Herb Journal: Red Root

The tincture of red root is a really groovy shade of red.It is a pretty dark red, separates it from the masses in this sense. I actually like the way it tastes, it is one of the less bitter root tinctures I've had, it is kind of smooth, a bit woody, a slight tinge of aftertaste that makes you salivate a bit. It feels grounding, calming, cooling. My breathing is becoming more fluid, and my fears less real. As I have been, today in particular in something of a meloncholic funk, it is really cool for me that I am taking this herb today, as it says it is especially helpful for people with a melancholy constitution, who are in an (artistic) funk. I wouldn't say my funk is particularly artistic, but i guess its all in the way you look at it. If the chaos of life is artistic, then let's just go with it. Being a lymphatic, this is also a good tincture for me today, especially considering how much I drank last night.. not that it was so incredibly much, but too much for me, especially considering I just wanted a beer or two, and was intending to stop drinking in general more or less, except for on occasion. Well, that flew out the window, so did my productivity and sense of purpose. That might seem a little extreme, but it just is that way for this particular situation (call it a funk). Let it cleanse the toxins: I can use it, right now. It's good to know that this herb is recommended for people under acute stress. It seems strengthening. I can see that it could be a good companion during times when life gets overwhelming. I also noticed that it is good for pelvic congestion, and can be a companion to Ocotillo when things get a bit murky down there. 

Herb Journal: Skullcap

I've never much been a fan of skullcap, but I have to wonder how much of it has to do with it's name. For example if motherwort and skullcap had the names reversed, perhaps I would feel differently about each one. I'm not sure, could be something psychological.. since the name skullcap just gives me the heebie jeebs. Like, what in the world, skulls are, well I although we all have them while we are alive, but most of the time when you hear the word mentioned, it has to do with some program where they are doing autopsies, archeological digs, or solving crimes like on Bones. It makes me think "death" and herbs to me, are about living. I really do have to wonder. But, on the otherhand, here are the facts: Skullcap just gives me a headache. Every. Single. Time. It makes me feel dizzy and disoriented, which amps up my heart rate, and does the opposite of what it is supposed to; calm, soothe, alleviate headaches, even being used for acute nervous conditions for it's calming actions, I don't know. I'm trying to give it another chance. Maybe I'll just call it something else, like "happy green stuff" and I'll make it something less scary and then give it a fair shot. Initially, I have to say, the taste reminds me a lot of alfalfa, which makes sense since it is high in many of the same vitamins & minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium). I should specify, it tastes a lot like alfalfa, which is basically what horses eat, and the flavor is.. grass. Grass tea. Drinking fields of grass. Not my fav, but not the worst.. however close to it. Those grassy herbs that are super high in calcium do seem to make my stomach hurt, sort of like the way wheatgrass does. Just throws it off a bit, making me sort of nauseous. I want to like skullcap, but I also want to give it another name. I had a few sips of the tea, made a strong infusion, and I am feeling kind of more mellow than before. Somehow I'm more aware of my jaw, which is clenched, and this has happened to me before, drinking skullcap and feelling my jaw being clenched. Supposedly good for all of these things like anxiety, depression, insomnia, worry, cooling down hot emotions such as anger, jealousy, hatred, irritability, as a pain reliever for headaches, relieving nervous exhaustion, muscle spasms, twitching, tremors, calming the spirit and the mind.. and all it does for me, as much as I want to say its not true, is just give me a stomach ache and make my head spin. Well, not every herb is for everybody. I'm just gonna leave this one alone, and not that I would have a problem recommending it to anyone else. I think it is just too cooling, and too drying for me. It doesn't make me smile.. but then again valerian keeps me up all night. Different strokes for different folks. 

