Hawthorn- Faery Guardian of the Heart

I'm participating in the Tree Year.  http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/.  I'll be following a hawthorn tree in my fields this year.




Species:  Hawthorn, Whitethorn, Thorn, Haw Whiteblossom  (Crataegus oxycantha and other spp.)

Parts used: Fruits, leaf, flower

Energetic: cool, dry to neutral

Taste: sweet, sour, astringent

Actions: cardiotonic, nervine, astringent, nutritive, tonic, stimulant, relaxant, antioxidant

Botanical/Ecological description:

Hawthorn, in the rose family, is a small tree or shrub, that tends to grow in hedges, on the edges of roads or open fields.  It is rarely more than 12-15 ft tall, and the bark is rough and grey.  It has thorns anywhere from ½ inc to 2 inches long, which are dark colored.  In May it blooms with a profusion of white 5 petaled flowers that have a particular, rank or foetid smell.  Some people describe it as the smell of sex, and others, the smell of death.  Either way, they certainly aren’t sweet smelling!  Flowers ripen into small red drupes about ¼ in in diameter, with one large hard seed.  
It is often planted as a landscape tree in yards and along roadsides.  There are many species of hawthorns, on various continents.  Most of which are highly hybrized and interbreed freely.  It is often difficult to get it down to species.  There are some herbalists who have said only the official crataegus oxycantha is valuable medicine, and others who say that all species are somewhat medicinal.  I think the brighter, deeper colored red the fruits, the more antioxidant flavanoids are present, which will be medicinally active.  I can’t speak with authority on all species of hawthorns and medicinal value, as I have not tried very many!  But since they interbreed so readily, it seems unlikely to find the “official” hawthorn in a pure form, and I just do not think that it would lessen the medicinal value that much.  Many of the properties of the hawthorn are universal to rose family plants to some degree or another.

Symbolic/spiritual description:  The hawthorn is deeply associated with the Fae, Faery, the Good People.  It is said in Celtic lands where knowledge of the Fae is common, that to cut down an hawthorn tree will anger the Fae and cause bad luck.  Hawthorn blooms around May day and as such is associated with fertility and sex/lust, but on the flipside its rank smelling flowers and thorns and association with spirit worlds make Hawthorn a tree of “death” and transformation, and also of protection and caution.  Folklore of hawthorn is rich and deep.  In Western herbalism hawthorn is closely associated with the heart, energetically and physically, and many people use hawthorn to protect and soothe their emotional heart.  The beautiful fierce thorns coupled with soft delicate flowers speak to us of being tender and showing our inner beauty, our flower so to speak, but with strong defenses to guard the way.  You can’t really push past a hawthorn without getting caught up by the thorny branches.  But I do not find the hawthorn, with all its fierce thorns to be rough or unforgiving.  She teaches us awareness of where to place ourselves to avoid being hurt, of how to move carefully, and of the rewards of sweetness, transformation, and connection with powerful spiritual forces of the land and the Fae.  

If you are lucky enough to live near a hawthorn tree, be aware that the Fae may be near. Often times they will trick you, hide things or borrow things, in order to get your attention.  Try leaving small offerings for the Fae ones in or near your hawthorn tree.  They like sweets, shiny things, coins, honey, milk, cream or butter and tobacco.  I have found the Fae will generally return “lost’ or “borrowed” items when I ask and leave an offering, and will often help out in other ways in my life when appropriately gifted and asked.  But never break a promise to the Fae, or cut down your hawthorn!  The Fae ones are guardians of the land and the plants, I always leave an offering for them when harvesting plants.

Uses/Applications:  As stated above hawthorn is most famous for its use as a heart tonic, both the physical and emotional heart.   As a general rule of thumb hawthorn is considered a food herb, deeply nourishing, and considered safe. Its fruits are rich in bioflavanoids, vitamins and minerals that nourish the blood and the heart, and protect it from free radicals and oxidative damage, thus has been used traditionally as a tonic for weak hearts, hearts with congenital defects, and folks concerned about cardiovascular health in general.  Modern scientific study of hawthorn indicates it is useful in working with high blood pressure and cholesterol.  I have often used hawthorn in formulas for people working with these conditions, but it is vitally important to realize that these conditions are grossly misrepresented by the modern media and western medical science.  Cholesterol is just a NUMBER, and is not an accurate reading of cardiovascular  health or risk for heart attack.  Cholesterol is a vital nutrient, it builds hormones, immune system components, cell wells, and is involved in Vit D synthesis in the body.  We need cholesterol!  Cardiovascular disease is a real problem, but it is not always reflected by the single number of cholesterol that doctors like to use as scare tactic to get their patients on statin drugs.  Roots of cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure are very closely tied with diet and nutrition, especially insulin resistance/syndrome X.  Much to the surprise of many eating a diet rich in animal fats and “cholesterol’ doesn’t impact your blood levels of cholesterol that significantly.  Cholesterol is produced by the liver on demand when your body is under stress or needs to produce sex hormones.  Breast feeding mothers can have cholesterol readings of over 300!  This is not  problematic.  The problems really start when someone is eating a very high carbohydrate, refined food, high sugar diet.  These diets promote insulin resistance- which increases inflammation, which is highly damaging to the cardiovascular system, increase blood pressure, increase triglycerides and increase risk for stroke and heart attack. 

That said, hawthorn is a beautiful ally to protect the heart in these sorts of conditions, but it is not a cure all.  They must be addressed with dietary and nutritional changes and modifying metabolic dysregulation with herbs and exersize.  I feel generally safe recommending and using hawthorn with people on other cardiovascular medications (excluding Coumadin or other blood thinners), as it is a food herb, but it is prudent and important for these folks to monitor their cardio health regularly.  Hawthorn may decrease the need for medications, and thus they should be monitored and adjusted as needed.   

Most people know of using the hawthorn fruit, but hawthorn leaf and flower is just as potent, and in some cases more potent than the fruits themselves.  Leaf and flower also lend themselves readily to tea/infusion, whereas fruits need to be cooked a long time to extract the medicinal benefits.  Many people also like to include hawthorn thorns in their medicine preparations to increase the protective benefits energetically.  This is easy to do when tincturing hawthorn.  I personally like to make a combined medicine with fruit, leaf and flower all in the same bottle.  You may tincture leaf and flower in the spring, and tincture fruit in the fall, and combine the two tinctures, or use dried and combine them in the same tincture jar.  Hawthorn leaf, flower and fruit elixir is devine!

