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CHAMOMILE TO THE RESCUE!

Last night, my stomach was pretty uncomfortable. When I took an inventory of what I had eaten throughout the day, I realized everything contained sugar. Store-bought dried fruit and nuts for breakfast, leftover barbecue chicken for lunch (I made the barbecue sauce and it had ketchup and brown sugar in it), followed by a chocolate chip cookie (my daughter made them so I couldn’t say no!), then curly pasta with homemade tomato compote for dinner. The tomato compote I hade made and hot-bath canned last year. It included a good amount of brown sugar in the roasting process, so yes, more sugar. About 30 minutes after dinner, my stomach was bloated and the nerves in my neck started really hurting. It was time to cut the sugar and turn to my sweet friend Chamomile.

I chose chamomile because it is a cooling herb that would help calm my nervous system. It also works as a carminative to calm my upset stomach. I am not a nutritionalist, but I have learned to listen to the signals my body sends and it was firing off all sorts of signs saying, “you filled me with sugar and now you will pay!”

In the spring, I planted 150 chamomile starter plants in the Glitter Witch Gardens. The starter plants came from Jeff’s Organic Farm, a local organic farm I rely on to start plants for me knowing they are certified USDA organic. As the plants grew, and before the horrific heat and drought set in, I harvested the flowers daily. You can learn more about Chamomile in our plant library.

Earlier I had air dried the flowers in my dehydrator, but without turning it on – I just used the screens inside to hold the flowers. They are so delicate and aromatic that I didn’t want to rush the process and potentially pull any of the flavor or beautiful smell from the flowers.

Given that the plant material was flowers, I made an herbal infusion. I started by boiling water in a tea kettle, then turned off the heat when the kettle began to whistle (as tea kettles do when the water begins to boil). Next, I used a 1 TSP (teaspoon) measuring spoon and measured out the dried chamomile flowers to place in my in-cup metal strainer. I like this strainer because it has a lid to cover the infusion while it steeps so I don’t lose the beneficial aromatics in the process.

I poured the hot water over the flowers and gave them a gentle stir/dunking to make sure they were all covered in water. Then I covered the strainer and found something to do for the next 15 minutes.

As soon as the water made contact with the gentle flowers, the sweet smell of chamomile started to rise and, if you’re anything like me, your body and mind almost instantly feel like it takes a deep breath and lets out a slow sigh. It’s amazing how this gentle plant can affect you so strongly like a hug from someone you trust and love.

After 15 minutes (it’s hard to be patient when you know what’s waiting), I removed the lid from the strainer and breathed in the sweet smell. A deep therapeutic breath, like the ones they tell you to take during a meditation session. I use a small spoon to push the herbs to the bottom, saving every last drop of juice in my cup. When I was sure I could not get any more of the liquid out of the flowers, I meditated on the marc (leftover plant material) with gratitude for what had been given to me, then offered it back to the earth in my compost pile. The local mice and squirrel families are grateful for their plentiful all-you-can eat buffet!

The first sip of tea was hot, so I carefully slurped it over my tongue like a professional taster, moving it around my mouth before swallowing it. I was a bit surprised at the taste. It smells so sweet, but as it hit my tongue, my mouth felt a bit dry and the taste was bitter, not sweet as I had originally guessed it would be from the aroma. This is why I prefer my chamomile with linden when sleep is an issue, but tonight’s focus was on stomach upset so the bitter was a welcome taste profile. While it was hot in temperature, the energetics of that and subsequent sips were cooling. 

I made sure to turn off all distractions (put the phone down and walk away – you can do it) to focus on my breath and relaxation of my shoulders, neck, and jaw. I focused on what I wanted to happen, not what I was feeling. After about 20 minutes, I noticed that my whole body had felt more relaxed. I wasn’t necessarily sleepy, but my stomach felt calmer and I was no longer agitated and bloated.

Today, I woke up and my body felt tired. I am guessing it was from working so hard to process all that sugar, so I have decided to do a sugar-free day and see how I feel. The chamomile supported me through the night and I was able to get a restful sleep, so for that, I am grateful.