Why I Started Making Tea Slowly

I started making tea slowly at a pivotal point in my life. You see, I’m in the midst of a deep transformation—a time between motherhood and post-menopause that few people talk about, let alone honor. PERIMENOPAUSE…SAY IT LOUDER

Some women pass through this transition quietly. For many of us, though, it feels like the ground shifts underneath us. I call it the third puberty. The second one hits when you become a mother—flooded with hormones, identity shifts, and a total reorientation of the self. But the third? The third arrives with joint pain, fatigue, brain fog, irritability, flooding periods, insomnia, swelling, hot flashes... and silence.

There’s no ritual for it. No mainstream map. No celebration of crossing into Cronehood.

For a while, I truly thought I was dying. That’s how severe it was. And most doctors? They’re not trained in how to support women through this. Especially not BIPOC women. Especially not in systems where birth and menopause are marginalized instead of revered.

So I began searching.

A friend at a training handed me a bundle of motherwort for my cycle, and that opened the door. I found the work of Susun Weed and her apprentices from the ’70s. I learned about María Benedetti, a half-Puerto Rican herbalist who’s kept the indigenous plant medicine traditions of Puerto Rico alive. I almost traveled to her for an apprenticeship—until a hurricane interrupted those plans.

Still, the seeds were planted.

I remembered my abuela sending me down rainforest roads in Puerto Rico with little herbal packages for blood pressure or diabetes. My father told me my grandfather did the same—mixing herbs and kitchen remedies to heal neighbors. Later, I met a cousin through ancestry.com who told me our family was known for healing across Puerto Rico. He traced us back to Guayama, a town known as the City of the Witches.

It was a remembering.

Eventually, I began an herbal apprenticeship with Alex of Mindful Wilderness and Vulgaris Herbs—herself a former apprentice of Susun Weed and a dear friend. We were a circle of five women, gathering from spring to winter. We foraged, hiked, made ritual, and healed in ways that can’t be captured in words. One of the most impactful things I learned? Nourishing herbal infusions.

These infusions didn’t just help my hormones—they supported my nervous system, my sense of rhythm, my reconnection to body-based wisdom. I wasn’t managing symptoms—I was nourishing my entire being.

Community is medicine. So I’m sharing with you the five foundational herbal infusions I turn to again and again:

🌿 The Five Nourishing Herbal Infusions

1. Oatstraw
Supports the nervous system, calms stress, and soothes frazzled edges. It’s the herb I reach for when I’m overworked, under-rested, or disconnected.

2. Linden Flower
A heart-centered plant that soothes grief, tension, and heat. It’s a cooling, comforting ally for times of overwhelm or emotional tightness.

3. Red Clover
Known for its gentle hormone-balancing properties, red clover is rich in phytoestrogens and can support perimenopausal and menopausal transitions.

4. Stinging Nettle
A mineral-rich powerhouse. Nettle supports kidney function, stabilizes blood sugar, and deeply nourishes the blood. Strong, earthy, and revitalizing.

5. Comfrey
A deeply healing and controversial herb—known for its tissue repair properties. Do your research, but I honor her for joint aches, muscle support, and resilience.

🌱 Note: These are whole dried herbs, not powders or tea bags. You’ll want to source from reputable herbal suppliers (I don't share affiliate links for internal herbal ingestion due to ethical and regulatory reasons—but I’m happy to recommend sources off-site).

🫖 How to Make a Nourishing Herbal Infusion

Before we get into the how-to, here are a few of the supportive tools I personally use in my own practice:

• Quart-Size Mason Jars – I prefer using wide-mouth glass jars for easy steeping and straining. These Ball Mason Jars are my go-to. (affiliate link)

• Funnel – This stainless steel wide-mouth funnel helps prevent spills and makes pouring infusions easy. (affiliate link)

• Mesh Strainer – I use this Cuisinart Fine Mesh Strainer Set to filter herbs after steeping. (affiliate link)

1 oz of dried herb (about 1 cup by volume)
1 quart of boiling water
Place the herb in a large mason jar or teapot. Pour the boiling water over. Cover and let steep for 4–8 hours or overnight. Strain and drink throughout the day.

✨ Bonus tip: Nettle can be a strong taste to adjust to—feel free to add a pinch of peppermint to ease into it.

These rituals aren’t just about wellness—they’re about remembrance. Of who we are. Of where we come from. Of the wise women who came before us and the ones we’re becoming.

If this spoke to you, consider downloading the [10-Minute Ritual Reset Guide] and begin crafting space for softness and sovereignty in your everyday life.

In devotion and nourishment,
Catherine Dawn