DRAGONFLY HERBALS & REIKI

4 of us sending distance healing on the forum

2012-02-01T12:20:00.000-08:00

We have a group of four of us sending each other distance healing on the reiki forum now. My students & I have found that many people sending reiki energy for a common purpose, in this case healing & manifesting goals, is very powerful! So nice to do when its difficult to get together in person.

Anyone else with at least level 1 reiki can join in at:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

JANUARY WALK IN THE WOODS, part 2 of 4

2012-01-31T07:21:00.000-08:00

Yellow dock seeds. I harvest these in the early fall to put in infusions for immune system. They are easy to

harvest, you just slide your hand up the stem to collect them. However, there tend to be a lot of spiders on

the stems, might want to give the branch a shake first.

These 2 photos were taken in the summer. I did see several eagles today though, just didn't get a picture of them. They seemed to be doing a lot of aggressive flying around after each other today & later in the day 2 of them were chasing each other through my yard.

Wild roses & hips. I generally harvest the hips in the fall, they are pretty soggy at this time of year.

Rose hips. I actually prefer the rose petals over the hips. I make a rose petal tincture to use for pain relief that tastes wonderful.

Holly & its red berries.

Leave & a bit of ice. It is just cold enough for there to a bit of ice, although our snow from last week is gone.

Yellow cedar & snow from mid January. We went up on the trails & looked at all the little animal footprints in the snow. An easier way to know what kind of animals are walking about in the woods -- when you can see their footprints.

Red Cedar -- Thuja. I use the ends of the branches to make a tincture for immune system.

Part 3 of this January walk in the woods will be posted in a few days.

If you have questions or comments on herbs, plants & remedies, please join my herbal forum.

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

Getting your immune system in order & choosing the right herb for your body type

2012-01-28T15:00:00.000-08:00

With all the super germs floating around out there, everyone should be working on getting their immune system in good working order and have herbs on hand to help their immune system cope when they are feeling a little under the weather.

We cover this in detail throughout much of the 8 month herbalist course. For those of you with herbal experience I am going to offer an online workshop on my forum in March on the Trees & many of those trees I will discuss will be helpful to the immune system.

One easy way for anyone to kill existing germs that are brewing in your body after being exposed to someone who is sick is to use raw garlic. The garlic has to be raw, cooked garlic is a seasoning, it doesn't have medicinal benefits. You can throw a clove of garlic in the juicer along with a bunch of veggies, or make a nice spicy salsa with some raw garlic, or just chop up some garlic & swallow it. If you are feeling sick, you can do this several times a day if that agrees with you.

Using Elderberry is a wonderful way to modulate your immune system. So by using Elderberry you can get your immune system to work better. In our herb class we will be getting some dried elder berries, mixing them honey & pouring vodka over them to make a very tasty elixir.

We will discuss how to correctly use Echinacea to get it work for you. A lot of times people just aren't taking enough or taking some that is inferior quality. I prefer the roots only, and never capsules of dried herb, tincture made from roots is usually great.

Since we all have different constitutions many of us need one type of remedy such as elderberry to get over a cold. And others need something else. For some people, taking 50 mg of zinc will boost their immune system enough to keep them from getting sick. I suspect these people are deficient in zinc and once that is supplied in the right amount their immune system starts functioning correctly again.

Once of my students found that Pau d'arco is what has kept her immune system working properly. It may be that she was getting sick all the time from candida & the Pau d' arco has addressed that.

Calendula can be used for the immune system, I often make a tincture from the flowers, but also use the petals on salads.

This shows you how learning about a wide variety of herbs & ways to apply them for each person's needs is what is needed for using herbs correctly. I think a lot of times people think herbs don't work, but they've just used the wrong kind of herb for their body type, or the wrong dose, or a poor quality herb. So if you are comfortable working with the herbs & have that knowledge behind you, it becomes much easier to find the right herbs for the right purpose.

If you'd like to learn more about medicinal uses of herbs to use on yourself, friend, family, pets, or clients, take my 8 month distance learning herbalist course. Course work is posted on my forum. Much more info on my website.
www.dragonflyherbals.com

Or sign up her for the 8 month herbal, other herbal workshops held online, and reiki & chakra healing workshops:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

JANUARY WALK IN THE WOODS, part 1 of 4

2012-01-28T07:06:00.000-08:00

I encourage my herb students to go outside & observe the plants in all seasons. At this time of year we tend to think nothing much is available for noticing much less for harvesting. I have been harvesting several plants as I need them this winter, mostly for immune system.

Yesterday I took an old salt lamp up to the woods, it was crumbling & falling apart, so I decided to give it to the deer! Deer can use the himalayan salt as a salt lick. I left it under a big tree for them to find.

Join me on a walk on some trails:

ARBUTUS TREE WITH PEELING BARK, I love the feel of these trees, they are so smooth, and

when its raining the bark underneath looks really orange.

Alder leaf on a maple leaf.

Alder cones

Alder catkins

Chickadee on a cherry tree

If you have questions or comments on herbs, plants & remedies, please join my herbal forum.

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

Cleansing Manual: Detox Manual $10

2012-01-24T15:07:00.000-08:00

Dragonfly Herbals Cleansing Manual $10, as a .pdf attachment, available for sale on my website

This is a 17 page manual explaining how to design your own cleanse. It covers:

What is cleansing?
Nutritional choices during cleansing.
What is fasting?
What type of cleanse is best for me?
Why health food store cleanses are harmful.
How long to cleanse, how to break a cleanse.
Bowel cleansing.
3 day outline for food choices during a cleanse.
Specific food choices for cleansing.
What NOT to eat.
Herbs & supplements for cleansing.
Recipes: shake, raw crackers, almond milk, raw cereal.

I am offering a workshop on my forum that will cover all of this & you will have an opportunity to ask questions if you are not familiar with doing a cleanse.

If you are interested in the workshop online, please register on my forum:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

If you'd like to learn more about medicinal uses of herbs to use on yourself, friend, family, pets, or clients, take my 8 month distance learning herbalist course. Course work is posted on my forum. Much more info on my website.

www.dragonflyherbals.com

Or sign up her for the 8 month herbal, other herbal workshops held online, and reiki & chakra healing workshops:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

Free areas of discussion on my forum

2012-01-20T13:07:00.000-08:00

Here's the new setup to my forum, which includes free open discussion areas:

The reiki forum will be a place for those who have been attuned to at least reiki level 1 to discuss subjects related to reiki, and share distance healing. There are workshops available for a small fee as well.

The Herbal forum is a place for general discussions related to herbalism. For those with health questions & those wanting herbal knowledge I offer an 8 month herbalist course on this forum. I am also offering workshops on the forum for those who already have a basis in herbal knowledge.

The forum is located here:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

You are welcome to register an account there & familiarize yourself with how to use it.

I would like this to be a space of loving support, non-judgmental to give everyone a chance to enrich their herbal or reiki studies & practices.

Below is how the forum is set up:

DRAGONFLY HERBALS & REIKI Forum :: Home

Forum Name
General
	General information How to use this forum, some basic rules & information. Moderator: LIN
	WAITING LIST FOR CHAKRA COURSE Please leave a message in here if you are interested in joining in the chakra course or have questions.
	WAITING LIST FOR VIBRATIONAL ESSENCE COURSE Leave a message here if you'd like to be on the waiting list to learn to make vibrational essences or have questions about the course.
	WAITING LIST FOR CLEANSING WORKSHOP If you like to get on a waiting list to learn how to design your own cleanse that is both safe & gentle or have questions, please post here.
REIKI COMMUNITY
	OPEN REIKI DISCUSSION This area is free of charge for anyone who has been attuned to at least level 1 reiki. It is a place for general discussion & for sharing distance healing.
	ENERGETIC HYGIENE WORKSHOP $15 Message me to get on a waiting list for this workshop. Your body as a spiritual habitat & psychic protection. I know that some of us are having issues with some sorts of attachments, or at the very least unhealthy cords or stagnant aura. We’ll discuss ways to keep your energy field clear. We will do an exercise to clear your energy field in 3 ways. We’ll do the cord clearing again, but slightly differently that it was done last month. We’ll discuss stones to use to keep your energy field protected or cleared use stones to clear the aura during your session.
	ANCESTRAL HEALING WORKSHOP $15 Message me to get on a waiting list for this workshop. We talk about this briefly in my level 2 Usui classes, but I’d like to look more deeply at repeated patterns that we are holding & reliving from our ancestral lineage, we can do a discussion of this, I have some notes – food for thought, journal work on specific things that need to be healing or cleared & clearing with group energy that will go back to heal our ancestral lineage.
HERBALIST's CIRCLE
	HERBALISM : GENERAL DISCUSSION General discussion on herbal remedies, anything to do with herbalism. If you have specific health questions or questions on the uses of herbs please consider taking my distance learning herbalist course or a workshop.
	WORKSHOP: PAIN RELIEF for joints, muscles, tendons, etc. How to determine the right plants for your constitution. And with a specific formula you only need to take a couple drops of tincture at a time. You go through waaay less tinctures this way. COST IS $20 to get access this workshop. Teaching portion will begin Jan. 8, I will be giving lessons & input for the month of January, but this workshop will be available for several months after. Prerequisite: You need to know how to make tinctures, salves, infusions, and have a supply of herbs. Moderator: LIN
	WORKSHOP: UNDERSTANDING TISSUES STATES & CONSTITUTION Please message me to get on a waiting list. Cost is $60, we will take about 2 months to do this workshop. A totally new way (for me) to look at determining the right herb for the right person. We’ll discuss how to evaluate your own constitution & how to pick the right herbs for the person, NOT matching herb & ailment. Again, only several drops of a tincture are needed, and you are not using the bullet approach of tossing a whole bunch of herbs into a formula & hoping some of them work. This uses herbs to work with the body, no suppression. This workshop is 2 months long, way more course material. A little harder to understand, but we'll work through it and you can all do a 'consultation' for yourself & learn how to choose herbs for your constitution. PREREQUISITE: You need to be very comfortable with choosing herbs for ailments, or anyone who has completed my 8 month herbalist course can take this. You will be choosing your own herbs.
	WORKSHOP: LOCAL PLANTS & TREES Message me to get on a waiting list for this. Cost is $20. For this workshop we will discuss all the 'new' local plants & trees I am using -- so these are plants native to the Pacific Northwest. 6 locally found trees & some assorted plants we didn’t cover in my classes. I’ll cover medicinal uses, parts used, and we’ll do tinctures, oil, vinegars, and a syrup. The trees have been amazing for my immune system!
HERBALIST DISTANCE LEARNING CLASSES
	8 MONTH HERBAL Learn all aspects of herbalism, from remedy making to learning how to apply this knowledge to people & pets & their ailments. Message me to get on a waiting list for this course to begin. COST IS $60 PER MONTH Moderator: LIN

Online chakra course

2012-01-20T07:13:00.000-08:00

I am going to offer an online chakra course, the information I posted on each chakra gives you an idea of the clearing that can be done around each one. It is open to anyone, if you have been attuned to reiki that will be helpful too, since we can incorporate some reiki into it.

