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The Power of a Nature Walk
Nature walks can be very powerful.
They can be a form of therapy.
A way to calm the mind and spirit.
How Herbs Can Help in Times of Sadness and Death
“There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.”
Sadness and death can creep up at anytime. I don’t think one can ever be fully prepared for either.
I know I wasn’t.
My father passed away rather quickly just a few weeks ago. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it and keep asking myself, “Why?”
I also can’t help but wonder if I shouldn’t have done more, taken action, asked more questions, pushed harder, spoken up, made inquiries, etc. Why didn’t I?
These are questions that plague me everyday. I try to convince myself that it was his time. But was it?
The grief that overwhelms me is constant and heavy. Day in and day out, I ponder and wonder how I’ll be able to go on.
So I bring back happy memories. Those days filled with good things, like birthdays and weddings.
“When a cardinal appears in your yard, it is a visitor from heaven”
Comfort During a Time of Grief
Everyone needs different forms of comfort and support when grieving. For me, it’s litttle things that don’t otherwise seem to matter.
Take the red cardinal for instance. A few days after my Dad’s passing, a bright red cardinal came and landed in the snow right outside my patio door. How it stood out in the snow!
I hadn’t seen a cardinal in the backyard for quite some time, so was pleasantly surprised.
A couple days later when I returned to work, a co-worker gave me the red cardinal, saying she had received one the year before when her father passed away. What a coincidence!
The appearance of a red cardinal has the spiritual meaning of a lost one who is thinking about you and sending you a message. That brought some comfort to me.
Using Herbs to Help With Grief
Deep rooted emotions of grief can be hard to cope with for everyone. Grief can affect people emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Grief also has the ability to affect you physically as well as mentally.
In these cases, we may need something more then just comfort to help us move through our grief. I needed something to help me fall asleep so I wasn’t constantly questioning my actions, or rather, lack of action before my Dad passed away.
So I turned to my plant allies.
Herbs have been around since the beginning of time. They have been used for many different things from illness to helping cope with situations such as loss, sadness and death.
Lets take a look at some herbs that have been used, and still used today as ways to help with dealing with grief and death.
Frankincense
The first herb/plant that came to me when thinking about grief and death, was frankincense. And for good reason.
Frankincense was one of the gifts from the Three Wise Men to the baby Jesus. It has been used for over 5000 years in religious ceremonies in a number of cultures and religions.
Frankincense is a resin that comes from the bark of the boswellia tree that is native to the Middle East and north Africa. It is extremly fragrant and has a sweet, citrusy aroma.
Spiritually, the smoke from the resin is said to call the angels and send prayers to heaven.
I feel at peace during that time of church, when the incense is burned. The aroma has a very calming effect for me.
Peppermint
We all know, or should know, the smell and taste of peppermint. It is all around us, from room sprays to candies.
Why? Because it is so uplifting.
Peppermint works to clear the mind and regain focus. It helps us to keep going in times of grief.
If you would like to take a little journey with the plant, here is a guided meditation with peppermint from herbalist Correne Omland, from Spiraea Herbs.
Motherwort
This herb is dear to my heart because it grows abundantly on my parent’s farm.
As it’s name suggests, Motherwort is there to comfort and protect. This is the plant you want to go to when you just can’t do it anymore.
It’s latin name, Leonurus cardiaca, means “lion hearted”. Strong and heart centered is what this plant offers.
Motherwort is a member of the Mint family, just like peppermint. It doesn’t have the pleasant aroma like the other mints, but it is strong and robust, and will grow almost anywhere, like most mints.
If you would like to learn more about how Motherwort can help you, check out my blog post, “Motherwort – It’s Uses & Benefits“.
Rose
The rose is probably the most highly recognized plant for uplifting one’s spirit.
It has always been a symbol of love and forgiveness.
I like how a blog post from the Herbal Academy describes the thorns: “The thorns are not to wall you off from the outside world, but instead, they express the complexity, beauty, and darkness that accompanies grief.”
The rose has the capacity to help us see the love, comfort, compassion and kindness in the world around us.
