Oil Pulling

ah. Oil pulling. The art of putting a lump of oil in your mouth and swishing until you can’t stand it anymore. Oil pulling really is that simple. I suggest coconut oil for hot, inflamed and / or infected states, and sesame for cold and stagnation. Personally I use coconut because sesame has a very strong flavor. I love to infuse my coconut with black sage, spilanthes and I add a bit of Tea Tree EO as well.

Oil pulling can also make a huge difference in how your feel when you have a wracking cough that leaves your throat feeling raw. I also use it to bring down swelling in the tonsils and lymph nodes of the neck.

For daily maintenance swish for 1-2 minutes, for inflamed tonsils swish for up to 10 minutes (if you can!). Always spit your spent oil into a trash can, NEVER into your plumbing.

How to get a custom tincture blend from Farmacopia

So you herbalist “put in a custom blend” for you at the local herb shop. Farmacopia is a wonderful resource for Sonoma County. They ship and you can also pick up your tincture in person. Here are some easy instructions on getting that blend into your hands.

1. Know what your blend is called. It won’t Just be under your own name. It will be under the blend name. So, check your protocol message for details. As an example for this post we will use the imaginary blend name “Miriam’s Tummy”.

2. Call Farmacopia during business hours. 10am-6pm, and closed on Sundays. Their phone number is 707-528-4372.

3. Farmacopia asks that you give them 24 hours to blend your formula. They will also request that you pre-pay over the phone. At the time of this post Farmacopia was charging about 11 an oz.

   You will need to tell them how much of your formula you would like to have blended. Your protocol message will have a suggested size to order. Typically I suggest 2 oz at first as a trial on new formulas. This will give us the chance to adjust and refine your blend before you invest a chunk of change on a larger bottle.

4. Take as suggested! Dosage will be written on the bottle. It is especially important that you take your tincture as suggested so that we have feedback to work with at our next appointment.

Herbal Steaming

This treatment is for Bronchial health. When you have boggy, stuck and inflamed lungs with worry of infection an herbal steam will address stuck mucus and move stagnation. Here is a step-by-step, and you can see a quick video here:

You only need a few things:

1. a heat safe bowl

2. A towel

3. boiled water

4. herbs or essential oils. (thyme, rosemary, oregano, lavender, tee tree)

How To:

1.place the bowl securely on a surface you can stand or sit over.

2. Fill the bowl with a handful of herbs and / or a few drops of essential oil (Don’t give in to the temptation to use more essential oil.)

3.Pour boiled water over the herbs.

4.Sit or stand with your head over the steaming bowl and cover your head with the tea towel.

5.BREATH! breath in through your mouth an also your nose.

Be prepared for a lot of gunk to be expectorated so have a handkerchief ready.

Bonus!

You’ll need a partner for this. After you have spent a few moments inhaling the vapor have your partner gently “thump” your back over your lungs. Cupping the hand and working up and down the lungs for a minute or two will help loosen and relax the lungs. Cycle back and forth between steaming and “thumping”.

In the background….

Lungs are the organ of grief, lungs are the trees of the body, the lungs feed the heart and heart medicine is tree medicine. Which is to say; if you have chronic lung inflammation you might ask yourself if you have an unresolved grief that is holding space in your lungs. There is a real wisdom in the old saying “getting something off your chest”

Gua Sha

I use this treatment for pain and stagnation around the joints, to help breakup scar tissue and calcium deposits, and to help move lymph. I find it to be especially helpful for tension headaches with neck and shoulder pain, and for calcium deposits in the hands and feet. You can see a short video on joint and arthritis pain here. And here you can see a short video on using gua sha for headache and migraine.

While there are quite a few fancy guy sha tools out there don’t let this discourage you. The back of a spoon does the job just as well as any hand carved jade show piece!

You only need a few things:

1. a gua sha tool or a spoon with soft edges.