If you are interested, please sign into my forum & get on my waiting list for this course.

www.dragonflyherbals.com

Or sign up her for the 8 month herbal, other herbal workshops held online, and reiki & chakra healing workshops:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

SAGE & PLANTS IN THE ARTEMISIA FAMILY

2012-01-14T14:07:00.000-08:00

Sage and Artemisias

Garden sage or common sage Salvia officinalis is the plant we grow in our gardens too cook with. To put in turkey stuffing, and to be used medicinally as an astringent.

Driving through Osoyoos this weekend, I was finally able to replenish my supplies of sage. Sage likes to grow in dry desert types areas, so it does not grow around the lower mainland. You have to go the interior to find it. It is a nice silver blue color and quite tall.

Big Sagebrush Artemesia tridentata is my favorite to use for saging my house & the reiki room. I harvest several branches, and wrap into smudge sticks while they are still fresh, before they dry. If you wait until the sage is dry it will just crumble. Take several sticks & wrap thread around them to hold them together. Let them dry for a few weeks & then you light the end & use the smoke to sage your house & your energy field.

This plant grows in with sage, it is a little larger, but looks very similar to sage . It is Antelope Bush Purshia tridentata
Doesn't smell as good as the sage for sure. You can see the silvery blue Big Sagebrush in the background.

Compare the leaves:

GARDEN SAGE LEAVES

BIG SAGEBRUSH LEAVES

ANTELOPE BUSH LEAVES

The other Artemesia I use is Wormwood or Artemisia absinthium . This will grow on the coast in gardens. It has traditionally been used to rid the body of parasites, I don't use it internally, I have gentler & safer methods of getting rid of parasites. I do use this herb in salves though, we use it in the 8 month herbalist course for making salves.

Book List for my students

2012-01-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

For the 2012 Herbalist Course we will be working from a certain set of herbal books, but I will also give a list of some other favorite books of mine for reference

Plants of Coastal BC (Pojar)

There are books out for different regions as well. This book is great for identifying local plants. There’s lots of great field guides out there for any area you may live in. Look for color photographs, black line drawing are pretty useless. I have EDIBLE & MEDICINAL PLANTS OF CANADA by MacKinnon & Kershaw too. They tend towards paranoid with lots of warnings for plants that I use all the time. Best to cross reference with something like Terry Willard’s book

Edible & Medicinal Plants of the Rocky Mountains (Terry Willard)

I love this book for getting information on what medicinal uses the local plants can be used for.

The Herb Book (John Lust)

Great reference book covering many herbs & gives dosages. I been through 2 copies of this, wore the first copy right out.

Bartams Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine

This one is great as general reference for tweaking your memory when it comes to matching up ailments & herbs.

Susun Weeds books:

Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year

Healing Wise

Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way

Breast Cancer? Breast Health!

I have all 4 of these, and while I think these are all useful for many herbalists, I just find I am not so into Susun Weed any more. The Healing Wise one is hard to read. I used the Childbearing one & Menopausal one quite a bit when those times applied to me. The Breast Health one is useful for choosing herbs that help to prevent cancer (which I think we should be using all the time). I feel like I have moved on from her methods of herbalism though.

I have moved on from the ailment based books this year, my students will work with choosing herbs based on a person’s constitution rather than just the ailment.

Dr. Kidds’ Guilde to Herbal Dog Care

I love this book. I have used it so much to help me think which herb to use for my dogs. I will be covering herbs for dogs in the Herbalist Course. Seems to me, in the 2010 course we branched out into horses & cattle & sheep too.

Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West by Michael Moore (the herbalist)

This book is great! I love his writing & he covers all sorts of wonderful plants. When I saw it I just grabbed it off the shelf & bought it without even opening it. His website is full of great manuals & information too.

Those are really great books to start with. Depends on what you need them for, whether its identifying in the wild, or finding dosages or ailments, or dog care, etc.

CROWN CHAKRA

2012-01-10T16:01:00.000-08:00

DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE A SENSE OR PURPOSE IN YOUR LIFE
DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE A GOOD CONNECTION FROM YOUR CROWN TO THE UNIVERSAL SOURCE OF ENERGY
ARE YOU ABLE TO FEEL ANY OF THE CHAKRAS ABOVE YOUR CROWN?
DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE EVOLVING SPIRITUALLY?

In the personal healing course we also discuss chakras above & below these 7 that I have posted information about. Learn more about the chakras with distance workshops on my forum:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

Pain Relief Workshop has begun

2012-01-09T07:55:00.001-08:00

I have posted the first of 2 lesson for the January Herbal Workshop on Pain Relief on my forum. Anyone wanting to take part can do so at any time, just email me for a Paypal link for payment, you don't need a credit card to pay through them. If you are one of my herbs students, it is ok to mail me a check.

JANUARY HERBAL WORKSHOP: PAIN RELIEF for joints, muscles, tendons, etc.
How to determine the right plants for your constitution. And with a specific formula you only need to take a couple drops of tincture at a time. You go through waaay less tinctures this way.
COST IS $20 to get access this workshop.
Teaching portion will begin Jan. 8, I will be giving lessons & input for the month of January, but this workshop will be available for several months after.
Prerequisite: You need to know how to make tinctures, salves, infusions, and have a supply of herbs.

Read more:http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi#ixzz1iydGz2KQ

THIRD EYE CHAKRA

2012-01-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

Are you open to receiving intuitive messages?
Do you trust in messages you receive?
Are they accurate, or are you able to interpret the symbolism in these messages?

Learn more about the chakras with distance workshops on my forum:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

THROAT CHAKRA

2012-01-06T15:58:00.000-08:00

Are you about to communicate your emotions appropriately?
Are you able to communicate your thoughts coherently to others?

Learn more about the chakras with distance workshops on my forum:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

HEART CHAKRA

2012-01-04T15:52:00.000-08:00

ARE YOU ABLE TO ALLOW YOURSELF TO FEEL:
- TENDERNESS
- BITTERNESS
- COURAGE
- VULNERABILITY
- FORGIVENESS
- HURT
WHICH ONES DO YOU SUPPRESS?
DO YOU DEVELOP HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS?

Learn more about the chakras with distance workshops on my forum:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

DISTANCE HERBAL WORKSHOP BEGINS JAN 8TH

2012-01-02T12:45:00.000-08:00

My forum is all set up to begin reiki & herbal workshops online.

JANUARY HERBAL WORKSHOP: PAIN RELIEF

How to determine the right plants for your constitution. And with a specific formula you only need to take a couple drops of tincture at a time. You go through waaay less tinctures this way.

COST IS $20 to get access this workshop.

Teaching portion will begin Jan. 8, I will be giving lessons & input for the month of January, but this workshop will be available for several months after.

Just to clarify how this works, you can pay for the online workshops for reiki or herbals after you register on the forum. Let me know which one you want me to invoice you for & I will send a Paypal invoice by email. You don't need an account with them, its really simple, I've used this service for years.

Then I will post portions of the workshop several times during the month. You can access & print this info at any time to read it & make some of the remedies if you want to. You can post questions & comments at any time and I will be there to answer them.

Read more:http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi#ixzz1iKsBniKJ

BORAGE (not for pain relief, just seemed like a nice

picture for January!) Borage is for your adrenals, to boost your spirits

when you have been stressed out. I grow this in my garden & it

reseeds every year. I usually just eat some of its fuzzy blossoms

each day.

If you'd like to get on my mailing list please go to my website.

REIKI FORUM CLASSES FOR JANUARY

2012-01-02T07:50:00.000-08:00

Later this week, on my Reiki Forum we will be working on everything listed below. And we'll start with the root chakra & do some work & discussion on that. If you like to join in, it is $10 per month.

If you would like to become a member of the reiki community please go to the forum site, anyone with at least level 1 reiki can join in.

[email][/email]herbs.and.reiki@dragonflyherbals.com

There is more info on this on my website www.dragonflyherbals.com

JANUARY REIKI FORUM OFFERINGS, included in your monthly fee of $10

1. Energetic Hygiene Workshop

Your body as a spiritual habitat & psychic protection.
I know that some of us are having issues with some sorts of attachments, or at the very least unhealthy cords or stagnant aura.
We’ll discuss ways to keep your energy field clear.
We will do an exercise to clear your energy field in 3 ways.
We’ll do the cord clearing again, but slightly differently that it was done last month.
We’ll discuss stones to use to keep your energy field protected or cleared use stones to clear the aura during your session.

2. Root Chakra

We'll do a bit of the root chakra work that I teach in my Personal Healing Course. Discuss issues related to root chakra, some journal work, reiki work to do on your own, stones you could use for clearing the root chakra.

3. Distance Healing as a group

I will discuss how to set up some crystals or visualizations for doing distance healing & we can send distance healing as a group.

I will post #1 and #2 about 2 weeks apart. I would like for us all to do a lot of discussion on the forum about our experiences related to the Energetic Hygiene & the Root Chakra, and of course, anything else to do with reiki.

At the end of January, this section will be locked. Only those who paid for January will still have access to it. I will open a separate section for February.

SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA

2011-12-30T18:54:00.000-08:00

YOUR SENSE OF IDENTITY
YOUR SELF ESTEEM
YOUR PASSION FOR LIFE
YOUR ABILITY TO FEEL YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER YOUR DESTINY, YOUR PATH IN LIFE?

DO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF INNER PEACE? WHEN DON’T YOU?
DO YOU HAVE TOLERANCE FOR DIVERSITY IN OTHERS?

This is chakra that is often the most work, the hardest to clear. We go into a lot of depth on this one in our Personal Healing Course. This chakra can also be damaged & be located off to the side, which makes it harder to open up your heart chakra. We do a lot of work on the lower 3 chakras in the Reiki Forum.

JANUARY REIKI FORUM OFFERINGS, included in your monthly fee of $10

1. Energetic Hygiene Workshop

Your body as a spiritual habitat & psychic protection.
I know that some of us are having issues with some sorts of attachments, or at the very least unhealthy cords or stagnant aura.
We’ll discuss ways to keep your energy field clear.
We will do an exercise to clear your energy field in 3 ways.
We’ll do the cord clearing again, but slightly differently that it was done last month.
We’ll discuss stones to use to keep your energy field protected or cleared use stones to clear the aura during your session.

2. Root Chakra

We'll do a bit of the root chakra work that I teach in my Personal Healing Course. Discuss issues related to root chakra, some journal work, reiki work to do on your own, stones you could use for clearing the root chakra. We'll work on 1 chakra each month.

SACRAL CHAKRA

2011-12-27T13:53:00.000-08:00

EMOTIONS
YOUR CREATIVITY LEVELS
ARE YOU AN OPEN, INVITING & FRIENDLY PERSON, OR DOES THIS NEED WORK?

ROOT CHAKRA

2011-12-23T11:10:00.000-08:00

As most of us know, the Chakras are energy centers. For those of us who do reiki the Chakras offer more ways to clear the energetic body. During the Personal Healing Course that I offer, we begin with level 1 reiki which opens your energy field up to clearing dense & tangled energies, old emotions & behaviors & physical ailments.

