Discovering Bergamot Essential Oil

My essential oil collection

If I take my present essential oil collection in alphabetical order, the first oil is Bergamot. This one always surprises me because it has a wonderful citrus smell. The name does not say citrus to me like lemon, orange or grapefruit. Bergamot is from the citrus family and the essential oil comes from the fruit rind. The oil is obtained though cold compression rather than steam distillation. The Bergamot Orange is the size of our regular oranges but is the yellow color of a lemon with a slightly pear like shape. It is grown in Italy and France for making essential oil or tea and in Turkey for making marmalade. It's is named for a town in Italy called Bergamo. It is not grown for it's juice which is like overpowering super sweet lemon juice. It is used to flavor pipe tabaco.  I've never actually had my hands on this fruit and am passing along tid bits of information that I have gleaned from the internet.

You may not think you are familiar with this oil but if you take ordinary black tea and add bergamot  essential oil it becomes the well known Earl Grey tea. Actually Earl Grey tea is this oils claim to fame.  Did you know "Drinking Earl Grey tea could help guard against heart disease, it has emerged, after a study found that bergamot extract - a key ingredient in the hot drink - is just as effective as statins at controlling cholesterol. " The Telegraph Health News

In aromatherapy Bergamot is uplifting, energizing and can help with stress and depression.

Used with uv light therapy it is thought to help people with psoriasis. One article I found gave 39 uses for Bergmot Essential oil but the one that I found most interesting was that it was found helpful for people with brain injuries if they put it on the back of their neck several times a day. Really search pintrest or the internet and you will find lots of ideas for ways to use essential oils.

You can generally use essential oils in the following ways.

Aromatically: Put a few drops in a defuser, or candle burner, or inhale it directly from the bottle or on a piece of cloth or tissue held near the nose.

Topically: Applied to the skin using a carrier oil. My rule is I try not to put any oil or substance on my body that I am not also willing to eat. Your skin is the largest organ of the body and one should take care what is used on it. I generally use rice bran oil because of its high vitamin e content. Olive, coconut or grape seed oils are others I use as well.  About  2-3 drops to a couple of tablespoons of oil is a pretty good ratio.

Internally: On this one you need to be confident of the quality and purity of your oil brand. You can add a drop or two to a cup of tea or purified water or to a spoonful of honey. I suggest you research this further before trying it this way. I am not making any medical recommendations here. It is simply listed as a way essential oils can be used.

The last way is called Neat: That means to apply the essential oil directly to the skin without a carrier oil. Generally the skin on the bottom of the foot is considered a safe area for this type of application. People have differing skin sensitivities to essential oils so some caution should be used. If you do use it "neat" and have a reaction you should quickly apply a carrier oil to help dilute the essential oil and to calm the skin. Many people feel the feet are like a map of the body (think Reflexology). Applying the essential oil on the feet or massaging it into various areas that correspond with a reflexology foot chart may be helpful.  You might also put a few drops on the palms of your hands. Rub your hands together and then cup them over your nose and inhale the aroma. Then you are getting the benefits of the oil through the skin and through the lungs.

According to Mountain Rose Herbs Bergmot essential oil is "Analgesic, anthelmintic, antibacterial, antidepressant, antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, carminative, deodorant, digestive, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, laxative, rubefacient, sedative, stimulant, stomachic, tonic, vulnerary"

In that list there are a few words I did not know. For example vulnerary means a plant or medicine used for healing wounds. Anthelmintic, means used to destroy parasites. Febrifuge is something that is used to reduce or dispel a fever. Rubefacient is an agent that causes the blood to flow to the skin, causing it to redden. This aids the body in absorbing the healing properties of the essential oil.

So its too late to try this tonight the idea for deodorant I found using bergamot. So I am using an easier option that I could quickly take a photo of. I try to use just my own photos for this blog which is why you don't see a photo of bergamot fruit. Just search it and you will find plenty of photos of this interesting fruit.  My candle is on my desk and is adding a lovely aroma to the room. I just added a few drops to one of the pretty shell candles I had made on another occasion.  You could use a store bought tea light or other unscented candle.

