{Natural & Tender Does It}

Dear Bride-to-Be: 
Don’t be a “stinky” bride! Many people are sensitive to strong scents and commercial perfumes made with solvents and petroleum products. So during this blog series, “brides, weddings & aromatherapy,” when I’ve been talking about fragrances and scents, I am not suggesting the use of those types of artificial products.

But most people are not allergic to “natural aromas.” So be thoughtful, light and natural in your fragrance choices used for your wedding celebration....from the perfume that you wear to the candles used at the reception.   

Aromatherapy—the use of essences of aromatic plants and flowers—is an art that puts us in touch with the subtle and delicate aspects of Mother Nature and in so doing, teaches us to be tender with each other. What a beautiful wedding gift to offer the world in need of a little more tenderness. In fact, your wedding is a gift to all the guests present...allow its essence to be a naturally fragrant way to share the love!

Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from  Cornelia

ps: This completes the series “brides, weddings & aromatherapy” ... (It began with the post on November 3, 2010 if you want to check the archives for fragrant and relaxing tips and inspirations.) Stay tuned for an exciting announcement in the post next Wednesday!

[Photograph: Kristin Spencer]

{Refresh Head & Toes!}

Dear Bride-to-Be:
Every bride wants to be beautiful "from her head to her toes" on her wedding day, yes? And a more relaxed bride is a more beautiful bride! So how about adding ways to be relaxed and refreshed "all over" to your beauty regimen?

One/Head: Create a facial sauna—an easy fragrant beauty treatment to do at home. Aromatherapy consultant Valerie Ann Worwood instructs:

•    All you need is a bowl of very hot water and a towel. Put two drops of an essential oil blend—like lemon and fennel or lavender and neroli—onto the surface of the hot water and cover your head and the bowl with the towel for a couple of minutes at a time and let the scented steam do its magic!
•    Repeat the process as long as the water stays steamy to deeply cleanse and improve the texture of your skin.

Two/Toes: What a difference a refreshing foot-soak can make to ease a tired day. Aromatherapy consultant and massage therapist Joanne Falke offers this suggestion:

•    Dissolve 1/2 cup of Epsom Salt in a pan of cool water (enough to cover your feet completely); add two drops of peppermint essential oil and swish around. Pop those feet in and take at least 15-20 minutes to soak and relax…..and be energized!

Taking care of YOU all over—from your head to your toes—is taking care of your mind, body and spirit. Don't leave anything out...take care of your body during your busy schedule and your spirit will be refreshed as well. Then go be a beautiful bride!

Love. Listen. Let go.

...with love from Cornelia

ps: this post is part of the "aromatherapy, brides & weddings" series...enjoy!

[Photograph: Little Winter Bride]

{Flowery Romantic Legends}

Dear Bride-to-Be:
Have you ever—while walking in the woods or strolling in a garden—reached down to pick a flower and instinctively tucked it behind your ear? It's just a naturally feminine thing to do!

In fact, a woman wearing flowers in her hair is simply a feminine birthright, inspiring poetry, paintings and dreams of fantasy—creating romantic legends. And brides have continued this tradition for as long as stories have been around to recount the tales.

I always encourage a bride to wear something in her hair—whether it is a piece of jewelry, fresh flowers, a tiara or designer headpiece—because it draws attention to her eyes and highlights the feminine mystique of it all! (That's part of the enchantment of being a bride, yes?)

If you choose to wear fresh flowers in your hair as a bride, you'll be walking in the footsteps of thousands of beautiful goddess-like women. And if you choose to wear fragrant fresh flowers on your wedding day—roses, gardenias, jasmine—the fragrance can carry you into your own legendary remembrance....(and someone just may want to paint your portrait!)

Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia

ps: the series on "aromatherapy, weddings & brides" continues throughout February!

[Photograph: LaCour]

{Aromatherapy Wisdom}

Dear Bride-to-Be:
Your time of being a bride should be a dreamy time filled with love! However, if you're doing most of the wedding planning and organizing yourself, it can get a bit stressful, yes? So how can you have the best of all worlds: Stay “full of love, ease and creativity” while planning a wedding from your heart....?

Here are bits of aromatherapy wisdom to get your creative juices flowing:

•     “Lightly spritz wedding invitations and love letters with tea rose or jasmine…it helps send love around the world.”

•     “Put a few drops of essential oil on an unscented dryer sheet with your bed linens…lavender pillowcases call sweet dreams close….love follows the scent of rose. Choose either fragrance for a dreamy rest.”

•     “Add a couple of drops of relaxing lavender essential oil onto a practical (washable) white linen handkerchief to carry on your wedding day. Then as you dab at tears (his or yours), the scent brings sweet calm.”

Be an “aromatherapy-wise” bride and enjoy your fragrantly creative planning time and wedding day! (Check here for more aromatic ideas....)

Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia

ps: the “aromatherapy, weddings & brides” series continues through February...enjoy!

[Photograph: Ian Grant]

{Loving Attention}

Dear Bride-to-Be:
In preparation for a bride’s wedding—and in honor of her rite-of-passage—women in cultures throughout antiquity gave the bride a ritual bath in water mixed with fragrant, essential oils. The custom of  “perfuming the bride with the essence of flowers” continues in parts of the world today.

Be a “goddess bride”—create a pre-nuptial ritual bath for yourself. On your own, or—for a deeply nurturing experience—invite girlfriends to bath you in aromatic herbs, candlelight, and sisterly love...tenderly caring for and attending you.
    
Allowing yourself such loving attention can be an inner and outer “cleansing”—sloughing off hurt feelings and old notions that don’t serve your best self. This kind of meditative sweetness could set the pace for a lifetime of deeply supportive and nurturing relationships.

Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia

[Photograph: Marla Aufmuth]

[This series on “aromatherapy, weddings & brides” continues through the month of February...new post each Wednesday.]

{Ease the Stress}

Dear Bride-to-Be:
Getting a headache from stress or tiredness during your busy wedding planning time? Aromatherapy consultants suggest that you place a few drops of peppermint essential oil on your fingertips and gently massage it in at the base of your neck for a bit of relief.

Here are a few other exercise suggestions...establish little practices during the day to assist the body in “letting go.” Perhaps you can indeed be tension and headache free!

•     Do gentle neck rolls throughout the day.

•     Roll your shoulders back three times, then forward three times.

•     Close your eyes and slowly rotate your eyeballs 360 degrees to the right, then to the left, relieving the eyes from that hard focus most of us do when we’re concentrating.

•     Practice soft focus whenever you can. It’s like looking at the world with “dreamy eyes”… your eyes will feel more rested, your face looks softer, and you’ll start seeing things from a broader perspective.

•     Relax the muscles in your face; stretch and rotate your jaw three times to the right, then three times to the left. (We hold lots of tension in our jaws!)

•     Go for a walk out in nature—snow flakes, green grass, misty rain, warm sun—whatever nature is offering, stretch the body and breathe it in!

Love. Listen. Let go.
...with love from Cornelia

[Photograph: Sarah Merians]