Herbs for Highly Sensitive People: Daily Herbal Practices for Wellbeing

After a few years of working on and off with clients in-between teaching and running my small remedy shop, I started to notice a pattern with the types of folks who were drawn to my practice and the ones that I felt most capable of serving. A lot of them were herbalists or in similar fields. Most of them were activists and organizers. There were folks who were neither, many who were both, but all had similar issues with burnout, some variation of emotional fatigue, and generally what you end up with when you make sure everyone else at the table is fed but you don't always remember to feed or be fed yourself.

At first I thought that this was just how herbalists and activists are, but I've met enough of both to know that not all had a deeper sensitivity to life when compared to their peers like so many of my clients and students. It was a pattern I saw in myself but didn't have a name for until a few years ago when a wise therapist I was working with suggested I look up what  a "highly sensitive person" was.

I balked. I wasn't sensitive and especially not highly sensitive. I was a force to be reckoned with, indefatigable, and I had long disproven the critics of my childhood who called me "too sensitive" by pushing myself beyond my limits again and again. I thought the idea of a highly sensitive person sounded like pseudoscience and even if it wasn't I was trying to overcome or at least tame my sensitivity, not embrace it. But I also trusted my therapist, read some books, and was relieved to realize that what I read was surely what everyone experienced, right? Right?

Not really. Of course, everyone has moments of intense sensitivity but some folks live in a heightened state of sensitivity to their environment as their everyday baseline.¹ As I began to explore my own high sensitivity, I started to slowly realize that the pattern I was spotting among those I served and many of my students was high sensitivity. While it took a few more years to unlearn lessons of false dichotomies of sensitivity versus toughness and begin to embrace the way I feel my way through life, eventually I learned to love sensitivity as a gift. Sensitivity has served well as an herbalist drawn to working with sensitive folk as well as helping everyone I serve reconnect to the rich wisdom of their sensory worlds.

Being highly sensitive can be overwhelming when we live in a multitude of noisy worlds whether you live in a car-centric noisy city to all of our increasingly unavoidable digital spaces. There is a stigma with sensitivity within cultures that rely on productivity as a sign of strength and worth, as sensitivity points out ways that many of the systems we set up serve few of us well, and modern definitions of high sensitivity don’t always take into account the intersectionality of identity and experience when helping someone navigate sensitivity.²

Honoring and connecting with our sensitivity allows us to explore the experience of "something doesn't feel right" which can lead to all sorts of transformative rabble-rousing within our lives and communities. Sensitivity is an essential part of changing culture, but as individuals within those culture-changing communities, we need to find ways of supporting our sensitive needs.

image via @anniespratt

Through the Herbs for Highly Sensitive People series we'll be exploring ways of creating these little zones of peace throughout our days, weeks, and months, making space for us to reconnect with our sensitivity in ways that feel empowering. Herbalism is a sensory rich healing tradition, full of sights, scents, tastes, and sensations, that draws us back into the collective wisdom pooled in our body and pulled up by our plant allies. Working with plants is one way that we, as sensitive folks, can honor the sensitive ways of our body by strengthening a resilience that reconnects while alleviating the symptoms of overstimulation. 

And, when I write of the body, I am referring to the body in its most expansive form including the physical, emotional, mental, and mythological body. I'm not trying to describe the emotional body as a separate part from the physical body, but rather that our bodies have emotional experiences intertwined with physical experiences intertwined with mental and mythological  experiences. Part of the practice of highly sensitive people is to explore through our bodies what we have been asked or forced to separate rather than create a healthy boundary. Being called "too sensitive" over and over again, for example, asks us to separate from our very real lived experience instead of creating healthy boundaries that help us feel less overwhelmed by our depth of feeling.

I hope that these simple practices will fit in alongside any mental health services, community support groups, and the general network of good company in your friends and family. Plant medicine thrives as a stress-reducing, nervous system reparative, and preventative modality while helping us to return to a more earth-centered and affirming way of being in the world - a great path for any highly sensitive person to be on. 

Daily Herbal Practices for Highly Sensitive People

image via @meguminachev

Drink Your Tea

The combination of hot water, healing plants, and a sturdy vessel to hold it in, makes herbal teas one of the loveliest healing practices to partake in daily. I love tea for its familiarity and ease of making as well as how it physically acts in the body - drinking warm water is one of the ways we can help calm our nervous system and adding in healing plants make the experience that much more useful. Teas are relatively inexpensive, easy to find pre-made, and if you grow your own little patch or windowsill of herbs, a great way to bring fresh herbs into your routine. Your daily tea can just be a tea that you love to drink and that feels good in your body and doesn't need to be specifically geared towards a healing need or full of nervines.

Making tea is also a simple way to participate in the process of creating remedies and being an empowered participant in answering your healing needs. Whether a pre-made blend, something you've put together or combining herbs each day as you need them, making tea helps us answer the question "What is it that my body needs?" with a practical curiosity. 

Practice Recommendations

Choose the same time each day to prepare and enjoy your herbal tea. A rhythm of calming practice is one of the ways that we invite our nervous system to settle. Of course, if it makes sense for you to have two or three tea-making times a day, go for it! A morning brew can help us create calm first thing in the morning, whereas tea at the end of the school or work day can help us ground and center after being out in the world (whether physically or mentally if you work or study from home), and evening tea helps prepare our body for rest.

Make your ability to access healing practices as easy as possible. For me, this means making a quart jar worth of herbal tea first thing in the morning that is ready for me whenever I need it for the rest of the day. You can also make a tea concentrate to keep in your fridge, adding it to hot water whenever you need it (a tea concentrate will keep for about 3 - 4 days in the fridge).

