Cinnamon Benefits with Dominique Jermyn

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Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) is one of those ubiquitous spices that everyone has in their cupboard. Pairing equally well with sweet and savory dishes, cinnamon is delicious, but it’s also packed with powerful healing gifts. 

Listen in as I discuss all things cinnamon with first-year Rooted Medicine Circle graduate Dominique Jermyn, The Nourishing Mystic. You’ll also receive Dominique’s wonderful recipe for gluten-free, vegan Cinnamon Banana Pancakes. Yum!

Listen in for:

► How Nature can serve as a template for creating change 

► What makes cinnamon’s energetics special

► A caution to be aware of when working with cinnamon

-- TIMESTAMPS -- 

• 01:23 - Introduction to Dominique Jermyn, The Nourishing Mystic
• 02:36 - Dominique’s path to herbalism
• 09:10 - Cultivating a sense of connection with herbs
• 17:10 - Why Dominique loves cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum)
• 18:24 - How Dominique likes to work with cinnamon
• 28:37 - Dominique’s recipe for Gluten-Free Vegan Cinnamon Banana Pancakes
• 32:12 - Dominique shares her current projects
• 36:11 - How Dominique’s approach to herbalism has evolved from seeing herbs as potential problem-solving tools to having a relationship with herbs

Download Your Recipe Card!

Connect with Dominique

• YouTube Channel | The Nourishing Mystic
• Instagram | @NourishingMystic

Transcript of the Cinnamon Benefits with Dominique Jermyn Video

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Hello and welcome to the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, a show exploring how herbs heal as medicine, as food and through nature connection. I'm your host Rosalee de la Forêt.

I created this channel to share trusted herb wisdom so that you can get the best results when relying on herbs for your health. I love offering up practical knowledge to help you dive deeper into the world of medicinal plants and seasonal living.

Each episode of the Herbs with Rosalee podcast is shared on YouTube as well as your favorite podcast app. Also, to get my best herbal tips as well as fun bonuses, be sure to sign up for my weekly herbal newsletter at the bottom of this page. Okay. Grab your cup of tea and let's dive in.

Today, I'm thrilled to bring you this conversation with Dominique Jermyn. Dominique is a graduate of the first-year Rooted Medicine Circle. Although working full-time as an IT Project Manager, her true passion is for art, herbalism, and mysticism. Inspired by her work during the Rooted Medicine Circle, she found her authentic spiritual path as the Nourishing Mystic.

Her calling in life is to revive Earth's sacred wisdom of embodied sensual living. Integrating her many years of experience with meditation, deviation, and ritual with her love for the earth and plant spirits, she shares inspirational messages of hope.

She believes that by sharing wisdom from the plants, we can heal ourselves and our beloved planet. You can stay connected to her work by subscribing to her YouTube channel, The Nourishing Mystic.

Welcome to the Herbs with Rosalee Podcast, Dominique.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yes. Thank you for having me. It is such an honor to be a guest here.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Oh, I'm really looking forward to our conversation, for multiple reasons. And let's just dive in. I want to hear about your journey into the herbal world and how you found yourself on this path.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah, it's been a long, twisty, windy journey. I started out kind of from this place of disconnection. You know how we sometimes find ourselves in just the cycle of maybe work, school, sleep, repeat. You're just on the grind. You don't really have a sense of a greater purpose or a community, and you start to feel disconnected. And you start to feel stressed out.

Like many people who found herbalism, I had some chronic illnesses as well, relating to that. Relating to being stressed out, relating to my digestion, IBS and other digestive problems. And eventually you say, enough is enough. I'm sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I want to have community. I want to have a big group of friends. I want to find some purpose and some connection in life.

And it was a real blessing to find, we called it Pagan Pathways Temple, local to my area. And they promoted all sorts of earth-based spiritual paths. So I was able to find a spiritual community and a community that really promoted that sense of connection, that I was looking for, of knowing that we are not just living on an island. That we are all connected, that we are connected to the universe and we are connected to nature and to each other.

