Medicine Stories

Perimenopause & menopause are often framed as a problem to fix- and the conversation quickly collapses into a single question: HRT or not?

But women's bodies are rarely that simple.

In this episode, Jane Hardwicke Collings and I explore a more expansive and grounded approach to the menopause transition. Rather than asking whether hormones are the right answer for everyone, we look at a deeper question: how can we support the complex physiological process the body is already moving through?

Our conversation examines the growing tendency to position hormone replacement therapy as a universal solution for perimenopause symptoms, and how that pattern echoes earlier chapters in women's healthcare, such as when the pill was prescribed for nearly every hormonal concern or when medical intervention became the default in birth.

This isn't an anti-HRT conversation. It's an invitation to widen the lens.

We talk about the many systems that influence the menopause transition and why supporting the body's foundations can be just as important as the hormonal conversation itself.

For some women, HRT may become a meaningful part of their path. For others, it may not. But reducing the entire transition to a single intervention risks overlooking the complexity and intelligence of the female body.

Just as we've begun shifting the conversation around menstruation and birth toward working with the body instead of overriding it, it's time to bring that same perspective to menopause.

LINKS:

Medicine Stories Patreon extended conversation- The Red Thread: Stories of Our Motherlines

The Womancraft Way

Quiz: Find Your Wise Woman Archetype

Healing Waters Nature Immersion Retreat in Costa Rica Nov 3-8

The Mythic Medicine herb shop

Jane on Instagram

Amber on Instagram

Medicine Stories Facebook group

Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Many (if not most) women today are- often unintentionally and without realizing it- undernourishing to the point that our basic biological needs are not being met. Exhausted, anxious, and chasing down symptom after symptom, we are spending time, energy, and money on hormone testing, microbiome analysis, genetic sequencing, supplement protocols, etc. all while unknowingly not taking in enough calories and/or micronutrients for our bodies to work properly in the first place.

Our culture today is awash in contradictory health information, food fear, warped wellness idealogies, and impossible beauty standards, but confusion around food and bodies goes back to at least our grandmothers' generation. We inherit nourishment beliefs and practices just as we inherit our mineral and nutrient stores.

Ashley Wulkan- mother, herbalist, nutritionist, and mineral balancing practitioner- and I wish to simplify nourishment for women, not add to the noise. We do this for not only ourselves but for our collective mothers who never overcame their own food issues, and for our collective daughters who we fervently pray will adequately nourish themselves and their descendents far into the future.

Let's rewrite the story.

LINKS:

Medicine Stories Patreon- bonus conversation on The Imprint of Nourishment- what we inherit and what we pass down

Healing Waters Nature Immersion Retreat in Costa Rica Nov 3-8

The Mythic Medicine herb shop

Ashley's Free Guide Fundamental Nourishment for the Mother Body

Ashley on Instagram

Amber on Instagram

Quiz: Find Your Wise Woman Archetype

Medicine Stories Facebook group

Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Thousands of people report major improvements in their health after doing the liver/gall bladder flush, but can it be harmful? The answer is- it depends, on a ton of variables, and no two people are going to experience the same physiological impact.

Even when flushing is successful, there will be a cost to the body's nutrient stores.

So what can we do to ensure that liver flushing will tip more toward beneficial and less toward depleting?

What symptoms might indicate that a flush could benefit you?

Are there gentler ways to do a flush?

I'm your host Amber and today I am joined by mineral balancing practitioner Sena Maria and Doctor of Chinese Medicine Suuzi Hazen to discuss our experiences with liver flushing alongside considerations that we feel are missing from the online conversations we see about this process.

The truth is that liver flushing is a trade off, with extraordinarily beneficial results possible but real depletion and imbalance also very possible, so let's talk about how to mitigate harmful results and tweak the protocol to fit your life and body.

