Lemongrass Essential Oil
(Cymbopogon citratus and Cymbopogon flexuosus)
People find you refreshing and interesting, you get others going, you are encouraging and can’t cope without your morning shower!
You want practical advice and need to offer concrete help. And you’re a slow morning starter...
Lemongrass is your oil!
Some background
Since essential oils reach our homes in beautiful packaging, we are sometimes unaware of the life stories behind the products.
Lemongrass is harvested in India, South Africa and several other developing countries. It is labour intensive, and what we see as a cheap oil, like lemongrass, is in a way not cheap given the manual labour involved.
The oil is steam-distilled from the fresh or partly dried leaves.
Therapeutic uses of Lemongrass
Emotional assistance:
• Lemongrass is widely used in refreshing shower gels and soaps - you will find a host of options on the internet.
• This is probably because lemongrass has a profound effect on alertness, positivity, and concentration - slow morning starters should never be without lemongrass oil!
• Morning grumpiness and jetlag are both improved with lemongrass, and the oil has a powerful effect as tonic and stimulant for the whole organism.
• People who have been affected by trauma often need some help to encourge left-brain activity such as logical reasoning, memory, attention span, and problem-solving.
• According to Fischer-Rizzi, lemongrass has an intense radiant energy and stimulates the left brain.
Lemongrass blends well with:
Basil, blackpepper, cedarwood, cypress, geranium - all oils that increase focus and concentration.
The following combination of oils is pleasant and very helpful for clear thinking:
• 2 drops basil
• 1 drop blackpepper
• 3 - 5 drops lemongrass
Use 5-8 drops of the blend in a diffuser, or blend onto 10ml carrier oil in a roller bottle to massage the neck, temples, wrists, behind the knees and the back of the hands. (This is just where the skin is thinner and veins are closer to the surface to warm the oils - no other magical reason!)
Just a reminder that a diffuser is by far the best way to use essential oils, since the oils access the limbic brain through the olfactory system and help to regulate our fight, flight and freeze reactions.
Sources:
Battaglia, S.
The complete guide to aromatherapy, 2 nd edition.
The International Centre of Holistic Aromatherapy, Brisbane, Australia, 2003.
P223-224.
Davis, P.
Aromatherapy an A-Z
The C. W. Daniel company limitedEssex, England, 1988.
P204-205.
Fischer-Rizzi, S.
Complete aromatherapy handbook
Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. New York, 1989
p.125-127.
Ranger, H.
Everybody’s Aromatherapy
Tafelberg Publishers, Cape Town South Africa
P 50.
Worwood, V. A.
The complete book of Essential oils and Aromatherapy,
New World Library, Novato, California, 2016,
p.136, 599)
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