By the way I am not endorsing any particular brand. It is important that you find good quality 100% oils that have not been cut down with other products. I buy my oils from my local health food stores or I order them online. I have been happy with my purchases from Mountain Rose Herbs but I receive nothing for mentioning them in this post.

Self Care Ideas for Depression

I was going to look at an individual oils but I thought in light of Robin Williams recent death that we should look at self care ideas and tips for depression. Robin Williams was truly special I am sorry to hear he suffered so intensely from depression. 

As an artist I can empathize with the dark uninspired unsettled time between projects. It is really hard for highly creative people in that place. You've been go go go, often running on adrenaline and then the project ends. I know during those times feel like I am adrift and at a loss for what to do next.   Its hard to reach out to others because everyone is still gushing over the previous project and can't begin to fathom why one could be depressed. There is tremendous pressure to do something bigger and better and just thinking what that might be is exhausting. Plus add to it the fear that you may have already done your best work and the loneliness of feeling no one understands - it creates a perfect storm for depression. I love the beginning middle of projects. I get anxious towards the end and I hate the space in between. My faith in Jesus is my anchor in those times and while I don't intend to be preachy I also can't cut out what is central to who I am and how I navigate life. That faith relationship has gotten me through a number of difficult times. 

 “Depression is an illness that requires a good deal of self-care,” according to psychologist Deborah Serani, PsyD, in her book Living with Depression: Why Biology and Biography Matter along the Path to Hope and Healing.

If you are depressed, I am in no way advocating that you stop seeing your doctor or quit taking your meds. These are ideas that are helpful actually for all of us. It is easy when you are feeling depressed to just let everything slip. You might normally eat well, exercise and get adequate sleep but when you are depressed its easy to fall into a state of hopelessness and think why bother. Sometimes we are so stressed that the idea of taking care of our self seems impossible or at best just another thing to do.

I look at my whole life as art, projects are more than just the art that I create. There are life projects that come to an end. Friends move away, jobs change, people divorce, kids grow up, loved ones die.
Even good changes like a new job, buying a house, going off to school, meeting that special someone, all add a certain level of stress and unsettledness and can leave one feeling alone and overwhelmed because of the change from normal to the new normal. The space in between often feels very awkward.

Tip 1: Get enough sleep. Which came first the chicken or the egg is much the same with sleep and depression. Was the lack of sleep a contributor to depression or is the depression keeping you from sleeping. "Insomnia is very common among depressed patients. Evidence suggests that people with insomnia have a ten-fold risk of developing depression compared with those who sleep well. Depressed individuals may suffer from a range of insomnia symptoms, including difficulty falling asleep (sleep onset insomnia), difficulty staying asleep (sleep maintenance insomnia), unrefreshing sleep, and daytime sleepiness. However, research suggests that the risk of developing depression is highest among people with both sleep onset and sleep maintenance insomnia." ~National Sleep Foundation

Tip 2: Eat well and take your vitamins. I'm not her to give you diet advice or to tell you what vitamins to take. I am here to say your body is a complex system and a deficiency in vitamins or minerals can cause a lot of problems. As an example, here in the Pacific North West we don't get enough sunlight much of the year as a result people are often found to be deficient in D vitamins. According to the CDC, in 2006 a whopping one fourth of the population was deficient in vitamin D. Eight percent were "at risk" for vitamin D deficiency illnesses and one percent had levels that were considered imminently harmful.  Psychology Today said "Canadian researchers reviewed 14 studies, consisting of 31,424 participants and found a strong correlation between depression and a lack of Vitamin D. The lower the Vitamin D level, the greater the chance of depression. But, the big question is still causality. Does one get depressed because of a deficiency of Vitamin D, or does depression lower the vitamin level?" This is just one example vitamin to consider. Our food and the nutrition we get can be a big factor in our over all health and wellness not just when you are depressed.

