Hello First name / herb angel,
We are well into Summer, thank you for your patience as I put this newsletter together. It turns out, multiple moves during a pandemic leaves little room for keeping up with the Jam. *tear falls down cheek* I miss y'all! But we're back baby (for today at least!), and the plants of this season wanna make it a playful, protected, & fiery one! This Summer, we are staying open to our expansion & evolution, supporting the energy of our subtle body with flowers, tapping into and leading from our heart space, playing, celebrating, and befriending the sun!
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In remembering our foundations of holistic wellness, before reaching for herbs, we want to keep in mind how our food can be medicinal. Summer calls on us to keep it light and energizing when it comes to how we nourish our bodies. I'm thinking of fresh fruits & berries, smoothies, salad greens, seafood, citrus, and of course plenty of water. We want our food to help us stay cool and in flow. Cucumbers and Watermelon are both examples of cooling and hydrating foods. Bitters like Dandelion greens, also have a generally cooling action on the body and stimulate our digestive systems for flow. We can add Chia seeds to our water to maximize hydration and play with herbal iced teas.
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In addition to keeping things cool this Summer, there are plenty of opportunities to befriend fire. We don't want to completely drown out our systems with water, elementally. If we need a lil' boost or want to turn up the heat, we can try activating herbs like Ginger and Cayenne in moderation. Embracing fire and the heat it brings can help us move through stagnation and open us up to our creative divinity, inspiration, play, and passion.
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Okay, back to keeping it cool, cuz lets be real, this Summer is a HOT one!
Here's a recipe for a refreshing Tamarind Juice from Sade Musa of Roots of Resistance. The afro-botanical background of Tamarind is also told alongside this recipe because that's what our dear Sade Musa does!
A big jug of Hibiscus, Tulsi, & Rose Iced Tea is exactly what you and your family need to be sipping on after a long day in the sun or at the next cook out. Hibiscus is a beautiful, red flower that will help keep your heart space light and open. Tulsi is here to provide balance, clear mental fog, help us adapt to stress, and keep things cool. Rose is also cooling and brings some joy to our hearts. Sweeten with honey and this makes a beautiful, celebratory beverage! Remember to dance this Summer!
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While we want to keep our hearts open and in the vibration of love this summer, that requires that we are energetically protected and supported at the subtle body energy level. Working with flower essences is one of my favorite ways to cultivate and shift at these subtle levels.
Here are the properties of some of my favorite flowers to work with in essences:
Sunflower- audacity, authentic power, unconditional love, there is infinite space for all of you
Calendula- self esteem boost, gratitude, sunbeam smiles
Rose- sensual, receptive, exhilarating to the heart space
St. Johns Wort- light in times of uncertainty, protective
Mimosa- celebration, uplifting, expansion
Yarrow- boundaries, wholeness
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Summer is also an excellent time for solar powered medicine making. This means, we can use the warmth and energy of the sun to infuse our herbs into medicine like tea or oils. For a solar infused tea, I'll take a mason jar and place a few spoonfuls of my herb at the bottom. Then I'll cover it with water and close the jar. I'll set it outside in a sunny spot or on a windowsill for a day. Watching the color of the water change this way as the tea infuses is one of my favorites. You also harness the energy of the sun in your tea which for me is always a boost to my sense of personal power, self esteem, and confidence. After a day in the sun, strain your herbs out and prepare your tea to your liking.
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The Sun is one of if not the best way to get our daily dose of vitamin D. This season we are blessed with more opportunity to be, play, and work outdoors under the sun. We still want to protect our skin from harsh rays though so here's to safer sun bathing with herbs! Before going into the sun, you can take some time to prep your skin. Chaparral is a desert plant that withstands so much direct heat and is said to impart these qualities to our skin when used topically. It can be used as a low SPF sunscreen, so either plan to reapply frequently or integrate some into your regular sunscreen practices.
Aftercare with herbal astringents and Aloe Vera gel can be really supportive to our skin as well. I'd be remiss not to mention herbal ice cubes!!! Yes you can add them to your drinks. But my favorite summer time ice cube application… rubbing them all over my body after a day outdoors! Green Tea and/or Rose make beautiful, astringent, and cooling ice cubes. This is ideal as we want to soothe and tone our skin after sun exposure. It can even be helpful in the event of sunburn, though it's not a replacement for sunscreen all together. Keep these in your freezer or pack a few in your cooler!
For those of us experiencing a dry type of heat, herbs like Aloe Vera have our backs. We can use Aloe internally in beverages or topically to soothe hot, red, burnt skin. Pack it with you on beach trips, friend. Slurp it down and slather that gel all over your bod to keep your spirit cool and your skin and tissues lubricated.
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