Meet Erica Coston

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erica Coston. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erica below.

Hi Erica, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

My soulmate, rescue dog, Thor, became very sick and his anxiety was hindering him from enjoying life. Conventional medicine was not helping him and only seemed to be making matters worse. I was working at a veterinarian office and realized a similar problem amongst many dogs with chronic issues-they kept coming back with more issues, and they were losing their overall vitality. I saw how dogs needed other options, more customized attention (not cookie cutter treatment), and how dogs needed educated people to speak up about these options and give dogs the attention and care they deserve-the care Mother Earth intended for her creatures. My eyes really opened and it was clear I was being called.

During this same time I was studying alternative medicine for humans, supporting myself with herbal remedies, was a Certified Reiki Master, and was slowly weaning off of pharmaceutical drugs. After some time, I started feeling the best I had in years, physically, emotionally and mentally, so I started using herbs and Reiki with Thor.

After a few months or so, Thor finally stopped vomiting, having diarrhea, hiding under the bed and being scared of water. His eyes started glowing again and his happiness and vitality returned. If you have a dog, you can relate to how good it feels when your furry companion feels good; hence my slogan, “Healthy Dog, Happy Life”.
It ended up being a beautiful experience because Thor and I healed together, we grew our relationship with herbs together and began meditating together on a daily basis.

After this experience with Thor, I started helping friends’ dogs, matching them with herbs well suited for them, and quickly realized the positive impact and how much this work was needed. Knowing dogs can’t choose, or speak up for, what’s best for their health, is powerful motivation for me to keep going and help as many dogs as I possibly can. Dog Herbalist (dogherbalist.com) was born in 2018 and I haven’t looked back since.

(Please note: I’m aware modern medicine has saved lives and really shines in acute life or death situations, but it’s not always the answer for other cases when dogs have time for alternatives)

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I hold virtual (phone or video) herbalist consultations for dogs, (sometimes for their human’s health too). I also hold Distant Animal Reiki sessions.

Energy therapy combined with herbalism for dogs I’d say is my niche in the industry. The two compliment each other very well in making optimum impact on dogs health and quality of life. Some of my clients prefer one or the other, which is still effective, but I’m finding the two combined go hand in hand and are extremely powerful.

I’m not the one doing the healing, rather, I’m simply a conduit for what our amazing Mother Earth has to offer everyone.

For my herbalist consultations, I match clients with herbs well suited for their unique, individual health needs and energetics. I create customized, detailed, protocols with a variety of recommendations in addition to herbal remedies. My recommendations outside herbs include (not limited to) diet recommendations, meditation techniques and sometimes affirmations for humans. For herbal recommendations, I recommend different mediums of herbs depending on what’s needed/what resonates with the individual, including tinctures, infusions, homeopathy, flower essences and plant stem cell therapies (also known as gemmotherapies or phytoembryonic therapies). I formulate custom remedies when it’s appropriate and do Reiki on all remedies I sell.

Outside of the client and computer side of my business, I’m continuously reading books on the subject, furthering my education as well as getting outside with plants in getting to know them and experience them firsthand. I love gardening herbs, doing Reiki with my garden and harvesting (when it’s called for) and making herbal medicine including oil infusions, tinctures, decoctions and drying herbs.
You could go a lifetime of studying herbalism and not know everything and this is one of countless things I love about it-I’m always learning. There’s always room to grow and continuously become a better herbalist and plant steward, both indoors and outdoors.

I don’t clock in and clock out as an herbalist and Reiki practitioner; I live it. Energy therapy and herbalism is my life. I live and breathe it.

Helping dogs, knowing I’m making a positive difference for them and their humans, while bringing awareness to Mother Earth, keeps me pushing forward in life. The world needs more light and I’m here to help bring it the best I can, especially to such innocent, vulnerable creatures as dogs.

My soul-dog, Thor, means everything to me! Millions of other humans feel the same way about their dogs, and want what’s best for their quality of life and longterm health. I’m here as a guide to help. My intention was, and always will be, to be a voice for the dogs, and a fountain of knowledge for dog parents for natural wellness.

I’m a firm believer in companion wellness; dogs and their humans healing together. Considering my personal experience with Thor and I healing during the same time, along with my experience with clients in my practice, I quickly realized the compounding impact when humans work on their wellbeing alongside their dogs.
Dogs and humans living in the same house share the same energy vibration, exchange heart frequencies, and almost always need similar attention.
My latest launch has been companion offerings; packages including Reiki and/or Herbal Work-up for both dogs AND their humans. I create convenient and individualized herbal regimens for both dogs and their humans to follow together. I also hold distance Reiki sessions for people to enjoy WITH their dogs. Humans and dogs doing Reiki together offers so much potential for therapy, growth and positive transformation.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Continuously Seeking Growth Spiritually

Being a spiritual seeker I think goes hand in hand with growing a business. Growing a business requires momentum and it also requires being present and showing up as the best version of yourself as you possibly can. Seeking to be a genuinely better person, and being mindful of the bigger picture of life, is 100% reflected in your work. More clients will be drawn to you when they feel your genuine, authentic, grounded, energy.

2. Using Parenthood for Expansion

Nothing has expanded me more than becoming a mom to two humans. I’ve learned the beauty in patience, setting healthy boundaries and have no time or energy for frivolous things that don’t add genuine value to my life. I use time extremely wisely and am much more efficient in my work.
As a parent, you can hone in on your growth as a parent and use it to your advantage in growing your business. In being a parent you have MORE to offer. Bring the lessons your kids teach you into being a better business owner. In becoming a parent, the Universe is expanding you, and knows your potential to be better, do better.

3. Enjoying the Unique Rhythm of Life

Don’t compare yourself or your life to anyone else. Your life is exactly the way it needs to be for you to become who you need to become. Appreciate your unique self, gifts and talents, and your life exactly the way it is now. Meet life with presence and gratitude how it is in this very moment. This is when you feel at your best and when you can manifest more.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

Hard question since there are so many but I’d have to say The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. The past and the future are an illusion and oftentimes living in this illusion can cause pain, whether it’s something you’re longing for but don’t have, or a previous traumatic experience. Being present leaves room for love, joy and peace. After all, life is only here, and in trying to escape the here and now, you’re not really living.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dogherbalist.com
• Instagram: @dogherbalist
• Linkedin: Erica Coston