And once you find that, it is so empowering. Like you're able to say, "Hey, I matter. I matter and so does everyone else. I should focus on healing myself, because I'm worth healing." And when you find that, you start to think, hey, I'm healing. I want to help support the healing of others. And I want others to kind of see this and you start exploring.

On my spiritual path, I kept being called to the herbs, just in small little ways. You know, there's some magical practices to keep a sachet of herbs under your pillow. There're some practices to make a wash and wash your floors, and see kind of the cleansing powers of Sage and the protective powers of lavender. Just these little peaks there, it all interwove together to just my process and my journey of healing and finding connection.

And seeing that the herbs, they really just transformed my life. It was a kind of a domino effect. You start with just one thing and then you expand out. And then you say, "Okay, I want to garden. I want to grow my own herbs, I want to get outside." And somehow it seems like the universe, when you make that statement of, I want to heal, I want change, the universe puts in what I call synchronicities, just little tips, little things that pop out. And you find your path and you explore and open into more things.

And honestly, that's really how I found out about you Rosalee. I found first the Taste of Herbs course, and really enjoyed getting in touch with my energetics and with the sense of taste. And being able to connect to the herbs on that level and understand them. And then found the Rooted Medicine Circle. What surprised me about the Rooted Medicine Circle, is how much it is not only herbs, but also tied with my spiritual practice and what I wanted out of my spiritual practice.

You know, it's not that I follow any specifically labeled belief or religion. But this practice of being aware, being present, recognizing the interdependence between us, plants and animals and insects. And getting out there and caretaking and having a reciprocal relationship with the plants.

Like last year, going through the Rooted Medicine Circle was a series of transformational aha moments that really brought it all together. Of like, okay, yes, there's connection and there's care and there's community. And these are some of the most important forces, I think, that our society really needs today.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

I have goosebumps. That was just so beautifully said. And I love that, just from the outset, you are so ... I mean, obviously you were seeking this, but I feel so fortunate to see that connection between personal health and planetary health. And wanting that yearning for that connection and that deeper possibility.

Because many people, and I don't say this in a negative way, but many people start out like they get tired of taking pharmacy drugs. And so they think, what herb can I take instead? Or they're just not getting satisfactory healthcare, often for chronic things. And so they're looking for something else.

But oftentimes, in the beginning, it can be that kind of substitution.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Like "what herb do I take for this ailment?" is kind of the classic thing. Right? Which is a great place to start, because it's often very motivational, right?

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Like if somebody doesn't feel well and they want something that's going to help them feel better. And for me, and what you were talking about, the real juiciness becomes when we look, it's like we help reach for herbs to help us with ailments, but then that's just surface level.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

And there's so much deeper to those connections and so many ways to bring plants and nature into our house. I like that you mentioned having herbs with you, when you sleep and cleaning. I mean, there are just so many ways to bring them into our life. I mean, for me personally, it's just been so enriching for my life.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yes.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

And so much better than like, oh, here's a capsule. I'm just going to swallow that and hope I feel better. There's that superficiality there, that's just, it's just limiting you know? It's so much kind of dive deeper.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah. I think lot of people, especially with our modern day society, where we feel, again, just kind of like we're on our screens all the time. Life kind of starts to feel dull. And when we find herbs, when we find all of those different ways to use herbs, they bring more aliveness to life. And I think it's because they bring us more into the present moment. Like they engage our senses.

So that was a major aha moment for me, of engaging my senses, being able to smell the herbs, taste them, really see their beauty. Even to be outside and hear the bees buzzing and the birds chirping, to feel the plants in our hands. These are all very sensorial experiences. And when we engage with herbs and with our senses, it brings us into our body.

You know, we're not just trapped in our mind with the whole hum drum. What kind of work to I have to do today? What's my to-do list? Oh, here's this stress, here's this worry, frustration about the future, da, da, da. No, we're in the moment, we're feeling this plant. This plant is beautiful. We've now brought beauty into our life. We're in our body, in that present moment.

