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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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Recent Posts

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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I am beyond excited to share with you that I have

I am beyond excited to share with you that I have the honour to be a speaker at the AROMATICA AUSTRALIA conference that will be held virtually from 10 - 12 November 2023! 🌿

Amazing local Australian and international speakers from around the world, including Rhiannon Lewis @botanicaeorc Hana Tisserand, Sal Battaglia, Penny Price, Madeleine Kerkhof @kerkhofmadeleine Marika Fleri @marikafleri Ashley Dowell and many more. Sessions include exciting research, utilisation of aromatherapy in different environments, farm/factory walks and a World Spotlight series. Also, there will be FREE bonus sessions for everyone (not just attendees)!!! 😍

Aromatica Australia tickets are going on sale from 1 April at the Super Early Bird price. A real kind incentive, that the organisers @aromatherapytoday are offering (𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝟭 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹) you the opportunity to pre-register for the conference, and by pre-registering, you will be sent a 20% discount code to use for registration! The discount code will be valid until Aromatica Australia begins in November. So whenever (even if finally not at all) you make your decision to attend and purchase your Aromatica Australia tickets, it will be a WIN anyway with this coupon in your hand! 🎁

If you are into life-long journeying with aromatics, AA+ opportunities are here to join us! 🐝
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#essentialreflections #crete #lifechanging #unknown #holistic #aromatherapy #artisandistillery #alchemist #hydrolat #hydrosol #lifetransformation #awakening #awareness #perfume #love #intuition #chamomile #germanchamomile #relaxation #soothing #plantmedicine #plants #herbal #fieldtrips #mentorship #thearomasummit #aromaticaaustralia

A daily dose of soothing and softness! Inner peace

A daily dose of soothing and softness! Inner peace to everyone for the upcoming week and to copy with changes taking place with the season! 💛

While there is the benefit of adjusting our clocks and accelerating the experience of longer days at the closing of it, it felt almost shocking this morning to accommodate what has usually been a natural process of waking up with my inner guidance. ⏰

Meanwhile, our lovely chamomiles are here to distress, take away the excess feelings of disharmony, exhaustion or worries. Matricaria chamomilla (syn. Matricaria recutita) is something we have much more in Hungary than here in Crete where you would find small patches here and there, and they are gorgeous. Called upon several common names most typically as German chamomile or Blue chamomile (due to the amazing cobalt blue colour of the essential oil when the flowers are distilled), or even wild chamomiles. These ones are definitely wild growing plants. Now we are working on spreading them around a bit more, replanting some roadside individuals to other locations, as well as growing them from seeds which is always a fascinating journey! 🌿

Have you been enjoying a cup of chamomile tea lately? ☕💚
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#essentialreflections #crete #lifechanging #unknown #holistic #aromatherapy #artisandistillery #alchemist #hydrolat #hydrosol #lifetransformation #awakening #awareness #perfume #love #intuition #chamomile #germanchamomile #relaxation #soothing #plantmedicine #plants #herbal #fieldtrips #mentorship #thearomasummit #aromaticaaustralia

While Calendulas, nature and all of us were happil

While Calendulas, nature and all of us were happily receiving some spring rainfalls, life has been so exciting these days, only to cope with the abundance of all! More to be revealed soon... 🙏

For now... I am sitting with my copper alembic today with a distillation that has been on the wait list and in preparations for the last many weeks. Last time I distilled mandarins was 5 years ago!!! Oh boy, you will want to smell that! The hydrolat which is quite an effort to make whereas the task of having collected enough of mandarins, I mean the peels, and drink all the lovely juice from inside that is not part of the distillation. So this hydrolat is so unique and exquisite - happy, bubbling, and just as real as if you were biting into the fresh juicy fruit itself! 🍊

As mandarin does it in aromatherapy, it is full of joy, positivity and playfulness, yet very calmly, balancing to bring oneself to equilibrium. From my memories of the previous batch what comes up immediately is when we were in a long car-drive with kids, and when they got bored and agitated needing to sit for long, a splash of mandarin water worked like a magic spell on them! 🧡

