Candle Gazing Ritual for the Winter Solstice
As we near the end of 2021, it is a natural process to examine and reflect upon duality of life this past year. Love and loss, growth and gain, pain and suffering, birth and death. It is both the light and the shadow, the yin and the yang (in Chinese philosophy) that comprise the cycle…
Vegan Lip Balm
Vegan Lip Balm The season of cold weather, and windy days is upon us. These weather conditions can lead to dry skin and chapped lips. In this article you will find an easy aromatic recipe created by our director, Jade Shutes. Not only does it smell fabulous but it uses no animal products. Learn how…
Safety and Essential Oils
With so much emphasis these days on safety and essential oils, it seems that the challenge isn’t really about “more safety” but rather how shall we relate to it? How shall we interpret it so that it makes sense in our practice or general use of essential oils? And how shall we find balance within…
Article Review: Essential oil therapy & Dementia
My grandmother had dementia. In the decade before she passed away she didn’t know what day it was, where she was in the world, and, after I cut my hair, who I was. She’d circle her way through the same handful of conversational loops, and I’d play a game where I tried to elicit new…
Aromatic Slippery Elm Lozenges
Recently my son was experiencing a sore throat which was then diagnosed as tonsillitis and, thankfully, negative for strep. I decided, amongst other palliative tools we were using, to make him aromatic slippery elm lozenges. I chose slippery elm specifically for its power to soothe and moisten the tissue of the throat and to reduce…
Article Review: Chamomile-Lavender Aromatherapy and Music Therapy Reduces Anxiety in Clinical Nurses
Nurses are no strangers to stress, anxiety, and burnout. Even at the best of times these afflictions can wreak havoc on quality of life and work performance (Jennings, 2008). And the Covid Era is, well, hardly the best of times. Anxiety, defined as “an excessive and uncontrollable worry,” is of particular concern among nurses: it…
