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Transformative journeys on Crete island

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About the author

Ildiko Berecz is an intuitive mentor, coach and holistic therapist who is passionate about sharing her inspiring personal stories from behind the mountains of Crete island, while being on the road, searching and experiencing, capturing, collecting, distilling, making herbal preparations, blending botanical perfume and more. She offers her insights of authentic approach and humble practices for better understanding and appreciation of nature, herbal remedies and awareness of trustworthy natural applications in our self-development and everyday life practices. More about Ildiko’s extensive life-changing work at ildikoberecz.com

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Yarrow – A Journey Home
Extractions and Distractions – A Survival Guide For Aromatic Living in Lockdown – Part 2
Extractions and Distractions – A Survival Guide For Aromatic Living in Lockdown – Part 1
Melissa  – Life is beautiful, isn’t it?
Stand By Me With Your Aromas

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Photography & text ©️ Ildiko Berecz of Essential Reflections, unless stated otherwise. Please do not use the pictures without prior written permission. If you wish to republish any of my reflections, get in touch, and/or link back respectfully to the original post. Content on this website is based on personal experience and provided for informational or educational purposes only, and is not intended as a substitute for advice from a physician or healthcare professional.

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As for the story of the flowers and the leaves...

Wow, I was surprised to see so many of you got to

Wow, I was surprised to see so many of you got to see and appreciate my comeback with some late highlights on the April harvests! Thank you 🙂 The other day I was talking to an old friend who also lives far away, and he was saying that if nothing else, I could just post one picture a day. The trouble is, I am a storyteller who is fascinated about processes and that requires a series of photos! Anyhow, I am working on finding a golden mean.

🍊 Now, a little more on harvesting and distilling the various gifts of the bitter orange tree (which is not identical with the sweet orange tree). For those of you who did not know, in aromatherapy we have this wonderful plant that is one of the most generous beings that offers different essential oils (as well as hydrolats) from various plant parts. Neroli is the name used when we distill the flowers, Petitgrain is when the leaves (and some tiny young green fruits) are distilled, and finally the zest of the ripen fruit (that can either be steam distilled or cold-pressed) would be labeled as Bitter Orange eo/hydrolat. Simply saying...

🍊 Classically, the order of the distillations would go as flowers first, then a few weeks later leaves from the trimmed trees become available for the distiller, as well as the mature fruits. Now, for me as an artisan distiller, I often go with certain intentions, at the same time, I run into beautiful opportunities, as well as situations to clean up. For instance, the bitter orange tree had many freshly fallen fruits which I wanted to distill separately, right after distilling the other plant parts. However, life got busy and I finally had to let them go. As for the story of the flowers and the leaves, it will have to be another day to tell you about some details of the distillation, but I did some experiments and they came out beautifully! 🙏💝
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#essentialreflections #crete #lifechanging #unknown #holistic #aromatherapy #artisandistillery #alchemist #lifetransformation #awakening #awareness #rose #love #intuition #followyourdreams #followyourheart #spiritualawakening #plants #nature

I know... Except for the rose fields, I hardly sha

I know... Except for the rose fields, I hardly shared anything in the past three months. I know many of you have been missing my aromatic journals and essential reflections, but you know, sometimes, you just do what you do and that's it. Oh boy, what an abundant period it has been! As my plant works and distillations have always served as a place of transformative journeys and personal development, it is also great to look back and confirm the feelings, what the Oracles have been transmitting through me at an earlier stage?

💝 As I wrote in March about the beautiful co-distillation of 6 plants I finally named 'Out of The Blue': 'I had previously created something magical called Abundance, and another brave experiment seemed in line with my path talking to me like that: What else can you expect? Where else can you go further? Could this be more amazing?' And this is the point where it all started! More amazingness arrived in my life! Something that I have been dreaming about for years, and although I deeply felt it must be coming my way, yet the WHEN and the HOW was seemingly under the control of the Department UNKNOWN. Yet, with perseverance, trust and constant humbleness, I have never stopped working. And working means on myself, as much as on the aromatic fields. Always holistically, authentically following my heart. And of course, it is not just sunshine (I will do a separate post on that...), meaning you have the lucky start... However, it is a choice. No matter what you believe, we ALWAYS have choices! (More on that later, too.).

