Essential oils are not just for massage therapists, hippies and burning. We overlook the benefits of these powerful oils & we shouldn’t.

In Little Saturday’s ESSENTIAL Guide I will educate you on my top 10 essential oils that I believe to be beneficial to our health, wellbeing & some fantastic uses for your skin concerns. 

Your collection of oils has no doubt lived in your bathroom cabinet or on the shelf next to the oil burner for years & years. Do you even remember when you brought it or was it a gift? Your knowledge probably goes as far as a cotton swab and a bottle of tea tree oil in your hormonal teenage years or a few drops of lavender to help you sleep. 

So what are essential oils? They are oils extracted directly from the fruit, flower, nut, bark, leaves, root, or resin of a plant or tree. What is SO amazing is that with just one drop you can experience the entirety of the plant and all the healing and wellbeing powers it has to offer and even better, essential oils work to support the body’s own healing systems – no shock to the system, just a helping hand.

Most essential oils should never be used undiluted on the skin. Instead, they should be combined with “real” oils, called carrier oils – I use coconut oil. Because essential oils are so concentrated if you don’t dilute them you could end up with unhappy skin. A few drops into your favourite cream or oil is all you need. 

Please note: Use your essential oils according to manufacturer’s guidelines; they are concentrated and very powerful. Please be aware that several oils should be avoided during pregnancy. You must check this prior to using any oil and always inform your therapist if you are pregnant or trying. If in doubt – don’t use them.


Lavender
No doubt the most common essential oil and almost everyone loves the smell of lavender. It is one of the most versatile oils and is fantastic to have around the house, as it can be used for a variety of problems. 

Who hasn’t done this….hot bowl of water a few drops of lavender oil and towel over head (don’t drip nose in!) relax, inhale, unwind. 

Lavender oil tones and revitalizes all skin types. Extremely soothing and calming. Add a few drops to your normal moisturiser at night or use as a spot treatment for inflamed breakouts.

Benefits:
• Antidepressant
• Relief from anxiety and stress, just the smell of lavender is calming
• Analgesic
• Antiseptic
• Anti-bacterial 
• Aids in relaxation and sleep – a few drops on your pillow works a treat
• Defends system against airborne viruses.
• Good for aches and pains and muscle stiffness 
• Healing of wounds including all types of burns
• Treatment of eczema, dermatitis, scabies and psoriasis
• Relief from headaches and migraines


Chamomile 
This oil has a gorgeous scent! The absolute ultimate in calming and soothing and a must have for winter skin concerns such as dry, red, itchy skin and sensitivity. If this is you, add a few drops to your moisturiser (look for body creams that include colloidal oatmeal & NO fragrance). 

Benefits:
• Powerful anti-inflammatory 
• Treatment for inflamed acne – much better to use chamomile than tea-tree as it is very gentle on the skin
• Bactericide 
• Any skin condition that is red and inflamed
• Calming and soothing
• Promote repair of damaged, aging or irritated skin


Rosemary
Rosemary oil has a pronounced action on the brain and central nervous system and is wonderful for clearing the mind and mental awareness, while having excellent brain stimulant properties, as well as improving memory…...what?

On the skin, it helps to ease congestion, puffiness and swelling and can also be used for acne, dermatitis and eczema, but a very popular use of this oil is the use in hair care products, as it has a positive effect on the health of the hair and scalp.

Just sniffing it will help but it also works when blended with a carrier oil (coconut!). Mix with Dead Sea salts to make a body scrub that will put a real spring in your step! Homemade scrubs…. Watch this space. SUCH FUN! 

Benefits – where do I start!
• Improve memory and clarity
• Relieves headaches & migraines
• Helps hangovers – so do cheeseburgers
• Relieve aches and pains
• Mental fatigue
• Improves circulation problems – varicose veins
• Skin and hair booster from the stimulating action. 
• Fantastic for oily, congested skin
• Tightens pores – smoother skin
• Antiseptic
• Relief from intestinal infections and diarrhoea
• Diuretic properties – reducing water retention, improves cellulite…did you just say “PAA LEESSSSE nothing improves cellulite”......ok, in a nut shell, cellulite is hard fat and hard to move, stimulation and increase in circulation of any kind helps to break it down. So here’s where I can personally help - regular massage with rosemary essential oil. Simple homecare tips and you will see improvements.


