Art Inspired by Essential Oils

This video features some beautiful artwork done by Alanna K. Dunn, LMT, as part of the homework for the Essential Oil Certification Series.

Alanna completed the series and is now a Certified Aromatherapist. She uses essential oils in her art and in her massage therapy work.

One of the things that I love most about my extraordinary "job" as an instructor is putting out information and watching the incredibly creative things that people do with it—it’s energy that spirals up and out. Enjoy!

Learn tons of great information with my On-Line Essential Oils Course series. You can study here at our school in Alaska from anywhere in the world!

Cooking With Essential Oils

Today was the 5th of 12 workshops in our Essential Oil Certification Course.  The topic was "Ingesting Essential Oils Safely".  Since cooking with essential oils is a fun way to use them, we tried some delicious food!

IMPORTANT: If you do this, make sure your essential oils are organic ingestable quality.  Look for "pure & genuine" or "100% pure".  If you're not sure, better to play it safe and not ingest them.

Pictured below is a fresh veggie platter with a choice of:

• Fresh salsa with Lemon & Lime essential oils
• Creamy dipping sauce made from sour cream, plain yogurt, and poblano peppers, with essential oils of Dill, Black Pepper and Lemon.

One woman said she adds a drop of Ginger essential oil to coconut cooking oil and bastes fresh salmon in this to cook - sounds scrumptious!

Here's one of my favorite easy recipes:

Amazing Edible Oil
In a 4 oz glass bottle or a small 4 oz glass jar, combine the following:

• 2-3 heart healthy oils, such as hemp, olive, and avacado (www.mountainroseherbs.com has a really nice variety)

Essential oils of:

• Dill - 6 drops
• Lemon - 4 drops
• Black Pepper - 3 drops
• Oregano - 1 drop

Shake well and store in a cool, dark area.  Use like flax seed oil - pour about 1 spoonful over veggies or stir into a bowl of soup or stew.  Don't cook with it, just use it on your food.

Variations:  I play around and use a variety of base oils - sometimes flax or pumpkin, and I also change the essential oils.  Just use 10-14 drops total of essential oils in a 4oz size of base oil.  Some other essential oils I like are cumin, marjoram, coriander, lemon & lime combo .

Other ideas:

Add 1 drop each Nutmeg and Clove Bud to fresh whipped cream.

Add 1 drop of Black Pepper to stir fried veggies over rice. (add at the end after it's off the heat, and toss to stir it in)

Add 1 drop each lemon, dill and tarragon to an oil & vinegar salad dressing

For some really delicious ideas I love the book "Weigh Less Eat Like Royalty" by Menkit Prince (formerly titled The Essential Oil Cookbook).

Do you cook with essential  oils?
 Please comment and post your favorite ideas to share with others - thanks!!

Learn tons of great information in my On-Line Essential Oils Course series. You can study here at our school in Alaska from anywhere in the world!

Is Herbal Medicine Influenced By Aliens?

What’s up with talking to plants? Does your plant ever talk to you? Do you answer it back? An amazing number of people are convinced that this is possible and happens all the time. I’m one of them. Almost all great herbalists and 100% of shaman know (i.e. have an internal understanding, belief, undeniable experience) that we communicate with plants.

Wow – interspecies mind vibes, kind of like Spock and the Vulcan Grip mind-meld. You connect with the other being and KNOW truth. Imagine the implications of this. It’s also the way numerous “abductees” experience communication with little grays and such.

I read a fascinating book, “Primary Perception – Biocommunication with Plants, Living Foods, and Human Cells” by Cleve Backster 2003. The author is associated with the invention of the Lie Detector Test and Men Who Stare at Goats (the real thing, not the movie). How cool is that? This guy hooked up a polygraph to plants and did all kinds of thought experiments to show that plants react to what we think! AND he used his research in the military. (Any comments from conspiracy theorists out there?)

Then you have the South American hallucinogenic herb Ayahuasca. This plant is ingested by Shamans to communicate with the Spirits, and also by patients of the shaman (shamen? What is the plural of shaman?) in order to have a healing vision. It’s now popular to travel to South America to go on an Ayahuasca journey. A common vision people report is seeing reptile-type humanoid beings that have something to do with the beginning of the world. (See “Tales of a Shaman’s Apprentice” by Mark J. Plotkin, Ph.D. 1993) Hmmmm…….

