Enjoy Vibrational Resonance in Quantum Skincare: PHYTO5's Holistic Revolution

If you’re not using quantum skincare, you’re missing the vibrational resonance your skin craves — a high-frequency energy that penetrates, repairs, and revitalizes at the quantum level.

At PHYTO5, we’ve pioneered this for over 40 years, crafting 100% Swiss-made, plant-based products rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine’s (TCM) 5-Element Theory. Our holistic approach transcends conventional skincare, using energetically activated essential oils to harmonize your body’s vital energy and unlock a radiant, youthful glow.

Unlike anything else on the market, our quantum skincare taps into the unseen forces that govern wellness, offering a transformative experience for both skin and spirit.

The Science of Vibrational Resonance

Everything in the universe vibrates, even the products you apply to your skin. Most skincare vibrates at a low frequency, doing little beyond minimal surface-level care.

PHYTO5’s quantum skincare, however, vibrates with life-promoting energy that works on a cellular level.

We harness the inherent energy of high-grade, natural essential oils — sourced from plants like ylang ylang, lavender, and rosemary — prepared through a meticulous process that releases their vibrational resonance.

We do more than moisturize skin. Our products work to align your skin with nature’s rhythms and energies. Our formulations consider the cycles of the seasons, as dictated by TCM’s 5-Element Theory — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Our Swiss chemists work to ensure each 5-element line product resonates with the energy your skin needs at any given time and season.

This quantum energetic approach restores balance, revitalizes skin, and elevates your overall well-being in ways conventional skincare simply can’t.

Why Quantum Skincare Matters for Longevity

Energy medicine, the foundation of quantum skincare, views the body as more than mere matter.

The body’s a dynamic field of vital energy.

Your aura, an electro-energetic envelope, surrounds you. And within the body, every organ, bone, gland, and fluid vibrates at a measurable frequency. Advanced bio-resonance machines can detect these rates, revealing how energy impacts health.

In the 1980s, Swedish radiologist Bjorn Nordenstrom discovered the body’s electropositive and electronegative fields, proving we’re wired for energy.

Later, 1992 studies by Tainio Technology at Eastern State University in Washington found that when frequencies drop below optimal levels, health falters:

• at 62 MHz, cells mutate

• at 58 MHz, colds emerge

• at 55 MHz, Candida thrives

• at 42 MHz, cancer appears

• and at 20 MHz, the death process begins.

These findings underscore a critical truth: Maintaining high vibrational resonance is key to vibrant life and longevity. PHYTO5’s quantum skincare uses this science to keep your skin vibrating at its healthiest, most youthful frequency.

Energetic Blockages and the Skin’s Hidden Messages

Vital energy isn’t an abstract concept. It’s the blueprint of life itself.

From the embryo stage, vital energy guides cells in the tissues and specialized organs, glands, nerves, and bones. Throughout your life, this energy orchestrates countless physiological functions, from digestion to circulation, all to ensure you remain vital.

But as we age, energetic blockages can disrupt this flow. They dim our vitality and manifest as visible signs on our skin — the body’s largest organ.

For example, these blockages might show up as oiliness (a Wood imbalance), redness and irritation (Fire), blemishes (Earth), dryness (a Metal imbalance), or loss of tone (Water). Each skin condition resulting from various energy blockages ties in to a specific element in TCM’s 5-Element framework.

Our quantum skincare, replete with vibrational resonance, helps clear these blockages, restoring balance in skin.

By addressing the root energetic cause, along with treating your skin condition you feel more well on a profound level.

How PHYTO5 Crafts Quantum Skincare in Switzerland

What sets PHYTO5 apart is our unwavering commitment (since the late 70s) to crafting quantum skincare according to rigorous Swiss manufacturing standards.

Swiss-made precision, paired with quantum energetic principles, makes PHYTO5 the only brand on the planet producing skincare that vibrates at such a transformative frequency.

The Future of Skincare: Vibrational Resonance Meets Quantum Energy

Imagine a skincare routine that doesn’t just hydrate but recalibrates your vital energy for vitality.

That’s the promise of PHYTO5’s quantum skincare.

Our products don’t stop at the surface. They penetrate deeply, delivering vibrational resonance to your skin that repairs, revitalizes, and rejuvenates at the deepest level possible — the quantum.

After 40+ years, we remain the only company creating holistic, Swiss-made quantum skincare that works this way.

Rooted in TCM’s 5-Element Theory, our approach is a revolution in beauty. It aligns your skin with the high-frequency energy it deserves. Step into the future with PHYTO5 quantum skincare, and let vibrational resonance redefine your glow.

True Beauty Unveiled: A Life in Harmony with Nature: A Holistic Beauty Journey Through Energy and Wellness

What does beauty mean to you? It’s a question worth pondering, because how you answer shapes the way you see yourself, others, and the rhythm of your days.

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 holistic beauty tips and offers.

For me, beauty is the quiet awe of a sunrise igniting something deep within, or the full moon’s glow stirring emotions I didn’t know were there. 

It’s the ocean’s embrace during a swim, or a forest trail that lets buried feelings rise — unjudged and simply witnessed.

Even grief, when I let it crack my heart open instead of burying it, becomes a path to truly living.

These moments, flowing with nature’s currents, reveal wellness beauty secrets that whisper:

Trust the process.

To me, that’s true beauty. It’s being authentic, embracing life as it unfolds, and owning my emotions without casting blame.

A Sensitive Soul’s Awakening

My search for inner peace began in my early twenties the 1980s.

I felt everything, in fact, too much sometimes. Back then, I couldn’t name it, but now I see it was a gift.

Working in hospitality, I thrived on deep, philosophical chats with guests that went far beyond small talk. Yet I struggled to untangle my emotions from theirs. This was a sensitive thread I couldn’t quite weave into words.

