Skip to main content

Creating my own...

The joy of creating my own oils, teas, and salves with wild harvesting. 
Wild Harvesting Roses for Heart Glycerin 
I have worked in massage therapy and Ayurveda for the last nine years and through this time have learned, and continue to learn the art of creating. With massage you are always learning and working and finding new(sometimes old) ways to work with and help with issues of the body. With Ayurveda, we are looking at the body,mind spirit connection and finding ways that you can build balance in your everyday life. With balance we create harmony and in harmony we are in a healthy space.

While working at the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center in Lancaster,MA I learned to make oils for dosha balance. When learning  the oil making, we worked with large amounts of herbs, most would come in a dry or powdered form, and we would make the oils from their.Over time I learned how to blend herbs for our clients for many different healing treatments, such as oils that would be poured onto the low back while creating a damn for the oils to sit in(this is a kati basti) all individuality made for each client. The oil for one client would be different form another, depending on what the issues where in the body, mind connection.

So this got me thinking, and when I started to work for myself, it all made sense, no one body is the same, so why would their oils be the same. So I did what I do, and went back to school, I went into an Herbal program. With  massage, Thai yoga, meditation and Ayurveda, I take and blend and create the body-work treatment that is individual to each client, so now we have the herbs and oils. I have spent the last year wild harvesting my herbs and creating oils from them, then blending them for my clients. I have found that blending teas, such as a relaxing stress free tea after and massage with lavender & chamomile oil allows the client to go further with their healing, or just relaxing.

Last week I was able to spend the time away at my grandparents home, and they have this incredible rose bush, blooming and the smell so sweet, it took me to a place when I was a kid, running around the yard with my cousins, just being. That smell, the color of the rose, if feels safe, loving cooling yet warm. So I gathered some of the roses, and made a rose glycerin, and the next time I feel sad, or want to feel the love of my grandmother, I can take a little drop, and you are their again.This is the beauty of the herbs, and why I have introduced them to my friends, yes my clients. So weather I am harvesting elder flower, or yarrow, I respect what I have and am learning, and the space I am in, I create what I need for the time, nothing more, and always leave in respect of what we are given.

I have always been drawn to alternative ways to heal, to create balance, this is how I have been drawn to the work I do.

About the author: Heather works at Metta Wellness in Shrewsbury, MA., www.mettaspa.net, with Ayurveda and wellness, creating body-work, teas, oils and slaves for her clients.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ayurveda, lets dive deeper

So what is Ayurveda? I get this question a lot, or I hear - Ayurveda is to complicated. Yes, Ayurveda can be complicated, but I don't feel it should be and doesn't have to be. Lets dive into Ayurveda. First, how did I get to Ayurveda, lets go back a little ways. In 2006, I started my training at the Maharishi Ayurveda Center in Lancaster, MA. I had just finished a program at Dana Farber with Energy work and massage for cancer clients, when I started the training at the Ayurvedic center. The similarities between the two made for the perfect transition. Both looked at the importance of balance, digestion, proper sleep and the positive outlook of the emotions. As I dove into Ayurveda it was clear that being in balance with yourself and your environment effected every element of health. This was the beginning of a path in a  holistic lifestyle. Ayurveda, lets dive deeper. Ayurveda is one of the oldest known healing systems dating back thousands of years to India. This sy...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pratice of Prevention

Ayurveda is about the practice of prevention. When we look at the root of the issue, we work to find a balance as we move forward. Ayurveda takes where you are today, what are the areas of your dosha(your body type through your constitution)and looks at creating balance. We can start with prevention today and bring in a balance to help decrease some of the issues now and later. Looking at ways to find a balance through massage, meditation, yoga herbs and daily routine we can focus on prevention. This is what I love about Ayurveda. Looking at what is going on when a client comes in , looking for the root cause and how to create balance for that person.A lung issue or inflammation, its not just an issue, it is directing you to find the root, how you got the inflammation. Ayurveda looks at you, your dosha as an individual and works with you to find the areas that may be out of balance and ways to strengthen before the issue arises, or is fully out of balance. Ayurveda is the practic...
Post a Comment
Read more

#02 Self-Care

Do something nice for yourself. Sounds easy, right. How often have you given a friend, co-worker or partner some good advise, to only not follow it yourself? It just had this happen this week. My client came in, we were talking about self-care, I had suggested that she take some time and do something nice for herself. The next afternoon, I had a client come in for a massage, when I asked her what brought her in, she said," My body was telling me this is what it needed". She took the time to listen to herself. It seems so simple. I do my mediation, and do my herbals, for me its keeping up with my yoga and doing the gentle pampering s of taking time that I forget. So for me, it was a foot scrub! I am either on my feet or using  my feet in my Thai yoga massage, and they sometimes yell for a nice foot scrub. So that's just what I did, a nice eucalyptus sugar scrub followed up with a tea tree lotion bar. My feet have been saying thank you all day. So...
Post a Comment
Read more