Self Care for the Winter season is a priority and Nicola McIntosh explores the wonders of our herbal helpers to keep your immune system strong and healthy till Spring arrives…
HERBS PLAY A BIG PART IN MANY PAGAN FAITHS AS THEY ALSO HELP US GET IN TOUCH WITH NATURE. WE NEED TO BECOME MORE ‘IN-TUNE’ WITH NATURE’S CYCLES AND OURSELVES TO START UNDERSTANDING OUR OWN INNER TEACHINGS. Herbal Medicine used to be knowledge that was passed down from generation to generation, but sadly little of this happens today. Being a Herbalist, I find this sad that so many people are unaware of the amazing qualities that herbs can bring to your life. It is not only fun to make your own creams and teas, but it also gives you a sense of ownership of your own health, instead of feeling you need to rely on external sources. Knowing how the body works, nutrition and herbal medicine allows you to make good decisions for the health of your physical body but also helps you get in tune with your physical self. Animals know what herbs and plants they need to eat when they are sick through instinct and intuition, something that many people in this day and age seem to have moved away from. Your body knows what it needs for healing a lot of the time, but some are so busy with their daily activities to truly listen to what their body is trying to tell them. Unfortunately many people go against what their body is saying. How many times have you reached for 16 a coffee when you are tired? Your body is literally telling you, you need to rest. You cannot get any clearer than that. You may be hurrying and hungry but don’t have time to eat right, so you grab some fast food only to find yourself hungry an hour later. Junk food is generally nutrient deficient, so you may as well
be eating cardboard. Then, because you haven’t supplied your body with the nutrients to make the energy it needed, it tells you that you are still hungry. Your sugar levels may now have dropped so you start craving sweets and eventually you may get tired, so you grab a coffee. It becomes a vicious cycle and eventually your health will fail, you will burnout or find yourself very depressed. So where do you start? What herbs are you drawn to? What herbs are around in this season? What kind of symptoms do you have? Or do you just want to learn more. Grab a herb book from the library or a book store and just pick one to learn about to start with. There are many simple ones like Chamomile, Peppermint, Rosemary or Sage that are commonly used and you can grow them yourself! Winter is a time for hibernation, taking care of yourself and getting your strength back to get ready for Spring. Winter is heavier, denser and slower. Therefore it is a time for you to relax, de-stress and look after yourself. Mentally it is a time to stop and reflect on how your life is going. What can you let go of to make room for new beginnings in Spring? Am I relaxed or am I carrying stress and what can I do to shed myself of this? This is the time to ask yourself, what can I do for me? Winter is a time for colds and flu, but you don’t have to succumb to these if you take care of yourself. Prevention is always the key for this season. Stress is one of the biggest factors in creating poor health. It affects your immune system. There are many things you can do to decrease your stress levels. You can meditate, exercise, take time out to read a book as well as use the following herbs:
CHAMOMILE: This is an amazing herb. It not only is a carminative for your digestive tract, it is also high in Magnesium. Magnesium is the mineral needed for your muscles to relax. If you are prone to cramps, you may be low in this mineral. If you crave chocolate all the time you also may need Magnesium! Or if you just need to calm down a bit due to a long and stressful day or if you are feeling anxiety, grab a cup of Chamomile. Just remember this is the RELAX herb. DANDELION ROOT TEA: You can grow your own or you can buy dandelion tea from the grocery store in the health food section. If you grow your own, make sure you have the right one Taraxacum Officinale (you can order this through the Mudbrick Cottage online and they ship it to you!). You can also use the leaves in salads. The leaves are mainly used as a diuretic. Dandelion Root tea is used as a coffee substitute. It has the benefit of helping with your Liver Detox Cycle. You can also buy it as tea bags in the health food section of your grocery store, just add your favourite type of milk and sweeten if desired. Dandelion Root is known as the LIVER tea.
PASSIONFLOWER: This is a sedative herb which is great to drink before bed if you find it hard getting off to sleep. If you don’t have the herb growing at your place and enjoying the passionfruit from it, you can usually find this in most sleep teas you get from the supermarket. Celestial Seasons - Sleepy Time tea is amazing! So remember SLEEP when you think of Passionflower.