The ocean became my refuge. Sailing across the Atlantic on a 75-foot boat at 25, I found solace in its vastness. A friend handed me Krishnamurti’s Flight of the Eagle. I devoured that a slim, dense book twice on that crossing. It spoke to me, even if I didn’t fully grasp it, nudging me toward a holistic beauty journey I was only beginning to understand.

From Chaos to Clarity

A few years later, Deepak Chopra’s voice cut through the noise. His words landed like a lifeline as I shifted from hospitality to the spa world, becoming a massage therapist and aesthetician.

In the hushed rooms of luxury destination spas, I spent hours easing stress from others as I felt their tension mingle with my own restless thoughts. 

Chopra’s Seven Spiritual Laws of Success changed that. One idea stuck with me:

Living in the present.

Alone, I practiced it when I washing dishes, swimming, or simply being.

At work, it transformed my touch.

I noticed when I let my mind wander, clients felt tense. But when I stayed present, they melted into relaxation. Their discomfort faded under my hands.

I was hooked.

Energy in Motion

That presence fueled me as I leapt into energetic bodywork.

Studying polarity therapy and cranial sacral work, I met Avi Khadir. He was a wild-haired, Einstein-like teacher whose passion lit up the room. His lessons on the body’s energy currents clicked for me one day during my hot grueling Bikram yoga practice. As I held poses in the caressing heat, I felt life pulse through me, opening space and clarity.

I’d define that as true beauty from within—raw and unfiltered.

A French Connection

By 1998, fate nudged me again. Hunting for an apartment, I met a Frenchman new to the spa scene. He introduced me to a skincare line — PHYTO5.

He had a resort hotel in the French Alps where he’d incorporated these products and treatments rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Its products weren’t ordinary creams. They were energetically charged for radiant wellness beauty.

I was skeptical but intrigued.

Lying under colored chakra lights during a demo, I felt energy spiral through me in minutes. I was amazed.

They were looking for therapists willing to be trained in the European way. I saw the awesome potential in PHYTO5 and they saw potential in me as a therapist. And I dove into training while juggling spa gigs.

A Quarter-Century of True Beauty

For over 25 years, I’ve lived this holistic beauty journey, blending TCM’s ancient wisdom with PHYTO5’s vibrant products.

As an international trainer and U.S. educator, I’ve taught spa pros how to harness these wellness beauty secrets — balancing vital energy with every application.

My PHYTO5 journey has shaped me as much as I’ve shaped it.

A yoga teacher once said:

You can only teach who you are.

That mantra’s stuck with me. True beauty isn’t skin-deep. It’s the peace of aligning with nature, the courage to feel it all, and the grace to let it be.

What’s your true beauty? Maybe it’s time to find out.

Which of the 5 Skin Types Are Yours? Natural Skincare Guide Unlocking Holistic Skincare Benefits with Traditional Chinese Medicine

Ever wonder why your skin acts up no matter what you slather on it? It turns out, those pesky breakouts or dry patches might be shouting something deeper about your level of wellness. PHYTO5 formulates skincare for the five skin types of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

Our skincare goes beyond the surface so you can feel awesome inside and out.

Nature’s Cycles and Your Skin

TCM has a really uncanny way of seeing us as part of nature’s big dance where days, seasons, years and phases all spin together.

Ancient Chinese thinkers watched how these cycles influence plants, animals, and humans. They figured out that vital energy (they call it chi) flows through everything, and when it’s flow is off, skin and body absolutely reflects it.

TCM says it’s all about energy — the push and pull of yin and yang striving to keep the natural world thriving and humming in perfection.

They took it further with the 5-Element Theory where Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water each associate with a season and a prevailing energy.

It’s like a roadmap for why your skin does what it does.

When the energy of the season or element is out of imbalance, you see it on the face.

Balance that flow, and you’re not just treating skin, you’re leveling up your whole wellness game.

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 holistic beauty tips and offers.

The 5 Skin Types (and What They Mean)

PHYTO5 digs into these five energy imbalances to pinpoint your skin type.

It’s less about oily or dry and more about what’s driving that oiliness or dryness.

Here are the five skin types of TCM. See which one sounds like you:

• Wood (the winds of Spring): You energy gets stuck. Think oily skin, blackheads, or hyperpigmentation. Your scalp can be oily too. Spring’s renewal has hit a roadblock.

• Fire (the heat of Summer): Too much sizzle shows us as red, sensitive, or blotchy skin and maybe even couperose or a sweaty scalp. Your blood’s rushing like a hot July day.

• Earth (the humidity of between seasons periods): Toxins are piling up showing up as blemishes, acne, enlarged pores, or sluggish flow of lymph. Hair looks heavy and scalp can be pimply. It’s the in-between chaos of season swapping from Spring to Summer, Summer to Fall, Fall to Winter and Winter to Spring again.

• Metal (the start of dryness and beginning fade of Fall): You’ll notice surface flakiness, dull skin, brittle hair, and maybe even spider veins in legs. Like autumn leaves, your skin’s beginning to dry.

• Water (withering of the season): Here you’ve got dehydrated skin, wrinkles, puffy eyes, or limp hair. Water’s either pooling or draining too fast.

PHYTO5’s Fix: Natural Skincare for Skin Types

Here’s where PHYTO5 steps in with five lines tailored to each season.

Each line’s products are rich with essential oils and plant extracts to help tackle your skin condition imbalance.

• Wood line purifies oiliness.

• Fire line cools and calms the heat.

• Earth line clarifies anddetoxifies.

• Metal line oxygenates and mineralizes.

• And Water line firms and tones.

This is truly natural skincare for all five skin types, dialed into your specific energy imbalance. It syncs you with nature’s seasonal rhythm.

So, which of the five skin types are you?

