Get Uplifted with Citrus

If you have been reading my various posts and blogs, some of my recipes or "must haves" will always include citrus.  With the spring here, it is the perfect time to refresh and re-energize your environment — and your spirits. Here's how the clean, uplifting scents of citrus oils can help brighten your winter.

Tips to lighten your mood with citrus essential oils:

Sprinkle 5 to 7 drops of sweet orange on shower floor in the morning.

Use grapefruit and peppermint in a car diffuser.

Keep a bottle of tangerine on your desk and inhale whenever you need to be uplifted.

Diffuse a combination of lime, eucalyptus and tea tree to purify the air.

Add lemon to household cleaning products.

Use mandarin orange as a fresh, sexy personal essence.

Diffuse bergamot and rosemary to inspire creativity.

Grapefruit Tea Tree Foot Bath

Turn any down time in front of the TV or reading a book into a rejuvenating spa experience with this easy foot bath. A great purifying treatment, this will revitalize the whole body while softening calloused heals and toes. Follow up with a foot scrub.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sea salt

12 drops grapefruit oil

6 drops tea tree oil

Basin of very warm water

Directions:

Sprinkle sea salt with oils and mix. Dissolve into basin of water and soak feet for 15 to 20 minutes.

Motivating Workout & Purifying Gym Spray

4 ounces water

12 drops sweet orange oil

6 drops lemon oil

6 drops tea tree oil

Directions:

Combine oils and water in a spray mister bottle. Shake vigorously and use as a motivating air freshener during workouts, or to lightly spray and wipe down athletic equipment before using.

I have the lime, eucalyptus and tea tree in my diffuser now. What are you doing with your EOs? 

Be Well, 

--Kim

De-Stress, Naturally!

We all experience stress in some shape or form. During my weekend reading, I realized that there are many different types of stress that I never really thought about. I was pretty much assuming that all stress is caused by someone we know. The phrase, "you're stressing me out" has come out of my mouth often! Essentially I'm talking about emotional stress but learned that there can be environmental causes for stress, chemical stress (yes, too many cups of coffee by coffee lovers can cause chemical stress), physical stress and of course, mental stress (I suffer from that too). Environmental stress can be caused by noises, cramped office space, office lighting, etc. 

Our mental health is just as important to our physical health as taking care of our bodies. Too much stress can cause depression, anxiety and can actually turn into physical manifestations like infections, high blood pressure and even physical pain. These days, if you buy from any essential oil company, they are going to have some kind of stress blend, but it's their blend and there is typically only one. Since I like to do my own blending...yes, I do have a bottle of the pre-blended stress from two different EO companies, but there is always that one oil that I don't tolerate well...like Ylang, ylang...I absolutely cannot use that. 

Anyway, I have a bunch of different recipes that I have been trying out to combat different factors that cause stress. I'll share a few: 

Irritability
10 drops Nutmeg
8  drops Sandalwood
12 drops Pettigraine

Tiredness
10 drops Lemon
 5 drops Clary-sage
15 drops Lavender

Depression
15 drops Geranium
 8 drops Neroli
12 drops Nutmeg

General Stress Blends
#1 - Bergamot (9 drops), Geranium (11 drops) and Ginger (10 drops)
#2 - Grapefruit (15 drops), Rosemary (11 drops) and Palma rosa (5 drops)
#3 - Neroli (7 drops), Lavender (3 drops) and Lemon (20 drops) --- This is my favorite

While these will make a lot, you will only need to use a drop or two, depending on how you diffuse, for effect. If you overuse oils, you can end up with a headache or more. 

If you are working in an office setting, it is important to remember to respect people's personal space. Just like heavy perfumes, your own personal oil blend can be disruptive to other people so it's important that if you are going to use essential oils at work that you find a personal diffuser. I don't recommend a fan diffuser since that will invade other people's space. 

I used to use these cute terra cotta pots that were small and would literally only smell around your desk but I cannot find those any longer. There are small terra cotta stones that you can place on your desk that will not invade space or you can always wear an aromatherapy necklace like some of the ones shown here: 

You can also play with your own blend options using your favorite oils. Here are some oil recommendations (note that when you use oils with an asterisk (*) in higher quantities they are stimulants rather than relaxants, like Lavender:

Stimulant Oils: 
Bergamot      Grapefruit
Lavender*     Rosemary
Lemon*        Geranium*
Cypress         Neroli*
Coriander      Palma rosa
Ginger          Cardamom

Sedatives/Relaxants: 
Nutmeg        Geranium
Marjoram     Lemon
Lavender      Chamomile
Sandalwood  Neroli
Clary-sage    Rose
Pettigraine    Vetiver

Whatever you decide to use, pre-blended or play with your own blending, using essential oils is a natural way to combat stress and definitely much healthier than using OTC medicines, etc. 

Be Well, 
--Kim