🌿 Herbs For Your New Year Intentions🌿 (Patreon)

Have you used herbs for your New Years Day magic? Here are some suggestions you could try below! This is a combination of information by Earth Within, Gaia Herbs and Patheos.

Add the magic of herbs to this new beginning! Using herbs and plants to set new year’s intentions can add so much goodness to this new beginnings. Using and leaning into the power of these herbs can truly make a difference in your purposeful-planning of 2022.

Basil for Protection

If you traveled to the past, you might see basil hanging in doorways. It has been said to ward off evil spirits and when placed at the entrance of a home, it protects the people inside. Nowadays, people are more likely to grow some in the herb garden near their front porch or have a small pot sitting in their window. It’s beautiful and with a delightful aroma, who wouldn’t want to use basil in their intention setting?

Use your culinary skills to incorporate basil into a tasty dish to munch on while you focus your energy on the new year.

Lavender for Happiness

Often, we use lavender for its relaxing properties. I like to incorporate lavender essence into my nightly routine, using it’s scent to lull me into a restful sleep. Even just spending some time outside with lavender can improve your mood. We love adding dried lavender into our floral incense bundles. This lovely flower will add beauty hanging to dry along a window or added into your favorite skin cream.

Treat yourself to a warm bath with Epsom salt and lavender to begin this new year. Soak in all that goodness and relax into some new routines!

Rosemary for Cleansing

At the beginning of a new year, we want that “fresh start” feeling. For ages, rosemary has been burned to cleanse and purify a space. Through this ritual, rosemary brings newness and clarity, which lets us look deeper into ourselves and our lives. I often find myself diffusing rosemary essence or cooking with rosemary to bring about some much-needed introspective power. Rosemary is also used as both an incense and internally to help with brain health and alertness.

Bundle some dried rosemary and then burn it in your home in anticipation for a new decade.

Pine for Healing

Winter fills our souls with magic. There’s nothing like a snowy hike in a pine forest, quiet except for the crunch with each step. Whether healing from physical ailments or past traumas, pine can aid in this process. The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to focus on self-healing, especially as you work on bettering yourself. Sometimes we may not know we need the healing that pine provides, but that’s why it can be so important.

Ethically forage some pine on your New Year’s Day hike and then steep in hot water to make a delicious tea.

Cinnamon for Success

Success means different things to different people, but we all want to achieve our version of it. The new year, in particular, brings about goal-setting, resolutions, and new projects, all of which have us thinking about whether or not we will succeed. Cinnamon promotes success and brings prosperity. With it’s warming aroma, this herb can really help you set your new year’s intentions.

Working in the kitchen can be such a meditative process. Bake something yummy with cinnamon and practice mindful eating.

It’s simple to incorporate the power of herbs into your day-to-day life or spiritual practice. These five herbs, specifically, can aid you in planning out this new year at the beginning of a new decade.

St. John’s Wort

St. John’s Wort is linked with the Sun and Leo, and helps to bring some of that light back to our short winter days. In fact St. John’s Wort is often used for those who suffer from SAD, (seasonal affective disorder) so a perfect herb for the winter season. St. John’s Wort is also used for smoking as a mood lifter, possibly helping to keep a more uplifted attitude to aid in kicking the habit. Magically used to draw the light of the sun back, or burned in exorcisms or poltergeist removals.

Black Elderberry

A plant of Venus and the element of Water, her waves transfer us to the underworld. Elderberry’s branches and roots lie within both life and death, so ideal for this time of year. Medicinally elderberries are reported to aid sinus infections, colds and flu, lower blood sugar and prevent some cancers. Magickal folklore tells of how the branches where placed in the dearly departed’s coffins to aid their trip to the land of the dead. It is also known that the branches burned in their fireplaces would bring about the Devil to sit upon their chimneys, so many only used the flowers and berries. Witches where said to inhabit the shrub, so caution was strongly advised.

There’s a reason Black Elderberry supplements are wellness routine staples, especially in the colder months: Black Elderberries have long been used in traditional cultures to support immune health, during immune season and year-round.

Think of incorporating Black Elderberry into your supplement regimen alongside one or more of the herbs mentioned above for general support in your pursuit of being a healthier you in the new year, especially as we are still grappling with a dangerous pandemic. Find Black Elderberry in a variety of formats to fit your lifestyle, from gummies to syrup and capsules to powder.

Other options for immune support: Though Black Elderberry is a superstar of the immune support world, there are other immune herbs that shine bright when it comes to sustaining overall well-being, from Echinacea to Oregano.

Maca Root

You have lots of responsibilities in a day, and meeting them all can sap your stamina, so much so that the last thing you feel like doing is working out—or sticking to any of your resolutions, for that matter.

That’s where energizing supplements with Maca root come in. Maca is a caffeine-free, edible herbaceous plant traditionally used to support peak performance, which is why it is popular among athletes and weekend warriors alike.* Whatever your specific exercise goals and level of fitness, supplements with Maca can help in your efforts to stay physically active. So, make room for Maca!

Other options for energy: Of course, there are many other invigorating herbs and herbal formulas that also promote healthy energy and stamina, from Ginseng to Green Tea.

Turmeric

Further support your fitness goals with supplements containing Turmeric (Curcuma longa), which can help reduce occasional inflammation due to normal daily wear and tear and maintain joint health so you can keep moving. This bright yellow–orange spice—the main ingredient in curry powder—contains the powerful chemical constituent curcumin, one of several curcuminoid compounds in the herb.

Although the exact modes of Turmeric’s actions are not yet fully understood, most researchers agree that it supports a healthy inflammatory response in healthy individuals and offers antioxidant support, as curcuminoids appear to scavenge for damaging particles in the body known as free radicals.

Other options to support an active lifestyle: In addition to Turmeric, Cat’s Claw Bark is traditionally taken to sustain healthy joints.

Ashwagandha

A member of the Solanaceae family, Ashwagandha is considered an adaptogen. Adaptogenic herbs are traditionally used for help coping with stress in a healthy way. In other words, they give your body the extra support it needs in times of ongoing pressure or tension.

Ashwagandha in particular has been revered as an adaptogen for more than 1,500 years in Ayurveda, India’s ancient traditional system of medicine. Consider it a go-to for helping you on your mission to stress less and find more resilience in the face of adversity. What’s more, when your body is stressed, you can be left feeling depleted, without the energy to take on your other objectives. Add Ashwagandha-containing supplements, like our new Ashwagandha Gummies, to your regimen as all-around assistants for helping you stick to each and every resolution on your list.*

Other options for stress reduction: A wealth of herbs are traditionally used for emotional well-being, including other adaptogens like Rhodiola, as well as St. John’s Wort and Oats.

Sources:

https://www.gaiaherbs.com/blogs/seeds-of-knowledge/trying-to-keep-your-new-year-s-resolutions-these-6-herbs-can-help

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/witchofthewoodwithravenwood/2021/01/herbs-for-the-new-year-seasonal-medicinals-and-magick/

https://earthwithin.com/5-herbs-to-incorporate-into-your-new-years-intentions/