Wellness Massage

Highly stressful conditions in our fast-paced world are forcing our return to natural practices to elevate wellness. This is why wellness massage is currently enjoying a renaissance.

A bonafide wellness massage will always incorporate more than physical treatment. It will provide a mentally and emotionally balancing and uplifting experience as well.

True wellness isn’t simply the absence of illness. It intertwines physical, mental and emotional balance. Wellness embodies vitality and energy of body, mind and emotions.

“Whether performed by a trained professional or a gifted amateur, it offers the experience of touch, movement, and energy, qualities that are associated with the well-being of the whole person…” —Claudia Martin, Rachel Newcombe in The Wellness Guide. 

The massage itself that utilizes commonly found massage oils will usually benefit you.

But a next level wellness massage will also give you a healing aromatherapeutic and high vibrational experience.

This wellness massage treats you to a high quality massage oil formulated with natural effective essential oils blended to achieve a specific effect.

Expert chemists like PHYTO5’s in Fleurier, Switzerland blend high grade essential oils to formulate massage oil products that positively affect more than tissues.

Our massage oils elevate mental and emotional well-being too. They’re composed of unique blends of essential oils you won’t commonly find in most massage oils.

Along with other hero ingredients in effective carrier oil bases, PHYTO5’s wellness massage oils choose from the following eclectic array of essential oils:(2)

wintergreen, lavender, grapefruit, sweet orange, lemon, guaiac wood, ylang ylang, peppermint, cypress, geranium, bergamot, amryis cedar wood, black pepper, ginger, cardamom, star anise and cinnamon.

We’ve formulated all four of our massage oils to help you achieve well-being in body, mind and emotions.

• Yin Massage Oil and Zen Massage Oil (both organic certified) bring you to greater mental and emotional balance when you’re dealing with stress, nervousness and anxiety. Yin Massage Oil relaxes, cools, calms the body and even provides anti-age effects for skin. It works to balance the energy of venous and lymphatic circulation making it beneficial for cellulite and heavy legs. It’s also excellent for irritated, burned, eczematic and psoriatic skin.

• Yang Massage Oil is also organic certified. It energizes and tones. Yang Massage Oil offers envelops you in an aphrodisiacal effect. This effect encourages optimism, courage, good mood, a greater meditative ability, deeper relaxation, better sleep and emotional balance. Nourishing and moisturizing, we recommend Yin Massage Oil if you’re physically or mentally fatigued. If you’re playing sports, use it to warm your muscles first.

• Arnica-Lavender Massage Oil is anti-inflammatory and analgesic. Well known for centuries as an effective natural pain reliever Arnica extract in this oil soothes muscles post-sports activity. You can use Arnica-Lavender Massage Oil any time you need to soothe aches and pains and release and relax the body.

PHYTO5 wellness massage oils don’t stain sheets or clothing and all can also be used as moisturizers.

Partake of the mystique of quantum energetic formulated plant-based skincare for your exalted natural bxeauty and well-being. Subscribe for a discount promo code, plus get truly unique holistic beauty tips and offers.

The wellness massage can play an important role in treating illness especially where stress is a significant factor.

Being ill is the body’s way of saying it’s out of some kind of systemic balance. Often, illness signals neurological imbalance because your sympathetic nervous system is dominating the body.

The sympathetic nervous system is a network of nerves that prepares your body for the fight-or-flight response. In response to various stimuli, it will increase your heart and breathing rate, narrow blood vessels and dilate pupils.

In extreme cases and without receiving relief for stress, some people develop such a sustained fight-or-flight response they perpetuate a debilitating cycle of illness, much of it psychosomatic.

A wellness massage can interrupt this cycle. It will help relieve a poor response to stress by:

• shifting sympathetic nerve activity and

• encouraging relaxation of the counterbalancing parasympathetic nervous system.(1)

And if pain is involved in the illness, the patient receiving a wellness massage becomes able to better tolerate the pain and recovery is easier.

The wellness massage can alleviate pain after accidents and injury.

You’ll probably feel pain from injury more acutely during recovery than when you first got injured. Along with pain, swelling and inflammation cause a lot of discomfort.

Good circulation helps alleviate pain from injury and it also helps you return to proper function. And a proper wellness massage supports circulation and helps you modify your pain and inflammation response. This makes it easier for you to bear the discomfort and heal quicker.

In addition, the lymphatic system goes into action to protect the injured area with a watery disinfectant and detoxifier. The wellness massage can help you drain this fluid.

Arnica-Lavender Massage Oil with Arnica montana extract(3) mentioned above speeds your body to normal function. It can also relieve rheumatic muscles and joint pain, in general.

When you need to contain a problem or alleviate discomfort, give yourself a wellness massage self-treatment.

The wellness massage might give you the most benefits when provided by a therapist but you can target areas of your body in need by yourself at home. Occasions often come up when you need to deal with an injury or a stress point quickly and before you can get to a therapist.

Even just knowing you can respond to an issue yourself reassures and quickly makes you feel better.

Learn self-massage techniques. Be ready with them so you can refresh yourself mentally and emotionally or manage pain from injury.

“Chronic conditions and problems associated with wear and tear often respond well to self-treatment. Self-massage is also known to be beneficial for respiratory distress and exhaustion and can provide stress relief in the workplace. In parts of China, for example, it is a recognized part of the daily routine of many workers.” —Claudia Martin, Rachel Newcombe in The Wellness Guide

Self-treatment with wellness massage oils like PHYTO5’s is a good wellness maintenance therapy. Proactively include it in your fitness program to prevent a buildup of conditions that lead to injury.

Self-massage is rarely contraindicated because you have total control over the degree of pressure applied. If it irritates you, you’re able to make quick fine tuned adjustments.

Treat yourself to genuine wellness massage encompassing body, mind and emotions.

Give yourself a solid foundation for your health routine and journey.

Wellness massage improves circulation so necessary for radiant beauty. It relieves muscle tension and improves flexibility so you can stay better engaged in physical activity.

Wellness massage very importantly boosts your immune system.

And it will make you more mindful, enhance your quality of sleep, strengthen your ability to respond resiliently to stress, and promote emotional balance.

Whether in a healthcare office or in your own home, wellness massage can play an integral role in your holistic vibrant health.

PHYTO5 trained professionals can personalize your wellness massage.

The temperature of your body should be more or less even throughout. But when you’re energetically out of balance you’ll have cool and warm zones. For example, your feet or legs may be cool. This is because those areas have less meridian conducting vital energy flow

At the outset of your wellness massage, your PHYTO5 professional will apply a warming essential oil blend called Yang Esserine. We use a carrier product called Vegetal Oil Emulsion to spread and massage the Esserine into your cool zones.

On the other hand, we apply Yin Esserine to warm zones of your body. Then we continue with the wellness massage using one of our four massage oils. And this therapy helps to establish energetic balance creating a more personalized wellness massage and thus wellness within you.

We craft PHYTO5 wellness massage oils with respect for the environment and human health.

We formulate our wellness massage oils free of synthetic fragrances, oils and harmful chemicals.

There may be growing trend towards clean beauty and sustainability but PHYTO5 has always focused on these since the late 70s. This commitment ensures you receive safe and effective products while they support ethical practices and choices.

Significantly enrich your wellness massage with PHYTO5 massage oils. PHYTO5 massage oils are a natural choice for practitioners and home consumers alike.

Elevate your well-being with a more balanced, healthier lifestyle rooted in care, quality, and wellness.

…

Endnotes:

1. The parasympathetic nervous system is composed of nerves arising from the brain and the lower end of the spinal cord and supplying the internal organs, blood vessels, and glands.

2. Each massage oil is formulated with a specific blend of a number of these oils but not all of them.

3. Pain soothing Arnica montana extract in this oil derives from the medicinal flower of the aster family.

…

Source:

The Wellness Guide. United States, Thunder Bay Press, 2023

Wellness Quotes

The concept of wellness was birthed in the 1950s by American health statistician Halbert L. Dunn, today considered father of the wellness movement. As he was defining good health which in those days was considered the absence of illness, he realized there was such a thing as ‘high level wellness.’ His written works are rich with pioneering wellness quotes most people know little of.

His studies led him to understand wellness isn’t a static state of being. Instead, it’s a journey you take toward a higher level of functioning, happiness and fulfillment.

Dunn is known for many wellness quotes like this one:

High-level wellness is an integrated method of functioning… maximizing the potential of the individual.

And in his seminal 1959 paper High-Level Wellness for Man and Society rich with wellness quotes, he writes:

… a substantial amount of creative expression, altruism and love in daily life is essential  for… high-level wellness.

Founder of the American Wellness Project, Greg Anderson was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1984 and given only thirty days to live. Today he still endures and is recognized as one of the world's leading wellness authorities.

In the words of Greg Anderson:

Wellness is one of the most important ideas of our time.

and

Let us be about setting high standards for life, love, creativity, and wisdom. If our expectations in these areas are low, we are not likely to experience wellness. Setting high standards makes every day and every decade worth looking forward to.

Get inspired by this eclectic collection of prominent wellness quotes for your best life and elevated well being.

Wellness Quotes Recognizing the Wellness–Beauty Connection

We begin with our company’s, PHYTO5’s motto which is itself a wellness quote:

Beauty is wellness made visible.

This motto heads all PHYTO5’s own wellness quotes because our essential oil skincare successfully works to exalt your natural beauty and well-being.

I know that when you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and say, ‘I look awful,’ it's because you probably feel awful. How you look and how you feel are so connected. I know I look my best when I feel my best. It goes hand in hand.  —Bobbi Brown, makeup artist

As a child, I never heard one woman say to me, “I love my body.” Not my mother, my elder sister, my best friend. No one woman has ever said, “I am so proud of my body." So I make sure to say it to [my daughter] Mia, because a positive physical outlook has to start at an early age.  —Kate Winslett

Your skin does need oxygen. It does need oxygen to breathe. And we know that because skin that's exposed to pollutants just doesn't look as healthy. —Dr. Anil Rajani

PHYTO5’s quantum energetic Metal element skincare line oxygenates skin by the way.

Wellness Quotes on Quality of Life and Personal Fulfillment

Our wellness shapes every aspect of our daily lives, from our family lives to our social lives to our working lives. It affects our feelings, choices and actions. Wellness is our ability to live a healthy, enjoyable, fulfilling life as well as our ability to connect with and care for the people around us. — Claudia Martin and Rachel Newcombe in The Wellness Guide

Having a lot of friends and family around you - that's all a part of wellness. —Stella Maxwell, Model

The reason I exercise is for the quality of life I enjoy. —Kenneth H. Cooper, American M. D. who pioneered the benefits of aerobic exercise for health

Eliminating the things you love is not wellness. Wellness feeds your soul and makes you feel good. — Iman, Supermodel

Wellness Quotes on Physical Health and Healing

Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. — John F. Kennedy

Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live in. —Jim Rohn

There is just something magical that happens when we gather to create space for healing. With the intention to clear out the old and make space for the new. — Isabel Katarina, Nordic Medicine Woman

My definition of wellness is feeling good. There is nothing if you don’t have your health. My idea of wellness has definitely changed over the years. I think I feel better now than when I was younger—I have learned more tricks that work for me. — Bobbi Brown, renowned makeup artist

If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.  —Hippocrates

As I get older, I think about the quality of my life and a balanced way to enjoy that. That's true wellness—being well from inside out. —Anna Kaiser, American fitness professional, choreographer, and entrepreneur

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book. —Irish Proverb

The greatest medicine of all is to teach people how not to need it. —Hippocrates

An underrated cheat code for better health is living in a walkable environment. Walking to get coffee, hike, go to the gym, or even grab a meal is one of the best silent health luxuries no one talks about. — Tim Denning, social media leader

Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far. —Thomas Jefferson

Time and health are two precious assets that we don't recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted. —Denis Waitley

To make lasting changes, start small and make it easy for yourself. For example, if you want to start running, put on your sneakers every morning. — Tim Ferriss

Wellness Quotes and Your Connection to Yourself and the Cosmos

From Dr. Zach Bush, MD, internationally recognized educator and thought leader on the microbiome as it relates to health, disease, and food systems:

You didn’t come into a body as complex as a human, to overcome the diseases of being disconnected from nature.  It’s time to remember our capacity for connectedness and our capacity to have conscious thought, abstract systems of belief, and abstract systems of visioning.  What does your vision of connection look like? Are you enjoying your life? Do you know why you’re here?

Before we even address any of the disease or disorder going on in that body, we have to reconnect to the original question — Who are you? What gives you joy? What makes you so excited to lift your head off of the pillow in the morning? This is medicine for healing the planet.

Wellness Quotes on the Body, Mind, Spirit Connection

Wellness seeks more than the absence of illness; it searches for new levels of excellence. Beyond any disease-free neutral point, wellness dedicates its efforts to our total well-being - in body, mind, and spirit. — Greg Anderson, Founder of the American Wellness Project and author of The 22 Non-Negotiable Laws of Wellness

Improving your physical machine, including your brain, improves your performance. — Tim Ferriss, American entrepreneur, investor, author, podcaster, and lifestyle guru

Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos—the trees, the clouds, everything. —Thich Naht Hanh

Wellness Quotes on the Importance of Self-Care

Nurturing yourself is not selfish—it’s essential to your survival and your well-being. —Renée Peterson Trudeau, internationally-recognized life balance teacher and speaker

Friendly reminder that ‘no’ can be a full sentence. —The Calm App

…

Sources:

Martin, Claudia and Newcombe, Rachel, Editors. The Wellness Guide. United States, Thunder Bay Press, 2023.

Anderson, Greg. The 22 Non-Negotiable Laws of Wellness: Take Your Health Into Your Own Hands to Feel, Think, and Live Better Than You Ever Thought Possible. United Kingdom, HarperCollins, 1996.

DUNN, H L. “High-level wellness for man and society.” American journal of public health and the nation's health vol. 49,6 (1959): 786-92. doi:10.2105/ajph.49.6.786

Photo courtesy of Mikhail Nilov at Pixels via Canva

Get Out of a Rut: The Energy of Earth Will Show You How

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) works on the premise of the Five Element (Five Phase) Theory. Five seasons and their corresponding elements cycle through the year. There are five seasons instead of four in TCM. The fifth season called Earth, only 18 days long, occurs four times in the year as it bridges one major 72-day long season to the next.

In another blog, The Earth Element Personality According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, we discussed best eating practices for the Earth season. And we also discussed emotional effects in people who are in or out of balance with Earth.
 
When you’re out of balance with Earth, emotions get very out of balance. You’ll get a feeling of stuckness or being in a rut.

You want to get out of a rut when you feel that way as quickly as possible. Feeling stuck is no fun.

You can barely get anything done. You’re living in slow motion. You’re lethargic and low on energy.

Facing your emotional or creative rut head-on is important. It helps dodge potential physical and psychological problems associated with Earth emotional imbalance.

Being stuck in a rut usually means you’re stuck emotionally. And it often means you’ve given all your energy and attention to other people instead of first giving to yourself.