After level 1 reiki my students have the option to continue with monthly classes focusing on one chakra each month, beginning with the root chakra. During the personal healing course we look at each chakra in depth, and use herbs. vibrational essences, healing stones & reiki sessions to clear each one.

Myself & my students are finding this course very powerful in terms of healing, clearing & moving on.

This course is more than what it seems in terms of healing on a deep level. You will be working in a very focused way on clearing & balancing one chakra at a time.

Here's a little bit of information on each chakra, and some ways to bring balance to them.

I'll post one chakra each day:

This is the most basic of all the energy centres, it influences our need for survival, security and belonging. This energy centre grounds us with the physical presence of the earth and is associated with the colour red. When the root chakra is in balance we are able to feel our connection to all things natural and of the earth.

SURVIVAL
SECURITY
BELONGING
ARE YOU WELL CONNECTED TO THE EARTH, ITS PLANTS & ANIMALS?

CHERRIES & CHOCOLATE

2011-12-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

GLUTEN FREE, NO BAKING, DECADENT

COMBINE ALL THIS IN A FOOD PROCESSOR

raw sunflower seeds - about 1 cup ground fine in magic bullet
coconut milk - about 3 tbsp, I kept adding it until the mixture was the right texture
coconut oil - about 1 tbsp.
almond butter - 1 tbsp
honey 1 or 2 tbsp -- see how sweet you want it
cocoa - I have dark powdered cocoa from Costco, its really good

Get it all the right texture, sample it lots to make sure you've got it right !

I put some dried unsweetened coconut on the plate first then kind of roll it around on that & flatten it out

TOPPING:

1/2 cup soaked dried cherries - I buy pounds of these from Costco, yum !
coconut milk - I use canned stuff
bit of honey
and another tbsp of cocoa powder

BLEND IT ALL IN THE FOOD PROCESSOR & POUR ON TOP.

Oil of Oregano and assorted thoughts on immune system, candida, colds & flu

2011-12-22T19:49:00.000-08:00

Oil of Oregano has anti-viral action, making it effective in combating viral ailments such as the common cold, flu, warts, shingles and herpes virus.

Properties and Usage

Immune system stimulant

Oregano oil has been proven in European studies to be a potent immune booster., Wild Oil of Oregano is effective in boosting the body's natural immunity. Use a couple of drops a day to rcharge your immune system and maintain good health.

For those interested in taking my Herbalist Classes by distance or locally, or taking part in my Herbal Forum, you will learn ways to make yourself forumlas for your immune system to keep yourself healthy all winter. And formulas for helping you get better from colds & flu. You'll learn how to make formulas for yourself, family, pets & clients, bases on a person's specific symptoms of their constitution (body type).

I've been using a lot more of our local plants in the last few months.

To help my immune system this fall & winter, I’ve been harvesting mostly from various trees & stuff that grows on trees and having great results. There’s still a lot to harvest out there even though it is winter.

I usually go through our rainy winters with a low grade feeling coming down with a cold. And holding classes in prevous winters has been hard, I seem to catch a cold from students who are even slightly sick.

Using local plants has really begun to change all that. Plus I have been choosing my herbs based on my constitution, so now I am choosing the right herbs for what is going on in my body. My new herbs courses will be based on this knowledge. For all my herbs students who didn't get to learn this (or others who already have a basis in herbal knowledge), I'll be offering this as distance learning on my herbal forum in Feb & March.

My herbal forum & reiki forum is here if you want to sign up & get to know how to use it:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

ok, back to Oil of Oregano:

Anti-inflammatory and analgesic/anesthetic (Pain reliever)

Oil of Oregano can be used externally as an anti-inflammatory and and for its anesthetic action. Applied externally, the oil deeply penetrates tissues and in so doing, brings relief and speeds healing and reduces the pain of bruises, sprains, torn and sore muscles, tendonitis, cramps, carpal tunnel syndrome and other similar injuries. Arthritis responds well to this treatment. A topical rub can be made by mixing some Oil of Oregano with cocoa butter.

In the 2010 Herbalist Course we made an amazing liniment that is sprayed onto the skin for sore joint & muscles. It works amazing well. It is in a rubbing alcohol base & has quite a few herbs in it, some were harvested locally. I've used it a lot on sore joints & muscles, a fatty cyst (which decreased in size rapidly in a week, and the client had had this cyst for a year), also on a severely bruised toe to take down swelling, reduce pain & reduce bruising. I share this recipe in my Herbal Forum & during my Herbalist Courses.

and once again, back to OIl of Oregano:

Antifungal

Candida is a fungus that infects millions of people. Wild Oil of oregano contains powerful antifungal agents that eliminate candida effectively and safely. Take 1-3 drops 3 times daily. Continue the treatment for as long as necessary.

Nail fungus, which is particularly stubborn and hard to get rid of has a powerful enemy in Oregano oil. Wash and dry the nails. Soak them with the Wild Oil of Oregano twice daily. Take 1-3 drops of the Oil of Oregano 3 times daily. Some cases may need more aggressive treatment by filling a gel cap with the oil and taking that once a day with a meal. Continue treatment for 6 months.

Athlete's foot: Oregano oil's effectiveness in fighting fungal infections such as athlete's foot make it a must in the locker room. Apply the oil topically to the feet.

For any of these fungal conditions please look to your diet and cut out refined sugars especially. Take some Bio K or other pro-biotic and lots of raw garlic. Get on an anti candida diet.

For candida, I also recommend doing the Dr. Schulze bowel cleanse. I have his manual posted, and teach how to make his formulas during my Herbal Courses.

Antiparasitic

Head lice and scabies.: Parasites such as head lice and scabies are no match for Oregano oil's powerful antiparasitic properties. Add a few drops to a tablespoon of shampoo to wash hair and scalp. Add a couple of drops to a tablespoon of vegetable oil to apply to hair after shampoo or to other affected areas. Add a dropperfull to laundry soap to disinfect clothes.

Cryptosporidium, giardia etc.: Add a drop to water that may be unsafe to protect yourself from parasites such as cryptosporidium and giardia as well as bacterial infection. Take 1-3 drops up to 3 times a day to clear yourself of parasites. I also recommend doing the Dr. Schulze bowel cleanse. I have his manual posted, and teach how to make his formulas during my Herbal Courses.

ALL MY HERB STUDENTS & THOSE WHO TOOK MY CLEANSING WORKSHOPS WILL BE HAPPY TO KNOW THAT THE DR. SCHULZE MANUAL IS ON MY WEBSITE NOW, UNDER ARTICLES.

Antibiotic like action

Use it topically and internally for any kind of infection. If you dont' like the taste of it, get some empty capsules & just add a few drops to a capsule when you are ready to take it.

Teeth and Gums: Oregano oil gives effective relief to toothaches by killing the bacteria causing the pain. Apply the oil directly to the infected tooth. Gum disease can be halted by using Wild Oil of Oregano in the mouth. The oil may be applied to infected gums with a Q-tip or a drop can be placed on your toothbrush before brushing the teeth. Regular treatment will vastly improve oral health and hygiene.

I've been making a great tooth powder:

baking soda
salt
essential oils that help to stop plaque from forming & kill germs: oil of oregano, peppermint oil, tea tree oil, just a few drops of each

Food poisoning: Salmonella and E. coli have been found on meat, but also on vegetables as lettuce and sprouts, which can result in food poisoning. Restaurant foods may often be contaminated due to poor hygiene of employees or lack of proper washing of the produce. Use oil of oregano if you have been exposed to food poisoning.

Natural antibiotics like Oil of Oregano do not induce antibiotic resistance as do the patented antibiotic drugs. Use Oil of Oregano to boost your immune system and to kill off unfriendly bacteria. This natural remedy provides defense against biological toxins.

Antiviral

Colds, flu, shingles and herpes: At the first sign of a viral infection such as colds, flu, herpes, shingles etc., take the maximum internal dosage immediately. In the case of herpes or shingles it is best to apply the oil directly to the spot where tingling may be felt before an outbreak. This will often prevent the outbreak. Due to the heat sensation, oil of oregano should not be used on sensitive skin areas or mucous membranes. Do not use on sensitive tissue unless it is very well diluted by adding a drop or two of wild Oil of Oregano to a tablespoon of olive oil. Then test with a small amount first.

When treated at the first sign of symptoms, most viral conditions will be rendered harmless.

Warts can be treated by applying the Oil of Oregano directly to the wart with cotton wool. It is best to leave the soaked cotton on the wart as long as possible. Repeat this 2 or 3 times a day and take 3 drops under the tongue three times a day for a few months.

Warts also respond (slowly) to daily use of burdock as a tea of tincture.

Antivenom

Oregano oil is capable of neutralizing venomous bites, making it invaluable in the wilderness or when traveling abroad. It's an effective first aid treatment for venomous bites of all varieties including bees, snakes and spiders. Oregano oil is also useful for preventing infection from animal bites and other puncture wounds. It reduces inflammation and stops the pain associated with bites and stings. Apply directly to stings or bites. The oil will penetrate into the wound and neutralize toxins and pathogens. Take a few drops internally to amplify the effect.

Article on Chakras & Reiki

2011-12-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

I have a new article on Chakras & Reiki on my website. You'll find it on the Articles page. And I've updated some of my articles on my site too.

Local plants & trees for the immune system

2011-12-18T19:33:00.000-08:00

I've been using a lot more of our local plants in the last few months.

To help my immune system this fall & winter, I’ve been harvesting mostly from various trees & stuff that grows on trees and having great results. There’s still a lot to harvest out there even though it is winter.

I usually go through our rainy winters with a low grade feeling coming down with a cold. And holding classes in prevous winters has been hard, I seem to catch a cold from students who are even slightly sick.

Using local plants has really begun to change all that. Plus I have been choosing my herbs based on my constitution, so now I am choosing the right herbs for what is going on in my body. My new herbs courses will be based on this knowledge. For all my herbs students who didn't get to learn this (or others who already have a basis in herbal knowledge), I'll be offering this as distance learning on my forum in Feb & March.

My forum is here if you want to sign up & get to know how to use it:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

Anyway, I found that some of the local trees are a huge help with the immune system. When I've been going on walks I pick bits to dry & add to my morning tea, and have made a few tinctures.

I have been making my morning teas different as well. Instead of an infusion, I have been adding the herbs to a pot of water & simmering it gently for about 10 minutes, so a gentle decoction is more what it is. This extracts more constituents from the plants.

Also found some Reishi growing locally & made a wonderful elixir out of that. And I always wondered why the medicinal mushrooms hurt my stomach. I realized they have to be cooked first, so remedies made from medicinal mushrooms need a 2 part process.

The other thing I have noticed when choosing plants based on your constitution is that you need way less of the remedy. You only need to use a few drops of tincture to kind of wake your body up to do its own healing. So instead of taking a whole bunch of herb to counteract some ailment, you are choosing herbs based on several factors & using a tiny bit to get your body to heal itself. This method also incorporates the taste of the plants & you feel like you are getting to know the plants better, by really tasting them.