Herb Journal: Willow Bark

The overwhelming thing that I noticed about Willow Bark, before I even tried it, was the floral, aroma,tic scent of the tincture. Wow, I can't remember the last time a tincture had a smell that I remembered fondly. The taste of the Willow Bark tincture in water is quite the same, pleasurable, sweet, even kind of syrupy. I didn't want to put too much of the tincture into the water, since if the smell was so powerful, I could assume that so was the medicine. Plus, i know that Willow is best known for it's pain-killing qualities, if it is potent, well then I won't need to much of it. Every time I tip the cup up to my mouth, the smell just melts me. It tastes like violets, or some sort of purple flower.. it tastes the way they smell. I'm a bit intoxicated with this tincture right now, and I can say.. it is so .. nice.. to take. What a pleasure. I don't find it bitter, drying or astringent, just floral and delicious. Willow bark is known, much like Meadowsweet, for its analgesic effects, an herbal aspirin, as some might say.. I have been using it successfully, for some time, in salves for arthritis, sprains & strains. It is very effective, and pretty miraculous, how the bark of a tree can do such wonders. It also helps with genito-urinary irritation, general over-excitability in many of its manifestations, diminishes irritation both on a physical and mental/emotional plane. It helps with ovarian pain, gonorrhea, indigestion, mental irritation/bitterness, headache and much more. This is a great herb, I love it, and am so glad to have it as something that I can use in my natural medicine making vocabulary.

Herb Journal: St John's Wort

St John's Wort is another tincture that actually tastes kind of pleasant to me. It feels warming to my chest, is the first sensation that I have after taking almost a full dropper-full in water. My mouth started tingling a bit. Then I took a deep breath, the kind that you take when you have been forgetting to breathe for a while, maybe even a lifetime. I tend to hold my breath when I am stressed, or when my mind is fixated on something. Holding my breath is something I just started to do maybe ... well, less than a decade ago, I had never done that before, perhaps because in that phase of my life, there were a lot of times when I felt baffled. My biggest opponent is confusion. I HATE to be confused. So when things around me are happening that I cannot psychoanalyze or understand whatsoever, and the same applies to people's behavior, it drives me berzerk. And I tend to hold my breath. Something about feeling like "I just don't get it, please tell me what the heck is going on" and holding my breath became a habit, and I still have that going on, unfortunately. But I just noticed that I started breathing. St. Johns Wort, did you give me the power to begin breathing again? I never liked St. John's Wort, but for no reason, other than I hate things that are mass marketed that are supposed to cure people of this or that. St. John's Wort was so overhyped. And what happened to those people for whom St. John's Wort did not help? Should they just go kill themselves or what? But you know what, that's not the herb's fault. It's those dumb marketing people. As we know, different herbs affect everyone in different ways.. it too frustrating to watch everyone and their mother go out and buy any one herb thinking it is the only one, the thing that will help them.. and when it doesn't? So I kind of kicked it to the curb. Also, its not really that great to admit you are depressed. And that's the other thing.. is that all St. John's Wort is good for? Must you be suffering from depression to take it? If you are taking it and it is benefiting you does that mean you are depressed? As you can see, I dont like it when things are put into containers or boxes and are said to have a blanket effect. It gives people false hope, and it makes St. John's Wort, the depression drug. The prozac of the herbal world. It is that, it could be that, but so many other things as well. Who knew that this herb was good for wounds, muscle aches, skin conditions, is also anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, good for respiratory conditions, anemia, weakness, uterine cramping & menstrual disorders, swollen breasts, deep wounds (to heal from the inside out), burns, ulcers, skin tags... and is also a nervine (nerve tonic)? Aside from treating SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and other forms of depression, it is for nervous anxiety, hysteria, and insomnia. So even if you aren't depressed, but you do have chronic anxiety (for which you would only know about kava kava according to those mass marketers...) St John's Wort combined with Kava Kava or other calming sedative herbs (milky oats, passionflower, motherwort, etc) would be a great remedy to keep your cool when emotions are running high. 

