Something I love is doing is an herb of the week. It is a fantastic way to get to know an herb, its medicinal actions, and how it actually works in your body specifically! If the topics: creativity, stress, tension, depression, aphrodisiac, circulation, cold hands and feet interest you… you may want to keep reading!
Last week, my herb of the week was damiana. I drank at least a quart / liter of damiana tea every day. Most days it made its way into other tea blends on top of the one quart. I drink a lot of tea…
I was very pleasantly surprised to discover how much I loved working with damiana. In fact, the morning after the week was over, I was deciding what I wanted to put in my tea blend, and I found wanting to add damiana in there… even though my week of damiana was over!
It got me thinking, what effects did I notice from damiana, and why did I want to keep drinking it?
The first day of my “Damiana week” I drank a quart of it in the evening while I was working on my website. I was drinking my tea and working along and before I knew it, it was 2:00 in the morning. I am not one to stay up that late, but I couldn’t tear myself from my computer and paper. I felt so inspired and creative. So much in fact that I even said to my boyfriend and sister-in-law the next morning that I couldn’t sleep because I felt like inspiration was beaming through the top of my head and creativity was coming out of my hands. As you can tell, I felt very strongly about this. However, I had not equated it to damiana whatsoever.
I felt like inspiration was beaming through the top of my head and creativity was coming out of my hands.
The next day I was doing some reading into damiana and came across something for the first time. It said that many people take damiana for creativity and artist’s block. Needless to say, I was very excited.
I continued to drink damiana the rest of the week. I didn’t notice any bursts of creativity and inspiration to that extent, but I got a good amount done and I was happy with what I was coming up with. It is hard to say how much damiana had to do with my work the rest of the week, but the first day convinced me that: if you intentionally want to work with an herb for creativity or artist block, damiana is absolutely something to try.
How exactly does this work? One explanation for it is that creativity it associated with the second chakra, between the pubic bone and the navel. Damiana stimulates blood movement with a specific affinity for the pelvic region.
Damiana can help with stress and depression! Damiana is considered a nervine and a trophoresotrative. What does this mean? It means that damiana calms nervous tension while nourishing the nerves, feeding and strengthening the nervous system.
In layman’s terms, damiana can be very helpful for stress and tension. I felt this after my “week of damiana” and I think that was a major reason why I’ve been continuing to add it to my blends. I would describe it personally as feeling lighter. I feel a certain lightness, the opposite being bogged down from heavy feelings and tightness from stress and tension.
“Damiana can be very helpful for stress and tension.“
For the above reasons damiana is not only helpful for someone that has a lot going on and is stressed, but can also be helpful for someone feeling depressed or down. This is also due to its circulatory stimulant activity, but more on that later.
Damiana may be a good herb to add into the mix when you are stressed from work. The combination of calming and strengthening the nervous system while stimulating creativity is a one two punch for work where creativity and outside the box thinking is involved.
Damiana is a circulatory stimulant. It does a great job of getting your blood out to your extremities and to the surface of the body. This can be extremely helpful for those that always seem to be cold or tend to have cold hands and feet.
Stimulating and improving blood flow helps bring oxygen and nutrients all over the body. Poor circulation can lead to issues with the heart, brain, and many other chronic and even fatal conditions.
Now with our ever more sedentary lifestyle, increased by working from home, poor blood circulation is becoming ever more prominent. An easy way to improve blood circulation is getting up and moving more.
The moral of the story, we want to keep our blood moving, and damiana is an herb that can help make that happen.
As said above, damiana has circulatory stimulating qualities, but it also has a specific affinity for the pelvic region. It gets blood flowing while bringing oxygen and nourishment. This combined with its actions of relieving nervous tension makes itself what people call an herbal aphrodisiac. Sorry people, drinking this will not make your partner a crazed with desire, but it can be helpful to loosen things up.
A fun way to work with damiana on a date night could be infusing it in some red wine. Put a handful or two of damiana in a mason jar. Pour a bottle of red wine on top of it. Cover with lid. Shake every day and let in infuse for around 5 days to a week. Strain and enjoy!
As explained under the aphrodisiac section, damiana has an affinity to stimulate blood around the pelvic region. This can be quite helpful when someone has a lot of spotting at the beginning of their period or has a hard time getting it going. It can help with cramps if they are being caused by stagnant periods.
On the flip side, if you experience a very heavy period, it may be best to stay away from it around your time of the month.
Damiana is lovely as a tea. It has an aromatic, pungent, and bitter flavor. I find the longer I let it infuse the more I notice the bitter flavor. I also notice the bitter flavor comes out more the cooler the tea gets.
The bitter flavor can be covered when combining with other herbs. Get creative when blending. I often enjoy it with ginger and tulsi, but other herbs frequently get thrown into the mix or it finds its way into other blends. Don’t be afraid to experiment with what you have! I would love to hear blends you try or have tried with damiana below.
You may find you begin to like bitter flavors more and more as you experiment and drink more tea. But if bitter is not your thing, hide the flavor and still get the benefits.
How much to use: When working with damiana for its medicinal properties drink 3-4 cups / 1 quart / 1 liter a day. This can be drunk alone or in a blend with other herbs.
These measurements are not precise. Damiana is safe in these sorts of quantities so play around with what tastes good to you. Maybe you want less herb, more herb, a shorter steeping time, or longer. See what you prefer and go from there. I don’t usually measure tea out anymore and just grab a little from each herb with my hands.
People have traditionally smoked damiana as one of the ways of working with it. It lends its medicine nicely in smoke. It can be smoked pure or combined with other herbs, tobacco, or marijuana (if legal where you are of course).
It can also be added to blends when trying to quit smoking tobacco or marijuana. Not only will you fit less tobacco or marijuana in your cigarette or pipe, its tension lessoning and uplifting qualities can be helpful when trying to knock a tough habit.
Of course, smoking has negative implications on our health, so if you do not already smoke, I am in no way suggesting adding it as a habit to your life.
You could also burn dried leaves and flowers as you would insence.
As mentioned above, damiana can be infused in red wine. This can be a nice way to get the aphrodisiac and creative effects from it. Refer to the Aphrodisiac section above for instructions on how to make.
Damiana should not be drunk when pregnant. If you have diabetes or are on blood sugar medication talk to a doctor before taking. It can be uncomfortable when drinking with an already heavy period. Damiana is generally considered safe.
The best way to get to know an herb and see how it works for you is to give it a try! See how you like damiana and if you notice any of its medicinal qualities. Let me know below what you think!
And don’t forget to tell me what herbs you like to blend with damiana below!
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