[00:00:00] Welcome to Planet Spoonie, the podcast for lymies and spoonies healing themselves and the world. In this collective, trauma informed, and inclusive space, you will learn all about the foundations of truly holistic living, including traditional nutrition, herbal medicine, nature connection, and everything in between.

[00:00:23] These are the same foundations that have helped me rediscover a sense of magic, belonging, and my own healing capacity while living with chronic illness. Let's dig in.

[00:00:35] Do you find yourself wondering how to actually get started with herbal medicine? How to know what to do, what herbs to start with, what's safe, what's easy, and really just what's the most practical way to begin?

[00:00:51] If so, listen into this episode because that is what we are going to talk all about. I am going to introduce you to three herbs that I can almost guarantee you already know and most likely have in your kitchen. If not, they are most definitely accessible at your nearest grocery store and maybe depending on the plant are even growing nearby.

[00:01:13] The art of herbalism is one built out of connection, relationships, and magic. As we begin to connect to the wild and cultivated plants that live on the lands around us, We also begin to see the profound connection that we have always shared with them. This relationship that we have with plants runs deep in our cells, in our blood, in our bones.

[00:01:38] It's how all our ancestors found sustenance and healing and how the majority of the world Still does. So many species, besides our own, other animals find medicine and healing from the plants. And there are so many stories and examples of this, of ways in which other animals will lay mosses or leaves over open wounds and rest.

[00:02:03] and actually heal. These stories are beautiful and they're just a demonstration of how deep this wisdom goes, how far back this tradition of working with plants really is. And as if you listened a couple episodes ago, we still derive a huge amount of our pharmaceutical medicines from plants, either directly or indirectly through creating synthetic copies of the active compounds found in plants.

[00:02:33] Since I began studying herbalism, I have become much happier, healthier, and fulfilled person. I have become more aware of my place in local and global ecosystems. And this is really vital for all of us to become more aware of because in this world, we are facing global scale issues of pollution, soil depletion, other aspects of the climate crisis, including The rise in chronic illness, and we're being signaled that we need to make some drastic changes.

[00:03:09] And we can do this by cooking with whole foods, making our own medicines, not just minimizing waste, but learning to eliminate waste entirely and to repurpose everything by connecting to our local landscapes. We can truly and powerfully make positive change that has a far reaching impact beyond what we might imagine.

[00:03:33] Our bodies have a deep knowing that can get dulled out in this hustle and bustle culture that we live in. If you know me, you have heard me say a thousand times that only we know what's best for us and learning to cook with Whole Foods and how to make our own medicines is one of the first and most empowering steps we can take not only towards positive global change but towards healing ourselves, towards moving to a new place, a new level in our healing journey.

[00:04:07] It is Just incredibly enriching and empowering, and once you get started making herbal medicines, you will never look back. I promise you, it is so addictive and so much fun. I truly believe that cooking real foods and making medicines at home is a form of activism that's healing on individual and collective levels.

[00:04:34] So I'm curious, who in your family lineage knew about herbal and natural remedies? Did your grandmother or your grandfather or another caregiver have a favorite spice they added to all their cooking? What spices do you love to add to all your cooking? What is in your kitchen cabinet right now? Which are your favorites, and how do you use them?

[00:04:56] Why are they there? Why do you use them in the way that you use them? I promise it's not just for flavor or because a recipe called for it. It's because you intuitively know what your body needs. Your grandmother intuitively knew what her body needs. This... is what I'm talking about when I say that we have evolved with plants for a long time.

[00:05:21] There is a symbiotic relationship that goes beyond a logical, linear, languaged way of knowing. Plant medicine connects us to our ancestors and to our bodies for this exact reason. Because when we start to tap into and lean into why we're picking that cinnamon to go with our oatmeal, why we have salt and black pepper at every table, we begin to understand that there is power to these things.