With natural skincare for skin types and holistic skincare benefits from PHYTO5, you’re not just treating skin — you’re rewriting how you age.

Maybe it’s time to glow like you mean it.

Essential Oils In Skincare: Unlock Nature's Secret to a Radiant Face and Youthful Glow

Essential oils and skin are a match made in nature. These potent plant essences firm, tone, boost elasticity, hydrate, and soften signs of aging. They deliver results that go beyond surface-level care. And while the skincare world only caught on to essential oils relatively recently, PHYTO5, a Swiss pioneer, has harnessed the power of essential oils in skincare since 1979.

Our holistic, Swiss-made products prove that beauty thrives when nature and science align.

Flower and Face: A Mirror of Vital Energy

Essential oils come from distilling a plant’s essence — its leaves, roots, or blossoms — capturing its signature fragrance in a concentrated burst. But it’s the flower oils that hold a special magic.

As Erich Keller, author of Aromatherapy Handbook for Beauty, Hair, and Skin Care, beautifully puts it:

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.

Think about that. The flower’s “face” — its vibrant blossoms — becomes a vital force you apply to your own face.

When essential oils and skin meet, the oils’ tiny molecules, packed with stored solar energy, penetrate deeply. They dissolve into your skin’s sebaceous layer, reaching beyond the surface to nourish tissue.

And the icing on the cake: They even influence deeper wellness.

At PHYTO5, we use this flower-to-face connection to craft skincare that’s as transformative as it is luxurious.

Inhalation and Application: A Dual Powerhouse

Open a PHYTO5 product, and the aroma hits first — a wave of well-being before essential oils and skin even touch. Inhaling the fragrance of one of PHYTO5’s Phyt’Ether serums instantly triggers the body to seek emotional balance.

This incredible benefit is rooted in the natural potency of our skincare. But we’ve taken it further.

Our 5-element seasonal lines of skincare — Wood/Spring, Fire/Summer, Earth/Between Seasons, Metal/Fall and Water/Winter — tap into quantum energy.

This action amplifies essential oil–skin symbiosis.

Each of our 5-element serums targets specific skin conditions while harmonizing your emotional state:

• Wood Phyt’Ether: Purifies oily skin and blackheads, lightens hyperpigmentation and stimulates vital energy flow. It can help shift you from anger to confidence.

• Fire Phyt’Ether: Calms redness and sensitivity. It can bring erratic joy into balance.

• Earth Phyt’Ether: Clarifies blemishes and acne and tightens pores — freeing you from overwhelm to creativity.

• Metal Phyt’Ether: Eliminates impurities, oxygenates and mineralizes, decongests puffiness, plumps fine lines and brightens skin. The added benefit is it lifts grief into peace.

• Water Phyt’Ether: Firms and tones mature skin, improving the energy of water circulation and all while easing fear into zen-like calm.

Note: All products in the 5-element lines are quantum energetic with that potency very much concentrated in the Phyt’Ether serum.

A few drops of these serums on your face, body, or scalp — or even a light inhale from the bottle — deliver essential oils and skin benefits that outshine conventional products.

The quantum potency makes every application a ritual of renewal.

Inside Out: Essential Oils in Food and Beyond

Essential oils and skin don’t just connect topically — they work internally too.

It only takes a drop of food-grade essential oil (like rose or lemon) added to a drink or dish to elevate flavor while nourishing yourself from within.

Take rose oil: 60,000 damask roses yield just one ounce, so a single drop is a powerhouse. Just be sure you use the oil sparingly to avoid overwhelm or an actual healing crisis.

Oil pulling, like swishing myrrh essential oil with coconut oil, also proves the point. It whitens teeth, heals gums, and pulls toxins from your system — reflecting healthier skin outwardly.

Less is more with essential oils in skincare. Their concentration demands respect.

Cautions: Quality Matters

Not all essential oils are equal. Synthetic knockoffs mimic scents but lack the vital force of true plant oils.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn’t regulate grading, so “therapeutic” or “natural” labels can mislead.

Trust brands like PHYTO5, where Swiss oversight ensures:

• Indigenous, organic plants (with botanical names listed).

• Cold-pressed or steam-distilled oils, undiluted and purity-tested.

• Non-GMO, pesticide-free production in state-of-the-art facilities.

Switzerland’s rigorous standards give you confidence that PHYTO5’s essential oils in skincare promise are authentic.

Conclusion: Your Face, Nature’s Finest Ally

Essential oils in skincare isn’t just a trend. It’s a timeless partnership.

From the flower’s face to yours, PHYTO5 channels this living energy into every 5-element skincare product, blending Swiss precision with holistic wisdom.

Whether you inhale, apply, or ingest, essential oils have the power to transform your skin and spirit in ways synthetic skincare can’t touch.

Ready to let nature’s finest lift your face to its radiant best? With PHYTO5, the answer’s been blooming since 1979.

Understanding Yin and Yang Energy In Emotions: It Can Help You Create True Emotional Well-Being

Yin and yang energy, passive and dynamic, each influence our emotional state more than we realize. Have you noticed how your internal energy seems to wind down when Fall and Winter are here? That’s yin energy taking over the dynamic yang you felt during Summer. And when you learn to balance yin and yang energies with each other rather than let one or the other completely take hold of your life, you create emotional well-being for yourself.

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 holistic beauty tips and offers.

Introduction to Yin and Yang Energy in Emotions

Yin and yang energy is central to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) philosophy. They represent complementary forces that shape our world, emotions included. In TCM, these energies help us understand how emotions manifest and impact our health.

For example:

• joy, the emotion of the Fire element in TCM, might feel expansive and active (yang)

• while sadness, the emotion of the Metal element, feels contractive and passive (yin).

Balance of yin and yang energy is crucial for mental and physical well-being.

