Spring Fever awaits thee, time for new green growth, is your soil ready? Depending on which system and language one chooses, spring is the season in which water promotes wood (Chinese) or in Ayurveda, Kapha (water and earth) wakes up to become active heading toward fire or Pitta.  Of course in our own western folk medical tradition in the west this has always been the time for spring-cleaning. Whatever system, whatever way…energy in spring is supposed to rise up to glory. This is therefore, the  traditional time for leaving the stillness of winter and beginning new growth. 

Fostering and honoring new growth naturally leads to mimicking nature’s wisdom and learning from her how to grow strong and solid wood with greening freshness and clear purity.  The intelligent, balanced, and conscious use of herbs is the easiest, gentlest, and fastest way I have found to participate more fully in this great change from the stillness of water in winter to the new growth of wood in spring. Friends who try the suggestions in this article will experience this cleansing phase of God’s eternal plan within themselves. As we become more confident in knowing God to be working in perfect balance within ourselves, two things happen.

First we find our changes and our voice to be a working part of God’s plan. The more each of feels and participates in the eternal balance, the more we prioritize those habits and ways of thought and action that lead to spiritual and physical wholeness.  In my experience we only suffer and get into trouble when we lose touch or forget that nature and God are always in harmony. Herbs are the best reminder that I know of to help us remember that the force that is really in charge is always available if we but turn toward it. Spring is the perfect time and herbs are the best memory tools that bring us back to unity, our most important remembering.

Secondly, by feeling the balance we can begin to receive clarity about speaking our truth. I am a Quaker and one of our testimonies is called “speaking truth to power”. The moral voice it takes to do this speaking is only possible if we have some sense of right and wrong, balance and perversion. The forces of selfishness that seem to be eternally playing a much needed role of waking us up by challenging us to respond as they attempt to destroy the beauty of God’s creation, are only as powerful as we let them be.

Recovering our own sense of ourselves as balanced and in harmony with God’s will is our ticket toward being effective agents of social change. Something about the pristine molecules of herbal green angels penetrating our physical body shines a much-needed light on the perversity of this present generation of humankind. Feeling our inner light like we can do with the proper balanced use of herbs shows evil for what it is, a lack of understanding and knowledge. Healing ourselves with herbs enables us to speak out from a place of our own experience about spirit. This makes all the difference in the world in our effectiveness to communicate the truth that God is in each person. When we know from our own experience of how we feel that we are in unity with the source and that source created all beings, hatred and violence are known to be way out of whack.

To the degree we know this from our own feeling experience of healing and opening to the inner light, we can speak effectively the moral voice this world so desperately needs. Spring is the easiest time of year to get that feeling of being in love, harmony, and growing in the spirit.

So how do we use herbs at this point of the year to make these benefits happen? It is easy and simple and just takes the effort to do it. It is kind of like prayer, you can read about and hear other people talk about it, but if you do not do it yourself you will never be able to speak from your own experience about what you found. Basically it is a three step process to cleanse your body in the spring using herbs. One… two… three it’s so easy. First, cleanse and tonify your digestive tract using gentle herbs. Second, nourish your self with  herbs and diet specific to the liver. The hard working liver is the active organ and seat of the wood element. Third, cleanse the skin with exercise, herbal baths and light brushing followed by the light protection of herbal oils.

A general guideline. There is only one key principle to make sure to get the deep benefits of spring-cleansing with herbs while keeping balance. The principle is simple…Do it deep enough but don’t overdue it. First make sure you give yourself permission to set aside as much time as your vocation allows and put in enough effort and thoroughness to achieve a feeling of renewal. The second part of the principle of spring-cleaning is “Don’t overdo it”. If you are unsure about your own ability to judge the balance for yourself with herbal cleansing, work with an herbalist until you can self-validate your own voice, the voice of your body’s innate wisdom.. Ok are you ready to glow? Let’s go.

What I propose is a four-week period of very minimal action the first weeks building to a significant overall renewal once the four-week program is completed.  This gentle approach is very balanced since most of us have to keep working instead of taking a cleansing retreat. Since most of us cannot shirk our worldly responsibilities even for one or two weeks, it is absolutely necessary to keep balanced emotionally while renewing. If we were able to set aside weeks just for spiritual and physical renewal we could travel faster and heal more deeply, but that is not an option or priority for most friends.

