JIVA APOHA : ESSENTIAL OIL BEAUTY

Solstice is a great time to think about balance – the kind of balance you can find using organic, essential oils blended for maximum health and beauty effect at the hands of a seasoned artisan. In winter, the longest night and shortest day is a perfect way to reflect on darkness and light. In summer, a fourteen hour, sun filled day is a golden time to reflect on quality of life. Essential oils have been used for millennia and have proven restorative effects. These natural essences are botanical extracts from flowers, herbs, trees and other plant material. They can be used in small amounts on pulse points, in your bathwater and shampoo and more generously in massage. The wearer feels the alchemical effects as the scents linger.

Jiva Apoha is devoted to the healing aspects of essential oils. Angela Shore, Jiva Apoha's founder, had studied wellness topics before, but life’s storms made her realize what had been her avocation should be her vocation. “I think I woke up and knew it was time for me to go back to my roots, what was really important,” says the North Carolina native. “I knew what was helping me to feel good,” she continues, referring to her personal use of aromatherapy and seed and nut oils. “I think there’s a lot going on with the healing arts movement in general, a younger generation moving into the light of wellness – it’s becoming more acceptable and open.”

She created Jiva Apoha (Sanskrit for soul healing) based on her wisdom of both Ayurveda and shamanism. Working closely with her shaman, acupuncture therapy, Chinese herbs, meditation, yoga and incorporating essential oils and Ayurveda, Shore developed dozens of all-natural oils over the course of several years—a sandalwood, jasmine and Roman chamomile-based balancing oil for the face, a radiant sesame and sunflower Atman (spirit) body oil sourced from herbal farms of India and South America, and a light, incredibly subtle calming oil that relaxes without overpowering. There is an intimacy to using Jiva Apoha - custom made oils with fragrances that trigger emotional memory, which in turn propel us into a new time.

~Maureen Seaberg

2013