Tip 3: Stay connected to people: When you are depressed it is easy to isolate yourself. Who are the positive people in your life. Can you make time to be with them particularly when you are feeling depressed. Perhaps there toxic people that suck the life out of you? Take a break from them if you need to but don't isolate yourself from the people that encourage and build you up. We need each other.

Tip 4: Try some Essential Oils: These are thought to be helpful for people suffering from depression. Many essential oils are able to cross the blood/brain barrier. Some that are thought to be helpful for depression are Bergamont, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Clary Sage, Cypress, Frankincense, Geranium, Ginger,  Grapefruit, Lavender, Lemon, Lemongrass, Peppermint, Pine.  You might apply them to the bottoms of your feet, or add drops to your foot bath or soaking tub or put them in a aroma therapy diffuser.  In my massage practice I use them in my massage oils.

Tip 5: Kefir and Cultured Foods: I can't say enough about the benefits of Kefir and other cultured foods.  "Easily digested, it cleanses the intestines, provides beneficial bacteria and yeast, vitamins and minerals, and complete proteins. Because kefir is such a balanced and nourishing food, it contributes to a healthy immune system and has been used to help patients suffering from AIDS, chronic fatigue syndrome, herpes, and cancer. Its tranquilizing effect on the nervous system has benefited many who suffer from sleep disorders, depression, and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)."~ kefir.net

We need that good bacteria in our gut.
Donna Schwenk of Cultured Food Life says "I have witnessed first hand those with ADD, anxiety, depression, and despair turn completely around when they fixed the microbes in their gut.
90% of the body’s total serotonin is produced in the digestive tract. Only 5% of serotonin is produced in the brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter which influences many aspects of your behavior, such as mood, appetite, and pain sensation. The right amount of serotonin in the brain produces a calm and happy feeling."



I could keep going on self care tips for depression but there are plenty of articles out there if you want to research more on your own. These are all things that I have practical experience with and use for my own self care. This is just to start you thinking. It is sad for me to think that someone like Robin Williams who helped so many of us laugh could be so depressed that he killed himself. I think that depression is a much more serious problem in our society than we are willing to admit and perhaps part of Robin Williams legacy will include raising public awareness about depression.

My Essential Oil Cabinet

This is a photo of my essential oil cupboard. On the right side I have the 100% essential oils. In the middle I have the same oils diluted with a carrier oil for the massage work that I do. In the far left you see bigger general massage oils and my brushes for lymphatic massage work.

I was organizing a couple of weeks ago and I had a strong urge to go to the thrift store. I knew I needed to find something that would better hold my growing collection of oils. I was not sure exactly what it was that I was looking for but I knew I would find it and know it when I saw it. I try to follow those nudges when I get them and as a result I usually am blessed. So this time I walked through the thrift store and saw nothing of interest in the front so I walked to the back and found this cabinet laying flat up on a high shelf. When the doors are closed it has a mirror front. Its perfect.

So aside from telling you about my essential oil collection I want to encourage you to listen to those nudges. I call it the leading of the Holy Spirit, you might call it listening to your inner voice. Its a very intuitive kind of thing what ever you happen to call it.

In my collection I have Bergamont, Carrot Seed, Clove, Clary Sage, Cypress, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus, Frankincense, Geranium, Grapefruit, Ginger, Jasmine, Lavender, Lemon, Lemon Grass, Orange, Pine Peppermint, Red Thyme, Rose Absolute, Rosemary, Spikenard and Tea Tree. There are quite a few others that I would like to add to my collection as funds allow.

A year ago I had Tea Tree and then discovered Peppermint and for a long time I tried using those two oils on just about everything. If you are just starting your own collection I would add lavender and lemon. Tea tree will stop bug bites from itching and take care of athletes foot. Lavender does wonders for burns and is incredibly calming. Peppermint is great for headaches, tummy trouble, sore muscles and more. Lemon is great for cleaning and great when you have a cold. Each one deserves a post of its own. This week I will try to cover a couple of them in greater detail.

