We’re better with bitters!
Happy anniversary to us!
This is my twelfth newsletter, and I’m so grateful to you for reading. My intention has been to share easy-to-incorporate herbal remedies for our daily self-care practices, along with highlighting products that might offer support, and calling out local events so we can see each other in real life. Many of these have been dance events, because that is what I love the most.
I’m curious–have you tried any of the recipes I’ve shared? I’ve been enjoying last month’s delicious, slightly spicy, hot cocoa. Now that spring is truly here and the sun is warming us up again, it’s time for that spring greens pesto from the very first edition. For tonight’s dinner, I’m adding mustard greens for a nice, bitter kick.
Bitters are always an important aspect of our daily diet, but spring is an especially appropriate time to weave them in. We move from the grounding meals of wintertime to lightening the load with more raw foods, turning toward greens instead of roots. By adding bitter greens, we encourage our digestive systems to rev up, stimulating the flow of bile, and supporting the liver in its detoxification work. When we decrease the accumulation of ama, unmetabolized wastes according to the Ayurvedic tradition, we improve our overall health. Think of the lightness we feel after a good spring cleaning of our homes and gardens. Now is a great time of year to do some cleansing and detoxifying work with our bodies.
A cleanse can be as simple as just eating soup for a day, allowing for easier digestion and assimilation of nutrients. Or we can get more involved and restrictive, leaning toward a detoxifying ten-day or three-week program. Follow a reputable format or work with a practitioner so you’re getting the calories and nutrients you need. Twenty-five years ago, I did the Master Cleanse (lemon, cayenne, and maple syrup in water) for eleven days. I was gray by the end of it. It was an interesting experiment that I never repeated. If you're interested in working one-on-one, or joining a group cleanse, I recommend Certified Health and Wellness Coach Jenn Russo of Yoga On Center. She has a couple options scheduled this April! Check those out here.
Even if you keep on with your regular diet, simply eating a green salad with arugula, kales, and chicories, or taking a dose of bitters is a great practice to embrace. Herbalist David Hoffman writes, “Bitters have a major role in holistic herbal treatment and especially preventive herbal medicine. Because of their wide effect on the body’s physiology, they help enormously in treating the body as an integrated whole.”
While preparing your meal, take 2-3 dropperfuls of a bitters tincture blend. I also like to use bitters in a small glass of water as a digestif, sipping on it after a meal that’s left me feeling a little full and sluggish. There are some conditions during which bitters are contraindicated. Please work with your healthcare practitioner if you have concerns before starting a remedy.
Curious to try bitters and don’t know where to find them? I can help you!
I’m excited to introduce a Quarterly Herbal Offering: one seasonally appropriate herbal product to ingest, one to use topically, and one wild card.
This spring I’ll be sharing:
2024 Whiskey Bitters: This blend features chai spices to aid digestion and dandelion root to support the liver, while artichoke leaf from a friend’s garden and grapefruit peel bring in the bitters.
Sunny Butter Magic: Support your skin before the summertime sunny days are here. Calendula infused sunflower and sea buckthorn oils are whipped with shea butter to the consistency of buttercream. Divine! The essential oil blend of carrot seed, frankincense, lavender, and palmarosa completes this skin-nourishing delight. Sunny Butter Magic absorbs easily, conditioning and protecting the skin.
Wild Card: This season’s wild card is literal— four botanical greeting cards drawn by Zuzu Morgan, my lovely daughter. I’m encouraging snail mail and handwritten communications with these artful expressions of persimmons, dandelion, pomegranates, and an unfurling, springtime fern.
You can subscribe for a year, adding “All Seasons 2024” to your cart with a 10% discount when you apply the code SEASONS, or purchase individually. Summer, autumn, and winter collections will be available at the summer solstice, fall equinox, and toward the end of November.
Thanks for being a part of this first year. I look forward to another cycle of learning and sharing.
