Learning in Nature

photo courtesy of Schoola

Summer is an exciting time for children, and even parents welcome a break from the long school year.  But educators and parents alike understand that during the summer fun, children may encounter “summer slide.”  In her article “How to Prevent Summer Slide,” Gennifer Rose, Community and Content Specialist at Schoola, a fundraiser program designated to help schools, shares some valuable advice from teacher and mom, Haley Lussenden.  

Haley Lussenden

Haley explains that summer slide is the tendency for students to lose some of the academic progress made during the school year.  When children observe their parents reading or using mathematical skills for everyday solutions, Haley believes they are more open to read and solve problems themselves.  Haley also understands the importance of keeping summer learning fun and exciting.  And what would summer be without trips to the great outdoors and hands-on connection with nature?

“If your child sees you ... working through the math to determine the number of tomato plants that will fit in your garden, he or she will be far more likely to exhibit similar behaviors,” Haley said.

Haley also advises that summer learning should be light and fun, so reading books about outdoor activities they love, or encouraging critical thinking as they explore is essential.



Photo courtesy of Shelby Sheene



Shelby Sheene, a homeschooling mom of three who runs her own photography business in Florida, is a proponent of her children connecting with nature.  Children grasp essential concepts while connecting with the world around them, learning just as much, if not more, than traditional teaching methods.  



“The children and I wanted to learn about different textures and colors of leaves and greenery, so we went on a nature walk,” Shelby said. “We brought a little canvas bag with us and collected different colors.  The girls had fun feeling different leaves for various textures.”  





After collecting their leaves and placing them in a nature journal, Shelby’s first grader matched water paint to the color of the greenery.  The swatches provided comparison between textures and colors.   “That way we conquered science and art in one lesson,” Shelby said.

Photo courtesy of Shelby Sheene

There are many other benefits to children learning outdoors.  Research suggests that time in nature helps with moods and motor skills.  In a study published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences," Stanford scientists researched how a nature walk could reduce the amount of stress encountered by people living in urban areas, naturally a high-tension environment.  The outcome was decreased obsession over life events  and in activity in their subgenual prefrontal cortices, the area of the brain responsible for cognitive behavior and depression.

Shelby completely agrees with these findings.  “My kids get very pent up and rambunctious indoors. When they can be outside, running around and even barefoot, it's like a totally new personality. They want to explore, crave learning, and take everything in.  They also seem to be pretty advanced in any sort of coordination skill like dance, yoga, and climbing. They rarely ever get sick, and when they do it's usually after an indoor activity like the mall playground or something similar.”

The link between children and nature is becoming more evident.  In his book Last Child in the Woods, child advocacy expert Richard Louv outlines the nature-deficit dilemma faced by younger generations.  His work includes research on how essential it is for kids to be in nature, as it also provides practical solutions and ideas on how to reconnect with the outdoors.



Photo courtesy of Schoola

Summer is the perfect time for fun and relaxation, but it is also  the perfect combination of learning and fun---and what better way to connect with the earth and strengthen our children for the upcoming school year?

Aromatherapy and Essential Oils 101

As I focus on my meditation practice and always look for new tools to engage in a deeper, more spiritual awareness, I find aromatherapy to be an essential instrument to my practice and overall daily living.  But with so many brands, schools of thought, and opinions, how do we discern the true meaning and benefits of aromatherapy?  Being new to aromatherapy, I’ve reached out to our Mind Key member Danielle Rose, whose expertise in aromatherapy and essential oils provides valuable information.

The first question I asked her, and possibly the most important question when learning about essential oils, is what are they exactly?  Additionally, how do you know we’re buying pure and authentic products?

Danielle explains that essential oils are derived through distillation of plant material--usually the flowers or other fragrant parts of the plant.  A large amount of plant material is required to make a small amount of oil.  The distillation process is most often done via steam distillation. The term "essential" is used because these oils carry the essence of a plant's fragrance, and the term should not be confused with essential fatty or amino acids, which are called as such because they are required by the body for life.

It is important to read the bottle carefully.  They should indicate that they are 100% pure and if it lists any other ingredients, such as perfume, the oils may not be purely distilled.  Essential oils work best when blended with a carrier oil such as almond or olive oil.  Sometimes these blends are sold as such, and are not "pure" essential oils.  That does not mean that the product isn't quality, but reading labels carefully will ensure you know what you are purchasing.  Are you surprised at the high price tag for such a small bottle of essential oil?  This is due to the quantity of the plant material used to create the distilled oil. 

