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“You’re going to make me drink mud, aren’t you?”
“No, it’s entirely your choice. I’m just saying that it is real– not an addictive drug. It’s inexpensive and really effective with acid-reflux.”
I chuckled as my client squirmed with the idea. Although I had presented the idea multiple times they had fervently resisted, opting for the OC meds. What could be the harm in trying a simple, natural clay? Their resistance was–well, intriguing to me. It would take them several more weeks before they gave in and tried it. Now they are hooked.
Green clay is amazing and I consider an essential part of my herb pharmacy, first-aid and travel kit. Here’s why.
Green clay or Illite (French Green Clay or Tuscan clay) is an organic, naturally occurring clay made up of decomposed plant material including kelp and seaweed. Loaded with minerals and iron oxide this soft, grey-green powder has been used medicinally for centuries. Most of the world’s French Green Clay comes from deep quarries in France–hence its names.
This mineral rich mud is very alkalizing to the body and has a tremendous ability to absorb toxins and excess fluids.
Externally, green clay is used as detoxifying mask, to clear up acne and pull toxins from wounds, insect bites and stings. It naturally refreshes any area to which it is applied.
Internally, it has tremendous detoxification properties and can be used to treat acid-reflux, GERD, bloating, gas, diarrhea, morning sickness and heart burn. It calms the digestive system and helps to heal the stomach and intestines. It pulls heavy metals from the systems and absorbs and astringes.
Sounds wonderful, right? Here are some ways to use it.
Green Clay Drink
Use for relief from gas, bloating, heart burn and borborygmi (gurgle gut, as my daughter calls it).
Place 1 tsp. of clay in 6-8 oz. of spring or filtered water.
Stir well, allow to settle for 1-2 minutes. Drink up to 3 x daily.
Green Clay Water Douche
Regular douching after the menstrual cycle and ovulation helps pull out toxins, cleanse and refreshes. This therapy will reduce risk and occurrences or yeast infections and abnormal paps. In cases of abnormal pap smears, the frequency of douching may actually be increased for a time–connect with your Chinese Medicine practitioner first, however.
Place 2 T. of clay and 2 quarts of body-temperature water in a large jar.
Shake well, then allow the clay to settle for 2-3 minutes leaving a slightly cloudy solution.
Pour the solution into a 2 qt. Douche bag, making sure that the sediment does not enter the bag.
If it does, the vaginal nozzle will clog.
Lying in a bathtub, insert the vaginal nozzle high into the vagina. Open the valve and allow the water to flow through until the contents of the bag are empty.
Douche with water the day after using the Green Clay douche).
Do not douche during your menstrual period unless specifically instructed to do so by your health practitioner.
Green Clay Water Wash For Genital Area
For yeast infections, rashes and irritations. Not just for the ladies.
Fill a large basin with approximately 2 qts. of warm water. Add 1 T. of clay. Mix well until the water becomes cloudy.
Place the basin of clay water in the tub
Squat over the basin. Rinse genital area with clay water.
Green Clay Poultice
Mix up a bunch and use as a face mask (allow the mud to dry, before washing off) or make just enough to use over an infected area.
Place clay in a clean, glass or ceramic jar or small bowl
Add water in a ratio of 2 parts clay to 1 part water
Allow the clay to absorb the water without mixing or stirring; this should yield a thick, pasty mud.
Cover the jar and leave on the windowsill
Apply clay ¼ inch thick to the affected area
Cover this with a piece of lettuce leaf to maintain moisture. Tape in place and leave on overnight or as directed
The clay should be washed off in the morning.
A couple words of caution
- No metal, please. Do not use metal for stirring or mixing the green clay; wood or plastic utensils should be used.
- Sunshine. The sun energizes Green Clay, and once prepared, it can be stored in a clear, covered jar on the windowsill. Should it dry out, remove the cover allowing it to dry completely and then it can be pulverized and reused.
- Make sure it’s pure. Make sure that you get pure illite or French Green clay. Some products, especially those in the beauty section, might contain additional ingredients such as lavender.
Reprinted with permission from Aprilcrowell.com
© April Crowell 2012
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Reprinted with permission from Aprilcrowell.com
The sun is out!
