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Oils for the Body and the Mind

June 22, 2011 By ilblendo Leave a Comment

Essential oils are uniquely placed to be of use in massage. They are light and penetrating and contain the essence or soul of the plant, its personality and healing properties.

Because massage is a development of the natural urge to touch a painful part of the body, we can all make a start with a little care and energy. We all have the power to heal with our hands to some degree, and it is something we can develop. Being in a calm state of mind helps. Pleasant surroundings and atmosphere aid concentration and relaxation.

Massage provides us with the most beneficial method of absorbing essential oils into the body. We always use essential oils added to a carrier oil. The basic carrier, or vegetable oil. Lubricates the skin and reduces the friction of dry hands on dry skin. But more importantly, the carrier oil dilutes the concentrated essential oils and aids their absorption into the skin, tissues and bloodstream. Simply by massaging the back, or any large area of the body, we can introduce enough essence into the body, in dilution, to have a remedial effect.

Some sample massage blends

Carrier oil for general use: grapeseed, or almond oil with 5% wheatgerm oil.

Tight muscles Lavender 2 drops

Rosemary 2 drops

Juniper 2 drops

Carrier oil 2 teaspoons

Relaxing Lavender 2 drops

Geranium 1 drop

Marjoram 1 drop

Petigrain 2 drops

Carrier oil 2 teaspoons

Tonic Aphrodisiac Bergamot 2 drops

Ylang Ylang 1 drop

Rosewood 2 drops

Sandalwood 1 drop

Carrier oil 2 teaspoons

Self Massage

Self massage is used when stress and tension are building up in the muscles and there is no-one to massage the spots of tightness. First get in touch with your own body. Begin to develop the sense of touch in your hands with your body, its moods and tensions.

The simplest self massage works to stimulate the nerves, glands and circulation in the arms and legs. Mix a fragrant, stimulating oil and massage to increase circulation. Use a relaxing blend to reduce tiredness and tension.

Self massage is also based on Oriental techniques like shiatsu where ‘points’ on the acupuncture meridians or pathways are pressed to unblock energy in different parts of the body.

Foot massage – The soles of the feet contain many points corresponding to parts of the body. Massage your feet to increase circulation then use thumb and finger pressures to stimulate the points.

Neck press – To restore alertness press the back of the neck with your fingers and the nape of the neck with the thumbs. Start at the top and work down to the shoulders. This can be done while sitting at work, to relieve fatigue and tension.

Shoulder squeeze – Dissolve tension in the neck and shoulder area by squeezing the flesh between the shoulder and neck.

When the body feels heavy – Use the bulb of the thumb to press the right carotid artery then the left several times. Begin at the jaw and work down to the clavicle. This stimulates fresh blood flow and quick relief.

Press the temples with three fingers to relieve mental fatigue.

Sensual Massage

Any massage can be sensual depending on the state of mind of the two people involved. The emphasis here is on relaxation, enjoyment and awareness of touch. Many parts of the body are erogenous and respond to caressing and stroking. The focus is on the skin and its sensations and adapting the essential oils to a sensual purpose.

The essential oils extracted from certain plants are nature’s way of making us feel relaxed. Essences work directly on the brain through the sense of smell and can produce feelings of arousal, warmth and stimulation. The seductive aroma of the massage blends can inspire lovemaking.

A fragrant atmosphere Is the best beginning for a sensual massage.

Create a calming and romantic feeling with erotic essential oils. Use an erotic essence in your oil vaporizer. Scent your sheets with your own special blend.

Some of the erotic essences are ylang ylang, sandalwood, jasmine, rose, cedarwood, neroli, clary sage, patchouli and vetivert. Try them in your oil vaporizer or massage blend.

For the massage, prepare the carrier oil in the usual way. The essences added to the carrier will be erotic, opening oils that work to release emotional blocks and inhibitions.

Sensual massage blends

For men:

Sandalwood 2 drops

Bergamot 2 drops

Patchouli 1 drop

Carrier oil 2 teaspoons

For women:

Jasmine 1 drop

Rose 1 drop

Sandalwood 2 drops

Carrier oil 2 teaspoons

Skin and Hair

Essential oils can help many skin conditions and are a pleasure to use on a daily basis. Because essential oils are highly penetrative, they can reach the small blood capillaries in the dermis where they can work from within.

The outer skin consists of layers of skin cells. Beneath the outer skin or epidermis, lies the dermis, an area richly supplied with capillaries and nerve endings and containing the sebaceous glands which produce an oily substance called sebum. Sebum lubricates the skin. The functioning of the sebum determines whether your skin is normal, oily or dry.

