Dandelioness Herbals on Moccasin Tracks radio program with Linda Black Elk

In late May I joined Deb Reger as co-host on her radio program Moccasin Tracks on WRUV/University of Vermont to discuss plants, healing, and justice with Linda Black Elk.

Linda Black Elk was coordinator of the Oceti Sakowin Prayer Camps' Medic and Healers Council at Standing Rock. She is an ethno-botanist, healer, herbalist, teacher, mother, Water Protector and so much more. During our conversation she talks about the ongoing Water Protector Camps and support that has been building for the Mni Wiconi Clinic which will be a free wholistic clinic at Standing Rock. She also shares about restoration ecology work being organized for the area of the former camps in N. Dakota.

Later during the program, I speak with Deb about my recent visit to the Arizona/Sonora border, doing humanitarian aid work supporting those crossing the desert with No More Deaths/No Más Muertes, People Helping People, and Kino Border Initiative/Iniciative Kino para la Frontera,  We also talk about ancestry, herbs for emotional support, mutual aid, rural organizing, and give a shout out to Migrant Justice/Justicia Migrante and their Milk With Dignity campaign.

The theme of the program and our time together was reciprocity and relationship.  May we continue to cultivate relationships with each other and create reciprocity with the plants that nourish us and our movements for justice.


Our conversation with Linda Black Elk here:::





My conversation with Deb Reger here:::

The conversation felt like a tea party, the station felt like an electric garden!  I brought along  Restorative Moons at the station.  This remedy is burnout prevention/repair in a bottle, with rose, milky oats,  a collaboration by Dandelioness Herbals and Wake Robin Botanicals. 

Thanksgiving, Day of Mourning, Ferguson, Black Friday, and supporting ourselves through these times

I've been thinking ahead to next week and the events taking place.  This time of harvest, feasts, and grief.  Here in Vermont, US the leaves have turned their fiery autumn colors and fallen.  Now it's the snow's turn to fall.  Halloween, Samhain, and Dia de los Muertos have passed and though we may have taken down our personal and community altars, we may be holding our ancestors and other loved ones who have passed a little closer to us than at other times of the year. 

Like in years past, next Thursday many families will be gathering from near and far to feast together on local/traditional foods.  Many will be observing this day as the National Day of Mourning, organized by the United American Indians of New England, there at the event in Plymouth, MA, and attending the potluck after, or in spirit from wherever we may be.  The next day, only one day after giving thanks for all that we have and/or for mourning the generations of racism and genocide that have poisoned this land,  hordes will push and shove and grab (but hopefully this year not trample to death and added to the lives lost from the mayhem of previous Black Friday) to buy stuff.  Stuff probably made in sweatshops and sold at stores owned by corporations that refuse to pay their workers a living wage, while making gazillions of dollars and not paying a cent in taxes.  Others will be gathering in front of said stores celebrating Buy Nothing Day, in support of said workers and protesting said corporations  and the vicious cycle of capitalism (devaluing workers, buying elections, destroying the environment, etc).

This year, Ferguson and communities all over the US also await the verdict to see if the police will finally be held accountable, or if yet another white officer walks free after murdering a person of color.  Events are planned all over the country.   In Mexico, our compaNer@s continue the search for their loved ones in Guerrero.  Elsewhere, and all over the world, people are organizing for justice too.  

There's so much to celebrate and so much to grieve.  And it's so important to come together in these times to support and feed one another.  Figuratively and literally.

However we pass this coming week, may it at least in part be a time to remember the foundation of the US - genocide, racism, stolen land, slavery, exploited labor - and to recommit ourselves to working for justice, in solidarity across lines of color, gender, nationality, ability, age, class, etc.  And for those of us born into privilege, may we reflect on how these dynamics still play out and how we contribute to them.  (This time of year is one of retrospection about my ancestry, being a descendant of two who came over on the Mayflower and enslaved the indigenous peoples upon arrival, setting up a precedence for violent racism, land theft, and (Northern!) slavery that white people still benefit from today.  Being at the Day of Mourning at the site of their arrival felt like it was part of healing some ancestral wounds.)  May we take the lead from the communities most impacted by injustice, and recommit ourselves to unlearning the racism, white supremacy, and other forms of oppression that seek to divide us.  May we speak up both during mainstream Thanksgiving white-washing of history and in our daily lives in general when indigenous people are ignored, made silent, made fun of, disrespected, depicted in degrading/cartoonish/dehumanizing ways, and invaded - both literally on their land, like at Black Mesa, and also their sacred cultural practices ~ plant medicine traditions, healing practices, and sacred ceremonial objects.

As we wait, feast, grieve, protest, and organize, may we call on the plants and the ancestors to support us in these times.  Here are some ways that we can practice self-care and collective-care, in solitude or in community.  For clarity: these are not shoulds!  These are suggestions intended to be supportive.  These are notes to myself too, for when I forget.

