Results for Category: Live Well
How To Use Lemon Balm As A Natural Bee Sting Remedy
When it comes to natural bee sting remedies, what herbs do you think of? I’m sure there are many, but the first one I’ve always thought of right off the bat is plantain…until recently that is. Plantain is a great natural bee sting remedy, but I recently learned about lemon balm and its amazing ability…
Yarrow as a Natural Support for Fever and Flu
Yarrow is a lovely wildflower. You can find it growing on roadsides, fencerows, fields, and meadows, the white bobbing flowerheads...
How To Make A Homemade Sugar Scrub with Calendula
Over the last 8-10 years, I’ve become more focused on living a healthier lifestyle and raising my kids with that mindset as ...
How to Use Chamomile to Reduce Stress
In our crazy, stressful, overly-busy and hectic lifestyle, people have lost the ability to slow down, relax, and nourish themselves. We keep trying to please everyone – our bosses, spouses, children, and random strangers on the street – to the point that we live in a constant state of agitation and hyper-defensiveness, and we lose…
DIY Sweet Oranges & Rose Perfume
For Mother’s day this year, I wanted to make my mother something extra special that I knew she would adore. It wasn’t that hard to come up with the scent for this special gift–something with roses and sweet oranges, my mom’s two favorite scents. A Sweet Oranges and Rose Perfume seemed like a good place…
Crafting a Natural Bug Repellent with Essential Oils
The warm weather has finally arrived. And so have the bugs. What kind of bug repellent do you wear? If you’re the type of person...
Bee Informed: The Bee Population Decline and What To Do About It
There are blares from car horns in the lines of traffic that stretch endlessly along paths of asphalt. We travel to and fro: to wo...
Cool as a Cucumber – 5 Ayurvedic Tips for Summer
June 1st marks the start of a new seasonal cycle in Ayurveda. We’re transitioning out of the thaw of spring and lightening the load, but we should also be preparing for nature’s warmer months and its more sharp and penetrating qualities. According to Ayurveda’s elemental theory, Fire and Water are most at play during the…
How to Make a Happy Uterus with Lady’s Mantle Tea
Lady’s mantle cups her hands to hold the morning dew. Despite her inconspicuous flowers, gardeners adore her for the dew drops, formed by a process called guttation (Roshchina, 1993), that glisten on the tips of each of her scalloped leaves and captivate even the most casual observer who strolls by. The herbalists adore her for…
Tips to Reduce Shopping-Related Plastic Waste
According to statistics, in 2012, the United States produced a staggering 32 million tons of plastic waste and only recycled a mer...
Herbalists Are CEOs
Herbalists are leaders. In our communities, our families, and in the world, every day herbalists make powerful, impactful decision...
Seed Cycling For Hormonal Balance
While there are countless advantages to being alive today, there are influences we must contend with in an industrialized world. Electric lights interfere with our sleep cycle hormones. Women long ago had children earlier and breastfed longer, which decreased their exposure to natural estrogen. We spend less time being physically active than our predecessors. Xenoestrogens and…
Herbalists Are Academics
Herbalists are life-long learners. Our journey of knowledge never ceases, and we’re not afraid to put in the hard work that comes with that learning. The amount of research, preparation, and study that goes into herbal practice would astound many. Our numbers include doctors and scientists, teachers and farmers, students and parents, and many more…
Spring Books for Children and Parents
Yesterday, I took a walk for the first time since winter made its hesitant retreat, leaving only a few remnants behind. These re...
4 Natural Allies for Allergy Season
With the recent passing of the vernal equinox, we have now officially entered the season of spring. For many of us, this time of y...
Bitter Integrations! Part 2: Making Bitters
In my previous article, Bitter Integrations! we saw how humans adapted to some bitter plants to not only attain precious plant vitamins and minerals, but also improve our digestion and lower organ performance of processing, elimination, and detoxification. Part 2 will discuss making bitters, the health benefits of bitters, and specifically how bitter herbs assist…
Bitter Integrations! Part 1: History and Benefits of Bitters
Though bitter tastes are never our first choice on the menu, they are often the first choice in our survival. In the history of human evolution, we have created an on and off relationship with bitters that continues until today. In this article, the intriguing history and benefits of bitters is summarized, but I highly…
Sheltering with Valerian
In January, I wrote about medicinal herbs in England use during World War II, and this month I would like to follow-up up with a b...
Firsts For Spring
To our dearest friends, The promise of spring is plip-plopping from our roof as icicles melt into puddles below. With spring comes...
Essential Oils for Anxiety and Stress Relief
What Are Essential Oils? The sweetness of rose, the fresh greenness of pine, and the tangy fruitiness of orange: these scents are caused by unique aromatic chemicals that help attract or repel insects, play roles in the plant’s immune system, and perform other functions not yet known. Thousands of years ago, humans figured out how…
Three Reasons to Eat Ginger During Wintertime
What is it that pops into our minds when we associate ginger with the wintertime? Perhaps baking gingerbread people and gingerbread houses with gumdrop trim. But these uses barely scratch the surface of ginger’s value during the coldest time of year. As an herb, ginger’s tongue-tingling zest can help us stay warm and healthy throughout…
Meditation And The 2013 Winter Solstice
This article is written by Lena Yakubowski, yoga teacher and communications assistant at the Herbal Academy of New England. This t...
5 Steps to Increase Activity with Sun Meditation
Soon, daylight savings time will be ending for most of the country. This little tweaking of our schedules began in the 20th centur...
Your Solution to the Winter Blues
With the coming of winter, many things will change. The days will be shorter, and the weather will be colder. But perhaps most significantly, the coming months can lead to much darker feelings. This is to be expected, as whether or not we’re one of the approximately 20% of Americans who suffer from some form…
Holistic Business Owner Shares Her Experience Taking HANE’s Online Herbal Programs
We have had the pleasure of getting to know some our students both personally and academically through online forums, emails and testimonials. Laura West, the owner of Divine Lotus Healing in Boston and a student in our online programs, is just one of many members we have come to know through our community. Laura recently finished the Introductory Herbal Course…
3 Easy Steps to Fix a Bad Day
All of us have bad days. Whether we’ve been overwhelmed at work, had a frustrating conversation with our significant other, had ...
Stop and Smell the Cultivars
These days, it is very easy to get overwhelmed by all of the stimuli around us. We might have a particularly stressful day at work...
Five Kitchen Herbs for Cold Season
Tucked away in our kitchen pantries and cupboards, in our windowsills and gardens, are familiar and friendly herbal mainstays that are as healing as they are flavorful. Like all herbs, culinary herbs also contain minerals, vitamins, and active constituents, and when used properly and in appropriate amounts, can offer potent and comforting options for common…
3 Herbs For Anxiety
Anxiety can be a problem for many of us. Sometimes, we feel anxious and stressed after a particularly busy day of deadlines, errands, and fires needing to be put out. Others of us may have more long-term, chronic struggles with anxiety. Feeling unsettled in this way can not only be taxing on our mood but…
Licorice and Ginger: Herbal Decongestants
For many of us, the worst thing about getting a cold is the seemingly interminable congestion that takes over our respiratory syst...
