Get back to Nature!

We are living in a hectic world. If we intend to eliminate that turmoil in our personal life we really need to touch home base. We must get back to nature! It will assist us in improving physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and energetic health. If you have time to take a 20 minute stroll in the mountains, then you don't need aromatherapy!

If your life is like mine, and you feel lucky to touch grass once a day then aromatherapy is a MUST!

I haven't been able to sleep very well for some time now. I have tried all of the natural remedies I could think of and still my eyes and mind are wide awake at 4 AM. I am very excited to tell you that I am on to something that is finally working!

Aromavera has a new synergy, (which is a combination of 2 oils that work better than either individually) called SLEEP, a combination of lavender and Chamomile that is working. I have tried lavender many times to no avail.
Here is the routine that is working for me:

1 hr. before I want to go to bed I fix a cup of Chamomile tea and let it seep for 20 min.
Then I journal for 10 to 15 min to get all of the stuff out of my head and onto paper.
Next I run a bath with 1/2 C. of soda, 1/2 C. of Epsom salts, which I add 9 drops of Sleep synergy to.
I drink my tea in the tub while relaxing for 1/2 hr.
Next I just drop off to that ever coveted place, deep restful sleep.

For those of you with only a shower you can add sleep essential oil to your shower gel. Better yet mix 15 drops of sleep essential oil in 2 0z of hand lotion and rub on your body. Relax while it is absorbing into your skin.
Whatever you don't don't watch the news... how are you going to relax after that?

I will be having a sale on "Sleep" this week, if you would like to order it email me at
barb@solutionsteam.biz

Price: Reg. 15.83 Now only $ 13.45
Also any other oils that Aromavera carries I will give you a 15% discount. You can see their full catalog at www.aromavera.com You will not only save 15% but you will also share shipping with others. I divide the shipping cost up between the number of orders I have.

Chamomile is one of the most widely used flowers for herbal tea. Chamomile Tea is so popular, it is found in most grocery stores in the tea aisle. It is used as a mild sedative, and is good for insomnia as well as many other nervous conditions. It is nervine and sedative especially suited to teething children and those who have been in a highly emotional state over a long period of time. Except for the small risk of allergy, Chamomile is also one of the safest herbs to use.

Chamomile flowers are used in alternative medicine as an anodyne, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, nerve's, stomach, tonic, vasodilatory. The anti-inflammatory properties make it good for rheumatism, arthritis, and other painful swellings. Additional uses in herbal medicine include an antispasmodic for intestinal and menstrual cramps, relieving gas pains, and a very mild but efficient laxative. Milder tea in large doses is given throughout the day for fevers, sore throats, the aches and pains due to colds, flu, and allergies.

Chamomile contains coumarin, a naturally-occurring compound with anticoagulant or blood-thinning effects. It should not be combined with warfarin or other medications or supplements that have the same effect or be used by people with bleeding disorders. It shouldn't be used two weeks before or after surgery.

Melissa, or Lemon Balm

Today we are going to talk about Melissa, or more commonly know as lemon balm. This beautifule plant has a fragrant lemony smell. It makes a great hardy garden plant. Plant it in your garden to attract bees for pollination. Watch out it spreads quickly.
The essential oil from Melissa is often mixed with citronella or lemon grass by some companies because of the expense of manufacturing melissa oil. This can cause falsification and can be dangerous. The oil must be administered extremely carefully, especially with children so I do not advise its use by non practioners. There is not a problem if you are using it to fragrance & purify a room though. For beginners it is better to take advantage of the plant itself. Either making a tea from the leaves or eating it in salads. The leaves add a bright fragrance & flavor to a salad.

The leaves are very useful to if you get stung by a bee. Simply crush some leaves and rub them on the area.

To make a tea take some fresh or dried leaves and pour boiling water over them. Let them steep covered for 20 min. Strain and drink. It is also great in iced drinks.

