Teas For The Cycle
There are many ways to incorporate herbal medicine and plants into our lives.
I personally have always loved the ritual and practice of drinking tea or herbal infusions and decoctions. Someone even wrote a song about it. It has always been comforting and is like creating a moment of calm, pause, and mindfulness.
Infusions are the practice for steeping more delicate plants like flowers and leaves and decoctions the practice of boiling/simmering for stems, roots, and more woody plants.
A very simple & easy SelfCare practice you can do for the female reproductive system is incorporating an herbal tea into your daily routine.
Herbal medicine from all traditions offers many plants that directly nourish, or secondarily nourish the female reproductive system. Directly nourishing the system would mean the herbs have a direct effect on the female reproductive system and organs. Examples liked Red Raspberry leaf or Huckleberry-native to the North West- is tonifying- meaning it is strengthening to the organ of the uterus.
Think about the uterus growing to hold a 6-10 pound baby by the end of pregnancy. It has to be very strong and healthy to do that. Shatavari, an Ayurvedic herb for the female reproductive system is estrogenic- meaning it helps the body create healthy estrogen- and is nourishing to the tissues of the system. Herbs that help cleanse blood and keep the blood free of toxins are also directly nourishing because that means the lining that is built up in the uterus in the second half of the monthly cycle is healthier and the blood that then flows in menstruation, when that lining sheds, is of healthier quality.
Secondarily nourishing can be anything that will have a positive effect on the female reproductive system. This can be herbs that are rich in minerals, which help us be nutritionally sound, herbs that help kidney and adrenal function, or herbs that help clean, detoxify, and promote optimal and healthy liver function. Liver health is key to menstrual health as it is the organ that processes everything we put in our body, along with processing our hormones, and in Chinese medicine, is the organ that cleans the blood.
Liver stagnation is usually a big part of issues and imbalances in the monthly cycle or reproductive system, both physical and emotional.
A blend that has herbs like raspberry leaf, alfalfa, nettle, milky oat tops, red clover & or rose petals & shatavari in Ayurveda, tonify the uterus, remineralize the body, and help keep the blood in the body clean. All things that have a big effect on menstruation, a healthy cycle, fertility, and healthy pregnancy. These herbs are perfect as warm or cooler teas, and are great year round, and in warm weather, as they are not overly warming or heating.
Incorporating teas that have herbs like ginger, turmeric, burdock root, dandelion root, licorice, and fennel help the liver function optimally, bring blood to the the primary and secondary digestive organs, nourish the adrenals, and give the liver extra support to clear toxins and any excess, including hormones, from the body. Fall and Winter are the perfect time for using these herbs as some are warming and they are all very earthy and cozy feeling.
Where can i find these teas?
Pregnancy or baby be well teas are great for the monthly cycle and can be found at any health food store. The herbs in a pregnancy blend are great for hormone balance, nourishing the female system, and keeping the uterus strong, which is super important at any phase of reproductive life. These blends tend to the more leafy and blossom type blends. Anything labeled Liver is going to have some combination of herbs that I listed above for liver health. Sometimes these teas are labeled Fertility tea, or something along the lines of Moon Ease, as helping the liver helps cramps and other symptoms of PMS.
You can also find more specific or specialty blends at herb companies or apothecary shops. I like Mountain Rose Herbs for bulk ordering.
Add a little honey and have a sweet nourishing moment for your reproductive system that is literally always working for us. That simple act of paying attention and giving it love is also really healthy & goes a long way to balancing things. Look for tea and herbs that are organic and grown with sustainable practices. It’s super important not to be drinking herbs that have been grown with any herbicides or pesticides as that will go directly into the blood stream.
The more woody, rooty, and earthy herbs are also great for people with male reproductive systems as liver health is vital for male hormone balance as well. Herbal medicine is equal opportunity y’all.
Add a little honey and your favorite non-dairy milk to these warming earthy teas for a tea latte that is good for you on so many levels.
