YIN & TONIC 05 – hot water tonics, toddies & teas 🫖
A single shot of goodness, for those midweek, midlife moments, when life gets a bit messy.
Welcome to Yin + Tonic – an unapologetically optimistic single shot of goodness, to help nourish, comfort, support, bolster + uplift, EVERY SINGLE WEDNESDAY.
Yin + Tonic is my ‘single shot’ of weekly goodness – it’s something you don’t need to spend money on, plan for, or work hard to achieve: a simple ‘boost’ that might be a mindset shift, a new happy habit, or just some magical sprinkling of goodness that is easy to adopt and adapt to meet your own needs.
Unlike my Sunday ‘Hot Buttered Toast’ letters, which are long reads, and well-researched deep-dives into all things Wholistic + Realistic Nourishment (best read under the covers, with a big, hot cuppa), these mid-week single-shots of YIN & TONIC are designed to be easy to enjoy, digest + action – because isn’t life complex + busy enough?
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This week I’m exploring the really simple ways I add nourishment + comfort to my week, through my love of hot water ‘tonics’, toddies & teas.
This is, hands-down, one of the very simplest ways that I look after myself that little bit better, every day.
Plain, boiled, warm/hot water
My kids tease me because as soon as the temperature dips, I move from drinking room temperature water in the summer, back to my usual beverage of choice: hot water.
I have been drinking hot water for SO long now – ever since I began learning about Ayurveda, 15+ years ago – that ‘cold’ water (even if not iced or from the fridge), just feels completely wrong to my body. Even if I see someone in a film, go to their fridge and take out a bottle of icy water, I do an involuntary shudder… brrrrr…. I instinctively want to drink warm water instead… so powerful how new habits form & take root!
Ayurveda suggests drinking hot water because:
when we boil water, we also boil off some of its impurities
our digestive system & organs are hot; when we put cold water into our digestive system, we dampen that heat, and the body expends more energy to regulate temperature, and to also keep the digestive fire (agni; metabolism) strong.
If I am unable to access hot water (i.e. staying somewhere without a kettle or hot water tap), and drink cold water for a day or two, I notice that I am more gassy, and my digestion feels more sluggish (it’s ordinarily strong).
In Spring, in Ayurveda, a ‘water cure’ is suggested – whereby you simply boil water for 10-15 minutes in a large pan, decant into a thermos, and then sip from it throughout the day (a few sips every 30 mins is recommended). This simplest method is ‘prescribed’ to help a sluggish body and system in its own natural cleansing, and to help vitalise and invigorate us as we move out of Winter and into Spring.
Dosha-specific blends
🌬️ Vata types (space-and-air predominant) can benefit from adding heavier, sweeter tastes, such as liquorice, aniseeds, and cinnamon to their water. Ayurveda also recommends some ‘oil’ in water, such as ghee, as Vata is prone to drying out, and benefits greatly from oiling the skin, and good oils through the diet.
🔥 Pitta types (fire-predominant) can benefit from adding fennel seeds, coriander seeds, fresh mint and cloves to hot water.
🌍 Kapha types (earth-and-water predominant) can benefit from adding some enlivening ‘heat’ to their tea, in the form of ginger, a pinch of chilli, and cardamom.
Cardamom balances all body types, so can be added to all teas (it’s one of my favourites).
A morning hot water tonic
The first thing that goes into my body every day, is a full mug of hot water. I used to add a squeeze of lemon or lime to it, but no longer do… the simple act of drinking the hot water is enough to kickstart the cleaning of my digestive system, and within 30 mins I tend to need the loo. Amazing really.
I’m annoyingly sensitive to caffeine, so can’t rely on a cup of coffee either, but when I want to have a morning brew with my breakfast, I will often make up this blend, because it’s immensely soothing to my nervous system, and the combination of warming taste, and floral, fragrant steam, feels like so much more than the sum of its parts.
