Hello
My name is Holly, I am a studying Herbalist, yoga teacher and perpetual student living on the wild and beautiful west coast of Ireland. I’m originally from California with Danish roots, but Ireland has been my home for the last 8 years.
I’m so grateful you want to learn a bit more about me. It is my hope to find community, share throughout my journey of learning, and provide guidanceand insight with integrity wherever I can - which means engaging in ongoing research and conversation, as well as sharing from a place that is rooted in personal experience.
My approach
I believe that the foundation of well being is rooted in self trust - this is developed through cultivating a sense of safety in the body, specifically in the nervous system.
There is nothing to fix.
Only parts
to know,
to accept,
to hold
The benefits of dietary protocols or herbal remedies are limited as long as the nervous system is dysregulated. Our bodies speak to us through symptoms, and rather than quieting them, we can learn to listen.
Even if we eat the very best foods, do all of the yoga and self care, we aren’t getting to the root of it all, the why. What can we do? We can cultivate the tools to bring ourselves back into balance. A healthy, balanced nervous system lives at the intersection of mindful eating habits, embodied therapeutics such as functional yoga, self-inquiry, spiritual practice - among others. Herbs and plant allies help us with this journey, giving us the physiological, emotional and spiritual support we need to work through the many facets of the integration process.
But where to begin?
I mainly focus on the vagus nerve, which connects our nervous system to our digestive organs and beyond. It is the vagus nerve that manages our breathing, blood pressure, heart rate, immune system and digestive process. It governs much of our freeze (dorsal vagal), fight or flight (sympathetic) responses, and in dysregulation has been linked to digestive issues. The vagus nerve is how we access our gut feelings, our intuition. When we learn how to manage stress through different tools, we suddenly have more intentional space to hold all of our emotions, big and small. We then have the inner resources to make long-lasting changes, and give our bodies the chance to return to homeostasis.
We do this through embodied practices such as yoga and breathwork, nutrition and plant medicines.
Who are my teachers?
Herbalism
I am currently in year 3 of a 4 year Clinical Herbalism program with the Irish School of Herbal Medicine in Portlaoise, with a focus in Western Herbalism and the Vitalist tradition. Over the course of the qualification, I will have completed 600 clinical training hours and become a qualified Iridologist, with a certificate in vitalist nutrition. Iridology is a non-invasive diagnostic tool that uses a photo of the iris to help decipher constitutional dispositions, and inform physical and emotional therapeutic protocols specific to each individual.
I am also studying online with the School of Evolutionary Herbalism, which integrates the energetic, elemental, astrological and alchemical aspects of plants. Sajah and his teachings have really helped me understand the root behind imbalances in the body, how and why plants work their best (and differently) on individual constitutions by connecting the dots between many holistic traditions such as Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Each person is unique, one plant will work differently from person to person, this is why “what is it good for?” is an approach we need to leave behind, this is a sort of band-aid state of mind that covers up symptoms rather than correcting the imbalance at the root. Instead, we should ask “is this plant right for me?” In all things, we must get to the why first.
“In some Native languages the term for plants translates to ‘those who take care of us’ ...our indigenous herbalists say to pay attention when plants come to you; they’re bringing you something you need to learn.”
Why herbs?
Plants were our first teachers, they have been here since the beginning, they will be here long after we’re gone. They adapt, they grow and they thrive, and more than that they know their purpose here, and these are all lessons they are happy to teach us.
Working with local, native plants to heal ourselves and our community is a tradition in every culture around the world. It connects us with the land and with nature around us, which grounds us deeply in ourselves. This knowledge has been passed down, often among women, all over the world, for thousands of years - it was a birthright, another form of sovereignty - there is power in that knowledge, which is why it has been slowly weeded out in the past 200 years… thankfully we are coming back to it now.
Yoga & Meditation
I’ve studied and practiced yoga since 2017, and have completed 350 hours of yoga teacher training. Within that, I’ve done 200 hours of hatha yoga in-person with a studio in Dublin, and 100 hours of functional yin yoga teacher training in-person with Grace Tempany. My training with Grace has really helped me teach from a completely different place: rooted in self-practice, personal experience and inquiry, and done consciously with a trauma informed lens.
I have also recently completed 50 hours of traditional tantric hatha yoga training “The Heart of Prana” with Jenny Ní Ruiséil and Chrissie Chung for a deeper understanding of the subtle, energetic body.
“Yoga can be a practice of the deepest presence or the most intentional avoidance, and much of that depends on how it’s taught.”
What is Yin yoga?
On a physical level, yin helps us work deep into the fascia tissues which envelope every joint and muscle in the body. Through this, we release tension and bring circulation through the tissues, hydrating, repairing and strengthening them.
On an emotional level, this practice of stillness and observation helps us create tools for managing stress, as well as by helping us integrate unprocessed emotions which can be stored deep in the tissues.
Our bodies are a beautiful and intricate constellation of every experience we’ve had, every intense emotion we’ve felt in our lifetimes that couldn’t be processed by the mind - it’s all mapped out within our tissues, and often beyond conscious memory. Yin yoga is one of the many ways we can unravel, move and integrate this stagnant or trapped energy.
In the same way that acupuncture and acupressure work with meridians or energy lines in the body, yin yoga targets different organs and systems to bring balance and shift any energetic blockages that might be contributing to emotional or physical symptoms of imbalance. This is also done by following the seasons and the body’s natural rhythm throughout the year - another way to become attuned with the cyclical patterns in nature.
Why Yin?
“We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.”
Yin is one of many “inputs” we can use to soothe the nervous system and bring it back to a balanced and regulated place. Yin is a powerful lesson in observation and surrender. Western culture does not encourage feeling, it is more concerned with thinking and doing, or what something looks like (yang energies). These energies have a time and a place, but when in excess, they can cause problems.
Yin is so desperately needed in the world we live in because we are constantly avoiding discomfort, we are constantly resisting, we fabricate stories and write novels in our minds about what we think something is, without actually just quietly observing. Our nervous systems are overwhelmed by the state of the world, we are over stimulated and under prepared, most of us are not given the tools to navigate and cope, so we reach for temporary comforts to get by: we scroll, we are a consumer… this is where yin helps us to lean in and learn to feel. We each have a wealth of knowledge inside of us, and we can only tap into it with stillness. This is how we ground within ourselves, this is how we become capable of adapting, to finding joy and creativity.
I also practice Vipassana meditation, which is very complimentary to yin yoga as it requires us to observe, work through resistance and avoidance, and find stillness.
“Yinfusions”
Yinfusions are what I have affectionately named the combination of pairing yin yoga with a plant ally. This might be drinking an infusion before a practice, taking a few drops of a tincture or anointing the body with an infused oil. Through this practice, we receive the support and insight from a plant to deepen our experience in the pose. Just as yin helps us shift energy and work deeply, plants can help us do the same.
This is in no way a new concept; many traditions across the world involve the use of herbs in meditation or in ritual with different practices, not just yoga. This is a partnership that is as old as herbalism itself - thousands of years of knowledge and intuition tell us we only have more to gain by involving plants in our practices, self care and daily lives.
