Unlocking The Secrets Of Vetiver: Physical, Emotional, & Spiritual Benefits

In this episode of the Vetiver Vibes podcast, Rachael Dean and Nikki Fraser, dive deep into one of our favourite essential oils: Vetiver. As Certified Clinical Aromatherapists, we share our personal experiences with Vetiver and discuss its unique properties, including its calming and grounding effects.

We explore the botanical background of Vetiver, scientifically known as Vetiveria zizanoides, and highlight its complex chemical constituents, which contribute to its sedative and anxiolytic qualities. Rachael shares her recent use of a blend for shoulder and neck pain, while I reflect on my fondness for Vetiver's earthy scent, despite its strong aroma.

Throughout the episode, we discuss the oil's benefits for both physical and emotional well-being, including its ability to support mature skin and balance hormones. We also touch on its spiritual aspects, emphasizing how it connects with various chakras and its role in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine.

To wrap up, we introduce an affirmation for those drawn to Vetiver, encouraging listeners to embrace grounding and tranquillity. We also pull a card from the Aromatherapy Insight deck, which reinforces the themes of grounding and self-worth.

Join us next week as we continue our exploration of essential oils. Thank you for tuning in to Vetiver Vibes, and don't forget to check out our sponsor, Essentria, for more aromatherapy resources!

Transcript

Rachael: Welcome to the Vetiver Vibes podcast, where your hosts, Nikki Fraser and Rachael Dean, Certified Clinical Aromatherapists. We are excited to have you here on today's episode, where you know that you'll get the best essential oil scoop.

Nikki: This episode is brought to you by Essentria a leading online school for aromatherapy. If you want to learn more about aromatherapy with kids, check out the courses at www.schoolofessentia.com.

Nikki: Welcome to this week's episode of Vetiver Vibes. Nikki Fraser here with Rachael Dean. Hi. And we are talking about essential oil profiles. So we are going to, this season, we're really gonna start focusing in on different essential oils. We've had a few requests of asking about, you know, what can this oil be used for, that oil be used for? So we are going to start diving into a few more of specific essential oils. And if there's ever any that you want us to go over, please let us know.

Rachael: Yes, so kind of diving back to basics a little bit. So the essential oil we're going to talk about today, maybe if you're watching the video, you can recognize what these plants are behind us. And we're going to talk about eucalyptus. So the botanical name, eucalyptus radiata, eucalyptus globulus, eucalyptus dives, and there's so many eucalyptus plants.

Nikki: So many, and actually we have the amount later.

Rachael: For sure. Country that's harvested from? Australia. So, you know, I can't wait till I get to go visit Australia one day and take a look at all their lovely plants. essential oils one day.

Nikki: I wish I was more into aromatherapy when I did go to Australia. There's a lot of that. I had a short amount of time and I was very young and different priorities. So but it would have been awesome to see the tea tree, the eucalyptus, so many different great botanical aspects out there.

Rachael: Yeah, for sure. So eucalyptus comes from the leaves and the twigs. So pretty much exactly what you're seeing behind us in this image if you are watching on the video.

Nikki: Yeah, and we're not going to go deep into the science, but it is very much known for being high in 1.8 cineol. So 1.8 cineol is where a lot of the safety comes from, but it's the big chemistry composition components, chemical constituents, however you want to say it, that's present in it. And it's really good to help open airways. It's really anti-inflammatory, spasmolytic, So it has a lot of really, really great benefits. And usually when someone's reaching for eucalyptus, it's because of that 1.8 sineal and the therapeutic benefits to it.

Rachael: So they can help with congestion. So cold and flu season is kind of upon us right now. So a lot of people are using eucalyptus this time of year. So it can help with your immune and respiratory systems. Also can help with aches and pains. So it's also something you could add to your pain blends.

Nikki: And emotionally, it can help with concentration, clearing the mind. If you're struggling with addiction, and it doesn't matter what kind of addiction it is, it can just really help get over that addiction component of it, really, of just, again, right, it's clearing the mind and being able to move forward. Just like when we look at the therapeutic benefits, think of it, they translate into the emotional aspect. So if something's decongestant, so it helps, you know, open up our airways, it's also going to be decongestant to the mind. That's how we have to think of it too when we look at it emotionally.

