Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Mansfield-Hom.
Hi Michelle, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My journey as a Deaf clinical herbalist started with an inflammatory response in my system. It was the year 2010. My sinus pathways were overflowing with mucus. I was getting frequent headaches. I was congested. I couldn’t go scuba diving because as I went below the ocean level, the pressure in my skull made me feel like I was about to explode. Flying also sucked. Then, I made some changes to my food regimen so my body could heal. The rest was history, I became fascinated with land/food stewardship and farming. On that journey, I got to befriend a few herbs and call them my close allies. My curiosity grew over time. I was engrossed by the herbal actions of plants and how they acted upon the human body bio-transformatively.
An entirely new world was unlocked. Soon I was thinking about how the Deaf community has little access to herbal education, plant medicine, and alternative ways of healing. We, Deaf people, have a severe lack of access to information even though we exist in an era of information-overload. A lot of information is circulated in the forms of voiced podcasts, impromptu herbal classes & events without ASL interpretation, content without captions/subtitles, and more. A fire was ignited inside the deep pit of my stomach, which drove me to the decision of becoming a clinical herbalist. I so badly wanted to be where I am today so I can dissolve the barriers to herbal education for the Deaf community.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Well, it has been a winding road because I, as a Deaf person, had struggled to find ASL interpreters to attend the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism (CSCH). CSCH is a small school but surely amongst the best in the country (check them out!) so they couldn’t really afford ASL interpreters unless they wanted to be driven into bankruptcy. For several months, I was freaking out thinking I couldn’t attend CSCH… only because the accommodation of ASL interpreters was needed. Luckily, I stumbled upon the gold mine of support from the state, specifically the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, and was able to attend. Obtaining education from occupational or trade schools is a tough barrier for Deaf people and that is a fact.
Aside from that, I am launching my practice this fall to take Deaf/signing clients, not only limited to the Denver area but nationwide. I’m still in the early stages of my business, Bouquet of Basil Herbals. So I cannot speak for any struggles business-wise. I’m pretty stoked and ready to gain experiences, good and bad.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about the Bouquet of Basil Herbals?
Bouquet of Basil Herbals (BB Herbals) serves people, mainly those that are members of the Deaf/signing community in the form of clinical and flower essence sessions in direct American Sign Language (ASL). BB Herbals is an entirely web-based business, which allows accessibility to the named services for those from the corners of this world. People of the today world are ridden by stress, toxins, imbalances, information overload, misinformation, pathologies, chronic diseases, and many more to name. It is the intention of BB Herbals to make alternative health care ASL-linguistically available and accessible mainly using plant medicine and flower essence therapy. The services are also made financially accessible with numerous options: sliding scale upon request and layaway options. Communication and transparency are amongst BB Herbals’ top priorities and customers are always assured of this.
BB Herbals provide one-on-one clinical consultation sessions with expertise of clinical herbalism, vitalism, holistic nutrition, and flower essence therapy. Clients will be coached and guided through a collaborative journey between the practitioner and the client towards establishing vital health and vibrancy of the lifetime. The client-based transformation will include a personalized protocol consisting of holistic nutrition, herbal medicine, supplementation recommendations, and lifestyle recommendations as well as herbal medicine and/or personal meal plan.
The vision for BB Herbals is to evolve into a bigger services + products/goods platform where it is a business that provides beyond the clinical setting. The long horizon includes free-standing workshops & classes and a product line! There will be small batch releases of herbal goods from time to time which can be purchased via BB Herbals’ website (bouquetofbasilherbals.com).
More on Clinical Consultation: Clinical sessions provide space for alternative, health-focused clinical services where the client is assessed as a whole individual rather than reduced to their pathology or health concern. An intake session is 90-minute long. Realms of body system information, client’s personal health goals, nutrition, supplementation, exercise, vitality, current medications-supplements, health history, family health history, current physical-mental symptoms are covered in the in-depth intake session.
More on Flower Essence Therapy: Flower essence therapy is a radical take on mental health care. As much as it does not substitute clinical psychotherapy, it provides space for immense, deep healing on a psycho-spiritual level as much as the human emotional plane. A flower essence session is a 60-minute container for the client to unravel, come apart, be all up in their messy thoughts-emotions, and heal. Flower essence indications are, then, carefully curated by the practitioner according to what comes up in the session. Practitioner bottles the mix of flower essences for the client to routinely take in adjunction with the therapy of express-venting.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Like I’ve mentioned, BB Herbals is very early in its business stages so there aren’t many lessons to be learnt. Although I can say one thing, the work of a herbalist is woven into the natural rhythm of the world. This means opportunities are always all around us and the work is seasonal. For the seasons of summers, we tune into land-tending, farming, growing/processing herbs, and wildcrafting. We are also more inclined towards plant walks, outdoor workshops, being involved with herbal camps and programs, and mingling with all plants & friends. In the autumn through winter, we turn inwards and perhaps medicine making. Inner work could look like formulating, blending, and drafting up master plans. This magical wisdom was shared with me by Liz Migliorelli of Sister Spinster. This cannot be said any truer and closer to the heart of the work I do.
Pricing:
- $75/hour clinical consultation, excluding the cost of herbs & shipping (if applicable)
- $65/hour flower essence session, excluding the cost of flower essence blend bottles & shipping (if applicable)
- $4.50/oz custom tea blend
- $12/oz custom herbal extract tincture blend (price goes down with larger quantities)
- $10/oz simple herbal extract tincture (single herb extract)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bouquetofbasilherbals.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bouquetofbasil.herbals/
- Facebook: https://fb.me/bouquetofbasilherbals