Orange
Orange! My favourite essential oil, it just sounds sunny and happy. This cheerful oil delivers a dose of vitamin C, which can be used to great effect on dull skins. It brings happiness and warmth to the mind and helps people to relax and helps children to sleep at night. Orange oil can be used effectively on the immune system, as well as for colds and flu and to eliminate toxins from the body. Aside from orange oil – orange lighting is amazing on the mind too.

Benefits:
• Diuretic, balances water retention
• Lymphatic stimulation - helps to balance water processes, detoxification, aiding the immune system
• Improves digestion - helps with constipation
• Anti-depressant
• Relief from nervous tension and stress
• Uplifting properties
• Refreshing and relaxing
• Anti-inflammatory
• Anti-septic
• Promote the production of collagen and increasing the blood flow (increasing blood flow brings nutrients to the skin = glowing skin)
• Soothes dry, irritated skin as well as acne-prone skin


Sandalwood
Men love this – surprisingly it smells of wood. It also has been used for centuries for boosting sexual energy…..what more could a man want! A fantastic skin moisturiser that locks in moisture, ideal for winter. Sandalwood oil can be helpful for the nervous system, for chest and urinary tract infections and excellent in men’s skin care – guys, look out for this ingredient when choosing your skincare or shaving products.

Benefits:
• Soothe and heals a sore throat
• Dramatically increase moisture levels within the dermis, so great for dehydrated skin
• Gentle bactericide 
• Relaxing 
• Harmonizing and calming 
• Relieves fear, stress, nervous exhaustion and anxiety
• Boosts sexual energy 
• Relieves itchy and inflamed skin


Grapefruit
My dad Lew LOVES grapefruit juice and so do I and the love doesn’t stop at fresh juice! Grapefruit oil is gorgeous especially in summer, it’s so refreshing and energising. It helps to boost digestion, benefits the immune system by helping to clear the lymphatic system and is fantastic to give your skin a brightening boost, add a few drops to your body cream in summer and your skin will be zinging!!! 

Benefits:
• Stimulates the lymphatic system and is also a diuretic
• Renowned for its effectiveness in treating obesity and cellulite
• Rich in vitamin C - therefore valuable to the immune system
• Uplifting effect on the mood and helps with stress and depression
• Energising
• Relieves muscle fatigue and stiffness 
• Great congested, oily skin and also assists with acne
• Brightens and revives skin


Ginger
My mum Sally should be writing this – a serious ginger lover! Do you regularly feel just a bit off balance? Ginger is great for you. This oil is incredibly warming and can increase circulation especially when blended with lemon. 

Benefits:
• Warming and increases circulation
• Aids in digestion 
• Helps with nausea 
• Relief from colds and flu
• Motion sickness – I get this badly. Just say boat or swing and I feel sick
• Muscle aches and pains
• Arthritic pain
• Hungover again! Try ginger this time
• Period pain – kick back cramps with ginger! 
• Assist in bruising – massage gently in circular motions


Eucalyptus
I clean my house with eucalyptus oil as it is the anti-bacterial queen & it the scent lingers for days. In skin care it can be used for burns, blisters, herpes, cuts, wounds, skin infections and insect bites. Is also effective against bacteria – especially staphylococci, and has a refreshing and stimulating action on the mind, helping to improve concentration. 

Benefits:
• Anti-bacterial
• Warming 
• Improves circulation
• Muscle aches and pains
• Is refreshing and stimulating on the mind and improves concentration
• Relieves headaches & migraines
• Anti-inflammatory
• Calming


Ylang Ylang
How did you just say it?! Who cares, this oil is awesome! Great for reducing feelings of anger and as you probably know holding on to anger for short or long periods can have devastating consequences on health (see Bad Vibes post). Just sniffing this oil can help. 
Used in skincare, ylang ylang balances the sebum glands (oil glands) and is used to great effect in blends for combination skin, as it helps to bring oily and dry areas into balance. 

