Stepping into Power as the Lights Dim

“As the year rolls on and autumn arrives, all of nature prepares for fruition and going to seed, or to store up reserves for the winter” (The Language of Plants, Julia Graves)

It’s Autumn Equinox here in the northern hemisphere. Before our energy sinks into the gradually decreasing hours of light, we can find balance in the equal hours of light and dark today. It’s a beautiful time to take stock of the year; while the fields are being harvested, what can you reap from the past months?

As our outer focus shifts from the external pleasures of summer, we turn to a more inward-looking state of being.

The yearly seasons mirror so beautifully, our menstrual cycle, with our pre-menstruum being our inner autumn. But…

If you ask a group of women when their least favourite time in their cycle is, almost always there is a unanimous show of hands for the premenstrual phase.

It’s kind of understandable. We rage. We lose our filters, as the truth speaker in us is unleashed. We may question pretty much everything around us; from our relationships to our ability to do our job, to feeling that nothing we say or do is worthwhile. Without a container of awareness, this phase is disconcerting, disquieting and raw.

Our inner autumn is also the home of the inner critic; part of our shadow side that dances with glee as it feeds our rage, encourages our feelings of worthlessness, and at its worst can have us clinging to our sanity.

With a nod to the Julia Graves quote above, we can genuinely feel as though we are “going to seed” at this point in our cycle. But as the rest of her quote says, autumn is a time when we have the opportunity to store up reserves for winter. In menstrual cycle awareness terms, we can store up reserves for our inner winter, our time of menstruation.

By paying close attention to our needs in our inner autumn, the pre-menstruum can be a deeply potent time in our cycle. We can still be discerning truth speakers, but more directional and with awareness.

We can own this powerful time in our cycle, rather than apologise for it.

 

To add more juice to the picture, perimenopause is our Life Autumn, often with a more distilled and intense flavour of our premenstrual phase. The oils suggested here would work just as beautifully in perimenopause.

To ease these passages to power, we might need some sturdy support around us. Essential oils can be a firm ally to have by our side if it all goes wobbly.

Enjoy a selection of autumn supportive oils:

Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea)

In plant form the flowers of clary sage form a spikey tip to their pinky purple and heart-shaped bloom. The leaves, with their downy hairs, cup the flowers from underneath, in a show of tender support. Perfect for our premenstrual phase.

As an essential oil, clary sage, has a warm, musky and herbaceous aroma. But it’s talent lies in it’s actions – being deeply grounding and holding, yet uplifting. As Gabriel Mojay shares: “The earthy quality of (the oil) reflects its ability to both steady the mind and reassure: while its gentle pungency enlivens the senses and dispels illusion, restoring the clarity echoed by it’s name” (Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit, Gabriel Mojay). The description reads like a balm to the sometimes deeply unkind work of the inner critic.

The pre-menstruum, a time when the outer lights go down and the inner lights brighten, pulls us towards greater intuition. Valerie Ann Worwood invites us to hear the “whisper” of clary sage: “…be at ease, and focus on contacting the inner spirit” (The Fragrant Heavens)

For a beautifully feminine and holding massage blend for inner autumn try: clary sage, geranium and black pepper

Clary sage also enjoys spending time with sandalwood, cypress, bergamot, and grapefruit.

Frankincense (Boswellia carterii)

Distilled from the resin of the Boswellia tree, with it’s sweet, rich but fresh aroma, the oil holds a special place in my heart. If an essential oil could hold out its arms and offer a hug with genuine love, it would be frankincense.

As Valerie Ann Worwood shares, frankincense is “…like an ever-watchful older friend capable of support in a wide range of circumstances. But, like a vigilant parent, it will not let us go where we are not ready to go.” (The Fragrant Heavens)

The incense resin has it’s place in spiritual tradition, but the essential oil is also “…an ideal aid to mediation, contemplation, and prayer, ceasing mental chatter and stilling the mind. Facilitating a state of single-pointed concentration, it allows the Spirit to soar” (Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit, Gabriel Mojay) When the mental chatter can turn quite vicious, seeking out frankincense can be an act of kindness in your pre-menstruum.

Frankincense cozies up well with so many other oils. But for a supportive inner autumn blend, clary sage, sandalwood (another oil that enjoys offering a nurturing hug) and bergamot will give you a place to ease your premenstrual disquiet.

Pine (Pinus sylvestris)

Picture the scotch pine, with it’s cluster of evergreen needles, the tree and its fresh, crisp and clean essential oil makes it an ally in supporting you when you’re feeling easily “needled” in your premenstrual phase.

