‘Tis the season for stress.
Seriously.
I’ve actually been very lucky to get through this holiday season with a very minimal stress load, mostly due to my homemade gifting and Do-It-Yourself Christmas attitude. However, even we have a bit of stress from this week of gift giving and cooking and I have a few great ways using minimal impact on both the earth and your body: essential oils.
I’d like to focus on three in particular as I find they really resonate with me during these winter months (and work well together).
Fir: Fir is that classic winter scent, which is why it’s my first scent of choice for this season. If you still have people staying over, this is a great scent to put in a diffuser to keep the tensions down when you’re feeling your house getting smaller by the minute! A few drops can ground you during HIGH stress times (are your parents in town?) and act as a sedative (are you thinking about all the Christmas clean up to do?). It’s also great as a massage oil on sore, stressed muscles (make sure to dilute in an oil).
Marjoram: Marjoram is not as well known as a relaxing oil but equally important. Marjoram is a sedative (keeps those nerves at bay, like fir) but also as important, it’s great for digestive issues. We all know what it feels like when we’re stuffed to the brim or have eaten too much chocolate – especially when we’re not used to it. Marjoram is a digestive tonic that has been used for years and helps from the time of ingestion to the point of elimination – it’s an all in one Christmas-itis cure.
Roman Chamomile: If you’re a chamomile tea drinker, you probably are already aware of the benefits this plant has to offer. Chamomile, again, is a great sedative (do you see the theme here?) and is safe for use with children. This is great when you’d like the house to calm down for an hour or two but would rather avoid the “television babysitter” solution. Roman Chamomile is also a great headache cure – those tension headaches can easily be soothed by a few drops diffused into the air.
So, how can you put these oils into use for you and your family during this hectic time of year?
(1) As mentioned above, if you have an oil diffuser (or a re-purposed wax melter), a few drops (2-3) in a tablespoon or two of water over a candle works wonders. I’ve used this method therapeutically (especially with tea tree oil when one of us has a cold coming on) and also to rid the kitchen of the scent from a past meal (we had fish tacos the other day and the fish scent really wanted to hang on). This tends to work in one room but can be beneficial if you’re trying to keep the atmosphere of , for example, your living room relaxed.
(2) Perfumes are a great way of keeping the relaxation available to you while not bothering or affecting others. A dab of essential oil mixed in a base (jojoba or coconut, for example) on your wrist is often a perfect way of achieving relaxation on your person. The warmth of your body helps bring out the scent and it can be a discreet way of keeping calm during a tense conversation between you and a partner during talks of who’s family you’re seeing on Boxing Day. Another option is to put the essential oil (one or two drops is all that’s necessary) on a piece of kleenex and keep it in your blouse or pocket.
(3) For family members, especially children, who are having difficulty sleeping, a stuffed animal with the scent of a child-friendly oil like roman chamomile can do just the trick. Try to avoid using this method on a toy they might put in their mouth or that you can’t get away from them later to give a quick wash to.
(4) If you’ve got a significant other, a not-too-creepy relative, or a child who doesn’t mind giving a back rub, this mixture (roman chamomile, marjoram & fir: 5 drops of each in 1/4 cup of jojoba oil) makes a wonderful de-stressing massage oil. Plus, it calms the masseuse by default as the scent is used. Tricky, tricky!
(5) My favourite way to de-stress with essential oils is through a bath. Mix 1/4 cup of Epsom salts with 3-4 drops of essential oil and sprinkle liberally into your bath water. I find this much keeps a bit on hand for a later bath (or one for someone else in need) and allows you to judge how much YOU need without having to mix up more. This method is paired very well with a glass of wine & a book.
I hope these de-stressing methods find you in good health and happiness this holiday season. Remember to breathe – the holiday season is a time to be savored and I hope you can still find a bit of time for YOU through all the craziness that is inevitable this week.
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