Winter is Coming: Poop Balls!

My post is very overdue as well. Sometimes, I have a blog post in my head for a while and then I completely fail to write it down. Or I’m too busy playing Angry Birds on Google Chrome…

October completely knocked me out. I got what I thought was a small cold, and turned into a 3 week cold plus cough. And, really, I should have expected it because I always get a cough following a cold. I had been trying to remind myself to buy herbs for colds all summer. I kept telling myself that even though I was healthy now, it wouldn’t always be the case. In the words of Ned Stark, “Winter is coming.” I know that’s corny, but it’s true. And then, of course, I got slammed with a cold and didn’t have any herbs on hand except my stash of the usual vitamins.

So while I sat on my couch, bemoaning my state of affairs and how sick I felt – I pulled out Hoffman and Gladstar’s books for ideas on remedies to help my cold. I ended up deciding to make Gladstar’s throat balls for a sore throat. She made them sound so easy and tasty that I thought it would be good because I could then have the throat balls for later on in the season if I get sick again.

The throat balls are made up entirely of powdered herbs and this recipe includes different quantities of Comfrey Root, Echinacea, Goldenseal, Licorice, and Slippery Elm Bark.

Comfrey is used externally most of the time (I actually use it in one of my favorite steams/toners) because it is supposed to help speed the healing of wounds. If ingested internally, it can support the immune system and prevent future infections. It is also used for lung troubles and whooping cough.

Do I even need to go into properties of Echinacea? Ha. I have heard that it is America’s most popular medicinal plant and our first choice for treatment of colds and support of the immune system.

Goldenseal is similar to Echinacea as in the fact that it was often seen as a “cure all” in early American history. It was introduced to settlers by Native Americans who used it for a variety of remedies including whooping cough, stomach ailments and diarrhea. Research done recently has found that constituents in goldenseal had many antibiotic properties, astringent, and anti-inflammatory actions.

Licorice is the all-round cold and flu herb. It’s properties specifically helps coughs with sticky phlegm and colds that also have stomach upset attached to them.

I originally thought that Slippery Elm Bark was used to just to keep the ball together, because I knew the properties consisted of mucilage. But it actually helps the throat, so that was a surprise.

So I combined all the ingredients as directed, but I omitted the step where she suggested rolling the ball in the Elm Bark at the end to give it a more “finished” look. Bad call. The throat balls ended up looking like owl pellets, or less politely – POOP BALLS. Haha! And as for the taste of the poop balls, it wasn’t too great. I had added honey to the recipe to create more adhesiveness and I assumed that it would make it taste really good. Not really…I can’t describe the taste. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good. It tasted like dirt. Next time I might try to coat the whole outside in honey - next time meaning when I finish the rest of the 70 poop balls. Another problem was that by the time I received the ingredients and made the balls, my sore throat was gone and I only had that lingering cough. Since these were mainly for a sore throat, I didn’t have enough to test and see if I got results from them. Thankfully, though, as long as they are dried, they stay fresh indefinitely so I will be able to use them next time I get a sore throat.

I have not been able to try my arnica poultice as much as I was hoping to. It seems like now that summer is over, I do not bruise as much. That was also frustrating because I wanted to really experiment with that.

I also love the lotion Liv and I made. It seems like Live uses it more for her whole body, whereas I love it for my face. And now that the weather is cooler and my skin is getting dry again, I just love that my face soaks it up. I really should try to use it on my whole body more often but I never have enough time to let it seep into my body since I take a shower at night and crash into bed right after.

I am trying to be more regular about doing face masks, hair masks, etc every week. I really fell off the bandwagon in the summer and I’ve been having a hard time getting back on track and doing it. It can only benefit me and it doesn’t take too long – I just don’t know why I can’t start doing it regularly again.

The one other thing that I want to get in the habit of doing is drinking a “moon tea”, just something to have every time there’s a full moon. Celebrate the full moon in some empowering way. I like the fact that Gladstar puts great emphasis in the full moon, which I agree, but have never slowed down enough to observe. For years of human history the moon was how we told the time, and for women, how we kept track of our menstrual cycle. I used to try to keep track of my period like that, but then I just kept forgetting to check the moon cycle and lost track. Liv – do you think you could concoct something for me? If you don’t have time, that’s fine. I saw a little tea shop down my road had some moon tea, but I’d rather support you!

And I agree Liv, we really need to get better about posting in this blog, whether it be thoughts, bodies or lives.

Mini-Updates

This post is embarrassingly overdue. I sometimes have the tendency to delay starting things until I have all of the information I need/prep work completed when in reality, I think it can be better to just contribute something (rather than nothing) when you're working slower than you'd like...

So, here are a few updates...

1. I have started experimenting actually using tea bags for my teas which I think will help me to use them more often (if they are already made and on hand).

2. I am finally starting to try my Gotu Kola for morning /afternoon slump tea. I have learned that it is a mental stimulant, circulatory stimulant, an known for its properties which aid in memory, wound healing, and possibly as a treatment for anxiety. I was excited to see it was included in the Yogi brand energizing tea. I am combining it with peppermint, ginger, and ginseng (most of which I decided upon from a Gladstar recipe).

3. I looked up cystitis in that big herbal dictionary book my mom sent me. It describes it as "an inflammation of the bladder caused by bacterial infection of the urinary tract". I know Jedi Kiri already knows this but I wanted to contribute anything that might be new info. The tea recommended is: 2 parts yarrow, 1 part dandelion leaf, and 1 part chamomile flowers. Other treatments are: garlic oil capsules, goldenseal capsules or tincture, or water an echinacea every few hours when experiencing symptoms.

