The Medicine Woman

Happy new year to you! It’s a brand new cycle - may your saddlebags be filled with all kinds of gold this year, just like this honeybee. 🥰

Nature has no impediment to accessing the uplifting and creative and life force of the solar system. This life force runs true through nature in all her forms which is why we want to lean in closely if we aren’t feeling ourselves.

Whether that’s through playing in the great outdoors, observing the seasons, eating foods from the land, planting more trees or turning to the medicinal plants … we become increasingly clear, calm and vitalised every time we step through nature’s doorway. Ultimately we are nature, and Mother Nature helps us to remember this in body and mind.

THE MEDICINE WOMAN services:
🌿On-line naturopathic clinic
🌞Soul mentorship packages
🌳Native tree nursery (Taranaki only)

🌿🌞Bookings for the clinic available through my website
www.themedicinewoman.co.nz

🌳DM me to visit the native tree nursery (upper Mangorei Road, New Plymouth)

It is my understanding that the Kiwi holds the vibration of Sovereignty. With its shaggy korowai Cloak and long beak as its Staff, it is easy to imagine this as so. As more Kiwi are released back into the wild - to walk amongst us again - the symbolism for what this means is profound.

Due to the uneven distribution of wealth, I’ve never been much of a royalist. I’ve thought that the so-called royals should come down to be at our level - but in recent times I’ve experienced a total reversal in outlook. Rather than sovereignty coming down - it’s about us going up - humanity rising to that of the sovereign. When the inner state of sovereignty regains more of a foot hold here on earth - the need for all the outward pomp and sparkle will no longer be necessary. The extraordinary will come to look more ordinary, with sovereign individuals literally shining from the inside out.

This is the invitation to us now as we discern what has true value in our life. What does your innate version of sovereignty look like? Can the states of stress and sovereignty co-exist?

www.themedicinewoman.co.nz
🌿on-line holistic health service for human kiwis

I’ve been working with lots of self-identified ‘yo-yo-ers’ lately … all-or-nothing individuals in regards to food choices and exercise. The pattern of yo-yo is calling for balance, as extremes of anything tends to cause more issues than it does results.

Rather than living at 0% or 100% SOME of the time - the invitation to a yo-yo’er is to strive for 80% or 90% ALL of the time. Our body and mind finds consistency inherently stabilising. Allow yourself 10-20% slack in order to achieve your goals. It’s about sure progress that stands the test of time.

If there’s a voice in your head telling you this is just who I am - I’m an all-or-nothing guy/gal - don’t believe a word of it. That’s the unbridled ego at work.

We are whomever we decide to be … especially now that we are in the Aquarian Age. This is the age of mass awakening. ⚡️💡

This beautiful Red Admiral butterfly - present and open to the highest potentials of life. 🦋💚🥰

www.themedicinewoman.co.nz

This beautiful tui and I sharing a special moment. I found her sitting on my drive and she was so fearless, allowing me to pick her up. Can you sense the sovereignty emanating from her? She knows exactly who she is.

I met her as I made my way up to the garden to create a new compost heap to nourish the land. A coincidence? Or a 🙏🏻🌏.

Magical moments with nature that subtly change us forever. 💚

Native trees 🌳 looking for their forever home ..

Many of you know I have a native plant nursery. It manifested during the first lock down when with time on my hands, I looked around at all the native tree seedlings growing in the bush at home. The awareness had me travel back to my childhood where I spent untold hours helping my beloved grandmother in her plant nursery. She supplied all kinds of plants to the local garden centres.

The species I have are perfect for restorative planting on inland Taranaki lifestyle and farm blocks to support the land and bring in the 🦜and 🐝. Many of the species are medicinal for we humans too 🥰 Always happy to share my knowledge on that one 😘if you literally want phyto-medicines in your own backyard. Nature’s medicine is the way of the future ✨ as we continue to reduce our use of synthetic chemicals - insecticides, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and the like.

Viewing is possible most days, Upper Mangorei Rd, New Plymouth and by appointment only (to work in with my commitments in the clinic). $5-$9 depending on species.

The species ready to go are - manuka, karamu, kanono, miro, koromiko, toro, kawakawa, putaputaweta/marbleleaf, hoheria, rewarewa/honeysuckle and totara.

