Dear Yogis,

ZOOM TAROT TONITE 6.45.  Free class.  Email for your ID
STUDIO: Mon 1pm, Wed. and Fri. 5.30
ZOOM: Mon 6.30 Gita, Tuesday 7.30, Friday 6.45pm Free Tarot – Coming soon PAST LIFE TAROT COURSE.

To enquire or book for any of the above: yogafirst2@bigpond.com

With winter on the way, these are MY TOP FOURTEEN HERBS TO GROW IN YOUR GARDEN (or in pots on your deck).  Once you have these you can schoosh up any meal or salad, plus you have a medicine chest ready to help in case of upset.   Yarrow, Basil, Plantain, Lavender, Dill, Thai Mint, Catmint, Herb Robert, Greek Basil, Mugwort, Artemesia, Coriander, Parsley, Chives.

MEDICINAL HERBS TO GROW AND FORAGE.

If you keep bees,  PLANTAGO is a herb you should encourage in your garden.  If you get stung, find a plantain leaf nearby (they are always there).  Mush it up in her fingers (or chew it to a pulp, a poultice) and put it on your sting, and in just a few minutes you will have relief.

Plantago — “Medicine Leaf”.  Plantago is soothing; it’s used to draw poison out of a wound – scrapes, scratches, bites, rashes, and deep wounds.  But it can also be used to soothe a stomach ache, and reduce swelling in a sore joint.   Plantago/Plantain was once called “Medicine Leaf”.  It can be used to stop bleeding, and to promote the healing of wounds and injuries. It can also relieve pain and inflammation internally, healing from the inside out.  Both the leaves and the seeds are used in herbal medicine.  The seeds are laxative and add fiber to the diet.  The leaves have the drawing, soothing actions.  Young plantain leaves can even be used as a pot herb or salad green.  The older leaves get quite stringy, so if you want to eat them choose the young spring leaves, and of course, make a positive identification before you cook them.

Yarrow — “Wound Wort”

Another useful herb to know is yarrow which grows fabulously well in our climate. An opportunistic plant, you’ll see it growing on the roadside in many places and in areas where the soil is poor.  Yarrow flowers and leaves are used to stop bleeding, use it for cuts, scrapes, nose bleeds and deep bruises – the kind you get on your shin when you meet the corner of the desk in the dark.

A YARROW FLOWER tea can make you sweat, opening capillaries and speeding up healing from viruses and fevers. It aids digestion and supports circulation and normalizes blood pressure. It is antimicrobial and helps in persistent bladder infections.  Yarrow is also antiviral and eases menstrual discomfort.  If there is stagnation or congestion somewhere in the body, yarrow helps to move it along.

Yarrow has fine, lacy leaves and many flowers on one flower head.  It smells pungent and medicinal.  When you are picking it, your fingers can go numb because of the active analgesic in the plant.  It relieves pain quickly.  You can use the flowers, the leaves or both when using it for herbal remedies.  Straight dried yarrow stem were “thrown” by fortunetellers before consulting the I-Ching (Book of Changes) and ancient guide to oracular wisdom.

(Note: if you are allergic to yarrow or plantain, these may not be your herbs.  If you are pregnant, yarrow may be too strong an herb for you to use internally.  You can still use yarrow in a salve though. Speak to your midwife for specific recommendations)

SUGAR
I am sure you know that William Wilberforce (1759-1833) is a hero of mine – for those who haven’t heard me speak of him, he was the catalyst for the abolition of the slave trade.  The hymn “Amazing Grace” was written during his lifetime by a friend of his who used to be a slave owner.    Britain and “The New World” needed slaves for one reason –  to farm sugar.  William came in front of the British Parliament (a number of times) in this cause,  and early on was defeated by Lord Dundas who argued that the trade should be curtailed GRADUALLY.  It took Wilberforce 18 years to overcome that one word, and that one word cost the lives of 600,000 human beings.  The role of women in this abolition is rarely acknowledged, but was considerable. They were activists and withheld their (considerable) donations to The Anti-Slavery Society until the world ‘GRADUALLY” was removed from the bill.  It is rarely acknowledged that seventy-three womens’ organisations were formed at the time to put their weight alongside the anti-slavery bill. You can read about the Quakers, and “Female Society for Birmingham” to learn more.

How many products that we consume cost lives? Avocados farmed out side of Australia is just one example (there are many) – they take lots of water to grow to an “acceptable” size for Western Supermarkets and this water is diverted from families and subsistence farmers even in Mexico and California.

