The Luxury of Lavender

January 29, 2024

The first thing you will notice about lavender is its heady aroma - evocative yet calming. Lavender fields are a sight to behold, a sea of bluey-lilac flower heads bending in the breeze is beautifully tranquil to the eye. On top of this, when used as a herbal remedy it is known to have incredible calming and soothing effects as it fills your senses.

Native originally to the Mediterranean region, but now grown in many parts of the world including the United States, India and parts of Australasia, there are now many different varieties of the lavender plant with varying scents and healing properties. The oil extraction is the most used part of the lavender for healing purposes, but the flower once dried, is used for purposes such as stuffing sachets or pillows to inhale the fragrance whilst sleeping, or as a calming effect in a room.

Lavender is widely used in Ayurvedic principles as it is believed to pacify, calm or soothe pitta and vata doshas and has a cooling energy. Inhaling the scent of lavender will relax your mind and is a key oil to enhance your immune system, clear your senses and protect against common everyday illnesses such as colds and chest infections.

This herb, in the form of oil, will fortify your ‘ojas’ (vital energy) when delicately placed around the breastbone area, just over the heart, and protect and support your immune system and illnesses involving respiratory problems.

Placed on a bandage or sticking plaster gauze, it will aid in the healing of wounds or bring relief to skin complaints such as irritation from dry skin.

Lavender is contained in our Siddhi Tonics Rest formula which will bring you peace and tranquillity, and will help in a relaxing nights’ sleep. We call this our ‘Downshift and Dream’ product and we highly recommend it to ‘down shift’ after the stresses and strains of the world we live in today.

The uses of lavender in many aspects are all but endless and a restoring,resetting and rejuvenating elixir of life to be used for both mind and body.

Some recommended uses are:

• Add lavender to your evening bath (as an oil or part of a bath product). It will refresh, calm you and ease any muscle aches and pains.
• Again, you can use lavender in homemade bath products such as scrubs by mixing it with olive oil and sugar – it will remove dead skin, stimulate new growth and soften at the same time.
• If you have a stress headache at the end of the day, spray and gently rub lavender essential oil into your forehead and temples.
• For a refreshing drink, add lavender to iced water for a delicious and refreshing taste, particularly in hot weather. The infusion tastes so good and you can even add fruit.
• You can use lavender as an inhalant for colds, chesty coughs and blocked noses! Place a few drops into a bowl of hot water, cover your head with a towel and breathe in. The relief is wonderful!
• Lavender can bring relief in many other areas of the body, such as the stomach. Rubbed into the affected area, it can ease cramps, bloating, menstrual pain and even indigestion.

Lavender products, whether dried, sprayed or used as an oil have so many wonderful properties, and are gentle enough to be used on the skin and even your face, and have recuperative properties on both internal and external organs.

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