MERCADO SAGRADO IN SANTA MONICA JULY 12TH

JOIN US for a magical evening at Mercado DE La Luna in CALIFORNIA

MERCADO DE LA LUNA

WEDNESDAY, JULY 12 | 5PM - Midnight

THE VICTORIAN
2640 Main Street in Santa Monica

Gather with us under the summer moon for a night market with our favorite makers plus a salón talk, live jams & DJ sets curated by Earthtones + dancing!

Mercado De La Luna is a free event, no tickets needed.

MUSICAL MEDICINE

The medicine we make in our own hearts is a sacred alchemy.  Music has long been my vehicle of transmutation and transcendence.  I am blessed to have this sacred process of reflection to be able to witness myself in the depths of my psyche, and to share this process with others.  May this song uplift and inspire you to believe in yourself and in the beauty of the humanity we share.

WORMHOLE OF WELLNESS

A lifestyle anchored in wellness is one of the only true measurements of wealth. From what I have learned from researching and experiencing longevity hubs in global blue zones, wellness is a path guided by the heart. A lifestyle based in the best practices of health can flourish with daily dedication to making conscious choices that are in your best interest in the immediate and long term. Future vision is essential to transmuting and transcending what we crave, and choosing to adapt our actions toward what is truly best for us in the day to day. Slowing yourself down, centering your spirit with simplicity, and focusing on what your heart truly desires are the first steps toward enjoying your life and thriving in this ever-changing global climate.

photo by Penabranca

“In 1935, Einstein and physicist Nathan Rosen used the theory of general relativity to elaborate on the idea of wormholes, proposing the existence of “bridges” through space-time. These bridges connect two different points in space-time, theoretically creating a shortcut that could reduce travel time and distance. The shortcuts came to be called Einstein-Rosen bridges, or wormholes.”

Cymatic image of soundwaves

I often refer to my deep dive into the world of wellness as my journey into and through “the wellness wormhole”, as it truly does feel as though the adventure is so deep and vast that once you are wholeheartedly committed it pulls you in so strongly that it rapidly transports you to another realm. It is a process of discovering an adapted vision, something that re-defines your values from within with deep magnetism and crystalline clarity. This fast-track bridge you journey through brings you into a new realm of empowered self regulation and into a new paradigm of possibilities. I am continuously inspired by the seemingly endless supply of natural solutions for every instinct we have toward living a life defined by wellness and healthful balance.

Our deep desire to thrive is existential instinct. We want to give ourselves the opportunity to experience the future in the most vibrantly peaceful and present way. Diving into the wellness wormhole is truly a paradigm shift in mentality. A lifestyle resulting from devotional endurance toward all that purifies our hearts and minds and unifies our bodily functions can become more in sync with the interconnected essence of all living systems. Simplicity is key - and nature always find a way. As we re-evaluate our every action, harmonizing with what we are most passionate about experiencing, we align our spirits and tune into the forces of nature that are hosting our hearts for the current transition we are in.

Working with plant essences invites us into an ancient network of deeply sophisticated and complex interconnectivity. Plants carry highly adaptive medicines that bring one deeper into the work of balancing our physical, psychological, and emotional states. The ancient art-forms of plant alchemy are essential to master in times of deeply divided narratives that promote a false sense of empowerment and leave you confused and malnourished on many levels. For me, there is never a place that I have reached where I felt I had arrived, but moreover it has been a journey of discovery, integration, and acceptance in a never ending pursuit of striking and maintaining the balance within the opportunities and challenges that living life provides.

Societal norms that have no proven or lasting benefit set us all up for failure. Many of the techniques and tools I have utilized to gain an upper hand on my health have required a depth of discipline and dedication to withstand what often feels like resisting the comforts that I had grown accustomed to, and often a withdrawal from feedback-looped values that society has normalized against our better interest. Many of our current modern lifestyle standards are dangerous and inherently disempowering and disorienting due to inebriating effects of unconscious practices. One of the most inspiring aspects of my path has been to find a healthful replacement for all I desire to withdraw from in order to encourage a more healthful outcome without the feeling of missing out.

Learning directly from the plants through nature based environments, plant rich diets, and botanical skincare, we have the opportunity to master this zen process of integrating our experiences with the power of presence. Meditation, yoga, and other forms of alignment practices help to speed this process and assist with creating the desired results we crave at our cellular level. We are each creating and maintaining our experiences at a frequency level, and the more we are able to align with the vibe we desire to live by, the more fulfilling each and every action we take will be, whatever we choose, wherever we are.

Living healthfully and becoming more mindful of all we are taking in, and what we are creating from within is an essential first phase of the process of redirecting our instincts toward wellness based lifestyles. Daily cleansing, as well as cyclical rotations of deeper cleansing are helpful in maintaining the momentum needed to go farther, faster. Singing can also help to tune and balance your heart and mind while you listen in for your inner voice that yearns to be heard and nurtured from within. Once we are able to slow ourselves down and rest, we are able to access an internal stillness that is vast and deep. The path of dedicated wellness is a challenge at times, yet results in promoting a deep peace along with a greater sense of belonging and gratitude for the opportunity to be a living example of what it can mean to thrive in these times.