Species coming on in the next months include - hinau, wineberry, kanuka, titoki, red matipo, akeake, rangiora, kowhai, mahoe, pigeonwood and kohekohe.

DM me if you want more info or to arrange a time to view. 🏔👩🏽‍🌾🐕

When there is a diverse and balanced array of beneficial organisms living in our gut (as is our blueprint), we can enjoy a diverse and well balanced array of foods. The prevalence of restricted diets these days - low carb, high protein, FODMAP, wheat free, dairy free, etc indicates that our gut has become a closed-down version of itself. While these restrictions can be useful short term whilst actively correcting dysbiosis, they aren’t useful as a long term strategy unless we have a life threatening food allergy.

We are evolutionary creatures. Our body, mind and soul are divinely programmed to become more-than with each unfolding year and therefore shutting ourself off from the natural environment including whole foods has real negative consequences. Chronic disease and the state of our immune system begins and ends in the gut. A healthy gut creates all kinds of safety checks and balances in regards to all the bugs ‘out there’ in the world. Our gastrointestinal system (GI) is the only system we have that is directly connected to the environment around us (our mouth and bottom being the gateways). If we want to interface with the environment in an empowering way including with all the bacteria, viruses, fungi, pollens etc, our GI health and a diet rich in plants is crucial.

I just whipped around my garden to pick these edible flowers. Other than looking cute-to-boot on a salad or pizza, the colours indicate plenty of immune boosting phyto-chemicals. Plus, did you know that every plant (and flower) comes with its own community of life enhancing microorganisms? Eating plants is another way to broaden our own. 😘🙏🏻🌼🌿🌳

📸 Flowers: calendula, heartsease, onion w**d, broccoli, violet, dandelion, comfrey.

I choose to walk solo in the mountains most of the time so that I can clearly hear what the mountain has to say. It’s a form of meditation and communion and I arrived home yesterday with insight, confirmations and a few elbow nudges.

The natural world speaks to our natural self. Are you listening? What is it saying to you?

It was a scheduled day for the nursery today … but the plants said go for it … so I did!

Heading up Holly Hut Track.

Mountain magic 🙏🏻😍

It’s double points for all things ‘healing’ at the moment - the Sun has moved into Virgo. 💚 Virgo connects us to the healer archetype and with the sun shining the light on all things healing - especially gut health, infections and general health and fitness - we’ve an opportunity at hand! Healing efforts and modalities will be more impacting than usual. 🙌 In a few days time the New Moon will also be in Virgo, which will help us to connect with the less obvious aspects of our health that need attention, including subconscious behaviours that prevent us from achieving a higher level of health. The ☀️and 🌑 working together to assist our healing. It’s a divine set up to help us succeed! 🌈

Wild cherry - Prunus serotina - is a herb that supports, amongst other things, the completion of chest infections. Have a dry lingering cough that feels depleting? Think wild cherry especially if you sense there’s not enough fuel in the immunity-tank to get the job done.

Our best life comes from harnessing the universal rhythms and it’s all about virgo and the healer right now. Happy birthday to all the virgos out there! 🎂🥳

What we do or don’t do to support our physical self this month will impact our potentials next astrological month … that of libra and relationships. 💒 Libra follows virgo for good reason.

Lean in folks! 😍✨

One minute I was minding my own business at home, and the next I found myself trotting along the path en route to the Tarns. The misty magic semi-cleared for several minutes, just long enough to see a ghost-like Taranaki standing proud.

According to astrological lore, mountains connect us to our inner organiser and manager, and therefore our ability to take practical steps to achieve a goal. Like a mountaineer climbing steep terrain - it typically takes one firm footstep at a time to achieve the view, and the sweat and tears are totally worth it!

The planet Saturn connects us to this mountain energy and Saturn is currently in retrograde. This means Saturn is moving very slowly - seemingly moving backwards. We could apply the phrase ‘two steps forward and one step back’ as an analogy here. The back foot is designed to be beneficial - it’s simply a matter of knowing how to push off from it. The retrograde motion of Saturn asks us to lean in to the slowed down pace to determine if we’ve missed anything in our process to achieving our goal. If we haven’t missed anything, the retrograde dynamic will feel like a well earned breather. If on the other hand there’s an extra step we need to take - and that step may simply be ‘slowing down’ - the slow motion will either feel empowering if we’ve had an awareness shift and are now about to action it - or it will feel restrictive/frustrating if we’re oblivious to what’s missing. If you find yourself in the later version - be open minded as to the what or how.