With diet and herbs, cleanse and tonify is our mantra, cleanse and then tone. Om Cleanse Tone Om Cleanse Tone Om Cleanse Tone. Two food groups are perfect food for both steps, greens and lemon or lime juice. Greens nourish and cleanse while sour juices stimulate the healing and cleansing of the liver. Dandelion greens, spinach, collards, kale, and almost any fresh green herbs from the market. Steaming is the preferred method of cooking during a cleanse.

Lemon and lime juice is now available year round from Organically grown trees. My favorite is from the Santa Cruz company which sells an excellent Lemon Juice for under $3.00 for 8 ounces. This is ideal for those of us who may mean to juice our own , but are realistically too busy and can really use jucie that is great quality and ready to go right out of the bottle.

The herbs we will use for our cleansing in the beginning of our program are herbs known as astringents: Haritaki and Bayberry. Haritaki: Terminalia chebula is the herb we will begin with which is specific to the large bowel or colon. Two weeks before your cleanse begin taking two Haritaki 650 mg tablets before retiring for sleep taken with at least eight ounces of water. This will gently cleanse your colon while sleeping and begin our spring cleansing journey.

After one week of Haritaki add two Triphala (Tri=three and phala =fruits) 1000 mg tablets each morning, again with at least eight ounces of water. After two weeks of greens, Haritaki and Triphaha, your intestinal tract is already gotten gradually used to the idea and prepared to begin a deeper balanced cleansing.

Bayberry: Myrica cerifera is the Myrtle in Myrtle Beach South Carolina and is one of the best herbs to remove the excess weight gain and sluggishness of winter. Bayberry is available in tincture or powder with a baseline dosing for a cleanse of 4 capsules daily (1 Tablespoon) or 3 milliliters of tincture.

After two weeks of minimal  herbal cleansing with Haritaki and Triphla, we will add the  bulking agents of Flaxseed ( Linum usitatissimum) and Rejeuve Powder, and the all round best herb for the liver Nettles. What we will do with the ½ ounce of Flaxseed is to soak it overnight in 8 ounces of water and drink it first thing in the morning. Flaxseed is one of God’s greatest gifts to us for it both cleanses and tonifies the entire digestive system. The consistency will take a bit of getting used to the first time, but with the 8 ounces of water Flaxseed goes down pretty easy. Nettles is added at three cups of tea, 4 capsules or 3 milliliters of tincture daily. Many friends have found that their spring allergies can be controlled simply by the use of this one herb.

More difficult to swallow, and thus optional for the squeamish is 1 Tablespoon  of Rejeuve powder from the Gaia herb company. Though the taste is not one we ordinarily encounter in western society (astringent), I would encourage friends to go ahead and take the leap anyway because this is an excellent blend. A combination of Triphala, Marshmallow root (Althea officinalis) and Psyllium (Plantago psyllium) Rejeuve powder is a thorough cleanser that softens the mucous membranes it slowly passes o’er. In the final week (week four) add 2X425mg. capsules of Zand Fiber Cleanse to the Rejeuve powder.  For those who have not been taking the Rejeuve powder just add the Fiber cleanse to the regimen.

The herbs that are called for throughout a cleanse are what we herbalists call alteratives for they gently alter the blockage of chi/prana where needed. Three alteratives that are my favorites and are called for here are  Nettles, Dandelion and  Burdock. Use these three in the first two weeks at 3-5 cups daily made so that they taste good. In the third and fourth week we will step us the dose for a more medicinal effect.

So in summary of the superficial cleansing of the first two weeks, eat a lot of greens while following these herbal guidelines:This is a building from a gentle superficial cleanse to a gentle deep cleanse of the entire intestinal tract and liver, in other words you have just given your ability to transmute matter into energy a fine tune up.

1st week: 2 Haritaki each night with a minimum of 3-5 cups of mild alterative tea, and 1 to two tablespoons of lemon juice in water.

2nd week 2 Haritaki each night and 2 Triphala each morning and 3-5 cups of stronger alterative tea daily. Also add 4 capsules of Bayberry Powder or 3 Milliliters of tincture, and 3- 4 Tablespoons of lemon juice in water.

Superficial tonification begins in the first week, continues during the second week, and then we will add herbs for a deeper toning in the third and forth weeks. During the entire four weeks we want to drink the following herbal infusions copiously. Copiusly in this case means at least three to five cups daily.

