Tulsi medicine
Contents:
1. On tulsi medicine
2. Tulsi products
3. Tulsi recipes
4. Other peoples writings on tulsi
1. On tulsi
I have taken a part of what I wrote for the description of the Tulsi & Gratitude surprise box and built on it, to explain more about how tulsi communicates with our bodies.
When learning about tulsi, the first thing you will probably learn about is it multitudinous actions: tulsi is literally a pharmacy unto itself. And this is true, and important, because tulsi has so many medicinal actions that its hard to even remember them all to list them. You can get by with tulsi alone in so many different situations that you’d need a herb for, that you almost wouldn’t need anything else. But, there’s another way I like to look at this, too. And it has to do with how we perceive ourselves, our self-worth, and our capabilities.
We learn early in life that we are ‘missing’ something, and that missing thing will come to us if we work hard enough, or are perfect enough, or just strive a little bit more. We are taught that the missing piece might come from buying stuff, or from a soulmate, or the right house. That the missing piece is missing because we just haven’t achieved enough, or lost enough weight, or because of that one time we did something bad when we were 14.
Never are we taught to find that missing piece within ourselves.
And never, not once, are we shown the light of our deepest beings, and shown that nothing was ever missing in the first place.
There is so much more to us than what we see. What we see of ourselves is really just the fingertip of an entire being, pressing out of reality, into a dream world, and we see that fingertip and think ‘ah yes that is me! That is all of me!’ and yet the actual reality of who we are is a multitude of things, ideas, lives, potentials. A being so vast and multifaceted that it cannot be comprehended.
This vastness is the part of ourselves that tulsi points towards.
(holy indeed)
It is this connection that makes tulsi so powerful, and gives it so many actions. Through this connection that tulsi manages to tick so many boxes that the body needs. It reminds me of one of those champagne glass towers that you used to see at weddings, where you’d pour champagne into the glass at the top, and allow it to overflow, and it would spill down the tower, eventually filling every glass underneath it, until every glass is full. All of the glasses on the bottom tiers are like all of the little actions tulsi helps with: all of the various areas of our bodies, the systems, the organs, the emotions, the cells. And as you go higher up the tower, you step back in perspective, until the very top one is simply the vastness of ourselves: no separation, no mapped out or disconnected pieces; just the oneness of being. You could, of course, run around the tower, trying to fill each glass, and it would still get done (though a lot of time would be spent wondering if a refill was coming soon). But, in filling our own cups from the deeper source of our being, we, like the champagne tower, are filled effortlessly.
So let’s look at some of those ‘cups’ that tulsi fills:
Among its list of actions, tulsi is an adaptogen, aromatic, carminative, it is antimicrobial, expectorant, it is uplifting to the mood, expectorant, an immunomodulator, neuroprotective, relaxing nervine. (these are just a few- for a more intensive list, read some of the monographs I've listed below)
Adaptogen: tulsi helps to strengthen our overall system, which includes our ability to withstand stress, our energy levels, and our ability to bounce back from hardship.
Aromatic: tulsi’s aromatics make it both uplifting to the spirits, and antimicrobial, AND a fantastic digesstive aid, where it simultaneously increases digestive capacity and soothes/ eases flatulence.
Nervine: tulsi is a relaxing nervine, helping to calm an agitated mind and nervous system. But at the same time, tulsi is one of the best herbs for increasing focus. Not like caffeine (which can feel agitating and scattering) but in a really beautiful deep, clear way. I’ve pulled many an almost-all-nighter studying or writing papers with a few mugs of tulsi tea :).
Immunomodulator: in building up the body’s energy reserves AND being antimicrobial, tulsi is wonderful at boosting a weak, run down or underactive immune system.
The key thing to know about tulsi is that, underneath all of these, tulsi builds resilience. And the building of resilience itself is that ‘filling the top glass on the champagne tower’ thing: if you think of building resilience as the strengthening of the source of all of the other aspects of ourselves, then it starts to make sense how tulsi can strengthen the immune system, the stress response, digestion, the brain and nervous system, the lungs, relax the musculature, etc. And the stronger that ‘source’ becomes, the more we trust that it is being filled, and that it will be filled, the more we can relax the parts of ourselves that panic and wonder where and when the next refill is coming from. All of the low-level (or high-level) stress response actions that happen to us without us noticing, the subtle tensions, the weakened digestion, the immune system slowing down can calm down. As a result, our generalised stress response tends to relax a little: our muscles can relax, our digestion can turn back on, our anxiety calms down a bit, our immune systems can kick back into gear.
And as a result of all of this, you feel more calm, more capable, more able to handle the stressors that life throws at you (because it always does!), and that in turn leads to you feeling GOOD about yourself, stronger, happier, more fulfilled. And after a while of taking tulsi, you start to realise that yes, you have got this. Yes, you can do it. And it feels like magic, it really does. But the real magic is that connection to your deeper self that tulsi facilitates, reminding you that it was always there, you always had it, you were just searching for it as if it were outside yourself, when in truth, it was inside you all along.
2. Find tulsi in:
The Tulsi & Gratitude surprise box
Tulsi & Ashwagandha Chai
Tulsi & Pinyon body oil
Smoky Bramble Tulsi Tea
Smoked tulsi & pinyon bitters
3. Tulsi recipes
Tulsi ki chai (video)
And some of my favourites:
Tulsi blackberry mojito.
This is best if you have fresh tulsi leaves on hand, but if not you can use dried, just steep them in the rum for an hour or two before making the mojito.
1 tb sugar
1/2 lime
3 blackberries
10 tulsi leaves, or 1 tb dried tulsi leaves
2oz white rum
1 cup crushed ice
1/4 cup soda water
Throw lime (cut into segments), blackberry, tulsi and sugar to a glass and gently muddle it for 30 seconds or so (use a blunt instrument and gently beat the crap out of it all).
Add the rum, and stir.
Add the ice and stir.
Add a splash of soda and taste... add more soda to bring it to your desired alcohol level.
Tulsi + Blackberry + Vanilla syrup
1/4 cup dried tulsi (or 1/2 cup fresh)
1/4 cup blackberries (fresh or frozen)
1/4 vanilla bean or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup maple syrup or agave syrup
Place the syrup, vanilla and blackberries in a pot and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. Add the tulsi, put a lid on the pot, and simmer for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat, strain and keep refrigerated.
You can use this syrup on pancakes or other desserts, or use it as a flavouring in tea. I love drizzling it in a hot cup of tulsi chai.
Tulsi pesto
1 handful fresh tulsi leaves or 1 handful fresh basil plus 1 tb dried tulsi leaves
1 handful pine nuts
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled
salt and pepper, to taste
Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until mostly smooth. Serve as a dip for crackers or on pasta or on grilled meats and vegetables.
Study tea blend
(for anyone needing a concentration-boost)
1 part dried tulsi
1 part dried gotu kola
Mix the herbs well and store in an airtight jar. To brew steep one tablespoon of herb per cup of boiling water for 10 minutes. Strain and sweeten to taste. Drink a cup every time you need a little brain boosting.
4. Other peoples' writings on tulsi:
Ruthie Hayes of Mother Hylde's Apothecary wrote a brilliant monograph which you can read here.
Krystal Thompson write a monograph here.
Rosalee wrote a great tulsi article here.
Asia writes about tulsi a lot because its one of her favourite plants. My favourite articles of hers are here and here.