All Brown Bear Herbs Herbalism & Tactics for Thriving Together
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I am always saddened when I hear of harm consciously being done to our co-inhabitants of Mother Earth. In addition to my community work, I am on the board of directors for Herbalists Without Borders, a global humanitarian organization with a mission is to support local humanitarian groups to help with food and health justice for all.
As I think of people living in war-torn, or high-violence areas, the first herb that comes to mind for resilience is thyme. Why thyme? In ancient Greece, thyme was embroidered on the togas of generals as a symbol of courage. Thyme was given to knights to prepare for battle. Thyme has historically been used to help on a physical level with life-threatening issues, such as whooping cough, anthrax, diptheria, and COVID. (Note: if you achieve symptom relief from an herb please consider yourself still contagious for the recommended amount of time. You can still spread serious illnesses to people when symptom-free.) On a psychological level, I find thyme to be excellent for making nightmares manageable. It is a parasympathetic relaxant, making sleep easier, especially during times of stress. Because of its ability to support warriors entering battle, help with respiratory distress, and work with nightmares, I have come to the conclusion that thyme's true affinity is for life-or-death situations. My experience has been that it makes them manageable. I think of all those little leaves as the tiniest warriors, full of fire, (thyme is hot in the third degree) ready to take on the biggest problems that face us. When I need courage and feel like there may not be a positive outcome in sight, I add thyme to my force and begin to again see the challenges in front of me as being navigatable. What a great herb for people stuck in hellish situations, emergency workers, and those remembering difficulties through nightmares.
Another reason I like thyme is because it is easily accessible to most people being a common cooking herb. The dry herb can be taken as tea or tincture. It is also useful as an essential oil (smell the oil, or use it in products or a diffuser). This plant can survive a light frost or two without losing its properties. It is lovely to infuse in honey, butter...or use in water as a flower essence.