The Green Path: A Holistic Approach to Wellness with Herbal Medicine Featuring Special Guest Elizabeth from the Medicinal Melange

In this episode, we dive into the world of herbalism and learn about the powerful benefits of natural remedies with special guest Elizabeth Martin from the Medicinal Melange. From tinctures to essential oils, Elizabeth shares her knowledge and passion for plant medicine and her journey to creating a sustainable business.

Join us as we explore the Green Path and Medicinal Melange in this inspiring conversation filled with intention and awareness. Listen now to discover the healing power of plants and how they can support us both physically and spiritually.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Tinctures vs. Essential Oils: Tinctures and essential oils are both popular forms of herbal medicine, but they have key differences in production and effectiveness.

Intentional Infusions: Taking the time to let herbs infuse into a liquid for an extended period results in more potent and intentional blends.

Responsible Plant Harvesting: When using plants for medicinal purposes, it's essential only to harvest the safe parts and to use them wholly.

Gateway to Plant Connection: Essential oils can serve as a gateway for people to become more connected with plant medicine and open up their minds to other forms of herbal healing.

The Green Path: The Green Path is an educational platform founded by our guest, dedicated to teaching people about herbalism and conscious living. Keeping an open mind and continually learning about natural remedies can lead to a more holistic approach to health and wellness. So, let's continue to explore the limitless possibilities of working in harmony with nature. Keep learning, growing, and connecting with the earth for a healthier and more connected life experience.

LINKS

https://themedicinalmelange.com/ - use code amylove23 to receive 15% off any order of $30 or more

TRANSCRIPT

Herbalism, witchcraft, and sustainable healthcare. 

Amy Hageman  00:13

Hello love's Welcome back to the Living Out Love Podcast, we have a very special episode today, because we're gonna get to know somebody that I don't know well at all. But this is my first time having on a person that has a physical product, and one that I have tried and very much like, and so I'm excited to just learn more all about your craft. So Elizabeth, right, would you please introduce yourself? Like, who are you? And what do you do?

Elizabeth Milan  00:41

Yeah, hey, I'm Elizabeth Martin of the medicinal Milan, which is my physical product label. I am also lead Educator of the Green Path, which is my online herbalism and witchcraft course.

Amy Hageman  00:56

Wow. So talk to me about witchcraft. That's a word I've not used on the podcast before I have my ideas about what it is What does that look like in your life? And we're in when did yeah.

Elizabeth Milan  01:09

So for me, I was in the broom closet for probably a good 20 years. But about six years ago, I was like, you know, especially with herbalism, it kind of gave me an avenue to talk more about plant and their energies. And, you know, and be like, Well, if that can have an energy, why wouldn't this have an energy and so it kind of gave me that little gateway to open up a little bit more about my practice that I had been hiding and researching, and I love to read. So, you know, it just kind of gave it a natural progression of being able to be like, No, I'm going to use that word. Like, it's a scary word. For a lot of people, I grew up in the church. So it was a scary word. Even in my household, like, I didn't come out of the broom closet, I think my family was the last to know. And now actually, I have a lot of my family that are very open with me in their practice. And so I'm, you know, their oldest daughter,

Amy Hageman  02:21

You're talking about it in terms of energetic, so it just feels like modern day sorcery. Like, you know, yeah.

Elizabeth Milan  02:29

Yeah, and, you know, there are so many. Thankfully, with me loving to read, I looked into and researched all of these ideas and concepts that, you know, like, quantum physics exists, like that site, you know, something that we debate back and forth. So why wouldn't the idea of what's happening right in front of us not being the only thing that's happening right in front of us, you know, be accepted. And so I think when I approach it from a scientific standpoint, of you know, there's these research, this research done in Japan, I believe, and were they like, yelled at water, it's a pretty well known one. Yeah. And they screamed at water. And that water became very dormant and you know, very, like, more or less dead, right with water is life that one hated its life. And then the one where they're like, I love you, and nice things, you know, that water kind of flourished. And I, when I approach people and talk about plants and working with them for their medicinal properties, but also for their magical or energetic properties. I feel like they're more open to the concept.

Amy Hageman  03:39

Right, right. It's beautiful.

Elizabeth Milan  03:42

Thank you!

Amy Hageman  03:43

So how does so you said you came out of the broom closet, like not long after you got into herbal medicine? So how did you get into herbal medicine?

Elizabeth Milan  03:52

Yeah, so my parents have always had a huge garden. My dad is more or less a landscape architect and, you know, has designed his whole house to have the plants work for him and with him, you know, and so, I already knew how to work with plants in a structural way, in a food source kind of way. But my daughter got sick when she was six, with this rare childhood illness called PANDAS. And it shattered my life. I was working for a school district, I was doing their behavioral programs. So behavioral psychology is my background. That's what my master's is in. That's when all my certifications was in, you know, like, that was my focus. I was data, data data, you know, and so when she got sick, it just rocked my world and we lived in the hospital for years. I mean, there was intermittence, but years and two was about six or seven and they had her on like 30 meds twice a day, you know? 30 different pills.

Amy Hageman  05:01

Wow.

Using herbs to treat mental health issues.

