News — herbal actions

Lemon balm is an herb that simply doesn’t get enough attention. I’m gathering leaves for next weeks visit with the kids, and plan to make smoothies for the family. This aromatic herb buffers the nervous system by its volatile oils. These oils are a mild relaxant which equally effect the mind, heart and solar plexi in a cooling, relaxing way. A great plant medicine to use for those terrible twos for both children and parents, this herb offers better mental clarity and viral protection, too.  Lemon Balm is cooling, and thus useful for dissipating heat in the body, especially in...

ECHINACEA: the facts about this commonly used herb Echinacea has been widely advertised as a go-to for colds and flus, specifically immunity. But what about this herb? Let's discuss the values of Echinacea and when and why it should be utilized. Its beautiful red flower tells us it has an affinity for the blood, thus a blood cleanser or detoxifier. As an alterative herb, Echinacea is of great importance in opening the channels of elimination which is an important part of the process of detoxification. Alterative herbs adjust the metabolic processes of the body. As an immunological alterative Echinacea enhances...

Let's talk about moistening herbs. MOST herbs, like 90% (a guesstimate), have a drying effect on the body. And when used long term this drying effect can, well, dry us out. Even people living in humid environments know that despite the weather our lifestyles are drying. Indoor living, automated environments, environmental toxins, polluted foods, excessive caffeine, inorganic skin and body products, daily showers all lead to drying of the body, internally and externally. So it's good to be able to identify herbs that moisten, and these herbs have what's called a DEMULCENT action. Demulcent is a term used to define...

Herbalism is more complex than matching an herb to an illness. Herbalism is matching an herb to a person. We want to use the herbal energetics of a plant to match the energetic needs of the person so that body balance is achieved. One of the categorical platforms we can use to do this is TASTE. In Western Herbalism taste is broken into 5 categories, and each category is indicative of certain actions. This protocol enables us to determine how an herb will be useful in balancing body systems. Here are the 5 taste groups; pungent, bitter, salty, sour, sweet....

All herbs can be categorized by their actions. Each herb has a unique description of actions and energetics, and generally we find that herbs overlap the boundaries of these descriptions.  When we formulate herbal remedies we seek to ascertain a whole-body analysis of the individual.  We want to know whether the person runs hot or cold, moist or dry, what their sleep, diet and exercise patterns are, what is their mental state and their emotional triggers, their medical history and current medications.  This individual health assessment allows us to match the herbs to the bodies needs for balance.  Once a...