4. I still really like the lotion Jedi Kiri and I made while she was visiting SF. I keep it in the fridge and use it on my whole body about once a week. It's a messy endeavor which is why it only happens on weekends when I have time to let it soak in a bit, etc. I love the honeysuckle smell - glad we chose that.

5. I can't WAIT for my MA visit to see Jedi Kiri. I'm really looking forward to our tea date. I feel like I've fallen more and more in love with tea as I've gotten older and it truly is more special when you have someone who you can talk to about enjoying it.

6. I made a list of things that get my mind on a positive thinking track (song lyrics I find inspiring, mental images, meditative exercises, and just reassuring things I've learned from other people). I try to put a little squeeze of lemon in my water in the a.m. as a way of reminding myself to think about my list and start the day in a positive way. I was beginning to feel like I was complaining too often and starting out the day feeling negative about work, etc. I don't expect to change my entire outlook on grad school necessarily but I think beforehand I was definitely not doing myself any favors by stewing on negativity like that. The first week I tried my lemon, positive thinking, I felt like it really helped actually. The second week was the girls' band camp and I fell off the wagon. Going to try and keep up with it :).

Just writing these few things had reminded me how much I miss this blog. I think we started a good thing here - reflecting on our lives, bodies and minds. I will try and write more next time about my overall health etc and my visit with Jedi Kiri!!!!!!

~Liv 4 Potions

Updates

It has been quite long since we’ve updated our herbal blog. I wouldn’t say things have stopped on my end – oh no, quite the contrary. But for a while, I felt like it had stopped. Well, I had experimented with my menstrual cramp tea, I had done my steams and masks with good results, drank Valerian to sleep better, and I had drunk Black Cohosh tea for my tinnitus (which I've sadly fallen behind). I got to a point where I felt a little lost with the herbalism. I had the mentality of, “Well, I’ve done what I set out to do, and now what?” instead of realizing that herbs are really a lifelong practice. When problems or situations arise, we now have the knowledge to turn towards our herbs and learn from them, as opposed to the huge rush of information we gained at the beginning. It’s probably like any relationship: fun and intoxicating to begin with, and then it levels out into a deeper relationship that takes hard work (but still fun of course!). So with the gain in knowledge from herbs, I turn to it more often when I am need.

Since I last wrote, I have traveled to San Francisco and spent time with my very good friend – Liv 4 Potions. Together we made a moisturizer and I have to say – it was a lot easier to make a moisturizer than I thought. Gladstar’s directions made me intimidated, so I’m glad that I had Liv there for the first time. The hardest part was finding all the ingredients, which thankfully, her store in Berkeley had. I’m not sure I’ll have the same luck when I go to my natural store in the area. Overall, I think the moisturizer is great. However, it’s very, very moisturizing with just a bit being needed for the entire face. It also doubles as a body moisturizer, but I have only used it as such once or twice. For me, the most noticeable part of the moisturizer is how deeply it penetrates. At times, when I use the commercial moisturizers (and I don't get cheap CVS ones), when I wash my face in the morning, if feels like a slight layer of film coming off. It’s as if some part of the moisturizer just protected my face but didn’t sink in. I never have that feeling with Gladstar’s moisturizer and my face is left feeling so soft. The only con I have of this moisturizer is when it gets very hot in our apartment - it turns more oily than solid. But that is to be expected and also happens with my lip balms, so it’s not so negative a point that I would never make it again. Au contraire! I will continue making it and can’t wait to see the effects it will have on my face in the dry, dry winter here.

Secondly, I had a Spa Night with my mother, sister, and sister’s friends. I actually felt quite accomplished as I took over the whole spa portion of it. We did a scrub, steam, mask, and foot bath. It went well. I tried to do recipes that anyone could do at home but it was a lot of food recipes, so I think next time I would definitely have more herbal recipes as well. Herbal recipes have more of an allure to them, even though the food ones work just as well.

Right now I am working on a bruise and sprain compress. I bruise easily, in fact – I bruise so easily that all it takes is crashing into a door and I will bruise. I have always tried to be an elegant woman, but honestly, I’m not. I need to accept that. When I was younger, I believed that when I was older I would turn into a graceful woman that walks around very mysteriously but beautifully, and commands attention and respect with just her presence. Ha, I am probably the opposite. I am not graceful, walk with a slouch (really trying to work on that!) and my presence is bubbly and energetic, rarely silent. Tangent. So with my un-mysterious, un-graceful woman qualities and bruises all over my body, I found a recipe in the Hoffman book for an Arnica compress. It was the only book out of our three that had something and he praises the use of Arnica for bruising and sprains. Arnica is in the same family as sunflowers and is a bright, yellow, happy flower. You make the compress by making a tincture first, and then gradually straining until the liquid is pretty much clear. Taking the liquid (mostly rubbing alcohol + Arnica), you heat it up and place it on your bruise. The tincture takes two weeks to create. I have to leave it in a warm place and shake it daily…this is the process I am in now. Most of the time I have placed it on our window sill to let it soak up the sun, but lately, since it’s been cloudy I have put it back into the bathroom since it’s our warmest room. Gladstar talks about the different qualities of herbs steeping in sunlight vs. moonlight and though I’m not sure I believe that soaking herbs in sunlight produces good, happy energy…it is the warmest place to leave my herbs while I’m out. So this is my new project of the moment. I will be interested to see if it speeds up the process of healing my bruises. Right now I have a killer, huge bruise from where I was kicked by a horse last week. It doesn’t hurt anymore, but it is very ugly. My wrist has also been hurting for a week or two, leading me to believe I have a slight case of carpel tunnel syndrome. I’m not sure if that’s true, but I’ve changed my computer mouse to my left hand and it has helped. Anyway, we will see how this goes and if it really does help bruises.

