The herbal and natural health world is growing by leaps and bounds. People are slowly starting to recognize the benefit of the plants that grow all around us. And they are starting to see there are situations where herbs truly excel by naturally nourishing the body. Hopefully you have had the chance to experience the healing benefits of herbs first hand!

We view our work here at Land of Milk and Honey Herbs as an honor. We appreciate being invited into your life to assist you where we can. We pride ourselves in being there FOR YOU! It may be after hours when a client reaches out but it is my goal to be there for you whenever possible. As I strive to maintain work/life balance and juggle the needs of being a homeschool teacher, wife, mother, and friend, one of the roles that fulfills me most in my life is being there for others as an herbalist. I have been blessed to find this calling in life and to be able to show other women that we can build a life we love without always letting society dictate what our home and work life should look like.  Serving and helping you in big and small ways brings me joy and I am grateful for you!

Your support means the world to us! 

💕-Kate Bodmann, Clinical Herbalist


How can we build a strong herbal community together? Sharing the world of herbs with friends supports local herbalists in providing care in your community!
Here are 3 quick tips!

💕 Share your knowledge or newsletters with a friend
​People do better when they know better. Caring for our friends and taking time to listen and support them is one of the biggest gifts we can give a friend. I was not introduced to herbs until after my kids were born and already toddlers. I SO wish someone had introduced me to the world of herbs sooner. If you would like to learn more I now have most of the newsletters I have written archived in my blog on my website. Check them out and share with friends when you find helpful tips! If you and a friend are interested in deeper herbal knowledge reach out so I can add you to my list of potential new students for my 2021 Herbal Intensive Program.

💕 Support local herbalists
It can be easy to grab a bottle of elderberry syrup or garlic ear oil at the store on your way out the door. And we are SO lucky to have herbal products on many shelves in Omaha.  But consider that those stores are likely not able to provide you support when your child gets an ear infection or you feel ill in the evening and you need advice. What about when you have a tougher situation where you need to see someone for support? Local herbalists such as myself pride ourselves on being there for our clients. Personally, I provide my cell phone number and email to all my clients because I consider them like family. I try to balance work/life boundaries, but in an emergency, if I am available, I commonly make a quick trip over to my shop to make a blend for someone who is in need. It is old-fashioned health care that I value and encourage others to prioritize.
 

💕 Seek out local product makers
As most of you know I make elderberry syrup, salves, a variety of teas, and most of the herbal tinctures that ultimately go into my clients' custom formulas. But there are several other businesses that make my work possible. While I try to harvest my own herbs when possible, being a grower and a Clinical Herbalist and running my Rooted Wisdom herbal program doesn't allow time for me to do it all. We are lucky to have growers such as Shea at Curious Roots who grows herbs with such care that there is a bit of magic in them. Shea is a longtime student of herbs and a masterful grower. While she can't grow it all, we can only hope that at some point by supporting growers like her we will have even more locally grown herbs available to us. I appreciate the superior herbs that she grows.

I am also incredibly grateful for the work of Lisa at Prairie Star Botanicals. I truly love the art and science of turning fresh and dried herbs into tinctures, oils, and syrups where I have been a part of every step. But sometimes I need tinctures in a pinch or I am in need of tinctures of local herbs like Goldenseal and American Ginseng that are at-risk. I feel it is imperative to know herbs are sustainably harvested and tinctured. In those times I know I can rely of them to help me meet my clients' needs. I have known Lisa for years as we both studied with Nicholas of Four Winds a decade ago as a part of his first herbal program class. Lisa brings wisdom and reverence to her herbal endeavors. I appreciate how she helps local herbalists like myself be more sustainable through her efforts to source many of their herbs locally. Beyond their tinctures that I use in formulas, Prairie Star Botanicals has also created many stock formulas for a variety of needs that I carry at my office and I will be highlighting in my monthly specials section of the newsletter and website.
 

💕 Buy One, Get One Elderberry Syrup Special!
In the spirit of supporting local and supporting your friends in learning more about and using herbs, I am offering a special elderberry syrup offer in February.  When you buy a large ($27) or medium ($15) bottle of elderberry syrup for yourself you will receive a free small bottle (value $8) to give to a friend!

Herbal formulations to use now and have on hand
None of these things should be considered treatment for COVID-19. The are immune and wellness support to support the body the best that we can.

