Natural Wellness

Needing Niaouli (Wellness Wednesday)

KimLeave a comment

Every Tuesday, I go Live on Facebook and Instagram with my series “What Should I Do With My Oils?” and talk about one essential oil, its uses and benefits, and share a few recipes/blends as well. This week I shared about Niaouli, an EO that is super beneficial this time of year.

Niaouli: Latin binomial: Melaleuca quinquenervia ct 1,8 cineole; Family: Myrtaceae; Parts used: Leaves; Aroma: Camphoraceous, fruity, warm, earthy, 

Safety concerns: Don’t put near the nose or face of infants and children under 5 years old; can cause breathing problems in infants and young children.

Therapeutic Applications: weak immune system, allergies, bronchitis, respiratory infections, chest infections, fungal infections, mental fatigue.

Three blends/recipes:

Sore throat recipe: 1 drop Frankincense, 1 drop Niaouli, 1/2 teaspoon Jojoba oil. Rub on front of throat and back of neck.

Breathe Clear Blend: 6 drops Niaouli, 3 drops Cypress, 3 drops Spike Lavender. Diffuse for 1-2 hours at a time.

Allergy Lotion Blend: 15 drops Niaouli, 9 drops Lavender, 5 drops Eucalyptus Radiata, 8 drops Lemon, 8 drops Scots Pine in a 1 oz bottle of lotion. Apply lotion to neck, chest, and upper back.

I also wanted to recommend an aromatherapy book that I refer to often that you might want to consider for your home library. Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit contains plenty of history and lore connected with plants, as well as information on essential oils to use for emotional and mental well-being.

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.

Five Reasons I Use Magnesium Oil Every Day (And How To Make Your Own)

KimLeave a comment

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(Happy Halloween, everyone!!!) For this edition of Wellness Wednesday, I’m talking about a mineral that has been extremely helpful to me; one that is a daily part of my wellness regimen. I honestly can’t live without this stuff!

Have you heard of Magnesium Oil ? Have you ever used it? I didn’t hear about it until two years ago when I was searching for ways to relieve the Restless Leg Syndrome symptoms I experience most nights. I bought a bottle of lotion containing Magnesium Oil on Amazon and began using it every night. When I did a bit more research about Magnesium Oil, however, I discovered it was super easy to make myself, and I’ve been doing that for a while now.

So what is Magnesium Oil? It is Magnesium Chloride in water, which has the ability to absorb efficiently through the skin. Here are five reasons I use Magnesium Oil.

  1. It relieves my symptoms of Restless Leg Syndrome. Do you experience that achy, creepy, I-want-to-crawl-out-of-my-skin feeling whenever you settle down to sleep at night? Magnesium oil is like magic for this problem. Just rub in a magnesium oil lotion or spray it directly on your legs and massage it in. You should feel a difference within a few minutes.
  2. It can keep headaches away or to relieve a headache if I have one.
  3. Magnesium Oil reduces soreness and stiffness in muscles.
  4. I use it to relieve PMS symptoms.
  5. I use it to reduce anxiety. When I am feeling extra panicky, I reach for my spray bottle of Magnesium Oil.

My favorite store-bought Magnesium Oil Lotion is Life-Flo Magnesium Lotion — 8 fl oz. It has a subtle vanilla fragrance from natural vanilla oil. So if DIY is not your thing, you can get it online and in health food stores.

If you do want to make it yourself, you only need two ingredients and a Spray Bottle to store it in. (Oh, and in case you wondered, Epsom salts are NOT the same as Magnesium Chloride Flakes, so don’t use them to make Magnesium Oil. Epsom salts are Magnesium Sulphate. You need Magnesium Chloride flakes. What’s the difference? Here’s one explanation.)

Magnesium Oil Recipe

Magnesium Chloride Flakes

Distilled Water

You will need equal parts Magnesium Chloride Flakes and Distilled Water. I usually make mine using 1/2 cup flakes and 1/2 cup water and make up a new batch every three or four weeks.

Directions: Boil water in a saucepan. Turn off heat and add Flakes. Stir until dissolved. Remove from heat, cool, and pour into a clean spray bottle. Store any remaining Magnesium Oil in a glass jar the refrigerator. Make sure to label it with something like “MAGNESIUM OIL FOR SKINCARE: NOT FOR DRINKING” and keep out of reach of children.

Note: It may sting your skin, especially if you just shaved your legs, for example. If that happens, simply take a little body lotion or cream, or whatever moisturizer you have on hand, and rub it into your skin. If spraying the oil is just too strong for you, simply make your own lotion by adding some Magnesium Oil to a bottle of lotion or cream, shake to blend, and then use as needed.

Suggestions for Use: I usually apply it in the morning before working out at the gym, after a shower, and at bedtime when my legs are restless. I use a spray bottle for the most intense application and relief, and a lotion bottle with added Magnesium oil which works well too, especially if I just shaved my legs.

If you use Magnesium Oil or if you try it, let me know!

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* This post contains 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!

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!