Lighting
Lighting that can be adjusted from bright to dim is helpful. Add a lamp that uses a 3-way bulb or replace the regular light switch in the room with a dimmer switch. Bright light is needed for scrubs and treatments. But you’ll want to dim the lights or use candles when using relaxation soaks, steams or massage.
Sound
Soft music or the sounds of birds and nature are good for relaxation during soaking times. Create a playlist that is used just for spa time. Music is a memory trigger and targeting the right kind of music or sounds to your spa time will encourage calm and relaxation. Or, if you’re in a playful mood, step up the music beat to go with invigorating scrubs or foot treatments. Nature sounds take away the artificial buzz that music can be; the sound of waves crashing on the beach, birds and even the gentle drum of rain clears your mind. You can design the mood with sound.
Color
Color is an important mood maker. Greens and natural earth tones hues are the most relaxing. No need to paint all the walls with color in an existing space, but introduce calming, cool colors with pillows, linens and towels.
Color in a Sanctuary Space
Inside the home or out in the garden, what the eyes sees affects emotion. Color is an important part of setting a mood. A few general guidelines:
■ Warm colors – like reds, oranges and yellows – are for spaces with activity. They are the colors of fire and heat, and tend to make a space feel degrees warmer than it actually is. For a more relaxing experience, avoid true reds, which are known to increase blood pressure and heart rate. It is much more soothing to bring in paler pinks and peach – warm colors, but not so strong.
■ Cool colors, like shades of blue, calm and lower blood pressure.
■ Hues of green make a space feel degrees cooler.
■ Jewel tone colors, like deep violets and burgundy, add a luxurious appeal.
■ If your space has strong, stark colors, bring in some grey, white or black accents to help blend and play down the dominant tones.
■ Neutral colors on walls and floors provide a backdrop for light to bounce off, and invite experimenting with brighter-hued accessories.
■ The presence of natural wood, whether in garden fixtures, furniture or floors, suggests calm, whereas painted wood will create a different mood, according to the color you use.
No need to be boring or overwhelming. Well thought out touches of color, outdoors and indoors, like garden pottery, furniture coverings and toss pillows on the bed might just be the simple change you need to enhance your surroundings. You’ll know when you’ve achieved a feeling of sanctuary.
■ YOUR PERSONAL PRESCRIPTION TO TAKE A SPA ■
A spa session is your intermission from a busy world. Power down the phone and computer. Your spa time is not intended to be interaction with social media, it is time to pamper yourself.
■ Make space! Create a relaxing, healing space in your own home or garden.
■ Make time! Make an appointment with yourself. At the end of a stressful day, steep in a bath of aromatic herbs, to not only clean the daily grime off skin, but allow your mind to let go of things that cannot be taken care of in the moment. Think ahead of a busy time and have a pro-active spa moment. If there is an upcoming event that will be stressful, plan an uplifting sugar body scrub before the event.
■ Share! Welcome friends for a meal, conversation or gathering into the garden. The enchantment of fragrant herbs and peaceful space will soon begin to weave its spell. Strew rosemary and lavender cuttings on pathways and patios to release natural air fresheners when walked upon. Provide rosewater with fresh cut lemon slices for hand washing before and after a meal. Invite girlfriends (or boyfriends) for a foot scrub party. Treat someone special to a private herbal massage or shared bathing.
With those lovely images in our minds, let’s turn our attention to the herbs and discover who they are and what they can do to make our lives – and our spa time – delightful.
PART TWO
GROW
A garden of herbs
becomes a new adventure when you
discover the many ways to use them.
From cooking to crafting, the diversity of flavor and fragrance is the true allure of growing an abundant garden of herbs.
You may already be growing some herbs, whether for their culinary use or their beauty, or both. It might surprise you to know what else they can do for you. Their special qualities can be antiseptic, aromatic, healing, soothing, cooling, stimulating; and you can use the flowers, leaves, stems, oils or roots. In this part of our book, you’ll learn about your old favorites and perhaps meet new ones. And then later on, I’ll show you what other ingredients are needed to bring a plant into a form that your body can easily utilize – and luxuriate in.
■ ABOUT PLANT NAMES, NATURAL HERBAL SKIN CARE, AND ORGANIC SOURCING OF YOUR PLANTS ■
■ ■ ■
What, Exactly, is an Herb?
Herbs have captivated gardeners for thousands of years. They inspire us with all they give us. Plants commonly referred to as herbs are familiar culinary varieties such as chives, oregano, and basil, but we hear less about nontraditional plants classified as herbs, such as agave, with leaf sap that can be used to treat burns. Naturopaths and herbal healers may have hundreds of plants they consider herbs, while home gardeners may have only a dozen plants they call herbs. Thinking from this perspective, herbs can be identified culturally as well as botanically. Even if you have not read a single herb garden book, chances are you recognize herbs by how they permeate legends, literature and lyrics – and the way we use them to enhance our lifestyle.
More than ten thousand books have been written about herbs over the centuries, yet we still may wonder what really classifies a plant as an herb. The first entry in the American Heritage Dictionary states that the origin of the word herb is Middle English, via old French, from the Latin herba. It is defined as “any plant with leaves, seeds or flowers used for flavoring food, medicine or perfume.” The second entry definition has a botanical bias: “any seed-bearing