Rachael: Um, so we also love chakras and subtle aromatherapy and stuff. So we're going to bring a little bit of that into our, um, our profiles. So the eucalyptus also helps with the heart to crown chakra, which is the fourth through the seventh chakras. Um, it can balance the head to the heart in traditional Chinese medicine. It's associated with a metal element. So it supports the lungs and spiritual access. Aspects known as foe. Is that how you say that? Yeah. See, I wasn't saying it right. There you go. Poe. When out of balance is described as feeling like something that just isn't right.

Nikki: Yeah, it also helps to help cleanse areas of negative energy, remove any of our own emotional energy blocks, being able to breathe properly, right? Taking that deep breath, getting new perspectives, being able to reassess certain situations without feeling that overwhelmness that can often come with it. So just, it's really what it can help with.

Rachael: Yeah, I definitely think eucalyptus is known for just helping with breathing. So whether that's breathing because you're congested or breathing just because you just need to actually take a deep breath and relax. I know we'll use it in our bath and stuff or shower, even shower more so for us in this household these days. But yeah, if we're all congested, then a little eucalyptus in the shower, especially if it starts steaming, love that.

Nikki: Yeah, and you see it a lot of times too in steam rooms. If you go to hotels, if you go to spas, things like that, and they have a steam room, they often have a eucalyptus, either a puck or something that is diffusing into the air where you can get those benefits also. Because again, it's just that relaxing anti-inflammatory, just let it go aspect.

SPEAKER_00: We all need that.

Rachael: Yes. So there are some safety concerns that we want to chat about as well. So you do have to use caution with it. So if you have epilepsy or asthma, it's not something you want to maybe be going to as your first choice. So if you're using it, just be very cautious. And definitely be cautious around young children. So do you want to elaborate a bit more on that, Nikki?

Nikki: Yeah, so and actually if you listen to our recent podcast where we talked about safety, we talked a lot about different safety charts, but we do have a chart also where it comes to eucalyptus species. You can see it. Anyone watching on YouTube, you can see it. You can go to our website and download this also.

SPEAKER_00: www.schoolofacentria.com slash en slash free.

null: Yes.

Nikki: And you'll see all our free resources. And if you go into the safety ones, you'll see the eucalyptus species chart. And so at Accenture, we teach about four different eucalyptus. So we do the Globulus, the Radiatis, Citradora, and Dives. And we have a nice little chart that shows, you know, what it's more ideal for, what it's helpful for, and some things we just don't know. So we go through respiratory infections, fungal skin infection, muscle and joint pain, insect repellent, but then we go into diffusing in topical use with children because it is a very controversial oil when it comes to using it with children. Some places say not to use it under 10. Some places say it's okay to use it under 10. We always go by the Essential Oil Safety Book by Robert, by Tisrin and Young. And so that's kind of where we get our information along with other health clinical aromatherapy books as well. So you know we look at a lot of different ones and that's where this information comes from. So you can diffuse over six months eucalyptus but again when diffusing just a few minutes at a time if you're around children and this is normal healthy children. If we're using it topically, that 0.5% is usually all that's needed. And then you could go up as you're getting older to higher percent. But again, download the chart and you'll be able to see the full thing and really be able to see which eucalyptus will be best for what. Because, you know, like you said, Rachael, There is some safety concerns and it might not be the first one you want to reach for if you have a child who is asthmatic because it could be overstimulating to the lungs.

Rachael: And this is where it's really important to know the botanical names of your oil. So if your essential oil bottle doesn't actually say the botanical name of your oil, that's not a good oil in general because it could be a blend of different stuff. I'm not saying that the actual like product itself internally inside the bottle is horrible and you can't use, but it's not giving you the information that you actually need to ensure that you're using them safely and effectively. So just to keep that in mind that, you know, those botanical names on your bottles are very important. And this is why, you know, because if you're using dives, you would want to avoid that one for using it with the kids. So that is why it's important to know which actual oils you have. Absolutely, absolutely.

Nikki: But let's, fun facts. There are a few fun facts when it comes to eucalyptus. So we talked about how there are a lot of species. There are actually over 600 species of eucalyptus. So going back to knowing the botanical name, this is why it's important. When you say eucalyptus, which one? Because you have over 600 to pick from.

