OK, there are so many things to do with essential oils that this could in fact be a never ending subject, so I am going to keep this simple. One way to easily start scenting your home is to drop an oil onto a light bulb, or put a few drops onto cotton balls and place them in hidden spots. (Some essential oils, such as peppermint, actually discourage mice and other critters, flies and moths loathe Lavandin.) You can add a few drops of oil to distilled water in a sprayer bottle and use as an air freshener. For the body, add a few drops to an oil such as almond oil or sesame oil and massage into the skin. This has actually been part of the morning ritual in Ayurveda for thousands of years, and they seem to know a thing a two about good skin. (All that turmeric has to help too.) Add up to 25 drops of essential oil/s to 1oz of perfume alcohol to make your own perfume, but let it sit for a couple of weeks before using for best scent. You can add a few drops to witch hazel for a face toner, or add a few more to bath salts before soaking. Another great bath treat is to put sugar into a jar, then cover with a good body oil, then add your own essential oils for a personal body scrub. These are not only natural ways to heal and indulge yourself, they are also cheaper than store bought items and you know for certain what exactly is in them. There are thousands of uses for essential oils, and we use them a lot at our house. In fact, last year my sons had a kindergartner friend over who literally climbed the walls, and I’m not using literally in that nails-on-chalkboard way, I mean he would hold onto the banister and have his feet on the walls, climbing in true Spiderman fashion. He was not the kind of kid I expected to notice much in the way of aesthetics, but one day he took a moment off the wall to ask, “Why does your house always smell so good?” I was thrilled and adored him after that, at least until he traded in his Spiderman antics for pulling down his pants every chance the adults weren’t looking, but that’s a different story.

There is a common story, which I cannot confirm, that the perfumers of Europe were the least likely to get the plague because of their constant contact with lavender. There is a wonderful little article on the history of lavender that does say that lavender repels fleas which carried the plague, and that people all through history have used it for it’s healing benefits (http://www.auracacia.com/). Lavender is common, but it certainly isn’t the only essential oil. There are scents for every sniffer and effects for every mood, for example, citrus oils are stimulating, mood lifting scents. They can increase photo-sensitivity though so do be careful when using them in skin care products. As an aside, isn’t it just so fascinating that mood-improving citrus oils and depression fighting St.John’s Wort all increase photo sensitivity? We get vitamin D from the sun, which is widely accepted as what is generally lacking in people who get SAD in the winter, and also a factor in regular depression too. So what do the oils and herb above do? Increase one’s sensitivity to the sun! So awesome how nature works. Anyway, there are plenty of places to read about what essential oils are specific for what condition so I will just point out one (http://www.aromatherapypoint.com/) that is a good place to start. I would recommend getting to a store and smelling them though, as what suits a person’s a nose is probably the best place to start. Oh goodness, I guess there will be a part III because there are still fun, easy things to make with them and my sons are waking up.

If you don’t have at least a couple of bottles of essential oils in your house, you are missing out on one of nature’s greatest gifts. We use them every day. In fact, they are such a part of every day life they have become like wallpaper~ it has taken me this long to think about writing about them, even though I credit Lavender with keeping my sons away from most of the illnesses that travel around their circles. I also credit it for helping them fall asleep, especially when my oldest was a toddler and had refused to sleep much his entire life. Lavender, the fun and ritual of blowing out a candle, and putting him to bed earlier (at 6:30), are what finally worked and he never fought sleep again. To understand why scent has such a powerful effect on us, you must know a bit about the brain, and more specifically, the limbic system. This is the part of the brain located up front and is responsible for emotions, among some other things. It  is the oldest part of the brain and it has a direct portal to the outside world~ the nose. Here is a quote from the Social Issues Research Center, which, honestly, I know nothing about, but they at least phrase this really well: Our olfactory receptors are directly connected to the limbic system, the most ancient and primitive part of the brain, which is thought to be the seat of emotion. Smell sensations are relayed to the cortex, where ‘cognitive’ recognition occurs, only after the deepest parts of our brains have been stimulated. (http://www.sirc.org/publik/smell_emotion.html). This does not mean all scents are equal. Artificial fragrances abound, which can often cause headaches, anxiety, itchy eyes, and other issues. Even if they are pleasing, the limbic system does not recognize these scents as from nature, and therefore the bodily results will be different. Everyone reacts differently to smells, but there are basic guidelines to the essential oils: lavender is calming, the citrus scents are stimulating, Eucalyptus opens up sinuses, etc. But scent is actually just one of the ways essential oils are important…there is actually much more to them, such as helping in dermatology type issues, but for now I’ll just focus on scent. So, once decide what kind of essential oil or oils you want in your life, you then figure out how best to use them. There are more than a few different diffusers to choose from. Some require heat, others do not. Wherever you buy your oils will have a few options to choose from, which is a great place to start. (Whole Foods and other natural food stores have essential oils. I buy mine in bigger quantities though at Zenith Supplies in Seattle. It is a store that sells all kinds of massage materials, soap and candle making materials, etc. Love that place!) I actually don’t use a diffuser at all~ the way I use essential oils most of the time is by adding lavender to my sons’ baths (7-10 drops at the most. They are powerful!) Or by just putting it directly in my hair, on my clothes or even right on my skin, but you have to be careful doing that. It might burn sensitive skin, and never do it to a child. I also have a big bottle of EMC (eucalyptus, menthol, and camphor) which is awesome when someone has a stuffy nose. This is a very powerful combination, and all three of those essential oils have bite, so do not add these to a bath. What does work well is to put a few drops on a wall of the shower that does not get directly hit by the stream of water, and instead the steam diffuses it. That is probably enough for one post~ I’ll have to continue with a part II.