[00:05:57] There is a reason for these things. It isn't by chance. So let's break this down and actually explore this a little bit. Every single spice and herb in your kitchen is medicinal and has medicinal potential. When we look at these really simple things like cinnamon is extraordinarily biochemically active in the body.

[00:06:22] Cinnamon helps to balance blood sugar. It helps with lipid metabolism. And it has numerous other effects. It's not by chance that cinnamon gets paired with sweet things. And the same way salt, Before it became table salt, right? Table salt is refined down to just sodium, which is not the same thing as unrefined table salt, which contains iodine and potassium and magnesium and all kinds of other minerals at varying levels, depending on where the salt came from.

[00:06:55] I'm not talking about table salt here, but salt, unrefined, whole salt, whether it's from the sea or from salt flats or wherever it's been harvested. Contains all of these minerals, right? And these minerals are really important for ensuring that our cells are actually able to absorb water and perform all kinds of functions that they perform on a daily basis, right?

[00:07:20] Magnesium is essential to glucose metabolism. Without ATP. And if you know what ATP is the source of energy for our body. So salt's really important. Black pepper. That's another really interesting one. You may, be on the end and know that black pepper is best paired with turmeric because it increases absorption of turmeric.

[00:07:46] It uptakes that absorption of curcumin, but In reality, black pepper increases absorption of everything. That's what one of its medicinal actions. It increases bioavailability of whatever it's paired with, which is why in certain doses, it can actually be contraindicated with a number of pharmaceuticals because it can alter...

[00:08:08] the amount that we're absorbing of that medication. So these things are on our table for a reason. And if you think, for however long salt and black pepper have been at every kitchen table, that's pretty fundamental. One of those is providing you with essential minerals and So you can function, and the other one's increasing the bioavailability of all the food you eat.

[00:08:33] How cool is that? And they do other things besides that, but that's just like barely scratching the surface. So the point is, Every single spice and herb in your kitchen is medicine, and we're going to explore three in particular. But every single one is medicine. And if you think about eating food, our bodies use an enormous amount of energy to digest food.

[00:08:59] Using spices and herbs to assist in digestion helps our body not only reserve some energy, but also a increases the efficiency of digestion, right? Some herbs, like bitters, will increase exocrine gland function, meaning they get our stomach to produce more stomach acid, our gallbladder to release more bile, our liver to maybe produce more bile our pancreas to release more pancreatic enzymes.

[00:09:27] We also might have herbs that are carminatives or anti spasmodics that help increase absorption of nutrients while also reducing any kind of spasming in the gut. Like that, cramping, gassy, or bloating feeling. We also have herbs like demulsants that help soothe and coat the GI tract with these healing polysaccharides.

[00:09:53] It's like a healing. It's called a mucilage, which may or may not sound gross to you, but it's think oatmeal. It's like that goopy, goopiness that kind of coats the GI tract and is super soothing and helps reduce inflammation. We also have prebiotic herbs. Prebiotic herbs are often also demulsants.

[00:10:11] And prebiotic herbs help feed beneficial bacteria in the gut. So there are all kinds of herbs. in your kitchen cabinet that do these things. In fact, like I said, every single herb in your kitchen cabinet has some kind of digestive aid property. That's why it's a culinary herb. That's why that tradition got started and people began working with that herb for that reason.

[00:10:38] And here in the States, because this is a colonized country we tend to work with herbs that all come from Europe. This isn't 100 percent the case, but this is very much largely the case because that's the reality of the world we live in. So thyme, oregano, sage, these are some really common ones. We also.

[00:11:04] Incorporate a lot of Ayurvedic herbs that originate from India and Asia, depending on what herb there are varieties of cinnamon and I guess it depends because there's different species that grow from Everywhere. But cinnamon and cumin, turmeric, for example and these all have medicinal properties.

