I was excited to speak at the Weleda-NCIM festival on Friday 18th July. I did a joint session with Dr Elizabeth Thompson who spoke about the clinical benefits of the Arnica flower (Arnica montana), a beautiful yellow plant in the daisy family.
I gave an update on Arnica clinical research having reviewed around 50 randomised controlled trials to summarise the areas of strongest and weakest evidence supporting its use. For trials that have shown Arnica to be as good as a conventional medicine such as ibruprofen, diclofenac or corticosteroids, this research is ground breaking. I made the point about given the vast scale of pharmaceutical pollution, that replacing pharmaceutical medication with alternatives is best for both humans and the planet, or the planet and humans. Our existence is inextricably interlinked, and at the moment neither is thriving.
Weleda grows many of their own plants for commercial use at their biodynamic garden in Derbyshire. The space was buzzing with life, and wild areas interspersed the rows of botanical plants. These included a treasure-trove of herbs – angelica, rosemary, sage, thyme, St John’s wort, rue, echinacea, scot’s thistle, marigold, feverfew, and so many more. The hedgerows were teeming with wild plums, sloe and damson.
The event talks covered people’s personal wellbeing journeys. The broadcaster and journalist Julia Bradbury wonderfully chaired the day and shared her ambitions for creating healthier communities by getting people walking and “snacking” on nature. Dr Jeremy Howick from the University of Leicester is a Professor of Empathy and champion – although it is rather bizarre to say – of growing empathy amongst the medical profession. As he pointed out it isn’t rocket science to give someone a positive affirmation, say something nice, take a minute, to show that you care or support those around you. How sad that our cultures have driven this away, to the detriment of healing and the very health of our healthcare workers.
Andre Tranquilini is biodynamic farmer and educator and spoke of the importance of putting nature at the heart of growing our food, and how it all starts with the soil. Healthy soil means healthy microbes, healthy plants, healthy food, healthy animals and humans, and a healthy world. Our greed has got the better of us, but gladly we have ambassadors like Andre who speak passionately about our engage in nature’s cycles and rhythms to become part of the ecosystem once more.
Alex Laird is a wonderful and experienced Medicinal Herbalist and spoke about how plant medicines should be more widely used, and enthused us with her love of botany. Jane Sterland who is Weleda’s UK managing director ended the day and encouraged us to connect to one person, do one thing. I agree – small ripples in the pond can create waves and change.
Thank you to the amazing NCIM team who worked with Weleda to pull this super event off in just a couple of months. My take outs? To keep on shouting for the power of plants and change.