💝 Long story short, two amazing guys appeared in my life to enrich my days, fulfill the prophecy, and for us all to keep walking the aromatic paths together! So if you wanna know what we did on the dirt road of explorations, connection and gratitude this early summer, here is my short version of the plants we were harvesting for distillation: Neroli and Petitgrain (Bitter orange), Wild Lavender, Helichrysum, Myrtle and Cretan Yarrow, Rose Geranium, and oooh, those magical Damask Roses from the fields of my love.

💝 With gratitude, some fragrant visuals from the Neroli harvest in mid April! 🌿🙏
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#essentialreflections

Did you know there is a design thinking tool calle

Did you know there is a design thinking tool called The Rose, Bud, and Thorn? This technique is designed to identify what's working (Rose), what's not (Thorn) and what can be improved (Bud). Although it is widely used by teams to evaluate current projects, I believe it is a wonderful metaphor to apply in anyone's life to help doing self-reflection, facilitate discussions with one another, or you go beyond and creatively apply what comes to mind... 🌹

Last night the world anniversary came up, and this morning I realized it is another special day today! So I am posting these 'La Vie En Rose' pictures in honour of the day that exactly 9 years ago I took two suitcases and arrived from Hungary to Crete to walk the Path of the Unknown! I cannot be more grateful for all the adventures that waited for me. 🌿

Apparently, completing number 9 on this Full Moon. As with the top of the iceberg, that corresponds to one of my favourite quotes from The Little Prince: "What is essential is invisible to the eye." - as in the last couple of months I have lived through the most essential changes in my life since the one 9 years ago. And while to me celebration is LIFE itself, and the way we fill it up with experiences, it is just as important to acknowledge the momentum of the rolling stones. 🐝

And here we go, with my beloved synchronicities: I am on the move again! On the Path of the Unknown where I have had the opportunity to share my passion and experiences with many in these past 9 years, the road now takes a new turn. Going from West to East, I continue walking this aromatic life on Crete side-by-side with my two loving partners extraordinaires! And I shall meet you there, where we live by: The Rose, The Bud, and The Thorn 🌹💝

PS: May you dare to follow your dreams, and walk the Path of the Unknown! Much love to all who needs encouragement on this day! Thank you for listening to me, and most importantly, to your Heart! 💗
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#essentialreflections #crete #lifechanging #unknown #holistic #aromatherapy #artisandistillery #alchemist #lifetransformation #awakening #awareness #rose #love #intuition #followyourdreams #followyourheart #spiritualawakening #plants #nature

Oooops, I have forgotten to share this here... Gos

Oooops, I have forgotten to share this here... Gosh, all these platforms while the best place to be is actually out in the fieIds! So, some days ago I have written a beautiful text about what it means to being part of a community, and how we define community in a matter of context, such as size and depth, horizontal to vertical, thematic to geographical. No matter what, we just keep organising ourselves into units to accommodate the feeling of belonging, and other needs whether basic or secondary. While being part of a community is our basic need, to keep it balanced, it is very beneficial to distinguish these unique groups in our lives, as well as evaluate our very own roles within each circle. 💓

I enjoy being connected to several nodes in the circulation of this rich world of plants, herb, aromatic medicine, and the fantastic pulsing field of alternative and complementary therapies. I have grown so much together with the plants and together with my aromatic friends and colleagues all over the world. I am grateful for our shared experiences, both personally and professionally, and it is a pleasure and a treasure to have these major life areas overlapping. 🤩

Being an editor of @aromatika_magazin with Gergely Hollodi @aromabotanica is weaving threads amongst separate islands, and being a real authentic armchair rebel, connecting worlds of ‘real’ and digital (after all, who knows where we are in this matrix…). 🌿

And this is to say, we now have AROMATIKA's SUMMER issue out to fulfil our next milestone in this mission! My gratitude has been expressed in private letters, but on a larger scale, just look at the amazing bright change-makers who have given us the honour to publish their works.

