Essential Aromatica

In this season 3 finale, I am hot-off-the-bliss of attending the Alliance of International Aromatherapists recent conference titled: "Embracing and Composing Sustainable Aromatics". This afterglow continues reflection upon the importance of "less is more," olfactive aromatherapy, getting to know local aromatics, the overall importance of being outside and being in nature.

Join me to contemplate connection and sustainability within the aromatherapy community and essential oil supply chain overall. At the heart of the matter is the life force behind essential oils; the energy and resources involved in the essential oil industry and profound impact essential oils have on memory, emotions, neuro-transmission and overall wellbeing. 

Concentrated connection. In essence (yes, pun intended...): Essential oils are more than "scents"; they're deep, concentrated, resource intensive chemicals of communication which inform how we may approach working with them. Join me around minute 26 for a guided meditation adapted from my recent guided aromatic encounter given at the Olfactory Art Keller gallery.

Links to references made in the episode:

Article on Sweet Fern, Article on Goldenrod, Book reference: Conyza.

In this episode of Essential Aromatica, Amy spends time with Dr. Nicole Bou Khalil to talk about the profound connection between humans and plants. They explore the importance of spending time outdoors, observing plants, and understanding our interconnectedness with nature--as deeply as the connection between people and where they live. Ah, and remember to keep your “child soul.”

Let’s get clinical first, then get into the weeds. In 2019, Dr. Bou Khalil trained hospital staff on integrating clinical aromatherapy into operations, sparking curiosity and interest among many, despite initial skepticism. She emphasizes that aromatherapy goes beyond spa treatments, highlighting Lebanon’s rich history of plant-based medicine. Dr. Bou Khalil advocates for understanding aromatherapy’s benefits and recognizing that it cannot be directly compared to evidence-based medicine due to its unique nature. As she succinctly summarized; nature is not standardized.

Further into the conversation, Dr. Bou Khalil shares the challenges faced by Lebanese growers and distillers after the financial crisis. Everything became costly, rent went up, continuous power was not always available. Organic certification and GCMS testing became cost prohibitive. Some people came from the outside and took advantage of the hardship many growers and distillers faced by imposing cheap prices on high quality essential oils such as Rose and Neroli. There’s a bright side though, as Dr. Bou Khalil has an initiative to reconnect Lebanese essential oils with the global market. This is on a deep level: know your growers and distillers. There’s a depth to oils that are made by people that are connected with their land and sense of place. Hearing her talk makes me wish I was in Lebanon with the Cedars, Roses, Bitter Orange trees and Myrtle!

These hardships highlight a critical part of the overall essential oil industry and sustainability: some people create beautiful essential oils that express “the soul of the land” even if they cannot afford continual GCMS analysis, to continue offering organic certification or don’t have reliable access to electricity. Would we rather have sad, cheap oils or oils created from a sense of place, with integrity?

Nicole shared how one of her French aromatherapy teachers once said that “aromatherapy is nothing but bliss”. These words deeply resonated with her, and they have with me. Nicole shares that if she didn’t have her aromatherapy practice, if it wasn’t a part of her whole life, she wasn’t sure how she would have coped during the Beirut Port explosion. The oils, Rose and Neroli, helped her; also, reaching out to the international aromatherapy community gave her a lot of support. The plants around you support you. She mentions the old, noble Cedars of Lebanon that grow high in the mountains; how they are symbols of strength, of the people of the land; they are symbols that the Lebanese people have the strength to go on.

I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did—I even teared up at the end. Want to connect with Dr. Nicole BK? See links below for different ways to get in-touch. And remember, Aromatherapy is nothing but bliss.

Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-nicole-boukhalil/

Instagram: aromatherapy_dr.nicole_bk

Facebook: Aromatherapy Dr. Nicole BK  Email: ⁠boukhalil.nicole@gmail.com⁠

Which is scarier? Going offtrack or staying in a rut? What if you could disrupt the ego driven "norm" (the rut) by working with essential oils, the molecules of connectedness? In this episode, Dr. Florian Birkmayer shares the potential of working with essential oils to help us become whole by disrupting the Default Mode Network (DMN) and emerging from "wetiko" ("cut-offness").

This is where '"Aromagnosis comes in. Aromagnosis is direct perception connecting us to the larger world through the messages carried by genuine, authentic essential oils. We explore how these oils help open access points to initiate innate healing and rediscover our personal myth. We discuss how powerful essential oils, not “nice smells”, can break through our intellectual barriers and open the door to emotional power.

We also contemplate “wetiko” or “cut-offness”, the self-imposed isolation from our unconscious and nature overall. This isolation is often something we are not aware of (forgetting what we forgot to remember: connection and feeling) and is apparent in our welcoming of synthetic molecules into our bodies, homes and environment. We reflect on the Enlightenment-era philosophy of “I think, therefore I am”, and how it has led us to ignore our interconnectedness with the universe.

Deeper into the episode, Florian expounds upon the power of essential oils and their role in mental health. He deconstructs the Default Mode Network (DMN), our personal “auto-pilot” mode, and how aromatics (and psychedelic assisted therapy) may help deactivate its ruts and create new neural connections. As an ex-psychiatrist, Florian critiques the traditional model of psychiatry, which often turns people into professional patients, and proposes an alternative approach that focuses on broader cultural and ancestral factors alongside working with essential oils (aka: aromas) to bypass the DMN. We delve into the importance of emotions as messages from our subconscious, and the concept of “heart awareness” as a means to tend to our emotional needs. We also discuss the teachings brought by essential oils molecules, expressions of an aromatic plant's soul.

In the end, Florian shares that “if you are willing to face what your unconscious gives you [while working with essential oil allies], it will give you what you are ready for.” When we work with essential oils, each one is a teacher we can turn to on our lifelong journey of becoming whole to ourselves. We can change our culture of cut-offness by mindfully working with essential oils, the molecules of connectedness.

Access Florian's work on Substack and his & Cathy Skipper's offerings at Aromagnosis.

Selected Publications:

Birkmayer F. with Cathy Skipper (2024) “Essential Oils for Psychedelic Therapy Support” (Available at amazon.)

Birkmayer F. (2022). Essential Oils for the Wounded Healer: PTSD,

Post-Traumatic Resilience and the Wounded Healer’s Journey. International Journal of Professional Holistic Aromatherapy. 11(3), p.37-41.

Birkmayer F. (2021). Using Essential Oils to Enhance the Effects of Ketamine Psychedelic Therapy in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Substance-Induced Psychosis Two Case Reports). International Journal of Professional Holistic Aromatherapy. 9(4), p.15-22.

Birkmayer F. (2020). The Molecules of Connectedness. International Journal of Professional Holistic Aromatherapy. 8(4), p. 51-57.

Birkmayer F., Skipper C. (2018). “The Role of Aromatherapy in the Treatment of Substance Abuse and Co-Occurring Disorders”, chapter in Modir S. & Munuz G. (eds.) Integrative Addiction and Recovery, Weil Integrative Medicine Library, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780190275334.

