It is actually one of the most magical times to be getting outside in nature and replenishing your BODYSOUL – and there is nothing better for your body soul than living in sync with the natural world as much as possible.
What does that look like?
Well, eating local, seasonal foods. Mimicking the animal kingdom and what the birds and the bee’s are all up to and taking it slow so that we to, like the trees can wither and wilt away those leaves we’ve been carrying all year that won’t be following us in to the year to come
What does that FEEL like?
Most people shrug their shoulders and try to hide themselves away from the winter months. I mean, I went to the extreme of relocating to the far side of the planet to avoid it (haha just kidding – Though not really, I do live in Cyprus but certainly not to avoid the cold as actually Winter is my favourite season in England and the North but let me tell you IT’S COLD HERE TOO!) But the birds, bears and bee’s don’t shrug in dismay and cringe at the thought of winter coming. They prep, they embrace it and then they either hibernate, migrate or get their game on when the hardier times hit. We have this built in condition to LIVE FOR SUMMER but hide from winter and that’s just not what embodiment is about at all.
To be fully embodied is to be neutral to all changes around you as you can stand strong and weather the storm, stand calm and handle the heat, stand soft and bring in the spring, stand proud when your leaves start to fall – Each and every season brings with it the lessons and each lesson carries emotion after emotion that we have to learn to embrace and FEEL otherwise we could not possibly understand each cycle
At the start of Autumn, I felt so disconnected because I’m far away from home and I was longing for the leaves to fall and the temperature to drop. We got to October and my husband, in the end after watching me suffer piled us all in the car and we drove up to Troodos, our mountain range 1952 Meters above sea level so the only place on our Island where you can go and experience ‘the cold’ – As soon as we got up there, the jumpers went on, the flasks of tea came out and the tears literally fell. I NEEDED THAT RELEASE of what I had built up since spring and throughout Summer and that well deserved connection from nature to tell my body ‘It’s ok, the fall is here’ and with that, I promise, I stood in a river just under a waterfall and I took my shoes off, bare foot on rock and I cried.
EMOTIONS are our energies in motion – Each cycle and each season allows for us to FEEL the signatures of each turn of the wheel. The smells, sounds, visions, vibes and all the rest help us to CONNECT!
In winter, there is nothing more grounding and connecting than the smell of burning fire wood. The sound of wet raindrops, the crunching of the frost beneath our feet, the hot breath that pours out of us turning to mist almost freezing in the air in front of our faces, frozen fingers and noses, dark, amber skies and a certain stillness that seems to echo in the vastness of what is becoming emptied and prepared ready for a new season to fill us up again
THIS IS THE SEASON to forage the winter berries, make tea’s, light fires, go to bed early, wake up a little later, connect to the ground, become a tree!
And it is with that that I am going to share with you my TOP recommendations for home remedies and potions that you can use to bring nature inside so that you can reap the benefits of the winter wonderland magic whilst you hibernate and keep warm
THE WINTER APOTHECARY PROVISIONS
So what are the best remedies for throughout winter?
As you can see from the pics above, I LOVE ELDERBERRIES and whether I forage and make my own juice and we each have a couple of table spoons a day or I make gummies and we have a few of those, foraging berries in winter is one of the most fun and simple things you can do, and then prepping them is just as easy. You simply steep them all in a small amount of water, blend and then pour through a strainer into storage jars. If you want to up the shelf life on whatever syrups you’re making, simply add some sugar or honey (raw is better for the microbial properties and enzymes) and you can also add in tinctures and other herbs to boost the goodness! Store in the fridge and you’ll get a good few months use out of them
IF YOU’RE MAKING GUMMIES – Then you can simply add some collagen GELATIN powder to set them, some honey and any other extras you like. HERE is a fab recipe from one of our fave social media friends @catherinefarrant – It has GREAT reviews x
LET’S HAVE A LOOK AT OILS
The BEST oils I find throughout winter are:
- PEPPERMINT
- FRANKINCENSE
- PINE
- CEDARWOOD
- EUCALYPTUS
- TEA TREE
And then there are those oils such as CINNAMON, CLOVE, ORANGE, LEMON AND THYME that are GREAT at keeping our immune system strong and when blending them together, you can create what is formally known as THIEVES OIL (I will do a big deep dive on thieves aka HERMES / MERCURY GOD OF THIEVES AND ALCHEMY in the Feb edit) but for the sake of mentioning THIEVES OIL, It is one of the BEST blends for all kinds of winter ailments.
