Nickie’s Nook: Oils and Books

I used to be a Valentine’s Day grinch. I’ve always been single and hated the fact that I never had anyone to celebrate Valentine’s Day with. I was one of those people who had to point out how Valentine’s Day was just a way for corperations to make money. But I’ve changed my tune recently. Some of it is due to what I’ve learned about self-care through all of my mental health challenges. A lot of it has to do with the many ways I’ve learned to use essential oils in my self-care practices. To be blunt, I love using my oils and I’ll take any excuse to use them! But it just wouldn’t be fair for me to enjoy them without sharing what I’ve learned with all of you. So here are some of the ways I’ve been using oils to love myself!

A nice long bath

I love baths. They’re so soothing and relaxing! But they’re even better with essential oils. The smell of the oils can make the bath more relaxing and soothing or more energizing. But the oils absorb well into the skin because the warmth of the bath opens the pores of the skin and the moisture helps the oil absorb.

Here’s how to take an amazing bath with essential oils: First, select the oils you want to use. Generally, it’s not a good idea to use strong or hot oils like cinnamon, Cassia orOregano. I personally use around 10 drops, but for kids or babies, you’d use less.

It’s not effective to just add the drops of essential oils into the bath water because the essential oils don’t mix well and disperse into the water. If you’ve heard the expression “Those two mix like oil and water”, you’ll understand why. I add about a tablespoon or so of carrier oil like fractionated coconut oil or Jojoba oil. Then I add at least ½ cup of epsom salts or dead sea salts because that helps the carrier and essential oils to mix better into the bath water. Personally, I add more epsom salts because the magnesium in the epsom salts can be very relaxing to the muscles. If you’d like to add a pink tinge to the water for Valentine’s Day, you could add some Himalayan sea salts.

The carrier oil is great for moisturizing the skin. That said, it’s important to be extremely careful getting out of the tub. The carrier oil can make the tub slippery.

Oils + meditation = Relaxation

Meditating can be extremely beneficial. It’s been used for everything from stress, to insomnia to pain management. So it’s a great way to give yourself some extra love. Adding essential oils to your meditation routine can enhance the experience. An easy way to use oils during meditation is to diffuse essential oils before, during and after meditation. You can also smell the oils by applying them to your skin. This can be especially helpful when dealing with physical discomfort.

You can meditate with essential oils in a few different ways. One is to use grounding oils like Sandalwood and Frankincense. Doterra also has several great blends that can be used to help with grounding. Balance is known as the grounding blend because of the wood oils in it combined with a few floral oils. There’s also the Yoga collection which has 3 different oil blends designed for use with yoga, but they’re also great for use during meditation.

Another way to use oils with meditation would be to use oils that go with the benefit you’re trying to achieve. For example, if your goal is to cope with mental health challenges such as low mood, you might choose oils that are uplifting like any citrus oil or Citrus Bliss or Citrus Bloom. If you’re goal is to cope with tension, you might choose calming oils like Lavender or blends like Adaptiv.

Pair oils and music!

I recently discussed the benefits of using essential oils along with music, so I won’t discuss that indepth here. That said, adding music to your self-love practice is a great way to take it the extra mile!

Soak your hands or feet

Soaking your hands or feet can be done similarly to taking a hot bath. But instead of adding the oils, carrier oil and salts to a bath, you’d add them to a bowl or small tub that’s big enough to fit your hands or feet and enough warm water to cover them. Then mix up the ingredients and enjoy a long soak!

Want to level it up a notch? After your soak, grab some unscented lotion or more carrier oil, pick your favorite oil, mix them up and give yourself a hand and foot massage.

Say Something Nice To Yourself!

I don’t know about you, but I say some of the nastiest things I’ve ever said to or about myself. I might not be able to take them back, but I can say nicer things as part of a self-love practice. Adding an oil to the practice can make the practice deeper. I like to breathe in the oil, think the affirmation as I do, then as I’m breathing out, I say the affirmation out loud or at least as a whisper to myself. Doing this day after day pairs the oil with the affirmation. So if I’m saying “I’m proud of who I am”, and pairing it with a specific oil I like, that oil will eventually remind me of the words I spoke or the emotions of pride in who I am. It’s kind of like how a certain smell might remind you of a certain person, even 50 years after you last saw them. Our brain is very sensitive to smells and emotions we feel while smelling them. So let that work for you!

I can’t take original credit for any of these ideas. I’ve heard them from many sources. If you don’t already have essential oils, grab some here and start enhancing your life!