~ Lavender ‘N Chocolate ~

Autumn brings so many gifts and teachings to help us along our path. Sometimes it just takes opening our eyes, hearts, minds and spirits to our surroundings. My mood seems to fluctuate more during this transitional Season of Autumn/Winter. I also seem to eat a lot more chocolate! My store of this delectable sweet treat is dwindling, and I am on the hunt for something special to satisfy my eternal cravings for chocolate. I have found that lavender is a great companion to chocolate and since I am in a festive mood for giving, I am going to get some Vegan Organic Lavender Dark Chocolate Heart Truffles.They come in an absolutely lovely gift box, so I am adding these lovelies to my list for my daughters and my sister as well.

Vegan Organic Lavender Dark Chocolate Heart Truffles

~ Beautiful Handmade Lavendar Gift Box
~ Lavender Dark Chocolate Truffle Hearts
~ Truffles are individually wrapped in purple foil
~ Certified Organic, Certified Vegan and Fair Trade Certified

A beautiful handmade box is filled with lucious creamy vegan dark chocolate lavender truffles. The truffles come in a heart shape wrapped in lavender foil. They are also a certified Fair Trade product which means by purchasing these products you are directly supporting a better life for farming families through fair trade prices, direct trade community development and enviromental stewardship. (www.fairtradecertified.org)

Well then, all I can say is yummmm! My mouth is watering just thinking about these delicious little truffles, so I think I had better get some, and seek out my secret chocolate stash whilst I am waiting for my Vegan Organic Lavender Dark Chocolate Heart Trufflesto arrive… Enjoy!

This has been a very busy start to a new year for me. I homeschool my daughter, the youngest of my four offspring, 3 of which are adults. We are busy going over her academic materials so she can get through her mandatory testing of the 5th grade. As I work from home, I am free to do as I please with my time, yet I have 5 grandchildren ranging from 5 weeks to 8 years old. The newborn, her 3 year old brother, and their parents live with my youngest daughter and I, so as most parents (and grandparents) can imagine, we have a very busy little hive around here!

Since I am proactive, and love to play with the little ones, I tend to push myself pretty hard at times. Life is just too short to waste any of these precious moments, and I strongly feel it is important to make the most of our time as it flows by. Erego, I do get a bit overwhelmed at times (yes, the unthinkable happens to me too, and my family is usually at a loss when I turn myself off and go into self-pamper mode, but they’ll survive!).

So, what do I do to relax? Well, like I have mentioned before, I love to do my Qigong and gather Life Force Energy to keep myself in balance. I also place a bit of lavender under my pillow to get the wonderful benefits of the healing energies lavender carries. It is good to have a nice sachet of lavender handy for a moment in our day when we need to give our senses a bit of a reprieve as well.

Yet the most beneficial thing a busy woman (or man) can do for our bodies as well as our senses, is to take a nice, soothing, long hot bath! Hands down, this is the best way to really relax and let our busy bodies and minds have a chance to find that place of peace which brings us back into perfect balance. Masada Bath Salts, Relaxing Lavender, Dead Sea Mineral is a special treat I found to pamper myself in a way that gives me complete privacy in my quiet time. No one dares enter my space during bath time, so I am certain to get that which I need to keep me sane.

Life on this planet throws a lot of stuff our way (and it is not all peaches and cream), and as the Matriarch of my family, I need to keep myself in top shape to allow me to handle any situation that comes my way with a clear mind, sharp senses, and a whole lot of wisdom! Give me a few precious moments to myself, and I am good to go! So here I go to run that delicious hot bath and thank the heavens for me time!

This is a friendly reminder to take the time to pamper yourself. If you are always busy, even if you don’t have such a big and active family as I do, then you too need a bit of self indulgence to balance out the hectic moments Life throws your way. So do yourself a big favour and go run a really hot bath, throw in some of your favourite scents and salts in and enjoy!

Pills and potions are promoted and taken with too little thought of the end result. I firmly believe that regular exercise, a healthy lifestyle, and natural products are the best long-term strategy for staying healthy. High cholesterol and stress are two factors that can lead to heart and circulation problems.

Let’s take a look at a few natural strategies and options for creating a healthy atmosphere within our bodies, and giving us a priceless sense of well being.

