One of the more common questions we have been asked over the past couple of years has been: Is Jojoba an oil or a wax? And when one of our editors for the Botanical Body Care Products course asked me "Why don't you include Jojoba in the wax palette?", I knew I needed to research this! I must admit, I have always thought it a bit peculiar to call jojoba oil: jojoba wax, but it seemed to be a recent trend. I have also noticed a few companies that use the term 'jojoba wax' for their jojoba oil. And all of this seems to have made some people insecure as to what to call it, so they just READ MORE
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The Best Time to Sleep
Contributed by: Robert Sachs In most cultures, we are familiar with the increments and movement of time - the seconds, minutes, hours, days, and years. We may be familiar with the concepts of centuries or millennium, but for the most part, it is in the seconds, minutes, hours, days, and years where most of us are focused. We create markers of significance in various decades – turning, twenty (We can now do whatever we want!), thirty (Oh no. Why can’t I be “forever twenty-one?” And how many twenty-ninth birthdays can I have before someone notices?), fifty (This is really getting embarrassing – READ MORE
Healing the Heart: Exploring Heart Rate Variability and Trauma
Written by: Jon Keyes, Licensed Professional Counselor and Herbalist At the top of the heart, a small bundle of cells known as the sinoatrial node regularly send out an electrical impulse. The signal causes the walls of the heart to contract, sending blood into the ventricles and then out to circulate through the body. For some of us the rhythm of the heart is quite irregular and that arrhythmia can be dangerous. But small variations in heart rhythm are actually very healthy. Imagine someone who’s heart beats at 60 beats a minute, or once a second. That rate is actually not READ MORE
Essential Oil Allies: Cedarwood
Cedarwood syn. Atlas Cedar Cedrus atlantica Cedrus atlantica is one of the true cedars and is a native of the Atlas Mountains in Algeria and Morocco. Cedarwood is a member of the Pinaceae family, which includes fir, hemlock, spruce, and pine species. The essential oil of Atlas Cedarwood is distilled from the wood or saw shavings/sawdust. Cedarwood essential oil has an affinity to: the skin, the musculoskeletal system, the respiratory system, the urinary system, and, of course, the mind/emotions. Cedarwood essential oil is also one of my go-to essential oils for mosquito repellents and READ MORE
Nourishing Yourself with Ayurveda
That person, who always eats wholesome food, enjoys a regular lifestyle, remains unattached to the objects of the senses, gives and forgives, loves truth and serves others, is without disease. ---Vagbhata Sutrasthana, an ancient Vedic Text At the core of Ayurveda, the science of life from India, is dinacharya, seasonal daily routine. This is the ultimate self-care regime. Think: home spa, meditation, yoga retreat with amazing food! Dinacharya is a daily routine that you orchestrate with the help of an Ayurvedic Practitioner, or on your own, and is based on the current season, how you are READ MORE
Are Essential Oils Really That Dangerous?
I don't know about you but if I were relatively new to aromatherapy, I'd be scared! And that's not really a feeling I want to associate with aromatherapy and essential oils. Are essential oils really dangerous? There seems to be a huge pendulum swinging between rather strict and somewhat irrational safety information on one side and perhaps a degree of innocent disregard for even basic safety considerations on the other. However, I believe the over emphasis on safety simply provides yet another form of separation from what should really be emphasized: Get to know each essential oil you are READ MORE
Dry Cuticles? Make Your Own Botanical Cuticle Balm!
Don't you just hate it when your cuticles get dry? It's uncomfortable and can even be a source of stress. Making your own dry cuticle balm is simply and easy to do and your cuticles will be thanking you!!!! Utilizing shea butter in the cuticle balm helps to make the balm a bit thicker and less oily then a salve. The balm will help to prevent further moisture loss and the essential oils and herbal oil will support the healing of the skin. Ingredients for Cuticle Balm: 3 ounces (by weight) Shea butter 3 Tbsp. Calendula herbal oil (or Jojoba) 1 Tbsp. Beeswax (approx. .3 oz) 5 READ MORE
Total Solar Eclipse Aromatic Rituals
Manifest change with these Aromatic Rituals for the Total Solar Eclipse For those who live in the United States, the upcoming total solar eclipse has garnered much media attention. But, for those unfamiliar with the happenings of our sun, moon, and planets, the science behind this once-and-a-lifetime event can easily bog you down. Simply put, a total solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves directly in-between Earth and the sun, blocking out the light. Rest assured that this is one event you don’t want to miss—after all, it’s the first one visible on the mainland U.S. in 38 years! On READ MORE
Is it safe to use Wintergreen essential oil?
Wintergreen Gaultheria fragrantissima or Gaultheria procumbens Wintergreen essential oil is distilled from the leaves of Gaultheria fragrantissima (native to Asia and N. India) or the North American native species Gaultheria procumbens. These species are commonly cultivated and distilled in Nepal and Sri Lanka for production of essential oil. Wintergreen essential oil often gets a bad rap due to the presence of methyl salycilate yet it is much loved for its strong analgesic activity. Wintergreen essential oil is a powerful analgesic (relieves pain), anti-inflammatory (reduces READ MORE
Deepening your practice by deepening your relationship to plants
Learning the Language of Plants I believe that any form of plant work or plant medicine such as herbalism, aromatherapy, flower essences and cultivating plants can benefit from deepening our personal relationship with the plants. When we study academically, we learn with the left brain, we learn the plant names, their morphology, their actions, their constituents etc. all of which is human-based information. This knowledge gives us a valuable grounding and starting point but there is more to plant medicine than book learning and theory. Learning by initiation and letting the plants READ MORE