Weeding out surprising benefits
An Omata woman is using everyday weeds to heal people. Kelly Phillips talks to Sonja Slinger about her work as a naturopath and how weeds can be wondrous to health.
When doctors told Kelly Phillips they couldn’t do anything more to help her health issues, she turned to natural treatments to heal herself.
Growing up in Kerikeri, she had suffered a range of respiratory problems since childhood which led to chronic asthma and by the time she was a teenager, those problems were seriously hindering her life.
She couldn’t play sport, her immunity was suffering, her energy levels were low and she was struggling with the different medications she kept being prescribed.
So at 16, she took a brave stance and decided to look at alternative medicine.
‘‘I had a pretty healthy diet, I was a vegetarian, didn’t have much junk food at all but I was so debilitated by asthma. I would pretty much be ill right through winter. My inhalers were no longer managing it for me,’ she said.
She turned to books and did a lot of research then, through trial and error, concocting different herbal potions and balms, eventually started to turn her health around.
‘‘I made the biggest progress with my health.
‘‘I have to say it tasted pretty nasty and these days I know how to do it far gently. But my asthma improved, over time my immune system became way stronger and I began to feel better for the first time in ages.’’
That discovery led her to experiment further and eventually to study naturopathy, a six year journey through the Wellpark College of Natural Therapies in Auckland and specialising in Ayurveda healing, an Indian philosophy that encourages the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle.
Ayurveda combines physical, mental and emotional factors as well as internal and external influences to understand how best to treat people.
Kelly finished her studies in
2004 and went on to tutor at the Naturopathic College of New Zealand, while having two babies, girls now 8 and 4, and now runs her own clinic from home in rural Omata, which she shares with husband Laine.
In the garden, she grows a number of the herbs and weeds that she uses in everyday treatments and preventative tonics for people.
‘‘People would be surprised at how beneficial some of the standard weeds we all have in our gardens can be,’’ she said.
When the family moved to their
1.5 acre property five years ago, they killed a good section of grass on the lawn to grow weeds and herbs.
’People would be surprised at how beneficial some of the standard weeds we all have in our gardens can be’
‘‘We covered this whole area in black polythene to kill the grass so we could have bare earth to grow weeds and herbs,’’ she said, as we roam through knee-high weeds and flowering herbs among fruit trees also planted.
There is comfrey, red and white clover, lemon balm, dandelion, geranium, ribwort, yarrow, chicory, sorrel and a range of others, all growing as a type of herbal lay that Kelly uses at different seasonal times to make up remedies for those coming to her clinic, an airy purpose-built room that overlooks bush on the property.
She buys in a number of herbs and weed-derived bases as well, if she isn’t able to grow them herself or if she needs specific measures or strengths.
Last year Kelly began running workshops, to pass on her knowledge of healing naturally, and she has been overwhelmed with the response.
‘‘I think people are more interested in trying natural things to heal but also to stay healthy, to prevent illness,’’ she said.
Her workshops, which she limits to around 12 participants, run on various issues and the next in mid-February will be on herbal medicine making.
‘‘With it being peak summer, we will look at a few cooling remedies and salves that suit summer conditions, like cooling, soothing herbs and preparations such as herbal gels, cold infusions and herbal juices that offset heat and dryness that can manifest as skin rashes, infections and inflammation in the body. And it’s about using things that we can all find in the garden or naturally in the wild.
‘‘We’ve just been camping at the beach and this Harakeke gel is great for putting on the skin after being outside all day, it’s so cooling and rehydrates the skin,’’ she says, peeling away the flax gel from the base of a nearby bush to extract the gel and apply to her face and hands.
‘‘My passion for sharing information with people is to make things really practical, showing them how to use the herbs, what they taste like and how to prepare remedies for different things.
‘‘A big part of what I enjoy is supporting people with preventative health as well, using herbs to stay well,’’ she adds.
Kelly sees clients for many reasons but some key themes that people present with seem to be thyroid and adrenal issues, blood sugar regulation, immunity problems, respiratory issues and toxicity (people exposed to chemicals).
Laine has a major interest in sustainability and environmental issues and works for the Taranaki Education Environmental Trust.
He looks after most of the organic garden at home, including a vegetable area and two buzzing bee hives.
The house has a composting toilet and a number of solar panels for heating water.
The couple are keen to educate others on good health and living sustainably, as they live themselves on their own patch in rural Omata.