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Create a Magical Valentine’s Day
By Gina | February 6, 2010
Does the thought of Valentine’s Day excite you or does it give you another big holiday headache?
Traditionally, Valentine’s Day is a day where lovers express their love for each other. They send ‘valentine’ greetings in the form of cards, flowers and lots and lots of chocolate. These greetings are further exemplified through the traditional symbols of Valentine’s Day that include hearts, Cupid and his arrow and lots of ‘Be My Valentine’ love notes.
Is Love only supposed to be so outwardly expressed this one day of the year?
“Love, love, love”…isn’t that a Beatles song? Yes and I believe it is called, ‘All We Need is Love.’ It is true - we do need love, but we need the non-clinging kind – the kind that allows each one of us to be who we are, without anyone trying to change or manipulate us into something that we are not. Easy? No - especially with all the conditioning and expectations that we were brought up with about how Love should be shown to us.
How can we break these conditioned patterns?
Sit with yourself a bit and find out if you have any clinging or expectations when it comes to love. See what emotions get stirred up, if any, when you ask yourself the following questions:
What if your partner does not get you anything on Valentine’s Day? Would you be upset? What are you expecting to receive on this day? What if you only received a card? What if your partner expressed to you that he or she wanted to leave the relationship? Would you do everything in your power to convince him or her not to leave? Or would you let him or her go in peace, wishing only the best for each of you?
Once we become aware of any clinging or expectations we may have about love, then with that same awareness, we can release it and let it go, replacing ‘self-centered love’ with ‘true love’. Only then can we truly enjoy the material forms of this world, including those traditional Valentine’s Day gifts we may receive, because we will not be attached to it or mistake it for ‘true love’. We can now enjoy all gifts, because we know that true love only comes from within.
Imagine that we prepared a Valentine’s Day for our special someone with no expectations whatsoever. What if we prepared something to give from our hearts, without expecting to get anything in return? What if we created something new and different to experience on this Valentine’s Day – something that catapults you and your lover into the NOW? Let’s give it a try!
Now on to the fun part!
Let’s step out of the box and add a little of nature’s bounty to the mix – namely essential oils and the art of Aromatherapy!
The power of scent is amazing. Animals use it in the wild to attract a mate, women and men wear their favorite perfume or cologne to enhance their physical attraction and we even use scent to entice a home buyer, (think warm cinnamon buns just pulled out of the oven) who is walking through our home, to attract a sale.
Can you think of a scent that takes you back to your childhood? Maybe something your mom or grandmother used to cook or bake or the fresh scent of an orange as you peel the skin away to reveal the succulent fruit. When you inhale a scent, it brings you into the moment. Even if you are thinking about a past event, you relive it in the moment that is the Now. That is how powerful our sense of smell is.
Imagine creating a personalized scent for the one you love that can bring you into the moment together, as One.
This Valentine’s Day, use your senses as a pathway to presence!
Using your sense of smell and touch are the perfect vehicles for experiencing a truly sensual, Valentine’s evening - one of true Love – the Love that allows one to be who they are, every moment of every day.
So let’s dive in to make this Valentine’s Day fun and unique by creating your own special Valentine’s Love Potion blend for you and your partner to inspire a magical evening - whether it be full of romance, or just much needed quiet time for the two of you. Ok, I know there are a few things you would have to consider first such as planning for a babysitter if you have young children, turning your phone off (and putting your cell phone on vibrate or off if you can) and creating your essential oil Love Potion blend before Valentine’s Day, but if planned out, it could be a day you will treasure for a long time.
Below is a list of essential oils to choose from and how to create your scentual potion. With a little planning, you can ignite the spark in your partner and have a blissful, romantic evening!
Essential Oils: (*note - Jasmine and Vanilla are CO2 Extracts)
Lavender (Lavandula officinalis) ~ reduces stress and promotes relaxation
Rose (Rosa damascena) ~ inspires love and romance
Ylang ylang (Cananga Odorata) ~ aphrodisiac
*Jasmine (Jasmin sambac) ~ exotic - invites in romance
Geranium rose (Pelargonium graveolens roseum) ~ balances the emotions
*Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) ~ aphrodisiac; men seem to love this scent
Lemon (Citrus limonium) ~ light and uplifting
Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea) ~ promotes deep relaxation and reduces stress and tension
Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin) ~ deep and earthy - grounding
Sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) ~ warms the heart
Love Potion Recipe ~
Create a unique Valentine’s Love Potion essential oil blend for you and your partner. Once created, you can use this blend in the ways described below. You just never know, your partner may become love-struck as if hit by Cupid’s arrow or just thrilled that you took the time to create this sacred space for the two of you.
Choose 2-4 essential oils from the above list. Start by listing your chosen essential oils on a piece of paper. Then write down the number of drops of each one that you will use. Have your drops add up to approximately 30 in total. Now that you have created your formula, make your blend by adding the essential oils to a 5 or 10 ml glass bottle that has an orifice reducer (allows drops to come out one at a time) or to a glass bottle that has a dropper. You should be able to find these at your local health food store or Whole Foods.