2. a liniment and / or an oil (see below for more on this)

How to:

1. always apply liniment first. liniment is usually a high alcohol plant extract. (NEVER drink liniment as it may be made with isopropyl alcohol which is poisonous if drunk and the herbal ingredients would likely be irritating to the gut. ) The alcohol in the the preparation helps drive the medicine into your skin. You can learn about making your own herbal liniments here, and you can purchase herbal liniments here.

2. apply a bit of oil. What oil you may ask? Well, really just about anything works here. It may be olive oil or coconut oil from your kitchen, or a fancy massage oil, or anything in between! You can learn about making your own herbal oils here and you can purchase herbal oils here.

3. Working a gut sha tool like a master takes time and learning. But no is asking you to be a master here, so don’t get overwhelmed. See below for issue specific use.

   For joint pain :

   Just use the edge of the tool to work around the site. Rubbing to break us stagnation around knuckles and joints, and using a steady “flick” movement to move the lymph towards the heart. Use medium pressure and take it easy the first time. You may see a bit of bruising or redness after the fact. This doesn’t mean you’ve worked too hard, but do check in with yourself about needing to be more gentle in future. You can see a short video here

   Breaking up calcium deposits and scar tissue takes a little time and you won’t feel results immediate. A dedicated approach means working the area several days a week for a month or more, and then it will take another month or more to fully feel the benefits.

   However, it really is worth it. And what else are you up to with your hands while you watch tv?

For tension headache, neck and shoulder pain First massage above and under your clavicles for a moment. You will start where your neck meets your shoulders and progressively work up your neck. Use the broad flat edge your gut sha tool and medium pressure to assertively “flick” towards the heart.

In the background:

Moving stagnation out of the body only works if you are keeping things running. This is a remedy that takes a lot of hydration to work it’s best. It is also helpful to consider if this injury need cold or heat? Does it need both?

How to make tea

How you make your medicine matters. Some herbs really need to be simmered for a while to extract the constituents. Some herbs prefer a gentle treatment, and some just want to sit in cool water for a few hours. Here are some basic guidelines for making the most of your cup.

Decoction:

This is a snazzy herbalist word for “simmer forever” This type of preparation is generally applied to woody stems, roots, mushrooms and some tougher leaves. Decoction times vary widely so be sure to follow the directions given with your tea. You can see a short video here.

1. Using a pot with a lid add your herb dose to the pot and add water as suggested (plus a little more for evaporation).

2. Cover the pot and bring to a low cheerful Simmer. Covering the pot will ensure that important volatile oils do not escape in the steam vapor.

3. Turn off the heat at the suggested time and let the decoction rest until it is room temperature. Then strain / press out the tea. I suggest using a muslin bag and clean hands to squeeze out the spent tea.

Overnight Infusion:

Overnight infusions are generally suggested for nourishing, hydrating, healing and demulcent teas. Overnight infusions teas are the kind that you drink by the quart, and they should taste yummy! You can see a short video here.

1. Add your herbs to a heat proof jar or cup (like a mason jar).

2. Pour over with just boiled water and place a lid over the tea.

3. Let rest for at least 8 hours then strain out.

I Like to make a several days batch of this type of tea. Especially if it is a tea to be drunk cool. Having a big pitcher of cool lovely tea in the fridge is a great way to make sure you’re getting your foundational herbs.

Tea concentrate:

I find this to be a helpful suggestion for folks who are very busy and really don’t want or need a whole new ritual in their life. Just getting quality tea into them is reason to celebrate! You can see a short video here.

1. multiply your tea dose by 5. (If 1 tbl is called for use 5)

2. multiple your water base by 3. (If 1 quart of water is called for use 3)

3. make tea as suggested either by overnight infusion or decoction.

4. strain and store in the fridge.

5. add your concentrate to hot or cold water as suggested. Be mindful not to microwave your tea concentrate, adding the concentrate to a cup of just boiled water will warm it enough and microwaving it may render some constituents less useful.

Cold infusion:

This method produces the least amount of tannins and produces the most amount of demulcent properties. It is not suited for herbs that are resinous (like sage or marijuana). You can see a short video here.