These herbs are specific to the urinary system and liver which is western language for toning water and wood. Our allies of choice here are Nettles (Urtica dioca), Burdock (Arctium lappa), Dandelipn (Taraxacun officlinalis), and a blend I made up decades ago that has stood the test of time (and tastes good!) named Tommy’s Blood Purifier. My Blood Purifier is made up of Burdock, Yellow dock (Rumex crispus), Red root (Ceanothus americanus), and Sarsaparilla (Smilax officinalis).

In the final week we will add 2X480mg capsules of Zand Thistle Cleanse to effect a deeper action on the liver. Thistle Cleanse is based on Milk Thistle, one of the best herbs for cleansing the Liver.

Continue with the cleansing level of the first two weeks and add the following deeper actions

3rd Week: Add 1 Tablespoon of Flaxseed Daily and 1 Tablespoon of Rejeuve powder each morning while continuing the regimen of weeks one and two. Make the alteratives that you have chosen stronger as the weeks go on, especially the dandelion root.

4th Week: Add Zand Fiber Cleanse 2 capsules  and Zand Thistle Cleanse 2 Capsules. Here is where a day or two of fasting on liquids only reaps the most benefit with less discomfort.

The skin is a huge yet often overlooked eliminative organ. Bathing, steaming and light brushing are the icing on the cleansing cake. Skin brushes are available to lightly stimulate the surface of that interacts with so many challenges day by day. During a cleanse, a skin brush is a tool that is inexpensive and very effective to invigorate the skin which is considered the second lung in Oriental Medicine.

Steaming has always been considered essential to sensing in all folk traditions. One easy way to steam is to prepare herbs in a crock-pot and then just hold your face over the crock-pot with a towel enclosing the steam. Our faces have so many nerve endings that this simple procedure which can be a part of making our herbal teas daily, can be more relaxing than you might think if you have never done it. A hot bath relaxes the skin allowing more transfer penetration of the herbal oils and bath mixes. 

There are a number of very nice bath mixtures available these days specifically formulated for cleansing. My three favorites are Aubrey’s relax R Bath, Olbas Bath Concentrate from Switzerland, and Aura Cacia’s Spring Flowers Bath Salts. Aubrey’s Relax R Bath contains Ginger, Patchouli, Eucalyptus and Seaweed and is one of my wife Linda’s favorites. It is a deeply penetrating bath that is the most relaxing one we have found yet. Olbas from Switzerland is an old European health products company, and their signature bath is stimulating and up-lifiting…yes you could say it even makes you tingle. Finally Aura Cacia Spring-flowers bath Salts rounds out the mix with a bath-salt that will leave your skin soft and glowing.  I would recommend at least a hot bath every other day during a renewal period as proposed, daily being the ideal.

Essential oils are essential for bathing with an eye to cleansing. My favorites for this purpose are Rosemary Oil, Lavender oil and Pine needle Oil.  These three oils are very penetrating and fragrant and your entire house will be renewed along with you from the use of 3-5 drops of these oils. One note of caution, be sure to add the oils after the tub is at least ½ full of water. That way the oils dilute in the water and spread evenly over the skin. Once I added the oil at the very beginning of the bath and suffice it to say it was too concentrated (i.e.hot) for some very tender tissue. I have never heard of anyone however having a problem adding 3-5 drops to a full bath.
 
Herbal oils are used with a rule of thumb of 4 drops to a square foot of skin surface. Protecting and nourishing the skin with slight daily application of sesame oil is one of the great simple gifts from Ayurveda. Basically whenever the skin is exposed to the elements it should be slightly oiled to keep the prana within and protected. 

Sesame oil (uncooked or you will smell like a salad) is the foundational choice  of protecting your skin with oil, although there are scores of herbal oils in the marketplace. Sesame oil is inexpensive, and used 4 drops to a square foot is hardly noticeable. One traditional variation of sesame oil that includes 20 herbs to reduce nervous system stress and fear is named Vata Oil.

Vata Oil is more penetrating than sesame oil alone  and specific to dry skin or any disturbances in the nervous system. Vata oil is the most calming oil from Ayurveda and is perfect for massage when someone needs to be more grounded. Vata Oil can be used alone (2-4 drops per square foot of skin) or mixed equally with sesame oil.

So friends, here is a simple to follow foundation for a program to cleanse the digestive system entirely, tonify the liver, and renew the second lung of the skin. Spring is only here once yearly and presents an opportunity to regain Eden. If we miss it, we miss it until 2006. My prayer is that you will join me now as spring approaches to take advantage of the renewal of upward moving energy available unique to spring.  May the forest be with you.