How do you “unveil the magic glow that flows right from the center of your happy heart”? This is something Kristina Siapkara, founder of Ierias Nama has explored since “cooking flowers” as a child—not knowing she was medicine-making while “cooking” those flowers.

This spotlight on aromatherapy episode is intended to share how the power of ritual, frequencies (think physics) and working with botanical extracts and products made with integrity can uplift, rather than sap it.

The Myth of Luxury Around Ritual

Finding solace, direction and purpose in life doesn’t require privilege. Many believe it’s a mindset rather than having or possessing certain things, including “time,” before you can reveal your true nature. The relaxation, mental and emotional space needed to foster our direction, the magic within us, is not a luxury nor meant to be scheduled for “later”. Yet all of these good things are often viewed as luxuries we don’t make time for.

Linear Time vs. Whole Time

Every being on Earth belongs here (yes, even the roaches and ticks). We’re all here, after all. We made it: we were born. Yet many of us human beings lose our direction, stumble down the wrong path and don’t know it. We get lost in and caught up in linear clock-time and ambitions, losing sight of Eternal time. This “softer” time encapsules spaciousness and what we’re a part of (nature, the universe) rather than separate from. This time includes our ancestors, myths, and the unconscious, which can be accessed through ritual.

Stopping Time with Ierias Nama

If you feel you lost your way from yourself and are looking for help finding your way back, there are people like Kristina in the world who are here to help. She’s interested in stopping time, creating time and working with the interconnectedness through frequency (high vibrational matter) to unveil and support your own innate state of inner beauty and bliss. This isn’t about turning back the clock or staying frozen in place—think of it like dipping your whole body-mind-spirit-soul into eternal time each day. This is why she created Ierias Nama.

Episode highlights:

Join us, I hope you laugh along with us at the end.

Learn more about Kristana and Ierias Nama at ieriasnama.com  & IG @ieriasnamaskin

There’s a lot more to share. Please join us and leave comments or get in-touch via email @ info@nycaromatica.com | NYC Aromatica.

Ciao for now!

How to smell an essential oil. Are you like, "Yeah, right. I know how to smell. Thanks, but no thanks."? That's not what this is about.

It's rather about tapping into powerful messages available from one drop of an essential oil and what that one drop (or two drops) can do--if attention is paid its due.

This episode takes you through what to "do" with essential oils: focusing on olfactive aromatherapy. Yup, good old-fashioned smelling. We'll get into scent detection and reception, volatility, intensity and even solvent extracts vs essential oils.

But that's only where the fun begins.

Go to minute 11:30 for immediate access to one of my signature guided aromatic encounters: a guide to smelling.

Trust me on this one.

Don't forget to download the episode. Have this guide readily available for every time you want and need to connect with an essential oil.

One to 2 drops of essential oil. That's all it takes to create change.

Small is big.

Psychophysics and scent. What’s that all about?

You’re reading this text, taking in visual information while simultaneously breathing in hundreds of scent molecules. How much of your attention is on those various aromatic molecules? How would you describe those scent molecules? Could those scents be considered art?

Meet NYC-based academic and gallerist Andreas Keller who lives, breathes and contemplates these olfactory-based topics on a daily basis! With PhDs in neuroscience and philosophy and specializing in olfactory perception and psychophysics, Andreas revels in the messiness of scent so much that he opened one of the only Olfactory Art galleries in the world: Olfactory Art Keller.

A vanguard of the olfactory art movement, Andreas explores “the scent problem”—how smell is not an analytical sense like the visual one, and how paradigms of perceiving, talking about and analyzing scent and olfaction are lacking in our culture. If scent perception isn’t analytical, what is it? Settle into the episode with some of your favorite (or least favorite!) aromas to find out!

Be sure to say hello to ⁠Andreas at his gallery⁠ when you’re in lower Manhattan and give Amy a buzz to say hello and ⁠book a one-on-one aromatherapy experience⁠! Visit my Instagram post to see the artworks mentioned in the episode.

Learn more about Andreas and Olfactory Art Keller at the ⁠gallery website⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠.

Episode highlights:

Ciao for now!

When you hear the word “goo,” do you think of skincare, sustainability, and psychoneuroimmunology? If you don’t you may think differently after spending time with Jodi Scott, co-founder of Green Goo and Good Goo!

In this episode, Jodi shares insights into herbalism and a need in the OTC market for plant-based first aid care for our family medicine cabinets. She shares how important the foundational-herbalist process of creating macerations is to the company’s philosophy and how we can and should trust plants. I learned a lot about B-Corporations (Green Goo is one!), fostering a sustainability mind-set and how the continuous B-Corp certification process fosters a “learn more do better” perspective.

We also get into the mind-body, holistic importance of skin care and health psychology (i.e., skin care is for everyone and not about vanity).

As Jodi said and many of us herbal and plant people agree, weeds make good medicine. That certainly is sustainable.

Websites and Social:

Ciao for now!

Join Renèe Hughes and me in a lively conversation that spans her journey into wellness, what drove her to start the Aromaspecialists, psycho-aromatherapy, her “mood makeover method” and an overall roadmap for starting business ventures.

“Begin with the end in mind and highlight your unique gift.”

Starting a wellness-based business promises to entail excitement and challenges. How do you get your unique voice and offering heard through myriad marketing clutter and vie for the attention of potential clients? This is where someone, such as Renèe, who focuses on specialization through a wellness and business lens may come to the rescue!

From talking business, to sharing case studies and thoughts on touching souls (yes, we go there), this is a conversation filled with golden nuggets for moving forward with your business, and shining where you specialize.

Oh, and we definitely geek out about psycho-aromatherapy, the power of one-on-one engagement, ingesting essential oils, chemistry talk, touching souls and information that is “whispered from the plant.”

Make a lovely cup of herbal tea and join us for a spell, being sure not to spill your cup as I did mine in the middle of the episode!

Shout out! Sign up for the Client Attraction Clinic and stay tuned for the “Herbs and Oils Experience” summit.

Website and Social Links:

Web: Learn more about Renee and the Aromaspecialists @ https://thearomaspecialists.com/⁠LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/reneehughescoach

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/thearomaspecialists/

Free Guide, Write Like a Human:https://thearomaspecialist.com/writelikeahuman/

Frankincense. It's more than a word, it's about a plant, several plant species called "Boswellia" that create a healing resin humankind has had a special relationship and worked with beyond biblical times.

Meet Robin Kessler, CCA, MIFPA, a certified clinical aromatherapist specializing in hospice care and the therapeutic application of Frankincense resin and its many extracts. She's definitely called the Queen of Frankincense for a good reason--tune in to find out!

Get your favorite pen and pad of paper out to take notes! We get into the nuances between the different species and their resins and the importance of learning about a plant, including Latin names.

Look forward to the immersive topic of extraction methods: from resin infused oils, Frankincense essential oil and hydrosol to the remaining biomass that can be powdered. Oh---and don't forget about incense--through smoke: the benefits of burning Frankincsense resin as incense.

Have you heard all the buzz around Boswellic acid? Robin gives us the low-down and some wonderful success stories you don't want to miss.

