Health and Herbs: Tea Making with Hackney Herbal

Following our nature foraging walk with Hackney Herbal, we came together for a second session to take the conversation further. This time, we sat down at their studio to make various blends of herbal teas to take home with us. We tried out different combinations such as rosemary, chamomile, and passionflower for headaches and pain relief, and peppermint, echinacea, elderflower, and rosemary for tackling stubborn cold or flu symptoms.

Did you know that nettle, typically dismissed as a weed, is one of the most nutritious plants? It has a root structure that makes it incredibly rich in minerals and nutrients. Nettle is also beneficial for hay fever, as an antioxidant that helps our lymphatic system process toxins, and for pain relief in conditions such as arthritis due to its anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and pain-relieving properties.  Rather than suppressing our bodies’ natural symptoms when we get sick, other herbs such as elderflower help accelerate our natural ability to expel germs and viruses.

Our experience with Hackney Herbal has given us so much to think about when it comes to the history, cultural origins, and traditional practices around herbs and plants. Uncovering the many healing properties and health enhancing powers that herbs have has invited us to view the smallest of plants with more wonder than before. It has also prompted the question of what healing truly looks like in capitalist-colonial systems, how accessible good health really is, and what the limits to individual selfcare might be. In the context of growing structural inequalities and systemic injustices which sacrifice the health and wellbeing of so many Black and Global Majority communities, health and who gets to rest is as political as it is personal.

Long before essential oils and other self-care products were sold to us in a wellness industry that has doubled in size over the last decade or so, herbalism and traditional, spiritual rituals existed as a powerful reminder of our connection to nature and to one another. Traditional African Medicine¹, for example, is one of the oldest forms of traditional medicine which many Africans continue to rely on as an important if not primary or sometimes sole source of healthcare. Herbal remedies remain commonplace particularly because of their relative affordability and accessibility.

Herbalism also features extensively in Ayurveda², a traditional wellness practice which has been practiced in India for over 5000 years, and in Traditional Chinese Medicine³ where herbal formulas are used to restore balance to what is known as our vital life energy (Qi / 气). Centuries of European colonialism, however, meant that many traditional and Indigenous medical and knowledge systems were stigmatised, marginalised, and ‘denied the chance to systematise and develop’⁴. Land enclosure during and after colonisation severed communal access to land that Black and Indigenous communities once had, disrupting intergenerational transfers of knowledge around herbalism, health, and other caring practices.

So much of the value and substance behind traditional and Indigenous cultures and practices – centred on community bonds, land stewardship, and harmony with all life forms – has been lost on predominantly Western and modern wellness ideals which centre the individual as a consumer, and fail to address the structural causes of suffering and poor health. The global wellness market, consisting of an endless and evolving line up of products including supplements, health-tracking devices, wellness retreats, skincare, and cosmetic procedures, is estimated to be worth $2 trillion⁵.

Shuqi (Marketing and Comms); Christabelle (Policy and Influence) and Jennifer (Environmental Strategy)

True and holistic healing, however, doesn’t come from what we consume. To survive in a capitalist system, we are required to labour and prioritise our productivity and careers above all else. When so many are caught in an endless cycle of work with minimal rest in between, personal selfcare is proving to be a temporary relief from burnout if we are resting only so we can be busy and productive again. This is a particularly heavy burden on vulnerable, underserved, and minoritised communities who so often occupy critical yet undervalued and underpaid jobs in our society. Rest is a right but it is denied from those who need it most.   

Who gets to live a life worth living and have access to healthy environments, is a conversation we look to continue with much greater detail. We will be wrapping up 2025 with two last climate events:  

Workshop: Climate, Race & Resilience: Health in a Warming World

Tuesday November 25th 10-11:30am . Register here 

This workshop will explore the intersection of climate, race, and health, and how environmental degradation impacts both physical and mental wellbeing, particularly in communities where emotional health remains overlooked in policy and practice. 

Climate Cafe with Climate Justice Activist, Dominique Palmer 

Tuesday December 2nd 12-1pm . Register here 

As part of our Where Climate Meets Race programme, we will be holding bi-monthly climate cafes. A climate café is a place to explore different avenues of addressing the climate crisis, and to reflect on what sustains and brings us hope along the way. This is an opportunity to make connections, share ideas, and understand how you can find your place within the wider climate movement. 

Since the launch of our Where Climate Meets Race project, we have held a core workshop unpacking how Climate Justice is Racial Justice, a climate café to discuss shared concerns, anxieties, and ambitions, and three nature-based activities where we’ve been able to immerse ourselves in a world which we are a living part of yet know so little about. If you have any topics you would like to hear more about or suggestions for activities and how we can tailor this to your needs and interests, please let us know here⁶ or get in touch with us directly.