Connecting with the energy of TCM's Earth element can help you achieve balance with caring for others and yourself at the same time.

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To get out of a rut, understand how the energy of the Earth element works.

The Earth element is analogous to creation and harvest—sowing, growing and reaping. Earth associates to fertility, even pregnancy in women because it’s creative.

When you’re in balance with Earth you till the metaphorical soil and then reap a harvest from that effort. The people around you benefit because you’ve taken care of yourself first and foremost.

But if you’re out of balance with Earth energy, you end up with little to give. Giving almost all your energy to others you feel overwhelmed as a result.

Overwhelm is paralyzing and gets you in a rut and feeling stuck. Giving in to Earth’s natural tendency to worry and obsess saps your creative energy.

Know this:

“You are worth the quiet moment. You are worth the deeper breath. You are worth the time it takes to slow down, be still and rest.”

— Morgan Harper Nichols in Storyteller

If you feel you need to get out of a rut, the way out is to increase your energy balance with Earth by connecting with it in all the ways that means.

Take time out to nurture yourself.

If you want to get out of a rut that’s emotionally driven and affecting your ability to be productive and creative, and almost all ruts are, Earth energy will nurture and support you back into fluid creativity and balanced emotion.

Take a shortcut to emotional equilibrium, creative self-expression and self-nurturing. PHYTO5’s quantum energetic Earth element line will catalyze you to obtain the balance you need.

The emotion balancing effect of this line happens because it’s quantum energetic. It’s able to penetrate the deeper mind-body system. Rarely is quantum energy even approachable but PHYTO5 found a way when formulating our five element lines. And no one else is doing what we do.

The Earth line will help you get out of a rut. It will quicken you into the emotional balance you seek so you can care for others and yourself to a healthy degree.

Feel more free to express yourself creatively with the quantum energetic Earth line.

Get out of a rut by connecting with Earth energy in these creative ways.

• Garden, tend plants, and get your hands in the dirt. As you do this you’ll simultaneously process, digest and take in ideas for personal growth and progress. This act alone will help you get out of a rut.

• Breathe intentionally. Inhale thinking of the spirit and energy of the Earth (Yi; roughly translated as intent, reflection, recollection) and then exhale thinking:

  • “I am content. I am satisfied. I am taking care of myself so I have more to give to others.”

• Ground yourself by practicing Qi gong or Tai chi with a good instructor in a group setting. You’ll quickly get out of a rut as you get your energy moving.

• Focus on good self-care. You’ll immediately feel like you’re giving yourself the care you deserve with PHYTO5’s quantum energetic Earth skincare. Take luxury baths. PHYTO5 provides a luxurious velvety foaming bath additive that balances energy too.

• Exercise in the way that rings your bell. It’s got to be fun for you to sustain it.

• Establish and keep boundaries. Free yourself from old habits and get out of a rut.

• Do only what brings you genuine contentment. Make a list of ten things that do that for you. Follow your excitement.

• Let go of some of the caretaking you usually do for others. They’ll be fine.

• Take solo walks. Play with a pet. Read.

• Change your scenery. Take a day trip to get out of a rut fast.

• Nourish yourself in kind self-reflection.

• Strive to learn empathy without taking on the worries and challenges of others.

• Improve your eating habits. Eat to live rather than live to eat.

• Eat when you feel relaxed and calm and chew slowly focusing on each mouthful.

• The taste of Earth according to TCM is sweet. Get nurturing sweetness from fruits of the season with an emphasis on yellow produce, the color of the energetic season of Earth. As you eat, mindfully appreciate Earth’s bounty on your plate.

• Meditate. Earth is the direction of Center according to TCM. Meditation will center you and you’ll get out of a rut pretty quickly.

• The sound of the voice during energetic Earth is lilting and singing, so sing!

…

Sources:

Moss, Charles A. Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance. United States, North Atlantic Books, 2010.

Harper Nichols, Morgan. Storyteller: 100 Poem Letters. United States, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017.

Photo courtesy of Alisa Anton at Unsplash

Chakra Balance

The positive impacts of good chakra balance extend into the physical body and all the way into the deeper layers of your entire makeup. How positively chakra balance can affect you depends on your receptivity. Understand the chakras and chakra balance methods and you become a highly receptive vessel for wonderful energy balance in your whole body system.

Defining the Chakras in Chakra Balance

Chakras are the most important energy and power centers of the body. When you have good chakra balance your seven chakras function harmoniously. Your body is able to live healthy, full of vitality and in a state of serenity.

Chakras are the source of psychological and neurological attributes that affect each and every aspect of your life - your mental strengths and weaknesses; what defines you as a person; how you feel about yourself; how you treat yourself and others around you; what types of choices you make in life; and even how you feel about the world around you.

They encompass and influence every significant portion of your personality which defines who you are as a person. —Yanobi Zhou in Chakra Balancing

Chakras are the seven divine energies contained within the physical body. Each one shines outward and shapes your ethereal soul and physical body.

Chakras are often called seals of energy. As spinning vortices of energy, seal is actually the more appropriate name for chakra. A chakra is the point where two energies intersect.

Each chakra receives, stores, and distributes its particular energy in harmony with the vibrations of one of the seven components of Light. Even mammalian animals have chakras.

The seven chakras emit Light energy generally the color of one of the seven colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

These constitute the primary sustaining source of energy on Earth:

• the sun, without which life cannot exist;

• the regulating flow of vital energy essential to life.

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Here’s a simple model  for understanding the thoughts and emotions associating to each chakra:

Root chakra(1) at the base of the spine:  The primal energy to live and survive begins in this energy vortex. Depending on your level of chakra balance of the root, you’ll either feel fearful and angry or resilient and strong.

The root chakra embodies how you relate to the groups to which you belong: family, nation, organization, tribe.

Sacral chakra(2) below the navel: The sacral, when in chakra balance, empowers you to make individual choices based on your values and beliefs. You feel strong enough—emancipated—to make these choices regardless of what the group or tribe you belong to dictates.

Solar chakra(3) above the navel: Chakra balance of the solar plexus energy center helps you realize your personal power in relation to the external world. Good solar chakra balance propels you to achieve self-respect.

Heart chakra(4): This chakra forms the bridge between the lower three chakras just discussed and the upper three discussed below.

Heart chakra balance radiates the power of love and perfect union through love. With a clear and balanced heart chakra, you feel the beauty of all the arts. Good heart chakra balance enables you to express compassion, kindness, and patience.

Throat chakra(5): Energy center of expression and communication, throat chakra balance helps you vocally express all that you live inwardly. These are your laughter and tears, and feelings of love, joy, anguish and anger.

Good chakra balance in this point of energetic Light helps you express your intentions, desires, perceptions, ideas and beliefs. Thinking and feeling become one.

Third eye chakra(6): Here you enjoy understanding and wisdom from knowledge attained when you have good chakra balance. Associating with the pineal gland, here is your seat of mental power and spiritual awareness.

The third eye chakra opens completely in few people since that opening requires a high level of consciousness. Still, with good chakra balance, the third eye chakra can work without being fully open. You’ll see evidence of a well functioning third eye chakra the capacity to visualize and intuit.

Crown chakra(7): With good chakra balance of the crown seal, and as long as you’re heart-centered and listening to your soul’s guidance, your crown and third eye chakras will work in tandem to circulate Light and information between each other.

They will create a resonant harmonic of communication and it enables you to receive Divine revelation. The crown seal in beautiful chakra balance helps you realize Oneness with the universe.

The Energy Fields Involved in Chakra Balance

You’re a holistic unit composed of several bodies of different energies. Understand that your physical body doesn’t hermetically separate itself from these other bodies.

Energy medicine understands all the bodies that make up the entire holistic you. It understands robust wellness goes beyond physical health. Energy medicine looks at and works with your entire being both visible and invisible—physical, mental and emotional.

The seven major chakras influence your hormonal glands so it’s important to achieve chakra balance for a well functioning physical body. It helps you enjoy a high level of wellness.

Chakra balance also helps you maintain a proper flow of energy and balance in your vital energy system. Without balanced vital energy flow nothing else works well in the body system. In fact, if balanced vital energy flow compromised, that’s when we begin to see signs of aging, decay, disease and death.

When you as a client, patient or self-practitioner of energy medicine accept this holistic view, the spiritual dimension becomes part of your whole picture too.

When you perform chakra balance you work with far more than the chaotic energy centers pulsating energy from within your physical body.

Several energy fields escape your normal physical vision but surround your physical body. They make you a whole being.

• The first non-visible layer, the ethereal body, energetically reflects your physical body.

• Beyond the ethereal body, your astral body carries the energies of your emotions.

• Next, your mental body hosts the energies of your thoughts, beliefs, and intuitions.

• And finally, your causal body assembles the energies of your higher or spiritual self. It affects all the other layers—ethereal, astral and mental—of your being.

All of these bodies and their energies directly impact your chakra balance:

1. how well you treat and care for your physical body; poor diet, lack of self-care, balance or substance abuse will adversely impact chakra balance;

2. whether or not you understand, deal with, integrate and then let go of emotional hurts and traumas;

3. the vibratory frequency of your thinking; low muddled low frequency dark thoughts and your chakras will reflect the same;

4. how well you bring all these activities together in a spiritually holistic way.

Take cues from these four important points to achieve chakra balance.

For extra help, enjoy the following high vibrational essential oil blends expressly formulated for chakra balance:

1. Root chakra

2. Sacral chakra

3. Solar chakra

4. Heart chakra

5. Throat chakra

6. Third eye chakra

7. Crown chakra

Simply place a small amount of oil on your fingertip and lightly massage into the center point of the chakra you’re balancing.

How Chakra Balance Affects the Aura and Vice Versa

Chakra balance and energy extend beyond the physical body into the complex of energy fields surrounding the body discussed above: ethereal, astral, mental and causal.

They coalesce to create your aura. 

The physical body is actually a complex of interwoven energy fields. —Richard Gerber, MD

Energy flow within your chakras creates chakra balance or imbalance that extends into your aura.

If you bring balance to the aura, you’ll have good chakra balance. Conversely, when you achieve beautiful chakra balance you’ll enjoy a beautifully balanced aura.

…

Endnotes:

1. Chakras form the ancient energy system discussed in the Vedas, ancient Hindu philosophical texts of 1500 to 500 B.C.E. The root chakra is called Muladhara in Sanskrit, the sacred language of Hinduism.

2. The sacral chakra is Svadisthana in Sanskrit.

3. The solar plexus chakra is Manipura in Sanskrit.

4. The heart chakra is Anahata in Sanskrit.

5. The throat chakra is Vishuddha in Sanskrit.

6. The third eye chakra is Ajna in Sanskrit.

7. The crown seal chakra is Sahasrara in Sanskrit.

…

Sources:

Zhou, Yanobi. Chakra Balancing: Discover How to Balance Your Chakras for Enhanced Aura Energy. N.p., CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015.

Image by humonia at Getty Images Pro via Canva

Apricot Kernel Oil Skin Benefits

Apricot kernel oil skin benefits include first and foremost anti-aging in skin. In mature skin, apricot essential oil softens and improves skin’s elasticity helping smooth fine lines.

Apricot kernel oil balances moisture retention in skin. Very light, it leaves no oily residue making it an especially suitable base for facial serums and moisturizers.

Vegetal oil manufacturers press apricot oil from the interior kernels of the apricot (Prunus armeniaca). An apricot kernel is the apricot seed nestled within the fruit endocarp.(1)

Partake of the mystique of quantum energetic formulated plant-based skincare for your exalted natural bxeauty and well-being. Subscribe for a discount promo code, plus get truly unique holistic beauty tips and offers.

Apricot Kernel Oil Skin Benefits: Skin Anti-Aging and Cell Growth

Apricot kernel oil is rich in vitamin E, a primary free radical fighting antioxidant critical for health and mitigating signs of aging.

Large amounts of vitamin C in apricot kernel oil—the main water-soluble antioxidant of the body—attacks free radicals in the watery parts of skin cells. It protects those areas from damage.

The near 90% polyunsaturated fatty acids content (Omegas 6 and 9) in apricot kernel oil potently contributes to cell growth.

Stronger skin means fewer lines and wrinkles.

• Apricot kernel oil is rich in the fatty acid gamma linolenic acid—GLA—presence in Omega 6.

• GLA in Omega 6 vitally helps skin maintain its moisture balance.

• Skin cells use these healthy fats to absorb nutrients through their membranes and produce skin strengthening compounds.

• Omega 6 in apricot kernel oil fights inflammation and promotes circulation.

• Omega 9 promotes a healthy inflammation response and supports the immune system.

The antioxidant vitamin A in apricot kernel oil plays a critical role in healthy skin and cell growth.

Brimming with beta-carotene (vitamin A precursor) which gives the apricot its orange color, beta-carotene turns wrinkle forming free radicals into harmless compounds.

Apricot kernel oil’s vitamin B and potassium content combined with a number of other important vitamins and minerals powerfully combat signs of aging in skin.

Apricot kernel oil skin benefits are so anti-age we formulate it into many of our anti-age products:

• Ageless Cleansing Mousse

• Ageless Eye Serum

• Ageless Five Secrets Facial Serum and Cream Kit

• Wood Yogi Body Gel (Quantum energetic: Lighten spots and stimulate blood flow and vital energy; balance emotion for a kinder more confident affect.)

• Fire Yogi Body Gel (Quantum energetic: Soothe irritated sensitive skin, reduce excess redness, cool and calm skin. Support more balanced red blood circulation. Gain a sense of joy-in-balance.)

• Earth Yogi Body Gel (Quantum energetic: Detoxify impurities, encourage flow of lymph. Go from overwhelm to serenity. Feel more free to express yourself creatively. Finish unfinished projects.)

• Metal Yogi Body Gel (Quantum energetic: Eliminate impurities, decongest dull skin, encourage blue blood circulation especially in heavy legs. Know that all is well.)

• Water Yogi Body Gel (Quantum energetic: Super-hydrate mature very dry skin, increase elasticity and balance moisture retention. Enjoy a feeling a zenitude.)

Apricot Kernel Oil Skin Benefits: Skin Conditioning

Apricot kernel oil skin benefits from fatty acids provide excellent and firming and toning action to skin.

High concentrations of vitamins E and A in apricot kernel oil not only help slow the aging process, they revitalize, rehydrate, moisturize, nourish, soften and smooth dry and/or mature skin.

Skin needs oxygen to complete the metabolic processes necessary to maintain strength, firmness and resilience. Red blood cells require iron to carry that nourishing oxygen throughout the body and skin.

Apricot kernel oil skin benefits also come from the iron it possesses. The body needs iron to distribute oxygen throughout the body. It results in radiant looking skin.

Light, gentle, and readily absorbed into skin, apricot kernel oil skin benefits all skin types including sensitive. It’s excellent for rashy conditions like eczema. Apricot kernel oil is an ideal substitute for petroleum-based oils.

Apricot kernel oil skin benefits sallow or oily skin. It enlivens complexion lacking tone and vibrance. It provides skin a barrier against irritants and dehydration.

