Happy Valentine’s Day! I’m not much on the ooey, gooey, lovey, dovey stuff on Valentine’s Day, but I thought I would drop an herbal Love Potion here for your tasting pleasure!
In our recent Love Potions: An Herbal Exploration for the Heart class, we made and tasted this heart-warming elixir that you can make at home any time. It’s a lovely pick me up, sans caffeine, warm and comforting with a little bit of spice to add interest.
Cacao & Roses
A Love Potion for the Heart
1 tsp Cacao Powder 1 tsp Rooibos (a teabag works too) 1/8 tsp of Ground Cardamom ½ tsp of Rose Petals Cream or Coconut Cream (optional) Honey, Stevia, or your Sweetener of choice
Drop the first four ingredients into a brewing vessel (I like a glass jar or single-serve teapot) and top with 8-12 oz. of boiling water. Steep for 5-10 minutes, strain, sweeten and enjoy.
I find this tea creamy and chocolatey all by itself, but some warm cream takes it from lovely to decadent. And if you’re feeling like an extra fancy treat, garnish with a few rose petals.
I hope you love this heart-warming Cacao & Roses Love Potion as much as I do. If you’re interested in a tasting or learning more about ways to use herbs to help support your heart, shoot me an email.
♥
THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
My friend goes on to talk about how to make winter a bit easier on extroverts. I was inspired by her post and here for your reading pleasure are my completely unsolicited ideas about how to make friends with the cold, dark, and rainy/snowy season.
First, we need to appreciate that in order to have the light, we must also have the dark. We experience this daily as the earth turns us toward the sun and then toward the moon. The arc of the year gives us warm weather and then the cold.
The earth needs to rest and replenish, cold stratification is essential for the germination of many seeds that grow and nourish us during the other seasons. We also need the rest. Our bodies and minds need to slow down, just like the earth does. We need the dark and solitude to germinate the ideas and joy that nourish us as we move forward in our lives. We can’t just skip the hard parts.
Angela’s post put me in mind of the hygge movement we’ve been seeing the last few years, but with a twist. As an introvert, I don’t think of having to make friends with January and the darker, shorter days. I like the concept of hibernation. If I experience stress over it, it’s because the weather is getting bad and I’m not already at home in my safe, warm spot. My friend very directly guided me to think about how this isn’t the case for everyone. I am biased towards winter and everything it stands for because of my deep introversion. So, I stepped back and thought about self-care for someone who struggles through this season.
So…let’s talk about how we make friends with these darker, wetter, more solitary days.
Full Spectrum Light
Get outside first thing in the morning. When I get up, I open the back door and outside I go with the dogs. If it’s sunny or even cloudy I step out from under the porch and face the sun letting it shine on me. If it’s rainy, windy, or just generally nasty, I stand on the porch and look towards the sun for as long as I can stand it. The light is delicious to your eyes, there’s actual science behind the light. The light our sun provides helps regulate the hormones that drives the circadian rhythm and sleep readiness. And by now I think we all know that if you’re not sleeping well, you’re not living well.
If it’s chilly outside, the morning ritual of greeting the sun can be a nice wake up call. Only stay as long as you’re comfortable, but while you’re out there take a moment to appreciate the world around you even if it is sleeping.
What if you can’t get outside?
Many craft lights are now full spectrum. These can be helpful in the afternoon and early evening for extending your exposure to full spectrum lighting. I spend many hours during the winter with mine. I don’t have a diagnosis for Seasonal Affective Disorder, but occasionally suffer the blues. My full-spectrum, craft light helps even if I’m just watching television or reading. I do have to be careful to turn it off a couple of hours before I plan on sleeping as I’ve noticed that it affects my ability to fall asleep.
Warm Drinks
Warm drinks can be really helpful during the winter. Tea, coffee, hot lemon water, cacao, whatever works for your personal taste. When I’m cold or bored or just in the ‘searching for something I can’t identify’ mode, I make tea. There’s comfort in focusing inward to decide what kind of warm drink I want and then appreciating the ritual of making myself something nice, just for me. And then when it’s ready, you have a warm mug to hang onto and sip from.
