50 and they have kids in college, and then they have parents who need help too. I'm really fortunate I have my first child a little bit younger I was 21 and so my kids are grown by the time I'm 50. And my parent is very, very healthy and active and doesn't need any help, except for like with our grandmother. But I do know a lot of our students are faced with this sandwich dilemma and they're really trying to get things done. Or they're my age and they have toddlers. The world is opening and families are taking all different shapes, and they've always had all different shapes. Don't get me wrong. But what I'm saying is that that also affects our time management and our ability to strategize and do projects and so set realistic goals and deadlines.

Speaker 1: 11:05

Carve out time for yourself to do this. It is okay for you to say I need one hour a week to work on something that's important to me. I know when I was doing my initial, I was in college and I was going through my first formal herbal program, I had a baby and so I really had to say to myself it's okay for me to take this hour or two hours a week or a day to really do that, and it helps set some positive growth in my family too, because it said that mom is important or other things are important besides work. So divide the project into phases. This is just one way to do it. So set realistic goals and deadlines. Divide the project into phases. So phase one research and document 10 herbs in two weeks. Phase two organize and review data. Phase three expand and edit based on feedback and further information that you collect. Assign specific deadlines for each phase to maintain momentum. It's okay to give yourself goals. It's okay to put calendar alerts to keep those goals.

Speaker 1: 12:18

Another strategy is to use time blocking. So dedicate specific blocks of time to work on your Materia Medica. For example, 30 minutes in the morning, an hour in the evening. Avoid multitasking to maintain focus. Avoid multitasking to maintain focus. So multitasking has become like this badge of honor and you know, sword in the gut right Like multitasking does not mean you're actually doing better work. There's a lot of information out there that says to stop multitasking. Focus on what you can do. I will tell you this you will be so surprised on what you can get done of in 15 to 30 minutes of focused work time. So at Harder Verbs we'll have work sessions occasionally and students we literally all hop on a Zoom call I even do this and we have a half hour time period where we're all just basically sitting at a virtual kitchen table working together and students are always like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I got so much done. Without that distraction, it can be really easy to get a lot done. Our brains are really wonderful and strong and fascinating. So as long as we don't let ourselves get distracted with what's going on, it can be really easy to maintain focus. You can also apply techniques like the Pomodoro technique Work for 25 minutes, take a five minute break.

Speaker 1: 13:46

After four cycles, take a longer 15 to 30 minute break. I have done this before when I'm working on something that's really, really important. So during my five minute break maybe I will do squats or get a cup of tea. After my four cycles I may take a longer break. You know, 15 to 30 minutes. I would often swim during COVID. During COVID, I was working 24 seven. I also run birth arts international. So, like um, during COVID, they needed to verify doula certification who was coming into a hospital that was closed to outsiders. So I would have hospitals from around the United States calling me at two or three o'clock in the morning Like I was not getting a lot of sleep, and so when I did this and my 30 minute break, I would go swimming, um, or I would take a walk. So it's definitely a great way to help prevent burnout and to keep your energy up using methods like this.

Speaker 1: 14:41

You're going to want to prioritize consistency over perfection. Quit trying to be perfect. It's an impossible task and there's always going to be someone more perfecter than you, so don't even stress it. Commit to working on the project daily or weekly, even if it's just for 15 minutes. It's better to make small, consistent progress than to aim for perfection and get stuck. And this is a huge problem. This is a huge thing that I work through with students with. I'm always telling them hey, submit it. What if it's wrong? Who cares if it's wrong? I mean, who cares if you've? You know, stop. Let's get something here, get something in front of me for me to look at. That's what I tell them and then if there's a problem, I'll let you know. You're not gonna like fail out and lose access to everything because you did one thing wrong.

Speaker 1: 15:35

My goal is for our students to know that if something's wrong, I'll be like there's levels of wrong. First one is I'll send you an email. Second one is I'm scheduling a phone call. Third one is I'm calling you. Like please don't give that to somebody right? Like, what's your phone number?