Needing extra emotional support or just want to add to the feeling of making magickal potions? Add a few drops of whatever flower essences (see below) you're working with. When you're dealing with overwhelm and dysregulation, trying to figure out what is happening, how to feel better, and the all the feelings that can accompany the process can feel serious, complicated, and daunting. Adding play and light-heartedness into our practices can not only help us experience moments of relief, but helps cultivate hope and the ability to spot pathways of possibility where they exist.

Tea Plant Allies for Highly Sensitive People

🌿 Milky Oat (Avena sativa): If I could only stock a handful of herbs in my apothecary, Milky Oat would be at the top of my list. Milky Oat is my favorite nervous system herb and as stress is an underlying factor for most of the illnesses and symptoms that I see in my practice, and gets in the way of folks being able to sit with and explore their experiences, it is a vital and beloved plant ally of mine. Milky Oat is a nervous system ​​trophorestorative making it an ideal plant ally to work with for most any nervous system needs.

🌿 Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis): An herb of joy, Lemon Balm is the ideal companion for those who are dealing with issues of energetic overextension. Indications for Lemon Balm include signs of brain fog connected to social burnout or bring on the precipice of social burnout (including social media driven fear of missing out), nervous anxiety and worry that results in insomnia and/or digestive issues (i.e. a nervous stomach).

🌿 Chamomile (Matricaria recutita): A gentle and calming nervine, a key indicator that Chamomile may be useful is digestive issues. A classic remedy for those sensitive folks with sensitive stomachs where they feel emotional upset in their gut.

🌿 Rose (Rosa damascena): Beautiful, amazing, unfolding Rose! Rose has gentle nervine qualities with the extra magick of thorn medicine. Rose is an ancient herbal ancestor and they’ve been a guide of healing wisdom through the ages - who better to turn to when life feels too big and overwhelming than to one who has seen it all and thrived? One of my favorite herbs for sensitive folks and empaths alike.

🌿 Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora): Skullcap is great for folks with lots of anxiety, especially when experiencing a lot of hurried and worried thoughts that leads to disrupted sleep. Indications for Skullcap include nervousness, fear of overwhelm, overwork, difficulty resting or focusing because of constant mental chatter, insomnia, and general hyperactivity.

Standard dosage for tea is 1 heaping teaspoon of dried herb per 1 cup of water, steeped for 15 to 20 minutes. If you’re looking for tea blend recommendations, my Bliss Blend recipe is one that I recommend often to highly sensitive folks. You might also like one or more of my Tea for the Tired blends.

image via @ornellabinni

Play With Flower Essences

I love flower essences and their subtle healing ways. They seem to operate somewhere within the world of psychoneuroimmunology and are an interesting way of connecting to the emotional wisdom of the body to help with healing. They are very easy to make and I find them a wonderful way to get to know local flora through the essences that local practitioners will create (it is here that I encourage you to start up a flower essence exchange with your fellow plant folk friends).

There are plenty of ways to choose what flower essences to work with, but I like the traditional approach of reading statements of challenge (i.e. the difficult emotional state that you're currently in) and affirmation (i.e. the emotional state you want to be in) and observing the somatic responses of the body to those statements to discern the right flower essence. I have found again and again that highly sensitive folks thrive with this sort of feelings-based method of working with plants. And, sense flower essences are a form of vibrational remedy and contain no actual plant material within them, it's also a safe way to work with plants without having to know all of their physiological uses.

Practice Recommendations

While you can find my full guide to using flower essences over here, in general, you use flower essences by adding a few drops to your drinking water or tea each day. They can also be used directly under the tongue or massaged into the skin.

Flower essences are great to keep right by the door so that when you walk back in the house after being out and about you can take a few drops to help you settle back into your body. They can also be added to a spray bottle and used like an aura spray for the same results.

Flower Essences for Sensitive Folks

Below you'll find a list of some of my favorite flower essences with their corresponding emotional statements. I recommend reading them aloud and if you have a sensory response to one of them, you might consider working with it on a daily basis. 

🌿 Water Violet (Hottonia palustris)
Challenging Emotional State: I hide my sensitivity with extreme independence which creates a barrier between me and other people.
Affirmation: I use my sensitivity as a point of connection in my relationships.

🌿 Oak (Quecus robur)
Challenging Emotional State: I push myself even when exhausted.
Affirmation: I have healthy boundaries and know when to stop and rest.

🌿 Elm (Ulmus procera)
Challenging Emotional State: I consistently take on too much which leads to fatigue.
Affirmation: I know and respect my limits.

🌿 Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)
Challenging Emotional State: Energy moves erratically throughout my body and I feel little control.
Affirmation: Energy moves through my body efficiently and effectively so I may use it wisely.

🌿 Larch (Larix decidua)
Challenging Emotional State: I lack confidence in my abilities.
Affirmation: I am confident in who I am and what I am capable of.

You can find my complete list of flower essences (and plant ally) recommendations for highly sensitive folks over here.

image via @pladdermf

Nourish Your Nervous System with Tonics

A tonic is a type of herbal remedy that is restorative to our vitality and can be taken over an extended period of time to reestablish harmonious function in the body. Whether a tea, tincture or other form of remedy, having a rotation of nervous system tonics that you can take on a daily basis will help develop agility in your response to stimuli and ability to access healthy emotional responses while protecting against stress. 