It is important to remember that hawthorn, of the rose family, besides being rich in bioflavanoids and other nourishing nutrients, is very tonic and astringent.  It is generally appropriate for folks who lack tone in the cardiovascular system, or appear soft. (Not talking about fat here.)   It may often show up as a weak heart, either energetically or physically.  They may be pale, easily winded, or have poor circulation to the external parts of the body, because their tissues are flaccid and weak.  Astringent tonics can help to tighten, tone and strengthen the tissues to improve circulation. 

Hawthorn is a remarkable ally for what the Chinese call “disturbed shen.”  Shen is the word used for spirit, the spirit that resides in the heart, and makes up our mental/emotional/spiritual state of mind.  We understand this in the west as well, as we speak of heartbreak and heart sickness.  Physically our emotions may come from our minds, but we feel things deeply with our hearts.  It can result in a strong physical sensation in our heart area as well, an ache, palpitations, emptiness, or pressure.  When our spirit or shen is disturbed the signs are anxiety, restlessness, nightmares, dreaminess/fantasy, insomnia, heartsickness or heartache, fear, panic, trauma, or susto.  Hawthorn is a wonderful remedy in these cases.   Often in cases of childhood (or adult) asthma there is a realm of disturbed shen or heartsickness.  Hawthorn is extremely useful both to strengthen the physical action of the heart in asthmatics to improve oxygenation of the blood, and breath strength, and to soothe and calm the shen.  An asthma attack is clearly associated with disturbed shen or can result in such.  There is panic, fear, poor sleep, pressure, and often a disembodiment or tendency to get lost in ‘other worlds” or appear to be “taken by the Faerie.” And so, along with other botanicals, we use hawthorn in chronic cases of asthma.

This disturbed shen also is associated with heartache and heartbreak.  Hawthorn is an immense ally to anyone suffering from heartbreak, or a situation where their heart needs extra protection emotionally and spiritually.  Hawthorn is calming and nervine- not in the direct acute sense, but over time brings the heart and spirit back into alignment, improves circulation of blood, oxygen and chi, and restores balance and strength to the spirit and the heart.  Next time you are feeling heartache, add some hawthorn leaf and flower to your infusions (it does retain some of that strange rank smell, so I like to mix it with something extra sweet smelling, like linden, rose, or lavender.)  It soothes and comforts and heals the ache.  You can also sip a hawthorn berry cordial, or use small doses of the elixir or even hawthorn flower essence.

 

Harvesting:

Leaves and flowers:  Should be gathered in spring in full bloom.  Always  ask permission from the Fae before harvesting hawthorn!  Work very carefully around the thorns.  Listen closely to the way the hawthorn teaches you to be present to your body and your movements as you work. I like to gather flower clusters with leaves, snipping close to the branch with a sharp fingernail or clippers.  Always leave enough flowers on the tree for the bees, and reproduction.  Leaves may additionally be harvested once the tree is past flowering, but earlier in the season is preferable to late.  They become richer in tannins later in the season, and more astringent.  These may be dried by laying flat in a single layer in a basket or box or on newsprint. 

Fruits:  Likewise fruits must be harvested in fall when ripe.  They do tend to hang on the tree into winter, but traditional lore of the harvest states that anything not harvested by Samhain (Halloween) is to be left for the Fae.  I will harvest single fruits from clusters by hand, always leaving plenty for the birds and the Fae.  Fruits are more difficult to dry, and are prone to mold and rot if not fully dried.  In our moist climate it is difficult to air dry fruit, and I generally suggest a dehydrator, or drying in the oven with the light on.  I will often split the fruits in half to facilitate complete drying.  Otherwise tincture fresh.

Preparations & Dosage:

Fresh tincture is a marvelous way to work with hawthorn. 

1:2 fresh plant tincture in 50% alcohol, tincture different parts and mix together

Dry plant tincture is also lovely. 

1:5, 50% alcohol, blend fruits, flowers and leaves together

Either way, fresh or dried, you may turn it into an elixir with the addition of honey, and using sweet brandy if desired.

2- 30 drops 3x day.  Many herbalists have noted that small doses (8-10 drops) are just as or even more effective than large doses of hawthorn. 

Infusion/decoction:  16 oz/day.  Take in small frequent doses (4 oz ).

You may make jelly with hawthorn berries, infuse them in wine or add to kombucha

Resources:

A Modern Herbal- Maude Grieve

Kings American Dispensatory- Felter and Lloyd

The Physiomedical Dispensatory- William Cook

Personal Conversation  w/ Sean Donahue  http://greenmanramblings.blogspot.com/

The Sweet Taste of Life: A place for sweetness in the medicine cabinet and pantry

It's Blog Party time! Visit Kiva's blog for the rest of the contributions to this months blog party on sweet medicines!

Here's my exposition on the place for sweetness in our medicines and foods, and my "Sweet Melissa Divine" honey!

Who doesn’t enjoy the sweet taste of a special treat after supper, a little drizzle of honey in the evening cup of tea, or a morsel of sweet chocolate? It seems as if the sweet taste is irresistible to the human animal, and though will power and dedication can steer us away from indulging in sugary sweets daily that rot our teeth and lead us down the garden path of deteriorating health, there is still a craving for the sweet taste of fresh fruits and small indulgences that is natural to our taste buds.

Though I am the last person who will tell you that eating sugar is even remotely good for you, I want to explore how the sweet taste can mean so much more than “sugar” to our body, mind and spirit. Most traditional medical systems, including Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Unani Tibb reserve a place in the therapeutic toolbox for medicines and foods of a sweet nature. Yes, that is correct, the sweet taste DOES have a therapeutic value, and many traditional systems have recognized it and put it to work for thousands of years.

Both TCM and Ayurveda have a classification of the five or six primary tastes, which include sweet, sour, salty, acrid/pungent, bitter, and astringent. According to these systems the body must receive all the tastes on a daily basis to maintain balance. Too much of one or not enough of another can tip the scales in an unwanted direction. This is easily seen by the excess of sweet tastes in the modern SAD diet, and the resulting problems with obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes.

According to TCM, the sweet taste is warming, strengthening, harmonizing, relaxing and moistening. It builds up energy and strengthens spleen qi, nourishes body fluids and is associated with the energy of yang and earth. Too much of sweet flavor can produce dampness, obesity, and weakness in the kidneys, teeth and bones. In Ayurveda the sweet taste is used to pacify excess pitta and vata conditions (excess heat, dryness, or ungroundedness). It builds and restores the water element and ojas (life force/vitality). It represents the qualities of love nourishment and sustenance.

