Aromatherapy

Black Spruce (Wellness Wednesday)

Kim1 Comment
The lovely women in my aromatherapy class last weekend.

Yesterday on Facebook/Instagram Live I began a new series, “What Should I Do With My Oils?”. I know a lot of people who own plenty of essential oils: I meet them in doctors’ offices, at the hair salon, at the library, and in my home! But once they get these beautiful oils, they don’t always know what to do with them. So I thought I would highlight one oil per week, talk about its benefits or “core therapeutic actions” as my aromatherapy school says. Also, I’ll share any safety concerns, how to use it and include a few recipes so you can make your own blends at home.

Black Spruce is this week’s essential oil. Latin name is Picea mariana, and it is part of the Pine/Conifer family (Latin: Pinaceae). The part of the plant distilled is the needles. Storage: Always store your essential oils in a cool, dark, place. A little fridge for your oils is a good idea!

Core therapeutic actions or benefits: Anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, immune system stimulating, eases muscular aches and pains, joint stiffness, tension, is a decongestant, can help with colds, spasmodic coughs, bronchitis, moist coughs.

So, how can Black Spruce help you? Well, this time of year, colds are flying around. I narrowly avoided one this weekend because several friends and family members were sick. The good news is, I did not get a full-blown cold–I was able to use herbs and essential oils, including Black Spruce, to fight it. As a performing singer, I do my utmost to keep myself healthy because getting a cold means it takes me about four to six weeks before I get my voice back.

If you’re concerned about getting a cold and want to keep yourself strong and the air in your home clear, Black Spruce can assist you. You can use Black Spruce in a diffuser or in a personal inhaler to keep yourself well and to fight off cold viruses that are flying around.

I made this inhaler blend for myself this weekend, to fight off the cold.

Kim’s Inhaler Blend: 5 drops Black Spruce, 6 drops Tulsi, 7 drops Lemon, 3 drops Cypress, 5 drops Helichrysum gymnocephalum

I put a similar blend in my diffuser to keep the air clear, boost my immune system, and help with congestion.

Kim’s Diffuser Blend: 2 drops Black Spruce, 3, drops Lemon, 4 drops Tulsi, 3 drops Helichrysum gymnocephalum

Sandy and I were choosing the oils for her inhaler. (Thank you, Susan G. for the photo!)

And here is a personal inhaler blend I made for my friend Sandy, who was recovering from bronchitis this past weekend.

Sandy’s Inhaler Blend: 5 drops Black Spruce, 4 drops Helichrysum gymnocephalum, 3 drops Frankincense, 6 drops Lemon, 6 drops Clary Sage.

You can also make a salt scrub to boost your immune system. Here is a simple, but effective recipe:

Immune Boost Salt Scrub: 1 cup sea salt, 1/2 cup sesame oil, 16 drops Black Spruce, 6 drops Niaouli, 10 drops Lemon. Mix together and place in 8 oz PET plastic or glass jar.

If you already are down with a cold and congested and/or coughing, you can try this:

Decongestant Diffuser Blend: 5 drops Black Spruce, 5 drops Niaouli or Helichrysum gymnocephalum, 2 drops Frankincense.

You can also use Black Spruce to ease muscular aches and pains. One way is with a massage oil or lotion blend.

Sore Muscle Relief Blend: In a 2 oz bottle, combine 12 drops Black Spruce, 6 drops Roman Chamomile, 6 drops Frankincense, and 12 drops Helichrysum italicum (very different from the Helichrysum above!). Fill with sesame or jojoba oil or fragrance free lotion, screw cap on and shake well. (This is a 2% dilution.)

And if you like roll-on bottles as a way to bring the goodness of essential oils wherever you go, here is a roll-on blend. Some of us made this in the aromatherapy class I taught this past weekend.

Jenny had a lot of fun experimenting for her roll-on blend. (Thank you, Susan G., for the photo!)

Spring Wellness Roll-on Blend: 1 drop Black Spruce, 1 drop Frankincense, 2 drops Cypress, 3 drops Lavender, 2 drops Orange, place drops in 10ml bottle, fill with sesame oil, put roller and cap on, and shake well.

I hope this gives you some fun things to try with your Black Spruce this week! Let me know what blends you enjoy making. Also, please follow my Delicata HouseInstagram and personal Instagram and Delicata House Facebook pages for info about Live streaming, future classes, and new products in my shops on Etsy and Shopify. Thanks!

