Gardening Aches and Pains

Now that Spring has finally arrived many of us are working at getting things planted in our yards and gardens.

After the Winter it's great to get into the garden and get things planted and looking bright and pretty but this last week I've had a number of people come into the Center where I do treatments with lots of muscle aches and pains from gardening.

The aches and pains we get from over exercising our muscles can really benefit from an essential oil blend. These can be applied by gently rubbing them in topically over the affected area, added to a massage oil, on a compress or in the bath. There are some guidelines on How to use essential oils on our website which you can check out.

A nice soak in a warm bath with a half a cup of Epsom salts and some essential oils is a great way to recover from a full day working in the garden and applying a compress on particularly sore areas can be very helpful.

In addition to general aches and pains one might also need oils to help with bruising or scrapes and cuts. My article First Aid for minor conditions using Essential Oils has some great suggestions for conditions such as these.

Essential Oils you can consider for your blends include: Basil, Eucalyptus, Ginger, Black Pepper, Roman Chamomile, Juniper, Lavender, Marjoram, Peppermint, Rosemary, and Helichrysum. There are others but this is a good place to start.

If your hands need some TLC why not make up one of the hand recipes from my ebook Aromatic Gifts for All Ages and All Seasons?

Upcoming workshops:
June 14: Reiki Level 1
July 18 & 19: Chair Massage

Essential Oil Safety - Oral Use

These days I hear more and more people talking about using essential oils internally and this is of some concern to me as it does not appear that they have the necessary training to safely do this or suggest this use for others. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you are advising other people to use essential oils in this way, it would be a very good idea to make sure that you have Professional Liability Insurance that covers you practicing in this way. I do not know of any Professional Liability Insurance available to Aromatherapists that cover the use of essential oils internally, so unless you are covered under another modality (e.g. medical practitioner; medical herbalist etc) you're on your own if anyone has an adverse reaction and decides to sue.

Now while it is certainly true that many essential oils are used in the Food Industry as a flavoring ingredient the amounts used are in very small parts per million. For instance, in the Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients used in Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics, 2nd Edition, Albert Y Leung and Steven Foster they say

Spearmint oil and peppermint oil (usually rectified) are extensively used in flavoring chewing gums, candies, and chocolates as well as in most other food products, including alcoholic (liqueurs, etc) and nonalcoholic beverages, frozen dairy desserts, baked goods, gelatins and puddings, processed fruits, and sweet wauces. The highest average maximum use levels reported are 0.104% for peppermint oil in candy and about 0.132% (1318 ppm) for spearmint oil in baked goods.

This means that even in the highest dosage 0.104% for peppermint in candy, very, very little essential oil is actually consumed at any one time. Compared to that consuming just 1 drop of essential oil of peppermint is almost a thousand times higher.

One must keep in mind as Robert Tisserand and Tony Balacs point out in Essential Oil Safety, A Guide for Health Care Professionals :

Great caution should be exercised when taking or prescribing any essential oil by mouth. Oral administration is more likely to lead to systemic toxicity problems than application to the skin, since a greater concentration (about 10 times as much) is likely to reach the bloodstream. The dangers with regard to pregnancy, cancer, epilepsy, and virtually every other area of risk, increase with oral administration.

A further consideration is that some essential oils can irritate the mucous membrane of the alimentary canal, especially if undiluted. It is our recommendation that essential oils should only be prescribed orally, for therapeutic purposes, by primary care practitioners such as medical doctors and medical herbalists.

When using essential oils, in addition to considering the specific oils and their properties, there are a number of factors that we need to consider including: the amount of essential oil to be used at any one time; the frequency of application and the duration of application. All of these factors contribute to the amount of essential oil that will be absorbed into the bloodstream and will have to be metabolized by the individual.

Robert Tisserand and Tony Balacs in Essential Oil Safety, A Guide for Health Care Professionals also say:

Some medical practitioner do prescribe essential oils to be taken orally, but great care must be exercised if prescribing in this way. The bioavailable dose of an essential oil given orally is significantly higher than after inhalation or topical application. Oral administration is certainly a useful way of getting large amounts of essential oil into the body. Those medical practitioners who favour it are frequently treating severe infectious diseases which require heavy dosing. However, in general, any hazards are also magnified proportionately.

All recorded cases of serious poisoning with essential oils have occurred after the ingestion of relatively large amounts of essential oil. Only in very few cases were the oils being taken for therapeutic purposes and in these few instances the person was generally self-administering rather than following the advice of a practitioner.

They go on to say:

Oral administration always carries the potential for inducing nausea and vomiting, and for causing irritation of the gastrointestinal tract. Digestive enzymes can destroy some types of essential oil constituents, and the presence of food has extremely unpredictable effects on absorption into the bloodstream.