Visceral Entertainment
Books, puzzles, movies, games, crafts… I’ve seen pictures of some younger people’s homes lately. They struck me as odd and I couldn’t figure out why until I realized, they don’t have books, bookshelves, games, puzzles, physical movies, etc. Everything is virtual for the younger generation. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but I’m suggesting taking an actual book out of the library. Something made of paper that you hold in your hands, something you can smell and touch and feel. Same for puzzles and games. Yes, I’m suggesting you get off the internet. Set down your screen-based entertainment and set yourself up with a visceral experience. You’ll still be using your eyeballs, just in a different way and you just might find unexpected changes occur when you spend some of your day offline.
Hygge
I’ve already touched on this, but if you don’t already have a cocoon, make yourself one. Go find a deliciously soft, warm blanket and find your spot. Put the blanket on your spot. Warm up your toe beans and throw it in with the blanket. Change into your most comfy pajamas. Put your books, glasses, phone, journal, pen, a cup of warmth and your companion or pet next to your cocoon, crawl in, snuggle up, and enjoy.
Curate Your Atmosphere
Make a simmer pot that smells like comfort to you. In addition to combating the dry nose most folks get when the heat is blasting, you’ll have a passive comfort in the air. Design your atmosphere to calm and uplift you with every breath.
Learn Something New
Learn something new, whether it’s a class that is primarily book learning or something visceral and touch-based like knitting, painting, or whittling. Learning something new can help the brain stay engaged and focused on a new and exciting experience rather than grinding on about how miserable the weather is. Think about using actual books you can hold in your hands, smell, and flip pages or a sumptuous yarn to run your fingers and hands over. Or enjoy the earthy scent of the wood as you work. Make your learning a multi-sensory experience.
Take a Walk
Get outside in the cold and weather. Don’t spend too long, some places are dangerous in the winter without proper preparation. Here in the southeastern U.S., it’s usually pretty mild so when I’m feeling really out of sorts and overwhelmed, I just go outside and be in it. I revel in the cold as it seeps through my clothing and hair to press its ambient weight against my skin. This last winter solstice I went out barefoot and danced on the soft, moist earth under the moon. I was frozen when I came back inside, but the joy of just experiencing the weather as we turned toward the light again was so uplifting and energizing.
January Journaling
This is probably the part of my friends Facebook post that spoke the loudest and what ultimately led me to write this tome on making friends with the dark. Find a journal, use it just for January, write in it every day for thirty-one days, then put it away. Next January, take out your January Journal and read it. Remember how you felt and know that you lived through it feeling perhaps the same way you’re feeling currently.
For those of you who don’t write or journal, it can be as simple as writing down the best thing of the day, the worst thing of the day, and something you want to remember or appreciate about the day. Even if you’re not a writer or journaler, this is a totally doable project. And when you’re finished not only do you reap the psychological rewards of journaling, but you now have a resource to help you through future winters.
If winter is hard for you, design your environment to passively support you. Work on your mindset and keep your mind busy. Reach out to a friend if you need human contact and can’t get out of the house. Most of all take care of yourself, stay warm and hydrated. If you use any of these techniques, I’d love to hear how they worked out for you. Drop a comment and let me know what you think.
THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
Shampoo, dish soap, lotion, cosmetics…we are constantly bombarded with chemicals that saturate into the air, our skin, or both (don’t get me started on what they’re doing to the food chain). Some chemicals are safe, like water, yes, it’s a chemical called H20! Others, like many found in fabric softeners and dryer sheets, not so much. The only way to avoid the bad and questionable stuff is to be extra aware of the products we are using in our homes and on our bodies.
It Was Time for a Change
In order to practice what I preach, I made some changes I want to tell you about. You might not know, but I do all the laundry for my massage practice. It’s a cost issue as well as a control issue. Because so many people have so many allergies I try to keep the detergents effective as well as allergen-free. In my travels I have also learned that the chemicals that make up fabric softener are really not the greatest thing for us to be rubbing against our largest organ (the skin) all day long. So I quit using it years ago. In its place I sometimes do a white vinegar rinse, but I found something that works even better and in the long run is way cheaper than even vinegar.
