winter: productive stillness

Listening to my self-talk about my winter dread, I noticed something new this year: it is not the ice (which is actually lovely gracing the branches of the trees in my yard) or the snow that is the problem.  I don’t mind the cold so much anymore, because I really like the excuse of staying in and snuggling up in my warm home, anyway.   Demands at work and school, holiday parties and fundraisers, hosting family, shopping, cooking, cleaning feels incongruous with my energy flow at this time of year.  Despite what our current culture says, I instinctively know that this is the time to do what essentially looks like nothing.  It’s time to go inside and hunker down for winter.

I see myself resisting it; I am still trying to keep the garden going, and keep digging roots and deadheading (clipping the dried  flowerheads from the expired blooms of the summer and fall, saving them for seed to plant next spring).  Walking through the neighborhood on frosty mornings, I can still sometimes spot the remains of shasta daisies, zinnias, blackeyed susans, passionflowers, marigolds, evening primrose, mullein, morning glories.  But honestly, it's time to come indoors. While I shelter myself from the snow and cold, I order seeds from garden catalogs while sipping tea (root decoctions and lots of warming herbs), catch up on blogs and books, and meditate on next year's sowings--material and spiritual.

We can’t be fooled by the appearance of dormancy.  These seeds, brown, dried and brittle, look dead.  They will sit still and quiet for months, even without the nourishment of fertile soil, water and sunlight.  But when they are sown in the spring, they literally “spring forth” their energy.  Winter can serve us in the same way in our lives.  This winter, I invite you to think about what you will cultivate and nourish, with your own energy and thought turned lovingly toward yourself.  Spend these next months, with their more-daylit days, getting adequate rest, food, and fresh air.  Stay warm and dry against the cold, damp weather.  Take good care of yourself, deeply root your intentions, and enjoy the season.  

elderberry: a cold-season friend

I wanted to write a nice long post today about root medicine and, honestly, I don't feel up to it.  I think the long traveling wore me out and I've come down with the sniffles...  so instead of being online, I'm making some elderberry syrup.  This post is all  cut-and-pasted from Wiki (for the science wonks) and YouTube (for the DIY elderberry syrup instructions, courtesy LearningHerbs.com).  

Click here for video directions

Elderberry (Sambucus L.) is an easy, sustainable, and effective old-school recipe for health during the cold and flu season.  It grows all over the US, Europe, and in South America and South Africa too. It's honored wherever it grows as powerful medicine.  


And elder makes delicious remedies.  This recipe---> contains ginger, cinnamon and cloves--I'm also throwing in some astragalus.  For prevention, I'll be taking 1 tablespoon an hour or so, as I feel I need it.  Once I feel better, I think I'll still take 1 tablespoon a day as a preventative (and give it to my son as well, who loves it, as do the elders in my life.  Elder's hard not to love).  


To indulge the nerd in me--and to provide backup into for the skeptics--here's some "scientific proof" about Elderberry's efficacy, courtesy of Wiki:

In a placebo-controlled, double-blind study, Elderberry was shown to be effective for treating Influenza B. People using the Elderberry extract recovered much faster than those only on a placebo. This is partially due to the fact that Elderberry inhibits neuraminidase, the enzyme used by the virus to spread infection to host cells.^[3]

A small study published five years ago showed that 93% of flu patients given extract were completely symptom-free within two days; those taking a placebo recovered in about six days. This current study shows that, indeed, it works for type A flu, reports lead researcher Erling Thom, with the University of Oslo in Norway.^[4] Thom’s findings were presented at the 15th Annual Conference on Antiviral Research.

It’s likely that antioxidants called flavonoids—which are contained in the extract—stimulate the immune system, writes Thom. Also, other compounds in elderberry, called anthocyanins, have an anti-inflammatory effect; this could explain the effect on aches, pains, and fever. 

Elderberry extract could be an “efficient and safe treatment” for flu symptoms in otherwise healthy people and for those with compromised immune systems, such as the elderly, Thom adds.