Land of Milk and Honey Active support tincture $40 - The "active" stock formula that I have created for people to use includes diaphoretic herbs to clear excess heat, herbs that thin mucus and encourage expectoration, and immune modulating herbs. Same idea as shared above but in Western herbalism terms.  I am looking at herbs from both traditions, Western Herbalism and Chinese herbalism; herbs like Chinese Skullcap (Huang Qin) and Andrographis. No single herb is the answer as they need to balance each other. Our herbs that are strong lung antiseptics happen to be warming so they must be balanced with cooling herbs. Drying herbs must be balanced with moistening herbs. Each herb is chosen for multiple reasons and while I would love to share my thinking in choosing each one, it crosses the line in terms of making medical claims for herbs. Unfortunately only when I teach do I feel that I can completely share all that each herb can truly do. But know that a lot of thought has gone into this and I already have people using formulas to support their body.  Because information is every evolving I have already made several different stock formulas of this with different herbs varying slightly so I am not listing ingredients here. I will say that for some formulas I have included elderflower and if that is of concern to you just let me know and I will make a formula without it for you. For current clients I am also willing to create a custom formulation, provided that I am still able to work at that time.

Herbalist and Alchemist Herbal Relief Throat Spray $12 - Spray this directly in the throat to reduce sore throat and germs in the throat. Echinacea angustifolia, Collinsonia (Collinsonia canadensis), Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), Sage (Salvia officinalis), Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), Myrrh ( Commiphora molmol),Osha (Ligusticum porteri), Propolis and essential oils

Herbalist and Alchemist Compound Mullein Oil (aka ear oil) $11 -  Certified Organic Olive Oil, Mullein flowers (Verbascum thapsus), St. John's wort fresh flowers (Hypericum perforatum), Garlic fresh bulb (Allium sativum), Tea Tree essential oil, White Sage herb, Vitamin E

Essential Oils  (limited quantities, varying prices) - Pine, Silver Fir, Eucalyptus, Frankincense, Cedar, Breathe, Tea Tree, Orange, Lemon, Ginger, Mandarin

Feeling well but still wanting to do the best you can right now?

Hopefully for many of you, you are not quite "there" yet in terms of needing that level of active support and there is still time to build up the body's immune system now.  Please re-read the 1st newsletter I sent called Supporting Your Body in Difficult Times.  Beyond active self-care these are the things that I recommend.

Land of Milk and Honey Herbs Proactive support tincture $40 - For those who would like to be more proactive I have made a "proactive" support blend. That blend includes immune building herbs to strengthen the weiqi of the body and moderate the immune response. Again I am pulling on herbs that have historically been used for this such as Astragalus (Huang Qi) and Elder, Cat's claw, Huang Qin (Chinese Skullcap), Reishi, Bupleurum, and Licorice.

Elderberry  $8, $15, $27 - There has been much debate about elder which I shared previously.  Most of the herbal community feels very comfortable with their understanding of it as an immune modulator. The information regarding cytokine storms is extrapolated from a study that was in vitro and not in vivo and we all know that herbs work differently in the body to activate immune response that can no be replicated in a petri dish. And honestly, every year the cytokine storm fear  raises its head when influenza season comes around and we have not seen cytokine storms happening to the thousands of people who take elderberry for influenza.  As I mentioned though I feel elderberry alone is an option in prevention and early stages, I DO NOT think it is enough and appropriate to be using solely should you be become ill. A bit in a formula when ill I do think is a good idea though as in the past it has been associated with deceasing viruses' ability to replicate.

Jade Wind Screen teapills $18 limited quantity- Traditional Chinese remedy to build Wei Qi - Yu Ping Feng San Wan (also known as Jade Wind Screen Formula) is traditionally used to strengthen the body's overall defenses. The formula replenishes qi/energy and helps consolidate the body's defense system.  Astragalus membranaceus root, Atractylodes macrocephala rhizome, Saposhnikovia divaricata root, Activated carbon, Botanical wax, Talcum. - Huang qi, Bai zhu, Fang feng, Activated carbon, Botanical wax, Talcum.