Becoming more empowered and healthful in our physical and emotional states is both blissful and deeply fulfilling, with the added bonus of being able to inspire our loved ones and greater community members to rise into their personal potentials. We each deserve to experience firsthand the feeling of true freedom, greater wealth, and peace of mind. Many Blessings on your journey through the wellness wormhole!

MOTHERHOOD IS A HIVE MIND MENTALITY

In all of my research I have found a cornerstone that is central to most major solutions to the problems we all face in our world today ~

TO BUILD A BRIGHTER FUTURE
INVEST IN WOMEN AND CHILDREN 

It has been shown that when you invest in a woman, you fund an entire community. The ways most women invest their efforts are in line with the values that aim to uplift one and all with a collective approach often seen in colonies of insects that have developed over millions of years with highly efficient social structures that operate as one HIVE MIND MENTALITY of interdependence, taking into account the myriad ways we all need one another throughout our journey of life. 

photo by Cosmic Collage

Scents of Awe was started as an act of protective devotion to my daughter Lila Polaris.  She is my North Star, my guiding light, and the honor of rising into the role of mothering her has been a homecoming to my truest self, igniting my greatest passion and purpose. 

There is an old Sanskrit word, lila, which means play, richer than our word, it means divine play, the play of creation, destruction, and re-creation, the folding and unfolding of the cosmos. Lila, free and deep, is both the delight and enjoyment of this moment, and the play of God. It also means love.

Lila may be the simplest thing there is spontaneous, childish, disarming. But as we grow and experience the complexities of life, it may also be the most difficult and hard-won achievement imaginable, and its coming to fruition is a kind of homecoming to our true selves.

- From Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art by Stephen Nachmanovitch.

Learning to mother has been a lifelong process for me, one that continues to challenge me daily to rise into my highest potential. One central element to the health of my process has been a strong community of women supporting and inspiring me all along the way.  We walk the path our ancestors paved for us, and I am so grateful to be able to support my community in the ways that I can. 

MOTHERING IS A COMMUNAL ARTFORM

Throughout my experiences working with kids of all ages and from all walks of life, my entire adult life I have been deeply inspired to be of service and to contribute to the lives of future generations in a meaningful way.   
The spark of awe in my heart has been nurtured by experiencing firsthand the transformative power of sacred connection and the supportive balancing aspect of nature connection and collective mothering.  Becoming a mother to my daughter potentiated this work I had been doing for years.  Overall, my passion is focused on empowering children and mothers by inspiring, educating, and nurturing those that are on the frontlines of the future.

ELEVATED BY ANCESTORS

As I have witnessed throughout my life, women are miracle makers, and when they act in alignment with the values of collective health, lives are supported and massive growth and healing can occur.  It has been inspiring to review with my daughter the many wonderful women working wonders in our world today.  Her joy at learning about their dedication, persistence, and empowering encouragement fuels her passion and helps define her values at her young age. Like most children, she loves helping others, and the more inspiring helpers she is aware of, the more focused she can be about choosing the ways in which she feels most passionate and able to contribute to the work ahead.  

ISIRIKA

ISIRIKA is a Maragoli word that means living a pragmatic way of life that embraces charity, service, and philanthropy all together. The essence of ISIRIKA is to make it clear to everybody that you are your sisters keeper, and your brothers keeper, mutual responsibility for caring for one another.  A simple translation would be “equal generosity” but the deep philosophical meaning is caring for one another, together.     

- Dr. Musimbi Kanyoro

MOTHERHOOD IS A HIVE MIND MENTALITY

The bee society is a great example of how to thrive. These sacred insects undergo complete metamorphosis during their lifespan. Honeybees are social experts, living together in highly organized colonies. Each member has a specific, and vital job to do. A single honeybee cannot grow or survive by itself.  In many ways a honeybee colony is like a single animal and individual bees are like the cells and tissues of one living organism. When one part of a honeybee hive is threatened, the whole colony acts. If an essential segment of a colony becomes diseased or destroyed, the colony often can recover by working together. 

“a bee in her lifetime makes only 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey” — a tiny fraction of the hundred pounds of honey that a typical colony needs to survive. “The most remarkable thing isn’t that she does the work; it’s that she doesn’t even do it for herself,” she adds.

A bee won’t directly benefit from the honey she makes; instead, it will allow future generations to thrive after she is gone. This too is how we can change the world — by not worrying about the size of our contributions and by letting our efforts join the actions of others.

- From the TED series on ‘How To Be A Better Human”

Each of us has a great diversity of experience, and together as parents of this age, we can support one another in our individual and collective efforts to acclimate our children to the current issues facing humanity.  As a collective, we can be a living example to help inspire them to participate in the solutions that will help restore the balance of our planet’s healthy future as a whole.  

From recent predictions, by the time my 8 year old daughter is 20, climate change will be irreversible if urgent action is not taken now.  If we each focus on our part, we can rise to the occasion of our greatest collective work yet.  These are all-hands-on-deck times, and the future is within our grasp if we can each take a step forward everyday toward finding our roles in this global work. 

