By Emily Harrison There’s a chill in the air that reminds us that Winter is well on the way, if not here already…

As the last of the Autumn leaves are being swept away it seems as though the round of early season colds and flus are sweeping through as fast as tissues boxes can be handed round.

I thought I was doing well – the centre of my own immunity – ‘til the defences slipped a little (note to re-read column on managing stress again) and I toppled like the rest of the crowd, face first into a box of tissues.

So a timely Winter Wellness piece for all our creative women out there to keep you thriving (or get you back on your feet) over the coming months.

I spoke with one lady you’ve probably heard of or seen in the media or perhaps you have read her books -  Mim Beam is a naturopath with a wealth of experience in the realm of natural health.  Mim has provided these two recipes to help keep your Winter a well one.

Mim’s tea to help prevent or recover from a cold or flu.

Ingredients:

• Handful of fresh thyme crushed up
• Juice of one lemon
• Rind of half a lemon, chopped
• Honey
• Ginger (around 1.5cm chopped)
• Cinnamon stick

Put all ingredients in a tea pot or a plunger with boiling water. Let it steep for around 5minutes and enjoy.  Mim recommends having three cups a day of this delicious tea to help you get over a bug.

Mim’s cough remedy – can be used for the little ones too from six months onwards.

Ingredients

(Yes I was sceptical but read through to the end...)

• Chop up an onion – either red or brown
• Cover it with honey
• Leave for 4 hours
• Then take some of the syrup (it turns into a liquid and tastes quite nice, really, keep reading)

The verdict:

Well I think Mim could hear my scepticism…an onion…really? But I was curious. You see throughout the phone conversation I had been trying to keep back my own coughs and sniffles…nothing like talking to a health professional and saying you write a Wellness column (cough cough splutter splutter)… it’s up there with cleaning your house before the cleaner comes.

So off I went to cut up an onion – I used red because that was on hand, popped it in a bowl with the honey and waited.  My doubts had to be put aside as I saw a lovely syrup that developed and well, it tasted quite nice too. Hurrah, and it was effective.  It got the voice through an evening of teaching classes.

Mim explained onions have antiseptic properties (as does the honey) but the properties in the onion also help to break up mucous and congestion.

Hopefully you will all stay wonderfully well over the Winter and won’t need such remedies. Although the tea really is delicious and I’ll be making it throughout the cooler months.

If you do try the recipes I’d love to hear your thoughts or any other suggestions you have.

With thanks to Mim Beam from Beaming with Health for providing these natural remedy recipes.

 Emily Harrison is a yoga teacher, writer and communications adviser with a passion for health and wellbeing.  She encourages people to discover the vast potential and possibility that lies within each and every one of us. You can read more at iamem.com