Herbs & Yoga - Yoga & Herbs

Herbology for Yogis

Hello Herb & garden lovers! I am going to share a little yoga and herbs....

Bill with Herbs for the practice of Yoga

Traditional Yoga has always hinged on a special yoga diet and yoga herbs to act with it.

Yoga postures are something we do and an expression of our energy...how we feed ourselves and our souls.

Herbs are a powerful aid in the practice of Yoga!

If you are involved in yoga you should consider taking helpful herbs to get the most out of yoga and our life.

Our daily herbs may be as important as our daily bread.

The benefit of herbs accrue over time, your lifestyle and diet.

After a yoga session, a warm cup of Chai Tea is soothing & aromatic for your body and soul.... This recipe uses:
a bag of black tea, cinnamon,ginger, cardamon,clove steeped with hot water and blended with milk and a little honey or sugar.



CHAI TEA

 Oils blended with herbs for your body !

I came up with a blend called Yogassage oil. It uses sesame oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil, safflower oil, eucalyptus oil, peppermint, oil, wintergreen oil and sage oil. They stimulate the mind and promote insight, as well as calming and opening the mind.
Please watch for more on Yoga & Herbs in BloomtoScoop

"Yoga is body gospel." - Reaven Fields

Pomanders for an earlier, gentler time to fragrant your personal space

Pomanders
They were originally small balls of gold, silver or ivory and contained rare spices that were fixed with ambergris. They were used to ward off objectionable smells. My favorite pomanders are made with apples, oranges, lemons or limes and studded with cloves and aged in a curing spice blend. They can then be placed in bowls around your home or hung with ribbons to scent the home. Because they look and smell so festive, pomanders have long been associated with Christmas and the holidays.
I love their scent year round and if you start early, you can have a number of them made up ahead of time to give as gifts.
To make a pomander you will need the following:
Oranges, apples, lemons or limes.
Whole large headed cloves
A curing spice mixture ( recipe below )
An ice pick or crochet hook for piercing the fruit. This makes it a lot easier to insert the cloves.
A large bowl to put the curing spices and cure the pomanders.
As you inset the cloves, hold the fruit firmly, but don’t squeeze it. The cloves can be place at random in the fruit. They should be close together, but not too crowded.
Place the studded fruit into a bowl with the curing spices and roll in the spices.
Each day roll the fruit in the spices and continue until the fruit has hardened. They are then done and ready to put in bowls or hand with ribbons.
Curing Spice Mixture
4 ounces powdered cinnamon
2 ounces powdered cloves
1 ounce powdered allspice
½ ounces powdered nutmeg
1 ounces powdered orris root.
This mixture can be used over and over and be stored in a sealed ziplock bag and put in a cool dark cabinet.

The finished pomander can give you a number of years of fragrant pleasure.

Glycerin Free Skin Care

Skin Care without glycerine

Blending the lotion

Yesterday my Mom was taking tests
all day for allergies..... Wow over 70
years young, and to find out she has
allergies. There was young lady taking tests

all day was well and she had been in the
emergency room at the hospital numerous
times in really severe shape. One common
thing that many people have is an allergy to
glycerin.
So in the past 24 hours I have researched
an found out that gycerin is in almost
everything!
Here is a simple way to make a glycerin-free
lotion.

Recipe:
1 tablespoon cocoa butter
2 tablespoons beeswax
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
1/2 cup Sweet Almond Oil

In a double boiler, melt all of the ingredients. The cocoa butter and beeswax will take the longest to melt.
When it has all melted, pour into a container, and let cool. Of course being an herb guy, I want to add essentail oil, which I will, but decided for omit for simplicity and allergies. Depending on your own preferences you can add 6-12 drops of your favorite essential oil.

Glycerin-Free Lotion

I have been making a glycerin-free massage oil for a number of years that works great as a skin moisterizer.
Herbal Massage Oil

Hope everyone enjoys this skin care tip today.

Smell is the most powerful of our senses

"Nothing awakens a reminiscence like an odor." - Victor Hugo



Various Scents

 Smell is the most powerful of our senses,
and the fastest way to our emotions, and
yet we turn our noses up at it..

