Healing with plants is a passion of mine that I always love to learn more about, and share with others.

I have not always been so happy and healthy as I am now, and from time to time I have to add new positivity in my life in order to ease out negativity I get stuck with. Sometimes we struggle to remove stress factors in our lives because we allow distractions, while the subconsciousness and body store pain and tension that we are not always in our right state of mind to acknowledge. When you suppress your emotions that way, you most likely disconnect from yourself and keep some stress stuck inside you. So you should definitely let yourself breath, feel and speak about your emotions to stay in flow. 

Healing stress with herbs

For me, drinking herbal tea can be a spiritual practice as yoga and other forms of meditation, or just a tiny ritual to start a healing process. Adding a small peaceful action to your life on regular basis can come out as a big change, and you do not have to start in the difficult end in order to be healthy and happy. When I make a cup of tea, I'm able to connect with nature, balance and activate my senses which provides me with some sort of healing and wellbeing. It removes tension and alongside with health benefits from herbs and roots, the time I take to do something good for myself makes me reconnect and feel good.

A few herbs to start with: 

Lavender   

Lavender is known for stress relieving abilities, and can treat headaches, better your sleep and help you relax. An antioxidant boosting herb with a calming and clean smell. 

Chamomile

Chamomile is in the Asteraceae family, but has the same calming effects as lavender, and is also good for sleeping. Chamomile has anti-inflammatory effects, and is great for pain relieve. Try using it when you feel like a flu is coming, it helps your immune system function better.

Mint

Mint is in the same family as lavender, the Lamiaceae family. It clears up your lungs and nose, and is good for people with asthma. Its being researched and believed to have a good effect on your cognitive system, and is super refreshing & energizing.

Tulsi

Or holy basil, is a worshiped plant in Hindu belief. It contains magnesium (which is important for your muscles ability to relax), and other vitamins such as K. It also acts antibiotic, and can be used for small infections. 

Try to mix, experiment, and feel what herbs are good for you. You can think for yourself that for sleeping, lavender and chamomile is a super calming mixture. Try adding some almond milk for a latte, It's magically good.  

Dried herbs can also be burned as incense for purification.  Put the dried herbs in a bowl or on a fireproof surface, light, and blow out the fire. A blend of lavender and sage is definitely my favourite for incense.

Some more nice things to remember

• -Light a candle to make a sacred space.
• -Breathe deep and exhale slowly to regain your focus.
• -Always use fresh, fluoride-free water.
• -Don't add any refined white sugar (not very healthy for you, agave is better).
• -You can get prepackaged tea bags, but most preferably fresh or dried herbs so you can choose the amount yourself and avoid exessive packaging.

-Sage, Ginger, Nettle, Rosemary, Amla and Ashwagandha are also interesting herbs/roots to check out.

Be conscious about what herbs you use, and take in consideration that some medicines may not have a good synergy with each other, especially if you're pregnant. Always make up your own mind about what you put in your body and get your information from different reliable sources.

I will write more about exploring with natural medicine, different herbs and also about who I am and not anymore soon, but thats that for my first post.

Love, Emilie/Umulie.