In the winter, while pulling flannel sheets out of the dryer I noticed that there was a tremendous amount of static electricity and the shocks were getting uncomfortable from the sheer force and frequency. I started looking into natural methods I could use to reduce the static. Dryer sheets were out because even though they smell amazing they are notoriously bad for polluting the air in your home.
Enter Wool Dryer Balls
I decided to try wool dryer balls. I had seen them several years ago, but just couldn’t believe that something like this would work. After reading some reviews from other massage therapists who had tried them I went to the craft store, bought some wool yarn, and promptly made my own. There are lots of tutorials online that show you how to make your own. I don’t recommend the pantyhose in the washer method…just trust me on that.
Then I bought some wool dryer balls. I’m currently running 6 wool dryer balls to a load and just that has drastically decreased the amount of static in the sheets. It is also cutting 5-10 minutes off the drying time for every load, which doesn’t seem like much until you consider that I average 9-10 loads of laundry per week. 45-100 minutes of drying time adds up! I don’t have to pay for so much electricity AND the sheets are softer than when I used fabric softener in the wash. Win, Win!
Small Changes Add Up!
While it doesn’t seem like much, these are the small kinds of changes that can add up to help you achieve bigger wellness goals. Switching to wool dryer balls has not only cut out dangerous chemicals from rubbing against our skin, but it’s helped to clean up the air inside my home and the water that flows out to my septic tank. It also reduces our collective carbon footprint by reducing energy usage.
And remember, there’s no judgement here. I’m just giving you information on small changes that might make an impact. Not everyone is ready for change when I write about it, but it’s here when you need it.
Psstttt… I’ve recently seen suggestions on social media about further reducing the static in your dryer by putting safety pins in your wool dryer balls. Please don’t do that, it will put holes in your clothes!
All the Thanksgiving foods have my tummy feeling off…
If you, like me, ate too many things you’re not accustomed to while celebrating Thanksgiving this year, never fear. I have a tummy soother that is tasty and easy to make with basic kitchen ingredients.
This Fennel and Lemon Tea has only a few simple ingredients:
Fennel Seeds
Lemon
Hot Water
Your Sweetener of Choice (optional)
So you’ll need a cup and a tea ball or infuser. In the tea ball, you’ll want to put about a teaspoon of fennel seed. Crushing the fennel seed will give you a stronger, more potent experience, but it’s not necessary. Drop that in your cup and throw in a lemon wedge or round and top with hot water. Let steep for 5-10 minutes. Remove the tea ball (unless you really love fennel, it gets strong and bitter after a while) and add your sweetener of choice. Honey is always good if you can tolerate it. I usually opt for stevia for a no sugar experience. Be sure to take a moment to savor the warmth in your hands and the aroma of the steam. This is a really nice cup of health, enjoy!
Why it Works!
Fennel seed has a mild flavor that you’re probably already familiar with. For me, no mild Italian sausage is right without the distinct flavor of fennel. It’s also used in a candy everyone knows, licorice! Fennel seed also contains several vitamins and minerals that are important for more cellular functions than I care to list today. It is anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, some studies have shown it mildly curbs the appetite (which may be helpful after eating so much for Thanksgiving), has anti-cancer properties in concentrated form, helps bring in or improve milk for new mothers, and is helpful for our colicky little ones. And this is an abbreviated list of uses without even getting into the particulars of cooking with it.
The reason I’m writing about it today is because it is well-known for improving digestion and relieving gas pain. The fennel seed has a diuretic effect which helps with bloating (hello, Thanksgiving!), it has a lot of fiber which helps the digestive tract work more efficiently, and also features chemical compounds that allow the muscles of the digestive tract to relax which allows gasses to exit as designed. The only drawbacks to fennel seed that I can find is that it can be an estrogenic. If you’re struggling with estrogen dominance you may want to try another herb.
Lemon for flavor, a little acid kick, and to stimulate digestion. Acid? Yes, acid. Now if you are already suffering from excess acid, you want to be careful with how much lemon you’re using. If you have low acid, this will be very helpful for getting the stomach contents moving out into the intestines. Lemons stimulate digestion through a fiber called pectin. Pectin is also a good pre-biotic which gives your gut microbes good food to chew on for longer term intestinal health. You’ll notice in the photo the lemons are dehydrated. These work as well though the acid profile is different than fresh lemon or lemon juice. I prefer the dehydrated lemons because the sugars have caramelized, and the flavor is amazing. Also, they don’t grow a green sheen in my crisper drawer which is very likely to happen to fresh lemons in my house.