Bonus? She spent years researching and creating a special anointing oil of Biblical proportions which included consulting with a Rabbi and Priest.

Learn more about Robin and her offerings here: All things Frankincense (and more!): website: https://www.robinsresinsplus.com/#/ & Facebook

Aromatherapy consulting: website: https://www.rbkaromatherapy.com/ & Facebook

This episode's title could also be "how to smell an oil", but that doesn't read as good in my opinion. This episode topic has been on my mind for years, but recent correspondence with an aromatherapist and physiotherapist based in Switzerland (thank you, Katrin!) prompted me to take thought to spoken word and make a Venn diagram (I love diagrams, charts and tables!).

In a nutshell:

Links to Reference:

You Are Not Your Emotions Article

The World of Lavender Class

Lavender Plant Talk Video

This Spotlight on Aromatherapy episode features my friend and co-host of the former Irreverent Aromatherapypodcast: Bekki Fishelson Kuber,founder ofBlue Marble Botanicals.

Get ready for a lot of laughter, irreverence and getting into hot- topics such as "this is good for that" and aromatherapy shower discs (bombs).

Look forward delving into the following topics during our conversation:

Learn more about Bekki and her special offerings at BlueMarbleBotanicals.com and on Facebook.

Thanks for tuning in! Stay in-touch with comments and questions.

Ciao for now!

Greetings, friends of Luna Aroma! A place and space where aromatherapy meet the moon! This 12th & final Luna Aroma session still finds us in the throes of Little Spirit time, thrust into Cold moon time for many of us in the Northern Hemisphere. This is often a time of personal darkness, confronted with being with oneself during colder, darker weeks and months of the year. Distractions are possible, but are they worth it?

Surrender, connection, respect, reflection and expansion are qualities we may cultivate to nurture our mental and spiritual strength. These qualities and themes of this moontime may be fortified with the expansive resins such as Frankincense. But let's not limit ourselves to resins such as Frankincense from the equatorial areas--there are the numerous conifer tree friends that offer just as much to support expansion and clarity to help us surrender and see.

As the calendar year draws to a close, so does the Luna Aroma series with today's 12th New Moon of the year and final Luna Aroma episode. Thank you if you have spent time with me during one, two or more episodes. This was, and still is, a personal inquiry that will continue on its own in a different form.

Here's the link to my article on transformation that touches on aging and the concept of beauty through the metaphor of the Luna Moth.

"To the moon, Alice! To the moon!" Ciao for now!

This eleventh episode of the Luna Aroma series finds us in Little Spirit moontime. A time still near the “thin veil” and for giving thanks and focusing on spiritual growth. I feel that Eastern Red Cedar and its essential oil support us this time of year, with its personality of quiet, protection, pausing, seeming immortality and the wisdom of being ok with not knowing.

Episode Highlights:

Look forward to my upcoming Plant Talk write up on Eastern Red Cedar. In the meantime, check out the "Plant Talk" on Juniper Berry @ nycaromatica.com!

Ciao for now!

Welcome to Luna Aroma, where Aromatherapy meets the Moon.

This 10th episode of Luna Aroma invites you to settle in and descend to the realm of liminal spaces, darkness and crossroads. Places and spaces where Persephone and Hecate among other archetypes may guide us. This is an invitation to revel in the marked transition from late summer's end to the bittersweet falling leaves of full-blown Autumn. Which brings us to root season, a time to harvest root medicine such as Ashwagandha, Valerian, Angelica and Cohosh. And get grounded with all of the root essential oils, notably Vetiver.

Come along as my guest! I'll take you through seasonal themes, a guided aromatic meditative encounter and a poem I feel touches upon this moon-time's qualities. Although this time of year might bring slight sadness and longing with the increasing darkness and chill in the air, it also invites us to approach life with wonderment and curiosity. Root essential oils such as Vetiver are here to support us no matter what.

Episode Highlights:

Links to Articles and Classes

Vetiver Essential Oil Profile: Vetiver Essential Oil - NYC Aromatica

Hecate and Autumnal Themes: Hecate Illuminates Transitions and Darkness - NYC Aromatica

Online Aromatherapy Classes: Aromatherapy Online Classes - NYC Aromatica

Ciao, for now!

Welcome to the 9th Luna Aroma Session! There is so much to share and love about this time of year, including Goldenrod and Asters. Things start to slow down this time of year, simmer and humm. The days are still warm and the sun still intense, but there's a different quality, one that Goldenrod exemplifies.

Join me during this episode to be an observer and invite Goldenrod's conviviality, its energizing and fortifying qualities into your mind-body-spirit-soul. Each Luna Aroma is an invitation to spend time with yourself and the world outside: a connection to nature and the celestial sphere.

Episode Highlights:

Links to Articles and Classes

Goldenrod Plant Profile & Video: Goldenrod Essential Oil - NYC Aromatica Article You Are Not Your Emotions: Myth of the Emotional Brain

Class: Making Herbal Teas & Tisanes, Cold and Hot!

Ciao, for now!

Welcome to the 8th Luna Aroma Session! This time of year, mid-summer, has a lot going on; a bittersweetness as days grow shorter. There's still an abundance of growth, but things are slowing down, simmering. They aren't as urgent as they were only a few weeks ago. We're entering a time of maturity, protection and holding. These are themes that fit with Carrot Seed essential oil and the plant who bears the seed, the lovely "Queen Anne's Lace." I feel there's a sense of loss as we turn into mid and late summer--a loss of sun, childhood. Maturation acknowledges this but doesn't cling to it, it rather propels us forward. There is still much work to be done, life to live and moontimes to experience.

Here's my invitation to you: go outside and lovingly gather a few Queen Anne's Lace flowers and seeds and take out your bottle of Daucus carota essential oil. Then sit with me, as I guide you through an aromatic encounter followed by a self-penned poem about Queen Anne's Lace and the heavy-lightness of life. Remember, after this there is so much to experience and enjoy. There is only one end.

Episode Highlights:

Plant Talk Article: Carrot Seed Essential Oil - NYC Aromatica

Ciao, for now!

Smudging with Sage, burning Frankincense in a censer, lighting incense to visualize and symbolize your thoughts rising to the heavens through smoke. These are only some of the botanicals and ways aromatics help us connect with the divine. What is the divine, the sacred? There may be debate about that, but I think we can all agree it is something that is bigger than us that also includes us. Incorporating aromatic botanicals--not synthetic fragrances--such as essential oils, hydrosols and raw plant material help us connect and commune with the present and sacred time.

This episode shares thoughts on why and how essential oils are powerful chemo-sensorial connectors. Amy touches on distillation, quintessence, the multivalent qualities of essential oils and how they connect mind-body-spirit-soul via the unseen (i.e., tiny, volatile lipid loving molecules). Further into the episode, explore how aromatic botanicals span and connect continents, cultures, ancestors and time. Even deeper is the sacredness of sex and its connection to scent reception and communication through DNA.

Aromatics are molecules of communication. As I’m writing this it occurred how they are also yin and yang at play: penetration and reception. The airborne scent molecules float around until they dock on nerve endings and receptor sites. Smell, scent molecules, help attune with deep knowing. Aromatic botanicals are keys to help us connect with the divine.

