Comfrey Cottages

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Sunday Stroll

Started the day in Chicago visiting my baby brother. Went there to celebrate my twin nieces 5th birthday...

Lake Michigan

And ended my day back home to March going out like a lion...

Sharing this for Aisling's Sunday Stroll xx

Herbal and Honey Hugs to all who visit Comfrey Cottages xx

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Time to learn about gemmotherapy!

Maple Syrup making season is over for the year. My first year doing this has been a lot of work! But such a sweet reward. One of the ways to know the season is over, is the maple trees begin to bud. What a perfect time to explore a subject I have been wanting to learn more about, gemmotherapy! Gemma is Latin for bud :)

Gemmotherapy is a form of herbal medicine that uses remedies from the newly emerging Spring shoots and buds of trees and shrubs. It originated in France in the 1950s, in the work of a group of doctors who studied its use in detoxification treatments. Subsequent research and clinical experience has confirmed its effectiveness in drainage protocols and also its applicability to many common conditions.

From the School of Gemmotherapy:

“These are the embryonic plant tissues, which contain the meristems or plant stem cells by which new growth occurs. The embryonic tissues also have high concentrations of nutrients, vitamins, plant hormones and enzymes.

Gemmotherapy remedies have a multiple action:

drainage and detoxification of the whole person or of particular body systems
regulating physiological functions (whether they are hypo- or hyper-)
supporting and toning the tissues and organs

Their basic draining action may be explained by the outward-moving energy of the buds and young shoots.

Gemmotherapy takes its name from 'gemma', the Latin word for bud (and also for a precious stone, though there is no connection between gemmotherapy and gem therapy).

The remedies act predominantly on a physical level. They are used in a variety of clinical situations and can solve specific problems that come up all the time in practice:

to clear environmental toxins or metabolic waste products from the organs and tissues as part of a detoxification protocol
to drain the emunctories (= the organs of elimination) when they are underfunctioning
to stimulate the immune system
to support, nourish and maintain weakened or susceptible parts of the body
to prepare the body for the deeper action of another treatment, such as a homeopathic remedy, when there could be a risk of an aggravation
synergistically with other therapies, for a greater combined effect
when deeper forms of treatment are too slow in bringing relief of physical symptoms
symptomatically for the relief of acute, sub-acute or chronic physical symptoms
to calm aggravations without throwing off any underlying curative action that may be taking place
as a stop-gap to buy time while you work on the case

Most often used by naturopaths and homeopaths, gemmotherapy can easily be combined with any other kind of treatment, such as chiropractic or osteopathy. As Marcus Greaves MD has pointed out, gemmotherapy can even be used to help conventional medication work better.”

Nick Churchill MA(Oxon), RSHom, founder of The School of Gemmotherapy discusses what gemmotherapy is in this video

Buds, Meristem and Energetics

I was thrilled to discover that Nick Churchill is offering a free introductory course now. It runs from March 15th and last four weeks. All you need is a google account to be able to participate.

I have had this fascination with this modality for awhile and think learning more about it will be very interesting! I found this link which tells which plants are generally used and the conditions they can be useful for.

I thought to share about this new journey in case any of you have been curious also. Now is the time to explore a bit more with this free class offer. The course started already, but late comers are welcome.