Essential Aromatica

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,...

Tea. What comes to mind when you read that word? Family farms? A gorgeous experience? Quality ingredients? This episode highlights one of the first trained tea 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...

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...

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 decide...

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 shar...

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 a...

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...

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 arom...

Join Clare Licher of PhiBee 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...

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:...

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 to...

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...

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 dur...

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 Aromatherap...

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...

Does it only take one drop of oil to experience sudden change? Can Rose essential oil support a grieving heart? Join c ertified 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, pai...

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 representativ...

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 sta...

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 j...

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...

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 conversati...

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...

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....

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 into Saint George's soup! I forgot to mention the fresh, minced Ginger! OH MY! I wish you were there to smell the Lemongrass inf...

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.