I talk about the amazing benefits of herbal facial steaming, and show you how to do it. And what herbs are beneficial.
Watch more videos with seasonal and herbal tips from me on YouTube here.
Herbal Remedies to Support Your health in Fire Season
In our new climate reality dealing with the effects of wildfire smoke, and knowing how to support your system is an important way to take care of your health and wellness.
Did you know that herbal body oiling is a great way to both moisturize and nourish your skin - but especially at this time of the year? When you put herbal body oils on your skin it is also very soothing and grounding to your nervous system, and it creates a literal barrier between you and the world (and the dangerous particles in the air from the pollution in our cities, and also wildfire smoke). The skin is so absorbent, and what you put on it matters. One of my herbal teachers Rosemary Gladstar says if you can't put it in your mouth you shouldn't put it on your skin. You can also put a little oil on your ears, and even dabs of oil in your nose to create more barriers and moisture there in our most vulnerable places.
In the winter I grew up thinking it was the cold air that got you sick as I am sure many of you learned as well, but it is the dryness that actually causes us to be susceptible to illness.
Moisture is key - on our skin, and in our bodies through what we drink and eat.
Another great way to support your system is through herbal teas and herbal steams to help your body process all of the pollutants (and again bring back some more moisture). I love to drink dandelion tea (which supports the liver), or a combination of mint with nettle and chamomile. Also a tea or a facial steam with mullein leaf is also wonderful.
To learn more about herbal remedies, and try out some luscious herbal body oils, herbal teas, facial steams, tinctures and more check out Crystal's new project to share the power of herbs for wellness - The Seasonal Herbal Box : https://www.seasonalherbalbox.com/
Living by the Seasons as Activism
Many of us have heard that eating seasonally not only supports your body and its rhythms at different times of the year, but it also supports the earth and the local farmers and makers who help make it possible for you to enjoy delicious strawberries in the late spring and summertime.
A handful of years back I realized that living by the seasons was the key for me to connect with myself more deeply, and the wise ones who came before us - those who were in harmony with the cycles of the year, and a wisdom that lives in all of us no matter how long it has been since we’ve connected to it. The depth of seasonal living never really quite landed until that moment in 2016 in an earth wisdom course with Abby Tucker. I realized I hadn’t truly every welcomed each season, and learned from it. I was simply in a state of not really understanding what to do about the changes I felt to my mood, energy and vitality at different times of the year. I wasn’t fully conscious of the shifts and how I changed with them. Sure I understood that I would get crankier if the fog in San Francisco became thick for weeks and months on end, and my spirits would lift when the sun came out - but that was about it in terms of knowing what I needed for “self care” at those times when I felt challenged by the season.
In addition to the bigger seasons of summer, fall, winter and spring, we have what I’ll call “mini seasons” each month through the phases of the moon, and our energy too waxes and wanes with the tides of the moon. And another “mini season” can also be observed through the hours in a day with morning being like spring, mid-day like summer, late afternoon and early evening like fall and late night like winter. We are being invited into a relationship with this seasonal or natural flow in many different ways. Over and over again. And it is the key to our thriving.
Before our modern culture, and the horrors of white supremacy and colonialism, living in connection with the seasons was how you stayed alive. It was also connected to ritual, ceremony and a deeper understanding that we are one part of the whole web of life (and not the center). You had to know when to plant, when to harvest, and to allow the land to lay fallow. Now in our world we’ve mostly built our lives a bit or a lot out of sync with this ancient, yet ever present and powerful rhythm. Seasonal awareness not only holds the key to our survival but also our thriving. The thing is we cannot be stewards of this earth, our bodies and all of the other beings we share it with until we align back in the rhythm of the seasons. There is no hack. The way through is in. We do not need another technology - right now we need to wake up to the wisdom that is already within us.
There is a season for birth, growth, harvest and death or letting go. And many portals in-between these big thresholds of spring, summer, fall and winter. Take a minute to reflect - have you ever noticed your energy, moods and abilities shift or change at different seasons or times of the year?
How many times have you tried to “hack” or shortcut your sleep, or realized you are more energized or more sleepy at certain times of the day? What would happen if you listened instead of pushed against those signals? Life would begin to unfold and feel quite different. And our society is not setup for your thriving in this way for a reason. This is why seasonal attunement I believe is one of the if not the most powerful form of activism.
When we were divorced from the Indiengeous wisdom of place, time and season we lost our ability to cope and to thrive. We lost ritual. We lost community in that way.
Our modern economy has us in a perpetual state of summer - with growth, production and full abundance as the expectation. Summer is a beautiful place, but one that cannot last without the depth of winter as its polarity, the waning in fall and the re-birth in spring. There is a reason the term “burn-out” has a connection to the element of fire - the dominant force of the summertime. Nothing is coincidental.
I believe there is a part of us that knows living by the seasons is one of the fundamental answers to living a more balanced life. And the key to living more joyfully too. If we can learn how to honor the ebbs and flows of the year, and learn from the wise plants, trees, animals and other people including Indengenous folks, first Nations people and wise humans who’ve integrated the wisdom of the seasons, a state of thriving will begin to unfold for all of us. And it will look, feel and be very different from what we’ve experienced before.