Elizabeth Milan  05:02

And I asked the doctor, I was like, what happens when she can't afford that? Like, and they're like, Oh, well, she's doing so well. And I'm like, No, we're maintaining with the pills, which great like, I'm all about taking meds. But I was like, if she turns 18 and decides, I don't have the money for that, or like, I want concert tickets, I don't want to spend my money on that, you know, like doing lizard brain 18 year old things. And then her life is demolished. You know? What, then it's not sustainable. If I with a government job, you know, cannot can pay for the insurance and has still have so many co pays and fees that I am going into deep financial debt. Yeah. How is she going to be able to just coming up into the world? It just made no sense. So I looked into any herbs that would help we were having a lot of nervous system issues. And and because of PANDAS. So what it does is it's the strep virus, and it attacks the brainstem, and it lights the brain on fire. A lot of people saw this happen with COVID, psychosis. It's almost directly linked. And actually, we got a lot of funding for PANDAS research once that happened. But when I was when we were just starting out, it was a wild west and they were like, You're making it up. It's not a real thing. And I was like, I assure you, like, this is a real thing. Wow. And I remember I found out about passionflower. And so I took a herbalism course with like a known like big time herbalism company, you know, I did my research of like, because I wasn't trying to go to corporate America, I wanted to be the people that are like actually hands in the soil. And I learned about passion flower.

Elizabeth Milan  06:56

And then as I researched it, I found out that they had taken a lot of the components of passion flower and synthesized it when they were first making Ativan. And I was like, wait, what, you know, and then through adding all that actual, like the extra capitalism and those kind of ideas in it, and then it's habit forming and the sudden the other was she was already on adamant so I go, Look, I'm just gonna give her the Paschal flower, you know, and I had to make it taste good. So I didn't use the alcohol base, because what seven year old is going to take Everclear at 9am Every day, it's just not gonna happen. Also, I don't drink. So I'm like, yeah, no, I have very party parents. And so the only way I could rebel is to not drink so the thought of alcohol every day just makes me want to gag so I actually made my formula and a vegetable glycerin.

Amy Hageman  07:53

So I have to add real quick our lot of formulas made with alcohol.

Elizabeth Milan  07:57

Yeah.

Amy Hageman  07:58

Wow, fascinating!

Elizabeth Milan  07:59

And people like look at me like I'm, you know, just in on a different planet, because I'm like, Absolutely not. I do not make mine with alcohol. Now, that's not to say that I can work with every single herb some herbs need a double extraction, for instance, mushrooms, right. But yeah, like 95% of the stuff you see out there is made in an alcohol based. 

Amy Hageman  08:24

Interesting. Okay, so yeah, I could see why you don't want to take six what now seven year old at this point.

Elizabeth Milan  08:32

Yeah. And when I had her work with passion flower, we were using it throughout the day, just to drop her full. And then went to like, twice a day, and then we weren't needing at all and, and within that six months, I got her off over half of her meds. Because we were fixing the nervous system issue, we were fixing the dysregulation because with that anxiety came OCD or vice versa, you know, with OCD came the anxiety, because so many of our nervous system issues are comorbid. And because I became I came from a background in behavioral psychology. I was just taking data all the time. Yeah, you know, and I feel bad because I wanted to just be your mom, but I'm like, no, no, like, we got to look at this. You know, there's a reason you chose each other for this lifetime. Totally. My mom says that all the time. Like, that is why you are learning together. You know, we definitely have a soul contract. My role Scorpio. But yeah, so it was just beautiful to see and to take to the doctors and be like, ah, you know, like, here's the facts. And and so that was over half of our meds were off the table just with that. And then I was like, Okay, let's figure out if I could do one for Adderall. And I came up with my Clary Toss formula. Yeah, and, you know, tweak here or tweak there. But the formula is almost the original formula that I gave to her. And that cut her off her Adderall. And so you know, and thank goodness, because we're like in shortages now. So, by the time we had been working with herbs for about a year, year and a half, she was in complete remission.

ADHD self-diagnosis and natural remedies.

Amy Hageman  10:22

I mean, I feel like we need a moment of silence for, like, what I mean, because they were telling you she was going to be on these medicines for her whole life.

Elizabeth Milan  10:34

Yep.

Amy Hageman  10:34

Wow!

Elizabeth Milan  10:35

No, verbatim. What he said was, just don't let her get sick. Because when she gets sick, it triggers it, it trigger any sort of immune response, if her immune system was even triggered by allergies, she would go into full psychosis. And so he told me just to let her get sick. And that was like, she's seven, what do you mean, just don't let her get sick. Like, that's the most asinine thing I ever heard. And also, like, I want my daughter to get sick at seven, like, I couldn't sick at seven, we have a problem. Um, but yeah, so I am very grateful that it was so scary to leave my job, but it was like, bleeding. Like, I have to do that I have to take care of my kids. So there was no other option. And then once I did that, I had time to explore of like, okay, wait, what are we going to do? And then once I saw that she was in remission, and I could maybe have my own life and work through my own PTSD from it all and you know, all this stuff. And then I started thinking, Okay, I'll make a couple teas. And then it was like, okay, you know, I had a lot of bath products to start with. Yeah, you know, and it's like, I have no interest in making. You know, I love it for me. But I have no interest in it. There's other people that make beautiful bath products, that's just not me. And really, even as I go through my own formulas, I just see so much love and creating these non alcoholic tincture blends, you know.

Amy Hageman  12:08

So where I come in, in this story is it was I think, in June, I self diagnosed with autism and ADHD. And I was trying to figure out, I didn't want to rush, like a formal diagnosis diagnostic process, primarily because of money. Like it's so expensive. But also, I didn't want to rush to get on a medicine, whether it was holistic or Western at all, because I'm like, Well, I've come this far without it. Like I just wanted to, like, learn more about it before I made a plan. But then, as soon as I stopped, like, as soon as I learned what my coping mechanisms were, I sort of stopped coping. Like, let's just see if I stopped coping. Like how are things gonna go? Yeah, it was. It's not been great. I'll say, but my friend, shout out to Alex Coronado at flew to our creative. My friends sent me the Clary Toss. Well, she sent me a link to your website and said, I forget who somebody she knows, takes it and swears by it. And she's like, You should just try it. And so I got that far more people on both on my desk. Okay. So I got this, and then I got the money, oil. And I'm gonna call you friend, friend. I want you to like, anoint me, I want to bathe in this money, oil. It smells so like, I am so attracted. It was so funny. When I smelled it. I was like, of course, this is going to attract money. This is the most attractive feeling smelling I've ever encountered. I just it works for me. And I have I've used it. I've played with it very intentionally. So I don't just use the money oil every day even though

Elizabeth Milan  13:53

I'm that's me too!