Apricot kernel oil skin benefits inflamed irritated skin. It soothes, works to relieve pain and acts as anti-inflammatory.

It also helps maintain the immune system strengthening the body’s ability to fight infections and viruses like colds and flu.

Mixed with a carrier oil, you can get apricot kernel oil skin benefits by massaging it into scalp and hair. It cures dry and flaky scalp and helps restore damaged and chemically treated hair. Apricot kernel oil brings back the shine of the hair and is excellent for conditioning fly-away hair.

Apricot kernel oil skin benefits come from the oil’s nutritional and healing properties known for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

Apricot kernel oil is rather wonderfully indulgent and rooted in the wisdom of generations. Many cultures considered it a  sacred remedy. The oil of apricot kernels, gutti ka tel, consumed or applied to skin is a time honored Himalayan beauty secret.

If the apricot kernel oil in your skincare comes from the Himalayan region, the apricots will have been handpicked in the mountains’ upper altitudes. Authentic natural harvesting means more apricot kernel oil skin benefits for you.

In the Spring, the tender downy apricot fruit blooms copiously in Central and East Asia. In that region, people often pay high compliments to persons with an apricot complexion.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has frequently used apricot kernel found inside the pit as an ingredient in longevity tonics. TCM has treated tumors, ulcers and digestive issues with the oil.

TCM has also long recognized the many apricot kernel oil skin benefits from this fruit’s stone.

In the Kashmiri mountains, the famed Hunza, known for living well past one hundred years and for living spirited lives at that, enjoy the apricot and its kernels that grow so abundantly on spectacular mountain terraces. The apricot plays a central role in their diets.

As vegetal oil producers derive from the apricot kernel they must first open the extremely hard apricot pit or stone. It reveals kernels 40 to 45% composed of a luminous orange-yellow oil. Apricot kernel oil is finely textured and gives off a slight fragrance resembling bitter almond.

Apricot kernel oil skin benefits are many including the following:

• serves as emollient with a non-greasy feel

• provides viscosity

• offers excellent carrier oil properties; rapidly absorbed and once absorbed, an excellent moisturizer

• softens skin

• lends elasticity, clarity and suppleness, not to mention high vitamin E antioxidant activity

• tightens skin’s grain

• fosters cell turnover and brightens complexion

• helps maintain adequate hydration levels for skin

• calms inflamed, itchy skin therefore very good for sensitive, irritated skin skin

• helps provide balance for acne-prone skin, sensitive, congestive and/or mature skin

• moisturizes all skin types; especially beneficial for dry, prematurely aging and mature skin

• mimics lipid content of skin

• very closely resembles almond oil in its makeup but is far less expensive, therefore an excellent substitute

• pleases with a pleasant and nutty aroma

• perfect for a relaxing massage or even aromatherapeutic uses

• nourishes and strengthens scalp and hair

…

Endnotes:

(1) The endocarp is the innermost layer of the pericarp which surrounds a seed in a fruit.

The pericarp is the part of a fruit formed from the wall of the ripened ovary. Tough in nature, the pericarp surrounds the seeds.

The pericarp can be a thin membrane as in apples. Or it can be woody like the hard outer shell stone of an apricot which protects the inner seed.

…

Sources:

Michalun, M.Varinia, and DiNardo, Joseph C. Milady Skin Care and Cosmetic Ingredients Dictionary. United States, Cengage Learning, 2014.

Nutritional Composition and Antioxidant Properties of Fruits and Vegetables. United Kingdom, Elsevier Science, 2020.

Touhami, Ramdane, and de Taillac, Victoire. An Atlas of Natural Beauty: Botanical Ingredients for Retaining and Enhancing Beauty. United States, Simon & Schuster, 2018.

Photo by Tariq Sulemani from Getty Images via Canva

Walk In Nature Quotes

Some doctors literally write prescriptions for their patients to take walks in nature. For the nature-deprived a prescriptive order to walk in nature gives them an extra push to do it. And sometimes the peace of mind and renewed body they get is an unexpected reward.

Washington, D. C. Dr. Zarr, M. D. goes as far as choose the park, length and frequency of the walk from compendium of 382 local parks. The book maps and rates parks and green spaces on accessibility, safety, and amenities.

The best walk in nature quotes give us deep insights into this uplifting practice. Sadly, Americans, on average, spend 90% of their time indoors. Maybe these insights will inspire you to walk in nature more.

Walk In Nature Quotes for Healing

The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician. —Paracelsus, 16th-century German-Swiss physician

Take a walk in the trees and smell the wild air.
Nature’s ability to heal is greater than anyone has permitted you to believe. —projecthappiness dot org

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order. —John Burroughs, American naturalist and essayist

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Walk In Nature Quotes for Restoring Your Soul

I understood at a very early age that in nature, I felt everything I should feel in church but never did. Walking in the woods, I felt in touch with the universe and with the spirit of the universe. —Alice Walker, American novelist

In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks. —John Muir, Scottish-American naturalist

Keep close to nature’s heart…
And break clear away, once in awhile,
And climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods.
Wash your spirit clean. —John Muir

I love walking in the woods, on the trails, along the beaches. I love being part of nature. I love walking alone. It is therapy. One needs to be alone to recharge one’s batteries. —Grace Kelly

And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul. —John Muir

A walk in nature walks the soul back home. —Mary Davis

An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day. —Henry David Thoreau

Walk In Nature Quotes for Psychological Therapy

To live is the rarest thing in the world.
Most people exist, that is all. —Oscar Wilde

To what does the soul turn that has no therapist to visit? It takes the troubles to the trees, to the riverbank, to an animal companion, on an aimless walk through the city streets, a long watch of the night sky… We breathe, expand, and let go, and something comes in from elsewhere. —James Hillman, founder of Archetypal Psychology, 2017

Walk In Nature Quotes About Nature Love

We breathe air exhaled from trees whose leaves are made of starlight… Our veins echo the patterns of rivers, branches and root systems. We are not part of Nature. We are Nature. —Marisa Miernowska, author, herbalist, earth activist

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. —Frank Lloyd Wright

To walk in nature is to witness a thousand miracles. —Mary Davis

I love crowds of trees. —Author Unknown

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore.
There is society,
where none intrudes,
By the deep sea,
and music in its roar:
I love not man the less,
but Nature more.
—Lord Byron

I am at home among the trees. — J. R. R. Tolkien

I was walking deep in the woods, and I saw how the sunlight reached down between the trees to touch the tiny plants. We are loved much more than we will ever know. —J. Lynn at lifeinwhispers dot com

Walk In Nature Quotes About Simply Being On Foot

It is a great art to saunter. —Henry David Thoreau

Leave the road. Take the trails. —Pythagorus

And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling. —Shanti, author of Marriage of Convenience

…

Endnote:

Images generated at Midjourney by the author

First Day of Fall Quotes and Autumn Equinox Rituals and Celebration

The best quotes for the first day of Fall and Autumnal Equinox give us deeper insights into the season. Use these insights to inspire your own Autumn Equinox rituals and celebration. And then enjoy practicing them all Autumn long.

Autumn Equinox Ritual #1: Appreciate the Last Vestiges of Sun’s Rich Warmth

It is the glistening autumnal side of summer. I feel a cool vein in the breeze, which embraces my thought, and I pass with pleasure over sheltered and sunny portions of the sand where the summer’s heat is undiminished, and I realize what a friend I am losing. —Henry David Thoreau

Autumn Equinox Ritual #2: Celebrate the Harvest Moon

Keep your eyes on the skies at night. Feel the energy of this symbolic yet potent full moon.

The Harvest Moon is glowing
The air is crisp and clear.
Autumn winds are blowing…
It’s my favorite time of the year.
—Author Unknown

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Autumn Equinox Ritual #3: Sit outside especially in the evening and feel the whisper of Fall.

In the hazy days at summer’s end
When the air’s still warm and the green near spent
When the days grow short and the evenings tall
Then you feel in a whisper, Fall.
—Laura Jaworski dot com

Autumn Equinox Ritual #4: Attune to the changing energies of Fall. It’s time to journal.

The hush comes with the deepening of Autumn but it comes gradually. Our ears are attuned to it, day by quieter day. But even now, if one awakens in the deep darkness of the small hours, one can hear it, a foretaste of Winter silence. — Hal Borland, American writer, journalist and naturalist, 1900 – 1978.

Autumn Equinox Ritual #5: Find a lofty place outdoors to sit and reflect. Hum a melody and ride the waves of Autumn.

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,
And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
Do hymn an autumn sound.
The summer sun is faint on them—
The summer flowers depart—
Sit still—as all transform’d to stone,
Except your musing heart.
— from The Autumn by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Autumn Equinox Ritual #6: Embrace the wild winds of Autumn. Let them capture and refresh you.

Wild is the music of autumnal winds
Amongst the faded woods. —William Wordsworth

Autumn Equinox Ritual #7: Bring the last bursts of Fall’s beauty into your home—apples, corn, flowers, leaves, twigs and wreaths.

Fall has always been my favorite season.
The time when everything bursts with its last beauty,
as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.
—Lauren Destefano, author of Wither

Autumn Equinox Ritual #8: Paint or crayon a splash of Fall’s colors. Decorate your home with accent pillows the colors of Autumn.

As long as Autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.
— Vincent van Gogh

Autumn Equinox Ritual #9: Celebrate apples.

Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed. — Robert H. Schuller

The Feast of Avalon is associated with the Autumn Equinox.

Avalon, now called Glastonbury, was known in Welsh as Ynys Afallach. Translated, the name means Island of Apples.

Celebrate apples. Drink apple cider and make apple pies. Keep apples in a big decorative bowl on your kitchen counter or dining table.

Autumn Equinox Ritual #10: Bake bread.

Bread therapy is a way of making bread mindfully, learning life lessons from the process, and growing to understand ourselves better; it is a form of self-help, an approach we can use to provide therapy for ourselves.
— Pauline Beaumont (1), author of Bread Therapy: The Mindful Art of Baking Bread

Celebrate the harvest and bake rustic bread. Fold the last dried fruits of the season into your bread.

Let your mind focus on the beautiful creative task at hand and see if deep insights don’t come to you.

Autumn Equinox Ritual #11: Capture the light.

Autumn glows upon us like a splendid evening. It is the very sunset of the year.
—Mary Russell Mitford, English essayist, novelist, poet and dramatist,
1787 – 1855.

As we go deeper and deeper into Fall darkness gets longer than the daylight. Find ways to capture the light and enjoy it in your home.

• Nestle white LED strings of light in mason jars for nighttime enjoyment.

• Or light blue, white and silver candles.

• Shine living or bedroom light through blue, white or silver lampshades.

These are the colors of energetic Fall according to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Autumn Equinox Ritual #12: Practice yin yoga.

The power of yin yoga is time, not effort.
—Paul Grilley, yin yoga expert

Yin Yoga blends TCM principles with gentle yoga postures but you hold the postures for longer periods of time.

Yin energy mirrors the energy of energetic Fall. It’s a time to begin moving more slowly and to be more quiet and contemplative.

…

Endnotes:

(1) Pauline Beaumont holds a degree in Psychology and Philosophy, a post graduate certificate in Low Intensity Psychological Therapy and a Diploma in Group Work Practice.

…

Sources:

DeStefano, Lauren. Wither. United States, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2011.

Beaumont, Pauline. Bread Therapy: The Mindful Art of Baking Bread. United States, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020.

When Is the First Day of Fall?

In America, Labor Day, the first Monday in September, unofficially marks the end of Summer and beginning of Fall. Though we find ourselves in a sort of in-between period when it doesn’t completely feel like Summer but it’s not exactly Autumn feeling yet, we end our Summer leisure with a bang. And we begin looking forward to the slower cooler days of Fall.

The official 1st day of Fall happens on the Autumnal Equinox on September 22 or 23 (and most often on the 22nd) depending on the year. But in history, even that day was up for debate.

“…[Many] reckon Autumn to begin at the Æquinoctium, about the twelfth of September and to the end at the Solstice of shortest day, about the eleventh of December.” — Thomas Blount in Glossographia, year 1656

We all experience the Fall Equinox when the sun passes over the equator.

The word equinox derives from the Latin aequus meaning equal and nox meaning night. The number of day and night hours are roughly equal.

But whether you live in the Northern or Southern hemisphere the Fall Equinox takes place at the same moment worldwide. For Northern hemisphere inhabitants it’s the 1st day of Fall. And for Southern hemisphere inhabitants it’s the first day of Spring and Vernal Equinox.

The Autumnal Equinox first day of Fall occasionally falls outside the 22nd and 23rd. This is because the Fall Equinox happens on the say the sun moves into Libra. A September 21 Fall Equinox last occurred more than 1,000 years ago. But it’s slated to happen again later this century — in both 2092 and 2096.

When is the 1st day of Fall 2024?

In 2024 in the Northern Hemisphere, the 1st day of Fall 2024 happens on the Fall Equinox, Sunday, September 22 at 08:44 A.M. EDT.

As it does every year the 1st day of Fall 2024 calls on us to trade light for dark. And though days become shorter, we still rejoice. It ushers in an energy that encourages us to give thanks, meditate more often and go within ourselves for important introspection.

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When is the 1st day of Fall in other understandings?

The Autumnal Equinox 1st day of Fall is one of four astronomical observation focal points of they year that mark each of our four seasons.

The Autumnal Equinox marks the 1st day of fall when we base that calculation on the astronomical definition of seasons. We calculate astronomical seasons based on the sun’s position in the sky.

But meteorology(1) also defines and calculates seasons. These are founded on temperature cycles and the Gregorian calendar.

In a meteorological understanding, the first day of Fall is usually considered September 1 in the Northern hemisphere.

The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) honors this calendar.

Energetic Fall is the thirteenth solar term of the year and begins August 7 approximately.

We say energetic because we begin feeling the energy of the season and its corresponding element (out of five)—Metal at this time. These energies of Fall are inward drawing, introspective and slower movement.

PHYTO5’s quantum energetic five element skincare and in the case of Fall, the Metal line, is formulated to bring balance to any of the five sets of skin conditions and corresponding emotions most people experience. Each of these five sets of skin conditions and emotions aligns with a TCM season and element.

The Metal line eliminates impurities, decongests and brightens dull skin and plumps fine lines. It balances emotion because it’s quantum energetic. Metal’s emotion is worry, regret and grief. This line helps you gain a sense that all is well.

In TCM, the start of energetic Fall occurs just after an 18-day transition period (Earth element) bridging energetic Summer (Fire) to energetic Fall.

The Fall Equinox of course also happens on September 21, 22 or 23 in TCM. But TCM considers this date the midpoint of Autumn and not the 1st day of Fall.

The Harvest Moon marks the 1st day of Fall.

The Fall Equinox and 1st day of Fall enjoy a symbiotic  relationship with the full Moon. We call the full Moon nearest the Autumnal Equinox the Harvest Moon.