I hope you enjoy the episode. Stay in-touch with comments and questions: info@nycaromatica.com.

This episode features Thunder moontime, when the hot and humid days of summer are often visited by thunder, lightning and rain. This is a time, like most times, to contemplate change. But this time is different. Lighting and thunder are sudden and drastic. They are poignant symbols of change and transmutation. Think of something in your life that weighs on you, that you are looking to change, to shift. Thunder moontime, lightning time, can metaphorically assist along with the powerful essential oils featured in this episode.

Categorically, I feel, essential oils assist in change. They are agents of change: whether a temporary shift in mood and mind states or helping bridge the false mind-body-spirt gap, assist with grief or usher in new beginnings and adopting new habits in exchange for old ones (to name a few states-of-being). Are you ready? Get your Rosemary, Laurel and Sage (common, clary and white) essential oils or plants to sit with during this episode's Guided Aromatic Encounter. The Three Sages also spur a contemplation on the Triple Goddess, something you don't want to miss. The episode winds down with a poem that has made my heart sing since I came upon it a few years ago: "The Other Women" by Twyla M. Hansen. Who might the Other Woman be? Tune in to find out.

Below are links to relevant articles and videos mentioned during the episode:

Ciao, for now!

Welcome to Strawberry Moontime! As we near the Summer Solstice it is time to prepare for and embrace the warmest times of the year by turning to cooling and hydrating botanicals such as cooling fruits! This episode is packed with juicy ponderings: from spirit and transformation, the poem "Meditation on a Grapefruit" by Craig Arnold and "What is it we want when we can't stop wanting?" But more on that once you get into the episode...

Look forward to themes about sharing abundance and life's riches (e.g., strawberries!) & turning to cooling botanicals such as members of the Rose and Citrus families. Particularly Lime, a cooling aromatic botanical that is indicated for "restless heat." We also look to the Rose family for its fixed seed oils to help sooth & nourish our skin; and its fruit (e.g., strawberry, raspberry) to bring us hydration. There is so much to share!!!

Below are links to articles, videos and classes mentioned during the episode:

This Spotlight on Aromatherapy episode features Amy Galper; a published author and expert in clean beauty, formulation, aromatherapy and essential oils. She is the founder of the former New York Institute of Aromatherapy, the first in-person aromatherapy school in New York (where I earned my certifications)!

This episode tackles some big topics that Amy is immersed in every day, from the dynamically expanding market of clean beauty, differentiating a business, sustainability, aromatherapy, formulating and providing coaching and educational know-how on entrepreneurial ventures on the aforementioned topics. There’s a lot to learn from Amy; tune in to join us!

Look forward delving into the following topics during our conversation:

Learn more about Amy and her offerings at amygalper.com and on Instagram as amygalper. Listen to the episode to learn how to get in-touch with Amy G!

Flowers are blooming, frogs are croaking, and it is time to engage your sense of PLAY! This episode celebrates Flower moontime and all that comes with it, including when "all plants display their spirit sides for all the world to see." More on that in the episode!

How can we be serious when there are baby animals frolicking about, insects buzzing around and plants to interact with? This episode celebrates Flower moontime: by shedding seriousness and supporting what it takes to be ourselves and connecting with the world around us through aromatic plants. Go ahead, set some time aside to bask in the springtime playfulness of German Chamomile; a plant that I feel allows us to open up, let go and partake in a sense of play that may be hiding within us. How so? Connecting with the solar plexus through German Chamomile just might do the trick. With so much fecundity abounding during this moontime, e.e. cumming's poem "you said" seemed fitting and is featured towards the end of this Luna Aroma Episode. "The air of spring smelling of never and forever," is one of the lines. There's a lightness to spring, with it's yellow-green hues, that can make one almost giddy, do you agree?

Read more about German Chamomile & it's essential oil and join me in the garden for Plant Talk video sessions on NYCAROMATICA.com @ Plant Talk Video Series - NYC Aromatica or on my new YouTube Channel: NYC Aromatica - YouTube.

Ciao for now!

Welcome to Amy Anthony's Spotlight on Aromatherapy series featuring Cathy Skipperwhose insights on embracing your unconscious to become your true self are thought provoking, exciting and empowering.

Find yourself a quiet space for Cathy to guide you through the realms of alchemy, working with the unconscious and recognizing and reclaiming the feminine. When does a woman step into her true power? Why do we need initiation rites? Tune in to learn more.

Following are only some of the insights Cathy shares during our conversation:

Cathy is an international teacher, plant person and healer who brings 30 years of teaching, healing, and plant experience, her highly-attuned intuition, and her mastery at ‘seeing the person within’ to all her work. "All my work is based on my own journey as a wounded healer. I coach and teach from a place of experience. I am totally familiar with navigating the unconscious realms, the ancestral realms, the plant and animal realms. I am a menopause midwife, helping women rebirth themselves as they go through the initiation of menopause into their wise-eldership."

Sign up here to join her free Guided Journey on June 1, 2023.

Learn more about Cathy and her work at aromagnosis.com and cathysattars.com. Watch videos on the AromaGnosis YouTubechannel. Get social on Instagram by following @cathy.skipper & @the_alchemy_of_menopause. Get a copy of her book on the Alchemy of Menopause.

Happy Mid-Spring! A time of new beginnings, new growth and cleansing the mind and body of what is no longer needed. You may notice how this episode is slightly longer than other Luna Aroma musings. Why? I bookended the guided aromatic encounter with poems! The first is "Grass" by Joyce Sidman, the second is "Last Rites" by Rosa Alcalá.

This is a moontime to talk with GRASS! Grass is growing, it is a resilient plant family that is often the "first"...such as the some of the first plants to emerge as the temperatures increase, the first to show up on disturbed sites...in and of itself the family is emblematic of first, newness and renewal.

So how are grass and cleansing connected? This is where Lemongrassand Palmarosa come in. Go ahead and make a cup of Lemongrass tea, get out your essential oils of Lemongrass and Palmarosa and settle in with me for a spell to talk with the grasses. As with all Luna Aroma episodes, look forward to seasonal-moontime musings, poetry and a guided aromatic encounter.

I hope you find each Luna Aroma episode an inspiring, engaging and a different way to experience essential oils. Learn more about Aromatherapy and Essential Oils such as Palmarosa at NYC Aromatica.

Welcome to another Spotlight on Aromatherapy featuring Hana Tisserand!

Hana is the Chief of Operations and Communications at the renowned Tisserand Institutewhere she is also an educator, course moderator and key content creator. Hailing from Prague, Hana and brings a strong background in French and English translation and interpretation as a professional interpreter working with politicians, authors, and educators.

I reached out to Hana soon after watching a webinar she gave for the Alliance of International Aromatherapists titled "How to Talk to People About Safety - Without Controversy." We all have many beliefs and different understanding of the universe, including how we can responsibly work with essential oils. Her background as a professional interpreter provides great insight into how we can navigate the world at-large and when relating to the vast topic of essential oils: "Context is Everything!"