Take time to make tea with nourishing and relaxing herbs like Milky Oat Tops, Chamomile, Lemon Balm, Tulsi (Holy Basil), Skullcap, and a pinch of Rose petals and Lavender flowers.  Many of these herbs not only calm the body, they also help heal the heart, support digestion, and lift our spirits.   You can get boxed tea, but if possible make your own tea blend where you can see the leaves and flowers and roots.  This is part of the medicine.  Add some honey if you need some sweetness.

Prepare an herbal bath or foot bath ~ sometimes a messy herbal/floral bath is just what we're needing, where every part of our beautiful bodies is bathed with bits of flower petals, leaves, and evergreen needles.  Directions here for an herbal bath in a tub or shower.  Also, a foot bath draws stress and zingy energy that can keep us from sleeping well, and sends it away with the bathwater.  Giving myself a mini-foot massage with cream as I begin and end my day always makes me feel both relaxed and grounded.

Eat nourishing foods as a form of medicine what makes your body feel good, both when you're eating and afterwards.  For me it's chicken and rice noodles and sweet potatoes and greens and baked apples.  My body just says yes! when I eat these.  What does your body say yes too?  What has your body been craving lately?  Also, taking bitters supports our livers which work so dang hard, and help us to digest and absorb the nutrients from all that good, nourishing food.

Massage our bodies with oils to ground and relax us  with olive, grapeseed, coconut, sunflower, sesame oils.  See what kind feels good on your skin.  And there's no need to go buy some expensive body oil.  If you have these unrefined oils in your home for cooking, use 'em on your skin!  Remember, our skin is our largest organ and it's best not to put on our skin anything we wouldn't put in our bodies.  You can add a few drops of essential oils, or infuse your oils with herbs if you like, but just plain oil can feel sooo good too!  My favorite is a blend of coconut and sesame (untoasted, and infused with chamomile flowers!) oils.

Burn candles, herbs, and incense or spray floral waters to shift the energy of our physical space

Participate/Don't  If joining up with others for a Day of Mourning or anti-racism/police violence event will feed your spirit, do it!  If you're feeling a bit (or a lot) burnt out and need some rest and relaxation, do it!  We can't be everywhere all the time and events aren't just about having a body count.  If we're going to be drained from attending, maybe our time would be better passed doing some of the nurturing things on this list.  Or hunting or finger painting or whatever you feel like.  It's about being in it for the long haul, not pushing ourselves to physically be at every event.  That said, it can be really encouraging and inspiring to share space with others who are passionate about social justice, and just feel all the range of emotions we're feeling, with collective witness to the pain of injustice.  You make the call and just know that you made a conscious, self-care-y decision. 

Fill out your In Case of (emotional) Emergency Form a self-care/community-care form to fill out when you’re feeling grounded, supported, calm, inspired, etc. To read when you’re not.  You can find it here.

Unplug while I'm a big fan of the people's media and keeping informed, it's also easy to get overstimulated and overwhelmed in a way that depletes, rather than feeds and inspires, us.  Check in with yourself, are you present in your body and choosing what you let into your space or are you going on auto-pilot and getting bombarded with information and images?  Take some time to unplug.  Turn off the phone, computer, radio, whatever gadget is demanding your attention.  And do some of the practices listed above, if they sound good to you.

sweet, vanilla-like Chamomile tea

Dandelioness Herbals also creates remedies to offer physical and emotional support within a culture of self-care and collective-care.  While you can enjoy these remedies at home, they are also convenient for bringing with you to rallies, gatherings, potlucks, when traveling, and wherever else you may go, when you may not be able to make tea, prepare a footbath, and do other self-care practices .  Relaxation in a Bottle,  Calm the Rage, Heart Elixir,  Relaxing Bitters,  Stay Ready,  Mercury's In Retrograde, Again?!, Yarrow Flower Essence for clear and strong boundaries, and others.  I'm happy to make a custom blend that is especially for you, where you're at, and what you're dealing with and focusing on.

May we transform next week and this season into an opportunity for healing and growth and renewed solidarity.

_______________________________________________________________
Photos by Dana L Woodruff/Dandelioness Herbals, from the top:  a wee bowl of Chamomile; Chamomile and Lavender harvest; basket of Lemon Balm; Milky Oat harvest;  Evergreen-Rose foot bath for the People's Spa; Make-it-as-we-go-along personalized Relaxation in a Bottle tincture and flower-infused oils for self-massage before bed/bathing from the Community Self-Care: Nourishing our Nervous Systems for the Long Haul workshop series; bee coming in for a Tulsi/Holy Basil landing; gathering Rose pollen; Yarrow for strong boundaries; and Chamomile tea.

May Day, Dandelions, and Fabulousness! Dandelioness Herbals Spring Update

Happy May Day!!!  I can't wait til the festivities!!! After May 1 March for Health & Dignity (info here) at the VT Statehouse at noon, and then at Sovversiva Open Space for an open house, BBQ, and showing of the new film about the life and community organizing work of United Farm Worker Union co-founder Cesar Chavez!!! More info here. 

