Everybody has a weakness. Whatever your religion, culture, ethnicity or personal style, your body is craving something. It’s your soul seeking a way to exist peacefully on this planet. I found my way while camping in Costa Rica. That trip lasted several years. I don’t believe you have to go camping to find yours. Unplugging from the modern world to get back to nature, I discovered the source of the craving. Pitching a tent, setting up the portable crib in the middle of ten-thousand virgin acres and roughing it in a pristine tropical wilderness for years brought enlightenment to my family. We pass it on.
Stress management, positive thought control, mindfulness and that “peaceful easy feeling” can be created and maintained, successfully. You can adapt to any situation. All you need is love and an Adaptagen! Adaptagens are a class of plants with the power to enhance your immune system, boost your metabolism and help your body deal with “stress”. The term stress and its affects are gaining more attention in the mainstream media. Cortisol, belly fat, diabetes, auto-immune system disorders and emotional diagnosis ranging from bi-polar to schizophrenia are all directly related to the fight or flight syndrome.
Tulsi Holy Basil
Nutritional supplements of Adaptagenic herbs can be found everywhere now. Try something in a liquid form, tinctures and teas are available online and at health food stores. Organic India and its Tulsi teas have even found their way into large grocery store chains. There’s a long list of herbs in the adaptagenic family, starting with ginseng and echinacea. The trick to success is sticking to it with regular consumption. Google Adaptegens. Try a few. When you find something that tastes good to you, take it as a sign. I fell in love with Tulsi, aka Holy Basil. India’s Queen of herbs grew like a weed in Costa. But, you don’t have to live on a mountain rich in tropical soil to grow your own adaptegen. I found a great supplier of medicinal seeds in Horizon Herbs of Oregon and they helped me select the right seeds based on my temporal zone. Tulsi seedlings sprout from black, rich composted soil and evolve into lush, powerfully scented bushes. Simply breathing down wind of the tulsi patch makes me smile and think good thoughts. You can supply your own daily herb tea needs with three large patio containers, store bought organic compost and a few good seeds.
Make a pitcher full of tea from your new favorite Adaptagenic herb and consume it regularly, like water. A decoction, strong concentrated herbal infusion, can be steeped in an old glass tomato sauce jar. Three tea bags steeped for several hours in a cup and a half of hot water will take you through the day. Add enough filtered or distilled water to fill the pitcher and keep it in the fridge or in your portable water bottle. A tincture of your new favorite Adaptegen, kept at close, will help to raise awareness and make you more mindful of your thoughts. A few drops under your tongue or in an ounce of water will give you the physical reminder that everyone needs. Stay positive. Our body’s immune system is like a force field. When something gets a little out of whack or ailing, the shield weakens and all those tiny little buggers have a way in. The same goes for your emotional and spiritual health. Stress is stress, is stress, is stress. It doesn’t matter if it’s a physical, mental or emotional upset. The effect’s and manifestations on your shield are the same.
Our camping trip forced many good habits and changed our life style permanently. My husband worked like a five man crew with no electricity and no power tools. He cleared land by machete and hand mixed cement. Our daughter and I, experimented with foods that heal. We made medicine from plants, art from scraps and sewed our own clothes. We brought the Pura Vida home. Applying the principals of a Pure Life here, we pass it on. Now, there’s a children’s book series, repurposed textiles and medicinal herbs on Etsy at our shop, Barefoot Princess, www.etsy.com/shop/barefootprincessita
Discover your own natural wonders at www.horizonherbs.com Ask for their free catalog of dried herbs, tinctures and seeds. It’s an entertaining guide that combines the ancient uses of herbs with recent nutritional analyses and cultivation information. Enjoy!
Photo courtesy www.HorizonHerbs.com.
For Angela Holland, camping out in Costa Rica changed everything! Since then she’s done TV in elementary school, theatre in high school, newspaper in college, then interned for talk radio at Clear Channel Orlando as “hippie chick” for 13 years. Her book about the experience of camping and building a ”Little House in the Jungle” is a work in progress. She enjoys sharing her hundreds of thousands of funny stories relating to body, mind and soul detox. Check her out at etsy and facebook.