And suddenly all the other worries, they go away. We feel alive, truly alive, and that's the deeper blessing of herbs.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Oh, that's so true. And that's I think, probably if I had to name my favorite thing about Rooted Medicine Circle, it's watching people make that transformation of coming alive, at whatever stage people are at. I mean, some people have zero connection to nature and that deepens. And some people have been on this path for a long time, but there's always a deeper level to go. It's so enriching and livening, feeling alive.

It reminds me, I used to teach this class called The Gift of Plants. And the intro to that class talked about how we're a push-button society. We use buttons for everything, buttons wake us up in the morning, right? Our alarm clock goes off. We maybe push buttons on the microwave to cook food. Even driving is basically pushing buttons or pedals or whatever. Then many people are pushing buttons all day at work.

Like you said, that becomes this, like it's easy to disassociate and not feel that richness of life, when we're just going through the humdrum, as you said, and pushing buttons. There're many ways to kind of break out of that, but herbs are one way. And medicine making is one way, because it's so empowering to work with these plants. That you've said so beautifully, sensorial experience and bring them into our lives in all these different ways.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah. And I really feel like that comes down to a root of so many issues that we're seeing in our society today. It's easy, when we're on our phones and we're doom scrolling. Like I could spend probably this whole period, talking about all the horrible things that are going on in our planet.

It's very easy to just see all of these things that are going wrong, no matter who you are. Or no matter what kind of politics you have. Everybody can see this sense of, there's something missing here. There's something that's not quite right about our society today. And I think that's one of the reasons, is because we are disconnected.

You know, it's so easy just to say, like you said, take a pill for something and go on about our day. Or even an herbal pill, which again, you don't know the source of that herb. They just took a little constituent part of it and put it there. You're just disconnected again.

And we start to see a cascade of problems. We start to see the erosion of the earth, a lack of respect. We're not connected to ourselves. We're not connected to other people and we're not connected to the planet. And then we see ourselves getting sick, and we also see the planet getting sick. And it sometimes feels like we're on a downward spiral. Like, again with the doom and gloom. It's like, oh my gosh, how can we ever fix this?

And I think this is one way we are all together fixing this. Like we are re-finding that connection. We're finding new ways to care for ourselves and care for the earth. To heal ourselves so that we can help heal others. So that they can heal the earth, so that we can come together. You know? So I really think that's how we create change.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Dominique Jermyn:

And I'd like to see ... I like to call this, I see it like the dandelion seeds of change. Where I'm one per person blowing the dandelion seeds and they're scattering out. And for me, it may not seem like a big deal. You know, I'm nobody special. I'm not a CEO or anything. But those dandelion seeds are going to travel and plant many more dandelions in other people's yards. And all it takes is one more person to blow the next one and blow the next one.

And suddenly we're seeing that wave of change spread all over the earth, and that's how healing happens. That's how we can pick ourselves up out of the doom and gloom and say, "Hey, let's see how nature spreads change. Let's see how nature recovers. Let's learn these lessons. Let's talk about our experiences in nature."

And just something simple like that, can cascade a wave of positive change. That we ourselves, we may never see the effect of those small actions, but they do matter.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Yeah, absolutely. Because it is a wave that's growing and we need to keep adding to that and keep growing. I feel like 2021 was obviously such a challenging year for so many people. For me, I had a little bit of a different experience of 2021, I think. Because I was constantly being inspired by you all in Rooted Medicine Circle.

Because there was that dandelion seed, the inspiration, people sharing what they were doing. And it was like, I was often getting these doses of inspiration and reminders about how much people care. And how important connection, how powerful connection can be on so many different levels.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah. Yes. That is amazing. It's just amazing that we could all be in one group for one year, just us. Regular people connecting with other regular people, and then we're going out and we're doing extraordinary things. Like people making their own little herb workshops and herb gatherings and doing herb walks and teaching about herbs.

