A Safe and Healthy Home

Have you ever noticed how a smell can make you feel a certain way? Lavender calms you. Citrus awakens the senses. Come to think of it, so does coffee (especially if you're a Starbucks fan.) There is a name for this phenomenon. It's called aromatherapy. It's not even a new concept, for all it's "new age" connotations. I first started really researching this in depth when my oldest daughter was diagnosed with depression. It's so common in this day and age to simply run for the Prozac or something similar, but if you've read my earlier blogs, you already know that's not the way I work. By this time, I already had a rather large supply of essential oils and herbs on hand for health and household use. It was just a short leap of faith, then, that led me to trying essential oil blends in simmer pots and certain incense to help alleviate her symptoms. I found several different blends, but the one that seemed to work best for her was this one.

• 6 drop lavender essential oil
• 6 drop Ylang Ylang essential oil
• 18 drops Grapefruit essential oil
• 1.5 oz distilled water
• 1.5 oz Everclear

I put these ingredients together in a 4 oz spray bottle with a fine mist setting, then shook it up and let it sit for 24 hours. Then, I just shook the bottle and then misted her room lightly. This particular fragrance worked wonders for my daughter, uplifting her mood and improving her outlook as no drug possibly could have, and without all the potential side effects. I've found since then that simply adding a few drops of essential oils into a diffuser can work wonders, adding a calming and uplifting atmosphere to our home and lending a general sense of well being to everyone within it.