Friday, January 29, 2010

Book of the Month & Essential Oils


As I mentioned in my 2010 goals post this year is beginning with mindfulness about wellness in our home. All three of us had a cold the first week in January and as Kyan and I nursed our colds on the couch I realized that I have not fully embraced a holistic approach to aiding in our family's wellness. The intention has always been there but the reality has often been to just push through with vitamin C and rest.
One area that I have dabbled in in the past is with the use of essential oils. I have many wonderful friends who know much more about oils and their uses than I. I have often picked their brains over what to use when or looked things up online. For my baby shower (over two years ago now) Heidi gave me a simple and lovely book called: Instant Aromatherapy For Stress Relief: Simple Tension Treatments and Relaxation Recipes by Mark Evans. So as we sat sniffling I looked through it. This book was perfect of course for a jumping off point. Learning simple techniques to relieve headaches, menstrual cramps and backaches. Descriptions of the oils and their properties and the ways in which to use them whether diffusing or using in massage oils. This also led to me looking into what my inventory of essential oils is and I started wondering what oils I need to add to help our general wellness.

I feel like there is a huge amount of knowledge about oils and their uses, not just relating to health and wellness but magical uses as well. For now I am endeavoring to just learn and collect oils that can enhance our daily lives and contribute to our overall well-being as a family.

Here is my inventory so far:
  • Lime
  • Eucalyptus
  • Peppermint
  • Rose Geranium
  • Bergamot
  • Lavender
  • Juniper berry
And these are ones that I need to get:
  • Chamomile
  • Rose
  • Orange
  • Marjoram
  • Pine
  • Lemon
  • Sandalwood
  • Ylang Ylang
  • Rosemary
  • Clary Sage
  • Jasmine
  • Benzoin
  • Tea tree
If anyone has advice or ideas on other oils they think I should add or ones that you don't think I need from the list please let me know. Being able to alleviate stress and encourage a more balanced atmosphere in the house with aromatherapy will hopefully fuel our fires of good health this year. I'm also curious how people with a large collection of oils store them? I have a little cardboard box for them right now but I'd love to have something a little bit more sturdy and certainly more pretty. I'll have to do some investigating.

6 comments:

Lyneya said...

As far as storage goes, I have a great old handsewing box like the one pictured here
http://www.thimble.ca/?p=297
that I converted into my portable pagan kit. I made a little home for our esential oils in the bottom compartment.

ONe PiNK FiSH said...

I need to check out the book you recommended. Another good book is Aromatheraphy A-Z.

TMCPhoto said...

I keep Sage's mix of allergy release in the house at all times. It smells divine and is the only thing that stops mosquito bites from itching. I recently found a great essential oils place at Brentwood Town Centre in Burnaby which is also local and all natural, just can't remember the name right now.

Jen said...

Lyneya what a lovely idea for storage. My mom had a sewing box like that only it was on four legs so it seemed more like a table.

Aromatherapy A-Z looks like a great resource thanks One Pink Fish

Tami...where is that store of which you speak? I go to Brentwood all the time and have never seen it.

Rue said...

I love Eucalyptus! I put some in a carrier oil and add a drop of peppermint and clove, and use it as a rub on my chest and neck when I have a cold or sore throat - it works wonders!

Also, lavender and lemon help when I have a headache.

Enjoy your research!

Bridgett said...

We actually have almost the exact same 'to get lists.' LOL

I've been wanting to get into aromatherapy for awhile now....

Thanks for the book recommendation!