Aromatherapy & Me
How I found my purpose through essential oils
Verruca’s, lockdown and hormones? It sounds like the start of a bad joke but in actual fact it’s the story of how essential oils changed my life.
When my son was 11, he suffered with the most terrible verruca’s on his feet and nothing we did seemed to get anywhere near to removing them. We tried chemical treatments prescribed by the GP and freezing them off, but nothing worked. It was making life miserable for him and affecting his mobility as it was so painful for him to walk. This was before my move towards natural health, although I was nudging that way and felt increasingly uncomfortable with the amount of chemicals we were putting on his feet and into his body. In the absence of a medical breakthrough, I turned my attention to natural health remedies and voila! One essential oil blend and a homeopathic pill later and the little critters were gone but they left behind a curiosity in me to find out how and why!
Then lockdown happened and all my ideas for new educational beginnings were put on hold while I attempted, like the rest of the world, to homeschool my 2 children.
As days became weeks and weeks turned to months, I began to find more of a routine and when the second lockdown came, by which point my son had started high school (whose home schooling was more structured with lessons online) and my daughter went back to school as my husband is a key worker for the NHS, I began to find the time again to let my thoughts wonder to what I would like to do going forward, what was I passionate about? What would bring me a sense of purpose? I think many people re-evaluated their lives during that unusual time.
I spent some of this brief hiatus in normality researching womens hormonal health. This is a special area of interest for me (way before Davina’s menopause extravaganza) I experience a condition called PMDD which stands for Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder. It is often misdiagnosed as Bi-Polar due to its similar symptoms, the main difference being that in PMDD, the symptoms only appear after ovulation in the second half of the menstrual cycle rather than constantly. It’s a hormone imbalance disorder experienced by one in 20 women. Interestingly, I noticed throughout the lockdown period that my symptoms were less severe and more balanced, which got me thinking about how I could help other women with their hormonal health and wellness. One online women’s health practitioner course and an incredibly scary live zoom webinar later and My Mindflow http://www.mymindflow.co.uk was born, set up as a passion project to help women recognise the link between their menstrual health and their mental health. (If this resonates with you please visit the http://www.IAPMD.org.uk International Association for Pre Menstrual Disorders for more information and support).
As I continued on my path to help educate and support women on their hormonal journey, I pondered that it might be nice to have a practical application for all I had learnt. Something hands on that could help bridge the gap between education and wellbeing. I remembered the verruca’s and delved back into my research on essential oils. To my joy I discovered a great many essential oils that are brilliant for hormonal health. I wasted no time in finding a reputable training course and following an introduction to Aromatherapy workshop, I was hooked and had signed up for the diploma, which taught me about the wonderful, scientific, spiritual, superb world of plant essences and also introduced me to a gift I didn’t know I had, the gift of massage. It was a lengthy and challenging course but I loved it. I found my purpose through learning about essential oils and now I use them daily as an intrinsic part of my self-care routine and get to share them with others which brings me such satisfaction and joy.
15 months later I have built up an established Aromatherapy practice and have had the privilege to help some wonderful clients feel well again. I have run successful product workshops and launched a range of Aromatherapy Rollerballs. https://aromatherapybysamantha.com/product/triple-r-range-rollerballs/I have also introduced my first essential oil and beeswax Christmas Cheer candle to the retail market, one of my biggest achievements to date.https://aromatherapybysamantha.com/product/christmas-cheer-100-beeswax-candle/
I have some exciting plans for 2024 which include sharing more educational content as I’m passionate about bringing the benefits of essential oils for wellbeing to a wider audience. I will be hosting more workshops and showcasing my products at markets, with plans for a wonderful new product range and some new treatments too.
It’s been an amazing but challenging year, perfecting and nurturing my craft whilst also learning about what it takes to set up and run a small business. The learning journey has been a crazy roller coaster, and I simply cannot wait to see what next year has in store.
I hope you will join me for the ride.
Yours aromatically
Samantha x