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Heather Dawn: Godfrey.  P.G.C.E., B.Sc. (Joint Hon) The article below includes excerpts from my book, Essential Oils for the Whole Body, released Autumn 2019, and my new book, Healing with Essential Oils, due to be released early 2022 by Inner Traditions, Bear & Co. Oral Ingestion and Neat Application of Essential oils: Dispelling the ‘myths’   […]

Heather Dawn: Godfrey.  P.G.C.E., B.Sc. (Joint Hon)   As well as smelling very pleasant, essential oils have many valuable therapeutic qualities.  Here are just a few: Adaptogenic.  They aid the body to adapt to and resist the damaging effects of stress, and promote and/or aid in restoring normal physiological functioning. Antimicrobial.  They aid the body […]

  Heather Dawn: Godfrey.  P.G.C.E., B.Sc. (Joint Hon)   A synopsis of the outcome of a small pilot study conducted at the University of Salford in 2010, exploring the use of essential oils (without massage) for stress and related conditions. Heather Dawn Godfrey PGCE, BSc., FIFA, MFHT   General Background This small-scale study involved six […]

Heather Dawn: Godfrey.  P.G.C.E., B.Sc. (Joint Hon)     According to a Survey carried out by The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) (October 2011), “stress has become the most common cause of long-term sickness absence for both manual and non-manual employees”.  The Health and Safety Executives (HSE) ‘Self-Reported Work-Related Illness and Workplace Injuries […]

  Every so often I reach a juncture on my journey, a point of awe, appreciation, and gratitude, when I am stopped in my tracks for a moment.  I woke up this morning suddenly struck by how far I have travelled, and was compelled to pause and observe the landscape.  In many ways I have […]

  I am delighted to announce that my book, Essential Oils for Mindfulness and Meditation: Relax Replenish Rejuvenate, has sold almost 3,000 copies since it was published in November 2018 (Inner Traditions Bear & Co., Healing Arts Press, Rochester, Vermont, USA: printed and distributed by Simon & Schuster USA & UK).   You can purchase copies […]

Three Wise Middle Eastern Kings brought gifts to the new born infant to protect him and honour his birth. Gold symbolises purity of spirit and encourages realisation of one’s potential. Frankincense deepens and calms breathing, instilling a sense of tranquility and inner connection, an invaluable aid to meditation and prayer Myrrh strengthens the sense of spirituality […]

  Rose Otto (absolute) (Rosa x demascena Miller. Rosa x centifolia L)  Originally native to the Orient and Middle East, rose is grown and cultivated throughout the world, producing numerous species and cultivars. Rose essential oil is extracted from the fresh flower petals of the demascena and centifolia species and produces a pale yellow to […]

  The article below includes excerpts from my book, Essential Oils for Mindfulness and Meditation, released Autumn 2018 by Inner Traditions, Bear & Co.   The aim of meditation is to hone and sustain conscious awareness of ‘being’ in the present moment.  I am always a whispered distance from the veil of my future and the […]

The air richly infused with the fragrant scent of lavender, I walked into the greeting garden, beyond which stretched several neat linear rows of small purple bushes extended to the tree-lined distant edge of the adjoining field. On one side of the field, in beautiful contrast, a stunning array of sunflowers stood proudly as if […]

The history of essential oils is inseparably entwined in the historical evolution of medicine, evidenced through references found in ancient medicinal texts, treatises, artwork, imagery and artefacts left by civilisations living over 5,000 years ago. Applied in the form of fumigants, incense, cleansers, antiseptics, antibiotics, bactericides and preservatives, as well as psychosomatic, hedonistic perfumes, not […]

Native to Australia, this evergreen tree produces spiky leaves with ‘bottle-brush’ white, red, or green flowers.  It’s bark is spongy and easily flakes.  The essential oil is extracted via steam distillation from fresh leaves and twigs, and has a mild, fruity-sweet camphoraceous menthol metallic scent, with greeny-woody dry out notes.  Cajeput belongs to the same […]