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The scent of lavender is unmistakable. My big wooden box of essential oils is arranged more or less alphabetically. The way my world runs, it is usually nighttime when I find myself in need of lavender—to help me sleep, perhaps, or to calm a headache. I make my way over to the box in the dark, trying not to step onto, say, the sharp edge of a carelessly tossed Birkenstock. I know approximately where the lavender bottle is in the box, and I take out and open one bottle at a time from that general area. Some of the scents I don't recognize, and some are similar to others. But the lavender is unmistakable. When I have finally found it, I drop three drops into my left hand, rub my right-hand fingers into it, and slather it onto the back of my neck, reveling in the astringent but floral scent as much as in the pride of having found it in the dark.
Lavender is a useful oil. If you are prone to panic attacks or anxiety, to depression, to inertia, try lavender. Put a drop or two into one hand, rub your hands together briskly, then cup your hands over your nose and mouth and breathe in deeply and slowly for three to five breaths. Or longer if you can spare the time. If your anxiety comes when (or because) you are in a meeting, prepare for the meeting this way: put two drops of lavender on a kerchief or tissue and keep it in your purse. When the inanity and/or nastiness of the meeting threatens to overcome you, simply hold the kerchief or tissue beside your nose, as if to stifle a sneeze, say, or dab a runny nose. You can breathe in the calming lavender with no one the wiser, thus allowing you to keep both your job and your sanity.
This year I transplanted a small, unhealthy lavender plant from the front yard to a pot in the back. In its gratitude it is currently giving me a small display of flowers at the end of stems that are expanding and multiplying to fill the pot. I in my turn am grateful.
Copyright 2012 Ann Tudor
www.anntudor.ca
http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com
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