Categorizing Emotions According to Yin and Yang Energy

We can categorize emotions based on their energetic qualities and see how emotions express yin and yang energies.

• Yang emotions: Joy, anger, and excitement are active and outward, often linked to energy and movement.

• Yin emotions: Sadness, fear, worry, and pensiveness are passive and inward, associated with stillness and reflection.

But categorizing like this isn’t always clear-cut because emotions actually possess both aspects.

Yin and Yang Energy of Emotions Impacting Health and Balance

TCM suggests in-balance emotions support health, but excesses can lead to issues — physically, mentally, emotionally, even spiritually.

Examples are:

• the overly exuberant person who’s expression is so over-the-top it’s actually offensive to other people

• or the extremely withdrawn and sullen person who rarely cracks a smile.

Out-of-balance emotions can cause physical and mental conditions:

• Excessive anger (yang) might raise blood pressure.

• Chronic fear (yin) could contribute to depression.

It’s essential to maintain harmony between yin and yang energies. Practices like meditation or acupuncture are examples of simple actions you can take to help strike that energetic balance.

The Bio-psychological Perspective

Research shows your personality type can be yin or yang.

• yang personalities are more emotional and

• yin personalities are calmer.

This helps us dive deeper into understanding emotion and yin and yang energies within it.

Yin and yang personality types offer a broader view of how and why you or I express emotions as we do. It suggests that how we naturally express emotions may be aligning with the yin and yang energy we feel

• underlying our psyche

• and in the flux of any given moment.

The exploration of yin and yang energy in emotions finds its roots not just in TCM but in bio-psychological research.

Both disciplines aim to define how yin and yang energies manifest in:

• emotional experience

• impact on health

• maintaining balance — the cornerstone of TCM.

Theoretical Foundations of Yin and Yang Energy

Yin and yang, dating back to references in the I Ching around 700 B.C.E., are never separate energies. They are interdependent.

Yin and yang balance into harmony as symbolized by the Yin-Yang emblem — the dot of yin within yang and vice versa (TCM World).

The Chinese characters for yin and yang evoke natural imagery.¹

Yin represents the shady side of a hill and yang the sunny side, illustrating their complementary nature in daily life (TCM World).

Yin is associated with:

• darkness

• coldness

• passivity

• and the feminine.

Yang is linked to:

• light

• heat

• activity

• and the masculine.

This duality extends to emotions, where we can analyze each feeling through its energetic quality. That energetic quality will reflect either yin’s stillness or yang’s dynamism.

TCM uses this theory to diagnose and treat health issues, seeking to harmonize body, mind, emotions, and spirit (TCM World).

Emotions and Their Organ Connections in TCM

A deep connection between emotions and the body’s organs helps us live and thrive according to TCM. Each organ associates to a specific emotional state. And again, those emotional states classify as yin or yang.

TCM encourages us to live in harmony with the five elements. When we do we live far richer and healthier lives.

The five basic emotions and their corresponding organs and elements of the 5-Element Theory are:

• Wood: Anger — Liver (yin organ)

• Fire: Joy — Heart (yin organ)

• Earth: Pensiveness — Spleen (yin organ)

• Metal: Grief — Lungs (yin organ)

• Water: Fear — Kidneys (yin organ)

While all these organs are yin, the emotions themselves exhibit varying energetic qualities.

For example, anger and joy are often active and outward, suggesting a yang nature. Pensiveness, grief, and fear are passive and inward, aligning with yin (Verywell Mind).

Getting Practical with Balancing Yin and Yang Energy

Understanding the yin and yang energetic aspects of emotions can steer us towards mind, body and spirit balance.

Practices like meditation and yoga, and also tai chi which is already well rooted in yin and yang principles can help harmonize the energies of emotion.

• A person expressing excessive anger might benefit from cooling, yin-enhancing activities like deep breathing.

• Someone feeling overly passive might engage in yang-activating exercises like vigorous movement.

Striking balance like this can extend to mental health.

Even Western psychology is increasingly adopting Eastern approaches of seeking balance as the prize of well-being.

When we explore yin and yang energies expressed in emotions we begin to see how these forces shape each of our personal emotional landscapes.

When you recognize the yang nature of joy and anger and the yin nature of sadness and fear, and then strive to balance these natures, you can more easily foster a harmonious state of well-being for yourself.

Emotional balance is key for mental and physical health and both ancient wisdom andmodern research underscores the fact.

Focus on keeping your emotions balanced and you’ll naturally find yourself living in harmony with the elements, nature, the universe and yourself.

PHYTO5’s quantum energetic 5-Element lines are designed to support emotional balance with that capability most heightened in the Phyt’Ether serum.

Don’t live your life by default. Get in tune with your emotions and their yin and yang energyaspects. See how understanding and working to balance these energetic aspects of emotion can help you create sustained emotional well-being.

…

Endnotes:

¹ Standard in both historical texts (like the I Ching) and modern usage across Chinese-speaking regions. The I Ching is an ancient Chinese manual of divination based on eight symbolic trigrams and sixty-four hexagrams, interpreted in terms of the principles of yin and yang. It was included as one of the “five classics” of Confucianism.

• Kendra Cherry, MSEd. “Yin and Yang: How Ancient Ideas of Balance Can Help You.” Verywell Mind, Verywell Mind, 9 June 2023, www.verywellmind.com/yin-and-yang-mental-health-7110781.

• Chae, Han et al. “The Yin-Yang personality from biopsychological perspective using revised Sasang Personality Questionnaire.” Integrative medicine research vol. 10,1 (2021): 100455. doi:10.1016/j.imr.2020.100455

• “Yin / Yang Theory.” TCM World, 9 Feb. 2024, www.tcmworld.org/what-is-tcm/yin-yang-theory/.

Images generated at Midjourney by the author with Chinese and English text embellishments created at Canva Pro.

