Watch this thorough Cinnamon Bark Exploration to learn about Cinnamon’s chemistry, medicinal properties, and healing properties.
I’ve been an aromatherapy educator since the early 1970s. Since then, the field has undergone many changes. With the introduction of the Internet and multi-level-marketing companies, I’ve seen both good and bad information circulate rapidly.
There’s a lot of potential for misunderstanding when it comes to the power of natural essential oils. This makes quality aromatherapy education more important than ever.
If you’re interested in teaching aromatherapy, here are some tips from a vintage educator.
1. Know your subject. Study with as many teachers as you can. Absorb different styles, viewpoints, and experiences. Always examine information with a critical eye. Consider the sources and never hesitate to do your own research. As an aromatherapy educator, I work to provide useful, factual, and cited information. But I never mind if a student has questions or does research on their own. In fact, knowing which questions to ask during a live class can provide you with a better education.
2. Apprentice with established institutes. Instead of trying to start from scratch, look for apprenticeships or positions with established teachers. For instance, we sometimes calls on our own students to teach in their areas to increase our educational reach. As these student-teachers improve, they feel more comfortable teaching larger classes and mentoring home-study students. Begin as an apprentice or teaching assistant and work your way up. This can be a great way to establish yourself as an aromatherapy educator.
3. Get comfortable with teaching. Students can often teach you just as much as other educators. Knowing the subject is one thing, but thinking on your feet when students ask unexpected questions is another. Being comfortable in front of a group of people is a skill that needs honing. Teaching can help you discover your own unique educational style.
4. Know how to relax. Being an educator, especially in an unregulated and relatively new field, can be as stressful as it is rewarding. I rely on morning walks, meditation, gardening, or being in nature to relax, center, and energize me. I keep my office and therapy rooms scented with my standby Rosemary and Geranium. I’ve used this aromatherapy blend for 30 years, and it still feels like home to me. Know how to establish a relaxing space and find activities that will help relieve the pressure. Trust me—you’ll need these skills!
5: And remember: teaching is learning. Have a wonderful journey, and enjoy it!
One of the things I remember most about growing up with my mom is her herb garden.
Our friend Billy came and installed a raised bed with cinderblocks and bricks when I was four years old. It wasn’t long before I was pinching the Rosemary, Basil, Oregano, and Sage to smell their unique aromas.
It’s so amazing when I think about it—how we’ve figured out that we can distill these plants and collect concentrated essences of what we smell. I’ve worked with oils in bottles for a long time. I’m familiar with how to dilute them and use them in blends, but I’m just now starting to get to know the herbs themselves.
It feels like coming home.
This time around, Sylla explains that you’ve got to cut back the abundance of growth from the summer. That way, you can get rid of what’s run its course or isn’t growing, to make room for what’s yet to come.
Here’s the great part about cutting back: you get to enjoy what you reap! For Sylla, this means collecting and drying all the herbs that she’s been growing.
Ever since her trip to France in the 90’s (and presumably after she ran out of the herbs that she got there), she’s collected and dried her yarden herbs, calling them “Herbs de Sylla’s Yarden.”
Vetiver is one of our favorite essential oils. (We’ve used it in a number of our Recipes and Blending Guides in the Atlantic Aromatic Library.) In a blend, it offers a deep, rich, earthy tone. Therapeutically, it also has great anti-inflammatory and grounding properties.
It’s always an incredible experience to get to know the plants of the oils we love so dear. Being a member of the Grass Family, Vetiver is pretty easy to grow here in Florida, so I have enjoyed growing it, harvesting it, and sharing it with friends!
My first harvest was a couple of years ago, yielding one little ball, which we gave to Timothy Miller when we met him for lunch in January of 2017. We told him it was to help bring him back to Florida soon, and it worked! He ended up teaching a class here that October.
I replanted the stalks from that harvest, and they produced three giant plants, so I began digging up around them. I’ve seen videos of a much larger Vetiver production, where they used a tractor to chain off a 10-foot wide plant and lift it after a six-foot hole had been dug around the roots. My smaller, three-foot plants were difficult enough. Next time, I’m putting the roots in a pipe, so that I can retrieve the roots more easily.