So I know, it's like, well, I'm doing things in Detroit, Michigan. We've had other people in Canada doing things. Other people in England doing things. People in Australia. It's like, you really start to see those poof, poof, in this area, that area. We're really out there, this is really happening. We're making a positive difference.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Yeah, absolutely. Spreading like dandelion seeds. I love that visual. Well, I'm excited to talk about cinnamon benefits with you today. Because leading up to this, I've been thinking a lot about cinnamon. And how it is easily one of the herbs I work with most. For obvious reasons, because it's yummy and easy to add to things. But it's also wonderful medicine. And I'm curious, what inspired you to choose cinnamon today?

Dominique Jermyn:

Yes, cinnamon. I decided to go with for our podcast because it's so common and ubiquitous that ... I had a discussion with my mom on Christmas. Where she's just like, "I just need something very beginner. Like I don't know where to start with herbs."

And I feel like there's a lot of people out there who, when they hear about herbalism, or when they think about herbalists or people who work with herbs, they've got a preconceived notion that it's somebody who maybe has a science background. Or maybe a crunchy granola type. Or somebody who's been doing it for 20 years and they just don't know where to start.

And it's like, no, I'm pretty sure you already use herbs. And I'm pretty sure you have. Mom, I've seen the cinnamon on your spice rack. It's there. It's there in most of our kitchens in one form or another. Even if you don't have a jar of it yourself, it's probably in a Chai spice blend. It's probably in a dessert. It's probably in another drink. It's ubiquitous and it's an herb. So you can start there.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

And what are some of the ways that you like to work with cinnamon?

Dominique Jermyn:

So I really love cinnamon. In the case of my recipe, I used it with food. So using it in baked goods is delicious. It's kind of very ... Again, it's an easy beginner way to dip your toes into herbs, is to take something you make all the time and just try adding cinnamon to it.

So if you're normally making pancakes and you use a pancake mix, even out-of-a-box pancake mix, or one of those Bisquick Shake It pancake mixes, just put a little cinnamon in the mix. Mix it in and see the change to your pancakes. See how it changes the flavor. See how it changes the effects. See how it makes you feel.

I'll do that with oatmeal. I'll do that with waffles. I'll do it even with meat and chili recipes, add a little bit of cinnamon to it, to balance out the flavors and to bring it some warmth. And I love it in tea. So I love Chai tea. I love any kind of herbal blend with cinnamon. Especially during this time of the year.

I am a cold constitution type of person. My hands, my feet are constantly cold. I'm always the one that's like to be wrapped up in blankets, you know? So cinnamon is a very supportive herb to keep me warm, especially throughout the winter.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Yeah. Earlier, you mentioned the sensorial aspects of herbalism, which you said so beautifully. Sometimes the sensorial things about herbalism aren't great. Like things are really bitter or they don't taste good. That happens. That totally happens. But cinnamon, talk about something that's just so easy to love.

And I feel like part of, if we think about medicine, is not just what we take, but how we work with it. I can imagine smelling that Chai tea, smelling the baked goods with the cinnamon. All of that. That pleasure and anticipation and enjoyment. Just enjoying that sensorial experience is so powerful and it's easy to do with cinnamon.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah. Yeah. That's why I say it's a good beginner herb. It's a good thing if you're just starting out with herbs and you want to try a few things, you want to get adventurous, you want to have that experience. Try it with cinnamon. And it's a fun one for those taste experiments. And learning how herbs can have a different effect and a different feeling based on the taste.

So some people, with cinnamon, if you add a little bit in, you've got a little bit of flavor. But then if you add a lot, you're talking like red hot gum and you're talking spicy and it really hits you. So it's fun to actually take some time with cinnamon and explore how it can be mild or how it can really be hot. And to take it to the various extremes and see how those different flavors actually have an effect on you.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Dominique Jermyn:

And yeah, I like that it's a welcoming herb. I will say, I had an interesting experience with Elecampane. Because I had never tried Elecampane before, I'd never tasted it. So I'm like, well, I just want to taste this herb, let me put a bunch of it in tea. I did a concoction of Elecampane and drank it, and was like, oh my gosh. Talk about, I wasn't ready for it.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Yeah.

