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In this newsletter we will try to help you further
your knowledge and use of essential oils.
Physical ailment
Stiff Necks or Acute wry neck (Torticollis)
by Penny Keay
Just when I didn’t need it, I woke up this morning and my neck muscles began to spasm! I knew exactly what was happening as it happens
to me way too often. All being a result of a head, neck and shoulder injury when I was a teenager.
Yikes! This is very painful and makes it difficult for me to lift my head up and once I do have it up, I can barely turn my head from side to side.
It is usually held off to the side and you definitely can tell there is a problem.
First thing I do (well, actually Alan does) is reach for the
Peppermint and
Rosemary mixed with a little carrier oil. I have to relieve a little bit
of the pain or I will have a very awful day. Al rubs it in my neck and upper shoulder area; I then decide if cold or heat feels better. Each time
for me is different – I think it depends on the weather outside as to what feels better to me. I apply cold or heat packs to the area. Usually,
for me a little heat feels the best. (See our new Aroma Pillows as these work great for necks and shoulders and can be used cold or heated)
Not sure if you have ever experienced this or not. For me and others it can take several days for the stiffness, pain and soreness to release enough
for me to go to my chiropractor. So, in the mean time I use essential oils that can penetrate the muscle layers and give me some relief.
There are plenty of essential oils that can be helpful. The first suggestions would be heating and analgesic oils:
Peppermint,
Rosemary,
Clove bud,
Ginger,
Black Pepper and
Juniper berry. Mixing several of these together and then adding to a carrier oil
and use for massaging this area gives the best relief for me. Actually at first I just rub a little on, no deep massage as it is too painful.
We have our new Peppermint and Rosemary Roll-on Blend made for rolling on this type of area, or for use if you should have a lot of tension in your
neck that is giving you a headache. Other premade massage blends we have that may work for you include our
Joint Rub,
Back Rub,
Muscle Relaxing,
Muscle Rub,
Muscle Warm Massage
and
Dar’s Massage oil.
If you can tolerate going to a massage therapists, be sure to request or ask them to use one of the above blends on your painful muscles or
if they have a blend that has helped using any of the above mentioned essential oils.
Hope your neck feels better soon too!
Emotional Concern
Self Esteem
by Penny Keay
Wow! Is this a major concern in both your emotional and physical health.
So many people both young and old have problems with self esteem and self image. They may feel they have no self worth that they
can’t contribute to the world, their neighborhood or their family. Boy, are they very, very wrong.
Most people and especially for teenagers need to look at the positive side of our lives. Not just the negative and often time trivial aspects.
Too often we look at celebrities and sports figures and think we want what they have, but when it really comes down to it, we wouldn’t
be happy with the way they live.
So, first thing when you wake up in the morning is to put a SMILE on your face. Starting the day with a smile will send chemical mood
elevators throughout your body. To give you an extra boost, inhale a few whiffs of your favorite essential oil or oils.
Realize the choices of essential oils may change from time to time. You may like
Citrus smells
Orange ,
Grapefruit,
Lemon Or more floral smells
Geranium ,
Jasmine ,
Ylang Ylang or
Rose (although I caution the use of the smell of roses as often times you may associate this with sad times such as the loss of a loved ones funeral).
Others love to smell minty smells – Peppermint and
Spearmint can easily elevate your mood. Yet others love the earthy smells of
Patchouli,
Vetiver,
Sandalwood and
Cedarwood .
Find a single oil or two or a synergy blend you love that brings a smile to your face.
Next think of something you can do - just for today - to help someone else. Now, this someone could be a family member, a neighbor, a co-worker or a stranger.
This small task can be something as simple as opening up a door when someone has their hands full of groceries or laundry.
Or help someone clean up the kitchen, etc. without being asked to do so.
You need to think conscientiously about what you might do, or maybe you have done in the past.
Now, write this down. Write all the good things you do down. Also, write down other things you could do. Can you grow vegetables, flowers?
Paint, draw? Do you read books? Usually you can find things and they only need be a few that you can do that maybe you can help others learn too.
While you are writing your lists – inhale your essential oils. This is a conditioning exercise to help your brains ‘lock and key’ system to be triggered
by good feelings.
Self image and self esteem is looking at yourself and find all the GOOD things you can do, not only for yourself but to help those around you.
If you just sit around all day watching TV or playing video games you probably will have very low esteem as you aren’t contributing to society.
BUT you have control to change it all.
So, back to the daily ‘do good’ task. After a week or two, add more tasks where you help others. Then when you have a whole list you can look
back at it and say – Hey, I really am making a difference, I really do matter. And SMILE.
