JANUARY WALK IN THE WOODS, part 3 of 4

This is Usnea. I have been using it for immune system as well. I had been using it in infusions, but I collected enough to make a tincture.

This is a different type of lichen, you can see it is flatter. Usnea is round & when you pull it apart it has a tiny thread inside. Both kinds will often grow on the same bush. I find it most often on Ocean Spray shrubs.

This is lungwort. It doesn't grow on the ground, here's where it came from:

If you look way up in this maple, tree you can see lungwort growing on its trunk. I am able to harvest it when there

is a strong wind & some blows down. Or last year a raven was nicely making a little project out of clearing an

entire branch of a maple tree in yard. He came back each day & was very intent on getting every bit of moss

& lichen off the branch, so I had all kinds of lungwort tossed down to me. I have used it in rubbing alcohol along

with usnea for itchy skin conditions like eczema & acne. And I have used the lungwort in infusions for lung problems,

and right now I am making a tincture of it. It smells really earthy -- both the plant & the tincture. It seems to stay

happily green moist lying on the ground in our rainy weather, as soon as its brought inside it dries out very quickly.

It feels very much like toad skin.

This is a Barred Owl, he & his mate are in our yard frequently. They are very active during the winter & have their babies probably around this time of year. This photo was taken in the late spring. Sometimes we get to see one or both of them during the day.

One thing about having owls in the yard, they tend to wake you up in the middle of the night with a loud shriek.

They will also swoop out of the tree & knock you in the head if you are wandering around unsuspectingly!

Part 4 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

4 of us sending distance healing on the forum

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

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

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

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

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

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