Earthpalate

Aromatherapy blend for stress relief

indigoseed — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 20:38:02 +0000

Research suggests specific essential oils can play a role in lessening stress and health indicators of stress. According to American College of Healthcare Sciences Stress Management module for Aromatherapy 502 lecture (2015), stress has a pronounced impact on the body and its function. The body’s natural reaction to stress results in forced contraction of the heart, an increased rate of breathing, an increase in sweat production, lessened digestive secretions and a host of other alterations in the system. These alterations help the body function with greater efficiency thus better enabling it to counteract the attack of a stressor. The implementation of treatment with volatile essential oils is associated with equalizing or balancing some of these stress indicators so that less energy is lost and damage to the body is lowered.

A stress reduction blend is an important one for any aspiring aromatherapist to always have on hand. The stress reduction blend I created began with the base or mid note ylang ylang, a favorite oil of mine. I used 5 drops of ylang ylang, or Cananga odorata, 10 drops of citrusy bergamot oil, 5 drops of lavender (Lavandula augustafolia) and 5 drops of lemon, which helps smooth out the blend. Ylang ylang, according to researchers lowers BP, alleviates palpitations and nervous system excitation, and promotes emotional relaxation (Kim et al.) Bergamot essential oil is associated with assisting people in letting go and relaxing to an experience without a need to control it. According to one study, bergamot significantly reduces anxiety in patients pre-operation. This was accessed in a random controlled study setting and gave credence to the efficacy of bergamot in stress reduction. Lavender essential oil is known for alleviating cardiac excitation, lowering blood pressure, and is considered effective in treating hypertension and palpitations. Finally, lemon was utilized because of its anxiolytic properties and its capacity as a smoothing and harmonizing. Lemon is a lighter oil known for dissipating in time but it provided this stress reduction blend with a well rounded and smooth, citrusy essence. Blending was done with the consideration of the strength of oils. Upon inhalation of this blend there was a palpable sense of release and relaxation that came over me. Everyone in my house was drawn to and enticed by this aroma. This blend seems to help lessen mental anxiety and contributes to more serenity in the psyche, an important aspect of stress reduction.

Yoni Steams, V-Steams for Greater Womb Wellness

indigoseed — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 00:18:51 +0000

Yoni steams or v-steams is an ancient and sacred practice of vaginal self-care that leaves the vaginal, pelvic and womb region feeling rejuvenated and vital. The womb, including all of the reproductive organs including the uterus and all organs and tissues housed in the pelvis, is the seat of female creativity, vitality, and intuition. The womb’s sensitivity also makes it the receptacle of sexual and emotional trauma, sadness and pain experienced by women throughout their lives. Ritual practices around the release of this trauma accumulated over a life or lifetimes are powerful means of tapping deeper into that creative feminine force that often remains partially expressed or remains locked inside of the pain and burden females tend to carry.

Yoni steams are practiced in cultures in Suriname in South America, Tanzania in East Africa, by Mayans in Central America (known there as “bajos”) and in Korean (American) culture where it is known as cha-yok. Different cultures practice yoni steams for varied reasons such as for increased toning and tightening of the vagina resulting in increased sexual stimulation , rejuvenation and cleansing and hygenic purposes. They are essentially saunas for the pelvis and yoni done with fresh or dried herbs that are relevant to women’s issues or that appeal to the individual. V -steams, yoni steams or ‘bajos’ as they are referred to in Central America are excellent ways to stimulate circulation which in turn increases blood flow to vital organs. The vagina is highly absorbent and readily takes up the volatile oils and active plant constituents found in the herbs facilitating greater healing.

Yoni steams are beneficial for

Sexual dysfunction
Infertility
Dark red blood at the beginning of the period
Fibroid and ovarian cysts
Menopause
Hemmorhoids and prolapse
Irregular or absent periods
Stored and stuck emotions
Post-partum recovery
Endometriosis
Detox of the womb and body
Dryness
Reduced menstrual pain and discomfort, bloating

How to do a yoni steam

Prepare an herbal blend with 1 -5 herbs, we have them here, choosing your herbal allies according to personal resonance or with specific gynecological concerns in mind.
Place 1 cup of dried or 1 quart of fresh herbs (dried are preferred) in half to 1 gallon of warm water.
You can simmer them for 20 minutes directly or prepare for the next day and allow the herbs to soak in the moonlight overnight, potentially with crystals, prayers and your good intentions placed within the waters.
After the 20 minute simmering either the same day or the next, test the steam on the inner arm for temperature. When it is bearable to the arm, prepare to sit over the pot in a chair of some sort with an opening, in squat or kneeling over the pot on the ground. Try to get comfortable the best you can and cover and seal off the lower body with a blanket or 2 to trap the steam.
Sit for 20 minutes over the pot thinking of the intention to release and rejuvenate, reading, in meditation or however you choose. (SET the space up so that a relaxed and healing mood is created)
After the steam, rest in bed covered up in a DRAFT-free room for 30 minutes.