Benefits:
• Euphoric and sedative effect on the nervous system and helps with anxiety, tension, shock, fear and panic
• Aphrodisiac – so many naughty oils! 
• Calming and soothing
• Balancing the skin and MIND
• Reducing fear and anxiety – relaxing the breath and heartbeat.
• Reducing high blood pressure
• Helpful in treatment of intestinal infections
• Reducing nervous tension


Peppermint
Peppermint oil can assist in nervous disorders and is dramatically effective in stimulating the mind and focusing concentration, for treating the respiratory tract, muscular aches and pains and for some skin problems.

Benefits:
• Excellent for the treatment of mental fatigue and depression
• Refreshing and stimulating mental agility and improving concentration. 
• It helps for shock, headaches, migraine, nervous stress
• Vertigo and faintness 
• Respiratory disorders
• Relief from toothaches
• Aching feet – soooo good for this
• Muscular aches and pains
• Painful periods
• Relieves skin irritation and itchiness
• Reduce skin redness, where inflammation is present
• Treatment for dermatitis and acne
• Great for sunburn and inflammation of the skin, while at the same time having a cooling action


So there we go – your personal Essential Guide. 

The best place to find these and many other oils:

www.gonative.co.nz

By Laura Mascelle
It’s weird at first & normally you don’t like it – it’s unfamiliar but it’s been happening to us since we were born into this world in all sorts of ways & on a regular occurrence so why do we find it so hard to accept? Why do we ignore the need to change something?

My dad has always had a moustache…ALWAYS & when we were kids he occasionally (once every few years!) used to shave it off. WELL talk about freak me out! Where the bloody hell did my dad go? Who was this stranger in our house! When he spoke it used to make me & my sisters squeal & laugh, he may as well of had an extra set of eyes the way we would look at him! 

I did NOT like this change (strange example but you’ll soon learn to expect that from me). 

Change can come out of nowhere, from someone else, from you & means going outside of your comfort zone, it’s the UNKNOWN & maybe it means we have to look at things differently to what we are used to. 

This leads me to my favourite speech given by the late Steve Jobs. I have this up at work, home & have passed it onto friends. I LOVE IT. It inspires me more than anything & gave me the courage to make some of the biggest changes in my life & I can hand on heart say the big changes I made were the scariest decisions I have ever made BUT have made me happier than I have ever been. 

So what are you going to change? ……. Other than shaving your moustache!

Steve Jobs Speech, my favourite parts.......

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

By Laura Mascelle

Massage is relaxing and when we are relaxed great things happen to our body, mind and soul. It’s THAT feeling, it’s the SIMPLE thing’s….a hot bath, a warm jumper, a glass of red wine on a winter night in front of the fire, fresh sheets that makes your legs shuffle a million miles an hour in happiness!! I’m smiling writing this so it obviously triggers something in our minds and automatically brings peace. 

We so often (myself included) put our priorities in the wrong order or at least what we think is important certainly is not. We have no problem splashing out on a new dress, shoes, dinner at an amazing restaurant, a new miracle cream – by the way the only miracle cream in my opinion is sunblock. Don’t get me wrong – all these things are fantastic. I love shopping and dining at the amazing restaurants we have to offer in Auckland…..but are they really relaxing? They are stimulating, exciting and can be stressful.

Every weekend I used to say to myself “RIGHT, I’m going to book in for a massage, come home make a delicious dinner, sit in my junk & disorderly chair and finish my book”…….ummmmm no. It’s a beautiful day! I have to keep going and going until the sun goes down and I have nothing left and wake up feeling tired but it’s another beautiful day so I’ll go 100% again and then suddenly it’s Sunday night and I regret not just R E L A X I N G. Sound familiar? 