After absorption from almost all regions of the gastrointestinal tract, most substances pass directly to the liver, where the great majority will be deactivated, and some, paradoxically, will be made more toxic.

In my opinion, this certainly gives us some food for thought when it comes to the question of taking essential oils orally. Obviously there is a time and place for everything, but using essential oils orally is something, in my opinion, that one would reserve for very serious conditions and then only under the guidance of a primary medical care practitioner.

Essential oils are extremely effective in very small doses, so why would we overload our systems with more than we need?

Violet Leaf - Viola odorata

As Rose, the signature oil for Taurus, has already been profiled on the blog, which you can read here, the oil I'm profiling today is Violet Leaf.

This small tender, perennial plant has dark green, heart-shaped leaves, fragrant violet-blue flowers and an oblique underground rhizome. It is native to Europe and parts of Asia and is now cultivated in gardens worldwide. The Violet leaf used for perfumery is mostly grown in southern France (Grasse) and to a lesser extent in Italy and China. It is used in high-class perfumery work and occasionally in flavouring of confectionery.

A concrete and absolute is solvent extracted from the fresh leaves and flowers. The leaf absolute is an intense dark green while the flower absolute is a yellowish –green liquid. Violet flower absolute is expensive and sometimes difficult to find. In The Essential Oils, Vol 5, Ernest Guenther tells us that it takes about 1,000 – 1,100 kg of violet leaves to yield 1 kg of the concrete.

The leaf and the flowers have been used in traditional herbal medicine for congestive pulmonary conditions and sensitive skin conditions. The leaf has also been used to treat cystitis and as a mouthwash for infections of the mouth and throat. It is mostly used in perfumery and skin care. It acts as a sedative and a circulatory stimulant.

On an emotional level, violets have traditionally been associated with death, especially the death of young people. Poets have long pointed out the ‘modesty and humility’ of the violet. It was also considered to evoke sweet and loving feelings. Violet has association with sentimental feelings of loyalty tinged with wistfulness and longing.

On a subtle level, Violet Leaf protects those who are shy or hypersensitive. It also helps to increase spirituality.

Generally considered to be non-toxic, non-irritant with possible sensitization in some individuals.

Aromatic Astrology - Taurus

Taurus is generally considered to run from April 21 to May 20.

Ruling planet: Venus
Element: Earth
Quality: Fixed
Symbol: The bull
Polarity: Feminine
Physical correspondence: The neck, ears and throat
Stones: alabaster, topaz, rose quartz, emerald
Flowers: lily, lilac, daisy, mallow, poppy, violet
Colors: pale blue, lilac, pink
Herbs: mint, thyme, elderberry, primrose, violet, marshmallow, catnip, rose, carnation, honeysuckle, saffron, strawberry, jasmine, soapwort, tansy, wormwood, yarrow.
Bach Flower Remedy: Gentian
Essential Oils: Rose is the signature oil for Taurus, cardamom, patchouli, vanilla, violet leaf.
Positive Traits: Practical, reliable, patient; adept in business, having strong powers of endurance; a firm sense of values, especially in relation to the arts; love of luxury and good food; persistent, solid, determined, strong-willed; affectionate, warm-hearted; trustworthy.
Negative Traits: Possessive, lazy, self-indulgent, a potential bore, static in his opinions, lacking flexibility and originality; greedy, stubborn, resentful; obsessed with routines.

Rose embodies the Taurean love of luxury and earthly delights. It is also one of the most expensive essential oils and according to Patricia Davis in "Astrological Aromatherapy"

rose reminds us that Taurus is a shrew judge of value and that the more robust side of Taurus is echoed in the fact that Rose bushes will grow in virtually any soil and are extremely tenacious, surviving conditions that would kill a weaker plant.

As always I have used the signature oil as the anchor for my synergies. For Lord Taurus I have combined Rose with patchouli, which can help to spiritualize sexuality and facility the enjoyment of the senses and vanilla that encourages feeling of comfort and safety. While for Lady Taurus the Rose is combined with cardamom, with its ability to promote objectivity and violet leaf, which has long been used for moderating anger and comforting the heart. In keeping with Taurus' love of luxury these blends are on the more expensive side.

Lord Taurus
Rose - 3 drops
Patchouli - 1 drop
Vanilla - 2 drops

Lady Taurus
Rose - 2 drops
Cardamom - 2 drops
Violet Leaf - 2 drops

Quotes reflecting the qualities of Taurus:

"Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine" - Shunryu Suzuk
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." - Shakespeare
"In singing and dancing is the voice of the law." Hakuin
"The sun shines not on us, but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing." John Muir

Upcoming Workshops
May 24: Advanced Massage Techniques - Back and Neck
June 14: Reiki Level 1
For more details follow the Link for workshops.