In our house, there is always an herbal pillow in the freezer, one under each pillow, and an extra one in a kitchen drawer. Our children (ages 2-10) love their herbal pillows, especially the “Owie Pillow,” which is stored in the freezer.
To make soothing herbal pillows to heat or freeze, you need only three basic items: a grain, an herb, and the pillow.
The Grains:
Grains are used in pillows to retain heat or cold and to give the weight desired. Choose one of the following grains for your pillow:
Flax Seed: Flax seed contains linseed oil, so it retains heat and cold remarkably well. It has a wonderful "weight" to it, making it ideal for eye pillows or for muscular aches (the pressure of the weight is soothing). You'll get only one 6"x 6" pillow from one pound of flax (it's that heavy!). You can find flax seed at your local health food store, but I think the prices online are better.
Buckwheat: Buckwheat has a light weight. It retains cold and heat, although not nearly as well as flax. We like to use buckwheat for a pillow that needs to be lightweight, or for a less expensive pillow that can be tossed around the house. Buckwheat makes great traveling pillows for the neck. You get around 16 cups of buckwheat per pound, so you can make a few pillows with that. You can purchase buckwheat online, also at the above links.
Rice: Just use any grocery store rice! Rice is inexpensive. It retains heat and cold fairly well.
Beans: Look at the grocery store for this one as well. Choose any beans or lentils. They retain heat, not through oils, but just through their density (like a brick would). Inferior to flax and buckwheat, beans still have their uses when you want to save money!
The Herbs:
Herbs that are good for pillows are the soothing and relaxing herbs, like chamomile, rose petals and lavender. Herbs that help with breathing are the mints or lemon grass. You can mix any combination of herbs that you like.
Some excellent blends are peppermint & chamomile (relaxing; helps with breathing and sleeping); lavender & rose petals (soothing; romantic); and lemon grass & spearmint (helps with breathing; invigorating).
The Pillow:
Create pillows in any shape you like, but be sure to use a “breathable” fabric, such as cotton. Herb pillows are often sold in the shape of neck pillows, baby's tummy squares, and "log" shapes for the lower back, to mention only a few. Create your pillow in any shape. If you dislike sewing, use a tube sock or a small muslin pouch.
The Technique:
1. Mix your selected herbs and grains at a 2:1 ratio (eg. 2 cups grains to 1 cup herbs - feel free to change this ratio).
2. Fill the pillow with the herb/grain mixture.
3. Close the pillow securely so the herbs won't slip out.
4. To use for cool therapy, freeze the pillow and use when needed. For warm therapy, microwave the pillow carefully in 30-second increments until it is at the desired heat.
Most pillows retain their herbal scent for about a year.
Some Ideas for Your Herbal Pillows:
· Owie Pillow: Use any of the grains listed and keep this pillow in the freezer for kids’ “owies” (non-bleeding, of course!). This has cured MANY an “owie” in our house!
· Dream Pillow: Create a pillow with any or all of the following: chamomile, lavender, peppermint, rose petals, hops, spearmint, eucalyptus... This pillow will aid in sleeping better. Keep it under your pillow (use a 1:1 ratio on this pillow).
· Labor/New Mom Pillow: I have not been without my rice and herb pillow in all four of our babies' births. Tim used the hospital's microwave to warm up my pillow each time I needed its warm therapy. I placed it on my back during labor for our first child, and on my stomach after Cesearean section for the last two children.
· Headache Pillow: Shape this pillow to fit over your eyes or forehead for headaches. Warm therapy is nice for a headache.
· Travel Pillow: Create a pillow in the shape of a neck roll for traveling. Buckwheat is the best herb for this pillow, as it is lightweight and moves freely.
· Baby's Tummy Pillow: For our colicky infants, a rice-filled square pillow has worked nicely. I warm up the pillow, place it on my arm, and place my baby upside-down with her tummy on the pillow. Or, I place the pillow in her crib and lay the baby on it. Be sure to test this pillow for the proper heat before using. The mints are excellent for babies.
Herbal pillows make wonderful gifts for baby showers, holidays, and birthdays. Be sure to create a few for yourself, too!
Saturday, November 19, 2005
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3 comments:
thank you for posting it i will definally use it for cramps and things props to you because i have verry little income so i cant juse buy one (there verry expencive)
thank you thank you thank you. i've been looking for the recipe for awhile now. I thought I'd have to go buy some buchwheat or something. i'm passing it along to some friends who i told about the bears. the site i saw it on didnt give the recipe though. i love journals like this.
All people experience fear and anxiety at some point. Fear is an emotional response, psychological and behavioral effects on external threats (eg stranger or a speeding car).
Anxiety is an unpleasant emotional state, which has a less obvious source. Anxiety is often accompanied by physiological and
behavioral changes similar to those that are due to fear. For this reason then people often use the term anxiety for fear and fear for the term anxiety.
Anxiety is a response to stress, such as the breakdown of a significant relationship or a life-threatening disaster.Anxiety can also be a reaction to a sexual urge or impulse that is aggressively suppressed, which could threaten the psychic defenses that normally control the impulse. In this situation, anxiety shows psychic conflict.
Anxiety can occur suddenly or gradually over a few minutes, hours or days. Anxiety can last for a few seconds to a few years. It is also one important part
of the response in self-defense.
A number of specific anxieties is part of the proper elements of the warning in a dangerous state. Sometimes anxiety system is not functioning properly or too much so that there was an anxiety problem.
If anxiety occurs not at the right time or very severe and prolonged that interfere with the normal activities of life, then this is something that needs to be overcome.
This condition is very disturbing and people can have anxiety and depression at the same time. Other patients experience depression
first, then suffer from anxiety.
The diagnosis of this condition is made primarily based on symptoms. However, the same symptoms can also be caused by a medical condition (eg,hyperthyroidism) or because of the drug from a doctor or drug abuse (eg corticosteroids or cocaine).
Family history of anxiety can help in making the diagnosis, because the disease is often inherited.
OVERCOMING ANXIETY
You can visit this website for more discussion. Anxiety and excessive worry have the following symptoms:
- Restlessness
- Tiredness
- Difficulty of concentrating
- Getting Easily offended
- Muscle tension
- Sleep disorders.
Concerns can be about work, finances, health, safety and tasks.
The condition is not rare, about 3-5% of adults have ever experienced this, and this is 2 times more common in women.
It often begins in childhood. This situation fluctuates, and gets worse when one is suffering from stress so it may persist for many years. To overcome this problem, patients are usually givenanti-anxiety drugs (eg, benzodiazepines), but because of the long-term use that can cause physical dependence, the dose should be reduced gradually. Abruptly discontinuing the drugs is not healthy.
Buspiron is another drug that is also effective to treat anxiety overall. The use of this drug does not seem to cause physical dependence.
Behavioral therapy is usually not effective, because the circumstances that trigger anxiety is unclear.
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