What this Boutique Swiss Skin Care Company Does for Skin Is Highly Unique

You are part of the natural world, including your skin. You probably feel more comfortable in a forest or garden rather than a chemical plant. It’s because you instinctively align with what’s natural and honest — not with synthetic and plastic. We’re a Swiss skin care company that treats your skin to plant essences and living energy and formulates products according to wellness principles of traditional Chinese medicine. And that’s highly unique.

Promoting these natural principles for skin and body is still so unique in today’s world, our company faces challenges other skin care companies don’t. But because we so profoundly believe in wellness, healing and the remarkable results our lines provide for skin, we’re up for it.

A series of serendipitous events led to establishing PHYTO5 in the U. S.

After 30 years in the hospitality industry, as I was heading a mid-sized international hotel corporation based in the U. S., the foreign owners sold the company. I took the opportunity to take a much needed sabbatical.

And that’s when I began thinking about my next step because I’m not the kind of person to stay on sabbatical forever.

Then the first serendipitous event happened.

A friend told me about a small Swiss skin care company whose aging owners were looking for an exit. I’m French born and the lab/manufacturing facility was located in the French speaking region of Switzerland.

I discovered the company, Laboratoire Gibro, S.A., manufactured an extensive line of non-medical grade skin care with a totally unique and intriguing method. At that time, they called the line Phytobiodermie:

phyto/plant + bio/life + dermie/skin

I loved the natural plant-based idea of skincare because I was already living a more natural holistic life.

On top of that, the company’s chemists formulated the products according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

The combination of Swiss/French, plant-based and TCM was right up my alley.

My father was a medical doctor in France. He’d traveled to Asia and there he fell in love with Chinese medicine and acupuncture, in particular.

After that hallmark trip, for the rest of his life, he would not only study acupuncture he practiced it on me as a teenager when I got hurt in Judo competitions.

My father could reduce the pain of my ankle and other sprains and accelerate healing so fast I could return to active training after just a few days. My cohorts were out for weeks.

That had made me a real believer in Chinese medicine. And I was intrigued to see how a skin care company could apply its principles to their products.

So I went on a couple exploratory trips to Switzerland to learn about the factory, products, method and people. And I was excited to maybe revisit my previous successful experiences with the principles of Chinese medicine and its Taoist roots.

I visited Laboratoire Gibro in the quaint hamlet of Fleurier, Switzerland, located in the Swiss Jura mountains(1) near Neuchâtel. (I learned the water used in all this skin care comes directly from these sub-Alpine mountains.)

Fleurier is the same town known the world over for its centuries old exacting haute horlogerie(2) watchmaking companies. Almost everyone has heard of Parmigiani, Bovet and Chopard. 

The Fleurier name itself we roughly translate as flowering village—a name entirely apropos for a factory located within it that creates skin care formulated with essential oils of flowers.

‘Beauty Is Health Made Visible’ was this Swiss skin care company’s motto.

Having worked for decades in fine upscale hospitality, I was glad to discover this Swiss lab totally aligned with the concept of excellence.

They held a motto that professed a clear and very logical statement. It conveys that using the products improves not just your appearance but your well-being too:

Beauty Is Health Made Visible!

Their high integrity products completely reflected a one-of-a-kind uniqueness incorporating a philosophy, method, unique formulation, and lifestyle approach to skin care.

This wasn’t just a skin care line. I could see it went above and beyond skin care alone.

It was a wellness line.

And I surmised it would positively touch people in a way ordinary skin care never could.

I tested this claim of health made visible myself receiving face, body, and scalp treatments in a Phytobiodermie spa on the French Riviera. And deeper, I dived into understanding exactly how this skincare achieved remarkable results in both skin and overall wellness.

Formulated according to principles of TCM this skin care encourages a balanced flow of vital energy throughout the body.

Vital energy (called prana in yoga and chi, ki, or qi in Asian martial arts) flows subtly and invisibly through the body as life force. And TCM tells us any dysfunction of this life force vital energy can cause imbalance in a system(s) and potentially result in disease. 

Talking to the expert Laboratoire chemists I recalled things my father said about how necessary vital energy flow is for health and wellness. He showed me firsthand how acupuncture frees up energetic blockages and balances vital energy flow to keep you well.

The Swiss chemists follow a precise method from the Five Element Theory of TCM to formulate essential oil blends. 

And they design these synergistic blends to achieve the quintessential requirement for wellness: vital energy balance.

And as they do so they also take into account that each plant possesses its own unique energetic characteristics.

These characteristics follow the simple differentiation of:

• yin and yang energies and 

• more specific characteristics of the five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water.

 It’s an actual art to blend certain essential oils together so that they restore and maintain energetic flow and balance.

• Most companies add an essential oil or two here and there to their products.

• This company was crafting blends of multiple oils to achieve certain effects.

Along with the primary goal of balancing vital energy, the chemists made sure the skin care also performed fundamental important functions like:

• cleansing

• purifying

• mineralizing

• hydrating

• protecting.

All that’s a lot to consider when formulating an effective holistic skin care brand and I was thoroughly impressed.

It’s impressive now in the 2020s. So imagine what a standout it was all the way back in the 80s.

Coming from the hospitality industry, I felt this skin care was perfect for spas and particularly upscale hotels and resorts where perhaps the products would be better appreciated. (That was in the late 1990s—a time when the spa industry was poised for explosive growth worldwide.)

I purchased Laboratoire Gibro with a group of friends in late 1998 and opened a U.S. distribution center. Our goal was to establish this unique Swiss skin care in upscale hotels with existing or planned spas. And we hired licensed estheticians and massage therapists as trainers.

We rebranded Phytobiodermie—a French name that wasn’t pronunciation-friendly for most Americans—to PHYTO5. This name recognizes the core of our method: the plant-based aspect and the five elements of TCM.