Amy Hageman  13:55

I want to!

Elizabeth Milan  13:56

Some people do and it's fine. And I want to, but also sometimes I make it and forget I make it for instance, I'm not feeling 100% today, and my partner was like, you know, you have herbs. I'm like, Oh, yeah.

Amy Hageman  14:11

Yeah. So with the with the Clary Toss, like what happens for me, is I feel like people think of ADHD as being scattered, and like frenzied, but that's just how I operate. So it never felt scattered and frenzied, it was just like, that's just how I am, you know? Yeah. And then what happens when I take it is it's like, I just sort of relax a little bit. Like, I was worried I was gonna have less energy. You know what I mean? But it like, it's like, instead of working kind of wide and shallow. It's like I'm able to just work deeper because I'm just relaxed in to a narrower point of focus and able to work ain't like. So I was the first time or two that I took it, I was kind of like, I don't know that this is doing any like, you know what I mean? Because it doesn't make you feel like a different person.

Elizabeth Milan  15:13

But just actually just makes you feel normal. That's why people sleep on it because they're like, I don't know. I mean, to be fair, I've had like two people my entire career, they're like, I don't know. And I'm like, do you take it regularly? And they're like, No, and I'm like, then you won't know until you stop.

Amy Hageman  15:32

Yeah. So I, I'm incredibly inspired. Thank you, especially given in this time, when I'm like, I was going, well, I, if I get diagnosed, somebody is going to put me on Adderall. I'm thinking dude, I'm, I'm a middle aged, petite white woman with a lot of privilege. And I'm going to be taking that Adderall away from somebody else, you know, and I was really cognizant of that. And so I am just, yeah, I'm deeply inspired. And I want to, I want to know, everything that you create, like, I guess before we get into more specifics of like, what else you do besides the money oil? Because I know you do a lot more. But like, What's your value or your philosophy around? Because you earlier you said like, I'm pro medicine. So you're obviously not just like, throwing Western medicine out the window? So what's your philosophy around?

Herbalism, business model, and community outreach. 

Elizabeth Milan  16:28

Yeah. Well, at my core, my business model was about first teaching about herbs. These are not mine. Yes, I chose this formula, this formula, this formula, but kind of a songwriting to you know, everybody's kind of rewriting the same song, you didn't get that beat, you got that beat from this person who got it from this for No, you mean, yeah. And these are, you know, I focus on herbs that are native to our bio region. First and foremost, I don't want to ship across the world, something they have in, you know, the Himalayas is, we have a version of it more than likely, right here in Central Texas, or in the southwest region. So my impact of my footprint, you know, I'm very cognizant about. And then with that, I am very aware that as a middle aged white woman, I did not create this myself, I didn't go you know, what I found a Luthra route. It's amazing for ADHD, you know, like, that's just not the facts. And this is even what I teach in the green Pass, which is my online herbalism course, is that, you know, these are black and indigenous plants. First and foremost, these are the people that came here and more or less, were forced to learn about these plants and happen to share these beautiful, medicinal and magical uses of plants and working with plants. And, you know, like everything else, it was stolen and made money off of from other people. So I'm aware that these are not, this is not my knowledge, I did not discover this, you know, so I tried to share it with everybody. I also feel like if people understand what's happening from a chemical or medicinal, what's happening in your body systems, if they understand that more, they will be more aware, you know, and you know, knowledge is power, right? And so when you are understanding of it, and why I want to teach it is I don't want it to be some foreign thing, where it's like, it's more or less lettuce, or that's a weed. When people say like, that's a weed. I'm like, Yes, weeds are very good for you most of the time, you know, like, so I tried to share it. And then my third principle for myself, and my business is offering all of my products at low cost and no cost. I think people see the, you know, for instance, the clarity toss is $25. And what they don't see is it will last months if you take it every day. And if you don't take it every day, shelf life, technically, I'm only allowed to say two years. FDA says two years. I got some for like five years, it is what it is, you know, but like it's shelf stable, you know? So it's, yes, you're investing, but you are going to spend that 25 or more on other metal, you know, coffee, whatever, right? Like whatever you are privileged enough to spend that money on. So, you know, there's that it's not going to be $25 And then two weeks later, you need more.

Amy Hageman  19:59

Yeah, no, it's likes to. Yeah.

Elizabeth Milan  20:02

And I also offer them at low cost and no costs. around Austin, we have free food fridges, I dropped off medicine there until I moved to New Braunfels. I used to do weekly outreach, where just myself, I would make bean and cheese burritos during the week and freeze them, and then we'll take them out to the population, I lived in South Austin, there's a huge unhoused community there. And I mean, all of Austin, but especially in my old neighborhood, and I would do foot baths, and, you know, talk to people and, you know, make relationships with them and form these bonds and bring medicine and, you know, whatever they need, even I did a market this weekend, and the person was talking to me and was really interested in, I have a blend that blocks stressors from coming in. So that way, you're not so tired at the end of the day. And they were like, I need this, okay, I'll come back when I have money, I go take it. And she goes, No, this is your thing. You work for it. And I'm like, Yeah, but people like you, you know, you buy the product, so that way I am able to give it to them. So that way they're able to heal themselves as well, you know, it's yes, I have to keep the lights on, you know, I'm a single mom, I appreciate all the business. I'm not saying that. But, you know, my philosophy was I was at a point where I was just buried in debt that I could not even afford the thing I was paying for, by law, you know, of insurance. And I never want people to feel that way. It's just, it was such a low feeling. And if I can help somebody heal themselves in a real way, or even just have that until they can get to their meds, I will every time in a heartbeat.