Hooray for workers rights!  Universal health care!  Anti-biased policing policies!  And all the cross-pollinating happening between individuals and organizations on May Day and everyday, across communities and across borders!  May we all channel the powerful energy of spring into fabulous projects, good medicine, and gorgeous art!

In this Update
-Report Backs
-Dandelioness Herbals Remedies: Green Tech, Fabulous To Go, Activist Self-Care Kit, & 
  Spring Tonic
-Recent/Spring Dandelioness Herbals Blog Posts: Penquins, Self-Care, Creating 
  Herbal/Emotional Support at Marches and Demonstrations
-Upcoming Teaching /Events: Decolonizing Herbalism, Empowering Herbalists (aka 
  Intro the Herbalism for Social Justice), Herbalists Without Borders,  and more!

REPORT BACKS
I was so happy to part of the Migrant Justice/Vermont contingent at the Not One More! Stop the Deportations march and rally in Boston, MA on April 17th, protesting the Obama administration's deportation of over 2 million of our community members and loved ones.  19 community members – both undocumented and documented -participated in a civil disobedience and were arrested, while throngs of supports marched for hours.  Those locked up at the detention center also showed their support through the bars/windows.  There are videos of this event posted here, and photos posted here. 

I was also really glad to attend the annual Reproductive Justice conference in early April.  I attended fabulous workshops: The Revolution Starts with Me!: Recipes, Remedies, Rituals, & Resources for Activist Self Care with Adaku Utah and Nicole Clark (check out their websites, SouLar Bliss  and Nicole Clark Consulting), The Politics of Adoption: Race, Identity, and Our Families' Lives about transracial and transnational adoption (check out Land of Gazillion Adoptees), and a workshop on supporting kids and caregivers, co-facilitated by a co-author of the book: Don't Leave Your Friends Behind: Concrete Ways to Support Families in Social Justice Movements and Communities.

...also at this conference Wake Robin Botanicals and Dandelioness Herbals unveiled their latest three fabulous collaborations, which are now available at…

DANDELIONESS HERBALS' ONLINE ETSY SHOP
-Activist Self-Care Kit: Supporting Change Makers for the Long Haul Dandelioness Herbals, Wake Robin Botanicals, and Mandala Botanicals have teamed up to offer the following three herbals: Speak Truth! Throat Spray, Sacred Basil Glycerite, & Solidarity Salve

-Green Tech: Herbal Support Kit for Students, Activists/Organizers, & Writers
Many of us feel the demands of long hours using technologies that can be draining or wearing on our bodies, both physically and energetically. These remedies support us to not only function, but to thrive while we meet demands and deadlines feeling focused and collected: 
Sharp Thoughts Herbal Tea, Stay Ready! nourishing elixir, Ache Relief Salve, and Calendula Violet Eye Serum. 

-Fabulousness To Go: Helping our real fabulous nature shine through with Brilliant Lip Shimmer, Fancy Glitter Crème, Fabulous Transformation Flower Essence, Fabulousness In A Bottle.  This basket contains all kinds of flower-mermaid-unicorn-rainbow-hippocamp-and-kitten magic.

-Also NEW: Spring Tonic - a blend of fresh roots, leaf, and sap that provides nourishing support during the transition from winter to spring. 





RECENT/SPRING DANDELIONESS HERBALS BLOG POSTS
-Arnica drops and Lavender Spray: Creating Herbal/Emotional Support at Marches and Demonstrations

-Hope! Because Sometimes We Need Some Help: another Wake Robin Botanicals and Dandelioness Herbals collaboration penguins, poetry, & dance routines

-The Sweet Truth About Bitters
-The Dandelions Are Here!!  the whole plant is medicinal - flower, leaf, root, and sap!
-St. Patrick's Solidarity   Mexico/Ireland solidarity!
-In Case of (emotional) Emergency: self-care form to fill out to fill out when you’re feeling grounded, supported, calm, inspired, etc.  to read when you’re not.

                                      

UPCOMING EVENTS

-Sandra Lory of Mandala Botanicals and I will be teaching 'Decolonizing Herbalism, Empowering Herbalists' (aka Intro the Herbalism for Social Justice) at the following event, as well as presenting in the evening about Herbalists Without Borders projects:

URBAN MOONSHINE HERBAL CONFERENCE 
Sat May 24th 2014, Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms, Shelburne, VT 
Inspiring day of herbal classes, walks, talks, & connections, followed by an evening including fresh dinner fare, music, cocktails, dancing, & festivities! We are enthused to offer classes from wonderful teachers: 7 Song, Mary Bove, Guido Mase, Larken Bunce, Betzy Bancroft, Jeff Carpenter, Melanie Carpenter, Sandra Lory, Brendan Kelly, Megan Godfrey, Leyla Bringas, Mary Niles, and many more to be announced! One hundred percent of the proceeds will benefit the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism's community herbal clinics.  More info to come here.  Facebook event page here.