This name came to be because farmers of long ago observed the full moon rose around sunset for several nights in a row.

Around the Fall Equinox 1st day of Fall, the angle of the Moon’s orbit and the tilt of the Earth line up so the moon rises about 20 to 30 minutes later each night for a number of nights.

The extra light of the moon helped farmers get all their harvesting done before the onset of frost.

This Harvest full Moon will be either September or October’s full Moon—whichever full moon is nearest the Equinox.

It is the summer’s great last heat, 
It is the fall’s first chill: They meet. 
–Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt (aka Sallie M. Bryan, American Poet, August 11, 1836 – December 22, 1919)

…

Endnotes:

(1) Meteorology is the branch of science concerned with the processes and phenomena of the atmosphere, especially as a means of forecasting the weather.

…

Sources:

Aveni, Anthony F.. The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays. United Kingdom, OUP USA, 2004.

Anderson, Earl R.. Folk-taxonomies in early English. London, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2003.

The Fall Equinox Blessing. May It Increase You.

The Fall Equinox occurs on one day every year in September between the 20th and the 23rd. First day of Fall, it ushers in a whole new energy of crisp winds, last harvest and drawing inward. Honor the occasion with one or all of these Fall Equinox Blessings. It’s one of only two auspicious days in the year when we enjoy equal portions of day and night.

PHYTO5’s quantum energetic Metal element skincare line will help you live in harmony with Fall. It will work to eliminate impurities, decongest and brighten dull skin, plump fine lines and bring emotion into equilibrium. Know that all is well.⤵️

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth. —Henry David Thoreau in Walden

In a former blog, we offered a creative list of practices that will make your Fall Equinox celebration spectacular.

Integral to Equinox celebrations are the prayers and blessings you can make. Declare prayers that you be blessed with the uplifting energies of the season the Fall Equinox ushers in.

Native American Fall Equinox Blessing

Though the following Lakota Prayer may not have been composed precisely to honor the Fall Equinox, it speaks to the attributes and energies of Fall.

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May this Native American prayer inspire you to create your own.

Lakota Prayer

Great Mystery,
teach me how to trust
my heart,
my mind,
my intuition,
my inner knowing,
the senses of my body,
the blessings of my spirit.
Teach me to trust these things
so that I may enter my Sacred Space
and love beyond my fear,
and thus Walk in Balance
with the passing of each glorious Sun.

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Honor the Moon Fall Equinox Blessing

Denison Olmsted writes in his ‘Letters on Astronomy:’

About the time of the Autumnal equinox, the moon, when near her full, rises about sunset a number of nights in succession. This occasions a remarkable number of brilliant moonlight evenings; and as this is, in England, the period of harvest, the phenomenon is called the harvest moon.

Its return is celebrated, particularly among the peasantry, by festive dances, and kept as a festival, called the harvest home,—an occasion often alluded to by the British poets. Thus Henry Kirke White(1):

Moon of harvest, herald mild
Of plenty, rustic labor's child,
Hail, O hail! I greet thy beam,
As soft it trembles o'er the stream,
And gilds the straw-thatch'd hamlet wide,
Where innocence and peace reside;
Tis thou that glad'st with joy the rustic throng,
Promptest the tripping dance, th' exhilarating song.

…

Fall Equinox Blessing: Wisdom In Darkness

Enjoy these Fall Equinox Blessings composed by the writers at PHYTO5.

The change of light arrives and I embrace it.
Shorter days, longer nights, home warmly candle lit.
I open my heart to the lunar light.
Inspire me Moon with intuitive might.
Profoundly grateful to Mother Earth
Out of dark of year shall come rebirth.
Part of the cycle, enduring and true,
I dive into it freshly to Spirit renew.

…

I celebrate the last wild dance of the Sun.
My harvest, abundance, daily bread now won.
Balance of light and dark displays over the fields,
Such power in the last grain that Earth Mother yields.
Autumn is here.
And Winter is near.
The inwardly folding energy of Fall
I embrace to become what I am and stand tall.
As light is waning,
My soul’s remaining
Linked to the darkness that increases true sight
Wisdom and knowing expanded in night.
As Earth Mother wears the mantle of Fall
So too do I embracing it all.

…

Fall Equinox Blessing by Reverend Meg Riley(2)

May we know the depth and width of the patterns that hold us today.

May we recognize the preciousness of each atom that, by being right where it needs to be, creates balance and stability and wholeness.

May we be awed by the sheer beauty in the wholeness of it all.

…

Fall Equinox Blessing by Authors Unknown

God of Seed and Harvest

We bless you,
God of Seed and Harvest
And we bless each other
That the beauty of this world
And the love that created it
Might be expressed though our lives
And be a blessing to others
Now and always.
…

O God of Creation, you have blessed us with the changing of the seasons.

As we welcome the autumn months,
may the earlier setting of the sun
remind us to take time to rest.

May the brilliant colors of the leaves
remind us of the wonder of your creation.

May the steam of our breath in the cool air
remind us that it is you who give us the breath of life.

May the harvest from the fields remind us of the abundance we have been given and bounty we are to share with others.
May the dying of summer's spirit remind us of your great promise that death is temporary and life is eternal.
We praise you for your goodness forever and ever.

…

…

Fall Equinox Blessing by Aurora Kane(3): Give Thanks

May the blessings of Fall feed the wisdom of my soul
and teach my spirit gratitude for each gift.

May the hearth fires warm those who gather nearby
and speak “welcome” to those who return.

For the plenty that sustains us through Winter’s dark times
I give thanks.

…

Endnotes:

1. Henry Kirke White (21 March 1785 – 19 October 1806) was an English poet and hymn writer. He died at the young age of 21.

2. Riley, Rev. Meg. “An Autumnal Equinox Prayer.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 25 May 2011, www.huffpost.com/entry/equinox-prayer_b_732976.

3. Kane, Aurora. The Kitchen Witch Handbook: Wisdom, Recipes, and Potions for Everyday Magic at Home. United States, Wellfleet Press, 2023.

…

Sources:

Olmsted, Denison. Letters on Astronomy. Project Gutenberg. eBook #40240. 15 July 2012, gutenberg dot org slash cache slash epub slash 40240 slash pg40240 hyphen images dot html

Spiritual Winter Solstice Blessings

The Winter Solstice happens every December between the 20th and 23rd. The solar event marks the shortest day of the year and the longest night. Darkness falls on this day the earliest it ever has in the year. And the sun shines at its lowest point in the sky.

The Winter Solstice characterizes a supreme hush moment in time. It speaks to our souls and calls on us to pause and go inward to contemplate ourselves.

Because of the spiritual nature of the Winter Solstice, people have created, and still do today, rituals and ceremonies that mirror the balance of light and darkness.

On Winter Solstice we celebrate this solemn occasion with food, candles, warmth, song and poignant blessings.

In the blessing or invocations we ask for a protecting influence. Through the ages, many have spoken Winter Solstice blessings to protect them through the dark, cold and sparseness of Winter.

Prayerful Winter Solstice blessings also encourage spiritual well-being or joy not just on the auspicious day but throughout the Winter season.

The components of a spiritual Winter Solstice blessing are four-fold:

• First, acknowledge and welcome the Deity in.

• Next, express deep appreciation for the blessings the Deity has provided over the past year.

• Make your request.

• And in closing, thank the Deity once again. Acknowledge the Divine grace, presence and bounty you perceive.

If you feel to make an offering along with your blessing or invocation, you can blend that into the mix. Offerings can be the burning of a fallen twig, drops of essential oil placed into a diffuser or the ignited light of a purple candle.

Spiritual Winter Solstice blessings both invoke protection and sustenance and inform us about the sacred day and season.

Susan Pesznecker offers a rich guide that shows you how to perform rituals with the energy of Winter Solstice rebirth and renewal in her book, Yule: Rituals, Recipes & Lore for the Winter Solstice.

Here are just two of the spiritual Winter Solstice blessings from her book:

Oh, absent sun,
the earth grows cold as we wait.
Our vigil fire is but a small spark
compared to your brilliance.
Our bones grow cold
awaiting your warmth.
Patiently we await your return
in the eastern sky.
Impatiently we await the first shard of light
piercing the eastern dawn—
the first sing of life’s renewal.
Come to us, oh sun!
For now we wait.

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Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth. —Henry David Thoreau in Walden

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…

Ancient mother of Midwinter,
watcher over life and death,
the one who rebirths the world,
be with us on this longest night!
See us through the dark hours
and stand with us
as dawn births the promise of new life.
So mote it be!

…

Playwright Patricia Motley’s book In Nature’s Honor: Myths and Rituals Celebrating the Earth reconnects the modern spiritual seeker with the earth-centered practices of our ancestors.

Here’s a snippet of a spiritual Winter Solstice blessing from her book:

May the blessing of light be on you… light without and light within.
May the blessed sunshine shine on you and warm your heart
till it glows like a great peat fire, so that strangers may come and warm themselves at it, and also friends.

Spiritual Winter Solstice Blessing: Native American

May you find peace in the promise of the solstice night,
that each day forward is blessed with more light.
That the cycle of nature, unbroken and true,
brings faith to your soul
and well-being to you.
Rejoice in the darkness,
in the silence find rest.
And may the days that follow
be abundantly blessed.

Spiritual Winter Solstice Blessing: Hopi Soyal

Soyal is the Hopi Winter Solstice ceremony and the Hopi’s most sacred rite of the year. They begin the ceremony on this shortest day of the year and call it symbol of the “Second Phase of Creation.”

The Hopi invoke prayers and ceremonies for a bountiful next year:

May the winds inspire you
Earth protect you
Water heal you, and
Fire always warm the hearth

and

However long the season be, my hands are working generously.

Spiritual Winter Solstice Blessing: In Literature

Even Charles Dickens wrote this spiritual Winter Solstice blessing in 1851:

Welcome everything!

Welcome all alike what has been, and what never was, and what we hope may be, to your shelter underneath the holly, to your places around the Christmas fire, where what is sits open hearted!

Spiritual Winter Solstice Blessings from Present Day Spiritual Leaders

Author Caitlin Matthews is a world authority on Celtic wisdom, the Western mysteries and the ancestral traditions of Britain and Europe.

She offers the following spiritual Winter Solstice blessing in her book, Sun Still: Sun Return in The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas.

Here at the gateway of the year,
may we strive to make good cheer,
In our revels shall joy abound,
and sorrow be cast underground.

Thich Nhat Hanh invokes the spiritual energy of the Winter Solstice in an utterly simple way:

May all beings learn how to nourish themselves with joy each day.

NewWorldKirtan dot com offers this most beautiful chant which is also a spiritual Winter Solstice blessing called the Great Invocation:

From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ (consciousness) return to Earth.
From the center where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men –
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the center which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Planet Earth.

And finally, SageGoddess dot com offers this spiritual Winter Solstice blessing:

Through the longest of nights,
May our bodies find rest in the stillness,
Our souls find wisdom in the silence,
And our hearts find hope in the
sky’s brightest star.

…

Sources:

Harrop, Thomas. How to Celebrate the Winter Solstice. United Kingdom, Lulu.com, 2012.

Pesznecker, Susan. Yule: Rituals, Recipes and Lore for the Winter Solstice. United States, Llewellyn Publications, 2015.

House Cleansing and Blessing from Pesznecker, Susan. Yule: Rituals, Recipes and Lore for the Winter Solstice. United States, Llewellyn Publications, 2015.

Matthews, John, and Matthews, Caitlin. The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas. United States, Quest Books, 1998.

Montley, Patricia. In Nature's Honor: Myths and Rituals Celebrating the Earth. United States, Skinner House Books, 2005.

The Flower of Life Flower: You Can Find It Everywhere In Nature

Can you spot a Flower of Life flower? It’s a flower that unfolds the Flower of Life sacred geometrical pattern in its blossom.

Multiple evenly-spaced, overlapping circles forming a mesmerizing flower-like pattern effectuate the Flower of Life pattern.

Photo of a dahlia by hadot at Getty Images

Once you acquaint yourself with the Flower of Life pattern, you’ll see the geometry display itself in many a Flower of Life flower.

When you find a Flower of Life flower, carefully observe it. You’ll see overlapping circles represented by flower petals seem to infinitely repeat themselves.

This Flower of Life pattern tells us life goes on forever as it radiates the first vibratory patterns of the universe.

A mandala

The Dahlia—Flower of Life Flower

Perhaps the most obvious example of a Flower of Life flower is the dahlia.

If they could, dahlia’s petals would blossom outward to infinity just like fractals do.(1) Flower of Life flowers demonstrate the repeating fractal in nature.

Beautiful physical representation of the Flower of Life pattern, the dahlia symbolizes your spiritual journey through life. Exquisitely ethereal yet incredibly grounding, the dahlia Flower of Life flower reminds you of your spiritual and soul origin.

Resembling a mandala, pictured right,(3) you see the sacred geometry blueprint in the dahlia Flower of Life flower. Mandalas represent the primordial desire for completion of the soul.

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Flower of Life Flower seed core photo by tusharOgoyal at Getty Images

The Seed Core of the Daisy or Sunflower— Flower of Life Flowers

In the seed core of the sunflower or daisy, witness the unfolding of phi or the golden ratio(2) integral to the Flower of Life symbol.

Read all about phi and the golden ratio in another of our blogs on the Flower of Life here.

Notice the repetitive arrangement—called phyllotaxis—of seeds, florets, and petals. They wind round and round in the Flower of Life flower we call sunflower.

Hues of yellow and ochre of these Flower of Life flowers connect directly to Earth element symbolism. The sunflower grows rapidly and mightily as it reaches for sky twirling its seed core and mimicking the sun that feeds it.

Photo of a rose by loops7 at Getty Images Signature

The Rose—Flower of Life Flower

The Flower of Life pattern exhibits the sacred geometry nesting pattern.

You can see it clearly evident in the blossoming rose. One petal (or circle in the Flower of Life symbol) nests inside another inside another in a spiral fashion.

The geometric pattern of the Flower of Life represents the essential concepts of mathematics and quantum physics.

Floating in PHYTO5’s quantum energetic five element Phyt’Ether serums is a similar Flower of Life blooming of living molecules. They make PHYTO5 serums far more than vibrantly fragrant.

PHYTO5’s quantum energetic five-element Phyt’Ether serums with a five-element colored Flower of Life symbol in the background

This radiating blooming makes the serums, in fact, all five element skincare, high vibrational skincare. They’re highly energetic, alive and potent to balance your skin condition, vital energy and emotional state.

But in our formulation process we’ve gone beyond high vibrational to quantum. PHYTO5’s five element lines vibrate with a potency that registers in the quantum range of frequency.

This energetic benefit in the serums also permeates and balances the electromagnetic field that envelopes your physical body—your aura.

This is why PHYTO5 adopted the Flower of Life to represent the quantum profoundly balancing and healing nature of our five element lines of skincare.

• Use quantum energetic Wood Phyt’Ether serum for oily skin and balancing emotions of anger and lack of confidence.

