• Skip to main content

The Shakti School

Feminine Form Sacred Technology

  • About
  • Blog
  • Glow-Worthy
  • Ayurveda
  • Subscribe
  • Podcast
  • Book a Call
  • Calendar
  •  
Podcast

Ep. 75 Tantric Herbalism with Brooke Sullivan

I’m joined in this episode by Brooke Sullivan, Tantric Yogini and Herbalist and Founder of The Wild Temple. We dive into what it means to be a modern Tantrika and its application in medicine and herbalism. Brooke teaches in our Level 2 Ayurveda School training and I’m really excited to share this conversation with our wider audience. This is a must-listen episode to anyone interested in herbal medicine, Tantra and traditional or feminine form medicine.

In this episode you’ll hear:

~Herbalism in the context of Tantra

~Tantric medicine throughout history

~The Misunderstanding of Tantra in the East and the West

~Vitalism and Energy Medicine

~Personal legitimacy and authority

~Our Truth as Kundalini Awakening

~Infrangible! Listen to learn more!

~The Prana in plants

~The methodology of “Whatever Works”

~The importance of a healthy body for spiritual practice

~Feminine Form Herbalism vs Reductionism

~Plants as Yantras

~The role of our lineage in plant medicine and healing

~Connecting to our sense of worthiness and sensuality

~Brooke’s plant recommendations for the modern gal

~Find Brooke online at TheWildTemple.com

Or Subscribe on iTunes

Save 15% on Stress Ease by visiting banyanbotanicals.com/katie. And if you are curious about your unique ayurvedic mind-body constitution take Banyan’s free dosha quiz.

This episode is sponsored by ApotheKary! A boutique apothecary based near us on the east coast in DC offering Ayurvedic inspired herbs and blends. Their Seal The Deal aphrodisiac blend is full of adaptogens and natural energy boosters. It features Maca, Acai Berry, Ashwagandha and other good herbs. Use promocode GHEESPOT10 for 10% off your entire order.

Learn more:

Shakti Ayurveda School

Free Divine Feminine Ayurveda Mini-Course

Shakti School Membership Community

HELP US SPREAD OUR POD WINGS

This show is a passion project that I produce for the love of sharing. If you enjoy this show and want a free and easy way to help it grow, the most effective way you can help is to:

  1. Subscribe to the show by clicking “subscribe” in iTunes
  2. Write us a review in iTunes
  3. Share this show with one friend right now!

It’s seems simple, but you’d be AMAZED to know how much it helps my little love project reach more people. iTunes’ algorithm uses ratings and reviews to know who to show our show to in their app.

Here’s the link to leave us reviews in iTunes.

From my heart to your screen,

Katie

Footer Hero Widget

theshaktischool

TheShaktiSchool

🍁 In the spirit of the giving season we are off 🍁 In the spirit of the giving season we are offering a limited Gratitude Sale this weekend only for Level 1 Ayurveda School.⁠
⁠
Why? Because we are grateful for this program, this community, our team….and for YOU.⁠
⁠
We believe you deserve to deepen your soul’s calling in 2026.⁠
⁠
Now through December 1st only, we are bringing back earlybird pricing ONLY for the next few days! ⁠
⁠
💛 Comment GRATITUDE for the special sign-up link which gets you $500+ off tuition only through December 1st.⁠
⁠
Don't miss out – get in with the Gratitude Sale only through Monday night at midnight Eastern time honey-mama!
I’ve been thinking about this phrase we toss aro I’ve been thinking about this phrase we toss around facetiously: “Thanks for nothing.” 

We lace our voice with resentment and the subtle (or not so subtle) middle finger to whatever didn’t go our way. 

But lately, I’ve been reclaiming it. Sanctifying it. 

Turning it into a quiet little prayer: Thank you. I am here. I am grateful for no reason. 

Science keeps confirming what the mystics have whispered for millennia: gratitude literally changes us.

Studies from UCLA and Harvard show that consistent gratitude practices calm the amygdala, boost dopamine and serotonin, expand heart-rate variability and even strengthen immune function. 

