Women in our community are facing many health issues as a result of the stress of sex work, addictions and poverty. Hep C, HIV/AIDS, STD’s, heart and respiratory illnesses take hold in women’s lives and most women do not have the resources to take their health in hand. We started exploring aromatherapy to see if we could address some of the stress that women experience. Little did we realize how healing these sessions would be.
Over the last two years, we have mixed aromatherapy oils for insomnia, depression, grief and confidence. We have made facial cleansers and blends for beauty treatments. We have also set up eucalyptus steams for colds, bronchitis and to help prevent pneumonia.
Women love both the process of mixing their own recipes and having someone make a special blend just for them. Deciding which blend to choose encourages women to connect with how they are really feeling and it has started many significant conversations.
None of us are aromatherapists, so we are exploring this area together. We have a couple of books on the topic and women have also used the internet to research particular problems. Because women are drawn to aromatherapy, they are eager to read about it.
Our sense of smell is one of the oldest parts of the brain and so it can be very effective. We have included three aromatherapy activities to try. The recipe for facial cleansers also involves using measuring cups and can include some basic multiplication when you are making the cleanser for more than one person. This is good math practice for everyone.
The essential oils are expensive, ranging from $7.00 to $14.00 each. We slowly built up our stock of oils. When we first started doing aromatherapy, we bought little bottles for everyone to take home a blend. Because each one cost a dollar, we could only do one or two blends each, which lead to arguments and disappointment -the opposite effect that we were trying to create! Then we had the brainwave to go to photo shops and ask for their empty film containers. This helped us all relax, and women could make as many blends as they wanted.
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