Everyday I work toward uncovering where it is that I can be living more in the solutions and architecting our lives to align with what is best for all.  For me, the Scents Of Awe products help to calm me when I feel overwhelm, and help to center and uplift my spirits, directing my focus back to the core values of contributing to the day in a meaningful and present way.  

The rituals I create for myself and my daughter are sacred moments and opportunities for deep connection.   I am thankful to be on this journey together alongside all of the heroically hearted women in this world who rise everyday to be a living example of the greatness of humanity. 

We are molding this movement together, and I am deeply grateful for the support I feel as I connect with Mother Nature.   May we each be nurtured by our love and dedication to one another, and may we leave a clear path for all those that follow in our footsteps.

LOVE YOUR SKIN

Loving your skin can be a lifelong process.  As we navigate hormonal changes and the effects of toxic environments and aging, we journey with the naked truth of our beautiful reflection.  The pressures of perfectionism affect us all, and finding the balance that allows us to step into our natural beauty is a cleansing path.  Seeing this beauty is a process of self-discovery, one that is found and felt deep within.  Invite yourself to honor your beauty as wild and natural as it truly is. 

The path of walking in beauty is living in harmony with nature.  We are all most beautiful in our mothers adoring eyes.  The light she first saw as she nurtured us with her dedicated love is an eternal spark of illumination.  All we consume and commune with is most harmonious the closer we are aligned with our Earth Mother.  The exquisite beauty of the natural world begins in your own eyes. 

Find a moment to speak with yourself.  Look yourself in the eye and reflect beauty back to yourself.  Remember to be kind, loving each and every cell, as the expression of your unique light.  Remind yourself that you are miraculous, growing more each and every day, with a heart full of wonder for all that remains to be discovered and cherished within.  Focus on all that lifts you and inspires you to bloom with the love you felt at first spark in the womb.  

INTUITIVE STATE OF AWE

For the past two decades, musical rituals have been my primary process in merging the realms and collecting healing tools of intuitive insight that are stored within my subconscious energy body. Along this sacred path, I have discovered that nurturing my connection to nature herself has been of vital importance as I seek to deepen my understanding and awaken myself more fully to the beautiful truth of our collective existence. The transformative assistance that nature makes available to us in all her wild and raw forms is awe inspiring. Communing with the unconscious through music, nature, and dreams heightens our awareness and stimulates deeper integration of the consciousness we seek to crystalize. Much of my daily work focuses toward understanding and integrating methods of cultivating consciousness to further the development of a universal common sense.

My dream life was my original awakener, forcing my conscious mind to explore the themes and messages presented in my active sleeping state. The complex symbolic themes that I was receiving from a young age and on a daily basis were my catalyst. I had a strong feeling that no one else would be able to interpret any of my greater mysteries for me, and this fueled my curiosity to comprehend and commune with the language of the unconscious myself. Unable to interpret the meanings at that time inspired a phase of continual research into the greater mysteries of existence, and a simultaneous exploration of the forces of communication that seek to awaken us to our most purposeful potential.

Through decades of artistic self discovery, I have found the process of ritual to be a vital tool in my personal efforts at deciphering meaning from the universal forces alive within us all. While others may serve as a guiding force or activating portal of epiphany for us, it is my understanding that the deeper work at hand is to become our own interpreters and work toward translating the information we directly receive into a common sense communication tool. This understanding stems from my belief that we each deeply desire harmony and peaceful process in all relationships and within all realms we traverse.

As we see the world around us changing every day, the urgency to awaken our inner selves and commune with and integrate this wisdom becomes apparent as we seek for guidance from within to inform our every action going forward. Connecting to our inner selves through dreams and active imagination can help translate the fertility of the unconscious into the crystalized seeds of growth that we wish to nurture in our hearts and minds. Discovering the power of ritual is an essential tool in helping to reveal and navigate the deeper meaning in our individual and collective experiences.

Plant essence rituals have assisted my intuition in activating deeper states of awe. The ceremonial process of self care rituals promotes direct cellular communion, aligning your innate wisdom with primal sources of interconnected epiphany.

“Ritual is a means of approaching the inner world where the human race evolved early in its history. The use of ritual goes back to the earliest dawn of time among our prehistoric ancestors. Ritual is one of the faculties we have, like dreaming, that enable us to set up a flow of communication between the conscious mind and the unconscious. Our instinctual hunger for meaningful rituals stays with us today, even though we have lost our sense of its psychological and spiritual role in our lives.

One of the meanings of the word ceremony in it’s original latin form was awe. A ceremony was a way in behaving when one felt a sense of awe, or stood in awe. All the set formality around religious ceremony is an indication of the reverence and awe that people felt at one time regarding the object of the ceremony. It is natural for human beings to show reverence through formality; to use highly ritualized symbolic acts as a way to carefully approach the inner world. How does this apply to dreams? When you have begun to experience your dreams you sense that there is an enormous power and intelligence behind them. You feel that your dreams are revealing layers of your soul that you never knew. Touching on themes that are so important that your whole sense of life and its meaning begins to be rearranged. It is then that we need to know about ritual and its role in human life. Our religious lives are re-awakened and we find ourselves facing the divine world and we need ritual just as desperately as did the ancients before us.