-The Plainfield Farmer’s Market will be starting up in a few weeks, so you can visit the Dandelioness Herbals booth to taste remedies, purchase products, and chat.

-Interested in growing medicinal herbs for community health projects?  Members of Herbalists Without Borders are coordinating the growing of medicinal plants to distribute via community health projects near and far.  Interested in growing herbs for teas, salves, etc?  Please be in touch.

-I’m excited about hosting herbal medicine making days for community empowerment during the growing season, when the plants are most vital.  Learn to harvest in a good way, learn/share medicine-making skills, create remedies for community health projects, and create a kit to take back to our homes/communities.   All experience levels welcome.  If you have questions or ideas for venues, please be in touch.

Take care,

dana

dandelion778 (at)  yahoo  (dot)  com

Please visit the Dandelioness Herbals Facebook page for info about upcoming events, photos of medicinal herbs, blog posts, links to good projects/resources, and more!

Til next time...

Images from the top:  
Migrant Justice represents! * Activist Self-Care Kit: Supporting Change Makers for the Long Haul

Participants of the civil disobedience at the Not One More Deportation! Boston Rally * As we march by the detention center, dandelion stays rooted beside us, embodying persistence and resistance, sending forth its seeds across borders and prison walls.

They send their love and support through the glass and prison bars.  To our comrades, brothers, fathers, cousins, husbands, grandsons, friends: you are not forgotten! * Green Tech: Herbal Support Kit for Students, Activists/Organizers, & Writers

Basket full of dandelion blossoms

Celebrating after the rally!  We Did It Before, We'll Do It Again! Power to the People! *  Dandelion roots  * Fabulousness To Go: Helping our real fabulous nature shine through 

In Case of (emotional) Emergency: self-care form to fill out

This form was created to accompany the Self Care Kit: For Emotional First Aid with Heart Elixir, Tulsi Elixir, Yarrow Flower Essence, and Rose Relaxation Bath Fizzies.  The kit was created with the intention of preventing burn-out and helping to promote a culture of self-care and collective-care. More info here.  Feel free to print this form, fill it out, and share.

Click here for a copy that's easier to view and print.

____________________________________

In Case of (emotional) Emergency

To fill out when you’re feeling grounded, supported, calm, inspired, etc.  To read when you’re not.

I feel better when I (check all that apply/fill in the blanks)
□Go outside                                   □Call a friend                                   □Take time alone
□Share meals w/ loved ones.     □Scream into a pillow/in a car    □Dance
□Draw, color, paint, get crafty  □Play with kids                                □Cry it out
□Play soccer                                  □Connect with mentors/elders    □Go for a walk
□Have an orgasm (alone            □Clean my space/change it up     □
     or with someone else)            □Go bowling                                     □    
□Laugh (watch funny film,        □Light a candle                                □      

     hang out with fun folks)        □Get acupuncture/massage          □
□Go bowling                                 □Burn incense                                  □                        

□Massage myself with oils        □Am in water (shower, bath,         □
    before going to bed                    ocean, lake, puddle)

□Listen to good music like __________________________________________

□Watch these movies _____________________________________________


These plants support me: in the form of: tea, massage oil, bath, photos, hanging out with…

□Rose              □Milky oats           □Tulsi                    □Cinnamon      
□Nettles          □Chamomile         □Licorice root      □__________    
□Calendula     □Pine trees            □Lemon Balm     □__________
□Sunflower     □Garlic                   □Corn                    □__________

My (emotional) emergency contacts are:
I can call this person/these friends, mentors, family members, neighbors, hotlines…
*
*
*
*
*

Other suggestions:
-Start with the Basics:  Breathe.  Breathe.  Drink water!  Eat good food!

-Drained from dealing with (or not dealing with) conflict?  Role-play difficult situations/
 conversations with a friend.

-Reach-out!  Let folks know you could use some support (face-to-face or via calls/email/text/Facebook, etc.  Don’t rely on telepathy with this one!)

-Is there an element out of balance?  (Are you feeling angry, fiery, frustrated?  Get in water!
 Feeling uber-emotional or really flakey?  Go outside and feel the earth under your feet.)

-Connect with what grounds you with your deep self (beyond our daily lives): nature, meditating, looking at old photos, talking with old friends who know you well, etc.

-Take times of transition/stress to re-evaluate and learn from it all (when you’re ready)

   Take as much space as you'd like for more notes, drawings, whatever you like…

By Dana L Woodruff, community herbalist and health educator,  Dandelioness Herbals
dandelionessherbals.blogspot.com  dandelionessherbals.etsy.com  @dandelionessherbals
dandelion778@yahoo.com   facebook.com/dandelionessherbals

Talking Plants/Talking Justice: Plant Medicine and Social Justice Interview with Dana Woodruff of Dandelioness Herbals

I was recently interviewed by Ann Armbrecht, co-creator of Numen: The Nature of Plants!  You can check out the full interview here: Plant Medicine and Social Justice with Dana Woodruff. Ann Armbrecht also interviewed folk herbalist and food activist Sandra Lory of Mandala Botanicals here.  Thank you, Ann, for supporting grassroots community herbalism!