To read more on Black Spruce, here is a blog post from my aromatherapy school.



Poised for Spring (Wellness Wednesday)

KimLeave a comment

Happy First Day of Spring! We have sunny, cloudless skies and slightly milder weather today, so I’m soaking up the cheer and enjoying birdsong.

Interestingly, in the middle of all this sun and hope and good vibes, I am dealing with anxiety. If you struggle with depression and anxiety, do you find that anxiety heightens during months of fluctuating weather, such as Spring and Fall? Mine does. And as a result, I am always looking for tools that I can use to settle my mind and emotions. I do yoga, drink herbal teas, take an herbal supplement and use essential oils in various ways to alleviate anxiety.

Today I have two aromatherapy blends to share with you that combine some of my favorite oils that will help with grounding, calming, centering, steadying, etc., along with plenty of other benefits.

First, is a massage blend. I chose four essential oils for this blend:

Vetiver: Vetiveria zizanioides; Part of plant used: Roots of grass; Botanical family: Poaceae; Vetiver is strengthening to the immune system, eases muscular aches and pains, helpful for anxiety and depression, nourishing and healing to the skin, is grounding, centering, gathers your thoughts together when you feel scattered in your thinking, is balancing and stabilizing.

Black Spruce:Picea Mariana; Part of plant used: Needles; Botanical family: Pinaceae: Black Spruce is a decongestant, eases minor pain and inflammation, is antimicrobial, antispasmodic, builds confidence, is revitalizing to the mind.

Lavender: Lavandula angustifolia; Part of plant used: Flowering tops; Botanical family: Lamiaceae: Lavender is anti-inflammatory, is good for wound healing, eases muscular aches and pains, is calming and soothing, eases and helps with nervous exhaustion, anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.

Green Mandarin: Citrus reticulata: Part of plant used: Peel/zest of fruit; Botanical family: Rutaceae: Green Mandarin is useful for easing nervous tension, anxiety, depression, headaches, stress, is nurturing, warming, calming.

Steady Spring Massage Blend

In a 2 oz. PET plastic bottle or glass bottle, combine the following:

5 drops Vetiver

8 drops Green Mandarin

13 drops Black Spruce

18 drops Lavender

After you add the essential oils to the bottle, fill the rest of it up with refined sesame oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, or jojoba. Screw cap on tightly, shake well, and store in a cool, dark place.

To use: Massage into back, shoulders, chest, arms, legs, feet.

The second is a diffuser blend. Here are the essential oils I chose:

Frankincense: Boswellia carteri; Part of plant used: Resin; Botanical family: Burseraceae Frankincense relieves anxiety, tension, supports reflection, contemplation, and prayer, alleviates feelings of despair, is anti-inflammatory, a wound healer, good for respiratory system.

Cypress: Cupressus sempervirens; Part of plant used: Leaves, twigs, cones; Botanical family: Cupressaceae; Cypress is a decongestant, supports healthy lung and airway function, is calming, helpful for alleviating feelings of sadness and during times of transition and bereavement.

Black Spruce: see above

Lavender: see above

Steady Spring Diffuser Blend

2 drops Frankincense

2 drops Cypress

4 drops Black Spruce

5 drops Lavender

Drop into diffuser, fill with water, and diffuse for an hour at a time.

The information I’ve shared with you today comes from my Level 1 Aromatherapy Course from New York Institute of Aromatic Studies.

I’d love to know what you think of either of these blends if you make them. Also, let me know in comments what essential oils you want to learn about or what kinds of recipes you are looking for.

A Diffuser Blend to Boost Your Mood (Wellness Wednesday)

KimLeave a comment

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Am I the only one who has been fighting the blues now that the weather is colder and dusk settles sooner? No, I didn’t think so. I’m reading (and loving) The Upward Spiral and taking a look at my life and asking myself how I can make small changes in my day that can benefit my depressed brain and boost my mood.

As I study for my aromatherapy certification, I am learning so much about how aroma affects the brain and the emotions, as well as the physical body. Just breathing in certain aromas can change your mood, prevent you from getting a cold, or help strengthen your immune system.

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Some folks think aromatherapy is weird and a bunch of hippie New Age nonsense. Well, they’re actually just shutting down a whole world of wellness possibilities. Think about it: don’t you get a cold because you breathe in someone else’s cold virus some of the time? Of course, you can also get sick from touching a contaminated surface and rubbing your eyes or putting your hand into your mouth. But if sickness can come to us through the air we breathe, why is it so hard to believe we can boost our mood, stay well or prevent a cold, for example, through breathing in a diffused essential oil blend?

