Essential oils and plant extracts have become increasingly popular in recent years, but health practitioners have been using essential oils for millennia. Health, beauty, aromatherapy, cleaning, and cleansing are some of their uses. Essential oils also have mental, physical, and spiritual benefits as well.
The average shelf life for essential oils is around 3 years, but some may last longer.
So you find yourself unable to sleep at night, and you’ve tried everything. What’s next? How about aromatherapy! But what exactly is aromatherapy you may ask? Aromatherapy uses fragrant parts of aromatic plants to help revitalize and relax the body.
We all know the benefits of meditation--I personally use it for the best (and free!) stress relief, but it can be really intimidating and confusing to get started. If you are scatterbrained by nature, the very process sounds impossible. How do I know if I’m doing it right? Is it working? If you are new to meditation, it can seem like a super power rather than a skill--one that you build with practice. Here are three little things that helped me get started, and have kept me going, even when I was convinced that meditation was a waste of time.
In the midst of busy work schedules and obligations, we will inevitably run out of steam if we don’t take some much needed time for ourselves to decompress. Self-care practices act as a reboot and refresh button to our systems. Allowing ourselves to do something good for our mental and physical well-being is absolutely essential to keeping the gears turning smoothly.
Coloring is no longer just a childhood pastime. Adult coloring books are becoming one of the latest trends, and for good reason. Some of the health benefits of adult coloring include reduced stress and mindfulness. But there is some serious science behind these claims, showing that engaging in coloring actually relaxes the amygdala, or the fear center of the brain.
Did you know you could grow your own medicine? There are so many reasons to do it! One of the best reasons is for the many benefits that it provides you and your environment. If you don't have space in your yard for a big garden, don’t worry; many of the plants can be grown in containers. To have the Echinacea growing in your yard when the cold or flu strikes, or some Aloe Vera for burns is a blessing.
The benefits of growing your medicine garden/medicine wheel are many. The nutrition and healing properties of the plant are only a couple of reasons.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that yoga has infiltrated mainstream pop culture. One could find a yoga studio in virtually every large city in the world. Yet the way yoga is practiced can vary widely from place to place.
If you’re like most of the population, you don’t keep a journal. Despite journaling being a simple tool that can help sharpen your memory, boost your mood and ease anxiety, almost no one does it. It’s up there with walking and drinking enough water as one of the easiest ways to improve your health and well-being, and practice self-care.
In the west, adhering to “western medicine” does not necessarily equate to health. Yearly trips to the doctor’s office and allopathic treatments rarely bring a person closer to wellness, nor do they contain the necessarily elements to inspire an individual to take powerful control over their personal well-being and bodily health.
Let’s face it…summer would be incomplete without a good hammock hang and a fellow book in your lap. Summer, by its nature, is filled with the energy of the sun and the light of transformation. With that sentiment in mind, here is a list of 7 books that will bend your perspective, provoke inquiry, cultivate an open mind, inspire truth and encourage transformation.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo