Archive for September, 2007

Recently I met the incredibly talented Natalie Burgess of yoga and baby massage famein Margaret River, Western Australia.
Natalie originally approached Moon Haven to formulate an unscented massage oil suitable for use in her yoga baby massage classes for new mums and their babes. We found that our unscented massage oil base to be the perfect combination of oils for both mother and babes skin.
Natalie is now offering an incredible series of workshops dealing with yoga for pregnancy, labour and beyond.  Armed with her beautifully written manual I set about putting together a suitable aromatherapy kit for use in the later stages of pregnancy and through labour and the birth periods and would be suitable to offer to Natalie’s workshop participants. The result was our new Labour of Love Aromatherapy Birth Kit.

With two salves – Achy Breaky Rub for the aches and pains of the latter stages of pregnancy and the lower back aches of early labour and Calendula Salve to assist when performing Perineal Massage ( i can feel you all cringe from here!) we were off to  a good start.
With the help of Stacey (of Herb Girl fame) we set about formulating two essential oil blends – one to soothe and relax during the first anxious stages of labour and one to help with focussing and activating labour during the transition and the second stage right up until birth.

We also wanted the two blends to be able to be blended together so that the transition was smooth and not jarring.  So that the oil burner did not need to be cleaned out but one oil could be placed on top of the other and still remain pleasant.

The resultant birth blends are

• Prelude for the first stages and after the birth
• In the Moment for the later stages of labour and the actual birth

Based on uplifitng Mandarin both blends are delightful on their own but come into their own when they are combined.  As Prelude tapers off and In the Moment takes over the scents released are quite amazing.

We have had wonderful feedback from our testers I look forward to welcoming our new mums and their lovely babes into Moon Haven and listening to their birth stories. I will keep you all posted.

I know at Moon Haven we are often considered a bit OTT (over the top) with our passion about what we do, extremely open and willing to share, help and give advice and of ourselves freely and at the drop of a hat.

For a long time I thought of these attributes as signs of naivety and felt a little embarrassed at how corny it all appeared.

But I have had a bit of a revelation… an epiphany so to speak.

Today a lady and her partner came into Moon Haven and after looking around for a few minutes approached Kezza- our delightful and  longest serving front of house gal- to ask for advice on a skin issue.

Kezza asked me to take a look and we came up with a few solutions for this lovely lady to try.

As I felt the issue was temporary and only needed a small amount of product, I provided our client with a small sample to use over the next week or so…free of charge. (Calendula salve is a wonder for many things!)
The look of incredulousness that crossed the clients face was a delight and I got that small warm glow in the solar plexus that makes me feel good and passionate about what we do.

And at that moment it all clicked into place in my own mind

Who cares if we appear naive or corny or even overly willing to be taken advantage of… because if we get that warm glow in the very inner part of ourselves because we have done a good thing… then that is all that really matters.

How others perceive us is important but not half as important as how we perceive ourselves.

So I for one will continue to feel and do and be just who I am… i may appear naive and overly trusitng to some but it is the way I prefer to see the world and live within it.

And guess what … 99.9% of the time others appreciate it for what we are. (although I still give a silent chuckle every time I see the look of incredulousness flicker over a visitors face!)

I sometimes forget how beautiful an area we live in.

We were reminded of how stunning our corner of the world is this week when Eric’s lovely daughter Allyson visited us from Hawaii and we got to play tourist.

We live in the beautiful Margaret River Wine Region in the south west corner of Western Australia.

While the weather was unkind (we are in the middle of winter) the raw beauty surrounding us more than made up for it.

From the absolute power of the ocean at Canal Rocks and Augusta to the absolute serenity of Boranup Forest (one of my most favourite places to just sit and listen).

Of course we also visited the favourite haunts like the Margaret River Chocolate Factory and Candy Cow as well as the Margaret River Cheese Factory.

To top it all off we spent time at Moon Haven selecting gifts for Allyson’s two gorgeous kids (our delightful grandchildren) Kainalu (10) and Kalei (8) as well as stocking up on all the necessary salves (Achy Breaky and Universal Herbal Ointment especially) and aromatherapy supplies.

After 6 short days we saw Allyson off at the Perth Airport and we are back at Moon Haven up to our elbows in fun …and appreciating even more why we live where we live.