Below are some sample blends. You can also choose one essential oil to use such as Lavender or Geranium rose by itself to keep it simple. Or if you do not have the time to create your own, you can choose a blend already made that is for sale at a health food store such as Whole Foods or contact an Aromatherapy Consultant who can make a customized blend for you.
Rose Bliss:
Rose – 5 drops
Geranium Rose- 7 drops
Lemon – 15 drops
Sweet-N-Sensuous:
Lavender – 14 drops
Vanilla – 6 drops
Jasmine – 3 drops
Lover’s Lust:
Lavender ~ 20 drops
Geranium rose ~ 9 drops
Ylang ylang ~ 1 drop
Hearts On Fire:
Vanilla ~ 8 drops
Cinnamon ~ 3 drops
Patchouli ~ 2 drops
Sweet orange ~ 17 drops
Once you have your blend made, here are some ways to use your magical Love Potion:
Diffuser ~ to scent your environment with romance, follow the directions that came with your diffuser. Be sure to start diffusing your blend at least 15 minutes before your ‘special date’ begins.
Scented Card ~ adds a personal touch to your Valentine’s message - put a drop or two of your blend, (add the drops the day before or early on the day that you are giving the card) to the Valentine’s Day card you are giving your partner.
Romantic Massage ~ Two gifts in one! (Plus you are using both your sense of smell and touch!) Give the gift of your homemade body oil and then use it to give a loving massage to your partner. Add 9-12 drops of your Love Potion blend to a 1 ounce bottle and then fill it up with a base oil such as sweet almond oil or jojoba (bases can be found at health food stores).
Sensuous Bath ~ Have a tub for two? Scent your bath with your erotic Love Potion blend (add 5-7 drops to your bath water and swish around) and light some candles for a truly cupid-inspired evening. Why not use your body oil blend and massage each other as well for true heart-warming bliss!
Blissful Bedding Mist ~ Buy an empty 1 ounce bottle with a sprayer top. Add 9-12 drops of your Valentine’s Love Potion blend to the bottle. Then fill the rest of the bottle with distilled, filtered or spring water. Shake well and mist lightly on pillows and sheets to induce sweet dreams after your romantic Valentine’s rendezvous.
Really be in the moment when you spend this time with your special someone. Inhale the scents (your sense of smell) and really feel his or her skin (your sense of touch) as you massage each other. Stay present and in the moment by focusing on these senses and your time together will be that much more powerful and unifying.
Be creative! It’s fun to change things up a bit. Plus the thought you put into this shows your partner how special she or he is to you. If you have extra time, why not cook a romantic dinner as well. Whatever you have time for, even if it is just adding a drop of essential oil to your lover’s Valentine’s card, go for it. Make it unique and different by adding your special touches. Turn the lights down low, light some candles and be open to the experience - you never know where it may lead!
Of course you do not have to wait for Valentine’s Day or some other holiday to do this. You can use these ideas anytime. Aromatherapy gives us these special gifts inspired by nature that you can use daily to make your days and nights special, no matter what time of the year.
What do you think? Have you ever created your own magical Aromatherapy potion to share with your special someone? What unique ways have you showed your love for someone…..without expecting anything in return?
Inhale~Enjoy~Exhale!
Gina
**Important Note: Before using any essential oils, check with your medical practitioner if you have any health concerns or conditions or if you are pregnant or nursing.
Topics: Aromatherapy Luminary Tips, Using Your Senses |
Technorati Tags: aromatherapy, essential oils, gina rafkind, magic potion, romance, romantic valentine's day, valentine's day, vedasun
February 9th, 2010 at 5:27 am
Thanks Gina, I love the idea of making EO blends as gifts for VD. How would you transfer the blend into another bottle?( I know its probably very obvious once you know!)
I wonder what a CO2 extract is?
If and when you have time to get back to me, I’d appreciate it. If you are too busy, thats ok.
I’m looking forward to creating a few blends! Thanks!
Sheri
February 9th, 2010 at 6:59 am
Hi Sheri,
You would use a bottle with an orifice reducer top (lets one drop out at a time) or a bottle with a dropper top - that’s the easiest way to transfer the eo blends to another bottle. (it’s in the article above, but you probably missed that part :).
You can also buy pipettes, but then that’s another thing you’ll have to buy so it’s easier to buy on of the two types of bottles described above.
CO2 extraction is another way that essential oils are extracted from its plant material. The most popular way is called steam distillation which is where steam passes through the plant material and this caused the eo to evaporate with the water. There’s more to it, but basically floats on top of the floral water and the eo is separated from the floral water.
With CO2 extraction, there’s pressure used but no heat to obtain the eo. Carbon Dioxide is used with varying degrees of pressure to turn the CO2 gas into a liquid, then this liquid is used as a liquid solvent to extract the essential oil.
Again, there’s lots more to it and actually a couple different materials obtained from CO2 extraction but hope this helps to explain it a little for you.
Does that help?
Have fun creating your blends and if you have any more questions, don’t hesitate from stopping over again and commenting!
Thanks and have a great day.
Inhale~Enjoy~Exhale,
Gina