Tinctures

tinctures

Welcome back to the Timely Drops of Wisdom podcast. I'm your host, Jessica Carmon. I am the founder of Resourced Apothecary, where we ask you to rethink how you refill your cup. In today's episode, we continue our miniseries on plant medicine preparations. Dear listener, Thank you for joining me specifically in this series.

While I absolutely love getting into the really esoteric side of working with the plants, and this space will always be devoted to sharing their message. The time feels right to give ourselves a refresher on some of the more commonly used physical forms of plant medicine available. I doubt this information is new to you, but it never hurts to refresh your understanding.

I invite you to use this miniseries as an opportunity to visit your personal medicine cabinet and to get really clear on how you prefer to work with the plants. If you're not sure, this series will give you the opportunity to check in with you and see which forms of medicine call to you. Don't feel like you have to pick favorites and don't feel like you have to like them all.

Remember, approach this with non-judgment and get to know yourself better. In that knowing, you'll be ready to approach your relationships with the plants on an even deeper level. And that my friend, is what it's all about. So let's explore the next plant medicine preparation in this series.

Welcome to the next episode of the Plant Medicine Preparation mini-series. Today we discuss tinctures. In recent years, it seems that this name has been applied to more and more preparations that are not actually tinctures. A tinture is an herbal extract where alcohol is the solvent used to do the extracting.

There are other types of herbal extracts, but they are not tinctures. All plants have a combination of water soluble and alcohol soluble compounds. A tincture is going to extract the alcohol soluble compounds for sure, and to a certain extent, some water soluble compounds as well. This is a strong physical medicine. The dosage is between a few drops and five milliliters, either once a day or several times, depending on several factors, including the type of herb, the health of the person taking the medicine, and the intended outcome for that specific situation.

For example, I am a reasonably healthy individual and my typical dosage is 10 drops three times a day, or one dropper full once a day. I will say though, that in my experience, there is a good amount of energetic medicine in tinctures. Tinctures tend to be a go-to for me because I closely associate my physical needs with my emotional needs, and oftentimes the symptoms and signals I get from my body are physical and emotional at the same time. I don't mind the sometimes unpleasant taste of alcohol extracts, and I don't have any issues with consuming alcohol in these amounts. These, though, are things to consider when deciding whether a tincture is right for you. Many herbalist will offer glycerites, vinegar extractions and oxymels, which is a vinegar extraction mixed with honey as alternatives to tinctures. I think all these types of extracts are lovely and have them in my family's medicine chest. If I'm just getting to know a plant or really wanting to feel its effects throughout my system, I typically choose tincture form. I will follow that up with tea, but I prefer to drink my tea for enjoyment rather than medicine. Personal preference only. For me, it's a real bonus for the dosage size of a medicine to be so many drops rather than so many ounces or cups. I'm telling you how I choose, not because I want you to make the same decision, but because I want you to feel empowered in your choices.

Resourced, apothecary doesn't offer tinctures at this time. In my work with Plant Spirit Medicine, I'm really centering the energetic gifts the plants have for us. While I have studied herbal medicine for years, I feel very called to share the messages of the plants.

If you've listened to previous episodes, you know I sing the praises of herbalists. and I urge you to get to know your local herbalists. I know we are so blessed to have knowledgeable and wise herbalist here in Birmingham, Alabama, and I am thankful for them. The gap that I've seen and the need I feel I can meet is where the esoteric and the physical meet.

Somewhere in history, our society started to cut out all the wisdom that had been passed down for generations that their ancestors were steeped in because we couldn't see it or quantify it. Our access to the wider world around us and all the gifts we can share with it is dying. We are losing the understanding of our ability to communicate with the wider world.

Let me be clear here. We are not losing the ability. It is innate. We all have it, but if we don't know how to use it, if we don't experience others using it and feel like we are being led to continually flex that muscle. It will go the way of the appendix, thought to be unnecessary because it's wisdom is lost.

Ooh wee. Okay. I feel it. Did you feel it? That tangent? I was just about to go on. Seriously though, anatomy is fascinating, but back to the point I was trying to make. I feel that the gift I can offer through this podcast and through resourced apothecary is to focus on plant spirit medicine and messages. So while I regularly use and greatly benefit from tinctures, they likely won't be part of my offerings.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't use them. In fact, I highly recommend connecting with your local herbalist and investigating which tinctures might support you best in your current situation. You can even use your experience with the plant Spirit Medicine I offer to guide you. For instance, if any of my mimosa products have been helpful to you and you'd like to work with mimosa on a physical level, consider a mimosa tincture.

Or if the marigold and tulsi hydrosol is helpful to you, but you feel like you could use a stronger medicine to kick it up a notch, consider a tulsi tincture. Oftentimes different preparations will work together synergistically. I am going to ask you to take some personal responsibility here though, because when you work on the physical body, it is really important to be aware of your current physical state and to investigate how best to support your health.

There are factors to be aware of when it comes to ingesting any medicine, and here is where I remind you that you are the only person who knows what it feels like to live in your body. You are the only one with a direct line of communication. You may not yet be skilled in listening to your body or decoding its messages, but that does not discount your unique perspective as the being in your body.

So find practitioners who respect your role in your healing and who will help you decode the messages your body is sending, the needs specific to your body and the best way to support you. We can all benefit from all sorts of healing. I absolutely love having a team of practitioners I can call on. I love being a team member you can call on for the energetic work and support that is key in your overall healing.

I really like offering you different perspectives when it comes to the way you approach your overall health. Again, here we get into the energy underlying it all.

Thank you for listening. I appreciate you coming along with me on this exploration of the different preparations of plant medicines. I promise we will get back to the plant spirit messages soon. My hope is that with a deeper understanding of the physical forms of medicine available, you will feel more empowered

to bring these plant spirit messages into your life and your energy field in real tangible ways. I am thankful you are here with me. If you know someone who might enjoy this podcast, will you please share it with them?

As always, May this episode and this podcast serve your very highest good. Big love, my friend.