Herbalism and natural healing.

Amy Hageman  21:53

I so appreciate that. And I know I personally, and I'm not alone, you know, grew up in this culture. And it was like if you got sick and you had to take whatever Tamiflu or an antibiotic, like if you had to take something, you've figured out how to pay for it. But then when it came time for me to figure out, you know, I think I need a supplement like just a basic omega or like, I need some supplements, I would look at the price of that. And just be like, that is so expensive. I don't know, I know. And it's Yeah, and I think that's just part of our culture, where we like, Oh, if we're sick, then we're going to pay to take care of ourselves, but we don't. We're not trained to invest in our health. Absolutely. And it feels like turning but I just I so appreciate that about your intention.

Elizabeth Milan  22:43

Yeah. And it is odd, because I even to this day will be like, why that's so expensive. But it's like, So, with all of my products, my goal is to not keep you well. Like for instance, right now, like I said, I'm not 100% You know, I had three markets this weekend. I am, you know, I had childhood trauma. So that also makes me empathic. You know, I'm taking on people's energies, and they're telling me their stories, and, you know, it's a lot, it takes a lot out of me. And so, you know, I'm at this place where I'm rundown. But that's okay. Like, it's not always about healthy and healthy. And I'm up here and I'm going I'm going I think that's a very capitalistic mindset. We are cyclical, you know, our bodies are going to go through highs and lows, it is just how it is, you know, I had ovarian and breast cancer. Wow. And it sucked. And I went through it, I had a heart attack at 27 You know, because of my, my, excuse me, my like ovaries and my uterus, the word I'm looking forward to you too. But, you know, it happened there are going to be those really terrible times and it's all going to be cyclical, because that's life, you know, we can't just sterile environment all the time. And so when that happens, there are herbs for every ages and stages, you know, there's an herb that helps me right now, to soothe my throat. That's marshmallow root there is an herb that helps me clear out my body quicker Astragalus route you know, and clear out my lymphatic system. There's, you know, herbs to help me with a headache, you know, so that it's just like, I can have herbs that helped me it doesn't necessarily kill it. That's a very like Western medicine kind of, we're heroic tradition. We're gonna kill the enemy, you know, right. And I'm just trying. Yeah, I'm Yeah, exactly right. I I try to be very cognizant about words like that, that I use. I'm not perfect, but I do try to work with herbs and not use herbs, right and having that kind of symbiotic relationship. But yeah, so it's, you know, I don't feel 100%. But I know that the herbs are going to help move it out of my system. So that way I can get back to the top of the circle and back, you know, yeah.

Amy Hageman  25:30

So you mentioned earlier that you are an empathic person, and my assumption that I just want you to verify or not, as an empathic person, do you feel like you're either more sensitive to or more aware of, the way your body interacts with all of life, including your products than maybe what other people are aware of.

Elizabeth Milan  25:53

Yeah. I think that with the empathic side, but also just my personal gifts, as it pertains to my practice, and growing up and everything like that, I am very aware. Also, you know, trauma will do well, so I can't like disregard Western science of like, hey, you know, like, you're overly aware of everything. But I do feel like, when I am around certain plants, it's actually something I teach in my course to plants it to sit, and even see if this plant wants to work with you, you know, and in my head, sometimes I have, like, full and this is a very meditative thing. I feel like my whole life, I thought I had too much ADHD, self diagnose, to meditate. I can hyper focus, like no one's business, but meditating, like turning off my brain right now. So I have, you know, sat less plans and really just allowed the energies to flow to me. And to have the energy of the plants speak to me speak to my energies as far as this is okay to work with me or not today, because that's the thing, right? Consent is the thing that I teach, it is a real thing. I don't go hacking, I don't harvest everywhere. I like you, I'm very aware of what I can get away with, from even a law abiding standpoint, you know, like, I don't push limits, because I know other people that don't look like me, cannot do that, you know. So, you know, consent is important from the plant itself, but also just seeing how to work with these plants. And actually, it's really a fun game that I teach my students because a lot of times when you sit with the plant and write down first, what you pick up energetically, a lot of times it will teach you about what it actually does. medicinally and it's like such a fun game because people get like, you know, the hairs on their arm stand up and stuff. I'm like, I'm telling you, they want to speak to you, you know, if you just slow down a little bit, and vibe with them for a minute. You know, it's it's a really fun little thing to do.

Plant medicine, ancestral roots, and spirituality.