While a daily tea practice is as much about the process and experience of drinking tea as it is about working with herbs, a nervous system tonic is a focused approach to specific healing needs. A nervous system tonic might be something you use throughout the day as acute needs arise and/or simply use alongside other practices like a daily tea. A tonic might also feature herbs that don't make it into your tea practice because of their taste but you can still bring them into your rotation in tonic form.

I like to have a few prepared blends or simple (i.e. single herb tinctures) on hand that I can choose from day-to-day based on my needs. Various nervines bolster the health of different body systems which means, for example, that we can work with a plant like Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica) when we're looking for mental clarity in addition to nervous system support or California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) if we need help relaxing deeply for sleep. 

Practice Recommendations

I think nervous system tonics shine as tinctures and glycerites, where they can be easily carried in a bag or pocket as you go about your day. Of course, they are excellent in tea or capsule form - I always have a few pre-made nervous system tea blends made up and ready to go so that I don't have to spend too much time or energy preparing a mix when I'm feeling out-of-sorts.

Add keywords to your labels, whether you've purchased or made your nervous system tonics, so that you can easily figure out which remedy is for which need. Adding "sleep aid" to your tincture bottle of California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) or "brain fog buster" to your Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica) capsule container goes a long way in helping you figure out what herb is the best for your current needs. Welcome in playfulness and pleasing aesthetics (you can put stickers on your containers, have fun!) to help make the process of working with herbs that much more enchanting.

Nervous System Plant Allies for High Sensitivity

All of the plant allies recommended in the tea section as well as:

🌿 Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica): The brain-shaped leaves of Gotu Kola speak to its affinity for mental health and brain vitality. As a brain tonic (i.e. nootropic) it supports general cerebral health as well as alleviating conditions such as brain fog and mental fatigue. Indications include mental fatigue that can occur alongside sensitivity, hyperactivity, mental and emotional exhaustion, and recovering from illness.

🌿 Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca): Motherwort is like a hug in a tea cup and is an herb that shifts energy for the better faster than most other herbs I have encountered. A great ally for times of intense change where you feel like you've lost your energetic balance. The herb works on the sympathetic nervous system, bringing calm and soothing energy. Indications include heart palpitations due to stress, indigestion, nervousness, insomnia, depression, restlessness, and general anxiety. 

🌿 Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus): If you're dealing with issues of fatigue, but find caffeine too stimulating, a gentle adaptogen like Eleuthero might be a good plant to consider. The herb helps to regulate the endocrine system, including the adrenals, which in turn reduces fatigue and helps to protect against the damaging effects of stress. Indications include brain fog, fatigue, and sensitive folks who are affected by environmental pollutants, social noise, and the stress of living in busy urban areas.  

🌿 Linden (Tilia x europaea): Linden is a wonderful plant to work with where excess states of tension has led to feeling stuck and low. A good plant ally when it feels like you're struggling to settle back into oneself. Indications for Linden include difficulty sleeping, signs of excess heat like irritability, impatience, high blood pressure, heart palpitations caused by stress, and a general state of agitation.

Vervain (Verbena spp.): Vervain is a great ally for those sensitive folks who struggle with excess tension and a feeling (whether literal or metaphorical) that they can't even turn their head for another perspective because they have so much to hold together to just get through the day. Indications include stiff neck and shoulders, tension headaches, low moods, and general irritability.

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If you take away anything from this guide, I hope it is to begin a daily tea-drinking practice as a way to invite in the wisdom that all of us deserve to be cared for on a daily basis.

For those of you looking for a more in-depth approach to herbalism and high sensitivity or if you work with a highly sensitive client base (including family members), I invite you to join me in Solace: Herbs & Essences for Highly Sensitive People.

And for those of you just coming to know the joyful possibilities that exist because of your high sensitivity, welcome! I hope that you find comfort and inspiration in knowing that you’re in good company and that there is a world full of plants and people here to help welcome you back home.

This post was made possible through patron support.
❤︎ Thanks, friends. ❤︎

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Footnotes

1. High sensitivity is, of course, not limited to highly sensitive people, but is a common trait in many neurodiversities including autism and ADHD.

2. I highly recommend this essay by Neurodivergent, Intersex, and Gender-expansive writer Chris D. Hooten - I would have loved to have had an article like this to read when I was first learning about high sensitivity nearly a decade ago.

Plant Allies for the Winter Holidays

There are so many ways that we can support ourselves and our beloved community during the winter holidays. From preparing our home apothecaries with remedies for the season or practicing winter rituals to help us settle into the darkest days of the year, we have tools both well-worn by generations as well as ones newly imagined that can help us to thrive.

So much of herbal practice is about practice and preparing - we practice ways of healing that help us feel whole and holy while preparing as best we can for the expected and the unexpected as we move through our lives. During the winter season, and all the fun and busyness and feelings that can come with the holidays, there are all sorts of plant allies to turn to to help us feel steady within ourselves as well as strengthen our immune system, lift our spirits, and weaken the affects of the all too common cold.

For our time together, though, I want to focus on the ways that herbs and flower essences can support our feeling body as we negotiate family dynamics (both biological and chosen), cultural expectations of what we “should” be doing during the holidays, and how we can help joy run through us unhindered as we travel (physically, emotionally, mentally) through the season. 

