Each season has its own share of skin, beauty and health woes. As we all know!  Whether you are going abroad or staying at home, these are the natural products and plant based holistic remedies for summer health & beauty. Things to take with you to get you through the summer.

Think of it as your go-to summer first aid kit (or something like that!). But after suffering with sunburn along my hairline, and a few bug bites of my own this month I thought some natural & holistic plant remedies for summer would be useful.

We all know and understand that the weather changes as we move through each of the four seasons, but we don’t always stop to think about how those changes affect us. Both physical and mental health, as well as our emotional and spiritual well-being.

Often, without realising it, our habits, and the activities we choose to do, will change with the seasons, sometimes for the better, sometimes to the detriment of our health and well-being.

I am a huge advocate of herbal and holistic treatments for health and wellbeing. But I can tell you if you are taking herbal medicines while also weekly drinking alcohol, eating highly processed foods, takeaways, food high in salt, sugar, and neglecting the whole fresh foods (like fruits and vegetables) that are full of nutrients, vitamins and minerals, then you are wasting your time!!

Seasonal living is a constant practice of adjusting our daily routines and habits in accordance with the changing seasons and natural rhythms of the earth. This approach to living recognises that our bodies and minds are interconnected with the natural world, and that we can better optimise our health and wellbeing by aligning ourselves with the patterns of nature.

One of the key areas where seasonal living can have a profound impact on our overall health and wellbeing is our circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm is the internal 24-hour clock that governs our sleep-wake cycle, a process that is controled by the release of hormones that tell our body either ‘it’s time to wake up’ or ‘it’s time to sleep’, and it is influenced by a variety of factors including light exposure, meal timing, and physical activity to name a few.

Humans are not built to produce the same amount of output every day, day after day, like a production line machine. We cannot produce both quantity an𝘥 quality work at this rate either…

and yet, we seem to be permanantly fixated on how ‘productive’ we have been.

This toxic form of productivity has to stop. Do we even know what true productivity means anymore?

The key is finding the balance between action and rest. Being able to see rest as an equal partner to action. A balance on the opposite side of a continuous cycle.

Have you ever thought about how different men and women’s bodies are, how we function and (as that famous book tells us) act as if we are from different planets?

Have you ever looked at your male friend, sibling, relative, or partner and wondered how, when you are so different, we are all treated the same by out health system?

What’s so important about womens health you may ask? Can it be so very different?

When so much in this world is designed and tested around the male body and composition womens health and wellbeing is very much lagging behind…

As we move from Winter to Spring it is time to reawaken our minds and bodies from Winter slumber.

Energetically this is a shift from the cold hard earth of Winter to the light and airy Spring. The earth is warming and re-awakening as the sun returns, and we too must slowly revive our bodies and adjust to the changes in momentum.

The Energy of Spring

Spring is the energy of Air, the archetype of the Maiden; young, new, the birth of new life.

All of that, the light energy after the heavy and darkness of winter, can feel very heady and exciting. Spring is a season, four reigniting passions, projects, and hobbies set of lain dormant over the winter, all the last year.

Yep, that's right. There are in fact eight different types of rest! Which do you need most right now?

When we think of rest we often only think of being sedentary eg. sitting/laying on the sofa, or passive rest eg. sleeping/taking a nap where the whole body and senses are resting and inactive.

But our body as a whole system is so much more than this. Our 'body' and our well-being are dependant on our Spiritual, Emotional, Physical Active, Physical Passive, Mental, Social, Sensory, and Creative health.

These are seven of the different types of rest, and this is why, even after days of sleeping well, you cans till find yourself as burnt out, depleted, and fatigued as ever!

The change in season will usually also mean a change in pace. As we move from winter to Spring that is a quickening of energy and socialising, as well as a need to reawaken the digestion and systems of the body.

Our digestion and metabolism tend to slow down over winter with the colder weather, and types of foods we tend to eat through winter to sustain our body and stay warm.

However, there are many foods, edible wild plants, and herbal remedies that can be used to easily + gently cleanse your body as well as stimulate and awaken the metabolism, liver, digestion and energy.

There is a lot of talk about ‘stress’ here at Emily + the Plants, and really that’s no surprise seems as one of the highest factors in cfs/me + burnout onset is prolonged and elevated stress.

But what actually is STRESS?

If you don’t understand what stress is, what forms it can come in, and what it’s actually doing to your body internally, then really it’s just some vague term or threat like the boogie monster, right?

What is Stress + Where Does it Come From

First things first, there’s more than one cause of stress that can happen for your body. Just because you don’t necessarily 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 stressed, doesn’t mean you’re not! And stress isn’t always just a mental thing. Stress can show up —⠀