Amy Hageman  28:27

I love that I so this is not about medicine, but I have a relationship with leaves. And during the COVID locked down, I had had a full time job and then all of a sudden, I was a stay at home mom to two kids under two. And that was traumatizing. You know, there was some stuff there. And I was trying to like Abraham Hicks manifest my way into not crazy until like, somebody is functional, whatever. And I started getting hit in the face with leaves. And like, not hit like violently but like leaves Woodhall and they like they would? And it was always like, my sign from spirit or from whatever that like, okay, yes, you you're taking care of. And I always felt sort of giddy. Like, I cannot believe I went years without ever being hit in the face by a leaf. And then it was happening like every day. And so I'm, you know, I'm a psychic and a medium. So in general, I'm pretty in tune to energy. Now what will happen is I will see leaves fall, you know, and they fall from trees all the time. But sometimes I'll spot a specific leaf and I'm like, that one was for me. And I'll like I come towards the end. It's like, I don't know I have this thing with leaves. So it just makes it makes so much sense. And I think I think what's fascinating about plant medicine is A few weeks ago, on the podcast, I was doing this, this reading for a guy who is very adventurous and wants to bike and rock climb and ice climb and like, do all this stuff. But he's very climate conscious. And he's like, you know, every flight I take, and every, you know, how does this respond. And the guides came through and said, like, the earth wants to be enjoyed, you know, she doesn't want to be taken advantage of, but she wants to be enjoyed, like she's here. For us. It was a chosen relationship. And as you were talking about the plans, and them speaking, I was thinking about, you know, what's so great about Western medicine is like, how innovative it is, and how we can create new things and move forward, so to speak. No, but I was also thinking, Wouldn't it be funny if the, or not funny, but I bet there's some truth to the idea that like, the best answers come from getting back to our roots, like physical roots roots in the ground, and then historical roots. You know, and even when you talked about witchcraft earlier, I'm like, well, that's that, historically, was something that would have been passed down. You know, just like herbal remedies. It passed down. So it's like, I feel like your product and your philosophy is very historical in nature. And like, as we're talking, of course, I'm feeling all these ancestors around like, it's very ash, you know. And I love it, because it feels it feels very rooted and grounded, but also blossoming at the same time. You know?

Elizabeth Milan  31:44

Yeah. I, you know, when I try to explain to people because I live in a very conservative town, yes.

Amy Hageman  31:54

Yes you do.

Herbalism, healing, and spirituality.

Elizabeth Milan  31:55

I actually owned, I owned a metaphysical shop, it was the first one here in town. And I did a really good business, you know, you'd be surprised how many conservative people and just really open to the idea, right? But I kind of explained that, you know, historically. The healers of the village, typically women, right, because the men were doing their thing, right. We gained through whatever means a lot of plant knowledge, a lot of knowledge on how to garden how to make these homesteads. Right. And then the church came. And then the men, the priests, the people with the priesthood, I grew up in the LDS church. So you have the priesthood, you get to you are a man, you get to talk to God, you know, women don't hold the priesthood. That's a man's thing. And so that similarly, way back, and we're talking more Christian or Catholic, kind of, like way back when ancestral places. If the women could heal in the village, then they were doing God's work, right. But it couldn't be that it's like, no, no, the priest has to do it. You know, if the priests doesn't heal, if the priests doesn't lead you through a prayer, then it takes away that power, you know, or that's how they viewed it. And so then we as healers as seers, I mean, I had a great aunt that was locked up her entire life because she has a sere. And we talked about it. And you know, now, I'm very open about being a seer and stuff like that. And my mom is, you know, just barely inching our way out of the broom closet, you know, and exploring her own gifts. But, you know, because that was traumatizing, right? Because it was like, that person's crazy. You know, it's the 1950s Like, they are cuckoo. They said that car accident what happened in that car accident immediately happen, you know, stuff like that.

Amy Hageman  34:08

Yeah.

Elizabeth Milan  34:09

And so, historically, yes, we became villainize we became witches and doing the devil's work, and it's like, I just know about this plant, man. It's not that big of a deal.

Amy Hageman  34:25

Relieve some, Sir.

Elizabeth Milan  34:28

Yeah, for sure.

Amy Hageman  34:31

Well, so talk to me before I do want to ask like, what else do you make? Because I'm only really familiar with the products I've tried. But I'm also curious. When you what gives you the idea of making a new product? Is it like, is there a symptom that you're trying to relieve? Is there a person that you see that you kind of get inspired by a condition like what's your vision when whenever you're creating something?

Elizabeth Milan  34:55

Yeah, so um, it's a funny thing because I feel a very big push, instinctively right now to focus towards mental health. And I have a lot of products towards mental health. But I do I hear people's stories. I'm like, oh my god, I can totally help. Like, mental note, you know, and then I'll be like, Hey, I made this for you. Here you go, you know. But, you know, like I said, earlier, I had ovarian cancer. The first time I had anything wrong wrong down there. I was 18. So it was a big deal. It was just the luck of the draw. i There's a joke in my family. It's like, my life is very beautiful, except for my body hates me. So I made a T for endometriosis and PCOS? Do I have it now? No, because I have no uterus. But I know what that's like. And I know how terrible it is. And what how crippling it is really, you know, I mean to pill debilitating, and I'm sorry, that's a better word, a debilitating, that can be an isolating, and, you know, being told by doctors that limits aren't that bad, you know, stuff like that. So I made this tea. And it helped so many people, and really even just young girls just starting their cycle and needing to regulate and stuff like that. And so in that case, like it came from experience, I mean, all invention comes from a need, right? And so at its core in a capitalistic view, you know, like, yes, there is a need, I fill it. But also some stuff is like short term runs of products that people just happen to fall in love with. For instance, Irie make a blend a tea blend. It's my Artemus tea, I see very prophetic dreams. And it hits different you were saying the leaf, you know, falls, it just feels different. And I'm always flabbergasted on how to explain it to people. And it's just there's no way that I, I've found so far, because it's just different. I like it. It hits me on a soul heart level when I have these different dreams, right. And I don't need the tea all the time. But sometimes if I'm being very intentional about my work, I'll work with this tea. And that was a tea blend that I made for myself and for my family to work with. Because we come generationally from Sears of dreams. And then I shared it and then I was like, oh short little like, you know, sound blend, you know, and I used to make these deep dive boxes where I talked about it a goddess and I put a tee and just really got to make and create new things. And the Artemis T was one of them. And now it's one of my top sellers people are like I have the most amazing dreams and I do so much work and people that maybe aren't in tune with their own gifts aren't you know, there's a lot of static noise there. They're able to kind of hone in and and do that work and I love it. It's a great one so little call me low calm.

