Lavender essential oil is one of my most favorite essential oils, and is in fact often the only one I always have on hand. Its uses are so varied and wonderful that having it around is nearly like having your own medicine cabinet in a tiny amber bottle. Its health benefits are many and varied making it one of the most used essential oils available on the market.
Lavender essential oil is the perfect tonic to improve the state of the nervous system. Its calming and relaxing properties are well known. The scent alone has the ability to remove nervous restlessness and exhaustion, and increase the mind’s ability to think clearly. It has been used to successfully treat migraines, headaches, emotional stress, anxiety, and depression long before there were ever drug treatments for such things. To benefit from using lavender essential oil for this purpose you can put a few drops in a clean spray bottle with water and spray some around your home. This is also a great way to help you relax before going to bed. In addition you can put a drop of lavender essential oil on a cotton ball and tuck it in the corner of your pillow case, or purchase an eye pillow with scented with it to put over your eyes to help you relax.
Lavender essential oil has been widely used as a treatment for insomnia for centuries. In addition it helps to reduce different types of pain quite successfully such as muscle pain, rheumatism, sprains, backache, and lumbago. If you have sore joints massaging them with an oil such as sweet almond that contains a few drops of lavender essential oil can be the best remedy.
Lavender essential oil has also been used to treat the common cold, and other upper respiratory ailments. One option for using lavender essential oil for this purpose is either to use it in a vaporizer or inhaler such as would be used if someone had a cold or a cough. Another option is to apply the essential oil directly to the skin of the chest, neck and back. Remember a little goes a long way! Also test it out on a small patch of skin to be sure you will not have an allergic reaction.
Another nice thing about lavender essential oil is that it has both antiseptic and anti-fungal properties and so it can also be used to treat skin conditions such as acne, wrinkles, psoriasis and other types of skin inflammations. In addition you can use lavender essential oil to treat wounds, burns, and sunburns. It is fantastic for these because it accelerates and aids in the formation of scar tissue. You can apply a drop of lavender essential oil directly to cuts, scrapes and scratches to help promote healing. For burns and sunburns you want to cool the skin down with cold water or ice then drip some lavender essential oil onto the burn. You can then spread the oil gently with a tissue covered finger, in about 30 minutes the pain should be gone. This and tea tree oil are the only oils that should ever be put undiluted on the skin. Also, avoid the eye area.
It is thought by aromatherapy experts that lavender essential oil when used regularly can improve the body’s defense against illness by boosting the immune system.
Some additional ways that you can incorporate the use of lavender essential oil into your life besides the ones already mentioned are as follows:
1. Take a warm bath with lavender essential oil added. However, rather than adding it directly instead add a few drops to a tablespoon of honey or milk and add this to your bath water. Another option is to add it to your favorite carrier oil and then add a few drops of the mixture to your bath water.
2. Make your own bath salts. You can do this by Epsom salts, sea salt, table salt and or powdered milk and adding 10 to 20 drops of lavender essential oil to this.
3. Make your own massage oil by mixing 5 to 10 drops of lavender essential oil into 2 tablespoons of carrier oil, sweet almond is the best. You can then use this oil to massage yourself or others. It is very relaxing.
4. You can freshen a room easily by adding a few drops of lavender essential oil to an aroma lamp ring (you put it on the bulb in a lamp and the heat helps to distribute the scent) or you can even put a few drops of oil in a bowl of hot water. The same principal applies as with the aroma lamp ring.
5. Prepare your own rescue remedy by applying a few drops of lavender essential oil to a clean cotton handkerchief and store it in your purse or backpack. You can take it out for those times when you are feeling particularly stressed and take a whiff.
6. Lavender essential oil has anti-microbial and antiseptic properties and can be used as a household cleaner. When cleaning sinks, tubs or toilets first sprinkle some baking soda, then put 3 to 5 drops of lavender essential oil on your sponge and scrub away. Make sure you rinse the area you are cleaning well when you are done scrubbing. If you would like to use it clean floors countertops and this sort of thing simply add 60 drops of lavender essential oil to a bucket of warm water and wipe or mop as necessary.
7. Lavender essential oil is also a wonderful inset repellant. In order to use it in this fashion you can add some to your favorite carrier oil and put it on your skin. It will also help to heal insect bites!
8. You can even use lavender essential oil to deep condition your hair. Mix together 10 drops of lavender essential oil with one cup of warm olive oil. Apply this mixture to your hair and massage it into your scalp, then cover your hair with a shower cap and then a towel over the cap so as to hold in the heat.
These are some of the varied ways you can improve your health and life by including regular use of lavender essential oil. I’ve used several of these tips over the last few years and found them to be very useful.