• Enjoy quantum energetic Fire Phyt’Ether serum for sensitive, irritated, allergic overheated skin. Balance joy.

• Quantum energetic Earth Phyt’Ether serum balances toxic skin with acne, blemishes and enlarged pores. Balance emotional overwhelm and feel more free to express yourself creatively.

• Quantum energetic Metal Phyt’Ether balances surface flakiness and smooths fine lines. Regain a sense that all is well.

• Use quantum energetic Water Phyt’Ether if your skin is more mature, losing elasticity and hydration. Develop a sense of zenitude.

The Dandelion and Its Puffball Globe—Flower of Life Flower

Photo of a dandelion puffball by SAIGLOBALNT at Getty Images

You can quickly notice the Flower of Life pattern in a yellow dandelion. But once it becomes a white puffball globe of exposed seeds, there a true Flower of Life flower treats you to exquisiteness from what was once a weed.

The puffball dandelion Flower of Life flower demonstrates the propagation of life as it disperses its seeds over distances carried by the breeze.

Photo of a romanesco cauliflower by _laurent at Getty Images Signature

The Romanesco Cauliflower—A Different Kind of Flower of Life Flower

Though you think of a cauliflower as a vegetable or cabbage, even its name tells you it’s also a type of flower. Cauliflower translates as flowered cabbage.

While the typical white cauliflower illustrates the Flower of Life pattern, you have to study it more to see it.

But if you’re looking for a Flower of Life Flower the green romanesco cauliflower doesn’t disappoint. Its spiraling fractal patterns will nearly hypnotize you as you enjoy its sacred geometrical formation in action.

Photo of carnations by gyro at Getty Images

The Carnation—Flower of Life Flower

Carnation petals may ruffle but the Flower of Life pattern clearly lives and grows in its blossom. The crown-like appearance of carnation’s spiraling petals reminds us of our royal heritage—our spirit.

Photo of pink asters by Изображения пользователя at Writerfantast

The Aster—Flower of Life Flower

Aster comes from the Greek word for star. This flower is so named because the heads of its blossoms radiate like the luminous spheroids we call stars.

As stars live and die, they provide nearly all the elements that sustain life here on Earth. This life-sustaining action forms the epitome of the Flower of Life pattern in nature and art.

Camellia Japonica—Flower of Life Flower

Photo of a pink camellia by akiotory at Getty Images

The Camellia flower stunningly expresses the Flower of Life pattern and frequency. Its petals nest perfectly in spiral fashion.

The Succulent—Flower of Life Flower

Not all succulents demonstrate the Flower of Life pattern but very many do.

Spot the Flower of Life geometry in many succulent varieties:

• Agave Victoriae-Reginae

• Many cactuses: Barrel, Fish Hook, Old Lady, Pin Cushion, Parodia, Feather and Arizona

• Sempervivum

• Mammillaria

• Aeonium

• Echeveria

• Graptopetalum

• Kalanchoe

• Aloe

Flower of Life Flower–Reminder of Life’s Origin

The geometric pattern of the Flower of Life represents the essential concept of quantum physics. And you can recognize it in a thing as simple as a flower blossom.

The Flower of Life flower shows us that all things emerge from:

One. Perfectly. Organized. Pattern.

And what better place to find reminders of how primordial life first issued forth and still does than in a flower blossom?

…

Endnotes:

1. A fractal is a curve or geometric figure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole. Fractals are similar patterns that recur at progressively smaller or larger scales.

2. Golden ratio is the ratio of a larger to a smaller quantity when this is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities (i.e. 1 to about 1.618), describing a geometric proportion that is considered to be particularly pleasing to the eye.

3. The mandala is an intricate and usually colorful geometric figure representing the universe in Hindu and Buddhist symbolism.

The Amazing Meaning Behind the Name PHYTO5 Skincare

Smart skincare companies bear names that capture their products’ essence in a nutshell. The name PHYTO5 in PHYTO5 skincare, composed of ‘phyto’ and ‘5,’ tells you two things. First, our skincare is plant-based (stemming from the root word: phyto). Second, we’ve formulated our flagship quantum energetic lines according to principles of the 5 elements and 5 seasons of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

PHYTO 5: The Meaning of the Name

Phyto is a word-forming root word conveying plant. It comes from the Greek phyton which we literally translate as plant. The Greek root physis also relates to the word meaning growth, nature.

The dictionary precisely defines phyto as:

“that which has grown.”

More interestingly, phyto comes from the ancient PIE(2) root bheue which meant to be, exist, grow. Eventually, bheue became phyein (to bring forth, make grow) and then the Greek phyein evolved to phyto.

Scholars believe phyto’s origin bheue derived from the Sanskrit bhavah and bhavati meaning becoming.

Bring together all of these definitions of the root of the PHYTO 5 name, and you get a sense of:

• energy

• life

• growth

• blossoming

• unfolding

• healing

And these nouns exactly describe the benefits you get from PHYTO5 skincare’s quantum energetic 5-element lines.

The ‘5’ in PHYTO 5 tells you we embrace TCM’s 5-element theory, five energetic seasons, five elements, five sets of skin conditions and five emotions. We’re all about bringing all of these into harmony and balance with PHYTO5 skincare.

The five seasons and elements are:

• Spring–Wood

• Summer–Fire

• 4 18-day between seasons transition periods called Earth

• Fall–Metal

• Winter–Water

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Quantum Energy In PHYTO 5 Skincare

All PHYTO 5 products possess an energetic quality they primarily derive from high grade essential oils of flowers and other plants.

"The most important argument for using essential oils in cosmetics has to do with their vital force and their naturalness. The life within us can be best cared for and healed with living things. We have a strong affinity for plants–particularly the flower oils–their blossoms are the "face" of the plant that are used for facial care in essential oil cosmetics. When the facial skin is treated with flower oils, it receives the entire stored solar energy and vital force of the essential oil. The flower's oils are easily dissolved by the sebaceous fat, and their molecules are so small that they can actually penetrate the skin to reach the lowest level and even affect the deeper tissue and organs." – Keller, Erich. Aromatherapy Handbook for Beauty, Hair, and Skin Care: A Guide to the Use of Essential Oils for Beauty and Healing

Most flowers and plants naturally emit an undeniably delightful smell. This makes the natural fragrance and balancing action of PHYTO 5 skin and hair care appealing to both men and women.

Open any PHYTO5 skincare product and take in its plant- or phyto-based fragrance. The fragrance is very obviously natural and pure. You can subtly feel it brimming with energy just like a plant does growing out of the ground.

PHYTO5 skincare chemists are expert at creating synergistic blends of essential oils to accomplish a desire effect or balance.

We achieve this balance not just in skin condition but emotions as well. Our chemists formulate PHYTO5 skincare’s 5-element quantum energetic lines according to TCM principles and the five elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.

• For oily skin, sluggish vital energy flow and maybe even an angry affect with lack of confidence, use the quantum energetic Wood line.

  In this line you’ll enjoy the real meaning of PHYTO 5 skincare benefitting from the synergistic blend of essential oils of rosemary, lemon, cypress and lime.

• For overheated, sensitive, irritated, blotchy allergic skin, use the quantum energetic Fire line. It will also help you bring joylessness or over-the-top expressions of joy into better balance.

  Essential oils of lavender, rosemary and ylang ylang along with many other hero ingredients bringing with good-for-you phytochemicals will immediately start working to help you achieve the balance you seek.

• If you have toxic skin with acne or blemishes and enlarged pores, the quantum energetic Earth line is for you. Maybe you feel a sense of overwhelm from over-caretaking. The Earth line with its quantum energetic aspect will help you bring that into balance.

  Finish unfinished projects and feel more free to express yourself creatively. Essential oils of lemon, orange, cypress and eucalyptus and numerous other hero plant ingredients coalesce to restore equilibrium to skin and emotions.

• Perhaps you’re slightly older and your skin is starting to get a little flaky and dull looking. Maybe you’re starting to show some fine surface lines. And maybe you tend to worry and regret the past.

  The quantum energetic Metal line is formulated to help you bring all these into balance. Enjoy essential oils of eucalyptus, lemon, niaouli and thyme and the hero beauty ingredient rice bran oil, and more. Your surface lines will blur as the products decongest and oxygenate your skin making it more radiant. You’ll probably also feel a sense that all is well.

• Finally, the quantum energetic Water line works well for more mature dehydrated skin that’s losing elasticity. Usually, more mature people tend to feel fearful more than younger people. This line helps you come to sense of zenitude.

  This super-hydrating line of skin and hair care offers you many plant-based hero ingredients that epitomize PHYTO5 skincare. You’ll love the synergistically blended fragrance of juniper berry and eucalyptus essential oils and more.

PHYTO 5 Is Beautifully Represented In Our 5-Element Phyt’Ether Serums.

Each 5-element line in PHYTO5 skincare is composed of:

• Skin Toner

• Day and Night Creams

• a naturally and uniquely colored ever-moist Clay Mask

• Phyt’Ether serum

• a body finishing gel called Yogi Body Gel

• a Swiss Alpine micronized exfoliating salt saturated with essential oils for face and body we call Selextreme

• a Shampoo with a unique hero ingredient corresponding to each element.

The quantum field is the deepest part of the mind-body system. Deepak Chopra, MD calls it the junction (or zero) point between mind and matter.

PHYTO5 skincare works at this quantum zero point level to help provoke a healing response.

The quantum energy we elicit in PHYTO 5 five-element skincare is present in all products in the lines. But it’s very much concentrated in the Phyt’Ether serum. A blooming of living molecules floats in the Phyt’Ether products. This makes Phyt’Ether vibrantly fragrant and vibrationally alive and potent. (Wood Phyt’Ether, Fire Phyt’Ether, Earth Phyt’Ether, Metal Phyt’Ether, Water Phyt’Ether).

The formulation method for all PHYTO5 skincare in the five element lines is proprietary, unique and unparalleled.

This is so because we create not just energetic vibrationally alive products. PHYTO5 skincare is probably the only company in the world that creates quantum energetic skincare.

Creating quantum energetic skincare can only be achieved with living ingredients. And those living ingredients must come from flower and plants. Joining them with the TCM’s proven theories over thousands of years we’ve created a winning combination.

This is what makes PHYTO 5 five-element skin care so potent on many levels. And it explains why PHYTO and 5 give you a snapshot of what the lines are all about.

…

Endnotes:

1. etymonline dot com/search?q=phyto

2. PIE stands for Proto-Indo-European; it’s the unrecorded language from which all Indo-European languages are thought to derive.

Source:

Keller, Erich. Aromatherapy Handbook for Beauty, Hair, and Skin Care. United States, Inner Traditions/Bear, 1999.

What Does the Element of Fire Represent?

Energetic Summer according to traditional Chinese medicine’s (TCM’s) 5-Element Theory runs from May 6 to July 19. And out of all TCM seasons, it’s easy to understand why Fire is the element associated with Summer.

What Does the Element of Fire Represent?

The element of Fire represents heat and burning to the extreme. Maybe your skin responds to Summer’s element of Fire when it arrives. Your skin can overheat and lose much needed minerals from perspiration.

But if you’ve got skin on fire throughout all the TCM seasons—it’s red, irritated, sensitive, blotchy, allergic or overheated—you probably have the Fire skin condition. And PHYTO5’s Fire line is formulated specifically to bring these Fire skin conditions to balance.

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In Terms of Attributes, What Does the Element of Fire Represent?

• Fire’s colors: red (yang energy color) and purple (yin energy color)

• Fire’s taste: bitter

• The direction of Fire: South

• Fire’s voice quality: laughter

• The smell of Fire: scorched

The obvious characteristics of Summer graphically show up in the fiery exuberant growth of plant life. In Summer’s great blossoming we see the results of sun, heat, warmth, expansion, increased light, and abundance.

Our radiant sun sends rays of light blazing down on us, enveloping us in a blanket of heat and warmth that penetrates our very core.

Of all TCM seasons, Summer’s intensity mirrors the powerful energy of the sun, illuminating the world in a golden glow that ignites passion and vitality in all living beings.

As we take in Summer heat, we can almost feel the sun awakening every cell of our bodies, infusing us with its transformative power. It’s unlike anything we experience in any of the other TCM seasons.

Evidence of Summer’s blossoming made possible by Fire’s attributes shows up in the gradual increase of sunlight each day. The lengthening of daylight hours signifies the earth's tilt towards the sun, allowing more sunlight to reach us each day.

This increase in sunlight plays a pivotal role in the blooming of flowers, growth of crops, and vitality of all living beings. More than in any other of the TCM seasons, we witness the power of Summer and radiant Fire and their ability to foster life and abundance.

What Does the Element of Fire Represent In Its Yin and Yang Energetic Expression?

Of all the elements of TCM seasons, Fire possesses the most yang energy (active, dynamic, overt). But within each of the five elements yin and yang energies express themselves in balance.

This means that even though Summer reveals joy, activity, outdoor life and excitement, it reveals its more introverted quiet side in its yin expression too.

Low lit oil lamps or red lamps flickering in the dark of night, the effulgent wafting fragrance of a warm Summer evening and the rest our heightened activity of the season demands… these are all examples of Summer’s yin side.

What Does the Element of Fire Represent in Emotional Terms?

In addition to skin conditions, each of the five elements in TCM’s seasons associates with one of five basic emotions.

Not only do we experience yin and yang energetic conditions in our skin, we feel both contrasts of yin and yang in our emotional state too.

Fire’s emotion is joy-in-balance.

If you feel joyless, your fundamental state of joy has obviously retreated into the shadows. This is yin energy expressed.

If you spout emotions of overly exuberant joy you’re out of emotional balance with the Fire element. You’re expressing too much yang energy in your emotion of fundamental joy.

In either case of imbalance, the Fire line brings joy into proper balance within and expression from you.

How can a skin care line can also help bring emotions into balance?

All PHYTO5 five element lines (TCM seasons: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water) are quantum energetic. It’s this potency that makes emotion balancing as well as skin balancing possible.

And this incredible benefit of emotion balancing alongside skin condition balancing is completely unique to PHYTO5 skincare.

It’s easy to notices changes in our skin as it responds to the change of TCM seasons. But we might not notice our seasonal mood swings as readily.

Our attitudes also shift from season to season with more positive attitudes more evident during Summer and Fire when we’re in balance with the season. If we’re not in balance with Summer and Fire when they come, we might tend to take a more negative posture toward life.

If you feel very negative during this season, consider using the quantum energetic Fire line, not just for skin but for emotional balance.

What Does the Element of Fire Represent in the Fire Type Personality?

In the understanding of TCM seasons and the five elements, you’re considered a Fire Type if Fire is your predominant element.

Fire Types are lovers and protectors of the heart (Fire’s yin energy organ). Such Types are often driven to find love and intimacy while they let other important parts of their lives suffer.

When experiencing traumatic events Fire Types can also lose their emotional balance.