In a sense, the sweet flavor is the primary taste that provides nourishment and the building of energy both in the body and the mind. It is important to remember that the six tastes effect the spirit and mind just as much as they do the body, and the sweet taste will nourish the heart and spirit, build strength and energy of heart and spirit, and calm states of deranged pitta or vata (think bouts of anger, emotional upset, ungroundedness, bitterness, dryness or lack of luster and verve for living.) It’s not a surprise then that we crave sweet foods to console ourselves in times of emotional upset, or to soothe sensations of physical weakness, or deprivation. We must also remember that as much digestion as our stomach, spleen, liver and intestines do, our minds also digest myriad forms, thoughts, ideas, events and emotions on a daily basis. It is just as important to fill the mind with healthy, nourishing thoughts and emotions, and that our mind be able to digest well that which we provide it. The sweet taste is not to be reviled in our quest to shun refined white sugar which harms our health, but must be used with respect in appropriate fashion to nourish our minds with the sweetness of life, and nourish our bodies with strength and energy.

There are many foods which qualify as “sweet” that are completely unrelated to sugar, honey, syrup or candies. I generally recommend using the following foods as our main sources of “sweetness” on a daily basis.

Fruits (often of mixed flavor with sour, or astringent)

Nuts/seeds

Whole grains

Meats

Dairy products

Winter squashes and other starchy vegetables

But there is a time and a place for sweet medicines and you will often find traditional formulas from ayurveda or TCM with raw sugar, honey or syrup added as an important player, either as a corrigent or as an active component. For example, rose gulkand, a very cooling, soothing food to pacify pitta (especially in hot, dry summer months) is made primarily with rose petals and jaggery (raw cane sugar). Many herbal formulas are administered in honey and ghee, i.e. Chavawanprash- a complex rejuvenative formula.

All that said, let’s dive into the sweetest, loveliest of sweet medicines I’ve been creating lately, herbal honey!

Honey is one of my favorite methods of administering herbal medicines, and I often mixed powdered herbs into a jar of honey for a sweet easy to take honey herb paste. This is much like the Ayurvedic herbal jam Chavawanprash, which combines herbs, honey, and ghee. These can be spread on crackers, fruit, or eaten off the spoon. Honey itself is considering warming, moistening (demulcent/emollient), and rejuvenative/nutritive. It is full of nutrients, enzymes and other health promoting compounds aside from the sugar content. Honey is used to bring herbal medicines deeper into all the tissues of the body.

My favorite way to use honey medicinally is to steep fresh aromatic medicinal herbs in raw, local honey for a week or so and infuse it with all the properties of the herbs. These medicinal honeys can be used as a dressing for wounds and burns, as herbal syrup, stirred into hot or cool water for a refreshing drink, mixed in tea, or even used as a beauty treatment (there is something lovely and luscious about smearing honey all over your face as a hydrating, soothing face mask. Or anywhere else for that matter!)

The most recent herbal honey I’ve made is a fresh lemon balm in mesquite honey, and it is a lovely, divine elixir. I think I’m going to call it “Sweet Melissa Divine” in honor of the plant, the bees that made the honey, and the Bee Priestesses called Melissa in The Fifth Sacred Thing. This summer elixir will be put too good use as an antiviral wound dressing, a sweetener for fresh lemonade, as a mood brightening sweet treat to dress fruit, berries, or fresh yogurt. In light of the mood lifting and soothing properties of the sweet flavor, and the sweet uplifting spirit of Melissa officinalis, this honey will be a perfect remedy for a mild case of the winter blues, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), insomnia, stagnant depression and mild anxiety.

Sweet Melissa honey  has also found its way into a magical and delicious potion called Sweet Melissa Divine Elixir- a stunning and remarkably effective combination of the lemon balm infused honey and a full strength fresh plant lemon balm tincture.  This sweet medicine is delicious, easy to take, and excellent for soothing those grumpies in adults and children alike.  My partner Sean likes to use it at summer music festivals in cases of heat exhaustion.   No complaints with this tasty medicine!  It's a treat for everyone! I have a few of these available in my Etsy shop if you would like to get your hot little hands on one!

Sweet Melissa Elixir @ Etsy.com

Other favorite herbal honeys include rose, lavender, rosemary, bee balm monarda, and peppermint. I have a hankering to make St Johns Wort honey, but alas, I live in a land nearly devoid of fresh St Johns Wort, so will have to save it for another year.

Making herbal honeys is quite simple. Many times I’ve read to heat the honey, but heating raw honey too hot can destroy the properties, so I choose to cold process my herbal honeys.

1 pint jar

1 pint honey (raw and local if you can find it)

Enough herb of your choice to fill the jar full (do not pack it too tight, just loosely full)

Chop the herb finely and add to the jar. Pour honey over the herb until well covered, you may use a little less or a little more honey depending on the herb. Stir the concoction well with a spoon or chopstick to ensure all the herb bits are coated in honey. Put a lid on and set in a warm spot for 1-2 weeks. You may put it in the sun if it isn’t too hot.

After the allotted time (and several taste tests between putting it up and now), you may choose to strain the herbs from the honey using a wire mesh strainer. Hopefully your honey is relatively runny and warm from the summer climate and can be poured reasonably. If it isn’t, you may need to GENTLY warm it to thin it out. I recommend a hot water bath for just a few minutes. Reserve the honey in a special jar with a label. Eat the herbs! Or rub them on your body for an instant hydrating herbal scrub.

Use the honey generously and as often as you need to nourish the sweetness of life in your spirit and body.

Sources:

Chinese Nutrition Therapy, Joerg Kastner

Ayurveda: The Devine Science of Life, Todd Caldecott

Ayurveda: the Science of Self Healing, Vasant Lad

But I don't like the taste of water.....

I can't recall how many times I have heard that line from clients and friends when told they need to get more water in them.  Water doesn't taste like anything, right?  (Well I happen to disagree- good, fresh, clean water is sweet and delicious).   But I do agree that chlorinated, recycled city water often leaves a bad taste in the mouth.  There are a lot of fancy water filtering systems out there, you can take your pick.  I find a simple Britta pitcher or faucet attatchment is sufficient for me in the city.  If you have clean well water or rain water, you are blessed!

