Day 88/365 – On essential oil myths
3/29/17 Another great class I had at Arbor Vitae was with Amy Galper of the NY Institute of Aromatherapy. This class was super informative and cleared up a lot of confusion and controversy surrounded the use of essential oils. Amy Galper was extremely knowledgeable on the topic and passionate about using essential oils for their […]
Day 87/365 – On Vegan Herbal Pesto!
3/27/17 As part of my curriculum at Arbor Vitae, I get to watch demonstrations of various herb preparations, and as a bonus taste culinary delights of herbal food preparations made in class. Then, I get to experiment all over again when I get home, and whip up my own creations from modified recipes. This week […]
Day 86/365 – On Spring Cleansing
3/28/17 Many cultures around the world valued spring as a time of cleansing – both internal and external environments. As the frost thaws, and the dirty patches of snow create muddy streaks on the sidewalk, we can turn our attention to cleaning the sidewalk and our homes. The term “spring cleaning” was coined to encourage […]
Day 85 – On singing and healing
3/26/17 Today at ArborVitae, we had the pleasure and honor of having a guest lecture by Susanna Raven from Raven Crest Botanicals. She is an herbalist, grower of medicinal plants and maker of a line of herbal products. In addition to following sustainable, non-pesticide, organic growing practices, Susanna teaches meditation and gratitude during harvesting. According […]
Day 84 – On wholeness
3/25/17 I’ve always had an interest in natural and traditional medicine. I remember a particular moment in pharmacy school where my pharmacology professor challenged my view. He undermined my statement that I’m interested in using plants as medicine. He scoffed at this, saying the only use of plants medicinally is for extracting, purifying, concentrating specific […]
Day 83/365 – On My Now
3/24/17 (Continued from On my why) Over time, my resolve for holistic and preventative care prevailed. I studied nutrition and became a certified health coach by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). Then I started this website, to spread my message to anyone willing to listen (or read). Here I write articles and blogs, and […]
Day 82/365 – On My Why
3/23/17 I’m a pharmacist-turned-herbalist (still in training). People often ask me why I’m choosing to convert from the allopathic Western model of medicine to study more traditional healing modalities. Well, several reasons come to mind. While studying to become doctor of pharmacy, a seemingly prestigious and lucrative degree, I prided myself by thinking I would […]
Day 81/365 – On kombucha
3/22/17 I’ve been getting a lot of questions about Kombucha lately, so I wanted to share my own recipe for how to brew kombucha. Kombucha is the latest health-food trend: a fermented fizzy beverage available in a variety of flavors in your local grocery store (or at least the healthy-minded ones). It’s made by SCOBY […]
Day 80/365 – On breathing
Day 80 3/21/17 Sometimes we get so caught up in the day, we forget to check in with ourselves. But if we stop and think, we owe a lot to the proper function of our breathing. The act of respiration is crucial to our survival, because we need oxygen to maintain life and metabolism. Breathing […]
Day 79/365 – On high-intensity interval training
Day 793/20/17 No matter how you slice it, there’s no getting around the number one thing necessary for good health: exercise. We were designed to be versatile creatures, adaptive to any environment, and able to pursue prey or outrun danger. The integrity and function of our blood vessel and lymph flow relies heavily on our […]