LINKS:

Medicine Stories Patreon- Gentle Liver Flush Protocol & an extended conversational deep dive into this topic

Healing Waters Nature Immersion Retreat in Costa Rica Nov 3-8

Violet Leaf Castor Oil

The Mythic Medicine herb shop

Suuzi's Mother's Best Liver Pills

Sena Maria's website

Sena on Instagram

Suuzi on Instagram

Amber on Instagram

Quiz: Find Your Wise Woman Archetype

Medicine Stories Facebook group

Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Healing is often framed through the lens of heroic breakthroughs, peak experiences, and emotional catharsis, but this episode centers a steadier path. Many modern healing trends—amplified by social media and the promise of instant transformation—can quietly deplete the body, especially for women, leading to every day burnout, long-term exhaustion, and chronic illness.

Rather than bypassing the physical, we return to the essentials, recognizing that illness for modern women is often rooted in chronic stress and physiological depletion- not the lack of spiritual epiphanies or endless emotional processing.

I'm joined today by women's health expert and mineral balancing practitioner Sena Maria, who brings grounded clarity to what true, lasting healing requires, helping us understand the body's intelligent responses to modern life and offering a vision of healing that is slow, nourishing, and sustainable.

LINKS:

Healing Waters Nature Immersion Retreat with Amber Nov 3-8

Medicine Stories Patreon (extended convo about the interplay of serotonin, histamine, and estrogen, plus a discount link for Sena's membership program Radiantly Nourished)

The Mythic Medicine herb shop

Sena's free 11 minute video showing her HTMA progression From Burnout To Thriving

Before Burnout (discount code BB10)

Ashley Wulkan's post on undernourishment

Quiz: Find Your Wise Woman Archetype

Amber on Instagram

Sena on Instagram

Medicine Stories Facebook group

Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Midlife is a powerful threshold, one that is often misunderstood or endured in shame and solitude. In this episode, we explore the in-between terrain where old identities dissolve and new ways of being have not yet fully emerged. Jessie and I reflect on how today's societal pressures collide with the emotional and biological realities of midlife and motherhood, creating an unprecedented landscape that calls for more compassion, more community, and more honest conversations. By naming and honoring these transitions, especially those unique to women, we open the door to self-discovery, validation, and personal and collective growth.

Links:

Medicine Stories Patreon (extended convo w/ Jessie on The Freebirth Fallout)

The Costa Rica Healing Waters Nature Immersion Retreat w/ Amber, November 2026

Jessie's website

Jessie on Instagram

Find Your Wise Woman Archetype

The Mythic Medicine herb shop

Mythic Medicine on Instagram

Medicine Stories Facebook group

Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Menarche- a girl's first period- shapes how we experience womanhood for the rest of our lives, and the lack of initiation most of us experience is itself an initiation. In this culture that has fractured from the rites and wisdom of our grandmothers, where so many of us met our first period with confusion or shame, how do we begin to heal this tender threshold- for our daughters, and for the younger version of ourselves?

In a conversation brimming with practical suggestions, my herb teacher Kami McBride- who has led countless women's circles, developed and taught a class for cycling women, and even written a book on menstruation- shares her decades of experience and insight. Together, we explore how to remember what was once celebrated, and how to bring reverence and empowerment back to this profound beginning.

Medicine Stories Patreon (thank you!)- enter the giveaway & get a list of my favorite books on menstruation

Kami's free classes: DIY Body Butter for Gifting & Top 3 Stress-Melting Herbal Oils

Kami's course: Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils

Join me at the Medicine Stories Healing Waters Nature Immersion Retreat in Costa Rica November 2026!

Mythic Medicine herbal remedies- take our quiz to be notified when our Moment Markers Bundles become available

Kami on Instagram

Amber on Instagram

Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Did you notice metabolic changes around age 35 and/or 42? Does perimenopause even exist? Is there an ideal childbearing window? Why are humans one of the only species to experience menopause? Suuzi Hazen, doctor of Chinese Medicine and my closest companion in healing from midlife burnout, gives us the Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective on the 7 year framework for girls' and womens' life transitions.

Suuzi's post that inspired this conversation

Join me & Suuzi at the Medicine Stories Healing Waters Nature Immersion Retreat in Costa Rica November 2026!