 So in an effort to hydrate people turn to those commercial fruit flavored waters sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup and full of artificial colors and flavors.

Ooops!

But there is a better way!  You can make your own hydrating, delicious and fun to drink flavored waters with fruits, vegetables and herbs at home!  

Cool water will graciously inherit the essence of aromatic flavors which you can provide to it.  What is your favorite flavor?  Melon?  Berry?  Mint?  Lemon?

Go beyond the simple squeeze of lemon or lime with a few interesting twists!  All you need is a few simple herbs, fresh water

Rose and Lemon Water

1 qt water

1 tbsp rose hydrosol

1 tsp rose infused honey

2 slices of lemon

Lime, Cucumber and Mint water

1 qt water

3 slices of cucumber

2 slices of lime

1 or 2 sprigs of fresh mint, crushed

Lemon Lover Water

1 qt water

2 slices of lemon

1 tsp lemon balm or lemon verbena infused honey

1-2 sprigs of  fresh lemon balm or lemon verbena, crushed

Lavender Melon Water

1 qt water

2-3 slices(thin) of honeydew, watermelon, or other melon

1 flowering sprig of lavender (you can use dried)

1 tsp lavender infused honey

Honey Water

1 qt of water

1 tsp honey (herbal infused honey is the most interesting)

Birch Water

1 qt of water

2 bruised or peeled twigs of black birch

Vanilla Cardamom Water

1 qt water

1 tsp homemade vanilla extract

1/4 tsp crushed cardamom seeds

1 tsp honey (vanilla infused if you have it)

Rosemary Lemon Water

1 qt water

1-2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, crushed

1-2 slices of lemon

Basil Water

1 qt water

1-2 leaves fresh basil, crushed (Tulsi basil is especially nice, but try lemon basil, or cinnamon basil too!)

1-2 slices lime

Lime and Cilantro Water

1 qt water

2 slices of lime

2 sprigs fresh cilantro, crushed

Orange Ginger Water

1 qt water

1 tbsp orange flower hydrosol

2 slices of fresh orange

1-2 thin slices fresh ginger

1 tsp ginger honey

Place all the ingredients in a quart jar.  Infuse for 2-8 hrs, either on the counter top or in the fridge. These will keep longer in the fridge. Serve cool!  I've found I can infuse water repeatedly with the same batch of ingredients 2-3 times, though you may want to add additional honey or hydrosol if using those in your recipe.

What other combinations can you dream up?  A splash of berry infused vinegar?  Frozen blueberries or strawberries used as ice cubes?  Other hydrosols?

Cool, calm and collected with Roses

Last months blog party was on staying cool in summer heat, and I wasn't able to put anything together in time, but we've been having a bit of a heat wave in the Northeast this past week or two and I've been turning to Rose to keep the heat from rising too much!

Rose, besides being sweet smelling, heart soothing and settling to emotional frights and upsets, is a wonderful cooling remedy. Roses gently move blood, are slightly bitter, astringent, antiinflammatory, nervine and nourishingly rich in vitamins, minerals and bioflavanoids.

I always turn to rose for burns. Sunburns respond amazingly quickly to an application of rose vinegar diluted in water. I've also used a rose tincture applied similarly with great results. I also turn to rose for cooling and calming red inflammed and damaged skin- either on the face or elsewhere- heat rash, red and painful chaffed skin, cold sores, and the delicate skin of the face in rosacea or general sun damage. Rose tea, rose tincture, rose vinegar, rose hydrosol, rose infused oil, and rose otto all work well in these cases. I choose the preparation that is both convienently close by, and appropriate for the situation at hand. i.e. tea or vinegar as a compress for heat rash, oil for damaged skin or inflammed dry rashes, hydrosol to cool and calm.

I use Rose tincture diluted in a saline solution as an eyewash that offers quick relief and healing from burning, redness, itchiness, or in removing a particle of something in the eye. Rose eyewash works really well for the unfortunate experience of hot burning chile pepper/cayenne in the eyes! Just make sure to strain the solution well through a coffee filter to avoid putting more particles in the eye. I dilute 30 drops of tincture in 1 oz of saline solution (1/2 tsp non iodized salt in 8 oz water), and use an eye cup, or a shot glass, or just use a clean dropper to rinse and irrigate the eye. You can also use rose hydrosol for this.

But lately, as I've been dealing with the hot, sticky humid New England heat wave, rose has made its way into my daily routine in the following ways.

After a sticky, hot walk outside I drink a glass of cool water with a splash of rose hydrosol. Yum! you can also add a spoonful of rose petal honey to this to make it a bit sweeter. Some days I add a generous splash of rose petal elixir to the mix as well. Feel free to mix and match to what suits you. If you like the taste you can also make a rose vinegar and rose honey mix to add to your water.

I frequently mist my face, neck, chest and back with a blend of rose tea, rose vinegar, and rose hydrosol mixed in a mister bottle. You can add a drop of rose otto, lavender essential oil, or peppermint essential oil if you like.

After a cool shower I massage my skin with a rose infused and scented oil- honestly I can't say how directly cooling the oil massage is, but it feels so beautiful after a cooling shower, and heart nourishing- do it just to love yourself. Anoint your heart with rose.

Include rose petals- either fresh or dried in your daily infusions. This can be very astringent and drying, so take note of how much rose you use, and if you are already dry and dehyrated or live in a dry/hot climate, you might consider adding a demulcent like marshmallow root to the infusion as well.

I like to use the fragrant wild roses for most of my medicinal preparations, but note that unsprayed cultivated roses and the wild multiflora rose which is less fragrant still make wonderful cooling medicines - as vinegars, elixirs, infused honey and tea.

Online Course Announcement: Stress: The Vitalist Perspective

STRESS: A VITALIST PERSPECTIVE
an online seminar with Sean Donahue
July 12 - August 30
$150

Our bodies have developed an amazing set of responses to help us respond to danger.

But life in our fast-paced society puts many people perpetually on edge -- and that constant stress throws us out of balance with serious consequences for our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

In this seminar we will explore herbal and nutritional strategies for supporting the body, mind, and spirit in times of extreme stress -- and helping bodies that have been under stress for a long time remember how to relax into a natural state of relaxation that allows for healing and rejuvenation.

The emphasis will be on nourishing the body, identifying and removing "obstacles to cure," and supporting the body's natural healing processes.

