Ancient Herbs and Remedies Part 5: Healing from the Rainforests
Conjure up any image of the Amazon, whether you have seen it or not, you’ll start to envision endless rainforests with rivers flowing through creating a vibrant pattern of nature for the eye to behold. The Amazon passes through eight countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, Venezuela, Guayana, and Suriname. Amazonian Medicine has never been documented or studied like other ancient medical traditions and is at least 3000 years old. Continue into Costa Rica, a relatively small country that is only 0.25% of the world's land, with a size of approximately 19,000 square miles, and a population of 5 million. Costa Rica itself contains 5% of the world’s biodiversity, home to the Nicoya Peninsula which has the honor of being known as one of the five Blue Zones in the world. Blue Zones represent an area of the world in which the people are found to live a long and healthy life in large part due to the relationship they have with the environment around them, nutrition, and lifestyle. Rainforests can be found in various other countries such as the Congo, across Southeast Asia, and Indonesia.
Why are rainforests important? Medicinally speaking, nearly 25% of Western medicine is derived from plants. More importantly, though, rainforests play a crucial role in keeping the planet healthy by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing the oxygen that we and all living things need! Vast expanses of rainforests have still yet to be explored, and to this day indigenous tribes live deep within the biodiverse world, sustaining themselves with what the land provides, and some still have had no contact with the world outside their culture. This point is relevant, it indicates that there is still so much left to be discovered and learned in a way that respects and honors the history behind it.
With the association of the medicinal aspects of the rainforest, the term “Amazonian Medicine” is used, understandably so as the Amazon compromises the largest rainforest, however, it should not be used interchangeably to reflect the various different methods of treatment that is derived from other regions. These may also be known as Shamanic Medicine or Healing and can be known by many other names, some of which are specific to particular tribes or regions.
One common factor across all of these applications is that the herbs, plants, and methods themselves are not the only source of healing! Shamans, healers, plant specialists, medicine men/women, and witch doctors all identify a practitioner who has vast knowledge that was passed down through generations in the use of plants and herbs to treat ailments. They combine that with their understanding of the spiritual world, using that connection to provide a deep and whole health treatment through healing rituals. The fundamentals of this type of medicine and healing are balance, respect for the world around you, and honor for the ancestors that came before you.
The healing treatments that are still being used today include:
Hot and Cold Exposure
Movement
Meditation
Herbal Formulas and Salves
Some of the more recognizable herbs and plants derived from the rainforest are:
Moringa
Bay Leaf
Maca
Noni
Sacha Inchi
Mint
Aloe Vera
Ginger
Chamomile
Cinnamon
Dandelion
Rosemary
Senna
Among the biodiverse landscape that can be found in the various rainforests, there are endless uses and applications. Medicine can be harvested from the roots, resin, bark, flowers, leaves, and fruits which is then transformed into teas, powders, salves, ointments, and concentrated liquids. Herbs, spices, roots, and plants can also be used in everyday cooking creating hearty and healing recipes.
I encourage you to explore this under-looked side of homeopathic and natural medicine, as it relates not just to our health and wellness, but also to our lives and quality of them. The rainforests are crucial to our planet and deserve the admiration and respect that the unknown should. We have still much to learn and should seize these opportunities to do so!
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