The 3-Minute Herbal Trick for Headaches & Tension | Mikaela, Naturopath

A quick but powerful one, naturopath Mikaela shares her go-to herbal remedy for tension, headaches, and eye strain: a strong pot of chamomile tea, a soaked flannel, and 10 minutes to yourself. Simple, cheap, and genuinely effective. 

Part 2 of our 3-part mini-series.

Connect with Mikaela
https://mikaeladuffy.com.au/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to another episode of Inside Mumma's Circle. Today we have Michaela who is a naturopath and nutritionist chatting with us about all things health, wellness and nutrition postpartum. So welcome Michaela, thank you so much for coming today. Thank you. We had Court Garfoot on last series and she was chatting all about things to do with the nutrition and she's saying about that postnatal depletion that obviously we talk a lot about with our mums and what she said to me is taking even your prenatal vitamins after you have the baby, which I didn't even know that. I didn't do. I've had the baby, okay, off we go. And I didn't even know that. That blew my mind, and I'm still learning and I'm a mum of teens. So letting my mums in the mummer circle know that that's just a stock stand and you should be continuing to do that.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

And maybe a lot of them know, maybe I'm just a bit well, no, I actually think that's a really good point because it seems like oh, it might be an obvious thing, but actually that's not true. And I know that on the practitioner brands that I prescribe of prenatals, they actually say for pregnant, you know, for prenatal pregnancy and breastfeeding. So it kind of puts that idea into somebody's head that you keep going, but it wouldn't necessarily be a given. Yeah. I don't think, yeah, people just think about the conception phase. And it's really important to plan for a healthy pregnancy and then a postpartum.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Yeah, well, and that just that's glue, and then it's that knock-on effect, and like we've just talked about, you know, what she was saying, you know, then you have another baby after two years and you haven't addressed what happened before, and then you have another baby, and it's it's like, yeah, that's me.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

And in Chinese medicine they say, you know, the body is in postpartum for two years, and then you get to a point where the you know the body is potentially, if you've done good things for yourself, returned to a state to be able to then conceive again. And you know, we know that that's not the reality of life for a lot of people, whether they have children sooner than that, you know, they fit them in sooner, or they don't get that full rest and feel fully invigorated again. But that is you know those very traditional belief systems, and I think that's what we want to draw on because that's you know really great wisdom.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Yeah, absolutely. I want to talk about how does neitropathy approach postpartum recovery differently to conventional medicine, do you think?

SPEAKER_01 2:10

It's more of that traditional approach where we're thinking about the longevity, the the big picture, like you said, you know, in traditional and in conventional medicine, of course it's life-saving. There's no question that we need it, and they'll be checking to make sure that mum and bab are essentially safe, free of danger, all of that kind of thing. But then going into the home, a woman might have had a full C-section, and then being sent home within days, and you know, after the six-week checks are over, then it's see you later and get on with your life. Whereas the traditional, the more traditional naturopathy approach is you know, going into the home and I want to know more about you. But baby's okay, we're making sure that's all fine, but what about you? You know, because that can get lost. It's everyone wants to visit the baby, everyone wants to focus on the baby, you know, you've got your baby, everything's okay. But for mum, are you sleeping enough? Probably not. Are you how's your nervous system going? Do you have other children? Are you being supported within your community or the people around you? Are you nourishing your body enough? Are you eating regularly and are you eating the right types of foods? Are you recovering? Like, do you have a pesiotomy or tearing that you're recover, you know, you're trying to recover from or a C-section? Anything that might be going on in your physical body, like how is your lactation going? If you are breastfeeding, do you need support with that? It's all of these different elements. And and the other part when I I do do a body treatment, which I invariably do because women will want that because it's like just so lovely, and it doesn't matter if you postpartum or not, but we do like a warm compress, and I use herbs so they're going into the body, into the bloodstream. But we're using herbs that gently help the uterus ring back down to the side, so it's really nourishing, it's helpful, it's practical, and but also calming the nervous system. So, you know, we'll put this lovely compress on, a heat pack, we wrap it with scars, and then literally swallow her. So then she's all swallowed up in this little if she wants to be in a bundle, and most women absolutely adore it, and just has that time for herself. So it's this approach of trying to bring the gentleness and the nurturing and that sense of being truly cared for and held, just trying to add to that community. So that that's how naturopathy can support, and then if there are um things that need to be addressed, I will make home remedies while I'm there. I might brew infusions that I will suggest that I used as a wash or a do, you know, a sitz bath, or to put in a bath or a foot soak. I might, you know, make them into little strips to put in the freezer, you know, to wear as inside the pants if if you know there's soreness or they're trying to heal from stitches, or I might do a remedy for the baby or make a tea. So I'll be thinking about what they need and then something that they can do really easily once I've gone. And I think you know the herbs are there to hand and they can they can use them. So we're we're using kind of medicines that have been used for thousands of years to support and nourish the body rather than treat symptoms. Like it's it's a different approach, it's a softer approach and and it's a more nuanced and rounded approach.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Yeah, and I think that that's a really good point in terms of the natural remedies because it is natural and our bodies absorb so much every day, yeah, you know, whether it's you know your hand cream or your shampoo or your conditioner or whatever that looks like. So really kind of stripping it back to finding the things that are really going to nourish you organically, sort of, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And everybody has a different, you know, journey with that stuff as well, and what they do with their, you know, in their life or what they've got in their home. But there's so much that is available in the plant world that's inexpensive, uncomplicated, and actually really delicious. Like it just feels yummy to do. And it what I find with the herbal body treatments and why I love them so much is it invites us back into them. And we we know what the world is like, you know, the pressure on all of us to be out acting like 21-year-old boys, like we've got endless energy and push, push, push, and achieve and bounce back and all that nonsense. It's like, no, we're inviting ourselves back here. We don't want screens, we don't want anything but just being aware of this body, and that is incredibly grounding, as well as the herbs giving their own grounding properties. So even if it's five minutes out of the day, and I'm encouraging somebody to to use a little compress for themselves after I've gone or put those herbs in the foot soak, it's just a change in consciousness, and this is where it's at, because when we we become aware of our body, we actually slow down, we breathe more deeply, and then you know we get locked up, and that's part of what the abdominal massage is about, is trying to release through this diaphragm and get because that's then the lymphatics are working properly, which is your detoxification. So it's all connected to becomes connected, and when we're stressed, we're not breathing properly, we're locking up. So, you know, it's trying to relax, trying to get into our physical body again in just very simple, easy ways, even if it's chaotic around you, you know, just that five minutes can make a difference.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

