Turning Towards the Season
Spring Edition
Cleansing recipes, seasonal wellness tips, elemental practices, kitchen herbalism, poems, notes on how to tune into the energy of Spring, a vibey playlist, and much more!
Spring is here, the light has returned, WE MADE IT! The daffodils are in full bloom, the scent of jasmine hangs in the air, and the magnolia blossoms are blushing in the sun on full display. This time of year always makes me feel a sense of renewal and gratitude. With the vernal showers dusting off the last of winter, sweetly ushering in the tiniest seeds making their way from the moist earth, new growth, abundance is all around.
During any seasonal transition, there are little things you can do to align with the season ahead. After a cold, dark, heavy, stagnant winter our bodies are needing renewal, its the perfect time to give yourself a deep clean out - physically, mentally, and spiritually - CLEANSING SEASON. Spring is all about supporting any stagnation or heaviness in the body accumulated from winter.
All around us the earth is gifting us with medicine our bodies need for exactly that. There are seas of chickweed, cleavers, miner’s lettuce, and nettle everywhere you look. What you might mistake as weeds are powerful spring medicine!
ELEMENTAL EATING & SEASONAL WELLNESS TIPS
ELEMENTS: Earth & Water
SEASONAL QUALITIES: Cold & Wet
OPPOSITE QUALITIES FOR BALANCE: Warming & Drying
AYURVEDIC DOSHA: Kapha
BALANCING FALL FLAVORS: astringent, bitter, spicy, pungent, sour
KEY SPICES: Aromatic and warming spices such as cayenne, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, rosemary, sage, thyme, and turmeric
KEY HERBS: Cleansing, detoxifying, and lymphatic system herbs: artichoke leaf, burdock, chickweed, cleavers, dandelion greens, miner’s lettuce, milk thistle, nettle, red clover
KEY FOODS: Focus on light, stimulating, and invigorating foods - such as miso soup, mineral-rich broths, and porridges, with a mix of fresh and steamed veggies, Ayurvedic kitchari, and lots of herbs and spices.
It’s the perfect time of year to seek out tender greens and fresh herbs like nettle, dandelion, or chickweed, which become flavorful pestos, nourishing teas, herbal vinegars, or sautéed and added to savory dishes. Eating the herbs of the season truly feels like such a special gift from the earth.
REDUCE:
• Heavy, dense food
• Excess sugar, caffeine, and alcohol
• Refined starches - pasta, bread, baked good
• Excess dairy, which can cause a build up of mucus and phlegm, which can aggravate seasonal symptoms and allergies
INCREASE:
• Hydration and electrolytes
• Daily movement - move the lymph!
• More outdoor walks, I love an after dinner stroll
• Get daily sunlight
• Organize and tidy up your living space - clean out your closet, your drawers, and pantry. Shake out your rugs, open the windows, change your bed linens - Spring Cleaning!
Spring & The Lymphatic System
Increase Lymph Competency: The lymph system is our under appreciated workhorse - our built-in recycling and waste removal system. “Silent partner” to the cardiovascular system, it picks up fluid in our tissues that leaks out of capillaries, filters it for bacteria and waste products in the lymph nodes, and returns it to general circulation. Inflammation leads to more waste products in our tissues, which causes fluid to accumulate there, creating more work for the lymph system.
A backed-up lymph system can register as: water retention/edema (think: tight-fitting rings, socks, waist bands and bra straps), skin breakouts, cyclic breast swelling, morning stiffness and soreness, fatigue and lethargy, itching, poor skin tone, a tendency to inflame/react to environmental factors, and swollen lymph nodes. Unlike the cardiovascular system, the lymphatics do not have a pump - and must rely upon us to keep it moving.
How to decongest and care for your lymphatic system:
exercise
salt scrubs
“dry brushing” of the skin
gua sha
sweating in a sauna
red light therapy
specific herbs called “lymphatic alteratives,” which help to decongest the lymph and gently move metabolic waste products out of your system. Many of which are all of our favorite spring herbs and can be found right in your backyard! Nature is pretty rad like that!
How to Dry Brush:
BEGIN at the feet using brisk, upward, invigorating motions towards the heart
TURN the skin PINK- then move on -- blood flow is building
BRUSH the arms toward the heart and make sure to get in the soft of the arm and armpits
After dry brushing, either take a shower or apply body oil following the path of the lymph, rubbing the oil into the skin.
The Neti Pot
is a ceramic cup with a spout that is used to irrigate the nasal passages. This treatment can help congestion, allergies and sinus irritations as well as clearing unwanted thoughts from the mind. It can also help to remove pressure from behind the eyes. The saline water runs through the 3rd eye, where the pituitary and hypothalamus are and thus, supports the clearing of the mind.
