Cooksley is a registered nurse and aromatherapist, and a wonderful teacher.  Her book is practical, accessible and chock full of recipes.    Her chapters are organized by body systems, and she gives an overview at the start of each chapter of each system she covers, and then follows that with common symptoms and remedies.  For example, in her chapter on the respiratory system, she describes how the respiratory system works, and then goes into the oils most useful for the respiratory tract.  From there, she describes common  illnesses, such as bronchitis, or asthma, and treatments which may be helpful.  In addition to essential oil remedies, she includes other supportive treatments, including dietary, herbal, breathing exercises etc.    Her explanations and descriptions are always clear and simple to understand,  and she includes case histories.    This is a great step by step guide to using essential oils, and the back of the book includes a concise essential oil reference guide.

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375 Essential Oils and Hydrosols by Jeanne Rose

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A great book for summaries of essential oil properties.  Jeanne Rose profiles 375 essential oils and hydrosols, including botanical family, aroma, habitat and growth, chemical components, actions and uses.  She manages to do this without being dry or too technical;  many of the descriptions include fascinating historical and literary references.  And she includes chapters  that are fascinating, including one titled “Essential Oils are More Than Stinky” which helps us understand  the experience of aroma.  This is a useful addition to any aromatherapy library, and one we turn to often when we need a quick reference on an oil.

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There are so many fantastic books out there on essential oils and aromatherapy.  We often get asked which books we recommend, so in the next few posts, we’ll be describing some of our favorites.  Here are two we recommend for everyone interested in aromatherapy:

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The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood

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If I had to pick one book to recommend for the public, this would be the one.  Besides being fun to read, this book includes over 600 recipes, practical chapters on creating your own aromatherapy kits (basic kit, travel kit etc), and chapters dedicated to the specific needs/concerns of women, men, children,  and the elderly.   She also has information on using aromatherapy for celebrations, to beautify and clean your home, and in the garden.  The end of the book includes charts on which essential oils are most useful in different circumstances, which is handy.  The best part of the book are the recipes:  she has everything here, from athletes foot, coughs, toothache, headaches to anti-wrinkle creams,  face masks, air fresheners and furniture polish.

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Another favorite is Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit by Gabriel Mojay.  This is a beautiful book, which addresses the use of essential oils in the realm of emotional and spiritual matters.  Gorgeous illustrations, clear writing and new insights make this useful to anyone who is new to or already working with essential oils.  Mojay combines the wisdom of Chinese medicine with the use of aromatherapy,  and describes the energetic nature of 35 different oils. For example, in his discussion of Juniper, he writes:

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“Juniper works, therefore, to break through psychological stagnation and consolidate will-power.  It is suited to the individual who, feeling burdened and aloof, is deeply absorbed in their own thoughts – thoughts which revolve around worries, pressures and unpleasant memories.”

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The first part of the book is devoted to describing individual oils, uses, cautions, indications, etc, and the last part describes remedies and blends which may be useful for emotional issues, such as depression, anxiety, anger, indecisiveness, and much more.    With each emotional state, he delves deeper.  For example, he breaks depression down into five categories, based on the Five Elements of Chinese medicine, and recommends blends based on the particular element.

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In the foreword, Robert Tisserand describes this book as “…dense with insight, and yet concise and easy to reference.  Every page draws the reader inexorably into an intricate web of holistic truth.”

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That’s it in a nutshell.  We highly recommend this wonderful book!

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There are lots of essential oils that are nourishing to the skin, but here’s a favorite recipe, especially for dry, sun-exposed skin, and for those of us trying to avoid or reduce wrinkles.   Mix and match ingredients depending on what you have—here are some ideas:

Mix four ounces of unscented (our gentle, organic is our favorite) lotion base with:

• One teaspoon Tamanu Oil or Rosehip Seed Oil (a few drops of Sea Buckthorn Berry would also be nice)

• 20-30 drops of Lavender Essential Oil, Carrot Seed Essential Oil, Frankincense and/or (if you really want to splurge) Rose Otto.  You can use single oils, or mix several together, to equal the total.

