Natural Body Guru

I used to think that colds and the flu were mostly prevalent in the winter months. There may be more at that time but I notice lots of people with colds and sneezing at all times of the year. Too many people use antibiotics to treat colds and flu but I believe antibiotics may do more harm than good. Why use a synthetic medicine when you can use pure organic essential oils that are natural and have antibacterial and antiviral properties to treat your illness?

To treat a common cold you can use the following oils in a hot bath. Just relax in the tub and inhale deeply.

2 drops – Thyme
2 drops – Tea tree
1 drop – Eucalyptus
3 drops – Lemon

If you would rather use the steam inhalation method, you can use one drop of each of thyme, tea tree, lavender, and clove in a bowl of steaming hot water. Put a towel over your head, lean over the steaming blend and breath deeply for 10 minutes, taking a break whenever needed.

If you are away from home and can’t perform the steam inhalation method, you can take with you a tissue to which you have added one drop each of peppermint, eucalyptus, and clove. Inhale this aroma deeply whenever possible.

Before going to bed, massage the chest, neck and sinus area with the following essential oils diluted in 1 teaspoon of shea oil or another cosmetic grade vegetable oil of your choice:

1 drop – Lemon
2 drops – Eucalyptus
3 drops – Rosemary

Keep your risk of catching the common cold at a minimum by washing your hands frequently.

Jasmine essential oil comes from a beautiful but very delicate flower. It is so delicate that jasmine is not produced by steam distillation as are most essential oils but instead, it is processed using chemical solvents. This method of production gives us an “absolute” rather than an essential oil. Jasmine’s aroma is rich, floral, very heady and sweet.

While jasmine is non-toxic, it can be a potential skin irritant and sensitizer. Do not use jasmine in baths or massage if you have sensitive skin. Also, if you tend to get headaches or migraines, this oil’s strong scent may trigger an attack. Lastly, do not use jasmine absolute during pregnancy, but you can use it during labor.

Jasmine boosts and restores sexual vitality and aids the expression of intimate feelings. To warm the emotions, add to 4 teaspoons sweet almond oil the following essential oils: 2 drops jasmine, 4 drops sandalwood and 4 drops sweet orange oil. To heal constant emotional stress and withdrawal, take a bath with 2 drops jasmine absolute and 4 drops sweet orange.

Besides easing the mind, jasmine can help to heal your body too. To ease pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS)  blend jasmine and mandarin essential oil in jojoba oil and apply it clockwise to the abdomen. To help the uterus to contract during labor, blend 2 drops jasmine and 2 drops clary-sage  in 4 teaspoons of a carrier oil and ask your spouse to massage it into your abdomen. To revive mature skin, add 2 drops jasmine, 4 drops frankincense and 2 drops gardenia to 30 Second Face Lift. Apply this mixture to your face every night.

Essential oils can be used in either of two ways: in the environment around you or directly on your body.

Environmental Methods

Diffusers – Room diffusers can be electric or with just a tea light candle. Just follow the directions that come with the diffuser.

Sprays – You can easily make a very effective anti-infectious room spray using water and essential oils. Since water and oil don’t mix, you can add an emulsifier such as a little colorless alcohol or a vegetable oil like red turkey oil to help emulsify them, then shake your spray bottle well before each spray. I keep a bottle at work to spray when sick people come to work. That helps keep me healthy.

Physical Methods

Body Sprays – Body sprays are easy to make and you can keep them with you, either in your pocket or your purse. Blend your choice of essential oils, add water and a small amount of emulsifier. You can use a hydrolat instead of water because they have antibacterial properties of their own. Whichever you use, shake the mixture very well and store it for 24 hours before using. Shake the bottle a few times during the 24 hour wait. When the time is up, filter the blend through and unbleached paper coffee filter and add it to a spray bottle. You can spray this around you in the room and on your body.

