My name is: Erin Lovell Verinder.

My book is called: Plants for the People (May 2020).

My background before becoming an author was: I am a clinical herbalist, nutritionist, energetic healer, mentor and teacher.

I was inspired to write it when: I kept seeking a book that did not exist! I would also get asked daily for an informative modern plant medicine book and be at a loss as to what to suggest. I always wanted to write books and felt that I had gathered the gold along my plant path over the years. It was time for me to step into the role of an author and create a modern manual to inspire people to reconnect to the power of plant medicine.

It's about: Herbalism for the modern day, a guide to plant medicine in many facets. It teaches 40 common plants, how to attune to nature through plant medicine, remedies for everyday health complaints and how to activate your inner kitchen alchemist with recipes and medicine-making aplenty.

The most unexpected takeaway is: So many of the recipes are so simple, they can be mastered with ease. These are age-old remedies, yet it is uncanny how fitting they all are for our times. We often overcomplicate well-being, but my message throughout the whole book is to strip it back to simplicity. Herbalism can be so effective in the glory of simplicity.

It’s a game changer because: It is visually beautiful and super informative. Plants for the People can sit on your coffee table or in your kitchen or go into the garden with you—to teach and guide!

My hope is that readers will: Feel inspired to connect to the bounty of nature through the great green lens of herbalism and feel supported to bring plant medicines into their everyday.

For me, healing is all about: An embodied experience with the need for gentleness and softness aplenty.

This book can help you nourish yourself by: Teaching you to make plant medicines to support and nourish your body, mind, heart and spirit. To remind you that the plants are here to help and to empower you to show up for your own health and healing with age-old skills and traditional knowledge we have simply forgotten over time!

My next book might be: A deeper dive into how we can lean into our bodies more and look to plant medicine to heal.