Health & Wellbeing

Meditations in nature: A woodland galaxy

by Dr Susanna Curtin

Every year, they stop me in my tracks. I cannot walk past clumps of wood anemones without pausing to admire their delicate features as they bow and quiver in the breeze with their pretty heads turned towards the sun. The flower is named after the Greek gods of the wind, Anemoi, who sent their namesake in early spring as a gift to herald their coming. This association with wind has thus given the plant its other common name of ‘windflower’.

It is mid-April now, and I am out walking in my favourite woods. Underneath the sparse canopy, the woodland is bursting into life. Bluebells, seemingly early this year, bring hints of blue amid the yellow of celandines and primroses. Birds are singing and the air is thick with the scent of fresh fronds of wild garlic. Against the tree trunks there are patches of woodruff and wood sorrel, and the occasional tiny clump of moschatel, whose flowers stand like four-faced clock towers. Yet, despite the welcome appearance of all these old friends, it is the galaxy of star-shaped windflowers that I love the most.

Windflowers are generally associated with ancient woodlands or undisturbed verges and hedgerows. Although the flowers are pollinated by insects, the seeds of the plant are mostly infertile. Propagation therefore relies on the growth of its rhizomes, which can take a surprisingly long time. The plant often spreads only 6ft in 100 years, making it even more remarkable to behold. Here in Dorset, we are blessed with such places where this delightful flower can prosper.

Like many of our wildflowers, the wood anemone is stooped in myth and legend. Reference to it appears in Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis, where he relates the story of when Aphrodite’s lover Adonis was killed while hunting a wild boar. Her tears of grief turned into windflowers, and now ‘where streams his blood there blushing springs a rose, and where a tear has dropped, a windflower blows’. The sadness of such a story is why in the Language of Flowers, wood anemones signify brevity, abandonment and a dying love.

Dr Susanna Curtin is a nature writer and qualitative researcher (rewildingjourneys.com).

A walk around… Leigh

by Chris Slade

For those unfamiliar with the place, its name is pronounced Lye (or Lie) , not Lee. This is a relatively short walk of a little over three and a half miles, leaving plenty of other paths to explore on another occasion. There are plenty of geocaches to seek and this walk takes you past several.

Park near the church, which may be open again now. After visiting it, make your way south west along the road then, at a junction, turn left and head south east for about a furlong then, at a farm, turn left and head east, weaving your way until you reach the village street where you turn right, south east then south down a footpath then left, west.

This takes you past the Miz Maze for which Leigh is famous. It was probably set out as a labyrinth rather than a maze but it has, sadly, been neglected in recent generations and no detail is visible within the surrounding embankment. You can see why they chose to place it where they did as there are lovely views in all directions.

After visiting the Miz Maze, continue westwards to rejoin the road near the farm. Turn left and go along the road south eastwards for half a mile to a junction. Turn right and head south for a quarter of a mile over a small hill then turn right, west, along a byway for a short distance, then right, north east, for a furlong back to the road.

Follow the road for a mile, north eastwards at first, then north westwards, passing through the hamlet of Totnell, then, at a junction fork left, westwards, up the hill along the village street with many attractive buildings and eventually back to your car.

Health & Wellbeing

A common weed with many uses

by Fiona Chapman

Chickweed, Stellaria media, is popping up all over the place at the moment. I keep pulling it out of my flower beds feeling terribly guilty as I do so, because it is such a gentle and effective herb, I should be using it much more. If I still had chickens, I would be encouraging them to eat it, because they love it and it keeps them healthy.

Primarily we would use it for clearing the lymph and for itchy skin conditions. It is a very nutritive plant and is a great source of vitamins A, B, C and D, and folic acid, as well as providing minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and rutin (particularly good for the heart). Like all these spring plants, we would have needed them in our diet in ancient times to recover and rejuvenate after the long winter months.

It can be picked (making sure you know exactly what you are picking) and put into salads or juiced. It lubricates and clears heat as well as regulates, preserves and balances the water content in our bodies. It helps to decongest the lymph and, being slightly diuretic, it clears wastes through the kidneys.

Chickweed is also used for weight loss, because it aids the breakdown of fatty deposits and has been used with success for obesity and fatty lipomas. A good strong tea of chickweed will help with constipation – boil a good handful of the fresh plant in about a litre of water so it reduces down about a third and then drink the tea.

For itchy skin it can be used fresh or dried and put into a muslin bag and popped into the bath. Run hot water over the bag and then leave it to steep for a good 10 minutes or so before you soak in the bath. You can also make an oil balm with it. Pick the leaves on a dry day and chop finely. Pour over a good quality olive oil and leave it to steep for a few days. Strain and then it can be used for dry itchy skin conditions including eczema. For those with wet eczema, use a strong infusion of tea. It can also be used as a salve for drawing out foreign bodies in the skin.

No wonder I feel guilty pulling it up!

Image by jhenning from Pixabay

Fiona Chapman is studying naturopathy and herbal medicine at the College of Naturopathic Medicine (pellyfiona@ gmail.com).

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Health & Wellbeing

Learning lessons from lockdown

by Alice Johnsen

As we edge further away from the restrictions of lockdown, I continue to come across different – and sometimes less-considered – effects those days have had on people. I’ve just been talking to a client in their 20s who was concerned about how out of practise they felt in the not-always-enviable world of dating. Additionally, I have worked with several people in their 20s who are struggling to reach their potential in the job market because the lack of human contact of the last few years has knocked their confidence and ability to communicate. Both issues have a detrimental effect on quality of life, so I am always glad to be able to help clients in such situations.

What changed for you during the lockdown years? We are now at a point when we can look back, reflect and learn. For my business, lockdown was a real, if unexpected, game changer on two levels. Firstly, nearly all my client work is now online – and it works, despite my previous assumptions to the contrary. Secondly, in an attempt to break out from the all-male, meal-and-school aspect of this house, I started training with other likeminded professionals (women, business owners) who wanted to up their game in the world of online marketing.

So now I have a healthy marketing footprint on Instagram and I love it. I’ve said this before, many times: if you work on your own you have to create your own community, your own support network. And your own energy. For me, the conversations I have with people via Instagram are a driving force in my work. I would definitely recommend either that or any of the gazillion other social media platforms. As long as you are able to remain in control of how you use these things, social media is a gift from the gods for own-boss businesses.

But back to my original question – what has lockdown changed for you? Would you go back to your previous working habits or can you build on the changes you had to make?

Alice Johnsen is a life coach based near Sherborne (07961 080513; alicejohnsen.co.uk).

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