Project Pet is an educational effort designed TO EMPOWER YOU & YOUR
PETS TO LIVE NOURISHED LIVES! Today, we share about using Essential Oils with cats. 

Contrary to what you may have heard, MANY essential oils are safe for animals.* However, there ARE
essential oils (EO) to AVOID with felines as some cats simply don't carry the liver enzymes needed to
process EO high in specific compounds. Click cat_eo_pp.pdf for more info., including 5 EO purrfect for your favorite felines.

There seems to be an extensive amount of information and mis-information on the internet about using essential oils (EO) on or with animals, especially with cats. So, how do we know where to begin? Let’s start with this article, one in a series designed to move us from fear to fact while caring
for the animals in our lives naturally! A holistic health practitioner who specializes in animal reiki shares expert tips on safety, use and key oils she always has on-hand for the animals in her life in this series.
Link to full article; https: bit.ly/4dQuIVi and found in BRAINZ Magazine online. 
Source: BRAINZ Magazine

Project Pet is Education with a Purpose. Through this initiative, we're sharing information to empower you and your pets to live nourished lives holistically.
Today, a quick overview of essential oil use with your canine companions. Contrary to what you may have heard, MANY essential oils are safe for animals*, especially dogs.
However, dogs & their noses are FAR more sensitive to the scent & energies in essential oils (EO) than humans so please use with care. Introduce EO gradually, opening a bottle in a different room & letting the animal come to you. Then, work your way up to more direct contact. Always trust your dog’s instincts on use.
Download the following complimentary guide for our 5 favorite essential oils for your canine companions: canine_eo.pdf
Be sure to email if you have any questions or would like to book a consultation and/or reiki session:  [email protected].
*Please check with your holistic vet before adding EO to your dog’s care.

An Old World plant found commonly in Europe, Africa and Asia, chicory was introduced to the Americas and Australia where it flourished.

With common names such as coffee weed, horseweed, bachelor's buttons, wild endive, blue dandelion or even blue daisy, the woody perennial (an herbaceous member of the Asteraceae family) features bright blue flowers and is often found gracing our roadways and open fields.

Since each part of the plant (leaves, roots and buds) provide benefits, chicory has been cultivated for livestock and human consumption. Throughout Europe, along with parts of Asia, South Africa and the southern US (New Orleans), the root is ground into a powder and used either as a coffee substitute or blended with coffee due to its robust flavor. Additionally, chicory is often added to stouts by breweries, enhancing the beer's coffee-like flavor.

With 20% of the RDA of vitamins K, A, C, several Bs along with fair amounts of manganese and calcium, the leaves are often added to salads. You may be more familiar with the cultivated varieties like radicchio and Belgian endive.  

HISTORY
Use of the ancient herb dates back to 1 AD when the physicians Dioscurides (Greek) and Plinius (Roman) made notes of chicory used as medicinal plants to aid digestion, support the liver and address inflammation. However, it wasn't until the Renaissance when "recipes" for its use began being documented (quantities, ratios, cooking methods, etc.).

According to the National Library of Medicine, "Chicory is mentioned in almost every pharmacopeia written in the 16th and 17th centuries by influential botanists and physicians of the time... In their recipes, all plant parts were used: roots, leaves, stems, flowers, seeds, and the milky juice." Unfortunately, as allopathic medicine took hold, the plant faded from books and use.

BENEFITS
With high levels of the fiber inulin (68%), chicory is a wonderful pre-biotic that helps grow the gut's good bacteria, nourishing the entire digestive tract, reducing heartburn and constipation. The fiber also makes chicory "heart healthy", lowering "bad cholesterol" (LDL). 

Research into both human and livestock uses are just beginning to reveal what our ancestors benefited from by incorporating this plant into their daily lives. Research shared on WebMD lists benefits ranging from increased essential mineral absorption (reducing risk of osteoporosis) to reducing risks of liver disorders, inflammation of the skin, even cancer.

​From "food for the sick", anti-inflammatory applications to its addition to cosmetics, chicory has a long, rich history in common culture and medical practices. Today, it is being re-discovered by the allopathic community and researched for the very properties relied on by holistic healers and native elders for centuries.

I just received my first bag of RYZE Chicory (blended with super shrooms) and look forward to experiencing the benefits! Have you tried this ancient herb? Drop your thoughts in the comments!

For more information or with questions, email [email protected]. Be sure to follow me on Insta & Facebook @NourishedPath and explore abundant living at nourishedpath.net!

I’ve sat with grief long enough in life to know it’s the cavernous echos of love.

In those deep hollowed spaces lurk panic and fear.

Still. Be still with it. Breathe while the silence rings in your ears. When the ache resonates in your chest.

Be still with it. Let it take you…at least some of the time…let it take you under.

Into the dark side of love…the loss.

What do you see? Your darkness, doubt and light.

What do you feel? The ache where love once danced for joy.

What do you know? That life, whether we want it to or not, does go on.

It’s a cruel truth, the harsh reality. But, also the quiet reassurance found in the promise of the rainbow, the return of sunshine after the storm.

The peace that trickles into the pain after a good cry.

A chuckle or smile that slips through with a memory.

Life is a cycle — inherently paired with endings…

birth, growth, death, renewal.

So, I sit with my grief. Rage at it. Speak to it. Hold its hand even as it pulls me apart from my loved ones…even from myself.

I breathe with it riding my shoulders. Flooding my mind. Creeping in on my laughter.

I allow it. I make space at the table of life for death…grief and all its guests.

Why? Because it knocks on all our doors, floods our hearts, upends our lives like an uninvited houseguest that even if asked will not leave.

It is. Like love just IS.

We cannot hide long from love or loss. Both finds us. Break us open.

Whether that fissure drains us dry or reveals something new is really up to us.

The hope is a good death. A good life and good grief.

Can you make space for this?

DM for practical support. Reiki. Healy. Being heard.