Anyone else been hit with a cold, or even the flu? Go to sleep feeling fine one night and boom, whatever has been incubating seems to hit hard in the morning. I reached for a lot of remedies to try and decrease the effect of the symptoms and hopefully shorten the length of my cold.

A FEW OF MY FAVORITES:

Wellness Formula // High in Zinc and Vitamin C, a few studies have shown that zinc specifically may shorten a cold up to 30-50% for some people. 
100% Cold Pressed Green Juice // From my local juice shop - Kale Me Maybe (lol) was full of dark leafy greens, ginger etc.
Super Immune Spray // I have a special appreciation for Eucalyptus whenever I have a cold. 
COLD EEZE Zinc Lozenges // Always have these on hand for first defense.
Homemade Bone Broth // Nothing quite like a healing broth when you're sick. I added lots of veggies and black pepper to mine for a hearty sinus clearing soup.

Celestial Seasonings Sleepy Time Tea-Extra // Valerian root for the win!

I also took a lot of baths, used eucalyptus shower steamers, cut out dairy/caffeine/alcohol. Drank Emergen-C and Nuuns and so much water to stay hydrated.

When I reached out for more tips, you all responded to my email and Instagram story with SO many good ideas and products! I wanted to share them with you and also make sure they got written down so I (we) could reference them again next year.

One customer shared these two products from companies who are also made by women, which you know I LOVED.

Urban Moonshine // Immune Zoom! 

Maine Medicinal // Elderberry Syrup

As a former Vermonter, I love Urban Moonshine (specifically their bitters) so I'm excited to give Immune Zoom a try next time I need it! 

MORE TIPS & PRODUCTS SHARED:

"Elderberry anything (liquid, gummies, capsules)"

"Thyme and chamomile tea - I’ll drink 6-8 cups/day sweetened with honey. Thyme is super antibacterial and helps kill the bacteria; chamomile helps flush it out. I use this to stay healthy when others are sick around me, and always rely on it when I have a fever."

"I either use a drop of frankincense in water."

"Lots of ginger!"

Post written by Beth of Sacred Moon Herbs / Pictures of Star by Annabel of Belathee

Linda, my hypnotherapy teacher in school many moons ago placed this thought in my mind & it's stuck w/ me for 20 years now. "In this very moment, you are doing the best you can." She applied this to everything for everyone over & over & over again throughout that semester. When a student would raise their hand & said something like, "But what about when someone murders someone?" And again she'd say, "In that very moment they were doing the best they could." (She had worked w/in the prison system in California for many years prior become a teacher at our school & had in fact worked with many murderers over the decades.)

Some of you may be quite clear on this. Others might change their course several times throughout life. Many might have zero clue how to answer this question. We are all on our own paths in life. We are all humans & all different at the same time. What she was really trying to do was drive home that what our "best" in one moment will be different than the next. As human beings, all of us know that some days are better than others in life. All of us know that there are moments in our lives where we have said or done something that today when we reflect back we think, "I can't believe I ever did that." Typically after that thought comes regret, maybe fear of others knowing & often times guilt over something we cannot go back & change as time flows on always. This is an experience ALL human beings experience.

Hopefully we are all able to learn from those moments & move forward on our highest path. Sometimes I feel like that path is super straight in life just like I35 in Texas. Other times in life I feel like a ship lost at sea searching for direction. In the last 10 years when I felt like that ship, I would work with this flower & gem essence ~ Soul Purpose.

This is vibrational medicine and tunes you into the frequencies...kinda like how a radio can pick up waves in the air...is how I always explain essences to others. This formula has sometimes gently pushed me in directions & other times I feel shoved whenever I let fear block my path. But time & time again, Soul Purpose has realigned me back to the reason I've come to this planet at this time on Earth.

Many of our customers have worked with Soul Purpose over the last 7 years & have shared their stories with us. Sometimes the stories were just a slight nudge they needed, other times their entire lives changed quickly. So if you feel like you want to get clearer on your Soul Purpose path in this lifetime, drop by Moon & pick up a bottle. We think you'll be quite pleased you did! Here's to living your Soul Purpose in this Lifetime.

Post written by Beth of Sacred Moon Herbs / Pictures of Star by Annabel of Belathee

A fun story about the Holy Harmony Spray -

Recently I gave a little flower essence talk at our local raw food potluck and I left a bottle of Holy Harmony Spray for my friend Janis who was the hostess. About a week later I got tagged on Facebook from Janis's sister saying I was the star of the weekend. Then I received a text from Janis saying call me and I’ll tell you why you were the star.

