Christmas is two weeks today. How are your stress levels holding out? Anyone else frantically trying to get it all done? Making the lists and checking them twice, thrice and another few million times just gets that adrenaline rushing, doesn’t it? Yup.
Therefore today is a perfect day for some holiday de-stressing. You need to breathe. You need to stop for five minutes (or more if you can manage it), and give back to yourself. Let’s turn to some advice from Mother Nature’s Holiday larder to perk yourself back up again, so you can survive the next few weeks of holidays with a smile on your face.
Holiday De-stressing with Help from Trees
Pine tree
The Pine tree is one of the most enduring symbols of Christmas, as a Christmas tree,but pinus sylvestris is so much more. Pine essential oil can clear the mind and is uplifting if burned in a room. It is also good for those general aches and pains you get from shovelling driveways or carrying too many packages at the mall. If used as one of Bach’s flower essence remedies, it helps ease feeling of self-reproach, despondency and despair. It’s honestly not your fault that you didn’t get the last Furby and no one blames you for the fact that all your Christmas cookies were eaten. They were so good no one could resist! Lighten up, it’s the holidays!
Frankincense oil comes from the frankincense tree
The three Wise Men weren’t named that for no good reason. A gift of Frankincense is a God-send over the holidays. If you crave calm and relaxation, a massage with this ancient oil should help. It helps you to breathe more deeply and fully, which is just what the doctor orders during times of high stress, like “When am I going to find time to wrap all the gifts I just brought home?!” You can also add it to the bath, burn it in the room or put a few drops in a ring burner. Plus it mixes well with pine and myrrh (that other element the Wise Men knew about). Goodbye tension! Thank you Boswelllia carteri.
English: Frankincense and myrrh for sale in a Jerusalem market. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If you are going to mix your frankincense with Myrrh, you should know the effects of this essential oil. Not only is myrrh an antiseptic, decongestant, anti-inflammatory and regenerative, but it is uplifting too. Used in a bath, this oil, derived from the myrrh tree, is strengthening and balancing – just what you need to tackle another day of shopping! If you still have holiday gatherings to attend, you can also use Commiphora myrrha as a mouthwash to help avoid bad breath (or for mouth ulcers, bleeding gums or sore throats). If its bitter taste makes you hesitate, you might still want to grab some to massage over your abdomen, as it aids indigestion. Might need that after Christmas dinner too!
*Before you use any of the above remedies, remember to confer with a doctor as to any possible interactions or side effects. CLC Tree Services might be an expert on lots of tree facts, but we do NOT replace a doctor’s advice. We just want you to be safe, happy and as stress-free as possible over the holidays.
Merry Christmas!!!