Steams are best performed before bedtime.

Return the herbs back to the Earth and Give thanks for HER medicine..

Avoid Essential oils, doing steams while on menses, too soon after birth (before 6 to 8 weeks) or when infection is present!

We have herbal blends including yarrow, motherwort, lavender, rose petals and calendula amongst other highly useful herbs for yoni steams for you HERE
Check out the Live Periscope and blab.im of our monthly event..

Come by our website for wombwell consultations and coaching!

http://www.inheralchemywombwellness.weebly.com

EarthPalate”s All Natural Bug Repellent Bugout! and Island Rays Sunscreen Available on Etsy NOW! Straight from the Virgin Islands!

indigoseed — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 00:04:11 +0000

Earthpalate is excited to announce the availability of our homemade, all natural, essential oil based Sunscreen and Bug Repellent on our Etsy Page, http://www.earthpalate.com.

All our products are made from all-natural ingredients as well as locally sourced plants such as aloe vera to protect and heal the skin from the harshness of the suns rays with our Island Rays Sunscreen or pesky bugs like disease carrying mosquitoes with our Bugout! all-natural bug repellent.

Come by our Etsy store and see all that EarthPalate has to offer!

http://www.earthpalate.com

Global Village Tours…Come Meet Eco-Senegal for 2014

indigoseed — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 23:49:48 +0000

Our website is finally up! Though unfinished you can come by and see what we have in store for you for 2014. Our trip to Senegal and down the coast to Sine-Saloum will entail stops along the way in various eco villages, organic farms and networking with experts in all areas of the field of agriculture and sustainability.

Come to the website and see for yourself!

https://tonya-dinkins.squarespace.com/

Shitake Mushroom Harvest

indigoseed — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 23:26:32 +0000

Today was a fun day at the West Broad Street Farm here in Athens. I’ve been working there as of recent and am really enjoying the process of maintaining a larger garden/farm and being able to see the daily ins and outs of the process. Today I was so excited to be able to harvest Shitake Mushrooms from lovely mushroom logs..I learned that Mushrooms absolutely love water and the more watering the better. Some experts even suggest dipping mushroom logs in water for some hours so that they may be submerged in water.

Here are some magical mushrooms growing in nature. It was super fun harvesting them and sending them on to be sold. I want to learn more about the innoculation process of Shitakes.

Red Clay Initiative Hosts Annual Global Village Senegal Roots Sustainability Tour 2014

indigoseed — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 18:20:02 +0000

Red Clay Initiative is excited to announce it’s Annual Global Village Senegal Roots Eco-Tour in November 2014..

We will be visiting the beautiful land of Teranga, Senegal, West Africa. This diverse African nation represents all the richness of intrigue of the Sahel and offers so much to those seeking exposure to fully functioning eco-villages in a non-commercial and truly indigenous style. This Eco-Tour will take us on a magical journey, networking experts in agriculture, permaculture, beekeeping, aquaponics and a passion to see the Global Village grow and function robustly with local African people dedicated to preserving the old ways with modern approaches and updates. The hope is to bring together Westerners and African indigenous in a week of true skill and technology sharing as well as relaxation and enjoyment of the beautiful culture of the land of Senegal….

Our village tour itinerary…

Day one arrival Dakar, Senegal-Check into bed and breakfast, relax

Day two-Visit Yoff Eco-village, meet and greet Lebu women and tour the Eco-Centre

Day three Head to Toubab Dialaw and check in at Sopabade, take African Dance class or do Yoga at local Yoga Center

Day four-Head to Mbour and tour local organic farms while visiting local artesin village for shopping

Day five head to Les Collines de Niassam eco-resort and village … Meet and greet local farmers and villagers

Day six Les Collines de Niassam skill sharing in areas of fishing, aquaponics, permaculture etc

Day seven Travel to Mbacoumbel, Oceanium eco-resort or relax/skill share in Les Collines de Niassam

Day eight return to Dakar and go out on the local Party Scene for a splash of urban Senegalese life

Day nine Return flights to respective countries or onto other travel

We have room for 10 people on this tour so let us know if you are interested….

indigoseed@gmail.com

Composting n Mushrooming with the West Broad Garden in Athens

indigoseed — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 23:49:52 +0000

I had a great work day experience at the West Broad Street community garden today participating in a composting workshop. Our compost expert was an undergrad student at the University of Georgia, Athens and was so knowledgeable and helpful in getting us to all understand the process of composting. We discussed the differences between anaerobic and aerobic composting and the ways in which each needs to be dealt with. Essentially we created what was called “windrows”, piles of organic matter set up in striations of nitrogen rich materials(coffee grinds) alternating with carbon rich materials (brown matter) on top of a tube without holes throughout that is able to carry oxygen throughout the pile. The whole idea is that oxygenated compost will speed up the process of composting. Volunteers and Interns got to sort through piles, learning about different ways to more efficiently compost. We moved difficult to compost items like heavy pieces of wood, which will be broken down in a wood chip machine so this week to assist in their decomposition process. All and all the workshop was informative and definitely a “work” shop in the truest sense of the word.

