Several days ago, our youngest son, Javi started not feeling well. It started as a sore throat and head cold but quickly turned into a chest cold with coughing and wheezing. This is not how he is typically inflicted when he gets a virus and because he's in a wheelchair and has severe scoliosis, I knew I had to be fairly aggressive to stay ahead of this virus.
I brought out my essential oil diffuser and put several drops of thyme, oregano, eucalyptus, rosemary, hyssop and lemongrass oils - all great anti-bacterial and anti-viral essential oils. I set it up in our living room near where he was sitting.
Next, I went outdoors and dug around in the snow looking for my thyme plant. Grabbing a handful, I went back inside, put it in a mason jar, poured boiling water over it and let it sit to infuse. I added a cinnamon stick, a nutmeg clove, a garlic clove, grated ginger, lemon and honey. After infusing the blend of spices and herbs in the boiling water for a few hours, I gave Javi sips of the remedy throughout the next couple of days. And it worked!
While there were a variety of oils and spices, I attribute the success to thyme, both the essential oil and the plant from my garden. Thyme was the main remedy I intuitively felt he needed and everything else was an extra.
I remember back to several years ago when Ricardo and I came down with a horrible gastrointestinal bug. Ricardo had it for a few days - he doesn't like to take herbal remedies or use oils because he's so sensitive to both the taste and smell. But I crawled out of bed and went out to my garden, barely able to stand up straight. I looked at the oregano, the thyme, the sage, the chickweed, the yarrow and reached down and picked a handful of thyme, went inside and made an infusion. I was over the bug much sooner than Ricardo and truly feel it was the thyme that sped up my recovery.
I know not everyone has an herb garden right outside their front door, but you can often buy fresh thyme in the grocery store, or dried thyme is available too. Either one works for making an infusion, which is basically a strong tea. (more plant material than what is in a teabag and let it sit in hot water for 4 hours or more.)
Also thyme essential oil is great too, BUT it is considered a hot oil and should never be put directly on the skin. Instead, blend it with olive oil or almond oil before applying it to the skin. And in this situation, applying it to your "patient's feet" is the best way to have it absorbed into their system.
Some people do take essential oils internally. I don't advise it because most people are using essential oils casually and may not understand how to ingest oils safely. However, if I did not have the thyme plant readily available and there was a sense of urgency, I would add one or two drops of the thyme oil to coconut oil and take a spoonful of the coconut oil OR I would add one or two drops to melted coconut oil, let harden and cut out a piece of hardened coconut oil and administer as a suppository.
I'll be posting more winter remedies for keeping ourselves and our families healthy during the colder months. Be well, Trista