And then we soon encountered many ‘teaching moments.'

We learned we had to accept American estheticians and massage therapists were less well trained than their European counterparts.

And even more, only a rare few technicians had even a superficial understanding of vital energy. Some thought the idea of vital energy was ridiculous. Others felt it went against their religion. 

There was also such high turnover in hotel spas we spent an incredible amount of time training new technicians only to see them go someplace else a few months later.

It sapped our ability to instill any depth of knowledge. And it went contrary to our objective of training technicians over time so that they’d ultimately perform the most superior treatments.

At that time, spa directors received no steady supervision. Sometimes they reported to the housekeeping department or front desk. New spa directors came on board bringing with them a different spa menu and skin care line.

Spas wanted to use skin care lines advertised in luxury magazines so they could make retail product sales with little effort. We didn’t have the budget for that. 

But all these years later, through trial and error, we’ve found our best avenues for sharing PHYTO5 Swiss skin care:

• generally smaller spas and skincare practices

• oriental medicine practices

• chiropractic offices

• wellness centers

• boutique hotels

• beauty salons

• individual skincare practitioners

This way we can be more effective with our training. And the customers of PHYTO5 skincare professionals receive the best service and most remarkable results.

Our PHYTO5 trained professionals are enamored with our philosophy, products and wonderful outcomes in skin and wellness. They stay with us because their clients become devoted to all our lines of products: quantum energetic Five Element, Swiss and Ageless La Cure.

We enjoy being a niche Swiss skin care line carried by dedicated technicians and purchased by faithful consumers right here at our retail site.

What our boutique Swiss skin care company does for skin is highly unique. It blends a philosophy, method and lifestyle approach to skincare rarely found these days. We invite you to sample it and experience the difference for yourself.

 …

 Endnotes:

1 The Jura Mountains are a sub-alpine mountain range located north of the Western Alps, mainly following the course of the France–Switzerland border. The Jura separates the Rhine and Rhône basins, forming part of the watershed of each. The name Jura derives from juria, a Latinized form of the Celtic stem jor- meaning forest. The mountain range gives its name to the Jurassic period of the geologic timescale from about 208 million to 146 million years ago. The Swiss Jura is one of the three distinct geographical regions of Switzerland, the others being the Swiss plateau and the Swiss Alps. In Switzerland, the range covers the western border with France.

2 Haute horlogerie is the high art of watchmaking.

Vital Energy Based Skincare Means It's Alive and Energetic

To be called energetic skincare the skincare must be alive and brimming with vital energy good for skin and body. Energetic skincare offers remarkable results because it works at both the level of matter (solids and fluid including skin) and energy (vital energy). But vital energy based skincare (like PHYTO5’s) is unusual and hard to find.

Richard Gerber, MD points out just how big a part vital energy plays in our physical makeup:

“The physical body is actually a complex network of interwoven energy fields.”

— Richard Gerber, M.D. in Vibrational Medicine: The #1 Handbook of Subtle-Energy Therapies

Ayurveda(1) calls vital energy prana. And traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) calls vital energy qi or chi. And though both disciplines observed and understood vital energy long ago vital energy is a modern concept. This is because quantum physics has recognized and demonstrated it.

Both matter and vital energy make up the human body.

Vital energy runs through the entire body constantly animating it. There’s no aspect of the body that doesn’t enjoy the charging effect of vital energy including skin.

The most efficient skincare products and spa treatments will always be those that work at both levels of matter and vital energy. So it makes sense that if you want to treat your skin as a whole unit you should use energetic skincare.

Energy medicine tells us health issues have a root cause in vital energy imbalance. Vital energy is blocked to some degree.

When your vital energy thrives and flows freely it creates balance, health, vitality and natural radiance. And your skin is one of the first places these qualities charged with life and energy show up. Vital energy is essential for physical healing and balance.

“Your body is a field of energy, information, and intelligence…capable of perpetual healing, renewal and transformation.”

— Deepak Chopra, M.D. in Grow Younger, Live Longer: Ten Steps to Reverse Aging

Energetic skincare brings out your natural beauty—an extension of your health and wellness—before you ever even apply makeup to your skin.

“Beauty is health made visible.”

— PHYTO5

High grade essential oils are key in energetic skincare.

The plants from which high grade essential oils are derived directly give your skin information. They’ve learned over time, often over eons of time, to survive and thrive. The information they’ve gathered is alive in their energetic essential oils. And through these oils they pass on their longevity codes to you through the skin.

In a former article, we wrote:

Our skincare ingredients penetrate the body and join the bloodstream to nourish not just skin but body. It stands to reason that nutrigenomics applies to the ‘nutrition’ we give topically to our skin…

This is why PHYTO5 creates skincare with high grade essential oils that have the ability to ‘communicate’ to the body ingesting them through the skin. 

Vital energy carries survival and longevity codes to your skin in this amazing plant to human interaction. The vital energy of the plants’ essential oils affects you and your skin on the quantum level.

“If we are beings of energy, it follows that we can be affected by energy. ”

— Richard Gerber, M.D. in Vibrational Medicine: The #1 Handbook of Subtle-Energy Therapies

PHYTO5 chemists take two important steps when formulating our energetic skincare.

PHYTO5 is the original pioneer in vital energy based skincare.

And we’ve taken our pioneering a number of steps further.

1. Our chemists at our factory in Switzerland select specific blends of essential oils to create a synergistic effect. Alone, each individual oil will do one thing but together they create a symphony of activity on a whole other level. As Aristotle said: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

2. These expert chemists formulate our five element lines (according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine) so that they’re even more than energetic. They’re quantum energetic. PHYTO5 developed a unique way to work with the vital energy in essential oils at the sub-atomic level to bring out their quantum level coding and deliver it in our skincare.