I found a great chart called 40 Uses For My Top 4 Favorite Oils. Its worth printing and taping to the inside of your medicine cabinet. Here's a link where you can down load it. http://jillee_uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/2013/05/40-USES-for-four-oils.pdf 
As you can see you can do quite a lot with just four essential oils for your home and for your health.

My " Should Do" List

A previous Dragonfly project 

Its morning and I have this list of things I should do, most of them are things I want to do.
I should go nordic walking, I should study, I should write, I should journal, I should do something creative, I should cut out the sugar and carb foods that I've let slip back in. I should pray, I should read that stack of massage and aroma therapy books on my desk. I should get dressed and start the day. I should go work on that mosaic dragonfly, I should finish my skeleton for massage school, I should get the bills paid, I should get breakfast made. There are lots of other things I could add to this list.

What I'm not going to do is stress out about all of these things I should do. I'm not going to waste time worrying about how I will get them all done. I'm not going to feel guilty about the stuff I have not gotten done yet. Worry, stress and guilt cloud our thinking. They cause us to accomplish nothing because we become paralyzed. So just decide to skip that stuff. Pick something and do that. When its done pick the next thing to do.

I have chosen from the list above I should write. Its what I feel inspired to do from the list above.
Writing and sharing my journey is an accountability motivator for me. I know there are people that look forward to reading the things I research and share. Writing helps me organize my thoughts. I have always thought of myself as more of an introvert, which does not mean I don't like people. I love being with people and I am not shy or a reclusive loner.  What it does mean is that I need alone time to process and recharge. I have often considered myself a professional extrovert. I am good with people and a natural leader I just need down time too.  Come to find out there is a third option called an ambivert. Turns out I am one of those who is somewhere in between called ambivert.  For ambiverts to recharge their energy levels they need a mixture of social interaction and alone time. Too much of either wears them out. Wow, lightbulbs go on for me. I actually learn a lot while researching for these posts.  If you are wondering about yourself heres a quick test http://www.danpink.com/assessment .

It is easy to look at my should do list and get anxious about how I will get it all done. I try to remember the old saying that there is a time and a season for every purpose under heaven. I get up early in the morning before my family so I can have that quiet time that I need to be able to function. It is part of my essential self care routine. I try to think of self care in three parts. What do I do for my body. What do I do for my mind. What do I do for my soul. To be healthy we need to be working on all three. Some things work on more than one area at a time. In your own self care plan consider if you are more of an introvert, ambivert or an extrovert because how you recharge is different for each. Make sure in your self care plan you are allowing time for those things that recharge, strengthen and heal you.

I've now crossed one thing off my Should Do list and will move on to one of the other things I've listed. You might also consider that there are some barriers to self care that you might be facing. Things like lack of support, lack of time, lack of motivation, lack of money, belief that self care is selfish. I suppose thats another post brewing. They are factors that we have to overcome in our journey to wellness. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this post.

My Self Care Wellness Activity
Take the assessment and find out if you are more of an extrovert, introvert or ambivert. Adjust your self care activities to things that will help you best recharge and heal. http://www.danpink.com/assessment .

Are You Dehydrated?

Our bodies are made up of 60% water. I just saw a poster that said that 75 percent of Americans were chronically dehydrated. When our water balance gets off it can cause a lot of health problems.

Did you know that when you are dehydrated it can cause your joints and muscles to ache. When you are dehydrated you are more likely to strain your muscles. Feeling a bit achy before you go for the over the counter pain meds see if you are dehydrated. Drink a big glass of water.

A quick dehydration test is to pinch the skin on the back of your hand to form a tent. Hold it for a few seconds and then release. Does the skin snap quickly back into place or does it move gradually back to position? If you are hydrated it will snap back quickly.  Other symptoms to look for would be tiredness, achy joint or muscles, infrequent dark colored urination, lack of tears, headache or dizziness. "If you're sweating, you're losing water," says Nancy Clark, MS, RD, sports dietitian in Chestnut Hill, Mass., and author of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook. She suggests an easy way to tell if you are dehydrated. "If you go from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon without peeing, then you're dehydrated."