Saturn is in the slowed-down version of itself for another two months and it is absolutely to your benefit to lean it.

Keywords to keep in mind for the next few months are: practical, realistic, structure, foundations, hard work, mountain goat, limitations, authority, conservative, right/wrong track, responsibility, stability, step by step, aspirations and legs/knees. These can apply to any area of your life.

Here to lend a hand if you need. 🫴🏼👂🌸🌿

www.themedicinewoman.co.nz

It’s ok to take time out … in fact it’s more than ok - it’s an essential part of our human being-ness. It might be a physical time-out we need to do - or equally an emotional or mental time out. It can be tiring being over-emotional. It can be draining having to listen to others opinions or to have or defend our own.

It can be easier to time-out when an authority figure gives us permission to do so, but the thing is, we’re learning how to self-govern now as part of an evolutionary impulse to learn and grow. The last few years hasn’t been about a corona virus per se - it’s been about a jolly good rethink and refeel in regards to the direction we are heading as individuals and as a species. We are not to go back to how we were pre-Covid. We are to go forward. Onwards and upwards as the saying goes!! We are discerning what has value now and are likely to be saying Yes to some of the things we used to say No to - and saying No to some of the things we used to say Yes to. Talk about changing it up! 🙃🙂⚡️

Time-out from doing, thinking or emoting. All a natural part of raising our health and well-being.
No apology required. 💚

www.themedicinewoman.co.nz

Colour in our environment is super important. Think of the upliftment that comes from a garden of flowers, the colours in your or anothers wardrope or the decoration on your walls. Your insides want to be bathed in colour too. Wearing the colours of the rainbow inside you has a profound impact on mood and immunity. There is a rainbow tribe of micro-organisms in your gut, in your lungs, in your brain and beyond .. who profoundly support your life in ways you can’t achieve for yourself. They don’t need us but we need them for our existence and for our resilience - physically, mentally and emotionally. To keep them happy and healthy requires feeding them a diversity of plant foods and fibre, and choosing foods via colour is one way to ensure this diversity.

In the past 5 years there has been more than
50 000 independent studies completed on the implications and importance of these microorganisms - typically referred to as the microbiome. Some of these studies have compared the gut microbiome of those who have been seriously affected by Covid-19 with those who haven’t. The research has clearly demonstrated that those with good resilience to Covid had the more diverse gut microbiome. The research also highlights that those with chronic disease have a much narrower microbiome profile than those free of disease. It’s clear that if we want to move our culture towards greater health and well-being, the microbiome is key. So whether it’s Covid you’re wanting to build resilience for, or chronic disease, the starting point is the same. Enjoy more plants - and make it diverse. 🍎🥕🍋🥦🫐🍆🍇

Children respond well to the concept of eating the rainbow. Or if you’re out for a meal - ask for the most colourful dish they have. 🌈

🌟 On a completely different note ….

There is an important configuration in our solar system at present and it peaks in the first few days of August. Intimately involved is Uranus - the great awakener and the instigator of lightning strikes and bolts out of the blue. We’re being asked to have faith and vision of what is possible and to allow the earth to move along those lines. What could I be or do now? How can I participate in a brighter future? This is an important marker from a revolutionary perspective. ⚡️🌩⛈ Lean in and be bold with what you choose to see. 😍 This is for the children.

www.themedicinewoman.co.nz

So many parents are told that the skin bumps, rashes, allergies and ongoing sickness of their child is normal and that the child will grow out of it. Two generations ago these now prevalent conditions were not classified as normal. Let’s not confuse the word normal (ie commonplace) with the word natural. A good response to whomever is telling you this is normal is, “yes I understand it is common - but is it meant to be this way?”

We have to turn things around for the kids because along with their own health, their DNA programming will one day become the coding for the next generation … and we don’t want to continue this downward slope. Chronic health issues including asthma, dietary and seasonal allergies, chest infections, obesity and diabetes now occur far too young.