Normal skin should have few problems but care is still needed to maintain its condition. Wash your face with a soap which has a natural oil base such as coconut oil or other vegetable oil. Rinse your face with a facial oil. Make up the facial oil with 1 drop of rose, 1 drop of chamomile and 2 teaspoons of sweet almond oil. Gently massage this into your face to help maintain circulation.

Oily skin is caused by overactive sebaceous glands. Wash your face with a mild soap and then wipe your face with a witch hazel toner. Then apply a light facial oil made up of 1 drop of cypress oil, 1 drop of juniper oil and 2 teaspoons of sweet almond oil.

Dry skin has less active sebaceous glands and the skin is less supple. Wash the skin with a mild soap and then rinse the face in a cool mix of chamomile tea. Massage a mixture of 1 drop of lavender oil. 1 drop of sandalwood oil. 1 drop of ylang ylang or rose oil and 2 teaspoons of carrier oil. The carrier oil is made up of 3 parts of almond oil, 3 parts of avocado oil and 1 part wheatgerm oil.

Mature sin produces less sebum and cell regeneration, making the skin less elastic and prone to wrinkles. Climate, nutrition and lifestyle are influential.

The facial carrier oil should be richer, and composed of 2 parts avocado, 2 jojoba, 2 almond or apricot and 1 part wheatgerm. Add 2 drops lavender, 2 drops palmarosa to 2 teaspoons carrier oil.

Broken capillaries are a result of weak capillaries, consumption of alcohol and cigarettes, extremely cold conditions and moving from hot to cold environments. When washing your face do not use hot water. To improve the circulation to the area use a facial oil of 1 drop of parsley, 1 drop of cypress, 1 drop of neroli and 2 teaspoons of carrier oil.

A general rule for facial oils, when in doubt about the mixture, is to use 1 drop of essence to 1 teaspoon of carrier oil. This gives a concentration of 2% of essential oil which is a safe blend for all skin types.

Hair is affected by the same factors as the skin. Sebaceous glands supply sebum to the hair making it normal, dry or oily. Essential oils can help to keep the scalp and hair healthy. Use a mild shampoo and add drops of lavender and rosemary to aid cleansing. Give the scalp a monthly massage with oil.

A hair soak and massage

Lavender 3 drops

Petigrain 1 drop

Rosemary 3 drops

Tea tree 1 drop

Sweet almond oil 4 teaspoons

Essences for Men

Some essential oils are more masculine, or have a special relevance to men. These can be the warmer, earthier essences that have a pronounced ‘Yang’ or external energy. These spices and resins have a wonderfully stimulating and sharpening appeal. Fresh and exhilarating citrus, or many of the lighter or floral essences, balance ‘Yang’ with its opposite and complement the ‘Yin’ or internal energy.

Fragrance has been a part of male life through Egypt, Babylon, Rome, Greece, the ancient empires of Arabia, India and the East and virtually right up to the Victorian period in the 19th century. A fragrant or scented man was rarely seen as remarkable until the practicalities and conformity of the Industrial Age, and up to the middle of this century, when men were only supposed to smell of honest sweat, tobacco and tweed. Since WWII there has been a great growth of aftershaves, colognes, perfumes and deodorants for men. With the growth of interest in alternative remedies, the environment, and all things natural, essential oils have much to offer as fragrances and deodorants.

Patchouli - is like warm earth, musty and erotic, but use in small amounts. Can be used in cupboards to scent cotton and woolens.

Sandalwood – is warm and peaceful yet subtly erotic.

Vetivert - is smoky and earthy with a positive vibration. Use in very small amounts.

Frankincense – is clean, spicy, emotion releasing and enlightening.

Spice oils – are stimulating and refreshing but not to be used undiluted on the skin.

Cypress - is smoky and piny, controls perspiration and is a deodorant.

Lavender – is refreshing, a deodorant and skin toner.

Sensual Baths

A bath is a more luxurious method of washing the body. It is also an opportunity to use aromatic oils for the relaxation and therapeutic nourishment of the body and mind. A fragrant bath can be made for someone special.

Warm the bathroom air and scent with fragrant oils. The water should be warm, not too hot or cold. Add drops of essence to the water. Soak in the bath and take deep inhalations while your skin absorbs the oils. Essence can be added to a little carrier oil for more nourishment of dry skin.

Besides pure pleasure and relaxation, fragrant baths can benefit insomnia, nervous tension, muscular conditions, circulatory and respiratory conditions. Use 3 drops of each essential oil for bath formulas.

