Welcome To Your 30-minute At Home Spa Vacation!

Grab your robe and slippers, and find a soothing CD that you absolutely love. Light a scented candle...

Let go of your day, your obligations, responsibilities and stress. Try to relax. Take yourself on a far away vacation in your head, tell yourself a “Once Upon A Time” story, remind yourself what a princess you are and remember how essential these precious moments are to your happiness and sanity! Even on a Tuesday evening!

Welcome To Your 30-minute At Home Spa Vacation!

Slow down your breath, your thoughts and your movements. Put on your favorite CD and start prepping a very simple shower or bath in a wonderfully slow, deliberate and unhurried way. Take time to watch the candle burn, smell the fragrance, feel the soft robe or towels, look at the sparkling drops of water and run your hands through it, take in the joyful process of an every day activity that we normally just fly through without a second thought! Cherish these simple, sacred, rejuvenating moments.

Use your essential oils. Not only do they smell great, but they are extremely good for your skin. Essential oils can help rejuvenate the skin, eliminate waste, alleviate stress, enhance your mood, restore vitality and facilitate the regeneration of new, healthy cells. The rule to applying essential oils is to never apply them directly on your face or skin. Just add about five drops to a bowl of warm water. Soak a washcloth in the water and then apply to your face and neck as a compress for five minutes. Repeat three times. Gently towel dry and finish yourself off with an anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory facial splash.

If you have a choice of essential oils to choose from, select one that suits your mood and purpose. Choose soothing oils (like lavender, chamomile, jasmine, sandalwood and ylang-ylang). Good revitalizing and energizing oils when you need them are peppermint, eucalyptus, rosemary, basil and juniper.

Another in home spa trick is to mix an ounce of ground sea salt with 10 or so drops of your favorite essential oil. Add water and make a paste so it spreads easily. Apply it to your entire body and slough off the dead skin with big circular strokes. This salt scrub will exfoliate dead skin cells, cleanse the pores and help your body get rid of any toxins. These are your precious rejuvenating moments. Take your time. Pamper yourself !

Care for your hair if t is taking a beating in these winter elements. Add ¼ ounce of lavender to sixteen ounces of shampoo. Or for oily hair, add ¼ ounce of lemongrass or rosemary to 16 ounces of shampoo. Essential oils can make invigorating scalp massages. Rosemary is awesome! Replenish lost moisture to your skin and hair this winter by taking two tablespoons of organic flaxseed oil twice a day. You’ll also get rid of the skin itchies and combat wrinkles and sagging skin!

Remember to rejuvenate from the inside! Drink 8 to10 glasses of water every day. Eat lots of whole foods, green vegetables, fresh fruits, grains, nuts and lean protein to reduce inflammation, replenish moisture and bring back that, healthy youthful glow.

Bathing in Blessings: Flowers, Rocks and Water

In this series, "Bathing in Blessings," we've been combining the energies of flowers, rocks and water to create powerful elixirs. Today, in this last lesson, I'll share a list of some of my favorite, most trusted stones and essential oils that you may combine and experiment with. Use this list to guide your purchases as you create the basics of your well-stocked pantry. Begin here, and you'll be well on your way to taking an active and pro-active commitment to yout total health and well-being and to living your best life.

(For basic directions on how to make and use synergistic elixirs, please refer to the blog archives Sunday, December 28, 2008.)


The Stones

Amber Healing, soothing, stabilizing, harmonizing. Opens the doors of the mind to higher vibrational realms.

Amethyst Blood cleanser & energizer. Helps alleviate addictions. Purification & regeneration on all levels of consciousness. Meditative, opens divine love and inspiration.

Aquamarine Purifies the body, gives clarity to the mind, calms the emotions. Assists in dispelling fears and phobias. Supports creative expression, meditation.

Citrine Cheerful, lighthearted, golden rays of hope! Warming, energizing. Detoxification on all levels: physical, mental, emotional. Disperses self-destructiveness. Assists in awareness of higher self. Attracts abundance.

Fluorite Assimilation of nutrients. A powerful physical healer. Grounds excess energy, improves concentration, meditation.

Hematite Relieves stress, energizing. Assists blood circulation. Supports will and courage.

Lodestone Aligns energy fields. Magnetic, attractive element. A powerful healer.

Moonstone Emotional balancing, relieves anxiety & stress. Assists in birthing and female imbalances. Calming, aligns emotional body with higher self.

Quartz Crystal Amplifies all energies!

Tourmaline A most powerful healer! Balances endocrine system, vitalizes body and mind. Highly electromagnetic. Dispels fears & negativity. Protective.


Essential Oils

Acacia Relieves stress, nervous exhaustion.

Amber Aid to deep meditation. Healing, soothing, harmonizing. Spiritualizes the intellect.

Clary Sage Tranquility, peace of mind, relaxation, confidence, antidepressant, vivid dreams. Strengthens kidneys. Aids PMS.

Frankincense Excellent for meditation, inner strength, intuition, mystical. Calms body/ mind & emotions. Peaceful sleep and pleasant dreams.

