Hello, I'm Eliseo Cheo Torres, administrator and professor at the University of New Mexico. I also teach a course on traditional medicine in Mexico in the Southwest. And we talked about how the different cultures and countries have influenced this medicine. And today we have an excellent herbalist, healer from Peru. His name is Asheninka Mino and he comes from the jungles of central Peru. His family taught him the art of traditional medicine and herbal medicine. His sister is a doctor of natural pathic medicine. So it's in the family. We're blessed to have him live in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he and his partner have a garden called Shibetes Healing Garden. And they teach students the art of traditional medicine. And I want to welcome you, Mino. Thank you so, [FOREIGN]. [FOREIGN] >> [FOREIGN] >> With Mino is Bernadette Torres. Bernadette is an herbalist, a holistic healer. She teaches also in her garden, Gardens, the art of traditional medicine, how to prepare plants whether they be in a salve, an ointment, a tincture, a microdose which is water based. All types of preparations and they have a wonderful garden. It's a huge garden in the north valley of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her family is from northern New Mexico, but she lives here in Albuquerque. And we're interested in learning more about the art of traditional healing. And Mino, [FOREIGN]. Mino works with the and other plants. [FOREIGN] >> Thanks. >> Gracias, Bernadette, please. Okay, so today what I brought here was a little sampling of some of the classes that I teach in the garden. I also teach at the School of Natural Therapeutics. So I teach the students how to make oils, how to infuse oils with herbs. But for this particular segment, what I brought was some herbs to teach about the sexual reproductive organs. And I do, when I talk about the sexual reproductive organs I do throw in sexual. Because a lot of times people just say the reproductive organs. But it makes it sound like it's all business. And so it disconnects us from our spiritual, emotional body. And so when I'm teaching I use sexual reproductive organs. And what I have here today is three different herbs that I infused in oil. And the first one is Calendula. And Calendula is this flower right here, which grows in the garden. It's anti inflammatory and it also has some antibacterial properties. But the way that I use it is I have women, this particular class that I'm teaching is women's. It's a chakra herb class but it's predominantly women and once in a while, I get men in there. But men can use these same herbs in the same manner that I teach the women. And so what we do with the Calendula, is we use it as a rub on the naval chakra. And we use it to massage, which helps with the inflammation that's going on in the body, and it helps to bring this back into balance. A lot of times when women are rubbing their bellies and and doing this exercise a lot of emotional things will come up for them so I have them do writing exercises to help them to express what is going to help bring into balance. So this is the Calendula and then the other one that I brought was the dandelion oil. Now, this is an herb that is pulled out of the garden all over the United States. It's just ripped out of the garden as people think it's a terrible weed and they don't want it in their garden. But this is the problem in the States is there's a lot of women that have breast cancer or nodules in their breast area. The lymphs get hard, the nodules in there. And this is the perfect plant for getting rid of those. So we use this in our heart chakra. We do another massage with this oil. And we've had women in our class that had hard nodules that were in their breast tissue, in one week get rid of those hard nodules. Now, every woman's different, so it may take a little more time, depending on what's going on with her. But it is a lymph cleanser, so it does help to remove things that are going on in the lymph. Men also have breast tissue, and men do end up with breast cancer in some cases, so men can use this topically also. The third oil that I brought was a mullein, and this is a Mullein flower. A lot of people use the Mullein, the leaves, they use it for the lungs, to tonify the lungs. And I do use that, but I use the flowers predominantly for things that are going on in the throat area. So in the reproductive organs, a lot of times, women have issues with their thyroid. The hormones are going out of balance. The thyroid hormones are going out of balance, too. So we use the Mullein flowers to massage into this area. We also use it in the ears and we use it in the jaw. And a lot of times what happens with women in our society, women tend to keep more quiet. And so the energetics of this creates problems here, imbalances here. So we use this as another way to connect with our emotional body. And emotional problems that are causing physical problems in the body. Now when we connect all three of these massages together, we're working on the whole reproductive organ, because we're going from the actual organs of the reproductive organs but we are also going up to what's going on communication and expression. So Mullein is also used for pain and a lot of times women who start going into menopause start developing rashes and pains in their body and Mullein flower works on all three of those, or both of those problems with rashes and with pain. So I did also bring one other