That is part of what I teach my herb students: getting to know the herbs on many levels. If you buy a capsule with powdered herbs inside you have no idea what the plant looks likes or tastes like. I believe it is important to your healing & to becoming knowledgeable about the plant and to experience them as much as possible. This includes seeing them growing in all seasons outside, seeing what the plant looks like dried, and tasting the plant as an infusion. What I want to instil in my students is a good basis of herbal knowledge from which to branch out & make herbalism your own. And a few ways to really deepen your knowledge with the plants & get to know your local plants.

HERBAL WORKSHOPS ON MY FORUM IN EARLY 2012

2011-12-06T15:01:00.000-08:00

HERBAL WORKSHOPS BY DISTANCE

ON THE FORUM IN THE NEW YEAR

These workshops are for anyone who has experience with herbs or has completed an herbal course with me. Feel free to pass this along to anyone who already has herbal experience.

For those with no herbal background I have the 2012 Herbal Apprenticeship March – Oct. 2012, offered both locally at my home & by distance on the forum. More info on my website.

The way this works is that you email me for a paypal link to pay (you don’t need an account with them, its really easy, I’ve used paypal for years). Or you can mail me a check if you want.

Once I have received payment from you, you can get onto the forum & make sure you know how to use it. You will get a password to access any sections/courses you have paid for. You can register with the forum at any time, here: http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

I will post the information in sections a few weeks apart on the forum.

The advantage to doing a course this way, is that you can get on the forum when you have time.

The forum will remain open for a month or 2 depending on which course, for discussions & questions, with me actively taking part in answering your questions & posting information.

After that time, the forum will remain there for you to access for another month or so.

Early JANUARY: HERBS FOR PAIN RELIEF $20

A totally new way to look at this, some new herbs I hadn’t worked with before.

How to determine the right plants for your constitution. And with a specific formula you only need to take a couple drops of tincture at a time. You go through waaay less tinctures this way.

FEBRUARY & MARCH: UNDERSTANDING TISSUES STATES & CONSTITUTION $60

A totally new way (for me) to look at determining the right herb for the right person. We’ll discuss how to evaluate your own constitution & how to pick the right herbs for the person, NOT matching herb & ailment. Again, only several drops of a tincture are needed, and you are not using the bullet approach of tossing a whole bunch of herbs into a formula & hoping some of them work. This uses herbs to work with the body, no suppression.

MARCH: ‘NEW’ LOCAL PLANTS & TREES $20

6 locally found trees & some assorted plants we didn’t cover in my classes. I’ll cover medicinal uses, parts used, and we’ll do tinctures, oil, vinegars, and a syrup. The trees have been amazing for my immune system!

Dairy Free not quite raw Artichoke & Spinach Dip

2011-12-05T17:34:00.000-08:00

I want to make some Artichoke Dip for Christmas, so I tried my own semi-raw dairy free recipe tonight, it tastes great!

Mashed avocado
minced garlic
lime (or lemon) juice
chopped marinated artichoke hearts
minced spinach or swiss chard

Scoop it up with raw crackers or raw veggies.

Raw crackers:

I make this all kinds of ways, today's was:

ground flax (about 2 cups)
then I blended a couple of tomatoes, & a few cloves of garlic
Mix it all together with a bit of water until its thick but spreadable.

Spread on a teflex sheet until its very thin. Dehydrate until you can flip it, then flip & dehydrate until its crispy.

My raw recipe book has more non-gluten carb type recipes.

JAN & FEB REIKI FORUM CLASSES FOR DISTANCE LEARNING

2011-11-25T12:27:00.000-08:00

email me herbs.and.reiki@dragonflyherbals.com to sign up for the reiki distance learning forum. $10 per month, payment accepted through Paypal.

JANUARY REIKI OFFERINGS, included in your monthly fee

1. Energetic Hygiene Workshop

Your body as a spiritual habitat & psychic protection.
I know that some of us are having issues with some sorts of attachments, or at the very least unhealthy cords or stagnant aura.
We’ll discuss ways to keep your energy field clear.
We will do an exercise to clear your energy field in 3 ways.
We’ll do the cord clearing again, but slightly differently that it was done last month.
We’ll discuss stones to use to keep your energy field protected or cleared use stones to clear the aura during your session.

2. Root Chakra

We'll do a bit of the root chakra work that I teach in my Personal Healing Course. Discuss issues related to root chakra, some journal work, reiki work to do on your own, stones you could use for clearing the root chakra.

3. Distance Healing as a group

I will discuss how to set up some crystals or visualizations for doing distance healing & we can send distance healing as a group.

I will post #1 and #2 about 2 weeks apart. I would like for us all to do a lot of discussion on the forum about our experiences related to the Energetic Hygiene & the Root Chakra, and of course, anything else to do with reiki.

At the end of January, this section will be locked. Only those who paid for January will still have access to it. I will open a separate section for February.

FEBRUARY REIKI OFFERINGS, included in your monthly fee

1.Ancestral Healing

We talk about this briefly in my level 2 Usui classes, but I’d like to look more deeply at repeated patterns that we are holding & reliving from our ancestral lineage, we can do a discussion of this, I have some notes – food for thought, journal work on specific things that need to be healing or cleared & clearing with group energy that will go back to heal our ancestral lineage.

2. Sacral Chakra

We'll do a bit of the sacral chakra work that I teach in my Personal Healing Course. Discuss issues related to root chakra, some journal work, reiki work to do on your own, stones you could use for clearing the root chakra.

3. Distance Healing as a group

I will discuss how to set up some crystals or visualizations for doing distance healing & we can send distance healing as a group.

I will post #1 and #2 about 2 weeks apart. I would like for us all to do a lot of discussion on the forum about our experiences related to the Energetic Hygiene & the Sacral Chakra, and of course, anything else to do with reiki.

Each month you can expect something along these lines, I will post them ahead of time. I am offering my guidance for $10 per month at this time while the forum gets going. After we have a fair number of students I will most likely increase the price, but on a sliding scale, so you can pay what you can afford. I am thinking $10-$25 per month.

FORUM for HERBS & REIKI, & DISTANCE LEARNING FOR HERBS

2011-11-18T13:29:00.000-08:00

Staring January 1, 2012 I am offering a forum with 2 separate communities: one for reiki, and one for herbalism.

I have wanted to offer something like this for a quite a while now, so here it is!

On the forum there is:

1. Reiki community $10 per month

2. Herbalist's Circle $10 per month

3. Herbal Distance Learning classes $60 per month

If you would like to join in please email me:

herbs.and.reiki@dragonflyherbals.com

I will send you a paypal link for payment.

The forum is located here:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

You are welcome to register an account there & familiarize yourself with how to use it.

There is a password that you will be given for the group you have decided to join. Your membership is good for one month, so at the end of each month that particular section will be locked, although you are welcome to still access it.

If you decide to renew membership for another month you will have access that month’s section as well. That way everybody has access to the month’s that they have paid for.

I would like this to be a space of loving support, non-judgmental to give everyone a chance to enrich their herbal or reiki studies & practices.

PURPOSE OF THE REIKI COMMUNITY:

• To provide information on all reiki teachings, this is the main goal of this, is to provide additional reiki teachings more on this in a different post

• To provide additional information for those who don’t have a regular reiki group to share with

• To do distance healing for each other

• Group meditations on specific dates

• Share experiences

• I can provide everything except the reiki sessions here!

• I am willing to send distance attunements, but not as a substitute for your regular classes, I won’t teach levels 1, 2 or 3 by distance, for that you need to be with a teacher in person

If you would like to become a member of the reiki community please email me, anyone with at least level 1 reiki can join in.

[email][/email]herbs.and.reiki@dragonflyherbals.com

I have been teaching reiki since 2005, I teach 4 types of reiki & offer many additional teachings & classes. I am pleased to be offering this online.

Learning reiki is all about personal growth,

releasing what no longer serves you,

healing yourself & others on a physical, emotional & spiritual level.

I am going to offer some class work each month for all of you to work on & as a group we can share our experiences with this. As part of this I will offer some parts of this course:

10 Month Personal Healing Course:

Healing the Body Mind & Spirit for 2012

A PATH TO SELF HEALING & EMPOWERING YOURSELF TO HEAL ON A PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL & SPIRITUAL LEVEL BY USING REIKI, CHAKRA BALANCING, CRYSTALS (if you own some you can incorporate this)

Working through personal healing using the chakras as a focus.

I have been amazed by the results my students (and myself) and getting from this. It really brings about some personal growth in a very focused way. And yes, it is hard to get through at times! You just have to love those lower chakras. But hey, we do our work, clear what we can, become aware of the things that lower our vibrational levels, and we move on.

So we can work through the chakra's month by month as a group & share our experiences & discuss.

I have a lot of other info on reiki to share for any reiki students who want to join this community.

PURPOSE OF THE HERBALIST'S CIRCLE:

• Support in your own herbal studies

• Answer questions

• Share information

• I will share information I am currently learning about

• This is a place to post & work with health issues. I will not be doing ‘consultations’ online in this forum, I no longer do herbal consults, I teach. However I know that we all learn so much as a group by offering input & sharing our cases with each other. One of the foundational concepts I teach is that is it is a whole body thing, its not ‘take this herb for this ailment’. Healing is based on a person’s constitution, how they eat, the state of their emotional health, and many other factors. I would like for us to share ideas & plans for overall health changes. So this is a community for herbal students who wish to enrich their studies, and I am happy to offer suggestions & teachings.

I would like for this to be a space of compassionate & non-judgemental support for anyone who wishes to enrich their work with the healing plants.

HERBALIST DISTANCE LEARNING:

This will be core work for those who wish to learn about herbalism, as opposed to the Herbal Community which would enhance this. The Herbal Community is for students of distance learning, or others with some knowledge of herbalism.

So, the distance learning is for those who wish to learn about herbalism! I have taught an 8 month herbalist course since 2009 & decided to open that up to distance learning.

Each month’s work will be posted on the forum, which you can then work with & post questions & insights on the forum.

Cost is $60 per month, paid through paypal.

More details on distance classes:

The classes will very closely follow the 8 month course I teach. I can’t include wild harvesting because I am not there in person to identify the plants with you, but I will give information on how to identify some common local plants. More info is on my website.

Green Smoothies

2011-11-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

I am one of those people who walks around with a mason jar full of green smoothie, or green goo as a friend calls it. It seems to fasinate or horrify people who see it.

Some even try it. My niece was visiting recently and watched me make this green masterpiece every morning & decided to try it. As we drove around to beaches & trails & farmer's markets she also carried the mason jar of green stuff.

Such a great way to have a breakfast in a jar that gives you a lot of nutrition and keeps you full until lunch, but more importantly doesn't weigh you down & make you sleepy.

What to put in your smoothie:

some sweet fruit to make it taste good, frozen if that's all that's available

a banana or even a 1/2 an avocado if you need it to be really filling

a bunch of lettuce greens - like 1/2 a blenderful, this ensures you are getting your leafy greens & provides lots of protein & nutrients

I use water in mine, you could use some yogurt or almond milk

I add most of my supplements in here too, experiment with with, some people don't like the taste of B vitamins or other supplements, I am fine with it. I find that this way I am not having to swallow a lot of vitamins and I get a slower steady supply of them as I sip my shake.