Herb Journal: Milky Oats/ Oatstraw

I made a tea of oatstraw once, and read all of the properties that it described, and it was a disappointment. Although I thought that it seemed mineral rich, I didn't feel relaxed, or any of the calming and sedating sort of effects that I had anticipated, based on it's description of something that aids adrenal burnout and people who are stressed out due to just running on fumes for a while. I knew that something must have been wrong, and that's when I realized, it wasn't oatstraw, but milky oats that had that strong effect. The oatstraw to me, seemed nutritive, but didn't do anything to my mind.. then we went on the camping trip and Amber started talking about milky oats. Ahhhh, light bulb. The milky top of the oats are the potent medicine, the oatstraw.. eh.. not so much (at least in my opinion). The tincture of milky oats is actually pretty tasty, it is sweet, tangy and seems sort of.. well, nourishing as well. But nourishing to the soul. I can't say that there are a large amount of tinctures that taste good to me, so I'm happy to say that this is one of them. How nice! I can drink it, and not make a squinty face. After drinking a few cups of water with 3/4 dropper full of tincture, I started to feel a bit spacey. Started to feel also grounded, and more focused on myself. When you put your energy into looking outwards, and you are so busy observing and reacting to people and their stupidity (just something that occurred today), it takes all of you.. you will just go from one outrage to another. Wouldn't it be great to have sane people around you all the time, people who make you feel more calm and secure, than people who throw off your sense of what's what with their own ridiculous perceptions and hyperactive intolerances and projections. Wow, I need new friends. Or to stop wasting my time with ones who make me seethe and foam at the mouth. It's very hard to stay focused when other people are making you panic. Then you realize, it's not what you actually think, but what they are saying is frightening, and it takes your sense of what is real along with it. How do you build those walls, those protective layers ... so that idiotic people do not shift your sense of calm and well being with their hysteria, or distorted views of you..? Seems I have gone into a somewhat reflective state, and I feel like the milky oats certainly took it down enough. I am feeling somewhat like this is not just a sedative, but a narcotic. Wow, I'm feeling mellllooooooooow. Nice plant! Let's all just chill and sing a hare krishna mantra.

Herb Journal: Oregon Grape Root

Mild, compared to a lot of root teas. Tastes like earth and all of that, well, understandably, it is a root. I have to say, I love roots. I love bark, they are so grounding. Such intense and beautiful medicine, something that gave life to a plant, that was rooted in the earth, we are so lucky to have these beautiful things at our disposal. This tea is not yummy, nor offensive. Its just.. okay. But nevertheless, understanding its enormous power, it demands so much respect. Since Goldenseal is becoming endangered due to overharvesting, I'm glad we have a local plant that offers similar medicinal properties. The tea is sort of yellow-ish brown and very mild. It is a little bitter, and for that reason, I think i'd rather take it as a tincture if I were to be using it in great quantities. It had a head-clearing effect on me, which stands to reason, as one of the things that it is indicated for is headaches. Specifically headaches starting at the occiput and sreading over the right side of the head to the eyes, which is similar to the one I had, sort of, on one side, much like a stress/tension headache or a migraine but less intense. I love Oregon Grape Root for it's potent anti-bacterial, anti-microbial/anti-viral properties, great for acute infections but as well to keep your immune system strong (immuno-modulating) and to bring your body back into balance (alterative). 

Herb Journal: Burdock Root

Burdock Root tea is certainly not the most delicious, but it is extremely fortifying. In fact, it is not a bad tasting tea, compared to several others, it is warming, and somewhat spicy. It feels grounding. Although burdock root is known to be cooling in action, it feels warming to me, but perhaps because I am simply cold right now, and I am drinking the warm tea. It feels protective and comforting, like a really warm blanket that shuts out the cold on a desperately freezing cold night. It is a forceful detoxifier, and reduces heat, dampness and inflammation, and since I tend to run hot, this is a great herb for me. I haven't been drinking it much over the course of this class, but I'm kind of scratching my head wondering why. I'm loving it right now, thinking this is something I can, and probably should drink every day. It is one of the top alkalizing herbs written about in books on how to alkalize your system. This is something I have been working on, and it's not a bad idea to take this daily for that reason as well. It helps symptoms stemming from chronic anxiety, that's a pretty big reason for me to give it a chance as well.. since things have been making me pretty anxious these days, and I feel that it has been and still is compromising my immune system. The fact that it is known to detoxify the body of poisons is another reason to take it regularly. The toxins we are exposed to these days are so exponential. I feel stronger and determined after drinking it, and my body just feels more present. Glad to revisit burdock, I'm going to make it a part of my routine in the future for sure. Well, in the future, meaning, starting now. Think I'll finish this cup, which I can't always. Anytime I want to finish a cup of tea we are giving as the herb of the week, it is a big thing for me, it tells me.. these are the teas that I need, me in particular, to add to my regimen.. at least for now, unless my body gets to a point where it no longer wants or needs it. Thank you Burdock, for reminding me of how special you are. I don't know if its too late, but if not I may go back to the last place we went for a hike, and try to harvest some.