New - Ask Herbal Health Expert Susun Weed – Details, episodes & analysis

Susun Weed answers 90 minutes of herbal health questions followed by a 30 minute interview with guest Dr. Jim Otis. 

Bio: Dr Jim Otis is a chiropractor and a board certified functional neurologist in practice for 44 years.  He helps people recover from brain injuries and he helps people prevent or reverse cognitive decline.  We're going to talk this evening about how to shift our lifestyles to prevent and reverse cognitive decline. Dr Otis developed and patented BrainTime®, an easy-to-use listening program that has helped thousands of people.

 around the world increase their capacity to: 

 * remember clearly   * think creatively  * learn and grow

Dr. Otis provides continuing education in the field of functional neurology for medical doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, and chiropractors ~ all focused on helping the brain function better with natural approaches. He has a special offer for our group tonight later in the interview. 

Susun Weed answers 90 minutes of herbal health questions followed by a 30 minute interview with guest Author H. Byron Ballard.

Bio: H. Byron Ballard, BA, MFA, is a native of Western NC. She is a writer, amateur folklorist with a specialty in Appalachian folk magic & healing. She tours extensively in the US & Great Britain. Her books include four on mountain folk magic. The first was Staubs and Ditchwater, and the most recent (2025) is A Feral Church. She lives in Asheville. 

Susun Weed answers 90 minutes of herbal health questions followed by a 30 minute interview with Vajra Ma   Vajra Ma She teaches outside traditions and codifications with warmth, humor and a bedrock compassion. She teaches from Source, especially through innate, subtle bodyknowing experienced in her womb-sourced moving meditation The Tantric Dance of Feminine Power® which she originated and teaches since 1992. "The body never lies." She is the author of From a Hidden Stream: The Natural Spiritual Authority of Woman and is published in eight anthologies including Foremothers of the Women's Spirituality Movement. With her late husband Wolfgang Nebmaier she co-founded the Shakti Moon Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to cultivating right relationship with Source, particularly Earth and Woman. She is a legally ordained Priestess of Women's Mysteries with ministerial credentials through Temple of Diana, Inc. She lives in the forests of Oregon with her dog, cats, serpents, the Fae and Nature Beings. Website: https://www.vajra-ma.com/

Susun Weed answers 90 minutes of herbal health questions followed by a 30 minute interview with Spring Washam. Considered a pioneer in bringing mindfulness-based meditation practices to diverse communities; Spring Washam is a well-known teacher, healer, and visionary leader based in Oakland, California. She is the author of A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage and Wisdom in Any Moment and The Spirit of Harriet Tubman: Awakening from the Underground. Spring is one of the founding teachers at the East Bay Meditation Center, an organization that offers Buddhist teachings with attention to social action and multiculturalism. She is a member of the teacher’s council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, offering teachings on Buddhist philosophy, Insight meditation and loving-kindness practices. Spring is also the founder of Lotus Vine Journeys, a one-of-a-kind organization that blends indigenous healing practices with Buddhist wisdom for transformative retreats in South America. She has practiced and studied Buddhist philosophy in both the Theravada and Tibetan schools of Buddhism since 1999. Spring is also a shamanic practitioner and has studied indigenous healing practices since 2008.

Susun Weed answers 90 minutes of herbal health questions followed by a 30 minute interview with  Teacher of science Gwen McPhail.  Gwen "J. Stanion" McPhail was a National Board Certified teacher of science and taught a diverse course load from Food Science to Physics and from 7th grade Life Science to High School Livestock Production for 31 years. She retired to spend more time with her family on the farm and to have more time to be involved in her community. Gwen served on her local County Planning Commission and continues to serve on the board of a small agricultural non-profit. She spent three years during and after Covid to prepare and market her manuscript for "My Place Among Them".  She continues to support the preservation of family farms in America, the practice of sourcing food locally and eating healthy.... Gwen believe in her mother's saying... "Pay your farmer, or you'll end up paying your doctor." Gwen McPhail's latest work is an opportunity to reflect on our past and present, to draw from the well of history and uncover life lessons that resonate more profoundly than ever in today's world. This literary time machine, "My Place Among Them," guides us through the annals of history and offers invaluable insights on resilience, cultural understanding, and the intricate workings of politics and bureaucracy.   