[00:11:27] And there are definitely culinary herbs that are native here in North America, like bee balm. I think that is one that is beloved by so many people because the flowers are so gorgeous. Pollinators love it. And it's really just this vibrant, spicy oregano, almost. There are so many different culinary herbs that you can work with, and I'm willing to bet you have several of these already in your cabinet.

[00:11:55] And this is why it's important to buy good quality spices, because good quality spices mean that you are getting herbal medicine in every meal. Instead of buying some kind of refined spice blend that who knows where it came from. A really great way to get started with herbalism is simply to start making your own spices.

[00:12:16] And the best way to do that is just by smell and taste. It's really simple. Like I said, your body already knows what to do. For example, this week I made some oat muffins. I, oats are like my comfort grain. They're one of the grains that I always cook with and go to and have for a long time.

[00:12:34] I like bake, if I'm going to bake, I like baking with whole grains instead of refined flour, and I'm comfy with oats, so I make my muffins with oats, but if you're more comfortable with like almonds or coconut or something else, you can experiment with that too. But with my oats, or with my oatmeal muffins, I All I do, I never measure my spices.

[00:12:56] I just go with what smells good to me that week. So I'll sniff my jar of allspice, clove, cinnamon, whatever's appealing in that moment. Maybe some nutmeg. And I just add it to what smells right and. This does take time and experience, I'm not going to lie, and you are going to mess up sometimes, that's totally fine.

[00:13:18] But if you can just start experimenting with this in your cooking, you will be amazed at how expertly you can begin to create spice blends. And even better, when you find yourself sick with an acute cold or flu or something, you will intuitively be drawn to the spices that are going to help support you, like garlic or cayenne.

[00:13:41] Maybe sage to dry up that all that mucus and a runny nose or chest congestion and suddenly you're craving onions, right? So just start smelling, start tasting these herbs that you already have in your kitchen cabinet because that's what spices are. Spices are medicinal herbs and they can boost energy, they can increase cell reproduction, they can improve immune system function, circulation, and all kinds of other amazing things.

[00:14:10] But most especially they can help support digestion and this is Huge, because so many of us are living with gut issues. In fact, I would say that was my primary struggle in all the years of living with chronic Lyme and not knowing it was just ongoing gut dysfunction. So that's the deal. Your pepper, your paprika, basil, thyme, ginger, garlic, mustard seeds, coriander, marjoram, mint, and all those other spices are derived from medicinal herbs.

[00:14:42] plants. And something that you'll begin to notice is that a lot of these herbs that have digestive, medicinal properties that really impact the gastrointestinal system. Many of them also double as what's called nervines. Nervines are a category of herbs that help to really soothe and support the nervous system.

[00:15:04] These include things like chamomile, tulsi, also called holy basil. lemon balm, lavender, rosemary, mint and there are several others. So these herbs are in this special category that both nourish and soothe the nervous system and the gut at the same time. They really interact with that gut brain function or that mind gut connection in our enteric nervous system.

[00:15:31] Our enteric nervous system makes up Millions of nerve cells that live throughout the gut and constantly communicate with our brain. They regulate the entire process of digestion and involve interactions between nerve signals and hormones and bacteria in the gut that all together affect our mood, our immunity, our digestion, and overall health.

[00:15:57] So these special category of herbs that work with the gut brain are really often rich and soothing aromatic compounds and antioxidants. They tend to be carminative.

[00:16:13] Meaning it helps to improve diges digestion and soothe any spasms in the gut. So they also have that anti spasmodic property. They also can be analgesic or pain relieving. They are very often also antimicrobial to some degree, and this is really fascinating because a lot of these herbs are selectively antimicrobial.

[00:16:35] So one herb, this is a less common kitchen culinary herb, though perhaps it was more common at one time, is marshmallow. Marshmallow is a prebiotic and antimicrobial at the same time, which is so cool. It both feeds beneficial bacteria and can selectively inhibit. Opportunistic bacteria. It's just really fascinating to me that these herbs work on so many levels and that people have been working with them pretty specifically to support these vital systems of the body, particularly the ones involved with digestion, for thousands of years, for countless generations.

