The power of nature is absolutely amazing. Imagine a tiny seed planted into the soil, watered, and nurtured produces a sprout which in turn grows into a 100-foot tall tree. That's a pretty amazing illustration of the power of nature. But how do we harness this power to help in our everyday lives?
4 Ways to harness nature
Make a cup of tea
Infuse oils with plant material
Use essential oils
Create a tincture
1. Make a cup of tea
A simple way to capture some of this power is simply to make a herbal cup of tea. By being mindful of the herbs and spices used you can soothe a sore throat, boost your immunity, or relax the frazzled mind.
2. Infuse oils with plant material
Another simple way you can harness some of nature's power is by infusing olive oil or your favorite vegetable oil with herbs, spices, flowers, and leaves.
There are multiple ways to infuse oils, ranging from solar or lunar infusion to the double boiler method. The difference is in the time taken to transfer the power of your plant material to the oil.
Creating Solar or Lunar infusions
To create a solar or lunar infusion all you have to do is choose a clean, sterile jar and fill it with your plant material. Simply cover with the oil of your choice and seal the jar. You want to place it in a spot where it receives either the sun or the moon's rays. A solar infusion tends to have a more robust feel to infusion whereas a lunar infusion is more gentle by nature.
The double boiler method
The double boiler method mentioned is a quick simple method to make a beautiful oil in a short time. Basically, you take your herbs, spices, or plant material and place them into the top part of a double boiler. Cover the material with an inch or two of high-quality oil (olive works best). Fill the bottom of your double boiler with water and very gently heat until the oil reaches the temperature of between 95 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit. You then simmer gently for 30 to 60 minutes, making sure to monitor the heat of the oil. Unfortunately, if you do heat the plant material too much it can actually destroy the power that you were trying to capture.
We actually use the solar infusion method at Edney Skincare to capture the power of lavender, calendula, and chamomile for our soothing massage oil.
3. Use Essential oils (EO's)
Perhaps the most well-known way to incorporate the power of plants into your life is through the use of essential oils. Essential oils (EO's) by their very nature harness the power of thousands of individual flowers or kilos worth of spices making them very potent indeed.
Because of this, there are limits to which oils you can use with children or the very young.
There are some companies out there that promote the ingestion of essential oils. This is not something that I would recommend personally, however, if you work in conjunction with a certified aromatherapist they can come up with the best solutions for you if this is a way that you want to use EO's.
There are multiple grades of essential oils which basically comes down to the quality of the plant material chosen and the method used to create the oils. To get the best quality out of our EO's we use therapeutic grade to make sure that we are actually capturing the power needed for our products. Because of this, a little goes a long way.
You can use EO's in multiple ways ranging from diffusion to inhalation and incorporation into topical salves, lotions, or balms.
At Edney Skincare, we use carefully researched blends of essential oils in both our Just Breathe and Body Soothe balms. These blends were created to be used safely by the entire family however we do recommend that you consult a physician before use if you are pregnant or very young. We've had children as young as 4 years old using and loving our Just breathe balm.
4. Create a tincture
A final way to incorporate the power of nature into your lives is to create some of your own cleaning products.
This is as simple as saving the peels from oranges that you've eaten in a jar, and covering them with vinegar - leave that in a cool, dark place for a couple of weeks and you end up with a powerful orange tincture. Mix that tincture with water and a couple of tablespoons of washing soda to come up with an all-purpose natural bench cleaner that will clean stove tops, cupboards, floors, tables, kitchen sinks, and even bathroom mirrors very effectively.
If you would like to learn more about sustainable living and harnessing nature's power, feel free to download our harnessing nature cheat sheet and subscribe to our mailing list for new blog posts and other hints and tips that we hope you find useful.