Speaker 1: 15:51

Because the reality is is that we all get stuck and we all try to do things just right. But we don't have to do things just right, we don't have to be perfect. Sometimes it's important to just get the work done, and it's really funny because students will love on things that people put out there and they're clearly not perfect. The cameras wiggle in and all this other stuff's going on and I'm like, look, those people are not trying to be perfect, they're getting the information out there. So do not put pressure on yourself to be perfect. And then a lot of the stuff that we see out there, this whole like drive to be like the perfect family, the perfect life, whatever. It always seems like they're going up in smoke. So I'm going to take my imperfectly perfect and roll with that, because I don't need you to feel like you need to be perfect for me.

Speaker 1: 16:47

So you can also batch similar tasks, so group related tasks, together to streamline your workflow. Example spend one session researching botanical names for several herbs, or in another session, focus on writing safety profiles. You're going to want to stay flexible and avoid burnout. Life happens, so allow some buffer time in your schedule. If a section feels overwhelming, switch to a different task temporarily. Sometimes things are overwhelming because it's bringing up stuff in ourselves. It's bringing up feelings in ourselves or we feel like, if we get to this certain point, we've failed before and so we're going to fail again. We have a lot of students that come to us from like, other herbal schools or other. They, you know, take in other kinds of classes and they stop because something happened in their life at this certain point and so they worry about going past this. They worry about, you know, lots of people will find this in lots of different things in their lives. So switch to a different task temporarily. Change your focus, you know. Change the air in the room, celebrate the small wins. To stay motivated, you're going to also want to schedule your time. So, look, this is just a real quick example of what you can do.

Speaker 1: 18:04

So week one to two planning and setup define the scope and select your first 10 herbs. Research basic details, names, parts used in descriptions. So that would define the scope and select your 10 herbs. Would be day one. Day two to four research basic details, names, parts used in descriptions. So that would define the scope and select your 10 herbs. Would be day one. Day two to four research basic details, names, parts, uses and descriptions. Days five to seven organize your findings into your chosen format spreadsheet, notebook, note cards, anything like that. Week three to four deep research and writing Dedicate one to two herbs per day, focusing on actions, indications and preparations, and then use time blocking or Pomodoro for focused writing. Then you're going to want to, in week five and six, review and expand, edit and refine entries, begin researching additional herbs or categories. And then week seven would be to consolidate and share and finalize your format and then to share with your peer or mentor for feedback. So those are things that you can do to help strategize and to get your Materia Medica where you want it to be.

Speaker 1: 19:03

Now there's all different kinds of formats for Materia Medica, but no matter what, you do find a way to back it up. So if that means you go to Staples and you get them to photocopy your notebook, have them photocopy your notebook. If that means that you are using a cloud service to back up your data, use a cloud service to back up your data. We have a lot of students that go through our programs and, like, 10 years later they will email me and be like do you have all of the emails I sent you that had attachments? Because we used to allow people to send attachments and they, because we did, there was. This was before. There were online classrooms where you could upload stuff, right, and I'm like no, I'm not a good backup for you. We purge, you know, a lot of unnecessary mail at some point we don't pay to keep. You know we would have 26, 27 years of email backed up. You know that would be huge with everyone sending their pictures and their files and stuff.

Speaker 1: 20:00

So make sure you find a way to back it up. You can get things you know photocopied and you can even keep a copy at a parent's house or a kid's house, just like hey, can I keep this notebook here? So if something happens to your home, which we are seeing more and more frequently, we have students who are like I just lost my full Materia Medica in a flood or the fires or anything like that. I don't know what to do, I have to start all over again and there's nothing I can do for them. I feel really bad, but so I've been just advising students to back everything up and whatever format you want. Just find a way to back it up, make the commitment to get it done. So what is your Materia Medica? And I'm going to briefly go over Materia Medicas, because we do have other lectures in our classrooms and even on the podcast about Materia Medica that you can listen to. But anyways, a Materia Medica is literally your plant file, right?

