Essential Aromatica

This episode highlights Elizabeth Ruth of Herbology East and West's: Lotus, Lady and Verse. Join us as we get "into the stacks" and talk about plants, books and more books. What DOES it take to be a book worthy of reading? Of purchasing and putting on your shelf? Of going back to over and over again?* When I step back and think about our conversation a few words shine through: credibility and standards. 

Elizabeth's extensive background as a Landscape designer and Librarian informs her current practice of reading and reviewing plant-themed books, related to (but not limited to) Herbalism and Aromatherapy. Her life-long love of herbs and plants in general has also lead her to pursuing certifications in Herbalism from the East West School of Planetary Herbology and Aromatherapy from Aromatic Studies (Level 1 & 2). 

Get in-touch with Elizabeth and read her reviews at Herbology East and West's Lotus, Lady and Verse. Also find her on Instagram.

*Note: Check out worldcat.com to really get into the stacks. A great resource Elizabeth shared with me after our recorded conversation.

As Lavender season comes to an end I found it's time to reflect upon the virtues of the many "Lavenders" out there. This episode is inspired by my recent class "The Lavenders", which celebrates the virtues of several of "The Lavenders": Lavandula angustifolia, Lavandula latifolia, Lavandula x intermedia with a shout out to Lavandula stoechas. One Lavender is not better than another, they all just are. Plants are beings expressing themselves, existing and adapting in the climate and location their roots are in. 

Prepare a cup of cold infused lavender tea! I look forward to your joining the Lavenders and me.

This episode highlights Yvette Ramos-Volz, founder of BotanicAromatica and The Glass Room. Yvette, a driver and facilitator of change, is the creator of the trademarked, arts-based coaching model called Living Life, in the Meantime. This intensive model is a driver of her vision for integrating botanicals (including Aromatherapy) and the creative process of working with stained glass. 

Our conversation begins with plants: inspiration from the garden captured in infusions! She shares how aromatherapy came into her life to assist in navigating changes and stress. Underlying themes of the discussion are the importance of Aromatherapy as a supporting modality, synergy, integration, intuition and "coming into your own." We reflect on how aromatherapy is everywhere: when we cook, walk up to a pine tree and more. 

Yevette's weaving of change, process, glass (i.e., the similar fragility of glass to the mind) and botanicals left me refreshed and inspired, as I hope you are too after listening to this episode!  

Get in-touch with Yvette and find out more about her at The Glass Room and BotanicAromatica and on Instagram at @theglassroomnj and @botanicaromatica.

This episode highlights Jackie Kaplan of Nuda Botanica. She is a tea blender, aromatherapist, Master in Food Culture & Communications, a meditation teacher-in-training...and much more!  Topics include being curious, knowing ingredients (What are you eating? What are you putting on your body?), "objectification of essential oils," blending (!) and trusting yourself. For me, our conversation reinforced how paying attention & stepping back gives us space to notice nuance, learn, receive and grow. 

We get personal and share stories: sometimes all you need is your breath, awareness and a little Vetiver (Jackie) or Ginger (Amy) oil for grounding when you're feeling unsettled. 

Get in-touch with Jackie and find out more about Nuda Botanica on the web and Instagram.

May is the month of the "Flower Moon," when "all plants display their spirit sides for all the world to see." This episode explores how spirit is bolstered by confidence and playfulness. German chamomile is a plant emblematic of this! Join me as I wax away and slip into the realms of an e.e.cummings poem: "I am too busy with my flowers to believe, the rain answered." Go ahead, make yourself a cup of chamomile tea and set a spell...

Spend time with Candice Forness, a holistic healer from a lineage of healers, and Amy Anthony as they discuss the life-changing potential and depth of essential oils and aromatherapy. Candice’s versatile practice focuses on holding space, lifting people up and fortifying the mind-body connection through a multitude of healing arts. As she puts it, we can be Cerebral AND Organic at the same time. She shares how we can get on our own “Beauty Cloud” to meet ourselves again and be deeply inside ourselves. Things get deeper (!) when she shares how “the integrity of the molecule” reinforces HOW we treat ourselves, the Earth and others profoundly impacts…everything.

Get in-touch with Candice and find out more about her at CANDICEFORNESS.COM

The month of April sings songs of cleansing and growth; songs incorporating the wisdom of Grasses. This episode features the sunny & incredibly cleansing Lemongrass! Look forward to Grass-inspired thoughts about growth and cleansing with discernment.

Of course I get into Saint George's soup! I forgot to mention the fresh, minced Ginger! OH MY! I wish you were there to smell the Lemongrass infusion AND the heaping tablespoons of fresh Ginger as it was being sautéed to bring out the aromatic components!!!!  

Here are resources for making your own sugar scrub & fizzing bath bombs! Check out the monthly New Moon Aroma Salon for access to lunar inspiration.

Happy April Fools! But there is no fooling around about the touchy subject of "there's and oil for that"! Join me as I scratch the surface of pondering the limitations of essential oils, where they do in fact shine and how essential oils and "consumption" don't go together very well. Tied into the aforementioned topic is soup making and the heart-breaking essential oil of the Neroli flower. 

Have you ever wondered why Aromatherapy is called, “Aromatherapy?” Is it curious to consider how an essential oil may not be “essential” to a plant and that it isn’t oily feeling? Is it possible essential oils have a lot more to communicate than odor alone? Join me during this episode to ponder the aforementioned topics and geek out over aromatics. 

Pssst!!! Access the Guided Mediation and Free Intro Class mentioned in the episode!

Note: Photo by @liam_dom

March is upon us and Spring is “champing at the bit.” Water, associated with intuition, is rising and running, the sap is flowing in the Maple trees. Birds are coming home and the soil slowly awakens. There may even be some eagerness in the air that goes along with “Spring Awakening”. Revel with me in Spring’s burgeoning flow by musing over March's lunar themes of sensuality, the languidness of Ylang ylang and tapping into those qualities by “living through the senses.” 

Are you looking for more lunar inspiration? Read more about the New Moon Aroma Salon.