Uncommon Yarrow: Skin, Body, Spirit

the multiple colors of yarrow, a thousand leaves

wild yarrow flowers

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

"Yarrow is an ancient herb revered for its spiritual, physical, and magical healing properties. It is an herb of Venus and named for the great hero Achilles (achillea) and a thousand leaves (millefolium). Yarrow lives up to these legendary associations with its incredible scope of medicinal benefits. Magically, yarrow is used for courage, healing, and love."

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harvested yarrow, fresh flowers and leaves ready for distillation

In my massage and skincare treatments I incorporate plants and plant based products. During a massage session, that can mean the deep tissue/muscular elements of a treatment in combination with a flower essence along the spine to provide the more subtle and energetic elements of healing. It can also be a drop or two of an essential oil mixed with the organic massage oil to provide aromatherapy benefits. It can be comfrey infused organic olive oil. Plants work energetically and medicinally and are an integral part of my practice.

In facial treatments plants are present everywhere. Botanical elements are in all the details - from the scent of the hot towels to each and every product chosen (cleanser, healing balms, hydrosols, clays, herbs, serums). Everything is sourced with care, each product line is thoughtfully chosen, and every element is deliberately considered. Each plant chosen for your facial is specifically designed for you on that day. My backbar apothecary allows me to craft each and every treatment in unique ways.

Why is Yarrow so imbued in what I do? Yarrow is a deeply nourishing and healing plant that can be used for soothing sore muscles, healing bruises, and cleansing the skin.

Yarrow has deep roots in mythology. It is both ancient and modern, grounded and divine. It is transmutable. Yarrow has a wide breadth of healing physical properties that often mirror it's more ethereal and spiritual qualities. It has been known throughout history as a wound healer. It can stop bleeding. It is a perennial herb that grows wild in fields, tamed in garden boxes, finds roots in tough soil, is available and plenty, hardy and strong. Although also known as common yarrow, it is not common. Yarrow is exceptional, extraordinary, remarkable, salient, and very much, uncommon. Asali, a "Black queer femme community healer and earthworker", writes about yarrow:

"Call in Yarrow's magic to help banish melancholy from your body, mind, and spirit that has set in and seems immovable. Allow it to be the support or shelter when everything seems to be spinning out of your control, let it help you ground yourself as you re-establish your foundation.

Yarrow grounds without holding down, which makes it extremely useful for those looking through the veil, helping to provide clarity and discernment... For those of us who move through the world with bleeding hearts, never mistake your deep empathy for weakness. Instead support it with your natural ally, Yarrow."

Yarrow is an ancient herb revered for its spiritual, physical, and magical healing properties. It is an herb of Venus and named for the great hero Achilles (achillea) and a thousand leaves (millefolium). Yarrow lives up to these legendary associations with its incredible scope of medicinal benefits. Magically, yarrow is used for courage, healing, and love. As a skin healer, yarrow is anti-inflammatory by nature, which is also what makes it such an effective wound mender. The flower and leaf are revitalizing to the skin and can be distilled into hydrosols or oils, used in cleansers, serums, toners, moisturizers, masks and balms. Yarrow promotes circulation, can act as a tonic, and a soothing agent. It can be in your first aid kit, your kitchen, and part your beauty regimen.

Yarrow can also be used in flower essences. Flower essences are vibrational medicines that connect with us on a deep emotional level. The idea is that every flower contains its own innate wisdom and therapeutic properties. Flower essences capture the imprint of the flower in water. Unlike hydrosols or other distillations, essences are the energetic actions of the flower, they are not biochemical. They are about releasing emotional patterns and underlying feelings and unwinding on the spiritual or soul level. Yarrow is a guardian, a heart protector, and a teacher. It assists in allowing us to work when our cups are full, and not when we are depleted, by creating an energetic boundary. It is an excellent healer for healers. It propels us towards lightness, roots us in the earth, and fortifies the spirit.

Yarrow can be incorporated into any facial or massage. It can enhance the treatment and deepen the healing element to both skincare and bodywork. It is truly a dynamic and beautiful plant. When you schedule a treatment with me, you experience the richness of an integrated whole body and whole plant nurturing massage, facial, or combination of both.

It is truly my honor to work with my clients and to be able to assist them on their healing journey. Our skin is our largest organ. It is our connection to the world around us. It is intrinsically connected to ourselves. I can say with absolute honesty that it is very rare we see ourselves the way others do. How beautiful would it be to see the light in ourselves the way we are able to see it in each other? If I can do anything, I hope it is to help people feel loved and more loving towards themselves.

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