Next time you smash an avocado, or put sugar in your tea, think of the lives that have been lost in order for you to have these luxuries.

DIFFICULT DAYS
No-one would argue that these are troubled times.  “There is only one true heroism in the world: “To see the world as it is and to love it” (Romaine Rolland).  We are yogis (although a few of us forget) and if we are to move away from REACTIVITY and engage with the world with compassion and awareness, we need to cultivate the breath, accept our feelings with equanimity, and embrace the moment in which we find ourselves – after all, it is our karma. We ask for our moment by how we react to the moment.  

We have the Sangha, we can open our heart, breathe, and remember that correct action absorbs anxiety.

I will see you on the mat.

Namaste – Jahne

Dear Yogis,

Whatever we think, here in Woodend, winter has certainly arrived.  I was stunned when (keeping in mind the temperature was about 9C) my student turned up this morning in cotton trousers, t-shirt and so on, whilst this little bunny was decked out for winter.  I did feel older – but I like to be warm.  Our family came to the Macedon Ranges because mum came here on a Sunday outing and fell in love with it, although she always said she would retire to Queensland for the warmth!  For her it was like going back to England, same vegetation, same weather.

A NEW BOTANICAL HERB DRAWING ZOOM COURSE  ($65.50 for 5 zoom sessions.  Every Saturday 1.30 to 3pm starting Saturday 26th March)

Are you ready to add a whimsical, personal touch to your skills?   Imagine your own vivid illustrations, such as have captured the hearts and imaginations of foragers, cooks and herbalists for centuries, illustrating your newsletters, cards, booklets….and so on.

I am a trained Scientific Illustrator, but you don’t need to be – you don’t have to able to draw for anyone else, just for you.  By the end of the Botanical Drawing for Herbalists (zoom) Course, you will have completed numerous botanical illustrations from start to finish using the many techniques.  You’ll also be equipped with inspiring exercises and ideas for adding your newfound drawing skills into your forays into foraging or in cookery – maybe to illustrate recipes, or build a course around your kitchen adventures   This could be anything from creating your own illustrated flash cards to adding frame-worthy new pages to your materia medica, or posters for your yoga studio or kitchen. 

I have attached an example of fungi drawings I made for a poster.  Just black and white – but very effective.  You could do this too.

SCHEDULE:  
ZOOM: Monday 6.30 Gita, Tuesday 7.30 Herbalists Course, Friday 6.45 FREE TAROT SESSION.
                ZOOM HERBAL DRAWING COURSE: Starts Saturday 26th March at 1.30pm
STUDIO YOGA: Monday 1pm, Wednesday, Friday 5.30
                 STUDIO Ion-Ki Spa Cleanse.  If you feel too tired, stressed, “stuck” to do anything new, try a cleanse and change.

HERBS ON HAND (New Shipments have arrived)

Turkey Tail Powder –  25g $30 including postage
Reishi Powder – 25g $30 including postage
Reishi Dried Herb Slices 25g $30 including postage (I put mine in a little red wine, honey, spices and ashwagandha to make a tonic wine).

*Herb tea for IBS and Bloating tummy (who doesn’t know that feeling?)
*Herb tea that has a reputation for helping with anaemia.
*Herb tea for sleeplessness.
and *Herbs for HEART HEALTH  (I use Hawthorn, and this is in the Herb tea).

HERB TEAS $53.50 a pack  of 6 including postage.  This will last about 10 days to 2 weeks depending on how often you dip them into your own teas, or water bottle. You can add honey or lemon to taste as you want to.  The little pouches as you can see I make and tag myself, as well as growing, drying and packing the herbs.  They are not like regular teas, you don’t jiggle them to make the water dark – these are herbal teas to have you feel better… one tea bag will last at least one day, with me two, jiggled into any tea or water you are drinking.  After they are finished, I drop them into my drinking water jug…I might have 4 or five in the jug at any one time.  No chemicals are water or lost.

Reishi’s alcohol-soluble triterpenes go a step further.  Scientists have discovered that alcohol extracts from Reishi mushrooms are “the only known source of a particular group of triterpenes, also known as ganodermic acids, which have been found to have direct cancer cell cytotoxicity on a wide variety of cancer cell lines”.

