A blog about all things green! :) Solarkat's Eco Blog discusses many different topics from eco living, reviews of eco-friendly and natural products, aromatherapy, herbalism, all natural skin and hair care ingredients and DIY (Do It Yourself) recipes, all natural perfumery, conservation, environmental issues, nature, whole nutritious foods, and more! :)
What's new:
May 2, 2015 Dr Aviva Romm's herbal resources including a new course!
April 7, 2015: Aromatherapy books sale!
March 19, 2015: free herbal webinar tonight!
March 7, 2015: Two new posts! Free aromatherapy ebook. And one of my favorite books is now available as a digital download.
March 5, 2015: 7song's herb first aid online course, last day to enroll!
March 3, 2015: Two posts! Essential oils for menstrual pain and the Tisserand Institute (Aromatherapy) newsletter.
February 26, 2015: free herbal webinar tonight!
February 22. 2015: two posts! One post is on 7song's herb first aid online course. And there is an excellent video that covers lemon essential oil ingestion in water.
February 21, 2015: The Sustainable Herb Project
August 5, 2014: a post on coconut cream, coconut milk, and coconut water in skin care, and where to buy these ingredients!
August 4, 2014: updated my sugar and salt scrub post, and reshared my vegan sugar scrub recipe too! See new post on the scrubs.
There are A LOT of the old entries are not in the links section. There are over 260 entries on this blog, so most links to old posts are not posted on the right side of this blog (I am still re-adding some of the links to the old posts to the right side of the blog. All the links were removed when I switched the template). If you can't find what you need either read the archives by month, do a search in the search engine box at the top of the blog, or you may ask me a question through the comments or email. :)
Cheers!
Li
Saturday, May 02, 2015
Herbal Recipe, Guide, Ebook, and Course For Kids! (Herbalism)
Yesterday was May Day and today is Herb Day! Hope everyone is having a wonderful spring so far, filled with many green activities!
Just a quick post to mention a few awesome herbal resources. :)
Dr Aviva Romm recently posted a great recipe for a cold and flu syrup for kids on her facebook page. It's super simple to make: you basically mix a lot of store bought tinctures. Or if you are already an herbalist: make the tinctures yourself, and then mix them!
I really respect Dr Aviva Romm. She is a medical doctor, one of the best known clinical herbalists (she was the president of the American Herbalists Guild for over a decade), and she was also a mid wife, so she looks at herbs from many different perspectives. I have some of her books and they are jam packed with information. I like how she bridges the gap between science and herbalism, and how she offers families as well as medical practitioners alternative herbal options!
A few weeks ago I signed up for her newest course, Healthy All Year, and a few days ago it opened. I just started studying and so far it is great--I am learning so much! This course covers many different topics, and it is very in depth. It focuses on herbal remedies for kids, but even if you don't have kids, it's a great course to take. I don't have kids yet, but I have a niece and nephew, so I am taking it to learn even more about herbalism for kids. Plus it's super on sale now for only a few more days.
Lastly she has a website (avivaromm.com). It has a lot of herbal information and there are a couple free guides and ebooks too. Currently there is a free detox your medicine cabinet guide, and a free ebook on herbal medicine for kids.
Just a quick post to mention a few awesome herbal resources. :)
Dr Aviva Romm recently posted a great recipe for a cold and flu syrup for kids on her facebook page. It's super simple to make: you basically mix a lot of store bought tinctures. Or if you are already an herbalist: make the tinctures yourself, and then mix them!
I really respect Dr Aviva Romm. She is a medical doctor, one of the best known clinical herbalists (she was the president of the American Herbalists Guild for over a decade), and she was also a mid wife, so she looks at herbs from many different perspectives. I have some of her books and they are jam packed with information. I like how she bridges the gap between science and herbalism, and how she offers families as well as medical practitioners alternative herbal options!