Topics covered will include:

-- The Biology and Energetics of Stress
-- Nourishing the Adrenals
-- Nourishing the Nervous System
-- Understanding Adaptogens from a Vitalist Perspective
-- Stress and Physical Tension
-- Acute Anxiety
-- Trauma and Anxiety

I am open to considering payment plans and thoughtful barter, but all such requests must be received by July 5.

To register, e-mail seandonahuepoet@gmail.com
________________________________________________________
About the instructor:

Sean Donahue is a traditional herbalist, poet, activist, and witch committed to healing and transformation through connection with the living Earth. As an herbalist, Sean works primarily with the wild plants of the forests and fields of New England. He views the plants as teachers, helping the body, mind, and spirit learn to correct imbalances that stand in the way of health. As a teacher, poet, and ritualist, Sean works to connect people with their own wild nature and with the life of the world around them. He believes that personal, community, and cultural healing are all deeply intertwined with the healing of our planet.

Conquering Insulin Resistance Naturally with Nutrition and Herbs: Online Intensive

Conquering Insulin Resistance Naturally with Nutrition and Herbs: Online Intensive

Are you concerned about any of the following modern diseases: Type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, trouble losing weight, cardiovascular health concerns, inflammation, cancer. Did you know that all of these are signs and or symptoms of what is called Syndrome X, or Metabolic Syndrome. Underlying the syndrome/symptoms is a metabolic dysregulation called Insulin Resistance. Much to our dismay, this is rampant in the United States, and is causing health problems for millions of people, some without even knowing! Fortunately for us, there are many natural ways of dealing with and controlling insulin resistance through food, nutrition, herbalism and lifestyle changes. Western medicine will tell you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes or cancer and throw you a medication to control the symptom, but very rarely does the underlying cause of the symptom get addressed.

Join Herbalist and Nutritionist, Darcey Blue, for an 8 week long online intensive covering all aspects of Insulin Resistance and how to manage it naturally through food, herbs and lifestyle changes. We will cover the following topics.

*Physiology of insulin resistance
*Sugar/carbohydrate cravings and addiction
*Nutrient dense foods and meals that control insulin resistance
*Herbs and Supplements
*appropriate and effective exercise specifically for managing IR
*stress and sleep
*the role of inflammation

This course is specifically helpful for those who are working to manage Insulin Resistance in their own lives, but is appropriate for anyone who wants to learn more about health and the roots of many of today's chronic and rampant diseases, or those working with clients or family members with Insuslin resistance.

You will receive bi-weekly lessons and reading material, suggestions for additional resources, assignments which focus on experiencing first hand the ways you can use the suggestions for Insulin Resistance in your own life, personal attention and coaching from Darcey, a supportive group community all working towards the same goal! Classes are run via e-mail mailing list, and weekly computer access is a requirement for the course.

Class runs from July 5- Aug 30
Cost: Sliding scale $150-$200- payments plans are available
Some additional materials (books, herbs) will be needed for the course.

For more details or questions, or to register contact Darcey (shamana.flora@gmail.com or 520-429-2654)
Payments may be made via check/money order or paypal.


About the Instructor:
Darcey Blue French is an herbalist and food lover, who has over the years explored various ways of eating, interacting with food and preparing food. Educated as a Clinical Herbalist and Nutritionist at the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism in 2008, she has been in private practice since that time. She has experience in Ayurvedic Cooking, Vegetarian, Allergen Free, Insulin Resistance diets and the philosophies of Dr. Weston Price. Food is far more than fuel, and Darcey is passionate about food that not only nourishes the body, but also the spirit, and tastes wonderful too. She works closely with plants, both wild and cultivated that provide both food and medicine. She is an avid forager of wild foods, gardener of organic vegetables, and is passionate about local and sustainable food systems, and how our relationship with the land, nature and wilderness impacts our physical and spiritual health and wellbeing. She truly believes that one cannot separate the health of the people from the health of the ecosystem in which they live.

Intense, vibrantly wild and alive!

Blog Party: Bioregional Allies for Influenza: Butterfly Weed

Blog Party: See all the amazing entries at www.methowvalleyherbs.blogspot.com

One of my favorite wildflowers that is widespread across much of the country, in patches, and grows quite well in the southwestern Sky Island mountains is Butterfly Weed, or Pleurisy Root (Asclepias tuberose). Not strictly limited to the Southwest, and certainly a very commonly cultivated plant, I choose it as one of my prime allies for influenza.

Influenza is primarily a respiratory illness, and

beautiful Butterfly Weed, is a versatile and complicated plant which has a strong affinity for the respiratory tract. Known in herbal circles more commonly as Pleurisy Root, this plant from the Milkweed family was often used for exactly that, Pleurisy, a very painful, acute inflam

mation of the pleural lining of the lungs, in which there can be fluid build-up between the pleura and lungs. Pleurisy usually occurs from an acute infection like influenza, pneumonia, or in autoimmune conditions with widespread inflammation. Pleurisy aside, Butterfly Weed (the name I prefer to call it by) is definitely a good choice in any respiratory condition with inflammation and dampness, including influenza.

Butterfly Weed, in the Asclepidaceae family, is named for Asclepias, the Greek god of healing. Its virtues are many and diverse, and thus was well respected throughout history as a healing medicine plant. Butterfly Weed is one of few plants in the milkweed family that doesn’t have a milky white sap and is a primary food source for Monarch butterflies. It can be very locally abundant in the right environment, but it is less com

mon than one might suspect, and due to this fact, and its ecological importance, one must wild craft this healer with care. Here in the Southwestern mountains I find it in the regions of transition between oak/juniper woodlands to ponderosa pine forest, often growing among the rocky banks of dry arroyos. Its brilliant orange flowers in early summer are a tell tale giveaway to its identity and location, but is otherwise a non-descript green plant easy to overlook.

Butterfly weed is relaxant, stimulant, diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, lymphatic tonic, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, and emetic. One of the finest relaxing diaphoretics in our western materia medica, I usually turn to Butterfly Weed when my other favorite relaxing diaphoretic, Elder flower hasn’t been as effective as hoped. It is specific to feverish conditions where the skin is hot and dry, and the individual is tense, and experiencing inflammation, pain and fluid congestion in the respiratory tract. It relaxes tension in the tissues of the skin, mucous membranes (think respiratory, digestive and urinary systems), and allows fluid balance and movement to be restored. It will readily produce a sweat in those hot, dry and tense feverish folks, dilate the bronchials, ease expectoration of mucus, and ease pain and inflammation. This can be especially helpful in influenza which is characterized by hyper immune response resulting in inflammatory cytokine storm, with fluid build up. I also fin

d it to be extremely useful in those feverish cases when the person really needs to relax and sleep, Butterfly weed eases those individuals into a relaxed state where sleep will come easier and they will get the rest they need to recover.