How to use a Neti pot:
1 tsp. Grey Salt is added to water slightly above body temperature
The spout is inserted into one nostril and the head is tilted so that the water runs through the nasal passage and out the other nostril
Make sure to breathe through your mouth, to relax the sinus cavity
The process is then repeated on the other side
Seasonal Wellness Recipes
Springtime Medicinal Vinegar
Generally for a medicinal vinegar, you want to have 1 part herb to 5-7 parts vinegar (weight to volume ratio). However, when using the "folk method" of herbal medicine making, eyeball things by placing herbs in a jar and cover with vinegar. I suggest using ACV with live mother for medicinal kinds of vinegar.
Ingredients
Nettle leaf 2 TBSP
Dandelion Leaf 1 TBSP
Burdock 1 TBSP
Red Clover 1 TBSP
Oat Straw 1 TBSP
Rosemary 2 tsp
Add all ingredients to a clean jar, and cover with ACV, filling nearly to the top. Place parchment paper over jar before sealing with lid (vinegar can rust and degrade the metal lids). Keep in a cool place and shake once daily for 1-3 weeks. Strain, and take 1 TBSP daily in 6-8 ounces of water, or use as vinegar in salad dressing.
You can add a couple Tbsp of raw local honey for flavor and allergy support.
Add-ins
Horsetail
Cleavers
Chickweed
Thyme
Borage Leaf + Flower
Ginger
Stinging Nettle Pesto
Nettle Urtica dioica is one of my most favorite herbs and nourishing food, as it strengthens and supports the whole body. I consider it my “everyday multivitamin” - rich in minerals: iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium and also high in protein. Its high mineral and silica content build healthy blood, bones, joints, hair, skin & nails.
Nettle is a natural antihistamine, said to block histamine receptors and mast cell degranulation that leads to allergy symptoms. It’s widely used as a spring tonic and detoxifying remedy. It increases excretion of metabolic wastes through the kidneys – i.e. removes uric acid wastes from the body; nettle’s high potassium levels allow for diuretic action without potential potassium depletion.
Recipe
8 oz fresh stinging nettles (steamed to remove sting)
½ cup pumpkin seeds
¼ cup olive oil
zest & juice of 1 lemon
1-2 large cloves of garlic
½ teaspoon kosher salt - to taste
Steam the nettles for 2-3 minutes until wilted and tender
Place in an ice bath to shock. Once cooled, press steamed nettles on a towel to remove water, then chop them
In the bowl of a food processor, combine all ingredients except the olive oil
Pulse to break the mixture up in the food processor. Add the olive oil in a steady, slow stream until thoroughly combined. Transfer to a mason jar and store in fridge.
The pesto can also be frozen.
Fresh Cleavers *or any favorite Springtime green
Cleavers begin to sprout when our immune systems may be tired and sluggish from a long winter. This little garden weed can be used whenever we feel the need for a little extra immune system support, and has the perfect timing to help us as a spring tonic and cleanse.
An alterative is an herb that gradually restores proper function to the body and increases overall health and vitality, and may do so by promoting the ability of the body to eliminate waste through the main elimination channels of the kidneys, skin, liver, or lungs. A lymphatic, also sometimes called a lymphagogue, is an herb that supports or stimulates the lymphatic system. Cleavers are both!
I love to sauté, add to smoothies, or soups!
My favorite way to process & save my foraged spring greens for future use.
Wash the ingredients if needed (to remove dirt or bugs).
Place herbs are in the blender, add filtered water to blend. You only want enough water to keep the herbs blending and breaking down.
Once the herbs become a thick boggy sludge, turn off blender, and strain/press mixture through a cheesecloth. Compost plant material and use the fresh juice!
To Use:
Enjoy the fresh juice right away or store in the refrigerator for a maximum of 2-3 days.
You can also preserve the juice by pouring it into an ice cube tray to freeze into portions. You will have handy green ice cubes to add to your sparkling water or other beverages!
Butted-Dipped Radishes
You need some small (bite-sized) radishes that you have cleaned well and dried thoroughly. Leave the pretty greens. You also need a stick of grass-fed butter and some flaked sea salt.
Your goal is to get your butter to the consistency of a thin mayonnaise without is separating. There are several ways to do this, but I think it is easiest in the microwave. I put a stick of butter in a bowl and microwave it on high for 25 seconds. At which point it will be a little less than halfway melted. I then whisk the butter vigorously and see what the consistency is like. If it is still thick, I will microwave it for another 3-5 seconds at a time until it is a consistency that will work—something like a loose mayo, or melted white chocolate.
Once your butter is the right consistency, dip half of each radish in the butter and sprinkle with crunchy salt. Transfer radishes to a parchment-lined sheet pan and place in the refrigerator so the butter has a chance to firm up.
S P R I N G E N E R G Y
rebirth
awakening
renewal
cleansing
blooming
lightness
tenderness
maiden
budding
changing consciousness
planting seeds
& tea parties in the garden