Idaho is blessed with long, sunny days, wonderful mountains, rivers, forests and deserts. A playground for those who love to be outside. However, with Idaho’s dry climate and high elevation, it’s easy to get a bit scorched. Getting sun is good, it’s the best source of vitamin D–so get out there, just start in small steps and be aware that you can still burn in little time even on overcast days.
Having a fair skinned, freckled daughter who loves to be outside has helped me become even more aware of the sun’s power and how quickly it can damage us.
Here are a few tips.
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Use a quality sunscreen
The EWG (Enviromental Working Group) puts together a fabulous database covering most sunscreens. Easy way to find out what products are toxin free and environmentally friendly or if it’s safer to just leave the stuff off your skin. |
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Stay hydrated
Drink plenty of water. Room temperature or cool water is easier for the system to absorb. I know–ice is nice–but it makes the body work hard (creating heat) to warm it enough to absorb it. You will quench your thirst faster, without freezing your throat, with room temperature. Try and keep iced and frozen drinks to a minimum. Add slices of lemon, cucumber and mint to water to replenish electrolytes lost through sweat. |
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Aloe Gel and Juice
It’s a lovely plant, with many uses from burns to cuts and bee stings. I highly recommend getting one. Even people without green thumbs can grow them. Aloe gel or juice applied to sunburns or sun damaged skin regenerates and re-hydrates the tissue while easing pain. |
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Lavender and chamomile spritzer
Lavender and chamomile both protect and heal the skin. Combine 1 cup of aloe juice with 10 drops each of lavender, chamomile, and rosemary essential oil. Keep chilled and spritz onto sunburned areas to sooth and relieve inflammation. |
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Vinegar
Add a 1 1/2-2 cups apple cider vinegar to a cool bath to ease over-worked muscles or sun-tired skin. Soak for about 20 minutes. |
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Time for a Spot of Tea
Black pekoe tea is wonderful when applied directly to burnt skin. Don’t use hot–ouch. Use a cool or cold tea bag and apply directly to the burn use as often as needed. If your burnt all over, make up a large batch and use gauze to distribute the tea. |
© April Crowell 2012
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Sprouting
How to grow your own healthy live food
By Nathan Mandigo, ABT, Amma Bodywork Therapist at Pulse Holistic Health
It’s spring! That wonderful time of year when the grass greens up, trees leaf out, flowers bloom, and many people plan their summer gardens. But what if you live in an apartment or don’t have a green thumb? How do you enjoy the benefits of growing your own food? Answer: sprouting.
Why sprout?
Seeds contain all of the materiel necessary to create a new plant. They are high in proteins and carbohydrates as well as containing many of the essential vitamins and nutrients necessary to sustain life. Because the plant sprout is relying completely on the materiel in the seed for its initial growth, all of the nutrients that are locked up inside the seed are transferred into the sprout, making it much easier for us to extract those nutrients.
Sprouting seeds is easy and rewarding.
 Sprouting seeds carried by the Boise Co-op The easiest seeds to start with are alfalfa, clover, or radish. Alfalfa and clover are the most commonly encountered sprouts and are used by many restaurants on sandwiches. Radish sprouts are a little spicier and some people find them a little bitter, but they make excellent additions to salads and soups. Any grain, seed, or legume can be sprouted, some require a different technique than this article is covering but a quick search on Google turned up many fantastic resources for how to sprout anything.
To get started with sprouting you will need only a few basic items: a quart mason jar, a sprouting lid (a specialized plastic lid that has many small holes in it) or a clean nylon and a rubber band, a towel to wrap the jar in and the seeds you wish to sprout.
To begin we need to activate the seeds for sprouting which is accomplished by soaking the seeds. Place 1 to 2 tablespoons of seeds in the mason jar and completely cover the seeds with water (don’t worry about too much water at this point) and allow the seeds to soak undisturbed for 6 to 8 hours.
