The Base Chakra in Grief & Trauma - Essential Oils - The base chakra and is associated with our most basic needs of survival, safety and security, including our biological need for food, water, shelter and procreation.
It's also associated with the sense of safety that comes with knowing we belong to a community, a tribe, a place and a planet - consciously or unconsciously.
The base chakra's main function is to channel energy upwards from the earth into our feet, legs and spine to help us remain grounded, stable and connected, and this is what happens when it is functioning optimally.
When it isn't functioning optimally, we don't feel safe and able to trust our own experiences. In grief, our ability to enjoy basic sensory pleasures is diminished.
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I was first introduced to the chakras (which can also be described as 'energy centres' in 1997 during my training in clinical aromatherapy. Since then I have worked extensively with essential oils as an aromatherapist and on a personal level worked with the chakras during my yoga sessions. Now, almost two years into my journey after the passing of my husband, I have started to work with the chakras in the context of grief and trauma.
There are seven main chakras. Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning ’wheel’ or ‘circle’. This word is accepted in the practice of energy work and energy medicine to be an all-encompassing term describing vital centres of energy that exist within each of us. These vital parts of us are not visible to the human eye and are considered ‘subtle’ energy.
However, whilst the chakras may not be visible, they are not only essential but crucial to our ongoing development and overall health as human beings, especially for those living in grief and those impacted by trauma.
There appears to be some confusion regarding diffusers and their safe use, so here are some Q&As that may help to explain some areas to you.
- the size of your diffuser
- how much water you put in the well of your diffuser
- the size of your room you are diffusing in
- the essential oil itself, and
- consideration for the person or people you’re diffusing for
No amount of tooth brushing will remove stained teeth. The coffee, tea and red wine over the years have ingrained into our teeth and sadly brushing alone will not remove them. However, it has been shown that oil pulling has good results.
Oil pulling, also known as "kavala" is an ancient Ayurvedic technique that dates back over 3,000 years and involves swishing oil in your mouth, effectively using oil as a mouthwash!
Oil pulling can be described as a remarkably simple, completely harmless and inexpensive oral hygiene treatment and is a technique taken very seriously by thousands of people all over the globe - although there are no scientific studies on it.
The most obvious result of oil pulling is improved dental health and it’s an amazingly effective way to not only make your teeth whiter but to make your gums pinker and healthier looking and leaving your breath fresh, all making this natural remedy worthwhile. But what is remarkable is that the benefits don’t stop there. Many other health problems, like congested sinuses appear to improve too but which can’t be explained scientifically or otherwise!
Oil pulling is believed to help in the excretion of toxic heavy metals from your body via saliva. The squishing activates salivary enzymes which absorb toxins such as chemical, bacterial and environmental toxins from the blood and which are then removed from your body when you spit the oil out.
How do you do it - you very simply put a teaspoon of coconut oil in your mouth – but any oil can be used - many people use coconut oil or sesame oil or a combination of both.
If you suffer from gingivitis (bleeding gums) you could add 1 drop of lemon essential oil. (This needs to be a 'food grade' one, like Lemon Plus). Lemon essential oil is a haemostatic. Haemostatics help to stop bleeding by speeding up the coagulation of the blood. So by adding just 1 drop of lemon will not only help the gingivitis but it will add more anti-bacterial components to the oil mixture and give it a much nicer taste making it much easier to swish,
Oil pulling best done first thing in the morning on an empty stomach so before you eat or drink anything. If you have never done this before, then I recommend you start with just 2 minutes!
When the oil is in your mouth, you simply swish it around your mouth, teeth and gums. Once the two minutes are up, spit the oil out in some kitchen towel, and dispose in the rubbish – do not spit it in the bathroom basin or any other basin really! as it will clog up your pipes and drains!
Once you can do 2 minutes gradually build up to 5 minutes and longer and longer until you reach 20 minutes.
At the same time as you lengthen the time you are squishing, you are going to increase the amount of oil from a teaspoonful to a dessert spoonful and finally a tablespoonful. You could do your oil pulling whilst lying in the bath, or when under the shower or whilst waiting for the kettle to boil or reading a book (reading a book is good once you hit the 20 minutes) but remain mindful of what you are doing so you don’t swallow it.
If you do swallow it, it won’t do you any harm, but it will defeat the objective of doing it in the first places, which is to take harmful bacteria and other toxins out of your system.
When the oil blend is in your mouth it will double in size over the time you squish, it doubles in size because of the saliva you will produce. If it gets too uncomfortable, you can spit some of it out in kitchen towel and then carry on swishing until your time is up.
Don’t be alarmed of the colour as the saliva and oil squished together will change to a white colour - the longer you squish, the whiter it will become.
Everyone can benefit from oil pulling – it's not just for whitening teeth, there are so many other benefits - so if this interests you, go and do some research, and let me know how you get on!
There are lots of articles online and many books on it in Amazon.
I started a 30-Day challenge on 29 April - I took a photo of my teeth and will take another one after 30 days and post the difference!
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