September: Equinox Botanicals (Ohio) fieldtrip with the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine (九月：去森林農場郊遊）
November: welcome, Winter （十一月： 進入冬眠美夢）
11.30.2013
September, October, November
11.27.2013
gratitude 感恩
I love my family
strangers in a foreign land
this place has become home
I love my family
diverging skin colors
birthed from Earth
we are made
whole
感恩家人
感恩世界家人
11.03.2013
Colorado, next
Dear family and friends, (中文在底下！）
New moon blessings!
Most of the leaves have fallen, except for the golden beech leaves and evergreen needles that will hang on all winter. How does the landscape look where you are, now?
I leave Ithaca, NY (home for almost a year) in mid-December. Living here, I've found a good balance between learning, working, and playing... and feel embraced by (and also in love with) the community of people and nature around me. I feel so blessed here. And it is time to go.
I'm moving to Boulder, CO to attend the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism from January until June 2014, for their advanced herbalism program.
If you have Boulder connections, then please let me know. I'm looking for housing, a fulfilling part-time job, and like-minded/ like-hearted community there.
I am also open to study/work/play suggestions driving between California and Colorado, and after Colorado too.
Thanks for your input, regarding my previous email about massage and/or graduate school. I am still considering those possibilities. But first, more herbs! It's exciting to bring more focus into my life, studies, and work. Besides my herbal studies, I continue teaching yoga (challenging and fulfilling), and cultivating improvisational dance/song (my favorites). I hope to weave nature education back into my life again as well. And, I remain open to possibility, giving space for all the small birds to sing.
Happy holidays! May your belly-oven be stoked with yummy nourishing foods, and your heart warm and full of daily blessings that radiate in all directions, bringing you light in this season of surrender and transition/ transformation. I wish you good health in all ways, always. Let me know if you have any herbal/ yoga-related questions-curiosities-insights (practice time!). Thanks for the inspiration and reflection that you bring to my life, you bright beautiful star!
Loving blessings,
Jiling
家人們好！
秋天葉子都差不多掉光了。只剩冬天的白天空， 天天送下來飄飄的雨， 有時毛毛的小冰塊。 快要下雪了。
你們那兒， 現在開起來怎麼樣？ 冬天到了沒？ 什麼樣的景象？
我在十二月中要離開這個紐約州森林家， 回加州拜訪爸媽兩個禮拜。
2014年一開始， 就要搬到Colorado州去另一個學校， Colorado藥草學院。 我打算在Colorado上課從一月到六月。 之後， 再說！ 我還在考錄研究所或是學按摩， 但一步一步， 慢慢來！
感恩你的祝福！
祝你心想事成， 溫馨夢醒！:)
Love,
基玲
~~~~~~~
Jiling . 林基玲
Jiling . 林基玲
11.01.2013
natural lubricants
My herb school class project presentation was on the topic of "Natural Vaginal Lubricants." I hope that this information is helpful to you. I have not personally experimented with most of the listed recipes. These lubes are primarily for female-bodied folks, especially post-menopausal women, but are also safe to use for other forms of intercourse. Enjoy, and play safe!
~~~
BOTANICA EROTICA
Natural vaginal lubricants for pleasurable sexual health
THE MOST NATURAL LUBE OF ALL
- Vaginal secretions from sufficient arousal/ foreplay
- Spit (though not for women with vaginal sensitivities)
- General health. Consider diet, exercise, hydration… then, herbs.
YOUR LUBE OPTIONS
- Water-based lubes (safe, but may need reapplication)
- Silicone-based lubes (unsafe with silicone devices)
- Oil-based lubes (longest lasting, but deteriorates latex)
SIMPLE NATURAL LUBES
- Aloe vera gel (considered a water-based lube)
- Coconut oil (buy organic extra virgin)
INGREDIENTS TO AVOID IN COMMERCIAL LUBES
- benzene derivatives (sodium benzoate, methyl, ethyl, propylparaben, benzoate of soda, boric acid), propylene glycol, parabens, salicylates, anammic aldehyde (in “hot” lubes), synthetic fragrances, glycerine (for irritation/infection-prone folks)
TWO ALOE-BASED COMMERCIAL LUBES
- Aloe Cadabra
- Good Clean Love
FOOD AS MEDICINE
- Essential fatty acids (from fish, olive oil, hemp, flax, walnut, almonds, dark leafy greens, whole grain foods)
- Seaweed (and other iron sources)
- Healthy fats (unsaturated fats, only)
- Eat phytoestrogenic foods (ie. Soy, beans, flax, etc)
TEAS AND TINCTURES: INTERNAL LUBRICANTS
Nourishing herbal infusions
- Chickweed – Nettle - Violet – Linden - Red clover
More stimulating female tonic herbs
- Shatavari – Ashwaganda
Relaxing herbal aphrodisiacs
- damiana - roses - jasmine - tulsi
Heating/ stimulating herbal aphrodisiacs
- cardamom – maca - cocoa – galangal - ginger
DIY RECIPES: VAGINAL LUBRICANTS
Oil infusions (to use solo or in combination)
- soothing herbs (comfrey, calendula, St. Johnswort, roses, chickweed, plantain)
- demulcent herbs (also good in teas) (slippery elm root, marshmallow root, oats)
- estrogenic herbs (not for pregnancy) (wild yam, black cohosh)
- tissue- healing herbs (gotu kola, comfrey, calendula)
Basic template for vaginal lubrication salve
- ¼ C infused oil
- ½ C oil (ie. coconut, jojoba, almond, avocado, olive oil)
- ¾ oz beeswax
- 1 T Vitamin E (or grapefruit seed extract, preservative)
- (optional) essential oils (ie. Lavender, rose otto, rose geranium, chamomile, sandalwood)
Flax Seed Goo (a water-based lube by Sheri Winston)
- 1 C whole flax seeds
- 6 C water
Bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for 6 minutes. Turn off heat, then let sit another 6 minutes. Strain, and it’s ready to use! Can store in the fridge for 2 months.
