Lavender is the Spa Therapists dream oil, the jack-of-all-trades, and the oil with the answer to most of our needs. Personally, Lavender holds a special place in my heart as it holds old-fashioned memories of my Aunty Amy who if still alive today would be 100 plus years old. Every time I smell its herbaceous, floral, slightly woody aroma, positive comforting memories of this petite kind and gentle women, a former nurse in the Second World War, come flooding back, reducing my anxiety and stress levels by half.
My Aunty used lavender water as perfume, lavender sprigs in her pillows to help her sleep, Lavender would also be found in her kitchen to freshen up the air after she had been cooking one of her special stews the recipe and aromas for which have long gone, unlike the smell of the lavender she used. The ones that really stick in mind are the lavender flowers she would sprinkle in her shopping basket and the flowers she would hang from her waist belt not to mention her lush herb garden from where most of her lavender came.
Throughout her life my aunt taught me how to use Lavender in a variety of weird and wonderful ways to help me as I grow up and faced an uncertain however exciting future as a young man in a cruel and un forgiving world. She said that Lavender got her through two world wars, a bout of cancer and the loss of her brother to gunshot wounds in the war. One night I was helping her to put wood on her fire and sustained a nasty burn, she immediately applied neat Lavender onto the burn, it amazingly did not pain nor did it blister it also healed very quickly.
She used to place three drops of essential oil of Lavender on my pillow before I turned in. “that will make you sleep” she used to whisper, as she tucked us in for the night. Lavender is used all over the world to aid restful sleep. During school days and especially during school exams she used to spray lavender mist all over the room, on my pillow and even on the curtains. She used to say that it would quieten my mind calm my nerves and help me sleep and wake up refreshed for the exam and day ahead. I found out later that she used a recipe of 5 drops of Lavender essential oil with an equal amount of dispersant. She then added it to a 100ml of boiled water, in a fine spray mist bottle then proceeded to spry it where needed.
Again, when I was in one of my boisterous moods, she used to fill a bath with warm water and add eight drops of Lavender to a teaspoon of full fat milk. She dispersed the liquid into the bath water and allowed me to soak for up to twenty minutes, I usually slept like a baby.
Sometimes before retiring to bed, she used to add 4-6 drops of Lavender essential oil to the water in her oil burner, lye back and fall off into deep slumber, sometimes we used to find her slumped in her arm chair with a look of tranquility on her face just before we jumped on her and complained where was our breakfast, Kids can be so cruel.
For a massage blend she would add eight drops to 20ml of vegetable carrier oil, such as Sweet Almond or Sunflower, she would then lovingly apply the blend over our shoulder and neck until we were fast a asleep.
Positive memories last forever, make your own, rebalance, reboot and enjoy.