Before all else, the product should be 100% essential oil but there are also varying grades of oils.  Essential oils can be cosmetic or therapeutic grade.  Cosmetic grade is still 100% essential oils and can be used topically or in diffusers, as well as cleaning products.  They should not, however, be ingested. 

Therapeutic grade oils are a higher quality, and are best used for healing, especially from acute disease.  Many therapeutic grade oils can be used internally, drunk, a drop at a time, in a glass of water, or as otherwise instructed by the company or aromatherapy professional.  As with any medicine or food, be careful to know what you are putting in your body and any side effects it may have. Always be aware of your own body and consult a professional.

Essential oils are often used in aromatherapy and topically.  What are the benefits of such use?

Each oil is beneficial in its own unique way and the benefits of aromatherapy differ from oil to oil.  Aromatherapy doesn’t just provide amazing plant fragrances, but the diffused oils we breathe in are also very beneficial to our health. Because of the different plant properties, many oils aid with respiration, insomnia, and much more.  Some essential oil of a plant with antibacterial properties will have antibacterial properties and can be used as such in a cleaning product or healing remedy. Mint tea is good for digestion, and so mint essential oil is as well.  Although therapeutic grade oils can be used internally, the beauty of essential oils is that they can be used topically, or in the air to provide the user with the plant's inherent benefits. It’s important to read what each oil is designated to do as to achieve the desired effect.

Many spas claim aromatherapy treatments.  How do we ensure the facility is using pure essential oils and safe aromatherapy?

A good spa should provide what they are offering.  If they advertise aromatherapy treatments, they should be utilizing 100% essential oils.  If you are uncertain, always ask. Do not accept a treatment with oil that is not a 100% essential oil.  Practitioners should always be willing to show you their products in the original bottles. If you have sensitive skin or known allergens, be sure to ask what essential oils and carrier oils are being used in the treatment.  You can also ask for a patch test prior to receiving a direct skin treatment. These tests should be done 24 to 48 hours in advance, so you may want to visit your spa ahead of time to get a patch test done on your skin.

Where can we purchase reputable oils?

Many commercial essential oil distributors are reputable.  Asking at your health store is a good way to know what you are getting.  From there you can order online or directly from the company.  Companies such as Young Living or doTerra offer therapeutic quality oils at affordable prices, and their distributors are well trained and often members of your own community.  Check Facebook or do a local search to find one near you. Distributor for doTerra Jane Morba tells us that there are a number of good diffusers on the market.  The doTerra kit comes with a diffuser, which has a soft sound and illumination, and is good for people with children.  The key is to use a pure and certified essential oil, regardless of what diffuser is purchased.

With this information we can truly make 2016 out healthiest year yet.  Nature has always provided us with a way to heal and renew.  Aromatherapy is one of its many tools.  This year, why not resolve to come closer to nature and discover one of the many ways we can enrich our body, mind, and soul?

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The power of simple words, images, and art: Ava M. Hu in Yin and Yang

Photography by JoAnna Schillaci

Yin and Yang poet, Ava M. Hu, is an artist and poet currently residing in NYC.  She designs her own clothing line called avalove with a shop in Artists & Fleas in Chelsea Market, NYC. She creates one poem, one metaphor at a time. Ava received the Amy Award from Poets & Writers magazine as best woman poet under 30 in NYC, and Jane Hirshfield picked her poem, Varanasi, as first place for the America's Review Poetry contest.

Ava M. Hu

She has submitted a number of simple poems for inclusion in Yin and Yang: The Duality of Balance.  Ava's word choice is exquisite, eliciting raw, and often nostalgic emotion from a few short lines of descriptive language. She does this in all her pieces, whether describing the relationship nature and god, and how it reveals itself in the "Secret Mantra" of love, or representing in ten very short lines how one can achieve all they desire through observing the space, time, and poetry between the stars, between molecules of water.

As an undergrad at Sarah Lawrence College, Ava Hu studied poetry and sculpture. To Ava, there is a fine line between art and poetry, one a written metaphor, the other visual. 

"Her poetry is sparse, to the point and freeing," editor Charla Dury writes.  "Ava appreciates the lack of flowery words, the short concise thoughts and the questions that inflame your brain."

Ava is happiest when creating—whether a poem, a clothing design, or gluing glittery planets together. Since a poet's work is solitary, Ava enjoys balancing that by working with others, like with the Nesting Project, where she helped build a forest filled with artists' renditions of nests for the Jivamukti Yoga School, raising money for Habitat for Humanity.

