Nourishing Life Part 2: Spring Medicine

Spring is here!  There is a reason that ancient cultures recognized the Spring Equinox as a major turning point in the year.  Ceremonies were held to honor the time that night and day are equal.  From now on for the next few months, the abundance of sun, warmth, and light will be ever increasing.  We should feel corresponding changes in our own body and energy.  Have you been waking up earlier?  Have you had more energy recently?  Have you felt restless and the need to move more?  Welcome to Spring.

How do we nourish our bodies and harmonize with the qualities of Spring?  What feels natural at this time?  How can we harness and harvest the energy or qi of spring?  

Spring is connected with the dawn and early morning.  Spring time is like the dawn time of the year, just like winter is like the midnight of the year.  It is a good time to get up early and be present with the dawn.  Waking up and exercising gently can provide abundant energy for the whole day.  Engaging in exercises that allow our body to move are beneficial, especially exercise that emphasizes flow and smoothness.  Tai chi, qigong, flow yoga, going for walks or light runs are all beneficial.  But, beware!  We are not at the time of uber-yang energy that happens in summer time.  Don't over do it!  Doing too much, over stretching, or over extending is likely to injure our tendons and muscles!  

Eating lighter and eating spring greens should be another easy practice to incorporate.  Our ancestors were literally starving for the fresh nutrients provided by wild green foods at this time.  Dandelion leaves and nettles are particularly strengthening and nourishing to our bodies at this time.  Dandelion soothes and cleanses the liver (which can be challenged in the spring) while nettle builds and strengthens our blood and vital energy (partially by being very rich in iron, minerals, and vitamins).  There should be less heavy animal products in our diet and more vegetables.  Though, one shouldn't feel like they need to jump into all raw foods...the fruits of the summer time are still off in the future.

While it is normal to feel the abundance of energy in the morning time, it is still natural to feel a drop in energy in the afternoon and even to be tired in the evening.  However, one should not feel exhausted!  After the stillness of Winter, our restlessness in Spring can push us to do too much.  If you are feeling exhausted, have low back or knee pain, or are finding yourself prone to injuries (especially to your tendons) it would be wise to cut back activity levels some and rest more.

There are some specific practices that are designed to gather the special energies of Spring time.  Here are two simple ones:

5 Breaths at Dawn: After waking up in the morning and dressing adequately, go outside and face east as the sun rises.  With the hands relaxed at the sides gently inhale and exhale 5 times.  Imaging breathing in the energy of the east and spring into your body with each breath.  To end, gently place your right palm on top of your left palm, with your finger pointing opposite directions.  The back of your right hand should face the sky and the back of your left hand should face the ground.  Let you mind rest below the navel a couple of inches, inside the body.  This is a traditional Daoist practice.

Barefoot Dew at Dawn-In Japanese folk tradition and the macrobiotic world, the dew in spring time is supposed to contain a very nourishing quality.  Once a week, waking up early and walking barefoot in the dew is supposed to help bring in the qi of spring.  This is particularly useful for treating heat conditions such as insomnia, anxiety, red skin conditions, acne, anger, and red face.

Wander and nourish in the spring dawn.

Lengthen the tendons and move like the wind,

The body becomes smooth as the world reawakens.

Watch the flowers and the plants and allow yourself 

to bloom as they do.

Nourish life by gathering Spring Medicine!

Herb of the Week: Yarrow

As part of this blog and part of the larger message of rewilding, freedom, wild medicine, and deepening our relationship with nature and our body, each week I will post an herbal profile.  This profile will focus on a different plant each time and will provide clear instructions on how to use the plant as a medicine, food, ally, friend, and partner.  Along the way, different examples will provide the opportunity to delve into the myriad ways of using and relating to plants.  To start off, we will begin with a plant that may be the single most useful wild green ally you can find and a plant that might save your life some day.

Yarrow, friend of Achilles
Yarrow, also known as Achillea millefolium, is one of the most widespread useful wild plants in the world. It is common in most of the Northern Hemisphere, and has been used by a wide variety of cultures since ancient times.  It's name is linked to legends of Achilles, from Greek times, and it was reputed to be part of this warrior's legendary near invulnerability.  While we shall soon discuss how useful yarrow is for wounds and how it could save your life, it is actually Yarrow's diversity of uses that makes it so special.

Description and Appearance:
Yarrow is a low growing herbaceous plant that has extremely lacey leaves, hence the second part of it's latin name millefolium, which means millions of leaves.  It produces a single flower stalk that has many, many small white or pink, flat flowers that grow clustered together.  It is very important to be able to distinguish Yarrow from members of the carrot family.  Several members of this family are poisonous including the various poison hemlocks.


Uses:
1) Stops Bleeding- Far and away the most useful aspect of this plant is that it can be used topically to stop bleeding.  It may be the single most powerful natural substance at stopping bleeding, and if it's not, it is definitely the most powerful common plant that can be used to stop bleeding.  To use the plant this way simply apply crushed leaves to a bleeding wound to quickly stop the bleeding.
     It is important to thoroughly clean a wound before using Yarrow, since it stops bleeding so powerfully that it can cause dirt or germs to be trapped inside a cut.


The leaves can also be dried and saved for future use.  The dried leaves work almost as well as fresh leaves, though they may need to be chewed or macerated before being applied.  Dried leaves can also be ground into a very fine wound powder.

2) Causes sweating, treats fevers and colds- Dried or fresh Yarrow can be made into a quick tea by steeping the leaves in water that has been boiled.  Drinking the tea after fifteen or more minutes will cause the body to sweat.  This is useful in treating fevers and early stages of cold, especially those characterized by aversion to cold, body aches, nasal symptoms, and a scratchy, itchy throat.  Some Native tribes of North America used Yarrow as a drink before entering the sweat lodge as an aid to the detoxifying process of the sweat.

3) A Key to Divination- A completely different use of Yarrow involves the collection of it's dried stalks.  Dried Yarrow stalks were cast in a bundle and then picked up in a variety of ways as one of the older forms of I Ching divination.  While other methods such as burning of bones or turtle shells were also ancient techniques, the tossing of Yarrow stalks is a tradition that is alive and well in some parts of Asia today.

When developing relationships with plants and beginning to find allies in the green world it helps to have  friends that can help you with a variety of issues.  Yarrow with it's ability to powerfully stop bleeding, help treat fevers and colds, and be helpful as a tool of divination is a rare treat.  Get to know it!