During stressful times, having a few mood supportive herbal allies around can be a great source of solace. Let’s explore some herbal friends who can gently support us by soothing frazzled nerves and uplifting our spirits.

Our thyroids are busy keeping our metabolism running, warming us up, and stimulating growth, development, and repair. Let’s talk about healthy thyroid function, a few key nutrients needed for optimal function, and signs to look for if you suspect an issue with your thyroid.

Lemon balm is a beautiful smelling and flavorful herb that gently soothes our frayed nerves. We can use this herb to support our memory, calm an upset stomach, support sleep, heal viral sores, calm an overactive thyroid, and gently lift us up during times of depression and heartache. Not too bad for this friend of the bees.

Here we are, nearing the end of March and our time focusing on Calendula. We have explored the healing this flower offers, we have looked at how healthy skin on our outside and through our digestive tract functions and how active it really is. Now let’s take some time to play with some herbal medicine recipes. For this month, I will divide the recipes into three categories: Calendula oil, fresh flowers, dried flowers. Each preparation gives us different options.

Health starts in our guts. We often hear that we are what we eat, but that’s just part of it. A more accurate phrase would be: we are what we absorb. Let’s explore the lining of our digestive tracts and learn more about healthy function. This is a continuation of our journey with Calendula as this sunny herb can help soothe and heal irritations all along our digestive tracts.

Did you know that our skin is our largest organ? Did you know that it’s constantly communicating with our nervous system, our hormonal systems, and our immune systems? When thinking of our skin, we usually think only about what happens when it’s not functioning well. Today, let’s stop to ponder what healthy skin feels like, means to us, and what it’s actively doing without our conscious input.

Calendula is a bright and friendly flower that is a powerful healing ally.  Got a scrape, bruise, or cut - call in Calendula.  Calendula is not only antimicrobial preventing infection, it also helps your body heal faster by calling in the cells you need to make new tissues and stimulating their activity.  Ulcers in your digestive tract?  Calendula tea taken internally is a powerhouse of healing here too. 

When I look out over my yard and see those sunny flower heads and toothy green leaves, I don’t see a nuisance; I see free nutrient-rich food. All parts of the dandelion are edible from their sweet and fragile blooms that make a delightful mead-like wine, to their slightly bitter tender early-spring greens, to the inulin-rich carrot-like late-fall roots. Working with the fresh plant is quite rewarding, but as you can see, not all parts of the dandelion are in-season year round.

We all know that our liver is important, but how much do we really know about the liver? Let’s explore this extremely important organ and come to a better understanding and appreciation of it. The liver is involved in five main areas of body functioning: filtering your blood, digestion via bile production, blood sugar regulation, blood clotting, and biotransformation of endogenous (made by the body) and exogenous (introduced to the body) toxins - AKA detoxification.

Spring is a popular time to consider “doing a detox”.  While this is a very common term to hear in the alternative medicine world, this can mean many different things.  I frequently get asked for supplements and protocols for detoxification, but often when I ask clarifying questions, people are unsure what their goals are beyond a nebulous idea of cleaning up.

Many stores and websites will be happy to sell you detox kits, but they only do one thing - make you rush to the bathroom. Don’t get me wrong, getting things moving isn’t a bad idea, but triggering diarrhea by taking large doses of harsh laxatives isn’t the best way to do it. Plus only focusing on clearing out our bowels misses the majority of detoxification capabilities. Instead of helping someone profit off of a misunderstanding, let’s educate ourselves and support our beautiful bodies in what they are already doing day in and day out.

Dandelion is one of my favorite herbs for so many reasons. Not only is this herb full of medicinal qualities, it also possesses an incredible tenacity. I can only dream of having the vim and vigor of this wild and weedy green ally. For me, dandelion says, “Eat me and grow!” Don’t mind if I do.

We have made it through a month of exploring flaxseeds and the role they can play in our health. From constipation to hormone regulation to blood pressure, these humble little seeds pack a lot of nourishing power!

Now that we know more about them, it’s time to find ways to bring them into our regular diet.

The easiest way to do this is to freshly grind your flaxseeds and stir them into what you’re eating. Smoothies, soups, oatmeal, salads, and salad dressings work well. You can also use flaxseeds in place of breadcrumbs in your recipes or make a breading with a base of flaxseeds for cooking fish, chicken, vegetables, or whatever you want to add breading to.

