All about Yarrow’s incredibly medicinal qualities.
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Transcript
Welcome to the Frontline Herbalism podcast with your host Nicole
Nicole Rose:Rose from the Solidarity Apothecary.
Nicole Rose:This is your place for all things plants and liberation.
Nicole Rose:Let's get started.
Nicole Rose:Hi everyone.
Nicole Rose:How are you doing?
Nicole Rose:So this episode today is all about Yarrow and I know I say this every week and maybe
Nicole Rose:several times an episode, but Yarrow is definitely one of my favorite plants.
Nicole Rose:Just so many amazing medicinal qualities and so much kind of like
Nicole Rose:rich history of traditional use.
Nicole Rose:So I really hope you learn something and that you enjoy it.
Nicole Rose:In terms of some little kind of solidarity updates, a few more people
Nicole Rose:have been sent to prison from Bristol.
Nicole Rose:These are people that were on the Kill the Bill demonstration last March, 2021
Nicole Rose:that I've, that I've mentioned before, who were, yeah, out on the streets, protesting
Nicole Rose:the new legislation and also the murder of Sarah Everard by a police officer.
Nicole Rose:And yeah, two people got sentenced to prison for violent disorder,
Nicole Rose:Toph and Tyler . As new prisoners like it's just, it makes a world
Nicole Rose:a difference to receive post.
Nicole Rose:Like I cannot describe that feeling of just like that first little bundle of
Nicole Rose:posts coming to you and knowing that people have your back and that they care
Nicole Rose:about you and that you're not alone.
Nicole Rose:I think the first days in prison are some of the hardest, like the biggest
Nicole Rose:kind of culture shock and you know, also like some of the most traumatic, like
Nicole Rose:being in induction, you're not unlocked very often, so you're really doing
Nicole Rose:like 23 hours a day most of the time.
Nicole Rose:And yeah.
Nicole Rose:Pretty intense, like change of reality.
Nicole Rose:So I'm gonna put a link in the show notes to their names and addresses
Nicole Rose:and their prisoner numbers and things.
Nicole Rose:You can just write them a normal card.
Nicole Rose:You can write them a letter.
Nicole Rose:You can also use this amazing tool called Email a prisoner, or things like
Nicole Rose:moon pig.com or Funky Pigeon, like they generally get in quite easily as well.
Nicole Rose:Those kind of like corporate printed cards.
Nicole Rose:Yeah, if you can take a moment to do that, that would be amazing.
Nicole Rose:I'm also gonna be releasing a second episode this week reading an article
Nicole Rose:about like the revolutionary potential of the prisoner class that's just come
Nicole Rose:out in, uh, uh, magazine I contributed to called Bulldozer, which is all
Nicole Rose:about prison abolition produced by friends in the Incarcerated Workers
Nicole Rose:Organizing Committee in Ireland.
Nicole Rose:So, yeah, so look out for that.
Nicole Rose:But in the meantime, enjoy this, this piece about Yarrow and,
Nicole Rose:yeah, once again like plug again for Ukraine herbal solidarity.
Nicole Rose:You know, like the winter is coming in Ukraine and russia are
Nicole Rose:targeting the energy infrastructure.
Nicole Rose:So huge amounts of people are without heating.
Nicole Rose:It's really fucking dire the situation.
Nicole Rose:And yeah.
Nicole Rose:We're gonna be launching an Instagram account really soon and we're gonna
Nicole Rose:be able to share like, more photos of our medicines being received in
Nicole Rose:Ukraine and testimonials and like yeah.
Nicole Rose:Different things to kind of like document, like the impact of the project.
Nicole Rose:So look out for that.
Nicole Rose:I will definitely share it on my Instagram.
Nicole Rose:Yeah.
Nicole Rose:Again, a little please for reviews.
Nicole Rose:Uh, please don't be shy.
Nicole Rose:Yeah.
Nicole Rose:Yeah.
Nicole Rose:See you next week.
