Healing Through Lavender

Mother Nature is one smart cookie.

 

She has given us natural remedies for anxiety, stress and other ailments but instead we choose to try and manufacture something that we think will be better.  Something that is usually full of chemicals and ends up causing environmental problems or making us sick.

 

Enter the healing herb of lavender, which is a beautiful and hardy perennial.

 

 

I discovered the healing benefits of lavender a little over a year ago and can't say enough about it.  Smelling lavender immediately calms me.  While on vacation recently in Bethany Beach, DE, I went to the local farmer's market, as I usually do, in search of a lavender vender who was there last year as well as farm fresh tomatoes and corn on the cob. 

 

As I entered the parking lot full of shoppers and tents and tables, I immediately spied a table full of natural products from Lavender Fields, a 5-acre lavender farm in Delaware (www.lavenderfieldsde.com).  I haven't visited the farm in Milton, Delaware but would love to do so.  Lavender Fields is a farm and a cottage store where 37 varieties of lavender are grown that is open from May to November.  One day I intend to check it out.

 

Lavender Fields located in Milton, Delaware

 I loved smelling many of the wonderful lavender products and ended up buying three types of hand made lavender soaps and a small glass vial of lavender oil which I sometimes put on my temples, my wrists and behind my ears to relieve tension or stress.

 

Studies show, and I have found out for myself, that the scent of lavender lowers your heart rate and blood pressure, putting you in a relaxed state.  Here are a few other ideas for taking advantage of lavender's healing and health properties:

 

--use a few drops of lavender oil into your bath water to soak and relax;

 

--use on burns and bites to relieve itch and pain;

 

--apply to skin to repel mosquitoes and other insects;

 

--sprinkle a few drops on a cotton ball by your pillow to help you sleep.

Lavender has been with us since Biblical times yet even today, in our fast-paced world, Mother Nature continues to take care us with the most natural and organic healers.

Sleepy Time

I love the scent of lavender.  At the farmer's market near my office, a lavender farmer is one of the vendors and it is heavenly to smell the soaps, creams and oils he sells.  I knew you could cook with  lavender but I didn't know that it had secret sleeping powers.  Browsing around in one of my health books, I came upon some information that might help those of you who are struggling with getting a good night's sleep.

Grief can put your sleeping patterns into a netherworld of having an exhausted body but a restless mind that just won't slow down.  During this time, rest is elusive and you just want to sleep, sleep sleep.   Just when you need a restful sleep, you can't seem to get it.  Unfortunately, sleep deprivation produces a sharp decrease in seratonin levels, a key buffer against depression.

Maybe lavender can help.  Lavender is amazing because it is an herb with natural calming properties.  Some of you may already know this but I am just discovering that besides lavender's wonderful scent, it has long been used as a folk remedy to help people fall asleep  Researchers have found that lavender lengthens total sleep time, increases deep sleep and helps people feel refreshed. 

According to Dr. Alan Hirsch, neurological director at the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, lavender oil is a safe and effective remedy for insomnia sufferers.  Dr. Hirsch suggests the following:

               --place several drops of essential oil of lavender on a cloth and leave it on your nighstand, or fill an electric diffuser with oil to disperse fragrance throughout the room;

               --grow your own lavender and keep a basket of flowers at your bedside;

               --make an herbal pillow filled with fresh lavender leaves and refresh the leaves every three weeks;

               --massage lavender drops on your temples to soothe headaches or migraines.

Relaxation is the key to sleeping well all the way through the night, not just an hour ot two.  Perhaps the scent of lavender can help you close your eyes and take you there.

In this fast-paced, 24/7, non-stop world that we live in, we all deserve a restful night of sleep.

Paris In Pennsylvania -- 2011 Philadelphia Flower Show

Everyone is tired of the ice, the snow, the cold and winter in general. 

 

For those who are grieving,  winter can be particularly harsh.  As an antidote to this dreary time of year, Sibley Hospital is organizing a day trip on Wednesday, March 9 to the 2011 Philadelphia International Flower Show.  This year's theme is "Springtime in Paris" and visitors can expect to enjoy spectacular flower sculptures and carousel topiaries as well as lush flowering trees, lilacs, roses and borders of lavender.

Travel Itinerary -- Wednesday, March 9, 2011

8:00 am        Depart Westwood Shopping Center in Bethesda, Md.
11:00 am      Arrive at Philadelphia Flower Show
                      Free time to enjoy the flower show &; lunch on your own
4:00 pm        Depart for Washington, DC
7:30 pm        Arrive Westwood Shopping Center in Bethesda, Md.

Cost per person: $79.00 (includes transportation, entry into the flower show, tolls, taxes & all gratuities

Contact: Kim Grizzle at Eyre Tour & Travel for reservations at 1-800-321-3973