Yoni Butter (aphrodisiac and lubricant by Aviva Romm)
- ½ C cocoa butter
- ½ C coconut oil
- 4 oz unsweetened dark chocolate
- 2 T marshmallow root powder (or slippery elm root powder)
- ¼ tsp lavender essential oil (or other essential oil)
Ride and Glide (a nourishing lubricant by Margi Flint)
- 0.8 oz grated beeswax
- ¼ C infused oil (with black cohosh, comfrey root, calendula, wild yam)
- ¼ C coconut oil
Combine and heat the above ingredients, then add:
- 1 T wheat germ oil
- 1 T vitamin E oil
- 1 tsp emulsified vitamin A
- essential oils of 30 drops lavender, 30 drops rose geranium, 10 drops rose otto
Coconut oil suppositories
Coconut oil with your choice of other oils (ie. Jojoba, vitamin E, wheat germ, evening primrose, borage, black currant seed oil). Warm and mix the oils together, then freeze in ice trays to harden. Cut each cube into 2-3 sticks. Use a stick before sex or before sleep.
Herbal ointment (esp. for post-menopausal women)
(by Rosemary Gladstar, herbalist)
Oil infusions, with:
1 part comfrey leaf and root
1 part St. Jonswort
1 part calendula
Heat the oils, then add grated beeswax (1/4 C beeswax for each cup of oil), until beeswax melts. Then let cool.
(Optional: vitamin E, cocoa butter, coconut, etc. oils)
~ by Jiling Lin, 2013 ~
Please contact me with any questions!
MEDICAL DISCLAIMER
This information is not intended to diagnose or treat any conditions. All material provided on this website is provided for informational or educational purposes only. And, this information is by no means exhaustive--- there are more plants to explore!
10.18.2013
滿心滿星滿月滿林夢舞
啊！ 一個月又過了！ 朋友， 家人們， 你好！ 祝你滿月快樂！
昨晚， 下大雨。 我們每個星期四都在診所工作到很晚才回家。 我陪老師開車上山回家時， 剛好開始下大雨。 我喜歡看斜斜的雨一浪一浪的打在車窗上。 我們慢慢的開上山， 聊天。 我好喜歡聽老師的故事。 我的老師很會說笑話。 他的教課方式很特別。 他一點都不嚴肅。 他的課又零活有趣，又充滿了智慧和知識。 這個老師是我生活中最喜歡的某一個老師。 真感恩。
昨晚回到家之後， 看到木屋裡了地板都是水。 雨下太大了， 屋頂漏水了！ 雖然住在這兒感覺又豐富又浪漫， 但也沒那麼容易！ 我需要把水從鄰居家提到木屋。 木屋裡沒電， 沒水。 我用毛巾和臉盆搓身體洗澡。 我每天晚上用蠟燭和頭燈來讀書。 早上， 如果前天沒下雨， 我就練瑜伽在木屋旁邊。 那兒的地被我天天練瑜伽都踩平了。
今晚在滿月月光底， 我在森林散步， 感覺好滿足， 心中充滿了愛。 我對這塊土地感到好多愛。 我看了它春夏秋的神聖轉變。 現在要進入冬眠了。
我要陪著野鴨往西邊飛了。。。 我對離開這兒感到很傷心， 但也要提醒我自己： 學期要結束了。 時間到了。 我需要把我所有所學的智慧帶出去， 繼續分享， 繼續學習， 繼續探險， 冒險， 和慢慢的創世界， 闖世界， 幫世界上的人們打開心中的窗口， 呼吸新鮮空氣， 跳出窗外， 在月光底陪著野狼和貓頭鷹朋友們野蠻美好開心又創又闖的跳舞， 跳舞， 跳舞！ 整夜整天， 身心靈， 野創靈舞蹈。
我無法用我知道的中文解釋我心中的感覺， 唱出我心中的詩歌。 所以， 只能創造我自己的字和語法， 來至我美國人的腦袋。 希望你聽的懂！
除了藥草學以外， 我現在還在教瑜伽和鋼琴。 我也做陪著女人圈創舞蹈和唱歌， 表演。 從這兒的舞蹈圈， 我交了一些新朋友。 我陪新朋友開始學systema武術基本式。 下個月， 學期結束之後， 我也要開始陪又個新朋友交換音樂： 我教他鋼琴， 他教我吉塔。 我的生活充滿了學習， 人朋友， 森林朋友， 植物朋友， 和。。。 書朋友！ 太棒了。
學校下個月就結束了！ 時間過來太快了！ 我和兩個學姐們是老師的apprentice, 要留到十二月才離開。 我很不想要離開！！！ （但時間到了。 傷心！ 但， 感恩。）
我現在打算十二月離開之後去拜訪一些東北部的朋友， 然後飛或是搭火車回加州拜訪爸媽一兩個禮拜。 去拿車子， 然後開車去Colorado州去陪下一個老師獅子培訓（哈哈。。。獅子！師徒？）。 我打算繼續學藥草治療方式。 好，哦！！！
晚了。 火快滅了。 我不要加更多木頭。 明天一大早要陪我情愛的老師和學生們上山去享受秋葉， 和討論冬天的樹和植物， 藥方， 等。 現在， 我要窩進溫暖的毛毯堆去放鬆，睡覺， 做月底夢了。 明早， 再跳舞起床， 陪老師， 陪森林， 陪所有朋友們， 去學習， 冒險， 探索， 和享受人生的高高低低， 點點滴滴， 夢想呈現出來的舞蹈。
祝你跳出你心中所夢現的舞蹈。
敬， 基玲
--
10.06.2013
Exhale
during yoga practice this morning
wet leaves on the ground from
sunrise rainfall
golden leaf showers falling
autumn all around
I looked up as I rose up from a forward bend
bow down to the Earth
rising up, catching my own eyes in my little mirror
surrounded by feathers
I caught myself
smiling into my own eyes in the mirror and
I caught myself