Butterfly weed is most effective when given as a warm tea, 1 tsp of root per cup, taken 2-3 times per day. Though I find administering smaller portions 2-3 tablespoons or a few swallows at a time, over the course of 30 min to an hour can be quite effective as well, and far more tolerable to most folks, as the taste of butterfly weed is hard to swallow. A tincture of the fresh root is also an effective medicine, and I like to administer it as such: 2-3 droppers of tincture in hot water, sipped slowly over 30 min to an hour.

Butterfly weed can be very useful in bringing down a high fever to a healthy level, by opening pores and stimulating circulation to the surface of the skin and away from the core. I like to put the feverish person in a tepid bath ( 98 degrees F) as they sip their tea. I’ve seen a fever nearing 104.5 F respond quickly to this combination of herb and hydrotherapy, and return to a healthy 102 F.

William Cook informs us that the effects of Butterfly weed are slow to take effect but are lasting, but the usefulness is enhanced when given with another circulatory stimulant which is quicker acting, like ginger. In the interest of bioregionalism, I’d likely combine it with Monarda (Bee Balm), Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) or even Osha (Liguisticum porteri) depending on the case and the person.

“The chief employment of this agent is in febrile and inflammatory affections, where the

perspiration needs to be decidedly promoted, and excitement of the heart relieved by a full outward determination of blood. It secures a slow, steady, and free perspiration, at the same time suitably diminishing excessive heat of the surface; which action renders it highly serviceable in typhus, scarlet, bilious, puerperal, lung, rheumatic, and other forms of fever, with a hot skin and rigid pulse. Measles and catarrhal fever may be added especially to this list; and so great is its service in pleurisy, that pleurisy root is one of the most popular of its names among the people. In acute dysentery, with fever and tormina, it secures that free circulation to the surface which affords great relief to the bowels; and in the acute stages of inflammation of the womb, bladder, and kidneys, it is of equal advantage. In all these cases its use is followed by not only an increased perspiration and softening of the pulse; but the action of the kidneys becomes better, the mucous surfaces act more firmly and naturally, and the nervous system obtains a soothing impression that is very desirable.” William Cook

This is just the tip of the root of this amazing and versatile plant, and I plan to write more in depth on it in the future, but its application in influenza can’t be faulted. Stay well!

Influenza prevention and therapies

There's a whole lot of fear mongering going on about the swine flu, and I thought I'd point you all to my thoughts on how to prevent and manage an influenza infection. I'm not convinced swine flu is the big baddie the media is making it out to be, but being prepared is NEVER a bad choice.

Please refer to my previous posts on Influenza here:
Prevention
Remedies

Got questions? Comments? Other ideas? Please share!

Verbena of the Desert: Bittersweet Medicine

By late April in the Sonoran desert many of the spring wildflowers are fading from view as the temperatures begin to soar into the 90’s and any spring rains taper off to a early summer dry spell that lasts until the monsoon rains in July. The once abundant anemone has passed, leaving no trace of its ephemeral existence, spring green grasses are fading to crunchy brown, and trees are leafed out. A foray to one of my favorite plant collecting spots clearly shows the progression of the seasons. The desert plantain finally popped up and went to seed already, and I munch a few of the slimy seedy fruits that taste a bit like a bitter artichoke. A nice trail nibble indeed. Green Manzanita berries are beginning to blush reddish brown, and the local Artemisia is growing taller. The grapevines are finally leafing out with tender fuzzy grape leaves, and the tiniest beginnings of the vine flowers which hold promise of wild grapes come late summer.

I love the diversity and constant shifting of this remarkable desert climate, the mountains and canyons, the valleys and arroyos are always changing, the plants bloom and fruit at different times. The late spring is a good time for harvesting some of the last spring flowers, this week I was blessed with a bounty of Verbena. There are several different species of Verbena that grow in our region, V. goodingii, v. macdougalii, and v. bipinnatifida, and they all interbreed and hybridize. They are all similar in medicinal qualities, and I use them all. I still call it verbena, even though the botanists have reclassified it as Glandularia. There are certain differences in our verbena/glandularia species from the vervains of the east and Europe, but in my experience enough similarities in uses, that I use them interchangeably. Seeing how these grow here in my large desert backyard, I use this one most often.

These verbenas can be found in riparian habitats at almost any elevation, as long as they have water. I’ve harvested plants from the washes in the low desert valley, all the way up to the top of the mountains in recent burn areas on moist northern slopes. This makes it a very handy plant, able to be collected all spring and summer long at various elevations. The lower plants tend to dry up and wither away in early summer, just as the ones living in higher elevations are starting to flower.

As I wandered up the hillside from the wash, I recalled seeing several of the verbena plants by certain trees when I had been looking for anemone several weeks ago. I found those plants and gratefully harvested a few flowering branches. As I wandered the flowering verbena beckoned me onward and upward, every time I moved toward another plant, one just above me would reveal itself. I continued up the hillside, astounded by the quantity of the flowers all around. It was growing interspersed with cat claw acacia, crumbling granitic boulders, and in the wash running down the hillside. In the late afternoon sun, I sat on a boulder, next to a lush flowering verbena, grateful for the wind to cool the sweat on my back, the open view of my favorite riparian valley from above, and the call of the hawks screaming above. Much as verbena does, the collecting mission warmed me, released fluid (sweat) and relaxed the tension of the day held in tight shoulder and back muscles.

My desert Verbena is one of the most versatile medicines I use, and I can apply this sweet flowering plant to almost any situation with great benefit. Energetically it is mildly warm to neutral in temperature, and dry. It is a strong relaxant and seems to affect a variety of tissues in the body, but most specifically nervous, mucous membrane, musculoskeletal, secretory and vascular tissues. Verbena is diffusive, diaphoretic/diuretic, bitter, nervine, antispasmodic, tonic, astringent and emetic in large quantities.

I use both the fresh plant tincture and the tea of our desert verbena. The fresh plant tincture has a funny habit of sort of “gelling” up and getting a bit congealed in the bottle. It doesn’t seem to affect its properties in tincture form, but getting people to accept a strange textured tincture is a hard sell, at best. For that reason I’ve come to rely on the tea more often, but I do use the gloppy tincture most often combined with other tinctures which seems to help the glop dissipate into solution.