Dominique Jermyn:

You know, it was not maybe something I'd recommend to somebody who doesn't have any familiarity or comfort with herbs. I wouldn't just say, "Hey, do this." I'd say, "Hey, you like cinnamon, don't you? How about you explore with that."

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Yeah. And then, you mentioned that it's warming and spicy. One thing that's interesting about cinnamon too, is that it has some moistening qualities, and it's not often that we find herbs that are both warm and moist. So people often ask for that particular combination and cinnamon is such a lovely one for that, with those kind of interesting energetics as well.

I like how you said, "Try it in different ways." And when you try a concoction of cinnamon, like in cinnamon chips or cinnamon sticks, that mucilaginous stuff really comes out. So it's a fun thing to experience.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah. I'd say it was my holy grail. I was definitely one of those people asking for it, because I recognized that I had both the cold and the dry constitution. So having that moistening was also really helpful for me.

Plus, even thinking about, not just eating it. Another thing that came to mind, is the simmer pots. You know, which is so good this time of year, when the air around here seems very dry. Because you're probably running the heat in winter. To have a pot on the stove with some cinnamon sticks or some cinnamon chips. And maybe add in some cranberries, orange peel, some evergreen, like pine leaves, pine needles. And put that simmering on the stove and have the scent of the cinnamon fill the house. That's a wonderful way to enjoy cinnamon.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Mm-hmm (affirmative) That is. I'm so glad you mentioned that. Especially, because there's so many artificial air fresheners these days, that are just like, I mean they give ... I'm not someone who is super sensitive to those things, but in general I guess.

But when it comes to those artificial air fresheners, they give me an instant headache. And they're just like nothing compared to the real things. It's just like a substitution, a poor substitution. And that is a wonderful way to enjoy them.

Dominique Jermyn:

Right. Yeah. And it's so easy and it's so accessible. I think that's probably one frustration I have. Is like a lot of people right now think of herbs as something that's inaccessible. Something that's inaccessible or something that's expensive or something that's maybe set aside for privileged people.

And I'm like, no, this is for everybody. Herbalism is for everybody, no matter who you are. If you've got a stove and you've got a pot, any kind of pot, and you put some cinnamon sticks and water in it, you can enjoy that fragrance and get into herbalism.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Yeah. I love the cinnamon sticks too. Like there's something about cinnamon that whenever I'm really just like having a good time with cinnamon, I love to just stop and remember, like I'm eating a bark right now.

Like this is a bark and it's so yummy. I mean, what an amazing bark really. But there's just something kind of romantic about that, that comes to me a lot with herbalism. I'm like, it's a bark and it's amazing.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing to think about all the gifts that the earth has to offer, when we get outside and we really recognize it. It's so easy, again, when you're in the humdrum of every day, to forget about what we can learn from the earth. What the earth has to offer. How amazing some blessings are.

Really, that's the only way I can put it, is you go outside and you plant the teeniest, tiniest little seed. You know, some seeds are so tiny, you can't even sow them. You've just kind of got to scatter them out. And somehow out of something so small, we can get something that's medicinal and healing to us.

Something that's food for insect populations and animal populations. Something that can protect our soil, heal the soil. They have so many gifts. And it's like, yeah. This is just a plant. This is just a bark. This is just a root. How does it have so many medicinal effects? How does it have so many emotional effects? You know, emotional balancing as well. So many gifts and things that we can learn from nature. It's mind blowing honestly, when you really start to dig into it and start to see it.

One of my favorite hobbies is to just try and look up biomimicry. So seeing how science looks at the web, the silk of spiders, and uses that to apply to our fabrics and our textiles. How we can learn the trajectory of the bird's flight and then apply that to our own transportation. It's like nature really does have everything out there that we need. It's kind of like the earth feels like a self supporting womb, that really is supporting all of us on the planet, all of humanity.