Nicole Rose:Okay.
Nicole Rose:Yarrow.
Nicole Rose:I can't believe I'm doing this for a third time when I'd said that every plant
Nicole Rose:will be my favorite, but honestly Yarrow is like, yeah, definitely top three.
Nicole Rose:But yeah, I'm just thinking now there's also Rose, so yeah, maybe
Nicole Rose:it's gonna have to be top five.
Nicole Rose:Okay, Yarrow Latin name - Achillea millefolium.
Nicole Rose:Plant family is the Daisy family.
Nicole Rose:The Asteraceae family Identification, Yarrow has Yarrow darkish green
Nicole Rose:leaves deeply, and intricately cut into short, very thin lobes.
Nicole Rose:The main lobes divided further into smaller ones, two, pinnate,
Nicole Rose:which the cells can be divided three, pinnate, or toothed.
Nicole Rose:The leaves look like feathers.
Nicole Rose:The short, close, closely space lobes means that the leaf as a whole is
Nicole Rose:Yarrower and with a clearer outline.
Nicole Rose:Stems are quite stiff with dense branched heads of white or small,
Nicole Rose:white or pale pink flowers in summer or autumn, other species.
Nicole Rose:There is a vague similarity with wild carrot Dorota Carta when foraging.
Nicole Rose:However, Yarrow is very distinct.
Nicole Rose:I know Wild Carrot has like a little dot in the middle.
Nicole Rose:And yarrow doesn't.
Nicole Rose:. You can like go.
Nicole Rose:You know you can look the apple online like Google it very easily.
Nicole Rose:Folk names in English, soldiers wound wort, Herbe militaris,
Nicole Rose:Bloodwort, Sanguinary, Staunchweed.
Nicole Rose:Devil’s nettle, Devil’s plaything, Old man’s pepper.
Nicole Rose:Nosebleed, Carpenter’s weed, Life medicine . Milfoil, Allheal, Squirrel’s tail,.
Nicole Rose:Nosebleed.
Nicole Rose:My favorite bad man's plaything.
Nicole Rose:Which felt appropriate for a prisoner's herbal book.
Nicole Rose:Knights Milfoil, Seven-year’s love, Yarroway.
Nicole Rose:Englishman’s quinine, Carpenter’s g rass.
Nicole Rose:Thousandleaf, Noble yarrow, Thousand seal, Dog daisy, Field
Nicole Rose:Hop, Little feather, Warrior plant.
Nicole Rose:Millefolium in Latin means a thousand leaves.
Nicole Rose:Achillea comes from the story of Achilles, who used the herb to staunch
Nicole Rose:the blood of soldiers wounded in battle.
Nicole Rose:Chemical constituents.
Nicole Rose:Okay, here we go.
Nicole Rose:This section again, if you've listened to my other podcasts with these profiles,
Nicole Rose:you'll, you'll know that this is like my most dreaded section where I can't
Nicole Rose:pronounce everything cuz of my dyslexia and not being familiar with the words.
Nicole Rose:So enjoy having a laugh.
Nicole Rose:Okay.
Nicole Rose:Chemical constituents.
Nicole Rose:5% essential oil including alpha and beta pinenes, borneol, bornyl acetate
Nicole Rose:borneone, caryophyllene, 1,8- cineole, eugenol, farnesene, linalool, myrcene,
Nicole Rose:sabinene, salicylic acid, isovalerianic acid, terpineol, sesquiterpene
Nicole Rose:lactones, chamazulene, thujone.
Nicole Rose:Flavonoids apigenin, luteolin, quercetin, and their glycosides, artemetin,
Nicole Rose:casticin, rutin and others).Miscellaneous acetylenes, aldehydes, cycitols, plant
Nicole Rose:acids, resins, achillic acid, asparagines, choline, polyacetylenes; coumarins,
Nicole Rose:triterpenes, cyanogenic glycosides.
Nicole Rose:Woo.
