About Kami McBride
I went on my first official herb walk when I was 8 years old as part of a nature camp that was held on the creek that I grew up on. There are big gaps in the memories of my childhood, but I remember everything that camp counselor said about the plants that afternoon. Like it was yesterday, I recall being so excited about learning the uses of Bay, Dogwood, and Yellow Dock. Since that time I have always loved learning about and doing things with plants.
From the time that I was a very young child my family would spend the Spring and Fall seasons fishing and diving at the Mendocino Coast. Every Summer we camped in remote areas of the Sierra Mountains. Our Sierra trips involved going into the forest and making our own camp ground. We would spend several weeks fishing, swimming, hiking, and in the evenings we sang and told stories by the fire. From my childhood experiences of harvesting food from the sea and sleeping under the mountain stars, I learned to love the Earth and her abundance.
My Grandfather was an ecologist and the first Parks and Recreation Director in Vacaville. He worked to save open space and preserve the creeks and trees. From him I learned a deep respect for the Earth. Every Spring and Fall after the first rains I would go with my parents and grandparents to the hills above Vacaville and harvest wild mushrooms. I can still smell the pans full of frying mushrooms and onions from this semi-annual family ritual mushroom feast. From those hills and my family I learned of the joy and spirit of hunting wild foods.
While working on my Bachelors Degree in International Relations at San Francisco State University, I made a conscious decision that I wanted to be of service; to help people and make the world a better place. I went to work on Capitol Hill where I thought one could have the most influence in making change. I was a legislative aid intern with Congresswoman Barbara Boxer.
It became very clear to me that I did not want to live the life that I observed there, and at the age of 23 I made the connection that positive change in the world begins with how we live our personal lives. The stress, tension, and unhealthy relationships that filled the lives of the people on Capitol Hill was what was being generated in the world. I made a decision to nurture balance and health in my own life and create change from there.
In the 1980’s I began studying various holistic health modalities. Yoga, massage, meditation, shamanism, clairvoyant studies, Biofeedback and herbal medicine. From spending so much time in nature as a child, I was naturally drawn to herbal medicine. Herbal gardening and wild plant harvesting became my passion. Meditation and shamanic techniques gave me the tools to allow the forest to be my classroom.
I attended my first class on herbs and Women's Health in 1986 with Rosemary Gladstar at the California School of Herbal Studies. I fell in love with the gardens and cabins at her school and the seeds of creating my own herb school were planted.
Issues of Women's Health have been at the center of my teaching and practice. When I was 19 years old I had a tumor surgically removed from my pituitary gland. It was the result of having taken a very strong birth control pill that is no longer used. This personal history has inspired me to continually search for healthier ways to approach the female experience. My deepest ongoing exploration is of issues surrounding the female cycles of menarche, menstruation, fertility, sexuality and menopause.
At about the same time I had this surgery a very close family friend died in her early 20’s as a result of the side-effects of an asthma medication that is no longer on the market. I was young and the tragedy of this experience had a marked effect on me. I made the connection that what happened to her and my surgery were both a result of damaging and needless medications. I started to notice that most of my elders were taking drugs to counteract side-effects from other drugs. All of this propelled me to ask the question, “Is there another way?”
I was raised with a mainstream symptom suppressive approach to health care, listen to your doctor and take this pill if you don’t feel well. I had never even heard of herbal tea, much less the concept of holistic health.
However the alchemy of the power of my feelings coupled with asking the question, “Is there another way?” allowed for the opening of a new awareness for me. Information and opportunities to learn about many things in the world of holistic medicine started to just appear in my life. I wondered why nobody had taught me about this before and pursued everything with an insatiable hunger for the knowledge that had been lacking.
In the early 1980’s, becoming an herbalist was not the scope of what was possible as a ‘career option’. My parents and grandparents were very upset that I had an education that I threw out the window to study plants. I had no idea what I was doing, I just followed my passion and what interested me the most.
When people ask, what is your background in herbal medicine? The answer is a long one and a lifetime journey. Herbal medicine is more than the study of plant constituents. It is a study of the medicine of the earth and how we interact with the elements. Every thing that we do to improve our awareness helps us to better understand the process of how to live in more health and balance on the earth. Some personal studies that have played a significant role in my ability to communicate and understand plant human relationships are:
- Women's Mysteries studies with Vicki Noble; The Motherpeace School of Shamanism for Women
- Clairvoyance Training Program; Berkeley Psychic Institute
- Herbal and Ayurvedic studies with Dr. Vasant Lad
- Courses with Rosemary Gladstar and Jane Bothwell; California School of Herbal Studies
- The summers spent backpacking the Sierras. The wild medicines filled my heart as I hiked throughout the Yosemite back country, identifying the wild edible and medicinal plants.
- Over 2500 hours training in various massage and breathwork modalities including Cranio-Sacral therapy, Jin Shin Jyutsu and Thai Massage
- Organic Gardening and Sustainable Living Apprenticeship at the Farallones Institute
- Clinical Herbal certification program with Michael Moore; The Southwest School of Botanical Studies
- Sivananda Yoga and Meditation Teacher Certification
- Tantra Yoga Teacher Certification; SkyDancing Institute
- Wilderness Rites of Passage Teacher Certification; Steven Foster and Meredith Little, The School of Lost Borders
- Advanced Clinical Herbal training with Lois Johnson, MD
- Shamanic skills training from Foundation for Shamanic Studies
- Ayurvedic herbal studies at the Evergreen School of Integrative Herbology
- Flower Essence Practitioner training from the Flower Essence Society
After many years of living and studying in the Bay Area, I returned to my home town Vacaville. I spent a lot of time with my dying Grandfather and one afternoon he took me to the graves of our ancestors that came here in 1852. I picked Rose hips from a very old rose bush that was on my great, great, great, grandmother Catherine McBride's grave. I made tea from the rose hips and felt my ancestors smile on the work I was doing.
On a very low budget, with help from family and friends; using recycled lumber I built my first herb school. It was a rustic cabin in the forest. I had an outhouse and lived about 3 steps above camping for five years. In my cabin I taught classes and saw clients for bodywork, breathwork and herbal consultations. I learned from my students, my clients, the garden and from observing the animals, plants, and the changing of the seasons.
One of the missions of my classes is to help revive the civic art of home herbal care and help women to remember their heritage as herbalists and healers. It is our inheritance to have family members that are knowledgeable about how to use herbs and nutrition to prevent and treat illness.
Changing the face of medicine in this country begins in our homes. As each of us becomes more body literate and more knowledgeable about how to use herbs, whole foods, massage modalities and other holistic techniques, we ask that our health care providers be understanding and supportive of what we do. Our increased awareness collectively adds up and helps medical establishments evolve. Every time you take a class in how to cook healthier food or use herbs in your kitchen, you are participating in a cultural evolution that is changing the food industry and the way medicine is being practiced in this country.
Cultivating the Herbal Medicine Woman Within and the Women's Wisdom Workshops are where I put everything together to help women deepen their connection and understanding of their own body and the medicines of the earth. I help people to remember and appreciate what a beautiful, diverse, abundant place it is in which we live. As a sixth generation resident of this area my love and connection to the Earth, the Creeks, the Rocks, the Creatures, and the Plants are at the heart of my teachings.
I share with people the ancient wisdom of Herbalism and remembering our connection to Mother Earth. Together we learn to work with the healing power of nature and as an apprentice of the Earth and Life's Mysteries I am continually learning and incorporating new awareness into my teaching curriculum.
Kami McBride P.O. Box 5381 Vacaville, CA. 95695
707-446-1290
kami@livingawareness.com