Once the seeds have soaked, we need to rinse them. This is where the sprouting lid or clean nylon and rubber band come into play. Place whichever covering you have on the jar and drain out the soaking water. Pour more water through the covering and gently shake the seeds and again pour off this water. A common mistake that Sprouters make is to leave the seeds sitting in water, this can cause the sprouts to mold, so we want to drain off as much water as we can.
Now that the seeds are soaked and have had their initial rinse, shake the seeds into the long side of the jar, and with the jar on its side, cover the jar with the towel. Seeds sprout best in the dark and warm, the towel serves both to keep out light and keep the temperature constant.
For the next 3 to 5 days, at least twice a day, repeat the rinsing process, making sure to continue to keep the jar covered between rinsing. This ensures that the fledgling plants have enough water and also minimizes the chance of mold or insect growth. During this time you should see the sprouts develop in the jar with pretty dramatic changes from day to day.
 Once the sprouts are about an inch long and have 2 tiny little pale leaves at one end, it is time to expose them to the sun. Place the jar in a sunny spot for an afternoon and your sprouts will rapidly change from pale green to a vibrant dark green. Even during this phase, continue to rinse the sprouts as they can quickly dry out and wither in the sun’s heat. Also, keep in mind that the longer the sprouts are exposed to the sun, the stronger the flavor they develop.
The next step, and this one is optional, is to rinse off the seed hulls. This can be done in a salad spinner lined with a paper towel, or in a large bowl of water where the seed hulls will either float to the top where they can be skimmed off or fall to the bottom.
Whether you choose to rinse the seed hulls off or not, pat the excess moisture off the sprouts and store in the refrigerator. They will keep for 3 to 5 days.
What do I do with all these sprouts?!?
Spouts have many uses in cooking. As mentioned above, they are excellent on sandwiches, in salads, or thrown into a hot bowl of soup. They can also be cooked into many casseroles, used on tacos or in other Mexican dishes, or added at the last minute to stir fry. Or, my personal favorite, pinching a handful out of the fridge for a nutrient dense and satisfying snack. The biggest thing is experiment and enjoy!
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It seems that ‘allergy season’ comes earlier every year. Although it may be true that certain seasons have a propensity to bombard us with excess pollen, there isn’t really one season for allergies. Some people only suffer during a particular season while others may suffer all year long. Some people are allergic to only one thing, while others suffer from a multitude or combination of allergens. Whatever the individual pattern, it is estimated that nearly 50 million Americans suffer from allergies.
From a Chinese medicine (CM) perspective allergies appear when our Wei qi (defensive qi) is very weak or the pathogen is immensely strong in comparison. This is very similar to how colds and flus invade the system. How does this happen? One of the 6 pernicious influences (cold, dry, damp, hot, summer heat and wind) invades. Your body’s natural defensive system (the wei qi) should rally to fight and hopefully expel the pathogen. However it may succumb if the system is too weak, the pathogen too strong, or our actions allow the pathogen to perpetuate. Treatment and prevention of allergies are focused on the individual, treating both the acute (sniffling, sneezing, etc.) and focusing on building the system to prevent and reduce reoccurrence.
What can you do?
Allergies can be particularly tenacious and difficult to treat, especially if they are severe or chronic–but they can be treated, you just need to be tenacious. Here are some ideas.
Know thyself
Half of the battle is knowing your constitution and your pattern. For example, if you have a history of colds or Lung qi weakness, treatment will focus on rebuilding that energy in times when allergies aren’t acute. If you have a lot of phlegm, treatment will focus on draining phlegm even in times when the allergies aren’t flaring up. Be aware of other situations that trigger your allergies. Is it in the spring? When you are around cats? When you walk down the detergent aisle in a store? Once patterns are identified then lifestyle habits, nutrition and herbs can be clearly focused to treat.
Wage war on phlegm and dampness
Excess dampness and mucus congest the lung, sinuses and respiratory system. Dampness bogs us down, making you feel muzzy headed, slow and heavy. If dampness perpetuates it congeals into phlegm which is even heavier and slows down the immune system stifling the Wei qi. The presence of excess dampness and phlegm are often a huge component in allergies as well as other diseases including candida, diabetes, some forms of arthritis and even cancers. Foods that perpetuate dampness include: dairy, processed and refined grains, yeasted foods, sugar, tomatoes, pork, oils and fats–time to cut out the cheese covered pasta. Foods that help to cut damp and phlegm include: squash, onions, turnips, radishes, and dark leafy greens. Pungent spices such as; rosemary, thyme, basil, clove, cinnamon and mints are helpful too.