Nicole Rose:I am not becoming a plant chemistry teacher anytime soon.
Nicole Rose:Okay, food and nutrition.
Nicole Rose:Yarrow has been used to brew beer as tobacco, and in salads and soups.
Nicole Rose:Herbalist Mark Paterson's nutritional profile of Yarrow shows it's very high
Nicole Rose:chromium and tin, high in ash, fat, riboflavin, thymine, and vitamin C.
Nicole Rose:Ecological role.
Nicole Rose:Yarrow can be found on dry to moist, neutral, basic, or mildly acidic
Nicole Rose:soils in un improved or semi improved grasslands in lowlands and uplands,
Nicole Rose:also in sand dunes and disturbed ground.
Nicole Rose:It's fantastic for insects, attracting bees, wasps, moths,
Nicole Rose:butterflies, flies, and beetles.
Nicole Rose:Medicinal herb farmers.
Nicole Rose:Jeff and Melanie Carpenter, write that growers can take advantage of
Nicole Rose:yarrow’s incredible insectary power.
Nicole Rose:By planting it in proximity to other plants that are prone to damage
Nicole Rose:from herbi, herbivorous insects or diseases that they carry with them.
Nicole Rose:Cultivation.
Nicole Rose:The carpenters plant yarrow at 12 inch spaces in rows, 14 inches
Nicole Rose:apart with three rows in a bed.
Nicole Rose:Yarrow will soon create a dense carpet over the soil.
Nicole Rose:They are generally harvested in the early stages of flowering
Nicole Rose:energetics, temperature, cooling, moisture, dry tissue states.
Nicole Rose:Heat excitation, Damp/Stagnation, Damp/Relaxation.
Relaxation and taste:bitter, pungent, astringent, herbal
Relaxation and taste:actions, anti-inflammatory, anti hemorrhagic, antipyretic, antiseptic,
Relaxation and taste:especially for the urinary system.
Relaxation and taste:Antispasmodic astringent, emmenagogue, diaphoretic, diuretic, diuretic,
Relaxation and taste:haemostatic, hypotensive/amphoteric forblood pressure, spasmolytic,
Relaxation and taste:styptic, vasolidator.
Relaxation and taste:Health Challenges supported by Yarrow.
Relaxation and taste:Bleeding wound care and first aid.
Relaxation and taste:Is potentially the most famous wound herb due to its septic action
Relaxation and taste:of stopping bleeding internally and externally from small cuts to
Relaxation and taste:internal bleeding and hemorrhage.
Relaxation and taste:One of Yarrow's folk names is nosebleed because it's traditionally been used
Relaxation and taste:during nose bleeds, where, where people simply roll up some fresh
Relaxation and taste:leaves and stuff it up their noses.
Relaxation and taste:This is a real crowd please if you're ever doing a herbal workshop, it's pretty
Relaxation and taste:funny seeing someone put it up their nose.
Relaxation and taste:It actually does hurt a little bit anyway.
Relaxation and taste:You can also simply chew fresh leaves and apply to a wound.
Relaxation and taste:Yarrow is powerful for all stages of the wound healing process from
Relaxation and taste:being a styptic, stopping bleeding to increasing circulation, whereby
Relaxation and taste:blood and necessary immunity, actors are moved to a wounded area.
Relaxation and taste:To proliferation and granulation when new tissue starts to form.
Relaxation and taste:If you don't have any fresh arrow, you can use dry arrow
Relaxation and taste:that is rehydrated with water.
Relaxation and taste:Don't use powders directly on a wound.
Relaxation and taste:And, and I think like, sorry, there's I'm gonna do a podcast about wound care, but
Relaxation and taste:there is like some exceptions to that.
Relaxation and taste:Like if a wound.
Relaxation and taste:Is like incredibly, damp.
Relaxation and taste:You might use like Scutellaria baicalensis, to help kind
Relaxation and taste:of dry that out, for example.
