Plant Diets
When a plant calls you, you will know.
The word "diet" originates from the Latin diaeta, meaning "way of life."
In the context of plant medicine, a diet (or dieta) doesn’t refer to food restriction or fasting. It’s a term used to describe a period of time where you consume a specific plant in an intentional way, whilst opening yourself up to it’s wisdom.
It is undertaken with the understanding that the plant world is an almost infinite source of benevolence, knowledge and love, and that the plants have teachings that they want to transmit to us. Teachings that will help us step into our wholeness. A diet is a new way of life.
In the Amazonian basin, master plant dietas are well-known spiritual practices. Participants enter into a periods of deep communion with a specific (usually non-psychoactive) plant. They withdraw from daily life, eat a bland diet, and refrain from using cosmetics. (This is to reduce energetic distractions in order to build a strong relationship with the plant spirit.) During this period, the plant expands the dieter’s consciousness and transmits its knowledge, guidance, and healing. It works on mental, physical, sexual, and spiritual levels.
In the UK and Ireland, we have incredible medicinal plants on our doorstep. In Celtic shamanism, many believe that our ancestors dieted these native plants, and a growing number of people are resurrecting this practice.
A diet is an initiation, and it has the power to profoundly change a person.
WHY DO A PLANT DIET?
Direct Wisdom
There is a vast source of energy and intelligence in the universe, and the plants are connected to it. This wisdom is not readily accessible to our modern human consciousness, but during a diet, the plant acts as a bridge. When you open yourself up to the plant’s spirit, it reveals profound insights and truths. This is a permanent connection. After the diet closes, the plant will be with you until the end of your life, and you will always be able to call on it for guidance and knowledge.
Deep Emotional + Energetic Healing
Plants are used in herbalism to heal physical ailments and support us emotionally, but a diet goes way beyond this. We become engaged with a plant's consciousness, and this uncover the root our emotional imbalances, and help us work through the deep, lifelong pain that we might be carrying. A diet can open our minds, hearts, and spirits, and catalyse profound personal transformation.
Inner Clarity + Repatterning
Through food restrictions, quiet, and stillness, you become more sensitive to the plant’s effects and your own inner voice. Old stories, conditioning, and blocks can begin to gently unravel. Plants can help gently unravel limiting beliefs, stuck emotional patterns, or inherited trauma.
Connection with Life
Diets restore your relationship with nature. The plants are so benevolent, and so keen to connect with you. As they become your teachers and allies, you can’t help but feel that they love you, and that you, like them, are an extension of nature. We are one. Diets reminds you that healing doesn’t come from within, but through your connection with life itself.
HOW TO DO A PLANT DIET?
In simplest terms, a diet involves creating space in your life, consuming a brew made from your chosen plant for a number of days, and then listening, processing, and healing.
There are two ways to undertake a plant diet:
An isolated diet is conducted in solitude, usually in nature. It involves a very restricted diet (no salt, sugar, fat, etc.), and often the shaman or facilitator is the only human contact a dieter will have. It typically lasts between one week and ten days. The focus is entirely on the plant spirit, and the dieter's intention and internal process.
A social diet takes place in a community setting - either on retreat or remotely (virtually). There is group interaction and often shared rituals. Dietary restrictions are less rigid, and these diets are easier for beginners. A minimum of two weeks is recommended for a social diet, and some practitioners hold them for 28 days.
Remote social diets are affordable and accessible, allowing people to benefit from the wisdom of the plants without going on retreat. This is what I offer.
Diets I hold
I only hold diets for plants that I have dieted myself.
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Rose
Next diet held June 2025.
The plant of love, sensuality, sex, purity, and boundaries, Rose brings all our disparate aspects together so we can love with the totality of ourselves. -
Violet
Next diet held March 2026.
Humble, sweet, radiant Violet both grounds us, and works gently with the heart. She orientates us in the world and opens us up to both human and divine love.
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Mugwort
Coming soon.
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Amazonian Plant Diets
I assist on dietas with master plants from the Amazon.
Coming soon.
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Diet FAQs
Anything you might need to know about dieting.