Episode highlights:

And much more in-between! Which are Hana and Amy's favorite essential oils? Join us for the answer!

Learn more about the Tisserand Institute on the web and on Instagram as @tisserandinstitute. Find Hana on Instagram as @tisserandhana.

Ciao for now!

Happy spring equinox~Spring is “champing at the bit”! Water, associated with intuition, is rising and running, sap is flowing in the Maple trees. Birds are coming home, and the soil slowly awakens. There may even be some eagerness in the air that goes along with “Spring Awakening”. What better way to honor Spring’s burgeoning energy than muse about sensuality and living through the senses? Get out your bottle of Ylang ylang essential oil, make a cup of Jasmine tea and spend a few minutes with me for seasonal ponderings and a guided aromatic experience: "Trust your intuition, you have the answers you seek."

Each Luna Aroma episode is released the day before each new moon. Thank you for taking time out of your day to connect! I hope you find these episodes inspiring, engaging and a great excuse to experience essential oils!

What does Jasmine sound like? What about Frankincense or Vetiver? Get your essential oils, and brew up some Vetiver tea, Jasmine tea and prepare some Frankincense water and sit for a spell to discover the sounds of these aromatics with Yuliana Kireyeva, an accomplished choir conductor, classical vocalist and certified aromatherapist. Yuliana translates scents to music notes, what she calls Olfactory-Auditory Congruence. I cannot fully articulate how moved I have been by these pieces and encourage you to find a quiet place to join us for a listen. 

When I came across what Yuliana is doing, listening to essential oils and translating them to sound, I was floored and excited. I hope you are too after you listen to her compositions. Essential oils in conjunction with olfactory aromatherapy can be incredibly nuanced and, I feel, dismissed by many people who often speak of "placebo effect." The chemical messages are often dismissed and it's the aromatherapist's role (one role, that is) to highlight the nuance and PERSONALITY of each essential oil. Yuliana takes this expression of each personality to another level through music. 

Yuliana is a graduate of the State Academy of Music in Belarus where she studied choir conducting and classical vocalism. Her professional career includes choir conducting for 8 years, performing as a leading Soprano for 7 years, including performing classical, spiritual, folk and jazz music around the world. She currently resides and works in the UAE as a vocal and a piano teacher and composer-translator of olfctory sounds. 

Aromatherapy-wise? Tune it to find out about Yuliana's journey and expansion into the world of Olfactory-Auditory Congruence.

Find Yuliana on Instagram as @olfactorysounds and look forward to experiencing further olfactory-auditory congruence!

Greetings on New Moon time! Welcome back to Luna Aroma, an invitation to explore moontime through observations, guided aromatic encounters and poetry. 

This is still a quiet time of year in the Nothern hemisphere, when the days are getting longer but cold and barrenness still blanket the Earth.  We're in the realm of Hunger moontime as the sun ever so slowly awakens the soil and stirs hibernating animals we may seek more activity, more sun and fester impatience. Yet we must slow down and continue planning as during Wolf moontime. Here we turn to nature for lessons of fortitude and inspiration to persevere through patience, purpose and perception. I feel Juniper and its berries embody these lessons.

Find yourself a quiet space, 15 minutes and join me for Juniper wisdom, flying and talking with ravens (you'll see!) and sitting with the poetry of Cassandra Coxen. 

Learn more about Juniper berry essentials oil at NYCAromatica.com.

A rose, is a rose, is a rose, is a…rose. Mused the legendary Gertrude Stein. How does one go about knowing a rose or any other aromatic plant for that matter? Through the poetry of Gabriel Mojay! Join us during this poetry-inspired hour to immerse yourself in Rose’s history and therapeutics through verse. 

This hour starts off with Gabriel’s insights on the pharmaco-energetics of diffusion aromatherapy! Pharmaco-what? Pharma-co YES! Get out your pencil and notepad as he shares wisdom about the power essential oils and diffusion aromatherapy have on a cellular level through hermetic dosing. This is even before we get into poetry!

Then it’s time to get your bottle of rose essential oil or rose hydrosol and listen to his aromatic sonnet on Rose. This poem captures how poetry is an amazing way to share in-depth information in a mesmerizingly memorable way. Next up, I share a prose-poem about Myrrh, seeking to convey the energetics and application of Myrrh resin and its extracts.

Myrrh musings lead us to one of Gabriel’s favorite poems, “Dark Friend” by Mirabai. This poem inspires further thoughts on practicing the cultivation of knowledge, devotion, service and mystic ways of connecting. And how there’s a deep connection with secondary plant metabolites between matter, energetics and information.

As Gabriel shares at the end of the episode: "Each plant is a beautiful, special teacher." 

Healing for Unemotional wrecks. Who can help us understand what an unemotional wreck is and how to transform such a state into fulfillment? 

Introducing: Melissa Holman! The founder of Lemon Balm Coaching and Master Transformational Coach who helps people rediscover emotions that have been stuffed away for so long that emotions and pain are foreign to them. That's right, rediscover. Sometimes it seems easier to shove everything away and plow ahead. Until something shifts in life that forces you to pay attention. 

What does it take to realize it's time to change? Most often something breaks, and we're forced to stop and ask for help. What could that be? Tune-in to hear Melissa's guidance.

As a registered aromatherapist who was ranked 30th among the 50 Most Influential People in Aromatherapy in 2022 and the Alliance of International Aromatherapists Representative’s Mentor, Melissa is serious about the power and safe application of essential oils. Her approach is holistic, often including Aromatic Solutions into care plans; yet her main goal is holistically identifying the cause of a client's stifled emotions and facilitating transformation through expertise beyond aromatics. What can that transformation look like? Someone realizing and acknowledging their unique gifts and sharing them with the world. 

Get in-touch with Melissa at Lemon Balm Coaching and follow her on Instagram, as lemonbalmcoaching, for wisdom and inspiration. 

Welcome to Luna Aroma. A lunar-inspired way to work with and learn about aromatic plants and their essential oils. We get out of the books and turn to direct experience. It is here that we enter moontime, learning by observing nature's rhythms as demarcated by new and full moons. 

Experience, Notice, Observe, let me be your guide.  Each episode is created and shared near each new moon, which provides a reference point and rhythmic structure to the ebb and flow of this aromatic journey. Why the new moon? New moons represent beginnings, starts and transitions to the next rise of energy that culminates at the full moon. 

This foundational episode celebrates and observes wolf moontime. A time in the northern hemisphere when the Earth isn't adorned with her green jewelry and flowers. Now is the time to appreciate Earth's outlines, silhouettes, bare soil and rocks. To appreciate Earth's architecture and our personal architecture. This is a time we can honor conifer trees such as Balsam fir and Scots Pine, that keep their leaves in the winter. Find out more: join me for wolf time lessons, a guided aromatic encounter and a short poem. 

Learn more about conifer essentials oils like Scots Pine on NYCAromatica.com.

Tea. What comes to mind when you read that word? Family farms? A gorgeous experience? Quality ingredients? This episode highlights one of the first trainedtea sommeliers in the United States: Gabrielle Jammal, also known as "the Tea Lady". Once you spend time with Gabrielle you may never look at bagged tea the same way as she removes the "veil on the tea world"!

