Thursday, March 17, 2011

Aromatherapy Thursday - Peppermint

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!  Many images come to mind for this special day:  Shamrocks, Pots of gold, Leprechauns, and Peppermint.  (Good lead in, yah?)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/67339131/vintage-postcard-st-patrick-harp-heart
Taking long car rides to new undiscovered places is such fun...for most people.  Unfortunately for a few or maybe many it is not fun.  Car sickness has not been one of my experiences although there have been times that I felt queasy due to an illness while riding in the car.  For those that have experienced that there may be a simple holistic means of reducing that sickening feeling. 


It has been found that Peppermint will often help with car sickness.  I personally use it for when I am not feeling well and have nausea.  Simply having that wonderful minty freshness in the air around you can reduce the sick sensation. 

Peppermint has other wonderful properties:  it can also ease headaches, help open up that stuffy feeling when you have a cold or sinus problem, sooth muscular pain when you use it as a rub, and it has mood altering affects.
Needless to say I am a strong advocate of aromatherapy.  Peppermint is extremely powerful for my moods.  If I am tired or in a slump as soon as I open a jar of my sachet and that wonderful aroma meets me I become more alert right away.  Peppermint has a reviving and mood boosting property along with helping to calm nerves.  Alert and Calm!!  Many of us would love that.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/69580535/antique-postcard-man-in-nightgown-in-bed
Just like in any aromatherapy caution must be used.  Pay attention to signs of allergies to specific smells and herbs, respect others that do have allergies because it can be very detrimental to their health, and never directly smell essential oils from the bottle (it can burn the mucous membrane) or use it directly on your skin (a variety of reactions can occur.)  Essential oils are very concentrated and can cause many negative affects if used "neat" or straight from the bottle.  Most all of them need to be mixed into a sachet, potpourri, bath product, or message oil. 
One simple method of using peppermint oil in your car to ward off car sickness is to place a few drops on a cotton ball and set that cotton ball on your dash board or some other location that will allow it to fill the air with its minty freshness.  I sell a wonderful sachet mix that could easily be put into a pretty cloth bag or a simple muslin bag and used in the car or anywhere.  I use it to freshen my house after someone has had a bug or if I am tired.



I created this treasury for the love of mint.  Have a wonderful Alert and Calm Day

1 comment:

Kristin Aquariann said...

Interesting post about peppermint! And wonderful treasury, you should add it to this week's Magical Linky!