Herbalist and Alchemist Immune Adapt tincture $45 - Codonopsis root (Codonopsis lanceolata), Eleuthero root (Eleutherococcus senticosus), Reishi mushroom and mycelium (Ganoderma spp.), Schisandra berry (Schisandra chinensis), Astragalus root (Astragalus membranaceus), Bai-Zhu Atractylodes root (Atractylodes macrocephala), Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra) , Ligustrum berry (Ligustrum lucidum)

Herbalist and Alchemist Immune Adapt Capsules $45 - Astragalus root (Astragalus membranaceus), Eleuthero root (Eleutherococcus senticosus), Reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum), Schisandra berry (Schisandra chinensis), Bai Zhu Atractylodes rhizome (Atractylodes macrocephala), Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra), Ligustrum berry (Ligustrum lucidum) and Maitake mushroom (Grifola frondosa)

As our community continues to battle this illness I will continue to provide support as I can, unless I become quarantined myself. Please do not wait if you would like something I have mentioned or if you need a refill on your regular herbs.  
Be well my herbal family!  Remember to take care of you emotional and physical health during this time!

-Kate

What now?

So you are feeling like you are coming down with something but aren't really sure. Maybe it is body fatigue or a tightness when you breathe.   While I hope many of you take me up on the offer of my "proactive" and "active" blends what do you do if you don't have those on hand or much else and you can only send someone to the grocery store?

Garlic - By now you have likely heard me reiterate again and again my love for garlic.  Any garlic capsules at the store will do, start taking 2 pills 3 times a day (not on an empty stomach.) If you have real garlic then crush it and chop it up, set it aside for 10 minutes for the allicin in it to activate. Then take with a spoonful of honey. Is it maybe gross?  Maybe? But how badly to do you want to fight this thing?

If you want to take garlic to the next level and you have prepared I would suggest buying the garlic oil that I have on hand, Herbalist and Alchemist Garlic Oil because it has antimicrobial essential oils in it.  Use it as a nasal oil It feels a bit funny at first but if you have something lingering in your sinuses, a few drops of oil placed in the nostrils and snorted in while laying on your back does wonders for knocking germs back.  The use of infused oils in this way is very common in Ayurveda.  I do this often right before bed so that I don't taste the garlic all day. It feels a bit funny and you will eventually feel the garlic running down the back of your throat. Simply imagine it killing everything in its path. If you aren't quite up for that then massage it over your sinuses on your cheeks it will be absorbed through the skin and into the sinus area.

Ginger - A ginger bath is an easy home remedy. The goal is actually to help activate the immune system by increasing your body heat and then allowing the ginger to support the body in diaphoresis (opening of pores to allow excess heat to escape).  We need to remember that a fever is one way that the body fights a virus, so artificially lowering a fever is often no longer recommended in in mainstream medicine. Take a 3-4 inch chunk of ginger and cut it into coins, no need to peel. Place in a covered stock pot with a quart of water and steep for 30-40 minutes. Strain and add to a bath, have you or your child sit in it for 20 minutes. Wrap up and go to bed!  If you can't take a full bath consider at least a foot bath. While taking care of those toes in a foot bath, consider massaging the sinus areas and the pad of the foot where the lungs are located in reflexology. See the image below.

Essential oils - What oils do you have on hand? While some are better than others such as tea tree, eucalyptus, fir and pine family oils, and frankincense, keep in mind that all oils have some degree of antimicrobial properties.  If you have someone ill in your house begin a regular schedule of diffusing. If you have oils but no diffuser then do it old school. Place a pot of hot water on the stove and add a couple drops of oil. Drape a cotton towel of your head and have the person who is ill inhale deeply for several minutes. Don't over do it, just a few minutes.  Be careful not to burn yourself or child.  When they are done keep the water simmering to help cleanse the air in the house.  (If you have a cat, keep them out of the space you are diffusing in. Essential oils can lead to kidney and liver failure in cats.) 

Hydrate - Your body is working hard right now and it needs optimal fluid to do its job.  We call the lungs the delicate organ because the lungs don't like to be too wet or too dry. If the body is lacking enough moisture the lungs will dry out and will not be able to properly cleanse themselves. Take sips of warm water, tea, or broth as often as possible.  Besides hydraing the body, drinking a bit of hot water regularly washes germs in your throat out of your respiratory tract and into your stomach to be dealt with.  A neti pot would also assist in this clearing of germs from your upper respiratory tract!

Qi Gong - Do Qi Gong for the lungs. Good qi movement and breathwork supports the lungs ability to operate optimally and get the energy that it needs to heal. I shared this video in my first newsletter but it is worth sharing again.  I am just as human as everyone else in getting lulled into a feeling of "too busy" to do this. but honestly we all have 15 minutes if we really want to make it a priority. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3noqRBgxWM ​