We use it in a diluted roller ball with 10 parts carrier oil to 1 part EO Blend in a 10ml roller bottle so that’s 30 drops of oil in a 10ml bottle filled with carrier oil. I like to use JOJOBA OIL as it is neutrally scented and seems to carry blend the oils nicely plus jojoba mimics our skin compound better than most others. If you’re wanting blends without buying your own individual oils, you can find some great ones online and NB: I AM NOT a sales commissioner for any of these large companies but I DO buy my oils from most reputable companies even if they are large seemingly MLM co’s such as DOTERRA as their oils truly are fab so. here are a list of the best oil providers if you do wish to purchase ready made blends
- DOTERRA
- NEALS YARD REMEDIES
- NHR ORGANIC
- APIVITA
- TISSERAND
Here are my fave oils for throughout winter and why
- PEPPERMINT – Peppy is great for ANYTHING respiratory. It’s cold and flu season so this is a great all rounder. It also really helps to easy headache and migraine tension from any congestion and is really super at helping to lift the mood and energy levels. It also helps alleviate stomach cramps and indigestion, it reduces muscle and joint pain and it is a natural aid to help reduce a fever
- FRANCINCENSE – Frank is one of my all time favourite oils. It is deeply spiritual and helps connect you to the higher senses and realms and it is an incredible grounding oil that can help lift you out of the negative winter gloom by giving you a new lease on life. If you have arthritis and struggle in the cold, this is a super oil for joints and stiffness as it is one of the MOST relaxing oils that exist. It is a truly blessed oil that will make your winter purely magical
- CEDARWOOD – Ground ground ground – This high altitude plant loves the cold and it is full of alpha beta cedrane’s that match your alpha beta brainwaves so it is one of THE best oils to aid a good nights sleep. As we tend to sleep more in winter, this helps to put us into a deep state of relaxation and at the same time GROUND like a tree does so that we can literally sleep standing up – I mean don’t but…It is a great oil to prevent infections, reduce inflammation and eliminate a cough, not to mention it is a great sedative and astringent so any winter bug doesn’t stand a chance!
Other oils that compliment all of the above are: Rosemary, tea tree and Juniper. They all work really well for anything respiratory and anti-viral and they are great to use as gentle roller rubs on your pulse points a few times a day so that you can truly be as connected as possible
AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO USE ESSENTIAL OILS
Every season, I plan out for what’s coming up and I make it my mission to forage what’s available herb wise, dry them out and then steep them all in HIGH QUALITY OLIVE OIL. Listen, you DON’T need to spend a fortune on branded products to reap the benefits when you can walk straight up to a tree (ask the tree’s permission 1st pls hehe) and get straight to the roots and branches about making your own!
This was an oil I made back in Autumn from foraged sea rosemary, cypress from our garden and a ton of Jerusalem pine from our local forest
All we did was slow boil the herbs and oil in a double boiler for 6 hours and then leave to steep for a further 3 days and then we strained into cute jars. I have made this oil into pots and pots of Salves by adding local beeswax so it is an incredibly potent aid for muscles, joints, skin, viruses and all the winter things. I’ve literally been using this as a thick face salve also just because of how good it smells and yes, I did add some cedarwood and frankincense essential oil into the little pots and I put it on at bedtime or if I get stressy (about 4pm when I’m ready for bed)
But, all those dried herbs, in particular the rosemary. I use it in all our roasts and soups. Get yourself outside and collect all your herbs as and when they are in season, dry them all and get using them as often as possible to keep you warm and strong throughout winter – Our chicken bone broth has TONS of garlic, rosemary and thyme in to keep the bugs away but aid us if they do find their way in
GROUND, GROUND, GROUND
And I will leave you by sharing a really old post I wrote back in 2020 with the recipe for a PINE NEEDLE TEA – Another GREAT winter aid and it explains exactly why, from the insights and knowledge of our Native American brethren who were far more connected to the land then we are!
Have a slow and soothing January
HUMANOLOGY 