ESSENTIAL OILS: Geranium!

A little while ago I started a blog series called “Latest Obsessions” and this month (and every month actually) Essential Oils takes that cake!

Prior to studying I also loved essential oils, but for different reasons. I have always used essential oils purely for their smells and aromas, without any real knowledge into how they could effect my body.

Essential oils and aromatherapy is a big component of naturopathy and natural medicine. So, throughout my studies I am slowly making my way through the different essential oils, their therapeutic actions and how we can use them to our benefit in different circumstances or conditions.

Recently I’ve partnered up with Health2000 whom was kind enough to send me a few essential oils to try out for this first time for their physical benefits and today I want to talk about Geranium – an essential oil perhaps not a lot of us have heard about but one which can have a super beneficial impact on our reproductive regularity and health!

If you’ve read some of my other blogs you will know I’ve always struggled with an irregular cycle and still to this day I am implementing lots of different aspects of natural health into my lifestyle to enhance my cycle regularity. Lately I’ve been incorporating essential oils into this mix also, in particular;

Geranium!

The therapeutic actions of Geranium on the body are hormone balancing, anti-depressant, diuretic and enhance lymphatic flow (among other things). Geranium is super well known in the natural health world for its significant effects on hormonal balance and improving regularity within cycles.

Geranium works on the adrenal cortex (which produces hormones within our body), producing a balancing effect, which can be helpful for irregular periods, PMS and menopausal symptoms – AMAZING.

Geranium also stimulates our lymphatic system and has diuretic effects on the body, promoting lymphatic flow and detoxification of our bodies. These therapeutic actions have been found to have an effect on relieving fluid retention (side effect of rising progesterone), cellulite and swollen ankles!

BUT that’s not all – on our nervous system Geranium works to provide a sedative yet uplifting effect. Balancing our moods and decreasing feelings of anxiety, depression and stress – which again can be symptoms of whack, all-over-the-place hormones.

Geranium is also great for balancing out and restoring our skin. Geranium also has antiseptic and healing properties which aid to heal and restore the skin, but also its effects on hormonal balance directly effects the skin as well! A win, win!!

SO, im sure by now you can all see why I HAD to try Geranium for myself, and much to my delight my experience with Geranium was a super positive one!

I began diffusing it the minute I got it, which was the week prior to when I should have been due for my period (bare in mind Aunt Flo is ALWAYS late). Aunt Flo however was not only on time but she stayed for the appropriate length of time and my PMS symptoms were basically non-existent. I don’t struggle toooooo much with PMS symptoms anyway, however.

Remembering alongside the use of Geranium I was keeping up with my vitamins and minerals and everything else I do to induce a regular cycle – so these results obiously cant be attributable to just Geranium alone – however I still feel it played a role because as I said my cycle is still usually late regardless.

In terms of scent Geranium is super pleasant – I have no idea how to explain it, I will leave it up to you to try for yourself but I will say that its that good that I still love to diffuse it just solely for the smell it leaves in my house!

I know what all you sceptics out there are thinking, HOW does an oil being diffused lead to alllllll these benefits? (I can relate).

So, essential oils can be used in so many different ways – ie. Massage, diffusion, in a bath, topically on the skin (although with this method of application we must be careful as some oils are not safe to apply directly to the skin!). Within each oils there are active components which are the constituents which work on the body – I guess I kind of liken them to the active components in medicine – they’re the parts of the oil which generate the change within your body.

Depending on which method of application you chose to use depends on how these active constituents enter our bodies. Through massage obviously the oils are absorbed by the skin and same goes for in baths. Also, just a side note: you cant actually just be using oils willy nilly in baths and in massage, there is actually set dosage ranges for each oil and often you must use another oil known as a carrier oil to mix the essential oils with first before allowing them to touch your skin!

The other method of application and probably one of the most common is inhalation! I am a serial diffuser, I use my diffusers every single day! I absolutely love them. Through inhalation these oils are able to reach the brain and from here they affect our limbic system. The limbic system is linked to our emotions, heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress and hormone balance - this is where the oils create change. Crazy, right?

Obviously there is a ridiculous amount of essential oils out there and often they are sold as blends with the purpose of enhancing sleep or decreasing stress and this is why we find oils named “sleep oils” or “de-stress oils”. These can be single or blended oils which work to enhance different pathways within the body to bring about these benefits. I encourage you to do your research and find which essential oils may benefit any concerns you have!

I guarantee there is an oil for everyone! Its such an exciting topic and although they still must be used with caution, it is relatively safe for everyone! Essential oils have gained lots of traction over the years but I definitely think we will be seeing them getting more and more limelight as time goes on!

Happy Essential Oil Shopping! All the oils I have been using recently can be found in your local Health 2000 store or they have an online store also - www.health2000.co.nz