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I’ve always been intrigued by the senses we have, and losing even one would be life changing. No tasting mum’s cooking, no watching your favourite trash TV, no cuddling with your dog and feeling how soft his ears are, no listening to your girlfriends re-cap a bad date, no smelling the roses/the coffee/clean laundry.
Which is why I think we should make the most of our senses and push them to the sensory limits.
My grandad went blind a few years ago. He was a computer nut, a woodworker and loved watching the cricket at the WACA. Fast forward to now, his life is completely different. Really, all he wants is a good nights’ sleep because the sun no longer controls his body clock.
This got me thinking about ways to relax and calm the mind to drift off to sleep when you’re limited by the senses you do, or don’t, have. I always breathe very deeply to fall asleep, so to enhance the benefits of focusing on breathing for relaxation I started to look into aromatherapy.
After all my research, I ended up realising I’d get more bang for my buck making a few different natural products if I was going to invest in essential oils and other aromatherapy supplies. The three below work out as nice cost-effective Christmas presents if you make them in bulk (around 10 or more of each) and use similar essential oils in each.
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“Dream On” Pillow Spray
Lavender, orange & lemongrass
According to Smell Boffins & Researchers, lavender produces calming, soothing and sedative effects when the scent is inhaled. Lemongrass revitalises the body and relieves the symptoms of jetlag, clears headaches and helps to combat exhaustion and stress-related conditions. Just what grandpa ordered!
You will need:
♥ Lavender essential oil
♥ Orange essential oil
♥ Lemongrass essential oil
♥ Water
♥ 30-50mL plastic spray bottle (re-use an old hair product container, or buy new)
This is dead easy. Fill the bottle up to about 1cm from the top (excl. where the cap screws on). Either straight from the bottles, or using a pipette, add:
6ish drops of Lavender
4ish drops of Orange
4ish drops of Lemongrass.
You might need more if you’re bottle is bigger than about 50mL, or if you want a bit more oomph!
Shake well, spritz on pillows and bed linen, sleep tight all night!
Stay tuned for 2 more posts and yummy recipes to try! x
By Gemma Clark, an 8-hours-a-night sleeper with soft lips whose entire house smells like a lavender bush.
This is such a cute lil idea! Plus I have spray bottles that I can re-use and make my own.
I wonder how to make face mists and whether that has similar ingredients???
What a fantastic gift idea, certain to make friends, family or work colleagues smile. It’s also great to see Gemma put love into her gifts instead of just buying something froma store like a picnic rug.
That sounds like a lovely combination of aromas.
If you add a little neat alcohol it helps to ‘blend’ the oils and the water
to disperse them evenly when you spray.
I love this. Tomorrow’s project with the kids.
nice post; love using essential oils for restorative effects!
Kelly: for face mists, I would decrease the amount of citrus oils such as orange – as they can irritate the facial skin and are photosensitive – and stick with a few drops of lavender, rose, or chamomile, in a flower water base (with a teensy bit of witch hazel for toning if wanted). hth =)
Oh loving all the comments on this post, thanks guys! So glad you are all keen.
Kelly – kiss me under the mistletoe then present this gift to me 😉
Tazz – there’s definitely lotsa love in this, you could even give the bottle a kiss (a bit like rex hunt?!) before you give it to your friends/family
Justine – thanks for your tip!!! 🙂
Donelle – I would love to see photos of your kids making this!
Miss Marian – thanks lovely, that’s so helpful! xo