On a more conservative level, aromatherapy expert and scientist, Kurt Schnaubelt Ph.D., notes that when plants are introduced into our human body there seems to be a mechanism of communication that even shows intelligence on the part of the plant, as if it knows what needs to happen to help us. He goes on to explore the chemical makeup of essential oils and finds that at times there are compounds of “unknown origin” – we don’t know what they are. (See “Medical Aromatherapy, Healing With Essential Oils” by Kurt Schnaubelt 1999)

So we have plants communicating in our minds, being hooked up to electrodes and studied, associated with the military’s experimentation with LSD, lizard beings that may have started the world and humans, and unknown compounds turning up. I have to ask – is there alien influence going on here? I don’t know the answer to that, but I think its fun to consider the possibility.

Here’s what I do know. One of the best ways to learn about essential oils is to get to know the plant and the oil by talking to it and most importantly, LISTENING with your heart, to what it will tell you when you sincerely ask it. Another of my favorite authors and herbalists, Stephen Harrod Buhner, says “Anything will tell you its secret if you love it enough”.

Plants love to help us – it is their destiny to do this, and they have done a beautiful job of it for several million years now.

About a year ago I had a powerful recurring dream every night for a week. Basically, it was that there is a plant revolution going on now – it’s time – and they will speak loudly to those that can hear them. When I look at the state of our health care system, the greed that has placed “medicine” above human lives, and the mega bacteria we’ve created through our own mishandling of antibiotics, I know that there is an incredible force of nature that has our survival in mind and it’s reaching out. I’m listening. Are you?

Have an interesting plant communication story?  Comment and share it with us!

Learn tons of great information from my On-Line Essential Oils Course series, including exact methods of Plant Spirit Communication.

Essential Oil Certification Course - Need Your Input!

As many of you know I have been working hard on putting together an Essential Oil Certification Course for our school. In the initial planning stage, I am asking for your feedback – input – ideas, from a student point of view, as to what is really important for you to get out of a course like this. I would also love your ideas for naming the course!

My main goal is to provide solid (and fun!) information in a well-organized manner, and make sure that students don't just read a book - they have to really use the oils and play with the information.  I want someone to be knowledgeable, confident, and effective when they complete the course.  This is what I want, but I want to know what YOU want also.

Here’s my general draft outline and course setup:

Length of course: 1 year (or 12 parts that must be completed within a 24-month period max)

Textbooks/required reading: To be determined, but will definantly include information by Kathryn Sharp and Kurt Schnaubelt

Class meets one day each month for 3-4 hours. Each class will be videotaped so that distance learning is an option.

In class, we will discuss the topic for that month, be given a reading assignment for the next month, and go over hands-on techniques.

For each month/topic, students will be responsible for:

• completing the reading assignment
• providing a written outline to demonstrate satisfactory understanding of the material
• purchasing assigned essential oils (approximately 4 per month) – there is no specific brand required. Students may use essential oils of their choice provided that they are of adequate quality.
• completing and documenting case study assignments using the essential oils

 12 Monthly Topics, with applications to adults and children:

1. Introduction, history, methods of extraction, general safety guidelines, connecting with the spirit of the plant

2. How to research each essential oil, variations of plant species, importance of where an oil is grown, basic chemistry – what it means and how to apply this information to acquire desired results

3. Topical methods of application, carrier oils

4. Diffusion methods

5. Internal/oral methods

6. Suppositories, dental care, using essential oils with pets

7. Making blends

8. Flower essences (I really want to include a section on this because so many people have asked for it.)

9. Hydrosols

10. Making beauty products

11. Boosting the immune system

12. Treating colds and flu

I am also looking at doing a future Advanced Certification specifically in Chinese Medical Aromatherapy, which will be much shorter in length, and will have the minimum pre-requisites of the following courses currently taught at our school. Basically, someone will need to have an understanding of Oriental medicine and herbs in order to understand and use the information in the Advanced Course:

• Essential Oil Certification (above)
• Theory of Oriental Medicine
• Meridians & Points
• Taoist Herbology
• Preferably, but not required: Acupressure & Meridian Massage Lab and/or Medical QiGong Practitioner
  
  UPDATE: The super popular Essential Oil Certification Class is now available On-Line. The Chinese Medical Aromatherapy classes are being taught live at Alaska Institute of Oriental Medicine and will be available on-line in the future.