Aloe vera

One of the first medicinal plants that most of us start with is aloe vera. The fleshy leaves are packed with a gel that can be used externally to treat several skin ailments. For any kind of burn—from overexposure to sun to minor cooking burns—simply break off a leaf, run a knife up the middle of the leaf and open it out. Smear the gel on the affected area and leave it to dry. The opened out leaf can be wrapped in cling film and kept in the fridge, which makes it even more cooling.

How to grow: Aloe vera can be grown in a container. You can get a plant from the nursery or propagate it by rooting an offshoot that forms near the base of the plant. This medicinal plant likes a lot of sunshine but can also thrive in partial shade. Make sure the soil is fertile and well-drained.

Basil

There are two types of Basil—Sweet Basil and Holy Basil—and both do wonders for our health. But while most of us in India do have a tulsi or Holy Basil plant in our homes, not many of us grow or use Sweet Basil. You can use the leaves of Basil plant in cooking, especially in Italian dishes, and can flavour vinegars and oils with it. Basil leaves can also be made into infusions that help with digestion and reduce fevers. If you pop a handful of leaves in the bath, it acts as a stimulant.

How to grow: Basil needs well-drained, moist, nutrient-rich soil. You can grow this herb from seed by tucking the seeds 1.4 inch deep in the soil mix. Make sure you keep a gap of 10 – 12 inches between the seeds and keep the container in a place that gets a good amount of sun.

Calendula

You can identify this plant by its bright yellow flowers that bloom in the beginning of spring. This is a versatile herb that can be used for cooking and cure. The fresh petals of the flower can be sprinkled over stir-fries, while the dried petals can be used to colour cooked rice.

The petals can also be infused with oil and used to prepare salves and ointments at home. Creams made with calendula-infused oil help to heal burns, cuts and bruises. Calendula ointment is also good for diaper rashes. A salve made with calendula can bring relief to sore muscles, while a lip balm that contains calendula-infused oil can heal dry, chapped lips. You can also make calendula hydrosol or tincture with the petals that can further be used in a misting spray to bring relief to bee stings and bug bites, and as a facial toner.

“To make a tincture, take a glass jar and fill with Calendula flowerheads. Pour alcohol [standard strength alcohol is easiest to get for most people] on top and make sure the flowerheads are all covered. Leave the flowerheads in the alcohol for 2 – 3 weeks, stirring every other day. Strain the flowerheads off and keep the remaining tincture in a dark glass bottle,” shares herbalist and educator Pamela Spence.

How to grow: Calendula can be directly sown into the ground in the fall or can be planted indoors. Very easy to maintain, this plant needs a lot of sunshine and fertile, well-drained soil. Calendula doesn’t grow well in extreme weathers such as very hot summers and freezing winters.

Coriander

Also known as cilantro or dhania in India, this is a dynamic herb packed with vitamins C and K, and small amounts of carotene, niacin, thiamine, potassium, phosphorous and calcium. Coriander is known to lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol, improve bowel movements and promote liver function, lower blood sugar levels in diabetics and improve the secretion of insulin. This herb works well against diseases like arthritis.

How to grow: You can grow coriander in a container or in the garden directly. Crush the seeds and tuck them into the soil in short, straight rows. Coriander grows well when it is sown in fertile soil and receives a lot of sunshine.

Celery

Here is a herb that we best associate with salads and soups, but it does more than just add flavour to food. Celery is known to reduce high blood pressure, lower high cholesterol, prevent ulcers and protect the liver. It also reduces bloating, improves digestion, and prevents urinary tract infections.

How to grow: This herb loves a lot of sun and water. Plant in an 8-inch deep container, and make sure that the potting mix is rich and fertile.

Mint

Known as pudina in India, this is an easy-to-grow herb that is soothing to the stomach. A herbal tea made with this herb can cure stomach ache and reduce irritated bowel syndrome. Crushed mint leaves can combat bad breath and mint leaves added to cool beverages help cool the body down. Mint is also known as a good blood-cleanser.

“Fresh mint leaves are best used as an infusion. Simply add to boiled water, cover and allow to steep for 5 – 10 minutes. One can drink it either hot or cold,” advises Spence, explaining that this infusion is an excellent remedy for nausea and indigestion.

How to grow: If you know anyone who grows mint, ask them to give you a few plants. These can be pulled out from pot, and can be planted 12 inches apart and two inch deep. Water the plants well. Once these take root, they grow prolifically. They grow well in shade and sun, but seem to enjoy the latter more.

Lemongrass

A herbal tea made with lemongrass is known to relieve headaches, stomach aches, menstrual cramps and muscle pain. Essential oil made from this plant is known to ward off mosquitoes. Lemongrass is also a culinary herb and used prolifically in Asian cuisine.