Sunchoke Salad

2011-11-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

I grew sunchokes this year for the first time. They are huge plants that kind of look like sunflowers. My plants are about 10 feet tall. The flowers are smaller & have less petals than a sunflower though. I cut the tops off & brought the flowers in. You eat the tubers, they look kind of like bumpy potatoes.

Now that it is October (ok, starting today its November) I am harvesting the sunchokes a few at a time. These are best harvested after a frost. I'll just keep going down to the garden & getting a few at a time since they don't last too long in the fridge.

Sunchokes aka Jerusalem Artichokes are rich in inulin which helps to balance blood sugar. And they help to improve bacteria ecology in the colon.

I just eat raw food, so although they can be cooked, I have been finding ways to eat them raw. I bring them
along with a few apples when I go out harvesting herbs & just eat one like an apple. And yesterday I harvested a bunch to marinade in apple cider vinegar along with a piece of hot pepper, peppercorns, herbs, and garlic.

Freshly dug sunchokes

And some kale and a calendula flower from the garden

I sliced the sunchokes on the mandolin (carefully to keep my fingers intact) & marinaded them & the kale in lime, garlic, Bragg & olive oil.

Poured all that over the greens & added the calendula petals.

Harvesting Dandelions

2011-10-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

Fall is the time to harvest dandelion roots.

I use the tops fresh in the juicer (using just a handful of leaves, you need to assess the condition of your liver before having too many of them juiced) and drying the rest of the tops for infusions during the winter.

I slice the roots & dry them in a warm place - near the wood stove. Those I will use in infusions this year, since I have plenty of tincture leftover from last year.

I have hung the tops on a little clothesline near the woodstove.

Mushrooms

2011-10-30T14:29:00.000-07:00

Went to a local mushroom identification workshop this weekend. I have never learned about how to ID mushrooms before. It was very interesting & something I will look more into. We have so many kinds of mushrooms on the island ( apparently around 4,000 kinds !)

Found some chanterelles, & a few other kinds as well.

Chanterelles hiding

I am in the process of working way more with our local trees: harvesting leaves & twigs, & making some salves, vinegars, infusions & tinctures. I will be including this information in my 2012 Herbal Apprenticeship & will most likely offer a workshop on local medicinal trees next spring.

Rosehips

2011-10-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

Harvesting rosehips

Fall has arrived here at the coast, the leaves are bright yellow & today looking a little soggy as it pours rain. Took a long walk with the dogs to harvest some fall medicinal plants: some hawthorne berries, alder, salal berries, and found some wonderful rosehips.

I love using rose, since it is related to the heart chakra, so important for those of use who do healing work & reiki as it keeps a strong & open heart chakra for offering compassionate healing to others. I read an article last week that had a lot to say about the new energies coming in to earth at this time & in there it said : "We are in a time where we must open to the heart and reside within its wisdom."

I collect rose petals all summer & tincture them for a relaxing pain killer that also calms the nerves & tastes fantastic. I use rose essential oil in my body care products. And now in the fall I am collecting the hips. I am not a fan of the taste of rosehips in tea, although a lot of people like it. I prefer having rose petal tea. This year I am using my rosehips in an elixir I am making with a million others herbs in it !

Rosehips are rich in vitamin C. I am combining those with a bunch of fresh hawthorne berries from the trees in my yard, in my gallon of elixir. Hawthorne is also for the heart, for all aspects of heart health & offers strength to the the veins.

Yellow Dock Root

2011-10-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

I was harvesting some yellow dock seeds & roots today.
This one is really amazing.

PERSONAL HEALING COURSES

2011-10-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

PERSONAL HEALING &
personal growth
COURSE

Chakra work
Stones & crystals
Herbs
reiki

I am going to continue to offer this course several times a year. Myself & my students are finding this course very powerful in terms of healing, clearing & moving on.

This course is more than what it seems in terms of healing on a deep level. You will be working in a very focused way on clearing & balancing one chakra at a time. You will be coming to class once a month.

You will be receiving a reiki attunement and a session each month. You will have received journal work for the upcoming chakra to work on during the month before the next class, so you will be doing the clearing before we actually do the class ! Doing the journal work in this way gives you time to work on focusing on one particular chakra for a whole month & let things come up for you as they may.

‘Clearing’ with reiki comes in many guises. Remember that suddenly not being able to come to class for any reason should be looked at more deeply. Is this a chakra that you really need to be focusing on? Are you anxious about issues with this chakra, are you resistant even on a subconscious level to letting go of energies tangled in & around this chakra? And all of this is fine, we all clear, heal & grow as we are ready & in ways that we are ready to use.

Very briefly:

Physical clearing can involve imbalance returning to weak spots: headaches, colds & flu, aching joints

Emotional clearing can involve letting go of old habits & behaviours that no longer serve us, releasing old & stuck patterns, & traumas

Remember to understand that when you clear, you make room for higher light vibrations. You are letting go of lower densities of vibrations.

As you become more comfortable with clearing which allows us to learn & grow, you can see through these guises for what they are. You can let go, receive more reiki healing & move on.

As you move on you bring in higher vibrations which reflects in your life as

· Ease in manifesting what you desire
· Ability to offer healing & serve others this way
· Feeling whole & balanced physically, emotionally & spiritually

While all of this is an ongoing process, initially clearing usually is quite powerful, and any further clearing does not carry the same impact. We often let go in layers.

During the class we discuss the aspects of the chakra homework that we are comfortable talking about. We use the journal writing you have done to discuss as a group ways to move on, it also sets intention for the healing to be done during your reiki session.

I think it is the combination of using personal journal work, healing stones, herbal tea, and vibrational essences along with the reiki attunement & a reiki session that makes this course so powerful.

When working in groups we multiply the amount of energy in the room and the amount of healing that can be done. It is way more powerful to work as a group with a common purpose for bringing healing & balance to the body as a whole, and specifically to the chakra we are working on. It is really special to be able to get together with like minded people once a month to share ideas & healing & energy.

Energetically we are in a very powerful time where we can choose to align ourselves with the ever increasing energies coming to this planet & heal ourselves & fill ourselves with high vibrational energies. I am finding that I am rewriting courses that seemed to be so new & up to date just a few months ago, but as the vibrations change so must the classes!

I have totally rewritten & changed this course as of this month, it will now be 10 classes, the first one being reiki level 1. If you already have your reiki 1 or more than that, you can begin with the 2nd class.

We will have 1 class for each of the major chakras, so that is 7 more classes. The other classes are intro to the chakras, with an overall look at the energetic body as a whole, determining the size, spin & shape of each chakra. And the last class ties it all together & looks at the upper chakras, beyond the crown.

Fall Equinox 2011

2011-09-23T14:33:00.000-07:00

Some of what I teach my reiki students involves letting flow in your life. Both letting go of what no longer serves you & allow new flow of what you wish to manifest in your life to come in.

The beginning of fall reminds us of the flow of the seasons.

Our weather changed into fall quite suddenly this year, or maybe I am just feeling it more. This is my first fall at 100% raw and my body felt the change very suddenly.

I had just gotten on a roll with my eating patterns in the summer and had found a nice with flow with that. I feeling balanced & my vibrational levels were fantastic (which refers partly to my ability to channel reiki). Suddenly the weather changed & my body rebelled. Many thanks to Ashli for helping me with my raw diet.

I was reminded that my diet also needs flow, and in this case, maybe a big change. I have switched to drinking warmed water in the morning. I like to drink about a liter of water in the morning to rehydrate & cleanse, and warm water agrees with me more now that the mornings are cooler. I have always had a container of water on the counter, so all my drinking water is room temperature, but I am feeling this fall that slightly warmer water keeps my body temperature up in the mornings.

In addition to that I am adding warming spices to EVERYTHING: shakes, my herbal tea, fruit & veggie juices, salads ... anything I eat. Cayenne is great, and thinly sliced ginger, paprika has suddenly been calling my attention, and I made a blend of warming spices with garam masala, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom.

If I am cold in the late afternoon I have a plate of ‘pasta’. Which is spirilized zucchini, with salt, pepper, bragg, and tiny bit of olive oil. This warms me up & fills me. So easy to make & so good.

I am also making some great low fat raw pate’s. I had no luck making stuff like that my first year of transitioning to raw..... they tasted terrible. My dogs were very happy with this, because I dehydrated them into dog cookies!

Waiting for the gross pate , I mean the super tasty dog buscuit

A reminder to all my herb students to do your harvesting in your yard on sunny days when the plants are dry. We just had a ton of rain; everything is wet & can’t be harvested right now. You need to get it all before a frost hits. Mint, and lemon balm, and comfrey, yellow dock seeds for our tea, evening primrose. Hawthorne berries look ready too.

I am preparing for my 2012 Herbalist Course, so I am making sure to harvest enough of a few herbs that we’ll need for our winter classes. This year’s herbalist course is winding down & I look forward to meeting a new group for next year’s class. I am rewriting the whole thing for next year. Since it will be the 4^th year I am offering it, it is time to go over the whole thing & make some changes. I will be incorporating more of the local herbs, and more things my students have asked for: soap making, vibrational essences, etc. The herb classes are a lot of fun, we all get to know each other while picking plants, and cooking up various remedies in the kitchen, scrubbing dirt off roots, getting scratched by sharp leaves, enjoying seeing the plants in all seasons & how they change, getting connected to the plants & reconnecting to the earth in the process. And learning to make herbalism our own, each person will use the plants differently.

MAKING CALENDULA SALVE FIRST DAY OF HERBAL CLASS

Tasting the herbs is a part of our class, so that you can remember them easier. So lots of fun making faces over the bitter herbs, and the mandatory one person in the group who loves the taste.

We’re all different, so our needs for the plants are all different. A main focus of my classes to teach you how to make herbalism your own, teach you the guidelines & how to make the remedies and then you can learn what works for you & you those you choose to share the remedies with.

Fall is also a time when the evenings are longer & darker. Time to return to our spiritual & reiki practices. At this time of year the moons begin to rule our emotions a little more. The moon is up in the sky longer. Remember to look at what each new & full moon is bringing to our lives to clear & manifest:

full moon: http://www.throughnightsfire.com/fullmoon.html

new moon: http://www.throughnightsfire.com/newmoon.html

has good info on what each moon is bringing energetically.

I am going to hold a series of classes for my reiki students on energetic hygiene in November. We’ll begin with a cord cutting ceremony on Thanksgiving weekend, on the Friday night. Time to clear energetically!

If you are a reiki student of mind & would like to take part please let me know. If you would like to become a reiki student my next Level 1 class is
Oct. 1.

RAW FOOD RECIPE BOOK $10

2011-08-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

I just finished making a raw food recipe book. I know a lot of you would like to incorporate some raw recipes into your diet or want some new raw food recipes, so I put all of my recipes on the computer & will print them up on recipe cards. I bought paper & it wasn't cardstock. oops. But it is yellow & it all looks nice.