Relaxation and taste:But it'll be like a very refined powder, and not kind of like
Relaxation and taste:directly a Yarrow powder.
Relaxation and taste:Anyway, I'll do another detail thing all about this, but this is just, you
Relaxation and taste:know, it's just for people in prison.
Relaxation and taste:It's meant to be like a very basic introduction.
Relaxation and taste:Okay.
Relaxation and taste:For example, you can make it into poultice or soak a cloth in a tea.
Relaxation and taste:It is also great to wash a wound with Yarrow herbalist Sajah Popham describes,
Relaxation and taste:so making a tea of Yarrow leaf and or flower strained can be great to soak and
Relaxation and taste:soften a wound, aiding and clearing out debris, disinfecting it, reducing excess
Relaxation and taste:inflammation and pain, and help with the regeneration of new cellular growth.
Relaxation and taste:Bleeding gums, yarrow swished around in your mouth will
Relaxation and taste:have an antimicrobial action.
Relaxation and taste:We'll stop the bleeding right away and prevent infection.
Relaxation and taste:Herbalist michael Moore also says that fringing chewing the fresh root
Relaxation and taste:or applying the tinture topically after a tooth extraction really
Relaxation and taste:helps colds, flute, and fevers.
Relaxation and taste:For years, I would intuitively combine yarrow outflow and mint
Relaxation and taste:every time I was developing a cold.
Relaxation and taste:I was then nicely surprised as I found it, referenced as a combination
Relaxation and taste:with a long, traditional use.
Relaxation and taste:I usually just add the dried herbs together with hot water to steep and then.
Relaxation and taste:Yarrow is a diuretic and helps the body to sweat and do what it needs to do to fight
Relaxation and taste:an infection rather than suppressing it.
Relaxation and taste:Sage says Yarrow is a critical remedy for colds and fevers, especially
Relaxation and taste:when someone feels nauseous and experiences periodic fever.
Relaxation and taste:Further adding, I think Yarrow is one of the di, the most dynamic remedies
Relaxation and taste:for treatment of acute infection with a broad range of application,
Relaxation and taste:respiratory, urinary, digestive, blood, circulatory, fever, topical, et cetera.
Relaxation and taste:Fungal and microbial infections.
Relaxation and taste:Sajah writes that Yarrow is full of aromatic volatile oils that display
Relaxation and taste:antimicrobial and antifungal actions both topically and internally.
Relaxation and taste:This is in combination with its diuretic property.
Relaxation and taste:This in combination with its diuretic property makes it useful in a wide
Relaxation and taste:variety of pathogenic infections, both systemically and locally,
Relaxation and taste:especially for infected wounds in combination with its vulnerary.
Relaxation and taste:Menstruation.
Relaxation and taste:Yarrow is an emmenagogue, which means it promotes menstrual flow.
Relaxation and taste:It does this in part by stimulating circulation of the blood in the pelvis.
Relaxation and taste:It is also a menstrual regulator through this action, and by clearing
Relaxation and taste:the liver with its bitter taste, so supporting hormonal balance in the body.
Relaxation and taste:Amazingly Yarrow can also be used not just to promote menstruation, but to reduce it
Relaxation and taste:acting intelligently to support the body.
Relaxation and taste:Julie and Matthew Seal write the special ability to both stop
Relaxation and taste:bleeding and break up stagnant blood.
Relaxation and taste:Makes the yarrow a valuable menstrual remedy.
Relaxation and taste:It will correct both heavy and suppressed periods and will normalize
Relaxation and taste:blood flow if there is clotting.
Relaxation and taste:It is used to treat abnormally heavy bleeding as well as vaginal leucorrhea,
Relaxation and taste:whiteish, or yellowish discharge.
Relaxation and taste:Digestive system.
Relaxation and taste:Sajah states how Yarrow has an affinity for the liver, spleen, stomach,
Relaxation and taste:and works specifically for hepatic portal vein congestion of the body.
Relaxation and taste:This is predominantly through both its bitter and sedative properties.
