Elemental Impressions
We spent Thanksgiving Week in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, USA. I found myself intrinsically connected to the sea while there, not only the sea though, there were deeper connections to all the elements Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Theories involving the Four Elements seem to permeate virtually all cultures throughout the known world. …
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Celebrating the Winter Solstice: Embracing Light and Renewal
Well here we are, at an apex in the Wheel of the Year, the Winter Solstice Alban Arthan the light of winter, the very light of Arthur is upon us. As darkness becomes light, the shortest day of the year begins yet on the other side awaits the beginning of light, the hope of longer…
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A Community of Trees
We lived through Tropical Storm Helene here in Western North Carolina. As many know, the affects were, in most cases, beyond words. The treacherous storm that inflicted its wrath on so many in a multitude of ways, loss of life, loss of home, loss shelter, water, and food. I hear daily Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters…
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Deer – Keepers of The Forest
We have seen more deer since we moved into a less densely populated area in the middle of about an acre and a half, which may not be much by some standards, but a lot to others. For us, it’s just right. It’s not unusual at all to see anywhere from one or two upwards…
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Elemental Appreciations for Autumn
Traditionally, September 22 marks the first day of Autumn as the Equinox. Astrologically speaking, Libra, often denoted as a balance scale spans September 23 to October 22. However, Celtic tradition says Autumn (Lughnsadh pronounced LOO-nah-sah) starts around August 1 as the beginning of the harvest season. Scots would use the word Hairst (Pronounced Hair-st Hair…
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Climbing the Mountain of Life
Living in the mountains of Western Maine offered several delightful memories including breathtaking vistas all year whether verdant spring greens, a dramatic pallet of fall colors, or white cotton snow. After living near oceans, in the subtropics, and the desert southwest, my favorite place to call home remains among mountains, now the mountains of western…
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What Are Chakras Anyway?
Here are the basics. Several books and articles are available on the subject of Chakras. In its purest form, the word Chakra originated from the ancient language known as Sanskrit and means “wheel of light.” Chakras are wheels or spirals of energy interacting with layers of energy fields that interact with our physical body. For…
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Become the Butterfly
It’s been said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” Please understand, I’m not against planning and organization, they keep us focused. Consider this though, how’s our willingness to change so we can improve, grow, and strive to become our highest and greatest self? Joseph Campbell provided some sound guidance about…
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Let’s Make Ghee!
Ghee has been rightly identified as a food of the gods with a history dating back as far as 1500BCE. It has so many uses including ceremonial, medicinal, and nutritional. Among the law verses in India’s Dharmasutra, a code detailing religious and political requirements, ghee is referenced as a key element of religious rituals. It…
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Pro Active Cold & Flu Care
We hear a great deal about colds and cases of flu. With each year or season, new flu strains present themselves. Tragic stories tell of young children, elderly, and even healthy people falling victim to flu and flu-related illness. In most cases, colds and touches of flu can be overcome as long as the bugs are…
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Your Still Small Voice Within
That still small voice, the spirits, inner vision, gut feeling, sixth sense, or a hunch in my gut told me to do it. Regardless of how we refer to this phenomena, it can aid our lives in so many ways. Nurturing this gift can be very beneficial. Over the years, I’ve learned that sometimes these…
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Qigong – Low Back, Knees, & Hips
Qigong supports the whole body even when we focus on specific areas. The previous two blogs addressed the upper body and back. Though those were addressed our whole body benefits. Blood flow increases and Qi moves better as we practice regularly promoting overall well-being. The side benefits embrace so many, senses, balance, mental clarity, circulation, bodily functions, and…
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Qigong For The Back
This is the second installment on the series of blogs dedicated to Therapeutic Qigong. Practicing Qigong and Taiji promotes balance and wellness. Each part of this series addresses a specific region of the body. 36 movements make up the complete series of Therapeutic Qigong. Balance of our being is the result of proper nutrition, physical…
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Qigong For The Upper Body
This will begin a series of blogs dedicated to Therapeutic Qigong and its practice to promote balance and wellness in the daily life. Each blog in the series will address a specific region of the body. There are 36 movements in the form I’ll be sharing. Through the centuries Qigong has been taught in many…
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This Spring – Take a Natural Break
We who live in the North Country can honestly say we “survived” the last winter. Records for snow accumulation and low temperatures were broken. Now that spring is finally beginning to reveal itself, many of us find ourselves going outside to dig into and work with dirt in various ways while taking a natural break. …
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Tales for the Journey – The Calling Crows
The American Crow, found throughout North America frequents most of Canada in the summer, also caw their hearts out from California to the Carolinas and Maine to Florida year round. These brilliant birds are commonly perched in both bare and foliage-filled treetops, gathered in fields, and wandering America’s roadsides. They can outwit most birds, animals,…
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Frankincense and Myrrh For Today
I dedicate the following to my good friend and teacher Miles Coleman of Black Belt Herbs. He recently wrote of the following, prompting this blog entry. Thanks Miles! In the Christmas story, Three Wise Men offered gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. In honor of that, lets consider two of those gifts from a Traditional…
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Values of Therapeutic QiGong
QiGong (pronounced “Chi Gong”) combines physical movement and traditional therapy to help relieve illness and stress and prevent disease. This centuries old practice accelerates the whole body’s healing process, which leads to healthy living and longevity. The exercise-like movements are divided into several groups which focus on different parts of the body. It combines…
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What Is Detoxing?