Aromatic Foot Bath to Support Healthy Circulation

4 drops Wild Rosemary
2 drops Geranium
2 drops Eucalyptus
1 Tbs Mixing Oil

Bowl with cold water…

Add the mixture into the bowl, put feet in, and soak for 5 to 10 minutes. Colder water may increase circulation by causing local stimulation.

Feeling Pressure?

4 drops Lavender
2 drops Ylang Ylang
2 drops Clary Sage

Put the drops on the tissue and inhale a few times. You can also add the mixture to 2 Tbs of Massage Lotion and gently massage the chest and back.

Tonic to Support Healthy Veins

6 drops Cypress
1 drop Lemon
1 drop Bergamot
2 cups cold water

In a small bowl, add the oils to the water. Swish a soft fabric in the bowl. Gently apply fabric to legs.

For relaxation, you may wish to try a sedating massage using Neroli, Lavender, or Ylang Ylang.

Enjoy!

**Special Note – As always, use good sense and be very certain of your allergies. Always consult your health care provider or naturapathic before using any new herbal treatment.

A gentle and tender touch is essential in passing along our feelings of love to those who are dear to us. Adults are fond of massage, so you may be certain that babies respond with pleasure to the soothing touch through gentle massage. This will help create a foundation which is secure, loving and giving as well. Let us consider the tremendous value and everlasting benefits in caring for our babies in this way. I have always loved touching and kissing my babies, and they have never gone without feeling my love and care.

Baby massage – helps circulation and enhances body function, however the most important factor is providing you and your baby with very enjoyable moments and memories. It is natural for a mother to give a massage and natural for a baby to receive it. The most suitable oils for babies are Lavender and Roman chamomile. Both oils will help with most aspects of your baby’s problems. Massage may help calm an over-active child and can help promote healthy sleep, ease stomach problems, prevent diaper rash, and soften skin. Use 2 to 3 drops of essential oils in a small cup of warm mixing oil.

Studies are showing that massaged babies are more alert, sleep better, gain weight faster, and look happier. Use this knowledge to spend more memorable and quality time with your precious one.

Lavender is a versatile and much underused herb for cooking. In today’s up market restaurants and bistros, fresh edible flowers are making a comeback as enhancements to both the flavour and appearance of food.

Try adding a few to your Herbes de Provence mixture – you’ll be amazed at the subtle yet extraordinary difference Lavender will make.

As a member of the same family as many of our most popular herbs, it is not surprising that lavender is edible and that its use in food preparation is also returning. Flowers and leaves can be used fresh or dried, and both buds and stems can be used dried. Lavender is a member of the mint family and is close to rosemary, sage, and thyme. It is best used with fennel, oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage, and savory.

English Lavender (L. angustifolia in general and Munstead/Hidcote varieties, in particular when freshly picked) have the sweetest fragrance of all the lavenders and is the one most commonly used in cooking. The uses of lavender are limited only by your imagination. Lavender has a sweet, floral flavor, with lemon and citrus notes. The potency of the lavender flowers increases with drying. In cooking, use 1/3 the quantity of dried flowers to fresh. The key to cooking with lavender is to experiment; start out with a small amount of flowers, and add more as you go.

NOTE: Adding too much lavender to your recipe can be like eating perfume and will make your dish bitter. Because of the strong flavour of lavender, the secret is that a little goes a long way.

The lavender flowers add a beautiful colour to salads. Lavender can also be substituted for rosemary in many bread recipes. The flowers can be put in sugar and sealed tightly for a couple of weeks then the sugar can be substituted for ordinary sugar for a cake, buns or custards. Grind the lavender in a herb or coffee grinder or mash it with mortar and pestle.

The spikes and leaves of lavender can be used in most dishes in place of rosemary in most recipes. Use the spikes or stems for making fruit or shrimp kebabs.

Flowers look beautiful and taste good too in a glass of champagne, with chocolate cake, or as a garnish for sorbets or ice creams. Lavender lends itself to savoury dishes also, from hearty stews to wine-reduced sauces. Diminutive blooms add a mysterious scent to custards, flans or sorbets.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ: Do NOT eat flowers from florists, nurseries or garden centers or do so at your own risk. In many cases these flowers have been treated with pesticides, not labeled for food crops. Edible Lavender has been tested for microbial activity and is almost always greyish blue, not the bright blue of the dried Lavender bunches you see in florists which have usually had their colour augmented (dyed in other words) Such dyed Lavender is not suitable for ingestion.

