Beauty Bath Salts

Making products at home is super easy and it allows for complete customization. The jar above is a bottle of epsom salts, enhanced with essential oils that I use for both beauty and for therapeutics. I have added drops of lavender, frankincense and patchouli oils. I didn't write the recipe down in exact amounts  but will in the future as this turned out to be a lovely scented product that works wonders on dry winter skin and aching muscles.  The bottle above is actually for foot baths-to which I add about 3 Tablespoons to 2 gallons of water. For baths the recommended dosage of salts is 3 cups so I would recommend making the oils in a seperate bottle with carrier oil and then adding them as needed-but that is another story.

Epsom salts alone is a wonderful solution to cramping and achy muscles. You skin also absorbs the magnesium in the salts and that helps with any related issues that can be traced to minor deficiency.

Some of the benefits of the essential oils:

Lavender: calming, anti depressive, anti-bacterial, calms strains and sprains. Indicated in rheumatism and for sores.
Frankincense: Used in problematic skin including issues with aging, anti-inflammatory and calming
Patchouli: Excellent for dry cracked skin, is calming and grounding, uplifting

These three oils paired together made a wonderful combination that works extremely well for the dry, cracked heals that winter boots can give me and have helped a bit with the foot pain I have to live with.  I have listed only some of the benefis of these oils-they each have more to offer on many levels, including spiritual and emotional.

I am not an aromatherapist but its a hobby I like to play with. Always use safety recommendations when using essential oils.

What is your favorite oil? How do you use it?

Saltless Fermented Vegetables

This month, I have had to deal with some gut issues and under my gastro intestinal doctors request, I have begun to pay much more attention to my digestive system. mong other things, I have committed to eating fermented foods every day.
The month has been extremely hectic though so I began with store bought (the jars on the right in the photo) but each jar cost around 10 dollars. Both are high quality and locally produced so in a pinch, I don't mind splurging.

However, there is nothing easier than fermenting your own foods and drinks! I bought the Body Ecology Veggie Culture Starter awhile back when my husband was put on a salt restricted diet. I was pretty sure that there was no reason to use salt at all for fermenting but everybody and their uncle were telling me I was out of luck-that salt was crucial. I remembered reading a saltless recipe for fermented greens in the Wild Fermentation book though so I knew that there was more to fermenting than than adding salt.

A little research and I uncovered the starter and couldn't be happier.


In this Kim Chi flavored batch, I only have purple cabbage, carrots and burdock root and some flavoring.
First order of business is to shred the cabbage (I used 1.5 small heads), slice the carrot (about a pound) and burdock (one thick 12 inch root).
To a blender, I added 3 very large cloves of garlic, about 3 inches of ginger and a handful of the cabbage, carrot and burdock. I added about a cup of water and blended until smooth. I then added the Korean red pepper flakes and one packet of the starter culture and blended once more.
I also had some fluids left in each storebought jar so I added that to the blend too. I have never done this so we shall see what happens. Probably nothing except a slightly salted flavor.

I then poured this brine over the vegetables and covered it for an hour. This isn't mandatory but I like to let my ferments sit before putting into jars.
When transfering to the clean (sterile) jars, I used a  handful of the vegetables at a time and a pestle to crush the vegetables down.
In this method, the jars are sealed immediately and left to sit for 2-7 days. The instructions say the longer the better. I like my ferments on the crispy side which is why I make small batches.

 I highly recommend ferments in particular and will be doing more of them soon. Some of the reasons for eating/drinking them are commonly known but there are other reasons that recent research is uncovering that I would like to delve into more-such as how these frienly bacteria colonies actually affect mood and the function of the brain.
Stay tuned!

Curandera/Curandero classes-free

Well, I finally have a bit of time to write something! If you are not familiar with Coursera, please go check it out as there are lots of classes to choose from and all are free. They charge for certificates but most of the ones I have looked at are optional.

The class I am very excited to be starting in 3 days is the Curanderismo one. Official information with link to coursera is here. 
What is curanderismo and can you  become one by taking an online class?
Curanderismo is traditional Mexican folk medicine. It encompasses a wide array of tools to bring about a more holisitc mode of healing. If you watch the videos then you will get a good (better than mine:) explanation.
Can you become one with one online class? I doubt it highly but some of us have an inkling of our own abilities already and may find this path to be the one that is best suited to our beliefs and talents. I think that like anything else, finding a live teacher at some point is going to be crucial to moving forward.

I am taking the class because I feel that I was actually already raised in the methods and techniques. Both of my grandmothers had aspects of it and that is how we practiced our Catholicism. While we are not Mexican, we are descended from the Moors who have a heavy influence on curanderismo. And of course being Eastern Right Catholic helps.

I will actually be travelling the first few days of this class but I will do my best to do well until I can come home to a better study environment.

Healing

I believe that there are all kinds of healings and the methods that are used to try to direct healing are each to be respected. Infact its all the modes that have always held me fascinated.

Spending time in the garden, taking herbs or taking a walk on the beach are all valid. As is praying in church or meditating alone-turning to a friend or to a shaman/priest/healer-all of interest and all play a role. I think each culture has something to offer and I know that I have not mentioned every single thing available.

This is my personal blog however so lets narrow this down shall we? I personally would not jump from mode to mode to find the answers. While this can be necessary in order to find a good fit, I personally have found that being consistent is actually more powerful in my life than being armed to the teeth with options. I do not and will  not judge others who do so-its just not for me at this time in my life.

For example, I pray. I try to do so all the time. I was raised within a folkloric Catholic household and that included petitions to Saints. I still do this as the need dictates. However, on a daily basis, I stick to talks with what I loosly call God.

I also consider myself a shamanic practitioner who is a Christian. I suspect highly that John the Baptist was a shaman. I am studying the work of Ram Dass because his work has deeply practical applications in real life. And I have reverence for the Medicine Buddah. These are all in my arsenal of healing.

As to herbs-these are a huge part of my life and diet is important. Lifestyle is of great consequence in general so I try to meditate though I am not great at it and my life has not been especially conducive to it of late.  I try to get out in nature which has an instant affect on me. I do art.

And I see a therapist once a month to help me cope with life long anxiety issues. This is important to me as I need the coaching sometimes. Without my therapist, I may not have become brave enough to persue huge change with my vocational rehab counselor who in turn has also been able to help me find my direction. I also would not have been able to fathom such things had it not been  for my shamanic practice and the support of 2 key people within that community.
I am ont really good at seeking support in a community but that is my goal for the rest of the year. To take and to give it. I have been in an isolated place and while it has served its purpose, it has begun to feel permanent.

Some people write blogs about their daily external lives and I intend on doing that to a degree here. However I want to delve a little bit deeper into the spiritual part of life here on this blog-what I term "healing".
So there it is-the premise of the blog titled PrairieRose. Please do comment! I love interaction with readers as much as in real life.