Essential Oils

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With Aromatherapy as our subject right now, we were talking about what essential oils are must-haves in our homes.  Juanita said just like best friends, you can't have just one!  At different times of the year different essential oils are helpful.  Right now we really need our warrior friends to help keep up our immunity and fight off all of those nasties.  Through cold and flu season our best friends are Thieves and Guardian.

DIY Oil Blend: Thieves

We've talked about how aromatherapy has been used for centuries.  One of the most well-known blends is Thieves.  Legend has it that during the bubonic plague of the 15th century, four thieves were arrested for robbing the dead and dying.  When asked how they they prevented themselves from becoming infected, they told of herbs that they rubbed on their hands, ears and temples. Today people use a blend of essential oils that includes some of the herbs these thieves used.

Here's a Thieves Recipe:

200 drops of Clove Oil (Syzgium aromaticum)
175 drops of Lemon Oil (Citrus Limon)
100 drops of Cinnamon Bark (Cinnamomum verum)
75 drops of Eucalyptus Oil (Eucalyptus radiata)
50 drops of Rosemary Oil (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Store in a dark glass container.

Nature's Sunshine Guardian Essential Oil

If you are not interested in mixing your own, we have another wonderful warrior friend that comes pre-blended: Guardian.  Guardian provides a blend of essential oils that act synergistically to counteract the effects of weakened immunity and fight bacterial, viral, and fungal infections.  Guardian is particularly beneficial for disinfecting the air to help prevent the spread of infectious airbourne pathogens.  It contains Lavender, Ravensara, Roman Chamomile, and Tea Tree.

Using These Blends. Both blends are excellent for fighting the cold and flu bugs going around.  Not only can you help ward them off but you can also get over them a little quicker.

Diffuse them in your essential oil diffuser to purify the air.  You can also add many drops to water in a spritzer bottle to carry around with you.  It's great as a hand sanitizer, or for spraying the air around you, or sanitizing surfaces.  Add a few drops to your natural household cleanser to boost its cleansing abilities). 

In the midst of an illness, add drops of the essential oil to the same number of drops of a carrier oil (olive, jojoba, almond, coconut, etc).  Rub onto chest, neck, back, etc.  To help protect yourself from becoming sick, use a couple of drops with some carrier oil and rub onto the bottom of your feet.  Rubbing essential oils onto feet is also an excellent way to use them on children.

When using these essential oil blends, be sure to test skin sensitivity first.  If a reaction occurs, use a bit of the carrier oil to rub it off. 

Using Lemon

Most of us already know that lemon has a lot of cleansing benefits.  Lemon essential oil, which comes from the peel,  is an excellent, handy way to take advantage of some of these benefits.  Lemon essential oil is antiseptic, antitoxic, antiviral, and antibacterial.  It's also uplifting and rejuvenating, clearing the mind and dispelling sluggishness.

Use lemon essential oil for cleaning and disinfecting.  Add 20 to 30 drops to your laundry, especially useful to deodorize.  You can also add a few drops to your dishwasher for sanitizing.  Plus, add some to water in a spray bottle - great for sanitizing or deodorizing about anything!

Dr Jean Valnet, a pioneer in aromatherapy research, found lemon essential oil to be the number one air disinfectant.  Just like with Guardian and Thieves, you can use lemon oil in your diffuser or as a spritzer.  In fact, you can add a couple of drops of lemon oil to your Guardian or Thieves for an extra punch.

Dr. Valnet also found lemon oil to be a liver decongestant and diuretic, plus a powerful body cleanser.  Lemon essential oil can also helps with gallbladder congestion, circulation and indigestion and is an immune stimulant. 

Lemon oil can also benefit your skin.  It's an astringent and detoxifying, so it helps with blemished and oily skin.  It's also a great rejuvenator for dull skin.  Due to its detoxing effects, lemon oil can also help reduce cellulite. 

 Precious Gifts: Frankincense and Myrrh
 

Many of us know frankincense and myrrh as two of the precious gifts given to the baby Jesus by the Wise Men.  But do you know how precious these really are?  Both frankincense and myrrh have been treasured for centuries as for their healing properties.

Myrrh is one of the oldest known medicines.  The ancient Egyptians used myrrh in embalming because of its excellent preservative properties.  They also used it in perfumes, cosmetics, and other skin care.  Today it's still used in many skin creams as well as toothpaste.  It's great for many types of skin problems including ringworm, eczema, and psoriasis.  It's also been believed for ages to help improve stretch marks, scars, and wrinkled skin.

