A Little Flower that Does a Lot

There is something so familiar and comforting about a cup of chamomile tea. The subtle floral smell and taste, the warmth, the gentleness that it invites you to embody. A lot of people don't realize the power she contains, relegating chamomile to "a nice little cup of tea before bed."

But don't let chamomile's softness fool you. She is a potent healer, especially in a society where we are asked to be so busy and so strong that there is little room left for gentle and slow. There is a reason people have turned to her for thousands of years, across cultures and continents. Long before we had the technology to name a scientific process, grandmothers brewed her petals for worried children, and ancient Egyptians considered her a divine healing gift from the sun god Ra. Science, catching up slowly to intuition and ancestral wisdom, has begun to explain what humanity long knew through tradition. Zoomed in, a compound called apigenin binds to the same brain receptors targeted by many anti-anxiety medications, delivering a quiet message to your nervous system: Hey, let's just take a breath. Let's slow down.Four other compounds do the work of relaxing your muscles, signaling release, release, release to wherever you're holding tension. And still more compounds tucked among her buds act as antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, tending to the body in ways we are only beginning to fully understand.

As these messages are delivered to the unconscious parts of our body, chamomile asks us with her tiny cheerful blooms, pleasantly bitter flavor, and gentle aroma, to slow down and notice the conversation. One of the gifts of working with plants is that we are invited to engage with our wellness on a deeper level, and the deeper we go, the more we receive. If we take the time to drink in the experience of working with plant medicine, if we bring ourselves into the one and only present moment and really notice the gifts that chamomile brings, we will receive them tenfold. Her aromatic and delicate qualities draw us into the now and whisper to us, long-winded but simply: it's safe. I'm with you. I'm here. You can let your guard down. You can be still enough to notice the subtle. You can feel what you feel. 

Notice yourself, notice where you are in space and time. Take a sip. Be here now. Take another sip. It's okay to be still.

Next time you find yourself with a warm cup in your hands, I invite you to slow down and really soak it in. Herbalism gently reminds us that reverence is part of the healing path. That when we meet a plant with presence and intention, we open ourselves to receive the full depth of her gifts.

Chamomile is part of our Bitter Love, Chill Kid, and Sleepy Kid tinctures. If you'd like to grow your own, we have Roman Chamomile starts available through our Spring plant sale!

Remember to make space for stillness ♡