Hello lovelies,
Do you ever have those mornings where you wished that you hadn’t gotten out of bed? Perhaps your energy seemed off from the minute you opened your eyes and everything forward from that just kept getting worse? Or you woke up dreading the day ahead? or you are already overwhelmed with the tasks in front of you? or you are just feeling plain old grumpy or sad? I used to get these days a lot until I learned some tools for self-care, and the biggest tool was meditation.
I think most of you will have heard of meditation. In fact most people I ask have even tried it but I know very few people that have a regular practice. There are so many reasons for this but the biggest one is that it is hard. We live in a super-fast paced world, where we often don’t have time to sit and eat, let alone be still and quiet. We are busy and often not busy doing anything that really is worthwhile or taking us where we want to go. You know when you would ask people how they were doing 10 years ago, the answer was usually the blanket word, “I’m fine “. Now if you ask people how they are doing, more often than not you will hear them say “busy”.
Meditation is a way of transforming the mind. Imagine starting each day or ending each day with peace and quiet. It sounds so blissful and yet we are challenged to get started. Meditation practices are techniques that encourage and develop concentration, clarity, emotional positivity, and a calm way of seeing the true nature of things. It’s something that will have a positive effect on every part of your life. The key here, however, is consistency because with that you will learn the patterns and habits of your mind plus it offers a means to cultivate new and more positive ways of being.
Many essential oils work to help ground us and our energy making them a perfect addition to work with in our meditation practice. Smell has the power to bring us to the present moment with such clarity and insightfulness. It also has the power to go beyond the thinking mind to our emotional seat in the brain. This gives us the opportunity to go deeper in releasing and shifting old habitual patterns of thinking and doing. Many oils can create reflection simply because each oil has a very individual set of memories for every one of us.
The oils can be used in a variety of different ways to enhance the meditation experience for yourself. The essential oil or blend can be diffused in the room that you are practicing in and this can make the room feel inviting. You could use a diffuser or you could make up a blend in a spritzer and spray the area around you before you begin meditation. Another method is to make up a topical oil blend or a rollerball and apply this to various parts of the body. For instance some people like to put the blend on their wrist pulse points, others like to put a dab on their third eye, others put a little on their hands, rub them together and inhale the aromas from their hands.
You could also put a little on your hands, rub them together and then pass your hands over your body, energetically passing the oils through your aura. Again there is no one right way to do this, so experiment and find the way that feels right for you.
When it comes to essential oils, use any single oil or blend that you personally like when meditating and avoid using anything you don’t like. Otherwise you will just be thinking about how the oil smells rather than actually meditating. Find a blend or oil that lets you relax into its aroma and begin to let go.
Here are a few I love to use:
Vetiver – It grounds and attunes you to the earth and brings in positive energy. It protects against over-sensitivity and promotes strength and a deep sense of belonging
Sandalwood – It helps calm and comfort. It is grounding and helps you to reconnect to your sense of being. It helps to open the heart to trust and to receive healing energy. It quietens the mind and promotes deep meditation and wisdom. It can also promote positive self-esteem and spiritual sensuality. It teaches you to delight in your senses as to appreciate the beauty of life.
Frankincense – It can be used to awaken your spiritual purpose. Using this oil can guide and reconnect you to the Divine presence. It calms, comforts and centers as well as stabilizes the emotions. It is very grounding and quiets and clarifies the mind. When used in meditation it promotes a state in which you are better able to receive and integrate healing energies. It has long been considered a sacred oil which helps to heal the spirit and comfort the heart.
Jasmine – It is a base oil but also uplifting. Good for moving forward through fear and learning to trust yourself.
Copaiba – It helps you to connect deeper to the messages that show up in your life and their meanings.
Melissa – It is known as the oil of light. Awakening the soul to truth and light and reminding individuals of who they truly are and why they came to this earth.
Rose – It brings in positive energy, promotes a sense of well-being, unconditional love as well as Divine Love. . It is very healing emotionally especially with sadness and grief. It promotes love, compassion, hope and patience as well as the sense of spiritual connection. It can help you to forgive others as well as well as yourself and enhances your connection to all creativity.
Lavender – It warms the heart and steadies the emotions through promoting awareness of the need to nurture yourself.
Lemongrass – It helps you expand through inspirations so that you aren’t limiting yourself and your life.
Citrus oils – These are uplifting and happy oils especially when mood is sullen or energy is low.
Choose the oil that speaks to you and learn to trust your inner guide.
How to Meditate:
Well, I really don’t believe there are too many rules to ‘being with yourself’ which meditation essentially is but there are definitely some tips I’d like to share with you below:
-Find a quiet place to be and make sure all electronics are turned off and you know you won’t be disturbed.
-Pick a time that works for you so that you can be present and switch off from your day. I love the morning especially as soon as I wake up because my mind is at it’s quietest. Also the end of the day seems to work for me to set me up for a peaceful sleep.
-Find a comfortable position. You could be sat on a chair with your feet connected to the earth or in bed propped up with cushions. On the floor crossed legged. Try a few out until you find your ‘seat’ aka your asana – connection to the earth.
-Start off with just a few minutes, but commit to doing it daily. Even try 5 minutes a day for a week and then reassess. Taking 5 minutes a day is much better than doing 30 minutes once a week.
-Don’t talk yourself out of this before you have started.
-If you fall asleep, that’s ok. If you drift off into a day dream, that’s ok. If you fidget and move, that’s ok. Stop judging being with yourself. It’s all ok. The fact that you are doing this in the first place is enough.
Watch our video for more on how to Meditate with Essential Oils.
Enjoy the essence of you with the essence of the earth!
Much love,
Lou
xoxo