Speaker 1: 21:03

Materia Medica is a comprehensive collection of information about medicinal plants, herbs and other natural remedies. We in Western herbalism tend to not use things like bone and hair, but those are in some countries and so those may be in different Materia Medicas. It serves as a reference guide for herbalists and natural health practitioners and enthusiasts to understand the properties, uses and potential effects of different substances used in herbal medicine. The term originates from the Latin meaning materials of medicine. A materia medica can be as simple, as complex or as needed, is often tailored to specific interests or practices of the individual creating it. So it is really about you. It's a dynamic document that involves new or gained knowledge. Your materia medica will will never ever be the same as someone else's unless you literally copy them right, because everybody looks at herbs differently and different regions, so you can have one herb that's used for digestive issues in one part of the world and in another it's used for the nervous system and that's its primary use.

Speaker 1: 22:14

I loved when we traveled a lot when our children were little and we were living in Europe. We would go to all these different places and I love just seeing, like even places that were 50 to 100 miles apart on the map in their epithets, and different kinds of places that sold herbal medicine, that they were very different remedies for the very much same herbs. It was very, very cool just to see how regions embraced and had a difference and a different way to look at herbal medicine. So parts of your Materia Medica. So this is the basic structure of a Materia Medica and it can vary, but it typically involves the common name of the plant. So these are easily recognizable names. For example, like chamomile the botanical name, which is the scientific name you're going to want to have that also.

Speaker 1: 23:09

If it has more than one common name, try to get in as many as possible. That'll be helpful, especially if you are making a searchable database, so a Word document or a spreadsheet or something like that. You can search that and it'll give you the different common names. So if someone says I use such and such common name, you can go and look up that variety of the common name. There's lots of different herbs with very similar or the same common name. So snake root is one that you will see written in various different books around the world and it is different plant in different regions, or many plants can have a similar common name. Then you're going to want to have the botanical family and this will at times change as we are learning more about genetics and botany. But basically, the botanical name and the family botanical uh, the botanical name and the botanical family are pretty um, they're pretty solid. We've had just a few upsets in the last few years Description and identification. So plant description size, shape, color, habitat, flowering time. You're going to want high quality images or illustrations.

Speaker 1: 24:31

Parts used the specific parts of the plant used, such as leaves, flowers, roots or seeds. The constituents these are the active compounds, like flavonoids, alkaloids and tannins. The energetics, based on a traditional system, like ayurveda or traditional chinese medicine, eg like warming, cooling, dry or moist, different actions. The therapeutic properties the anti-inflammatory, diuretic and nervines. Indications, so conditions or symptoms that may help the um, that or may address, like chamomile for anxiety or digestive upset.

Speaker 1: 25:08

Preparations how to use the herb teas, tinctures, infusions, poultices, capsules. You, you know, can go on and on and on. If you have a recipe, so say you're writing about chamomile and you have this awesome chamomile recipe, put it in your Materia Medica. Don't make it something that you're hunting and pecking and trying to find later, at a later date. Just put it in your Materia Medica. If it has four or five different herbs in it, or two or three whatever, put it in those two. So if it's like chamomile nettle and something else, put it also in the nettle section. Put it in the other things section. The important thing is is that you're going to want to be able to find these recipes when you need them and then the recommended dosages for this specific formulations. You're also going to want to have safety information and contraindications. So your contraindications are important Also in your Materia Medica.

Speaker 1: 26:04

If it's especially if it's digital, like you know, like have a link to the source where the contraindication is within the file. If it's a digital file or you know, cite your sources for this so you can go back and check things later or see if things have changed or if the information has been updated. So there's great databases out there, like and there's great places to access different articles, like the American Botanical Council. The American Herbalist Guild has different, you know links to studies and things like that. You can use the Cochrane database. You can even use something like PubMed, even though those are not always the best place. You can also check, like Google Scholar. That's a great way to get access to studies or places to find studies from other countries, because other countries are also studying herbs too and following scientific protocols.

Speaker 1: 27:07

Following scientific protocols, you're going to want to write down any interactions or precautions or notes from clients who use something. So you know that so-and-so had this reaction and they didn't like it. For whatever reason, any reaction someone has they don't like and they report to you. Try to make a note of that because you're going to see, maybe certain people with this issue have this reaction or interaction, but people who don't have the issue have no problems, and so you can start to even make your personal notes and observations in your own case studies, and this is an important way to have valuable insight to your herbal practice and the clients that you are serving. So then there's ways to collect and organize data for your Materia Medica.

