Sweet Softness | Marshmallow
MIND
Marshmallow, Althea officinalis, is an herbal ally extraordinaire! It adds balance and harmony to any formulation, and just the mildest bit of sweetness. Marshmallow’s gentle nature makes this a safe herb, with few contraindications. A mallow family plant, this beauty grows with a tall stalk and adorable bright colored flowers that pollinators adore. It is best extracted in water, and perfect as a cold infusion (meaning we avoid using heat to extract the abundant mucilaginous polysaccharides). Everything about this plant invites a sense of softness, demonstrating a true doctrine of signature quality. We find this useful not only for body states, but also states of mind. If you are feeling hard, stuck, apathetic or unable to move emotions in a beneficial way marshmallow can help! If your mind is airy, or you are stuck in anxious repetitive patterns of thinking, marshmallow can invite ease, helping to carve new pathways. So, as you meet marshmallow this month we invite you to explore where have you become hard or set in your ways, what patterns of thinking might benefit from a little the watery grounding that marshmallow can bring?
“Marshmalllow Root and Leaf are indispensable medicines most helpful for Vata, and Pita constitution types. Its Cooling and mositing action supports the mucous membrains when inflammation is present. Having a trophorestorative action on the Respiratory, Digestive, and Urinary systems. When pared with Comfrey, and Plaintain leaf is a potent vulnerary remedy effective in healing peptic ulcers, and skin abses. As a gentle remedy Marshmallow can be used to sooth Children and Elderly acute illness. The leaf usually quite green and neutral in flavor has a more subtle moisture then the root, and can be used to add moisture and volume to any formula. Remember boiling marshmallow will denature the mucilaginous quality so sought after, therefor a cold infusion is the ideal brewing technique. “ Akil
“Marshmallow root is one I reach for often in formulation and also as a single herb remedy. The long chain mucopolysaccharides that it contains lend to its incredible demulcent and emollient qualities and is safe for most people. While there are other plants and herbs that share similar moistening constituents, marshmallow’s cooling, neutral, soothing nature makes it fantastic for our dry Colorado climate in multiple applications. One of the best ways to prepare Marshmallow Root is in a cold infusion, which is both easy and satisfying to create. I like to use a glass jar with an air tight lid. Next, I simply put my loose root in room temperature or cool water, close the jar and leave it on the counter overnight. The next day, after straining, I’m left with a thick, cooling liquid that I can apply to the skin, drink alone, or add to any beverage.” - Tasha
Body
Universally friendly, marshmallow is restorative and balancing for body tissues inside and out. Beneficial for mucosal membranes, such as the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary tracts it helps bring a vitality to hot, inflamed, ulcerated tissues. It activates tissue healing and has a beautiful immunomodulating/activity quality for conditions such as UTIs, GERD, or dry hacking coughs. Demulcent herbs like this one help nourish tissues and water element herbs are beneficial for airy excess. For those who are prone to dry, hot, hard constitutions the demulcent and emollient nature of marshmallow can bring great relief! It helps to soften, soothe, and revitalize tissue. The sweet taste of marshmallow is mild, but palpable, which we too often satisfy with sugar in modern culture. In fact, the first marshmallows were made from marshmallow root! What sweetness is your body craving? What tissues need to be tended and restored, and how can you connect with marshmallow to support you?
“Marshmallow Root has traditionally been used as an expectorant and cough remedy for thousands of years. Due to its rich mucilaginous compound that provides a protective barrier in both the digestive and respiratory tract helping to repair tissue irritation and bring moisture into the body, Marshmallow Root is highly regarded as a premier moistening and soothing medicinal herb. Experiencing a dry irritated cough, chronic dehydration, a dry and sore throat, GI issues, dry skin, or swollen gums? Call upon the healing aid of Marshmallow Root via a cold-infusion either internally or topically to support you in your healing.”- Madeline
“Marshmallow is a herb I often add to tea blends to balance out more astringent herbs like Nettle. This moisture rich plant ally can be used as a gargle for sore throats. Marshmallow is safe for children and the peeled fresh root can be given to teething babies, with supervision of course. It can also help nursing mothers, soothing tender tissues, helping to open clogged ducts and tubes, while diminishing the pain of engorged, inflamed breast and sore nipples. Simply soak the breasts in a marshmallow root infusion if you are in need of this type of relief. In my spiritual tradition Marshmallow is used in spells to attract love and enhance fertility. It is considered to be a favorite herb of benevolent spirits. Place a dish of water next to a spirit bottle filled with Marshmallow on your altar to attract and house helpful spirits to aid you.” -Lilli
SPIRIT
Any number of spiritual qualities have been attributed to Marshmallow. Does this provide protection from harmful energy, yes! Does this encourage love and fertility, yes! For me, it is the why and how and not the outcome that is the magical part. Marshmallow helps one to soften into that most challenging parts of them self with tender love and acceptance. Mind and Body states have already been mentioned above, and the spiritual states benefited by marshmallow are quite similar. If you feel out of flow, airy and disembodied, ungrounded, or overwhelmed adding a pinch of marshmallow might go along way to inviting a positive shift. Too often there is a sense of spirit communication or relationship being “out side” of the body, which may lead us to seek a deeper connection with “self” anywhere but within our own true self. Althea encourages internal awareness, grounded intuitive mindfulness, and brings the elements into greater alignment within your being. It invites alignment and coherence inside and out, and it will help us re-route our ways of being as needed. Are you realigning, rerouting, turning in, grounding, reemerging? What is your spiritual self asking you for in this moment, and how can marshmallow help you along the way?
“The great water healer, Althea Officinalis is a sweet herb that corresponds with the planets Venus and the Moon, as displayed by its soft leaves with silvery undersides, and pale flowers with a touch of pink. A plant with a feminine aura, it is also astrologically associated with the constellations Cancer and Libra. It is a versatile herb that works directly on our inner muscous membranes and external tissues to hydrate and soothe irrated states of dry atrophy and heat excitation. It has a great affinity with restoring balance to our gastrointestinal and urinary tracts. Marshmallow has a long history of use in European and Ancient Greek herbal traditions as an aphrodisiac. It was often used in sexual magic and handfasting rituals. Its other magical uses include being a powerful cleansing and protecting herb, the plant aerials would be dried then burned at funerals and divination readings.” - Mimi“Marshmallow is a sweet, gentle, cooling herb that comes from the Malvaceae family, whose name is derived from the Greek word for “soften”. It’s one of my go-to herbs for hydrating dry, inflamed tissues both internally and externally, as well as adding to tea blends to balance out more astringent herbs. The gooey treat we all know as marshmallow was historically derived from the marshmallow plant, dating back to Ancient Egypt when the root was reportedly mixed with honey. Today, “marshmallows” are mass-produced and no longer derived from the plant, but we can pay homage to its roots as a sweet treat by enjoying it in any tea blend and observing how it soothes and softens us on all levels!” - Kelsey