My upbringing involved a very close exposure to certain medicines that are well used that actually cause more problems which led me to become more connected and to look to nature for what solutions and remedies that nature has to offer.
It was about 22 years ago when I connected with the first herb which started it all and I realised that it was actually a medicine, and not what people were saying it was. My journey has just dived very deeply in that time.
The Salve-Ation skin care products that I make can help with psoriasis, eczema, and even acne in some instances, and CBD is one of the main ingredients, as well as six or seven other herbs, all designed help stimulate blood flow to the area where you’re putting it. So if there’s inflammation or muscle pain, it can help bring relief to those areas. I’ve had more people use it on their knees than anything else and it was my dad who formulated this recipe for his lower back pain and sciatica and it was so successful that we wanted to share it with everyone.
Benefits of CBD
To distinguish the difference between cannabis, of which people know to be a psychoactive component, and hemp is any strain of cannabis that contains .3%, or less THC, the psychoactive component, and the CBD oil I work with is extracted from a combination of multi strain, high CBD, hemp grown for its CBD content.
Everyone has an endocannabinoid system. This is the main regulatory system in the body that maintains homeostasis. This is also found in all other mammals, so dogs, cats, rats, horses, and I have worked with some pets as well as humans.
First and foremost it is an anti inflammatory.
From my years of observation and research, stress is the biggest killer and main cause of all dis-ease, so being that the endocannabinoid system is there to maintain homeostasis and bring about ease, the opposite to relieve the disease. If we are overly stressed we release heightened levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, which creates inflammatory markers in the body, which over time, turns into disease.
So if we can relieve the cause of stress and relieve our reaction or response to stress, because obviously, we don’t have control over the external world to some degree, it’s more so about how we handle it. In that instance, it may not only help with physical ailments, relating to inflammation, such as your muscle pain, knee, joint pain, back pain, but also with anxiety and sleep, if you’re in pain.
If you’re not sleeping enough, you’re going to be anxious, and if you’re anxious, you’re not going to be sleeping. It’s a vicious cycle so if it just helps with one element, then that’s a step forward. Whilst there’s no silver bullet for everyone and everyone’s different, it’s super subjective on how it works.
It really comes back to your own diet, as well as your mental health – what you’re telling yourself and what you’re thinking to yourself.
The other thing that can stimulate the endocannabinoid system other than CBD, and various other compounds in the plant, is sunshine and exercise.
These things help modulate our immune system, keep our bodies strong, healthy, and ready for whatever may come. There’s anti cancer properties, anti proliferative, which means to help stop the growth and spread of tumors, there’s so many things that have been discovered about it every day that it’s hard to keep up!
How to take CBD
It depends on the individual ailments but you can take it topically or sublingual use, under the tongue, ideally on an empty stomach, unless someone’s diet is high in omega 3, 6, and 9 from things such as avocado oil, fish oils, hemp seed oil, then it’ll actually absorb faster with that in the system. You can vaporise the CBD oil as well, depending on how it’s prepared.
Then there is the Pechoti Method that comes from Ayurvedic medicine which is based on the idea that you can absorb the oil through your belly button. I’ve personally seen people have huge responses to his.
And lastly the feet, which have the largest pores in the body. A woman I know had a 20 year old son with severe autism, epilepsy and Tourette’s and it’s next to impossible to get him to take it so she would rub it into the soles of his feet.
She experimented on herself first to see if it was going to be effective and the first thing she said was that she could taste it.
Herbal Tea Blends – Winter Blues
The blue colour comes from a herb called butterfly pea flower which is a good digestive aid and good for anxiety. There’s a little pinch of dried lime peel as the citrus helps extract the color. This recipe came to me while making a cup of tea one day and the herb spoke to me and said hey Chris, make this.
It also contains lavender, which is great for anxiety and calming the nervous system, Herb Robert, a blood oxygenator which helps increase blood flow to the cells and alkalize the body. Blue lotus flower which is relaxing without being sedating, so once again good for anxiety.
