Posts Tagged With: aromatherapy

Rosy Oatmeal Bath

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Mama Rosemary

Heart opening roses in the bath restores the nervous system while cleansing and toning the skin.

Oatmeal in the bath creates a rich mucilage that is extremely soothing to dry skin.  

Rose Geranium eases nervous tension and rejuvenates skin.

Pure simple delight!  

Rosy Oatmeal Bath

~ Make your very own Rosy Oatmeal bath  ~

In a cloth or muslin bag wrap:

  • 1 to 2 large handfuls of dried rose petals or rose buds (organic please!)
  • 1 to 2 large handfuls of oatmeal

Toss the bundle in the tub and fill with the hottest water from your faucet.  Let your bundle steep in the tub until the water is cool enough for bathing about 15 to 20 minutes depending on the heat of your water.

Next Add:

  • 6 to 10 drops of rose geranium essential oil
  • a handful of epsom salt, optional

Climb in and enjoy this super soothing, comforting bath!  Be sure to squeeze and squish your bundle of roses and oatmeal to liberate the slippery, milky goodness from the oats.  Use your bundle as a nice gentle scrub all over your body.  I even put some on my face and let it remain there for a while to nourish my skin.  Oh so simple and lovely…

After my bath ~

My skin was soft, so soft!  I felt truly relaxed, nourished and ready for the rest of my day.

If you are following me on the Nourishing Mama Mission, this is the third bath recipe to add to The Art of Bathing.  Thanks for reading and happy bathing!

Categories: Bathing, Essential Oils, Mama Care And Empowerment, Natural Family Care, Nourishing Mama Mission, Practices For Intentional Living, Roses | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Sleepy Time Foot Balm For Kids

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Mama Rosemary

Who doesn’t like a good foot massage?  A nice rub is especially relaxing before bed.  Massage oils and balms made with essential oils massaged into the bottom of feet at bedtime helps to induce sleep as well as fight infection.

tooties

Did You Know ~ Our bodies are able to absorb a phenomenal amount through the skin on the bottom of our feet.  In fact an old remedy for coughs is to put rub the bottom of the feet with olive oil, put minced garlic on top of the oil and then put socks over the whole thing.  Within a very short amount of time the person’s breath will smell of garlic!  The garlic then helps to fight infection from the inside of the lungs out as the person breathes.

  

Creating Foot Balms With Kids ~ 

What is better than squishing and squeezing a bag of gooey goodness?  This is just what we did recently at preschool.  The kids each created their own sleepy time foot balm in a little baggie for mixing.  Originally we were going to use tins to put the balms in but what fun is that?

squishing foot balm

Gosh, their little hands were so busy, I had a hard time getting a clear picture! But you get the idea right? Squishing up stuff in a bag is super fun!

Materials ~

  • Shea Butter
  • Coconut Oil (optional)
  • Relaxing Essential Oils, Some Examples Are ~
    • cedarwood
    • lavender
    • petitgrain
    • sweet orange
    • ylang ylang
    • vetivert
    • sandalwood
    • frankincense
    • rose geranium

Instructions ~

  • Place a big spoonful (about a tablespoon) or two of the shea butter and coconut oil in a baggie.  
  • Let the children smell the essential oils and pick out a couple of their favorites that make them feel relaxed and sleepy.  
  • Add these essential oils to the shea butter/coconut oil blend.  Because this is a really loose project with no exact measurement for the shea butter/coconut oil blend, I errored on the side of too little essential oil, to be safe, rather than risk using to much.  So I used up to 6 drops of essential per baggie.  This means that if the child choose lavender, cedarwood and ylang ylang for the essential oils, I put 2 drops of each oil in their baggie for a total of 6 drops.  See Essential Oils for more information on using them herbal preparation safely.
  • Seal the bag shut tight!
  • Now for the fun part… Mixing it all up!  It is the child’s job to mix up all that goodness by squishing it around to their heart’s content!

squeezing foot balm

To Use ~

At bedtime rub a little bit of the balm on the bottoms of your child’s feet.  This is  a great time to connect with a little massage and conversation or lullaby.  Then cover your child’s feet with socks.  Off to slumber land they go!

More~ 

Nightmares And Night Terrors, What’s A Mama To Do?

Categories: Aromatherapy For Kids, Essential Oils, Foot Rubs And Soaks, Healthy Sleep, Herbal Tips And Tricks, Herbs For Kids and Mamas, Lesson Plans For Preschool And Home, Mindful Self Care, Parenting, Playing With Herbs, Practices For Intentional Living | Tags: , | 6 Comments

Soothing Herbal Bath For Irritated Muscles & Nerves

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Mama Rosemary

Frustrated, angry muscles and nerves plagued me over the past few days leaving me all sore and aching.  When I am sore I always try to fit in a nice hot soak in the tub.  Even with just epsom salts and hot water, I usually feel so much better after soaking.  This time I made my bath even more soothing with the following blend of salts and herbs ~ oatstraw to ease my nerves and rosemary for muscle soreness.  It worked wonders!

 

Make Your Own ~

 

In a cloth or muslin bag wrap:

  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup of dried rosemary leaf
  • 1/2 cup oatstraw

oatstraw filled bag

Toss the bundle in the tub and fill with the hottest water from your faucet.  Let the herbs steep in the tub until the water is cool enough for bathing about 15 to 30 minutes depending on the heat of your water.  The water will turn a buttery light yellow.