Relaxation and taste:Yarrow promotes secretions, alleviating and dispersing tension held in the
Relaxation and taste:gut, moving out, stagnation, cooling, heat, and stimulating digestion.
Relaxation and taste:He also adds, Yarrow will be helpful when someone has had chronic
Relaxation and taste:relaxation of the bowels like diarrhea.
Relaxation and taste:As the tissues don't have enough tonal quality to hold fluids in the stool,
Relaxation and taste:drinking garity can be useful for cooling conditions such as leaky gut
Relaxation and taste:syndrome, symbiosis, irritation of the intestines and bacterial infections
Relaxation and taste:as the Yarrows virtues all work to improve the integrity of the tissues.
Relaxation and taste:Yarrows also antimicrobial against Shigella bacteria.
Relaxation and taste:Joint inflammation.
Relaxation and taste:Yarrow is not only powerful for inflammation and wounds, but
Relaxation and taste:also longer term conditions.
Relaxation and taste:Michael Moore describes how Yarrow can be used for joint inflammations
Relaxation and taste:caused by rheumatoid arthritis and other low level autoimmune or allergic
Relaxation and taste:conditions that settle in the joints.
Relaxation and taste:Urinary infections.
Relaxation and taste:Yarrow is useful for urinary infections, UTIs that cause painful burning urination.
Relaxation and taste:It can kill bacteria while simultaneously toning tissue.
Relaxation and taste:It also has the diuretic properties that help the body respond
Relaxation and taste:to all manner of infections.
Relaxation and taste:Herbalist Stephen Harrod Buhner's book includes research that shows
Relaxation and taste:how the compounds in Yarrow have proven effective against a number of
Relaxation and taste:organisms that are associated with UTIs, including Candida albicans, Escherichia
Relaxation and taste:Coli and Streptococcus faecalis.
Relaxation and taste:Yarrow is also useful for people experiencing urinary difficulties
Relaxation and taste:from a swollen prostate for circulatory conditions.
Relaxation and taste:Has an incredible affinity for the blood and can be used to treat
Relaxation and taste:conditions such as varicose veins, hypertension, hypotension, and thrombosis.
Relaxation and taste:S Sadia describes yarrow's, actions on the blood.
Relaxation and taste:Is used effectively to tone the blood vessels in the
Relaxation and taste:peripheral capillaries and veins.
Relaxation and taste:Paradoxically it not only tones and astringents, but also acts as a
Relaxation and taste:vasodilator opening up the vessels and allows for more blood to move
Relaxation and taste:through this system, thus bringing more nutrients and oxygen to areas
Relaxation and taste:that may be lacking hemorrhoids.
Relaxation and taste:Yarrow has a traditional use for hemorrhoids due to its astringency.
Relaxation and taste:Sajah says astringency from the tannins make it excellent, both internally
Relaxation and taste:and externally as it will tighten up the tissue, stop the bleeding,
Relaxation and taste:reduce inflammation and pain, and shrink the hemorrhoid itself.
Relaxation and taste:It can be added to a sits bath and also be used internally.
Relaxation and taste:If all these incredible medicinal uses aren't enough, Yarrow is
Relaxation and taste:also known in folk medicine as a tool for love divination.
Relaxation and taste:Nigel g Pearson writes how if Yarrow would be wrapped in a flannel sache and
Relaxation and taste:placed under a pillow at night, then that person will dream of their future lover.
Relaxation and taste:Yarrow was also hung over newborn babies as a form of protection.
Relaxation and taste:Magic.
Relaxation and taste:Elizabeth Brook describes it as a herb for those fighting injustice with
Relaxation and taste:Yarrow as protective battle armour..
Relaxation and taste:Yarrow stalks are also used in the Chinese I Ching divination.
Relaxation and taste:Cautions.
Relaxation and taste:Yarrow is not recommended for people who are pregnant because
Relaxation and taste:of it's emmenagogue action.