Stay tuned for the outcome, and if you feel the call to try a selection of my small-batch artisan hydrolats, you can order my Essential Reflections Discovery Pack. DM me for inquiries, and current listings on what is available. 🍊🌿🙏
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#essentialreflections #crete #lifechanging #unknown #holistic #aromatherapy #artisandistillery #alchemist #hydrolat #hydrosol #lifetransformation #awakening #awareness #perfume #love #intuition #citrus #mandarin #plantmedicine #plants #herbal #fieldtrips #mentorship #thearomasummit

Here's a bit of more sunshine to this week! We hav

Here's a bit of more sunshine to this week! We have planted calendulas from seeds and by re-locating some individuals from established communities. While these flowers are from Calendula officinalis with larger bright orange flowerheads, in Crete a smaller sister called C. arvensis is also widespread. They are all brilliant and with a bit of rest sometime they may keep blossoming almost throughout the year depending on the conditions of their respected location (you remember my winter captures with a bush in the show?). 🌼

Calendula is one of the lovely herbaceous perennial plants that soon becomes an ally of any budding herbalists or aromatherapist, and those of dealing with health issues - if nothing else for its anti-inflammatory properties that can be invited into action so holistically. Putting aside its energetics (if it is possible at all), it is edible, it's a great add to salads to start with, it offers a gentle yet powerful infusion to drink as a tea. Easy to tincture it in alcohol, and probably the most fulfilling way to work with as for instance to make a macerate in a carrier oil such as olive, almond or what else you may have around you. The result is a wonderful Calendula infused oil that may be your first ever project into creating your own wound-healing preparation. There is more to it, but hope it's a great kick-off for the week, saluting the sun and welcoming spring! 🌼
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#essentialreflections #crete #lifechanging #unknown #holistic #aromatherapy #artisandistillery #alchemist #lifetransformation #awakening #awareness #calendula #marigold #love #intuition #hydrolat #hydrosol #tincture #woundhealing #plantmedicine #plants #herbal #fieldtrips #mentorship

Immortelle “symbolises eternal love in the langu

Immortelle “symbolises eternal love in the language of flowers, which corroborates the idea of an evolved being with a profoundly spiritual nature.” – describes Philippe Mailhebiau in his valuable Portraits in Oils book. Beautiful, isn't it? Helichrysum stoechas have started flowering in the wild on the hillsides of East Crete, and this amazing plant is probably the largest single shrub that I have ever come across! And believe me I hugged quite a few of them in the past many years... 💛

The past weekend it took me some effort to get down to meet her on this olive slope as about 10 days ago I had a small slip and fall accident and badly hurt my ankle. No worries, the bruise and the pain went fast as I systematically used all sorts of things from my apothecary, including helichrysum essential oil, hydrosol, infusion and even the alcoholic tincture proved great mixing it with aloe gel. I made various blends and added other essential oils such as Rose geranium, Spike Lavender, Wintergreen, and German chamomile, and this and that... 💛

To complete my series of treatments, I also bought an arnica gel as we don't have arnica of our own, but we had it as a homeopathic remedy (since my partner Yiannis is also the most amazing homeopath @homoeopathy.gr ) which I added to the routine as well. So yes, we have a profound spiritual nature, yet in a very physical body that calls for attention, care and healing so we can manifest our wonderful self and keep playing around! 💛
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#essentialreflections #crete #lifechanging #unknown #holistic #aromatherapy #artisandistillery #alchemist #lifetransformation #awakening #awareness #helichrysum #love #intuition
#hydrolat #hydrosol #tincture #woundhealing #plantmedicine #plants #herbal #fieldtrips #mentorship

How can you not be madly in love with this embodim

How can you not be madly in love with this embodiment of grace, colours and botanical architectural masterpiece? A fragrant home with a curved rooftop that transfers into a sacred space of a semi-open sheltered dome! 💜