Stevia, my typical sweetener of choice, is also an herb. And it has its own digestive benefits as it’s full of inulin fiber which is again a powerful pre-biotic. If you’ve never used it, start slow. It has a tendency to go bitter in large amounts and the fiber can cause gas if your digestive tract isn’t accustomed to handling fibers.
Bonus Belly Herb
If you’re experiencing gripping or cramping, try adding a couple of coins of ginger. Powdered ginger will also work in this Fennel & Lemon Tea.
So, there it is… a little cup of herbs and spices for a happier belly. This tea will be a lovely addition to your digestive repertoire. It’s mild, tastes good, the ingredients are easily accessible, and generally regarded as safe even for kids.
Let me know what you think in the comments if you try this Fennel & Lemon Tea!
January is Thyroid Awareness Month and everywhere I look I see lots and lots of information about hypothyroidism and very little on hyperthyroidism. So I thought I would share a little bit about my recent experience with a whacked out, overactive, hyperthyroid.
While you need a blood test to diagnose hyperthyroidism here are a few things to look out for that might lead you to your doctor for a test
Significant, unexplained weight loss paired with increased appetite
Anxiety and/or nervousness
Insomnia
Heart palpitations, pounding and/or racing heart
Higher rates of hair and nail growth
Muscle weakness
Increased frequency of bowel output
Menstrual changes
Unfortunately, I experienced all of the above listed symptoms and it was absolutely no fun whatsoever. The onset of symptoms came on gradually over a period of a few weeks until I was a vibrating mess of emotional turmoil that led to a weepy doctor’s office visit where blood was drawn. Apparently these are classic symptoms and the doctors knew pretty quickly what we were dealing with.
Ironically, I had been on meds for hypothyroid for several years. So those were stopped in the hopes the symptoms would resolve on their own. They did not. The medical course of treatment to date has been a wait and see with a monthly blood draw to test the levels of thyroid hormones in my bloodstream.
Being the more proactive type, I did some research. The medical options for treating hyperthyroidism are pretty bleak. They include meds that might reduce the thyroid hormone, taking radioactive iodine to destroy all or part of the thyroid thus ensuring a lifelong hypothyroid condition, or complete removal of the thyroid gland (also effecting a lifelong hypothyroid condition).
All of these medical interventions sounded a little scary to me so I looked in a more holistic direction and added an herbal tincture of bugleweed, lemon balm, and motherwort. Each of these herbs combat different symptoms I was experiencing. I also cleaned up my diet, focusing on reducing inflammation in my body and giving my gut flora the nutritional building blocks it needed to repopulate. I realized that over the 6 weeks preceding the hyperthyroid symptom onset I had allowed some less than healthy eating habits to drift into my diet. I also drank a lot of nervine tea, diffused essential oils, and received massage to combat the constant and overwhelming anxiety I experienced.
I believe my hyperthyroidism was caused by inflammation from poor dietary choices. And while I haven’t had a blood test in a while to see, I think I’m leveling off. Though I certainly don’t think my thyroid journey is over.
As always, if you suspect your thyroid is not functioning properly, please see a doctor. This article is informational only and not to be used as medical advice.
♥
Harvest Moon Massage is a Certified Holistic Manual Lymph Drainage Therapist!
With Spring Forward recently behind us and the ensuing Monday morning pain of getting up an hour earlier while pretending I’m really not, I got to thinking about being robbed of one more hour of sleep.
According to the CDC insufficient sleep is a public health epidemic. I Googled “American sleep deficit” and got 30,300,000 hits. That’s millions of articles about Americans and their sleepiness and that doesn’t even cover all of them. Soabunchofstudies tell us that as Americans, we are chronically sleep deprived. Do I really need to convince you that we’re not getting enough sleep to begin with? You’re probably tired right now and I’ll bet you didn’t get 8 solid hours last night. I know I sure didn’t.