It’s not difficult to turn things around providing the approach is personalised to the individual. Within every community there’s a plethora of qualified restorative health professionals to help you and your child. Reach out if you need.

In my inbox today, a message from a Mum
‘Hi Cat, sorry I haven’t been in touch sooner! Just touching base about MB and her reducing dairy and use of the tonic you made for her. It’s been over a month since we started and she’s doing amazingly. The elimination of those big dairy components she was having has made such a big difference!! Within the timeframe she’s not been sick once (touch wood) which is such a turnaround. She did have a little dry cough for a few days and I was amazed it didn’t turn into her usual chesty bark as it normally does. So she’s definitely benefiting from what we’re doing. She loves the tonic you made and it’s super easy to give to her!! Appreciate your help.’

These kinds of turnarounds can become the new norm.

This beautiful child had been relying on steroids and antibiotics to treat chronic asthma and chest infections. I see these kinds of medications as useful at creating some breathing space, but relied on long term such medications can have a very real negative impact on physical and psychological wellness. It doesn’t have to be this way. 🙃🙂

These are tricky times but remember, we’re all in this together, helping one another to a kinder reality. 💚

www.themedicinewoman.co.nz

Raising the bar ~

The work load isn’t evenly spread in the clinic I’d have to say! 💤🐕 Charlie dog caught sleeping on the job here, although to give him credit he’s probably busy dreaming of a world full of meaty bones … and a world of happy, healthy empowered people … feeding their dogs lots of meaty bones!!😁🥰👏

A change in reality starts with a dream and is followed by relevant action. One of my roles is the re-scripting of what is considered possible in the area of health and well-being. The mainstream message is a pretty dismal one. With the highest statistics ever for chronic diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma and neurological-degenerative conditions such as dementia and alzeihmers - these ‘western’ health conditions are typically promoted and accepted as a reality, that at best, are to be managed, and at worst, are fatal. While this can certainly be the case, it’s not the only reality - and unless we know that a different reality is possible, there is nothing different to aim for. 🏹

It warms my heart the number of people I see and speak to who are on their own trajectory to regain their health. It does take thinking outside the box, inner and outer resources and a can-do conviction - but it’s about simple, pragmatic and personalised steps to regain the function and life that has been lost. The one sure way to determine whether you’ve got an effective plan is whether it feels empowering. If it doesn’t, then you’re on the wrong track partially or completely.

There are so many ways to achieve authentic health improvement - that it can be hard to know where to start (or go to next). I suggest you go with whatever is in front of your nose at the moment. That book, those walking shoes, those togs, that piece of fruit, that herb, that area of the supermarket, that professional, that appointment, that blood test, that class, that hobby, that nice comfy bed at a reasonable hour, that podcast, that 8 hour eating window, that conversation, that time-out to reevaluate…. While there are likely to be similarities, the journey back to health is a case of different strokes for different folks.

The dream - followed by right action. That’s the formula. ⭐️

Keep dreaming Charlie boy! 🙏🏻💭🦴🌏

Clients often ask me to help sort their bloating. This uncomfortable physical symptom can really affect the head space, so it’s an important thing to resolve for more reasons than one!

What I’m noticing in some with abdominal bloating is that the digestive fire is low. Digestive fire refers to the functional capacity of the digestive system and temperature can adversely affect this. Notice if your bloated tummy comes about on days you’ve done a cold plunge in the ocean or had frozen berries in your smoothie. Even eating too much raw refrigerated food on a cold day can contribute to the bloat that stems from a cold belly. We want digestive fire not digestive ice!

Always let your body dictate its terms. Some people can do lots of ‘cold’ without extinguishing digestive fire. I cannot. I’ve been having lots of frozen berries lately and I’m now having to counteract it with warmth. To achieve this one of my favourite simple go-tos is powdered cumin and ginger tea. 💛☕️🔥 🙏🏻

Yay for the healing plant-folk!

On-line service | Aotearoa New Zealand wide
www.themedicinewoman.co.nz

Who am I?

Based on recent messages and conversations, I thought I’d address here … the elephant in the room. 🐘☺️

Not everyone is relating to my working on-line only these days. 💚 Some of you are anticipating it as a lesser experience - but it really isn’t.

