A guide to embracing the new week
Intense. Resinous. Evocative.
Rosmarinus officinalis is the ‘do anything’ herb: good-looking as a garden shrub, and wonderful in cooking. Its oil is truly versatile: a circulatory and mental stimulant, with amazing antibacterial and antioxidant properties.
Rosemary is also reputed to enhance memory.
A ritual reset
Why not pot up some rosemary so that you never run out of this key ingredient and its resinous woody fragrance? Take a healthy sprig, strip the lower leaves and stick it straight into a pot with well-drained potting mix.
Pop onto a warm, bright windowsill.
A nature reset
The benefits of being close to water are manifold, even if you don’t even dip in a toe! Head for a body of water. It could be the ocean, a lake or river. Or even a fountain in a local park. Research suggests that the sound a fountain makes or the play of light on a cascade of water is enough to encourage calm and a sense of restoration.
Thought for the week
“You see and experience things when you’re swimming in a way that is completely different from any other. You are in nature, part and parcel of it, in a far more complete and intense way than on dry land, and your sense of the present is overwhelming.”
Roger Deakin, Waterlog: a Swimmer’s Journey through Britain
1. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/03/blue-space-living-near-water-good-secret-of-happiness