The Mason Taylor Show

In this special interview Mason shares a deep conversation with one of his greatest inspirations in work and in life, Stephen Harrod Buhner.

Stephen's work in herbalism, heart perception, plant medicine, earth poetry, Lyme's disease, bacterial intelligence and more, has reignited the journey's of many into the indescribable "imaginal" realm that plant enthusiasts, artists and adventures throughout time have known well.

In this chat Stephen invites us to reach beyond a reductionistic mental approach to life that our Western culture insists upon and "trains" us for, to discover and dance with the wild non linear spaces that lay within.

Mason and Stephen touch on many beautiful topics ranging from wild terrain medicine, herbal antibiotics and the effect of pharmaceuticals on the planet. Delving into the mystical and empowering realm that is driven by feeling, the place where we can start to develop a deep relationship with the planet and the plants that help us to heal.

Stephen's books and work are transformational, and we cannot recommend them highly enough! Among Mason's favourites are: 

Plant Intelligence And The Imaginal Realms

The Lost Language Of Plants

The Secret Teachings Of Plants

Sacred And Herbal Healing Beers.

Who is Stephen Harrod Buhner ?

Stephen Harrod Buhner is a interdisciplinary, independent scholar, polymath, Fellow of Schumacher College UK and head researcher for the Foundation for Gaian Studies. Stephen is an extraordinary human who, like many (if not all), cannot be summed up in a simple paragraph, to read more about the universe that is Stephen Harrod Buhner, please see his extensive bio here.

Resources:

Stephen's Website Stephen's Books Stephen's Articles The Foundation For Gaian Studies

In today's episode. Mason and George go deep into what is happening in the world right now.

Who is George Kavassilas?

George Kavassilas is an author, mentor, and public speaker. George has had a lifetime of experiences beyond the ordinary, encountering a wide spectrum of expressions of life both Inter-Dimensional and Extra-Terrestrial in nature. As a consequence, he went through a process of reconciling the knowledge and wisdom gained from these experiences and came to realise a natural responsibility to share what he has learned with our global community. George now embodies a limitless passion in addressing life’s primordial questions: “Who are we? Where do we come from? and What are we doing here?”

George knows his life path includes a focus to expose all levels of deception, no matter how far they go. He carries a deep-seated sense of responsibility to help liberate our Humanity from all forms of imposing doctrine and dogma, without exception - be they Earthly or even Cosmic in nature.

In today's podcast the terrific trio, Mason, Dan and Sage, come together to talk all things adrenal health. The boys address the concept of adrenal fatigue and what that term has come to embody in today's society.

The gents discuss:

-Adrenal fatigue and deficiency.

-The role of adrenal health in day to day function.

-The concept of Jing essence and how that effects our adrenal health.

-Just how important adrenal health is in keeping the rest of the body in harmony and balance.

-The role of the 'fight or flight' response and how that has changed from primitive times to now.

-Stress and fatigue related disorders.

-The hormone interplay that occurs when the adrenals are taxed.

-Indicators of 'adrenal fatigue', tissue cortisol vs salivary cortisol.

-HPA (hypothalamic pituitary adrenal) disfunction.

-Adrenal health and lifestyle design.

-The importance of cortisol in keeping inflammation in check.

-The power of 'walk about' in healing.

-Reprogramming the nervous system and the significance of sleep.

-Switching from 'active' to 'passive' exercise to aid adrenal health.

-A take away quote from this epic chat:

"The sage would adopt any life imposed on him without recrimination or remorse, without losing his good humour and contentment because his intimate being possesses the means to communicate with the organisation of the world in such a way that wealth, honour, leisure or their opposites are incapable of affecting the power of his soul." 

-huainanzi

Resources:

SuperFeast Podcast: https://www.superfeast.com.au/blogs/articles/tagged/podcast

Today Mason and Dr. Nat Kringoudis discuss the missing link in reproductive health - the fact that our youngsters are not being appropriately educated in this field. Dr. Nat is extremely passionate about empowering the young and educating our children, rather than letting them find their way in the big, bad online world. They explore the skills that a care giver can incorporate into their repertoire to hold space for these conversations around fertility, reproductive health, sex and everything in between. Dr. Nat raises the point that, from a young age, we are told narratives around most sexual, reproductive and gender-specific body functions. But why? For example, why do we tell our youngsters that babies are delivered by a stork? Tune in to today's episode to explore how we can begin to redefine the sexual education of our teens, for healthier generations to come. 

