The Fever Blend with a Touch of Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM

contributed by Fai Chan

In this chilly weather, it is easy to get sick by catching a cold.  I am the kind of person who gets cold easily, which will then turn to fever.  The symptoms that usually developed include aversion to cold, sore throat, headache and mild fever.  To try something new, and to have a breakthrough in my blending, I have made a fever blend that incorporates some of the TCM concepts.  It works very well, as after one to two applications, my body returned to health.

Zingiber officinale Roscoe

The blend that I made includes:

•     1 drop of  Ginger
•     2 drops of Balsam Copaiba
•     1 drop of Orange
•     2 drops of peppermint

·         in 5ml olive oil (Oleum europaea). 

The rationale behind each selection is as follows:

Ginger (Zingiber officinale): it is a warming oil which helps the skin to perspire and to release the cold trapped in surface exterior (skin), it is also anti-inflammatory. 

Orange (Citrus sinensis): It’s uplifting, calming and soothing energy can have a pleasant impact on the sick.  The oil can also tone and vitalize the body, and it is an immune booster.  The reason that I choose the oil is that it can bring out (uplift) the synergistic effect of the whole blend.  Therapeutically, its skin penetrating property helps the absorption quickly. 

Peppermint (Mentha x piperita): Peppermint is the cooling oil, which can cool the heat trapped in the surface exterior of the skin.  Therapeutically, it can reduce fever, stimulate circulation, and boost the immune system. 

Balsam Copaiba (Copaifera officinalis): The oil comes from the resins of the tree, therefore, it has the property of healing, as whenever there is a wound, the tree can heal itself via the secretion (resins/gum).  The cooling, anti-inflammatory and healing properties make the oil a good choice for the fever blend.

Copaifera officinalis

Whenever I have headache, there is too much Qi in my head.  I find it most effective when Qi is being dissipated (by bring the Qi downwards).  That is why I use cooling oils like peppermint, and Balsam Copaiba.  The areas that I apply the oils include the back of the neck, the upper shoulders and the lower back.  At the same time, I drink honey with lemon juice in warm water to soothe my sore throat.  I sip the drink instead of swallowing it so that the liquid can stay longer in my throat, which helps to speed up the recovery process. 

In this “experiment”, my body returned to normal after two applications. 

To conclude, the combination of TCM concepts and essential oil knowledge makes my fever blend works wonderfully well.  By considering the two elements: releasing the surface exterior and lowering the Qi ( by bringing the Qi downwards), the wind cold that I caught was healed in this fever blend.

References:

Aromahead Online Classes

Marc Gian's webinars in the reference:  http://www.marcjgian.com/

  Blending Bespokes

Oftentimes with the awakening of new seasons comes the awakening of all our senses. The smell of freshly cut grass, the spray of the ocean; of the leaves as they crunch beneath our feet in the Fall. In Winter, the smell of the clean sharp air as the snow falls around.

Intuitively, we feel these energies as they play within the natural meridian lines of our bodies. Smell in particular dives deep into the brain. It enters through our noses often on chemicals known as esters:

Neryl acetate, for example, is a component of an essential oil known as Helichrysum or Immortelle which is used in skin care to heal wrinkles, aging and scars. It is one of the most powerful, expensive and sought after essential oils in the world.

It is used in very high end facial oils and treatments.

Because these molecules enter our olfactory glands and dive deep into our brains, the enter a region known as the "reptilian brain" which exists in all our brains. It is the most ancient and most primordial part of the brain. Other parts of the brain developed later in our evolution. This part of the brain is what gives us access to deeply held memories: like the smell of baby powder that reminds us of our mothers; or the smell of lilac, or a rose, which instantly transports us to another place and time.

These molecules also cross what scientists refer to as the "blood-brain" barrier which means that they also can cause real changes in our bodies: how we feel emotionally; they can effect whether we're awake and sharp like rosemary; or sleepy and tired like valerian. They also can effect our moods, whether we're happy or sad which is one of the beautiful effects of pink grapefruit.

Many of the wisdom teachers through the ages have used scents and their power to achieve results of which only the most advanced of their students were either sharp enough to perceive or advanced enough that the inner secrets of the temples throughout the world were shared with them.

Here is a powerful New Moon blend for using during the Cazimi of the New Moon which is the exact time of the New Moon - twenty minutes before and after the precise time of the New Moon. A secret handed down to us by the Ancient Chaldeans.

Here is a beautiful recipe for you to enjoy during your next New Moon Meditation: 

 

May all your desires be blessed for your greatest good.  In future posts we will add more information about blending from post-to-post allowing you to achieve your desired perfect blend made just for you! 

The Art of Aromatherapy Is Born

Joyful Light Story 

 

Who first discovered the optimism of Essential Oils?  That is a matter for the debate of historians but in a delicious turn of history, King Louis the XIV, from the House of de Bourbon, the King of pomp, grandeur, heavy velvet curtains, was known as the great "Sun King." Some of his descendants started the jewelry store, VanCleef & Arpels, on Fifth Avenue in NYC before it was known as "Fifth." Two twin brothers, Louis and James, helped get the jewels out of France during WWII - and I know this story from my great friend, James de Bourbon, one of the twin's sons.
 
Back to King Louis XIV - he truly brought France under the absolute rule of monarchy by requiring many of the errant nobles and aristocracy to live in the Palace at Versailles. He ruled with complete authority and his was a very disciplined and heavy rule - perhaps as his mother was an Austrian.
 
Louis XIV reigned for seventy-two years - the longest reign in European history.  He was succeeded Louis XV who ushered out the dark, rigid rule and like a Spring breeze ushered in the Rococo Period along with the Essential Oil of Neroli. Neroli was named after the Princess Nerola - an Italian Princess. And, Neroli came not only into the court of Louis XV but through another Italian, Catherine de Medici who had been betrothed by her father, Lorenzo the Magnificent to Henry II, an astute political move that assured his Grand Duchy.

As Louis XV reigned he took his roving eye to Marquise de Pompadour, Jean Antoinette Poisson, who was said to have been extremely well educated and quite beautiful. She was careful to befriend Louis' wife, the Queen Marie and was known to have had a large influence on the King's reign both within the palace and without in affairs of state.
 
She was a major patron of the decorative arts such as porcelain and architecture but it was her support of the artisans and local farmers who produced the beloved essential oils that truly brought an explosion of perfumery and perfume-making to France.
 
She swept in an age of the same heady lightness the Essential Oil Neroli brings:  balanced optimism, calm, grace, delicate laces, music, art, beautiful soft silks, and sweet gentle music played in court.  The gardens wafted with the elegant fragrances of teas and perfumes as the ladies and gentlemen enjoyed frolicking in the grand gardens with their water fountains, flower beds, and clinking of ornamental china.
 
We really have her to thank for the real explosion of aromatherapy as an industry which truly brought fragrance to the place where it is today. And, France still, has an aromatherapy industry which is quite closely tied to its medical profession with all the respect that accords.