Fire personality traits and emotions may include:

• love, both interpersonal and divine

• open-heartedness

• joie de vivre, joyfulness

• happiness

• generosity of spirit

• warmth

• playfulness

• flirtatiousness

• a compulsion to call attention to ourselves

• passion

• dynamism

• reason

• self-expression

• optimistic

• positive

• enthusiasm

• excitement

• vanity

• jealousy

• frustration

Symptoms of imbalance with Fire include:

• Expectation: true love

• Stress response: loss of joy

• Emotional perception: hurt

On the flip side, Fire traits show up physically and emotionally as:

• excessive perspiration

• rashes, hives, hot skin eruptions

• sleep disturbances, insomnia

• palpitations, irregular heartbeat

• restless or explosive energy

• inappropriate laughter

• disaapointment as the logical outcome of an out-of-balance and immature approach to relationships.

If you express both healthy and balanced physical and psychological Fire characteristics throughout all the TCM seasons you’re a balanced Fire type personality.

You probably find success in life because you’re warm-hearted and generous.

You enjoy the many healing experiences of love, compassion, fun, joy, and pleasure. But you must remind yourself not to seek any reward of recognition or approval as you share your joy and laughter.

But like hot molten lava, uncontrolled or imbalanced Fire Types can be unpredictable and changeable. Like Fire itself, out-of-balance Fire Types can be chaotic and challenging to contain.

If you’re out-of-balance with Fire to the negative extreme, you might be overactive, combustible, overly energetic and animated. Your powerful emotional displays can burn and damage others.

What Does the Element of Fire Represent in the Physical Body?

In TCM seasons, every element also associates with a set of yin and yang organs.

Fire’s body organs are the heart (yin) and small intestines (yang).

A sustained imbalance of Fire energy in the heart can show up as heart attacks. And in the small intestines, imbalance might present as digestive problems.

For much more info. on this topic, read our in-depth article on Fire’s organs here.

…

Sources:

Photo by Jez Timms (@jeztimms) at Unsplash

Moss, M.D., Charles A. Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance. Berkeley: North Atlantic, 2010. Print.

Cypress Essential Oil Benefits

Cypress essential oil benefits are extremely versatile for health, beauty and vitality. Enjoy remarkable upgrades for skin, body and well-being when you use products enhanced with cypress essential oil.

Cypress essential oil (Cupressus sempervirens) comes from the Mediterranean coniferous Cypress evergreen tree. Essential oil producers steam distill the leaves, cones (cypress nuts) from the tree.

Ancient cultures have long used this tree for its many health benefits. Hippocrates himself referred to uses of cypress oil in his healing notes.

Scripture celebrates the cypress tree as symbol of strength, security and prosperity. The bible spoke of cypress as the wood to use for building, trading and crafting weaponry.

Phoenicians and Cretans utilized cypress wood to build ships and houses. The Greeks used cypress to create statues of their gods.

Like all plant essential oils, cypress is rich in many terpenes—the phytochemical that gives the plant color, scent and flavor. Terpenes pinene, camphene, sylvestrene and cymene are components of cypress essential oil. They’re also the terpenes associated with all evergreen fragrances.

Partake of the mystique of quantum energetic formulated plant-based skincare for your exalted natural bxeauty and well-being. Subscribe for a discount promo code, plus get truly unique holistic beauty tips and offers.

Cypress essential oil benefits skin beginning to show signs of aging by fighting free radicals.

Cypress essential oils tones and firms skin. It actually mitigates and delays skin aging symptoms of wrinkles, fine lines and sagging skin.

Cypress essential oil efficiently hydrates and moisturizes skin to help keep it supple and younger looking.

Cypress essential oil benefits include cooling and soothing to overheated or sun damaged skin.

This is why cosmetics formulators use it in shampoo, face cream, skin toner and bath additives.

PHYTO5’s cooling products Fire element Shampoo with cider vinegar, La crème soleil Face Cream and Fire Element Skin Toner also possess cypress essential oil benefits.

(A complete list of PHYTO5 products containing cypress essential oil is listed at the end of this article.)

Cypress essential oil benefits skin suffering from puffiness, imbalanced blood flow and/or water retention and even cellulite.

Cypress essential oil is strongly astringent and supports red blood and water flow in the body. Out-of-balance blood flow and water retention cause varicose veins and cellulite.

Cypress decreases swollen blood vessels.

Cypress essential oil reduces cellulite because its diuretic function increases urination helping you eliminate fats through the urine.

The contracting action of cypress essential oil tightens skin, muscles, gums and hair follicles—all desirable as you age. 

Cypress essential oil benefits Winter immunity from colds and flu and calms spasmodic activity.

There are several essential oils that should be stockpiled and placed in the home wellness cabinet. One of my favorite essential oils to rely on during the cold and flu season of winter is Cypress. This essential oil has inherent properties that allow it to be used as a decongestant, which will definitely come in handy as the season progresses. —Ann Sullivan in Cypress Essential Oil Benefits, Properties, Applications, Studies and Recipes

Cypress essential oil works to clear up congestion and phlegm in the respiratory tract and lungs.

An anti-bacterial, cypress essential oil fights respiratory infections brought on by bacterial overgrowth.

Cypress essential oil benefits respiratory function helping to alleviate asthma and bronchitis.

Cypress essential oil is a much safer alternative to antibiotics. A 2004 study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry reports the terpene camphene in cypress essential oil inhibited the growth of nine bad bacteria and all yeasts they studied.

Cypress essential oil benefits heart, vessels, red blood and lymphatic circulation to flush toxins from skin.

To flush out toxins and achieve radiant youthful looking skin you need good fluid circulation. Cypress provides a strong toning action for veins and helps keep blood and lymph moving.

Cypress essential oil is a diuretic so it increases sweating and perspiration, in turn flushing out toxins.

It can help prevent acne caused by toxic buildup. Cypress oil alleviates sores, pimples, pustules and skin eruptions.

Cypress essential oil benefits wound healing.

Cypress essential oil has excellent antiseptic and wound healing properties. It slows down bleeding from wounds.

Cypress essential oil benefits muscles strains and sprains and the pain of rheumatism and osteoarthritis.

Cypress essential soothes and relaxes. It reduces pain of sprains, strains, muscle pulls, joint pain and long-term back pain.

It works against carpal tunnel syndrome by reducing fluid retention, one of the main reasons for carpal tunnel. It helps the condition by encouraging blood circulation and lessening inflammation.

Many people find cypress essential oil effective in calming restless leg syndrome.

Cypress essential oil may also reduce the swelling associated with edema.

Cypress essential oil benefits women during menses.

Cypress essential oil eases cramps in menstruating women.

It evens out blood flow during menstruation and reduces cysts in the ovaries.

Cypress essential oil benefits include invigoration because of its fresh, clean woody scent.

Combine the fragrance of cypress with its antibacterial properties and it will prevent bacterial growth and body odor.

Add ten drops of cypress essential oil to your laundry to make clothes bacteria-free and smelling super fresh.

Cypress essential oil uplifts the spirit. More than toning to skin, it’s mentally toning as well. It helps calm nerves and stress. Cypress lifts feelings of weariness and anxiety. It alleviates restlessness and insomnia.

On the other hand, cypress essential oil possesses sedative effects. It calm and relaxes. It helps cases of emotional stress, trouble sleeping, and reaction to trauma and shock.

Cypress essential oil benefits the liver.

It encourages liver health by controlling more balanced bile discharge from the liver. The oil’s anti-infectious property also safeguards the liver from infection.

…

Important note: Don’t use cypress essential oil without a carrier oil like sweet almond, jojoba, apricot kernel, coconut or olive oil. It’s too potent to use by itself and will create enormous discomfort if you don’t use it properly.

PHYTO5 harnesses cypress essential oil benefits in the following products:

Clarify oily skin, lighten spots and stimulate blood flow and vital energy for a matte finish:

• Wood element Skin Toner

• Wood element Phyt’Ether serum

• Wood element Yogi Body Gel

Clarify oily scalp and hair. Stimulate blood flow and vital energy in scalp.

• Wood element Shampoo

Soothe irritated sensitive skin, reduce excess redness, cool and calm skin.

• Fire element Skin Toner

Reduce excess redness in scalp. Cool and calm scalp. Balance circulation for healthier scalp and hair.

• Fire element Shampoo

Detoxify impurities, balance blemishes and acne, reduce enlarged pores.

• Earth element Phyt’Ether serum

• Earth element yellow Clay Mask

Detoxify scalp and promote soft supple hair.

• Earth element Shampoo

Eliminate impurities, decongest and brighten dull skin, smooth fine lines.

• Metal element Skin Toner

Mineralize, nourish, soften and deeply hydrate brittle hair and dry scalp.

• Metal element Shampoo

Anti-age nourishment for skin

• Ageless La Cure Nourishing Cream

• La crème soleil Face Cream

• Hand Cream

Soothing and relaxing

• Yin Massage Oil

• Algae-Essence Bath Additive

…

Sources:

Valnet, Dr Jean. The Practice Of Aromatherapy. United Kingdom, Ebury Publishing, 2012.

Curtis, Susan, Pat Thomas, and Fran Johnson. Essential Oils: All-natural Remedies and Recipes for Your Mind, Body, and Home. NY, NY: DK, 2016. Print.

Rubin, Jordan. Essential Oils: Ancient Medicine for a Modern World. Place of Publication Not Identified: Destiny Image Pub, 2017. Print.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15186116

Sullivan, Ann. Cypress Essential Oil: Benefits, Properties, Applications, Studies and Recipes. N.p., CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017.

Essential Oils for the Sacral Chakra: Gain Confidence Making Life Choices, Better Express Emotions and More Consciously Communicate with Others

The sacral chakra, located in the lower abdomen, is essential for maintaining emotional balance, creativity, and healthy relationships. When this chakra goes out-of-balance, it hinders your ability to make decisions. You become confused and indecisive. Our blend of essential oils for the sacral chakra is formulated to support your harmony, clarity, and your ability to make decisions with confidence and precision.

The essential oils for the sacral chakra we’ve chosen is composed of a blend of the luxurious scents of jasmine absolute, petitgrain, patchouli, geranium rose, and pine. They’re all harmoniously mixed in a carrier oil base of fractionated coconut oil.

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These essential oils for the sacral chakra are carefully selected and blended.

Jasmine absolute promotes sensuality and emotional balance, while petitgrain uplifts and refreshes the mind. Patchouli grounds the blend with its earthy aroma. It promotes feelings of security. Geranium rose balances emotions and promotes overall well-being, and pine brings a refreshing and invigorating touch.

All together, these essential oils for the sacral chakra create a synergistic blend that nourishes this emotion-based energy center, fostering creativity, passion, and emotional stability.

To use the product, place a small amount on your fingertip and lightly massage it into the center point of the sacral chakra just below the navel.

The second sacral chakra is known in Hinduism as the Svadhisthana.

The Svadhisthana plays a crucial role in supporting your ability to exercise your power of choice based on personal beliefs and values. This energy center governs your emotions, creativity, and sense of self.

When balanced, the Svadhisthana empowers you to make decisions that align with your authentic self. You become confident to the point you don’t need to seek external validation or approval. You have a deep sense of autonomy and independence, inner strength and self-assurance.

When your sacral chakra is open and balanced, you develop a well-rounded sense of personal identity. Now in tune with your sacral chakra, you’re better able to naturally and freely express your emotions. This freedom of expression also enables you to more consciously communicate with others, fostering stronger and more meaningful connections in your relationships.

Sometimes you need a little help keeping your chakras open and balanced. Essential oils for the sacral chakra can help.

Factors like stress, negative emotions, and environmental influences can block your energy centers. This leads further to imbalances in body and mind.

Using tools like essential oils for the sacral chakra, crystals, meditation, and energy healing techniques can help realign and harmonize your Svadhisthana chakra. These practices work synergistically to clear blockages and restore the free flow of energy throughout the subtle body, promoting overall health and well-being.

These essential oils for the sacral chakra support sexual desire, sensuality, creativity and relationship love.

The sacral chakra plays a crucial role in supporting the sexual desire that fuels creative relationships and fosters love for another. This energy center governs your emotions, intimacy, and passions. It influences how you relate to others in a deep and meaningful way.

When the sacral chakra is balanced and harmonious, it enables you to tap into your sensuality and creativity. It helps you have more fulfilling, flourishing and loving relationships.

Be able to express your emotions more freely.

When your sacral chakra is open you can express emotion more freely—a key characteristic of a good relationship partner. Sexual union with a partner you love is organic and natural. It affirms the part you play living in harmony with both natural world and your partner all while maintaining your individual integrity.

Our blend of essential oils for the sacral chakra is an excellent and delightful way to keep this energy center open and in balance. Enjoy your relationship with yourself and others. Participate in balanced and healthy sexual union. And discover a newfound sense of healthy decision-making.

Get essential oils for all seven chakras:

Root
Sacral
Solar plexus
Heart
Throat
Third eye
Crown

5 Major Functions of Light In Your Body: Bring Balance to the Functions of the Body Systems

More than one hundred years ago, physicists and physicians alike focused on the power of light to yield benefits for life and health. They studied its effects on life forms, the functions of the body systems and its therapeutic benefits to humans.

It’s not well known the 1903 Nobel Prize in Medicine went to Niels Finsen of Denmark for his work with light. He was using light to treat tuberculosis and certain skin problems.

Shortly after Finsen’s findings, Indian born Dinshah Gladioli, working in the U.S. with several doctors, established a relationship between colors and the functions of the body systems.

All this work corroborated the knowledge of ancient energy medicines including Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

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Phototherapy versus Chromotherapy for Skin

Phototherapy involves treating disorders with light.

Chromotherapy for skin technologies deliver specific colored light frequencies to skin or body.

PHYTO5’s Chrompuncteur, for example, is a sophisticated chromotherapy for skin device.

Beyond the typical LED lights most cosmetic devices use, PHYTO5 uses dichroic light filters. These superior filters offer a full range of nine colors plus white light frequencies. And they also ensure that no ultraviolet and/or infrared frequencies are emitted. 

The science of chromotherapy for skin and body is actually a centuries old concept. Likewise, the history of color medicine is as old as any other medicine.

The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and people of China and India employed phototherapy and chromotherapy for skin health. They utilized both sunlight and color for healing. Little did they realize they were balancing the functions of the body systems by doing so.

The Egyptians constructed temples with rooms specifically designed to radiate particular colors of light. They placed sick people in various light colored rooms according to their illness.

They also painted various colors on skin then exposing the skin to sunlight to cause the color to emanate into the body.

The Greeks designed temples that broke sunlight up into its component colors of light. They also utilized various colors to treat specific disorders.

People have used color as a tool for treating illness since 2000 BC.

Like most cosmetic devices today that only offer the primary colors via LED, people of more ancient eras used only the primary colors—red, blue and yellow—for healing. Though they were probably unaware of the science behind colors and light, they definitely believed in healing with colors.

Light As Effective Healing Agent and Balancer of the Functions of the Body Systems

Light itself, whether run through a color filter or not, offers therapy and healing to the human body.

Today’s holistic therapies very often include light light to help balance body, mind and emotions.