"I’m most passionate about is the moment creation happens," Ava said.

And she has certainly transferred this passion to the page, where it has the ability to wing up and stir emotion in the reader with an unlikely image, comparison, or starkness such as that which is found in some of the most beautiful aspects of life.

Ava is inspired by music, listening to a song over and over like a meditation while writing poetry.

"[Listening to music] I can be open, and listen the most, to the inner workings of the universe, or the heart, or whatever that place is where creation springs from," Ava said.

Charla writes about Ava’s poem "Question," one of four of hers featured in Yin and Yang. Charla said is best listened to as Ava writes, with music. "In it resides a brain twister, forcing your thoughts to wrap around concepts larger than yourself.  Meditate on them."

Read more of Ava's work by pre-ordering Yin and Yang: the Duality of Balance and have it in-hand in time for holiday gift-giving. Click: Mind Key Store or visit www.mindkey.me/anthology to order.

Find Ava online at and in Artists and Fleas in Chelsea Market at Avalove shop: 459 W. 15th Street, New York, NY 10011 and at www.avaloveshop.com and www.avamhu.com.

Nature reaches to the Cosmos with Elisabeth Ladwig in "Yin and Yang"

"In Dryad of Death And Rebirth, the photo captures yin," Sarah said. "Though her roots are decaying in the earth, without that death, new life cannot grow.

Hailing from the mountains of West Milford, New Jersey, Elisabeth Ladwig, an award-winning conceptional photographer and artist believes "that life’s mysteries fall within the parameters of scientific explanation, that science abides by the Laws of Nature, and that nature is magical."

This belief is conveyed through her digitally composed photography, each piece with elements of nature and with an anonymous subject, offering a variety of metaphors for the miracles all around us, and for humankind’s relationship with the Earth and with the Cosmos.

“Anonymity allows the viewer to take part in writing the story,” Elisabeth says, “and that story is going to be different for everyone.”

Upon finishing her studies in Graphic and Digital Design at Parsons School of Design in NYC, Elisabeth's artistic career began as a graphic artist in the music industry. It was this digital artistry that merged with a personal interest of collage art, morphing into her current work of photo compositing. Once an idea is born in her sketchbook, Elisabeth sets out to take the photographs she needs to create the image. Her creative process is variable and spiritually instinctive; often, an image is well on its way or even completed before its concept is fully understood, and that meaning may vary from one viewing to the next.

 Elisabeth's magical contribution to Yin and Yang: The Duality of Balance, comes from "Out of the Woods," a collection of images that portray subjects who are not afraid to stray beyond their comfortable spaces, to transform, and to be seen.

Mind Key member and anthology contributor Sarah Loukos writes that Dryad of Renewal and Dryad of Death and Rebirth, truly represent Elisabeth's essence and connection with nature.

"Yang is shown very clearly in Dryad of Renewal, Spring. The woman in white spells out pure spring, perfectly."

View more of Elisabeth's work on her website elisabethonearth.com and in Mind Key's second Anthology, Yin And Yang Duality Of Balance.  This one-of-a-kind full color, glossy book is an inspiration of art and writing for those who are ready to embrace both the light and shadow side of themselves.

 Pre-order the book today at a limited-time only discount on www.mindkey.me/anthology

The Spirit Deer

​In early summer of this year, I popped my shamanic drum circle cherry. I had an idea of what to expect, but the actual experience differed greatly from my expectations. Thanks to fellow Mind Key members Vera Remes, Reiki Ruth, and Danielle Rose, I now have a hunger for shamanic journeying and working with spirit or totem animals. 

​Somewhat deep in the woods of Ringwood, NJ, a group a seekers and I came together around a lush fire with drums, shakers, Smores, and hot dogs. Before this meeting, I had not spent much time in the woods, and I hated realizing what I had missed. Spiritually consuming nature is a necessity to true connectedness, no matter where you are mentally or emotionally. The most anticipated event at this drum circle, besides all the melted chocolatey and marshmallowyeuphoria, was the meditative journey to the spirit animal.

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​Now, some say you should not reveal what your power animal is. I am going to break the rules, so to speak, because I personally feel your animal is your animal no matter what. In a way, I believe by sharing my story, I give my totem even more significance. On that early summer evening in the woods, I connected with the deer. In all honesty, I was really hoping for a wolf. I've had an intense fascination with wolves and was a bit skeptical as to whether or not the deer really suited me.