[00:17:18] And we really can't discount how powerful that is. So the three herbs I want to share with you that I think you probably already have in your kitchen are rosemary, ginger, and cinnamon. Let's talk a little bit about each one and break down some of the things that they do so that you can begin experimenting with them right at home.

[00:17:43] So let's start off with rosemary. Rosemary is definitely a very strong culinary herb. A little goes a long way. It grows quite prolifically all over California, at least everywhere I've lived, from the very southern tip of the state all the way to the very northern most of the state on the coast just beneath Oregon.

[00:18:04] It has these beautiful, bright, kind of light blue purple blooms that are beloved by honeybees. If you see it in bloom, there will be honeybees all over it, no matter where you are. And the entire thing is edible. So you can eat, you wouldn't eat the woody stems, but you can eat the leaves and the flowers.

[00:18:23] And it's really easily grown. It can be grown in pots or it can be grown in the ground and it stays green year round. And you can even grow it in colder States as well, though it may need to come inside during winter or be covered up. I know that it, it was easy enough to grow in Colorado and just bring inside in the wintertime.

[00:18:43] Medicinally, rosemary is one of those herbs that works with the gut brain. It has strong effects on both the gastrointestinal and nervous systems. And it increases circulation throughout the body. in particular to these two systems as well as the cardiovascular system. The aerial parts of this plant are a cardiotonic, meaning it helps to tone and improve function of the cardiovascular system, supporting the integrity of blood vessels, helping normalize low blood pressure.

[00:19:16] blood pressure. Rosemary, though you might think of it as a cooling herb, actually has warming properties because of this ability to increase circulation throughout the body. So it has a warming effect when it's consumed or if it's smelled through aromatherapy. It's also very energizing. So it's really great for chronic fatigue, as well as any kind of just like sluggish, sluggishness or lethargy.

[00:19:45] I love using it to support memory and focus and cognition. So if I'm feeling like extra sleepy or having a brain foggy day, I love putting a couple drops of rosemary into my diffuser so I can just smell it and it truly is more effective than a cup of coffee for waking you up, helping you focus and get work done because it's bringing more blood to the brain among many other things.

[00:20:13] You can also make rosemary into a cup of tea, or you can, that might be a little bit strong depending on how you like the taste of it, so you can add other herbs to it, like mint and lemon balm, which pair really well with rosemary. You can also add it into your foods, into any snacks. You can make rosemary, Covered cashews or anything that really sounds good to you, and it will have these medicinal properties So you can smell it, you can consume it.

[00:20:44] A really fun way to work with rosemary is also rosemary hydrosol That's something that you can make pretty easily on your stovetop Hydrosols seem intimidating, but I promise you they're so easy to make and because it has this property of increasing circulation. It's really great for the skin because it helps increase blood flow to the skin.

[00:21:06] And so it's often used in like facial toners or facial products as well as in hair oils to promote hair growth. And the idea there is really just rosemary helps increase circulation to the skin or wherever it's applied. Rosemary, like I said, improves blood flow to the gut, to the brain it helps blood move more effectively throughout the cardiovascular system, and so it's really an uplifting, energizing, and warming tonic.

[00:21:34] So energetically, that's one way to think about it. I'm trying to think if there's anything I forgot. It does also have astringent properties. So astringent properties mean it helps to tone or tighten bodily tissues, particularly mucous membranes and the skin when used whether internally or externally.

[00:21:55] And there are certain compounds responsible for this, which we will talk about in a later episode. But that is another really fun property of rosemary. So it can be complementary in like a sore throat formula or a sore throat tea or maybe a steam. If you are feeling a little bit congested, or a little bit under the weather, or your allergies are flaring up, you can just throw some rosemary in a pot of water, put a towel over your head and once that water gets to boiling or gently simmering, you can just stand over the pot at a good, at a safe distance, because it's steam.