Susun Weed answers 90 minutes of herbal health questions followed by a 30 minute interview with Caverly Morgan. Caverly Morgan is a spiritual teacher, non-profit founder, speaker and writer who blends the original spirit of Zen with a modern nondual approach. She is the author of The Heart of Who We Are: Realizing Freedom Together as well as A Kids Book About Mindfulness. Caverly is the founder of Peace in Schools, a nonprofit that created the nation's first for-credit mindfulness class in public high schools. Her practice began in 1995 and has included eight years of training in a silent Zen monastery.  She has been teaching contemplative practice since 2001. Caverly leads meditation retreats, workshops and online classes internationally. Learn more at caverlymorgan.org.

Susun Weed answers 90 minutes of herbal health questions followed by a 30 minute interview with Xicana Witch Jamie Della. Jamie Della is a Xicana Witch, Shamanic Priestess, Magickal mentor, and Wiccan author of ten books, including A Box of Magick: A Guided Journey to Crafting a Magickal Life through Witchcraft, Ritual Herbalism and Spellcrafting, The Book of Spells and The Wicca Cookbook. Jamie's books, teachings and one-on-one mentoring program focuses on how to deeply connect with your unique spirit and co-create with an alive world. She remains deeply connected to her Mexican roots via her writings, such as the award-winning Latino Writers & Journalists, and her new historical fiction/magical realism book, The Last Daughters of the Don.  

Susun Weed answers 90 minutes of herbal health questions followed by a 30 minute interview Dr. Deanna Minich.  Deanna Minich, PhD, is a nutrition scientist, international lecturer, educator, and author, with over twenty-five years of experience in academia and the food and dietary supplement industries, and currently the Chief Science Officer at Symphony Natural Health. She has been active as a functional medicine clinician in clinical trials and in her own practice (Food & Spirit™). She is the author of six consumer books on wellness topics, four book chapters, and over fifty scientific publications. Through her talks, workshops, groups, and in-person retreats, she helps people to transform their lives practically and artfully through nutrition and lifestyle. Visit her at: www.deannaminich.com

Susun Weed answers 90 minutes of herbal health questions followed by a 30 minute interview with Author Karen Tate.  Thought leader, speaker, seven-times published author, and activist, Karen's work is at the crossroads of spirituality, personal transformation and social justice.   She is hostess of the long-running Voices of the Sacred Feminine podcast, considered a treasure trove of wisdom for more than a dozen years.  A Caring Economy Conversation leader and Power of Partnership presenter with the Center for Partnership Studies,  Karen also earned certification from Smith College in the Psychology of Political Activism:  Women Changing the World.  Tate can be seen in numerous YouTube videos and viewed in the award-winning docu-film, Femme: Women Healing the World.  Named one of the Thirteen Most Influential Women in Goddess Spirituality and a Wisdom Keeper of the Women's Spirituality Movement, her body of work over the years, along with reviews of her books from students, peers and colleagues, speak to her extensive leadership, knowledge and expertise.  Karen is also an inter-faith minister who leads sacred tours, public and private secular and spiritual rituals and gives talks to prestigious conferences and organizations such as the Joseph Campbell Foundation, Council for the Parliament of World Religions, California Institute for Integral Studies and the American Academy of Religion.   Her newest book, Normalizing Abuse: A Commentary on Our Pervasive Culture of Abuse  was published in January 2023. 

Susun Weed answers 90 minutes of herbal health questions followed by a 30 minute interview with Poet witch Elizabeth Russell Elizabeth Russell is a poet, witch, and joyful earthling who has apprenticed herself to the voice of nature for most of her life.  Elizabeth writes and self-publishes the Dreamfruit series, where she has created an enchanted world that brings the Great Turning to life in our imagination and daily lives. As a 2nd generation astrologer and multi-generational witch, Elizabeth tends the sacred well of nourishment in circles of women, dreams and imagination, the cycles of Nature/Cosmos.  Her books, courses, and personal consultations will inspire you toward a rooted place of magic and belonging where you can reconnect with your ecological self. www.Dreamfruit.world www.ElizabethRussell.space