Saturday, October 29, 2011

break for the holidays

Although I'd love to devote more time to my blog, at the moment Rags by Sock Monkey is taking up much of my free time. Things have really picked up for the holidays, and I have some relatively large orders to fill considering I'm a one-woman-band (with some help from my man, of course). I haven't forgotten about you, readers!

In the meantime, I'll still be posting monthly posts on Sprout Chicago. So, stay in touch and I'll be back after November!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

I'm a guest blogger at Sprout Chicago!



Hi readers!

Check out my monthly posts at Sprout Chicago, a wonderful blog for conscious consumers in the Chicago area. I'll be posting every month on the 15th, starting this Saturday. I'll feature one of the easiest yet one of my favorite tried and true herbal remedies for the onset of a seasonal cold.

Sprout Chicago features local restaurants and businesses, events, do-it-yourself projects, and tips on living green in Chicago. Just this month, they featured a delicious recipe for blueberry pancakes, and information on Chicago O'Hare Airport's new interior vertical garden, which I can't wait to see on my way home for Thanskgiving. I always look forward to every new post, and I can't wait to begin contributing!

See you over at Sprout!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

helping a headache- part 2

Here's part two of my headache post. Hope you were able to learn something from my first, and will continue to learn from this continuation! Check out the post previously if you missed part one.

 4. Stress headaches happen. Try some store-bought valerian tincture (find it in any natural/health food store) and take 1/4 of a teaspoon every 30 minutes until the headache abates. Or, try some yoga or just a few deep breaths. It's amazing what some oxygen can do to help a headache that is caused by anxiety. A little lavender oil can help too.

5. Missed a meal? Make sure to not over-do your next meal. Eat slowly and mindfully and make sure to not over-stuff yourself because you became overly hungry. Try eating some applesauce with a little lemon juice or chamomile tea with lemon. A mixture of something naturally sweet and sour can often help. Also, try to avoid missing a meal again by keeping some nuts and a bit of dried fruit with you so that you can snack when this happens again. A small handful of nuts before your next meal can also help curb your appetite and help you resist overeating.

6. HEY YOU! Get up and move around! If you've been staring at a computer or television all day, you are bound to get a headache. Take a jog, do your yoga, walk, stretch. Also, while at the computer you can do some simple eye stretches to help keep your eye muscles healthy. Look up and down all the way. Look side to side as far as you can. Feel the eye socket muscles stretch? Those muscles need to work out too. You might look a little silly, but who cares.


7.  This is the most important one. Drink water. Drink lots. Drink until you have to pee every hour. Drink until you can feel the water flow up to your head. Drink tea. Drink water with lemon. But drink water. Drink it, people.

Alright, it's recipe time.

Here's another one from Rosemary Gladstar, with a twist. It's tasty, and you could add feverfew, but I left it out and enjoyed it just the same. I actually just went out, bought a box of chamomile with lavender tea, and added the skullcap. Super easy!

Skullcap is wonderful for headaches, or any nervous disorder including stress, menstrual tension, insomnia, and nervous exhaustion. It can also be taken as a tincture if you don't have time to make tea and want to just buy a bottle from the store.

chamomile/lavender tea and dried skullcap

Skullcap Headache Tea

1 tbsp. skullcap
1 tbsp. lemon balm
1/2 tbsp. chamomile
1/2 tbsp. part lavender
3 cups water

The ratio of herbs can be played with, but make sure that you have plenty of skullcap in relation to the other herbs, and make sure you have enough lemon balm to balance the taste of the skullcap. It isn't the tastiest herb, but isn't completely unpleasant either. Also, as a rule, it's always 1 tablespoon of herb to every cup of water.

To make:
Combine the herbs. You are going to make an infusion with the herbs by boiling the water and pouring the hot water over the herbs. Once the water boils, pour it over the herbs and let them steep for 30 minutes or longer. Drink 1/4 of a cup every 30 minutes until your headache is gone.

Happy Headache Healing!