Lastly, I finally found the recipes for UTI’s! I was strolling along in Hoffman’s book, reading about the urinary section because my friend has had a really bad problem with UTI’s for the past couple of months. And again, I felt like I had missed something because how could both Gladstar and Hoffman not have a recipe for UTI’s? They are so common and prevalent (or maybe just for me haha). As I am reading through Hoffman’s urinary section, I start reading about Cystitis. And lo and behold…it sounds exactly like a UTI. Off I go to the omniscient internet and Cystitis is a UTI! I was so happy because herbalism hadn’t failed me. I quickly go to Herbal Healing for Women, flip to the index, and there it is! Cystitis! And there, there is a recipe. Gasp. It was under the pregnancy section, which I remember skimming through but not reading in depth. Apparently it’s very common when you’re pregnant. Great. Anyway, I have bought the ingredients for my friend and I’ll have it ready within a week. I will also keep some for myself for when I get one again. I can’t remember the exact herbs that are included in the tea, so I will have to write about that next time.

I still want to try to start making my own tea. I’m so behind on that part of herbalism. I meant to ask Liv questions and learn a bit from her when I was in San Francisco, but I forgot. I even forgot to try some of her homemade teas...bad luck. Ugh. Liv – you should send me some samples of your tea and tell me what’s in them.

Oh, I also read Liv's book Thyme of Death. I love how you put all the references/quotes in this blog. I think it's kind of cool to see how our little herbalism adventure started, after all, with a book that we both read :) I did like the book too! And usually I don't like murder mysteries because they can be very gory, bloody, hacking up body parts, etc...but this was just the right amount of suspense while still letting me sleep at night.

Ok – so that’s my updates on herbs. Stay tuned! If this UTI tea works well, I think my friend will be really, really happy.

Herbal Novel Fun

I recently read a novel, Thyme of Death by Susan Wittig Albert. It was a really fun mystery-type piece with the twist that she had dropped out of practicing law to start her own herbal shop. So there were little herb references throughout the book. I tried to mark the pages whenever I saw an herbal reference and then typed them up for our blog :). Just for fun...

“The herbs she ordered, tincture of Echinacea and goldenseal to treat a cat’s ears mites, and the tincture of marigold and myrrh that she uses to fight her foot fungus.”

“A lot of people ask me why I got out of law and into herbs. I have a stock answer: plants don’t argue. They don’t lie, cheat, connive, or hit below the belt.”

“Dill is wonderful, but it’s terribly invasive. If I let it go to seed, it’s everywhere. I can visualize the whole world, dilled.”

“I cooked the garlic the way I usually do, by putting a couple of cloves into the skillet with the onion I was sautéing. When the onion’s done, I use a fork to mash the cloves. Too many people make the mistake of mincing the garlic first, which makes for burned garlic and a bitter-tasting dish.”

“At nine I propped open the front door of my shop with the stone figure of Haumea, the Hawaiian goddess of wild plants”

“I have high blood pressure and an ulcer… and the garlic helps both… The world’s oldest medical text, the Ebers Papyrus, lists garlic as an ingredient in twenty-two remedies for headache, insect and scorpion bites, menstrual difficulties, worms, tumors, and heart ailments.”

“Healing herbs work gently and reliably, but I hate it when people think they’re a miracle cure. I always try to make them understand that herbs work more slowly than modern medicine’s silver bullets.”

“I tucked a sprig of rosemary behind the pin, for remembrance..." (before a funeral)

“My Hispanic customers buy epazote to flavor their ethnic dishes”

“I climbed into a hot bath laced with sweet almond and lemon grass oil.”

“Valerian smells like a locker room. It should be stored in a tighly lidded container, away from anything that absorbs odor. Away from cats, too. Most cats think it’s even sexier than catnip, and go moderately bananas over it. But valerian is a strong natural sedative, loaded with something called valepotriates that relax muscles, calm nervous energy, and release tension.”

“The sack of valerian… Steep it for five minutes in water that’s just off the boil”

Path to success

I went backpacking in Australia about five years ago. I had taken a gap year between high school and college, worked two jobs, and saved enough money to head over there. I saved money by staying with relatives, but mostly by working on organic farms in exchange for food and accommodation. It was a great experience and I recommend it to everyone.

While in Ballina, a northern New South Wales city, I stayed with an interesting and amazing woman. She often praised the virtues of tea tree oil and took me to a tea tree oil farm where they cultivated the oil naturally. I began a love affair with this oil and took it back with me to the US. Known for its anti-inflammatory and cleansing properties, it’s a great way to deal with a lot of skin problems. I used it most often for acne. When I ran out, I actually couldn’t be bothered to find any more and forgot about it. Now, with this start into herbalism, I bought some tea tree oil and again have started my loving relationship with it. The scent brings back my memories of Australia and the organic, hippy-like area of Ballina that surrounded me for a couple of weeks.