I I completely agree. I think we touched on that in our mom's grips as well when you come and chatted, and just having those little micro moments, and for anyone that is listening, it's just having that couple of minutes to check in with yourself, check in with your body, and I don't think we do it enough as women, right? I think that we're very like the next thing, the next thing, the next thing, the next thing. And so actually finding those moments to sort of settle into our body, check in and have that moment. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

And it doesn't have to be complicated, it can literally be just having a cup of herbal tea.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Yes, because one of the conversations that you had with the mums a couple I think last term, and it was like the lemon balm tea. Yeah, if I got that. Yeah, and I think it was either your Chantel from uh ASMY, which I think is the same sort of premise, is the getting some essential oils and just rubbing it in your hands and smelling that deep breath in, deep breath out a couple of minutes. Um, that I think has really helped regulate my nervous system, really kind of bring me back into my consciousness and awareness. Whatever works, that's it.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

It's just and you're interacting with the plant world. You know, the plants have got so much to tell us, you know, they really should be centre stage in our life. You know, that's the way it used to be, and then nature is being pushed out into the outskirts as a view in the background when actually we s you know, we depend on them to survive, and so we can really tap into this wisdom, and we don't need to know a lot, but as long as we know we can use even just like a caramel tea really safely, we can, for example, use that as a beautiful tea, which is really relaxing and nurturing. It calms our nervous system, but it also helps if we feel anxious in the tummy, if our tummy is inflamed or irritated, or if we feel gassy. Same process for baby. We can pour that nice, strong, steep caramel tea into baby's bath, and maybe we'll absorb it through the the skin. And honestly, they totally bliss out. Yeah. And it's the same principles of that compress, it's just getting herbs into your bloodstream in a different way. And looking for those opportunities, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:22

Yeah. I think the education that you give around that on your social media is is really valuable. Sometimes you're a little bit lost, I think, as a new mum, and and then you hear these things, you're like, Well, I really want to do that, but how do I do that? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Yeah, yeah. And that's it, it's like brew a big strong pot of caramel tea, and then you can drink it, you can pour some in your baby's bath. And if you've got a spare flannel to hand, just soak the flannel in it and put it on your head. And like if you just sit there and have ten minutes, if you just feel intense, you can't switch off, you've got a headache, or you've got eye strain even. It's does incredible things. Like you honestly won't believe how powerful that is. Oh, I use it so much in people who have headaches, and it's like, oh yeah, that's really fixed 50% of them. It's like that's all you need to do. It's you know, it doesn't have to be super fancy or difficult to uh uh achieve.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Um that additional support um so that we're not taking so much medication and things like that to sort of oh we've got a headache, it's gonna take some neurophin, and what does that impact look like for your body long term?

SPEAKER_01 10:17

Yeah, yeah, so sit there with your cup of tea and put the thing on your head and see how that feels. And if you know, if you need more then that's fine. But it's just giving your body an opportunity to balance itself. It's always just trying to find balance, always.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

Thank you so much for spending time with us today. If this podcast resonated with you, please feel free to leave a review, share with a mum that might need it, and we're so glad to have you part of our inner circle.