Mix well, and apply to face and neck with light upward strokes twice a day.  This lotion is free of harmful ingredients and synthetic fragrances and keeps your skin healthy and glowing.

Kathryn Brightbill is one of the wonderful employees at Dreaming Earth who’s agreed to do a regular blog post for us. Once a month or so, she’ll be sharing her reflections on her favorite essential oils and essential oil blends. We’re so happy to have her expertise and passion to share with you! Here’s her first post:

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Even though I’ve worked at Dreaming Earth Botanicals for going on five years, I still think of myself as an aromatherapy novice.  Sure, I’ve learned quite a bit about the aromatherapy field, but I still discover something every time I come into work that I didn’t know before.

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Dreaming Earth is my part-time gig. I work in the library at a small college full-time, I home-school my teenager, and I’m active at church, so I’m pretty busy.   People marvel. They say “I don’t know how you do it!”   Sometimes I don’t know either.   I do know that it helps to have one job that is like an afternoon walk in a flower garden in full bloom.  That is what it’s like working at Dreaming Earth. And I learn something every time I come in.   Like I said, lucky me!

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I thought I might start by blogging about my favorite oils, as I discovered them while working here.  My first “discover” was geranium. While mixing some Skatter one day, I was thinking how nice it smelled for bug repellent. I thought it was probably the Lavender, which has always been one of my favorite scents, but found that it was geranium.   Geranium essential oil is very green and lush… earthy and a little spicy.  It’s so fresh and summery that I started using it to clean with at home.  I add a few drops to some castile soap in hot water and I love the way it leaves the house smelling.  I use it in my candle diffuser, too.  It has anti-depressant properties and helps with skin aliments, as well as being a natural insect repellent.  Geranium is a great essential oil that is often over-looked.  It now stands next to lavender as one of my go-to all purpose oils.

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A friend alerted us to this lovely idea called Craft Hope, and we found it so inspiring that we wanted to share it here (even though it has nothing to do with aromatherapy).   For those of you who love making things, or love the idea of making things, but need a little push, here’s a great way to get inspired.  Craft Hope is the brain child of Jade Sims, who came up with the idea of sending hand crafted items to orphanages, hospitals, and selling donated items to raise money for disaster stricken areas such as Haiti.  In her words, "Craft Hope is a faith-based, love inspired project designed to share handmade crafts with those less fortunate.  It is our hope to combine our love for crafting and desire to help others into a project to make a difference around the world."

This month’s project is making handmade pillowcases for terminally ill children.  Learn more at about it and how you can participate at the Craft Hope site.

Here’s a small excerpt from a recent interview:

"Craft Hope is becoming a global movement of people helping others. We give people a direct connection with people who need them. It’s not about donating money; it’s about taking your time to make something handmade for someone who would never otherwise receive such a beautiful gift. I truly believe that time is one of the most precious gifts you can give another person." 

To learn more, read the whole interview.  We think this is a great opportunity to help others in a way that feels personal, and for those of you with young children, a wonderful way to get them involved.

We just received our latest shipment of beeswax candles and bulk beeswax, and they smell heavenly.  We’re lucky enough to have a family nearby who make their candles locally, and so they arrive here smelling incredibly sweet and fresh.  The bulk beeswax comes in one ounce blocks that stack neatly together, and make for easy measuring.  If you’ve never used beeswax before, read on for some tips and recipes.

General Guidelines for using Beeswax:
You’ll normally use about two parts of your chosen base oil to one part beeswax, and then adjust as needed depending on the consistency you want.  To make a balm, simply heat the carrier oils of your choice in a double boiler and add the beeswax.  Once melted, pour into a bowl, and mix well.  As the base starts to cool, check the consistency and add more oil or beeswax as needed. Wait until the base has cooled a bit to add your essential oils, to prevent them from evaporating.

Recipes:

Basic Lip Gloss Formula

1 cup sweet almond or olive oil

0 comments Wednesday 04 Aug 2010 | Joanne | Aromatherapy Recipes |