Printed, or through paypal as a .pdf, either choice is $10

I have these available printed for those of you who come for classes at my house

or you can purchase a pdf through paypal on the toolbar at the right.

It has over 30 recipes, some instructions on raw food eating, appliances you might want to get, transitioning from a standard diet to raw. I have included cookies, raw pie, crackers, pate, curry, other main dish recipes, how to make your foods a little more warm & filling too.

As it says on the cards: · I am assuming you have a good handle on cooking creatively & don’t rely on lots of measurements & detailed instructions for this book, I don’t give a lot of measurements, just the basic ideas for you to play with

I found my first year of making raw foods really difficult, it was hard to learn a new way to create food that tasted good. So this is most of the recipes I have used over the last 2 years.

Cost is $10 for a set of 46 cards, the pdf is 23 pages

Just a reminder, my daughter is teaching a raw food 101 course here at my house on Sept 10. Cost is $75,

Spiralized yellow zucchini & borage flowers

2011-07-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

spiralized yellow zucchini

borage flowers

onion

red pepper

basil leaves

olive oil

pepper

2011-07-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

Tree frog on the window

KOMBUCHA:
for all my herbal students who also make kombucha, you don't need to use green tea. I use herbs in mine: pau d'arco, dandelion, lots of ginger root tastes great, whatever herbs you'd be wanting to make into an infusion for yourself

TEACHER FROM VANCOUVER GIVING SOME CLASSES AT MY HOUSE:
we're in the process of lining up some dates for another teacher to come in & offer some different workshops, I am REALLY excited to attend these myself. We're going to work out the details in the next few days & then I will send an email to my students.

The classes will be in Sept or Oct, on a Fri/Sat and will include:

raw food level 1
reiki massage level 1 : combining reiki & simple massage
chakra massage !!

CALCIUM RAW FOOD DAIRY FREE

2011-07-12T13:36:00.001-07:00

http://www.rawmazing.com/raw-food-diets-calcium-and-osteoporosis/

Another great video especially for my reiki students

2011-06-17T18:34:00.000-07:00

Dr Joe Dispenza - How to evolve our brain to experiment a new reality?

Stepping in the unknown

http://youtu.be/0XcCoDlVf-s

The power of consciousness

2011-06-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

here's a link to a great Bruce Lipton video (50 min). It describes so much of what we are doing with our reiki energy & with manifesting.

http://youtu.be/VYYXq1Ox4sk

RAW (NO BAKING, NO FLOUR) BROWNIES

2011-06-15T07:47:00.000-07:00

For those of us who eat raw food 100% or even 80%, we can get away with eating foods that are full of calories & extra fat. Bear in mind we eat a good portion of our diet as fresh greens. So while this is a healthier alternative to desserts with sugar & flour, and this contains live enzymes, it is still a food that is dense, full of calories & fat.

I will most often have a liter of fresh fruit & veggie juice or a shake with a 1/2 lb. of fresh leafy greens, some apples & a salad and that's my food for the day. Once every few weeks I have a piece of something like these brownies.

1 cup nuts (get raw, unroasted, unsalted nuts) pecans or walnuts are best for this, soak them for 1-4 hours & then drain them, toss this soaking water

Put them in a food processor with:

1/2 cut pitted dates (the food processor has quite a problem when you accidently grab the container of dates with pits still in)

1/2 cup dried apricots (you could soak these & the dates in some water for a while too, but drain the water off & set it aside)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

Blend this all together, add it a little of the apricot soaking water if needed to get it to all stick together

I put this on a plate that has a pile of dried coconut on it, and press it into a big circle, turning it over a few times, so it has coconut on the outside. I store it in the fridge. If you get crazy & add lots more cocoa powder you will be awake for days -- good for driving on road trips, not so food for when you want to sleep at night!

Stop eating wheat !!

2011-06-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a little something about eating wheat. Since I no longer work with clients I just thought I would mention this, so if it seems to ring true for anyone they can research it themselves.

It just seems to me that so many health conditions are related to wheat allergy or gluten intollerance.

One of the symptoms I am noticing my students is anxiety & other emotional symptoms from eating wheat or other grains with gluten in them.

Other symptoms could be joint pain, bloating, mood swings, depression, diarrhea, eczema, skin rashes, bowel problems, tiredness, allergies (sneezing). You can keep addressing this health issues, but they will keep coming back until you find the root cause, which might very well be a food allergy such as wheat intolerance.

I think it would be smart for everyone out there to quit eating wheat for a month & see if it brings about changes in their health.

Its pretty easy to research online what foods have wheat, or what foods have gluten is just cutting out the wheat doesn't help.

There are lots of gluten free foods out there now if you want substitutes for crackers, breads, pasta, etc. And they all taste good. Since almost every grocery store is now carrying a lot of gluten free foods, there must be a lot of people realizing that their health problems are a result of eating wheat.

I just try to share some information with people, so they can make a choice to research it & have the motivation to make some changes themselves. If you are empowered to do your own healing you are more likely to have results because you will do the work & stick with it.

NO SHAMPOO

2011-05-26T07:52:00.000-07:00

Everyone keeps asking me what I wash my hair with, so I thought I'd put it on here.

I stopped using shampoo in Sept. Used some things that worked well for a bit of time, then my hair looked awful. I used vinegar infused with herbs, including soapwort, which worked for a while.

I finally started using borax followed by citric acid rinse, which seems to work quite well. I made some bar soap that is specifically for hair, full of great oils, I use that most of the time, and use the borax and citric acid sometimes.

What will work on your hair will definitely depend on what your water is like. I was travelling recently & I could feel the bar soap was just building up. I should have brought the borax and citric acid with me.

The borax cleans your hair, and detangles, and the citric acid will get any borax buildup out of your hair & is very good for your scalp.

I use liter size squeeze bottles. 1 tbsp. borax in water. And the other bottle has 1/2 tsp. citric acid in water.

I really like the bar soap I made, I'd be happy to do a class on this later in the summer if anyone is interested.

I no longer use any store bought products on my body at all. I make all my own toothpaste, & body lotions & sunscreen, etc.

For all my herb students

2011-05-02T14:36:00.001-07:00

Purple Henbit

Another example of a plant with a million confusing names:Red Nettle, Red Dead-nettle, Red Henbit, Purple Henbit. So its not the dead nettle we are familiar with that grows in my garden, stinks! & looks like nettle. This one is shorter & has the red & green leaves.

Latin name is :

Lamium purpureum

Use fresh & eat the new leaves or add to your spring infusion. It is good for kidneys, a bit laxative, a tonic, styptic, diaphoretic, tonic, full of iron, antioxidants, vitamins.

Another good spring green !

Nettles are up !

2011-05-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

The nettles here are quite tall. For those of you who have taken my herb course remember how well it works as a pain killer when used externally -- Urtication. I used it on my back & shoulder yesterday on sore muscles, works so well !

Also nettles are great in your spring infusions, and juiced. I had not tried that until just this week, but its true, it tastes great & doesn't sting when juiced raw.

Today I am trying raw vegan pesto with nettles.

Raw pumpkin pie with chocolate mousse on top

2010-11-26T14:07:00.000-08:00

I get a fresh pumpkin & take out the seeds. The hard part is cutting it up & taking off the skin. I cut it up into strips & put it through the juicer with the blank disk in it to homogenize it. You could also just cut it up small & put it in the food processor, just make sure it is well blended.

After it is homogenized I just put it through the juicer again with some fresh ginger, some cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, canned coconut milk (The organic coconut milk is super thick & good for stuff like this.) and some dates. Then I just stirred it up & put it in a pie plate. Decided to not make crust this time.

For the chocolate mousse, I put soft ripe avocados, cocoa powder, bit of canned coconut milk & honey in the magic bullet & whipped it up into delicious softness & spread it on top of the pie.

Freeze the whole thing & thaw it a tiny bit before cutting it & eating.

EATING WITH THE SEASONS

2010-10-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

Remember that since the weather has changed, so should your diet.

I am feeling that more this year than ever before because I am eating mostly raw food.
I have been adding a mixture of powdered ginger, cinnamon, and garam masala to my shake some mornings. These spices have warming qualities.

I made some raw pumpkin pie for some friend recently, once again, everybody like it.

I get a fresh pumpkin & take out the seeds. The hard part is cutting it up & taking off the skin. I cut it up into strips & put it through the juicer with the blank disk in it to homogenize it. You could also just cut it up small & put it in the food processor, just make sure it is well blended.

After it is homogenized I just put it through the juicer again with some fresh ginger, some cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, and some dates. Then I just stirred it up & put it in a pie plate. Decided to not make crust this time. I poured some thick coconut milk on top & froze it. We'd just thaw it a bit & cut pieces off to eat. mmmm....

I have also been having raw soup for dinner most nights. I just take some leftover salad, or green, peas in the pod, a few tomatoes, whatever other veggies I want to have & blend it with some water added. I sometimes homogenize a few carrots through the blender. Then I add some himalayan salt & some lemon. I put this in a pot & just warm it. It is still a raw food as long as just heat it until its warm. Sometimes I add some thinly sliced pieces of veggies in there too. Really good, tastes different every time & is warming.

ST. JOHN'S WORT SEED HEADS

2010-09-04T15:55:00.000-07:00

St. John's Wort in in seed now, and since it is sunny & warm out still, it is a great time to harvest some.

I usually strain out the flowering heads from the tinctures I have made, and then add the seed heads, to double tincture it. So you are using the same alcohol.

I also infuse several quarts of oil with St. John's wort flowers & seeds heads to use in skin products. That's basically all I use as moisturizer.

And put some up in apple cider vinegar too for use as a mouth wash, it is very healing to the gums & strengthens them. You can also use this vinegar on skin problems.

The stinky plant from our herb class: Rhinanthus minor

2010-09-03T14:18:00.000-07:00

Rhinanthus minor

Yellow Rattle

I think this is the stinky plant that was brought to our herb class for identification.

I don't see any medicinal uses, although the smell is enough to keep me away from it!

This plant might be poisonous to livestock. You can get a yellow dye from

the leaves.

You can see the small leaves in this picture.

I can't find any references to the bad smell, but I am pretty sure this is the plant.

ST. JOHN'S WORT VS. WOOD GROUNDSEL

2010-08-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

ST. JOHN'S WORT FLOWER

Another plant causing some confusion is St. John's Wort & Wood Groundsel (aka Tansy Ragwort).

The St. John's Wort is pretty much past its blooming stage, its leaves are small & pointed.

The Wood Groundsel has larger blooms, it is a bigger plant, and its leaves are different.

Please be absolutely sure of what you are picking, especially if you are making a tincture & taking it internally. If you are taking my class it is probably best to just pick the plants during class.