We’ll rest more. And realizing our thriving requires it. We’ll also be more connected when we do create.
We are nature. As above, so below. As within, so without. And when we connect in with the shifts happening we attune to our power as well. That’s the kind of power that will change each one of us. And our world.
About the Author : Crystal Marie Higgins is a lineaged Initiated Priestess in Celtic traditions, an Initiated Witch, as well as a Yoga Teacher, an Herbalist and an Ethical Marketer. She has been in devotion to earth wisdom, the cycles of the moon and the seasons since 2012. Crystal’s intention is to awaken our consciousness toward the radical practice of attuning your life and the flows of your creativity to the seasons of the year, the cycles of the moon and the wisdom found in the everyday. She is a lover of the plant realm, being outdoors and engaging in sacred rituals. You can learn more about her at crystalmariehiggins.com, and her passion project seasonalherbalbox.com.
First Harvest Reflections + Inquiry
During the transition from summer into late summer and early fall it can be a powerful time to ask yourself some questions :
What are you harvesting?
What have you learned this year?
What do you desire for the rest of the year.
Using the earth calendar of the year as a guide it is a powerful time to reflect in what is know as the First Harvest, Lammas or Lughnasadh or the Lions Gate.
What do you need to thrive?
We are no different than nature🌿 Look to plants and flowers - some want a lot of sun, a lot of water. Others desire shade and less water. Getting curious about what that you can control right now to support your thriving is key.
Don't Consume - Commune with Nature
We are deeply connected with nature, yet in our current culture and society we don't often make time to be with the wild in a deep way. And we are missing out on something great when we just "consume" instead of "commune with nature.
Spring Practices - Nourish Your Mind
Here are some ways you can connect into the season of spring, and calm and soothe your mind this year.
A Clearing Meditation on Letting Go + Death for Winter
It's Dia De Los Muertos, we just had Halloween and it's the Samhain/Sowen season OR the exhale part of the year as I like to call it. We've entered into Winter, and tomorrow daylight savings time will officially make it feel even more so with shorter days and longer nights.
I love the downward turn nature provides as a reminder to S-L-O-W D-O-W-N and do less. I've been turning off my computer and silencing my phone a bit earlier these days, and I encourage you to do the same. It is hard in our modern lives, and a lot of folks really struggle this time of year. I encourage you to let go of the need to accomplish anything right now unless absolutely necessary, and instead focus on just BEING as ENOUGH -- even if that feels against what you are accustomed to, or makes you feel lazy. This is the core essence of true self care. To rest and listen to nature, instead of fighting against it. Where there is resistance ... there is a teacher, something to be learned and explored.
This week in my classes, and in this month's meditation I've focused on the powerful teacher of Death and the process of letting go.
Death is likely to be the most or one of the most avoided topics, yet the process of connecting closely with Death and letting go as a teacher can offer some of the most powerful lessons for our lives. They can teach us how to be more alive --- and present.
Happy Autumn Equinox + Setting Healthy Boundaries
Happy Autumnal Equinox! On Monday the daylight and night hours are equal, which is always to me the most clear outward signal of the descent into the fall and winter seasons. Although here in the Bay Area it can get confusing since our weather turns summer-like! But, regardless of temperature or weather the waning daylight hours are a signal from mother nature to set our boundaries and prioritize how we are spending our precious time. We slowly begin to have less light day by day until Winter Solstice later in December which means your system is beckoning you to slow down.
Amidst the busy-ness of life it is a great time of year to get clear. What is working and what isn't. What little thing can you start to do to make yourself feel at more ease with the demands of your life? For me it's all about good boundaries. Because the fall (like the spring) can have a frenetic energy about it at times from the external world. Doing one thing just for you each day (it can be simple!) makes a difference. And letting go of those habits or activities (and sometimes even the people) who run us ragged when we can will give you back so much.
If you can on Monday try to be outside for the sunrise and sunset.
And here is this month's meditation on setting healthy boundaries (yes this even applies to a meditation and mindfulness practice, and can even start from this place and work its way into all facets of your life!).
Summer Meditation - Feeling Into Agitation, Anger + Joy
Happy Late Spring/Early Summer Yogi(ni)s,
I just recorded my latest mediation offering on how to allow intense emotions, feelings and frustrations move through us. I've been noticing this a lot lately in classes. As we move into the summer season we can easily waiver between feeling light and fun and frankly just pissed off.
This practice will actually allow you to eventually move toward joy. There are no shortcuts! We often want to think our way through emotions, and process the stories over and over again. But at some point we have to allow these emotions, and even the pain be felt - in order to move through it and get on the other side.
This time of the year in particular I notice my anger start to flare up more, and my passions too. Especially when it seems like everything is falling apart. This is a cue into what you care about, and our work is to not push aside these emotions. How do we dance with them? And let it all change us, and bring us closer to ourselves?