Receptivity, Relishing, and Rest - April Newsletter

Spring has launched us into bright, full days and the energy is high. The plants are exploding with growth. I recently left for two nights on the river, and in that short time the roses had budded and started blooming, the cramp bark started pumping out its pom-poms, and all the green veggies and herbs grew by inches. Flower season is fast approaching and pollinators are buzzing. With every native or honey bee I spot in the garden, I feel a pulse of gratitude. Theirs is a quiet, sweet work.

After the bursting energy of the season of Aries, the sun is now in Taurus, and we enter a much-needed time of basking. Venus is highlighted here, being the ruler of Taurus. Restfulness does not equate with laziness. Receptivity is an important part of our being. Venus is also exiting a reflective time in retrograde, and arrives ready with more wisdom. Beltane is coming, lovers!

Caring for the nervous system can happen in small moments of relishing, the act of resisting hustled action, and resting deeply when it is time. These are all things that Venus supports bringing into being, and it feels an appropriate time to talk about sedative and nervine herbs to support the moments of ease. Herbs that settle the nervous system can inspire our ability to be in a receptive state, whether or not we use them to sleep.

Herbal sedatives are an essential tool, and there can be some helpful nuance in finding the right set of herbs for the right body. Matching energetics can be a key step in finding the right herb. Sometimes I’ll ask people if they would prefer a weighted warm blanket (try valerian) or to kick off the covers and feel a cool breeze (try California poppy).

CHAMOMILE (Matricaria recutita) is a sweet and well-known flower with a powerful relaxing effect on the nervous system, while brightening the spirit. It has antispasmodic and anxiety-relieving properties. I think Chamomile is underrated in all of its attributes but especially as an anti-inflammatory. This flower likes to grow in the poor hard packed soil of the pathways in my garden. Each spring I’m delighted by a carpet of waist high flowers with abundant blossoms. I do like to make a little fresh tincture every year, but my true delight in this plant comes from grazing the fresh flowers any chance I get. If I’m in the garden long enough, it’s a mildly psychedelic experience!

CALIFORNIA POPPY (Eschscholzia californica) is an incredibly effective and gentle cooling sedative and nervine. A gentler cousin of the opium poppy family, it is tender enough for babies and yet strong enough for the worst of insomnia. An herb and nutrition teacher that I greatly respect, Paul Bergner, recommends having an herb in a sleep formula that is pain relieving, as aches and pains can disturb the quality of sleep. California poppy is great at fulfilling this role, and it doesn’t have the liver congesting qualities of kava, another pain-relieving sedative. With California poppy, the fresh tincture (meaning the herb is processed while fresh and not dried) is much more effective than the dry tincture or tea, so the fresh tincture of the whole blooming plant is the only way I use this herb. It’s hard not to coddle these beauties in nice soil in the garden, but they really don’t like it – they want to seed themselves and grow on the outskirts where things are a little quieter.

PASSIONFLOWER (Passiflora incarnata) is a cooling sedative, effectively untwirling whirling thoughts into a peaceful easy mind. I just put in another vine to canopy my living room porch – they create a beautiful dappled shade in the summer time and pump out flowers in the 100-degree heat. We are right at the edge of their comfort zone, but they do well next to the house where the ground doesn’t freeze too hard. In October before the cold starts to zap the vitality from the plants, I cut back the whole plant for harvest and process into fresh tincture.

VALERIAN (Valeriana officinalis) is a warming, stony sedative with some pain-relieving properties. A person with achy tension and the desire to sink into a hot bath would do well with valerian. Tall blooms with a heady fragrance make these plants a delight to have in the garden, and they are one of the essential herbs in biodynamic farming. Although indispensable to the herbal sedative array, a little heads up that about one in ten folks find the sedative action reversed when they take valerian, and instead get a sense of fogginess but with a rapid pulse and little sedation...which is not too pleasant if you’re one of the few. If valerian is a part of a larger formula with other sedative nervines, this is less of an issue, but do be aware so you can find the best herb for you.

SKULLCAP (Scutellaria lateriflora) Ahh skullcap. Mentioned in my last newsletter as a liver supportive bitter nervine and nerve restorative tonic, it is also an effective sedative. My favorite thing about using skullcap in my sleep formula is the felt sense of restoration of the nervous system during the following days. There is chatter amongst herbalists about fresh vs dry preparations having more or less sedation and more or less nerve restorative action. I’m agnostic about any of this. I think the fresh and dry are delightful and sedative. I use both fresh and dry tincture and I use it in a lot of tea blends because it’s so pleasant and effective.

IF YOU NEED…
We have the tinctures of each of these and other nervine herbs available at the apothecary, if you’d like to explore them singularly.
They are also featured in some of our tincture formulas: Grounding Elixir, Mellow Me, Nerve Tonic, Rest Easy, Baby Feel Better, Sunshine Tonic and a few more!

In tea blends, skullcap is featured in Easy Dreams, Ground Down, Rest and Digest, and Nightly Delight. Chamomile is a base in the Easy dreams, Gut Repair and Nightly Delight formulas.
(Email us for tincture orders if you’d like them shipped! sundialmedicinals@gmail.com)

AT THE APOTHECARY
Speaking of all that Venus and all that relishing…are you ready for Sundial’s NEW FACIAL LINE!? I have been doing a lot of delicious R&D with a nourishing and transformative facial care line. In the next month or so we’ll be rolling out an oil cleanser, a honey mask, a cooling hyaluronic acid serum and an oil-based serum (and don’t forget our tried-and-true herbal Facial Toner to add to the mix).
We are open Tuesday – Friday from 10-2:30.
New online scheduling for herbal clinic appointments and birth and postpartum consultations. Remote sessions welcome!
Go to www.sundialmedicinals.com/services for the scheduling link.