Many of you may know that Alan and I were involved in the Boy Scouts of America for 15 years. In scouting as each boy finishes one rank and
is moving to the next – he has to go through a Board of Review. Sort of like an interview of his scouting experience so far and how he plans on proceeding.
Well, one of my questions I loved to ask because it is part of the scouting slogan was did you “Do a Good Turn Daily”. So I would ask them
during their review, what was their Good turn for the day. Some grasped the concept really quickly; others made it way to difficult.
My point was that ‘doing a good turn’ each day didn’t have to be some spectacular event. It could be something as simple as opening a door for someone.
When so many of them paused for over a minute, I would let them off the hook and explain that it’s all the little things you do each day,
that you may not even realize, that make you feel better about yourself, especially when you are helping others.
So for you and your teens, help them to learn about doing a ‘good turn daily’. Reach out and do something for someone else. Write it down
and soon you will see – you do have worth, and you will in turn feel good about yourself.
When ever you are feeling down, simply, put a smile on your face and smell some of your favorite essential oils, do a little something
for someone else. Soon you will feel better about yourself and know you can make a difference.
Beauty Tips aka Skin and Hair Care
Sunburned Lips and Skin
by Penny Keay
Another fun day at the beach or out in the garden or just plain out in the sun with skin exposed!
Even before you get home you have little ones (or yourself) complaining about the burning of the skin. The lips are feeling a little chapped too.
Number one essential oil for burns of any kind has always been Lavender.
It gives quick relief from pain and helps to heal the skin quickly.
Depending on the severity of the sunburn, you can use lavender mixed with Aloe Vera liquid
and other carrier oils applied to the area as often as needed.
Mixing in distilled water works too, but avoid mixing with alcohol of any kind as alcohol is too drying, not to mention damaging to the delicate skin once
it has been burned.
Other essential oils that can give relief include:
Roman Chamomile,
Helichrysum,
Geranium
and Peppermint (limit this one).
If you are always on the go and all those headed for the beach pack this wonderful blend into your beach bag.
Sun Relief Spray
Lavender – 20 drops
Coconut Emulsifier – 20 drops
Aloe Vera liquid– 2 ounces
Blend the Lavender
with the Coconut Emulsifier , shake well.
Then add the Aloe Vera liquid and shake well before spraying on the affected areas.
You can spray this as often as necessary. Once mixed keep in your refrigerator or cooler.
Lip soother
Lavender – 3 drops
Roman Chamomile – 2 drops
Macadamia nut oil – 10 ml
roll-on perfume bottles.
Blend the essential oils with the Macadamia nut oil and pour into a roll-on perfume and lip bottle. Apply to your lips as needed.
Around Town and all About
Hot Baths, Whirlpools, Hot Tubs and Jacuzzi’s
by Penny Keay
Many of you know Al and I have been remodeling our home. Well, this past week we finally finished the new bathroom!!
Oh Yeah!! A wonderful big double sized corner tub. While our tub is not a whirlpool or hot tub – no pumps or jets, it is just a big soaking tub we
thoroughly enjoy adding essential oils to our bathing time.
Adding essential oils to any big tub is certainly most enjoyable. And when you add some essential oils to a hot tub when you have friends and
guests can make the event even more memorable and enjoyable.
There are several blends that will make your time in the hot tub energizing, relaxing, or romantic. You can of course, use just single oils too!!
A Relaxing Blend for a hot tub for 4-5 people
Spruce needle – 5 drops
The V'nilla's blend – 4 drops
Lemongrass – 4 drops
Cedarwood – 2 drops
Coconut Emulsifier – 1 ml (20 drops)
Blend all in a PET plastic bottle then add about half to your hot tub. Add the remaining amount after 30 minutes, if desired.
Energizing Blend for the Hot tub (Will make enough for several uses)
Peppermint – 20 drops
Lavender – 20 drops
Cedarwood – 20 drops
Spruce needle – 10 drops
Eucalyptus globulus – 10 drops
Coconut Emulsifier – 1 teaspoonful
Blend all in a PET plastic bottle then add 3-4 drops per person to your hot tub. Add more if desired after 30 minutes.
In a whirlpool hot tub that holds many people use no more than 3 drops of essential oil per person capacity. In other words if your hot tub can hold
6 people use no more than 18 drops total. We suggest you really start out with about half that amount and add more as necessary.
You can always add more after 30 – 60 minutes.
Of course, if your hot tub is out doors and the wind is blowing you might need to add more oil sooner than you think. Use caution when ever
you use oils in heated water, as the warm water increases the absorption rate both through inhalation and the skin.