Gabrielle is a tea sommelier who took tea tasting and experiences to new heights by creating a tea program at the esteemed Baccarat Hotel in NYC. This includes sourcing quality ingredients and selecting teas to entice and elevate client experiences. What does a high-quality Earl Gray taste like? Stick with Gabrielle to find out. You'll learn a LOT from her during this episode: from tea regions, the plant Camellia sinensis, what makes a quality tea and what makes white tea so special. 

A core theme during our conversation is experience.  How every day is special and taking time to appreciate what we have, like a beautiful cup of tea served in a glass pot and cup, can be enriching. Yes, please use that nice glassware and don't keep it stuffed away in a cabinet!  Be curious and make mistakes (experiment!) to learn what you like and how you like it prepared. 

Also, don't be afraid to step away from the supermarket and try new teas! Gabrielle encourages us to recognize that we have a lot of pull with our purchasing decisions. There are many businesses specializing in tea that can help you navigate the seemingly intimidating world of tea--seek out these suppliers for guidance or contact a professional tea sommelier like Gabrielle, The Tea Lady, to help you navigate the world of tea.

Learn more about Gabrielle at GabriellleJammal.com and be inspired by her tea-centric posts Instagram as @the.tea.lady.

This episode features the wonderful Nikki Fraser, Co-Founder of the Essentria Aromatherapy School. Join us as we have a blast delving into topics like aromatherapy schools, "aromatic lifestyle," and learning from mistakes.  (Pssst: listen to the episode for a special discount on certification classes at Essentria Aromatherapy School!)

Nikki is a Certified Clinical Aromatherapist, Certified Aromatherapist Health Practitioner, co-founder of the Essentria Aromatherapy School and past education director with the Canadian Federation of Aromatherapists (CFA). She has been recognized as a top aromatherapist in her region for 3 years in a row and recognized as one of the most influential people in aromatherapy for 2022.

Topics covered during our conversation cover embarking on the aromatic path, starting a school (wow!!), the concept of an aromatic lifestyle and what that really is, the application of essential oils, aromatherapy awareness (e.g., what is an essential oil and what do you do with them?!) and resurrecting older books that are still relevant and have amazing information such as Turkey Red Oil (wha?!)... 

Learn more about Nikki and her private practice at Fraser Holistic Health. Check out the Essentria Aromatherapy School online and on Instagram...and the podcast! Listen to episodes of Vetiver Vibes on your preferred podcast venue like Apple or Spotify or through the school's website.

Greetings friends! Welcome to the divine alchemy of Lopa Visaveliya, a subconscious seamstress and multidimensional healer whose breadth and depth of practice help open doors to subconscious and conscious healing. Do I have your attention? Yes, let's open the doors to perception and healing...

With a master’s degree in early childhood education and over 10 years of teaching experience Lopa decided the Earth is her classroom and she may continue helping others thrive outside a classroom through her evolving practice of Hypnosis Alchemy. Certified by the International Board of Hypnotherapy, Lopa brings intuitive and psychic gifts to her practice as a clinical hypnotherapist. She supports her guided hypnosis alchemy work with layers of nature-based imagery, subtle body work, Aura Soma bottles, aromatherapy, NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and breathwork.

Join our conversation to learn how Lopa may help assist you in your healing journey and remind you that: "Your presence is enough. Your unique soul frequency is a profound gift to this planet.”

Learn more about Lopa's practice at awakenpurandhri.com and on Instagram as @awaken.purandhri, sign up for her newsletter here. 

Greetings friends of Essential Aromatica! I'm pleased to introduce Liz Hill, the host of the Spiritually Speaking with Liz podcast and proprietor of Karma Ripon, a store that draws you in and makes you feel like you belong because you intuitively know something is there for you.

Join us for banter about the number 22, paying attention (!) and getting into the intricacies of Aromatherapy. Liz shares her journey of how she came into the practice and studied with the esteemed Shirley Price. We get into the nitty gritty of the safety, quality and responsible, educated application of essential oils. This episode highlights how the incredibly concentrated nature of essential oils sets the foundation for the practice of aromatherapy. What happens when essential oils are in the hands of the untrained? Join us to ponder such questions.

Liz is a certified yoga and meditation teacher who is also certified and practices several “-ologys” including reflexology, iridology, kinesiology and remedial massage and manipulative therapy; these influence her life-practice, shop and podcast! She is a clinical aromatherapist who wrote the NVQ 3 (National Vocational Qualification, level 3) in Aromatherapy and taught Aromatherapy on a Higher National Diploma. She was course tutor and on the steering committee of a complementary therapy degree at Bradford University as well as an Aromatherapy principal tutor and examiner for the International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists (the IFPA), which is a prestigious Aromatherapy organization.

Check out her beautiful shop at www.karmaripon.co.uk | Listen to her podcast | Find her on social media: Instagram: @spiritually_speaking_222 & Facebook: spirituallyspeaking222

One of my goals as an aromatherapist is demystifying aromatherapy and making it accessible. Years ago, upon moving to NYC, I felt incredibly disconnected and literally ungrounded. This episode is inspired by an upcoming community class I am giving at P&T Knitwear in NYC's Lower East Side. The class, and therefore this episode, is inspired by my journey, professional experience and bolstered by 3 books purchased from P&T Knitwear (listen to the episode to learn which books!).

Here's the crux: We know we need access to nature and its healing powers because we are of this Earth...but sometimes we don't have direct access to nature and need help. This is where our herbal allies and especially aromatherapy can come in to bridge the gap.

How can odors, aromas and scents transform and empower us? Join Makeba Lloyd, founder and formulator of her NYC Harlem-based company of Butter by Keba to find out! Her journey from the NYC real estate market to founding her own company is one of transformation and intention that started in 2005 during a trip to Egypt. Never looking back, this trip reinforced a longing for her to empower and “bring people together through fragrance”. This goal goes beyond the notion of perfume and into helping others through theHarlem-based organization “Hands That Make a Difference.”

As a certified aromatherapist and trained perfumer, Makeba creates uniquely aromatic personal care products and moisturizing fragrances that exemplify affordable luxury. She is passionate about the pursuit of learning, sharing, experimenting and creating gorgeous products that are sustainable, elegant and Earth-centered--which all come through when you hear our conversation and look at her products and consulting services.

Learn more about Makeba's thoughtfully crafted products and other services at Butter by Keba and get social on Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok (and other platforms!) by following @butterbykeba.

What do Saffron, "Sunset Cocktails", Saint George's Common Table and P&T Knitwear have in common and anything to do with aromatherapy? A lot! This episode highlights community connection with threads of the ephemeral & aromatic Saffron weaving things together. Saffron, one of the worlds priciest aromatic spices is incredibly water soluble and not a common botanical hanging out in an aromatherapists bag of tricks...or so one might think. 

Join me during this episode recorded at P&T Knitwear's community podcast studio for inspiration sourced from community, abundance and sharing...and to learn more about Saffron! I didn't know what this episode was going to be about until yesterday, when this ephemerally aromatic botanical helped me knit (Pun intended!) experiences over the past few weeks together.  

