What pops into your head when you think about holidays? Sugarplums? Or do you see yourself trying to balance work and family with gifts, baking and parties?
You’re not alone. But there is a way to both enhance the holidays and comfort yourself during a hectic holiday season — aromatherapy.
Aromatherapy uses pure essential oils to relax, balance and rejuvenate. And some scents can do the double duty of creating a festive holiday atmosphere at the same time.
Surround Yourself With Seasonal Scents
Start with some scents to fill your rooms. Certain essential oils are ideal — clove, cinnamon, pine, fir needle, Texas cedarwood, cypress and juniper berry all lend cheer. Leading aromatherapy brand Aura Cacia even offers a special holiday blend, Orange Pomander, just for the season.
There are numerous options for diffusing the scents into the atmosphere of a room, such as simmering a blend of holiday cheer right on your stove top. Try filling a saucepan full of water and adding 10 drops cassia bark, 5 drops clove, 20 drops sweet orange, and 5 drops of vanilla.
Add a festive scent to the fireplace by putting one or two drops of essential oils on the log. Apply a drop and let it sit for a few minutes before putting the log into the fire. Some oils to try: frankincense, cypress, pine, fir, juniper berry and Texas cedarwood. Diffusing refreshing oils like peppermint and citrus may be just the thing to re-energize your family and guests after a big holiday meal.
And the tree — it’s the original source of holiday aromatherapy! Adding essential oils to the water in your tree stand is a quick way to diffuse holiday scents. Or spray an oil and water blend directly onto both natural and artificial trees for a fresh-cut aroma. Try 20 drops of pine, fir or juniper essential oil in a spritzer with 1 ounce of water.
Give Yourself a Break
You may find yourself on your feet for long periods during the holidays — shopping, cleaning or attending gatherings. To ease your fatigue, add a few drops of essential oil to your bath or try this foot soak:
Revitalizing Foot Soak
2 Tbsp. sea salt
1 Tbsp. Epsom salts
1 Tbsp. sodium bicarbonate or baking soda
1 Tbsp. French white clay powder
12 drops lavender oil
2 drops peppermint oil
1 drop spearmint oil
When you get the chance to sleep or do some serous relaxing, treat yourself to jasmine or vanilla essential oils or a pre-blended nocturnal formula like Aura Cacia’s Pillow Potion.
Share the Gift of Aromatherapy
You can also enhance the holidays by treating your gift recipients to the power of aromatherapy. It’s a thoughtful and creative way to make your gifts truly personal. Offer a festive container filled with coarse sea salt and your favorite essential oil blend. It can be used in the bath, or displayed to scent the air. Try 20 drops of rose, 20 drops of lavender and 10 drops of neroli to about 2 cups of salt. A small pinch of baking soda makes the blend very softening to the skin. To make a bath salt fizz, add a bit of vitamin C powder.
Spritzers are fun gifts. Buy a glass or aluminum spray bottle, blend your favorite oils and add water. To create one with the holiday scent of an orange pomander, use these essential oils: 40 drops orange, 40 drops vanilla, 15 drops clove.
If you want to introduce friends to aromatherapy, give them an Aura Cacia Aromatherapy Deck — it’s filled with enough aromatherapy information and recipes to keep them busy until next Christmas.
For more ideas and recipes, check out www.auracacia.com.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