Obviously when you are thirsty it is your body signaling that you need water. Sadly we too often reach for other drinks. “Alcohol is a diuretic, It acts on the kidneys to make you pee out much more than you take in – which is why you need to go to the toilet so often when you drink.  In fact for every 1g of alcohol drunk, urine excretion increases by 10ml', says Professor Oliver James, head of clinical medical sciences at Newcastle University.  I had been told that coffee was a diuretic that added to potential dehydration. Seems that is a myth.  "Caffeine can make you need to urinate. However, the fluid you consume in caffeinated beverages tends to offset the effects of fluid loss when you urinate. The bottom line is that although caffeine does act as a mild diuretic, studies show drinking caffeinated drinks in moderation doesn't actually cause dehydration." WebMD

I read that to mean it offsets the loss but does not add to your hydration level. So don't give up your coffee but do make sure you drink water as well throughout the day. Other drinks have to be processed and filtered by the body. The acid in soda robs calcium and other minerals from the body that it needs for other functions.  One report said you needed to drink 32 cups of water to neutralize the acid from one can of soda. High sugar drinks add calories and diet drinks mess up your kidney function, your metabolism and cell damage but I suppose we can save that for another post.
The bottom line is that your body needs water to function properly - just give it what it needs. Drink water first and save the other drinks for occasional treats.  

I liked this quote that I found about the link between stress and dehydration.
"It turns out that the link between stress and dehydration is actually very simple. All of our organs, including our brains, need water to function properly. If you are dehydrated, your body is not running as efficiently, which means that you will be more vulnerable to stress. In other words, stress causes dehydration, and dehydration causes stress." (see http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/water-stress-reduction).

After massage we always have our clients drink a glass of water and encourage them to keep drinking. I read a great explanation in one of my text books. If you think of a sponge that has soaked up a lot of gunk. It needs to be rinsed and wrung out. Our muscles are kind of like that sponge they collect a lot of the toxic gunk for your body. When you exercise or get a massage the muscle sponges get squeezed and if you don't turn on the water to wash that gunk out of your system it will cause you headaches and sometimes even flu like symptoms. Water is far more important to our health and wellbeing than most of us realize.

I found this tip on how to calculate your own daily water requirements from My Food Diary "There are many different methods for calculating daily fluid requirements. However, a simple equation to help adults figure their fluid needs is that for every pound of body weight, you need about half an ounce of fluid intake per day. For instance, if you weigh 140 lbs., simply multiply 140 by .5 to estimate your daily fluid needs in ounces, then divide by eight to estimate your fluid needs in cups per day, rounding up to the nearest full cup. [example: 140 x .5 = 70 ounces; 70 ounces divided by 8 = 9 cups of fluid per day] 0.5 ounces x Body Weight in Pounds = Daily Fluid Requirement in ounces"

The easier way is just take half of what you weigh and divide it by the size drink cup you use.
I hardly ever use an 8oz cup I like the big 16 oz drink cups. I just did the math and I need to drink a little more than I thought.

My Self Care Wellness Activity 
Step 1: Calculate how much water you need to drink based on your body weight.
Step 2: Drink your water. Your body will thank you.

Introduction to Essential Oils

My own essential oils in carrier oil for massage

A year ago I had one essential oil and I really didn't even realize what it was. Someone had told us Tea tree was good for bug bites and I had ordered a bottle on their recommendation.
It does stop the itching quite well.

Just prior to starting massage school I discovered peppermint oil and had begun trying it on what ever ailments we were facing and found it was pretty amazing for headaches and other aches.

My massage school has a collection of more than 60 essential oils and we have the opportunity to work with those oils in a variety of ways. In the past year I have built my own collection to about 25 oils. Its still growing as I am able to research and add new oils. I want to add black pepper and chamomile, Siberian Cedar wood and many others but it takes time to grow and maintain a collection on a limited budget. I've already gone through several bottles of tea tree, lavender, peppermint and lemon. If you are wanting to start your own collection those four would be my starting recommendations. They are each good for so many things.

