---

The plants around us hold the power to heal us. Our ancestors have known this and turned to the plant kingdom for thousands of years. The healing power of these plants have not left us, they have simply been overlooked for the prescription drugs of today. Many of these drugs are a miracle for us, but their focused molecules are not without hidden side-effects and they do not take care of all the dis-ease that humans can face. For example, we have lived in harmony with healthy bacteria as long as we have been on the planet. But many kinds of bacteria are adapting to antibiotics that we have flooded our environment with in our soaps and cleaning fluids, and stronger, immune strains are being born. How can we help our Earth and our bodies learn to adapt as well? We can start by listening to what surrounds us and has survived by adapting for millions of years. Our ancestors listened and learned from the plants what helps different dis-ease, and a material medica was born. Just like out survival instinct has been written in our genes, so has our body's knowledge of the plants. You will come to know what your body wants and needs as you listen. It is in that cup of hot tea that tastes good, or that whiff of oil that makes you want to rub it in. Don't think of it as abandoning medicine, think of it as adding many more free and tasty medicines to your list of things that you can turn to when you need nurturing that a pill can't offer.