Moon Shadow: PMDD cohort - For the Long Haul

Moon Shadow
a herbal PMDD cohort

I’ve been dreaming of a more collective approach to holistic herbal care…

The world is really isolating right now. Collective relationships of care can be a healing balm for these times.

As I’ve been working with clients 1-on-1 who are seeking support related to PMDD, frequent sticking points are consistency in working with herbs through the big emotional cycles, and isolation in the experience, especially with a condition that often pushes us beyond emotional overwhelm.

Zena Sharman asks, in The Care We Dream Of, “What if healthcare and healing were widely understood not as individual responsibilities but as processes that happen collectively, in community?” Moon Shadow will give us space to weave our personal healing alongside one another. We will be present with each other as we each work with our unique herbal protocols.

What is PMDD?

PMDD is the experience of having a constellation of severe physical, mental and emotional symptoms associated with cyclic hormone fluctuation. It is a nervous system sensitivity to typical hormonal fluctuations associated with the menstrual cycle. During the luteal phase, the time between ovulation and menstruation, a severe crash occurs with a symptom pattern that includes depression, hopelessness, irritability, rage, brain fog, exhaustion, insomnia, anxiety, panic, appetite changes and body pain.

Who should sign up?

You have PMDD and want to ease your experience with it!
This is a group for people with PMDD. Doesn’t matter if it was self-assessed or diagnosed by a health care practitioner.

You would like to be less alone in the process of making changes to care for yourself more.
. This is a group cohort and will work best with people who think connecting with others will be supportive in their care.
If connection and accountability from a small group of people with similar self-care goals sounds like a strategy that would support you in consistency of your care then this could be a good space for you.

You want to work with herbal medicines consistently as part of your care strategies for PMDD.
You are committed to working with me to come up with a herbal protocol, order herbs from me or another herbal apothecary and work with them throughout the program. This will lead to you getting the most benefit from participating in Moon Shadow as it is a herbal group. This cohort includes a good amount of herbal education where you will learn about why we work with various herbs for PMDD support and will get to actively participate in formulating your care plan.

You are willing and able to engage in a gender-inclusive, trans-affirming space.
You realize that PMDD isn’t a women’s issue, full stop. You will show up to this space in a trans-inclusive and queer positive way. You wholeheartedly oppose the onslaught of oppression and violence faced by trans people. A lot of the resources and groups out there for PMDD care are very cis-centric and heteronormative. Not this one! We will talk about hormones and menstrual cycles and PMDD in trans-inclusive ways as well as address specific experiences of trans folks with PMDD. We can talk about our queer lives and how PMDD shows up in our realities.

What is included?

In early September participants will connect with me 1-on-1 for an initial intro call and consultation to develop their herbal formulas.

Participants will be mailed their herbal formulas before the first Collective Consultation on September 23rd.

Collective Consultations are offered every two weeks and I suggest attending at least once a month. These sessions are group spaces to reflect, ask questions and get support on strategies, dosing and formula adjustments. These are scheduled for Wednesday evenings, every other week between September 23rd and December 16th.

We can adjust formulas and protocols throughout the program, and participants can order formula refills as needed.

The program is hosted on Practice Better, a platform where short learning videos and resources will be posted and where participants can connect with one another.

We’ll wrap up the Collective Consultations in December and reflect on our experiences with the herbs. You can continue to order your herbal formulas and keep working with the herbs that are supporting you!

Keep me posted!

Topics we’ll discuss

Introduction to using herbal medicine for PMDD.

Frameworks for understanding PMDD.

Herbal therapeutic strategies.

Luteal phase herbal support.

Herbal support for the extra prickly times.

The brain-gut-immune axis.

Sleep support for PMDD insomnia.

Exploration of interconnections: PMDD and perimenopause, PMDD and ADHD, PMDD and histamine-intolerance.

Herbal explorations of Lavender, Milky Oats, Skullcap, Mimosa, Blue Vervain and many more.

Other holistic therapeutic options.

Dates

Registration Deadline is September 4th

Intro calls and the first herbal protocol development will occur between September 5 and September 14.

This cohort calls start on Wednesday September 23rd 2026. We meet live for 90 minutes every second Wednesday for 4 months.