WOOD GROUNDSEL: LOOK AT THE LEAVES

WOOD GROUNDSEL AKA TANSY RAGWORT

ST. JOHN'S WORT: LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE IN THE LEAVES

ST. JOHN'S WORT FLOWERS

TANSY OR RAGWEED OR WOOD GROUNDSEL

2010-08-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

TO CLEAR UP SOME CONFUSION BETWEEN COMMON NAMES OF PLANTS, THE ONE EVERYONE HERE CALLS TANSY RAGWEED IS NEITHER TANSY NOR RAGWEED, IT IS WOOD GROUNDSEL.
I realized everybody is calling Wood Groundsel ---- Tansy Ragwort. Either way, here's the info in some confusing plants.

RAGWEED

WOOD GROUNDSEL
AKA TANSY RAGWEED

TANSY
Latin Name: Tanacetum vulgare

TANSY

Tansy was traditionally used to kill parasites among other things,
but there safer natural methods to kill parasites.

Notice that actual Tansy just has little button flowers with no petals.
Wood Groundsel has curly leaves & petals on the flowers.

Shift in seasons

2010-08-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

Golden Crowned Sparrow having a bath.

There has been a slight shift in the season. A lot of the plants are going to seed now. Keep an eye on the

St. John's Wort for the seeds to be ready, you can use some of the tops to make St. John's Wort oil. And we will need some for our herb class when the seeds are read. The Motherwort is almost in seed as well, but for now the bees are all over its sharp little blooms. It will reseed readily & spread throughout the garden. Indian plum trees are turning yellow, they start growing in early Feb., so it is kind of like fall for them, and they seem to mark a shift in weather as it begins to turn from summer to fall.

Herbs & tree frogs.

2010-07-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

Yarrow blooms, ready to harvest.

Another little tree frog hiding on the stones to the pond.

Yellow dock seeds almost ready to harvest,
and the marshmallow is in bloom.

Another tree frog in a squash leaf, seems to be their favorite spot.

TREE FROG

2010-07-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

A PACIFIC TREE FROG IN A SQUASH LEAF

Raw food breakfast

2010-07-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

This makes a great breakfast, easy to carry with you to work or wherever, and keeps you full for hours.

CUT UP A BUNCH OF FRUIT

ADD SPROUTED QUINOA, SPROUTED LENTILS, SPROUTED SUNFLOWER SEEDS

HEMP HEARTS, RAW CACAO, ACAI POWDER,

SPIRULINA, BEE POLLEN (IF YOU ARE NOT

ALLERGIC TO BEE PRODUCTS)

POUR COCONUT MILK OVER IT

Barred Owl in our yard

2010-07-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

We see this owl quite often, usually just at night though. Since this was during the day we got take some pictures.

Walk through my garden

2010-07-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

I just added a page on my website called Walk Through My Garden

most of the herbs are in full bloom,

thought I'd take advantage of this & add some photos.

www.dragonflyherbals.com

St. John's Wort is ready to harvest now

2010-07-07T15:45:00.000-07:00

We harvested St. John's Wort in our last herbal class. Just like with other herbs remember not to overharvest. We took part of a flowering tip with some leaves from scattered plants in a huge area, and made a tincture & an oil.

Infusing Wine with herbs

2010-07-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

In the summer I often infuse some white wine with herbs. I made some white wine from scratch 2 years ago using green grapes & peaches. It still tastes a little 'new', aka not so good. When I walked outside the other day I saw the climbing rose had quite a few roses on it. I poured some of the wine into the mason jar above & added all the rose petals. It tastes amazing!

So I got out the other 20 bottles of peach/grape wine & a chopstick & pushed a bunch of herbs in each bottle.

For those taking my herbal course you'll have a good idea what herbs to use. For flavor I am thinking the rose petals will be great. And I made a few with lavender flowers (which will be great for relaxing before bed, lavender makes you sleepy). I also added: comfrey to some bottles, plantain, yarrow leaves & flowers, calendula flowers, borage flowers, lemon balm. Lots of these are for immune system, and some are for relaxing the nervous system. At some point I will strain the herbs out of each bottle, and also at some point, lavender or rose petals will be added to each one because I love the flavor.

I did try making some herbal wines using just herbs - no grapes. They are NOT so tasty. I think I like this method the best.

Pictures taken by our house.

2010-07-05T20:00:00.001-07:00

BABY SWALLOWS

2010-07-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

BABY SWALLOWS

in a nesting box in the big maple tree

CHAKRA BALANCING CLASSES & AN HERB WALK

2010-07-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

The little hummingbirds flew off the morning after the last photo`s were taken.

Here`s a few classes open to anyone for July:

I am opening up a couple of classes this month to everyone.
Usually some of these classes are just for my reiki students.
Email me to register for any of these classes.

SATURDAY JULY 10
10:00 - NOON (depending on how many students, could be 11:30)
$30
CHAKRA BALANCING CLASS
I am running a series of chakra balancing classes & have 2
scheduled at this time. Chakras are main energy centers in the
body & become out of balance: over or under active, causing
physical or emotional problems. These classes can help you
become more aware of your chakras
& doing some work to bring them back into balance.
We will do some reading & journal work (I never ask my students
to share what they write), learn to use a pendulum to balance
the chakra we are studying, and use a tuning fork for restoring
balance.
At that point, the class will be over & my reiki students will
stay to receive an attunement & to give & receive reiki sessions.

SATURDAY JULY 17
HERB WALK
NOON - 1:30 (approximately)
$25
If you are interested in looking at about 30 herbs growing in my
yard & learning a bit about each, also get to know me as an herbalist
a bit better if you are thinking about taking my herb course
next year. We will walk around & look a the plants, learn a bit
about their uses, and have an herbal infusion after from freshly
picked plants.

SUNDAY JULY 18
SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA
10:00 - noon
$30 for non reiki students
same as above chakra class, different chakra.

Baby Hummingbirds testing their wings

2010-06-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

These little guys are growing up!

2nd picture: testing out there tongues in slow motion!

3rd pic: testing out their tiny wings.

4th pic: testing out the tongue again, tasting the maple tree.

Harvesting Herbs in June

2010-06-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

Since our herb class is have a short break & we won't meet until July, thought I'd add a bit of info on what's going on with the herbs out there, maybe you'll find a project or 2 with the information I'll be posting.

Lots of herbs are ready to harvest or use right now.

The comfrey (pictured at the right) is just at the end of blooming, you'll find a lot of the stalks are starting to fall over & smother other smallers plants next to them. Time to cut some it back. Some of my comfrey leaves are HUGE this year.

Comfrey Root: I am finding the frozen grated fresh comfrey root excellent for so many things. I won't harvest any more root until fall, but I'll put this information in here anyways. I took fresh comfrey root last year & just grated it & froze it in baggies. It has been a life saver with some external skin problems, and with an eye infection. I just crack a bit of it off, add a tiny bit of water, blend it in my blender & strain it. Remember to make it fresh every day.

Comfrey Leaf: I am cutting off some of the big flower stalks & drying them whole to use in the winter for any colds or lung problems. Remember some people are sensitive to the leaf used externally, causes itching. The root usually works better for those people. Anyway, I use comfrey leaf tea in the winter for lung problems. If you have an abundance of comfrey leaf, it is excellent added to compost to help break it down. And the flower stalks are beautiful in vases in the house.

Valerian is in bloom: the flowers smell amazing, I always bring some in & put them in vases.

Keep collecting lots of spring nourishing herbs for use in winter as a green powder or in infusions. I just dry the herbs, keeping them whole, and will grind them or use them in infusions whole in the winter. I collect a few comfrey leaves, tons of dandelion leaves, nettles, plantain leaves. I also do dry some cleaves & chickweed even though they are really not so useful dried.

Yellow dock is blooming now. Remember, we just use the root, the leaves are a bit high in oxalic acid which can contribute to aching joints.

Yarrow is in bloom, collect & dry leaves & blooms. Keep some dried for teas in the winter for colds. Tincture some for the same use. And use it in salves to help stop pain & bleeding.

You may notice as the days get warmer that the chickweed is a little harder to find. I have some with huge leaves in a shady damp area of the yard. It is right next to the miner's lettuce, so I just go down there each day & pick a bit & eat it on the spot.

Cleavers is about to get those nasty sticky little burs on them, which makes my dogs look like they have little green beards. I usually pull it up at this time of year (it will still come back). Remember it is not so useful dried, so use it fresh to tincture, this is pretty much your last chance until next spring. I have also been using it juiced. If you remember it is great for cleansing the lymphatic system, which is why I've been feeling a low grade germy feeling, as it is pulling out toxic matter from my lymphatic system.

If you have lemon balm, this is a pefect time to tincture some fresh for help with sleep during the winter. And lavender if you have it. Sometimes I make a tincture with lavender & lemon balm, both help you sleep & this tastes great. We'll be working with that next class I think.

If you have Calendula, use the petals of the flowers on your salads. Same with nasturtium flowers.

This is a great time of year to make another salve, her are some ideas of herbs you may have in your yard that can be used: calendula, comfrey, plantain, wormwood, heal all, lavender. Look back in your notes or in one of your herb books & see what the properties are of some herbs that you have growing in your yard, make an infused oil & then make a salve from it. Add some essential oils if you have them, tea tree or lavender are wonderful in healing salves.

Remember to take a minute before harvesting any plants, think of what you would like for this plant to help you heal, pick it with intention, leave an offering of intending thanks or reiki.

seichim reiki

2010-06-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

Seichim Reiki

I just added this information to my website, and thought I'd add it here too.

A group of us have been working with Seichim reiki since 2008. The energies are very different than Usui reiki. My feeling is that Usui reiki is a fixed set of energies. These vibrations (Usui reiki) offer everyone a way to start with channelling energy. All of my students begin with Usui reiki level 1.

After level 1 Usui reiki you can start getting Seichim attunements if you feel ready for something different. There are additional symbols given with Seichim.

Seichim seems to open a person up to whatever energies are currently coming to earth at this time. That would be whatever energies you are ready to tap into as well.

I work with a group of reiki masters, we get together every few months & re-attune each other to level 7 of Seichim. Seichim has never felt ‘finished’ to me, it seems new & different each time.

Remember all attunements, of any type of reiki, open a person up to channel energy, they release what no longer serves them, but also offer personal growth.
I have found Seichim to be different every time I have been attuned. Quite often a Seichim attunement brings about a time of creativity, whether that is being creative with doing some form of writing or artwork, cooking, news ways of doing things, whatever type of creativity calls to you.

Seichim attunements are given 1 on 1, there are 7 levels. You can work with the first 6 levels, and get your 7th level after your Usui Master class.
Seichim attunements are given with the student on the reiki table, and usually take ½ hour or so.

During these attunements your energy field is opened up to the Seichim energy stream. Your chakras are opened & balanced, your heart chakra opens, and your energy field is knit back together. This heals any tears & imbalances in the energy field, & helps you be grounded in your own energy, less permeable to other’s energies fields & /or negativity.

Raw cracker sandwiches

2010-06-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

I've been experimenting with some different raw foods. I needed some new flavors & textures in my diet.

I had made raw crackers quite a few months ago, but quickly lost a taste for them. So those all became dog biscuits, and the dogs definitely were not complaining about that.

Anyway, I suddenly got the urge to have some sort of raw sandwich or raw pizza.

