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The Fragrant Muse?

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Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, United States
I'm a Creative Soul and Happy Person. I have a passion for my Family, Aromatics, Fairy Gardens, Pugs, SoulCollage, Miniature Worlds, Visual Journals.

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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Component Blending Class: Photos + Journal Pages



I'm still feeling the flush of my recent advanced aromatherapy workshop.  It's such fun to be the student for a change!    We studied the chemistry, therapeutic uses, and blending techniques for a wide selection of conifer and helichrysum essential oil species. 

We made stuff, too.  Lots of stuff! 
A luxurious body lotion, a massage oil, an inhaler (this was a blessing on the airplane going home when a passenger behind me had a coughing fit.  I stuck that puppy up my nose and breathed in the bacteria-killing goodness), and a body butter (Enthusiasm Alert:  I am all about the butters now and can't wait to add them to my next Holistic Aromatherapy class!).  

Blending was approached from a chemical component perspective, looking at which components are most powerful within the oil.  We studied four species of Helichrysum and several species of Pine, Fir and Spruce.    I must confess that I never had much of a love affair with the conifers until this class.  I just lumped them all together under the heading of "Christmas Tree oils" and "oils good for breathing".   I am now jazzed about the myriad of therapeutic benefits this botanical group offers.

Below are some photos from the class as well as two art journal entries.  Enjoy.

Am I studiously calculating chemical components for my blend?
Or just trying to see the tiny computer screen?
  I'll never tell!





Butters, butters, butters, how I loves the butters!
I was dying to remove those gloves and
just squissshhh the cocoa butter in my hands.


 
Our fearless leader, Andrea Butje, teaching chemistry.









Fun with inhalers


 


Why so serious?  I was having fun, I swear I was.
(In retrospect, I may have been in the throws of a hot flash)




Puddle-jumper airplane (not for the claustophobic).
  See why you'd need an inhaler here?
Germs don't have far to travel from one passenger to the next,
not to mention the recycled air everyone breathes.




Had to visit one of these in honor of Julochka.
Day 1 Journal Entry

Day 2 Journal Entry





I'll be returning to Florida on February 3 for a five-day Advanced Graduate program, so stay tuned for more photos, journal entries and stories afterward!

7 comments:

Holly said...

So now that you are so in love with the pine/spruce/etc side of the family....which one of these is the best for someone like me with my life long breathing issues?

HUGS!

Anonymous said...

this is going to sound silly, but aromatherapy sounds so glamourous! <3
(even though i failed chemistry in high school!)
and your journal's are lovely as usual! <3

Deb said...

Great Post! Feel like I was almost there too! I love the pic of you in the fab. orange blouse with the eyedropper. Very mad scientist look about it all! And yea! You art journaled about it too! Creativity to the max!

Unknown said...

I love the fact that your journal entries are so free ~ written this way and that ~ and the color . . .very inspiring :-) Thanks for sharing!!

Wild Roaming One (WRO) said...

It looks like you were inspired and invigorated at your course (wish I was there), thx for posting the pics!

Peace & GLee,
WRO

Eliane Zimmermann said...

i love butters as much as drawings of molecules! looks a bit like my training and me too i would love to be a student for some advanced course! last week i was re-reading kurz schnaubelts book about chemistry and found it very well explained. do you know it or him (from the pacific institute of aromatherapy in california).

Unknown said...

Love the journals! You were busy in the evenings!!