When we start to see that it's a self-sustaining system, an automatic zero-waste system, that thrives on abundance, an abundant system. That if we got out of the way, earth could provide everything that we need. You know, in terms of food, in terms of keeping the climate balanced for our life and to sustain us. It's really mind blowing, that we could and, in my opinion, should be going outside every day, as much as possible, to learn all of those lessons.

You know, to see how much wisdom is out there and apply it. Again, even if you're not a herbalist, even if you're just, maybe you're an accountant, you could still go outside and learn from the plants. And maybe learn some lessons that would change the way you work or the way your whole business works. The possibilities are endless.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Mm-hmm (affirmative) It's so true. Before we go outside to learn about nature, we should be well nourished, which is a lead-in to your recipe that we have to talk about, because this recipe is like everything I love about recipes, in that it's simple, accessible. If you're very conscious, it's gluten free and dairy free. So open to a lot of people and who might have food sensitivities.

And then, not only is it also of course yummy, which is big qualification, I love what you did with the cinnamon in this recipe because it's what I do with cinnamon in my recipes. Oftentimes you find a recipe on the internet, any baked good, it’s always like a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yep.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Whatever the recipe is. I swear, it's one teaspoon of cinnamon. It's just like, that is the thing that people use. Oh no, this is not, not to your recipe. So I'll hand it over to you to talk about your lovely recipe.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah. Yeah. That's really it. It's just changing up the recipe to a heaping tablespoon of cinnamon. So a tablespoon is three teaspoons or times-ing by three, the normal amount of cinnamon. And really just heap that on in there. Like that's really how you're going to get the flavor of cinnamon.

Again, that really, I know I'm sensing cinnamon. I know I'm tasting cinnamon. There it is, it's not just falling back into the background. Like you can tell these are cinnamon pancakes, which is what I wanted. And I did want to make it accessible, because again, I do have food sensitivity. I cannot have gluten. I cannot have dairy. I can't have egg whites. So I needed to have a recipe that's without that.

And I tested them and tested the recipe. Because normally, when I'm cooking, even when I'm baking, which kind of makes me a little of a terrible baker, I don't really measure things out. I just kind of go with it. So to make this recipe, I had to actually write it all down and make sure it worked. I was like, wow, these came out fluffy. They came out delicious, super moist. So I call it a win.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Yes. Yummy. And of course, adding cinnamon to baked goods is so wonderful. Not only because it tastes good, but I feel like I should just mention that it also helps balance people's blood sugar. Which is something, if somebody is insulin dependent or having issues with that, you have to kind of take notice with cinnamon, because it will like make a measurable difference.

So, always working with an herbal practitioner is the best way to go. Cinnamon is very powerful in that way. And adding that much to a baked good is just a fabulous way to just help naturally balance things that are going on.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah. Yeah. Again, I'm just mind blown that it is a tree bark that has so much of that effect.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Mm-hmm (affirmative) Absolutely.

This message is for the listeners, as you probably know by now, I love to share recipes when we talk about these plants. Recipes are a wonderful way for you to get involved and create your own experience with herbs.

It's one thing to hear cool things about cinnamon, but an entirely other thing to form your own relationship with this plant through observing, tending, and tasting. To help you get to know cinnamon more deeply, Dominique is sharing a recipe for Gluten Free Vegan Cinnamon Banana Pancakes. Yum. You can download your recipe card by clicking the link above this transcript.

Well, I'm curious what projects you have going on right now in your life.

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah, so I was really excited to share my Nourishing Mystic YouTube channel. So on this channel, I'm basically sharing devotionals, spiritual insight, wellness advice. The herbal tips and how to's, and just to overall share my journey.

So really it comes from this feeling of purpose and a mission that I want to be someone who is reviving Earth's sacred wisdom of embodied sensuous living. By no means, I don't think I'm an expert. You know, again, I'm still very new to herbalism myself.

But I feel like by sharing my journey, sharing my experiences and just things that I'm trying out, will help to inspire and motivate other people to say, "Hey, well, if she can do it, again, she's a regular person just starting out on this path, just trying things out. Maybe I can do it too." And again, we can start shifting and making changes that way. So the YouTube Channel, a really big project.