A few weeks ago I signed up for her newest course, Healthy All Year, and a few days ago it opened. I just started studying and so far it is great--I am learning so much! This course covers many different topics, and it is very in depth. It focuses on herbal remedies for kids, but even if you don't have kids, it's a great course to take. I don't have kids yet, but I have a niece and nephew, so I am taking it to learn even more about herbalism for kids. Plus it's super on sale now for only a few more days.
Lastly she has a website (avivaromm.com). It has a lot of herbal information and there are a couple free guides and ebooks too. Currently there is a free detox your medicine cabinet guide, and a free ebook on herbal medicine for kids.
Tuesday, April 07, 2015
Aromatherapy Book Recommendations And Specials (Essential Oils)
I found out about this from aromatherapy pioneer Robert Tisserand's facebook page. Right now a few great aromatherapy practitioner or advanced essential oil books are onsale at Elsevier's website. This includes Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young's second edition of Essential Oil Safety, Jane Buckle's Clinical Aromatherapy 3rd edition, and Shirley & Len Price's Aromatherapy For Health Practitioners 4th edition and also their Understanding Hydrolats book! These books are some of the most advanced books we have on aromatherapy, and they are usually very expensive. But right now (not sure for how long) they are onsale for 30% off! The promotional code is AZK3E14166
These are not books I recommend for the absolute beginner but for those with a good solid background in aromatherapy. I highly suggest getting these books if you are serious about learning the art and science of aromatherapy! Robert's book is considered the best, most accurate resource on essential oil safety. Buckle's book was just released and it is already considered a standard and must read in clinical aromatherapy practice. The Prices's books are amazing resources too. Robert and the Prices are considered legends for a reason. Buckle is also an aromatherapy pioneer and a nurse too.
These are not books I recommend for the absolute beginner but for those with a good solid background in aromatherapy. I highly suggest getting these books if you are serious about learning the art and science of aromatherapy! Robert's book is considered the best, most accurate resource on essential oil safety. Buckle's book was just released and it is already considered a standard and must read in clinical aromatherapy practice. The Prices's books are amazing resources too. Robert and the Prices are considered legends for a reason. Buckle is also an aromatherapy pioneer and a nurse too.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Free Herbal Webinar Tonight (Herbalism)
I just found out about this recently. But there is a free herbal webinar tonight. It is being hosted by John Gallagher of Learning Herbs and Herb Mentor. And it is going to feature herbalist Tina Sams from the Essential Herbal Magazine. I really love all the free Learning Herbs webinars since they usually host many long time herbalists and herbalism pioneers; so they are jammed pack with information!
I recommend viewing the webinar live, since they often don't record them, or if they do record them and they release a replay then it is usually an edited version. (The webinars tend to run 3-4 hours, and the few times they have released a replay, it was much shorter, like only 30 minutes). It starts at 8:30 pm Eastern and 5:30 pm Pacific. http://learningherbs.com/7-essential-herbs-webinar
I recommend viewing the webinar live, since they often don't record them, or if they do record them and they release a replay then it is usually an edited version. (The webinars tend to run 3-4 hours, and the few times they have released a replay, it was much shorter, like only 30 minutes). It starts at 8:30 pm Eastern and 5:30 pm Pacific. http://learningherbs.com/7-essential-herbs-webinar
Saturday, March 07, 2015
The Aromatic Spa Book Digital Download (Aromatherapy, Natural Skin Care)
Speaking of good books, one of my most favorite aromatherapy skin care books is now available as a digital download. It is not free but it is is worth every penny.
I greatly respect aromatherapy pioneer and essential oil safety expert Sylla Sheppard Hanger. I am honored she is one of my aromatherapy teachers; I have learned a lot from her wisdom and experience in the field. One of her books, The Aromatic Spa, is now available as a digital download. I don't have the download, but I have the paper copy, and it is jammed packed with information. Some of the information is from Sylla's aromatherapy practitioner course, and her aromatherapy practitioner reference manuals, so The Aromatic Spa is kind of like a short course on aromatherapy.
