Written by Gina Sarten, Naturopath
I’ve been trying to remember when I first started to delve into the world of essential oils and aromatherapy. I think it was when my now 20 year-old son was very little. I was looking for a way to treat him for the myriad of small bumps, bruises, and illnesses that occur with littlies to prevent relatively small things from getting bigger and requiring visits to the doctor.
I recall him being ill with a fever and using chamomile in his bath to ease the virus and bring down the temperature, using lavender to ease his scrapes, and tea tree to treat molluscum spots. My mother-in-law was amazed at how effective these treatments were and also became a believer in the power of essential oils.
I continue to use them now: a few drops in a bath is a fabulous way to relax (or invigorate), or detox, or ease an aching body; I enjoy applying a specific massage blend all over to help meet what the day may bring; adding a few drops to a vaporiser to change the way the house feels; using it in inhalations when a cough persists; or in a chest rub when a cold is attacking; we still use it for burns, cuts, scrapes, stings, acne, sunburn — to soothe, protect, and heal.
If you’ve not used essential oils before I encourage you do so. Care must be taken though since they are extremely powerful remedies. They are highly concentrated extracts of plants — for instance it takes over 200,000 rose petals to distil approximately 5mls of rose oil.
It is easy to learn the basics, which is what I’ll be teaching at a seminar at Body of Work on July 29th. I will teach how to use the oils safely, how to blend oils, and go into detail about some of my favourites. I will follow this up with a tutorial on how to make your own massage blend; bath melts; a healing salve; and a mood mist.
Please contact me if you’d like to register.