Before using essential oils in your hot tub or Jacuzzi check with the manufacturers warranty as you don’t want to void your service contract
unnecessarily. Although we are suggesting you use small amounts of essential oils, some can still do damage to pump and hose parts.
Also, another warning, Do not use any of the skin sensitizing oils or those that are photo toxic/sensitive if your party will be during sunlight hours.
You don’t want your guests or yourself to have any reaction.
If someone does have a reaction, have them shower with a mild soap and cool water.
Do not let them reenter the hot tub. If they feel light headed or develop other signs of getting too much essential oils or heat, (not only from
breathing essential oils, but because of the heat of the water), take them to an area where they can get fresh, cooler air.
So, When 's the next Party??
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BIRCH HILL HAPPENINGS NEWS
Hello Everyone,
Yeah! It’s Summer!!
Our remodeling projects continue but we do see the end in site! As mentioned above our new bathroom is ready for use. Just have a little bit of
caulking of the tile and it will be done. Al is finishing up trim work in the new laundry/pantry and that room will be done too. Only room left will
be the Living room. It gets a coat of fresh paint, new trim and new flooring. The kitchen and dining room were finished in May.
Yep, we pretty much have a new house. If it wasn’t for all the essential oils we used (and sold) during this past year we may not have survived.
It is very stressful doing construction work not to mention all the muscles that yelled at us for overusing them. (The new bathtub is a much welcome site!!).
Hopefully in the next few weeks I’ll have time to put up new photos. We are pretty proud of our remodeling and building projects and want to show
them off a little too!
Not only have we been busy working on the house we have been working on new products too.
Jaylene, our very talented employee, has been creating and designing
hand made Greeting Cards
for us to add scenting to for selling on our website.
You can buy them individually or in packs of 4 or 8. Unfortunately at this time we don’t give you a choice of designs, as many of them are one of a
kind or she makes only a few of one design. We do give you a choice of the category such as
Birthday, Anniversary, Get Well, etc. You can see the
listing on the website . We have several of her cards shown on our website
Scented Greeting Card Page.
We also offer them unscented for those that want to scent their own or use unscented. Please check them out and buy a few
to have on hand. If you are giving a gift of our products to a friend or relative for a Birthday or Thank you, you can purchase a card and have us
write your own personal message for your gift. We are more than happy to do that for you, just let us know your message and that you have purchased
a card too.
Next in our book of projects are our new
Eye Pillows and
Aroma Pillows
 Both are Lavender scented and filled will all natural organic
material including lavender buds, flaxseed enclosed in a 100% cotton fabric case. These are great to put over your eyes to rest. Or the aroma
pillows are great for those sore necks, shoulders, wrists, knees and more. Simply store them in the freezer for use as cold packs and if you want
to heat them put them in the microwave for 30 seconds or so to give you a warm pack. To add more scenting once the original scent wanes,
use our
Linen spray
where you have added some Lavender essential oil and shake well, spritz on the outer case as desired.
You have been asking for quite some time and finally we found an
All Purpose spray cleaner base to add our
Four Robbers Blend and the
Pure Cleansing blends too. We also have a
Citrus blend for folks that prefer a more traditional citrus smelling cleaner.
We have them available in an
8 ounce Trigger spray bottle and 32 ounce refills if you already have sprayers available for use. The cleaner base is certified vegan – or in other
words totally plant based organic materials are used to create it. It is a wonderful product for cleaning any surface that you will come in contact with.
And what’s next? Brown sugar facial Scrubs – two different ones to start with. One with our Fresh Face Blend for younger or more prone to
blemishes skin types and our Smooth and Soft for those with more mature- aging skin. They should be available within the next week or so.
We will have matching toners and astringents to go along with your skin care regimen. Watch our What’s New Page for availability.
Also, New Bath Salts, Foot Soaks and Salt Scrubs for the rest of your body, in several scents or just plain unscented too. These are great for yourself or
for gifts, anytime of the year!
We also have Shea Butter that has just arrived. We will have it available on our carrier oil page once it’s ready to sell. (We have packaging and
labeling to get it ready for sale.)
Before I forget we have several new fabric case fabric choices so visit our Storage & Travel Case page
So, as you can see, we are busy, busy, busy and always on the look out for more ways to help bring the wonderful scents of our essential oils
into your lives for your health and well being.
As always, if you have suggestions, questions or comments please feel free to send us an e-mail to
bhhinfo@birchhillhappenings.com
and
we will get back to you as soon as possible.
‘til next month,
Yours in Aromatherapy,
Alan and Penny
E-mail us at bhhinfo@birchhillhappenings.com
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