We need to make rituals in order to touch those dream energies and evolve them while at the same time maintaining our equilibrium in our daily life. We need to express our awe and elation and gratitude and sometimes our terror. For all this ritual is the channel that our instincts provide for us. In this, we are not different from our primordial ancestors.

All my experience as a psychologist leads me to the conclusion that a sense of reverence is necessary for psychological health. If a person has no sense of reverence - no feeling that there is anyone or anything that inspires awe it generally indicates an ego inflation that cuts the conscious personality off completely from the nourishing springs of the unconscious. It is ironic then that so much of our modern culture is aimed at eradicating all reverence, all respect for the high truths and qualities that inspire a feeling of awe and worship in the human soul.

Ritual, in its true form, is one of the most meaningful channels for our awe and sense of worship. This is why ritual came spontaneously into being among humans in all parts of the earth. This is why modern people who are deprived of meaningful ritual feel a chronic sense of emptiness. They are denied contact with the great archetypes that nourish our soul life. If we look at ritual from a psychological standpoint, we may say that correct ritual is symbolic behavior consciously performed… the highest form of ritual has this characteristic: those who participate sense that they are doing an act that has symbolic meaning and they consciously seek to transform that act into an active dynamic symbol. Their every movement becomes a symbol in motion that carries the power of the inner world of invisible and physical form. Whether we are aware of it or not much of our behavior is symbolic, but what transforms physical acts into high ritual is the expression of symbolism in a conscious act. At its best, ritual is a series of physical acts that expresses in condensed form ones relationship to the inner world of the unconscious.

The role of ritual in the growth of consciousness is related to its power to make symbolic experience into something physical and concrete. Although we can understand the meaning of symbols with our minds, our understanding is made immeasurably deeper and more concrete when we feel the symbols with our bodies and our feelings… If we do something to express the symbol, something that involves our bodies and our emotions, the symbol becomes a living reality for us. It etches itself indelibly on our consciousness.” - Robert A. Johnson

As you continue to navigate the changes in your personal life, may you be guided by your sense of awe as you develop your own personal rituals to assist you with your growth. May these reverent acts help to nurture and maintain a sacred connection to your own direct wellspring of wisdom, and may you find healing assistance in nature though all of her majestic forms.

Each and every thought ripples through the fabric of reality. May our dreams for life on earth be held sacred and nurtured within your every ritual, further cultivating the hive mind awareness we need now - perhaps more urgently than ever before. We are in this awakening process together, and we will find our way through it with one conscious act at a time.

I wish you every blessing on your healing journey as you work to integrate all aspects of your psyche into your purposeful existence, and I thank you for the important work you do in your own unique way as you find your role in the solution.

*photos of Paula Ferraro by Alexa Gray

FIRE RECOVERY WELLNESS TIPS

After the shock of a traumatic event, it is important to remember to slow down when you can and focus on self care. Here are some wellness tips to help protect yourself and your family from the aftermath of wildfires.

Fresh air- if you can get out of the area then do it asap. If not- then focus on making yourself less vulnerable by increasing your adaptability.  Even if it’s only a few changes that you make, each will assist you in supporting your system and building resiliency. Even if the air outside or in your home looks clear, it may not be free of harmful microscopic particles.

• Wear a N95 Mask - filters nanoparticles

• Hepa filter air purifier in your home

• Humidifier or diffuser with essential oils

• Himalayan salt pipe with essential oils added

Now is the time to cut out anything that causes inflammation- this will help your body detox and fight off excess chemicals in your environment and give you the best chance at defense and excreting toxins. Below are suggestions that you can integrate into your diet to help support this process.

• Fermented cod liver oil capsules

• Ginko Biloba for brain focus- also a protector against radiation.

• Fermented miso

• Fermented veggies

• Beet juice

• Blueberries

• Papaya enzyme

• Bee Pollen

• Coconut oil

• Beets

• Bone broth for gut health and healing

• Hydrated chia (coconut water or juice with chia seeds- wait 15 mins until hydrated to help support gut) 

• Moringa (superfood -add to smoothies)

• Turmeric extract (curcumin) 

• Garlic (allicin extract) for lung health - As much raw garlic as you can (smashed into guacamole is my method)

• Osha root

• Muellin tea + Astragalus tea

• Ashwaganda tea /or tincture

• Chammomile tea to help calm nerves + liquid melatonin to help sleep

• CBD for overall support

• Magnesium salt bath to calm nerves

• Body brushing with essential oils to boost lymph and promote detox

Chelating toxins and heavy metals// protection against radiation:

• Activated Charcoal  (coconut husks) an adsorbent helpful to protect against toxins (can be combined with coconut water - or in capsules) 

• Chlorella powder (add to smoothies)

• Spirulina powder (add to smoothie)

• Cilantro (add to smoothie or juice)

• Parsley (juice)

• Apples - protect against radiation

• Nacent Iodine

• Potassium iodide is the best form of potassium supplements to use for radiation exposure.