[00:22:34] It's hot. And breathe in that steam, and that's going to bring These really beneficial aromatic compounds that are found in rosemary into your body and into your bloodstream remarkably quickly. Actually smelling These aromatic herbs is one of the quickest ways to get these compounds into our bloodstream because they cross right through the blood brain barrier and can act really quickly.

[00:22:59] There's a lot of ways that you can work with rosemary, right? I just listed so many, and this is just a common herb that is probably already in your spice cabinet. Try this. Try one of these ways to work with rosemary. I barely even talked about the antimicrobial properties, but that's also why it's great for steams and teas.

[00:23:18] If there's some kind of acute something going on, it can be helpful for supporting that. And I guess one of the last fun ways you can work with rosemary, and this one I especially like to do with fresh rosemary, because you can just take the whole sprigs of it. So if there's a rosemary bush you have access to, or there's several sprigs available at a local store that you can grab, you can take these and just put them in a big jar or gallon jug of white vinegar and infuse them.

[00:23:45] And then use that vinegar as a cleaning spray. Rosemary is a really powerful antimicrobial. So it's awesome for like surface sprays or hand sanitizers, or even as an air freshener. That's one way to get started is just work with rosemary in any of those numerous ways I mentioned. Okay, the next herb, this one you're probably not going to find growing anywhere nearby, but you might depending on where you live, is ginger.

[00:24:14] Ginger is pretty well known. I think everyone or at least a lot of people are aware of at least some of the medicinal properties of I think most commonly people know it for Nausea and Digestive support because it works. It's really powerful for that. Ginger is also a very strong anti inflammatory And for a variety of reasons it can actually is another one that can be contraindicated with certain prescriptions depending how much you're taking Because it's super powerful, even though it's a food group that's really available at any and every health food store, and a lot of grocery stores and supermarkets.

[00:24:58] There is so much research into the uses of ginger, and even more prominently, there is a long standing traditional list of uses or relationship with ginger that has been in existence for a very long time. There are over 200 species in the genus in which ginger belongs, but there's really one in particular that is most commonly used nowadays, gingerbread aficionado.

[00:25:28] And It's just a really powerful herb, so it has pretty strong anti inflammatory properties, so it's a powerful source of antioxidants it can help improve cognitive function and attention span. There is some pretty interesting research around ginger for headache support. headache and migraine support.

[00:25:52] Ginger is also wonderful for helping normalize blood sugar in the moment as well as longterm. And it can also be helpful for balancing out cholesterol levels. Ginger is, like I said, probably most well known for nausea and upset stomach and it can also be really helpful for vomiting. It's an antiemetic.

[00:26:13] So overall, it really helps support digestion and reduce inflammation in the gut due to these carminative, antimicrobial, and antispasmodic properties, which I talked about earlier in the episode. So ginger helps improve absorption and assimilation. It helps speed up the time it takes to digest a meal and it's really good for anyone who's struggling with sluggish digestion, with lack of appetite, with gas, bloating, frequent stomach aches and constipation or diarrhea.

[00:26:47] It's really good for folks who are living with POTS because people with POTS can often have issues with their vagus nerve as well as circulation and lots of other things going on that cause Nausea and dizziness and indigestion, and ginger is awesome for all of those. And ginger is another one of these herbs that has these aromatic compounds and properties that lend it to being another gut brain supportive herb.

[00:27:17] So this is the theme that, like I said, you're going to see with a lot of different culinary herbs. And there are so many ways to work with ginger. It's antimicrobial, and it can be really helpful for this. One of the areas in which many people work with ginger long term is to help with candida overgrowth, which can occur on many different levels within the body.

[00:27:41] And like I said, there's a lot of ways to work with ginger. I think the two most common ones that we probably see are basic ginger tea, especially ginger tea with lemon and honey, or those little ginger shots that are all the rage right now where people juice ginger or they blend up ginger with lemon maybe or maybe not add a dash of cayenne depending on if spice is your thing and take these like super powerful.

