New Year Resolutions for Herbalists

Follow me this month while I try to clear out my own chaos and get a few tips on how to get your herb cabinet and/or business back in order! January is a perfect time for reflection and planning, but also, we have time for getting things done since the rush of garden season is still a few months away, the snow keeps us at home a bit more....as does the promise of a warm house and hot cup of tea. Each day, I am going to tackle something that needs constant care or attention, but that is often left to become dysfunctional as the year goes on. Will this be the year, I actually keep on top of things? Who knows...but if not, I will repost next year!

January 9 ~

Assess Local Health Issues 

What is going on in your community, health wise? Unfortunately, some communites have government sponsored and ongoing studies to determine "cluster illnesses"--why a certain place may display an unusually high occurance of a certain disease. Mostly, though, we just hear things when we go shopping and in town---everybody has a certain type of flu or cold, or notice that lots of people get something similar every year around the same time.

In my area, the strange winters we have been experiencing--warm, then really cold, damp, warm again.... have the same type of weather that my grandmother used to say "fills graveyards". Actually, the Obituary pages have been too numerous lately. Of couse, we and our families are part of the local area, with its unique environmental issues, geography that creates weather patterns leading to various types of illnesses....so take some time to assess and come to terms with what you are dealing with.

Here, in central New York state, it is beautiful. That is why we moved here from the DC area, many years ago....rolling hills, good soil, lots of water. The second year here, I got a horrible sinus infection--my first ever--had no idea what it was. My husband began getting a yearly bronchial infection (in Sept.-Oct.). soon after, I learned that our nice homestead was nestled right in the heart of what locals call "Sinus Valley". All that cool, damp fall air settles and lingers and then works its way into our lungs and sinus tissues. Years later, we were all informed that Radon (which can affect the lungs) exists in shale--which is predominant here. Now, we are contending with possible affects to our water and general environment from gas well exploration and fracking. No place is perfect and there is no longer any place left to run, so the best choice is to familiarize yourself with the risks your area presents and then dig into your herbal/dietary knowledge and figure out the best way to strengthen your body in an effort to coexist with a less than perfect environment. This is an extension of an assessment we should all do regarding our family heritage and generational illnesses that we may or may not be doomed to suffer from. There are a good many we can mediate and live quite well with--we have a better chance than many of our ancestors did.

Hippocrates knew and taught that weather (particularly wind) had tremendous effects on health. I wish I had understood that fully when we moved from one climate to this one---I would have started on lung tonics and immune builders immediately. Once you have had a serious sinus, lung or urinary infection, you are quite vulnerable to recurrance--because those types of tissues are difficult to totally heal unless the stressors are completely removed. That is why some people with severe allergies decide to move to dry climates. That would probably help both me and my husband--but living in a desert area would not suit us--we love it here.

So, what to do? Start by looking at what goes on with YOU and  your family lately. Who gets what type of illness (does one get colds in the head and another in the chest?). What time of year do they get it? How quickly do they recover? Then look at your larger family --wherever thay may be and then look to your community. Whatever patterns you begin to see will give you  an idea of what to start growing, harvesting (wildcrafting) and what type of preparations to make--and how much. (* Note:This is easier to do if you have already organized your herb shelves!!). Make a list, decide what you need to grow versus what you may need to purchase--and lay in your supplies. Write down your formulas and prepare ones for the most common illnesses that are almost a certainty each year. Plan to grow/harvest enough for your needs. Make sure everythng is accessable and well labled for specific needs. It is no fun to be digging through jars/bags of herbs, looking for your formula notes and then  get everything mixed, when you, the healer, are also ill. Also pay close attention to foods and changing what you eat depending upon the season and your own particular disease types. After our own health discoveries years ago, I simply began sprinkling different herbs in our meals each night---no big deal--thyme one night, oregano the next......so we went years without the sinus and bronchitis. Occasionally, we would drink tonics. As noted in earlier posts, the past few years have been especially stressful and our eating patterns have been much less than healthful, so a return of both illnesses has bowled us over several times.

My resolve is to, in the future--starting NOW,  always be well prepared for what illnesses may come, but to daily address those that are certain for us---to take our particular tonics  as a matter of course-- just like eating breakfast every day....to weave them into our lives. No excuses.