How to grow: This herb can grow from two to four feet tall and can be grown in containers. It grows well in warm weather and is propagated from a section of the roots. This easy-to-grow herb just needs sunshine, fertile soil and lots of water.

Thyme

Add fresh thyme to salads, stews, soups and sauces, infuse your cooking oil with it to add another layer of flavour to your food, and use home-dried thyme to potpourri to repel insects. As a medicine, a thyme infusion is known to settle the stomach; the herb can also be added to bath water to soothe raw or rough skin.

How to grow: Thyme needs hot and dry weather to grow well. You can grow it from seed in a raised bed or in a pot. Sow the seeds in fall so that they sprout in summer. Water this herb every other day when the weather is not too hot and every day, when the sun is scorching.

Armed with containers and pots, a good soil mix and this know-how, you can start growing herbs at home, and use them to enhance your health.

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While there’s plenty to like about this lifestyle, there are some bits that can be challenging. Let’s look at the good and the bad of working from home.

The Hassles

Interferences

Just as you fire up the laptop and jot down your to-dos, there’s someone at the door for the nth time, the domestic help has yet another question for you, your neighbour drops in for some tea and chitchat, the dog needs to be walked, a friend calls up with a request… Every time you try to get a chunk of work done, there are a dozen things vying for your attention.

You may go hoarse telling the world that you work from home and requesting them to kindly leave you alone for a while, but to everyone, even your most well-meaning friends, you’re just at home… And work? It can be done anytime.

Temptations

When your home is also your workplace, there are many temptations that can—and do—nibble into your work time. Without a firewall to block your online cruising, there’s no limit to the time you can fritter away checking your social media updates. Plus, you don’t have a boss hovering around to check how you spend your work day—so it’s easy to fall for the temptation to chat with your friend on Facebook, shop at the nearest mall, get a manicure at the salon, sort out the laundry, clean the kitchen, read a book… anything that seems more appealing than work.

Every time you try to get a chunk of work done, there are a dozen things vying for your attention

Snags

Just when you have a tight deadline to meet or an online conference call, the internet goes dead on you or your computer crashes. Or worse, there’s a power cut. A home-office professional’s life is punctuated [and punctured] with such challenges, especially when there’s a deadline/important work commitment nipping at your heels.

Responsibilities

If you have a small child at home, your parental responsibilities stay with you throughout your work hours too. There’s no way you can continue working when there’s a howling toddler banging at your door, begging to be cuddled. Not to forget, the constant reminders and instructions you have to give the babysitter.

Self-discipline

There’s a general impression among people that those who work-at-home professionals have it easy. On the contrary it requires a lot more hard work and self-discipline to make it work from home. For self-employed professionals, new projects don’t always land on the plate—they have to work harder, and keep looking for opportunities.

There’s no way you can continue working when there’s a howling toddler banging at your door, begging to be cuddled

The joys

If, by now, you’ve begun to think that working-from-home is overrated and that you’re ready to dump this option, hold on. While it isn’t for the fainthearted, there’s a bucket load of goodness in working from home.

Freedom

This is most definitely the biggest plus of working from home. The freedom that you enjoy is worth all the challenges that this option brings with it. For instance, you can do up your work desk as you like, play your favourite music if you want and do pretty much what you want, while you work. You can decide your schedule and pace of work as per your disposition and preferences. Some people are most productive in the early mornings, and some others prefer working at night. Some like to work quick, others like it slow and steady. If you work from home, you can choose whatever pace or schedule suits you. Working mothers can adjust their work hours as per their child’s school timings.

Comfort

Do you like staying in your pajamas and slippers? Why not! You have the luxury to wear whatever feels comfortable, at least most of the time. Formal attire is not a necessity, unless you do video conferencing with your clients and need to appear well-groomed. You can also sit where and how you want… even on floor if you prefer. Nothing and no one can come in the way of your comfort.

Food

Working from home affords you the privilege of fresh, hot and healthy home-made food that is always more satisfying than eating in a cafeteria; it’s also more economical.

You have the luxury to wear whatever feels comfortable, at least most of the time

Time and energy

Commuting to and from work, especially in cities, is cumbersome, unproductive  and often stressful, what with ever greater traffic jams and the rising pollution. Plus, there’s the weather that often plays truant, especially when it pours. Working from home spares you the daily commute and saves you time, money and energy, besides protecting you from the accompanying stress and those noxious fumes on the road. You can put the saved time and energy to better use by working on an additional project, spending more time with your family, pursuing a hobby, and exercising.

On the move

As a military spouse, I follow my husband to far-flung corners of the country where, had it not been for my work-at-home career, I’d not have been able to work at all. If travel is a part of your lifestyle, then working from home fits right in because you can take your work with you, no matter where you move.

Armed with a realistic picture of the pros and cons of a work-from-home life, you can decide whether this lifestyle will work for you, and what you need to plan for and work around when you do set up that home office.

This was first published in the April 2015 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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