winter remedy
herbal formulas and lifestyle moves for the season's ailments
here we are together again, lovely.
I wrote the beginnings of so many letters to you last autumn… until I finally gave in and abandoned my writing desk, to tend to some life happenings that drew the full attention of my heart. I am re-emerging now, a bit tired, but refreshed with the medicine of self-compassion, self-care, surrender to the great cosmic wisdom, and awe of the raw perfection of life and death.
Now, for the present.
It is winter.
the Lagunitas nights are icy cold as the daylight grows warmer and higher.
The turning of a fresh year, the rebirthing of the sun, the end of all the holiday buzz, it feels like a quiet new beginning. A dynamic spark of yang emerging from our deep, dark yin of hibernation… into the Chinese year of the snake…
and into all-out cold and flu season, plus bellies recovering from holiday travel and eat and drink. At Abalone Apothecary, herbs have been flowing, for sore throats, fevers, chest colds. It seems like a good time to share about the remedies I have designed to take care of you and your loved ones, naturally, along with practices to cultivate true health and medical resilience.
Every remedy on my shelves has earned its place. When a pattern show ups in our community, I find myself making the same remedy over and over, handwriting the same ingredients on tiny labels in tiny print. I start to get messages telling me that the remedy helps, asking for refills or a bottle for their friend. When a remedy is “vetted” this way, I design a printed label and the formula earns a permanent spot on the shelf as an Abalone Star.
So - the winter things. You have fever and chills, or your throat is sore, or you have a headache and body aches… you’re coughing or your nose is blocked… phlegm, no energy, no appetite, you’re in bed. Flu, Covid, bronchitis, RSV, strep, or Exterior Wind in Chinese Medicine - can all be spirited away by herbs, in combination with proper diet and rest. The correct herbs at the right dose can replace and out-perform industrial antivirals and antibiotics. I’ve seen it again and again, for over a decade. (Just kidding, FDA - I am helpless without pharmaceuticals and medical institutions. I do not claim to be able to treat anything, ever.)
Add some simple diet and lifestyle practices and you can move through illness with ease and avoid getting stuck in chronic sniffle & cough.
Home remedies for lung, throat & sinus infections
Steam inhalation with aromatic herbal teas and essential oils, like rosemary, eucalyptus, tea tree, peppermint.
Neti pot with saline rinse. I have locally-made ceramic ones at Abalone.
Gargle with thyme or oregano herbal teas, black cumin oil, or salt water.
Hot tea is so helpful for loosening and warming the chest - try simmering licorice with ginger and jujube dates, or steeping sage, mint and thyme tea. or come get a custom blend from me at the apothecary!
Soup is your friend. Avoid all refined sugar and starches (including bananas & mangos), and hydrate abundantly with good warm water, adding a bit of salt, the juice of a lemon, and, if your throat is raw, a spoonful of honey. If your sinuses are blocked, avoid *all* fruit except lemons & pomagranate.
Have a hot bath or shower, or sauna to move your lymph, open your chest and help clear sludge. Just be sure you cover up in a cozy robe or towel afterwards, and keep your hair dry. Ask me about the strange ancient Hatha yoga cleansing practice I do when I’m in the shower when you see me again ( :
Do neck and ankle rolls (come learn joint warm-ups at my Friday yoga class) and slowly move through gentle postures like forward bends, downward dog, squats and spinal twists. This gets blood flowing, which helps unblock stagnant lymph, relieves chest and neck pain, and stokes your body’s healing powers.
Rest more than you think you need, as much as you can, with naps, eyes closed, no screens. Your body is telling you to retreat and do some deeper healing. Take a “resting day” for 24 hours after symptoms vanish.
take the appropriate Abalone herbal tinctures…
Love Your Lungs
is for acute winter illness with chest and lung involvement. It has herbs like mullein, osha, angelica, elecampane, Chinese skullcap, and more, to dredge phlegm, clear infection, open bronchi, strengthen lungs, calm the cough reflex, drain swollen sluggish lymph, soothe a raw throat, and bolster the Wei Qi - roughly translated as the immune protection against outside invasion.
Clear Head
is what it says - as Chinese Medicine says, it opens the “orifices” aka the eyes, ears, nose, mouth. This remedy helps drain mucous from the sinuses and nasal passages, astringe a drippy nose, and breathe, see, and think clearly. It also has herbs that clear infection and drain lung and lymph sludge. Featuring herbs like yerba santa, horseradish, ju hua, ginger, rosemary, fir and redwood tips.
Sleep Sweet
is the star of my shelf. If you can’t sleep, you can’t heal. Sleep Sweet is designed to take just before bedtime and again in the middle of the night if you pop awake. I’ve spent the last four years refining the formula into a broad spectrum of physically calming, emotionally soothing and electrically down-regulating herbs. It doesn’t make you sleepy the next day, and supports nervous system health as a side effect. Featuring herbs like California poppy, wild lettuce, mimosa, hops, passion flower, chamomile, lemon balm and lavender. Swap out melatonin (hormone replacement - eep) for this gentle & powerful alternative.
Release the Grip
helps with the physical and emotional fallout of stress - like a worried anxious mind, a knotted solar plexus, and crunched, sore neck and shoulders. It has herbs like vervain and pedicularis to help relax the mind and release neck and shoulder tension, milky oats to calm the nerves, Saint Johnswort to relax the tummy and ease the spirit, and rose to soothe the heart.
Choose the one that fits your malady or buy the bundle as a home medicine chest to support your family when you need it - that’s what we do at home, and we never, ever run to the store to get over-the-counter pharmacy items. Many of the herbs in these formula were grown locally and organically, or wild harvested lovingly by yours truly. All the rest are organic and highest possible quality.
PRICES
2oz (trial size): $36
4oz (one person, enough to get through an acute illness): $68
8oz (best value, enough to have on hand or share): $135
4 or more bottles, 5% off
You can order these remedies by messaging me here on my website. We can either arrange a pickup at Abalone Apothecary in Point Reyes, or I can ship.
In the coming months I’ll be launching an online apothecary shop - exciting!
Taking the recommended dosage is essential. When herbs don’t work, it is often because folks are taking just a few drops, every now and then. High consistent dosing is essential to move the needle on strong acute issues. Abalone remedies are synergistic, so the only “side effect” of high dosing will be stronger, healthier tissues and organs. That said - no remedy will work as intended for everyone, herbs or otherwise. If a medicine doesn’t do what we hoped, tell me! and we can chat, try to get to the bottom of what’s going on, adjust the formulation.
Why choose herbs instead of, say, Tylenol or Robitussin? It comes down to what you mean by ‘medicine’. Herbs are not “alternative” - they have always been the supreme internal remedies in all cultures throughout time, only shoved under the rug in the last century by tycoons who “standardized” medicine to maximize profits. Most over-the-counter drugstore items are made in industrial factories that spew fossil fuel smoke, torturing animals with lab tests - synthetic chemical substances that our biology did not evolve to ingest. Can we really call that medicine? If there is another, more peaceful, way?
Plant medicines convey the infinite power and wisdom of nature. We feel their rightness in our bones - a root buried in living soil, a leaf stretching towards the sun, a flower kissed by bees. Our bodies have evolved with herbs, and they help us heal, time and again, in more ways than we could ever quantify.
It is lovely to walk this mossy path together - I’ve missed you!
❤️
Alison