Note – Information and statements regarding Aromatherapy have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health condition or disease. Contact your Health Care provider or Naturapathic immediately if you suspect that you have a medical problem, or may be prone to an allergic reaction.

One historic piece of wisdom proclaims, “Food nourishes the body, however flowers heal the soul”. In many ways, these two needs are inseparable. You have to feed your body to stay physically healthy and you have to feed your psyche to stay emotionally healthy. Essential oils play an important role in affecting mood, emotions, or memory. We already know about the connection between an olfactory cell and limbic brain system. Inhalation is a method by which essential oils quickly enter the body and take effect – to help the body heal itself. Essential oils may influence the human psyche by interacting with the nervous system, environment, and one’s personal will. Essential oils can control psychological changes in the human body through direct interaction with body systems, or they may produce learned psychological response. Learned responses may be different in each person or culture.

There are two different theories about how essential oils affect human psyche

Reflective theory assumes that essential oils influence the olfactory system and the sense of smell. The olfactory nerves have receptor sites that are stimulated by specific chemical components in particular essential oils. The stimulated receptors send signals to the brain, especially to the part of brain (amygdala and hippocampus) where the regulation of emotion, memory, sleep circle, or sexuality are affected.

While the Reflective Theory only requires interaction with olfactory epithelum, the Systemic theory assumes that essential oils interact directly with the brain and other systems of the body. People can also have learned psychological responses to essential oils by relating them with specific pleasant or unpleasant experiences. Memories can create or evoke change in the brain and psyche. For example, pine needle oil may bring back pleasant memories of Christmas, and these enjoyable memories can influence happy emotions.

Thus, the right essential oil may help with human emotions – happiness, anger, fear, sadness. Essential oils may influence the Autonomic Nervous System, which is part of the Peripheral Nervous System, and controls the involuntary functions of organs such as the heart, blood vessels, lungs, bladder, glands and gastrointestinal tract etc. There are three main divisions of the autonomic nervous system: the Sympathetic and the Parasympathetic, Systems which provide a dual mechanism for controlling internal organs, and the Enteric System that regulates the activity of the gut.

The Sympathetic Nervous System can be described as a “fight or flight response.” Stimulation of this part can cause the hands to sweat, the heart rate to increase, or the blood pressure to rise. The Parasympathetic System is often described as a “rest and digest” movement. It may help digestion and relaxation, while decreasing the blood pressure.

Today, human beings are challenged by a stressful lifestyle that leads to tension and stress. Some essential oils may act on the Parasympathetic Nervous System to help the body relax and calm down. Some essential oils may invigorate the body or senses. Examples of stimulating essential oils are jasmine, basil, clove, geranium, lemongrass, and peppermint. Examples of sedative essential oils are lavender, chamomile, marjoram, and sandalwood. We might say that pleasant odors help ease feelings of tension, fear or confusion.

Mood can affect our memory, cognition and behavior. When you are in a good mood, you are more optimistic. You can learn faster and pay more attention to one’s studies. Why not use essential oils to help enhance your behavior, memory or learning process?

Aromas are able to evoke vivid memories of the past. The odors around us can bring about memory retrieval. With the help of essential oils, we may influence the memories of our past. Essential oils can support your children’s study progress and aid in memory functions. The door is open…

**Stay tuned for part two… coming soon!

Let’s explore a few simple techniques, precautions and uses of Lavender…

For internal use, it is not recommended that you use the essential oil unless you have a home still and knowledge of the distillation process and can make your own. You cannot be sure how purchased oil was grown and using it could make you very nauseous, so be very certain of the quality source. However, lavender flowers make a relaxing and refreshing tea which has the same basic medicinal properties. A weak infusion sweetened with honey was a traditional treatment for insomnia, irritability and nervous headache. Lavender acts as a sedative to both the nervous system and the respiratory tract.

Inhaling the essential oil has been used to induce relaxation and sleep, ease symptoms of depression and reduce headache pain. Its sedative action is amazingly strong and often, just by opening a bottle of oil in a confined space, people in the room visibly relax.