1. Add herbs to a jar.

2. Pour over cool water and rest 8-12 hours before straining.

In the background:
Why tea? Tea is called for when tissues are helped by being bathed in the herbs. Digestive issues, wound healing, and nutritive support all fall in this category. Sometimes tea is suggested because the ritual is deemed to be helpful as well. Think about drinking a cup of kava kava before bed, or the peacefulness of a cup of chamomile after dinner.

Bonus:

Try not to overboil your water as it removes oxygen from the water.

Make an herbal oil

As an herbalist I have a lot of weird little rituals and methods for making my oil preparations. Let’s go over the basics of safety and learn two easy methods for making your own herbal oils. These instructions are offered in “folk method” which means I do not bother of offer ratios or measurements.

You can also combine these two methods by starting off your preparation in a water bath and then letting it rest for the rest of the extraction time. Don’t be scared to experiment!

You only need a few things:

1.Herbs

Always start with DRY HERB when making an oil. (Yes, there are cases where this does not apply, but for sake of an internet tutorial I’m sticking with dry herbs here.)

2. Jar

Always start with a sterile jar. Do not trust that a mason jar fresh out of the package is sterile or clean. You can boil the jar clean; you can place it in the oven and bring the temperate up to 350 for 30 minutes, or my own personal favorite method is the microwave the jar (without the lid of course, which easily go into the toaster oven) for a few minutes.

3. Oil

Olive oil, avocado oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil, primrose oil, pretty much anything goes. The exceptions to that are neem oil and castor oil which I do not suggest. The most important thing is to be sure that your oil is fresh and not rancid. Oil is a “fresh” product and shouldn’t not be kept as a precious, rarely used item. Your oil should have a production date on it. If it doesn't, I don’t suggest using it.

1. For the Canned Method you will need a stockpot, a crock pot, an insta-pot, or an sous vide immersion bath.

2. A Label. ALWAYS LABEL your medicines. A date, type of oil, and type of herb are vital for safety and usability.

Canned method:

This works well for heartier herbs like roots and plants that have oils or resins to offer. You can see a short video here.

1. Using very clean hands, fill your jar with herbs.

2. Cover the herb with your oil of choice. Wipe the top clean and cover with the lid. Do not over tighten the lid.

3. Place the jar in a water bath with the top of the jar reaching slightly out of the water. The rings of the jar should not be submerged. simmer your jar VERY low and slow. Generally, you want to keep your water bath water BELOW 150. Going higher will “cook” your oil and make your medicine toasted rather than extracted!

4. Simmer anywhere between 2 hours and a week (or more even).

Set it & forgot it method:

I like this method of extraction for soft petal plants (like rose) that don’t offer a lot of oils. It is also a perfectly acceptable method for more resinous plants (like lavender), but plan on it taking a full month or more for a proper extraction. You can see a short video here.

1. Take your clean jar and using clean hands fill with herb.

2. Cover with oil of your choice, wipe the top clean and cover with clean lid.

3. Shake the heck out of that jar and put it somewhere warmish. Try to give your jar a shake every few days.

4. Your oil will be ready in about a month, but deciding when your oil is ready is at your discretion. As a reminder, oil goes bad, so don’t plan for this to be a preparation that sits around for an extended period of time.

In the background:

Water is not the only thing your body craves for hydration. Healthy fats and oils applied to the skin and taken internally are important offerings to your health. Oils are also helpful when you need to form a barrier or a boundary and are often suggested for energetic work around forming them.

Keeping it safe:

Oils should not be applied to rash conditions, but they can be very helpful for helping heal the skin once a wound gets to the scab stage. Always be sure that there is no infection present before trying to heal over a wound!

If your oil bubbles, smells weird or seems in any way “off” to you do to use it. Oil and water do NOT combine and when water is trapped in oil (if for instance your herbs were not fully dry) you can accidentally grow dangerous bacteria. This is fairly rare, but it does happen so be aware. I generally say that “the nose knows”. Use and trust your senses. If you have doubts about your preparation, it is worth it to heed your own warnings. Medicine you don’t trust is not good medicine anyway.