The Heart of Healing is Well-Being

Herbs can heal, of that there is no doubt. Herbs have healed people for thousands of years and will continue to heal. But what is the purpose of our healing? What are we aiming for? An absence of symptoms? Is that all healing is? 

Healing is much, much more than that. Healing is a journey, it is part of our life's journey. It's true goal is physical, spiritual and emotional well-being. I believe that herbs can help us on all these levels. But more than this, in order to heal we need to place well-being at the heart of our life.  If you don't care about how you feel, or ignore what you feel you are really aiming your life at disorder and ill health.  When we aim for well-being in our lives, when we place it at the heart of our relationship with ourselves, with others and with the earth, then we can truly be well.

I like to define well-being being in harmony and balance so that we can live our lives filled with love. Our heart is what balances us. In fact in in Thomas Cowan MD in the Fourfold Path to Healing talks about the what role the heart plays in the body, he says 

“The heart does not pump-what is does is listen. This amazing organ senses what is in the blood and then calls forth the necessary hormones so that homeostasis is maintained and the cells can function optimally. The heart serves the cells not by pushing blood towards them but by balancing and integrating the bloods chemistry....the heart then is, is not a mechanical pump but actually a sensitive integrator or all our experience” (italics mine)

So our heart is one of our sense organs and we would do well to listen to our heart. It allows us the live in balance and harmony if we learn the languages of love.

The native American Navajo Indians have a term called hózhó:  This is the Navaho purpose of life to achieve  balance in a continual cycle of gaining and retaining harmony. It also means to strive for harmony and balance, beauty and order, and to preserve the balance between people and nature.

These concepts are not restricted just to Native American teaching, Traditional Chinese Medicine aims for balance between Ying and Yang and follows the forms of nature. Even Christianity crowns Jesus as the Prince of Peace. And for peace to occur their must be balance and harmony.

Balance and harmony are the heart of well-being. These are what we must place at the centre of our lives and our desires for being well. For the Navaho it is their whole life, and they see balance as something that is a constant activity in order to achieve harmony.

I see herbs as part of a way of supporting people so that their body, heart, mind and  soul can aim for and maintain balance and harmony in their lives. The act of taking herbs is part of a constant practice of seeking balance, it brings us into relationship with ourselves.Herbs, being plants  bring us into relationship with nature. Not just the herbs themselves but the relationship that we have with them aids our healing and well-being.

When we listen to our heart, we can walk the journey to our own healing . When we value well-being within ourselves as well as valuing well-being in our relationships with others and the earth we truly can create a world of love and peace.

Many Blessings

Lisa McAndrew

Good Heart Herbalist

(All text and photography copyright to Lisa McAndrew)

Herbs for Winter

Herbs for Winter

Herb Profile :Yarrow (Achillea Millefolium)

Yarrow is an amazing plant. It grows up to 50cm high, has feathery leaves, and a tall flower spike with white flowers. The flowers are tiny and are in a cluster. They look similar to a carrot flower or parsley flower. At night time the white flowers almost glow in the moonlight. Yarrow is one of may favourite herbs that I use extensively.

Yarrow is a plant of many uses and abilities. It is most famous for its ability to stop the flow of blood from wounds, which is its traditional use. Apply the herb directly to the wound, first chewing it an applying it or pounding it with a mallet if you have time to get to the kitchen. You will then feel a throbbing in the wound which is the effect of the herb in stopping the blood flow. Living on a farm, not close to medical care I have found this herb to be invaluable on many occasions.

For women it can be used to either encourage menstruation or slow  down your bleeding if you have too much . Yarrow has the magical ability to do what appear to be two opposite things. This is really due to yarrows make up and makes it a great herb to have in your herbal medicine chest.

Yarrow is a bitter and good for digestion. It is particularly good for encouraging circulation to extremities, it also helps the liver. This it does supporting the circulation of blood to the liver.

Yarrow is also excellent at helping the body get rid of a fever. It encourages perspiration and  supports circulation and flushes out the temperature. It is part of the traditional cold  herbal tea remedy of : Yarrow, Mint and Elderflower. I find that yarrow and mint work just as well, and often add lemon balm to this. At the first sign of a cold (ie when you are feeling cold or under the weather) sit down and make sure you are warm enough and drink the above not tea. You will be surprised how quickly it can help.

Yarrow is also used to help protect people from radiation, either from radiation therapy, or from power lines etc. It's effect is strong but subtle.  If you want confirmation of this. Look where yarrow grows wild. You will often find it at the base of power poles and under power lines. Yarrow also relaxes you and it has a substance in it that is pain killing. This adds to it's  effectiveness in helping with the above conditions.

So as a herb for winter it is really powerful, it helps warm you, aid circulation, remove temperatures, stops bleeding, and protects you from radiation. All this medicine from one plant. Grow some in your garden today!

Many Blessings

Lisa McAndrew

Be Bug Free

The wonderful herb feverfew should not be overlooked when searching for a really good bug repellant. I found this out this summer when I was desperate to stop the itching from bug bites on the farm. Feverfew grows well on our farm. I made a herbal vinegar from the flowers and apply it topically to my skin (please test a small amount on your skin first as some people are allergic to feverfew) , I find it not only repels most insects, including mozzies and fleas. It is also a fantastic painkiller if you have been bitten by a mozzie or flea. I find that I swell up from mozzie and flea bites and the feverfew vinegar really helps.