Monday, April 13, 2015

How We Use Essential Oils {Part 2 of 3; Aromatically}

aromatic [ar-uh-mat-ik]
adjective
1. having an aroma; fragrant or sweet-scented; odoriferous. 
2. Chemistry. of or relating to an aromatic compound or compounds.
noun
3. a plant, drug, or medicine yielding a fragrant aroma, as sage or certain spices and oils. 
4. aromatic compound.

For this particular post I wanted to share how we use essential oils in our home aromatically.  With the definitions above in mind, I'm talking about the essential oils that I find have the best fragrant aroma to benefit my home and family.

With essential oils being used aromatically, usually its in a diffuser of some kind.  I have this Diffuser, and plan on getting more for each room, I also make these bracelets with lava stones, and they act as a natural diffuser throughout the day, They're going to be available on my etsy site, and come with your choice of sample starter oil, I'll update when released.

Let's start with the oils I diffuse in the living room.  The living room is the first room in the house, this is where people are greeted into my home and unfortunately it's also where our dogs {and their smells} hang out.  I have a decent rug in our living room, I like it and all but it often smells like our dogs, so instead of lighting a candle which could have lead in it or other known carcinogens, I choose something like lavender and peppermint.  Or citrus blends, wild orange is a perfect odor neutralizer, I can hardly smell the dogs when I'm diffusing that oil.

For the bathroom, I diffuse a protective blend. It has orange in it so that helps the smell, but more importantly when someone is sick I diffuse on guard in the bathroom to help support the immune system. On Guard is similar to the thieves oil, which was created based on thieves vinegar from the legend of the thieves from the black plague.  By combining select herbs, some people believe we can protect our bodies from common seasonal or environmental threats.  I tend to believe this just based on the fact that when we get sick our symptoms calm down with use of thieves oil or on guard.  I've also seen some studies where certain bacteria can't survive in the presence of certain oils.  While I've yet to find a published article in the medical community,  I choose to use it based on our family's previous successes as immune support and as part of our general health care routine.

In the bedrooms, I diffuse lavender at bedtime to help us relax, my daughter seems to be energized by lavender so I use peppermint for her {which is known for being an energizing oil, but she asks for it and it helps calm her down}.  I think we're drawn to smells which our body craves or needs, similar to that feeling when you just need a steak {even though I'm a default vegetarian, but you know what I mean} so whatever smells best to me is what goes in the diffuser!

Although, something to keep in mind; of course there are some oils that are not safe for children to breathe, and honestly those same ones probably aren't that safe for adults, especially people with asthma or other respiratory problems. A great common sense list I read about safety is here.  And a great list of various dangers for specific oils can be found here, from National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy.  I think it's important to not be scared of oils, some people might say they're dangerous, but the real issue is they're strong! They're very concentrated, so it's important to be informed of the risks before you start replacing all your conventional air fresheners with essential oils because some oils can be dangerous when the dosage is incorrect.

If you're interested in using oils in your home I suggest doing lots of research for what is best and safe for your family, remember I'm a blogger, not a doctor and I do not suggest you do or try any of the items listed above, I'm simply sharing how I use these oils for myself and my family.




These statements have not been evaluated by the Federal Drug Administration. The products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. 

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