Blog

For my Aromatherapy & Shinrin-yoku Webinar, I had originally intended to go to Japan to take you on a tour of the distillery producing our Japanese pure essential oils. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it to Japan; however, thanks to the power of the internet, I was able to conduct the tours and interviews virtually with my Perfect Potion Japan business partner Kiyo Yamamoto.

In these two live-recorded interviews, I take a virtual tour of the Japanese distillery producing the pure essential oils for our Shinrin-yoku Collection. I also interview the forest caretakers who manage the sustainable plantation on sacred Mount Kōya.

What is shinrin-yoku? Many cultures have long been aware of the unique relationship we have with nature. In Japanese, shinrin-yoku is defined as ‘forest bathing’ or ‘taking in the forest atmosphere’. Many Japanese studies have reported spending time in the forest provides better emotional, physiological and restorative effects. Discover the benefits of forest-bathing and celebrate the launch of our new Limited Edition Shinrin-Yoku Collection with special blending recipes.

Several years ago, I wrote a blog to dispel the concern that it is not safe to diffuse essential oils around cats. I did -and still- err on the cautious side by recommending that it is not a good idea to apply essential oils topically, to never allow your cat to ingest essential oils, and when diffusing essential oils around cats to ensure the room is well ventilated. Why is it that there is still so much misinformation regarding the safe use of essential oils around cats?

Many plants from which essential oils are extracted are now listed as threatened and endangered, and for this reason aromatherapy has been criticised for 'greenwashing.' In this blog, I examine why so many species used to produce essential oils are now on the endangered or vulnerable species list, and what the industry is doing and can do to ensure the long term sustainability of our precious aromatic plants. I also explore the differences and the challenges in using essential oils that are produced from wild crafted, certified organic or conventional farming practices.

Santalum album is now listed as a vulnerable species due to excessive harvesting of sandalwood trees from the wild. This paper examines the current status of sandalwood, we investigate the factors that lead to the global demise of sandalwood, and we discuss the strategies taken by Australian sandalwood producers to ensure that we have a strong and sustainable future for this precious and most sacred essential oil.

I am so grateful to share with you the amazing work of Julian of Norwich and how we can relate to her teaching through essential oils and the practice of subtle aromatherapy. This webinar is intended as a brief introduction to Julian of Norwich and her legacy. I do sincerely hope that Julian’s lessons, together with essential oils, will help you navigate the ongoing challenges of life and to flourish with all the qualities that Julian refers to in the Revelations of Divine Love. 

I wanted to share with you some amazing research exploring all the amazing benefits of happiness on our wellbeing; however, to be honest I was stuck finding the right words. I then realized why I was having so much difficulty finding the right words to say – to be honest, I was not exactly feeling happy after two years of struggling with all the challenges of the pandemic. Perhaps it is time to now reflect on what happiness actually means.

In preparing for my first webinar for 2022, I have referred to the most up-to-date research – which is constantly being updated and revealing the true nature of COVID-19 related anosmia. Much of what I wrote about in my first blog in November 2021 was based on data from the Delta and earlier variants of COVID-19. The situation has now changed with the omicron variant.