Settling In: Plant Medicine for Winter on Kaua'i

It's been quite the fall, and I will post soon about that, stretching in to sentences and galavanting stories, later.

For now, a quick infomercial especially for my fellow Kaua'i residents. 

I am newly nestled in to a more dense and lush (translate: wet) part of the island, and we all know the vigilance that is needed to keep the molds and dampness away. Plus, many of you may have heard that staph is skipping across the island quite rampantly. If you have staph, I encourage you to immediately seek professional care. 
If you simply, proactively get  a small cut, I encourage you to get Red Thyme essential oil immediately on it and generously - which is what I have been telling everyone, so I thought I would put together a little list: What are the essential essential oils on Kauai?


Here they are for me and you can see they are well loved:

Thyme (Red): anti-viral, anti-fungal, wound care, anti-parasitic, and a strong immune stimulant. Whenever I have had a cut, I douse a few drops on, endure the raging burn as it slices through and cleans the wound. I keep it in my car and on me when I hike.  It is the best for questionable cuts when applied immediately.

It is also fantastic to put in your spray bottle or diffuser to get rid of the mustiness and the mold. I put a few drops in the water I mop with and use it to wipe the walls down a few times a year.


Turmeric:  anti-arthritic, anti-oxidant, clearing and balancing. There are many more properties both physical and etheric with this wonderful plant also know as olena, here on island. I like it because it is cooling for the summer, a great blood cleanser (many of us just pop it in to our smoothies), and as dog owner I learned it is fantastic for wound care. Last year Nui, my dog, got bit by a centipede, and her paw swelled up and she was yelping in pain. I know for me I could have done a turmeric poultice, but that does not work so well on dogs. Just imagine me trying to wrap the golden orange turmeric in a makeshift wrap because I did, futilely. In a moment of clarity, I put some turmeric oil on her paw and within in 5 minutes she was walking on her paw again; the heat receded and she was on her way to fine. I was shocked. Of course, I prefer fresh turmeric for many reasons, but now I keep it in essential oil form to for her and for humans (it's not as brash as thyme),

And lastly, one which I am sure everyone already knows, Lavender:  Lavender is the essential oil to have if you are only going to have one, She was the one that is so well known: anti-bacterial, anti-stress, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and just plain lovely. You may not know that there are a variety of Lavender, and I often have more than one. Lavender Stoechas is steam distilled of the flowering tops of the plant and is the strongest of all Wisdom of the Earth's lavenders. 

If you are interested in this trinity of essential oils for your medicine cabinet as the wet months of winter approach, email me [email protected] by 11/14/14. I know it is a short turnaround time; I am placing a personal order and wanting to get me some Clary Sage and Red Thyme refills!


*Shipping charges will apply to order, if we order together I will share the shipping savings. Future individual orders will be subject to full shipping charges.
**If you are interested in other oils or want to know more about how an oil may serve, just ask: [email protected]

I know there are so many oils on island; I have studied with lead teachers from Wisdom of the Earth  and worked with the makers of these oils - and they are simply of the highest caliber. They consciously harvest, and they have stayed smaller in their channels which has - over the years - maintained the quality and the integrity of the oils, in my opinion. I figured - why not share the love with the rest of the community?

Also, if you are looking to place the above trinity in your diffuser, you may want to pick up something to complement and still have them infuse the air around you at a therapeutic level; here are two I recommend to pick from and act as a pleasant balancer for diffusing:

Since quality oils are more expensive I often double up, meaning I get oils that do more than one thing for me. All the oils cover an expanse of offering. Let me explain.

Peppermint: Great to pep up a room in a diffuser, stimulates mental clarity, cooling, hepatic, asthma, sinus congestion, and in the summer here on Kauai, you place a few dabs on your wrist, your neck and or place some on your feet and you are immediately  cooler. So it's an oil that covers more than one season and reason for me.

Cardamom: Delicious exotic scent, first of all. And:  nervine, circulation, heart tonic, anti-parastitic, anti-septic, refreshing stimulant (less brash, less yang than Peppermint)  yumminess. I often use this in the same way as Peppermint during the summer months, or to balance a morning latte and too much hustling and bustling.

So those are my most beloved, most used go-to oils. I have a crew though and go to them for different reason at different times. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

Again, If you are interested in this trinity of essential oils for your medicine cabinet as the wet months of winter approach, email me [email protected] by 11/14/14