Thank you for listening to Essential Aromatica; wishing you abundance and many joys punctuated by therapeutic aromatic experiences. Ciao for now!

Join Clare Licher ofPhiBee Aromatics to revel in the passion, practice, expertise and distillation-know-how of native plants of the Southwestern United States. This episode is a deep reminder of the time, patience and great care it takes to wild harvest and distill plants, and how this expansive practice is a continual reminder how "plants make the world bigger than us", much bigger.  

Look forward to hearing Clare expound upon the following topics during this episode:

We hope you walk away from this episode feeling elevated, revived, elucidated, and dare I suggest, humbled. The plants are indeed our teachers, and we are forever students. 

Find more about PhiBee Aromatics at phibeearomatics.com and find them on Facebook as @phibeearomatics.

How does an Aroma-technologist and Hatha yoga meditator and practitioner approach the business and practice of farming and distilling? This episode explores such questions (and more!) with Krishana Chaitanya of Nisarga Farms. This episode celebrates the work and philosophy of Nisarga farms, which includes attention to soil, plants, farmers, harvesters, distillers and beyond. 

We contemplate:

We hope you walk away from this episode feeling refreshed and eager to immerse yourself amongst the plants of the world, taking the time to indeed "stop and smell the roses". Deeply. And to share the joy of Nisarga, which I learned is much more than a simple business name. It is a way of life.

Find more about Nisarga at www.nisargafarmsorganic.com and find them on Instagram as @essentialoildistiller and Facebook as @essentialoildistillerie.

What lessons do Alchemy and other Arts offer us for working with the Divine? Is the Divine within and without us? The DIVINE, you say?! Indeed. We mere mortals have been pursuing the mastery of several arts for centuries to attempt working with the Divine, often failing to "see the forest for the trees". Failing to see how the Divine is everywhere, including within us and how that Divine may be touched & illuminated (!) through mind-set and physical pursuits while acknowledging we mortals don't own any of this along the way. This episode explores such weighty topics of finding spiritual gold through the intersection of humbleness and practices such as alchemy and distillation. 

Find the essay on NYC Aromatica.com. 

Chögyam Trungpa's book: "Work, Sex, Money: Real Life on the Path of Mindfulness" is referenced in the episode. 

As a saying goes: "You only have one attention." Indeed! This episode focuses on the practice of Attunement in herbalism and aromatherapy. Quite frankly, the practice may be applied to anything when you think about it. Tune-in (pun intended!) and muse about "PIGGS" (as related to Attunement: P="Perceive", I="Imperceive"....) and Saint George's soup featuring Oregano, Bay laurel and Cumin. 

I find it fun how a lot can come from soup making, cooking with herbs and more. Are life's lessons learned over a soup pot? Maybe! 

Can the power of plants transform everyday experiences? Does healing and transformation emerge from listening and bringing joy? Join Carolyn Jones to find out during this "Spotlight" Episode. Carolyn is a Chaplin, Grief Counselor, Author, Aromatherapist, Herbalist and Dream Therapist who is a firm believer in the healing power of self-care. Self-care includes a lot of things, which are shared during this podcast episode and highlighted in her Webinar Series called the Healing Project. This monthly, ongoing series "is an interactive workshop designed to educate participants about various healing modalities that will effectively strengthen the immune systm and detoxify the body for improved health and well-being."

Is it possible to laugh a lot AND talk about matters such as death, grief and soul loss? Get yourself a cup of herbal tea (Agrimony and Mugwort perhaps!) and listen in to find out. Our conversation spans: the "law of appropriate therapeutic inactivity," learning how to heal by listening & observing, helping others with grief and bereavement, the healing power of laughter and affirmations ("state what you want!") and supporting the soul by attending to dreams. Of course, the herbs Agrimony and Mugwort bookend our conversation... I can't wait for you to join us.

Learn more about Carolyn and her work at https://www.behealed.info/ and follow her on Instagram at @thp_the_healing_project.

Imagine your sense smell impacting your entire sense of being. It happens every day. Something magical happens when the chemical sense of smell mixes with our own chemistry. That power of olfaction married with vibrant essential oils is harnessed by Bioesse Technologies and Breatherapy Tabs. This episode highlights Aaron Theno, a professional vocalist and the Vice president and Chief Aromatherapist of Bioesse Technologies and Breatherapy Tabs. Aaron's diverse background in arts and business stirs our conversation through a melody mixed with art, science, clinical settings and business.

Join us for a conversation about the power of olfaction-based aromatherapy in hospitals, the business AND gentle art of aromatherapy, and other hot topics such as sustainability of the essential oil industry, elevating all facets of creating and working with essential oils and looking locally for plants. It may be no surprise that the conversation turns to "less is more" and how essential oils fundamentally connect us to nature; all through the power of our chemical sense of smell.

Learn more at Bioessetech.com and Breatherapytabs.com. Get social with Breatherapytabs on Instagram and other platforms under the same name.

Autumn is the time of falling leaves, cooler and shorter nights and the final time to harvest. We've planned and worked hard all year. Now the time is upon us to rest and contemplate the cyclicality of nature, including life itself. This episode looks at the intersection of liminal spaces, root medicine such as Vetiver and the death-life cycle. This is a magical time of year, but dancing with that magic takes gravity, like roots, which may support us while navigating "gaps" in life. Get your bottle of Vetiver and join me for a spell to stir up a sense of awe and appreciation for life itself. 

Heady topics but the stuff life is made of nonetheless. Interested in more about transitions? Read this article on Hecate.

Does it only take one drop of oil to experience sudden change? Can Rose essential oil support a grieving heart? Join certified aromatherapist, Judith Guerra, and me as we delve into the vapors of working with and experiencing the impact of essential oils on the mind-body. Our conversation highlights topics ranging from mindful application of essential oils, staying curious, taking a time out, pain management and much more. 

A born seeker, Judith was intrigued by what she saw and experienced during her first nebulous encounters with essential oils. Her natural curiosity and questions about safely working with essential oils led her to seek aromatherapy knowledge, education and certification. As a life-long health and wellness advocate, she has been blogging about such topics since 2012 and continues to look for ways to encourage vitality at any age.  

Find more about Judith at JudithGuerra.com, check out her podcast, Judith Guerra Wellness Connections and follow her on Instagram as @autocreate740.

Span the globe with certified aromatherapist, Jirbie Go based in Manila, Philippines. Also known as "Couch Wasabi", you'll find out that there is nothing "couch potato" about Jirbie's passion for aromatherapy education and plants. Her intense involvement in educating and integrating the aromatherapy community, including plant farmers and distillers, shines through: she is the country representative for the Alliance of International Aromatherapists (AIA) and founder of the Alliance of the Philippine Aromatherapists (APA), which focuses on supporting local producers to Filipino essential oil users. 

Join us during this episode to learn more about her path, essential oil safety, subtle aromatherapy, teaching styles and much more. 

Find more about Jirbie on her website, YouTube channel and Instagram. Also check out her podcast on Spotify!