Pine encourages us to trust, ease in to more self-confidence and helps to hold the tension, and more. Gabriel Mojay suggests pine as supportive in “Restoring emotional positivity and “boundary”, as well as our ability to “process” experience, pine works to dissipate both negative self-image and feelings of remorse, replacing guilt with forgiveness and self-acceptance” (Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit)

Blending pine with frankincense and clary sage, the other oils explored here, would create a truly holding blend.

For a lighter blend, try vapourising pine, grapefruit and juniper.

Who knows what kind of powerful places you can inhabit, with your psyche supported with these beautiful oils…

To support your inner autumn experience, try vapourising the oils, or mix a few drops with Epsom salt or milk and have a soak in the bath. Or perhaps you would love an an Aromatherapy Massage and have a bespoke massage blend created for you, to meet your needs for that day.

The safety stuff:

  • Clary Sage should not be used in pregnancy, unless under the care of an Aromatherapist
  • If you have endometriosis, fibroids or other oestrogen led conditions, please consult with an Aromatherapist before using clary sage
  • Always dilute essential oils. A 1% dilution is the safest. In 15mls (a tablespoon) of base oil (sunflower oil, coconut oil are popular) add 5 drops of essential oil.
  • To make a blend of the oils featured here, you may choose 1 drop of clary sage, 2 drops of frankincense and 2 drops of pine in 15mls of base oil.
  • The old adage of less is more holds true when using essential oils, as over time, skin sensitivity can be increased.
  • Essential oils should not be ingested, unless under the care of a Clinical Aromatherapist who will prepare the oils to avoid irritation of the digestive system.
  • When vapourising, do so in an airy room, for not more than 10-15 minutes.


If you would love to explore your menstrual, fertility or menopause health, with a bespoke blend of essential oils created each time you visit, have a peruse at Aura Mama to see how you can be supported.

And for more information on menstrual cycle awareness enjoy this link

Lighting the Way Out of the Darkeness

Is it just me or has it felt like an extraordinarily long winter this year?

As Spring Equinox was finally with us yesterday, I welcome in the light with immense gratitude, the balance that it brought and now for all the new possibilities and a time of ascension.

A question was asked of me this weekend – which essential oils would support the spring equinox?

I’ve pondered the oils would help to ease us into the new light, a time of nurturing fertility, not just our own, but that of the earth and of our souls?

Here are three essential oils that might just help this time of transition…

My first choice would have to be Sweet Orange (citrus sinesis)

4627303801It’s an oil that exudes utter joy; is uplifting and a perfect fragrance to bring you gently out of the winter darkness. An oil of regeneration; it is sweet, fruity and fresh, and often lights up the eyes of those who breathe in its revitalising odour.

It blends well with so many other oils, but for the purposes of super boosting regeneration and a fertile soul, a more summery oil, Jasmine Absolute (jasminum officinalis), and a fellow spring oil Bergamot (citrus bergamia), are beautiful. These three oils offer sweet, slightly bitter, and deeply floral notes which come together in synergistic bliss.

My second choice of Spring Equinox support is Bergamot (citrus bergamia or citrus aurantium).

I love Valerie Ann Worwood’s description of the oil “It lightens the shadows of the mind, bringing illumination and laughter…lifting us from stagnation, bringing an awareness that the light will rescue us and take us ever forward to the realms of peace and joy” – The Fragrant Heavens by Valerie Ann Worwood

A popular oil, it’s gentle aroma and flavour is used in Earl Grey Tea, but psychologically, as Valerie Ann Worwood alludes, an aroma particularly wonderful for depression. When used with other oils it tends to take not just the blend, but the person receiving it, to wherever they need to be. I can’t think of another oil it doesn’t work beautifully in synergy with.

And finally… Helichrysum

The last oil I’ll mention to ease you through the changes of Spring Equinox is Helichrysum (helichrysum italicum or helichrysum angustifolium), also known as Immortelle or Everlasting.

It has a bitter-sweet aroma. As Gabriel Mojay writes “At it’s most transformative, everlasting oil can loosen the hardest of knots lying deep within the psyche…” Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit by Gabiel Mojay.

Using Helichrysum in a blend during an Abdominal Massage, especially at the solar plexus and over the womb, could truly be a game changer in emotional release.

4627303801Blending Helichrysum with uplifitng citrus oils such as Bergamot and Grapefruit makes emerging from the darkness into the possibilities brought by spring, quite a magical prospect.

To support the transition from winter to spring, a wonderful way of using the oils mentioned would be to vapourise them, or ask your local friendly Aromatherapist to use them in a blend for you. For optimal results with vapourising, do so in an airy room, for not more than 10-15 minutes.

Blessings on your spring emergence.

x

 

***A couple of notes of caution
Jasmine should not be used during pregnancy, unless under the guidance of an Aromatherapist.
Bermamot (unless it is furocumarin free), is phototoxic, if not used in a safe dilution, and can cause burning if exposed to UV light.