Rage Support lotion bar

This bar was made in partnership with beloved forests, plants, flowers, and lichen here on Whidbey Island. The intention behind the bar is not to "get rid of" rage more quickly. I've held too much rage to believe that it's the terrible thing I once thought it was. This lotion bar can support you as you sit with rage. It may support you in sitting with rage long enough--while feeling loved a bit--that you really see it, name it, feel it in your body, grow curious about why it exists within a particular part of you at this particular moment in time. Notice what other emotions are here, too. And value your emotions enough to share them and bring forth the change your rage demands.

Your experience of these plants may be different than ours: that's the nature of relationships with the living. I find that:

• Rose opens my heart, connects me to ancestor and land wisdom, and calms my nerves.
• Just a touch of lemon balm helps steady my agitated self. 
• Wild violets remind me of my connection to ancestors, especially women, and hold me as I make peace with grief as part of an open and loving life. Few things are better for grief-induced rage than laying face down in a patch of violets.
• Burdock supports me in releasing intense frustration and anger. Not getting rid of it: just releasing a bit and lowering the intensity a little bit so I have the ability to breathe and listen.
• Usnea helps me with personal boundaries. Where are mine now? Have they changed? Were they just trampled? Or did I cross someone else's boundaries? Usnea also connects me to Kid Me, the curious one who finds wonder and magic beneath every rock and within every bug's face and mud puddle. The one who believes in love, in the abundance of life, humanity. 
• Emotionally, Nettle helps me overcome irritability. And during these times, friends, I'm also drinking nettle tea and eating nettles, too. All. The. Dang. Time!

To use: 1. Hold the bar between your palms to warm it. In winter or when your hands are unusually cold, this may take a few more seconds that normal. 2. Rub the bar across your skin like regular body lotion, focusing on places that get tense and tight when you're holding rage. For example, in me that would be my hands, wrists, and fists, my jaw, neck, and along the tops of my shoulders. When times are really bad, along my sternum down the center of my chest.  

Ingredients: Ethically gathered abundant and wild native violets, usnea lichen (gathered off the ground and windfall branches after winter storms), stinging nettle, and rose petals (from Whidbey woods and fields), and grown-on-Whidbey (at Ritual Mischief and from trusted neighbors) rose petals, burdock root, and lemon balm infused into organic extra virgin olive oil, plus coconut oil, shea butter, beeswax, and just a couple of drops of rose absolute essential oil (rose essential oil in jojoba oil). 

Size: These hand-poured bars are at least 2 ounces, often more. 

Packaging: This bar comes in a food-safe and reusable metal tin. 

Notice for people who live in warmer climates: These bars were made for locals and formulated for the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. They begin to melt at body temperature. If you live in a place substantially warmer than here (where summer temps are usually around 70-75 degrees F), you may find them too melt-y for your taste. Also, if we ship them to you during warm months, watch for them and get them out of your warm mailbox or out of the box on your warm porch ASAP!

Medical disclaimer: Don’t use this bar if you are allergic to the ingredients, and always stop using a product if your body doesn't like it. These plants are our trusted friends, and yet we all respond to plants differently: that is the nature of relationships with the living. To make well-informed decisions for yourself, seek the guidance of your qualified health professional, such your medical doctor, nurse practitioner, naturopathic physician, and/or clinical herbalist with questions regarding medical conditions, dosage information, and possible interactions with prescription drugs. This is especially important if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking prescription drugs, have a chronic disease or any chronic concern, and/or you have allergies. 

The information on this page is for general reference for further exploration and study. It is not intended as a replacement for professional medical advice. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If it happens to help you change your life, your family, your community, and our world for the better, I, for one, won't mind and I hope you won't mind either. I'm an herbalist who leans on ever-deepening relationships with local land, plants, people, ancestors, and other herbalists. I don't study illness or disease, I'm not a medical doctor (EdD in Educational Leadership) or a scientist, and I've never been pregnant or had children. I've held quite a bit of rage though. ;-)