HEALTH Heal your heart with essential oils

Flower power for your heart


Aromatherapy
Ellen Cox

That’s right, flower power for your heart. And I’m not talking 1960s San Francisco. Well perhaps partly. Either way, the gift of flowers has been suitable for a very long time and for almost all occasions, even at times of sadness, to help raise the spirits, mark an occasion, share and show concern.
How do you help heal the cracks and fissures of an ailing heart? How do you apply a compress there then? In the last article we explored the range of emotions that are triggered by all kinds of heartache (big and small, and not just confined to romance). Heartache resulting from alterations in anything we have invested ourselves in, a friend, a child, a pet or a project. No matter what great potential ‘change’ may offer us, as a species, we tend to (initially!) dislike change of any sort.

Rose
Rose has been crowned the ‘queen of flowers’ and like many floral oils, it is motherly, nurturing and balancing. Rose was probably one of the first flowers to be distilled (around 100AD). Steam-distilled rose (rosa damascena) costs more than gold due to the huge quantity of rose petals required to extract a tiny amount of oil – 2.5 grams (about half a teaspoon) retails at €60! It is highly concentrated, and a little goes a long way. Thankfully it can be purchased in a 5 per cent dilution from Atlantic Aromatics, which is the same quality oil and a fraction of the price. It blends beautifully with sandalwood and frankincense, also benzoin oil, which has a great warming effect on the emotions.

Neroli
Neroli (Orange blossom) is another fantastic floral oil with an affinity for matters of the heart and all things out of balance. It is particularly effective when anxiety is present, providing relief for exhaustion and insomnia. The fear or apprehension that ‘change’ brings may be reduced with Neroli due to its calming action; it is especially soothing and uplifting. It blends particularly well with petitgrain (the leaf of the orange tree) and orange oil (the fruit).

Camomile
Camomile (Roman) is considered one of the gentlest essential oils and is especially beneficial for treating children. The oil is distilled from the flowering tops of a pretty daisy-like herb with a sweet, warm, comforting aroma. It is reputed to help soothe restlessness, nervous irritability, impatience and anger and is a good choice where insomnia is present. It blends well with lavender.

Melissa oil
Melissa oil is distilled from the leaves and flowering tops of this sweet-scented perennial herb commonly known as lemon balm. Like rose oil, large quantities of plant material are required to yield very small amounts of Melissa oil. It is considered a sedative and is recommended for reducing anger in times of crisis and trauma.
The oil is well known for its uplifting and antidepressant qualities and has been accredited to comforting those during bereavement. Use Melissa oil in low concentrations. It too blends well with Lavender.

Vetivert
Vetivert oil is distilled from the roots of a scented grass native to India and Sri Lanka. It has extremely grounding and stabilising effects, incredibly useful when someone feels they might defy gravity and shoot into their own orbit – in fact it’s ability to help ground a person is so strong, I make the point to clients that less IS definitely MORE and to follow the amounts as directed when using Vetivert. Combine lemon or petitgrain with vetivert oil to make an extremely lively, warm aromatic blend for the bath, burner or atomiser.

All of the above oils are effective used in a burner or the bath (dilute 6-8 drops of essential oil into a tablespoon of vegetable oil or milk).
However, if you are looking to address particular or long term symptoms the most-practical method is to dilute the selected oil(s) in aloe vera gel and apply daily to the feet (5-10 drops of oil into a tablespoon of aloe vera gel will give sufficient quantity for two applications). Mark on a calendar what quantity of oil you used and when you began treatments in order to try and assess the results.