For my recommendations below, I've focused on the emotional indications of each herb to help you start to figure out what plant ally might best meet your needs. Once you find a plant that resonates with you, or whenever you're considering incorporating a new plant into your routine, you should always work with an herbalist or pull out your favorite materia medicas to reference contraindications and healing guidelines.

image via @sixteenmilesout

Ebbing & Flowing: Plant Allies for the Nervous System

Our nervous systems are precious things, helping to make sure that all of our body systems are functioning well as we navigate our inner and outer environments. Nervines or nervous system tonics are plants that help to nourish and support the work of the nervous system from alleviating stress, promoting energetic adaptability, and bringing in deep states of rest, too. A nervous system plant ally helps us to feel energized when we want to, rest when we need to, and interrupt cycles of stress and anxiety so that we can feel more safe and secure in our bodies.

The following nervines are some of my favorites and they can also be great options for folks who struggle with the change of seasons and the dark half of the year, working as adjunct allies to additional forms of therapeutic and community support. These plants are also some of my favorite nervines for highly sensitive people who feel the world more intensely than their non-highly sensitive peers - a beloved community that I work with often.

Also, if you are subscribed to my newsletter, you can access a free printable chart of nervous system herbs and essences, with their key qualities and indications listed, for quick reference during the busyness of the holidays.

Milky Oat (Avena sativa): If you are unsure of where to start, begin with Milky Oat. My absolute favorite nervous system tonic, Milky Oat has an incredible ability to retrain our nervous system from existing in a highly reactive and overwhelmed state to a state of resilient adaptability and softness. One of the emotional indications for Milky Oat is feeling incapacitated by all of the choices that need to be made, all the interesting things to learn, and all of the expectations of those around us. Milky Oat is also good for folks experiencing exhaustion and struggling to feel rested. If you are are burnt out or are recovering from burnout, Milky Oat can be a great ally to work with. It’s important to work with Milky Oat for an extended period of time (a few months at least) to really appreciate its full affects. Milky Oat is one of the few tinctures I carry with me when traveling (though I like to bring Milky Oat in a tea blend, too) and I always use some before heading out to a big gathering. 

Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora): One of the classical descriptors for Skullcap in traditional western herbalism is as a remedy for "nervous exhaustion." In more modern terms, nervous exhaustion would be considered a form of burnout, where a person has depleted their energetic and physical resources (i.e. the aftermath of intensive mental processing combined with staying up night after night studying over an extended period of time). Restless, noisy thoughts that prevent someone from falling asleep or at a heightened level of anxious stress throughout the day can be indicators for Skullcap. Sometimes folks try to match the energy of their busy thoughts through busy lives, but that sort of overwork can't be maintained for long. What is so lovely about Skullcap is that the herb helps to slow hurried thoughts without compromising the beauty of the Skullcap mind - one that is able to make connections, find patterns, and delight in diversity. 

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis): Lemon Balm is one of my favorite herbs for helping us to maintain our sense of self amongst the noise of the collective, helping us to connect with our beloved community instead of feeling isolated. Increasingly, Lemon Balm is the herb that I turn too when a client is struggling with social media scrolling (as well as pointing them in the direction of mental health services is the scrolling is tipping into compulsive and/or addictive behavior). The added benefit of Lemon Balm during the holidays is that it is antiviral and antibacterial, helping to protect us from the collective of germs we may encounter during our travels and at gatherings. Lemon Balm is my favorite ally to call on to support our ability to be in spaces with the cacophony of family noise, from the good and welcoming to the challenging noise, without feeling overwhelmed. 

image via @maemu

Finding Our North Star: Flower Essences for the Winter Holidays

Flower essences are an interesting sort of magick. They function on an energetic level, containing no plant material, yet they are infused with something intangible and useful. They are easy to make and even easier to work with and the process of choosing a flower essence, which asks us to identify our current emotional state, is a healing practice in and of itself. Using flower essences, alongside their affirmation, acts like an guiding light through all sorts of encounters through the holidays and beyond, reminding us of how we are choosing to center ourselves.

Below, I've listed some of my favorite flower essences for social situations and family dynamics. Each description includes a current state of emotional experience followed by a transformed state of emotional being. If you resonate with any of the statements it can be a strong indication that a flower essence is appropriate for you.

I recommend choosing and working with one flower essence at a time, but they can be fun to combine, too. They are an easy sort of plant magick to experiment with as they operate on a solely energetic level without contraindications, so I encourage you to have fun making your own winter holiday potion.

Pine (Pinus sylvestris)
Current State: I feel guilty for burdening others with my sensitivity & asking for accommodations.
Transformed State: I can ask for what I need and know that it is not too much.

There are so many expectations during the winter holidays: friends and family want to gather, activities are planned, sleeping and food arrangements made, and a flurry of emotions can lead us to feeling like we've been swept up into any number of situations we'd rather not be in. Or we just need some simple modifications and accommodations to thrive (i.e. choosing to do one outing a day with family instead of two or more). As an essence, Pine helps us to put our requests into perspective - we are not being unreasonable but are either asking or doing for ourselves what we know will help us show up with greater presence with those around us. Pine helps us to trust in our self-knowing, the skills we've developed and are developing to thrive in our lives, and our confidence to state our needs.

Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris)
Current State: I reject my needs as weaknesses and character faults - I feel ashamed that I have them.
Transformed State: I love who I am and I embrace all of my complexity.

Sometimes when we return home for the holidays or just find ourselves with a busier social calendar than usual, old narratives of how we should act, what we should be doing with our lives, and how we have grown and changed, embracing beautiful parts of ourselves that we may have had to hide away before, make people around us uncomfortable. Crab Apple is an excellent ally for helping to quiet these old stories that we were brought up with and make space for new, more interesting, and more true stories to come forward. Crab Apple often has the ability to awaken the part of us that recognizes that we would never speak to someone else the way we are speaking to ourselves, helping us to recognize the healing therapies, relationships, and communities that revel in our thriving. 

