This is about help for those make it or break it moments or days, when it’s all about nerves. True, there’s no replacement for the preparation that goes into you before the battle – but that’s another story for another day.
Today the topic is Herbs for Battle.
Everyone thinks GINSENG when it comes to strenuous performance. That’s great if you’re a stud dog or horse or a racer and big money’s gone into transporting you across the world to err… make your Poppa’s village proud.
But for humans, male and female, taking stimulants on battle days is nearly always not a good idea because once the body has been stimulated more than what it can energetically handle, it will swing backwards and go into sluggishness to try and recover.
You don’t want the down swing (unless you really only need to err… make your Poppa’s village proud that one or two times or for a few hours).
The only time you should resort to taking Ginseng, Guarana and other similarly stimulating herbs is when you’re recovering from a very serious accident or surgery or energy drain when the body will use the new energy to heal rather than expend. For example, if you use Ginseng AFTER a marathon that has tired you so much you cannot walk straight, in a sensible little dose, it will help you recover.
The not-very-stimulating but energizing herbs are the ones good for battles. To find out which ones would suit you, we need to find out what sort of fighter you are.
3 questions to get an idea of what sort of fighter you are.
Think of yourself on the battle field and answer these questions and then we’ll be able to choose the right herbs for you.
Question 1 – Are you a chicken in shining armor? Yes or No.
Question 2 – Can you remember a battle you didn’t perform well in? Yes or No.
Question 3 – Do you have knights and horsemen behind you? Or are you a lone soldier in enemy territory?
That’s it 3 questions.
Question 1 – Are you a chicken in shining armor? Yes or No.
If you’re a chicken in shining armor, ie. you find battle terrifying and would do just about anything to avoid it (though once you decide to fight, you fight like a champ), you need Verbena Officinalis or Vervain.
Vervain is for the people whose energy has evolved to be spent in peace and domestic bliss, planting seeds, growing things, making love and babies. When such people have to fight battles as they often have to, there’s a change in the way the energy and electricity and blood flows around the body and coping with this change is what Vervain supports. It’s usually all the support they need because everything else they need comes straight from the heart and turns into every sort of energy they need.
If you’re NOT a chicken in shining armor, but a valiant ‘God I look good when I’m fighting‘ type, the majority of your needs on the battle field, come down to keeping cool and staying relaxed instead of holding your muscles tense. Believe it or not, Valerian is good support for you, as is Oats.
Valerian can be sedative in doses of more than 2 drops of extract to a glass of water, so keep the dose small and it will actually release energy and keep you clear headed.
Oats, (the traditional ‘rolled’ unprocessed kind) is good for soldiers of all types, as food, but it is available in extract form for those who need its benefits quickly in the moment. It is for those moments when you’re all valiant and brave and suddenly you feel a little weakness in the pit of your stomach and maybe a little wobble here and there and you think, “No, I don’t want to have to sit down or rest just now, I want to FINISH THE ENEMY NOW!” That’s when you take 5 drops of Oats extract in a cup of water and FINISH THE ENEMY NOW.
Oats (Avena Sativa) is very simple vital energy for the body, a grass, no less.
Another good one for the valiant soldiers, for sheer nerve strength is Sterculia Acuminata or Kola Nut. It’s a source of natural caffeine (real coffee is too, but it’s hard to get naturally grown un-processed natural coffee these days). Just a little of its extract – 2 drops to a cup is enough to support tired muscles and nerves.
Question 2 – Can you remember a battle you didn’t perform well in? Yes or No.
If you said NO, it means you’re the kind who keeps your head in the middle of battle and rarely regrets moves you made because you’d make the same decision again anyway – you’ve thought it through.
A herb you could use on the battle-field is Gotu-Kola, a ground-covering earth loving herb that strengthens the liver and brain. Those who process water right through the body through their heads and then off the tops of their heads (as steam even though it isn’t visible to the naked eye), who tend to lose hair when they’re stressed, who use their brains A LOT, Gotu Kola helps with that.
Note – Gotu Kola is often called Brahmi but they aren’t the same. Brahmi or Bacopa Minieri goes straight to the brain and is good for the brain, very good indeed; but Gotu Kola (Centella Asiatica) gives the whole round up support that a person whose brain has already been working enough, needs, to feel fresh again. It’s got a lot to do with an over-worked liver. Brainy people need liver support a LOT.
So on the battlefield when your super-fast brain’s got the whole body a little tired, Gotu Kola – a t-spoonful of power in water or 5-10 drops in a cup of water will make a big difference.
If you said Yes, you remember a battle you did NOT perform well in, you could use heart and circulatory support on the battle field. Those who tend to have circulatory issues, find themselves suddenly confused in the middle of the battle because blood isn’t reaching their head efficiently enough. They can hardly remember later why they made the moves they made, said the things they said. It was so not them.
The problem most often isn’t the brain, or the intention, it is circulation. Battle fields are places of shock, of overwhelming experience and we need to have a robust heart pumping blood to the brain no matter what we’re exposed to, to keep the brain working so we make the right moves.
Herbal support for circulation in the moment comes from Hawthorn (Cratageus Oxy.). A full 5-10 drops in a cup will get the blood moving in all directions so you can conquer what you need to. Keep your decision making for 10 minutes after you’ve had your Hawthorn drops or tea and they’re likely to be very different from the ones you’d have made before.
There are several other commonly available circulation boosting, heart support herbs – Rosehips and Hibiscus for example. I spoke of Hawthorn because of its ability to support the heart in a state of shock very quickly.
Question 3 – Do you have knights and horsemen behind you? Or are you a lone soldier in enemy territory?
This has nothing to do with your actual situation. It has more to do with where you get your emotional support from. If you’ve got a supportive family somewhere even if they aren’t with you on your battlefields, you have knights and horsemen with you.
On the battlefield what could help you in an extremely difficult moment is anything that reminds you of who you came from and who is behind you. A herb that will support this emotional spiritual side of you is what you need for those moments and suddenly you’ll know what you have to do.
Herbs with ‘psychoactive’ properties are useful here, but don’t worry not all ‘psychoactive herbs’ are illegal or habit-forming. Most of them are commonly used, safe, nervines.
One of them is Mugwort – Artimisia Vulgaris, a slight variant of which is called Wormwood and works in mostly the same way. Mugwort was what beer used to be made from before Hops became popular Hops works like Mugwort except not as immediately so I’ve chosen Mugwort for the battlefield.
Mugwort has all the nutrients needed for the battlefield, all the nervous system needs. But most importantly, it revives you from nerve tiredness and makes you able to feel more ‘in touch with yourself’ more connected up, and therefore in touch with your support group whether that’s humans or angels.
Like Valerian however, you only need a very little of it when you’re on the battlefield. 2 drops to a cup of water, add more as you get comfortable with how it works for you.
If you are a lone soldier, fighting your battles on your own in enemy territory, the herb for you on your battle field is Comfrey (Symphytum Officinale). Comfort – Comfrey.
You’re obviously a battle hardened person already, you’ve already fought a lot, your strength has been proven. Just the fact that you’re still alive has your enemies running and hiding. You just have to keep fighting and you already know you’ve won.
Comfrey’s the herb here because what it does is comfort the whole system in every way, supporting healing from everything, but not in a sedative way, just like someone who loves you putting their hand very lightly and gently on your shoulder or back while you’re fighting. You’re going to know that when you’re done with your fight there is love waiting for you and it’s all going to be worth it.