You will hear about:

-How normalising sexual / reproductive facts with kid's is a really proactive preventative measure to educate the future generations

-30% of teens are googling reproductive health; let's shift their first experience from the online forum, to a face to face age-appropriate conversation

-The stress around infertility tends to overtake any structural or physiological fertility issues

-Synthetic hormonal birth control (like the pill) mask any underlying symptoms

-Kids observe and absorb; we need to make sure we are educated and empowered to lead by example

-If you suffer from PCOS, intermittent fasting can be a game changer

-The biggest hormonal issues stem from stress

-Try aligning to the feeling you want, rather than the goal

-How synthetic birth control may encourage infertility

-STD's can have devastating long-term fertility effects

-Hormonal issues are normal until around age 18 for females

-How condoms and barrier methods should be non-negotiable for teens

Resources:

SuperFeast Podcast: https://www.superfeast.com.au/blogs/articles/tagged/podcast

In today's podcast the boys come together to discuss candida overgrowth, its frequency within the population, the varied symptomatology associated with this common yeast-like infection and the strategies you can use to bring the body back into balance. Mason, Dan and Sage draw on their superior knowledge of this condition from personal experience, sharing their wisdom from a traditional Taoist tonic herbal perspective and a functional naturopathic approach.

The gents discuss:

The fact that Candida albicans is a naturally occurring organism within the body and only becomes problematic when imbalance occurs.

How chronic use of antibiotics can contribute to the condition.

How diet and lifestyle practices can help to bring things back into harmony.

The common symptoms that candida overgrowth is present, e.g. chronic fatigue, brain fog, digestive disturbances, weakened immunity, oral thrush, fungal infections within the the skin and nails etc.

The particular clinical tests you can use to investigate and diagnose candida within your body.

How you can use your symptoms and health history to identify whether candida is a problem for you.

Foods that aggravate the immune system and exacerbate candida overgrowth.

The importance of food combining in regards to candida.

Candida from a naturopathic perspective and the clinical markers used to identify the condition.

The importance of normalising the body's circadian rhythms and adrenal response is in regards to healing.

Candida from a Taoist perspective and what's happening within the organ systems, particularly the spleen.

How candida leads to Jing depletion and exhaustion within the system as a whole.

The correlation between candida and leaky gut.

The Jing herbs you can use to rebuild your foundational energy stores, these include he shou wu, cordyceps, rehmannia, morinda etc.

The importance of lifestyle factors such as sleep, rest, breathing practices, nature time and reduced caffeine and sugar intake to bring combat candida overgrowth.

The lifestyle tweaks you can use to bring the body back into its parasympathetic mode so you can heal. Reishi and Ashwagandha are game changers here.

How cutting carbs and sugar can help manage candida symptoms

Using fats (ketones) as fuel.

How herbs such as pau d'arco, chaga and reishi can assist healing.

The benefits of probiotics and fermented foods such as sauerkraut and coconut kefir.

The Body Ecology Diet.

The importance of sunshine and vitamin D, sweat and movement.

The herbs and nutraceuticals you can use to break up stubborn biofilms.

The importance of supporting the liver with herbs such as schizandra / schisandra, burdock and dandelion root and st mary's thistle. 

The importance of full body detoxification in healing from candida overgrowth

The three phases of liver detoxification and the nutrients your body needs to successfully complete them.

The immune boosting powers of medicinal mushrooms when healing from candida, particularly chaga, reishi, turkey tail, maitake, Mason's Mushrooms

The difference between ground dwelling mushrooms and those that grow on trees e.g medicinal mushrooms.

Bringing awareness around the glycemic load of gluten free products when working to heal candida overgrowth.

The tests you can use to distinguish candida from other bacterial loads within the body, particularly the OAT (organic acids test).

Resources:

SuperFeast Podcast: https://www.superfeast.com.au/blogs/articles/tagged/podcast

Today Tahnee chats to Susun Weed (often misspelt Susan Weed), the grandmother of herbs. Susun is a true wise, wild elder, a wonderful story-teller and exposes women to ideas outside of the mainstream. Susun attended the School of Life, and is passionate about everything to do with women, health and herbs. Tahnee and Susun discuss standing in your power regarding your reproductive rights, feminism versus being female and how there are no guarantees in life - we just have to do the best that we can. The ladies chat about empowering women to get back to their intuitive wisdom, via the ancient botanical system. You guys are going to love this one!