Oak (Quercus robur)
Current State: I push myself even when exhausted.
Transformed State: I have healthy boundaries and know when to stop and rest.

It can be so easy to overdo it during the winter holidays, whether driven by our own fear of missing out or the expectations on our time made by others. Sometimes we do a lot and feel tired, but that's ok because we know we'll have time to rest and recover. But for folks that are in need of Oak, they have a chronic habit of pushing themselves beyond their limits over and over again. They race away from resting and they tumble towards the next state of busyness, often driven by a force that feels beyond their control. Oak helps folks to slow down without inducing feelings of stagnation, to grow sturdy boundaries, and to stretch out of their comfort zone just enough that they can hold a boundary, feel the initial reaction of guilt or fear of missing out, and then move on. 

image via @micheile

A Winter Wellness Practice

While all of us have different healing needs in our lives, the following are my general recommendations for working with nervines and flower essences during the winter holiday season.

Start working with your nervous system plant ally a few weeks before the holidays begin. For me, this looks like a daily tea with a blend of nervines, but many nervines can also be enjoyed as herbal powders, alcohol and glycerin extracts, and as herbal baths. 

During this time period you can also make sure that you have your winter remedies prepared because it feels so much better when you're sick to be able to easily grab a ready made remedy from your cupboard than to have to groggily make one when you're feeling unwell. 

I love working with a flower essence for a full lunar cycle before I know that I have a big gathering or travel happening. Flower essences like having time to stretch out in our systems and by giving ourselves a period of reflection before rushing into the fray can help us find our center faster than if we haven't already been practicing our emotional resilience. But even if you only have a few days or hours before a big winter thing, go ahead and take a few drops of your essence. Be sure to bring whatever flower essences you are working with along with you during your travels and at gatherings.

Alongside plants remedies and flower essences, I practice breathwork, work with my healing team, cast cards, read good books, knit a lot, and spend lots of time outside everyday. These are some of my practices for feeling well, no matter the season, and it’s taken a long while for me to learn to honor the simple things that are far too easy to set aside when I need them most. Take note of the simple ways that you feel good and grounded and allow yourself time and space to practice them.

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Friends, I hope that you’re feeling reminded and inspired to reach for the practices and skills that you know work for you, play around with ones you feel called to try, and seek out the bright moments of the season under the beautiful dark.

As you create your own winter traditions, I also encourage you to dream of ways that your winter can be a healing and joyful one. What would a nourishing, slow-paced, radical-rest-solstice gathering look like with your friends? Or a high energy ritual dance party that involves as much care in raising energy as it does in grounding it? What has been missing from your Solstice celebrations that you want to call in this year?

If you suspect that one of the reasons the winter holidays might be a struggle for you is because you might be more sensitive than your peers (or you work with sensitive people), you might be interested in my Solace: Herbs & Essences for Highly Sensitive People course.

If you're looking for more winter holiday inspiration, I have a no-pressure might-do list for the Winter Solstice season to check out (and for my southern hemisphere friends, here is my might-do list for the Summer Solstice).

Winter is a dreaming time and I hope that you can dream yourself into your community, your world, your lovely life, a little deeper, a little softer, a little freer.

Be well, friends.

This post was made possible through patron support.
❤︎ Thanks, friends. ❤︎

Your Work Is Not Your Worth : Herbs + Essences to Move from Overwork into Interdependence

I’ve been on a journey of slowing down the past year in ways that have brought me relief and joy, but also a lot of trepidation, rigid fear, and destabilization. This move towards slowness has been a long time coming and holy heck have I resisted it for what I thought were all the “right” reasons. None of these reasons served me or the wholeness, resiliency, and pleasure we need in ourselves and our communities right now and yet I clung to them for way too long. Because why embrace change when you can cling?

So what were these reasons that I was convinced deserved my clingy effort? Prithee, enjoy:

• I can’t slow down because the world is on fire and who am I to take time “away” from the fight? (Because who needs to sleep or eat! That’s sustainable!)

• I think I have it hard! HA! Look at all the other folks who have it way harder than you and get back to work. (i.e. the endless, disconnecting, and demoralizing comparison game!)

• If I don’t work this hard I won’t be able to pay my bills (now this reason can be very true sometimes, but it was not true for me all the time and I used it as an excuse to not ask for help from others).

• I mean I work too much but I love my work so that doesn’t count, right? (i.e. the entrepreneur’s death knell)

• I have got to get it “right” on the first go or not only am I “wrong” but a bad person (i.e. the purity politics that are running us ragged in social justice circles).

• If I slow down who will I become? (Aha! This fear is actually a beacon by which to explore deeper needs and desires with)

I’ll be honest - none of these “right” reasons every felt right to me. But I was raised on the internet and this is the sort of messaging we’re bombarded with in communities agitating for change. Slowly but persistently over the years, these whispers of anxiety moved from the corners of my consciousness to taking center stage as my very own personal internet choir of doom and tear-downs. I knew it was happening and tried to alleviate this growing tightness in my spirit in a multitude of ways except the one way I was most afraid of - slowing way down.

Slowing down would be admitted a few truths to myself that I am still learning to be comfortable with:

• I am very introverted but often appear to be extroverted in my life (though this is changing as I grow into these inward parts of myself). Through denying my introversion I frequently set myself  up to feel like a social experiment gone awry using inappropriate markers to judge my “success” of being a person in the world. Coming from overcultures and personal cultures which prize extroversion over introversion means there’s just a lot of stuff to untangle. That and recognizing that we are all a variation of introverted and extroverted tendencies - I’ve just been relying too hard and long on my extroversion skill set and need a break.

