"The faster oils evaporate, the faster you can breathe in their healing properties. Combine them with steam to cleanse your skin and clear your airways."
One way to reap the benefits of essential oils is to inhale them as steam vapors. This can be achieved by adding a few drops of oil to a bowl of steaming hot water or to an invigorating morning shower. Steam's Cleansing Properties Even without the addition of oils, steam helps to open your skin's pores, aiding the expulsion of toxins and clearing blockages caused by your body's natural oils. It also assits in breaking down mucus in the nasal passages and sinuses, clearing congestion. Steam inhalations are therefore aspecially effective for treating skin conditions such as acne, and clearing phlegm and catarrh build up in the respiratory tract.
Warning: Steam inhalations are NOT recommended for asthma sufferers.
The Best Oils to Use in Steam Inhalations
Choose oils that have strong decongestant and detoxifying properties.
Eucalyptus soothes inflammation in the respiratory tract, while its antiviral action clears catarrh.
Ginger has antiseptic, expectorant and stimulating actions.
Grapefruit is good for detox; stimulates the lymphatic system.
Juniper Berry has detoxifying and diuretic properties.
Lavender promotes the growth of new skin and helps to balance oil production.
Lemon cleanses and purifies
Tea Tree stimulates your immune system to fight off viral infections by activating white blood cells. Also strongly antiseptic, so good for skin.
Preparing a steam inhalation
Steam inhalations are easy to prepare and, with the addition of a few drops of the essential oil, can be used to relieve a number of common ailments.
1 FILL BOWL: Fill a large heatproof bowl with steaming hot water. You could do this at your kitchen table, or you may prefer to use your bathroom sink.
2 ADD OILS: Add 5-10 drops of essential oil to the steaming water. There is no need to dillute them eamy with a base oil first, as the water will act as the carriers.
3 INHALE THE STEAM: Using a towl to seal in the vapors, lean over the bowl. Take deep breaths continually for about 10-minutes.
An invigorating steamy shower...
Help to banish aches associated with flu and stuffy colds with a steamy shower that clears your head as you wash.
STIMULATING STEAM
Add the following essential oils to a handful of lemon shower gel.
2 drops Eucalyptus
2 drops Rosemary
1 drop Sandalwood
Rub this cleansing was over your skin and deeply inhale the fragrant steam to benefit from the oils' decongestant properties. Add essential oils to your morning shower to help clear your head.
Skin Cleansing
Your skin produces a natural oil, know as sebum. If this is allowed to build up, the pores can become blocked and infected, leading to pimples and blackheads. A facial steam encourages the pores of the skin t.o open, allowing these impurities to be released and gently cleansed away.
BANISH SPOTS AND BLEMISHES
Using a facial steam alone will improve your skin, but adding the following essential oils will increase the benefits and further enhance the appearance of your skin:
3 drops Lavender
2 drops Lemongrass, lemon, or lemon verbena
Or you could use:
5 drops Juniper
5 drops Tea tree
Clearing a blocked head
To relieve a blocked head and nose, fill a large bowl with very hot water and 10 drops of 2-3 different oils. Inhale vapor deeply.
COLD FIGHTING OILS The following oils have properties that make them especially useful for fighting respiratory infections. Try mixing a few together in a steam inhalation to fight the symptoms of a cold:
Grapefruit- fights fever and has invigorating effects.
Lemon- is reowned for its detoxifying properties.
Pine- is an especially effective decongestant.
Rosemary- is antiseptic and decongestant.
Thyme- is great for clearing blocked sinuses.
"If you don't have essential oils handy, a few slices of lemon plus fresh or dried herbs will work just as well."
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