This week Nina sits down with Ashley McDonnell- birth worker, herbalist, permaculture educator, natural builder and devoted steward of ancestral wisdom.
Ashley has spent years helping women remember the skills that once belonged to all of us: how to birth, grow food, make medicine, build shelter and live in deeper relationship with the Earth.
Together we explore what Ashley calls "The Great Forgetting" - how modern systems have disconnected us from our innate wisdom, our communities and our ability to care for ourselves.
We talk about nervous system regulation, herbal medicine, natural beauty, aging, community living, ancestral skills, motherhood, birth, purpose and what it means to reclaim our sovereignty in a rapidly changing world.
This conversation is ultimately about remembering. Remembering that we belong. Remembering that we are capable. Remembering that we already carry much of the wisdom we are searching for. If you've ever felt the pull toward a slower, more connected and more meaningful way of living, this episode is for you.
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Timestamps
00:00 Intro to this week's guest Ashley McDonnell
06:30 The Great Forgetting- why we've lost our basic human skills
09:45 Community, belonging and why independence requires each other
13:15 Nervous system regulation in overwhelming times
16:30 Ashley's favorite herbs for stress, anxiety and emotional resilience
20:00 Herbal medicine, boundaries and listening to the wisdom of plants
23:00 Herbalism, the witch wound and why women are returning to the plants
27:00 Reclaiming feminine wisdom, birth and the mysteries of womanhood
31:20 Aging naturally and what elders can teach us about beauty
37:00 Maiden, Mother & Crone - embracing every season of womanhood
42:30 Natural beauty, skincare and Ashley's daily rituals
46:40 Natural building: how to create homes from the materials around us
56:00 Community living, growing food and why community can be both medicine and challenge
01:13:00 Choosing your consequences and living in alignment with your values
01:16:00 Nina shares her mission, values and vision for the future
01:19:00 We are born worthy- what does that really mean?
01:21:00 What Ashley would add to The Manual That Never Arrived
01:23:00 The question nobody asks Ashley
01:25:00 Authenticity, masks and why the right people give us energy
01:28:00 Maiden, Mother, Crone song and closing prayer
01:30:00 Where to find Ashley and her upcoming offerings
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