The Rhythm of Winter
The turning over of a calendar year always feels significant in more ways than just the celebration of a holiday. A new year paves a wide open path to dream new dreams and seek endless possibilities. The potential for what lies ahead is utterly unpredictable and ephemeral. I love to begin a new year with some intentions but I let go of resolutions long ago, for they usually resulted in a feeling of having failed, having not done enough. Intentions are expansive things, with the possibility to grow into something magnificent, guiding us forward in a forgiving way, having our backs while we set our own pace. Resolutions lack flexibility and leave little or no room to change direction when your mind, spirit, or body feels called to do so.
January is the starting point for an unmapped journey of growing, learning, grieving, loving, unmaking and re-making ourselves in the year that lies ahead. January gives us the slowness and the stillness and the darkness in which to explore the complexities of what we want in our future. In all this anticipatory looking forward, take a moment to reflect back on what has passed. It is often only with time and distance we can allow ourselves to feel deeply the events, earth-shattering or barely noticed, that got us to where we are now. We get to keep building on those moments, reaching ever higher towards the glimmer of starlight and fiery sun, pulling bright sunlight down into our everyday and embedding it deep in the soil under our feet. There won’t always be starlight and sunshine. Maybe you are wondering how to ever find that again. The beauty of it all is that for every ache in our soul, for all we can no longer hold in our arms, there are days ahead in the journey to come where that love which never ends will become the starlight.
I feel deeply that most of our culture now ignores the crucial rhythms of the seasons, and how our bodies and minds are meant to be in sync with the beat of nature’s drum. With electric light filling our homes well past sunset, with walls to block out the sound of wind in the branches, with demanding work-weeks and revolving extracurricular schedules, with phones used to say hello to loved ones instead of a warm embrace, we have lost, or are at least losing, some vital part of who we are as vibrant living beings. The extended daylight of summer gives us the space to do more, to be ever productive. But the cold, dark days of winter ask us to rest with them. It is in this resting that we can heal from the work we have done, we can reassemble a current of strength that runs deeper than the surface, we can focus on breathing and being. I often hear people bemoaning winter and longing for spring, and while there is nothing inherently wrong in that, it can keep us from fully living in the present. I encourage you to not let this season and the opportunity to absorb each of these moments that can never be lived again pass right by without feeling the shapes and edges of them. Spring will come, and with it the season will give us more warmth and light to get to work on all we have unmade and re-made of ourselves during the winter. Don’t rush to get there. Just sit here. Be here. Relish in this season where the entire celestial universe asks us to slow down and heal.
One of the intentions I set for the year ahead is to be more timely with this newsletter, and offer up more foundational herbal knowledge along with my thoughts as the seasons come and go. I’m already giving myself grace with the lateness of this January letter, for having a newborn sometimes relegates the best of intentions to the backseat. As always, thank you for being here and for being a part of this beautiful community.
Love and herbal tea,
Jenn
Herbs for Winter Wellness
You might be expecting to find a list of anti-viral herbs or immune boosting herbs in a list of winter wellness plants. I’ll include those too, but wellness goes much deeper than the immune system and fending off illness. Wellness is emotional health, having stamina and clarity, finding ways to include movement, and nourishing your body. Wellness is managing inflammation and pain, and feeding your gut flora. These are some plants I can’t live without in the winter season and my reasons why. It is in no way exhaustive; there are so many more plants I call on regularly during this season, but this is a good foundation.
MUGWORT
Mugwort is a thinking, dreaming and moving plant. I find it invaluable when I’m feeling stagnant, either with fluids in my body or with clarity of mind. Many think of it specifically for stimulating vivid dreams, but it works in the same way for the waking mind, stimulating thought and creativity. I love mugwort tea in the winter when I give myself extra time and space for imagining and creating what the future can bring.
GINGER
Ginger is a warming digestive aid and circulatory stimulant. During the cold months of the year I add ginger to most of my tea blends. The food that is locally available is more starchy, less green, and tends to be heavier in our bellies. Ginger helps us digest this richer diet while warming us up from the inside out.
MARSHMALLOW
Marshmallow, both the root and leaf, is moistening (demulcent), and so wonderful to incorporate when the air is drier. As we run our forced-air heating systems or sit by a wood fire, the air around us dries out. Dry eyes, sinuses, and respiratory systems can add a level of discomfort to our already strained bodies, and adding marshmallow to a long infusion brings back a deep level of moisture. It helps our bodies hold on to the water we are drinking rather than allowing it to pass right through us.
PINE
I have a soul-deep affinity for pine. In the whitewashed winter months, pine shines as a beacon of green strength. Pine is a powerful respiratory support plant where it helps to reduce inflammation. Pine needles are rich in Vitamin C and Vitamin A, doing hard work in our bodies to support immune function, aid in red blood cell production, and support the regeneration of hair and skin. Evergreen volatile oils help to boost mood and alleviate feelings of depression. During the winter when little else is available for fresh harvest, pine offers itself to us as a supportive friend for the body and spirit.
ELDER
Elderberry gets most of the attention for its incredible antiviral activity, but elder flowers are also a winter favorite of mine. Elder is a plant that can support us during winter illness on many fronts. In addition to the antiviral properties of elderberry, it has a high antioxidant action and supports heart health. Elder flowers are often called upon to help reduce inflammation of the sinuses and as a diaphoretic to encourage sweating and break a fever that has done its work.
CALENDULA
Calendula is a treasured vulnerary (wound healing and tissue repairing) plant, and one of the best plants to help move the lymph. When winter sets in we tend to have less movement in our lives. Since moving our bodies is imperative for moving our lymph and draining those fluids, I consider calendula to be essential in preventing fluid stagnation. Calendula is supportive when the acute cold, flu or infection has passed but the aftermath of sickness lingers in a cough, congestion, or swollen glands, and you just don’t feel all the way better. It opens up the channels of elimination to help our bodies flush out what we can’t on our own. Topically, calendula promotes tissue repair, modulates local inflammation, and prevents bacterial overgrowth and infection.
GARLIC
A delicious culinary herb and a powerhouse of healing, garlic takes a prized place in my winter apothecary. Taken in fire cider and in food, garlic works in our bodies as a natural antibiotic, antiviral, warming herb, anticoagulant to help prevent blood clots, to help lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure, and can stimulate the body’s natural defense against invading microorganisms.
YARROW
I call on yarrow year-round but I find myself reaching for it even more often in the winter season. Yarrow is another wonderful ally in times of illness and fever, helping the body to sweat it out. Yarrow has a harmonizing and balancing effect on the body, centering and protecting our energy and spirit, strengthening our boundaries emotionally and physically. Yarrow is a healer of wounds, in the mind and spirit and the bone and flesh that keep us together.