Improve your diet
Foods can benefit or hinder any condition in the body. If you are actively trying to treat a pattern such as allergies caused by wind damp, then including foods that both drain dampness and eliminate wind are the perfect match. Add them into your diet while eliminating foods that cause dampness or wind. Ask your practitioner for examples.
Build in the ‘off season’
When you are not suffering acutely it is the ideal time to build the system. As we build, we become less sensitive and will not react as strongly–if at all– to the pathogen. This again means being tenacious and working towards prevention not just treating acute symptoms.
Exercise
Proper exercise increases circulation, respiratory function, immunity–it goes on. Let’s face it, proper exercise is imperative for vitality. There isn’t one perfect exercise–the key is find the exercise that you enjoy that is matched to your needs (we can help you with that, too).
Be prepared and act
Stock your cupboards with the teas, herbs and foods before the season lands on you. If you start to feel a little congested, maybe because you indulged in too much ice cream, use a steam to clear your sinuses and pull your diet back to more clearing foods. The benefits of instilling preventative habits are amazing–they just require you making a new habit. “Oh, I feel phlegmy? I will opt for the onion soup rather than the cream of mushroom.”
Watch out for wind
One of the 6 pernicious influences, wind is often present in colds, flu and allergies. To understand wind you simply need to see how it moves. In the body, wind invades in the upper regions, through the sinuses, back of the neck and ears. It moves quickly and transforms rapidly. It sends chills down the spine and makes us sniffle, twitch, have a scratchy throat, headache or watery eyes–and wind often carries in cold or heat with it. Wind rises in the spring, just as we are shedding our heavy clothes leaving us vulnerable and open. Wear scarves and hats to protect from wind invasion. People with Liver pathologies are vulnerable to wind. Quick test—do you like the wind? If you just cringed and crunched up the back of your neck and said ‘no, I hate it,’ you are likely susceptible to Liver CM patterns.
Be well, wear beautiful scarves.
April
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 There’s a buzzing of excitement in the air and in our bodies. It’s spring, the season of the wood element and the energy is up and outward in powerful surges. It’s a time of change and growth. Our bodies want to move more, we have more energy within us and we want to ‘Get Up and Go!’
Our bodies feel seasonal changes, when we are in harmony with these shifts we can delight in the blessings of the season–being able to plan, see options, grow and be flexible–our energy is sparked and we have come to life.
In disharmony, we resist the changes and encounter difficulties. During the spring this can result in agitation, angst, restlessness, feelings of being stuck in a situation and the inability to see any solutions. From a Chinese medicine perspective we see a lot of Liver Yang Rising (energy moving up too quickly) causing high pitched ringing in the ears, headaches, bursts of anger and angst. Wind is also a culprit in the spring and can appear as tearing of the eyes, twitches, allergies, Bell’s palsy, tick and even strokes. If you suffer from some of these patterns the best thing to do is act now to prevent flare-ups.
Here are a few tips.
Clear out the past
The more debris left on the ground (our minds or body) it takes longer for the crocus and other bulbs to push through. Nutritionally this is a good time to do a gentle cleansing or fasting, with raw vegetables and fruit juices. Check with your practitioner to see if this is an option for you. Fasting isn’t for everyone, and can do more harm than good if you aren’t prepared well.
Include a few raw foods
It’s the season for greens, sprouts, salads and fruits, while decreasing heavier foods such as dairy, meats and fats.
Avoid foods that aggravate the Liver
In Chinese Medicine the Liver is responsible for ‘free and easy flow’ of qi and blood. It is easily affected by wind and the spring season. Foods that particularly burden the Liver include fried and processed foods, alcohol, caffeine and other drugs.
Meditate
This allows the mind to be open increasing the ability to focus and to make clear decisions.
