Changing season…
After a beautiful summer spent in Italy, here we are, Autumn season.
Me and my two children explored new places in Italy. We picked figs in my mum’s field where you can also find olive trees, capers, prickly pears, mirto (a berry) and much more. Nature is so different over there compared to England, the variety is amazing and I always like to find new plants/herbs that I can bring back with me to use for infusions, teas and for my products.
Everything is changing and transforming at this time of the year and it brings so much joy to my senses. The colours, the smells, the plants, the sounds. You can still find many flowers and in my garden the calendula is blooming, giving me flowers to create some healing creams. Also my lavender, rosemary, thyme, yarrow and lemon balm are doing very well and I am so pleased to witness their evolution from seed to fully grown plant.
But despite all the beauty of this gorgeous time, our body can experience some changes and not always pleasurable ones, and that’s what happened to me.
I had a very bad throat infection. The first time and only time I had it, I was just a little girl and my parents followed Modern Medicine so I swallowed some Antibiotics and that was it, but this time I followed herbal protocols and it took me a couple of weeks to feel a bit better and clear the infection. I am still going through the healing process, my throat is still sore and red but my energy is back and I can finally function.
This experience taught me many things.
Most important is to take things slowly and have the time to rest. And to be honest with you, that was the hardest lesson for me as I am very active and it is very challenging for me to switch off completely.
I reluctantly took a few days off work as my whole body was aching. Being a working mother makes resting time very difficult as you can’t really stop which made the healing process longer than expected so having some time off work was just what I needed.
Rest, hydration and knowledge of herbal medicine was my approach to cure the infection. It has been many years now that I only use natural remedies to help my body heal from any sort of illness/disease.
Tinctures, herbal teas, essential oils, flower essence, elderberry tonic and healthy meals it is all I had. I used echinacea to boost my immunity, herbal teas that included yarrow, echinacea, nettle, horsetail, calendula, star anise, thyme, cinnamon, honey, garlic - a blend of herbs that can help with inflammation, infection and support the intake of minerals and vitamins.
I am not here to say that this is the journey that everyone should take, I am just here to tell my personal experience with herbal medicine.
Each and every day I find myself closer to the herbal world where natural remedies are accessible to everyone. From your local park or garden to your kitchen, medicine can be made.
In the meantime I am still studying to be an Herbalist, not long to go now and hopefully I will be able to help and support as many people as I can.
Now is the season to prepare various medicine like the wonderful elderberry tonic/syrup, infused honey, fire cider and also some balms to help with congestion and coughs.
Look after yourself this season and boost your energy for the cold times ahead.