Essential Healing and Massage Newsletter
July 2014
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July is here, 4th of July fireworks, Summer vacation and beautiful summer days full of sunshine. News from our office- Elizabeth Gresher wil be teaching a Yoga Retreat in Iceland and will be out of the office from July 12th to August 12th. Yoga class will not be in session during that time, but keep up your Yoga practice while Liz is gone!
Special Event!
July 15th we have a special day of Susan Francis Readings- at a special savings of $1.00 a minute . On Tuesday the 15th she will be in our office for the day.
Ask questions- seek solutions- overcome obstacles , on energy, health relationships.
Read more here.
You must make an appointment in advance, and there are a few more openings left. Book online with Susan here , (the special event is the first service in the list). Don’t miss the special pricing, and put July 15th from 10 AM to 4:30 PM on your calendar!
S
pikenard Essential oil
Spikenard is a member of the Valerian family and grows wild in northern India and Nepal. Spikenard is commonly distributed in an elevation range of 3500m to 4500m in the northern aspect of the sub-alpine and alpine pastureland of the Himalayas in Nepal. It was known as Nard to the Egyptians as well, who highly prized it for the aroma and the medicinal properties.
It is known as “The Woman’s Best Friend”, due to its ability to calm and to help regulate hormones naturally.
Spikenard’s numerous other healing features include a regulating action on the skin and nervous system when inhaled, and a cardiotonic effect when inhaled or applied topically. Additional effects of inhalation include the easing of menstrual problems and a mild carminative action. Spikenard can also be used in cosmetic body care to heal deep problems in the skin.
One of the many essential oils that we have in our office, Spikenard has many uses.
July Recipe
Recipe: Garlic Scape Pesto
Excerpted From “The Meat Lover’s Meatless Cookbook” by Kim O’Donnel by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright 2010.
Ingredients
1 cup garlic scapes (8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into 1⁄4-inch slices
1⁄3 cup walnuts
3⁄4cup olive oil
1⁄4to 1⁄2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1⁄2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Ground black pepper
Here’s What to Do
Place the scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in the oil and process until integrated.
With a rubber spatula, scoop the pesto out of the bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add Parmigiano- Reggiano and salt and pepper to taste.
Keeps for up to one week in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Also freezes well; add the cheese after the pesto has thawed.
Makes about 3⁄4 cup.
The scape (aka garlic shoot or curl) represents a specific stage of growth of hard-necked varieties of garlic. Like its brothers and sisters in the Allium family, garlic (A. sativum) grows underground, developing into a soft bulb. As the bulb grows and hardens, a green shoot pokes its head through the ground and curls in pig tail-like fashion before straightening. If you haven’t tried it- put it on your list!
Chicory, Humble and Persistent
Helen grows and encourages chicory in her wildlife habitat yard. Why would so plebeiana “weed” be encouraged? Like so many things that our culture overlooks, the habits and value of this plant cannot be ignored. It continues to successfully grow along roadsides- in spite of the efforts of lawn mowers and neurotoxin poisons like Roundup leveled at it. It perseveres, and it has long been a symbol of just that- perseverance.Did you know that the color blue in nature is actually very rare? Yet the chicory boasts the clearest blue flowers in the morning , closing up into buds as the sun hits the plant.
Throughout history chicory has been recognized as a dietary supplement and medicine . One of its most valued properties was its activity against human nematode parasites.
Symbolism
The growth of chicory on roadsides was regarded as a symbol of its magic. Roadsides were no-man’s land, places of desolation where the devil lingered at night and suicides were buried Chicory is an impressive example of blue-flowering wild plants that have, in the past, been regarded as having apotropaic, i.e. evil-averting forces. It is also a symbol of perseverance as mentioned above.
Food Uses
When the roots are roasted inulin turns into hydroxymethyl furfurol, which gives that taste similar to that of roasted coffee, and this property was exploited widely in periods of financial hardship and recession throughout the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, including during Napoleon’s continental blockade and through the Second World War.
Chicory continues to be used as food, medicine, and as a beautiful background plant if we will let it.
Be daring- allow it to grow in your yard’s natural flower bed too.