Come to find out there was a 48 hour film project and it was on Janis’s sisters bucket list to make a movie. Apparently she didn’t even have a movie camera. Well, everything came together and they pulled together a team of 7 to make the movie (which had to be written, scripted, acted, filmed, edited and turned in in 48 hours). The guys doing the filming were 20 years old, which meant the group ranged from age 20 to 67. They called themselves the Generation Gap.

At one point they came to an impasse where they thought it just wasn’t going to happen. Janis pulled out that bottle of Holy Harmony and sprayed everyone, and soon after they came to terms again. That happened a few times, and each time they sprayed the Holy Harmony and got through. They made the movie, and got it turned in on time. And guess what they called the movie? Holy Harmony!!! I got to go to the screening, and it was so fun!

How does the saying go? "Big things come in small packages.”

A few weeks ago we posted on Instagram about how much more we notice when we slow down, at the time we noticed the tiny rainbows shimmering off of the side of an amethyst in the window. We’ve been trying to remember to slow down, to notice the little things, to appreciate our surroundings more since then. This itty bitty flower was recently one of those things.

While eating breakfast outside on an unseasonably and rare warm morning recently I looked down and noticed a small patch of greenery in the mostly brown yard. Upon closer inspection I noticed the tiniest purple flowers tucked neatly amongst the leafy greens. A sign of spring!

This sweet discovery prompted a slow stroll around the rest of the yard to see what else was growing out here that I hadn’t noticed from afar. I was rewarded with a treasure trove of resilient, determined bright green curly-q shoots, tiny purple and yellow blooms low to the ground, a few bright red blossoms hiding behind a lifeless bramble, all launching a colorful, minuscule, campaign for spring.

This 15 minutes changed my whole perspective on my day. There is so much life all around us every day that we don’t notice. We often remark on how abrupt the seasons change when really it’s that we hadn’t taken the time to observe the minute changes happening around us.  As a person who often feels starved for color, flowers, and growth in the winter, all it took was a walk around my yard and a closer look to find what I thought wouldn’t be here for weeks or more was right in front of me.

This also serves as a gentle reminder: too often we sit waiting for a sign that what we want has arrived. We wait for the big, loud, notification that it’s the perfect time NOW only later do we realize that what we were searching for was right in front of us we just had to get outside of our comfort zone and look closer or listen harder.

A dear friend of mine has a peyote plant that was gifted to him around 10 years ago. I often say hello to this little peyote plant as I walk by it when I visit my friend and his lovely wife at their home. He has spoken to me about this plant numerous times; he loves it and has a deep connection with it. One of the times that we were talking about the plant he told me that it had bloomed shortly after he received it years ago but it has not bloomed since then.

One day, I received a picture from his wife and the peyote plant had bloomed! The window of bloom was small and it had closed up shortly after it had opened that same day. Would it open back up? Was there a possibility of making a peyote essence? I went over to visit the plant and this is what I saw (pictured below). There were two buds.

There was the one that had already bloomed and was finished but there was also a second one and it looked like there was a possibility of another moment of bloom!

As we observed the buds I talked to my friend and he shared more about how much he loved this sacred plant and together we wondered if it would bloom again.

I had company coming over that night so I went home and occupied myself with cleaning up the house and preparing dinner and then I got the call. The flower was open! At first I thought this was not a good time! I was in the middle of preparing dinner for company that was supposed to be coming over. But the peyote flower was saying, “It’s time. Now is the time.”

I dropped what I was doing - forget cleaning the house for my company, they would understand. This was more important!

I began searching for the bowl that I use to make essences but it was nowhere to be found. Instead, seemingly out of nowhere, another one appeared...  I found small glass bowl that I had never used before. I couldn’t remember where it had come from and it was beyond perfect for the job. The perfect synchronicity. I am SO GRATEFUL!!!

I immediately went to their house, and we proceeded to easily and gracefully make the peyote essence together. The bowl that I had found in place of my usual bowl was a different shape; it was rounded and it curved in at the top. This turned out to be the ideal shape for making this essence because I didn’t want to cut the flower for this one. We gently poured the water over the flower and the way that the bowl curved perfectly inward directed the flow of water over the flower and into the bowl, avoiding any water that had touched any dirt or anything but this sacred bloom in a way that wouldn’t have worked so perfectly had I brought my usual bowl. More magic.

