Greetings, Friends!

Emma Reinbold’s “Just Be Acai” and my “Backyard Beauty” are excited to announce the convergence of a feel-good way to “Be”! Today we release a new offering from the gorgeous Miss Linda Shasta camper: the “Be Well Tea”! This tea will be available as a hot beverage option as well as a loose-leaf, 1-day dose from her local businesses stand. This tea is best consumed at the first signs of a cold.

The ingredients in this tea are organic echinacea and black elderberries. These two powerful immune system-supporting plants create a unique partnership when combined. The essence of the echinacea supports one’s entire physical system from disease and stress (primarily by supporting the central nervous system). It also reinforces one’s ability to connect to their true nature – an experience in need of encouragement and reinforcement these days. On a more physical level, research has shown that echinacea helps increase white blood cell production, thus it is particularly helpful to use at the onset of a physical illness.

Black elderberries have a unique essence in the plant world. Yes, they have extremely high Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, and antioxidant loads (higher than most fruit we can get at the grocery store), however, it is their ability to heal and repair our body’s cells that makes them so important at the onset of a cold (this is also done through the central nervous system). *Note that the medicinal benefits of black elderberries in tea are best accessed if one mashes the elderberry once rehydrated.

While the Be Well Tea is best for our body at the first signs of a cold, it still serves someone to drink this tea if a cold has already developed. However, once an infection is fully underway, one might find more physical comfort in choosing symptom-specific tea ingredients. Check out the Backyard Apothecary post if you are interested in learning how to choose the best plants for your body – either to maintain your body’s balance and/or to address specific symptoms. If you don’t make it there, “Healing With Whole Foods,” by Paul Pitchford is one of the best resources to tap for self-empowered wellness.

If you aren’t a tea-drinker, I also have a Be Well Tincture available for purchase. Instead of soaking the echinacea and elderberry in hot water to release the plants’ properties, tinctures are plant blends soaked in alcohol over many weeks – thus a more concentrated extract is created that can then be added (as a dropperful) to your beverage of choice.

Wishing you wellness and the knowledge to take care of your self!

Best,

Megan

P.S. This blog’s title and musical inspiration from the Kinks: