DOT Reads – An Introduction

I have always been an insatiable reader. Over the years I have noticed that books find their way to me in their own sweet time, either when I need them or when I’m finally ready to receive them.

Reading has been proven to positively impact your health. It keeps your brain active, improves brain connectivity, increases empathy, reduces stress, lowers BP and heart rate, reduces depression and slows cognitive decline as we age.

I am often asked by my patients and friends what I’m reading. So, in 2022 I would like to share some books I am reading. These books will be related in some way to health, herbs, consciousness, energy, Nature or life in some way. Some reads I post will be recommendations from my patients or past reads that resonated with me deeply and have stayed with me through the years. Many will be books that I read following my Cancer diagnosis and throughout my recovery. I aim to make general comments about the books, especially the books that changed the course of my life. Some comments will be short and sweet, others I presume I may waffle on a bit, but as a dear friend of mine always says, “who knows what is to come”. So, this is an experiment of sorts.

DOT Reads - Holiday Edition

Rad Herb Australia Zine – Summer 2021

A grassroots herbal zine produced by several community minded herbalists for herbalists and those interested in folk and grassroots herbalism. Created to empower the herbal community by sharing herbal knowledge and associated offerings. It is packed with a wide variety of herb related articles all contributed by herbalists. At a cost of only $10 it’s a brilliant read. The Autumn zine is out now. Email ozradherb@gmail.com for more information.

Australian Women Can Walk by Veronica Caven Aldous

Artist and writer, Veronica Caven Aldous, shares the diary from her gap year travels to India, Sri Lanka and Nepal in 1979. I feverishly read this in one day. I could not put it down.

Written in diary form, you are transported back in time to the late 70’s, the time of the hippy trail. Vivid descriptions evoke the senses while you experience the emotions, dangers, fears and triumphs of a 22-year-old woman traveling solo. Her love of Nature is evident and I deeply connected to her romantic ‘heaven in a field’. The songs and albums woven throughout her days colour in a soundtrack of the times.

There is a part in this book that is written so beautifully where upon her return from an extremely challenging trek across a Himalayan glacier she has to cross a raging, rising river on horseback. This had me on the edge of my seat, tightly gripping the book, crying out encouragement, while willing a safe crossing.

Featuring houseboats in Kashmir, pilgrimages and Himalayan treks, Veronica proves that ‘Australian Women Can Walk’ and I’m so proud to call her my aunty and kindred spirit.

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

I had read this book when I was a teenager but when I saw it in a bookstore before the summer holidays it was calling my name begging me to re-visit it. I had recently heard that this story came to Joan Lindsay in a dream and that following the dream she wrote the book in a week. How fabulous.  

Many of you would know it as a story about the disappearance of 3 girls while on a school picnic to Hanging Rock, but it is so much more than this. The writing is exceptional and it ebbs and flows with dreamy, romantic prose and observations about the Australian landscape. Soon I will read the follow up, The Secret of Hanging Rock. Published post-humorously.

The Business of Botanicals by Ann Armbrecht

Writer and anthropologist, Ann Armbrecht, tackles the complex topic of ethics and sustainability in the herbal industry. She elegantly walks us through the process from wildcrafting and independent growers, all the way to the herbal products we use in our clinics and the associated ethical and environmental impacts. This book raises many questions for the individual herbalist and the herbal community at large in the twenty-first century. A very important read but beware, it may leave you with many questions and a heavy, conflicted heart but don’t be discouraged, for the more we understand the complexities of the challenges we face the greater our power to create positive change.    

Sacred Plant Medicine by Stephen Harrod Buhner

If you’ve seen my bookshelf you will know that I read a lot of Buhner and as always this one really resonated. This book takes a deep dive into the relationship between the Native American peoples with the plant world and methods they used to communicate. It also includes a small compendium of herbs outlining traditional sacred uses as well as songs and prayers used by Indigenous peoples to express gratitude and foster reciprocal relationships with plants for healing purposes.   

As with all Buhner’s books this one had a profound effect on the way I personally interact with the herbs I use, and has inspired several of the items in my DOT Herbal Treasures Collection, coming soon. I was left yearning to build deeper spiritual connections with herbs, ensure reciprocity in our interactions, to listen to the herbs deeply with my heart, and weave herbs into more aspects of my daily life in order to connect on a deeper level with their innate intelligence and healing gifts.

References:

Armbrecht, A. (2020). The Business of Botanicals. US: Chelsea Green Publishing.

Buhner, S.H. (2006). Sacred Plant Medicine: The Wisdom in Native American herbalism. US, Vermont: Bear & Company.

Caven Aldous, V. (2021). Australian Women Can Walk: Gap Year 1979 India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. IngramSpark.

Lindsay, J. (1967). Picnic at Hanging Rock. VIC, Australia: The Text Publishing Company.

Rad Herb Australia Collective (2022). Rad Herb Australia: Evolving with our allies. Autumn 2022. ozradherb@gmail.com