Wednesday, March 7, 2012

JANUARY WALK IN THE WOODS, part 4 of 4



This is Oregon Grape, it grows everywhere here. I use the roots for tincturing for liver toning. And the berries are really tart, great for eating if you are on a long walk & thirsty.




Pearly Everlasting. I haven't used this plant too much, it can be useful for allergies, and lung & throat problems. It doesn't smell like much either. Its flowers already feel dried when still on the plant, that's why it is called 'everlasting'. I am just trying some in my herb infusion this morning.



Salal grows everywhere here. I love its zigzag branches. Just discovered it works quite well in infusions for

irritated bladder, or a slight infection of the bladder. Doesn't taste like much. Seems to work really well. The

berries taste really good, they aren't too juicy & tend to dry out after reaching their peak. One of my students 

noticed they have an immediate effect on soothing her kidneys. So I've used the leaves in an infusion for 

soothing the kidneys as well.




Snowberry




Squirrel at the feeder. We have 3 squirrels that come to the feed, which keeps my dogs busy.




St. John's wort in winter.




Tansy flower in winter. This plant has really interesting flat yellow disks for flowers.




Towhee on the cherry tree by the feeder. These guys nest near us every year, so we have had more & more over the years. We still have an Anna's hummingbird a the feeder too.




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













Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Free Sample from my Chakra Course Lesson 2: THE ROOT CHAKRA


My Chakra course is 9 lessons long. 
I am offering 
Lesson 2: THE ROOT CHAKRA 
as a free sample on my forum.



CHAKRA
FUNCTION
1. Root Chakra
Elimination
2. Sacral Chakra
Assimilation
3. Solar Plexus Chakra
Digestion/metabolism
4. Heart Chakra
Circulation
5. Throat Chakra
Respiration
6. Third Eye Chakra
Inner sound
7. Crown Chakra
Nervous system/inner light














Lesson 1 is an overview of the chakra, how to use a pendulum to determine size, shape & spin & loads of other information.

Lesson 2 - 8 go through each chakra one at a time: ROOT, SACRAL, SOLAR PLEXUS, HEART & HIGH HEART, THROAT, THIRD EYE & CROWN.

Lesson 9 ties it all together by using a medicine wheel to give you an overview of your chakras & what needs working on. It also discusses the chakras above the crown.


Working through the chakras one a time is

A PATH TO SELF HEALING & EMPOWERING YOU TO HEAL YOURSELF ON A PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL & SPIRITUAL LEVEL BY USING REIKI, CHAKRA BALANCING, CRYSTALS,  & JOURNAL WORK.

Although reiki is used, this course could be done without it.


The purpose of the chakra course is to clear ourselves physically, emotionally & spiritually step by step working with one chakra at a time.

I find this to be quite powerful, having worked through this course with my students a number of times.


We do clearing with each level of reiki, but this helps to break it down into clearing each specific chakra & seems to have a huge impact on personal growth & clearing.




You will learn to:

•       Release what no longer serves you
•       Learn to bring about positive change, to learn that you create your own reality
•       Learn to manifest what you wish to bring into your life
•       Empower yourself with tools to bring about your own healing

This will be accomplished by giving you skills for physical, emotional & spiritual growth:

•       SPIRITUAL HEALING: by using your reiki skills & intentions to heal each chakra one by one
•       EMOTIONAL HEALING: with each lesson after that we will focus on one chakra, doing healing & balancing of that chakra & journal work
•       PHYSICAL HEALING: healing the chakra’s also brings about physical healing, we identify physical ailments associated with each chakra so you can focus on them & work towards healing them

I will ask that my students have enough personal time available for each lesson to:

  • •             Do reiki on yourself daily
  • •             journal work for the chakra we learned about
  • ·             Taking time to share information & insights on the forum


In order to bring about change in your life, you must be willing to DO THE WORK, which means making a commitment to do the work involved with each lesson

You will learn to:

•       Release what no longer serves you
•       Learn to bring about positive change, to learn that you create your own reality
•       Learn to manifest what you wish to bring into your life
•       Empower you with tools to bring about your own healing

Access to the Root Chakra lesson is found here:






Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Wild harvesting plants, part 3 of 4

Sometimes it is easy to confuse a medicinal plant with another plant, so you have to be careful.

Here’s an example:

Probably everyone thinks they can identify dandelion easily, but maybe not!

There are several plants that look like dandelion, and also have yellow blooms!

A good time to tell what a plant is is when it is in bloom. Although these other plants have yellow blooms, it is easier to tell which one is dandelion when they are in bloom.

