Tea With Toulousse: September 2016

Insomnia is the inability to sleep or stay asleep. According to Web Md below are some factors to seriously consider when you experience insomnia:

Causes of acute insomnia can include:

Significant life stress (job loss or change, death of a loved one, divorce, moving)
Illness
Emotional or physical discomfort
Environmental factors like noise, light, or extreme temperatures (hot or cold) that interfere with sleep
Some medications (for example those used to treat colds, allergies, depression, high blood pressure, and asthma) may interfere with sleep
Interferences in normal sleep schedule (jet lag or switching from a day to night shift, for example)

Causes of chronic insomnia include:

Depression and/or anxiety
Chronic stress
Pain or discomfort at night

When I was a teenager and lived in Hollywood I had some extreme cases of insomnia. Aside from my anxiety of living alone, the traffic noise, and gunfire: being an empath I could feel the city and all of what that entailed. At this point in my life, however I hadn't an understanding of what I was and the ability I had or the weight it carried. I just thought I couldn't sleep, so I would walk the streets. I felt couped up in my little studio and needed to get out. Most nights it would work well because I would exhaust myself by walking miles and miles at 1am.

Some of you may be thinking how reckless and dangerous of me to be walking around Hollywood in the wee hours when the freaks came out. Quite the contrary my friends. The freaks and weirdos, after a bit, recognized me and looked out for me. It was cool. They weren't interested in dragging me down into their individual hells or circumstances. They knew what I was and in turn looked out for me. Anyhow, in this time of my life if the walking didn't work, alcohol would. If you remember from the blog post about Milk Thistle, I mentioned that I had a love affair with John Barrley Corn: well we were the best of friends at this tender age.

After weeks upon weeks of not sleeping my world shifted into a bizarre waking dream land. I experienced extreme emotional shifts and was mad as hell. I am sure the lack of sleep and the increased booze intake contributed to my madness. Depression began to set in. I remember sitting in the window nook in my studio living room reading with a 40 oz. beer and some bread dipped in marinara sauce while listening to a symphony that was playing at the Hollywood Bowl and thinking how easy it would be to jump from this 5th story window. My imagination would take me to strange places were sometimes I would see myself jump and go splat. Other dream state imagination experiences would lead me to believe that I could fly if I jumped because I would be carried on the waves of the beautiful music the symphony was playing. And then I would find myself crying.

Having a strong will, a desire for life and discovering her answers, I didn't jump. After I was fed up with all the bullshit I was going through, I decided to seek help. Since the tender age of 8 ( as far back as I can remember) I have been connected to Mother Nature. I hated doctors and medicine. I always felt healing from going outside, playing and climbing trees. When my mom would take us camping in Sequoia National Forest I was the happiest kid on the planet. A week was never long enough for me and I would delay our departure from this magic land as long as I possibly could. I would hide. They would find me and we would head home. Bummed me out. Anyhow, because of my natural draw to natural healing I decided to seek what I consider real healing. I hopped on a bus to the Valley to a Bulk Herb store on Vineland Blvd. The dude that worked there was pretty cool, the stoner that he was.

I told him what was going on with me. After a fun conversation and several of his stories I purchased some herbs to not only help me to sleep, but to detox my liver and to work on the headaches I had been experiencing. The three herbs were, Vaerian root, Milk Thistle and White Willow bark. I drank these herbs in tea form. I didn't know how to make tinctures at this point. I drank a Milk Thistle tea each morning for three weeks. When headaches occurred I would drink a White Willow bark tea. By the way, the big pharms use white willow to make the aspirins that we use. However they chemical this natural healer and in turn we may get a more instant effect but suffer from kidney and liver destruction. Just saying.

At night, I would drink a cup of tea made from the Valerian root. Now let me tell you something about Valerian Root. It smells horrible! I mean really nasty. The stank also lingers. Fortunately times have advanced and you can get Valerian in a tincture or in capsules. I prefer the tincture or the tea because the result seems to come more quickly. Here is the skinny on Valerian root. And let me preface this with not everything works for everybody and Valerian has different effects on people. My friend Anna actually hallucinates. It is too strong for her and doesn't work with her chemical make up as it does with mine. So with any medication, herb etc. be cautious of your intake and educate yourself. Valerian works for me and is my go to herb for bouts of insomnia.

Valerian root is a strong nervine that contains an essential oil and alkaloids that combine to create a natural tranquilizer. It can produce a relaxing effect that draws sleep with a restful outcome. You wake feeling refreshed rather than sluggish and drugged. It is known as a safe non-narcotic herbal sedative. It can also be used for anxiety. When I worked at the Health food store a sister that had to quit smoking weed for a job she had acquired, she experienced anxiety and was ornery as hell. I suggest she use a Valerian tincture to keep calm and to produce the same effect she felt when smoking. It had the desired effect, until she became strong enough to handle her ish.