You will hear about:

-Susun's view on lying to your health care practitioner about your last moon cycle, to ensure your unborn baby is not induced!

-The true history of blue for boys, pink for girls (who knew?!)

-How Susun makes herbal infusions

-How potent nettle can be for women

-How all minerals are not created equal

-How comfrey can help prevent pregnancy stretch marks

-Mammograms and how they may not be the best measure for breast cancer

-Phytoestrogens versus phytosterols

-How standardisation of herbs is detrimental to the botanicals properties

-Bio-individuality means herbs can have different effects on us

Resources:

SuperFeast Podcast: https://www.superfeast.com.au/blogs/articles/tagged/podcast

SuperFeast Stance on Standardisation

Today, Sage Dammers (tonic herbalist and master chocolatier) and Mason cover everything you need to know about the newest addition to the SuperFeast apothecary, ashwagandha! The guys dive deep into the lore and traditions behind this Ayurvedic herb. The countless benefits of this calming adaptogen range from dialling down the stress response, nourishing the nervous system, balancing hormones and providing reproductive system support. And plenty more. A botanical which is an aphrodisiac, that's not overly stimulating, that is also a nervine?! What! A! Herb!

"Ashwagandha really is the herb for modern times" - Sage Dammers

-Up to 15 clinical applications have been thoroughly researched for ashwagandha

-Traditionally a 'muscle, marrow and semen' builder and supporter

-Regrows damaged synapses in the brain from heavy metal toxicity

-Provides the sexual energy and vigour of a horse 

-The ultimate rejuvenating herb for the elderly, kids and everyone in between

-Small doses are incredibly effective, more is not always better

-Stimulates blood production in the body, may be good for vegetarians / vegans who need blood building support

-Need to build blood? Try SuperFeast Deer Antler and SuperFeast Ashwagandha 

-When starting with ashwagandha, if you are in a rebuilding stage, give it time to rebuild. Then the rejuvenating effect will kick in

-Slightly heating and drying herb and helps to move water Qi by supporting spleen function

-Positive effect on male fertility via the decrease in stress and increase in adaptability (results in healthier sperm and hormone levels)

-A cortisol-dependant state can be positively balanced by ashwagandha 

-Helps to balance blood sugar

-Also a powerful fertility enhancer for women via balancing of hormones

Resources:

SuperFeast Podcast: https://www.superfeast.com.au/blogs/articles/tagged/podcast

BUY Ashwagandha Root Extract Powder

In today's Women Series episode, Tahnee chats with Dr. Lara Briden who is on a mission to empower women to reclaim their menstrual cycles. Dr. Lara refers to women's monthly cycles as their monthly report card and how ovulation is a vital sign of health. The ladies discuss how ovulation is so much more than just making a baby. Even though PMS and infertility are normalised in the Western world, Dr. Lara breaks it down that these symptoms are not healthy nor necessary. Hormonal birth control options are discussed and the ladies dive into the difference between PCOS and hypothalamic amenorrhea. To help empower women gaining confidence and knowledge about their cycles Dr. Lara shares methods to track ovulation and tips on dietary lifestyles to feel vital and healthy as a woman.

The Ladies Discuss:

-Without ovulation, there is technically no cycle

-PCOS sufferers often experience anovulatory cycles (a bleed, without ovulation)

-Did you know a regular cycle occurs every 21-35 days?

-Tips to track ovulation include cervical mucous and basal body temperatures

-Fertile mucous looks like raw egg-white and is a sign of estrogen

-When you are on the Pill, you will not produce fertile mucous

-A blood test looking at progesterone is risky as progesterone fluctuates throughout the cycle

-The idea that the Pill supports fertility is a myth; it shrinks the ovaries and may bring on menopause earlier

-Hormonal birth control essentially induces a menopausal state

-It takes 12 years (TWELVE!) for a female's hormonal systems to fully mature

-Younger girls can often successfully treat period issues with anti-inflammatory foods and being dairy-free

-How a vegan diet can pose severe challenges for women's hormone health

Resources:

SuperFeast Podcast: https://www.superfeast.com.au/blogs/articles/tagged/podcast

Part 2 to the epic first pregnancy preparation episode. If you haven't listened yet to Part 1, check it out here. This mammoth episode sees Mason and Tahnee diving deep into the practices, philosophy, diet and herbalism that went into creating the year in which Tahnee was childbearing little Aiya. This podcast was recorded during the first week of bubba's life, so the sharing experience of the birth is fresh; something Tahnee was wishing to be able to infuse into this intimate sharing of how she chose to approach nourishing her body during pregnancy. We have received such amazing feedback from these two episodes and with such amazing sharings, we had to revisit them!