Relaxing Bath – Bergamot

Geranium

Lavender

Invigorating Bath – Lemon

Juniper

Pine

Sensuous bath – Sandalwood

Neroli

Ylang Ylang

Inhalations and Vaporisers

A very popular method of using essential oils for pleasure and therapy is with vaporizers, or oil burners. They release the essence into the air via steam. Aromas in a room or office can elevate mood and increase performance as they cleanse and freshen the air. Many essences kill bacteria in the air.

Inhaling essences can relieve tension, headache, colds, sore throat and blocked noses. If you need a more concentrated form of the essence, put a few drops of your chosen essence into a bowl of steaming water and inhale steam. To increase the effect, cover your head and the bowl with a towel and inhale the steam. Do not inhale steam that will burn and do not go out in the cold air after doing this or you might expose your tender nose and throat.

Essences can also be put onto a handkerchief or cotton wool and left beside the bed. A simple pottery jar with oil in it will also release essence into the air. A formula for room antiseptic is equal parts of cinnamon, lemongrass and thyme oil.

A breathe-easy formula is equal parts of peppermint, eucalyptus, cajuput and bergamot. A headache formula is one part lavender to one part bergamot.

To use a vaporizer is simple. Put water in the bowl, light the candle and add the essence. Keep topping up the water and add more essence when the first lot has faded in aroma.

Written by RonaldMarbles

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Changing Car Oil Yourself

June 22, 2011 By ilblendo 1 Comment

Or you think you’re going to mess up your car by doing it. Well, it probably comes as a surprise to most people that the only downside to changing your own oil is that you don’t get oil change stickers to remind you of when to do it again. However, don’t take my lax approach to the subject as an indication that this isn’t an important auto service. It’s probably the MOST important part of maintaining and servicing your vehicle. It just happens to be one of the more accessible. There are any number of auto repair shops out there from Denver to Minneapolis, AAMCO to NAPA that would be more than willing to take your money to perform this simple operation. My suggestion is to save your money for when you have to dish it out on things like front end alignment and brake service; and just learn to do this yourself.

That being said, there are some things to consider before you take on this task yourself. Do you have the right tools and a location that you can safely do it? You will need an oil pan (usually a large paint tray will do the trick) and a socket wrench. However, it also depends on how old your car is whether or not it’s a great idea to do it yourself. Most of your older cars you’ll be good to go. Their components are pretty straight forward and easily accessible. But if you sprung for a hybrid or super fancy foreign car within the last decade, you may consider letting the guy that sat in a class for 6 months learning about it take care of the job. There are many options to choose from when you go this route from Jiffy Lube to your local guy on the corner. Mostly it will cost about 10 bucks, but most of the chain places have packages that include detailing for an extra . I don’t know about you, but someone vacuuming my car for me is worth twice that amount.

Well, I guess since you continued reading, you’re determined to do this thing yourself. So the first thing you need to know is how often to change your oil. Most grease monkeys recommend that you do it every 3,000 miles or every 3 months. Whichever happens to come first. This is actually a pretty conservative number for most people. Now, if you’re going up to the ski lodge hauling your 3 ton trailer behind you in stop n go traffic; you might want to rigorously hold yourself to those numbers, if not more often. However, if you’re not a weekend warrior and just use your car for everyday use, then you should just aim for it. Don’t kick yourself for going over because your engine will probably be fine. And if you’re using synthetic oil like Valvoline, you could probably even take it up to 5,000 miles and be alright.

Now that I’ve gotten all the warnings and “be careful” stuff out of the way, let get down to business.

You’re going to need the following:

* 3/8-drive socket
* A combination wrench set
* An oil filter wrench
* A container for the old oil (like I said, a large paint tray will work)
* Several empty gallon milk jugs with screw on caps
* Two funnels
* A quart Ziploc bag
* Something to put under you and the area where you drain the oil (i.e. old newspapers)
* Latex or plastic gloves (if you’re sensitive about getting your hands dirty)
* A new oil filter (check your owner’s manual for size)
* Enough oil to replace what you drain (see the back of your owner’s manual for number of quarts and grade. Try and use brands like Valvoline, Castrol, Quaker State, etc. There’s a reason they’re so popular.)

Before you get started, find a flat spot where your car sits evenly. Preferably your drive way, but if it has to be the street, I guess that will work too. Just try not to get hit. Now, before you get all Dukes of Hazard on me, take your car for a spin around the block or until the temperature gauge starts to register. This will heat up your oil and make it MUCH easier to drain. If you skip this step, a 15 minute job could easily take you an hour while you wait for cold, thick oil to ooze its way out. Once you’re done, park it in the spot you found before leaving. If you live anywhere near me, hopefully it’s still there.