• I’ve been doing too much the past few years, following the tight path of fear instead of the open flow of desire.

• The internet choir of doom and devastation in my head? It may have been built on lived experiences, a hyper-connected culture, and real-world problems, but I’m the one giving them the stage, providing refreshments, and making sure the mics are on.

Yet, the allure of slowness has aligned more strongly with my desires than my the power of my fear teaming up with anxiety. What I have known all along is that my worth (and your worth) is not tied up with my work, my productivity or the ever changing measurements of overculture success. I’m going to take a moment to quote adrienne marie brown at length now for two reasons a) consider this an extended invitation for reading her work Emergent Strategy and b) because her words are a pleasure and get right to why we need to step together and slow down.

“One of the most common and exciting elements of the visioning exercises I have done with social justice movements and organizations is the desire for a society where there is more interdependence - mutual reliance and shared leadership, vision. This is particularly our longing in the face of economic competition.

Most of us are socialized towards independence - pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, working on our own to develop, to survive, to win at life. Competition is the way we hone our skill and comfort with the opposite of mutual reliance - we learn to feel proud about how much we achieve as individuals, and sometimes, to actively work to bring others down in order to get ahead.

In a capitalist society like the United States, every aspect of our survival - from food and water to healthcare, childcare, and elder care - is based on our success at being an individual in the world: Do we compete well enough to make good money so that we can live a good life?

… Do you already know that your existence - who and how you are - is in and of itself a contribution to the people and place around you? Not after or because you do some particular thing, but simply the miracle of your life. And that the people around you, and the place(s), have contributions as well? Do you understand that your quality of life and your survival are tied to how authentic and generous the connections are between you and the people and place you live with and in?” (Emergent Strategy, pages 87 + 91)

Take a moment to breathe that in.

These words brought me back to the moment a few years back of knowing in my bones that I, in all my complexity, have a right to exist. There is nothing to prove to myself or others, but plenty of opportunity to participate. This memory and brown’s words also affirmed a feeling I’ve been having to describe my work not as intersectional (though it is) but more accurately as interdependent - but that’s another post… Right now, that’s feeling good in my bones and getting slow means I’m paying more attention to my rootedness.

Slowness as a sacred act of resiliency, homecoming, and pleasure, has reminded me that my worth is not tied up in my work, my productivity, my success or my failures. It’s bound up in relationships. Yes, work can be one way of creating relationships, but it shouldn’t replace relationships, or be a measurement by which to determine if you are worth relating to. Some of the earliest lessons and knowings my Pagan Witch path was tied up to the idea of being in harmonious relationship with myself, the elements within and around me as well as the community of people, creatures, and kin that I was part of. I remember learning “a Witch is only as good as their word” and, being people of spoken charms and incantations, listeners of plants and animals, and storytellers of lost myths, how important this felt for me. How filled with a sense of worth I was knowing that the world might be telling me one thing about how my worth was determined, but I knew that it was these sacred relationships that were the true reflection of my worth.

But it was really hard to take the first few steps of slowing down. So I turned to my relationships with my plant kin for guidance. And if you’re feeling resonance with what I’m writing, I hope that the following recommendations for both flower essences as well as herbal remedies help those of you who are trying to slow down in order to do less but be more. More in love. More in life. More in your wholeness and relationships. 

Herbal Allies

Milky Oat (Avena sativa): All of the herbs I recommend are nervines because our nervous systems are overworked when we use work as our marker for our worth. Milky Oat is a beloved of mine and a true friend to those of us who have crispy and frayed nervous systems. This is a daily long-term (multiple months) sort of remedy to really take root. Along with nourishing and restoring the nervous system to balance, Milky Oat softens us up. Overwork creates a state of rigidity brought on by tension and fear. As we learn about how to be internally nourished from Milky Oat they help us to seek out similarly nourishing relationships with the people, creatures, and places around us. Read the full Milky Oat plant profile.

Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata): Neck and shoulder tension, stress headaches, and a being tightly wound or type A, are all indicators that Blue Vervain may be a helpful ally to you. The herb is lovingly relaxing and tension-reducing as well as alleviating inflammation. As a temple herb - a plant that is well-suited to sacred rites - Blue Vervain helps us to figure out what is sacred in our life and how much space we want to gift to our sacredness. Read the full Blue Vervain plant profile.

Rose (Rosa spp.) Flower + Essence: I’ve written about Rose quite a bit, but in particular for overworkers and folks struggling to place their worth in a framework that is healing instead of disruptive, Rose helps us to reconnect us to our heart presence. As a symbol of mystery and complexity, Rose helps us to embrace our own complexity and ability to adapt. And adaptation is not just another excuse for running yourself ragged (i.e. I can adapt to only 4 hours of sleep a night and maintaining a toxic relationship to social media, it’s cool) but real adaptation means we know when to step up, step back, and step into the arms of support. 

Elm Flower Essence: I resisted taking Elm flower essence because I didn’t want to recognize myself as someone who tied up so much of their worth to their work. But immensely patient Elm said, “That’s fine. I’ll wait.” Here’s the description of Elm from Dr. Edward Bach “Those who are doing good work, are following the calling of their life and who hope to do something of importance, and this often for the benefit of humanity. At times there may be periods of depression when they feel that the task they have undertaken is too difficult, and not within the power of a human being” (The Twelve Healers and Other Remedies). Elm is an excellent ally not only for the “work as worth” dynamic but for when burden outweighs hope in one’s life, remembering that burdensomeness in one’s life can manifest as persistent anxiety. This is a great pre- and post-therapy session essence, too.

