Motherwort (Leonurus Cardiaca, or “Lionheartedness”).Motherwort is an ally for women at all stages in life, whether a teenager with difficult menses, during labour, or for women in menopause. Motherwort's actions are nervine, antispasmodic, emmenagogue, hepatic (liver), cardio-tonic, and hypotensive.

Mothewort is bitter, rich in alkaloids, flavonoids, and volatile oil. Leonurine is a powerful alkaloid that together with other companion constituents of the Mothewort plant supports those with nervous conditions related to anxiety, especially acute anxiety, PMS, hot flashes, headaches, and heart conditions. Motherwort strengthens and relaxes the heart without straining it, says David Hoffmann, and is a remedy specifically for heart palpitations (tachycardia). Motherwort is also a useful preventive remedy for hypertension and hyperthyroidism.

All plants are best identified when they are in bloom. Motherwort is hardly discernible in the Spring as the new growth is merely a sprawl of dark green, palmate leaves that grow close to the ground in a mound. She slowly unfurls and reaches towards the sky in a gracious spike with auxiliary, whorled-lobed leaves and blooms similarly to many of the flowering plants in the mint family with a tiny, delicate pink slipper.

Snip the tops during the flowering period, and place as many buds as you can put in a jar. Cut them, and fill the jar to the brim with your menstrum. Make an herbal remedy as a tincture with alcohol, vinegar or witha syrup. Label, and store the remedy away from the light for a minimum of six weeks. Shake it from time to time. Decant your remedy (removing the plant material from the menstrum) and transfer the remedy to an amber bottle. Keep what is needed in a smaller 50 ml bottle for your dispensary and use as needed, with up to 15 -25 drops 1 to 6 x a day maximum for acute anxiety. Be careful not to rely too far on Motherwort, however, as she can become a necessity. Treat her with kindness and respect and she will be your support, when experiencing hot flashes, a racing heart with acute anxiety or a painful period.

Motherwort has been my daughter's ally throughout her high school years to ease the work load of Marie Riviere and to sooth her painful menses. Although Motherwort is not my ally particularly, I do love to chew on the fresh buds in the heat of the summer months to slow an anxious heart, and to ease my mind. Motherwort has taken to grow in the planter right outside our door, which indicates how much she is needed presently.

In the Chinese pharmacopoeia, Motherwort is always taken alone, not combined with other plants, which I have found to be a good practice. Motherwort, the lion-hearted, stands on her own.
OM