Herb & Soul

Hello friends! I'm Karen, also known as Sula – the name given to me by my Irish friends and family – a Gaelic word meaning 'little unique one' and next to me you'll find Joey, my beautiful border collie/soul mate/healer/herbal medicine quality control! Oh, and I always come with a foraging basket in hand.

Let me tell you a little about Herb & Soul. The logo is my adaptation of the Celtic 'triquetra' surrounded by two of our native healing plants Hawthorn and Nettle – a symbol of the interconnectedness of body, mind and soul, supported by the plants… and that is my intention through Herb & Soul – to work together with herbal medicines and education to bring harmony and healing to people and the planet. The Earth has everything we need to heal and regenerate our body, mind and soul.

Herbalism and connection to Earth is in us all (always!) but my remembering of the plants' wisdom began during my travels around the world in my 20s and 30s, particularly whilst living in Ibiza and then India and Nepal where I experienced completely unique traditions of living alongside the plants. I found myself being guided, held and healed by them in profoundness that changed my path in ways I'll never look back from. I had a deep calling to reconnect with the ancestral wisdom of plant medicine healing through native and non-native plants from Indigenous cultures, psychedelic plant medicines and deepening my connection by growing and stewarding beautiful healing plants to then craft completely natural, local and sustainable medicines with their bounty.

Growing up in Scotland and ending up back here after worldly adventures, I've reconnected to my roots, following the dramatic seasons of these lands alongside our native wild plants and living by the Celtic calendar which embraces the celebrations of each pivotal point for nature through the year. I now split my time between Scotland and Ireland where I work closely with our very own Indigenous plants and through them I work with people. It's amazing!

Inspired by my years of studying Naturopathy (food as medicine), Herbology (the study of all things plants) and Herbal Medicine through schools and communities such as the incredible Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and my current school - one of the most inspiring places I've been - The Plant Medicine School in rural Ireland, with the encouragement and support of my teachers, medicine community and elders, I founded Herb & Soul in Spring 2024 – an awakening of something new and my dream sprung to life!

I have to emphasise that my biggest teachers throughout life and still in every single day are the plants. They are so generous… in their lessons, their medicine, their beauty – their giving is so endless.