Boost Your Confidence With Herbs for Self-Doubt
We all have moments of self-doubt when we worry whether our abilities and our worth are “enough” (they are!). We may question our decisions and struggle to find a sense of assuredness. When occasional self-doubt becomes a prolonged experience, low self-esteem and a lack of confidence can become a block to our personal fulfillment. Chronic…
Cooling Body Spray with Rose and Peppermint Essential Oil
Summer is here, and with it all the joys and woes of a warmer climate. Whether summer means road trips, picnics, or time spent by the pool, lake, or ocean, having ways to refresh your skin and cool down from the heat will help make those hot, lazy summer afternoons even more enjoyable. This cooling…
Have Yourself a Very Venus Valentine’s Day + a Heart-Supportive Rose Chocolate Smoothie
The planet Venus is named after the Roman goddess Venus, commonly referred to as the goddess of love, and also known in Greek tradition as Aphrodite. Valentine’s Day is an opportune time to honor Venus and all that she represents. In the spirit of spontaneity, practically any time of year can be a good time…
In Bloom: Floral Tea Recipe for the Full Moon
For those who pay special attention to the lunar cycles, the Full Moon is commonly recognized as a time for manifestation and fruition. If the New Moon is auspicious for intention setting, rest, and reflection, the Full Moon is the time when our intentions and dreams flower into full form. As author and astrologer, Demetra…
3 Ways to Use Your Summer Rose Harvest
Roses are red, violets are blue, we’ve got three herbal rose (Rosa spp.) recipes for you! This ever-so-classic flower is a staple in Valentine’s Day bouquets. It’s a gesture of love and serves as a universal symbol of romance for good reason. This is a heart-opening, uplifting, and aphrodisiac herb – and it’s also a…
Heart-Supportive Cake With Hibiscus Berry Jam & Rose Ice Cream
We recently celebrated Herbalist Day as a wonderful moment to acknowledge how nurturing herbalism is in our everyday lives and in our deeper soul-searchings. Those who practice this sacred connection on a daily basis know well that it is a celebration that never quite ends. Which is why the Herbal Academy is sharing this celebratory…
How to Make Linden Love Tea to Uplift Your Heart and Soul
This gentle Linden Love Tea recipe we are sharing below soothes the energetic heart and is taken from our Intermediate Herbal Course. It’s the perfect thing to add to your herbal toolkit as a way to uplift yourself emotionally and soothe heartache and grief. While many of us feel all the love that’s in the…
Mood-Boosting Hot Cacao Recipe
The dark season is approaching, a time of inner reflection and tranquility. As the days become shorter, the decrease in daylight hours may dampen one’s mood. Especially in the months of late fall and winter, it is helpful to create rituals that promote our sense of strength and cheer. Even if it is not always…
Raspberry Rose Shatavari Chocolate Delights
I have the absolute pleasure of sharing with you one of the recipes from my soon-to-be-released book: a book entirely dedicated to raw chocolate and cacao recipes. Today I am sharing a recipe for Raspberry Rose Shatavari Chocolate Delights. I have been working with cacao for many years, and this book has been a long…
Summer Solstice Sun Tea Recipes
The clouds make way, the night lessens, and the sun shines brightly as ever. It is the summer solstice—the longest day of the year! On this day, the sunbeams high in the sky, proudly providing warmth and light. A new season is ushered in, with the hope of a successful harvest to follow. The summer…
Rose and Vanilla Honey Recipe
Rose and vanilla honey is a wonderful gift idea for someone you love. Containing ingredients known for their association with romance and love, this simple honey is sure to be a hit to the heart. Rose (Rosa spp.) is such a loving plant and is a wonderful addition to any love potions meant for others…
DIY Spring Herb Salve With Lavender, Calendula, and Rose
Fresh slow-infused calendula drips through a strainer sending drops of gold liquid splashing to the bottom of the glass. Next to it a jar filled with sweet lavender oil fills the room with a soothing aroma. A glittering of copper paints the wall as the sun hits the lid to my rose-infused oil. This right…
Pain-Be-Gone: Try This Meadowsweet Tea with Rose
This meadowsweet tea recipe offers a chance to calm the mind and gently soothe aches and pains while hydrating the body. A great way to practice self-care, this cup of herbal tea contains ingredients known to quiet a busy mind. Also known as Queen of the Meadow, meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) flower appears to have analgesic…
Herbal Bath Tea with Chamomile & Rose
Herbal bath tea makes a wonderful homemade gift, especially if that gift recipient is you! By blending together botanicals known for their nervine effects, this recipe includes chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) flowers and rose (Rosa spp.) petals to combine relaxation with aromatics. Chamomile contains a flavonoid, apigenin, thought to be the source of the plant’s sedative…
Mom’s Raspberry Leaf Tea with Lady’s Mantle and Mint
Raspberry (Rubus spp.) leaf mixed with members of the rose and mint families come together in this new mother’s tea recipe, making the most of herbs and botanicals that are known for their association with pregnancy and postpartum health. Mineral-rich and aromatically soothing, this raspberry leaf tea with mint (Mentha spp.) leaf and lady’s mantle…
Craft Your Own Delicious Hawthorn Berry Cordial
Harvesting hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) berries in late fall can produce a basket of sweet red berries ideal for a vitamin-rich homemade cordial (Harford,2020). Blended with seasonal favorites, including apple, rosehip (Rosa spp.), and cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp.), this hawthorn berry homemade cordial is sure to delight and soothe. The hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) tree offers many gifts:…
How To Use Rose for Grief Support
I believe that the world was created and approved by love, that it subsists, coheres, and endures by love, and that insofar as it is redeemable, it can be redeemed only by love. –Wendell Berry I’ve been thinking a lot about the briar lately—or more specifically, the rose. I see a need for the actions…
9 Edible Flowers And How To Use Them
The use of edible flowers in cooking is an act of pure earthly delight! Fragrance and sheer beauty combine to create a truly sensually scrumptious experience right on your plate. You may be surprised to learn that there are a wide variety of flowers to enjoy. Discover how to enjoy using edible flowers and take…
How to Make and Use Rose Water
There are many well-known herbal flowers I’ve had the privilege of using over the years…lavender, chamomile, calendula…all very popular in any herbal arsenal. But one flower that I’ve often overlooked and kept in the “for decoration only” category, has recently caught my attention for its wonderful herbal properties. The beautiful, fragrant rose. For years I…
Cooling Down with Summer Rose
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, summer is the season of yang and is associated with the fire element, the Heart, and Small intestine. Energy peaks and it is the time of growth, light, and abundance. Summer is the season of joy and for most of us, it is a more relaxed and fun time of year….
A Family Herb: The Comforts Of Rose
The lovely rose has more than a beautiful face. Highly prized throughout history as an herbal remedy, roses (Rosa spp.) have long been used to help soothe and heal humanity’s woes. Gentle rose is a calming nervine and a helpful respiratory and immune ally as well as a useful topical remedy. Bring the comforts of…
Herbal Allies for Families During Allergy Season
Springtime brings the waking of green things from the Earth. The air is fresh and wild, and we feel called to the out-of-doors, to nature. Yet for some of us warmer weather is also the harbinger of, well, misery. If you suffer from seasonal allergies or someone in your family does, you know that the…
Rose: Herbs We Love For Summer
Rose. The Queen of Flowers has origins in the Middle East, and has been cultivated and cherished the world over since antiquity. The oldest known rose bush is believed to be at least 1000 years old, growing on the walls of the Cathedral of Hildesheim, in Germany. Subject of many a sonnet and poem, lauded…