To make general tonic and a simple remedy for migraine, depression, pms and menopausal symptons mix 2 oz of melissa leaves for 48 hours in white wine. Strain and drink 1 T. whenever symptoms appear. (If you do not want the alcohol in your concoction heat it up to evaporate the alcohol before administering it) There is another recipe that is more effective but a little more complicated.
4 1/2 C. vodka
2 oz. of Melissa leaves
1/2 oz of lemon peel
1/2 oz nutmeg
1/2 oz raw angelica
1/3 oz cloves
1/8 oz powdered cinnamon or sticks.
crush the herbs with your hand and put them in the vodka and spices for 2 weeks, keeping the bottle tightly corked and in the dark. filter with cheese cloth pressing all the ingredients well. Seal remaining mixture. Take a spoonful, no more when ever symptoms appear.

Enjoy the beauty of Melissa right from your garden.
I am ordering today, if you need any oils or herbs. barb@solutionsteam.biz PS: I have some fabulous starts of lemon balm if you want some!

Be a scentsation today

Enhance your day with the fresh smell of aromatherapy today! I am enjoying the fresh clean smell of grapefruit. Purifies the air while it makes your home feel fresh and inviting. Lots of ways to do it! Use a diffuser, ( On sale until Thursday) see previous post. a scent burner, with melted wax and a few drops of your favorite essential oil, or put it in a mist bottle and spray your room. Small things make a house a home!

Detox your body

With spring in full bloom it is very easy to overdo with yard work or marathon efforts while getting into shape for the summer. When that happens we often find ourselves wincing with every movement. Relief can be a bath away! I know I recommend a lot of baths, but it is one of my favorite ways to utilize aromatherapy.

Run a bath and put in 4 C. of apple cider vinegar. (It must be apple cider, as the other kinds are made with grain instead of apples. They are not effective for detoxing.) Now put into your water 1 T. of grated ginger or 3 drops of ginger root essential oil. Next put 7 drops of birch and juniper. I use a synergy called muscle relief that is a combination of birch, juniper and pine. Soak your aches away by staying in this luxurious bath for at least 20 minutes. Put on some great tunes and you will be feeling ready to tackle some movement! Better yet, do it right after you exercise or work in the yard and see if it can't eliminate the aches all together.

The vinegar helps to draw the toxins from your muscles and the essential oils helps to pull the lactic acid out of those aching muscles. Ginger is great for relieving tension and aches and pains. It is also fabulous for nausea & morning sickness.

My fragrancing special this week is Lemon grass, heavenly, clean and fresh. It uplifts your mood. It is also good for oily skin. You can add a couple of drops to your normal cleansing or beauty products. It is also one of my favorite cleaning oils, put a few drops in your mop water with a drop of dish detergent. To order click here: barb@solutionsteam.biz

This Weeks Specials

Muscle Relief 1/2 oz $9.72 / 3.3 oz $35.40

Ginger 1/3 oz $8.90 / 3.3 oz $53.30

Lemongrass 1/2 oz $5.90 /3.3 oz $21.22

This week only Aroma Vera is offering

5 free essential oils (the most popular ones, lavender, Orange, Grapefruit, Eucalyptus, and relaxation) when you purchase a diffuser.

Home Model $66.63

Professional Model $116.63

Free shipping with orders over $60.00

A lot of you said you didn't get my last post, so I will honor those specials this week also. Have a fabulous week!

A heavenly retreat!

Moisturizing and Relaxing Oat Bath
I ran across some wonderful recipes by by Kimberly Gallagher that they were posted on a very fun website. www.learningherbs.com

While checking it out I discovered the luxurious, soothing wonderfulness of an oat bath. In case you haven’t experienced one, I’m going to give you directions to prepare one for yourself. I highly recommend spending an evening pampering yourself this way!

