June 10-16th is Aromatherapy Awareness Week. Aromatherapy is one of the most enjoyable complementary therapies, and essential oils are natural, concentrated home remedies for many everyday health problems. Use them in massage, baths, oil burners and vaporizers, compresses, steam inhalations, and homemade beauty products.
10 Ways to Use Essential Oils at Home:
1. Do a steam inhalation with essential oils to get relief from cold and flu symptoms. A steam inhalation helps to relieve nasal congestion, sinus infections, sore throats and coughs. Add antiviral and antibacterial oils such as Eucalyptus, Ravensara, Peppermint or Rosemary to a bowl of steaming hot water, inhale the steam and feel the congestion ease. This article has a great recipe for an aromatherapy steam inhalation.
2. Burn essential oils in a diffuser or aromatherapy burner during the flu season to prevent the spreading of the flu virus. Add a few drops of Tea Tree, Ravensara, Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Lemon or Lavender into your burner or a diffuser to fight the flu virus naturally.
3. Make a compress with essential oils to relieve aches and pains. Cold compresses help with headaches and with injuries and swelling, warm compresses help with muscle spasm and muscle aches and pains. Check out How to Make a Lavender Compress to Relieve Aches and Pains for a simple recipe.
4. An aromatic bath releases tight muscles, relieves muscular pain, prevents and reduces stress and encourages better sleep. Try some of the bath recipes in The Untrained Housewife’s Recipes for Homemade Bath Products.
5. Use essential oils to relieve “women’s problems”: PMS, irregular menstruation and other problems related to hormonal imbalances. Many essential oils have the ability to regulate the production of certain hormones and to balance emotions throughout the cycle. Read more in Aromatherapy – for Women Only.
6. Make your own body oils with natural base oils and essential oils. Making your own body moisturizers is easy and fun, and the end result is 100% natural. Learn more about choosing and blending oils in Choosing Essential Oils for Homemade Body Oils and How to Choose Base Oils for Homemade Body Oils.
7. Make your own face moisturizers with essential oils and carrier oils. Cold-pressed vegetable oils such as sweet almond, jojoba or peach and apricot kernel oils are nourishing to the skin, and they are free of the chemical preservatives and fragrances that are added to most beauty products. Nut, seed and vegetable oils absorb well and when you add essential oils, you can create hydrating, balancing or soothing face oils for any skin type. Making Your Own Face Oils has tips and recipes.
8. Make your own hand creams with essential oils! Simple hand creams are surprisingly easy to make, and you only need a few natural ingredients to get going. Start with this Very Easy Homemade Hand Cream Recipe.
9. Use essential oils as natural insect repellents and make your own aromatherapy bug spray: essential oils offer a chemical-free alternative to commercial bug sprays. Lemongrass, Citronella, Lavender and Eucalyptus oils are all natural insecticides. Here’s how to do it: A Homemade Natural Insect Repellent with Essential Oils.
10. Clean your home naturally with aromatherapy. Essential oils are more than just fragrances in cleaning products, many oils are also effective natural deodorizers and antiseptics. Oils such as Lemon, Pine, Peppermint and Tea tree remove bacteria and add a fresh scent to home cleaning solutions. Natural Cleaning Solutions with Essential Oils has ideas for cleaning your home with essential oils.
Read more about essential oils in the Encyclopedia of Essential Oils: The complete guide to the use of aromatic oils in aromatherapy, herbalism, health and well-being by Julia Lawless.
Photo: Morguefile