Welcome to our Spotlight, Betsy. Besides manufacturing your I & E Organics line of products, you also perform different types of healing. First I'd like to know about how your interest in natural healing began.

    

     As a child I was an avid gardener, mostly vegetables and herbs. I took Ornamental Horticulture classes in High School and majored in Agriculture in College while working at plant nurseries. My primary interest moved from culinary and ornamental botanicals to include the medicinal and cosmetic uses of plants. My love and desire for this knowledge continue to grow.

 

What modalities do you use in your practice?

     Herbs, gem and flower essences, homeopathic remedies, aromatherapy, nutrition, and hands on healing.

 

You manufacture your own all-natural products. Please tell us about them and the standards that you adhere to.

     I believe the quality of the botanical is so important; growing conditions, harvesting method, and the intention behind the plant caretaker all play an important part in the quality of the final product. We grow or purchase organic herbs from local organic farmers and are equally selective about the vegetable oils, essential oils, flowers, gems and natural preservatives we use in our product lines.

     In addition to high quality ingredients, focused intention is a key element. ”Where intention goes, energy flows”. This is a really powerful statement. Energy is everywhere, is everything, at all times, constantly moving. We can influence energetic realities with intention because intention and thought and energy are all connected. The quality of the energy behind our intent is vitally important. We use intention all the time. When we pray, cast a spell, make a wish, set a goal, use creative visualization, or say an affirmation. We use focused, loving, positive intention when we make our products.

     We have a lot of positive feedback too! Clients tell us out tea blends have that “extra spark” or our room sprays and meditation oils make them “feel good”. The more positive, focused, loving, and truthful the intention is, the higher the energetic vibration and the deeper the effect on the human energy field.
 

How long have you been making them, and what inspired you to make them in the first place?

     I dabbled with facial scrubs, lip balm, medicinal teas and herbal hair rinses as a teenager and young adult but didn't get serious until I became pregnant with my son Ivan in 1992. I began to develop body lotions and oils for my ever-expanding belly, and nutritious herbal teas for pregnant and lactating women. That expanded into a whole array of baby products from diaper rash ointment and baby herbal baths to chamomile popsicles for teething toddlers. I always keep an eye out for local workshops and training and have met some wonderful and dynamic people along the way.

     I am always inspired by Rosemary Gladstar and David Hoffman and keep up with the work they are doing in herbal medicine. I expanded into vibrational medicine because I felt like big pieces were missing in my own personal care, specifically the body – mind – spirit connection. I experienced healing occurring on many levels using vibrational medicines and now I bring that into my client practice and products.

 

It must be wonderful to incorporate your own healing products into your healing practice. What are some of the changes that you've seen in your clients due to all that you offer them?
 

     With herbal remedies, I could treat physical symptoms, and suggest ways to incorporate healthy lifestyle changes by using organic herbs, spices, beauty products, and medicinal teas. My mantra back then was great skin begins from within . I was teaching my clients how to take personal responsibility for their health and beauty concerns by keeping their bodies healthy from the inside out on a physiological level.

     It wasn't until I went back to school for a diploma in homeopathy that I began to look at the mental and emotional state of each individual first, and their physical concerns second. Emotions that reveal themselves in the human energy field can also show up in the physical body. That’s why the skin becomes a mirror of our emotions. Excitement causes blushing, shock reveals itself as paleness, insecurity causes increased sweating. When we carry an emotion inside us for a long time, the actual emotion will reflect itself as a disturbance in the skins’ function.

     For example if we separate ourselves from our surroundings, our skin will peel and a scaly “shield” can develop. Our skin can reveal things to us of which we are not consciously aware. The intention behind the mantra great skin begins from within now calls into play a higher consciousness of love, wisdom, courage, and balance.
 

What advice would you offer someone that is starting off in the field of all-natural healing as well as all-natural beauty?

     Read, read, and read. I mentioned Rosemary Gladstar and David Hoffman for herbal medicine. For flower essences I really like Flower Power by Anne McIntyre, a more advanced book would be Flower Essences and Vibrational Healing by Gurudas. Two great beginner books about homeopathy are The Complete Guide to Homeopathy by Andrew Lockie and Nicola Geddes and Homeopathic Remedies by Asa Hershoff.
 

Where do you see the future for all-natural beauty products and services?

      What is important is how we feel about ourselves. Determining our physical emotional, and spiritual health and beauty needs, and being responsible for fulfilling those needs, as well as how we connect with self and others, is what allows our inner beauty to shine!