Will you join us to become NetZero?
Inspirational quote - “People must feel that the natural world is important and valuable and beautiful and wonderful and an amazement and a pleasure” - David Attenborough
Hello April! This month we have a look at how we can reduce our stress as April is Stress Awareness Month. Aromatherapy and Holistic Therapy are the ideal antidote to stress so let us help you feel more relaxed and ready to enjoy Spring and Summer.
When essential oils are inhaled, the tiny cilia hairs in your nose capture the scent molecules and transmit a signal to the Olfactory nerves which in turn send a message to the brain (the amygdala part of your brain which detects stress levels and is the emotional center of the brain) . The amygdala instructs the Hypothalamus, the pituitary gland and the adrenal glands (our central stress response system known as the HPA Axis) to release cortisol (the flight or fight reaction fuelled by glucose released by cortisol). But enough science for one day, we know aromatherapy is an effective way to relax.
When we inhale essential oils, messages are sent to the limbic system which is linked to our emotional reaction. Each essential oil has properties that can cause us to feel relaxed, energised, soothed and balanced. Lavender has a chemical constituent, Linalool, which is believed to soften the effects of the nervous system resulting in a relaxed state. Studies in Japan have found that using Lavender on a regular basis can have a remarkable effect on anxiety, stress and stress related issues. Another active constituent of Lavender is d-limonene which is believed to have anti-inflammatory benefits which can help to reduce the effects of stress on the body. It is for this reason, all but one of our blends contain lavender oil.
Another essential oil we use to help you to relax is Geranium Bourbon, it is known to have relaxing, soothing, balancing effects on our endocrine and central nervous system but how does it work? There is something wonderful how the brain reacts to certain oils, Geranium contains active constituents, geraniol and citronellol, which deliver benefits such as anxiolytic (anti-anxiety). Did you know that geraniol is produced by bees to help with pollination of flowers, both are natural constituents. Citronellol is known to help deter mosquitoes which is why you should grown geraniums for your home. Palmarosa oil also contains geraniol so the two together is our “help me, apparently I need to chill out” collection will certainly help you relax after a busy stressful day!
The third essential oil we talking about today is Petitgrain, which is derived from the Bitter Orange Tree and a family member of the Rutaceae family alongside neroli. Petitgrain is a fabulous oil that helps you to sleep better, feel relaxed and is a valuable antidepressant. If you are feeling emotionally exhausted, petitgrain will help to soothe and calm your thoughts. If you have been poorly, Petitgrain will be invaluable to help with your recovery. Petitgrain is used in our “help me, it’s way past my bedtime” collected alongside lavender, ginger and eucalyptus.
There are many ways to improve our stress levels, we are passionate about helping you to feel happy, relaxed and healthy, it is the reason we decided to make our blends into products. Here are our TOP TEN ways to relax…..
Exercise - how often have you intended to get out for a walk/run and not wanted to go yet when you do, you feel happier, less stressed and have a different mindset.
Dance - Putting music on and have a bob releasing endorphins into the bloodstream which improve our sense of well-being plus without realising you are exercising too! Sing your head off whilst dancing for added fun…
Hug a tree - my family chuckle at me when I fling my arms around a big old tree but the tree is anchored to the ground which in turn helps to ground me! I am a reiki practitioner and totally believe in the Life Force Energy. Every tree is connected to this Life Force so go on hug a tree but don’t forget to say thank you
Have a long soak in the bath - the warmth of the water soothes and relaxed your muscles. Add one of our candles so you inhale the restoring and calming scent plus the light of a candle is very soothing for your eyes. Why not go the whole hog and put some gentle music on.
Spending time with friends and family laughing releases “feel-good” hormones, releases your facial muscles
Reed a book or watch a good movie - I cant count the times I have become so lost in a book that an hour or two has passed. There are some fantastic movies to get in lost in, your mind will forget your worries for an hour or two and relax.
Hobbies - I love gardening which gets my hands in soil outside with nature. The best therapy for the soul is listening to birds singing, bees buzzing. I often lie on the grass and let the whole thing happen around me. To remember that we are only one tiny part of this world is grounding. Whats your favourite past-time?
Have a massage or reflexology - hopefully not long now to enjoy these fabulous therapies which help smooth your tension away, relax your mind and body. If you ve never had a massage, try it! I have been a holistic therapist for 30 years and cant wait to see my customers again and see their before and after faces.
Use our essential oils around your home. In diffusers, oil burners, big bowls of water on windowsills, tissues under your pillow, room sprays, massage oils, reed diffusers. Filling your home and workplace with the scent of relaxation can only be beneficial for our stress levels.
And our last one is….. Completing a VisionBoard. Stress can cause Mind Muddle or the reverse, simply spending an hour working through your thoughts and putting them down on paper is liberating for your mind. You can see which bits need attention. What would you like to do? Where would you like to go? What big plan do you have or a small plan? No stress pure therapeutic fun. Please go to our website and download one for free, we want to help you become released from your stress. This is fun though and doesn’t have to stay how you ve written it. Dr Edward Bach truly believes that we begin life as a spring onion then as life affects us, we gain layers and may end up a big garden onion. He suggests thinking of our we feel NOW, treat it, deal with it and come to terms with it, then peel off a layer. We may never arrive back at a spring onion but its so healthy to make peace with who we are. When people lose weight, sometimes this causes emotion to be released after each stone/Kilo, its because lots of time we store away emotion as we don’t want to or are unable to deal with it, we all know that its not healthy but it happens. A visionboard will help you so try it.