While we were making this essence we made the connection that the person who had gifted my friend this peyote plant 10 years ago had been on one of my trips to Peru and has taken my flower essence course! Somehow we had not put this together before and we wondered… had she (unconsciously) given him this plant for this moment 10 years later so that we could make this essence? Enchanting to ponder.

Right after I took this essence I felt my DNA spinning in my spine and on up to my head and out and then spinning out in a tube torus. One day I will aim to create an illustration of that. I also felt an inner smile grow within and then spread into an outer one. I actually got all giggly. The way this essence (as with most essences) will affect you will depend on where you are at the time. They seem to know you and take you where you need to go.

After making the essence a bubble appeared at the top of the bloom. The first photo shows a reflection, which seems to validate the flowering back to yourself. In second one I see an angel, which feels like the deva of the peyote showing herself.

Ask questions when you take this essence, form intentions, and affirm your desire to learn. Then listen. The peyote flower essence fosters a greater connection to our higher selves, our source. It helps us receive guidance and messages from our angels. Can aid in increased mental alertness as well as performance and creative problem solving by working with the brain, pineal, and pituitary. This essence can be used in ceremony for a new stratosphere of experience.

Tap into our truth. Flower back to ourselves. Endurance, empathy, insights, clarity.

WE'RE GOING TO WELLSPRING!

What exactly is a Wellspring? Merriam-Webster defines it as "a source of continual supply". In this case, the Wanderlust organization is putting on their first ever Wellspring Summit in Palm Springs, CA. In their words... Wellspring [will] bring together wellness experts, professionals, and enthusiasts to answer a simple question:

How do we make ourselves and the world well?

DAY 1

Beats Meets Bliss (Mary Beth LaRue)

90 minute flow yoga class with Mary Beth LaRue to get you moving and breathing deep. In this twist-centered practice we will move to the music of some old school hip hop paired with some deep R&B. 

Mind and Body Hacks for Better Energy Flow (Dave Asprey)

Dave Asprey, founder of lifestyle company Bulletproof 360 and the father of biohacking, will discuss how to hack your mind and body to live a happier, healthier and more positive life. Asprey will share actionable tips for increasing energy, which in turn decreases cravings, inflammation, and risk of disease. 

How to Build a Culture of Purpose, Health & Well-Being (Simon Mainwaring)

Purpose improves your personal health, happiness and well-being. It improves your productivity at work and drives success. But how do you define your company purpose? How do you build a work culture that unlocks these important benefits? How do you share your company purpose in a way that inspires changes that improve lives? Simon Mainwaring is a New York Times bestselling author and the CEO of We First, a creative consultancy that builds purpose-driven brands whose clients include TOMS, Timberland, Virgin Unite, Seventh Generation and more. A global thought leader on purposeful business, Simon will share his insights into building cultures and movements of purpose that grow your brand and scale your impact.

Disruptive Innovation and the Power of Positive Change (Miki Agrawal)

The only danger is not to evolve. This provocative, inspiring talk shares how anyone can disrupt their industry and evolve their business so they create and maintain a competitive edge. Miki shares hard-won wisdom and best practices from what it's like building successful brands in a "taboo" category and the strategies it took to change hearts and minds and motivate people to transform from being skeptics to being fans, followers and clients. Miki offers strategic insights on how she designs her brands to stand out in the noisy advertising and digital world, and where innovation has been stagnant for decades. She will also share how to navigate and manage PR using creativity and design in an ever-changing, click-focused media world.

Relationships 101 (Mark Groves)

Wouldn't it be nice if we were just born with the skills to understand relationships? To just walk right into love and know the right things to say and do? Unfortunately, it's just not that easy.

Most of us have never been taught what it is that goes into healthy relationships. We don't learn the ins and outs, we don't understand what it is we're truly seeking in a partner, and we're not quite sure how to ask for it even when we do know.

Wellness Beyond Whiteness (Panel)

Wellness has a diversity issue. We see it in magazines. We see it in yoga studios. We see it in Whole Foods. Wellness looks white. How do we reckon with a booming wellness industry that is almost exclusively white while the wellbeing of black, brown and indigenous folks suffer at disproportionate rates. Join us for a powerful discussion about equity and inclusion in wellness that tackles the following questions: 

- What is the impact of whiteness on our wellness communities?
- How are we perpetuating a culture of exclusion in wellness?
- What does it look like to engage beyond donating or serving excluded communities?
- How do we create a culture of radical inclusion and equity?