A warm/hot tea of the leaves and flowers is relaxant diaphoretic, useful in hot, dry and tense fever. It will induce a good sweat by relaxing tension in the capillaries and secretory tissues, allowing heat to disperse from the core to the surface. Though not specifically anti-infective, I use verbena all the time when coming down with a bug precisely for its relaxing diaphoretic property. Taken cold, or a tincture will alternatively increase diuresis. Somewhat useful for the monthly bloating that accompanies tension and crankiness during the premenstrual period.

I particularly like using verbena for cranky time during PMS, especially for women who are driven to push themselves further than they should, and hold tension in the neck/shoulders, verbena can help them to relax, slow down, release the tension and ease the irritability. This works for men too, of the same type, disregarding the PMS in that case.

I’ve used a tea of verbena to aid new mothers having trouble with nursing and producing milk. Verbena is a mild galactagouge, increases the secretion of fluids (including breast milk) and helps release tension in the upper thoracic area ( right there where the breasts are!), and helps mom to settle down enough to really be with her babe and focus on nursing. I find the tea much better in this case than the tincture, as some of these women really just need to slow down and focus, and the act of making tea feeds that process.

Verbena is also an excellent digestive system remedy for those whose stress levels have impaired their digestion. Verbena is a bitter, and increases digestive secretions all along the digestive tract, and helps to release tension the liver, stomach and bowel. I also use the tea for a ‘nervous” stomach, butterflies, nausea, gas, or general discomfort stemming from nervous tension, usually before giving a public talk, getting on a plane for long distance travel or any other situation that ties your stomach up in knots from the nerves.

I love the contrast of this plant with its amazingly sweet smelling fragrant flowers and the bitter leaves, teaching us about the balance of the sweet and the bitter in life. I love how easy and abundant her healing is, and her versatility, able to be used in many different situations with great, gentle and lasting healing.

Stalking the Wild Anemone

This week I’ve been “stalking” the wild anemone of the southwest, Anemone Tuberosa. This lovely spring wildflower is a shy, small plant that hides underneath the spiny cat claw acacia, mounds of dried grasses, fallen logs, and in the crevasses between rock and soil in the grassy foothills and oak/juniper woodlands of our local mountains. It only grows in any great quantity in years when we’ve been blessed with abundant winter storms with snow and rain, and even then takes a sharp eye to spot due to its small size and tendency to hide.

Anemone, a member of the Ranunculaceae (Buttercup) family, is used much like the more well known Pulsatilla, and is related other medicinal members of the family like clematis and black cohosh. It grows from small tubers (thus the name A. tuberosa) that remain alive in the soil for much longer than the delicate flowers make their appearance. The flowers range from white to pale pink, about an inch or inch and a half in diameter, a single flower per stem. The flowers develop into bulbous, and wooly soft seed clusters that dry and scatter on the wind. The entire plant is extremely acrid, leaving a spicy, burning sensation on the tongue, and irritating to the skin.

Usually this delicate looking but strong and tenacious medicine flowers from late February through March, and occasionally into April, depending on the temperatures and continued spring rain. It has been a particularly busy February for me, juggling both work and several clients a week, with few days off. I finally got a chance to head up to the foothills of my favorite secluded canyon and medicine plant spot one morning this week. The day dawned overcast and significantly cooler than it has been for the last few weeks, and I was eager to be outside, and get a first glimpse at the plants beginning to wake up from winter rest. I knew it had been a fairly wet winter, and recent spring rains further strengthened my hope for a good wildflower year. So off I went to see if one my favorite nervous system remedies was growing in great abundance this year. A short 5 minute walk down the trail, eyes trained to the grassy areas on either side of me, revealed the first glimpse of the beauty, Anemone. I feel to my knees in the grass, gently parting the dried mat away from the multi flowered specimen that had caught my eye. Upon closer inspection, I observed that there were 3 or 4 other individual plants in that small area. I felt such a deep outwelling of gratitude to the plant, for revealing itself to me so quickly, and promising abundance in its plentitude in such a small area.

After a rather humbling experience this past fall in which I didn’t listen to a plant before harvesting, I quieted myself, focused on the small flower before me and asked permission to harvest and make medicine. It has been at least 4 years since I have collected this special medicine, as usually one batch lasts a very good while (small doses usually do the job), and I have spent some time away from the desert in those years. An affirmative response from the plant came to me, one that is difficult to describe in words, but can be distinctly experienced in the senses of the heart and spirit. It is easy to distinguish a “No” from a “yes” when working with plants and harvesting if one is sensitive and open, but I have learned, all too easy to push aside if you aren’t present and focused with the particular plant with which you are working. I’ll elaborate more on this in a future post.

I made an offering to that plant, and tasted a small portion of a leaf with gratitude, feeling the medicine of the plant fill my senses and body, a spreading warmth, a slowing and strengthening of my pulse, and a heavy calm washing over me, in addition to the characteristic burning taste it left on my tongue.

I left that spot and began to wander up the south facing hillside slowly, choosing each step carefully, eyes scanning the ground carefully for the hiding flowers, and sure enough, as the plant I had connected with had assured, there was an abundance of flowering Anemone, in various stages of growth. Some were just sprouting leaves and tiny buds, others were in full flower, and some had even begun setting seed. I quietly began to collect some of the plants, breaking stem off near the ground with my thumb, leaving the tuber in place to grow more plants in the future. The juices of the fresh plant left a burning sensation under my thumb nail as I collected, again showing its strength, especially in the fresh state. As I harvested I found myself reaching under clawing Acacia bushes, crawling on the ground, face down under branches and holding onto rocks and boulders as I found plants that offered themselves for my medicine jar. Much to my delight, as I was harvesting, I saw the beautiful Blue Dicks, Dichelostemma capitatum, with bright blue flowers and long slender lily leaves, and the spring green tender growth and fragrant violet flowers of the native verbena, Glandularia gooddingii, the golden yellow flowers of Corydalis aurea, also known as goldensmoke also dotted the hillside. Indeed, a good year for flowers!