Here’s what Mason and Tahnee dive into (with much more extensive notes shared below):

-Pregnancy and home birth plans

-How did Tahnee know?

-We found out at four weeks, basically I was very aware that something was different in my body!! We’d both felt the baby come in November, and exactly three months later we were pregnant, and I’ve heard that’s common

-Pregnancy diet

-we don’t follow a dietary plan, more intuitive

-generally vegetarian, though we do include meat in our diet, probably once or twice a week: fish, buffalo, occasionally organic chicken and beef, other wild meats (rabbit, goat, boar), broths/stocks

-more mindful of eating a variety of foods and definitely eat more quantity, smaller meals, regularly

-organic and local as much as possible - farmers market and Santos/Source keep us fed

-fridge/freezer is stocked

-wild foods, high mineral content

-fermented foods

-Best supplements during pregnancy

-I didn’t take a lot of vitamins or anything like that, apart from lipsomal vitamin C

-lots of herbs, mostly tonics, plus raspberry leaf and nettle, slippery elm occasionally, yellow dock, dandelion, milk thistle, ginger

-lots of probiotics

-iodine until I saturated

-silica

-personally most concerned about losing minerals as bubbas drain mamas (for every baby a tooth, is an old saying!) so been keeping up the minerals

-megahydrate

-estroblock when we had it, just one cap per day of the pro

-clays and charcoal (you might’ve heard of pica - desire to eat clays - common in pregnant women)

-DHA, EFA: fish oil, also raw seafood, fish and oysters

-sea minerals

-The best tonic herbs and medicinal mushrooms during pregnancy

-best suggestion is reishi, but I took everything in the SuperFeast range at various stages, kidney jing herbs lately (postpartum) to heal and boost recovery

-Best herbs during pregnancy

-avoid steroidal herbs, emmenagogues

-check out Susun Weed’s book and Aviva Romm

-Symptoms of pregnancy

-been lucky, apart from tiredness and needing to eat a lot more, I’ve had very little to complain about. Have felt body change, but that’s been fine, I’ve enjoyed being pregnant. Heartburn when my uterus got really big (apparently babies with lots of hair give their mamas heartburn…), but that stopped when baby dropped, ‘growing pains’ around my ribs (like when I was a kid), car sickness if I had an empty belly

-Pregnancy cravings / changes

-started eating meat again, pretty mindfully

-needed lots of simple carbs in the first trimester, regularly. Like, every two hours. Bilbo Baggins style - breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoons I wasn’t a hungry, but at least one snack and then dinner. And often needed to eat in the middle of the night. So I did 😃

-waking up starving - that’s new for me!

-generally more calories

-haven’t put on much weight, I don’t think, except for boobs and belly and in third trimester around my bum and hips. I haven’t weighed myself

-Exercise during pregnancy

-yoga - only consideration, IMO, is how the mother feels and to listen to her body - if you’re a regular yogi, you will be less flexible in certain areas, this is OK, it’s not about extreme ROM it’s about being mindful about what needs support during the transitions — for me, pecs (chest - boobs!!) and lower traps, rhomboids, hip flexors, quads, glutes and lateral body (QL and thoracolumbar fascia) - I have avoided a lot of ‘hip openers, they made my pelvis feel unstable (deep hip flexion, ext rotation, e.g. pigeon), though I’ve loved square…

-Used a lot of props, have not gone deep but have stayed in poses for a long time. Early pregnancy I wanted to be very active, so preferred more active, mobile classes, teaching ashtanga etc lots of Embodied Flow with Tara Judelle on YogaGlo.

