Feel better with the comfort of homemade botanical steam

Rinsing the nostrils with a neti pot and Aromatic Salt neti pot salt every day is a great way to cope with colds, sinus and ear issues.

Another helpful home remedy is to inhale nice warm steam. You simply pour hot water into a bowl, place the bowl on a table, and lean over the bowl to breathe in the steam. Enclose your head and the bowl of warm water with a towel to keep the steam from escaping. If the water is near the boiling point, be careful to keep your face a comfortable distance away so that the steam isn’t too hot for you. If you have access to fresh herbs, add some of them to the hot water. The essential oils in the herbs will infuse the steam and help you a lot. You can use peppermint, oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary, bay leaf. Or use dried spices; whole cloves and/or a cinnamon stick. Or grate some citrus peel into the water; lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange, mandarin. You can use a combination of any of these healing plants. I like to use orange peel and cloves, for instance, just because it smells great. These beautiful smells are uplifting, too, which will help you to cope with your discomfort as your body heals itself.