Plant Medicine And Social Justice With Dana Woodruff

From the first time I met Dana, I have been so impressed with both her knowledge of and dedication to the plants and herbal medicine and her willingness to talk about topics that herbalists don’t tend to talk about: healthy sexuality, gender identity, social justice and power, and more (you can read about some of those on her blog!). I have especially been interested in her work in prisons and with migrant farm workers, teaching them about herbs, learning from them, and helping them get rights they are often denied. Like Sandra Lory’s work (with whom Dana often teaches workshops), Dana is doing incredibly important work educating about self care and building community health and making sure that this knowledge is accessible to whoever wants it. I was thrilled to finally be able to hear about Dana’s work. Dana’s blog, Dandelioness Herbals is an incredible resource with recipes, resources, reflections and more. Dana also sells her herbal remedies at her Etsy shop. Check them out!

Ann: To start, I’d love to hear how you first got interested in herbal medicine, a bit about the training that you’ve had, and the focus of your work with plants.

Dana: Like so many raised in the US, much of my ancestral lineage has been lost by the process of assimilation.  My childhood in Central Maine wasn’t infused with the plant medicine traditions of my ancestors from Ireland, Scotland, and England. Living rurally, though, I was surrounded by plants.  My mom took us out on wildflower walks, in the spring Grammy and Pop-Pop took me to harvest Dandelion greens. We’d eat fiddleheads and we’d eat out of the gardens in the summer. I grew up in a family with a history of being healthworkers, crafters, and farmers.

Click here to read the entire interview...

The People's Spa: Reclaiming Relaxation and Cultivating Collective-Care!

When you hear the word 'Spa' what do you think?  Privileged people with tons of money wrapped in white towels, relaxing while throngs of people tend to their every wish and smear them with mud and honey?  That's what I used to think a spa was.  Til I went to one with a friend.  And then another.  I've been to two and we *worked it*!  $40 a day may seem pricey if you don't have loads of money kicking around, but if you go for 8 hours, that's only $5/hour!  And if you go with friends where everyone brings a homemade bodycare product or two for the group, gives each other shoulder massages, and brings food to share (I recommend finger food over soup and crumbly chocolate cake!), then you can get a full spa experience on the cheap.  

But you can only get to the spa so often.  And that's what we were brainstorming about, at the spa in deep winter when just being in a 70 degree space felt luxurious, even without the cucumber water and warm waterfall.  How can we take the spa out of the - well, spa, and put it (back) in the hands of the people?  So many folks we know that really should be there can't take the time off work or school, get childcare and transportation, spend the $40, etc.  And that's when the People's Spa was born.  We brainstormed a spa based on mutual support and respect.  Accessible and affordable - maybe even free?!  Where everyone serves and is served.  Where ingredients come from ethical sources, from the abundant plants growing in gardens and fields close to home, or from farms far away where the people and land are treated well. Where the relaxation practices are grounded and culturally respectful (rather than recklessly profiting off of the cultures and resources of communities of color near and far). Where all body shapes, sizes, colors, genders, and abilities are welcomed and honored.

I see the People's Spa, practiced collectively or in solitude, as an important aspect of encouraging a culture of self-care, collective-care, and community health.  I do understand when people say that we need to take care of ourselves in order to be able to take care of others.  That we need to put the oxygen mask on ourselves (to use the airplane analogy), before helping others with theirs.  But this message just seems to reinforce that some people are meant to be care-givers and endlessly put their own needs last.  I don't want to feel that I have to justify taking an evening for myself to unwind and give myself a foot bath, by saying it's so that I'll be able to work harder tomorrow.  I think it's important that we value self-care for self-care's sake.  Obviously I'm not going to just stay home forever and indulge in a 24-7 herbal spa. But I don't think the far-too-common flip side of this, of not knowing how to stop, of going non-stop and not taking time to celebrate our victories and accomplishments, of tending to everyone else's needs first, is healthy either.  Giving ourselves and each other the space and encouragement to take a rest every now and then, and having the self-awareness to know when we need a break, can help us to rejuvenate so that we can be in it for the long-haul.  Yes, it makes us better community organizers/ activists, herbalists/health care providers, parents/caregivers, etc.  And it also steps away from the capitalist, ableist, workaholic culture where time is money and there's never enough of either, we're forced to work far beyond our physical and emotional limits, and the meaning of life is to be productive every waking moment.  

Cultivating a culture of care extends beyond our personal good-feelings (being grounded, relaxed, inspired, etc), and builds stronger community organizations and neighborhoods, and allows us to be more present with each other and ourselves.  Nurturing an atmosphere that balances work and play, that values relationships and the process/journey (rather than just numbers) helps to prevent burn-out and sustains us for the long haul.

We don't need to pay loads of money to go to a fancy spa or take a trip far away at a resort in order to relax.  We don't have to wait til the revolution comes, or even til the next big event/ campaign is finished.  We can take a moment this evening, or maybe even right now.  Using supplies that we may already have access to, we can create a simple spa right in the space that we're at.

