Here’s something a little different you can do with your Christmas tree! Make yourself some Christmas tree medicine in the form of a simple herbal steam to clear out the holidays!
Do you have a Christmas tree? Then you have the perfect ingredient for a clearing, healing herbal steam.
Do you ever notice that the extra feasting and holiday treats tend to add up to a little extra congestion or foggy-headedness?
So you overdid it for a few days… Ok, clear it out with an herbal steam! If you have a Christmas tree, then you have the perfect ingredients for a clearing, healing herbal steam.
Cedar, pine, fir and cypress needles are all amazing herbal steam ingredients that:
- Help expectorate lung congestion
- Help with allergies and winter colds
- Loosen mucus and “stuck gunk” in your sinus
- Promote relaxation
Herbal steams help with a runny nose, hay fever, sinusitis, anything you’re dealing with that has a significant snot factor. It’s good for sinus and lung congestion to loosen up and get rid of the gunk and it’s an amazing decongestion for your head.
Ok, here’s how you make your Christmas tree medicine…
How to Make an Herbal Steam
- Fill a large pot with water.
- Bring the water to a boil, then turn off the heat.
- Strip the needles off the branches of the Christmas tree and put the needles into the pot.
- Keep the pot covered with the lid on.
- Carefully carry the pot to a table where you can sit down in front of the pot.
- Remove the lid from the pot.
- Drape a towel over your head and the pot and gently breathe in the steam from the pot.
- Make sure the steam is not too hot and only do what is comfortable. You can lift the towel and take breaks during your steam.
- Steam for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Steaming opens you up and gets things moving!
Tips for Your Christmas Tree Medicine
A general guideline for how much of your Christmas tree needles to use is 1 to 2 tablespoons of needles stripped from the branches per 1 cup of water. Ok, so that is a general guideline, but do I measure it out? No, I just fill up a pot with water and then strip a whole bunch of the tree needles into the water, but you can definitely measure it out if you like.
Also, doing an herbal steam is very opening and relaxing. You don’t want to steam and then go out. Pick a time to steam when you can rest afterwards so you can get the most out of your steam. Give yourself the gift of rest after you steam.
After you are done steaming, I like to leave the lid off of the pot and just let the yummy evergreen smell fill the house.
Cool, right? Use your Christmas tree to make medicine in the form of a healing, nourishing post-holiday steam! If you’re looking for more ways to make Christmas tree medicine, check out this pine needle tea!
If you liked these tips, take a peek at my online courses for more herbal inspiration! Discover how to create easy home remedies with everyday ingredients in Herbal Kitchen Remedy Solutions.
Let me know! Are you inspired to make your own healing herbal steam? Or, if you already make herbal steam, how has it worked for you?
I have an artificial tree, so I don’t think this will work, but next year I’ll make sure to buy some boughs so I can try this out. I do have essential oils from Spruce and Pine so I think I can use those this year. Thanks for the idea.
we are so lucky to live in an area full of pine trees. plenty needles at any time of the year. happy holidays
Hi Kami, I made an herbal oil from my Christmas tree this year. It smells divine. However, I emailed the owner of the farm to ask if they treat their trees with anything, and he said he does not use pesticides on the trees but does use round up for weeds. Is my oil garbage now? What would you do? 🙁
SOrry to hear that! We know that the herbicides, pesticides and round up is polluting the water and contributes to cancer. People just keep using it anyway…
Yes, this is a good reminder to find out what is going onto all those Christmas trees. I hate round up. We need to stop using it. I don’t like using anything that knowingly has round up involved. It is really your choice at this point, just wanted to give you my personal opinion.
Often times Xmas trees are coated with an acrylic colorant to enhance the green. Obviously to make them sell. I don’t know about boiling needles and then inhaling the steam. I know that the fda monitors the paint used and supposedly it’s safe but I honestly don’t think I would want to breathe that in.
HI Cindy,
Yes, you are right. Any time you use anything for herbal medicine you want to make sure it is organic. We have lots of locally owned organic christmas tree lots in our area, but just make sure you ask your seller, where the trees are coming from and how they are being treated.
Can you freeze the needles for later?
I dont freeze the needles. You can dry them and store them in a paper bag or jar and put them in the cabinet. they will be good this way for 6 months to a year