HERBALIST, AROMATHERAPIST AND HOLISTIC CERTIFICATION CLASSES

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Monday, September 21, 2015


Anti Plague Herbal Syrup
(simple tincture recipe)
 Used to prevent illness as well as to overcome flu, virus, bacteria and parasites
 
Dry herbs that you will need:
 
2 oz Comfrey leaves 

1 oz each of the following 7 herbs: 
Lobelia, Marshmallow root, Mullein leaves, Skullcap, Uva ursi, White oak bark, Wormwood 

1/2 oz Black walnut hulls 

1/2 oz Black walnut leaves 

2 1/2 quarts Apple cider vinegar 

Combine dry herbs with vinegar. Store in glass canning jars in a cupboard (dark but not refrigerated) and shake once a day for at least two weeks.  After two weeks, strain pulp out and discard it. Save liquid to add to garlic tincture below.   

In another glass jar make the following tincture: 

1.5 pounds raw garlic cloves, peeled  

1 1/2 quarts raw apple cider vinegar 

In a blender, puree garlic with vinegar to make a thick soupy mixture. Store in glass container(s) and shake once a day for two weeks. Strain pulp out and discard it.
 

Combine both tinctures at the end of two weeks, adding in the vegetable glycerin and raw honey.  

3 cups vegetable glycerin 

3 cups raw honey 
 

Pour into clean jars and refrigerate for up to two years.  Dark amber bottles are best. 

For virus, flu, pneumonia, or to avoid catching them, at first sign of illness, shake well and take:
1 Tablespoon 3-4 times a day (Adult), 1 teaspoon 3-4 times a day (child).

Not recommended for use during pregnancy or for children under 1 year because of anti-parasitic herbs (Wormwood/Black Walnut and honey.

To obtain organic, high quality herbs and glycerin from Mountain Rose Herbs purchase with this link: 


 

Thursday, September 17, 2015

WET SOCK TREATMENT FOR IMMUNE SYSTEM BOOST


Do you need an immune boost?  Have you ever heard of the “wet sheet treatment” which has been used to save lives during pandemic outbreaks?  Well, here is a simple treatment that works on the same premise – and all you need is SOCKS!!!

The alternating of hot and cold creates a pumping mechanism that stimulates your circulation and lymphatics. The results are an active immune system and decreased congestion. Kids benefit from this hydrotherapy regimen too – as well as women with hot flashes!

Wet sock treatment instructions:
1. Just before bed, put your feet in hot water for at least 3 minutes. You can place them in the bath tub under running water. The water should be as hot as you can handle it without burning your skin.  Adding Epsom salt is great too!

2. Wet 1 pair of thin, cotton anklets in cold water. Wring out well and put on immediately after hot foot bath. The water should be as cold as you can handle it. (Remember, your feet are very warm so the cold will feel OK)

3. Put on 1 pair of heavy wool socks over the ankles and climb into bed.

4. Cover well and sleep all night with socks on.

5. By the morning, your socks should be completely dry – at which time you can remove socks.  (see more info below)

6. Stay away from dairy and sugar, take Vitamin C and drink plenty of water. Then notice how much more quickly you feel better when you use the wet sock treatment!

After putting on the socks, you'll climb into bed and drift off to sleep. While dreaming sweet dreams, your feet will be doing all the work. The vessels in your feet will constrict as your feet cool down, which sends all the good nutrients into your organs and tissues. These nutrients are needed to fight off infections and stimulate healing.  
Then your feet will start to warm up again, and your vessels will dilate to release the heat.  This is when the “junk” in your tissues is dumped into your blood stream so that your body can dispose of it.

YOU are telling your body to go on high alert and so it does!

The best time to do wet socks is:

• When you feel like you’re coming down with something

• When everyone around you is getting sick

• When your kids have earaches and fevers

• When you have hot flashes

• When you are exhausted and just need an awesome sleep

• When you know you’ve been pushing too hard and you can feel your body wearing down

• When your lungs or sinuses have been congested and you can’t seem to break it up
 

 Times not to do this:

• If you can’t make time for a full night’s sleep (you’ve got to give your body enough time to work on this).