This episode highlights Elizabeth Ruth of Herbology East and West's: Lotus, Lady and Verse. Join us as we get "into the stacks" and talk about plants, books and more books. What DOES it take to be a book worthy of reading? Of purchasing and putting on your shelf? Of going back to over and over again?* When I step back and think about our conversation a few words shine through: credibility and standards. 

Elizabeth's extensive background as a Landscape designer and Librarian informs her current practice of reading and reviewing plant-themed books, related to (but not limited to) Herbalism and Aromatherapy. Her life-long love of herbs and plants in general has also lead her to pursuing certifications in Herbalism from the East West School of Planetary Herbology and Aromatherapy from Aromatic Studies (Level 1 & 2). 

Get in-touch with Elizabeth and read her reviews at Herbology East and West's Lotus, Lady and Verse. Also find her on Instagram.

*Note: Check out worldcat.com to really get into the stacks. A great resource Elizabeth shared with me after our recorded conversation.

As Lavender season comes to an end I found it's time to reflect upon the virtues of the many "Lavenders" out there. This episode is inspired by my recent class "The Lavenders", which celebrates the virtues of several of "The Lavenders": Lavandula angustifolia, Lavandula latifolia, Lavandula x intermedia with a shout out to Lavandula stoechas. One Lavender is not better than another, they all just are. Plants are beings expressing themselves, existing and adapting in the climate and location their roots are in. 

Prepare a cup of cold infused lavender tea! I look forward to your joining the Lavenders and me.

This episode highlights Yvette Ramos-Volz, founder of BotanicAromatica and The Glass Room. Yvette, a driver and facilitator of change, is the creator of the trademarked, arts-based coaching model called Living Life, in the Meantime. This intensive model is a driver of her vision for integrating botanicals (including Aromatherapy) and the creative process of working with stained glass. 

Our conversation begins with plants: inspiration from the garden captured in infusions! She shares how aromatherapy came into her life to assist in navigating changes and stress. Underlying themes of the discussion are the importance of Aromatherapy as a supportingmodality, synergy, integration, intuition and "coming into your own." We reflect on how aromatherapy is everywhere: when we cook, walk up to a pine tree and more. 

Yevette's weaving of change, process, glass (i.e., the similar fragility of glass to the mind) and botanicals left me refreshed and inspired, as I hope you are too after listening to this episode!  

Get in-touch with Yvette and find out more about her at The Glass Room and BotanicAromatica and on Instagram at @theglassroomnj and @botanicaromatica.

This episode highlights Jackie Kaplan of Nuda Botanica. She is a tea blender, aromatherapist, Master in Food Culture & Communications, a meditation teacher-in-training...and much more!  Topics include being curious, knowing ingredients (What are you eating? What are you putting on your body?), "objectification of essential oils," blending (!) and trusting yourself. For me, our conversation reinforced how paying attention & stepping back gives us space to notice nuance, learn, receive and grow. 

We get personal and share stories: sometimes all you need is your breath, awareness and a little Vetiver (Jackie) or Ginger (Amy) oil for grounding when you're feeling unsettled. 

Get in-touch with Jackie and find out more about Nuda Botanica on the web and Instagram.

May is the month of the "Flower Moon," when "all plants display their spirit sides for all the world to see." This episode explores how spirit is bolstered by confidence and playfulness. German chamomile is a plant emblematic of this! Join me as I wax away and slip into the realms of an e.e.cummings poem: "I am too busy with my flowers to believe, the rain answered." Go ahead, make yourself a cup of chamomile tea and set a spell...

Spend time with Candice Forness, a holistic healer from a lineage of healers, and Amy Anthony as they discuss the life-changing potential and depth of essential oils and aromatherapy. Candice’s versatile practice focuses on holding space, lifting people up and fortifying the mind-body connection through a multitude of healing arts. As she puts it, we can be Cerebral AND Organic at the same time. She shares how we can get on our own “Beauty Cloud” to meet ourselves again and be deeply inside ourselves. Things get deeper (!) when she shares how “the integrity of the molecule” reinforces HOW we treat ourselves, the Earth and others profoundly impacts…everything.

Get in-touch with Candice and find out more about her at CANDICEFORNESS.COM

The month of April sings songs of cleansing and growth; songs incorporating the wisdom of Grasses. This episode features the sunny & incredibly cleansing Lemongrass! Look forward to Grass-inspired thoughts about growth and cleansing with discernment.

Of course I get intoSaint George's soup! I forgot to mention the fresh, minced Ginger! OH MY! I wish you were there to smell the Lemongrass infusion AND the heaping tablespoons of fresh Ginger as it was being sautéed to bring out the aromatic components!!!!  

Here are resources for making your own sugar scrub & fizzing bath bombs! Check out the monthly New Moon Aroma Salon for access to lunar inspiration.

Happy April Fools! But there is no fooling around about the touchy subject of "there's and oil for that"! Join me as I scratch the surface of pondering the limitations of essential oils, where they do in fact shine and how essential oils and "consumption" don't go together very well. Tied into the aforementioned topic is soup making and the heart-breaking essential oil of the Neroli flower. 

Have you ever wondered why Aromatherapy is called, “Aromatherapy?” Is it curious to consider how an essential oil may not be “essential” to a plant and that it isn’t oily feeling? Is it possible essential oils have a lot more to communicate than odor alone? Join me during this episode to ponder the aforementioned topics and geek out over aromatics. 

Pssst!!! Access the Guided Mediation and Free Intro Class mentioned in the episode!

Note: Photo by @liam_dom

March is upon us and Spring is “champing at the bit.” Water, associated with intuition, is rising and running, the sap is flowing in the Maple trees. Birds are coming home and the soil slowly awakens. There may even be some eagerness in the air that goes along with “Spring Awakening”. Revel with me in Spring’s burgeoning flow by musing over March's lunar themes of sensuality, the languidness of Ylang ylang and tapping into those qualities by “living through the senses.” 

Are you looking for more lunar inspiration? Read more about the New Moon Aroma Salon.

We encounter essential oils every day, from a cup of Coffee to Pine trees in your neighborhood to spices in soups! Possibilities abound for immersing yourself in ad-hoc, on-the-fly aromatherapy-like sessions such as making a soup with Bay Laurel, simmering Cardamom, Cinnamon and Star Anise in a pot or crushing Juniper berries with your fingers. Oh, and was Black Pepper really worth more than gold? Grab your Pepper grinder and join me for a spell... 

Greetings and welcome to Essential Aromatica, a podcast with Amy Anthony of NYC Aromatica about aromatherapy, essential oils and more. This introduction welcomes you to what is in-store: episodes on aromatic plants & their essential oils to the vast and sometimes controversial topics in and around aromatherapy.

Have you ever felt “out of sorts,” like you’re “living in your head,” ungrounded or tightly clenching to concepts, ideas or possessions? It may be a sign to start tending to the roots of your private garden, your root chakra. Aromatherapy and simple rituals may help support your base-energy, the root chakra. Tune in for inspiration and access the associated blog post for suggested rituals and essential oil blending ideas.