Chaparral - Personal Experience

My first profound experience with Chaparral was inhaling the aroma of a sample pinched from the tree in front of Grandma’s Herbs. The aroma took me back 40 years, when my friends and I made our little fort-houses in the bushes of the deserts surrounding Victory Village in Henderson, Nevada. It was an aroma from the past that amazingly changed my future. As those memories of tranquility and simplicity as a child were awakened in the midst of chaos of my daily activities that I sometimes feel to be imprisoned in, I realized the importance of aromatherapy. I don’t know of anyone who would consider the creosote/turpentine aroma of the Chaparral pleasant, but I plan to find a source to purchase the essential oil!

Lalitha Thomas delineates a recipe for the 21-day cleanse (Thomas). I tested the 21-day cleanse on myself and the first thing I noticed upon drinking the morning infusion was that the first day was almost unbearable—I could drink only half a cup—but the second and third days’ infusions were a bit more palatable. Now, saying that, I inadvertently used a different batch of Chaparral which I wildcrafted from an excursion at the newly developed Sand Hollow Reservoir between St. George and Hurricane cities, Utah. When I sipped this first of three cups ritual, anticipating that it would taste bad, as did the first batch, I was pleasantly surprised. I actually enjoyed this batch to the point where my body actually craved the beverage. I again tried the first batch for my third three-day infusion (the first batch being from what the locals call Turtle Road leading north out of St. George into the Redrock area), and again the repulsive taste. There is obviously more traffic at this location, and I realized this is the horrible taste I was getting from the first batch.

The most profound change I noticed from doing Lalitha’s 21-Day Cleanse was, as she warned, depression and sensations from memories of the past. Since most of my childhood seemed to be shrouded in depression, I guess that’s what was being cleansed from my body. I hope so at least, because I’m finished with the cleanse and the depression hasn’t quite left (however, this month found my mother having to go through sickness and horrible things in the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital and that is depressing by itself). The 21-Day cleanse also seems to be awakening some old emotional unresolved issues of the past.

I also noticed a “detergent” clean sensation drinking my Sand Hollow brew. It cleansed all residue of phlegm from the throat and esophagus and had a calming and relaxing effect on the stomach. What’s strange is the relaxing feeling did permeate the depression, so it wasn’t the dark cloud depression of my younger years, but a more matured and mellowed depression. Very strange feeling indeed. I enjoyed the 21-Day Cleanse, felt no ill effects from it whatsoever, and would highly condone its use for anyone who would like what I believe was a very mild cleanse.

Lalitha did say, “Anyone with a long history of regular use of allopathic drugs, junk foods, or common chemicals such as alcohol, caffeine or non-prescription drugs must realize that there are probably so many toxins stored in the blood and body tissues that they must wait in line to be eliminated … so keep all your eliminative channels open and flowing. Bowels, urinary tract, sweat glands, lymph, skin …” She stresses the importance of maintaining awareness of all these paths of elimination, to keep them open and flowing smoothly. She also warns of the “healing crisis” that may ensue. I fortunately didn’t experience much of a healing crisis, so either my infusions were weak, or I didn’t drink as much as my body needed to eject the toxins (because I know I have lots built up from over the years, or maybe my system is cleaner than I think!).

Speaking of “detergent” type clean, over the years I have had to utilize various dandruff shampoos to control flaking from my scalp. It always seemed that no matter how well I keep my hair cleaned, if I did not wash daily, or at the least every second day, by the third day scalp irritation and flaking would become a problem. In reading that Chaparral contains saponins and medicinal qualities especially beneficial to the skin, I concluded that this herb would be a natural for an anti-dandruff shampoo. I found an excellent recipe in Earthly Bodies & Heavenly Hair—Natural and Healthy Personal Care for Every Body, by Dina Falconi. Though her recipe did not include Chaparral, it gave me a base to start with since I had never made shampoos before. I had excellent success with this new shampoo!!! I immediately felt like my scalp was cleansed and nourished. The scalp stopped itching, and no more flaking.

Since becoming aware and extra sensitive to not using chemicals on my body, my repeated use of dandruff shampoos was really starting to bug me. All of the commercial shampoos have a chemical smell, and the steam from the shower made me feel that I was breathing this commercial chemical stew at a deeper level than just being out in the open air. I felt that this stew was infiltrating my lungs at a deeper level than I probably realize. With my new shampoo, I don’t have that worry any longer. The recipe calls for a generous amount of essential oils such as tea tree, rosemary and lavender. Oh, what a difference in the aroma between my new natural shampoo and the over the counter commercial shampoos.

I have truly enjoyed getting to know the desert king, Chaparral: educationally through others’ studies as depicted above; physically through using the herb myself in infusions and shampoos; and emotionally and spiritually through the healing art of aromatherapy.