1/2 pinch cloves
1 pinch dried rosebuds or dried rose petals
I also make up combinations of the following, dependent on what’s in my store cupboard at the time, and what I’m feeling
chamomile (teabag or dried flowers) + rose (dried flowers) (soothing, comforting)
mint (fresh leaves or mint teabag) + squeeze of lemon (enlivening + refreshing)
rose + hibiscus (supportive while on my period; replenishing)
liquorice + cardamom (balancing, rooting, calming)
An evening wind-down hot ‘toddy’
Cinnamon milk
It’s so simple, but a pinch of sweet ground cinnamon (cassia bark rather than Ceylon cinnamon), dropped into a pan of warming milk (of your choice; I like nut + hemp milks because you also get good fats + protein from them), is my nightly drink of choice. I may add a pinch of turmeric for additional anti-inflammatory benefits, and sometimes a little dash of vanilla, if I’m craving even more sweetness. I sometimes make this up just before bed, and enjoy while reading a book before bedtime. Heaven.
An all-time comforting favourite
Spiced fruit steepers
I’ve written a few times about my love of a ‘steeper’ – after ordering one from Le Pain Quotidian on a particularly fragile day, a few months into early motherhood. The large bowl-type mug arrived, with fresh apple slices and a cinnamon stick inside… the steaming water flavoured simply with the fruit + the spice, which tasted like nectar to me that day.
Since then, I have made up my own steepers at home, and have included a few of my favourite experiments below.
Apple, pear & cinnamon
Ingredients: Sliced apples + pears, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves
Flavour: Sweet, warming, and aromatic. Perfect for cosy nights.
Citrus & ginger
Ingredients: Orange slices, lemon slices, fresh ginger, a pinch of cinnamon
Flavour: Bright, zesty, spicy. Refreshing yet comforting.
Cranberry & orange
Ingredients: Fresh or dried cranberries, orange peel, cloves, cinnamon
Flavour: Tangy, citrusy, yet sweet-edged.
Spiced Lemonade
Ingredients: Lemon slices, honey, fresh ginger, cinnamon sticks
Flavour: Bright, zesty, with a spicy sweetness.
With the above, you can steep the fruit and spices in hot water for about 10–15 minutes, then strain and enjoy.
What are your go-to combinations, and why? Please let me know, below! 🫖
New to MOTHER NOURISH? Here’s what I’m all about ☺️
I’m an award-winning health editor (I was Health, Wellbeing + Beauty Director or PSYCHOLOGIES magazine for 9 years), an author specialising in wellness, and both a qualified holistic therapist & women’s yoga therapist.
I write about all of the ways in which we can stop relegating our own core needs – living on life’s crumbs + crusts – and move into a place where we feel truly resourced, cared-for, resilient, and yes, deeply, holistically nourished.
Alongside my 4 x YIN & TONIC letters a month, I also explore four ‘subject’ areas, in my long-form letters (comfortingly titled Hot Buttered Toast) which arrive in all paid subscriber inboxes at 8am every Sunday morning.
The four areas are:
FOOD – food plays such an important, healing & wholesome role in my life, and the lives of my family. I work as managing editor for a pioneering, organic food company, am married to a chef, and come from a family of Mediterranean ‘true foodies’; I’m also on a mission to grow awareness around UPFs (ultra processed foods) (which I wrote about here), without chastising or scaremongering, and offer really simple ways to nourish yourself + your family, even if short on time (there are lots of ‘low input, high return’ ideas in this letter, for inspiration).
My approach to food + eating is completely intuitive. At the start of this year, I began experiencing histamine sensitivity, and had to adapt the way that I ate quite dramatically (cutting out really nourishing, but high-histamine foods, including cacao, fermented foods + bone broth). Thankfully, since then, and after three months of ‘emptying my histamine bucket’, and dramatically changing the ways in which I approach my work/home/family ‘balance’, I am feeling SO much better… and am so grateful to my body for forcing me to stop, slow, listen + start walking my talk, not just once a month or week, but EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
I write about really easy ways to up our nourishment, with comfort bowls, wholesome breakfasts + speedy swaps, that don’t require lots of skills, time, money, energy or equipment. There’s one letter a month from me, which is a pure deep-dive into food that nourishes… and I love snapping + sharing snapshots of what I’m eating at home (always taken in situ, unstyled + honest, because my former days of styling every shot are WELL behind me… and sitting to eat my meal mindfully is the most nourishing part).BODY & SKIN – alongside being a health editor & wellness author, I’m also a qualified holistic skin therapist and women’s yoga therapist… and believe that wellbeing can only work when it’s ‘360’ – and joins the dots between our bodies, minds, hearts, souls, homes + lives.