And, as plants are able to do, the anemone made it perfectly clear when it was time to stop harvesting, a combination of not seeing anymore plants, and an inner knowing, said, “This is enough.” So I sat down on a flat rock, took off my pack and sat quietly, taking in the cool spring wind, the sun on my skin and my gratitude for the abundance that the day had given me, in just a few short hours. On my way back down the hillside I stopped to gather some of the flowering verbena (another plant I haven’t harvested in quite a while and have been running low on), and some of the fresh spring growth of the local Artemisia. I chewed a bitter leaf as I walked back, tasting the freshness, the bitterness and vigorous life bursting forth from the new growth.

Desert anemone is a very special medicine to me, one that is particular to the southwest, and so strong, and so useful. Being a member of the Buttercup family, Anemone is a very strong medicine, and small doses are really all that is necessary to receive its benefits. For most people 5-10 drops works beautifully for emotional outbursts, panic/anxiety attacks, PTSD or hormonal mood swings. I use the fresh plant tincture, hanging out in the Michael Moore camp that finds the dried plant much less effective.

Anemone is a supreme warming nervous system remedy, circulatory stimulant, relaxant nervine, digestive stimulant, and blood mover. I use it extensively for anxiety, panic attacks, hysteria, depression and hormonal mood swings. 5-10 drops, taken in 3-5 drop doses, every 5 min usually takes the situation down a notch, and I find it works beautifully in combination with cardiovascular/heart remedies like passionflower or motherwort ( if racing heart or palpitations accompany) , muscular relaxants and antispasmodics like lobelia or kava (for constricted respiratory passages, or muscular tension and spasm with pain). I’ll add a little sage, wood betony or St Johns Wort if there is great fear associated with the episode or hawthorn or rose for associated heartbreak.

Anemone is also a supreme remedy for folks who are withdrawing from addictive substances. I’ve only used it for folks coming off of nicotine, or anxiety medications like Xanax, but suspect it would be very useful for other substances as well, especially if there is nervousness, anxiety and tension or emotional outbursts. In these cases I like to complement it with nervous system and adrenal restoring herbs, especially Milky Oat Seed tincture, or St Johns Wort, Scullcap, Nettle Seed or Licorice. The addition of Lobelia can be of particular benefit to those who are working with a nicotine addiction. Michael Moore states that is has been of use for “bad trips” or “hallucinogenic flights of abject terror” or anxiety from marijuana use along with Passionflower.

This is a lovely remedy for women who experience menstrual mood swings, crying jags, depression, dysmenorrhea (cramping), and/or hormonal migraines. Like its cousin Clematis, it can stave off the worst of a migraine if caught and given early, (at the time of visual disturbance), and can be of great aid in the pain and emotional havoc that plague some women at this time. Again, small doses of 5-15 drops, used alone or in combination with other antispasmodics, blood movers, and nervines as appropriate. My most recent experience in this regard combined Anemone with Viburnum, Dioscorea, and Zingiber for clotty, slow to start, painful cramping w/ menses. I only needed 2 doses of this blend spaced about 15-20 min apart to get significant relief from pain and emotional tension that I experience. A very nice acute remedy while addressing the underlying causes of hormonal imbalances or nutritional deficiencies contributing to the picture.

I could go on and on about the various uses of anemone as a stimulating poultice for arthritis, as an eye wash for conjunctivitis, or glaucoma, and a digestive stimulant, but I’ll point you to these other very well written treatises on Anemone and Pulsatilla, and stick to my own personal experience with the plant in my writing.

7Song - http://7song.com/files/Herbalists%20View-%20Anemone%20for%20Panic%20Attacks.pdf

Kiva Rose- http://bearmedicineherbals.com/?p=234

Michael Moore- http://www.swsbm.com/FOLIOS/PulsFol.pdf

Charlie Kane - http://tcbmed.com/publications/plant_profiles/anemone.html

This is multifaceted treasure of the southwestern deserts and I am deeply grateful to be working with such magnificent plants, tender and strong, fierce and gentle, tenacious and ephemeral.

How to Unwind: Herbal Hydrotherapy

I've recently begun working until late in the evening a few nights a week. I come home at 10 pm after being on my feet for hours, talking to people, under bright artificial light, and being rather busy.
It's been hard to get to bed at a decent time, mostly because it takes me a while to unwind after 8 hrs of work. But getting to bed at midnight isn't doing my body good. So I've accquired a new habit to help me unwind. A hot herbal foot soak. Simple, beautiful, effective.

Being of a somewhat watery constitution, hydrotherapy has always felt good to me. Water is calming, soothing, flowing, and for many folks a lukewarm/nuetral temperature bath before bed can really help them to relax and get ready for sleeping, and it's a nice technique to use for folks with chronic insomnia, especially if it is related to too much activity or tension late in the evening.
A bath at 10 pm just wasn't feeling very feasible for me, but, a foot soak. That was something I could handle after a long day, and served a similar purpose.

I simmer 2-3 cups of water in a BIG pot (big enough to put both feet in), turn it off as it starts to bubble, and throw in a few handfuls of some relaxing herbs. The soles of the feet are suprisingly very absorbent, and many folks find that herbal compounds absorb through the feet well.
The first night I tried this my feet were rather sore and achy, so I steeped a combo of sage and lavender flowers in the hot water for 5 min. Then I topped off the pot with cool water until it was a safe temperature to put my feet in without burning them.

Last night, a combo of lavender and hops was just the ticket.
I prepare the pan of hot herbal water and a tea kettle at the same time. I fix a cup of relaxing herbal tea, I choose lavender and linden, and sit down on the couch with the hot tea, and rest my feet in the steamy, fragrant herbal bath.

The warm water draws heat, blood and energy down from the head into the lower regions of the body, and the relaxing herbs soak in through the feet and the aromatics float up on the steam to relax the mind and spirit.
10 min of this treatment, and I'm completely ready for bed. I dry my feet off with a soft towel, then rub a nice herbal oil all over my feet to pacify vata, and encourage the calming and relaxing. A favorite foot oil of my creation is infused St Johns Wort oil with a touch of sandalwood and ylang ylang essential oils. Rosemary oil is especially nice for cold and aching feet, and I use that often as well. After that, I lay down, and fall right to sleep, and sleep all night long.

And it only takes about 30-40 min to prepare, soak and sip, and oil. I can be in bed by 10:45 instead of midnight (if I don't dally or soak for longer than 10-15 min), the quality of my sleep is deeply restful, and my aching feet don't hurt.

Lovely, simple remedies are often the best. Some other nice herbs to try for foot soaks include:
Chamomile
peppermint
rosemary
mugwort
tulsi
rose