Some of the things I noticed was the incredible odor coming from the anaerobically decomposing compost as opposed to the “windrows”. The odor of methane and sulfur was evident coming from the compost matter that wasn’t aerated and allowed more regular exposure to oxygen.

My daughter is here watering the shitake mushroom logs..Lots of fun times at the Garden

Preparing for a Bug Free Spring with Essential Oils

indigoseed — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:12:52 +0000

Before a trip to Senegal West Africa 2 years ago, I started to craft a bug spray that acted as an excellent repellent for mosquitoes, ticks, fleas an all types of critters. It worked so well while I was in Africa that I decided to keep making it and eventually began selling it. It’s amazing how useful essential oils can be. They work on the physical and more subtle levels to create a variety of changes in the chemistry of the body and the environment. I use essential oils for all types of things. Lemon and Lavender among other citrus oils are great for cleaning. And for repelling bugs a combination of any of the following can assist in keeping you bite and bother free.

Citronella Oil
Lemon Eucalyptus Oil
Cinnamon Oil
Castor Oil
Rosemary Oil
Lemongrass Oil
Cedar Oil
Peppermint Oil
Clove Oil
Geranium Oil
Possibly Oils from Verbena, Pennyroyal, Lavender, Pine, Cajeput, Basil, Thyme, Allspice, Soybean, and Garlic

I use a sprayable fractionated oil as my base oil so that the scent can be sprayed and rubbed on and will be longer lasting.

Africa-Brazil Agricultural Innovation Marketplace

indigoseed — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 02:33:26 +0000

I’ve recently found myself involved in a project proposal drafting with Brazilian researchers and agriculturalists with Embrapa Meio Norte of Brazil. One of the researchers found me on the website for Africa-Brazil Agricultural Marketplace networking my interest in working with researchers in the area of aquaponics. Aquaponic farming, as I discussed in a previous post, is a the raising of fish with the purpose of using their effluent (waste) as nutriment for the growth of plant life. So when this researcher found me and asked me to assist in the grant drafting, I was more than excited. Him and his team have crafted a holistic system or what they call an Integrated Food System that is based on the actual aquaponic tank and accompanying vegetation. In addition, they rear worms on the plant beds, where they assist in augmenting healthy bacteria growth and in addition they make compost for soil based crops. Along with this system is the rearing of various farm animals resulting in an overall increase of food production.

The purpose of the Africa-Brazil Agricultural Innovation Marketplace is to link Brazilian researchers that are innovating in agriculture with scientists and researchers in Africa that seek to find ways to improve farming conditions in their homes. Fund will be provided to selected projects in the area of technology sharing, trainings, and development. My husband and I initially wanted to find researchers in his home country of Senegal that would be interested in doing the project with Luiz and his team so that maybe we could be a part of the process out there. But, as it has evolved, we have decided that the project would serve any locale in which food production is an issue. The Sahel, which Senegal is a part of, is a very dry and challenging place for farm production given farmers’ dependence on short seasonal rain. We have finally decided on a partner for the project from Niger, a poor Sahel country experiencing many challenges. Aquaponics is a very water efficient farm technology that involves very low consumption of water, is soil-less and can be operated on solar power. The proposal we are drafting emphasizes all of these things and how perfect aquaponics could be for the Sahel.

Though we are still in the first phase, we are hopeful about the outcome and look forward to bringing aquaponics and the integrated food system to any place that can benefit from the technology.

Back to Life

indigoseed — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 03:53:47 +0000

Well it’s been a while since I’ve done any updating to Earthkeepin, but it’s a new year and with Mercury going into Retrograde right now, a good time to reinvigorate things that were showing promise at one time in the past.

Earthkeepin is a space for me to share my experiences as a Mother, a world traveller (with kids in tow), a Wife (2 years now!), an Artist as well as an aspiring entrepreneur and self made woman. My passions are varied and my experiences, according to a lot of my friends, worthy of publishing somewhere! So I thought I better get back to sharing on this wonderful blogging platform and see where it goes..

So here’s a bit of what I’ve been up to..

Living in Georgia still after a wild journey to Senegal, getting married, travelling to Canary Islands Spain and returning to the US pregnant and shell shocked from leaving my husband. I spent my pregnancy here in Georgia, gardening, helping form a woman’s entrepreneurial co-op, and building with my family. I was finally reunited with my beloved husband Leon after 14 gruelling months apart due to immigration. Below is my sweet lil family.

Being reunited after all these months, as a family, with a new edition, our 1 year old son Alioune, is serving as an inspiration for all things Me. This means me exploring myself deeper as a dancer and as well as a vocalist and musician. My husband and I are forming a group with a neighbor of ours right now. It’s a lil reggae, afro groovey funk vibe that we hope can flower into something in time. Even our children help out on percussion and vocals.

Like the namesake, it’s still about nurturing over this way…That includes the Earth, family and the self. It’s a worthwhile journey for sure.