Grapefruit Vibrant, light, cheerful. Aids in dispersing negativity, depression. Promotes digestion. Tones body, circulation, liver, kidneys, pancreas, gall bladder, nervous system.

Jasmine Sensual, aphrodisiac. Assists in opening the heart to spiritual realms. Emotionally uplifting, eases depression. Stimulates creativity, dreams.

Lavender Highly charged purifying and healing properties. Eases depression, anxiety, insomnia, headaches. Strengthens immune system, respiratory system. Clears negativity from aura & environment. Promotes intuition, inner guidance.

Myrrh Facilitates deep meditation. Mystical and sacred. Promotes inner strength, confidence, courage.

Peppermint - Refreshing, vitalizing. Assists in clearing negativity in aura & environment. Concentration, calms nerves. Eases headaches, digestion, nausea, colds, flu.

Rose Brightens the heart, romantic, inspirational, beauty, harmony, divine love. Soothes relationship difficulties. Relieves tension, sadness, grief, envy, jealously, resentment, anger. Rejuvenates circulation, nervous system.

Sandalwood Opening, expansive and centering. Calms mind & emotions. Very meditative. Relaxing, calming, relieves depression and stress. Inner strength.

Tangerine Happy, bright & cheerful! Assists adjusting to life's circumstances. Stimulates digestion.

Vetiver Balances connection with earth. Aids in development of patience & stillness. Deep relaxation. Tranquility.

I hope that you will come to love and respect the spirits of these minerals and plants. As a healer, I use them almost every day to balance energies, to heal mind, body and soul. They were placed on this Earth by our Creator for you, and for us all. My personal perspective is that spirituality, and rocks, and plants, and pure water are synonymous, I can't have one without the other! These are the sacred gifts from the Earth Mother, the most powerful medicinal tools that are available to enhance that connection with Spirit.

May you be blessed.

image credit:
www.clermontduvalartgallery.com

Bathing in Blessings: Compassion

In this Sunday morning series, "Bathing in Blessings," I am sharing powerful formulas that combine energies of minerals, herbs, and essential oils that you can use to make wonderful elixirs. For basic directions on how to make and use synergistic elixirs, please refer to the blog archives (right) and read the blog posted on Sunday, December 28, 2008, "Bathing in Blessings Lesson One: Forgiveness."

Today we're going to create an elixir which stablizes and integrates issues around compassion. The heart is where we give and receive love and compassion. The heart chakra is the home of these emotions, these attributes that connect us all. We are born of unconditional love, in unconditional love, and as unconditional love. We are love. We are light. We are the embodiment of compassion, although we do not always exercise compassion. And unfortunately, we do not always exercise unconditional love towards ourselves and others.

“If you don't love yourself, you cannot love others. You will not be able to love others. If you have no compassion for yourself then you are not able of developing compassion for others.” -Dalai Lama

If we are not fully exercising these innate gifts of love and compassion, is because we have shut ourselves off from them for some reason. Life's traumas, trials and tribulations can cause us to shut down. However, we must remember that in order to not be defeated by the adversity of life, we must always stay open, love, and share compassion with ourselves and with others. When you feel unconditional love towards yourself and others, when you are compassionate towards yourself and others, and when you are able to be forgiving towards yourself and others, you will notice a difference in the types of relationships you have in your life. Using theis elixir will help you to make better choices when it comes to matters of the heart.

We'll begin with Rose essential oil. The rose symbolizes innocence, love, passion, sympathy, desire, luxury and the ideal aesthetic. The healing tradition associated with the rose is no less remarkable than its fragrance and beauty. It was the 17th-century English physician Culpeper who wrote that roses strengthen the heart. He may have been referring to a physical action, but anyone who has inhaled fresh roses or their essential oil knows the aroma strengthens the heart spiritually and emotionally as well. Culpeper attributed other properties to the rose that foreshadowed its current use in aromatherapy and cosmetics. He recommended extract of rose for its cooling and astringent benefits, useful for headache and tired eyes.

Besides being used as a medicine in history, the rose has a long history as a costly perfume. Fresh roses were macerated in hot fat to produce fragrant pomades in ancient India, Greece and Egypt. In Egypt these pomades were shaped into cones and placed on the top of the head. As body heat melted the fat, fragrant, rose-scented oil would trickle down the face and neck.

With the advent of distillation in the 10th century, Persians began extracting rose flower water from fresh roses. An early reference to rose essential oil is mentioned in a legendary Mogul account of the betrothal of a princess named Nour-Djihan to the Emperor Dhihanguyr. The wedding feast was held in a garden surrounded by a canal filled with rose water. As Nour-Djihan and her lover plied the waters in a small boat she noticed a thin film of rose oil on the surface. It was carefully skimmed off and rose essential oil was born.

The difficulty of extracting rose oil from the plant has always caused it to be a very expensive substance. A rose blossom contains only about 0.02% essential oil. It takes about 60,000 roses to produce just 1 ounce of oil, and ten thousand pounds of rose blossoms to produce 1 pound of oil. The best oil is distilled from newly opened flowers, picked in the cool morning hours before the sun has warmed away the aroma.