These are the dates: September 23, October 7, October 21, November 4, November 18, December 2, December 16.

Live sessions will run from 6:30-8p.m. Eastern time, which is 7:30-9p.m. Atlantic time.

Registration and Cost

The program is offered on a wide sliding scale from $100.00 to $400.00 (Canadian dollars) to reflect the wide range of economic precarity that people are currently living through. I ask you to contribute at the level consistent with your honest access to resources, wealth, capacity to work and make money, family support, whiteness, and privilege.

The cost breaks down to roughly $25.00 to $100.00 per month, and can be billed monthly.

Accessing herbal support through this cohort model is more economical than booking 1-on-1 appointments.

The cost of herbs is in addition to the cost of the collective consultation. I suggest budgeting between $40.00 to $100.00 a month (plus shipping) for herbal medicines.

I want to sign up.

What is your approach?

I work to support people to feel strong, supported and nourished to keep doing the work in life that is impactful to them. My health and wellness philosophy is rooted in my commitment to liberation for all beings. In this work I believes we can care for ourselves and each other while being against individualism or “health supremacy.”

I won’t ever pressure you to make healthy choices or insinuate that being healthy is the morally superior position. I won’t pressure conforming to a normative idea of health. I see wellness as resistance, as finding ways to thrive amongst the ruins, of finding our way to unlock more capacity for ourselves and our communities.

I believe that simultaneously the medical system is very broken and is working as it is intended to. The medical system uses coercive control, upholds domination and harms marginalized folks. We deserve consistent access to health and healing services that respect our needs, self-knowledge and agency. This isn’t currently the case so we do what we must to access care from within the ever worsening hierarchical medical systems while also finding care within community.

FAQ

Do I need to attend each session in real-time?

I would encourage signing up if you believe you can make it to about 50% of the live Collective Consultation sessions. Live sessions are not recorded as they are collective consultation spaces where participants are discussing their experiences. When you miss a session you still have access to the recoded videos from the week as well as handouts and notes. Please let me know if this time does not work for you. I can choose a different date and time for the next time this program runs. The videos can be watched whenever and remain available after the cohort ends.

Why would I join Moon Shadow instead of booking a private appointment with you or another herbalist?

If connection and accountability from a small group of people with similar care goals sounds like a strategy that would support you in consistency of your care then Moon Shadow will likely be a good space for you. If you are interested in getting a fair bit of herbal and holistic PMDD education then this is also a great space for you. Some things discussed in the group won’t be directly relevant to your experience, but you will learn about differentiating herbs that are most effective for you through this process. If groups are not your thing, I’m always happy to work with you individually.

I’m taking pharmaceuticals, can I still join Moon Shadow and take herbs?

You are welcome to join Moon Shadow. PMDD often occurs alongside other complex chronic conditions. Depending on what other support you have lined up with other practitioners, you may also want to book a one-on-one consultation for additional individualized recommendations.

What if I have many complex health conditions?

I don’t have PMDD but am interested in it because I am a care provider who sees clients with PMDD/my loved-one has it. Can I join Moon Shadow?

No. This space is for people with active direct experience with PMDD.

How did this format come into being?

Herbalists who run collective consultation models including Gina Badger of LongSpell and Kelly McCarthy of Attic Apothecary inspired me as well Ember of Wildcurrent Herbs and rowan walker of wildaliveness apothecary also run collective months long group herbal sessions.

My own experience with PMDD also inspired this model. For me, PMDD-brain makes me want to isolate myself. I also just often forget or hit big mental barriers with taking my own formulas. The potential to have the consistent nudge or reminder of a collective care space feels supportive for me and I thought would to others too.

The challenges my clients with PMDD face also led me to develop this. This is the first iteration of the program so it will grow and change from what we learn in the first cohort.

Kaleigh is a clinical herbalist, a restoration ecologist and an educator.

I am a settler of Scottish ancestry. I spend my time between Sɨpekne’katik, within Unceded Mi’kmaq Territory, and Unceded Anishnaanbe and Haudenosaunee territory in so-called Southern Ontario. I believe that our personal well-being, community health and health of the ecosystem are dependent on going further than land acknowledgements and must work towards abolishing the colonial Canadian state and the violent systems that uphold it.