Herbal medicine safety and effectiveness. 

Amy Hageman  38:25

Yeah. Well, so talk to me about people that have never tried any sort of herbal medicine, they've only ever bought the like the Yogi Tea or whatever from Sam's Club. And they've never even heard of like a money  oil or something like that. How know that something is safe?

Elizabeth Milan  38:51

That's a great question. Because every body is different. Every leaf is different, right? Like every body is different. And so what's safe for me and say for you might not be safe for somebody else. With that said, I always try to have the intention of using products or excuse me, of working with plants in my products that I not like they're less than but they're not anywhere near the toxic levels. For instance. I do not use St. John's wort, right, we it's a very well known universally, I think that it contraindicates with SSRIs most of the time, you know or at least there's that possibility. So it's like anti depression meds, anxiety meds, some people take like Wellbutrin or something like that for their ADHD, right? So SSRIs are a specific type of medicine typically for mental health. Okay, okay. So many people are on them. And instead, I worked with a plant. In my luctus formula, I make it once a year, I only have like six bottles left, but I make, I made like 500 bottles this season, but typically only make about 100. I sell out within a day or two because people are just so in love with the product, but I see a need for it because it doesn't contraindicate Yeah, with a lot of those meds. Now, if you're asthmatic, like a severe and asthmatic, I would be cautious when working with it. Because the Mimosa plant, which is historically in Chinese medicine, it's known as the tree of happiness. We have it it's naturalized here in Central Texas. So it's something that I see all the time. But if you are around that tree, when it's out in the world, it could trigger asthmatic attacks. So even though medicinally probably wouldn't have that effect, I do, you know, there's always that point 00 0% chance, you know, and as an herbalist, I have to state that only your doctor would know what's best for you and your, you know, constitution. But you know, like you as you're exploring, and having this autonomy kind of moment of like what is right for my body, let me decide that, let me explore that. You know, I try to give as much information as possible about it. But ultimately, everybody's different. So it's really hard to say like, what is safe, I tried to use very gentle herbs, but all of those herbs are very effective. For instance, in the Clary toss blend that you had, that's actually a blend that I originally made for a child, you know, but it is profound. And actually, it has so many things that help with your nervous system as well. And so, yeah,

Amy Hageman  42:04

Sorry. All right, I'm gonna come back.

Elizabeth Milan  42:05

No, no, no, you're absolutely so it's just, you know, I tried to use gentle herbs. There's some herbs that I sell that aren't as gentle and I in big letters, explain it in depth, so that way people understand when they're using it. But still, generally speaking, most of them that I work with are not as it's not so far on the toxic scale or so, you started off by talking about St. John's wort. And I remember when I was younger that that was something we took like electively oh, you should take this like, you know, yeah, I feel the same way about elderberry. Everyone's, like such a like, oh, like, I can't stand it. There's so many other great things to boost your immunity. But people are like so upset and like, it's fine. There's a lot of people that have autoimmune diseases, they can't use it. And they're out here taking it thinking it's safe. And it's like it's not so there you go.

Amy Hageman  43:05

How do people research that? Is there like a hub for plant medicine people?

Elizabeth Milan  43:10

No. No. And with the rise of AI, yeah, you know, as herbalist as people who have trained for years, I've studied under big names, and I'm very lucky to be in a place where I've done that and who they have studied with, you know, bigger names, you know, founding founding fathers and mothers of herbalism I say that in quote marks because again, it's all stolen knowledge. But you know, these names that you know and love right and so I I feel like I went tried to go more directly to source you know, for instance, Rosemary gladstar is a great person to learn from and though she did not originate fire cider, she's very open about that. She created original recipes with that and shared it with the world and this that and the other the fireside or lawsuits are hysterical to read if you ever want to have a little laugh about herbalism but basically like a big corporation of like tech white bros. Were like, No, we're going to trademark this name and she was like, excuse me I've been doing this since the 70s You can't just come in and like trademark a name. It's a plant it's a blend of plants. And after like six years of court battles she won thankfully, and they could not trademark fireside or you know, but it's just like stuff like that, you know, you're just like this is ridiculous. But it's really like that right? Like somebody would see FIRESIGN and be like that is the best asked and tech bro gets all the money whereas, you know, going a little bit deeper into the rabbit hole might help with that. So that is my very long winded way of saying you don't really know. Yeah, I try to teach what I know. And I know phenomenal people that are doing that on a, you know, more local scale. I know people that are doing it on a grand worldwide scale, you know, I tend to look for herbalist that are not or herbal formulas that don't have a gajillion different herbs in it. And to me if you have more than a few too much, okay, because a lot of those herbs do the same thing. You know? So I'm like, Why do you need 30 things? You could have brought that down to four and you would have been? You know, that's, that's like a beige flag or pink flag? What are the kids saying?

Herbal remedies and their effects on the body. 

Amy Hageman  45:55

That's a flag. That's really good to know. Yeah. And it's funny because you So earlier I was talking about, like, you could just be the me and the money oil. And then you were talking about how like they encouraging your students to sit with the plants and feel their energy and then noticing that that is actually similar to the way the medicine works with the Clary Toss. i It's hilarious, because there's lemon balm in it. Before I even realized that I was going to tell you, it feels like a bomb. Like physically. It's a liquid. It's not like, but physically I'm like, oh, it's like I'm swallowing a balm for my body. That's why experience. It's just like, it's soothing. It's like I didn't know I needed to be soothed until I had it and was like, oh.