In other words: saying “thank you” rewires the nervous system and ushers the whole body into a different frequency. 

But here’s where it gets counter-intuitive: 

Most of us only practice gratitude for the shiny things - the wins at work, blessings in our bank account, the relationships feeling good… 

But what about the heartbreaks? 
The long nights in the dark? 
The relationships that stretched us, cracked us and forced us to grow? 
The strange, sacred mandala of our lives — the shadowy petals included? 

This is where “Thanks for nothing” becomes a holy prayer. 

Because sometimes the “nothings” (the thing that didn’t happen, the door that didn’t open, the expectation that didn’t get met) is the quiet architecture of our becoming something GREATER. 

More heartful. More real. 

Sometimes what appears as an absence is actually a deep cosmic protection. The chaos is the curriculum. 

So today, I’m practicing a new kind of gratitude: 

Thanks for the heartbreak that humbled me. 
Thanks for the silence that made me listen deeper. 
Thanks for the plans that fell apart, so I could fall into myself. 
Thanks for the nothing that was actually everything. 

This isn’t spiritual bypass. It’s radical spiritual bravery. 

It’s choosing to bow to the full freaking thing. The yummy parts and the ones with biting teeth. 

It’s remembering that we don’t need perfect circumstances to cultivate a loving, grounded physiology. 

So, friend…Happy Thanksgiving. 

Thanks for nothing. 
And thanks for everything.
These acts may seem small, but they are powerful A These acts may seem small, but they are powerful Ayurvedic rituals for dropping into your heart and cultivating gratitude for the Earth, our relationships and our food. 🌿 ⁠
⁠
🤲🏼 Offer gratitude. Give thanks to Big Mama Nature and feel that She is providing you with nourishment through the sacrifice of other plants and animals.⁠
⁠
🍲 Feed someone else first. First feeding others is a sign of our gratitude to the Big Mama who is feeding us. If you are single, make some extra food for a neighbor, water the plants or feed the birds.⁠
⁠
🍽️ Set the table. Even if you are eating alone, laying down a beautiful tablecloth, placemats and cloth napkins tells your unconscious, "Eating is sacred."⁠
⁠
📵 Be present. Eating while web-surfing, watching TV, texting or driving dampens the digestive fire.⁠
⁠
🥄 Chew slowly. Chew mindfully. Feel grateful for where you are now in your life.⁠
⁠
🧘🏼‍♀️ Eat in a good mood: Our mood carries power into the food we eat. If we eat while we are angry or sad, or any other negative mood state, that mood will be transmitted into the food we eat, and deeper into the body and mind.⁠
⁠
Save for your quick reminders on how to ritualize eating this week. 🍽💗🍂
You know you are feeling GOOD with Ayurveda when y You know you are feeling GOOD with Ayurveda when you are snapping selfies on I-81 in a roadside gas station somewhere down in Tennessee…😂🪷😂🪐🐯🪐🌋 @sohumhealingresort hosted me for a week. Get ready for more exciting collaborations between us in the future! Who wants a Shakti Tantra + cooking retreat with Chef Sean!?!
In deep reverence for our Crone Mama Fall (+ Winte In deep reverence for our Crone Mama Fall (+ Winter), I am bowing before the altar of all things spicy, warm, orange, yellow and brown. (South hemisphere ladies, we see you in your bikinis!)⁠
⁠
I am also owning the heck out of my basic self. That means:⁠
⁠
1. Yoga pants⁠
2. Furry Boots⁠
⁠
and…⁠
⁠
3. Pumpkin Spice⁠
⁠
Our team member Eva over here at Team Shakti came up with this RIDICULOUSLY yummy, Ayurveda-inspired Pumpkin Spice Latte. With warming ginger, black pepper and nutmeg to help kindle your agni plus some grounding pumpkin and optional ashwagandha, what more could the vata in each of us need!? 😉☕⁠
⁠
🍁 Comment “PSL” below for the recipe. 👇🏼💌

Footer

© 2025 Shakti School

  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Advocacy
  • Find a Coach
  • Login
  • Katie's Books
  • Contact and Support

Get the Shakti Letter love, katie