Oak Flower Essence: The essence for folks who don’t know when to sit down and rest. We all know how strong you are - you don’t need to prove it to anyone. It’s time to believe it yourself and rest up before that resiliency runs out on you. This essence is great for folks who feel a sense of duty to set the world right at the cost to their own health and wellbeing. Stubbornly resisting slowing down even thought there is small but persistent inner knowing that it’s just what you need? Make friends with Oak. Oak is one of the most beautiful teachers of interdependence and a longstanding embodiment of wisdom with a root system even more extensive that then vastness of its aboveground presence - which should tell us something about longevity. Again from adrienne marie brown’s book this time quoting Naima Penniman:

“When Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, almost everything lost its footing. Houses were detached from their foundations, trees and shrubbery were uprooted, sign posts and vehicles floated down the rivers that become of the streets. But amidst the whipping winds and surging water, the oak tree held its ground. How? Instead of digging its roots deep and solitary into the earth, the oak tree grows its roots wide and interlocks with other oak trees in the surrounding area. And you can’t bring down a hundred oak trees bound beneath the soil! How do we survive the unnatural disasters of climate change, environmental injustice, over-policing, mass-imprisonment, militarization, economic inequality, corporate globalization, and displacement? We must connect in the underground, my people! In this way, we shall survive.” (Emergent Strategy, 85)

While I still feel like it’s early days learning about my slowness, it also feels like a return to something very old within me that I’ve always known. And old places within ourselves can be hard to get to. So lean on the elders in your community, be they plant, people or creature, and remember to slow down when wisdom is shared. Yes, the world needs changing if we’re going to find ourselves in more just and kind relationships with one another and our ocean planet. But though we need to act quickly, ultimately the solutions remain ones of slowness. Slowing down unrelenting growth, dominating expansion, and consumerism, into something more considered, unafraid of real change, and tied to the sacredness of life and death, not just its exploitation. Remember not to exploit your own resources in an attempt to save other resources.

Practice slowness as a spiritual calling.
Know slowness as self-love.
Create slowness in your community as an act of resiliency.

In slowness and gratefulness,
Alexis

Winter Solstice: Recipes of Mirth + Brightness

If we take time to seek out mirth in the darkness, we're bound to find it during the long nights of winter. I probably create and dream of more new recipes during the winter months than any other time of the year. Perhaps it is the flow of introspective energy or maybe its all the twinkling lights that send my mind musing on new ways to connect with our plant allies. Maybe it all comes down to my love of giving and receiving gifts, full of surprises and shouts of glee, and practicing generosity towards ourselves and our community.

Juniper Liniment

I created this liniment as a topical treatment for inflammation, sore and stiff muscles, and as a sacred forest anointing water to celebrate long winter nights. Juniper is a cleansing and protective herb, well suited to the work of pulling pain from the mind, body, and spirit.

• 8 oz Organic Juniper Berry (Juniperuscommunis)

• 300 ml Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) Extract

• Optional essential oil blend:

  • 3 drops Clove Bud (Syzygium aromaticum) Essential Oil

  • 3 drops Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) Essential Oil

  • 3 drops Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum) Essential Oil

  • 6 drops Juniper (Juniperus communis) Essential Oil

  • 6 drops Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis) Essential Oil

Begin by creating an extract by combining your ground up Juniper Berries with the Witch Hazel. Let brew for a full cycle of the Moon, shaking and singing to daily. Strain the Juniper Berries from the Witch Hazel and you can either bottle the beautiful brew now or add the optional essential oil blend. I take the leftover Juniper Berries and wrap them up in cheesecloth and add them to my evening bath.

To use your Juniper Liniment make sure to shake the bottle up and then add some to a clean cloth. Use the cloth to either wrap or rub on the liniment to the area causing you discomfort such as aching knees or sore shoulders. You can also add the brew to a spray bottle and apply the liniment by spraying it on the affected area. The liniment should keep for a number of years if stored in a cool, dark place when not in use.

Winter Sun Sugar Scrub

While I haven't been a fan of traditional sugar scrubs that use white sugar, I think coconut sugar is pretty swell since it is not only healthier for the body than standard processed sugar but is a more environmentally sustainable source of sweetness. The Winter Sun Sugar Scrub is like the right sort of candy for the body combining the exfoliating qualities of sugar with healing herbs and essential oils. Chamomile, like other bright, sun-like herbs, are wonderful during the winter months aligning our earthly bodies with celestial signs (since herbs like Chamomile and Calendula are well suited to the signs of Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces) and bringing cheer to dark nights.

• 1 cup Coconut Sugar

• 1 tablespoon Chamomile (Matricariachamomilla) Powder OR 2 tablespoons whole Chamomile Flowers

• 1 - 2 tablespoons Sweet Almond Oil

• 2 drops Clove Bud (Syzygium aromaticum) Essential Oil

• 1 drop Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) Essential Oil

• 2 drops Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) Essential Oil

• Optional Essence blend:

  • 1 drop Chamomile Flower Essence

  • 1 drop Oak Flower Essence

  • 1 drop Sage Flower Essence

Mix all ingredients together while dancing and store in an airtight container. Use by rubbing the blend onto damp skin and then washing off, leaving your skin sunshiny and smooth.