Beyond skin care, myrrh has a number of other benefits, including:

• As a uterine tonic, regulating menstruation.
• To relieve gas and bloating.
• For strengthening the immune system and helping beat microbial infections.
• To protect against colds and flu.
• To Stimulate blood circulation.

Frankincense also dates back to the Egyptians, as well as the ancient Chinese.  It, too is good for skin problems, helping to heal and protect the skin, softening wrinkles and stretch marks and helping dry skin.  Here are a few more attributes of frankincense:

• As a sedative, for relieving anxiety and nervous tension.
• Relieving pain associated with rheumatism and arthritis.
• Strengthening gums and hair.
• Relieving cough and congestion.
• Improving digestion and relieving gas.

These two essential oils are so beneficial and could be an important part of your aromatherapy kit!

Essential oils are often categorized into one of six groups, each with different actions and aromas.

Citrus Oils
These oils include Bergamot, Lemon, Mandarin, and Grapefruit.  In general this group of essential oils are uplifting, being considered antidepressants.  They're also good cleansers.  All tend to have pungent, sweet aromas.

Camphoraceous Oils
In this group are Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Rosemary, and Tea Tree.  These are all strongly anti-microbial, plus can be refreshing and stimulating.  Aromas are fresh and bracing.

Herbaceous Oils
These include Clary Sage, Geranium, Lavender, Marjoram, Pine, Thyme, and Oregano.  They are balancing and tonifying oils.  Some of them are stimulating and others relaxing.  Their aromas are not quite as specific as the others, but all of them tend to have 'green' smells, maybe like an herb garden.

Spice Oils
Cinnamon and Clove are in this group.  These are warm and stimulating oils, plus are anti-microbial.  As you can probably guess, they are spicy, warm, exotic aromas.

Floral Oils
In this are Chamomile, Helichrysum, Jasmine, Neroli, and Rose.  They are relaxing, soothing and sensual herbs.  Aromas from these tend to be deep, heady and complex (and, of course, floral!).

Wood/Resin Oils
These are Frankincense, Myrrh, and Sandalwood.  These are grounding oils, having strengthening, relaxing and spiritual properties.  Their aromas are woody, deep and pervasive. 

Aromatherapy refers to a type of holistic healing that uses the inhalation or application of pure essential oils to promote physical health and emotional well-being. Natural essential oils are highly concentrated substances that provide fragrant plants and trees with their characteristic smells. They are called essential oils because they are considered the 'essence' of the plants and contain most of their healing properties. 

Aromatherapy is about more than just smelling these oils.  Essential oils are actually absorbed into your body, entering your bloodstream. When you inhale them, they can enter through capillaries in your nose, or the alveoli in your lungs. Essential oils can be absorbed through the mucous membranes in your mouth and through your skin.  Also, the molecules of essential oils are very tiny and are soluble in fats.  The combination of all of these make them very fast-acting.

Aromatherapy tends to be a very safe, non-invasive method of healing with no side effects. This combined with being fast-acting, it is a very desirable form of holistic healing.  We should note, however, that essential oils should be used properly. Our Aromatherapy page lists safety rule.

Essential oils are quite powerful substances.  They are easily and quickly absorbed by our bodies,

making them fast-acting.  That's exactly what we want during cold and flu season!  And since this

year seems to be particularly bad, we're going to give you some information about some of our

favorite cold-fighting essential oils.

Unless you are going to close yourself up in the house for the next couple of months, you're likely

to be exposed to the germs.  One step is to purify the air around you.  Use a diffuser when possible. 

We carry necklaces with charms that you can add a couple of drops of essential oils to.  Also,

simply rubbing some into your skin will help warn off those bad bugs! 

Essential oils are naturally anti-microbial, so using them as a hand sanitizer is an awesome idea. 

Try mixing some into a spritzer bottle with water or fractionated coconut oil and simply spritzing
your hands. 

If you do manage to catch something, try using essential oils in your diffuser or a steam mist (pour

boiling water into a bowl, add a couple of drops of essential oil, and inhale).  Peppermint and

eucalyptus are excellent for steam inhalation.  Try a combination of pine, clove, thyme, lemon and

frankincense for a diffuser - it works great!

Another fabulous treatment for colds and flu is a chest rub.  Give this simple recipe a try:

• 4 drops thyme
• 4 drops marjoram
• 3 drops eucalyptus
• 2 drops tea tree
• 2 drops oregano
• 1 t aloe vera gel
• 1/8 t massage oil.

