Leaves & Their Energy in Fall
Aromatic Leaves of herbs and spices, grasses, and trees or shrubs are the sources of essential oils and perfumes of great strength and intensity.
Essential oils from the Leaves of Eucalyptus trees help us breathe better, dispel painful aches, assist in wound healing, clarify cloudy thoughts, and calm our agitations.
Why do we love Eucalyptus so much?
It may be because Eucalyptus leaves have a strong scent with a medicinal effect similar to camphor.
A substance known to herbalists and shamans since ancient times, camphor, from the tree leaves and resin of the specific tree, Cinamomum camphora, grows in Japan and China. It’s also known as hon-sho, and white Camphor.
Long ago, camphor was the go-to medicine for respiratory distress. But in obtaining the camphor fragrance from the leaves, a carcinogenic compound must be removed to make the material less difficult to use. Secondly, the smell of camphor can cause convulsions. Thirdly, camphor isn’t often used in perfumes, so there is much less known about its scent. Chemotypes of the tree growing in different parts of East Asia yield variations of the oil*
Certain essential oils from tree leaves offer aromatic alternatives to camphor. These are leaves of trees native to the Southern Hemisphere, grown and distilled there and in similar tropical places world-wide.
Alternative to camphor, tree-leaf essential oils offer aromas that decongest & clear.
Eucalyptus, Cajeput, Tea Tree, and Niaouli are typical of Myrtle family plants of the tropics. Their leaves are broadleaf evergreens (not needle-like).
Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) tree leaves (in the Laurel family of plants) offer an essential oil with deeply restorative components for the breath. Like Myrtle family trees their leaves are broad-leaf evergreens.
Eucalyptus Leaves
Of the components that ease breathing 1,8 cineole is found in high concentration in Eucalyptus leaves This component has strong anti-microbial power. If Eucalyptus oil is air-borne in a room full of people, if its volatile components are diffused into the air, it may increase immunity of all the people there.
Three Eucalyptus trees types have essential oils that are helpful for breathing: Blue Gum, Narrow-leaved, and Lemon-scented.
It’s the concentrated, viscous deposits in Eucalyptus leaves which humans want for medicine.
These viscous deposits are extracted from the leaves during steam-distillation which results in essential oil.
Known for their medicinal herbs or distilled oils, Eucalyptus trees are the royal family of anti-microbial essences. And their aromas clarify the channel of the breath, assist in pain relief, and brighten mental outlook.
The scent of Eucalyptus is complemented by a few aromatic herbs
Essential oils such as Eucalyptus, Bay Laurel and Cajeput are blended for the breath and for calming nervous states of digestion.
Make this blend in a roll-on bottle to carry with you.
Once blended and aged overnight, apply by rolling on backs of wrists, pulse points, under chin. Or simply inhale the scent for its clarifying effects.
Eucalyptus Blue Gum, Bay Laurel, & Cajeput blend
For Autumn Wellness, Breath & Clarity
Ingredients, essential oils (e.o.):
3 drops Eucalyptus Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus) or Eucalyptus Narrow-Leaf (E. radiata) e.o.
3 drops Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) e.o.
3 drops Cajeput (Melaleuca cajuputi) e.o.
Carrier Oil: 10 ml Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) oil as a carrier for the above mixture
Container: 1-10ml roll-on glass bottle with cap
To Make: Open a clean 10ml glass bottle. Pour your Jojoba oil to half-full. Drop in essential oils by the drop. Then add Jojoba oil over the aromatic blend to reach the neck of the bottle. Close the cap tightly and gently roll between your palms to encourage the combination of aromas. Allow to rest overnight. Make sure the cap is closed tightly. Next day, turn bottle upside-down, and right-side up several times to combine thoroughly. Ready for use!
Write and ask me how to use an essential oil that you already have at home.
Wellness Tip: Meet the challenge of Autumn. Awaken Your Strength & Live with Vitality
Author Peter Holmes is an authority on Chinese herbal medicine, and essential oils. See Aromatica Vols. 1 & 2 by Peter Holmes, c2016 & 2019. Published by Dragon Press, London & Philadelphia.
SAFETY NOTE: Be Safe! when using essential oils and products of natural origin. An essential oil is safe, but only if applied in a safe way. Always dilute essential oils in a carrier oil before applying to the face or body, or when adding to bath water. Ask your aromatherapist or herbalist for guidance.
Ask your health care provider before using essential oils in pregnancy, or when trying to become pregnant, OR taking medication for any condition. Do not use essential oils internally.
This post is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical treatment for any disease or condition. Do not use Eucalyptus oils with or around children under 10 years of age.
NOTES:
Leaves from other evergreen trees and from herbs and spices are also decongesting and clarifying.
Pine tree or conifer leaves are needle-like and evergreen, originating in the northern climates. They are opening or clarifying to the breath, and often applied for muscular pain.
Regarded as sacred in ancient times, essential oils of the conifers offer medicinal substances that guard against bacteria, agitation, and allergies. Tree leaves with these substances are mostly native to the Northern Hemisphere. Some trees thrive at or near the Equator.
*Steam-distillation of Camphor-like scents from chemotypes of Cinnamomum camphor render essential oils known as Ho Wood oil and Ravintsara.
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