DAY 2 

AIReal Yoga: Elevate, Exhilarate, Alleviate

In this inclusive AIReal Yoga class, Carmen will lead you on a soul-satiating journey that allows you to dive deeper into your yoga practice, exploring new space and heightening your mind-body-breath connection. Grounded in the traditions of Hatha Yoga, you will progress through a spectrum of postures, using the hammock as a prop you can hold on to for balance and as a spotting device to safely guide you into postures you might have thought impossible to access. As you elevate your practice, the hammock will allow you to deepen stretches, lengthen and strengthen the entire body, and access a deeper state of relaxation. Class will allow you to flow and fly freely, alleviating tension in the body and sending you into a stress free state-of-mind.

Spiritual Gangster Chat featuring SG Founder, Ian Lopatin, and Jim Law (BioCharger)

Join Spiritual Gangster Founder, Ian Lopatin, and Jim Law, Co-Founder & Manager of Advanced Biotechnologies (home of the BioCharger) for an intimate conversation around the challenges of founding, leading, and innovating in the mindful business space.

Finding Flow (Ian Lopatin & Jamie Wheal)

Flow state is the state of peak performance, described by the world's greatest thinkers as the most productive and creative state of mind. Top athletes and productive CEOs have for some time been harnessing practices that can enable the mind to enter this zone, and world-renowned doctors are now suggesting that achieving flow state on a regular basis is a key component of well-being. 

Come hear the co-author of "Stealing Fire" chat with the founder of Spiritual Gangster, Ian Lopatin, about how flow state can be accessible to all, making us more productive, more creative, and more content. 

The Transformational Consumer: An In-Depth Case Study (Tara-Nicholle Nelson & Laura Davis Gross)

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is a self-professed Impact Junkie (her words) and the CEO of Transformational Consumer Insights (TCI), a strategy and customer research firm. Tara speaks and writes about transformation, conscious leadership, behavior change and marketing. She created the concept of the Transformational Consumer, people who eagerly buy products and consume content they think will further their never-ending efforts to change their behavior for the healthier, wealthier and wiser.

Join her as she sits down for an intimate session with Laura Davis Gross, SVP Marketing at Wanderlust, to discuss what the Transformational Consumer means IRL - not just how to message things to this customer, but how to provide support and inspiration as well. In the context of Wellspring, this breakout session will be a fascinating case study into the world of selling to and supporting the customer who seeks more.

The Fixx

The FIXX is a Wanderlust Hollywood signature class: A vigorous 45 minute flow class, set to a kick ass, carefully curated soundtrack. You will move, breathe, and sweat — community style.  This mashup of asana, pranayama, and nada yoga is radically fresh vinyasa krama. You will leave sated and fully fixxated. 

DAY 3

Resonance (Gene Evaro Jr. & Elena Brower)

This all-levels yoga practice presented by Ford Warriors in Pink will help you trust, ask, melt your resistance and move forward. Expect forward bends, twists and restful recalibration leading into meditation. 

Participating in this class will also help raise funds and awareness for breast cancer, as $20 from each registration will go toward Young Survival Coalition – an organization dedicated to improving the lives of young women facing breast cancer. You can also support the cause and inspire those around you with Ford Warriors in Pink clothing and accessories. Shop fordcares.com where 100% of the net proceeds support the cause.

Elevating Humanity Through Business with Conscious Capitalism (Amanda Kathryn Roman)

Elevating Humanity Through Business with Conscious Capitalism: A Proven Framework to Support the Integration of Personal, Social & Global Wellness in Your Business 

Leaders and entrepreneurs around the world are reimagining business as a vehicle of service for the uplifting of humanity rather than as a way to make as much money as possible. Conscious Capitalism is a philosophy along with a set of guiding principles and best practices based on a simple idea that business is about more than making a profit. It's an approach to business built on the fundamental universal truth that people aspire to more – more meaning and purpose, more flourishing and fulfillment. It does not hold the notion of profit in contempt, it provides an alternative approach that emphasizes ideas like trust, collaboration, and compassion. It says business is good, even heroic, because it creates prosperity and can do so much more to elevate humanity. 