Elizabeth Milan  46:43

Yeah. And when you were explaining it, actually, you're like, I just, you know, you sink deeply, right. And lemon balm actually helps take those shoulders out of those ears. So that way you can just breathe and go, it's okay that I didn't get it done yesterday, here I am today doing it today. And it's showing grace to yourself. Whereas my train Quilliam blend has passionflower and that's a more direct like, No, we're supporting your nervous system. So it's, you still do this, but it works on less of a mind way and more of a heart and nervous system way, you know, so different levels of intensity, but doing the same thing.

Amy Hageman  47:26

That's so fascinating. Well, now I want to try that. Well, I wonder I've got to get to like, I literally, I'm gonna start with these two things that I know that I need, and then I'm gonna binge and that is the plan.

Elizabeth Milan  47:43

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Well, I'm glad that it worked for you. I mean, I know that they work, you know, not in a cocky way. But I know, not because I make it but because I know, right. But it's always beautiful to hear. And really, I'm solely word of mouth. I don't pay for advertising or anything like that. So when people write reviews like that, is them coming and me like, this? Does that worked for me. You know.

Amy Hageman  48:11

Yeah. You know, at the start of the show, I mentioned, you're my first person to have on with a physical product. And before I got introduced to you, I had thought I would never have on a physical product. Like that just wasn't, that wasn't what I'm here to do. Yeah, but it's so funny how in alignment, this is. Earlier, you were talking about being very cognizant of your words. And in season one of my puppet podcast, I have a whole episode about why we all need to be more cognizant of our words. And I love that, you know, we've both been talking about being aware of our privilege and being aware of of history. And I just I'm so resonate with you and your work, and I'm so glad to have been wrong about having a physical product.

Elizabeth Milan  49:03

I appreciate it.

Amy Hageman  49:07

And so please just share with the listeners how they can find you. And if you want to share any more about your course as well. I'm really curious about your products and your and your course.

Herbalism, essential oils, and plant magic.

Elizabeth Milan  49:19

Yeah. So the medicinalmelange.com is my online store. You can find everything there if for some chance. It's not in stock or whatever people DM me all the time. And I'm like, Hold on, let me see what I got, you know, because look, it's a one woman show, right? And so sometimes things you know, are I post them online and they're like, Why aren't these on the website? And you know, like I said they're one offs right, but for the most part 90% of the time, limit us on the launch.com we'll have everything in stock ready to go I ship worldwide. I'm always available for one on one consultations as a clinical herbalist, you know, there's some people that are like, here's the 50 things wrong with me or I have a lot of people that are in various stages of cancer that you know, I am not curing cancer, I but I am supporting your body a little bit more through that, you know, or autoimmune diseases. I have a lot of clients with autoimmune diseases. Thankfully, as somebody with lupus, it's something I understand first and foremost, you know, so I work with people like that. So anyway, there's my clinical practice. And then I also have the Green Path, which is my online herbalism and witchcraft course. Right? Plant energetics. I call it Plant Magic. It's less scary.

Amy Hageman  50:45

Yeah.

Elizabeth Milan  50:46

But so basically, my theory on that was, Western medicine is very concrete, right? And homeopathic has turned into a very heroic mindset, in my opinion. And that's on that side of the forest. Right. And I'm really that unkept crack along the sidewalk and the forest where it's just lots of weeds. And I think that speaks volumes to Western herbalism, all of herbalism, but especially Western herbalism. And formulas like we make I'm not a homeopathic doctor, I am studying to be a naturopath. So, you know, there's, that is the way I'm trying to go. But as it stands right now, you know, like, that's where my focus is, is that uncap path between the far woowoo side and the far very sterile medicine, Western medicine approach. So that's kind of where the green path was born. So I do teach herbalism, I have every section I have like eight sections. Right now, every section has 10 to 25 different little portions in it. So it's a very girthy thing, I just released an immunity one, which now I should probably take my own wellness kind of immunity soup. But I do live demos on it, I teach you about it, I teach history of I feel like it's so important to know the history of herbalism. And you know, just kind of keep things rockin and rollin in that way. And then I also have the other side of things, which is the kind of woowoo side the plant magic side. And on that side. I am actually just brand new to that side, I'm releasing a monthly subscription, where it's like 33 bucks a month. Maybe you don't want to learn herbalism, but you want to focus maybe on that woowoo side of things. And so, every month with the full moon, I'll release a deep dive onto a subject. Maybe it's spellwork maybe it's so for this full moon, it will be on the magic of the cosmos. And it's my part one in the series. It's five parts so far. I'm a Virgo cat Virgo. So I'd go very deep into things obviously, you've talked to me for. And yeah, so it's going to be about the zodiac. And what does that mean, and what's the history in the sun, the other. And then every new moon, I do something similar to what we're doing right now of like a visual podcast, I pull cards for the moon cycle and kind of help my students have a direction maybe if they're kind of all over the place with their practice, or maybe they're really in tune, but just want another perspective. So I pull cards, and I talk about themes of it. And really whatever comes through from my guides and my ancestors, for the Green Path for the cosmic wonders collective I share. So that's kind of where the Green Path is. The bigger umbrella is take the green path.com And it kind of explains it more in about me and where I come from. But I show everybody how to make these items. medicinally and magically, you know, and I get to teach Taro and I get to teach Zodiac kind of alignment and how to do natal charts and what is Western astrology and why to you know, what's a Vedic and you know, like all of these things where maybe people don't know or maybe they're very well versed in it and again, just looking for a second opinion. So I have a lot of fun with it. i It's something that I had been working on for years, but I just released up coming January will be one year so it's been a lot of fun. Yeah. Thank you. It's definitely a labor of love. And I am here for it.