Externally lavender oil is one of the safest essential oils and can be used full strength on the skin. It works well and can be applied directly for cuts, scrapes, wounds, burns, bee, wasp, and insect stings, rashes, muscle aches, rheumatism, arthritis, cold sores, canker sores, blisters, bruises, athlete’s foot, and rubbed directly into the temples in case of headache or migraine. A few drops of oil rubbed on the temples was considered effective for insomnia and nervous headache.

**Note – As always, use good sense and be very certain of your allergies. Always consult your health care provider or naturapathic before using any new herbal treatment.

It is said that placing lavender under ones pillow brings about restful sleep, and sweet Dreams. This can be especially soothing if one is prone to get headaches, as I am. I am lucky in that I have a good supply of lavender flowers to place in sachets under my pillow, as well as in my drawers to draw the wonderful fresh scent into my clothing. I also like to burn the flowers to cleanse my home, disrupting the negative energy, and replacing it with the positive feminine energy in which lavender brings.

Although I have a good supply of lavender through friends and such, I would like to try growing it on my own this spring. I truly believe this will have a significant meaning in bringing about healing, in that it will mean that much more having grown it on my own. I love to grow things, and our home is full of green plants. Growing plants also manifests good energy in our homes, and this can feel quite rewarding and is beneficial to our wellbeing.

I also like to carry a sachet of lavender in my purse or pocket, so that if I feel stressed or tense I can just pull it out and inhale the wonderful healing scent. During times of grief this can be especially beneficial, as it brings about a sense of peace, and seems to have a sweet calming effect.

So, whether you are awake or asleep, I truly believe the healing properties of lavender will bring you good feelings, restful sleep, and Sweet Dreams. And the greatest thing is that lavender is a great scent for both men and women, so the men on the planet needn’t be shy about utilizing this amazing herb.

Can you imagine the wonderful and subtle taste lavender can bring to your favourite desert? Lavender is an edible flower that adds a great flavour to ice cream and chocolates. If you are making truffles, you can flavour them by adding the lavender to the cream as it scalds. Strain the flowers out of the cream before adding the cream to the chocolate. Making home made ice cream is a breeze, and if you are like me, you love to experiment with new flavours.

In order to make lavender ice cream, you will need:

1 1/2 cups of milk
1 1/2 cups of cream
Half of a vanilla bean split length wise
1/3 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of lavender flowers chopped

~ Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean and add the seeds and pod to a saucepan with the milk, cream, and lavender flowers. Bring to a scald.

~ Remove the pan from the heat and let cool.

~ Using a Bain Marie, whisk the eggs and sugar together until the sugar dissolves.

~ Very slowly, add the milk to the eggs.

~ Cook the mixture until it begins to thicken.

~ Remove from the heat and let cool.

~ Strain the liquid.

~ Chill the mixture for one hour.

~ Add the mixture to your ice cream maker.

Simple and delicious! What a delightful way to enjoy my favourite herb. You can even add some dark chocolate to the recipe to make a great chocolate chip ice cream. I will be sure to share some more simple recipes soon. Meanwhile, enjoy!

We all agree that pregnancy is a special time in a woman’s life. It is also a time when a woman pays special attention to her body. Aromatherapy has specific applications that can enrich your experience while bringing a new life into the world. Here are a few simple methods that may be helpful.

Morning Sickness -

Morning sickness is often the first sign of pregnancy. It can range from a mild annoyance to one of the most unpleasant experiences of pregnancy. Try putting 1-2 drops of peppermint oil on a tissue and inhale periodically.

Stretch Marks -

Stretch marks may be alleviated with a gentle massage using essential oils. Massage helps to increase elasticity and preserve the skin’s normal texture.

4 drops lavender
4 drops roman chamomile
4 drops of Tangerine
1 oz of Mixing oil

Use the above mixture in a gentle massage twice a day.

Foot bath -

Make a simple foot bath to relieve pain and help with swollen legs.

10 drops of lavender
5 drops of cypress
Bowl of warm water

Disperse oils in water, put your feet in and relax for 10-15 min.

Every moment in life is so very precious, so be sure to take the time to care for and pamper yourself. Enjoy!

**Note – As always, use good judgement and know your allergies! If you think you may have an allergic reaction to any herbs or oils mentioned, be sure to check with your naturapathic or health care provider before applying anything new.