Relaxation and taste:Yarrow can cause skin reactions in some people and in large
Relaxation and taste:doses can cause headaches.
Relaxation and taste:It also decreases drug absorption because of its ability to increase gut motility.
Relaxation and taste:How to practically use Yarrow in prison where you might find yarrow?
Relaxation and taste:I found yarrow in the graveled areas of prison paths, especially in the
Relaxation and taste:areas further out between fences.
Relaxation and taste:It was also up against the curbs in any cracks it could find fresh
Relaxation and taste:leaf cuts and chew upper leaf and then place directly on the cut.
Relaxation and taste:See also the dedicated wound section.
Relaxation and taste:That's like a later part of the book.
Relaxation and taste:Nose bleeds.
Relaxation and taste:Roll up fresh leaves and put up the nose until the bleeding stops.
Relaxation and taste:Bleeding gums make a tea with the fresh leaf and or flowers and
Relaxation and taste:then swish it around your mouth.
Relaxation and taste:Cold flus, fevers.
Relaxation and taste:Add yellow leaves and or flowers to hot water and leave to infuse and strain it.
Relaxation and taste:But make sure you drink it while it is still.
Relaxation and taste:It'll help you sweat out a fever, so don't be alarmed if
Relaxation and taste:you sweat more or feel hotter.
Relaxation and taste:Keep making and drinking the tea every few hours until you feel better.
Relaxation and taste:Periods.
Relaxation and taste:You can drink guarantee to help bring on your period.
Relaxation and taste:If your period's very heavy, you can drink garity to help normalize the flow.
Relaxation and taste:If you have vaginal discharge, you can also drink garity regularly
Relaxation and taste:to help clear up any infection and tone yourself down below.
Relaxation and taste:Gut issues such as leaky, irritable bowel and so forth.
Relaxation and taste:Drink yarrow regularly for diarrhea.
Relaxation and taste:Drink it for, painful burning urination and urinary tract infections.
Relaxation and taste:Drink strong ity, swollen prostate, drink yarrow tea.
Relaxation and taste:Hemorrhoids, you can make a sitz bath.
Relaxation and taste:This is where you fill a container with water large enough to place your button.
Relaxation and taste:If you can get hold of one of those, so like the same size as a washing
Relaxation and taste:up bowl, ideally, but obviously in prison, you'll have to improvise.
Relaxation and taste:make a strong arrow infusion slash tea and add to the warm water and
Relaxation and taste:then sit in it for 20 minutes.
Relaxation and taste:If you can't make a sitz bath, you could also just add fresh or
Relaxation and taste:dried yellow to a normal bath.
Relaxation and taste:Or don't fill the bath completely full, but enough to cover your backside.
Relaxation and taste:You can also help recover from hemorrhoids by drinking zero tea
Relaxation and taste:internally for a number of weeks.
Relaxation and taste:Joint pain.
Relaxation and taste:Drink yarrow.
Relaxation and taste:Varicose veins, hypertension.
Relaxation and taste:Hypertension and thrombosis.
Relaxation and taste:Strength.
Relaxation and taste:Severity, toothache.
Relaxation and taste:While I don't suggest digging up the roots, if there are limited plants
Relaxation and taste:available, if there is an abundance, if there is an abundance, hopefully not an
Relaxation and taste:ambulance, you can use the fresh root for toothache by directly chewing it.
Relaxation and taste:And I know I'm like reading these chapters like individually, but there's,
Relaxation and taste:there's kind of more content in the book explaining why you should always
Relaxation and taste:seek kind of appropriate medical care.
Relaxation and taste:And these are just kind of like useful tools and tricks while you're in
Relaxation and taste:prison, but obviously in prison you should still try and seek healthcare,
Relaxation and taste:you know, especially if you're, for example, bleeding from down below.
Relaxation and taste:Thanks so much for listening to the Frontline Herbalism podcast.
Relaxation and taste:You can find the transcript, the links, all the resources from the show
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