Yerba Santa is used for respiratory conditions including cough, cold, tuberculosis, asthma, and long-term swelling of the airways in the lungs. It is also used for fever and dry mouth. Some people use it to relieve muscle spasms and to loosen phlegm.
The Native American tribes of California have utilized Yerba Santa for its medicinal properties for centuries. These compounds help combat oxidative stress and inflammation.
Yerba Santa is often used as an ingredient in herbal teas that are known for their soothing and expectorant properties. These teas can help relieve congestion and support respiratory health.
Description
Yerba Santa leaves are tough, leathery, and lance-shaped. The upper side is coated in a varnish-like resin that makes it look shiny. The underside is yellowish-white with a network of markings and felt-like hairs.
Yerba Santa flowers are tubular, white to lavender in color.
Burning Yerba Santa is also very helpful in beauty, empowerment, growth, purification, as well as love.
Native Americans used Yerba Santa for healing. Yerba Santa is considered a sacred herb and is widely used by indigenous tribes for its healing properties. Yerba Santa Tea works well as an anti-inflammatory for rashes and poison oak. It helps with urinary tract infections and hemorrhoids. The leaves can be sun dried and chewed giving the breath a nice sweet smell. Early Spanish settlers found this plant to be a ‘holy or sacred herb.’ The Kumeyaay people drank yerba santa tea as a remedy for colds. Smudging or burning yerba santa is used for bringing good health, honoring ancestors and calming. It prefers soil to dry out between waterings and requires abundant, bright, direct light. Externally, it makes a useful antiseptic for cuts, wounds and bites. It has been used to soothe rashes and reduce swelling and inflammation. Native Americans have smoked or chewed the leaves as a remedy for asthma.
Smoking Yerba Santa
Yerba santa translates from Spanish to “holy herb”. When burned in sacred ceremony, Yerba Santa nourishes and protects.
Yerba santa is likely safe when eaten in amounts commonly found in food or when taken by mouth for medicinal reasons. Yerba Santa is a woody shrub that grows on disturbed soil or after fire.
Yerba santa is sometimes applied directly to the skin in a warm dressing to treat bruises, sprains, wounds, insect bites, and to relieve joint pain. Traditionally used as a smudge or incense for protection and setting boundaries, Yerba Santa has also been used for love, purification, growth, empowerment and beauty. It helps to clear mucus from the lungs. Yerba santa is used for respiratory conditions including cough, cold, tuberculosis, asthma, and long-term swelling of the airways in the lungs. It is also used for fever and dry mouth. When lit, Yerba Santa smudge sticks release a fragrant, earthy scent that purifies the air. In ancient spiritual rituals, Yerba Santa was used as a smudge that clears heavy and dark energies from people.