I have most recently used tea tree oil in an infusion for a dry/itchy/flaky scalp. I made some infusion for my husband and for my friend. I was nervous about giving it to my husband because he regards my recent herbal experiments with skepticism. He is the type of person who would rather take a Nyquil to fall asleep than try using Valerian. So I knew that this infusion could either encourage him to take my herbalism more seriously or break what little faith he has in it to begin with. Thankfully (!) he seems to really like it, even though he’s used it only twice. He reports that it has an instant cooling sensation and slight tingling sensation as soon as it hits his scalp.

The infusion mostly consists of apple cider vinegar, rosemary, sage, tea tree oil, and – I feel most importantly – nettle. Mountain Rose Herbs describes nettle as having “been used as a hair and scalp treatment for centuries [and] those uses are being supported by research as well. Nettle leaf extract seems to promote hair regrowth and thicken hair, as well as reducing dandruff and scalp conditions when used as a rinse.” I love finding out about the key herbs that are essential to a recipe. Clearly, this infusion is a mixture of all different herbs but I’m 90% positive that the nettle leaf could be the most important.

Among the other herbs, Rosemary has been used for baldness and Sage relieves itching on the scalp. Fascinating! I love all that I am learning. Rosemary and Sage, two herbs that we associate with cooking actually have external medicinal properties as well. Tea tree oil is often necessary when dealing with skin problems, which is why I think it is in there. Apple cider vinegar helps with hair loss, but also removes the scaly buildup and residue from hair shafts and helps close the cuticle. This is just so fun! I feel like this rinse could really help with my husband’s and friend’s problem and I am most excited to keep up on the progress with both of them.

Now, onto other herbal matters: I have been drinking the black cohosh, but I don’t think I have been doing it regularly enough to notice. I took Liv’s suggestion and put the cohosh in with peppermint tea (thanks so much, Liv, it helps a bunch with the taste!) and have it once a day. :( Definitely not enough and I should be doing it more. I just get nervous because of all the talk that surrounds Black Cohosh as a uterine stimulant.

I have been keeping up with my dry skin sauna and honey mask. Both of which I love. I can’t notice huge benefits with the sauna but I love steams so much that I keep doing it. Before I started this herbalism venture, I would do steams and throw a tea bag in anyway, so might as well keep doing this with herbs that actually have specific properties to help my face. And the honey mask – definitely moisturizing! Except next time I think I will do organic honey, as opposed to processed raw honey which is all I have in the apartment now.

Lastly (and I know this is a long blog post), I was cozy on my couch a couple of weeks ago, slightly sleepy with the help of some Valerian and reading Hoffman’s book. I stumbled upon a section called the “Bach Flower Remedies.” I had never heard of this. The next day, I went and got a massage and there in the therapist’s bookshelf was a book on the Bach Flower Remedies. This was a sign.

I went back home and reread the section on Bach and his flower remedies. It is absolutely fascinating. They are water drops infused with a certain kind of flower that is supposed to help specific moods. You take 4 drops a day, 4 times daily to help with your mood. Anyway, hard to explain but research it online if interested. I took a questionnaire test and my top 3 best for me are: 1) Beech 2) Impatiens and 3) Rock Water.

This sounds hokey pokey and ridiculous, I understand that. BUT I’m also very curious. According to the remedy, Beech will help me to be more tolerant and see the positive in others despite their imperfections, to help see the “good growing within”. Impatiens is to help deal with slow situations/people with good humor rather than impatience or irritability; also for those who are quick in thought and action. Rock water would help me enjoy life's pleasures rather than stick too rigidly to my ideals or personal habits; also the type of people who want to be well, strong, and active and will do anything to obtain that, hoping to be examples to others.

Now, if that doesn’t explain my personality in a nutshell. If interested, I would recommend this questionnaire to figure out what is best for you, as the Bach webpage can be overwhelming and you feel you need so many remedies, you don’t know where to start. So I am definitely interested, just not sure if I will be buying it any time soon. Maybe I’ll start this summer, but I would love to see how this plays out.

Updates and Grocery Lists

So a few updates with my diet/health and the project:

1) I started having yogurt with frozen blueberries, flaxmeal, and slivered almonds for breakfast some mornings instead of only cereal. I sometimes feel like it’s not as filling but I’m glad to have added the flax and blueberries (omegas and anti-oxidants) into my diet and I felt like it was really time to graduate from only cereal. The other breakfast I want to try is brown rice with hard boiled eggs. Both are things I could make in advance and would be filling.

2) I started taking one freeze-dried Nettle capsule a day (every morning). I’m not sure if I can notice a difference yet but I’m excited to see how it goes, especially since Nettle has been reported to improve energy levels too. I’m also still taking fish oil vitamins with lunch and Echinacea sometimes in the morning (Patrick too).

3) I got the Jungle Effect book! I haven’t read much of it yet, but so far I’ve been able to glean: Greece (cold spot for heart disease) = olive oil, Cameroon Africa (cold spot for colon-related illnesses= fiber rich foods (beans, cooked greens, brown rice, sweet potato), Mexico (cold spot for diabetes) = slow-release foods (squash, beans, corn) Japan (cold spot for breast and prostate cancers) = anti-oxidants (brightly colored vegetables), Iceland (cold spot for depression) = waxy potatoes (small red potatoes and yams), and lots of fish. **Jedi Kiri: if you let me know what kind of food you might be interested in or from which location, I would be better able to give you a list of recipes to choose from. I like the book but it reminds me a little of other nutrition books I’ve read where a lot of the information is stuff I already knew or I feel like maybe they are talking down to the reader a bit. BUT, I’m excited about the recipes and I really like the sections where she describes her visits to other countries.

