News Letter
Spring Rhythms: Cleansing, Vitality and Balance with Plants in the Backyard & Nature’s Garden
By: Kristen Vincent Gudmonson
Thankfully, Spring is upon us! Vernal Equinox is just around the corner and most of us are feeling an anxious call to be outside again. We may be feeling the impending change of season with a desire to move, cleanse and invigorate the process of our internal balance. With the rhythm of Spring, our bodies awaken from a long winter slumber. Like the soil we need warmth and sunlight to stoke our internal fires and thaw the nourishing and cleansing waters which provide for regeneration and new growth. In the days when humans lived closely in harmony with nature, we found our diets and habits more attuned to the offerings of the earth; as they too changed with the seasons of the sun. In our modern world of convenience and commodity, we find ourselves longing for this connection and consciously seek ways of entraining ourselves with remembrance to our place in the natural cycle. Amazingly, this inherent memory and relationship is encoded in our genetics; one way we can reconnect to this healing wisdom is by utilizing the herbs available to us in local and natural food markets or with those growing right in our backyards and in the wild around us!
Because of the incredible vitality found in wild plants, we receive immense benefit from ingesting their essential life force and medicinal properties. All organic plants, but especially those found in their wild environment assist us to synchronize our internal balance with the external. In the Springtime, we specifically look to plants that assist us to cleanse, nourish and tonify our digestive organs and liver, but we also need those which cleanse the blood and open the elimination channels of the kidneys, lymph and skin to gently remove wastes and toxins. These valuable balancing properties can be found in familiar wild plants, often considered weeds in our cultured gardens: Dandelion, Nettles, Red Clover, Burdock and Cleavers are a few.
Steamed Dandelion greens, new Burdock shoots and young Nettle tops are excellent for cleansing and nourishing the blood and liver, as well as, diuretic to the kidneys. They support the release and elimination of wastes built up in the body from winter’s fatty rich foods and lack of movement. These greens and shoots added to spinach, kale or collards flavored with vinegar or lemon provide a healthy and cleansing digestive aide and they taste great!
Other wonderful backyard medicinals include Cleavers and Red Clover blossoms which support the cleansing and circulation of congested lymph fluids. Because they assist in elimination of lymph toxins, they support strong immune system health. These benefits may show a decrease in Springtime allergy sensitivities which are exacerbated by an overstressed liver and lymph system. Additionally, according to notable herbalist Matthew Wood, author of the Book of Herbal Wisdom, Red Clover is specific for congestion or swellings in the ducts and glands, including the sinuses, tonsils, salivary and neck glands. This herb is beneficial in clearing up drippy, thin, clear mucus secretion that irritates the cough reflex and presents as post nasal drip; symptoms often associated with Spring allergies.
Most often, we find there is no better ‘cure’ or assistance than found in nature. As a rule of thumb, with each changing season, we find the exact energies we need to assist our transition to the next cycle and optimal health being made available to us with the foods and plants growing at that time in our environment. As we deepen our connection to the rhythm of this Springtime season, cleansing our bodies and developing relationship with nature through our gardens and backyards, let us look with new eyes at the wild plants that live on the perimeters, boundaries and edges of our fences. Let us open to the potential of harmony and respect for Life that exists when we come into our internal and external balance. When we can allow the natural world to thrive even in small ways, we receive its benefits and humbly, joyfully, take our place through a profound remembrance of our own beauty and wellbeing in the cycle of Life.
Kristen Vincent Gudmonson is a trained Western Clinical Herbalist and educator, Master Intuitive and Shamanic Healing Practitioner who resides in Lyons Colorado. She is available for private herbal consultations, energy healing and intuitive sessions by appointment. Kristen enjoys teaching classes on the dynamic energetics and benefits of medicinal herbs, medicine making and intuitive communication with plants and other subtle energies of the natural world. She also enjoys teaching classes on the healing energies of crystals and techniques to enrich and impassion prayer work and intentional manifestation of your dreams. To schedule an appointment or to find out about upcoming classes, please call her at: 763-447-8018.
Unwanted Noxious Weed Recycled Into Beautiful Furniture
Local woodworker Jerry Santesteban enjoys turning local unwanted trees into beautiful furniture. His current favorite is an invasive tree called Russian Olive. Once thought to be a beneficial windbreak tree, it since has been deemed to be detrimental to the environment. Russian Olive is designated as a “List B” species in the Colorado Noxious Weed Act. Thanks to the local tree recycling company, T.C. Woods, Jerry is able to purchase this wood as usable lumber to create beautiful pieces of furniture . Though it has been recommended to control or eradicate this species, the lumber comes from trees that were cut down for reasons other than “harvesting.” Jerry says, “To be able to turn something unwanted into something that is very desirable is recycling at its best.” To learn more about Jerry and his company JS Woodworking you can visit his website here: www.jswoodworking.net
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