Just yesterday afternoon, I was feeling weepy and blue. I set the coffee kettle on the stove to boil, and grabbed Gabriel Mojay’s Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit from the library shelf. After leafing through a few of the pages on depression, and using my intuition and sense of smell, I came up with this blend.

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Lift Me Up Fall Diffuser Blend:

5 drops Cypress

2 drops Juniper

3 drops Sweet Orange

Fill your Diffuser to the fill line with distilled water, add the drops of essential oils and turn it on. Diffuse for 30 minutes to an hour at a time.

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Within half an hour of diffusing, I stopped in the middle of my work and it hit me: the sadness and emotional heaviness had completely lifted! All I could think was, Thank You, God! I am so grateful for the very real power to heal holistically that is available to us through what we find in Nature. It’s amazing and very empowering on a personal level!

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I’d love to hear about how you stay well and boost your mood during the Fall! Do you have a favorite diffuser blend? Please share with us in the comments!

PS, if you want to learn more about essential oils for free, this link will take you to the The Essential Oils & Aromatherapy Summit airing 12-6pm EST October 23-26.

* This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase through one of the links here, it benefits me in a very small way at no extra cost to you!

Starting My Aromatherapy Education

KimLeave a comment

 

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I was a teenager when I first bumped up against the likes of Lavender and Patchouli and a host of herbal and homeopathic medicines that my friend’s mother used in their home for common complaints.

In my late teens I decided I wanted an herb garden. As I worked at a bookstore, I read books on herb gardening and herbal medicine and was fascinated to learn how to make my own lip balm, salt and sugar scrubs, body butter, and more using natural and plant-based ingredients.

When I was raising my children, I read books on homeopathy and natural medicines so that I could limit my kids’ exposure to pharmaceutical drugs, whether prescription or over-the-counter. For everyday things like colds and coughs, trouble sleeping, minor earaches, insect repellent, and immune-system building, I went to Nature as often as I could. My kids roll their eyes even now, but I believe it was better for their health.

I also made some of my own cleaning products, incorporating essential oils such as tea tree, lavender, eucalyptus and lemon into my recipes. Cleaning a bathroom or mopping the kitchen became almost a delight because of the pleasant aroma of the oils.

This past December, I decided to join Young Living as a member, which enables me to purchase their products at a discount and also allows me to directly sell to others. For the most part, I am delighted with the quality and ease of use of all the essential oils and blends I’ve purchased. That said, there are other reputable companies that sell essential oils and I purchase from them as well.

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As I began to read Young Living literature and the information that is spread around the internet about essential oils, I felt a need to start an education in aromatherapy. I needed to learn how to safely administer oils to myself and loved ones. I wasn’t completely sure what are the best practices for making blends, butters, salves, balms, etc. But I wanted to learn what those were if I’m going to continue to sell natural body care products.

Looking up recipes on Pinterest is fine and most of the time I love the results, but I clearly needed to know how much and which oils to put together and why.

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Just because a substance is natural doesn’t mean it can’t harm you. (I’ll blog about this subject more in an upcoming post.) And when I’ve heard the dosing advice, particularly for internal use, that friends of mine have been given, I wince, thinking about the possible harm they could be doing to themselves in the name of essential oils and natural remedies/wellness. This can give aromatherapy a bad reputation. Any one of us who sell essential oils or make and sell aromatherapy products owe it to our customers, friends, and family to do this the right way.

Within weeks, I realized how ignorant I was and decided that I wasn’t going to take an essential oil company’s word at face value. Not that I’m assuming they’re lying, but ethically speaking, receiving education from an institution of learning, rather than a commercial enterprise selling the product they’re educating about, seems more responsible. I needed to go to school and that’s what I’ve been doing.

I signed up for two free webinars with Andrea Butje at Aromahead Institute. Following those, I enrolled in two online classes at Aromahead. I also signed up for a free 18-hour online class from New York Institute for Aromatic Studies taught by Jade Shutes. I’m thoroughly enjoying this class and am considering enrolling in classes there eventually as well. My goal is to at least become a Level 1 Certified Aromatherapist so that I am knowledgable enough to formulate my own blends and products for sale, and to be able to use aromatherapy for myself, family, and friends in a responsible manner. And who knows where this path will lead?

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