• Calcium+Magnesium

• Kelp + Dulse + Bladderwhack (good healthy sources of iodine)

• Burdock root + Dandilion (blood cleansers)

• Hibiscus tea

• Nettles 

• Milk thistle - liver cleanser

• Green Tea - antioxidants

• Vit B-12

• Zeolite Clay + Bentonite, Red clay, French Green Clay, and other clays are also effective at binding nuclear waste and removing it from the body. Clay particles are negatively charged, so positively charged radioactive ions are attracted to them.

• Coffee enemas - major liver detox to open detox pathways and release stored toxins.  Videos online to show how to DIY. 

Other adaptogenic herbs that protect against radiation and support overall adaptability, protect dna, and support detox: 

• Gotu Kola

• Sea Buckthorn Berry

• Holy Basil

• Ginseng

• Peppermint

• Ginger

• Black Plum

• Reishi 

• Chaga

• Turkey Tail

• Cordyceps

Use your intuition, your body knows what it needs most.  May the winds of change guide and bless your journey with transformative inspiration.

INTERNAL ALCHEMY

  MUSICAL MEDICINE

 click image to listen to the new music

May the songs that these children are writing and singing inspire you and bring you joy. 

*beautiful golden woven flower image by Optimysticism

MOTHER

YOUR LOVE IS LEGEND

 UNIVERSAL MATERNAL

 As we listen in, we can hear our universal maternal heart beat reverberating
throughout this world.  We are each pregnant with the possibility of a new way of being. 
These dark mysterious energies we have been moving through are powerful activators;
birthing pangs of a new way.  Sacred gifts to awaken us to our higher states.  

We are rising into the light we were born to shine.  Purified by the process, as delicate new life
springs from our hearts.  Crystalizing our instincts-  we recognize the need for restoration in relationship to our environments and to one another. 

Boundaries are beautiful, and with this fierce protective energy we begin to see the
impact of our natural state of resiliency come forth with compassion and forgiveness,
not only for those who have caused pain and suffering in our lives, but also for ourselves,
as we come to understand the impact we are having upon our environment. 

Honoring all that has come before us, and the sacred task at hand, may we
be inspired by these trial-by-fire times, and guided by the light that unites
us to the peaks of our unique purpose realized. In these times we are blessed to be
a living legacy of transformation and metamorphosis for generations to come. 
We are the architects of the new now, and every moment from here forward. 

Hold onto your light… hold tight to your dignity. 
Deep in the seed of your being, hope is alive within you.  

TRANSFORMING PAIN INTO GOLD

An intimate conversation on Inner Alchemy with Paula Ferraro & Bianca Rodriguez for the YOU ARE COMPLETE podcast.

A Conversation with Paula Ferraro + Kassia Meador

"Our very own Kassia Meador sits down with her soul sister, Paula Ferraro—an alchemical artist and creator of essential oil skincare and wellness line, Scents of Awe—for a chat about embracing nature, rejecting fear and raising butterflies for a better tomorrow:

Kassia Meador: What initially inspired you to start working with essential oils?

Paula Ferraro: I am a mother now and, before that, I worked with children with chronic illnesses. Working with essential oils has a solution-based motivation for me: I was inspired by my love for the children with whom I was working and by my own pregnancy to empower myself with healing solutions for treating and preventing chronic illness.

My passion for preventative wellness was a response to the lack of empowering options within the current allopathic medical system. I was disillusioned by the intentional deception and manipulation tactics that are often used in marketing products to consumers. I started to research and find solutions for treating everyday issues, and discovered amazing options for simplifying skincare with ancient, tried-and-tested plant medicines.

I’m such a DIY person. I love having an understanding of options accessible to me, so I don’t have to outsource my intuition and everyday needs to anyone else. Essential oils are an outlet for me to empower myself and create medicinal solutions to ailments and prevention.

In general, but especially as a mother, it feels really good to be educated and create solutions that are harmonious and holistic. There’s such a vast knowledge base in nature: The further I explore, the more I become one with my surroundings, the more I see that we’ve always been nature. The disassociation with nature throughout our society has been very destructive to our health, to our awareness.

To me, essential oil is raw nature and the lifeblood of the plant. Plants are our ancestors; they hold ancient survivalist wisdom in their composition, and they teach us about resilience and thriving in this world. The medical aspect of their wisdom is so effective and protective. It is a great honor and privilege to work with plants, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to inspire others with products that offer solutions to everyday needs.

KM: How have the experiences of becoming a mother and working with essential oils impacted each other?

PF: When you come into motherhood, you crave grandmother’s wisdom most. There are so many questions and new challenges to face; being responsible for another life is intense. So much of the journey is pure instinct, but there is a process of refining your intuition and that takes some experimentation.

Still, it doesn’t feel great to experiment with your child and guess and hope. To go off-grid and do things yourself requires education and practical solutions. When I discovered essential oils, it was an epiphany. Suddenly, I understood that these plants are my ancestors; they are my grandmother’s wisdom. Luckily, through the global brain of the Internet, all of this beautiful information is at our fingertips.

Yet, there’s still so much fear surrounding pregnancy and life in general these days—so many things that could potentially go wrong for which we are constantly trying to prepare. So, many women are educating themselves on how they can take their pregnancies into their own hands and have empowering birthing experiences. Giving birth is a powerful and heroic act of deep surrender, one that activates primal core strengths and brings you beyond the threshold of anything imaginable. This sacred rite of passage is a cosmic mirror into how we live our lives and prepares us for the sacrifice of service to the future in the journey of motherhood.