• If you are taking prednisone, other steroids, or immune suppressing drugs because they will suppress your body’s response.

• If you try wet socks and wake up in the morning with the socks still wet – this means your body just isn’t generating enough heat right now to do this thing properly.  (Take Ginger, Turmeric and other warming herbs)

 

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

VINEGAR - How to Make it


Vinegar – Uses and how-to-make

Vinegar, a staple in every pantry, is a multi-tasking wonder with a rich history of use for everything from making pickles to treating war wounds. The ancient Babylonians used it to preserve food; medics during World War I treated wounds with it; and Roman armies diluted it with water to create an everyday antibacterial drink. Today, versatile vinegar is still widely used in food preservation, but its household uses extend well beyond pickling.  Thanks to its acidity and neutralizing properties, vinegar can clean, disinfect, soften, shine and more. Use it from the kitchen to the bathroom, in everything from homemade cleaners to hair rinses, to take full advantage of this humble household wonder.How to make vinegar for weight loss. Weight watchers

1. Grease Cutter: Vinegar’s acidity lets it cut through grease with ease. Dip a sponge in vinegar and wipe to degrease stovetops, microwaves, dirty dishes and more.
2. Disinfectant: A natural antibacterial, vinegar makes a great base for any nontoxic cleaning solution. For an all-purpose disinfecting solution, dilute 1 part vinegar in 4 parts water and use anywhere germs are found, such as countertops, keyboards, shared phones, doorknobs and remote controls.
3. Toilet Bowl Cleaner: Clean, disinfect and deodorize your toilet by pouring 1 cup of vinegar around the inside of the bowl. Let sit for an hour, use a brush to remove rings, then flush.
4. Drain Cleaner: To keep drains clog-free, pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain, then follow with 1/2 cup of vinegar. Wait for foaming to subside, then follow with a gallon of boiling water. If necessary, remove hair and other debris with a wire. Repeat if drain is still slow.
5. Glass Cleaner: For a streak-free shine, combine 2 cups water, 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon liquid dish soap in a spray bottle. Spritz onto mirrors, then wipe down with old newspapers.
6. Residue Remover: Clean the glue residue that labels and stickers leave behind by wiping the sticky surface with a rag dipped in a vinegar-water solution.
7. Hair Rinse: Shampoos and other hair products can leave behind residue, making hair lackluster. Remove buildup by diluting 2 tablespoons vinegar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice in 3 cups water and mixing well. After shampooing, pour rinse over hair before rinsing with water. The vinegar will close the cuticle and leave hair soft and shiny.
8. Furniture Polish: Combine 1/4 cup olive oil, 4 tablespoons vinegar and 2 teaspoons lemon juice in a spray bottle. Shake well before use, and refrigerate any leftover solution to keep it from going rancid.
9. Stain Remover: Purge grass stains and blood spots by whipping up your own natural stain remover. Mix 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1/4 cup baking soda and 3 cups water in a spray bottle. Just spray on the stain and toss clothing into the laundry!
10. Laundry Softener: Conventional fabric softener stays in clothing, where a buildup can cause irritation, but vinegar breaks down and dissolves detergents. For softer clothes, towels and sheets, just add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle.
11. Dandruff Preventive: Vinegar’s acidity can help kill some of the bacteria responsible for causing dandruff. Rinsing with vinegar can also deep-clean the scalp and help remove flakes of dead skin cells. For a no-dandruff rinse, mix 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves (or 1 tablespoon dried leaves) and 1 cup boiling water. Let the mixture cool to room temperature, strain, then pour over scalp after shampooing. Rinse treatment from hair with water.
12. Wart Killer: To remove unsightly warts, dip a cotton ball in vinegar, place over wart and secure with a bandage. Change the cotton ball daily. The acid in vinegar will eat away at the wart over time. (Be sure to keep the skin around the wart moisturized.)
13. Breath Freshener: Eliminate bad breath by rinsing with 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 tablespoon salt diluted in 1 cup water. This rinse is especially effective at removing onion and garlic odors.
14. Paintbrush Softener: Make stiff paintbrushes useful again by dipping hardened bristles in a bowl of vinegar for an hour or less. Rinse the bristles with warm water and soap, then let dry before using.
15. Greens Reviver: Leafy greens looking wilted? Soak them in a bath of 2 cups cold water and 1/2 teaspoon vinegar to bring them back to life.
16. Egg Aid: When hard-boiling eggs, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to the water to prevent egg white from seeping out of cracks in the shell.
17. Rust Remover: Revive rusted nuts, bolts, nails or tools by soaking them in a bath of pure vinegar for several hours. If the solution becomes cloudy, change the vinegar. After soaking, wipe away rust with a cloth.
Buyer Beware - Not all vinegar is created equal. While all vinegars require ethanol for production, some vinegars are made with synthetically produced ethanol made from petroleum. Check the label before you buy for words like “grain alcohol” or “neutral grain spirits” to ensure you’re buying a product made from natural food sources.  Or, make your own vinegar!

