🌿 herbal journal entry #2 — MINT 🌿

hey hey y’all! I’m back with another entry of my herbal journal. This time I’m diving into MINT!

But real quick before I do, I want to note that this is this month’s free post! I’ve posted twice since my last free post, once talking about cooking with friends and another time sharing a tip about taking your time in the kitchen. Next week, I’ll be sharing my repeatedly tested cinnamon roll recipe! If you want to check these out and more as time goes on, be sure to become a paid subscriber. Memberships start at $1/month. Some folks have reached out to me about having trouble becoming a paid member*, so please let me know if this is the case for you, just email me at [email protected] or text me if you have my info!

Okay back to my embodied and intuitive knowledge of mint! When I do these herbal journals, I ask myself: how have I felt ingesting this ingredient? What changes in my body? What do I sense or let go of?

With these questions in mind, my intuitive thoughts and body-knowledge of mint is:

These sentiments come mainly come from the many, many nights throughout undergrad that I drank mint tea to settle my body, mind, and spirit to stay up to finish assignments. In a time that I was consistently stressed, overworking myself, not getting enough sleep, and experiencing chronic headaches; mint tea with a lot of honey would bring me back to my body, back to Earth, and back to center—calming me down as I stayed awake. Mint can be a bit astringent which highlights to me its cleansing power. When I drink mint tea I feel it moving down my body and into my stomach, and I feel it washing away what ails me both emotionally or physically.

While tea is the primary way that I’ve ingested mint, I also love mint in salads, dips, dressings, marinades, and desserts. Tzatziki!! Oooo girl, that is one of my favorite condiments! With a little flatbread, some herby grilled chicken, tomatoes, feta cheese, and roasted potatoes/fries!? That will have me doing a shoulder shimmy.

Of course, I wanted to do some research to see how mint has been used historically and presently to support people. Some things I’ve come across is how mint can support with:

Due to the menthol, flavonoids, and rosmarinic acid—mint has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and relaxation properties.

Symbolically, mint has been seen as an herb to welcome people, cleansing a space, bringing balance + clarity.

Mint truly is that girl, and I love that its healing properties, both medicinally + socially, are so potent.

Do you like mint? Has it been a part of your herbal journey? What associations do you have with mint? Reach out to me with your mint stories, feels, and learnings. You can email me at [email protected] I already have plans to visit these herbs again in the future, and sharing y'all's knowledge!

stay minty fresh ♡

erica

*p.s. due to the trouble people have been having with paying through comradery, I am trying to think of ways to potentially pivot! I’m also hoping that once mercury goes direct some of the problems will no longer be a thing 🤞🏾 but we shall see.

**I did see that mint could also lead to heartburn and acid reflux due to the relaxation of the stomach muscles. This seemed like a possibility if ingested in excess or if people are susceptible to heartburn and acid reflux.

I got info from these sites: Mentha Wiki! Ancestor Altars! Cymbiotika!