So with all this bad news, what can we do to log more pillow time?
Avoid caffeine and other chemical stimulants after 3pm to give your body time to process and eliminate it
Avoid large meals too close to your bedtime. Digestion is different for everyone so I can’t tell you when to stop eating, but uncomfortably large meals will affect your ability to settle into sleep and stay asleep. We’ve all had it happen.
Set a bedtime – Sounds like a no-brainer, but do you have a bedtime? If it sounds like this, “Well, I usually go to bed after…,” then the answer is no. If it sounds like, “I go to bed at 10:30 unless my kid is sick,” then the answer is yes.
Cultivate a routine – Start a bedtime routine and stick to it. Set your alarm clock to remind you when it’s time to start your bedtime routine. I do this and I hate it, but I find it necessary or I continue to watch tv, work a puzzle, play on Facebook, etc.
Relax – After logging off, put on your jammies, wash your face, take your medicine and get all your other prep activities finished. Now do something to relax. Drink a cup of herbal tea, read a book, meditate, pray, snuggle up, whatever it is that relaxes your body and mind.
Turn out the lights – Where you sleep needs to be dark. Really dark, like ‘can’t see your hand in front of your face’ dark. No street lights shining in the window, no night lights, no TV’s, no blinking battery chargers, no digital clocks or DVRs beaming the time at you all night long. Dark, dark, dark so your melatonin can do its job.
Give yourself permission to rest – I know it sounds all hippy dippy, but we have really let this culture of busy-ness take over. It’s okay to take a break from the break-neck speed that is our world.
I think of the whole life rhythm as a bell curve or sine wave. Before you start your bedtime routine you’re sitting somewhere near the top of the bell. The bedtime routine is designed to get you to the bottom of the curve which is sleep. A ramping down of the excitement of the day into the relaxation and bliss that is sleep.
And while most of my tips above deal with the actual bedtime routine and getting to sleep, reducing stress and promoting relaxation during any part of the day can be helpful in getting to sleep. Here’s a good news article on how recent research is proving how massage helps sleep. #SleepWeek
I hope you find something interesting and helpful in this article/rant about sleep. And if you are as outraged and upset about the continuing insanity of changing the time, disrupting our health, and raising our risk of accidents and heart attacks twice a year you can join me in using #LeaveTheClockAlone and #AbolishTimeChange. Or you can sign one of the dozens of petitions that get started this time of year to try to get rid of time change.
Be well and give yourself permission to sleep and to rest.
♥
Harvest Moon Massage is Decatur, Alabama’s Only Ashi-Thai Therapist!
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve had a couple of very scary tick experiences. I don’t like ticks and they don’t like me. Well, that’s not true. Perhaps a more accurate statement would be that they like me too much.
My body’s reaction to a tick bite is no fun, I have massive, skin-based allergic reactions to the little buggers. The doctors like to call it contact dermatitis which I think is somewhat of an understatement. I prefer to call it the nasty, oozing, itching, ring of hell, but then I’m no medical doctor.
Anyway, I am fine and have mostly gotten over the trauma of having a tick get way too friendly. But it got me to thinking about tick safety and thought someone might could use a roundup of useful tick tips.
I see that we did several things wrong when removing my most recent tick. Of course, it was all I could do to be still after I discovered the thing hanging off my leg. Running away from an embedded tick does not work. Experience talking.
People tell me all the time that you can use Sevin Dust around your yard to kill ticks. I don’t know if it works or not. We don’t use it because it kills all the beneficial insects (like lady bugs) that eat the bad insects chewing on the garden. Maybe I need some more chickens to eat the ticks?
Please excuse me while I go all hypochondriac for a moment.
Okay, I’m going to stop here because frankly I’m a little skeeved right now and can’t handle anymore. I really don’t like ticks at all. And after reading a bunch of (really scary) stuff on the internet, I’m hanging my hat on the first article I have linked up there where it says most ticks don’t carry disease. I never would have known that if I hadn’t gotten bitten (again). Anyway, hope this is helpful.
♥
Harvest Moon Massage is Decatur, Alabama’s Exclusive Provider of Ashi-Thai Massage!
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