And along with that, my goal for 2022 is to expand out my herb garden and spend more time in the Sit Spot practice, of going outside and being with the garden. I am going through another course with Sajah Popham right now, to learn how to build a deeper spirit relationship with the herb spirits.

So going outside to the garden, connecting, for example, with my Sage plant and just meditating with Sage. Meditating, connecting to the energy of Sage and being open and receptive to any wisdom that Sage has to share with me and journaling that. Also, bringing art into it. So art's a huge passion. So I want to get more into drawing the herbs in my garden. Drawing them as they grow, and maybe someday transforming those drawings and journaling into a nourishing plants' oracle deck.

And then I get excited and I think about other future projects and things that could come out of this practice. Like a coloring book or an art table book. Things like that. So we'll see what happens. But the first year is really just YouTube, sharing the experience, and going out and being with the plants.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Well, I'm so excited that you're doing your YouTube Channel. Like you said, it's the dandelion seeds, setting out and sharing in that way. I'm kind of new with this whole YouTube Channel thing too, but I think we both know it takes a lot of work. A lot goes into those things. But it's such a fun way to share information and get it out there and really connect with all these folks, who are wondering about herbs and everything else that you're sharing.

So I'm so glad you're doing that. And all of your projects sound really fabulous for 2022. So we're in January 2022, it's season three of the podcast. So I have a new question for you. I think you're going to be the first one to answer this question actually for this season.

And keeping in mind we're in the beginning of the year, I thought it'd be interesting to hear something new that you're learning. Or something that you're excited about, finding about plants these days. Like what's sparking newness in your life?

Dominique Jermyn:

Yeah, yeah. So I really think the newness is getting more on that spiritual level. So really building that relationship with the plant. So seeing the plant is like, kind of what you mentioned earlier, going from the journey of ... Starting out, I definitely worked. I was that person like, Hey, I've got all these digestive problems. What's the herb that's going to fix it? What herb can I use? So it's just a thing that can be used to fix a problem for me.

The new thing now is transforming that viewpoint. Taking those lessons that I've learned last year and seeing the plant as its own special being. Seeing that this plant isn't just something for me to uproot and put into medicine and use for my own benefit. It is alive. It has a spirit, it has an energy to it. It's connected to the whole life of our planet. It's connected to the mycelium, the whole ecosystem around the plant.

So I'm learning to not only observe the plant and know just its constituents, know what it is as a thing, but actually observing the plant and its environment and being with it. And again, just meditating with it and seeing like, okay, what insights and intuition does this plant pull up? What does this plant have to say to me, that I can share with other people?

You know, I think they all do have their own messages for us to learn, when we really sit down and listen. So I'm making this year be the year that I sit down and I listen to the plants and learn from that.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Mm-hmm (affirmative) That's beautiful, Dominique. I look forward to seeing how that blossoms on your YouTube Channel and your sharings. I think that sounds like a beautiful new thing and a beautiful goal for 2022.

Well, thank you so much for being here. Thanks for sharing about cinnamon and thanks for your really yummy recipe. I know the folks are going to love to try that out. And thank you for just taking the time to be here with us and share all this wisdom with us.

Dominique Jermyn:

Thank you for having me. This has really been such an honor and such a pleasure. Thank you so much.

Rosalee de la Forêt:

Thanks for watching. Don't forget to click the link above this transcript to get free access to Dominique's recipe for Gluten Free Vegan Cinnamon Banana Pancakes. 

You can also visit Dominique directly at her YouTube Channel, The Nourishing Mystic. If you enjoyed this interview, then before you go be sure to subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of this page so that you'll be the first to get my new videos, including interviews like this.

I'd also love to hear your comments about this interview and this lovely spicy plant. I deeply believe that this world needs more herbalists and plant-centered folks. I'm so glad that you are here as part of this herbal community. Have a beautiful day.