Here are some recipes for relaxation concoctions that you can make yourself, or get together with some friends/family and do it together!  (You can also purchase some of these products through my online DandelionessHerbals Etsy shop).  These recipes are intended to spark ideas, not be requirements for your at-home spa!  Feel free to keep it simple.  Water is healing, nothing more is needed for a relaxing footbath.  Open your cupboards and spice rack and experiment with what you have.  Get together with friends and family to make relaxing creations together, or come to a hands-on workshop tomorrow and bring some spa items home with you!

Along with the recipes, there is also a report back with photos from our first People's Spa held in Spring 2012 in Montpelier, Vermont (U.S.).

Spa Recipes (aka Spaaahhhhhh Recipes) :

-Bath Fizzies 
-Bath Salts and Salt Scrub
-Eye Soothers: cucmber slices, chamomile tea bags, and chilly spoons
-How to do a Foot Bath or Hand Soak


Bath Fizzies

1 cup Baking soda
½ cup Non-GMO Cornstarch
½ cup Citric acid (often available at coops.      and pharmacies)
4 tablespoons Coconut, Grapeseed, Almond,
   Olive, or another oil
2 tablespoon Distilled Water or Hydrosol  
   (flower water)
Essential oils, 10-20 drops
Dried herbs, optional
Flower essences, optional

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl, mix liquids, and then drizzle onto dry ingredients little by little, slowly while stirring together.  Fizzy!  If the texture is too crumbly to stay together, add more of the oil/water mixture, little by little, until it holds.  Shape into balls or press in oiled molds.  Let them sit on waxed paper for 2-3 hours, reshape if needed.  Let them harden 24-48 hours, depending on the weather.  Store in a closed container.  Use a fizzy in your bathtub or footbath.  I like to use coconut oil in this recipe, which in this climate, usually needs to be warmed to turn from solid into liquid.  The balls seem to harden faster than with other oils, and it leaves your skin feeling really silky.  If you'd like to use dried herbs, such as rose petals (in the photo above), I've found that it's easier to form balls if you moisten the dried herbs in the oil/water mixture and incorporate them when adding the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  (You may know Bath Fizzies as Bath Bombs.  Demilitarize our language!  Demilitarize the Border!  Demilitarize the Bathtub!)

Bath Salts and Body Scrubs

Love It Up! Rose Salt Scrub with Sea Salt,
Rose-petal infused Coconut oil, Jojoba oil

You can make your own bath salts with sea salt, Epsom salts, baking soda, and herbs, individually or in combination.  People have bathed in these minerals for many generations for their soothing, cleansing, and drawing properties.  It’s really nice to prepare bath salts and keep them in a jar near the tub, so that after a long day when you need to slip into a bath or unwind with a footbath, they are ready and waiting for you.  
  
Crush, grind up, or leave whole your favorite bathing herbs and add them to your salts.  Add two to four tablespoons of dried herbs per cup of salts.  If using fresh herbs and flowers, simply layer the plants and salts.  Chamomile, Calendula, and Roses soothe and soften the skin.  Ginger, Rosemary, and Peppermint relieve sore muscles and are potent, especially when dried, so start with less in your bath.  To use, simply add a handful or two of your herbal salts to your bathwater, and relax.  When you are finished with your bath, it’s best to bundle up and keep warm.  

(Do remember that everyone’s body is different, and these salts may be drying and the herbs may be powerful, so if you have sensitive skin, or a sensitive constitution in general, begin by using just a tablespoon or two of your herbal bath salts at first.  If the herbs are messy or you have sensitive drains, you can sift out the herbs from the salts (after they’ve infused for a few weeks) or put your bath salts into a pouch or sock.)

Relaxing Bathing Salts
4 parts Sea Salt
1 part Baking Soda
Lavender essential oil (10 drops per cup or so)
Fresh or dried whole Calendula flowers or Rose petals (optional)
Flower essences, optional

Put sea salt into a glass or ceramic bowl and add in the lavender essential oils.  Add in the baking soda and mix it all together, also stirring in the Calendula flowers or Rose petals.  If you’re using fresh blossoms, place them between layers of salt and let infuse for a few weeks before adding in the other ingredients.  Add a handful or two to your bath.   (Note: 4 parts Sea Salt can be 4 tablespoons, 4 handfuls, 4 cups, any amount.  This recipe is included to give you a starting point for proportions.  Feel free to experiment!)

Body Scrub
You can create a Body Scrub by placing sea salt (or sugar) into a jar, and pouring in olive, sesame, almond, and/or coconut oil.  Some like to add just enough oil to moisten the salt or sugar, some like to pour the oil to the top and have a really oil-rich scrub.  It's up to you.  Experiment and see what you like.  You can add herbal infused oils (see directions in the (Im)migration and Lip Balms for Social Justice?! post), dried herbs (such as rose petals or a bit of ginger powder), or keep it simple with just the sea or sugar and oil.  

