by Cheryl Hoard Essential oils are the fragrant soul of a plant. They are the characteristic scent or odor of a plant. Many chemical constituents make up this volatile oil. Peppermint essential oil (Mentha x piperita), for example is made up of menthol, menthyl acetate, menthone, cineole, pulegone, limonene, phellandrene, pinene, beta-bisabolene […]
aromatherapy
If I Found Myself in a Serious Health Situation
by Cheryl Hoard If I found myself in a serious health situation, I would make changes in my life. I believe the more change one makes, the more chance there is to do well. How many changes you make will depend on how important it is to you and how much effort […]
Herbal and Aromatic Aphrodisiacs
By Ingrid Petres Our species evolved using scent to help us survive. We recognized what was food through scent. As a flower lures a bee, an animal emits pheromones to lure a mate to propagate our species. These hormonal emissions, the breath of desire, contain all kinds of tiny chemical constituents. They have […]
Catnip as Mosquito Repellent
by Jeffrey S. Hoard Herbal folklore has long included the use of aromatic herbs and oils as insect repellents. Most of us are familiar with the use of citronella oil (Cymbopogon nardus) in candles and in products designed to be used on the skin. Other aromatic herbs used for centuries for their insect repellent […]
Herbs & Essential Oils for SARS
By Cheryl Hoard As one physician put it in a recent national television interview about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), now is the time to “live well”. This doctor describes living well as eating wholesome foods, exercise and stop smoking. A few weeks before this TV interview, another MD voiced the opinion that addition to […]
Aromatic & Herbal Remedies for Animals
by Cheryl Hoard Many alternative health disciplines are successfully used to treat animals, especially our beloved pets. Herbalism and Aromatherapy are utilized safely and effectively for animals as well as humans. Plants have been our medicine since the earliest written record. Herbalism encompasses various and broad uses of plants as healing agents. Aromatherapy is the […]
Actions and Energetics of Some Common North American Trees
by Laurel Redmon, M.S., L.Ac. Dipl. Ac.,C.H Trees, Earth’s largest plants, embody the wood element. Humans and trees have co-evolved to a degree that our lives seem unfathomable without their wealth of resources. Symbolically, trees have represented longevity, wisdom, fertility, and a strength that can yield without breaking. These universal themes apply to the elemental […]
REVITALIZING ENERGETIC CLEANSER
I was initially introduced to aromatic salt scrubs while studying with Cheryl Hoard in the aromatherapy 101 course years ago. I learned that they offer the skin a radiant glow and stimulate circulation of the blood and lymph. They are tolerated by all but the most sensitive skin types. I cannot take credit for the […]
Herbal Information Sheet: Yarrow
YARROW (Achillea millifolium) Excerpted from: The Earthwise Herbal, A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants By Matthew Wood “Yarrow is one of the primal remedies of the Western herbal tradition. It can be called the ‘master of the blood.’ Through numerous devices – clotting, unclotting, neurovascular control, flavonoids, etc. – it regulates the […]