Add 3-4 drops of our organc essential oil blend to a bowl of water (doesnt have to be this big a bowl!) The warmth from the room will diffuse the oils
In April we also celebrate Easter (Good Friday 2nd April through to Easter Monday on the 4th), I remember as a child being given a Good Friday Ball. I come from a salt town and the metal type balls were used to prevent a build up of sediment, then on Good Friday they were cleaned up and given to children to enjoy with instead of Easter Eggs. The balls, when I was young, were brightly coloured balls to play with. Is this just a Winsford, Cheshire tradition or did you receive a Good Friday Ball? We would love to know. Hot Cross Buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday to remember the cruxification. Traditional has it that if you hang a bun in your kitchen, it will not grow moldy but will harden. This represents the fact that, though Jesus died on the cross, he was resurrected. The spices in the hot cross bun were used to embalm him at his burial. Eating the Hot Cross Buns was also the end of Lent and the beginning of the feast.
Easter is an important festival in the Christian calendar, we celebrate the “rising” of Jesus after his death, this year we will be unable to go to Church but that doesnt mean we are unable to celebrate. Spending time as a family is the perfect way to celebrate Easter. Try and arrange an Easter Egg Hunt in the garden, hang colourful bunting in your garden and start planting seeds. We are passionate about nature, we can all help her out by mowing our lawns less, planting wildflower patches or pots, creating places for insects to thrive. Not being too tidy and obsessive and keeping our lawns, its horrid to think many are replacing their lawns with plastic lawns, the thought saddens me. Worms live within our soil and we must love them as they are the work horse of the garden. Please do not use pesticides or slug pellets as we are losing our hedgehogs which must not happen. Make sure our hedgies can access your garden easily and find food and water. Simple changes really do work. Try and educate your children to cherish the natural world, and protect our hedges and trees to. Easter is a time when the weather is warming up, birds are nesting and bumble bees are busy, they love dandelions and there is a big campaign to keep the dandelions in our lawns, lets be less tidy as Monty Dom says.
Scent of the Month: - “help me, have a mindful of calm”
We have been through a very emotional, stressful time and as April is Stress Awareness Month, we have chosen “help me have a mindful of calm” scent to highlight and celebrate. We have blended Frankincense, Geranium Bourbon and Lavender to create the perfect remedy for anxiety, stress and panic attacks. All three essential oils have antidepressant, mind calming, soothing properties as they help to reduce the stress hormones, calm & restore our emotional state.
Mindfulness is a form of meditation whereby we sit quietly, paying attention to our thoughts, breathing and sounds around us bringing our mind back when our attention begins to wander. Taking 10-15 minutes out of the humdrum of life each day will have a marked change to how you feel. Adding our Mindful of Calm blend in too will calm you anxiety, each your thoughts and help you to feel happy.
The blend comes in all of our products and must be a scent in your home.
“help me have a mindful of calm” soy candle
“Wherever you are, be there totally.”– Eckhart Tolle
Days Of Awareness -
April is National Pet Month and we love animals so lets celebrate, protect and adore them all
As we ve talked about, April is Stress Awareness Month - holistic therapists reopen on the 12th, book yourself in!
April 1st is April Fools Day but remember to be kind and the jokes end at midday
April 5th is Bee Active, Bee Healthy week - the weather is better so lets get moooving
April 20th is MS Awareness Week here in the UK
April 22nd starts the Big Pedal Week where we are all encourages to dust off our bikes and wobble about
April 27th begins the National Gardening Week - pledge to be an organic gardener
“Many individuals are doing what they can. But real success can only come if there is a change in our societies and in our economics and in our politics” - David Attenborough”
And Finally……..Will you join us in our determination to becoming NETZERO by 2026
We have decided to spend the next five years attempting to reduce our waste, carbon footprint and hopefully achieving NetZero. We accepted the challenge by Small Business Saturday to join the Climate Campaign to see how we can make changes. Greenhouse gases must be stopped, do you remember the benefits of the first lockdown. The rivers and seas were less polluted, we could see the dark skies clearer, the air pollution was much lower even the birdsong was louder. Nature was screaming at us to keep this going when lockdown 1 ended. Sadly the amount of litter increased, more people were walking in the woods disturbing nesting birds and big businesses kept pumping out toxins. We believe if everyone does their bit, their best then our fragile planet stands a chance to repair. So what can Helpmeorganics do to further reduce our waste, change our ways even more than we do, we are excited to get going but feel we need a plan! So far we will:
Change our energy supplier to one that only uses green technology (and no nuclear power) We are an island and have lots of wind
We will start to send any paperwork digitally
We will change our business cards to be plantable seeded cards made in an organic chemical-free way from recycled paper
We already encourage our lovely customers to reuse, reduce and repurpose our packaging but we will make videos to give lots of ideas to help
We will work with our suppliers to use packaging for our ingredients that we can reuse, compost or return
Thats as far as we ve got so far but we will be looking at all areas where we can improve from changing our vehicle to an electric one. David Attenborough always says that if we waste less, this will help so we are going to monitor our waste and analyse what it is and see what we throw away. It may be very interesting. Please join us and let us know what you are doing as a family or business to become #NetZero. As COP26 comes closer, there will, hopefully be more conversation about how we can be world leaders in climate change.
Some really great info can be found here , and there are some ideas about moving towards net zero
OUR NEWS:
We are taking a little break from online markets for a couple of months to refresh our plans.
Don’t forget our Wonky Candle Lucky Dip Sale - limited stock and they are selling fast!
As its Easter, why not fill your home with the scent of “help me say hello to Spring” reed diffuser and soy candle. We have blended patchouli, pink grapefruit, lavender and rose geranium for a fabulous vibrant fresh scent to celebrate Spring.
Spring-time Handpoured Soy Candle 150g
“Spring is a wonderful time of renewal, rejuvenation and happiness”