Hawthorn
Hawthorn is the classic heart tonic remedy in Western Herbalism.
It’s red berries are best known for helping the heart.
It is also known as a mild sedative and can help calm one’s nerves.
Hawthorn encourages one to find hope, love and longevity in the journey forward.
When our spirit becomes weak and frail, hawthorn will help in restoring strength once again.
Hawthorn can bring back the confidence and help one to not live in fear of death.
Here is a short podcast with more info on hawthorn from HerbRally.
Other Herbs
There are many other herbs and plants that can help with grief as well. The list is rather endless, as all plants support us in so many ways.
Here is a list for you to reference:
- Skullcap
- Lavender
- Tulsi
- Chamomile
- St. John’s Wort
- Wood Betony
- Borage
- Bee Balm
- Lemon Balm
- Blue Vervain
- Linden
Handling Grief
Grief enters our lives in so many ways. It can come as a loss of a loved one, loss of a job, health issues, arguments, etc.
The important thing to learn from grief, is how to handle it in a healthy way. Know what your limits are and how much you can handle.
Never be afraid to ask for help, or ask someone to just listen to what you have to say.
Taking a walk in nature or meditating can also help take away some of the sadness you may be feeling.
Just know that grief is a part of life and bonds us closer together.
Grief is praise, because it is the natural way love honors what it misses.” -Martine Prechtel
References
https://herbandroot.com/blogs/collections/frankincense-myrrh-more-valuable-than-gold
http://www.flowerfolkherbs.com/articles1/frankincense-a-sacred-resin
https://www.happiness.com/magazine/health-body/essential-oils-for-grief/
http://northforestfarms.com/2021/10/07/good-grief/
https://www.evolutionaryherbalism.com/2018/07/13/herbs-for-grief/
Earth Day – Get Educated and Act
Earth Day, April 22
Did you know that Earth Day is the largest secular observance in the world? How cool is that!
This is the day where we can make an impact for the Earth. It is the day where we can begin taking care of the Earth like we want to be taken care of.
Earth Day began back in the 1970’s when there were policital and economical ups and downs. There were a number of people who became concerned with how we were treating our environment.
In 1970, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson introduced his idea for a ‘national teach-in on the environment’. This turned into the first Earth Day being celebrated across the United States on April 22, 1970. It pulled 20 million people together to promote a cleaner and safer living environment.
Over the decades, it grew to other countries and finally in 1990, it was global, with 141 countries and 200 million people celebrating Earth Day.
Get Educated
Earth Day is associated with “going green”. Going Green is defined as making more environmentally friendly decisions, such as to reduce, reuse and recycle.
And that’s great!
But are all Going Green decisions environmently friendly?
To find out, you have to dig deeper and look at the entire spectrum of the decision. Here are a couple “green” decisions to review.
Take a look at wind energy, which is one of the cheapest forms of clean energy. Wind turbines produce electricity from the turbines that spin generators.
Wind power is carbon-free and about 85% of turbine components, including steel, copper wire, electronics and gearing can be recycled or reused. But the fiberglass blades remain difficult to dispose of.
Tens of thousands of aging blades are coming down from steel towers around the world and most have nowhere to go but landfills. In the U.S. alone, about 8,000 will be removed in each of the next four years. These blades don’t disintagrate, and will be in the ground forever.
There are companies trying to find ways to recycle these turbine blades, but until then, what do we do with the blades? Is the final product worth filling landfills?
Another one in which to weigh the pros and cons is lithium, which is used in batteries, such as in electric cars. Take for example, the Tesla Model S battery, which has about 12 kilograms of lithium in it.
Lithium batteries are preferred over alkaline batteries for a number of reasons. First they last longer. They can withstand colder temperatures and they work better in portable devices, such as power tools.
But the mining and processing of lithium is far from being environmentally friendly. The extraction process uses a lot of water, and I mean a lot. When the water being used, “accidently” gets back into the environment, contamination takes place. In Nevada, researchers found impacts on fish as far as 150 miles downstream from a lithium processing operation.
Just because something is called “green”, doesn’t make it totally “green”. Research it and use your best judgement.
