Thursday, December 27, 2007

Aromatherapy Advice?

Much to my (very pleasant) surprise, I became the proud owner of a Spa Mist fountain mister, which has the capacity to diffuse essential oils in addition to moistening the terribly dry air in my bedroom and dorm room (which is the reason it was given to me in the first place). But me, being the crazy pagan that I am, got all giddy when I saw that it was suitable for oil diffusion, as I've been reading about aromatherapy here and there on the internet for some time, having an interest in the subject, and I've been using a small terracotta ornament to diffuse a particular blend through my dorm. But being mostly inexperienced with aromatherapy using such a device and knowing the good folks here at TC are rather well versed in a veritable plethora of things, I figured I would poll the masses as to what I should do.

If you had to pick three different oils to recommend to someone on a limited budget for use in a mister, what would you recommend?

I already have a blend of equal parts frankincense and lavender, a blend of tea tree and lavender, to cedarwood, cypress, myrrh, and frankincense, many of which were bought for use in rituals but not exclusively dedicated for such. I'm not certain about the cedarwood, cypress, or tea tree/lavender blend, but from what I can deduce, frankincense, myrrh, and the frankincense/lavendar blend should be safe to use in the mister. I also have a few various blends all made by the same company, the components of which I don't remember, but the peppermint/lemon/lime one I have with me at the moment was hurting my throat just diffusing via a terracotta diffuser, so I suspect it may not have been as essential as they claimed to have been.

I want to add at least three oils to my "library" (as it were) to expand my capabilities. At the very least I want to find lavender, as it's extremely flexible. I'm not sure where to go otherwise, and I was hoping the good folks at TC could give me some advice. I'd mostly be looking for oils with sedative properties, or oils useful for a dorm room. I'm not sure what properties are useful in oils to be used in a mister. I would want to avoid too many oils with a stimulant property, as I find that I am often made high-strung and irritable even by too much exposure to such oils via my little terracotta diffuser. I suspect an antiseptic would be useful, but it seems that a lot of antiseptic oils are stimulants as well. Bergamot seems like a good choice for those dreaded winter months in a bleak dorm, or rosemary for its mental properties, but I'm not certain whether or not they'd be safe for use in my mister. In fact, I'm hesitant about what oils *would* be appropriate for such a device.

Any recommendations? Any advice? Any reputable books to recommend for my pending library/bookstore trip? I'm so worried about picking up a book by a less-than-reliable source without realizing it.

Thanks for your help in advance!

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