St. John’s Wort: Herbal Anti-Depressant
St. John’s Wort
Saint Joan (as some call Saint John) is somewhat elusive. She’ll give so much of herself one summer, then barely come around the next. She has many homes to visit, but this year feels like her abundance is loyal only to me, radiating warmth on cold Oregon mornings. It makes me feel real close to her plant soul source and am only beginning to realize that we have a lifetime together, deepening our connection with every visit.
I can become a better host.
I can plan for her arrival.
I sit with a patch of St. Joan’s Wort. She’s got bright yellow leaves and feel like she is sharing with me her secrets of binding frayed nerves, bleeding with the intention to grow our story, to mend my deep wounds. Today I am blessed to realize that we have a lifetime of summers together to grow and bloom and hurt and remember and heal.
She grows all around me and our relationship deepens in a familial way. It feels like an unconditional love. Im comfortable giving my love so freely because the plants are my constant, they’re unchanging. There is a consistency in their arrival that feels like kinship, a valued relationship I’ve grown to value deeply.⠀
We carry her home in our pockets and sleep with her near our bedside, and slather her oil onto our bodies and drink her extract in our tea and rest easy knowing happiness is a mental attitude, a habit we are cultivating.
So here we are, the two of us, blooming in sun shine and glory.
You can do it like it’s a great weight on you or you can do it like it’s part of the dance.
-Ram Dass
St. John’s Wort can help.
If you have the type of physical pain that comes from inactivity, like a long road trip, or long hours working at a computer, then our St. John’s Wort Extract could be an ally to your physical form. Our St. John’s Wort Extract removes lactic acid buildup from joints, relieves muscle aches, and is a powerful antiviral.
Physical health is important, but mental health reigns supreme. Needing an attitude adjustment? St. John’s Wort feeds on sunshine, the rain doesn’t seem to be as important to her vitality. She is the herbal anti-depressant, the mental health doctor on call. Tincture, when made from fresh flowering tips is as effective as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Our St. John’s Wort Extract brings the joy back to life that only your perspectives can liberate.
When taken internally, St. John’s Wort Extract improves liver function and helps the body rebuild damaged nerves. It’s neuroprotective qualities make St. John’s Wort medicine appear to specialize in relieving pain from nerve damage, but that’s not all. Our St. John’s Wort Extract also relieves musculoskeletal pain from overextending ourselves physically, by decreasing inflammation and removing the build up of lactic acid in the joints that makes them stiff and achy following a tough workout or moving day.
Our St. John’s Wort Extract can be used to promote sound mental health. Internally, the Extract works on serotonin and dopamine receptors to elevate low mood and increase energy and enthusiasm. It can be used to remedy conditions like depression and anxiety, while fostering sound sleep.
Our St. John’s Wort Extract is a potent anti viral and anti inflammatory, and I’ve compiled a list of ailments that our St. John’s Wort Extract can benefit:
Chicken Pox
Shingles
Herpes
Cold Sores
Sciatica
Psoriasis
Neuralgia
Arthritis
Muscle Tension
Inflammation
Viral Infections
Cold/Flu
COVID 19
Achy body
Chronic Pain
Stress
Anxiety
Depression
Liver Health
Every year I harvest St. John’s Wort flowers at summer solstice, I extract the flowers in hundred proof vodka. The flowers must be fresh to produce potent healing properties.
I take all the tools with me-the jars, gallons of olive oil and 100 proof vodka, My scissors, my kids scissors, small jars for each of them. I hike it all out to our spot, usually a big open field with little shade and harvest mostly flowers, directly into a glass jar of alcohol.
I let the extract macerate for at least eight weeks before straining the plant material. The medicine always comes out red. This is how we can judge its potency: the extract should be bright red in color.
It is beautiful to see St. John’s Wort growing along the roadside that take us to town. The sight of her yellow flowers alone lift my mood and elevate consciousness. The relationship grows and hdeepens. Year after year I am documenting my harvests, and I’m appreciating all the ways I’ve grown in between, just like the plants. ⠀