Amy Hageman  54:52

Yeah. I thought I'm going to take us back because I know it's time to close but I thought of one other question. Yeah, In my membership a while back, I was kind of taking a poll around like certain things would you want to learn this? And I had asked about like, do people want to learn about essential oils? And everybody, everybody was like, only if it's legit. Like they were like, don't bring in some person that doesn't know what they're talking about the data.

Elizabeth Milan  55:20

Yeah.

Amy Hageman  55:22

And so that was part partially why I asked you like, how do we know what to say? But I was curious what, like, what's the difference between and not to call out anyone brand, but buying a brand of essential? Like, what's the difference between essential oils and what you're doing?

Essential oils, herbalism, and natural remedies. 

Elizabeth Milan  55:37

Yeah, so first essential oils. Most companies and people will say do not and just because what you're getting and to be fair, that's a homeopathic approach to things. So the biggest essential company essential oil company you can think of, you know, that's a good old Mormon brand, when they it's something that I grew up with knowing about and stuff like that, and there is definitely a place for essential oils. With that said, I make my own. So everything in that oil bottle that you have, that's plants grown by me, harvested by me essential oils made by me. So there are smaller brands like that. But essential oils are going to be topical, it is a homeopathic thing because you are taking not the plants that are infused into oils over a few weeks or months. Which is something that I do and is a western medicine thing. But you are separating the oil so you're getting the volatile oil. Now I should say I only have about probably about 600 hours of learning and studying essential oils specifically I went to a whole like school more or less for it and got a fun little certificate but I'm not like an expert is what I'm trying to say. But so that's the volatile oil. What I am doing is I'm infusing herbs, dried or fresh depending on what my method is for that blend into glycerin. So technically it's called a glycerite. But I just say tincture because nobody's gonna know when it goes right is for the bigger mass public,

Amy Hageman  57:29

It does sound scary than tincture.

Elizabeth Milan  57:31

Wow, exactly. And then so and a tincture is a alcohol formula. That's what the differences, but you're infusing it into a liquid and letting the cell walls break down and take out those nutrients, those medicinal benefits. Now most people let it sit for a couple of weeks, I let mine sit for six months to a year. So mine is very small batch very intentional. And it sits and I I sit with these blends, you know that there's a lot of energy that gets transferred instead of we, you know, harvested eight tons of plants and I got two jars of essential oils, you know, that's another thing too, I'm working with not the whole plant because not the entire plant. Sometimes some parts are toxic, right. But the parts of the plants that I am using, I'm using holy. Also, you know, you can get even further and do like alchemy kind of stuff and take those items and turn it into something else, even after the fact so sky's the limit, I do teach all of those steps on the Green Path. But as far as like essential oils, once they pull essential oil, they just get rid of the stuff. So honestly, in my opinion, super wasteful for the planet on the grand scheme of things. But do you y'all are making money?

Amy Hageman  58:57

That's cool. When it comes back to what kind of what we were saying earlier about, like the relationship to the earth and getting back to that connection.

Elizabeth Milan  59:06

So yeah, and really like essential oils, if that's your gateway, do it. Like I'm glad you're here, you know, I hope you continue to evolve that and be open to the fact you know if that's what it takes. And I do think essential oils and those larger MLMs for that purpose because it opened up so many eyes to the fact that maybe plants could be just as effective or at least helpful in those moments instead of taking over the counter drug you know, yes, you're only using them topically and probably you know the mass public probably doesn't use them in a totally safe way all the time because they're not being taught to you right so it is what it is but if that's your gateway cool you know like I'm here for it. I you know when I was So, first a mom, you know, you're you have that friend that goes, Hey, I got an essential oil and you go, okay, sure, I'll try that, you know, that's actually how mine started. I met a lady at the pool. And we're still friends to this day. And she was like, Big time, big company person, you know, making all the money, right? And I was like, Look, I'm not going to sign up for the thing. And she was like, It's okay, I just found out I had breast cancer. And she was like, I want to make an oil blend for you. And I was like, thank you so much. And we've been friends ever since. And now she's like, way past essential oils. And she's doing her midwife stuff. And I'm just, you know, it's just so nice to see the evolution. So if that's what it takes for people to be open to plants, I so appreciate it. But it doesn't start and there. It is, actually, that is just like one pebble on a mountain of information and ways that you can work through.

Amy Hageman  1:00:55

And support yourself. Yeah. Oh, well, thank you so much for all the clarity and inspiration. I've just so enjoyed getting to know you. And I'm excited to dive into your teas and tranquilliam that's going to be on the list. So yeah

Elizabeth Milan  1:01:12

And we have tranquilliam somnio is for insomnia but specific to ADHD. So if you have ADHD and you can't turn off your brain, or if you're like a Virgo, like me, or a Capricorn, where you're like thinking about all the things and the Clary tasks, I call those My Holy Trinity, because they always, everyone's all about them.

Amy Hageman  1:01:33

I can see why I could see why. Well, and to all the listeners, we will have the Green Path and the Medicinal Melange all of the links in the show notes and on the website.

Elizabeth Milan  1:01:46

Yeah, I am so excited!

Amy Hageman  1:01:48

Again, I so appreciate you being here and I appreciate all of the intention and awareness with which you run your life and your business and just thanks.

Elizabeth Milan  1:02:01

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Amy Hageman  1:02:03

Bye!