Move your body
Physical activity will encourage the movement of qi through the body. It is extremely important to add stretching to our exercise routine and gives us flexibility in our bodies and mind.
Spring is a wonderful time to make powerful surges forward with grace and flexibility.
Contributed by April Crowell
Holistic Nutritionist, Certified Instructor and Amma Therapist.
Check out Awakening to Spring. A workshop being offered by April this coming March 10th.
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by April Crowell
Dipl. ABT(NCCAOM), Certified Instructor (AOBTA), Certified Holistic Nutritionist
 The Five Element Theory of Chinese Medicine (CM) carefully observed the natural phenomenon and flow of the seasons. Each of the five (yes–five) seasons were assigned an element, organ system, quality, temperature, direction, sound, taste and emotion–just to name a few. For example: Spring is represented by wood, the Liver and Gall bladder organs, birth and new growth. Summer is fire, and coorelates to Heart, Small Intestines, Pericardium and Triple burner. It reflects the peak of growth and activity. Autumn is metal and corresponds to the Lung and Colon, it is the stage of decline. Late summer is earth and represents the transition of seasons (equinox and solstices) it ireflects in the Spleen and Stomach and is the center force. Winter is water and represents the Kidney and Bladder, cold and the final decline before spring’s growth. These correlations became guidelines for everything from when to go war to identifying disease patterns in the physical body.
Winter’s chilly darkness often makes us want to slow down– or hibernate. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In Chinese medicine winter is a time of reflection and introspection, a time when we should rest and conserve our Qi (energy within the body). It is a chance to rebuild our strength for spring’s rapid burst of new life. Classically, the Chinese (and other cultures) believed that we should live in harmony with the seasons. This was especially relevant in times when human’s lives were dominated by the elements—simply catching a cold could be life threatening. Today, those of us living in the industrialized world suffer little from the extremes of nature yet learning to harmonize with each season can make a huge impact on our health and well-being.
Ruled by the Water element, winter governs the Kidneys, Bladder and adrenal glands. Called the ‘Root of Sealed storage’ one of the Kidney’s many functions is protect our Jing (essence). This essence is used a little everyday to nourish us, but extreme lifestyles or severe illness can deplete it rapidly. This essence cannot be rebuilt in quantity, but activities such as meditation, proper rest and nourishment will guard it from depleteing too quickly. Deficiency of essence appears as early greying of hair, problems with bones and teeth, poor development and early aging. The Kidneys also rule our will power and drive, they help fuel the fire that warms the other organs allowing them to transform food into energy (Qi). A deficiency here may appear as exhaustion, cold body, lack of sex drive and the will to move forward in life. But don’t worry, you can positivitely influence any condition of mind or body with a little direction. By learning to shift with the ebbs and flows of the season we can move through life with greater ease and winter is a wonderful time to learn how to replenish and rebuild your storage.
Winter can be an excellent time to replenish your deep reserves.
Below are some great ideas to help you rebuild during the cold months.
 Meditate
The benefits of meditation are innumerable and it is truly one of the most profound ways to help strengthen the Kidneys and overall well being.
Nourish yourself
Eat more seasonally appropriate foods like warm hearty soups, root vegetables, winter squash, whole grains, and roasted nuts, all help to warm the body’s core. Foods that specifically benefit the Kidneys include: kidney beans, seaweeds, and micro-algae.
Rest
Try to get to bed a little earlier to rest well. Studies now also link weight gain around the middle to excess stress combined with less than 7 hours of sleep.
Get moderate exercise
Movement lifts the spirits. If you don’t exercise much, bundle up and go for a walk. If you exercise excessively, slow down a little to conserve your Qi.
Brighten your space
Whether or not you celebrate the holidays, refresh your home or workspace with cheerful colors or seasonal décor. Holly’s bright berries, pine’s uplifting scent and a few splashes of red will add warmth to your home and enliven your spirit.
Get Acupuncture or Amma
A little rebalancing can go along way.
Laugh–Laughter is the sound associated with the fire element. The water and fire elements share a deep connection of mutual support and exchange. Laughter during the dark months can help warm the connection between Kidney and Heart and lift your spirit. “One’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time–pills or stairs.”
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