Speaker 1: 27:55

So we talked about how to set aside time and get started. We talked about what a Materia Medica was. Now we're going to talk about ways to collect and organize the data for your Materia Medica. So there's so many ways to do this, and really you're going to want to do one that you're going to want to do consistently. The method you choose will depend on your personal preferences, access to technology and the depth of information you wish to document. Okay, so don't feel like you need to write a book for each one.

Speaker 1: 28:29

So you can use note cards. You can use physical or digital ones. Index cards are apps like Trello. Each card focuses on one herb with sections for all parts of the Materia Medica. They're easy to range, carry and have for field work. Now you can carry them with you in um like a coupon Uh, what do they call the coupon accordion?

Speaker 1: 28:54

Or you can use something like a photo album that has postcard sheets and so you can slide in like six postcards or four postcards per sheet. You can also use something like a spreadsheet, so Excel or Google sheets. You can use columns for the different parts of your Materia Medica. This will allow for easy sorting, filtering and comparing between herbs, and you can also search your spreadsheet. You can also use a Word document and just put them all in a Word document one page or two page per herb and then you can paste in or import the photos into that. So you can use platforms like Google Docs or Word.

Speaker 1: 29:44

You can also use blog posts, so you can even have blog posts that no one can see and it's just for your Materia Medica, just for you to access it. You can use journals and notebooks. So this is a very tactile and traditional approach. You can, you know, paste in pictures or or plant pressings. You can dedicate a page or section to each herb. It's ideal for people who enjoy writing and drawing.

Speaker 1: 30:16

You can also use blog posts, and I just mentioned that with the digital. But basically, when you do a digital document, you can also include images, links and multimedia elements, herbal apps and databases. So you can use apps like Evernote or specialized herbalist tools to keep your data accessible and on the go. Many apps will allow tagging, categorization and advanced search functions. Those can be very potentially, anything you put in an app may be almost impossible for you to update into export. So that may be something that may be good on the go, but it may not be a good long-term solution and you may not be able to keep them for free. So it may be something where you're going to pay every month or every year to keep it and then, if you let that lapse, you may lose all your information. You can also use binders like a three ring binder with printed sheets for each herb, organized with dividers with different categories. So, however you want to categorize your herbs by body system, by plant type, that's up to you.

Speaker 1: 31:25

You can also do illustrated scrapbooks. We have a lot of students that are super creative and they like paint and they do pressed plant samples and sketches and botanical illustrations and they're so beautiful and that is where I want to go one day. I don't have time right now, but I do love looking at them and I think anyone who can do that is where I want to go one day. I don't have time right now, but I do love looking at them and I think anyone who can do that is just I'm just so impressed.

Speaker 1: 31:48

So, how to gather data for your Materia Medica? So you're going to want to have your primary research. So this is going to be your field work, your observations, you seeing their natural habitat, your notes on growth patterns, preferred conditions and personal observations. You seeing their natural habitat, your notes on growth patterns, preferred conditions and personal observations, your preparation testing. So your formulations, your you know your documented effects. You're going to want to have that as your primary research is is what you personally can observe or talk about. Then you're going to want your secondary and this is your more academic aspect.

Speaker 1: 32:24

So you're going to want to use your trusted herbal textbooks. You know there's a lot of great ones out there, like the Herbal Medicine Maker's Handbook by James Green. I've written some books. Then there's like books from you know authors like Rosemary Gladstar, david Hoffman, christopher Hobbes I mean you can just go on and on David Winston, use peer-reviewed scientific journals for detailed studies on active components and efficacy, and if you have your document digital, you can also have links in there or you can cite your sources. You're going to want to also look at collaborative learning environments, so courses are a great way to learn with a group or to get feedback about different things, and you can also talk to other experienced herbalists and you will want to also maybe talk to people in your community that have traditional knowledge. So this is an overview of collection and data and formatting and strategies to make your Materia Medica the best that it possibly can be. Thank you for listening and have a wonderful, wonderful day.