DANDELION:



SMOOTH HAWKSBEARD:




HAIRY CAT’S EAR:




Its fairly easy to tell all these apart when pointing out in person. Dandelion's leaves are smooth, and the stem's on the flowers are way different than on the other plants. Have someone show you.

I’m just saying, don’t rely on your field guide to distinguish plants that you will be using internally.

I have all 3 plants growing in my yard & my students compare them throughout the growing season, until they can tell them apart.



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. 

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

Friday, February 24, 2012

WILD HARVESTING MEDICINAL HERBS, part 2 of 4


Yarrow 
Yarrow Leaves




Nettles
These are young nettles, the tops & a few of the top leaves are still good for steaming at this stage.


Nettle seeds can be tinctured as well. I still harvest the plants after they go to seed.

Barberry/Oregon Grape



St John’s wort  



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


Thursday, February 16, 2012

Herbs for eye infection

Eye infection:

My dog, Paco had an infected eye, and after wiping it down with herbs a few times daily AND washing my hands after, it passed into one of my eyes.

Both of us took herbs internally to clear up infection as well as using these infusions externally. Also used internally: juiced garlic, dr. Schulze vinegar formula with Echinacea 3 droppersfull 3 times a day, extra vit.c. continued with this for several days after it cleared up. Comfrey & rasp. Leaf tea internally.

Eyebright infusion made fresh daily : worked ok, but the infection remained in Paco’s eye.

Tried fresh chickweed & Echinacea, every ½ hour. Worked ok, but my eyes were super itchy. I think it was just too drying. It seemed to just hold the infection at bay without healing it.

Comfrey root infusion worked really well, it feels very soothing, it is thick with mucilage, so hard to see for a while, since you are looking through a haze of mucilage. Comfrey clears up itching & dryness. Used it on a broken blood vessel in the eye, And also cranesbill, but it was very drying – did clear up a blood spot though.

Then I made a decoction of barberry which grows everywhere here on the coast, Echinacea, marshmallow & raspberry leaf. I used it every 15 min or so, I had tons of green goo in my eye. And at night, also left the cotton ball (very wet) on my eye for 45 min. This was strong, the Echinacea & marshmallow probably stopped the itching. It was no longer gooey the next day, I still used it once an hour. It was mostly cleared up the day after that.

I also discovered as I went along with this for many days, I got tired of making fresh infusions. So I used tinctures & diluted them very heavily until they didn't sting my eye, and that works well too.



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

    Monday, February 13, 2012

    9 Week Chakra Healing & Balancing Course

    A 9 week Chakra Healing & Balancing Course begins on my forum this week.

    Anyone with level 1 reiki can join in.

    The cost is $50 for the entire 9 lesson course, payable through paypal. Get on my forum

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

    to get an account & then message me, or leave a reply in the Chakra course section.

    Or email me at:

    herbs.and.reiki@dragonflyherbals.com


    I will be covering all 7 major chakras, the upper chakras beyond the crown, and an overview of chakras & healing techniques. We will be using a journal & reiki, crystals & stones if you have them.

    The course manual is approximately 30 pages, and covers all information & journal work needed. Lessons will be posted once a week.

    Healing & balancing your chakras is a big step in personal growth  & healing energetically, physically & emotionally.


    Thursday, February 9, 2012

    WILD HARVESTING PLANTS, part 1 of 4

    Wild harvesting

    Learning to harvest your own weeds and herbs.

    This is truly the way to go: fresh wild plants picked locally at their peak  will make the best remedies possible. Local plants will have a far great impact on your healing than herbs ordered in from a supplier, or herbs that are indigenous to another country.

    The main problem comes from learning to identify them properly & not confusing a medicinal plant with another plant.

    I offer weed walks during my herbalist classes to help my students learn to identify our local medicinal plants. We go out in spring, summer & fall to see the plants in each season.

    If you are taking my herbalist course by distance, try to find someone offering a local weed walk.

    Here’s some of the easier herbs to identify, although there may be look alikes. if you already have been on an herb walk with someone & feel comfortable identifying the plants, these pictures might help you remember some of the common plants you can harvest.

    Dandelion leaves and root, 


    Chickweed,



    Plantain
    LANCE LEAFED PLANTAIN

    BROAD LEAFED PLANTAIN. 



    Red Clover



    horsetail



    wild rose



    burdock



    yellow dock



    Cleavers (it is sticky)



    Mullein


    more on wild harvesting on an upcoming post.
    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