One of my teachers said once, "Balance is a moving target. You don't get to stay there," 

That's quite a thought. Take it further, and nothing has a fixed point that we get to hold onto- health, happiness, grief, it all shifts. 

​This is actually a good thing, because it lets us experience life. 

For years now, I've loved a snowfall. The simple act of seeing snow come down so gently and inexorably gave me such a feeling of weighted comfort, like the heaviest, fluffiest winter blanket. I had to sit when I saw snow, and when sitting I very badly wanted to lay down. Just looking at it though a window made me instantly ready for a good nap in bed, not just a quick couch snooze. 

See, for years I'd been... tired. Exhausted. Worn out. Beat down. About a decade ago I went through one of those things people go through, and I made it to the other side but at the cost of my vitality. Sleep became all important as a healing mechanism.  Convalescing took almost as long as the original events did. 

For the last maybe 3 years I've been rebuilding my strength. There are several parts to the process including nutrition, herbs, acupuncture, meditation, and rest. And I've seen a steady improvement in my stamina, motivation, creativity, and even skin texture. 

Over all this time I've used recurring events to mark my progress. Remember how last year I didn't go to that thing because I just wasn't up to it? This year was fun, even if I only went for a short time. 

We just had a late spring snowfall, an "onion snow" as my mom calls it, with big fat slow flakes all morning that coat the grass and cars but not the roads, and is gone by the afternoon. As I stood watching it, part of my mind was on my tasks and goals for the day. Suddenly I realized, I'm not so tired. The snow is pretty, and I'm enjoying it, but for the first time in recent memory it was just snow, not an absolute imperative to fall down with it. 

Part of the reason I am an herbalist is because we can get better, I've seen it, and there are many many ways to help you do that. I don't want to just feel a little less like I do now, I want to be well and strong and adaptable, with endurance and vigor. Wouldn't that be nice?

The state of our health right now, and our ability to envision it better and stronger, is limited by how long it's been since we felt our best and strongest. As you heal, as you improve, the goalposts move and what you expect from yourself becomes ever more tremendous. We're capable of amazing things, given the right circumstances. 

I'm so done with this. I'm over it. It's just... I can't even. 

Have you been hearing this, from your friends or from yourself, about this Spring weather?

Unfortunately, that's too bad. It's only March. This IS Spring! This is what we signed up for! So what are we to do for our own mental stability?

Yes, you can take a vacation. You could bring me with you, too! But seriously, an even easier suggestion is to bring Spring to you. 

It can be really comforting to see signs of Spring, so go look for them. Get yourself a potted daffodil. Or a bunch of tulips. Or grab your gardening shears (which means you get to go through your gardening supplies! Yay!) and force some blooms indoors. 

Go find a forsythia or other spring blooming bush. Snip one or two branches that have lots of buds. Bring them back inside (quick now, it's COLD outside.) Grab a jar or something heavy with a blunt edge, and smash up the end of the branches. This will allow them to take up more water than just the small snip does. 

Now put them in a really simple vase- a small jar, an old pitcher, a bud vase. In a few days, you will have lovely bright yellow flowers brightening up your house! And in a few weeks, you'll have them outside too. I promise, it's coming. 

This is the scene outside my kitchen window today (at just past noon, 18 hours before the Spring Equinox, at about 40 degrees north, between Philadelphia and Allentown PA.) You can see for yourself why gardeners get so worked up about southern exposure!

What are we looking at?

This is my backyard, a few days after a snow storm. The left side of the image is South. By the angles of the shadows from the tree, the clothesline, and the line support, you can see how far we are from the sun being directly overhead at noon (it gets closest at the Summer Solstice- as I said, this is the Spring Equinox).

That greenish patch to the left of the tree is where the sun has warmed and melted the snow and ice we've been chopping away at for the past few days.

Any structure that faces South and doesn't have anything in its way will get more sun and more heat during the Winter months, because the sun is angled so sharply from the South. This is reversed in the Southern Hemisphere!

This means, for example, if I built a low wall or cold frame on the right side of the lawn, it'd get lots of sun and not be shaded by the neighbor's fence, making it an ideal place to grow cool weather crops.

I wonder if my landlord would mind me building out there...

Everybody's had it- upset stomach, gas, a little nausea, a little reflux. GI stuff happens, and sometimes it is a result of ongoing, chronic troubles. But sometimes you just had the wrong milk.

These are my favorite Quick Fixes for GI upsets, when your normal is just off.

Yes, they're bitter! Coffee is a bitter. So are Chicory and Dandelion. But herbal bitters like Swedish Bitters or Urban Moonshine bitters have a more medicinal effect.