My friend Rehne in LA got me started on growing Vetiver by sending me some of my first stalks. Rehne plants her Vetiver in a 12-inch galvanized pipe that’s been cut and put back together—placing it partially in the ground. With this method, harvest is easy. Pull out the pipe, open it, and voila!
Where are those pipes when I need them? At least I know now and will try that this year.
Now, harvesting is quite the experience. The smell of the Vetiver is instant—as soon as the shovel hits the soil. The sound of breaking roots was inevitable, and as I dug deeper, the roots revealed themselves.
Once the roots are washed, they are white and plump, and they smell of earth. This smell permeated my porch for the next week.
Once trimmed of their leaves, I cut the roots off. Then I began to separate them into stems with a bit of root for replanting. Once the roots were free, they got several soakings, power squirts, and more soaking to clean them of dirt. Drying overnight, they easily dropped the dry sand the more I cleaned the stalks. I separated the rootless and now they’re ready to replant—this time in pipes. It was a messy job separating the stalks; once done, I gave the roots a final trim and collected a few small pieces that I can use for incense!
I made one ball for a friend, a tradition we started with the first harvest last year. Tried to do another, but I may end up weaving these fibers to make a fragrant basket! Perhaps with a bit of Lavender?
Have you ever grown Vetiver? If so, what did you do with it? Leave us a comment below!
If you’d like to grow your own, I have plenty to share! Contact me and I’ll send you one while they last.
Let’s talk about grass … No, not the kind you’ll find on your lawn or the smoking kind!
Let’s talk about the aromatic grasses in the family of Poaceae (or formerly Gramineae).
Some interesting facts about this botanical family:
The Poaceae family (formerly known as Gramineae) has 737 genera and 7,950 species which are distributed throughout the world. However, the plants grown in the tropics are grass-like and produce scent! These are the ones we like.
In fact, so many of the essential oils you may know and love come from this family. These include plants like: Lemongrass, Palmarosa, Citronella, Gingergrass from the genus Cymbopogon, and Vetiver from the Vetiveria genus. These are the oils most commonly used from the Poaceae (or Gramineae) family. We have several to choose from—each with slightly different scents depending on where they’re grown.
Getting to know the botanical names and families of the oils you’re using really helps to expand your understanding of them.
Cymbopogon citratus (Andropogon citratus, A. shoenathus): Lemongrass (West Indian)
Cymbopogon flexuosus (Andropogon flexuosus): East Indian Lemongrass
Cymbopogon martinii (Andropogon martinii): Rosha; two eco-chemotypes:
Cymbopogon nardus (Andropogon nardus): Citronella, two varieties exist:
Cymbopogon pendulus (Andropogon pendulus): Jammu Lemongrass
Cymbopogon winterianus: Java Citronella
Vetiveria zizanoides (Andropogon muricatus): Vetiver, khus khus, vetivert oil
If you’re an essential oil user, you’re likely to be familiar with at least one of these oils!
The Cymbopogon genus comprises over 50 species of tropical grasses, many of which are essential oil bearing; Lemongrass, Citronella, and Palmarosa in particular. These oils are mostly comprised of components from the chemical families of aldehydes and alcohols; they include citral and geranial, and they must always be diluted appropriately. We recommend no more than 15 drops per ounce for a normal adult with healthy skin, but less could easily be used and still produce similar effects.
When we look at their actions, we can summarize a few things about the aromatic oils in this family: they are air-cleansing, calming, sedative, restorative, and refreshing.
Their domain of action on the human body systems are:
Indications for use:
Do you have a favorite of the grasses? What do you like to use Lemongrass, Citronella, Palmarosa, and Vetiver for?
Leave us a comment on how you use your grasses! We love reading your comments and seeing how creative and insightful you all are. Thank you for adding to the discussion.
Sylla’s Lemongrass recently went to seed and it ready to start propagating again. Check out this preview of one of her Yarden Walks. (See the full video in the Atlantic Aromatic Library)
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