Writing Inspired by Nature

Tulsi growing in the garden, early August.

Earth Day: On Plants and Their “USES”

What’s a plant “good for”? This brief article considers how plants exist for themselves and are beings to cherish and work with, not use.

Common Basil growing in the late August garden

Plant Talk with Basil Essential Oil

There is much to know and love about Basil. This Plant Talk article features Sweet Basil’s many virtues, highlighting Basil essential oil and how to incorporate it into essential oil blends and life overall!

Dilution Rates and the Concentrated Nature of Essential Oils

Ever notice how dilution rates are often cited in aromatherapy formulas and recipes yet it is often vague on how the rates were derived? This has always gotten to me so I decided to look into it.

Blending Essential Oils: Synergy, Additivity and Antagonism

Have you wondered if an essential oil (EO) can “cancel out” another essential oil when blending 2 or more EOs? It’s a question that often arises when someone embarks upon the art blending! The answer is multivalent just as an essential oil and the practice of aromatherapy is. My fun

A herbal tisane featuring a blend of elderberry, rosehips, hawthorn berries and other immune boosting herbs.

Gloriously Aromatic Herbal Teas

Let’s get right to it. We know we need to stay hydrated, and THE best way is through drinking water and eating fruits and vegetables. Yet sometimes we need a little bit more, sometimes we need to drink herbal tea. A client said we were “drinking flowers” (!) when I

How to Smell an Essential Oil

Aromatherapy. Essential Oil Therapy. What do those mean? How do you start to learn about essential oils? This video takes you through a journey of scent recognition, memory formation and aromatic molecules’ impact on mood and physical states including the nervous system. But that’s not the main reason for the

Plant Talk with Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

Oh Ylang ylang! Often times called “flower of flowers” and “poor man’s Jasmine” it is one of the few aromatic flowers that can be distilled to obtain an essential oil. Many floral “oils” of aromatherapy and natural perfumery are technically “absolutes”, which are traditionally solvent extracted. Why is this so?

Finding Alchemical Gold

Alchemy is often referenced when discussing the Arts of Distillation, Herbalism and Aromatherapy. All of these practices involve practical transformation such as tincture making and distillation. They also embody the axiom that energy is neither created nor destroyed, where energy may be transmuted on practical (physical), conceptual and spiritual levels. This energy ebbs and flows through, and is, the Universe. Some seek mastery of one or more of these and other Arts to connect with the Divine. Is the Divine within or outside the self? Found through mastering an Art? Does it lurk in processes or mind-sets? This essay explores these questions through the lens of transformative Arts such as Alchemy.

Plant Talk with Laurel Essential Oil

Can you remember your first encounter with a specific plant and its essential oil? Laurel is one I still feel in my bones. To this day the same sensation arises each time I am with essential oil of Laurus nobilis. It helps me release the ideas of “should” and “could.” It gives me a gap, just enough, to boldly smile, laugh and say out loud that “I don’t care!” This power—boldness with humor—generates a lightness and drive, allowing me to emerge from the muck and mire of the paltry mind into an inner vitality that embodies the true meaning of Carpe Diem. This article is an invitation to spend more time with Laurel and its empowering essential oil.

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