Used some juicer pulp, it was mostly carrot, celery, cumber & a ton of greens from my garden: kale, chard, dandelion, cleavers, parsley. Mixed the pulp in the food processor with whole flax, Bragg, lemon juice & nutritional yeast, put it in the dehydrator on wax paper, & let it dry overnight.

Last night I had a large piece of the raw cracker with refried bean paste (I still eat some non raw stuff), sliced onion, sliced tomato, olive oil & a bunch of chopped garlic. Great little mexican pizza!

Today I had the same raw cracker base with squished avocado, sliced onion, a mountain of sprouts, tomato slices, himalayan salt & pepper. mmmmm....

I am growing lots of kale, chard, lettuce & parsley mostly for juicing. I usually pick a big handful of dandelion & cleaves & plantain & juice that too. Just remember to go easy on the juiced raw green, especially the wild leaves, let your body get used to it. Start off with just 1 or 2 leaves.

More hummingbirds

2010-06-19T14:18:00.000-07:00

The first one is the mama hummingbird sitting on the edge of the nest.

Next ones are of the 2 babies.

Baby Hummingbirds from the roof

2010-06-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

Baby Hummingbirds

2010-06-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

Just today I noticed 2 tiny beaks above the edge of the nest. In the bottom photo you can see one standing
right up.

Birds & Herbs in June

2010-06-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

Some of the birds at my feeder. A goldfinch &
the grosebeak is in the background.

Mama hummingbird is now feeding her babies, they
hatched a day or 2 ago. Her nest is a little too high
up for seeing down into it. Her babies are well below
the edge of the nest still. So cute to see her fly up to
the nest & poke her beak down into it to feed babies.
The hummingbird feeder is so busy with them this
year I have to refil it daily. I've seen 6 at time out
there.

As we were talking about in our latest herb class,
the dandelion leaves are huge this year. I encouraged
all my students to start picking & drying lots of wild
spring herbs. I grind up a mountain of dried herbs in the fall & put them in an amber wide mouth jar & use a little bit in my shake every morning.

Great time of year to be picking plenty of wild nourishing herbs for infusions.

I have been drying lots of nettles (about 20 lbs), dandelion leaves, cleavers (I usually pull up lots of it before it gets those tiny sticky green burs on them), yarrow, a few comfrey leaves.

Comfrey is in bloom now, with lots of bees on it. I am harvesting some of the big stems before they fall over. Its great to see a few more bees outside now, apparently about 90% of the bees in our area died off.

The foxgloves are in bloom too, one of my favorite flowers, not to be used as an herb, but can be used as a vibrational essences.

And the valerian is in bloom, I bring lots of these flowers in the house, they smell incredible, which is amazing, since the root (which is used medicinally) smells so strong I store it in glass jars.

More on Mama Hummingbird

2010-06-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

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Mama Hummingbird is still sitting on her nest.
The first 2 pictures are a little older, her nest was smaller.
Second 2 pictures, she's added a lot more lichen.
I saw her bringing tiny chicken feathers to line the nest.

The babies must be almost ready to hatch, she's been sitting on the nest almost 2 weeks. In the rain! Hopefully the weather will clear up soon.

An easier way to make Kale Chips

2010-05-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

I just made another batch of kale chips & found an easier way to do it.

This time I made mexican flavored ones.

I made a paste of seeds: sunflower, pumpkin, & sesame (all raw, not roasted), and added hot cayenne powder & chili powder & some cumin, and himalayan salt.

Then I ran some red pepper, green onions & a chunk of lemon through the juicer with the blank in it, so it just pulverized the vegetables.

I mixed all this together as a paste, kind of a peanut butter consistency, then just used a spatula to smear it on huge pieces of kale. I filled 12 trays in the dehydrator.

Remember, the reason you are using a food dehydrator & not the oven, is too keep all the nutrients & enzymes of the ingredients. So you are still eating a raw food.

2010-05-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

RAW SEASONED KALE CHIPS

Slice the spine out of the kale, & keep the leaves in big pieces that will still fit in your food dehydrator.

Put the leaves in a big bowl.

In the magic bullet, grind up:

sesame seeds

pumpkin seeds

nutritional yeast

some himalayan salt

Then add:

garlic

a chunk of onion

tamari

lemon juice

a bit of olive oil

Grind this all up, it should be a fairly thick paste.

Toss it with the kale leaves until they are evenly coated. If the seasoning mixture is too thick, add a bit of water.

I line my food dehydrator trays with parchment paper (not a fan of the plastic liners), and cut a whole in the center, sometimes I cut some wedge shaped sliced out of the outside edges, so the warm air can circulate more easily.

Dehydrate your seasoned kale until its crispy.

This is the best dehydrated crunchy thing I've tasted in ages.

Harvesting Sage

2010-05-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

Driving through Osoyoos this weekend, I was finally able to replenish my supplies of sage.

Big Sagebrush

Artemesia tridentata

is my favorite to use for saging my house & the

reiki room.

This plant grows in with sage, it is a little larger, but looks very similar to sage . It is

Antelope Bush

Purshia tridentata

Doesn't smell as good as the sage for sure.

This last plant is Wild Blue Flax.

Linum perrenne ssp.

It was in bloom in the interior, so I brought a plant back to try in my herb garden.

Mama Hummingbird

2010-05-20T16:12:00.000-07:00

Mama hummingbird in her nest 2 feet from the reiki room window.

Raw food

2010-05-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

My purpose in providing a few pages on raw food is just to inspire others to educate themselves on raw food eating. I am fairly new to it, starting eating mostly raw in October of 2009.

I was mostly vegetarian for about 20 years. I did eat seafood as well. In working with reiki the last few years & raising my vibrational level, I realized that cooked food was not agreeing with me very much any more. After a very powerful attunement in August 2009, given to me by some of my reiki master students, I had a complete change in diet.

I realized cooked food was not agreeing with me at all. I bought an amazing new juicer, an Omega juicer, and had juices & shakes all day. Then 1/2 cooked vegetarian food & 1/2 raw dinner. Its been a slow progression to mostly raw. And doing a lot of cleansing as well. Sometimes the cleansing symptoms - such as low grade germy feeling, and skin breakouts, get to be a bit much, so I slow down the process by eating some steamed veggies.

Its not about a race to get healthy, its about slowly & safely shedding years & years worth of toxic stuff from the body. I have lost a lot of weight & 8 years of pain from a back injury is slowly become less & less. I am gardening again which is great!

Knowledge of herbs is really helpful for cleansing the body, especially during the first couple years of eating more or mostly raw. I do have my Cleansing Workshop info available for download on my website.

Start slowly, read lots of books on the subject, look on the internet & youtube to find lots of info on raw food eating. Especially depending on your current level of health you may want to start slow & just add raw foods to what you eat now. Your body will slowly wake up & you will become more aware the natural wisdom we all have to eat what we need, no longer crave foods that are unhealthy to us.

A word about the health of your teeth. It is so important to read some book by knowledgable writers such as David Wolfe, so you understand the detoxification process your body undergoes when switching to raw food. I see many comments out there about those who've switched to raw food & have tooth & gum problems. Please buy & read David's Wolfe's Sunfood Success book, read his chapter on teeth. Basically you need to be eating a ton of leafy greens, both juiced & whole. You need to concentrate on your intake of minerals: whole food mineral supplements such as spirulina, chlorella, wheat grass, barley grass. I make huge containers of a powdered whole food vitamin & mineral supplement. Stick with your supplements as long as you need them, take a good calcium magnesium supplement, take other minerals as well. Use high quality salt, such as himalayan salts, and sole (a liquid mineral supplement).

If your body goes through too much of a cleansing & you experience health problems, cut back a bit by eating some steamed food. There's lots of herbs that can help with this. (Take my herb course).

2010-05-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

The body is a self sustaining, wonderfully regenerating organism

that wears out due to high levels of physical, mental, emotional & spiritual toxicity.

This toxicity comes through

diet

negative thinking

poor quality relationships

and disempowering belief systems.

Detoxification (letting go) at all levels heals all things.

by David Wolfe

Sunfood Diet Sucess System

David Wolfe's Sunfood Success book is one of my favorites right now.

DRAGONFLY HERBALS & REIKI

4 of us sending distance healing on the forum

JANUARY WALK IN THE WOODS, part 2 of 4

Getting your immune system in order & choosing the right herb for your body type

JANUARY WALK IN THE WOODS, part 1 of 4

Cleansing Manual: Detox Manual $10

Free areas of discussion on my forum

Online chakra course

SAGE & PLANTS IN THE ARTEMISIA FAMILY

Sage and Artemisias

Book List for my students

CROWN CHAKRA

Pain Relief Workshop has begun

THIRD EYE CHAKRA

THROAT CHAKRA

HEART CHAKRA

DISTANCE HERBAL WORKSHOP BEGINS JAN 8TH

REIKI FORUM CLASSES FOR JANUARY

SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA

SACRAL CHAKRA

ROOT CHAKRA

CHERRIES & CHOCOLATE

Oil of Oregano and assorted thoughts on immune system, candida, colds & flu

Article on Chakras & Reiki

Local plants & trees for the immune system

HERBAL WORKSHOPS ON MY FORUM IN EARLY 2012

Dairy Free not quite raw Artichoke & Spinach Dip

JAN & FEB REIKI FORUM CLASSES FOR DISTANCE LEARNING

FORUM for HERBS & REIKI, & DISTANCE LEARNING FOR HERBS

Green Smoothies

Sunchoke Salad

Harvesting Dandelions

Mushrooms

Rosehips

Yellow Dock Root

PERSONAL HEALING COURSES

Fall Equinox 2011

RAW FOOD RECIPE BOOK $10

Spiralized yellow zucchini & borage flowers

CALCIUM ~~ RAW FOOD ~~ DAIRY FREE

Another great video especially for my reiki students

Stepping in the unknown

The power of consciousness

RAW (NO BAKING, NO FLOUR) BROWNIES

Stop eating wheat !!

NO SHAMPOO

For all my herb students

Purple Henbit

Nettles are up !

Raw pumpkin pie with chocolate mousse on top

EATING WITH THE SEASONS

ST. JOHN'S WORT SEED HEADS

The stinky plant from our herb class: Rhinanthus minor

ST. JOHN'S WORT VS. WOOD GROUNDSEL

TANSY OR RAGWEED OR WOOD GROUNDSEL

Shift in seasons

Herbs & tree frogs.

TREE FROG

Raw food breakfast

Barred Owl in our yard

Walk through my garden

St. John's Wort is ready to harvest now

Infusing Wine with herbs

Pictures taken by our house.

BABY SWALLOWS

CHAKRA BALANCING CLASSES & AN HERB WALK

Baby Hummingbirds testing their wings

Harvesting Herbs in June

seichim reiki

Raw cracker sandwiches

More hummingbirds

Baby Hummingbirds from the roof

Baby Hummingbirds

Birds & Herbs in June

More on Mama Hummingbird

An easier way to make Kale Chips

Harvesting Sage

Mama Hummingbird

Raw food

CALCIUM RAW FOOD DAIRY FREE