Most of us are aware that our blood pressure is one measure of our physical health and that there is such a thing as too high and too low. We also know that there are two numbers to consider and that 120/80 is considered a good reading. But many of us are pretty in the dark beyond this cursory information. Since blood pressure is something we hear a lot about and is often measured at doctor appointments, let’s explore this topic a bit more.

Have you heard about seed cycling yet?

Funnily enough, I haven’t seen very much about this powerful yet gentle way to balance your hormones on social media. I first heard about this nutritional therapy via one of my professors in medical school, Dr. Dickson Thom. Since then, I’ve used it successfully for myself and many patients. Those who use this method of balancing their hormones will enthusiastically defend it against nay-sayers and tell me about it afterwards. When you have struggled with irregular periods, low libido, PMS, and painful periods; anything that helps is very appreciated. Knowing what we do about flax seeds and fiber in general, we can see that seed cycling holds a whole host of benefits in addition to influencing our hormones. Let’s explore more shall we?

One thing that can really take the pep out of our step is constipation. The weighed down, bloated, dragging feeling can follow us for days, weeks, or longer. Before you jump for the laxative aisle at the pharmacy, you may want to consider a few natural remedies. Additionally, if you have tried the below remedies and you are still having issues with constipation, you may want to consult with your doctor to see if there is a larger issue that needs to be addressed. For chronic issues, my go-to window is 4-6 weeks of consistent treatment before I seek pharmaceutical interventions. If it’s an acute or intense issue, my window narrows to 24 hours if things are getting worse or 48 hours if there is no change.

We begin our journey with herbs this year with the humble flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum).

This plant was one of the first domesticated by humans and has been used since the stone age (1). The fibers have long been spun into linen and the seeds have been used both as food and for the oil which makes up about 33% of the seed’s mass (2). Aged flaxseed oil is also known as linseed oil. One might assume that there isn’t much to write about this humble little seed, but you would be mistaken.

You want me to rub what on my face?  Tallow, yep tallow.

Beef fat rendered into tallow is fantastic for skin issues.  I’ve heard stories of it being the only thing to stop acne in its tracks.  I love it for the relief I get from my skin psoriasis and the dewy youth it returns to my face.  I’ve never had it irritate my skin or contribute to acne like coconut oil has, and it doesn’t trap in heat and redness like products with beeswax tend to.  It’s 100% natural, it’s easy to obtain once you look for it, and it honors the sacrifice of the animals we use for food, as we use more of the animal than we might otherwise.

Does it smell like beef fat?  Well yes, as that’s what it is, but once it is absorbed into your skin, the smell disappears.  Some people like to add essential oils to cover the smell, but I don’t find this necessary.  In fact, I prefer to infuse the oil with dried herbs – this decreases the environmental impact of overusing essential oils, decreases the likelihood that there will be an adverse skin reaction, and helps the medicine maker feel a stronger connection to the plants themselves.

Herbal medicine making can seem complex at times, but I hope to convince you otherwise. Herbal medicine is people’s medicine, and you can make gentle and effective remedies for yourself from plants growing voluntarily in your yard, plants you find at the grocery store, and plants that you choose to grow in your garden whether that is on a farm or in your window sill. You are probably already familiar with herbs such as garlic, cinnamon, basil, and ginger. Your kitchen collection of herbs and spices is rich with medicinal benefits!

There is so much we dislike about ourselves, and we struggle with personal obstacles we wish we could overcome.  Unfortunately, it is much easier to ignore or resent our needs which are a part of what makes us unique.  This is a huge problem we must all face.

Love is the answer.  It really is.

When you feel ungrounded, stress seems to have a larger sway on your emotions and ability to cope. It is hard to get started on taking action, and your thoughts and energy seem to race all over the place without giving you insight into how to handle each situation that arises. If you find yourself in a state where it almost feels as if all your focus is on your thoughts and you feel detached from your physical body, this is another sign of being ungrounded. Practicing grounding techniques is a great way to rebalance and refocus, it also has wonderful and measurable benefits for our immune systems, nervous systems, and overall health.