The powerful combination of good business practices and the four principles of Conscious Capitalism elevates conscious businesses to a greater operational success and makes them agents of societal flourishing. Join us for an interactive session that will help you learn about what makes Conscious Capitalists different and how they operationalize the four tenets of the Conscious Capitalism philosophy.

Part of our team recently traveled to Star’s house in Hot Springs, Arkansas to work on a few big projects together. While we were there of course we had to go crystal foraging! We arrived at a location where we thought we might find some quartz, but all we expected to find was a couple of pieces of opaque white quartz. We were happy with that!

Star mentioned that we should walk over to check out a different area where she thought might have more luck finding quartz. After just a few minutes our minds were BLOWN!

We found dozens of these stunning, sometimes perfectly clear, quartz crystals. We ended up spending the afternoon digging around in the mud totally amazed by mother nature’s spectacular creations.

We sorted through our collection at the end of the afternoon and “released” the excess crystals back to the place we found them so as to only take what felt right. We talked about bringing the crystals home to our loved ones and expanding their cosmic energy grid.

Being around all of these high frequency crystals, of course, reminded us of the energy of our gemstone essence, Quartz Clear Rainbow. It attracts life force and brightens and energizes the aura. It awakens the pure light of the soul, promotes mental balance, and facilitates positive thinking. Our team experienced all of this from the quartz vein we happened upon that day in Hot Springs and we are so grateful for the reminder that we have access to this positive energy no matter where we are with our Quartz Clear Rainbow essence. We’ve been adding a few drops of this back into our routine to hold onto the bliss!

When we brought our crystals home at the end of the day it was like coming home after trick-or-treating on halloween when we were kids! We lay them all out on the table to admire and to sort them into piles. We carefully cleaned each crystal, wiping excess dirt off the surfaces, and admiring each shining facet. Before gifting these crystals to our loved ones we used Crystal Clear Spray to clear their energy, leaving them radiant and ready to energetically align with their new homes.

Crystal Clear Spray is our revitalizing cleansing spray that filters through the aura, leaving it radiant with pure golden light. It is excellent for crystal clearing and space clearing as well as personal clearing. It can disperse residual energy in treatment/therapy rooms, crystals, hands, and other sacred tools after doing healing work.

We are still glowing with gratitude from this experience!

A new friend, Monroe, has recently shared one of his many gifts with me ~ that of being a falconer. Monroe randomly showed up to my house one day and brought along a Red Tailed Hawk that he had rehabilitated. The hawk was ready to return to nature and we released him at my house together. That experience in itself was cosmic!

After the release, Monroe said that if the hawk was still there the next day I might want to give him a couple of chicken legs to help ease his transition. Indeed, the next day the hawk was still there, up in the trees. I went to the meat department at the grocery store (a place I haven’t visited for a long time) and bought the hawk some chicken legs and left them out for him. The next day the hawk and the chicken legs were gone.

A few days later I “just happened" to look out my window at the perfect moment to see the hawk land on my fence. I was amazed. I slowly walked out to see him. The hawk sat there and looked at me. I went inside and got my camera and he stayed there and let me take some photos. I wondered if he was hungry, and I still had a chicken leg left, so I went and inside to get it for him. While I was doing this I had a strong feeling to put a bowl of water out for him, which seemed crazy at the moment, since the lake is right there with plenty of water. But I listened to this feeling and I brought out the water for him anyway. Then I stood outside with the hawk (with the bowl of water at my feet) for at least 15 minutes. I stood there looking him in the eye and exchanging energy in an infinity symbol, heart to heart. It was one of those extraordinary, euphoric, peak experiences. After connecting with him for a while I thought it was time to go in the house and leave him be in case he wanted to eat. A little later I looked out and he was gone. The chicken leg was still there so I threw it over the fence for some other critter. I reveled in that experience.

The next time I saw Monroe, I asked him, “Why did you bring that hawk to my house to release him?”  He said because, “he was told,” then he said, “it was for you.” Hmmmm, well in that case I figured I ought to look up Red Tailed Hawk medicine.  Oh my, of course ~ it is all about VISION! After I read this I thought, too bad I didn’t make an essence. Then I heard ~ You Did. What? You put out the bowl. Well, that was a couple of days ago, I was sure it would have either evaporated or the squirrels would have gotten it. I walked outside and there it sat, pristine. That is your essence, I heard. The bowl was there all the time we were having that extraordinary heart to heart.