Detox, a term found on boxes of herbal teas, recipes for healthier living, or even titles of dietary workshops. Detoxing, in a fundamental sense, is the process of eliminating the unnecessary or unwanted, typically from our bodies. The term becomes more popular in the fall and Spring encouraging people to do so in preparation for…
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Tales for the Journey – Live Your Dream
The French romantic, poet, novelist, and dramatist, Victor Hugo said, “There is nothing like a dream to create the future”. Humphrey Bogart, as Sam Spade in the Maltese Falcon, made the statement, “the stuff that dreams are made of” referring to the Maltese Falcon like a tangible “dream”. Finally, to round out purely arbitrary sources…
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Wholistic Living – A Glass of Water
When we exercise, receive a massage, or see our doctor we may hear, “Drink plenty of fluids,” or “Keep yourself hydrated.” Try an experiment. Take a glass of water and hold it at arm’s length. While holding the glass, consider this, how much does it weigh? Depending on the weight and size of the…
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Wholistic Living – A State of Mind
You are what you think. If you think about being sick continually, you either are or will become sick. You can place yourself in that state of being. If these statements are true then their opposites must also be true. We really are what we think. These statements ultimately relate to a state of mind,…
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Wholistic Living – Exercise Within Your Personal Bounds
These days of modern conveniences reduce our level of physical activity. We often find ourselves sitting, idly standing, or doing some sort of repetitious activity that doesn’t require much physical exertion. Changing to a healthier lifestyle includes a level of exercise that works for you. These days of modern conveniences reduce our level of physical…
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Messages from Nature – Bear Facts On Introspection
As the winter cold arrives and the snow begins to blow, it’s time to embrace what Native Americans call Bear Medicine, a time to go within. Introspection can be both rewarding and challenging. Bears embrace myths, legends, movies, cartoons, ageless stories. Even Smokey Bear, has brought awareness to the public to protect forests from careless…
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Be A Tree
Joyce Kilmer penned the inspirational words, “I think I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.” Trees have captivated me as long as I remember. As a boy of five or six, I remember climbing a tree at my auntʼs and uncleʼs home in southwest Michigan. I loved the smell. Too young to…
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What’s On Your Platter?
I recently watched Food, Inc. If you haven’t taken the time to watch it, you should. It’s undoubtedly an eye-opener and causes the viewer to ponder what they are eating. Rather than focus on all the thought provoking facts this film brought out, I leave that as the teaser for you to see for yourself.…
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Help for Insomnia
So, what do you do for insomnia? I write. Seriously, this all started when I wrote my book. Most of it was written between 3:00 and 6:00 in the morning. That’s my creative time. Sunday’s “internal alarm clock” went off at 3:45. Now, as an herbalist, I would suggest you (perhaps that could also be…
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A New Beginning
I had a professor in college who enjoyed the reference to life being a series of “new beginnings”. Well, after three years of this blog, I’ve made changes to it to become a writing platform, hopefully not just full of just platitudes and meanderings, but more as thoughts to press us on to further thought,…
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Wanderings in Search of Weeds
I do realize that a weed, by definition, is a plant in a place where it doesn’t belong. Who decided that anyway. Can’t a plant grow where it wishes or does it require a planting permit like societies and municipal governments require building permits? But I digress. In the last month, I’ve enjoyed watching the…
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Infusions and Decoctions
Infusions and decoctions are methods for preparing herbal teas and formulations which can address specific conditions promoting overall wellness for an individual. While they each may have a variety uses, they differ in the methods of preparation. Depending on the parts used plants and herbs may need to be infused or decocted. Teas are a…
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Seeing With Our Heart
There was once a young man who lived his life simply without following the crowd by keeping up with the latest clothing styles, electronic gadgetry, and other external expressions until one day when things began to change. It was a beautiful spring day. The young man was struck by the beauty of the young woman…
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Wholistic Living – Summer Foods Are Cool
A major factor for optimum health is maintaining balance. Part of balance depends on what we consume at certain times of the year. This may also vary by where we live geographically. In the heat of the summer, generally, we should focus on consuming cooler foods by their energy or…
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Tales for the Journey – The Lazy Smile
Smiles have enjoyed notoriety through many venues over the years. A familiar statistic says that it takes 43 muscles to frown but only 17 muscles to smile, so we should just smile more. It takes a lot less effort. A man pointed out to me years ago that a spiritual person…
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Wholistic Living – Listening to Our Bodies
A dear friend of mine, who crossed over several years ago, used to say, “You should learn to listen to your body. It’ll tell you what it needs.” Then she explained how many have forgotten how to listen to our bodies. Sweets (often called “empty sweets” because their nutritional…
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Tales For The Journey – Planting Seeds
Seeds and seedlings have been planted. Now comes the time of the caretaker, to cultivate, weed, protect against predators, and nourish so the seeds grow into plants. Those plants in turn will mature to produce the desired fruit, and so grows the garden. At the end of this cycle we harvest the…
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Tales for the Journey – The Work Within
The daffodils’ brilliant colors, the leaves sprout from their roots, and sleepy burdock wakes from its winter slumber to share and enjoy spring. These plants now begin to show their fruits of their unseen labors, their labors that began from within. Ever stop to consider all the work that went on behind the scenes, the…
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Spirits of the Land
“You know, I think if people stay somewhere long enough … the spirits will begin to speak to them. It’s the power of the spirits coming from the land. The spirits and the old powers aren’t lost, they just need people to be around long enough and the spirits will begin to influence them.” Thus…
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Benefits From Observing Nature
We connect with spirit in many ways. Art expresses the inner self while music transports to realms of new insights and self-discovery. Observing nature also opens horizons of new perspectives as we progressively move through life. Nature can whisk us on to the very core of our spirit and soul. Connecting with nature through mindful…
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