Next Add:

  • 1 to 2 cups Epsom salts
  • 1/2 cup baking soda
  • 5 drops ginger essential oil
  • 5 drops rosemary essential oil
  • 2 drops vetivert essential oil

My vetivert essential oil has turned into a thick syrup oil so I had to patiently wait for each drop to slowing make it’s way out of the bottle but it was so worth it!

After this bath I felt relaxed, centered and less soreness.  I took my bath quite hot and only stayed in for about 15 minutes, it was like soaking in an herbal hot springs.  Then I got out and laid on the floor with my feet on the sill of an open window.  I laid there breathing deep and relaxing.  As my body cooled down the tension drained out of my muscles.  I felt so calm and peaceful.  My muscles and nerves are finally nourished, letting go of tension…

Relaxedly yours…..

If you are following me on the Nourishing Mama Mission, this is the second bath recipe to add to The Art of Bathing.  Thanks for reading and happy bathing!

Categories: Bathing, Essential Oils, Mama Care And Empowerment, Natural Family Care, Nourishing Mama Mission, Oatstraw, Practices For Intentional Living | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Minty Mint Bath

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Mama Rosemary

Mint in the tub enlivens the senses and restores the spirit so this is a wonderful bath for when you need a little happy boost!

flowering peppermint

Here is how to make your very own mint bath  ~

In a cloth or muslin bag wrap:

  • 1 to 2 large handfuls of dried peppermint leaves
  • a good sprinkle of lavender blossoms

Toss the bundle in the tub and fill with the hottest water from your facuet.  Let the herbs steep in the tub until the water is cool enough for bathing about 15 to 20 minutes depending on the heat of your water.  The water will turn a deep greenish yellow brown, like a giant cup of peppermint tea.

Next Add:

  • a handful of epsom salt
  • 6 drops of spearmint (not peppermint*) essential oil

Climb in and enjoy this happy, refreshing bath!

After my bath ~

I felt calm as I always do after bathing yet I also had a sense of wanting to inhale the moment.  The rest of the afternoon found me happily going about my business with peaceful energy.  Plus my skin smelled sweet and nice, a bit minty, yum!

* A Note On Peppermint Essential Oil:  Every time I try putting peppermint in my bath I get burned, even with just one drop!  I start to feel an itchy uncomfortable sensation on my skin and must get out to rub down with olive oil, which dilutes the peppermint.  People react differently to things and it is possible that I am sensitive to peppermint.  Try peppermint essential oil in your bath, if you wish, but please start with one drop and go from there.

If you are following me on the Nourishing Mama Mission, this is the first bath recipe to add to The Art of Bathing.  Thanks for reading and happy bathing!

Shared On: Wildcrafting Wednesday, Natural Living Link-up, Heatlhy Habits Tuesday, Eco Kid’s Tuesday

 

Categories: Bathing, Mama Care And Empowerment, Natural Family Care, Nourishing Mama Mission, Peppermint, Practices For Intentional Living | Tags: , , , | 7 Comments

Cinnamon Day ~ Herbs For Kids ~

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Mama Rosemary

When I share herbs with kids I love to do it on as many levels  as possible, engaging all their senses.  Of course taste, touch and smell are huge when working with herbs plus most herbs are a visual feast for the eyes.

This day,  cinnamon day, was no exception.  Cinnamon is delicious and approachable often bringing up memories of comfort from home with its sweetly spicy taste, yummy fragrance and warming properties.  It is a great herb for working with kids.  They simply love the taste, the smell and it is a familiar herbs for most.

Cinnamon Milk

We had an absolutely lovely, cozy day playing with cinnamon.  I made the kids warm cinnamon milk for snack time which they LOVED.  Making cinnamon milk is so easy and at the same time tastes so special.  Because the preschool I work at is vegan, I used almond milk for the kiddos combining it with a bit of cinnamon, enough to really flavor the milk without being overwhelming, and then heated it to a nice warm drinkable temperature.

Cinnamon Play Dough 

Our hands on experience was making cinnamon play dough.  I have a great love of play dough stemming back from my childhood and combining herbs with play dough is just about one of the best things ever in my opinion!  I made a big supply of fresh play dough and brought it in still warm for the kiddos to enjoy.

As the kids playing I sprinkled on ground cinnamon and the warmth of the play dough interacting with the cinnamon made for a lovely smell.  We also added a bit of orange essential oil to the play dough for an extra dimension of fragrance.

I brought in lots of cinnamon sticks for them to use with the play dough.

Play Dough Recipe

  • 1 cup of flour
  • 1/2 cup of salt
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 tbsp oil

Optional: powdered herbs for color, either mix in when cooking (can give more even color) or let the kids mix in at the table.

Combine dry ingredients in a sauce pan.  Add the water and oil.  Stir together and heat slowly over low heat.  Stir almost constantly until the play dough sets up.  Let it cool to warm before playing, play dough right off the stove is hot.

While they played I read the story of Cinnamon, Queen of the Spices from A Kid’s Herb Book by Lesley Tierra.  If you haven’t checked out this book, you really are in for a treat when you do!  It is chock full of ideas, stories, recipes and herbal inspiration for kids.

Cinnamon Day was a simple creative day of great fun and rich experience.  A time to connect with a beautiful tasty plant friend.

Click for more information on cinnamon

Shared On: The Kid’s Co-op, It’s Play Time!, Kid’s In The Kitchen, Eco Kid’s Tuesday

Categories: Cinnamon and Spices, Herbal Crafts And Projects, Herbs For Kids and Mamas, Lesson Plans For Preschool And Home, Play Dough, Playing With Herbs | Tags: , , , | 13 Comments

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