And if you are considering taking her aromatherapy practitioner course or investing in her reference manuals in the future, the Aromatic Spa book is a good way to find out more about Sylla's knowledge and teaching style. In addition, the digital download costs much less than the paper version. I have read many natural skin care and aromatherapy skin care books over the years, and this book is one of the best ones I have read on the subject. If you want to learn about authentic aromatherapy and natural skin care, I highly recommend this book!
I greatly respect aromatherapy pioneer and essential oil safety expert Sylla Sheppard Hanger. I am honored she is one of my aromatherapy teachers; I have learned a lot from her wisdom and experience in the field. One of her books, The Aromatic Spa, is now available as a digital download. I don't have the download, but I have the paper copy, and it is jammed packed with information. Some of the information is from Sylla's aromatherapy practitioner course, and her aromatherapy practitioner reference manuals, so The Aromatic Spa is kind of like a short course on aromatherapy.
And if you are considering taking her aromatherapy practitioner course or investing in her reference manuals in the future, the Aromatic Spa book is a good way to find out more about Sylla's knowledge and teaching style. In addition, the digital download costs much less than the paper version. I have read many natural skin care and aromatherapy skin care books over the years, and this book is one of the best ones I have read on the subject. If you want to learn about authentic aromatherapy and natural skin care, I highly recommend this book!
Free Essential Oil E-book (Aromatherapy)
I'm not a fan of most free or inexpensive ebooks on aromatherapy, herbalism, natural skin care, and perfumery. Most of them are usually riddled with mistakes. And sadly only a handful of the best books on these subjects (the ones written by the pioneers or long time aromatherapists, herbalists, etc) are available as ebooks, but they are typically not free or low cost--there are a few exceptions though. But today I found out that a good aromatherapy ebook is free for the next few days.
'The Art And Science of Aromatherapy: Your Guide for Personal Aromatherapy, abridged version' by Kayla Fioravanti is free on amazon from now until March 10th, 2015. I haven't read this book yet (I have the full version and only read a few pages) but Fioravanti is a registered aromatherapist (through the Aromatherapy Registration Council). She was also the founder of Essential Wholesale, a well known ingredient and product vendor. But even if you miss getting the free version, her ebooks tend to be fairly inexpensive, and are usually great!
'The Art And Science of Aromatherapy: Your Guide for Personal Aromatherapy, abridged version' by Kayla Fioravanti is free on amazon from now until March 10th, 2015. I haven't read this book yet (I have the full version and only read a few pages) but Fioravanti is a registered aromatherapist (through the Aromatherapy Registration Council). She was also the founder of Essential Wholesale, a well known ingredient and product vendor. But even if you miss getting the free version, her ebooks tend to be fairly inexpensive, and are usually great!
Thursday, March 05, 2015
7song first aid course (Herbalism)
I posted about herbal pioneer 7song's online herbal first aid course a few days ago. I have really been enjoying it. I have only listened to a couple hours of his course so far (there is over 35 hours of video), and I have already learned so much! I've always respected 7song, and now (after listening to some of his course) I respect him even more. I just found out that Learning Herbs (the herb company that filmed the course) has opened enrollment for one more day (today, March 5, 2015). As mentioned previously, Learning Herbs has stated that this is the last time that 7song is offering his online first aid course, so if you miss this, the only other way to learn from him, will be through his live classes at his school in Ithaca, NY. I highly recommend taking this course. I hope one day I get the chance to learn from 7song in person too! But until then, I am learning a lot through his online course!
Tuesday, March 03, 2015
Tisserand Institute Newsletter (Aromatherapy)
And speaking of essential oil safety expert Robert Tisserand...
The Tisserand Institute is Robert Tisserand's school. He is going to release the Tisserand Institute's first newsletter soon. He will be announcing his school's advisory board, and will be discussing essential oils as antibacterials, including antibiotics and resistance. I can't wait to receive it!