[00:28:08] anti inflammatory, antioxidant medicinal shots of ginger. Those are really fun to make and they're really not that hard to make actually. If you have a blender, you can throw all those things in, strain it, bottle it you can keep it all week long and take a little bit every day or throughout the day.

[00:28:27] It's really good to take before, with, or after meals because like I said, it helps support digestion. You can make yummy mochas by adding a little bit of ginger and a little bit of spice to it. You can add ginger to baked goods. You can add ginger to oatmeal. There are many, there are so many other ways to work with ginger.

[00:28:49] Ginger is also a fun one that you can put into an aromatherapy diffuser if you have one. with essential oils. If you are familiar with essential oils at all, ginger essential oil is a really nice one that you can grab and dilute down with a carrier oil like almond or apricot, jojoba, castor, whatever kind of oil you have access to.

[00:29:12] Add a little bit of ginger to that and you can rub that on your belly if you're having like gas and cramping and bloating. You can also rub that on your temples if you're dealing with kind of a headache or a migraine. You just want to be careful with essential oils. It literally just takes a couple drops.

[00:29:28] That's it. You don't want to add any more than that because they are extraordinarily concentrated and strong. And a ginger poultice is another really fun preparation. You Likely have not made a poultice before, but maybe you have. It's something you can google and look up, but it basically involves boiling some ginger in a pot, wrapping it up in a cloth and once it's cool enough, you let that ginger sit over a particular area.

[00:29:57] There are some different conditions where this is really helpful, but it really helps with kind of inflammation. cramping. Interstitial cystitis is one where this can be really helpful as an ongoing support to help reduce inflammation by just letting that ginger poultice sit over the bladder.

[00:30:15] Another thing that the ginger poultice can be really helpful for is menstrual cramps. One of my favorite things to do with ginger for menstrual cramps is Ginger tinctures can be really powerfully helpful, especially when paired with cramp bark or willow. But you can also make really yummy cinnamon toast by doing a slice of toast, cinnamon raisin toast if you've got it a little nut butter, whatever you prefer, and then add a little honey, some cinnamon, and ginger.

[00:30:46] And oh, it's the yummiest toast and it helps so much with menstrual cramps. And It's literally just delicious, medicinal herbs that most likely were already in your spice cabinet. So there's a lot of ways to work with ginger. You can get the roots fresh, you can get the roots dried and sliced, or you can get powdered ginger.

[00:31:07] And, of course, there's ginger ale, which, nowadays, like everything, Originally, sodas were all made with medicinal herbs. Root beer was made with roots, ginger ale was made with real ginger. Nowadays that's not always the case, but if that's what you have access to, try it out, right? And you'll notice ginger is pretty dang powerful and effective at immediately relieving any kind of gut issues that you're having.

[00:31:34] So if that's something you struggle with, I highly recommend starting there first. The next herb you might be able to guess because I just mentioned it so many times is cinnamon because who Doesn't love cinnamon. It is so yummy and good cinnamon that can be sipped as tea It can be added to coffee or hot cocoa or oatmeal sprinkled on toast added to mocha mochas or chais, lattes, to meals.

[00:32:04] You might be surprised how many savory meals that cinnamon can be added to. One of my favorite things to make is either roasted squash or roasted sweet potatoes. And doing a little salt, a little pepper, a little bit of cinnamon, not too much, smoked paprika, and a little bit of cayenne. And then sometimes garlic, sometimes not, just depends on the moment.

[00:32:28] Oh my gosh, it is the most savory, delicious, peppery sweet potato or squash you have ever had. I also love adding a little chipotle or jalapeno to that because I love the spice. But so there's, cinnamon is just yummy and it pairs so well with so many different spices and interestingly, it's paired with sweets all the time, like I mentioned earlier.

