Nourishing Sleepwell Herbal Tea

Technically a tisane, this simple aromatic blend of two adaptogenic leaves and one soporific flower is both nourishing and might even help with sleep!

In a fine mesh strainer, combine 

1T. Holy Basil vana

1T. Holy Basil krishna

1T. English lavender flowers

Place strainer in a warmed teapot and fill the pot with boiling filtered water.  Let steep 5-8 minutes.  Remove strainer, pour tisane into a warmed teacup.  Inhale the aromatic steam and enjoy this nighttime beverage.

An herb for every pot

I love my herbs.... I really do.  They are a comfort.  I came into herbalism like many others, through my mom.  She had one book on medical herbalism and a daughter who was very prone to upper respiratory infections.  We used peppermint tea for tummyaches, ginger for nausea, and celery seed tea (yuck!) for chest colds.  So, it wasn't a big surprise that I grew up to study herbs and use them for my family.  My first training, at home, was folk-traditional, I have added to that evidence-based formal studies.

Here is a peek into my herb closet:

These beautiful and often fragrant dried plants are used in our home for healing oils and salves, flavorful meals, tea, medicine, and more.

Tonight, as we prepare to rest, a fragrant cup of herbal tea is a welcome friend.

Three Pillars of Health: Eat Right

It can be really hard to eat right, especially when there are so many opinions on what "eating right" means!

The first step is to stop eating wrong.  Make a list of those things you know are in your current diet which are hindering your health and work to eliminate them.

Example:

Breakfast cereal

Fast food lunch

TV dinners

Carbonated beverages

Candy

Processed snack foods

White bread

Choose one and work to change your habit.  Let's take carbonated beverages.  Say you drink a soda every day with your lunch.  For the first few days, swap your soda out and replace it with fruit juice mixed with seltzer water.  Then swap the seltzer water for probiotic-rich water kefir, eventually lowering the amount of fruit juice with the goal of eliminatin the juice entirely.  Just this one change can make a big impact on your health!  

What if your diet is clean?  You drink water and herbal tea, limit sugar and processed foods, eat plenty of vegetables and healthy proteins, but portion control is a problem.  Aromatherapy can help.

Portion Control Aromastick

Prepare an aromatherapy inhaler with:

5 drops cardamom eo

3 drops vanilla absolute

2 drops peppermint eo

2 drops pink grapefruit eo

Take two deep breaths in each nostril before eating.  The sweet scent helps to curb the appetite.

Real Bread

Mmm mmmm mmmm!  Nice warm bread from the oven.  Bread has a bad reputation though.  All that gluten, all that starch!  But, it doesn't have to be that way.

Pictured above is naturally leavened whole wheat bread.  A good portion of the gluten protein matrix as well as a significant part of the starch and sugar is broken down by the natural leavening process, leaving a healthy loaf of REAL bread.  

Natural leavening yields what we commonly call sourdough.  It is begun with a "starter" which, when active, is full of beneficial bacteria which digest the flour and produce a small amount of alcohol and carbon dioxide which results in a rising loaf.  This particular loaf was made from Camaldoli (perpetual) starter which is quite mild.  The starter is fed every day and used when wanted.

For much more information about the amazing health benefits of REAL bread, check out The Vintage Remedies Guide to Bread by Jessie Hawkins.  There are plenty of recipes in her book as well.

"Real Tree" Spray

Vines of Wellness "Real Tree" Spray

An artificial tree at Christmas time certainly has its advantages, but it misses the mark with regard to scent.  Here is my take at a "Real Tree" room spray:

Storage

I do a lot of traveling with my family, particularly, camping.  One challenge is taking any aromatherapy blends I may want on the road.  Here is one solution that works well for me:

This shotgun shell box is divided into 25 mini compartments.  I found it at a sporting goods store.  It is compact and keeps small items separated.

There is a removeable insert.  With the insert in place, 1dram vials and aroma inhalers fit nicely.

Without the insert, a 5mL rollerball is held secure.

The box is deep and closes neatly over the organized aromatherapy supplies.  It snaps shut and does not pop open easily.  

A nifty, inexpensive solutions for a happy camper.  

Books

The world of aromatherapy has grown exponentially in the last ten years.  Availability of quality essential oils has increased, but so has the availability of adulterated oils.  Solid research and evidence-based education has increased, but so has unsafe word-of-mouth advice.  

Above, is just a sample of some of the better books on aromatherapy.  There are a couple in on the shelf that I would not recommend, but most of these are solid.  Len and Shirley Price and Jennifer Peace Rhind are my go-to authors for reliable monographs and safe effective essential oil use.  To the right, is a partial view of my text books from Vintage Remedies.  

My current favorite beginner level book is:

This is a fun book with plenty of ideas including a good starter list of basic monographs for essential oils, carrier oils, hydrosols, and other ingredients.  It advocates safe practices such as dilution for topical application and avoidance of certain EOs in the presence of various contraindications.