And here is my grocery list for going to the herb store this weekend (!):

• Womanly strength and calming: Lavendar, Chamomile
• Morning tea: Ginseng, Gotu Kola, Golden Seal, Echinacea
• Nighttime tea: Valerian, Skullcap, Chamomile, Peppermint
• Pain/headaches/colds: St. John’s Wort, Willow bark, Ginger, Feverfew

Kiri – Is there anything you thing I should add?

I’m also excited because Patrick mentioned wanting an herb to help with mental stimulation, so I think he is on board to try some Gotu Kola and Ginseng in the mornings with me.

Rescuing Bad-Tasting Tea (hopefully)

Ok, so Jedi Kiri was noticing that her cohosh root tea tastes pretty awful so I decided to try and go back and find some of the tips I had read about in the Herbal Healing for Women book.

1. I noticed that often in Gladstar's book when she's dealing with blue or back cohosh, she makes Tinctures (page 66), BUT they take 6 weeks to make! I'm not sure if that would help the taste at all but I just thought I would mention it. Another preparation (much easier) for cohosh tea is discussed on page 201.

2. Things Gladstar lists as helping to improve taste of certain teas: cinnamon, orange peel, Stevia, licorice root, roasted dandelion root, and lemon balm. As a side note, I've noticed in some of my boxed teas, the ones with a sweet taste have Stevia as an ingredient.

3. Gladstar actually specifically mentions cohosh's unpleasant taste on page 200, she recommends diluting it with peppermint tea!

Also, I really resonated with Gladstar's talk of appreciating our moon cycles and reproductive organs. A few months ago I bought a few books which discuss menstruation in different cultures and historically - I really wanted to find examples of moon cycles being celebrated and empowering. I believe there is a better way to appreciate our reproductive cycles without the shame, annoyance and embarrassment that is generally associated with them in modern Western society. But, I'm still struggling with it personally.

On page 108, Gladstar talks about wombs as having a greater purpose than just childbirth - as our "centers" which give us power. I really liked that and had never thought about that part of my body as having much relevance to my life until I want to have kids. It felt eye-opening to think of this part of myself as new and powerful regardless of pregnancy status. It's a part of myself and womanhood I want to explore more...

p.s. Kiri - What are you exploring with cohosh? Just wondering :) good luck and I hope this helps!

Waiting

I'm waiting for a lot of my herbs to come in. I ordered the harder-to-find herbs online and now I'm playing the waiting game. I ordered a little too late though. I got my wonderful monthlies today and I am cramping with no herbs to try out. Grrrr.

Speaking of monthlies...I really have been trying to embrace it more. While reading Herbal Healing, Gladstar sings praises to our monthlies (I am not even at the point where I can say the p-word numerous times in one blog) telling us women to welcome it and look at it as a time of rejuvenation. She writes how this is a time to shed ourselves and come into a fresh new month. Or maybe I just made that up but that is the gist of it. I am trying very hard to have that mentality but it's not quite working right now. I agree with her point that it should not be something that is shunned by society, but I can't quite come to the point of celebration over it. I like my monthlies for one reason: it means I'm not pregnant. And eventually - I will hate it for that reason, I'm sure. But I don't know how to get around the mentality that I have that it is a good for nothing mess.


However, I must report that I absolutely love Valerian. I have some night sleepytime tea that already has Valerian in it, and I decided to add a little extra Valerian (about 1/4 teaspoon) just to see what happens. I could barely keep my eyes open past 11:00 at night - on a Friday night! It was a struggle to stay awake. I have always been affected by any kind of drowsy medication. Nyquil knocks me off into the deepest sleep and now Valerian is bringing on the drooping eyelids. In fact, when I was younger, I would sleep talk and sleep walk when I was in deep sleeps. Lo and behold, my husband told me that I was talking to him in my sleep on Friday night. So, for now, much success with Valerian and I am planning on taking some tonight, as I'm trying to stay away from advil with this experiment.


Further updates on honey mask: I did the honey mask last week again. I made sure not to have self tanner on. But what I did following the mask was a bad mistake: I applied self tanner to my face after. What was I thinking? It's essentially like pouring dirt into your open pores. My face completely broke out. When I say broke out...think embarrassing middle school years. I refuse to believe it was the honey because I had such a good result last time. I am having so much trouble balancing self tanner and the herbal remedies for my face, so I have taken a break from the self tanner for a week. But I haven't done anything else yet either because of the horrible breakout.

But, good news, my husband wants me to try to make a rinse for dry scalps and I also have another friend who is interested. This is great and I will definitely have to have them keep me posted. I'm not sure my husband will be the best guinea pig as he usually doesn't have the patience, but I will keep checking on him. It involves apple cider vinegar, that's all I really remember...but there is also the fact of rinsing your hair for 2 minutes that might lead to some impatience on his part too.

Hopefully I will have a much more detailed post later as I will have more of my herbs and essential oils to play with! This was just an impatient rambling post.

