Aromatherapy and Essential Oils Blog - AromaTalk

Aromatherapy and Essential Oils for Spirituality: Easter and Passover

Passover (Judaism) and Holy Week (Christianity) are celebrated by many this week. As a spiritual individual with my faith rooted in Christianity, this is a special week for me that culminates with celebrating Easter with family and friends on Sunday.

Regardless of your spiritual background, aromatherapy and essential oils can play a special part as you embark or continue on your spiritual journey. Diffusing essential oils with Biblical significance can be especially meaningful this week.

I welcome you to read and explore the Aromatherapy Spirituality & Enlightenment category of AromaWeb's Article Archive:

• Essential Oils for Spirituality
This article includes a categorized list of essential oils known for their particular value within spiritual applications.

• Meditating With Essential Oils
Proper use of essential oils during meditation can enhance the experience by grounding you and promoting a sense of calm. Read this article to learn more.

• Praying With Essential Oils
Essential oils can be diffused as you pray to help you focus your thoughts and prayers. Learn more within this article.

• Aromatic Botanicals, Aromatherapy and the Bible
In ancient Biblical times, the distillation technology needed to distill essential oils hadn't yet been discovered. Learn about the aromatic botanicals and oils that were available at the time.

• Aromatic Botanicals of the Bible
View a list of the botanicals mentioned throughout the bible. Each includes an example Biblical passage.

• Anointing With Essential Oils
Using carrier oils and essential oils, you can create your own anointing oils for use during prayer, meditation or during times in which you want to express your gratitude or intention towards a particular goal or outcome.

• Incense and Spirituality
Incense made with natural ingredients can be burned during times of meditation, prayer, general reflection or to help cleanse and clear the air and make a space sacred.

• Essential Oils to Cleanse, Purify and Combat Negativity
Essential oils have the potential to uplift our spirit, purify the environment and combat the negativity that we experience daily.

• Native American Smuding Rituals
Native Americans use fragrant natural herbs like sage, sweetgrass, juniper, cedar and pine/pinon needles to help cleanse and clear the air of negative influences and attract positive energy.

• Aromatherapy and Astrology
Aromatherapy and astrology are two fields that aren't considered closely connected. You, however, can integrate the benefits of aromatherapy into what you know about yourself and your loved ones through your insight into astrology.

• Aromatherapy and the Chakras
Read this informative collection on the chakras for information on each of the chakras and how aromatherapy can help keep each of the seven chakras in balance.

Achoo! Aromatherapy and Other Tips to Help You Feel Better When You're Sick

Spring is officially here, and I can't wait to begin enjoying the progressively warmer weather and spending more time outdoors.

I'm in the midst of getting over a head cold that has left me feeling like my head is about 2 miles wide. As uncomfortable and inconvenient as a typical head cold is, I consider myself super blessed that it's not something worse.

While aromatherapy won't keep you from getting sick, I've learned firsthand that diffusing anti-viral and anti-bacterial essential oils have reduced the number of colds and flus that I get, and when I become ill, my symptoms don't seem quite as severe.

In simplistic terms, the regular but safe use of essential oils has kept my immune system healthy and has helped to ward off the bacteria, viruses and microbes that can lead to illnesses. These same principals can potentially also help you lessen the risk of contracting the H1N1/Swine Flu virus.

Read AromaWeb's article Reducing the Risk of Contracting H1N1, Flus and Colds With Aromatherapy to view a quicklist of ways that you can use aromatherapy to help stay as H1N1, cold and flu-free as possible. Look to the end of the article for a list of antibacterial, anti-viral, expectorant and decongestant essential oils.

The following aromatherapy and general tips also helped me in lessening the severity of my cold:

• I love utilizing a wide array of diffusers and choose the diffuser type to match what I'm up to. For prayer, meditation, romantic moments and quieter times, I prefer the ambiance and glow of candle diffusers. When I'm ill, I use my nebulizing diffusers from Diffuser World combined with anti-bacterial and/or anti-viral oils. For more information, read AromaWeb's All About Diffusers article. For a list of essential oils especially helpful for colds and the flu, read Reducing the Risk of Contracting H1N1, Flus and Colds With Aromatherapy.
  
  
• The steam from showers can be comforting to nasal passages. Add a few drops of your chosen anti-bacterial/anti-viral oil to the back ledge of your shower (but keep the oil from directly contacting your skin). The heat and steam will vaporize the oil.
  
  
• I've read from multiple sources that sugars can suppress your immune system. The orange juice that you might typically drink when you are sick might actually be doing more harm than good. Definitely drink fluids and get your Vitamin C from low-sugar sources, but consider limiting the amount of sugars and juice that you consume.
  
  
• I've also read that dairy can cause a lot of added congestion and mucous build-up. I've personally noticed a correlation with that. Ice cream might be soothing to your sore throat, but that comforting ice cream might wind up making you feel sicker in the long run with its typically high dairy and sugar content.
  