For me, this was an opportunity to stand up to the Western model and break through the fears being projected onto me and my baby. Fear-based perspectives don’t resonate with me, but being prepared, educated and equipped with solutions does. Fortunately, we’ve never before had this much information on the most harmoniously healing options throughout the ages cataloged and accessible to us all. Medicines that I can create for myself and my daughter utilizing both scientific and ancient wisdom is a step toward sustainability for me.

I also use my own intuition because believing is one of our most powerful, healing medicines. Whatever it is you believe about your healing really has the power to help. When I’m making my own food and medicines, I’m putting all my love and energy into them. The process I’ve developed has contributed to a profound shift in my consciousness. Each essential oil has its own ephemeral spirit and esoteric healing properties, but, on a scientific level, they’re also very effective. All essential oils are antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory etc. I believe that every ailment is treatable in some way with plant medicines.

For my daughter, we’ve been able to treat any health issues with superfoods, adaptogens and essential oils. This has required a lot of research and diligence to go deep and understand the functional processes of the body, but it’s been very empowering. It’s a powerful gift we have in nature, and I love inspiring others to empower themselves with these incredible solutions.

KM: Why do you prefer “traditional” over Western solutions?

PF: Pharmaceutical drugs work within an “active ingredient” model, whereby they target specific plant molecules to change the chemical structure. I believe that when you manipulate that incredibly complex model that nature has proven over millions of years, you’re losing the balancing, harmonizing and “multi-targeted” healing properties.

What I love so much about plant medicine in it’s complete form is that it stimulates while it calmsand works in a sophisticated way that focuses on balance. I have a deep passion for understanding illness, disharmony and trauma and identifying root causes of issues that often go untreated. I’m always looking for bigger solutions—looking holistically at ourselves and the environment to find a harmonious connection point. Chronic pain and suffering do not feel necessary in this life, and I envision a future where we cause no harm to our environment, but do reap the medicinal benefits of cohabitation.

Naturally ingesting these plants gives you that vibration; the ancient knowledge imprints into our genetic expression which is largely coded by everything that we bring into our bodies. It’s really an epigenetic boost, giving our cells an opportunity to vibrate at that level. Incorporating these balancing properties into our daily regimes improves our whole body wellness. Plants and oils are a really good place to start to understand how your spirit and body can work together for total well-being.

KM: So the quest to empower yourself by refining your intuition and researching health and wellness led you to starting Scents of Awe? I want to hear that about that.

PF: I largely started this line for my daughter, myself and my family and friends. I was so inspired to find solutions. Switching out something as simple as a deodorant for essential oils can help cleanse toxins you’ve absorbed all your life using toxic products. The chemicals in everyday household and beauty products wreak so much havoc on our endocrine systems; the overall harm is unthinkable once you start to understand how connected everything is. You can make your own toothpaste, deodorant and body balms with simple superfoods and inexpensive ingredients like coconut oil, baking soda and salt. These types of DIY products are effective and boost your immune system.

With a little reeducation, we can cut our costs of living down considerably too. My intention is to create products for the public that are beautiful, inspiring, effective and enhance the experience of “going natural.” In applying these precious essences, you also get amazing medicinal benefits, along with magical inspiration and emotionally lifts. It’s amazing that we can detox systemically with a foot cream and reverse sun damage with a face cream and even heal and cleanse wounds with one single drop of essential oil. We can balance our bodies and align our senses by incorporating these products with meditative and restorative rituals. It’s all about inspiring people to take their health into their hands and become educated.

KM: We live in a time when people want products that are more sustainable, organic and holistic. With wellness increasing as a trend in pop-culture, do you think some skincare companies are misleading people about their ingredients and processes?

PF: My whole approach is really about empowering people to take an investigative approach to everything they’re consuming. The tricky part is that so many ingredients can be hidden on a label. It really comes down to, “Can you make that yourself? Is it safe to eat?” Because everything you put on your skin goes straight into your bloodstream. Sometimes a chemical can be even more dangerous to put on your skin than into your mouth due to the way your body absorbs it.

KM: The good news is people are more concerned and focused on wellness, consuming products and foods in a healthier, more sustainable way. When we were growing up, people weren’t really focused on these issues. Do you think we’re all better off now and getting healthier by the day?

PF: It’s hard to know: Was it more toxic then or now? Now, we have a surplus of toxicity from every angle. There’s just so much unconsciousness around chemicals and so many people have chronic underlying issues. Over-toxicity is a major threat to all life forms, and we are certainly not exempt. I think, in many ways, it’s an internal example of what’s happening externally on the planet.

As you start to empower yourself, you get cleaner and cleaner. You can see something new emerging within you. We’re all starting to see it: The more we care about what we put in and on our bodies, the more we reconnect with ourselves, with nature and these bigger issues. If we look at our parent’s generation, there are so many chronic illnesses, sleep issues, big underlying health issues. We must look deep within ourselves now and study the cycles to find the solutions. Now is an exciting and inspiring time to be alive.  There is so much mystery to live. Now is the moment for an all-hands-on-deck approach to balancing and healing our collective trauma and finding a sustainable way to thrive together in this world.  I love thinking of new ways that we can combine our resources for a better step forward into the future. That’s why I’m raising butterflies.