I was born with extreme clairsentience. This means I feel energy - acutely. As part of this I receive information in a non-linear and non-physical way and it took the lock-downs of Covid-19 for me to tap into my non-physical self to a greater degree. The lock downs enabled me to experiment with working on-line via phone and computer - and what I noticed was that my ability to clearly discern what a client needed to hear and needed to take from a remedy point of view - went next level. A new gateway to access information opens for me when I am working in this way - turns out I’m technological at heart. 💚

For those of you who understand natal chart speak - I can describe it this way. My Sun is closely conjunct Uranus - Uranus being the planet of technology and innovation (computers and smart phones). These two planets sit in my 2nd house of life - the house of talents, resources and capacity to earn a livelihood. Mercury - the planet of communication- is conjunct Sun and Uranus. Jupiter - the ‘long distance’ planet - is conjunct Mercury. All four planets are in my 2nd house - the house of livelihood. In summary - my Sun - my identity and how I express myself - especially in regards to livelihood - is intimately linked to working at distance via technology. It is simply part of my blueprint and it’s time for me to honour it.

Sometimes I’m given a vision to help understand something whether it’s for myself or clients. Years ago I was given the image of a basketball game and my being a high-impact player that was taken on and off the court as was required to help win the game. I work this way with clients too, enabling quick positive change in short stints of time. Professional healers are all different and we’re each aligning to our own lane at this collective time of healing.

If you want the best from me, this is how it comes. 📡✨

www.themedicinewoman.co.nz

Curious Ruru watching Charlie dog below. 😍

This time in history is begging us to stay curious like never before. The more we lean into life with a healthy dose of curiosity, the more we will gain. At our core we are an evolutionary species, here to learn and grow.

The Soul Mentorship journey I offer is a 3, 6 or 9 month transformation pathway for men, women and teenagers …

From Nicola - mum and teacher,
‘I found my 6 month soul pathway work with Cat so beneficial. I began with Cat as a very dulled down version of myself with which I was deeply unhappy about. We started our time together during the covid pandemic and I can honestly say that if I hadn’t leapt at the opportunity to work with Cat that the stress would have undermined my health. My sessions with her have helped many of my programmed thought patterns, to bring them into the light and take a good hard look at them and make some necessary changes. Cat is very good at getting to the heart of the matter and I usually came away each month knowing what I needed to do next and I liked that aspect of the mentorship journey.

I found the light essences very supportive as I moved through what at times were very confronting realisations. They just seemed to give me the nudge to keep on track in the subtle way that they have. I also loved reading the card of the month and how they helped my progress. They were always so on point and really resonated with what was happening at the time.

This work with Cat has given me back some confidence that I was lacking at the start. I have made some massive changes to the way I exercise, what I am eating and my self-care routine, alongside changing how I speak to myself and the way I process life. I have come back to me, and I trust myself and my inner knowing again. My light is back brighter than ever and people close to me have noticed the positive changes. It feels good to be back!’

If you’d like to know more about this one-to-one Soul Mentorship, head to my website.

Happy Cancerian New Moon! (for yesterday) 🌚💫

www.themedicinewoman.co.nz

Wishing you an inspirational Matariki! ✨

Matariki - the Maori New Year - offers Aotearoa New Zealand and the entire globe new beginnings from a different perspective to that of the January new year. Enjoy. 🦋

Photo: sunrise of Matariki Day from the hills behind my home.

www.themedicinewoman.co.nz

Your body is designed to heal. Healing is so programmed in that your body doesn’t have to think about it - it’s an automatic response. You cut your finger and the healing mechanisms automatically kick into gear to have the cut healed within days or a week. That sore shoulder - bloated tummy - skin rash - heavy bleed - will be a healing shoulder - tummy - skin - uterus, providing:
1. you get out of the way so that it can heal and
2. you provide the medicinal or nutritive ingredients required for cellular healing.

If it’s a sore shoulder you have, to get out of the way of the healing requires that you don’t keep re-injuring it by stressing it, overextending it, eating inflammatory foods etc. The medicinal compounds or nutrients required for the tissues of the shoulder to heal would include magnesium to release muscle tension and calm the nerves that drive the shoulder, anti-inflammatory chemicals such as ginger, omega 3 and herbs such as turmeric, bupleurum or devils claw. Depending on the nature of the pain, glucosamine and chrondrotin may also be required.