Baths – Aromatherapy baths are excellent for relieving the symptoms of colds and flu or for sore and achy muscles. When my muscles are sore after a strenuous workout, I like to use 8 drops of rosemary and lavender blended in my bath and I’ll soak until the water starts to cool.

Body Oils – For body oils, use a carrier oil like sweet almond oil or jojoba oil blended with no more than 30 drops of essential oil per ounce of carrier oil. Choose oils that work for you symptoms and apply the body oil before bed so the essential oils can work while you sleep. You can also apply the body oil before taking a bath so the body absorbs the oil by osmosis and inhalation.

Inhalation 

Paper Tissues -Use 1 or two drops of your choice of essential oil on a tissue and inhale as needed. I like to use this method at work since I don’t need anything special – except my essential oil. I like to keep a bottle of peppermint oil at work for those times when I get sleepy, a couple of whiffs of peppermint and I’m good to go again.

Disposable Face Masks

If you are traveling via train or plane, it is good to wear a disposable face mask. Don’t wet the mask because that negates its purpose. Simply add a drop of either eucalyptus, lavender or tea tree on a tissue and place the folded tissue inside the face mask. Let the oil disperse on the tissue before placing it inside the mask.

Stress is a part of everyone’s life in one way or another. Your body, mind and soul will benefit greatly from the use of pure, safe, natural and effective essential oils. Aromatherapy essential oils may be exactly what you need if you are trying to reduce the mental stress caused by tests at school, your job, financial worries and family matters.

There are specific essential oils that can be used for mental stress and they can be used alone or in a synergistic blend. The oils to use are geranium, lavender, sandalwood, basil, bergamot, grapefruit, cardamom, and patchouli. A specific synergistic blend to use is equal amounts of geranium, lavender and bergamot but you can blend others or simply use just one of the above mentioned oils. After blending the essential oils, add 2 drops to a teaspoon of sweet almond oil and massage your temples, forehead and the back of your neck.

In this strange time of social distancing, stay at home orders and a whole new normal, I hope you are staying safe. Please remember loved ones lost and have a memorable Memorial Day 2020.

If Geranium essential oil owned a skin care spa, one of its most popular packages might be the “Flower Feet” package!

It would include a foot soak, foot scrub, and foot massage. Geranium is good at soothing feet that are sore from standing or walking all day, or due to joint and muscle pain. It also encourages swelling to go down, enhances circulation, and cools excessive heat.

Geranium essential oil can help you feel “pampered” while deeply supporting your health.

Here are the services geranium includes in its Flower Feet package . . . a foot soak, scrub, and a massage, all in one! It includes essential oils that are good for skin, sore muscles, preventing the proliferation of fungus, and (of course!) smelling beautiful.

Flower Feet

First, soak your feet in a warm bath with some essential oils. Combine:

• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) jojoba
• 1 drop geranium 
• 1 drop palmarosa
• 1 drop tea tree

Add the jojoba and essential oils to a tub of warm water, and relax while you soak your feet!

When you’re ready, use 1 oz (28 g) of pink Himalayan salt to scrub your feet. It helps to add about 1 teaspoon (5 ml) or so of jojoba to the salt, just to make it a little more manageable. (You already have jojoba in the tub of warm water, so you don’t need to add it to the salt to care for your skin—adding it to the salt just helps the salt “stick together” a bit so it doesn’t sprinkle out of your hands when you’re trying to rub it on your feet.)

You don’t have to use pink Himalayan salt for this blend. I just love the color of it! You can use any kind of salt you like. I prefer a small grain salt for blends like this (as opposed to a fine grain, like sand, or a coarse grain, that might be too big to offer much scrubbing effect). But again, that’s all up to you! Feel free to make this blend your own.

If you prefer to make a sugar scrub (rather than a salt scrub), you can simply make this recipe with sugar instead of salt. You can also try this Coconut Sugar Scrub blend I created for YouTube, made with coconut sugar, avocado oil, and Tea Tree.

