Holiday Stresses and Aromatic Chocolates

The holiday season is fast approaching, I certainly notice a difference in the line-ups everywhere you go. It's amazing how we all seem to be hustling and bustling at this time of year to get things done.

In the hurry of it all we sometimes forget to enjoy the season for what it is and forget to focus on what matters. Sometimes the best gift we can give someone is our undivided attention for a span of time without any interruptions or irritations. Just time spent happily focused on the people around us. When we are gifting our time like this, we should not forget one of the most important people in our lives - OURSELVES. Of course we have a lot to do around this time of year, and of course we enjoy the benefits of following these traditions, but let us not get caught up in the hectic of it all and remember what is really important to us.

At this time of year many of us do get very stressed out, when this happens check out my previous blog on Holiday Stress . On the other side of the coin depression is another emotion that often shows up at this time of the year and my blog on Essential Oils and Depression has some ideas on how to deal with this.

For those of you who are still thinking about making aromatic gifts what about some aromatic chocolates? I made up a whole batch over the weekend and they are now all prettily packaged and labeled and ready to gift.

My ebook Aromatic Gifts for All Ages and All Seasons has a Chocolate Mint Truffle recipe in it that I shared in the Origins of Valentines Day Blog, or you could simply melt some cooking chocolate, add your favorite essential oil for flavoring and pour into Christmas Candy Molds. Voila - Aromatic Chocolates!

Please remember that while essential oils have been used for a very long time in the Flavoring and Food Industry they are very highly concentrated substances so a very little goes a long, long way. How much you add to your Chocolate will depend on the essential oil that you choose, your personal preference and how much chocolate you are using.

For instance, according to Leung and Foster in the Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients, 2nd Edition:

The highest average maximum use levels reported for use in candy:
Peppermint is 0.104%
Lemon is 0.046%
Bitter Orange is 0.043%
Rose is 0.0002%
Lavender is 0.0004%.

These are just a few examples of using essential oils in food but as you can see the MAXIMUM amounts are very small and of course you can use less.

Upcoming Workshops

December 12 & 13: Aromatherapy Caddy Chemistry

Workshops for 2010

Our self-directed home study Aromatherapy Courses are always available. When you are ready they are only a click away, a click that will lead you into a world filled with information, self-growth and delight! Perhaps they will be a gift you give yourself this year!

If you don't want something as formal as a course perhaps you'll find what you are looking for in one of our E-books or our aroma massage DVD.