This year the change I wanted to see in myself was to take more time to relax and look after myself. It has worked wonders and I can’t recommend it enough. We must take care of ourselves or we will burn out and this is not healthy. The amount of underlying stress that is undiscovered surfaces the more time you put into caring for yourself and when it’s released THAT’S a feeling, like a huge brick been lifted off your chest, your eyes are clearer, your skin starts to glow again and you feel happier, content.

It’s the simple things. It always has been and it always will be. 

If you get to Sunday & you feel regret. There’s always Little Saturday

Your body can tell me more than what your words could ever say.  Not many people meet someone for the first time and within 5 minutes they are taking their clothes off.  But this happens to me every day, multiple times a day, I am a massage therapist.  Always with the utmost discretion my clients remove their clothing and climb up on the massage table, this can feel so totally revealing and uncomfortable for even the most body confident person.  “oh no I’m wearing terrible underwear!”  “ Ahhh I haven’t shaved my legs!”  The client may chatter to try and clothe themselves with words in an attempt to feel less revealed, or plunge straight in to deep, still silence.  There is no right or wrong, it is after all your time, time completely for you, time for you to receive, whatever, however you choose to receive.

On the massage table you leave behind your status, your job, even your gender, to me you simply are skin, muscle, structure, and energy.  There is no judgement here, you may ask with your words for a deep tissue massage but your body may be telling me something very different.  For me my sense of touch is highly tuned, it isn’t a gift, we all have it, I have trained myself just as a musician is able to hear the clarity in notes that not all can detect. I’ve trained my sense of touch to feel the subtleties of a body, to listen with my hands and be guided by intuition.  As soon as I place my hands on you I leave myself behind, I step into a space in-between us, a place ready to receive.  Your skin talks to me, it’s texture, temperature, tightness it indicates your hydration, medication, environment.  I can see and feel how your circulation is.  I can feel your pulse, and the rhythm of your breath, this all tells the unique story of you.

It feels good to be touched.  Touch is a language that transcends all boundaries it brings people closer than words ever can.  When you are on my table you are revealed in your purest form.  Touch heals; it is essential to the survival of the human race.  Touch connects, it connects you to others but more importantly, it connects you to yourself.  Some people are un-aware that they have surrounded them selves in armour of tension, for protection so they can’t feel, so they can ignore the signals from their body and they can charge on with their daily demands.  Once I break through this and you allow me in, I start to release the fascia that covers the muscles.  You begin to connect back to areas where awareness hasn’t been flowing, knots, lactic acid and tension have built up, blood flow has been restricted.  My thumbs, my fingers that may now feel like daggers are bringing your mind back to these forgotten areas. You may feel some pain, breath, let go, release.  Am I inflicting pain?  Or am I allowing stored pain to be released?   I could tell from the moment you walked in the room, your sunken chest where you hold all your disappointments, your heartbreaks. Your head position, your dropped arches, I notice it all.  All the pieces that make up your whole, each piece an opportunity to learn more about yourself, to grow.

I feel the areas that are overworked, stressed and blocked; I feel the weak areas that lack energy.  I feel how your energy, chi, prana what ever you wish to call it flows, along your energy channels or meridians feeding vital energy to your organs.  All this affects your entire wellbeing.  Are you in the zone yet?  Half way between awake and asleep?  Maybe not if it is your first massage in a while, I assure you the more you have the easier your body opens and allows me in, I can go deeper and you feel less pain, less resistance.  Your body tells your story, every accident, every injury, every scar, every emotion ever felt, every thought is stored on a cellular level.  It’s time to let go.  Let me guide you there.  Are you ready to let go and allow more space and ease in your body?  Breath let it go.

When you stretch as in yoga, yes I teach that too!  You also allow this space and freedom to come to the body and also the mind.  The more flexible the body is, the more flexible the mind. Both yoga and massage are a journey within, a journey back to yourself.  Calm, centred and clear.  Your true self.  

Still worried about those un-shaven legs? I doubt it.