Happy Valentine's Day 2020
Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you!
I want wish you all a day of Love and to let you know once again that you are all so special! I’m so thankful for all of you, for your support, for your love, and for being you!
I know this day of Valentine’s Day can be a joyful day for some and it can also be a day of great grief. If this is a day that you feel alone, please remember that this day is also a day to give yourself love and to give love and show appreciation to those that are special to you in your life….whoever that may be.
On Valentine’s Day, we are always reminded of our hearts. I want to talk with you today about 2 of my favorite herbs for the heart.
I will be sharing 2 recipes using these 2 herbs that are wonderful for the heart…and tastebuds. You can make these recipes for yourself or someone else…both of these recipes are lovely as gifts…either to give yourself some love (we all need gently reminded of this…to love ourselves) or someone you love.
These are 2 different heart healing and restoring recipes. These recipes are not only healing but also delicious and beautiful! I love creating recipes that are healing and that capture the eye…and heart! It is like you are eating art…art that you share from your heart and that creates beauty to the eye and soul!
Both of these recipes are filled with Roses…if you know me, I LOVE ROSES!!! If I could be a flower…it would be a rose. Of course, lilacs and peonies are a close 2nd for me too!
I love roses for so many reasons, first they are so beautiful, the intoxicating fragrance they share with us, , their colors are so rich, vibrant, with deep hues of color, love their freedom and strength to grow in the wild, the feelings and rich emotions they evoke, and all of their many exquisite layers…so intricately woven together to form a perfect piece of art!
I remember years ago, researching roses and what the purpose was for their many thorns? I was and am still intrigued by this. Such a beautiful flower but with so much protection guarding it with those sharp thorns, or prickles (as they’re called in botany). The reason for their thorns or prickles is to protect their loveliness and sweetness from predators, this is the only way they have from being destroyed. It is a defense mechanism to keep them from being harmed.
I thought of how this analogy is like our own heart…our hearts are so tender, deep, intricately woven with many layers of memories and emotions, and the thorns we may have around our dear hearts, protecting it from more hurts and pain, not allowing invaders to penetrate further into the delicate and beautiful layers.
We of course need this protection…we all need to protect our self and stand up for ourselves, and to have wisdom and strength to say no or walk away from a toxic and hurtful relationship.
Sometimes though, we build too much of a thorny wall around our hearts because of so much pain and hurting, that we can become numb, or have a difficult time giving and receiving love. Our hearts can become like a wild hedge, with so many sharp thorns, making it almost impossible to touch.
This rose and thorn scenario really needs to be in a healthy balance…a balance of being able to have open hearts to give and receive love but also standing up for our self for our own health and survival.
I see this so much with the emotional release techniques that I do for others. When these layers of hurt and trapped emotions are released, they can give and receive love again. Their delicate hearts, like a well that was once dry and thirsty, it is now nourished, quenched, and the river of life and love can flow through it once again.
Did you know that roses are used internally for opening and nourishing the heart…it is a beautiful heart remedy for the opening and healing properties of a broken and grief stricken heart. Roses are also used as a nervine…meaning to calm and soothe anxiety and nervousness, especially of the heart, and to uplift the emotions and senses. I believe we can all use this in our world today…allowing our hearts to be more open to love and to be able to freely express love. We can all use a little bit of rose medicine.
Now when you see a rose again, you can appreciate all the loving and healing qualities this beautiful flower has to offer our hearts.
The other amazing plant/ herb that I absolutely love for the heart is…hawthorn. Interestingly enough, it is related to our lovely rose (both are in the Rosaceae family). The Hawthorn also has thorns, even larger than roses.
The name, Hawthorn, derives from the old English word “haw, “which means hedge. Hawthorn means, thorny hedge. In old England, these trees were used as a thorny hedge barrier from preventing peasants entering private land. Here again, these thorns have a purpose for some kind of protection…like a hedge of protection.
This lovely wild Hawthorn does just that for our hearts. Hawthorn is cardioprotective, meaning they help to protect the heart. They are also used for as a cardiovascular tonic. A tonic is a remedy that helps to balance or normalize by either stimulating or depressing its activity depending upon the need. Hawthorn will help to move the heart to a normal healthy function in a gentle way. Hawthorn is wonderful for those with cholesterol and circulatory issues because of its vasodilating properties. Hawthorn can be used in the diet to promote long term heart health.
I like to think of hawthorn as more of a physical healer and protectant and rose as more of an emotional and spiritual healer and soother.
The 2 of these together, roses and hawthorn, make a lovely healing blend for balancing, protecting, and restoring the heart.
Please know, when taking rose internally, it is extremely important that you only use an organic or wildcrafted type. Most cultivated roses today are highly sprayed with toxic pesticides. You can order organic dried rose petals and hawthorn berries from www.mountainroseherbs.com.
This first recipe is using both of these healing heart herbs in a delicious elixir formula. I hope you enjoy both of these recipes and may they gently open, nourish, and heal your hearts!