Scrubs give us the opportunity to massage ourselves, make tick checks fun, and help us to reconnect with our bodies, especially when they’re buried beneath winter wool and long johns.  Scoop out a fingerful of the scrub and rub it all over your body, starting from your extremities and moving in towards your heart and back out again, avoiding the sensitive skin of your face and breasts.  Chests are okay to gently scrub.  Rinse off in the shower or slip into a bath.  The salt/sugar exfoliates your skin and is rinsed away by the water, and the oil moisturizes, especially with the shower’s heat.  

(Glass jars look nice, but if you’re concerned that it may break in the shower, use a plastic container.  Note that oil is difficult to contain, even when your jar is sealed closed.  If you’re traveling with or mailing body scrub, use less oil when making it or place the jar in a sealed plastic bag so that it doesn’t make a mess.  Using a blend of oils that is primarily coconut oil will give you a more solid, less spill-y oil base (unless you live somewhere where the temperature is consistently over 76°F, as this is coconut oil's melting point).  Whichever oil you choose, do make sure you use soap to wash the oil off the floor afterwards so that it isn’t slippery!)

Eye Soothers
To soothe tired, irritated, or overworked eyes, put a cooling Cucumber slice or a moist Chamomile tea bag on each eye.  You can also place four teaspoons into a mug of ice water.  Place a spoon over each eye, with the rounded part of the spoon facing out.  When these spoons warm up, replace them with the spoons in the ice water, and continue for up to 20 minutes.  

To the right are hand-made eye pillows - silky material filled with flax seeds/rice and dried lavender.  These eye pillows can be used at room temperature or put in a resealable plastic bag and kept in the freezer to cool hot, irritated eyes or to place over the forehead to ease a headache.


    
How to do a Foot Bath or Hand Soak
If submerging yourself in a full body bath is not possible or desirable, you can make yourself a foot bath or hand soak.  Pour hot or warm water into a container (metal pot, glass bowl, plastic bucket) that's big enough to fit your hands or feet.  No containers big enough?  You can use two smaller containers.  Add a handful of your bath salts.  Be sure not to burn your paws!  Have some cold water handy to add in case the bathwater’s too hot, and if you like long soaks, you can keep a full hot kettle handy for when the water cools down.  Hand soaks are especially relaxing for those who type on computers and work with their hands all day.  They are also a kind and comforting gift to those who are bedridden.  Calendula is soothing to dry, irritated, or cracked hands.  Peppermint both invigorates and soothes tired feet.  Lavender and/or Rosemary foot baths help relieve headaches, drawing your energy down.  Treat your hands or feet to a massage with oil or creme after their soak for deeper relaxation and more restful sleep.

Ideas for relaxation: unplug the phone/computer/television, have an electricity-free evening (if possible), light a candle, surround yourself with good smells (fresh plants, massage oil, scented candle, home-cookin'), massage: back of neck, hands, ears, jaw  - where do you hold tension?,  make a big batch of relaxing tea and then drink some and soak your feet/hands/whole body in some as well, smear some honey on your face and relax for 10-20 minutes before rinsing it off with warm water (honey is good for all skin types and promotes circulation).

Not sure where to track down certain ingredients?  Check out your local herb shop or food Coop (Central Vermont resource listing here), or mail-order through Mountain Rose Herbs. 

Putting it into Practice: 
The first ever People's Spa!

This spring a group of herbalists and other community healers/healthcare providers collaborated to create the first People's Spa in Central Vermont.  Our communities had recently faced very trying times, with tropical storm Irene in the autumn, and May floods before that, damaging homes and businesses.  Mobile home parks, often located in flood planes, were hit particularly hard.  Flood survivors and recovery workers had been working for many months not only save what was left of their homes, but also battling with public officials and insurance agencies for their basic rights and needs.  Through their community organizing, the Mobile Home Park Residents for Equality and Fairness was created, and with support from the VT Workers' Center, they achieved great victories.  Our group of herbalists and healers came together out of a desire to give back to our community members who'd been through so much, to show our support, and to share relaxation techniques and herbal remedies.  

Not victims, but SURVIVORS!  Press conference organized by
the Mobile Home Park Residents for Equality and Fairness

Many survivors and recovery workers had been experiencing respiratory and immune issues, trouble sleeping, and other negative effects of the storm and the stresses following it. From the beginning, our group was clear that we were coming together in solidarity, not charity (thank you for the phrase, Commonground Health Clinic of New Orleans, LA).  All the practitioners that were part of organizing the People's Spa watched the film Strength of the Storm, which documented the impact of hurricane Irene and the grassroots organizing by those most affected.  Here are our guidelines for those who wanted to be practitioners at the People's Spa:

1)    See the film “Strength of the Storm” which was made by the residents of the Weston Mobile Home Park and the Vermont Workers Center. The 2011 flood survivors are the inspiration for the first People’s Spa event. The community activism group that emerged last year, Mobile Home Residents for Fairness and Equality, operate from a social justice and community organizing framework.

