The holidays are upon us! Here in Aspen we can feel the tsunami coming! Over Christmas and New Year’s our population goes from 6,700 to a whopping 27,000! Regardless of where we live the holidays often bringing us needing some extra support. I thought let’s talk about essential oils for the holidays to help us and connect us to this time of year. Plus, they offer a plethora of support for our holistic health – helping us on many, many levels.
The obvious choices are the evergreen trees, the conifers (trees that have cones). You know the ones many people are ushering into their homes this time of year – Christmas trees! Typical Christmas trees are Firs or Spruces, but let’s throw Pines into our holiday line up too. The smell of any of these trees elicits a sense of holiday cheer, and you don’t have to be Christian to get the vibe. Heck, many of our Christmas traditions hark back to the Winter Solstice anyway, which is in all of our roots (pun intended).
Winter Solstice, December 21 this year, is the time when dark time of the year gives way to the light. Yay! The days start getting longer again! One of the traditional customs is giving and receiving evergreen boughs. Evergreens were symbols of immortality to the ancient Celtic people, because they didn’t “die” in the winter, but remained green all year round. Interesting we still honor this tradition with Christmas trees.
The essential oils of the evergreens, like the Firs, Spruces, and Pines all ground us – most everybody can use some of that during the holidays. They are also nervines, meaning they calm our nervous systems down, as well as support our adrenals. Double shot, calming and stress reducing on all fronts! Just the smell of Blue Spruce essential oil makes my world feel right again. It’s holistic healthcare in a bottle!
Use these essences to boost your immune system, support your respiratory system, balance your hormones, and for pain. I see a need for all of this during the holiday season. We get exposed to the flu and respiratory illnesses floating around and often are not taking our best care of ourselves – Balsam Fir or Ocean Pine to the rescue. Feeling your stress levels rising with some family or work drama – try some Norway Spruce or White Pine. They’ll help your thyroid, adrenals, and whole endocrine system, not to mention ground you. And, if you’re sore from carrying in that tree, or climbing around in the attic for the holiday box, or wound so tight knowing you’ve got to make dinner for 20 people – try some Blue Spruce or Grand Fir. Smell them and get some on your body. Let them do their magic and bring your energy right back up again, up high like those tall beautiful trees. Use them on yourself, your family, your coworkers and see how everything brightens up.
Think of those big, ancient, grand trees and feel how they touch you inside. Remember what it feels like to be in a forest of old growth evergreens? It’s majestic and inspires awe. Those powerful grandmothers have much to share with us. Gratefully, apply their essential oils to connect you back to them, to the Earth, and to yourself and who you really are. Happy Holidays and Happy Winter Solstice to you!