Medicine Stories Podcast

Related previous episodes with Suuzi- Nourishment Lost, Women's Bodies are Metabolically Expensive, Midlife Burnout for Women

Mother's Best Liver Pills by Suuzi

Women's Bodies podcast by Suuzi

Mythic Medicine herbal remedies- take our quiz to be notified when our Moment Markers Bundles become available

Suuzi on Instagram

Me on Instagram

Leonard Shlain

Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Birth opens the door, but what comes after walks you through it. Many new parents find themselves moving through the first year feeling lonely, confused, and wondering why it's so hard.

In this episode, I'm joined again by Rachelle Seliga of Innate Traditions, who has spent over 20 years teaching and gathering communities to explore postpartum, motherhood, and revillaging. Together, we open the conversation wider — into the realm of fatherhood — with Rachelle's signature depth, wisdom, and grounded practicality.

Whether you're preparing for birth or reflecting on your own postpartum journey, this conversation offers insight, validation, and a new lens on what it means to be reshaped by parenthood.

Planning for the Fourth Trimester for Mothers & Fathers workshop with Rachelle and Dan

Two Medicine Stories Patreon bonuses:

1) extended interview w/ Rachelle giving me her hot takes on controversial wellness/spirituality topics and

2) audio recording of me giving a podcast/medicine/life/health status update

Rachelle's previous Medicine Stories appearance Revillaging: Maternal, Cultural, and Planetary Wellness Are One

Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy?

Innate Traditions Website

Innate Traditions Instagram

Mythic Medicine Website

Mythic Medicine Instagram

Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

In 2021 Tara and her family got the knock on their door that every parent fears most. In the days that followed they discovered eighteen-year-old Mila's journal and were able to piece together the shocking and devastating chain of events that led to her death.

Tara's Instagram and Substack, Slowdown Farmstead, is followed and admired by tens of thousands of people. Tara and her husband raised their three daughters on their beautiful Canadian farm, lovingly tending to and butchering their own livestock in order to nourish their family and community. Deeply acquainted with the cycles of nature, Tara has a perspective on the interconnectedness of life and death that was the daily reality for our ancestors but eludes most modern people.

But that did not prepare her for what could happen when a drug that is now bred to be as strong as any pharmaceutical- and which is often misunderstood as being a benign herbal medicine- snuck its way into her daughter's life at a vulnerable time and completely rewired her brain in a matter of months.

It is our hope that sharing Mila's story will make more people aware of the increasingly common psychosis that is a side effect of the new high-THC strains of cannabis on the market, and especially of its dangers for the developing teenage brain.

Please read the articles linked below for more.

Tara's essay What Happened To Our Daughter- don't miss the dozens of resources about the risks of cannabis at the end

How Weed Became the New OxyContin: Big Pharma and Big Tobacco Are Helping Market High-Potency, Psychosis-Inducing THC Products as Your Mother's 'Medical Marijuana'

Patreon bonus conversation- What We Want Our Daughter To Know: women, restriction, chronic illness & more on Tara's metabolic journey

Learn more about Tara's book Radiance of the Ordinary

Slowdown Farmstead on Substack and Instagram

Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome

Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy?

My website MythicMedicine.love

Mythic Medicine on Instagram

Medicine Stories Facebook group

Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

My most beloved herbal elder and I talk about our favorite subject- women throughout time using plants for self care, family healing, and community connection. After nearly 4 decades as a practicing herbalist and teacher, and in an age of informational overabundance, Kami has seen what actually works when it comes to truly embodying herbal knowing.

Find Kami's freebies & learn more about Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils (including the peek at what you see when you log in to the course).

Two Patreon bonuses for this episode-

1) an extended conversation with Kami where we share our stories of Mothering Without Elders

2) two free videos with Kami entitled Garden Herb Walk- meet 9 favorite garden herbs that can calm the nerves, help with digestion, heal the skin, kick a cold, and more! Let's meet beautiful edible and medicinal flowers, weeds, leaves and seeds and find out which ones are used for what.

Kami's book The Herbal Kitchen

Amber's website MythicMedicine.love

Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy?

Amber/Mythic Medicine on Instagram

Medicine Stories Facebook group

Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)