Smell can instantly trigger emotions, and
it roots us to experience. Without smell
we would be denied so much of our
intimate memory, because scent has a
fast route to the part of the brain that deals
with emotions and memory.

Here are a few a few suggested scents  for
different rooms in your home:
Bedroom: lavender, rose, geranium, ylang-ylang
Living room: amber, pine or juniper
Kitchen: grapefruit
Bathroom: rose or marjoram
Scents Natural

Oils for different effects

For entertaining and for different effects essential oils can do it all!

Recent American research suggests that the divorce rate is higher
these days because we mask our natural smell, so that when we fall
out we don't even have the safety net of a familiar smell to catch.us.

Our homes are such a cacophony of different artificial smells, from
household cleansers to cosmetics, that we cannot tell what is natural
anymore! It is time for everyone to take back control of what is in
your home.

Herbal Foot Care

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour." - William Blake

"Plants are magnificent. There is not a tree or a flower
That does not radiate beauty. Fragrance from plants,
Has been said to alert the gods to our presence, and act as a
sign that the human mind is focused and receptive to spiritual
guidance. In many cultures sweet-smelling aromas were and still
are associated with divinity - with gods, heavens, angels, and saints
all being attributed with having a delightful fragrance." quoted from
The Fragrant Heavens by Valerie Ann Worwood

If you work in a garden, in an office, retail store, a warehouse or
Are just going about day to day, your feet take a beating, and one of
the best ways to take care of yourself with by taking care of your feet.
Here is an easy  Herbal Foot Bath Recipe:
A small pan or tub that both of your feet can fit comfortably into.
2 Gallons of very warm water
A few good size sprigs of rosemary from the garden
6 drops of rosemary essential oil
6 drops of lavender essential oil
4 drops of junior essential oil
Marbles to roll your feet on in the water
A towel to dry your feet afterwards
Soak your feet for 10 to 15 minutes and towel dry.
Hot water foot baths have been for hndreds of years to treat feet problesms
as well as headaches, colds, abdomen problems, varicose veins, and exhaustion.
We make a wonderful Peppermeint Foot Lotion which we have sold over the years in fine stores around the U.S., and is great to use daily, but also right after drying your feet from the foot bath.Peppermint Foot Lotion

"I don't enjoy public performances and being up on stage. I don't enoy the glamour. Like tonight, I am up on stage and my feet hurt." - Barbara Steisand

Herbal Heat Relief with Lemon Verbena Fizz and Heat Exhaustion Bath

"Humanity will be saved through the flower." - Huvenol, Mayan elder quoting a Mayan prophecy
Today it is over 105 degrees in Fredericksburg, Texas, so all I can try to think about is heat relief!
http://shop.urbanherbal.com/

Here is a quick refreshing cocktail recipe and a cooling bath recipe. Enjoy and try to stay cool.

Lemon Verbena Heat Escape Fizz
club soda
lemon verbena syrup
lemon slice
fresh lemon verbena sprigs
orange flower water
In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup of water, 1 cup of sugar and a few lemon verbena sgrigs muddled with some of the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil over moderately high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. About 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool, then transfer to the syrup to a jar and cover. Can refrigerate until ready to use. Will keep for about a month in the frig.
Fill a cocktail glass with ice, a sprig of lemon verbena, a slice of lemon, a tablespoon of orange flower water, 2 tablespoons of the lemon verbena simple syrup, club soda, about 3/4 of the glass and I like to add a shot of gin. Mix well. Now your ready to run a warm bath with a cool blend of essential oils to really cool you off!

Heat Exhaustion Bath Blend   

6 drops of lavender essential oil
6 drops of eucalyptus essentail oil
6 drops of peppermint essentail oil
Add the oil to your warm bath water and relax with your lemon verbena fizz! You can take a shower instead, by blending the oils with two cups of  warm water in a bowl and soaking a bath cloth in the mixture and using it  in the shower.

Dog Care with Herbs

Take good care of man's best friend!

"I've seen a look in dog's eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think that humans are nuts." - John Steinbeck

My little "Esparanza" Hope is a lot of fun. Roy has said that we covered all the bases, "She's black, chinese, and has a spanish name." She is also a star! She was featured with me as Mr. March in 2007 in a calender, Hunks and their Huggables." That was when I decided to come out with an herbal dog shampoo and conditioner. They both work really good, and use aloe vera, nettle, pine, burdock, chamomile, rosemary, ivy, arnica, ylang ylang, lavender, eucalyptus, and cedarwood.