I’m also 45 this year, beginning to experience perimenopause (yep, I locked myself out of the house last week, because I forgot to pick up a key), and keen to support my skin, which is feeling more dry + sensitive all of a sudden, while also being mindful of not triggering sensitivity reactions (FYI, I have learned the hard way that my body can’t tolerate collagen – it’s too high in histamines, and each time I’ve tried to take it, I have had really bad flare-ups: rashes, itchiness, soreness, all over my body + face).
I also only use natural cosmetics (& home cleaning products) but am very mindful of what that actually means – having launched the Real Natural Beauty Awards in my time at Psychologies magazine, there is SO much greenwashing out there! And natural is not shorthand for ‘suitable for sensitive skin’ either. There’s a good intro to some of my faves in this post.
The brands + products I recommend get my nod because 1) I’ve used them on myself and/or facial therapy clients, 2) like the brand, its founder, ethics + ingredients, and 3) have proven to be suitable + supportive for my very sensitive skin, over the course of at least 4 weeks.HEART – I’m ‘all heart’… a very ‘inner compass’ led person, who has followed a very wonky path through life, thanks to always prioritising what feels right, rather than following what’s wholly pragmatic, obvious, or linear. My heart to me, is also my soul & spirit – the parts of me that know better + best, even when I can’t explain why. Instinct, intuition, and the ‘knowings’ that are bigger than my problematic brain.
In my HEART letters, I tend to explore family life, the messiness of motherhood in our middle years, and also ask bigger questions… holding ourselves accountable to our own core needs, passions, dreams, instincts… and how to cherish + nourish those parts of ourselves that need to feel joy, play, sensuality, inspiration, as often as possible.
As a mum to two bloody gorgeous neurodivergent kids (both very different, and presenting to the world in different ways, which attests to how limiting that ‘ND’ label can be), I am also navigating the daily unknowns – holding two growing girls, one a pre-teen, and one a teen – in ways that teach me SO much about the importance of acceptance, nourishment, communication, and unconditional love.HOME – I’m a typically Cancerian homebody, and love spending time in my ‘nest’, with my loved ones. A clean, tidy, ordered home is my happy place (I even created a manageable weekly plan, to help me manage my home in small & quick ways, which you can find here, and download the free PDF if you’d like to try it yourself).
My posts about home are very rarely about ‘cleaning’ though… they are, instead, about the small, mindful ways that we can create a little more magic in our home spaces… meaningful rituals + routines, and making nourishment, rest, joy + ease more accessible for ourselves (like with my ‘mobile magic basket’, above – filled with favourite oracle cards, flower essences, brilliant reads, favourite choccies, sea salt for a good soak, and ongoing knitting projects… ☺️)
Um… what is Yin?
My Wednesday YIN & TONIC letters are about finding ways to increase the Yin in our lives.
Yin energy is characteristically feminine – not as in ‘woman’, but as in divine, genderless, universal ‘feminine’; also ‘shakti’ energy, in Vedic philosophy.
If Yang is the masculine energy of the Day + the Sun, of showing up in the world, of getting things done, of movement + growth + transformation, then Yin is its opposite.
It is the energy of Night, of Rest, of the Moon. It is slow, silent, still. It is the energy of receptivity (receiving + surrendering), and of nourishment.
Yin is also cool and moisturising. It is common for Yin to deplete for many reasons (more below) but for Yin to also fall as we move into peri/menopause i.e. when our bodies to dry out + heat up.
You can read more about it in my dedicated post, here.
Until next week,
In YINERGY,
Emine
Do you use a pinch of ground cloves, or whole please?
I’m going to have a go at making a steeper 🍊🍋🫚🧡💛