Category Archives: healing

harvesting peppermint tea from the herb & tea garden

09 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by in healing, tea

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peppermint tea

Last week, Brian and I harvested all of the peppermint from the planter box that Brian built at the top of the herb and tea garden last summer. A hardy, pervasive perennial, peppermint is easy to grow and is best kept in a confined area as it can take over a small area very quickly.

Here is the planter box last summer soon after I planted the mint. It did not take long for the peppermint to grow and fill the box!

Peppermint planter box

Cool, refreshing, peppermint tea is the most popular of all herbal teas and is one of the oldest and best-tasting home remedies for indigestion (Mindell, 1992).

Rather than drying the plant whole, we stripped the leaves and then dried them in a dehydrator.

dried pepermint tea

Then we gently crushed the leaves inside a glass jar with a muddler.

peppermint tea peppermint tea

According to Brown (2001), drinking peppermint tea “improves digestion and calms the digestive system, reducing wind, griping pains, colic and nausea”. It is not surprising then that peppermint tea is a key ingredient of many remedies for indigestion and irritable bowel syndrome. Mindell (1992) adds that “[st]udies show that peppermint lessens the amount of time food spends in the stomach by stimulating the gastric lining. It aso relaxes the stomach muscles and promotes burping”. Peppermint is a wonderful help for heartburn, stomachache, nausea and vomiting. It often relieves migraine headaches, which are frequently accompanied by nausea.

I drink it because it tastes great!

peppermint tea

Brown, D. (2001). Herbal: The Essential Guide to Herbs for Living.  London, England: Pavilion Books Ltd.

Mindell, E. (1992). Earl Mindell’s Herb Bible. New Yorl, NY: Simon & Schuster.

the circle teachings of Black Elk

22 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by in healing, Indigenous teachings

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Today, I reflect on circles, cycles and the natural flow of being.

Below are the words of Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux (1863-1950).

You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round.

In the old days all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop, and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain and the north with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion.

Everything the power of the world does is done in a circle. The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.

The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation’s hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children.

the gift of good conversation with Marg Sanders of Mindsprings

07 Wednesday Dec 2011

Posted by in buy local, healing, mindfulness, Pigeon Lake

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Mindsprings ‘magic’ happens when ideas spring from mind to mind in conversation.

Yesterday, it was my privilege and pleasure to spend part of an afternoon with a diverse group of women at the ECOcafe (located at the Village on Pigeon Lake). We had all come in response to an invitation by Marg Sanders of Mindsprings to ‘Remember and Be Remembered at Christmas: Receiving the Gift of Good Conversation’. I had met Marg and her husband, Hugh, last winter at another ECOcafe event and was really looking forward to see her in action.

The event was fun and very meaningful to all who participated. It was refreshing to share my own Christmas story and then hear the personal stories of others. Before we began, Marg gave us time to reflect on a few questions. Then she coached us on active, intentional, nonjudgmental listening– truly a rare quality found in people and a gift that we can give ourselves and others! By the end of the session, each one of us felt enriched by the time we had shared in creative expression and good conversation.

Marg and Hugh of Mindsprings offer conversational coaching, both for individuals as well as for groups. For example, individuals seeking personal growth, or for work groups as team-building or thinking about challenges in new ways, or even at family gatherings to focus on the gifts that each member brings to the group. There are many other applications for coaching conversations and their website is full of information. Both Marg and Hugh are skilled at helping you discover:

  • exactly who you are as an individual or organization – your purpose, talents and objectives
  • clarity about what you want to achieve
  • your power and capacity to move forward
  • a do-able and sustainable action plan

Upcoming Events at Mindsprings:

Weaving and Writing Our Way Through a Good Book

“A unique book club experience that invites story telling and personal journalling into the reading of a good book.”

Making Sense of Our Lives, Story by Story

mindsprings salons

“…good people, good food, and good conversation in a skillfully guided environment at Mindspring’s unique lakeside setting.”
If you would like more information on Mindsprings, or would like to invite a conversation in your area, you can contact marg at: marg@mindsprings.ca or visit their website at www.mindsprings.ca or call 780.586.2551.

We believe that the knowledge you need to achieve your goals is hidden and waiting to be uncovered within you, both as an individual and as an organization.

Even in this short time spent with Marg I have learned (and remembered) so much. During this holiday season, I would like to be remembered as giving the people in my life the gift of good conversation…