-WALK! I think this is the best thing you can do - I TRY and walk daily (an hour, in nature, but that’s changed as I’ve gotten bigger) - most ‘traditional’ women walk on average 5 kms per during their pregnancies, so I tried to do about an hour a day…that’s dropped off lately, as I get crazy contractions when I walk

-swimming - though mostly just a dip

-stay active - most important, I think

-Vitamin D on boobs, belly as much as possible = naked sun time

-Saunas in winter (short, until I felt too hot, not forced), hot tub

-Massage, moxa

-Yoga nidra

-Home birth prep and planning

-really just made sense to me, was only option as far as I was concerned. I did not want to be travelling during labour or after birth

-super lucky to have access to the midwives program, through the Byron hospital

-two experienced midwives and one student attended birth, Daddy delivered

-birth pool hire - Birth Afloat (small heated pool)

-spring water - Wild Oasis (filled and added Crystal Energy and sea salt)

-placenta encapsulation

-other tips - buy lots of old towels from op shop!!

-herbs for post-birth - jing herbs (cordyceps, deer antler, eucommia bark), reishi, lion’s mane, placenta, daily tonic tea: schizandra / schisandra, raspberry leaf, nettle, vanilla, rhemmania, chaga.

Book Resources:  - Ina May Gaskin: Spiritual Midwifery, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, Ina May’s Guide to Breastfeeding - Aviva Romm: Natural Pregnancy - Sarah Buckley - not so much her book, but her interview with Daniel Vitalis about hormone cascades was awesome, ReWild Yourself podcast - Susun Weed: Wise Women’s Herbal for the Childbearing Year, and her blog - Jeannie Pavarti Baker - all her books - Tami Lynn Kent: Wild Feminine, Mouthing from Your Centre - http://thematrona.com/the-holistic-stages-of-birth/ - Jane Hardwick Collings: Ten Moons - didn’t get to read this, but it looks good, Jenny Blyth: Down to Earth Birth - Penny Simkin: Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn - Roy Dittmann: Brighton Baby

Other Resources:

SuperFeast Podcast: https://www.superfeast.com.au/blogs/articles/tagged/podcast

In today's Women Series episode, Tahnee dives deep into listening to your body's innate wisdom, with Dr Carrie Jones. Dr Carrie is the medical director of the DUTCH, which is a relatively new analytic to test hormones and safe to say it greatly differs from the traditional Western blood-test approach. The ladies discuss the HPA axis and how the thyroid is best tested. Adrenal fatigue is explored and the discussion around slowing down and not being a master of all the things, all the time, is covered. Keto and veganism lifestyles are discussed. This is a beautiful conversation around a woman's wellbeing and how it is a complex and dancing conversation between all the organ systems and hormones. You don't want to miss this one! 

The ladies discuss:

- Blood tests show that moment in time; blood doesn't present what each constituent piece is doing, where it's going, or how the body is interacting with it

- Accurately testing cortisol via blood, is challenging

- DUTCH show the metabolites, which present how each hormone was processed

- The ideal Western standard range for blood test data is very arbitrary

- A slow thyroid slows down everything - hair, nails, metabolism, cortisol

- Thyroid testing is best via blood

- Cortisol and melatonin and sort of the like the sun and the moon, like Yin and Yang

- Circadian rhythm irregularities (e.g. poor sleep) will effect all our rhythms, our female cycle included 

- We love routine and structure, honour the body by having positive sleep hygiene practices and routine meal time. Basics are key

- Why keto and intermittent fasting might not be for you

- How symptoms easily become the normal, but feeling anxious, feeling tired all the time, are not the sign of health

- How "adrenal fatigue" is the body's way of saying slow down

- Quality truely is key when it comes to supplements 

- How veganism has the tendency to deplete a woman's systems

- What's leptin resistance? 

- The physiology behind polycystic ovarian syndrome

- Biologically speaking, survival is the priority, reproduction is not. Hence why stress can play havoc with a women's cycle

- Libido is a strong sign of robust health, low libido is an indicator there is imbalance

- Why informed decision-making, regarding the Pill is critical

- Why menopause symptoms can differ so significantly between women

Resources:

For more: https://www.superfeast.com.au/blogs/articles/female-hormones-with-dr-carrie-jones-ep-19?_pos=1&_sid=c9ba8e99c&_ss=r

SuperFeast Podcast: https://www.superfeast.com.au/blogs/articles/tagged/podcast