HOW TO MAKE VINEGAR
There are many varieties of this homemade, tangy, fermented liquid; homemade vinegar can be just what you want it to be.  Choose a container made from glass or enameled earthenware.  You don't want the container material to react with the vinegar.  Aluminum, iron and plastic will ruin the vinegar.  If you are using glass, try to select a dark bottle. Fermentation occurs in the dark, so you either need a dark container or else need to keep the liquid in a dark place.

CIDER VINEGAR
Cider vinegar is made from sound, tart apples. Cut the apples into small pieces . . . skins, cores, stems and all. Make a mush - by hand or with an electric juicer and strain it through a muslin bag (you can also hand press the pulp in a potato ricer lined with cloth or use a juicer).
Pour the juice that is collected into clean (dark, glass jugs are preferable) and cover their tops with several thicknesses of cheesecloth, held in place with string or rubber bands. Let the brew work in a cool, dark place for about six months . . . then strain, bottle and cork.

TURNING APPLE CIDER INTO VINEGAR
If you don't want to bother with apples, just allow some sweet cider to stand in a warm place in an open jug for a few weeks. It will gradually turn to vinegar.

APPLE PEELING VINEGAR
Vinegar can also be made from apple wastes, should you be baking a lot of pies or canning peeled apples.  Put the peelings, cores and bruised fruit into a wide-mouthed jar or crock and cover with cold water. Store — covered — in a warm place and add fresh peelings, cores and bruised apples from time to time. When the batch tastes sufficiently strong . . . strain, bottle and cork.
Unless you ferment the vinegar for a very long time, there is probably alcohol still left in it, which you can remove by boiling.  While you're at it, you can pasteurize and reduce the vinegar, so that you can store it for longer and concentrate the flavors, respectively.
To achieve pasteurization, heat the vinegar to 170 degrees Fahrenheit (77 degrees Celsius) and hold it there for 10 minutes.  Crock Pots are perfect for holding food for a long time below the boiling point.  Use a thermometer to check your crock pot's temperature at each setting to determine which setting is closest to 170 degrees.
Unpasteurized vinegar can be stored in sterilized, capped jars in the refrigerator for a few months. Pasteurized vinegar can be stored in sterilized containers with tight-fitting lids at room temperature for more than a few months, as long as they are kept out of direct sunlight.
Bottle and store your delicious, homemade vinegar! Strain out the vinegar through cheesecloth or a coffee filter, separating the mother, which can be kept for making more vinegar. 

MOTHER OF VINEGAR
The substance that gradually thickens on top during this process is the "mother".  You can save it as starter for another batch (to speed up the process).

HERB VINEGARS
Once you have brewed up a few containers of apple cider vinegar you can use it as a base to add herbs into - to be infused.  These vinegars can be used for salad dressings, on meat, as dips, and can be used as medicine. Vinegar acts as an "extractor" to pull nutrients and flavors from the fresh herbs. 
Wash and strip basil, rosemary, tarragon, mint, dill and/or other herb leaves from the plant stems. Spread the leaves on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and dry them in the sun or a very low oven until they begin to curl. If that's too much trouble, just hang small bunches of herbs to dry in a warm, clean attic.
Dump one packed cupful of the dried herbs (mix and match  . . . try different combinations till you find your own special blend) into each pint of your experimental cider vinegar and pour into clear glass bottles or jars. Cover and let stand for two weeks in a sunny window. Shake the bottles once or twice a day and — when the liquid tastes sufficiently strong — strain, bottle and cap.
Herb vinegar can also be made with finely-chopped fresh chives, celery leaves or cloves of garlic (remove garlic after 24 hours).