The Tisserand Institute is Robert Tisserand's school. He is going to release the Tisserand Institute's first newsletter soon. He will be announcing his school's advisory board, and will be discussing essential oils as antibacterials, including antibiotics and resistance. I can't wait to receive it!
Essential Oil Recipes For Menstrual Pain (Aromatherapy)
One thing that I love about aromatherapy is how effective it is! When I first started studying aromatherapy many years ago, some of the very first blends I ever made were for menstrual pain and other menstrual symptoms. Aromatherapy pioneer and essential oil safety expert Robert Tisserand recently posted on his facebook fan page some recipes for menstrual pain that were based on clinical research. He also linked to a couple of the studies for those interested in reading the actual scientific studies.
The recipes he posted include lavender, clary sage, sweet marjoram, and/or rose essential oils. I have used all of these essential oils in the past in my own blends, and they are very effective. Some of the essential oils are analgesic and antispasmodic, while others are emmenagogue.
Different aromatherapy blends work for different people, and some months some blends work better than others. And there are other months were nothing topically applied works. So I recommend trying different recipes to see what works for you!
The recipes he posted include lavender, clary sage, sweet marjoram, and/or rose essential oils. I have used all of these essential oils in the past in my own blends, and they are very effective. Some of the essential oils are analgesic and antispasmodic, while others are emmenagogue.
Different aromatherapy blends work for different people, and some months some blends work better than others. And there are other months were nothing topically applied works. So I recommend trying different recipes to see what works for you!
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Free Herbal Webinar (Herbalism)
Herbalism pioneer 7song and John Gallagher (from Learning Herbs) are offering a free webinar tonight (thursday). It will be on wild crafting and medicine/first aid. I highly recommend watching it if you can!
http://herbalfirstaid.com/webinar-registration
http://herbalfirstaid.com/webinar-registration
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Lemons VS Lemon Essential Oil Video (Aromatherapy And Herbalism)
Essential oil ingestion is a hotly debated topic. Candy Sweeney of NaKee' Natural does a great job in her youtube video explaining about some of the issues with essential oil ingestion, and why it is better to use fresh lemons (the herbs) to flavor your water. I highly recommend watching her video!
Herb First Aid Online Course by 7song (Herbalism)
One of the herbalists I respect the most is 7song. He is a herbalism pioneer that lives, practices, and teaches in Ithaca, NY. He is offering his online course on herb first aid through Learning Herbs. If you can't travel to one of his live courses, this is a great opportunity to learn from him! He has mentioned that this is going to be the last time he is offering his online course, and enrollment is only open for a few days, until Feb 28th, 2015. So if you are interested, I highly recommend taking it now! I'm definitely going to be taking this course! http://herbalfirstaid.com/herb-first-aid-now-available/
Saturday, February 21, 2015
The Sustainable Herbs Project (Herbalism, Environmentalism)
It's been a while since I've posted. But I just wanted to post about the Sustainable Herbs Project. If you are interested in herbalism, please consider donating to the Sustainable Herbs Project on kick starter. The Sustainable Herbs Project is a new project by the producers of the film Numen: the Nature of Plants. They hope to create an interactive documentary that shows medicinal plants through every step of the supply chain, and create a website to better help educate people on buying ethical and sustainably sourced herbs.
By donating you can support herbalism and environmentalism, and also receive some cool gifts from herbalism pioneers, vintage herbalists, herbalism companies or schools! There are only a few more days to raise funds on kick starter. Please donate if you can. And if you can't, then please help spread the word.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/89295547/the-sustainable-herbs-project
By donating you can support herbalism and environmentalism, and also receive some cool gifts from herbalism pioneers, vintage herbalists, herbalism companies or schools! There are only a few more days to raise funds on kick starter. Please donate if you can. And if you can't, then please help spread the word.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/89295547/the-sustainable-herbs-project
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