Light turns on the brain and the body. You can obvisously take it in through the eyes. But you can also ingest light-filled foods to improve your skin and alimentary system.

Light triggers helps stimulate the proper function of the hypothalamus—the organ that regulates the functions of the body systems. Light can help balance the autonomic nervous system, the endocrine system, the pineal gland, and the pituitary gland which is the master gland of the body.

When light triggers the pineal gland the vastly important hormone melatonin is released. This, in part, explains why people who are light-deprived and consequently lack melatonin become depressed.

Melatonin affects every single cell in the body. It turns on each cell's internal activities and causes vibrancy and vitality in the body.

When light triggers the pineal gland it’s better able to carry out its serenity-provoking responsibility. It causes us to feel at one with the universe, our inner being and environment.

With this harmony established, we feel happy and full of vitality. But without such harmony, disorders and diseases arise in our physical, mental and emotional bodies. The functions of the body systems is impaired.

Chromotherapy to Help Balance The Functions of the Body Systems: Complement to Conventional Medicine

An energetic modality rather than a biochemical one, people often only apply chromotherapy when conventional medicine can’t provide healing.

Chromotherapy will often ease the chronic issues that frequently stump medical doctors. It can offer valuable support for patients in psychotherapy and provoke harmonious expansive mental well-being.

…

Endnotes:

McCulloch, Joseph M. and Loth, Luther C. Wound Healing: Evidence Based Management. F. A. Davis Co. Philadelphia, PA. 2010.

Martel, Anadi. Light Therapies: A Complete Guide to the Healing Power of Light. Healing Arts Press. Rochester, Vermont. May 2018.

Azeemi, Samina T Yousuf, and S Mohsin Raza. “A Critical Analysis of Chromotherapy and Its Scientific Evolution.” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : ECAM, Oxford University Press, Dec. 2005, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1297510/. 

15 Questions a Holistic Practitioner Should Be Asking You

Many alternative healthcare practitioners today call themselves holistic. Some medical doctors say they practice integrative medicine which is supposed to combine allopathic medicine with a holistic approach to health and wellness. Unfortunately, many provide holistic or integrative treatment in name only. Achieving balance in all your systems couldn’t be further from their minds.

It’s an interesting experience to visit a self-labeled holistic physician. He’ll record your history but only based on a finite set of physical factors.

Integrative medicine that combines holistic with conventional medicine claims to be healing-oriented. And if they truly are, those integrative M. D.s will take account of you, the whole person.

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What should you look for when consulting a holistic or integrative medical doctor? And in a related field of medicine, what might be the questions to ask functional medicine doctors?

First, let’s explore the definition of ‘holistic?’ What does it truly mean?

holistic |hōˈlistik|

characterized by comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole;

medicine characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the physical symptoms of a disease.

Looking at the whole person includes all aspects of your lifestyle as well as your relationship with your practitioner.

Both holistic and integrative medicine, if authentically practiced, will forge a therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient. They’ll integrate all the evidence of conditions they discover and make use of all appropriate therapies.

Ancestral energy medicine broadly popular in more ancient China ensured doctors’ focus on the health of their patients. They only looked at sickness and disease as a sign they weren’t keeping their patient healthy.

The ancient Chinese family physician was fully paid so long as all family members were in good health. When someone became ill, the physician either tool less pay or took nothing at all until everyone in the household was well again.

In the book, Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance, by Charles A. Moss, M. D., the authro describes a rare medical school experience he had in the late 60s.

The following description summarizes how every healthcare practitioner of any kind should approach you, the patient:

I remember in 1968 hearing a professor of neurology, Dr. S. M. Megahed, discussing the importance of listening to everything the patient had to say while observing with exquisite precision how they spoke and the emotions they expressed.

He emphasized the importance of touching the patient, and the amount of information that a detailed examination would provide. His caring nature influenced me. He approached each person as unique, leading to a greater understanding of the process that resulted in the patient’s illness.

Instead of focusing solely on making a medical diagnosis, Dr. Megahed looked at the whole person.

In the spirit of taking care of the whole patient, a good healthcare practitioner should do more than collect a basic physical and hereditary history.

The authentic holistic physician should take the following issues into account when treating you.

All these factors significantly impact your state of health and well-being:

• overall stress levels

• how resilient a patient in responding to stress

• a person’s line of work; number of hours worked in a week; whether the work is sedentary or physically active; what parts of the body, mind or emotions are most taxed as the patient performs the work

• family structure; a single parent could face many more life challenges; the number of children, especially in the household, is important as this factor can seriously affect a single parent’s health

• the diet and eating habits; how many meals per day; does the patient eat on a regular schedule or only when there’s time? how much time is allotted for each meal? does the patient eat alone or in company? does the patient chew food very well?

• exercise pursuits and how consistent; assessment of spinal flexibility and ability to walk long distances both of which are key indicators of vitality and longevity

• history with and outlook on holistic therapies and remedies

• patient’s income level in order to determine a sliding scale for fees, if warranted

• mental state

• emotional state

• health goals

• level and manner of sexual engagement

• how much fun and enjoyment

• habits or addictions, good and bad, and which the patient would like to be free of

• whether spirituality or belief in a higher power plays any or a central role in the patient’s life

• how often the patient takes time to simply “be” in a quiet space and relax

The practitioner can immediately and superficially assess these in order to get a quick read of your present level of vitality:

• the state and presentation of your skin, countenance and hair

• eye brightness

• physical posture

• weight

• muscle tone

• overall emotion radiated

• the pulse: this can provide info. about key organs beyond the feedback provided by the rhythmical throbbing of blood through the arteries, especially to doctors of oriental medicine

• the tongue as indicator of healthy or unhealthy digestion and elimination

It may be challenging to find a holistic practitioner who will take the time for such an extensive yet important interview. But if your holistic practitioner gets to know who you are as a whole person she or he will quickly know how to serve you best.

When you find a practitioner who asks you the primary 15 holistic questions, that practitioner’s definitely a keeper.

…

Photo courtesy of RODNAE Productions at Pexels

Moss, Charles A. Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance. North Atlantic Books, 2010. 

What Is Buckwheat Good for in the Body? It's a Magic Beauty, Health and Longevity Seed.

The extract of buckwheat (also known as beech wheat) has nothing to do with wheat at all because it’s neither grain nor grass. It’s naturally gluten-free and a relative of sorrel, knotweed and the rhubarb plant.

Buckwheat’s not a grain at all. The buckwheat fruit seed produces starchy seeds. It gets its name from its triangular seeds which resemble the much larger seeds of the beech nut tree and. It also gets is name because the seeds can be ground and used a lot like how we use wheat in cooking.

It’s a superfood with a mild nutty flavor. When toasted, we call buckwheat seeds kasha.  

Buckwheat is believed to have been introduced from Manchuria where it grows wild. A  native of central Asia and originally cultivated in China from the tenth to thirteenth centuries buckwheat was then introduced into Europe by the crusaders.

In terms of buckwheat for health only, its unique nutritional profile makes it important for health conscious consumers. High quality protein, fiber and minerals make this gluten-free seed an overall excellent health food.

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What else is buckwheat good for in the body?

A powerhouse of nutrients, buckwheat is one of the healthiest foods you can consume internally or topically on the skin or hair.

We see buckwheat for health but very much also for beauty and longevity.

“People who love buckwheat live long.” —Tanveer Bilal Pirzadah and Reiaz Ul Rehman in Forgotten Crop for the Future: Issues and Challenges

You can grow buckwheat greens from sproutable seeds. They’re a plentiful source of chlorophyll, enzymes and vitamins. Buckwheat seeds, high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, support skin's elasticity.

This is why we formulate many of our quantum energetic Water element products for more mature skin with buckwheat extract. We do that because of buckwheat’s elasticity encouraging action.

The flavonoids(1) in buckwheat amplify the action of vitamin C and act as antioxidants. This is another easy why buckwheat for health is also for beauty. The extract of buckwheat is an important anti-aging ingredient in skincare.

PHYTO5’s Water element line is very much designed for mature skin and anti-aging. And buckwheat extract is an important ingredient in many of the line’s products.

Buckwheat for health stakes its main claim to fame: Its Rutin or vitamin P Content

Rutin is a natural anti-inflammatory bioflavanoid which protects against skin damage from the sun and environment. Rutin also blocks free radicals which in turn slows the effects of aging and promotes longevity.

Rutin in buckwheat supports blood circulation so important for skin’s healthy youthful glow and strengthens and repairs small capillaries in the skin.

Buckwheat’s high magnesium content also works alongside rutin to relax blood vessels and promote circulation and skin’s glow. This factor also helps to improve circulation in cold hands and feet.

Vitamin B in buckwheat benefits skin, nails and hair enormously. It also helps reduce skin damage caused by sun and environmental factors.

Buckwheat’s high concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids helps enhance skin’s elasticity.

And buckwheat’s zinc and magnesium content is very important for skin and hair condition as well as healthy sleep. Buckwheat extract can be used externally for skin eruptions, inflammations and burns.

Buckwheat is 75% complex carbohydrates, a feature exceptional for proper growth of hair. Rich in vitamin A, B-complex vitamins and zinc, buckwheat for health promotes hair growth. Vitamin B6 or pyridoxine is vital for hair growth and health.

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Besides beauty benefits, what is buckwheat good for in the body?

In addition to skin and hair health, think ‘buckwheat for health’ in general.

Buckwheat also contains vitamin E,  riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), pantothenic acid (B5), thiamine (B1), B6 and folate all important for everyone and especially people with liver disorders.

What is buckwheat good for in the body? Here’s a good list.

• Its saturated fat content combined with high protein and fiber content aids in appetite suppression and weight loss. Buckwheat’s very high quality proteins and all eight amino acids help lower cholesterol; its amino acid composition surpasses all cereals.

• Buckwheat consumption may lower the risk of fatal stroke and heart attack because it helps balance blood pressure, circulation and vascular integrity.

• A certain type of antioxidant in buckwheat called lignans assists post-menopausal women by helping to prevent breast cancer and other forms of cancer related to hormone imbalance.

• The high levels of vitamin E and magnesium present in buckwheat protect against childhood asthma.

• Because buckwheat is high in insoluble fiber it helps prevent gallstones by facilitating the movement of food through the intestines.

• The manganese in buckwheat helps form healthy bones and connective tissue and can help prevent osteoporosis. 

• Buckwheat also facilitates the transmission of nerve impulses and assists in energy production.

• The amino acid tryptophan in buckwheat elevates mood.

• Less acid forming with a well balanced mineral composition (phosphorus, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, manganese) combined with a high flavonoid(1) content, buckwheat assists us to combat colds and flu.

When it comes to health and beauty buckwheat is hands down a vital ingredient for your diet and anti-age skincare regimen.

…

Endnotes:

(1) Flavonoids are phytonutrients responsible for the vivid colors in fruits and vegetables and are potent antioxidants with anti-inflammatory and immune system benefits.

…

Sources:

Murray, Michael T., et al. The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods. Time Warner International, 2006.

Pitchford, Paul. Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition. North Atlantic Books, 2009.

Verheyen, Yes. Enjoyvity, Your Full Spectrum of Life. Verheyen Consulting, 2010.

Pirzadah, Tanveer Bilal, and Rehman, Reiaz Ul. Buckwheat: Forgotten Crop for the Future: Issues and Challenges. United States, CRC Press, 2021.

Photo by Sage Kirk on Unsplash

The Earth Element Personality According to Traditional Chinese Medicine: Understanding Your Archetype for Harmony and Balance

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) embraces a fivefold concept: the Five Element or Five Phase Theory. It explains a wide variety of phenomena from cosmic cycles to the interaction between the body’s internal organs to personality types. One of those phenomena is the personality type for each of the five elements. To summarize the Earth element personality in one word, it’s nurturing.

We all tend to be one predominant personality type from among the five elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. But no one is one hundred percent one type alone. And each element type manifests an in-balance and out-of-balance (maladapted) personality.

Describing this or any other element type is not all black and white. Sometimes we’re in balance and sometimes we’re out of balance in our type. This imbalance often stems from childhood occurrences that impacted us in an indelible way.

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Key Points About the Earth Element Personality

You could very well be an Earth element personality or type if the year of your birth ends in the number 8 or 9.

• Yellow years (the yang color of Earth) end in the number 8.

• Ochre or deep gold years (the yin color of Earth) end in the number 9.

Even if you don’t have an Earth element personality, you can be in or out of balance with the Earth element throughout the year.

This especially occurs when we enter any of the four 18-day transition periods between the four major seasons of TCM. We call these periods bridging the four major seasons Earth.

Earth is when the energies of yin and yang come into balance before one of them begins to dominate the other.

In TCM’s understanding of Earth:

• Earth provides a home for Metal.

• Earth controls Water by forming river banks.

• Fire forms ground for Earth.

• Wood controls Earth through its ability to mold Earth into a dam, for example.

Pay attention to the attributes of Earth and keep yourself in balance with them.

If you’re an Earth element personality and you experience imbalance with Earth, you can get back into balance relatively quickly. Do it primarily by understanding the Earth element and how it correlates to your Earth element personality. Then adapt yourself to live harmoniously with it. (This article will give you insights on how to do balance your Earth element personality.)

Earth is the element of harvest, abundance, nourishment, fertility, and the mother and child relationship. Earth balances and epitomizes the changes of seasons.

So an Earth element personality will be all about nurturing, abundance, change and helping to bridge relationships one person to another.

Physical Attributes of Earth Relating to an Earth Element Personality

Earth associates with the digestive system—the stomach (middle of the body) and the spleen. Earth also relates to the sense of taste.

If you’re an Earth element personality and type, you should avoid foods that antagonize the stomach. You may already have an intolerance to insulting foods.

The Earth element personality and type is often prone to ulcers or indigestion. Consider avoiding indulging in sweet foods and rich desserts.

The Earth element personality and type often develops stomach illness. It shows up as deep sagging facial lines from the base of the nose to the outer corners of the lip.

The energy of the Earth element supports the flow of lymph to detoxify the body.

Lymph is a colorless fluid containing white blood cells that bathe the tissues and drain toxins through the lymphatic system into the bloodstream.

For this reason, each of the four 18-day between seasons periods of Earth are the best times of year to detox skin and body. Toxicity conditions such as acne—a sign of Earth imbalance—can easily flare up during the Earth periods. Toxicity is a condition of Earth imbalance.

PHYTO5’s Earth quantum energetic line of skincare addresses toxic skin conditions of acne, blemishes, and enlarged pores.

Quantum energetic means the skincare line potently helps balance emotions as well as skin and vital energy. (All PHYTO5’s five element lines are quantum energetic.) This is particularly important for the Earth element personality (or any of the other four element personalities). Because the five element lines are quantum energetic, they balance emotion as well as skin.

This means the out of balance emotional state of the Earth element personality can be easily brought to balance using products from the Earth line.

