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Meeting Common Agrimony: From Head to Gut.
Agrimonia eupatoria
Sometimes it seems like the plants choose us as much as we choose them. We pass them a hundred times without noticing—until one day, there they are. They show up in dreams. They catch our eye when we least expect it. Sometimes, I find myself holding a plant I don’t even remember picking.
One of the last days of herbalism school, I found myself wandering the island with a head full of thoughts—too many, really. My mind was noisy, full of plans and emotions and things left undone. The wind that day felt like a reflection of my state: scattered and unsettled.
Transition times often hit me like that—I lose the ground and try to push through the air. Everything feels unanchored. And like so many times before when life feels overwhelming, I had forgotten the basics. I hadn’t eaten. Had barely drunk water. Definitely not slept well. Even finishing a sentence I started was too much. Everything I touched—or thought—was up in the air.
In Ayurveda, this would be called excess vata: too much air, too much movement. That was me. All while wearing a smile that said everything was okay.
I had gone out with a simple plan—gather birch leaves, connect with the trees, find some stillness. But my mind kept drifting. The wind didn’t help; it scattered my thoughts and my harvest alike.
On my way back, slightly defeated, something caught my eye. A leaf I hadn’t meant to pick.
Hi, Agrimony, I said out loud. Not on my list, but here you are. I picked her up.
I hadn’t worked with Agrimony much before. I knew she was astringent—good for digestion—but that was about it. Back in my room (half-packed, half-chaotic, a mirror of my inner world), I looked her up.
A plant that reconnects the stomach and the brain. A remedy for physical and mental tension. There it was. The plant I needed at that very moment.
I ran my fingers over her soft, hairy leaves and started to notice the headache I’d been carrying all day. Likely from dehydration, poor posture, not eating… all things I had absentmindedly brushed aside. When had I last eaten, even? What time was it?
Here’s a thing: no herb can help us if we don’t meet it halfway.
If we don’t choose to slow down, breathe, and care for our basic needs, it doesn’t matter how much of a plant we consume. We can power through a long and stressful to-do list—and the question is: at what cost? So herbs can’t do all the work, but they can certainly support us.
The Gifts of Agrimony
Agrimony is a plant that helps us release tension—both physical and emotional. Many herbalists speak of how she supports us when we struggle to be honest with ourselves or others. When we smile on the outside but are quietly overwhelmed inside.
She helps connect us back to our gut feeling—quite literally. Agrimony is particularly supportive for people who hold back their emotions and struggle with eating as a result. For nervous eaters. For those who eat unconsciously, disconnected from the body. Or those who find it hard to eat in social situations, unsure where their needs begin and end.
She gives us boundaries. Helps us see more clearly. Helps reconnect the emotional body with the physical one.
Tension headaches. Stomach cramps. Menstrual pain that we push through while saying “I’m fine.” Agrimony has a way of softly insisting that we tell the truth—not just to others, but to ourselves.
Working with Agrimony
A Simple Grounding Practice:
- Make a cup of agrimony infusion: A handful of fresh leaves and flowers (or 2–3 tsp dried) steeped in hot water for 10 minutes.
- Drink slowly.
- Give yourself a gentle foot massage. A few minutes is enough to reconnect.
- Place your hands on your lower abdomen. Breathe deeply.
- Ask yourself: What do I need? Eat? Drink? Rest?
- One of the most grounding things we can do is refill ourselves with nourishing food and care.
The Agrimony you just drank is already working to support your digestion—of food, and of life.
Tincture Making
Tinctures are one of my favorite ways to work with herbs—potent, portable, and long-lasting. Agrimony responds well to tincturing, and here are the ratios I like to use:
- Dry Agrimony: ⅓ dry herb + ⅔ 40% vodka
- Fresh Agrimony: Fill a jar ⅘ with chopped fresh herb, then cover fully with 70% alcohol
Make sure all the herb is covered with alcohol. Store in a cool, dark place—somewhere you’ll see it often, so you remember to shake it gently each day. After 4 weeks, strain and bottle in dark glass. Label clearly with the herb, date, and notes on where or why you made it.
This tincture is potent. Just 15–20 drops can be enough. Take directly or dilute in a bit of water.
What Agrimony Taught Me
That day, I chose to slow down. I decided I could. I realized that slowing down would serve me—and everyone around me—better. Most to-do lists are negotiable. Most expectations can be softened. When your feet have already left the ground and the wind is strong, it rarely makes sense to push harder.
Instead, what if we chose to support ourselves—like sipping a bitter tea, eating that long-overdue meal, taking a 10-minute detour to soothe the nervous system? A foot massage before bed, just to remind yourself you have a body. Or maybe, just maybe, keeping a sprig of Agrimony on the bedside table, as a gentle reminder.
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"In some native languages, the term for plants translates to - those who take care of us."
Robin Wall Kimmerer