We design our five element quantum energetic formulations to optimize and balance the energy of the five fluids of the body according to TCM. Each of these fluids associates to one the five elements of TCM:

• vital energy for Wood

• red blood circulation for Fire

• lymph circulation for Earth

• blue blood circulation for Metal

• and water circulation for Water.

By balancing the energy of the body’s major fluids, you promote holistic balance in skin and the most fundamental or primary fluid is vital energy.

The Wood line of quantum energetic skincare focuses on balancing vital energy in skin.

The Wood line purifies oily skin and blackheads, lightens hyperpigmentation and stimulates the overall flow of vital energy.

It’s the energy of vital energy flow.

Since Wood is the ‘energy of the energy,’ trained PHYTO5 professionals start series of treatments with a general Wood treatment.

Consumers can also improve their overall vital energy flow by incorporating some Wood products such as Phyt’Ether serum or day or night cream. You would apply these at the beginning of a new energetic regimen to address your skin condition.

This list provides the five skin conditions of TCM and the quantum energetic line that balances each of them.

1. Wood: This line works to purify oily skin and blackheads, lighten hyperpigmentation and stimulate the flow of vital energy in general.

2. Fire: Regulate the energy of red blood circulation. Calm sensitive skin, redness, rosacea, and couperose.

3. Earth: Stimulate lymph flow.(2) Clarify blemished skin and fight acneic conditions. Reduce enlarged pores. Detoxify impurities.

4. Metal: Balance the energy of blue blood circulation. Oxygenate and mineralize. Plump fine lines and brighten skin. Decongest puffiness. Eliminate impurities.

5. Water: Balance the energy water circulation in skin. Hydrate, firm and tone mature, sun damaged skin.

Go beyond natural and choose energetic skincare for wellness in skin.

Skin provides an excellent medium for balancing vital energy. Always give your skincare regimen a foundation of vital energy balancing with authentic energetic skincare products.

Just because the label calls a skincare product organic or natural doesn’t mean it’s vital energy based.

Go beyond natural and choose energetic skincare strong with vital energy so you can give that to your skin. Then you’ll enjoy a truly holistic solution to your skin condition.

…

Endnotes:

1. Ayurveda is the traditional Hindu system of medicine based on the idea of balance in bodily systems and uses diet, herbal treatment, and yogic breathing.

2. Lymph is a a colorless fluid containing white blood cells. It bathes tissues and drains through the lymphatic system into the bloodstream.

…

Sources:

Chopra, Deepak. Grow Younger, Live Longer: Ten Steps to Reverse Aging. United States, Harmony/Rodale/Convergent, 2007.

Gerber, Richard. Vibrational Medicine: The #1 Handbook of Subtle-Energy Therapies. United States, Inner Traditions/Bear, 2001.

Some People Think Vital Energy Conflicts with Religion. It Doesn't.

Vital energy is a subtle energy that flows throughout the body. It has two primary functions confirmed by quantum physics:

1. Vital energy connects your body energetically to your environment.

2. It carries intelligent information to all cells of your body.

This is how vital energy sustains and encourages vibrant life and longevity.

Vital energy forms the foundation of today’s holistic health practices:

• energy medicine

• energetic skincare and

• wellness methodologies.

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.

Vital energy, though invisible, actually belongs to the material realm.

Matter and energy are two sides of the same coin. An interchange constantly occurs between energy and matter.

Einstein proved that vital energy is part of and one with our physical aspect. He proved that matter predictably converts into energy and energy into matter with his famous formula: E=mc².

And since energy and matter are interchangeable, it follows that if God created one of the two, God also created the other.

Take the analogy of water as a case in point. It’s a liquid that can also be a solid as ice or a vapor as steam. In spite of changing form, it’s always the same chemical composition: H₂O.

Creation encompasses more than simply the visible and material realm.

We can see, hear or measure some forms of energy with sophisticated scientific equipment.

Invisible realities like love, honesty, and mathematics create no direct visible effect.

Energy isn’t visible. You can’t see electricity. What you see and call electricity are its manifestations. Wind isn’t visible but its manifestations are.

We don’t yet have the equipment or the knowledge to objectively prove and measure many forms of energy. We can only surmise their existence because of the effects they cause.

This applies to the subtle energy flowing throughout your body and your pet’s. We can’t measure our vital energy but we know it exists because as it diminishes the body decays. And when it fully diminishes the body dies.

We take many natural manifestations of invisible energy around us for granted.

For instance, a wave isn’t an undulation of water moving through the ocean. A huge ripple of energy moves through water to create a wave.

The changes of the seasons reflect changes in the energies surrounding us affecting all life forms.

In the gross corporeal body, many energetic functions keep the body alive. Once the body dies, it’s still chemically made of the same substance of a second ago, but there’s no more vital energy.

When it comes to death of the body, for many it also means the soul has vacated the body. But don’t confuse the soul with vital energy simply because they’re both invisible and exit the body at the same time. They’re two distinct entities.

• The soul is spiritual substance.

• Vital energy is the substance of the manifested (the visible as matter or invisible as vital energy).

Spirit belongs to a realm higher than the material.

Some time honored belief systems understood the symbiosis of physical body and vital energy.

Native and Meso-American traditions and the Eastern philosophies of India, China and Japan understood the interplay of corporal body and vital energy. They understood vital energy essential for physical health. And as a result, these systems birthed a number of healing modalities and philosophies.

Gnosis sees vital energy as one of seven fundamental energies of the human being:

1. physical energy

2. vital energy

3. psychic or emotional energy

4. mental energy

5. energy of the will

6. consciousness energy and

7. pure Spirit energy.

African religions believe in vital energy.

The concept of vital energy appears in the manifestos of Kabbalah, Hermeticism, and Rosicrucianism.