[00:32:52] Cinnamon is really helpful for balancing blood sugar triglycerides or lipids in the body and the blood. It helps with blood pressure. So it works on a... a cardiovascular and metabolic level helping with these really common conditions that affect a lot of people which is why it's a really great herb to have in the kitchen because so many people are living with these metabolic conditions or are borderline and cinnamon can be really supportive and synergistic with whatever lifestyle changes need to be made to help regulate these things that are often out of hand, like I said, for so many people.

[00:33:35] Cinnamon is super inflammation busting and packed with antioxidants, so it also really helps promote circulation and tissue repair, and it's very warming, which I am sure you can guess. So it's really good for like warm warming cold hands and feet. We're about to be moving into the fall and winter season, if you're here in the Northern Hemisphere.

[00:33:59] And cinnamon is just an awesome herb to keep on hand to help with these conditions. If you're someone who struggles with any kind of thyroid issues or circulation issues, and you find yourself cold all the time, cinnamon is an awesome ally. And again, if you have any kind of like sluggish fatigue or sluggish digestion.

[00:34:21] Cinnamon is warming, not super strongly energizing, but it is warming and it promotes circulation and it helps just to get everything moving. It can really help encourage an appetite and ease nausea. Relieves stomach aches, gas, cramping, bloating. It helps encourage healthy bowel movement. And is very soothing to the lining of the GI tract.

[00:34:46] It has similar properties to ginger. Though it may not be quite as strong of an antispasmodic, it also has mucilage. So it has that, that... property I talked about earlier that's more moistening in the gut and really helps coat the lining of the gut. Cinnamon is also an antimicrobial, again super common, and with all three of these herbs that we're talking about, all three of them have antimicrobial properties.

[00:35:12] Cinnamon is no exception, so it can be very complementary to any kind of gut supportive protocol where you're trying to help rebalance gut microflora. And I think The last thing that I don't think I mentioned already, or I did mention, is that cinnamon works really well with both the gastrointestinal system and the cardiovascular system.

[00:35:38] So it can be paired very well with other herbs like Hawthorne to support the cardiovascular system as a warming, circulation promoting tonic or remedy. So a really lovely experiment that you could do is make a syrup with a little bit of cinnamon and a bunch of hawthorn berries or rose hips, both of which are really rich in bioflavonoids and other cardiovascular supporting properties.

[00:36:08] Cinnamon can also be Used in some of the other recipes I mentioned earlier. You will most likely find powdered cinnamon But I highly encourage checking out getting whole strips of cinnamon bark or cinnamon bark chips Which are really fun to work with because they are a little bit stronger than the powder Simply because they haven't been broken down as much and exposed to as much oxygen So I think There is just a more intense flavor there.

[00:36:39] Cinnamon can be had as tea on its own, which might sound strange, but it is unbelievably delicious. All it takes is infusing cinnamon in a little warm water, simmering it on the stove, straining it, and it tastes so darn good. It is so warming and so delicious, especially paired with a little bit of honey.

[00:37:02] And there are numerous other ways to work with cinnamon as well. I am sure you have probably smelled those spices like mulling spices in wintertime that people like to simmer on the stove or people used to make mulled wine with them. You can make your own mulling spices, which are not only going to be medicinal for you.

[00:37:24] So just through inhaling that steam, you're introducing again, these really I feel like I keep saying powerful and I do, but they are these really powerful anti microbial and anti inflammatory properties. Really rapidly into your body and bloodstream by breathing in that steam when you're simmering these spices on the stove and at the same time that steam traveling through the air also has antimicrobial properties.

[00:37:50] So it's not just, it doesn't just smell nice in your house or your room. It's actually. Dispersing medicine and medicinal properties throughout the room. So you're smelling things that are soothing your brain, soothing your gut, and acting on the cardiovascular system and really having more profound impact on your body than maybe you suspected.