Thanks to the jojoba in this Flower Feet package, you may not even need to use moisturizer after you’re done. Please be careful when stepping out of the tub though—both the jojoba and the water will be slippery! Dry off well with a towel.

Enjoy your Flower Feet!

Thanks to Andrea Butje, Aromahead Institute

Do you always take a shower instead of running that bathwater? When our 4 children were growing up, we once lived in a house that only had one bathroom and there was no shower. It took a while for everyone to finish bath time and there was no time for lollygagging. Once we moved into a house that had a second bathroom in the master bedroom, I never took baths. A quick shower is wonderful but now that I don’t have to hurry up and get out of the bathroom, a nice luxurious aromatherapy bath is very relaxing. The next time you are stressed or start to feel like you’re coming down with a bug, try one of these bath blends.

Wake Up Bath I

• 3 drops rosemary
• 3 drops lemon
• 2 drops eucalyptus

Wake Up Bath II

• 3 drops rosemary
• 2 drops peppermint
• 3 drops lemon

Refreshing Bath

• 5 drops eucalyptus
• 2 drops peppermint
• 2 drops lavender

1. Joint issues and discomfort – Turmeric contains curcumin, an antioxidant that demonstrates inflammation-cooling properties in joint issues, muscle sprains and other injuries. Add a few drops directly to the pain area. Be careful about getting turmeric on your clothes. It’s bright color may stain clothing.
2. Digestive aid – Turmeric may help reduce symptoms of digestive issues. Add 1 drop to a favorite tea. You can also apply it topically to the abdomen with a carrier oil.
3. Cancer-fighting properties – Turmerone and curcumin in turmeric oil both display the ability to fight colon cancer in animal studies. This may make it an effective assistant in fighting cancer. Take 1 drop internally morning and evening mixed in your food or beverage.
4. Neurological health – Turmeric oil’s aromatic turmerone is thought to be a promising way to support neurological health. You can diffuse it, apply it topically or take it internally with food or drink as above.
5. Mood and mental health – Turmeric essential oil is considered to be a strong relaxant and balancer. Studies have shown that it can help fight against depression and anxiety. Diffuse it throughout the day to improve mood and encourage positive feelings.
6. Possible seizure soother – the anti-convulsant properties of turmeric oil may fight some seizures. Take 1-2 drops internally or regularly drink hot turmeric tea.
7. Liver detox – Studies show that turmeric is liver-healthy. This is due in part to turmeric’s inflammation-soothing properties. To boost liver health, take it internally or apply it topically to the area.

The turmeric plant was named Indian saffron originally because of its orange-yellow color. Turmeric essential oil is steam distilled from the root of the plant and is a truly impressive natural health agent. It has very promising anti-cancer properties as well as being anti-allergic, anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, anti-fungal and anti-viral.

Turmeric has become very popular recently because of its two powerful and highly studied chemical compounds, turmerone and curcumin. This essential oil is known to strengthen and warm the whole body. It supports vascular and neurological health and shows promise in the areas of post stroke neurological function and Alzheimer’s therapies. It is also being studied as an effective agent against certain cancers.

Does your circulation struggle with heat? If you’re sorer than a triathlete after a big race or puffed up like an angry blow-fish, why not try using essential oils that increase circulation and reduce inflammation. These oils can be added to almond oil or grape seed oil to make massage oils and be rubbed into problem areas. Basil is one of the key essential oils for healing muscle inflammation—yes, the same herb you put on your pasta! Basil oil can be placed directly on the problem area or diffused. Eucalyptus oil is the perfect “anti” oil, working as an anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-aging, and anti-inflammatory agent. If you dilute it 50:50 in water and then diffuse it, the oil will even help to kill airborne bacteria. Like many other oils, a few drops can also be rubbed directly into the problem area. Just the tiniest drop of eucalyptus always makes me feel like I’ve wandered into the most luxurious of spas and am being waited on hand and foot.

Source: Yoganonymous