The infancy of herbal healing - the world is a big candy store

I spent a really great day off last week making a few herbal body treatments. I made the cucumber/instant milk eye mask, a ground oatmeal/instant milk face and neck mask, and a body scrub made with brown and white sugar, vanilla, coconut oil, and a variety of spices. I was most excited to have all of the ingredients in my apartment (I had gone shopping for them in previous weeks). Taking the ingredients out of my herbal box reminded me of all of the books I’ve read where women healers go into their cupboards or medicinal chests of herbs and take out various bottles/potions! It was funny because while I was first making the scrub, I found myself thinking, “All of this sugar that is sort of wasted”. And then I realized how excited I was that I was going to be using the sugar scrub over a couple months and really enjoying it! It actually felt like making a present for myself kind of. I was really proud of the scrub when I was done (I put it in a clear spaghetti jar which I had washed).

So, I put on my cucumber eye mask and oatmeal face and neck mask and laid down and listened to one of my guided meditations. It was really nice to feel like I was actually spending time doing something just for my body and mind. I also had a mini-aha-moment. The meditation talks about recognizing traits you admire in others and I had always thought I needed to work on my confidence but I realized that I actually admire conviction in a lot of my friends/family/mentors. So, it felt like a big shift acknowledging that I don’t think I give my own opinions or thoughts (mostly in terms of school/work) enough credit in my mind. I haven’t started to work on this yet much but I felt relieved just recognizing and finally identifying what it was…

And the masks and scrub were great. The oatmeal mask made my cheeks really soft (however, I have a few zits right now and I’m a bit suspicious of my oatmeal/instant milk mask…) and the sugar scrub was super oily and smelled really good (probably would only use it once a week or so since it was so moisturizing - the coconut oil is super thick and was even hard to wash off of the tools I used to mix it with). I still think I need more time to see if the cucumber eye mask has an effect, but it is refreshing.

In terms of the books, I’m sending a lot of time reading the Herbal Healing for Women book right now and I really like how she explains thoroughly how to brew different herbal teas etc (page 46).

Which brings me to where I want to go next with herbal healing. I have been writing down ingredients from my teas and looking up what different properties they have. So now I think I want to try and make my own herbal night-time and morning teas. I still have more research to do but I think I would really enjoy that. I think it will be easier to make the night-time tea because I’ve seen a lot of information about sedative/relaxing, relief from nervous tension/anxiety herbs. For the morning tea though, I would really like to find a couple mood-lifting/energizing teas if they exist. So far for the night-time tea, I think I would include Chamomile, Valerian root, Skullcap, and St. john’s wort.

To Jedi Kiri: I have not ordered the jungle effect book and I can’t believe I forgot! Ordering it right now and will absolutely keep you posted on what I learn. I read in one of the reviews that there are only about 14 recipes and I will of course scan them to you. I have high hopes to learn a lot from that book so we will see. Also, I asked my mom to send me a book on mythology (another topic – like piano – that I wish I knew more about so I’m going to read that as well). And I’m ordering a keyboard this week!

Jedi Kiri also sent me a website where you can order herbs and it felt like I had stumbled my way into an online candy store! I am so excited to order things but I also want to find a place locally. I was thinking that I would only be able to find a store in San Francisco but I did a search on Yelp and found out there is an herbal store in Berkeley with pretty good reviews! I am definitely going as soon as I feel like I have done some more research and know what I want (hopefully this weekend).

So here are my current goals: 1) Research and create my own morning and night-time teas 2) implement conviction somehow in my life (possibly through meditation or just more awareness?) 3) Read the Jungle effect book and mythology book and piano training 4) Continue with the body brushing-oil/lotion routine, eye mask once a week and sugar scrub once a week

I love honey and I'm a Pooh bear...

So I tried out a honey mask on Sunday night. The honey mask appealed to me because of its “deeply hydrating” qualities. Lord knows I need it this winter, especially with these mounds of snow that keeps getting bigger each week as another snowstorm decides to diarrhea on us. This snow needs to stop. But I digress. Cold weather in New England = dry = wrinkles on my face show up more.

The recipe is really straight forward. Honey. On face. Woo, I love recipes like this: simple and inexpensive. It wasn’t as runny on my face as the author made it out to be. At the end of 15 minutes, Troules recommends patting your face with your fingertips like you are playing the piano. I tried it and it hurts. It felt like sharp little stings. So that only prevailed for about 20 seconds before I wiped all the honey off my face. It comes off surprisingly easy for which I was grateful.

The most noticeable after effect was that all my self-tanner was completely stripped from my face. So there I am – looking at my pale white face, while my neck and shoulders are still a nice golden brown. Woops, I didn’t even think that could possibly happen. Second effect was the way the area around my eyes felt like liquid. I know that’s a weird way to explain it, but they felt so filled in.

Those were the immediate effects but I haven’t noticed any huge changes two days later. My face felt pretty smooth for all of yesterday, though. I’m hoping to continue with this for a couple of weeks and at least see where it leads. I don’t believe one try is enough for a successful analysis.

I’ve only tried this one recipe so far because I don’t have any ingredients for the other recipes. I'm on the last leg of my research, I believe…slowly working through Herbal Healing for Women. I have a lot of recipes I want to try from the other two books, but Herbal Healing has so much good info in it that I really want to take my time in reading it thoroughly. Once all the books are read, and all ingredients recorded, I will venture out into the unknown world of finding herbs.

As for my nutrition – I have started to have a cup of fruit along with yogurt as my morning snack! I am trying to be healthier, one step at a time and I think this is a good way to start. No huge bodily changes yet but we’ll see. Speaking of food, Liv – did you get the recipe book that was on your list? If so, send me some recipes via photocopying or scanning! I’d love to try some.