Rather than identifying with a ‘hurt’ this that or the other - what would happen if we identified with a ‘healing’ this that or the other? We would align ourselves to a truer version of reality and would honour the healing process with more awareness and lean-in. As soon as a body part gets your attention via a diagnosis, sign or symptom - remember that you’re born to heal and that the time is now. ‘I am healing’ might well be the perfect mantra.

This is Mawe. She’s an absolute trooper - literally stomping her way around the Egmont National Park like a kiwi on a mission. She was released near the Mangaoraka carpark on Egmont Road last year, headed up the Kokowai Track, ventured over to Pouakai Hut and then scooted back down the hill to the parks boundary where she was caught for a health check. She’d put on over 500gm since her release 💚 Thank you to Taranaki Kiwi Trust for the pic and Mawe update 🙏🏻

www.themedicinewoman.co.nz
🌿 Naturopathy ~ the return to health
⭐️ Soul Mentorship ~ living from heart

For those of us in the Southern Hemisphere we’re just one day away from the shortest day and longest night of the year. The winter solstice honours the black light - the longest night - which symbolises our unconscious self. The black light contains treasures within us yet to be revealed - and oftentimes there is a reconciliation that must take place in order to access the gift, creativity or healing that is potentially available now. The 6 month passage of time from the winter solstice to the summer solstice is then dedicated to increasingly bringing the treasure or gold we’ve connected with into the light of day - to manifest in our life as a new level of consciousness and therefore an authentic new attitude, behaviour, feeling or thing.

What is ready to rise from the subconscious at this time may not necessarily come in packaging that is bright or beautiful however. I’ve been speaking with individuals over the past month who are being deeply challenged by a relentless mind or an outer circumstance. In part my advice has been to hold their nerve - do their best not to react. See this time as an information gathering moment - where something within the subconscious has got their attention and is ultimately an offering ready to be unpacked. The moment then becomes an opportunity to lean into rather than an inconvenience or discomfort to be resisted or denied. Objectivity becomes possible whenever we hold our nerve for later reflection.

I found this stick friend on the wheel of my car. He is HUGE - longer than the length of my hand. I’d found a mother and baby just the week prior - and then he showed up. Stick insects are not a creature typically on my radar and so the three of them got my attention. I looked into their symbolism.

There are no coincidences in life - the energy we feel or are ready to feel manifests around us as a matter of natural lore. Look to any patterns or significant events that are presenting at the moment and assume a message is being relayed. Life is always attempting to get our attention in order to increase its life-force. It’s a force of goodness - and so we want it.

Wishing you a magical Solstice. 💫

www.themedicinewoman.co.nz
🌿 Naturopathy | Soul Work ☀️
📡 Aotearoa New Zealand wide

In the name of diversity I brought this juicy honey dew in the groceries this week. Our gut flora are loving it.

I’m heading to Taranaki Retreat tomorrow to do some coaching on gut health, how it affects mental health and how to improve both through nutrition. The main take-home message for the participants will be the importance of eating a varied diet and in particular one heavy in plant foods. This includes whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices.

The ‘5+ a day’ campaign has been a great foundation for the increase of plant nutrition within our communities, but to take it to another level requires a diverse range within the 5+. Plants provide food and information to the gut flora but if you eat the same 5+ week-in, week-out - you feed only a few species of gut flora. Increase the variety in your diet and you cater to the food choices of a broader range of beneficial gut species. Diversity in general creates balance and adaptability - and we need this diversity both in our gut for a healthy body and immune system and in regards to our thoughts and feelings to create a balanced perspective on life.

Our gut creates more serotonin, the feel good hormone - and dopamine, the alert and motivation hormone - than our brain does. It’s all about the gut, folks!

While it may seem that health and disease is a highly complex topic, the key to improving health or reversing disease comes down to a few simple principles. What you’re putting into your body food-wise is one of these. Change it up if you need to! 🍆🌶🥦🥒🌽🥕🍒🍇🍎🍉🍋🍊

www.themedicinewoman.co.nz