Arnica is loving its new home

Arnica

So far, this year Earth’s weather has been rather crazy. It is almost as if its hormones are raging, something akin to a person experiencing menopause or puberty. Each day, we have no idea what the weather will bring. With no warning, one day it can go from peace and tranquility to a day of extreme temperatures, tornadoes or torrential rains. It keeps you on your toes no doubt. Perhaps, it might have to do with this thing people call climate change. Just a thought.

Since this affects all living things on our beautiful planet, the herbs are adjusting as well. This year, plants are coming in at a different pace than before. They seem to be delayed and then burst open when the opportunity presents. Therefore, my herbal harvest schedule has adapted as well. Every morning I go out and walk the land to see what is thriving, because I do not want to harvest anything that is struggling, nor do I want to miss any opportunities.

Arnica loving its new home

Every blossom helps!

Last year, we moved our Arnica (Arnica spp.) to our new home and I wasn’t sure how long it would take to rebound. But I’m overjoyed to say it is thriving and doing better than ever in its new home. Generally, I do one big harvest of a particular herb for the year. Except for Arnica, I have always done daily blossom harvests.

It’s full and ready for me to transfer to a larger jar so I can add more blossoms.

I simply love the process of going out, picking a dozen or so blossoms every afternoon, slowing pulling them apart, and placing them in a jar of organic first cold press olive oil. I start with a small jar and then when it is almost full, I transfer it to a larger jar during the summer and keep filling it. I give all the herbs I am processing daily love and attention with a little shake and check on them to make sure there is no condensation. However, Arnica gets a whole lot more on a consistent basis. I am thanking the plant daily for giving me its blossoms and lovingly pull them apart each day.

During the summer, the blossoms will continue to increase, since the process of removing them stimulates production. Plants create flowers, which in turn develop seeds so it can continue to flourish. As bloom wanes and the flowers shed their petals and form seed heads, their energy transfers from forming blossoms into seed development. By harvesting its blossoms, I am keeping its energy focused on increasing its flowers.

Arnica is wonderful for relieving pain of strains, sprains, and bruises as it works in concert with the bodies own immune response to injury. When tissues are injured, the body’s immune system reacts by dilating capillaries, therefore increasing blood flow to the area resulting in inflammation. Yes folks, inflammation is good. Sure, chronic inflammation is bad but for minor acute injuries inflammation is how the body heals itself. Arnica works by stimulating the flow of white blood cells to the injured area. They process congested blood by dispersing trapped fluid from joints, muscles and bruised tissue. This increased blood flow also brings healing hormones to the area and moves stagnant blood (like bruises). Consequently, there will be decreased swelling and the person will heal faster.

A while back, my Mother fell and hit her head very hard. She ended up with six stitches and two massive black eyes. She looked like a panda bear. She started to take Homeopathic Arnica pellets three times a day and her bruises started to fade. Her doctor was amazed at how quickly her body responded and healed. Arnica assisted her body in removing the dead or damaged cells of her bruises.

I love adding Arnica infused oil to my Pain Begone! salve. It is a wonderful blend of Arnica, St. John’s Wort and Goldenrod; harnessing their medicinal powers to reduce the pain of muscle and tendon injuries, aches, arthritis while reducing swelling.Pain Begone

What do you use Arnica for? Please share and I will continue to share.

All information is shared for educational purposes only and has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

That Aha moment or better yet ~ No Shit!

Ever had one of those “Aha” moments, which is quickly followed by “no shit, of course!?” Well, I just had one of them while caring for my 86 year old mother, whose health is declining and getting more complicated by the day. Luckily, I have a great team who are investing a lot of time and effort into my Mom’s quality of life during these challenging times.

I am an herbalist but I have always said that I have a deep respect for allopathic medicine and it has an important place in health care. I enjoy working with a diverse set of modalities (more tools available), but sometimes more allopathic or heroic methods are necessary. It is especially rewarding when I can use multiple modalities in concert, but sometimes it is just not possible. Herbs tend to utilize the body’s own abilities and allopathic medicine or procedures more often puts the brakes on them or in some instances remove them all together.

Recently, my Mother had her Aortic valve replaced, as it was no longer opening enough for her body to receive adequate blood supply. Blood carries oxygen throughout the body and when it is severely limited, it leads to a host of complications. Blood flow is very important for our bodies to live and thrive. After a valve is replaced, a major concern is blood clots forming around the new valve, which can lead to stroke; not good. Therefore, she was put on medicine that prevents her body from clotting as well as thins the blood. At this point, I am sure you are thinking, clotting is good or a person will simply bleed out, and that is a bad thing. Well, when a person is in their final stages, there is a balancing act ~ do nothing, palliative care or try something that may be a game changer. My Mom decided to try the new valve as it had lots of potential and she was only going to take the antiplatelet and blood thinners for 6 months.

To complicate matters, my Mom has been avoiding the dermatologist for quite a long time, as she knew her skin was in bad shape and was scared to find out the truth. We decided to see one recently, only to see how bad things were. We thought we were only going for a consultation but before we knew it, even after I told the doctor that my Mom was on antiplatelet and blood thinners, she took a couple biopsies. We were told that it was just the top layer and we shouldn’t worry. WRONG! My Mother continued to ooze (thank goodness, no gushers) for over a day. I tried my two favorite hemostatic remedies ~ Goldenrod (Solidago, spp.) and Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) in a tincture form and applied pressure. The wounds stopped oozing for just an hour or so. I was confused and frustrated. Now here is the Aha moment. The herbs work in concert with my Mom’s ability to clot and enhance it. Well, she was on medicines that blocked her ability to clot ~ ergo nothing to enhance. I called the dermatologist and she kindly came to our house since we were just coming out of a major snowstorm and I really couldn’t take my Mom anywhere. She applied a medicine that forms its own scab and stopped the bleeding ~ WoundSeal. It is specific for people that were on antiplatelet and blood thinners.

Understanding our bodies and how they function is a critical step in supporting our health and helping others. We have a diverse set of tools available and it is so important to learn to work with them all. In addition to the different modalities ~ alternative and allopathic, learning from experience may be the most valuable tool.

Have you had any Aha moments? Please share and I will continue to share.

All information is shared for educational purposes only and has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.