56. The Alchemy of People and Plants: Jess Allan on Self Care with Herbs

During this episode I have a deeply nourishing chat with Jess Allan- a conversation filled with imagery and story telling. Jess is a herbalist, Bowen therapist and the owner of Skindoona Apothecary in Newcastle NSW, where she manufactures a range of herbal and vibrational skin care. Having a deep love and connection to the natural world and an affinity for sensing and communicating emotional profiles, Jess followed her path into herbs and healing and has enjoyed experiencing the alchemy of people and plants for almost 20 years.  During this episode, Jess shares how after feeling quite disconnected from the natural world during her early childhood, it was the school camps she experienced later in her youth, where she spent time in the bush, hands in the earth and felt her eyes open and her soul start to connect with the plants.  Jess is a beautiful story teller and during our chat takes us on a special journey, sharing how she connects with individual plants on a deep level to create potent flower essences.  She describes feeling disconnected and even skeptical after completing some introductory courses on Bush Flower essences…but being immersed in a Nature Philosophy course and meditating in the bush amongst the wildflowers helped facilitate a profound connection and a deeper knowing of flowers and plants.   Jess’s connection with herbs was deepened even further, during a transformative experience on a medicinal herb farm in Tasmania. It was here that she really started to connect strongly with the herbs, understanding their vibrations, and feeling a whole new world opening up, a sense of safety and belonging.  Jess has been deep in motherhood over the past ten years and shares how it’s really easy to lose sight of self care and that daily investment in ourselves. She describes the feeling many of us experience- that there is a bigger dream than just surviving each day. **CONNECT** Skin Doona Apothecary https://skindoona.com.au/ https://www.instagram.com/skindoona/ https://m.facebook.com/p/SkinDoona-100063083926324/ **SHOW NOTES** Find out more about the Nature Philosphy Course Jess references here Learn more about Australian Bush Flower essences here Connect with the Lighthouse Health Hub where Jess manufactures her beautiful skin care range here **THE ELDER TREE TROVE PATREON COMMUNITY** You can join our Patreon here and gain a deeper connection to our podcast. Pay only $2 per week to have access to bonus and often exclusive resources and opportunities- plus support the Elder tree at the same time! To find out more about The Elder Tree visit the website at www.theeldertree.org and donate to the crowdfunding campaign here. You can also follow The Elder Tree on Facebook and Instagram and sign up to the newsletter. Find out more about this podcast and the presenters here. Get in touch with The Elder Tree at:  [email protected] The intro and outro song is "Sing for the Earth" and was kindly donated by Chad Wilkins.  You can find Chad's music here and here.