Herbal bitters engage the entire digestive system. They increase digestive function- both mechanical and chemical- in the stomach, liver, pancreas, intestines, and everywhere else. This includes secretion of things like saliva, bile, stomach acids, and pancreatic enzymes.The bitter taste cools and draws down too, so an upset system that's hot and burpy can feel better.

Take bitters after you eat if there's discomfort, or even before if you anticipate it.

Digestive enzyme supplements add to the enzymatic actions in digestion. If food just isn't going anywhere, enzymes can help move things along.

These are usually chewables or capsules. Often they contain papain from papaya and bromelain from pineapple.

This one makes a lot of people nervous. But here's the thing: in my experience,

9 out of 10 people with "reflux" actually don't have ENOUGH acid

Food stays in your stomach until the food's pH is low, or acidic, enough to open the valve into the intestines. If your stomach isn't making enough acid to get the pH that low, the slightly-acidic food ball remains indefinitely... or until the esophagus can't hold it down anymore, like when you're sleeping. That's the burn of reflux- food that's acidic gets into the esophagus because it's not acidic enough to get into the intestines.

Adding vinegar to the mix can lower the food's pH enough to continue digestion. Alternatively, antacids work by neutralizing ALL the food, which may relieve discomfort but doesn't help digestion.

Try 1-2 tablespoons of organic apple cider vinegar in a splash of water and see how you feel. Bonus points for using raw vinegar, it has probiotics. Speaking of which...

In terms of Quick Fixes, I'm not talking daily dose capsules here. That's a WHOLE OTHER conversation to be had, and I recommend visiting your local independent health food store for a chat. They are usually staffed with well-educated people. Around me, that's Holly Hill.

Food sources of probiotcs are naturally fermented foods. Think raw sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, kefir, yogurt, kvass, and more. Notice how all those are strange sounding words from different languages? All traditional cuisines (SAD, the Standard American Diet, does NOT count!) have fermented foods as condiments. And that's how these are best- a dab of yogurt sauce, a forkful of sauerkraut, a fermented pickle. Adding a probiotic food to each meal helps digestion for that meal.

Certainly not ALL of them, but these are common herbs many of us can get a hold of quickly:

• Chamomile is super for cramping
• Fennel dispels gas
• Peppermint relaxes, so use with tense or full intestines. Full stomachs may experience reflux as the Peppermint relaxes the esphagus along with everything else
  
• Aloe soothes all the way down
  
• Ginger warms things up if you feel you're lacking digestive fire
  

Methods of use include things like teas or candies (in the case of ginger, peppermint, even fennel- think in the candy dish at an Indian restaurant!). Really, in a pinch, any way of getting relief works!

One final note:

We hear it a lot. But getting enough water can SERIOUSLY improve digestive function. Really. Try it out.

Good luck! Tell me what works best for you, too.

How does it feel to usher in a new year between December 30 and January 1?

Are you inspired, motivated, making lists and setting goals and planning big plans?

Or does today just feel like yesterday?

New year celebrations happen at different times for different people. Some celebrate the end of the year on the Winter Solstice, Chinese New Year isn't until January 28 this year, and I personally don't feel like anything is "new" until Spring- this year, on March 20.

The wonderful Maia Toll just reminded me today that we all move along at our own pace. She likened it to flowers- some will be popping up in February, and others won't break the surface till June. And it's true, some years I'm a June baby. That doesn't mean I've wasted the first half, just that I was still preparing till then. (Check out Maia's Witch Camp to join in the fun, like today's New Moon call.)

So take your own time with your new year. Be active or passive according to your own needs, instead of reactive towards everyone else's. And set broad intentions- she also reminded me that this is where the energy will go, so channel it towards good things.

Wishing you smiles, today and always!

Sigh.

There was a nice wrap up for you here. It was full of descriptions, positive and encouraging, pithy.

The blog editor ate it.

So instead, I offer you the bottom line. After my month of doing new things, the pattern has continued. New things create new things, new experiences, new opportunities, and new connections. I needed someone to shake me up and demand I re-enter the world; sometimes each of us needs help and advice. It was the best thing to happen to me. Now I demand of you:

Go do new things! See what you get in return.

This week I was invited to give a presentation at the Tamanend Herb Club in Southampton PA. We made Echinacea Tinctures and Immune Boosting Pastilles (aka cookie dough balls). It was SO MUCH FUN! The club was super engaged, asked lots of great questions, really had fun getting their hands dirty (so to speak) making the tincture and sampling the pastilles. A great time was had by all. If you live up that way you should check them out!