I would love to support local herbal stores and learn where I can buy common herbs without having to go online. But that in itself is a whole project to undertake. Thank goodness for Yelp, it has helped me to have a starting point where I can at least wander the Boston area and look at possible stores. I’m crossing my fingers that somewhere in my quest I will find one good store that I can rely on. You would think that Boston would have tons of options, but it’s really harder than I thought. I hope to start this weekend by exploring some stores, if we don’t get slammed with another snowstorm (yes, there is another one slated for this weekend grr). And perhaps (this may be getting my hopes up too much though) meeting people on the way who can help me and share a common affiliation.


Speaking of people sharing common interests: I am still debating if I want to join the 10th International Herb Symposium in June. http://www.internationalherbsymposium.com/ It’s hosted/directed by Rosemary Gladstar, who will also lead some discussions, and David Hoffman will be there speaking too. Exciting! Located in Massachusetts, I would be able to get to it within an hour and not pay full price – only pay for meals, a total of $75. Great price since I live close by, but I would also have to pay for some materials if I want to join classes that are very hands-on. I’m truly debating this. It looks like a good conference with many classes/workshops for beginners. I think I will see how this goes and if I have learned enough and invested enough by April or May, perhaps then I can join up. I hope there’s no limit on how many people can join the conference. It seems like a good place to start, but also nervous because I’m not sure I want to go by myself. So this I’m also debating as we continue this project.

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got" - Tourles Organic Body Care

I think people (read: I) spend a lot of time and energy thinking about ways in which they could improve – become better people (thinner, healthier, happier, more successful, a better spouse, partner or friend). I think when we don’t put any energy towards these goals, we start to brood on them, feel discouraged, and beat ourselves up. In the last two-three years, I’ve been starting to really try and face some of the things/attributes that I admire but have been afraid to attain for myself. I started running (when I started, I used to tell people, “I jogged” because I was scared of owning the word – runner), and I’ve run two half-marathons since which were really important to me in that they represented me facing something I admired and was frightened of and realizing I could do it and taken one step at a time, it wasn’t as hard/intimidating as I had built it up to be.

I took the initiative to decorate our apartment in CA when we moved, I tore up many magazines, kept a journal of things I saw and liked, asked friends/relatives for advice and really put a lot of work into our home. I had always thought decorating was artistic and there is still more I want to explore in that area but I really enjoyed the creative, thought-buzzing, idea-generating nature of moving/decorating and I was proud of giving it a real shot.

I started cooking, slowly. My boyfriend, Patrick, and I started small with easy meals (burritos, stir fry) and eventually after my sister-in-law told me, “If you really want to learn how to cook, like really learn about the process and science of cooking, read Cooks Illustrated). I bought a Cooks Illustrated magazine and after staring at it intimidated for about three months, I began baking and cooking recipes from it. Now I have a lot of those magazines and while I still don’t attempt some of the really involved recipes, I cook/bake about 2-3 times a week something from those magazines. I’m a devoted follower of those writers, they know their stuff..

Currently, I am trying to re-learn the piano (something I quit when I was little and always sort of wished I hadn’t) and starting this project with Jedi Kiri. When I was little, almost every game I would play involved magic or potions of some sort. I couldn’t get enough. In high school I think I redirected some of that energy to learning about nutrition. I loved the idea that certain foods, vitamins, etc could change how you look, feel, and act. Finally, Jedi Kiri and I are going to really delve into the specifics of what ingredients, properties, and combinations have healing effects and why. I’m excited to put real knowledge behind this interest. I’m also excited to explore the maternal, feminine aspects of healing and herbal medicine. I think women have an incredible sense for health and well-being in themselves and those around them. I think it is something that has been fine-tuned for thousands of years and I’ve always wanted to know more about it and try and understand elements of it.

Things I want to work on: * I want to have more energy during the day. I’ve tried to cut out drinking during the week and started taking fish oil vitamins. I also started working out (running, and alternating between some of these: weights, leg exercises, sit-ups, and yoga-type stretching) with Patrick 1 -2 mornings a week which really makes me feel better during the day and about 2 more times on my own normally in the afternoon or on the weekend. * I want to focus on gratitude and self-esteem, something I think I can exercise with meditation and relaxation techniques. I read a Dr. Phil quote once (I know cheesy) that talked about how when we have our own ‘reservoirs of self-esteem’, getting cut off in traffic, or offended by someone is easier to brush off because we know that we are good people with admirable qualities and instead we can feel sympathy for the person who may have otherwise angered us. * I want to have more stable moods, especially around my period. I think different teas have the potential to help as well as the fish oil vitamins. Also, drinking less alcohol and finding different drinks/juice/tea that I like and can replace as a treat. * And finally, I want to feel confident in my knowledge of herbal medicine and its connection to feminine elements and feel like I have something legitimate that I understand and have spent time learning.