Now it’s time to get dirty:

1. Make sure your engine is turned off. Then, apply the parking brake firmly and put it in gear. For extra safety, block off your tires with bricks or whatever you have that’s heavy and will fit behind your tires. Then line up your tools next to your car.

2. Slide under your car and find the oil drain plug. If you’re a big boy like me, you may have to jack up the car and secure it on a jackstand. DO NOT get under a car supported only by a jack. Use a jackstand. I can’t stress this enough. Seriously. I think you know why.

3. Once you’ve found the oil drain plug, make sure that it’s actually the oil drain plug. It should be the one hovering closest to the ground, however there is also a transmission drain plug. To check, the metal around the oil plug should be a lot hotter than around the transmission plug. If you’re still not sure, stop and get the help of someone that does.

4. Once you find it, get your socket set and start checking to find a size that fits the nut around the plug.

5. Next, put on your gloves and grab the socket wrench with the right socket on it. It’s the one that fit from the last step. Fit it over the nut and turn it counter-clockwise. You may really have to work at it. But don’t force it too much. If you’re having major trouble, switch to the same size close end wrench. Once you crack it, work it slightly loose with your fingers. Don’t go too far or you’ll get oil everywhere.

6. Once your plug is where you want it to be, lay down the newspaper and whatever else you don’t care about underneath the car. Make sure you leave room to cover the oil filter because it will continue to drip after you remove it.

7. Now look up into your engine. There should be a weird, upside down mountain thing in there. That’s your oil filter. Get your drain pan and put it directly under the plug. If the plug points off to the side, adjust the positioning. Now loosen the plug and put it aside. Most of the oil will drain in about 2-3 minutes.

8. You’ve got an oil filter wrench last I told you to right? Get it. Using the short extension, slip the oil filter wrench onto the socket wrench. Now set it to choke in only the counter-clockwise direction. Slip it over the oil filter and give a pull on it. Once you crack it, do the rest by hand. This one’s probably not that hard to get off. Now be careful, the oil in there is really, really hot; so don’t stick your face under it. I hate that I have to say that. But seriously, don’t stick your face under it. Now, remove the oil filter carefully and pour its oil into your drain pan. Then place the used oil filter right side up on your floor cover.

9. Making sure that the drain pan is still in place, slide out from under your car and open your hood. Remove the oil filler cap and set it aside. This will help release pressure so your oil will drain faster. Now sit there and wait. You don’t have to, but it’s better to wait as long as possible to get back to it. I’m not talking a full day or anything, but as much as an hour will do wonders on getting every drop of old oil out.

10. Now that you’re back in business and have finally seen the end of the new Stallone flick that you only caught the beginning of, take your finger and dip it in the oil pan. I know it sounds ridiculous, but stay with me. Coat the rubber gasket on the bottom of the filter with oil. This will help it seal to the engine block better. Set the filter aside. With a clean rag, wipe off the metal ring where the oil filter fit, then put the new oil filter on. When it’s finger tight, turn it another ¾ turn either buy hand or with the oil filter wrench.

11. Put your sealing washer back in place and thread the drain plug back in. Use the socket wrench to secure it again, but not so tight that you can get it off again. Make sure not to strip it either. Now take the oil pan, milk jug and funnel and pour the oil into the milk jug. If you can, prop it against a wall to make sure you drain all of it into the jug while you continue to work.

12. Get the other funnel and put it into the oil filler hole and pour in the correct amount of oil for your vehicle. Then put the cap back on and collect all of your newspapers and tools. Recycle the used oil containers and put the old oil filter in the Ziploc bag. You can just throw away the newspapers or whatever you used. However, it is illegal to improperly dispose of oil. The fines are numbers that you didn’t see until high school math. We’ll get to that.

13. Check your oil level using your dipstick. If you’re satisfied with that, start your car and let it idle for a few minutes just to get the new oil circulating. Check around and under your car for leaks. Those would be bad.

14. Last, jet on over to one of those places that you opted not to change your oil. They’ll take the old oil and filter and properly dispose of them. Go to Jiffy Lube, Grease Monkey, the mechanic on the corner; it really doesn’t matter. They’ll take it.

Good job! You changed your oil and proved your friends wrong! Just remember to keep track of how far you have to go until your next change on your odometer, and you’re car will run like a dream for the full extent of it’s life.

Written by pagman13

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