Aventurine holds the vibration of compassion. Aventurine assists us in perceiving our own life dance, or the dance of others, from the foundation of compassion which understands from inside the human experience all dances, and in so understanding forgives and embraces all others in love regardless of circumstance. Known as the "comfort crystal," aventurine has the capacity to calm a troubled spirit and bring about inner peace. Immerse a piece of adventurine directly in the oil, and set the oil in the center of an aventurine grid.

Chamomile assists in opening the heart and processing the pain inherent in ascension to a biological level. Chamomile will bring comfort in our deepest moments of seeming darkness that we are transcending. In biology, pain is associated with toxic substances one is releasing. Chamomile will attach to such substances and assist them in being removed through the waste management systems.

Chamomile is a good tonic herb to have daily if desired. An infusion, made from 1 oz. of the flowers to 1 pint of boiling water, known popularly as Chamomile Tea, is an old-fashioned but extremely efficacious remedy for stress. It has a wonderfully soothing, sedative ,and absolutely harmless effect.

Place dried Chamomile buds in the gemstone infusion. This powerful oil is wonderful to use in the bath or at the heart chakra so do save some to use in this form.

“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.” -Dalai Lama

Blessings to you on your path!

The Recipe for Happiness: Chocolate Covered Gratitude

The best thing about the winter holidays might just be hot chocolate! Hot chocolate makes everyone feel good! Thick, creamy, aromatic, hot chocolate... what exactly is it that makes this hot drink so magical? The chocolate? The cream? The warm feeling in your stomach? The nostalgia of snowy days when school was canceled, the sledding was perfect, and the cookies were still warm when the gang came inside all wet mittens and red noses!

Close your eyes as you take that first sip, and you are instantly transported to a place of sweetness within you... and a cozy feeling of safety and security, the rich flavor activating your pleasure centers and creating that warm, tingly sensation that comes with only the purest cocoa content.

The Aztecs were the first to invent this magic potion. The Spanish refined it and brought it back to Europe. Slowly, it made its way North to France and was common by the time of Louis XV. We've known for quite some time that eating dark chocolate can lower blood pressure and help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. And while many consume small amounts of organic, dark chocolate for health benefits, I think of chocolate, and a mug of hot chocolate especially, as the perfect meditation.

"As the warm, rich, decadent chocolate melts in my mouth, there is only the creaminess...the dreaminess of this present moment."

Yes, Chocolate Covered Gratitude! My inner child is enjoying this moment even as the stressed-out adult is making her list and checking it twice.

"As the warm, rich, decadent chocolate melts in my mouth, there is only the creaminess... the dreaminess of this present moment."

With a steaming cup of hot chocolate, everything is sweeter. Here's my Grandmother’s absolutely delicious recipe, followed by several easy-to-make variations I’ve come to love, too… enjoy!

From the Recipe Box
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate, grated
3 cups milk
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg

Directions:
1. Put milk into a microwave-safe container and cook on high in microwave for 2 minutes.
2. Mix in chocolate, sugar, and cinnamon.
3. In a small bowl, whisk an egg until smooth, then mix itinto the chocolate mixture.
4. Return to microwave and cook on High for 3 to 4minutes or until foamy (be careful not to let it boil.)
5. Whisk until smooth and pour into two large mugs.

Healthy Vegan Hot Chocolate for Two
2 1/2 cups soy milk
3 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons organic cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 pinch cayenne pepper

Directions:
1. Bring the soy milk, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and whisk until frothy. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information/serving: Calories: 196, Total Fat: 6.9g, Cholesterol: 0mg,
Sodium: 620mg, Total Carbs: 29.3g, Dietary Fiber: 6.7g, Protein: 9.9g

White Chocolate Cocoa for a Crowd (10 servings)
This is a great recipe for a skating party or open house.
2 cups whipping cream
6 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips
Garnish:
Whipped cream
Candy canes

Directions:
1. Stir together the whipping cream, milk, vanilla, and white chocolate chips in a slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on low for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally, until mixture is hot and chocolate chips are melted. Stir again before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and candy canes, as desired.

Elf Fuel
OK, let me begin by stating there is absolutely no nutritional value here! But served in a pretty Christmas mug it is the perfect accompaniment to an evening of gift wrapping. Play your favorite Christamas carols mix , light the fireplace, and enjoy!

Servings: 1
1 fluid ounce vanilla flavored vodka
3/4 fluid ounce amaretto liqueur
1 tablespoon instant hot chocolate mix
4 fluid ounces hot milk
Garnish:
Hot Fudge Sauce
Whipped cream

1. Into a coffee mug, pour in the vanilla vodka, amaretto, and add the hot chocolate mix. Pour in the hot milk and stir to blend well.

As Odgen Nash wrote,
"Here's to holly and ivy hanging up,
And to something delicious in every cup."

Happy Holidays!