I WILL SEE YOU ON THE MAT

NAMASTE – JAHNE

Reminder: I’ve written this article based on my own research and experience, but I am not a medical professional.  Please do your own research and/or consult a healthcare professional to be sure a reishi tincture/herb/remedy is right for you. Be especially careful when working with wild mushrooms. Every year people are poisoned by eating wild mushrooms that closely resemble edible species.      I am not a mushroom expert, nor do I claim to be.  I’ve written this based on my own research because I enjoy sharing the fruits of my own mycological journey with others.  Do not rely solely on my writings to identify mushroom types, and be sure to cross-reference anything mushroom-related with at least two (preferably more) credible sources. 

Dear yogis,

If you have ever spent time with me, you would have heard me speak about Death Valley in the USA.  It is the most beautiful place I have visited, I have the BEST memories from the number of times I was fortunate enough to go there and teach yoga.

On Saturday I was sent a picture, and it all came flooding back.  Here is the Inn. The hill above the inn on the left hand side is where the original owner/builder used to have afternoon tea EVERY AFTERNOON, not just occasionally.  From this vantage point she could look down on the progress of the build I guess, and admire it when it was finished. Her butler would load up a burro and take the table, umbrella and everything for a formal tea to the peak where she could look down on the Inn as she dined.  Of course the inn was quite a lot smaller originally.  Very Katherine Hepburn. I can imagine that – the entire Inn looked very much like an old film set.

The picture on the right is the balcony where (with tables removed) I used to hold my dawn yoga class as the sun was coming up over the mountains which ring the desert valley,  tipped with snow.  Such a contrast, and so very beautiful.

HERBS, FRUITS AND VEGETABLES…
 Winter is on the way – and if you lived here you would think it had arrived.  It’s “lemon time” and I have been making dried peel to be made into powders, processing and freezing the flesh for lemon butters, syrups and cordials. The same with the plums.  You have to be quite picky about how you cut up the fruit and prepare the peel, there is no easy way – I have tried the easy ways and the result isn’t good.  The picture to the right is dried plum slices, and dried lemon peel.  It took four of these huge lemons to cover one tray entirely in one layer, which dried down to half a jar.  Cut carefully they take a fraction of the time to dry.

To make a meaningful amount of lemon peel and later lemon powder you would need a basket of lemons, which would mean a lot of lemon juice and frozen lemon in the freezer. Not a bad thing.  Freeze in ice block trays and later bag up.

The easiest powders to make are those from greens.  The ideal time to dry and powder your produce is when there is a glut at your greengrocers or in your garden.  You could of course pick a mix of wild greens to add to these and make a jar of green powder to pop in smoothies, soups and stews in the winter for extra nutritional value. An advantage of powders is that you can process an enormous amount of vegetables (even pumpkins or zucchinis) and fruit and the result will fit in one jar, as opposed to slicing and drying where storage space is needed after drying – ask me, I am running short of shelves and storage.

Either way (drying or powdering) helps us to use any glut that we may be fortunate enough to experience, keeping in mind we are all dealing with higher prices for fruit and vegetables, and forget about the tropical fruits,  I think the flooding is going to make this most difficult.

PAST LIFE TAROT READINGS:

If you are stuck, and would like another view of where you are and where you are going in your life,  maybe this is the answer or part of the answer.  Instead of a two hour Past Life Therapy Session which is very difficult to do on zoom (and quite expensive), we could do a past Life Tarot Reading.  Think about it and call me to make a booking.  yogafirst2@bigpond.com

THE ION-KI SPA CLEANSE
I forgot to say.  A client recently had a session.  Afterwards she felt lighter and energised, but was sceptical until she got home and took off her bracelet – I always tell my clients to remove all metal items before a treatment but she forgot to remove a little charm about the size of a ten cent piece in the form of a “tree of life”.  When she took it off later that night underneath the charm on her skin was a henna coloured imprint exactly in the shape of the charm.  The residual stuff in the bottom of the tub after the session was the same colour, henna.

To those people who think its a nonsense or can’t understand it – it tells me (and might tell them) that something is changing.  We may not understand it (the scientists among us might skoff) , but it does change the energy in the body.  A treatment eases pain and discomfort, energises, and you feel lighter and happier somehow.

SCHEDULE – Open 6 days a week – closed Thursdays
STUDIO: Monday 1pm yoga, Wednesday/Friday 5.30. ION-KI SPA CLEANSE by appointment, weekends available
ZOOM: Monday 6.30 Teacher Training – Gita.  Tuesday 7.30 herbal Workshop and Friday (free) Tarot class 6.45
TAROT AND PAST LIFE SESSIONS available during the week and weekends.

I WILL SEE YOU ON THE MAT

NAMASTE – JAHNE