Heal

The heart wants what the heart wants—and that includes being healthy as well. So after we protect the heart from emotional pain, here’s what we need to do to keep it in the pink of health, physically.

This world is full of things that trigger us: those things that get under our skin, those moments where we lose all the cool we have been cultivating and fly off the handle, those unspoken rules of etiquette that we know and are shocked that others do not abide by. Each one of us has our own unique set of triggers and the people who match them. We may try to ignore them, we may want to avoid them, but we cannot escape what we avoid.

The eyes and our other senses are our windows to the world. Vision is a powerful sense that we often take for granted. And this particular window is sensitive…to dryness, dust and other irritants.  There are some simple steps you can use to support the health of these valuable portals of information and beauty. I’ve found all three to be useful for myself, for friends, and for clients in my wellness practice.

Ah, winter—the season of retreating indoors, finding every way to keep warm, and snuggling up with your favorite book or Netflix show for a slow descent into hibernation, solitude, and a fair amount of seasonal down time.

While the frigid cold winter weather outside can affect your energy levels and leave you with the sluggish winter blues, there are seasonal winter herbs that can also lift you out of your winter funk to revitalize your well-being and mood with some natural herbal supplements.

If we are not careful, the older we get the more excuses we can have for why we cannot love.

Botanicals have a lot to offer when it comes to keeping our nervous systems healthy and helping with nerve-related issues.  Here are four of my most used allies!

With uses as varied as anti-aging, easing anxiety, and treating fungal infections, essential oils are the ultimate multitaskers. Extracted from the roots, flowers, leaves, or bark of a plant, essential oils have been used medicinally and ceremonially for thousands of years, and they continue to rise in popularity—the U.S.

When I first started studying botanical medicine, I was at work and got a call from my then-boyfriend asking which plant in the yard was yarrow.  He had cut his hand and wanted to do some first aid to stop the bleeding and prevent infection. This wasn’t the first time.  Having a garden of first aid plants really comes in handy.  Beyond adding beauty to your surroundings, you have at hand easy and effective remedies for everything from cuts and abrasions to insect bites, burns and digestive distress.  H

Seed cycling might sound like something better suited to gardening, but is actually a natural method used to support a woman’s menstrual cycle.

Even though I live in California, where winters don’t always merit the name, I’ve been piling on the cozy sweaters and donning the sturdy boots that make winter wardrobes the best part of the season. But what’s out of sight is out of mind, and I recently realized that my long-hidden skin could use some serious love. Parched and pasty, my legs especially showed signs of neglect, so I decided to bring my dry brush out of its winter retirement.