In living more in sync with our menstrual cycles, we’ve noticed benefits like better sleep, improved energy levels, more pleasant periods, and a general feeling of CONTROL over our lives. (Instead of always feeling like you’re being dragged around while you hold on for dear life! Have you been there??)

What we’ve also noticed is that TAKING ACTION for the sake of our health has gotten a lot easier and more manageable.  That’s because we’re no longer trying to do everything, all the time.

Instead, knowing what to focus on during what phase allows us to explore new, fun, and exciting additions to our healthy lifestyle without all of the added stress of “will this finally work??”.

This anti inflammatory elixir is best used in the first two phases of the cycle. It’s easy to make ahead for the week and it tastes so delicious that you’ll WANT to come home and enjoy it at the end of the day.

The reason we use rosehip for this is because of it’s potent anti-inflammatory action, high vitamin C content, and for the trace minerals and active compounds it provides.

If you’re a true health nerd, here’s a citation a cool study that found that rosehip was one of the highest scoring antioxidant herb out there: Halvorsen BL, Holte K, Myhrstad MC, et al. A systematic screening of total antioxidants in dietary plants. J Nutr. 2002;132(3):461–471.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon dried rosehip petals
• 2 oz tart cherry concentrate (or 4 oz tart cherry juice)
• Water

Instructions:

1. In a 32 oz mason jar, combine all of the ingredients and stir to mix.
2. Screw on the lid and let sit on a sunny windowsill for 24 hours.
3. Strain out the rosehip petals and discard (we like adding the used up herbs to our potted plants for some extra soil nutrients).
4. Wash out the same mason jar and pour your freshly brewed elixir back in there.
5. Store in fridge until you’re ready to drink. Enjoy within 5-7 days of making.

Important and obvious note: as with all herbs, do your research and talk to your provider before trying anything new. This article isn’t intended to be a comprehensive description of damianas properties, interactions, and side effects…but you can, and should, find all of the information on it elsewhere on the internet before beginning to use it.  We would hope that people wouldn’t need us to say this but alas, here it is.

We hope you enjoy this recipe!

Cheers to living more in touch with the beautiful woman that you are! (And screw the patriarchal society that tells us our feminine cycles are gross and should be ignored. That’s something we’ll clink glasses to!)

XOXO,