drink, and I brought a watermelon drink. One of the things that I find that helps to cleanse people the quickest is using watermelon. And so we start with our root chakra doing a cleansing on the body getting people grounded, we'll do watermelon. And this is just pure watermelon pureed in a vita mix, and we drink this for seven days to cleanse the body. And then we start working with the herbs because then help things to go into balance a lot quicker. Then the more extreme things that come up, I send my clients to Mino, because he can do a balancing on them. And he also will use the tobacco, and he uses it externally on the body but he also uses it to do extractions and balancing. And so anyways, I want him to be able share about his tobacco. >> [FOREIGN] >> So first, he said, welcome and hello in his shanika language. And then here, just introducing you to the tobacco plant. >> [FOREIGN] >> So he wants to show you everything that he uses to open up a person that's on this path, in a spiritual way, how to open up the pathways that help do a cleansing. >> [FOREIGN] >> So there's many ways to use the plants, the tobacco. But one of the first ways that he teaches us to use it fresh and you take the leaf and you squeeze it. And whenever you have any kind of rashes or wounds on you, then you can just squeeze that juice onto the skin and it'll help heal it. >> [FOREIGN] >> It's really important to remember, [COUGH] that before you use any plants for healing, that you should make a connection. And the way that you make a the connection is by talking to the plant. And then this creates the connection, so the plant will work for you. >> [FOREIGN] >> So the women can use this also and manner that women can use it is by doing baths, so there are steam baths that they sit above. And they bring the steam up, they cook their tobacco and then bring it up. But they also need to ask the plant to help them in the manner that they need help with. >> [FOREIGN] >> So the plants can also be used in baths. The tobacco in conjunction with the other plants helps to bring out their abilities to help in a stronger way, in a spiritual way. And so the plants are actually, they're cooked and put into a baths, so that you can wash yourself with it, but you actually will self dry. So you wash yourself with the tobacco and then you get out of the shower and then you just self dry without using a towel to wipe it off. And the tobaccos being blended with the other plants like the calendula, the mullein and dandelion to reinforce them and to help them bring out their characteristics of healing. >> [FOREIGN] >> So the healing begins with the harvesting and the planting. So the seeds are blessed, they're spoken to, they're dedicated for healing. They're planted with the same dedication, the same connection. And they're gathered also and they're dried, and they're dried in the shade. And they're also dedicated, the entire time there's the dedication and the prayer going on and it's being dedicated for health and for healing. >> [FOREIGN] >> So once it's prepared and it's ready to be used, you work with the smoke and then the smoke works as a key. It helps to open up the person's pathways, the pathways in their body and it helps to create protection for them. And we know always wants people to recognize that it's not coming from him, but it comes from the divine, it comes from his spiritual brothers this power to do the healing. And they use this smoke, as the medium to help do the healing. >> [FOREIGN] [FOREIGN] >> So there's other forms of using the tobacco, and one of them is rolled up. It's compacted, and it's rolled up into this so that it can be carried and taken to other places. So that you're not taking big old packages with you. That's more for convenience. And you just take pieces off of it, and then it's used for doing the healings. And then, the other way to use it is in oil. And that's used just like we have different tools for working on our bodies, the oil's used in the same way as another tool. >> [FOREIGN] >> So the ashes aren't thrown away either. They're actually saved, and they'll be used for skin issues also. >> [FOREIGN] >> So sometimes when people are feeling a little bit like something is bothering them, something's just bothering them. >> Or they will use the tobacco leaves like this as protection. And it's like a covering that just comes over the person and helps to create protection for them. >> [FOREIGN] >> So his grandfather, who has passed on, is the one that has taught him all of these things. And although he is passed on, he is still here with him and he still guides him. >> [FOREIGN] >> So thank you very much. I know there's lots of different techniques that can be used here, but this is what came from Minho's culture. And this is what he used to help people with their health, to help them with their families, and to help them with their community. >> Well, Berta, thank you for an excellent presentation. >> Thank you. >> As always, you're a master herbalist. And, Minho, [FOREIGN]. So we have Bernadette talking about plants for the reproductive system. And simple plants and some weeds that we take out of the yard and garden and throw away, which can be very medicinal. And Minho from Peru talked about the sacred tobacco, how sacred it is, and how it's used for illnesses and for spiritual or energy cleansings. So [FOREIGN] Minho. And [FOREIGN] Bernadette, appreciate it. Thank you. [FOREIGN] >> [FOREIGN] >> [FOREIGN]