[00:38:17] So I highly encourage trying that. Some other herbs that pair really well with cinnamon and like a mulling spice blend would be star anise, cloves, I think though, there are many others, but that would be a good start. Another really yummy way to prepare cinnamon is to do a ginger, cinnamon, and licorice root tea.

[00:38:40] Ginger root, cinnamon bark, and licorice root tea. That is super yummy. It's really sweet and spicy and licorice root has a whole other host of medicinal properties, but that is another really fun tea that I like to prepare that tastes super yummy and Yeah, I think that does it. I think that covers a lot of different medicinal properties of these three common kitchen herbs that I am willing to bet are already in your cabinet.

[00:39:12] If you have been wondering how to get started with herbal medicine, start here. Pick just one of these herbs, or if you don't want to start with one of these herbs, start with one that appeals to you. Maybe it's sage. Maybe you have a lot of allergies and a lot of congestion and you feel drawn to sage.

[00:39:32] Look into that. Start experimenting with it. Drink sage tea. Inhale a sage steam, make a sage bundle that you hang in your shower or add sage to an aromatherapy diffuser. With all of these herbs, there are so many ways to work with them and just start wherever you are. Start with whatever is already in your herb cabinet and that's going to be your homework for today.

[00:39:59] So after this episode, I want you to go into your kitchen. Look in your spice cabinet and try to find one spice that's not in a blend that's just on its own. It can be rosemary, ginger, cinnamon, or any other spice that appeals to you, any other herb, and experiment with it. Smell it, taste it, maybe make tea with it, and just start exploring.

[00:40:25] Exploring the effect it has on your body. Really sit with it. When you smell it, sit with it. Does that have an effect on you mentally, emotionally, physically? When you taste it, what effect does that have on you? When you make tea with it, swish it around in your mouth, really taste it. And again, what effect does that have on you?

[00:40:53] I promise you, it will be more than you're expecting. I think we consume a lot of these things and we eat in a rush and we're not really paying attention to what we're doing, but almost do this as a meditation. I'm really excited to hear what you all try. You can completely reach out to me, send me a message with what herbs you're trying, what appealed to you.

[00:41:18] Maybe you pick something out that was a favorite of your mom's or of your grandfather's.

[00:41:28] So I'm going to hear from you, and I really want to hear how these herbs impact you, and maybe what you discover as you begin exploring with kitchen herbalism. This is really what herbalism is. You can be an herbalist. You can be an herb expert, an herb aficionado. All it takes is this willingness to experiment and start playing.

[00:41:52] And if you live with any kind of chronic symptoms or indigestion or any health struggles at all, I promise you there are herbs that can help. So that's your homework. Instead of looking to Google, Trust your body, trust your intuition, go to your kitchen cabinet, start smelling, playing, experimenting, pick one herb and start working with it for the next week or the next month.

[00:42:20] I want you ideally to work with it every day, if that's not reasonable, several days a week. One of the best and easiest ways, I think, to work with any of these herbs as tea, because daily tea drinking of one particular herb over a few weeks will really have a noticeable impact and if it's in your spice cabinet you can pretty much guarantee that you're going to be okay taking this.

[00:42:45] So just play with it, have fun with it, and trust your body. You know exactly what to do. The journey to healing is a mutualistic endeavor between us and our planet and I'm so grateful that you're here walking the path with me. If you're living with Lyme or chronic illness and you feel ready to take your power back, begin healing, reconnect to yourself and nature, and find your shine again, subscribe to the pod, leave a review, and head to the show notes to access my website and book a call with me.

[00:43:18] Ultimately, the goal of this podcast is to help you feel empowered, embodied, and connected to yourself, your community, your heritage. Your local ecosystems and the world at large. When we remember and we connect, when we begin to work with our bodies and nature, healing truly becomes inevitable. Our bodies are a direct reflection of the ecosystems we inhabit.

[00:43:47] And just like the earth, our bodies know how to heal.