Tick Prevention and Astragalus
I'd received a glut of emails from students, friends, and families about how to protect themselves from ticks and tick-borne illnesses this year as the tick population is at an all-time high along with Lyme disease diagnoses.
Unfortunately, being outside on the East Coast during the warmer months means confronting the very real possibility of contracting Lyme. Ticks are tiny and easy to miss even with nightly full-body checks.
However, no one should restrict their love of Gaia's abundant wilds out of fear. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent Lyme that will improve your overall quality of life, even if it takes up a little more of your day.
1. Take hot baths every evening.
Hot baths are one of the best ways to destress and ensure that you get nourishing sleep. Many of us hold onto habitual tension even after we fall asleep. This tension keeps us from surrendering into the deeper phases of sleep where we heal organ tissue and get spiritually replenished. By taking hot baths before bed, we not only ensure that we drown any missed ticks, but also that we get refueled physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually when we sleep.
2. Oil your skin often. Oiling your skin is a fantastic way to show love to each of your body and bolster the health of your body's largest organ and first line of defense against disease--both physical and energetic. By oiling your skin frequently, you can not only catch any potentially lingering ticks, but you make it more difficult for them to attach to your skin, especially if you infuse it with an anti-tick essentially oil like Cedarwood or Geranium.
3. Wear lighter-colored clothing. Wearing lighter-colored clothing makes you feel lighter energetically. It can lift your mood and make you feel safer and more approachable to the people around you. It also makes it much easier to identify ticks quickly before they hide away and attach themselves. You can read this as a metaphor for being able to identify other kinds of energies that like to hide themselves away and attach themselves to us.
4. Let yourself linger in sunny places in the wild. Getting sun on our skin, eyes, and hair provides us with essential hormones, combats hosts of diseases of the modern world, and builds us blood with vitality that it can't get from any other source. Also, ticks hate the sun and will not hang out in open fields. This is a common misconception. If you want to lay on the earth without fear of ticks crawling into your hair, do it in a place that gets full sun regularly and is a safe distance from the wood line.
5. Be extra vigilant when you adventure in the brush and briar. Heightening our senses, pausing, taking note of our surroundings, and tending to our well-being is a part of the essential experience of being in the wild. For most of human history we had predators to avoid; today we have ticks. Use this experience to stay sharp and aware. Pause and check yourself. You'll start to get a second sense for when ticks find you if you do this enough. To be extra cautious spray yourself with an anti-tick spray every half hour. Message me if you want my recipe!
6. Take Astragalus every single day!
Read below to learn more about her miraculous powers. Taking Astragalus root everyday builds your deep immune system so effectively that your body can fight off Lyme disease with relative ease if you otherwise maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Astragalus
Materia Medica
Overview:
Astragalus has been used for at least 2,000 of years in traditional Chinese medicine and is one of the most widely prescribed herbs. It is most frequently prescribed as a Qi (essential energy) tonic and is often used daily to bolster strength. She's been known lovingly as the "young person's Ginseng."
The Astragalus genus is incredibly large and spans the globe. In North America alone there are 368 known Astragalus species. However, only three species are commonly used as medicine: Astragalus membranaceus, Astragalus propinquus, and Astragalus mongholicus.
Astragalus has building, nutritive, and tonic effects on the body. It is regenerative for the bones and joints, increases bone marrow reserve, and is a lung tonic often recommended for use in asthmatic situations.
It is also a blood vessel dilator, improves heart function, and the antioxidant effects help to protect the heart and cells and lower blood pressure.
Astragalus has long been used in TCM for longevity and anti-aging. Clinical studies have shown that Astragalaus contains two saponins that act powerfully to reverse cellular damage that are being studied for use in the treatment of degenerative diseases.
It is used in both TCM and western clinical herbalism for male infertility, as it helps sperm motility and optimizes testosterone and growth hormones.
Astragalus is also frequently recommended for a wide variety of allergic conditions and has been shown to be extremely effective in the treatment of autoimmune diseases in the skin, joints, and central nervous system.
For those that live in tick prevalent areas, Astragalus is a primary preventative of Lyme disease when taken as a daily supplement.
Common Names: Astragalus, Milkvetch, Huáng Qí (Yellow Leader)
Botanical Name: Astragalus propinquus, Astragalus membranaceus, & Astragalus mongholicus
Family: Fabacaea
Parts Used: Root
Energetics: slightly warming & moistening
Tastes: Sweet
Meridians/Organs Affected: Spleen, Lungs, Heart
Stone Associations: Amber, Emerald
Flower Essence: Gives courage and strength to face the world. Grounds energy and gives a deeper sense of purpose in the world. Establishes good boundaries and strengthens sense of self.
Constituents: Saponins, polysaccharides, triterpenoids, isoflavones, glycosides
Actions: Adaptogen, antibacterial, antiviral, diuretic, immune-tonic, immunomodulating, immune-stimulant, vasodilator, lung tonic, antioxidant
Indications: Cancer treatments, viral infections, impaired immunity, fatigue, heart conditions, malnourishment, heart conditions, prolapsed organs, chronic disease (HIV), allergies, and auto-immune conditions including arthritis.
Contraindications: There is conflicting opinions amongst herbalists and clinicians as to whether or not Astragalus can exacerbate autoimmune disorders and acute infection. Personal anecdotal evidence and clinical trials show that it can be helpful in autoimmune situations, but as always, I believe that it is important to remember that each of our bodies is unique and could respond differently to any herb. I encourage you to keep this in mind, do research, and pay attention to your body’s individual response.
Dosages: This has both been used traditionally as a food source and has been found through clinical trials to be safe to use in food-level dosages. Herbalists like Stephen Buhner recommend it is best used in larger food-sized doses. For those choosing to use Astragalus to help treat acute infections, larger doses and more frequent doses (4x per day) are clinically recommended.
Preparations: Decoction, herbal powder
Planetary Correspondence: Jupiter, Venus
Ruling Element: Air
Magical Notes:
This herb has primarily only existed in the Eastern tradition, which didn't give it many "magical" uses other than those used directly in healing to increase Qi or vital lifeforce.
However, we can posit that keeping the herb in a charm bag would bring more vitality, strength, and joy into your life.
Due to its effects on the immune system, we can also safely assume that it is a protective herb, which can help to establish good boundaries and safe containers in our magical workings.