Zbyněk Mlčoch (Czech republic)

The talk:

Herbs for psychological ailments

In his talk, the physician Zbyněk Mlčoch is going to introduce medical herbs that can be recommended in cases of dealing with psychological issues. Among other herbs he is going to mention e.g. lemon balm, valerian, st. John's Wort, motherwort, calendula or passionflower. He will mention places they grow, what parts of the herbs to collect, how to process them and also for what time period a certain herb is to be used. He is also going to recommend suitable combinations for mixtures used for insomnia, restlessness, anxiety, hormonal moods and he is also going to mention herbs enhancing stress resilience. He is going to touch issues children and their parents are struggling with: night enuresis and nightmares.

Zbyněk Mlčoch...

... is a physician but he has been devoted to herbs since he was 14 years old with pauses in between. He loves to read about them and he owns a library of currently 80 books about herbs. But he likes to say about himself that he is a practical man as he sets off every year already at the end of winter out into nature to see what grows there. From March onwards he walks through meadows, wetlands, the areas around streams, woods and he maps the herb terrain.

He dries his herbs, makes tinctures and oils out of them, and he recently also experiments with ointments and essential oils. Currently, he is gradually trying to reveal the world of healing wood-decay fungi and following the model of the famous herbalist Pavel Váňa, Zbyněk would also like to be able to use herbs to help ill animals. He founded a great herbal webpage called www.BylinkyProVsechny.cz, (herbs for all) which at the moment numbers around 2500 pages with eight million visitors. His web not only contains the effects of Czech and exotic plants but also hundreds of recipes for their processing.

Counselling is a part of his webpage and roughly around hundred questions come every month. At his portal, Zbyněk has been long term cooperating with a botanist who is helping people with identifying herbs.

Since last year he has been giving talks about herbs to the public. This year he is preparing two weekend courses with outdoor walks and herb tasting. His motto is "I know I know nothing" and that is the reason he attends talks about herbs and courses lead by his colleagues where he often learns about new experiences.

What does he say about himself?

"My passion is to be outdoors in nature with plants, to feel their presence and scent. I am fond of herbs also because I know that they really work and help. All it is about is to know what plant to take and give to the patient. And in my practice I all of a sudden experience those moments, where conventional medicine is at a loss, while herbs are often able to work excellently and help. They have outstanding effects e.g. in the field of gynaecology, obstetrics, in healing dermatological, cardio-vascular, neurological or autoimmune diseases.

People ofter praise me for giving them advice and helping them but I recon that they should first of all appreciate the herbs themselves. They are the great miracle and gift we have most of the time for free in our nature. "

You can find more information about the lector at www.zbynekmlcoch.cz