Saving the Environment
As stewards of the Earth, it is up to us to care for it so that it may take care of us in return.
There are many ways to take part as a care-taker for our planet.
- If you are into sustainablity, here is a wonderful article from Urban Moonshine to get you started.
- Recycle: This is a very east way and can be done everywhere. Check with your city to see what items they collect for recycling.
- Reuse: Many items have double uses, so instead of throwing it in the garbage, find a second use for it. If you need ideas to get you started, look HERE.
- Pick up trash: When you are on a walk, pick up any trash you come across. As a Girl Scout leader, one of the things I encouraged with my troop was to leave a place cleaner than how we found it.
- Plant a tree or other plants to help clean the air and provide us with fresh oxygen.
Herbalists and the Environment
For herbalists, Earth Day is recognizing that now is the time where plants are beginning to grow and start a new season.
Everyday we are stewards of the land as we share our knowledge and enthusiasm for the plant world. So in short, we celebrate Earth Day everyday!
But we, as herbalists and plant lovers, can do much more to help the planet. Here are some simple suggestions:
- When using plants, know where they come from
- Know which plants are endangered and only use if grown sustainably
- Get to know the plants around you and utilize them wisely
- Find out which plants are weedy, such as plantain, dandelion, burdock, and use them
- Educate others on the importance of various plants
- Join groups, such as United Plant Savers and the Sustainable Herb Project, to learn more
The Herbal Academy has a wonderful post called “How to be an environmentally sustainable Herbalist”. It has some great reminders on how we need to protect our plant world.
Take a Quiz
Want to try and see how much you know about deforestation and biodiversity?
Take the quiz HERE.
How did you do?
Did you learn anything new?
Is there something you can do today to start helping the environment?
Watch the video below.
If a pug can do it, we can do it!
Having a successful craft show
So this past March, I had my first booth at a craft show. All I could think about beforehand was “Is this going to work?”.
But why wouldn’t it?
I had plenty of product and a good variety of items. I had set up my table about two weeks prior in my living room to see how it would look and kept making adjustments up to the day of the craft show.
I would have a few sale items and also a freebie if a customer spent a certain amount.
And I would have two of my daughters helping out! Lucky me!
Well, the day of the craft show arrived and I was so nervous. What if people didn’t care for what I had? What if I forgot something? All the negative thoughts kept creeping into my head.
My only goal coming out of the craft show was to just sell enough product to pay for the booth.
So on with the show!
It started out good. I had my table set up on time and it looked great! Traffic was slow to pick at first. As people walked by, I remembered to keep smiling and making eye contact.
Pretty soon people were stopping, checking things out and asking questions. And then came my first sale! I was so happy!
Sales kept coming in at a slow steady pace. As soon as I had my booth paid for, I was stoked! I wasn’t sure it would happen.
The rest of the day went well. At the end we packed up and left happy campers.
My first craft show!
Local Food Challenge
Eating local, and I don’t mean at a restaurant!
I came across an article the other day that talked about eating only locally grown foods. The article contained a TED Talk video in relation to this. Now if you have never seen a TED Talk video, you are in for a treat! These videos cover a wide range of topics and the speakers are phenomenal! This particular video is called Relational Eating: Vicki Robin.
Going to give it my best!
In it, Vicki describes how she challenged herself to only eat what she could find within so many miles from her home (she’s a great speaker, by the way), with a few allotted “exotic” items. And so I asked myself the question, “Could I do it?” Well, we shall see. I’m giving myself eight days to try and only eat local, within a 100 mile radius. My start date will be Saturday, Oct. 18 and I will end on Sat. Oct. 25. So for the past few days, I’ve been planning out my strategy. (more…)
Last Week Learnings
Daylilies
Last Saturday I attended the MN Holistic and Herbal Educational Festival in Cannon Falls, MN. It was excellent! From the sessions offered to the people attending to the teachers, all was great. The only thing I didn’t like was the fact that I wanted to attend more then one of the classes in each session! But I had to chose, and that was hard. I attended the two herbal walks in the morning, and the aromatherapy and tincture making in the afternoon. (more…)
