Winter Herbal Care

Caring for ourselves and our families through

Winter

As the wheel once again turns to the coldest and darkest time for those of us in the northern hemisphere, we can benefit from attuning ourselves to the cycles of the Earth. We are naturally urged to slow down, rest more, and turn within. While this can be quite challenging with busy lifestyles as well as the swirl of holiday merriment and stress as the season begins, there are approaches we can take to ensure our optimal health, help prevent sickness, and tend to it with care when it does occur.

ò In winter, we bring the warmth and light inside – into our homes and into our bodies. Fires in the hearth and candles can help nurture our need for this light. Likewise, warming foods and herbs, along with loving relationships and simple creative endeavors such as cooking, crafts, storytelling and writing can help keep the fires within alive.

ò Our bodies may need more water as well as essential fatty acids such as in flax and fish oils, which may also help temper wintertime blues.

ò We need to keep our bodies moving everyday. Getting out into the sunshine, walking, playing in the snow, and dancing or yoga indoors.

Foods

Nourishing marrow soups and homemade veggie broth, mineral-rich roots such as beets, carrots, parsnips, and rutabagas, dark leafy greens, and whole grains are all wonderful. This is an excellent time for trying new recipes and foods. Keeping it colorful and varied helps ensure a variety of nutrients. Including warming spices to foods is an ideal way to include herbs in our wintertime ways. Adding even very small amounts of sea vegetables, astragalus (in soups), or shitake mushrooms also makes an immune medicine.


Wintertime Herbs

These plant medicines and spices can be used in cooking, in teas or tinctures, either as simples (by themselves) or in blends. Among the abundance of useful plants for this time:

Warming Herbs - Cayenne, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cardamon, Garlic, Rosemary, Sage

Nervines – these calm, soothe, and may help enliven the heart: Oats, Lemon Balm, Chamomile, Nettles, Motherwort, Linden flowers

Immunomodulators and Adaptogens – These help build our overall resistance to disease preventatively, as well as aid our bodies ability to adapt to stress: Reishi (probably best in capsule form) & Astragalus are my two favorites for this time of year. There is no herb to substitute fundamental self-care with proper rest and nutrition however.

Colds & Flu

Increased rest, soups, staying warm, beginning herbal treatment in early stages if possible, and staying consistent with dosages are fundamental in herbal treatment of wintertime sickness. Indicated herbs do vary depending on the person being treated and characteristics of symptoms. Often combined each other and with peppermint or ginger in a tea, some general suggestions include:

ò Elderberry - flowers and berries traditionally used for colds and flu. Sambucus is great for kids, especially as a syrup, yet also useful for adults. Tea: one cup boiling water poured over 2 tsp. flowers, infused 10 minutes or 2 to 4 ml of tincture, three times per day. Safe in pregnancy.

ò Yarrow - used in acute stage of colds and flu, this antimicrobial herb is also known to help keep infection from reaching the lungs. Use 2-4 grams of yarrow in tea or 2-4 ml of tincture, three times per day. Not in pregnancy.

ò Boneset – A favorite for bringing down fevers and dealing with aches and congestion in colds and flu. Tea: 1-2 tsp steeped in covered container 15 minutes, three times per day up to every hour. “Bitter as all get out” explained Appalachian herbalist Tommy Bass, yet for the hardy, there’s nothing like it to bring down a fever. Not for use in pregnancy.

Expectorants- these include: mullein leaf or marshmallow root for a dry cough; thyme tea or tincture, or eucalyptus leaves as a tea and steam for a wet mucus- rich cough.

Suggested Books for more information:

The Family Herbal and Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar. This remarkable herbalist shares valuable traditional knowledge for addressing a wide range of health issues as well as simply enhancing well-being.

Naturally Healthy Babies & Children by Aviva Jill Romm. This is a commonsense guide to herbal remedies and nutrition for young ones

Medical Herbalism by David Hoffmann. A hardy text full of applicable information for the more serious student. the less serious and more economical herbalist might try his Holistic Herbal.