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR - So Many Uses!

 

1. Treatment for Healthy, Shiny Hair

Repair damaged hair and get naturally shiny and healthy locks with apple cider vinegar. In a glass jar with a lid, mix 2 cups apple cider vinegar with 10 drops essential oil (of your choice). Let the mixture blend for one to two days. To use: Rinse hair after shampooing with 1/2 teaspoon vinegar mixture and 1 cup water.

2. Medicinal Extracts
Apple Cider Vinegar is not as potent as alcohol-based extracts, but it is good for infusing medicinal herbs as a great alternative for children or those with alcohol sensitivities. Medicinal extracts treat a variety of ailments depending on the herb used.

How to Make Medicinal Vinegar Extracts

1. Chop or grind your dried herb to a coarse powder. You can also find many powdered medicinal herbs available online or at your local health food store. Fill 1/5 of your sterilized jar with the herb. Pour organic apple cider vinegar over the herb until the jar is filled to the top. Cover tightly and allow to extract for 14+ days in a cool, dark place. Be sure to shake the jar daily.
2. After 2 weeks, strain the herb through cheesecloth. Set the strained liquid in a capped jar on a shelf and allow the sediment to settle overnight. Decant the clear liquid layer into another sterilized jar using a strainer. Cap tightly, label and store for up to 6 months in a cool, dark place. You can also refrigerate the vinegar if you'd like.
3. If you are infusing the vinegar with roots or barks, there is one more step you might want to take. Once the mixture has extracted for 2 weeks and the herbs have been strained out, heat the infusion just short of boiling and filter through cloth while hot. The heat will help congeal albumin in the solution that can then be removed when straining. Excess albumin can encourage your extract to spoil quickly.

3. Skin Toner
Beneficial for all skin-types, this toner will help restore acidity to the skin and help resist infection. Mix 3 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar and 1 cup distilled water. Let sit for three days. Strain out the solids into a bottle with tight-fitting lid. To use: Apply to skin with cotton pad.

4. Acid Reflux Relief
Because acid reflux is actually due to too little acid in the stomach, adding 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to water will provide the acidic environment your stomach needs to help break down food.

5. Relaxing Bath
Relax and unwind in this herbal vinegar bath. 
This slightly acidic bath helps rinse away soap residue on your skin and reinstates your own natural acid balance. For women, it is also a good way to counteract yeast infections because the acidic environment will kill harmful bacteria. The combination of herbs gives your bath an uplifting scent that helps reduce stress.
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
Mix together all ingredients in a small saucepan or microwave container and heat gently until just boiling. Let the mixture cool completely and then strain off all solids.
To use: Pour the entire mixture into a warm bath and soak for 15 to 20 minutes.

6. Salad Vinaigrette
Apple cider vinegar adds a tasty kick to salad dressings. Dress fresh spring greens, such as:

Arugula, Pear, Pecan and Blue Cheese Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette
Serves 6
6 cups arugula
2 ripe pears (or substitute Granny Smith apples)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup toasted pecan pieces
Apple Cider Vinaigrette
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
To prepare salad
1. Wash and dry arugula. Place greens in large salad bowl.
2. Slice pears and add to greens.
To prepare vinaigrette
1. Combine all ingredients and stir.
To serve
Toss salad with vinaigrette.
Top with pecans and blue cheese.

7. Treat Swimmer’s Ear
The acidity of vinegar helps kill bacteria and clear infection. To help treat swimmer’s ear, lie on your side with the infected ear facing up and place a few drops of apple cider vinegar in the ear with an eye dropper. After a few minutes, get up and let the vinegar drain from the ear.

8. Get Rid of Ants
If you have a problem with ants, try deterring them with apple cider vinegar. To use: Spray undiluted on ant routes. The vinegar will cover their invisible pheromone tracks, preventing them from finding their way back to their foraging sites.
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