2)    Health justice, body justice and “solidarity not charity” are central to the People’s Spa’s baseline mode of operation. What that looks like and exactly means we will create together, with intention. The second expectation of practitioners is to participate in the People’s Spa organizers meeting, where we will be planning the event and coming up with ground rules and The People’s Spa Manifesto.   

We created guidelines for our time together, so that the space could feel safe, inclusive, and relaxing for all participating, and posted it for the event:   

People arrived to a table filled with snacks.  We had an array of food - including hummus and chips/veggies for protein to prevent blood sugar crashes, as well as decadent chocolate-raspberry bark (thank you Suki!) and herbal adaptogen balls (thank you, Marie!) for the spirit.  (Adaptogens are a class of herbs that help the body adapt to change.)








We also provided herbal teas made with relaxing herbs that not only nourish and calm the nervous system, but that also support the immune and respiratory systems, such as Lemon balm and Tulsi (thank you, Joann!).  On the left, Tulsi-Chamomile-Lavender tea and to the right - People's Spa Tea: Tulsi (aka Holy Basil), Milky Oats, and Lemon Balm.








Folks then entered the main room, where we had placed comfortable chairs in a circle, with extra blankets and pillows accessible.  There was relaxing music as people settled in.  We went around with introductions and shared a bit about the medicinal plants we'd brought into the space that day, and the remedies that would be going around.  There were Evergreen branches and homegrown, hand-harvested Rose petals for the foot baths.  There was Lavender essential oil to add to the bath or simply breath in, for its relaxing and immune-supporting effect. Fragrant Peppermint, Rosemary, and Fir foot cream could be massaged in after the baths.  And there were sprays made with essential oils and flower essences.  (We kept the fragrances plant-based - no synthetics - and did check in with folks to see if anyone was sensitive to scents).  As people sat in their chairs, we brought tubs of warm water and various ingredients for the bath water - Sea salt, Epsom salt, Plants, and Essential oil.  We also brought trays of food, as well as cups of the herbal teas, for people to enjoy as they soaked.  We returned with rounds of more food and warm water (especially in cool weather, you want to be sure to keep the foot baths warm so that people don't catch a chill), and when they were finished with the bath, we came around with the foot cream to offer for self-massage, or to receive a massage from one of us.



In addition to the footbaths, which folks really enjoyed, there were art supplies out for all to use.  There were pastels, colored pencils, and images for collage.  People could create a protective symbol, an affirmation, or anything else they'd like to make and take home with them.

We also brought in some other show and tell items:   Herbal/health books.  Shown here: Dr. Jarvis' 'Folk Medicine: A Vermont Doctor's Guide to Good Health' which sings the praises of the people's folk remedies, namely apple cider vinegar, and Susun Weed's 'Healing Wise.'

We also introduced and passed around a few relaxing and grounding remedies.  Here with the books is Rescue Remedy - flower essence blend for anxiety and trauma, great for home and first aid use!  

To the left: Post-Trauma Stabilizer flower essence blend for trauma, grief, relief work.  Heart Elixir (with an alcohol-free version) to open, heal, and protect the heart. Ladies of the Mist (by Fearn and Genevieve) healing sprays for body and space - blends of essential oils and essences of flowers, trees, mushrooms and gems.  And last but not least, the powerful, gentle Lavender essential oil - to waft under our nose for relaxing aromatherapy, to add a couple drops to our foot baths, to massage a drop into each earlobe, the uses are endless! 



And we bagged up some bath salts for everyone to bring home with them so that they could do another foot bath, and share it with their partners, parents, kids, and others in the community.
  

Our hope is that relaxation spaces such as this will sprout up in other communities as well.  This first People's Spa was truly a labor of love and solidarity - volunteers coming together to support other community members in the spirit of mutual aid.  The event was free, thanks to the generosity of the organizers, as well as others who couldn't physically be with us for the event, but shared food, medicinal herbs, and more.






The Co-creatrixes/People's Spa Mavens are Sandra Lory of Mandala Botanicals,  Dana L Woodruff of Dandelioness Herbals, and Laura Macieira. Co-collaborators of the first People's Spa: Joann Darling of Garden of Seven Gables, and Christina Ducharme and Ellia Cohen of Starting Over Strong Vermont, Suki Kapinao Ciappara of Suki Healing Arts, and Fearn Lickfield of The Green Mountain Druid Order.

A special Thank you to Montpelier Community Acupuncture for generously donating their beautiful space to hold the first People's Spa!  Also, thank you to Marie Frohlich, Golden Flower Chinese Herbs, and Hunger Mountain Coop for their generous donations. 

Please feel free to be in touch by commenting below or sending an email to dandelion778 (at) yahoo (dot) com with additional ideas, recipes, thoughts, feedback, report-backs...  

Like to make herbal concoctions in community?!  Come to a hands-on workshop and bring some remedies home with you!

Happy spaaaaahhh~ing!!!