Valerian is used in the short term. I use it in extreme cases of insomnia. In this blog post I list alternative herbs to help with sleep :

http://workwithdynamicduo1014.blogspot.com/2015/03/sleep-on-cloud-dream-baby-dream.html

Also in this video I show you how to make a Valerian tincture and in the next video how to process the tincture after it has brewed.

How to make a Valerian tincture : https://youtu.be/BjZApcwPzug

How to finish your brewed tincture: https://youtu.be/uBtUVzKo0C0

Valerian is powerful and can help you get the sleep you so desperately need. Mama takes care of us. Seek out healing from her. Do your investigations and discover a pure world that embraces you.

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Toulousse

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Clear, Healthy Lungs for all of the Winter junk and mucky muck!

Photo taken by Toulousse

So as Winter comes creeping into our existence this October, and all of the adjustments that come with the onset of the cold, we need to take the time to take care of ourselves along with the plants we cover, the wood that is chopped and the food that is stored. We seem to forget that during each season our bodies go through a series of adjustments not only to temperature but also the quality of the air and adjustment to the new plants, grasses and the weeds that grow.

It is vital for our health that we spend the time to care for our immune systems for all seasons but let's face it, winter sucks and it, to me, is the hardest time of year to stay well. Colds seem to linger longer and it does seem that the immune system is fighting constantly. WELL it is!

Remember that we are set at a certain temperature and with any fluxuation in temperature our Homeostasis is thrown into some form of hyper-drive. Whether too hot or too cold once we experience a change in temperature our bodies go into battle mode. Gears and levels must be adjusted for optimal Homeostasis, our bodies work very hard to keep us alive and healthy. But alas, there is going to be some germy germ that will come and kick our asses at some point.

In my experience lung issues seem to come up more during the winter time... so in this blog I want to share another amazing herb that Nature provides for us to help with our immune system and with respiratory issues. Let me give you a little background on my discovery! Through out the summer and well into September I have been noticing this really cool looking plant that grows all over our property here in New Mexico. Let me digress a bit, I have always used herbs for healing. I was introduced to herbs at 19 years of age and have continued my love of knowledge with natural healing since. I have always seen and can recognize most herbs when they are dried. I have lived mostly in urban settings so seeing herbs as they are still alive and growing was limited. Since moving to our Farm full time, I have been given the chance to learn what medicinal plants look like when they grow from the earth! I am so lucky!!

So now it is winter and we are catching all or some of the junk and mucky muck. You feel terrible and can't seem to get rid of the colds and such. You may start out with a little bit of a scratchy throat. This for me is the first sign to go grab my Golden Seal Echinacea blend. I also take the time to drink a Bucha to clean out my tummy and intestines (were colds and flus begin). I also use Oil of Oregano. Depending on when I catch the signs and depending on the condition of my immune system, sometimes the junk and mucky muck win the battle. We get sick.

Now our body has to fight. Building you immune system helps. However, we also need to help our bodies expel the junk that is infecting our health. Drinking tons of water is always a good idea, however when you are ill it is best to drink more water and liquids that help promote healing. Water keeps our blood circulating and keeps us running at a cooler temp and helps prevent inflammation.

We can help our systems expel the junk with medicinal herbs. One of the best to help expel the junk in our lungs and respritory system is a wonderful plant called Mullein. The photos above and throughout this blog show you what the plant looks like while growing in the wild. We are fortunate to have an entire field and creek full of Mullein.

Mullein flowers, leaves and root can be used to aid in respiratory issues such as chest colds, asthma and bronchitis.

"Both the leaves and flowers contain mucilage, which is soothing to irritated membranes, and saponins, which make coughs more productive. Research has shown that the herb has strong anti-inflammatory activity, and lab studies suggest that mullein flower infusions have antiviral properties."

Mullein leaf tea will help to clear your lungs and open the air ways to help you breath. The use of Mullein flowers can help to relax you and to aid in restful sleep. Make a tea of the leaves and flowers for a restful night. A tea of the flowers will help relieve pain and can induce sleep.

For external inflammations or skin conditions that cause pain us the tea mixed with vinegar and water to relieve the skin.

If you haven't time for tea, then the use of a tincture will work just as well! You can get Mullein tinctures and dried leaves from your Local CO-OP or health food store. We are currently in the process of brewing Fresh Mullein tinctures.

The recipes below can be helpful:

1. Steep 1 tsp. of leaves and flowers in 1 cup of water. Drink twice a day.

2. Take 15 to 40 drops of prepared tincture in warm water every 2 to 4 hours.

Mullein is high in iron, magnesium, potassium and sulpher. I also contains Vitamins A, D and B-comples.

Take care of yourself this winter. In other posts I will share my discovers of How Nature Takes Care of Us. If you questions, comments please leave them in the comment section.

Keep checking back for more blog posts and for links to buy cool stuff like here: http://www.cafepress.com/TeaWithToulousse

Much Love,

Toulousse