KM: Tell us more about the butterflies: What got you into raising them?

PF: I found out that Monarch butterflies could disappear in my lifetime. To me, it was shocking and unthinkable that that could happen. I felt a need to do something to raise some awareness around that. They are inter-dimensional beings who go through one of the biggest transformations that occurs in nature. They can speak to our species about how we’re transforming at this moment in time, a time where we need to transform. Connecting with the butterflies is connecting with this ancient transformation process.

Getting close to that from a Shamanic perspective, going on that journey with them, releasing, reemerging, the beauty of that first flight. It’s so inspiring for our future generations. The Aztecs believed that Monarchs were the reincarnated souls of all their past loved ones. The Day of the Dead celebration coincides with the arrival of the Monarchs in Mexico, and they are welcomed, revered and celebrated as ancestors. I feel like we should be doing that with all species—celebrating especially the many who have become extinct on our watch. Animals have so much wisdom to teach us and so much medicine to share about their ways, how they surrender and rise above, and how they sacrifice and journey together to survive and thrive.

KM: How do you “Live The Process” in your life?

PF: My purpose—the role I feel called to model—is to be a consciousness activator. I love to inspire people and share what I have learned. That’s why I called my brand, Scents Of Awe. Complete awe is what I felt when I discovered the incredible power of plant medicine.

A study recently found that being in awe is one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory states of being. It’s all about surrendering to the higher order of things and sensing our place in the great mystery of life. Our deepest interested are captured when we’re blown away by new experiences and find our role in the solution. My process is one of surrendering to my calling to commune with nature through the oils. I surrender all of myself in order to do the best I can for my daughter and all species and future generations. They are relying on us to make changes so that they may know the beauty of living life on earth. A great place to start is investigating everything we are consuming and adjusting our lifestyles to focus on what matters most. We must find our own roles in living harmoniously with all species and creating more habitat, consuming less and more responsibly and activating more consciousness within to understand the profound interconnectedness of everything that is and ever was and hopefully will someday be."

Spirit Weavers

This year I migrated my Monarch butterflies up to the redwoods to teach at Spirit Weavers.  Upon arrival they began hatching one by one within our tipi.  My daughter and I, along with several other children, fed them and looked after them until we released them with at the opening ceremonies of the SUN and MOON sessions.  With collective visions of peace on earth and harmony throughout humanity we watched them soar into the sky and take their first flight.  This beautiful video by Leslie Satterflied captured the magic and sacred moments of healing and joy shared in that ancient space.  Enjoy.

"having met paula and geeked out with her over our mutual love of essential oils a few years ago, it was to my surprise that i realized that the genius behind these most unusual and special oils was…in fact..her! these blends are like no other…a combination of deep sensuality, shamanism, femininity and grounded earth. so blessed to partake in the fruition of her vision. oxxoox" -Alanis Morissette

Featured in Coco Eco Magazine

Honored to be featured in this beautiful spread along with these gorgeous artisans.  Thank you Alexa for the kindness of being included in this magical piece!  The magazine is available at Whole Foods in the US.

Free + Native

Alexa from Super Food Super Life

Handcrafting chocolate, listening to jazz, reading Jung’s Red Book, talking health, and sharing stories is a dream holiday scene. This past weekend I had the pleasure of doing all of these things with a soul sister and woman I admire deeply, Paula Ferraro, maker behind Scents of Awe. Paula is seriously a one-of-a-kind woman who treats all living things with compassion, celebrates the heart and spirit of what’s in front of her, and adds to the beauty around us in completely natural ways.

She handcrafts beautiful skin care and food products, and has a passion for researching the science and benefits behind all that she shares. It’s an honor to share one of her out of this world recipes and wisdom. She is such a gift and definitely one of the people I am most grateful for this holiday season.

Paula from Scents of Awe

Creating chocolate is a special process that feels really unique. It’s nice to follow a recipe, but once you get comfortable, it's beautiful to craft a treat that comes from your heart. Your signature chocolate becomes a piece of living poetry. It is very fun, meditative, inspiring, and truly endless with what you can do with it. This soul dessert is universally loved, activates your bliss molecules, and is a great thing to have on hand at all times during the holidays. It can serve as a functional wellness food that tastes amazing.

I love eating chocolate for breakfast. Usually I wake up, make a tonic tea latte with a piece of chocolate, just to get going for the first couple of hours. Then I would eat something like this chia chocolate truffle, it’s like a little breakfast bar and a perfect boost to eat throughout the day. It’s totally guilt-less and I feel very comfortable giving it to my daughter. It’s one of my favorite things to feed her because of all the medicinal factors.

For recipe click here.

Conscious Lifestyle Magazine

'New Moon' featured in Conscious Lifestyle Magazine. 

ACE

Scents of Awe is now carried in Ace Hotel 

Changing This World Begins Within

Flow With It Like A Waterfall,

Let It Run Through You Like A River.

You Are Birthing THE NEW YOU!