I caught someone and
something brief, glinting, rare, transient
I paused in my practice
to look more deeply into my own eyes
caught by my own gaze
these eyes
the skin, the face that surrounds the eyes
this body that moves, breathes, dances so fluidly
it feels pain, joy, flow, divinity
I feel pain, joy, flow, divinity
and it is all passing through
passing on by
movement constant
awareness fleeting
like so many geese flying south
the crows dancing on the thermals
responding to my caws by flying back
looping around in the sky
thus goes these eyes
these transient shining eyes
with skin, a face that changes moment to moment, and daily
I am getting older
my friends and family are all getting older
this life waits for no one
I tear my eyes away from my own eyes
reflected in the mirror
reflecting and flexing my spine
back downwards towards the Earth
inhaling my right leg back into a forward lunge
moving through my daily morning routine of sun salutations
every movement a prayer
of gratitude and deepest surrender
a wakening of the body
a tingling of the senses
a reconnection with the Universe
this movement
dynamic equilibrium
running downhill on the slippery orange autumn slope
running down into a small grove of young trees
but they are still older than I
they seem to hold me
as I run down into their embrace
laughing at the cold wind bumping against my chest
this week we studied the respiratory system
I feel my breath flowing through my body
I can see it interlacing with the breath of the rainbow-colored trees
at the bottom of the hill,
I fall to my knees
naturally curling myself into child position
a supine prayer position with my body curled into a turtle shape
my heart flat against the Earth
I breathe in and out
deeply inhaling the autumnal sweetness of the Earth
and exhaling the heat of my own breath into the damp leaves below me
and the rain falls down
in fat droplets that saturate my spine
and penetrate to my core
sending leaves raining down
like all the rainbows fluttering forth
to blanket me in natural beauty
raindrops bouncing off the rainbow leaves below me
the sound of a zillion small drums dancing
rhythmically pulsing
with the beating of my heart
heavy against the forest floor
fast from running
and faster from pure
delight
exhale, exhale, exhale
in dance class
Teacher Wu taught us how to fly
the secret is in the exhale
when you leap into the air
leap on an exhale
allow the wind to grab you
spin you around
in acupuncture class
Teacher Zeng taught us how to
send energy while setting our own energetic boundaries
setting needles into our patients
on the exhale
perineum held tight
root chakra, mula bandha in yoga
exhale, exhale, exhale
Igor guides me around the trees
punching me over and over,
in our systema martial arts practice
exhale with each punch
let it go
let it fall away
exhaling to fly
exhaling to establish boundaries
exhaling to relax into it all
do the autumn leaves also
exhale
as they
let go
from the trees that held them
so dear
and
f
a
l
l
to the
Earth?
9.23.2013
autumn leaf portraits
and,
t he geese are flying south, honking across the sky!
fire in the woodstove
soups and starches into the belly!
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