SoulFire Health & Help
Access your own inner wisdom and strength.
SoulFire Health & Help
Access your own inner wisdom and strength.
Preparing your herbs by infusion
I recommend the infusion method for Western herbal formulas.
I find it most convenient to use a quart sized mason jar for infusions.
Place 4 tbsp of herbs into the jar, fill the jar with hot water, place lid on the jar and let it steep no less than 30 minutes. Alternatively, one could start the infusion at bedtime, let the herbs steep overnight, strain in the morning for use that day.
Ultimately though, the goal is 1 tbsp of herbs per 1 cup of hot water no matter what kind of vessel is used as long as one gets 4 tbsp/4 cups consumed in a day.
Preparing herbs via decoction
I recommend decoction for Chinese medicine formulas.
The best cooking vessel for decocting herbs is a clay herb pot like this one here. (Note: any Pyrex saucepan or stainless steel sauce pan will work. You do NOT want to use cast iron or aluminum as these metals will react with the herbs.)
If you are a visual learner, check out this video on decoction.
Instructions:
- Place one bag of herbs into the clay pot.
- Fill with at least 1 quart of water.
- Let the herbs soak for 30 minutes.
- Bring the pot of herbs to a boil, then reduce to slow roiling boil/simmer.
- Once you have boiled down to about half of the volume of liquid, the liquid can be strained and poured into a quart sized mason jar. There should be approximately 2 cups of liquid.
Reuse the same pot of herbs , refilling the liquid and repeating the process. Once done, you will have a mason jar filled with your herbal decoction. You will take 1 cup in the morning and 1 cup in the evening for two days.
Where I source herbs
Where your plants come from matters.
I lived at Twin Oaks Community for about five years (and other small communities for three years). I learned how to grow my own food and save my own seed during my time on the farm. I also learned how dangerously close we are to losing our seed biodiversity as well as our ancestral knowledge of how to sustain our lives in balance with the other living beings that we cohabitate with. In other words, we once knew how to live our lives without having to shop at the grocery store or the drugstore for our food and medicine.
I came to see how important it is that we reconnect with our ability to heal ourselves by living in right relationship with the plants and animals in our lives. The plants are our ancestors. They have been on this earth longer than we have and, indeed, they are the ones who built the precursors to our neurotransmitters! As I learned more about how to grow my own food, save my own seeds and make my own medicine, I found that I was able to maintain my own health more and more.
I learned first hand how having a direct relationship with the plants engenders healing as well as enlivens the local biodiversity of where we live. Furthermore, when one isn’t able to grow their own plants, purchasing plants from local farmers whenever possible is the next best option. My top priority is growing or foraging the plants that I use in my herbal formulas. When that isn’t feasible, I ask my friends at Common Wealth Seed Growers to produce a few crops for me. When I have to turn to a supplier, I turn to reputable organic sources such as Mountain Rose Herbs, Starwest Botanicals or Mayway.
