A New Year….
New you?… Self-care? Hitting the gym? We all say it but what lifestyle or personal changes do we actually make in reality?!
Question time; Have you been burning the candle at both ends? Feeling like a sparkler about to fizzle out?
January can be a tough month, the celebrating and spending of Christmas is over, the lack of sunshine, the dark mornings and the dark, early evenings with cold, damp weather can also be a challenge for a lot of people.
The lack of sunshine and vitamin D can leave us feeling sad and flat.
Then there are the expectations and resolutions after a busy Christmas that can leave us feeling even more exhausted and at a time when we would naturally be resting and recharging ready for the Spring.
In nature, flowers don’t bloom constantly, there is always a rest and recovery phase.
Aromatherapy and Essential oils can be a great way to help us though to Spring Time. There are many ways to use ‘Aromatherapy’ and it’s healing properties at home and in your daily life. From using essential oils in soaps and shower gels as a relaxer or pick me up, to diffusing essential oils to help influence our mood, whether that’s to improve our sleep pattern or energise and boost concentration. The are so many oils to choose from.
At this time of year I love grounding, strengthening tree oils such as Cedarwood Atlas and Sandalwood. These can help us to feel connected to our bodies, when we are in a time where we can so easily be in our own heads, too much.
Rejuvenating essential oils such as Frankincense can bring a sense of peaceful strength whilst helping meditation practise and deepening the breath.
Exercise and moving our bodies is a great way to increase our natural ‘happy’ hormones but often the motivation can be lacking – using invigorating oils such as Rosemary, Black Pepper and the Eucalyptuses and blending them with citrus sunshine oils such as Lemon, Grapefruit or Lime can get us ready to go go go…. ? these can be made in a rollerball and kept in your gym or yoga bag.
If over indulgence has been your Christmas season then detoxing oils such as Juniper, Peppermint, Black Pepper and Lemon can be blended in a carrier oil and used daily after showering to improve lymph flow and circulation getting us back on track from all those mince pies and turkey sandwiches.
The Right Combinations –
To use essential oils (safely) topically you can blend 5 drops of essential oil to each 10ml of carrier oil and swirl around and mix well.
A New Year Blend to lift the winter blues and detox – you could try
1 drop of Peppermint
2 drops of Juniper
2 drops of Lemon
in 10ml of sweet almond oil (or similar) and massage clockwise on your abdomen
For any advise or more information please feel free to contact
Justine Jackson
Clinical Aromatherapist
0161 440 0298
Bramhall Osteopathic Clinic