Cooked oats create a moisturizing milky liquid. In her book, Herbal Rituals, Judith Berger says “oat baths send moisture deep into the skin...soak away emotional stress, [and] physical pain in the joints, uterus, bladder and bones.” This is a recipe from her book for an oat bath:

To create an oat bath for yourself you will need:
a large soup pot
enough rolled oats to fill the pot about 1/2 inch deep - (several cups) I put them in a nylon sock and tied it. I didn't have to strain the water that way.
water to fill the pot.

Put the oats in the pot and fill the pot almost to the top with hot water.
Bring the water to a boil. Watch it carefully as it likes to boil over quite dramatically.

Simmer over low heat for several hours.
Remove the thin film that forms on top. It is very emollient and can be placed on an especially dry or itchy part of your body for extra soothing and moisturizing.
Strain the oats out of the milky water if you didn't use the nylon.
Add 8 drops of Relaxation essential oil to this milky water.
Relaxation oil is a combination of lavendar and tangerine. ON SALE This Week

Fill your bath with water, pour the slick, milky aromatherapy water into your bath.
Sink into your delicious oat bath and soak for at least twenty minutes. Maybe even light a candle.

I hated to waste that oatmeal left in the nylon so I made a face scrub out of it.
I added
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 C. of brown sugar,
1/2 C of salt
3 drops of tea tree essential oil ON SALE THIS WEEK
3 drops of peppermint oil. ON SALE THIS WEEK
I mixed it all together and applied it onto my face. (Stay well away from your eyes) Let it set for a couple of minutes and rinsed it off with cool water.
I tried adding some other ingredients to it, but it wasn't too successful, felt quite slimy.
Grind the almonds and seaweed together first since they take more grinding then add the other ingredients and grind until the oats are well ground.
You can simply take some in your hands, wet your face and rub it on, but then little bit of oats and rose petals must go down your drain. I found it nice to put the mixture in a small nylon sock or mesh bag, wet the bag and rub my face with that. Then I could easily compost the mixture when I was finished.
Enjoy washing away all your winter dryness and refreshing yourself for a beautiful spring!

PS: if you ever get essential oils in your eye, do not use water to remove it... it will make spread it and make it worse. Use cloth moistened with olive or canola oil and wipe from the corner out.

Another sale item I have is grapefruit oil, the most refreshing scent for your diffuser or candle warmer.

Sale Prices

Relaxation (lavender & Tangerine) 1/3 oz $7.80 3.3 oz 33.97

Grapefruit 1 oz $8.00

Peppermint... great for travel sickness too 1 oz $14.00

Tea Tree 1 oz $9.00

Orange peel 1 oz $8.00

(New supplier on all of the oils but the Relaxation) Great prices!

barb@solutionsteam.biz to order ORDERS OVER $60 FREE shipping

Where did aromatherapy come from?

I realized that perhaps some of you following this blog or email might need a little background on aromatherapy, so that is what we are going to do today!

In the 1920's, French chemist Rene Maurice Gattefosse accidentally lit his arm on fire in his laboratory. The nearest cold liquid was a vat of lavender oil, into which he thrust his arm in an act of desperation. To his surprise, the pain subsided within a few minutes and the burn healed quickly without a scar. Gattefosse spent the rest of his life researching the healing properties of essential oils, and the science of aromatherapy was born.

In France, where it was discovered, aromatherapy has been incorporated into conventional medicine to treat infections and disease. In the U.S., it is widely used for its ability to affect a person's emotional state.

Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils from plants and aromatic plant compounds to affect someone's mood or health. Besides affecting the limbic system, or the emotion centers of the brain, essential oils also have antiseptic and immune-system-enhancing properties, and can be a complement to conventional medicine.

There are many methods of using aromatherapy to enhance health and wellness, including massage, baths, steam inhalation, and room diffusion. Although aromatherapy was discovered with an act of direct skin application, in most cases, essential oils are too strong to be applied directly to the skin without first being diluted in a carrier oil, such as canola, olive oil or other carrier oil.
Here are some ways you can use aromatherapy to create a healthier home.