You can see it evident in much of the imagery of Christianity. It  depicts vital energy as the energy that endows life itself.

Having always existed in the human body, vital energy is even more ancient than the religions and traditions themselves.

Some people think of vital energy as esoteric and spiritual. Many think the idea of vital energy conflicts with their religious beliefs. But deeply religious people of all faiths work with vital energy in energy medicine with their integrity intact.

Only misunderstandings about the intrinsic nature of vital energy create misgivings and inner conflict. Vital energy can’t run contrary to religious beliefs since it’s a reflection of the unseen Life Force of the Infinite Itself. This is a concept most religions should have no problem accepting.

“As above, so below. As within, so without. As the universe, so the soul.(1)”

— Hermes Trismegistus

…

Endnotes:

(1) This axiom is attributed to Hermes Trismegistus (from the Greek, Hermes the Thrice Greatest) syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth (pronounced Tay-hoh-tet). He’s the purported author of the Hermetica or Hermetic writings on subjects of astrology, magic and alchemy.

Image of Albert Einstein generated at Midjourney by the author

The Chinese New Year 2025 Animal Is the Green Wood Snake

On January 29, 2025, the Chinese New Year of the transformational green Wood Snake slithers into action. (In the Chinese zodiac, each of 12 animals represents one of the five elements of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM): Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal or Water.) 1965 marked the last Wood Snake New Year.

The first day of every Chinese lunar New Year begins on the new moon occurring in the time period January 21 to February 20. The Chinese also call the lunar New Year celebration, Spring Festival.

2025 is a yin Wood year because it ends in the numeral ‘5.’  Yin energy is mysterious and discreet while yang is out front and dynamic.

The Chinese New Year 2025 animal, snake, is a very yin energy stealth kind of animal. So the 2025 yin Wood Snake year will see many breakthroughs achieved in secrecy or silence.

Snake represents having a profound inner world. So we’ll experience yin themes of inward contemplation and intuition as we feel moved to reevaluate our goals and more elegantly navigate our personal growth.

The graceful skin shedding Snake will support us to discard antiquated beliefs and freshen our attitudes and perspectives.

Freshen your skin with PHYTO5’s quantum energetic Wood element line. It purifies oily skin and blackheads, lightens hyperpigmentation and increases vital energy flow. 

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.

Don’t assume Snake’s an animal of darkness or evil.

Snake is the Chinese zodiac’s most enigmatic archetype. The Chinese very much respect Snake although as far as zodiacal signs go:

“[The Chinese NewYear 2025 animal Snake is the] most negative force of all the signs.”

— Damian Sharp in Simple Chinese Astrology

This Chinese New Year may see pressures of inflated prices continue and other lingering effects of the pandemic.

Geopolitical tensions will persist. According to China President Xi Jinping:

“We are at a cusp of a change not seen in a hundred years.”

Does your personality align with the Chinese Near Year 2025 animal, Snake?

If you were born in 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, or 2001, you were born in a Snake year. Your personality aligns with the Chinese New Year 2025 animal Snake.

Snake personalities are wise and innovative. They’re flexible, super creative, patient, philosophical, diplomatic and wisely compromising. Snakes are seductive and charming, protective and sheltering, generous and shining bright lights.

Add to Snake the element of Wood and green Wood Snake is all about harmony, beauty, organization, and luxurious environments. This Snake personality holds deep admiration for expertise with a penchant for things high quality and exquisite.

If you were born in 1965, you’re the same as the Chinese Near Year 2025 animal–green Wood Snake. Chances are good you enjoy a high degree of self-confidence and iron will. Green Wood Snake is always perfect and ready to fight for a just cause.

This Chinese New Year 2025 should be a year of enormous transformation.

Snake years are always transformational years. But they don’t happen by accident.

Most of the change and transformation that occurs is quietly backed by people exercising yin qualities and approaches:

• intelligence

• advance preparation

• strategic planning

• cautiousness

• calculated action

• contemplation and

• reflection on what works and what doesn’t work.

Going through this transformation, the Chinese Near Year 2025 animal Snake will drive us to realize our ambitions and bring massive opportunities to evolve. The best part is green Wood Snake will also help us stay calm and serene through it all.

Green Wood Snake might be the most creative and sociable of all the Snakes so this New Year should see lots of new deep meaningful connections.

The lunar New Year should will host innovation and an even more rapid pace of emerging new technologies, especially AI, biotech, green technologies and renewable energy.

Green Wood Snake energy will encourage the birth and growth of imaginative enterprises and new healing technologies around the world in 2025. It may be a year that emphasizes green environmental sustainability.

The high likelihood exists that governmental policy changes will move industries out of China to other parts of the world according to Evelyn Tan and P. C. Wong in 2025 Wood Snake Year Astrology and Global Trend Forecast.

On the spiritual level, the yin aspect of the Chinese Near Year 2025 animal Snake will buoy increased interest in magic and mysteries. As Snake pushes us to go inward we’ll expand our spiritual nature as long as we follow its guidance.

…

Sources:

Wang, Gabrielle. The Race for the Chinese Zodiac. United States, Candlewick Press, 2013.

Snake Horoscope 2023. N.p., Alina A Rubi, 2023.

Tan, Evelyn and P. C. Wong. 2025 Wood Snake Year Astrology & Global Trends Forecast: Identifying Trends to Protect & Grow Your Investment. N.p., 2024.

Sharp, Damian. Simple Chinese Astrology. Ireland, Red Wheel/Weiser, 2007.

Chinese Horoscope 2025. Australia, Hermes Astrology, 2024.

Image of the Chinese New Year 2025 Animal Green Wood Snake generated at Midjourney by the author

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.

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.

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 benefit not just body but mind and spirit too. How positively chakra balance can affect you depends on your receptivity. When you understand and balance your chakras you create 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

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

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.