Today I have decided to share a simple recipe to use between your dogs baths.

Rosemary Oil Flea Spray

Mix 1 teaspoon rosemary essentail oil, with 1 cup of water, in a small spary bottle. Shake well and spray on your dog and rub in their coat, to help repel fleas.

Here is a link on how to make herbal dog biscuits.

Hope you all have a great day, and enjoy your "hope."

Making Lavender Window Cleaner

Homemade Window Cleaner

This window cleaner is cheap to make and works great!

Ingedients:
16 ounces of water
1/2 cup of white or apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup (70 %) rubbing alcohol
2-4 drops of essential oil of lavender, or any other
essential oil that you would like to use. Suggestions would be orange oil, rosemary oil, lemon oil, or eucalyptus oil.

Blend the water, vinegar, and alcohol together in a spray bottle, add the essential oil, and your done. Ready to clean your windows!

Making Hungary Toilet Water

Today was another very Hot day .... over 100 degrees again and no rain!!!
So I worked inside most of the day,other than to cut the fresh herbs from the garden for this
simple toilet water, that is great for men and women. It is also refreshing on your skin
when it is so hot!

Here my version of the recipe:

Queen of Hungary Toilet Water

Fresh Rosemary sprigs
Fresh Thyme Sprigs
Fresh Sage Sprigs
Fresh Lavender Sprigs
1/4 cup rose flower water
1/4 cup everclear(95% alcohol)
1/4 cup witch hazel
1/2 cup distilled water
A few drops of essentail oil of the following: rosemary, thyme, lavender, mint and lemon

Mix all of the liquid ingredients together in a large container. Gather a few bottles or one large bottle, put the sprigs of the herbs in the bottle and pour the mixture over the sprigs in the bottles. Shake daily and store in a cool place for at least a week.
Use as a skin toner on the face and body.
Use as a cologne.
It is said that The Queen of Hungary took years off of her life by using this toilet water.

Enjoy!   

Ginger Zingiber officinale

Ginger is a native to the moist tropical forests of southeast Asia.
It grows as a potted plant here in Fredericksburg, because of our cold winters.
The portion used is the fat, knobby rhizome, a type of underground
stem. It is generally called ginger root, which is technically a misnomer.

Grated ginger baths can help ease pain and increase circulation. Just drop a few granules
of grated ginger in your tub of hot water. Don't use too much, as it can quickly bring your
blood to the surface. For pain, you can also soak cloths in ginger tea and apply them directly to the area of pain.It also sweetens the breath. It helps with loss of appetite and indigestion. It also helps with nausea, and  relieves backache and headache.
In cooking, I love to use it in Asian dishes, meats, fish and rice. and of course cookies and bread!

Ginger also is great in a footbath and is a stimulant and an aphrodisiac.

I will post ginger recipes later..... Ginger Pear Tart and a refreshing Ginger Drink!

Herbal First Aid

It's the natural way.....
Using herbs for your face, body, food, and home is simple, natural and inexpensive.
http://www.urbanherbal.com/herb_tips/index.html

Herbal First Aid

Reach for a remedy from your garden when outdoor activities result in bites, burns, bumps, or blisters. Many herbs, use fresh or in simple preparations, offer time-tested treatments for minor skin maladies.

Heat rash: Use sage, lavender, and lemon balm in a bath. After drying off use a dusting powder made with cornstarch.
Wasp or Bee sting or mosquito bite: Remove the stinger. Apply lavender essential oil.
Sunburn: Apply aloe vera (the gel in the leaves). Use lavender and mint oil in a bath.
Minor cut: Apply clean, fresh crushed plantain, mullein, or comfrey leaf.
Scrapes: Apply a mullein, or yarrow poultice or rose geranium essential oil. Use thyme, calendula and rosemary in a bath.

When treatment is needed, first use clean, cool water and a little soap to clean the affected area; apply ice to reduce swelling.

Seek medical advice for serious injuries or if you have allergic reactions.