For a Tooth ache Put a drop of clove oil on your finger and rub on and around the effected tooth. This will not get rid of a decayed tooth, but will get you a reprieve from the pain until you can get to a dentist to get the problem resolved.
In the Bath Try this bath before bed to help you or your kids sleep more soundly. Put five drops of lavender oil in a little shampoo and then swirl it in the bath water. Lavender helps promote relaxation and sleep.

In the Car Sprinkle a few drops of peppermint or Basil on a cotton ball, and stash it under the driver's seat. You can also rub a couple of drops on the palm of your hand. Basil and Peppermint helps increase alertness.
Inhalation Into a basin of steaming water, add a few drops of an essential oil, like marjoram or Eucalyptus. Lean your head over the bowl and cover with a towel, and inhale the steam for 10 minutes. Marjoram and Eucalyptus can help to clear congestion.
Around the House Help to disinfect the air in your home by adding a few drops of tea tree oil or lemon oil to an aromatherapy diffuser or put in melted candle wax.

For your Pets Calm rambunctious or nervous pets by sprinkling a drop or two of lavender oil on their bedding.

This week I will be running a special on Clove Oil, 15% discount! There is also a discount on the anti viral blend. These are both excellent oils to have in your storage and first aid kit. Imagine having someone you love with a toothache and not being able to get to a dentist. Clove is a must. 1/3 oz clove is regular $5.83 NOW only 4.95. 3.3 oz is 41.83 Now only $35.55

Anti viral is 1/3 oz 12.48 NOW only 10.60 3.3 oz $62.50 Now only $53.12

All synergies for your diffuser are also 15% off. any size.

One of my favorites are After the storm... a blend of lemon, cedarwood, bergamot and citronella. Fresh and very peaceful.

Although aromatherapy can complement traditional medicine, it should never be used instead of competitant medical advice. Always check with your doctor or pediatrician before using any home remedies on yourself or your children.

We are all aware of the fact that we are all made up of energy. That has been an exciting discovery in the 20th Century. Did you realize that this is the reason aromatherapy works. The essential oils of a plant vibrate at a higher frequency than we do. Therefore, that is how they can assist you to heal, relax, energize, sleep etc. They increase your vibration. The higher frequency you vibrate the more wellness, energy etc you will experience.

There are a lot of things that can affect your vibration, but probably none as powerful as your thinking. A great example I had of this a few years ago was when my husband had gotten into a car wreck and totaled our car. I knew we would owe more than it was worth! I had just gotten home from a 12 hour day at my store and I was exhausted. I had to get my quarterly tax returns off by the next day and I detested doing them. I remember laying on the floor thinking my life was pretty stinky at that moment. I got a phone call from the insurance company asking me did I want to pick up the check for our car or did they want me to mail it? It was for 10K over what I owed. I have never experienced an energy perk like that before… from 0-100 in less than 10 seconds!

The only thing that changed was my thoughts!

Wonderful smells can change your thinking also. Have you ever been taken back to your childhood by a smell? That is your olfactory system working. It is the most powerful part of your brain. Give it a boost, try a new fragrance and uplift yourself.

Grapefruit and Tangerine are some of my favorite oils. They are inexpensive and a great way to purify your home. I also use them in my hand soaps and lotions. They are on sale for : Grapefruit 1/2 oz for 5.65 & 3.3 oz bottle only 27.10. Tangerine is 4.95 for a ½ oz and a 3.3 oz is only 28.30. Depression relief, a blend of rose absolute, rosewood and geranium is also on sale for $14.14 for a ½ oz. Perk yourself up and get that energy flowing.

This sale is a great time to think of the essentials you need to have on hand for your emergency kit. 15% off all oils & diffusers
Tea Tree – disinfectanting, healing
Lavender- burns and relaxation
Peppermint- stomach disorders, motion sickness, energy, dizziness, headaches
Respiration- colds and respiratory problems, ie allergies
Anti-viral- prevention and healing.
Have a great week.