January: The Bed Rest Box
“Be as religious and disciplined about your sleep as you are about your work. We tend to wear our ability to get by on little sleep as some sort of badge of honor that validates our work ethic. But what it really is is a profound failure of self-respect and of priorities. What could possibly be more important than your health and your sanity, from which all else springs?” ~ Maria Popova
Each night, an average adult requires 8-9 hours of sleep for optimal health, but most of us, especially women, only average somewhere between 5.9 – 6.7 hours a night during the week, thus incurring a sleep debt. The effects of sleep debt include fatigue, irritability, insulin resistance, elevated cortisol levels, declines in cognitive ability, suppressed immune function, endocrine and hormone disruption, and increased risk of stroke and heart attacks. Sleep debt accumulates over time, making it more difficult to pay off with the odd nap or Sunday sleep-in. Sleep recovery is possible, but it can take time and requires some discipline.
This January will mark my third annual week of bed rest. This is a gift I give myself every year in the depths of winter, to help repay my own sleep debt. For seven days I will spend twelve hours a day resting and sleeping in bed. Any of those twelve hours where I'm not asleep, I will engage in some light, pleasurable reading, but there will be no screens. Lighting will be natural or low. The rest of my waking time for that week will continue as normal, but I do try to aim for a lighter work schedule, make sure that I eat really nourishing food and get lots of movement during my non-recumbent hours.
Each night, an average adult requires 8-9 hours of sleep for optimal health, but most of us, especially women, only average somewhere between 5.9 – 6.7 hours a night during the week, thus incurring a sleep debt. The effects of sleep debt include fatigue, irritability, insulin resistance, elevated cortisol levels, declines in cognitive ability, suppressed immune function, endocrine and hormone disruption, and increased risk of stroke and heart attacks. Sleep debt accumulates over time, making it more difficult to pay off with the odd nap or Sunday sleep-in. Sleep recovery is possible, but it can take time and requires some discipline.
This January will mark my third annual week of bed rest. This is a gift I give myself every year in the depths of winter, to help repay my own sleep debt. For seven days I will spend twelve hours a day resting and sleeping in bed. Any of those twelve hours where I'm not asleep, I will engage in some light, pleasurable reading, but there will be no screens. Lighting will be natural or low. The rest of my waking time for that week will continue as normal, but I do try to aim for a lighter work schedule, make sure that I eat really nourishing food and get lots of movement during my non-recumbent hours.
Convalescence by Carl Larsson [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
January's box will contain everything you need to help you get some bed rest (9.5 - 12 hrs per night for 3-7 days), support a good night's sleep, ease insomnia and reduce stress. Even if you don't have time for a full cycle of bed rest, if you need help catching some Z's, this is the box for you!
Herbs you may find in this month's box include milky oats, lavender, catnip, hops, valerian, nettle seed, lemon balm, chamomile, mugwort, skullcap and holy basil. Products may include a dream pillow, herbal tea, lemon balm elixir, nettle seed salt, 1 or 2 tinctures and/or a herbal bath blend. The newsletter will discuss the importance of sleep hygiene, a routine for establishing healthy sleep habits, the history of bed rest and all the ways in which herbs can helps us get the rest and restoration we need.
Are you ready for a long winter's nap?
Herbs you may find in this month's box include milky oats, lavender, catnip, hops, valerian, nettle seed, lemon balm, chamomile, mugwort, skullcap and holy basil. Products may include a dream pillow, herbal tea, lemon balm elixir, nettle seed salt, 1 or 2 tinctures and/or a herbal bath blend. The newsletter will discuss the importance of sleep hygiene, a routine for establishing healthy sleep habits, the history of bed rest and all the ways in which herbs can helps us get the rest and restoration we need.
Are you ready for a long winter's nap?
Hops, Humulus lupulus, by Internet Archive Book Images [No restrictions], via Wikimedia Commons
Click image to enlarge
Boxes are offered with sliding scale prices. To learn more about sliding scale pricing, please read this post. But basically, in a nut shell (pun intended!), I invite you to pay one of the reduced fees, if paying the full price would cause you to be less secure in your ability to meet your food, health, housing or essential transport needs. To determine where you fall on the scale when choosing which price to pay, please refer to this infographic created by Alexis J. Cunningfolk (Click image to enlarge).
Large boxes contain 6 products. Small boxes contain 4 products. Taxes and shipping are calculated at checkout. You do not need a Paypal account to make your purchase. Shipping in Canada only.
Payments can also be made by etransfer to: leighdoris at gmail dot com or cheque made out to: The Wild Garden, 2389 Pepin Ct. Ottawa, ON, K1B 4Z3
This box is now SOLD OUT. Stay tuned for February's box!
Large boxes contain 6 products. Small boxes contain 4 products. Taxes and shipping are calculated at checkout. You do not need a Paypal account to make your purchase. Shipping in Canada only.
Payments can also be made by etransfer to: leighdoris at gmail dot com or cheque made out to: The Wild Garden, 2389 Pepin Ct. Ottawa, ON, K1B 4Z3
This box is now SOLD OUT. Stay tuned for February's box!
About the Herbal Box
The Wild Garden Herbal Box is your opportunity to connect with and learn about the wild edible and healing plants of the Ottawa bioregion. Monthly boxes are delivered directly to your door. Each month’s box will explore a particular theme and comes with a detailed newsletter highlighting the products for the month and is full of information, historical lore, recipes and more! Herbal boxes make great gifts and can be shipped directly to the recipient.
Monthly subscribers also enjoy free access to any walks and select workshops offered by the Wild Garden, during the month(s) for which they are subscribed. (Material fees apply and pre-registration is required.)
With an herbal box you can:
The Wild Garden Herbal Box is your opportunity to connect with and learn about the wild edible and healing plants of the Ottawa bioregion. Monthly boxes are delivered directly to your door. Each month’s box will explore a particular theme and comes with a detailed newsletter highlighting the products for the month and is full of information, historical lore, recipes and more! Herbal boxes make great gifts and can be shipped directly to the recipient.
Monthly subscribers also enjoy free access to any walks and select workshops offered by the Wild Garden, during the month(s) for which they are subscribed. (Material fees apply and pre-registration is required.)
With an herbal box you can:
- build your own home apothecary of healing plants and discover traditional ways of supporting wellness
- support local, small-scale, organic permaculture
- incorporate more nutrient dense wild foods into your diet
- enjoy organically grown and ethically wild gathered foods and herbs delivered directly to your door (all products are made from herbs that I grow and gather myself on the Just Food Food Farm.)
- nourish yourself and your family with local, seasonal products handcrafted with love in small batches
- learn about the wild plants growing in the greater Ottawa bioregion
- loose-leaf tea blend
- herb infused honey or syrup
- herb infused vinegar
- wild herb seasoning blend, dried culinary herbs, herbal salts and sugars, herbal powders
- wild food preserve (jam, jelly, fruit leather, pickles…)
- tincture or elixir
- herbal salve
- body oil, body butter or lotion bar
- herbal scrub, bath salt or tub tea
- loose or compound incense