Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a healing system that has been in practice for thousands of years. The philosophy is rooted in 4 principles:

1. Your body is an integrated whole.

2. You are completely connected to nature.

3. You were born with a natural self-healing ability.

4. Prevention is the best cure.

TCM has a variety of natural healing techniques that have been used effectively over the thousands of years. These modalities are based on the concept of Qi (Chi) which says we are all born with a self-healing ability, and through the use a particular techniques practitioners can recharge that self-healing function in our bodies, increasing and balancing our Qi and giving our bodies the support needed to reclaim healthy function.

Some of the common modalities that are practiced you are probably familiar with including; Acupuncture, Acupressure, Classical herbal therapy, Eating for healing, and Qigong. There is also another belief called Five Element Psychology. The basic idea is that unbalanced emotions are the source of many modern health issues and a person’s emotional state is not only a question of emotions but is also related to organ function. For example, the Liver is associated with Anger; The Heart is associated with Joy; The Lung is associated with Grief and so forth.

There is so much to learn. If your curiosity is inspired here are a few resource to start you on your way.

Learn more about the some plant properties of Eastern medicine through this colorful database.

I also refer to this Materia Medica from time to time.

Here is another really great database that I like.

And for a little bit more on the history with some good references start here.

Remember this is thousands of year history so the wealth of intuition and information is enormous. Enjoy your studies.

Essential oils have been in use since ancient times. You might be familiar to references in the bible of frankincense and myrrh. Simply put, essential oils contain the “essence” of a particular plant, locking not only the flavor and scent of a plant, but also the therapeutic ingredients in them. This "essence" is usually gathered from the roots, stems, leaves, flowers or even fruits of a plant (source soothoil.com).

There are hundreds of constituents within the different oils that explains why there are many overlapping healing properties. For example Lavender is great for cuts as well as headaches. Just a little lavender oil can be a stimulant where too much acts like a sedative.

There are 2 main techniques that are used to extract essential oils: Steam Distillation and Cold Pressing. Essential oils have a tremendous number of benefits, and like Chinese herbal medicine there is so much to uncover. I love this brief description of 12 benefits which can be read here (reference Ch. 2). This site also has more great info about common oils to own and different uses.

If you want to start experimenting yourself with using and mixing essential oils, here is a good place to start to understand dilution rates

Aromaweb is another great site to learn about everything essential oils including benefits.

We source our Essential oils from Rocky Mountain Oils. They have some great information about oil properties as well as some recipes.

And finally if you read the Our Story Page you will know that we got started with Essential Oils. Some of the amazing books we have used for over 20 years to inform our philosophy include:

- Medical Aromatherapy by Kurt Schnaubelt

- The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood

- The Fragrant Mind and the Fragrant Heavens by Valerie Ann Worwood

- Scents and Sensuality by Valerie Ann Worwood