Spring is a time of emergence.  April has long been celebrated as the birth of springtime, with the return of Ostara, goddess of the dawn.  Many historic rituals have been performed to symbolically rebirth ourselves with the retuning of the Sun and the fertility of springtime growth.  

This is a time of deep renewal, as we step out of our old skin, reflect on the story of our past, and connect with our most authentic selves. Many of us are processing a shedding of past icons, archetypes, and inherited narratives. This is a time of release, re-integration, and re-visioning.  This journey is sacred and interconnected, commanding our best and the highest good of all beings with the utmost vigilance to achieve the visions we hold for harmonizing with one another on this planet. 
 

Knowing and seeing are different than being.

We are weaving this world into being through a process of psycho-spiritual metamorphosis.  The medicine of the butterfly has much to teach us about rebirthing ourselves. Butterfly teaches us how to cross the bridge from the past into the future.  Through raising Monarchs this past year I have been brought deeper into this process.  The changes they go through are not easy, and we learn from them how to trust the process, let go, and allow the new to come through.  These Rituals of Renewal remind us of our perseverance, and the endurance needed to transform our dreams into harmonic realities.  

Quantum physics has shown us that the Universe is interconnected, and that the observed and observer can no longer be separated.  When we expand our awareness beyond the illusory lines of separation that narrow perceptions of reality create, we are awakened to the realization of oneness.  Your breath is my breath, my blood runs through your veins. We are interwoven into this fabric of being. Through our sacred communion with one another, we see how similar our experiences are, and how sweet the nectar of sacred reflection can be. 

GUIDED RENEWAL RITUAL

Sit with yourself.  Take a deep breath.  Connect with your heart.  With eyes closed, spritz the Shamanic Smudge over your head and the surrounding space, about 5-10 sprays.  Take another deep breath, bringing these ancient plant essences into your lungs and bloodstream.   Thank them for all they are present to witness, to teach you, and to help you release.  See yourself cleansed, purified, and protected.

Find your third eye (about an inch above your eyebrows in the center of your forehead).  Roll the Indigo Vision Quest over it.  Feel your pineal gland activated.  See your inner light expanding.  Listen to the melody of your heartsong singing through your breath.  Expand into this space knowing there is wisdom from within longing to connect with your awareness.  These guiding energies await your awareness to bring you closer to your most authentic truth.  The vision you seek is the whisper within.

Massage the Scar Creme into any closed wounds, scars, or any part of your body that feels trapped in the past. Thank the essences for assisting with your cellular restoration.  Release the trauma of your wound by connecting with the physical, spiritual, and emotional restoration.  Bring your awareness to this part of yourself, and hold an intention for healing and complete rejuvenation.  See yourself new, perfect, as you are. 

Bring your hands to your heart.  Feel the rhythm of your life beating within.  Thank your organ of perception for the wisdom it holds.  Open your heart chakra while rolling the Heroic Heart in a circular motion several times, massaging the essences into your skin while forgiving yourself.  Let it go with love. Open your ribcage with your fingertips in a gentle featherlike motion, releasing all that no longer serves you.  Thank your past for all it has taught you, and bring that wisdom to the center of your being to enlighten this moment with your inner knowing. Repeat until you are reconnected with your childlike wonder.  Believe in the hero you came into existence to become.  

The Quiet Mind

Caution,

There is a silence.

A stillness, deep within.

An absence of patterns,

Where light and shadow blend.

Hearken,

To the darkness

Of the Void of the Unknown.

Hearing

Total nothingness

That thunders all alone.

Travel into the pulsing of

Silent time or space.

The quite mind

brings calmness,

Infinite, eternal grace.

Born inside silence,

Is the will---to be.

Chaos becomes order,

The holiness of life----

The unfolding of Great Mystery.

-Jamie Sams

HEALING STATE OF AWE

"Gratitude is the greatest healer.  
When you live according to your highest values
you become inspired and awaken genius."
-Dr. Demartini

These are exciting times we are living in.  We literally increase our speed of expansion in every direction every moment.  Finding that peaceful place within, synchronizing our heartbeats with our breath, and knowing that we will collectively find a way to thrive in all situations is something we are all consciously creating together.  Education is at the forefront of this revolution, it is where the change begins.  

To understand is to perceive patterns, and being in a state of awe has been shown to give us something back that many feel has been lost: our perception of time. This generation has more free time than any of our predecessors, yet due to the amount of information constantly streaming toward us, our perception and attention spans have radically decreased.  

A Stanford University study revealed the best way to alleviate a time-starved perception is to BE IN AWE.  Experiencing awe makes one feel more rich in time and alters decision making, as well as stimulating people to prefer experiential goods over material goods.  It also makes one more willing to donate time to help others, andwhen people feel they have more time available, this leaves them with a greater feeling of satisfaction in life.  

Awe is a very powerful and positive emotion involving perceptual vastness, complexity, and this enhanced state of being leaves us with increased empathy, compassion, & curiosity.  This expansive experience also inspires a desire for more knowledge structures, and helps people focus on the present moment.  And there is a lot to focus on during this turning point in history, we need our collective genius refined to maximum performance. 
 

"To know and not to do is not to know" - Buddha