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People everywhere are hungry for clear, practical, scientifically-validated information about how to make safe and simple use of herbs in their day to day lives. I too was once hungry for this kind of information. I discovered that working (and playing) with herbs did not need to be complex and confusing. It could be sheer pleasure. For me it was like walking down a path where a wonderful surprise is revealed at every turn. |
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Some of the most powerful message carriers are the essential oils of plants the distilled essences of leaves, fruits, flowers, bark and roots. They are brimming with structural information the complex energies of life itself.
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HEAVEN SCENT Humans have probably used herbs to make their homes beautiful and comfortable for a million years. The scent of herbs is as natural to us as spring rain breaking through sunshine. Both our ability to smell and our experience of intense emotions such as joy, fear, desire or rage are governed by the limbic system the brain’s most primitive part. That is probably why even the slightest hint of a smell can be so emotionally evocative. When you smell something beautiful or ugly - you are reacting to volatile molecules wafting their way to odor receptors behind the bridge of your nose. From there nerve impulses are carried to the limbic system, the messages are interpreted, and responses are sent by the hypothalamus to the rest of your body. Scent not only affects you emotionally but physically, psychologically, and spiritually. |
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ESSENTIAL TRUTHS Each aromatic essence carries a different message to your body: vanilla and lavender, for instance, tell it to relax, while peppermint and rosemary encourage it to wake up. Some Japanese companies have capitalized on this. They pump essential oils like lemon through the air-conditioning of their offices to increase productivity in their workers. Whenever you become bored or drowsy, diffusing the right essential oil in to the atmosphere can shift your energy on every level and revive you. Essential oils can also help clarify mental states and balance emotions. Use them to help clear the fog from your brain after a hard day’s work. Use them all over your home to intensify whatever atmosphere you’ve been trying to achieve with color, textures and decoration. I use lemon verbena, hyssop and neroli when I am working and ylang ylang, lavender or vanilla in the bath to wind down at the end of the day. There are all sorts of methods for enriching your room with the uplifting energy of essential oils. You can put them in an oil burner. Fill the saucer on the top with water before adding a few drops of your preferred oil (the water is important because burning these essences neat destroys much of their beauty and power). There are machines on the market which you plug in so an electric fan wafts the fragrance into the air without heating. A simple diffuser comes in the form of a ring which you place around a light bulb. The heat from the bulb evaporates any oil you drop onto it diffusing it into the atmosphere. Or put 8-10 drops of essential oils on a small piece of cardboard or in a dish of warm water and leave it on a warm radiator or Aga stove. |
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A method I really like is to make a room spray by filling a spray bottle with water and adding 2 drops of washing up liquid and 10 drops of my favorite essential oil. I not only use this throughout my home but I take a bottle of it wherever I travel so I can spray my hotel room. It makes me feel much more comfortable in a strange place. |
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Make it Sacred Here are my suggestions for using essential oils to enhance your environment.
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The classic definition of a herb is a non-woody plant which dies down to its roots each winter. This definition is far too limiting. It was probably made up by 19th Century European botanists who had never seen the rainforest in which, of course there is no winter to die back in. Neither had they ever heard of woody trees and shrubs such as hawthorn and ginko and elder which are some of the best selling herbs on the market these days. I define a herb as a medicinal plant. It can come from any climate and be a leaf, a bark, a flower or a root. It can be home-grown or wild, a weed, a spice, a plant which is used for its healing or culinary or beautifying properties. Once you discover the power of herbs it is easy to become so enthusiastic about them you go overboard trying to use them for everything. It is not wise to take lots of different plants all at the same time. Or you might start to think that since a small amount of something is good for you, taking twice or three times that amount will be even better. It isn’t. If you want safe and sane herbal help here are a few guidelines to follow:
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