An out of balance Earth element personality ruminates excessively. Feelings of overwhelm and stuckness, for lack of a better word, dominate. The Earth quantum energetic line of skincare work to get the Earth element personality or anyone out of balance during the Earth seasons feeling more free to self-express creatively.

Earth line skincare shifts you or the Earth element personality enough to help you move off dead center and complete unfinished projects. If you’re a nurturer and use the Earth line you get to relax more knowing you don’t have to be all things to all people.

Click here for the dates of the four 18-day periods of Earth.

Earth Element Personality and Energy

As for any element, the Earth element personality feels a whole range of emotions and behaviors: patience, reliability, logic, service and duty to others, militaristic nature, stubbornness, and high energy.

We see the balanced Earth element personality in:

• home

• safety

• stability

• grounding

• support

• love

• nurturance

• practicality

• reliability

• industriousness

• pensiveness

• seriousness

• conservatism

• instinctive awareness

• reflection

• empathy

• honesty

• kindness and prudence.

The home is very important to the Earth element personality who creates a cozy and comfortable home. Their homes are relaxed and put visitors at-ease so much so they don’t want to leave.

The Earth element personality loves to decorate with stuffed furniture, thick rugs and ornate elements. But out-of-balance Earth types will overdo and decorate with lots of clutter.

The maladapted (another way to describe imbalanced) Earth element personality likes to collect, even hoard, material things. It create a sense of security.

The Earth Archetype As It Relates to the Earth Element Personality

• Plains and valleys are the yin or feminine expression of Earth.

• Hills and mountains are the yang or masculine quality.

Well adapted Earth element personality types intimately connect with the Earth. They see being outdoors with nature, plants or animals as complete spiritual experiences.

The Earth element personality epitomizes balance and unconditional love, nourishment and nurturance.

Earth is the Mother Goddess, Mother–Provider, fertile, nurturing, grounding, strong and constantly transforming. An in balance Earth element personality personifies all these.

Mother Earth never stops providing and caring for us. She supports all kinds of copious plant life to grow in her rich fertile soil. She devotes herself to nurturing and sustaining all her children—sentient beings living on Earth.

This is a quality the Earth element personality in balance mirrors by taking care of family, feeding, loving, caressing and encouraging.

The Earth element personality enormously values friendship. Earth types are very kind and nurturing to their friends.

Like the matriarchal Earth archetype, an Earth element personality in balance is pillar of the family and often the community. This personality will create a safe, secure enriching environment and always with a steady hand and loving touch.

The Earth element personality must live in yin-yang energy balance to be well adapted in Earth. This means Earth types are spiritually and emotionally well grounded individuals.

The Earth element personality—when well adapted to the element—nurtures herself or himself as well as family and friends, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

The balanced Earth element personality offers many gifts to loved ones:

• an empathetic ear

• reliability

• comfort

• selflessness

• concern

• grounding for the family.

For all of these reasons and more, everyone wants to be balanced an Earth element personality’s friend.

But the Earth element personality can also be out-of-balance.

• selfish; self-absorbed

• overly pensive; gripped by paralyzing mind chatter

• needy; uncooperative with others, and/or

• judgmental and rigid (including physical inflexibility)

Nevertheless, the out-of-balance Earth element personality or type truly can transform:

• self-absorption>>>to empathy and selfless caring for others

• the prison of an overactive ruminating worrisome mind>>> to the freedom and the comfortable ability to take action

• neediness>>> to dependability so others will know they can be counted on and are loyal.

The Spirit of the Earth Element and How it Supports the Earth Element Personality

TCM calls the intellect Yi. It’s the spirit of the Earth element and also our center. It balances the transformation processes of all the other elements.

Yi gives us the capacity to make scholarly achievements, to set intentions and digest thoughts and information all while keeping us centered in our core. But when an Earth element personality, or anyone for that matter, overthinks and worries, it damages Yi.

On the other hand, when your Yi is healthy, you can remain present and attuned to the gut-brain axis(1) and your solar plexus chakra. The Yi seems somewhat esoteric, but a balanced Yi supports healthy physical digestion which is a very grounded concept.

Especially if you’re an Earth element personality, get really attuned to the element of Earth. It’s very therapeutic. It will bring you into harmony with nature and support the Yi spirit. Then Yi is able to sustain a calm clear mind as it listens to the gut-brain for intuitive information.

Balancing the Maladapted Earth Element Personality

An undernourished childhood—both literally, through lack of nutrition, physical touch and nurturance, and figuratively, through lack of unconditional love and emotional support—often negatively affects the Earth element personality and for life.

The Earth element personality may be unable to resiliently respond to stress because of an inner empty feeling created by an inappropriate maternal experience.

All children need to be held in their mother’s arms, most especially. They need to be told everything is alright. They need to feel a deep connection with Mother. Children require mother’s unconditional love, affection, attention and care.

But a lack of motherly nurturance often affects the Earth element personality’s ability to genuinely and empathetically care for others.

Finding contentment and satisfaction in family, work and relationships can become difficult, out of balance with the  Earth element.

The Earth element personality needs to know she’ll be heard, understood and supported. But lacking this she becomes needy. Out of neediness, the Earth types will often turn to whoever will listen to them as they seek attention through complaining.

They’ll also be constantly striving to fulfill their need to be listened to and understood. The maladapted Earth element personality wants to have her plights recognized. they feel the sympathy and empathy they elicit from others proves their friends and loved ones understand them.

The maladapted Earth element personality can also become overly self-sacrificing. This behavior can often be inappropriate boundaries are crossed in the spirit of helping someone else.

Earth types feel very challenged to simply be empathetic and allow others to work through their problems themselves. The maladapted Earth type wants to solve others’ problems for them.

The Earth element personality out of balance may find self-care challenging. This personality’s driving force and reason for living is all about taking care of others and not himself or herself.

The Earth element personality out-of-balance can also often feel anxious and insecure when his stable predictable lifestyle has been threatened. He may worry about this or other issues excessively and obsessively. And it’s this worry that prevents him from making decisions and completing projects. His mind gets chaotic and feels stuck and paralyzed. 

The maladapted Earth element personality can find a pathway back into balance through service, gratitude, self-care, and mindfulness practices. 

Utilizing the Energies of Earth for a Balanced Personality in Any Element

The Earth element is substantive.

Earth can conjure fierce images in your mind like erupting volcanos and intensely vibrating earthquakes.

But Earth also and mostly calls to mind nurturing soil, the bounty, healing crystals and stones buried beneath, and all the plants and animals it sustains.

You might like to visualize Earth itself from space as gentle reminder we live on a magnificent celestial island.

You can call upon Earth’s energies to facilitate your manifestation efforts. She’ll help you put down strong roots so your dreams can grow into reality.

The Earth element can provide you with a sense of reality and productivity. It gives you the capacity to turn nearly everything you touch into something tangible.

Earth can be not only a great ally but wise guide.

Whether you’re an Earth element personality or a personality of any of the other four elements of TCM, call on Earth’s energies for assistance. Call on Earth for help with grounding, growth, protection, your work with the Law of Attraction, and the inner workings of your soul, life cycle and abundance.

Earth holds a gateway enabling you to communicate with animal and plant spirits. She offers you the necessary grounding to keep one foot firmly planted on terra firma. Especially if you’re a gardener, crystal worker or herbalist, Earth will support you in your service.

The energies of the Earth element will help keep you aware of your valuable and enlightening ancestral roots. They’ll also encourage you to keep the garden of your life free of weeds in the here and now.

Whether you’re in or out of balance as an Earth element personality, feel gratified by your Earth Mother archetype. Reach for her wondrous qualities of composure and serenity whenever you feel unsure.

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Endnotes:

1. Gut-Brain Axis (GBA): Researchers now call the gut the second brain having discovered there is an enormous number of neurologic connections and neuro-regulatory bodies in the gut microbiome. From the nasal sinuses to the rectum, the GBA comprises the largest macro-membrane in the body with a surface area of two tennis courts.

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Sources:

Levitt, Susan. Taoist Feng Shui: The Ancient Roots of the Chinese Art of Placement. United States, Inner Traditions/Bear, 1999.

Moss, Charles A. Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance. United States, North Atlantic Books, 2010.

Happiness and Beauty Are Interconnected

Authentic beauty goes way past that surface skin deep beauty most people chase after. As with anything, both happiness and beauty radiate from what's within you. People who struggle finding happiness often also struggle with their sense of personal beauty.

Loving yourself creates the foundation of happiness and beauty.

If you can’t love yourself your emotions dwell in the negative. And negative emotions can never create beauty.

Happiness and beauty are like a partner dance. If you feel deeply content, you feel happy. You’re pleased with who you are on the inside. Your inner happiness shines through as outer beauty.

“…the idea of being beautiful really comes down to two big umbrella concepts: First, love the people in your life and practice trusting and forgiving them. Second, and equally important, love yourself and all of your imperfections.” — Michael F. Roizen in YOU: Being Beautiful: The Owner's Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty

Partake of the mystique of quantum energetic formulated plant-based skincare for your exalted natural beauty and well-being. Subscribe for a discount promo code, plus get truly unique beauty tips and offers.

Happiness and beauty are about 1) being, 2) feeling and 3) then looking beautiful.

Our quantum energetic skincare lines balance skin conditions while they balance emotions. And we purposely formulated them to exalt your innate happiness and beauty and they balance your skin condition.

It’s the quantum energy in this skincare that works to provoke emotional equilibrium. We’ve looked high and low and no other skincare in the world is offering quantum energy in skincare that balances both skin condition and emotion for your exalted natural beauty.

A motto of PHYTO5 skincare is:

I am a beautiful person.

We publish this motto reminder on our emotion balancing quantum energetic five-element mini serum kit. We designed this kit to balance the five major emotions according to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Each emotion corresponds to one of the TCM’s five seasons and elements:

• Spring–Wood: anger and lack of confidence

• Summer–Fire: joylessness or over-the-top expressions of joy

• Between seasons–Earth: overwhelm and a feeling of being stuck as a result of over-caretaking

• Fall–Metal: regret and worry

• Winter–Water: fear

When you make balancing your emotional state a priority, you feel content. Then that contentment expands into happiness. And finally, your happiness grows at your core. It becomes radiant and it shines through on the outside as exalted natural beauty.

If you don’t know it now, you can know that you’re a beautiful person by keeping your emotions balanced.

You can buy and wear the latest fashion or even use makeup and other skincare products and still feel neither happy nor beautiful.

Happiness is like the hand that goes in the glove of exterior beauty.

“If we cannot feel beautiful on the inside, our outward perceptions of beauty become warped… I believe inner joy has a direct impact on outer beauty. This concept doesn’t have anything to do with makeup or clothing choices. It has everything to do with loving ourselves and appreciating how wonderful we really are.” — Kari Romero in Becoming Beautiful: A Personal Journey Towards Happiness. 

Our beliefs shape our happiness and beauty.

We start developing limiting beliefs about ourselves at an early age. It’s not our fault. It’s the way the world is.

We can’t blame our parents. They too were subject to all the same limitations and judgments and often, even worse. They did the best they knew how to do.

Living with those beliefs kept you emotionally imbalanced. You compromised your happiness and beauty.

But the fact you’re reading this blog means you’ve begun breaking free of those limiting beliefs. You had eyes clear enough to see how your vast life experience has made you wiser. And with that wisdom comes contentment.

These life experiences have helped you realize how important your inner well-being, founded on balanced emotion, really is.

You’re realizing that happiness and beauty are interconnected. You notice you glow when you’re happy.

If you want to present yourself as genuinely alluring, appealing and charming, you must achieve both authentic happiness and beauty.

For true happiness and beauty, make the exciting journey of balancing your emotions and discovering your authentic self.

Emotional balance is crucial for natural beauty.

Begin with a simple little helper and emotion balancer in PHYTO5’s five-element serums. This is a good place to start and your skin will benefit equally as much.

Let precisely formulated Phyt’Ether serums for each emotion balance your inner state:

• anger and lack of confidence (Wood element Phyt’Ether)

• joylessness or over-the-top expressions of joy (Fire element Phyt’Ether)

• overwhelm from over-caretaking (Earth element Phyt’Ether)

• worry and regret (Metal element Phyt’Ether)

• fear (Water element Phyt’Ether)

In a state of even emotion, explore your beautiful uniqueness. This is what happiness and beauty require to be realized.

Embrace your imperfections for happiness and beauty.

Instead of focusing on your flaws, learn to accept and love them because they make you so unique. See your imperfections not as weaknesses but as strengths.

Transcend societal standards and expectations. Accept yourself wholly. This is your powerhouse of natural beauty.

Let balanced emotion help you clearly identify and embrace what makes you unique. Your uniqueness makes you beautiful.

Like the pregnant mother or the woman in love, when you’re fundamentally happy you glow. It’s your spirit and natural Light shining through. You radiate a renewed more youthful vitality and brightness.

Your inner glow is spiritual. Happiness and beauty are spiritual.

Anytime you exalt your mind or spirit, your beauty shines and glows. Out-of-balance emotion dampens your spirit and diminishes the light you shine.

As you recapture your inner happiness, people around you will wonder what’s changed. You might hear, “Did you get your hair cut?” Or you’ll hear the exclamation, “You look so radiant!”

And the compliments are true because you’ve recaptured happiness and beauty.

You’re distinct with an inner and outer glow that enhances your physical features. You smile with your eyes. You embody happiness and beauty.

Happiness and beauty comes from your resilient response to stress. Your resilient response to stress creates more happiness and beauty.

It’s a beautiful symbiosis. One creates the other and back again.

When you’re happy, you lower your adverse response to stress. Your body releases endorphins that make you feel good. You smile more. And a smiling face is always more attractive than a frowning one no matter your age.

When you’re at peace with your world no matter what’s going on around you, you generate the quality of beauty.

“Make no mistake, I am still working on it. But I think I am a much prettier woman today than I was ten, twenty or even thirty years ago because today, I am at peace with myself. I am happy and it shows.”— Kari Romero

People who embody happiness and beauty usually practice good self-care.

Here’s another symbiosis: We find it easier to take care of ourselves when we’re happy and self-care bolsters our happiness and beauty.

Happiness and beauty are a 1-2 stair step that reflects your overall well-being.

When you prioritize your happiness, practice self-care, and embrace yourself fully, you radiate a glow no makeup or skincare product can replicate. True beauty comes from the enduring heart and soul—not any type of fleeting physical experience.

So nourish your soul, cultivate happiness and contentment in your life. Unleash your natural beauty through practices of gratitude, forgiveness, empathy. compassion and peace.

Don’t wait for happiness to just happen to you. It doesn’t work that way.

Begin embracing your magnificent self and love who you are. Discover all the best parts of yourself and make those discoveries come alive in your life.

…

Sources:

Romeo, Kari. Becoming Beautiful: A Personal Journey Towards Happiness. United States, Balboa Press, 2018.

Roizen, Michael F., and Oz, Mehmet. YOU: Being Beautiful: The Owner's Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty (Google eBook). United States, Scribner, 2008.

Image courtesy of cottonbro studios at pexels