So far, I have gotten a few ingredients and am using a large, nice boot box to hold them. I have powdered milk, ground oatmeal, coconut oil, and Echinacea. I first tried the avocado/buttermilk hair mask which was hugely messy but really fun and I learned about specific avocado vitamins and protective properties. I felt like my hair looked more “baby-soft” and stronger following the mask. I also made an eye mask with chilled, grated cucumber and powdered milk which was also pretty neat. It almost had a slight sting while it was on which I think was the “tightening-effect” and possible exfoliating off dead skin. It says to use 1 -2 times a week and I have a feeling that if I did this for a month I would really see a difference, so I’m going to try and keep it up. I want to follow the meditation guide on page 68 of the Holistic Herbal book by Hoffman, a body polish, and some of relaxing or better-sleep teas/other recipes with Jedi Kiri. I really want to try a decongestant steam, but I feel like some of the recipes have a lot of ingredients and I haven't yet found a grocery which carries the right essential oils.

Overall, I’m really excited about this blog/project and I find it motivating to have Kiri who is also interested in this topic and with whom I can compare notes, observations, effective treatments etc. Tonight at the grocery I’m going to get some pumpkin and sunflower seeds (which have zinc, iron, and omegas 3 and 6 in them) for snacking, a body brush, and some body oil to put as an under-layer to moisturizer (which Kiri is also doing!). Next step, picking a recipe we both want to try and finding some of these ingredients!

Beginning

This is the first time I wrote a blog title that actually felt very fitting and I wasn't struggling to figure out an apt title. Because, really, this is the beginning of a hopefully successful endeavor where Liv 4 Potions and I actually become semi-ok herbalists. Or, as we like to call ourselves: Healers.

Sometimes the beginning is always the hardest part. And if I feel like it’s hard now, I have no idea what I’ll feel when I actually start trying to attempt difficult recipes. My problem is that I just don’t even know where to start. We ordered three books: Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar, Organic Body Care Recipes by Stephanie Tourles, and Holistic Herbal by David Hoffman. So far I have only received two – Holistic Herbal and Organic Body Care.

Organic Body Care is definitely fun and I’m excited to try our recipes that are purely aesthetic. I feel like recipes for the body will yield results in a way we can see. With consistency, they are easier to track differences because of the basic ability to touch and look at our skin, hair, nails, etc.

At first I was intimidated by Holistic Herbal as it reminded me of a college textbook (which I have been trying so hard to avoid since graduating in May). There is a wealth of information in this book, more so than I expected when just reading up on the book online. But after getting over my initial hesitancy, I saw that there was so much history and background to the text that is not available in Organic Body Care. I feel I will read and reference this book before making any recipe as it will provide a solid background to why an herb(s) will provide results I want.

I am excited for the third book by Rosemary Gladstar because as I continue researching herbs, healing and herbalists online, she seems like a pioneer in the herbalist movement. Plus, being a woman makes me all the more eager to read up on herbs and specific problems for women that are probably more pinpointed than other standard herbalist books.

So, after this brief introduction (in which Liv might have taken a completely different course), I have decided to first begin with my health as it is now and areas where I want to improve. I also realized that I will probably have to start being more aware of what I eat and what I do during the days coming to decide if any of the herbs actually have an effect. If a recipe doesn’t work, is it because I ate something different recently, did not exercise during the week, etc?

My Health:
• Nutrition: I eat ok. Generally eat meat and salad for dinner, plus cold cuts in my sandwiches, and bagel with cream cheese everyday for breakfast. Weekends I deviate slightly with a more elaborate meal and breakfast. Overall, I could eat healthier and should be trying to. I try to keep my alcohol drinking to the weekends. I will drink beer if out with my husband, but wine at home. I rarely get full out drunk often, but I still do occasionally.

• Eyesight: Not great, but not terribly poor either. I feel more comfortable driving with glasses, but can do without.

• Hearing: Ah, well. I am practically completely deaf in one ear, which leads to quite a few socially awkward situations and many misunderstandings between my husband and I. I used to be able to hear fine, but freshman year of college I lost my hearing in the left ear (known as Sudden Hearing Loss, which happens with no apparent reason other than you are unlucky) and it was accompanied by extremely loud tinnitus (buzzing or ringing in the ear). When I say the tinnitus is loud, I mean it is annoying, frustrating, and never ceasing. Thankfully, my personality only lends itself to a day or two of sulking, so I was back on my feet in no time. It also helps me sleep, surprisingly. Not sure how I handle it because when I actually think about it, like now, it is so loud that I am not surprised that many people go into depression.

• Body: I am on the thinner side, but not so much so that I look unhealthy. I am very angular looking. I am starting to get wrinkles on my face and a little cellulite on my legs (eek bad thoughts), but overall I still look my age. Acne on my face occasionally, but generally it’s clear.

• Vitamins: Fish oil, vitamin C, Echinacea, calcium, vitamin D - 5x a week.

• Prescriptions: Nuva Ring – birth control.

• Disposition: I am a very, very energetic person. Also a morning person. Very Type A personality and I am uber organized, scheduled, and punctual. I do not have a good balance in my personality – I am an extremity, basically. It is hard for me to relax without a schedule…actually it’s hard for me to relax in general.

• Exercise: I tend to exercise often, mostly at the gym. I used to run, but since knee surgery, not so much anymore. I do weight training, elliptical, zumba, cardio kickboxing and yoga. It sounds like a lot, but it’s not. Yoga is the only thing I try to do every day, but even that falls to the wayside at times.

So knowing all this, I decided to begin by focusing on things I am most concerned about. Mainly my hearing and tinnitus, cellulite, clear face, stress levels/trying to relax, and woman issues (I get horrible cramps during my monthly friend). This will be my starting point for what recipes I will begin with.

Now, the next challenge: where do I get/find all these ingredients and which recipes will I actually use?