July 31 2020
Daily Rituals of Self Care with Aromatherapy
Each day we make choices about how we want to feel. From the minute we step out of our beds, put our feet on the floor and reach out with our minds, heads or hands we are enabling a thousand neural connections to be made that will lead us down a path of desired actions and emotions or make us go astray.
Humans are wired to get this wrong, to make poor choices, to pick the wrong thing and then to build a fortress of habit around our why's. I know. I am just like you. We all have strengths and weaknesses. For instance you can wake up and never touch your phone until you've meditated or done yoga or ran three miles. I can jump into my day and get stuff done, attacking and creating and lifting myself towards my goals. We all have super powers.
But just like the gods, sitting a top the mountain, looking down at us humans, we easily become judge and jury to our every action and mood. Our language is designed to provide questions and answers, and we have mastered self-debate. We have forgotten to want what we have. And we argue with ourselves both in the shadows and in the daylight, not knowing if our deep soul yearning or our bodies and minds will win.
Because there is a battle going on. It is not one of good and evil, it is one of deep desire and longing for mastery over our lives to attempt to organize what otherwise seems unfair, challenging and demanding, in the best of times.
Rituals serve as a bridge between our outer and inner worlds, between the profane and the sacred, and between the ordinary and the extraordinary. Ritual provides an anchor in life’s messy storm. It brings ancient and mysterious knowingness of the true nature of our being-ness, our tribal-ness, our me-ness.
In Sanscrit, ritual means "the lawful and regular order of the normal, and therefore proper, natural and true structure of cosmic, worldly, human and ritual events.” No wonder the wellness industry has co-opted this essential concept. After all its great marketing fodder. If you can create habits, in this case good ones, and call them rituals and sell more products, let's then make that a thing. Put on your skin cream and have fewer wrinkles. Drink more water and be more hydrated. Sounds like what is going on, right? A beauty or wellness regimen can be a self-care ritual? In ancient times anointing the body with water or oils was a truly devotional act. Essential oils and aromatherapy offer an even greater opportunity for healing, divinity and consciousness as
The ancient Egyptians utilized essential oils, resin, and perfumed unguents to anchor prayers and religious ceremony. The oils and unguents burned were necessary to ensure divinities’ protection and benevolence, to purify the body and to conduct embalming ceremonies. Over time these sacred practices evolved into daily hygiene practices such as using flowers, aromatic plants and essential oils to scent water, and of course the body and hair. And so, our connection to scent, and the power of oils and rituals is a birthright, a tradition, passed down from century to century, culture to culture, mother to daughter.
There are many types of rituals in which essential oils and aromatherapy can become an anchor or tool in your day and life and provide relief, focus and possibility. When I began to use aromatherapy in my daily life I found that these moments with myself provided incredible relief, focus and innumerable benefits. By combining ritual with my scent practice, I was able to, in the moment shift and lift my mood. From this experience ADORAtherapy created two major concepts that have become our “raison d’etre”, our reason for being: “Scent with Intent” and “Adore Yourself!”
I have created rituals using our transformational and healing synergies and am excited to share them with you here for the first time. For more on each specific ritual click on the title. I can't wait to hear back from you on how these impacted you and how you have adopted them and adapted them to be your own.
This ritual of initiation is designed to invite you to be a part of something bigger then yourself and to remind yourself you are enough.
This is a manifestation ritual in which you use oils and items and words to animate intention.
"I AM in the flow of constant prosperity and abundance"
This is a ritual of worship and celebration and includes prayer, the consecration of objects and the invoking of a higher power
"I SEE ALL situations & experiences with the utmost clarity"
This is ritual of protection and clearing in which you ask that everything you want removed is, and that you are unencumbered and freed of any energy holding you back
"I AM free and clear to express my fullest potential"
This ritual is for healing the heart and opening yourself to joy.
"I CHOOSE JOY and compassion"