When my son says mom I'm having trouble focusing or I need something to help with creative inspiration we go to the essential oils and create a blend for that purpose. They have replaced all the things that used to be in my medicine cabinet and we have found essential oils work better than all that over the counter stuff with out the additional side effects.

Essential oils are extracted generally through steam distillation from the the flowers, leaves, stems, roots of various plants. Some use other extraction methods. Some plants are very easy to extract oil from and others like rose oil takes 60 roses for one drop of essential oil. As you might guess rose oil is pretty expensive. An 1/8 of an ounce is about forty five dollars. Lemon oil made from the lemon rind, on the other hand is only about five dollars a half ounce.

I've discovered that each oil has a long list of healing benefits. For a general headache I would try one of the following Peppermint, Rosemary, Lavender, Frankincense or Clove from my collection.
My favorite being peppermint or Lavender or perhaps combining them.

Supplies I've purchased

I have books that I have added to my collection that I can reference but I am able to find quite a lot of information on line as well. I've found great inspiration on Pinterest. For example just type in "Pine Essential Oil" or "Lemon Essential Oil" and you come up with some great ideas and information.


When you are buying essential oils you do want to make sure they say 100% pure. I am not representing any brand and I do buy my oils from a variety of sources. I do have several friends who sell Dotera Essential Oils and they do have an exceptional product line that is great for folks who want the benefits and commitment that come with brand loyalty. When I was first approached by one of them I thought how on earth would I ever use all those oils. I've come to find out that with my family and my massage training that I use them for everything. The best way to think about it is to add up what you would spend on over the counter medicines, cleaning and beauty supplies and begin the switch to essential oils spending no more than you are already spending. Its a matter of moving your money from the drug store to essential oils and natural products. For example rather than buying a bottle of your favorite pain relieving pill buy a bottle of peppermint oil. When I get a headache I rub it on my feet in it's 100% pure form or I mix it with a carrier oil (I like almond, rice bran, coconut, olive or grape seed oil) and rub it on the back of my neck, shoulders and temples. Just don't get it in your eyes. It does make you cry for a bit but you won't go blind.

I didn't tell you where to find essential oils. I've gotten most of mine from local health food stores. I'm a bit impulsive and I want to get my hands on them now so I generally buy local.
I have liked what I've ordered on line from Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com
I generally have things from them in about a week. There are Dotera and Young Living folks that would be happy to tell you about the benefits of their programs.

My Self Care Wellness Activity
Essential oils are great for self care I will begin to add at least one post a week that talks about individual essential oils with ideas how to use them. Again I'm not selling them nor am I prescribing them. Do your homework- you will be amazed at their wonderful health benefits.

Here's a few ideas for you to try. If you don't have lemon essential oil yet, you could use real lemon in the foot soak. Lemon is revitalizing and helps your mood elevate. It is anti fungal and antiviral among other things. Look for a future post on the benefits of Lemon Essential oil this is just to get you started.

Moisturizing Lemon Foot Soak
Add the following to warm water in your foot soaking basin. Relax
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 freshly squeezed lemon or 3-6 drops of Lemon Essential Oil
• 2 tbsp sea salt or epson salt

Lemon Sugar Scrub

Use this on your feet, hands or body to refresh and invigorate your skin. I just used it on my hands and they feel so smooth.
• 1/4 Cup Virgin Coconut Coconut Oil
• 5 - 10 Drops of Lemon Essential Oil
• 3/4 to a 1 Cups of Sugar
(add more or less if you like to get your desired consistency.)

How to Make It

1. Melt Coconut Oil in a glass bowl (in the summer its already melted)
2. Mix in 10 Drops of Lemon Oil
3. Mix in the cup of Sugar
4. Store in a glass canning jar.
You can use this scrub on your hands, feet and even all over your body for silky smooth and invigorated skin!