Rachael: Just a few.

Nikki: Right?

Rachael: Right? Who knows? Who knows? Now, obviously, there's ones that are like, more mainstream for essential oils, but there's options. So it depends on where you are. If you're maybe in Australia, and in this cool little shop somewhere, they might have actually created essential oil from like this other eucalyptus plant that is in their backyard that is not one of the, you know, those top four that we typically hear about. Yeah, absolutely.

Nikki: Another fun fact is that it was often used to help control meningitis outbreaks and influenza during World War I. I love that.

Rachael: I love hearing that, you know, how we use natural remedies in the past. This plant was also used in ancient times as a tea to help with fevers, colds, and coughs. So it's been around a long time helping with those coughs.

Nikki: Yes, absolutely. And it takes approximately 10 kilograms of eucalyptus leaves to make a 15 milliliter bottle of essential oil.

Rachael: That sounds like a lot.

Nikki: Yeah. Yeah. Right. And we know, and this is why they're so concentrated, right? We know essential oils are very, very concentrated. Um, and that just goes to show, you know, 10 kilograms of leaves and twigs. Uh, that's quite a bit amount to get one little 15 milliliter bottle. So always keep that in mind when you are reaching for your oils as to how concentrated they are.

Rachael: Awesome. Well, that is our overall conversation about our eucalyptus profile. But we also want to chat a bit about what oils we've been using this week. so yes um in my instance i've been using the citrus oils it's january it's dark and dreary it's really busy um and so i don't want to get in a slump like a negative slump so i've had my citrus oils out to make sure that i am staying invigorated and happy happy oils as i call them

Nikki: I actually this morning reached for, I have a blend to help and I haven't, we don't get a lot of earaches in the house. Very, very rare. But this morning my little one had just a little bit of a sore ear and I think it had to do with sports last night. but so I put some love I have a blend of lavender tea tree and basil and I just blend yeah and I just not in the ear stressing that but around the ear so down behind the ear especially and then down the neck also just to help kind of drain it so that you know and as I'm doing it massaging the lymph to help just move it down and help drain it down. So that's what we use this morning in the house.

Rachael: Nice, yeah. So gotta use our oils. Yeah. We need them. Absolutely. We have an affirmation we want to also do, and then we're gonna do a card pull. Yes. So affirmation. With clarity of mind and strength of spirit, I release what no longer serves me and breathe deeply into renewed balance and vitality.

Nikki: So if eucalyptus is resonating for you, that's a nice little affirmation that you can listen to or say while inhaling eucalyptus oil. All right, so I'm going to do a card poll. So this is going to be a card poll for the week. And today I am using Oracle of the Essence by Monica the Enchantress cards. If you are in our Love Essential Oils with Essentria Facebook group, I use this deck often in there on Fridays when I do card polls. But we want to start doing a card poll on the podcast also, because they are really, really fun to do.

Rachael: Yes.

Nikki: All right, and it is stopping me there, so I'm going to stop there. Oh, so we have sweet orange. Ah, that's such a soil that I've been using this week. Right? All about opportunities and abundance. Great way to start the year, too. Love that. I know. Orange. I know my alphabet, I swear. There we go. Alright, so for Sweet Orange it says, open yourself to the opportunities that the universe is trying to gift you. Open the doors and let spontaneity into your life. Don't take life too seriously. Practice humor and generosity. Abundance is awaiting you. And so that is the card poll for today. So again, and also if you're on YouTube, the image can sometimes speak to us also. So that's the image. And so that is eucalyptus for today. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of Vetiver Vibes.

Rachael: Bye everyone.

Nikki: If you haven't already subscribed or reviewed the show yet, you can go on over to your preferred streaming platform and hit subscribe then leave a review. This is the best way to help support us and we appreciate it. Email us with a screenshot of your review and we will send you a free guided meditation as our way to say thank you.

Rachael: This podcast is for information purposes only. We are certified clinical aromatherapists and holistic health professionals. If you have a medication concern, please refer to your health team. Everyone's health is unique to themselves, so the topics and suggestions stated may or may not apply directly to you.