Blog

Celebrating our 35th Year and Announcing Upcoming Changes

As we celebrate our 35th Anniversary, we are aware of essential steps we need to take in order to remain on a sustainable path & continue serving you.

Statement on COVID-19

At Avena Botanicals, the well-being of our staff and customers is everything. Our business is supporting wellness by offering high-quality herbal products that benefit our customers' health. At this time with the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, there is an important balance between our internal efforts to protect the health and safety of our team while we minimize disruptions to our customers.

Meditation Practice for Connecting with Plants

Meditation Practice for Connecting with Plants

Let your intuition and imagination remain open. Perhaps you have a strong feeling already for a plant or tree you have been wanting to spend time with. Stay open to various signs as plants communicate with us in surprising and magical ways. You may even find that the plant or tree you initially thought about is not quite the right one and another one is pulling at you. Follow their lead

Herbal Allies for Pregnancy, New Parents, and Baby

Each pregnancy, birth, and child are different. So, too, are the herbs that can support a woman through this very special time in her life. As we observe the changes in our bodies, nourishing the baby inside, we need to listen to our bodies to understand what herbs will best support us. There are several deeply nourishing herbs women can use throughout her pregnancy and afterward to support her overall well-being.

Spring Detox: 5 Bitter Herbs to Help Improve Digestion and Cleanse the Body

Herbalists believe that health and vitality begin in the digestive tract. Bitter-tasting herbs are best taken before each meal to enhance digestive function, improve metabolism, and support a balanced state of mind. People worldwide have traditionally called upon spring greens to cleanse the body and clear the mind. Learn more about bitter spring greens that are popping up all over the land and how to incorporate plants like, nettle, burdock, red clover, milk thistle, and dandelion into your daily regimen.

10 Easy Self-Care Rituals for Mind, Body & Soul

Let's face it. We live in a fast-paced world where we are bombarded by constant distractions. But, what if, for a few moments throughout our day, we took as little as 10 minutes to honor our bodies with a few self-care rituals to realign our mind, body, and soul?

Tonic and Adaptogenic Herbs for Seasonal Health

Vegan Tulsi~Rose White Hot Chocolate

We have put an herbalist's spin on this decadent vegan white hot chocolate, and intertwined flavors and aromas of a summer garden. Aromatic Holy Basil (Tulsi or Sacred Basil) imparts a sense of calmness and grounding, while delicate rose helps the body and mind to relax, inspiring feelings of love and compassion for oneself and others.

Avena's Ashwagandha Golden Milk Recipe

Cozy up with a warming cup of Ashwagandha Golden Milk. This vibrant blend of herbs and spices, used as a daily tonic, helps support the immune system, stimulate the digestive system, and ease inflammation.

Opening the Heart with Hawthorn and Rose

Hawthorn and rose are two favorite herbs of mine for opening the heart and balancing the emotions that govern the heart. White-flowering hawthorn trees and the red-colored Rosa rugosa flowering shrubs are worthy of planting in every herb garden and on every farm. Their flowers feed hundreds of native bees and honey bees, and in turn we herbalists are able to gather the flowers and fruits of these magnificent trees and shrubs and prepare them into teas, tinctures, elixirs, syrups, oxymels, and flower essences.

Besides making several gallons of fresh Hawthorn Berry tincture in October, I collect and dry a gallon of berries for winter tea. Combining dried hawthorn berries with fresh grated ginger is a tea I drink several times a week throughout the winter to strengthen my cardiovascular system, to keep my digestion and circulation functioning well and to open and warm my heart. At night before bed, I take Hawthorn Plus tincture which contains fresh hawthorn flower, leaf and berries blended together. This formula helps my emotional heart feel peaceful and settled, and ensures that my sleep is harmonious and restful. Two other herbal tinctures I use alongside hawthorn (at breakfast) are Schisandra Berry tincture and Eleuthero Tincture. These three are supportive to use throughout the winter months for improving overall strength, adapting to stress (including cold weather stress), and enhancing immunity and lung, liver and heart health.

Rose Petal Elixir continues to be a favorite of mine for soothing and comforting the heart, easing mental and emotional agitation and nourishing the nervous system. I take a few drops of Rose Petal Elixir under my tongue whenever I feel emotionally stressed by local and world events or before I meditate -- Rose helps me feel tenderness and compassion for myself and others. This gentle herb opens the heart, and with an open heart comes feelings of joy and gratitude. Another way I like to use Rose Petal Elixir is adding a dropper to a cup of warm Ashwagandha and Shatavari milk. These three herbs together create a feeling of harmony and balance.

The lovely rose garden at Avena's Biodynamic^® farm is a peaceful and magical place to work and visit. The flowers are filled with buzzing bees, busy collecting sweet nectar and rolling around in the yellow pollen. It's such a joy to watch these special pollinators and to breathe in the fragrance of the flowers which dispel physical and mental fatigue and uplift the spirit. Visitors enjoy this meditative space to sit and soak in the stillness of the garden.

It is here that the gardeners gently harvest, in the early morning light, large baskets of fragrant rose petals. These petals are immediately placed in an organic glycerin and organic alcohol solution, where their soft pink color and medicinal properties are infused. This extraordinary Elixir relaxes the nervous system, eases feelings of impatience and agitation associated with PMS and menopause, comforts a sad heart, and inspires a feeling of love and compassion for oneself and others. Roses soothe and support the digestive system, cool emotional heat and inflammation related to women’s reproductive health, and fill the heart with harmony and peace.