Combine and rub into chest before bed.

Here's a good referral list for choosing essential oils:

Antibiotic for bacterial infections : lavender, oregano, tea tree, thyme, rosemary

Antiviral for fighting viruses: eucalyptus, marjoram, teat tree, thyme

Antifungal for fungal infections: geranium, lavender, myrrh, tea tree

Expectorants for expeling mucus: eucalyptus, peppermint, pine

Antispasmotic for relaxing spasms: clary sage, marjoram, Roman chamomile.

Yes, essential oils can be used for your animals, and for very much the same reasons as people.  Animals may also benefits from the antimicrobial, rejuvenating, and detoxing properties of essential oils.  Plus, many of us pet owners know that sometimes one of our dear animals is having some emotional difficulty, from separation anxiety to fear of thunder. 

Aromatherapy for animals works just like it does for us.  The oils are inhaled or rubbed onto the skin and areas of the brain are triggered, whether to calm, rejuvenate, or reduce pain.

There are some precautions you should take, however, before using them with your animals.  As we have mentioned previously, essential oils are highly concentrated substances, and animals are often much more sensitive to things like this than we realize.  In fact, Juanita typically prefers to use homeopathies over aromatherapy for animals, but there are a number of cases where aromatherapy can be used with great success.

* Dogs have a sense of smell 50 to 100 times stronger than a human's.  Therefore, essential oils should always be highly diluted for them (8 to 10 drops to 20 ml of carrier oil is about right).  Using stronger dilutions could be compared to you sitting next to someone on the bus or plane with overwhelmingly strong perfume.  Headache!

 * Use of essential oils on cats is controversial.  Cats can not excrete oils from their livers like we and other animals can  so essential oils can be very damaging and many recommend avoiding using them.  There are many others that have used essential oils successfully on cats.  They say there are two keys: the purity of the oil and using it very well-diluted.  Also, if you choose to diffuse essential oils with a cat around, it's best to leave an area open to your cat where they can get to fresh air.

* Pay attention to their size!  It's generally agreed to not use essential oils on puppies/very young animals and very small animals.  They can also be toxic to birds.

* Avoid using essential oils on pregnant or sick animals.  Avoid eyes, nose, anal, and genital areas as well.

That said, let's talk about how to use aromatherapy for your animals.

It's well-known that animals in the wild will search out different plants to self-medicate.  When using essential oils with your animals, a similar approach should be taken.  Offer the diluted oil to you animal and see how they react.  Most likely they will lick it, inhale it, or turn away.  Allow them the choice on whether or not the essential oil will be used.

Here are a few recipes and ideas for using aromatherapy with your animals.  If you have some to share, email us and will pass it on! 

Fly Spray Recipe
This is from our customer, Laurie.  Use it for dogs, horses, or people!  Thanks for sharing!
Makes 1 quart

Catnip Oil 1/2 tsp
Peppermint Oil 1/2 tsp
Cedarwood Oil 1/2 tsp
Lavender Oil 1 tsp
Tea Tree Oil 1 tsp
Dish Soap 1 tbs
Aloe Vera 4 tsp
Lemongrass 1 1/2 tbs
Neem Oil 1 1/2 tbs
Citronella 1 1/2 tbs
Titanium Dioxide Powder 2 tsp
White Vinegar 1/2 cup
Water 2 3/4 to 3 cup (to make a quart)

Put everything into a blender for a few seconds.  Then mix with water and shake before using.  Can be sprayed or rubbed on animals and human with no ill effects to date.

Human Fly/Mosquito Spray (also from Laurie!)
4 to 5 drops Catnip Oil
1 ounce water
Put into a spray bottle and shake.

Tick Repelling
2 drops Geranium Oil
5 drops Rosewood Oil
3 drops Lavender Oil
2 drops Myrrh Oil
Blend with 8 ounces of carrier oil or water in a spray bottle. 

Separation Anxiety
5 drops Geranium
5 drops Ylang Ylangl
5 drops Roman or Blue Chamomile
Blend with 8 ounces of carrier oil or water in a spray bottle.

Lavender and Roman Chamomile can be used individually for calming.

Arthritis
Blend Rosemary, lavender and ginger diluted into carrier oil and massage.

Travel Sickness
Peppermint diluted with carrier oil and rubbed onto stomach.