  
• When my nose is severely plugged, I tend to breath through my mouth at night. That leads to chapped lips if I don't plan ahead and use a lip balm. Using my handmade lip balm kept my lips moisturized and chap-free. I typically use Peppermint Essential Oil in my lip balms, but I also make a few tubes without it for use if my lips become especially sensitive.
  
  
• After plowing through at least a couple boxes of Kleenex, the exterior of my nostrils and upper lip area begin to feel raw. I make a "nose balm" that resembles a lip balm and that I store properly labeled in a lip balm tube (using my nose balm on my lips would be just plain gross). Instead of peppermint that can cause further irritation to such a sensitive area, I tend to add just a hint of Tea Tree Essential Oil or Manuka Essential Oil.
  
  
• I discovered years ago that allowing myself to become too inactive when sick can lead to a greater likelihood of fluid building up in my lungs. I tend to steer clear of full cardio when sick. But within reason, I strive to do a modest number of pushups, roman sit ups and other exercises once every hour or two so that I keep my lungs active without excessively straining myself. This also helps prevent getting stiff from inactivity. This is not a safe practice for everyone and depends on how ill you are. If you think it's a good idea for you, talk it over with your doctor.
  
  
• I'm a former smoker. If you smoke, you are at a much greater risk for developing bronchitis and pneumonia. I'll replay that broken record for you: Don't quit quitting.
  
  
• Keep a small supply of your chosen over the counter cold or flu products on hand so that you don't have to scramble to the drugstore to get what you need. It's inconvenient not only to you but also to all the other shoppers who you risk infecting. Medications do expire, so be careful about not stocking up too heavily.
  
  
• I've discovered that when I get especially sick, I tend to get "stupid" and don't remember to utilize all I've learned about aromatherapy to help combat my symptoms. So now, I plan ahead, make sure that I'm stocked with my favorite handmade products and those over the counter products that personally help me, and I keep a list of what I should be doing.
  
  

Essential Oils to Enjoy on St. Patrick's Day

Wishing all a happy St. Patrick's Day!

An essential oil that first comes to my mind for use on St. Patrick's day is Spearmint Essential Oil. It is a fresh, clean-smelling, energizing oil that is perfectly befitting the day and transition of seasons. It doesn't overpower as easily as Peppermint Essential Oil can.

Spring will be officially arrive in a few not-soon-enough-to-get-here days. Here in the northern hemisphere, this week marks the promise of warmer weather and the return of green grass, budding flowers and lush trees. Although it is still too cool for my spearmint to once again begin to grow, my mint plants are typically the first to greet me as soon as the weather warms up enough. [Read AromaTalk's Growing and Enjoying Peppermint, Spearmint and Other Mint Plants.]

On St. Patrick's Day, try diffusing a little Spearmint Essential Oil or create a refreshing room spray.

Aromatics International/Aromahead also suggests Sweet Basil, Palmarosa, Lime or Siberian Fir as green oils lovely for the day. View Aromahead Blog's Green Oils to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

For lively background information about St. Patrick and creating a soul synergy, read the West Coast Institute of Aromatherapy's blog post entitled Happy St. Patrick's Day, Creating a Soul Synergy.

New AromaWeb Article: Guide to Diluting Essential Oils

Adding essential oil, drop by drop, to carrier oil.

As I was recently reading/reviewing a book for inclusion within AromaWeb's Book Shelf, I read yet another blurb from an author that states that it is safe to use some essential oils on the skin, most particularly lavender and tea tree, without first diluting them in a carrier oil. Using essential oils on the skin without diluting them is referred to as applying them "neat."

As I was facebooking about my review recently, Marge Clark of Nature's Gift and I briefly exchanged comments about our mutual concern over the topical application of any undiluted essential oil. It was during this exchange that I realized that I should be expanding AromaWeb's coverage of the concerns and potential consequences of applying neat essential oils to the skin, as well as a beginner's guide to diluting oils. Read Marge's own history with sensitization to lavender within the Guide to Diluting Essential Oils.

In a nutshell, the undiluted use of essential oils on the skin can be harmful and potentially cause severe irritation or sensitization. You don't need to be afraid or avoid essential oils and I'm certainly not trying to scare anyone out of enjoying all the benefits that aromatherapy offers. Aromatherapy and the safe use of essential oils can be an amazing blessing within a holistic lifestyle. Do remember, however, that when working with essential oils, less is more.

If you are new to aromatherapy, are unsure of how to properly dilute essential oils prior to topical (skin) application and/or aren't sure which essential oils are more likely to cause irritation or even sensitization, I warmly encourage you to read AromaWeb's new Guide to Diluting Essential Oils. And please spread the word about this new guide. My hope is that this article can play a part in reducing the number of incidents of sensitization and irritation caused by the neat use of essential oils and of essential oils more prone to causing sensitization/irritation.

Read AromaWeb's Guide to Diluting Essential Oils...