Solstice Bath Tea

I created this blend as one of the many holiday remedies I'm sharing with friends and family this year. Bath teas are an accessible and easy-to-use form of herbal medicine. Toss them in a tub and don't worry about the taste! Our Solstice Bath Tea is full of skin-nourishing herbs that also work wonders on soothing the nervous system. A lovely bath blend for folks of all ages right before bed!

• 1 part Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) Flowers

• 1 part Elder (Sambucus nigra) Flowers

• 1 part Calendula (Calendula officinalis) Flowers

• Optional:

  • Add 1-2 cups of healing salts to every cup of herbs

  • Add one or more of the Winter Solstice Flower Essences depending on your need

Mix all the flowers together in a golden blend while singing songs of merriment. Add 1/4 - 1 cup of Solstice Bath Tea to every bath either by adding the flowers directly into the water or wrapped in cheesecloth. Alternatively, you can brew the Bath Tea ahead of time for 20 minutes to a few hours, strain, and then add to your bath water which allows you to access more of the medicinal qualities out of the blend.

I hope you enjoyed these recipes for your winter festivities! I’ve written a lot more about winter wellness and herbs of the season since writing this post in 2013 so be sure to check out the following posts if you’re looking for extra inspiration:

• How to Create a Winter Wellness Apothecary

• Healing & Magickal Practices for Winter

• Winter Warmer: A Gentle Adaptogenic Tea

• Darkest Night: A Winter Solstice Spread

• A Might-Do List for Yule

Wherever the season takes you may it be full of merriment and joy!

The Longest Night: Herbs for the Winter Solstice Season

The wheel of the year turns deeper into the dark, bringing us to the longest night of winter.  The Winter Solstice is both a time of honoring the reflective gift of solitude and the distant promise of the seed sparking to life.  With this spirit we invite herbs into our practice that root our dreams into reality as well as warm us with the inner fire of the sun's promised return.

So put on the kettle, prepare your charm, and welcome in the winter!

PINE Pinus sp. Evergreens are sacred trees and remain green throughout cold seasons when other trees lay bare.  The needles of the Pine tree can be made into a tea and is an excellent source of vitamin C (more vitamin C, in fact, than citrus fruits such as lemons and grapefruit!).  Drink Pine tea throughout the day to clear up congestion and excess mucus.

ROSEMARY Rosmarinus officinalis Warming Rosemary gives us the gift of a dry, Mediterranean heat in the long dark days of winter.  After a bought of sickness or a round of the blues, drink Rosemary tea to restore your body’s inner warmth and fire for life. Rosemary is very restorative to all of our blood organs such as the liver, heart, spleen, and kidneys, bringing back balance after a period of fatigue.  It is also helpful for a dispelling the winter fog from a dull mind.

VALERIAN Valeriana officinalis A root of water and earth, Valerian is gently sedating, helping us to fully settle into the Season of Slowing Down.  Restlessness, insomnia, nervous stomach, and tension, dissolve with the use of Valerian.  My favorite way to take Valerian is as a glycerite, but it can also be enjoyed as a tea (even though we use the root, it should not be decocted since that would destroy its delicate volatile oils).  Mix Valerian with other herbs such as Mugwort, Anise, and Peppermint to create a potent brew for inducing visionary dreams.

CHAMOMILE Matricaria recutita A classic herb for stomach upset, nausea, and indigestion, Chamomile also supports a sense of peace and cheerfulness in the body through its nervine qualities.  Chamomile flowers are miniature suns and can be used in bath, steams, teas or made into an herbal oil to uplift the spirit, calm the cranky, and center wayward energy.  I think a jar full of Chamomile flowers is a pleasant sun-honoring addition to the home altar.

I also find Flower + Gem Essences to be beneficial at any time of the year!  The following are excellent deep winter wonders:

SAGE Flower Essence The Winter Solstice is the cusp between the signs of Sagittarius and Capricorn - Sage is a plant of Sagittarius and its ruling planet Jupiter.  As a flower essence, Sage has an initiatory quality to it, helping us to ease through life transitions.  It is an excellent rite of passage herb and provides release to stagnating emotions.  For the season of the Winter Solstice, Sage helps us to express our deepest kept secrets in ways that bring us joy.

Sage Salvia officinalis

OAK Flower Essence As the Wheel of the Year turns from the Holly to the powers of the Oak, the energies of Capricorn begin to shine.  A tree of Saturn (which rules Capricorn), Oak is a great flower essence for those folks who struggle on even though they are exhausted - they put on a happy and courageous face, hiding their feelings, and never complaining in hopes of not being seen as weak.  While they appear tireless, they have only become rigid in a state of constant stress brought on by a need to achieve the next thing on their list.  An excellent remedy for Capricorns who tend to burn the candle from both ends (you know who you are).  Oak helps us know our limits and be kinder to ourselves by realizing that taking time to rest is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of intelligent strength.

HEMATITE Gem Essence A reflective mirror of night, Hematite is grounding and centering during the hustle of winter holidays.  Hematite is also a very protective Essence and helps folks feel shielded from fears, especially those of the "lurking in the dark" sort of insecurities, teaching us that it is not the dark we fear, for darkness is beautiful and necessary, but what we perceive to dwell within the shadows.

Be well and drink deep the darkness for after the Winter Solstice the days begin to grow longer as we prepare for the burst of spring!  

Create your own delicious + fully enchanted recipes for the winter with The Winter Apothecary!

Hematite Gem Essence is available in our Apothecary along with other fully enchanted herbal remedies for the wintertide.