There are two expectorants – coltsfoot and mullein which are good for helping to relieve excess mucus buildup on the lungs and great for treating colds and sniffles. It also has Damiana which is a kidney tonic and helps to balance hormones, particularly in women. Tulsi is the Queen of herbs and the physical manifestation of Lakshmi, which is the Indian Hindu and goddess of prosperity and good health. Tulsi is also great for anxiety and depression.
It tastes delicious!
I’ve come to learn that the earth is basically a refrigerator and we just need to know what shelf to look on to put a feast together, and once you know what shelf and what ingredients is what, it’s all there.
Tulsi is excellent for detoxing heavy metals and inorganic compounds, including fluoride. One of the issues with excess weight on the body is the accumulation of toxins in the cells and when you start to detox, your body, which is highly intelligent and stores dross within us to protect our organs, then when we find the right ingredients to release it, the weight just comes off.
Other Herbal Tea Blends available online
Damiana, Sacred Tulsi, Herb Robert, Siberian Chaga Tea – Wild Harvested, which is a medicinal mushroom that grows on birch trees in forests in Siberia, China and Northern America. I source mine from a business called Chaga Laboratories in the Czech Republic and I am now their Australian supplier.
As disease can only thrive in an acidic environment, so if we can alkalize the environment then we can help to relieve the negative effects of any diseases with the intention and hope of actually treating them.
Chaga tea is also excellent for detoxing and really rich in vitamins and minerals and may also offer weight loss benefits. It’s a good alternative for coffee, it doesn’t stimulate you like caffeine does, but it can give you a natural form of energy and help with detoxing and the withdrawal side of it as well. It’s also really rich in triterpenes, which indirectly interact with the endocannabinoid system. So good for immune system modulating, helping to keep it balanced.
It’s really good for our immune systems for anxiety, depression, and just staying present and focused. A good source of goodness from nature, once again.
Stinging Nettle Tea (Urtica dioica) is an exceptionally awesome herb. There are studies that have shown monks who have lived off nothing but nettle, meditating in caves for months on end and the only side effect is they start to turn green because it’s very rich in chlorophyll. It’s great for the liver, and kidneys, and is rich in vitamins and minerals.
The nettle tea is a diuretic which basically means it helps to stimulate the release of urine and toxins, so it promotes the detoxification process.
What’s a Tincture?
A tincture is an alcohol extract. It’s where you get parts of the plant, whether it be the root, the flower, the stems, or the leaves, or you can use them all depending on what the plant is, and you soak them in alcohol and there’s various processes and different ways of doing it.
The most recent tincture I’ve made was Pine Pollen, which is only available two to three weeks of every year during the transition between Winter and Spring. I’ve gone out and I’ve wild harvested it myself and I’ve just had to time it to get as much as I can and be grateful that I don’t have allergies because I get covered everywhere in it! It’s great fun.
You’ll often find me in a forest foraging. It’s such a beautiful place, it’s my home away from home and my earthly embodiment is a bear, so I’m right at home when I’m in the forest. The main reason I was called to this is once again, it’s excellent for detoxing toxins from the body, inorganic materials, particularly xenoestrogens, which are the toxic form of estrogen found in BPA and GMO products, which throw our hormones out of balance so it helps balance hormones in both men and women but particularly with men, as it’s also a really rich and natural source of testosterone, which is not all that common in nature and in this form as well.
Once again, it’s good for the immune system. There’s over 200 beneficial compounds in it, and it’s good juju.
When I was harvesting it I had a ladybug land right on top of the pine pollen, and it posed for me and I got some amazing photos and that’s the logo, it’s such a beautiful omen and lady luck.
How to contact Chris
Chris is offering a personal 30 minute complimentary consultation that can be booked online via his website. Use code “itsashawthing” to receive 10% off orders, available globally.
He’s at the weekly Green Light Organic Market in Willunga, on the corner of Aldinga Road and Main Road, every Saturday 9am-1.30pm.
Find Chris on the Enlighten Tribe Directory: Herbal Hindsight
Website: Herbal Hindsight
Facebook: Herbal Hindsight