​Shortly after this circle, I stumbled upon the art of Laura Daligan at lauradaligan-art.com. As I was flipping through slides of her visionary art and painted drums, her "Spirit Deer" (pictured here) almost knocked me on my skeptical ass. Staring me in the face was the same deer I came face to face with during my meditative journey in the New Jersey woods.

​Those eyes. I could not get over those eyes. Needless to say, Laura Daligan's "Spirit Deer" does not allow me to deny this animal's spirit. 

​I may not agree with the suggestion of keeping your spirit animal to yourself, but I do agree with one thing. You cannot pick your power animal on a whim, hence why my beloved wolf wasn't for me. According to Takatoka's presentation, "Spirit Guides & Totems",  "An animal spirit guide cannot be chosen by the individual...These 'games' do not work and they give their victims false impressions that may lead a sincere person far astray from their goal of connecting with animal spirits to help them in their walk in life...The Spirit chooses you and they decide to whom they will reveal themselves and make their friend." 

​If you want to find your power animal, spending some time with your favorite tree in your backyard or walking through an unmanned path can increase the likelihood of encountering your animal spirit guide. Additionally, no one else can pick your animal for you. Connecting is up to Spirit and your willingness to open up to it. Pay attention to recurring images and signs. Engage in guided meditations and shamanic journeys, and once you find him or her, give thanks. (Takatoka, Manataka American Indian Council)  

In a Nutshell: Faeries- Our Magical and Spiritual Companions

There’s something magical around us and we experience it every time we observe a sunset or walk through an open field carpeted with dew-kissed grass. This week, writer Danielle Rose beautifully brings to light the mystery of that magic:  Faeries. 

As May 1^st approaches, Danielle finds it appropriate to talk about Beltane, or May Day, one of the

photography by Kely Luzio-Cardona

faeries primary holidays.  In Faeries for Beltane she explains what the term Faerie means by re-introducing two previously published articles.   

She explains, “[Faeries] embody the magic behind the science of things. They are the reason the flowers bloom, the snow glistens, and the waves crash upon the sand. ”   

 Danielle also includes another fresh take on faeries. Artist and tattooist Scarlet Sinclair says, “To me ‘faerie’ is a way to describe and put faces on the spirits inherent in nature, whether they are tangible things in nature such as rocks or trees or flowers or unseen things in nature such as energy, emotions or magick.” 

As we ask ourselves about the relationship between us and faeries, Danielle takes us into a deeper understanding with What the Faeries Think of Us.  As Earth’s well being is vital for both the faeries and the human race, they believe in mutual cooperation to keep the earth spinning. Faeries are troubled by our failure to cherish our earthly home.  Yet, there’s a silver lining.  

 “Many of us think humanity is dark and trouble, but the faeries know they are dark and trouble, too.  They don’t look down on us for being who we are,” Danielle explains. 

But how can we see faeries?  Is there a certain way to connect with them?   

artwork by Grace NgDung

In Advice for Seeing Faeries, Danielle says, “There are always signs when the faeries talk. Some people get the chills, some hear the voice in their head change in pitch or timbre.  Sometimes the signs are more subtle—diary entries that mimic subsequent events, or dreams that come true.”   

Our gut feeling leads us to be open to their presence.  If followed, the faeries are waiting.  Danielle draws inspiration from faerie artist Soso Erlenkamp.  Soso says, “For me one essential way to get in contact with faerie, was to learn to be entirely in the here and now with open eyes, an open mind, and an open heart.”

In Faeries and Humans Together we ponder if faeries are here to help us.  Drawing on the wisdom and experience of artist Grace Ng Dung, who sees faeries’ role ‘to protect life forms already on earth’, Danielle enlightens us by saying,  “Faeries also help us to become more conscious and more connected.” 

     If we truly seek it, we can rediscover this connection and let them show us a more fulfilling spiritual path and the wonderful magic around us.

Want to read more?  Click on the link below to check out Danielle Rose’s blogs on Faeries:
What is a Faerie? (Nov 2014)
Who are the Faeries? (Nov 2014)

Faeries for Beltane—What are faeries and what is their role?

What the Faeries Think of Us—How faeries view humanity and its role on Earth.

Advice for Seeing Faeries—Can we connect with Faeries?  How?

Faeries and Humans Together—What is the relationship between the two and can it benefit us?

photography by Kely Luzio-Cardona