If you are new to this fantastic publication in the fields of aromatherapy, herbal medicine, essential oils, complementary therapies and their applications, and if you feel the call, please follow @aromatika_magazine and/or give it a try to download one of our amazing, hearty co-creation over 130 fabulous pages! 😍🙏
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#essentialreflections #crete #aromatherapy #artisandistillations #followyourheart #nature #aromaticstudies #awareness #awakening #aromatika

And one day, after a long journey across the aroma

And one day, after a long journey across the aromatic fields of Crete, I find myself picking majestic roses of the most special kinds. 💝
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#essentialreflections #rose #crete #woman #lightworker #holisticcoach #mentor #healer #sister #recordskeeper #nature #plantmessages #plantmedicine #plants #aromaticjourneys #aromatherapy #artisandistiller #spiritualguide #awareness #awakening #personaldevelopment #lifepath

Back on the land of infinite magic! Landing on Cre

Back on the land of infinite magic! Landing on Crete again on Monday, with a colourful Cistus welcome on the way from the airport. I thought you'd enjoy that view too! 🌸💗🙏
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#essentialreflections #crete #cistus #plantmessages #aromaticplants #aromaticstudies #aromaticjourneys #personaldevelopment #awakening #awareness #artisan #mentor #spiritualguidance #lifetransformation #followyourheart

Greetings from my travels in Hungary, the land of

Greetings from my travels in Hungary, the land of my childhood plant where Dandelions (Taraxacum officialis) grow literally everywhere, meadows, roadsides and even the tiniest green spots across town at bus stops or wherever a piece of soil left...

I did my journey with this amazing precious plant over the many years, a great teacher and healer. I guess she came to me as a lead teacher, and I also naturally chose her to be my plant ally when I was in Brighton in 2018 at the Botanica conference ( organised by @botanicaeorc ).

There I also had a chance to finally meet in person and attend an amazing workshop with the lovely teacher Carol Guyett to deepen my capacity in sacred plant communications. It was magical, affirmative and helped incredibly to explore and understand my path better and walk it with more confidence with the trust that I am supported all along.

How is your sense of connection line with the plant world? Do you feel their immerse presence and guidance being stronger every step on the way?

Sending out much love and many blessings to you dear ones! 🌵💝

#essentialreflections #crete #plants #plantcommunication #personaldevelopment #spiritualguidance #healing #holisticcoach #mentor #aromaticplants #herbalism #aromaticstudies #aromatherapy

I think I never really told you about 'Out of The

I think I never really told you about 'Out of The Blue'. A beautiful co-distillation of 6 plants I completed in October 2021. Why?Partly because I had previously created something magical called Abundance, and another brave experiment seemed in line with my path talking to me like that: What else can you expect? Where else can you go further? Could this be more amazing?

💗 As a true heart-guided alchemist, I have been searching for some missing secret ingredients. While of course, part of the process is that you have to be really patient. You have to know when to act, when to withdraw, when to go again... And be aware of how everything unfolds for you, going with the flow, and being partnered in creation. A bit like the interactions between the Sun, the Earth and the Moon as they co-create and influence us and everything around. And of course, I did not even mention the rest of the Universe...

💗 In fact, part of walking a holistic path, which is part of (or perhaps is) the awakening process I believe is developing our ability to recognise and follow the many cyclical natures of Life/Nature. And this, on a bit more everyday terms, is a series of transformations.

💗 Out of The Blue contains polarity, as the plant energies in there are quite special. To an extent that I was not able to put it into words. What do you do when there are no words??? Well, I leave it for you to answer this question. Me for instance, I somehow speak the language of the Soul, and often I use the language of Plants in their infinitely various ways.

💗 This time I was called to make a drawing in my attempt to try to tell the story. Which felt like a vision board to me, so sacred that I did not even dare to show it to others. While the dynamics of Spring are in the air, and when finally everybody on this Earth had been through a lot and had to get a taste to experience constant changes with out-of-the-blue situations, it feels like there has never been a better chance for us little-great human beings to live with our capacities more fully. To transform our lives more consciously, to put more focus on learning the laws of the Universe, and... (continued in comments)

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