Iris carries the qualities of authority, courage, and magical transportation that I have experienced myself over the years. A true portal for self-transformation with pure energetics, intuitive power and divination. 💜

The past couple of weeks there has been an amazing abundance of various wild Irises around our area on Crete, and while most of them are not taller than 10 cm and need to be spotted in the grass, this enchanting Iris germanica stands out with stem and bearded flowerhead high above. Amongst several common names, I like 'Florentine Iris' and she is no doubt in the sunny spotlight of life these days, and who knows... I might come back with more aromatic stories on this end. 💜

Wishing you a wonderful spring opening and lots of refreshing time outside! 🌿
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#essentialreflections #crete #lifechanging #unknown #holistic #aromatherapy #flowers #artisandistillery #alchemist #lifetransformation #awakening #awareness #divination #love #intuition #iris #irisgermanica #botanical #perfumery #plantmedicine #plants #herbal #fieldtrips #mentorship

As in the good old song by Tears for Fears, we are

As in the good old song by Tears for Fears, we are 'Sowing the Seeds of Love' (oh boy, the lyrics sound as relevant as ever). Although we generally take lots of cuttings for the new plantings in our aromatic land, it is now seeds that are in the forefront. Some of them we collected ourselves from old seeded plants, others are from exchanges, and we also bought some varieties that we could not just get hold of easily. I have always had a fascination for seeds, and they inspire me - you may be right, anything to do with plants inspire me... - and so I've captured some of them to show you and inspire you too. 💚

Featured today is the loveliest of the Lamiaceae family Miss Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea), from the Daisy's we have German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla syn. M. recutita), and then the most special one from the perspective of the seed pod design is Calendula. 🌼

Hope you enjoy their beauty as much as I do. I am now back to sowing seeds both physically and metaphorically!!! 🌱🌱🌱

PS: And you, what seeds are sowing these days? 🐝
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#essentialreflections #crete #lifechanging #unknown #holistic #aromatherapy #seeds #artisandistillery #alchemist #lifetransformation #awakening #awareness #sage #love #intuition #salvia #calendula #chamomile #plantmedicine #plants #herbal #fieldtrips #mentorship

This fragrant legion of Plant Magic just confirmed

This fragrant legion of Plant Magic just confirmed to have arrived to their new destination of service in order to spread love, joy and healing in their new home. Apparently, to a psychologist-herbalist-phytotherapist... surely they are in great hands, what a beautiful offering she has to the world! 😍

A couple of years ago when I came up with the idea of creating my 'Essential Reflections Discovery Packs' it steamed from the intention of connecting people with the opportunity of exploration, a closer connection to aromatic and medicinal plants, and an invitation to the work I am here for. As a plant alchemist through the inherent and conscious combined practice of botany, herbalism and aromatherapy, the transformative energies most visibly translate into 'Genie-in-the-bottle' products from my slow-paced artisan distillations. ⚗

Looking at this selection of hydrolats, I thought of the connection of our skin as our largest organ and first protective layer of our physical body! And the gentle aromatic waters of Neroli, Damask rose, Rose geranium, Cistus, Helichrysum, Yarrow... they are all there to heal this layer, and they are all there to support healing emotional/psychological wounds! 💗

I am truly blessed, first of all that I am following the mystical, alchemical path of living and working with aromatic and medicinal plants on Crete, and also that what comes out of this is waking up the inner alchemists in people who resonate with this path. The Universe has its way, and we are here to co-create. 🐝

If you feel the call to order a selection of my artisan hydrolats, you can currently choose from about 25 various aromatic plants that I distilled in my copper still. While the sets are available in 30 ml, 50 ml or 100 ml bottles, if you ask me, I will prefer sending the smaller size sets. This is a 'less is more' situation, in a sense that I can share them with more of you. 😇Remember, my distillations are not industrial production, but small scale manufactural makings. Feel free to DM me for inquiries, and listings. 🌿🙏

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